Chương 36: Chapter 32 - Judgment

"Wakey, wakey, Sleeping Beauty," came Titus' voice. Jared blinked in confusion. One second, he had been lying there in the dirt, dying. Now he was… Lying on a metal table, dying somewhere completely different. He thought he saw lava falling off in the distance and a pitch-black nighttime sky, but that was it.

"Where the frick am I?" Jared asked as he slowly tried to crane his neck to get a better look. He couldn't even do that. He wasn't sure if that was because he was dying or because of the two other things that showed up in his vision. System: You are stunned and are unable to act System: You are frozen and are unable to act As if it was waiting for the second message, he suddenly realized how cold he was.

He started shivering involuntarily and realized that Titus had removed his armor and left him with some thin clothes. … And some handcuffs. He couldn't even muster enough movement to pull against them, but both his arms were bound together.

"Now, hold still. This shouldn't hurt a bit," Titus said, ignoring Jared's question. Then, he paused.

"Actually, I've never done such a large change, so this may very well hurt a whole lot. Oh well, I guess we'll find out. [[Edit Character]]."

"What are you-" was all Jared got out before the weird ability hit. It felt like Titus was staring into his soul and then tinkering with whatever he saw. Jared screamed in pain for what felt like an hour but was probably closer to 5 minutes. Then, even though Titus wasn't done, the pain started dying down.

"W-what are you doing to me?" Jared managed to choke out. Titus snorted.

"You really think that I'm going to make the stupid mistake of revealing all my plans to you right here and now?" he asked.

"Do you think I'm an amateur? That I'm going to fall for that?" Jared grit his teeth.

"Then, at least tell me why you killed Eliza! She couldn't even hurt you! You could have let her go!" Titus paused for a moment, even as he continued pushing something into Jared's very being.

"Fine," he stated after a moment.

"I'll answer any other questions that aren't about my upcoming plan. In return, you won't interrupt when I'm answering a question, you won't try to escape, and you'll accept the fact that I've beaten you."

"Deal," Jared lied. Titus laughed.

"I wasn't born yesterday, unlike someone," he muttered the second half under his breath.

"I want an oath on it. And in case you don't know what those do, you will be physically unable to go back on your word once you give it."

"Then, no deal," Jared spat in Titus' direction but got nowhere close. Not being able to move at all was a sure hindrance.

"I don't know what you're planning, but whatever it is, you're a monster! I'm going to stop you, whatever it takes!"

"Really?" Titus asked dryly.

"Well, then, here. Why not take your best shot?" With that, he unceremoniously pulled the Hero's Sword out of his inventory and dumped it on the metal bed next to Jared with a loud clang. His weapon. Jared had his opening. He pushed with [Grit] and [Limit Break]. He just had to get a hold of it and…. He couldn't even do that.

"A pity," Titus said under his breath.

"I think that was the world's last chance, and I was… almost rooting for it." After that, Titus scooped up the weapon right from outside Jared's feeble reach. Then with a grunt, hucked it off into the distance.

"Corruption should take care of that. Now, back to work," he continued in a soft voice. Jared tried a few things over the next several minutes. He continued trying to move in vain, and at one point, he got close, only for Titus to lightly cut him with a knife coated in some type of poison. The warning about stun came back up, and he was stuck once again. Then, he tried yelling at Titus and getting him angry. Jared figured out that for whatever sick reason, Titus wanted him alive, so…

he could at least deny him that. He shouted out whatever insults he could think of. It didn't work so well. Titus just put a hand on his shoulder and said, "You should really stop. You're just embarrassing yourself at this point. Remember, if I'm a son of a birch, supposedly so are you."

"What do you mean supposedly?" Jared asked, but Titus went back to ignoring him. He even removed Jared's other out by healing him up after a bit so that he didn't fully die. That left Jared with only one option. He didn't think there was much hope of it succeeding, but he was mostly resigned to his fate.

"Alright," Jared said.

"I'll take the deal. I'll swear the stupid oath."

"Fair enough," Titus replied.

"Repeat after me…" Titus said several words about a solemn oath, and Jared didn't really follow it all, but it at least sounded like it should be fine. Which, given what he had seen of the maniac who used to be his brother, meant it was definitely not.

"First off," Titus said immediately when Jared was done with the oath.

"That was incredibly stupid. You only had my word that I would answer your questions if you took that oath, so I could easily just ignore you at this point, and your extra cooperation would be wasted." Jared's eyebrows shot up, but Titus continued.

"However, I'll stick to my word anyway. Consider it a final gift to my brother." Jared could hear the mocking in that final word and almost asked about it, but he had his priorities straight.

"Why Eliza?" he asked softly.

"Why couldn't you let her go?"

"Really?" Titus asked with a sigh.

"That one should be obvious. She knew what actually happened there, so she had to die. As simple as that." He paused to look Jared in the eye.

"To the entire world of Placeholder, you succeeded. You did it. You killed me and left for your own world." He shook his head and went back to his work.

"That means that no one is looking for you. I couldn't just let someone leak that to the entire world!" Jared fought for a moment and got his head up just a bit.

"You could have had her swear like I just did!" He collapsed back down as Titus rolled his eyes.

"I could have. But one, she had another oath that wouldn't let her do that and two, she was much more likely to find a workaround," Titus snorted.

"She was definitely the brains of your relationship."

"Hey!" Jared replied indignantly… even though it was probably true.

"Either way, I'll give you a hint," Titus continued as if Jared hadn't spoken.

"You aren't asking the right question about Eliza."

"Right question?" Jared asked. Titus waited for several seconds.

"Seriously?" He asked after the awkward pause.

"How did the same woman supposedly give birth to me and this stupid himbo," he muttered.

"I'm not stupid!" Jared called back.

"And maybe you took a bit more after mom, and I took more after dad, but that doesn't mean we aren't brothers!" And Jared quickly realized that was how he would get out of this. He had to remind Titus of who he was.

"You're my brother, Titus, and-""That means a whole lot less than you think it does," Titus stated flatly.

"And we were talking about Eliza. Unless you really don't care why she literally stabbed you in the back." Jared froze in thought for a moment.

"I mean…" he stated slowly.

"I figured that one out. You tricked her. You made her think that the Grandmaster ordered her to kill me. Just like all the other mind games you did." A small smile broke over Titus' face.

"Close. Maybe you're not as stupid as I thought." Jared sputtered, but Titus just continued.

"To be honest, I am actually amazed that no one figured it out yet. Especially with the hints that Demon Slayer tried to drop around. No, I didn't have to trick her into thinking that I was the Grandmaster because…" He made a quick motion with his staff, and then words popped up in front of him. The Grandmaster: Luke, I am your father"Bro, I know you're not dad, okay?" Jared said.

"You're not fooling me." Titus spluttered for a moment.

"I'm the Grandmaster, you idiot!" he shouted.

"How the frick could you not get that through your thick skull? I was the one leading your little protectors all the way back from-" Whatever weird thing Titus had been doing almost got away from him there, and Jared could only tell because it felt like a part of his soul nearly ripped away. Jared gasped in wordless shock as Titus got it back under control.

"Much trickier than I thought," he muttered.

"He got my guard down first." He shook his head.

"Nice try," he said, finally addressing Jared again.

"But I've done rituals under way worse circumstances than this. You won't be able to stop me." Jared had no idea what Titus was talking about.

"Uhh… yeah," Jared replied after a moment.

"You caught me, bro." Titus nodded in satisfaction.

"Maybe I should just gag you for the rest," he muttered, half to himself. That wouldn't work. That would ruin any slim chance that Jared had… and there were also a lot of things that he had to know.

"So, you're saying that you're not just impersonating the Grandmaster?" Jared asked, trying to keep Titus' attention away from gagging him.

"You're claiming to actually be him?"

"Yes," Titus stated flatly. Jared laughed.

"Nice try, bro. The Grandmaster has had my back since I got here. He's the one who helped me try to take you down-""And the one who set you up perfectly to take down my clone and be taken in by me?" Titus finished. Jared paled a bit.

"No." He paused.

"No, you can't be him. He was awesome. He helped me. Why the frick would you help me try to take you down?"

"Because I learned my lesson quite a while ago," Titus stated, a far-off look in his eyes.

"If you want to ensure a war has the outcome you want, the only way to be sure is to be in charge of both sides. As my side started getting proficient with slaying [Heroes], I realized that it came with its own troubles. If a [Hero] was killed and one was summoned from Earth before I was ready, that could have spelled disaster." He paused.

"So, I started the Hero's Shadow. It was an expensive endeavor to start up, but that's what the Syndicate was for." Jared had no clue what that second thing was, but it didn't seem to deter Titus. He chuckled.

"It was a lot to balance. I had to ensure that the authorities didn't look too closely at Hero's Shadow finances. I had to ensure that the Children of Flame and the Hero's Shadow didn't kill each other off. And most of all, I had to keep the previous [Hero] alive until I was ready to select the next one." Jared's eyes shot wide.

"Wait… bro… you don't mean…"

"Yes, brother, I specifically chose you," Titus said.

"It turns out that [[Override Hero Selection]] doesn't need a name, just a unique identifier. And since I supposedly have only one brother." He shrugged.

"I suppose I could have also picked mom or dear old dad, but what kind of story would that be?" He chuckled.

"And for some reason, I doubt that summoning mom would work out how I would want it." Jared's mind was reeling, but he had to keep Titus talking.

"Why me, bro?" he finally asked. Titus paused.

"I think I can explain that without leaking my final strategy. Sure. Why not?" He cleared his throat.

"Before we get started, though, I have to lay some groundwork. Tell me, brother, what's your oldest memory before being brought to this world?" Jared furrowed his brow.

"I dunno, bro. Maybe trying to convince you to play football instead of staying inside so much?" Titus sighed, and his shoulders drooped slightly.

"I'm not asking for things that you think you did. I'm asking for concrete memories. Your last solid one is probably crossing the road and getting hit by a truck, but do you have any before that?" Jared was a bit startled that Titus knew how he had died back on Earth, but he grew even more afraid as he realized that before that was… nothing. Only vague ideas of a life he thought he had lived.

"Bro, what did you do to me?" Jared asked in fear. He felt like his entire life had been stripped away from him. He felt like everything was a lie. Titus had to have-"What did I do to you?" Titus laughed bitterly, interrupting his thoughts.

"What did I do? The answer, dear brother, is nothing." Right after that, Titus slowly moved his staff downward to Jared's chest, and the pain increased until it was white hot. Jared screamed in agony… and then the pain faded as if it had never occurred. Titus was close to whatever his plan was, but Jared's mind was reeling too much to focus on that.

"I didn't have to do anything to take away your memories," Titus said, putting away his staff and gesturing with his hands.

"You can't take away something that was never there." Jared blinked in confusion.

"W-what are you saying?" Titus looked up toward the sky.

"How the frick do I explain this…" After a moment, he looked back down at Jared.

"You never played video games with me, right?" he asked.

"No," Jared replied.

"But what does that-""What about TV shows?" Titus asked.

"Did you watch those? At least, supposedly?"

"Yeah? Mostly watched the game, but I'm sure I watched some other stuff, too."

"Well, think about this," Titus said.

"You have a TV show, and the main character has to receive a letter. The mailman drops it off, but the main character never interacts with them, just watches them drop the mail off the one time." Titus leaned in lower.

"What's the mailman's name?" he asked.

"How the frick am I supposed to know that?" Jared asked.

"Exactly," Titus said, standing back up straight and starting to pace back and forth.

"The mailman is a side character. He isn't important. The audience knows nothing about him, so aside from the knowledge that he delivers mail, all they can do is speculate wildly on internet forums and for some reason ship him with anyone and everyone in the cast."

"Uhh…" Titus waved that off.

"But all that's beside the point. If a main character ever actually meets the mailman, we might learn a bit more. A name. Something about their family. Maybe a hobby or two."

"But what does that have to do with me?" Jared protested.

"It's simple," Titus shrugged.

"In this grand simulation we find ourselves in, you're the mailman." Jared's brain ground to a halt.

"A… simulation?" he asked quietly.

"No. We can't be. Everything's too real, there's no way."

"I don't have time to convince you of that," Titus said with a shrug.

"I'm almost out of mana from the ritual, and I can't keep up the healing that's keeping you alive for much longer. So, if you want any final questions answered, you'll need to ask them fast." Jared's mind was whirling too much to ask his next question, so Titus just nodded.

"Well, then, I guess it's time," he stated, reaching down to pick Jared up.

"If it's any consolation… I was the mailman, too." That wasn't very comforting, and Jared knew that he needed to stall for… something.

"Why me?" he asked.

"You never answered that. Why pick me, bro?" Titus paused and then straightened back up.

"I guess there are a few reasons. First, I needed someone from Earth. The fact that you were an NPC was just an added bonus because it made it more likely that I could take you down. As for the second reason…" Titus chuckled.

"I suppose that it made a better story." Jared grit his teeth.

"What the frick do you mean by that? Was all of this just a sick joke to you? Just an excuse to make a story about how you killed your own brother?"

"No," Titus stated flatly.

"Frankly, if it was just up to me and what I thought would work, I would have just kidnapped you right as you set foot in Placeholder." He shook his head.

"But, for some reason I doubt that this whole simulation would let me get away with such a boring ending." Jared furrowed his brows and was about to ask another question, but Titus continued.

"Think about it," Titus said, looking off into the distance.

"If someone went to the trouble of creating this entire grand simulation, what did they want out of it? Did they want to study physics?" Titus shook his head.

"No. Magic pretty much shoots that use case down. What about sociology?" Titus chuckled.

"I imagine throwing a bunch of skills and RPG elements into the mix would mess that up, but then again, I suppose I don't know much about that field." Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Titus sighed.

"No, the one and only thing that I could think of for all of this… for this entire OmniverseEngine with all its parallel realities… is that it's entertainment for someone else out there." Jared's eyes widened.

"So-""So," Titus said, cutting him off.

"I finally cracked the code! If I wanted to win, I had to embrace my role! Play my part! And finally, give the System the story that it's been longing for so much." He spread his hands wide.

"Fortunately, that's pretty straightforward. What does the [Demon Lord] do? Why, he fights everyone, and then in most stories, he loses at the very end to [Hero]." Titus chuckled.

"You played your part well, by the way. There were only a few times that I had to step in while I was watching over you with [Foresight]." Jared had to keep stalling, but he didn't know what to say.

"But, why?" he asked as Titus started to move again.

"Bro, if you're that strong, couldn't you have just kidnapped me right when I got here? Would this… simulation have stopped you from doing that?"

"Hmm," Titus replied, thinking for a moment.

"I don't know. Not for sure. There have been other times when it randomly threw a wrench into my plans when they were too easy, but I guess there's no way to know for certain." He shrugged.

"Besides, that wasn't my only reason for doing it the way I did. I was basically farming the entire world for experience. I mean, I gained 5 levels in magic skills in that last battle alone. Not to mention all the practice I got for ticking off the fey." That was it. Jared's lifeline.

"Bro, if you don't let me go, those fairies will-""Do nothing," Titus interrupted bluntly.

"You think them helping you wasn't a part of the plan?" He laughed.

"The only guaranteed way to get a fairy to do something is to say it is expressly forbidden, and with the stunts they pulled helping you kill my clone, their numbers are down to a handful." Titus shook his head.

"Besides, my real target with the oaths was Secondavia. She's the only one who could get from Placeholder to here, and that's if she had something to lock onto." Titus' head swiveled to something Jared couldn't see, and he nodded.

"Well, time's up," he said, bending over and hefting Jared over a shoulder.

"What are you going to do with me?" Jared asked, resigned to his fate.

"I already told you that I wouldn't spoil my plans," Titus said as he started walking and then vaulted over a small wall.

"But… I guess I can level with you. I'm going to kill you." Jared's eyes widened at the easy admission, but Titus quickly assured him.

"Don't worry about it, though! It just means you get sent back to Earth without any of your memories from here."

"I… I don't want to forget," Jared said, trying in vain to even clench a fist.

"I don't want to forget Eliza… I don't want to forget the people you killed. I don't want to forget that my brother is a monster who needs to be stopped!" Jared grit his teeth.

"What do you even get out of all this? How do you think this will end up for you, whatever the frick you're planning?" Titus stopped on a ledge.

"If I'm lucky, I'll die to the [Hero] who's summoned to replace you and be gone forever," Titus said quietly.

"And that would be a fate far better than I deserve." Jared felt the motion of Titus' shoulders as he took in a deep breath.

"But either way, whoever's in charge needs to pay, and this is the only way. So…goodbye, Jared. And… I'm sorry." Jared didn't have a chance to reply as he was thrown from Titus' shoulder and he sailed down into the abyss.

I couldn't look as I threw Jared down into the corruption. Not because of my guilt, though that might have been a small factor, but because the corruption didn't like being looked at, as I had found out previously. Then, after the deed was done, I sat down on the ledge and slowly took off my helmet. My plan had been completed to the best of my ability. All that was left was to wait on gravity and the System. Not a bad place to wait out the end of the world.

I thought, looking out into the dark, illuminated by sparse lavafalls. Several seconds passed, long enough to doubt my calculations, and then I got the first message. System: WARNING! Corruption detected! Quarantining! Right on time. I thought. Should be followed by… System: ERROR! Protected Entity corrupted! Alerting all available admins! System: ERROR! No admins available! Dumping memory for affected section in 5 minutes! And next… Wait for it… The last wait was maybe 30 more seconds, and I got the final message.

System: The Demon Lord has slain the Hero! As the Hero has named no successor, a new Hero will be chosen And that was it. My plan was complete. I laid down backward and looked up into the empty tutorial sky.

"No idea if it even worked," I said to no one.

"No idea if it will even have an impact, or if they can just rollback without a care." I sighed.

"But… it's done. However, it ends up. There's nothing more I can do, and I can't make another attempt." Despite that, my brain didn't seem to agree that things were done. It seemed determined to pick apart the plan and find any holes or drastic errors. So, instead of relaxing and waiting for an apocalypse that may never come, I went back over everything. Step 1. Summon a [Hero] from Earth and capture them. I thought. Done. Couldn't have gone better.

I think my suspicions about the OmniverseEngine being partial to stories is spot on. Step 2. Give the [Hero] a modified version of [Memory Protection]. I paused and thought about that one. I had no way to test it, and it couldn't exactly be repeated. It took all the charged magicite, which was appropriately exorbitant, and… My thoughts returned to the message I'd received right as I finished using [[Edit Character]]. System: Warning. Unbalanced System change made by candidate Titus. That is strike 3.

Candidate privileges have been revoked System: Contact your nearest Admin and rectify your changes to restore elevated privileges I banished the thought of that message. And step 3. Dip the [Hero] in corruption and send them back to Earth to try to spread as much corruption as possible.

"Does that mean that Jared counts as a trojan horse?" I asked.

"Or is it a worm since corruption is self-replicating?" And just as I wondered if I would be there forever, debating what type of virus I had spread in the OmniverseEngine, I got another System message. System: N* suitable Her* has been f*und. N* Her* has been ch*sen I sat back up.

"Well, that was faster than I expected," I said quietly as the world started slowing down. Off in the distance, lava glitched and warped before turning to water. It then exploded as it turned into steam and tried to cool the lava before disappearing altogether. System: WARNING! Corruption detected! Quarantining! That was followed by a far-off portion of the tutorial floor suddenly turning to green 1s and 0s, sending the patrolling ants tumbling down into the void.

My attention was drawn by a loud crack behind me as a portion of the tutorial floor suddenly started snapping into random rotations before warping around and then completely out of sight. There was also a wave of corruption spreading through the floor that would reach me at any time… and I didn't do anything. There was no point in trying to run or hide. Total system corruption wasn't something that could be escaped. The only thing left to do was to sit and watch the end of the world.

The ground beneath me started glitching and warping, giving me a chance for two final words.

"Game over," I stated, and then the void took me.

I was swimming in a sea of nothingness. Everything was being stripped away from me slowly. Even consciousness itself. I resigned myself to my fate, even as my soul screamed that everything was not okay. And then suddenly… Awareness. Light. Pain. My ability to think slowly returned as what felt like white-hot chains bound my arms behind my back. I blinked as smears of light slowly resolved into two stern-looking angels who had bound me with the golden chains. I worked my mouth for a bit before I could talk.

"Are those really necessary?" I asked, gesturing at my bound hands.

"You tell me," one angel snorted, pointing above my head. I glanced above myself, and was greeted by a status screen, apparently displaying for all to see. Designation T. I. T. U. S. (Temporal Infiltrator Terminating and Undermining the System) Threat level (Maximal) 10 (Destroyer of the OmniverseEngine) Threat level (Estimated) 1 (Single-world threat) Threat level (Current) 0 (Contained)"Oh, that's cute. They changed my name into an acronym," I stated as the angels roughly hauled me to my feet. … Well, mostly.

It turned out that my legs still didn't quite know that they were legs, so walking was pretty much out of the question. Instead, I was unceremoniously dragged along, mostly upright, through what appeared to be an angelic prison of sorts. Heaven. I thought. Wait. Am I still in Placeholder? I tried to snap a quick [Disrupt], but it turned into a normal snap. That, combined with the non-existence of mana, brought me to a conclusion. Adminspace. I thought. And if there are both demons and angels as admins, that means…

"Well, looks like I might get to speak to someone important after all," I muttered. One of the angels told me to remain silent as I did that, so I wisely shut up. From there, I was dragged into something I immediately recognized as a courtroom. There was a vacant seat for the judge at the front, a podium in the middle, and two desks off to the left and right. I was dragged down the aisle and had to pass by hundreds, if not thousands, of admins, many of whom yelled and jeered at me.

It was mostly the demonic ones seated on the left side that did that, with the angels on the right mostly staying silent. However, it wasn't only demons and angels in there. I was surprised by the number of regular humans, various fantasy races, and even some elementals composed of fire, water, light, or other materials. Looks like admin privileges are more inclusive than I thought. I mused to myself as the angels finished dragging me up to the center podium, facing the empty judge's seat.

My chains were moved to the front, and I was chained to the podium. After that, the angels took up guard positions behind me. Meanwhile, I noticed that the desk to my right was empty, but there was an angel off to my left seated at that desk.

"Are you my defense?" I asked, and then, realizing I had no idea how a heavenly court worked, I asked a follow-up.

"Or the prosecution?"

"You have no defense," he sneered, and my mind immediately jumped to where I found that familiar. Pride. I thought. I slowly shook that away, but the demon's appearance and haughty tone were definitely familiar.

"I am your Accuser, and none will be so foolish as to defend one like you," he continued.

"You are incorrect," came a voice from behind me. I turned to look as a thin angel with soft features walked down the aisle and stood beside me.

"I shall be his defense."

"You would dare defend such a vile, reprehensible, irredeemable piece of filth?" the demon mocked.

"He is many things, but irredeemable is not one of them," the angel stated firmly. I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult, given that he didn't address the other statements, but I decided to take it the positive way.

"Thank you," I told him.

"What's your name?"

"I am Rachamim, and if we wish to give a defense, we shall need to act with haste. We do not have much time." He came in closer, and we tried to prepare a defense.

The first order of business for me was finding out what I was actually being charged with. Rachamim told me that any wrongdoing in my life was on the table, which was concerning, to say the least, but the biggest charges were the most recent ones. Weaponizing corruption and destroying the OmniverseEngine. Apparently, the first of those charges hadn't even really been a law before. No admin was stupid enough to try to use corruption, one of the only things that could destroy them, as a weapon.

In other words, since the goal of my plan was to be a nuisance to the people in charge, it seemed that I had succeeded. However, the second charge was more surprising. I figured my stunt would do some damage and maybe even take the System down for a bit, but I didn't expect it to destroy everything. And by everything, it apparently meant… everything. Even the parallel universes. Yeah, Rach didn't have long to explain that, but apparently, all of us lived on the "main branch," so if we went, all the others did too.

And it all went down so fast because there were apparently only a few "feeder worlds" that the System would spin up to summon people from Earth. They were apparently seen as low priority. I felt a bit of smug satisfaction that the NPC homeworld being low priority was the downfall of the System, which I'm pretty sure gave Rach second thoughts about defending me. Either way, we discussed things, and the end result was pretty obvious. I was guilty. Caught red handed. They probably had logs.

So, the name of the game was mitigation. Rach asked me to go through what brought me to that point and how I came up with the idea. I got through a bit about the admins who had ruined my life and about the ideas I gained as a candidate, but then, with our defense barely put together, it was time.

"All rise for the Judge of Creation," proclaimed an angel from the front. Rachamim returned to his desk, but not before he whispered.

"Do not look directly at him," he whispered.

"Why not?" I asked as I watched the door.

"It's not like I could be in more trouble." Then… how do I put this… it was as if light itself had stepped into the room. I fell down, dangling by the chains as the light seared my eyes and my conscience suddenly blared with everything I had ever done wrong. I started babbling almost incoherently.

"Guilty, guilty, I'm so guilty, oh god, oh no." In other words… my trial was off to a great start.

After being given a few moments to compose myself and avoid the stupidity of looking up at a being that was basically pure holiness again, the trial finally started. I plead not guilty to the charge of destroying the OmniverseEngine… which just made Rach sigh. And that then prompted the demon prosecutor to bring up evidence that basically just showed me enacting my final plan. That led to Rach standing up, saying his client pled guilty but that he would like to argue for a lower sentencing. Which…

hey, I didn't know that was a thing. How the heck was I supposed to know how angel court worked? Anyway, that meant digging into my motivations … which also didn't help my case. Raging against the Heavens isn't a good look in a heavenly courtroom. It also didn't help that it caused them to dive deeper into the main decisions that led me to where I ended up. And apparently, the prosecution managed to get his hands on all the details of the other parallel universes that were created at those junctures.

Without fail, they seemed to end up in a better spot than me. It finally got to the point where I blurted out something to the effect of.

"From what you're showing, you're making me look like I'm the evilest possible version of me!" To which the prosecution laughed and replied.

"Of course, you're the most evil version of yourself!" he laughed.

"You have a death toll that can only be described as countably infinite. I'm almost jealous." He turned towards the judge.

"Your honor, we need not waste any more time. There is no possible redemption for him! His verdict of damnation is self-evident!" … Which, honestly, I kinda felt like was a pretty compelling argument. I mean, if I was judging someone else and the best they could say was that they killed approximately people [1], I would just give up and consign him to Hell, too. Surprisingly, the trial didn't end there, though.

We got to talk about two of my least favorite people, Admin and Altsys, and I made sure to throw them under the bus in regard to my descent into evil. Admin apparently got taken out by the corruption, so that was score one for me. As for AltSys… apparently, he was unavailable to stand trial. And there was some BS I didn't understand about him pleading out in return for service to the OmniverseEngine… something about a System restore point?

I didn't have enough context to know what that was about, but it did sink my "throw the admins under the bus to get a better verdict" plan. Before I knew it, it was time for closing arguments. The prosecution didn't have much to add to his earlier statement, which didn't surprise me, given that it was enough for me to find myself guilty. No, the surprise was the defense. Rach went and talked about how there was still good that I could do.

That my knowledge could be used to safeguard against something like this happening again. That though I had an appearance similar to a demon, I was still a human from Earth and was therefore not irredeemable. I was… kinda touched by that. And then, to my surprise, I was allowed to make a final statement, too. It took me a while to gather myself. I knew the verdict already, but I made my statement. My last wishes before I was condemned to judgment. Then, the gavel came down. The judge pronounced his judgment.

And-...

"What just happened?" I muttered to myself. I had Jared on my shoulder. I was about to hop the wall and then toss him into the void to complete my plan, but it seemed like… I already did that? I stopped in place, trying to figure out what was going on. As I did, my déjà vu slowly vanished… along with my brother. System: A new Hero has been summoned I could only blink for a few seconds.

"It looks like I've been found out," I said to no one.

"You would be correct," came a voice from behind me. I spun around and took in the new [Hero]. Human. Male. A bit shorter than me. Middle eastern? I was out of practice on identifying ethnic groups from Earth, but it seemed about right. Oh, and he was clad in the Hero's Regalia, with his sword at the ready. My instincts yelled at me that this was a bigger threat than Thomas, which meant it was time to de-escalate.

"Who are you?" I asked, deciding on the "playing dumb" route.

"My name is Joshua," he stated.

"Nice to meet you, I'm-""Oh, I am well aware of who you are, Titus," he said, cutting me off.

"Look, Josh, can I call you Josh?" I asked, stalling just a bit more for time.

"I'm not sure who you've mistaken me for-""[Appraise]," he cast, sinking that line.

"But I'm obviously not in any shape to fight right now after the big ritual you just interrupted and-""[[Restore Resources]]." My mana bar jumped up as quickly as my heart sank. An admin [Hero]. I thought. Oh. Oh frick. My panic was only doubled as the [Hero] noticed a hint of corruption on the sword from when I had tossed it into the void earlier. He clamped his hand on the blade, drew it out, and then crushed it.

"I surrender!" I blurted out immediately.

"I do not accept," he stated.

"You will only use the delay to try to find a way out of your appropriate judgment."

"Frick," I muttered. Since… well… he was right. That meant I just had one hopeless option left.

"Just give me a moment here," I said, pulling out Singularity and Herobane. Then I immediately [Blinked] behind him and lashed out with a heavy strike towards his back. He blocked it easily, with a guard as solid as steel, and met my follow-up [Fire Bolt] with a cast of his own from his free hand. From there, the battle was on, and it was clear who the victor would be from the start.

I activated [Haste], [Strengthen], and [Foresight], but even glimpses into the future were not enough to break through his impenetrable guard. And then, he no longer contented himself with staying in a single spot. The next time I [Blinked] behind him, I hit nothing but air and had to dive and roll to avoid a strike from my back. By the time I rolled to my feet, he reappeared in front of me and I narrowly dodged a stab to the face. It's just a [Flash Step]. I realized. It's not a [Blink].

The one benefit of [Blink] and [Telehop] was that I could control my orientation when I came out of the spell, as opposed to [Flash Step], which maintained orientation as someone used it. And so, I tried to use the fraction of a second advantage I gained from not needing to turn by chaining a few [Blinks] together and then striking at an unprotected back or side. Joshua met every single attempt easily, even with his less useful skill. Eventually, I [Flash Stepped] away, and we eyed each other for a moment.

"It's like fighting Lindsey, but in her prime, and she decided to use a sword," I muttered.

"Lindsey was quite the martial artist, wasn't she?" he asked.

"How do you-""Apologies, but I will finish this fight now," he stated, as his sword started arcing with the electricity of a familiar skill. At least I'll get one good hit on him. I thought, trying not to let my smirk show on my face. He exploded forward with a thunderclap, and I activated [Reflect Attack] at the same time. But it turns out that [Reflect Attack] doesn't work so well when you're not the target. With jaw-dropping precision, Joshua landed the skill not on me…

but on Singularity a hairsbreadth above my hand. The black mithral and dragon bone exploded from the impact, and while I was in shock from the destruction of my oldest weapon, he proceeded with a combination attack that I could barely follow. First, a kick that did no damage but put me off balance and ate my [Reflect Attack]. Second, his sword suddenly transformed into a spear and he swept my legs out from under me with the haft.

Third, as I was falling, his hand lashed out, twisting my right arm until I dropped Herobane, which clattered to the side harmlessly. I was left on my backside, completely disarmed, with a spear pointed into my chest.

"Okay," I said.

"That's definitely cheating. The hero weapon-""Takes the most appropriate form for its wielder," he replied. I paused momentarily as that sank in.

"It can be anything for you, can't it?" I asked with a sigh.

"Alright. I lose." I closed my eyes for a second and then looked back up.

"But… before you kill me… just… hear me out for a second. Okay?" He didn't say anything, which I took as a good sign.

"I never wanted to be a [Demon Lord]," I started out.

"In fact, I would have done just about anything to get rid of this stupid class. But as things went on, circumstances just forced me to do worse and worse things." I chuckled bitterly.

"Literally forced. Nearly 500 years of me becoming more and more accustomed to doing… well… evil… was forced on me because of a time loop. The only way I could see it undone was to erase myself and…" I looked down.

"Doom the woman I love to a life of torture at the hands of demons." I clenched a fist.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is to make sure that the other admins who were responsible for this pay, too," I finished. There was a brief pause.

"Is that all you have to say for your final request?" he asked. And that made me think. Really think about what it was I wanted out of this. Revenge was there, certainly, but that wasn't all. I found another motivation once I stopped just a second and looked even deeper.

"Don't let this happen to anyone else," I pleaded, looking up at him with tears forming in my eyes.

"Don't let anyone else be forced to become a [Demon Lord]. Don't let the System take away everything from them, over and over again. And…" I paused and gave a bitter laugh.

"Don't let frickin' time travel take away someone's ability to make their own choices. It's not right. No one should ever have to go through what I did." I stopped and wiped my eyes.

"Have I…" I continued after a moment.

"Have I said all of this to you before?" I couldn't help but ask as I felt another overwhelming sense of déjà vu.

"Anything else?" he asked quietly, ignoring my question.

"No. Just… make it quick, like I did to the [Heroes] I've killed," I stated softly and closed my eyes. The spear pressed into my chest… and then vanished.

"Stand up," he stated. I slowly opened my eyes to see him holding out his hand. I took it warily, and he helped me to my feet.

"For your response, I have granted you a stay of execution. In return, you will do everything I tell you. Understood?"

"Yes?" I asked slowly.

"You're not going to… force me to do that under oath?" He shook his head.

"Your actions must remain your own, just as you asked. Now, for your first order, follow me. We have much work to do." With that, he turned and walked toward the obelisk. I suppose… it'll be good to see Placeholder one last time before I die. I thought, and then I followed right behind him. [1] 0 Aleph-null. The mathematical symbol for a countable infinity (e. g. All the numbers in 1, 2, 3…). Learning the difference between countable and uncountable infinities is left as an exercise for the reader