"Let us try one last experiment then…"
"What?"
"Chaos, the humans are flawed are they not?" Anima asked as she turned around and faced Chaos.
"They are. But what is your point here Anima? What do you mean by one last experiment." Chaos asked, the bad feeling in her heart growing with each passing moment.
Seeing the insanity within Anima's eyes, Chaos knew that something had gone wrong.
"As they are flawed, lesser beings. It is only natural that our experiments regarding them would also be flawed. If we do not understand them on a deeper level, how can we provide? And if we, the creators, cannot understand them nor provide them with a better world, are we not flawed ourselves?" Anima questioned, causing Chaos to frown at her statement.
"Anima you know that is not the case."
"You are wrong. I do know. I know that in the time I have spent as a human, unless we understand them properly we can never provide them with a paradise. Thus I propose this. One last experiment, one where the entire realm is sent through the process of cycles. So that we may learn the human mind." Anima laughed as her mana surged around her.
"Are you insane!? Do you know the consequences of dragging the entire realm through the concept of cycles?!" Chaos shouted out. Waving her hand, a myriad of magic circles converged and shot towards Anima in an attempt to stop what she was planning.
It was her mistake, she should've understood that Anima was too far gone after living in a cycle and the souls merged with hers. She should've cut them out herself and returned Anima to what she was before. Yet that time has passed now.
"Am I insane? Perhaps you are right… You know what? Yeah! You are right!" Anima laughed as she snapped her finger.
The space around her ruptured as crimson circuits shot towards each magic circle, breaking them apart without issue.
"For the sake of fairness, no one within this realm will be spared from the experiment. Everyone will be included and this world will continue to repeat until a satisfactory result is gained." Anima declared coldly.
Clasping her hands together, the space within the labs was isolated as Chaos looked around in shock. Countless circuits have already spread across the realms and talking was just a way for Anima to gain some time to prepare her plan.
"Anima stop this! You don't know what you are doing!" Chaos shouted out in a last bid to try to get Anima back to her senses, but her words fell on deaf ears.
Conjuring a wave of tier 9 magic circles, Chaos gritted her teeth and resolved to kill Anima if that's the last thing she could do.
Yet her plans could not reach fruition as all of her magic circles shattered apart before being properly formed.
Anima had planned for this already. She knew that she would struggle against Chaos without any back up plans since Chaos was simply stronger than her. However, with the book that she had gifted her, Anima was allowed to understand a new avenue of power.
One that allowed her to influence the laws of reality and make changes where needed.
Creating a barrier around herself, Anima closed her eyes and started to absorb the energy from around her.
In front of her, a strange core was being formed. It absorbed every kind of energy from her surroundings, whether that be destruction or creation. Little by little, it radiated the same aura as Chaos.
Realising that she couldn't attack Anima at all or put a stop to it, Chaos resigned herself to her fate.
But there was one last thing she could do.
If Anima was adamant on going through with this experiment, then so be it. However, she will be cursed to persist until the day she ceases to exist.
'A normal curse wouldn't do anything to Anima…' Chaos bit her lips as she was thinking of ways she could restrict Anima so that their world could continue to live on.
"Anima! I'm sorry for what I must do. I should've never sent you to the cycles. Perhaps you would've been happier in blissful ignorance. But what's done is done, I will atone for my mistakes and hope you will get clarity later in life." Chaos shouted out as Anima furrowed her brows in confusion.
With her circuits now rewriting reality, she was sure that Chaos didn't have anything else she could do.
However, her disposition right now told her otherwise. Before Anima could react, Chaos took a deep breath and plunged her hand into her chest. Ripping out the essence of her being, Chaos forced a brave smile and weaved together a tier 9 magic circle.
It was an idea she gained after remembering what Anima suffered when she first recorded the cycles. How all of the souls tried to merge with her.
'My own soul as a catalyst… I'll impose a curse upon her that will make her see the end of this experiment till the day it's complete. It will not allow her to stop half way. A universal law that she cannot remedy. I'm sorry for what I must do, my daughter…' Chaos apologised as determination flared in her eyes.
Clasping her hands together, she shattered her core into a myriad of pieces that started to transform into a faint translucent thread.
"At the start of everything there was me. With my all, I created this world that we know of. While you may be rewriting what I have done, I will make sure you cannot avoid this my daughter. With the final light of my life, I will impose an immovable law!" Chaos shouted out as the threads of her core intertwined itself with the new core that Anima was making.
Magic circles manifested itself around Anima as chains clasped against her body.
Gritting her teeth, Anima tried to free herself but her attempts were futile. The sequence was set in motion and not even she could stop it. Reality will be warped and Chaos' curse will continue.
Seeing that her curse has successfully latched itself onto Anima, Chaos sighed and glanced at the world that was breaking apart around her.
There was one last thing she wanted to do. One last blessing for this world, one that will protect the people that live within the cycles to the best of her abilities.
She'll chain herself to the laws and use her body as a catalyst for stability. Her soul will restrain Anima while her body will stabilise the world, allowing mana to flow freely.
As her body started to crumble apart, she could see Anima screaming something towards her but she could not hear anything.
The last thing she saw was a new ring forming around Anima's magic circle as she rewrites reality.
Meanwhile, Shiro observed in silence. Her theory was true in the end. The first Anima, the one who learned the human heart, had set everything in motion. She was called Order because she became responsible for all the universal laws.
Her pain, her torture all stemmed from knowledge she gained.
'How long has it been since the start? How many cycles has she witnessed?...' Shiro thought to herself before turning her attention to the final ring around Anima.
The secrets of her tier 10 magic circle. It wasn't something that could be brute forced. There must be a resonance between the user and the universal laws that make up the world. She already had the answers as Anima attained tier 10 with the help of the original system that she created.
Shiro knew that she could do the same but her approach was flawed. Right now, she knows that she could probably attain the same level of power. But there was a feeling in her heart that once she does, she could never turn back anymore.
Watching the scene disappear, the world turned white. Shiro was left with her own thoughts.
'The curse of Chaos… Did Anima want to die by her own hand? With the curse, she could not stop no matter how much time had passed. But if her plans came true, she wouldn't be in the cycles. Aria makes sense and Chaos sacrificed herself to grant stability so she wouldn't be in the cycles either. But why am I here? Me who's a copy of Anima, one of the many that she created later…' Shiro thought to herself.
She remembered what Anima said, how 'Anima's' role was for Shiro to exist. Was it the same for her? The Anima that obtained tier 10 and set everything into motion.
'What does the role of 'Shiro' entail? When she dies, what next? The cycle cannot continue without her being there and the curse will not allow her to stop half way…' Shiro thought to herself but she did not know the answers.
Shaking her head, she watched as the world returned back to normal.
[Playback has been completed.]
'Thank you Error.' Shiro smiled as she could tell that Error was exhausted from digging up the truths buried behind everything.
With her knowledge of the events now complete, she could make educated guesses on some of Anima's actions but things had to wait for now.
She wanted to take care of the beast that was making its way towards her realm before confronting Anima.
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