Chương 23: Alternate Ends (Part 1)

Given all the close calls that I had over my many years, it shouldn't come as much of a shock that there were many timelines where things simply… didn't quite work out the same. So, that's why I'm going to take a quick break from my story and tell the stories of some other Tituses that didn't quite make it all the way to the end. Why?

Well, I think partially because I wanted to show how unique my situation actually was and how close things always were to the good (or bad) ends that were right alongside me all the time. With that out of the way, let's go back to the beginning. It was my first life, and Jake and I were having a heart-to-heart about the prophecy of doom for the party that he'd heard….

Jake (Reference Book 1, Chapter 36 – The Calm Before)"And one," Jake paused.

"To die." I didn't reply immediately. And when I finally could, all I got out was a stunned "Wow."

"Right?" Jake asked.

"What kind of isekai is this? Aren't we supposed to be the conquering heroes? The saviors of the world? What the heck is this!?" Jake was irate when he finished and settled into a few more cycles of breathing. This isn't fair. They didn't do anything to deserve this. I made my decision.

"Unless all of us get out fine," I said and looked him dead in the eye.

"We're going to defy this stupid prophecy, and we're going to do it together. Alright? And you're the [Hero]! If anyone can defy prophecy, it's you!" Jake gave me a strained smile, "I want to. I just… I don't know if I'm strong enough." I made my decision. I would tell him that I was the [Demon Lord]. If I could show him that one prophecy was foiled, surely another one could be as well.

"Jake," I started.

"I have something important to tell you." Jake didn't seem to have heard me.

"Is that… smoke?" he asked. I nodded my agreement when we heard a primal roar off in the distance. A roar any fantasy fan could place just by hearing it.

"Dragon," Jake whispered. Then shouted.

"Dragon! Everyone up!" He sprinted back towards camp as I followed.

"There's a village in that direction! We have to get there as soon as possible!" Meanwhile, I realized that if I waited any longer, there was a genuine chance of me losing my nerve.

"Jake, wait!" I called out.

"What I had to say was important!"

"More important than a dragon?" he replied without looking at me as he continued to ready his horse.

"Yes!" I blurted out. That was a shocking enough statement that I finally got his attention. He turned to look at me, and I knew that was the best I would get. We still needed to stop that dragon. I looked at the rest of the party that was also mounting up and then lowered my voice.

"I'm the [Demon Lord]," I whispered.

"Now's not the time for jokes!" Jake shouted back.

"People are dying-""This isn't a joke!" I shouted back. It was a twist of irony that I had proven myself enough to Jake that he refused to believe something like that. Fortunately, I thought of a way to provide that proof after only a second. It would unfortunately out me to the entire party then and there, but I was a bit caught up in the moment and wasn't really thinking things through.

"[Disrupt]!" I said as I snapped at myself. My target? The class display of "Half-Demon" that AltSys had setup for me right at the beginning of the tutorial.

"Look at my class!" I shouted, wrath aura leaking just slightly. Jake did and stared in shock for a moment. Then, he dismounted and drew his sword.

"Wait, Jake, don't!" Sam called out as she got between us. Meanwhile, Emilia hadn't waited. She nocked her arrow and let loose, only to have it blocked by Lindsey, who blurred over to me with her [Guard] skill. Meanwhile, the rest of the party didn't seem like they were quite sure how to respond to that news. Andrew looked half-ready to cast a [Heal] spell in my direction while Tim had his brow furrowed in confusion.

Garrett came and gently put a hand on Jake's shoulder while Megan reappeared from [Sneak] with a sigh.

"I don't think you could have picked a better time," she deadpanned. Fortunately, our standoff was broken by another roar off in the distance. Jake groaned in frustration and then walked back to his horse.

"Everyone, mount up!" I turned to go to my horse, but Jake pointed his sword toward me.

"Don't think you've gotten out of this. We're having a long discussion once the dragon is taken care of. No more lying, got it?" I simply nodded, and we raced off to confront a dragon.

Things went surprisingly similarly to my timeline for the next bit. We arrived to find a village on fire, I saved a young girl from the flames, and then we all approached the cave with its portal to the dragonlands. The key difference was Jake's response to finding that portal.

"There's no way we're chasing a dragon through that portal with a [Demon Lord] in the party," Jake said with a shake of his head. Part of me wanted to argue, but the other part of me realized the wisdom in that.

"Fair enough," I said with a sigh.

"Is there anything I can do to convince you guys that I don't mean any harm?" The answer to that came pretty quickly. A duel to the first strike with the conditions that I, and my summons, couldn't do any harm to anyone in the party if I lost. After that, Jake decked me in the face hard enough to knock me over and then stalked off, with the rest of the party following shortly behind. I started to follow, but Jake held up a hand.

"Just… stay down there until we figure out what to do with you, okay?" he asked with a weary voice.

"But what if the dragon comes back?" I asked with a hint of concern. That got him to pause.

"Okay, if the dragon comes back, then you can run," he sighed. The party left me alone in the cave, and I wasn't too happy about it. Screw becoming dragon chow.

"[Summon Dave]!" I cast. If anyone's getting eaten, it's not gonna be me.

The discussion got heated between the party after that. Emilia and Sam were at opposite ends of the spectrum. Emilia's initial argument was that Titus should be killed, or at very least, locked away in prison, while Sam argued that nothing had really changed and that Titus was just a member of the party as he had always been. Some of the attention got drawn off Titus after everyone realized that Megan had known about Titus all along, and then it was her turn to get grilled.

And that was about when Garrett stepped in and reminded everyone that they had had a short and interrupted sleep the last night and that discussions of things like "what to do with a [Demon Lord]" were probably best to be had while rested. Not that Jake slept much that night anyway. How could Titus possibly be the [Demon Lord]? He asked himself. He's way too weak! And he's been with us the whole time! Well, the whole time, excluding the portions where he was scouting with Megan.

The reason for those two sneaking off together took on a much more sinister light the more Jake thought about it. But then why would he save me? Jake asked as he remembered the mimic. Or Tim and Andrew? And why would he tell me all of this now? Jake's thoughts kept spinning all night, but he eventually drifted off for a few short, restless hours of sleep. When everyone finished waking up the following day, it was apparent that no one was really ready for a discussion.

"You think that maybe the village could use some help?" Sam hesitantly asked.

"They just got attacked by a dragon and all, so maybe they need some help doing clean up?" That was enough for Jake, and, therefore, enough for the rest of the party. They spent most of the day cleaning up burnt pieces of houses, and Garrett even got to put his [Lumberjack] classes to work to help them get some new houses set up. Before Jake realized it, it was night, and he felt much better about the situation. It's kinda obvious now. Jake thought.

Titus had to have been forced into doing all of this somehow, or nothing that he's been doing would make sense. And that was when he got the ping through his [Enhanced Party]. Titus was under attack. The entire party raced to the cave without another word spoken, and Jake nervously kept an eye on Titus' health bar… that didn't seem to be moving. The answer became clear as they all got achievements and literally stumbled into the cave. System: New Achievement. Dragonslayer.

Class Perk Points Gained 5 They came upon Titus awkwardly huddled in a corner with a pile of daves on top of a dead dragon whose maw was poking partially into his hiding place. Titus was the first to speak.

"Uhh… I got him!"

From there, I'd say that things went pretty well. I explained my end of the story, leaving out the bits about admins and us not being real, and the party readily forgave me. Well, most of them. Emilia was still ticked. Also, Jake could tell I was still hiding something, so I had to let him in on the whole "us not being real" thing. He took it surprisingly well. From there, we headed to the ice dungeon and Jake got to walk through an empty ice cavern to claim it and finally defeat the [Demon Lord].

We became the heroes of the world, yes, even me. The party mercifully decided that they wouldn't rat me out at that point. From there, the world had peace for almost two decades. Well… almost peace. There was still the occasional dragon attack. Also, it turned out that the daves I left back in the swamp ended up causing quite the undead threat. Fortunately, neither of those things were enough to stop our party, and whatever the problem was, we soon had it dealt with. Until… we finally got a real problem.

Our party was traveling back after clearing a new dungeon in the east when I got a message from my least favorite person. Admin: I see that you have failed me"Oh, you're still around?" I asked with a faked yawn.

"I thought for sure you would've gotten the point last time we talked. I'm not doing your quest. Scram. Vamoose." I said while waving him away with my hands.

"Who's he talking to?" Sam asked her husband, Garrett.

"If I had to guess, I'd say it was the guy who gave him the quest originally," Garrett replied. Admin: This is your last warning. Open the portal or there will be CONSEQUENCES!

"Consequences?" I replied.

"What are you going to even do? Don't you need the portal open to even come here?" I laughed and then gestured the party on.

"Let's keep going. No need to worry about-" Admin: I will enjoy killing you with my own hands System: The demonic portal has been opened! The realm trembles as a new age of darkness will sweep over the land! Everyone stared at the prompt in shock.

"H-how?" I asked.

"If you could have done that all along, why didn't you?" Admin: There was a traitor helping you, but it seems that he is no longer concerned with your world. Admin: So, I will see you soon… puny little Demon Lord"Guys," I said through a gulp.

"We may be in trouble." Jake placed a hand on my shoulder before I realized he was there.

"And we'll face it together," he said.

"Just like we always have." I nodded slowly as he turned to the rest of the party.

"Looks like it's time to kick some demonic asp!" he shouted.

"Let's go! Best speed to the west!"

Despite Jake's ever-present optimism, Placeholder had some rather dark and terrifying years ahead. Despite being on horseback and also having the ability to run for great distances at high speed (level 25 is nice for that), the demons still beat us to the western edges of Vir and Pumil. The towns that were attacked before we arrived didn't stand much of a chance, and that was without Admin being there to intervene. For the poor places that he did attack personally, no number of adventurers seemed to be enough.

The areas that got his personal touch went down fast, except for the rare locations where Richard of Ballroom Flurry was there to lead the defense. And all he could do was turn it from a rout with massive casualties to a somewhat organized retreat with heavy casualties. Things changed when our party got there, of course. It turned out that Admin was smarter than I gave him credit for. As soon as it became known that the [Hero] was there, we never saw their leader enter a fight again.

The good news was that it meant he was afraid of Jake and we had a chance. The bad news was that we would have to take the fight to him to finally stop the attacks. That meant our party had to lead a counter-offensive that pushed through the enemy lines. As expected, Admin sent the dregs to fight us first.

There were innumerable small demons that he sent after us that we slaughtered wholesale, slightly fewer manticores that would have proved difficult to pin down without our ranged damage dealers, and then, finally, some minibosses that seemed to be discount versions of the seven deadly sins. We fought one that was basically just a mini-Admin and who raged like a [Berserker]. But he got ahead of himself and charged in, so Jake put him down quickly.

The next one transformed into some horrific scythed monstrosity, but Lindsey stepped up to bat for that one. None of its attacks made it through her shield, and the rest of the party simply whittled it down. And it turned out those were the strongest of the fighters. After that, there was a swordsman… swordsdemon?...

who Jake beat pretty handily in a 1 v 1, a small childish demon who inflicted our party with a slow/tiredness debuff that I took down by myself since I wasn't affected, one that tried to eat everything that just died to a lot of ranged attacks, and a tiny little imp-like demon who died to a single kick. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

That still left three more, which meant that they were over their budget since it was only supposed to be 7, but I wasn't willing to complain too much since they were mostly a cakewalk. … And the last three were more awkward than anything. One of them took on my form and then tried to convince the party they were me after we got into a tussle. That was an awful idea for several reasons.

First, I had a lot of history with the party, and whatever shapechanging the demon had done apparently didn't come with a copy of my memory. Second, the copy also didn't automatically put it in the party. Third… I had [Disrupt]. It had been on cooldown, but after a minute of the demon's poor attempts, all it took was a snap in its direction and its life was forfeit. The second to last one was umm… well… I'll just say that it took on a rather risqué form and tried to approach Jake.

Jake, Garrett, Andrew and Tim were all a bit flatfooted, but that still left Megan, Emilia, Sam, and Lindsey to angrily beat it down. Oh, and I also joined in. [Asexual] perk has its benefits on occasion. The final miniboss tried to approach us while the beatdown was happening. He likely trusted in his invisibility to see him through as he ganked one of us. Invisibility didn't work on me, and I was also in a party that had [Enhanced Party]. He went down fast.

And then, after a quick rest to catch our breath, it was finally time for the final showdown.

"Greetings, [Hero]," Admin started with a wide grin, and his arms spread wide.

"You've done well to make it this far."

"You can skip the [Demon King] speech bull carp," I shot back.

"There's no way any of us are buying what you're selling."

"Oh, really?" he asked with a hand to his chin. A maniacal grin followed it.

"Even if I would swear an oath to pull out of this world?" That stopped us short; we all looked to each other, and then Tim gestured to the health bar.

"[Identify] has him at level 50," he whispered. We all sucked in a breath. We remembered how close our fight with a level 35 dragon had come.

"I… guess we can at least hear you out?" Jake replied on behalf of all of us.

"Good," Admin said with a widening grin.

"What I'm asking for is rather simple. All you have to do is give up that traitor." He said while pointing in my direction. My heart sank. Assuming he wasn't lying about taking the oath, that was a good deal. It would be just my life to save the world, and that was-"You can take that offer and go straight back to Hell with it!" Jake called out, interrupting my spiraling thoughts.

"Yeah!" Sam shouted along.

"There's no way we'd ever take that deal!" I looked to the rest of the party, who were nodding along, and I couldn't help the wave of relief that spread over me. Thank you, everyone. I thought.

"Then I guess I'll just take his life the hard way," Admin said with a grin that had never faltered. And then, before I even realized what had happened, he was in front of me with a greatclub in mid-swing. Huh, he has [Flash Step]. One part of my mind helpfully commented. Move! Dodge! Do something! The more important part screamed. And fortunately, I had the perfect thing for a "do something." The greatclub slammed into me, but a flash of red met it, and Admin was the one to recoil in pain.

Eat [Reflect Attack], birch. I thought. Admin staggered back with a roar of pain. Meanwhile, Jake had started charging his [Sunder] and was about to unleash it. Admin saw it coming, but the barest hint of a smile appeared. I screamed out a warning through the party. If he had [Flash Step] and was a [Demon King], there was a very good chance that he had [Reflect Attack]. Jake paused, and Emilia picked up the slack.

A swift arrow to Admin's forehead was met with a flash of red, and then Jake let loose with a thunderclap.

"Yes," I fist pumped as the blow landed true. My celebration was short-lived. Admin's health bar had gone down only about a tenth. With a growl, Admin backhanded Jake away and caused him to go into an awkward tumble. Then, without a moment of respite, he reappeared before me again. I somehow dodged the first blow, but the second one instantly knocked me to the negatives and rag-dolled me to the side. I could only watch as he quickly knocked down the rest of the party until only Jake was left.

Admin blinked forward and swung his greatclub, but Jake's counterswing was somehow enough to block it. The clash offbalanced both of them, and they circled each other slowly.

"Give it up, [Hero]," Admin sneered.

"If you leave now, I might even let you keep your life."

"I don't value my life enough to let you have my party members'," Jake replied coolly.

"Or enough to let you have your way with this world." His [Sunder] started glowing again, and we all knew what he would do.

"Don't, [Hero]," I murmured.

"Jake, no!" Emilia screamed. Meanwhile, Garrett could only force through the smallest of nods through his negative HP.

"Give him Hell."

"I'm sorry, everyone. Take good care of Placeholder for me," Jake turned to us for a moment and gave a lopsided grin." [Heroic Sacrifice: -""No… no!" Admin shouted. He snapped a [Disrupt] at Jake, which seemed to have no effect, and then turned to flee." Perfected Sunder]!" Jake finished. Admin [Flash Stepped] to the side, but it didn't matter. With a completely silent flash of light, Jake cut through everything. Light, sound, and most importantly, Admin.

All of his HP gone in an instant, nothing stopped Admin's two halves from separating from each other as he screamed in silent agony and then disappeared.

Meanwhile, Jake straightened up on the other side and turned to face us. He gave us the slightest of waves and then vanished into motes of light that wafted softly into the sky. Emilia screamed inconsolably as the cavalry arrived. Samuel the [Archbishop] got the rest of the party back up on their feet, and a recently discovered health regen potion got me back up on mine. Without their leadership, the demons were easily routed and pushed back to the ashlands.

But it was there, on that battlefield of our greatest victory and our greatest loss, that I swore my oath.

"Don't worry, Jake," I said, looking to the sky where he had vanished.

"So long as I live, I'll protect this world that you loved. Demons, admins, no matter who comes, I'll be here to protect them all." I paused and wiped at the tears forming in my eyes.

"So, rest easy and leave it to me." And that was the day that Titus, the defender of Placeholder, was born. The end It was a bittersweet end in that one, and it wouldn't be my last. It turns out that when you don't age, losing the people you care about is a foregone conclusion. But that was just the first of many. There are still more timelines to go through, and almost all of them seemed to involve the [Heroes] somehow. Maybe that's because they were the people I knew best during all my time in Placeholder?

Who knows? All that it took to make a change to the next ending was if I had never traveled to the east with Sam…

which was a perfectly valid decision. The point of that trip was to get to a usable obelisk, but I still had one (or at least, I thought I had one) at my castle. Anyway, I still made a dungeon in the deathlands to try to study magic, but that means that Sam never met back up with Lindsey, and I never made a certain oath…

Sarah (Reference Book 2, Chapter 16 – Goodbye) Sarah and I had the boss room to ourselves and were in the middle of our argument.

"What if it's not true that you being the [Demon Lord] was bad for this world? What if it was the best option?" she asked. I snorted.

"Don't be ridiculous." She shook her head.

"I am being 100% serious. Titus, yes, you've caused death and destruction in this world. However, you caused that much harm while explicitly trying not to." I laughed bitterly.

"Thanks for the reminder that I couldn't even do that much."

"You still don't get it, do you?" she asked softly.

"Get what?"

"I've studied the prophecies. Whatever I could find. Our world must always have a [Demon Lord] until the end of this age, and the whole world is remade." She paused.

"The world expected someone devoted to destruction. Someone who would laugh as they slaughtered the nations and set fire to the world." She leaned forward in her seat.

"Instead, we got you. You never wanted the position. You're actively trying to get rid of it even now. Also, I know that you're a kind man-""No, I'm not," I snapped. She shook her head.

"Hundreds of [Restored] soldiers say otherwise. You care for people. You don't want to see anyone hurt, even a group of [Paladins] who you believe have come to kill you."

"I set them on fire," I muttered.

"Because that was the fastest way to save them, and you knew that I would be able to heal anything that happened to them short of death. You're a kind man, and the day that Placeholder was blessed with such a… reluctant [Demon Lord] was one of System's best gifts. That's why…" She stood up from her chair and walked to me on shaky legs. Her gaze almost seemed like it pierced my soul, but when I looked away, she gently turned my face back towards hers.

"I ask you not to take that from us. I beg you to help us make a better world here instead. Because Titus… I love you." I slowly removed her hand from my face. My gaze went to the floor.

"I can't," I replied.

"I… understand," she answered with a pained voice.

"No, you don't," I said curtly as I turned around to avoid showing her the tears forming in my eyes.

"I don't share your feelings, but you're a beautiful woman. You're strong, brave, and a credit to the name of [Hero]. I could see myself eventually falling for you too. But…" my next sentence was a whisper.

"How long?"

"How long?" she asked.

"How long until I end up killing you too?" I asked. The tears were falling, and I no longer tried to stop them.

"Or even if by some miracle we avoid that, how long until you die and leave me alone again?" We lapsed into silence.

"You say that, but I'm dead either way," Sarah said, collapsing back into her chair.

"Huh?" I asked dumbly, wiping the tears before I faced her.

"I swore an oath that I would get you to renounce time magic, so you're stuck with me until you give up," she started coughing.

"And… I don't think I'm going to last much longer here." I frowned. The deathlands were definitely not the best environment.

"It's okay, I can relocate and-""But that's not even the problem," she said, cutting me off.

"The problem is… I think you're going to succeed."

"You do?" I asked, blinking in surprise. She laughed.

"Of course. You're brilliant, hard-working, and most important of all-" she leaned in.

"Too stubborn and pigheaded to let anything stop you."

"Hey!" I replied indignantly. She didn't seem to notice my reply. She simply looked down as she continued.

"And when you finally do… I'll never have existed. Everything I've worked for all my life, all the sacrifices I've made, the good people I've watched die, it will all have been for nothing." She gave me a pained look.

"And am I just supposed to be okay with that? I love you, Titus, but…" She seemed small for a moment, not the proud Saint who had overseen countless undead, but the scared [Priestess] who had found me all those years ago.

"I don't want to stop existing. I don't want everyone I know and love to be erased." I felt the necklace that hung like a noose around my neck. Can I really do this? I asked internally. Can I save Megan at the cost of Sarah?... and everyone else who wouldn't exist if I stopped myself? The question ended up being simpler to answer than I thought. Sarah began a coughing fit, and I didn't waste a second before rushing to her side.

It turned out that I was too much of a sap to ignore the people directly in front of me to save the ones who were now only in my memories.

I eventually tricked Sarah into healing herself, just like I did in my normal timeline. However, there was still one more piece of baggage that needed to be cleaned up.

"Hey, Megan, it's me… and… I know I failed yet another promise… and…" I trailed off with tears forming in my eyes. I didn't know what words could possibly be the right ones as I stood in front of her grave once again.

"I guess what I'm trying to say… is… I'm sorry," I whispered.

"I couldn't protect you, couldn't keep my promise, and then I killed you. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." I wiped at my tears and then gently pulled off her necklace. I laid it in front of her gravestone and took a halting breath.

"I've… given up on trying to avenge you. It was turning me into someone… something… that I don't want to be." I wiped at the tears in my eyes again and continued.

"So, instead, I'm going to care for what you cared about. You… really loved children, especially orphans, didn't you? Even though you hated to admit it. So, don't worry, I'm going to make sure every one of them is taken care of in this entire world. And it will be done in honor of your memory, okay?" I paused.

"So… just… forgive me, Megan." I cried again, but Sarah was by my side, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. The necklace was left behind at the grave, and over the years, I slowly felt its weight lessen and lessen.

Sarah was many things. Strong, brave, and selfless to a fault. However, one trait that she also possessed was persistence to the point where many would call it, as I did, stubbornness. Some might say that she finally wore me down into marrying her, but that's probably a bit too far. I think I just enjoyed teasing her a bit too much about being the one to pursue me. Anyway, we enjoyed our lives together, though we did have our quarrels, of course.

Our completely different backgrounds couldn't help but cause friction, in addition to the fact that I never aged a day while she slowly grew older. Gradually, the day approached for her to finally leave me behind, and I ensured Placeholder would give her an appropriate send-off.

"Titus, where have you been?" Sarah asked.

"Sorry, just been dealing with something important," I replied, giving her a quick kiss on the top of her head.

"More important than your wife's last days before her hundredth birthday?" she asked, with a tone that sounded like another argument was incoming. I winced.

"No, but it's a surprise for you, and I swear you're going to love it, okay?" She didn't seem entirely convinced, but decades of marriage is enough to earn at least a bit of trust. However, that did get stretched when she learned part of the surprise was a last-minute trip… into the deathlands.

"I could have gone without ever seeing this place again," she sighed as she looked out of the wagon pulling us along. Though, I think I caught a hint of a smile on her face as she zapped a few undead that we crossed with a [Holy Heal] that instantly obliterated them. However, not a moment too soon, we were at the site.

"Titus, why are so many people gathered in the deathlands?" Sarah asked.

"It's a surprise," I answered cryptically, with a cheeky smile that caused Sarah to whack me on the arm. Everyone parted the way for our cart, and we were taken to the middle of the ruins where nearly 100 church leaders were waiting… with a giant blue crystal. The cart stopped, and I scratched my head sheepishly.

"Sorry for all the secrecy, but I wanted it to be a surprise, and getting something that big charged up was a pain in the-" Sarah cut me off with a hug.

"It's perfect. Thank you." I returned the hug, but only briefly. Sarah quickly cut it off and then was off like a shot that belied her 99 years. She rearranged multiple parts of the ritual before she was happy with it, but then they began casting. Meanwhile, I stood back. Despite my best efforts, I had never been good at healing magic, and I knew that I was more likely to get in the way than be a help. Anyway, after the grueling 24-hour cast time was up, a surge of healing magic shot through the entire deathlands…

Or I guess, as they would come to be called, the Living Lands. … I think the world being named Placeholder made every resident have problems naming things. That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, immediately after the cast, the stench of undeath was eradicated, grass and trees instantly started blooming, and most surprising of all was the faint feeling of peace that everyone in those lands was bestowed. The last piece wasn't a part of the initial ritual, but the culprit wasn't hard to find.

Sarah always was a bit too selfless. So, while everyone else celebrated the success, I cradled my wife and closed her eyes for the final time. Her very last act was to save the homeland that she had yearned for. And while I would live on for millennia without her, for all that time, what she had done would not be forgotten. The end I think Sarah's honestly just about the last chance I had to get married in just about every timeline.

You start getting a few centuries under your belt and dating anyone just starts getting weird. Ahem. Anyway, the next timeline takes place after I had caught the woman who had murdered Sarah while using Elluin as bait. The surprising thing was that the only thing needed for this change was a certain [Hero] being quicker on the draw with one of his skills…

Elluin [Reference Book 2, Chapter 21 – How to stop being a Hero]"I'm getting justice for the last friend I had in this godforsaken world," Titus said. He started punching the red-eyed assassin in the face with fists of flame. Over and over, the blows landed. However, Titus was right in a twisted sense. She was a murderer who killed one of the best people who had ever walked the ground of Placeholder. She deserved to die. None of that meant that Elluin could stomach watching the judgment. He turned away.

It will be over soon. He thought.

"Don't go dying on me yet!" Titus said.

"We're just getting started! [Heal]. Power of light restore health to my ally. [Cure]." Elluin looked back at the scene in horror as the [Demon Lord] healed the woman just to prolong her suffering. And he continued [Healing] her. Two times. Three times. Four times. No. This isn't right. Elluin thought. He hesitated but drew his bow. He knew what he had to do. Even if he did it with trembling hands, that even [Calm] wouldn't cure.

"[Trueshot]!" he called as he used his skill. Titus reacted in the split second between his call and the ensuing thunderclap. He let go of the woman, vanished, and reappeared to the side.

"And now you turn on me!?" he shouted in fury as he charged.

"No," Elluin said quietly.

"I hit what I was aiming at." He nodded in the direction of the woman. That stopped Titus short.

"No," he whispered.

"No!" he shouted as he sprinted over to the now-dead woman.

"[Heal]!" Titus tried to cast. It was useless. No known healing spell worked on the dead, especially someone whose upper body was now near-obliterated. Titus rounded on Elluin.

"How dare you take that from me!" he snarled.

"If that had truly been about justice, it wouldn't have mattered who was the one who killed her," Elluin whispered.

"She deserved death, and I gave it to her swiftly. I could not sit back and watch you torture her for your misguided vengeance." Titus stalked up to him.

"She betrayed Sarah. She stabbed her to death! She made Sarah suffer, AND SHE DESERVED TO SUFFER EVEN MORE!" Elluin almost recoiled, but instead, he remembered something more important. If the [Demon Lord] was overtaken by rage, he would transform. Elluin couldn't allow that.

"[Calm]," was all Elluin stated. The [Demon Lord] growled and glared at Elluin before finally turning away and punching over a tree in a single blow.

"I'll be back later," he stated gruffly.

"Don't wait up for me." Elluin wasn't sure if it was a good idea to let the [Demon Lord] go, but he also knew that it was a terrible idea to follow him at the moment. So, he let Titus go while he tried to figure out things for himself… including his shaking hands. The rest of the night was a blur. It turned out that his [Trueshot] had gathered quite a bit of attention from the city, and he was soon taken in for questioning by the guards.

He relayed the full story, leaving nothing back, and no charges were leveled against him. There was some hesitation after learning what the [Demon Lord] had done, but eventually, it was decided that the charges against him could be dropped in that case as well. Elluin was pretty sure that was only the case because no one wanted to get on the bad side of a [Hero] or a [Demon Lord]. Anyway, later that night, while Elluin was wide awake in his bed, he heard a knock at his door.

"Come in," he called. To his slight surprise, it was a disheveled Titus who came in. He seemed… deflated and gave a long sigh before speaking.

"I just wanted to say… I'm sorry." He stated. Then, after a decent pause.

"And thanks. I was so caught up in wanting to avenge Sarah that I didn't think about what Sarah would have wanted." He shook his head.

"And there was no way in hail that she would want me torturing someone. No matter what they did." Elluin didn't know if he was in a position to offer forgiveness, so he instead said.

"You're welcome." Titus shut the door, and that was the last the Elluin saw him. He disappeared off on his own, and no one had any clue where he went… until they all received the message from System. System: Gravity has slain the Demon Lord! …

With Elluin's [Calm] active to stop me from transforming, my plan was a go. I made peace with the nations, proved that I was no longer a threat, and then went to the great central mountains to yeet myself off and get a new body (since the old one was too stupid to do magic). And while I toyed with the idea of trying to pick my demon lord form the next time around, I eventually decided against it. With peace established between the rest of the nations and me, I realized there was no need for extra strength.

That and the downsides seemed to be pretty bad if Wrath was any indication. Anyway, after my next respawn, I spent several decades as a hermit working on time magic in secret. And as I continued studying alone, I grew increasingly concerned about how the ritual would work. I decided it would be best to do a very small-scale experiment to ensure my theories worked, even if it would set me back more than a million mana. I didn't expect that the System would go and announce it to the entire world.

From there, I frantically rushed to complete the test, but of course, the next [Hero] had to arrive just in the nick of time…

"Stand down, [Demon Lord]! Stop your spell, or we will use lethal force!" the [Hero], who I had never bothered to learn his name, called out. Beside him were several church members, but that was about all I could see.

"Can't," I grunted out.

"Even if I wanted to. A bit late." It was… a lot harder controlling that mess of magic than I thought as I got to the end, and there were only 10 seconds left.

"Then you leave us no choice. Stop him!" the [Hero] called. I [Flash Stepped] to the other side of the room to get some distance and snapped a [Disrupt] on one of the [Cures] that headed my way. However, that was all I could do. The last part of the spell needed my utmost focus… which is why I was confused when the attacks stopped coming, and I could have sworn that I heard sounds of combat coming from the other side of the room. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I simply completed my spell.

"[Revert Time, Limited]!" I shouted.

"No!" the [Hero] shouted, but he was too late. I felt myself slip back through the threads of time. Not very far, of course, the goal had been only a few seconds, but there I appeared… Just in time to watch myself near the completion of the cast with the members of the church charging the other me. He won't complete it without help! I thought in a panic, so I did what I could think of at the time. I [Flash Stepped] into the middle of their party and engaged them all.

I silently cheered and gave a miniature fist pump when the spell went off again, but then froze as the church members surrounded me. Wait. Something was fighting the church while I cast. That something was me. That means. I deflated, even as I put my hands up to surrender.

"Stable time loops. That's all that I can do. So, I can't fix the past because… I already didn't." The time after that was fuzzy as I got arrested, imprisoned, and spent years moping in prison. Then, after swearing an oath that I wouldn't use time magic ever again, I was released.

"What now?" was the constant question I had to ask myself. It took some years of bouncing around doing odd jobs that no normal adventurer ever would, but I finally came up with at least something. I… don't mind working on these sub classes. I thought as I looked at my list. Maybe… I just try to see how many I can get? And that's the end of the tale of one of the stranger versions of Titus. Titus, the Everyman.

I didn't check in much of what he got into, but I think he somehow ended up with more than 100 sub classes to his name, with many of them above level 5. I also think he was somehow happier and more content with life than many others. I guess that just goes to show that maybe I never really did know what I wanted in life. The end