DESTINY GAMES

A god king called out to Icon after the weave of destiny dispersed, "You are a fool. You will regret this decision."

Even Odin was disappointed. The All Father said, "I am disappointed in you. That was indeed a foolish decision. You prioritized quantity over quality. That is a decision based on naivety. You should have created a Pantheon to protect your world if you cared so much about it."

Icon refuted, "It is wrong that the destiny of a whole world should rest on the shoulders of a few. It is too much of a responsibility and also unfair to the rest. I prefer it that everyone should have power over their destiny. Whatever happens, I know that I have repaid the world for their help, and that's all that matters."

The god kings ignored him. They had gotten what they wanted, so they closed the window to the 100th floor. This left him and the vestiges of power from the weave of destiny alone.

He had scattered the weave, but there were still some left overs from it. They were the foundation of the destiny of the whole world, and there were six of them.

They were the rings of immortality. There were for the immortality of the soul, mind, knowledge, body, power, and paragon. The last ring was the one that was to bind them all and the destiny of the world.

They were supposed to be the foundation of godhood for the Pantheon of Earth-11. But now, they were waiting for him to choose one before they too were scattered into the wind for others to find.

He could have had all of them, but now he could only choose one. The thought made him laugh bitterly.

He would be lying if he said he didn't feel the sting of loss. He has felt like a lesser being after losing the power of the weave of destiny. Now he has to lose more.

Eventually he made his decision. He chose the ring of Paragon only because he wanted to be in control of it so that no one else would be able to use it to recover the other rings.

The ring of Paragon was the weakest one. By itself, it had very little power. So he clearly wasn't choosing it because of the power it would grant him now.

He was not sure if anyone with the ring of Paragon would be able to recover the destiny of the whole world again, but he wanted to be certain that it wouldn't be possible. After all, if someone else gets it, they might be able to undo the decision he made.

He said to himself, "Better safe than sorry."

So he took the ring of the paragon while the others scattered into the wind. Then he left the tower of destiny.

The dream became a blur then. Events skipped too fast for him to see. Kelvin could only get a glimpse of certain events.

It turned out that the god kings were right. Icon soon regretted his decision because the world didn't like his decision. They didn't believe him when he said he had no choice, no matter how he explained it. There was no proof, so they called him a liar.

All everyone needed to hate him was the fact the monster incursions were still going on. What's more, everyone has to participate in the dangerous destiny games now.

Things became worse when strange and powerful beings from other versions of earth also began to invade. They killed a lot of people and caused a lot of chaos. The repercussions of their incursions sank a whole continent and cracked many others.

Icon was labeled a villain. He was called a deceiver. The Justice League was created by someone called Raijin to punish him for his sins and deliver justice on behalf of the world.

The Justice League hunted him and his family for many years. They killed his wife and his two kids. They killed anyone who tried to help him. Then they succeeded in killing him too.

Kelvin finally woke up. His eyes were unfocused as he muttered, "So father was right. You either die young or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

He doesn't think there was a right or wrong in the matter. Icon did his best, but his best was not good enough. His best was never going to be good enough because everyone wouldn't be satisfied with whatever decision he made.

He was going to be a villain either way. But instead of using that power to protect himself, he used it to empower the people that would accuse him of being evil.

Maybe others would pity Icon or sympathize with him, but Kelvin agreed completely with the god kings. He believes that Icon was foolish. He believes Icon was naive, and he made inefficient decisions.

A voice jolted him out of his contemplation, "It seems you have accepted the legacy of the first paragon."

He was on his feet in an instant. He looked around warily as he asked, "Who's there?"

A figure formed in front of him. It was a shadow. It was a dark phantom like a wraith. He couldn't tell if it was male or female.

Kelvin asked with suspicion, "Who are you?"

"I am the voice of the ring. The spirit of the artifact, if you will."

The reply made him remember what he was doing before he had the dream. He looked around, searching for the ring. It was then that he noticed the changes to his body.

The shadow said to him, "The ring has fused with you now. It won't be separated from you until you die."

Kelvin had a lot of questions. The first one he asked was the most important one. He was still suspicious of this figure who suddenly appeared. So he asked, "I have never heard of an artifact spirit. Objects shouldn't be able to speak."

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