High above the clouds, beyond the expanse of the sun and galaxy, amidst an endless void, a being sat upon a golden throne. The radiance emanating from its face made it nearly impossible for anyone to catch a glimpse.
“I can see her faith in me. And for that, I shall save her child’s life,” declared the godlike being, its voice echoing through the golden surroundings.“Talon come forth! Your are answering the same name as the child. I want you to take the body of the lowborn. You will loose all your memories too.”Talon, who was once a human, ascended to Godhood, becoming a demigod. He had faithfully served God and witnessed the annihilation of mankind. Due to his unwavering faith, he was granted the opportunity to ascend to Godhood and enter heaven.“His mother was faithful to me. I will grant her son the chance to ascend to Godhood someday,” declared the heavenly being.“You will inhabit the body of this child, and all your memories will be erased. You will have no recollection of your time here in heaven. Your mission will be to assist humans in averting the apocalypse, as the countdown is imminent,” the being explained.“Yes, my Lord,” Talon bowed respectfully, acknowledging the being’s instructions.“In addition, you will be stripped of all the blessings of your Godhood. However, these blessings will gradually be bestowed upon you as you come of age. Go!” The voice of the being resonated throughout the heavens..The reason for God’s decision to strip Talon of his ranking is to prevent any disastrous consequences on Earth, as has happened before. If Talon were to unleash his full strength, Earth would be unable to contain him, let alone a mere one-day-old baby.“Yes, Lord! I will be your faithful servant on Earth,” Talon said, bowing down.Talon accepted his mission, and was transformed into a beam of azure light. Shooting through the cosmos it sped, passing sun and planet till it entered the mortal realm. There, it entered the lifeless childFinally, baby Talon jerked back to life, crying out, “Eya!!!... Eya!!!” His lifeless body that was pale returned back to his original color. God had truly answered his mother’s prayer.[H#...o..$≥?....st! ….. Host! Accquired.!!!!][Sys…#$...?..stem Acti….vat….][Sy..$!...stem Shutdown!][S…ystem Failure!][Host too small to receive blessings]It was a bright afternoon a jet-like object resembling an alien ship hovered in the air. It was a life expectancy finder, used by the alliance to scan for survivors in war. Ironically, the alliance knew that demons were attacking this region, but they didn’t care because they considered the town dwellers as useless F-Class Rankers. They believed these low-ranking individuals wouldn’t be of much help in battle, so why sacrifice high-level officials for F-Rankers?The craft brought out a blue like light that scanned the entire town for any survivors. If they were survivals they would take them to the Safe camp. The camp was filled with various people displaced from around the world.Inside the craft, a woman and a man could be seen typing on a holographic keyboard.“Is it possible that any life remains after this massive destruction?” asked the pilot, Denim. As they looked at the burning houses and debris everywhere, there were even corpses with only their skeletons remaining. Doing this job wasn’t something Denim had wanted; he had only taken it because the pay was high.“Every day, it seems like the demons are targeting humans more… I just wish these demons could be wiped out from the Earth’s surface,” the assistant pilot, Phoebe, said as she tapped her tablet, which she held in her hands.[Scanning… 1%... 2%... 40%... 60%... 100%...][Scanning Complete!][Out of 2,000 residents, only 1 survivor remains.]”“Seriously! There is really a survivor here?” Denim was surprised.“Show the location of the survivor,” Denim spoke in a calm tone as he looked at a very large screen that could cover an entire wall of a living room. Suddenly, a blue dot on the screen began to zoom and expand until it pinpointed the location of Talon, who was crying beside the lifeless body of his mother.Denim and Phoebe stared at the large screen to get a glimpse of the survivor. To their surprise, it was a baby. They had never expected a baby to be the survivor.“What is a baby doing in such a dense forest? Isn’t that his mother? She looks to be dead. I think the demons killed her, but left the baby. I wonder what kind of ordeal that baby must have gone through. His mother was killed right in front of him. Those despicable demons!” Phoebe and Denim were equally surprised and furious.It was still a miracle how baby Talon managed to survive the entire night all by himself. You could imagine the cold, a normal day old baby can’t survive it. But due to the fact that Talon was reincarnated made it easy for him.“I think instead of just talking, we should retrieve the baby. He’s so cute…” Phoebe smiled as she looked at the image of the baby on the screen.“Hey! We’re on a job right now, and I don’t want you even considering adopting that baby. It’s against the laws to take in a refugee and adopt them,” Denim said, understanding what Phoebe was thinking. The laws of the alliance were strict. Children taken in from wars were not allowed to be adopted. The alliance segregated refugees, placing them in a separate place. The system was governed by a hierarchy, with those who lost their homes at the bottom.“You don’t have to remind me of the rules. I know what the rules state. Can’t we just save the child before something terrible happens to him?” Phoebe turned her face away from Denim, arms folded and a frown on her face.Denim quickly typed some codes on the holographic screen, and a blue light scanned baby Talon. He was immediately teleported the almost 30 feet distance by the blue light and appeared in their craft.Phoebe rushed to where baby Talon was who was wrapped in a white blanket, which was soaked in blood.Ten years later.October 12, 2093. Phoebe and Denim wanted to take care of Talon, but they couldn’t. They couldn’t risk being outlaws or jeopardize their high-paying jobs. Their line of work was too dangerous to bring a child into. In this era, finding a well-paying job was challenging due to the ongoing wars between demons and humans. The only lucrative jobs involved hunting monsters, demons, or working as a healer.Becoming a healer wasn’t easy, though. It required possessing the rare virtues of a holy mage. If you weren’t born into a mage bloodline, acquiring the Divine Virtues was nearly impossible. Talon had been left in the Safe Zone as a baby, a camp for refugees. The camp housed over 20,000 displaced individuals, but despite its size, it struggled to accommodate everyone.Although it was called the Safe Zone, its security relied heavily on S-Class Rankers, making it almost impenetrable to demons. However, the Alliance, despite being capable, didn’t provide the refugees with e
It was a scorching hot afternoon, the sun at its peak. Talon found himself cornered by Arion and his gang at the street corner where his shanty was located.“I’ll show you the strength of my Arcane Energy, something you’ve never witnessed before. Once I’m done with you, you’ll be nothing but my tool!” Arion shouted, his bulky body trembling with anticipation.To accumulate enough Arcane Energy, it typically takes about two years of training. Before awakening, children usually spend that time building up their energy reserves.Arion charged at Talon, unleashing his Indomitable Charge, a basic -F Class Ranking skill for Sanctifiers in the Order of the Divine Sentinel. Sanctifiers were like warriors who fought demons in one-on-one combat, relying on brute strength rather than weapons.As Arion charged, the other two boys, Divine Guardians, followed suit, wielding small, broken shields. It was clear that their parents could barely afford shields made by a Heavenly Artificer.Talon felt he
After a while, he managed to stand up. He sobbed bitterly, as not having parents had always been a challenging burden for him. He had never experienced the privileges that children with parents enjoyed.He surveyed his small shanty, now distorted from its usual shape. Clutching his stomach, the rumbling noise it made was audible. Desperate, he searched for somewhere to find his next meal. Suddenly, a black hover van appeared out of nowhere. Strange, bulky men wearing masks emerged from the vehicle.They approached Talon with the intention of taking him. “Hey! Please… I’m…” Talon tried to speak, but they swiftly covered him with a black sack, sedated him, and loaded him into the van before speeding away.There had been recent cases of missing children, but the alliance did not take it seriously. They had no concern for the low-born. A mysterious organization conducted research on children aged ten to twelve. Their sole purpose is to find a way to ascertain the Divine Virtues even tho
Talon and the boy exchanged conversations. This was the first time in Talon's life that he had talked to someone for such a long time. They both felt like they could understand each other very well."My name is Talon… so what's your name, if I may ask?" Talon asked, waiting for a reply from the boy."I don't really have a name. I just go by the name people around call me… Small." Small said his name because whenever he told people his name, Small, they would always have a laughing reaction."Small… that's a cool name..It's different from the usual names I've come across. I like it." Talon smiled warmly at Small.Small was quite surprised not to see Talon laugh at his name and he didn't see any ill intent in Talon's words."I've never had someone to care for me, but the only thing I was fortunate to have was this medallion," Talon said as he stared at the medallion he had worn since childhood. "It was left by my mom. She was killed by demons, and I vow to eradicate the entire existenc
Two years later…January 10, 2095Immediately after Talon saw his stats, he was shocked to find that he had 150 points without having done anything. God was truly faithful to him. Talon and Small moved on to the next phase, which was the training. Two years had passed like a fleeting wind.In a grand hall stood two boys who were approximately 5 feet tall. They were dressed in black leather outfits with a blue stripe at the corner. They wore black shiny combat boots. Maneuvering through androids positioned at every corner, they ran towards a red line that was 150 feet away from them.They exchanged blows with the androids, their strikes barely visible to ordinary people.“Small, you’re not as fast as me. You’re too slow. You need to do better,” Talon said as he backflipped, avoiding a strike aimed at his face. The sharp metallic blade extended from the android’s arm barely missed Talon’s leg as he spun backward, legs wide open in the air.Small was running too, watching Talon’s moves a
Talon and Small's cell was automatically opened. They were quite surprised, but that was the least of their worries. What was on their minds was how the next phase would be. They immediately came out of their cells as the guards took them through the hallway."Don't worry, we will make it through," Talon tried to encourage Small. Small was a bit nervous, thinking that he didn't have better chances of survival because Talon seemed to be ahead in everything."Talon, if you make it out of here, I want you to never allow any other children in the Safe Zone to experience what we experienced," Small stared at Talon with somber eyes."Small, why are you talking like this? We will make it together. Don't say such things again," Talon rebuked Small as he hugged him tightly."We'll die together and we'll leave here together," Talon whispered as he closed his eyes tight. During the two years they had been together, they had formed a strong bond. It seemed that nothing could ever separate them ag
[•Fusion...90%...95%•]Talon, who had been writhing in pain moments ago, started convulsing as well. The shock of Small's death made Talon uncontrollable. He had just gotten used to having someone by his side, and now it was taken away again. He thought he would never feel lonely again with Small there, but now that was a thing of the past. So he didn't see any reason to go on.[•Subject 1's vitals are becoming unstable!•][•Should I disengage the procedure?•]The elderly man named Storm looked at Talon's vitals on his tablet and saw that the fusion was almost complete. They had never reached a point where it was 95% before. This meant that Talon had a chance of becoming 100% fused."Continue! Don't disengage," said Storm as he stared at Talon, who continued to convulse despite his vitals.The room fell silent as they all watched the large screen displaying the percentage of the fusion.[•Fusion...96%...97%...98%...99%...100%•][•Fusion complete!•][•Experiment 401 concluded!•]All th
A young woman with a red ponytail was dressed in a white leather coat and wore white transparent glasses. She was under thirty years old and was seen pushing a bed labeled with the name "Talon"through a 12-meter-wide hallway enclosed by a metallic frame. Her purpose was to transport Talon to a location where experiment bodies were disposed of through burning. Talon had been recently declared dead, and their practice of burning bodies aimed to prevent the identification of their sinister actions.Talon was covered in a blue bedsheet when suddenly he started shaking. The woman was shocked to see a dead person shaking."What the heck!" she exclaimed, removing her hands from the bed out of fear of the unknown. She had heard of undead creatures, so she thought maybe Talon had become one. Although the woman was not below A-Rank Class, she was only a Heavenly Artificer. Heavenly Artificers were known to be geniuses with little knowledge about combat. Their main focus was creating technolo