Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Realizing that the pink-haired Hero must have come from a different world, Shion approached her with the intention of preventing future conflicts between them. What she didn't expect was that the girl, named Margaret, had been warned by the Gods not to fall for her 'tricks'.
Though they ended up battling it out and destroying a section of the Royal Castle, Margaret ended up revealing quite a bit before, during, and after the altercation. She was an excessively bubbly girl, and, as a result, Shion was able to learn that the Gods in charge of governing Gilese had apparently labeled her as an agent of the Gods of Chaos. This was the true reason she had been labeled as the Witch of Chaos. The fourth-generation King of Ashbourne had been given an oracle labeling her as such.
According to Margaret, the God responsible for Shion's reincarnation existed in a higher plane than the Gods in charge of overseeing Gilese. He had chosen her, not to be a boon on the world, but to set it on a path towards destruction. This was apparently an event that had already transpired in the relatively near future, so, in an effort to prevent the world's destruction, Margaret was 'summoned' to dispose of or seal her away.
Unfortunately for the Gods governing Gilese, Shion's Immortality was of a higher grade than the Blessings they were capable of giving out. Margaret was also inexperienced, so, while her attacks, reminiscent of a magical girl's, were capable of causing immense damage, they were more of an inconvenience than an actual threat to Shion. After all, even with various Blessings, Margaret was revealed to only be around Level 100 in Shion's eyes. As for Shion herself, she had exceeded Level 900 prior to leaving the mountains.
If Shion had so desired, killing Margaret would have been a simple task to accomplish. Instead, she handily defeated her before advising the fourteen-year-old Heroine to learn more about the world and the tragedies wrought by humanity. On that note, she promised she would never willfully seek to destroy the world before departing the Capital and returning to the mountains.
To her credit, Margaret did actually look into the activities of humans over the past hundred or so years. As for Shion, she sought out an audience with the King of Dragons, but, much as it had been during her stay in the mountains, her request was denied.
Though the majority of Gilese's inhabitants were unaware of it, Shion knew the reason the Dragons had been stationed in the mountains. They were the Guardians of the Gate connecting the Mortal World of Gilese to the Heavenly Realm of Celestia. The King of Dragons, Tiamaulis, was a Level 9999 Dragon comparable in size to a mountain range. He was the last line of defense preventing beings from the mortal world from trespassing the Realms beyond.
Having learned the 'truth' of her reincarnation, Shion wished to meet with Tiamaulis and have him act as an intermediary between her and the Gods. If her existence was detrimental to the continued existence of the world, she saw no reason for her to stay in it. Since the Gods clearly had the means to summon people from other worlds, Shion refused to believe they lacked the means to send her back. Maybe not to her original world, but someplace where she could live out the remainder of her immortal life in peace.
What Shion didn't know, at least at the time, was that the Gods responsible for overseeing Gilese simply lacked the authority to overrule the decision of a higher-ranking God. Had they been able to, they would have expelled her from their world the moment they took notice of her existence. Instead, they were forced to observe as every decision she made irreversibly altered the course of fate in an increasingly destructive manner. Things had gotten a little better when she retired to the mountains, but, even then, the day of Gilese's reckoning was forever drawing closer.
Though she was frustrated by the Dragons' refusal, Shion didn't allow it to ruin the kinship she had developed with the majestic and wise creatures. She knew they were only fulfilling their sacred duty, so, in the weeks following Margaret's summoning, Shion divided her time between scouting out the territory of the Demons and reminding those on the human side that a novice Hero wasn't going to prevent her from killing them if they acted out of line.
During this period, Shion crossed paths with Margaret on numerous occasions, but, much like their first encounter, the fight was remarkably one-sided. Margaret was growing stronger at a ridiculous rate, but, refusing to simply let herself be sealed away, Shion began investigating other methods to transfer between worlds.
Since it was impossible for her to defeat Tiamaulis and trespass the Realm of Celestia, Shion set her sights on the other end of the spectrum. People already viewed her as a being of chaos, so, instead of seeking absolution, Shion decided she may as well attempt to enter the Netherworld. From what she had learned from the Dragons, it wasn't actually a world filled with fire and brimstone. Rather, it was an entire universe filled with innumerable worlds, an endless variety of magical creatures, and a number of remarkably powerful beings known as Overlords.
According to the Dragon Elders, the power of an Overlord could be increased without limits. More importantly, virtually anyone could become an Overlord so long as they were able to seize the title from another.
Having learned the 'truth' of her reincarnation, Shion was determined to seek out the God that had manipulated her for his own ends. She basically had an eternity's worth of time to track him down and seek revenge, but, fearing it was only a matter of time before she broke down and tried to seal herself, Shion decided she may as well get a jump start on reaching her objective.
Fortunately, as could be expected, the Demons located on the Eastern side of the Continent were aware of several means to, at the very least, make contact with those residing in the Netherworld. Many of the magical creatures they utilized during the war were actually summoned from various regions of the Netherworld, so, as long as she could deconstruct and make a 'reverse' summoning formation, Shion reasoned that she would eventually be able to escape Gilese and make a home for herself in a world far beyond the planet that had become her prison.
To her surprise, it didn't take long for Shion to figure out how to send objects to the Netherworld. The existing spell already possessed the ability to transmit magical energy and blood sacrifices to beings on the other side, and, according to the Demonic entities she had made contact with, there were actually a ton of Witches that had managed to enter the Netherworld via selling their souls or dedicating their bodies to high-ranking Demons.
Shion was fully prepared to do the same, but, the moment she attempted to sign the contract, her blood simply evaporated from its surface. Her Immortality was the variety that always reverted her body back to its original state, so, even if she slit her wrists or sliced her own neck, the blood would invariably retract as her wounds disappeared.
Simply put, Shion was unable to sign a contract with the vast majority of Demons located in the Netherworld. Her only option was to seek out even higher-ranking Demons, but, upon learning of her circumstances, they asked for a lot more than just her Soul. They wanted things like absolute loyalty, eternal obedience, and, in quite a number of cases, marriage. Beings that could transform and change the shape of their body were uncommon even in the Netherworld, so, as a reasonably attractive woman even in her true form, many wanted Shion to become their eternally loyal bride.
With the goal of becoming an Overlord and seeking vengeance against the God the had wronged her, Shion was unwilling to pledge absolute obedience until the end of time. She hadn't even had sex since the death of Roland so the notion of servicing some inhuman monster for the rest of her days made Shion sick to her stomach.
After summoning and failing to reach an agreement with more than a hundred Demons, Shion temporarily shelved the idea of entering the Netherworld. Margaret had been delving into some of the more dangerous Dungeons and gathering allies from across the Western side of the Continent. She was still nowhere near Shion's Level, but, as the latter had experienced whilst fighting alongside Roland, numerical superiority and teamwork could easily bridge the gap between individuals.
Though many of her allies had started off between the Levels of 35-50, Margaret managed to raise the average Level of her Party to around 200 in less than a year. With the typical S-Rank Adventurer being around Level 100, it wasn't an exaggeration to say her Party was well on its way to becoming a legendary team of Adventurers.
Having tried and failed to reason with Margaret on numerous occasions, Shion approached the Party of seven with the intention of settling things once and for all. When Margaret once again refused to abandon her mission, Shion ended up wiping out the entire group. Immediately after that, she returned to the Royal Capital, burned down the Castle, and killed all but the youngest Princess, a four-year-old girl named Amalia.
Believing her actions had bought her ample time to achieve her objective, Shion was genuinely surprised when she awoke the next day to find Margaret and her Party alive and well. For a very brief period of time, she believed she may have imagined the entire incident. This notion quickly changed when she encountered Margaret.
Though their meetings would invariably result in conflict, Margaret was generally a very bubbly and outgoing young woman. She always wore a radiant smile, and, every now and then, she would even ask if Shion wanted to meet up to discuss their past lives together.
When Shion went to meet up with Margaret after her extremely realistic 'dream', the latter had no smile to give. In its place, an uncharacteristically serious expression had replaced her usual vigor, as, in anticipation of the Level and skill gap between them, the Gods had given Margaret the ability to 'reset' the day whenever she was killed, sealed, or crippled. In other words, even if Shion killed her, she would simply 'respawn'. To make matters exponentially worse, her stats would increase by 1% every time she died.
Upon realizing that Shion was more than willing to kill both her and her friends, all of Margaret's goodwill had dried up. She was still the same bubbly girl around others, but, whenever she met Shion, she would immediately do everything in her power to try and defeat her. Shion made an effort to apologize and atone, but, no matter what she said or did, Margaret no longer believed anything she had to say.
With Margaret's Party growing stronger with each passing day, Shion began to resent the Gods governing Gisele just as much as the God that had reincarnated her. She had demonstrated her willingness to compromise but they were fully committed to sealing her away. In their eyes, Shion was effectively a cancerous tumor that was impossible to remove. Thus, before she could lead the world to ruin, they intended to make her benign.
In a last-ditch effort to resolve things peacefully, Shion departed the Central Continent and headed North towards the vast, frozen wasteland occupied by the Dwarves. She reasoned that things would eventually calm down if she simply wasn't there to pose a threat. Instead, nearly five years after her departure, Shion awoke one morning to the sound of Explosion Magic being unleashed on her tiny cottage. Margaret's Party had received an oracle from the Gods and tracked her more than 6900km just to pick a fight...
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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Newbie Hero vs Veteran Witch...','Immortality is a curse...','Now that's just cheating...')

Hearing Shion recount her tale, Vahn had to admit that her past was pretty lousy. She was able to narrate it with a straight face, but, thanks to his ability to view and sense auras, he could tell which parts of the story made her happy, sad, or frustrated.
Recalling how she felt when Margaret and her Party tracked her all the way to the Northern Tundra, Shion fell into a prolonged period of silence. She normally felt a sense of catharsis when recounting her tale. It had been tens of thousands of years since the majority of these events, but, while certain aspects of her past had faded into obscurity, others were still fresh in Shion's mind.
For reasons Shion couldn't understand, narrating her story to Vahn felt 'different' than normal. His reaction wasn't all that different from a normal person's but, for some reason, it just felt like he got her.
While others with a tragic background might feel a sense of relief knowing there were people who truly empathized with them, Shion grew increasingly uncomfortable as the conversation continued onward. It was almost like her instincts were telling her that once she finished her story, there would be no escaping the increasingly gentle-seeming man seated across from her...
Exhaling a sigh, Shion made the decision to gloss over and skip a few sections of her story, stating, "After Margaret tracked me down to the Northern Tundra, I became a nomad. The Gods may have given her incredible power, but they hadn't granted her or her allies an eternal lifespan. By traveling around by boat and avoiding large population centers, I was basically able to outlive them..."
Though he could tell she had skipped over a few key details, Vahn couldn't help thinking that was a very novel way for an immortal to deal with their opponents. At the same time, however, he could see the tell-tale signs of depression in Shion's aura when she brought it up. People could adapt to pretty much anything, but, when it came to a person's mental wellness, loneliness and long periods of isolation were two of the most potent poisons...
In an effort to disguise her mood, Shion took a moment to drink from the cup of tea Vahn had provided for her hours prior. It had gone cold long ago, but, the moment she raised it to her lips, a fragrant aroma of mint and a fair amount of steamy condensation tickled her nose as she savored the cup's extraordinarily refreshing contents.
Understanding that Vahn had warmed her tea in the brief period before it reached her lips, Shion gave him a pensive look as she said, "Thank you..." in a soft and feminine monotone.
Returning silence and a faint smile, Vahn waited patiently for Shion to continue her story. When she did, he was somewhat taken aback when she explained, "I'm guessing the Gods weren't particularly happy with me for outliving their chosen Hero. Whenever I sailed out to sea or attempted to make camp on an island, massive waves and tumultuous storms would assail me. After a while, they even began sending Dragons, creatures that were supposed to be neutral, to hunt me down..."
As Shion's mood took a sudden drastic shift towards rage and indignation, she noticed that Vahn was also exhibiting signs of suppressed fury in Vahn's aquamarine eyes. Most people would show signs of intrigue or genuine excitement whenever she was recounting the more 'fiery' aspects of her story. She was starting to realize that the thing that distinguished Vahn was the fact he appeared to experience the same emotions she felt when recounting her story...
"What's your deal...?"
Not expecting the sudden shift in topic, Vahn blinked in surprise, asking, "Pardon...?" in a genuinely confused tone.
Breaking eye contact, Shion took a moment to comb through and tuck the leftmost fringe of her bangs behind her ear as she said, "I'm told you most of my story. The only major events that took place after that are me contracting with a psychotic demon, going back in time, and killing more people than I'm comfortable with discussing..."
When mentioning her contract with the Demon Lord of Cinders, Shion habitually placed her hand over the large scar on her abdomen. She had been so focused on other things that she had yet to realize it was gone, so, for a brief moment, traces of confusion appeared on Shion's face until she suddenly raised the hem of her blouse to observe directly.
"Impossible..."
Though she was able to alter her appearance at will, Shion was unable to conceal the scar on her abdomen due to it being a spiritual injury. The Demon Lord of Cinders had taken away her future and a piece of her soul in exchange for the power and opportunity to seek vengeance against the people and Gods that had persecuted her for centuries. The incomparable feeling of 'emptiness' she felt when she finally realized what the Demon Lord of Cinders had done was one of the things that allowed her to tap into the Abyss of the End.
Feeling a genuine sense of panic for the first time in thousands of years, Shion quickly opened her own Status panel before exhaling a sigh of relief when she saw the skill [Abysswalker] listed near the top of her veritable encyclopedia of skills. She even spotted the curses associated with the contract she had made with Ashka. The only difference was that it now had the words (suppressed) listed in the Skill descriptions.
Directing what she intended to be an icy gaze towards Vahn, Shion was incapable of completely disguising her relief as she softly accused, "You did this..."
Without beating around the bush, Vahn nodded his head in conformation, saying, "Even if you grow to hate me, I won't regret it. No one should be burned with such a tragic condition..."
Blinking in surprise, Shion whispered the word, "Hate...?" in a tone so soft that she had basically just mouthed the word. In truth, she didn't know exactly how she felt right now. A part of her wanted to be angry. After all, she had never given Vahn permission to do such a thing. Rather, she had warned him multiple times not to touch her...
Despite her efforts to muster her usual indignation, Shion was too relieved to actually be angry. The strongest emotion she could manage was being mildly upset, so, while she did her best to glare at Vahn, it came across as more of a pout than a genuine glower.
Showing absolutely no signs of remorse, a faint smile developed across Vahn's face as he waited for Shion to collect herself enough to speak. His considerable amount of experience with members of the fairer sex was telling him it was best to remain silent. Speaking at this point was tantamount to willingly stepping on a landmine.
With Vahn failing to provide the fuel she needed to explode, Shion's fury gradually waned until she actually began to feel a sense of guilt. She hadn't asked for Vahn's help but getting angry at him for helping her didn't seem sensible. If she helped someone only for them to lash out at her, she would undoubtedly regard them as petty or foolish.
Deciding to change the subject, Shion, once again, avoided Vahn's gaze as she softly muttered, "No matter..." before mustering a bit of conviction and appending, "It's your turn to talk. Just know that I can tell if you're lying. If you try to embellish things, I won't hesitate to expose you."
As his past wasn't exactly a secret, Vahn just shrugged before pulling out a Memory Projection Orb from his Inventory. He kind of felt bad for all the people watching as Shion recounted her story, so, in an effort to make things a little more 'entertaining', he decided to provide them with a visual aid. With this in mind, he explained the function of the orb before placing it on the table separating him and Shion. When it began projection, people throughout the Little Garden were presented with the exceptionally graphic depiction of a very young and emaciated boy strapped to an operating table...
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Though she normally presented herself as an unflappable, mysterious, and outright scary woman, Nav, the self-titled Queen of Owls, was currently in a sorry state after severely underestimating just how ludicrously overpowered Wu was. She had known that Wu was a serious contender for the title of 'Strongest outside of the 1-3-Digit Gates', but she hadn't expected the gap between them to be so...massive.
Fearing that the army she had accumulated over the last seventy years would be annihilated, Nav attempted to try and flee by aggroing some of the dragons she had been fighting onto Wu. What she had failed to account for was the fact that most individuals hailing from the Heavenly Domain, dragons included, feared Wu. There was hardly a single powerful individual that hadn't suffered at the hands of Ruyi Jingu Bang, so, instead of aggroing onto Wu, the various descendants of Meng Zhang promptly fled to give the duo some space.
Though it was impossible to tell due to the shadowy veil concealing her face, tears of indignation had started to pour down Nav's face. She felt like she was being bullied and no one was coming to help her. She understood the reasons, sure, but that didn't make her feel better. If anything, it made her feel worse. She felt that was cheating to let people like Wu participate in a Gift Game. How was anyone supposed to defeat her when Wu was both immune to damage and capable of hitting even intangible objects? It just wasn't fair...
"Run, run, as fast as you can~! Don't stop! If you do, this Big Sister is going to beat the shit out of you~!"
And now she was rhyming...
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Sitting in the cockpit of the Model Omega, Tomoe felt an overwhelming sensation of elation as she interfaced with the remarkably powerful machine. She could feel her perception bubbling outward, her senses extending far beyond their limits until she felt as though she had achieved an awareness comparable to omnipotence. It was an exceptionally intoxicating feeling, but, as someone who had experienced melding with Vahn, Tomoe was able to maintain absolute focus as she manipulated the Model Omega's limbs as if they were her own. It was a little strange having four arms but it wasn't something that would inhibit her piloting abilities.
Directing one of her palms towards the 'ceiling' of her spherical hangar, Tomoe felt a pleasant chill run through her body as everything between her and the space outside, thousands of kilometers of reinforced metal plating, simply vanished. One of the most terrifying abilities of the Model Omega was its ability to 'disassemble' anything within the boundaries of its Domain. It was significantly less effective against beings with willpower, but, as the offensive satellite was a mindless structure, there was nothing preventing Tomoe from simply willing it out of existence.
"Incredible...is this what it's like to see the world through Vahn's eyes...?"
Believing that Tomoe was addressing her, Okita replied with a succinct, "I don't know." From the perspective of Tomoe, Okita's voice sounded directly in her mind, as, despite not interfacing with the Model Omega, Okita was still seated in the cockpit.
Feeling a little embarrassed, Tomoe decided to pretend as though she hadn't heard Okita's words. Instead, she prepared to fly into space only to stall when she abruptly appeared exactly where she had intended to move. Her perception of time had drastically increased when she linked her senses with the Model Omega, yet, even as the person piloting it, Tomoe hadn't been able to recognize its movement. It was so fast that she had effectively teleported to her destination faster than her ability to perceive...
"Da Vinci is a monster..."
Once again assuming that Tomoe was speaking to her, Okita nodded her head in approval, stating, "Agreed...". This brought Tomoe out of her reverie, and, as a result, one of the Model Omega's four-clawed hands moved to its mouth as its pilot coughed to cover her embarrassment...
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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'And thus the Origin of Vahn, the Sage Dragon Emperor was written into history...','Wu really is a bully xD...','Tomoe is cute...')

Embracing her historically revised title, Shion set out to determine who was truly responsible for the state of affairs between humans and nonhumans. She wanted to understand what had gone wrong during her absence, and, if possible, set humanity on a less destructive course.
Believing answers could be found in the Capital, Shion ventured forth with the intention of enrolling herself into the Witch's Court. To her surprise, the organization had been abolished a few years after her retirement as an Adventurer. The daughter of her chosen successor ended up getting entangled with the firstborn son of the third generation King of Ashbourne.
Shortly after the couple's romance was discovered, the Witch's Court was accused of conspiring to seize power from the monarchy. History had literally been rewritten to make it so that the Witch's Court was a direct offshoot of the Holy Church. Historians pointed to the fact that Shion had once been a Saintess, and, instead of faithfully recounting her exploits during the 'Phoenix Rebellion', the revised history purported that she had agreed to become the Apostle of the Demon Lord of Cinders in exchange for an immortal body.
Following the revelation that the Witch's Court had been conspiring to overthrow the monarchy, the general public immediately turned on them. Those tasked with the responsibility of enforcing the law were rarely appreciated by the people expected to follow them. The moment they had an excuse to retaliate, mobs began to form with the purpose of hunting down and executing anyone affiliated with the 'Dark Arts'.
Though it was possible for even a simple villager to learn magic, those with a genuine talent for it were approximately one in ten thousand. People hated the notion that some people were simply born better than them, so, similar to when the Holy Church was in charge, people with an affinity for magic were accused of being the spawn of demons. They were mercilessly hunted down until the only forms of magic allowed to be practiced were Alchemy and Light Magic.
The most ridiculous thing about these 'Witch Hunts' was that the offspring between humans and demons were incapable of using magic. They had longer lifespans and stronger bodies, but, due to the incompatibilities between a human's and a demon's magic veins, their direct descendants were wholly incapable of using magic. There were exceptions, of course, but the vast majority of hybrids ended up crippling themselves in their attempts to master even the simplest of spells. Their limbs would, quite literally, explode.
Simply put, referring to magically inclined humans as demonspawn was just a convenient excuse to allow average humans to vent their inferiority complex unto the more exceptional members of their species. It was similar to older and more physically inclined children would bully and abuse children that showed greater intelligence than them. They knew their path was severely limited compared to those that delved in books and sought a higher education so they would beat and harass others on the grounds that their victims believed themselves to be better than them. In truth, they just had an inferiority complex.
Since gaining information through the Witch's Court was impossible, Shion disguised herself as a maid in order to sneak into the castle and gain access to its library. Her [Stealth] skill had long since reached the MAX Rank, so, even if people entered the library alongside her, they would completely ignore her unless she willfully drew their attention.
Unfortunately, while the Royal Library contained many rare books, it was no longer the primary repository of knowledge within the Kingdom. Most of the important documents were kept in secure locations, so, without any kind of status or clearance, Shion was left with no choice but to gain intel the old-fashioned way.
After sneaking into the Bureau of Registry and fabricating an identity for herself, Shion divided her time between educating herself and increasing her infamy as the Witch of Chaos. This may sound like a waste of time, but, after spending more than a hundred years learning from dragons, Shion had gained an appreciation for knowledge and proper education. If she could go back in time to the point when she assisted in the foundation of the Ashbourne Kingdom, the reforms she would have focused on more than any other were education.
With rumors of the Witch of Chaos's return spreading like wildfire, opinions were divided between those who resented the current system and those who supported it. Many outright discredited her existence, but, once the military police began implementing martial law in the areas where she was active, it became apparent that the Royal Family was treating the rumors seriously.
Around the time of her second year in the Royal Academy, Shion decided to throw a wrench in the Kingdom's war machine by assassinating the Prime Minister and every Military Officer above the Rank of Captain. She also began airing out the dirty laundry of various politicians and merchants, so, while many resented the Witch of Chaos for ruining their 'peaceful' lives, it couldn't be denied that Shion was living up to her title.
Graduating with Highest Honors from the most prestigious academy in the so-called civilized world, it wasn't long before Shion found herself in a Secretarial position serving the House of Lords.
As the name implied, the House of Lords was the Supreme Legislative Body serving the Ashbourne Royal Family. They were charged with drafting, passing, appending, and annulling the various laws that dictated how citizens of the Ashbourne Kingdom lived. With the obvious exception of the King, the representatives of the House of Lords were the highest-ranking officials in the entire Kingdom.
In the beginning, Shion was fully intent on accumulating information and slowly purging the more corrupt elements of the House of Lords. Even during her tenure as Supreme Justice, she had never harbored the desire to rule over others. Thus, while she was determined to try and 'fix' things, she had no interest in waging a one-woman war on yet another Kingdom.
After more than two hundred years of existence, Shion was honestly tired of dealing with the affairs of humans. If the Ashbourne Kingdom wasn't her own creation, she wouldn't even bother trying to fix things. She would have just let the Dragons lay waste to them as they had done a total of sixteen times in the past.
As innovative as humans were, their burgeoning technology was no match for Dragons that could annihilate the peaks of mountains with a single breath attack.
Unfortunately, at least for the people of the Ashbourne Kingdom, Shion had only been a Secretary for eleven days when one of the Lords threatened to obstruct her career path if she didn't agree to enter into a sexual relationship with him. This completely derailed her plans, so, as a reward for the inconvenience he had caused her, Shion ended up burning the man's insides from the waist down. He ultimately survived the ordeal, but, even with access to the most proficient healers in the entire Kingdom, he would never recover the function of his legs or the little sausage between them.
With her identity all but exposed, Shion disappeared for a few days before informing one of the state-sponsored media groups that she would begin investigating and executing members of the Nobility until they came to their senses and ceased their expansionist ways. As an added kicker, she mandated that all industrialization efforts would cease until the companies backing them financed methods to properly dispose of hazardous waste products. She had seen what happens to worlds that prioritized products over the health of the environment, so, while she was taking action to fix one problem, Shion figured she may as well address others.
For reasons Shion couldn't even begin to fathom, neither the Nobility nor the people in charge of various industrialization efforts took her warning seriously. The King even made a public statement declaring that the Kingdom would never submit to the demands of a 'terrorist with a god complex'. In response, Shion's next warning was accompanied by the severely charred remains of the King.
Similar to when Shion had opposed the Holy Church, those in power were quick to backpedal when they felt their lives were in danger. They were the type that looked down on others, but, when push came to shove, they were generally the most cowardly individuals within any given society.
Though a few of the more brazen individuals attempted to conspire against her behind the scenes, Shion undermined all of their efforts by simply refusing to acknowledge their attempts to entice or bait her into a compromise. Instead, she would issue ultimatums, and, if they refused to abide, she would simply kill them. Was this tyrannical? Certainly. Shion simply didn't care.
Over the course of a seven-year period, Shion effectively ground humanity's progress to a stop. Her actions had crippled the economy, and, as a result, unemployment increased from around 16.9% to a startling 83.5%. The only people able to operate in their previous capacity were farmers and a few people with specialized trades. In essence, Shion had forced the Ashbourne Kingdom to revert back to the medieval period until they could sort themselves out.
Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of people absolutely loathed Shion. They blamed her for ruining their lives, but, considering they were okay with their Kingdom laying waste to virtually every other civilization, Shion didn't particularly care what they had to say. She didn't like classifying people in such a way but the average person was a brainless sheep whose only purpose in life was to pursue their personalized version of happiness and reproduce.
When times were tough, the average person would put their nose to the grindstone and work hard to ensure their survival. When things became peaceful, however, they quickly became complacent and began complaining about every little inconvenience until someone came along to pacify them with some new and exciting product to make their lives easier. Those that provided such products would eventually become wealthy, and, shortly thereafter, the people they sold to would begin to covet their wealth. This contributed to a cycle of greed and envy that invariably led to conflict, and, as a result, suffering for those who simply wanted to live in peace.
So long as humans prioritized their individual happiness and coveted the success of others, such cycles would never cease. Thus, whenever Shion heard people insulting or ridiculing her while she was walking around in disguise, she never so much as flinched. She knew what she was doing was wrong, in the grand scheme of things, it was the much lesser of two evils.
What Shion didn't expect, even though she had once fought alongside one, was the birth of a Hero chosen by the Gods. Unlike the Heroes that had come before, however, this one was a woman with a near-perfect immunity to magic. As for her mission? What else could it be other than eliminating the 'evil' Witch of Chaos and restoring peace to the 'world' of Gisele?
When Shion first learned about the crowning of a new Hero, she didn't actually believe her ears. As the 'creator' of the world that had effectively become her private purgatory, Shion knew better than anyone the conditions to create a Hero. It used a tremendous amount of magical energy and one of the Artifacts belonging to the original Hero as a catalyst.
Prior to her 'retirement', Shion had gathered each and every Artifact that could have been used to produce a Hero. The Ashbourne Kingdom had also gone out of their way to kill off the majority of magic users so she couldn't fathom how they were able to produce a Hero out of thin air.
Eager to learn the truth, Shion returned to the Capital before promptly invading the Royal Castle. There, she found a young woman with excessively pink hair and star-shaped pupils living in one of the rooms typically reserved for members of the Royal Family.
While the woman's appearance stood out like a monster in the middle of a town square, the thing that caught Shion's attention was the device the girl was typing on. It was different from the kind she was familiar with, but, even at a glance, Shion could tell the highly accessorized device was a smartphone...
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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'I wonder what Shion's alignment would be...?','That so-called Lord royally fucked up...','*Surprised Pikachu face*')

Chapter 2232: Frustration