The Gamer's System

Chapter 168: Darkness and Mischief

Zeke had no idea who the figure was. All that he knew was that it was a silhouette and it instilled fear on him. It bypassed the system and, it wasn't something he could beat. It was darkness.

Yet there is an even stronger darkness than this. Nisha. The goddess of darkness herself who, was being visited by Sinclair.

Complete oblivion. That is the perfect way to describe Nisha's realm. It was an area which was not open to all. In fact, if any of the minor gods tried entering it, they'd find themselves lost in a sea of infinite darkness. One which they can never escape from unless Nisha permits. There, not even their powers could work and they'd simply cease their state of "being."

Indeed, it was a place that could not be reached normally. Unless, you were the goddess of light.

"She could at least come out when Chrono and I are looking for her. Goodness, is she going through a phase or something?" Sinclair began creating a string of light which served as her guide. 

Every attempt of darkness to devour her proved futile as, these weren't concentrated attacks. It was only a defense mechanism of Nisha's realm, meant to ward of any possible trespasser. Yet Sinclair could not be affected by these. As the natural antithesis of Nisha, Sinclair could navigate through the darkness.

A few shrouded paths. Some shadow like structures. Spiraling clouds of black holes. Sinclair passed through all of these without problems. After a few more minutes, she finally reached Nisha. Floating in mid-air, in a meditating pose.

"Hey what have you been up to lately?" Sinclair asked

Of course, Sinclair wouldn't willingly do this without any proper reason. In fact, she was there specifically because there was an urgent matter that needed to be discussed. For a while, Nisha had done nothing but close herself off within her realm. It was strange for the firstborn goddess. So much so that Sinclair finally decide to barge in and ask.

"Ahh breaking my mediation for such a silly question. Who better to do that than my dear goddess of light?" Nisha responded said nonchalantly.

"Hey I'm just worried you know." Sinclair said in reply, with the goddess of darkness smiling back at her.

There was no bond stronger than the two. Although they cancelled each other out, they've also known each other for the longest time. Light cannot exist without darkness. And darkness can only be called such if there is light. They were like yin and yang, a perfect balance that could never be broken.

"You know how things have been a bit complicated ever since that trial. It's been years but, I think that there is still a traitor among us." Nisha continued, finally dropping to the ground. The darkness welcomed her, embracing the goddess's feet while she walked toward Sinclair.

"Who might that be?" Sinclair asked, reducing her light for fear that it might create a permanent effect on Nisha's realm.

"I'm sure you know that as well as I do, my dear sister." Nisha said in reply. Sinclair's eyes showed understanding of the goddess of darkness's words.

There was no denying one fact. That among the members of the gods, there was one oddball. One who always caused problems or stirred them. Of course, these were part of his job description. Yet none of the greater crimes were ever attributed to him. No leads have ever been made making him even more worthy of his title. This is none other than the god of mischief and deceit: Pier.

He is an evil which they could not extinguish themselves. The gods cannot murder nor cancel each other out. In fact, the only option available was to turn a god or goddess into a mortal. But even this needs the consent of the majority of the council of gods. In fact, the only time they ever did this was with the god of flames.

Yet, even this forceful extinguishing was a distasteful choice for the main deities. They all knew deep within that it was Pier. Yet no leads were ever made. None. Pier was clean each and every time and, it was always somebody else that took the damage from his acts.

Nisha wanted Mythos to be the last straw. The line that put Pier back to his place. For this to happen, she needed to keep watching over the god. She used her power of darkness to spy on the god day in and day out. It was easy enough as she had total control over any form of darkness. Something which there is never any shortage of. It was also an act which went against the creed. But it was a small price to pay if they would get solid evidence of Pier's crimes.

These is what she should've responded when Sinclair asked: "what have you been up to."

Yet, none of this came out of Nisha's mouth. She knew that's she couldn't bring Sinclair into her plan. It was dangerous. One which could bring her to the same fate of the god of flames if she was ever caught.

"I'm just monitoring the other worlds we created. The humans there have been showing significant progress. In fact, they are showing just as much promise as the elites." The goddess of darkness proclaimed.

"Well yeah." Sinclair said in reply immediately. Eager for the conversation that was to come.

Among the major deities, Sinclair was always the one who was most fascinated by the heroes. The only reason why she was crude against Zeke was because of the gamer's remarks. This didn't fit her tase who wanted humans to be respectful of her standing as a goddess. In fact, she even wishes for them to be thankful. Not everyone gets a chance to meet the gods who created them after all. So she was naturally dismayed and irritated with Zeke who liked running his mouth all day. But apart from him, she treated every other hero nicely.

"Blake in particular has caught the attention of many gods in the council. Word on the realms is that, some are thinking of voting for him to be the hero for the next mission."

"I don't think he is a safe choice though. Blake is too dense with his sense of justice. There's a fine line separating good and evil for him which could be dangerous at times." Nisha said in reply. Getting Sinclair's head out of any suspicion of her going through shady business.

"Well yeah. But that is also how he cleared his first world right? The people there are doing good now." Sinclair continued.

Thus, the two continued speaking of the various heroes. They didn't mention Mythos yet because, they had no power over it anymore. They couldn't see what was happening there. So they left it to the hands of the elites which they deployed. Twenty humans who have been hand trained by the main deities. Something which never happened before.

"Do you think they are still alive?"

"I hope so. The contract tells us that we need to take at least a year before taking off the restraints on Mythos. We've got no way of confirming for now."

There was a second of silence that came between the two. They were naturally worried about the elites because, a human already died while being sent there. A death which was not only cruel but also unfair.

"Heeeey what are you guys doing without me!" Chrono said, appearing in the middle of the two. Both of them got surprised so Sinclair to the liberty of asking.

"Chrono how did you?"

"Oh well you left a light. I just needed to reverse it so that it'd get stronger. Then I followed it and. TADAAAA! I finally entered Nisha's realm. Hohoho." He said, spinning in the sea of darkness.

"Honestly, this isn't a party area." Nisha said; glad that the other main deities cared for her the way they did. But it was a needless worry. After all, they were eternals. Beings with beginnings but without any idea if they could meet any end.

For the first time in a while, Nisha was calm again. Yet even this short silence wasn't allowed to last for long. Her darkness found something unusual on Pier's realm and, it responded immediately to her.

"Guys, I'll ask you to leave for now. I'm sorry, there's something urgent that I need to attend to." She said.

The darkness swirled around both Sinclair and Chrono. Soon enough, they were out of Nisha's realm again. With Sinclair even more worried than before but trusting Nisha on whatever it was that she was doing.

"Aghhh I just got there! It's not fair!" Chrono said in frustration.

"Don't worry. Next time I'll force her to give you a tour." Sinclair said, motioning for Chrono to follow him.

"Really? YES! Okay back to work then." Thus, the two of them came back to the halls of the main deities. Meanwhile, Nisha was still in her realm with nothing but surprise on her face.

"No. This can't be." For a long time, he was observing the god Pier. Through the years, he wasn't doing anything shady or suspicious. But at that moment, she finally noticed it. She noticed how the movements of the god's shadow was different from normal. She noticed how it seemed to be deformed.

It was Piers specifically because the god's energy was on that being. There was no mistaking that it was the god of mischief and deceit. But shadows never lie because they were Nisha's. Yet no other lead could be made other than this.

"Who are you?" Nisha said, looking at the god who had nothing but the same mischievous smile on his face. Then she realized it was the wrong question, feeling shivers down her spine.

"No." She said to herself, knowing just how destructive the god could be.

"Pier. Where are you?"