Chương 42: Chapter 38 – Preparations (part 3)

A week later, ~ 14 years remaining Things were not looking up.

"Again!" I ordered, frustrated as I struggled up to my feet inside the Mindscape. My clones, who we had figured out were able to go in there with me, looked at each other.

"Are you sure?" one asked.

"This isn't going anywhere. He's just going too-""AGAIN!" I shouted. With a shrug, the simulation began again. Me in full gear, buffed as much as I could be with [Haste], [Strengthen], and [Foresight] against my best approximation of Admin. And that test went twice as well as the last… it took him two swings before he hit me and instantly flattened me into the ground, instantly dead.

"Again!" I ordered, standing up to my feet.

"No," a clone replied with a shake of his head.

"This isn't working, and this is the lower-end simulation. What if he gets his hand on [Haste] or something similar?"

"I have to win," I replied.

"I have to stand toe to toe with him and give him a real fight, or it will never work."

"And you will!" another clone piped up.

"Just not now. Give it a break. Give your prototype copy of the greatsword to a farming clone and let him get a feel for it with the grav boosts. Let one of us work on a better version of [Haste]! Just don't keep pounding your head into the wall, and take a break!" I wanted to lash out again, but I realized something else that was more important.

"Why have none of you mutinied yet?" I asked, changing the subject entirely.

"There are more than a dozen of you, and I feel that you could shake off my control easily enough. So, why don't you? Why are you still supporting me when Demon Slayer would have probably killed me by now?" The clones all looked at each other.

"I guess we just know what's at stake here," one replied.

"Kind of a jerk move to rebel when you're just trying to save people."

"And I don't think any of us want your position," another piped up.

"You kinda have the worst job out of all of us."

"And maybe you're just a bit less of an asp than when you made Demon Slayer," a third added.

"So, that means your copies are too." I couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"So, you should listen to us when we say you need to take a break," the first concluded.

"Alright, you've made your point," I stated.

"I'll table this until we have some stuff in place that will make it a closer fight. Besides, there's a whole world to protect, and I need to start planning for that." I caught the slightest hint of frowns passed between the clones but didn't pay much mind to it. I had work to do.

A week later"Titus Prime, this is Jhilsara," she interrupted me as I was stewing over battle strategies I had sketched on several sheets of paper that were haphazardly strewn across the room.

"Go ahead," I grumbled irritably.

"I need your assistance," she stated.

"I have an asset who is overworking himself."

"Tell him to stop, then," I replied, shuffling the papers.

"He is not likely to listen to me," she continued.

"However, if you were to give me some reasons why he should be willing to take a break, even in these dire times, perhaps he would listen to you."

"Alright," I sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"Tell him that if he's overworking himself, he's actually accomplishing less than he could be. Not more. It might feel like he's getting a lot done and needs to keep pushing, but that's just because his brain is tired too and he can't accurately judge his work anymore." I paused.

"And if that doesn't work, and if he's working from some sense of duty or obligation to protect people, then tell him that he is failing them by refusing to get enough rest to work adequately." I looked back down at the papers.

"There's an Earth saying that was something like if you only have 6 hours to cut down a tree, spend at least an hour of it sharpening the axe." I was pretty sure I butchered it, but I didn't care.

"So, tell him something like that too."

"Thank you," Jhilsara replied, but I was barely listening.

"Now, kindly repeat those words to yourself." I paused and then opened my mouth. I closed it without saying a word. Then, I tried again, and I only got out a "But-" Eventually, I just sighed.

"Well played," I stated.

"But I really don't think I'm that overworked."

"You are irritable and snappy, beyond what you normally are due to the stress of your position," she started.

"You have also been 'strategizing' for a full day without making any noticeable progress. Finally, your copies are suffering performance-wise across the board." She paused.

"Their theory is that it is related to the fact that you and they partially share mental processes?"

"Fine!" I snapped, proving her point.

"I'll take today off."

"You will take two days of every week off," she replied.

"One!" I shot back.

"Deal," she immediately replied. And if my haggling had suffered enough that I fell for her anchoring [1] on two days a week, it was pretty clear that she was right.

"But what am I supposed to do with a day off?" I asked.

"Take a walk, read a book, visit a museum," she replied.

"I do not know what your interests are. Just do something that is not work. And that is an order."

"Okay," I relented, shuffling the papers into my inventory.

"I think the problem of defending all of Placeholder might be impossible anyway." And that was a bitter pill to swallow. Even with my rapid response team and hundreds of clones, I still couldn't be everywhere. However, I did have an idea for a place I could visit during my break. It was a long overdue reunion.

Later that day"Hi… Megan," I said to the tomb in the dragonlands.

"Sorry I haven't visited more often. Just… been busy with work." I gave a small, dry chuckle at my bad joke.

"I guess before now, work was destroying the world. And now, here I am doing the opposite. I'm the [Hero] now." I shook my head.

"And no. I still can't believe it either. I don't know how someone like me could be the [Hero], especially after… after what I did to you." The tears were starting to form, and I wiped at them.

"But that was just the start. I did a lot of worse things after that. First, I told myself it was necessary because I could fix what was done to you. Then, when I found out that wasn't possible, it was just me lashing out at the entire world." I gripped Megan's necklace in my hand as I continued.

"I still feel the weight of what I did to you," I said softly.

"But now, it's joined by the weight of what will happen to this entire world. And I'm cracking. I can tell. It's too much. It's all just too much." I leaned my back against the wall and slowly slid down it to crash onto the floor.

"Sorry," I said, wiping my eyes again.

"That shouldn't be why I'm here. And would you even care about the fate of the world if you were still here with me?" I knew that she was a selfish woman when she was living. She was fine with stealing from just about anyone. But I also knew she had one Achilles heel that would make her approve of my actions. Her love for children, which I had inherited from her oh so long ago. She would never sit back and let demons take them. I stayed mostly quiet after that and let the tears come when they felt like it.

I had never taken the time to truly grieve for her because I had either been too busy… or believed that I could save her. My time there could have gone much longer than expected if not for a familiar sound breaking me out of my thoughts. A dragon's roar. I popped to my feet instantly, a growl leaving my lips. My association with dragons with Megan's death was still stronger than it had any right to be, and my mind immediately went to murder and madness just like last time. …

Except, I snapped out of it quickly as I realized something.

"What the frick?" I muttered.

"All the fire dragons are dead." I walked to the entrance and realized that the dragonlands had undergone a few changes in the centuries since I had last looked around.

"What in the…" I muttered as I saw dying vegetation and ash everywhere. My confusion was interrupted by a loud, haughty female voice in my mind. Interloper! Despoiler! Begone from here and return to your land of death! It shouted. Another loud roar met the mental voice… and then a dozen more roars answered its call from miles off. I activated mithril mode on my armor and pulled out my large and slightly unwieldy weapon. Then, running, [Flash Stepping], and [Blinking] closer, I came upon quite a sight.

It was a dragon battle. Specifically, the voice that had shouted in my mind was coming from an air dragon, a dragon with yellow scales that was long and thin and reminded me more of Chinese depictions of dragons. On the opposite side was an ash dragon, similar to its fire dragon cousins, except it was mostly black and gray. And the ash dragon, who seemed to be in a younger age category, was getting absolutely destroyed.

The air dragon was flying circles around it, dodging ash breath and retaliating with gusts of wind from its mouth that hit hard enough to wreck its opponent's flight patterns. And when the ash dragon moved in for closer combat, that just made things much worse for it. The air dragon easily darted around its clumsy bite and sank its fangs into the ash dragon's exposed wing. Then, it wrapped itself around its opponent's neck and they hurtled to the ground.

After their rough landing, the air dragon slowly choked the life out of it, the ash dragon roaring and flailing to no avail. Well, that was a thing. I thought. I wasn't entirely sure what to do about what I just saw… or about the several pairs of flapping wings that soon appeared on the scene. Picking on hatchlings once again, I see. Came a gravelly mental voice, which I quickly identified as belonging to the largest of the ash dragons. Because their progenitor was too afraid to face me! The air dragon boasted.

And I see that has not changed. How many others do you need to hide behind before facing a foe on your own level? 5? 10? The ash dragon didn't reply to that and instead gave a roar that the other dragons responded to. Soon, just as the air dragon had taunted, it was an 11 on 1 fight. Even though 10 of those were lower level, the numbers meant quite a bit, and the air dragon was taking a beating. This isn't my fight… is it? I asked myself, not entirely sure.

I mean, this is a conflict between two different people groups, right? Is it my responsibility as a [Hero] to end war? I frowned. And while I'm leaning towards taking the air dragon's side, who's to say what the background for all this is and whether or not it's the right choice? The ash dragons took the air dragon to the ground, and their leader landed and walked up to the struggling air dragon before breathing ash into its face. I will enjoy destroying you and your entire pathetic species.

It practically spat mentally. Okay, I stand corrected. I immediately thought and began moving. The one good thing about being in Placeholder was that it really seemed to drive home who the villains and heroes were, so at least that part of my job was easy. I needed to make the most of my surprise attack, so I charged up a [Sunder] as high as it would go… and then even further with [Limit Break], dumping all of my stamina and then some into the attack.

Then, just as the lead dragon turned to look at what that bright shining light was, I [Blinked] forward and used the skill. I… may have overdone it. The dragon's head was separated from its neck, and it generated a shockwave that ended up pushing the other dragons off the air dragon and knocking them slightly off balance. Meanwhile, I tried to stick the landing from so far up by using my grav boost enchant, but it almost pulled my greatsword out of my hands, and I ate dirt instead.

I popped back up as fast as possible, ready for a fight, but I only saw 11 pairs of dragon eyes staring at me. Since [Sunder] was on cooldown, I chose another tactic.

"Boo!" I shouted, making a single step towards them. The ash dragons made a high-pitched whining noise that I didn't know was possible for dragons to make and took off, stumbling and awkwardly attempting to fly, leaving me with a bemused air dragon. Hail, friend, slayer of ash. She stated. Your assistance was most timely, and I thank you. She dipped her head.

"You're welcome," I replied, slightly inclining my own head.

"I am Titus. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?" What manner of creature is a titus? The dragon asked, cocking its head to the side and then to the other as it examined me. And who else would you be speaking to but me? She asked. Oh. No names. Hmm. I guess that makes sense when you talk directly to someone's mind. I thought. I… don't have nearly the time to explain what a name is.

"Nevermind," I replied, shaking my head.

"It's unimportant." The air dragon gave a grand laugh. You are a strange one, titus. And that confused me again because they didn't know about names but had just used mine. Except… Oh, great. I barely resisted the urge to facepalm. She probably thinks a titus is a catchall term for two-legged creatures now. I decided that I should excuse myself before things got even more awkward.

"Well, I should be going now," I stated. So soon? She asked. You are my savior and deserve a boon of some sort. Will you not fly back with me to my abode?

"One, I can't fly," I stated.

"And two, I'm not sure there's anything you could offer me that I would need, except for-" I paused, and my eyes went wide.

"Are you and the ash dragons at war?" I asked. War? A strange idea. She replied. But, yes, that idea is accurate. Over the past few centuries, they have slowly increased in number and taken over more and more of our land. That and the disappearance of our firey cousins, their natural enemies, have left us in a dire situation. I was glad that dragons probably didn't know how to read a human's facial expressions.

Otherwise, the wince that I gave at the mention of the fire dragons' disappearance would have likely given something away. Great job, past me. You even managed to frick up the dragonlands. I thought. However, they didn't need to know that… yet. I would come clean later.

"And are all the ash dragons as deadset on destroying you as their leader was?" I asked. The air dragon nodded an affirmative. Need to double check that myself. I thought. However, that was a good enough place to start.

"Then I have a proposal for you," I stated.

"An alliance. I will help you defeat your enemies, and in turn, you will help me defeat mine in a few years." The details would take a while to hammer out, and there were two other species of dragons to contact (earth and ice), but that was where it started looking like I might be able to save Placeholder after all.

~12 years remaining"Kythaela, I'm glad you finally gave me a chance to speak with you," I stated as we met up in the adventurer's guild.

"Please, take a seat," I continued, gesturing to a chair.

"No," she said, her fists white-knuckle clenched at her side.

"Y-you lied to us. You're the enemy of Placeholder. The enemy of the church. You took my husband from me and are even teaching him forbidden magic!" I winced.

"Not exactly teaching. But, his training does involve it being used on him-""That's not any better!" she shouted. She took a deep breath and calmed down.

"So, I'm finally doing what I should have done years ago." With that, a group of men in white robes and another set in paladium armor strode into the guild.

"Titus the [Demon Lord]," one of them stated.

"You are under arrest for your crimes against Placeholder." I raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Under arrest?" I asked.

"I didn't know the church had authority to arrest me." I paused and looked at them.

"Or do you?"

"Please don't make this any harder than it needs to be," Kythaela begged.

"Y-you saved our lives, so I don't want to hurt you. But you still need to be brought in."

"Can you even hurt me?" I asked. I was certain Kythaela couldn't, but I turned that question over mentally as I looked at the others.

"Activate mithril mode," I stated to my armor as I looked at the paladium swords… that were good against demons and not much else.

"Please," I gestured with my hand.

"Give it a try. Consider me resisting arrest for now."

"Power of light, restore health to my ally," the [Priests] chanted as the [Paladins] moved in.

"[Cure]!" they finished, as the [Paladins] struck true… with sword thrusts that bounced off my armor. I yawned as the healing spells all flew into me and did nothing. And the funny part was, that would have been the case even back when I was the [Demon Lord]. It was [Healing Negation] now, after all.

"Thanks for that," I stated.

"I was already at full health, so it didn't do much, but I appreciate the gesture." Then, I looked over the swords and frowned.

"Not even major? What kind of cut-rate production are you running here?" My frown deepened.

"A lesser paladium sword? Okay, now I just feel insulted."

"What do we do!?" one of the [Paladins] shouted.

"Grab him! Restrain him!" one of the [Priests] shrieked.

"Use the paladium on your armor!" The [Paladins] tried, and I had difficulty getting out without hurting them, but I think I managed… well, mostly. I [Flash Stepped] behind the [Priest] who seemed to be in charge and then put a hand on his shoulder.

"You know, I think I need to speak with your boss," I stated.

"We're both on the same side now." He frantically tried to [Heal] me and the others did as well, but I had already shown them how useless that was. Meanwhile, the [Paladins] were back to swinging their swords, and I decided it was best to get out of there before I accidentally hurt them. Or they hurt themselves, which seemed to be the more likely of the two scenarios, as their wild attacks weren't even coming close.

"Since it would seem that negotiations have broken down, I'll have to go do that in person," I blocked the next slash and then even stopped a [Paladin's] attack from hitting another.

"It was a good attempt, and I promise not to hold it against you." Then, looking at Kythaela, I couldn't help but grimace slightly.

"I'm sorry for everything you've been through, and I hope you'll come around and help me do what's best for Placeholder soon." And with that, I [Blinked] outside of the guild. I had an [Archbishop] to confront.

Later that week The [Archbishop] was in his secret chamber, once more interrogating their demonic prisoner.

"What other tricks are you up to?" he said, pressing paladium into the writhing and screaming demon.

"What are your kind's plans?"

"I'll talk! Just stop!" Self Importance shouted. The [Archbishop] relented.

"N-next, we would most likely try to infiltrate your land with people from other races that are not as holy as yourselves," he sniveled.

"The beastfolk," the [Archbishop] sneered. He knew it.

"That is usually the next step after we move among the uneducated and poor. And you have so wisely cut much of your funding to keep the church pure," Self Importance simpered.

"After all, nothing is as important as your position and keeping the purity of the church, so we will try everything to undermine it and-" A loud crash echoed from outside the secret chamber. Two heads swiveled in that direction, but the [Archbishop] ignored it.

"My security will take care of it," he said, waving the distraction off.

"They know I am not to be disturbed. Now, continue. What exactly will this foreign infiltration look like? What will-" And then the secret entrance was ripped open with a loud metallic screech. The demon's words seemed almost prescient as the [Archbishop] initially categorized the intruder as one of the beastborn. A sneer came over his face for a moment… and then he realized who he was actually dealing with. Titus. The [Demon Lord] and fake [Hero]. His eyes widened, and he cowered in fear.

"So this is why the church has been all messed up," the fake [Hero] frowned as he strode forward.

"You've been consulting with demons… even if you chose the most unimpressive one."

"Your lowliness!" Self Importance immediately bowed, as much as he was capable through the chains.

"Please do not slay the [Archbishop] yet! He has proven a useful pawn, and my infiltration of their church nears completion! Soon, I shall rule this entire territory by myself! Just like the others!" The [Archbishop] paled as he looked back and forth between the two. Infiltration? How was that possible? The demon was a prisoner! He was tortured for information!... which didn't ensure that the demon wasn't lying.

"You really are much stupider than I gave you credit for," the fake [Hero] sighed in the [Archbishop's] direction.

"And you," he said, looking towards the demon.

"It turns out that you're a couple of centuries out of the loop. Including a most recent development." He pulled out a gigantic sword made of white metal with a blue tint.

"I've changed sides." There was a scream and a loud thunk as the sword easily drove through the demon's body and embedded deeply into the wall behind it. The demon was slain instantly. Then, pulling the sword out and looking at the [Archbishop], Titus continued.

"As for you, as much as I would like to kill you for what you've done-" The [Archbishop] held up hands in protest.

"-Save it," the… perhaps not-so-fake [Hero] scowled.

"I had to come through your office to get here. You know, the place coated in solid gold?" He tsked.

"And all the while, you've been slashing funding to what you should really be about. And I know firsthand because I happened to be in one of the orphanages your organization screwed a few decades ago." A terrifying aura built up around the intruder, and the [Archbishop] feared for his life. And then the sword abruptly vanished.

"Fortunately for you, I don't think it's my place to decide whether you live, die, or face some other punishment," he stated.

"And doubly fortunate for you, Placeholder is under threat, so it's all hands on deck. Even previously misguided cultists and religious leaders who have fleeced those under them for years." He leaned in closer.

"Are we clear?" he asked in a soft, quiet tone. The [Archbishop] nodded vigorously.

"Good!" the [Hero] replied immediately, his serious tone relaxing.

"I have some ideas for healing that you're going to help get out to the masses, and it's also high time we took care of those ridiculous deathlands once and for all…"

~10 years remaining The bell dinged as I entered the shop on another one of my days off.

"Be with you in a minute!" the shopkeeper shouted from another room. I didn't mind. That gave me time to peruse his wares… shelves upon shelves of books.

"Huh," I saw one prominent display of more than a dozen decent-sized volumes.

"A Brief History of Placeholder, eh?" I asked as I opened the first one and started flipping through.

"Sorry about that," the elf shopkeeper said as he entered the room, wiping his hands.

"We don't often get visitors at this time of day." Then, noticing the book I was holding, he nodded.

"Ah. Looking to purchase some history books?" he asked.

"You won't find a finer series than that! It's my family's pride and joy."

"And doesn't go back past the age of adventurers," I noted, flipping back to the beginning of the book. Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators! I knew the reason why since Placeholder literally didn't exist before that. Still, I wanted to see what excuse he came up with… or if Placeholder had retconned any additional history to the world while I wasn't looking.

"Yes," he frowned.

"A most unfortunate state of affairs. There seem to be no surviving scrolls or records of any kind from before then. It was almost as if the [Historian] class wasn't created before the first adventurers came over from another world." That's pretty much right. I thought as I closed the book. My primary purpose wasn't to make a purchase; it was actually to make a sale, but I got distracted by the name on the cover.

"Wait," I muttered.

"Tarron Adkrana. Adkrana, where have I heard that name before?"

"Well, the most likely place is the Hall of [Heroes] and [Demon Lords]," the shopkeeper added.

"It was started by my… well, my ancestor. I'd have to consult the family tree to tell you how many generations ago he was, but he was the first level 10 [Historian], and at least someone from every generation after has taken up the mantle." The shopkeeper beamed. And that was perfect.

"Then, I think I'll go ahead and purchase the series," I stated. As the shopkeeper rubbed his hands, I mumbled without thinking.

"It will be good to reminisce a bit." And that was apparently just loud enough for him to hear because he went stock still. Oh, frick. I thought.

"You're him," he stated, shaking. I sighed and was gearing up for yet another awkward confrontation where I had to explain that I wasn't exactly the [Demon Lord] anymore when he came forward and clasped my hands excitedly.

"So it was true! I knew it!" he said, his hands shaking mine up and down like a jackhammer and then speaking rapid fire.

"There was always speculation that my ancestor Edwyrd had a primary source from someone who was there. Please! Tell me everything! Look over my books and correct where I am wrong! There is so much history that you know that has been lost to the ages!" And then, he finally seemed to remember who he was speaking to.

"I'll… ummm… do anything!" he stated.

"I'll swear an oath, pledge my loyalty to you, even give you my shop and all my possessions!" I constantly attract nutjobs, don't I? I thought. However, that worked out just about perfectly for me.

"I'm the [Hero] now, so I don't really need your pledge of loyalty. But, tell you what," I said.

"I'll read through your series and let you know if I spot any errors. In return, all I want is for you to make some copies of this and distribute them." I pulled out a book as I said that.

"But make sure to wait until… well, it would be best if you waited until after the [Demon King's] next defeat." He took it curiously.

"What is the subject matter?" he asked as he opened it to the first page.

"My autobiography," I stated. His eyes widened, and he squealed like a kid. Then, turning back to the front, he frowned.

"It doesn't have a name," he replied.

"I figured it would just be like, "An Autobiography of Titus the [Demon Lord]," I said with a shrug.

"No, no, no," he shook his head.

"That will never do. If this is to become a best-seller after the [Demon King's] defeat, then that would only serve as a subtitle. We need something more eye-catching. Something that sums up your many lives and sets the tone for your entire work." I nodded slowly. There was only one thing I could really think of.

"How about Reborn as a Reluctant [Demon Lord]?" I asked.

~9 years remaining"Hey, Primavia, Secondavia," I stated as I teleported into the fey forest. Secondavia seemed somewhat glad to see me. Primavia, however, wore quite the scowl.

"Wert thou raised by bears?" she asked.

"You mean wolves?" I asked in confusion.

"Nay, wolves exercise much more etiquette," she replied. And now it was my turn to frown.

"What exactly did I do wrong?" I asked.

"I was just saying hello. Or do you not like the word hey?"

"Twas not thine greeting, but the order 'pon which thou gavest it," she said with a huff. I raised an eyebrow.

"… Greeting you before Secondavia?" I asked.

"Precisely!" she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Tryest thou once more and greet the [Queen] of the forest first as is most proper."

"My own [Queen]-" Secondavia started.

"Hup," Primavia interrupted.

"I beeth [Queen] no longer. The forest and all the fair folk within' beest thine responsibility now."

"But-" I decided we were wasting a bit too much time when I had a simple out.

"Most humble greetings, [Queen] of the fey, Secondavia, and her most loyal and beautiful subject, Primavia," I stated with a deep bow, and my [Actor] levels being put to work.

"I have a matter to discuss with both of you, if you would care to give me a few minutes of your time."

"Of course, Titus," Secondavia replied.

"Thou art always welcome in our abode. What is thine matter thou wishest to discuss?"

"It had best be the location of the stories thou hast promised us as thine favor," Primavia said with a scowl.

"Do not deceive thineself that we shall wait forever simply because of our age."

"Right, uhh, sorry," I replied.

"Working on that. It turned out that there were a lot fewer book clubs and storytellers than I thought, so that's going to be a bit." That caused Secondavia to raise an eyebrow, so I quickly added.

"But it's still happening. Trust me. And what I wanted to talk about would even help with getting those stories faster!" Secondavia cocked her head.

"What couldst thee be requesting twould aid thine search for stories?"

"Well, I wanted to talk about the [Create Simulacrum] spell I made," I started.

"It's been working great, but-" My sentence was interrupted by a neigh… coming from the sky.

"The noble beast returns!"

"I hath missed thee!"

"Ooh! Alloweth me to stroke thine mane first!"

"Oh great, you again." If it wasn't obvious, that last one was me. And apparently, my voice was still similar enough to when we last met… or the unicornisus had other means of determining who I was. I flew towards me at top speed, its horn ready to gouge my chest. My armor flipped to mithril mode as I prepared to receive it. I ducked under the horn and caught the charging equine… which caused me to slide back more than a dozen feet because he wasn't exactly a light sucker.

"I'm not here to fight," I stated as the horse tried to break free, and I held it in a strong but gentle grasp.

"In fact, I'm the [Hero] now. A bigger threat is coming, and I could really use your help to fight it, if you're willing." The beast stopped struggling, and I slowly let go. Things seemed to be looking up… and then it swiftly turned around and kicked dirt in my face before trotting off to the gathered fairies.

"Methinks that went well," Primavia snarked as she and the [Queen] flew back over to me.

"You know, not nearly as bad as it could have been," I replied.

"Anyway, back to why I came here. I wanted you to take a look at the simulacrum spell and see if there are any tweaks that I could make to it so that it handles the strain better. It's become… well, a lot."

"Twould be my-" Secondavia started.

"What beeth in this bargain for us?" Primavia interjected.

"Thou cannot request a favor of the fey with naught in return."

"I have some ideas for some teleportation spells, mixed with enchantments, that you might be interested in," I conceded.

"They aren't fully worked out, but I think you would get a lot of amusement out of them." Primavia gave a reluctant nod to Secondavia, who flew over and started examining my head… or, more specifically, the mind magic in effect there.

"What beeth thine idea?" Primavia asked.

"Permanent teleportation arrays," I stated.

"Link two points in space and allow travel between them for the minimal amount of mana, and even allow non-casters to teleport easily." Primavia frowned for a moment but then broke into a wide grin.

"Thou hast a deal. We shalt help thee with thine duplicate issues, and thou shalt-""By the 4 seasons!" Secondavia interjected.

"What beeth the number of thine duplicates!?"

"27… no, 28, we just made another one last week," I replied.

"Wherefore art thine brain not mush?" Secondavia asked in a mix of awe and disgust.

"The spell in its originality beeth meant for 1 or perhaps 2 duplicates. Not an entire army!"

"And that's why I admit that I need some help," I stated.

"I need to do something that will allow me to handle the ever-increasing strain. And no, getting rid of any simulacrums is out of the picture since they're all doing important work."

"And how dost thou plan to implement such a thing?" Primavia asked, her voice calm and just slightly curious.

"Well, I got a tip from a higher being that I needed to think more like a programmer," I stated.

"So… let me tell you about a concept called multithreading…"

~8 years remaining"The training camp looks like it's going well," I told one of my clones as we watched my trainees sparring off in the distance. They were paired off in twos with another one of my clones in the middle, and they were trading blows at a frantic pace.

"Configuration Delta in 3. 2. 1. Engage," my clone shouted and activated a spell in an area around himself. Suddenly, the group blurred as the effects kicked in. One of them ate dirt, and I winced.

"They're making a lot of progress with the sudden changes in speed, time, and gravity," the clone I was talking to stated.

"It would be easier with a dedicated [Bard], but the classes didn't seem to want to combine." He frowned.

"Also, you're sure that the iPod-""Completely destroyed by Jared's [Sunder]," I confirmed.

"Trust me, I'm kicking myself over that too. I've got some clones working on a magical version, but it's a lot more mana-intensive than I expected." My clone frowned and then was about to ask a question but stopped himself.

"I know you're busy, and if you just wanted an update you would have asked Jhilsara. What brings you all the way out to the volcanoes?" he asked.

"This," I replied, pulling a weapon out of my inventory.

"I call it the MAR-""Magical Assault Rifle," my clone interrupted.

"Not your best naming."

"Oh, shut it," I scowled lightly.

"I thought it was pretty good." Then, with a shake of my head, I gestured to the different parts.

"Dragon bone coated in mithril for the stock, high capacity magazine that can hold up to 100 magicite-powered paladium-tipped bullets, and thousands of mana poured into the enchants to get its bullets moving as fast as possible."

"Seems like a success," my clone replied, really taking a look at it.

"I didn't mention the best part," I replied as I slammed the magazine home and cocked it. Then, aiming off into the distance, I let out a burst of fire.

"No recoil because it's magic and not Newtonian," my clone nodded in approval.

"Any issues?"

"The barrel still tends to overheat, and the powdered magicite can cause clogs since it doesn't aerosolize well," I stated.

"So, I'll want some feedback on those parts as well." My clone nodded.

"As for damage…100 Piercing VII damage? Should be more than enough." He cocked his head.

"Why didn't you try to make your [Hero] weapon like that?"

"Anything less than X for me isn't gonna cut it," I replied.

"I'm positive Admin will come back with armor on that level, so if I don't meet it, I'll be doing a quarter damage at best. And besides, I need a weapon that I can block a greatclub with, not one that I'm hosed once he gets in my face." I gave a small grin and briefly pulled out another MAR made with slightly better materials.

"Though, I did save the best for myself."

"Of course you did," my clone snorted as I put it away.

"Well, can't blame you. Anyway, assuming you have more than one of those MARs we can get them passed out and start their training on them." He paused.

"Though, isn't that expensive wasting ammo on training exercises? Unlike arrows and crossbow bolts, you can't really get bullets back after you fire them."

"And that's why I have a different agenda in mind," I stated.

"And it will be three birds with one stone. It will be live-fire weapons training, it will get them up to the level cap, and most important of all-" I grinned.

"-it will take care of a dragon problem."

~5 years remaining It was a meeting at the base of the central mountains in the dragonlands. The yellow dragon I had rescued was in attendance, as well as the leaders from the two other elemental dragon factions: a lumbering tortoise-like earth dragon and a sea serpent ice dragon who was chilling, pun intended, in the river. Why has this two-legged creature brought us here? The harsh voice of the ice dragon entered my mind. And… what… is… it? Came the low, rumbling voice of the earth dragon. It is called a titus.

The air dragon replied haughtily, confirming my fears about my introduction. It has been helping with the destruction of the despoilers. I assume it has called us here because it wishes to coordinate the next strike against the foul creatures.

"Not quite," I replied with a shake of my head.

"I came here to say, job's done. Almost all of the ash dragons are dead." Impossible! You… did… not… I know your combat prowess, but that seems farfetched. It has not even been a single decade!

"I had a lot of help," I said with a shrug.

"And it would have gone a lot faster, but I had to ensure that all of them actually deserved to die." The air dragon scoffed. They are despoilers of the natural order. They exist only to destroy and to fight against us.

"And I had to confirm that myself," I replied, with a hint of steel in my voice.

"I've already committed one near-genocide of a race that didn't really deserve it, and I wasn't about to make it two." What do you mean? The air dragon asked, its voice suddenly very wary.

"What I mean is that I am the reason the fire dragons have been missing," I stated.

"I am the one who killed all of them." The dragons bared their fangs and prepared their breath attacks.

"I did not come here to fight you," I stated.

"I came here to fix my mistake and to protect both your world and mine from the coming threat." How could you possibly fix the destruction of an entire race?! The air dragon roared.

"Because I didn't destroy it, not entirely," I stated as I pulled out two objects from my inventory. The fire dragon egg I had been holding onto for centuries, and the ash dragon egg, which constituted the last living ash dragon.

"And here are my terms," I stated.

"First, you will help me defend the world beyond the portals because a threat is coming that can destroy the world as we know it." I grimaced lightly.

"And you would likely not be safe even here. The monster who is coming would likely learn of your existence and then hunt you for sport." And your second term?

"You will help with raising the young dragons," I stated.

"I could have done it myself, but… I only know so much about how a dragon should be raised and don't want to mess up the entire race." The dragons looked at each other and gave various mental messages of ascent. We shall help raise the youngling so long as you destroy the egg of the defiler. The air dragon decreed pompously. I shook my head.

"No. That's not the deal. You raise both or neither." You killed countless ash dragons. Do you not know of their evil? The air dragon sneered.

"I know only of the evil of the ones I fought," I rebutted.

"I don't have a frickin' clue if that was a pure consequence of how and where they were raised." I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"If this one turns out the exact same, well, I guess I tried. It's not beyond a fantasy world to have a race of truly evil beings out there. However-" I looked each of them in the eye.

"-I have to give their race the same chance that I was given. What's been sacrificed for me demands nothing less." The dragons looked at each other, and I felt I was being shut off from the conversation. Eventually, the air dragon spoke. We agree to your terms. I tried not to let my sheer relief show because that would make negotiations harder.

"Good, now we have another matter to go over," I continued.

"It's about your travel to and from the other world and a treaty with the people within it…"

Elsewhere Temper Tantrum made it back to his sector. It was good to be home and almost as far away from the emperor as possible. However, that didn't mean that his troubles were over. No, he had pretty much the same one as always. He was almost out of manipulation points. He had enough to go down to that backwater world in person and even afford appropriate gear, but that was it. And he hadn't stayed alive for that long by taking such stupid risks.

That meant he needed more manipulation points, and he needed them fast, which gave him only one real option. Groveling before the Sector Administrator or a Hypervisor and taking on a loan with exorbitant interest rates. When I get back to that backwater world, I will burn it all down, and force him to watch its embers for eternity. Temper Tantrum seethed.

~3 years remaining I blinked to the side as Admin's club crashed into the ground. I scored a quick slash on his leg and evaded his backswing with a [Flash Step], followed by a grav boost from my sword to launch me to the side as his foot lashed out. I repeated the same process and scored another hit… And then was caught blindsided as he anticipated my [Flash Step] and I was smashed into the ground, dead. My fist slammed into the Mindscape's floor.

"No!" I shouted.

"I had him! I had him!"

"Only if he didn't catch onto your attack patterns," one of my clones unhelpfully added.

"And he's dumb, but not that dumb." My fist slammed into the floor one more time. Then, with a sigh, I stood up.

"Again," I stated, slowly unclenching my white knuckles.

"Prime, it's time you took a break," my clones replied.

"Even with our upgraded buff spells, you're still not even close."

"I know!" I snapped. Then, with a shake of my head and a sigh.

"I know. I'm on the cusp, but I have to wear him down with a thousand cuts while he just needs a single hit and it's all over." I snorted.

"And it's not like a video game where I have extra lives to spare." Then, looking at my clones.

"No offense."

"None taken," one of them replied.

"We can't use the [Hero] weapon or [Hero] skills, so we couldn't exactly take your place."

"Enough of this," another clone clapped.

"We need to go back to the drawing board, and you -" he said pointing at me.

"-need to take another break. Let your mind wander a bit. See if you come up with something. See ya." With that, I was booted from the Mindscape, which, I could have easily resisted if I wanted to, but the clone had a point. What to do now? I asked. I didn't know. So, I decided to wander around a bit first. I did so with the Hero's Regalia in everyday mode to avoid attention, and as my feet took me wherever, I belatedly realized that I recognized the area. Hey, is that… I paused as I noticed a boy…

no, a young man running around with a wolf trailing him. The wolf suddenly stopped and laid down, and he turned around to look at it… when he also noticed me. He gasped.

"Jake!" he called out. He seemed torn between tending to his wolf and running over to greet me, so I decided to make it easier. I [Flash Stepped] over to him.

"Hey, good to see you, kid," I replied.

"I knew it was you!" he said excitedly, then looking down at the wolf.

"Oh! And you remember Fluffy, right?"

"Of course," I nodded.

"Well, I'm taking great care of him!" he continued.

"Just like you said to."

"I can see that," I chuckled.

"To be honest, I didn't expect him to still be up and running. I was sure he would have run out of stamina or health by now."

"That's the thing!" the boy continued.

"He would have, but I figured it out!" When I cocked my head, he just said.

"Here, let me show you!" He concentrated for a moment and then frowned.

"Aw. I'm all out of mana." I reached into my inventory, pulled out a wand, and tossed it to him. His eyes went as wide as saucers, and then he quickly started casting… free casting, which was generally much less useful than a spell. Makes it 10 times as impressive, though. I thought as I watched him essentially do a free-form partial cast of the [Summon Wolf] spell. He's restoring its health and stamina without even using a healing spell. That was impressive and a cool novelty, but that was it.

For my purposes, it would always be more mana-efficient to just resummon the monster.

"C-can I use all of this mana?" the boy asked hesitantly. I didn't see how he would, which made me doubly curious.

"Go ahead," I replied.

"Awesome!" he whispered.

"With this much mana, I can make so many extras!"

"Extras?" I whispered to myself as the boy wrapped his mana in a similar way.

"Yeah! Extras! If Fluffy gets in trouble and runs out of stamina when I'm not there, I wanted to make sure that he didn't have to be carried back, so instead, the extra goes off and gives him back just a bit of his stamina!" It was wasteful mana-wise. An order of magnitude less efficient than casting the spell outright. But he had just created a contingency-based spell cast, and it could be used for so much more than just giving stamina back to a summoned monster, especially with my skills.

"Kid, I don't think I ever got your name," I stated.

"Adric," he replied and then gave me a confused look.

"Why?"

"Because you might have just saved all of Placeholder."

~1 year remaining The day was getting closer and closer, and I had an ever-increasing number of pans in the fire.

"Everyone, give me a report," I called to the gathered clones that were working on various projects.

"The teleport arrays are up and running," said the first clone.

"We're transporting items only right now, and the cost is a bit much for most people, but we've expanded the network to most major cities."

"Good," I nodded.

"And for people transport?"

"We went with trains," said another clone.

"They were the best way to transport a large number of people at the same time. Cars would have been nice, but we decided against the headache of completely wrecking city design and also being indirectly responsible for the ever-increasing number of motor vehicle deaths they would have a year." He paused.

"We also took a look at airplanes, but… yeah, no. We're a programmer, not a real engineer. We could get something up in the air easily enough, but the problems were keeping it up there and landing."

"Yeah," I winced.

"Good call on the trains. Keep it up. Next."

"We've dumped what knowledge we remembered in the sciences," another clone added.

"Not all of it was applicable, but physics seems to be mostly the same. We also got barebones mathematics up to integral calculus, but I have to admit that we didn't remember the formula behind derivatives, only some of the rules."

"There have been a lot of smart people in this world," I replied.

"One of them will figure it out eventually. What about making a computer?" The clone frowned.

"Most tasks that a basic computer would accomplish are easier to do with some kind of magic. There isn't much of a demand for them." Darn. I thought. There go my dreams of magitech… at least beyond the rifles I've made.

"Good work," I stated instead.

"Next."

"Operation Biribiri [2] is running into some problems," the next clone replied.

"The equipment isn't holding up past a single shot."

"A single shot's likely all we'll get, so don't worry about the equipment surviving. Next."

"I think I finally found the use for enhanced copper," stated the next.

"Conductinum?" I asked. He nodded.

"If I get enough of it… and a good enough staff, I can-""Approved," I nodded, cutting him off.

"Next."

"We've established bunkers in most cities," said the next clone.

"We're planning on stuffing most of the civilians down there before Admin teleports the demons in."

"Won't work," I said with a shake of my head.

"He'll see the empty cities and be suspicious, and then likely just teleport the demons directly into the bunkers."

"Not if we have decoys," my clone interjected.

"They can't be illusions since he's likely immune to them too, but we're close to a basic summon that will pass as human at a distance. Then, once he catches on, he still shouldn't be able to find the bunkers if they're inside pocket dimensions." I had to acknowledge the thought put into that.

"Excellent work, keep it up," I replied.

"Next."

"The magical compiler project needs to be scrapped," the next clone stated, looking slightly weary.

"Why?" I asked with a frown.

"Because we don't have the decades we would need to get something usable out of it," he replied.

"And also because it's a problem we like working on too much, so we overwork ourselves on it, and there's jostling for who gets the position."

"Dang," I muttered.

"Yeah, tell me about it," my clone agreed.

"Do you know how pumped I was to work on something like that? A system where we could create any spell we needed at a moment's notice, with its scaling optimized for the user's current skill levels?" He sighed.

"Jhilsara, this is Titus Prime," I stated, activating my communication artifact.

"We're going to kill the magic compiler project, but make sure we pass off copies of any research documents to any of the magic schools that are interested."

"Understood," she replied.

"However, would it not make more sense to shelve the project until after the threat of the [Demon King] is completed, and then you could pick it up once more? It seemed to be your favorite project, and I could see many benefits to its completion." I thought for a moment. I didn't think it wise to tell her, at least not at that point. However, I didn't want to lie either.

"Well, either way, I'm not working on it before the [Demon King] is defeated," I stated.

"So, just make sure we have some copies for any of the magical schools who want them…" I had another idea.

"And that kid named Adric. I think he'd get a kick out of playing around with that."

"Understood," she replied.

"Next," I stated.

"I'm working on a weaponization of time magic," the next clone replied.

"Isn't that… horribly overpriced for the damage it deals?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It is, but it's not a direct damage spell. It's something much better." He paused.

"And if you aren't the one paying the cost, but the ambient magic in the air is…"

"You're wanting to weaponize the time wastes?" I asked. He nodded.

"Yes, but Jhilsara said it needed your personal approval since… well… it kinda scrambled your head the last time you tried to go back in there. And we have no idea what will happen if a simulacrum makes the attempt."

"Give it a shot," I replied with a shake of my head.

"Time magic is still my highest magic skill, and there's no frickin' way that I'm not going to make use of it in the final battle."

"Speaking of large uninhabitable zones," my next clone pre-empted me.

"We've successfully culled a huge amount of the death mana from the deathlands by constantly farming the zombies and undead hearts. The ritual to restore the land should be relatively trivial now, and the church is ready and willing to support us."

"And Kythaela?" I asked.

"Is much less hostile now that training is closer to home and she gets to see her husband. She's willing to lead up the effort and is being our liason to the [Archbishop]." He paused.

"Since he's still absolutely terrified of us."

"And the healing stations?" I asked.

"We ended up limiting them a bit more than anticipated," he stated. When I scowled, he quickly added in.

"We're the only one who can make a mana-gathering array or healing artifact that's good enough quality to be worth it. Combine the two, and that means that we have a whole bunch of irreplaceable parts. So, we decided to keep at least half of the castings of [Restore] to the church so that they don't lose their skills and then end up in a worse place if the artifacts are lost, stolen, or destroyed."

"That makes sense," I said with a slight groan.

"It also wouldn't scale up because if the population was multiplied by 10, we need 10 times as many healers." I shook my head.

"Well, at least we can finally clear out the deathlands."

"Actually, would you mind holding off on giving that call?" the next clone asked. I frowned.

"You're… the [Diplomat]?" I asked.

"Okay, we can hold off, but any reason why?"

"While relations with the nations have improved a great deal, they don't fully trust us yet," he stated.

"Well, except for Atlantis. We haven't really done anything wrong by their book, except lock them in their home for a few months while the rest of the world lost their armies-" I gestured at him to get to his point. He cleared his throat.

"Anyway, their first concern would be that you would lay a claim to the new land-""That's ridiculous," I scoffed.

"-and their second concern would be who gets what part of it," he finished. I frowned.

"It's… Besti's," I stated.

"It was their land. The nations were divided up into 4 neat little segments during the world's creation."

"Yes, but they haven't lived there in almost a millennium," my clone replied.

"It might be their ancestral homeland, but… that's just it. Ancestral. Their home is now in the desert and they and their culture would need a lot of time to adapt to the temperate climate. Meanwhile, Dryadal and Gram, who are also right across a river from it, would need no such time to adapt."

"Point made," I groaned.

"Avoid the landgrab issues for now and only let them know the place can be healed after they've hammered out some kind of treaty. We'll keep having clones farm zombies for [Greatswordsmanship] skills in the meantime." He nodded.

"And how close do you think you are to-""I'm almost there, but I think you should process my memories and then visit an obelisk to make sure you haven't already leveled it." I nodded, and then another clone interjected.

"Oh, and you'll need to work through my memories too!" he called.

"And what subclass were you grinding?" I asked, cocking my head.

"[Dancer]," he stated.

"It would have taken ages to get to level 5 and get [Read Footwork] if I hadn't thought to invent new dances. Things like the robot, the Carlton, and breakdancing." He paused.

"No one liked any of them, and they were all frickin' embarrasing, so, enjoy that." I groaned. My upgrades to the simulacrum spell had allowed me many more mes running around… 100 of them, to be exact. However, upgrading skills and subclasses from their work wasn't so straightforward. I had to actually pull in the memories from that clone and process them before I got the experience. It was still much, much faster than doing it myself, but it wasn't always a process I enjoyed.

"Any other updates?" I called out, with my face in my hand.

"Summons are going strong, and we have tens of thousands of friendly monsters waiting," a final clone said.

"Good," I replied.

"Good." And that was every clone that had been gathered. I dismissed them all and was left with my thoughts. I've been preparing everything I possibly could, but will it be enough? I asked myself. I decided to take my clones' advice. Process their memories, upgrade my subclasses and skills, and then take stock of everything. The good news was that they were right, and I had hit level 5, which I needed for the skills I was looking for in [Dancer] and [Diplomat]. Then, I took a moment to go over my status.

Status Name Titus Level 25 Class Hero Race Demon Lord HP 750/750 MP 550/550 SP 1125/1125 Age 24 Not sure I'll ever get used to seeing those two right next to each other. I thought. And then, it was on to skills. Skill Type Level Reflect Attack Active DEMON LORD Disrupt Active DEMON LORD Martial Arts – Way of the Adaptable Fist Passive 9 Flash Step Active 10 Elemental Strike Active 8 Athletics Passive 9 Sneak Toggle 6 Pack Mule Passive 10 Despite my efforts, I hadn't been able to get [Martial Arts] up to level 10.

That was partially because I didn't have Lindsey to train me anymore and partially because it wasn't a priority. There was no world in which I punched Admin to death, after all. The good news was that [Flash Step] at level 10 meant it no longer had a cooldown, so it was now a much more reliable option in my fight with Admin as long as I kept my feet on the ground. The other gains weren't exactly noteworthy, except for maybe [Pack Mule] hitting level 10.

The only reason that was so special was that I hadn't managed to find my new carrying limit. There was even a chance that it was functionally unlimited. The other gains were mostly just spell schools across the board.

Detect Passive 3 Survivor Passive 5 Temporus Passive 10 Spatius Passive 9 Swordsmanship Passive 5 Cast From SP Toggle 8 Electricus Passive 9 Overchannel Active 5 Ignis Passive 7 Frigis Passive 6 Aeris Passive 7 Terris Passive 7 Spell Scholar – Temporus Passive 6 Communicatio Passive 7 Deprendio Passive 7 SpatialTemporus Passive 10 Obscurio Passive 7 Discernerio Passive 5 Animae Passive 5 Evalescae Passive 7 Remolliae Passive 7 Temperis Passive 6 Stabilitis Passive 5 Modulae Passive 5 Mortae Passive 7 Magnetismus Passive 5 ElectroMagnus Passive 7 Gravitus Passive 5 Mortalitae Passive 4 Creae Passive 9 Fragoris Passive 4 Confusio Passive 6 Sermio Passive 4 Animio Passive 6 However, right before my attempt at destroying the world, I had also unlocked the tier 3 magic schools, and those were all coming in nicely.

Elementalis Passive 3 Vitae Passive 5 Eruditio Passive 5 Impermissus Passive 7 [Elementalis] is really hard to level. I thought briefly as I looked things over. And that was my age-old problem of those spells ending things too quickly to get appreciable experience with them, while the others could be used throughout the entire battle. And [Impermissus] was an outlier because of how much I spammed spatial magic and how much work I had put into learning and casting time magic.

However, I noticed that I had an average of 5 levels in each of the tier 3s, and that made me curious. I closed out of my status, went to the obelisk, and looked back into skills.

"Well, I'll be," I muttered as I looked under the skills available to purchase. There was a new option that I had never even imagined. Magic - Passive - 5 Skill Points"A tier 4 spell school that covers everything," I continued muttering.

"I wonder if Tim even had any idea?" I snapped it up immediately, but a part of me had to wonder. It took me almost a millenium, even with all the shortcuts I ended up with, and I was just now unlocking it. Why did that skill exist in the first place? I was pretty sure I had my answer. It was probably a backdoor from AltSys. I thought. If my conversion rate from mana to manipulation points depends on my magic skills, this was probably created for this very moment. That was a comforting thought.

As were the final entries on my skill list. Sunder Active HERO Limit Break Active HERO Fortitude Active HERO Thunderstrike Active HERO Holy Active HERO Shining Barrage Active HERO Hero's Challenge Active HERO Trueshot Active HERO"In a way, it's almost like I have them here with me," I said. … And then the doubts started creeping back in. But they aren't here. And all I can do is a poor imitation of each of them. I thought, remembering each of the [Heroes] whose abilities I had stolen.

And to take on an admin, that's not enough. I would need the real strength of all of them.

"You don't happen to have a [Hero] skill for that?" I half-joked to the System while looking up at the sky. But, to my shock, it answered. [1] Anchoring – In negotiations, anchoring is the process of starting with an extreme offer to make the next offer (even if it is relatively high) seem more reasonable [2] Biribiri – A Japanese word that can mean an Electric Shock. It is also the nickname of a character from a certain anime