The day started quiet. The trio had just finished a week of intense training in a small village on the edge of the mountains. The air was fresh, birds chirped overhead, and Mike was on the ground again, groaning.
"Man," Mike muttered, brushing dirt off his shirt, "this ground's got beef with me."
Jay cracked up. "Nah, you just suck, bro."
AO stretched under the tree with his arms behind his head. "Yo... so about this whole Forbidden God thing."
Jay raised a brow. "Oh, here we go."
"Nah, I'm serious," AO continued. "If we want to learn about magic or why we're stuck in this world, we gotta dig into its history."
Mike stood up, wiping sweat off. "Yo. What? Chill out, bro. You sound like a conspiracy theorist."
Jay shook his head, arms crossed. "I ain't gonna lie, I've seen those Forbidden God symbols before. Thought it was just decoration until now."
That's when EMI, quietly nibbling on an apple near the wagon, looked up and said plainly, "I know them."
All three turned.
"They're bad people," she said. "Very bad people."
Mike blinked. "For real?"
Jay leaned forward. "Yeah, that's enough reason to keep our distance."
AO narrowed his eyes. "Nah. That's the exact reason we need to learn more."
They ended up at a dusty old library near the village square. There, buried under layers of forgotten books, AO pulled out a thick red tome with a strange sigil on the cover — one they'd seen before.
"Gods of the Forbidden."
"Bingo," AO whispered.
They poured over it. Cryptic words. Disturbing stories. Sacrifices. Bloodlines. Rebirth.
None of it made full sense, but all of it felt connected.
That night, they left the village.
Elsewhere, In a Quiet Inn
The moon was high in the sky when Star and her two companions—Kira and Nira—arrived at the sleepy town of Leris. Tired from their travels, they'd taken up rooms in the local inn. Star sat near the window, watching the stars. Her thoughts were heavy.
Kira snored loudly in the next bed. Nira quietly scribbled notes in her book.
Then—
BOOOOOM.
The inn shook.
Star snapped to her feet. "What the hell was that?!"
She rushed to the window—and her heart dropped.
A massive golem—easily two stories tall, its body glowing red-hot with embedded stones—marched through the streets. Buildings shattered in its wake. A cloaked figure followed behind it, laughing as if the world was a joke.
Star bolted out the door, sword in hand.
Moments before the destruction—
Mike grabbed Emi's hand, eyes sharp. "You listen to me—go hide. Now. Don't come out until I find you."
Emi hesitated, her lip trembling. "But—"
"No buts." He knelt down. "I'll come back. I promise."
He hugged her tightly. "Now go."
She ran. Into an alley. Behind a cart.
And then—
CRASH.
The golem's foot came down, cracking the earth like glass.
Mike turned, eyes flaring with fury. "Jay! AO! MOVE!"
The trio sprinted through the chaos—rescuing civilians, carrying wounded from burning homes, catching babies tossed from windows. It was hell. No magic. Just blood, sweat, and desperation.
They gave everything.
Until the golem noticed them.
And struck.
Jay's body snapped like a twig.
AO was thrown through a house.
Mike—pinned beneath rubble, barely breathing.
The cultist stepped forward, laughing. "So this is what the so-called 'heroes' look like."
Everything went black.
Star Finds Emi
Star dashed through flaming streets, dodging rubble. Screams rang out. Chaos reigned.
Then—she spotted her.
A small girl, curled behind a shattered fruit stand, shaking, eyes wide with terror.
Star rushed over, kneeling beside her.
"Hey! You okay? You're safe now."
Emi whispered, "Mike… he told me to hide…"
Star froze. "Mike?"
Kira and Nira arrived seconds later. Kira asked, "Who's the kid?"
"She said Mike told her to hide," Star said. "As in… the Mike?"
Nira blinked. "The one who vanished 3 years ago?"
Star looked Emi in the eyes. "What's his full name?"
"…Mike Tsukiharu."
Star's heart dropped. "That's impossible…"
Kira tried to laugh it off. "Yo, are we talking about the Mike? Dude with attitude and insane sword skills?"
Emi nodded. Yeah "He's like… a dad to me."
BOOOOOOOM.
Another explosion rocked the town.
Star pulled Emi close. "We're not leaving without answers."
The Soul's Path
In the void between life and death… there was light.
Mike gasped.
Jay coughed, blinking awake. "Yo… what the hell?"
AO sat up, stunned. "We were… dead."
Mike looked at his hand.
It glowed blue.
Jay's arms sparked faint red. AO's shimmered white.
The cultist laughed. "You think resurrection will save you? You're still nothing."
The golem roared, swinging again.
Jay stepped forward. "Nah, I got this."
He raised his palm. Fire erupted. The golem's arm exploded.
Jay blinked. "Did I just…?"
Mike grinned. "You have magic now."
The golem reached for AO.
AO grabbed its wrist. "Don't."
FLASH.
The golem's arm vanished in a blink of light.
Mike closed his fist, electricity crackling. "Let's finish this."
He launched a bolt of lightning—BOOM—right into the golem's chest. It staggered, cracked, then crumbled in pieces.
The cultist backed up. "P-please, mercy—"
Jay walked toward him.
"Wrong world."
And punched him into the ground.
Departure
With the golem gone, the townsfolk regrouped. The trio helped repair what they could—but the power faded as quickly as it came.
Mike searched desperately.
"Emi?! Where is she?!"
A villager spoke: "Some silver-haired girl—she took her. Said she was going to the capital."
Mike's heart twisted. "Star…"
AO rested a hand on his shoulder. "She's safe."
Jay added, "We'll get her don't worry bro
On the road to the capital, the trio sat in the back of a wagon.
Jay stretched. "We really died, huh? And came back with powers. That's wild."
AO looked out the back. "It's more than magic. Something bigger is moving."
Mike stayed quiet, staring ahead.
Jay cracked a grin. "Yo, this is totally some Isekai storyline."
AO: "Shut up."
Jay: "Nah bro, next thing you know, we're fighting dragons and dating elf princesses."
Mike smirked. "If you fall for an elf, don't bring her home."
They laughed. The sky was clearer now.
But the weight of what came next hung in the air.
Their souls had awakened.
Their enemies were rising.
And the Forbidden Gods… were no longer silent.