A Simple Transaction I
- Thread starter Rihaku
- Start date
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Ever Brighter
Rihaku
The Internet
Ever Brighter
"Grand Duchess." The former Republic officer bowed deeply, his compatriots falling swiftly to a knee. Admiral Justait Everkorn had been eight hundred years of age and ravaged by terminal nano-temporal infection even before Dien Bravo had enslaved and assimilated him; that he stood before Letrizia today was a testament to the Princess-Regent's ingenuity, and their overlord's sheer might.
The Grand Duchess smiled. That, at least, the former Republic dog understood implicitly. The populace of her rival polity had transformed from irredeemably corrupt to irredeemably cloying; nowhere within Hunger's dominion was support stronger or more steadfast than the resurrected sycophants she'd once sought entirely to destroy.
All things could change, mused Letrizia - the course of the stars, the fabric of time and space, the laws of metaphysics, her own essential nature - but the worthlessness of the Republic never would. Former Imperial territories were, relatively speaking, properly rambunctious and ungrateful to the ruler that had saved them from annihilation: just as her father had taught her they'd be.
Hunger's echo at her side shifted slightly, blinking once as it turned to regard the far wall. The wraith-clone was one of millions, its power so minuscule as to be humanly imperceptible against the supernova blaze of its progenitor; yet still this insignificant and non-sentient particle of their overlord's will held power enough to extinguish Armaments at a stroke; to engage with the force of entire universes compressed and emerge wholly unabated.
There was a time when such absolute power would have bothered her. As Aeira had once put it: all agency, all purpose, all will within the inescapable and infinitely-vast reach of Lord Hunger existed only at his sufferance, save for the actions of his Curses and perhaps those of the Princess-Regent.
Aobaru liked to think he had carved out some measure of independence; but if Hunger ever truly disapproved of anything that went on in the Voyaging Realm, the Cursebearer had already made manifestly clear that even his presumptive heir apparent could do little to oppose him.
Once such thoughts would have driven her towards a place somewhat akin to despair, but no longer. That part of her had been excised. It no longer existed.
Idly Letrizia shook her head. No, it was better to say it had been transformed, and of her own volition, so that she could become a person who could not only accept Hunger's reign, but thrive within it. With the power he had granted them - casual efflux of his passage, the barest shadow of his own might - it was trivial to reshape one's own mind, unbound by Curses as Letrizia was. Gisena had regarded herself as essentially perfect, only scaling up her 'effectiveness' in every parameter: and perhaps she was, in her self-appointed role as Hunger's - counterpart. But Letrizia had no such overriding purpose.
The Republic had been dissolved. Human Sphere geo-spatial politics were essentially irrelevant. Her relatives and subjects were all avenged or resurrected, their influence and prosperity nigh-incomparable even within the utopian abundance of Hunger's reign. She partook in rule because it'd seemed, at the time, like the thing to do... and because, with her new faculties of cogitation and manifestation, it was no more than a trivial distraction from her greater interests anyway. The science of Rank had exploded in leaps and bounds with the all-defining lodestone of Lord Hunger to serve as example, and Princess Allria had done Letrizia the somewhat condescending favor of neglecting to advance the field with her own inconceivably superior abilities.
A month ago Letrizia would have been piqued, but she now was so transcendently beyond humanity that such an emotion lacked all discernible context. Perhaps even Lord Hunger retained more of his essential nature than she had, despite being shackled by fundamentally inhuman curses.
They had all taken their own chosen paths to ascension, some more solitary than others. In that regard hers was the most unnatural mentality to emerge from the locus, but Letrizia in no way regarded herself as lesser, or weaker, for it. Regardless of emotion she could now always take the action her mind knew was correct, and no amount of negativity could weigh down or blot out the nigh-unspeakable joy infused into the perennial quanta of her existence. Nor did such radiant happiness undermine or compromise her decision-making faculties whatsoever. Unbound by space or time to the degree that it did not interfere with Hunger's own meta-perceptions, Letrizia surfed the Astral currents on vessels of thought and grace.
There were worse things to have become, she knew.
As a child, she had brought bread to a devouring monster, that she might wield it as an implement for the preservation of her House. She had forged herself into a weapon for nation and peoples, in lieu of her father that could do so no longer. She had understood that the thread of her own mortality was to burn brightly and briefly, and resolved to achieve all that she could within that vanishing window. If the battlefield did not claim her, Verschlengorge's very nature would. Many soldiers died younger still.
Yet in in the moment of her extremity, a second devouring monster had arrived. An impossible glorious monster that would gift her the adulthood she never thought she'd have, and set her against enemies she could never even have imagined.
Those monsters defined the epochs of Letrizia's life. And, with each emergence they offered an identical challenge: the cessation of her most urgent problems, if she could remake herself to survive. There was no doubt hers was a blessed life, for how many were offered even one such opportunity, let alone two so perfectly matched?
But with the natural course of her life having already been so truncated, it ought hardly be any surprise that she would end up the most unnatural of their litter. She understood why the radical extent of her transformation somewhat displeased the others, with Hunger himself feeling something akin to the guilt of responsibility, but such sentiments were simply misguided.
"Stop trembling," she told the Republic assemblage. "It was an errant thought, not anything you did."
It amused her that in this world where no one had to fear death or torture, the mere prospect of social disapproval still evoked such desperation in these men. Augmented or not they were Republic scum in the end. All she'd done was shake her head!
"Not only that," Hunger's echo rumbled beside her. "They thought you'd detected the assassination attempt."
"Oh?" she raised an interested eyebrow. That she'd failed to ascertain any such threat was nearly unprecedented in recent months, and possibly entertaining.
"A prank disguised as one, yes." He continued, nodding at the wall. "Set up by their kids. It would have been quite dramatic."
"And you just had to quell it," she pouted. "That's no fun. Why can't you stop being so overprotective? You're not my real overlord anyway!"
He shrugged. "I did as I desired. Just as you have been."
Letrizia's eyes widened. "Touche. I didn't know you guys had that much personality in you."
The echo glanced irritably at her. "You'd prefer it this way, and we aim to please. Or displease, in this eventuality."
"Hmph," Letrizia tossed her hair. "It worked well enough, so I guess you're forgiven. Not that you care, but I do take some pride in stopping these things myself!"
"Our most effusive apologies, Grand Duchess!" The officer bowed deeply, falling to his knees. "A youthful indiscretion, buoyed by the generous surfeit of bodily security that our most gracious sovereign has provided, led to this unconscionable-"
Bored now.
Letrizia departed this bodily shell, leaving a phantasm of spun aether to inhabit that flesh. To sophonts of the officer's level, the difference was indistinguishable. Diplomacy was only a temporary diversion from her studies, meaningless as it ultimately was. Even if she fucked up - a possibility that her desire for excellence would not permit - they could hardly rebel against King Hunger. It was quite literally more futile than fighting the tide, much like her current attempt to achieve transfinite Rank...
At least Verschlengorge could do something to that enemy. Maybe she would spend some time on the Infinite Soup Husk instead.
"Hey."
Aobaru was as old-fashioned as always, standing with his prime - and only - body in the entrance of her atelier. Letrizia leapt slightly through time such that she had always been present to greet him.
She had never been one to go crazy for boys, especially fellow redheads, but the lord of Vigorflame was objectively the most charming and capable peer companion she was ever likely to get. And that was an impressive feat given the dizzying array of fellow Augmented that had sprung up in the realm following Hunger's accession, many of them greedily incorporating as many systems of physical and magical interface as sanity - and the law - would allow. That Aobaru had limited himself to a single incarnation in exchange for vastly greater concentration of power was almost... cute. Especially as it made actually ruling the Voyaging Realm so impractical, he was forced to rely on subordinates for help!
"Hey, you." A wraith-projection of her true self ghosted forward to bump shoulders with him. "Here for a round of Syndics, or just to admire my resplendent self?"
"I might be up for another round," he said cheerfully, "if you weren't such a sore loser."
"That's part of my charm," Letrizia huffed. "Like, do you even watch anime?"
In truth, Aobaru had prevailed seven rounds out of ten in their long (long, long...) history of such contests. The no-holds-barred game of absolute civilizational domination was played with volunteer populaces, resembling nothing so much as total unrestricted warfare among parties of mutually unknown ability, values and number. Many participants incarnated themselves into fully-biological mortal manifolds, temporarily surrendering the majority of their memories to play with greater immersion. Sometimes Letrizia wondered if their own existence was but another layer in some similar game, infinitely iterated... when one had no fears of significance, what was more thrilling than the prospect of real stakes?
The underlying aegis of Hunger's Law ensured that nothing truly horrible could come about to the sprits of his subjects - this was but the furthermost exploitation of that feature. Official policy had not deigned to sanction or encourage the immensely popular pastime, save to note ominously that Princess-Regent Gisena had already 'solved' it.
"So," Letrizia continued, "How goes the Voyaging Realm these days? It's been a few picoseconds since I last checked."
"Sorry to bore you so much," Aobaru deadpanned. "That's what, centuries in your subjective experience? Sounds incredibly unappetizing. I'll stick with impossibly fast reflexes, thanks."
"Millennia now," she corrected, incarnating as a version of herself whose pale blue locks fell to butt-level. Aobaru raised an eyebrow, and she scoffed. "I'd have thought you of all people would see the benefits of dilated time, given how fast your experimental kingdoms are now running!"
"I can't see anything," Aobaru smiled wryly. "I'm as blind and dumb as any member of humanity 1.0. Power without wisdom, like a child with a flamethrower."
"More like an atom bomb," she replied pertly. "But at least you yourself earned some noticeable fraction of that power. Who among us can say the same? That's why, despite all your issues, you might be the most suited among us to hold actual responsibility, Shogun of the Voyaging Realm!"
"Liar." His expression was flat. "The most suited would obviously be Miss Gisena Allria."
"She doesn't count, she's a Remittance."
Aobaru chuckled. "Talk about politically incorrect..."
"I am neither political, nor ever incorrect," Letrizia asserted happily. "You'd understand if you ever pushed your mind just a little bit further."
"The Shogun went down that path, once," Aobaru confided. "We decided to try something new. Hunger has done fine while mostly retaining his essential humanity."
"Something new, huh..." Letrizia looked outward at an angle Aobaru couldn't perceive; out, and further out to some unthinkable shore, some faraway audience impossible to germinate within the curve of their present lives. "You know, Aobaru, for once you might be right. Let's try something new! After all..."
She waved brightly, once, and words in bright lettering appeared behind her: the dread phrasing that had concluded so many works of twenty-first-century Terran narrative -
"Our adventure's only beginning!"
---
"It isn't," said the Maiden, and the world became daylight.
"Grand Duchess." The former Republic officer bowed deeply, his compatriots falling swiftly to a knee. Admiral Justait Everkorn had been eight hundred years of age and ravaged by terminal nano-temporal infection even before Dien Bravo had enslaved and assimilated him; that he stood before Letrizia today was a testament to the Princess-Regent's ingenuity, and their overlord's sheer might.
The Grand Duchess smiled. That, at least, the former Republic dog understood implicitly. The populace of her rival polity had transformed from irredeemably corrupt to irredeemably cloying; nowhere within Hunger's dominion was support stronger or more steadfast than the resurrected sycophants she'd once sought entirely to destroy.
All things could change, mused Letrizia - the course of the stars, the fabric of time and space, the laws of metaphysics, her own essential nature - but the worthlessness of the Republic never would. Former Imperial territories were, relatively speaking, properly rambunctious and ungrateful to the ruler that had saved them from annihilation: just as her father had taught her they'd be.
Hunger's echo at her side shifted slightly, blinking once as it turned to regard the far wall. The wraith-clone was one of millions, its power so minuscule as to be humanly imperceptible against the supernova blaze of its progenitor; yet still this insignificant and non-sentient particle of their overlord's will held power enough to extinguish Armaments at a stroke; to engage with the force of entire universes compressed and emerge wholly unabated.
There was a time when such absolute power would have bothered her. As Aeira had once put it: all agency, all purpose, all will within the inescapable and infinitely-vast reach of Lord Hunger existed only at his sufferance, save for the actions of his Curses and perhaps those of the Princess-Regent.
Aobaru liked to think he had carved out some measure of independence; but if Hunger ever truly disapproved of anything that went on in the Voyaging Realm, the Cursebearer had already made manifestly clear that even his presumptive heir apparent could do little to oppose him.
Once such thoughts would have driven her towards a place somewhat akin to despair, but no longer. That part of her had been excised. It no longer existed.
Idly Letrizia shook her head. No, it was better to say it had been transformed, and of her own volition, so that she could become a person who could not only accept Hunger's reign, but thrive within it. With the power he had granted them - casual efflux of his passage, the barest shadow of his own might - it was trivial to reshape one's own mind, unbound by Curses as Letrizia was. Gisena had regarded herself as essentially perfect, only scaling up her 'effectiveness' in every parameter: and perhaps she was, in her self-appointed role as Hunger's - counterpart. But Letrizia had no such overriding purpose.
The Republic had been dissolved. Human Sphere geo-spatial politics were essentially irrelevant. Her relatives and subjects were all avenged or resurrected, their influence and prosperity nigh-incomparable even within the utopian abundance of Hunger's reign. She partook in rule because it'd seemed, at the time, like the thing to do... and because, with her new faculties of cogitation and manifestation, it was no more than a trivial distraction from her greater interests anyway. The science of Rank had exploded in leaps and bounds with the all-defining lodestone of Lord Hunger to serve as example, and Princess Allria had done Letrizia the somewhat condescending favor of neglecting to advance the field with her own inconceivably superior abilities.
A month ago Letrizia would have been piqued, but she now was so transcendently beyond humanity that such an emotion lacked all discernible context. Perhaps even Lord Hunger retained more of his essential nature than she had, despite being shackled by fundamentally inhuman curses.
They had all taken their own chosen paths to ascension, some more solitary than others. In that regard hers was the most unnatural mentality to emerge from the locus, but Letrizia in no way regarded herself as lesser, or weaker, for it. Regardless of emotion she could now always take the action her mind knew was correct, and no amount of negativity could weigh down or blot out the nigh-unspeakable joy infused into the perennial quanta of her existence. Nor did such radiant happiness undermine or compromise her decision-making faculties whatsoever. Unbound by space or time to the degree that it did not interfere with Hunger's own meta-perceptions, Letrizia surfed the Astral currents on vessels of thought and grace.
There were worse things to have become, she knew.
As a child, she had brought bread to a devouring monster, that she might wield it as an implement for the preservation of her House. She had forged herself into a weapon for nation and peoples, in lieu of her father that could do so no longer. She had understood that the thread of her own mortality was to burn brightly and briefly, and resolved to achieve all that she could within that vanishing window. If the battlefield did not claim her, Verschlengorge's very nature would. Many soldiers died younger still.
Yet in in the moment of her extremity, a second devouring monster had arrived. An impossible glorious monster that would gift her the adulthood she never thought she'd have, and set her against enemies she could never even have imagined.
Those monsters defined the epochs of Letrizia's life. And, with each emergence they offered an identical challenge: the cessation of her most urgent problems, if she could remake herself to survive. There was no doubt hers was a blessed life, for how many were offered even one such opportunity, let alone two so perfectly matched?
But with the natural course of her life having already been so truncated, it ought hardly be any surprise that she would end up the most unnatural of their litter. She understood why the radical extent of her transformation somewhat displeased the others, with Hunger himself feeling something akin to the guilt of responsibility, but such sentiments were simply misguided.
"Stop trembling," she told the Republic assemblage. "It was an errant thought, not anything you did."
It amused her that in this world where no one had to fear death or torture, the mere prospect of social disapproval still evoked such desperation in these men. Augmented or not they were Republic scum in the end. All she'd done was shake her head!
"Not only that," Hunger's echo rumbled beside her. "They thought you'd detected the assassination attempt."
"Oh?" she raised an interested eyebrow. That she'd failed to ascertain any such threat was nearly unprecedented in recent months, and possibly entertaining.
"A prank disguised as one, yes." He continued, nodding at the wall. "Set up by their kids. It would have been quite dramatic."
"And you just had to quell it," she pouted. "That's no fun. Why can't you stop being so overprotective? You're not my real overlord anyway!"
He shrugged. "I did as I desired. Just as you have been."
Letrizia's eyes widened. "Touche. I didn't know you guys had that much personality in you."
The echo glanced irritably at her. "You'd prefer it this way, and we aim to please. Or displease, in this eventuality."
"Hmph," Letrizia tossed her hair. "It worked well enough, so I guess you're forgiven. Not that you care, but I do take some pride in stopping these things myself!"
"Our most effusive apologies, Grand Duchess!" The officer bowed deeply, falling to his knees. "A youthful indiscretion, buoyed by the generous surfeit of bodily security that our most gracious sovereign has provided, led to this unconscionable-"
Bored now.
Letrizia departed this bodily shell, leaving a phantasm of spun aether to inhabit that flesh. To sophonts of the officer's level, the difference was indistinguishable. Diplomacy was only a temporary diversion from her studies, meaningless as it ultimately was. Even if she fucked up - a possibility that her desire for excellence would not permit - they could hardly rebel against King Hunger. It was quite literally more futile than fighting the tide, much like her current attempt to achieve transfinite Rank...
At least Verschlengorge could do something to that enemy. Maybe she would spend some time on the Infinite Soup Husk instead.
"Hey."
Aobaru was as old-fashioned as always, standing with his prime - and only - body in the entrance of her atelier. Letrizia leapt slightly through time such that she had always been present to greet him.
She had never been one to go crazy for boys, especially fellow redheads, but the lord of Vigorflame was objectively the most charming and capable peer companion she was ever likely to get. And that was an impressive feat given the dizzying array of fellow Augmented that had sprung up in the realm following Hunger's accession, many of them greedily incorporating as many systems of physical and magical interface as sanity - and the law - would allow. That Aobaru had limited himself to a single incarnation in exchange for vastly greater concentration of power was almost... cute. Especially as it made actually ruling the Voyaging Realm so impractical, he was forced to rely on subordinates for help!
"Hey, you." A wraith-projection of her true self ghosted forward to bump shoulders with him. "Here for a round of Syndics, or just to admire my resplendent self?"
"I might be up for another round," he said cheerfully, "if you weren't such a sore loser."
"That's part of my charm," Letrizia huffed. "Like, do you even watch anime?"
In truth, Aobaru had prevailed seven rounds out of ten in their long (long, long...) history of such contests. The no-holds-barred game of absolute civilizational domination was played with volunteer populaces, resembling nothing so much as total unrestricted warfare among parties of mutually unknown ability, values and number. Many participants incarnated themselves into fully-biological mortal manifolds, temporarily surrendering the majority of their memories to play with greater immersion. Sometimes Letrizia wondered if their own existence was but another layer in some similar game, infinitely iterated... when one had no fears of significance, what was more thrilling than the prospect of real stakes?
The underlying aegis of Hunger's Law ensured that nothing truly horrible could come about to the sprits of his subjects - this was but the furthermost exploitation of that feature. Official policy had not deigned to sanction or encourage the immensely popular pastime, save to note ominously that Princess-Regent Gisena had already 'solved' it.
"So," Letrizia continued, "How goes the Voyaging Realm these days? It's been a few picoseconds since I last checked."
"Sorry to bore you so much," Aobaru deadpanned. "That's what, centuries in your subjective experience? Sounds incredibly unappetizing. I'll stick with impossibly fast reflexes, thanks."
"Millennia now," she corrected, incarnating as a version of herself whose pale blue locks fell to butt-level. Aobaru raised an eyebrow, and she scoffed. "I'd have thought you of all people would see the benefits of dilated time, given how fast your experimental kingdoms are now running!"
"I can't see anything," Aobaru smiled wryly. "I'm as blind and dumb as any member of humanity 1.0. Power without wisdom, like a child with a flamethrower."
"More like an atom bomb," she replied pertly. "But at least you yourself earned some noticeable fraction of that power. Who among us can say the same? That's why, despite all your issues, you might be the most suited among us to hold actual responsibility, Shogun of the Voyaging Realm!"
"Liar." His expression was flat. "The most suited would obviously be Miss Gisena Allria."
"She doesn't count, she's a Remittance."
Aobaru chuckled. "Talk about politically incorrect..."
"I am neither political, nor ever incorrect," Letrizia asserted happily. "You'd understand if you ever pushed your mind just a little bit further."
"The Shogun went down that path, once," Aobaru confided. "We decided to try something new. Hunger has done fine while mostly retaining his essential humanity."
"Something new, huh..." Letrizia looked outward at an angle Aobaru couldn't perceive; out, and further out to some unthinkable shore, some faraway audience impossible to germinate within the curve of their present lives. "You know, Aobaru, for once you might be right. Let's try something new! After all..."
She waved brightly, once, and words in bright lettering appeared behind her: the dread phrasing that had concluded so many works of twenty-first-century Terran narrative -
"Our adventure's only beginning!"
---
"It isn't," said the Maiden, and the world became daylight.
Genesys
(Discrete Mokona)
- Location
- California
I said this in foremost chat already but the fact that Gisena has already solved "the no-holds-barred game of absolute civilizational domination, played with volunteer populaces, resembling nothing so much as total unrestricted warfare among parties of mutually unknown ability, values and number" sure is mildly terrifying.
Also, the clearest flex of the Maiden's power is breaking the narrative rule of the end scroll text, lol.
Also, the clearest flex of the Maiden's power is breaking the narrative rule of the end scroll text, lol.
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
It's a real, "Ending of Undertale's Neutral Route," moment.
Last edited:
Fanwork##1170 Words
Let's hope it doesn't come to this...
Omake: "A Gracious Defeat"
The one who was once called the Forebear of Dynasties had never believed that he was destined to win this fight. Were he another man, he might have grown proud and complacent in the wake of his victory over Dien. But even if he hadn't swum through the murky rivers of the Forebear's memories, the Hero Hunger himself had been formed by a life of fighting and losing hopeless battles against an unassailable Tyrant, only to squeak out a final win by some chance.
No, he knew that a man Cursed by Apocrypha should never expect to lead a quiet life.
He had trained to his uttermost, and then beyond that, with a zeal that mortal men could hardly comprehend, much less emulate. He had innovated, he had suffered, and taken every advantage...
She had just been his better.
Looking at her now, feeling her blade slice through what passed for his heart nowadays, he hoped to see a triumphant Hero striking down the Tyrant for his transgressions, some minuscule weakness he could Cut Through. But even in these last moments, none of her focus faltered. She had burned everything on the altar of this victory, and continued to do so even now, when his defeat was all but assured.
For she was the Maiden of Endings, and she would not rest until his story was done.
Beyond the twin suns of her eyes he saw a familiar expression, a gaze that would brook nothing but victory, no matter the cost. It hurt to see that face look at him with such unbridled hostility, almost as much as feeling the last of his Essence evaporating as so much rain in the desert sun. Almost, but not quite, for his heart was now sworn to another.
Would it be such a bad thing, to join Gisena in oblivion?
"Good bye," the Maiden whispered to him, her first and last words to him. "You don't need to worry, I will take care of everything in your stead."
As he breathed his last, the Forebear thought with vindictive satisfaction that even one such as her was not without weakness.
After all, what was an ending but a new beginning? And even if the man known as the Forebear were to die, in his place someone new would inevitably arise. And the Forebear was all too familiar with clawing back to life from what should have been a lightless abyss with no end in sight.
The Forebear died, dissipating like ash on the wind, carried to distances unknown.
And before the Maiden had a chance to react and readjust, the Cursebearer Hunger slid his own Blade through her back, striking unerringly at her core of existence much as she had done to him previously. He didn't relax even when she fell limp, her final energies exhausted. Nor did he feel tempted to speak any last words to her, experience both recent and old reminding him that there was only one destined ending for villains that talked too much.
Not that he thought himself a villain, but Apocrypha wouldn't care.
After several minutes Hunger at last allowed himself to if not to relax, then to broaden his focus onto matters other than the Maiden's death. She had been the worst enemy he had faced until now bar none, and not only because of her power. Few had been as single-minded and uncompromising in pursuit of victory over him. In fact, he suspected that this mentality was not born solely of the Maiden herself, but of the vessel she had chosen to face him with. Yet another reminder that even the smallest influences could have a great impact on the final outcome.
The empty space around him strained and buckled, reminding Hunger that the temporary dimension created by the clash of the Evening and Daylight Realms would not persist now that one Element of the equation was missing. It had been the only thing they had silently agreed on before the confrontation, to reduce the impact of their actions on the Human Sphere as much as possible, each for their own reasons.
Regrettably, that courtesy didn't extend to his Companions and anyone else he chose to deploy against her.
Hunger let out a tired sigh, turning his mind to the preparations necessary for reviving his friends and subjects. The losses weren't irrecoverable, not for him, but having sacrificed his identity as the Forebear's reincarnation to achieve this victory, it would take some time before he had the might to sunder such a final death once more.
Unbidden, a thought popped up. Wasn't it strange that his Ring wasn't drinking from the generous bounty this victory should have provided?
"That would be my fault," Hunger heard the Accursed's voice speak out before he could descend into paranoia and start searching for the Maiden's traces. "I sensed a unique opportunity and thought I should pay you a visit."
The Accursed was looking at the Maiden's remains with an expression Hunger had trouble deciphering. Was it regret? Or maybe nostalgia? Others might have thought him presumptuous, trying to assign human emotions to the Accursed, but Hunger knew from personal experience that power did not always necessitate the abandonment of one's nature.
Around them the world ceased all motion, waiting with baited breath for permission to resume its march toward destruction. Here and now, even fundamental laws of reality had to give way to this man who bore limitless Curses.
"As I did once before, I will remind you again that accepting or declining my offer is your choice to make," the Accursed said, turning his ineffable gaze on Hunger. "This burden may well become even beyond your capacity to bear if you decide to agree."
Getting a second such offer from the Accursed was in no way typical, Hunger suspected. But if there was one thing Hunger knew, it was that the Accursed was always fair in his dealings. With an immense burden inevitably came a commensurate reward.
Would he
{} Accept the Crowning Curse of Victory. Lesser Curses would try to strike at mind and fate, to debilitate and harm through indirect means. This Curse does not bother with such trivialities and opposes the Cursebearer's fundamental nature head on. From now on, the Cursebearer's every triumph would become a poisoned chalice, the Crowning Curse weaving the snuffed out stories of his defeated enemies into new Curses, their strength proportional to the trial's difficulty. So what would be worth taking on such a burden and all but losing the advantage being a Progression-type Cursebearer should normally convey?
Nothing more, and nothing less, than momentarily relieving the Accursed of a portion of his own Victory Curse's burden. As an incidental benefit, Hunger can make an unrestricted True Wish.
{} Decline. Thanks, but no thanks. If dealing with one Crowning Curse had taught Hunger anything, it's that he didn't want another one. He would just have to achieve his goals and help the Accursed the old-fashioned way, through hard work.
Let's hope it doesn't come to this...
Omake: "A Gracious Defeat"
The one who was once called the Forebear of Dynasties had never believed that he was destined to win this fight. Were he another man, he might have grown proud and complacent in the wake of his victory over Dien. But even if he hadn't swum through the murky rivers of the Forebear's memories, the Hero Hunger himself had been formed by a life of fighting and losing hopeless battles against an unassailable Tyrant, only to squeak out a final win by some chance.
No, he knew that a man Cursed by Apocrypha should never expect to lead a quiet life.
He had trained to his uttermost, and then beyond that, with a zeal that mortal men could hardly comprehend, much less emulate. He had innovated, he had suffered, and taken every advantage...
She had just been his better.
Looking at her now, feeling her blade slice through what passed for his heart nowadays, he hoped to see a triumphant Hero striking down the Tyrant for his transgressions, some minuscule weakness he could Cut Through. But even in these last moments, none of her focus faltered. She had burned everything on the altar of this victory, and continued to do so even now, when his defeat was all but assured.
For she was the Maiden of Endings, and she would not rest until his story was done.
Beyond the twin suns of her eyes he saw a familiar expression, a gaze that would brook nothing but victory, no matter the cost. It hurt to see that face look at him with such unbridled hostility, almost as much as feeling the last of his Essence evaporating as so much rain in the desert sun. Almost, but not quite, for his heart was now sworn to another.
Would it be such a bad thing, to join Gisena in oblivion?
"Good bye," the Maiden whispered to him, her first and last words to him. "You don't need to worry, I will take care of everything in your stead."
As he breathed his last, the Forebear thought with vindictive satisfaction that even one such as her was not without weakness.
After all, what was an ending but a new beginning? And even if the man known as the Forebear were to die, in his place someone new would inevitably arise. And the Forebear was all too familiar with clawing back to life from what should have been a lightless abyss with no end in sight.
The Forebear died, dissipating like ash on the wind, carried to distances unknown.
And before the Maiden had a chance to react and readjust, the Cursebearer Hunger slid his own Blade through her back, striking unerringly at her core of existence much as she had done to him previously. He didn't relax even when she fell limp, her final energies exhausted. Nor did he feel tempted to speak any last words to her, experience both recent and old reminding him that there was only one destined ending for villains that talked too much.
Not that he thought himself a villain, but Apocrypha wouldn't care.
After several minutes Hunger at last allowed himself to if not to relax, then to broaden his focus onto matters other than the Maiden's death. She had been the worst enemy he had faced until now bar none, and not only because of her power. Few had been as single-minded and uncompromising in pursuit of victory over him. In fact, he suspected that this mentality was not born solely of the Maiden herself, but of the vessel she had chosen to face him with. Yet another reminder that even the smallest influences could have a great impact on the final outcome.
The empty space around him strained and buckled, reminding Hunger that the temporary dimension created by the clash of the Evening and Daylight Realms would not persist now that one Element of the equation was missing. It had been the only thing they had silently agreed on before the confrontation, to reduce the impact of their actions on the Human Sphere as much as possible, each for their own reasons.
Regrettably, that courtesy didn't extend to his Companions and anyone else he chose to deploy against her.
Hunger let out a tired sigh, turning his mind to the preparations necessary for reviving his friends and subjects. The losses weren't irrecoverable, not for him, but having sacrificed his identity as the Forebear's reincarnation to achieve this victory, it would take some time before he had the might to sunder such a final death once more.
Unbidden, a thought popped up. Wasn't it strange that his Ring wasn't drinking from the generous bounty this victory should have provided?
"That would be my fault," Hunger heard the Accursed's voice speak out before he could descend into paranoia and start searching for the Maiden's traces. "I sensed a unique opportunity and thought I should pay you a visit."
The Accursed was looking at the Maiden's remains with an expression Hunger had trouble deciphering. Was it regret? Or maybe nostalgia? Others might have thought him presumptuous, trying to assign human emotions to the Accursed, but Hunger knew from personal experience that power did not always necessitate the abandonment of one's nature.
Around them the world ceased all motion, waiting with baited breath for permission to resume its march toward destruction. Here and now, even fundamental laws of reality had to give way to this man who bore limitless Curses.
"As I did once before, I will remind you again that accepting or declining my offer is your choice to make," the Accursed said, turning his ineffable gaze on Hunger. "This burden may well become even beyond your capacity to bear if you decide to agree."
Getting a second such offer from the Accursed was in no way typical, Hunger suspected. But if there was one thing Hunger knew, it was that the Accursed was always fair in his dealings. With an immense burden inevitably came a commensurate reward.
Would he
{} Accept the Crowning Curse of Victory. Lesser Curses would try to strike at mind and fate, to debilitate and harm through indirect means. This Curse does not bother with such trivialities and opposes the Cursebearer's fundamental nature head on. From now on, the Cursebearer's every triumph would become a poisoned chalice, the Crowning Curse weaving the snuffed out stories of his defeated enemies into new Curses, their strength proportional to the trial's difficulty. So what would be worth taking on such a burden and all but losing the advantage being a Progression-type Cursebearer should normally convey?
Nothing more, and nothing less, than momentarily relieving the Accursed of a portion of his own Victory Curse's burden. As an incidental benefit, Hunger can make an unrestricted True Wish.
{} Decline. Thanks, but no thanks. If dealing with one Crowning Curse had taught Hunger anything, it's that he didn't want another one. He would just have to achieve his goals and help the Accursed the old-fashioned way, through hard work.
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Zampano
🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
- Location
- Simping for DSB
The maiden said "fuck them kids"
But it occurs to me that Letrizia is maybe a plausible candidate for a turncoat. Her psychology seems to be the most affected by Hunger & Gisena rendering other people irrelevant (even more so than Aobaru, tbh). Letrizia also has a useful skill set: knowing about & countering Rank would be helpful for the Maiden because we didn't vote for her to have Rank 15 when she spawns.
Saying that everything turned to Daylight could just mean that the kids were abducted into the Realm of Daylight for a recruitment pitch.
In conclusion: Mordred Mark 2 2021 challenge
Edit: {x} reject the new curse. Hunger's thing is drawing strength from Victory and poisoning that chalice would be *bad*
But it occurs to me that Letrizia is maybe a plausible candidate for a turncoat. Her psychology seems to be the most affected by Hunger & Gisena rendering other people irrelevant (even more so than Aobaru, tbh). Letrizia also has a useful skill set: knowing about & countering Rank would be helpful for the Maiden because we didn't vote for her to have Rank 15 when she spawns.
Saying that everything turned to Daylight could just mean that the kids were abducted into the Realm of Daylight for a recruitment pitch.
In conclusion: Mordred Mark 2 2021 challenge
Edit: {x} reject the new curse. Hunger's thing is drawing strength from Victory and poisoning that chalice would be *bad*
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Aabcehmu
Confusion as a Natural State of Being
- Location
- Chicago, IL
- Pronouns
- Any/All
Maiden uses transfinite socials to close the fist with Letrizia and Aobaru to form Catriru for maximum Light/Sun thematics.
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
{a} reject the new curse.
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
That'd be terrifying. Aobaru needs to train more Soc Resist for the future.
Rihaku
The Internet
The Foremost Shogun is not so easily dismantled!
She would at least have to spend some Arete.
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
Hahaha, good luck with that. We have all the Arete, she can't have any.
- Location
- Italy
heh. I didn't notice this one, and it also introduced me to this nice show idea. The youtube video is pretty promising, I'd watch that show.
and yeah, the Accursed can't really afford to be that picky when he gets promising cursebearers. We don't even know how many cursebearers he actually has, but I imagine they're at the very least a finite number...
ok, now on to the reaction, for one of the last times!
...nano-temporal infection? I have no idea what that's supposed to mean.
aaaaand Letrizia is exactly as biased as I remembered her to be.
I mean, come on, she's HAPPIER with our ungrateful empire citizens rather than the more grateful Republic ones? Seriously?
Letrizia, I'd say your own essential nature didn't really change that much
I think it's "will hold", not will held.
In any case yeah, curses and Gisena, our worst enemies...
...ok, that doesn't sound good. Also out of character for Hunger. Sure, He basically stole free will from everyone, but it was my impression he left them free to think whatever they wanted to...
...well, I suppose that as long as it was her choice that's fine... though it still feels a bit wrong. Then again, why should she doom herself to unhappiness when happiness was literally a small application of will away and there was no other alternative anyway?
Gisena is still herself, and that is fine.
..ok, why does this both sounds pretty nice (I mean it's an Utopia with no death, no suffering, abundance of everything) but also very very very creepy?
I think it's still better than the alternative, but it's still a bit of an eye-opener about how other people could be against this.
So, basically Letrizia made herself permanently happy in a way that's beyond human understanding (closest equivalent might be a constantly drugged person, or maybe someone locked into the happiest moment of their life) while still being coherent, and perfectly rational while also not being deprived of emotion.
...That sounds paradoxical, but then again what does that even mean to a cursebearer? Hunger do as Hunger wants.
Still pretty creepy though.
...well, I'm happy to hear Hunger is as uncomfortable with this as I am. It makes me feel more confident in the fact this also means that Hunger didn't actually pressure her to change this way, or at least not intentionally.
Not really that surprising. It's actually pretty common for people to fear social disapproval as much as more physical harm, I think.
Hunger shade N 143246, how dare you overstep your position!
I'm actually as surprised as Letrizia... but then again, we're at the point in Hunger's growth where logic is straining to continue working.
Those shades are not sapient... but they can fake it well enough that it's probably impossible to tell the difference.
ok, seriously, I think Letrizia made it clear by now she doesn't care for those formalities, right?
...did she remember to tell them?
...wait, she's trying to get transfinite rank?
Do WE have transfinite rank?
...actually, what would the difference be between transfinite rank and infinite rank?
...what?
wait, is she moving away from her studies of rank and instead trying to go up the ISH? Actually what ISH would infinite (transfinite?) rank even be?
...I hate time-travel. It always brings me a headache.
Seriously, I'm happy this is going to be the last of Hunger's fights, because he has basically reached the point where further growth would make him very hard to understand, and even harder to enjoy.
heh, Aobaru is the most human-like of those little godlings basically.
...this all-rational-like Letrizia still continues to creep me out, though.
hey, she embraced her role as Evangelion expy! Hunger TRULY works miracles!
This one sentence from her also made her feel a bit less creepy, by the way.
By the way I imagine that at their level of cognition anime (and all entertainment media, really) would just be boring... unless, I suppose, it was maybe made by other superpowered beings? Is there even anyone capable of making someone they can appreciate though?
...well, I suppose even near-omnipotent beings need to spend time somehow. This is basically their equivalent of an RTS, with every single NPC actually guided/being a person from the Human Sphere or Voyaging Realm...
...also Gisena please stop WE KNOW YOU'RE THE SMARTEST ONE AROUND PLEASE ENOUGH!
Letrizia's musings about her existence
being actually a layer of a bigger game kinda reminds me of the simulation theory somehow... but then again there's no way to prove such things, so why even bother?
...still very much satisfied with Hunger's trip being close to its end. This is absurd!
Uh, Aobaru REALLY stayed... human. Yeah, all things considered he's probably a better pick than Letrizia at least.
...fair enough, though...
yeah, that.
I'm liking the way Aobaru is being portrayed, and when interacting with... equals Letrizia is a LOT less creepy.
...the Maiden definitely has a flair for the dramatic.
765 words for only the part in the spoiler box.
- Location
- Italy
...daaaaamn, that curse is terrifying. I think it's actually worse than Apocryphal. For every win, a new curse equal to the challenge faced... though with Apocryphal pushing you to always further heights, doesn't that also mean that Hunger would, if he survived, progress even faster?
ImperatorV
The Laughing One
- Location
- The Voyaging Realm
It's crazy how NeoLetrizia manages to be so casually absolutely terrifying... And then the Maiden manages to be orders of magnitude more terrifying in a single line then NeoLetrizia was in her entire chapter. Truly a worthy opponent for Hunger - which is indeed a very bad thing.
I can see how you can think that, but it's just subject confusion.
This (insignificant and non-sentient particle of their overlord's will) held
This (thing) held power enough to extinguish Armaments at a stroke.
Apocryphal doesn't perfectly scale challenges to your strength, so if you've been weakened for some reason... tough luck?
And unless Hunger wants to bear an ever-increasing amount of Curses, he would have to spend time Mitigating them. Which is probably much less difficult than Mitigating ones originating from the Accursed, but it's still a time-waster.
Still, in the end a true Cursebearer can overcome any challenge in time, even a Curse auch as this. And if they can't, they weren't a proper Cursebearer to begin with.
Well, the Maiden's here and even more of a buzzkill than anticipated, which is saying something. I bet her emergence included one-liners with dramatic timing for everyone in Hungertopia, or at least every character of relevance. No need to expend Arete, there's an app Grace for that! What does she even want, other than serving as a proxy for Bad Cat's vengeance? Faeliad said she "would not take kindly to what he has made of her ancestral Realm," but what are her specific concerns? By what right does she presume to upend what he's made of the Sphere? 'Might alone,' that old chestnut? Her name on some cosmic lease dating back to the time of the Foremost?
If the Porcelain Faction from the first AST is representative, maybe she just has philosophical objections to autocrats whatever their commitment to their subjects' welfare. Nevermind that Hunger's reign will last only decades. Disregard his successor's laissez-faire inclinations. Who cares about the preferences of the people living in his lands? There's no ongoing Decimation; the Apocryphal Curse was previously well in hand. What an aggravating adversary, declining to lay out a coherent position for us to poke holes in. Really, this whole affair would call Hunger's taste in waifus into question had Gisena not already poisoned that well as thoroughly as she does every meal she touches!
...Like Letrizia looking down on Republic scum, taking potshots at Gisena is simply part of my core values. Even if Seram's own Remittance has been returned, even if her utility and loyalty to Hunger have been proven beyond question, I can no more stop than Hunger's subjects can rebel.
Anyway, my ability to generate tactics for a fight of this level is somewhat limited, but here goes. The Realm of Daylight 'complements and utterly opposes' the Realm of Evening. The converse is presumably also true. Yet evening is day's end; Hunger doesn't command the Realm of Night, but the subset of it which heralds the end of one's waking hours. Could be a conceptual vulnerability there. She can't truly rest, so an endurance-focused strat centered around wearing her down with Ruin could help, so long as she doesn't destroy the Sphere and trip the Geas' loss condition.
Making use of our subjects as something other than a cheerleading squad to proc Supreme Commander. With all the technological advancement going on, surely mankind's collective ingenuity with Gisena as project lead brings something to the table. Or so I hope. It'd be poetic justice to win because what Hunger offers hews closer to what humanity actually desires: security, an end to suffering. The zenith of the Foremost has come and gone, and the actions of their Shards (except the Emissary, you're cool) have done little to indicate that isn't for the best. Let the beleaguered and war-ravaged polities of the Sphere rest beneath Evening's aegis.
Then there's the nature of the vessel. However shredded by the sacrifices she's made to prosecute her vendetta, the Maiden's inhabiting Ceathlynn. If Hunger has resurrected Moren Tao, he might provoke the moment's hesitation that was decisive against Procyon again. Hopefully the Tyrant's Doom doesn't prohibit restoring those who died defying him, but Hunger's demonstrated respect for worthy opponents. Could be worth extending this 'play the man, not the ball' approach to the Maiden, consulting surviving Shards for information about her, but however fungible time's become there may not be enough of it to conduct research. But that's what Gisena is for.
If the Porcelain Faction from the first AST is representative, maybe she just has philosophical objections to autocrats whatever their commitment to their subjects' welfare. Nevermind that Hunger's reign will last only decades. Disregard his successor's laissez-faire inclinations. Who cares about the preferences of the people living in his lands? There's no ongoing Decimation; the Apocryphal Curse was previously well in hand. What an aggravating adversary, declining to lay out a coherent position for us to poke holes in. Really, this whole affair would call Hunger's taste in waifus into question had Gisena not already poisoned that well as thoroughly as she does every meal she touches!
...Like Letrizia looking down on Republic scum, taking potshots at Gisena is simply part of my core values. Even if Seram's own Remittance has been returned, even if her utility and loyalty to Hunger have been proven beyond question, I can no more stop than Hunger's subjects can rebel.
Anyway, my ability to generate tactics for a fight of this level is somewhat limited, but here goes. The Realm of Daylight 'complements and utterly opposes' the Realm of Evening. The converse is presumably also true. Yet evening is day's end; Hunger doesn't command the Realm of Night, but the subset of it which heralds the end of one's waking hours. Could be a conceptual vulnerability there. She can't truly rest, so an endurance-focused strat centered around wearing her down with Ruin could help, so long as she doesn't destroy the Sphere and trip the Geas' loss condition.
Making use of our subjects as something other than a cheerleading squad to proc Supreme Commander. With all the technological advancement going on, surely mankind's collective ingenuity with Gisena as project lead brings something to the table. Or so I hope. It'd be poetic justice to win because what Hunger offers hews closer to what humanity actually desires: security, an end to suffering. The zenith of the Foremost has come and gone, and the actions of their Shards (except the Emissary, you're cool) have done little to indicate that isn't for the best. Let the beleaguered and war-ravaged polities of the Sphere rest beneath Evening's aegis.
Then there's the nature of the vessel. However shredded by the sacrifices she's made to prosecute her vendetta, the Maiden's inhabiting Ceathlynn. If Hunger has resurrected Moren Tao, he might provoke the moment's hesitation that was decisive against Procyon again. Hopefully the Tyrant's Doom doesn't prohibit restoring those who died defying him, but Hunger's demonstrated respect for worthy opponents. Could be worth extending this 'play the man, not the ball' approach to the Maiden, consulting surviving Shards for information about her, but however fungible time's become there may not be enough of it to conduct research. But that's what Gisena is for.
Zampano
🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
- Location
- Simping for DSB
I think there's room for a more grounded objection to Hunter's regime! The Maiden's deal in AST was the "implicate duty," which implies that she values the individual's choice to make the correct decision. I understand her only form of communication was to make clear the obligations that a person should be taking on. That is a very disaggregated and democratic approach to securing the common good.
Hunger's existence is a direct rebuttal to that paradigm. Hunger imposes a law and takes away the choice. He removes the opportunity to accept responsibility for oneself; this was the objection that Aobaru raised, and the underlying cause of Letrizia's ennui and self medication using Rank. Moreover, where Hunger has allowed growth, Gisena has made every contribution other than her own obsolete!
The extreme inequality in the distribution of Human Sphere power (laying pretty much exclusively with Hunger and Gisena) is a dramatic reversal from the scenario of competing, peer-level, Sorceresses engineered by the Maiden.
Perhaps that is what has drawn her ire.
If so, then the Maiden was always going to fight Hunger eventually - as they climb along the ISH their opposed ontological paradigms will generate more and more friction.
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Rihaku
The Internet
Vote Update Preview! Full version in 20-30 minutes.
The once and future king. At times little more than feeble whisper of a prophecy, now a promise vindicated in full. Hunger comes into the fullness of his power; the might of his former self at an analogous stage of development is added to his own. Moreover, he now is the Forebear of Dynasties returned in truth, and bears all the glory and terror of his unfathomable epochal reign. A law unto himself that uncontested could bring all creation to ruin; sheer limitless power, heedless will like the spark of divinity curdled into unyielding iron.
Req. Once and Future III, Haeliel
Uttermost, End: The Doom of Tyranny is removed from Hunger's Curses; rather, it is simply how the Forebear is. 'Mitigation' is meaningless and impossible for such a fundamental pillar of the Forebear's essential nature.
*What is Rank, but the weight of narrative compounded by density? And what is density, but a function of the weight within a given space? To the uttermost master of Law and Space, the natural conclusion is no supernova of will, but rather an inescapable singularity.
*Add infinite Willpowers +s.
*Set Rank to infinite.
The once and future king. At times little more than feeble whisper of a prophecy, now a promise vindicated in full. Hunger comes into the fullness of his power; the might of his former self at an analogous stage of development is added to his own. Moreover, he now is the Forebear of Dynasties returned in truth, and bears all the glory and terror of his unfathomable epochal reign. A law unto himself that uncontested could bring all creation to ruin; sheer limitless power, heedless will like the spark of divinity curdled into unyielding iron.
Req. Once and Future III, Haeliel
Uttermost, End: The Doom of Tyranny is removed from Hunger's Curses; rather, it is simply how the Forebear is. 'Mitigation' is meaningless and impossible for such a fundamental pillar of the Forebear's essential nature.
*What is Rank, but the weight of narrative compounded by density? And what is density, but a function of the weight within a given space? To the uttermost master of Law and Space, the natural conclusion is no supernova of will, but rather an inescapable singularity.
*Add infinite Willpowers +s.
*Set Rank to infinite.