Cynthia stared blankly as Amaterasu spoke, trying not to look confused. Nirvana anomaly was something she'd heard a few times, but the casual mention of a pocket dimension and unbelievable technology being put on display left her in silent wonder. Gaps between dimensions, she could only faintly comprehend. She'd stepped through a portal to get here. So the anomaly was inside the walls? She struggled to think of a good analogy to wrap her brain around it. What she did understand was that there would be four locations where battles would take place. This was something she could work with, though she failed to understand how "corruption" could be stopped through battle. Was it evil magic, or an evil spirit? Some kind of virus?

	Then, the deity moved on, explaining their first location. It seemed they'd be going to Mitsuko's home, or some nightmare version of it at any rate. For a while she followed, nodding along solemnly at the mention of atrocities being committed. No country was innocent, she knew—including her own, which still enslaved its own people. For just a moment, she wondered how her proposed legislation to address the issue was being received, nearly missing Mitsuko's remarks about a magic spell that could level an entire city—and hadn't she said there were 20 million people on that island? Two cities, in such an unfathomably populous place—gone, just like that. Cynthia's countenance fell as she imagined how many people must have perished. She could only hope their deaths were painless.

	Amaterasu and her champion continued to speak. They would be required to fight an evil Amaterasu? She couldn't even process the idea of an entire world being devoid of life. Even hers, wrought with war as it had been for all its history, wasn't dead just yet. How much more terrible was this evil Amaterasu, that even Dominus was put to shame? Finally, the ultimate revelation, that the gods themselves would not be participating in the battle. Champions were resistant to the corruption? Cynthia's face seemed dissatisfied as she crossed her arms, a kind of quiet outrage brewing beneath the surface of her icy features. She was unconvinced. [color=cyan]"Dominuss, what iss thiss? We fight alone againsst the godss?"[/color] she hissed, not caring if her voice offended anyone's ears at this moment.

	"Hmph. I am also displeased," Dominus agreed. "but it cannot be denied. Any god we send to investigate the anomaly turns against all of creation, dissolving all the laws of nature which they have established, and destroying all living things without direction or purpose. A throne of ashes, indeed. All the champions sent alongside them are driven mad, as well. Only champions whose gods remain behind keep hold of their senses, and they all report the same thing: the corruption of their minds happens in an instant, with no resistance to its influence. It doesn't seem to do anything to mortals, directly. It sends the corrupted gods to do its bidding."

	[color=cyan]"But what, 'it?' What do we know?"[/color] Cynthia replied, taking Dominus's explanation only slightly better.

	"Mortals cannot comprehend its nature, and the gods cannot observe it without being corrupted. We don't know what it is," Dominus explained.

	[color=cyan]"Wonderful,"[/color] Cynthia scoffed, with a dismissive hand gesture to match.