Chapter 64: The Man Who Loved A God

News From Around The World

Confirmed Date Of World Merger: January 1, 2021

Democratic Candidate Marcus Rex To Be The Next President Of The United States

Major Scientific Discovery: Cells Of Dryad Xothican Possesses The Traits Of Both Animal And Plant Cells

Pro-Human Group "Atlas" Declared Hate Group

Grocery Stores Are Running Out Of Food As The Merger Date Approaches

Mars Colony Population Has Surpassed 1000

Enough Thorium And Helium-3 Found On The Moon To Power Humanity For Centuries

"Xothican Survival Guide": Book Based On Government and Xothican Reports To Be Released This Friday

VVVVVV

The lights of the room lit up. The room was plain with beige walls, no windows, and two doors. Tom sat across from the same person who interviewed his girlfriends, Heather Fischer. She was was in an upbeat mood as she was finally getting the interview she was promised weeks ago.

The cameras were being set up to the side so Heather had time to look Everett over. He was dressed in his military dress uniform complete with all of his military medals and ribbons. Thomas' posture was stiff but not nervous. He stared past her with a neutral expression on his face. For her it was hard to read him. Little did she know, Tom was extremely uncomfortable with the situation. He would rather fight Phoenix again than be trapped in a room for an hour and have millions of people watch.

"Specialist Everett, I would like to apologize for the role I had in the situation that nearly resulted in the kidnapping of your... companions," Heather said.

"You had no way of knowing about Umbra's plot," he replied. "So forget about it."

"Thank you, Specialist Everett." Heather looked to the crew and asked, "Is the set-up almost done."

"Cameras are set up," one of the crew said.

"Lighting and sound are good too," another said. "We can start whenever."

"Are you okay to go, Everett?" Heather asked.

Tom nodded.

"Let's start, then."

"Cameras rolling in five, four, three..." the cameraman went quiet and continued the countdown with his fingers.

The red light on the camera turned on and Heather looked directly at it.

"I am Heather Fischer. Today I am interviewing Specialist Thomas Everett. Formerly known as Thunder. Now he is one of the highest ranked military operatives in the United Nations Defense Force, leads a team of Xothican soldiers, and acts as an advisor to the UN and the nations of the world. Recently, Specialist Everett was involved in a worldwide military operation known as Operation Overtime which was to stop Mordiggian from completing a ritual that would have immediately fused our world with Xoth. With the success of this mission and the death of Wendigo and Mordiggian, we have two more months to prepare for the merger. Specialist Everett, thank you for coming today."

"Happy to be here, Heather."

"Now despite everything I have said in your introduction, you have done much more for our world. Made First Contact. Trained our soldiers for anti-Xothican wildlife combat. Vastly expanded space exploration. Destroyed the terrorist group Phoenix. And found and took down Umbra, a powerful organization that manipulated Humanity. All of this within a year. It's safe to say that you going to be in the history books for your massive contributions to Humanity. Your life and actions will be discussed and debated for years to come. How do you feel about that?"

"I honestly don't know. I don't really think about it. For me, it's just one thing after another. A mission here to take down some giants. A request to transport some building materials to Mars. I just focus on these missions, do them to the best of my abilities, and try to make the right decisions."

"Speaking of right decisions, you were given a lot of power during the day of the test. By having access to the SYSTEM, you were given the ability to surpass the Human physical limit. You could have used that ability for self profit. Instead you risk your own life to save others. You had no military training or prior involvement with law enforcement. In fact, looking at your financial situation, you could have just kept to yourself for the rest of your life. So why put yourself at great risk to save others?"

"My parents were involved in the health care field. They spent their careers helping people. I admired them for how hard they worked to help people. I... I wasn't smart enough at the time to follow in their footsteps. I went my own way and lived my own life. I was lucky enough to survive Monster Day and gained access to the SYSTEM. I wanted to use these new abilities to help others like my parents used their abilities to help others."

"It was at this point the Great Sage contacted you?"

"I'm afraid that isn't true. There never was a Great Sage."

"No?"

"That name was created because the truth was something that had to be hidden so people would take me more seriously so we could take the necessary preparations for when our worlds merged. At this point, we are already well on our way for preparations and that no reasonable person could see recent events and not expect our world to merge with another. Also, I have been given permission to reveal the truth by the UN since the truth would be known after our worlds merged anyway."

"And what is the truth?" Heather slightly leaned forward as she listened intently on his answer.

"Kara was the one who contacted me."

"Kara?" Heather straightened her posture. "Isn't she the god of Xoth?"

"The one and the same."

"So you're saying God contacted you?"

"A god. I've never been a religious sort. But from I understand, there are many gods. One for each universe. In case you are wondering, I have had my connection to Kara verified by a third-party through a variety of means. It seems that every god has their own way of doing things. In the Xothican universe, Kara is fairly involved with Xoth and its people. The god of our universe... Seems to be hands off. I don't know. I've never spoke to it. You can understand why I never brought this up? I didn't want a religious debate to erupt while we have precious little time to prepare our world for this new era."

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"Can you have her speak now?"

"My ability to speak with her in this specific circumstance is mental. I would need access to a large amount of Mythril in order to have her communicate with others. I also want to limit needlessly communications with her."

"Why is that?"

"She's dying. Every god's life is connected to their own universe. When their universe dies, they die. I'll be releasing a statement later about gods. As for Kara, I'm afraid Xoth's god doesn't get the luxury of the same lifespan as other gods. Through Hastur's machinations, her universe's death has been accelerated."

"If what you say is true, how are we expected to defeat Hastur if he is capable of killing a god?"

"Humanity is so much stronger than we think. Why do you think Hastur even sent people to our world? Why not allow the transfer to occur without the involvement of Mordiggian? He knows about our people. We don't have magic, but we have created many wonders through our own efforts. Space travel. Medicine. The internet. He knows what we are capable of and that terrifies him. Hastur doesn't want a united Humanity to add its strength to the forces that oppose him. That's why Mordiggian spent its entire time here trying to tear us apart. By uniting together, we are capable of greatness."

VVVVVV

Vivian swung on a vine swing that Amber set up between two palm trees. The swing gave a beautiful view of the black sand beach. Tala sat on a chair and read a book under a beach umbrella.

"This place is truly paradise," Vivian sighed.

"It really is," Tala said. "Though I've read that this area of the Pacific is prone to some nasty storms."

"I've handled nasty storms. I once had to dig a hole in the ground to avoid an ice shard storm. I was in that hole for a day and a half. I'll take a random thunderstorm on this island over that any day."

"Vi!" Reia called out as she flew. "Vi!"

Vivian looked up and saw Reia flying overhead.

"Down here, Ray!" Vivian yelled back.

Reia looked down and, with a look of relief, furled her wings and fell to the ground. She landed right in front of Vivian who stopped her swinging.

"You're supposed to be helping Amber expand this island," Reia said.

"Did Syl suddenly disguise herself as Reia?" Vi joked.

"I'm serious, Vi. Training your Earth Manipulation and Amber's plant skills is important."

"We busted our asses all year round." Vivian hopped off her swing and stretched out. "We deserve a little time off."

"We've had a couple of weeks, more or less," Sylmae suddenly intruded on the conversation. She emerged from the thick jungle with a look of irritation. "We can't have the victory over one of Hastur's generals go to our heads. We barely won and Mordiggian is considered the weakest of Hastur's generals."

"Alright, alright!" Vivian swung her arms in resignation.

Sylmae rolled her eyes and walked up to Vivian to plant a kiss on her forehead.

"I just want us all to be strong enough when our worlds merge."

"Yeah, yeah. I know you care."

"Guys! Guys!" Amber called out as she ran towards them. "Tom just got back!"

"He's probably exhausted from that interview," Reia said. "We better check on him."

"Don't think that you're getting out of training that easily, Vi," Sylmae reminded.

"I goofed off a little and you make such a big case out of it," Vivian muttered.

The five of them returned to their home where they found Tom relaxing in a chair with a glass of ice water in his hand. He had undone his tie and his jacket was tossed onto another chair. Tom leaned his head back in reaction to the sound that the girls made when they entered the house.

"Hey girls," he weakly greeted.

"How was the interview?" Tala asked.

"It went fine," he replied. "But I don't want to do another."

"Oh, poor Tom," Vi sarcastically said as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind. "Well don't worry. We'll take good care of you."

Tom turned his head to kiss Vi.

"I look forward to it."

Tom.

Tom launched out of his chair in shock which caused everyone to jump.

"Kara," he muttered.

My time has come. I want to see you one last time, face to face. Please.

"What did she say?" Syl asked.

"She doesn't have long." Tom's voice was distressed. "We need to head to Stonehenge right now."

"Do it, Tom," Reia said.

Everyone teleported to Stonehenge to the surprise to a dozen tourists. Everyone gave the group a wide berth out of surprise. After the moment of surprise subsided, everyone became star struck and got out their cameras and phones to record the scene.

"Everyone back away," Tom yelled.

The tourists, worried over the possibility of a monster appearance, backed away by several meters. Tom quickly rushed over to Stonehenge and placed his hand on the stone alter inside the formation.

"Kara, I am here," he choked. "I'm right here."

A light grew in the stone of Stonehenge into a greenish blue colour until each stone slab looked like it was made of light. The feminine figure of Kara appeared in front of the altar. Tom caught her as she collapsed. The girls gathered around the two and crouched down next to them. Tears ran from their eyes as the situation sunk in. The tourist kept outside of the outer ring of Stonehenge, but still watched the scene before them. Kara weakly looked up at Tom and caressed his cheek with her hand.

"You actually came..." she muttered.

"Of course I did," Tom said. "I promised you that when the end came, I would be by your side."

"Thank you so much," she cried out. "I didn't want to be alone. Tom. Listen. I have made some arrangements with the god of this universe. When Tala, Sylmae, Vivian, Reia, and you have reached the level to get your next class, they can still get training from the spirit realm. You can only do it once. That is all I could get from it."

"You're on the verge of death and you're still trying to help us," Sylmae said. "You're so selfless. Thank you."

Kara's head suddenly bobbed before she righted it again to look up at Tom's face.

"T-Tom... Do you... Do you forgive me? For having you go through the test? For getting you involved in all of this?"

"There is nothing to forgive," he lovingly assured her. "I'm glad to be a part of this fight. Thanks to you, I've been able to make a difference on my world. It's thanks to you that I met the loves of my life. I owe you everything."

Kara smiled. She looked to the girls and said, "please allow me to be selfish just this once."

To Tom's and the girls' surprise, Kara leaned up and kissed him. The kiss felt like cold electricity on his lips. It lasted for moments before Kara pulled back.

"Good bye, Tom. I love you."

Kara's form vanished leaving only green sparks that faded away.

"Kara?" Tom muttered in shock.

Notice You have lost the title and buff "Agent of Kara".

"Kara?"

Tom fell onto his hands and knees and felt a pain build up inside his heart. That hot pain radiated outwards and built up inside his body. As it grew, his body trembled and his breathing became erratic. It finally reached a point where Tom unleashed all of his pain and sorrow in one anguished scream.

"Kara!"

VVVVVV

48 days later...

Western Australian Outbreak

Two months had passed since Operation Overtime. The world recovered from the attacks and continued their preparations for the merger. These changes caused much grief for the world as a whole, but most knew they were necessary to save Humanity and its cultures and civilizations.

The Elven man, known only as Tep, dressed in a business suit, stood in the vast arid bushland of the Australian Outback. The sky, just like everywhere else in the world, was covered in dark purple thunder clouds. The transfers of monsters, people, and terrain, at this point, was happening at rapid rate. Going from weekly in the initial period to every second now.

Tep's Intel and assistance to the UNDF had earned him many freedoms and privileges. He was even allowed to come and go as he pleases so long as he checks in with them once in a while. Right now he was having some personal time before their worlds merged.

He held up his right arm to look at his watch. The display stated it was December 31, 2020, 11:58 p.m. UTC. The time was upon them. Tep lowered his arm and just looked south-west of his position.

"Just about time," he said to himself.

Lightning struck all around him. In various directions, new creatures from Xoth appeared and struggled to understand what had happen to them. One bolt of lightning struck just a few feet from Tep. He didn't even flinch at the sudden impact. A small rodent-like creature came from where the lightning struck. It looked up at Tep and quickly ran off while it squeaked.

A loud deep, whirling, noise built up in the area. It grew louder and louder until the ground itself shook. Tep continued to calmly stand with his arms crossed. His eyes remained opened as a wall of light appeared just inches in front of him. The area shook and the sound grew in frequency until it was a high-pitched ringing.

Then, like someone flipping a switch, the wall of light vanished. The sound was gone and the sky was clear again. Water splashed in the area in front of Tep's feet. The land that was in front of him was gone and replaced with a vast sea. In the distance was a large landmass with a massive mountain in the center of it.

"Finally, after so long," he muttered.

A giant energy dome briefly shimmered over the Demon continent Almawt before it faded back into its invisible state.

"You will finally pay for everything you have done, Hastur. Old friend..."