Controlling Error’s body, Shiro started to view what it was like inside her core. Despite being constrained to a small orb, the inside was akin to a vast void with planets that seem to represent her identity.
From her old home as Anima to her mana realm, everything that she had ever experienced was here. Naturally, that included times where she had resurrected but didn’t accomplish much unlike this life.
A life where she was a front line fighter with two daggers but failed to survive one of the dungeons and died without finding out about herself. A life where she only used wires since her body was sickly and fragile. A life where she couldn’t use any mana at all since her links had been completely shut down and even a life where she was doing good but died due to a curse.
All of these experiences made up her core.
As she was exploring her core in hopes of finding a way for her to cut off her divinity for now, a wave of black wires shot out from the void in an attempt to prevent her from going further.
Narrowing her eyes, Shiro wondered what she could do in Error’s body.
Flexing her ‘fingers’, red circuits appeared around her and formed a shield, stopping the wires from reaching her.
Raising an eyebrow, Shiro grabbed the wires and sent red circuits towards the source.
Sensing a white silhouette version of herself who seemed to be the defender of sorts, Shiro figured that she probably needed to get rid of this in order to reach deeper into her core.
However, the moment she started to channel her energy, the wires immediately disappeared.
“Eh?”
Blinking her eyes, Shiro watched as the white silhouette of herself kneel down and disappear.
[Mother, you know that it’s your own core so it won’t attack you. It’s only because you didn’t channel your energy that it thought you were a outsider. Though I must say your defences are better than what most people have. I have never seen an avatar guarding a core before.]
“I see… also did you just call me mother?” Shiro asked while reading the message.
[Erm… Should I not have?]
Suddenly, Shiro heard a voice in her mind as it was the same one that she heard when her eyes were upgraded to see time strands.
The way Error spoke caused Shiro to imagine that he was looking at her with puppy eyes.
“Ah no it’s fine. I was just surprised that you saw me as your mother. That and also were you the one who upgraded my eyes?” Shiro asked curiously.
[Well I had thought that mother was simply a woman who plays a pivotal role in your life during the early stages and looks after you. You were a mother figure to me and yes I was the one. I had just received a slight upgrade and saw that you were struggling with time magic so I infiltrated the system and got something to help you. Though it did punish me a little I recovered quite quickly. Though if you’re uncomfortable with me calling you mother, I can change the way I call you.]
“No no no, it’s fine. I was just surprised. I seem to be picking up children like vegetables despite still being a maiden.” Shiro smiled while scratching her cheek.
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[Mother does have the tendencies of picking up people who look up to you as a parental figure.]
“I can’t deny that. Well anyways, let’s see what’s in the centre of my core.” Shiro chuckled as she ventured deeper into the core.
###
“Well now, the era has certainly left us behind has it not Beast Queen?” Aisha grinned as she played around with a doll in her hand. Currently, she was sitting by the window while glancing at Thiria who’s expression was less than happy.
“We both felt the fluctuations of mana in the sky a few days ago, a certain spirit queen certainly did not hold back against her foe. The very aura caused the Earth to shake, leaving the two of us and any remaining Queens in awe. Frankly, it’s safe to say that our time had long passed. We’ve already lost our chance at winning this. Though considering your expression, you think otherwise.” Aisha curled her lips into a smile while looking at Thiria.
“You sure like to talk a lot. What are you even here for?” Thiria asked as Aisha burst out into laughter.
“Pft ahahaha! You must be desperate to tolerate me. If it was before, you would have driven me out without a second thought. Now look at you? Even so considerate as to ask me what I’m here for.” Aisha grinned as she suddenly appeared from behind Thiria’s throne.
Feeling Thiria’s glare on her, Aisha raised her hands in defeat.
“Don’t mind me, just a jester doing her job. Though since my audience is unreceptive, I suppose I’ll talk about the main purpose.” Aisha skipped out of the shadow and walked in around the room.
“After the fight, it’s clear that we’re no longer on the same level as Shiro. Even before the fight, she could crush my soul with a wave of her finger. It’s clear that the winner has already been decided though that’ll only happen if she’s the only one left. Now then, there are two choices for us. Either we continue this path and get slaughtered, or we give up our places in this competition. Surrender and retreat, allow her to win. And perhaps she might give us a place in her kingdom once her rule has been solidified. I heard that the Undead Queen has been quite well off with her alliance with Shiro. Her domains are protected and the Lightning Queen is pulling her hair in frustration right now.”
“You have a third option. Stop beating around the bush and tell me. My patience is limited.” Thiria warned as a dark aura wrapped around her body.
“I was leading up to it. The third option is allying ourselves with a god. It’s not a preferred option but as it stands, it’s probably the only one that might work. We have both pissed off Shiro and it’s safe to say that she won’t let us live in her kingdom.” Aisha chuckled.
Waving her hand, several cards appeared in the air in front of her. Each of the cards had a different crest that faintly radiated divine energy.
Seeing this, Thiria narrowed her eyes.
“You’ve already allied yourself with one haven’t you?”
“Of course. A few reached out to me so I picked the one that seemed best for my goals. Of course, they didn’t do it free of charge, they only reached out for me since I talented in my tricks. And to not piss off the other gods, I agreed in helping them advertise a little. These are the gods that have an interest in you o’ Queen of Beasts. Take your time in choosing. Though you can go solo as usual and die a pitiful death.” Aisha laughed.
Snapping her fingers, all of the cards shot towards Thiria.
Blocking it with a barrier, Thiria watched as Aisha’s body was replaced by a doll that was winking at her.
Feeling anger rise up in her heart, a portal opened near it and a beast jaw crushed the doll.
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Dismissing the barrier, she looked at the crests present on the cards. She recognised a few of them since they were gods that she had heard about before but quite a few were unfamiliar. One of which was a temple that had a lightning bolt in the centre. The energy radiated from this was superior to the other crests on the cards.
Furrowing her brows, she picked up that card and turned it around. Information started to appear on the back as details about the god, their power and goals started to reveal itself.
“Zeus huh…” Thiria muttered as she was familiar with the tales of the lightning god thanks to the slaves that she had captured. Ignoring his lust, he might be a decent ally considering that he has quite the vendetta against Shiro.
However, Thiria tossed the card in the air and destroyed it with her beast summon.
“Do you think I don’t know you’re hard pressed for allies after your little fight in the God Realm? You’ve pissed off the primordials along with a majority of gods in your pantheon. They’ve all joined Shiro’s side and you think I’m stupid enough to join someone that’s already a foot in the grave? You really underestimate me Lightning God.” Thiria sneered as the sky rumbled.
Sweeping her hand, Thiria destroyed all of the cards in one go as the void opened up in front of her. A pitch black card appeared with a glitching crest.
It would occasionally transform into a woman with three pairs of wings, a halo and swords around her into a void monster that changed form with each glance.
“This is more like it.” Thiria smiled, accepting the card.
