The sun drooped lazily towards the horizon, clocking out after a hard day’s work. Its previously hot rays became warm and soothing, basking those below in a relaxing cloak of light.

Somewhere in a displaced city, the cloaks of light struggled with the many corpses scattered in the half-shadows of several buildings, unable to cover them, the green skins were pale in the dark, their blood and scattered remains along with spent shells and bullet casings dotting the ground.

At one corner, a heated argument that was mostly one-sided continued. One party was covered in the warm sunlight of dusk, the other sprawled in the bleak shadows.

Celes glared at her sister, fury swelling in her chest, rippling like ocean waves. "Look around. The dead. The injured. Take a good look. If you hadn’t acted out, some of them might still be alive, or at least in better condition."

Jasmine felt the sting of her words, but she couldn’t find a strong response. "I was only just—"

"Just what?" Celes interrupted, voice sharp. "Your feelings are more important than their lives? More than our fight? From now on, you’re not part of the team."

Celes pupils filled with disappointed weighed heavily down on her like a mountain.

"I—" She tried to find the right words.

"I don’t want to hear it. Prove you're responsible. Prove you can be relied on. Then we’ll talk. Until then…" Celes’s gaze hardened. "I’ve got other plans for you."

Celes couldn’t bear to look at her sister any longer. She waved to Priya, who quickly led the slumping Jasmine away after Celes gave her another earful.

The onlookers quickly looked away seeing her silent fury simmer.

The silence was thick and oppressive.

Then, awkwardly, Old Wheeler cleared his throat. "Ahem, maybe that was a bit harsh for the kid, eh? She was just caught up in the moment."

"She should know better," Celes muttered, running a hand through her hair. I can’t believe she’s still like this, after everything.

"Celes, a few cards dropped. Some goblins are on them, but not all of them.”

Minnie stepped forward intelligently, finding a better way to dissipate the tension, moreover, she was also curious and somewhat befuddled due to the odd situation.

Her tone was strange, but Celes waved it off.

"Ah, yes. Trying to figure out the drop mechanism is pointless. It could be a relevant creature card, an equipment card, a skill card, an aura card... hell, even a rare legion card could drop. It’s not always related to goblins moreover." She examined the cards. "This and this are goblin summoning cards. For goblins, ten pounds of raw flesh, a pound of rough iron, and some card essence will do. Simple stuff."

Fortunately for humanity, even after figuring out the activation materials for many cards, Grey Ash cards proved to be easily activated in most cases, with ordinary pre-apocalypse materials playing a large role.

Of course, the higher the rank and better the quality, the scarcer the relevant materials. Only materials bred by the New World, or within certain alien races and special environments could be used.

She paused, a thought occurring to her. "I haven’t taught you all this yet, but I’ll find time later on. Usually, you need a collection card to process materials from slain foes or ores naturally occurring in the environment or some special spaces, but with many skill cards, you don’t necessarily need cards as a medium. You can use card essence directly to the same effect if you know what you're doing."

Minnie blinked, surprised. "You can do that?"

Celes nodded. "Why not? If you have the right technique, you can replicate the energy in the card without using it directly. For the most part, anyway. It’s a bit tricky and has a steep learning curve but it saves on collection cards. And that’s important since most of them are consumables."

Minnie’s eyes widened. "That’s... possible?" The intricacies surrounding cards proved to be a lot more extensive than Minnie had initially imagined.

Celes chuckled softly, though the sound lacked humor. "It’s simpler than it sounds. Some cards are just energy conversions and applications. You can bypass them with the right knowledge. But high-level skills—those require more than just energy. They rely on ‘laws,’ things you can’t just replicate, among other things."

She paused, reflecting. "It’s an ingenious thing, really. Bypassing the cards. But it’s only for those who know what they’re doing."

It was a simple concept but thinking about it, even Celes couldn't help but inwardly applaud human ingenuity bred by laziness and poverty. This was another reason she was keen on recruiting such talents.

Cards were a controlled and immensely valuable resource. This included the common auxiliary, support, and combat-oriented cards. Many groups couldn't afford to splurge on collection cards to obtain the necessary activation materials to use their more important cards without sacrificing a bit from less important cards.

For instance, if a group had ten cards, they might only be able to activate three at a time with their materials at hand.

For the more lethal skill cards necessary for self-defense and hunting this was an issue affecting their livelihood. Some pioneers who have used the said cards a few times recognized that for most low-level cards, their use boiled down to simply an application of energy or conversion of energy that they could very well replicate themselves.

So they tried to learn the skills within cards themselves bypassing the cards as medium. Of course, this was no easy feat and only the most talented could accomplish this. Moreover, this wasn't a universal solution.

Most people capable of such feats were biased towards certain attributes like flame or explosion for Fireball skill cards. There was water and ice for the likes of the water cannon or ice bullet skills and so on. Basically, your hardware was modeled for certain activities and was plainly incapable of others.

Before Minnie could respond or ask more, a sharp screech from Sapphire cut through the air, pulling Celes’s attention away. She quickly shared her vision with her partner and saw what caught her attention.

The amateur cultists—traitors of the human race—were trying to sneak away, thinking they were safe at a distance. They hadn’t counted on Sapphire’s keen eyesight.

A cold glint flashed in Celes’s eyes.

In the past, she had wondered if these people could still be saved. But now, the answer was clear. There was no redemption for them. Only death.

They were base human scum content to sell out their fellow man and watch them suffer.

She looked at the mourning and the injured, her people and Old Wheeler’s. Her gaze lingered on the man himself before making her decision.

Manslaughter…

It would be too much for them right now, if she wasn't careful they might have some severe and lasting PTSD as a result, God knows they had already suffered through enough to get to this point.

Celes was well aware of the harm to mental health for they, the first generation of apocalypse survivors. She had several comrades who committed suicide unable to continue to survive in the New World, fighting against supernatural monsters was already taxing enough on their psyche, and adding humans to that in cross-base conflicts, treasure hunts, and secret realms only increased their mental burdens.

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Push too much at once and they were likely to break.

Celes hesitated, then gave Sapphire a quick but stealthy nod. The lively bird let out a low screech and took off.

“Let’s go. We should dismantle the altar, we can’t have another tribe benefiting from this and erasing our hard-won efforts.”

Celes called her trusted general Minnie and along with Old Wheeler, they went over to the altar, still largely intact.

Having recovered enough card essence, Celes waved and a tongue of blue flame emerged, slowly submerging the altar in searing heat. When Sapphire made it back having accomplished her task, she also added her own flames to the mix, rapidly dissolving the altar of blood, bone, and flesh.

Celes quickly grabbed the card at the centre of it all, the nucleus of the altar.

She saw a bloody eye in the expanse of darkness, chains shifting in and out of existence on the card surface, were it another card she might not know its true uses and abilities but she had come across such a card before.

Cursed Dimensional Eye

So that’s it.

For it to be a material card of all things, not only of such a high quality but also one with blood, curse and space attributes at that, no wonder they were able to draw power from their distant god.

At that moment.

Celes felt a gaze lock onto her from across dimensions.

It was a bloody, cruel, and spine-chilling gaze.

[Insignificant mortal, one with the phoenix’s grace I see. As punishment for soiling my plans for the fragments of Katu-Raa, I’ll turn you into my underling.]

Celes felt the overbearing thoughts transmitted to her very soul.

[The blood and bones of the light phoenix of rejuvenation and purity should make good tools and servants]

It was a voice filled with soul-chilling malice and majesty.

[Grow well phoenix cub, your flesh is disappointing as it is now. My servants will seek you out when you’re ripe.]

Hearing this, Celes’s blood ran cold. An even icier feeling was carved onto her abdomen. The coldness intertwined with pain but Celes couldn’t bring herself to pay it any attention.

Only when that divine presence disappeared did she feel the air return to her lungs.

Sapphire was also reacting through their bond and hid herself under her wings shivering in fear.

‘That was… A God? An actual God?!’

Celes found it quite hard to believe but the terrifyingly cold divinity emanating from the shadowy figure whose visage remained concealed was so thick she could feel her fine hairs tingling from across dimensions.

Based on the few instances she came into contact with divinity, she could sense for a fact that he was the real thing or at least an avatar of a God, no doubt. His presence was simply too overbearing to be anything different.

No doubt, he was…

The Demon God of Blood, Bone & Curses worshipped by many alien races.

***

In an unknown dimension.

Two blood-red suns orbited a black moon, their light casting a sickly, unnatural glow over a barren expanse floating in the void at the intersection of celestial bodies.

A tower loomed atop a floating landmass, its jagged form rising from the nothingness, a testament to an ancient power.

Seated upon a throne of bone, blood, and twitching flesh, the demon god remained hidden beneath a shroud of darkness. Only his eyes, red as rivers of blood, glinted with an unsettling light, vast and empty like endless chasms that could devour entire worlds.

[Seven.] His voice sliced through the void, like a blade cutting through a fragile soul.

The earth groaned, and from its cracked surface, a colossal stone figure emerged, its presence heralding doom.

[My lord.]

[Katu-Raa’s fragment reappears.]

The demon god’s words were venomous, each syllable filled with contempt.

[That annoying bastard is dead but his plans affect even the living, ever the nuisance, and still as sneaky. His fragment is in such a barren realm with countless mirrors of such a pitiful world. I cannot pinpoint its true location, but the relic will continue to draw my subjects closer, one by one.]

[Katu-Raa’s absurd ambitions create an environment filled with creatures and resources of such bloodlines, rarities and power that none can resist. The earliest signal clan was wiped out but once a few more appear I will use them as sacrifices to allow your descent.]

He had invested quite a bit of his power and resources to develop that clan, it wasn’t an easy feat across dimensions yet all had gone to waste thanks to a meddling mortal woman.

[Find the phoenix.] The devilish god’s voice trembled with dark amusement and fury. [Find the phoenix and make it into my servant, make sure to pluck out all its feathers. Such a mouth-watering bloodline, she passes down a mark shielding all of her descendants but since that mortal has delivered herself into my view, its only right that she pays for soiling my efforts.]

The giant figure bowed, its shadow covering the land.

[By your will.]

The figure vanished into the blood-soaked ground, obedient.

The demon god’s gaze lingered, cold and calculating, upon the distant sky.

[Hmph… the others are already aware.] His words dripped with venomous anticipation. [The meddling phoenix cub has delayed me, but I will take it all. Katu-Raa's treasures will be mine and mine alone.]

That little Phoenix will pay dearly for her transgressions instead of a new servant, perhaps he should corrupt her flesh and make it into his vessel.

The demon god’s cruel gaze seemed to gaze upon the closed gap between realms to peer at Celes once more, spurring his fury into bubbling ripples. She had caused him to lose the hair-thin opportunity for a head start against the other gods.

Unforgivable.

The very ground trembled under the demon god’s fury. His rage cracked the heavens, distorting the suns and moon, causing his subjects to cower. Every living creature quivered beneath his overwhelming presence.

***

Celes collapsed to the floor in cold sweat, fear grappling with her heart. Minnie's cries tried time and again to reach out to her before they finally broke through.

“What happened to you? Why are you so scared?” Minnie shook her friend's trembling shoulders as if Celes were a mental patient.

Celes slowly voiced, “Nothing, just an instinctual reaction. I didn’t think we would attract his attention.”

After some time when the fear had almost left her bones, Celes shakily went over to comfort Sapphire and then unsummoned her so she could recuperate better within her card pool aperture.

She still felt it was all quite absurd, even at her previous peak she never came into contact with any gods, at most a few of their powerful servants yet she was unlucky enough to catch the attention of the real deal at the end of this conflict.

Though she felt it made some sense now, the goblins should never have developed to such an extent in such a short period of time. Now it was clear why this was the case, their god not only responded to their prayers but had his eye on them!

Celes knew this was a very rare occurrence. Not only due to divine beings having countless subjects across realms but also having achieved her previous heights she knew some hidden information.

‘Even the gods are blocked form earth at this time, even later on they can only send apostles and tendrils of their power over to earth, the cost of responding to their subjects especially now, should be very costly even borderline impossible.’

If the material card bridged the impossible part then of course the deity’s own resources were the cost, it was no wonder he had his eye on this place.

That also means…

‘I’ve completely pissed him off.’

Celes felt a headache approaching. Her abdomen felt cold.

Suddenly she took off her blouse causing the nearby Justin's face to turn tomato red and Old Wheeler to hang his mouth agape and cough uncontrollably while looking away but she ignored them.

Sure enough, Celes looked down to find an ominous crimson eye like tattoo on her abdomen, “I was marked.”

Minnie’s worried gaze pierced through her causing her to reel back.

“I’ll explain when we get back for now, let’s clean up and return.” She put her top back on. Depression beginning to seep in. This was bound to cause no shortage of trouble for her in the future.

She shook off her dark mood in concern for her worried friend and dependent comrades.

She diverted her attention, quelled her uneasy heart, and began to take stock of their gains.

Unfortunately, the priest was reduced to ash by her attack but the goblin warrior was still there so Celes pulled out its heart and brain, extracted its thick bones, drained its remaining blood then directed the others to collect the goblins' saliva and ears.

“There are a few recipes that can be used with these. Not combat-related but they’ll help out with our living situation.” She explained seeing Minnie’s weird and resentful gaze having to collect the foul-smelling goblin saliva and dissect their corpses facing the noxious aroma of creatures that never bathed once in their lifetimes.

These materials were different from common card activation materials. They were the baby of scientists trying to decipher the card system but ended up in a completely different direction. Still, they were another firm step for humanity within the New World.

Celes quickly directed everyone to finish up before dark.

***

Elsewhere in a ruined hospital.

Several walls came crashing down, a bloody white-haired figure was smashed through several floors looking quite miserable.

The ear-grating howl of a mushroom-headed figure echoed at this moment, the figure’s thick mushroom head trembled, its flesh wriggling unnaturally. The numerous bloodshot eyes covering its head rolled over in their fleshy sockets.

Kueaheee!!!

Different colored spores were pushed out from its large head lighting up the darkness and heading menacingly toward the crumpled white haired figure.

The figure sat up and felt an ominous sensation from the approaching spores after coughing up some blood.

Instinctively he waved out and a grey and yellow fluorescent mystical magic circle appeared spitting out a large stone door that exuded the vicissitudes of time.

The stone door seemed only half corporeal. The spores were halted by the door.

The white haired figure gestured with his palm and the door fell forward smashing the mushroom-headed figure beneath it.