Leo thought it was incredibly weird. Why were so many gods paying attention to him anyway? First Michael, then this giant panda. Was it just because he transmigrated from another world, or was there some other reason?
No way he could guess it, but he probably had to shoulder some karma from their distant past. At least for now it was a good thing, a huge help for realizing his ideal.
"Why choose me?" Leo asked bluntly.
Not being able to guess didn't mean he didn't want to know. Knowing what was coming meant he could prepare better, his chances of getting through it would naturally be higher.
"Ha ha ha, confident, aren't you? I haven't even said I chose you yet."
The panda laughed loudly, but just from the tone, the answer was clear. Obviously, the other party had his sights set on Leo from the start.
"If you're not saying it, what's the point? It's not like I could have come to this place on my own. I definitely don't have that kind of power."
The first weird place Leo went to wasn't very clear, but it was probably this 'world' that pulled him there. The second place was clearer, it was definitely the panda who called him there.
"Fine. It's true I intend to choose you to make a contract, but first, let's talk a bit. Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Eat God."
A huge, chubby body, really likes to eat... Putting those points together and calling him Eat God didn't seem wrong.
"I'm Leo, just an ordinary person..." He paused for a beat, feeling even he didn't believe that line, so he added.
"Who has lived two lives."
One life, two lives, whatever. To an ancient being like Eat God, these two lives combined were just a few decades, not even comparable to a fraction of his.
"If you had power, what would you do?"
"Of course, use it to pursue my ideal. I want a world where people can live the best they possibly can."
Leo answered decisively. He never forgot his own dream. Becoming the king of the world or something was just to support that dream, he didn't actually want to be king.
"Wow, didn't think you'd have such a grand ideal. The chosen one is different after all."
Eat God laughed in reply, taking the chance to praise him. But Leo didn't react much. He wasn't doing this to get praised by others.
"And what if you had no power? If you couldn't awaken, couldn't become a contractor, then what would you do?"
Even though he'd observed Leo carefully from the start, Eat God still wanted to hear a more direct answer. Daring to think doesn't mean daring to say, daring to say doesn't mean daring to do, daring to do doesn't mean never giving up. The latter part was hard to verify, but at least he had to see if Leo dared to say it confidently.
"Of course the answer is the same as above. I've already died once, what is there left to worry about? The worst isn't just dying one more time, right?" Leo answered bluntly.
"Ha ha, as expected of the chosen one. Your guts aren't bad. For someone like you to inherit, consider my job done."
Eat God laughed, full of satisfaction, then kept eating. He'd been eating all this time as if this was his very last meal.
"If you make a contract with me, what happens? Do you die, or do you come along with me?"
Now the awakening thing is set in stone, but what happens after isn't very clear to Leo. If Eat God could actually stay by his side, the benefits would surely be plentiful. After all, the other party is an ancient being who knows many old secrets humanity has no records of.
"No need for you to worry about that. It's not that I will die, but that I died a long time ago." Eat God joked as if the dead person here wasn't him.
???
Right now Leo felt his brain was a bit inadequate. What do you mean died a long time ago? You're clearly right in front of me. Could it be you're like me, also someone living a second life?
Seeing the strange stare fixed on him, Eat God immediately understood Leo was guessing wildly about his past.
"I'm not human, I've looked like this since the day I was born. If not killed, you could say my lifespan is infinite. Not like you, dying and then coming to this continent to continue a life."
Leo stared at the giant panda before him with a look of disbelief. According to him, that meant he had been killed. Just who had the power to kill this terrifying guy? That scary dragon from earlier couldn't even put up a fight in front of him.
"Ha ha, really surprising, right? It's true, someone did kill me. Curious who it is?"
Eat God was still as heartless as ever, comfortably using his own death as a joking matter.
"Who was it, really? Could it be another god..."
Other than being killed by another god, Leo truly couldn't think of any other scenario. If humanity had many people as strong as or stronger than Raphael, they could definitely kill Eat God, but why do that? From what he'd seen, Eat God didn't have a taste for killing people, so it wouldn't be worth such a big sacrifice. As for dragons... Could it be dragons?
"Or is it dragons? After all, you eat so much, they'd probably react."
Leo felt this possibility was very high. Dragons weren't that much smaller than Eat God, just a larger number would have the potential to kill a god.
"How are your guesses so good? Both are right, both dragons and gods attacked me."
Eat God looked at Leo, slightly surprised, not expecting wild guesses to hit the mark.
"You alone against all of them? How did it end?" Leo looked at him curiously.
This past event happened who knows how many years ago. Raphael definitely couldn't have known about it.
"The specifics I can't say, but the situation back then was very chaotic. All kinds of petty conflicts accumulated over the years, all sorts of beings joined the war, and in the end, the whole bunch died. The gods on this continent probably haven't appeared since then... At least not for tens of thousands of years."
Speaking to the end, Eat God seemed a bit hesitant, his manner not very certain.