However, almost as if answering all his unspoken questions, the gods sitting atop their thrones slowly began to take shape in the vast darkness.
At first, they were nothing more than blinding lights—brighter than any star Lucy had ever seen.
The sheer brilliance forced him to throw an arm up over his eyes, shielding them from the overwhelming glare.
But after a few seconds, the initial shock faded. His eyes adjusted, the painful brightness dimming just enough for him to make out their forms.
The mist swirled around their massive figures, diffusing their light into spectacular halos.
At the base of each throne, carved in enormous, gleaming letters that pulsed with inner fire, were names.
He turned toward the first one.
Ithriel — God of Dominion and Control.
Ithriel sat motionless, a marble carving of brutal perfection atop a throne of iron and glass. His armor gleamed like polished ice.
Above his brow floated a silver crown, spinning in slow circles, never touching his head. His gaze swept over the misty expanse with twin shards of frozen gold—bored and merciless.
Lucy grimaced, an involuntary shudder running through him.
'What a creepy bastard,' he thought, the chill of those golden eyes seeming to pierce right through him.
Quickly, he turned his attention to the following figure.
Nyxaris — Goddess of Secrets and Shadows.
Nyxaris looked barely discernible at all. Her form flickered like a dying flame, wrapped in smoke and shifting ink that never settled.
She lounged lazily atop a throne woven from whispers, her face almost entirely hidden beneath the deep folds of a black hood.
Only her mouth was visible—a sly, crooked smile that gleamed with dangerous secrets.
Lucy took an involuntary step back, feeling exposed down to his soul.
'Okay, I apologize, Ithriel... she's way creepier.'
Not wanting to linger under that knowing smile, he glanced toward the third throne.
Ravun — God of Annihilation and Rage.
If the others were unsettling, Ravun was pure nightmare fuel. The god towered above his cracked throne, radiating savage violence.
His crimson armor looked half-melted and torn, barely containing the seething energy within. With every breath, cracks spiderwebbed through the air around him.
His burning red eyes fixed on the crowd below like a predator considering fresh kill.
Lucy swallowed hard, his throat suddenly bone dry.
'I don't want to keep apologizing, but I might have to... What is wrong with these things?!'
He shook his head quickly and focused on the final throne.
Seraphine — Goddess of Rebirth and Suffering.
Compared to the others, Seraphine was a vision of impossible beauty. Her throne pulsed with life and death in an endless cycle—flowers blooming and withering within seconds.
She wore a simple gown of ash and gold that shifted with her every breath, and her bare feet rested atop blood-red lilies.
Her silver hair tumbled in soft waves down to her waist, crowned with a wreath of thorns. Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, her eyes filled with kindness so deep it almost hurt to look at them.
But beneath that compassion, Lucy sensed it—nothing could be reborn without being broken first.
A genuine smile tugged at his lips. 'Finally, someone I don't have to apologize for. What a beautiful lady.'
For a long moment, Lucy floated there, staring up at the gods in all their overwhelming glory.
Awe kept him silent at first, his mind struggling to process the impossible beings before him. But before long, irritation started to bubble up inside him.
'Why the hell are they just staring at me like that? Explain something! I'm lost over here!'
He fought the urge to shout at them. Screaming at gods probably wasn't the most brilliant move. But then a crooked smile cracked across his face as the obvious hit him.
'Oh, right. I am dead.'
The realization made him bold. What could they do, kill him again?
"Um, gods—or whatever you are—could someone please explain why I'm floating naked in the middle of you all?!" he said, half-joking. "Feels like you're staring through my soul and my skin, and honestly? I don't like it."
The words had barely left his mouth when a voice louder than anything he had ever heard ripped through the darkness.
"Silence, insignificant creature!" Ithriel's voice thundered, cold and absolute. The temperature around Lucy plummeted.
Before the echoes even faded, another, even louder voice boomed through the void.
"Seriously, Seraphine, why the hell did you pick a human?!" Ravun roared, his fury vibrating through the very air. With each word, the cracks around him spread further.
Lucy, surprisingly, wasn't scared. He'd already crossed death's doorstep once—what were a few pissed-off gods compared to that?
He shrugged and floated a little higher. "Hey! I'm standing—or-uh, floating right here, you know!" he said, his tone a mix of mock indignation and daring.
A sound like the purest, cutest laugh echoed through the darkness, soft and musical. Then Seraphine's voice drifted gently after it, playful and unbothered.
"I don't know," she said, amusement coloring her tone, "I think he's cute."
'Damn right,' Lucy thought smugly, chest puffing out slightly.
Still, he couldn't help noticing the sharp glares he got from the other gods, especially from Ithriel, whose eyes somehow managed to look even colder.
Then, without warning, the entire void shifted. A quiet, chilling voice slithered into his ear, whispering directly into his mind.
"If that's all," the voice murmured, "I will be taking my leave."
This time, it was Nyxaris—the Goddess of Secrets and Shadows.
With that, she vanished from her throne, leaving no trace that she had ever been there at all.
Ithriel spoke next, his voice dripping with cold authority. "I question your decisions every day, Seraphine, but this is a new low. I will also be taking my leave."
Without another word, he disappeared into the endless void, a flash of golden light the only sign of his exit.
'Hey, she made the right pick, asshole,' Lucy thought, waving his fist in the air.
By now, Lucy had managed to piece together the basics of his situation. In short, 'I was killed by a beautiful lady, fell through infinite darkness, got picked by an even more beautiful goddess, the other gods think I'm worthless because I'm human, and... yeah, that about covers it.'
Then, without so much as a goodbye, the God of Rage let out a booming grunt that shook the void and vanished as well, leaving behind only the scent of smoke.
'Weirdo,' Lucy muttered inwardly.
A moment later, a soft, peaceful voice echoed through the darkness. "I quite like you," Seraphine said, her smile so radiant it seemed to light up the void around her.
Lucy, who had unfortunately been caught gawking at other features of the goddess besides her smile, almost missed what she said entirely.
'Man, why couldn't girls like her exist back on Earth?' he thought—before realizing she was staring directly at him, those kind eyes twinkling with knowing amusement.
His face turned crimson. "I like you too, Your Highness—uh, Your Godliness!" The words tumbled out awkwardly.
He bowed awkwardly, the motion strange in his weightless state, earning a soft, melodic giggle from Seraphine.
"Seraphine is fine," she said, her voice like cool water on a hot day.
Before he could process her words, she moved. In the blink of an eye, she was inches away from him, her silver hair brushing against the air between them, her bright blue eyes locking onto his.
'So beautiful,' he thought, feeling dangerously close to fainting.
Before he could make a fool of himself, Seraphine spoke again, her voice playful and light. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, my champion, but first—let's go somewhere else. I hate this place. It gives me the creeps."
Her teasing tone gave him goosebumps as a vivid memory slammed back into his mind: the last time a girl had used that same playful voice... right before shooting him.
'Damn that girl... ruining a moment like this. If I ever see her again, I swear—!' he fumed internally.
Before he could react, Lucy felt his head spin as the world collapsed around him. A sensation like being ripped inside out slammed into him, every atom of his being stretched and compressed at once.
Suddenly, he was yanked into existence once more.
The moment he hit solid ground, he found himself sprawled across a floor of polished white marble.
Blinking up at the ceiling, Lucy's face drained of color. "What the hell am I looking at!" he blurted.
He scrambled to his feet, heart hammering in his chest, head still spinning from the violent transition.
He stood inside a grand palace. Towering golden pillars wrapped in ivy reached up to a roof so high he could barely see it through the mist.
The floor beneath him shone like glass; the marble reflected the pillars like a mirror. Wide staircases of white stone twisted up toward unseen floors.
But none of that was what sent chills racing down his spine.
It was the others.
All around him stood creatures—beasts—each looking just as confused and disoriented as he felt. They shifted and stared, some growling, others silent with shock.
Whipping his head to the left, Lucy nearly jumped out of his skin. A dragon-like humanoid stood there nervously twiddling its clawed thumbs, blue scales gleaming in the soft light.
Behind it loomed a giant, easily five times Lucy's height, with skin like weathered stone and eyes deep-set beneath a heavy brow.
To his right, a snarling green creature shifted impatiently, its thick tusks jutting from its lower jaw—an ogre. And behind that brute stood a being that seemed halfway between man and animal, muscles coiled beneath a furred hide.
Directly in front of him stood what looked at first like another human—until Lucy caught sight of the pointed ears. An elf. Her violet eyes regarded him with immediate disdain.
Lucy's mouth hung open as he slowly dusted himself off, noticing for the first time that he was now wearing pants—simple black trousers that hadn't existed moments before. 'Small victories,' he thought numbly.
Before he could process more, a familiar, melodic voice filled the vast chamber, silencing the murmurs and growls.
Seated on a grand throne of living vines and marble at the head of the hall, Seraphine smiled down at them all.
"Hello, my children," she said warmly, her voice carrying easily across the space. "I have already met each of you. Now, I will explain your purpose here."
She paused, her expression growing more serious:
"We are at war. And you," she said, her bright eyes twinkling with something between pride and mischief, "have been drafted by me to fight against the armies of the other Gods."
Then, with a playful laugh that somehow eased the tension in the room, she asked:
"So... will you fight for me?"
Without thinking, Lucy blurted out, "Anything for you, miss!" His voice echoed embarrassingly loud in the sudden silence.
Seraphine let out another giggle, covering her mouth with a delicate hand. Several of the other beings turned to stare at him, the elf's eyes narrowing to slits of contempt.
"Good," Seraphine said, her smile lighting up the entire hall brighter than any sun could manage.