Evil

What'll it Be?

As this white light engulfed me, I waited for the final moment before I would forget and—

[There seems to be...An issue. My creator wishes to speak with you.]

"Fine."

Excuse me Artemis but what the fuck were you trying to pull with that?

"I want to forget. Is it that difficult to comprehend?"

Forget? Have you gone fucking bonkers woman?! What about your woman?! Your friends?!

"You weren't there? She dumped me."

You know for a smart person you really are dumb sometimes. She didn't dump you you god damned waste of space!

"You don't need to trick me Tom. I hold no grudge against you. It's fine, I understand that you want a good show but I'm really not in the mood right now."

Fuc—For the love of all that is holy—

"Ironic coming from you."

Okay. We're going to play hard to get, are we?

"Well all I'm saying is I have absolutely no reason to believe you."

Look. I-I'll just be honest with you alright? I-I lost control of this story.

"What tangent are you going off on this time?"

I'm not the only one of my kind. Two others have come to hijack this storyline from me. One of them has Arakan in his hands, the other has her. I can't prove it but I sure as hell can give you the tools to fight them.

"You know each lie of yours gets more absurd." I was barely answering him anymore, my irritation with him growing by the second. He was just like the boy who cried wolf. Who would believe him after being tricked so many times?

Right then. What's something I would absolutely not do unless I was being absolutely serious?

"A gamble. A bet."

Fine. Let's gamble. I'll make you strong enough to go interrogate that Kaiser and rescue your wife. In return, I want the privilege of saying 'I fucking told you so' and you to refer to me as your majesty if I'm right that someone kidnapped your wife.

"Now why would you want me to save her?"

Because if you forget everything now, I'll lose something important to me. Now do you agree or not?

"You're serious?"

Oh no, I'm just fucking aroun—OF COURSE I'M SERIOUS WHY WOULD I LIE RIGHT NOW?

"I swear to god if this is another one of your lies—"

Which, might I add, it isn't.

"If it is, I will never ever believe you again."

Only time will tell.

"Humph. Fine." In an instant, a foreign power filled my veins as I instinctively felt that I was breaking through repeatedly.

Fifteen...Seventeen...Eighteen...Twenty...Twenty-five...Thirty...Thirty-six!

"Rank thirty-six? Wasn't the king only twenty?"

For the first time, I heard him panting weakly, as if empowering me had weakened him considerably. If I had to guess, this was probably near his limit as to how strong he could make someone.

I hate ruining my own show. But I hate them even more.

"Them?"

Like I said. I'm not the only one. There are three other near omnipotent entities similar to me. Two of them have entered the picture while the last one is waiting in the shadows.

"Just why is this so important to you?"

Let's just say something important's riding on whoever wins this. I summoned more of you people to ensure success.

"But you said you wanted a good sho—"

A good show to decide who to use as a tool.

"So I'm a tool?"

In a sense. You have my guarantee that I won't pull anything, for what it's worth.

"I took the bet. I have no other choice, do I?"

Nope. So get going.

"Before that, I have three things to take care of."

Hm?

Bringing out the oceanic medallion, I entered back into Sitnalta. It was wrecked, mana thin.

"The last time I came here, I was too weak. This time though..." This felt like that endgame preparation period. That period where you collected everything to make sure you could absolutely guarantee victory.

Deciding to test out my ability, I activated a virago spell: Manifest.

The lean muscles on my arm bulged as I punched down at the floor, simply the force of the strike rupturing the ground, desecrating the entirety of Sitnalta completely. The cracked stone was destroyed, the lake vaporised.

This, however, revealed the crystalline walls and glowing stones I had seen in the fight against the aqua tira.

From a bird's eye view, I looked down, my heart skipping a beat as the full picture finally clicked in my head—

"It's an imprint."

What...No. This can't be.

"What can't be?"

T-This imprint it was left by an entity similar to mine. I—I see a signature. It's worn but I can't seem to move it an inch.

"A signature? Can you determine who it is?"

Something about the Skies. Wait! I see another signature. It spells T-A-R...Tarkyol. No...This can't be. He—He's a failed deity! He never advanced!

Just then, the imprint shrunk, shooting to me. A weird sense of calm washed over me. This aura felt warm, inviting.

Artemis? Artemis! You have to listen to me! You need to get out of there! Do not let that imprint touch you!

Why not? Are you afraid she will see you for who you truly are Victus?

DON'T CALL ME THAT! I am VICTOREM!

Why not let her choose?

Artemis! If you join me, I promise you great power! I will grant you everything you desire just like I have!

My blood runs in your veins. If you so choose to side with me, know that you will be treated as kin.

BULLSHIT! He'll only use you as a tool! Nothing more! I guarantee that I will treat you better than he ever will!

Isn't that exactly what you're planning, Victus? To use her as a tool against the other three?

"Stop bickering," In an instant, the both of them quietened down,"I know I'm a tool. I'm not a main character, I can't escape this with just fate on my side and dumb luck. So I'm going to ask one question and you can only answer it once. Once you make that offer, you cannot change it. Both of you write down exactly what you want to offer me and I will decide." The voices went completely silent, as if in contemplation. I paused for a moment, letting then think.

"I'm obviously important to this somehow so I'm going to use myself as leverage. I may not be able to kill you but I know how to kill myself. After all, I've done it so many times."

This...

This...

"So? What'll it be?"