A sudden jolt hit me—a shock so intense it rattled me to my core, something unlike anything I’d ever felt before.
Another world? Firearms? That meant the Seven Princesses got the weapons they used to defeat Lilith from Earth.
Sure, it could just be some wild coincidence. Who the hell knows how many planets are out there? Earth, for all its technological pride, barely knew a fraction about its own solar system, let alone what lay beyond. The unknown stretched out endlessly, a cosmos filled with worlds humanity couldn’t even begin to fathom. It wouldn’t be shocking if this place existed outside of what Earth would consider its main universe.
That left the possibility wide open: those firearms the Seven Princesses used could’ve come from any number of worlds. But I couldn’t fully dismiss the idea that they originated from Earth. No. More than that, this revelation brought a darker truth to light.
What really hit me was this—if they had these weapons, then there had to be something that let the Seven Princesses travel through dimensions, across space itself, reaching planets beyond this one. And that meant Earth could be reached. It meant… I could finally get my revenge on my sister.
“What about you, Leon?” Elise asked. “Do you really think Lilith’s plan is the right move? Do you think humanity deserves to be wiped out?”
I didn’t think Lilith’s solution was entirely wrong, not really. But it wasn’t something I could agree with either. Humanity, as far as I saw it, wasn’t black and white. It was all shades of gray. There were good people, sure—but nobody was purely good. And there were bad people, absolutely, but even they weren’t fully evil. Humanity lived in that gray zone—messy, complicated, and far from perfect.
“I only found out about all this recently, and honestly, I don’t know how much of it is actually true. Everything I told you came from second-hand whispers, passed from one mouth to the next, probably twisted as time went by. So, take it all with a grain of salt. But one thing’s for sure: stay away from the Seven Princesses. If they could take down our creator and someone they thought of as their sister, it’s not a stretch to think you’d be next. I should probably tell Veronica the same thing.”
I wondered if I really would. Something about the Seven Princesses intrigued me. The fact that they’d traveled to another world to grab firearms just to defeat Lilith… it raised questions I couldn’t ignore.
***
After dinner, we both stepped out into the cool night air. Elise had wanted to check on me, see how far I’d come before she went off on yet another one of her journeys. She said she was looking for a woman but was vague about the details. She never did like weighing me down with her problems. Instead, she told me to keep my focus on my studies, to not get caught up in her burdens. Still, there was something else she wanted from me—to try and track down our other siblings. She rattled off their names, and sure enough, Veronica was one of them. It confirmed what I’d suspected: she was my sibling, too. Elise, Leon, Veronica, Leonora, and Estelle. Five parts in total. And if I wanted to revive Lilith, I needed to dominate the other four, claim their skills as my own.
“You and Veronica were born on the same day,” Elise said. “That makes you twins. Actually, there’s a third… her name is Leonora.”
That hit me harder than I expected. Triplets? I never considered that possibility, but I guess you learn something new about yourself every day.
“By the way, Sis.”
“Hm?” she replied, glancing at me curiously.
“Have you ever heard of the term ‘Great Darkness’?”
A pause. Then, with a slight smirk, she answered, “That’s a term I haven’t heard in a long time.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Wait, so you have heard of it before?” I asked. “What is it?”
She looked at me like I should’ve already known the answer. “You really don’t know, Leon?” she teased. “I thought you’d have figured it out by now.”
When she explained, it was like pieces of a puzzle finally fell into place. Everything clicked in an instant.
Oh, so that’s why… It explained why Sesillian’s relative introduced the concept of guns and firearms into this world, and why he was the one to mass-produce them.
“The ‘Great Darkness’… they’re the Seven Princesses.”
***
Lilith’s POV
Hmm. It seems the ones above are finally stirring. Progress has been made. A dull stretch of years it hath been, but now… now that Leon hast reached his age of maturity, the thrill returns to me.
“Looks like Leon treads slowly upon his path, but with steady purpose. I have no doubt he shall attain his strength ere the war ‘twixt humans and demons doth erupt. The boy hath grown, and soon he shall stand amidst the storm.”
How much stronger will Leon grow, I wonder? Shall he rise to halt the darkness that soon spreads across this world? Or shall he be devoured by it?
“Great Darkness, thou sayst? Aye, that be the name I gave them when they smote me, for it is their very existence that heralds this world’s doom. They thwarted me from destroying it, yet ’tis they who shall undo it in the end.”
Foolish sisters of mine. They believe their actions righteous, that they saved the world with their madness. But ’tis their folly that shall serve as the very catalyst for its ruin. Now that time and space hath been sundered, worlds shall collide once more, and the Great Ones shall again weave themselves into this tapestry of destruction.
A multiversal war… Such chaos hath come to pass in times long forgotten, an age beyond reckoning. And now, the wheel of fate doth turn once more, with the promise of ruin upon its edge.
“Good luck, my young ones.”
