"What in the name of the gods is this...?" Tarana let out a whisper, her face pale.

As if to answer her, the heart began beating stronger with an irregular pulse, creating ripples in the black goo covering the ground, the red light it emitted reflected ominously. Glenn felt a bead of sweat pearl down his head, very slowly, as if time was freezing, until finally, the pearl of sweat fell from his chin down to the black viscous liquid the team was stepping in.

It created its ripple, small, unremarkable, but it started the chaos like an ember would in a dry forest. Waves of black liquid rose around them, going up to their ankles before growing to swallow them whole. Wilbur was about to get swept off his feet, but he slammed his Rampart into the ground, using it as an anchor to resist the waves. Tarana quickly reacted, and jumped beside Wilbur, grabbing on his shield with despair.

'You need to damage that thing somehow!' Diamanes yelled inside Glenn's mind, his tone filled with urgency. The young man clenched his teeth and tried to jump forward toward the red heart, only to find out that his feet were completely stuck in the goo. He pulled with all his strength, feeling as if his boots had been buried in concrete. Anger filled his mind as his heart began to pound like crazy. The last time he had been restrained this way was when he had been in that damned prison...

"NOT AGAIN!" Glenn spat with a rough voice, ignoring the pain in his throat. His eyes were bloodshot as he decisively raised his axe, not noticing that the previously black lines striating the blade were now glowing with a deep red color, pulsing with raging power. He hacked down onto the ground, consuming his Mana as he infused it into his axe unintentionally. Half-Moon devoured the Mana, taking in as much as Glenn gave it, dark-red flames covering the blade, illuminating the young man's face with an evil light.

SLAM!

The ground crackled at the strength of the hit, and the black goo went up in smoke, burning like fuel from the flames of the axe. Glenn felt the pressure around his ankle disappear, and his heart calmed down accordingly.

'Damn it, you're still affected!' Diamanes exclaimed worriedly, but Glenn shook it off. This wasn't the time to deal with his sanity. Right now, he had to destroy this damned monstrosity. He reflexively began to cast his Implosion, only to feel the Mana disappear as he poured it out.

Fuck, I forgot about that! How am I supposed to deal with that thing without my most powerful attack? The young man's mind was racing as he struggled to find a solution, the waves rising around him violently as the horrible music made by the condemned captured by the black branches was amplified. He threw a glance back, seeing that Wilbur was holding on as best he could, his desire to survive and live through this ordeal inscribed on his face. Tarana was helping him as best she could, but without her plant-controlling ability, she lost most of her use.

'Fuck, no matter!' Diamanes suddenly spat, steeling himself to something, 'Glenn, use me!'

"What do you mean, use you?!" Glenn said through his teeth, slicing at the approaching waves with his flaming axe. It seemed like the black goo was scared of the dark red flames it created, crawling back at each sweep he did. He hacked down at a wave, separating it in two. 'Call me Moïse, bitches!'

With one hand, he swept at the incoming goo, while he took off his left hand's glove and bandages, revealing the purple arm covered in strange symbols, and the smiling mouth in his palm.

"Free at last! Let me have a taste of this!" Diamanes exclaimed aloud with a crazy voice, uncaring about getting noticed by Tarana or Wilbur. At this stage, Glenn didn't care either anymore. They were probably all going to die, anyway, so whatever. He struck horizontally one last time, creating a wave of fire that collided with the incoming wave of goo. Desperately, he threw his left hand forward, the hand in his palm opening widely to swallow what was to come. The black goo broke through the barrage of fire and rushed to Glenn's front.

As soon as his fingers made contact with the viscous liquid, the young man felt a deep cold seize his body. It was a sensation comparable to seeing your insides turn to ice and freeze forever. His chest tightened, and his breathing became ragged, but he held on, and pushed his left hand forward, blocking the rest of the goo as best he could with the flaming axe. His eyes suddenly widened when he saw a face screaming in pain in the black goo. A soul was screaming in pain, sealed in the viscous dark liquid, like the dead from the Styx river of legends.

His left hand swallowed more and more of the black goo, acting like a vacuum that would endlessly absorb the waves that assaulted the team. Glenn felt pushed back, his feet sliding on the ice-like ground through the goo. The heart above them kept on beating, stronger and stronger. The branches moved faster, the bodies hanging at their tip breathing out their macabre music.

Glenn felt the cold reach his heart in his chest, making him cough in pain. He spat out a mix of blood and black liquid, a disgusting, unspeakable taste remaining in his mouth. The freeze then reached his brain, and his thoughts slowed down without him being able to do anything about it. His left hand fell to his side, while Half-Moon slipped off from the other, falling in the black goo. His knees gave up under him, and the wave of black goo washed over him, swallowing him and plunging him into darkness.

Cold...

He felt like he was falling slowly into some dark abyss, his body sinking slowly into a permanent rest. Shadows loomed over him, shadows with faces he could recognize. The first was his sister's, smiling with open arms as if welcoming him into a hug. Glenn reached out with his hand, the corner of his lips perking up slightly as he opened his mouth. He grabbed his sister's hand, feeling the warmth and life flowing into it.

"Lina...!" His words were filled with incredulity, and he almost tore up from how happy he was. Suddenly, another shadow appeared, his mom's. She was smiling similarly and rushed into his arms to hug him warmly. The young man felt at rest, serene, knowing that it was finally over. His struggles were at an end, he was back with his family.

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New shadows appeared one after the other: Redan, who was congratulating him for reaching a higher stage of magic, and Giselle who was nodding happily, thanking him for finding her son. Sahro was also there, eating and drinking with Winston, the bartender, who was serving him, while Laurence, the baker of Rampart Street, was happily making some apple pies. Of course, the friendly farmer Carys was also there, drinking himself to death and ruminating silently about his wife.

Glenn was happy once again. Yes, if he could only stay like this forever... He rubbed his eyes, but the illusion didn't dissipate, because it was no illusion.

But then, why was his left arm still purple? Why was it even purple?

A headache suddenly seized Glenn, and he kneeled in pain, his eyes shaking in the confusion of the moment.

"What...What is going on...?!?" His voice was filled with despair, his mind already knowing the answer but his heart refusing to acknowledge it. Suddenly, the scene in his eyes flashed and changed, phasing into a dark cell where the smell was worse than anything he had ever smelled, and where pain was coupled with despair. Tight chains were holding him against the wall. His whole body was seized in suffering, and his sanity was on the brink of disappearing into the darkness of the place.

The heavy metal door of the cell opened, and a man with a scarred face entered, bearing a small bottle filled with dark liquid and a lit candle. Molten wax fell on the ground, crisping slightly. Glenn stared straight at the dead man in front of him, his mouth opening and closing without any word getting out of it.

'No, no, no, no! I...I left this place long ago!' His muscles bulged as he freed himself from the chains, ripping them from the wall in anger and hate. When he rose his head back up, he wasn't in the cell anymore, but in a sea of stars. The sight was so beautiful he was left stunned for a few seconds.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" A voice startled him from behind, his voice to be exact, making him turn his head toward the source of it.

Standing in the middle of the space on nothing, a man wearing a stylish sleeveless black suit on a white shirt, with black hair and a few strands of white lost in them was there. His left eye was purple, while his right was of a deep green. His left arm was of the same color as his left eye. He had his hands behind his back, smiling warmly. Glenn wasn't able to muster a word before the man cut him off.

" "What kind of fuckery is that?" Yeah, I know that might look a bit weird, but well, who cares?" The man said, rubbing the end of his ears. They were slightly elongated, but not enough to call them pointy yet. He was certainly charming and probably had a lot of success with the opposite gender.

"You don't say..." Glenn answered, staring at his exact self standing there like everything was normal.

The man bearing his appearance stepped forward, and grabbed Glenn's shoulder firmly, before turning his gaze back to the sea of stars, taking in the sight.

"Who could have known you would happen, right?" The man suddenly pronounced some nonsense, before looking down at his left arm.

"Thankfully, you received a semblance of a guide, but I'm not sure he's leading you on the right path...Well, what will happen will happen, right?" The man smiled, before sitting on a plastic white chair that appeared from nowhere. Glenn felt a push on his chest, and he fell into a similar chair. He touched it in confusion and felt the same matter that made the cheap plastic garden chairs of his world.

"Nonsense, huh...I get why you would think that, but eventually it'll make sense to you. Or it won't. It's not my problem and it won't ever be." Glenn's copy sipped on a cup of tea that appeared out of nowhere, leaving the cup under his nose to enjoy the aroma it created. Glenn felt as if his brain was going to explode at how puzzled the situation was making him. Seeing himself talk was already profoundly disturbing, but the nail in the coffin was probably the plastic chairs. Why the cheapest thing? Couldn't it have been a comfortable chair or something?

"Oh, you don't like my plastic chairs? Alright, I'll change it to something you might prefer." The man snapped his fingers, and Glenn suddenly found himself in the exact gaming chair he was using back on Earth.

"What is going on?" The young man blurted out, unable to contain himself anymore, "Are you god?"

Glenn's copy froze for a second, before throwing his cup of tea in the air, the item disappearing like a mirage. He clenched his hands together slowly, the corner of his lips perking up slightly as leaned forward.

"Wow, look at you, it only took three minutes and twenty-six seconds. Congratulations!" God clapped his hands slowly, nodding his head approvingly. Glenn remained dumbfounded for a second before he slapped himself harshly.

"Aouch!" The pain was very much real, but he wasn't waking up. What kind of nightmare was that?

"Man, getting called a nightmare isn't pleasant. Perhaps if I change to this form it'll make it more enjoyable for you?" God changed his shape, transforming him into an alluring woman with a beauty out of this world. Her blond hair fell to her waist, straight and shining under the light of the stars. God's voice also changed to a female one, a voice he could recognize among thousands of them. Glenn's eyes widened as he pointed a trembling finger toward the woman.

"You...You...I fucking ate tacos with you!" That lady was the one he met that night before he got transported into this world. He could remember her name now: Onnea. That same name was venerated by the most powerful church in King's Rise and the continent: Onnea's Church.

The lady made a cute pose and pulled out her tongue in a smile.

"Oops, I've been found out~," She said happily, before lying down in her plastic chair. Glenn was so surprised he just stood there for some time, his brain connecting the dots slowly.

"Wait...I...I ate tacos with a Goddess?" He tentatively asked, staring at the Goddess in front of him. She nodded with a smile, sipping on a can of Coke with a straw.

"Why does it surprise you so much? Can't Goddesses eat tacos as well?" She countered, still smiling widely. Glenn shook his head, rubbing his temples in confusion.

"No, of course, you can...But that's not the point!" He exclaimed, sitting back in his gaming chair. The lady sighed and made the Coke disappear. She stood up and the plastic chair that served her as a seat disappeared in a cloud of golden dust.

"Alright, I'll stop the jokes there." She suddenly became earnest and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Glenn looked at her, still struggling to find the divinity that should be present in a Goddess.

"Glenn, I'm going to be honest with you," She sighed before clenching her arms under her imposing bosom, "You see, you were not supposed to arrive in this world this way."

What?

"What was planned, and what worked previously, was the Jesus story. You know, planting a baby in a random woman's belly, and here goes the story," She began explaining, throwing her golden hair back with a twist of her neck.

The Jesus story? The fuck?

"But somehow, you've passed the threshold without my help and took the place of your parallel self, which should have been impossible. You're some kind of paradox that this world created," She turned to look at the sea of stars, her thoughts impossible to discern.

My parallel self? A paradox the world created?

"Even as a "Goddess", I can't explain what happened to you, and why it happened this way. My best guess is that you've been invited to counter some other paradox like a vaccine to get rid of a virus."

Glenn opened his mouth and then closed it, before finally saying what he had on his mind.

"So what, is there some kind of Demon King that I have to fight? But why me?" His voice was desperate, and so was he. He needed answers, "And can I go back home once I'm done?"

The Goddess's face darkened, and she clenched her fists tightly.

"Glenn..." Her lips opened slowly, struggling to find the right words.

"Your world, Earth... is gone."