The Black Necromancer

The various Major Gods that had appeared vanished, with the exception of Asteria, who was Michael's lover, and also his confidant.

Leon remained silent as the tension in the air slowly lessened. He felt utterly humiliated, but he did not know how to vent his frustration at the moment. The best he could do would be to vent his frustration out on the Demons later.

Michael turned around with a serious expression on his face and turned to Leon. "Come." He waved his hand, and in the next moment, Leon found himself in the main throne room of the temple. Michael took a seat on the throne while Asteria leaned against the armrest of the throne, her deep blue eyes fixed on Leon.

"What did you do?" Michael raised his gaze and looked at Leon. His gaze was not threatening or imposing like Tiphone's but rather, it was as if he was pitying Leon.

Leon paused and looked around before explaining what had happened. He was honest, as he knew this was not the time to be sarcastic with Michael.

"I see... It was not your fault. Rather, it was mine for being so careless." Michael shook his head. "Well, it is best I tell you what the Paragon of Undeath is now, as you have gained its attention."

Leon's mood instantly hit rock bottom when he heard Michael's statement. Perhaps he might have been happy if it were in the past, but from what Michael had said, he had gained the attention of a being that was not to be messed with.

"I had wanted to tell you all this when you reached my level, but now it is of utmost importance that you know how to prepare yourself." Michael said and waved his hand. A projection of mana that had writings all over it in a manner that resembled a chart appeared. There were three highlighted words on it.

"Upon reaching the absolute peak of A rank, that is not the end, as you have most likely pieced together by now. You and a select few others are special and can breach that barrier that blocks the path ahead." Michael began.

"To ascend to what is known as 'Godhood', one must know how to expertly manipulate Divinity. You must become one with Divinity and allow it to flow through your body like mana. Mana will become nothing to you. Your core will be shattered and remade with the essence of Divinity. However, that is not the end of it. From there, you will only be considered a Minor God, like myself."

The large word at the bottom of the chart lit up as Michael explained the first stage of Godhood.

"After that, to become a Major God, you must fully grasp and understand the essence of Divinity." Michael leaned forward and pointed his finger at Leon. "YOU must cleanse yourself and become Divinity!"

If Leon had eyes right now, they would be shaking and trembling with surprise. All this was information that he thought he would need to fight for. Just like how Michael had fought against the Gods once upon a time. To receive such valuable and sensitive information so freely caught Leon off guard.

Michael paused for a minute as he collected himself. He was becoming agitated as he spoke. He wanted Leon to reach the peak, because only then could his continued existence be secured. He was agitated because even after all this time, not even himself had reached that peak. That venerated level of existence. The height that all beings who manipulated Divinity strove to achieve.

Finally, Michael spoke again, and the last and final word that was at the top of the projected image glowed brightly. Asteria placed a hand on his shoulder, a concerned look on her face.

Just speaking about the final stage of Godhood was a rather sensitive topic, as that topic was tied to the very existence of the world as they knew it.

"The final stage, the peak, the venerated height. The stage of Godhood." Michael spoke with a fervent tone of voice, his eyes glistening. "This is the stage where we ascend to True Gods. We touch upon the fabric of the universe. The Laws."

"Laws?" Leon asked quietly.

"Laws." Michael nodded seriously. "Everything is made of Laws, the most basic, and also most powerful unit of reality. True Gods reach this level when they begin their journey to become a Law." Michael explained.

Leon remained silent as he processed this heap of new information. Everything he knew was being shaken as it was.

"The Paragon of Undeath is a True God that has become a Law itself. The Law of Undeath." Michael said seriously, going back to the reason for this lecture. "It is unknown when the Paragon of Undeath became a Law, and no one knows where it came from, but this entity is beyond everything you know. It is one of the true entities that dictate how our universe in run. If he wishes for the extinction of worlds, then it happens."

"If that is so, then how do you have fragments of this entity?" Leon was confused. If this Paragon of Undeath was so unfathomably powerful, then how did Michael get his hands on fragments of this being?

"It is complicated. I can only dumb it down to explain it to you. You will not understand the true meaning of what I say until you become a God yourself." Michael said. "But, you can think of it being like this. There exists fragments of the Paragon of Undeath in every corner of the universe. Whenever a world is destroyed, the fragment within it is exposed. It is incredibly difficult to get a hold of these fragments, so the fact that you have absorbed two of them is an amazing thing." Michael finally smiled a bit as he said that last part.

"So, you fed me those fragments for what?" Leon asked another question that had surfaced in his mind after hearing Michael's story.

"..." Michael's frown slipped again and he locked his fingers while leaning forward.

"..." Leon also wordlessly gazed at him, waiting for an answer.

"You were brought to this world for a reason." Michael eventually spoke up.

"...And what reason was that? You took me from my comfortable life and brought me here, throwing me into all this without as little as an explanation. I have always wanted to have an answer to this question." Leon raised his head a little bit.

"...The world as you know it... This beautiful, wonderful world, full of life, is coming to an end...." Michael slowly said.

"...What?!" Leon's mind went blank with shock. He could not imagine that the world was coming to an end. How could he even begin to believe that?!

"Believe it or not, I am being serious. It is for this reason why you and several others have been chosen as protectors of this world. We, the Gods of this world, intend to raise you to our level, and possibly even higher, in order to avert the incoming calamity." Michael said, his tone dripping with seriousness and graveness.

Leon was frozen as he tried to comprehend this news. The flames within his skull trembled and wavered as he tried to calm himself. He was struggling to comprehend the fact that he had been snatched from his relatively peaceful world in order to stop the destruction of a world that he had not even known existed until he was dumped here.

"Why can you not stop the world's destruction by yourself? Why me? Why the others? This world is full of many powerful people that you can surely count on!" Leon snapped out of his stupor and asked angrily, his emotions flaring.

"Yes, this world if full of strong people. But they can never breach the limitations set by the System. The old Gods were stupid when they implemented the System as a limiter to limit the growth of the people. And now, Gods like Tiphone are frustrated because they had pushed for the implementation of the System." Michael sighed tiredly and shook his head. He was tired.

"..." Leon was speechless. He, the simple diner waiter who had just landed a possible modeling gig, had been dragged into this messy affair that concerned another world.

"Do not look at it that way." Michael spoke, reading Leon's mind. "Eventually, your old world would have faced the same fate." He smiled sadly.