"Take care, Nier. I'll see you ter."

  Quick Feline gave him a quick wave—casual, almost sisterly—then jerked her thumb toward the lobby.

  "The front counter that way, since Madam Nikuhara teleported us here you didn't have to take the elevator, but just walk straight and you will see a dark skinned man at the front desk for our special admission test takers."

  Those were the st words Nier heard from Melody, before he found himself walking out of the back offices with a fresh stack of papers in hand: temporary permit, A-Rank badge, Crimson clearance, basically all the stuff he really needs, and way more.

  "I gotta say, it still feels so surreal how fast everything has fallen into pce."

  He stepped outside into the te-afternoon sun, the Association headquarters looming behind him like a fortress of gss and steel. Pulling out his phone, he thumbed a quick message.

  Nier: [I'm done. Meet me at the front]

  The reply came back in seconds.

  Bel: [On my way. Just dealing with something quick.]

  Nier stared at the screen for a second more as he said out aloud

  "Hmm. Is she talking to the Director or something?"

  He muttered to himself, slipping the phone back into his pocket as he began to walk to the front, but before he could get too far, Kaly's voice echoed softly in his ears, as she was still hiding in his hoody.

  "So, darling. You finally got the license, and even snagged A-Rank like it was nothing… So I must ask, what’s the next move for the cult from here on out?"

  Nier let out a slow breath, watching the cars crawl past the main gates, as he stands at the front of the door, people both exist and enter, as he looked at the sun alongside the cleave above, with both hands in his pockets, his eyes still glowing as it was the only that could be seen.

  "There is a lot we could do. But I've got an easier way to start recruiting."

  "Hmmm. I'm listening."

  "Your original pn—using the media to gather fame, glory, and fans via the following wasn't bad. I'll definitely lean into it, but it's a long term pn if we are being honest here."

  "If we are going to spread the fake divine name, we gotta be smart about this. Either way, as long as the worship flows, you collect power without lifting a finger. Ideally, I would have taken my time. Build it slowly, carefully, pick the best of the best."

  He paused, gncing up at the massive emblem carved into the Association building.

  "But now? Knowing the fucking commanders are sniffing around for my ass? I don't have that luxury anymore babe."

  Kaly's tone sharpened with interest.

  "So how do you want to accelerate?"

  "Hehehe, it is nothing too hard. Thankfully, there is a faster method. It's… forceful. Crude, even. We won't be cherry-picking elites right now—we don't have the breathing room for that. But it'll flood us with worship at a ridiculous pace."

  A faint hum of anticipation came from her.

  "Tell me your pn."

  Nier's lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. Rather it looked like a devious and immoral smirk.

  "Simple."

  His eyes darkened to pitch bck as Wellspring stirred awake inside him. Thin, shimmering threads of Negativity unraveled in the air—four of them, faint but unmistakable, stretching out across a two-kilometer radius going in different directions.

  Nier exhaled slowly.

  "I was saving my negativity for tonight's trial."

  He said quietly, almost to himself.

  "But right now… it doesn't matter. This is the only way I can help you babe."

  Nier said with sincerity, Kaly helped him a lot, and he wanted to help her, but for that she needs waking, and to Nier this was a way he was thinking of to cheat the system.

  Power surged anyway.

  A sharp notification chimed in his mind, cold and mechanical.

  "[You have successfully created a new spell. 10,000 Units of Negativity was consumed]

  "[Spell "Words of the Lord" created.]"

  "[By touching a target, you impose a geas—an unbreakable compulsion. The strength of their will and mind determines how much Negativity is required to fully dominate them. This is an infectious curse: anyone the afflicted touches will contract the geas, spreading like an incurable pgue]"

  Another pulse followed almost immediately, sharper this time.

  "[You have successfully created a new spell. 3,830 Units of Negativity was consumed]"

  "[Spell "Mind, Soul, and Body" was created, with it you can now reach into, reshape, and seize control of a person’s mental, spiritual, and physical existence. Establish a direct link by connecting to their core. Once the link is strong enough—once their mind, soul, and body have fully submitted to your grasp (which requires your own Mind, Body, and Soul to be superior to theirs)—you can transmit the effects of any of your abilities through the connection… or simply take control of their mind, soul, or body outright]"

  Kaly instantly connected the dots and realized what Nier had done.

  "Ohhh, mind control, huh!?"

  "Yeah. If we make them worship us by taking over their minds, then we can collect as much Waking as we need."

  "I see… My sisters and I used this method a lot back in the day when our cult was booming. However, you're doing it in a way I've never seen before. Hehehe, using the authority I gave you in such a way to create a series of mind-fuck spells that will spread like a disease…truly baffling instead of individually or mass mind control at once. This is quite the development, if I do say so myself."

  "Well, you've given me power that is so versatile I can force worship in others in so many ways, but now then… shall we give this a try?"

  "Fufufu, this is why I love you, Darling. Yes— who is going to be your first victim?"

  "Actually, he is coming our way right now."

  Nier said this as he looked toward the front desk—the public one, not the one specifically for special admission takers.

  It was a familiar dark-skinned man.

  When Kaly saw him, she smiled and said.

  "Oh, hehehe. You kept your promise, darling. I thought you were going to hunt him down for me much ter in the day."

  "…I'm going to be extremely busy ter, so it has to be now. But that man will be a fine addition to the cult... Well after we mind fuck him of course."

  Nier said to the man with a kit bag in his hand, he was coming from the front desk, and out the door, and as he passed, a voice came from behind him.

  "Hello Jeffrey. How were the exams?"