I'll kill you after I finish this game!

Or perhaps, I should say I was tempted by the devil...

"Alas, my youth is now shrouded in gloom and despair."

Suddenly, Beatrice looked sad and lost about her future, muttering to herself in worry, "I'm being transferred to the Gestapo. How am I going to tell Father and Mother?"

Today's events can be described as a turning point in her life. It is only because she does not know what kind of future she will be heading that Beatrice feels helpless and sorrowful.

But in any case, we can only go with the flow now.

Whether good or bad, this choice will lead me to a certain future...

This is also a prescription that everyone can feel, for dealing with the devastating reality that is about to unfold.

------

"The day of divine wrath, the end of days, is the moment when all things in heaven and earth turn to ashes, confirming the prophecy of the sages, and the fragments of destiny drift in the void."

"Trembling and praying, awaiting the arrival of the Judge who will mercilessly burn away your original sin."

"Yes, that's right..."

As the golden starlight above enveloped the ominous star, the general star, the shadow star, and the demon star, Reiji and Mercury stood beside Reinhardt, offering a poem of blessing to this future peer, saying:

"The day of wrath has come."

"...Why am I so excited about boring poetry?"

Even though Reinhardt's eyes were calm, the emotions and prayers surging in his chest were invigorating and resonating with the poems offered by Gray and Carl.

“Yes, why?” Karl-Calaft chuckled and glanced at Reiji, who was also smiling, and said softly as if to himself, “It’s just that in my common sense, when a new life (friend) is born, we must offer prayers.”

"The poem from just now? Born under the blessing of a final requiem, if such a thing exists—"

"What will happen?" Lei Zhe asked with a light laugh.

“That’s a cursed monster.” Reinhardt, whose right eye had turned into brilliant gold, still retained the last vestiges of his humanity and said with self-mockery, “It was something that should never have been born in the first place.”

"Existence is its own justification, but since it has already been born, no one has the right to stop its instincts."

"How to do things, how to be treated, what to think, what to achieve, what to see, and what to feel? Karl and I are both very concerned about these aspects."

"At least in common, the three of us have anger that comes from different directions."

Reiji responded to Reinhardt's self-deprecating remark with a sneer, even to monsters.

Shouldn't it have been born in the first place? In a worldview where gods are born, nothing is forbidden from being born.

The third eye on its forehead suddenly opened, looking towards Narakuga, the deepest part of the Supreme Divine Throne.

If there's anyone who shouldn't have been born in the first place, Narakuka is one of them—the origin of all gods and overlords.

Without the other person, none of this would exist today.

"Does existence guarantee rationality? Ha, what an interesting statement."

Reinhardt was very concerned about the commonality that Gray mentioned: anger. Indeed, anger was the core of his origin story, and it seems that Carl and Gray were the same.

"Then I'll leave it to you. First, let me see how Karl and you will deal with these people according to your own preferences."

His eyes, filled with a dazzling yet merciless loving gaze, looked at Wilhelm, who lay groaning on the ground, and Schreiber, who had fainted, and he said bluntly:

"Whether to spare their lives, kill them, or make them sacrifices to bizarre magic and cyborgs on the testing ground... let them decide how they want to be dealt with."

"I've found the people I've been searching for who won't bore you, so I'll hand them over to Carl."

Reiji shrugged and handed the two guys in front of him over to Xi Mercury Serpent to deal with, as he had other things to do.

"Yes, it's within my job responsibilities." Mercury Serpent smiled and agreed, then looked at the two promising talents lying on the ground and said, "So, are you both still alive?"

"Ugh... Ugh..."

"Ha... Ugh..."

Wilhelm and Schreiber, who were lying on the ground or curled up and unable to get up, are still healing themselves.

The intense pain in their bodies only allowed them to groan, preventing them from answering the questions posed by the person in front of them.

The Mercury Serpent ignored their pain, and the words that emanated from its mouth seemed to be implanted into their very souls:

“From this day forward, you will be servants of me and my friend Reinhardt. Are you not satisfied? Do you want to kill? I will grant you that power.”

"It is hereby agreed that cursed and defiled life shall be granted supreme pleasure and joy, a true burning of blood, flesh, bone, and marrow, spirit, heart, and soul, to be inhabited by the golden beast and become its claws."

"At that agreed-upon end, my friend Gray will give you the greatest trial. After you overcome it, you will attain the highest satisfaction, and all your wishes will be fulfilled."

At this moment, the demon army that would henceforth be known as the Black Round Table was born.

This is the story that adorns its dawn.

Gold and mercury, and the beginning and end that compose the highest path, the two leaders of beast and serpent, and the perfect circle that serves as the final trial within the path.

The two pillars, known as either demons or gods, and the perfect one who is both an enemy and a friend, became friends that cannot be described in words.

They forged bonds in a realm beyond human comprehension and reach.

Therefore, we must not forget that as long as they fight side by side, no one can match them, and even if the world is destroyed, they cannot be defeated.

The eternal trial, a desperate and flawless trial, only has a sliver of hope if led by these two individuals.

Of the three, whoever it is, only those who are blessed with miracles can cross the perfect circle, and to defeat the beast and the snake, one must start by sowing discord between them, or perhaps this is the most difficult option.

If this eternal prison of preconceived notions cannot be broken, all things have only one path: return to the One who is perfect.

Yes, it is precisely because the world is filled with despair and a sense of domination akin to a horror movie that we must wait for the day of divine wrath.

------

The Golden Beast has awakened, which is good news for Razer and Mercury, but not so good news for all living things in this world.

The main villain is in place, and Razer and Mercury will have to worry about Mary's affairs.

Now, as the commander-in-chief of the Fountain of Life, almost all the bioweapons and superhumans researched under his command have been deployed to war by a certain leader.

Germany is currently facing a dire situation, with the US and Russia to contend with. The superior weaponry used in the war has compensated for the lack of soldiers.

World War II was quite a spectacle in this timeline; at least the inhuman fighting prowess displayed by Germany was something other countries could not ignore.

Lei Zhe covered up the mercury and gold and submitted the Black Round Table Project, which was one of the less noticeable supernatural projects.

After the war officially began, thousands of new aircraft, tanks, artillery, motorcycles and other weapons of war appeared in the German army as if by magic and were put into use in the war.

The superhuman troops, numbering in the thousands, were organized by the Führer into a special force used like surgical blades on the battlefield.

At least now, any country that opposes Germany would likely have to pay a much higher price in lives to achieve victory.

Today, mercury has arrived at a small shop in Berlin.

Yes, it's about something he needs to discuss with Lei Zhe at the shop he and Lei Zhe originally opened together.

“My dear friend, please lend a hand. It’s time to consider Mary’s problem.”

Mercury Serpent pushed open the door to the shop's basement room and came to stand opposite Razer, who was waiting for him.

Now he needs to get busy with Mary's affairs; things are progressing steadily on Reinhardt's side.

"Well, how do you plan to arrange things for Mary? I mean, Mary should grow up gradually with someone by her side, in two phases."

He uncorked the wine and poured a glass for himself and the Mercury Serpent in front of him. Reiji had already made a plan for the Mercury Serpent's troubles and indecisiveness.

There's still quite some time before Reinhardt enters the outflow phase, so it's time to send Mary out for some experience.

"Hmm... I was planning to make a scabbard for Mary. I happen to have a fine soul that just sacrificed itself on the battlefield. Combining it with my relic should produce a pretty good tactile experience."

Hearing Lei Zhe's question about her original meaning, Mercury Serpent indifferently took out the blue Philosopher's Stone and a soul shaped like an infant embryo from her pocket and placed them on the table.

Lei Zhe glanced at the embryonic soul prototype with interest, and after his eyes saw through the soul's true nature, he smiled.

It turns out that he was the predecessor of the protagonist of the original work, The Day of Wrath of Gods, whose original name was Lotos Reichhurst, and was jokingly called German Lotus by fans of The Day of Wrath of Gods.

This guy really does seem to have a connection with mercury and twilight.

First of all, the other party's ancestors were executioners, and their family even had the guillotine that beheaded Mary.

In addition, although their temperaments are different, they have a face that is almost identical to Mercury Serpent's, so it's no wonder that Mercury Serpent has his eye on them.

The cause of death was the same as that of the Black Knight Magina in the Thirteen Knights of the Holy Lance: he was killed by an explosion while driving a tank.

Thinking of this, Reiji found it somewhat amusing, looking at the Mercury Serpent before him with a playful expression, and pointing to the Soul and Philosopher's Stone on the table, he chuckled and said:

"Are you trying to sculpt a lotus for Mary, Melcrius?"

"------!"

Mercury Serpent's face darkened. He remembered being attacked by the Minotaur in the game, and now that Razer had brought it up, he was starting to lose his temper.

But Lei Zhe didn't stop teasing him and exposing his shortcomings. His eyes seemed to pierce through the twisted side of a mercury serpent, and he looked at the other man as if he were a large piece of non-combustible garbage, saying bluntly:

"By fusing your sacred relic with this soul, your thoughts and will are also connected to it, right? You wouldn't be thinking of doing something to Mary..."

Touch allows communication with its owner; at least in the original work, the Mercury Serpent and the relic Fujii Ren share a common will.

This guy secretly saw Lian Tan and Mary being all lovey-dovey; I really don't know what he was thinking when he did it.

Hearing Lei Zhe say that, and facing Lei Zhe's disdainful gaze, Mercury Serpent broke out in a cold sweat.

Damn it, he truly is my best friend, understanding my thoughts so well.

His kind of person isn't suited to being in the spotlight; he can't even stand up to Mary and give her a proper confession or a date invitation.

So the plan is to first get to know Mary thoroughly through roundabout means, and incidentally use this sense of touch as a wingman.

There was absolutely no intention to spy on Mary, absolutely not.

"Ahem, my dear friend, you're overthinking it. Since I'm going to accompany Mary as her protector, guide, and friend, I'll just create a woman. Look at Tohka and Mary, they get along quite well, don't they? Mary's thoughts and personality are already those of a young girl."

Mercury Serpent, under the guise of concealing her perverse thoughts, changed the subject by saying things to distract herself.

Of course, after his best friend gave him a heads-up, he wouldn't casually try to get close to Mary by pretending to be a man.

If Reiji found out, he would definitely be ridiculed for not even having the courage to face the person he likes directly and having to resort to such methods to get close to Mary.

"Alright, alright, whatever you want. Just don't forget the ultimate goal. So, have you arranged the personnel for this interim period? After all, it was said that there should be two phases."

Knowing that Mercury Serpent was changing the subject, Reiji pursed his lips, casually opened the spatial water mirror leading to the Dusk Beach Singularity, and nodded in satisfaction as he looked at Tohka, who was grilling meat with Mary.

Mercury Serpent was also drawn to the scene, watching longingly as Tohka and Mary played and frolicked.

Mary now has a sense of self-awareness as a young girl. When Mercury, who is male, interacts with Razer, he is not only friendly and close, but also feels the shyness that girls should have.