Heart Devil [OP Yandere Schizo Ramble LitRPG XD]

Abigail stood in the center of the temple, her body trembling and her mind buzzing from the words she had just heard.

Evil had nothing to do with a hero's purpose.

She had guessed the never-ending war between the demon lords and their dukes was not as simple as it seemed, but for heroes to have nothing to do with fighting evil at all…

The implications of such words flooded her mind with anxiety and questions.

She stared into empty space, the shock of the revelation rattling her core. Speculating was one thing, but hearing it directly from the mouth of a god was a whole different story.

If vanquishing evil and protecting the world from destruction was not the purpose, what was the point of her continuing to strive for heroism? At least, under the direction of the pantheon.

A statement from her cousin, Adventurer Martin, all those years ago flashed in her mind.

'Evil should be seen with the eyes and trusted by the body; the blind and numb have no right leading the charge. You heroes represent that, Abigail.'

They had a falling out over a mission they cooperated on back then, and they had since patched things up, but those words had stuck to her all this time, buried deep down.

Her eyes shook the more she recalled the system prompt of that day.

If all of this was a lie…

Arden glanced at the god next to him. He understood why Janus revealed the secret, but this would most definitely land him in hot water. Gods needed a reason radical enough for the people to worship and fight for them fervently, trusting their system and doing their bidding without question.

Janus had essentially told the magic hero their fight was not righteous nor necessary; it was simply pretext and preference.

A partially true assertion, there were still reasons to fight, but the idea of wiping out all demons and keeping away from devils was not completely necessary.

Regardless, the other gods will not let this pass if they hear of this.

He spoke up. "This information is confidential for obvious reasons. I ask you kindly to keep this between us for the time being… There are those that won't make it easy for any of us if this were to spread."

Abigail's glazed eyes slowly regained their focus. She gazed at the two for a while before nodding slowly. If what Janus said was true, spreading this news carelessly, especially outside this temple, would only lead to one outcome.

Arden reinforced his words. "That goes for your apprentice as well. I know trust is important with teachers and students, but not much can be done for now, since he's gotten the brand so early and-"

"What!?" Another jolt of shock hit Abigail. Damien had pledged to a god already? When? And he hadn't told her?

Arden looked towards the magic hero, a little surprised. "...You didn't know? His brand is quite exclusive and binding. You can't feel it coming from him?"

She hastily shook her head. "The curse I have weakens my connection with the well; I can't sense any others connected." She felt her anger rising just now hearing about all of this. She was angry at both her student and the god that had tricked him and forwent the age policy.

But more importantly, herself.

She told him not to pledge to anyone, yet it seems like he did so immediately after separating.

The magic hero gritted her teeth in anger. How could she have been so blind! Damien was a talent, but had she really missed the lack of self-control and critical thinking? What was she doing?

She decided when they returned to the tower, she would begin to focus on training his character alongside his spellcrafting.

Seeing the rumbling emotions of Abigail, Janus interjected. "Let's discuss how we'll help your apprentice understand the situation fully at a later time. The bigger issue right now is the little devil you encountered. Arden says she mentioned the event of Ragnarok, the name coined by us humans for the day the gates reopen."

The wizard shifted her focus; the god before her was correct. The more important thing right now was the looming presence of the devils, waiting beyond the gate of Hellnia. It seemed that the information they received was far from cut off, and on top of that, major changes were occurring on the other side.

Dangerous changes.

She looked up to the marble statue sitting on his throne and spoke up. "Yes, she introduced herself as Hannya, the 6th Luxuria. She-"

"Wait." Janus stopped her, holding his hand up. "Are you sure about that? Did she say 'the 6th' or '6th'?" The god questioned.

Abigail's brows pressed together. "I'm sorry, my lord, I can't remember. Does that matter?" She asked. She was far too exhausted and beaten to remember such a minor detail back then. What was the difference?

The scholarly-looking marble just shook his head, one hand under his chin in thought. "It's fine, just an old tale scratching the back of my mind. Apologies, continue."

But Abigail's curious mind would not let it go. "If you could, I'd like to hear your thoughts, Lord Janus; any other information could be useful, no matter how small."

"I can't." The god said decisively. He followed up with a single sentence, giving the wizard a knowing look. "The rule keeper is now watching this place."

Hearing that, cold sweat began to run down the wizard's back. She knew of the rule keeper.

The all-seeing eye.

Uncontrolled by both gods and angels. It simply drifts around the world, making sure none know highly sensitive information they did not earn themselves. Nothing else is known about it.

She had heard the parable of the fallen god Roozahrool. A story about a group of gods trying to capture and tame the entity, intending to use it as a tool to rise to power above the major gods of that time.

15 set out in pursuit; only their leader returned.

Upon his return, he voluntarily severed his connection to the well and walked the earth as a mortal once more, listless and dumb. Many asked what had occurred during the time of his journey, but no matter the magic, artifact, or charm, he only answered with a single phrase. In fact, that phrase was his answer to anything said to him after that day and until the day he died, as if other words didn't even exist to him anymore.

'Rules are rules.'

Abigail nodded in understanding. As someone who 'knew' she wouldn't mess with the world's absolute rules, even the higher beings didn't dare.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

She continued her recount. "She introduced herself as high priestess of what the devils in the current Hellnia call the 'Caged God', it seems. Her position was most likely given to her by the devastating and subtle magic she cast. She seems to be a mage type over a fighter, given she had no training with the short sword she wielded."

Janus nodded. "She must be quite the magician to gain such praise from you, magic hero. To consider her magic devastating, what sort of magic was it, a form of chaos magic?" That type of magic had a wide range of random spells that barely fit into any other category.

But the wizard shook her head. "She casted chaos magic, a terrifying spell at that. But the more terrifying spells were the ones she casted after." The magic hero bit her lip at the thought, that magic. It was leagues ahead of what she'd encountered before. The closest description she could think of was a sort of itemless inscription magic.

The more she thought about it, the smaller she felt. Years of study and research, and a 3-5 year old had lapped her in her greatest field. The world was truly unfair.

She continued. "She called it Hannya magic. It had no attack capabilities, but the augmentation and modification prowess was unheard of. It was as if the spells themselves were alive in a way."

Janus raised an eyebrow. "Alive?"

Abigail nodded, trying to find the right words to describe it. "They shifted and twisted, like the enchanted mechanisms of golems, and they assisted one another when needed. They even rendered the effects of some of my spells useless…"

"Useless, a sort of counter magic?" Janus inquired, thoroughly confused. His champion had not mentioned this. He turned to Arden, glaring at his carelessness.

Arden could only shrug helplessly. "I did not see the effects of her spells; I blew through them before they got close." Why was he being blamed here? How was he supposed to know?

"She's probably still developing it; though they flowed smoothly and the effects still work, the sigils were still brittle. And not just counter magic, she casted a spell where a flame dragon buffed itself with armor, and a spell that seemingly turned back time for her spell alone; she also…" The magic hero continued, getting a bit too enthusiastic about her explanation until Janus raised his hand once more.

"I think I get it." Glancing at the wizard but saying nothing about the wonder now in her voice. Wizards were naturally curious individuals; as a summoner, he could understand. But he decided to change the subject; curiosity could turn to interest, and interest could turn to awe.

The wizard did not need such thoughts growing in her mind right now; he would not be blamed for creating a witch. His plate was full already. If she was interested after this meeting, she was free to pursue her hunger for knowledge on her own time.

"Now." He began again, his posture unknowingly relaxing in his throne. "What else could you glean from your encounter?"

The wonder in Abigail's eyes quickly faded, embarrassed deep down that she had gotten caught up in the inner workings of those spells in her mind. She had to focus; no good would come from thinking too deeply about those types of things.

She soldiered on, explaining what she knew. "She also said she was the leader of a faction in Hellnia known as the Vainheart Faction. Have you heard of it, my lord?"

The marble god shook his head. "I have not. It is most likely a new one, but there are many factions in Hellnia that are not known to the mortal world, keeping to themselves in Hellnia. One example would be the Frostbite Faction…" The god rubbed his temples at the reminder.

He sighed and continued. "They had a small branch in Velwyn Reach hundreds of years ago, led by a wrath devil hoping to change that. They kept to themselves mostly and granted requests in snowy areas every now and then… But after the gates closed, they were soon slaughtered during the 3rd Crusade."

"..." Abigail shook at the words; one of her party members had mentioned an expedition she went on to cleanse an area of 'frost roons'.

It was in Velwyn Reach.

If what she knew now was truly the case and Janus' description of the settlement rang true, a group of demons that kept to themselves and even assisted people. Then the 'expedition' her companion went on…

"Focus, Abigail." The god spoke, his tone gentle yet forceful. "I know your wizard mind is swirling with questions now that you know what you know. But you will have to confirm and wonder later. An audience can only last so long, and I've spent a bit too long here with my champion before your arrival."

He smiled empathetically; he knew her mind was a mess, but he was indeed running out of time.

Rules were indeed rules.

"Now, the young devil. Anything else you figured out? All of this information will be paramount for how things should proceed in the future when the gates open."

"Ah, I'm sorry, my lord." She bowed respectfully, unaware that this encounter with Janus had restored a bit of her faith in the pantheon.

Her subconscious perspective shifted, balancing out, settling on a middle ground for the grand temple she served.

Not all gods were good.

But not all were bad either.

She spoke again, her tone more respectful than before. "The last thing I concluded was she represented a power that could possibly be the reason for all the broken paths for gods with the fate blessing."

Both Arden's and Janus' eyes went wide at the statement. Arden, especially, felt a little triggered at her words. Why didn't she lead with that? But his patience kicked in. It was a heavy topic; leading with such a speculation would have taken the most time.

He calmed himself and asked. "What gives you that idea, magic hero?" The 'holy hero' would not take such a speculation lightly; he needed substantial evidence for this claim.

The wizard turned to Arden, her face darkening as she recalled the title the little girl called herself.

"She…" Her voice choked at the revelation. A sense of unease washing past her at the possible future to come. "She said she was a representative. A representative of the Gilded Court of Woe."

A heavy silence filled the room. Arden clenched his fists, while the god sitting next to him pressed his lips together at the words.

A Court.

"This…this is worse than I thought." Janus finally spoke. "A court means a judge. Only a six-star can be a judge, and only the platforms chosen can gain the right of candidacy. Since the development happened during the gate's disconnection, we can assume a new one was born."

He tapped his throne thoughtfully. "And since the path broke recently, we can assume he or she was born recently or took major action for the first time."

"Could it be the little girl?" Arden asked, his instincts pointing to that angle.

But Abigail waved her hand. "Impossible, a six-star never serves another."

"She could just be lying. Perhaps a judge candidate scoping the other side?" Arden retorted. He would not dismiss this thought so easily. The spirit guarding her was not a common honor guard.

"Hmm. Perhaps she is somewhere in the middle of all these facts. A five-star, scoping the other side for her 'Caged God', the judge candidate." Janus gave his thoughts. "The Harbinger of Ragnarok, the day the judge comes to scrutinize the actions made in Neel."

Silence again filled the space, a small tension rising in the air.

They have heard the rumors of judges from before the Immortal War, the time before modern history. Endless power that flipped the world with a single word, a being allowed to bend the rules of reality as they pleased, an entity that grants wishes above the authority of sacred laws.

If such a devil crossed the planes and entered Neel's mainland…

Janus shook his head. "These are thoughts without meaning right now; we are just scaring ourselves thinking like this." He said, shaking everyone out of their stiff states.

The god sighed. "Regardless, a judge too has rules. Those that can't be judged, won't." He said, calming himself rather than convincing the others around him.

He pivoted topics. "So, one objective is obvious when the gates open again. They aim to claim the spire once more."

The Spire of Corruption, or so the humans call it. One of the sacred places for devils and demons is located in central Neel. A peculiar tower-sized artifact that stores and transmits ancestral knowledge, assists in demon ascension, and grants authorities to worthy devils that seek judge appointment.

A twin tower is also located in Hellnia. Unfortunately, it is powered by the original, and ever since the planar severance, the halls have been dark. And it will remain so until a connection is reestablished manually on the other side.

The marble god felt a headache coming on. How were they gonna smooth something like this over? He did not wish for war; he wanted the opposite. But with all the sins stacked up here in Neel, he was finding it harder and harder not to see a singular outcome.

He looked over at the magic hero wearily. "Any more information to share? A return of the void song, the horrific everhappy utopia of angel Gabriel, or maybe the platform corruptor Lilith?"

Abigail let out a nervous chuckle. She felt a little less stressed by the gods' overly exhausted act. She knew he was joking to lower the tense atmosphere, an action she appreciated.

With the mention of those calamities in history, a judge candidate didn't seem so devastating in the broader picture.

Worse has happened, yet the plane of Neel still stands.

She shook her head. "No sir, that's all that I could figure out."

Janus nodded. "Very well, I thank you for your time." He felt his connection getting weaker. "It seems my time is just about up." He turned to Arden. "My champion, if she has any more questions about 'purpose', you are free to tell her what you know. Farewell for now."

He gave Arden's shoulder a light squeeze and took the posture of an elegant and refined nobleman. Soon, the life from the marble eyes vanished, leaving behind a simple sculpture.

Arden turned to the magic hero, who had watched the unsummon as well. "So." He began, getting straight to the point as he walked down the steps of the throne and in front of the wizard.

"What do you know about grand contracts?"