Story Reader / Festival Event Story / Tainted Moonrise / Story
When the book of Revelation starts changing, a blinding light surges forth from between its pages.
The gears of creation begin to turn. In an instant, heaven and earth interchange, matter transforms, and stars shift. When her eyes open again, everything has become utterly different from before.
The once desolate land has transformed into a garden bursting with spring beauty. Branches and leaves grow in abundance, with all manner of birds and beasts thriving throughout.
Before you can even register the change, a cold, damp feeling crawls up the back of your neck, and a freezing chill spreads—it is a black snake with glowing red eyes.
It flicks its tongue, coils down to the wrist, and stares greedily at the tempting fruit in her palm.
It tries to swallow the fruit whole.
Right as the black snake opens its jaws to bite, a purple mist just pops up and chokes it, forcing it to stop.
Hmm?
The intense presence makes the black snake curl up, too scared to move.
Pretty impressive. Even though you can't see, your aim's still spot-on.
Come back here.
When Chessia calls, the black snake quickly slithers away from Luna's sight, like it has just seen its savior.
Luna instinctively raises her head, seems to sense something, and turns around. But her once bright eyes are now empty and dull, like they are covered in a gray mist.
Did you do this?
A faint anger comes from Luna.
Or is that snake of yours messing around?
During a lull in conversation, the black snake, hiding behind Chessia, peeks out again and slowly crawls onto Luna's arm.
This gives Luna the perfect chance to see it.
Luna pinches the black snake's body between her fingers and lifts it up, showing not a shred of mercy.
Don't blame me. It's just a little hiccup in the fruit's first ripening trial.
No fuss, no fun.
But—
Faced with Luna's questions, the black snake seems a little put out, coiling and writhing in her palm.
How mean... This little guy just wanted to take care of you, that's all.
As the All-Maker of Eden, everything here is your "subject". Can't you be a little gentler with it?
Remembering what Lucifer said—that the Revelation would give clues to ripening the fruit—you open the Revelation. New text has appeared, just like he said.
<size=50>How does one measure the weight of a soul?</size>
<size=50>Lighter than a feather, or heavier than gold.</size>
<size=50>Peace endures where the kind gather;</size>
<size=50>Lust runs wild where the sinned wander.</size>
<size=50>O the All-Maker who holds the scales of justice,</size>
<size=50>Shape the newborn world for all to bear witness.</size>
Did you forget something...
There's a hint of displeasure in Luna's voice.
Yeah.
Luna nods, her brow furrows as she listens to the Revelation.
You said I'm the one who gets to make the final call, and I'm a demon.
But now—without eyes, do you think we can still pull this off?
You call this cooperation, but aren't you being a little too nice?
And anyway, you don't have any other choice, do you?
Or maybe—you want to ask me for help instead?
In your dreams.
Got it. If you're in a similar spot later, I'll return the favor.
Done talking? Good, warm-up's over—game time.
Why not?
Chessia spins around with a light chuckle, her movements drawing attention to the scene behind her.
Before civilization began, the world was a primal paradise of nature and wildness—
Welcome to Eden.
Good and evil coexist outside Eden, but not all souls qualify to enter Eden.
As people say, good folks go to heaven for paradise, while bad folks—
They're headed for hell, you know. They'll be punished, pay for their sins, and suffer worse than death.
The girl says these words with a glowing smile, as if it was just small talk—innocent, yet cruel.
Whether they get into Eden is up to you to decide.
What are the rules for judging?
There aren't any set rules. Your will is the scale that judges good and evil in this world.
Good and evil, right and wrong—it's all up to you. No rules or anyone else telling you what to do. Heaven or hell, it's all your call.
Isn't it great to do whatever you want? You can make the world exactly how you see it.
Are there no other rules?
I don't buy that you'd be this "generous" helping us for no reason.
Why not? You're making me sad with all this suspicion.
The girl giggles playfully.
Hypocrite.
Okay, okay, talking isn't cutting it. Let's get to your first judgment right now.
Think of it as your "beginner's tutorial" from me. Nice of me, right?
Chessia curls her finger, calling the black snake back. It obeys, slithering back up her arm.
But as soon as the black snake stops moving, Chessia grabs it hard and lifts it up, showing no mercy at all.
Then—let's start with this child.
See? It's really obedient and gentle. It even worried about you when it found out you were blind.
She looks at Luna, her words teasing and subtly guiding.
But it's a genuine black mamba, a ferocious venomous snake known as "Death" itself.
Its mom, brothers, and sisters all killed people. That snake egg probably hatched on a pile of bones.
Maybe because it's still young, it hasn't yet. But when it grows up, it'll probably be a cold-blooded killer like the others.
Seeing Luna stay quiet, Chessia decides to give her more info to convince her.
More importantly—you can do whatever you want with souls judged as evil. Usually, you devour them, wiping them out completely, and getting twice as strong.
A black mamba's soul is really rare and good for you. I don't think you should pass up a gift like that.
In that case, is this really a "judgment", or just you using us?
Instead of answering, Luna asks Chessia a question.
Does it matter? Or did you suddenly get a "merciful" heart?
Wake up, Luna. Chasing power and desire is what demons are all about.
This is just the start. Things will get way more complicated later. Now, choose.
The black snake clearly understands its fate rests on Luna's choice. It looks toward the less-than-kind master of Eden, hoping for some shred of mercy or compassion.
[player name], tell me what you think.
Oh? How's that?
Wow, you've got a way with words, Commandant.
And what about you, Miss Demon?
I don't care about justice and righteousness.
But what [player name] said is true, and I'm not wasting time on this.
And I definitely hate getting stronger by preying on the lives of the weak.
Luna breaks Chessia's hold on the snake. Free from that awful control, it slithers back to Luna.
I agree with [player name]. Since this isn't part of the rules, we don't need to do anything.
Humans can do bad things, and animals can do good. No species is born inherently good or bad.
If it actually does something evil, I won't be showing any mercy.
That's a shame. You missed a great chance.
You should take your own advice. You obviously didn't get what you wanted.
Oh please, I'm just—taking my time.
This is just the start.
Power and desire are what make people fall to the dark side. When that happens...
I'll be waiting for you in the abyss.
Well then, let's see how well you can grow the "Heart of Divinity".
The days go by in Eden. Just like Chessia said, souls come to Eden's gate every day, wanting to get in. After hearing their stories, Luna and you carry out your duty of judgment.
Even though it hasn't been long, you've seen all sides of human life—the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly.
On a pretty quiet afternoon.
The black snake ignores you, still coiling around you and pushing you to go.
Hydra, stop messing around.
The black snake, all happy a second ago, suddenly shrinks back and hides, acting all innocent and begging for mercy.
After Luna judged the black snake, it acted like she saved it and followed her to Eden. Luna named it Hydra, just to make things easier.
The three of you—two people and a snake—head to the garden deep inside Eden. A few days back, Hydra found a badly hurt fawn, and after the proper judgment, Luna let the fawn in.
Hydra seems especially attached to this little one it helped save, visiting Eden's garden daily to care for and check on it.
After seeing this, you suggested to Luna we help Hydra take care of the fawn every day, and get some walks in too. Luna was cool with it.
It's a lot more peaceful here.
In the green garden, the fawn and Hydra are running around and playing, and Luna looks like she's really enjoying the quiet.
Judgment's always full of arguments and debates—almost no judgment goes smoothly. But this garden, with just these two little ones, is so peaceful.
Still stuck.
Perhaps... it's the result of that incident.
She got away too fast—we couldn't catch her in time.
Since the judgment was interrupted, the "Heart of Divinity" can't grow.
Luna gets it—this is the only judgment so far that didn't end with a definite decision.
The subject of the Judgment was a young girl whose features were completely disfigured—her body burned beyond recognition by flames, her voice hoarse and indistinct from excessive screaming.
But this poor, messed-up girl was accused of killing everyone in a whole village. So, the souls of the people she killed showed up during the judgment, vehemently demanding that the Lord of Eden devour this evil soul.
She did kill those people, but they're the ones who made her suffer. They called her a witch and burned her at the stake for some dumb ritual and money.
She didn't die—she was too stubborn. She made a deal with hell and used the power she got to get back at them, and became a real witch.
She also went to other places, saving people who were accused like she was, and then kept killing the ones who supported the rituals.
She was doing good and also killing people.
Thing is, you couldn't judge either side in that judgment with just a simple right or wrong.
She still won't show up?
Hearing its name, Hydra slithers over, head up, waiting for praise.
Hmph, you two are really in sync.
When did this happen?
What'd she say when she came back?
Luna goes quiet for a second.
If this keeps up, her soul's going to get crushed by the weight and turn to dust.
But—we no longer have the right to interfere with her.
Only souls that don't know who they are need judgment. They want to be free in Eden, but they don't know if they deserve it, so they have to be tested before they can come in.
But that girl doesn't need that. Maybe when she knew she had blood on her hands and was a real witch, she was already in hell.
She cannot judge one who has already completed their self-judgment.
Since she's chosen to go to hell, we gotta respect that.
At least, she's never looked back.
This "judgment" needs no conclusion. It ends right here.
The girl's accepted everything about herself—her tainted past and a future of no return.
Someone with that kind of willpower can't be forced into heaven or hell. She's already picked where she's going.
Luna looks like she remembers something, but her memory's fuzzy. She's just left with a vague feeling, and can't say anything.
Like it hears Luna, the "Heart of Divinity" starts growing again.
Hmm, that's not bad at all.
Like they know things are lighter, Hydra and the fawn go to Luna in a show of affection. Luna lets them, and strokes the fawn's head.
Since she can't see, Luna's other senses are way sharper.
The fawn's soft fur brushes against her fingertips, intertwining with the sunlight—delicate and warm. She inhales the fragrance of fresh grass and vibrant flowers, blending with that person's scent to form a memory that grows increasingly familiar and unforgettable.
I don't like being in the other parts of Eden. All those loud voices during judgment, and all those souls with their hidden agendas...
She speaks suddenly.
This is the only place I can be left alone.
The time I spend with you brings me peace.
Yeah...
The distance between them is changing.
Time goes by as judgments happen, slowly getting you closer to your goal. Finally, the last judgment in Eden is almost done.
Don't get carried away.
Don't forget, this is just the First Nexus World. If you get too cocky, I'll wonder if we should even be working together.
Heh.
Luna lets out a soft laugh and then activates her demonic power. The apple in her hand quickly transforms into a golden hue.
Lucifer said when an apple turns gold, it means the "Heart of Divinity" is done, but this...
It's just some illusion magic.
Luna explains.
Luna stands up and goes to a broken mirror, putting her hand on the frame and holding out the golden fruit with her other hand.
Then let's—as you say, indulge in this illusion.
It's way more than just a "fruit". Chessia said it'll gather power from all the worlds as it grows.
It turned people into savages, fighting until the ground ran red.
They're all about power because they want something. For a merchant, it's money; for a farmer, it's a good crop.
What about you? What would "it" be to you?
Pure desire, massive power—those are all things "it" promises to bring.
When that moment arrives... will you choose to run away, or accept "it"?
Meanwhile, the shadow in the mirror flickers and changes, turning into someone else in a flash—
That big, flashy smile is Chessia's shadow.
Can you tell which is which? Which one's real?
Even the most poisonous fruit has a red color that tempts you.
After all, "poison" is something that can be lethal, yet also addictive.
They both hold up the fruit, looking in the same direction.
[player name], when that moment comes, what'll you do?
Sunlight shines into the garden, hitting Luna but stopping right at the mirror's edge.
Light and shadow, inside and outside—the lines are clear.
Luna wants to know this answer too.
What choice that person will make in the future, and what kind of relationship might develop between the two of them—
She's really longing for that answer now.
That person's raised gaze meets the girl. The moment the Heart of Divinity undergoes its transformation, Luna's blindness begins to alleviate.
Her eyes get clearer, and she starts to make out that person's blurry shape.
What if this "fruit" isn't what you wanted?
Even if it's a fruit with deadly poison?
The girl in the mirror gets bored and quietly leaves.
They get quiet for a moment, feelings hanging in the air with the soft breeze.
The apple in hand begins turning green, presumably the result of their experience in Eden.
Green... means bitterness and immaturity.
She speaks suddenly.
This could be a sign. If I never fully get my sight back, or if I get new problems later...
Then I'm this unripe green fruit. Flawed, never going to be truly strong.
Even my past, which I can't remember, was probably flawed.
Is that a promise?
The future... is still far off.
Let's focus on getting through right now first.
As for her and the person with her—there's plenty of time. She can wait for the final answer.
The "Heart of Divinity" takes time to change, even though it's mostly done. After waiting a bit, the green finally covers the whole fruit.
Finally...
Hmm?!
As soon as the fruit's totally green, Luna's body reacts strangely. It's as if thousand-pound shackles compress against her body, crushing her until she can't breathe.
Unbearable pain floods her body, like a thousand tortures all at once. Luna's consciousness starts to fade, unable to handle the sudden pain, and she falls toward the person next to her.
My, my, looks like you're doing pretty well, Lord Hierophant?
Had you not neglected your duties, this task would have been completed with greater haste.
Chessia—?!
Luna claws at her throat, letting out one last roar of anger.
Don't be so angry. Even talking must be hard for you now, right?
Simply doing the divine's will.
This isn't our problem. As the Judge, paying the price for all the souls you've judged when it's all said and done—that's only fair, right?
Impure hands that dare to lift the heavy scales of justice—they must pay the price, you know.
That's why I said—I'd be waiting for you in the abyss.
Chessia's words and that call are the last things Luna hears clearly. Then, she passes out.
In the middle of everything, the Revelation falls on the grass. The wind blows, flipping the pages open.
In the dim, flickering light, words appear quietly on the back of the page.
<size=50><i>"My heart is a bird of the wilderness that found its sky in your eyes."</i></size>
