Apophis and his team finally arrived at the portal's exit.
The other side of the interdimensional portal was very particular! The whole sky was black, streaked here and there by magnificent red and purple comets which illuminated the stone ground below. The atmosphere was peculiar, both terrifying and fascinating.
Colonel Zareil seemed relieved when Apophis and his team finally joined him. Due to the strange effects of the portal on time and space, he'd waited almost five minutes after arriving on the other side himself. Zareil had been starting to doubt Apophis's word.
For his part, Apophis was extremely surprised by the new dimension's environment
Interdimensional portals of this sort didn't take a person from one part of the galaxy to another, but to an artificial dimension similar to a dungeon or raid.
Their scope and appearance, unsurprisingly, represented the nature of their creator's power. The more powerful the creator, the bigger and richer the pocket dimension on the other side would be. Some powerful gods even had huge palaces inside their dimensions, since it was, logically, the safest place for their physical incarnation.
However, this place was anything but a god's dimension! It was very poor in color, and the surrounding universe seemed barely alive.
All of Apophis's team members were even more amazed. They usually spent their days fighting monsters on Federation planets, so this was quite the change of gameplay for them!
Then Apophis noticed something strange—Zareil seemed as calm as he himself was in this environment.
Even though Zareil was a top-notch Ascensionist, he was still a mortal, and witnessing the secrets of the universe for the first time 'should' have surprised him!
Zareil said, "Well, you're here. Let's go! I investigated the stone platform we're walking on and I felt an energy anomaly to the north."
Apophis, irritated with Zareil's authoritarian and detached tone, replied, "Enough, Zareil! Tell me, what exactly do you know about Regnier?"
Zareil didn't appreciate this questioning of his authority. He drew his revolver in less than a second and pointed it at Apophis!
Apophis's team quickly fell into fighting positions—
But Apophis hardly batted an eye. "That's enough! Put down your weapons." Then he addressed Zareil. "If you want us to be effective in our mission, we need to know who—or what—we'll be fighting. From what we've seen so far, Regnier is anything but an ordinary demigod."
Zareil holstered his revolver. "You're perceptive indeed! Very well, then, since you already seem to understand the basic situation. It's true, Regnier is no demigod. He was once a true god who fell and was cursed by all other gods. Due to this, he still bears some abilities which are ordinarily the domain of true Stellar Gods. Do you see now?"
Apophis nodded slowly. "How can you know so much, Zareil? You're no mere colonel of the Federation."
Zareil paused just a moment before answering. "I'm a follower of the Goddess of Justice, Lathémis. She charged me with the mission of killing or capturing Regnier. I will bring him before the domain of the gods, so that he may be judged."
Apophis was astonished!
From his first life, he knew that it was quite rare for a god to attract enough hostility from all the others that they'd agree to such a common action!
Only one thing could make them come together like this: Regnier must have intervened in the affairs of mortals!
So their mission in this dimension was thus much more difficult than Apophis had realized. This also explained the mission's high level, as well as its S-Rank difficulty.
They weren't here to neutralize a mere demigod, but a fallen god!
