For the record, I came up with this when I was bored.

Chapter 1: Mercurius' New Play

It has been a week since Marie's ascension as the 5th Heaven, though it might as well be a thousand years or a mere second as time moves differently in the higher dimension. Ten thousand years in one world or one million years in another can feel like a measly minute while a single moment can feel like an eternity. The sense of time as a human normally perceive no longer apply to him. Especially considering who he is.

The God of Eternal Moment and guardian of the Goddess Tasogare, Fujii Ren, otherwise known by his divine name Setsuna, watch from his throne right beside Tasogare's as the numerous world moves, all at the same time. He could see all the worlds in the vast multiverse moving. Every drop of water, every person's step, he could see it and perceive it as if he was there himself.

For a human, such a thing would be baffling and impossible. But Setsuna is a Hadou God and while he is not the one who controls the 'Throne' he is still one and has the perception of one. He is also everywhere. He is down there with the people he is watching but he is also here in his throne at the moment. As a God, he is everywhere and also nowhere at the same time. Though it still feels odd for him to see the world with his new perception.

He didn't notice his new perception when he first ascended into Godhood. Then again, he was focused on killing Heydrich back then that he centralized his existence in order to focus on the battle against his fellow Hegemony God. Now that he's had some time to get used to it, it still baffles him that he can see so much without having his brain exploding from information overload. Then again, as a being that transcends humanity and basically a living and walking universe, information overload is practically impossible.

"Everything is peaceful and things are going as normal, yes, this is how things should be."

Setsuna nodded to himself. As a somewhat omnipresent and omniscient god, he can see every world's progress throughout the multiverse like he was there all at the same time. While there are worlds at war and in big problems, it is just how things are. At least with the Law of Tasogare, the Rinne-Tensei, active as the holder of the Throne, every death in the multiverse is not a dead end.

Her Law was that of a world where all life reincarnates in a cycle of eternal transmigration. The most striking characteristic of her Law was that as one experiences countless lives in the cycle of Saṃsāra, the souls of man gradually became mixed and intermingled. As a result, the discrimination of race, sex and wealth became faded as the differences between people diluted. Over the course of many ages and incarnations, the souls of mankind would grow and mature.

Tasogare's Law, based on her desire, 'I want to love and embrace all'. When activated, it achieved the impossible, allowing all Hadou Gods to exist simultaneously instead of consuming each other, as is the norm before as no Hadou God can stand each other due to their nature. For non-hadou gods, it allows all souls to reincarnate so they can eventually find a life of happiness. As she's still relatively new, the full effect of her Law had not taken place yet but it is showing signs as less and less worlds are trapped in a dead end. Eventually, once things had run its course, there will be perpetual peace and understanding among all beings across the multiverse.

"Ren, you are talking to yourself. Did you see anything interesting?"

A gentle voice filled with perpetual loved called out to him. It is of course the voice of the Goddess Tasogare herself. Sat on the throne beside his and the current holder of the 'Throne' is a very beautiful girl with long golden hair in a frilly white dress. She is Tasogare, also known to Setsuna by her human name, Margueritte Breuil, or Marie for short. She is the very picture of a truly gentle Goddess. He had seen worlds where other 'gods' walk the world but even the most beautiful goddesses of love cannot compare to Tasogare as she is beautiful in not only form but also in her soul.

Setsuna smiled as Tasogare appear beside him. He got up from his own throne and gently take her hand as they walk on the sea of stars. There is no ground around them, as they don't need it. They danced among the planets and the stars, a simple imagery of their surrounding that they can change through their will alone.

"No. I'm just enjoying the peace we have right now, Marie."

Setsuna called his love with her human name. The perpetually smiling Goddess smiled even brighter, eclipsing even the sun with its brightness. Unfortunately, Setsuna's good mood plummets when he heard the sound of clapping from somewhere above him. He should've known that he would disturb them.

"What a marvelous dance among the stars. Ahh, if only you would grant me the honor of even one dance, I would be very happy, Margueritte."

The irritating voice of his fellow guardian and Tasogare's predecessor entered his ear. There's no need for him to look to know who had arrived. Long dark blue hair framing a sharp face that reminds him of a snake dressed in an old German SS uniform is Suigin, the Hadou God of Eternal Recurrence. And if he is here then the other one must also be around.

Sure enough, behind Suigin is the fourth Hadou God currently in existence, also acting as Tasogare's guardian. A tall and very handsome man with long blonde hair flowing behind him like fire while defying gravity. The man is dressed in the same German officer uniform Suigin is wearing but his is white instead of black. He is the Hadou God of the Golden Asura Path, Ougon, or otherwise known as Reinhard Heydrich.

"Cagliostro."

Tasogare addressed Suigin with one of his many names, being the Hadou God who had existed the longest. These two were formerly his enemies due to Suigin's machination that ended up facilitating Tasogare's rise to the Throne. They are now allies but Setsuna still doesn't like them much. But since Tasogare accepted them, he would also try to accept them. Besides, they're the only ones who he can interact with on the same level being fellow Hadou Gods. Well, them and his own Legion.

"What do you want?"

Setsuna asked. Suigin grinned, and that's all Setsuna needed to see to know that the Hadou God had done something. If there is anyone who can pull something under his omniscient eyes, it would be a fellow Hadou God. The moment he asked, other part of the multiverse became clear to him.

"What the hell did you do?!"

Setsuna demanded when he saw that his eyes had missed something and it was no doubt planned by Suigin. While he is omnipresent and omniscient, that omnipresence and omniscient only exists as far as his domain as a Hadou God extends. Normally, as there can only be one Hadou God existing at a given time, the God of that era has total omnipresence and omniscient across the multiverse.

But as Tasogare's Law allowed for the coexistence of different Hadou Gods, her era saw for the very first time what would happen if multiple Hadou Laws exists together. The Gods' domains would now have a limit and that limit is the border between the domain of one God and the other. Since their domain interact with each other just by existing, Setsuna couldn't see the worlds under Suigin's domain without him letting Setsuna do so. But they have sworn to never cloud the others' vision! Well, the exact vow is to never attempt that on Tasogare as they are her guardians and as her guardians they will never keep anything from her but not clouding each other's vision should be a given, no?

"It is nothing much. Just helping some cluster that are heading towards a dead end. As I have nothing else to do, I feel my friend and I can occupy our time by helping dead end worlds."

"Thank you, Cagliostro. I wanted to help such worlds myself but you did it for me."

Tasogare smiled happily and what they said between them told Setsuna all he needed to know about what happened. Suigin only vowed to never keep things from Tasogare, he never said anything about clouding Setsuna's vision. And Tasogare being the innocent and rather naïve Goddess she is accepted Suigin's words at face value. Well, Suigin would never lie or endanger Tasogare herself anyway so whatever he promised about helping dead end worlds, he will do it. Hadou Gods never lie anyway. Such things are beneath them. But that doesn't mean Suigin won't try something just to amuse himself while doing what he promised.

"What did you do this time?"

Setsuna asked again, this time sounding more exasperated than hostile. Suigin smiled and showed them a world. The God of Eternal Moment processed what he just saw… and cursed Suigin.

Remnant, it is a world destined to head towards destruction, having been abandoned by the Brother Gods that created this particular world. The only hope to their continued existence is one final task given to a certain wizard given the ability of constant reincarnation, and not in the same benevolent way Tasogare's Rinne Tensei worked, to unite the fractured human race in order to combat the creatures of darkness known as Grimm.

But here's the catch. The leader of these monsters called Grimm was once the wizard's own wife and she is an immortal, an immortal in the sense that she won't die even when she's killed, and the world of Remnant doesn't have any weapon or ability that can bypass this form of immortality, save perhaps for the Relics, powerful magical objects made by the Brother Gods meant to be brought together when the time is right and call them back to Remnant… or destroy the world if used by the wrong hand.

Normally, even the destruction of a world is of no consequence to a being as powerful as a Hadou God. One world, one universe, even several worlds meeting a dead end is of no consequence to a Hadou God, not when they have the endless multiverse as their playground and creating worlds is as minor as breathing. Out of the four Gods, only Tasogare would sincerely care, and that is because she's genuinely the nicest being in existence as her very law describe.

And that niceness combined with her naivety as well as the mischievous nature of Suigin is what brought Setsuna's attention to this world. His eyes bulged when he saw three people presenting the Relics the Brother Gods made to three different individuals. And those Relics are no longer the same Relics the Brother Gods created. They are familiar to Setsuna. Those Relics have become an Ahnenerbe, Holy Relics made by Suigin for the sake of the Golden Transmutation. They have been modified with his blood, the blood of a Hadou God as well with his Ewigkeit spell.

"If you wish to destroy the gods then accept this. Only a god can destroy a god. You may fancy yourself a goddess right now, Salem, but you are not one. Take the Relic of Destruction, become a goddess and enact your vengeance, ohh mistress of Grimm."

Like the snake tempting Even to eat the fruit of knowledge, Karl Craft, the mortal incarnation of Suigin, offered to Salem in a voice akin to the whisper of a devil. Setsuna knew that it is not a joke or understatement. With the current Relic modified by Suigin, it can make Salem a goddess, and Setsuna knew that Salem is enticed, for Karl Craft had shown the kind of power his offer would give Salem. Amidst the crumbling Grimm continent Karl used as his minor display of power, Salem accepted the Relic of Destruction. But it is not just Salem being granted this power and opportunity.

"I admire your zeal in your pursuit of knowledge. But there is always a limit to what a human can do with their limited understanding. Tell me, Doctor Merlot. What if I give you the opportunity to know anything and everything? Accept the Relic of Knowledge, and you shall learn more of this world than you can ever dream of, enough to make you be known as the god of knowledge. Will you accept this opportunity?"

Reinhard Heydrich offered to Doctor Merlot as a commanding officer offering a promotion to his subordinate. It is not exactly wrong as Reinhard Heydrich, currently a Major in Atlas military, is offering the Relic in the confines of his office. He is only a Major by design and for this moment, and when Merlot accepted the Relic of Knowledge, Heydrich smirked. And he is not the last.

"Arrogant, temperamental, you have the making of a fine warrior but you let the bad aspects of fire control you. Still, you are young and you have potential. You desire for power, and I shall give it to you. Accept this Relic of Choice and remember, how far you can go is determined by the life choices you make. Don't think that just because the Relic of Choice grants you power like no other that you are invincible. Life consists of choices and a poor choice by even the most powerful person can kill them."

In a continent called Mistral, staring down a defeated young girl Cinder Fall is Captain Eleonore Von Wittenburg, the most loyal subordinate of Reinhard Heydrich. As per her lord's instruction, she offered the young Cinder Fall with the Relic of Choice, knowing the possible risk and what it means. But she obeys her lord nonetheless, because Samiel Zentaur, the Einherjar Rubedo, will never disobey Ougon's command.

With all the Relics safe for the Relic of Creation given to their intended wielder, Suigin smiled. With his usual smooth but iritating voice that Setsuna despise, he declared;

"Now then, let a new story begin!"

I was bored and wanted to play a little with this idea I have. Honestly, I don't know why these stuff keep coming to my head. So for Dies Irae fans, this takes place after Marie's route in the game so Ren is a Hadou God and Marie has the Throne. I'm taking some liberty here and if I should come back to this, a sensory of Ren/Setsuna will be featured as main character since we already have the sensory of Lord Heydrich and Mercurius running around and causing chaos for the fun of it. So the idea is that Mercurius, for fun, modified the Brother Gods' Relics into his version of Holy Relics and gave them potential to become Gods, and when I say Gods, it is the same kind as them, which makes the Brother Gods seems like children in comparison. Anyway, as this features Setsuna's sensory instead of Setsuna himself dealing with Mercurius' crap, the pairing can be with someone else who is not Marie. While his sensory is the extension of his will, I am of the impression that sensories are also their own person. While each God's sensory is granted their power, the sensories are limited to Briah in terms of power level.

On a side note, writing Mercurius and Lord Heydrich's speech pattern is damn difficult and I probably botched up Eleonore's character but scratch it up to them being copies only and they are acting.