Somewhere above the clouds, above the world of every creature who has no control over themselves.
The monsters laughed, watching Kaelen feel that he could change what they had written.
Among them was Zeph. "Don't forget that he is the first one to go against you script."
They watched him in utter disgust and gave the side eye of 'you don't belong here.'
The god-eater, chained by Zeph, said. "Don't forget that I would have killed all of you, if it wasn't for him."
One of the cold-blooded beings tired of obeying Aditya's orders delivered a kick to him.
The others laughed to forget what he had said. The kick didn't hurt him, nor did it hurt his pride. It hurt the gods pride instead. Bullying the weak was all they could do. After all, they were the weak ones who had to order Zeph to kill the god-eater.
"Try to kick me with these chains gone next time." His words echoed across the room.
The gods looked at him with malice. The same god kicked him again.
Zeph caught the kick with his shoe and pushed him a few steps away, which made the god fall on his back. "I will be taking my leave now."
Zeph picked up the platform on which the god-eater stood.
A voice came from the other side of the hall. "Hey put him down."
The other gods followed. "Yeah, put him down."
Zeph bowed down on one leg. The way he had been taught. "I got one order. To stop him. I won't let anyone kill him before Aditya's orders."
The gods whispered to each other, cursing Zeph. They didn't even bother lowering their voices once they knew Zeph could hear them.
He teleported back to the embodiment of creation.
"Your face tells me something went wrong."
"Yeah, and the fucking god-eater that I am carrying on my back doesn't tell you anything?" Zeph said, putting the god-eater's platform on the floor.
The embodiment's voice changed. Suddenly it was shocking and way friendlier than Zeph had ever heard. "He's my co-worker. Or at least he used to be. He was going to be the one to train you, but he chose a different path."
Zeph looked at the God-eater and then at the sky. "You were friends with him? Didn't he want to kill you? And why did he go that way? How are the two of you so powerful, yet you two can't even change anything?"
The god-eater spoke, his voice deep and had the weight of grief of centuries. "I will answer that."
Zeph looked at him. Something had changed in him, not his physique or his gestures. Something inside him had changed. He opened his mouth. Nothing came out. Zeph tightened his focus on him. The god-eater hesitated.
Zeph curled his sleeves up. The curses sticking up on his skin were eating him.
The god-eater looked to his right, then to his left. He smiled, looking downwards, he started. "It was around the time when we were born that your species took place. Not long after that, we became friends. With us came those gods that you already know of, and workers like us stop this broken from falling apart." He stopped for a moment some old memories of something he didn't want to remember had freshened.
Zeph felt how he got the nickname. The dark energy that surrounded him refused to change. It was enough to silence anyone.
"When Kaelen's powers were found, the news got to us quick. Since then, I had to kill every god who came close to him before he unlocked his full potential. Aditya saw himself in you, that is the only reason you are alive."
Zeph clinched his hands and turned around. "Aditya this, Aditya that, what has he done other than hiding from me. He wants me to be his successor, yet he refuses to see me or help me. Help you. All he wants is power. He clings to all you for power. Will you stop licking his boots and do something without him?"
They laughed — not at something funny, but at something too stupid to deserve anger.
Zeph kept switching his gaze from the god-eater to creation. His expression turning more confusing with each turn.
Then creation spoke. "Do you understand that without him, you wouldn't be here. And I wouldn't be alive. Kaelen would have been dead. He gave the choices you are talking about. He is the only one who can get us whatever we won't. You don't have the right to criticize him."
"Whatever we want? What do you mean by whatever we want? He has been making us move in circles. He has never given us any progress."
"Us? You haven't stayed here any longer than I have spent killing gods without breaks. How many gods do you think I consumed?"
"And where did it get you? Can't you think for yourself? We can't trust anyone. This is a battle for authority where you can never win or lose. Even if we make a mistake, we won't lose, only a fraction of what we have."
The remaining warmth left his voice. It turned grave, cold, and steady. "I have killed more gods than there are humans on your planet. You might be thinking I tracked down gods and then killed them, but no. I have killed gods without a second's rest not even once did I take a rest from killing those bastards ever since Kaelen's potential was discovered."
"That didn't answer my questions at all. Is this the best you can do to make me fall for the same trap as you?"
Chains broke. God-eater appeared in front of Zeph, curling his hands around his wrists. "Listen, kid, we are going up against beings who have lived here since the beginning of the world. None of us know how we came here who created us. Other than him"
Zeph pulled back his wrist. God-eater didn't let go of it."He is a human? Why did you never tell me?"
"When he was a teenager, he tried to find out why we simulate emotions and situations in our brain, and when he was done with it. He learned something we didn't. He could simulate every possibility of the end of this world by the time he was 17. His brain would automatically think of how a situation would go once he thought of it."
Zeph's mind went blank. He thought he was the most blessed human then he fought Kaelen and now this. How low was there in the rankings?
The god-eater patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, allow of it will be yours. Just be obsessed with it like he was with his goal."
No matter how much he resisted. It was the only way. And if he wanted to get his hands on those powers, he would have to do it as Aditya says. But he realized something new. No matter how stronger he gets and will get, he won't be able to change shit. When he was a regular child, he thought if i got popular, I would influence them all. Then, if I get powerful, I could kill him, remove that, do that. But now with power he couldn't imagine before, he asks for more, and what has the one with that power done?
The god-eater walked away back to killing gods. Zeph watched him slowly fade into another uncertainty.