When Alvin regained his consciousness, he saw himself floating in an empty space.
At first, he remained in a daze for some time. As time passed, his blurry memory became clear bit by bit.
"So... this is what death feels like, huh?" he mumbled in his mind.
He was a 40-year-old soldier from Earth who died during a mission to subdue a group of terrorists.
Alvin was not sad about dying since he didn't have anyone left in this world who would cry on his behalf.
His parents had already passed away 20 years ago, and there was no one to be called a particularly close friend.
He had lived a lively life as a wastrel until he was 20.
But on his 20th birthday, his parents passed away in a bus accident, leaving him alone in this world.
Alvin's parents grew up in an orphanage. Once they grew up, they fell in love and got married.
So Alvin didn't have any relatives to console him at the time of their death. At last, Alvin joined the army as a soldier and lived a dull life on the battlefield for the next 20 years before dying from a bullet straight to his chest.
As Alvin was staring blankly into the space, a voice rang out around him, "Finally, this day has come. My soul will be complete now... Hahahahaha!"
Looking up, Alvin saw a large golden turtle floating before him.
For some reason, Alvin felt fear when he saw this turtle. After regaining consciousness in this strange space, this was the first time Alvin felt any kind of emotion.
"Reckless idiot, always seeking death. But this character of yours benefited me in the end, even though I had spent quite an amount of my soul's energy to keep you alive until now."
"It's worth the price. Once I devour your soul, I will regain my complete body once again."
Alvin stared at the huge turtle, which kept on speaking to itself, in fear and confusion.
Sensing Alvin's emotions, the turtle once again laughed out loud, "Poor thing. it seems like you have completely lost all the memories from Celestia."
"Celestia? What is that..." Alvin was even more confused after hearing this.
"Don't bother. What is the point in talking to a life that is already over? Hurry up and become a part of me..." The huge turtle suddenly opened its mouth, and Alvin felt as though he was being pulled into its mouth bit by bit.
He wanted to run away, but other than being capable of thinking and perceiving his surroundings, he didn't seem to be capable of doing anything.
"Boom!"
But just as Alvin was sure he would be eaten by this golden turtle, a deafening tremor shook the darkness around him.
"He... he is intervening..." The turtle, which had the smile of a victor until then, showed immense fear in its eyes.
It stopped trying to devour Alvin's soul and tried to run away desperately.
"Hmph, where do you think you are going?" Just then, a cold snort rang out in the dark space.
Like broken glass, the darkness around Alvin shattered when he heard this voice.
What appeared in front of Alvin now was the huge silhouette of a bull, pressing the golden turtle to the ground with its front hoof, as though it were nothing.
At Alvin's side, a man stood there quietly, staring at the turtle which was trembling on the ground. The man had a bare upper body and only an animal skin around his waist as clothing. He had long hair and a beard, which looked unkempt.
His eyes, in particular, were ruby red in color, and he had explosive muscles all over his body. In total, he appeared like a forest dweller without any idea whatsoever about civilization.
"Asura... Primordial gods are not allowed to meddle in the matters of the living. The rules of Heaven won't tolerate it," the golden turtle said to the man threateningly, though Alvin could sense the fear in its trembling voice .
"Shut up! Who gave you the courage to speak to my lord like that?" The bull pressed its hoof down harder, making the turtle scream in pain.
The man, who remained unaffected by the turtle's words, smiled lightly, "Rules? Sorry about that. I am the God of Chaos, the one who was born to destroy. And that will remain the same even if it's some rule made by the laws of the world."
He then ignored the turtle and turned to look in Alvin's direction. "It's rare for a mortal to grasp the true essence of Chaos. Since we meet, consider this your fate."
He held his hand forward and opened his palm. "Swoosh..."
Slowly, a blood-red ruby that had the appearance of an egg materialized above his hand.
Once the red egg was fully condensed, he flicked his hand, and the egg flew toward Alvin and merged with his soul.
Alvin felt a comfortable coldness all over when the egg merged with him.
Asura then looked at the turtle, which was lying under the hoof of the bull motionlessly. "As for you, since you dare to enslave a soul that bore my mark, you will become his slave for eternity."
The golden turtle's eyes widened upon hearing this. "What?! I am a primordial god-level artifact! How can some mere mortal enslave me?! You are crazy!"
"Argh...!" "Crack!"
Even before the turtle could complete its sentence, the bull pressed its hoof a bit harder, making a cracking sound from its shell.
Asura waved his hand. "Others can't, but that's not a problem for me."
"If that's the case, I will kill myself! I won't tolerate such an insult!" the golden turtle said fiercely, and the next second—
"Bang!"
Its body exploded into light particles under the bull's legs.
Asura looked at this with an indifferent expression. He waved his hand, and the exploded pieces of the turtle, as though pulled by a magnet, joined together, forming its healthy body once again.
"Fool. Do you think death will give you salvation against my lord's will?" The bull laughed scornfully when he saw this.
Alvin watched this whole situation with a bewildered look on his face. He was not even sure how he should react to the things happening before him.