Enigma of Sin

Several men and women dressed in military uniforms watched the live feed with either expectation or despondent expressions. They had just launched the most powerful nuclear warhead in their arsenal against an ally nation simply because of a potential unknown threat that was estimated to be at the location.

It wasn't a 100% positive target acquired situation, just a guess and it made some of the people present more than a little upset. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do. The missile was launched under the direct orders of the presidents and prime ministers of several combined nations.

They could only watch as the country of Japan and their ally would be wiped off of the map. How and why the leaders were convinced to do this, surely committing a war crime, most of them didn't know and were only told that it was a threat that could end the war on its own.

Then it happened under the observing eyes of all who were watching the satellite feed, the missile was strewn in half by lightning and then the explosion was contained. Even the defensive missile explosions were contained before vanishing from sight.

The cause of this wasn't visible and the room exploded into an uproar. People were either yelling to increase the threat level of their nation's response, yelling to launch more missiles, or just simply standing there stunned.

Before they knew it, they lost connection with the orbital launch station as their sensors detected it flew off trajectory and into the depths of space before vanishing from their system completely.

Over the next couple months, any kind of satellite they had stationed in an orbit around Earth began disappearing one after the other. During this time, they realized the threat had moved into space somehow and was no longer in Japan, so rather than firing there again, they tried to scramble a developmental fighter jet that was able to get to and function that far into the atmosphere.

Unfortunately, they were never able to find a trace of what was destroying their satellites. The enemy satellites they were keeping tabs on also began to be destroyed in the same way as their own, so they became stumped as to what was happening.

Nothing made sense to the leaders around the world. They couldn't find any trace of a weapon being launched against their space stations nor were they hacked and intentionally directed out of orbit.

The UNTA as well as the other nations fighting in World War III were tempted to begin launching land and underwater based missiles at each other, but didn't as the opposing sides sat down in a video call to discuss what was happening.

This only occurred because the three International Space Stations with astronauts of many countries that were currently at war with each other were left alone and not pushed out of orbit.

Nothing about these stations was military based, so if whoever or whatever was doing this wasn't attacking non-military targets, they were of the mind to do the same, at least for now.

During the conference, a Russian military general in attendance whispered something to their president who then asked to place a live feed up on everyone's screen. They claimed it was the feed from outside of their last remaining satellite, and little did they know it was the last of any power.

They observed the feed as well as the tracking information about where the satellite currently was located with scrutiny. They noticed that it was already flying off course, and they were hoping to glean insights about what was truly happening out there.

To their surprise, in the last second before the live feed shut off a human figure draped in black clothing appeared. Some of the military generals found it quite odd because it resembled the image of a rogue or an assassin from the games they enjoyed as teenagers, before they dedicated their life to the military.

What was slightly off-putting was the black mask with white crescents for the eyes and mouth, not to mention the movement the figure made at the end. It had looked directly at the camera and tilted its head to the side as if asking, "What now?"

It was only for a second that the figure appeared before the feed cut off, so the screen was paused on whoever it was tilting their head at the camera.

Accusations were immediately thrown around the conference video threatening nuclear warfare if the other side didn't reveal the rogue operative's identity. They would have also loved to obtain a confirmation about the incredible technology, but that was a long shot.

The best they could obtain was the identity of whoever had stolen this technology so that they could hunt them down more efficiently. Many of the world leaders gave the excuse that it was for the security of the world, but no one claimed the operative as their own.

In the end, none of the countries that were attending the conference admitted to the technology or operative being theirs. This only brought up more questions as the individual leaders each knew that their country wasn't capable of creating something that could traverse the exosphere freely while having the strength or ability to push space stations out of orbit.

The meeting ended with no resolution or any clues as to what happened, but every world leader was furious because their technology and parts of their arsenal was destroyed, not to mention their spy satellites.

A few of the bigger players in the war even contacted the international space stations and commanded their people to take over the station in order to use it for spying. The astronauts who had been watching over Earth from space all these years firmly refused to comply with the orders they were given as they were more like a family secluded in space.

When one avenue failed, they moved onto the next. Military generals began to contact individual development contractors and threatened them with charges of treason and even death in some cases if they didn't reveal everything they were working on.

However, none of these companies had any useful leads on who was behind the suit that was somehow years beyond their own high-end technology.

…

While major pushes in the war were put on hold and only small skirmishes erupted here and there until they could determine the actual threat Kayn posed and how to track him, the man in question was slowly gliding down towards a temple located deep in the mountains of Norway.

Kayn was absolutely exhausted. His mana was almost completely depleted, he was hungry, and most of all he was tired. He hadn't slept properly since before his time in the temple of Takemikazuchi and he had only eaten snacks here and there while he was inside.

For the last two months, Kayn was constantly flying around space while maintaining barriers around his body and keeping his concealment spells active. The only reason the satellite feed saw him at the end was because he had to release his concealment spells or he risked running out of mana before he could get back to a temple.

Not only that, the head tilt wasn't even a meaningful action, it was just that he was so tired he fell asleep momentarily! Kayn had absolutely zero idea that his falling asleep could taunt the world leaders to such a degree that they were threatening their own people now.

Kayn descended upon a majestic and lavishly decorated wooden temple that looked more like a palace. Instead of landing near the entrance and going inside, he landed in a nearby forest where he quickly summoned the Wanderer's Villa and entered inside.

Kayn ate a large amount of pre-prepared food before promptly passing out on the couch in the living room. He was so tired that after eating he was barely able to stay awake long enough to even make it to the couch.

Twenty hours passed before Kayn woke up with a yawn while stretching his body. While his mana was still pretty much gone, he felt much better after sleeping off all of the accumulated exhaustion.

Now all he needed to do was replenish his mana, and what better way than at the temple he landed by. The temple belonging to one of the strongest gods of any of the mythologies present on Earth, Odin.

Odin wasn't particularly known for his mastery of elements, at least to Kayn's limited knowledge of mythology, but he was known most of for his wisdom. Kayn hoped that maybe with Odin's wisdom he would be able to gain some kind of hint on how to get home.

Odin's temple was described as being inaccessible not because of the ones who tried entering being killed right away, but because none had been able to get inside. There was a sort of invisible barrier barring entry into the temple.

They couldn't even see clearly into the temple as the objects became blurry, but the consensus was that it was a large hall filled with tapestries, what these tapestries depicted was a mystery.

Kayn waited until nighttime to approach the temple so that he could utilize the special abilities of the Garments of the Shadow Phoenix as he wasn't willing to waste the trace amount of mana he had left on concealment.

As he approached the entrance to the temple or palace, whatever it was, he could feel a barrier of strong mana blocking the doorway. Fearing that he may not be able to get inside either, he placed his hand up to the barrier.

Not long after, a voice reverberated inside of his head. "Worthy. Entry granted."

Kayn sighed in relief as he stepped past the barrier and entered inside the massive hall without delay. Just as theorized, the walls were filled with tapestries and they depicted epic battles of a man with an eye patch against various foes of a multitude of different races.

On a quick glance, Kayn could see Dark Elves, Giants, Dragons, High Elves, and Humans. In every depiction, Odin was wielding a spear that would kill his opponent, even if he was faced the opposite direction, Kayn knew this spear as the legendary Gungnir.

If, as he suspected, all of these gods were real people, then Gungnir was real as well and that was a frightening thought. According to legend, the spear couldn't miss, and that would most definitely be an overpowered weapon.

He walked around and examined every tapestry in curiosity before he finally appeared before a large empty throne. Kayn didn't know what he was supposed to do here to gain the inheritance, but the formation was definitely centered around the throne, so with no other apparent option he sat on it and began his meditation.