The voice belonged to the Deity. Ashe was in the Sugar God temple, and, of course, he was going to meet him.

"Greetings!" The boy shrouded in darkness, addressed him with reverence.

"There is no need to talk to me in that manner," God answered. His words were still too close, as he didn't pause for long.

"You found a mess in my home," he said in a simple voice as if what had happened didn't concern him.

"Everyone is dead." The boy exclaimed with more emotion.

"I know, I saw it, and it's sad." His feelings didn't express the concern he declared. "Thanks for the help, but it was expected of you."

"What do you mean?" Ashe asked, suspecting that God knew more about the situation than he did.

"You know very well what I mean. I'm a god; do you honestly think I wouldn't know that there was Unbound in the temple built in my name?" He seemed to be enjoying the whole conversation.

"Then why didn't you do anything? If you knew what was going to happen, why didn't you stop it?" Few people would dare to speak to a god like that; Ashe was an exception, and he scolded the divinity.

The entity himself couldn't care less. "Knowledge and action are two separate matters!" It was the first time his words echoed in the vast darkness.

"Go on," the boy said and waited.

"First of all, gods rarely interfere in the affairs of mortals. Giving a Covenant and placing a Mark are oddities." His pitch was a bit higher. "Secondly, protecting people is your duty, and don't pass the responsibility on to anyone else."

Now he was giving the remark himself, and it was clear he wasn't done. "And third, even if I acted, I would have missed the chance to know who threatened my sanctuary."

"Wait, you don't think it was an accident either?" It seemed like the god agreed with the boy's previous statement.

"I don't think so; I'm just saying what happened. I just don't know who's behind it, and it's up to you to find out." After a pause, he turned to Ashe. "Remember that everything in this world happens for a reason. There is no event without something hidden behind it."

His advice was accurate. Adapted to the reality they lived in.

"Wise words from a wise man!" A roar sounded; its owner was an elderly god whom Ashe knew fairly well.

"I didn't expect you." The Sugar God expressed surprise, his voice faltering.

"The Chosen One and I have a bit of a connection," he said, then turned to Ashe. "You've mastered the fragments better than I expected. Many have tried to contain the prophecy before you, but you're the only one who's succeeded. You're truly his chosen one." The longing in his tone was clear.

"I don't have anything special," the boy replied and continued, "I still have a long way to go, and I wouldn't mind your help."

"I wasn't at your ceremony, but I'm sure you should be aware that you wouldn't get much from us. It's not that we don't want to; it's just like I said, everything has its reasons." The Sugar God changed his manner again, his voice barely above a whisper.

"We'll explain, but I understand his desire to grow stronger. The Saviour of the World needs this quality; we just can't help you directly." This time, thunder was heard.

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Ashe had been in his court once, and now he was once again facing the gods in the vast darkness that was familiar to him.

"If not openly, then can you help indirectly?" The boy understood the meaning hidden between the words.

"I didn't say that." The stern god replied.

"But you're not saying I'm wrong either." The boy didn't budge; he was confident.

A silence fell, confirming his idea. The stillness seemed like a permanent constancy as if it were maintained long enough, it would become eternal.

"Tell me what to do!" Ashe was motivated, and it was evident in his words.

"I've already told you what I have to say. But I know you're too young for that. Follow the path, and eventually, trouble will find you. Whether you solve it or not will be revealed later." The Sugar God's speech ended here. His whisper was the last, and his absence faded into the darkness.

Only the Thunder God and Ashe remained. "He knows that you will succeed. I know this too, and you must believe it as well. The prophecy chose you. And it is never wrong, and you are the only one who can unite it." The God declared, sternly, yet with conviction.

Ashe only got hints, nothing concrete, and even assistance was merely a possibility. It didn't break his heart, though; he wasn't going to rely on anyone else anyway. His future was in his hands, and he was the only one who could dictate it.

The Thunder God felt the urge to say more, but he noticed the weariness growing in the boy's being. "Your turn to leave is approaching. Now your time here has increased, which further speaks of your progress. Until we meet again. Before that, you have to be careful. Especially when you choose who to trust."

"What do you mean?" Ashe only managed to ask. It was only his instinctive reaction; he wasn't ready to understand more. The darkness was gripping the disembodied, insensitive part of him, bringing him back to the real world.

He was returning to the burden of existence, struggling to adjust to the transition from subspace to physical reality.

[2.01% - 10.80%]

The jumbled numbers in his head were sorted out, and then the number of fragments was shared with him. Only his counter altered, and it was more than he expected. At first glance, he didn't get much, but the data didn't agree.

'Whatever it is, it's familiar to others. I didn't get anything new for humanity.'

It took Ashe a few seconds to get used to being in his body. When he opened his eyes, he was in the wooden room.

He forced his exhausted legs to move towards the gates to leave the temple. Then he went out into the hall, looking for the doors that had brought him here. 'I still haven't found the second key.' He thought with a frown and walked between the pillars.

The lack of the smell coming from the blood, the heaviness that accompanied it, and the absence of bodies caught Ashe's eye. He walked around the pillars several more times to make sure. He changed direction more than once, but he couldn't find the dead Seers.

'Where are the dead? How did they disappear?' He finished his last round, wondering. 'There are no guards either.' The fragments didn't tell him anything. The bodies wouldn't just vanish like that unless someone intervened.

Disintegrating a body into fragments was his exclusive ability, and he ruled that option out, anyway. Not entirely, because the world was too secretive for him to be unprepared for all options.

The problem was the blood trail belonging to one of the guards, Binder, which disappeared a few centimetres away from the place where Ashe found him. It was as if he could move but was hidden.

Ashe looked up at the ceiling, feeling no presence, but he didn't trust his senses. He raised his head and felt a chill run up his neck. He started swearing and cursing to himself as he narrowed his eyes.

Ashe immediately jumped forward with all his might. If he were even one step late, at best, he would lose one of his hands.

He was attacked from behind, off his radar, by a Binder who was dead a while ago.

The issue was that he didn't have Mark. Normally, this should have made things easier instead of more difficult, but the situation had changed. In this world, death was the end. There was no afterlife, no undead or zombies.

The fact that the corpse was moving and was aggressive at the same time indicated that it was being controlled. Its speed and strength weren't high and dangerous. However, its lack of reason was noteworthy.

'If they are controlling one corpse, then what's to stop them from doing the same to the others?' the boy assumed with hunched shoulders, worried about unseen corpses.

There was only one standing in front of him. It was Exarch's rank in the monsters' hierarchy. Before others even appeared, Ashe immediately rushed to him and decided to run away hastily.

At the same time, he had all his concentration and attention on the surrounding area in order to react to any danger as quickly as possible.

The silver sword entered the body of the walking corpse without any obstacles. It killed the killed one again, cut off the limbs and neck, and left it on the ground. In a few seconds, it also took a fragment from it, and the body finally dissolved.

While taking the fragment, Ashe saw the rest of the corpses. The dead bodies of the Seers and Binders marched in his direction. Whoever was controlling them didn't wish the boy any good.