Chapter 298

Heuston Station, Dublin, Ireland - 12:33 PM

The bastard who descended from the sky was just as smug as I remembered him.

Arontalscion, the Fallen, the Heavenly Calamity. The Collector of Memories, apparently. That allowed me to guess at a few things, but there were still a lot of questions out there.

His silver halo gleamed despite the overcast skies. Ice coated the top of his head, creating a helmet of short hair. High cheekbones and a sharp chin gave him a severe look, which was different from his counterpart in the Golden Dream, but the sneer on his face was boyish and youthful. Blue eyes met my own as he landed on the ground, pulling his black feathered wings close to his back.

“Kill him!” Coe wheezed, pointing in my direction.

“Brother!” Aaron greeted, raising his hands in the air. “So good to see you again after all this time. Though, that wasn’t really me. I had to save my one free visit to the lesser realm for a moment such as this. What do you think? Dramatic enough? I nailed it, didn't I?”

I watched as he struck a pose, arms and wings out as if expecting me to congratulate him or something. My mind was racing, but I didn’t say anything. Instead, I continued to try and kill Coe. Constructed blades as well as several shards of glass tried to slice him open, but he continued to pull defensive skills out of his ass. I wasn’t sure if his death would send Aaron back from where he came from, but I was willing to make the attempt.

“Brother?” Coe asked, his face scrunching up from confusion, pain, and effort. “What are you talking about?”

The Fallen Angel waved his hand, and everything I was trying to kill the Rubberbuilt with was sent away by an unseen force. “I can’t,” Aaron said simply, staring at me. “I can’t kill you, Anthony. Somebody put some very ironclad protections on you. Ones that I can’t break here. Not here or now, but someday. What I can do, though, is hurt you. Oh, I can rend you a fucking sunder.”

“Tell me what you’re talking about, Arontalscion!” Coe demanded.

Aaron turned to him. “I can’t do as you’ve requested but, if you ordered me to do some lasting harm, I do believe that would be quite achievable.”

“Coe, don’t!” I warned, taking a step forward.

“You’re a disappointment,” the Rubberbuilt spat. “But if that’s all you can do, then do it.”

“Don’t you dare!”

“As you wish,” Aaron said with a grin. “Have a pleasant death, Coe. I never liked you, anyway. Far too preachy.”

The Rubberbuilt's eyes widened. “What?”

With a gesture from the Fallen Angel, the ice around the Rubberbuilt intensified as he froze over completely. One of Earth’s greatest heroes had just been trapped, and I couldn't tell if Aaron was just fucking with me about his death. Energy started to form in my mouth. The Fallen watched with barely contained glee as I let loose my Dragon’s Breath.

The golden energy streamed forward, colliding against the ice sculpture with all of the holy energy I could muster. I paid careful attention for any cracks in its facade. I wasn’t expecting it to be fragile, considering its origin, but if I could just kill Coe now, when he couldn’t activate any more tricks to keep him alive, then he’d be sent back to Kansas and far from here.

It became abundantly clear that I was only wasting my time. Aaron allowed me several seconds of time as he stood there, watching my efforts with a smile,

My mind went to the Primordial Weapon in my inventory. Sara had warned me not to take it out in front of the administrators because they would react poorly to it, but they couldn’t see anything due to Aaron’s interference.

Unless he wasn’t the Unknown Entity. Most of his powers should have been given up when he became a Patron, just like Sara had. Was she the one behind this Black-out as a reciprocal thing? Or was it the third Hidden World Boss?

Mentally, I shook the thoughts free. Now wasn’t the time to be trying to figure things out. I swiped open my menu and went to the guild tab before I turned my hands into fists.

“Release him, you bastard,” I ordered.

“Come now, that’s no way to talk to family,” Aaron said jovially, putting his hands on his hips. “It took a lot of effort to set this up.”

“Coe has nothing to do with you and me,” I said, anger lacing my voice. “You’ve gone too far, Aaron.”

“Too far?” he laughed. “You’re going to make me feel like I’m some kind of villain here. What, should I start monologuing next?”

“Dude, you are very clearly the villain,” I replied, waving my hand towards the Rubberbuilt. “You don’t mess with people’s memories, especially if you’re trying to send them up against the guy who is literally the most likely person to save the world. Release him.”

“Wow. Bit of an ego on you, huh?” the Fallen asked. “Also, no.”

“Do it, or I’m taking matters into my own hands,” I warned.

“If that’s how you want to play it, then take the first shot,” he said, waggling his eyebrows. “Let’s see how ironclad your protection is when all I’m doing is defending myself.”

The moment he told me to, I knew how bad of an idea it was. Sara added clauses to our System Contract that would protect me. She had also said it could potentially stop a disaster, and I would have definitely counted this as one. Now that it was directly affecting me, I hated that I hadn’t been able to read it at the time. Or now, for that matter.

I wasn’t sure what would happen if I attacked him first, but Sara wasn’t speaking to me even when I looked up in askance. She probably couldn’t because it had to do with an Angel, and I continued to absolutely loathe that restriction on her otherwise free will.

“What do you want, Aaron?” I asked, forcing my hands to relax before I broke my fingers from how tightly I was turning them into fists.

“The same thing I’ve wanted since I first remembered, Anthony,” Aaron chuckled, sounding a little too nonchalant. “Pain. Suffering. Perhaps a little fear. I wouldn’t want anyone getting complacent when they’re saving the world, after all. If you think about it, I’m providing an essential service by keeping you on your toes.”

“By fucking up my plans,” I deadpanned.

“The plans that you’ve already fucked up yourself, yes,” he countered, waving his hand dismissively. “I mean, just think about it. The early start, getting the Warmind class before that asshole who calls himself Seraphim was done talking—his real name is Walsard, by the way—messing up Pustibule’s whole timeline, bringing the Mills along. The list is outrageously long. You’ve set up the dominoes against yourself from the beginning, and you’re going to whine that I’m the one messing with the so-called perfect plan?”

“Yes,” I said, even though I knew he was right. Things were going off the rails long before the Golden Dream, there was just no way I was going to admit that to him.

I had seen a potentially better path and I had jumped on it. That wasn't something I was going to apologize for, especially when it was working.

“I suppose being rude is always an option for you, isn’t it?” Aaron laughed. He put his hands on his hips as he took in a deep breath. “I’m going to give you a little information, Ant. Something that I’m sure you’ve just been dying to know.”

“Oh, so you are going to monologue?” I asked.

“I could withhold answers to questions like where the Memory Orbs come from, if you want,” he said, arching an eyebrow. “Is that what you want? To remain ignorant?”

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re just going to use the information to hurt me in some way?” I shot back.

The Fallen Angel grinned. “I’m so glad that we’re on the same page. Now, you’ve already gone through one glowing portal at the end of the scenarios, so you’ve never had a chance to figure out that there has always been a second.”

I narrowed my eyes. Whenever the Demonic Emperor was slain, a golden gateway appeared to take whoever was first through it to the Hall of the End where Sara resided. I made sure that I was always beside it so that I would be the only one who could use it, oftentimes having to clear people away from it myself when I came in with a crowd.

There was absolutely no way for me to know that there was a second portal, but I could see it making sense. My eyes widened as the implication hit me. One of my earlier theories had been correct.

“You’ve been receiving all the second place players,” I said aloud.

“Got it in one, Ant!” Aaron praised, giving me a round of condescending applause. The moment he stopped, a Memory Orb appeared in his palm, and he tossed it back and forth between his hands. I attempted to use Drop on the item, but it didn’t budge. He turned away from me to face the ice statue. “Now, I’ve seen you, Coe, quite a few times. Everyone really does rely on you for a lot of things.”

“He’s generally pretty reliable,” I said cautiously, my eyes flicking towards the frozen Rubberbuilt. Aaron was using Coe's presence here to get around the restrictions about talking about other Angels. I’d be impressed if I wasn’t hating every second of this interaction. “Before you got to him, anyway.”

“Please, you need a challenge. I'd say a rival but we both know you're too advanced for that, so let's call him a roadblock. I provided. I’m not the villain, remember?” he replied smugly, turning to me specifically to say those lines before looking back. “Coe, you were the one who came most frequently because you were always boldly going places first, though there were others.”

I scowled. “Get to the point.”

Aaron raised his hands as if trying to placate me. “No need to be hasty, I’m setting the mood,” he said.

“You’re up to no good.”

“Tomato, tomato,” the Fallen Angel replied, saying them exactly the same way just as he had last time. I flipped him off, and he laughed. “Everyone who comes into my domain leaves their memories behind. It’s not always a willing process, but it happens automatically regardless. That’s my role in the system, after all. Collector of Memories.”

“Conveniently left that one out when you introduced yourself the first time,” I grumbled.

“That wasn’t actually me, but a manifestation of a—” Aaron waved one of his hands, tossing the Memory Orb up and down in the other. It still didn’t move when I tried to use my telekinesis. “Doesn’t matter. Time’s limited and there’s just so much left to do.”

“Frankly, I’d be pretty happy if you wasted your trip on trying to tell me something and then never get around to it,” I told him honestly.

“Ha! That would be pretty funny. But, no, I’m here to mess up your day and that’s going to be way more amusing,” he said with a grin. “Regardless, if I make a Memory Orb, then it persists in my domain. Even through time, through countless regressions. Some herald the end, an unknown future, or embody the present and all of its flaws, but me? I remember. It's a compulsion. That’s why I craft a Memory Orb for myself every time you make that same tired decision to go back in time.”

“You remember everything?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Unlike others who might be in my shoes, I wouldn’t dare leave out any of my less desirable memories,” he answered with a smirk, looking up so I would know for sure who he was talking about. I knew that Sara didn’t bother copying memories that were the same or similar to others, but he clearly didn’t agree with that method. “And, I have to say, for a while there you were my favorite player.”

“Really,” I said, not believing him for a moment.

“Really, honest,” he defended, holding up a hand as if swearing. “I’m a big fan of your middle work. I tried to show off that side of you to others, the Broken Tyrant, but they couldn’t see your brilliance like I could. They all thought you were crazy. A pox on society. Pure evil. Mad, even. I tried to show off the parts of you that I liked most, but they didn’t seem to see the appeal. Different tastes, I suppose.”

“Others,” I repeated, wincing.

“Yes?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

“Not just Coe, but… others.”

Aaron laughed. “There’s been a lot of second place players in your 99 runs, Ant! The one you’ve met so far is part of a very elite group. Klaske Bos, the other best tank, made it a few times. Darnell Montiago, the speedster, and Jason Wills, the jack of all trades, both made second place a couple of times each.”

“You’re implying that you’ve shown memories of such things to each of these people?” I asked, trying to force the conversation forward.

“Of course!” he announced, throwing his arms out. The Memory Orb disappeared in a flash, rending a hole in the station's roof. It moved so quickly that I couldn’t track it. I briefly focused on the guild menu I had opened before. “So many people hear that they have memories of an alternate timeline, and they crave it. They want what you took from them, Ant, and that’s where all of your despair is going to come from.”

“So you’ve given Memory Orbs to the raid teams that help defeat the Demonic Emperor?” I asked, my blood running cold. “Anyone who’s gone through your domain?”

“Isn’t it glorious?” Aaron laughed, his grin widening. “Everyone I’ve ever met will have the biggest hate boner for you the world has ever seen, all because of the shit you’ve pulled throughout the years. It’s fantastic. I have no shortage of patsies who will march on you because you need to be stopped. Honestly? This is a top five moment for me. The best part? I left out plenty of names. Do you know who else I’ve seen in my halls?”

“Jamie and Mercury,” I answered dryly.

“Jamie and—” he stopped, his eye twitching as he looked at me. “Suppose that one was easy enough to guess. They are your faithful lap dogs, after all. Well, one of them is.”

“You could give Mercury his Memory Orbs all day, but he’s not going to turn on me,” I said confidently. “He’s ride or die, and honestly me having come back from a period of insanity would only solidify my image in his mind.”

“Yes, he is really annoying that way,” Aaron agreed sourly. “But not everyone on your team is so blindly loyal, are they?”

<<<>>>

[[Guild Chat]]

Jamie: Package received, just like you said. It landed gently on the ground in front of me. The Memory Orb is secured, and there's no way in hell I'm using it without getting it checked first.

Anthony: Thanks, Summers. I'll let you know when the danger has passed, but the contingency is still on the table.

Jamie: Gross. We're not supposed to be able to die here.

Anthony: World Bosses don't follow the same rules we do. I'm not about to gamble that he can't kill people here on some rules.

<<<>>>

“And you just tossed Jamie a Memory Orb,” I stated, jerking my head towards the hole. “Yes, and you’ve given away everything. Your plan’s not going to work.”

The Fallen Angel arched a frozen eyebrow before turning in the directing he threw the orb. “I beg your pardon?”

“Oh, please do. I’d say beg like a dog, but that would be an insult to Corwin,” I told him. There was no trace of his smile anymore. “Joke’s on you, brother. Jamie knows better than to accept the obviously trapped Memory Orb. She's already thrown it in her inventory. Like she was going to accept something like that out of nowhere. If you thought it was going to be that easy, you're dumber than you look.”

The look on his face was sour and I offered him a vicious grin. He had no idea how I could have known, and I had won this exchange.

<<<>>>

[[Skill]]

Entwined With The System

Your connection with the system is so hardwired into your very being that you can even make it work in situations where you no longer have access. You have become a part of the system, just as the system is a part of you. You gain the following benefits.

Thought To Text: Whenever you have the option to use the system’s keyboard, you can use thought to write your message instead.

<<<>>>

Aaron actually was right that a Memory Orb would be good bait for her, but his delivery and way he had gone about it was flawed. She would be eager for what was inside, but having it show up randomly would have triggered all kinds of red flags for her. This was probably the only chance he had, given that she would have asked me about any Unknown Patrons sending her messages out of the blue.

Either way, his gambit had—

“It appears as you are correct,” Aaron sighed, shaking his head with a small smile as if this setback wasn’t all that bad. “Shame. Plan B it is, then.”

Before I could say anything, there was a large cracking noise that came from the northeast. My eyes widened, and I flew upwards into the sky. A huge pillar of ice that had to be at least a quarter mile tall had been created in the distance. It was the same direction he had thrown the Memory Orb in.

“I don’t have long for this world, so let’s get on with Anthony’s choice,” Aaron said from way too close behind me. I lashed out on instinct, summoning the Kedjen’s Khopesh as I swung. He raised two fingers and blocked it without any trouble at all. The blade didn’t even bite into his skin. “You’ve got a Miracle loaded in that infuriating staff. I can feel it. That will thaw out one of these two icicles.”

“The fuck are you talking about, Aaron,” I seethed. I sent another guild chat message to Jamie, but there was no response. Her end had gone silent.

“That part’s obvious, no?” he asked with a sneer. “You can either save Coe, who might go on to hunt you, sure, but he was also just betrayed right to his face so you might gain an ally. Either way, he'll save millions on his own. Or, you can go and save the woman who is only here because of you. You’ve got enough juice in the tank to save one, but not the other. I wonder who you’re going to pick.”

“You’re sick, asshole,” I spat, literally spitting at him in rage. My saliva turned to ice less than a second after it left my mouth. “Coe was your Sara damned avatar. How dare you throw him away like this?”

“Yes, isn’t it great?” he replied with a chuckle. “I would have much rather torn your group apart from the inside by giving Jamie her memories, but this’ll work, too. I said that I could hurt you, and I plan to deliver. Any Half-Angel I create is a dime a dozen to me, anyway. Quantity over quality, and all that. Any sacrifice that breaks you, Anthony Franklin, is well worth it. I look forward to seeing who you chose.”

Aaron backed away as he let his mirth be known. We had a whole conversation, the timer must have been running out. Probably only a few seconds. I gritted my teeth.

There was no way I was going to let him have the last word. Not after all that. I felt anger like I rarely had before. Lunging forward, I pulled back the Kedjen’s Khopesh before swinging it again, roaring bloody fury.

All of my considerable rage, usually kept pent up deep inside, went into this blow. Two instances of Orbit on the sword and one on my glove. He grinned and put his two fingers up again.

I focused more on this than I ever had before. The blade got closer and closer, and I tracked it on such a scale that I still had to act on instinct to get the timing right, performing a miracle of my own.

When the weapon was only a hair's breadth away, I activated the second option in Dark Sacrifice. My stats increased by 10%, and all physical damage was buffed by an additional 60%. A sting traveled across my body as my flesh started to turn dark, but I only needed the skill for a second.

The Kedjen’s Khopesh barely touched his finger when I pulled it back into my inventory and replaced it with Asi, the Primordial Weapon that came before all others. A blade powerful enough to cut through administrators as if they were paper, and one that allowed me to use Wisdom in place of Strength.

<<<>>>

[[Equipped]]

Asi

[[Primordial Weapon; +30 Dexterity, +20 Constitution, +40 Wisdom, +10 to the Sword Mastery ability (0 -> 10), Weapon Above All Others skill acquired, Absolute Edge passive acquired, Floating Blade passive acquired, Strength Through Wisdom passive acquired)

<<<>>>

It happened so fast that I could barely track what happened. The sword sliced his skin, flesh, and bone, cutting through Aaron’s first finger with far more trouble than I anticipated. He reacted when it cut the second, sending them both flying. With speed that eluded me, he shifted a foot to the left, out of the way of my sword. He stared in horror at his hand, shocked that he was now missing not just one, but two fingers.

The world trembled as the absolutely confident look of someone who knew they couldn’t be touched shattered. Aaron realized that he, too, could fall to an Angel of Death. Anger, confusion, and pain replaced it as eyes full of hatred turned on me. I felt my blood freeze, but I couldn’t tell if it was literal or not.

“You!” Aaron managed to roar before he disappeared completely, the timer on his summon ending. The feeling immediately left me.

There was no time to congratulate myself on what had just happened. The air around me was thawing, and I sent Asi and the Fallen Angel’s fingers into my inventory a split second before I received the warning.

<<<>>>

[[Warning!]]

An unknown entity is no longer blocking administrator access.

<<<>>>

Snapping it away as I turned off Dark Sacrifice, I looked down at Coe. The look of anger and confusion on his face from Aaron's betrayal was perfectly preserved in the ice sculpture, and I grimaced. “Sara, I need to know if a Miracle can fix this and if they're really in danger of dying here,” I said quickly, looking up at the sky.

<<<>>>

[[Patron Quest: Right This Wrong!]]

Yes, you can thaw out one instance of Primordial Ice with the Miracle. It really is deadly, even here.

I’m so, so sorry, Ant. There’s really nothing I can do except this.

Objective: Make a hard choice and save Jamie.

Reward: 50,000 points.

<<<>>>

“Fuck!” I yelled. With a gesture I only made to help me concentrate while stressed, I Lifted Coe off of the ground and forced his frozen body to follow me as I headed towards the pillar of ice where, I assumed, Jamie was also trapped.

I only hoped I’d figure out what to do by the time I got there.