V's consciousness flittered in and out as the pain of burning mixed with the agony of freezing. As he tumbled through the inferno that was consuming him, he felt a soft hand grace his forehead. "My mother is clever; her plans cannot be undone by the gods. Much less a demon. Sleep now, and seek the truth on the morrow." V nodded and muttered, "Thanks..."

"I think the gods, and maybe the even the system, are going to blame whatever that whole thing was on me."  The lights in V's head were slowly turning back on as he heard an unfamiliar voice. "Ah right there we go."

┌——————┐
Critical Rule Violation in Progress in Local Area! System Tampering in Progress!
└——————┘

V gathered all of his willpower and forced his eyes open. Whatever was going on seemed incredibly important.

┌——————┐
Reporting Error to Council! Standby....
└——————┘

Standing over him was a man who had not entered V's thoughts much since leaving the starting village. L was bowing to the man, which was also strange. "I do not know why you are risking so much to help him. I offer my gratitude for helping save my master." V was saved? Oh... right, he was burning and freezing, that 'reveal his status' idea really did not work out as intended. The man began to reply, the cloth covering his lower face gently shifting in the wind. 

┌——————┐
The God of Law has Voted for Intervention.
└——————┘

┌——————┐
The Goddess of Good has Voted for Intervention
└——————┘

The voice from the man was gravely and difficult to understand. "Both of us owe you a debt that can never be repaid. Whatever happens next, I don't regret my efforts to help you." Eika began to run toward the man, V tilted his head weakly toward her. Tears were in her eyes, "Thank you so much for saving him!" L grabbed Eika before she could hug the man’s midsection. "I would not get too close. We have no idea what's about to happen."

┌——————┐
The God of Evil has Voted for Non-Intervention
└——————┘

┌——————┐
The Goddess of Chaos has Voted for Intervention.
└——————┘

"It's lucky you were in the area. Otherwise, I have no idea what we would have done." L raised her head as she spoke. The man shrugged in response "Luck had nothing to do with it. I had been following you on and off a since a few days after you left the village. I don't sleep or eat, so it was easy to catch up when I fell behind or was side tracked. I always intended to repay our debt by sacrificing myself or saving you against some overwhelming champion, but it turns out-"

┌——————┐
The God of Lies has Voted for Intervention.
└——————┘

┌——————┐
The God of Honesty has Voted for Intervention.
└——————┘

V struggled to speak up, he did not understand why, but he knew that the man in front of him was not to blame for whatever happened here. Somehow, he knew that the man was being used as a patsy by him. No... not by him... but by the blessing of motherhood. The gods could never know what had happened here! V's confused and muddled thoughts were cut short.

┌——————┐
The council has ruled for Intervention. Pausing operations until deliberations conclude.
└——————┘

V blinked a few times, his disorientation seemed to suddenly spike for a moment and then after another few seconds he felt better, less muddled. The pain of L's fire did not seem as fresh in his mind, but something was strange.

┌——————┐
After 49,273 hours, the council has agreed on a solution. Resuming operations.
└——————┘

Oh. That's why something was strange. 'Operations' had been suspended for five or six years. Based on the way he felt and the disorientation he was experiencing, he could only assume that time on the world had stopped. Or the entire world stopped. V was not sure the semantics of what just happened were that important.

┌——————┐
Analyzing submitted proposal... ... ...
Proposal approved.
Committing alterations.
└——————┘

The man in front of V went sort of... hazy for a moment before coming back into focus.

┌——————┐
This is a system wide announcement to all champions.
Due to a rule violation, system operations were suspended for a total of 49,273 hours.
Any apparent anomalies were caused by the system, not by another champion or otherwise hostile force.
The Champion of Death has been reset to level one, given a new blessing, and has had the alterations done to him by the Champion of Knowledge reverted.
The possession of the citizen Amara has been changed from possession, as it is no longer possible due to the reversion, into a fused personality.
└——————┘

V tried to rise off the ground, despite the freezing aura of this place being gone, he was still somewhat cold laying in the snow. Seeing his actions, L moved over and helped support him. Quickly gesturing toward the stunned man, she explained "He is an ally of some type. Or... was... although the system reset him? It also seems as if it changed his pers-" V nodded and cut her off "Ya, I was awake for that part. Let’s uh, be ready for trouble though. Not really sure what the last part of that message meant." L held V up with her non-dominant hand, as the other was already resting on the hilt of her weapon. "I have some idea, as I had him explain who he was before I let him near you, but we should be careful yes." As the man's facial expression changed from 'dazed' to 'confused.' L continued "Amara, the village guard that got his lower face torn off by O, apparently wandered into the forest. With his revenge for his wife's death complete, or at-least he thought it was, he decided there was nothing left for him but to quietly go into the night." V nodded, he vaguely remembered hearing rumors of the man's disappearance around the day they left the village.

"Apparently, according to... them, the spirit thing that the Champion of Death turned into found him as he awaited death in the forest. As you seemed to be dying in the snow, he did not take the time to explain exactly what transpired between them, but the spirit possessed him or merged with him in some way. Together they have been functioning as the Champion of Death since then. Apparently being merged with a fairy gave him some access to the system which he used to, somehow, keep you alive? I’m not really clear on that part. We did not have a whole lot of time to discuss that element of the situation."

Regaining his footing, V shrugged. "Well, I am alive. He also seems... alive. So, it appeared to have worked out at-least on a nominal level. If he’s not uh, brain dead, I’ll have to thank him." As V was able to stand on his own at this point, L slowly walked close to Amara. "Hello? Are you awake?" The man's movements were strange, a little too jerky and uneven, but he looked in L's direction and nodded. Eika quipped up "Uh, I know he just saved us so Eika is not trying to be rude, but he is way creepier now." V suddenly remembered that Luna was also freaking out during that whole... event. Looking around he saw her peacefully sleeping in the snow. Following his gaze, Eika spoke up again. "We think she’s fine. She sorta just cried a bunch and passed out. I was worried but she seems fine, right?"

Before V could respond the man, Amara, spoke up. "Well, that was an experience." The cadence in his voice was different then before the changes the system made. "Apparently, as I understand it, I am now one person with the experiences and memories of both Amara and the Champion of Death. I also seem to simply have been given the knowledge of why this was the outcome of the god's agreement to some degree. They could not allow a champion to exist who had access to some of the status functions. Broke too many rules, but they did not just kill me because A) There is no way the gods would EVER agree to directly kill a champion, and B) the God of Honesty and Goddess of Good pointed out that none of this was my fault, and was a condition forced on me by the Champion of Knowledge, so they would not accept anything harsher than this." He cleared his throat awkwardly, as his movements slowly became smoother and less jerky. "Apparently, I was also given the knowledge that the fact that it took them almost six years to come to an agreement is considered 'speedy.' Which is sort of concerning."

Looking over at L and V he chuckled "Oh right, sorry to just ramble on there. Sort of disoriented. Very weird experience, for example, did you know that I now have the memories and related emotions of both hating and liking game fowl? Another weird thing is that-" He cut himself off. "Ah, sorry again." V shook his head "You can talk all you want. Small price to pay in thanks for you, somehow saving my life?" V was not really clear on what transpired. He wanted to check his status, but to be honest, was a little concerned about doing so. 

"Ah right. That whole thing. As far as I can tell, you and your status are... fused together in an unnatural way. Or something. Never seen anything like it. In theory that should not be possible. Do you and your group know how the status system works? Or more importantly its purpose?" V shrugged and told Amara the outline of what they had learned from Namkuzu. "Well, when I was fused with the fairy it did not appear exactly like that, but the idea seems correct..." After a moment of contemplative silence, he shook his head and continued. "Anyway, if we assume that the information both me and your... associate have is correct. Then "hidden" status elements serve no purpose. If the status system exists to regulate people, then why would anything being hidden make sense?"

As V, L and Eika considered the question. V had a strange sensation in the back of his mind, it reminded him of... exertion? He began to examine the feeling. It was almost like when you were thinking too hard for too long, and your brain simply became tired, but it was in the back of his mind. How can your mental exhaustion be hidden from yourself?" L cast a sidelong glance at V, her blessing suddenly began to indicate strange things to her. For a moment, V felt perfectly safe. Which had not happened for even a singular moment since she received the blessing. V continued to try and figure out the strange feeling, after a moment he had a strange revelation. His blessing had activated. Or rather, had been activated for a long time, and was currently active. When he realized this, he received a status message.

┌——————┐
Ability: Mother's Whisper
Causes the user and all related entities actions to appear inconsistent with their actual actions.
Only effects gods
└——————┘

                                                                                                                      ┌——————┐
                                                                                                                       Divine rule violation in progress!
                                                                                                                      └——————┘

┌——————┐
Divine rule violation in progress!
└——————┘

                                                             ┌——————┐
                                                              Divine rule violation in progress!
                                                             └——————┘

V could barely read the ability before the message 'faded away.' Multiple rule violation messages also faded away alongside of it. V realized that for as long as that ability has been active, he had been a walking rule violation. Paradoxically, the thing causing the rule violation was also stopping the divine from seeing that it, or rather he, was violating the rules? Also, it only effected gods, which was strange considering this was a death game between champions. V's suspicions about the Mother Goddess had been increasing since they left the starting village, but at this point he was forced to conclude that she was planning something, and that most, if not everything, she said to him was a lie. L was snapping her fingers in-front of V's eyes. "Huh? Sorry. I just realized something and was a little preoccupied."

Nodding slowly, L continued to speak. "As I was saying, the hidden elements of a status only make sense under two circumstances. Firstly, we do not know or understand everything there is to know about the status system. You and Namkuzu could be correct, that it functions as a regulatory body for this world, but that could not be the entire truth. Secondly if we believe Namkuzu, a large subset of gods, regardless of if it is any of the currently living gods or not, have tried to tamper with the system. Perhaps over time they have managed to alter it in ways not even they understand. And thirdly, the system itself would seem to have some sort of will. We don't know how far that will goes of course. Perhaps it is animalistic, or childlike. Or perhaps it is a mastermind philosopher and poet. Since we don't know where the system falls on the scale of self-awareness, we cannot rule out the possibility that the system itself is changing itself, or somehow utilizing hidden statuses.

Speaking up excitedly, Eika jumped into the conversation. "Eika knows she is just a young rabbit slave girl, but it seems to me that the status system normally works how Namkuzu and Amara think it does. I have never heard of hidden statuses and secret status messages before this whole champion business started." As he listened V shook his head. That was not true, the curse on the rabbitkin was a secret status. He assumed that the curse was on all rabbitkin, and not Eika alone. According to the various stories of the past he had heard, the entire race was 'cursed' and although the nature of that curse seemed to be inconsistent with the stories, presumably all of them had it. "The system has been compromised for a long time. Namkuzu said that, essentially, a war was waged over trying to gain control of the system. He did not know how that war ended, but perhaps the system itself became corrupted or altered in some way? The rabbitkin have been 'secretly' cursed since then at-least. And what of Eika's 'chosen one' status. That does not feel like something that just suddenly decided to exist recently." Eika opened and closed her mouth a few times in surprise as the others contemplated deeply while Luna rested in the snow.

V felt like he was close to uncovering something important. Like an itch on your back you are almost able to reach, but is slightly outside of your range of motion. An ability to hide his actions from the gods, cursed rabbitkin, the status system, the old war. What was he missing? He felt like he needed only one or two more facts to try and connect these disparate pieces of information. What of the four-

┌——————┐
This is an automated system announcement.
The God of Honor has died.
As the Champion of Honor still exists within the game, she will be considered to be the sole victor if she achieves any of the victory conditions, as it is no longer possible for her patron to share in the possible victory.
└——————┘