World's Last Hope

As both of them walked out of the house they had taken shelter in, Eric noticed that a few monsters were still flying above the houses.

"Didn't you say the battle was over?"

"Yes, our battle… oh, you seemed so used to everything that I almost forgot nothing has been explained to you." Aria paused for a moment before continuing.

"In short, here we categorize people by class. I am a master, as is everyone in the cathedral at the moment of your summoning, with the exception of my grandfather, who is a grandmaster."

"The city, as you might expect, housing 12 million people, is massive. It's a whopping 600 square kilometers, with countless factions ruling over specific areas. Each area is grouped under a specific god."

"There are seven factions for seven gods, which are: Life, Sun, Ocean, Sky, War, Dreams, and Underworld. Each faction has members. In total, there are a few hundred masters and a few dozen grandmasters, but we are not enough. So, we only deal with the biggest threats and leave the soldiers to handle the rest."

As they walked and talked, they entered a large building with a blue circle on the ground.

"What is this?" Eric asked curiously.

"Teleportation circle. We, as well as most masters and grandmasters, use it to enter the center of the city, where we would vote on our next steps." She paused for a moment before adding,

"Oh, and don't think it was because of you. We were only trying to summon a chosen one out of curiosity, as no one has been successful for about a decade. We were just curious to see if we would have any luck."

With that, she stepped into the circle, and Eric followed. A moment later, he found himself in a building resembling the one he was just in, but in a completely different location.

As he exited, he saw that the streets were filled with people happily chatting. It felt like he was in a completely different city, but what caught his attention was the massive castle at the center of it all.

"This is where we're supposed to go. Hurry, we don't have much time."

Walking closely behind Aria, she continued.

"We would vote on which cathedrals we would try to recover from the corruption. As a person from the Life God faction, I would obviously want to recover a cathedral from the God of Life. But unlike the religion of your world, here we work differently. There should be harmony between the gods and their factions if we want a peaceful world. If one faction gains too much influence, it could disturb the harmony, dooming the world."

Walking, Eric felt countless gazes directed at him and Aria. Was it because she was a master, or because she was so breathtaking?

Soon, they reached the castle gates.

"Master Aria!" the guards guarding the gate saluted and immediately opened the gates without question.

As they entered, Aria spoke, her voice quieter than before.

"You might be a chosen one, but don't expect hospitality. In fact, expect the opposite. There have been thousands of chosen ones, and all of them have failed spectacularly. Coupled with your crimson eyes, which show you are a curse-bearer, most people will be skeptical towards you."

"And you are not?" he asked curiously.

"Upon entering another world, you immediately risked your life to save the life of a little girl. The least I can say is that you don't seem to have any ill intentions." She answered with a faint smile.

She seemed to be done talking, so Eric asked a question.

"Do you have a goal in mind for what you want to achieve in today's vote?"

"Yes," she answered immediately. "I want to change the world, but to do that, I need more authority. The only way to gain that authority is to become a grandmaster. Sadly, the only opportunity to achieve that is by becoming the owner of a cathedral. But that would mean I'd have to enter the corruption zone and liberate it."

"You can't?" Eric asked.

Aria's smile faded. "Yes, trying that alone is suicide, and no one would want to join a mission like that."

"Then what if I join? The two of us could make this work, right?" Eric said with a smile.

Upon hearing that, Aria chuckled softly. "Yeah, sure, but you'd have to convince the majority to let us attempt such a thing."

"You think I can't?" His smile widened for a moment.

"You're welcome to try," she responded.

As they approached a gigantic door made of what looked like gold, both of them fell silent. Eric could feel the power behind the door. Hundreds of masters were waiting for the meeting to start.

As they pushed the door open, Aria looked him in the eyes with a serious expression and advised him,

"Remember, it's better for them to think you are arrogant, rather than timid."

As Eric entered the giant room, he was momentarily shocked. There were countless chairs and tables arranged in a circle. Most of the chairs were occupied by masters, who immediately looked in his direction as he entered.

The gazes made him shiver for a moment, until he remembered Aria's words.

Truthfully speaking, Eric was neither arrogant nor timid, but he possessed one very useful ability:

He was able to bullshit his way in and out of any situation.

So, he proudly straightened his back, met the gaze of the masters with his crimson eyes, and quietly followed Aria.

Whispers began to echo in the giant room.

"Who is he?"

"He is a curse-bearer?"

Ignoring the whispers, he followed Aria up the stairs and sat next to her.

Soon after, an old man with a giant gray beard began to speak, reading from a script of papers.

"I want to thank the masters and grandmasters for making the time to par-"

Quickly losing interest, Eric turned to Aria.

"Who is he?"

She briefly glanced at him before answering.

"He's the only saint. Usually, he abstains from voting to avoid interfering with the process, but when he does vote, his side always wins. That's how much influence a saint possesses."

"Always wins, huh?" Eric muttered under his breath.

As the old man continued his boring speech, he suddenly stopped, his eyes widening as he looked at the paper.

"A chosen one has been summoned?! Who is Eric?"

Sighing, Eric stood up from his chair and met the old man's gaze.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Saint...?"

"Gabriel. Saint Gabriel," the old man answered, still shocked by the news.

The room burst into whispers.

"After a decade, there is another one chosen by the gods?"

"So, he is not only cursed but chosen. This is a deadly combination."

Upon hearing the chatter, the Saint frowned and shouted, "Silence!"

Immediately, all the chatter stopped. Gabriel turned back to Eric and asked,

"The gods… What did they say?"

Upon hearing the question, Eric's expression darkened for a moment.

"All of them have gone into deep slumber. Unless we make a change, the world will be overturned by corruption. This was the only thing the Goddess told me before she, too, fell into slumber."

Hearing Eric's words, the expressions of everyone in the room darkened. Gabriel motioned for Eric to sit, and he did just that.

"This is why we must make an effort to take back the cathedrals," Aria's grandfather spoke, attracting everyone's attention. "Our biggest problem is the lack of food due to the dry land and the declining birth rates. I believe we could fix that if we took back a cathedral belonging to the God of Life."

The God of Life was also the God of Fertility, so reclaiming its cathedral should help with both of these problems.

"I disagree," an old man wearing a blue coat, most likely from the God of Ocean faction, spoke evenly. "A large part of the city borders the ocean. If something were to attack, we wouldn't be able to stop it without the God's blessing. Plus, recovering the God of Ocean's cathedral would help replenish the fish population, addressing the starvation problem."

A discourse began, debating which type of cathedral they should try to reclaim. In the end, they voted, and the results were as follows:

45% voted for taking back a cathedral of the God of Life

35% voted for taking back a cathedral of the God of Ocean

The rest voted for other options, but these two were the primary ones.

"The people have spoken!" Saint Gabriel stood up from his chair and threw something into the center of the room. A hologram of a map of the city and its surroundings appeared.

"Now, let's see what our targets will be."

The map began to zoom in on certain locations, and Saint Gabriel began explaining the characteristics of each cathedral.

"This one is the closest, but also the most dangerous. Not because of its guardian, but because of its surroundings. The uneven terrain and the large number of monsters residing in the area make it impossible to reach with an army. The only way is to send a few talented individuals, but even then, the risk is too high."

He paused for a moment before continuing. "As such, we will not be attempting to take it ba-"

"I will do it." A male voice interrupted the saint. Everyone turned their heads in the direction of the voice.

There, a young man with black hair and crimson eyes sat, with a smile on his face.

"I will take that cathedral back." Eric had decided to begin his plan.