At the mention of my past life’s name, I stiffened. 

“W-where did you hear that from?” I asked, forcing a chuckle. “I don’t understand what you are talking about, Seraphine.”

She searched my eyes and sighed. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. I’ve been keeping my eyes on you since you were reincarnated into this world, Stefania.” 

My eyes narrowed. “Are you…for real?” 

The air crackled, and in a blink of an eye, my hand gripped the hilt of the Holy Sword as I bolted towards her.

“Who are you?!” I demanded, unsheathing my weapon and levelling the blade at her throat with a swift motion. “Why are you possessing Seraphine??”

Her unfazed eyes stared at my sword with an indifferent look, which slowly turned into curiosity. 

“Fascinating,” she murmured, sliding her finger along the sharp metallic tip—to my great astonishment. 

“I don’t recognise this as a creation from the heavenly realm, yet it possesses remarkably similar traits to the real deal—an excellent replica of a Holy Sword, I must admit.”

My voice wavered as I let out a bewildered gasp. “W-w-what do you think that you’re doing?” 

“I find the fake Holy Sword that you wield more interesting than yourself,” she said pointedly. “Did Lukterasia create this with just her own abilities?”

I froze. “You…you know Lukterasia?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” She laughed. “Someone as decidedly brash and brazen as her descending upon my sanctuary would no doubt attract the attention of myself. If I can remove her from this world myself, I’d have done so—”

My blade pressed into her throat with a great amount of restrained force. She paused, a small trickle of crimson staining the flesh of her neck.

“Watch your words,” I growled. “Don’t give me a reason to decapitate you right now.”

Seraphine sighed again, and the blood on her neck vanished as quickly as it had formed. 

“I can’t believe I still have to deal with my sister’s shenanigans after exiling myself from the heavenly realm, stars help me.”

“What are you talking about? Your sister?” I asked, momentarily taken aback by her bizarre words.

“You don’t know her?” Seraphine tilted her head to one side. “Irilena—she’s the creator of your home world…well, I guess you probably know her as the ‘Goddess’ instead of her true name.”

My eyes widened, and the sword in my hand trembled. 

“If you are calling the Goddess your sister,” I uttered. “Then, you must also be…”

“Yes, I am a divine being as well. Took you aeons enough to notice,” she answered with a bored expression. “My creations call me by many countless names, but for simplicity’s sake, you can refer to me as ‘God’. Now, can you please remove your sword from your friend’s throat? She can’t feel pain in this state, but I don’t wish for her to be hurt again.” 

I drew back a step, still keeping my sword aimed at her. 

“What is your purpose here, then?” I questioned, my voice tense with anxiety. 

“By the stars, you have to believe me—I’m not here looking for a fight with you,” she hastily said. “In fact, I loathe to reveal my presence in front of people at all.” 

Seraphine let out a resigned sigh. “There’s somebody who contacted me requesting to see you and Lukterasia on behalf of Irilena. I have already led her to the latter, but I’d imagine that Lukterasia would give her a hard time. I need your help to control the situation before it’s too late.” 

“You are saying that someone wants to meet with us?” I blinked. “Who? And more importantly, why?” 

“That’s something I would rather not explain myself…” she muttered, glancing out at the train windows. “Looks like we are reaching our destination. Let’s go, I’ll bring you to that someone directly.”

-

Alighting from the train at Canberra station, we walked in the direction of Terasia’s home in unsurprisingly awkward silence. I cast a sideways glance at her, trying to figure out what the intentions of ‘God’ were, but her blank face gave me no hints.

“So, uh…” I began, unable to bear with the tension in the strange atmosphere any longer. “Why are you possessing Seraphine, God?” 

“You and Lukterasia ask a lot of similar questions, don’t you?” She made a small noise somewhere between a chuckle and a sigh. “This girl is one of many vessels which I have ordained for myself, and I’m merely borrowing her as a medium to talk to you right now.”

I raised an eyebrow in a doubtful manner. “But Seraphine is a living, breathing human being, no?” 

“Who said that a vessel can’t live as a normal human with their own agency?” she rejoined, giving yet another sigh. “Just take a look at yourself—you were a puppet made to fulfil a part in your home world, and at the same time, you are also a human being capable of determining and choosing your own will over that of the Goddess.” 

“Huh, that is actually a fair point.” 

Acquiescing in her answer, I gave her a sidelong look. “By the way, why do you keep on sighing?” 

“It’s not me who is the one sighing,” she said absent-mindedly. “Seraphine is already exhausted from all the worldly matters that she has to deal with before this, so she is currently in a foul mood. Do treat her kindly when I’m gone, alright?” 

I stifled a wry laugh. 

“I guess that’s understandable…” 

Arriving at the entrance to Terasia’s condominium, I pressed the intercom button and waited for the gate to buzz open. We made our way up the apartment block, my heart beating anxiously in my chest as the elevator brought us closer and closer to the mysterious person that God mentioned. 

Soon, the bell chimed for the thirteenth floor.

“I sure do hope that Lukterasia hasn’t tortured that poor Foxian to death yet,” Seraphine muttered under her breath as the doors slid open. “You never know—”

“AHHHH, SOMEONE HELP MEEE!!” A desperate cry almost pierced our eardrums immediately. “PLEASE STOP DOING THAT, YOUNG MISS, I BEG YOUUUU!!!”

“Terasia?!”

Rushing out of the elevator in a panic, I promptly skidded to a halt before the open door to her apartment—unable to make head or tail of the peculiar sight of Terasia happily holding down a flailing ecru-haired girl in her lap.

Noticing my arrival, she flashed me a delighted grin.

“Avery, you’re here!” she exclaimed. “Oh my gosh, are you seeing how soft and fluffy Miho’s tail is? And look at her cute cat ears! Quickly, come and touch them!”

“N-NOOO, DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!!” the poor girl cried, trying in vain to scamper away from Terasia’s chokehold. “And how many times must I say that I’M NOT A CAT?! I’M A FOX—T-T-TICKLES, IT TICKLES!!!”

“Err…” I exchanged a bemused look with Seraphine. “Who’s this girl? A cosplayer?”

“Never mind that, help me separate these two dumbasses first!”

-

Somehow through the combined efforts of Seraphine and I, we managed to pull both girls apart and restore some semblance of calm to the apartment.

“A-ahem, sorry, let me adjust back my translator module…then, please allow me to properly introduce myself.” 

Giving a polite cough as she spoke, the strange girl stood a wary distance away from a sulking Terasia. Taking a closer look, I spotted a pair of fox ears perched atop her head—their tips adorned with tufts of white fur—as well as a bushy tail that trailed behind her when unfurled. Draped around her delicate frame was a robe of coral gossamer, its billowing sleeves and flowing skirts seemingly floating around her like a cloud of sunset.

“My name is Miho, and I am a Foxian representing the ⟪Interdimensional World Novel Organisation⟫,” she began. “To give a simple analogy, my organisation works akin to a book publisher on Earth, with the exception that we operate on an interdimensional scale and we publish worlds instead of traditional books.” 

I blinked, not quite catching her words. “What do you mean when you say you ‘publish worlds’?” 

“In essence, we create worlds in the multiverse that are modelled after the stories we receive as submissions to our organisation,” Miho tried to explain. 

“It’s something like building a Disneyland, but on the scale of an entire planet,” Seraphine helpfully added. “In the multiverse, we usually use the name「World Novels」to refer to these artificial worlds that exist purely for entertainment and recreational purposes.”

“Wait, something like that is possible?” 

“There is a reason why they are called artificial worlds,” Seraphine said, resting her chin on her hand in a bored manner. “Unlike worlds which are formed naturally and then moulded into existence by a divine being,「World Novels」start off as simulated worlds, and those that get published are then transformed into real planets.”

“T-that is correct,” Miho concurred. “And on that note, I have specially come to this world and sought out you two because I am assisting Her Holiness Goddess Irilena with her「World Novel」, Eltshion.”

A mixture of surprise and intrigue flashed in Terasia’s eyes, while I furrowed my brows in a frown.

“Did you just say that Eltshion is a「World Novel」?” I asked tentatively. 

Her fox ears twitched, and after a moment of hesitation, the girl nodded her head.

“At least, it was supposed to be,” she revealed. “Her Holiness accidentally mixed up the requirements for making a「World Novel」with that of creating a natural world, hence Eltshion was mistakenly brought into existence as a real, living planet.”

“And this leads to the reason why I have come to Earth and sought the both of you out with Seraphine’s help,” Miho continued, bowing her head down in a demure manner. “Will the Hero and the Demon Lord kindly return to Eltshion to restore its story?”