Only God

He had been walking for over ten days.

Veldor gained nothing.

The stairway to Heaven… It seemed as if it did not exist within the Netherworld.

"No, it's too early to be sure… This is just a small part of the Netherworld."

Veldor muttered to himself,

"I could spend ten years, twenty years, or even a hundred years, after all… I am already 'dead'."

Veldor felt that if he could not find the "stairway to Heaven" even after a hundred years, he could ascertain that this was not really the Netherworld.

After all, that would be a hundred years' time.

And for such a span of time, the path he had now taken was truly insignificant.

Although the prospect of finding the "stairway to Heaven" was remote, Veldor felt that even if it took a real hundred years, it would still be more meaningful than staying in the afterlife town.

It was as if… he was still alive.

Veldor thought that perhaps life itself was meaning, was the pursuit of meaning.

As long as one could live a meaningful life, it was the same before death as after.

Thus, he kept moving forward in the empty "Netherworld," searching, pausing now and then, grasping at every clue.

Until…

An inconspicuous stone step appeared before him.

At that moment, Veldor was shaken.

A rugged stone step emerged so abruptly on the hillside, appearing almost without any sign, just standing there in solitude.

For an instant, Veldor doubted his own eyes, questioned his sanity.

It was quite a while before Veldor calmed down. He approached and saw more steps.

One, two, ten, hundreds upon thousands of steps, as he drew closer, came into view. They spread from the gentle hillside to the very top, dangling in the air, gradually reaching into the distant Netherworld sky.

"The stairway to Heaven…"

Veldor murmured.

At that moment, he no longer cared whether the Netherworld was real or not, the stairway was right before him, he ran madly, and then lifting his foot, he stepped onto the stairway. When the sole of his foot touched the stone step, he felt an incomprehensible sense of sanctity, as if he was ascending a Heavenly Road.

One step, then another, and another…

Veldor began to ascend the stone steps, he held his breath, his gaze fixed solely on the endless expanse of steps before him, not daring to utter a word.

Gradually, he climbed higher and higher, above the hillside, bit by bit approaching the sky.

He didn't know how long he had walked, but when he turned back, he realized the ground was no longer visible.

Veldor recognized that he was now very close to Heaven's Gate.

He lifted his head, saw the approaching sky, and climbed, step after step, incessantly ascending.

Until, in the midst of heaven, a majestic and spacious gate appeared before his eyes.

Something seemed to hang upon the gate.

At the moment he saw Heaven's Gate, Veldor trembled, the legends were true, his own interpretations of the Scripture were also true, Heaven was right there—past True Believers had followed this Heavenly Road straight to God, to the everlastingly blissful Cloud Sea Garden.

Veldor's breath became rapid, he quickened his pace toward Heaven's Gate.

When he finally reached the gate, he pushed against Heaven's Gate with all his might.

He thought he could hear… Angels singing.

After a moment of fantasy…

What he waited for was simply the unmoving Heaven's Gate.

Veldor stood there stunned, pushing hard against the gate, but it remained stuck, immobile.

"God, what is this…"

Before he could finish, Veldor looked down and suddenly noticed a brown wooden placard hanging on the gate.

It was like a notice board.

Veldor grabbed the notice board.

On the front it read:

"Pass through me to the Heavenly City."

He hastily flipped the board to the back.

There he saw a crooked sentence written:

"Under construction."

Veldor was stunned, disbelieving as he stared at the notice board.

He looked up, grasping the gate's wall carvings, then struggled to reach the doorframe, looking towards the back of "Heaven's Gate."

Behind Heaven's Gate was not the revered Heavenly City.

On its back, there was only the empty, dim sky; beyond that, there was nothing.

This was a door, unfinished, forlornly suspended in midair.

"Fake... fake?"

Veldor said, dumbfounded.

The moment he saw the "Heavenly Stairs," he felt as if he had gone mad, casting all thoughts aside, harboring boundless expectations for Heaven's Gate, attempting to ascend directly to Heaven.

But now, he realized the gate was fake, not even completed—a mere half-product.

Veldor slowly sat on the towering stairs, repeating in disbelief,

"Fake... could it really be fake?"

Just then...

"Yes, it's all fake.

It's all a lie."

An enigmatic voice tinged with a mocking laugh reached Veldor's ears.

Veldor shivered, nearly tumbling from the heights at the sound.

He quickly looked up and saw a familiar figure, descending gently from above.

It was none other than the Philosopher who had led them in rebellion.

"Is... is that you? How could you?"

Before Veldor could gather his thoughts...

A gust of black wind surged, and in the wind, the Philosopher transformed to reveal his true form.

"It's been a while, Veldor."

Slaier bowed politely,

"Let me properly introduce myself, I am Slaier from the 'Second Prophet Book.'"

Finally, Veldor snapped back to reality, shouting,

"The Netherworld is false, I never died at all!"

As if in response to his outcry or to enliven a stage play, Slaier slowly rose higher, then took out a Fire Scythe, lighting a candle and lifting it slowly.

The vastness of the sky... began to burn.

Veldor watched the scene in astonishment.

Slaier's candle pierced through the "sky."

The air was filled with the stench of ashes.

"Yes, everything here is fake, even the sky is false, just a sheet vast enough to act as a curtain."

Slaier stretched out his hand, tearing the gap in the "sky" even wider, and then, through that opening, a vast expanse of true blue sky appeared.

That was the true sky.

It was located far beyond this place.

Veldor was utterly stunned, slowly realizing that Slaier had created this "Netherworld," made everyone believe they were dead, and even used a huge curtain to conceal the true sky.

But why...

Veldor couldn't fathom the reason.

After a while, he caught his breath, panting hard.

Learning the truth, realizing he truly hadn't died, Veldor felt not an ounce of joy. On the contrary, waves of fear swept over him. In front of this false Heavenly Gate, he shivered with cold.

Everything here was fake, scarcely a single truth existed.

The god of lies and trickery before him was the complicated Divine from the Scriptures, indistinguishable between good and evil.

Who knew what His intentions truly were?

"Why... why do you do this?"

Veldor finally managed to ask.

"Why?"

Slaier laughed, then spread his arms, as ever inscrutable, saying in a profound tone,

"That is, of course, to... confiscate death!"

"I went through great pains to construct the 'Netherworld,' my spokespersons and my Priests have lured one living soul after another, all to make you utterly believe you are dead. I even lowered myself, disguising as a mortal Philosopher, successfully crushing your wills...

I've done so much, not merely for fun.

Veldor, it is fortunate that it was you, and only you who came here, fortunate that only you have uncovered the truth."