55th Move | League of Nations

"Greetings, my fellow residents of this planet." I started off cooly, my voice projected across the entire island, and the sleekness of my Tron-like outfit reflected the sun's rays.

"My name, if you don't know, is Scientia Tempest, I am a Demon Lord and a Perfect Homunculus." It is an open secret that I am a Perfect Homunculus in the Republic, thus I really have nothing to lose by sharing it with the rest of the world and all the more to gain by appearing trustworthy, and more likely to gain their trust as well.

'The ball is in your court what will you do with it?' Essentially.

In the back, I saw looks of shock.

Need to stop this before they could riot, I affirmed inside my head, "I am not Relentless," I stressed, "which should've been evident the moment you stepped forth in the Jura Tempest Republic— do you see the destruction that Relentless is known for?"

The crowd grew quiet, and while a few tried to start something, they quickly stood out and were silenced by social pressure. I don't think many are convinced but the seeds of doubt are starting to take hold, so I let a bit of [Acting] take control in order to facilitate further growth.

"It should be even more evident that I am not what the stories tell you. My hope and dream are not of the destruction of the world, instead, I hope to create a society where everyone— including humans and monsters— can reach up and touch the stars themselves, where hunger is a thing of the past, and where death is but an afterthought, where happiness can be as easily achieved as breathing, where people of all races are equal, where education is available to everyone, where all people have a say in the government. What I seek is a utopia, a world without suffering, a world where the people are free and happy."

I let that sink in for a few seconds before continuing, "while many have called what I wished for to be a pipedream, I know it is not. When you visit the Land of Opportunity, do you see decrepit slums at the edge of the city? No, there are no ghettos because almost everyone has a job, and no one goes hungry with the social safety nets in place."

Seeing that still many people are not convinced, I decided to finally let [Contessa] take control.

'[Path to convincing them of my intentions using words and acting]'

[9 Steps]

[Step 1: Place your right hand with its finger fully spread out above your chest]

In a single moment, my right hand, fingers fully spread out, placed itself above my chest.

[Step 2: address the issue, and let them know that you realize their fears]

[Step 3: assure them it's fine to feel fear]

"I am aware that despite my words, you will still have reservations about me, to that I say: be not afraid, that is only natural." I grew a bit hesitant about the next part. My paranoia reared its ugly head in my direction since what I'm about to say next is the opening of Pandora's box.

[Step 4: Do not tell them about your nature as a Reincarnator]

Following [Contessa]'s directions, I didn't tell them about me being an Otherworldly Reincarnator.

[Step 5: rebuke the words of the Western Holy Church]

[Step 6: act hopeful and naive about the future]

"Despite what the Western Holy Church is spewing, I have no interest in forcing my beliefs and wills upon you nor do I expect you to be automatically accepting of monsters overnight. I could only hope that your prejudice against me or monsters would be eased or even erased the moment you step foot in Metropolis or any other city of the Jura Tempest Republic once you see what we are capable of when working together."

One of the most peculiar things I found out about this world is that, despite it being a Tolkien-knockoff world, this place is actually FAR more accepting of homosexuality than my old world. Like, the Western Holy Church is shockingly indifferent on matters concerning same-sex marriages compared to Christianity.

Seriously, I expected such practices to be banned in a primitive world that resembles so much of medieval Europe.

With its place as the most widespread religion in the world, it's resulted in a general culture of indifference rather than rejection that extends to even beyond the borders of the human kingdoms.

I guess the spread could be due to the nature of how the throne is omnipotent, the Rulers of monster nations could do it with whoever they want without regard to how it looks to their subjects.

Really, I and [Sociology] find this contrast compared to my old world to be highly fascinating. More so considering how much they are prosecuted in my old world.

Maybe Otherworlder's influence?

[Step 7: swing the arm on your chest to the side in a wide arc]

[Step 8: directly address the nobles, princes, princesses, and kings about the invasion of Falmuth and Jistav]

The hand on my chest swung in a wide arc to the side. For a brief moment in time, I looked like a military commander, "to those nobles, princes, princesses, diplomats, and kings that are here today, it is my greatest hope that you see the invasion of both Jistav and Falmuth as black swan events, they would not happen if we had just continued peaceful dialogue. Falmuth instigated an attack of 50,000 men under the order of Cardinal Nikolas of the Luminous Faith, and Demon Lord Clayman attempted to attack our Eurazanian allies, we stopped them and ended one of the worst regimes in world history."

[Step 9: Clutch your chest and act very emotional about the 'horrible words said by the Western Holy Church']

Acting exactly as [Contessa] had planned, I brought my hand in and clutched my chest like a heartbroken maiden, "in the end, I could only do my best to convince you that I am not the monster that the Luminous Faith is painting me as. I have no idea as to why the Church is so hostile when all I want is for the good of all life in the world. I hope I have at least convinced you to keep an open mind and that you'll convince others to do the same once you realize everything I do is for the good of all."

At first, the applause came slowly, before growing louder and louder.

I had to beat back the urge to grimace upon hearing the thunderous applause. I dislike such theatrics, but I will use such tactics when the situation demands it. Still, I can't help but feel annoyed at [Contessa] for making me speak in a fashion similar to the naivete that Rimuru displayed.

[Explanation]

"..."

Only for the Ultimate Skill to explain its argument in such a way that I cannot refute its logic, after all [Negotiation] is agreeing wholeheartedly with what [Contessa] has planned.

Its argument boils down to these: by appearing extra hopeful, I create the aura of an ambitious idealist. Idealists make for good leaders whom the merchants and other upper-class members of the Jura Tempest Republic can appeal to. To the princes, princesses, diplomats, and Kings, appearing as an idealist will make me appear as someone easy to manipulate.

The second part: by contrasting heavily with the propaganda of the Western Holy Church, it'll cause those believers to be confused: they expect a monster, not an idealist who wishes not for destruction but for the prosperity of all. Afterward, they'll either start to distrust the Church, or they'll double down on their beliefs and attempt to investigate me— and by extension the Jura Tempest Republic— with a fine-tooth comb in an attempt to justify the words of the Luminous Faith.

But no, they won't discover anything wrong, they'll only discover how much better the lives of a Tempest Citizen are and how much superior our form of government if compared to the aristocracy, either causing them to lose faith and become disillusioned with the Church or to purposefully ignore and become a fanatic, in which case they stand out like a sore thumb.

As always, the subtly of [Contessa] can never be underestimated, so many plans and backup plans packed into a single move, a single speech.

"Now," I gestured towards the wires to heaven, "the structure you see on the left is what's called a Space Elevator. An elevator, for those of you who don't know, is a machine capable of helping people go up or down a building. The most famous elevator is the one in the Adventurer Guild's Headquarters in Ingrassia. Now, as its name implies, the Space-Elevator is a machine that transports people up to space and back for very little energy cost."

Seeing looks of disbelief, I decided to entertain the crowd. With a single snap of my fingers, a single holographic panel appeared in front of each guest in the area, on it displayed the process of construction with photos included— a collage essentially, "with a grand total weight counting 200,200,000 tons if you include everything from the island, the cable, the elevator, and the satellite, this structure counts as the heaviest in the entire world, outweighing entire cities and most certainly the largest considering the cable spans 36,000 kilometers up from sea level into space, or around the geostationary orbit."

"It would not be an understatement to say that this is 'out of this world'" I joked a little, I got some laughs from those in the back, mostly normal ticket holders while the diplomats gave some polite chuckle.

"Now—" Souka walked up the stage to present me with the golden scissor while two of her attendants brought out the ribbon, "—as the engineer behind this Planetary Megastructure, President Rimuru has deemed it fit that I declare the place as officially opened."

Giving a little bow, I took the scissors and opened them. Placing the two blades over the ribbon, akin to the jaws of a predator, I pressed down.

And the moment the ribbons fell loose, all over the metal stage, celebratory music played as dozens upon dozens of holographic party poppers blew, all the while two smoke blowers each to the left and right side activated, creating two 5-meter tall plumbs of harmless white gas.

It was like the winner's celebration in one of those game shows where the contestants must pass an obstacle course, only much grander in scale.

As the music continued, I quietly left the stage in favor of Souka taking over.

Walking down the small staircase and into the back room, I found Rimuru smiling brightly at my performance. Within his hands is a tall untouched glass filled with a semi-translucent golden liquid, a champagne

"That was a good performance, you killed the crowd for sure with your holographic displays alone."

Giving it to me, I quietly sipped on it, feeling the sweetness of the champagne as it went down my throat. Rimuru continued to gush about how great everything was.

I can't help but feel envious of his happy-go-lucky attitude, how easily he can make friends, and how he's always happy with life even if every day is full of Jeanne and Rubedo's harsh training and Presidential duties. I still haven't told him exactly what happened during Walpurgis, and I instructed Jeanne and Diablo to not speak of it until I say so.

God, I want to protect that attitude as much as I can.

[Psychology] gave the analysis that I'm being reminded of the long-lost innocence I once held when I look upon people like Milim, Arcueid, and Rimuru, in other words, I'm being reminded of a time before the burdens of adulthood.

"Woah! no need to—"

I finished the drink in a single gulp, the reason I'm not choking was due to the fact that I don't breathe (despite having a working nose). The people start to disperse once the main entrance to the Elevator Hub is opened.

As a building larger than the Canadian Federal Parliament, the Hub serves a purpose beyond as the literal ground hub for the Space Elevator. Within it contains components such as museums, a star-gazing dome, a movie theater, and even a Science Center.

Rimuru was not kidding when he said he wanted something more than just forcing the other countries to recognize us or face international humiliation, with how safe the roads are inside Tempest after the dissolution of Puppet Nation Jistav, traveling to Trantor should cost them no more than $199.99 for a Hyperloop or even less if they decide to use the highways.

Granted, the VIP tickets are expensive as hell, but that's mostly due to Congress wanting the opening to be something exclusive, the price should go down after the opening is completed.

"Ahhhh!" I let out a groan as I finished, "no need, I know how to drink a glass of champagne. Plus my throat was thirsty as hell."

Looking around for a place to put the empty glass— "here give it to me." Handing the glass to him, the silicone structure was absorbed into Rimuru's hands like an amoeba consuming something.

I raised an eyebrow at the sight, only to see the slime rub the back of his head, with a sheepish smile, "I was playing around with [Tattletale] when I thought of perhaps creating drinks, like mimicking those alcohol blueprints you sold on the Auction House... was it successful?"

My face went blank as I try to remember the taste of the drink, "it..." my mind managed to recreate the taste on my tongue, and the sweetness returned, "was good, I've tasted plenty of champagnes and it definitely ranks among the top."

Best not to destroy his confidence by saying that [Chemistry] has deciphered a way to exactly replicate the champagne that Rimuru had created.

The slime's face lit up like the First of July in Ottawa, "Yes!" he exclaimed.

"Heh..." we then fell into a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's company.

Later on, after Rimuru had to leave to prepare for lunch with the other nation's representatives, I decided to wait backstage for Arcueid to come to pick me up.

In order to pass the time, I decided to connect to the Noosphere, and whereby connecting to every single CCTV camera on the entire island as well.

Through the cameras, I saw long lines forming at the primary entrance despite there being 8 doors to let people in. Fortunately, it seems the lines are moving rather quickly, so it should not exist for more than an hour according to the Mathematic's best calculations.

I lost myself while fully immersed in the Noosphere. Time felt meaningless as, within a Planck Instant, I zoomed to one of my Von Neumann Probes that are currently in a galaxy outside of the Observable Universe. The thing with Space-time is that it's possible it's infinite, but if Warp Drives are any indication, it's likely not. However, what is likely is that as one approaches the edge of space-time, all types of matter will become rarer and rarer as, during the Big Bang, the concept of a light-speed limit was imposed upon matter and energy.

A metaphor to help with the visualization would be how if one draws two points on a balloon and blows it up, the two points will grow further and further apart, that is how matter is during the initial moments of the Big Bang, and you'll notice how the points never quite reach the edge as space expands faster than light.

The beauty of exponential growth is that within the span of less than a year, I have been able to map and catalog every supercluster, every intergalactic group, every galaxy, every star, every planet, every moon, and almost every asteroid within the entire Observable Universe.

The amount of data I collected is so enormous that it managed to fill several of Jupiter Brain's worth of storage space. With that much knowledge, I've been able to make several conclusions about the universe.

The Universe does not trend toward life.

Using [Statistic] and [Mathematic], I have been able to conclude the following as facts:

If one averages things out across the galaxies and in-between, there exists one alien world with life for every 10,000 light-years worth of space, basically meaning that if you travel 10,000 light-years in any direction you should have passed at least one inhabited alien world. This does not mean that it needs to be intelligent... or be any more complex than a single-cellular organism.

Surprisingly, the most common type of environment that multi-cellular life finds itself formed under is those of rogue planets (worlds that found themselves flung out into the interstellar void). More specifically, within sub-glacial lakes and oceans, feeding upon geothermal energy coming from deep within the planet, an ecosystem similar to those within the deep ocean in this world.

On average, there exist one alien species that has discovered fire for 100 million light years of space.

On average, a supercluster of galaxies contains approximately 0.12 alien civilization that has entered the industrial age.

Currently, there exists only one Type-I civilization within the space that I have explored. This Type-I that's approaching a Type-II, dubbed 'Vatilain', is a race of elephant-sized octopods. They... if I'm forced to use an Earth metaphor, I would say that they look like horses that have 8 limbs, 4 of which are used to move around while the remaining 'arms' are used to manipulate things.

The Vatilain are very hierarchical and tribal, they are more prone to violence and less to empathy if compared to humans as they came from a colder planet. Furthermore, each Vatilains uses the colors on their back to communicate, and a roar coming from their throats is their equivalent of an insult.

They seem to be less smart since the Vatilain took thousands of years to advance from basic steam engines to achieving space flight, and thousands more to achieve that Type-I status. Nowadays, most Vatilain lives within continent-size O'Neill cylinders created from mined-out planets or asteroids all over their solar system. Each of these enormous O'Neill cylinders carries billions of individuals.

Technological-wise, nuclear fusion has long been achieved, genetic engineering is a cultural taboo, material science has stalled, and superluminal travel is nonexistent. Militarily, the Vatilains use kinetic railguns and point-defense lasers, with maneuverability being the emphasis in most of their ships. Each O'Neill cylinders are a self-sufficient fortress in its own right, making wars often between fleets of ships with the goal of humiliation rather than conquest.

On the macro government side of things, the Vatilain exists as a loose, disunited confederacy of different O'Neill cylinders that often declared wars on each other. On the micro level, it's a completely different story. According to their history records, multiple attempts at democracy have been attempted and all have failed since the Vatilains naturally trend towards authoritarian strongman rule.

Unfortunately for them, as of 4 months ago, the Vatilain civilization was neutralized automatically by AIs I set up to monitor them when the aliens decided it was a good idea to launch preemptive strikes using relativistic kill missiles moving at 90% the speed of light. Their target? Other potentially habitable planets.

Their mindset was that if they are violent and selfish, other alien races must also be violent and selfish. They feared the dark, and they were right to fear the dark as within days, the dumb Narrow AIs captured all 108 trillion Vatilains and placed them within a nearby Jupiter Brain some 8,000 lightyears away. They're still alive, living within a simulated paradise as those relativistic kill missiles were shot down.

I gave them a mercy they weren't willing to give to others.

I've become a lot like a universal police force, which makes sense considering I have the monopoly on violence.

After a deeper analysis, across the entirety of surveilled space, there exist a disturbingly large number of dead or scorched worlds within the habitable zone of their star.

There is a chance that something could've killed those civilizations with the candidate being one of the True Dragons, but I find that unlikely.

I think it's more due to the actions of intelligent life killing itself. Except this explanation doesn't explain how there are just so many dead worlds that are killed so thoroughly as to remain sterile even after millions to billions of years.

If it's an AI killing its creators, the AI would still exist afterward.

If it's a nuclear exchange, a planet's biosphere is shockingly resistant. One just needs to look at the many mass extinction events in my old world's history. Life, single-cellular life, would still live on, especially those living deep in the earth.

Let's not even get to climate change.

There's something out there, something probably outside of the bounds of the Observable Universe. Something responsible for killing these worlds.

Using superluminal travel, I moved a series of extremely powerful telescopes to billions of lightyears away so it could record the light coming from the destruction of the planet.

The image I got was very blurry. I could only detect a massive energy spike so I couldn't confirm with certainty that it is Velgrynd considering her implied power and heat-related abilities.

It could always be something else. Rendering a planet permanently sterile is shockingly easy with E=mc^2. A single ship with the mass of an adult human traveling at just a fraction of a single percent below the speed of light packs more energy than all the nuclear bombs of the USSR and America combined during the height of the Cold War.

This has resulted in me making the Precursor Project, where each station would serve as something akin to a regulator and an alarm bell, both intervening to ensure life develops accordingly and to alert me in case of the same something attacking.

(Something like the Vatilain)

Yet all of that changed after the discovery of the End of the System is nearing.

Scraping the Precursor Project, I created a new directory for the observation posts orbiting above each planet. The most basic order of this directory is to record all genetic, fossilized, and environmental data of these alien worlds and send them to Project Mobius. If the world happens to have intelligent alien life packed into societies, the directory calls for an additional full copy of every member of their race's consciousness and their cultural data to be packed into Project Mobius.

With the power of [Genetic Engineering], extinctions have become a thing of the past, and the ability to create life became trivial.

After checking up on the Von Neumann probes, I then returned my focus to the secret fleet, finally numbered in the trillions and counting, all awaiting my orders.

After the creation of the Noosphere, the rate of production on the fleet had sped up enormously before ceasing in favor of expediting the completion of Project Mobius.

Even so, I had to crack a smirk at it.

If the system weren't ending, I would've liked to use this fleet in battle. Not on this planet of course, as I doubt it would exist afterward.

Still, at least I got SOME use out of it.

_____________________________________________

Months ago, a few days after Walpurgis, Rune, the capital of Ruberios.

Laplace was sneaking all over the Holy Palace under the orders of Yuuki Kagurazaka, to investigate the Holy Church, and later on to investigate what happened to Hinata Sakaguchi.

After all, no S-rank monster just suddenly up and 'retired' out of nowhere, especially not that flesh monster nor did it stop the faint whispers within Ruberios of the many thousands that went missing right around the time of Walpurgis.

The Holy Church, as always, blamed the thing on the Ten Great— 'Qliphoth' of the action. More specifically, they blamed the new Demon Lord, a Perfect Homunculus of all things, for killing Ruberian citizens.

Of course, anyone with half a brain would know that's just false, but the uneducated masses, they'll believe anything the Church says.

As he sneaked around the sides of a highly decorated golden building, he froze upon seeing the sight of a little girl with black hair and blue eyes walking down the hall as if she owns the place.

Laplace was about to knock her out before he realized something.

This is no ordinary girl! It can't be. An ordinary girl would not just be able to walk around without supervision in a place as restricted as this one.

Is that girl looking at me...? Laplace wondered when he saw the girl stop and look in his general direction.

Like a prey who's gotten in the sightline of an apex predator, Laplace unconsciously stilled, hoping that by doing so the girl would not see him.

As her eyes swept over his hidden form and onto someplace else, Laplace let out a small sigh. He's too old for this crap, the Deathman determined as he got up from his hiding spot—

Only to be greeted by a pair of familiar blue eyes staring a few centimeters away from Laplace.

"AIEEEEEE—!" Laplace scrambled with all his might, putting as much distance between himself and that monster in the form of a little girl as much as possible, with only three jumps, he reached the roof of another building before leaping off the palace ceiling and running away and out of the city as quickly as possible.

"God damn it Yuuki! I swear this is the last time you'll send me on these suicide missions—!" Laplace cursed Yuuki's name as he blitzed through the forest that surrounds Rune, the capital of Ruberios.

Once he can no longer see Rune off in the distance, Laplace stopped to take a breath, "At least the Western Holy Church has gotten rid of Hinata... that flesh abomination should not exist!"

"Oh? So you too know of Hinata's change?" The air changed, and the scent of blood choked the entire area as a fine red mist rolled in out of seemingly nowhere.

"—Vampire!"

The vampire walked out of a circular portal that illuminated the entire area like the headlamp of a car driving at night.

"Who are you to know such secrets?" The being in white walked out of that portal, wearing alabaster robes interweaved with thick golden lines that made it look more like the dress of a Human Emperor than anything vampire-related.

The vampire then raised a hand, "do you enjoy spying on people that much? If you tell me who you serve, insect, perhaps God Luminous would take pity on you and allow you to live, barely, and unlike your compatriots."

"W-what are you talking about?" the way that Demon Lord Valentine spoke felt wrong.

"Does the name Clayman ring a bell?"

"—!"

The vampire let out a smirk of superiority, "That foolish insect died pitifully trying to upturn what God Luminous has planned. Perhaps you can change your fate and go out better than he did?"

"Who are you to decide that I'm an insect?!" Something about the way Demon Lord Valentine spoke enrages Laplace, "And... is it true that Clayman died?"

The Vampire let out a laugh, "Oh? Does the name 'insect' anger you? Well when you've killed more useless insects than loaves of bread most humans have eaten in their lifetime, you tend to know who's an insect and who's not. And just like Clayman, I know you are an insect. You've taken too much of my precious time, die [Blood Ray]"

*VZZZZZZZZ*

A red wave of light shot from the Vampire's hand, destroying Laplace like a wave of water smashing into a sandcastle.

Nothing remained of where the vampire had hit, save for some smoking tree stumps.

The blond vampire let out a smirk, and just as he was about to leave, he felt intense pain coming from his chest.

As he looked down, he saw a black hand coated by blood— his blood— and within that hand was his beating core. The hand went through his body.

"H—how?"

"You're already dead."

With a single squish, the hand destroyed the core, causing the vampire to crumble to dust.

"...hahaha..." Laughter rang out in the forest, and that laughter was then intertwined with sounds of crying, "Clayman you IDIOT! You— ARGH! You just had to up and die, didn't you?! All you needed to do was just follow the orders given to you by the President and you would've lived! But no, you just had to do things your way huh? And now look where it got you, dead..."

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"Now who said Clayman was dead?"

(AN: Play Tsukihime - "Track 06". replay as many times until the end scene)

"—!" The speed at which Laplace turned his head toward the source of that voice is fast enough to break the typical human spine.

Laplace saw a sight that made him feel more fear than ever before.

A Perfect Homunculus— the new Demon Lord Scientia Tempest— clad in pitch-black armor that seems to seamlessly blend into the night, sitting on one of the smoking tree stumps and leaning on a sword in front of it as though it were a crutch. The sword triggers tainted hope deep inside Laplace's soul.

A jagged visor covered the Homunculus' eyes, creating an air of mystery.

Its face stared into Laplace's soul, its face of uncanny perfection that looked just so... wrong, despite being so right at the same time, that absolute perfection, sitting completely still as if it were a statue.

Laplace wanted to run, except he knew he won't get more than a few steps before this Error in the World cut him down.

Clearing his throat, in a pleasant tone, "Whatever do you mean, Demon Lord Scientia?" he bowed slightly, going on a limb, he tilted his head, "You were the one who killed Clayman, aren't you?"

The only reason he didn't know sooner of Clayman's death was due to him being deep in Ruberios' territory, avoiding Hinata Sakaguchi while trying to devise a way into the Palace. However, after the announcement of Hinata's retirement, Yuuki had in turn changed his command, asking Laplace to investigate why the Right Hand of God had just suddenly retired.

A dark upstanding rectangle with purple outlines opened up in space next to the Perfect Homunculus, and when he saw who had walked through that door, Laplace's breath was stolen away.

"CLAYMAN?!"

Right there beside Scientia was Clayman... at least the being's soul is Clayman but his body had changed from that of a Deathman into... an automaton?

No, it was like Clayman's soul possessing a machine body. The body appeared to be made out of dark grey metal, with his face made out of a single piece of synthetic skin like some sick creation of a Fleshcrafter after they had got their hands upon an automaton.

Clayman, dressed in the same white suit as the last time Laplace saw him, placed an arm across his chest and bowed respectfully, "Laplace, I have missed you terribly. It is only by the Lady's mercy that I lived, one I didn't grant to my own subordinates."

The Perfect Homunculus looked passive at the scene, and the way that Clayman spoke raised a flag inside Laplace.

"Why are you with the Perfect Homunculus?" He asked warily, "As you say the one who killed you?"

Clayman explained to Laplace everything that happened in Walpurgis up until Scientia had 'killed him', "I didn't die. I had found myself inside a ghostly realm where the split between the sky and earth was far less noticeable. Then I was dragged into an abyss I thought was the afterlife. It was about a day later in terms of real-time that Lady Scientia appeared in front of me and broadened my horizon. She shattered my worldview, made me realize just how small I'm seeing things, how pointless all of our struggles were in front of the march of time, how centuries and millennias are insignificant to the Universe's eons, and many continued epochs."

Clayman went silent, and his hands which he was using to gesture were clenched, "I became what she classified as a nihilist; I saw no point in whatever my work is. Even with my membership as the Crazy Pierrot, I couldn't help but look back and see how easily it could've been taken away. I became directionless, without guidance I drifted around digital space, hoping to find meaning in the endlessness of it all. It was then that Lady Scientia came in and offered me a condition in exchange for a solution, seeing that I now know better. The condition was to agree to plead with you to abandon Yuuki Kagurazaka and fall into her service. In an expression of trust, Lady Scientia introduced me to the wonders of philosophy."

Laplace turned to look at Scientia, ignoring the obvious danger, he yelled, "what the hell did you do to him, you bastard? The Clayman I knew would never think of such things! Much less betray us or a client." He readied himself to either fight or flight.

The Perfect Homunculus was wordless while Clayman had a passive look on his face, and his body returned to neutral. The black visor on Scientia's head ripped itself apart, turning into a liquid that dripped down her pale skin devoid of any flaws and into the black armor.

"Door me."

Emotionless golden orbs stared back at Laplace as the Perfect Homunculus sat up, with a single wave of her left hand that caused the Deathman to tense, only for a soundless black rectangle with purple outlines to open up right next to the Demon Lord.

Laplace sucked in a breath in upon hearing Scientia's uncanny voice again, much clearer this time. It sounded like it was both man and woman, yet neither at the same time. It was like an alien pretending to be human and almost succeeding, yet there's that tiny ever so slim bit of difference.

"Before I 'killed' Clayman, I discreetly used [Unlimited Alchemy] and a Hyperspace transmitter to teleport Clayman's soul across the cosmos and into a Matrioshka Brain, or better known to the world as a 'Star Computer'." It— no, she then gestured to Laplace, an orb appeared in front of the being, "the Star Computer was able to speed time up by a factor of billions, allowing for centuries of subjective time to pass in mere minutes. I did nothing to your compatriot, only showing him the truth."

Scientia then walked towards that portal, and just before the Demon Lord was about to enter, she instead turned towards Laplace, "if you do not believe me, you can see for yourself. Of course, I know about your President and how she is the true mastermind, I could only hope that after you see everything, it would change your mind." Seeing how it didn't placate Laplace, Scientia then added, "you recognize Clayman's soul, yes? Well, if after this tour you still aren't convinced, then you are free to take him and leave, though know that my mercy extends no more."

Laplace hesitated before activating his Unique Skill [Deciever] to create a body double connected to his senses—the same ability that allowed him to sneak up and kill Demon Lord Valentine.

As he created the body double, the Deathman hid his real body, thus from an outside perspective, it would look like Laplace never moved.

"Very well then," Laplace's body-double spoke while the hidden real body smirked inwardly. [Deciever] is extremely similar to the legendary [Parallel Existence], only the double is merely an illusion that has physical weight. If it worked on a Demon Lord like Valentine, it makes sense it'll work on a newcomer like Scientia, right? Laplace's mind logically concluded since his other Unique Skill [Future Vision] barely work on those with Unique Skills.

Scientia walked through the Door with the body double close in toe, however, the moment that 'Laplace' walked through the portal, he collapsed onto the ground, wheezing as if he was having an asthma attack.

Once the body double regained his footing, he saw a clean grey-ish metallic floor completely unlike any other place he's ever seen before. When he lifted his head and got up, Laplace saw that he was in a metal chamber shaped like an elongated cube— a rectangular prism— except, one side of the wall was filled with panels of inky blackness interlaced with strips of more metal to serve as support.

No, wait, those blackness are windows.

The Deathman's body double can see many distant galaxies, the chamber was seemingly above something truly massive as everything below a certain angle is pitch black, only briefly interrupted by rays of light that flicker out equally as suddenly as it had appeared.

"Wh-where are we?" He asked no one as he tried to connect to the main body, only to find it incomprehensibly far away.

If Laplace were to describe the distance, it would be like looking up to the moon from the ground, only multiplied by a factor of quadrillions.

"We are currently around 70,000,000 light-years away from the planet you call home, right on the edge of the local galactic supercluster I decided to call 'Baxter'."

That voice broke Laplace out of his trance. Despite knowing that this is a body double, Laplace's fight or flight response was buzzing loudly inside the Deathman's head.

Gulping, he turned to the Perfect Homunculus, desperate to know as much as possible before this body is destroyed, "what are you?"

Arms crossed, leaning to the side of the room, the Perfect Homunculus' mask broke when the left edge of her mouth curved upward into a smirk.

*Click*

*Click*

Slowly walking towards Laplace who's frozen in place, her boot clicking on the metal ground felt like the ringing of the evening bell, "I am known by many names, Scientia Tempest... Commander... the Error of the World... but you may call me..." Scientia then leaned towards the Deathman as the latter is shorter than the Perfect Homunculus, "Futurist."

The Perfect Homunculus' eyes almost glowed an eerie yellow, that smile, the unwanted closeness, the sudden vulnerability that made Laplace realize his own mortality—

Like a bullet being fired from a gun, Laplace immediately backed away and into the glass wall.

It felt cold to the touch. Like a cornered rat, Laplace wanted to be as far away from that Monster as possible. Everything about her felt wrong. Laplace observed her every move like a deer observing a human from far away. His heart pounded away inside his chest. Despite being a deathman, his physical body still closely resembles that of a human.

Seeing that he was sufficiently intimidated, Scientia turned to the sides and began to walk around Laplace like the hands of a clock going around the dial. Holographic panels materialized in the room, some of them depicting a bird's eye view of every major city on the planet while others displayed real-time footage of Yuuki Kagurazaka, Footman, Tear, and Clayman, the latter of which is still standing near where Laplace had hidden his real body.

The only reason Laplace isn't taking Clayman and running was due to this Monster comparable to Relentless less than 20 feet away. Beyond that, the monster has incredible teleportation abilities, making distance irrelevant.

Once the Perfect Homunculus had reached the window, she stared outward longingly into the void like an adult staring at their childhood home.

The silence dragged on as Scientia placed a hand on the glass, becoming almost unbearable for Laplace—

"There is going to be a World War soon."

The sudden and unexpected nature of Scientia's words caused Laplace to let out a "huh?"

Quick as the wind, Scientia turned to Laplace, "a Great War unlike anything the world has ever seen is brewing on the horizon, it will come sooner or later no matter what I do. The moment that Qliphoth does trigger their civil war, the Eastern Empire would strike, hundreds of millions of both humans and majins will most likely die, possibly even over a billion."

Laplace's mind stopped at that 'Great War' part.

He remembers how Yuuki once said 'chaos isn't a pit, chaos is a ladder to order, it is the primordial soup of creation from which a new world could be born out of the ashes of old'. Laplace didn't understand what Yuuki meant, but now, after hearing what the Perfect Homunculus is saying, he thinks he's slowly understanding it.

"This World War will reset the entire world, the destruction of the current System of Power, the current status quo that I've already started to change will be reduced entirely instead of being phased out." She then turned to the Deathman and snapped her fingers, "in order to remove any chance of me losing, I intent on denying assets to the enemy."

Numerous bright lines of light lit up beyond the windows, all of them within the abyss. Each of the lines of light was organized in such a way as to suggest it outlined a void in the shape of a screw— those commonly used to assemble pieces of furniture. If those voids were a ship, then the material used to make them must be blacker than the night sky itself.

Laplace looked gobsmacked at the sheer number of those lines of light, stretching seemingly to infinity as the enormous black shipyard lit up.

"I am not a cruel person. I am an efficient person. I will give you this Geas: I will free your President from the clutches of Yuuki Kagurazaka, and in return, the Moderate Harlequin Alliance will fall into my service. Have no fear, I treat my subordinates exceptionally well, and of course, you will be free after the World War is done."

Like a Demon... no, It is even worse than that. Like a Devil, Scientia offered Laplace a hand, "what do you say? Do you accept?"

_____________________________________________

And now they operate and are answerable solely to me, with Diablo as their handler right after I assassinated Yuuki Kagurazaka with a Hyperspace Phaser Round fired from the next galaxy over.

Currently, they're investigating the validity of a potential coup attempt in Ingrassia.

The governing philosophy of Tempest is hostile to the ruling class of most nations since it calls for the abolishment of Nobility and Power to the Common People, as such, there are many dissatisfied with King Aegil's decision for closer ties with the Republic.

As my mind returns back down to earth, I let out a big sigh, enjoying the calm, cheerful atmosphere, so different from before. It's moments like these that allow one to slow down and enjoy the very act of living.

There is some great irony in my enjoying these slow moments, after all, I've always chased after the future like some dog and the future is the ball.

Yet it's times like these that I wish to preserve. Even after Project Mobius is complete and we've escaped the System, I wish to still enjoy these moments of calmness.

Opening my eyes, I opened the backstage door and walked outside, seeing that, while there were still some people outside, the vast swathes of people are gone, all of them inside the Hub building.

The clock showed it to be 11:30 before noon, around the time when the guests should be going on to the Elevator.

Part of my mind wondered why Arcueid still hasn't come, she almost never misses the opportunity to eat with me unless I'm tinkering.

Looking up, I saw that, yes, there is a metal box going up the comically thin wire.

A Maiden Voyage, I thought amusingly, even if it's only used to describe a ship's first voyage, I think it is applicable here.

Opening a Door using Doormaker, I walked—

[Alert]

"—?"

Whipping my head towards the nearly imperceptible cart going up the cable, I was confused as to why [Contessa] had—

"Grk!"

Suddenly, my Warp-Space flared up as a flash of blinding light engulfed the tiny dot up in the sky. Toning down the brightness filter, [Explosion] recognized the unmistakable ball of nuclear fire, or rather... the fireball of annihilation encompassing the cart in an instant.

_____________________________________________

AN: concerning the dead worlds, I read in Vol 16 of the LN how Veldanava needed Guy to serve as a regulator, or else humans would destroy themselves. So I thought about how that would apply to aliens and came to the conclusion that it would be a form of a Great Filter where too much technology results in self-destruction.

And now, Archduke Franz Ferdinand has been assassinated, the trigger for the World War has been fired, and an unstoppable domino chain has started. I wonder how many of you guys caught the assassin? I hinted at it already.

I told you guys we're going way off the rails into AU territory.