“Kurgos,” the cloaked man said, his voice betraying none of his thoughts.

Kurgos frowned. It was the first time he heard that voice… or was it? He honestly couldn't remember.

“Who are you?”

The cloaked man shifted, taking off the hood covering his face. Kurgos, though sensed the action, refrained from using his psychic energy to map out the man's face.

“Take off that blindfold, Kurgos,” the cloaked man said, his voice carrying a tinge of mockery. “You're not blind, someone like you wouldn't accept blindness.”

Kurgos frowned, unconsciously touching the cloth covering his empty eye-sockets.

‘But I am blind,’ he thought, pondering over the man's words. “It seems you know who I am,” Kurgos said.

Veiled in darkness, he heard a playful chuckle ring in his ears.

“Kurgos, stop pretending. The plan was successful, you can stop now,” the man said, further pushing Kurgos in his spiraling confusion.

‘What plan?’ Kurgos feigned a relaxed posture. His tense shoulders loosened, and he “looked” at the cloaked man silently for a few seconds.

“What's your next move?”

The cloaked man hummed, his voice high in confusion. “Kurgos?” The cloaked man called out.

‘There goes my plan,’ Kurgos cursed inwardly. “What?”

“What's going on with you?” The man asked, and he could hear the frown in the man's tone. “Did you hit your head?”

“I should be asking that,” Kurgos frowned. “I don't know you, and you haven't answered my question yet.”

The cloaked man remained silent.

Kurgos tensed up, his psychic energy warming his body up. ‘If we're to fight, I'd lose. But, well, I'll be happy to take an arm or two...’

Kurgos readied himself, but the cloaked man only let out a heavy sigh. “Maybe I was wrong? Did I do something wrong?” The cloaked man mumbled, ignoring Kurgos.

Kurgos didn't mind. He'd fight if the man wished to fight, but if the latter wants to scram without fighting, he'd be happier.

“Kurgos, what's your name?” The man asked, and Kurgos couldn't help but furrow his brows.

“Why not tell me, hm?” Kurgos bit back. Patience was patience, but he was not a man of patience. He could swallow his pride, but not too much or he'll gag.

The cloaked man didn't get angry, instead just shrugging his shoulders. “Kurgos Yvinne.”

Kurgos frowned. “Yvinne? No, that's not my name.”

The cloaked man clicked his tongue, before groaning aloud. “You’re still a Lorenz? Haven't you met the God of Pitch Black?”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

‘Gods,’ Kurgos inwardly snarled, something that would make Eve celebrate if he found out. ‘Why am I hearing some filthy god's name?’

Seeing Kurgos' unpleasant expression, the cloaked man exclaimed in further confusion with a hint of disappointment—like a father watching his delinquent son.

“Forget it. Good bye, Kurgos. I bid you farewell,” the cloaked man said, before suddenly, his entire body disintegrated like ash.

Kurgos frowned, scanning his surroundings with his psychic energy. Then, he yelled.

“COME OUT!”

…

Silence. Psychokinetic “Vision” had flaws in its early stages. Kurgos couldn't scan the air. Although he would be able to work around this with Aerokinesis that Eve talked about, he didn't learn that yet.

‘So he's gone?’

After yelling loudly three times, Kurgos finally heaved a sigh of relief.

“What a joke, who's the God of Pitch Black?”

+

“Eve—”

“Kurgos, look—hm?”

As they spoke at the same time, both men froze, waiting for the other to speak. Eve squinted, finally noticing Kurgos' heavy expression.

“Did something happen?”

Kurgos nodded. “I met a weird man, he's gold rank.”

“Ah?” Eve blinked, before scanning Kurgos' body. “You seem unscathed.”

“We didn't fight,” Kurgos sighed. “But he acted as if he knew me, but I've never met him before.”

Eve started losing interest, but he still asked. “What did he say?”

Kurgos, hearing the impatience in his boss' tone, smirked. Having known Eve for a while, he was sure the latter would roll on the moon after hearing the news.

“He said I should've met the God of Pitch Black. Any idea who he is?” Kurgos asked, his voice failing to conceal his teasing tone.

Eve stiffened up, freezing as he stared into Kurgos' blindfolded eyes.

“The God of Pitch Black… he's a weird god, a Demonic God,” Eve said, lowering his head as if to ponder.

“So you know about him,” Kurgos nodded, his face saying “just as expected.”

Eve shook his head. “No, I don't know much about him. I only met him once, but I can't recall what happened.”

Eve clicked his tongue, clearing his turbulent thoughts of murder. “Kurgos, anything else?”

Kurgos sighed. “No, nothing else. Ah, there's something, he said my name was Kurgos Yvinne.”

“Oh,” Eve nodded, his eyes dead like a fish's.

“By the way, interrogate this Florence,” Eve said, stepping on Florence's muddied face. The youth was rendered unconscious after being dragged on the ground for a long time.

Hearing Eve's request, Kurgos extended his psychic energy to scan the youth. Realizing the latter's condition, his face twisted. “You should be gentler…”

“Oh?” Eve waved him off. Gentle? Him? What's that?

“Anyway, do you know about the ‘Heavenly Tribulations’?” Eve asked, handing the letter to Kurgos. Kurgos frowned.

“I'm blind, Eve,” he almost snarled.

Eve just nodded. “Nothing else is important apart from the mentioning of that.”

Kurgos rubbed his temples. “Heavenly Tribulations… It's been a while since I heard that.”

Eve hummed, a smile on his face. “Let's talk about it later.”

As they reached the center of Eve's kingdom, named “Evangeline” after the latter's home planet, the two sat down. In between them was the trapdoor leading to the underground basement.

“When the strongest heroes, dubbed the Chosen Ones, reached the pinnacle of strength and took down the army of demons, the gods aided them to ascension.”

Kurgos hummer, raising his head as though to look up. Eve watched him with a heavy scowl on his face, his mind whirling with insults and contempt.

“They crafted the Heavenly Tribulations, and one hundred heroes can take the challenge and ascend to the heavens if they succeed. To this day, only the Chosen Ones and less than ten other heroes have managed to ascend.”

Eve nodded. “So humans are weak.”

Kurgos scoffed, ignoring the comment. “I challenged the tribulations once, but I failed. After some discussion, we realized that the tribulation is different for everyone.”

Kuros once again rubbed his blindfolds. “Ah… I see,” he nodded, remembering the cloaked man's enigmatic words. “My tribulation was overcoming and getting rid of blindness, helping others do the same.”

Eve tilted his head. “What's that got to do with heaven?”

Kurgos looked at Eve. “It's heaven. The gathering of kindness and good. Of course, to enter the Heaven World, you must do good,” he nodded, his fingers pinching his chin before he even realized.

Eve almost laughed. “Gods doing goodness? That's hilarious. Gods aren't saints, they're barbarians,” he said. “Gods need powerful and durable swords. Swords that are easily corroded are useless.”

Kurgos frowned. “So you mean… the gods were testing our ‘quality’?” Kurgos found it hard to believe. “I understand if it was the Demonic Gods, but Orthodox Gods…”

“You're too naive,” Eve shook his head. Though his voice was calm, his eyes were nearly set aflame. “Gods or Demonic Gods, they're one and the same. Demonic Gods are just gods who killed other gods.”

Kurgos furrowed his brow, refusing to comment. Rather, he didn't know what to say.

Eve let him be. “So, the gods are doing something fun, is it like a carnival? Why do they need high quality swords?”

Kurgos stayed silent, before finally raising his voice. “I heard some rumors back then. They said that the gods were fighting some evil force.”

“Evil force? Are you sure it's not the Gods and Demonic Gods playing hide and seek?” Eve sneered.

Kurgos felt his face twist, speechless. “Gods… I don't know. I heard it from a Chosen One who descended for a few days. He said that the Gods and Demonic Gods formed a temporary alliance.”

Eve fell silent at that.

Kurgos continued. “According to that Chosen One, they were being trained day and night, only to be sent out to war every midnight.”

“What…” Eve closed his eyes, trying to imagine the scene. He also tried reaching out for his fragmented memories, but found nothing of relevance.

“The gods… are probably just bored,” Eve said, though in the corner of his mind, a tiny seed was planted.

A seed that would make his doubts bloom one day.

‘Oh filthy gods, what game are you playing?’

Kurgos shrugged. “I don't know. Anyway, I failed the tribulations because I went on a rampage after going blind.”

Eve stared at the man. ‘You went on a rampage?’ Remembering the former’s calm acceptance of his lack of sight, Eve couldn't help but frown.

“Did you hit your head afterward?”

Kurgos' face darkened.