When Oliver came to, he was strapped to a beautifully ornate table, that one could basically know for certain with but a glance that it was for rituals of the less savory variety, because with the candlelight and the mysterious robed figures, this looked like a sacrificial ritual from the movies and that did not sit well with him.

“Wha-What is this?!?” Oliver exclaimed looking around in a panic.

Noticing that he had awakened, one of the robed figures floated forwards as if propelled by the wind. The mysterious figure stared into Oliver’s eyes, causing a chill to pass up his spine as the cold, unfeeling eyes of the robed figure drilled into him, seeming to see his deepest thoughts and memories.

“He will do.” The robed figure proclaimed, much to Oliver’s deep foreboding.

Oliver, unable to be quiet, begins to strain against his restraints. “What are you doing?!?! LET ME GO!!!!” However, as Oliver screamed and cried for help, struggling against the inevitable, none heeded his call.

“SILENCE!!!!” A majestic voice rang out.

Shocked into silence, Oliver looked to the right to see who yelled. It was a frail man, he looked about thirty and was using a cane to walk. He had short white blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, a chiseled face and what seemed to have been a powerfully muscled body at one time. However now, purple lines crisscrossed along his face and exposed arms, and one could only guess that they covered his entire body which was draped in a shining white robe with an exquisite sun embroidered onto the front.

“My fellow gods, today we will avert a crisis, today we will thwart the heinous Animus Sovereign's schemes, today we save our God Realm from a catastrophe. This chosen one shall offer his life for the greater good of the realm and become my savior, no, the savior of the whole realm!!! I promise that as soon as the ritual is complete that I will lead our God Realm to victory against that traitorous villain!” The shining figure announced with fervor.

Animus Sovereign? Ritual is complete? Offering my life? Damn it, whatever he means, it’s obviously not going to end well… Oliver thought to himself.

It didn’t end well.

For as he laid there, secretively tugging on his restraints, the creepy self-righteous man was helped by a group of obvious devotees, wearing glowing robes with an ethereal sun imprinted on the back, onto the spot next to him on the ritual table. Oliver, hoping against all odds that this was all a dream, looked around the sea of glowing robed figures and saw them all quietly having heated debates about the current undertaking, some seemed to be all for it, others seemed to be hesitantly against it.

Right as they were about to commence the ritual, a voice cut through the suspense-laden atmosphere. “Helios! Are you sure we should be doing this? Going against destiny and fate has never ended well! The Mother will be displeased!”

In a fit of rage, Helios shouted back. “You fool! Do you wish for me to perish and you to lose the one person capable of fending off The Animus Sovereign?!?!”

“N-no Lord Helios…. I do not wish for that…” The conflicted god replied.

“Good.” Snorted Helios. “Then be silent and let us get on with the ritual!”

“Y-yes Your Grace...” the god who opposed Helios’ plan stepped back in defeat.

While this whole matter was happening, Oliver was quietly struggling against his restraints to no avail. Then as the table started to glow and Helios’ body started to shake, Oliver had a terrible premonition: This was going to hurt…

Suddenly, two screams erupting from Oliver’s left caused him to freak out and whip his head towards the source. They were both originating from Helios. One was as you would expect his voice to sound like when suffering through severe pain, the other was an eerie bestial scream resonating from deep within him that cut through the air as the pulsing purple lines seemed to stretch and try to escape from its host. In a horrified silence Oliver watched unable to even breathe as the purple lines wiggled up through Helios’ body towards his mouth. A few seconds later, a purple glowing liquid started pooling in his mouth making the frantic screams of the dignified god become choked and gurgled, like someone drowning in shimmering iridescent goo.

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Oliver watched the process, half in abject terror and half in a twisted Schadenfreude as his tormentor writhed in agony, until the purple liquid that was churning and bubbling in Helios' mouth started to rise up and turn towards him. As it rose out of its host’s body, the liquid lurched back and forth, seemingly as if unable to properly move. Or as if it hadn’t learned yet…

Then, to Oliver’s horror, it began it lurch and sloppy slide towards him. As it staggered towards Oliver, the substance began to radiate a primal urge, an eternal need, a hunger. Fear surfaced in Oliver’s eyes like a rabbit chased by a pack of wolves, he struggled even harder against his bonds but with no luck. He wasn’t ready to die, he wasn’t ready to give up, he wasn’t ready for everything to end like this…

But reality won’t bend to a weakling’s wishes. The gelatinous goo seemed to stare at Oliver before barreling towards him at a frightening pace and covered his entire body, sinking into his mouth, ears, nose, entering every orifice available. Even sinking in through the pores of his skin.

Oliver screamed and struggled, as the fluid sank into him, giving the sensation of millions of needles stabbing into him all at once. As the liquid forced its way into his mouth, Oliver suffocated as his body uncontrollably thrashed, violently reacting to the immense pain he was feeling. As Oliver started seeing spots and a rainbow of colors, the liquid finally finishes seeping into him, and the viscous liquid that was going down his mouth dissipated into his body. However, as he gasped and sucked in air like it was the last time he would ever breathe, a sharp pain wracked his body. It felt like his organs were being torn apart, like his bones were being crushed, like molten steel was being pumped through his veins.

As Oliver blacked out from the pain and then was cruelly awakened by the same pain that caused him to lose consciousness, he realized one thing: He was going to die…

NO! I don’t want to die, I don’t want to leave! I don’t want to say goodbye! I won’t accept it! I WON’T LET YOU DECIDE MY FATE!!! Oliver screamed internally, his very essence rejecting the nihility of his destiny.

SNAP SNAP SNAP SNAP SNAP SNAP SNAP!!!

A series of loud cracks echoed throughout the God Realm, however, it wasn’t through soundwaves, but through the residents’ very souls. Like an echo proclaiming a terrifying fact.

“What is this?” One god asked in surprise.

“Could the ritual have failed?” Another asked.

“No way would our Lord Helios fail!” A goddess denied vehemently, mostly to convince herself into believing rather than to convince anyone else.

As the gods began to panic, Oliver’s mind was going through serious changes. The pain of the ritual, the fear of dying, the rage at being controlled, all of this combined to create the most excruciating mental, physical, and spiritual torment imaginable. And this torment thrust upon Oliver caused a rapid-fire series of breakthroughs in his mind.

See, pain is a form of knowledge. One of the purest and most concentrated forms. It is a true form of breaking through mental blocks and reaching heights previously thought to only be a dream. There are a few times you use pain to gain knowledge and breakthrough. The first is when you are a child and you get hurt for the first time, you innately learn pain exists and that the world is not all rainbows and butterflies. The second time is when you are hurt emotionally by someone, then you learn people aren’t perfect. The third is when someone you care for dies, and you realize everything is lost eventually. The fourth is when you realize deep down that you will die someday and leave everything behind. Though there is a fifth that few ever go through, and that is when you are broken under such intense pain that your world shatters and your life changes permanently.

However, Oliver didn’t receive a breakthrough. The torment he experienced shattered him and then smelted him back together, something that is completely different. It is far different from a breakthrough, it was a terrifying thing that can turn you into a bloodthirsty monster or a babbling idiot. Or it can break you or make you into something so much more. Luckily for Oliver, it was the latter. It manifested in a way no one could have imagined, strengthening his spirit beyond what a mortal could ever hope to reach alone.

As the pain faded, Oliver felt something more than just delirium and nausea as deep down in himself, he could almost hear a chuckle as his conscience faded away...

The Realm of the Animus Sovereign:

“Heh, this is positively lovely!” A feminine voice sounded out, watching a screen where a writhing Oliver was displayed. They couldn’t hear the voices but it was obvious that the gods were in a panic and something had gone wrong.

“Oh shut up Shirley, go and do your job.” A second voice sighed in exasperation. “We will have company shortly, a new Sovereign will need guidance from those… of unbiased preference heh.”