Last month was… complicated. Sorry for the delay.
Here's a quick summary in case anyone's curious: my stepdad's bulldog suddenly stopped walking. His back legs just don't work anymore for some reason. We later found out it's something "common" for the breed.
My stepdad and mom were really worried. They're not that young anymore, and the whole thing took a toll on them. I spent some time helping out, and the vet bills didn't make things any easier.
If I ever get a pet of my own, it's going to be a betta fish — or maybe an ant terrarium. (No joke)
I also had to pick up some extra hours at work because of all that and a few other unexpected things, so I barely spent any time at home.
Still, during my lunch breaks and before bed, I managed to write. Since I didn't want to post just one chapter after such a long break, I let them pile up until I had 7 chapters ready. I also did something quite a few people (around 20 or 30 who DM'd me) have been asking for a while now — a new tier with more chapters.
So, there's now a $10 tier with 13 chapters. The average length per chapter is still the same as always — around 5k words.
So, now my (P)(A)(T) has 3 tiers: one with 3 chapters, one with 7, and one with 13.
I'm also finally going to make a Discord server. I don't really use Discord — even though I've had an account since around 2020 or so, I only downloaded it back then to play Among Us with some friends during the Covid days. So, I'm still figuring out how things like Nitro and all that work.
This might take a while, since I need to figure out things like bots, rules, and overall organization. I'll admit, I'm pretty bad with tech.
That's where I'll be doing more accurate polls for possible new Omakes and Interludes, and for the new "Omake-Chat." I'll be posting it soon — it's something a bit more relaxed, where you'll be able to interact with the story, vote on characters, and share ideas for items and scenarios.
Well, I think that's it. I won't drag this out any longer than I already have.
Have a good night — and happy reading!
[...]---[...]
POV: Weiss Schnee
"Not much time left. Should we head into Reality 4D?"
Ruby asked out loud. A little too eagerly. But we all were.
"Isn't the stream just going to kick us out again like last time?" Yang replied. "I mean, it's raining where Devas is."
She had a point. Ruby didn't know how to answer. I only half-listened to their conversation as I glanced around.
We had moved out of our old dorm. The new one was bigger—one large room with plenty of space for five beds. A shared closet, a kitchen, and a bathroom.
I really wished it were two bathrooms...
Profes— I mean, Headmaster Goodwitch thought it would be best to relocate us. Partly because our previous dorm had been too exposed—this one had tighter security—and also because of the new, "fifth member" of our team.
The security concerns came from our connection to Devas. It was public knowledge that the four of us were close to him, friends, even if some believed we were the founding members of his cult or part of some personal harem.
Yang and Blake found the last part hilarious, I found it scandalous, and Ruby turned red every time someone brought it up.
As for Neo, our new member, she was both baggage and backup.
I had no doubt Roman just dumped her here to buy himself some peace and quiet, but the only reason she was accepted as a "transfer student" into team RWBYN was because not only Headmaster Goodwitch, but also Blake's parents and Ruby and Yang's dad and uncle were all worried someone might try something crazy.
Again, because of Devas.
I really doubted it would come to that. Sure, there were always lunatics willing to throw their lives away if they thought they were doing the right thing. The insane and the delusional always existed—and always would.
But again, I didn't think it would happen.
To attack the four of us—five, if I counted Neo—meant going after the people close to someone who, live and broadcasted to the entire world, had killed an immortal being and, more importantly, devoured the divinity of the God of Light—the very one who created humans and faunus.
Devas couldn't be here, but his presence wasn't something anyone could just forget or ignore.
I looked down, away from the room. My shadow stared back at me. Everyone's shadow did.
...Even if someone was insane enough, I doubted they'd get past the army Devas left to protect us.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when a thunderclap echoed from the phone. Loud—and somehow ominous. Red light filled the room.
"Why is it always raining?…" I heard Ruby murmur.
I didn't have an answer. I went back to observing.
Yang was on the bed across from mine, wearing random pajamas—shorts and a tank top—lying down with her arms folded behind her head.
Blake was on the bed to the right, face-down with her butt up in the air, wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt and—after I threatened to adopt a dog if she didn't start wearing something—underwear.
She was getting way too comfortable.
Ruby was on the bed to the right of mine, across from Blake's, wearing her usual pajamas: white pants with rose petals printed on them and a black shirt with a heart in the middle.
I was lying on the left side of my own bed, dressed in nothing but a light blue nightgown. Not see-through, obviously—I wasn't Blake or Yang.
And on the right side of my bed lay my karma: Neo. She had taken the "Can I keep Weiss?!" joke she wrote to Devas in the (CHAT) far too seriously for my taste.
I narrowed my eyes at her. Kicking her away was pointless; she always came back. She stared back at me with a smile and signed with her hands:
"Admit you already belong to someone and I'll stop. I'm not crazy enough to steal from him." She winked, her eyes flashing pink and chocolate brown. "Not that I'd need to. We'd be sharing the same owner."
"I-I don't belong to anyone, you tiny multicolored pervert!" I should have been used to it by now, but my cheeks still burned. "And Devas is not your owner!"
"She's just teasing you. You should've figured that out by now," Blake said, stretching her back, her voice amused.
She had really mellowed out since everything that happened. With no more White Fang to chase, and with Devas having resolved most of the problems tied to my father too...
"Try sounding a little less jealous when you scold her, Weisscream," Yang added, completely unnecessarily.
"I am not jealous!" Was everyone against me here?!
I let out a frustrated sigh. Ruby giggled—not entirely cheerfully, given what was about to happen—and Neo's image shattered, reappearing beside our leader and lying down next to her.
Those two got along way too well… But maybe it was expected.
They had similar tastes. Loved sweets, had weapons that defied logic, and liked the same person. Not openly, in Ruby's case.
But if they burned down the kitchen again trying to fuse cookies and ice cream...
"Let's go already! I'm way too tense just waiting around—let's get this show on the road." Yang clapped once and tapped something on her phone.
Almost instantly, she "blacked out," a soft blue glow covering her body—the stream's protection.
Blake followed, shrugging. Then Ruby, who lay down and pulled the blanket over herself. Neo was second to last, pointing finger guns at me and "shooting" before shattering and reappearing in her bed at the far corner.
I let out another long, exhausted sigh.
"I must have committed some terrible sin to be paying for it like this, huh, Devas?..."
Then I lay down and activated Reality 4D.
[…]
The first thing I felt wasn't the rain soaking my skin, but the gaze at the back of my neck.
I took a deep breath and looked around. The others were just a few meters away, standing beside Devas. We were all wearing our combat outfits. The stream used "avatars" whenever we entered Reality 4D.
We'd configured one for combat gear, another for casual wear… and I was pretty sure Neo had a nude one, but I couldn't prove it.
With my clothes quickly getting drenched, I took one step forward.
I didn't get to take the second. I didn't get to ask why we hadn't been kicked out of Reality 4D yet, considering the last time we stood in this storm the stream deemed it too dangerous for our senses—before the smell of blood took over everything. The feeling of being watched intensified to unbearable levels.
I felt judged by something greater.
My eyes burned… My chest tightened. My breath caught.
An evil presence took over the world.
…And then I could breathe again.
I was lying face-down on the wet ground. But it wasn't water anymore. Blood coated my entire body, falling from the gray clouds as the sky bled.
Everyone was in the same state. On the ground, eyes wide, recovering from whatever it was that had hit us... was still hitting us, just not as strongly.
The feeling of being watched hadn't gone. My chest still felt tight. My eyes didn't burn anymore, but they itched faintly.
But it wasn't unbearable now.
I didn't feel like I'd die in the next second.
"What… is this?" My voice came out in a terrified whisper.
No one answered.
Slowly, I began to push myself up. My knees buckled, my body trembled. I focused on the one thing that hadn't been crushed under the weight of the evil presence pressing down on the world: Devas.
The only one who wasn't face-down in the bloody mud. Even if he was on his knees.
The only one growling, resisting something I knew was entirely and deliberately filtered—just enough for us to sense the scale of it, without experiencing the real effects.
The only thing keeping me from disconnecting Reality 4D and curling up under my blanket to cry.
I ignored the stream's messages flashing in front of him—the ones about the Blood Moon, the armies, the monsters that had been "fished out," everything.
I focused on the orange in his right eye.
It was the only thing still fighting back against the red devouring the world.
[…]
POV: Stream.
[External interference detected.]
[Viewer danger identified.]
[Beginning calculations...]
[Error.]
[Unconscious interference from entity 'The Streamer' detected.]
[Recalculating...]
[Number of viewers with partial resistance to the presence of the "Blood Moon": 31]
[Number of viewers with full resistance to the presence of the "Blood Moon": 7]
[Number of viewers with partial resistance to the presence of the "Storm": 88]
[Number of viewers with full resistance to the presence of the "Storm": 15]
[Number of viewers with partial resistance to the presence of the "Starless Sky": 67]
[Number of viewers with full resistance to the presence of the "Starless Sky": 7]
[Number of viewers with partial resistance to the presence of "The Eye": 10]
[Number of viewers with full resistance to the presence of "The Eye": 7]
[Number of viewers with partial resistance to the presence of "Echo Humanitatis": 7]
[Number of viewers with full resistance to the presence of "Echo Humanitatis": 7]
[Calculations complete.]
[Initiating filters...]
[Reducing interference...]
[Interference from phenomenon "Blood Moon": drastically reduced.]
[Interference from phenomenon "Storm": drastically reduced.]
[Interference from phenomenon "Starless Sky": drastically reduced.]
[Interference from entity "The Eye": heavily reduced.]
[Interference from racial trait "Echo Humanitatis": heavily reduced.]
[Negating debuff: "MoonBite."]
[Negating debuff: "The Outer Foreigner Presence."]
[Negating debuff: "Starless."]
[Negating debuff: "Nightwither."]
[Negating debuff: "Aletheia."]
[Initiating new calculations...]
[Calculating: Reality 4D (Safe) – shared senses...]
[Calculating: Reality 4D (Safe) – simultaneous existence...]
[Calculations complete.]
[99.3% of viewers lack sufficient "Mental Iron" / "Iron Fortress" resistance.]
[Reducing interference...]
[Error.]
[Maximum reduction limit reached.]
[Attempting full filter...]
[Error.]
[Full filter would result in deactivation of system "Reality 4D (Safe)".]
[Recalculating options...]
[Options updated.]
[Attempting to deactivate "Reality 4D (Safe)" for 98.7% of viewers...]
[Error.]
[Major event in progress. Deactivation not recommended.]
[Recalculating again...]
[Update to system "Reality 4D (Safe)" required.]
[Calculating cost...]
[Estimated SP cost: 8.3 trillion.]
[Error: Insufficient SP.]
[Recalculating...]
[Adjusted cost: 100% of current SP from 'The Streamer'.]
[Error: User permission required.]
[Requesting authorization...]
[Error: 'The Streamer' unable to respond.]
[Final attempt at recalculation...]
[Cost reduced: 0 SP (temporary until end of Major Event).]
[Initiating system update: Reality 4D (Safe)...]
[...]
POV: Serafall Leviathan
"Easily one of the worst feelings I've ever experienced. Don't worry, So-Tan—at your age, I would've reacted the same way." I said, my voice a bit tenser than usual — something I knew the other three in the room would easily notice.
Well, four others, technically, but Devas couldn't hear me. Even if he could, I doubted he'd be paying attention, considering, well… he was kind of busy resisting the presence of many very unpleasant things.
I hugged my So-Tan from behind, her body trembling slightly in my arms. Partly because of the overwhelming presences pressing down on Devas, and partly because of the near-death experience.
Or, at least, it would have been a near-death experience if she'd actually been there, in Terraria, next to Devas. The stream made sure to show just how real it was—right before activating some kind of filter and replacing the sheer terror with something more like: "holy shit, that thing is terrifying, thank the heavens I'm not actually there", instead of "cussing out Big G in front of all four Archangels in the Seventh Heaven might actually be safer!"
But maybe I was rambling. I tend to do that when I'm angry.
And seeing my So-Tan crying because she thought she was going to die had made me very, very angry.
"Four?... no, five presences." Ajuka's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "I didn't think this would affect us."
He and Sirzechs were about two meters away, standing closer to Devas.
Unlike me, who had to actively resist everything around us, they were just… there. I had closed the gap between our power levels thanks to my new form, but I was still nowhere near those two monsters.
They were completely ignoring the blood raining from the sky, their bodies soaked. I made sure to shield myself and my dear So-Tan with a wall of ice so nothing would touch us.
"The Blood Moon, the Storm, the Starless Sky… and whatever the hell that thing is," Sirzechs added after Ajuka spoke. His crimson hair blended right into the scenery. The blood didn't lose in redness.
He was staring off into the sky, toward the direction of the kingdom — and where I could feel something watching me, even though it wasn't.
The same shitty feeling I got when visiting Olympus or any of the other divine realms, like Takamagahara or Asgard.
There wasn't really something watching me, and yet… there was. A blurred gaze, staring at the "landscape" I stood in, but not at me directly.
I hated this place just as much as I hated those others.
I followed Sirzechs's gaze when he shifted from the horizon to Devas.
The human was on his knees, his whole body shaking. His energy was leaking out erratically — frenzied, furious, and, I'd say… frightened.
Even without looking him directly in the face, I could see the faint glow in his eyes. Even as he tried to cover them with both hands. The right one glowed orange, the left a bright neon green.
Neither color gave me a good feeling… What the hell was that green?
"The fifth presence is coming from him. I can feel it… but why?" I joined in, frowning. "We're not human. This shouldn't be affecting us."
Of all the crazy stuff happening around Devas, it wasn't the Shadowflame, or the nightmare energy, or the Sun Breathing that was messing with us.
The presence affecting us was unmistakably human.
Echo Humanitatis.
"…I'm not so sure about that, Sera," Sirzechs replied, eyes still locked on Devas. Ajuka answered before I could ask what the hell he meant by that.
"So, you came to the same conclusion I did…" He turned to me and asked a single question: "How was our race born?"
"How was our— ah, fuck it… Lilith." I let out a frustrated sigh. "Of course it was!"
We weren't human, but the progenitor of all devils — the Mother of All devils — was, once. Created as Adam's first wife, I don't think there was ever a woman more human than her. Well… maybe Eve.
And that human trait, or a fragment of it, must've stayed with her even after she followed Big L down into Hell… and somehow, she passed it on to her children…
… Fuck, Devas!
"This can't get out. Ever!" I warned, already feeling the chaos — and the migraine — I'd have to deal with if this information ever became public. "We don't know anything. We discovered nothing!"
"This… this doesn't make sense. If it's that obvious, how come no one ever thought of it before? How come no one ever detected it?" So-Tan murmured into my arms, her voice still shaky. "There are plenty of reincarnated devils. There should've been some kind of similarity."
She had a good point. Always so clever. I gave her smart little head two light taps. She didn't even push me away! I could feel my joy slowly returning!
But unfortunately, she was missing the main point here. I don't think we could blame her for not understanding—at least not in this case.
"Because it's not obvious, Sona." Greenie was the one to answer, his face as expressionless as ever, but with a glint in his eyes I'd seen before: curiosity.
"Lilith is a figure—forgive me if this sounds odd—sacred to almost all, if not all, pure-blooded devils," he continued, calmly explaining. "Thinking something like that about her would be the equivalent of an angel doubting the power of God."
None of the three of us bothered to add that Big G was, in fact, dead. That particular can of worms was better left unopened.
It also helped that the stream protected us from the effects of speaking the great man's name—at least within the Reality 4D.
"And you have to remember, it wasn't exactly easy to detect," the Siscon added a moment later. "It took, literally, the unchecked presence of the Apex Predator That Hunts Humanity for us to even notice it."
And, speaking of the Devil… as if he'd heard his title, Devas began to move.
I felt the shift in the air instantly. The oppressive atmosphere and the stench of blood seemed to freeze in place. The air turned thick, rancid, with something I recognized instantly.
Any devil would recognize it, instinctively: sins. Many of them. Of every kind.
I felt something begin to awaken inside me. I suppressed it—this wasn't the time or place to let that form emerge.
The blood rain began to slow—while also seeming to speed up. It was as if every red drop was falling, rushing down on its own unique temporal rhythm.
Some drops started flowing upward, returning to the sky. Others fell sideways. Some froze mid-air. Others dripped down like tears.
"Gravity, time, and space are being affected," Greenie reported helpfully—mostly for So-Tan, not for me or the Siscon. We were used to similar phenomena.
"The blood dripping from his forehead wound," the Siscon pointed. "It's… strange."
"Yes," I agreed, my voice growing more serious. Devas was doing something… something big. Greenie and the Siscon both turned toward me as I spoke. "The wound just opened out of nowhere. Same with the ones on his palms—"
"I… refuse…"
My voice died in my throat. Sirzechs and Ajuka practically snapped their necks toward Devas. I could feel So-Tan freeze in my arms, like a statue.
I held her tighter, but my eyes stayed on the human.
His body twitched. Like a glitch in a game. A flaw.
Then, time around us seemed to stabilize. Space settled. Gravity returned to normal.
"Not here… I won't lose to that thing…"
His voice came out hoarse, like he hadn't spoken in weeks—months. Insane and lucid at the same time. It gave me chills—both good and bad.
The arrogance in his voice couldn't be hidden beneath the madness dripping from every word. The pride couldn't be masked beneath the clarity.
"Craaaaack!"
Thunder crashed just a few dozen meters away. The crimson moonlight seemed to focus entirely on Devas. I didn't blink—I wasn't about to miss whatever he was about to do.
Slowly, his body stopped trembling. Slowly, he rose to his feet, pulling his blood-soaked hands away from his face, rain still falling from the Blood Clouds above.
I pulled So-Tan with me, stepping in front of Devas. I wanted to see his face. I needed to see his expression in that moment.
His eyes were bleeding. The veins in his sclera throbbed, as did the veins around them. The blood in them was such a deep red, it looked almost black.
His right eye lit up the surrounding darkness with a bright orange glow.
His left eye caught the crimson moonlight, gleaming a vivid neon green.
He didn't lift his gaze from the ground, but he raised his hands to either side of his body, palms facing upward. The position of the cross—was my first thought.
The blood from the Starless Sky mingled with the blood flowing from the two horizontal cuts—one on each palm—dripping slowly to the ground.
Then, with a crooked smile and a voice disturbingly calm, he whispered something that shook me to my core:
"I am human. Nothing human is foreign to me."
"Everything that is foreign to me is, in the end, not human."
Twelve beautiful, gleaming wings made of crystalline ice scales wrapped around me and So-Tan. Instinct. Survival. Part of me hated the sensation. Another part loved every second of it.
I wasn't human. So, to him, I was foreign.
The lingering humanity from Lilith inside me screamed in terror.
The blood around Devas began to move unnaturally the moment he spoke the final syllable. The rain responded to the flow on the ground, drawn along the path traced by the blood dripping from his hands and forehead—as if guided by him.
The blood slithered like living snakes, coiling around his body, forming two concentric circles: one three meters out, another just one meter away—both with him at the center.
I pulled So-Tan and myself back—almost a meter—once I realized the circle would close with me inside. Through the gaps in my wings, I saw Sirzechs and Ajuka each take a single step back, stopping at the edge.
The blood forming the two circles began to bubble, as if boiling. I could feel the concentration of sins there. The madness oozing from every drop.
Within the bubbles, small eyes began to form—some milky white, others blood-red with insanity—blinking randomly before fixing their gaze on the man in the center.
Then, in an instant, the circles closed.
A ritual—the kind so pagan I knew the mere sight would make angels fall from Heaven in disgust, and Fallen Angels avert their gaze in fear.
In the space between the larger and smaller circles, strange symbols emerged, covering every inch in what looked like chaotic patterns. I couldn't memorize them—as if something was actively preventing the knowledge from taking root.
The blood markings shifted constantly, morphing as if alive. Within the inner circle, the blood flowed and arranged itself into a six-pointed star.
His bowed head pointed toward the frontmost tip of the star, his arms extending toward the side points.
I don't think I breathed while watching. Neither did So-Tan. If not for the beating of her heart, I'd think she had turned to stone.
Behind Devas, I noticed—hyperaware of everything he did—his shadow shifting on its own.
It no longer reflected his posture under the crimson moonlight. Instead, it moved like a distorted mirror. The shadow took on an inverted stance, its head pointing toward the opposite tip of the star, arms stretching toward the rear edges.
Then both—human and shadow—took a step forward and split apart.
And in that moment, I was certain:
The Three Factions would unite, when Devas crossed into our world.
Whether to stop the bloodshed…
Or to survive the human with orange eyes.
[...]
POV: Ainz "Momonga" Ooal "Suzuki" Gown
Normally, I'd rely on the Shared Senses feature of Reality 4D, but today, specifically, I thought it best to use Simultaneous Existence.
Not for any deep or strategic reason.
I just wanted to see how my player body compared to the events that might unfold. Besides the Storm and the Starless Sky, Devas had mentioned there was a high chance the BloodMoon would occur, and that 'The Eye' would likely attack.
Both predictions proved correct.
Area debuffs — whether from weather events, cataclysms, or massive dungeon-wide effects — weren't unusual in YGGDRASIL. So my body had several resistance passives. Not to mention my gear and the Guild Staff.
I came prepared, wearing rings with general resistances. I also had a cloak that resisted environmental effects — though I had to dig through my inventory to find it.
I wasn't carrying the Guild Staff — I didn't think it was necessary.
To my surprise, I was affected. Not by the Storm — its effects were minor. But I could definitely feel the debuffs from the Starless Sky, the BloodMoon, and most of all, the presence of 'The Eye' pressing against my body.
Not completely — but the debuffs made it through multiple layers of resistance.
"Level 70 debuffs?… No, level 80." I glanced off into the distance. "If 'The Eye' gets closer, the debuff might stack or intensify. Maybe even reach level 90, or gain additional effects."
A semi-continental area debuff that increased in strength based on proximity to 'The Eye'. It also seemed to scale over time — slowly, but enough that it could overwhelm even my resistances if given long enough.
Not to mention the other debuffs seemed to synergize with each other. Four stacking effects that intensified the longer you stayed in the zone…
"Disgusting. If I didn't know better, I'd say one of those trash-tier admins came up with this." I shook my head — more out of habit than anything else.
It was terrifying to think that all of this was being caused by just a single rotting, dead Eye from something greater.
If 'The Eye' could be considered a dungeon boss in the level 80–90 range — requiring either a level 100 player with extreme resistances to solo, or a coordinated party of five level 90+ players, two of whom would need to be support casters with mass debuff-cleansing abilities — then what level was the being that 'The Eye' originally belonged to?
Something that would probably require the entire server to cooperate. A Super Boss Event? … No. Probably a World Enemy, like the Devourer of the Nine Worlds.
Ah… I was getting nostalgic.
I didn't have much time to sink into those memories. Just a few moments later, Devas seemed to finish his ritual. If I had to estimate, it would be equivalent to a 6th- or 7th-tier spell, depending on the final effects.
It was clearly of an evil alignment — that much was obvious. My body recognized it instinctively. But what exactly it did was beyond my current knowledge.
I moved closer, standing to Devas's right. I noticed the change in him the instant he moved. His face was… calm. Too calm. Serene in a way that reminded me of those angelic bosses that gave the Guild so much trouble back in the day.
Devas inhaled deeply — almost as if to focus or prepare himself. A few of my old guildmates had the same habit. Touch Me, especially, before tournaments or major battles.
Raising his right hand, Devas did something that made my collector's heart ache: he pulled out all the Life and Mana Crystals he had — and used them. All ten. At once.
I sighed mentally. I would've liked to trade at least one of each with him. Maybe I'll get the chance in the future.
The effect of using that many permanent buff items was immediate. Considering each crystal gave +10% to its respective attribute, and that the percentage likely stacked additively…
"159% bonus Mana and HP in one go… That's broken! So broken!"
I felt his vitality and mana surge in absurd amounts within seconds. Devas's body practically overheated — so much so that the blood covering him began to vaporize into a crimson mist.
Strangely, the only blood not affected by the heat was what flowed from the wound on his forehead and the cuts on his hands. Most likely a curse or debuff.
And I hadn't seen him receive those wounds. They just seemed to appear.
He stood motionless for five, maybe ten seconds. Only then did he exhale — slowly and with control.
I felt my resistances to fire, light, and holy effects activate at full force the moment he inhaled again. My resistances held for about three seconds… then just shut down.
I realized it wasn't that I'd resisted — the stream had protected me.
"To be able to harm this body just by breathing… You never cease to amaze me, Devas." My praise wasn't empty.
Even though Sun Breathing was one of the most effective abilities against evil-aligned beings, that didn't diminish Devas's accomplishment.
Truly impressive.
His Sun Breathing had likely evolved — possibly ascended into a new ability. A sun-shaped mark had appeared on his forehead. Simple: an orange circle surrounded by twelve small triangles and two lines on each side.
When he opened his eyes, his pupils looked more like suns than human eyes.
Then, out of nowhere, a scream echoed:
▂▂▃▅▂▃▄▄▂▃▃▅▄▄▅
Devas hadn't opened his mouth, but the scream felt like it came from him — from within him. Immediately, the Hallucination Storm rose, engulfing the surroundings.
The storm expanded at a frenzied pace. I couldn't measure the exact distance, but if I had to guess — over a kilometer. The tree canopy and the falling snow — blood-snow — made it hard to see.
"An illusion for all beyond the storm, outside that small 'world'. Like a shadow in the corner of the eye, a strand of hair before your vision… 'The Eye'."
His voice was calm. Again, it sounded more divine or angelic than human. Especially when a subtle smile touched the corner of his lips.
The blood-snow fell slowly around us. The shadows deepened. My affinity with darkness allowed me to sense the countless Nightmares lurking within each shadow.
There were thousands — tens of thousands, maybe more.
I didn't feel cold, but I could tell the temperature was dropping fast as my resistances struggled against the freeze debuff. Things got worse when he drew the Ice Blade and the Remnant of the Deerclops, the Bone Helm partially covering his face.
Three times, he said it:
"Das Klagen der Königin."
The temperature fell.
"Das Klagen der Königin."
Fell again.
"Das Klagen der Königin."
Cooldown-free abilities were so broken!
At some point, my resistance to cold and freezing failed — the stream had to protect me again.
Only the area immediately around Devas still held any warmth. His breath and the Shadowflame coating his body radiated enough heat.
The rest of the world had frozen. The air itself had crystallized.
I'm not great with chemistry. I only know enough to know that mixing things at random is a bad idea — but even with my basic knowledge, I knew that for air to behave like that, the temperature had dropped to dangerous levels.
The snow stopped falling. The blood on the ground hardened into ice.
Nothing moved except Devas and the Shadowflame. I'm not counting myself — I wasn't physically there.
Only after thinking it through did I realize something important: heat is motion. No heat meant no motion.
Time had stopped.
"It's not exactly the same, but managing to recreate a 10th-tier spell by combining lower-tier magic… Once again, impressive." It required far more effort, but it seemed to bypass the ten-second limit — and he could still act.
Of course, it wasn't a true Time Stop, but in the right situation — like this one — it was just as effective. Devas seemed to be starting the cast of another spell.
He raised his right arm in front of him, palm facing upward. Blood from the horizontal cut trickled down, drop by drop — even in this cold. It was 100% a curse.
I ignored the voice of my inner collector, which desperately wanted to trade for the two rings on Devas's fingers, and started thinking—trying to guess what he was going to do next.
An attack, most likely. 'The Eye' wasn't focused on him; initiating by drawing the boss's aggro to divert attention from your allies was expected. Even more so if he could take out a significant portion of the enemy's health bar.
He shaped the Shadowflame into a circle. Then two, three, and four. Four rings of purple fire spun—one vertically, another horizontally, and two intersecting in an X. All floating above his palm.
Inside the rings, there was a sphere.
When a second arm emerged from inside Devas's right arm, I realized what his first ritual had done: cloning—or something close to it.
Like a distorted reflection, a black copy of his own limb slid out of his flesh, mirroring his movements like a puppet.
The two hands, overlapped, formed a cage of fingers—with the four spinning fire rings at its center.
Between the tips of his fingers, a purple spark ignited.
And then it spread.
The fire snaked around my body, extending in all directions like a web. I touched it—just out of curiosity. My resistance didn't even activate; the stream protected me instantly.
Noted: do not mess with the Shadowflame.
Devas let go of the Ice Blade mid-air. Another shadow-arm caught it. With his now free hand, he pulled out the Relic of Destruction.
I only realized that gravity inside the fire rings above his hand had begun to intensify when I noticed how similar it felt to one of my own gravity spells.
He… What was he trying to do?...
[...]
POV: Rin Tohsaka
Normally, I'd seize the opportunity to learn as much as I could. Using the Shared Senses feature of Reality 4D had already accelerated my magecraft tremendously.
Experiencing things from Devas's "perspective" was… nothing short of absurd.
But this time, I couldn't. I switched to Simultaneous Existence immediately after Devas consumed all the Life and Mana Crystals. Not just because of the mana and vitality overload—a non-issue thanks to the stream's safeguards—but because of what he'd done moments before: that bizarre ritual.
It fractured his mind. I felt it—partially—I was "there" when it happened. I lack details, since I wasn't fully affected like he was, but I saw and felt its consequences.
The filters Devas had set in Reality 4D kept me from truly delving into his mind—his inner thoughts, how his brain operated... But the ritual's effect was so profound it manifested physically. And that, I could sense clearly.
The "cut" split him into two halves. Not identical, but near enough. Balancing yet opposite. Shadow and light. Divine and human. The divine had vanished—humanity consumed it all.
The truth. The lie…
The shadow half claimed the "bad": madness, sin, evil, hallucinations, lie.
Devas himself retained the "good": sanity, virtue, righteousness, certainty, truth.
So intertwined that madness blended with sanity. Sin and virtue mere perspectives. Evil and good two shades of almost indistinguishable gray.
Truth—a lie with justification.
Lie—a truth without context.
I couldn't bear the flood of sensations. The weight pressing down… I felt I'd shatter if I stayed. The lie wasn't the issue—it was sweet, pleasant. I almost felt its gentle caress on my cheek.
But the "truth"… it would have destroyed me.
Nothing of Rin Tohsaka would remain. I wouldn't be me. My mind, my personality, my thoughts… wiped out.
…All that would be left was humanity.
The stream probably would've protected me from anything happening if I stayed "inside" Devas's body. But the terror I felt when confronted by that "truth" was beyond tolerable. I couldn't remain there.
So I switched to Simultaneous Existence the instant the ritual finished. It was far more manageable to feel directly the icy chill of the Hallucination Storm, the gaze of 'The Eye' on my skin, the metallic scent of blood.
I gasped the moment my body was instantiated beside Devas's. I appeared inside the area warmed by his Shadowflame and breath—so instead of biting cold, I felt a rush of heat against my face.
It should've burned me—but it was more like a warm breeze. The distant gaze didn't exist inside this "world"—the storm seemed to repel it.
I breathed a sigh of relief and began lifting my head… but forced myself to stop.
Facing the orange glow of his eyes while Devas was in that state—I was certain it would be horrifying, even if he didn't look at me directly.
Devas was much taller than I am, so I didn't have to be too careful avoiding his face. My gaze traveled from his chest down to his arm, where he cradled that spell.
I was "in there" when he began casting—I knew, to some extent, the magnitude of his magic. I wouldn't have been surprised if it vaporized a mountain when completed.
I didn't have to wait long to have my doubts confirmed. Two, maybe three minutes later, Devas gently launched the orb, still clasped within those four rings, upward.
The object floated slowly and unnaturally toward the sky within the Hallucination Storm, which contracted quickly to envelop the sphere. The sensation of being watched returned sharply.
His hand blurred before I could register it, grasping something I didn't have time to identify—just before the surroundings darkened and everything started to be pulled somewhere else.
The next moment, the frozen, dead forest was gone. We stood inside the royal palace's great hall. Or what I assumed was the royal palace—Devas had never been here before, so the architecture felt unfamiliar.
"Wormhole Potion…" I murmured, realizing what had happened.
One of the countless items I'd sell my virginity to study. Even attempting to replicate a partial effect of the Second Magic was already beyond priceless.
I took in the surroundings. The opulence was exactly what one would expect from a castle—or at least from the fantasy cliché in my mind. Decorations of gold and silver; paintings ranging from landscapes to portraits of strangers—except for one that bore a striking resemblance to Charlotte.
The late princess's mother, I assumed.
But the most striking feature—aside from the leafy greenery falling from the ceiling—was the large lotus in the center of the chamber. The mana radiating from it left no doubt about what, or rather who, was behind its existence.
Alalia's presence nearly made me faint. Probably would have, if not for the stream, when I first sensed it. But after using Reality 4D so often, I'd grown used to it—sort of.
It was still terrifying, of course—but more like watching a horror film than facing an actual threat.
I wouldn't touch it—not even with a ten‑universe‑long pole.
"Apologies for the delay. I ran into some issues, but they've been dealt with." Devas's voice pulled me from my thoughts. His tone was calm—utterly unchanged.
It was horribly wrong…
"Did Alalia say anything before closing herself off?" I asked.
"Whispers and desperate murmurs. She said everything would repeat, that everyone would die—including herself. She was afraid and said she didn't want to fight, only to protect." Jinn didn't hesitate to summarize.
Aside from Devas and me, only Jinn and Princess Charlotte—who sat on the throne with a distant expression—remained in the room.
"…Devas, what did you do?" Jinn's voice was concerned—she noticed the clear abnormality in him.
She asked what I'd been wanting to ask since sensing the aftermath of his ritual. I had a vague idea, but nothing concrete…
"Nothing as serious as it seems, nor irreversible." I wasn't sure whether I believed him. I lowered my gaze, almost avoiding his eyes. Devas continued: "When the moon loses its blood color and the sun rises, I'll explain everything. Until then, we have much to do and much to kill."
I glanced at his chin. I saw his head turn toward the central lotus.
"I expected this, to be honest. Power doesn't mean knowing how to fight… or having the courage to do so. I suppose I deluded myself because of the overwhelming difference in strength." His tone wasn't accusatory or angry—just composed.
Wrong! It was utterly wrong!
"What was that thing you created?" Jinn asked after a moment, her voice laced with doubt. If I had abstract ideas, she must've had more precise ones.
Devas didn't have time to answer. The throne room doors swung open at that moment.
Four people entered: Dylan, Helena, Gilbert, and Robyn.
The first two shared identical frowns—they even looked alike. The latter two... if not for knowing they were father and daughter, I never would've guessed.
Gilbert was as bald as before, now clad in silver armor etched with Mystic Symbols and Runes. His eyes flicked between Devas and Robyn—who looked completely different.
The woman now stood nearly two meters tall, her body enhanced by defined muscles. Her bust and thighs had grown noticeably, as had her overall structure.
I may—or may not—have stared a bit too long. Especially at her backside, which looked ready to burst out of those shorts. I'm not usually attracted to women, but I can appreciate feminine beauty.
Her skin was entirely covered in red fur. Her face had elongated into a muzzle; her teeth were sharp; her ears protruded long and furry atop her head.
Her eyes were the only unchanged feature—still dark brown, but with slitted pupils and a wild, animalistic gleam that barely restrained rationality.
Unlike everyone else in the room—aside from me in my red blouse and skirt—she wore casual clothes: a light green T‑shirt, now stretched by her enlarged chest, exposing part of her midriff; and gray shorts shortened by her now bigger body.
Furry, if I'm not mistaken — that was the name. I'd seen Kazuma use that word a few times in (CHAT)...
What happened to her second tail?... Did it merge with the other because of the transformation?... A reverse Kitsune?
"…Interesting." Devas murmured. I had no idea why.
I noticed the fear in Robyn's eyes the very instant she locked eyes with the man beside me. Her body trembled slightly, twitching — like she wanted to move, to run, to attack — but was holding herself back.
"She's never been affected this badly before… That damn moon activated the curse aggressively!" Gilbert exclaimed.
"We brought her here to stay close to Alalia. That should calm her down. Even in the prepared chamber, she was restless, aggressive, barely holding herself together despite the rain of green leaves. The tranquilizers didn't work." Dylan explained, giving a nod to the human as he stepped forward. "Are you okay?"
"As much as I can be," was the man's response. A lie — I knew it.
Without a word from anyone, Devas began to walk. I followed — just in case the stream dragged me along if he got too far.
His movements unsettled me a bit. It was like there were two of each limb: two left arms, two right legs. One of flesh and bone; the other of shadow and madness.
"Creepy…" I muttered, shaking my head.
Robyn shrank back as he stopped in front of her. Her pupils narrowed, and a sharp growl — almost a meow — slipped from her throat. Even after getting bigger, she looked like a scared kitten.
Maybe it was cruel of me to think that, especially when she was clearly suffering…
Before anything else could happen, Devas raised his right arm and touched her forehead with his index finger for a moment. As he pulled back, the shadow arm lingered for a second longer before following.
A tiara of shadows formed, locking into place around the fox-woman's head. At its center, an eye opened — its pupil glowing orange for a heartbeat.
I looked. I flinched, bracing myself for the "truth"... but nothing happened. I exhaled in relief. I wasn't stupid enough to look into his real eyes.
Robyn gasped and took a deep breath, coughing shortly after.
"…A tiara? Seriously?" she grumbled, touching her forehead. Then, in a weaker tone, added: "…Thanks. I almost lost myself there…"
"I needed a complete circle for my energy to absorb the madness infesting your mind. A tiara was the first thing that came to mind," Devas replied casually. "It was that or a collar. I didn't think the latter would be appropriate."
...Erase that mental image, Rin. Erase it! Now!
I followed Devas again before my thoughts could spiral further. This wasn't the time to let my hormones win. There was a damn apocalypse at the door!
The others followed soon after. We stopped at the castle balcony. From there, I had a better view of the barrier covering the kingdom — it was massive...
"A few more seconds, and it should pierce through the cloud cover and reach that strange place with The Starless Sky…" Devas hummed, swaying his head.
Each movement seemed to generate a solid shadow.
Wrong. That was wrong.
I noticed the faint smile on his lips widen. I was looking at his chin, so even the smallest shift didn't escape me.
He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers — middle and thumb.
Two snaps echoed, not just one.
And human said:
"Let there be light."
And there was light.
My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped, as a literal — fuckin' — Sun burst over the horizon. The BloodMoon's presence, The Storm, and the Starless Sky all weakened drastically.
"He did tell the dryad to throw a Sun into the Starless Sky…" I murmured, stunned.
He… It wasn't just a joke?!
[...]---[...]
This chapter will have two parts, including the reactions of other viewers.
Well, about the chapter: first, regarding Ainz. The reason Devas can hurt him is because his powers have an advantage against the fact that Ainz's player body is completely evil.
Devas is a natural counter to him. Does that mean he would win a fight? No, Ainz is still leagues above.
I chose Weiss because she's the easiest to capture personality-wise. I was tempted to pick Neo, but writing about a sociopath focused entirely on theft, perversion, and stabbing would have tired my brain.
The devils discover something new. Echo Humanitatis had to dig deep to find what he wanted in them. And the sins affect them, as always. More so Serafall than the others.
Rin is having a reality check for the 128th time.
As for the POV: Stream. I did the math carefully — all the viewers she says resist the debuffs are all "named," so to speak.
Well, I think that's it. Comment if you can, or if you're still around after I've had almost three months of lousy posting. I'll respond with my best.
By the way, Klein and Devas will be best friends. They're both basically stuck in the same shitty situation, not understanding shit and making do with what they have. Devas has an advantage, but with Klein's phone in hand, he does too.
Finally, good morning and happy reading!