21 Shiva

In a place few light years away from [Selection Area]

Contradictory to the intense atmosphere in the [Selection Area], here was a totally opposite environment.

"Yo Kherty! Number 1662934 died already and you still claim that necromancy type 'help's' are the most powerful in the early stages. Now pay up your bet amount- 1000 low-grade time stones"

"SED!!!! You fucking Jackal. I lost a full 820 low-grade time stones because of you. If I meet you again, I'll beat you to death!"

"Nike, I win this time, number 82637 died a while ago. Your 25000 low-grade time stones are mine. Happy business."

A huge screen was present in the palace which played the live broadcast of the prominent scenes happening in [Selection Area], coupled with the betting going on in the background. It seemed like a fighting arena.

But the disdainful expression of most of the Gods made it clear that this wasn't a fighting arena but rather a place for their entertainment and bets. Not even in the wildest imagination would this seem like a place for Gods to recruit believers. It seemed more like a fish market than a reputed betting ground.

…

Overlooking all of them, a platform invisible to all the gods below, there was a gold platform.

The atmosphere present on the platform was much more intense than that of the gods below them and the number of bets was also in huge amounts. The information about this platform was known to everyone on the Genesis plane.

…

What everyone didn't know was the higher platform undetected by everyone present above the entire hall.

After all, the ones eligible to be present here are the Gods having the peak strength within their respective fractions and represented the highest combat power of Genesis plane. Even if only the highest power individuals were eligible to be present here, the number extended to more than 20,000 people present. This number excludes those not being able to come due to some reasons. This explains the amount of power Genesis plane has.

On that platform, a man with long hair, sitting on the luxurious throne with imperial garments and a hat with 13 different pearls had a playful expression on his face. That expression directly canceled out all his majesty with was excluding from his throne and clothes. According to him, the majesty was unnecessary in front of the people sitting beside him. The name of that God was Yuhuang Shangdi aka the 'Jade Emperor'.

"So what do you say Shiva, will you really go and take number 1423 in your Veda Academy?" The Jade emperor heartily laughed at Shiva as he spoke.

Shiva on the other hand was sitting on his mount Nandi who was a cow. His body was not of normal human colour but rather a blue coloured one. His throat had the darkest blue one had ever seen. He wore nothing but a tiger sin around his body along with Rudraksha beads accessories on his body. Having a crescent moon on his head and a stream of holy was flowing from his hair, he looked very different from the luxurious Jade Emperor. Moreover, he had a calm smile on his face as if he was not affected by anyone or anything in the world.

"I don't mind taking him in, his strategies are precise and his mind is sharp. He tempered himself so much from mortal thinking to the mindset of a predator in such a short time which surprised me a bit. The only thing I don't like is his weak strength. Even though he is around 132nd position according to the criteria set by us but his strength is a weak point. I can't blame him due to the less time he got but I am a little hesitant to take him in. His last act of killing that goblin successfully caught my attention. I must say that it was a good plan…"

Before Shiva could continue to give his inputs about Brian, a ringing sound started coming from the screen. This made all the 20,000 Gods slightly stressed.

[Low level alert]

[800 peak Gods detected]

[Low level alert]

*sigh* 20,000 sighs came at once

"Seems like it's time to your face Shiva." Jade Emperor spoke as he stood up from his throne.

"So as it seems…" Shiva calmly spoke as he stood up from his mount.

"Hey Hades, Give me your area this time" Shiva once again spoke

But this time it was to a ghastly figure who had changed into his battle suit which consisted of a crown on his head and a staff in his hand. There was also a three-headed dog on his legs which was had the strengths of the peak Gods present on the second platform.

"Hmm!" He directly nodded to Shiva without asking any questions or favors.

…

Meanwhile…

In the [Selection Area]

"Huff"

"Huff…"

"I…I won"

"I killed that son of a bitch"

"Now laugh. Laugh na"

"HAHAHAHAHA"

"Hruggek ain't it? Try laughing now asshole"

Brian directly fell backward on the battlefield and started laughing like a maniac.

It was an unwinnable fight in his mind. This gave him another idea about the strength he has. He also learnt to not underestimate himself.

[Hruggek is laughing at you]

[Hruggek starts laughing like a madman]

[Hruggek is *****]

*Crack*

A loud cracking sound suddenly rang around the entire [Selection Area]

This sound made the slightly intoxicated feeling in Brian instantly turn into alertness.

*Shatter*

"Fuck"

Brian cursed out loud. He wasn't sure of what was going on, but he had a slight feeling that the thing that shattered whatever was protecting the [Selection Area] had his sights on him.

Brian stood like a statue at that moment. It wasn't that he was shit scared and couldn't move but it was more like he couldn't achieve anything by moving. So, he started thinking about what actually could be achieved.

His mind turned quickly as he thought about the only person that could come for him.

'Hruggek, Shiva or Anahita are the only Gods I have been in contact with. Hruggek is the most likely one but I don't think that he will be allowed to interfere directly with the mortals'

He couldn't think of a solution at the moment.

No tricks or tactics could be used in front of Absolute strength and someone who had the audacity to put the word God in his name would at least have the bare minimum strength to do so.

He knew that he couldn't lose hope.

"Avatar Replacement"

Another Brian came out of Brian's body which ejected the same aura as Brian.

Although this couldn't solve anything but it could definitely give Brian some time. The avatar had too many limitations that's why he didn't use it in the previous fight. It would be broken even with a tofu attack. But Brian had to grab every straw of hope he could manage to find.

"Earth escape"

Brian directly seeped through the earth as he used up all the recovered energy he had managed to gather. Before leaving he left all the totems in the range of the avatar and handed him the Nunchaku(Diamond Grade) to try and hold back the one who was coming. The tree totems together could provide the avatar a serious buff while the nunchaku could increase the attack power by several levels.

Just when Brian was half-submerged into the ground, a green figure was seen in the sky rushing towards him.

He immediately submerged himself fully and didn't move one inch more. He was afraid of making the person aware of him by sensing the fluctuations of his escape. After all earth escape was just a level 1 technique.

"Hahahaha human. I the great lord Hruggek is here. I heard that you wanted me to laugh so I heard your prayer and came here to fulfil your wish"

"HAHAHAHAHA"

Although Brian couldn't see anything but he could clearly hear everything Hruggek said.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Scared? Where is the confidence which you had while slandering a GOD?"

"Oh ho ho ho ho. Quite a nice mortal weapon you have there. My servants will definitely like it"

If Brian could really speak then he would definitely ask this God that "what is the enjoyment in making fun of a mere mortal like me. It almost makes me feel like I have the strength to make you come down to my level to slap my face"

Unfortunately Brian didn't have the guts to do so nor did he have the time.

Hruggek would be aware of his presence very soon. The avatar could do nothing but stand like a statue due to his level 1 skills.

'I WONT GO DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT'

Brian shouted in his heart. It was a reminder to himself to not belittle himself. In the eyes of Gods he may be nothing but a plaything but he was a human after all and aspired to be free.

He was a soldier at the end and fought for freedom without caring about his life.

"HAAAA!!!!"

Looking at the right opportunity and confused Hruggek, Brian jumped from the ground into the air.

*grab*

Catching hold of that diamond-grade nunchaku he made his body do a flip in air as he rotated the nunchaku at the highest speed possible before smashing it on the Green Goblin's head.

Hruggek didn't seem to have noticed what happened until the nunchaku fell on his head.

Even after a full power attack by Brian, Hruggek felt nothing but a scratch on his forehead. Blood was almost about to come out but unfortunately, they were not inside the range of one Totem.

After that attack, Brian directly collapsed. He wasn't even able to see the outcome of his attack before he fainted. He was exhausted to his extreme limit even before this last attack and he exceeded his limit just based on his sheer will.

He didn't expect to wake up after this attack so he fainted with a smirk on his face. He was content with giving his best. After all he didn't have any plot armour.

*Bang*

"Oww"

This wasn't the explosion of something else but Brian's head. His head felt like it was about to explode at any moment.

It was a suicidal headache.

Just when he opened his eyes, what awaited his sight was him being in a huge transparent bubble while a cow carrying a blue-coloured man on his back as it pulled the huge bubble-like carriage.

Just when Brian concentrated on the blue coloured man, he saw the tiger skin wrapped around him along with the crescent moon ornament on his forehead.

Joining two and two together…

"Lord Shiva!?!" Brian squeaked in excitement.

He was after all in front of a person his family worshiped in the early stages before Brian forced them to stop. He was the strongest God in the entire Hindu mythology consisting of more than a 1000 known Hindu Gods.

"Ohh, You are awake?" Lord Shiva spoke in an ethereal tone. His voice resembled that of destruction itself.

It seemed like one was personally experiencing the destruction of countless worlds by hearing just his voice alone.

"y-Yes" Brian stammered.

After all that was a whole living God in one piece. He was just a 21-year-old kid. How could he even contain the strange excitement present inside him.

"…"

"Where are we going?" Brian asked after a strange silence indulged between the two.

"The place we are heading too has many names. Which one would you like to hear? Heaven? Hell? God Plane? Black hole? 4th dimension? We prefer to call it the Genesis Plane. You can choose whichever one you like."

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