A Demon's Tale

Day 1

Hello! My name is Ryland Toppletorn! I'm a god of the world!

A big title to uphold, I know. I’m quite young myself compared to some of the others, but I plan on doing my best here!

I am logging these entries for the future generations to learn more about the interesting things we’ve found! There’s around four lifeforms we’ve discovered and put into different habitats. They don’t seem to do much at the moment, but I’d like to see how they will grow! Maybe they’ll live together with all of us!

After speaking to some of the citizens of nearby towns, we weren’t able to find out much about them. We discovered them early this morning near the side of a lake, but there isn’t a single name known by anyone and not a clue as to what they are.

Currently, I’m most interested in the oddly dark one. It’s as if I’m staring at a small blob of darkness. It’s pretty interesting!

So far, there’s not much progress for day 1, but hopefully tomorrow will be different!]

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Day 2

Ryland again!

So far, not much has happened on my end.

There’s two of us watching one at all times, just in case someone misses out on documenting something. But as mentioned, there isn’t too much happening so far.

Supposedly, a meeting with the next in line for both the Bloodfire and Tensetsu families will be arranged. We’re all really busy with our duties, so it’s hard to make time for stuff like that. Hopefully, we’ll meet them by the end of the month, maybe earlier!

As for now, I’ll keep watching my motionless little guy. Hopefully he starts moving at some point.

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Day 3

Exciting developments!

First off, some of the others are talking about the idea of providing a body for these guys and seeing if that’ll help them! It’s a lot of testing and the type that we don’t wanna mess up, but we’re thinking of starting with something machine related and moving up from there. Maybe we can create a semi organic body for one to use! That might be interesting!

Alright, now for number two! The little man looked at me! He now has an eye, or rather he’s made it visible for me to see, and he even took a glance at me!

It seems me and my buddy are getting a whole lot closer!

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Day 4

HE MOVED!

THE LITTLE MAN MOVED!

I watched him go from one side of his tank to the other! It was incredible! He’s learning so fast, I feel like I’m gonna cry!

This is a huge day for us! If this is how fast it takes, then it’ll be no time at all until they can live with everyone!

I should be putting all my focus on my duties, and I will do just that after I finish writing, but this is seriously awesome!

Here’s hoping to big progress on day 5!

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Day 5

Guess I jinxed it.

The little guy hasn’t moved at all today. He’s only looking around his tank.

No problem with that. I think it’s good that he’s getting used to his environment! It means he can adapt to the real world just as well as he can in there!

I heard the others made some progress. Lisa told me that the one she’s watching over had the capability to hide its presence. I wish I could see something cool out of mine, but I’ll just have to wait.

I’ll try to come up with a name before the rest!

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Day 6

He likes orchestras it seems!

I played a nice tune I had over the player and he started bobbing to it! His eye even moved up a bit while it played! Even if I couldn’t see him smile, I could tell with just that one eye alone!

He really is like a small friend!

I need to come up with a name immediately!

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Day 7

Akinori!

I’ve decided that this will be his name! I’ve even told the others about it! Some of them seemed jealous. Lisa was too, although she was just joking around with me like usual. She mentioned that she wants to come up with a name for her own and might need my help with it.

I came up with Akinori’s thanks to how bright his eye looks compared to the darkness around him, but maybe I can come up with another if I see the one she’s looking after.

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Day 8

Little Aki is getting a whole lot smarter!

He’s managed to move around a lot faster and he’s even learned how to attach himself to the glass walls of his tank!

I always wonder what he’s thinking. I hope he views me as a pal the same way that I view him as one.

We have a meeting with the next in line of the Bloodfire family two days from now.

Apparently, she’s a young lady named Morina. I’m excited to meet her!

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Day 9

He can move things!

I saw him randomly teleport a rock in his tank to the other side, and decided to do some further testing! I gave him one of my pens and he moved it back to my desk just by extending his body a little bit! He covered the pen with his mass and boom! There it was!

Morina Bloodfire supposedly would like to see our specimens, so I’ll be sure to show her this trick!

Hopefully, Akinori catches her attention the most! He and I are a dynamic duo!

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Day 10

The day for the meeting finally arrived and she was thoroughly impressed!

Akinori really amazed her with his capabilities! She told me that I did a good job at raising him!

I was also surprised by her age. When I was told that she would be young, I assumed that she was going to be incredibly young. A child, essentially. What I was met with though was a woman in her early twenties. Not very far off from myself at all! I must say, I was rather close to swooning over her. She is quite a beautiful lady.

But I must focus on my tasks at hand! As well as my good pal and partner in crime, Akinori!

She mentioned that she enjoyed the one that Lisa is taking care of the most, though.

Maybe I should get back to that whole name thing I was trying to come up with for her.

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Day 11

One of the four has been moved into a metal body. An android, if you will. They didn’t provide me with its name, but apparently they’re now testing to see what he can do.

Meanwhile, I’m still hanging out here. Watching my little buddy dance to the music and creating a name for Lisa's own partner.

I’ve come up with a few ideas, but nothing has stuck yet.

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Day 12

After seeing it, I’ve thought of something!

He has an almost mask-like shape to his face, with two dot eyes underneath. Therefore, I called him Vizar! Lisa seemed to really like it!

So far, we have Akinori, Vizar and the other one that I’m not entirely sure what the name of is!

All that’s left is the fourth. I’m curious as to what they’ll call him.

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Day 13

And we now have our fourth name! Cobra!

They apparently gave that name to him due to his appearance, being similar to that of scales. I like it! It reminds me of why I gave Akinori and Vizar their own names!

Cobra can also supposedly talk! From what I was told, he doesn’t seem to be all that confused about his surroundings or who he is. It seems like these buddies might actually be pretty well versed with the world! This will make it all the more easy for Akinori to get used to his surroundings!

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Day 14

Morina came by again and she even got Akinori to talk!

I’m now in second place for the talking contest!

She seemed really happy to see the specimens. Especially Vizar. She really liked the name I gave him! I feel like I’m winning some points for her! Hopefully Akinori will have something new to show her next time!

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Day 15

It’s a bit out of nowhere, but two of us got sick today.

They were struggling to speak and could barely even listen to what we asked them. Hopefully they’ll feel better by tomorrow.

To fix this issue, we had to do some swapping. My partner, Alvaro, went over to their facility and the same goes for Devyn who was Lisa’s. Now me and her are in the same room with Akinori and Vizar. We weren’t sure if we should do this at first, but we did want to experiment and see how they would react with each other. If any hostility is shown, we’ll obviously move them back immediately.

They seem to chat up a storm though, so I’d say it’s good so far!

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Day 16

The team that made the android body for one is apparently working on two new projects. One is a machine without a soul attached to it, the other is a body for our good pal Vizar! They’re experimenting with something a lot more organic like we wanted, so we can see how it would react in an almost normal body.

Not to say that we’ll be putting them into one, but it’s more so just a test to see what might happen.

As for me, Akinori has been chatting with his pal. It’s cool to see the two of them getting along.

Same old, same old.

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Day 17

We met the next in line for the Tensetsu family today! His name is Ginsa!

He’s older than Morina by a few years, but still just as polite. He didn’t seem that interested in the specimens, but he also didn’t hate them. It’s understandable. While they are interesting, I could see that they wouldn’t be as groundbreaking to some as it is to others.

It was nice to meet him though! He seems to have a firm air of confidence at all times!

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Day 18

Alvaro and Devyn also got sick. We aren’t sure what happened, nor what may have caused it. They weren’t even near the room when it occurred.

Everything seems fine inside, but we’re being extra cautious. As a safety measure, Lisa and Scarlet went to look after their facility with some extra equipment. We’re making sure that it’s safe at all times, but from what Lisa told me, nothing seems wrong with the tank or room to begin with.

It’s odd. Really odd. It feels as though something else is happening around here. Something we aren’t aware of.

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Day 19

Another wonderful visit from Morina!

It’s thanks to her that we’ve made great progress today! I was by myself in my facility after the changes yesterday, but luckily she came by to help! We studied some things about the two for fun, and even managed to get along with them!

Vizar seems to like her the most, though Akinori likes me a whole lot! I’m glad! He asked me about my name and what the world is like! I told him all sorts of things and he seemed really happy to hear about it! He even told me more about him! He can teleport whatever he feels like, but it requires some energy to do so. He asked about his own name, and seemed to be happy when I gave him the meaning behind it. He was really excited overall! Vizar seemed a tiny bit rude at some points when I asked him things, but he seemed to calm down a bit when Morina talked to him.

It was a really nice experience today! I’m hoping that I can work with her some more to learn more about the two!

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Day 20

Well, it was unfortunate, but the day finally came for Vizar to move into his new body. He didn’t seem all too happy, but once I explained that he could still see Morina after, he seemed to calm down.

No idea what the process was like. They’re using a room inside here instead of the lab in the town nearby like they used with the previous one. You’d think that would make it easier, but seeing as I still have to watch Akinori, I guess I don’t have much of a choice.

Akinori seemed a bit sad by the news. I told him that he and his friend would likely meet again soon, which seemed to cheer him up a bit. He told me that he’ll spend the time between then just chatting the day away with me, which I’m completely okay with!

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Day 21

A development none of us could have expected occurred today.

Again, another two fell sick. Only this time, it was those who were in the lab with Vizar. We questioned if it could have been Vizar himself, but the results are still inconclusive. Morina came by once again to help out with the investigation.

It was thanks to her that I noticed something odd with my facility, along with many others. There were strange tablets riddled across the area. We weren’t sure of how they worked, but Akinori dubbed them the Tablets of Madness. He told me and only me not to touch it, as it would likely take my blood into it so that it could activate its process. It accepts only the blood of the divine, is how he put it. When Morina asked him what it would do, Akinori mentioned that in exchange for that blood, it could grant immortality to those who desired it.

There were two things in particular that he mentioned for us to keep in mind. Firstly, that it has a weakness. The second was a statement that could be rehearsed in order to remember what the tablets could do.

In his exact words, he said this: “From onto the body, new flesh will be born, and a greater power will be achieved, so as to keep the body at its strongest, from where youth resides.”

Morina didn’t believe him in the slightest, but she wrote down what he said regardless. I had a hard time trying to do so myself. There’s no proof that it can do that, but I also don’t want to find out if it will. I feel as a god of the world, it is my duty to do so. I will try my hardest to perform the research when I can. For now, I will rest and plan what comes next tomorrow.

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Day 22

Akinori grew! He’s much larger than ever before! He even has his own part of arms and legs now, along with several spikes along the back of his head and below that! He even learned how to write thanks to me, all in one day!

I feel like a proud father, watching his boy grow more and more!

Even if things are hectic right now, my good buddy Akinori provides all the calming reassurance for the job that I need!

He and I can break through all of these issues! No problem!

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Day 23

Not much changed today. I decided to stay at my station to sleep for the night, but oddly, Lisa came in and asked if she could as well.

Apparently things have been real bad for her. I can only imagine. We’re going through a whole lot just to stay on top of things here, and with only a few of us who aren’t sick, it’s become worse as a result.

I’m really concerned about the others. We’ll need to look into what happened as soon as we can.

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Day 24

Lisa is sick.

I don’t know what happened.

I don’t know what COULD have happened, but she’s sick! All I did was wake up this morning and there she was, struggling to speak and she could barely hear my screaming.

Something is going on. I don’t know what it is, who, why, how, or anything of the sort, but there’s something with malice around here. Something that wants to get rid of us. It took far too long to notice, but it’s happening.

Only Scarlet and I remain. I’ve told her to be cautious of what might occur and she understood.

We’ll see how things go from here. Hopefully I’m alright tomorrow.

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Day 25

AKINORI IS MISSING!

I don’t know where he went or why or whatever but he’s gone! He left! There’s not a single trace of him around!

I’m unsure of what to do anymore.

It’s been days since we last focused on our duties. All of this has been far too terrifying.

I don’t understand! What is happening?!

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Day 26

Vizar and Cobra are also missing.

At times like these, who can we even pray to when we are the ones who stand above all.

There are three, however. Three who I may speak with tomorrow.

I’d like to know what they have to say.

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Day 27

Born from the stars, their blood shall cross paths once with the light of fate and another with gifts of the same day.

These are the words that the divine ones gave me in response.

There were several other variants, many of which I wrote down on some notes.

I’m unsure of what they mean nor do I know why they would matter now, but all I can do is document such a thing for the time being.

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Day 28

Scarlet is sick.

I shall be next.

If there is only one thing I can hope for, it is the knowledge to understand my situation.

That is all I seek.

Please, Akinori. Hear my cries.

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Day 29

There was a note on my desk.

One I could not believe.

It was from Akinori. Beside the note was a bird who barely had any life left.

In the note, he had told me that this bird was not injured by his actions. He merely found it that way and wished to show me something with it.

He wrote that I should take the smallest drop of my own blood and provide it to the tablet, then take the small gem from the middle of it and feed it to the bird.

From there, I will need to pierce the bird in a section that is not its heart and watch, before doing the same to the former and observing again.

I am unsure if I could truly perform such a heartless act to such a kind creature.

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Day 30

I’ve still yet to muster up my courage, and yet I know my time is near.

It is still alive thanks to my matōki, but I am unsure how long that will last.

If I were to fall, it would likely fall with me.

Perhaps it is a mercy, but I’m still not sure.

This is cruel. Far too cruel.

I must make a decision, and I believe that I will die a coward’s death.

I’m sorry, Akinori.

I cannot do it.

Please forgive me.

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Day 31

Hello. Morina Bloodfire, Ginsa Tensetsu, or whoever this may concern as you continue to read.

My name is Ryland Toppletorn. A god of the world, and one who will soon fall.

Currently, I have been struck with the same illness that I had expected. For the time being, let us call it Madness.

The word is rather brash in nature, despite the much more calm yet harsh effect it shall take.

A state where none can reply or hear those around them. A state that the seven I have placed at the same table as me now suffer from.

However, I am no longer scared nor will I run from what has caused this.

It seeks my fear, yet I am not afraid.

That is due to a kind friend of mine.

One who, just this morning, placed a bright gem by my lab with a slip of paper next to it.

I could tell who it was by handwriting. I could never forget my partner’s immense growth to such a stage.

Would you like to know his words?

“Don’t give up yet!”

How could I fall when such a mighty friend is cheering for my survival?

I’m using this journal to now document everything. As for what comes next of us gods, I have left a small list nearby for what can be done. It is minimal due to my lack of time, and thus it is imperfect in many ways. However I believe it will prove fruitful to our world.

Now as for the contents of what I shall speak of, there are many things to discuss. The tablets, matōki, the world as we know it and what has caused this to begin with.

There are many things to speak about, so I shall write this into several different sections. Once I am gone, I shall seal this book with a second passage that I personally requested from the divine ones themselves. There is no guarantee that this will remain perfectly intact as I write, however I will do what I must to prevent the removal of this precious information. If more information is needed, I have supplied Morina Bloodfire with what I could as I had documented before. Furthermore, I've requested the aid of a nearby village. Should their research prove fruitful, perhaps we will be one step closer to the truth of things.

If you are reading this, it means that you have what is necessary to view it.

Firstly, the tablets.

What Akinori had told me was true. They do indeed provide immortality, but only temporarily.

Not in the sense that a body will decay nor grow old, but there is a weakness to it.

The heart.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, one I could not entirely accept, but if I were to pass, my friend's efforts would be in vain. Thus, I took the life of the bird, but gained this knowledge regarding the tablets.

If the heart is pierced, crushed, erased from the body, the effects of the tablet are reduced to nothing and the body shall die. Should anywhere else be chosen, the wound will rapidly heal no matter how grave and reform the body. Even that of a limb or an eradication of all but the heart would still grow back, using the heart as its base.

Blood from a divine being that grants you everlasting life, yet a singular point of the body allows for that life to perish.

It is indeed immortality with a catch.

Now, what could have provided such a mysterious item?

I shall tell you now.

For many reasons, I've become uncertain of how the world truly is. There are many things we still do not know, but there is a much greater challenge ahead of us. There is a mere possibility that a third world could exist. I do not state this as fact, but there are oddities within ours that cannot be explained. For all I know at this moment, there could be something even greater hidden beyond our knowledge that could break this theory in two.

To provide more context of our situation, there were never only four specimens within our facility.

There were five.

Akinori, Cobra, Vizar and the fourth. None had caused the effects of this Madness.

There was one other, one who had concealed itself time and time again.

One that is cowardly and does not enjoy being harmed, yet it is also quite clever and knows when to strike.

The effects of this Madness were not caused by a strike, but instead the mere act of trying to research the creature. I now understand why my comrades had fallen ill. I have fallen into the same trap, yet it was not prepared for this course of action.

It cackled and cackled, but grew tense and aggressive as I wrote this very log you are reading.

My legendary naming technique was not required, as the answer was already given.

Its name is simple. It’s△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△