"... Sorry... tha... egu... ha? Wait, where the hell am I?"
Crusch remarked as she was being released from Valerie the moment she stepped into Pleiades Shadow Garden.
Her eyes widen at the spectacle that had once engulfed her. In her entire life, or at least what she can recall. This was most likely the most breathtaking sight she had ever seen. The entire universe around her stretches out in all directions.
There was nothing but blackness in this weird realm, and beyond that darkness was most likely even greater darkness. Everything that existed was engulfed in the darkest of black, but there was something strange about this place, and that was the fact that there was nothing in her, yet she was everything, and yet she comprehended nothing.
It was like being all-knowing yet unable to do anything about the knowledge that was given.
"W-w-W-WHAT... IS THIS PLACE?"
Crusch was both scared and enthralled by the beauty of her surroundings. It seemed as if she were at the epicenter of all knowledge, or maybe the shadow of creation itself. She was following everything that existed, just like her shadow did with her.
But what caught her off guard was when he began to hear the voice of a familiar person.
"Welcome to the Shadow Garden." Ms. Karsten, It may not appear to be much, but reality in here is literally anything you wish it to be, my dear guest, so you can make yourself at home very absolutely."
Crusch's eyes shot up at those words, and the voice was indisputably Pleiades, but what she saw was not him. She sprang out of his grasp and landed on the alien structure of pure shadows beneath her, which felt like soft clouds. In a panic, she began to back away from the entity in front of her while saying
"Stay away from me, you monster!"
Crush stated, after all, the creature before her was humanoid in shape, but it lacked characteristics. Seeing that only a pair of dangerous-looking, dark, swirling purple eyes with a terrifying and all-encompassing gaze behind them were staring directly at her.
The figure, however, only scratched its head as it began to talk.
"A monster, you say?" How unoriginal! In any case, Ms. Karsten, it's me, Pleiades; you have nothing to fear; to be honest, I would annihilate this entire planet. No! If I have to destroy the entire universe just to get my hands on you, that is how vital you are to my cause."
Pleiades talked in a serious but calm tone, but Crusch didn't hear much of it because she was still taken aback by Pleides's presence.
"Pleiades?"
Crusch questioned, still stunned by the image in front of her.
"Is...is that really you?"
Given that his current body was devoid of any details, the only thing that remained were his eyes, and no facial expression could be detected on his face.
Given how calmly he speaks even while under pressure, it was difficult to detect if any emotions were behind his comments. Especially in his current form, devoid of details, he looks like a living shadow itself.
But, as he told Crusch, Pleiades' response is brief and to the point.
"*Sigh!* I suppose seeing me in this form would have the same effect on humans. To be honest, Ms. Karsten, I have long gone beyond the concept of my humanity; what I am is something you cannot grasp, at least not yet. Soon, you'll be like me, if not greater, as your power grows. But look at me; this form, this shape, is the genuine me in a sense; I have no details because they are unnecessary; what you call humanity, I call a prison; to transcend oneself is to become like water; and to go beyond that is to attain perfect abstraction in mind, body, and soul."
"However, once inside this place, the trapping of mortal flesh means nothing to me; I can become anything I want in my domain." In summary, you are in my unrestricted world, and to be honest, I am so powerful inside this place that I can actually be dubbed God. Because I can bring life into this place if I truly want to." However, in the end, it is merely a fantasy of divinity, for I have transcended my humanity and become a higher entity, and this shadow garden is like my body composed of magic that transcends normal magic. Now, in order to advance in power, I must find a means to transcend even the shadow garden. And you, Ms. Karsten, are the key to achieving that aim."
Pleiades spoke in his normal manner, but Crusch was taken aback by the bombshell he threw on her. She, on the other hand, remained silent and gave him the floor as he proceeded to speak.
"However, Ms. Karsten I'm already seeing signs of progress. You can stroll, talk, and move around in my garden. I was afraid I'd have to reduce the shadow garden's information output just to get you to move. But you have already surpassed all of my expectations, despite the fact that you are neither a witch nor a sage candidate. You don't even have immunity to miasma, and yet you're accomplishing the impossible here. Tell me, is your brain viewing an infinite amount of information?"
Pleiades inquired of Crusch, who began to shake her head and speak.
"Yes, as you said, this place has the power to induce omniscience in those who enter it." Even with all of this information, I still don't comprehend anything. It's like annoying whispers of millions, if not billions, of people speaking inside my head right now, and you can't really hear or understand any of them even if you concentrate hard enough, but paradoxically, I feel like my brain is supposed to be overloaded at this point, or I should be driven insane by all this forbidden information. "How come I'm not affected by this place?"
Crusch was perplexed. Pleiades, of course, responds.
"You are not unaffected, and as you stated, infinite information about all things across all concepts of infinity, parrel, and nonparallel should drive you insane." At the very least, your brains will be overloaded. However, you are not affected since your brain is regenerating faster than the information that can flood your head. Of course, this is only a theory; as I already stated, I need to conduct research on your body and soul. But, in any case, do you see the fragments and the enormous tree in front of you?"
When Pleiades said this, Crusch was perplexed and began looking around, but there were no trees. To her, this was just an endless void, but with the infinite information in her head, it was like being a part of a huge, complicated, and ever-changing kaleidoscope.
That's why she described this place as beautiful.
Pleiades, however, knows the answer, judging by her facial expression, and continues to speak.
"Hahah... it appears that this may be the limits of your capabilities." Not to worry; as I previously stated, you are a plant, and I am the gardener. However, let me show you that this world is not as empty as you believe... so take my hand and allow me to show you what I see in my world. Like you said before currently you are currently perceiving infinite information that vanishes. So allow me to demonstrate how I capture that endless knowledge.... Because, like you, I can't grasp everything all at once. However, after years of research, I found a way to capture all knowledge within existence. What I possess is truly forbidden knowledge, so be honored, Ms. Karsten, because not even the other witches of sin are aware of this thing inside the shadow garden. And even if they were, Sekhmet is the only one with the power to see it, much less destroy it given her attribute as sloth."
Crusch examined the dark hand that was extended to her. Pleiades appeared to be a demon at the time. And clutching that hand was like striking a bargain with the devil. But Crusch knew instinctively that clutching that hand would be the end of all the normality she had left. Pleiades was going to show her something so strange, eldritch, and forbidden that she would want to flee. However, escaping was impossible. She understood that his hand signified more than a bargain with the devil. Instead, she would become a collaborator of the devil himself.
But she'd come this far to just toss everything away and declared to herself.
'Well, I guess this is truly where it will begin and end.'
So, as soon as she whispered those words, Crusch grabbed Pleiades' hand. Her surroundings began to shift. Her eyes were previously closed, but now they are open. Millions, if not billions, of them, encircled the entire shadow garden.
And unlike the great, endless darkness that once emcompassed the place, the entire garden changed immediately after touching Pleiades hand. And what was just a world full of darkness became a world that she can only call "The Sea of Fragments." Because before Crusch, there were a considerable amount of glass shards floating aimlessly in this place.
But these shards weren't ordinary shards; they contained strange stuff. Things she can only refer to as separate universes, if not different realities, She grabbed one of them and held it up to her face out of curiosity, and what she saw stunned her.
She saw a boy with a clear complexion and red hair wearing a ripped and bloody green and black checker patterns haori. He appears to be wearing a uniform underneath it. And he wielded a bloody sword. His eyes were bloodshot, and you could sense the hatred in them. On the other hand, the child was facing a strange-looking but equally beautiful humanoid female monster, or perhaps a demon, but the boy looked at the woman who backed away from him and said.
"Those made of flesh and blood can't do what demons do."
"Why would you rob them?"
"Why would you trample over their lives?"
"They can never come back!"
"Those lost lives will never return."
The demon woman was on her knees at the time, her hand touching her head in amazement and shock, but mostly fear, as she said.
"I've heard these words before."
Crusch was taken aback by these people, who appeared to be real to her. No, she already understands why they resemble her since they are actual people but from another world. And then her gaze quickly shifts away from this world and toward another.
"Zeus, I bring you the destruction of Olympus!"
Then another.
"I am the bone of my sword."
Then another.
"My students are watching, so I'm going to show off a little."
Then another.
"By the powers of Azeroth, I beseech you... Azeroth Metreon Zinfos."
Then another.
"Good to see you... Cloud.
And another... and another... and another!
Her eyes saw numerous universes, timelines, possibilities, and alternate and non-alternate realities. Possible and impossible, and right in the middle of it all. This guy... no, this entity, Pleiades, or the former Natsuki Subaru, was the being that stood above this world, which contained a wide multiverse. He did not move with creation. No, he moves creation itself.
It was at that time that she realized how dangerous this Natsuki was. At first, she dismissed his boasts of being one step away from godhood as nonsense. But she now regrets even thinking such thoughts. If this isn't the power of a god, she has no idea why the concept even exists.
Her gaze was drawn to the dark figure, whose eyes were fixed on her. She felt small and insignificant for the first time, and it was not a pleasant sensation. Because how can she even compare with this much power in the hands of someone who oversees the multiverse on a daily basis?
But the horror show was only getting started, because as soon as Pleiades let go of her hand, he walked ahead of her. When she turns around, her eyes widen even more. Because there was a giant purple tree that was devouring any shards that even past it.
And in front of that three was a succession of dark roots shaped into a big throne of strange esoteric purple material that was beyond human comprehension. However, the throne was merged with the tree.
Pleiades wasted no time in assuming the throne and crossing his legs, making himself at home. As he told the terrified lioness.
"All right, Ms. Karsten." What you are looking at is an extremely complicated device. The first I created is "The Tree of Knowledge," a tree that accumulates all of the information from these shards. And the throne I sit on is called "The Nexus Branch," and it is an omnicomputer that takes apart all data and breaks it down one by one, manifesting it into the fruits that the tree of knowledge produces. Together, they are known as Nexus-3, a natural Paraphysical apparatus that analyzes even the very constructions of a platonic concept. This took me thousands of years to create. And with the power of Nexus-3, we will claim this world Od as our own."
"So with that said Ms. Karsten shall we establish the conditions of our contract?"