To end his eternal boredom, the God of war renounced his divinity and scattered it across the lower realms. An empty spot was left in the Pantheon. The remaining gods decided to hold a competition between demigods to see who was most qualified to ascend.
For 15 years, demigods fought each other, throwing the realm of Edafos into chaos. Finally, the son of Liza, Goddess of mischief, succeeded the throne. King of a ruined nation, ruler of ashes, he received his divinity soon after.
His first act as king of all was to abdicate. His first act as God of war was to send a message 20 years back in time to his competitors and to himself. It read as follows:
“Dear losers,
As your King and God, I am extremely disappointed with your performances in this past war. Not only were you pitifully weak in battle, but many of you had the gall to be surprised by my actions. We have all received the same notification regarding this competition, but I can count the ones who took it seriously on both hands.
You have no idea how underwhelming the past 15 years have been. As the newly appointed God of war, I will not accept this hollow victory. I am a generous God, so I will give everyone another chance.
However, please be warned: I have been merciful once. If you refuse to fight, I will hunt you down and destroy everything you’ve ever loved. I will scorch this world anew.
Of course, this is probably very confusing, so besides this message, I will leave you with 3 gifts:
- Information: In 5 years on the 16th of November, the current God of War will renounce his position. The next day, you will hear an announcement saying that the demigod, who conquers the world and unifies it under his/her sole rule, will be proclaimed the new God of war. If you’re hearing this message, you are a demigod and you’ve already lost this competition once. I gave you time to prepare this time, so use it!
- I have blessed you all with a piece of my divinity in hopes that you would be less disappointing the second time around. No thanks required.
- To give you a taste of what is to come, I've included a snippet of your future which will play… now.
“Noooo!” I screamed while clutching my neck, the images still vivid in my head. Dread like I've never experienced took over me. I sweat last night's wine in a matter of seconds.
Still shaking, I turned my head towards the purple blob responsible for all of this. With no distinctive features other than its color, deep male voice, and the fact that it could fly, Sir blob appeared out of nowhere to give me the shock of my life.
“What the actual hell??” I blurted while taking a step back and almost falling into the water.
“Hell doesn't exist Sir, only Tartarus".
_______________________________________________
Normally, I’d leave the pub at reasonable hours. But, when the town beauty Adria showed up and my buddy started treating everyone to get her attention, any reason I had quickly flew out the window. Sadly, he failed in his conquest. But hey, everybody does.
The party finally ran its course, and I left in the dead of night singing to myself. Fortunately, my house was easy to find. As the only 2 story house in our village, it looked more like a villa a noble would use. It stood out like a sore thumb, but nobody complained anymore. Those who did when we first moved in soon stopped after meeting my dad.
A small shiver ran down my spine when remembering those days. I opened the gate slowly and sneaked inside. When passing by the shed, I was struck with wisdom. I reeked of alcohol and would likely be unable to prepare a bath or even provide a reasonable lie as to how I got in this state.
So, instead of facing my parents, I did the next best thing: I grabbed my fishing gear from the shed and sneaked out the yard, then went straight to the river. I could take a bath and then use the fish to placate my mother. Brilliant!
Unfortunately, before I could even find my bait, which upon recollection I forgot to even bring, I was blinded by a white light which soon turned into a purple blob. Without even an introduction, it began reciting a weird message before my vision suddenly went blank.
Next thing I knew, I was mourning at my mother’s grave while my sister was being dragged away by armored men. The vision blurred, and I was now looking at my father, or what remained of him, sitting lifeless in a hole. A priest was muttering something while the surrounding people mourned. Most of them kept a sword firmly lodged into the ground. They all wore some form of protection though pieces were missing from each set. Some were smashed and barely hanging onto the body.
At the forefront of these men, one stood out despite his face looking just as tired as the rest. His garments were a vivid red, though they were now half covered in mud. More importantly, his armor was intact, only a small dent here and there. On his head was a round golden circle. I squinted my eyes to get a better look, but this vision wouldn’t follow my will.
Soon, the scene switched to an image of the ground. Tiny drops of water fell down in 2 uneven rows. Suddenly, I could hear wailing sounds and pleading.
As soon as I realized the voice was my own, I was sucked into the vision and felt everything this version of me felt. I felt the wet ground beneath my feet, my shivering, soaked body. But most importantly, I felt fear. Not for my mother, not for my sister, not for my mangled father, but for myself. I raised my head to see a big burly man holding a sword directly above my neck. The blade was almost as wide as my shoulders resembling a longer guillotine blade rather than anything a person could wield.
Through teary eyes, I pleaded for my life in any way I could. I vowed to serve the land, to serve the executioner, to be sent into slavery, to give him my limbs and my life if only he would spare me. The man's large beard hid his lips, but I could tell from the cold lifeless eyes that he wasn't listening. He was just doing his job. To him, I was merely the next chicken he was going to slaughter.
Still, the damn vision persisted as if on repeat. On and on I'd plead with no reaction from the man whatsoever. Again and again, I would smack my head against the ground and kiss his boots if only he would spare me. Eventually, my mind went numb. I silently prayed for it to end, for the guillotine sword to finally fall. When I next lifted my head, it did.
By the time I stopped shivering, the sun started to rise. I’ve missed my chance to catch anything, not that I'd care at this point. I've been staring at the blob all this time, and if it had eyes, it would probably have stared back. Finally, I took one big breath and spoke:
“Can I hear that message again, minus the vision?”
“Certainly Sir”. With an emotionless voice, it replayed the speech.
“Again".
“Yes, Sir".
“Again".
“Certainly".
Only after listening to it 5 more times and almost memorizing everything did I start asking questions. For a piece of divinity, the blob was awfully unhelpful. All it could tell me was what I already knew. There would be a war, and I would die. It couldn’t even remember the date of my death, only saying it would about a year after the war began.
Cause of death? Execution as punishment for desertion. How did it come to this?
“Does it matter, Sir? Whether you died as a hero, as a traitor, or as some innocent bystander, the fact of the matter is if you do not take this matter seriously, you will die. Your parents will die. You sister will be left alone and probably die too some time after.
You have 5 years to prepare for a war that will turn this world upside down and most likely ruin it. As your divine guide, I will assist you the best way I can.”
My face went pale. This could not happen. I would not allow it.
“What do I do now?”
“Unfortunately, my knowledge is currently limited. I will offer advice after I gain a better understanding of your circumstances.”
So, basically my only help in this war was a talking blob who knew nothing. Fortunately, there was someone I could actually rely on. And, someone who could give me some answers. Forgetting my gear and why I was there, I picked up my feet and ran home.
