Age of Gods
“System?”
Daniel called out.
There was no reply.
“System, where did you go?”
The voice that had been with him for thousands of years did not reply back.
Silence pressed against his ears.
Daniel’s heart was beating loudly.
The absence of the System only meant one thing.
It had left.
“Divine System, my ass. You left as soon as I saved the world.”
Daniel’s voice was bitter.
He had always had an inkling the System’s goal was not to make him the strongest but to save the world.
He was just a tool for it.
And now, discarded.
Yet, he wasn’t sad about the revelation.
If not for the System, he wouldn’t have been able to save the world.
Still, his heart was strangely heavy.
Did the System only see him as a tool?
He wanted to know.
Yet there was no way for it.
The System had left him behind.
Suddenly, a familiar yet unfamiliar voice called out to him, soft but clear, cutting through the wind.
“What are you going to do now?”
Daniel snapped his head towards the voice.
His eyes widened as he took in her face.
The woman was familiar.
There was no way Daniel could forget her.
“Selene? No… You can’t be my sister. Her soul and body were both….”
Daniel frowned and his throat tightened.
A lump formed there, bitter and cold.
His hand clenched into a fist at his side as realization sank in.
A sigh left his lips.
He shook his head, turning back to look at the vast, overcast sky.
“You really have a sick sense of humor, Typhaon. If you did that with someone else, they would’ve attacked you by now.”
“I see.”
The girl’s appearance shifted.
‘She’ transformed into a humanoid figure composed entirely of intertwining roots and branches.
The earthy scent of damp soil filled the air as small leaves sprouted from his wooden frame.
“I apologize if my appearance was unpleasant.”
Daniel felt a strange discomfort hearing Typhaon speak so respectfully.
The Father of Anomalies, once proud and defiant, now spoke with humility.
Living in the Underworld had opened his eyes.
In the abyss where countless monsters capable of destroying the earth roamed freely, Typhaon had been forced to confront his own insignificance.
Once, he had thought himself peerless; now, he knew better.
The Underworld had humbled him.
Typhaon stepped forward in silence.
His wooden frame creaked softly as he moved, standing beside Daniel.
He followed Daniel’s gaze and, together, they stared at the sky.
“What are you doing?” Daniel asked, his voice breaking the silence.
“Thinking.”
“Thinking what?”
“Your system. Is it the same guy you told us about?”
“…?”
Daniel blinked, confused.
Typhaon’s gaze didn’t shift from the sky.
“Kronos told you about someone. A guy who had been fighting alone after the world ended, right?
“You mentioned it once. I’m asking if he’s the one who sent you the system.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
Typhaon’s words stirred thoughts he’d been trying to suppress.
Thoughts he was too afraid to confront.
“Yeah…” Daniel’s voice lowered, trailing off. “Maybe it was him.”
Typhaon tilted his head slightly.
The branches creaked as he shifted.
“What will happen to him now? If he’s stuck in that future—now that the past has been changed—wouldn’t he get erased by Time—”
“Why are you so curious about him?” Daniel interrupted sharply, turning to face Typhaon.
The wooden figure chuckled.
A dry, hollow sound echoed.
“How can I not be interested? I’ve dreamt of him defeating me with a single attack.
“And if I’m not wrong, he’s the one who helped you defeat me.
“Is it wrong of me to be curious about the person who is, in a sense, my archnemesis?”
There was no malice in Typhaon’s voice, only plain curiosity.
“I don’t know what happened to him,” Daniel answered with a sigh. “The system disappeared before I could get any answers.”
“Is that so? I thank you for entertaining my curiosity.”
Typhaon turned as he prepared to leave.
He had come to the world of the living to capture an escaped ghost.
Meeting Daniel now was nothing but coincidence.
“Leaving already?” Daniel asked.
“I am tight on time,” Typhaon replied. “After I catch the escaped ghosts, I have to meet with the leader of the Titans and the Awakener Association.”
“….?”
“The Underworld is thinking of setting up a post in the world of the living,” Typhaon continued. “It’s to catch the increasing number of souls that escape from the Underworld and the monsters that awakeners summon into this realm.
“Since I’m the only living Grim Reaper and I’ve lived in the world of the living until recently, the others believed I was the best person for this task,” Typhaon explained.
“Good luck with that,” Daniel said.
Daniel didn’t know whether to laugh or facepalm.
The one who sent Typhaon for negotiations was either a genius or a complete fool.
“Looks like even Typhaon is starting to look at the future.”
Daniel’s smile dimmed as the word echoed in his mind.
Future.
It was a word Daniel had always wanted to reach.
A destination he had chased for so long.
But now that he stood within it, he felt hollow, adrift with no direction.
He looked down at his hand, watching as his fingers flexed.
Despite his thin arms, he knew he could probably blow up the entire Earth with a single punch.
“All this power… it’s thanks to him.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
His brows furrowed, and his chest tightened as conflicting emotions tore at him.
He had reached the future he once dreamed of.
But what should he do with it now?
He had no idea.
Then, was there anything he wanted to do or was curious about?
There was.
He wanted to know one thing.
Why did the man behind the system choose him?
Stay updated with empire
Why him and not others?
“It’s probably because I’m the only one who can undergo thousands of regressions and not get killed by Time.”
He sighed.
There one more thing he wanted to know, but he was afraid of the answer he would find.
Why did the man behind the system help him save the world?
Now, the man’s ‘present’ would get erased, and he would die.
Why did he do that?
It would’ve made sense if the man left the earth to live somewhere else, instead of dying like this.
“Dammit, this question won’t let me sleep.”
Daniel stared at his hands, calloused and trembling slightly.
Power, he had so much of it.
Power, given to him by that man.
“Might as well use this power to go meet him and ask the question.”
Daniel closed his eyes and delved into himself.
He searched for the System’s traces.
The System had disappeared; however, the traces were left within him.
After all, the techniques embedded in Daniel belonged to the System.
He grabbed them and used his trait.
Daniel’s evolved trait allowed him to look into the future of people.
His trait activated.
But some kind of barrier stopped him.
A pulse of resistance rippled through the air, making the light shudder.
Daniel felt the time elementals churning around him.
Time was stopping him.