When he came to, he felt an external force trying to analyze him, attempting to enter his core—without success. He might be a remnant of what once was, but he still retained his will.
"Foreign soul detected. Initiating adaptation process… error. The soul resists alteration. Seeking solutions… successful."
Then, Goetia felt information being integrated into his core. It explained that he couldn't enter the world as he was, due to incompatibility with its laws.
Goetia considered this for a while. In the end, he chose to accept some of the changes—but not all.
"Acknowledged. Reconstructing body using soul memory as template… success.
Initiating adaptation of skills.
Intrinsic abilities have been modified. The skill [Authority of the Beast] meets the requirements to become an Ultimate Skill. Adaptation successful."
---
He had fallen into another world.
That was Goetia's first thought as he surveyed the landscape around him while sitting on the grass. With a thought, a crystal mirror formed before him.
He looked at his body: long, radiant orange hair that reached his back, his missing right arm, and the black burns that covered the entire right side of his body, trailing from his neck to his foot.
Dismissing the mirror, Goetia stared into the void for a long time—until he felt raindrops begin to fall, and the sky darken.
"Rain, huh?" he murmured, puzzled. He knew of it, but had never experienced it—he had always resided within the Timeless Temple.
Sighing, Goetia stood from the grass and conjured a barrier to keep the rain from touching him. At that moment, he noticed ten rings beside where he had been sitting. Nine gold, and one silver.
With a trembling hand, Goetia bent down and made the rings float before his eyes. Pain, remorse, solitude—these emotions flickered in his gaze.
Banishing useless thoughts, Goetia let the rings float around him as he looked up at the sky, heavy with storm clouds.
"It doesn't matter. I don't know why I'm here, or who sent me. But… maybe this is a chance to find a new purpose. Maybe… just maybe… I can revive my family."
The people of this world didn't know what had arrived. They couldn't understand. And that was fine.
Goetia didn't seek to be understood.
He wasn't a savior. He wasn't an enemy. He had simply come because something—or someone—had allowed it. Because he had survived the end. Because he still existed.
And now he walked the earth once more. That was enough.
---
Days passed, and Goetia settled in a cabin he built on the outskirts of a forest. He created the essentials and found a river five kilometers away where he could fish.
These days helped him settle into this new place. He realized many things were different here. At first, he thought he was in a Lostbelt, or had arrived in another timeline.
But everything was different.
The stars of this world were aligned in entirely different ways. Sometimes, on his way to the river, he saw strange creatures moving in the distance—beasts several meters tall, monsters with no intelligence, not even on par with phantasmal beasts.
He lived like this for several weeks, studying the constellations so he could once again use his astromancy, which he hadn't been able to access due to the shift, and examined his Saint Graph.
The results were just what he expected.
"Some structures of my Saint Graph were modified, though they managed to partially restore themselves and are compatible with the magic of this world."
"The output is only four percent for now," Goetia analyzed aloud, as the image of his spiritual core faded.
"It's time to move. I must see this world with my own eyes."
He studied the local geography and seasons using scanning spells, and his efforts paid off—he found a city several kilometers away.
Perfect for beginning to wander, to learn about their culture, their customs, to see if people lived mundane lives or practiced sorcery.
"This world is fascinating. The mana in the air—or its equivalent—is as dense as it was in the age of gods. A normal human would explode if exposed to this level of energy."
Goetia mused to himself while adjusting his cloak and stepping outside. With a single gesture, the small house vanished, and he sighed as he gazed up at the sky.
---
Several hours later, after walking nonstop, Goetia climbed a hill and finally caught sight of the city. Even from afar, its massive scale was clear.
It was an imposing metropolis. He could see its monumental and symmetrical architecture long before reaching its gates.
As he approached, the guards at the gates stopped him, their instincts reacting to the suffocating aura he gave off—an effect only heightened when they met his gaze.
One guard stepped forward and spoke in a language Goetia did not understand.
"Halt'rein! Kura nazen drovael, shan'tir velgros aktae?"
Goetia detected elements of other languages—Latin and German, perhaps—in the words. Playing with that, his mind began to grasp the phonetics and structure of the language as the guard continued shouting.
In mere seconds, Goetia comprehended the soldier's speech.
"I'll say it one last time before I ask you to leave! State your name and purpose, stranger!"
"Goetia. I'm just a tourist," he finally replied in a deep, calm voice—startling the guard a little.
The soldier nodded, eyeing Goetia from head to toe, then signaled to his companion and opened the way.
"Very well, Goetia. You may enter the city. Welcome to Nasca," he said with a smile.
Goetia nodded indifferently and entered the city. He was immediately assaulted by the bustling energy of the street, laid out in precise geometric patterns—reflecting the military order and discipline of the empire.
As he walked along the paved roads, Goetia observed how the houses varied in style and culture. He drew many curious glances—especially from women drawn to his long, lustrous hair.
But most people stared at the spot where his right arm should have been, and at the burns, stark against his regal, dominant presence.
"I don't need your pitiful sympathy," Goetia thought, locking eyes with those who looked at him with pity.
Then, a boy no older than nine approached and tugged at his sleeve.
"You're not hungry, but your face is empty. Did you lose someone?"
Goetia didn't answer. He kept walking.
"Don't worry. I know what it's like to be sad and alone, with no one to talk to. We could chat for a bit, if you want?"
Goetia stopped and looked at the boy holding his robe. His words, for some reason, irritated him—but he couldn't form a response.
"Didn't your parents teach you not to meddle in others' lives, kid?" Goetia said, locking eyes with him in an attempt to intimidate.
But the attempt failed. The boy simply looked at him, confused, seemingly not understanding the meaning behind his words.
"Mother? I don't have one. My family's gone," the boy replied, smiling—leaving Goetia unsettled by his reaction.
Without another word, Goetia approached a woman selling apples. "How much for the apples?"
"One Rudra for five apples. How many would you like, sir?" the elderly woman asked.
Goetia didn't know the Rudra currency, so he had to ask about its value in gold coins.
"I'm new to this… city. What's the equivalent in gold?"
"One Rudra equals a hundred silver coins. A hundred silver coins equal one gold coin," the old woman answered with a smile.
Goetia nodded, pulled a gold coin from his pocket, and took the five apples. As he turned to leave, the old woman touched his shoulder, still smiling.
"Smile more, son. No matter what happened, life needs a bit of joy to be worth living."
She returned to her customers, while Goetia stood there, silently analyzing her words.
"A… smile? But I've never smiled," he whispered—only to be interrupted by the same boy from earlier.
"You gotta start somewhere, mister. After my parents died, I never stopped smiling—they asked me not to."
Goetia looked at the child, speechless. He pulled out an apple and handed it to him. The boy took it and grinned even wider.
As he ran off, he shouted back at Goetia one last time:
"Hope we meet again, sir! And remember—it doesn't have to be real. You gotta learn to walk before you can run!!"
Goetia watched him disappear into the crowd, and didn't say a word for several minutes.
"Telling me, Goetia, Beast of Pity… King of Demon Gods… to learn to walk before I run…"
Unconsciously, a smile grew on his face as he shook his head, though it quickly vanished when he felt someone watching him from somewhere.
Goetia searched for the source of the gaze, but quickly lost track of it.
Unbothered by the act, he resumed his path toward the inn where he would be staying. Whoever was watching him from the shadows would cross paths with him eventually.
"Perhaps this world has something to offer… maybe… humanity is different," he murmured as he walked.
---
Emperor's Palace
A bearded general with a stern expression was kneeling before a golden-haired young man in white robes. Beside him stood a beautiful young woman with blue hair and a black dress that accentuated her figure.
"My lord, we detected a being with unknown energy on the outskirts of the city. After confirming he had no hostile intentions, we allowed him to enter."
Emperor Rudra nodded and asked, "That's fine, but why are you bringing this to me? Can't you handle it yourself?"
"Yes, my lord, but his aura… it was strange. It was demonic, yet very different from the demons we've encountered before, my lord."
Rudra and Velgrynd beside him grew more serious, though they didn't show it outwardly and simply nodded as Rudra dismissed the general.
"Very well. Thank you for your report. Return to your duties."
The general nodded and left after bowing.
Rudra turned to look at Velgrynd beside him.
"Velgrynd, what do you think of what Auron said?"
Velgrynd said nothing for a moment. She expanded her senses throughout the city of Nasca and quickly found the man the general had mentioned.
Long, thick orange hair. The right half of his body was burned and covered in strange runes, and he lacked a right arm. That eerie demonic aura Auron spoke of surrounded him.
As she observed him, Velgrynd saw how the man looked directly in her direction. She glimpsed something in his eyes—something hidden...
——————————————————————
Author's Note: Hi friends, I hope you enjoy this fanfic, and especially Goetia, the great beast of mercy in tension. Haha, let me know what you think.
2 chapters will be published per week.