"Ugh... dammit! Why is it that every time I revert to this lowly human form, the limitless power of my Divine Chicken state has to be sealed away? It's bloody annoying!"
A young man, possessed of a beauty so striking he looked carved from marble, spat a curse into the humid air. His hair, a brilliant gold that shimmered like the plumage of a celestial bird, caught the dappled sunlight. This was Rooster—once the high-and-mighty overlord of the God City, now reduced to wandering aimlessly through the jungle in a set of common hempen clothes, kicking up dust and pebbles in his wake.
"And those four humans back there... what a nuisance!" Rooster clicked his tongue, his brow furrowing in irritation. "If they hadn't been sprawled out across the path like clutter, I'd be at the village by now, gnawing on some herbal grilled chicken to kill the boredom. Wait..."
He froze for a moment, then vigorously ruffled his own golden hair.
"Hang on... I was a chicken, wasn't I? Why the hell am I craving grilled chicken? ...Bah! Who cares! Even if we're technically the same kin, if they dared to be born so delicious that they tempt the palate of a god like me, then I shall devour them all! In this rotting world, deliciousness is the only true justice!"
Rooster let out a long, weary sigh and tilted his head toward the canopy. "I miss it... back when I ruled up there..."
[Four Days Ago: The Celestial Realm]
BOOM!
A blood-soaked figure skipped across the clouds like a stone across a pond, slamming into the Sacred Golden Bell before the Heavenly Vortex. The massive bell buckled, shattering into a million shimmering shards, the shockwave clearing the celestial mists for miles.
"Hahaha! Who do you think you are? You pathetic excuse for a Grim Reaper!"
A laugh, saturated with pure arrogance, thundered through the sky. There stood Rooster, clad in his Divine Golden-Armored Chicken form, perched atop the highest spire. He pointed a wing-tip downward at his fallen foe with utter disdain, cheered on by a cacophony of thousands of celestial beasts and minor deities circling above.
"Get him, Boss! Show him no mercy!"
"How dare he challenge the Boss right at our front door!"
"Boss Rooster is the greatest in all three realms!"
Rooster puffed out his chest, soaking up the praise with a smug grin. "I appreciate the sentiment, boys! But it's only natural, isn't it? Listen here, Reaper... I didn't win the title of Warden of God City in a lottery! My skills are legendary—even the High God has to watch his tone with me!"
The Grim Reaper struggled to push himself up from the rubble, his breath tattered and his spirit broken. "To think... I underestimated this crazy bird this much..."
But just as Rooster began to roar with triumphant laughter... C-crack.
Suddenly, his body seized. His eyes widened, and his heart—once racing with the thrill of battle—skipped a beat, then fell silent.
"No... oh, dammit..." Rooster whispered, his voice trembling. "Is it today? Am I really turning eighty quadrillion years old... today? No! My lifespan is—AGH!"
Before his subordinates or his enemy could process what was happening, the arrogant deity dissolved into a swirl of golden stardust. Rooster was cast down, reincarnated into a human vessel devoid of his soul-crushing pressure. Yet, deep within his marrow, he could feel it: the primal power of the "God's Poultry" was still there, dormant, waiting to be awakened only when he returned to his feathered form.
[The Present]
"Being human is a chore. Walking on two legs is painfully slow, and I've started muttering to myself like a senile old man..."
Rooster continued his grumbling, his hand moving to his stomach as it let out a sharp, protesting growl. "I'm starving! Where is my grilled chicken?! If I don't eat in the next ten minutes, I'll curse this entire forest and turn it into a cornfield!"
"KYAAAAA! HELP ME!!!"
Suddenly, a woman's terrified shriek pierced the air from the direction of the nearby stream. Rooster stopped dead, his elegant eyebrows knitting together in annoyance.
"Now what? These lowly humans really do have a knack for finding trouble," he exhaled sharply. "Let it be known that I have zero desire to help! But if whatever is making that racket scares off the fish in that stream and ruins my lunch... then I shall consider it an enemy of my stomach!"
With a stride that was both graceful and insufferably haughty, Rooster headed toward the commotion.
"Very well! I shall sacrifice a moment of my divine time to see the face of this screamer... Rejoice, mortal, for you are about to behold the majestic back of a god!"