Darkness.
Not the suffocating kind. Just quiet.
It felt like an endless stretch of time had passed, like sinking into a deep, quiet sleep in a distant, dark void.
A rest he had always wanted. No urges to suppress. No nightmares to endure.
Then, his awareness returned.
Matthew was staring up at a blue sky. Clouds drifted slowly overhead.
He lay flat on something cold, his mind crowded with half-formed questions that refused to settle.
He stood.
In every direction stretched emerald-colored water, shallow enough to cover his feet. When he looked down, there was no visible bottom, only a dark, endless depth beneath the surface.
He caught his reflection.
He had no hair on his body, no clothes, no facial features, just eyes like a blank slate left to be filled.
He touched his face to confirm it; he didn't panic.
More questions formed in his mind, but finding their answers didn't feel urgent.
"Death brings the ultimate peace," a voice said. "It is benevolent to both the sinner and the innocent."
It came from behind him, a place that he had already checked.
Matthew turned slowly.
A man sat calmly on a chair beside a small white table, lifting a cup. He wore a black suit, and a strip of fabric covered his eyes. His mid-length hair, an unusual mix of blonde and white, fell to his shoulders.
"Come, take a seat," the man said.
"Tea or coffee, whatever you prefer."
Matthew approached the table and sat down. He looked at the man across from him. His expression was unreadable, after a brief moment the unknown man snapped his fingers.
A familiar sensation returned.
Matthew opened his mouth and exhaled softly.
"Milk. Do you have it?"
"Huh?"
The man paused. He had been expecting questions, but not this one
"Oh. Yes."
He glanced at the table. A glass of milk materialized within a soft yellow glow.
Matthew picked it up immediately and began drinking. He took his time savoring every drop; the milk was unexpectedly better than anything on earth.
The man watched him in silence.
After finishing the glass, Matthew placed it back on the table. "May I have another serving?"
The man didn't answer.
The empty glass was filled again, slowly, to the brim. Without wasting a second, he picked up the glass and began drinking.
Only after Matthew swallowed the last mouthful did the man speak.
"Don't you have questions?"
Burp.
Matthew covered his mouth with the back of his hand.
"I suppose I do," he said after a moment. "But I'm not sure what I'd do with the answers. If you're willing, you may tell me everything yourself."
The man tilted his head slightly.
"I am Eres," the man said at last. His voice deepened, echoing through the open space. "The Celestial of Light and Fear. This is my domain."
"A Celestial?" Matthew asked. "So... a god?"
"From your perspective."
Matthew nodded once, as if that settled it.
"Why did you bring me back from 'that' place?"
"Hm..?" Even with his eyes covered, Matthew sensed the confusion, a brief pause before the answer came.
"How much time do you think has passed, Matthew?" Eres asked instead.
Matthew considered it for a moment. "Hmm… Long enough that counting in human years stopped making sense. But it felt... Peaceful."
"Forget it."
Eres straightened, folding his hands together. "I'll be direct. I have a task for you. Complete the mission I assign, and I shall grant you whatever you desire."
He tilted his head, a faint smile forming beneath the cloth.
"It's a generous offer, don't you think?" he added softly. "And it isn't a request." The air around Matthew shifted. Suddenly, an eerie, suffocating feeling crept into his body.
But—
Matthew smiled.
"It's a generous offer," he said softly. "But I'll have to refuse. Please send me back to being dead."
The smile on Eres's face vanished.
The sky darkened, bleeding into red. The table disappeared, and Matthew fell.
Eres rose into the air, his body radiating an incomprehensible, sinister glow.
From the depths below, rotted black hands emerged. They seized Matthew's limbs and closed around his neck. Nails like spikes grew from the rotten flesh, piercing into his body.
"It seems you don't understand your position."
His voice was no longer singular. Each word echoed as if spoken by thousands of existences at once, pressing down on Matthew from every direction.
"I already told you this is not a request."
The rotted hands tightened around Matthew's body, lifting him higher into the air. His neck strained as they forced his head up.
His chest convulsed. No breath came.
"It would be wise for you to accept what I'm offering, Matthew," Eres said. "The kind of life you lived, the atrocities you committed, all of it makes you deserving of eternal suffering. And yet, I am offering you a chance."
The pressure shifted, just enough.
Matthew dragged in a shallow, burning breath.
"Des..per..ate."
"What?"
"You are," Matthew rasped, forcing the last word out, "desperate."
In that instant, the rotted hands released Matthew.
Eres's fingers closed around Matthew's neck, not with restraint, but with raw force.
The other hand clenched into a fist and drove straight into Matthew's abdomen.
Matthew was sent crashing into the emerald-colored water. The impact tore through him, driving the breath from his body as he skidded across the surface, dragged back by an unseen force.
"Your insolence knows no limits."
When Matthew finally stopped, his chest seized. No air came.
His torso felt absent, yet it burned with relentless pain.
He gasped, clawing for breath, until at last a shallow inhale broke through.
"H-haha…"
"Your desperation is leaking all over, eternal suffering? Go ahead. Show me what eternal suffering looks like."
Eres looked down at Matthew.
"Why do you put yourself through pain?" he asked. "All you have to do is obey me, and I can grant you anything you desire."
Matthew lay flat for a moment, then forced himself upright.
"Now you're negotiating? Fine if you're so eager to give me something," he said, "then grant me death."
"Do whatever you want. My answer won't change."
"Enough!" The air warped violently around them.
"After everything you've done, you think peaceful death awaits you?" Eres's voice thundered, stripped of its earlier restraint.
He laughed bitterly.
"If you refuse," he continued, anger bleeding through his words, "then fine. You'll stay here. I'll break you slowly, and you'll feel every second of it."
"I'm going to die anyway," he snarled. "So I might as well keep you here and tear you apart until the end."
Matthew let out a small laugh. The pain flared, sharp enough to make him stop himself. "They say anger's your biggest enemy," he said. "Didn't think I'd hear a god prove it out loud."
He winced, "Sure. Let's suffer together."
"Agh! Fuck. Do you really have no fear?" Eres's voice cracked with frustration. "You humans are the worst creatures in the universe. The last one I chose was a traitor. I gave him everything, and he vanished."
His gaze burned into Matthew.
"And now there's you."
Eres descended, his feet touching the emerald-coloured water without a sound.
A sharp snap echoed through the space.
In an instant, they were back at the table. The pain gnawing at Matthew vanished. The sky returned to blue. Everything settled into stillness.
Except Eres's face.
Whatever composure he had left was gone, replaced by irritation, anger, and something far worse: desperation.
Matthew took a moment to examine his body. The pain was gone.
After that, he looked up casually.
"So that's why you brought me back from death?" he asked. "Because you got scammed by a human?"
Matthew placed his hands on the table and laced his fingers together, resting his chin against them. "I'm not sure you fit the image of a god," he said calmly.
"Ugh. Yes. Are you happy now?" Eres slammed his fist against the table as he rose to his feet. "Go on, laugh. Let me see your teeth. I'll break them one by one."
Matthew didn't react. He only watched Eres lose his mind.
"Whatever your problem is," he said evenly, "it's yours. You dragged me here."
He paused and let out an exhausted breath. Straightening slightly, he continued, "I can't do what you want. I don't want to keep existing. I did something that can't be undone."
His fist clenched as he looked down.
"Just… let me stay dead."
Eres laughed dryly as he circled the table, pinching Matthew's cheeks between his fingers. "Aww. What a depressed soul," he said. "Want a candy?"
"Without knowing you, someone might even pity you."
Matthew brushed Eres's hand aside without looking at him. "You only know what I did," he said. "Not who I am."
"Don't try to act human in front of me," Eres said dryly. "I know you're good at it."
Then something sparked in his eyes. He quickly sat back in his chair.
"You love killing, don't you?" he continued. "In your world, you were always weighed down by police, laws, and rules meant to restrain people like you."
He leaned forward slightly.
"So how about this?"
"A world where you can kill without consequence. Where power decides what's right, and the strong bend every law society hides behind."
Matthew's face remained blank. But his eyes widened. His fingertips twitched. He licked his lips without realizing it.
For a moment, something flickered behind his gaze.
Then it vanished.
He steadied himself, composure back into place.
"It's an exciting offer," Matthew said. "But sadly, no. Send me back to being dead."
Eres didn't speak at first.
He had expected this. And now, he finally knew how to proceed.
Carefully, he opened his mouth.
"##### ######"
This time, it wasn't an offer.
It was a name.
A name Matthew had never allowed himself to think about.
"How about him?" Eres said quietly.
"A chance to kill him. To tear him apart with your own hands."
He paused, letting the words sink in.
"You remember everything, don't you?" His voice lowered.
"Think about it, Matthew Larson. Only I can give you the chance to kill him again."
Matthew's pupil trembled. His lips slowly twisted into a smile—one that had nothing human left in it.
Before Eres could say anything more, Matthew burst into laughter.
Not like before.
This time, it was deep. Twisted.
For the first time since the day he came into existence, the Celestial of Light and Fear felt uneasy.