Shiva, the God of War.
The Ran race was said to have been created by a Nature God.
It was said that his name was counted among those who ruled the world before the 12 Gods.
And such a powerful person was now stuck to a wall and looked filthy.
“Disappointed?”
Shiva smiled at Isis, who didn’t react much.
“I guess so. Your ancestor is like this, so it will be weirder if you are not disappointed.”
The Ran warriors couldn’t say anything because any word they would utter would just make the disappointment sink into them.
They were told that the traces of Shiva were found, so they came all the way here. But when they arrived, they found an old man who couldn’t even use his strength.
An old man who was trapped in a wall and was unable to move was their ancestor? The being who made them? And their King sacrificed himself for this?
But not to one person.
Whatever his appearance was, it didn’t matter. Isis spoke, devoid of any emotions.
“We came here to find your traces.”
“I know because I told that child.”
His eyes turned to Mayatrey.
Isis turned to her, and then she nodded in agreement.
“Right. I was the one who spread the word for you to come here.”
When asked where the rumors about Shiva came from, they came from Mayatrey.
“Huhuhu. Maya had arrived here by accident a few years ago and chose to stay here. Thanks to that child, I had an idea of what was happening outside.”
“Then we don’t need to explain anything. We need you.”
A new God was born on the other side.
Their side also had a new God whom they could use. So Isis tried to keep her cool and continued,
“I have come to see you, our God.”
“A pity.”
Shiva’s eyes were filled with pity as he looked at Isis.
“You are in a fit of anger. As much as the grief you are feeling, your emotions are also being dominated by anger and hatred.”
“That doesn’t matter anyway. Come with us. I will get you out.”
Isis raised her sword and walked to Shiva, and she stabbed her greatsword, infused with aura, into the wall.
Kwaang!
But there was just a loud crash and nothing more.
Isis’s eyes widened.
“It won’t work. Whose curse do you think it was that a simple attack can destroy it?”
“… how do we get you out?”
“Hehehe. It won’t work. And….”
Shiva answered.
“Even if I get out, I don’t think I can physically help you.”
“Why…”
“Because it has been such a long time since I was here. I guess even lifting my hand will be difficult. There is not even a handful of power left for me to move my body.”
“Then you…”
“Right. Just a spirit.”
Isis ground her teeth so hard, it would not be a shock if they broke.
“Then why are we even here…!”
Her face was stained with despair as she sat down.
“Why did father….”
As if a dam had exploded, she collapsed.
Realizing that the reality was hopeless, Isis couldn’t hold back her sadness.
“Anger, hatred, and sadness.”
Shiva looked at her.
“What does it leave behind?”
At the words that she couldn’t understand. Isis looked at him with tears in her eyes.
Shiva had a calm smile as he said,
“Let me tell you a story. An old one.”
The rain, wind, and lightning were raging like a storm.
The black hair that flew like a lion’s mane was fluttering.
The man with white eyes that were emitting electric currents was holding a huge sword. The horrifying tattoos on his muscles and upper body were made scarier by the raindrops.
“You have come all the way here.”
The man said growling in anger.
The mist around him was raging, but it wasn’t from the air shuddering at the heat from his body but from his presence alone.
“You defeated Osiris? All the other ones you…”
“You are the last.”
The man dazzling on the other side in light was Ra, the Sun God.
“Did you bury your brothers?”
Ra just shrugged at the question. As if that answer was enough, the man, Shiva, sighed.
Holding his sword with both hands, he pointed it forward.
Intense energy began to swirl around his body. For an instant, even the wind and rain didn’t touch him.
“You have turned into a monster beyond help.”
Shiva said in a pitiful tone, and Ra smiled.
“I’ve fought with you a lot. There were days I didn’t win, and I respect you. But respect is like power. So I saved you for last.”
At those words, Shiva was shocked.
He focused all his anger on his sword. Among the numerous Nature Gods of Bless, the one with the highest level of strength was Shiva.
The problem was the opponent.
‘It will be difficult to win.’
Numerous Nature Gods have already been absorbed by Ra.
In the past, they were rivals of equal strength, but now that Ra has absorbed the Gods, he must have gone past a level he couldn’t handle.
‘Still… I need to stop his plans.’
Otherwise, this world would turn into hell as well. They had to fight before the Gods of other places came here.
With the power of the God of War, which swept through the world, Shiva swung his sword at Ra.
A roaring sound resonated all around the heavens and the land as he did that.
And….
“Stop now and go, old friend.”
With Ra’s condescending voice, Shiva lost consciousness.
The place where Shiva came to his senses was a place with nothing. Having come to his senses in this vast space, he thought of escaping, but his body couldn’t move.
“You fucking jerk!!!”
His body was sealed into the wall.
But who was Shiva?
The God of War.
His body was full of energy, and he struggled to get out. But it was impossible. The curse that Ra used to seal him was impossible to escape from.
A long time passed, but Shiva didn’t give up.
“I will somehow come and bring you down.”
Decades.
Hundreds of years.
Thousands of years.
He worked hard all this time and didn’t give up. But Shiva couldn’t escape.
“…”
He was exhausted.
His power had run out, and he couldn’t find a way to get out.
Anger, hatred, sadness.
They weren’t the driving force anymore. He wanted to give everything up. If he decided to just get used to it, everything would be easier.
Actually, he even thought of killing himself.
“… what am I doing?”
Just before dying.
Would everything work out if he ran away? Would there be peace after death?
Osiris, who was in charge of reincarnation, was defeated by Ra.
And Hades, who ruled the underworld?
What about Zeus, who was the master of heaven, and Odin, the one in charge of war and knowledge?
How has the world changed now that they all fell into the hands of Ra?
What terrible hell would await him?
“I cannot give up then.”
A bumpier road than this hell.
He wasn’t sure how long he would be stuck here, but how does he know if hope will appear someday?
Then what should he do?
Shiva was aware of it.
“I am going to sleep now.”
He didn’t know when his eyes would open, but the day he would open his eyes would be when the world changed again.
“I didn’t give up.”
Shiva was imprisoned here all those years. In this space where he no longer hated anything.
The same went for his anger toward Ra. He didn’t feel sadness either.
He lost his goal and destination and just longed for death, but he didn’t give up until the end. Until this moment, when he wondered why he was like this, he told Isis,
“You will give up?”
“I will…”
“I understand. All kinds of negative emotions are growing within your heart now. It makes people negative to the extent that it cannot be compared with the impact of positive emotions on the human mind.”
Emotions such as happiness, joy, and pleasure do not have a large impact when compared to anger, hatred, and sadness.
That is how emotions work.
“It’s not strange to be buried in frustration and desperation at all. It is natural. If we look at history, there aren’t that many people who recover after breaking down.”
Negative emotions are like a burden.
Silently doing what one has to do and struggling to overcome it.
As time goes by, the emotions at that time will gradually fade and disappear.
“And you give up.”
Rather than thinking you cannot do it, you just want to give up. When the time comes, giving something up is easy.
And then comes comfort in rationalizing by saying, ‘What does it even mean to hope for the time to come?’
“Then what is left?”
Isis saw the wrinkles on Shiva’s face.
It was clear proof of how long he had been suffering, and Shiva said,
“So vent out your anger. Unleash it. Undo the hatred within you and pour out your tears. And after letting go of all of them like that….”
A blue orb rose behind Shiva’s back.
“Do not give up and move forward. Go ahead and do what you need to do. Do not ever let go of yourself.”
“Uhaaaaah!”
Isis clutched the dirt on the ground as she yelled in pain. She hit the floor with her fist and began to pull her hair. Tears mixed with dirt fell to the ground, and she rubbed her face with dusty hands.
“Father!!”
She sobbed.
The emotions she had been enduring until then began to pour out at once, and like a child, Isis called out to her father, who was now gone.
“Father!!! Father! Why! Why did you leave me behind like this?! How?!!”
Anger.
“Please, please come back… please… I am begging you…”
Longing and despair.
“I will… I will kill that son of a bitch! How dare he touch my father….!”
There was hatred too.
Isis’s mind was messed up with all sorts of emotions, but she didn’t care and lifted her head.
Her eyes were wide with rage, and her face scowled in hatred. Her lower lip showed how determined she was.
She got up and spat out words of declaration,
“I will kill that bastard for sure. I will tear him down piece by piece with my hands. I will direct all the hate toward him, and I will tear him down and feed him to beasts!”
She gasped for air. Seeing her like that, Shiva smiled.
“Feeling better?”
Isis’s face, which had been overflowing with evil, now had a sense of peace that she never had before. She put her hand on her chest, feeling her heartbeat.
Biting down on her lip, she felt her heartbeat calm down.
“Phew. I am not fully relieved though.”
There was anger and hatred. There was also sadness and longing for her father.
How does one just shake this off?
It made no sense. However, as Shiva said, letting her emotions out was a lot better.
She could think more calmly.
“This much is enough. You don’t need to let it all go.”
Even if she didn’t let go of all of them, she could take a step forward. Shiva smiled and looked at Sarah, who had a nervous expression.
And he turned to Isis, and said,
“Like I said, do not give up.”
“But you cannot get out of here…”
Suddenly, Isis thought of Jamie. He might be able to get Shiva out.
“Even if I can’t move, there is something I can do.”
Shiva struggled to stretch out his right hand.
His hand trembled as if he didn’t have any strength. Isis saw Shiva’s hand. To be precise, the tiny blue bead on the back of his hand.
Just a moment ago, a blue light shone from behind him too, but now the light was gone and just the bead stayed.
“Here, take this.”
“This…”
“I don’t know if you are qualified or not. However, even at the moment you were about to give up, you didn’t, and you stood up instead.”
A blue bead flew to Isis.
“It is the ‘essence’ that I made by gathering my power.”
“… essence?”
“Making it turned me into a normal being. It doesn’t matter, though. I leave my will to you.”
And the bead landed on Isis’s hand.
And it began to get sucked into her hand.
“This will make you an eternal being. Didn’t I say it to you? I didn’t give up. That is my will.”
Shiva told her with a wide smile.
“From now on, you are the God of War.”
The bead’s light began to wrap around Isis.
