In an unknown location deep underground. In a cave, one big enough to fit a two story building, a small temple sat. The temple appeared to be ancient, primal, the architecture long since outdated by the annals of time.
The walls, tables, and chairs were covered in layers upon layers of dust. At the very heart of this abandoned temple stood an altar. The size of the altar was impressive, filling up a good portion of the area. The platform of the altar was around 12 feet long and around 10 feet wide with stone steps leading upward.
Below the Altar lay a dusty golden plaque, on it a word from a language only a few recognize in this era, But to those who lived in that time long forgotten, and the ancient beings still wandering the plane to this day, they would recognize that word as 'EAT'.
The word would seem bizarre below an altar inside a temple, had the tables on either side of the luxurious carpets leading to the altar not been filled with fancy tableware and golden goblets covered in dust. It was clear the temple was meant for dining as well as worship.
On top of the platform sat a statue depicting a woman, unanimously, one word fit the description of her visage, beautiful. On her head was a crown of gold with one purple gem at its very center. Protruding from her stone hair were two curved horns, the only verification that she was not human.
On her neck, wrists and ankles were adorned in jewelry. She sat in the lotus position with her elbows resting in her lap, holding up a bowl made of pure gold. The statue's head was tilted upwards, showing her subconscious arrogance. Her eyes, however, were looking down at the bowl in her hands with curiosity and interest. It's clear that the statue's focus is nothing but the contents within.
A site to behold, save for the sticky black liquid leaking from a black circular crystal embedded in the ceiling above, making the view more eerie rather than inspiring. The jewel continuously secreted the substance, while the dark glow of the item seemed to suck the light from around it.
Who knows how long the crystal has been filling up the bowl with this liquid, but as time passes, for some unknown reason, the bowl never overflows.
BLUBB BLUBB
BLUBB BLUBB
CRACK!
Suddenly, the golden bowl began to shine, the crystal above cracked, and the previous calm lake of black liquid began to ripple, as if something beneath the surface were on the verge of breaking free. And then…
"Buuuuahhh fuc- cough cough *gasp gasp* cough cough."
A small individual broke through the surface and began to greedily take in air, flailing about in the sticky black liquid. As the final remains of the liquid coughed out, the person finally gathered the rationale to grab the edge of the bowl and push themselves out of the substance and onto the platform below.
"Cough cough w-wha? Cough cough"
As the individual lay on the platform in a daze, the last of the liquid covering most of the features rolled off. A small girl, no older than 12 can be seen shivering on the stained platform. On her head, beneath the inky black substance, short, vibrant pink hair can be seen. Two small black horns peeked out from her pink curls.
Her eyes, currently wide open and staring into empty space, showed a strange pattern in the iris. They were in the shapes of four petaled flowers, colored in pink with black pupils and sclera as an accent, giving her appearance a cute yet unsettling look.
Her petite body, currently unclothed and covered in inky liquid, revealed 6 black stars in a small circle on her upper back.
After some time, she sat up and looked around. As she shivered in the cold temple she took in the sights before her. A temple by the looks of it, but with tables and silverware surrounding the stage and altar. Panic and confusion began to show on her small, dainty face. Shakily, she stood up.
"W-where is this? W-what happened to me?"
She turned around and faced the statue behind her. A woman with horns, wearing a crown with a purple jewel, sitting with a golden bowl in both hands.
The statue, to her, at such an angle, seemed to look directly at her. When their eyes met, she shuddered under the gaze and turned away, she felt her mind was on the verge of losing all her remaining composure, beginning to crumble. She then, out of nowhere, smacked her face.
Smack
Smack
The pain is her confirmation. This was no dream. She needed to think clearly. Freaking out now would only make the situation worse!
"Argh! Come on Tav, be a woman!"
While Tavja was trying to ignite her indomitable will, she failed to notice the statue she previously observed, was now looking at her rather strangely.
'Ok, I have to be calm… the last thing I remember is…'
'...'
'...'
'...d-did I fucking die?'
She thought back to the moment everything went black. The strange messages she received, the toaster incident, then her awakening under the black water. A creeping suspicion entered her mind. This temple setting, the ceremonial bowl, the oddly familiar statue…
She peeked at the statue now behind her. The features and posture were the same as she remembered. She again, failed to notice the statue's eyes were now shifted away from her, in an embarrassingly hasty attempt to feign inanimacy.
Tavja then looked down at her hands and finally noticed another thing. Her hands were much smaller now and she no longer had the red skin of the demon race, but a pale olive color resembling one of a human.
A twinge of nervousness now pricked the back of her mind. She had all but confirmed her theory about her situation in her head, she wouldn't mind the idea she concluded, but if she was some human…
Holding down her despair, she hurriedly walked over to one of the dining tables. Picking up a golden plate, she wiped off the dust and gazed at herself. Besides all the sludge, she was met with a delicate face, a small cute nose, plump lips, and pink, flower petal-like eyes. But after observing her black sclera and small horns, the fear in her heart turned to unhinged joy. She threw her head back and laughed wildly.
"ha..haha..HAHAHAHAHAHAHA"
The laugh was one of unbridled joy, her now bell-like laughter, tinkled cutely throughout the hall. Indeed she was happy. She knew now. She had transmigrated to a world she loved so much, Neel.
On top of that, she was given such a boon like being born a Devil, an Apex existence in this world!
In the story there are several strong races, all having their advantages and disadvantages. But only two races in the story have the closest abilities to godhood with none of the restrictions, the Angel race and the Devil race. Both races are essentially demigods.
Superhuman strength, supreme reflexes, oceans of mana, and mountains of chi. But what makes them so godlike are their racial abilities and unique type of magic they cast.
One of the Angels most basic unique magic is called bless magic, different from normal types of buff magic, the effects persist and stack as long as the user wills it to. All Angels possess this ability. The same goes for Devils and their contract magic, by fulfilling or establishing a contract a devil can grow stronger.
Those abilities are strong if used correctly, but that is only the most basic standard for these races. There are much more frightening abilities in the elites of said races. And one such ability existed on the back of the young devil…
As Tavja finally settled down, she angled the plate she used earlier to see her face and scanned each part of her body with it. Finally, as the reflection of the black stars tattooed on her back came into view, her smile widened, showing off her sharp white canines.
'6 Stars, meaning 6 wishes… I'm a supreme!'
In this world, devils with supreme bloodlines possess an ability that is called 'Wish Magic'. It is exactly as it sounds. Each filled in star on their body is able to grant a wish. Obviously there are restrictions such as mana capacity and wishes exceeding a supreme law such as wishing for the element of water no longer existing. But a wish is a wish.
'But wishing for anything that exceeds my current limit will kill me. And…'
She scrutinized the circle of stars on her back.
'Using all 6 means death.'
She heaved a sigh of satisfaction. Finally after years of mindless existence, Tavja felt that there was finally a reason to live life to its fullest. Why? Because with a world of magic and chaos around her, anything was possible. One no longer has to endure being a small cog in a well defined wheel. Wealth, power, and influence now had a more flexible meaning. A meaning that Tavja found exceptionally rewarding.
'Didn't I just die and go to heaven?.'
Tears of joy welled up in her eyes as she thought of this unbelievable situation. She didn't care about where this temple was, how dangerous her situation could be, or if all of this is a coma induced fantasy.
All she cared about was this feeling inside her, the feeling of this being her new reality. She would cling to this feeling for as long as she could.
Deep down, she had long given up in her previous life, wishing for a novel-like situation like this to occur daily. The only thing she had back there was her mind full of fantasies and the story {Tragedy of Heroes}.
'Fantasies…'
The silhouette of a tall, regal, and stoic devil appeared in her mind.
"Hehehe."
A goofy chuckle escaped her cherry lips.
'W-well, since no one appreciates you here, you won't mind if I have you to myself. Right?'
6th Vainglory. The ultimate devil genius, feared and envied by all that encountered him.
In the main story he had only played a small role in a dungeon. He had already been betrayed, his organs, abilities, and ancestral knowledge harvested. The only reason he showed up in the story was to let the protagonist Damien learn about the origin of his new devil heart.
Tavja grimaced. Such a wasted plot opportunity, and that guy didn't even have the honor to kill him after learning about it, he left it to his racist lover to end his life. The reason? Because our plot-clad protagonist didn't have the strength at the time to face a zombified Vainglory.
He was getting his ass handed to him until he realized Vainglory would unconsciously hesitate striking down his lover. The reason being, she looked like an old companion of his, leading to her defeating him eventually.
'What Vain doesn't know is that his companion was part of his conspiracy of betrayal. And the lover of Damian that killed him was a descendant of that very person, the Angel Piety.'
She had read his side story arc countless times after its release. Many people skipped over the side stories because of the fact they were released in a separate book, on top of the fact good portions of the stories were essentially info dumps. Worse yet, the ones that did read Vainglory's side story missed the whole point of the arc!
Many chalked it up to the author showing a time where all the races worked together to fight off the extraterrestrial invasion of the Void Tide. And the betrayal of Vainglory, a necessary evil to keep the void song from spreading. But there was a deeper meaning behind that story, a meaning Tavja gleaned from reading many times.
'They feared him.'
Vainglory had no actual companions on his journeys, they were his wardens. Every hero, alpha, guardian, and empyrean had an ability to keep his growing power in check.
'Hmph! but I'm here now.'
Tavja thought arrogantly. As a six star devil, she knew the incredible potential she would soon have once she went through evolution. And with her knowledge of the secrets of the world, she would take full advantage of boosting her strength to stand at the top…with her beloved hehe, just kidding…unless?
She couldn't help but get lost in her delusions thinking of the cold handsome Vainglory, as she twisted her body in delight. As the number one contributor of {Tragedy of Heroes}'s 6th Vainglory wiki page, how could she not be?
She felt ecstatic! A new world full of opportunity and the perfect man to share it with, what more could a demon woman like her want?
She grabbed a large napkin from the table and wiped all the remnant black liquid off her body, then wrapped a table cloth around her small frame.
'Now I just need to know the timeline and my location.'
She knew she was at a time before the plot started or at least near the beginning. The statue behind her was proof of that. She was inside a devil temple, and one for the Queen of Feasts, Gula at that. No Temple, outside of Greed, is set up outside of Hellnia.
'And if Hellnia is still around, the second arc, which starts with Hellnia's destruction, hasn't happened yet.'
She absentmindedly thought as she dried her new pink hair. As she gazed at her new face through the golden plate, she felt quite comfortable with her new appearance. 'Quite the femme fatale', she grinned. Her rising narcissism was short-lived though, and quickly replaced with shuddering fear.
Because as she was looking at her face, she noticed that over her shoulder, the statue's head, that was supposed to be facing forward to the entrance, had slightly turned to her direction, looking at her curiously.
Had Tavja not had the plate angled in such a manner, and her senses seemingly enhanced now, she would not have noticed the subtle shift.
Tavja's hair stood on end, her heart began to pound wildly as beads of cold sweat formed on her forehead.
She was being watched.