0.......

I didn't rush in the first few minutes. I walked, feeling the gazes of Jinn, Alalia, and Dylan on my back, until the trees did their job of hiding me. I walked with slow steps, simply feeling the small, rapid drops of rain falling on my skin.

My casual clothes quickly became soaked, as did my hair, making the water trickle down my already wet face and drip from my chin.

The first thing I noticed was that the smell of blood and rot didn't come from the rain itself—or at least not from these drops. It was something farther away, much farther, but somehow it managed to reach me even through this curtain of water that stretched for dozens of kilometers.

I glanced around for a moment. The ground absorbed the water well, even after so many days of rain. The soil was muddy, flooded. The trees seemed shrunken, their twisted branches almost as if trying to shield themselves from the cold rain and wind.

Ignoring the loud noise of the rain, I closed my eyes as I continued walking.

I knew there was something in the storm. I wanted to know if it affected me and, if it did, whether I could detect it. I paid attention to my body's functions. I focused on my memories. I honed in on my mind. Finally, I examined my soul and my Spiritual Realm.

Nothing. I couldn't sense or discover anything. Everything seemed in order. I opened my eyes and pulled up my status screen.

[Current Status: Healthy (High-Extreme), evolving (High-Extreme), adapting (High-Extreme), headache (Minimal), wet.]

Apart from the fact that the stream found it amusing to point out that I was wet—something I absolutely wouldn't have known without its help—everything was normal.

The statuses "Healthy," "evolving," and "adapting" had always been there. Well, the first one had since I used the status screen for the first time; the other two appeared shortly after Jille but never disappeared since, only growing.

As for my headache, it was due to my "glimpse" into hell and the situation that followed. Figuring out what "The Eye," as the stream called it, was up to stressed me out—not going to lie. Still, it was already passing and was minimal.

"No The Outer Foreigner Presence," I muttered, then raised my voice: "Ozma, everything clear on your end?"

("Nothing unusual, at least nothing I can detect.") The response came a second later. ("The Nightmares are normal too.")

I licked my lips. The taste of rain was slightly salty. "That is... I can't tell if that's good or bad."

A small explosion appeared in my vision, triggered by a missile that fell like one of the raindrops.

[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]

I'm just going to ask to be sure, even though I already know the answer. In what kind of messed-up logic is not being infected by the Outer Foreigner Presence—or whatever this disease/corruption/thing is—a bad thing?! ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

"For the same reason you get vaccinated," I shrugged, resuming my walk. "Poison in small doses builds resistance, maybe even immunity. That was my plan... I don't know why I'm not being affected."

Adapting to whatever this was seemed like the best-case scenario. That's why I entered the storm unprotected. It was risky, sure, but if I couldn't resist whatever the rain carried, forget fighting the Eye—just existing in its presence would be a problem.

Maybe it was some natural resistance of mine. I could tell it wasn't my title, so it wasn't the stream. Being near the Realm wasn't ruled out either; the rain might be different deeper into the storm...

My thoughts were interrupted by several messages, all delivered by a yellow fish walking on two fins, carrying a sack on its back. It tossed the sack into the air before continuing its path until it disappeared.

The stream really liked making me look insane, didn't it?

[MagicalGirlSera-Tan]

I didn't know you were a masochist. Well, it's not that uncommon, to be honest. I've got some whips if you're interested.

(Emote of a devilish magical girl in a latex outfit)

[Darkness]

A comrade? I could teac—

[AdvocateOfGenderEquality]

Ignore her. Darkness hasn't been well mentally for a while. Aqua tried healing her, but it didn't work. Good luck with your fetishes, DS!

(Emote of a generic guy giving a thumbs up)

[AsuraLady]

When you return to my world, you have an appointment with a psychologist, and depending on how things are, a psychiatrist. It's already scheduled; she's a sweet lady. I've talked to her a few times—you'll love her!

(Emote of a lion with a pink mane smiling mischievously)

"I'm not a masochist. Glynda's the one who likes whips." I felt a vein in my forehead twitch. Maybe it was just a raindrop. "And if you come near me with one, I'll start praying in ancient Hebrew. The stream will help me perfect the pronunciation."

Even though Serafall was a Satan, I was sure it would affect her.

I ignored Darkness's and Kazuma's messages, but not before flipping off the latter, and replied to Saya: "I don't need a psychologist, but thanks for the concern."

[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]

Amazing—he doesn't even flinch… ¯\(ツ)/¯

I brushed Stark's message aside with the back of my hand and summoned the Angel Greaves to my body. The minimap showed no red dots. Given the name the stream had given the clouds above, that was surprising.

I jumped and began running upward. Within seconds, I reached the first layer of clouds. The moment I plunged into the sea of gray, I felt the air grow heavier. The atmosphere darkened—not just from the lack of light but as if darkness itself was right.

The stench of blood and decay was stronger too. I could still tell the source was distant, whatever it was, but the clouds seemed to carry— transmi t—the scent more effectively.

It was disgusting. I looked around. No eyes...

"It's worse up here," I said aloud. "What an unpleasant feeling..."

...But I still felt like I was being watched.

The sensation of being watched always existed whenever I stared into the storm. When I entered it, it worsened. It felt as if something were watching me from the shadows. Up here, in the clouds?… It was as if something were observing the back of my neck, just a few steps behind me.

With a thought, I turned and guided my mana around my body. Several lightning bolts from the storm, as if finally noticing I was up here, came straight at me. None of them were red, much less had any 'intention' behind them. I was simply the highest point and the best conductor around.

I didn't fight or resist the electricity. I just shaped my mana, creating my own bolts, intertwining them with those from the clouds, and guiding them toward the ground.

I let my body drop near where the lightning had struck and pulled out the map Dylan had given me. It was a map of the villages closest to the kingdom.

Thinking about it, I hadn't compared the world map I got from the Dungeon with Dylan's map. Something to do later.

After quickly analyzing the map and finding my location, I took off, a thin layer of Shadowflame covering my body to prevent everything around me from being destroyed.

It didn't take long to reach the first village. It was more of a small settlement, to be honest. It was empty—of both people and domestic animals. I confirmed this by circling the area and scanning everything with the Minimap.

I quickly noted it on the map, alongside Dylan's annotations. The guide had made notes based on information from the crown that Charlotte had provided him. The numbers matched. All the residents of this village had either entered the kingdom or were in its vicinity, in the newly established 'city.'

Alalia also gave me an approximate number of living beings she could sense. "The storm slightly disrupts my senses, so I might be off by a small margin," were her words. Even so, she also confirmed that there was no one here.

"Well, I guess it's better than finding a body…" If I'd found the body of someone listed as being within the kingdom, then we'd have a real problem.

The next village was in the same condition: only empty houses, no Terrarians or animals. I made notes as I did with the first and moved on.

The deeper I ventured into the storm, the stranger the environment seemed. The smell of blood grew stronger, though not as much as the stench of rot. The latter was so overwhelming I could taste it in the air.

The rain became heavier, almost as if it were falling in anger upon me. The clouds darkened further, turning to a dark gray, almost black. Lightning strikes became more frequent, moving like snakes. Red bolts began appearing closer.

It wasn't until the twenty-first village, considerably far from the kingdom and its barrier, that the environment shifted significantly. It became oppressive; the shadows between trees and the corners of houses darkened. The wind howled, like screams.

It was in the next village that I found the first body: a man—or something that resembled one. He was bloated and swollen, trapped in a flooded drainage ditch.

The corpse had clearly been there for days. I didn't know who he was, but not all the residents of this village had been accounted for, so deaths here were expected. I didn't need to get closer to notice the man's green skin—an unnatural green. When I turned the body over, facing it upward, I confirmed what I'd already suspected.

"Eyeless…" I frowned at the sight, sighed, and pulled the body into the VoidBag. "Fucking bizarre… They look like they burst from the inside out, just like Gilbert said."

A green corpse, which I was almost certain was a failed zombie, shouldn't have seemed so strange, eyeless or not. But with everything I knew, the simple absence of eyes made the body seem far more unsettling than it should.

On the way to the next village, a chill ran down my spine. I stopped the moment it happened and looked around. Something was wrong; I could feel it clearly. It took me a few seconds to realize what.

"What time is it?…" I murmured. A quick glance at my watch confirmed it was half past two in the afternoon. "Not much time has passed, so why does it feel like?…"

With a swift movement, I leapt into the air. I drew my mana around my body, creating paths for the lightning to follow into the ground, avoiding me. Then I ran through the air, heading toward the sea of black clouds above.

The stench of blood and rot hit me even harder as I entered the clouds. I also noticed something different. The sensation I felt upon entering the clouds was similar to when I entered the Vault in Remnant.

I frowned, wondering what it could mean, and swirled my mana between my fingers, shaping the wind, before slashing at the air with clawed hands.

Dozens of meters of cloud layers were torn apart effortlessly, revealing the landscape they concealed for a brief moment. Strangely, the clouds moved almost like a living fabric, writhing and quickly stitching up the tear my hand had made in their 'black canvas.'

They weren't fast enough. I still caught a glimpse of the sky behind them… A sky I hadn't seen since coming to this world.

Extinguished stars in a black sky. I probed the 'void.' My head ached…

"Of course it does…"

… Terraria's night sky.

It was night.

[...]

POV: Jinn

I looked out the hallway window aboard Proto-A. The sky was clear, the sun shining high, just shy of its midday peak. Terraria was beautiful, reminiscent of Remnant in an older era. It was nostalgic.

"He said it's nighttime?" Alalia's melodious yet serious voice came from beside me.

I glanced away. The dryad stood in her true form—the same one she had used during the conversation with Devas, or almost. Her height was different now; she was taller, nearly Glynda's height, with white hair and more modest curves. The air around her was cold.

"Winter?" I asked. "The other was summer?"

She nodded. "One of the facets I possess. It helps me think more calmly and clinically, but I don't like it much…" Her brow furrowed, and I saw frost forming at the edges of the window. "Did Devas truly see the night sky?"

"Something like it. There were no stars—or if there were, they were dim." He used that word himself, for some reason. "No moon either. At least, he didn't see it."

Not that he had searched for it. Devas had looked away the instant he realized what he was seeing.

Alalia closed her eyes, and I felt the environment around us shift, becoming an extension of her. I looked at the window again. The grass on the ground rippled, matching the pulse of mana emerging from both the earth and the dryad, blending into waves. Branches and leaves swayed, resonating with the nature around them.

Even the Terrarians who were training Aura were affected. Devas's group — along with Charlotte, Helena, Melissa, and Darnell — had their mana momentarily disrupted. I noticed a faint smile appear on each of their faces. The only one who seemed to perceive something more was Dylan, who glanced around before fixing his gaze, glowing with a blue aura, in our direction.

He observed me briefly before turning his attention to the left, where Alalia was — or at least where she should have been, were it not for the illusion projected to conceal her presence in case someone looked through the window. Dylan's brow furrowed slightly more before he shifted his focus back, closing his eyes once again, still seated cross-legged as he trained his Aura control.

He was skilled. Far better than Jaune Arc by a considerable margin. It took him no more than five minutes to start using his Aura effectively in battle.

Everyone there was highly talented, in truth. Dylan was by far the most proficient, followed by Charlotte and then Helena. The princess and the duchess grasped how Aura worked just minutes after the guide. Melissa came fourth, followed by Gilbert and Darnell, who were roughly tied. The "worst" — at least within this anomalous group — was Robyn.

Selina had not yet begun training her Aura, so I didn't include her in the list. She remained locked in the room Devas had assigned to her aboard the Proto-A, caught in a manic state of insight and inspiration.

However, if ranked by the amount of Aura, the order would shift slightly. The first and last places would swap. Robyn possessed, by far, the greatest amount of Aura. She didn't come anywhere near Devas, just as Dylan couldn't compare to him in skill, but the fox-woman had as much Aura as two or three ordinary Huntsmen or Huntresses combined.

The second-largest Aura belonged to Helena, followed closely by Melissa. Mother and daughter were practically tied. After them came Charlotte, then Gilbert and Darnell. Dylan had the smallest amount of Aura in the group, though that was by no means insignificant.

I scanned each of them before pausing momentarily on Robyn.

I had also figured out her secret within about ten seconds of meeting her in person. Aside from the distinct movements — especially in instinctual situations like fear, happiness, or excitement — inorganic materials reacted differently to mana compared to organic ones.

Being extremely sensitive to mana, it was all too easy to tell the difference between a real tail and an anal plug.

Did Devas know? … Probably — I hummed internally. He had plenty of ways to figure that out quickly. If I had to guess, it was thanks to the VoidBag. I'd have to ask him later. This was the first time I'd uncovered a secret like that without the relic telling me, and I wanted to talk to someone about it!

I turned my attention to Alalia when she opened her eyes. She blinked three times before her pupils focused.

"It's daytime… Even in the storm, I can tell it's daytime…" she murmured to herself.

"I'm sure Devas wasn't lying." I had also seen the dark sky in the broadcast. The phone was propped against the window frame.

"...I'm not saying he's lying. It's just that..." Her brow furrowed, and her gaze unfocused for a moment as she turned toward the storm. "This shouldn't be possible… Unless..."

She abruptly turned to face me. Her long white hair rippled, bringing a breeze down the hallway.

"Ask Devas how that sky felt. Just ask if it seemed like a fake sky, like a painting!"

I typed her exact words into the broadcast's (CHAT). Devas was moving as he read them. He'd resumed running the moment his feet hit the ground.

I'd thought he'd come back after seeing the night sky, but he remained within the storm.

His response came a second later, his voice serious and slightly tense:

"It wasn't a painting. Tell Alalia that fucking thing was as real as it was fake."

A low, guttural sound escaped his throat — a growl. He placed a hand on his head, a faint look of pain crossing his face, and continued:

"It wasn't the sky of this world. It was something separate. A kind of distinct dimension, or something close to it. The natural sky of this world is different from that starless sky above the sea of gray clouds..."

I relayed his words to Alalia as he spoke. With each syllable, the dryad's face grew more tense. Her brow visibly furrowed. I was sure I was mirroring her expression.

"That's why the night wouldn't end..." Alalia's words left her lips like a gentle breeze. Her gaze was shaken, teetering on the edge of terror. "An endless night"

"The only upside is that I could sense that sky had a limit... A border...." Devas's voice came through the phone. As I passed his words to Alalia, her expression hardened further. He added with a furrowed brow:

"Fuck it, what a headache. Can't Alalia destroy that sky? It'd make things a lot easier."

"Can you?" I asked.

"How would I even do that?!" Her voice rose. The air around us and the Proto-A grew colder and more agitated. "I can't even feel that sky!"

I quickly typed her words to Devas. He stopped running, stared at the broadcast screen, and blinked, confused.

"Is she messing with me?!" He shook his head, incredulous, before resuming his run. He was the only point of light and color in the storm; everything else was dark and gray, while he glowed purple, wrapped in Shadowflame.

"Throw Terraria's natural sky into the storm's sky! Push one sky against the other, create a bigger storm to swallow this one, or toss a damn star into that starless sky! Any of those options should work. Tell her to pick the easiest."

I admit it took me a few seconds to pass on the message this time. Creating a storm to swallow another was one thing… but throwing a star into the sky? Forcing Terraria's natural sky against the storm's sky?

"He wants me to create and throw a star into the sky?!"

"Or create a storm to swallow the other."

"He wants me to forcibly push the world's sky?!"

Alalia shook her head, incredulous. Where her hair touched, a thin layer of frost formed. She closed her eyes for about ten seconds before opening them again.

"I don't know if I can create a star, so forget that. Pushing the world's sky against the storm's sky is possible, and so is creating another storm, but…" She murmured to herself, biting the tip of her thumb. "I'll need more power than I can handle in my current state. That will weaken me or put me to sleep… and I won't be able to suppress those two. They'll start spreading again..."

So she could actually push the sky... I didn't even know if the sibling gods could do something like that.

I pushed my tumultuous thoughts aside and typed Alalia's response into the (CHAT) for Devas.

"Of course, if someone's keeping those two biomes in check, it's her..." Devas muttered aloud, stopping in another village. "Fine... Forget it. Tell Alalia to keep doing what she's doing. Hold those two things steady, protect the kingdom, and find a way to unfuck the sick. I'll figure something out on my end."

The look of relief that spread across Alalia's face when I relayed Devas's words was almost tangible in the air. She really didn't want to go near the storm, did she? Why?

"He knows about the Red and the Purple? Of course, he does." I heard Alalia murmur to herself before a faint smile appeared on her face. She glanced toward Devas for a moment, then turned to me.

"The matrix protecting the kingdom won't be deactivated. The barrier can be activated at any time. Are you free?" Her eyes flicked to the relic at my waist before locking onto my face. "I want to purge that eye's influence from everyone's minds. With your help, it'll be much faster."

"Devas said curing the sick is a priority. I can work on the Proto-A later." I nodded before slapping my thigh. I lifted my dress, revealing a palm mark with an eye at its center, showing it to Alalia. "And I think I know where we can start…"

The eyes in the shadows around us slowly opened. Alalia watched them with curiosity.

"It really is similar to the stag's energy… Fire against fire?"

"Insanity against insanity. I think that's the best way to describe it."

Eye against Eye.

[…]

POV: Devas Asura

I threw the green bodies into my inventory and marked the location on the map. Another village, no survivors. No animals, no Terrarians. I stored the map and kept running.

Even the number of corpses was small. One or two at most, and that was only every five villages…

("How's your headache?") Ozma's voice echoed in my mind.

("I'm fine. It's not as bad as it was after Jinn's question. A little worse than when I 'looked' at hell, that's all.") It wasn't anything serious. More shock than actual pain.

A false sky above the clouds. Well, not exactly false, but… unnatural. Damn, I hadn't expected to deal with Type-Moon-level problems so soon. Infecting Terrarians just by existing was one thing. Creating zombies and demon eyes, another. But distorting reality and creating a starless black sky? Now that was ridiculous.

Ozma spoke again a few seconds later.

("What's the plan? I have to admit, this is the first time I've faced something like this. Normally, I'd be pleasantly surprised to encounter something new, but the feel of this storm and the sight of that sky disgust me.")

("I'll explore the storm for a few days before heading back to the kingdom. I want to see if I can find anything useful.") The information I already had was good, but the more, the better. ("After that, we prepare. I want the Proto-A ready, the kingdom fortified, and everyone protected for when the shit hits the fan.")

("We'll wait?")

I shook my head. ("No. I'll return to the storm later. Alalia can't do shit against it, and I don't want her trying. Suppressing the Crimson and the Corruption is more important. I want to weaken all of this first.")

("The storm you created against Salem?") He guessed.

("That too. The Hallucination Storm is an option, but it's not the only thing I'm considering.") My storm was too small to handle this on its own. ("Killing the Eye is the main goal. Once it's dead, the storm and the starless sky should disappear.")

("You're hiding something.")

("You know me so well already?") I joked.

He scoffed. ("I'm in your mind, or almost. It's easier to notice things here. Besides, I'm old; I've learned to read people.")

("Fair enough. I have an idea that could weaken the starless sky, but it's risky. I'll need to do some calculations with Jinn when we're back.")

("Math and magic. This will either go very wrong or very right.") Ozma hummed. ("What happens in each case?")

("If it goes wrong, I'll screw myself over or die. Probably the latter, if it goes very wrong. If it goes right, the Eye dies and… well, all's well that ends well. At least, I hope. At the very least, the storm and the starless sky should weaken.")

("And this is just two days into our time in Terraria.") He pointed out.

("Crazy, isn't it?")

The connection went silent before he snorted and laughed. Then he replied, ("I'm here for whatever you need. I might not be the greatest magic expert in Remnant, but I'd say I'm in the top three.")

("I'll count on your help later, then.") I replied, ending the conversation and focusing on my surroundings.

I kept heading toward the coast. I should reach BlueHarbor in a few minutes. Gilbert had asked me to check on Simon and the village if possible, so I would, even though it wasn't a priority.

As night fell—the real night—the environment grew even darker. The sky became a black canvas, illuminated only by lightning, which now flashed entirely red.

I knew it was water raining down. I made sure to analyze the droplets with Analyze: Item every few minutes. But whenever the surroundings were lit by the red lightning, it looked like it was raining blood.

"Paranoia-inducing hellhole," I muttered, checking my status.

Still normal. No The Outer Foreigner Presence.

Nothing appeared on the minimap. No red dots. Only the occasional yellow ones representing animals—a setting I had activated. But even those dots began disappearing until no life remained apart from vegetation.

I stopped in place. A shiver ran down my spine. I scanned the area using all my senses and the minimap, but nothing. No insects, no small or large animals. Nothing. Life had simply ceased past a certain point.

The farther from the kingdom, the less life, until there was none…

Absolutely fantastic.

The worst part wasn't the absence of life but the absence of bodies. No corpses, no traces. Just a silent, empty forest, save for the incessant sound of rain.

I had the sudden urge to burn this entire place—forests, villages, mountains. Everything under this rain…

I circulated mana through my body and took a deep breath, activating Sun Breathing to the max. I looked around again. I could still feel gazes coming from above and the shadows of the trees. I resumed running toward the shore.

It didn't take long to find the fishing village we'd visited on the way to WinterHord.

The optimistic part of me still hoped to find people. Terrarians alive, hiding, even if marked and infected by the presence of that thing... The pessimistic part—the realistic part—knew there wouldn't be anyone.

That's why I hadn't hurried. Why I hadn't rushed full speed to this village, even with Gilbert asking me to check it.

There was no point in rushing. Visiting a graveyard didn't require urgency, even when it had no bodies.

BlueHarbor was empty too.

[...]---[...]

An arc I wanted to post some time ago, just like Village Jille and WinterHord. I really like Terraria's arcs.

Well, regarding the chapter: a lot of stuff has been discovered, a lot of stuff is about to happen, and 'The Eye' is stronger than expected by many people.

I won't go on for too long, as always: good Night and happy reading! Comment, and I will reply with my best, without giving spoilers.