"I—I don't understand! The goddess of fate? What the hell is this? Let us go!" One of the boy's voice cracked through the silence, thick with panic and defiance.
A vein pulsed on the goddess's forehead as a wave of annoyance washed over her. She already disliked humans—but now she was stuck with the worst kind, teenagers.
They were loud, confused, and emotional, talking over each other without thinking. It grated on her nerves more than she expected.
"Hang on just a second Kirito? Don't you see? We died, there's no going back. If she claims she is a goddess, then she is here to escort us to the world of the dead. That means we are currently in purgatory aren't we?"
Takashi Tsuchibana.
A typical seventeen-year-old, at least on paper. He stood at an average height, with a well-toned physique that spoke of dedication and discipline.
But what truly set him apart was his sharp and composed mind, always two steps ahead. His intelligence placed him firmly at the top of his class, earning the respect of his teachers and the envy of his peers.
And then there was his face—chiseled, effortlessly handsome, the kind that turned heads in every hallway. It wasn't just his looks that drew people in, though. There was something calm and confident in the way he carried himself, something magnetic.
Girls adored him, boys admired or resented him, sometimes even often both.
"Oh?"
Virelia froze for a moment, surprised by Takashi's calmness.
She had always believed humans were dumb, selfish, and nothing more than failed creations of the One Above All. To her, they were reckless and predictable.
But Takashi was different. He wasn't panicking or yelling like Kirito. He was calm, focused—even thoughtful.
It caught her off guard. For the first time in ages, she started to doubt her own harsh view of humanity.
His guess was indeed spot on—they were, in fact, dead. Their souls were meant to pass on to the world of the dead, to follow the natural flow of fate.
But something had changed that course.
Virelia had intervened, halting their journey midway. Instead of crossing over, their souls now floated in purgatory, suspended in a space between life and death.
"You're quite perceptive aren't you?" She replied, her devious smile stretching wider with each passing second, as if feeding off their confusion and fear.
The only clue she had offered was the lofty title she bore as a deity—yet this human had effortlessly unraveled her intentions. It was unsettling.
For a being who had long regarded mortals as ignorant and impulsive, his sharp perception chipped away at her pride, she didn't know whether to feel angry and insulted or impressed.
"Since you already accessed the situation, you must know why and how you died, good, that means I have no reason to drag this out any longer than it is."
"W-we died?" Unable to grasp the full weight of their reality, the boy— Kirito — collapsed to his knees, his eyes brimming with tears as confusion and fear overwhelmed him.
"That's a load of bullshit! If we truly died then you're here to send us back aren't you? Aren't you!?"
Visibly tormented by the harsh reality of their fate, Kirito let out a scream that echoed through the void. Of all the things he had lost, it was the life he had only just begun to truly enjoy. He had finally made the school's soccer team, and they had just clinched the regional championship. The nationals were next — a dream within reach, now torn away in an instant.
"Damn it... Damn it all." His voice trembling as emotion overwhelmed him, driving him to the point of tears.
"I don't appreciate your tone, mortal." Virelia's once gentle and angelic voice swiftly morphed into something dark and ominous, like a chilling whisper carried through a storm.
The entire realm of purgatory trembled under the sudden surge of divine pressure. It descended like a tidal wave, invisible yet inescapable, slamming down on them with such force that their knees buckled instantly.
Their bodies were forced downward, faces pressed against the very fabric of the space they floated in, as if the heavens themselves demanded submission.
"You're nothing but sand beneath our feets, the complete failure of the one above all. You possess no rights to question me or my decisions."
The true colors of Virelia finally rose to the surface. Her once-hypnotic, silted blue eyes—so alluring they could bend the will of men—were now sharpened with pure malice.
Gone was the divine grace she wore like a mask, in its place stood something far older, far more terrifying
"Don't cross your lane, you inferior creatures."
The crushing pressure that had pinned them down moments ago slowly faded, like a storm receding into silence. Each of them gasped for breath, their bodies trembling under the lingering weight of fear.
Virelia's message had been delivered, clear and undeniable, her mercy had limits, and any form of defiance would be met with swift, unforgiving power.
"Why did you bring us here?"
Staring into the eyes of the defiant teenager, Virelia searched for the usual sparks she often found in mortal souls, fear, desperation, hope, even regret.
But his gaze was hollow, stripped of emotion, untouched by the wrath of her divine presence.
"Oh? How interesting, another intriguing mortal amongst you. Your kind truly is full of surprises." The goddess said, mumbling beneath her breath.
"I see." She Investigated his past, and discovered the true reason for his lack of fear of death and the unknown. He was a victim of a cruel fate so to speak.
His father and brother, taken by a tragic accident. His mother, the sole light left in his world, violated and left broken, confined to a hospital bed. And he, the lone survivor of a shattered family, tormented daily by merciless peers.
"Why have I brought you here you say? Listen up, everyone." She spoke, her voice cutting through the silence, and the three students looked up at her right away.
"As you all know, you all died in an accident, however before your souls left for the world of the dead I summoned you here for one reason and one reason only. To save humanity."
"Huh? I don't understand, to save humanity?" Takashi muttered.
"An apocalypse is brewing in another world far different from yours, and apparently the only ones who can stop or potentially put an end to it is you three."
Her words hit them like the anchor of a ship crashing into the sea, heavy and inescapable.
"A-an apocalypse, in another world??"
"How are we supposed to stop an apocalypse in another world? Wait, does this mean that, we aren't going back?" Kirito asked, his eyes wavering in disbelief.
"Yes that's right, if you wish to return to your previous world, I can do that, but you won't be returning to the material world, you'll be returning to the world of the dead." She made it perfectly clear, that they had no choice in the matter, at least if they wished to live once more.
"Even if we agreed to help, how are we supposed to stop an apocalypse from happening?"
"Because unlike humanity in your world, the harbingers of this war are not people they can handle. It is not my place to disclose any more information about it, but all I can say is this. Human's from your world have a more complex and refined essence, therefore your Hunter-Essence is their only hope in attaining victory."
"H-Huh? Wait, Hunter-Essence?"
"Like I said, it's not my place to disclose any more information. You'll be told all you need to know once I've transported your souls there."
"Now that you've all been briefed on the matter, will you proceed as planned? Or do you still want to go back to your world as dead corpses?"
They exchanged glances in silence, the weight of the goddess's words still hanging in the air.
After several tense moments, a shared understanding passed between them — as if the conclusion had been drawn without a single word spoken.
"Okay, we accept your conditions and mission. It's not like we have much choice, it's better than ending up dead if we refuse."
The others didn't speak, but their silence was enough. They had come to terms with their fate, and Takashi's words sealed it.
"Okay then, you all have your mission. The fate of their world is resting on your hands, good luck mortals, you'll need it."
As she finished speaking, a bright light surrounded them, glowing stronger by the second.
The three students covered their eyes, feeling weightless as the space around them vanished.
In the blink of an eye, they vanished.
"Finally, they're gone. Dealing with teenagers is such a pain. My specific spell was for the purpose of summoning three human souls with the highest Essence, but I ended up with kids?"
Her original objective was clear—to summon humans with the greatest essence, individuals worthy of wielding power and shaping fate itself. What she hadn't expected… was that fate would answer her call with teenagers.
Young. Inexperienced. Emotionally unstable.
It was almost laughable. And yet, the divine threads of destiny rarely made mistakes.
"Well, judging from the energy emanating from their bodies when I interacted with them, they possess enough essence to complete the task, but."
This led her to the greatest worry she had harbored in silence while conversing with the three students.
"The objectives of my spell was to summon humans with exceptional essence, however out of the three students summoned, only two fell in line with the spell."
Compared to the others, she couldn't help but notice how drastically low Kazuki's essence was as they conversed.
"Was there an error in my spell?"
Even an average human in the world the children had been transported to possessed a more considerable essence than Kazuki.
In theory, this should've been impossible. Earth-born humans—especially those chosen by the Threads of Fate—were meant to have a natural advantage. Their essence, though dormant, was often denser and more volatile, capable of rapid evolution.
But Kazuki broke that logic, he was an aberration.
"I can't send his soul back to the world of the dead while he lives again, I just hope he won't be a burden to the rest of the the team."