[Ding! New game "Kirby of the Stars" has finished loading. Player, please begin playing the game!]
At that moment, the system's usual notification sound rang out. Raize glanced at the suddenly appearing virtual panel, a trace of joy flashing in his eyes.
Aside from normal training, a new game was finally ready.
After cooking dinner, he'd pull an all-nighter and clear it.
Raize checked the time on the living room wall clock, then stood up and headed into the kitchen.
He opened the system's game interface and activated his sub-profession's permanent game—games without a clear end, meant to be played casually over time.
He opened a farm game developed by some notorious company from his previous life, accessed the fish pond and ranch, and harvested everything that had matured, manifesting it directly into his spatial backpack.
"Tonight it's fish and fish soup. You're up—puffer whale!"
The puffer whale was a creature from the Toriko world, with a capture level of 29, or 1 if its poison was not considered. Originally a large whale-like creature, environmental pressure had compressed its body until it puffed up like a pufferfish. Its flavor was the concentrated essence of whale meat, but along with that concentration came highly condensed toxins forming poison sacs. It spawned once every ten years, laying eggs in clear waters.
However, puffer whale meat manifested through the Fantasy Gourmet Tablecloth didn't require removing the compressed toxins.
"Tap tap tap—"
The kitchen knife rose and fell rapidly on the cutting board.
As an all-around daily-life type, Raize's cooking skills were not inferior to anyone in this world.
He simmered the fish, allowing its fresh flavor to fully develop.
Gurgle—gurgle—
The sound of boiling water rang out.
Yams, corn, kelp, black beans, winter melon…
After processing various ingredients used to enhance the flavor, Raize added them to the pot to cook. A rich aroma quickly spread through the air.
There was still plenty of fish meat left, so Raize chose to pan-fry it. He put it into a frying pan, poured in seasoning and oil extracted from plant-type fantasy ingredients, and began cooking.
As the puffer whale meat gradually cooked, it emitted a dazzling golden glow. The irresistible fragrance made Raize swallow repeatedly, a satisfied smile blooming on his face.
Only when cooking could his body and mind feel a bit of pleasure.
After drizzling his specially made sauce over it, dinner was complete.
He placed a full plate of puffer whale dishes on the dining table, then brought over the other dishes as well.
The crystal-clear slices of puffer whale meat, paired with the enticing sauce, were unbelievably fragrant and mouth-watering.
"Give me a bowl of golden rice…"
Just as Raize finished preparing dinner for himself and the system, a calm and gentle voice came from beside the dining table—a voice he didn't recognize.
Without thinking, he handed over the bowl of golden rice meant for the system. A pair of small hands accepted the bowl.
Raize's pupils shrank. His expression instantly stiffened into a polite smile, his hand still gripping the rice bowl as he maintained the posture of handing it over to the beautiful white-haired, golden-eyed girl who had suddenly appeared at his dining table.
She sat there holding the fragrant rice he offered. Lifting her sacred, slightly blank golden eyes from the bowl, she met Raize's pale blue gaze without hesitation.
The atmosphere instantly became tense. Raize's stiff smile faded into a blank expression as a domineering lightning energy quietly surged within him. His alert blue eyes flickered with arcs of lightning as he stared at the exquisitely dreamlike girl before him.
Pull… pull…
Her small hands gently tugged at the bowl. Those golden eyes, like holy light, were pure and sacred.
She gazed at Raize without any malice. Though her expression barely changed, being looked at by her eyes inexplicably gave Raize a sense of warmth and reassurance.
It felt as though gentle hands were soothing his vigilance, trying to make him unconsciously relax.
But this time, Raize was completely unaffected by that strange aura. He kept urging himself internally not to lower his guard.
Expressionless, Raize released his grip on the rice bowl. The girl now held the bowl and chopsticks in both hands, blinking her beautiful golden eyes at him.
Those eyes seemed to speak, asking him: can I start eating?
"…Can you introduce yourself?"
This was Raize's first question. Since the girl had appeared in his home without a sound, it proved she was extremely dangerous.
Moreover, she didn't seem to harbor any ill will, and Raize didn't want to provoke an unfathomable existence.
Hearing his question, a trace of sadness seemed to flash through her golden eyes as she stared straight at Raize, as if observing something.
Raize felt extremely uncomfortable under her blunt gaze, as though he were completely exposed before her.
Just as he was about to lose patience, the girl finally stopped staring. She lightly bit her soft pink lips and spoke softly to him:
"…My name is… Haruhi Sei. I am a wandering soul."
Haruhi Sei. A wandering soul!?
Raize felt that both parts of that introduction sounded like something she made up on the spot to fool him. However, the latter—wandering soul—was at least half true. After all, the system had already said she was a special soul entity.
Speaking of the system—someone had suddenly appeared in his home, and it hadn't even warned him!?
[ Hehehe… um… I was paying too much attention to the food you cooked and didn't notice that this girl actually followed us all the way home… ]
'You trash-tier system, you useless bastard!! Now tell me, how am I supposed to deal with this unfathomable thing? Can you at least probe her background!?'
[ I can, but in my current incomplete state, casually probing others is risky. If the target isn't very strong, it's fine, but if she's a top-tier existence in this world, it's very easy for her to notice my presence. Raize, you decide whether to probe her. If you die, I die with you. ]
'The way you say that sounds touching, but why does it feel like you're dragging me to the grave with you!?'
Raize kept a blank expression, though his inner monologue was raging. Toward his unreliable garbage system that failed him at a critical moment, he mentally raised his middle finger.
[ How could that be? You and I are one in mind and soul. If anything happens to either of us, neither will fare well. I'll listen to you—do we probe her or not? If she notices me and shows hostility, and we can't resist, I'll immediately use emergency measures to take you across worlds! ]
'Alright, don't probe her for now. With that escape route you mentioned, I'm a bit more at ease. Let's talk to her first.'
Raize looked at the girl's sparkling eyes fixed on the dishes on the table, took a deep breath, and said:
"Let's put everything else aside for now. I'll treat you, the uninvited guest, as a guest for the moment. Eat first."
Hearing that, the girl's expression brightened. She immediately lifted her bowl and chopsticks and began eating the fragrant dishes on the table.
She showed no embarrassment at all, as if she truly saw herself as part of the household, eating Raize's cooking elegantly yet swiftly.
Raize, still on guard, also began eating quickly. He wasn't about to let all the food he cooked get wiped out by this person.
Even if she was an incomparably beautiful girl, it was still not allowed. "Beauty is food" didn't work on Raize at all.
What's the use of something you can look at but not eat?
Besides, judging by her small, delicate, and cute appearance, she really didn't look like something you could… eat.
As they ate, Raize watched the girl munching on the fragrant fish like a little squirrel. He swept away half the dishes on the table, and the rest were completely cleared out by her.
[ Wuwuwu, stop it! That was clearly food Raize made for me! If my strength weren't insufficient right now, I'd have already taken you down, you beast who dares steal my meal!! ]
Because of this intruder, the system didn't get dinner at all. Miserably, it watched its host share food with a stranger, muttering curses inside Raize's body.
"So delicious. Thank you for the meal. I'm very grateful."
After the meal, the two sat facing each other in the living room.
The girl opposite him thanked him calmly, expressionless. There were still a few crumbs at the corner of her mouth, and combined with her look, she gave off a slightly dumb yet adorable impression.
Although Raize remained wary, his intuition told him that this beautiful girl who suddenly appeared really didn't seem to harbor any malice.
"You've finished eating. Can you tell me why you came to my house?"
Raize calmly stared into her eyes and asked.
The girl—who had introduced herself as Haruhi Sei—had her gentle, calm golden eyes shimmer slightly as she met Raize's gaze without flinching.
"I bear you no ill will. I came to your home to confirm something important. Now that I've confirmed it's correct, the next step is to do something important."
"Oh? Then can you tell me what that important thing was, and what you plan to do next?"
Raize was clearly dissatisfied with her cryptic answer. Aside from claiming she meant no harm—which still needed verification—she hadn't explained anything important at all.
Buzz!
Faced with Raize's persistent questioning, Sei didn't answer again. The light in her eyes grew increasingly terrifying, countless spell formulas flashing through her golden pupils.
Then, before Raize's shocked gaze, the petite girl began to grow rapidly. Her small chest swelled generously, her exquisite dreamlike face matured, becoming noble and dignified, sacred and untouchable.
Warm particles of light radiated from her body, enveloping both Raize and the drastically transformed Sei. Raize tried to move immediately, but discovered that his consciousness could no longer command his body.
Surrounded by those warm particles of light, Raize vaguely heard a beautiful song soothing the pain and anger deep in his heart.
"All causality converges in the present. Being able to stay by your side and grow together like this… makes me so happy…"
Warm, comforting light flowed into Raize's body, lifting him uncontrollably into the air. Gentle, loving voices seemed to echo beside his ears, caressing his lonely heart. Sei, now holy and resplendent, smiled softly at him.
Her beautiful, flawless form gradually became ethereal. She slowly flew toward Raize, opened her arms in midair, and gently embraced him.
Softness, warmth, and a faint intoxicating fragrance—these were the sensations Raize felt when embraced by the transformed Sei.
His vision seemed veiled by warm light, everything growing hazy. In a daze, Raize saw her exquisite, dreamlike face draw closer, her golden eyes filled with fervent, indescribable emotion as they gazed at him.
A strange sense of ease washed over Raize's mind, causing him to relax unconsciously. He forgot his worries, forgot his hatred, and with his body and spirit finally at rest, he fell peacefully asleep.
In the outside world, after Raize lost consciousness, Sei completely transformed into warm radiance and merged into his body.
At the moment his body, no longer supported by an unknown force, gently descended to the ground, a complex and profound golden magic circle suddenly appeared beneath him. At its center lay Raize, unconscious.
---
After the mysterious Sei merged with Raize, the gears of immense causality in this world officially began to turn.
In the hidden corners of the world unknown to humanity, all top-tier powerhouses capable of being ranked among the strongest frowned simultaneously. A sense of alarm rose inexplicably in their hearts, even causing their extraordinary bodies to shiver.
"What is this chilling feeling…?"
Countless ordinary superpowered individuals never felt this, but those at the very pinnacle of the world did. Their intuition was akin to high-level instinct or revelation.
It was an ominous revelation, yet its source couldn't be found, prompting confusion and unease.
---
In the Underworld, anchored to the human realm, stood the New Satan Castle, city of the Devils.
"You feel it too, Ajuka?"
Sitting before a table with black tea, Sirzechs Lucifer, head of the trusted Four Great Satans, exchanged a glance with his close friend and fellow Maou, Ajuka Beelzebub. Both saw the unease in each other's eyes.
They had been discussing the political development of the Underworld while drinking tea when that ominous sensation struck.
The handsome, bewitching man seated across from Sirzechs—Ajuka—responded with a silent nod.
As transcendents of the devil race, their strength was unquestionable, yet this inexplicable chill deeply unsettled them.
"Someone, pass down the order. Have the agents stationed in other realms investigate whether anything abnormal has occurred."
"Yes, Lord Lucifer!"
An Ultimate-class demon guard responded. A teleportation magic circle appeared beneath his feet, light flashed, and he vanished.
"This kind of inexplicable dread is truly unpleasant… but we can't ignore it."
Ajuka agreed. For beings like them, such sensations could not be dismissed.
Sirzechs' azure eyes brewed with crimson waves of destruction magic, his gaze seeming to pierce the barriers of the Underworld, staring into something deeper.
---
"This revelation-like feeling… could it be that some unfilial brat wants to seize my position as God King!?"
On Mount Olympus, a middle-aged man clad in classic Greek attire, his body packed with refined muscle, wore an ugly expression.
Zeus had just finished having sex with a beauty. While munching on a golden apple, he felt that damnable sensation as well.
He immediately attributed it to rebellious offspring or troublemakers seeking to overthrow his throne as King of the Gods.
After all, this old lecher who spared neither men nor women—not even livestock—had countless children.
The Olympian pantheon was notoriously chaotic, and the position of God King itself was cursed with "fatherly love and filial piety."
Zeus' father overthrew his own father. Zeus then overthrew his father.
Just look at it—how filial and orderly could such a pantheon be?
Even his own brothers weren't entirely pleased with him sitting on the throne. There were always those eyeing his position, wanting to drag him off his divine seat.
"Hah… there are always some scoundrels who want to murder their god! As long as I live, you'll all sit obediently where you belong!"
A ferocious divine might flashed through Zeus' black-sclera, white-pupil eyes. His unassailable, domineering power shook Mount Olympus, making the other gods who sensed his aura grumble inwardly.
Why are you venting your temper and dragging us into it!?
---
The Dragon Realm—a world inhabited by countless legendary dragons, a Western fantasy realm much like the human world. Gods once existed there, but the dragons exterminated some and expelled the rest.
If humans imagined gods from that world, they would undoubtedly be dragon gods.
An elderly man with a long beard and cold orange-red vertical pupils, along with a feathered serpent god whose body could coil around the planet, both sensed something unusual.
---
In the dimensional rift where colors intertwined into an indescribably vivid spectrum, the guardian of the world—the True Red Dragon God Emperor—roamed endlessly.
This colossal dragon exceeded a hundred meters in length, its presence impossible to ignore. Its form was that of a classic Western dragon, sharp fangs, a proud horn, and a powerful body clad in crimson scales.
Suddenly, through its deep connection with the main world it guarded, the dragon of dragons sensed something.
"It feels like something that cannot be ignored has fallen into place… and begun."
Spreading its wings, Great Red cast a gaze toward the main world. Its perception was the sharpest—it knew that something irreversible had begun within the world it protected.
---
Within the main world, at the base of the Khaos Brigade—
This terrorist organization was a gathering of dangerous individuals from many factions. Its nominal leader and symbol was the Infinite Dragon God, Ophis.
In truth, the Khaos Brigade was composed of multiple extremist factions. The most famous were the Old Satan faction and the Hero faction, made up of descendants of heroes and Sacred Gear users.
The leader of the Old Satan faction was Rizevim Livan Lucifer, a deranged thrill-seeking devil and terrorist.
The leader of the human Hero faction was Cao Cao, descendant of a notorious historical figure and wielder of True Longinus.
These two held the real authority. Ophis was merely a power source—a living battery.
Their reverence was only for her power.
In a dim, cold underground temple, sparse candlelight barely illuminated the surroundings.
Looking across the interior, stone pillars numbered in the hundreds supported the ceiling above. Each pillar was carved with the image of an ouroboros, symbolizing infinite cycles.
This was the temple built to enshrine the Khaos Brigade's mascot—Ophis.
This seemingly innocent little dragon girl didn't mind the eternally gloomy environment. She sat quietly on a stone throne at the center of the temple.
The delicate girl, resembling a black elf, had long dark hair flowing down her back. Her exquisite face was utterly lifeless, her flawless pale skin like jade.
Her deep, emotionless eyes suddenly sensed something strange. Like a curious kitten, she tilted her head and looked around the temple.
"A strange feeling… it doesn't seem like it came from that annoying Baka Red…"
She muttered to herself. When mentioning the dragon she disliked, her calm voice gained a faint trace of liveliness.
After extending her vast perception and finding nothing, the little dragon returned to quietly spacing out.
Her only task in the Khaos Brigade was to sit here alone, providing her power.
The simple-minded little dragon couldn't be bothered to think about why those weaklings believed that gathering together would allow them to overcome the Great Red who she hated.
---
"So many causality threads… what kind of existence could possess such causality…"
Deep within another region of the Underworld, the late-night wind carried a faint chill. This dark corner felt desolate and cold.
Many races lived in the Underworld: Fallen Angels, Devils, Undead, Netherworld Humans, and more. As a plane bordering the human world, it was vast in scale.
This place was an abandoned ruin with no living beings. Pitch-black death energy overflowed everywhere—any living creature that touched even a trace would die instantly. Even undead that came into contact with it would lose consciousness and become mindless walking corpses.
Almost no one ever came to such a land of death.
Yet there sat a fantastical, beautiful girl, completely ignoring the deathly black mist drifting around her. She hugged a massive scythe tightly and sat atop a broken stone.
The death energy instinctively avoided her, unable to come within five meters of her body.
The expressionless girl had long, dreamlike silver-white hair that swayed gently in the wind formed by the deathly aura. Her petite body was clad in gauntlets and plate armor, resembling elaborate cosplay attire.
Her silver hair shimmered beautifully, her eyes were gem-like sapphire blue, and her very existence resembled a finely crafted doll. Beneath her youthful, delicate appearance, she carried an air of solemn nobility.
In this barren and dangerous land, she was the only beautiful scenery, shining within the dark ruins.
She was Eucliwood Hellscythe, a necromancer with mysterious magical abilities, belonging to the Netherworld Human race.
Her strength placed her among the absolute top-tier existences of this world. Her body contained monstrous magic capable of distorting the world itself. She was usually taciturn because her magic caused whatever she said to become reality, indiscriminately affecting everything around her—her words were equivalent to area-wide attacks.
Thus, she used a notebook to communicate, only speaking aloud when issuing commands or expressing extremely intense emotions.
She constantly wore the armor Silence of the Ban to suppress her power. Even so, fluctuations in her emotions could still affect her magic and cause "changes in fate," influencing the surroundings. Because of this, those who knew her called her "the center of everything."
She stayed in this godforsaken place to avoid certain troublesome individuals.
As mentioned before, her power was immense—enough to influence the fate of the world and all living beings. But one day, this power became uncontrollable. Unable to fully control herself, she became an object of both greed and fear among various factions.
Greed, because if her power could be claimed, one could ascend straight to the pinnacle of the world. Even after her death, that power would still exist. As a result, she was hunted by countless forces.
Although Eu's magic was overwhelming and her blood contained immortal properties, she was still fundamentally a necromancer. If she suffered fatal injuries, she would still die.
There were many ways for the forces of this world to kill a being whose power was extremely unbalanced like hers.
However, her power was not something easily taken. Many coveted it, but just as many feared its instability.
If her power were to go berserk, it would be a catastrophe capable of destroying an entire world. No one had the confidence to bear such consequences.
Thus, any force without absolute certainty would never act rashly. Only those utterly blinded by desire would risk triggering her uncontrollable power.
But this led to a deadlock.
Even if you succeeded in taking her power, if you caused it to go berserk in the Underworld or another world, wouldn't all races be dragged into annihilation?
That was something no force in this world could accept.
Therefore, some rational beings who desired her power actually protected her—not for her sake, but to protect their own worlds from destruction.
To every faction in existence, this girl was a scorching-hot potato.
Because of the fear surrounding her instability, other worlds bordering the main world did not welcome a bomb that could explode at any moment.
Thus, to this day, she remained alone—constantly hunted by madmen and unwelcome wherever she went. Even in her homeland, the Underworld, this was no exception. Though many respected her, far more feared her.
That night, as she hugged the Hellscythe she used as a pillow and prepared to sleep, she suddenly sensed an enormous fate line appearing in the world—so vast that it shocked her.
Eucliwood, whose magic could directly influence fate, felt this far more clearly than mere intuition or premonition.
It instantly banished all sleepiness.
"The combined causality of the entire world doesn't compare… the world itself couldn't give birth to such an existence. Could this be something from beyond the world?"
Crackle!
A violent surge of unstable magic erupted around the petite silver-haired girl. That abyss-like magic rippled outward, affecting the fate lines of some unfortunate souls in the Underworld.
Beings who should have grown normally died prematurely. Devils who were on the verge of breaking through thier powers suddenly suffered backlash and died. Rare spiritual plants fell into chaos…
This was why she was called the center of the world.
A mere emotional fluctuation was enough to cause her magic to ripple and alter the fate of others and the world itself.
And this was with Silence of the Ban suppressing her power. Otherwise, the consequences would have been far worse.
This uncontrollable weight crushed Eucliwood with pain, yet she had no choice but to bear it alone.
"Mm…"
Pain flashed through her icy-blue gemstone eyes as she frowned, one hand supporting her head while holding the scythe. The rampaging magic felt like countless needles stabbing into her mind in a relentless storm.
If an ordinary person experienced even a fraction of this pain, they would instantly suffer a mental collapse and die.
Yet she could not voice her suffering. She endured it alone, forcing her emotions to calm down through sheer will.
After some time, she managed to suppress the turmoil. The raging magic finally settled under her tenuous control.
{Perhaps… if I can find the being whose causality surpasses even mine, there may be hope to control my power…}
She pressed her pale lips together gently, took out her notebook, and transformed the Hellscythe into a pen. Alone, she wrote down her thoughts.
She was deeply curious about this newly appeared existence. A causality greater than even the world's center could not possibly belong to an ordinary being.
Thus, she clung to a sliver of hope.
Moreover, her recent magic surge would surely have revealed her location to certain people. She could not stay here any longer.
Once again, she would wander.
She put away her notebook, transformed the pen back into the Hellscythe, and left the ruins.