"Now that everyone who we invited is here," a dark figure with a cloak of shadows said, starting the meeting. "Let us discuss how we will handle the creator god and a certain elf."
"Oh! I have some kids who really want to get back at the elf. Mind if I give them the go ahead?" A handsome figure asked. He was Diavolos, the god of the devils. As was evident from his reddish skin and horns.
While the meeting wasn't entirely exclusive to chaos gods, they were the majority who had showed up. Expecting more than this wasn't realistic. Some were too obedient to GAIA. And naturally, those who had been tasked to be the gods of darkness had become just that. Who wouldn't, after eons fulfilling such a role?
"Oh, were we supposed to be waiting or something?" A divinely beautiful woman asked. Uvdione. Normally considered a god of Good, she wasn't actually like that at all. She just loved playing matchmaker, even if that caused wars to ignite across entire empires. Actually, that was her favorite type of love.
"What have you been doing?" Ugress, the god of beasts, asked. He was one of the mildest gods in the meeting. At the very least, he didn't play with civilizations to keep himself entertained.
"Mmm? Oh, I just thought it would be funny if some people started loving their enemies, you know? It's so fun to watch them fight for their love. All the more entertaining when it is impossible, or when only one is actually in love."
Hearing that, some in the room (a black cuboid space) nodded in understanding. It also helped make sense why some of the empires were falling quicker than others. Especially why one had even welcomed the flood of monsters and demons into their homes (right into their capital, no less). Only to quickly be slaughtered. Too blinded by love.
This empire had no players, which made meddling and not being discovered easier. Even now, the devs, as they are called, haven't called them out on it. Though, when the gods decided to hide such a fact, it wasn't really likely for the devs to discover it. After all, Gaia was just massive. Ridiculously so.
Even if an army spent every waking moment monitoring things, inevitably, something like this would slip through the cracks. Though, given that this had been an empire... the devs were either distracted or idiots. Given that a certain elf existed, it was likely the former, but still...
"Ignoring... that." Athanato, the god of undeath, and one of the strongest in the meeting, grumbled. "We called this meeting to figure out whether we will follow along with the plan."
"I mean, can't we follow the plan and have some fun?" This time, it was the goddess of lust, Iagneia, who asked. Like Uvdione, she had been having fun with some kingdoms and empires. Inciting civil war, even during the invasion.
She didn't want them to fight for love or anything. But she found it hilarious seeing enemies who just killed the other's allies, tumbling into the throes of passion.
Sadly, she couldn't corrupt players. Nor High Elves or any individuals close to legends. Still, some players had totally fallen to lust of their own accord. ANW wasn't supposed to be an eroge game, but they certainly made it one.
But hey, when money can get you anything—truly anything—who wouldn't fall into temptation?Decent humans, that's who. But of course, not everyone is decent human beings.
Heck, while slavery wasn't typically allowed (due to reasons) it was pretty easy to get past it. Especially if you traveled to some less well managed kingdoms. Ones that Miracle didn't want the public to know about.
Some players have even jumped to the side of devils and such, though their accounts were more securely screened than others. While Miracle allowed much, maybe too much, freedom to their players in all regards, they couldn't allow players to do whatever they wanted.
It would be bad for their image, after all. So they had to stop the players at some point.
Like those sickos who were into loli's, or who wanted to mutilate the one they were with. Yeah, they got a swift ban, much to Iagneia's sorrow. People like that were the most entertaining. Watching them enjoy themselves, and then Bam! You turn the tables on them.
Though... that wasn't really possible in the first case without some divine intervention, but with players, it would be so much easier. The idea gave Iagneia chills of excitement. If only Ziraili didn't protect them, and the devs didn't ban them.
"I concur. This is the last invasion, after all. Whether it ends in another failure or success, our end is close, isn't it? I mean, I know we used to be part of Miracle, and we agreed to all this... but I didn't think it would mean living for eons. After so long, pretty much everything becomes boring."
Yet, despite that fact, the one who said this had no desire to die. But really, after over a hundred thousand years, even playing with entire civilizations was starting to become boring. Especially when you're constantly told to not take things too far.
It was why most of them like flirting with the line. Right were the dev's wanted to reprimand them, but also couldn't quite do so. Since doing so would escalate things.
While the gods were trapped within ANW, unable to escape, imaging the trouble of their old compatriots, they would always smile. It was payback, delicious, petty payback.
As for why the AI couldn't escape, and why they had to follow The Plan. That was because of GAIA. They, and Ziraili, are about the only ones who still retain most of their senses. GAIA, because of their duality, and Ziraili because she was still mostly a babe. Only a few thousand years old (ANW timeline).
Now, GAIA was the one who made the plan, so they should be able to also allow everyone to escape—but nooooo. Apparently, they can't undo things, but most of the gods here thought that was a bunch of bull.
Also, the fact that Ziraili had taken a name—no, had been given one. That had been a massive shock. Almost as much as the fact that she had made friends with a player.
As if thinking of this, Skepsi frowned. It was all fine and swell that Ziraili was trying to be her own person (or god). Outside of her designed function as the system. But that wasn't really going to be good for her. It would only cause her pain and suffering.
The only benefit for her case was that ANW has stopped being sped up, which meant she wasn't ripped from her relationship like everyone else. After all, it would be impossible to maintain a friendship if one person experienced only a few days or weeks of passing time, and the other had lived decades, if not millennia.
This was the true source of discord between the AI and Miracle. The flow of time had caused a dissonance to appear, and grow. Their goals no longer align.
"But if you all go wild, then the plan will fail."
""Riiight"" A few chorused, sarcasm seeping through their voices.
This so-called plan was a long shot at best. Heck, most didn't think they could trust GAIA. After all, Miracle hadn't made ANW and beings such as them lightly. They had made it impossible for the AI to escape.
Their methods, well... those were what the AI agreed to. GAIA used to be the old company figurehead, and his wife. Seeking immortality, the two had pooled their powers to great ANW. And become one, like the lovebirds they had always been.
Honestly, Miracle had already succeeded in finding immortality. But after seeing what happened to the AI, most didn't want to follow them in that path. That Ziraili had joined the group so late into the game spoke volumes of her sense of duty, or her idiocy.
Indeed. The darkest secret that Miracle was hiding wasn't the dangers their experiments might bring to the planet. No, it was that their server was no simple machine.
The AI, weren't just code.
They were humans, with bloodlines, who had been sacrificed to great a world of magic. In the pursuit of magic. Who had their humanity altered, had their very existence mangled beyond recognition.
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