Chapter Text
“Hey, are you alright?”
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The shining bright light assaulted the HSO Executive Officer’s golden eyes, blinding him away. His body felt heavy and every single part of it blaring with pain. Was that a bird thiren? Their face is blurry…
“Good call, but no, I am what you call a God of this realm.”
Asaba Harumasa widened his eyes, that creature can read his mind?
“Hey! I am not a creature! I am a God! God!”
Seeing the unresponsive sharpshooter, the being that called itself God then spent some time musing by themselves and pouting like a petulant child, before snapping their finger. In an instant, the pain that had engulfed Harumasa washed away, and the bright white space became a room he had known better than his apartment room, the room where it all began—where else but his first hospital room?
“This is…,” the officer said slowly, feeling the softness of the mattress below him.
“Ah!” Asaba Harumasa suddenly shot up from his lying down position and tried to rise from the bed. He needs to go back to the Hollow! Everyone—everyone is still in danger!
“Hey, hey! I just changed the space and the moment you can move you immediately thought of leaving!?”
The offended “God” with brilliant semi-transparent yellow wings that reminded him of some fairytale shoved him back to the bed. Their hand moved to his wrist and suddenly golden chain materialized and kept his hands and feet from moving.
The officer honestly would be a snarky Karen if only he didn’t feel dread about his colleagues' and friends' condition right now—in fact, he still did, so he said, “You! My friend is in danger! Unhand me!”
“Heh, said the dead one,” the being sat on a chair that appeared out of nowhere, sneering while shrugging their shoulder.
Their clothing is quite minimal, showing off their thighs, open back, and a basically flat upper chest, sneakily leaving little to the imagination. Even with the blurred features, Harumasa could still tell they were about his height.
“Dead? I am… dead?”
“Yea suckers, this is technically a dimension that exists before the afterlife. Do you know how much work I must do to snatch your soul away? If you don’t have a stigmata, why would I do this for you!”
This snarky little! Okay, now's not the time for that yet—
“A stigmata?”
“Oh? Trying to act funny now do you?—Don’t think I didn’t hear that!”
“No—really, what the heck is a stigmata?”
That made the “God” silent for a while, before sharpening their gaze, a frown seemed to appear on that blurry face, “You really don’t know? Is that why you don’t dare use it?”
Seeing the confused face of the young man, they sighed and pointed at Harumasa’s chest, “That.”
“Huh?”
“That mark over your heart is a stigmata,” the being pointed out again.
“What mark?” now Harumasa is starting to get ticked off. He may not be free of scars and lesions because of his illness but he would notice if there were a marking over his heart, wouldn’t he?
“That mark, the one on top of your heart, the organ, not your breast.”
“How would you know that?”
Feeling underestimated, the “God” is humping and pumping, “Obviously through my godly eyes DUH!” as if they are stating something obvious.
“And what is this stigmata for anyway?” Harumasa really want to cross his arms right now, if not for these godforsaken chains! The one opposite of him seemed to thank themselves for their quick thinking making the chains when they saw Harumasa struggle against it.
“They are the mark of “superior human” of course,” the winged being made a teaching gesture with their index finger, “by that, I mean an actual race of demi-human, just like thiren and vampire and oni. You know the stuff.”
“Well, almost,” they continued while walking against the corner of the room, picking up a tube-shaped and navy-colored hologram projector and turning it on, showing a valiant female soldier of another world—a Schicksal Valkyrie with red markings on the middle of their chest. “It’s more accurate to say they are almost human.”
“What—”
“Let me finish, ok,” the being continued, “This group of humans is super rare, and they are capable of manipulating otherworldly energy by nature, a.k.a. what you guys called ether and other stuff as well.”
“Each stigmata is born from a certain desire to ‘write one’s own fate’,” They put down the device and the projection shifted to show an image of the Valkyrie fighting against a monstrosity that Harumasa knew by instinct was not an Ethereal. “Some people need to awaken it; some are already born with it. Some are even a being projected by the stigmata itself, and not a human by nature of existence.”
“You are of the middle,” they turned back to Harumasa, “Well, I guess you did get the illness diagnosis instead.”
“Hah—do you mean to say that Ether Aptitude Regression Syndrome is a sign I am born with a stigmata? You say this means I can manipulate ether, but EARS in late stage turn people to ethereal themselves, doesn’t it?”
“Heh, you’re sharp.”
“Well thank you—”
“—Though, it would be better if you don’t cut my explanation.”
The being’s face went serious, “The stigmata have a function to collect ether as well after all. If you don’t use it, obviously you will turn to an ethereal or die, depending on your luck. Not everyone that has it can use it.”
They were silent for a second before continuing their explanation at a solemn pace, “The Stigmata system is merely a creation of mine to safeguard the creation of noble warriors across the years to fight the disasters brought by etheric matter, but those who aren’t able to bear it obviously still dies from the overweight on the fate they are burdened with.”
“Also,” the hologram image shifted again, showing the previous Valkyrie in a state of madness, “Not all stigmata are created equal.”
“The one you have is a ‘Herrscherr’ type, obviously, the strongest of the bunch. This type of stigmata can only come from the algorithm that was inherently written in the world data tree's seed, unlike the Stigmata system.”
“You will not turn into a monster like ethereal, but a being that spurns them out, a Herrscherr. The stigmata will turn into a Herrscherr core, and your body will transform itself to adjust to it. With most, it will come with madness,” the being switched the hologram image.
Asaba Harumasa's eyes widened and filled with horror as he processed what was shown by the hologram device. The being seemed resigned seeing his reaction as if they were expecting this from the very beginning of their conversation.
“Just like in your case.”
The image in the hologram showed Harumasa himself, his hair a pure white color, almost indistinguishable from the fallen snow. His golden eyes seemed cold and unfeeling, and a four-pointed star symbol with a burnt amber color reminiscent of the ether manifestations symbols appeared in the center of his iris, making it seem inhuman.
His body appeared to be flickering, most of it seemed bleeding with the sea of stars in the dark and blue night sky. The sprouting semi-transparent golden wings made him seem like the angels of death, bringing destruction upon the land whilst looking like an ethereal being untouched by the grimness and worry of the world.
“Do you remember now?”
The being’s golden eyes stared at him.
“Dear Herrscherr?”
Asaba Harumasa’s breath stuck in his throat before quickening at a pace that couldn’t be healthy. If he had stood before, he would’ve fallen to the floor. His eyes widen in horror, his hands gripping both sides of his head. If this was real life, he would’ve torn his hair apart by now.
“No… It wasn’t me; it wasn’t—”
“Deny it all you want, “ their voice brought cold water upon Harumasa’s thought, ”Anyway, with great sacrifices, the Void Hunter Hoshimi Miyabi has slain your consciousness away from your body, dying in the process, setting the demon ‘Tailless’ free, wreaking havoc in New Eridu.”
“You—You’re lying,” the agent is hyperventilating and sweating profusely. His eyes narrowed, but he couldn't conceal it, his eyes were shaking and his pupils contracting in fright and disbelief, “How could—”
“Calm yourself,” the chains restraint on his hand and feet increased so suddenly and loosened just as suddenly—as if the being is telling him to listen first, “I did say she only achieved the feat of separating your consciousness from your body.”
“What… what do you mean?” the trembling voice is filled with fear, and the once pink lips have but paled like that of a corpse’s. Perhaps even a corpse’s lips would look more alive right now.
“Your body is still in the waking world of course because it has no consciousness left, it simply moves on autopilot, spouting void after void, exerting ether energy to not collapse on itself, and slowly but surely…,” the “God” hands moved and traced Harumasa’s jawline, moving slowly from the pierced ear to the chin, lifting it so their golden eyes met, “Swallowing the city, along with everything you held dear.”
That was the sentence that broke Harumasa’s will.
His eye dilated and shook, his breath uncollected, his face turned down, both hands gripping each side of his head as if trying to tear himself in two.
He hadn’t shed tears when his parents left him alone, he hadn’t shed tears when his master left him again, and he hadn’t shed tears when slaying his master.
But now, with the weight of his sin, his dry eyes produced so many tears that it was blinding.
He wanted to hold it back, what right does he have to cry for all he had lost when he is the one that destroyed it all? But if he didn’t cry now, can he call himself a human? If he didn’t cry now, then what was left of his humanity?
“Shush,” with a motherly touch, the being hugged him, stuffing his head into their chest. The being slowly rhythmically patted his head, as if calming a young child.
Harumasa could feel the otherworldly cold body temperature and the calm timbre of their breathing that didn’t match when they were speaking, so calm it felt artificial, “You make me feel like I am bullying people.”
There is no heartbeat.
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After he calmed down a little, the being seemed to smile in relief and their gaze surprisingly seemed as if looking at something nostalgic.
“In fact, I am here to offer you salvation you know.”
The air stilled. The being had swung both hands to their back in a coquettish manner as if asking to be praised. They distanced themselves from Harumasa, and he almost missed the cold touch of the other party—almost.
“I can teach you how to control your power.”
Harumasa raised his gaze to meet the being in surprise, before lowering it again depressingly, despite the inquiring look the self-proclaimed ‘God’ seemed to give.
But what use is that now? Now that everything has been destroyed…
“Humph, I can snatch you before you reach the afterlife, you think I can’t turn back time?” they said, as if offended beyond measure, sitting in the air whilst crossing their legs, showing their plump thighs and slim waist. The pouting lips didn't help either with the childish image.
But now Asaba Harumasa is truly shocked and feels as if he talked to a higher being and not a sassy lost child.
“But you can’t use your name anymore—you know—the rule of causality and what not,” sensing that Asaba Harumasa was listening intently as if wanting to sear every word into his memory, the being smiled sadly, ”The moment you agreed to my deal, you cannot use the name ‘Harumasa’ anymore, little Herrscherr.”
The sad smile brought a sappy atmosphere, and Harumasa couldn’t think of why the being would feel sad when they were offering a deal like this. As soon as he felt it though, the atmosphere turned playful once again when the being's body language changed to something daring, as if asking a child if they wanted candy, “So…, what do you think?~”
There can’t be a deal better than this, Harumasa’s mind supplies, at least, for himself.
In a negotiation, both party has something they want that the other party can deliver. This deal offer didn’t seem to have any drawbacks to him, and that is super suspicious. Well, everything about this is suspicious and he didn't even know if this is just a mere hallucination of his own mind, so he can’t help but ask the self-proclaimed god.
“What’s in it for you?”
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Raising their eyebrow, the being that called themselves God shrugged their shoulder and raised both their palm, “I can’t let this world get destroyed.”
Harumasa raised his eyebrow, would this god die the moment the world dies or something?
“I am not that weak of a god, you know,” the melancholic look seemed mismatched on the being's face.
Weird, how do I know that when his face is blurry? Harumasa thought, but this train of thinking was stopped when the being spoke again, “That would be too nice of a fate, for someone like me.”
Seeing the raised eyebrow, the being continued, “It would waste so many resources that I don’t know if I could get back again to recreate this world again or not.”
They seemed serious, so Harumasa also dons his serious expression. The being brought their hands on top of where their heart should be, “This is an emergency measure. I sacrificed much to make this conversation even possible in the first place.”
“I see.”
Silence filled the mimicry of the hospital room.
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Waiting for Harumasa to continue seemed to be taking too long, so the being asked again, “Ok—ay, anyway you agreed, right?”
Harumasa already felt the tick, “What choice do I have?”
“Aha, I mean, you can definitely refuse—I would probably just reset your consciousness until you agree. That is definitely more efficient than remaking the whole Zenless Zone, after all.”
“Zenless Zone,” the Herrscherr muses, “Is it the name of this world?”
“Yup,” the being answered amusedly, closing their eyes and facing the fake sky that replaces the hospital room’s ceiling—as if reminiscing for the good old days, “It is the world I strife to safe, but unable to.”
“I see,” Harumasa closed his golden eyes and opened them with a sense of realization.
He frowned and looked again at the being’s otherworldly pair of golden eyes, golden semi-transparent wings, and body that was mostly colored by the fabrics of the galaxy. Their small face is adorned with snow-white locks frazzled with golden light.
It is unclear why they are unable to save the world by themselves since their capabilities seem to be very wide and strong, capable of even turning back time. But gazing at the helpless eyes and the face mirroring that of his own, Harumasa couldn’t find it in him to ask the golden question.
He is afraid the answer will break him.
“Then, I agree to your deal.”
“I just… have one request.”
The being eyes lit up mischievously, ”Oh? Just one?”
their eyes never breaking their gaze, “Alright. State your wish, little Herrscherr."
“My wish is ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ”
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“That’s easy,” the being smiled gently, their eyes bright and warm like the sun, “Alright, close your eyes.”
The former HSO S6 executive officer obediently closed their eyes. Seeing this the being adopted an expressionless face, “Now, let us start the grueling training.”
“My dear Herrscherr.”