After being thrown into the vast, unknown region known as the [Creators’ Domain], the silence that followed was almost deafening.
There were no more announcements, no more speeches from the Creators, no guidance or instructions, just one simple, cruel rule: “Do whatever you want, and when only two pairs remain, it’s over.”
That was it. No more handholding.
Now it was truly just them against the others.
Meanwhile, billions of people, viewers from countless planets and systems, were watching every second unfold.
Their attention was glued to the screens, hoping their chosen gods would win, eagerly waiting to see who would fall next.
The [Main Round] had officially begun, and it was no longer just a trial, it was entertainment, a spectacle of survival and bloodshed.
And, naturally, that also meant one thing.
Nobody wanted Alex and Kaelios to win.
They had been ranked dead last in the popularity poll, and that ranking had been made very public.
The people didn’t trust them. They didn’t believe in them.
Some even hated them outright.
In the eyes of the spectators, Alex and Kaelios were the villains, too aggressive, too cold, too unpredictable.
Still, that didn’t matter.
Alex wouldn’t stop.
He stood quietly, eyes scanning his surroundings as he took in the world he had been dropped into.
The ground beneath his feet was made of soft soil, a huge open plain that stretched on for miles.
But above them, above their heads, there was no ordinary sky.
Instead of clouds and sunlight, there was space.
Planets floated in close proximity, glowing with powerful energy.
Some were on fire, some made of crystal, some cracked in half like broken marbles.
Stars burned in the distance, pulsating with unnatural colors, violet, gold, and blue.
It was a surreal sight, like standing in a dream or a simulation too advanced for the mind to process.
“Beautiful,” Alex muttered under his breath, unable to look away.
“Is it?” Kaelios asked with a tilted head, less impressed, “We should focus more on what’s around us than what’s above.”
“True enough.” Alex tore his gaze from the sky, his boots crunching softly against the soil as he began to move forward.
As the Creators had said, not all the rules of the [Main Round] had been revealed yet.
They would only learn more as time passed and as they explored the Domain.
That in itself made things even more dangerous, walking blind into an arena where death could come from the environment itself, or from a rule you didn’t even know existed until it was too late.
“This reminds me of the [Dragon Bloodline Trial] I did a while ago,” Alex murmured as they kept walking, eyes darting from one side of the field to the next, “Except this time, the stakes are way higher. One mistake and we’re finished.”
Kaelios let out a short hum of acknowledgment but didn’t reply.
The area they had been dropped into seemed barren, no structures, no enemies, no traps.
Just an endless clearing of gently swaying grass and soil.
That likely meant all five pairs had been dropped into different parts of the Domain, far away from one another.
It would take time before anyone met.
That brought up a good question.
Wouldn’t the best strategy be to simply wait it out?
If they hid and kept moving carefully, maybe the other pairs would destroy each other first.
If they got lucky, they might make it to the final two without having to do much at all.
Maybe they could even win by default.
But Alex shook his head at the thought. That wasn’t him.
It didn’t sit right with him to hide in the shadows, hoping others died before him.
It was cowardly.
Besides, deep down, something told him it wouldn’t work anyway.
The [Creators] weren’t fools.
If someone tried to wait it out, they’d surely introduce something that would force them into the light, a new rule, a new enemy, a sudden twist.
They were playing a game designed for gods, after all.
“The only way out is forward,” Alex muttered.
Kaelios glanced at him, then up at the sky again, eyes scanning the bizarre space above them.
“We can’t dwell on this forever. Let’s just deal with whatever comes. If we die, then we die.”
Alex looked at him for a long second, silent, then gave a nod.
“Fair enough. Let’s look for one of those structures they mentioned. Might give us some kind of edge.”
He could feel the weight of the countless spectators pressing down on him like invisible eyes, watching his every step, waiting to see what he’d do next.
“…Tch.”
Suddenly…
Crack! Swash!
As Alex took another step forward across the empty field, something shifted.
Something inside him.
He stumbled slightly, and without warning, his vision twisted.
His pupils burned crimson, and the aura around him flared violently.
The calm scenery of grass and space melted away, and in its place came a vision of hell.
Fire.
Endless screams.
Burning bodies and mangled souls writhing in agony, crawling across the dirt as if trying to escape their eternal suffering.
The sky bled red, and the earth cracked beneath his feet.
“What the—”
Even with his godhood, Alex stumbled backward.
He felt panic creep into his chest.
His hands clenched.
This wasn’t normal.
“KAELIOS!” he shouted, turning, instinctively expecting his companion to be nearby.
“WATCH OUT!”
But Kaelios wasn’t there.
The entire plain was gone.
Instead, in the far distance, something rose, a figure.
Towering. Monstrous.
The Hatred Demon.
Not in his weakened, fairy-like form, but in his true body.
Massive, hideous, wings of shadow stretching across the sky, claws long enough to tear through cities.
He grinned.
A wide, crooked smile that showed far too many teeth.
“The hatred is almost consuming you,” the demon said, his voice booming like a bell of doom.
He lifted a claw and pointed at Alex, his crimson eyes glowing.
“Do you enjoy seeing what I see with those eyes of mine? This… is my world. And it’s becoming yours too.”
Alex gritted his teeth.
“Go to hell.”
The Hatred Demon chuckled lowly.
“Fight it then. I can’t touch this world anymore, but the hatred is still present. Fight it, or lose yourself.”
The flames grew hotter.
Alex’s thoughts began to break apart, collapsing under the surge of bloodlust.
Rage began to crawl in his head, whispering for him to kill, to destroy, to rip the world apart.
But then…
Fwish!
A hand touched his shoulder.
“Hey? You okay?”
Instinctively, Alex turned and swung with all his strength, driven by the illusion’s panic.
His fist connected solidly.
CRACK!
“GAH—!”
The illusion shattered.
Instantly, the fire disappeared. The screams stopped.
The sky returned to its space-like beauty, and the quiet rustle of grass returned.
Kaelios was on the ground, rubbing his jaw with a groan.
Alex stared, his breathing heavy.
The aura around him slowly faded, and the crimson glow in his eyes began to dim.
“You spaced out,” Kaelios muttered as he stood back up, “Your eyes turned… wrong. Crimson, with flame-like pupils. What the hell happened?”
Alex didn’t answer right away.
He looked forward, heart still racing, then sighed.
“Just forget it. I saw something. Doesn’t matter.”
Kaelios narrowed his eyes but didn’t push further.
Together, they kept walking.
Nothing else happened for a long while.
The plains stretched endlessly, and neither monsters nor traps appeared.
Time passed quietly, with nothing but the sound of their steps on the earth.
Then…
Ding!
A sound echoed in their minds.
Before them, a tall, ancient-looking structure appeared, rising from the ground like a monolith, carved in glowing symbols.
The air around it shimmered with energy.
[You have discovered one of the five structures in the “Creators’ Domain”: The Creator Altar.]
[Because of that, more rules will now be explained to you regarding this realm.]
Alex raised his eyebrows.
“Finally.”
Kaelios stepped forward, curious.
“Let’s see what kind of twisted rules they’re planning next.”
Whatever this altar was, it would be their first clue.
Their first advantage. Or their first mistake.
But either way, they had no choice now. They were in the game.
And the [Main Round] had only just begun.