Against The True Gods

[Unknown Location]

The void in this place was a blend of all colors, arcs of chaotic scarlet lightning tearing in and out of its fabric, drawing geysers of white liquid, as if the void itself were bleeding.

Storms of divine proportions clashed and overlapped, creating an endless cycle of destruction and rebirth. Chaos reigned.

Amidst this chaotic landscape, two figures sat around a small table, each resting on floating mats.

Both were veiled by their auras, but the sheer weight of their presence was enough to drive any mortal to insanity.

"A Mortal True Defiant, oh my." One of the figures chuckled aloud.

The figure summoned a pot and two small cups, beginning to pour tea for both of them.

"The Heavens won't like this, hm? It's been a while since I've heard its voice."

The other figure shook its head. "I've heard no one has been able to uncover the identity of this entity. All we know is that he's young and possibly related to… him."

A pause followed. As those words left the figure's mouth, the entire world around them froze.

They locked gazes, their eyes narrowing.

"…how do you know he's young?" the first figure finally asked.

"A kid recently entered the top five of the Youth Origin Ladder. He went from being unranked to directly securing a spot in the top five."

"Well, there have been two of them in the last few years, so there are two possible suspects. Either way, the kid is young—stupidly so."

The first figure grinned, revealing a toothy, sinister smile, full of aged malice.

"On another note… I smelled a bit of sin in the boy's voice…" The androgynous voice suddenly dropped, deepening into a masculine, low rumble. "I might've found my inheritor already…"

"A kid so attuned to the sins that even I can feel it… oh my… I might've found something great…"

The other figure shook its head and sighed as the first continued to cackle, a chorus of amusement and malevolence.

Time retook its course around them as they sipped their tea in silence, but internally, the second figure couldn't help but think.

'…I could swear I've heard that voice somewhere… was I dreaming…?'

***

Caine's body was flung through time and space, moving at speeds so fast that the structure of his body constantly unraveled into filaments of flesh and runes, only to be compressed back together into one whole.

Parts of his body aged, while others rejuvenated in an endless cycle that tore him apart. Yet, strangely enough, there was no pain. He could tell that he was entirely fine, as if a spectral force had wrapped around his body, ensuring nothing would truly harm him.

He continued falling through an abyss of all colors, an eternity passing in an instant.

And then, he stopped.

Mid-air.

His momentum vanished.

Looking around, Caine saw something indescribable.

At its core, it was nothing but darkness. And yet, part of him felt as though he were surrounded by countless eyes, each containing power that transcended the word 'God' countless times over.

Though the void was dark, in its crevices, he saw an endless expanse of colorful worlds—each full of life and death, peace and war, chaos and order.

The pressure should have been suffocating, gnawing at the fabric of his mind's sanity and forcing his Will to crumble beneath its weight.

And yet…

He felt fine.

No—he felt better than he ever had in his life.

'…this is all so strange yet… normal? I definitely shouldn't be able to sense any of this…'

Suddenly, amidst the darkness, in the distance, Caine saw a man.

The man walked forward, a lit torch in hand.

WHOOOOSH!

The darkness twisted and changed.

Snow-covered soil appeared beneath Caine's feet. The abyss above shifted into a vast, dark blue sky, ravaged by abyssal snowstorms.

Caine remained unaffected, an intangible observer amidst it all, but he paid no attention to his surroundings.

His gaze remained locked onto the man trudging through the storm.

The man was tall, nearly seven feet in height, his toned, primal body riddled with scars, hidden beneath the beast pelts that covered him.

His long, oily black hair and thick beard obscured his features, but his burning emerald pupils pierced through the storm, illuminating the path ahead.

Step by step, he advanced.

Silent. Unrelenting. Driven.

His gaze burned endlessly, its flames flickering like an eternal beacon, above any possible failure.

Caine's heart began to palpitate as he watched the man traverse the landscape.

Even as the seasons changed, and the snowy expanse became a scorching, unforgiving desert, filled with otherworldly creatures, the man remained unphased.

Even as he swam through boundless oceans and seas, he remained unphased.

Even as he walked through a dense tropical jungle, his steps pressing into the damp earth, surrounded by apex predators, he remained unphased.

There was something terrifying about the cadence of his steps, about the sheer consistency of all that he did, and most importantly, about the stoic silence in which he did it all.

His gaze continued to burn, the flames growing brighter and brighter with every step.

The man was dirty, covered in dried blood, and riddled with injuries.

He had not uttered a single word.

And yet… Caine felt as though he were looking at the highest of royalties.

He couldn't put it into words, but something about the man impressed him just as much as it frightened him.

This fear rapidly vanished—but the fact that it had even been born was a testament to the sheer weight of the man's presence.

The man was strong.

Undeniably.

Unfathomably.

No doubt, he was the strongest man Caine had ever seen.

"Watch."

Caine's heart skipped a beat as the man suddenly paused and looked directly at him.

"Watch well."

The countless beast pelts that covered the man's body faded away, revealing a toned, vascular frame, carved from pure will and experience.

A spear appeared in his hand.

The weapon was simple and crude—a wooden shaft with the tooth of a beast he had slain affixed to its tip.

And yet—

The killing intent that surrounded it was—

RUMBLE!

The skies roared.

The heavens trembled.