The girl had long black hair, neatly cut bangs, snow-white skin, slender, elegant eyes, and a charming beauty mark under her left eye—a standard Japanese-style beauty.
Watching Dies Irae on her computer, which was almost finished loading, Ruri very naturally used a haughty tone to introduce the game to the fans in her livestream.
"Fuhu~ My lowly servants, you must know about the hugely famous Raiden Games, the one that's already earned the label of the top dog in the action game world, right?"
"Now they've actually extended their reach into the realm of narrative text games. Some outsiders aren't optimistic about Raiden Games, saying they're neglecting their main duty, but that's because you don't understand this game—because you haven't studied Dugo-sensei's Divine Throne of All Phenomena series!"
"For us book fans, the game adaptation of Divine Throne of All Phenomena is something we've been eagerly anticipating."
Wearing headphones, Ruri spoke with great excitement and anticipation.
There was no pretense about it. She herself was a die-hard fan of Divine Throne of All Phenomena, that chuunibyou masterpiece of a novel, and held unparalleled passion and expectations for the game Dies Irae.
Just like her dark-style gothic lolita outfit, which was the character costume from Maschera ~Falling into the Mortal World, the Lament of the Beast~, an anime she quite liked.
Her red pupils were from colored contact lenses; her original eye color wasn't red.
Why did she love Divine Throne of All Phenomena? Because she herself greatly enjoyed creation, especially doujin works.
She once aspired to become a writer, motivated simply by the desire to earn money.
After all, book royalties were much better than her part-time job income. If she could successfully debut, it would also provide a significant economic source for her family.
However, her writings often came with excessively thick setting documents. Besides being overly complex in structure, the descriptions were too exaggerated—it could be said they had turned into typical self-indulgent novels.
The girl was very persistent. She had submitted entries to the Raiden Bunko Newcomer Award for three consecutive years. In addition, she submitted to the MF and SD newcomer awards every year but never made it to the final selection.
Forced by life's circumstances, without giving up on writing, Ruri shifted part of her energy to livestreaming.
Although she loved creation and games, she was also a mature and responsible older sister. She had two younger sisters at home who needed care. She loved them deeply, being strict yet gentle.
Even though she no longer devoted all her energy to writing, she still read novels regularly.
Recently, Dugo-sensei's work, Divine Throne of All Phenomena, which had become popular internationally, was something she loved immensely.
Although Warhammer was also very appealing, Divine Throne of All Phenomena hit her preferences perfectly in every aspect.
Divine Throne of All Phenomena was practically the ideal creative work in her mind. It retained chuunibyou elements and all the settings she found incredibly cool and stylish, while achieving a seamless internal logic.
It revitalized various religiously significant concepts within the work, making them resonate with each other. Even readers unfamiliar with the background could feel its depth and impact.
Moreover, it achieved massive commercial success, becoming popular even overseas.
She greatly admired Dugo-sensei and also longed to reach the same heights.
Now, nearly 70% of her livestream audience were fellow die-hard Throne book fans.
'Kuroneko! Most of us here are fellow fans—hurry up and test the waters for us!'
'Yeah, yeah, let's see quickly if this game butchered my beloved Throne.'
'...Although I trust Raiden Games, this is their first time making this type of game, so I'm still a bit worried.'
'I'm not a Throne book fan. I'm a die-hard Warhammer fan and a die-hard Raiden Games player. I just want to see what this Dies Irae everyone's hyping up is actually like.'
'Online, everyone's saying Dies Irae's music is incredibly stirring, and the plot has been hyped like crazy by Throne fans. It feels amazing even though I don't fully understand why.'
Seeing these comments, Ruri smiled slightly. Those who didn't understand the mindset of people like them would naturally prefer Dugo-sensei's Warhammer, which was perfectly fine—even she liked it.
The settings in Dugo-sensei's works were simply too extraordinary. "Impressive" wasn't enough to describe his creativity.
Starting the game, passing through the loading screen and Raiden Games logos, they entered the main menu.
The opening animation and the song "Einsatz" immediately stunned countless viewers.
"Genjitsu (RIARU) ga hibawarete yuku"
(The real cracks and breaks apart)
"Memai no naka NANIGAMIETA?"
(What did you see in the vertigo?)
"Kimi no kanaderu kyōshi (UTA) wa"
(The rhapsody you play)
"Shi e no shōtaijō"
(Is an invitation to death)
Accompanied by a rhythmic and intensely rousing melody, the opening animation was breathtaking.
Darkness gradually faded, revealing a palace seemingly constructed of dazzling gold, radiant light shimmering everywhere.
The most eye-catching feature was the religious-style cross emblem, shaped more like a spearhead or sword blade standing upright, paired with a radiant architectural symbol behind it.
The artistry and detail were flawless. But just as viewers immersed themselves in its splendor, a flash and musical crescendo revealed the palace transforming into an extremely bloody, crimson structure.
It appeared to be a palace piled from countless skeletons and skulls, every corpse exuding fanaticism and madness.
The contrast was overwhelming.
Those unfamiliar with Divine Throne of All Phenomena didn't understand the truth behind the golden palace, and those who did—including Ruri—remained silent. This wasn't the moment for explanations.
Characters appeared one after another, each possessing a strong and distinct personal style.
The one that left the deepest impression was Reinhard—the handsome long-haired man whose golden hair shone brilliantly.
Reinhard's depiction radiated majesty. Even when smiling gently, he felt like a beast gazing down upon others.
In the eyes of readers, this Golden Beast possessed a sacred and imposing face. His hair resembled a lion's mane, and even his emperor-like gaze gleamed with a heavy, dignified gold.
Yet at the same time, it was the color of a beast.
Viewers with fujoshi inclinations immediately fell for him, flooding the chat with "Lord Beast!"
The Mercurial Snake appeared in a worn cloak, light blue hair flowing softly.
Fujii Ren appeared as a normal high schooler, except his right arm transformed into a ferocious scythe-like blade.
And influenced by Raize himself, the Twilight Goddess Marie appeared gentle and embracing, with emerald green eyes.
When drawing Marie, Raize and Mashiro perfectly captured a goddess-like presence.
Aside from the main cast, the strong stylistic presence of the other appearing characters, and the texture quality that completely surpassed the original work in Raize's memory, captivated even non-readers.
Anyone with discernment could tell how much effort went into every illustration.
---
After the opening animation concluded, Ruri and the book fans were exhilarated.
If you haven't read Throne, if you haven't truly loved a work, you wouldn't understand the feeling of seeing it shine in another medium.
Seeing beloved characters appear with familiar music, transformed into overwhelmingly dominant boss-level figures—nothing could be more thrilling.
That excitement was difficult for outsiders to comprehend.
The game's setting, Suwahara City, was a young Japanese city with a wartime past, similar in atmosphere to Odaiba, with a population exceeding 800,000.
Book fans knew this city was merely a sacrificial ground. As the game progressed, the immense world background would gradually be revealed.
What Ruri loved most was the power system inspired by the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.
First, the Ahnennerbe (Holy Relics)—artifacts left behind by saints, formed from human thoughts and desires.
Next, Die Ewigkeit (Eternal Destruction)—a system using human souls as fuel to weaponize Holy Relics.
Only demons possessing the corresponding relic could destroy another. If a relic shattered, its host would die.
Attacks had to be resisted both physically and spiritually. With a relic, demons were ageless and immortal.
The Mercurial Snake created this system solely to destroy his own laws and achieve death.
This nearly demonic, extraordinary system had four ranks:
Atziluth (Emanation)
Briah (Creation)
Yetzirah (Formation)
Assiah (Action)
These corresponded exactly to the four worlds of the Tree of Life.
The highest power of the first three stages could destroy planets. Atziluth reached multiverse-level power.
For example, the Golden Beast Reinhard possessed the highest level of Briah. Before Atziluth, no one on Earth could oppose him.