Zero to Peak: Ascension Online

Ivan parked on the side of a quiet street so that he could eat dinner. It was 9:30 p.m. He planned to operate for two more hours before he called it a night. Packed in the paper bag beside him was a jumbo-sized beef rib burrito and a rich beef sauce. He carefully took out the succulent beef rib from the burrito wrap and savoured the delicious, spicy sauce that dripped from the rib's marrow.

"Man, this stuff is absolutely delicious. Seems like I'm going to make that place my regular dinner spot."

The car's radio was on, tuned to a news channel. The channel was currently covering sports news. Suddenly, the transmission was abruptly interrupted, briefly going silent. Then the voice of another reporter beamed through the speakers:

"We are breaking the current transmission to broadcast this urgent news. The Church of Serenity has declared it will kick off on Tuesday, a region-wide crusade to be held in Section 1. Our very own Clinton Roger, Serenity's esteemed Pillar of Faith, has been invited to the crusade. This is a monumental leap for the church as it strives to embrace and include the youth.

"Currently, a great many youths are anticipating this crusade and are eager to attend, all because of Roger. In my opinion, I feel that Roger has the undeniable potential to become the very face of the Church of Serenity."

Ivan momentarily stopped eating and set the paper bag aside. He was awed by the news. He never anticipated it to happen. He was genuinely happy for Roger. His friend had finally achieved one of their deepest dreams. This news served as a powerful morale boost to him, inspiring him to live life to the fullest in the way he deemed good enough for himself.

Ivan held his head with both hands, processing the sheer magnitude of this development. "Yeah, I have got to call him and congratulate him. This is huge!"

Ivan first contacted Daiyu and Chioma at once via a group call. Then he added Roger to the group video call. The instant Roger's face appeared on the screen, Ivan exploded with enthusiasm:

"Dude, congratulations! Your tenacity finally paid off. If I were in your shoes, man, I doubt I would remain so steadfast."

Roger blushed deeply. "Ivan, no need to glaze me like that. I feel you would have done better than I did."

Daiyu felt like shrinking away upon hearing Ivan's remark. She felt that her boyfriend had made an intentional joke, perhaps subtly mocking them.

"Hey, Biggie, don't get too excited and eat all the food items gifted to the church. I won't be able to handle the embarrassment of being labelled as your close friend," Chioma joked lively, her eyes sparkling.

Roger guffawed heartily. "Just say you like me and you are going to miss me. You don't have to pretend."

Chioma scoffed playfully before her genuine smile returned to her face. "Congratulations, fatso. I know you will do well there."

"Congratulations, Roger. I'm going to miss you. Please take good care of yourself and don't do anything that would make the Pope deport you. Safe journey." Daiyu offered her heartfelt best wishes. She harboured the fear that Roger had a bit of malice inside him.

"Guys, I appreciate your words so much. I'm very glad that I met you all. Your kind acts and unwavering support are what kept me sane in tough moments. And although we have had a few misunderstandings along the way, it never changed the good impression I have of you all. Thank you, my good friends," Roger said, pouring out his true, heartfelt emotions.

"That crusade are not ready for what they are about to witness from Roger. The way he wove the words he just said now is out of this world. Are we really sure that Roger is human? He could be an angel hiding in human skin." Ivan made sure to hype Roger, further lifting the already elevated mood of the moment.

Roger laughed and blushed, a deep flush spreading across his face. "Bro, please, it's okay. You are going to make my head explode with all that hype."

Chioma smiled mischievously. "The hype is necessary. It'll make your head bigger to match the size of your body. If you step on the stage with your current figure, people would think that a potato mascot came to the stage."

Ivan, Daiyu, and Roger all burst into laughter. They were used to Chioma finding every opportunity to playfully roast Roger. The friends talked for some time, eventually diverging from the topic of Roger's divine invitation.

Over at the Church of Serenity, some minutes past 10 p.m., most of the supplicants had gone home. However, some devout supplicants had stayed behind, wanting to meet with the church priests to confidentially confess their sins.

There were ten confession booths in a secluded corner of the church. Clergyman Rio was supposed to man confession booth two, but he had gone to man booth five instead. The people had decided to queue up at booth five since no priest had come to man any of the other booths. Seeing the numbers lined up at the booth, Priest Rio decided to man that booth.

The first supplicant, an uncomely lady with literally no curves or a significant bosom bulge, was first in the queue. She entered the booth and sat at the confessor's seat. She began, first making a loud praise to the goddess as was custom:

"Praise be to Serenity. Two thousand three hundred and forty-four supplicants attended today's mass. The numbers are expected to exceed at least three hundred per cent on Tuesday. The Pope has confirmed that the crusade kicks off here at the cathedral.

"The plan has moved smoothly so far. Only a few clergymen remain outside our control. But the number we have under our control is enough to assassinate the Pope and Clinton Roger. Chaos and blood will erupt on Tuesday. For the glory of our race and the truth our mother represents."

Wearing a wide-brimmed hat that had a light face veil which did a poor job of obscuring her facial identity, the lady walked out of the booth. She walked with gracious, ladylike steps in a blue blouse matched with a midi blue skirt and a pair of cap-toe wedge-heeled shoes.

The bald, round-bearded priest, Rio, panicked silently in the booth. He knew the unmistakable aura of an Und, always feeling full of themselves whenever they spoke to anyone. He instantly knew there was a grave problem in the church. A lot of priests had been compromised, hence the critical mistake of this Und, disguised as a woman, coming to him to deliver such a damning report.

Priest Rio was utterly confused about what to do. If he withheld this information from getting distributed soon, there was a high chance that he would be discovered and manipulated to concur with humanity's enemies. He didn't know who to trust in this perilous interval. Even reporting the discovery to the Pope was not looking like a good option.

Rio calmly collected himself and carried on with the confession. He resolved to report the alarming finding to the Pope. He was ready to die rather than work for the enemy if it turned out that the Pope was on the enemies' side.