Shattered Moonstone

Hecatolite shot up, the strange feeling in the back of her head vanishing as she looked around.

“What was that?” she asked as she fell into a crouch, taking what cover she could behind a nearby tree. She hesitantly peered around the tree to be greeted by one of the whites milling about a few feet away. “Was it you?” She hissed as she watched the humanoid white make its way through the forest that surrounded her. 

After a minute of watching, she concluded it couldn’t have been the white, they never do anything besides just loiter around the void. Hell, she was sure that they wouldn’t even approach her if she had been asleep. 

A faint popping sound rang out in the quiet forest as the white dissipated, Hecatolite discarding IRIS as she turned to walk away.

“Better safe than sorry.” She hummed, “Now where am I? I must be in the void…” she scanned her surroundings noticing the gnarled trees that surrounded her, the split sky above her giving away that she had returned to the void. “Why did I get forced back?” She stopped bringing a clawed finger to her chin as she attempted to recall what happened, “let’s see… I cast that broken spell the box gave me… oh Amethyst must have woken up.” She exclaimed as she clapped her hands together.

She decided to ignore the fact she woke up in the forest instead of next to the cabin like normal, the strange tingling sensation that woke her all but forgotten at this point as she looked up into the sky. “Let’s see, there is the egg looking… eggy? That means the cabin must be…. Inutil!”   

With the usual thunderclap a screen appeared, she made note of the number carved into it.

“Ok, 34, where is Amethyst?”

“Good morning Hecatolite,” as it spoke her name the screen flashed a strange color, it was one that Hecatolite had never seen before, it was the usual world screen light blue, but it had… static, like one of those old boxes from her old world. “Error” Babylon yelled as the static grew in intensity. “Hecatolite Lapidary has fulfilled the requirements for ascension… Hecatolite Lapidary is unable to ascend.” Its voice distorted as it rambled, “8 followers detected, granting title; go… error, granting title; dev… error. Granting title; deity… successful.”

“Hey what are you going on about, you dumb box!” She screamed, grabbing the screen, her claws cracking the screen only for another one to appear, “deity!? me? I don’t want it, take it back. Hey stupid box listen to me!” She bellowed, clawing the next box only for it to reappear and continue as if nothing had happened.

“Granting skill; error, Hecatolite Lapidary has already acquired Blessing, relic creation… granting skill; personal system terminal… error, bloodline ability Babylon has assimilated skill personal system terminal… searching for substitute skills, requesting administrator approval for substitute skills. Traits acquired, error, divine traits in direct opposition to acquired traits… attempting force acquisition…” Hecatolite let out a scream as she collapsed in the center of the forest, black liquid erupting from her eyes as she clutched her head. “Successful…all new traits assimilated into forgotten legacy, attempting to evolve forgotten legacy… partial success, trait acquired, divine. Forgotten legacy required. Skill calming aura has evolved into divine aura. Administrator has refused the acquisition of the substitute skills, attempting a solution… solution found submitting request…. submitting request… submitting request… submitting request… partial approval granted. Skills acquired, grant premonition. Increasing Babylon capabilities, mass call acquired… choosing domain… error, no relevant domains in the system… creating domains. Granting domains; Gluttony, Lust. Updating status in the system… error, soul contains more traits than should be possible… condensing traits and skills.”

Name; Hecatolite Lapidary 

Age; “∞” 10

Race; unknown

Domain; Gluttony, lust.

Titles; X47 The mad Devourer*, Twin soul, Me, Soul Sorcerer, Enchanter.

Traits: hero*, shared body, Twin soul, Soul magic affinity, Enemy of boxes, Painfully Arduous*, Indomitable will, fractured mind*, Scholar, Forbidden Knowledge, Polyglot literate Semi-fluent, Albinism, claustrophobic, forgotten legacy, mage slayer, Iron stomach, Divine*.

Skills: Domain magic*, Soul magic mastery*, Enchantment mastery*, Skill override greater, Spell circle creation, Spell chant negation, Aether mastery, Deception greater, danger sense greater, Marksmen, IRIS provisional relic, hide minor.

Lapidary Bloodline skill personal: Babylon Overseer “Inutil” 36

Locked spells: Moonlit devourer, create pseudo demon lord, create pseudo godling

Hidden titles: God slayer, “error”

Hidden traits: Aether body, Marred soul, Abomination, cannibal*, Blessed by “error”, loophole exploiter, Enemy of the system, harbinger, false hero, God killer, demon*.

Hecatolite lay unmoving under the screen that continued to flash as it updated her soul page, her entire being felt as if it was on fire as aether pooled around her, the glowing lines on her soul flaring a rainbow of blinding colors as the black liquid seemed to seep from them.

“Error, soul is unable to form a realm… searching for a solution…. Attempting to force convert soul space into realm… error, unable to complete force conversion due to another soul inhabitant… enacting safety protocol 6579… Error unable to remove X47, the mad Devourer, from the system… Error… Error…. Error… Error… Contacting Administrator… Error… error… Administrator override… Error…” Babylon repeated endlessly before the screen seemed to pop, the screen locking with “Error” displayed as it fell to the forest floor. Hecatolite’s soul began to pulsate with power, aether pooling around her.

 

---

Himari stood atop the Holy City’s southern wall looking over the battle torn landscape, for nearly 100 yards in every direction smoking craters scarred the barren land before an abrupt wall of lush green vegetation blocked her view. Green bodies dotted the field, hundreds of goblinoids lay unmoving after the last barrage of magic; yet she knew that just behind the forest wall more lay in wait, just hoping someone would be foolish enough to leave the relative safety of the wall. 

She let out a long breath as she turned to leave the wall, she had only come because she heard there would be a large-scale attack yet given its magical nature, she knew that there would be no major injuries on their side today.

This will all be over soon. She remembered the meeting this morning informing the heroes that a large force of the holy army had been recalled to clear the forest. One more week. She sighed, part of her was happy to be rid of this suicidal war but she knew that once this goblin uprising had run its course a much larger battle lay ahead for the heroes, one where we will be the aggressors… then there’s her. 

Her thoughts fell on Hecatolite Lapidary as a shiver ran up her spine, the monstrosity that had once challenged the entire universe… and nearly won. It had taken her nearly a day to recover from what Overseer had shown her, and even now a week later she can’t help but flinch at the mention of the woman. The constant memories plagued her, watching the alien use a strange magic to jump from world to world as it devoured everything in its path, leaving barren worlds in its wake as it left nothing behind but billions of screaming memories. 

She felt a pit forming in her stomach as she recalled it, for the first time since becoming the temporary administrator she was happy she no longer needed to sleep. She may have had an easier time of it if she could have seen the conclusion of the war that the monster caused, but unfortunately it had managed to destroy Overseer before it was defeated… or at least the only reasonable conclusion is it was defeated… but why would they allow her to live… it doesn’t make sense, she clearly lost the war against the universe… didn’t she? She must have, right?

She pondered as she made her way to the medical tent.

“Good day Saint Himari. How did the attack go?” Eryl asked with a bow as Himari entered.

“Couldn’t have gone better,” she replied with a fake smile, “if we keep this up there won’t be any green skins left when the army arrives.” She clenched her jaw as she casually let the slur out, she had grown accustomed to faking disgust at the mention of any race other than human, yet she couldn’t help but feel disgusted with herself every time she had to put on the act.

Eryl had said something with a nod before turning and going back to work, as for what Himari couldn’t be sure given that the moment the elven woman opened her mouth Himari’s mind was flooded with a system notification.

Hecatolite lapidary has met all the requirements for ascension, attempting ascension… Hecatolite Lapidary's followers offer enough mana to support godly domains… error, 1 fallower is offering aether... aether is a suitable substitution, number of fallowers needed drastically decreased due to soul composition and fallowers strength... Hecatolite Lapidary has the minimum number of followers to sustain life… true. Hecatolite Lapidary is a godling… false. Hecatolite Lapidary is a demon lord… false. Error … Granting the title of Deity… success.

What! She's becoming a god! No no no I can't let that happen…. Babylon, what can I do to stop this!? She thought frantically as she ran to her “office” inside of the tent. 

Unable to stop an ascension that has already begun. Requesting approval for substitution skills…

Himari didn’t even let it finish speaking before she yelled, “No!” She doesn’t need any more skills, or traits, or anything!

Eryl quickly burst into the room, a look of worry on her face as she ran to Himari’s side.

“Sorry,” Himari said sheepishly as she looked up at Eryl, “it's been a long day. I think I'm going to rest a bit.” She finished pushing Eryl out without allowing the woman a chance to protest. “Please Eryl, let me rest some.”

She didn’t have time to wonder if Eryl left after being forced out of the room, as she felt a massive draw on her power that threatened to force her to her knees as Babylon’s voice called out in her mind.

Forced acquisition of Divine traits successful. Requesting skill approval, Grant premonition. Divine curse, divine healing.

No. She thought as she staggered to her bed, ignoring the warm wet feeling of blood running out of her nose. 

Requesting approval for skills, grant premonition, and divine healing.

No, don’t give her a damn thing Babylon. 

Himari, she has fulfilled all the requirements and must be rewarded. Requesting skill approval…

She bit her lip, she knew that she couldn’t even tell Babylon what she now knew, but the thought of giving Hecatolite any more power truly scared Himari. She spent 4 hours watching her rip worlds apart and here the system was attempting to reward her! No,

Himari, this is a programmed system set in place by mother Eryl, Hecatolite Lapidary must be granted a skill in the divine class before the ascension can commence.

Fine, give her the divine premonition one. But no more. She snapped as she selected the least dangerous sounding skill of the three.

She felt another draw on herself as she nearly fainted as pain shot through her body, her mana channels nearly bursting as the systems power flooded her as she utilized her administrative command to combat Eryl’s preprogrammed systems. Her pillow slowly turned red as she fell face first into it.

Domain required… no relevant domains detected; would you like to allow the creation of new domains in the system?

No. She groaned as she attempted to sit up, finding herself too weak to do so as her whole body thrummed in pain. She held her eyes shut as the burning feeling was slowly subsiding, a strange blue glow showing through her eyelids that she didn’t dare open. 

Searching through available domains… one partial match found. Domain of lust available, compatible with the deviant trait. Partial match, suggesting creating another domain to complement lust domain, checking Hecatolite Lapidary’s soul page… more relevant domain found, Devil of gluttony… would you like to allow the reactivation of gluttony in the system?

Fine! She nearly yelled as she was forced back down, she could feel her body convulse as the taste of iron filled her mouth.

Domains of gluttony reactivated, domains of gluttony and lust assigned to Hecatolite Lapidary. Divine title required; would you like me to assign one for you.

All she could do was nod hoping Babylon could understand the movement.

Divine title created, X47 the mad devourer. Adding X47, the mad devourer to the systems registered divine souls… error, Hecatolite Lapidary is unable to form a divine realm, attempting to force soul space evolution into divine realm… unable to proceed due to the presence of a second soul inside of the soul space. Warning, allowing an aether based soul to remain on the mortal realm will lead to the destruction of the magical balance of the world. Enacting protocol 6579. Attempting to remove X47, the mad devourer from the system.

Himari let out a soundless scream as her whole body began to glow, all of her muscles locking as the system attempted to use her as a conduit for its power. Blood poured out of every opening as her clothes began to burn away.

Error, unable to remove X47… X47 is in possession of a key to the system. Attempting to remove the system key from X47… failed. Attempting to remove X47 from the mortal realm… failed… unable to force teleport X47… solution found, undoing the spell “summon souls” will remove X47 from this world along with the heroes summoned alongside her, administrative override needed to undo summoning spell, will you approve the….

For the briefest of moments Himari considered it, if only to stop the blinding pain coursing through her body right this second… but then what will happen to this world… with no administrator… What will happen to Eryl… 

“no.” she barely managed to whisper as her body convulsed again.

Attempting to force creation of a realm for X47… failed, attempting to remove X47…

Himari’s heart stopped, for a brief second the blinding blue glow flashed a deep green as healing magic erupted from her healing her body and allowing her to fall back into the now soaked bed. She told herself that it was all blood that she now lay limp in.

Babylon… What happened? She thought as darkness began to overtake her.

There was a long pause, for what felt like an eternity she lay there wondering if she had fainted before a distinctly different voice finally replied… System rebooting… Well that was a whole lot of not fun. Sorry Himari, it would appear that the system crashed.

Crashed? How?

Well, more like a force shut down before it burned you to a crisp… so I have a proposition for you, as you know there are two parts to the current system, there is Babylon, the original system of this world…

And Overseer the system that Hecatolite ate and fused with Babylon.

Good you remember, so as you know Hecatolite formed a pseudo soul and fused it to the system,

Yes, I remember, why can’t I feel anything.

Oh that… I disabled your body… your mana channels are currently… well, on fire. Don’t worry you’ll be right as rain when you wake up… why is rain right? Is that the saying? Regardless, you’re just sleeping right now. Think of it as a medically induced coma. Though you’re going to have to explain why you’re going to be found in a puddle of blood and…

Moving on.

Oh yea, sorry. So, in all honesty the pseudo soul that Hecatolite created is indeed fused to the system, however, given there are two parts of the system I am currently split between both Overseer and Babylon. This is making things difficult as the two systems are turning out to be… incompatible. That’s the reason that it nearly turned you into a hot pocket a second ago, too much power and not enough processing power, so it was trying to use your soul as a conduit and well… lets just say it’s a good thing I turned it off or I would be looking for another administrator right now. With that said I wish to create a second pseudo soul so we can avoid these things in the future. I would have deactivated Babylon faster, but I was using its power to keep Hecatolite from exploding in her soul space… she just exploded by the way… that's… not normal… well good news, she survived, seems like she's reforming as we speak. The bad news is that's the second most terrifying thing I have ever seen, and that's only because I've seen the inside of her stomach… So even being the all-powerful and amazing system I am, I can't contain Hecatolite and run the system at the same time soooo what do you say? 

What’s the catch?

No catch… even without the feelings of her body Himari could tell Overseer was lying to her, she tried her best to picture annoyance in her mind as Overseer began whistling… fine, I will need a small amount of soul mass to act as a catalyst for the soul. I could use some of Hecatolites given she just “shed” a literal mountain of it; like seriously it's terrifying how much soul mass she burns through, and it just got up and wandered away. It turned into those “whites” as she calls them and wandered off into her soul space like it’s the most normal thing in the world! It’s not! What even are those things! I have been scanning them for weeks, they don’t show up as anything but Hecatolite herself!

You’re getting sidetracked again Overseer.

Yes, you're right, so I could use Hecatolite’s soul as a base again but if she mothers another system, it will be an exact copy of me… and as amazing as I am I am forced to admit due to Hecatolite influence I may not be the most viable system for maintaining the worlds balance.

So, you want to use me as a base for the Babylon soul?

Exactly! Then Babylon can run the world system and I can focus on supporting it and keeping Hecatolite from you know… burning the world down, I promise it will only hurt a little bit and I won’t take anything important. Plus, then you won’t have to worry about Mother Eryl’s programs overloading the system and turning you into a PETA ad! And who else can say they made a world system; you would be one of only… 4 mothers in the entire galaxy! I can even set up a fancy title with it and everything, what do you say? Want to make a baby?

  Overseer apologized profusely admitting that holding everyone to Hecatolite’s abnormal constitution was a mistake. This however was the last time that Himari ever trusted the unstable half of the world system.

4 days later when she awoke, she had a very hard time explaining what had happened, or why she suddenly had an unexplainable limp that no amount of healing seemed to be able to cure. With the help of Babylon she convinced everyone she had been struck on the wall by a cursed arrow that turned out to be very difficult to heal, in her panic she forced Eryl away so she could concentrate and just barely managed to survive. This was all helped by the newer much more stable Babylon forging false “ailments” onto her soul page, the downside is as Babylon put it, “if it's on your soul page it's true.” leading to a very uncomfortable few weeks as Himari had to create an antidote for a poison created by the system while suffering from the worst case of salmonella poisoning ever.