Immortal Demons & Warring Gods

Heavenly Moon Empire, Martial Institute!

It was lunchtime.

A large crowd was gathered in the cafeteria.

A group of teenagers sat around one of the tables.

Among them was an eighteen year old girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was dressed casually and had a slender figure with incredible curves at all the right places.

Sitting across from her was a young man who had recently gained fame among his peers for writing one masterpiece after another and selling them at incredibly cheap prices. He had a buzz cut going on, and there were dark circles under his eyes, indicating he hadn't been getting proper sleep lately.

She looked at him expectantly and spoke in a calm and pleasant voice.

"Ken, make our meal interesting. Tell us a story."

Ken stopped absentmindedly playing with his food and looked back at her. "Sure, but it will cost you."

"How much?" she asked.

"500 gale coins," he replied.

An average person would hesitate to part with such an amount of money for a story, but the person Ken was dealing with came from an impressive background.

Her name was Nina.

She was the only daughter of Nathan Hale, the Principal of the Martial Institute.

Ken had been her friend for a while now, so he knew her weekly allowance exceeded a hundred thousand Gale coins.

A measly sum of 500 Gale coins meant nothing to her. If she could trade it for a good story from the hottest storyteller in town to make her day a little better, she would.

"No problem," she said without hesitation.

Ken nodded in satisfaction, then cleared his throat dramatically.

"Ahem! Today, I will tell you the story of an orphan who lost everything in the snap of a finger but gained the most precious gift in return. It goes like this.

The orphan was abandoned at birth. He grew up never knowing who his parents were. When he reached adulthood, he aged out of the system. That was when his real challenges began.

He lived in a capitalist society where money meant everything. If you had it, you could buy comfort, status, anything you desired. But if you didn't, you were one paycheck away from losing the roof over your head and begging on the streets.

He took whatever jobs he could find just to sustain himself and pay his bills. He worked a lot and spent little, so he started saving up on extra cash.

Then the pandemic struck.

A deadly virus spread throughout the world.

It had no vaccine or cure.

People were forced to stay indoors and quarantine. 

Consumers spending plummeted.

The economy tanked.

Businessmen declared bankruptcy.

Businesses closed. 

Many people lost their only source of income. 

He was among the unlucky ones. He was mercilessly given a dismissal notice and laid off.

Without a stable income, his life became almost unbearable.

It was during that time that an online writing platform began aggressively promoting itself. They had launched a contest promising a life-changing opportunity. The winner of the contest would be awarded ten thousand dollars and a publishing contract that included a one-year guaranteed income, weekly editorial support, and full marketing push across all their channels. It was a deal designed to turn any new talented writer in the market into a star.

The orphan's girlfriend knew he was good at storytelling, as she had read a few of his stories in the past, so she encouraged him to give it a try. With nothing better to do, he followed her advice and participated in the contest."

Ken paused, his hand reaching for a glass of water on the table. He brought it to his lips and took a sip.

A glint of impatience flashed in the eyes of the teenagers around him. They were eager to know what happened next.

Ken didn't keep them waiting for long. He placed his glass down after a few sips and continued.

"He uploaded several thousand words a day on the online writing platform, desperate for money. In the end, his effort paid off, and he won the contest. A check for ten thousand dollars was guaranteed to him. He also received a contract that promised he could earn five hundred thousand over the next three years, as long as he remained consistent with his updates, even if the quality of his story dropped. For the first time, his future seemed bright. He couldn't help but beam. But then, as he was about to cross a road, he saw a child about to be run-over by a vechile. He pushed the child out of harm's way, but got hit instead."

"What?" Nina stood up in shock. "What happened then?"

At that moment, many pairs of eyes looked towards him eagerly.

It was safe to say that more than one person was interested in knowing the orphan's fate.

"What could happen? He died," Ken replied with a shrug.

"That's it? That can't be!" Nina shook her head in disbelief.

Ken smiled.

"Naturally, there's more. He crossed over to our world."

He left out some crucial details.

First, he was none other than the orphan he'd just told them about.

Second, there was an entire comic based on their world in his previous life.

Suddenly. 

From his peripheral vision, he caught side of a handsome young man with raven black hair and red eyes giving him a thumbs up with a big stupid smile on his face.

It was Gray. 

Gray was a novel enthusiast.

When he discovered that Ken was the genius behind masterful works like B-Train, Red-caped hero, Battle Through the Firmament and Tales of Demons and Devils, he quickly befriended him, believing him to be a gem of a person that was hard to find and easy to miss. 

"That plot twist was mind-blowing, I'm totally invested now. How do you even come up with such interesting ideas? It's like you're from another world."

Since Gray was a big fan of Ken's work, he was all praises for him.

"Bro, you are spot on," Ken said. "I'm actually from another planet, and I've been cashing in by retelling stories that were wildly popular over there!"

A pin-drop silence followed his comment.

Then, Gary burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Your sense of humor is great. You're quite good at cracking a joke when no one is expecting it!"

Ken flashed a sly grin. "Right?"

He glanced back at Nina and asked, "Should I continue?"

In response, she shook her head gently, "You've already given me my money's worth. There's no need to continue." 

Besides Nina was her maid Amelia, but the former treated the latter more like a close friend than a maid.

Amelia looked at Ken condescendingly as she crossed her long slender legs.

"You can live off selling your stories to a publishing house when you fail the graduation exam tomorrow."

In the world of Immortal Demons and Warring Gods, the most sought-after profession was that of a Force Master.

Force Masters could produce primordial energy that was necessary to perform superhuman feats such as creating a miniature sun to vaporize an entire city, changing the terrain to divert the flow of natural disasters like floods to save millions of lives, and so on.

They were the most elite members of society and were prioritized over the ordinary citizens of the Heavenly Moon Empire. The disparity in their treatment was so intense that a Force Master could kill an ordinary citizen and face no repercussions for their actions if they had a good reason.

In this era, it was the desire of every youth to become a Force Master because it meant breaking free from a life of normality and gaining immense power and status. However, it wasn't an easy thing to do, as you had to pass the graduation exam to become one, and the graduation exam was extremely challenging.

Ken didn't have the aptitude nor the talent to pass it. Amelia knew that so she was mocking him.

Ken's gaze moved over to her as he spoke.

"I became a storyteller because I had no other choice."

He wasn't lying. He was indeed forced by circumstances to become a storyteller.

When he crossed over to this world, he possessed the body of an orphan of the same name, who was close to being evicted from his place of residence, didn't even have enough money to afford a proper meal, and had no one to depend on.

To improve his situation, he sold the stories that were incredibly popular in his previous life to the people of the empire.

This world's literature was severely underdeveloped—nothing compared to Earth's—so many people were easily enticed into buying his work at the listed price without haggling, which allowed him to rack up enough money to pay his bills, keep a roof over his head, and stop worrying about where his next meal would come from.

To sum it all up, he didn't do it because he wanted to. He did it because he had to!

"I have no intention of living like this. I will become a Force Master this year no matter what," Ken said with great conviction.

'I don't know how I am going to become a Force Master. But I am ready to risk my life for it!'

He wasn't saying empty words. He really meant it.

To understand why he was willing to go that far, one must first understand this world's history and get a glimpse of what he knew.

Because this world's sun was rectangular in shape, it was called the Great Lantern World.

The Great Lantern World was used to be ruled by humans until it wasn't.

One day, space tore open in several places, and the Great Lantern World was suddenly connected to realms across the firmament. Beasts and warring races poured through those tears in space.

A great war was fought.

Humanity lost much to the invaders, and it seemed like they would lose everything when Force Masters emerged. 

With the emergence of Force Masters, humanity began to gain an upper hand against the invaders. 

The Force Masters grew stronger with each battle they fought.

Eventually they became too strong for the invaders to handle.

They pushed the invaders out of the Great Lantern World and reclaimed all their land.

These Force Masters then came together to restore the tears in space, but unfortunately, they failed to cut the connection between their world and the realms where the invaders came from.

As they knew, the battle hadn't ended. It had just begun. They founded the Heavenly Moon Empire as a last resort. 

The Force Master who made the greatest contributions in the war against the invaders was chosen as the Emperor. In total, there were seven founding fathers. The other six were granted the title of "Heavenly Skies." Five of them went on to establish the Five Great Noble Families, while the last Heavenly Sky founded the Council of Overseers under the command of the Emperor. The role of this council was to supervise the Force Masters of the empire and hunt down those who went rogue!

The founding of the Heavenly Moon Empire marked the first year of the New Age.

A hundred years has passed since then, Ken had crossed into the Great Lantern World in the 100th year of the New Age.

The history of this world was similar to the world background of a popular novel from his previous life.

So it was clear to him.

He was in Immortal Demons and Warring Gods!

In this novel, the emperor passed away under suspicious circumstances in the 102nd year of the New Age, and then the crown prince was assassinated.

With their passing, the empire descended into chaos, with all the princes fighting for the throne. The infighting weakened the empire, greatly damaging its foundation. The enemies took this chance to strike, and the empire was overthrown.

Many people perished with it.

Those who survived faced a fate worse than death. They were either killed or enslaved!

That fateful day would arrive in three years.

He had very little time left to prepare for it. So he felt an urgent need to become a Force Master this year. After all, only by becoming a Force Master could he gain the strength to protect himself and the people he cares about when the need arises.

Hmph!

Amelia scoffed upon hearing the grand claim Ken had just made.

"Don't kid yourself. Your talent is so poor, you haven't shown a hint of progress since joining the Martial Institute. You lack the strength to pass the graduation exam."

Amelia was part of the elite four, but Ken wasn't, which was why she held such disdain for him. 

Elite Four!

It was the title given to the most promising students of the entire Martial Institute.

The Elite Four were guaranteed to pass the graduation exam and become Force Masters.

They were in a completely different league than Ken.

Hearing Amelia's words, Anger simmered in Gray's eyes. He felt that Amelia was being unreasonably rude to his good friend, even though she was speaking the truth. 

Meanwhile, Nina looked at her disapprovingly.

That wasn't a nice thing to say!

The person in question didn't say anything in response to Amelia's harsh words. 

He just smiled. 

Even if tomorrow he failed the graduation exam, which was the only known way of becoming a Force Master in the Great Lantern World, his path of becoming a Force Master wouldn't be cut off. Although the other methods were immensely dangerous and could cost him his life, what choice did he have? 

He had less than three years to do something about the disaster that would destroy the empire.

Or else he would perish 

So would everyone around him, including Nina and Gray.

'I won't allow it.'

Ken clenched his fist under the table with a resolute expression in his eyes. 

'Before that day arrives, I must gain enough strength to protect the empire from destruction.'

Ding, ding, ding!

The bell rang.

Lunchtime was over.

Nina paid Ken what he was owed before they returned to the classroom, only to find that their homeroom teacher had prepared a special mock test for them. 

It would determine their chances of passing the graduation exam tomorrow.

The Elite Four, consisting of Gray, Amelia, Nina, and another person, passed it excellently.

Ken, on the other hand, failed it miserably, meaning his chances of passing the graduation exam that would be held tomorrow were nonexistent!