I rub the bridge of my nose and release a long breath. I don't know what Zelretch is trying to do, but I must stop it before it goes too far.
I slap his head and say,
"Stop it. They are already going through a lot. Don't add more things."
"Bah! You are the God of Humanity. Of course you will support them."
"Yeah. Yeah."
I look at the group and say.
"Say, do you guys know where to have a drink? It has been a while since I drank something made by humans."
I'm not lying. All of the alcohol I've drunk lately was brewed by Youkai. I want to drink something made by humans. The Nier world lacks innovation in brewing techniques because survival comes before recreation. I wonder if this world has mastered the art of alcohol making.
David looks at me for a second and nods.
"Yeah, choom. I know the place. However, it is rather far."
"That is not a problem."
With a wave of my hand, I summon five cars that the androids created for me. They are modeled after sports cars from their database, but upgraded with modern (Nier Universe modern standard) technology.
"Holy fuck! Look at those preem rides! I want this one!"
"Becca, you gonk! You can't just claim a car! Especially when they're godly rides!"
The shortstack, Rebecca, looks at the lanky man and points at me with her thumb.
"You don't need to worry, bro. If the God over there has a problem with us using his rides, he will not summon them."
She turns to me and grins. I love this gremlin. I give her the same grin and say,
"Yup. Take one and lead the way. These cars are not divine vehicles. They are just mundane cars with a few upgrades."
"Alright!"
We enter the car and drive away from the mess. I see the police blocking the road, but they let us pass through. I can see it in their eyes; they are afraid of me.
I can feel fear rolling out of their bodies.
"Will they always fear me, Zelretch?"
"Oh yes. Divine beings will always be feared. Gods can be kind, but humans have a primordial fear in their hearts. Especially when it comes to this Godless world."
He looks at me and says.
"Do you feel it? Feel the surge of faith?"
"Is that what it is? I feel something trickling into my soul, but I don't know what it is. It's weird. It feels powerful but feeble at the same time."
"Yeah. That is faith energy entering you. Because of your unique existence, that energy will not shape you. Usually, a god's nature changes depending on their worshippers' view of them."
"That is good to hear. I don't want to become something I cannot control. Even the powers from the system do not change my true nature."
"Yeah. Your condition will make all divine beings back home envious, you know? Some of them love the change, but there are a lot of gods who hate the change."
We arrive in front of a building. I see a green symbol, and when I get out of the car, I hear people whispering about me. I ignore them and follow David and his crew to the basement area, where a man stands in our way.
The man looks at David and me before stepping aside.
As the door opens, I see a hologram of a naked pole dancer. Not only that, but my power immediately claims this land. Afterlife, that is the name of this bar, and it is a very famous landmark. This entire establishment is famous enough to be designated as land I can claim.
The land gives me 3 Black Mana because this place is tied to Death, and 2 Red Mana because this club symbolizes freedom to the mercenary of this city. I can tap into this land and summon the echoes of mercenaries that obey my words. Each of them is a 2/2 creature equipped with heavy guns. By default, ten people are summoned, but I can spend two mana of any color to triple the number.
"Welcome to the Afterlife! The best bar in the entire city."
I shrug and sit on a barstool. A woman walks toward me. She has black hair with red ends. She gives me a shaky smile and asks,
"What can I get you?"
"Your recommendation. Two of them."
"Two Johnny Silverhands it is."
I watch her quickly prepare the order and place the drinks in front of us. Zelretch shrugs, and we both take a sip. I grimace, and Zelretch frowns. The woman starts to panic and asks,
"Is something wrong?"
Instead of answering, I summon my Gate of Babylon, pull out better versions of the ingredients she used, and say,
"Here, use these ingredients and recreate the drink."
She hesitates for a second but takes them. When she finishes, I take a sip and release a satisfied sigh.
"That's what I'm talking about. The recipe isn't bad, but the ingredients were shit."
"I still prefer your wine. Give me the golden one, Ryan," Zelretch says.
"That stuff is expensive, you vampire."
However, I still take out a golden bottle from my Gate of Babylon and give it to Zelretch.
"It is rare for Youkai to make wine. They prefer sake, and the wine they do make usually takes at least a hundred years to finish."
"Youkai is real?!"
I turn around and see a Japanese woman sitting in one of the booths. I give her a nod and say,
"Yup. My wife is a Nine-Tailed Kitsune, you know?"
"Holy shit."
I chuckle and finish my drink. Leaning on the counter, I see David and the others talking. I can see them still processing the resurrection. I guess I can give her time before putting her to work. I release a sigh and gather my mana. I take a deep breath and create a magic circle in front of me.
After a few seconds, I point at the empty corner of the bar and create a permanent portal between our two worlds.
"There." I look back at Lucy. "That portal will take you to my world. However, beware, there are other gods on the other side. Amaterasu might be a chill goddess, but she will smite you if you cause trouble. If you want a vacation, go through it. But I need you in three days. Make sure to arrive early, okay?"
Lucy nods her head quickly and says.
"Yes. I understand."
"Good."
I place two kilos of gold bars on the counter before leaving the bar. This world makes me depressed. I need Kunou and Asia to cheer me up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|3rd POV|
Rogue releases a sigh and looks at the cause of her headache. The blue portal swirls, indifferent to her stress. She drinks the tequila that the pair of gods left behind. She must admit the alcohol is of very high quality. Only the richest could afford this, and she received a ten-liter bottle of it just because her stock is shit, according to them.
It is a stink because she buys the high-end stuff to fill her bar. She might not have the best of the best, but everything she owns is still on the high end of products. She is very proud of that, and the two gods crush it without knowing about it.
It has been three days since the portal was created, and the world is going insane. The knowledge that gods exist, or at least once did, is spreading. They left this universe for another because humanity decided they no longer needed them. That information alone makes the spread even faster.
That knowledge sends ripples across the world. Many people destroy the false idols built across Night City. They have already built a statue of Ryan Hernandes, and rumors are spreading like wildfire.
Stories of sick people being cured or the dying being healed spread across the city. As long as you truly believe in the god with the mundane name, you receive a miracle. She knows that she will never get used to his name. In her mind, God's name will be more… Grand. However, his name is Ryan Hernandes. Both names are too common, and many people have one of them on their ID.
However, as long as you believe in him truthfully, you will receive a miracle.
She doesn't know that all of these miracles are because Ryan doesn't want to absorb too much faith into his soul.
Even though Zelretch told him that faith would not change him, he decides not to take a risk. He creates systems within his Soul Realm to perform miracles for those with enough faith. He puts limitations in place, but not many.
Ironically, this creates more problems, as he gains even more faith each time a miracle is performed.
This gives Rogue, the Queen of Fixers, a massive headache. Because of the broadcasts from Corpo Plaza, everyone knows about the resurrections. She needs to increase security at her bar by 10 times to make sure no one is stupid enough to offend the two Gods. Not only that, but she also needs to protect Maine and his crew from the public by keeping them in the Afterlife until they can prepare for the job God will give to Lucyna.
Countless people have loved ones they want brought back to life. Rogue knows David Martinez wants Ryan to bring back his mother. Getting that information isn't hard. After re-checking Maine's crew backgrounds, she knows David will try to ask.
"Are you guys ready?"
She puts down her glass as she sees Maine's crew walking toward her. They are geared to the teeth and ready for war. Seeing them nod, she put on her jacket and put her weapon in its holster. She brings her personal weapons since she is going into another world. She even wears her old jacket from her days as a Solo.
She might be the Queen Fixer of Night City, but she wants to see another world, and this is her opportunity. Nix, Squama, and Bronson are coming along in case the situation gets too hot.
"Let's get going."
She leads the crew to the portal, takes a deep breath, and steps through. What greets her is the smell, pure and free of the foul air prominent in Night City. In front of her is a lush garden filled with plants that are supposedly extinct.
"Ah! Lucy! It looks like you brought the others with you."
She snaps from her thoughts and turns around. She sees a group of people sitting underneath a tree. Ryan is giving them a grin, and sitting next to him is a beautiful woman with a bust so large that Rogue assumes they must be implants. There is no way she believes those are organic; they are bigger than her head.
"Well? What are you guys standing there for? Come on, take a seat. We are just about to have tea."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for reading! If you'd like to help, please visit my Ko-fi page (ko-fi.com/ryusenka).
Or if you want to read more and support me, you can go to my P@treon: [email protected]/ryusenka