“Glad to see you got our message,” Nicholas said. The Unnamed Team was currently sitting at a large table within The Feral Tomcat. They had reserved the tavern and even asked Jenna and Mateo to leave. They needed to be alone while they talked to their guests: The Heroes of The Voice. The topic at hand was not a light one. The outcome of this conversation would dictate the two teams’ actions going forward.
“Yeah, we did. I’m guessing this has to do with all of the sins being defeated or disabled?” Brandon said. His team approached the table and quietly sat down. An intense air weighed heavy on their minds. This was it. Regarding the topic of their last meeting, this would be the final time the two teams sat down to discuss the Genesis Program. The Heroes of The Voice had previously revealed the stated mission, but the impending finale worried them. No one was sure what would happen after their mission was complete.
“Wow, way to steal our thunder,” Rex said. He was looking forward to announcing his team’s most recent exploits and rubbing it in. The Unnamed Team had managed to eliminate or deactivate all seven sins. Meanwhile, The Heroes of The Voice were only able to slay Wrath with the help of others. For a group with a title like theirs, they hardly managed to complete a single mission that Genesis delivered to every participant. It was The Unnamed Team that did all of the hard work despite being under-leveled and ill-equipped for most of their journey. Why wouldn’t they brag about their accomplishments?
“Funny you should mention that, you little-” James started saying before he was cut off. He was about to berate Rex for taking his only racial skill, [Lightning Breath]. Emperor Crach of the Haqsian Empire continued to pester James over his combat prowess ever since their meeting in the capital. He even challenged The Heroes of The Voice to a duel because he wanted to see their strength. Each confrontation needed to be avoided to hide the fact that James was a less than stellar dragonborn. The only bright side was that they finally understood how The Unnamed Team felt after defeating several sins.
“Alright, we’re not here to fight. We should probably tell you about the message we got from Genesis.” Lizzy said. Genesis was fickle when it came to talking about the Genesis Program. More often than not, the two teams were free to do whatever they wanted. The general mission was to kill or deactivate all of the sins, but the teams were never told how to do so nor was there a time limit. They could have easily watched the years go by as they grew strong enough to defeat the sins without utilizing unorthodox tactics. It was only by coincidence that The Unnamed Team met all seven sins and somehow defeated them.
“It’s always your team getting the messages. I still don’t get why our teams are treated so differently.” Robyn said. It was a mystery that perplexed the eight participants. One could argue that Genesis was playing favorites, but that assumption was too fictional. Preferring one team over another seemed counterproductive when everyone was on the same mission. Plus, The Unnamed Team was the most exemplary group in terms of mission completion. If anything, they should have been the ones getting preferential treatment.
Instead, The Heroes of The Voice started with everything. They knew their mission. They had the king’s support from the beginning. They weren’t human, and their new races that came with numerous benefits and extra skills. They had wealth, power, and equipment. Genesis was much kinder to them and always had something insightful to say. Those four were practically living in a true fantasy world that catered to them. They were what real summoned heroes should have been treated as.
Meanwhile, The Unnamed Team started with next to nothing and barely scraped by until they were recognized for defeating sins.
“Different? Different. Yes, we kill angels instead of demons. Very different.” Davis said with his odd speech pattern. He looked up to the sky as if his new targets would come to him, but all he saw was the roof of the tavern. The others watched him with a close eye. Davis was an odd kobold, but he wasn’t a liar.
“You what?” Xander asked. He and his team wore concerned looks. They were already enemies of the demon race because of their actions against the sins. Fighting against angels would be another problem that The Unnamed Team couldn’t handle. That all went beside the fact that they assumed their final mission would be to eliminate the Demon King. It made the most logical sense. Defeat the Demon King after defeating his underlings. Thus, they’d save the world or something along those lines. Shifting to a war against angels was a change no one expected.
“Turns out our mission had changed. We thought the final boss was the Demon King, but it’s actually the four archangels that govern pretty much everything: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance.” Brandon said. According to Genesis, the four named archangels stand above most gods in terms of power and followers. While the gods made the heavens and earth, these angels made mankind. All races originated from the angels’ first creation but were eventually corrupted by demons. The connection between angels and demons had been debated in the past, but Genesis considered the information to be confidential. The only thing that the two teams knew was that both parties were officially enemies.
“Seriously?! What is up with this stupid system? I can’t understand what it’s trying to make us do.” Nicholas said. There was a loose connection between slaying demons and angels. In one way, the mission could be interpreted as humanity rising to defeat its original creators. In another, it could simply be a test of power to see if the races had grown since their initial creation. The only thing that couldn’t be explained was the Genesis Program. Why grab people from another world to do such a grand task like this? Why not grab residents or warriors that already lived here? Where did Genesis fit into all of this?
“We were surprised as well. The plan was to join forces with you guys and raid the castle you’ve already been to, but that’s no longer an option. To start, we’ll need to figure out how we’re even going to get into the heavens.” Lizzy said. There were no answers to their endless questions. All the two teams could do was move forward. The Genesis Program had to end eventually. Their missions would cease, and they’d be free. Until then, it was best to deal with each problem one at a time.
“Genesis, why can’t you just give us a straight answer? What are we supposed to do?” Rex said. He leaned forward and pinched his brow. The constant lack of answers often left the eight feeling lost. Sharing information was becoming a hassle, and neither team had a communication skill that could make life easier. The completion of missions would have been much more streamlined if everyone involved knew what they were tasked with. A clear response was all that they wanted.
Fortunately, it was what they received.
“QUESTION RECEIVED. ANSWER: PARTICIPANTS WITHIN [THE UNNAMED TEAM] ARE TASKED WITH DEFEATING THE DEMON LORD. PARTICIPANTS WITHIN [THE HEROES OF THE VOICE] ARE TASKED WITH DEFEATING THE FOUR CARDINAL VIRTUES. ONCE A TEAM HAS COMPLETED ITS MISSION, THE FINAL ASSIGNMENT WILL BE READ. AFTER THAT ASSIGNMENT IS COMPLETED, THE GENESIS PROGRAM WILL END.”
