Raya was floating. Where ? She didn't know. All she could see was... white. True white. Sinless White

  A color she hadn't been able to see since she became the Sin of Wrath. This white was stretching everywhere, as if she was in an immacute snow field.More importantly, she felt calm. Like back in the cathedral. She felt like she could wait for all eternity here. She felt Patience.

  My child. What is that you desire ? More power ? Authority ? Tell me, daughter of Fureur... a booming voice echoed. The Wyvern instantly recognized it. The Divine. There was no time for hesitation. That would be disrespectful. She had to answer. But what could she... desire ?

  What do I... ? Power ? Do I need... more power ? Aren't the Fmes of Wrath enough ? O Divine Father ? What Authority could I possibly need ? I am already Raya, Drake Sin of Wrath. I represent your wish to purge this world.

  You are, O child of my child. And yet... Your Fmes still cannot reach your mind whole. You have to let go, all of it. Only then you will be able to achieve what we want. Only then you will be able to set this realm abze... if the need arises. But now, you are still burdened by morals and a mortal, remnants of the life you cling onto.

  Say no more... You descended to... take them away, right ?

  ... Child. I do not want to see another child of mine losing themselves as they try to hold onto something that does not matter anymore.

  Raya frowned. Another child ? Her Progenitor ?

  What do you mean by that... Father ?

  ... This was still during the era of UnSin. Everything that I created lived and cohabited in harmony. My world was at peace.You surely do not remember the myths of your old world. You surely don't remember your old world at all, it would seem... About Eve, Adam and The Trinity. A companion of mine.But in Marka, it was no snake or drake who brought disaster to the paradise. Quite the opposite in fact.

  The otherworldly corrupters were the culprits. The world you have forgotten about calls them 'isekai' or 'transmigrated' ones. But to me and my children... they were pests. They brought powers that did not belong here. Spread their blood and ideals... Ideals that could not fit the world as I wanted it to be.

  Up until now, the Seven Virtues eradicated the few that came. 'Developers' as they called themselves.But one day... all at once. One day... it was too much. . They all 'logged-in'. I believe even you were among them that day. The sins and evil that came crashing in this world were too much to handle and the dam broke. Sins spread among the popuce of my world.

  My children convinced me that they would try to understand what Sins were and how they came to be with these intruders... to fight back better. And to do so, they accepted a great burden. They twisted the Ideals they represented.But... whereas Greed, Lust, Envy, Pride and the other accepted their new wicked nature... Wrath still had remnants of Patience he clung onto. Desperately so. He was patience after all...

  He believed that with time, everything would fix itself. He still showed... Patience towards this world. He created children, to propagate the way of Patience but still upheld his duty to destroy grand sinners as they arrived in masses. I was weak, I didn't have the heart to tell him to let go of his Virtue.

  Sadly, these reincarnated pests wanted more and after an... 'update', they began hunting his children, to make weapons, armors, equipement... And when Wrath learnt this...

  What my mortals call 'The Seven Years of Fire' began. The Fmes of Wrath he suppressed for centuries, surged to scorch this world. During these seven years, half of Marka fell under the bck fire that dragged souls to Hell. Fureur's remaining children, went in a rampage at the same time, feeling their blood boiling with their father's indignation. They too, brought more souls to the gates of Hell.

  Even the Watcher of Death could not keep up with the flow of souls coming to his realm and begged me to stop my son.

  So, you did... Raya muttered mostly to herself.

  I did. During that time, Wrath's Fmes had consumed even his reason. He could not stop his madness. I stopped his carnage and sealed him within his own heart. Then I pced him in a pce I believed safe and spoke to his children. Your ancestors, your tribe. They would guard the Heart of Wrath, until the otherworldly presence would disappear, all while trying to uphold their Progenitor's duty.

  But... human Greed intervened after all. Astria... came. Earlier than expected. They twisted around your divine decrees.

  The silhouette of light nodded somberly and slowly, looking far below the clouds the pair was on. The Divine gestured Raya to join them and she did. They stared at the ndmass that was Marka. Even from here, Raya could see the bckness in the nds. An otherworldly pgue that rooted itself deep in this realm.

  She kept silent.

  Long ago, I came to accept the fact that... as long as these otherworlders came in my reality... I would not win. Neither would they but... with their 'devs' getting here sometimes... Their powers... strange and potent powers...

  An... otherworldly power ? How come ? As far as I understand it... they seem to hold power comparable to Yours. Only lesser by an extent...

  Yes. They hold a power called... 'coding'. It forces the world I created to act and do things I cannot stop. They were the ones who 'coded' Astria's desire to conquer your kin.

  I cannot fully understand how it works, but luckily this power is not omnipotent. Although they can alter my realm, they cannot fully erase my work, and the creations I personally made remain unaffected by this 'coding'.

  ... Father. Why are you... saying this to me ?

  The Divine didn't answer at first, but instead conjured some magic to form a sphere with continents and oceans. A pnet. One that was strangely familiar to Raya.

  I pn to leave this realm for a while. I aim to... project an avatar of my will in your previous world, to understand how this realm is seen and how such powers were granted to masses. My power will dim, my believers will doubt and fear. Others will try to profit from this. They will try to harm the Faith in me.You and your siblings will be the only rampart for the time being. I have spoken to them. Wake them up as soon as you can. You will need their help.

  ... I.. understand, Father. I will guard this world. But why did you... choose me, if I was among the ones who invaded your realm ?

  You had... an attachment to this world of mine. I do not know how you had an attachment to another realm, and I wish to find an answer.But still... It was easier for me to transfer a soul who already had a presence here. And that way, I can also locate where the problem came from.I'll just need to have a talk with the gods of Earth. Their mortals seem to be... overstepping their boundaries...

  After leaving a moment of silence hanging in the air, the Divine raised a fist to lightly touch Raya's snout.

  Farewell my child. I pray for your safety.

  Raya looked at the godly form one st time as They disappeared.

  She blinked and she woke up. She looked one st time far in her memories and felt Wrath consume what remained of "Liz". There was no point anymore. If these memories could be used against her and the Divine's will, they had to be disposed of.

  The Fmes were roaring, advancing and destroying every mental barrier she had erected to preserve these few moments of a previous life.

  When They manifested in the realm of Earth, They had been expecting a welcome party, from the Trinity, from Shiva, Buddha, Al and the many other divinities who watched over Earth.

  What They came to face was a pnet nearly devoid of its divinity. They appeared, but as mere shells of Their former selves. The Markan god could barely feel Faith anymore.Curious and anxious, They approached the thunder hammer-wielding god, Thor. Last time they met, the deity was still boasting with his rippling muscles and incredible physique... But now, he was a skeleton of a god.

  "Son of Odin. What happened to your realm ? I can barely feel divinity there. Where are the other gods ?"

  The other smiled sadly while lifting his head, showing eye bags and great burden in his eyes.

  "Our mortals... Almost none is left. Of their Faith. They have thrown gods aside. They do not believe anymore. They cimed this power for themselves. Another kind of divinity.We are only... remembered as mere myths barely worth of mentioning in children tales... They became their own gods, without any need for spirituality."

  "Another... kind of divinity ? Is that why... ? Is that why they are able to cross worlds freely ?! How did they gain such authority ?! Tell me Thor ! I need to know ! Marka is in danger because of them ! How ?!"

  Thor looked sadly at his hammer. The one that had crushed the skulls of giants, the ones that summoned lightning. The one that... was powerless now.

  "The power of the progress... they call it. They freed themselves from us by exploring science. We and our powers only exist because of tales and a few who still revere us. This is the twenty-third century here. Deities don't have a pce here anymore. My thunder became atoms, positive charges, psma...There is no pce for childish wonder anymore. Our cousins, the fairy tales are dying too. Little Red Ri-"

  Space crackled and They felt another presence. A god of three entities. Both turned around to welcome the newcomer.

  "Trinity... This world became... such... a mess."

  The Father sighed. The Son looked away. The Holy Spirit hesitated but finally spoke after a brief silence.

  "You might... want to see something."

  The radiance guided the way and everyone followed. As They all went closer to the mortal soil, They couldn't help but cringe at the amount of... Sins that radiated from every corner of the air. Greed and Envy were the most powerful. Then came Pride and Lust.

  The Holy Spirit stopped before a-

  "Game shop ? What's that ?" the otherworldly god muttered, unsure.

  "No. Look up." the voice of the three-party deity resonated sadly.

  They looked up and Their eyes widened. A huge illuminated billboard, with eborate drawings that fshed and moved for some reason. Very familiar drawings... But what struck Them the most was the writing.

  "Sins of... Marka ? Sins of... Marka 2 ?! WHA- What is this ?!" They roared in indignation. "A what-game ?! Expin !"

  The Son of Odin rose his hands in surrender at the god's fury."As I was saying. The power of science... These things appeared three centuries ago. The mortals call them... 'videogames'. They 'py' these games. The earthling incarnate other beings... as works of fiction, until they are not.Literature and myths have always been easy to control. Even if the work ended up being a masterpiece, paper was a thing we could understand. Legends were tales we could influence with oracles."

  "Videogames on the other hand..." continued Ra, a god of... Egypt, was it ? "-creating a videogame meant creating a narrative outside of our jurisdiction. The mortals advanced faster than us.The began creating more of these worlds we cannot understand the rules of. By coding."

  What ? They murmured. So that was... coding ?

  Ra continued on."This coding is powerful. The gods incarnating Knowledge were overwhelmed at first, and never caught up. In a few decades, this power allowed to create endlessly. And when fiction coincides with a world that already exists, Creation favors making things easier. A bridge is made between fiction and reality."

  "... Does that happen... often ?"

  "More than you would think... And with our fading powers, we have no hope of restoring things as they were before. We can't reset this world to a previous state like we used to do."

  "..."They kept silent. Such revetions were terrifying ones.

  They looked another time at the bsphemous scripture, confused, angry, lost... and in distress. They recalled the hope They had instilled into Their child... If Raya were to learn of this...

  "O gods of Earth. I ask you this. What is your Divinity ? Have you lost it ? Would you accept-"

  "You are not- This is folly !"

  The papal states were in a state of turmoil. The Divine's presence had dimmed significantly. Priests, nuns, clergymen, believers... all turned to the sky in disbelief. Pope Kari and her council sent their prayers and felt the holy energy in their words, still present. They hadn't fallen.

  At the same time, the emperor of the Akwa Empire was writing a letter in his quarters. After putting his pen down he turned his gaze to inspect the scene below the castle.

  The greatest army of this world. Legions of ten of thousand men, hundreds of siege machines and war beasts... all coming out of the castle's underground.He then gazed at the dimming holy barrier in the distance.

  "Let's hope you'll be reasonable, Pope Kari. Your divine power has weakened. The Empire must unify this world. At all costs. To forever seal the Sins of our realm."

  "Your Highness ! The first army is ready for deployment ! We are awaiting command !"

  The emperor hummed deeply. He approached his desk and took the stack of letters he had just written. He handed the missives over to the soldier, who secured the precious scrolls in his spatial pouch.

  "Pass this order around all ten legions of the first army. They will know what to do."

  The man nodded and hurried to rey the message. A few moments ter, de Wandermer snapped his finger and a shadowy figure stepped out of the shadow, kneeling behind the one who summoned him.

  "Crow. Any news of my daughter ? And of the Hero candidate ?"

  "Non- Actually yes. Liz'a de Wandermer and her companion Ramiel were st sighted near the entrance of... ahem. Near the entrance of... DragonGorge. The territory of the Fire Wyverns. My spies haven't been able to follow the duo. Powerful fire magic was here and prevented us from getting closer. It even melted |The iceberg| in an instant."

  "Oh ? The relic I infused with my Ice element ? The very same ? Interesting..."

  After a quick pause, the man pressed on."Crow, tell me in all honesty. Do you believe my magic could freeze this fire ?"

  The shadow of the emperor got up on her feet and replied no- in an almost shout. Realizing her mistake, she bowed to apologize but a hand stopped her.

  The ice mage was now intrigued, very much so."Go on. Why do you think so ?"

  "May I speak informally ? It would be-"

  "Granted."

  "A-ah ? Uh ? Yes ! The fire. When some of us tried to cross the arrays, they didn't just die. Their bodies vaporized. We couldn't bring them back, no resurrection spell can be used when there is no vessel. We cannot take that risk with you, your majesty.Moreover, your unannounced coming in Pope Kari's nds may be seen as a threat. With all due respect, you were the one to tell everyone to behave as usual. Nobody most raise suspicion.That goes for you too, I'd say.Plus... Your daughter mentioned her strange desire to go explore Astria's ruins. My teams are currently circling DragonGorge to locate any hidden passage, and intercept Liz'a and Ramiel."

  "Good. But what about the Holy Sword ? And the wand I ordered to be confiscated ? I would have waited for a month to ask Sun Mane to give it back, but she fled without it, right ?"

  "... Yes. While the Holy Sword has been recovered, the heiress' wand is still in Stallion Academy."

  Crow expected her boss to be furious. She had expected him to sm his fist down on the desk, or freeze a bird perched on the castle's roof. But he did nothing. Instead he merely smirked.

  "I see. It's not a big deal. We'll get her another one. But she won't touch it for the next two months. My sanction still stands. And she messed up my pns. With her escape, Pope Kari will inevitably increase security and patrols. Everything we don't want. We'll have to be even more discreet when we'll try to attack..."

  The man sighed and turned to gre at the painting of his daughter.

  "Fucking hell. Why did Liz'a do such a reckless thing ? She was supposed to stay as an informant. What went through her fucking brainless mind ?! For fuck's sake ! We were preparing this operation for the past three years !You know what ?! Make it three ! NO ! Four months without her wand ! And I want her fast ! With anti-magic cuffs !"

  Crow sweat-dropped and wisely opted for a tactical retreat. This wasn't the moment to get impaled by her boss' ice stactites.

  Moments ter, the soldiers below looked at a bluish comet coming from the castle's central tower. The projectile disappeared behind a hill and a gigantic iceberg appeared where the soldiers assumed the comet had nded.

  "Damn, the emperor's not happy..."

  "That putting it lightly..."

  -

  "Could you move a little faster please ? We don't have all day."

  Ramiel huffed and rolled his eyes, clearly pissed off. Liz'a became so bossy in the span of a few hours. She was exhausting, bossing around like a little self-important miss.'Ramiel do this, Ramiel do that, pick up this, leave that...' Less than a week ago she was some random girl in a random city on Earth. What right did she have to act like that ?!

  [ Ramiel. What if you... ditched her ? ] an ethereal, soft voice echoed in the depths of his mind.

  'I can't do that Sky ! That'd be the worst treason ! She's still like me !'

  [ Ramiel. ] the voice, Sky, pleaded. [ Please. Reconsider your options. You've told me this already. This otherworldly stuff. You want to return. I can understand that. And it's best to do so, I'll expin why... when the time is right. But... Ramiel. This woman. She is dangerous. Reckless. She was the one so eager to drag everyone else in the forbidden area of the Holy Land. She stole Me. A Holy weapon. That alone could get her on a stake, or under a guillotine.She is unfit as a future leader, and unfit to face any challenge to return in your own world. So please. Reconsider your options. I'm only asking this. Not to accept. Just to reconsider. ]

  '... Alright. If she does something truly dangerous, I'm bailing out. She's fine after all, right ?'

  [ Yes. The presences are still following us. They're catching up. Some kind of secret service tasked to watcher over her. ]

  'Fuck... I hope they aren't after me.'

  [ No. I don't sense any hosti- Hm ? ] the sword let out a hum of intrigue. [ Is that a light ? Fire ? I'll try to scan the surroundings. But stay on guard. ]

  "You shouldn't be here, in the middle of a forest at night. Boy. Especially not with such a fine maiden around." a sharp voice cut-off. Ramiel reacted instantly, widening Sky in the form of a shield.

  "Easy, easy..." another voice chimed in. "We're not here to fight. I am Agor. The leader of Skullbreaker. We're a pretty well-known adventurer party around the Empire."

  The man who introduced himself brought a torch over, revealing his features, and the ones of the companions surrounding him. These guys were... a walking cliché. Blond and muscur sword-wielding leader, a silver-haired elf archer with gigantic breasts, a loli mage with red hair, an orc and a bull-beastman holding a piece of bent metal. Most likely their tank.

  "Skullbreaker ?" Liz'a finally spoke. "Ramiel, They're fine. They have good reputation."

  "Oh~ oh~ The pretty dy has heard of- What's up Trogar ?" the fmboyant man asked as he felt a hand tapping his shoulder.

  Why was everyone in the party looking him like he was an idiot ?

  The beastkin looked at his leader with a deadpan face and pinched the bridge if his... not-nose."Agor... You don't even recognize the... future Empress. Sorry about him, Lady de Wandermer." the individual apologized as he knelt. Soon after, the rest of the party knelt too, even the mortified leader.

  "Really, you're impossible, leader. I got killed by that Wyvern, but I still can recognize the country's heiress dammit !" the bullman fake-raged in indignation.

  "Can you repeat that mister ? What Wyvern... ?"

  Oh... Please no Liz'a.

  Ramiel didn't like that tone of hers, absolutely not.[ ... As I said. Reconsider your options... ]