God Magnus

Pov. 2 – Aline Valentini

Cough-cough!

Pain tore through her entire body. And more dust than oxygen entered her lungs. Every part of her muscles was burning, but she fought to get up.

Starlight came from above, reminding her that night had already fallen and that she was somewhere underground.

"What the hell is this place?"

Her eyes began to adjust to the dim light and she started checking where she had landed. It was a tunnel, and her fall had collapsed the ceiling, blocking the way out.

Far away, deep in the distance, an orange light glowed, but it was too far to light up the place where she had fallen.

Aline tried to move, but felt the weakness in her left leg, and when she placed her hands on it, she felt a warm, wet liquid.

"Shit! I fractured my leg!"

With no other options, she threw her body against the tunnel walls and began crawling toward the light. The walls had reliefs and were clearly decorated, but the darkness kept her from understanding what they depicted.

"Is this place part of the 'test'? Or did I fall somewhere I shouldn't be?"

Activating the Scanner, she got the same message as before. Nature energy and the unknown energy, but now they were in the direction of the tunnel's end.

With the faintest hope, she forced her body to move faster. After a few minutes of hell enduring that pain and the burning in her muscles, the light reached her and she finally saw more of the tunnel she was in.

The place was sculpted and polished with great care. Its square shape and the art covering its walls resembled Egyptian murals.

"These writings are completely alien and impossible to understand, but the drawings... They make some sense..."

A great winged being descended from the sky and illuminated a group of people. All were kneeling in prayer, as if begging in pure adoration, seeking the wisdom of that radiant being.

"There are... twenty-one people..."

Further down the corridor, the story continued. Now, the people held weapons, tomes, and tools beyond their time. Some were firearms, others were simply small cell phones.

"This... isn't..."

In the next scene, the angel rose above them and left the primitive people behind. A bit further, another panel showed the people picking up their tools and starting a battle.

A shiver ran through her entire body and for a few seconds, she forgot the pain. These rock carvings were exactly a version of what had happened to the students, except they weren't killing each other...

"Wait... what if we are?"

Another shiver ran through her and she crawled to the next part of the story. There, bodies were on the ground, and blood ran across the floor.

"Seven bodies... no..."

Continuing the story. The fourteen survivors gathered and began facing the trials as a group. They varied, some were beasts and others were simply climbing mountains.

Slowly, bodies were left behind along the way, and at the end, in a well-lit section of the tunnel, a bridge reaching the heavens was depicted.

"Only seven... Only seven survive... 7 7 7!"

The survivors ascended to the sky, where hundreds of angels were seen with harps and drums. There they celebrated and enjoyed the spoils of their victory.

At this point, Aline's strength left her legs, and she collapsed to her knees

.

"That means... everyone is doomed to die? No matter what we do, only seven will be saved."

The shock of what she had discovered hit her mind harder than a train, and tears began to fall from her face.

"Calm down... I can't panic... If only seven will survive... we have to be among the seven... I have to get out of here! I know they're waiting for me!"

With almost insane determination, she gathered strength and stood up, limping. There was only one place she could go, and she started following the light.

Crash!

Amid the silence of her steps, the sound of a heavy blow followed by something cracking reached her ears like a storm.

Holding her breath, she crouched down. Even through the insane pain, she crept forward as stealthily as possible, and soon the light grew blinding.

When her eyes finally adjusted, she saw a spectacular cavern.

Crystals as bright as the sun were embedded all around, illuminating as if it were midday. In the center, a large, imposing tree vibrated, its roots stretching across the entire cavern floor.

However, all that majestic splendor was overshadowed by an entity.

"The Angel!"

At the heart of the majestic tree and its roots, a small platform of finely polished white stones had formed. On it, a humanoid being with golden hair and even brighter eyes sat. His veins now glowed like molten lava, and countless writings covered his body, the same seen in the tunnel murals.

At the angel's feet, a broken mural of rock and his fist at its center. In his free hand, a tool resembling a brush, but made of white steel, with a sharp tip.

His face bore a scowl of pure rage, and his breathing was heavy. All beauty and charisma had vanished. Only a face remained that resembled the devil himself.

"So this is where he was all this time? He carved all those murals himself?"

Her thoughts were cut off when the angel himself began to speak with genuine hatred.

"This curse! How dare these obscured primates interfere with my ascension?! And more than that, how by my wings did that damn boy survive all this?!"

The angel panted, and with each word, the veins glowed more intensely, as if responding to his fury.

"It's all because of those serpents... It has to be! The Elder never had those creatures in his domain, how did so many snakes appear here?! It's impossible to interfere in a start observed by the Federation itself!"

When the angel glowed like a furnace, the light vanished, and his expression returned to beauty.

"Only one option remains... I won't allow you to interfere with my ascension!"

He stood and faced the colossal tree trunk and seemed to whisper something Aline couldn't hear from that distance.

Within seconds, branches began forming beside him, and a humanoid wooden being knelt. Her Scanner showed her that this creature was the presence she had sensed, and panic nearly made her scream.

"You have acted passively for too long... Go to the surface and ensure only seven make it out alive... And preferably, kill that fat bastard!"

Panic surged through her, and tears streamed again. That thing couldn't be killed... How do you destroy a creature made of nothing but branches?

"Oliver..." his name escaped her lips, and she quickly tried to cover her mouth with her hands. It was almost impossible to contain the panic that took over her, and even then, it wasn't quiet enough. 

The angel's golden eyes turned her way, and the last thing she felt before blacking out was branches grabbing every part of her body.

And everything turned to darkness.