SHIN SEKAI: SPARK OF THE NEW WORLD

The gods are dying

   Power is always associated with trouble. Sometimes it is great enough to save us from trouble, sometimes it isn't. Sometimes it is so great that trouble can't get close and sometimes its greatness is the reason why trouble comes.   

   Sometimes it's not about how you use it, sometimes it's about the power itself. The mere existence of a certain power could stir up fear, awe, hatred and envy depending on who percieved it and how they do. 

   "My power is supposed to kind that helps me escape trouble" Victor said to himself as he drove through an empty road with nothing but desert on both sides.

   "But unfortunately" he said with a sigh

   "I'm stuck with a lot of trouble magnets"

   "What a drag"

   It wasn't long before the lonely house in the middle of nowhere came into view but it wasn't the only thing in sight. What was seen was both scary and magnificent.

   A lone cowboy stood in front of the house and before him was a fresh field of corpses that spread far around the house in the desert. One could tell that the battle had just ended as the cowboy was still breathing heavily while facing the sky with his eyes closed. His pose was perfect for the poster of a wild west movie.

   The first change in the posture of the cowboy was to turn his head to look at Victor who had just come down from the ambulance.

   "Friend or foe?" The cowboy asked in a calm voice but Victor could not handle the uneasiness that came from his gaze.

   "Friend" Victor answered with hesitation and the cowboy straightened himself and turned to properly face Victor.

   "Wrong password" the cowboy said in a quick breath and quickly drew out his revolving pistol to fire. The only thing Victor was fast enough to do before the shot was fired was to consider his own death. One shot from a well fashioned Blackhawk revolver in the hands of master marksman was quite deadly but luckily for Victor, it wasn't his day to die.

   The shot was fired, the sound was heard but when Victor opened his eyes, he wasn't dead. He beheld a thick shield made purely of water and a magnum bullet trapped inside it.

   "There are no friends..." a familiar voice said from the distance

   "...There are no foes..."

   "...only those that want to kill us..."

   "... and those who don't"

   "Are these your friends?, Market boi" the cowboy asked as turned too see where the voice came from.

   "Oh, you still call me that too?" Orie replied with a weakened voice.

   "Hello Phil"

   "I like what you've done with the place" he said, drawing a short breath.

   "If we're done here" Orie said

   "Let's all go inside"

   "I have important news to deliver"

   The message was important but it wasn't urgent, this was noted by the fact that Orie insisted on everyone resting and having dinner before he relayed any information. The fact that a message which was deemed important was said to not be urgent could mean many things but considering what everyone had been through, they knew he insisted on rest because they needed enough energy to handle whatever news was going to be relayed.

   "I spoke to the gods earlier today" he said suddenly as everyone was still eating

   "And I know why no priest has been chosen to replace Matéo" he continued uninterrupted

   "Here is what they had to say"

   "To break the barrier at the seventh heaven"

   "And lead mankind to true peace"

   "Our divinty is the key"

   "And our essence shall open the door"

   "What does that mean?" Shiro asked

   "Yeah, I don't actually understand it either" Mia added

   "Yeah, me too" Natsumi said

   "Me three" Naomi said with her hand raised and Yamato was wondering why there were two Natsumis in the same room.

   "You don't really have to think much about it" Victor said with a sigh.

   "The only part of this message we can understand is the one that concerns us"

   "And it is one simple message"

   "THE GODS ARE DYING"

   "And the priests we currently have left are the last"

   "The age of priests is coming to an end"

   "And we must be ready to deal with what comes after"

   "So how do we solve the drought problem?" Nega asked, looking at Orie

   "They kinda forgot to add that to their message"

   "No need to worry about that" Orie replied

   "I already have it covered"

   "How?" Nega asked

   "Let me explain" Orie answered

   "The agriculture of Matéo's province was accelerated his god's blessing, this took a heavy toll on the land and as soon as the blessing was removed, the land took a rest and stopped producing. The land will recover naturally but it would take years so I will take responsibility for them till then. I've already called my people and they are willing to supply everything"

   "What I am really worried about is the death of the gods"

  "It is certain that the order will return, and that they will be stronger than ever were"

  "The power of the gods would have been a great asset in the coming battle now we know that things are going to be a lot harder to deal with and I worry for the future generations"

   "We can just end the order in this generation, can't we?" Shiro asked

   "If that were possible" Orie replied

   "I would not be as worried as I am right now" 

   "Those that we have been fighting for the past thousand years are only a small fraction of what the order truly is"

   "We don't where they are but I am sure that many of them are not on this Earth" 

   "We do not know when they will come but it is very likely that they will come when they come when see us at our weakest"

   "So what can we do?" Victor asked

   "The truth is" Orie replied

   "There is nothing we can do"

   "We can only hope that whoever gets to face them would have the strongest of wills and the most convenient of abilities"

   "Let's solve our own problems first"

   "And hope they can solve theirs"

   The whole room remained silent for a while as everyone pondered on what Orie had said. They had solved the problem they came to solve but were faced with even more problems and among them were those ones they couldn't even try to solve. 

   The silence was only broken by everyone getting up from their chairs and saying goodnight to each other as they had nothing else to say. They tried their best to sleep peacefully but considering the news they had just heard it was impossible for them(with the exception of Shiro and Yamato who were already used to sleeping through precarious situations.

   The night went by, the morning came and it was time to go. The task had been completed and school was returning to session. Naomi was the first to take her leave after properly introducing herself to everyone. No one wanted to experience Orie's teleportation again so Nega brought them to shipping harbour.

   "But aren't ships slow?" Shiro asked and Nega just smiled and replied "not this one" as he pointed to one of the ships.

   "It looks like every other ship" Yamato pointed out

   "Ha ha ha" someone laughed loudly from the background. They turned around to see a man who was well in his middle ages dressed in a Captain's uniform.

   "I see we have some first timers today" the man said

   "I am Edward Clipper" 

   "And I am the captain of this ship"

   SHIN SEKAI SECRET: after Shin's great attack on the prophets of the order, there was barely anything left of the building they all gathered in. The resulting damage so much that as he laid immobilized on the floor, all he could see was a clear blue sky.

   Our heroes leave the gangster's paradise and head back for home to deal with the issues they already had going on. 

   A tournament draws near and they get their chance to shine. Will they make a great impression and show to the world "THE BLINDING LIGHT"