The Machine - Part 1

"We're retreating! Leave only summons here! Everyone else, OUT!" I immediately shout as we return to the fortress.

The soldiers all fall silent for a second as they process the sudden order, and then Oritiki turns to Alcander and Hihiriwa and promptly states, "We're the last out. Send everyone else, first."

"I'll gather the Space mages," Alcander hurriedly announces and leaves towards the portal room (which still hasn't returned).

"No point in creating an order of retreat, so I'll just have everyone line up," Hihiriwa remarks and relays my order to the officers.

--

We still have to urgently talk about what just happened, so the hero's party gathers in our guest mansion, and we wait until Alcander is done so that the High Officers can be present, too. Meanwhile, Yunia continues the [Spirit Touch] therapy on me, but I also have Gify give me an orgasmic soul massage, forcing me to hold back moans of delight because it's like that feeling when you put aloe on a bad burn, but constantly.

Normally, I wouldn't care about weirding out The Four, but I don't want to make them mad until after we finish this discussion. Even I'm responsible enough to not… well, go too far over "the line" in an actually serious situation.

"How often do you plan on fucking up your soul like that?" Lily harshly questions me the moment I sit down.

"Ouch. Did something crawl up your pussy?" I casually reply. If she's going to be spicy like that, I guess I'll just smack her back on the ass.

"It's a legitimate question," she insists as she narrows her sharp eyes at me.

But I just shrug. "I killed thousands of them with my voice. This was a good trade."

And she actually starts to sound angry. "Still looks like you enjoy fucking yourself up like that."

"He does," Alissa promptly backstabs me, but she's also looking displeased, so I won't poke the fox further.

"It makes his Cock hard," Roxanne follows up, and her playful tone lightens the mood.

And this instantly makes Lily forget about scolding me because our endless horni annoys her more than anything. "Why do you have to phrase it like that?"

But Ciel is feeling playful, so she uses her scholarly knowledge to mess with the roasted-cinnamon loli further, "It's an apt phrasing. It's a way for him to express his manliness by pushing past his limits; though, admittedly, it isn't very… healthy."

"Yeah, that's my point, so don't do that," Lily continues, her edge successfully blunted by the wives.

"Thanks for worrying about me, Lily," I teasingly add with a cheeky grin.

"Fuck you," she mumbles and pouts. Oritiki and Hihiriwa are also present, so she doesn't want to get too spicy about it.

"I'm envious that he got to do something. We barely had a taste of extra-dimensional combat," Urmeie grunts annoyedly.

Hana heartily agrees, but her prudent side tells her to add, "I know, but at least we learned we'd be fucked if we didn't have overwhelming power."

"What? What does that even mean?" the Princess grunts again, this time in confusion.

"We suck at fighting. The monsters would totally wreck us if it was a weapon-skill-only kind of fight," she answers with a wry smile.

And Urmeie shows how much of a warrior princess she is by perfectly mixing a snooty but also brutish tone into her reply, "That's not an interesting point to make. Being big, strong, and having varied powers is just as important as having a high skill level with weapons."

"I agree wholeheartedly," I pompously state. I'm the poster boy of "variety."

"Of course, you do, man of infinite spells," she replies with an amused grunt.

But her words give me a chill. "Don't start, or I'll get another Title," I warily request.

"Why? Aren't you a chuuni?" Lily banters, though her tone is still that of an annoyed ojou-sama.

"Watch it, or else I'll spread tall tales of you among my men," I warn her, not feeling like giving her any mercy.

She snorts and gently jokes, starting to mellow out, "Okay, I'm actually afraid."

"Didn't any of you get any Titles yet?" Alissa curiously questions, her fluffy tail slowly covertly wagging as she's eager to receive some cringe banter ammo.

Thant raises his eyes, suddenly looking concerned, and the little ball of light he's playing with on his lap starts to flicker and change color to red.

Roxanne's bespectacled eyes almost glow with excitement as she immediately latches onto his display of weakness and tenderly teases him, "I bet someone flashy would easily become famous among the men even if they were kept hidden from the commoners."

His companions immediately betray him and stare pointedly, so the lanky snow cat sighs then runs a hand along his (alluringly soft-looking) fur as he confesses, "Yeah… I got one. It's 'Child of Light.'"

Roxanne gets up, then steps to the side and starts fondling Ciel's massive tits. "You'd pair up perfectly with this one here. She has the 'Star of Hope' Title."

Kelloggs stares unashamedly at the molestation while the other three awkwardly avert their eyes, but Ciel is so used to this kind of abuse that she only rolls her eyes.

"You deserve the Title of 'Peeping Pervert,'" Yunia harshly remarks to the gnome.

"Is there some sort of 'debuff' from getting a Title?" he questions, actually sounding worried.

Every non-Earthling turns to me, but I'm too tired to explain, so Ted jumps onto the table from Ciel's lap and begins the translation to Rupegian, "'Debuff' means a negative or adverse 'Status Effect,' but on Earth, they exist solely within 'make-believe' types of games, and the effects are also normally easily recognizable by the players."

Oh, right… there's that…

"Basically, it's like these games assume everyone has [Diagnosis]," Ciel succinctly explains.

"Why would a Title give you a 'debuff'?" Urmeie questions with mild curiosity, though it borders on boredom.

"Imagine the 'Peeping Pervert' Title giving the gnome a permanent reduction in 'Charisma,'" Suzy follows up, and we raise an eyebrow at how she said "the gnome." It kind of sounded rude, which is amusing.

"Titles could possibly influence your Thread," Caterina quietly chimes in.

"Wait, what?" I blurt out, suddenly feeling considerably concerned.

Even Ciel is interested, so the milfy Punisher breathes in deeply and scholarly explains, "It's only an unproven hypothesis. Those who can earn many Titles, like heroes, resist the pull of their own Threads. As for commoners who received a Title, they tend to specialize in an area related to the Title, but it's unknown if that's because of the Title or if they were simply born with a strong Thread that led them to receive the Title."

We suddenly went from banter straight to philosophical talks. I'm not complaining, but I do find this incredible.

"I should've focused my studies on heroes and Threads," Ciel quietly remarks, feeling a bit awkward since she has nothing to add.

"You're the one who helped Alissa gain the Blessing from the Goddess of Love, so that was more important," I soothingly point out.

"True, I guess…" she bashfully hums.

And after a few more minutes of casual banter, Alcander finally arrives, looking a bit agitated from having to rush our retreat. But everything went swimmingly as it seems that the "titans" are licking their wounds, so we let him catch his breath for a moment.

Then I assume a serious tone and begin, "Now, I have called you all here to discuss the dangerous magic that the 'titans' used against us. It's of utmost importance that we find a way to counter it, or else we'll be at a severe disadvantage. So to start, I'll summon-…"

Then I stare at "buttons" inside my soul to summon monsters. Normally, I just have to think about the monster I want, and the "cursor" inside my soul will tell me which buttons are relevant to that, but now I feel nothing.

It's like… the huge golden Titan and the nail masochist didn't actually fucking die!

"Fuck!" I swear and hit my clawed fist against the table, making the cutlery rattle. Then I explain before everyone can question my sanity, "I can't summon the nail monster because it didn't die! Or at least it didn't die close enough for us to absorb any Experience from it before the dungeon portals rescued the body from us."

"So… there's no way for us to study what the fuck that spell was?" Lily asks for confirmation.

And I begrudgingly nod.

Then Roxanne actually makes a smart suggestion, "Let's discuss our experience in detail. It should help us understand its properties." And she smiles sweetly, deciding to ignore my casual dig at her.

"It had absolutely zero effect on me and my Horns," Oritiki begins with the most glaring matter.

"Exactly, and it seems that all spirit Chimeras and the golems were also unaffected," I add with a nod.

"And me," Lily hums and raises her little hand.

"I can also confirm that we, spirits, were unaffected, but there were only a few spirit soldiers that participated in that battle," Hihiriwa follows up.

"The monsters also stopped. Their mages did nothing," Alcander points out.

"But their melee soldiers were free to move and ready to kill us while we were frozen," Yunia adds.

"What about spells and magic? Were they interrupted in any way?" I ask as I look around.

"I felt the casting mages' gathered mana dissipate, so it wasn't interrupted per se, but everyone lost control of their magic," Oritiki answers, and Alcander nods along.

"That's dangerous for high-level spells. If Aisco were here, he could've caused a horrible accident," he concernedly remarks.

Then we fall silent, so I ask one last question, "Any more insights?"

But everyone shakes their heads.

Then Yunia starts to speculate, "I felt something similar to [Chain Life]. It's like our souls were flooded with Life, which causes a disruption in the connection between the body and the soul, so your body normally goes limp, but if the flooding is too extreme, it freezes instead."

"Our eyes, lungs, and hearts still worked, which is curious," Ciel remarks.

And Yunia adds, "Also the brain. All organs that are notoriously difficult to cause destructive disruptions within, even with [Chain Life]."

"We don't have real bodies, so it's not like that 'connection' can be disrupted for us," Oritiki points out.

"So the spell targets a physical body first, but that doesn't mean it can't be adapted to target bodiless spirits," Roxanne cautions.

Then we turn to Lily, but she just shrugs and remarks, "I felt nothing, so I guess I have some sort of immunity to that spell because of my Gift."

"We also couldn't even detect it until the pain took over us," Alcander follows up.

And Yunia concernedly adds, "Same for me. I couldn't see any Life flooding my soul, but the spell still activated my Thread, so my [Precognition] told me something bad was going to happen to me."

"[Martyrism] is also undetectable, and the use of nails to activate a spell is very similar to how that magic school uses their 'ceremonial tools,'" Roxanne shares what little she knows about the school.

"Did anyone even sense any mana coming from him?" I ask.

But everyone shakes their heads, and Samkelo hums, "Nope. All I could feel was Light-attuned mana as it rushed towards Thant."

"I can only control that kind of mana, so I didn't notice anything different," the cat in question adds with a shrug.

"Same. I could only control that 'wild' Electric mana, so I felt nothing different," Chesa quietly remarks.

"Our armor emits a lot of Light mana even though it's so efficient, so our detection abilities are hampered," Oritiki admits.

And Lily snorts. "Shit, I'm bad with magic, so I didn't pay attention to anything."

So I sigh and conclude, "Seems like our only lead is [Martyrism] as it didn't use Life, so it isn't really that similar to [Weaverism]."

And Yunia volunteers, "I'll study anything related to [Spirit Magic]. There are many ways to disrupt the body-soul connection that cause a similar effect."

"I'll send a letter home…" Urmeie follows up with a tired sigh.

And I flash a handsome smile at her. "Thank you. Any help is appreciated. We'll also call for reinforcements, and I'll bring a little toy from home to improve our chances."

But the Princess grunts dismissively, "Helping you is helping us. Maybe I could resist that spell if I leveraged my 'Willpower,' but I don't feel like trying. And if you're calling for more men, I'll also bring my knights to boost our numbers."

--

Intermission – The Sacrificial Wretch

--

I dream… therefore, I live.

I dream of oblivion. Of the end of this torment. The fulfillment of our purpose. Release from our mortal coil.

My body still suffers; therefore, I must travail.

My life isn't my own. My death isn't my own. My will isn't my own. But euphoria and agony are mine to grasp or evade.

So I'm saved, healed, and prepared once again for another struggle.

But a "battle" it's not because our enemies are relentless beasts.

--

I sense a pair of lips touch my forehead, then the sound of the kiss wakes me up, and I slowly open my eyes.

"Good afternoon, Saint of Languor. You haven't been given permission to die," the nurse kindly greets me, and I can see her wide smile even though my vision is still blurry.

"I understand," I agree, a bit drowsy, but I'm very quickly waking up.

It seems that she has deemed me conscious enough, for she slowly continues, "Your limbs have been put in stasis by order of the Throat. You must be present during the Remembrance Of Our Torment as a symbol to the Selected, so we healed your body and mind first."

"I understand," I reply again. I feel nothing, so I'm content I'm not being punished for my failure.

She affectionately cups my cheek, then kisses my forehead again. "Good. You seem to be aware enough, so I'll take you there."

And I nod, the only real movement I can do without any working limbs. "Thank you."

"Oblivion for all," she happily replies.

"It'll soon come," I remark, and an anxious excitement starts to well up within me again as the gloom from my defeat starts to fade.

And the nurse excitedly exclaims, "Really?!"

"The worms cannot be stopped. They're beasts that will soon reach us," I whisper, full of awe.

"Oblivion for all!" she gleefully shouts and gives me a mother hug, then helps me onto a wheelchair.

--

It seems God is busy, for we don't get a portal sphere to our destination, but this is fine since I'm full of medicine, and it gives me time to enjoy the emptiness in me. I rarely get the opportunity to remove the Stakes of Feebleness, for my Torment is Lifelong, but I feel no guilt for having a respite from my agony.

So we take the Rail across the Stalwart Forward Fortress and fly across the sky in our glass cube. It seems that mobilization still hasn't ended, for I can see the soldiers organizing far below us even as the Remembrance is underway.

But will any amount be enough when the worms can kill us with their voice?

I dare not doubt our God's Plan, but I do wish I could witness the resolution of the End of Times. I know I'll be long gone by then, but my dreams are still something that I'm allowed to have control of.

We hear the Remembrance long before we see them, and the sounds make me nostalgic. The mumbling of the prayers, the cries of pain, the screams of agony, the sobs of misery, and the roars of hate fill me with drive and dread. I may be a Wretch, but I almost took the path of Frenzy, so the Remembrance affects me greatly.

The ride soon ends, and we exit the Rail in the Command Tower. A few of my comrades stop to hug me and wish for oblivion, so I answer with hope, igniting their flames again, for our time is near.

We take an elevator to the top, and we exit into the Broadcasting Room. The Panorama is already active, so it feels like we're in the middle of the Pit as we see the soldiers perform their rites from up close.

The nurse puts me on the left side of the Throat, and I see that the Spear of Our Arrogance is on his right, also in a wheelchair. Though his limbs aren't missing, it seems that he can't move them, and he even has to be strapped to his chair, so he's actually in a worse condition than mine.

Seeing that we're comfortable in our spots, the Throat nods at me and begins, "Soldiers of God! Heed my words!"

Then he waits until the soldiers stop their rites. The Frenzied need to be restrained by their comrades before they can offend the Throat with their lack of control. They aren't allowed to surrender their will until the time comes for oblivion.

And once silence takes over the Kneeling Field, his powerful voice penetrates our minds again, almost as if he's talking directly inside our brains, which is proof that he speaks for God. "Our weapons are dull, our tactics shallow, our might feeble. The children of Creation show their resourcefulness by making light of the Endless Circles of Ordeals.

"They treat it as a challenge and gleefully trample upon our sacred works. They ridicule and destroy our glorious history. They underestimate our piety. They blaspheme against our God.

"But our Misery has faced them, showing that their innocent minds aren't prepared for our Torment! Once they unknowingly release our Shackles, the true Apocalypse shall begin!

"Rejoice! My fellow wretches! You've been born in the End of Times, and oblivion awaits!"

And once his claws release our minds, we're taken by euphoria, connecting our wills into one singular flame of hate.

--

Intermission end.

--

--

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