The sky was pitch black. There was a white sun in the sky shedding light over the land, but the sky wasn’t blue or any other color. It was black with no other star other than the sun.Light reached the land normally. The earth was beige, almost white. The foliage was blue and the tree trunks were red. Flowers bloomed in rainbow colors as if their petals reflected light from them.
The buildings were made of the same beige stone that covered the ground. They were round and tall, almost like cones. The windows were covered with black glass.
The roads were paved with smooth stones, redder where the wheels of the carriages and wheelbarrows travelled.
The people were pale with very round and black eyes. They didn’t have noses and their ears were like those of cats. Their hair was black and their mouths were round. They had four arms and two legs and were very tall.
Their clothes were made of many different colors with some type of cloth that resembled linen.
As the sun began to set, a child holding a long pole with a green flame on the top walked around lighting the torches that illuminated the city at night.
This world was far alien to Matthew and the others as anything else they have ever encountered. It just didn’t feel right.
"Who are you?" Another child asked them.
They were clearly speaking another language, but, for some reason, they could understand them.
"We’re adventurers." Ferdinand said.
"What happened to your arms?" The child asked in their innocence.
"We never had them. We were born with four." Helen knelt in front of the child and patted their head. "We come from very far away."
At this moment an adult female came running and hugged the child away from Helen shouting for help.
Suddenly heaps of men came running wielding golden knives and farming tools also made of gilded metal pointing at them. Each one shouted something different.
"Who are you?"
"What are you?"
"Where are you from?"
In the cacophony of sounds, Matthew and the others didn’t know what to answer or to whom.
Before things got violent with the scared villagers surrounding them, a command for silence was issued in a very loud voice.
A man wearing robes that made him look like some sort of noble or religious leader walked in hurried steps towards the party as the villagers took a step back to let him through.
He studied the adventurers with a mix of fear and curiosity in his round eyes. Two of his hands rested on his waist while the other hand supported the fourth arm by the elbow as he rubbed his chin.
"What in Belial’s name are you?" He asked.
In the distance, soldiers wearing gold plates that looked a lot like roman armor approached fast.
"We’re adventurers from Earth." Richard stepped forward. "We didn’t mean to scare you, but we were suddenly flung into your city."
"Flung? Flung how?" The nobleman asked while gesturing for his man to keep their weapons down.
Richard looked back at the others. In generative dungeons, it was important to fulfill the role you were given and not antagonize the simulacrums. Many of those dungeons suffered fluctuations when the scenario was contested.
"We entered a portal and appeared right here." Tina stepped forward.
"Portal? What kind of sorcery are you talking about?" The man questioned them.
"You don’t have portals to other realms or other planets here?" Erin asked.
"I don’t understand. What are you?" The man was getting confused and his voice was becoming more aggressive because of it.
"Wait, father." A woman surged from the crowd dressed in an elegant dress. "We should take them to Belial. He will have the answers we need. I’m sure the strangers are willing to relinquish their weapons?" She said in a diplomatic tone.
"Sure." Richard said, drawing his war pick and letting it on the ground.
The others who had weapons on them did the same. Matthew, however, had his weapons inside of his Inventory and wasn’t forced to handle them.
They were guided to a chariot that was lavishly built. The daughter of the nobleman came in with them while 10 soldiers walked on the outside.
"I’m sorry about that." She apologized as the soldiers closed the doors. "But this is the first time my kind sees anything different than other children of Balial." She explained. "Are you angels? Demons?"
"Neighter of those. We are humans, that one is a fairy, and she is a hobbit." Erin explained.
"Children of Adam." Matthew added. "Child of Titania and..." Matthew looked at Daisy, not knowing the name of the progenitor of hobbits.
"Child of Eluvatar." Daisy completed.
"I see. You were made by other gods." The woman said while shaking inside the carriage. "Your gods must be weak, since they could only give you 2 arms." She added in a condescending tone.
None of them reacted to that. It sounded like an offence, but none of them took it as one.
The carriage stopped at a huge building that could be described as a round pyramid. Built in steps but with round edges that made it look like a huge ball cut in half.
Men and women dressed in white clothes came out of the temple to guide the party inside.
Black tapestry showing a 4 winged version of the children of Belial creating the world and the living things adorned the walls of the temple.
Through a series of walls and corridors that felt like a maze, they were led until they reached a huge chamber illuminated by hundreds of floating yellow candles that burned with green light.
By the end of a huge white, gold and black carpet, sat in a silver throne adorned with red crystals a 4 winged child of Belial dressed in lavish black and white robes.
Those around the party knelt in front of that being and urged them to do the same.
"Oh Lord Belial." The noblewoman that led them there said in clear devotion. "We bring unto your presence these strange creatures. They claim to be children of different gods."
Belial looked at them with his huge black eyes.
"And they are. Wingless angels. But not the sons of Yahweh?" Belial pondered. "Tell me, whose children you are."
"Adam, Titania and Eluvatar." The noblewoman responded pointed at them with pride of knowing.
"I know of Titania." Belial rubbed his chin. "But Adam and Eluvatar are unknown to me. And, as far as I know, Titania has made no daughter."
"Perhaps not yet." Matthew realized where he was. "But she will. And Adam and Eluvatar, I’m sure they’ll be born soon."
It was clear now. They were in Haeresis, before it became a hell. The first prime world that Belial tried to create and fell into darkness. The plane that gave him the First God nickname.
"You claim to be from the future?" Belial asked.
"Something like that." Matthew said. "I believe it’s better to speak alone."
Belial looked at his followers and then looked at Matthew. What he was saying was certainly intriguing. He then gestured for his believers to vacate the room.
"May I show you something?" Matthew asked when they were alone.
"Go ahead, son of Adam."
Matthew took out his dark blade and presented it to Belial.
"This is a strange weapon. What kind of magic is this?" The simulacrum of the demon king asked.
"Something you gave me. You are god, you surely know I’m speaking the truth." Matthew said.
Belial started laughing.
"I do." He said with tears running from his eyes. "I’m just a shadow of the past. This whole place is gone and dead."
"It is." Matthew agreed with a sad tone, remembering how Haeresis looked now.
"I understand now." Belial sighed. "Did the real me make this reality and bring you in to show my creation crumbling in front of me?"
"I don’t know why they brought us here. But yes. They did." Matthew nodded.
Belial got up from his throne and walked slowly towards them.
"Come with me, all of you." He said and guided them out the room into his personal chambers at the very top of the temple.
There they could see miles and miles in all directions. They saw crop fields and cities, mountains and rivers. As the sunlight died out, the sky started to be covered by millions of stars.
"Behold, my creation." He opened his 4 arms and 4 wings showing them the view. "I made the earth and the firmament. The air and the water. From the biggest creature to the smallest microbe." Belial’s tone was that of defeat. "I used all my power to do so." He paused. "And yet..." He stopped himself.
"Yet?" Erin was the one to ask.
"Yet it all crumbles in front of me. I keep fixing it, changing it. But nothing I do matters." He gave a self deprecating chuckle. He opened his 4 arms and 4 wings again, showcasing the scenery through the balcony. "Behold my hubris!"