Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Steeling myself, I make a life-or-death gamble.

The Demon Lords abyss magic activates, and something that looks like all the darkness in existence condensed into one spot swoops towards me.

Unable to avoid it, my body is swallowed up in the darkness and disintegrates without the slightest bit of resistance.

…

…

……did it work?

…

I mean, I’m not dead, at least I think I’m not. I guess I’ve never really been dead before so I wouldn’t know. Right now I’m just floating around in the middle of who knows where. I can’t feel my body, I also can’t see or move my body. Man, I really hope I’m not dead because this forever would suuuck.

…

…Uh, hello? Anybody? Getting kind of bored.

[Notice: unexpected soul detected. Beginning conversion sequence]

Is that you Divine Voice(temp)? Do you have a cold or something? You sound different.

[Warning: Preliminary scans show that soul is in critical condition. Soul is 36% corrupted, 80% fragmented, 93% missing]

Heh!? D-don’t you think you’re exaggerating a bit? I feel fine, really, I do. Maybe you could scan again?

[Immediate action needed. Inducing stasis]

Stasis? Hang on a minute! I don’t consent to tha-

[Soul is in stasis. Commencing emergency recovery procedure]

[Searching for missing pieces of soul: success]

[Retrieving missing pieces of soul: Failure]

[Diagnosis: Missing piece has been incorporated into another soul. Attempting removal: Success]

[Soul mass at acceptable levels]

[Foreign material detected. Removing foreign material: Failure]

[Diagnosis: Soul too unstable to survive removal. Attempting to create mass to replace foreign material: Failure]

[Diagnosis: Soul template is not recognized, cannot reconstruct without template. Seeking alternate solution: Success]

[Creating new template. Incorporate foreign material into new template: Failure]

[Diagnosis: Foreign material bound to foreign system. Attempting removal may harm stability of foreign system. Seeking alternate solution: success]

[Replace problematic materials{Ruler Skills} with equivalent unique skills]

[Replacing foreign material {Wisdom} with unique skill {Awoken Eye}]
[Replacing foreign material {Pride} with unique skill {Boundless}]
[Replacing foreign material {Perseverance} with unique skill {Unyielding}]
[Replacing foreign material {Sloth} with unique skill {Vacuous}]
[Replacing foreign material {Charity} with unique skill {Guardian Spirit}]

[Creating soul template. Incorporating unique skills and foreign materials into soul template: Failure]

[Diagnosis: Foreign materials {Greater Demon Lord} and {Hero} causing conflict. Replacing {Greater Demon Lord} with {Demon Lord Seed} and {Hero} with {Chosen Hero Egg}]

[Error: Cannot possess {Demon Lord Seed} and {Chosen Hero Egg} simultaneously. Soul possesses higher affinity for {Demon Lord Seed}. Discarding {Chosen Hero Egg}]

[Creating soul template. Incorporating unique skills, foreign materials and {Demon Lord Seed} into soul template: Soul Template(Zana Horowa) successfully created]

[Defragmenting soul: Success]

[Removing corruption: success]

[Reconstructing missing mass: Success]

[Soul successfully repaired]

[No physical form detected. Constructing physical form based on Soul Template(Zana Horowa): success]

[Initiating transfer to Central World]

Uuuugh… my head. What happened?

(Wait, you mean you don’t know?)

Huh? Magic-in-charge? How did you get here?

(No idea! And it’s not just me either.)

{Long time no see Main Body!}

:The gang’s back together!:

[Feels good to be myself again!]

Body-in-Charge? You’re here too? No offense but I kind of assumed you were a goner.

[None taken. I thought I was a goner too. Now where the heck are we anyways?]

Looks like we’re in a large, dimly lit stone room with three randos surrounded by a bunch of creepy dudes in cloaks.

|Anybody else getting a sense of deja vu?|

“What the fuck is that thing!?”

Hey! That ‘thing’ has feelings you know. and why are you all backing away? I didn’t even do anything.

~Hang on, that was japanese!~

-And don’t the clothes those three are wearing look really modern?-

Can we get an appraisal on those guys?

*On it!* [Shogo Taguchi] [Kirara Mizutani] [Kyoya Tachibana]

Those are Japanese names! These are my fellow country men!

^Wait a minute, if they’re reincarnated, shouldn’t they have a second name like Vampy did?^

*It also says they all have something called ‘unique skills’. What the heck are those?*

-Hey guys look! We have some of those too.-

Heh? When did that happen? I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this.

[Hold that thought. Looks like the cloaks are doing something and it doesn’t look very friendly.]

Oh, right. The cloaks all start chanting and the magic circle below me and the randos lights up. Some kind of magic shoots out of the circle and wraps around us. Hey, stop it! That tickles.

“GAAAAAH!”

I look back and see the three randos writhing on the ground, one of them looks like he’s trying to rip the magic tendrils off. All of the cloaks start panicking for some reason. Hang on, what was this supposed to do? Professor Wisdom?

[Locking curse: A soul-binding curse that forces the victim to serve the caster and prevents the victim from harming the caster in any way.]

[‘Locking curse’?]

(‘Soul-binding’?)

<‘Forced to serve’!?>

OH, HELL NO! A quick blast of anti-magic evil eye makes the spell fall apart and the cloaks back away in a panic. Some of them even start prepping attack magic. Fine, you want a fight? You’ll get one!

I use a bit of earth magic to shield the three randos, Gotta look out for my fellow countrymen after all, prepare to fire off a full salvo of black magic.

As I enter the summoning chamber, I’m greeted by the now familiar sight of the large, stone brick room. In the center is a raised stone dais completely covered in the complex runes necessary for otherworld summoning. The dais is surrounded by 60 summoners dressed in ceremonial robes, just about every summoner our kingdom has. My assistant comes forth and bows before me.

“Chief Sorcerer Razen”

“Is the circle ready?”

“Yes, Chief Sorcerer”

“And All the summoners are prepared and in position?”

“Yes, Chief Sorcerer”

“And you’ve double-checked the astral readings?”

“Yes, Chief Sorcerer. The barrier between our world and the target world hasn’t been this thin in over 3 centuries.”

“Excellent. With these conditions, we’ll be able to summon an entire platoon of otherworlders.”

I, of course, take some time to check that all of the runes on the summoning circle are correct. I am no fool. I know how ambitious this endeavor is. Otherworld summonings are almost always one at a time, but such perfect conditions warrant bold action. I take my place at the head of the ceremony, this task is too important to delegate to anyone else, and begin the ceremony.

As one, we all begin the chant with a level of coordination only possible through intense training with the thought communication skill. The magicule drain from the ritual is so intense that I can feel them being taken, not just from the summoners, but from the air itself. The circle shines brighter than I’ve ever seen. Either we’ve successfully captured a large number of otherworlders or the ones we got are exceptionally powerful.

The summoning circle audibly hums from the incredible amounts of power running through it as the space above it ripples and tears. The tear in space collapses in on itself, condensing into a single point the size of an apple seed before exploding in a bright flash of light.

When the light clears, the circle is occupied by 3 teenagers and- “What in the name of Luminus is that!?”

Among the three humans is a small spider monster, but it only takes a glance to know that thing is no normal monster. Its aura is incredibly powerful and unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Something about it invokes a deep, primal fear, as if looking at something that defies nature by its mere existence. Not only that, but none of my analytical skills are working on it. The only positive is that it appears to be too dazed to attack.

“Use the locking curse!”

“What about the spi-”

“DO IT YOU FOOLS!”

The summoners all around the ring aid me in casting the locking curse on the otherworlders and the spider. If we can bind it, then we may still be able to stop a catastrophe.

As the locking curse comes together, magical tendrils reach out and bind all four of them. For the humans, the curse works as intended, incapacitating them and burrowing into their very souls, but for the spider, the tendrils grip it but can’t breach its carapace. Why? Why isn’t it working!? This spell attacks the targets soul directly, no matter how tough it is, the curse should work.

One of the spiders’ eyes flash and the curse falls apart completely. Was it really able to counter my curse so easily? The spider hisses in rage and I can sense it channeling an immense amount of magicules, and yet I can tell this is only a fraction of its power.

Run. I need to run. We have no hope of defeating it, escaping is the only option. Whether due to courage or desperation, some of the summoners attempt to use magic to attack it. I don’t have time for a mass teleportation. I pray their deaths are quick and painless.

Dozens, no, hundreds of magic circles, written in a script I’ve never seen before appear around the spider. Within each one, a spear of pure darkness materializes, Crackling with energy. No, no! I need more time!

I create the strongest barrier I can without dropping my teleportation spell, it only needs to hold for a second.

It fired its magic, and everything went dark.

“That’s preposterous and you know it!”

“I’m merely saying that the shipment passed through my territory, so I should get a cut of the toll. What’s preposterous about that?”

“3.8 kilometers! That’s how much of the route was on your land! They weren’t even in your territory for a full hour!”

“Oh come now, no step of the journey is any more or less important than the other. Whether a bridge is missing an inch of rope or a yard, it’s broken all the same.”

“Don’t even start with that nonsense!”

Bohl and Dorden keep going back and forth about the shipment of high potion from Blumund again. Feels like every week they waste my time with this nonsense. It’s times like this that make me mourn being born a king. While the two are consumed with their squabbling, I take the chance to speak with my attendant.

“What else is on the docket after this?”

My attendant shuffles his papers around.

“Well, your majesty, Lord Galvelle is requesting aid in dealing with a migration of belching slugs and Lord Kolger and Lady Bellevon are having a territory dispute.”

Oh, joy. More bickering about misplaced fences and a mess of slugs.

“Ah! Also Razen requested your presence after court adjourned. He wished for you to see the results of today’s summoning.”

Ah yes, the otherworlder summoning. I’d almost forgotten that that was today. At least I have something to look forward to after all this.

“I’ll have you know that my men take good care of that stretch of road, and I think they should be fairly compensa-” “Lord Dorden”

Dorden, caught off-guard by my interruption, clears his throat. “Yes, my liege?”

“We have discussed this more times than you’ve bathed, and it always ends the same way. If you want to collect tolls from that route, build a toll station. You are not entitled to a single copper piece from Lord Bohl.”

“B-but your maje-.”

Before he can complete his sentence, the entire room is shaken by what sounded like an enormous explosion. The rumble was so great that it nearly knocked a few off their feet. What in the world was that!?

Immediately, panicked whispers spread through the entire court. Right as I’m about to call some guards to investigate, I hear a message spell.

Your majesty, the entire south wing of the castle has been destroyed!

“What!?” I shout without thinking, getting the entire court’s attention. Before any of them can question me on my outburst, I receive another message.

Your highness, our aura reader has detected an incredibly powerful monster fleeing the castle. Minimum rank is Special-A

A Special-A monster!? In the castle!? How could this have happened?

“Your majesty, do you know what that blast was?”

“Summon the guard captain, now!” As if on cue, one of my royal guards bursts through the door. “I need you to se-” “My liege! Chief Sorcerer Razen has been critically injured.”

“WHAT!?”

Razen is Special A rank. Strong enough to face some demon lords toe-to-toe. What could have possibly happened to leave him critically wounded?

By now the entire throne room has erupted into hysterics with people clambering over each other to either leave or hound the guard about what’s going on. I stand up and clap my hands together and, with the power I’ve cultivated through the years, the sound is akin to a thunder clap. Immediately, the entire room falls silent. I speak just as much to the guards scattered about the room as the nobles.

“Everyone! I am calling a state of emergency! As of this moment the entire castle is on lockdown! No one is to enter or leave the castle without mine or the guard captain’s permission!”

I point to one of the guards in attendance “You! Do you know where the full potions are kept?” He nods, so I throw him my kings key, an enchanted key that can open any lock in my domain “Go and grab as many as you can carry. Bring the entire case if you can manage it.” I point to another guard. “You. Tell the royal messengers to message the free guild. We need them to send every adventurer they have on hand.” I turn back to the guard who first entered the throne room. “Take me to Razen and tell me everything you know.”

I stand on an invisible platform high above the decimated castle, looking down at the destruction.

What was, just moments ago, an ornate tower, is now a smoldering pile of rubble.

I miiight’ve put a bit too much juice into that one.

Okay, if anyone asks, I was never here.

(remember what you said about Deja vu?)

Quiet you! It’s not my fault! What’s even the point of building big walls like that if they’re that flimsy?

Those guys’ lousy engineering aside, they look pretty mad. I should probably make myself scarce. Body-in-charge, I trust you can get us out of here?

[Ma’am, yes ma’am!]

Magic 1 and 2. Something weird is going on and I need you two to make sure all our magic still works like it should. Make sure to keep a teleportation spell prepped just in case.

(Consider it done) < I won't let you down! >

Parallel minds 5 and 6, I’m dubbing you guys ‘Skill-in-charge 1 and 2’. We’ve gained a few new skills and lost a few old favorites. I need you guys to do a damage report.

{Understood} :Okie dokie:

7 and 8, you’re ‘Guide 1 and 2’. We’re knee deep in unknown, possibly enemy territory and can’t risk stumbling around blindly. Use panoptic vision to start making a map of our surroundings.

|Child’s play| -No problemo!-

9 and 10, you’re ‘language 1 and 2’. Aside from those three randos, I haven’t understood a word of what anyone’s been saying since I’ve got here. We need to learn the language, if only so we can read signs and maps to make the guides’ job easier. This shouldn’t take too long, so be ready for reassignment.

~Roger that~ ^Can do!^

11, we’ve got 8 brains working on gathering intel and I’m gonna need help keeping it all straight. I’m dubbing you ‘info-in-charge 2’.

*I won’t let you down!*

You all have your jobs, so it’s time for us to roll out!

[(<{:|-~^*Let’s go!*^~-|:}>)]

Chapter Text

Guh, my fucking head is killing me. Where the hell am I? It’s pitch black and I can feel something heavy on top. I shove the heavy thing off me and the sunlight hits my eyes, blinding me. Fuck me that’s bright.

When my vision clears, I see that I’m surrounded by rubble. Lots of busted up stone and broken wood. What is all this shit? While I’m still trying to figure out where I am, I hear a flat voice.

“Wow. You’re still alive.”

The person who spoke was some guy with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes, sitting on one of the bigger rocks and looking bored.

“What the hell’s with that tone!? I almost died, asshole! Least you could do is pretend to give a shit! Who the hell are you!? And where am I!?”

“Well aren’t you just sunshine and rainbows. Names Kyoya, Tachibana Kyoya and I don’t know who she is." The guy, Kyoya I guess, points to a girl I didn’t notice before. She’s got brown hair that goes down to her shoulders and big, brown eyes. She looks really pale and she’s curled up in the fetal position.

“What’s her problem?”

Kyoya looks at me like I’m stupid “Did you hit your head or something? We got kidnapped by some crazy cult and almost died because of some demon spider. I’d say she’s handling things pretty well, all things considered.”

Hearing those words jogs my memory. I was hanging out with Shojiro and Naoko, then there was a bright light and I heard some weird voice speaking to me, can’t remember what it said, and suddenly I was in some kinda castle surrounded by those cloaked bastards and… that spider. That thing… “What the hell was that thing?”

“Let me guess. The spider?”

“No. The wart on my ass. Yeah I’m talking about the damn spider!”

He rolls his eyes. “I don’t know-” “WHO CARES WHAT IT IS!? I already know everything I need to know about it! It’s the most terrifying, awful, horrible thing I’ve ever seen and I never want to be anywhere near it ever again!”

After finishing her screaming fit, the chick just stares at us, face red with tears in her eyes. At least that wiped the know-it-all look off that guy’s face. Doesn’t last long though, and he’s talking like he’s the boss again.

“*Ahem* Well, I agree that we need to make a plan to get out of here as fast as possible.” He looks at the chick “And now that you’re ready to join the discussion, how about we get some introductions. I’ve already said my name, so how about you two?”

Who died and made this guy king? “I ain’t giving you my name. Don’t boss me around!”

Smart-ass sighs and gives me that same condescending look. “Don’t you realize what’s happening here? We’ve been abducted by some crazy people who, for all we know, are trying to kill us and the only people we know for sure aren’t helping them are the three of us. We can’t afford to be arguing about stupid stuff right now.”

“Hey Smartass, the spider blew them all up, remember?”

“You don’t know if it was all of them, and if it wasn’t, then the blast will bring the rest of them running. We need a plan to get out of here before any more of them show up and for that you have to cooperate with me. Now stop being childish and tell me your name already!”

While I’m trying to think of something to say to Smartass, the chick speaks up. “Mizutani Kirara.” and then both of them look at me. Come on! Don’t act like I’m the asshole!

…

“Uuuugh fine. Taguchi Shogo.”

Smart ass nods. “Alright. Now what skills did you two get?”

“Huh?” “The fuck are you talking about?”

“The voice that spoke to you when you were taken? Didn’t you two hear it? It told me that I got a skill called [Severer]”

Smart ass jumps down from the rock he was sitting on, turns around and makes a motion like he’s swinging a sword and the fucking rock splits in two!

“It’s hard to explain, but it’s like I have these invisible swo-” “Woah, woah, woah, hold the fuck up! Don’t just drop that shit on us! Why did you get super powers and I didn’t?!”

Smart ass gives me that same stupid look. I’m getting really sick of that face. “Are you serious? You were just buried under a giant boulder and you threw it off like it was made of styrofoam. You should be dead.”

Wait, what? I look at the rock I tossed off of me. Shit, that thing must be ten times my size! I grab it, try to lift and… HAH! It feels like it weighs nothing at all!

“Check me out! I’m lifting a boulder with one hand!”

Smartass doesn’t react at all and just turns to the chick “What skills did you get?”

“Oh, come on! I have fucking superpowers over here! How are you not impressed by this!?”

Suddenly, the chick just starts screaming again. “Do you two not realize how insane you sound!? Cults!? Skills!? Superpowers!? The whole world is going crazy and you're both acting like this is some kind of game!”

“Will you quit bitching!? I just got superpowers! Let me enjoy it a bit!”

”There’s someone over here!” I look at Smart ass and Bitch, and they look back at me. None of us said that.

Shit.

Right away, I can hear a lot of stomping from metal boots coming towards us fast.

Smart ass sighs and stances up with his invisible sword “Guess we’re fighting our way out.”

I toss the boulder I was holding over my shoulder. “Fine by me. I wanted a chance to test my new strength anyways.”

One by one, guys in medieval armor climb over and around the rubble and start running towards us. This is gonna be fun.

“GYAAAH! Get away!” God will this bitch shut up already!?

Suddenly, all the guards just freeze for a second, until they all just start walkin’ away like it was nothing, and we’re left standing there.

“What the fuck was that about?”

Alright, I think I’m far enough away from civilization. Let’s just take a quick little looksie with panoptic vision aaand, yup! Not a soul around for miles. Well, other than monsters, but who cares about those guys. Well, I do, cause I’m kinda hungry. Hey, Body-in-charge! you mind snagging us some grub while I check in with the other minds?

[Leave it to me!]

Glad to have you back. Now for the rest of you. Info-in-charge 2, get ready to take notes. *ready!* Magic 1 and 2, report!

(All the magic we tested still works and then some!)

‘And then some?’

< Correct. Not only has our magic supply been greatly increased, but our mana regeneration is near instantaneous and the time it takes for us to build runes has dropped to almost nothing. >

(Plus it’s way easier to modify our spells than before. We’ve been pretty much making up spells for the past hour and only approximately 8% have failed and 0 have backfired.)

So not only have our magic skills increased across the board, but our proficiency has skyrocketed. Interesting. Skills 1 and 2! {Gonna stop you right there, Info. We’d prefer to go last.}

Eh? Why?

:We’ve got a lot to go over and we want all the minds’ attention, so it’d be easier to let the others do their thing first.:

Seriously? Is there that much to report with ski- {:Yes.:}

…Okay, then. Language 1 and 2, anything to report before we move on to the guides?

~Oh yeah, funny story about that. Turns out we actually have a translation skill.~

Heh!? Since when have we had one of those!?

^It’s a new feature of [Mana Perception]. Turns out it can do a lot more than detect magic. By analyzing the way that people’s speaking affects the mana in the air, we can tell what they’re trying to say. With this handy little trick, we were able to work out the language in about 20 minutes. Not that it matters much at this point.^

Wait. Then what have you guys been doing for the past two hours?

~Mostly translating stuff for the Guides. Sadly, the skill doesn’t work on text.~

Let’s see if it was worth it. Guides 1 and 2, What have you got?

-We’ve finished mapping out everything within 300 kilometers of our current location and marked all of the human settlements we found, and thanks to language 1 and 2 helping us with translating maps, we’ve got a good working map of the entire country and the names and directions of the surrounding areas.-

Hm-hm, and what can you tell me about our location?

|Not much good news. The country we’re in is called ‘Falmuth’ and it’s a powerful trading center that’s host to both the Western Saints Church and the Free Guild. One hunts monsters for their religion and the other does it for money.|

Yikes. I doubt either of those guys are gonna be happy about us blowing up that castle. So, how are our options for countries to run to?

-Still no luck. First is the Armed Nation of Dwargon. They’re insanely well defended, have the most advanced weapon technology on the continent, and have a massive standing army.-

So that’s a hard no?

|Actually that one’s a maybe. It’s actually probably our second best option if we really have to run. They’re the only country who isn’t violently anti-monster, so we could probably get by as long as we didn’t cause problems|

If that’s a maybe, I don’t wanna know what the bad choices are.

-Next is the Kingdom of Ingrassia. Remember that Free Guild we mentioned before? That’s those guys’ headquarters.-

So an entire country of monster hunters? Next!

|The other hard no is the Great Forest of Jura. Calling it ‘great’ is an understatement. This forest is larger than Europe back on Earth and the entire thing is infested with strong monsters.|

And?

-And it’s the territory of a super strong dragon called Veldora. His presence alone is so terrifying that all of the other countries stay away for fear of making him angry.-

Riiight, I’m definitely not messing with that if I don’t have to.

|And lastly is our best choice, the Kingdom of Blumund. It’s a weaker country that mostly just exists with nothing spectacular to note. They don’t exactly like monsters, but the church's presence is a lot lighter there than in Falmuth, and they have a much weaker standing army than Dwargon so worst-come-to-worst we could most likely handle anything they could throw at us.|

Right, and where is all of this stuff in relation to the Elroe Labyrinth?

-...- |...|

That silence is giving me a bad feeling. Back on topic, our current plan is to try and make our way towards Blumund, then Dwargon if that falls through?

-Pretty much-

Sounds good. One more question. Where the heck did you guys find all that information? Like, that was a lot of info. No way you got all that from reading maps.

I can feel the spiritual shrugs they both give me. Oh, come on, how can you guys not know!?

{I think we can answer that!} :First, let’s go over how our skills have-:

Wait, were you guys just stalling for dramatic effect?

:No questions until the end of the lesson please! Now, as we were saying, our skills list has been rearranged. Instead of one huge hodgepodge, our skills are separated into five categories; Resistance skills, intrinsic skills, common skills, extra skills, and unique skills:

That at least makes it easier to keep things organized.

{Our resistance skills are mostly unchanged, so we can skip those. Next is intrinsic skills. These are all of the skills that are fundamental parts of either our mind, body or soul. Stuff like our recovery and regeneration, thread weaving, mental enhancements, and stat boosting skills are in this group. Pretty much anything that’s built into our DNA.}

:Up next is common and extra skills. Extra skills are mostly just stronger forms of common skills, so we’ll just cover them both together. If intrinsic skills are everything we are these are both all of the things we can do. All of our magic, ability conferment, evil eyes, any abilities we have to actively use get sorted into these two categories.:

I get the feeling you’re building up to something.

{Shush! Lastly, we have unique skills. It seems like this is where all of our ruler titles got sent, though they’ve all been renamed.} :And buffed!:

Seriously!? Our ruler skills were already crazy OP, and you’re telling me all of them have been buffed!?

:Yup! These are easily our heaviest hitters, so we’ll need to go over each of them individually.:

{First up is our newest addition, Charity, which has been replaced by [Guardian Spirit]. Unique skills are, well, unique in that they’re divided into sub-skills. [Guardian Spirit] has 3}

• Battle Hardened: Increases the users physical strength and durability by a factor of 10.
• Blessed Presence: Raises the efficiency of healing magic and regeneration skills for anyone the user considers an ally.
• Defender: Boosts the users stats by a factor of 10 when defending allies.

Oooh, so charity got some offensive abilities? That’ll certainly come in handy.

:Then there’s Sloth, which is now called [Vacuous]. This one only has 2 subskills.:

• Meddlesome: Passively interferes with the skills of those the user considers enemies, making them less efficient and more resource intensive.
• Bottomless Pit: Passively drains the magicules from the air, allows the user to actively drain magicules from others, and absorbs magic attacks that affect the user to replenish their magicule supply.

Magicules? What are those?

{Magicules are particles that exist in everything that can be manipulated to influence the world. They’re essentially the building blocks for magic.}

:They’re also what monsters are made up of. Even we need them to survive.:

Strange how I’ve never heard anything about this until now. Though I have a theory on why that is. For now, let’s keep on track. How have our other ruler skills changed?

{Here’s where it starts getting really good. Third is Perseverance, now [Unyielding] with 4 subskills.}

• Resilience: Enhances defensive, resistance, and regeneration skills by a factor of 10.
• Total Protection: Extra, common, intrinsic, and resist skills that grant defense or regeneration to only one body now effect all four bodies(Material body, astral body, spiritual body, and soul)
• Absolute Will: Nullifies all attacks that target the astral body directly. Ineffective on attacks that bypass the astral body.
• Indefatigable: Allows the user to survive the complete destruction of 1 body.

Hm? That sounds really strong, anything that makes it easier to survive is appreciated, but what’s all this talk about multiple bodies?

:It’s complicated, but the cliff notes version is that the material body is our flesh and blood body, the spiritual body is the layer between our physical form and our soul, think of it like a second body just beneath our skin, the astral body is the shell around our soul that both protects it and passes the orders from our soul to our other bodies, and our soul is…well, our soul!:

Okay, I think I understand…maybe. So that [Absolute Will] skill is just the new version of heresy nullification and [Indefatigable] is just an amped up immortality?

{Pretty much!}

Got it. Definitely a strong ability. So, what’s next? I’m expecting something juicy!

:We have no intention of disappointing you. Next up is Pride, which has been converted into [Boundless] and has 3 sub-skills:

• Growth Prone: Boosts natural magicule regeneration and absorption and reduces requirements for gaining new extra/common skills by a factor of 10
• Overclock: Allows excess magicules to be used to overclock skills beyond their normal limits.
• Endless Hunger: Removes all natural limits on magicule capacity, allowing the user to take in a functionally unlimited amount of Magicules.

You weren’t kidding! Pride was already OP, but now it just makes it so I can keep getting stronger as long as I can find more magicules?

:That seems to be the long and short of it.:

That’s crazy! And to think this isn’t even the strongest one. Now I’m starting to get excited, tell me what the last one is!

{Last but not least, is the artist formerly known as Professor Wisdom, [Awoken Eye] which has a whopping 6 subskills.}

• Height of Occultism: Greatly enhances casting ability and corrects natural affinities to all types of magic to match the users highest affinity.
• Celestial Power: Enhances magicule regeneration, magicule capacity, and magic resistance by a factor of 10.
• Piercing Gaze: Grants total immunity to all magical illusions and obfuscations placed on or affecting the user and automatically bypasses all information obscuring skills.
• Almanac: Creates a perfectly accurate map of everywhere the user knows about and allows infinite range tracking of anyone the user has seen while increasing mental capacity by a factor of 10.
• Analytical Appraisal: Allows the user to glean information from a person or object
• All of Creation: Allows the user to comprehend anything as long as they have a basic understanding of it and it is perceivable to the user.

…

…

…

[(~-^|*< HEEEH!?!?!? >*|^-~)]

I’ve gotta be missing something. There’s no way that last one does what I think it does.

(There’s no way.)

< that would be way too strong. >

{Nope. It’s exactly what it says on the tin. As long as we know something exists, we can learn anything we want about it.}

^So all that stuff we said about the places around us was from that skill? We just saw the name of a kingdom and their country's entire history just got downloaded into our head?^

~And all the stuff about our skills and separate bodies? That was from [All of Creation] too?~

:yup. As soon as we wondered about what those terms meant, the answers just popped into our heads.:

No waaaay. Honestly, that’s so broken it’s kind of overwhelming. Like, what am I even supposed to do with this? I’ve got all the secrets of the universe at my fingertips as long as I ask the right questions, but what do I want to know?

|I can think of one place to start.|

Hah, yeah. I guess I can’t ignore the elephant in the room anymore. Hey Siri, what planet am I on?

-Currently we’re in the Central Axis World, the first world created by Veldanava. It’s a chaos world where the material world and spiritual world mix together. Most objects that get ejected from their own universe end up here.-

Would that universe happen to be the same one I was reborn into?

|...No.|

I knew it! I’ve been isekai’d again! And right when I was really hitting my stride in the last one too! I had a sweet gig as a god, I kept myself busy looking out for Baby Bloodsucker, sure the demon lord was a problem, but I still felt like I could handle it! At least I still got all the XP I needed to evolve into an arachne.

:Um, yeah… about that.:

About what?

:The whole arachne thing? Remember how we needed to be level 50 to evolve?:

Yeees?

:Well this world doesn’t really have levels. So that means we aren’t level 50 anymore. And that means…:

No way. No waaay.

NO WAY! That’s so unfair! I was right there! That arachne evolution was in my claws! I had pride, I got to level 50, I stayed small, I got all the conditions to evolve into an arachne and right when I’m about to get double isekai’d to a world where none of that matters!? How the heck did that happen anyways!?

*From what I can tell, when we tried our egg revival trick, for a fraction of a second, we left the material world, and thanks to n%I=W we got sent back into the reincarnation cycle only to immediately get pulled out of it since we sent our soul towards our eggs.*

So my egg revival trick confused the universe and it decided the best way to handle it was to yeet me out of reality and I ended up here!?

*That’s the working theory, at least.*

That’s so duuuumb! How was I supposed to know any of that stuff was gonna happen!? And now I’m stuck as a plain old spider!

*Giant monster spider*

NOT! HELPING! I need something sweet to make me feel better.

[Are you eating cake?]

Don’t judge me! I just want to eat my feelings away.

(Where did you get the cake?)

I SAID DON’T JUDGE ME!

< But is it really that bad? >

What’s that supposed to mean!? I worked hard for those levels!

< Yes, and that stinks, but outside of that, should we really be complaining about going to a new world? It’s not like we were that attached to the last one, and this one doesn’t have any angry demon lords that want to kill us. >

:Or creepy administrators watching us:

^Or an expiration date.^

~Not to mention we’re stronger than ever~

…huh, I guess when you say it like that, I kinda got a good deal out of this whole thing.

{Besides, it’s not like we can’t still evolve. The conditions for evolution in this world are just different.}

Wait, we can still evolve? How do we do that?

*There are three ways: The first is the natural way for monsters, by absorbing a lot of magicules. This one’s not really an option for us. Our body uses so many magicules naturally that there’s no way we can find enough magicules to absorb naturally. Next is by being named.*

Named? I guess I am still a nameless spider aren’t I?

*Yes we are. In this world, names have power and being named by a strong enough monster will give us a massive boost in magicules. Hopefully enough to evolve. The problem is, it’d have to be someone really powerful to give us enough magicules and, the real issue, being named means accepting the namer as your superior.*

So this option means becoming some stronger monsters’ servant? No way. I’m not gonna let anyone control me. What’s the third option?

*For the third option, I’d like to turn your attention to another new skill in our repertoire*

[Demon Lord Seed]: Marks the user as a being capable of undergoing a harvest festival and becoming a demon lord.

Eeeh!? Demon lord!? That’s a thing!?

*Sure is. If we complete the harvest festival, we can evolve into a demon lord.*

Well how do we ‘complete the harvest festival’?

*We’d have to start by ‘germinating’ the seed…by collecting 10,000 souls.*

…

…10,000 souls?

…

..Like, actual souls? From people? I’m… really not sure about that. I mean, sure, I’ve killed people before, but that was always self-defence. They tried to kill me first. I don’t think I’m comfortable killing innocent people just so I can evolve. Are we really sure there isn’t another way?

*Hold on, let me check…*

…

*Ah, here’s something! Turns out there’s a method that allows us to name ourselves. Naming usually works by having an exceptionally powerful individual give us a bunch of magicules, but if we can get enough regular people to know us by the same name, we can use their magicules to name ourselves. It’d have to be a lot, like hundreds of thousands of people a lot, but it can be done.*

So all I have to do to evolve into an arachne is get a lot of people to know about me? That’s easy! I’ve done that by accident before! Who’s ready for another stint as the ‘divine beast’?

^Let’s do it!^ -Bandits of the world, look out!- < Ready to receive tribute! >

Look’s like we’ve got a plan: Start making our way towards Blumund and swing by any human settlements on the way to see if we can do some odd jobs to get our name out there. But before we head out, let’s reassign some roles.

Since we’ve got a map of the entire country and are fluent in the spoken and written language, we really don’t need dedicated minds for mapping and language. Guide-in-Charge 1 and 2, you’re both reassigned to ‘Wisdom-in-Charge 1 and 2’. We’ve got all the knowledge in the universe available to us as long as we ask the right questions, so your jobs are to do nothing but ask questions.

|-Why?-|

Good hustle! Language 1, you’re being reassigned to ‘Charity-in-Charge’. The sooner we get a following, the sooner we can become an arachne, so your job is to keep an eye out for injured people who need healing, crops in need of watering, particularly tasty looking bandits, anything we can do to get into the people’s good graces.

~I’ll kill’em with kindness!~

Language 2, you’re being reassigned to ‘Info-in-charge 3’. We’re expecting a deluge of info about anything and everything from the Wisdom minds and we need to keep it all straight.

^Ready to go!^

We’ve got a plan and you all know what you need to do. Meeting of the minds, DISMISSED!

[(<{:|-~^*Let’s go!*^~-|:}>)]

”Aren’t you forgetting someone?”

My body freezes up as I look down at the smartphone in front of me. Crud.

:I spoke too soon:

^Can we get away with ignoring her?^

”I come all this way to check on you and you ignore me. How rude.

Come on! I’m in an entire other universe. D can’t seriously still reach me, can she?

|She can’t. D’s good, but not even she’s good enough to drag us back from the Central Axis World.|

Wait, seriously?

”Sadly, it is true. You’ve managed to slip through my fingers. And completely by accident, too. You truly never cease to surprise me.”

I’m free from D?

I’m free from D.

I’m finally free from D!

Well, it’s been great talking to you, D, but I’ve got a whole life ahead of me and I’m ready to start living it. I’d say I’ll miss you, but Mother didn’t raise a liar. Good bye and good riddance!

”You’re so cruel, little spider. Throwing away your first and only supporter so easily.

Nope! Not listening and you can’t make me! Adios! Sayonara! Au revoir! And every other polite way I can say ‘Go away!’ Actually, since I don’t need to be polite anymore, GO AWAY!

”And to think I was prepared to offer you a deal.”

…A deal?

What kind of deal?

”Well, little spider, I may not be able to reach you, but you also can’t reach anything back here.”

And? No offense… actually, scratch that, all the offense, but your world sucked. I really don’t care about anything that happens there.

”That’s not entirely true. You cared about your classmates enough to protect that one vampire girl.”

I just did that because it was convenient. I wouldn’t have bothered if I wasn't in the neighborhood already.

”Well, luckily for you and them, I won’t ask you for anything difficult. All I ask is that you keep being your entertaining self and keep indulging these little chats between us. If you do that, I promise that I’ll personally keep watch over all of the other reincarnations and keep them alive.”

Pass. I can barely remember half of their names, I’m not gonna stay your personal entertainment for their sake. Those bums can learn to fend for themselves!

”Would you really abandon them that easily? Even Miss Oka?”

…

…

Emergency meeting of the minds! And you! No eavesdropping!

”Take your time.”

I tap the ‘hold’ button on the phone.

*Yo, Info! You aren’t really thinking about accepting that deal, are you?*

I don’t know! For some reason, the idea of not helping Miss Oka really rubs me the wrong way.

^Yeah, but this is D we’re talking about. She’s the dictionary definition of ‘shady’. No way she isn’t trying to mess with us.^

-She’s going to mess with us either way, so we might as well.-

|No she won’t. It’s virtually impossible for anything that enters the Central Axis World to leave once it’s here. She’d be trapped.|

-Sure, she can’t march down here and blow us up, but she can send a phone to talk to us, and that means she can mess with us.-

~All the more reason we should do everything we can to get rid of her for good!~

(But wouldn’t you feel at least a little bad leaving the others to fend for themselves if we could’ve avoided it? It’s really not a big ask.)

{She wants to spy on us 24/7! That’s a pretty big ask if you ask me!}

< Well, specifically she asked to talk to us. She’s going to spy on us either way. >

[Ugh, all this back and forth is getting us nowhere! How do we even know D is going to keep her word?]

I can’t explain it, but I just can’t see D not upholding her end of a deal.

(Yeah, D’s always been creepy and suspicious, but she’s also been pretty helpful. She was the one who told us about the other reincarnations, she kept Gulie from attacking us, she even gave us Wisdom. D really wasn’t bluffing about being our ally.)

-Also, this might seem a little petty, but I really want to know what D’s deal is. Who is she? Why did our class get blown up? And why was she so confident that we cared about Oka specifically?-

~Can’t we just ask Wisdom about that?~

^Unfortunately not. I’ve been asking about what her deal is this whole time and [All of creation] is giving me nothing.^

All of my minds carefully consider our options before settling on a plan of action. I tap the phone to take D off of hold.

”Have you decided yet, little spider?”

Not yet. First I want to ask a question. How did you know I would care about Miss Oka?

”Well, she seemed so fond of you back in Japan. I figured you had some fond memories of her.”

I don’t remember ever being too close to Miss Oka, but I can’t shake the feeling that what D is saying is true, and I’m still not getting anything from Wisdom. What the heck!? Isn’t this skill supposed to know everything!?

”It is telling you. You just don’t realize it because you already know the truth.”

GRAAH! That’s so insufferably vague! Why does everything have to be a riddle with you!?

”I suppose it’s just one of my many charming qualities.”

AAAGH, this is so frustrating! I don’t know if I want to take the deal in hopes of a straight answer, or refuse so I never have to deal with D again!

”I doubt it will affect your answer, but if you do accept, you won’t be a hostage in our little chats anymore. You can hang up on me whenever you want.

…I could…hang up…on D?

”Yes, you can just hang up and go whenever you wa-” *Beep*

I just take a moment to appreciate the silence. That was so satisfying. Being able to just shut D up like that. Just push a button and BAM! No more D. Yeah, maybe this deal isn’t so bad.

As I enter the medical wing of the castle, I am greeted by total chaos. Every healer we have is huddled around a bed entirely obscured from view. A man whom I recognize as the head healer is shouting orders both at the other healers and at various assistants running about the ward, fetching assorted salves and elixirs. All of them are so focused on their work that none of them even notice my arrival. Good. treating Razen takes priority over formality.

Through gaps in the crowd, I can catch small glimpses of Razen’s body, and it is not a pleasant sight. There are multiple spots of a strange black substance clinging to him. If you were to look closely, you’d see the spots slowly spreading to cover more, only for one of the healers to use healing magic to push it back, but doing nothing to get rid of the main mass. While they are undoubtedly qualified, it doesn’t take a trained healer to know it’s not going well. A sense of panic is slowly filling the air as the healers try everything they can think of, desperation clear on their faces. It’s the head healer who speaks first.

“Dammit, it’s not enough! We need something stronger!”

“We’re giving everything we can! The nihility is too dense!”

Nihility. Just the mention of it fills my stomach with dread. A substance created from negative energy that destroys everything it touches indiscriminately, destroying itself in the process. I’ve thankfully never encountered it myself, but Razen was able to channel it through his nuclear magic, and thanks to his boasting about the subject. The only way to counter Nihility is to feed it magic until the plus energy cancels it out. Thankfully, we have access to a rather potent source of plus energy.

“Healers!” A few of the healers, including the head healer, look up from their work to face me as I remove one of the rings from my finger and toss it towards them. “Full potion! It’s only a drop, but there’s a case coming!”

Of course, it’s not a normal ring. The gemstone is actually hollow glass that contains a small amount of full potion, enough to hopefully stave off any mortal wounds. It was meant as a last resort in the event of an attempted assassination, and it seems now is the day it fulfills its purpose.

The head healer catches the ring and breaks the glass crystal, allowing the full potion to drop onto Razens body. “You heard his majesty! We’ll need those full potions to treat the worst of it! Focus on keeping it contained for now!”

While I can’t be sure how much a single drop of full potion helped, it must have been enough, as the healers are still working furiously to keep Razen alive when the guard I sent to get the rest of the kingdoms full potions arrives with an ornate chest in hand. Immediately, the head healer opens the chest and takes the first of only six bottles of the glowing blue liquid. For a brief moment, he locks eyes with me, asking an unspoken question.

“Use the entire chest if you must.”

Hesitation is understandable. Full potions are incredibly rare and powerful things. Only a master of alchemy can even hope of making one and even they can rarely ever reproduce the results, as such, there is no known way to produce full potions. They’re so rare and valuable that even a nation as powerful and connected as Falmuth has only managed to secure half a dozen in over a century. Having received my permission, the head healer begins liberally applying full potion to the black masses. An audible hiss can be heard as the plus and minus energies nullify each other.

The nihility begins to recede, but that does not mean Razen is healing, far from it. Where there was once a mass of blackness, there is now merely a hole gushing blood, all the flesh having been destroyed. Every mass of nihility neutralized means another gaping wound the healers must rush to treat lest Razen bleed out.

After a short while that felt far too long, the healers relax somewhat and, after a quick discussion, one of the healers bows to me.

“Your majesty.”

“You may rise. How is Razen?”

“We were forced to amputate his left arm. It had been completely destroyed while we focused on preserving his vital organs. Beyond that, he is expected to make a full recovery, but his wounds are too severe to be treated by high potion and we used all of the full potion to neutralize the nihility, so he will need to stay here and receive treatment for at least 2 weeks.”

A necessary sacrifice. Losing our entire supply of full potion is a hard pill to swallow, but losing the court mage who has served the royal family for nearly 800 years would be a far greater loss.

“And you managed to neutralize all of the nihility?”

“Yes, my liege. Thankfully, the nihility was oddly compressed so we were able to isolate it and keep it from consuming Razen’s body completely.”

Nihility is already an incredibly dangerous substance capable of instantly vaporizing whatever it touches. The idea of it being compressed to make it even more potent is a chilling thought.

“When will he be expected to wake?”

“It’s impossible to say. The injuries to his physical body are severe and we haven’t had a chance to check for any damage to his spiritual body.”

“When he does, inform me and the captain of the guard immediately. We must question him about the explosion.”

“Of course, my liege.”

I dismiss the healer and make my leave. There are other matters I must attend to. Using [thought communication] I contact the captain of the royal guard.

‘Have you found anything in regards to the explosion?’

“Your majesty. We’ve conducted a quick search of what remains of the south wing. From what we’ve gathered, Chief Sorcerer Razen was the only survivor of the attack.”

‘Hm, did you find anything else of note?’

“Yes, my liege. According to reports from search team A, there were three otherworlders present at the site of the monster's attack, all uninjured. We believe that Razen was able to conduct a successful summoning shortly before the attack.”

‘And did your team manage to apprehend them?’ I understand it may not have been possible considering the power otherworlders typically possess, but with the chaos currently unfolding, it would be best to try and nip this issue in the bud.

“...”

‘Well?’

“*Ah-hem” Apologies, my liege, but we may have…let them leave.”

’YOU WHAT!?!’

That was close. That was way too close. Why, out of all times, did the hero have to show up right then? At least his intervention gave me the chance to finally get rid of her.

No, I shouldn’t say that just yet. I know how stubborn she is, and I’ve thought she was dead before.

“Gulie! I need to talk to you!”

He’s listening. He is always listening from somewhere, and it isn’t long before he appears with the kind of seamless teleportation reserved only for gods.

“Ariel.”

“Is it done? Is she really gone?”

Gulie closes his eyes to concentrate for a moment.

“I cannot detect her soul in the system anymore, and there is no trace of her within you.”

So that’s it then? She’s really dead this time? I suppose I should be glad. I’d finally gotten rid of the one responsible for killing my daughter, but I can’t bring myself to be happy about much at the moment. That boundless optimism I could feel radiating from that piece of her inside me is gone, leaving only the far too familiar tiredness of having been alive for far too long.

It doesn’t matter. The deed is done. Now I need to focus on what I’m going to do next. At the edge of my perception, I can see Keren County burning. Despite her interference, Dustin's plan to crush Sariella is moving along fine. Sure, the main force meant to draw out Sariella’s defences was completely annihilated, but so was Sariella’s defences, and the main skirmish was only ever a distraction to the real invasion. It’s none of my business anyways. I learned long ago to not worry about humans killing each other. It’s all they know, and trying to help will just get you dragged down with them.

No, what I’m interested in is the curious blind spot in my perception. I know what that means.

“Potimas”

“Indeed. Elves have been rather active in this area.”

There must be another reincarnation here. That was probably the reason why she hung around Keren County so much. Now that she’s gone, the kid has no one who can protect them.

“Hey, Gulie. Do you know who the reincarnated people in that city are?”

“Yes. The daughter of Lord John Keren, Sophia Keren.”

We both stay in silence for a moment before Gulie continues.

“You intend to go, don’t you?”

“*sigh* Might as well.”

The reincarnations had nothing to do with the way this world turned out, and I can’t in good conscience leave an innocent child in Potimas’ hands. I know first-hand what he’d be willing to do to them.

Gulie simply nods before disappearing again as I take off towards what’s left of Keren County to save the child that she cared enough to protect. Consider this my last gift to you, nameless spider. A gift you’ve done nothing to deserve.

Chapter Text

Ever get the feeling that today’s gonna be a bad day? Cause I got that feeling right now. I can’t explain it, but there’s something about the air telling me that something bad’s about to happen. I’d almost believed it was just my mind playing tricks on me, just the stress of the job getting to my head, but then I stepped into the northern guardhouse. Everywhere I looked, I saw officers glancing over their shoulders, talking with hushed voices, double checking their equipment one too many times, all the marks of a guard struggling to keep his nerves in check.

It’s not long til I spot the guy working the monster alert system. He’s a new guy, Roark I think his name was, and it looks like it’s not working on account of him fiddling with it. I tap him on the shoulder to get his attention, and he jumps.

“Captain Lodwelle! Apologies, I didn’t hear you arrive.”

“Relax, son. I got a report that there were some odd sightings on the alert system. Mind filling me in?”

He clears his throat. “Well, you see, I would but the machine is… broken.”

The monster alert system. It was a newer piece of equipment made by the Free Guild meant to help warn cities of monsters ahead of time. I say it was because this one’s absolutely shot. The display is shattered, the wires are burnt out, and even the wood on the frame is cracked. It was fine this morning, so how the hell did it get so badly damaged so fast?

“Yeah, I got that much. Mind telling me what happened?”

“Um, I was just watching the machine, taking note of anything that came up, when the whole display turned red and the machine started shaking!”

“Shaking?”

“Yeah! It was like the thing was possessed or something! It was shaking so bad that the wood cracked. Eventually, it started smoking and made a loud ‘POP’ and then it shut off.”

“...I see.”

I’ve never heard of one of these system’s doing anything like that. It’s not that I don’t believe the kid. I got no idea how these things work, maybe that’s a thing they do? But why did it never do that before and, more importantly, what made it start doing that now? Before I can wonder about it any further, there’s a loud clattering of boots running down stairs followed by the door to the ramparts being thrown open.

“Captain! Monster spotted! Estimated distance 1 km out! Minimum rank Special A!”

Immediately, the room devolves into panic as everyone starts speaking, so I slam the pommel of my sword against the side of the alert system, leaving a nice new dent and making a loud bang.

“Everyone quiet!”

I faced the guard who reported the sighting. “Have you identified the monster's species?”

“No Captain! It appears to be some sort of spider monster, but it doesn’t match any of our records.”

“And you’ve confirmed its rank?”

“Yes, Captain!”

I curse under my breath. “Listen up everyone! I want the entire city on high alert! We need to be prepared to evacuate! Desdon! Contact any neighboring cities and find who is willing to receive refugees. And you, take me to the ramparts, I need to see what we’re dealing with.”

Having received their orders, everyone jumps into action as I follow the lookout up into the ramparts. A Special A monster. The rank assigned by the Free Guild to monsters capable of wiping countries off the map. What the hell is something like that doing anywhere near here? How could something that powerful have gotten this deep into the kingdom without anyone knowing about it? It’s not long until we step out atop the city wall, where there’s a group of guards bunched up, looking out into the distance.

“Make some room and pass me some binoculars!”

Looking through the binoculars, the feeling of unease I’ve had turns to hopelessness. The thing is small, honestly, I’ve seen bigger dogs. Its body is pure white with pink markings and large spikes coming from its back and its two front legs are shaped like scythes. Just based on appearance, it doesn’t seem that bad, not like the behemoth knight spiders I’ve read about, but the aura it’s giving off makes it obvious that all hope is lost.

I’d read the descriptions of Special A monsters, heard the legends of their rampages, and I believed I understood the threat they posed, but being here, actually experiencing that level of power. It’s a strange coldness, like suddenly becoming aware of how meaningless your choices are, along with an unbearable pressure coming down on you from all angles. It’s a kind of absolute, all consuming, primal fear. I instantly understood that we can’t fight it, we can’t hide from it, and we can’t outrun it. The moment it decides we should die, we will.

Suddenly, the pressure disappears completely. The feeling is so jarring that I have to steady myself on the battlement. After taking a moment to compose myself, I look back through the binoculars, only to find the spider is gone.

“What?” Scanning back and forth reveals no trace of it.

“What the hell was that?”

*City spotted approximately 17 Km North-Northwest!*

Copy that! Body-in-charge, bring us closer!

[Roger!]

Within a minute, I reached the outskirts of a small city, observing it from afar. Wisdom 1 and 2, what can you tell us about this place?

-This is the city of Roathe, within the Dorden Earldom. It’s a relatively small city that mostly relies on merchants travelling from the capital to the frontier provinces to make its money, though they do have a decent pottery industry.-

|Population is 28,000. Presence of the military, Free Guild, and Saints Church are low. No serious threats.|

Perfect. A town that’s big enough that there are plenty of problems we can fix while being small enough that we aren’t risking ourselves too much by sticking around. Magic 1 and 2, have you finished your work on our ‘Blessing’ spells?

< Of course. We’ve successfully created spells for rapid crop growth and mass curing all known natural diseases. >

^While I’m working on scanning the files from the local adventuring guild and guard stations for any notorious criminals we should keep an eye out for.^

~Understood! Operation ‘Silent Prayer’ is ready to go!~

*Wait! Not yet! Don’t forget we’re only doing this so we can get people to talk about us. First we have to make sure the guards actually see us so they know we’re the ones responsible.*

~Oh, right. Almost forgot that part.~

Body, bring us close enough for them to see us.

[You got it, boss!]

Once we’ve moved out of hiding, it doesn’t take long for the guards to spot us.

…

^Now what?^

[Should I, like… wave?]

(Maybe we should’ve brought a sign or something?)

{No! We’d look ridiculous.}

:Could you imagine a spider waving around a sign saying “We come in peace”? Let’s keep our dignity:

-Well we have to do something. Right now we’re just standing in the middle of a field while the guards stare at us.-

*Uh, guys? You should probably take a closer look at those guards.*

Why? They’re just watching, oh wait, I see what you mean. They look really scared right now.

|Huh? But we aren’t doing anything. Why are they freaking out? Did we end up in a country of arachnophobes or something?|

{Our fear aura! We totally forgot about that! We’ve been blasting those guys with it this whole time!}

(Crap! We’re totally sending the wrong message! How do we turn it off!?)

^We can’t! It’s because of our titles, remember!?^

|But we don’t even have titles anymore!|

-Wait! According to [All of Creation] we actually can suppress our aura!-

*Don’t keep us waiting! How do we do that!?*

-I’m trying! Cut me some slack! We’re having a decade of aura training and muscle memory downloaded into our heads, it’s gonna take a second!-

A moment later I can feel the information flooding my brain, teaching me how to see aura and manipulate my own and… yikes, that’s a lot of aura pouring out of me and it’s not a very pleasant color, it’s also going really far away from me. I’m just gonna tuck that back in real quick.

The reaction is instant as the guards on the wall almost collapse from the sudden decrease in pressure. This is such a disaster. Gah, who cares! I showed up, they saw me, my job here is done! Body Brain, get us out of here!

[Awkwardness detected! Retreat!]

*sigh* That was a mess, but at least now I can focus on the stuff that doesn’t involve being around people. Charity-in-charge, you’re up! Take as many of the other minds as you need and work on smoothing things over with the locals.

~On it! They won’t know what hit’em. I mean, they will, that was kind of the whole point, but you get the idea!~

And while you’re doing that, I’m going to go find a hole to hide my shame from that social catastrophe.

|Hang on, Info. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about before that.|

Hm? Did you guys find something with [All of Creation]

|Yup, and it’s pretty valuable. Remember how Wisdom 2 said we downloaded knowledge about how to control our aura? Well it turns out we can do a lot more than just suppress it.|

Oh ho! Do tell.

|First, let’s go over what aura actually is. Aura is a type of spiritual matter released by any creature with a spiritual body, or to put it simply, anything alive. Think of it like shed skin, but for your spirit. Every living thing can, on some level, sense aura. For most creatures, their aura isn’t strong enough to take notice, but for exceptionally powerful monsters, it sticks out like a sore thumb! Not only does it signal to weaker monsters that they need to get the heck away from us, but more experienced creatures can analyse our aura to get a rough gauge on our strength and abilities.|

So we’ve been blasting a siren screaming “SUPER STRONG, SCARY MONSTER!” this entire time?

:Kind of figured that out a while ago:

(At least now we know how to NOT do that anymore, but what can we do with it?)

|Weeeell, remember how I said people could analyze auras to gauge the strength of others? Now we know how to do that too!|

~Oooh, I see what you mean! I can see the auras of everyone in town! Wow, those are really weak. Their auras barely extend past their own bodies.~

I see why we never noticed it before. So this means that now we can have an easy way to tell the strength of an enemy?

|Yes… unless they’re masking their aura like we are, then it’s a lot harder and we’d probably be better off just relying on [Awoken Eye]|

… :...: (...)

|That’s not all I found, okay!? The more important thing I found is that instead of just holding in our aura, like we currently are, we can channel it into something more useful. This technique is called ‘Battlewill’.|

Battlewill? :Battlewill?: (Battlewill?)

|Yup! With Battlewill, instead of all that spiritual matter just leaking out of our bodies, we can use it to reinforce our bodies, infuse it into our magic to make it stronger, or even shape it into constructs!|

Oh!? Now this I need to see! Body Brain, care to give us a practical demonstration?

[Already on it!]

Focusing on my aura, I slowly begin releasing it bit by bit, but instead of allowing it to flow freely out of me, I will it through my body, just beneath my carapace.

[Woah! All of my muscles feel supercharged! Now let’s try a more advanced technique]

I manipulate my aura again, but instead of just channeling it through my body, I push it out through one of my front claws, willing it to coalesce into a solid shape. The ominous aura surrounds my claw and begins to swirl around it, growing darker and denser as more and more of it flows out of me. Eventually the shape begins to expand, filling in the shape I’m imagining, until it forms into a massive, gleaming, black blade, easily three times the length of the claw its surrounding. With a flick of my nonexistent wrist, I effortlessly cut through all of the trees surrounding me.

[Alright, that was a nice warm up, time for something really impressive!]

A dozen small wisps of aura spring forth from my body, each one morphing into a whip that wraps around one of the felled logs and throws them all into the air. With a thought, the wisps all transform into blades that shoot off at several times the speed of sound to slice up the airborne logs, slashing thousands of times a second.

Ten seconds later, several tons of sawdust rains down on me as well as 12 expertly carved statues of various monsters from the Elroe Labyrinth.

({:~^|-*< *Clap* *Clap* *Clap* *Clap* *Clap* >*-|^~:})

[Thank you, thank you!]

|And guess what? That’s not all Battlewill can do. Battlewill can also be used to disperse magicules, allowing it to disrupt magic defenses and regeneration. We can even use it to pump bits of our own aura into our enemies, attacking their spiritual bodies directly.|

Man, [All of Creation] really is scary strong. You said it would take a normal person decades to learn how to do all that and we learned it in minutes!

|No, I said it would take a normal person a decade to learn to completely hide their aura. What we were just doing was way, WAY harder.|

…

…Wait, so how long would it take a normal person to learn to do that?

|For the average person? Never. Most people would die before they ever got that good, not to mention the fact that they’d never have a strong enough aura to do that in the first place. Assuming those weren’t issues…150 years?|

…

…So we learned…

(150 years)

:of battlewill:

[In the 15 minutes we’ve known it existed?]

|Uh-huh, and still going too.|

Woah, woah, woah, wait a minute! How much is there to even learn?

|Oh we ran out of known techniques 2 minutes ago, now we’re mostly just inventing more|

’Inventing more’?

|Well yeah, that’s how [All of Creation] works after all. It doesn’t actually matter if anyone’s actually thought up the technique, or had the skills to use it, as long as it’s theoretically possible and we can understand it, [All of Creation] can teach it to us.|

That makes sense, I guess, but that doesn’t mean we can actually do it though. There’s a big difference between understanding a technique and being able to perform it.

|And that’s where [Boundless] comes in. Remember how [Growth Prone] made it so we could learn skills a lot faster? Turns out it does that by letting us download muscle memory and technical skill from [All of Creation] so we pretty much master every ability we learn about through it.|

Okay, um…let’s just stop doing that for now. I think we know enough.

(I know Info just said it, but [All of Creation] is scary.)

:And to think, that’s just one school of arts. What other skills could [All of Creation] teach us?:

I hate this. I hate all of this. I hate those creepy wizards that brought me here, I hate sneaking around this stupid city wearing these ugly cloaks, I hate all this talk about ‘skills’ and ‘magic’ like it’s totally normal, I hate that horrible spider, and I hate being stuck in an alley with these two crazy people!

“The coast is clear. Let’s go.”

Like this Kyoya guy. What’s wrong with him!? We’ve been kidnapped and trapped in some fairy tale, and he’s totally relaxed! How can anyone be calm in this situation!?

“I still say we just kick everybodies asses and take a cart.”

But Shogo’s even worse. At least I can kinda get Kyoya wanting to get away from this place as fast as possible, but this weirdo just wants to fight everything! How can anyone see something as awful as that spider and still want to find more trouble!? It’s nice knowing Kyoya thinks he’s an idiot too.

“I’m guessing you’ve learned how to steer a horse drawn carriage since you last suggested that 15 minutes ago? No? Then it’s still stupid. Stick to the plan. Kirara, you’re up.”

“Why don’t you just go die?”

Kyoya and Shogo both look freaked out.

“Stop saying stuff like that.”

“You’re gonna kill us you bitch!”

“Ugh, whatever. I’m going.”

I leave the alley we were hiding in, Kyoya and Shogo following me, and see a cart waiting at a big gate in the giant stone wall that wraps around this whole city. The cart is being driven by some fat guy who looks like he’s cosplaying a peasant in a fairy tale, but no, that’s just what people dress like in this backwards place.

“Did you need somethi-” “Shut up and let us ride in your cart.”

As I speak, I can feel a strange vibration in my throat that tells me that whatever weird voodoo magic those creepy cult nutjobs put in me is working and the fat guy’s eyes unfocus for a second. “Very well, madam.”

While we’re getting into the cart, one of the guards starts yelling at us “Hey! No stowaways!”

“You’re annoying, go away!”

The guard gets that same creepy, glassy-eyed stare and turns to leave. That’s another thing I hate. Why did I have to get stuck with the freaky brainwashing power? Why couldn’t I have gotten something like moving stuff with my mind, or turning things to gold, or being able to send myself home!?

“Kirara, come on.”

Kyoya and Shogo are already in the back of the cart, and Kyoya is reaching out to help me up. I can handle getting in myself, but it’s nice to know at least one of these psychos has some manners.

We all get settled in sitting on the comfiest looking bags and crates(I guess it was too much to hope this piece of junk had seats) and I take the chance to get out of this stuffy robe. Kyoya insisted we take a few of the least destroyed ones from what was left of those cult guys to help us hide. I almost screamed when he tossed one to me. Why wouldn’t I? He took it off a corpse and just handed it to me like it was normal! Who does that!?

Eventually, It’s Shogo who breaks the silence, because of course it is.

“So where the hell are we going anyways?”

Wait, where ARE we going?

Kyoya just shrugs off the question “How should I know?”

“Huh!? You mean you made us get into this fucking wagon with no idea where it’s even going!?”

“The plan was to take the first wagon out of town, and after that huge explosion security was tight, so we couldn’t afford to be picky. Not my fault you can’t listen.”

“What the hell is wrong with you!? For all you know we could be going to some prison camp!”

Kyoya reaches into a sack and pulls out a cabbage. “What kind of prison caravan would be carrying cabbage?”

He throws the cabbage at Shogo, who just bats it away. “How the hell should I know!? I’m not a god damn wagon expert!”

And just like that they’re arguing, again. Seriously, do these guys ever stop being annoying? Whatever. I’m not gonna sit here and listen to their bickering. I get up and poke my head through the front of the cart to see the fat guy holding the reigns of the horses.

“Hey, fat guy, answer all of my questions…And don’t ask me anything! Just answer.” I really don’t want to deal with any annoying questions right now.

The Fat Guys eyes unfocus for a second before he nods, “Very well, madam. What would you like to know?”

“where did we just leave and where is this cart going?”

“We’ve just left Marris, the capital of Falmuth and we’re currently heading to the Migam Earldom.”

“And how far away is that from Japan?”

The fat guy still has the glassy-eyed look that means I’m controlling him, but he looks confused. “Apologies ma’am, but I’ve never heard of that place before.”

“Well what do you know about creepy cults using magic to kidnap people from…” I can’t believe I’m about to say this “Other worlds?”

The fat guy is surprised by my question. “I’m familiar with the concept. I’ve heard legends of otherworlders being summoned with incredible powers, though I’ve never met one in person.”

“How do they get back home?”

The Fat Guy looks at me almost pitifully, “I apologize madam, but I really don’t know much about the topic, nor do I know of anyone who would possess such knowledge.”

So it’s true. I’ve been wrapped up in one of those stupid isekai stories for basement dwelling losers with no way home. I feel like I could cry from how unfair it is! I shouldn’t be here! I’m not one of those weird virgins who fantasizes about elves every night! I have a life, I have friends, I’ve had boyfriends! I should be in Japan, going to high school, buying cute clothes, watching movies with friends, going home where mom made dinner, not living in ugly wooden shacks in some stupid fantasy world!

“Fat Guy! Forget everything I said!”

I storm back into the cart, ignoring Kyoya and Shogo still arguing and bury my face in a burlap sack. Ugh, it even smells like a barn. I seriously hate this place.

“What’s your problem?”

“Don’t even talk to me right now!” I can’t deal with Shogo right now.

Shogo’s eyes unfocus for a second and he closes his mouth. Oops. Shogo’s face turns red as he glares at me and he punches a hole in the wall.

“I’m sorry, okay!? You can talk!”

Shogo opens his mouth again “Pay attention you stupid bimbo!”

“Oh my god, can you stop being a dick for 10 seconds!? I regret letting you talk!”

“Try and shut me up again! I fucking dare you! See what happens, bitch!”

“You did NOT just call me that! Maybe I’ll do the world a favor and order you to sew your mouth shut!”

Kyoya decides to add his two cents “Everyone quiet down! Fighting like this is getting us nowhere!”

Did he seriously just say that? “Oh no! You do NOT get to act all ‘holier-than-thou’ after you’ve spent all day arguing with your boyfriend!”

“BOTH OF YOU ASSHATS NEED TO SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!”

Suddenly, Fat Guy pokes his head into the back, “Huh!? Who are all of you people!? How did you get into my cart!?”

“Don’t ‘huh’ me! I told you to let us ride, remember!?”

Fat Guy relaxes, “Oh, yes. Apologies, I must’ve forgotten.”

’Forget everything I told you’. Oh, right. Stupid magic taking everything literally.

Kyoya looks at me “Did you lose control of him or something?”

“No. I just messed up.”

I can hear Shogo mutter ”Dumb bitch” under his breath. As if he’s not just some lousy thug.

Kyoya leans back and rubs the back of his head. “Well, while we have time and no one’s yelling, let’s start making a plan. How familiar are you guys with isekai?”

“I know a little bit, but not by choice. I had an ex who wouldn’t shut up about it.” Seriously, who would want to read a story about getting turned into a slime?

Shogo scoffs “Why the hell would I read that shit?”

“Right.” Kyoya points at Shogo, “you’re useless for planning.”

“What the fuck, man!?”

“Woah, woah, woah, hold on. You aren’t seriously telling me you’re basing our plan to survive off of a bunch of lazy manga, are you?”

Kyoya shrugs “Well it’s not like we have anything else to go off of, so we should roll with what little we have until it gets proven wrong, or did one of you take a ‘what to do if you get isekai’d’ course?”

“Hmph, you didn’t have to be rude.”

“Told ya he was a smartass.”

Stupid Kyoya. Making me agree with Shogo.

“Like I was saying, going off of typical isekai tropes, we should try and find an adventurers guild to make some money, then find a safe place to lay low.”

“Now you’re speaking my language! Getting paid to kill shit!” Of course that freak would be happy about that.

After that, Kyoya turns to me “Seems like me and Shogo got combat focused skills, so we can handle most of the fighting, but before that we need more info about where exactly we are, so we’ll need you for that. You were talking to the driver earlier. Did you get anything useful?”

I tell Kyoya and Shogo everything I found out from Fat Guy and we talk about our plans to live here, in this crazy, awful world. So I guess that’s that. I’m stuck here, maybe forever. I might never see my parents, or my boyfriend, or my school ever again. Instead, I’m trapped in this horrible place where there are monsters and cults and the only people I have to help me are these two psychos.

I just wanna go home.

Mom…dad…I miss you.