Chapter Text
The dark times have arrived for planet Earth. There is no salvation, no mana left on the planet. Humanity has reached the limits of mana on this planet, using it for wars, for their own power, for their own control, to rule everything. They are such foolish creatures, driven by their own desires that led them to their end.
The world, once beautiful, full of green forests and blue oceans, is now covered in the scars of explosions and war. Blood stains the ground where trees, jungles, forests, and mountains once stood. The once vibrant blue ocean is now a murky red, covered with corpses. The sky, once bright blue, is now a dull gray. But still, there is some sunlight, and as they say, there is still hope.
Humanity has come to an end, to its extinction. Yet, two figures stand on a massive boat, even larger than the highest tower. That boat, crafted from wood, emanates a sense of the “Divine.” One of the figures then spoke:
“Tell me, friend, what else do you carry in this magical vessel of yours?”
“Well, friend, in my ship there are not only thousands of lives of every animal and species… but also hope and a bright future.”
“Is that so? I see. It sounds like there is still a future left for this planet. By the way, Noah, what will you do with that… last essence of humanity?”
“I will use it to remake a new human order, and you, my friend, will be the one to take care of it.”
“What?! Are you crazy?! That is not what Allaya ordered us to—”
“It’s my duty as [Grand Rider] to bring this hope and life to its destination, no matter what. Even if it means risking my own life, I will do it.”
“……Tch.”
“Ahahahaha! Come on, old friend, don’t make that face. You know we servants have our own roles in this world. I have mine, and you have yours. Now, will you promise me to take care of them?”
“Hm… Is there even a choice for me here? Heh, fine! I will take care of them no matter what.”
“Here, have some of the greatest wine of my era.”
“Thanks, for the future.”
“For the future.”
As Noah and his companion, whose name remained unspoken, continued their journey across the desolate, blood-red ocean, a faint shimmer appeared on the horizon. It was barely perceptible against the oppressive gray sky, but Noah, with his heightened senses as a Grand Rider, immediately noticed it. His companion, however, remained oblivious, still grumbling about Allaya’s supposed orders.
“What is it, Noah? Another one of your grand visions?” the companion sneered, taking another swig from the ancient wine. “Don’t tell me you’re seeing rainbows now. The world’s ended, remember?”
Noah ignored the jibe, his gaze fixed on the distant anomaly. “No, something is there. Something… alive.”
The shimmer grew, resolving into a small, battered lifeboat, adrift in the vast expanse. As they drew closer, a figure became visible, huddled and seemingly unconscious. It was a young woman, her clothes tattered, her face smudged with grime, but undeniably human. Noah’s companion gasped, nearly dropping his wine.
“A human? How is that possible? We were told we had the last essence of humanity on board!” he exclaimed, his voice laced with a mixture of shock and anger. “This… this changes everything!”
Noah, however, felt a surge of something akin to hope. He ordered the boat to slow, and with a gentle hand, he helped the young woman aboard. She was frail, barely clinging to life, but her eyes, when they fluttered open, held a spark of defiance. She was a survivor, a testament to humanity’s enduring spirit, even in its darkest hour.
“Who… who are you?” she whispered, her voice hoarse.
“I am Noah,” he replied, his voice soft but firm. “And you, young one, are a miracle.”
His companion, however, was not so welcoming. “A miracle? Or a complication? Allaya’s plan was clear, Noah. No deviations. This… this is a deviation of the highest order!”
“Allaya’s plan was to preserve humanity,” Noah countered, his eyes meeting his companion’s. “And this woman is humanity. We cannot abandon her.”
The tension between the two figures was palpable, a silent battle of wills playing out on the deck of the divine boat. The young woman, caught in the middle, could only watch, her fate hanging in the balance. The journey, it seemed, had just become far more complicated. Even in this confusing and complicated situation, the young woman didn’t know what was happening, nor did she remember her name.
But then Noah spoke, “Just look at this, this is a miracle sent by God.”
He reached out his hand to the young woman and asked her, “Now, may I know your name, my miracle girl…?”
The young woman reached out her hand to Noah and was about to say her name, but then…
BEEP… BEEP… BEEP!!
The sound of the alarm clock rang. It was 7:10 AM.
“Haaahhh??? It’s 7 already??”
“Yo, dude, wake up! We need to get ready; we have math class this morning.”
The young boy woke up, his face still dizzy as ever. He reached out to the alarm to turn it off and headed to the bathroom. He looked into the mirror. The young boy was tall; he had a tail; his fur was gray and creamy white over his body, and his face was that of a wolf’s head—not human, but rather a beast or animal in humanoid form. They had bodies like humans but the head of an animal and a tail.
“Hey, Legoshi, did you see my tie? I remember I put it here somewhere.”
“Huh, no, did you ask Abby??”
Then Abby chimed in, “Huh, Carole, you left your tie on the desk.”
“Oh, thanks, man!”
The young wolf, as he got ready, and his roommates prepared for school, their uniforms ready for their day. In one dorm room, there must be at least four roommates, but it depends on their species. This is Ucracia Academic, a high school campus that is a mix of many species of herbivores and carnivores. In this era, the world they live in is the year 20XX, where the world is dominated by humanoid animals, or beasts, or those who refer to themselves as animals, including (land creatures) and (sea creatures), divided between herbivores and carnivores.
Thane and his roommates—Abby the sheepdog, Carole the golden retriever, and the last one, Adrian the Georgia dog—were eating their breakfast on the carnivore cafeteria side. They had only egg rolls or protein bars, as in this world, the law was made for herbivore safety, forbidding carnivores from eating meat to maintain peace for each side. But deep down, they knew this was only a one-sided profit for the herbivore side. And for the carnivores? They could only eat what was left, or even fake meat that had no protein or good things in it.
As they were all eating their breakfast, there was urgent news from that morning in school. A brown anteater, a second-year student, rushed into the cafeteria.
“GUYS, GUYS, BAD NEWS! THERE IS A DEAD BODY ON THE SCIENCE CLASS ON THE SECOND FLOOR!!”
“What?!” “How can it be?” “Who is that person?”
The whispers of the students started to fill the cafeteria.
“Damn, dude, early in the morning.”
“I wonder who died, and I hope his meat tasted good.” “Carole!! This shit is serious!”
“Calm down there, Legoshi, we are in the cafeteria. If you say it out that loud, people will think you’re the one who did it.”
“Ah, sorry…”
“Yeah, Adrian’s right, dude. You are a wolf; other beasts know that your species is dangerous and uncontrollable.”
After Abby’s words, Legoshi didn’t answer him but looked down at his plate. In his mind, he didn’t care much about what was happening around him, but he was more focused on one thing, or rather, one dream.
(Last night, I had such a weird dream… what was that all about? N-no… Noah? What a weird name. I don’t know why, but I feel so sad. What were even those creatures on that big boat? Man, what a weird dream. I better think of something else, maybe about class—)
DOUNG - DOUNG - DOUNG
“Attention all students of Ucracia! Today, all classes from first year to third are canceled due to an issue at the school. Please stay in your dorm room after 12:00. Your teachers will send you work through your mail, and we will check your dorms at 5 PM. Have a nice day.”
The cafeteria fell silent, then some students started to return to their dorms slowly.
But for Legoshi , somehow, he was not well about this, even uncomfortable with the situation.
“Come on, Legoshi , we need to go.”
“Hell yeah! I will play FGA all day! Gacha, gacha!”
“Hell yeah!” Both: “GACHA, GACHA, GACHA!”
“Yeah, coming!… Why do I feel so uneasy like this…?”
In the sterile, hushed confines of the Ucracia Academic Medical Wing, a golden retriever named Jack lay on a pristine white bed. His fur, usually a vibrant cascade of gold, seemed duller under the fluorescent lights, his once-sparkling eyes now clouded with a persistent ache. Jack was afflicted with a rare muscular dystrophy, a cruel twist of fate that rendered his powerful limbs almost useless.
Any significant movement sent searing pain through his body, threatening to tear his muscles apart.
He was, in essence, a prisoner in his own magnificent form.
Through the window, he watched the world outside: students laughing, running, their legs moving with effortless grace. A group of feline students chased a ball, their lithe bodies twisting and turning in mid-air. A pack of wolves, Thane among them, jogged past, their powerful legs eating up the ground. Jack’s heart ached with a longing so profound it felt like another physical ailment. He saw them, free and unburdened, and a bitter jealousy coiled in his gut. Why them? Why not him?
“Look at them, Nurse Lily,”
he rasped, his voice a low, mournful whine, barely audible above the soft hum of his life-support machine. Lily, a kind-faced deer with gentle eyes, adjusted his IV drip.
“They run, they jump, they go wherever they please. While I… I lie here, stuck. A golden statue, “
“waiting for… what?”
Lily stroked his head, her touch soft and comforting.
“Oh, Jack. Don’t talk like that. You’re strong. You’re fighting this.”
“Fighting what? A death sentence?”
he retorted, a rare flash of anger in his eyes.
“My only wish, Lily, my only burning desire, is to run. To feel the wind in my fur, the earth beneath my paws, to stretch these useless legs and just go. To run on two legs, like them, without a care in the world if my muscles decide to betray me. I want to be cured. I want to be free.”
His words, heavy with yearning, echoed in the quiet room. He closed his eyes, picturing himself sprinting across an open field, his bipedal form strong and unyielding, leaving his illness far behind. The image was so vivid, so potent, it felt almost real. He didn’t know that such intense desire, such a pure, unadulterated wish, was a beacon in the unseen realms, attracting something. Something that was about to change his life forever, for better or for worse. A faint, almost imperceptible tremor ran through the hospital room, a silent acknowledgment of a wish heard, a destiny stirred.
In the darkest corner of an abandoned building, where shadows clung like a second skin and the air hung heavy with the scent of decay, resided Rokusho. She was a snake, her scales a shimmering, obsidian black, her eyes like twin rubies in the gloom.
Unlike the humanoid forms that dominated the world, Rokusho, like all of her species and the fish, was born without arms or legs. Her existence was a perpetual slide through the forgotten spaces, a slithering shadow in a world built for upright beings. Her kind, though born into what many considered a miserable existence, were not forgotten by the gods. In exchange for their lack of limbs, the snake species possessed immense strength, far surpassing that of a bear, and their bodies grew with age, some reaching an astonishing five meters in length.
Rokusho herself was a formidable specimen, her coiled form easily spanning several feet, her sheer size a testament to her years. This immense size, however, was a curse as much as a blessing. She could not show herself in public, for her appearance alone would incite terror among the herbivores and even the carnivores.
She was a creature of the shadows, confined to the forgotten places, her heart a cauldron of simmering resentment. She hated them all – the two-legged, the four-legged, the winged – all of them with their hands to grasp, their feet to walk, their forms that allowed them to exist openly in the world. She looked at her own magnificent, yet restrictive, body and felt nothing but a burning injustice. She had nothing, while they had everything.
“Why?” she hissed into the oppressive silence, her voice a low, guttural rumble that vibrated through the crumbling concrete.
“Why do they get to walk? To run? To live? While I am condemned to this… this crawling existence? I wish them all to burn! To die! To feel the same pain, the same endless frustration of having no feet, no legs, only this body that binds me!”
Her hatred, raw and potent, fueled a desire so intense it began to manifest. At that very moment, a searing red light erupted from her head, burning through her scales, twisting and reforming into an intricate, fiery tattoo.
A scream of agony tore from her throat, echoing through the desolate building as the air around her began to churn. A vortex of wind, born of pure, untamed power, swirled violently, ripping at the decaying walls.
From the heart of this tempest, pure light energy coalesced, rapidly taking on a humanoid form, ethereal and radiant. Then, it spoke, its voice resonating with such authority,
“Servant Assassin, here is your service.”
(Assassin):
“Oho…? Fufufu~ What a strange summoning. You’ve called me from the abyss of tales again, have you? …Ah, this vessel… Assassin-class, hmm. How fitting for someone like me who toys with prey in silence.”
Rokusho couldn’t move, her gaze locked on the female in front of her—so strange, so small, so tiny. But her body had no scales or fur; it was furless, with pure white, smooth skin. Then Assassin spoke again.
(Assassin):
“Well, well~ Aren’t you a peculiar one? No arms to hold me, no legs to stand tall… only scales and fangs. How deliciously ironic. A snake as my Master! Fufufu~ I like it. A creature that lurks, waits, and strikes without warning… you and I might get along splendidly.”
She leans down, eyes glowing with mischief, her voice dripping like poison.
Shuten Dōji (Assassin):
“Assassin Shuten Dōji. Tell me, Master-serpent, shall I coil around your prey, or shall we squeeze the life from them together? Just whisper, and I will drink their screams like sake.”
Rokusho was too terrified to talk.
Her gaze shifted to the world outside the room. Through the cracks in the building, she saw shadows moving—but not humans. Tall figures with animal heads, muzzles, horns, feathers, fur. Humanoid beasts walking like people.
Shuten Dōji:
“…Ara? What is this…? Where are the humans? Where are the cities, the shrines, the palaces of Heian? Instead… all I see are animals, standing upright like men.”
She steps outside, her bare feet touching the ground of this world, her smirk fading into something darker—curiosity mixed with hunger.
Shuten Dōji (Assassin):
“Fufufu~ How curious… A world of beasts that mimic humanity. I can’t sense the Heian capital… not even the faint stink of mankind. Did my world vanish while I drank and laughed? Or has some trick pulled me into this strange carnival?”
She looks back at her snake Master, her eyes glimmering with excitement and sadism.
Shuten Dōji (Assassin):
“Ah… but perhaps this is better. Humans bore me at times. These animals… these ‘beast-men’… I wonder how sweet their blood tastes. Shall we, Master, paint this world in our own colors? Hehehe… Fufufu~!”
Then, finally, Rokusho spoke.
“Wh… what are you?! Who are you?! What on earth are you?! What do you want from me?!”
Her mind was full of questions to ask.
“Hmm, to answer your questions, Master:
1.I am an Oni, a Heroic Spirit summoned by your call from your deepest, darkest, and most psychopathic desires.
2.All I want is to slaughter, to drink blood and sake, and to make your desires come true, because I love how you want it… fufufufu.”
“What do you mean by that, and don’t misunderstand me, I am not your Master!”
“Ohra? Oh, come on, don’t you see the Command Spell on your hand? That’s the proof you chose to be my Master, and besides, I see no one else here but you, so I think you get what I mean… Also, another thing… you think I didn’t hear your deepest desires? Your hate, jealousy, revenge, and lust for slaughter? You want it, don’t you, Master? You want them to be like you? You want them to feel the same pain you have, don’t you? That’s why I answered your call, fufufu.”
“How did you know? Don’t tell me you really came from my desire…”
“Fu… fufufufu, ahahahahaahahaha! That’s correct, 100/100, Master! Now, shall we go, Master? I want to drink something already; I’m getting thirsty, hehehe.”