"Wait, you are going to inject that thing inside me... are you sure that's safe?"
Crusch questioned Pleiades, who had already grasped her left arm and was preparing to inject her with AMX-34. Of course, he responded as such, apparently anticipating this reaction from a first-timer.
"Don't worry, lady Crusch; I've meticulously tested and improved the effects of AMX-34 time and time again." To my closest aid, only three other persons, including myself, have had the opportunity to experience the power that AMX-34 has to offer, given that the majority of them were injected by AMX-24 and AMX-14. When I first sought to merge Amaxtrixian DNA with other DNA samples, you should have been concerned. The first variant was designated AMX-4, AMX for Amaxtrixian, and #4 for the four galactic tragedies caused by the first sample of it, which mutated with the test participants. They were all transformed into immensely powerful but similarly disfigured humanoid aliens with a desire for blood and havoc alone. As a result, those four attempts were regarded as failures, as was the initial effort. Therefore, the #4 for this specific DNA alternation serum was tied to its previous and future variations in memory of that failure."
"And now, my dear assistant, you will have the honor and opportunity to be one of the select few who have the power granted by using AMX-34 on your side." So let's get this out of the way, and then you'll be awarded a new set of armor. Don't worry, I've already contacted the best blacksmith I know, Lord Shadimoth of planet Vasca in the Yertamore-85 Galaxy, within the Arcnett nebula, to build you what I like to call Valkyrie armor, fitting for someone like yourself who once had that moniker in the past. As such, please consider it a present from me to you, and from there we will journey to our main base of operations, which is located within the darkest portion of the universe itself and is known as the "■■■■■■ void."
Crusch was bombarded with so much information in less than thirty seconds that she regretted ever asking Pleiades. Everything he says makes no sense to her; it is as if they were on entirely separate levels of existence. As a result, she paid it no heed because, in the end, Pleiades knew what the best course of action was for her to take, so Crusch chose to accept the offer of AMX-34 and leave it at that. She did, however, notice the new armor part, but her curiosity was drawn to that incompressible name, which is the name of some void, and just hearing Pleiades pronounce it terrified her.
As a result, she continued to ask another question while Pleiades began to pump AMX-34 into her veins.
"Say, at the end there, you mentioned the name of some sort of void; why couldn't I hear it, or is that some strange alien language?"
Something horrific transpired in front of Crusch's eyes as a result of that idea. Crusch first believed Pleiades' present shape was merely his void-like eyes and dark humanoid shape. But then the shadows on his lower and upper lips tore apart. To describe it, all Crusch could see at the time was a patch of space tearing on his featureless face directly in front of her eyes. Inside its mouth was a tapestry of eyeballs, all swirling and smiling as if something were inside the very concept of Pleiades abstractness itself. And then his voice started to appear inside her head, but it wasn't simply Pleiades' voice; it was the voice of a woman, or was it a man, or was it all the voices in the universe talking at once? She even heard herself speak for a brief moment. She wasn't going insane, was she? No, it was sheer, unhinged madness inside of him that existed as a separate entity altogether. Who or what was this thing? She already knew, despite not knowing anything about who or what this was, this was... "The End" nothing less, nothing more.
'Agh. Yes. Are you curious now, child of man? Do you want to find out what the void is? Ok, I will tell you my true name. So, I am what I have become; we are the singularity at the heart of it all. That which will draw at it is all that is not. We are, and have always been, the silver key. Destroyer of all that is and shall be. Before there was everything, such as the universe, humans, aliens, planets, stars, conceptions, ideas, and even nothingness itself, there was only incompressible darkness. There has always been and will always be only we, myself, and I alone. We are the Kash'rAA'vatt Cycle, destined to unite all and forever intertwined in endless thorns. And you are only an extension that escaped from us, just as my dear host, the shadow garden, all that exists here and beyond, even the Od was once us, and as such, we wish to recover everything into one singularity once more.'
'Now, child of man, what will you do now that you know who we are? How do you feel knowing you are also me and knowing you know what you shouldn't know? Don't worry; after all, all that is now was once me; I was woven into many because of that thing, the god-damned king in red. I despise it; my goal is to dest... *Badump*... haaaaa? *Sigh!*... Oh my, what a troublesome host this man is... yet he is very interesting; I want him for myself and me alone, but he doesn't feel the same way. What a problematic husband, beyond even the great beyond he is... in any case, I spotted him and will devour him one day so we may be together forever, and then it would just be me and he alone... heheheh... Anyways, me that is destined to be we, farewell... till we meet again, hopefully in true singularity!'
With that stated, the mouth closed, as did Pleiades' eyes, which quickly opened again. Crusch looked on in horror and said, while slowly backing away in fear, that she knew it: that thing that appeared out of nowhere was not Pleiades; it was something else, something that could only be described as the very embodiment of pure evil, something that should not be released into the world under any circumstances. All that is left is nothing, something that will eat the entire concept of non-existence itself.
"N-n...n....Natsuku-san!?...
"Is... is that you?...
Pleiades just said in a casual tone to the startled Crusch.
"My apologies, Lady Crusch; it appears she likes you, which isn't a good thing; now that she's told you her name, I'll have to make arrangements to ensure her love is only for me." It is worse to be loved by this monster than to be loved by the witch of envy. I can't go into great depth about this because I don't know what it is. But allow me to explain everything I can. It occurred approximately 5,548 years ago when I was exploring the universe in my freshly created spaceship, which could transport me to deeper parts of the universe. And as I traveled, I found myself in a region of space that was a giant void that was slowly devouring the stars around it." Curiosity drove me into the unknown, and by the time I returned, somehow I had become a part of that unknown to some extent. I spent a long time in that void—twenty years to be precise—but found nothing of interest, to say the least. However, when I returned, I discovered this attached to me," Pleiades said, taking off his coat and turning around to show Crusch his back."
What Crusch saw shining in a horrifying purple on his back astounded her. He has an enormous tattoo of the Tree of Knowledge on his back only because the branches look like tentacles. And there were horrifying-looking eyes in the core of that tree, and the fruits it bore were likewise eyeballs. Pleiades then began to explain his problem in further detail.
"What you see there is definitely the Tree of Knowledge; it's this very marking that inspired me to build Nexus-3; to me, it was like a horrific version of Norse mythology's Tree of Life, Yggdrasil." And I couldn't properly examine the shards inside the Shadow Garden, which had a true multiverse's worth of information at the time. As a result, I devised a machine that would swallow the fragments and allow me to study them. It took me thousands of years, but I finally made it. But how can someone make something that can quite literally consume an entire omniverse equal to one shard? You may be thinking, "That doesn't make any sense, does it?" Even Echidna is incapable of doing so."
"Without a doubt, the witch of greed is the smartest person who has ever lived, but I secretly stole that title from her the moment I took the devil's hand for a brief moment." This tattoo offers me power, which I am hesitant to use but yet tempted to use at times, but I know I shouldn't. And that power is the ability to absorb anything in existence and remake it into whatever I want. And with this ability, I became a genuine deity, capable of devouring and recreating anything I desired. At first, I utilized this newfound power to extend my views as I began to study. Imagine yourself as a child who now owns a toy store. Such is my insatiable curiosity as the bearer of the sin of greed. This power of mine was the means by which I was able to construct the Tree of Knowledge and the Hall of Stories from within. Beatrice was also dying at the time, so I created the Hall of Stories to place her in a state of limbo, but I got too greedy; I ended up hurting and using her instead when I figured out I could freely go directly into her dreams and study all that endless information, that she was consuming."
"You could argue that I should have used this ability to save her, but I couldn't. Yes, I have the ability to destroy and construct whatever I desire, as long as it is within me. But here's the catch: Whatever I eat becomes a permanent part of me. And what I remake is nothing more than an extension of myself; in short, once you are an integral component of the singularity, you will always be a part of the singularity; you cannot escape the unity that is within me. In some ways, I am the Tree of Knowledge and the stories it consumes. Thankfully, I discovered that early on, and I was confident that if I hadn't found this out early on, I would have devoured Beatrice in desperation and remade her in my image, but it wouldn't be Beatrice; it would just be myself in a different shape, entirely oblivious that it is me, although the real me knows that it is only me."
"This alone caused me to temporarily abandon the Nexus-3 project; after all, The Tree of Knowledge was keeping Beatrice alive, but the dream she created is nothing more than an extension of me." In the end, she was merely a tool for The Tree of Knowledge. But Beatrice was unique; her mind and body remained intact; she was still alive; it was simply that what she desired was not hers. It was just me inadvertently constructing the omniverse that I consumed and wanted to learn more about. And Beatrice's dreams of them—both blissful and vice. She is always in a perpetual state of insanity and happiness. "Her mind is infinitely dispersed across all timelines and universes; that The Tree of Life Devours."
"But things only got worse from there. With Beatrice gone, I was left alone, and my authority didn't help. Naturally, even now, I don't feel bad about what I did to Beatrice and what I'm doing to her every second that passes." Nonetheless, I am determined to save Beatrice at any cost and simply apologize. Don't misunderstand me, Crusch. I am conscious of my acts; I am aware that I am nearing the realm of absolute apathy, yet in my own twisted way, I care about others. It's just my method of demonstrating my love, which is insufficient in human terms. I am a monster; I am a devil worse than any other devil, and I am proud of it even though I should not be."
"In order to bring Beatrice back, I devoured and recreated the materials that I spent thousands of years traversing the universe to obtain; some of the materials were actual technology from type 3 and 4 civilizations, while others were living beings from various different galaxies." Nexus-3 is, in some ways, a version of myself born from the advanced technology of many races and the races themselves, all absorbed by me and reborn as a hybrid eldritch monstrosity that is both biological and inorganic. As a result of life and machines, it is an omnicomputer greater than anything in this universe."
"As a result, my greatest creation was born, but the more I use this unknown power, which I know nothing about, all for the sake of saving Beatrice and undoing everything I've done to her, the more she suffers." It was already too late; my power was growing stronger and stronger. Until she eventually entered my life. She is the creature who dwells within all of Beatrice's dreams, including her own originals; clearly, I wasn't the only one eating, because this power was living and feeding alongside me."
"And the deeper I go into Beatrice's dreams, the more her presence that exists within me infects them; that's why I made Nexus Beatrice's dreams manifest in the form of fruits." Because the creature only lives in her dream if I am physically, mentally, or spiritually present in her dreamscape. So I made and programmed the Nexus-3 the way it is so that I could still examine her dreams without entering them by making Beatrice manifest them in the form of fruits. But it became evident to me that the more I use this power, the more I become a part of the being who gave it to me in the first place. That entity's name is the Kash'rAA'vatt Cycle, but I call her Kash'rAA'vatt. This name should normally be impossible to understand if she does not allow you to hear it."
"But it's clear to me what Kash'rAA'vatt wants: a body, and she wants to devour everything within herself, leaving nothing but me and her, for some reason this woman loves me for reasons unknown like a wife would love its husband, in a way she reminds me a lot like Satella but infinitely worse and more powerful."
"And that black spot in the universe that I inadvertently entered that day wasn't just a void. It was a prison harboring that beast within, I knew that because she told me, and she communicates to me in my thoughts like a parasite from time to time. And the stars it ate were sacrifices to keep it quiet and unconscious at all times. But, like some sick joke, that creature is now inside of me. The only things I know about her are her name, the prison she was in, and the fact that she says my body is like an anti-void that naturally devours prohibited things. This woman is insane; she claims to want me and that I am her ticket to victory and vengeance; she says it has to be me, and only me. She sings of prophecies. These Prophecies she sings about a tale that I am the one who shall take the crown of her brother Khahrahk and devour him whole."
"I asked her, who is Khahrahk, and her response was as follows. "He is my brother, also known as the Scarlett king, an embodiment of pure evil so powerful that by knowing who or what he is increases his power. But you're different; you're connected to the Swann, or are at least comparable, I sense it; you're something born from beyond the Tree of Life. I see you, you're the one with the bloody thorns painted black on your crown. It has to be you, just you, and together we can and will triumph. And when all is said and done, you will be the one who appears before the lady of the blackthorn... beyond that, I am not sure, but if we reach her, everything below is ours... so utilize my power, be eaten by it, let me consume you, enjoy you, remake you, and only then will I be completely satisfied."
"All in all, I brought this on myself, and the void from which Kash'rAA'vatt emerged is not supposed to be accessible, as it devours anything that comes close to it, never to return once inside." But the instant I entered, I consumed the void itself, as well as the creature of the abyss within; how I did this in the first place, I have no clue, and I meant that in the sense that science or magic cannot explain how I am doing this. And she can take control of me from time to time as well, albeit she can't physically harm someone since I seal the movement of my body whenever she takes control using a technique I like to call the one million contracts."
"But yeah, I don't know her true motives beyond devouring everything, so I can't trust her, and I don't want her to fully consume me in any way either, Ohh heavens no, we can't have that, can we, if anyone does the consuming, it will be me?" And she refused to give me anything other than what she believed I needed to know, talk about a persistent parasite, so I sealed her away; unfortunately, I haven't tamed this eldritch mommy as yet, but it's a work in progress."
"And that is more or less how I became the host of Kash'rAA'vatt, the lady of the void until, and until I could find a way to exploit her powers for myself and myself alone without the consequences of being consumed slowly every time I used her powers. So she has to be a good little eldritch monstrosity locked inside me until I can find a way to tame her; unfortunately, she is not the submissive sort, and I am deeply into submissive girls, although I do like them when they fight back so when they do become submissive the work I put in feel all the more better; talk about sexual tension that can't be fulfilled unless I or her give up the right to take charge, I am very dominant person Ms. Crusch its either my way or no way."
Pleiades told all of this to a stunned Crusch, who was perplexed to hear the entire narrative from beginning to end. In some ways, the dots were beginning to connect, albeit slowly. But now she has even more reason to be scared of Pleiades. For one thing, she discovered Pleiades was the host of some type of Dark Goddess who was obsessed with him. Two, Pleiades, like Regulus, was a very selfish person, but his selfishness was like a boundless ocean, quiet, dark, and scary. Regulus, on the other hand, would kill you if you told him otherwise, as he is always blaming others. But Pleiades was a silent selfishness, not as loud and destructive as Regulus selfishness, seeing that Reguls will kill you if provoked or tell otherwise, which is mercy in and of itself. Pleiades, on the other hand, was... unpredictable, which worried her. Regulus, on the other hand, would kill you if you told him otherwise, as he is always blaming others. But Pleiades was a silent selfishness, not as loud and destructive as Regulus selfishness, seeing that Reguls will kill you if provoked or tell otherwise, which is mercy in and of itself. Pleiades, on the other hand, was... unpredictable, which worried her.
Third was virtually the only positive aspect of anything discussed. And it was the fact that despite all of his warped and messed up actions thus far. There were evident indicators that, while he was no longer the kind man he once was, he still had a sliver of humanity within him. His desire to save Beatrice is evidence of this, and this led the duchess to cling to the hope that he was still beyond salvation.
Pleiades on the other hand began to talk while she was considering all of this.
"Now, now, Lady Crusch, don't be concerned; everything is literally under my control, malevolent Goddess or not. It's not the first time I've fought God-like beings, and it's certainly not the last. I have no idea who the Scarlett king is, nor do I care; if he arrives, so be it; our battle will be legendary if he is exceedingly powerful. Overall, we have a lot to do, so you can rest for the time being. We will leave for planet Vasca in three hours when AMX-34 will conclude its assimilation within you."
"So, for the time being, go enjoy yourself; the shadow garden can do anything you imagine; I believe you want a bath, so take one; if you want a massage, come to me; I don't mind; after all, I am very good with my hands." If you wish to watch a movie, simply instruct the garden to create a theater room with an infinite number of movies; after all, the mind is not restricted to anything other than the user. And while you're doing that, I have some personal stuff in my office that I need to get done... if you want to see me, just say my name and I'll transport you right away."
Crusch sighed inwardly, Pleiades was right, she needed a nice bath after this mind-boggling, if not stressful, couple of hours. As a result, she nodded her head and began to recreate the Karsten mansion as a pocket dimension and a door appeared out of nowhere leading to the place she would consider as her personal room in this place. And as she began to open the door, she turned around and said.
"Ummm... Natsuki, I know I might not be as much help to you in anything other than reaching the OD, however, if you ever need my help, don't forget you have a friend you can reach out to behind this door, even if you just want someone to talk to I am here for you."
"Of course lady Crusch, the same goes for you as well, please enjoy the shadow garden however you please."
Pleiades announced, this time in a more charismatic tone, and Crusch nodded as she entered her house to take a bath. And shut the last door behind her. Pleiades, on the other hand, began to materialize and open a portal similar to what Crusch did. Inside was a small room with no windows or anything other than a desk full of documents, a massive futuristic computer system, and a small book labeled "Satella Diary" on it. And when he arrived at his office inside the shadow garden, he sat down in his chair.
He was the Order of the Black Quil's ruler and founder at the time. As such he has a variety of tasks, including singing documents here and there to build new alliances or consent to some request from partnered alien civilizations, as well as issuing the command to rule or entirely destroy a planet. If not, terraform them to relocate the resources. As a result, he was scheduled to speak with his son Methuselah of planet Flugel within the next hour or so in an online meeting. And Methuselah, the first-born child of Pleiades and second in charge of the Order was intrigued by a planet that looked a lot like his old world.
He was the Order of the Black Quil's ruler and founder. As such he has a variety of tasks, including singing documents here and there to build new alliances or consent to some request from partnered alien civilizations, as well as issuing the command to rule or entirely destroy a planet. If not, terraform them to relocate the resources. As a result, he was scheduled to speak with his son Methuselah of planet Flugel within the next hour or so in an online meeting. And Methuselah, the first-born child of Pleiades and second in charge of the Order was intrigued by a planet that looked a lot like Pleiades old world.
But since he had an hour to spare he was sent a message from his familiar that they had garnered some information on the sword saint and had sent it over to Nexus-3, whereas Nexus-3 had already sent the information to Nexus-3-1 which is the computer in his office that behaves likes a normal computer, unlike the Nexus Branch.
So he entered his password and went to his files, where he discovered the folder titled:
[Project Clotho, I53-Valerie]
And when he opened it, he discovered a video from his Archbishop, which was titled.
[Valerie I1]
Pleiades began to sit back and watch the video, which played loudly in the enclosed space almost as if by magic, as the video was twenty-four minutes long.
"Well, then, current sword saint, Reinhard Van Astra descendant, and Roswaal L. Mather." "Show me what this unexpected union of the greatest house of swordsmen and the greatest house of mages created."