The Twilight of Death Verse

“Prince of a fallen empire, the one they used to call the BETRAYER, he is Prince Etherio, a demigod. His long grayish hair and deathly skin, pale almost purplish in color, was the result of delving into Death Magic. Long story cut short… he is the god of injustice, imbalance, and disorder. His main weapon is a sword with two different edges, one burning with rage and the other frozen with grief. His sword is called the Frost Burnt. If his opponent is stronger than him, his power doubles.”

“In the past, they made human sacrifices in his name so that catastrophes won’t occur. He was known to control the weather, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. He is the serpent god of pressure, Tydon. Covered in bright red scales and three pair of bright yellow wings, a pair in his head, another in his body and the last pair on his tail, this god is known to be the TYRANT. In his human form, he is this guy with bright long yellow hair wearing a bright red cloak.”

“Known as the BLOODBATH, he is the red god of war. Afel is a defiant god who constantly hides his aggression underneath that handsome smile of his. Although he is gentle to look at, all that is in his mind is total chaos. A belief of his worshippers in Sleep World is that he needs to be offered any blue-colored material to prevent unwanted chaos and wars from happening. He has a twin brother named Mago, the blue god of peace, his total opposite. His weapon of choice… is himself. He is just like you, Cyrrus… a weapon god. I wonder… who would win if both of you were to battle?”

“He is the cartographer, the biographer, the historian, the encoder, the library, and the god of wisdom and knowledge. In the past, I called him the GOLDEN MAP of Sleep World. He was sought out by a lot of adventurers as a map. They never knew that he is the sleep god Index Atlas. He looks like a ghost, or an apparition, or a hologram. He was never created to fight, but he can fight. However, he is only here to observe and study the geography of this universe… so that when I become its god, I can easily navigate this place from the top-most outer layer to the deepest inner layer.”

“Then, we have Noiricca the goddess of nightmares. As you can see, she is a nurse in a pink uniform. The red panda stuff toy she is carrying is called Night Terror. Of course, that bloody bear is alive as well. Apparently, she created the thing to serve as her weapon aside from her main one which is a gigantic syringe with a sharp edge blade needle is called the Injection Blade. When I was still a mortal adventurer, I unconscious or subconsciously created her from my extreme anxiety and phobia. She is beautiful, dangerous, calm, innocent, naïve, unfeeling (maybe), and the best thing about her is that she only listens to me. FYI, she is the youngest of the Sleep Gods and the strongest.”

“Finally, born from the Fallasleep family, and the nth reincarnation of Xeel, I am Gabriel Crimson Fallasleep. All of my feats right now is the result of various training, adventures, and misadventures, and the experiences and insights I got when I was still and until now… a human. I am not part man and part god. I am fully a human and fully a god. As a magician, I am a slayer swords magician. As a curse-user, I am partially cursed by the Moonlight Berserker Curse. My animal weapon is a school of piranhas. I also have a gift called Gravity Shift. I have three elementals: the first one is a room-maker, the second one is a driver, and the last one is a gunner. My spirit partner is a flare spirit. Finally, my power of sin is called Vengeance.”

“Gaining powers and etcetera is really part of being the kind of god that you are right now?” The Reaper of the End of the Worlds, Nymbus Livanne, interviews them and directs this question to me.

“Actually, gaining powers or power sources as it is called in Sleep World is part of daily living.” G explains, “Aside from power sources, we have racial diversity.”

“That means, there are people as powerful as you in that world,” she concludes.

“That’s not the case,” Etherio explains his point. “There are powerful races out there but having god soul in you makes you way higher. Sometimes, that can’t be the case for… master.”

“What Etherio meant to say was,” Index expounds the thought. “Master G was able to beat gods without having to rely on his god soul. Of course, being a god grants you all types of power source. But with only using those power sources while the gods are being gods, I could rewatch his matches again and again. The fight with Voix was different though… Master G needed to use his god soul.”

“About the battle,” Cyrrus Crystl becomes very curious. “I bet you already know why he is there and what his reasons were. I want full disclosure of the events that occurred when he left until his apparent return.”

“You are getting cocky, boy.” Afel stands up to intimidate him.

“Sit down, Afel,” G chills him down. “They needed to know the truth so I’ll give them the truth. Best be prepared…”

“I also want to know,” the queen comes down to listen.

“As do I,” Darling follows her quickly.

“After you,” G ushers them to their thrones.

Chapter 1: A lot of Secrets

“Knowledge is power,” G magically draws animated graffiti. “Knowing your enemies well is one major factor in defeating them. Voix is obsessed with becoming more powerful that he experimented on his firstborn. He believes that his son Caine can carry on his will as a Supreme Being of his own when the time comes for him to become one… or so he thought. His son was gifted with the power to temporarily borrow the power of another reaper by eating it. Doing so made him a prodigy during his time. Caine became the pride of the kingdom. It is as if Voix knew the greater benefit if his son awakened. Yes, he knew what kind of awakening Caine would be having… for he is his father’s experiment. Sadly, the father modeled him after cannibals. It’s intriguing, to be honest, how those not created by the Supreme Beings end up evolving on their own. Never would the gods have thought that such part of evolution is possible with cannibalism of souls. Of course, Voix hatched the plan perfectly, in his own opinion. I think it made him weaker. The more he craved power, the more he lost it. The queen knows about this and she must be the one to tell all of you. At least, one of you already knows,” G gazes at Cyrrus with a grin on his face. “I’m such a spoiler, isn’t it?”

The queen stares at her daughter as she ponders to make a decision, “The reason that Voix was easily defeated by G on their first encounter was because of me. I am the other half of his power which is why I can do what he can. If we wanted to seal him away, I would have to give his other half back to him.”

“This is an outrage!” Claad Moir stands up yelling. “With all due respect, your majesty, we cannot allow you to die!”

“If you are the other half then you will die on the process,” Fugn Junto falls to his knees. “If Voix gains you, then he’d be much stronger than ever…”

“Is there no other way we could seal him?” Strotus Darling asks G for other alternatives. “I don’t want mother to die…”

“The choice lies with Cyrrus Crystl,” G raises his left arm toward the Cyrrus Crystl who is standing at a far corner.

“What does he have to do about this?” Gusius Majo asks the Sleep God. “What does it have to do with you, commoner?”

“Simple,” G, like the antagonistic protagonist that he is, grins at the thought. “If Cyrrus Crystl prays to me and swears his allegiance to me, then the queen won’t die.”

“Are you fucking serious?”Gusius Majo aggressively reacts to him, “Of all the more important things we could offer you, you wanted his allegiance?”

“You don’t get to say anything,” G glares at her. “Who are you anyway? Index!”

“She is Gusius Majo, death goddess of sun and moon.” Index fills him the details, “She is apparently the strongest of the knights.”

“That’s preposterous!” Claad roars in disbelief. “Are you sure you got it right, sleep being?”

“I am always right,” Index Atlas sighs. “You are just in denial.”

“Now that’s harsh,” Smowk side-comments.

“Now that you know that I am the one more qualified,” Gusius Majo raises her head high. “I should be the one you should be asking for.”

“Excuse me,” Index butts in. “I only said that you were the strongest knight. Cyrrus Crystl is the strongest god slayer and the strongest of the twelve.”

“You are lying,” she becomes more spiteful. “That commoner can never be the strongest! I invoke my right to challenge you to a battle, Cyrrus Crystl!”

“I object,” Nymbus Livanne approaches Cyrrus Crystl. “I cannot accept the fact that you are even stronger than me or even the queen!”

“That’s enough!” the queen breaks the tension. “Love him or hate him, there is nothing you can do about it. Even if we are older than him, there is nothing we can do but to accept it. Livanne, I know your pain because you designed this universe. I, also, cannot believe how unfair the world is. You might call him commoner now, Majo, but he is what he is. You are only going to hurt yourself. Cyrrus Crystl, will you swear your allegiance to him or will you let me die?”

“If he gains all his power back,” Cyrrus Crystl asks G, “can you still beat him?”

G and the other gods of sleep with him, except for Noiricca, breaks into laughter.

“What is funny?” Comulus Jet becomes furious. “Can’t you feel the atmosphere?”

“Having his power returned to him to get him sealed is my second reason,” G wipes the tears off his eyes. “The main reason for me returning his full power back to him is because… I want him to realize that even he got his FULL POWER back, he can NEVER beat me, UNDERSTOOD?”

“Now this is more like it,” Afel smirks, “Confidence. It’s true though…”

“Way to go, Number-6,” Tydon sneers at him.

“What about it, low-ranked Number-17?” Afel gets back at him. “What are you glaring at, low-ranked Prince?”

“Immature,” Etherio rolled his eyes. “I’m Ranked 15, dipshit.”

“I SWEAR MY ALLEGIANCE TO YOU, SLEEP GOD,” Cyrrus Crystl approaches G, “Don’t let the queen die.”

“Deal,” G walks outside followed by his Sleep Gods who are glaring at each other. “I have added something on your name to make it look… better.”

“You’ll have to come with us,” Noiricca tosses a card at Cyrrus Crystl. “That is your new name as part of your allegiance.”

Crystl checks the words written on the card, “CYRRUS CRYSTL VOID. Ah uh, wait a moment…”

“Yes, lad,” G turns his attention back to him. “Is there anything wrong?”

“You are supposed to be retelling the story of Voix’s exploits…”

“Did I now?” G puts his hand on his chin, “wait did I?”

“Actually, yes,” Index scratches his holographic head.

“Even you forgot you should be the best at these things!” G yells at Index.

“Nobody is perfect,” Index reasons out.

“Shit, he is right,” G whispers to Etherio.

“He got you there dad… dad… daddy-o…”

“I’m not your dad,” G stares at the fallen prince.

“Of course, the expedition wasn’t just any usual adventure.” G continues Voix’s tale in front of the god slayers and the knights, “He uh cooked the expedition so that you and the others that perished along the line were parts of the ingredients to his vile experiment. That, excuse my word, IMBECILE PRINCE bought everything just to become stronger. Actually, this is how I really speak so yeah. Your beloved asshole wanted it, of course, being fed in a silver spoon by his daddy who gave him everything he ever asked, SHIT. Anyway, let us skip the death part partly because I don’t want you people to get too attached to the reapers within that guy’s body. But let me tell you this if your mother permits it… KILL HIM.”

“Why would I allow such a thing?” the queen raises her voice. “He is my son and no matter how cruel he is, I will not allow you to kill him!”

“Even if it means bringing back the dead back to life,” G sighs. “It is a difficult choice, right? One life… for the sake of bringing back others… especially your dead loved ones?”

“Shit, Master G, you sounded so dark there,” Tydon comments.

“Alright, where were we? Ah, I remember now, the plan of Voix went perfectly except that… the next event became unexpected,” G snaps his fingers. “You, Cyrrus Crystl, ruined his script. It’s true that Caine was able to eat you… or your abilities I mean. Your reawakening was something that they never would’ve expected to happen.”

“Reawakening, do you mean to say that I have awakened before?” Crystl presses further to know the truth.

But the queen stopped G from digging further, “I will be the one to tell him all about it, Mr. Fallasleep.”

“Why can’t you say it, now?” Crystl yells at the queen. “As a matter of fact, my allegiance is with him now. You should tell me…”

“The queen is right, this is about Voix.” G ignores him and continues, “Crystl was able to severely injured the traitors and fled to let everybody know about what took place-”

“DO NOT IGNORE ME!” Crystl charges at G with both of his arms turning into blades.

*CLANK*

Afel grins after blocking the attack with his own blade arm, “Sometimes you have to see the bigger picture of things, boy. Think of it as a game, when you finally defeat the boss… you’ll get the secret as a prize. Unless you want to ruin your destiny-”

G clears his throat, “we are not bound by those DESTINY SEEKERS.”

“What I meant to say is our sleep version of destiny and beginnings who is the demigoddess Orchid Wednesday,” Afel shoves Crystl off. “Trust me, boy, even with your eternal weapon at hand, you can never be at my level.”

“It seems that you people have your guards up,” G looks at the knights and the slayers. He also sees that Crystl transforms back to normal, “That is a good decision. Moving on, Voix was desperate to find out that his son failed that he tried to abandon the thought of his son and make you as the replacement. BUT YOU have your doubts already, which is why he tried to brainwash and yet he failed again. Do you know why?”

“Because I broke his brainwashing,” Crystl answers while looking down on the tiles.

“Because his awakened ability is to break the laws… the rules… the world. Queen, I want him to know a small truth about him because you will give him the larger part of the truth later.” G winks at the queen, “your ability to manifest weapons was a weakened version of your true ability. That’s not even your ability. For a long time, your ability is to become a weapon.”

“Why can’t I remember?” G looks at his palms.

“That wasn’t the first time that you were brainwashed,” G gently smiles at him. “I’ll leave it there for the queen to do the finishing touches. At least, I have relieved some of your worrying stress, right? You know the feeling that you do not belong and yet you are there…” G then gestures *BWOOOOOSHHHH!* “mind blown~”

“That’s weird,” Index rubs his forehead.

“Yeah, definitely weird,” G facepalms himself. “Voix broke the RULES, that I didn’t know existed in the first place, and had his right arm severely damage just by trying to brainwash you. As revenge, he made you into a god slayer and that if anyone thought that they should be the one to be called a god slayer instead of you will attack you and probably kill you. Seeing that you are still here meant that they failed to do it. Voix fled with his butler in a desperate attempt to find a way to become more powerful while making his son and his men cannibals and let me tell you this, they have an army of cannibals.”

“He sent me away so that they could do what they wanted,” the queen covers her mouth as tears roll down her face. “We were all played…”

“Unbelievable,” Smag Jazz clenches his fists with anger. “I was prepared to fight Crystl. He was trying to break us apart…”

“How do you actually know all of this?” Steim Lichten becomes suspicious.

“I didn’t,” G points to his gods, “but they did, not really them but their siblings and co-gods knew. I didn’t even know that they were training me to be who I am right now. They planned these things ahead of time just for me. They relayed everything… because TIME flows differently from where I came from.”

“If there are visitors, gods of a different race, we would know immediately!” Steim presses on. “This is truly suspicious.”

“Fathor thought so too,” G names another of his gods. “He is the Sleep god of Reapers and Souls. He’s already left… do you remember the noodle restaurant owner?”

Fugn Junto comes to a realization, “For real? Crystl, that’s where we used to go with Khendal after your job before you ended up being here!”

“Who is Khendal again?” Crystl asks.

“FAAAAAAAAAK… I forgot about your memory.” Junto hits his own head. “A good friend… Khendal is a good friend of us...”