A Theory on Godhood: An Overlord Story

Chapter 3: (Un)Divine Intervention

The dark... the dark was peaceful. His ears rang, drowning out all other sounds around him. The shadows that danced across his vision were mesmerizing, and in his mind's eye, he could see himself reaching out to them, wanting to touch and caress them. Their cloudy figures were twisting and weaving like eels in an ocean. Their unnatural dance delighted him, and he hoped to catch one and hold it to him.

They fled at his approach, and in the blackness of the void, two roaring emerald flames came to life.

Until then, he had not noticed how he shivered, how he longed to try and warm himself by the green fire that appeared before him. As they glittered in the dark as jewels within a treasure hoard, their promised warmth seemed so tantalizing.

The fire. There's fire here. I feel so cold. I feel so alone. Where is everyone? Where have my friends gone? Where have I gone?

The flames of before condensed into shapes not unlike eyes, the pupils of a serpent's glaring balefully at him. It seemed to study him for a moment, as if it were unsure if he were potential prey or some pest to be exterminated. An aura of malevolence flowed so heavily from those eyes that he wished to curl away into the abyss forever, to hide under a rock and never, ever come back out.

FIND ME. CHALLENGE ME. DIE FOR ME. FEED ME.

The booming baritone that echoed across to him already seemed to be trying to consume him, drawing him ever closer to great pillars of light he had not noticed before, the fangs of a terrible wyrm.

Another voice called to him from...outside, but it was too distant, too small to claw him from the abyss's grip. Already he could feel himself relaxing, accepting the inevitable that was to come. The shadows of beyond cuddled him like a woolen blanket on a cold winter's eve.

The voice resonated again, sounding far closer than last time. It was more confident, more steadfast in its tone. The pitch black around him seemed to shake as if he were being jostled.

"-llriver? Bellriver! Come on man, it's time to wake up!" the outside voice said, desperation entering its inflection. The fangs in the void gnashed, fury augmenting the hate within the emerald fire's vision. A low hiss replaced the ringing that had tormented him until now.

He felt himself screaming, trying desperately to cover his ears, to block out the horrid noises that assaulted him so viciously. Pain erupted across his form as a maw solidified to compliment the blinding teeth, barreling towards him.

He tried to flee, but his legs were like stone, weighing him down and rooting him to the spot he found himself in.

"BELLRIVER!" the earlier voice cried, blistering light shining across his sight. It burned away the shadows that engulfed him, the pits of green hellfire closing as the maw halted its advance and retreated back into whatever crevice it spawned from. He felt relief that he had been spared from whatever fate had awaited him behind those horrid dagger-like teeth.

A fishing line seemed to tug at his back, dragging him back into the light at an exhilarating pace. The whistling of air now filled his ears, a soft hum steadily growing louder and deeper as he flew towards the focal point of the luminescence.

He involuntarily closed his eyes and looked away, his body tensing as the hum reached a crescendo and he braced for impact.

When he found he could open his eyes again, he instinctively tried to shut them. Too much had already transpired, and he quivered at what would come for him next now that he was out in the glow. Several pairs of hands and not-hands touched his body, voices that sounded muted and watery trying in vain to reach him. Only one of them cut through the din, his eyes snapping open as he instantly recognized who it was.