Beyond the vast starry sky—
Here lay a world of swirling illusions and silent void.
Galaxies, universes, worlds, dimensions... none of it could be measured here. There was no space, no time, not even the concept of physical form.
Should a sentient being accidentally enter this realm, their first perception would be of countless warped shards of glass, crystal, light curtains, and many other shining objects coming together to form surreal images.
A beautiful abyss.
The scenery changed with every shift of the eye. Look back, and the brilliant multicolored tableau might have transformed into a range of mountains.
Forests made of pure geometric shapes and sparkling crystalline particles flowed with glowing rivers of gold, only to collapse in an instant, sending waves crashing like stormy seas.
Ever-changing. Ever-shifting.
These strange, magnificent scenes resembled the gaping maw of a terrifying beast—mysterious, unknown, dangerous, yet so mesmerizing that one could not help but want to explore.
But the number of "visitors" able to set foot here had always been vanishingly few. Most who entered remained trapped in the labyrinth of stardust and glass, for this place would make you forget the way home.
Amid a swirl of twisted, kaleidoscopic light, the stars spiraled into a vast storm, transforming into a towering figure of divine majesty. Radiant and terrifying.
Countless galaxies bowed before the light that tore the sky asunder. The brilliance representing the constellations unfurled within her body. Newborn stars beat brightly—this was the authority of creation. Dimmed starlight adorned the crown of apocalypse. With a single thought, she could rearrange the constellations.
A pair of dazzling eyes, seemingly forged from star-gems.
Selene, just as she had when she first embarked on her journey, wore a faint smile at the corner of her lips, deeply engrossed.
From a different height, a different perspective, she gazed once more upon her homeland. This world of magic, supernatural abilities, and near-futuristic technology now appeared to her as a prison bound by countless "shackles."
Upon closer inspection, the world's very foundation seemed to be made of overlapping layers of "paper," "threads," and "sheets," like veils or filters placed over reality by a multitude of religions. These constructs, called "faith" and "religion," could also be described as phases.
In all her conquests throughout imperial history, Selene had never encountered a world quite this bizarre.
She continued studying intently, peeling away the phases, determined to glimpse the world's true form.
Yet no matter what method she employed, the final result she perceived through the gaps was always the same—a flat, unchanging field of pitch black.
Remove every phase, and the world revealed itself as a featureless black plane.
Selene reached a realization: perhaps from the moment this world birthed intelligent life, "faith" and "religion" began feeding on the world as nourishment. The moment the first being ascended to the position of Magic God, the world became a possession of individuals.
Selene had no interest in what the original state of the Toaru world was. She wasn't that obsessive or fixated.
She only knew that once the first Magic God was born, regardless of how many more would appear afterward, the world was no longer what it once was.
And from that point on, fewer Magic Gods would emerge. On one hand, the world may have reached its limit. On the other, some candidates had begun to lose interest in becoming Magic Gods—perhaps even developing hatred for the title and its rules.
Aleister was just such a candidate. Once a potential Magic God.
At one time, Aleister Crowley could have become one of the Magic Gods, joining the ranks of the true gods.
But for the sake of his daughter, Aleister—who had resolved to destroy magic itself—refused that position, choosing to retain his humanity in both form and capability.
Be it mockery or indifference, Selene couldn't be bothered to comment on the bizarre laws of this world. Finding a "father figure" for oneself was fine—but finding so many that a mere twitch could annihilate the universe that birthed them...
Truly... well, the Sacred Selene Empire also depended on Selene to exist, so never mind.
Selene and the Magic Gods weren't much different in nature—individuals greater than the world itself.
But the Magic God position was both blessing and curse.
Even a single complete Magic God possessed power that exceeded what the Toaru world could contain. Their mere existence could shatter the universe. Unless they split their power, they couldn't manifest in the present world.
Moving forward, stepping back, or even standing still—all of it affected the world. For Magic Gods, this was a burden. Many wished to live freely without affecting others, or desired a solitary world where they could act recklessly without consequence.
Unfortunately, such things were impossible. That was the essence of a Magic God.
The world nourished them, and they transcended it in return. But this transcendence...
It was transcendence, yet incomplete.
Their individual power far exceeded that of the world they were born in, yet they remained tethered to this universe. They couldn't leave, and a casual appearance in the real world could trigger its destruction.
Because of that, complete Magic Gods had no choice but to hide within a special phase known as the "Hidden World." There, no Magic God could control the full picture or destroy the Hidden World itself.
Thus, many either gave up on thinking altogether and lived in seclusion, ignoring the outside world, or lost interest in humanity and the world beyond, harboring no ill intent—only pursuing their own pleasures.
In a way, it was all quite pitiful.
By comparison, Selene preferred a slower, harder path—rejecting the instant ascension of becoming a Magic God. Instead, she chose to expand outward through conquest, gradually elevating herself through a series of wars.
More importantly—wasn't that far more exciting?
And with gradual, synchronized growth, she wouldn't face the awkward situation of expanding so quickly that she burst her own world from within.
Each path had its merits. Selene's approach was simply more inefficient and more effort-intensive.
"Mmhmm... If I gave them external coordinates, could they be of use to me?"
But the next moment, Selene lightly slapped her forehead in self-mockery. "As if. Magicians are all just chaos incarnate. They look unserious, but each one is proud to their bones. Asking them to set aside their pride? Not happening."
Besides, I don't like creating rivals for myself.
"Then let them become history."
Selene's voice seemed to carry a strange magic, causing the shifting void to fall still.
The Goddess of Finality extended her arm.
Selene silently imagined the sound of bubbles popping.
With her motion, countless "bubbles" burst in an instant. One after another, stars several times larger than the solar system were forcibly dragged, triggering wave after wave of stellar storms.
From a downward gaze, one could see countless stars collapsing under Selene's will.
Torn apart by immense gravitational force, the stars exploded. Blazing magma from their cores erupted violently!
As the "bubbles" burst, countless worlds met their end in that very instant.
...
In a certain world-bubble, on a certain planet where primitive intelligent life had just emerged on the surface—
Amidst the cosmic starfield, flashes of violet-red light signaled destruction.
In a Stone Age tribe built around a bonfire, four-legged, four-armed carapaced lifeforms, having finished their day's hunt, were enjoying a leisurely evening meal under the setting sun. Their insectoid heads and scythe-like mandibles could easily slice through flesh and bone.
Then—the world changed.
Heaven and earth trembled. Mountains flipped, seas reversed, the sun was extinguished…
They were helpless, clueless. All they could do was cry out the revered names of the gods from their respective faiths, praying earnestly, hoping those deities would hear their pleas and protect them through this catastrophe.
In one world where magic and battle qi thrived in a medieval civilization—
People mistook it for a resurgence of magic. But a moment later, they realized they were wrong. A great star exploded without warning, and the falling debris blotted out the sky.
Strong warriors cast aside old grudges and soared into the sky. Hurricanes howled, war drums thundered, banners flapped—they fought to protect, to survive. Their tragic and resounding battle cries echoed to the heavens.
In another world that had entered the space age—
An alien civilization witnessed the collapse of continental shelves on its home planet. Their once-promising interstellar fleets exploded amid unending cosmic tremors, breaking apart with shrill screams.
...
Among them were universes where intelligent life had only just emerged… where dinosaurs evolved into sentient beings… where primitive beastman civilizations wielded cold weapons… and even a world of sentient fruit civilizations…
All vibrant, all diverse. Some flourishing. But without exception, none could resist this unprovoked calamity.
Solid tectonic plates were lifted by catastrophic shifts in the material universe.
Mass extinction arrived.
Stars exploded. All things perished. Under the collapse of the universe, everything became specks of multicolored light. The specks stretched into strands, converging at Selene's fingertips.
From an efficiency standpoint, sourcing materials on the spot was better than painstakingly creating them herself.
As for the complaints of those poor souls crushed by falling sky while sitting quietly at home?
Kneel.
It wasn't sadism or wanton destruction—just convenience. In Selene's eyes, these worlds held less value than the Toaru world. Trading them for a catalyst was worth it. Simple as that.
The law of the jungle—the strong rule everything—was fully displayed.
Gather, compress, accelerate, compress again, accelerate again… until—boom!
The Big Bang. Expansion. Acceleration. Cooling. A new universe was forged.
Glowing streams of purplish-red blood flowed from Selene's fingertips and quickly seeped into the newly created universe.
Corruption. Remodeling.
It would become a Honkai world—its laws wholly reshaped according to Selene's will, customized to target the traits of Magic Gods.
Gradually, the nascent universe turned entirely blood-red. Rapid expansion caused its outer shell to generate irreversible heat. Even space itself was scorched, scarred by its ominous fluctuations.
"This is the battlefield I've prepared for you."
Her crimson eyes narrowed, gaze lowered, a charming smile stretching across her lips. As Selene continued drawing in "materials" to accelerate the growth of her newborn universe, she stared across the unknowable cosmic sea at her own clone.
Guiding the way, threads of connection from the universe slowly formed, reaching toward the Toaru world. She was waiting—for Aleister's success.
She wasn't stupid. Why fight the full-difficulty version if someone else was softening it up for you?
Selene had martial virtue, no doubt. But her martial virtue was also… flexible.
"Aleister…"
A flash of seriousness appeared in her gem-like eyes. Selene carefully hid the "interface," keeping the perfect distance, and whispered, "Don't drop the ball at the crucial moment."
...
Darkness.
This was where Aleister had struggled so desperately to reach—and where he sought to destroy.
If the rift between multiversal sea realms where Selene's main body resided was dark, yet lit by multicolored starlight, then this place was pure, literal black.
Pitch black. Not a speck of light. The kind of darkness where even your hand before your face vanished.
More than that, the profound dark felt like it pressed straight into your eyeballs—crushing. This place couldn't even be called a "place"—for how could one describe what did not exist?
Yet no one within that darkness seemed afraid or shaken. As if declaring: this was how the world ought to be. Unless someone whispered, "Grant me light," this was the natural state of things.
In this pitch-black space where direction and depth meant nothing, several voices overlapped.
An elderly, raspy voice spoke:
"...Though we do not interfere in worldly affairs, it seems quite a mess out there this time. Ollerus, that man who shares some of our nature, has been defeated. And the one who rejected becoming one of us is the same. Ridiculous. He's ruined the world beyond recognition."
It wasn't merely raspy—it was parched. Dry. There was a hint of disdain in the words.
"Oh~?" responded a voice both sweet and alluring, silky as chocolate—like that of a charming, seductive woman.
But why did it make one feel like weeping?
"'High Priest,' old man, are you planning to intervene in the real world?"
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