16 Stehno Ingram, The Indomitable Will

In the middle of his forging activity, a foreign substance managed to crack the planarity of the realm, before forcefully puncturing it without a single effort, creating a swirling pool-gate of red as the cracks of reality seeped through the vicinity.

"She really likes to be dramatic huh," Yujin-no-Mitama maintained her default expression as if this kind of thing happened on a daily basis. "Could've asked me to lend a pathway to her domain, mmmm~ Nobuko, you might want to go back home early."

"I'll see you later then, master!" Nobuko dipped into the shallow water and disappeared, nowhere to be seen again.

Crimson concentric rings were spewed by the red portal, raging its vice of lamentation to the ire of the pyrite-woven space in this shallow realm. The rings danced its symphonies before merging into a single malicious halo, befitting the crown of all-mighty consuming and creation.

A bright circular-shaped form of 'snake biting its own tail' imagery was flashing for a second, before calling forth a two-meters tall divine entity where the crimson halo snuggled back to its rightful position on top of the head of its owner, perpetually releasing bright-crimson smoke.

Rejoiced, a goddess in a black dress.

She possessed a pair of red gaze that enraptured the surrounding time and water into a frozen halt. Benign of reality, walking on top of the frozen water.

With skin paler than porcelain, she was brimming with energy. Contrasting to the eerie attribute, the playfulness of the long dark twintails enshrining the halo did a great subversion to the overall presentation.

Neckwear with a thin patterned tie slipped into the crevice of her substantially bountiful windowed-bosoms, as she instinctively needed her wrist to support her heavy assets.

"Oya oya, seems like you're doing something fun here." She laughed with eyes closed. The moment the laughter was gone, she only opened one of her eyes, where a red trigram of shapes spun back and danced on her pupil. "To the point where you need to isolate this realm into a different unmoving 'world line'. Isn't that right, Kivas?"

"My my, it's been a while since I heard that name being mentioned by someone other than my mother." Yujin wryly laughed. "Though, can you please repair what you have broken, before we can continue where we start?

"My dear friend, Ouroboros."

"What do you mean, there was no damage in the first place." Ouroboros shrugged.

And just like she said, there was actually no damage done in the first place. As if, the reality and consequences of the past had been stripped from the akashic records.

"As expected of you."

"Regardless, it seems that I have a clear grasp of what you're trying to do now," she said with an inherent smug. "Even with my power, it won't be a one hundred success rate, considering that you're challenging the Void out of all places to mess with."

"Hisoutenshizen, is the next target for 'Ambrosial Banquet'." Yujin said a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"Blame the owner for leaving it unattended then. Why should you be the one who's managing it?"

"You know my history with Hisoutenshizen…"

"Well, can't change your mind the moment you're set upon it." Ouroboros sighed, before unleashing a jovial energy with her vibrant smile. "Might as well help you instead of watching another universe fall to the Void~! You can come out now, my dear~"

Appearing out of the faint mirage of the translucent shallow water, was a young-looking lass in fashionable clothing like that of a noble prestige. A beautiful yet adorable face, her expression seemed to be permanently set into a slight smile and narrow half-lidded gaze, judging everything that was in view.

Fluffy rodent ears could be seen atop her short dark hair, twitching with intrigue. She possessed a similar domineering flair of crimson that Ouroboros possessed.

"This is my daughter, Keter, the youngest of her 1873 siblings."

"Your partner is feisty as always."

"Indeed… sometimes I wonder, am I the snake or the rat in our relationship…?" Ouroboros was put into a deep contemplation, before breaking it into another outburst of energy just like usual. "Anywho, Keter doesn't have much experience of the world outside Domeniul Ceresc, and she is already at the age where she should be traveling realms to realms just like her brother and sister.

"But she barely has any interest in anything outside locking herself in her room all day. This is the only occasion where I could send her outside of our establishment~

"So, how about having her as an extra gift for that Stehno lass? She might need some helper after you throw em' into Hisoutenshizen, no?"

Yujin caressed his chin. "Hmm, that should do. The better Stehno potential in this whole scheme, the better it is for the rest of the future Meisters to acclimate themselves into their appropriate positions."

"What is a Meister in this context?" Keter asked, she seemed to be quite piqued to the idea.

"My mother and I could grant one, or even a limitless amount of 'boons'. One of them was a boon with limitless growth potential the more fiery the heart of their soul churn." Yujin's dorsal hand waved, the flickering pyre of the torch began to create an animatic illusory in the air. "This churning of the heart could be translated to many examples such as the emotion of love, the strings of obsession, and the urge to possess and mark something as their own. The stronger these churnings are, the more amplified the entire existence of the boon possessor will be.

"This boon is called the Virtuosic Crest, and the owner of these marks will be none other than the Meisters."

"Interesting," Keter muttered, despite her expression signifying no such thing as 'interest'. "And who will the instrument, the catalyst of this Meisters be?"

Ouroboros began to show a bit of her concern. "Dear Keter, you don't need to be this whole Meister deal, you know?"

"The catalyst for the Meisters will be none other than the former Rafflesia of the Void," Yujin continued, as she began to enjoy the sight of his flustering friend. "His name is William, Occam Chariot."

"Heh, nice try, Kivas. But this particular daughter of mine would even hardly latch a single interest in anything but a—"

"Occam Chariot…" Keter's right hand seemed to be hovering something transcendental, invisible to normal perception. "His past and possible futures… Interesting."

A wicked smile appeared on the rodent's face.

Yujin commemorated his win with a simple 'yeah!' pose, while Ouroboros was shocked to find her lazy daughter possessing this scary expression.

"A, speaking of Meister, it seems like the 'forging' is completed." Yujin peeked through a small holographic screen on the corner of his sight.

"Urgh, now that my gift to that Stehno lass had become her own Meister, I might as well create a separate gift." With a displeased grin, her halo's crimson color began to churn into a prismatic black and white hue. "Well, in the tapestry of time, my name unfurls its endless threads. It knows no beginning, no end, an eternal dance of moments without measure~

"In its silent expanse, stars are born and galaxies fade, yet my name remains unmoved. It cradles the secrets of existence, a patient witness to the stories of the cosmos.

"With this name of mine, the canvas upon which life's vivid strokes are painted, each fleeting breath a brushstroke in its grand masterpiece. So the time may ebb and flow, seasons may change, but Emy name stands still, a silent sentinel, a reminder that in its boundless embrace, all things find their place~

"Stehno Ingram, you shall be granted by a transcendental link to the strings of destruction and creation. An eternity guidepost shall be planted onto the deepest crevice of your soul, where none other than you could destroy your soul and body, for it has become one with the eternal lamp of my warmth~"

The blessing then lurked inside Stehno who was being approached by Yujin-no-Mitama for the last time, before fully integrating itself onto Stehno's whole existence.

Yes, at this moment of time, Stehno had already experienced ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine scenarios.

"Have you given up?"

"Never."

Her eyes are resolute, determined to move forward without a single glance to the past.

Her will became unclouded, to the point of apotheosis.

Her whole existence is brimming with indomitable godly spirit.

"Do you know now, why I wanted you to become a Meister, and what the purpose of a Meister truly is?" Yujin sincerely asked.

"Yes, I have deduced everything in my time within those harrowing scenarios."

"There won't be a second chance."

"I know."

"Obviously, I can't send you to the place of Hisoutenshizen where Occam currently was."

"I thought so."

"But your job as a Meister will be to believe in him, and be strong enough when the time comes."

"I definitely will."

With a genuine smile, Yujin-no-Mitama had finally sent Stehno into the real deal.

"May you keep company with peace throughout your life."

Not a moment after, Stehno awoke from a coffin made out of pebbles.

Her eyes were met with the ruination of the damned, yet a gentle sunray through the shadows of orchestrated leaves was the first thing that welcomed her to Hisoutenshizen.

She possessed her body and face that she had on earth for an exception of few. Her long purple hair overflowed her coffin as she rose from the dead. Her ears were long and sharp as a knife, and her sclera was pitch-black dark, as a pair of three concentric golden layers of circles make up her pupils.

And a triangular mark consisting of millions of stacked runes was placed on her back.

The Virtuosic Crest.

"That deity. He didn't give me any clothing," she said as she tried to scoop her hair out of the way.

A holographic screen appeared in front of her view. There were only two things there. The first one would be a special panel with Occam's face as an icon. Currently, it signifies the current status of Occam as "Alive". The second thing was some sort of a radar with visible metric units of distance written on top of a red dot.

The value showed '123km from here'.

Stehno then tried to touch the red dot.

A name popped up out of the screen.

[Oren Foleur]

Veins could be seen tightened on her forehead.

"That zombie is quite close, huh???"

With this last chance of hers, Stehno decided to thrive in this world, thriving enough where she was able to allocate enough manpower and resources to search for Occam all over the world.

"This time, I'll save you for sure, Occam."

As the one and only with Indomitable Will.

"Wait for me."