Summary: When a heavenly spell errs, placing him in a civil war, Keima is left with no choice but to struggle on or surrender. Either way, his gaming time is cut down, in addition to having to choose between the citizens of Hell, or his digital subjects.
Takes place after the whole thing with Vintage, in a timeline where all of the goddesses remain on Earth with their hosts.
A/N Prologue. As usual, it doesn't have a direct relation to the story – that starts from the next chapter. Still, I do think this is a very nice lead-up to it.
Enjoy.
EDIT:As of chapter 194, I should probably clarify: this is an AU (alternate universe), or more specifically AR (alternate reality), that uses the same time-travel concept but brings back Keima, the goddesses, and Haqua 300 years into the past, landing them in Hell, while in canon only Keima goes back only 10 years. Also, since this started before the goddesses arc finished, Mercury's character is a bit different.
Disclaimer: The World God Only Knows is owned by Tamiki Wakaki. I own absolutely nothing in relation to this work, except for the plot of this particular story.
Prologue
The place was a wasteland. There was no other way to say it.
It was utterly uninhabited. Cold stone sculptures and buildings had been left unattended for years, leaving much of the city chipped, cracked, and worn. There was nary a square centimetre of glass that hadn't been broken into at least five pieces. What little metal there is left was badly rusted; even a touch would send a finger's volume worth of particles tumbling down into the overgrown weeds.
For a floating isle, this city was impressively dreary.
Still, on the grounds that had been devoid of life for at least a century, two women were loitering with some form of wonder in their eyes, as if it had once been a location of magnificent esteem, though that was more than could be said now. The blue-haired woman tilted her head backwards, looking at a dilapidated clock tower taller than Big Ben, though its use was now debatable since the clock surface had been blackened, rendering it unreadable.
The other woman, the black-haired one, spoke first. "What a great irony…all because they attacked the wrong place!" She laughed.
The blue-haired woman was not amused. "I did not invite you here to laugh at my city."
"It's yours only in name. Must have been such a bittersweet experience at your inheritance, wasn't it, Queen Haqua?"
The blue-haired woman lowered her head. The black-haired woman laughed again.
Eventually, Queen Haqua spoke. "I've always thought it was suspicious, when they said they never wanted to go back. But…I never thought more about it. Never had wondered. I…I was too content with my life. Only when…my loved one died…and our circle broke. Only then…and only when all six…finally started dying…one by one."
She finally raised her head, and there were tears trailing down from her eyes. Still, her eyes were fierce and her expression remained stubborn. She gripped the items in her hand – a rusted game console and a glasses case – tighter. "To think that…something like this would happen to Hell…I can agree that it's an irony. But…it's such a pitiful one…! So please don't laugh about such a painful thing…"
"Hmm." The black-haired woman still had a smirk on her face, but she continued with, "Yes, I'll concede that it's not terribly funny. They had, after all, been targeting several of my disciples. Though, to think they completely confused themselves and hit this unremarkable isle out of a thousand possible locations!" She shook her head. "Fate never ceases to amaze me. And for them to think they got away with it, too! What a pompous message they left behind!"
One might wonder what message she was referring to, but Queen Haqua had already seen it. So she knew that from a bird's-eye view the town square they were currently standing in hadn't been disturbed, or at least not accidentally. She almost growled out loud at the provocation that had been painted on with red blood, the sentence that she had been forced to read.
"EVEN GODS CAN DIE."