Chapter 24: Gods and Truths.
As we arrived in front of the giant, menacing demon, Heart crossed her arms and speaks.
"Hello hello, Sawa."
The demon then turned towards us, it's bringing fear, no doubt. Even Fiya here is afraid, it's safe to say that this is the same monster who brings terror upon humans, and its own kind.
"W-wawawawa.... P-please speak quicker..."
"Y-you can wait back there, Fiya..."
Fortunately, Fiya does what I told her and leaves the dark red, blood soaked chamber.
The giant then spoke, in a deep, demonic voice.
"Heart... Who might this be..?"
"You can call her Vampire. What about you, Sawa? The progress within her world diminished. Further action recalls, such an act would cause significant chaos."
"Release... Kill everything... Operate the second action... Go home, if you must... I will wait... Vlaia... Drein... Find them, the action depends on their incapability..."
"The southern hemispheric gates have opened. It won't be that easy. Rest assured, me and Vampire will do something about it."
We then left the place. What were they talking about? I wonder.
We later regroup with Fiya before walking down the hallways. The sounds of burning wouldn't go away. It is unknown where they come from, but it is always there, as if there was always fire next to you.
"What was that about, Heart?"
"The talk I had with Sawa? There's things in this world you'd rather not know, Vixen."
"Hm? I know, but still. I can't just go without learning about our mission. We're not just going to the Ninth Polar Heaven, your home, right?"
"Correct. If you wished to know, it took place a couple hundred years ago. The 1st Polar Heaven was situated in this place. A place where Heaven existed, literally."
"Heaven? What about it? And why is it in a place like this? Aren't we in hell?"
"Hell, it's ignorant to call it that. I was born in the 1st Polar Heaven. My parents wished nothing but food. Everyone wished nothing but food. We all wished for food. A place where hunger is nonexistent, as everyone always eats each other."
"That's common sense. I know that you'd all do bad things in hell."
"It's not the hell you know about, Vixen. A hell where the serpent lived. Tsuchikonoko. The mastermind behind all of this. She's the one who brought this apocalypse. To tell the truth, Rintan, your friend didn't get Sushi from that brain, like what I've told her."
What? It was all fake? Does that mean... Sushi doesn't exist then?! Is Rintan just acting as Sushi? Though... Rintan never uses magic, but Sushi does. Why is that?
"Sushi Sand was a separate. A clone of her. A clone of herself. Tsuchikonoko is at the bottom of it all. She already planned all of this from the start, as a way to combat the Blood God. You see, the Blood God's revival was unavoidable. There was no way to prevent. As such, Tsuchikonoko improvised by murdering everyone during the Eras of Apostasy."
"May I ask? Who is this Tsuchikonoko that you speak of? I've never heard of someone like that before..."
"She's the Devil. A demon born in hell. The second coming of the devil. All life narrows down to it. The structure of creation.... Jiapoua, The 3rd Pillars of Creation. Tsuchikonoko, The 2nd Pillars of Creation. Cricket Cricket, The 4th Pillars of Creation. Leviathan, The 5th Pillars of Creation. And at the last, Frillet Tofan. You already know where he's at."
Frillet Tofan?! The old Hero?! H-he's a pillar of creation..?! But wait... Who's the 1st Pillars of Creation then?
"Unknown. No one knows of them. But they did exist at one point. Through the Eras of Apostasy. A couple of our smartest guys managed to figure it out, and put the pieces together though."
"Just to find out that the 1st Pillars of Creation is the Blood God? I already know. There's no reason to tell me, haha."
"All of the Pillars of Creation are at war with each other. Mainly because of the Blood God. The 2nd Pillars of Creation, Tsuchikonoko, already began her movement a long time ago. Frillet has also started, of course."
"So? What's our goal? What are we going to do in the Ninth Polar Heaven?"
"Vixen? Have you not realized it yet? There's no way to kill, defeat, or stop the Blood God. Such concepts must not even be thought of when encountering them. HOWEVER!! If we can just get the Blood God on our side..!!"
"Uhhh... Aren't you acting strange..? What's happened with you?"
"Ahem ahem. Sorry, my bad. Back to what I was saying. Tsuchikonoko's main goal isn't to combat the Blood God, despite all of this. Humanity has done horrid. Everything, I can't even say a word about it... Humanity- Humanity just needs to perish. They've done all wrong. They don't- no... They have to die right now..."
"Huh? Why!? Do you hate me?! Besides. Aren't you a human too anyways?"
"I know. That's why... Tsuchikonoko's true end goal isn't to defeat the Blood God or anything..! It's to kill humanity!"
"Eh? Destroy humanity? That's impossible. Only the Blood God would be strong enough to do that. Do you know how strong some humans are? You know, humans like me for example!"
"You're not a human, Vixen. Anyways anyways. The Blood God doesn't just need souls for their revival. They also need a vessel. A vessel, perfect enough to hold in a primordial God. Tsuchikonoko's true, and actual plan is becoming that vessel. Not only does taking a vessel bring back the Blood God, but it also gives them all of the memories of that, Vessel."
"Vessel? Why would she do that? Is she stupid or something? Or maybe I just can't think fast enough?"
"Both. The reason for all of this, once the Blood God comes back. To have the Blood God to come back, Tsuchikonoko will only take all ways to get them on her side."
"Hmmm... Aren't we also trying to get the Blood God on our side?"
"Yes yes. But for the Blood God, you see here... The Blood God was beloved by everyone. And I mean everyone. No one had hated them. Especially before the Eras of Apostasy. When all Gods abandoned this planet, all hell broke lose. We all turned against the Blood God. And they responded, by murdering everyone. Because of this. Because of this hatred, hate and to detest. They sealed themselves."
"Sealed themselves? I don't think anyone is capable of that. Why would they do that anyway? I thought someone defeated them?"
"True. Someone fought them. But with their lack of will, they simple gave up and let their enemy defeat them. Now, only a few know of this. Another person has been behind us. Acting. They set up all of this. For everyone to fear, hate, and want to kill this Blood God. Now, Tsuchikonoko, if she manages to gather up all of the memories of this world, it will give the Blood God no other option, but to kill us all."
"I see... So the Blood God just wants everyone to love them huh..? But everyone's trying to hate them, or use them to destroy each other..."
"That's right. Tsuchikonoko wants to take all of history, and show it unto the Blood God. Humanity already deserved to perish, the Blood God gave us a second chance. Once Tsuchikonoko shows everything, everything is done for."
"I see. So we have to make the Blood God think that everything is okay? We have to love the Blood God huh. Well, I already feel bad for the Blood God so it's safe to say I won't get murdered, haha."
"Our main goal is to prevent, and to defeat Tsuchikonoko before she does that. Then get the Blood God on our side."
"How? It's impossible to change all of humanity now. We've all done horrible things. Not saying that we should just bring the destruction of everything, but we need another plan."
"I know.... Hehehehe... Vixen... This plan... It will never fail..! Would you like to hear about it?"
Hm? She's acting strangely again. I can't get a good impression on Heart...
"Alright. What is it? You seem dangerous and evil right now, but I'll hear you out."
"Another truth. Simply put, the Red Serpent, or the Devil, is a reincarnation."
W-what?! A reincarnation?! Another one like me?! How does she know?! But it looks like Heart only knows about one Reincarnation at least..!
"What? W-what does that mean..?"
"In a place called Earth, we set up a small base by creating a portal. It reaches to the elites, and the governments of that world. Since we're stronger, they fall easily."
E-EARTH?!!! THEY GOT BACK TO EARTH?!!! H-how in hell...?!
"E-e-earth..? W-what is that..?"
"Heh..! You're kinda dumb, Vixen! That's- ahem ahem. No forget about that, I'm sorry. Anyways. Earth, if you don't know, is the 3rd world, similar to this world. It's the upper mortal realm. However, one of the Gods hosted a festival, taking people from that world and putting them here, in our world."
The festival of reincarnation? I think I've heard the Dream God talk about that- no... Was it Nyx? The non-existing God?
"The Nightmarish Mortality, is what we call it. It's a connection to all of the world leaders and governments. It connects all souls to each other. Basically, a devil's contract. Sell your soul to the devil they say, and you will get what you wished for."
"I've heard about that before... It's pretty common around here too."
"Right. But in this world, Earth. Magic and such does not exist. To compensate for that, the people of that world trades something important just for the basic reward of magic. They sign a contract with the devil, Tsuchikonoko."
"Wait. Aren't you guys supposed to be against Tsuchikonoko? Why are you being... Why is it connected to her then?"
"No. We merely connect everything, we connect their wishes and prayers to what they're praying to, Tsuchikonoko. People give us their souls, meanwhile, Tsuchikonoko gets nothing. She's just our face for that, of course, we don't really do anything worth suffering for them of course."
"I thought you guys were the bad guys. Aren't demons supposed to hurt humans instead of helping? Not saying you should, but..."
"The Nightmarish Mortality serves as our face in Earth. And our portal into the 3rd world. No one is suffering currently, all of their trades are just information. No one gives their souls yet. However, if Tsuchikonoko just figures it out, most humans in Earth will die. In short. We've planted a bomb into everyone on Earth, and the trigger, is Tsuchikonoko herself."
"I see. So you guys are the first ones to get on Earth? I don't think there'd be much difference in there even if you didn't arrive in that place."
"Our main goal, The Nightmarish Mortality, is only to gather information, so of course."
"Okay okay. So what about Tsuchikonoko's reincarnation? Who was she back in Earth?"
"She's the Reincarnation of the devil. But back in Earth, she was just a homeless girl. Everyone hated her. It was a long time ago though. Seems like time differs in Earth and in Cvvoer."
Medieval times? Oh... So people during that time hated her? How ironic...
The hated, wants to become one with the beloved...
"She hates everyone and everything. The gods gave her a second chance, to respond and decide the future of mankind that exists in both worlds, Earth, and Cvvoer. The second chance being, the Imaginary System, Godless Angel Rhapsodies."
"So it's called the Godless Angel Rhapsodies..? The one that she gave to Sushi, and what you gave to Rintan?"
"Yes. You can still call her Sushi if you want. But remember that it's just Tsuchikonoko's clone, with a different name."
What a long talk it was. We finally arrived at the end of the hallways.
Wait. What was the plan again?
....
It was an extremely long hallway. The sounds of burning never left.
"We're finally here. The gates to the 3rd layer of hell. Where the Ninth Polar Heaven resides."
"Uuu.... I-it's also where my parents live..."
What are we looking at? It's just a blank wall. Perhaps there's a secret door somewhere?
Heart then walks up to the wall and punches it. Her hand goes through and she begins tearing out the wall.
"What are you doing? Aren't you just destroying the wall?"
"This is the gateway to the Ninth Polar Heaven. Just wait..."
Finally, she destroys the entire wall and reveals a heavenly paradise.
Nothing else than to call it heaven. There's snow falling everywhere, on the trees, and on the ground. It was actually a portal, exact opposite of this hell.
We step in. It's cold. A giant wall is behind us, with the same hole that Heart made. Does Heaven and Hell just have a giant barrier like this between them?
"That huge monolith over there, it's the Heart of this place."
Heart? Isn't she...
"Yes. And I'm Heart."
"E-ehh... It's kind of embarrassing to say... But she's right... I'm one of Heart's children..."
Really..? So Heart is a God..? Or a Monolith..?
"Not really a children... You're a spawn of the devil. A devil, different from Tsuchikonoko of course."
"Hm? You're the devil, Heart?"
"No no no. I'm heart, and Heart is the devil, but I'm not the devil."
"What does that even mean?"
"This monolith is the heart of the Ninth Polar Heaven. Look.
Godless Angel Rhapsodies, Activate."
Suddenly, multiple patterns on the monolith began glowing. Is there an imaginary system in there too? How is it even in here?"
"It's broken. It will only glow. Vixen, the mission that I'll give you, wanna hear it?"
"Huh...? Alright... What is it?"
"Kill Rintan. Or more specifically, kill Tsuchikonoko's clone."
"I see. But how can I do that? It's almost impossible to-"
Soul Retraction! I remember now... Last lesson from Rabbit. I need to learn and use Soul Retraction. Though, I don't even have any clues on what it is.
"My main ability... It's called Soul Nullification. It nullifies the soul on contact with the physical form. I can give it to you."
"W-what..? You can give abilities?"
"Of course. Soul Nullification, or Soul Retraction, it's an ability stolen from the Fanine Clan. But I'm not the thief, just so you know."
It's from the Fanine Clan? Hmmm... What even is Rabbit's connection to the Fanine Clan? Is she Heart's teacher or something?
"How does the ability work? And how will you give it to me?"
"It attacks the soul, the soul of anything, and nullifies it obviously. Basically, it takes away any form of magic from a creature that can use it. A direct counter to magic, don't you think? I can give it to you, once we meet Rintan. We'll meet up with your friends too, but just right after this mission."
"Thanks... Still, why are we in this place? Is there any reason for us to come here?"
"Nothing really. I've planted potatoes next to my house here. Free must've went with us just to help with it."
The Ninth Polar Heaven being used for planting potatoes?!! Why are they doing that here?! Well... I guess it is their home.
"You can explore for a bit, if you want. We'll be harvesting while you do that."
Alright. This place does seem interesting. I'll look around that giant Monolith, and try to fix it.
Though... I'm still curious. What did she mean by her not being the devil, while still being the devil at the same time..?