The three Reborn monsters, Ahkeel, Bayle and Gneis are warmly welcomed by the other Servants. I introduce them, informing the others of their chosen nicknames. The Pseudo Dragon children are most interested in Gneis, as his chosen species is one that easily traverses the power-gap between Reptileoid and Pseudo Dragonoid.
Once they're introduced and everything is starting to settle down, I almost have to drag myself into my cave, I'm so tired from performing the Ritual three times in a row. Just as I've gotten comfortable, a presence unlike any other I've ever felt descends upon me.
I feel myself being dragged inwards into the Dream against my will, but I know better than to resist. Or rather, I'm entirely unable to even if I wanted. Such is the force of the presence bearing down upon me.
My mind goes blank for a moment, before I regain consciousness inside the Dream, the wast, empty white expanse now inhabited by something other than me.
[So you're the one responsible. I've been wondering about the readings, but until now the discrepancies haven't been big enough to be certain.]
A voice, similar yet entirely different to that of the God that sent me to this World speaks in an accusatory tone.
[Explain yourself, why are you tampering with this World's System?]
[... And who is that behind you?]
I turn my head, there, floating behind me, is Shadow. The wound on her neck is nearly entirely healed, and she seems half awake.
"I-it's my other half... It's-" I get cut off as a piercing icy cold envelops my entire mind. I'm sure it's this voice's doing. Shadow squirms as well, clearly she's being subjected to the same treatment.
[Oh, I see. Now things are starting to fit together.]
My annoyance must have startled the being, as its tone suddenly changes.
[Oh dear, please forgive me. I haven't even introduced myself, yet I'm casually analyzing your entire being. I am the Overseer. It is my duty to keep an eye on all Worlds and ensure that the Divine in charge of them adhere to the Rules and keep their Oaths.]
"Overseer?" I ask.
[Uh, yes. That's me. I, along with my co-worker, Void, ensure Order is upheld. I'm sort of the one that acts as a check and balance to the power of the Divine in the innumerable different Worlds that fill the Space Between.]
"And what does Void do?"
[Uh, they destroy Worlds that have either fallen to Chaos or been abandoned by their Divine. It's the fate of Worlds where Balance is lost, unless it's quickly restored, to be unmade by Void.]
A weight settles squarely in my conscience. If I don't help uphold Balance...
[Oh dear, I've given you existential dread. Nevermind that, this World is fine at the moment, only a catastrophic event could possibly change it at the moment.]
[...]
[Speaking of, you... were incredibly close to such an event.]
"H-how? All I did-"
[All you did was directly tamper with an established event flow. If it wasn't for the incredibly precise way in which you did it... Well, let's just say that you and I wouldn't be speaking at the moment.]
"I don't understand."
[... I suppose education is the best choice here.]
The voice seems to sigh, though no sound is produced, and I only feel the tiniest shift in the Dream.
[So, the reason you're able to do all this in the first place is that you're not of this World originally. Moreover, you're from a World without an Active World System.]
"Aha? So, since I'm from a World without magic, I'm somehow able to manipulate magic?"
[Er, not quite. There's always magic. How it is expressed is different from World to World, but generally you can categorize Worlds into two types: Active System and Inactive System. A World with an Active System is a World where magic is able to be used by its inhabitants to cast Spells or to sustain a Skill System.]
[In a World with an Inactive System, magic is still present, only it is not available to its denizens to use at all. In such a World, the effects of the natural magic would be interpreted as laws of nature and physics.]
"And how does this factor into me being able to manipulate magic directly?" I ask, keen to learn more about the workings of the multiverse.
[For one, your Soul is wide open, letting the more energized magic of this World flow freely through it, resulting in a sort of... acclimatization to it. In addition, your Will has not been imprinted with the limiters that a Will from an Active System World would have been. Simply put, you're not aware that this is something you shouldn't be able to do, nor that it is directly harmful to you.]
"So, I'm like a child sticking her hand into a fire because mother never told me not to."
[Yes. Although, the child in this hypothetical would be at risk of exploding once the flames touched their hand.]
...
[Magic is a strange thing, not even I am fully aware of its potential. Every time a new World is made, even if its by an experienced Creator that's made many Worlds before, I always learn new ways in which it can be shaped. The World System is a key way to shape magic without having to constantly monitor and micro-manage it.]
"So, when I'm tampering with it..."
[There might be unintended consequences, particularly if the one tampering attempts to do things normally not possible, such as making themselves more powerful, or by making unspecific changes.]
"So, I've somehow managed to bypass that with how I interpret the World System."
[Yes, your associating the System with a computer program or "AI" from your own World allows you to do very precise changes that affect little else within the System at large. It also helped that you were somehow able to predict that changing those humanoids into monsters stronger than their current selves would end in tears.]
[Though... When I first arrived here, I thought you were native to this World, as there's long been irregularities with the readings from this World, longer than you've been here, though it's picked up considerably the last few months of this Worlds time, and it's not all attributable to you. I thought I'd finally caught the real culprit.]
"I don't know how much of the history of this World you know, but there was a Demigod..."
[... Ah! That's it! The Corruption! Or, well, I'd rather not harm you by uttering it's name. Seems there's a blanket ban on it as well as its associated domain. I can guess why.]
"You know of it! Can you tell me more? I... I might have to fight someone associated with it."
[Hm, well, this World has a quite primitive System. It's not a bad thing, the simpler the System, the less chance that something unforeseen will happen on its own, but it also leaves it vulnerable to tampering, even by its own inhabitants, provided their bodies can withstand the backlash from doing so.]
[The... Malice, as it's referred to now, used to be the Demigod associated with a now lost Element of this World. Elements can vary between Worlds as well, you see, but there seems to be a favoring of at least eight Elements. Anyway, the Element was produced by combining Death and Air, and seemed to be at opposition with Plant, much like Heat is opposed to Cold.]
[For some reason, known only to the Demigod themself, they attempted to alter themself by tampering with the World System. Although they survived the attempt, it left them... Corrupted.]
"Like... Like a corrupted file in a computer?" I ask.
[In a way, yes. They were left unrecognizable by the System, and treated as a foreign entity in need of removal. Now, the difference between them and you is that you're "allowed" to be here. You were invited, so to speak. There was no such "invitation" associated with the now corrupted Demigod. Thus, the World itself rejected it. Their actions following this was most likely a desperate bid to survive.]
"So, hatefulness, the Malice... It's corrupting others in order to sustain itself?"
[I suppose so. I've been unable to find it myself, and the Divine's Oath of not interfering directly prevent them from unleashing their full might against it. It's a direct threat to this World, and as the Malice used to be a Demigod, I have the authority to deal with it myself, but I'm not omniscient, so I don't know where it's hiding.]
[I can only swoop in after the fact to try to sniff out a lead and to put out the fires caused. I suspect the Malice is aware of this, and is thus trying to avoid interfering with the World System anymore, somehow having been able to adapt or assimilate the effects their very existence causes to be no more than background noise to me.]
[Now, I'm sure telling you to not do any tampering anymore will be a waste of time, so I'll instead tell you; It's way simpler to establish your own event flow than to change an already established one.]
I pause to consider the Overseers words, making my own event flow? Just as I'm about to ask for more clarification, the Dream fades as the presence of the Overseer grows faint.
[Ah, we're out of time. Good luck, and try not to destroy this World with your experiments.]
I get the sense that they flashed me a mischievous grin before fully fading into the ether. I wake. It's morning, even though it felt like just minutes in the Dream. My wounded wing is healed, and I stretch it tentatively to make sure there's no lasting damage. Other than being a little stiff, it's fine.
"I felt it, you drew the ire of something when you did that Ritual of yours." Yggdrasil's Avatar appears before me, making sure to fade in over time instead of instantly manifesting. She'd learnt the hard way how loud I can scream when startled.
"I... I met the Overseer. They were... very educational. I learnt a lot, mainly about the Malice." I get to my feet, absentmindedly probing my own mind to check on Shadow as I've developed a habit of doing so during the time she's been dormant. Just to check that she's still there.
"You did!? By Mother, please, tell me all about it!" Yggdrasils eyes light up with eagerness, her similarity to mom being quite off-putting now that she's not acting at all like her, instead like an excited young girl.
"Well, I learnt the reason for their situation at least. Seems they managed to do something similar to what I did, only to themself. It... It made the World stop recognizing them as something that's supposed to be there, so to survive, they resorted to... well..." I trail off as Yggdrasil's demeanor darkens.
"So, because they wanted more power, or something, they ended up becoming that. And then they attacked me and the other Demigods..." She mutters, clearly upset by this revelation. She sighs before continuing. "I'd hoped it was... well, something external. That it wasn't something they'd done to themself, but some other force making them go mad or something. This... well, it doesn't sit well with me."
"It probably shouldn't." I hesitate for a moment, distracted by sorting through the happenings with Jax and the two soldiers. Seems today is the day, then. I glance back at Yggdrasil, but her Avatar is gone. I can practically sense her leaves drooping with gloom. Best to leave her alone, check back later today maybe.
I reach out my mind to Jax. "So, are you all ready?"