Chapter 41: Judgment of the Star of Creation
After a moment of silence to respect the manikins, Naoki headed in to meet with Kagutsuchi. That had been the best way he could think of to handle it: put them into enchanted sleep, then use Eternal Rest from Pale Rider to kill them before they could realize it. Also before they could realize that Kagutsuchi would bluntly crush their dreams, pointing out that it saw nothing worthwhile in their existence. As far as Naoki was concerned, they had won among those who had been supporting Reasons. The actual bearers had not even set foot inside the Obelisk once it became the road to Kagutsuchi.
As it was, Pixie and Pale Rider were the ones to enter Kagutsuchi's chamber with him. What awaited them was something he hadn't seen since witnessing the death of his world. Sterile white-blue light filled this space; even the blocks used for walls were pure white. In the center, a sphere (also made from blocks) hovered with more blocks in its orbit. It almost seemed like it could be a peaceful thing. But knowing what he did, Naoki saw it like a lifeless hospital room where the doctor did not care about his patients as long as he got his paycheck at the end of the week. The presence was oppressive; this was a true god even as a mere face of God.
The cubes rippled across the surface of the sphere. "Good thing you took care of those manikins before entering here," Kagutsuchi said, its monotonous tone not helping it look any better. "I would not have let them enter."
"I don't like it, but I figured it would be that way," Naoki said.
"Now, you who carried the keys to meet with me, you who brings a Reason before the soul of the world, show me the state of your heart," it said.
Bracing himself, Naoki let Kagutsuchi try. It felt like he was back in that pool at the bottom of the Amala Labyrinth. Dense magatsuhi swelled between them, full of information and emotion. Flickers of his past went through his mind, some faded to sketches now. But while Kagutsuchi was having difficulty grasping him, Naoki felt something. He knew for certain that Lucifer had accepted him as family, even hugged him while he was not aware. Of course, Lucifer wouldn't want to admit to that yet. Naoki would find some way to coax him out of that vanity.
"W-why?" Kagutsuchi stammered, utterly baffled. "Why is it…? I can barely read your heart. There is thick darkness in your soul; you have been listening to the words of the fallen angel far too much, too enthusiastically. There is a blazing lightness of irrational hope in your soul, one no demon could hold. You come to me bearing a seed of Destruction rather than a seed of Creation. How is it you are the one who remains to stand before me?"
"I am the Demifiend," he said to it. Pixie put her hands over her mouth to try muffling her giggles.
The star kept trying to figure him out. "And, why does your heart seem so human when you are so clearly a demon? This makes no sense, you can't be both. Who are you?"
"I am the Demifiend," he told it.
"No, that doesn't, that doesn't help. What are you?"
"I am the Demifiend," he repeated.
"No, this must be some illusion!" Ripples spread faster across Kagutsuchi's body. "You cannot exist like this! You cannot be what you are! You cannot be the one to decide the fate of this world!"
Naoki shook his head, acting like it was boring him. "No, I can be what you see. I can exist. However, I can't accept your judgment if you don't acknowledge the manikins out there. I am the one who had the keys. I am the one before you at this time. Thus, I am the one who decides the fate of this world." He narrowed his eyes at it. "And your own fate as well."
"What is going on?!" it demanded, finding no sense in any of it. "No, you'll not decide anything! I can't let one so corrupted anywhere near the power of Creation! I will erase you from existence myself! Now accept your fate, De… hu… Demifiend!"
"You're not the first to say that to me," he said, getting in one last mocking before he snapped his fingers and called in the other fiends. "Come on, we're taking Kagutsuchi down."
"You've got it, boss," Matador said eagerly.
"Roger!" Pixie said.
"This'll be fun," Trumpeter said, then blared a declaration of war on his trumpet. It didn't do anything other than incite Kagutsuchi even more. But things like that just tilted this encounter more in their favor.
Unlike Thor, Kagutsuchi was an enemy that could still put up a tremendous fight against the majority of the Fiend clan (and a fairy) here before it. All the attacks that it could perform were almighty, so he had no trouble striking any one of them, even Naoki. And every attack shifted its phase movements forward, trying to disorient them with unreal time movement.
When it hit its full brightness, it lashed out with an intense radiance that had a similar bleaching quality as the river the seraphs tried to get him into. As it turned out, it was easier to stand while he had a physical body. Daisoujou got a healing mantra out quickly to recover them from that; Naoki had sent Mother Harlot over to help defend Daisoujou because as long as they had the gold-robed monk on their side, Kagutsuchi would have to defeat them all in a single blow in order to take them out.
It did not seem capable of that. But then, Naoki didn't feel surprised. Why would a god geared towards Creation, even a mockery of it, be capable of Destruction? Or, why would it even be capable of fighting true Destruction when it appeared?
Kagutsuchi did not try to escape. As a last ditch effort, it stole the soul of the world and drained it completely dry of magatsuhi in order to keep fighting. "You should not exist!" it ranted. "You shall be eliminated!"
"Hey, I think you broke a bunch of your own rules there," Naoki pointed out. "You were the one who just killed the soul of the world, not us."
"It doesn't matter as long as you are ended!" Its attacks became more powerful, its aura more insane. But again, as long as it did not take them out quickly, it was finding it difficult to take them out at all. Naoki even activated a Soma to make sure the whole group was restored to full magical energy. As long as they, specifically Daisoujou, had some magic left to cast, they were not going to fall to this god.
As it was, a combined attack of himself, the four Riders, and Matador took the Star of Creation down. The cubes fell out of place and crumbled, leaving behind a shining blue orb of a soul that was cracking apart. It screamed out against what it saw as absurdity, but that last cry broke itself completely. The light of this place rapidly extinguished, leaving them in the darkness of space as the Vortex World crumbled to dust.
The vast field of stars around them flickered as the other Vortex Worlds lost contact with Kagutsuchi. A great many of them darkened and did not come back. But a scattered few remained within Amala. "The absence of Kagutsuchi ends its artificial games," Pale Rider said. "The worlds that don't really belong here were sent back into reality, restored to how they were as best as the universe can manage. What we see left are those that truly need rebirth."
"More often than not, nature and the universe can take care of itself," Daisoujou said, his bell chiming in the darkness.
"But now we're supposed to leave you on your own for what comes next," Mother Harlot said. "I'd wish you good luck, but I don't think you'll need luck."
"Si, we are certain that you will be more than capable," Matador said as some of the others left. "And if not, for reasons that cannot be blamed on you, well we're here to support you. We'll see to it that he accepts you."
"I see, thank you," Naoki said.
"Mm, but I'm staying with you, like always," Pixie said. "I dunno what's going on, so I have no reason to leave your side."
"If had to choose one follower, I wouldn't take anyone else," Naoki said, smiling. He had a feeling she'd know in spite of all light being gone.
"As they have said, the falsehoods of Kagutsuchi have ended," Lucifer said, appearing behind him. There was still no light, likely by his choice. "Without the star to measure the length of death and rebirth here, time itself has ended within this universe as well. Know that you have now been cursed by God because of your actions. But it is through that curse that you can truly fight against Him."
There was something shifting about himself. A brand of hatred, then? But he would surpass it as well. "I see."
"Kagutsuchi is a god that bore the power of Creation," Lucifer said, silently moving around him. "It measured time and took care of worlds after death. But it was never meant to cause death directly. Therefore, while you have made your declarations clear, that was not a true test of the power you need to wield to fight against God."
"That makes sense," he said. "Then are you going to fight me too?"
Lucifer broke his serious tone to laugh softly at this. "You read me well. You have already overcome me in other ways, in ways that I never saw coming. I am proud of what you have accomplished so far. But if you are going to be set against our greatest enemy," there was a brief faltering there too, but he caught himself well, "I must know that you truly have the power to accomplish such a task. I will be with you, but for this battle, I will be against you. Prove yourself, or," another falter, "we shall see to it that you get prepared."
Although he would now be facing off against his most powerful foe yet, without the other fiends unless he summoned them specifically, Naoki felt at ease hearing the challenge. It meant that even if he failed here, he was not going to be abandoned like his predecessors. Even so, he still had no intentions of losing.
"Very well, I will prove myself fully to you," Naoki said, letting him know his determination.
"Excellent," Lucifer said, sounding like he was having fun instead of offering a dire examination.
On a world where Law had won the last great conflict, where Law was gripping its populous tight to avoid the inevitable rise of Chaos…
There were many other worlds like that within the Amala Network, many other worlds that could have used an extra break for Chaos to rise. But in this one world, there was someone with a special bond. This person also was key to shifting the tides of fate, although they did not realize just how they could be that important beyond their world.
The young bishop in question scanned over security logs. "These patterns of disruptions are deliberate," she said. "It's giving people strange ideas and causing all kinds of trouble, even after we get the bell towers restored. Sraosha, someone must be trying to stop the Unity System."
"No one should be able to realize that they can stop the Unity System," the herald said, shifting his blue wings. "They're still doing it, in waves that allow strong dissenters to find each other before the system is restored." He reached over and put a hand on the bishop's shoulder. "We must root out this evil and destroy it."
She looked up to the partner she had been given. At first, she'd been awed that such a powerful angel would choose her. It hadn't taken long into her position to realize that he had the true power in their relationship. She was just a mouthpiece for him to speak through, a human to accomplish certain tasks with. For all the power people assumed she had, she was really quite helpless.
Or, so she had thought. Someone had been sending her messages, gifting her books to read. All of these communications pointed to a shocking secret: Sraosha needed her for his work. If she managed to befriend him, gain his respect, and get his acknowledgment, she could make him realize that need as well. She could even get him to love her like a father would love a daughter.
But in order for that to be possible at all, she needed to believe it was possible. No doubts. Believe that love could be taught to anyone.
She nodded to him. "I'm picking up something within the patterns. These aren't blindly chosen attacks, so we can tell where our mystery antagonist will strike next. I could go there tomorrow and confront them."
"No, you have no idea who it is we're dealing with," Sraosha said quickly. The fins on his sides of his head flickered, as if he wasn't sure he'd heard what he said himself. "Well, we don't know. But we do know that the bell towers are tightly guarded, some with powerful beasts and angels. The bells themselves should be indestructible, but they're being destroyed anyhow. You could," he put his long fingers to his chin, "you could be hurt gravely."
He's worried about me. She believed in that, and that belief would be real.
"I don't want to see you hurt," Sraosha said, puzzled at his own reactions. "But this… anarchist, whoever it is… we do need to uncover them, and stop them. Or else we lose the peace and order that we have maintained for so long."
The young bishop smiled at him, both making him feel better and making him more confused. "Of course. But with you at my side, I'm sure we can stop this person."
In the busy streets of a city, the bells rang. People all throughout the city stopped and relaxed, comforted by the bells that protected their world from demons who would invade from their red moon. At these times, they closed their eyes and prayed, all as one, to thank the most holy one, God, who made this all possible.
At least, most people prayed. A few people were no longer affected by the bells. They were fighting to make sure that even more people gained that defense in their souls. As always, Chaos was rising to break down Law's order. Balance might come should a clever and willful soul make it come. Otherwise, the balance would continue to swing loosely, back and forth for eternity.
There was one person on the world for whom the bells were a grating painful sound. He still stopped when they rang, but he would not pray. He wore the long white robes of a priest, covered up completely from the white screened hood to the bottom hem barely keeping off the ground. Although, if one were to look closely, one might notice that unlike other priests, he wore no shoes.
Once the city was allowed to get back to work, he moved on. People saw the robes and respectfully left him to his business. One was not to disrupt a priest who seemed to be busy. Even in causal settings, the priest was to be the first to speak if he or she was to be addressed. It made things remarkably easy to get done so far. But sometime soon, they had to realize that this wasn't all random events. He'd even left them a nice little pattern so that when he got revealed, he could smash their expectations to bits.
He arrived at a boarding house for clergymen that similarly hadn't asked him any questions when he first checked in. There was some procedure to follow: he signed into the daily guest book with 'DKN' and checked the room's mail slot for messages. Finding nothing, he headed upstairs to break for the day. People expected others to sleep at night, but he took the time for other matters.
He set a sign so that the staff wouldn't disturb him, then shut the door and curtains. With that done, he took off the robes finally. At least these clothes fit loosely, Naoki thought, setting them on a hanger so they stayed pristine. He'd found that when he tried infiltrating human societies, he could not stand wearing most clothes anymore. The cloth brushed against his markings in a scratchy manner even if they were the softest available. Especially shoes, he hated trying to fit shoes on now. Not even sandals felt comfortable. Fortunately, Lucifer had taught him illusions so he didn't have to wear clothing or show his markings. He could even hide his horn.
But for this world, the fully covering priest robes were his best key anywhere. They weren't too bothersome once he got used to the weight on his shoulders. Keeping them clean was a hassle, but it had to be done to complete his disguise. He took some time to brush dirt off and make sure no stains would set in. There was no blood today, which made things easier. But tomorrow, well, that'd be a different story.
Unless of course, the theory he had proved true.
After he'd gotten the cleaning done, the smartphone he had started ringing. Of course, he might have watched for a good moment. There was only one person who'd be able to call this phone at the moment. Naoki got it off the drawer he'd set it on and answered it. "Hello father."
"Do you have to be formal with me now?" Lucifer replied.
"I'm afraid so," he said, dropping onto the bed. Blankets usually didn't bother him; it might be something psychological with the clothes. "These walls should mute out most sound, but in case someone walks by, they'll be expecting a formal priest talking."
"You picked an awful role for this just based on how stuffy it forces you to be."
"That is not a big problem," he said. "Priests have a lot of influence and anonymity."
"Then how is your work going?"
Naoki rolled his eyes at this, having a good idea of why he was really calling. "As expected. They haven't uncovered me yet, but that should change soon. You should be able to tell that for yourself."
"There's a difference from looking at things from afar and knowing what's up close, you know. Since I can't manifest in that world in any capacity yet, I'm counting on you for a lot."
Putting a hand over the speaker, more so that Lucifer heard that motion than anyone outside hearing it, Naoki said, "You just missed the sound of my voice, didn't you?"
"Naoki," he said, then laughed. "All right, yes, that's why. This is the first time I can't just pop down wherever you are and check up on you. It's harder than expected. And, you're the only one I can speak like this too because the other fiends will tease me for coddling you."
"I wouldn't mind you coddling me if we didn't have a billion things to get accomplished," he said. "I do miss you, father. Especially on this ridiculous world. There's so much I could just complain about, even the things that don't affect me with my priest cover. I'm getting to the point where I really want to throttle some of these people, but I can't break cover yet. And besides, that wouldn't help the real objective here."
"It's never easy on a world of Law, trying to slither through all their rules and find a crack to wedge yourself into for a strike. Speaking of your objective, I have been keeping good tabs on them."
"Then how are things developing?" he asked. This was important to Aleph's plans. They'd proven with Lucifer that some of the corrupting force, perhaps all of it, could be countered by a strong-willed human who could start and maintain a familial relationship with the spirits afflicted by it. It was little nips and corrections at this point, even with Lucifer. However, getting a human close enough to an angel to incite the same correction was something they had yet to do.
"Very promising. Sraosha is starting to say uncharacteristic things and to have a defensive feeling towards his partner. I'd love to see them pushed further, but Aleph says this herald needs to stay within God's acceptance for now."
"That's good. And he's right, even if we must give up on shifting this world to Chaos for the time being. The important thing is getting corrective measures with the angels too. Only, the four seraphs who are the most corrupted are going to be exceptionally difficult to reach." Which was why they were starting with those like Sroasha here, highly ranked but not as tightly caught up in the problem.
"I would hate to stop with our breaking of this world," Lucifer said. "The system they have is just sickening, where people hardly think."
"Don't worry, father," Naoki said, knowing he had to check that rant before he got too into it. "We'll give them a taste for Chaos that leaves them yearning for more. That's how it always is, isn't it? We just had to trick them into the first few bites."
He laughed at that. "Yes, you've done well with that."
Then, his horn came alert. A group was moving upstairs in this boarding house, intent on meeting with him forcefully. Perhaps violently. Naoki licked his lips, then took another taste of the magatsuhi. Ah, good. "Something's come up, or rather, is coming to me," Naoki said quietly, this time with intent to keeping it from being overheard. "Like I said, they have relearned Chaos and have unconsciously been drawn to me. They just think they're coming in to take a priest hostage."
"I'm sure you'll show them the error of their ways before you bring them under your personal tutelage," Lucifer said. "Carry on then. And, I love you son."
In spite of needing to focus his mind for this incident, Naoki couldn't help a warm fuzzy feeling at this. He was sincere. "Of course. I love you too, father. And don't worry; I should be seeing you soon."
"I'll be waiting." He then disconnected the call. Naoki went to set it in the pocket of the priest robes. While it wasn't something a priest was forbidden to use, he hid it so one of these fools didn't try to steal it.
He'd sat back down on the bed by the time that the rebels tried to silently turn the knob. When it clicked, two of them burst into the room. They both held guns to him quickly. "Freeze!" But the thug's gusto evaporated as his jaw dropped on seeing him. Their world believed that tattoos and makeup were sinful things to put on one's body. Someone who had black markings with a line of blue-green glows would be seen as some kind of devil immediately.
Naoki clicked his tongue. They had guns. Aside from Almighty powers, guns were the one thing that wasn't accounted for with his magatama's defenses. But as long as he showed no fear, he could dissuade them from actually firing. He brought two of his fingers to his mouth and blew through them, creating a large sparkling snowflake between the fingers. "Freeze what?" he asked, then snapped the snowflake in two.
The pair, along with a third trying to back them up, all flinched at the sound. But that was just for show. Not wanting to spook them into firing, Naoki closed his eyes, tilting his head towards the hall. He'd already scanned things and knew there were two more besides these three involved. This was so they knew he knew with means beyond their own.
"Why don't the five of you come in?" he said, keeping his face stoic. It tended to throw more people than if he showed familiar emotions freely. "If you wish to discuss things, I'll discuss things. Just shut the door behind you."
"What's going on?" one of those out of sight whispered loudly.
"Uh, got me, but he just invited us in to talk," the thug said. "He's… not a priest."
"Come again?" The thugs moved aside so that the other two could come in. The curious one was shocked too.
But the fifth one, who'd been quiet and far better suited for this mission than the others, he observed things. He was thinking through things. And unless Naoki was mistaken… no, this was him. This was the human on whom the balance turned for this world. His choices would decide the future. So far, he'd not solidified his beliefs.
As important as the young woman with Sraosha was, this hero was even more vital to gain a connection with. Naoki nodded, then signaled them to follow his request to shut the door behind them. "I'm acting as a priest to carry out a particular mission," he said. "Whatever reason you had for coming in here to take a priest hostage, know this: I am the Demifiend and I could help you with your objective far more effectively than any old priest." He smiled, a bit of intimidation in the confidence. "Now, what do you want?"
A/N: And that's the end! I chose to do True Demon Ending because while it's the one many players favor, I wanted to figure out why an average teenager in this situation would end up choosing that way (albeit I like my heroes as heroes, not completely evil). Then the whole thing with the demon heart actually being a downgrade, it was something I suspected could happen. In settings like the SMT universe, humans need some advantage that keeps them from being completely slaves to angels and demons. SMV IV brought out stronger evidence that yes, it would be downgrade, so I went with that too.
Speaking of SMT IV, I will start posting a chaptered fic for that (The Nth Option) in March, so look forward to that!