Her eyes slowly moved, scanning the scattered Aragami corpses beneath the building.
"Ara~"
A soft, meaningful laugh escaped her lips.
She recalled the information she had gathered since first arriving in this world.
Those creatures.
Aragami.
Entities that were not entirely animals, yet not ordinary monsters either.
Their bodies were formed from clusters of living cells known as Oracle Cells—predatory cells capable of consuming, mimicking, and evolving from almost anything they ingested.
A form of life that, conceptually… was quite intriguing to her.
Kurumi Tokisaki tilted her head slightly, her black hair swaying gently in the rain-blown wind.
"Creatures that live by devouring everything to evolve…"
The shadows beneath her feet shifted slowly, as if alive and responding to her thoughts.
"How ravenous."
Lightning split the sky.
Its light illuminated the dead city for a fraction of a second.
In that flash, Kurumi lowered her gaze toward one of the surviving Aragami—now already engulfed in the darkness of her shadow.
The mid-class Aragami was Yan-Zhi.
Her form resembled a humanoid woman, with arms ending in structures like wings or thick blue feathers that covered her wrists.
Her body struggled continuously.
Rough growls tore from her throat as she tried to break free from the shadows binding her.
But her efforts were futile.
The shadow was not merely darkness.
It was the hunting ground of another predator.
In the presence of the ruler of time and shadows—the creature was nothing more than prey already captured.
"However…"
Kurumi smiled faintly.
"In the end, they are still beings with a finite lifespan."
Her hand rose slowly.
Her slender fingers moved lightly through the empty air.
Moments later—a glowing, transparent screen appeared before her.
A holographic interface.
A system panel visible only to her.
Within it, the mission list she was currently undertaking scrolled slowly, containing various information about the world she was now exploring.
___________________
Mission Title: God Eater
Difficulty Level: Medium
Number of Participants: 1
Number of Main Missions: 3
First Mission: Kill 50,000 Aragami, Large and below. The number and class of Aragami killed will affect the System Evaluation results.
Current Progress: 10,000 / 50,000 Aragami
Second Mission: Kill at least 1 Deushapage-class Aragami. The number of Deushapage killed will affect the System Evaluation results.
Third Mission: Collect 10,000 System Points. The number of System Points collected will affect the System Evaluation results.
Time Limit: 2 years
Penalty: Failing any Main Mission will result in a deduction of 5,000 System Points.
Reward: Determined after all Main Missions are completed.
___________________
Kurumi Tokisaki gazed at the holographic screen for a moment.
The rows of mission information scrolled slowly before her, reflecting a soft glow in her heterochromatic eyes.
Moments later—lightning struck the sky.
The white flash briefly illuminated the ruined world, simultaneously highlighting her strikingly beautiful face amidst the rainy night.
"Kihihi~ looks like my journey is still long," she murmured softly.
Her voice was light, almost as if she were enjoying a new game.
"And does Master-san often experience this in every mission?"
She tilted her head slightly, as if imagining the person she had in mind.
"Ara~ seems he really is not an ordinary person."
With a casual motion, Kurumi closed the holographic screen. The glowing interface dissipated like mist dissolving into the air.
She then directed her gaze downward again.
Toward the dead city.
Crumbling buildings.
Cracked streets.
The scattered remains of Aragami, strewn like prey after a storm.
"An interesting world…"
The shadows beneath the building began to stir once more.
Slowly.
Deeper.
Wider.
As if the darkness had a will of its own—waiting for something to consume.
The rain continued to pour relentlessly.
The night wind blew through her long black hair, making it dance softly in the air.
Kurumi Tokisaki raised her hand.
With two fingers, she covered one of her red eyes.
A thin smile formed on her lips.
A beautiful expression.
Yet dangerous as well.
"Fufu… then…"
She gazed down at the world of ruin beneath her.
A city teeming with predatory creatures.
And countless hours waiting to be harvested.
The rain continued to pour relentlessly.
"How much time can I harvest from this world, I wonder?"
Of course, the "harvest" Kurumi referred to wasn't merely about killing the creatures in this world.
For her, time was a resource.
And that time could be stored.
It could be transferred.
It could even be given to others.
In this case—her clones.
A portion of the time she collected would be distributed to the clones within her shadows, allowing them to persist and operate without meaningful limitation.
These clones were not as strong as Kurumi's original body.
Yet, as always, they retained usefulness far from negligible.
Troops.
Energy reserves.
And, if necessary—decoys that could be sacrificed at any moment.
As long as one condition was met.
Time.
Kurumi did this because, after becoming Gabriel's Servant, the amount of time that could be stored had a limit.
Kurumi tilted her head slightly.
The shadows beneath the building shifted slowly, like a black ocean holding something within.
At this moment, within those shadows, roughly a thousand clones were stored.
Each one possessed a substantial reserve of time.
At least five hundred years for each clone.
An amount that would be unimaginable to an ordinary human.
Yet for Kurumi—it was merely a small investment.
She smiled again.
Calm.
Patient.
And calculating.
If this world was filled with creatures that survived by consuming everything to evolve… then she only needed to do the same.
But in a far more elegant way.
"Fufu…"
The night rain continued to pour over the ruins of the city, and in the midst of this fallen world—Kurumi Tokisaki stood like a predator, patiently waiting for the right moment.
"Who are you...?!"
A woman's voice suddenly rang out from the shadowed room behind Kurumi.
The woman's hand gripped a God Arc in Assault mode, the barrel raised and aimed directly at Kurumi.
But Kurumi didn't immediately turn around.
She remained standing at the edge of the building, her black hair swaying gently in the night rain.
Her smile remained unchanged.
Calm.
"Ara~ you're awake, Alisa-san?"
Hearing her name, the woman immediately furrowed her brow.
Her index finger tightened on the trigger.
If this stranger moved even slightly suspiciously—she was ready to fire.
"How do you know my name?" she asked coldly.
Kurumi let out a light sigh, as if the question were a minor annoyance.
Then she slowly turned around.
Lightning flashed across the sky again, illuminating the silver-haired woman with piercing blue eyes standing within the shadow of the building.
Her red-and-black attire, slightly revealing, was typical of a God Eater uniform.
The woman's name was Alisa Ilinichina Amiella.
The next moment—the shadows beneath Alisa's feet stirred. White hands emerged from the darkness.
One clutched her ankle.
Others gripped her thighs, waist, arms, and even her shoulders.
The God Arc in her hands lifted uncontrollably.
"What the—!?"
Alisa was startled.
Her reflexes tried to resist, but the shadow's grip was far stronger than it appeared.
Kurumi finally stepped closer.
Her footsteps were light over the puddles of rain.
Her smile remained unchanged.
Calm.
"Alisa-san," she said softly, "that's not how you thank your savior."
Alisa froze for a moment.
"What…?"
Kurumi stopped directly in front of her.
Close enough.
Too close.
She leaned slightly, her lips near Alisa's right ear.
"How do I know your name…?" she whispered gently.
Her voice was almost like a soft laugh.
"Because I saw it."
One of Kurumi's hands lifted.
Her fingertip lightly brushed Alisa's waist—just for a moment, as if confirming something.
"And because you're quite famous in this world, Alisa-san."
Alisa Ilinichina Amiella's body tensed.
Her face flushed—not with anger, but with a sudden wave of embarrassment.
The gentle touch on her waist, paired with the warm breath from the woman standing so close behind her, was overwhelmingly intrusive.
The figure before her—beautiful, graceful, dressed like a princess who seemed not of this world—made the situation feel even more surreal.
For a moment, a strange feeling passed through her mind.
As if she were a small creature being toyed with by a predator far calmer and more composed.
"Don't touch me!"
She struggled violently, trying to break free.
But the white hands emerging from the shadows held her mercilessly.
Her blue eyes sharpened, piercing directly at Kurumi Tokisaki.
"If you think I'll thank you just because you saved me—you're very mistaken."
Kurumi stepped back half a pace, leisurely.
Instead of taking offense, the smile on her face widened slightly.
"Ara~"
Her voice was light, almost as if she were enjoying the situation.
Her heterochromatic eyes glimmered faintly as lightning illuminated the night sky behind them.
"So spirited."
She tilted her head gracefully, her black hair swaying softly in the rain.
"It seems this world still holds many interesting things."
____
Author's Note:
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