After choosing the skill he wanted within the [Creation] space, Alex felt everything go dark.
Consciousness faded from him in an instant.
[You will know if you received the skill upon waking up.]
[Good luck.]
Those were the last words he saw, two simple sentences on a glowing panel, words that vanished just as the surrounding world collapsed into pitch-black nothingness.
…
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, minutes, hours, maybe days, but like every time before when he had exited a domain, Alex’s eyes suddenly flew open.
“…!”
A sharp gasp left him as his body bolted upright, instinctively scanning his surroundings.
But he wasn’t in the ethereal palace anymore, the distinct divine pressure was gone.
The white stone, the endless stairs, and the celestial silence, it had all vanished.
Instead, he found himself back in the cold, dimly lit basement of the [Church of the Dawn].
The [Door of Destiny], that towering, golden gate that had led him to the palace, was gone.
“…Oh,” he muttered, blinking slowly as reality fully sank in.
Everything felt more grounded now.
He could breathe without feeling the weight of cosmic judgment pressing down on him.
The silence, however, wasn’t peaceful.
His eyes lowered to see the room, and there lay the still body of Aldritch against a nearby wall.
The man hadn’t moved a muscle since Alex left.
Blood had streamed from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, staining the floor around him.
Dead. Just like that.
That was what happened when a normal mortal was exposed to the sheer presence of a [Creator], in this case, Vexum’s aura.
Aldritch had never stood a chance.
Alex didn’t say anything for a long moment.
He merely exhaled and pulled up his [World Map], half-expecting the [Palace of Destiny] to be available for teleportation now.
But it wasn’t. It hadn’t been added at all.
Even after entering such a sacred realm, he couldn’t return to it.
Not unless something, someone, opened the way again.
“I guess that’s that,” he murmured to himself, a flicker of disappointment passing through his gaze, “Would’ve been nice to meet the other Creators too, but for now…”
He sighed deeply, closing the panel.
“For now, I need to move forward until the [Chosen Games] begin.”
With those words in mind, he raised his hand to teleport.
His fingers hovered over the [Garden of Destiny], ready to return to Kaelios and report about his whereabouts.
But then…
Ding!
[The “Skill Creator Scroll” has judged the skill you wished to take.]
His breath caught slightly.
He wasn’t nervous, not really, but his heart still beat faster.
This was the moment that would determine if everything had been worth it.
If he had truly managed to claim a piece of a [Creator]’s power.
A success here would mean more than just power, it would be a game-changer.
And then…
[By a stroke of luck, you have managed to understand how “GBlasters” work and thus have acquired it.]
“Yes!” Alex couldn’t hold back.
His voice burst from him in a rare shout of celebration as he laughed out loud.
His entire body seemed to buzz with renewed energy.
He hadn’t felt this kind of excitement in what felt like months.
[You have acquired the “GBlasters” skill, but its name has been changed to “Void Blasters” instead.]
“Cooler name,” he muttered with a grin, nodding approvingly, “Void sounds way better anyway.”
But he didn’t waste time celebrating.
His curiosity got the better of him, and he immediately opened up the skill panel.
He needed to see what this was, what it could really do.
[Void Blasters (Forbidden)]
[Description: When activated, the user summons up to three Void Blasters.]
[Each Void Blaster charges energy through its internal core, gathering raw destructive power into a single devastating beam.]
[The longer they charge, the stronger the beam becomes. However, if a Void Blaster takes damage while charging, the energy core violently destabilizes and resets, forcing a new buildup from scratch.]
[A maximum of three Void Blasters can be active at once. Each blaster has a five-minute cooldown once destroyed or deactivated. There is no cost to summon them, as the user has an affinity with “Void.”]
He read it slowly. Then again. Then a third time, making sure he hadn’t misread a single word.
There it was. A forbidden ability wielded by Vexum himself.
And now, now it was his.
Of course, he could already tell this wasn’t the same exact version the [Creator] had used.
Vexum’s GBlasters had no cooldowns as the being had summoned dozens at once without even blinking.
But still. Even this “lesser” version was insane.
It could turn the tide in battle.
Maybe even obliterate some of the other Chosen Ones before they realized what hit them.
He clenched his fists. Good.
He would need this kind of power.
He didn’t waste another second.
Click!
He tapped the [Garden of Destiny] and selected it as his teleport destination.
He had wanted to rest or strategize a bit first, but not now.
Not after realizing what kind of weapon he now held in his hands.
He needed to prepare. He needed to train.
And if he recalled correctly, he still had about 18 days left before the [Chosen Games].
Every second counted.
Fwish! Ding!
[You are teleporting to the “Garden of Destiny.”]
Less than five minutes after waking up, his body was already dissolving into pure particles, swept away by the teleportation spell.
And just like that, he vanished from the church’s basement.
When he reappeared, his feet landed once again on the glowing, grass-lined floor of the [Garden of Destiny].
The place hadn’t changed, peaceful, radiant, and surrounded by soft golden light.
Alex barely took a breath before preparing to sprint toward the monument in the center, where Kaelios usually awaited him.
But this time was different.
He didn’t even get the chance to move.
“THERE YOU ARE!” a thunderous voice exploded in front of him.
Golden light surged in front of his eyes, and Kaelios himself materialized directly in his path in a flare of divine energy.
“Holy shit,” the God of Destiny muttered, eyes wide, his tone equal parts exasperated and shocked.
“Huh?” Alex blinked, caught off guard by Kaelios’s tone and sudden appearance.
The god usually waited calmly near the center or observed silently, rarely reacting to Alex’s arrival.
But this time…
“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN FOR THE LAST TWO WEEKS?!”
“What?” Alex frowned, “I was gone for, like… a few hours at most…”
Kaelios stared at him as if he’d grown two heads.
“Hours?! The [Chosen Games] start in five hours!”
The words hit him like a punch to the stomach.
“No way,” Alex muttered, disbelief washing over his face.
Without hesitating, he pulled up his system timer.
[Time before the Chosen Games: 4 Hours, 37 Minutes…]
He stared at the glowing numbers in stunned silence.
“…Oh no.”
He had miscalculated.
Somehow, over 18 days had passed while he was inside the [Palace of Destiny].
Whether it was the flow of time inside the realm itself, or during the godhood ascension, or maybe just within that strange [Creation] space, time had moved faster than he realized.
But it didn’t matter. There was no going back now.
Even though a small part of him wanted to panic, to curse himself for letting so much time slip away, he didn’t.
He stayed calm.
“Relax,” he said quietly, glancing at Kaelios, “We need to spend these last few hours smartly. Panic’s useless now.”
Kaelios let out a long, steady breath.
“Yeah. You’re right. Otherwise, we go in blind and hope for the best.”
Alex shrugged, “We might have to, anyway.”
At least Kaelios would be on his side.
That was something.
Snap!
With a snap of his fingers, Kaelios transported both of them to the central monument.
A second later, a white marble table and two chairs formed beside them, summoned with a flick of divine power.
The God of Destiny motioned for him to sit.
“I wanted to do a lot before the Games,” Alex began, sitting down across from him, “Talk to the others. See Alice, Aurelia, maybe check in on the Angels or the Dragons. But that’s all gone now.”
He shook his head slowly.
“Guess we focus on what’s left.”
Kaelios nodded in agreement.
“Let’s go over everything.”
And so they did. There were no more second chances. No more preparation time.
Just four hours and a bit of strategy.
And then? The [Chosen Games] would begin.
Whether he was ready or not.