This man... no, this God standing before me. Yeah, I heard him right, and this ain't no dream either. He is Prylos, the God of Entropa, in other words - The God I worship personally. Crap, what the hell is this situation? Just how am I supposed to act when meeting a God again? We're both naked right now, and I'm trying my best not to look at his member, though since he's way taller than us, it's kind of hard to look past it. Phew, calm down, Edward. Let's first put some clothes on and-

"Put 'er there!" Issei stuck his hand out without a hint of reservation, "Heh, now that I have two Gods to ask for help, I feel like I'm definitely gonna get back home!"

"Wuh-! H-Hey, Issei, just how the hell are you acting in front of the God of Meditation?!" Cecily reprimanded him, "G-Great Prylos, please excuse his behavior! He doesn't...!"

"Hmm..." The God of Meditation lowered his head to inspect Issei closer, "This mortal, I do not recognize..."

"Gulp. A-Ah, that's probably cause of my origins!" Issei hastily got to the point, "Long story short - I was on a class field trip to Egypt when I suddenly got sent here!"

"That is quite the abbreviation of events." Great Prylos figured, "I see. I think I understand the gist, in that case."

"Yeah, yeah, don't beat yourself up over not understa-HUH?!" Issei did a double-take, "Y-You actually understand what I'm talking about!?"

"Yeah, even I was at a loss regarding his situation, so what gives, Pry?" Aru looked a bit peeved over her colleague knowing more than her.

"I have picked up many things from the God of Knowledge." Great Prylos elaborated, "Of course, it'd be best to consult with him over me, but I do believe it has something to do with Time Cycles."

Time Cycles? Okay, I feel like we're getting into some serious territory here, and I'm pretty sure this unskippable cutscene is gonna take a while, so while I still have a chance, I should probably use this situation to thank my God for all he has given me in my life.

"Great Prylos." I stuck my hand out without a single care for the timing of my actions, "If you would kindly accept my heartfelt gratitude for gifting me with a beautiful wife, a healthy family and an amazing group of friends."

"Pheh, this chump totally turned into a fanboy the moment he saw his God!" Aru teased, "You do realize he didn't "bestow" anything unto you, right? None of the Gods did."

"Now, now, Allucius. It is wrong to disregard our believers' gratitude like you are currently doing." He extended his own hand as he vigorously shook mine, "Edward Saint, I believe? Whilst it is true that we as Gods hold no jurisdiction over the concept of human creation, I will admit that I have granted you a Favor or two whenever you prayed to me. Truly, it was your efforts and faith that have granted you such an amazing life."

"G-Great Lord...!" I felt tears run down me as I smiled up at him.

"N-Now, if you'll excuse me." He turned around, accidentally showing us his golden cheeks as he began walking out of the water, "I believe this conversation can be continued once everyone is, ahem, properly clothed..."

"A-Ah! My apologies, Great Lord!" I got super embarrassed.

"What a disaster this hot springs trip turned out to be." Othelia looked annoyed, "It truly makes you wonder just how many more noisy Gods will show up..."

"Hey, don't say such things about my God!" Cecily got offended, "Didn't you hear what he said just now? If he knows about Issei's situation, then he might know some way to bring Lune back to life!"

"Sigh, I've told you countless times, redheaded mortal..." Aru clicked her tongue as she swam out of the water, "Coming back from Heaven is something only the person in question can accomplish, and trust me - no one up there would ever have a reason to want to leave."

"That is true - We accommodate the dead very nicely above the clouds." A toga-wearing Great Lord returned to add onto Aru's statement, "Cecily Grimheart, wedded wife of Lune Grimheart. You have my word - your husband is resting peacefully with us."

"Oh don't say that!" Cecily, still in the pool and wearing nothing but a towel over her torso whined, "Come on, you guys created both Heaven and the world we live in now! Surely, if anyone could transport people from one world to another, it'd have to be you!"

"Apologies, but that is not how we have programmed that to work." He shook his head with an understanding tone, "I can definitely understand why it is you are hurting, but please understand that we have hardcoded only one way for a person to be sent to each world respectively. A person in the living world cannot go to Heaven unless they die, and a person in Heaven cannot come back unle-"

"Unless?" I noticed his awkward and sudden pause, so I joined in as well.

"Unless he so wishes to." Great Lord bespoke.

"Ooooh~! What happened to appealing to your fans all of a sudden, Pry~?" Aru mocked his unwillingness to cooperate, "They're your faithful believers, and you're still not gonna be transparent with 'em?"

"...Great Lord Prylos." Cecily wanted to ask nicely just one last time, "When my parents were killed for no particular reason, I prayed for you to keep me and my brother safe."

"Hm?" He heard her out.

"When my brother then died in that house fire, I wasn't mad. Instead, I prayed for you to keep Nelly and the rest of our gang safe."

"Where is this going?" He asked with a scary gaze.

"When Lune cheated..." She made sure to cover Cene's ears before continuing, "I prayed every night for him to come back to me, so that we can raise Nelly together, just like we were supposed to."

"And I granted you that." He said with a deep voice that made my stomach churn.

"I meditated." Tears began to fall down her Eyes as she cried out, "I kept calm, accepted all of those hardships, looked past them and prayed for a better future! But I can't accept losing Lune, no matter how much I meditate!"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Cecily..." I uttered.

"And now..." She sniffled, "Now I'm once again praying to you, Great Lord Prylos. Please, please return Lune to me. Please, let Cene meet his father. Please, this is the only reason I came all the way out here...!"

"Cecily, it's okay..." Eleanor and Othelia ran to her aid, "F-From us too! Please make Cecily's wish come true, Great Lord!"

"..." Prylos exhaled through his nose before giving his answer, "No."

"E-Eh...?" Cecily looked up at him in disbelief, "T-Then please, at least be honest and..."

"No." He shook his head, "I simply cannot explain to a mere mortal all the complexities of Heaven 2.0. Though, I understand how you feel, so I will tell you this one thing."

"Please!" She dropped to her knees, "Please, tell me!"

"Very well, please listen carefully." He cleared his throat before speaking loudly, making sure everyone could hear his voice clearly, "Anyone can leave Heaven whenever they want."

"H-Huh?" Her Eye twitched for a second, "A-Anyone?"

"Just to be clear, when you say leave..." Issei made sure, "You mean like come back to life here, right?"

"That is indeed the case." He nodded, "Anyone can come back to life, whenever they please even. But then, you may ask yourselves, how come none have yet done so?"

"..." We all eagerly awaited the answer to that question.

"That is because they have no business doing so." He explained, "In this Heaven, each and every person's every possible wish is granted. A house, their friends, their family... Even now, Lune Grimheart is happily enjoying his time with everyone in the house we have provided him. His wish was to live with all of his friends and family, dead, alive or not yet dead even. He is with Marina and their twins, he is with Cene and Nelly, with Edward, Anna and Arthur. He is with his parents, grandparents, and many more friends. And of course, he is with you as well, Cecily."

"W-With me?" She pointed to herself, flabbergasted, "But I'm not..."

"In Heaven 2.0, time matters not." He elaborated, "Everyone is there. Everyone who has ever lived, is currently alive, or will live in the future. That is because Heaven 2.0 is a plane of existence that happens a mere fraction of a second after the heat death of the universe."

"What?" I looked on, "What nonsense are you spouting!? The universe isn't a living being, there's no such thing as its death!"

"..." He finally gave up on trying to explain everything, "Of course you would be skeptical. I told you mere mortals are incapable of grasping..."

"I see!" Issei smiled, "That's so cool!"

"Huh?" We all turned to him, including Prylos even, "You understand?"

"Yeah! Well, not entirely, but I kind of get the gist of it!" He said, "So basically, Heaven is in the future, right?"

"That's..." Prylos pinched the bridge between his Eyes, "One way to put it, yes..."

"The future?" Cecily thought for a second before asking, "So then, Heaven isn't "somewhere", but "somewhen", right?"

"Yeah, and this would explain why we can't bring him back necessarily." Issei added onto that, "In my world, there was a famous scientist who conducted an experiment on the legitimacy of time travel."

"Time travel?" Othelia looked puzzled, "As in, freely traveling through time? Like in those fantasy novels?"

"Yeah, but way cooler, since he explains it with science, but in a fun way." He happily recalled, "The story goes: He set up a party for a certain date, but didn't invite anyone nor did he tell anyone when that date was until after the fact."

"What? But then no one would attend." Eleanor realized.

"Yeah, that is, unless someone from any point in the future returned to the past to attend!" Issei revealed.

"...Ooooh, I think I get it!" I latched onto it, "Basically, if someone showed up, they'd have to be a time traveler, but if no one showed up, then the scientist would have proven time travel to be false!"

"Yeah, yeah, now you're getting it!" Issei gave me a high five before continuing, "So, where was I? Ah, yeah. Basically, the common consensus was that time travel was only possible in one way. You can only ever travel to the future. Either that, or no one from the future wanted to come to his party."

"How so?" We all tilted our heads, "And how does this relate to Lune's situation?"

"How doesn't it?" He chuckled, "In every single moment, we are all traveling to the future, millisecond by millisecond. But if we die, it seems we skip to the heat death of the universe, in other words - we achieve Heaven."

"Sorry, that only applies for the people of this universe." Prylos wanted to make one thing clear, "I cannot guarantee your Heaven works like that."

"Oh, damn." He looked just a tad bit sad before psyching himself up to finish the explanation, "Basically, it's just like Pry here said - If you die, you skip to Heaven. So basically, you travel to the future. But, the people from the future can't go back to the past, or they don't want to."

"...Just like with the inhabitants of Heaven!" Eleanor figured it out, "Wow, you got all that so easily... How is someone so perverted so smart, even?"

"But wait, is that true?" I looked at the Gods briefly so as to confirm it, "Besides, even if it is, it'd mean we'd either have to die and join Grim, or find a way to get him to want to come back."

"Don't look at me." Aru shrugged, "Pry and Selz were the ones who made their Grand Heaven Update thingy, so ask them!"

"Prylos?" I turned to him expectantly, "Is what Issei said true?"

"Sigh, no." He looked annoyed from us asking him all these questions, "But partially yes, too. Heaven cannot be explained so easily, nor can it be fully understood by a human. Still, if you are satisfied with that answer, then I encourage you to believe it."

What kind of an answer is that!? Damn him, I thought he at least would be better than that damned Red orc and this twerp, but to think he'd be a jackass too... Ugh, are all the Gods useless assholes?!