The Red Rose and The Black Rose

Death is an interesting concept that applies in one way or another to almost every being in existence, be it living or dead, albeit in different ways.

For an Undead, death was a constant state of existence until it was destroyed and returned to the abyss of existential nothingness.

For a plant, death was just something it didn't understand, but knew it was the end of its line no matter how much it drank water, absorbed nutrients, sunlight, or spread seeds.

For a human, it was a fate they sought to avoid, embraced, or respected, each human having their own view of what death was, or sharing one. The same was true for similar races.

But… wWat was death to beings more superior or distinct in themselves?

For a Demon, it was the end. There was no Heaven or Hell, for Demons had no soul.

For an Angel, it was simply what had to happen in the name of their God's grand plan or whatever.

However, there was also an idea that transcended death. That deceived it.

Resurrection.

It was a brutally rare tool in countless corners of the cosmos. It was even myths or mere rumors in others.

Few beings could boast of being able to use the power of resurrection. A Phoenix could not die unless its very soul was destroyed. A God would not die as long as it had believers or its soul was killed. A priest could afford to use the miracle of the spell that allows resurrection.

And a being that transcends logic and the lack of it, that is an antithesis of sanity but does not embrace madness as its own, had its own methods.

Had He been dead…? How long? Millions of years? More? Time is strange to beings not bound by time.

He would have to gather countless piles of energy slowly, taking countless more years…

Even then, His non-existent worshippers could at most send Him small waves of energy in the form of a strange idea that was functional and at the same time not, following a logic forced upon existence under mere text written on a screen.

A star in formation, slowly and unconsciously growing in search of becoming what a star could be, that is, an embryo, trembled as countless piles of that strange energy that should not work mixed with it.

The process that would take so long that planets, stars and other celestial bodies would turn to dust before it was even close to completion, was forcefully advanced by leaps and bounds by an illogical equation, stealing the very energy of its hatching for something.

But the theft of energy was so great, that it did not just steal the energy, it ended up bringing the star itself.

And that star hatched.

And something was reborn, it was time for the next stage of the endless cycle.

…

"This… It shouldn't be possible…" Black Abyss growled as she stood her ground, only because Dont was behind her, as she would have fled without a doubt if she had been alone.

After all, even though she was a Level 100 Paladin, together with a Level 100 Shooter like Dont, they were nothing more than ants in front of what had instantly materialized in front of them…

It was undoubtedly gigantic, the power that this creature had could be felt… Rocks exploded from the pressure, and the area itself was flattened due to it.

The continental plate itself sank a few meters into the planet's mantle due to the weight that this creature distributed across the continent.

Black Abyss looked up at the sky, seeing lightning bolts appearing in a clear, now dark sky… Its very presence ionized the air, charging it with energy and creating lightning bolts so large they looked like a high-level spell, and that wasn't even part of that thing's passive or active skill set.

The wind changed direction, surely changing the global tides as well… The temperature, ironically, decreased several degrees despite the presence melting the ground, surely all over the world…

Logic writhed like a worm seeking to survive, breaking years of evolution and magic. The Mana in the world, bound to a rule forced by something of immense power, churned so brutally, that all magic casters on the planet felt it. Some more than others, some with more serious consequences than some.

Only a certain type of entity could recharge Mana properly now, being that they were bound to a firm logic that was self-imposed upon another, ignoring the changes of reality upon the original logic of the world.

That red smoke from before, which rested for so long on the ground, was a channeler… Or at least that's what Black Abyss thought…

A way to channel such great energy, as to bring an impossible creature to this time and place… A monster that should never have set foot on this land, a monster that should not have been seen beyond the screen of a game, something beyond the classification of 'God'... A World Boss…

But Black Abyss was confused… There should not have been enough energy in the entire fight to summon such a being… Or did the spell itself change after arriving in the new world…?

No… It was useless to think about it now…

The Paladin hid her halberd, but not her shield, standing in front of Dont, in front of the Monster.

A growl that was a word written and spoken at the same time, and Black Abyss had to struggle not to have her ears bleeding.

On the other hand, the Demon Queen remained static.

"MY GOODNESS." She blurted out, unaffected by whatever that monster did, which was so severe, that Riku grabbed his head with one hand and his armored companion clenched his fists in fury while shaking from what seemed to be fear.

Black Abyss wanted to look at the monster, but couldn't. Both out of instinct, and because of the incredible debuff that threatened to be applied to her if she continued to look at it. Even being a level 100 Paladin, she was still of an element so contrary to what was here, that she was susceptible to things like mental and even physical debuffs as long as they weren't immobilizing below world level.

A hiss like a snake and a crow was heard again and Black Abyss trembled. She clung to the thought of Dont behind her.

Once again, Dont was the reason she didn't run away immediately.

"AM… HELLO?" The guttural voice of 'Komodo' resounded from behind her, in the direction of the monster.

A buzzing like a fly and a purring sound came, and it wasn't a sound, it was a kind of wave, a thought nothing more.

"… AH… ER… OKAY…? IT'S… OVER THERE…?" Dont said confused, in too much shock to not really be, but well enough to point towards the opposite direction of Deorum Regnum.

And 'IT' started to move.

…

Dont-Say-My-Name felt quite lost and disoriented.

On one hand, the 'personalities' that represented all of her possible ways to change as a Demon Queen were frozen and mixed into one at the same time, which was strange since ever since Dont came to the New World, she seemed to have quadripolarity or something.

The Devil didn't say anything, he couldn't. The Snake said a lot, he kept doing so. Komodo was calm, he had no anger or emotion. Dont was lost, clueless about anything.

And the Demon Queen, she was doubtful.

Not because she isn't able to deal with the situation somehow… Sure, such a scenario was simply running away and praying that the thing doesn't find Titania. But more than anything, because of the fact that… Well, just like there was a thread connecting her to a random Infernal Protector in Deorum Regnum, and many more threads connecting to the… Infernal Archarchaeologist? Well, connecting him to several other Demons, there was a thread that was flowing out from the level 92 Demon with the world-level cosmic monstrosity in front of her.

…

A growl that was a word written and spoken at the same time. However, to Dont, it was a complete and perfectly understandable sentence.

"Oh, Little One from Another World. You who have helped Us to be reborn, who awakened Our Purgatory, We thank you." The friendly, imposing, and gentle voice came from the 'middle'.

"MY GOODNESS." Dont blurted out. WAS THAT THING TALKING!? Well, it made sense that it had a consciousness and attitude of its own since everything was real now…

But Dont definitely didn't expect it to be such an intelligent being.

Let alone that it would see it as the one responsible for this…

The Archarchaeologist was the one who used the super-level spell, which normally shouldn't have brought anything, but simply acted as an offensive version of the super-level spell called [Ïa Shub-Niggurath], causing instant death in a larger area, and based on the number of targets killed, causing an explosion of true hellish damage. It was good for dealing with a lot of summoners and/or cleaning up the mess between enemies, but even Ghøst, the guild's Demonologist, rarely used it, as the instant death effect of [Yaldabaoth Cycle] was low-level, as was [Ïa Shub-Niggurath].

If one read the spell text, it was something about a cycle of rebirth or something from a cosmic being, which Dont was never that interested in, as Ghøst was too annoying when Dont asked him about the lore of his spells.

But if one, well, delved deeper into the idea of ​​'who' was the 'cause' of this thing appearing, well, it all fell on Dont.

After all, while it was the Archarchaeologist who caused this summoning, Dont was the Archarchaeologist's summoner, so any summoning from him would ultimately be Dont's.

A hiss like a snake and a crow was heard around her, but the sender was obvious.

"Ah~ How good it is to be back in physical form and conscious~ Hahaha~ We salute you, Little One~ You have done a good job accelerating this stage of Our eternal cycle~" The 'left' of the monster spoke with a more mocking, funny and playful tone, or well, more like a skinny and evil grandfather perhaps.

"AM… HELLO?" Dont replied, doubtful… A World Boss was thanking her…? UGH! WHAT THE FUCK WAS GOING ON!? She couldn't help but curse as her head spun metaphorically.

Her surroundings vibrated like a fly and a purr from the 'right', sending another message towards Dont. Although she worried about how these were affecting Black Abyss in front of her…

The creature spoke, and with just that it caused mental effects severe enough to affect a Paladin like Black Abyss, who had brutal mental resistance…

However, this wasn't a word. It wasn't a sound as such, it was a thought itself, an idea and a concept boiled down into something that was difficult to understand, which basically took on meaning for Dont as soon as it reached her.

It was asking her… Direction of where to attack?

"… AH… ER… OKAY…? IT'S… OVER THERE…?" Dont said confused. Attack what? Did it have to attack? What was going on? Why was a World Boss asking her what he should do? Dont's brain seemed to short-circuit from the stress and confusion, and she simply aimed at the closest thing to an 'enemy' she had. Although at this moment, the fact that Riku and another guy in armor were there didn't cross her mind.

If it weren't for the fact that her very existence was so… Well, in essence, compatible with that of this thing, Dont was sure that she really would be having a brain hemorrhage or something while falling into madness or who knows. After all, the Guild had to protect Dont, Ghøst and the like a lot when they faced this thing in game. And not from just anything, but from direct damage from things that such Players were 'not' immune to.

Yaldabaoth was, after all, the Demon of the Stars, the Demiurge.

She could understand why Black Abyss was so disturbed in its presence, it was basically facing her antithesis, as Yaldabaoth had special bonuses against divine beings and the like. And Black Abyss was an Angel, a Holy Paladin, and a divine representation of the Sun.

She saw the massive World Boss twist, moving in defiance of gravity and coiling around itself, and with its three heads raised high, it let out a roar of terror so brutal, the pressure made Black Abyss's ears, nose, and mouth bleed, as the ground sank further and Riku and his friend went flying.

Only Dont and the Archarchaeologist were immune due to Yaldabaoth's nature… Though the Demon Queen wasn't entirely sure why they were immune to something other than demonic damage…

And as countless beings were spat out and bled by Yaldabaoth, and countless ethereal beings devoured at the same time, the middle head looked towards the direction Dont pointed, and Yaldabaoth advanced.

"FUCKING SHIT…"

…

Back in arguably the most powerful place in the world, Eyesight, the little Gorgon, scratched her head as she looked at the monster brought by Queen Dont to the existential plane.

Fortunately, the little Gorgon was so strong and had so many protections, that even if it was through divination, she had no problem seeing the monster directly.

Obviously, as the Head of the Palace of the Pact of Titania's Star Observatory, Eyesight knew about the Star Gods. It wasn't as if she considered them Gods above the Supremes, but she knew about them and the danger they presented…

And thus, to see one there, in front of her two Ladies Well, she came to a conclusion as she smiled.

"The Supremes…" She froze for a moment, all of her subordinates staring at her… "They're amazing~!" She said with joy, skipping around as she looked at her Ladies with pure adoration and admiration.

And with gossip in hand, Titania would quickly learn of the Supreme Ladies' glory in summoning and using a Star God for Their own plans as if it was just another pawn on a chessboard…

…

Black Abyss, unable to look at the colossal monster, looked at Riku and that other armor… No one moved… They didn't even look at her… They were like a scared goat, and she didn't blame them, she had felt that way the entire time she was in front of the Yaldabaoth…

But…

"W-We're not going to find a better time to escape-"

In an instant, the sky trembled and the ground cracked completely, while an extremely powerful sound was present.

Perhaps it was more than 300 decibels… A roar so loud that it would destroy eardrums more than 420 kilometers away, with such power that it caused a shock wave so strong that it sent both armors flying with tremendous speed.

Even Black Abyss would have been sent flying if it wasn't for the fact that she was immune to physical CC with her armor, keeping Dont behind her who wasn't affected at all… Even that summoned thing wasn't affected either, silently staring at the Sniper, somewhat nervous…

Until the roar ended, she had a squeal in her ear, but it disappeared when her eardrums quickly regenerated.

"Well, now we have a better time to escape…" Black Abyss growled, grabbing Dont and lifting her up like a princess, as much as it seems like a joke of a knight in white armor carrying the Dragon instead of the princess, before spreading her wings and pushing off to fly low to the ground.

"A-Ah~! WA-WAIT, BLAC- EJEM, DOVE!" 'Komodo' said as her eyes could be seen turning a deeper shade of red. It took them a while to discover it recently, but that meant she was blushing, even if such a display of her status was so inhuman. But well, Dont was a demonic abomination right now instead of a beautiful maiden… It's not like Black Abyss didn't adore her even in that form~

The Dove looked at her for a moment after imaginingly shaking off the thought of just now, since it wasn't the time, stopping for her sudden proposal, well… The smartest thing at this moment was to get out of there at top speed and in the opposite direction of the Yaldabaoth…

"I SENT HIM TO… RE-ESTIZE… HE'S GONE…" Dont let out in the form of a guttural sound, although it was her normal voice in this form.

Black Abyss blinked, and only then did he notice… The malevolent pressure was moving away…

"It's in the opposite direction of Titania and Deorum Regnum… Very well." The Paladin indicated with a nod. 

"I… I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON… BUT… ER… WE BETTER GO HOME…" She blurted out while looking just as incredulous as the Paladin herself.

"Call Eyesight, don't let her look at Re-Estize or we might have to change her software…" Black Abyss said somewhat worriedly.

"Y-YES…" Using her shapeshifting, Dont went from Komodo to her normal self. Although she hadn't noticed it before, she was emitting a dark aura that smothered the light. She quickly took out a scroll from her inventory, and threw it into the air, being that, in this form, she was limited even further in the few spells she could use. "Huh… [Message]… Open a [Gate] to Titania for us, Eyesight… Don't look at Re-Estize at all, withdraw all our agents as quickly as possible…"

"And have her open a large portal when we hit the ground." Black Abyss stated, moving again, with the greatest speed she had.

"Umu…" The busty Shooter muttered with a nod.

And in a break of the sound barrier, they quickly traveled to the only crowd that was visible, what was left of the army that Deorum Regnum sent to battle.

Black Abyss headed there and quickly stopped looking at Alucard and all the Fairies who were… Very bad… Not physically, but mentally.

The Paladin was a tank, and she was able to resist the debuffs of those things… But Titania's Fairies were around lower levels and were mostly warriors…

Only Alucard and Miia were in good shape, though worried.

"M-My Ladies! Are you okay?" Alucard said with concern, approaching the pair, while Miia, carried by Echidna, approached somewhat calmer.

"Umu… Yes…" Dont answered doubtfully to the both of them, as Black Abyss had traces of her golden blood on her chin and sides, and she saw the massive [Gate] that opened in front of the army. "Er… It's all part of the plan…" She lied in a way to ease the worries of the pair of Commanders.

Of course, then, with Black Abyss, they would have to see what part of the plan that THEY made was this this.

Still, all the survivors seemed too… Shocked to react…

"… Alucard, help the survivors through the portal. Have healers cleanse them of any wounds or debuffs they have. Miia, take care of them." Black Abyss ordered firmly. She imagined that the Fairies were under intense mental effects, among them, Madness and Terror for sure.

"Yes!" The Knight, as attentive to duty as ever, nodded firmly, not waiting long to go help the innocent and injured.

"Nothing will get through the perimeter, Supremes." Miia said in her usual tone, saluting alongside Echidna.

A tap on the shoulder of the Mecha, and… It began to take off from thrusters on its back and from beneath the armor that formed its underside alongside Miia. They would be watching everything from above it seemed.

Dont, still carrying herself as a princess, remembered something important, and looked back to where they had been before.

"Umu…" Her summon had been left there…

With a mental command, she instructed him to come to her side. Not only could she not let a permanent summon go to waste, much less one that managed to rise to level 92, but she would also have to question him about what he did to reach such a level.

After all, they discovered that Demons can gain experience by absorbing the souls of others. And going from level 30 to level 92 was no easy feat under this rule in a world with beings that weren't nearly as strong as the usual monsters of Yggdrasil, or there were simply no quests that gave experience as a reward.

"Your Majesty!" The summoner appeared amidst flames and black smoke, calling out to her. "W-Why the enemy…!?" He asked, pointing at Black Abyss, who was carrying her, but without finishing the question.

"Calm down, servant…" She muttered, wanting to reassure this creature that who knows how much trouble it caused without anyone knowing, and ended up summoning something like the Star Demon itself. "It's my…" She hesitated between the official title. "Girlfriend~ Just girlfriend for now~" She said somewhat amused, tickling the Angel from a blind spot. "The situation will be explained to you once we are sure. Use an invisibility spell and hide yourself as best as possible from any tracking and enter the portal. Once inside, remove any invisibility and wait for further orders. If anyone stops you, tell them that you are my summoning." She instructed step by step, avoiding any misunderstandings or potentially unexpected or serious situations.

"I-I…" The Devil looked between Black Abyss and Dont for a second, rather hesitant, but eventually, he could only obey and leave his thoughts for another time. "As you command, Your Majesty. This servant of Yours will obey." With that said, he grabbed something from what seemed to be his inventory. It was a scroll. "[Perfect Unknowable]"

Dont had to blink for a moment as she heard the high-level concealment spell that was on a scroll of all things as the Archdemonologist disappeared from her radar.

She could see it and find it if she tried hard, but there was no need for that. She could kind of sense him by the imaginary thread that united them as summoner and summoned.

They were going to… Have to do a lot of things…

…

A shadow fell over a kingdom, covering the land itself as the Sun was blinded and pushed aside, bringing night unnaturally at high noon.

A snake slithered through space as if it were nothing more than water instead of something so conceptual, letting out a sound like fire and magma roaring as it slithered.

The sound alone shattered eardrums and shattered minds, plunging countless into madness.

And as their minds were shattered, fragments were thrown away, sucked into abyssal depths, as the tombs were rendered meaningless, for no one rested in peace when 'He' passed through.

Souls were forcibly pulled into the abyss, disrupting eternal rest and turning it into a nightmare. And in its wake, monsters rained down like drops of blood and vomit, each strong enough to destroy countries.

Those unfortunate ones saw it, and cried. Blood pumped from their hearts, replacing tears as fluids and organs randomly swapped functionality, only for their organs to be expelled in place of bile, vomiting out their insides as a natural reaction.

Animals went mad, reversing the logic of the food chain. Rabbits devoured wolves in pack rage, pigs chewed on farmers' flesh in desperate, carnivorous hunger, chickens pecked and swallowed foxes' eyes like they were apex predators, while monsters writhed in agony as plants caught fire and encased them in seas of flame and madness.

Countless wormholes were quickly opened at various points, saving all beings who were not 'His' targets by the subordinates of the one who helped Him be reborn.

He rose into the sky, which was only a little, and as He vomited and bled monsters, the center of His being released something from its jaws.

Pure fire bathed the earth.

…

Countless eyes turned, noticing something that was hard not to notice.

Something that shouldn't happen... Not now, not soon, it happened at this very moment.

Someone who had been dead for a long time, waiting to be reborn, appeared much, much earlier than He should have.

Among the countless points on the Great Plane, one of them, as insignificant as a microscopic stain on a black dress that could be mistaken for decoration of the same, had all gained several glances. One that recognized the place, others that didn't. Between curiosity, confusion and other emotions, or the closest to such concepts, were the reason for such attention.

And among all the glances, one of them glared. A chaos that crawled through the cosmos growled, or did the closest thing to it under its existence so alien to human logic.

After all, the ancient and familiar presence, but at the same time, different, artificial, modified under artificial logics that came with something illogical under another meaningless event, should not have appeared now. Countless intricate plans of malice, sadism, madness, and evil were destroyed by the unpredictable appearance of 'Him' without warning or sense.

Prophecies were twisted and fulfilled before they were intended, and fate fluctuated in different places while the future was irreparably warped in different worlds.

Emperor Jircniv, dead, turned into a summon, or not, kept causing trouble in one way or another. For better or worse.

Perhaps a skeletal Overlord instead of a Demon Queen and Urielle duo would have been a better choice for the overall well-being of the New World.

…

It was the serpent that tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge in Eden.

It was Abel's blood that Cain swallowed.

It is the Hound Cerberus that guards the entrance to the Underworld.

The Gates of the Underworld are what give way to souls to it.

It is the Gates of Hell that will give way to Demons to Earth at the Final Judgement.

And it is Hell that is the darkest abyss, to which even Demons pray to God not to send them there.

This, added to many other ideas, development team, art, thought and creative freedom, and many more who helped shape the Cosmic Hell campaign. A high difficulty campaign that ended with a fight against one of the most powerful beings one could face, a World Boss.

A World Boss was something that lived up to its title exactly, a being so powerful that it was capable, both in the story and context it was given, and in actual power outside of the codes and limits of gameplay, of destroying and/or conquering a world or more, or it already did.

The word Boss alone caused nightmares throughout Yggdrasil. An average boss was capable of dealing with several level 100 players with optimized equipment and classes.

Add the value of 'World', and things got worse.

The World Eater itself was a World Boss, and was among the most powerful and difficult Bosses to defeat in the entire game.

Between the creative freedom of countless bosses, events, and expansions, the developers of Yggdrasil could have great ideas and implement them as they saw fit into the game.

From creating bosses based on other things, like the Event Boss Cainabel, in a parody of Cain and Abel, using Cain's roots as the Father of Vampires, and still creating one of the most disappointing Event Bosses in the game, to making Bosses based directly on their origin, like the Knights of the Round Table themselves, Arthur Pendragon, Tristan, Lancelot, Mordred, Gawain, etc.

But what happened when something was as conceptual as a God with many interpretations? Or entities that were so vague in their information or description that there was no base form to work with?

Obviously, that was one of the reasons why the Abrahamic God wasn't put into the game. Or because Jesus of Nazareth wasn't either. Although it was mainly because of the stir it might cause and because, if they had put them in, they would have allowed for the possibility of 'killing' them, and it would cause too much religious controversy for the pros to outweigh the cons.

However, it didn't stop them from bringing in beings like Angrboda, who is only described as a Frost Giant and sometimes old woman. However, the developers, knowing the audience that would interact with her, made her a beautiful Amazonian woman instead of an old woman.

On the other hand, while there were expansions, events, and the like that occurred to them on the spot, some others were already planned, or considered.

Among them, the Star Gods expansion.

You couldn't make a fantasy game with such brutal bosses, based on all the mythologies, historical figures, popular characters from the past without active copyrights, and the like without resorting to the legendary Cosmic Horror.

Not only was the concept originated by H.P. Lovecraft of brutal help for many Yggdrasil Bosses, such as the World Eater itself, but it was full of World Boss material.

Cthulhu, Shub-Niggurath, Nyarlathotep, Yog-Sothoth, and that to name a few.

It was to be expected that they would be used at some point, implementing a race quite beloved in role-playing games, such as the Brain Eaters, spells, items, skills, classes, other races, events, etc.

The Star Gods was one of the most complete and largest expansions of Yggdrasil.

And among one of its World Bosses, there was that Star God that represented the feared Christian concept: Hell and Demons.

And after weeks of development, testing and revisions, one of the World Bosses of Yggdrasil, one especially terrifying for Players with divine or similar powers, was created.

Yaldabaoth, the Demon of the Stars, the Demiurge.

His appearance, like any Outer God, was brutally grotesque, unnatural and disturbing.

His power, so great as to finish off countless Players without rest.

His rewards for killing him were obviously so great as to be a tempting fruit for many players.

It was simply a work of art that respected enough the Yaldabaoth as Cosmic God of the tales and implementations of Lovecraftian mythology.

Still, did one really have an idea of ​​the true danger of having a creature like that in the world? Did the common people really know how powerful a 'World Boss' was?

While a level 100 player might be able to eradicate mountains and countries with the effects of his powers… Did one really know what a 'World' entailed?

Within the world of 1s and 0s, a World Boss was a nightmare to deal with, but only in the sense of fighting against it as a game, where everything was leveled within the logic of making the gameplay challenging and entertaining.

In a virtual world, an aura of madness was just a debuff that bothered a player when controlling their character or using skills. In a virtual world, having a World Boss summon level 80+ demonic monsters at no cost or cooldown constantly was normal and just a nuisance to deal with. In a game, having the 'souls of the living, the dead, the born, and the unborn be devoured and sent to Hell without a chance' was just flavor text and a cool cosmetic effect to make way for related skills.

But when did all that come to reality?

The World Eater was just a Boss that didn't actually devour any of the 9 Worlds of Yggdrasil, as it was just 1s and 0s programmed to fight those who faced it.

What if the World Eater was brought to reality? You'd have a literal cosmic-level monster capable of devouring entire planets without difficulty and condensing them into powerful objects in its stomach.

And what about a being of relatively its caliber? One that came from the very idea of ​​a being that transcends logic, space, time, and the cosmos.

By overwriting what was 'Yaldabaoth' to this Yaldabaoth, everything became reality.

And since He, despite being a World Boss, was still his own being, and was 'reborn' thanks to someone who was part of his 'existence' as the Star Demon, then He had the obligation, as a benevolent being to those of his kind, to fulfill her wish and have such a Demon as His protégé, placed on a high priority list for the simple fact of having helped him with something as important as His rebirth.

He crawled along space-time, his scales like titanic obsidian shards, filled with whip-like openings that bled Demons and magma still bound to the logic of 'magma is orange', that even if it should be white because of the temperature, it was orange, ignored the laws of gravity and the curvature of space or any logic that exists that would normally prevent him from doing this.

The charcoal whips covered in embers and thorns that acted as 'tails' were wielded with malice and sadism by 'reflex' and consciousness, lashing out in an agonizing death, instant and slow at the same time, to countless lesser lives for 'Him'.

Tentacles that sweated tar and amorphous, murky claws of varying sizes rippled across its elongated, scaly body, with so many unholy and evil symbols floating around it, that there were new, unknown or forgotten symbols to countless civilizations.

The neck split into three in the form of a bloody, burned wound that would never heal, but it did not hurt, for pain was not something this being knew.

On the left, the twisted and deformed skull of a ram, pure white with bits of rotting skin along the bone, attached by pure blue ghostly energy to a black-toothed wolf jaw, had its mouth so open it was dislocated, giving rise to an abyss of darkness and souls in torment swirling in a whirlpool of light blue, devouring more and more as it absorbed everything dead, everything that did not exist, and everything that, in essence, needed to be 'punished' at once. There was no judgment for what entered its maw. Every soul, every dead thing, be it a dream, a love, a plant, a nerve, everything was thrown into the cruel maw of the abyss to suffer.

On the right, the head of a giant human was forced to have its mouth open, stretched and cut into an eternal smile, with lips pierced by pins, eyes empty and crying blood, sewn with hair and blinded forever. Brown, filthy, bloody hair sat next to a crown of steel thorns, driven deep into his flesh. Teeth and gums were torn by sadistic claws, and the throat set on fire as countless Demons were vomited and spat out from the unholy, cursed depths inside the man's head, which, despite the wounds, had such perfect features, that it was inhuman how perfect it was. So human, that it wasn't.

And between both heads, the Demon looked indifferently at what existed. Neck longer than the rest, skin like solid darkness covered in cracks of fire and ash, features barely visible due to the lack of depth, but it was a murky mix of a demonic monster with a snake, with two long upper fangs between human and goat teeth along the dark mouth, while it drooled purple venom. Two intense hellfires in the dark sockets, with long dozens of horns along his neck and head. A goatee in honor of Baphomet, nostrils that exhaled embers, and a look so cold, indifferent and calculating, that only the Devil could match, if he could even do it.

A monster that insulted the sacred just by existing. An abomination that spat oceans of fire from between His dark jaws upon the earth, cursing it forever with suffering, death and torment.

His red fire did not burn, it cursed. His violent flames did not consume, they hurt. His gaze was not just something temporary, it broke and impure everything he passed through.

Demons laughed as they invaded the earth, souls cried as they were swallowed by the abyss, and the earth burned from the fire and the poison that was spat out.

Even though His size was nothing compared to what He could be, a single second of His flames was miles and miles of cursed and scorched earth, countless victims and cries.

And yet in His immeasurable and immeasurable evil, He only limited Himself to eliminating the enemies of His protégé.

Not much more, not much less.

The flames spread to the foot of the mountain, and advanced no further.

His curse reached imaginary borders by beings of three-dimensional minds, and advanced no further.

His madness covered until it reached the edge of the atmosphere, but advanced no further.

Only those condemned by this favor of 'Him', the Demon of the Stars, would suffer His punishment.

…

Enri Emmot cracked her back as she finished leading a watering cow back to the stable.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead with a sigh, and smiled at the midday sun.

She blinked as the sun seemed to hide behind a shadow, and looked to the west.

A wall of fire that didn't seem to advance towards Carne made her freeze and break out in a cold sweat.

For the people of Her charge would not be harmed.

…

Kelart Custodio advanced with her group, finally exiting the shortcut between the mountains that divided Re-Estize from the Abelion Hills, and the Theocracy of the same.

It would be dangerous to go to the Theocracy considering it was rather reserved lately with foreigners.

They didn't want a political fiasco by accident.

They could explain what happened in any case, and because the two nations were allies, they might even receive help, but Kelart preferred not to risk it.

As her group finally exited the shortcut, she could finally see what the Castillo Mountains looked like in the distance. To the right was the Theocracy, and to the left was the Kingdom of Re-Estize.

While they could pass through the mountains, it was likely filled with monsters and would be an unnecessarily long and difficult path to traverse. Therefore, as the route was laid out, they would pass through the Kingdom, rest in E-Rantel, and go to Deorum Regnum.

Kelart blinked as the midday sun had its light overshadowed by darkness, and a wall of red fire appeared in the direction of Re-Estize, almost cutting off their path.

…

The Mithril-ranked Adventurer group, Four Armaments, had their leader, Scama Elbero, sigh as she checked the map of the area.

It seems that taking on that sea monster hunting mission for Re-Estize's sake wasn't as good an idea as she thought, as her group wasn't used to 'marine' missions, nor dealing with aquatic monsters. They couldn't find it basically and they had been traveling for several days on this ship with crew and everything.

She blinked as the light seemed to dim severely, and looked towards the port, a wall of fire approaching at high speed.

And before it reached the water, it stopped, burning the coastal town in agony while sailors and the group of adventurers were left in shock.

…

Philip Dayton L'Eyre Montserrat grumbled as he was forced by his own father to, along with a small group of guards, search a wine warehouse a little far from the city for its 'exclusivity' and how 'good the environment was for wine in that place' in search of a bottle.

How could his father make him, the great Philip, search for a simple bottle in a place so far away on a whim? Damn old drunk…

He calmed down after a few breaths.

He just had to be patient. His older brother, the heir, went to fight in the war against 'Deorum Regnum'. While he had no doubt about the Kingdom's power in a way, he couldn't rule out the fortunate possibility that his brother would die in combat.

Of course, that wouldn't guarantee Philip the inheritance, but it would bring him one step closer to it, since only his 2nd brother would remain, and then there was him.

If all went well, his brother would be able to exit the scene somehow, perhaps marrying into the wrong family, or something, and Philip's cousin was to 'not' marry soon, and Philip would be the heir.

His father was a dirty old man, and would surely die at any moment from age.

And even if none of that happened, Philip still knew he was destined for greatness. He would simply have to be patient and endure whatever came. The universe and fate would make it up to him.

With the people on his side by the city church after he helped to take down that 'false idol' brought by those prophets or whatever from Deorum Regnum, his rise to power was only just beginning.

He frowned as he noticed the light dimming noticeably despite it being midday, and looked back.

His heart stopped for a second as he saw the massive wall of red fire that stretched out just a few meters from where he and his guards were.

He had to be thankful that, in theory, Re-Estize didn't have this many more square meters of 'official territory'.

...

Prince Zanac sighed in frustration and some fear.

After all, the palace was in chaos. Not for anything irrelevant.

His sister, the Golden Princess, went missing. No, rather, she was kidnapped.

With traces of struggle, claws, and other signs of monstrous presence in the 3rd Princess's room, the Palace was put on high alert as fear settled among the staff, guards, and the nobles themselves in the castle.

Needless to say, this was obviously the work of the Komodo Demon. Who else would use monstrous creatures to, not kill, but kidnap someone as important and influential in the village as the Golden Princess?

He had no idea what that monster could be up to, and Marquis Raeven retreated to his territory long ago. He had no clues at all.

He sighed again, and looked out a window as he walked through the halls.

He frowned as he noticed that the midday light had darkened too much for a cloud to be in, and his eyes widened as a wall of red flames approached the palace at terrifying speed.

And even then, his perception of 'terrifying speed' only lasted for micro-instants, as it was faster than he could process beyond what would be considered a 'frame' rather than a full scene.

The fire consumed the palace, and cries of agony echoed throughout the capital.

…

Re-Estize burned.

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Name: Yaldabaoth

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Name: ºMulin123º

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