John… John didn't hate Adam at all.
If anything, he was probably the most devoted to him in the world. He wasn't part of the Church of Adam, or the Church of Administrators, or any cults that started around Adam's existence—no.
John considered himself to exist outside of that. As a youth, he'd wondered why his parents were so devoted to Adam, to the point that they would donate all of their money to the church. Even though he was incredibly young then, he remembered all of it—how they had barely enough to eat, and yet still they gave everything.
That was why the memory of the Church returning their tithe was also something he would never forget. They didn't just return the latest donation; they gave everything back.
It was then that he saw Adam for the first time. It was from afar, but he saw how Park Sang Moon bowed to him—a figure who John thought to be the pinnacle of authority, bowing to Adam.
Adam was the reason all of the money they gave returned. With just a single order, John's family went from eating canned beans to actual cooked meals.
That was also the moment the Church of Administrators slowly withered away, and the Church of Adam rose from its ashes… and his parents became even more religious than before.
Adam never appeared in front of them again after that—but even then, his impact on their lives was massive.
That was when John thought, 'Oh. He is God.'
But of course, John's faith wavered after the New Jersey incident, but it never truly disappeared—no.
He blamed Adam, like how people blame their god for everything.
He questioned Adam, like how those who lost their way question their god.
But most importantly, at the end of the day, he prayed to him.
When the bellethers emerged from the Leak, John prayed for Adam to come—and he did. No matter how much Adam wanted nothing to do with them, no matter how many times he'd told them not to worship him…
…he answered when John prayed.
But that was also when John saw what the problem was. When he saw Adam desperately trying to save those two children, he saw the problem in his eyes.
Adam was a god trying to be human.
That was the problem.
If he wasn't trying to be human, then John's parents would still be alive. His girlfriend would still be alive.
"Your friends would still be alive if you had just stopped pretending you were human." He growled, looking straight into Adam's eyes. "I've read all the reports about you—every death that happened around you was because you refused to be what you were destined to be."
John stretched his arms to the side, his head snapping toward the sky above.
"If your enemies knew what you were, if everyone did—they would bow and fear you." John smiled, tears trailing wildly from his eyes. "None would oppose you, Lord Adam."
"What the…" Adam blinked, subtly taking a step back as he saw John crying. "I'm… too old for this."
"You are right, Lord Adam!" John pointed to him. "My parents were not your responsibility. Their deaths were ordained and destined—all for this very moment. If they didn't die, then I would have never become the man who I was meant to be."
"Insane…?"
"Worse," John said, shaking his head. "I am Judas. The catalyst who made Jesus into God."
"I haven't read the bible, but I'm pretty sure that's not how it—"
"I will betray you…" John closed his eyes, and his tears that were falling endlessly dropped to his hand, which now clutched his chest.
"...and I will kill the thing that makes you human."
"And what's that?"
"Your love for us."
"Look, buddy…" Adam pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd met a lot of fanatics the past couple of decades, but never one so… eerily devoted. "...You're not making any more sense."
"I am the only one who makes sense." John slicked his hair back again. "You see, God doesn't really love his people. Because if god truly cared, then that meant he can't truly love."
"...What?"
"Your love for us hinders you from truly caring for us—your love sees us as more than what we are. You think we are capable of making choices for our own good, but we do not. If you didn't love us, then you would have done everything eighteen years ago to make us leave, preventing the tragedy altogether. If you didn't love us, then you would have shown us the hand of the Endless and lashed it on all of us. So now, Lord Adam…
…I will show you that we do not deserve your love."
And with those words, John once again disappeared from view. Adam sighed at this, then turned to look at where he ran. He shook his head, then, with another sigh, he too disappeared from view.
Adam was now high up in the air, gazing down like a hawk to try and find John—he wasn't that hard to find, even with his monstrous speed, especially with the blue streak of light he was leaving behind.
Adam started to fall, but he casually took off his cloak, and with a breath, he swung the cloak so hard the air cracked around him, propelling him toward where John was going. The colors of Las Vegas blurred in his eyes, and he was about to swing his cloak again when John just abruptly stopped right in the middle of the street.
Adam swung his palm instead, making him stop in the air before swinging his cloak and diving straight down, right in front of the Azure Traveler.
Adam didn't make any more sudden moves, however, only squinting when he saw John holding two people down on their knees.
They whimpered, not knowing what had just happened to them and why they were suddenly kneeling on the ground.
"What are you doing?" Adam asked. He glanced around him, and they were surrounded by more than a hundred people. There were even cars that stopped to see what the commotion was about. Even those who were itching to lose their money in the casinos all stopped in their tracks, stepping out of the building to see what all the noise that had been happening since earlier was about—they didn't even have to walk far, however…
…as the commotion was being plastered on all the big screens of Las Vegas.
"There are a lot of normal people here, General." Adam noticed that, too, and quickly lowered his head as soon as he saw John and the hostages on one of the screens.
"I told you, Lord Adam…" John took in a deep breath. "...I will show you that we do not deserve your love."
"Wh—"
"Everyone!" John pulled the two hostages closer to him, slightly lifting them up. "Some of you may know who I am, but I will introduce myself all the same—I am the Secretary of Defense of the United States of America. But before that, I am the Hero known as the Azure Traveler, an S-tier Hero."
All the people there looked at each other. Most of them were confused, but all of them were intrigued all the same—and like the typical human behavior that hadn't changed in the past couple of decades, and Adam would even dare to say it had become even worse, they all pulled out their recording devices to share what was happening in front of them live.
He once again instinctively lowered his head, even fully knowing it was already too late. Either way, it didn't matter; their attention wasn't on him, but on the hostage situation in front of him.
"But I do believe that some of you may know me as another name…" John continued, staring into the eyes of one of the people from the growing crowd. "...the Blue Death. For those unfamiliar with what I can do…
…I can circumnavigate the Earth in forty seconds."
Those who were unfamiliar with John all gasped in shock. And those who knew him were just outright confused with what he was doing—why was the country's Secretary of Defense, considered to be the second fastest being on the planet, holding two people hostage?
They didn't expect, however, that their question would be answered almost immediately.
"And now, I will present all of you a choice," John said, staring straight into Adam's eyes as he lightly shook the poor couple he was holding. "I will kill these two people, or I will kill every one of you until I am stopped—it could be a second, two seconds. But now that you know how fast I am…
…what will all of you choose?"