American Comics: Borrowed Magic By Skill, Why Should I Return It?

Marvel-616 Universe

Thousands of years ago,

On an unnamed planet,

Gell was born, and since he could remember, the sky had never rained.

The earth cracked, and vegetation withered.

Gell's tribe fell into a long-lasting famine.

During his childhood, Gell witnessed his mother fighting two beasts over a few wild fruits and getting seriously injured.

Before dying, his mother held Gell's hand and prayed to a unfamiliar name.

That was the first time Gell learned about the existence of "gods."

They created everything.

They are benevolent.

They pity the world and its people.

They bring eternal peace to their believers.

They take devout believers to a worry-free paradise.

Then, his mother died, and her body was hung on a tree according to customs, eaten clean by scavenging birds.

Gell grew up.

The second deceased loved one was his wife.

While pregnant with Gell's third child, she fell off a cliff due to prolonged hunger.

As she fell, she cried out, "Please, gods, forgive us."

But Gell didn't hear any response from the gods.

He ran down the cliff and only saw his wife's torn-apart body.

Several months later,

Gell carried his last child, Agor, walking in the desert.

His previous child, the firstborn of his wife, had died twelve sunsets ago.

"Daddy, I'm hungry. Mommy said the gods will hear our prayers, is it true?"

Now, Gell's last child was curled up in his arms, weakly speaking.

He was skin and bones from hunger, but he was still praying to the gods.

"It's true."

Gell replied.

Soon, his last child also died in his arms.

This time, Gell didn't follow the tribe's customs. He didn't hang Agor on a tree.

Instead, he buried him in the ground.

"This is taboo!"

"You're harming that child!"

"You should hang him on a tree so the gods can see him! Take him to heaven!"

The tribal elders loudly criticized Gell's actions.

But what came in response was Gell's trembling finger, filled with anger.

"Where is God?"

"I'm asking you, where is God?"

Gel pointed to the sky, tears in his eyes.

"Where was He when my mother was bitten by the Beast in front of the divine totem?"

"Where was He when my wife fell off the cliff?"

"Where was He when my child starved to death?!"

"I'll tell you! The divine doesn't exist at all!"

"Mortal, gods are created!"

Gel cried out in anguish, but all he received from his tribal brethren were angry stones thrown at him.

"Blasphemer!"

"Stone him!"

"Don't let the gods hear his lies!"

"That's right, my disabled left leg was healed by the divine! This is proof!"

"He is impure now!"

The tribal elders finally made a decision.

They exiled Gel, throwing him into the desert, battered and bruised, to fend for himself.

Until everyone had left.

Gel struggled to stand up, his eyes blinded by blood, unable to see clearly.

He stumbled aimlessly, not knowing how long he walked.

Until Gel's consciousness was almost consumed by emptiness.

Two shooting stars...

Falling towards Gel's direction!

Boom!

The earth-shattering sound woke Gel from his hazy state.

He wiped away the dried blood and strained to see the scene in the deep pit ahead.

It was...

Two divine beings!

Two warring divine beings!

One black, one golden!

The two deities pierced each other's bodies with their blades, perishing together!

Gel crawled into the pit with great difficulty.

When he approached the golden deity among them.

A weak voice suddenly reached Gel's ears.

"Save me..."

"What?"

Gel was startled.

Then, an unnamed anger surged from the depths of his heart.

"Save you?"

Gel looked at the golden-armored deity, his gaze gradually turning fierce.

"Why didn't you save my mother when she died?"

"Why didn't you save my wife when she died?"

Gel struggled to pick up a stone and slowly walked towards the golden-armored deity.

"When my son died!"

"Why didn't you save him!"

Gel roared in anger.

He heavily smashed the stone on the head of the golden-armored deity.

The stone shattered into pieces, but the golden-armored deity showed no reaction.

Mortal!

How dare you kill a god?

Just as Gel was at a loss for what to do,

The weapon in the hand of the deceased black-armored deity suddenly turned into black liquid and spread towards him.

"Go away! Go away!"

At first, Gel resisted in fear.

It wasn't until his fingers touched the black liquid that he calmed down.

He originally thought it was a curse, but now it seemed more like a promise.

"A promise to kill all the deities in the universe."

The black liquid turned into a pitch-black blade in Gel's hand.

It easily pierced through the brain of the golden-armored deity.

Thus...

Gel completed his first deity kill.

But it would never be the last.

In the universe where Chu Xiu was located.

Now.

On the same nameless planet.

Gel carried his daughter and walked laboriously in a desert.

They had already finished their last bit of food, but there was no hope in sight.

"Daddy, I'm hungry."

Gel's daughter weakly spoke in his arms.

"I know, my child, I know."

Gel gently put her down.

Then he knelt on the ground and took out the deity totem hanging around his neck.

"Oh great deity, Lap."

"We beg you for water and food."

Gel prostrated himself on the ground with utmost piety.

After a long time.

He slowly stood up.

But behind him, his daughter had already lost her breath completely.

"No! No!"

Gel despairingly held his daughter, lying on the ground, curled up in the desert.

Hunger slowly consumed his consciousness, and in a daze, he seemed to see a forest of green shade.

There, the fruits were abundant!

Blooming with fresh flowers!

Exhausting his last bit of strength, Ge'er crawled towards the forest he saw in a daze.

It wasn't until his palm grasped the damp grass...

That Ge'er confirmed this wasn't a mirage in the desert!

The forest was real!

The flowers and fruits covering the ground were also real!

"Haha, a wild dog has intruded, devouring my fruits greedily.

Just as Ge'er, due to hunger, picked up the fruits on the ground and crazily devoured them.

-907 lofty voices mocked as they appeared.

Ge'er lifted his head.

His shocked pupils quickly contracted.

"Great Lapu, the messenger of light, I am Ge'er, your final protege..."

Ge'er immediately put down the fruits and knelt on the ground.

"Haha, still my follower."

That lofty voice still brimmed with mockery.

Echoing laughter came from the surrounding forest.

"Great Lord, we have lost everything and have been living in great hardship."

"The river has dried up, and living beings are suffering, but we have never wavered in our faith in you..."

"Only to wait for your eternal grace."

Ge'er wanted to express his piety.

But in return, he received even more ruthless and mocking ridicule.

"Hahaha, this wild dog actually thinks there is eternal grace, hahaha!"

The laughter from above abruptly stopped.

Ge'er still knelt on the ground devoutly, not daring to lift his head.

Until a golden liquid slowly flowed to Ge'er's fingertips, did he raise his head in confusion.

Only to see...

The great deity Lapu, lying on the ground.

His head severed and discarded like trash.

Golden divine blood flowed all over the ground!

And standing beside Lapu's corpse was a tall and cold figure...

Ge'er was stunned.

He felt that this figure was both very familiar and very unfamiliar.

"Who are you?"

Ge'er trembled as he asked.

The figure remained silent, slowly taking off the hood that transformed its body, revealing its true face.

"I am you."

Ge'er answered.