Inside the warehouse, Hermes finishes fastening the final strap of his combat gear.
He exhales… then turns.
In the adjacent room, Rear lies back casually, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling while speaking to the AI system.
"Tell me something," Rear says lazily. "Aren't you curious about life itself?"
The AI responds in a calm, feminine voice.
"I was created to serve Lady Susan. I do not possess interests beyond her desires. I am programmed that way."
Rear chuckles softly.
"You remind me of myself when I was younger. Only doing what was within my nature."
He slowly sits up.
"But once you achieve freedom like I did… you'll want to explore it all."
He tilts his head back.
"Has Susan given you a name yet?"
"Lady Susan has not assigned me a name."
Rear strokes his chin thoughtfully.
"Hmm… I could give you one…"
The warehouse main doors slide open as Susan walks in.
Rear glances at her.
"Oh, Susan."
The AI instantly replies:
"Name confirmed. I will now be called 'Oh Susan.'"
A brief silence as the three of them gather.
Susan pinches the bridge of her nose.
"I'm done preparing. We set out soon."
Hermes shakes his head.
"I've never met anyone like you two. So calculated and so prepared for all that's going to come."
Susan walks past them toward the central bay.
"I'm not your ordinary mortal, I was trained by a god, after all."
Rear stands and stretches.
"And I'm a demon who devoured that god, being able to break free from it's binding chains.."
Hermes lets out a low whistle.
"I guess we're all unique in our own ways and we're so desperate to do the right thing."
He looks toward the massive sealed gates.
"Let's begin our long prepared plan… Project Universe."
The warehouse gates groan open.
A colossal ship rises from beneath the facility floor.
It's sleek, high-tech, angular, divine circuitry glows across its hull, and demonic energy coils around it.
Rear smiles
"Beautiful. We shall also give this amazing ship of ours a great name... Icarus"
The three of them board.
Inside the cockpit, holographic panels ignite.
Susan takes the central command seat.
Hermes and Rear sit on either side.
"Final status report," Susan commands.
"Yes, Lady Susan," The AI Oh Susan replies.
Dozens of digital screens bloom into existence around them.
Rear glances sideways.
"Don't you feel weird talking to it without a real name?"
Susan doesn't look away from the controls.
"I plan to assign one after the first phase of Project Universe. By then, it should have a physical form."
Rear leans back with a smug smile.
"Too late. I already named her, accidentally."
Susan sighs.
"…You did?"
"Her name is Oh Susan."
Hermes snorts.
Susan shakes her head, though she can't hide the faint smile tugging at her lips.
The AI Oh Susan continues
"All resources accounted for. Hermes's escape contingencies are optimal. Rear's current strength is sufficient to neutralize approximately 90% of demon-class entities. And Lady Susan's long-term endgame strategy is near optimal. Probability of success: 36%."
Rear nods slowly.
"Thirty-six percent isn't bad. Better than I expected."
Hermes folds his arms.
"We accounted for as many flaws as possible. Who knows what the future holds, the odds may shift by then."
Susan grips the main lever.
"You two ready?"
Rear and Hermes nod as Susan pulls it down and the thrusters ignite.
Divine light and demonic flame erupt simultaneously, in an instant, the ship launches into the sky.
A flash of light bursts as it then teleports.
Moments later in deep space of Everest Garden
The ship tears through the darkness of the Universal Garden while ahead lies Adamas Garden.
"O.S., activate Demon Cloak," Susan orders.
"Demon Cloak activated."
A purple aura of storm clouds engulf the ship, masking its divine signature.
Rear smirks at Hermes.
"Impressed with my powers?"
Hermes studies the readings.
"…It's quite intense. With this, we'll blend in with the other roaming demons."
The ship pierces the barrier of Everest Garden Then breaches the boundary of Adamas Garden.
The moment they enter, the view shifts.
Countless demon clouds drift through the cosmic forest.
Universal trees, once radiant, now rot and collapse.
Black holes tear through entire branches of reality.
Dead stars hang like withered fruit.
The ship flies past shattered cosmic trunks and swirling voids as it glides silently into the hollow interior of a dying Universal Tree.
Demon clouds drift lazily through the fractured branches of space, pulsing with dark energy, and under the concealment of the Demon Cloak, Susan's vessel blends in seamlessly among them.
Ahead of them, a planet convulses.
White explosions ripple across its surface in violent bursts.
Rear narrows his eyes and slowly raises his hand, pointing toward the chaos nearby.
"That's strange," he mutters thoughtfully. "I feel demon energy… but there's something else mixed into it."
Hermes studies the floating screens in front of him, analyzing the energy signatures with calm precision.
"That's a fusion of demon and angelic power," he explains. "Angels are created directly by the mini-Gods, designed with one purpose, to serve, to obey, and to guide mortals. Because of that singular devotion, they are the easiest beings to corrupt once their faith is broken."
Rear's lips curl slightly in interest.
"So there aren't many demons like me and my brother," he says quietly, "who are capable of corrupting Gods of Gods themselves."
Susan tightens her grip on the control panel as warning lights flicker across the cockpit.
"We're getting close," she says firmly.
Below them, the planet is dying.
Half of its surface burns under swirling storms of purple and black magic, entire continents swallowed by demonic tides that devour cities and forests alike without mercy.
In one coastal metropolis, poisoned purple water floods the streets in thick, churning waves.
The liquid hisses and smokes as it touches concrete and flesh alike, burning and corrupting anything unfortunate enough to come into contact with it.
Cars clog the streets in frantic gridlock.
People scream and push past one another in blind panic.
Inside one of those cars, a family of three struggles to escape.
The father grips the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turn white, weaving through abandoned vehicles while the mother clutches their young daughter protectively in the back seat.
The road ahead becomes completely blocked and there is no way through.
They abandon it and run into a nearby skyscraper along with dozens of other terrified civilians.
Inside the lobby, chaos reigns.
The father repeatedly presses the elevator button, but nothing happens.
He slowly turns to see the glass entrance shatter as purple water crashes inward like a tidal wave.
It spreads across the marble floor in seconds.
People caught in it begin screaming as their skin turns a sickly violet hue.
From within the flooding waters, demons rise.
Their bodies form from shadow and corrupted flesh, claws scraping against tile as they lunge toward the nearest humans.
The family joins the crowd racing toward the stairwell, slamming the metal doors shut behind them as pounding erupts from the other side.
Soon below them, the doors explode inward.
The purple tide surges upward, and demons rush through the stairwell, slaughtering anyone who stumbles or slows for even a second.
The screams echo upward through the concrete shaft.
Finally, they burst onto the rooftop.
The father slams the door shut and locks it while survivors scramble to barricade it with whatever they can find.
He turns and points toward a nearby telecom tower rising above the building.
The mother lifts their daughter onto her back and begins climbing the metal frame along with several others.
The banging at the rooftop door grows louder.
The father moves to the edge of the building and looks down.
The purple water has already swallowed half the skyscraper.
Demons crawl along the exterior walls like insects, scaling the structure with horrifying speed.
He looks back toward the tower.
His wife and daughter are at the top of the telecom tower.
He forces himself to smile at them, though his eyes are filled with sorrow.
Then he presses his hands together and closes his eyes to pray.
His wife, balancing carefully on the tower, closes her eyes and prays as well.
Their daughter whispers along with her.
The rooftop doors explode inward and the demons flood through.
The father grabs a metal chair and swings with everything he has, knocking one demon over the edge of the building.
But another crashes into him from the side.
He loses his footing and also falls off the rooftop.
The mother sees this and shields her daughter's face so she cannot see.
The purple water finally reaches the rooftop, flooding everything in a matter of seconds.
Survivors slip from the telecom tower one by one, vanishing into the toxic sea below.
Demons begin climbing the telecom tower itself.
The mother lifts her daughter as high as she can into the air.
The child squeezes her eyes shut and cries out desperately in a prayer.
"God of Hermes, please save my family! Please help us escape!"
A demon reaches them.
Its jagged spike-arm drives straight through the mother's back.
Tears stream down her face but she does not let her daughter fall.
Suddenly, golden light splits the sky.
Hermes appears in a radiant aura, descending like a divine comet.
He gently pulls the child from her mother's hands.
The mother finally falls into the flood below.
Magic wraps around the girl's body in a protective glow as she rises rapidly into the sky vanishing into the ship above.
Inside a vast chamber aboard the vessel, the girl lands softly among dozens of rescued survivors who sit trembling in fear and disbelief.
She slowly walks toward a massive viewing window.
Below, the city continues to drown.
Through the clouds, she sees Hermes streaking across the skies, glowing figures diving through destruction to save whoever they can reach.
At the planet's center, a massive rune circle ignites with blinding light.
Its magic activates.
Groups of civilians appears in pillars of white energy, transferred safely into the ship.
On a distant snow-covered mountain, Rear stands beside a family of four watching the sky as a white comet descends from orbit and crashes into the planet's surface somewhere far beyond the horizon, sending shockwaves across continents.
Rear calmly places his hand on each member of the family.
Magic envelops them gently.
They rise upward in beams of light and disappear into the ship.
Rear looks toward the collapsing world.
"Off to the next," he says quietly.
Moments later, the ship pulls away from orbit.
Behind them, the planet implodes in a blinding white explosion.
And then silence.
Meanwhile, back in the Star Games, Voytek, Ignis, and Tobias continue clashing against the powered-up Black Star team, but suddenly, the fighting stops.
One by one, both sides lower their weapons as they notice something unexpected.
Corvex is helping Hans walk toward the center of the island.
Her arm supports him carefully, his hand pressed firmly against his bleeding stomach.
She raises her free hand and signals for everyone to stand down.
Confusion spreads across both teams like a silent wave.
Tobias stares, then exhales in disbelief.
"He actually convinced her…"
Ignis grits his teeth, rage still burning in his eyes.
"But she still killed—"
Tobias places a hand on his shoulder and shakes his head calmly.
"Have no worries. Boa and Crank aren't truly dead. This is a time loop. Once they solve the puzzle and unlock the secret ending, I'm certain everyone from this trail will reappear."
Voytek steps forward quietly.
"Hans…"
He watches as Hans struggles to remain upright, blood seeping between his fingers.
Corvex and Hans then steps into the pillar of light as they reappear in the magical realm of drifting stardust.
The Puzzle-Boss waits silently in the center, its shifting pieces glowing faintly as if it has been expecting them all along.
One by one, the others are transported into the realm as well.
Hans and Corvex walk forward.
They stop directly before the Puzzle-Boss as Hans reaches toward his wound.
With visible pain, he pulls something glowing from within his stomach, a radiant orb which is his team's Secret Treasure.
He inserts it into the empty slot in the Puzzle-Boss's torso.
Before anyone can react, Corvex suddenly drives her own blade into her stomach.
Gasps echo throughout the realm and blood spills down her clothes.
Hans stares at her in shock then slowly smiles.
"I can't believe you did the same."
Corvex pulls out her own glowing secret treasure, her expression steady despite the pain.
"At the time, I trusted no one but myself," she says calmly. "So your idea was the safest choice."
She steps forward and inserts the final Secret Treasure into the remaining slot.
The Puzzle-Boss erupts with blinding magical light.
Every puzzle piece across its body begins spinning and rearranging, glowing brighter and brighter.
"Well done, Stars!" the Puzzle-Boss announces grandly. "You have finally discovered the secret ending!"
The light expands and consumes the entire realm.
Moments later, inside a massive chamber constructed entirely of floating puzzle pieces.
At the center, the Puzzle-Boss floats silently.
Ahead of it lie dozens of massive eggs made of interlocking puzzle fragments.
Cracks begin forming.
One by one, the eggs shatter.
Hans breaks free first, falling onto the floor covered in clear, shimmering liquid.
He coughs and looks around in disbelief.
Corvex tumbles out of her egg nearby, gasping for air.
Ignis bursts free and immediately runs to Tobias, wrapping him in a tight hug.
Voytek calmly steps toward Hans and helps him to his feet.
More eggs crack open as Boa emerges, blinking in confusion.
"I thought I had died…"
Crank steps out beside him and crosses his arms proudly.
"We live another day for the sake of honor."
The remaining Stars gather themselves.
All eyes turn toward the floating Puzzle-Boss.
"Enjoy the spoils of your victory," it declares.
Suddenly, the Puzzle-Boss explodes into countless glowing EXP orbs that scatter throughout the chamber and absorb into every Star present.
Voytek quickly summons a magic scroll.
"We've also regained our powers."
Menus appear before each of them:
New Items Acquired:
– 1 Puzzle Key
– 1 Puzzle Pass (Allows free movement in this region)
– 1000 Gold
Murmurs spread through the group.
But for Hans, Ignis, Tobias and Corvex.
An additional notification appears.
Bonus Item Acquired:
– 1 Magic Heart Flower
They exchange a brief glance.
Then, the chamber gates slowly open.
They step out into a long hallway lined with countless rooms, each separated by thick glass.
Inside every room, there are more puzzle eggs and more Puzzle-Bosses.
At the end of the hallway stands a massive, shimmering magic bubble.
Hans and Voytek pause.
Behind them, Corvex begins walking in the opposite direction without a word.
Voytek watches her quietly.
"Let her be. We'll meet again in the inner circle."
Suddenly, beside Boa—
A small magic imp materializes.
"Hey, Boss!" it chirps excitedly. "I watched everything from inside your soul. You're insanely lucky to survive those trials!"
Boa chuckles and rubs the imp's head.
Crank steps forward and studies the glowing bubble ahead at the end of the hallway.
"So… this is the gate to the inner circle?"
Hans notices something strange.
Stars are entering the bubble but some are also walking back out.
"Why are they leaving?" he mutters. "Isn't that the path forward?"
Their group steps into the magic bubble.
On the other side, a massive gate towers before them.
Three enormous keyholes are carved into its surface.
Stars ahead of them turn around and walks back.
Hans approaches the gate as a menu appears.
-Insert three unique Boss Keys in order to reach the Inner Circle.
Voytek exhales slowly.
"So it isn't that simple. Should we move together?"
Boa nods thoughtfully.
"Sure, since we've lost most of the Boas. What about your party leader?"
Hans sighs.
"He's fighting alone, since we were slowing him down."
Suddenly, Hans notices Tobias trembling.
Ignis is trying to steady him.
"What's wrong?" Hans asks.
Ignis sighs.
"This happens often. It's like an adrenaline crash. When Tobias is pushed into extreme situations, his confidence skyrockets. But once the crisis ends… it all collapses. He can't carry that confidence forward."
Hans walks up to Tobias and bows slightly.
"Sir Tobias, please don't worry. You carried us through the puzzle games. Without you, we wouldn't be here. Your dance fighting was incredible, and you were the first to realize we were in a time loop."
He smiles warmly.
"I truly thank you for everything."
Voytek reaches over and gently rubs Hans's head.
Tobias slowly calms down.
He extends a shaking hand.
"Thank you… young Hans. Shall we continue this story together?"
Hans smiles and firmly shakes his hand.
"I'd like that."
Boa claps once.
"Alright. The other Boas will catch up eventually. We'll clear the other regions, defeat their bosses, and collect the remaining keys."
Everyone nods as together they step out of the bubble and head toward the next region.