Viktoriya felt like a mere observer, cast away from control over her own body yet again. This time, however, it was by a being who had every intention and capability of killing someone she had failed to protect before. She screamed for the control to end, for her own faculties to be returned, at the injustice of what was occurring. 

 

‘The hell am I doing? I’m an Imperial Mage! And an elite one at that! Tanya would kill me if I let myself be taken control of that easily! Actually, at this rate, she might! Whatever, whoever you are, I won’t let you use my body! And I won’t let you hurt Tanya!’

 

“How persistent you are,” A booming baritone voice echoed out through the subconscious void that was her mind, from seemingly everywhere all at once. She glanced around the dark void of her mind to find no source of the voice, instead only seeing the darkness of her subconscious mind, if that was even possible.

 

“Who are you?! Get out of my body!” Viktoriya shouted at the voice although it seemed unfazed.

 

“Most people would lie down and perish, letting their souls drift away and let me take over with ease. You have a firm mind, I’ll give you credit for that. Years of war have hardened you, no doubt, particularly under that detestable Argent. But as a wartime mage, you must understand one thing…. You’re a measly soldier. You’re meant to die.”

 

“I refuse! Now get out! This body’s occupied!” Viktoriya shouted again at the voice, though she thought she only heard a sigh in response.

 

“How annoying…” The voice muttered.

 

The world around her shifted. Rather than the void of her own mind, she found herself back on the Rhine front, standing in the midst of a no man's land, trenches stretching, branching, and twisting for miles north and south at either side of her. Despite the fresh smell of death, there were no soldiers or guns to be seen, and not a single plane or mage in the smog-filled skies.

 

Glancing up at the sky noticed something strange; there was no sun, nor was there a moon. The sky wasn’t blue or black, but rather a mixture of grays. All that stood out in the empty void that was the foggy sky were massive golden chains that stretched across in their entirety, as if imprisoning the entire world in their binds.

 

The voice spoke again, its voice now flickering between that of a deep-sounding male, to that of Tanya’s, an image of Tanya flickering in and out of existence, eyes glowing golden along with her characteristic Computation Jewel on her neck. Landing in front of her, the replication spoke as she flickered into existence, “If you must continue to resist me, then I will crush you like the insect you are.”

 

The Tanya, whom Viktoriya immediately recognized as a fake, raised her rifle, firing at it as she threw up a barrier, launching into the sky as she grabbed her own rifle. Returning fire, the imitation Tanya evaded it like a fairy soaring through the air, slamming into Viktoriya as she stumbled to regain her balance in the air.

 

Tanya’s replication now spoke again, this time completely acclimated to Tanya’s voice, “This is the power your commander could have wielded. If only she had accepted my mercy. She rejected the power I granted her and she despised me at every turn for the grace I gave her. I’d say it was her downfall, but this was inevitable regardless.”

 

The not-Tanya waved its hand as a magical field appeared in front of it when it raised its rifle. Lights of several colors across the rainbow glowed as it moved down the rifle, launching at Viktoria as she failed to dodge it, barely managing to block it with her barrier as the not-Tanya simultaneously charged at her.

 

As it slammed into Viktoriya, it knocked her rifle far out of her reach. As Viktoria flew back to the ground, tumbling, she surveyed up to view the not-Tanya holding her rifle in its hands before snapping it over its knee, declaring, “I thought you were trained not to lose that? Oh well. Incompetence must be punished.”

 

She was overwhelmed, and now she was outgunned, but she wouldn’t give up yet.

 

[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]

 

Tanya stared up at Being X hovering above, his large wings on what was once Viktoriya’s back making her look angelic, a trait Tanya now saw as disgusting. As he raised his hand, numerous glowing circles appeared above them, powered with massive amounts of magic.

 

Before she could react, she heard Being X yell, “Disintegration!”

 

Suddenly Tanya was engulfed in yet another disintegration spell, just as she had been with Hinata. Yet again, all she could do was laugh as the spell was wiped away at her will. It was holy, it was fine.

 

Being X stared at Tanya with annoyance as Disintegration ended itself, although he didn’t seem too surprised at the situation, “Of all the skills for you to regain… No matter, I’ll take you down with my powers alone!”

 

Being X leaped at Tanya, slicing through where she was standing as she was quick to dodge, sword auras strong enough to rip through nearby trees. He swiped again, this time managing to impact her barrier as quickly as she applied it. Launching herself forward, she slammed her right foot into Being X’s chest, launching him backward, though he remained steady on his feet whilst she flew as well.

 

“Is that all, Being X?” Tanya teased, waving her gun in the air.

 

“I would prefer it if you stopped calling me that, Argent! My name is Osiris, and I shall be referred to as such!” He retorted with anger, aura flaring once more.

 

Tanya shrugged, “I don’t really care, but if you start calling me Tanya rather than this ‘Argent’ nonsense then we have a deal.”

 

“I’m glad we can agree on something, at least,” Osiris threw one of his swords at Tanya, whizzing by in a beam of light faster than a bullet as Tanya barely dodged it. As he raised his other sword, Tanya preemptively dodged in another direction before Osiris manifested another sword in his hand and simultaneously launched it at Tanya. Barely dodging it, Tanya watched as the sword ripped a hole straight through her barrier, shattering it into pieces.

 

As Tanya stabilized on her feet, she realized that she couldn’t rely on her barrier as much as she could before even with her demonic racial empowerments. Being X, or rather, Osiris as he insisted on calling himself, was the strongest foe she had ever come across. It would take her everything she had and more to take him out, but she would end him nonetheless.

 

Tanya raised her rifle and rained numerous shots upon Osiris, who in turn dodged them at swift speeds with ease, immediately rushing up to Tanya and slicing his swords down once more before Tanya escaped to the skies, forcibly creating some distance between the pair as Osiris moments later flapped his wings and took off after her.

Tanya continued firing bullets and strikes at Osiris for a while, trying to chip him down bit by bit. Although plenty of them hit thanks to the raw volume she was pumping out, and Tanya still largely had the advantage with Divine Nullification, she still struggled to keep up with his immense speed. Hits were difficult to land as Osiris was equally swift at dealing with them as well.

 

She continued to struggle, but she hadn’t begun losing quite yet.

 

[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]

 

Rimuru hovered over the virtually defenseless army, his blue hair flowing in the wind as his golden eyes coldly stared at the people, no, ants below. However before he could prepare his final attack to gather the souls he needed he took quick notice of fighting going on in the far distance, something of great concern, as the mortals below took notice of him.

 

The cacophony of powerful magical attacks, bullets, and flashing beams of light became impossible to ignore as Rimuru took immediate notice of Tanya fighting a four-winged angelic being.

 

‘So that must be this Being X? I have no idea what else it could be. They have a whole lot of magicules. I should help Tanya!’

 

«Notice: The chance of survival if you attempt to aid Tanya is 0.000000-»

 

‘ENOUGH WITH THE ZEROS ALREADY! Jeez, I didn’t know Tanya was so defensive about getting to solo her nemesis…’

 

«The individual Tanya is not the most likely cause of death.»

 

‘Huh?!’

 

«The individual Tanya is fighting holds immense holy magic at his disposal. Tanya’s Unique Skill [Divine Nullification] allows her to ignore his greatest strength, equalizing the battlefield. Without this skill, there is a high probability you could be overwhelmed by Holy Magic.»

 

‘Ah… I suppose a ‘god’ would have something like that… But surely there’s something we can do!’

 

«Calculating… Searching for possible methods of assistance… Attempting creation of Soul Corridor between subjects… Successful.»

 

«Searching for possible methods of assistance… Option found… Executing…»

 

«Accelerating awakening process for Manas: Athena.»

 

‘Who’s Athena?’

 

«Progress… 10%»

«20%»

«30%»

«40%»

«50%»

«60%»

«70%»

«80%»

«90%»

«Operation Successful… Manas: Athena has been awakened.»

 

‘Just what did that do..?’

 

«The chances of the individual Tanya Tempest’s total victory have been raised from 0.001% to 50%.»

 

‘Huh?! That much of an increase?! Was she really that screwed before?!’

 

«The most likely outcome before was a stalemate, leading to the mutual destruction of both parties. Now, that probability has been lowered to 50% with a 50% chance of total victory for Tanya.»

 

‘Let's hope this works then…’

 

[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]

 

Tanya was launched backward as she forcefully slowed down her momentum, stabilizing in the air just in time to deflect another blast from Osiris. Using his strike to give herself distance, she raised her rifle and fired numerous shots in his direction, a few managing to land, but without doing much in terms of damage.

 

Osiris raised his arm to protect his face before soaring forward and swinging it back down onto Tanya, forcing her to block with all her might, but still being knocked down to the ground below all the same. Keeping the momentum, he rushed at her once again as she fell.

 

Tanya landed on her feet, creating a small crater where she landed as Osiris swung down with both swords. Tanya blocked the attack as she was sent backward once more, dragging her feet against the dirt as she stopped herself through sheer force of will and magicule control.

 

She tried to calculate a clear solution; some way to assure her victory, but she found nothing. There were no critical weaknesses to exploit and no overwhelming strengths she could use to her advantage, only the small openings she had been taking potshots at this entire time. She wasn’t quite losing yet, but she was no doubt struggling.

 

At its current rate, she knew it would come down to a battle of attrition, but between the two of them, she had no idea who would outlast the other. Preparing more formulas for her counter-attack within her boots, she heard a vaguely familiar voice in her head:

 

«Operation Successful… Manas: Athena has been awakened»

 

‘Huh?! That again?! I thought it was supposed to take a while! This better not make this any harder…’

 

As Tanya was distracted by the voice, she just barely noticed Osiris’ blade about to pierce through her left eye. A new voice appeared, one similar but less robotic than the one she had just heard, seemingly seizing control over her body. To an extent, it sounded like an altered version of her own voice, albeit more mature sounding, older and wiser.

 

◄Threat Detected - Initiating Manual Override.►

 

In an instant, Tanya dodged to the right, turning and stepping to the side before rapidly swinging her fist against Osiris’ back, punching him in the direction he attacked toward. He tumbled for a moment but was quick to return to his feet as Tanya stared in shock and awe.

 

◄Sorry about that, I noticed you were a bit distracted so I had to take control for a bit!►

 

‘Who are you?!’ Tanya asked this voice, confusion taking hold. Osiris attacked again, but this time Tanya was able to block his attack on her own as she used more barriers to deflect and re-orient his blades.

 

◄Huh? Don’t you…? Actually, give me a second, I’ll skim through your memories…►

 

‘You stay out of-!’

 

◄Ah… Ooh… Uuh… Well, it seems I made a dramatic miscalculation. Ignoring the fact you don’t seem to have even the vaguest memory of who I am, it seems to me we’re in quite the predicament, aren’t we?►

 

Tanya blocked yet another attack as she took off again to the air where she could better dodge Osiris’ bullet attacks. Again focusing on the voice in her mind, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

 

◄Allow me to introduce myself, I am Athena, a Manas created by Argent. Your relationship with her would be too complicated to explain at the moment, given that we’re in combat, so I’ll explain it later. All that’s important is that I’m your ally.►

 

‘I suppose I’ll have to trust you for now, I doubt I have a choice anyways. We will definitely be having a discussion later.. I’m not sure what a ‘Manas’ is, but judging from what you did, I assume you can help me find a way to beat Osiris?’

 

◄Of course! I’ll run the calculations!►

 

Tanya continued fighting in the meantime, dodging to the sides as Osiris launched forward once more, causing him to fly past her before turning and swinging back, landing an attack that Tanya quickly blocked.

 

◄Unfortunately, the only means I found to win would result in your mutual destruction… However! Skimming through your memories has informed me of this ‘Demon Lord’ concept. I’ve never discovered something like this before, so it’s new territory for me but… If we can begin the process of evolution, I may be able to use the burst of power to reawaken some of your skills and power that haven’t awakened yet!►

 

‘A Demon Lord Awakening… I don’t know anything about that either, but I suppose it's worth a try.’

 

◄Nor do I! But we just need a place to find the souls you need. There’s plenty around here, but they’re fairly scattered and unharvested.►

 

Tanya thought for a moment, parrying another attack by Osiris and kicking him by the shoulder into the ground to regain some distance before he could swing again. ‘Rimuru might need those souls, but I have an idea for where I can find some. However, I’ll need your help to keep Osiris off my ass’

 

 ◄That much I can do!► 

 

“Are you sure you can afford to be this distracted?! Take this! Judgment!” Osiris roared as he manifested multiple swords and coated them with Disintegration before launching them at her. Although Tanya wouldn’t take more damage from the Disintegration that coated the swords, swords that were now durable projectiles and rapidly accelerating toward her at near light speed, were still designed to crack her open like a walnut in a nutcracker. 

 

Suddenly, Osiris noticed that the sky was filled with many copies of Tanya flying in all directions, positively glowing with power, “You fool! Your illusions cannot help you evade this! Did you forget that I can detect your magical signature!?” However, he noticed that one of the 'illusions' had more magicules than the others and also dodged and parried the storm of golden blades as it flew to the side instead of letting it harmlessly pass through, an obvious flaw. ‘That must be her plan, to hide a clone in the swarm of illusions and try to flank me. Too bad I noticed it, it just means that the main body is weaker now.’

 

◄Are you sure it was a good idea to use Parallel Existence? Three is more than you have done before, and he's surely gonna notice so it just makes you weaker. And not only that but you decided to control the weaker one instead and leave the stronger one to me?! You're crazy!►

 

‘Well, you clearly fight better given what I’ve seen, and he will likely focus his attacks on the stronger one. I can also handle two clones. Besides, one of them barely needs to do anything. I'm merely allocating resources for the best efficiency. Just distract him long enough for me,’ Tanya replied as she dodged and weaved through the glowing swords to the side and began using Material Creation. 

 

◄I can't hold him for long so be quick about this!►

 

Athena then rapidly closed the distance to Osiris, who ended his sword barrage and instead engaged in melee with her. However, unlike previously, each attack was expertly predicted and parried by Athena using the bayonet, forcing Osiris back and preventing him from turning his attention toward Tanya’s real bodies. 

 

“Tch, your swordsmanship has improved, but you’re still too weak to challenge me!” Osiris grumbled as he backed up to regain some distance, only to notice a 'clone' launching something at him from behind.

 

Tanya yelled whilst launching the largest nuke she could make with the amount of magicules in the clone, the clone nearly dissipating from the attack. 

 

“What an idiot, that nuke won't harm me, and you have no magicules left to protect yourself from it! Is a last-ditch kamikaze attempt the best you could come up with?” Osiris scoffed, throwing up a barrier perfectly designed to block it. 

 

Who says I was trying to damage you?”

 

“Wha-” Osiris was interrupted as he was launched into the stratosphere by a massive explosion, created by a third clone positioned behind him, far larger than any nuke Tanya had created before.

 

After a few minutes of high-speed flying, Tanya began to slow down as a massive boom and shockwave reverberated behind her, throwing her forward. ‘Looks like the plan to stall him was a success, he would've likely caught up and stopped me from gathering the souls if I had just flown straight here.’

 

◄Wow, that was a great way to buy time. Hiding this body by concealing the magicules and pretending to be an illusion is genius! Especially since you made another clone and made him think that that was the one you were hiding! Now let's get started before he returns!►

 

Spotting another large crater on the ground, Tanya quickly landed and took a closer look around her to see many destroyed buildings. Countless homes had turned to rubble, and in the distance, what was once a massive stone wall that protected the city was now little more than a small pile of rocks for most of the perimeter. The floor glittered under the sun as sand was turned to glass. Although there was nobody within the ruined city, she looked around to see the scorched corpses of many, most still in the positions they were in when they died. In other places further along, all that was left were shadows outlining where people stood.

 

◄Jeez, there’s a whole lot of radiation here… Just what happened?►

 

‘A massacre, and one that we’re going to use to our benefit. Athena, can you tell me if there are still souls here?’

 

◄The souls aren’t in any condition to be revived like those monsters in that city of yours, but the souls are still here. Had you come here even a few hours later, it may have been too late to use them as their fragments dissipated into the reincarnation cycle.►

 

Tanya then got to work, locating as many of the scattered souls left in the area as she could when a very furious Osiris landed in the center of the crater, kicking up a cloud of dust.

 

“Your call sign was ‘pixie,’ yet you act like a fly. Running away now, are we? I expected you to fight to the end. It turns out the Devil of the Rhine is a coward after all! No more running, let’s end this now!”

 

As the dust around Tanya settled, Osiris looked confused as Tanya smirked, “Agreed.”

 

Osiris looked around as the various corpses all around him suddenly expelled glowing balls of magicules, containing information he briefly recognized. Each ball glowed various shades of colors, some incomprehensible to the human eye, but mostly emitting a deep mixture of purples and blue. He recognized them immediately for what they were: souls, and human ones at that.

 

Before he could even question what Tanya was doing with the souls of an entire city’s population, the souls all flew directly into her, causing her to become engulfed in a massive flame of darkness that released a shockwave that pushed him away.

 

The pitch-black flame erupted high into the sky, engulfing the demon before suddenly more flames appeared, this time a pure white. The white flames clashed with the black, the two intertwining and dancing together before they merged into a single silver beam of light that stretched high into the sky.

 

Osiris guarded himself as he felt the world around him tremble, the very magicules in the air shook as he felt the universe shift. Whatever Tanya was doing, it was big, and it was dangerous to this world’s reality. But then it hit him, he knew exactly what Tanya was doing, and by the time he realized what she was doing, it was already too late to stop her.

 

«Primordial Factor - Silver - Has Been Successfully Re-Awakened»

 

◄Operation successful! Just one small problem…►

 

‘What is it, Athena?’

 

◄We’re running on limited time. I used the Harvest Festival as a catalyst to awaken your power, the true harvest festival hasn’t begun yet. I’ve stalled it from starting for now, but it’s only a matter of time before you pass out. I could force through it, but I don’t know the consequences of that.►

 

‘How long do we have?’

 

◄Three minutes, give or take a few seconds.►

 

Tanya smirked, ‘That’s plenty. Let’s end this.’

 

The silver beam of light slowly faded as the wind continued swirling around. Standing firm was Tanya, her hair now a vibrant silver color and her eyes far more human-like with a white coloring where there were once black, and golden eyes where there was once red.

 

Osiris gritted his teeth and slammed his sword at Tanya, who blocked it with a glowing red spear of magicules, raising it above their head with a smirk as it stopped his blade.

 

Tanya’s golden eyes changed shape, the appearance of a crosshair appearing in her left eye as she looked up at the enraged Osiris. Briefly taking over, Athena grinned, “Been a while, hasn’t it, Osiris?”

 

Though she spoke through Tanya, the voice remained identical to the one she used in Tanya’s mind as Osiris immediately recognized it, flying back and enraged further, “Who knew exterminating an insect could be so annoying, she’s even brought the cockroach back.”

 

Athena smirked and waved her hand dismissively, “Aww, I’m flattered Osiris, but now isn’t the time to be flirting on the battlefield.”

 

Osiris’ aura flared up with anger, flying forward and slicing at Athena with rapid swiftness, only for her to just step out of the way, “Didn’t your mother tell you not to play with the kitchen utensils?”

 

Osiris leaped back, launching his swords as beams of light at Athena, who easily dodged each one that he threw and recreated at a rapid pace before finally stopping, manifesting them in his hands again.

 

Athena looked back and smirked, “I think you dropped something back there.”

 

Osiris gripped his blades tighter, launching himself at Athena once more while shouting, “Ugh! Do you ever shut up?!”

 

[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]

 

Viktoriya stumbled through the air as she was forced to block another bullet that impacted her barrier, nearly shattering it. Her exhaustion was becoming more and more evident as she felt strain being placed on her very soul with each hit she took. She couldn’t last much longer.

 

She had no clue what was going on out in the real world, but she could tell that Tanya was still out there fighting if the chains flashing were anything; she could even sense the growing frustration of the being possessing her. If Tanya was continuing to fight, then so would she!

 

Tanya’s clone once again fired a rain of bullets at Viktoriya, however, this time she ducked, using the opening to launch herself toward her enemy, swinging her legs up and kicking Tanya in the chest. Using the momentum to fully flip back until she was parallel to the ground, she launched forward once more and slammed her fist into the imposter’s chest, who had been evidently unprepared for such a physical-based attack route. As she punched again, the clone finally blocked it with a barrier, however as she went for an uppercut in the third hit, the clone was sent flying upward rapidly from her magically-enhanced punch, a tactic she had learned from Tanya long ago.

 

Viktoriya flew up to again continue her assault against the clone, however this time, they had gathered themself and flew back at Viktoriya. Pushing against Viktoriya with their rifle placed against her chest, the replication began accelerating Viktoriya to the ground with no hope of escape. The intent was obvious, to kill her from the sheer force of impact alone, magically boosted from seemingly Tanya’s own mana reserves.

 

As the fake Tanya flew faster and faster to the ground with Viktoriya in front, she shrieked, “I am a replication of the greatest mage the Great War has ever seen. You will not defeat me!”

 

Viktoriya reached behind herself and shook her head, “You’re not Tanya, nor are you even good enough to be her fake.”

 

“Huh?” The fake replied, empowering the rush even further.

 

“The reason is simple…” Viktoriya brought her hand from behind her back all the way across her chest as she heard the characteristic slash of metal through flesh. Opening her eyes, she felt the pressure of the rifle on her chest weaken as the head of the replication moved separated from its body, a look of shock on its face as the magic in its eyes and jewel faded.

 

To the right in Viktoriya’s hands was a shovel with its metal glowing bright, blood staining it as the glow slowly faded. With a smirk, Viktoriya muttered, “Tanya would never underestimate a soldier’s best friend in any way.”

 

As Viktoriya moved to decelerate, she still found herself tumbling across the ground before finally landing on her feet, plating herself in the dirt to slow her momentum. As the fake Tanya fell to the ground, she saw its body shatter into glowing pieces of gold as the chains looming overhead cracked, shaking from the loss. 

 

Realizing what she had to do, Viktoriya closed her eyes and raised her hand, willing with all her might to reach upwards as she heard the sounds of metal cracking. The cracking continued until finally she opened her eyes and was engulfed by a bright golden light.

 

[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]

 

A golden-glowing blade passed by Athena’s head as she stepped to the side and shrugged, “You’d think the ‘sworn protector of the universe’ would have better aim than that.”

 

Osiris’ frustration was evident as his attacks became faster and more aggressive, his aura flaring enough to kill any unfortunate human who dared step within the vicinity of the city’s ruins where they fought, not that there were any left behind. Athena had yet to retaliate with anything more than an occasional annoying bullet attack as Osiris kept swinging with frustration, his lunges becoming more and more erratic.

 

As Athena hovered above him, he gritted his teeth and pushed forward, a loud sonic boom being heard from the sheer speed he launched himself with. In an instant, he punctured his sword through Athena’s barrier, planting his sword through her chest, finally landing a fatal blow.

 

Osiris shook with frustration as his anger turned to satisfaction, looking at the dying body of his rival as he laughed, “Finally… After all this time…”

 

Athena coughed, magicules dripping from her mouth as she grinned, “Yeah… I don’t mean to ruin the moment but… I’m just a distraction.”

 

An even louder bang was heard from behind him as he was quick to let his Thought Acceleration take over. Looking back, he saw what she meant as another clone of Tanya’s stood hidden in the ruins, having spent the entire last few minutes charging up a powerful attack to take him out in one shot. It was a smart strategy, but even as the bullet moved faster than his ability to dodge with speed alone, he had another way out.

 

The method was cowardly and humiliating, but with the speed the bullet was charging at him with, it was fully justified. With a smirk, he immediately sent himself to another world to escape the attack. He would come back when the enemy had exhausted their final reserves a moment later.

 

Except he didn’t.

 

He tried again and again, however, something was stopping him. He tried to move physically, but again he was stopped, the bullet approaching him ever-so-slowly.

 

Then he heard someone speak in his mind, “I’m sorry, I can’t let you do that.”

 

His anger grew as he directed at the voice, “You?! How are you-?! AGH! You idiot! Stop restricting me this instant!”

 

“I’d love to… No, actually that’s a lie, I don’t want to. You’re going to die here,” the voice responded, seizing control once more over her own body.

 

“You idiot! If I’m killed then so are you! If you don’t let me move you’re going to die!” Osiris shouted at the voice, desperation building up as he was practically pleading with her, the bullet now nearly impacting him.

 

A small smile appeared on her face, “I’m a measly soldier, I’m meant to die.”

 

Osiris’ eyes widened as the bullet pierced through his chest, his godly body quickly losing essence as the bullet tore a hole completely through him. He reached out his hand as his vision became engulfed in light and he felt his very being fade away.

 

“Veldanava… I’m sorry…”

 

The body of Viktoriya and Osiris fell to the ground with a thud, drained of magic and any will to resist. Tanya quickly began to rush over, pumping her legs harder than she ever had before, however, felt herself be hit with a wave of exhaustion she had never felt before. It was incomparable to anything she had felt, not from death, not from war, and certainly not from any of her lives. Slowly walking towards the body, she reached out her hand, muttering, “I… need… to…”

 

As she collapsed to the floor, fading in and out of consciousness, she heard Athena speak through her mind.

 

◄Don’t worry, I’ll take it from here!►

 

[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]

 

Athena opened her eyes in Tanya’s body. Tanya had finally passed out to undergo the ‘harvest festival’ to become a True Demon Lord, a process that somehow increased her power dramatically through this world’s magic system. It would be interesting to study, and in a few minutes, she herself would have to pass out to allow it to complete. It was a frustrating fact, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it as she had more pressing matters to attend to.

 

Walking over to the fallen corpse of Viktoriya, she glanced down at the woman, the four wings on her back no longer glowing as her eyes were clamped shut, a small smile across her face as she appeared to be sleeping peacefully, though she was truthfully dead.

 

Raising a hand to the sky, Athena gathered all the magicules within a mile radius, pulling them together as she held their souls in her hands. The first soul glowed a vibrant gold whilst the other glowed a dark purple and blue. It was obvious to tell which one was Osiris’ and which was Viktoriya’s.

 

As she debated what to do, she noticed a creeping black void appear behind her. Turning she noticed a figure stepping out, a human, seemingly a woman yet fairly androgynous with silver hair and faded gray eyes looked over and bowed politely at Athena, muttering “It has been a long time, Athena.”

 

It took a few moments for her to realize, but then she screeched in shock, “Victor!”

 

The being nodded and smiled, “It’s been a very long time since I heard that name.”

 

“Just what exactly happened?” Athena asked, still clueless as to the full events that happened while she was offline.

 

“The attack to defeat Osiris only left Argent shattered and split into three. The third piece that maintained her true essence became stuck in a never-ending loop over and over again. Thousands of timelines over and over. This is the first one in which you’ve been awakened, Athena,” The being explained.

 

Athena then asked, “And what happened to you? You look… very different from last I remember.”

 

“After the first timeline, my soul was lost in the void. Through sheer will, I was able to survive, though I was no longer a demon, at least not in essence. I watched through each timeline as the same events happened over and over, as I was limited in my ability to change anything. Over time I noticed a consistency, that woman there played an important role in every timeline.”

 

Athena turned to look at the corpse on the ground, then at the soul hovering in her hand, “Her?”

 

The being nodded, “In each timeline she is possessed by Osiris, made to fight Tanya, and inevitably has her soul fade away into nothingness at the start of time, only to repeat her possession, over and over again. Eventually, I started taking in her souls, along with the fragments of memories lost by Tanya in each timeline. Although I’ve mostly taken on the role of the Argent’s fragments, in truth, I’m the memories of Victor from the first timeline, Viktoriya from every other timeline, and scattered memories of Tanya from all timelines.”

 

“Quite the coincidence that Tanya’s most loyal subordinate was named Viktoriya,” Athena commented.

 

“One thing I’ve learned from watching every timeline for countless years is that the universe is nothing if not consistent. If it was purely random, the same events wouldn’t have replicated themselves over and over again. Each timeline has a few key differences, differences which can be exploited to just barely interfere. Even when something major changes, events still like to mimic each other. It's honestly quite fascinating,” They muttered as they placed their arms behind their back.

 

“So what do you need now? Will you be joining us?” Athena asked.

 

Viktor shook his head, “No, I cannot. This body is adapted to the void, it cannot stay or act outside it much. It is why I have been so limited in my actions. I just wanted to ask you something as well as take something off your hands.”

 

“Ask away,” Athena responded.

 

“In the first timeline… Back when I was Victor… My soul should’ve been used as a sacrifice with all the others. Why did my soul survive afterward?”

 

Athena sighed, “Argent would never admit it, but she would’ve been lonely had all of you been taken from her. She can hide it all she wants, but I believe there is genuine care there, at least a little. I calculated that the attack would still work even if it was missing one soul, and so I spared yours.”

 

“I see… That gives me some closure.” The being nodded with a smile.

 

“Now, what did you want to take off my hands?” Athena asked.

 

He pointed at the glowing golden soul in her hands, “That.”

 

“Osiris?”

 

“He’s caused us thousands of years of pain, over and over again. He may not have regained all those memories, but I will make sure he does. I will make him pay personally for every sin he’s inflicted upon us and the world. I would let Tanya do it, but she has a nation to run and a world to change. Fortunately, with Osiris defeated, my schedule just got cleared for a personal torture session with the egomaniac, until the end of time itself.”

 

Athena just shook her head and sighed, handing over the glowing orb, “Here. I’ve drained any strength he may have had. He should have his ego and memories intact though, so have fun. I was probably just going to destroy it anyways.”

 

“And what will you do with the other soul? If I may, I would appreciate it if you could do something for her. Part of me is her, after all.”

 

Athena nodded, “I had no intention of her efforts going to waste. Argent always rewarded committed subordinates. I’ll funnel the power from Osiris into her to help stabilize her soul. This may have some unforeseen consequences, but who cares if she ends up super powerful; I’m sure Tanya wouldn’t mind if it was her.”

 

The being sighed and shook their head, turning back towards the void with Osiris’ soul in their grasp, “I swear… you’re going to make a monster… Oh well, hope you can afford to keep them fed!”

 

With that, the presence of the void vanished along with the being. Slowly lowering the soul back into the body, Athena made sure the process went smoothly before returning.

 

‘I don’t have time to get Tanya and Viktoriya to Tempest before I pass out as well… I suppose that would work… There isn’t a Silver Family anymore, so I’ll have to go with one of the next best things…’

 

A glowing white magical circle appeared on the ground as Athena began the summoning, “I make an offering of all the corpses left in this city. Come out, demon, I summon you!”

 

A bright white light emerges from the circle as the corpses quickly begin to glow and congregate into the center. After a few moments, a woman with long, white hair and deep crimson-red eyes appeared in the circle, eyes glittering with power. The demon wore a long and luxurious green dress as she quickly bowed, placing her hand over her chest. Looking up with a smile, the demon gently mutters, “It is a pleasure to finally meet you… Mother.”

 

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Thanks to various editors and helpers on the Discord who helped with things like plot decisions, grammatical errors, and other aspects of the chapter:

 

Dr. Rx, Dragon1008, Dragon348

 

To join the discord for chatting, discussion, updates, or to apply to be one of the credited helpers, join the link below:

 

https://discord.gg/xcCvpSxmA7

 

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Alphas and Beta Comments Deluge!

 

Dr. Rx - IT’S EVOLUTION TIME BABY!

 

Dragon1008 - Tanya: You may have outsmarted me, but I outsmarted your outsmarting of my outsmarting