The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth." A man whispered as he suddenly fainted in the middle of the room.
Out of nowhere, multiple people wearing dark wizard robes jumped in the apartment and circled the man who fainted. They drew a circle made of fine, white crystal powder and placed random items such as lizard's tail on the circle.
"Let's be quick. It won't be long before we get noticed by Him." Wooden vines entangled the man who fainted.
Seeing this, they unified their whispers and kowtowed to the circle. "O' Great Goddess, please cast down Your gaze onto us."
"Your greatness and mercy shall spread across the planet."
The whole group of cultists waited for a while. Silence was heard across the apartment until a man finally spoke.
"Nothing happened." Everyone sighed in dismay.
"Yeah, I think we should go. Maybe something will happen by then."
"Are we even sure that something will happen?" A woman in the group spoke up. "We're just reciting random rituals from the internet."
"Something magical already happened to us before. This means that Gods are real somehow. Let's go." The cultists nodded at each other as they jumped out of the window one by one.
Suddenly, a faint, white mist hovered on top of the man, encircling him before it entered in his body.
...
The man opened his eyes and immediately noticed that he wasn't in his apartment. Am I still dreaming?
He sat upright and scanned his surroundings. It was an endless, gray fog that seemed to exist for millions of years. "I should wake up soon. My boss will scold me later and deduct my salary if I wake up too late." He laid back down and closed his eyes.
He opened his eyes once again and met the grey fog. What? This isn't a dream? Where am I? "Hello?" He called out to the fog with no response.
All of a sudden, he had a really bad feeling. "What is going on?" Numerous scenes flashed before his eyes. It showed his own apartment crumbling down and many people fainting from something indescribable. He saw his own family and friends getting entangled with vicious, wooden vines and red mist before exploding. Lastly, he saw the whole world shaking and crumbling down within minutes.
"I-I'm hallucinating, right?" Despair flooded in his face, and the whole world of grey fog surged and boiled to signify his inner turmoil.
The whole planet was covered in grey fog, and the only humans left stared in horror as reality distorted around them.
Both the spiritual and astral world flooded with grey fog, and the Outer Gods eyeing the planet froze in fear.
Buildings that once crumbled stood up again, only for it to crumble again.
Doors appeared from thin air and opened, only for it to close.
Everyone had their intelligence forcefully lowered.
The man noticed this and collapsed into a giant pile of worms and tentacles. The tentacles flew around and swayed violently, while the worms crawled around and pretended that it was nothing but a worm.
Gray fog covered the mess and attempted to converge, yet it's continuous attempts failed.
The turmoil on Earth didn't stop. The gray fog only got thicker, making it hard for everyone to see and navigate around.
The people huddled together in one, small place. Everyone was anxious and feared that they would all die instantly like everyone else.
A man in white shirt and ripped jeans stood up in determination. "If everyone only huddled in this place for hours, what will happen to us? How are we going to survive?" He clenched his fist as he watched everyone stare into the fog. No one was listening to him.
"Will everyone only sit here and wait for your deaths when your loves ones sacrificed their lives for you to live?" Everyone turned their heads to him. A man stood up and faced him.
"As you said, billions of people sacrificed their lives for us to live and continue the race of humanity, and that's exactly why we don't want to leave. Have you not seen the world? It's covered by an ominous, ancient gray fog. Doors appear out of thin air, and the whole world is stuck on the cycle of being destroyed and rebuilt. How are we supposed to survive under such power? Are you trying to kill us?"
"Then how are we going to eat?" Everyone looked at each other in an ominous way, except him who still believed that they could go outside and grab some food. "Don't tell me you're planning to..."
A woman stood up and faced him, seeming defiant. "Then how else are we going to survive?" He looked at everyone that seemed to be like curly-haired baboons and sighed.
One of the young teens raised her hand and came forward. "I-I volunteer as food!" Their eyes were wide in shock. "Everyone needs to eat somehow, and we can't turn on each other. We are the last humans on Earth, and we need to continue living for the future of humanity." Everyone looked at her as if she was some kind of hero.
Everyone has become stupid somehow. "Are you really going to act like primitive cavemen? We're in the age of information, dammit!" The crowd turned angry on him. "Isn't eating each other the same as going outside? What if she has an unknown disease? Would you really rather risk abandoning your morals and eat someone before dying or be brave and contribute to humanity's survival before dying?" His words gave everyone second thoughts on their initial plan.
Those who opposed him slowly backed down and sat on their original seats.
Another man stood up and voiced his thoughts. "He's right. We've lost our minds due to our fear for this apocalypse, but going outside means we can also eventually find out how to get around these various phenomena and survive."
"Only six people can go out per team, so that if we die, there will still be people who can go out and continue our journey." As if an unspoken rule, everyone tacitly agreed to let this man become the leader.
Many people raised their hands to volunteer. "Those who raised their hands, let's all gather here and discuss our plans moving forward. The rest should collect nearby materials and build our base." This ordinary man with ordinary features had such excellent leadership skills that everyone didn't hesitate to listen.
"Five of you can go out with me today. Tomorrow, there will be another team to explore the area and bring back food. So, who wants to go with me today?" One-third of them raised their hands, still more than enough.
The leader observed those who raised their hands carefully. Obviously, those with strong physical physiques are a great choice, but this doesn't rely only in strength, but also in intelligence, mental fortitude, and more. He picked five people with diverse personalities and finally formed a team of three women and two men.
After the briefing, the group made their way to the entrance of the cave.
"By the way, we can't operate properly if we don't know each other." The leader smiled to the group. "My name is Merlin."The group introduced themselves before stepping out of the cave. Immediately, gray fog enveloped their bodies and obscured the surroundings. They could only see silhouettes of objects and each others' bodies. Ominous sounds of buildings crashing down entered their ears, reminding them of the apocalypse that destroyed their peaceful and happy lives.
"Merlin, how are we going to navigate this gray fog? And how are we going to scout for food when there's no animals to hunt?" A member asked.
Merlin snorted. "Who said we're going to hunt?"
The group felt confused with his almost charlatan-way of speaking.
"I'm a local of this area. I can go anywhere with my eyes closed." The rest felt enlightened.
"Ahhh, is that so? Then why didn't you tell us in the first place?" The teenager girl who almost sacrificed herself, who was also in this mission, asked in irritation.
"I was going to. Anyways, we're here." The group stood in front of a supermarket.
"It seems that only the streets are covered in gray fog." The muscle man nodded in acknowledgement.
The building was trapped in a cycle like most of the buildings. The rest of the group stepped back in fear.
Merlin saw this and stepped in with courage and determination. The five of them forcefully pulled him back.
"Merlin, what are you doing? Are you trying to kill yourself?" The man who vouched for him earlier scolded Merlin.
"Relax." His carefree demeanor angered the rest of the team.
"What do you mean relax?"
Merlin took his arm back and straightened his shirt. "Your fear of the unknown halts our progress to survive. Didn't you tell everyone this when you vouched for me?"
The man pushed his round glasses and agreed. "Yes, but you're rushing without a plan at all! How are we supposed to survive if you're rushing to death?"
Merlin chuckled. "Carym, who said I don't have a plan?" The rest of the group widened in shock.
"Why didn't you say so?" The rest of the group got angry.
"You guys are too anxious. We're just fetching for food, you know. Being scared and anxious all the time doesn't help anyone. Calm yourselves down."
So speaking this way is a part of his plan? Carym, the man who vouched for Merlin, quickly analyzed Merlin's carefree demeanor. What for? So that we could trust him no matter what happens?
Merlin stepped in once again. This time, the rest of the group followed.
"Let me tell you what happened here when the apocalypse arrived. A giant tree grew right in the middle of this building and was about to kill me. Luckily, the gray fog flooded this place. The tree withered and died, and the whole supermarket got stuck in a cycle." The rest of the members went silent. Everyone quickly realized what Merlin was trying to say.
"You're telling us that this phenomenon doesn't hurt anyone?" The muscle man asked, moving a floating debris out of the way.
"Exactly. Other than doors appearing out of nowhere, this phenomenon didn't actively hurt anyone. At least, that's what I want to believe." He took a small pack of rice out of the shelf and watched as it quickly regenerated.
Everyone saw this and had their eyes wide. "The-the food! It appeared again!"
Carym narrowed his eyes. "Is that safe to eat?"
"Of course, I tried it before." Merlin took a small pack of cookie, threw it to the ground, and took the other pack that appeared. He then opened it and took a bite in front of everyone. "See, nothing happened." I haven't tried it before, but it's a good thing that nothing happened.
The teenager girl looked at him strangely. "I can't tell if you're too smart or too brave."
Merlin fell silent. Perhaps I placed too much trust on this cycle and gray fog phenomenon. I can't help it, this magic saved me a lot of times, after all.
"Let's go and pack some food. After all, people might be starving. Just pack some rice, bread, and food that we can cook. Later, I'll recruit people to set this place up as our kitchen. This supermarket is nearby anyway." Everyone grabbed packs of different pastries and rice in a cart. It didn't take long before their huge carts were full.
"Merlin, is this enough?" Another girl in the team inquired.
"Yeah, it seems we have gathered a lot for the whole camp. Let's go back." The whole team each had their own carts filled with various foods and even some first aid items.
Their brief moment of comfort ended the moment they stepped outside the supermarket. The streets felt eerie, and in a moment, the five members except Merlin feared that something ominous might jump out at any moment.
Carym had difficulty navigating the gray fog. Unlike the other members, he both had color blindness and astigmatism. He only managed to follow the group thanks to sticking close to Merlin, but now he was pushing a cart, making it difficult to stick close to any other member of the team.
It seems I have overestimated myself. He continued pushing forward until his cart bumped into something. He heard a familiar yelp from the other end. "Oh sorry!"
Everyone else stared in horror as a shadow of a door opened and swallowed Merlin. "Merlin!"
...
Owww! That hit was hard, who did that? I'll take my revenge later! He stood up and was about to look for his cart when he noticed that he was in a different place. "Wh-where am I?" Unlike the outside where he can still see faint colors, this place was covered by an endless gray fog.
"Who's there!" Another man called out. Merlin tried to look around, but he couldn't see anything that resembled a man. He looked around once more and saw the shadow of a tentacle swaying around violently.
A-a tentacle? Is this one of those vicious, weird Lovecraftian things that invaded the world? He glared at the tentacle warily, ready to run away as far as possible.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" The voice called out, it's tentacle trying to reach Merlin. Although it was desperate, the tentacle was quite hesitant in approaching.
"What are you? Are you one of those things that invaded the world?" The tentacle retracted.
"Invaded the world? So it was true? I wasn't hallucinating?" The gray fog surged and boiled once again. Doors appeared more frequently, and large, slimy tentacles came out from those doors, swaying mildly and destroying everything in it's path. "Baba, Ma, my friends!"
It tore through the gray fog, letting Merlin see it's true appearance. Pain seeped through his mind and forcibly injected knowledge inside his brain.
Door
Error
Fool
Sefirah Castle
Miracle
King of Time and Space
Zhou Mingrui
Lord of Mysteries
Great Old One
Merlin's eyes bulged, begging to pop out as he cried tears of crimson blood. His veins were visibly purple, and his scream was loud enough for it to echo around the whole planet.
The tentacles turned into a man with soft, Chinese features. He wore a checkered, yellow jacket and black, rectangle eyeglasses. He desperately ran to Merlin. "No, what's happening! Heal, heal! Please heal this man!" He cried in Chinese.
Suddenly, Merlin's pain subsided. He still felt a little numb and collapsed on his arms as support.
"Thank goodness! What is happening? Who are you? Are you okay?" The man frantically checked on him and asked in English. Seeing this, Merlin sighed in relief.
"Thank you for saving me." The man was dumbfounded.
"Ah-what?"
"You must be Zhou Mingrui? You're Chinese?"
The man backed away, seemingly on guard. "Wh-what? How do you know?" A scenario flashed in the man's mind, recalling what happened to Merlin and why he fell in this state.
"While I was in pain, knowledge kept seeping in my mind. I guessed that it was your identity. Ah, where are my manners, My Lord." Merlin stood up and bowed deeply.
"What Lord? And what identity?" I'm just an ordinary Chinese programmer. The man lampooned in His mind.
"You, have no idea?" Merlin was a little speechless. It was this God's power who had saved his life, yet even "He" seemed clueless as to what was happening. He recalled the gray fog that surged and boiled, the doors that appeared out of nowhere, and the tentacles that swung like a mindless beast.
"I was just an ordinary programmer yesterday. Then suddenly, I woke up as a strange tentacle monster with powers." The term tentacle monster made Merlin recall some things. "He" dare call "Himself" such a vulgar thing.
"That's really strange. It's been three days since the apocalypse happened, and humanity reduced into 300 people. Your powers appeared out of nowhere in the second day and engulfed the whole world." Zhou Mingrui felt guilty, as He didn't know what He did or what happened.
"I'm sorry." He kept His head down and didn't dare look at Merlin who was still bowing.
"Actually, your power repelled most of the things that killed everyone, including those vicious vines and red mist. Even the moon turned crimson the whole night on the first day, but when your powers appeared, it disappeared without a trace." He faithfully told everything he knew to this God who accidentally saved his life so many times.
Mingrui questioned the apocalypse silently and the answers He looked for appeared in His mind. "There are enemies waiting outside Earth. If I retract this gray fog, "They" would come back to Earth and the apocalypse will start again. Until I find out what these powers are and how I can utilize it, you and the rest of humanity will have to suffer under these circumstances. I'm really sorry."
This God is very human. Merlin's faith for Mingrui deepened unknowingly. "It's alright, My Lord. Your powers never harmed anyone. In fact, without Your power, we wouldn't be able to feed everyone. I'm deeply grateful for Your miracle. If you want to figure out some things, I can be of some use."
Mingrui watched this display of faith and fell silent.
Notes: