Chapter 1 Pantheon City

In a dim room, around a table. Five figures shrouded in darkness could be heard talking.

"Her turn has come. Its going to be disastrous." A deep voice came from one.

"One million years to oversea this city. We must get her another secretary. I wonder how long the new one will last." Another one spoke in a crisp voice giving rise to the notion that she was female.

"This time we are going to leave the choice up to her." Another voice said.

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A dark skinned red haired man could be seen standing in front of a mirror. He was about six feet tall and was dressed in a red blazer with a white shirt underneath. The pants matched the blazer's color. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes though his eyebrows could be seen. They too were red in color.

'As expected of I, a perfect being. Oh... I love myself. Look at that dashing reflection. Women will be sure to swoon once I arrive at Pantheon city. Especially look at my dazzling red hair.'

The man thought as his right hand played with a lock of his hair. It was at shoulder length. Looking at it from a far, one might mistake it as black hair drenched in blood.

"Finally, a man as perfect as myself was finally recognised and given a spot to tour Pantheon City. He he he.." The man laughed excitedly. It had been his dream..., actually the dream of countless demigods in the universe. The city was the only place where true gods congregated. There were millions of demigods but only a few could earn the privilege of being invited.

He adjusted his red tie and moved to open the door of the room.

Outside the room, blood puddles and stains could be seen on the metallic walls of the corridor. He calmly walked on making sure his red shoes didn't get into contact with the blood. Dead bodies could be seen here and there and some were holding weapons out is a science fiction movie. But none of it fazed him.

His name was Damien 'blood' Okoye, a scourge hunter. He came from planet Earth in the milky way galaxy. A million years had passed since he last heard of or even went near. He spent all that time hunting scourges to get enough elemental crystals for entry into Pantheon city.By some chance, he got his first elemental particle string on Earth and hasn't looked back ever since.

To get stronger in this world, you have to merge elemental particle strings of the seven elements(light, dark, fire, earth, wind, water and wood). Elemental crystals are mined from a crystal lode. If a crystal lode is unmined for 10,000 years, it forms an elemental particle string. A mine can only produce crystals and strings of one element. Once the string enters your body, it settles in the heart and starts changing your DNA. A different elemental string can be made to form a helix with your first string for you to advance to The two strings realm. Merging all the elements forms a seven string helix whereby you become a god.

Damien had merged with six strings only remaining with the fire string. It was very hard to find strings but he had heard that they are common in Pantheon. He reached his current level while fighting to save for the eventual trip.

He reached the end, opened the hatch and flew outside. It was dark except for the light from distant galaxies. Behind him, a gigantic cube shaped spaceship could be seen but there were no signs of life to be observed from it.

"That was the last of them. I have collected enough contributions to go to Pantheon. I hope it doesn't bore me." He muttered to himself before a blood colored glow lit up his right palm. He formed a blade with his fingers and sliced through space tearing a rift through which he entered.

In a certain luxurious room, Damien still in his red attire was casually leaning back in a sofa as he looked at a holographic screen.

He was browsing the online shop to look for a ticket to Pantheon. He eventually found it and spent his million years of hardwork into buying it.

"Finally, there is a shuttle going next month. Its time to get some sleep. Those space pirates wasted me five years as I had to track them." He sighed as he closed the hologram from his wristband.

After one month, a drop shaped spaceship about the size of Earth could be seen launching from a space port heading towards a circular ring like object. It was the gate which connected the outside world with Pantheon.

Damien was looking out the window dazedly.

'Good bye normal universe. I haven't had any time to relax ever since I started cultivation. I will take this time to relax while I search for a compatible fire string so that I can become a god.'He thought.

The spaceship reached the portal and entered vanishing from sight.

Damien was started by the sight he was seeing when the shuttle exited the portal. He saw a very large continent, over a hundred thousand times his home,Earth, floating in the void. Ten suns each larger than the sun from his solar system, formed a ring rotating above the continent. A tall structure passed through the middle of the suns as it sprung up from the continent. The continent was flat at the top and for some reason, under it was blurry. The spaceship was still very far, a distance in light years yet the continent still looked big. He was viewing all this magnificence in the confines of his cabin.

Many similar spaceships could be seen mostly crowded near the city. There numbers surpassed billions making the spaceship he came in look like a drop of water in a large ocean.

The spacecrafts seemed to follow designated paths towards the continent. The one he was in joined one of the paths which led to the continent.

Damien felt his heart beat speed up in anticipation and excitement just imagining the adventures he would have. You could stay infinitely in Pantheon city as long as you didn't degenerate into a beggar upon which you would be shipped back to the original universe. The prices of things were ridiculously high that you would have to attach yourself to a faction in the city to support yourself.

//You are requested to disembark in one minute.//

A female voice could be heard throughout the space craft rousing Damien from his thoughts he stood up from the chair, vanished to reappear at the door and opened it. He once again vanished and reappeared outside the ship in one second. All the passengers were cultivators and despite the enormity of the vessel, that time frame was still satisfactory to them. Besides due to the large number of space ships, one space ship could only spend a minute at a dock as they were limited.

Damien looked at his bearings the moment he steadied his footing. He was at the cliff side of the continent located where the flat surface ended. Elevators could be seen ferrying people upwards and downwards. He moved towards the side of the landing platform and looked down. It was still blurry underneath the continent.

'Gods are truly powerful to be able to create such a thing in a separate space.' He marveled at the thought.

"Hey bumpkin hurry up and go. Pathetic outsiders." A blond teenage looking guy said making shooing gestures with his hands.

Damien's red eyes beneath the glasses brightened as he turned around and glared at the youth with killing intent.

He was so terrified that he ran away screaming leaving a puzzles Damien behind.

'Are these people supposed to he this weak?' He thought.

"They are descendants of the people who live in Pantheon. Most of them have never killed anyone before due to laws forbidding killing in the city." A bystander clarified upon seeing Damien's confused look.

He thanked the bystander and boarded an elevator to ascend to the surface.

Upon reaching the surface, Damien marveled at the sea of skyscrapers. There were no single story buildings in his sight at all. Most of the inhabitants were at the sidewalk running towards there destinations. Since they were elemental string users, you could only briefly catch their silhouettes before they vanished. Only moving at the same speed could you be able to hold a conversation with them.

What puzzled Damien more was that he could see cars on the road but no car stopped to take anyone. Also there seemed to be food stalls at roadsides. He could see multiple elemental string users lined up.

'How come they are eating?!!! I thought the moment you become a string being, hunger becomes a thing of the past. And it seems they have cars?!! The ones using their feet are faster than said cars. Owning a car is pointless.' He thought.

Damien chose a direction and started heading deeper into the city. He had a bellyful of questions but he couldn't ask as he was afraid of embarrassing himself. Being called a bumpkin by that guy back their had made him 'perfection incarnate' as he called himself embarrassed. If the rules of Pantheon City didn't forbid killing, that guy would be dead.

Seeing that it was futile to walk as it was slow, Damien picked up speed as he started racing towards the center of the city. It was what had brought him since it was the most prosperous.