Nozomi stood in a courtyard surrounded by a dozen bodies. Gangsters, all of them, slain by her radiant blade which even now was glowing with righteous power. The holy power of her patron flowing through her veins shown through her skin like barely contained liquid fire. Her stark white hair fluttered about, so much energy her body could barely contain it. She took a single step forward, energy flared around her in white arcs of lightning that flung the surrounding blood and detritus away from her.

A single drop of blood managed to cross the length of the courtyard where a man stood stiffly, facing away from her as if trying to ignore her offensive presence. The crimson drop splashed across the shoulder of the pure white jokki he wore. He looked at the blood as it absorbed into his clothing, a look of irritation and disgust briefly flashing across his face.

“Why does the Radiant Avenger enter my home uninvited, kill my men, and offend my presence?”

Despite the amount of violent energy she emitted, the voice that leaked from her mouth was contradictorily weak and small, “I’ve come to kill you, sir Jong.”

Jong Woo, head of the Woo Crime Family turned with his left hand casually resting on the hilt of his sword, “Since long before the System, many stronger and more ferocious than you have tried, child. You think you are the only one to receive some kind of righteous decree?”

Nozomi took another laborious step forward, another discharge of holy energy scarred the courtyard, flinging more random bits of debris and gore. Woo flared one of his own abilities, preventing more blood from staining his clothing.

“You’ve hurt people.”

Jong Woo sneered at her simple proclamation while adjusting his stance.

“Of course I have.”

Another step, another surge of power. The energy radiating in her sword began to condense at the tip, while simultaneously ebbing back and forth across the cutting edges. She gestured towards the bodies of Woo’s men.

“Those men raped little girls, even going so far as to abuse and intimidate their families. If they had them.”

Woo waved dismissively at her with his free hand, “Had you brought proof of their misdeeds, they would have been disciplined appropriately.”

Nozomi took another step forward, a blinding flash of light punctuated her advance. Woo blinked as she somehow covered half a dozen paces in one step. He eyed her warily, placing his hand firmly on the hilt of his own sword now.

“You treat the people within your city as subjects, placing unrealistic restrictions on them, taking what they’ve earned and holding the fear of what you might do to their families over their heads when they go out to hunt in the dungeons.”

Woo eased his sword free of its scabbard by an inch, sensing her attack would come after his next response. After her next step.

“They live inside my walls, my rules. They can always leave when they want.”

Nozomi’s eyes shone with ferocity, rather than continue arguing with the insufferable man, she uttered a single word, “[Splendor]”

Radiant holy energy filled the courtyard, Woo’s eyes widened and his hands moved on instinct, drawing his blade straight up in front of his body, while the scabbard was drawn in a cross block. He felt her sword land roughly against the scabbard shoving him back slightly. When his vision focused he noticed a thin cut across his sleeve leaking a narrow line of blood through the white fabric.

Her next attack landed in a brilliant display of light, though he managed to keep his vision this time, however, she moved impossibly fast, her third attack already at its apex. When it landed against his sword, a line of energy bypassed his defense leaving a gash in his other shoulder, this one he felt with a sharp wince.

Woo realized that even if he could stop her blade, he couldn’t stop her power. It seemed to lash at him even when the blade didn’t connect. He spun away from her next attack leaving a trail of yellow and red flowers that scattered in every direction with the passage of her blade. He began channeling his strongest attack as she reoriented on his new position in the courtyard.

“[Blossoming Justice].”

The space they fought in transformed. A cherry blossom somehow grew beneath his feet, then spread out to encompass the entirety of the courtyard. He hovered a meter off the flower as pink petals swirled around his feet and up along his outstretched arm to form a shimmering blade the size of a man above his head. When he dropped his arm, the blade descended on Nozomi who was already moving to counter.

“[Blasphemer].”

The blade of petals crashed down on her just as her ability flared to life. When the display of power was over, Nozomi appeared untouched by the attack, while the petals of the blade that had passed through her were now quickly burning embers and ash behind her. Woo felt the heat from where he stood watching in shock as the Blossom he stood on quickly began to blacken and wilt. As his ability was quickly consumed, the reality of the courtyard came crashing back into focus.

He stumbled as his feet once again found solid ground. Nozomi moved before he could solidify his stance. He brought his sword up far too slowly to stop her attack, so he decided to stop fighting his body's urge to fall to the ground. For a moment he thought he had succeeded in dodging her attack. With a panic he realized that he was no longer moving, followed by a grim realization that he couldn’t feel the rest of his body. Then his panic was squelched by the odd message the System was giving him.

System connection severed…

Interface shutting down…

Nozomi’s blade had passed through the roof of Woo’s open mouth at an angle that saw it pass through the top back of his skull.The power infused in the attack saw the cut made clean and precise. She turned and walked away before the man’s body even finished collapsing lifeless to the ground, while the top part of his head tumbled in a different direction. While she was quite familiar with the taking of evil lives, she still held on to a certain amount of innocence that dictated she not revel in the gruesomeness of it. Her mother, the Goddess protect her soul, would not be pleased if she did.

Sae Jin, one of her newest companions, appeared just inside the entryway of the courtyard. “Ick! You okay?”

“Yes, did you release the children?”

He held up his tablet in pride, a drawing depicting the rescue of dozens of children from cages located in some kind of dank and dark space graced the screen. His abilities were the strangest she’d seen yet. While not the most practical in a fast paced battle, he could draw or paint almost any kind of tool or device his mind could imagine. He was even capable of changing the state of an object. The more detail he put into the illustration, the more real, the more effectual it would be when it was conjured.

Freeing the children that Woo held hostage in order to keep the people of Busan in line was as simple as drawing their cages with broken locks. Out in the streets, children were being escorted to the town square by two other of her traveling companions where they would be reunited with their families, if they still lived. Several of the city Ajjuma’s made it clear that any children who didn’t have any remaining family would be cared for by the elders.

“Good, what about- the others?”

The others referred to the women that were being forced to service Woo’s men at one of the local spas. A contingent of his people were there as guards. She had asked another of her companions to deal with that issue.

“Clint is wrapping up over there now, should we go and see if he needs any help?”

The voice of the friendly western man echoing from an alley beside them made that course of action unnecessary, “No need! It’s all done. There were only a few there. When I dispatched their guards, the women ran off screaming. Not the reception I was expecting.”

Jin laughed while Nozomi brooded for a moment. Then she came to a decision herself, their work here was done. Her Patron had given her an urgent task, and she would see it through.

“Gather the others. My Patron’s task still requires completion.”

A pair of young Japanese women took that moment to turn the corner, her other two companions; Akira Yanase, a sturdy recurve bow in her hand and a quiver full of enchanted arrows at her hip, and Misato Yanase, her sister who wielded the elemental magics. Clint was their resident tank as Nozomi filled the more traditional role of a Cleric, though with significantly more punch.

“Mother, the children are secure. The community has offered us food and rest for the night.” Akira mentioned pointedly. That was a new thing, Mother. Even though the girls were technically older than she was, when she had described how she had come to be, and her interaction with what amounted to be a Goddess, the sisters had declared her a prophet and named her Mother of Hope. The System ran with it. Now whenever they could, they espoused the virtues of their new religion. Sometimes she cringed when they would proselytize to the masses as she came to realize that the Patron was like any other being in the System. She was potential, the same potential which was available to anyone who worked hard enough for it.

Nozomi eyed the look of hopefulness on all of her companions' faces. Her heart swelled with indecision. When Misato formed a pout on her face she couldn’t take it anymore. “Fine, it’s just-”

“The Patron has willed us a task! We know, Mother!” The sisters barked in unison. Misato continued, “But that task is in the middle of Siberia, and the Patron of Hope knows we can’t make that journey in a day.”

Elora, The Patron of Hope, had tasked her newest disciple with the elimination of one of the existential Challenges that the System had set upon the planet. She had sent her to face Death, who was currently carving a path through Siberia somewhere near the border of Mongolia. That part of the planet, unfortunately, did not have much in the way of a burgeoning population before the System.

“Okay, I suppose a hot meal and a soft bed would do us good. Anyway, there was a hot spring that looked rather appealing just at the end of the street.”

The girls squealed their pleasure and the party headed back into town to be showered by the praise and well wishes of the townspeople they had just saved.

Elora, Patron of Hope

Elora stood atop a tall Busan skyscraper watching her newest Champion walk back into the town with her friends. She smiled as they chatted, blushed as her two acolytes gushed about her being the Mother of Hope. Elora didn’t mind, though she thought the term Mother was quite inaccurate, considering she spent a considerable amount of power to remake the girl in her image she should be called Daughter.

“Oh well, it’s already taken root in the System. Not even worth attempting to correct it at this point.” She breathed in the power that the two acolytes were funneling her as they espoused Nozomi’s connection to their chosen Goddess. Part of advancing through Tier IV involved gathering a following. It didn’t have to be overtly religious per se, though that seemed to be the easiest path to advancement. It was that or facing the horrors that spawned in other Verses that had failed to manage their mana creation.

“She’s growing into her role quite nicely.” The Druid, who was visiting her again for reasons he’d yet to reveal, stood next to her watching the procession of people showering gifts and thanks on her Champion.

“She is. I’m quite pleased.” She stated with much satisfaction, “How does your own Champion fare, Druid?”

He sat against the ledge of the tall building and stared off in the distance for a moment before responding, “Seems he’s about to face off against War.”

She looked at him incredulously, “And you’re here? I know I’m beautiful, but-”

He looked at her with a sheepish grin, “Now, we did have something at one time, didn’t we?” She rolled her eyes, but he continued, “Not what I’m here for, I was wondering if you’d talked to the others?”

“I ran into Dogon a while back, he’s got a Champion in the Philippines. He mentioned a run-in with Pazuzu. Other than that, I haven’t run into any of the others. You know how we like our personal space.” She fixed him with a pointed glare. The Druid just smiled back at her.

“Hmm, I’ve seen the Shadow’s hand in Iran. Araj has that young one with the curses in China. Terrible thing that one, out of his mind he is and Araj is just reveling in it. Oh, Adranus too, in Pompei. Think he’s taking a bath in the recently awakened volcano there. Don’t know if he has a Champion or is just on vacation.”

“I see, why do you ask?”

“Well, you felt the Manifestations, right?”

She looked at him, irritation slipping to concern, “Yes, though it seems the Administrator has things well in hand.”

“Pah! He’s just given the Templar an excuse to land on the planet. However, that’s not what I’m concerned about. I think there’s a Greater Manifestation underneath the Australian continent.”

This caught her attention, she’d only felt the emergence of the two that were currently being dealt with by local forces. If a Greater Manifestation of the Old Gods were present, every Tier IV in the system would know. It was the kind of thing that her kind hunted when they weren’t playing their games of power. It might be the only other time they would tolerate each other for more than a minute without attempting to kill each other. She and the Druid had a special relationship forged thousands of years ago, lingering feelings the only reason she humored his visits.

“If a Greater Manifestation was present I’d have felt it. We all would, and a Moot would have been called immediately after. It’s our duty, despite our differences, to stamp a threat of that level out the moment it's recognized. Where is it, Druid!” She was on the verge of yelling in a panic towards the end. She took a breath and calmed her nerves.

The Druid, to his credit, continued in his usual casual tone, “Deep. I mean- deep. Where the little things grow with no light, their shallow roots scraping at the top of the bedrock, the mantle. I can sense it there through the mosses and lichen. Its presence is faint though, like it hasn’t fully emerged, or its being shielded.”

She looked at him for long moments of uncertainty. If what he said was true, then this world and its people were in danger. The people that came to migrate and settle were in danger, if the abomination emerged, it would swallow the entire solar system. It would take hundreds of her tier to suppress it. And a petition to a real God to kill it.

“Gods above and below, why haven’t you sent out the call!?”

“I’m not sure it's really there, I was going to investigate, but if I go alone…”

“Yes, if you don’t come back from that encounter, none will know until it’s too late. Did you mention your suspicions to your Forgotten God?”

“No. He seems only interested in what the Warlord Reaper is doing. Will you go with me, Elora? I don’t want to call a Moot only to find nothing.”

She looked down at her Champion who was resting peacefully in one of the many hot springs that dotted the landscape. If she didn’t investigate… “I wouldn’t be a very good Patron of Hope if I didn’t face the hopeless things, now would I?

The Druid smiled with relief, “Thank you.”

Then the pair of System Demi-Gods rocketed off to see just what was lurking beneath Australia, hoping to all the True Gods that it was just some other explainable anomaly.