Place: The Kingdom of Preservation — Moon
Time: 12:00 Moon (Night)
In a vast, dark bedroom forged from luxury and layered with countless protective sigils, silence reigned.
On a king-sized bed lay North Frozenlight, asleep.
His eyes were closed, yet crimson moonlight spilled through the tall window, bathing his still form in red.
At this hour, all beings other than angels and saints slept peacefully, wrapped in the divinity of Preservation. Dreams were gentle. Minds were quiet.
Only the moon was not at rest.
If one looked closely into the blood-red moon hanging in the sky, they would see it.
The Devourer.
Its vast, indistinct form gnawed endlessly at the moon's edge. Each bite sent ripples of distortion through space itself. An invisible barrier resisted it, trembling but unbroken.
Yet protection did not mean absence of pain.
The Moon Goddess endured it all.
Unable to scream, she shone brighter
colder as if freezing her agony into light.
---
North dreamed.
He stood upon shattered land, beside the Goddess of Solidity.
Her long gray hair was matted with the scent of blood.
Her gray eyes burned cold and distant.
Her soft pink lips twisted faintly, as if every breath hurt.
North was not much better.
His body bore the same damage, but his face remained calm too calm. Emotions dulled. Pain distant.
The sky above them cracked.
KRRAAAASH
From the ruptures between dimensions, thousands of otherworldly creatures poured forth, shrieking as they crawled into reality.
North and the Goddess of Solidity looked around one last time.
A fallen land.
The unclosed eyes of Death.
Rivers of blood carving through soil.
Mountains of corpses stacked like offerings.
"If you had arrived earlier, North Frozenlight," the Goddess of Solidity said slowly, her voice calm yet heavy,
"we could have sealed the dimensional instability."
Her gaze lowered.
"We could have saved them."
North said nothing.
"I know you can no longer feel attachment," she continued.
"No affection. No warmth."
She clenched her fist.
"But they do."
"They feel pain. They die. They are powerless."
Her voice trembled not with weakness, but weight.
"In the lands of gods, it is our duty to protect those who cannot protect themselves."
"We are gods because of our believers."
Her eyes sharpened.
"And the moment we fail them…
we are no longer gods."
Each step she took sank deeper into the ruined soil.
"Every death crushes me," she whispered.
"Every step grows heavier."
She raised her head.
"The God of Recognition must be killed."
"If he slaughters us and absorbs even fragments of our divinity, he will ascend into a blood-soaked Supreme God."
She stopped suddenly.
Her expression changed.
"I know," North said quietly.
"I heard those words long ago."
"Before my brother died, he helped me hold myself together."
His voice was flat.
"After his death, I let it go."
"I became less a god…
and more a monster."
The Goddess of Solidity flinched.
"I still protected my people," North continued.
"They survived."
He turned toward her.
"You asked for my help. I came."
"Your people conspired against me. Accelerated my curse."
A pause.
"I forgave them."
His gaze hardened.
"And now you say this to me?"
The Goddess of Solidity broke her seal.
WHOOM
Her body flared with blinding gray light.
"S—sorry, North," she stammered suddenly, her voice cracking.
"M—my sister just wanted to m—make you laugh."
"She… she cannot tell jokes," she whispered desperately.
"So she thought making you feel something might help."
"P—please forgive her."
North exhaled.
"I know," he said.
"She carries a burden heavier than worlds."
"I can at least ease her mind for a moment."
They leapt.
BOOOOM
The ground beneath them shattered into nothingness.
---
"Oh my… what an honor."
A voice slithered through the ruins.
"To think the God of Preservation and the Goddess of Solidity would arrive together."
A massive, distorted figure stepped forward, flesh twisting endlessly.
"After the flies," it laughed,
"the main offerings finally arrive."
"Recognition," the Goddess of Solidity said coldly, raising her arm.
"Surrender, and I will let you leave."
The creature laughed hysterically.
"Hahaha! Every god I killed said the same thing."
"I thought this world might be different."
Its eyes gleamed.
"And if I don't surrender?"
"Then," she replied calmly,
"I will bury you in this soil."
The sky darkened.
RUMMMMM
Millions of gigantic spears forged from pure earth formed above Recognition's head.
"Kill me if you can, Goddess of—"
SNAP.
Ice surged instantly.
CRRRRK
Recognition froze mid-word.
"Don't talk so much," North said, his hand lowered.
"If you're going to fight, do it quickly."
"The casualties will only grow."
The Goddess of Solidity smiled faintly.
She lowered her arm.
BOOOOOOM
The spears descended, crushing Recognition in a cataclysm of stone and force.
SPLASH
Blood sprayed across the ruined land.
North turned
And saw it.
Recognition's arm pierced through the Goddess of Solidity's chest.
SHNK
Time seemed to stop.
North moved.
But before he could.
A second sound echoed.
A wet, tearing roar.
The world drowned in red.
---
North woke.
GASP
His hands shook violently.
But his mind was clear.
Cold.
Focused.
Rage burned without heat.
"My next goal is decided," he said aloud.
"After my Ascension Ceremony…"
"I will seal the dimensional instability."
"I will prevent the God of Recognition from arriving before the gods are ready."
---
At the same time, Yuria reached the same conclusion.
The author had warned it clearly.
If the God of Recognition descended before the gods fully comprehended their divinity.
All of them would die.
The Catastrophe would accelerate beyond control.
So I set my goals.
First:
Prevent anything from disrupting North's Ascension Ceremony.
Second:
Comprehend my own abilities.
Third:
Make North agree to travel to the Land of Solidity and delay Recognition's descent.
His arrival is inevitable.
But inevitability can be delayed.
I fixed my three most important goals.
And prepared for the storm to come.