Evil

Rewarded

Thank you for your patience.

———

I was a soldier who fought on the front lines for my people and died a martyr.

I had no doubt in my mind that my death would be immortalised alongside my fallen brethren, used as valiant examples of heroic pride.

Not that it mattered. Death came either way and I wasn't a man who cared what happened to my image after I ceased to be although...

"I don't seem to be dead?" Pressing two fingers to my neck, a familiar rhythmic pulse pushed against them.

As I looked down, locks of black hair, my fringe, slipped down into eyesight.

Pulling weirdly at the hair, I muttered,"Strange. I seem to have hair?" In the military, you had to shave off your hair. It was to ensure equality among men, that no one was above the others. I liked the cut so I kept it that way, choosing to keep my hair short.

And yet, here I was, standing in a black void with a heartbeat and long hair, completely conscious and very much curious as to what the fuck was going on.

Just then, a voice spoke to me no, rather it boomed.

William Kip, correct?

"Who's there? Are you God? Have you come to claim my soul? Have you determined me a sinner for fighting the Urgal bastards?"

Death? Oh you poor sod, death is far too easy to be your end. It is also far less fun. No, I have much better things to do than play God.

"What do you want from me?" I spoke. The voice was cool with an edge of sinister intent. My gut told me not to mess with this guy and my gut was more often right than wrong.

Want? No, it's not what I want from you that matters. In fact, it's what you want that matters, William.

"Stop speaking so vaguely and get to the point dammit!" I shouted, irritated that whatever this was kept on beating around the bush.

My, my, an impatient one, are we? Very well, I shall 'get to the point' as you put it. I am offering you a chance to reincarnate. To live again once more in a world where magic and all the fantastical things exist. But there's a caveat to this.

"Speak."

You see you aren't the first one, yes? In fact, there have been two before you. The first one was an average man. He didn't fare too well until someone else helped him out. Still, he's playing catch-up to player number two.

Player two is a killer. Not psychotic and very much sane but also very much sadistic. She is a very profit driven person, very selfish and very dangerous. Coolheaded, cunning and not lacking power.

Now, you are player three. You see, for every player, I have granted them some powers. Now since I don't fancy dragging things out, I suppose if you give me a reasonable ability request, I shall grant it and place you at the same level as player one with all the necessary information. Don't worry about that part, I'll sort out the small issues.

"If I asked...For an ability to produce...Nukes?" That stunned me. An ability to produce world-destroying nuclear weaponry was considered reasonable?

Granted. You can pick one more.

"What about...Invincibility?"

Allowed. Well, I shall grant you these abilities and explain how they work along with the obvious caveats that come with them.

To create nuclear weaponry, you need to kill a thousand people and collect a kilogram of radioactive material.

Invincibility will cost ten thousand people's lives every second. This cost will scale as you grow stronger.

"T-Ten thousand?" I gulped down,"Y-You're mad! How could you expect me to kill ten thousand men?!"

Of course I don't expect you to kill ten thousand mortals. You can—Ah. Never mind. I'll just give you the information and let you digest it yourself.

The void around me crumbled as I found myself in a forest. The forest of Quietus. As I finished absorbing the information, a smile grew on my lips.

This was it—My new beginning.

———

Charlotte's POV.

"Dad! Dad!" I ran straight past the guards and bashed into my old man's bedroom as he yelled in surprise,"Who goes th—Charlotte?"

A shit-eating grin was permanently glued on my face as I showed my old man the ring,"She proposed! She proposed to me!"

His confusion turned to understanding as he held my hand tenderly, inspecting the ring,"It's made from a metal I haven't seen before. Curious. Just when did she propose?"

"She did it right after our throes of passion!" I exclaimed unabashedly, leading to him coughing violently,"Y-You don't just say that in front of your father!"

"But you wanted to know, no?" I didn't get it. Just why was he getting so worked up? Both of us were functioning adults who have had rather active sexual lives (barring my barren past few years patiently waiting to strike) and weren't prudes.

"It's because—D'ah! Never mind me. So, shouldn't you two be together? Why'd you come look for your old man?"

"She...She ran off."

"Excuse me?"

"She gave me this ring and told me to meet her tomorrow at the Grand Hall. I think she will most likely ask you for your blessing for my hand in marriage!"

"This is...Difficult. Tsk tsk tsk. What to do, what to do?" His sudden words left me speechless,"What do you mean?"

"I can't have my daughter marrying a woman."

"What? Why not?! You let brot—"

"Your brother is one thing. But you? I'm afraid that this cannot happen."

"Y-Y—" I wanted to shout but I felt an oppressive force press down on every fibre of my being as my vision grew blurrier.

A quiet voice sounded,"Very good Kaiser. Your efforts have not been in vain. I shall provide this woman to Arakan Aki to use as leverage against her. You will be rewarded."