Chapter 10: Odium et Dolorum

About an hour ago, the eight goddesses had been warped to the dimension of Biblio by their friend ASJ. Now, they were all suffering the consequences, as the group was separated and Neptune and Noire had been personally affected by the mysterious Deity of Knowledge.

Luckily, though, the group was beginning to reform as Noire and Uni found Neptune. "There you are! We've been searching for ages now!"

Nepgear broke her hug with Neptune. "Good to see you're alright. Is everyone here?"

Uni nodded. "Yep. We're all accounted for."

Pages began to fly around the room about a meter and a half away from the group, and the Deity of Knowledge formed from the pages. He extended his arm and the dimension warped around them, bending and twisting and almost throwing the goddess off of their feet.

"Now that everyone is here, we may begin. Do any of you have questions for me?"

Noire took a step forward. "Who exactly are you?"

"I suppose you're asking for a name, then. Very well; you may call me Magist. I am the Deity of Knowledge, and as you've seen, this dimension bends to my will."

Blanc spoke angrily, "Are you the one who put Neptune into that trance? What the hell do you want from us?"

"I wish to make you an offer, but first I'll have to give some backstory. Do you mind if I take over for a while?"

Uni glared. "As long as you tell us what you're planning."

"Fair enough." Magist began pacing around the room. "As the rulers of Gamindustri's four nations, surely you know something of the suffering your people face."

Neptune frowned. "They seem just fine to me. I go to the park every day and they seem happy."

"You could never see the forest from the trees. I'm referring to mortals as a whole, both the sadness they face and the hatred they perpetuate."

Blanc snapped. "Get on with it already!"

Magist chuckled. "Have you heard of the Rainbow War?"

Everyone replied in unison, "No."

Magist sighed in disappointment. "The Rainbow War was a stain on mortal history. It was a time when the people of Gamindustri killed each other on no better basis than the goddess they allied themselves with or the nation they bought resources from." Magist lifted up his mask just a little bit to spit on the ground before putting it back into place. "That is just one example of humanity's failure."

Nepgear was confused. "What are you trying to say?"

Magist opened his arms again. "I'm saying that we can make utopia. Humans are a shame on my lineage and a pox upon the natural world. Without mortals, there is no war. Without mortals, there is purity."

Vert was taken aback. "Are you suggesting we kill everyone? That is preposterous."

Magist's mask bent and twisted, showing a smile. "Is it? You share no bond with mortals. It is impossible for a goddess to do so; that is the curse that the first Deity unknowingly placed upon all of you. Why do you wish to spare them?"

Neptune was stunned at Magist's apparent stupidity. "Well, killing people is wrong! It doesn't matter how bad they are, killing them isn't the answer!"

"And what do you suggest? Humanity has repeated their cycle of war and peace for as long as they've existed. Ever since the first Deity placed humans upon this dimension, nothing but war and hatred has followed."

Uni angrily replied, "But we're in a time of peace now! Are you seriously going to kill everyone for crimes of the past?!"

Magist angrily clenched his fist. "Time does not annul or absolve humanity's crimes. Injustice is injustice, no matter how much time passes afterward. As the one who carries the power to create humanity, I can also destroy it and remove their cruelty from the pure Hyper Dimension."

Neptune spoke for everyone, "Well, too bad! If you want to kill everyone, you're gonna have to get through us!"

Magist chuckled. "Very well then. I cast you out of this dimension. The next time we meet, it will be in battle."

He opened his hand and the same black sphere that ASJ used appeared, although it took Magist substantially less effort than him. He effortlessly expanded it to a meter and a half in diameter, and then threw it, setting it into place in front of the CPUs. He gestured for them to leave, and when they did, he forcefully slammed the portal shut.

The CPUs crashed onto the Planeptune Basilicom balcony, still shaken from their time in Biblio.

"Nepsy! Everyone! Are you okay?" Uzume had run out to see them along with her friend Neptune. While they shared the same name, this Neptune was taller, had longer hair, sported a black jacket instead of white, and hailed from the Ultra Dimension. The group also liked to joke about how the 'adult' Neptune was more developed in terms of chest size, but this situation demanded a little more urgency.

Neptune rubbed the back of her head. "Uzume! When did you get here?"

"Big Nepsy kept saying something about her 'Nep sense'. Eventually, I agreed to warp here, and sure enough, you guys were gone."

"We were so worried! Leave a note the next time you decide to go dimension hopping without us!"

Everyone stood up, some with assistance from Uzume or Neptune. Nepgear remembered, "Oh! Uzume, have you met ASJ yet?"

Uzume scratched her head. "Who? I don't think I have."

Hearing the commotion, ASJ walked out onto the balcony with everyone. "Good to see you're all okay. What did you see? Did you get what you wanted with the Obelisks?"

Noire shook her head. "No, but we did encounter the Deity of Knowledge you spoke of."

A muffled voice emerged from the taller Neptune's book. "Holy shit, that guy actually exists? Here I thought he was just a myth."

Neptune put a hand on her book. "Well, you mentioned something about the portal, right?"

"Yeah, pitch black. Totally different than the ones I use. I didn't even think the thing was a portal at first."

Histoire floated through the door that ASJ left open, urgency in her voice, "Everyone! I know you just got back, but we have a situation in Lastation!"

Noire, shocked, replied, "What's going on? When was the report filed?"

Histoire's eyes turned blue, as if she was accessing data from an internal computer. "About a minute ago, we got reports of recent mass criminal Odium attacking the streets of the city, damaging buildings and hurting or killing civilians."

ASJ clenched his fists with unprecedented rage. "What district?"

Histoire quickly replied, "The Kuro district, just 0.75 meters south of the Basilicom."

Neptune took a step towards ASJ. "Are you alright, Azzy? You look a little…angry."

Noticing Neptune's worry, ASJ tempered his rage by a small degree. "I'm fine, but I'll be even better once Odium's dead."

With that, he ran down and out of the Basilicom and towards the nation of Lastation. While the reason for his lividity was unknown to the CPUs, it was clear that ASJ had some kind of past with Odium, and wanted them dead. Transformed, the goddesses took flight towards Lastation, determined to see why ASJ was so unusually angry as well as to end Odium's rampage.

Odium was a criminal convicted of grand theft, murder, and kidnapping. She mostly worked out of Lastation, but her crime network also had some dealings in Planeptune and Lowee. Sending agents to Leanbox would be too expensive and impractical, but that didn't stop her from trying several times. This almost got her activities detected by the police multiple times, but to her it was worth it if there was some kind of potential gain. In this way, she was very materialistic, willing to sacrifice her subordinates if it meant gaining money or resources.

The police of all three affected nations had been tracking Odium down for a very long time, but to no avail; whenever they tracked her to her headquarters, she either overpowered the officers or had left prior to their arrival. Many people, including ASJ until now, simply accepted her activity, believing that there was nothing they could do to influence the turnout of events. While they would cooperate with the police if they believed that it would get them closer to doing her in, they did not go out of their way to pursue evidence in the case and, for a long time, the case was considered closed.

Running to Lastation from Planeptune is a laborious affair, taking at least a week for the average traveler. However, ASJ's way-finding experience gave him knowledge of several shortcuts and so within just a few hours, he was already halfway there. He held an impressive amount of stamina, also, being able to run almost continuously for several minutes at a time, and never walking at his usual slow pace. After about nine hours, he arrived in Lastation and began to make his way to the Kuro district.

ASJ began running faster than ever, searching every alley and every street for even the smallest hint of Odium's presence. Eventually, he made his way to the scene of her attack, and he stopped.

"Hmm…another 'hero' come to end my wicked dealings? What makes you think you'll turn out any different from the last ones?"

Through all his rage, ASJ was unable to respond. He simply let out a growl of anger, clenching his fists together. Behind him, the goddesses touched down and attempted to stop him from recklessly engaging the threat in front of him.

"Azzy, wait! She was capable of—" Despite Purple Heart's attempts to get ASJ to listen to reason, he took a step forward, determined to do battle.

Odium licked her lips in anticipation. "Oh, this will be interesting. Why don't we fight one-on-one, 'Azzy'? We'll see if you do better than he did."

At this, ASJ lost all coordination. He wildly ran towards Odium, swinging punches with all his might that she effortlessly dodged. After about ten seconds of her simply dodging his attacks, Odium brandished a dagger and attempted to stab for ASJ's stomach, but to her surprise, the blade phased through his body, doing no damage whatsoever. He grabbed the handle and attempted to wrestle the blade from her hand, and this caused Odium to swing a punch for ASJ's neck. As the previous attack did, however, this blow simply phased through, and it was then that the battle ended.

ASJ took the blade from Odium's hand and stabbed her in the upper arm, eliciting a scream of pain. He removed the blade and began to stab her entire body, from forearm to hand to thigh to calf, taking special care to avoid vital areas that would end the pain too quickly. After about fifteen seconds of stabbing, ASJ wiped one of Odium's wounds to apply her blood to his hand. He then grabbed the blade and slit her throat open with it, spraying blood onto the buildings on the side of the road.

After doing all of this, ASJ fell to the ground, laying on his back with his eyes wavering shut. Neptune and the others ran over to him, and it was then that it began to rain. The rain poured onto ASJ's entire body, soaking his shirt and jacket, washing the blood from his face and Odium's body.

Neptune could barely speak. "Azzy…what…?"

ASJ chuckled. "I owe you answers, don't I? I will settle your curiosities, but…I need a moment…" He shut his eyes, and it was unclear if rain had fallen under his eyes or if he was crying.