How To Use Console Commands

Chapter 8

"So what do we do?"

That was the question that was hanging over everyone's heads.

What do we do?

No one them had gotten any rest ever since Payton and Tartarius returned to Avergreen through the Guild functions. Axter had immediately called a gathering of the council and all 10 members of the Black Halo Alliance had gathered in the council chamber. Tartarius had informed everyone about his encounter with the Goblin Knight, what he had learned and then his meeting with Hagden Hoblood. Hours passed and they had been arguing about possible solutions and avenues they could take.

"It's too good of an opportunity not to take," Carlisle grunted. "If ya think 'bout it, bringin' back evidence that the goblin's ain't just intelligent but Kalastraad is actually alive and leading them - a former Speaker - would be devastatin' ta Faoster. It'd be hopeful thinkin' to say that there'd be riots but at the very least, there'd be doubt."

Durandal slammed a fist into the table. "That's exactly what makes it too convenient." Then he hiked a thumb over his shoulder. "I don't care what he says his motivations are. We can't trust anyone who just wants to destroy all goblins just for the sake of it."

"Why not? Goblins are stupid creatures."

"Except for the ones that aren't," Amberline warned, the shake of her head sending her blue hair swaying from side to side. "The ones in Kalastraad are supposedly intelligent. If that's the case, we could make a great alliance with them regardless of whether or not we lead them to Gobhood to attack."

Axter served the dragon a cup of coffee before straightening. "Think of it the other way. The only person who truly serves to benefit from this arrangement is Hagden. If we go to Kalastraad, we would miss Orphan's presentation and potentially get killed by the Level 100 intelligent goblin mobs defending the territory. Even if we succeed in convincing Kalastraad to march on Gobhood, the Greensmith merely needs to incite the riots he promised and he'd achieve his goal in destroying all goblins."

"Or he could betray us," Gustav rumbled, his thick accent and deep voice cutting through the arguments. "He could easily inform his fellow Speakers of our intentions and set up defenses while we are out negotiating with Kalastraad. This could lead us to throwing ourselves at the walls to no effect."

Rav munched on a biscuit that Axter had provided, grimacing slightly at the chalky taste and hard texture. He set it down and pushed the saucer containing the cookies away. "There's no harm in at least looking at Kalastraad, right? I mean, we can just verify the truth of his claims and then go from there?"

"Again, if we are not killed immediately upon entering the territory," Ichika countered, striking the handle of her hidden blades. "I am a Level 100 adventurer and even I do not dare enter the Wastes."

"Not saying you're a coward," Ghorrend began warily. "But are you sure that's not because you're just deterred by all the rumors?"

"No," came the chilling response. "I have passed the border of the Wastes many times and every time, I feel this... chill. This unsettling sensation like something is wrong about it. I do not know what it is."

"Could just be another trick of the goblins there," said Tartarius. "Hagden claimed that the goblins there aren't actually undead. They're just pretending to be to scare people off. This 'aura' you felt could just be another trick."

"And you'd put your trust in that manipulative worm?"

The rhino, free of his Ring of Disguise, thrust a thumb at his chest. "Trust me, I know liars. Hagden wasn't lying. He's insane but he wasn't lying. Hell, he didn't lie to us when he told us about the invasion force against Avergreen. Why would he lie now?"

Why indeed?

During their conversation, Payton had scoured the Greensmith's character sheet. In fact, now that he had Hagden's reference, he was able to open and access the character sheet anywhere. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to edit any of it. Just like with the Goblin Knight, everything was under a lock that warned him it was locked by Admin Privileges.

As everyone made their cases, he scanned Hagden's biography.

His deep rooted hatred for goblins really does come from the attack on his village, the same event that brought Faoster to Orphan's attention.

Unlike Faoster who eventually came to control goblins, however, Hagden's hatred for them festered and grew. He made it his mission to kill as many goblins as possible even going so far as to kill his own party members and sister to make weapons that could more effectively kill goblins. This obsession seemed to reach a plateau when he reached Level 100 and he started to suffer from something he never thought he'd encounter; boredom.

Hagden Hoblood became bored of killing goblins.

Even when he became a Speaker, the burdens of leadership did nothing to quell this growing void of boredom. He needed something to excite him again. A goal.

Then sometime ago, he realized that he had lost his purpose. For the longest time, his sole focus was to kill all goblins but then, he inadvertently made a world where he can no longer achieve that goal.

Gobhood was dependent on goblins for all of its manual labor and even its food. This duality between his loyalty to Faoster and this desire to kill all goblins, tore him apart, the writhing conflict within him making ever little excursion he made to free a few goblins so that they could be hunted down so sweet.

But now... I've come along.

I'm willing to wager the way he figures it, he could play both sides. If we manage to bring Kalastraad to Gobhood and successfully invade, he can kill all the goblins he wants. Maybe even die trying.

It doesn't matter to him if we're ultimately successful or not. If Faoster dies, he'll kill as many goblins as he can and die in the process. If we fail, he'll just claim that we corrupted some of his men and still fight as hard as possible to defend his Listener.

It's a win-win for him.

As he finished his thought, he became aware that there was no one else talking. All eyes had turned to him, expecting a response to a question he hadn't heard.

"Sorry," he said folding his ears back. "I was lost in my own thoughts. What was the question?"

Axter happily filled him in. "We were looking for your opinion, Master. It is ultimately your decision."

Damn. I was afraid of that.

"I'm honestly not sure myself," he admitted, absently rustling his hair. "Even if we go ahead with the plan, there are far too many unknowns. This could all be the Greensmith's attempt to get us away from Gobhood before Orphan gets here." There were a few exchanged glances. No one had considered the impending arrival of the Reader into the equation.

Okay... think about this calmly. Don't just pay attention to the pieces in play. You were an accountant. What do you do when the numbers in front of you don't make sense?

This is just a math problem....

Payton lifted a paw, beckoning everyone to silence as he closed his eyes and began considering his options.

First... What is actually being asked?

Go to Kalastraad's Wastes, convince the former-Speaker to ally with the Dark Lord and attack Gobhood.

Is it though?

No... it was more complicated than that. On the surface, that was the offer being made by Hagden Hoblood but there was something deeper.

He wants to kill all goblins.

That was what Hagden really wanted.

Alright. We have what's being asked. Now, what do we have?

Kalastraad. Each of the Speakers and Faoster. Each of them had their own motivations. They didn't even know if Kalastraad would agree to an alliance and while they had a good idea of the Goblin Knight's personality, the Head Chef and the Emerald Mage remained a mystery. Faoster was completely unknown.

Except... that's not all that we have, is it?

"It's Orphan," he realized, lifting his gaze.

"Come again?" Durandal asked.

"Think about it. If Hagden wants to destroy all goblins, even if he did hold up his end of the bargain and attack from the inside using Kalastraad's troops, there would be no guarantee that all goblins would be dead. If we win, in theory we'd have goblins alive on our side. If we lose, Faoster and his Speakers can still summon more goblins. It doesn't make sense."

The rest of the council were straightening in realization, exchanging glances and mouthing gasps of surprise.

"So the only logical conclusion is that Orphan is his finishing blow," Payton concluded. "No matter who wins, Orphan is going to come in and wipe the slate clean. If we win, the Reader is going to see what a mess Gobhood has become and kill everyone. Even if we lose, Hagden might try and convince Orphan that Faoster is incompetent or outright limit all forms of goblin summoning."

It's the only way Hagden would really wipe out all goblins. He'll be bringing in the goblins outside of Faoster's influence from Kalastraad's Wastes and in one blow, wipe us all out.

"That devious bastard!" Tartarius roared. "He mentioned nothing about Orphan. Probably thinking we'd forget!"

"The Reader will be arriving in less than a week," Amberline said warily. "Even if we manage to get to Kalastraad's Wastes and convince the former-Speaker to go out on an all-out war against Orphan, it'd take more than that to get back here and invade Gobhood. Orphan will either still be here or just have left but isn't far enough to turn around and destroy the invading army from behind."

"So what do we do?" Ravenus asked. "If we don't do anything, Hagden will send Orphan against us. If we do what we're told, we still lose."

That's the problem. I have no idea...

"We turn the tables," Durandal suddenly announced. The boar's eyes were glimmering with that tactical genius that Payton had come to rely on. "Hagden is counting on us diverting all of our attention to getting Kalastraad over here. What he's not counting on is us maintaining a presence in Gobhood." He hiked a thumb over his shoulder. "I say we use his own tactics against him. Let's get a small team to go to Gobhood and start spreading rumors that Hagden is conspiring with the Dark Lord and is looking to bring down Gobhood while Orphan is here. To shame Faoster. Tie it with the disappearances in Avergreen that I'm sure people would have taken note of now and suddenly, he'll be on the defensive."

"No one'll believe that," Carlisle snorted. "Trust me, Ah've lived in th' presence o' these fuckin' sheep fer much longer than any of you. Anything that'll sour th' reputation o' any of dem Speakers, even if ain't true, ain't gonna fly."

"We don't need it to fly. We just need it to run rampant enough that it's in people's minds and that there's a shred of doubt. That way, when things do start speeding to a head, people will turn on Hagden or at least distrust him enough that he will be severely crippled."

Cast doubt on the opposition. Damage their credibility. Underhanded lawyer trick but if it'll get people to not just blindly follow Hagden's word, it might work.

"Start a little civil war inside Gobhood, eh?" Tartarius said with a devious grin. "I can get behind that. I left a pretty decent impression on the Goblin Knight. Maybe I can shmooze him or something."

Durandal shook his head. "No. Bad idea. The Greensmith knows you were with the Goblin Knight so if we sees you with him again, he'll know something is up. We need our stealthiest operatives to work through this. Rav...?"

The bat jumped up from his seat and offered a salute. "You got it, General!"

"I can go as well," Ichika said softly. "I am still a well-known Level 100 adventurer. My voice will have some weight."

"As will mine," added Gustav. "Doctors are rarely needed these days but are still valuable."

The boar nodded, his eyes darting rapidly from face to face. "Perfect. That team can continue to research each of the Speakers and spread dissent in Gobhood. Another team will remain here and prepare our defenses in case Orphan or Hagden sends any more troops to 'motivate' us."

"That'll have ta be me then," grunted Carlisle. "And the Governor."

"I will stay as well," Amberline, smiling brightly. "You will need my strength in case something happens."

"Me too," added Tartarius. "I can work on my crafting skills building defenses." He glanced towards Payton. "If that's okay, boss."

Payton nodded in agreement.

"Right," concluded Durandal. "That will leave myself, Lord Payton and Axter to head over to Kalastraad's Wastes and try to convince the former-Speaker to side with us. Our objective will be to pin the goblin invasion solely on Hagden. Reveal to the world that he was the one conspiring to bring down Gobhood." The military-minded boar jabbed a finger at the table. "The key is to keep him on the defensive so that he doesn't pull any more strings. If we turn his fellow Speakers on him or even Faoster, so much the better. This will give us the time to delay the attack until Orphan is a good distance away. When we do strike, it'll be without a Reader's interference."

"Can't the Dark Lord just beat the Reader?" Carlisle shouted loudly. "Ain't he supposed to be the anti-Reader or somethin'?"

All eyes once again fell on Payton.

Since he hadn't seen Orphan directly, he wasn't so sure about just deleting the Reader. If it was anything like the character sheets of the Speakers, they were likely locked behind admin privileges which was still a mystery to him. Revealing this to the rest of the council was unnecessary. The last thing he wanted was a lack of confidence from the people he trusted to help run the one town he had conquered.

"I can certainly defend myself but I cannot defend the rest of you," Payton said calmly. "If Orphan destroys all of Gobhood before we can save it or summons hordes of monsters before I can destroy him, it will be a hollow victory." He shook his head dramatically. "No. I will not accept a victory like that."

The short, hairy man grunted softly and ran his fingers through his beard. "I suppose I can't be mad at anyone tryin' ta keep me alive."

"If you will entertain me, what's stopping Orphan from just turning around at a later date and attacking?" Axter asked politely. "Say we do conquer Gobhood and defeat Faoster. Surely Orphan will hear of it. The fall of a Listener is no simple event. He will hear of it and will likely come charging in to retake the city."

That's right. If anything disrupts the status quo, Inferiorix might just get involved.

"We don't need to take over Gobhood entirely," Payton said at length. "We just need to get rid of its Listener and Speaker. Get rid of them and reveal to the world just the level of crazy that was ruling them. If we do that, we'll cast doubt on Orphan's credibility for putting them in power in the first place. Maybe Gobhood will become allied with another Reader. I don't care. But we need to show them the truth. If Orphan is going to kill people over a mistake he made, then it'll show just what kind of person he is and we can use that."

Though I'd rather not sacrifice people.

"We can still do what we can to defend Gobhood," continued Payton. "Find a way to fix it's broken system. Install Carlisle's Towers of Domination to restrict even Orphan's powers."

"That's right!" exclaimed the architect. "If we can install a Governor in Gobhood, th' entire province will technically be under their domain! We can configure it ta ban Orphan entirely!" The rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "They'd hafta be a very powerful Governor o' maybe have multiple Governors scattered 'round the province. It'd severely limit other rules n' limitations it can enforce but merely preventin' anyone o' th' Reader-level from getting through will be enough ta secure the region!"

Durandal clapped his hands. "Then that's our plan. Split up into to three teams. Discredit Hagden. Build our defenses here. Recruit Kalastraad. Attack when Orphan is gone and when we take over Gobhood, install a Tower of Domination that'll keep Orphan and the other Readers out."

There was a passionate energy in the room. Excitement over the plan ahead was contagious and Payton allowed himself a little smile. He did have a worry though...

If I've learned anything from watching too much Anime... it's that plans rarely go smoothly.

I guess we'll just have to see.

A big, green hand rested on his shoulder and Ghorrend leaned in close to whisper in his ear. "I'd like to speak to you in private after this."

Payton found blood pumping into his cock and his cheeks at the same time. Brain deprived of precious nutrients, all he could say was, "Sure."

******

Ghorrend was not alone. Amberline was waiting as well in her draconic form.

"What is this about?" Payton asked, striding up to the two.

"I just needed your assistance with a personal matter," answered the orc, leaping onto the back of the blue dragon and holding out a hand. "Would you mind?"

I have no idea what's going on but... okay.

"Sure," he responded, taking the offered hand and allowing himself to be pulled up in front of the orc. Ghorrend's massive hands wrapped around his waist. The mere contact of those big, strong hands and the memory of how they were so deftly used stirred his loins. That was quickly banished, however, when Amberline spread her wings and with one powerful beat of those huge, webbed appendages, they were in the air.

"W - W - Whoa!" he cried, reaching forward and grabbing the mane along the dragon's spine. "What the hell!?"

"Trust me," whispered Ghorrend. "We won't be going far."

Payton had flown on a plane many times before but this was the first time he had ever flown on a dragon. A plane was stable, solid and even though it was soaring through the air, one could easily plant one's feet on a flat surface. But for a dragon, Payton could feel every muscle moving up and down Amberline's spine. His feet were dangling off to the side, not truly straddling her back as she was wider than a horse. This added to the sense of instability and vertigo that hit him as they soared high into the air and made him feel like he was simultaneously riding a horse in the middle of a hurricane out in the middle of a swirling ocean.

Even Ghorrend's strong hands around his waist didn't curb the sense of instability that was consuming him.

"Please talk to me!" he pleaded. "Tell me anything! Where the fuck are we going!?"

His orcish Governor laughed softly and had to roar above the winds so that he could be heard. "We are going to me previous home. I needed your assistance to summon Goblinshredder."

"What? Why!?"

"I'll tell you once we get there!"

Not good enough!

Even as Amberline plateaued in the air and began to soar between the clouds, it was still a shaky experience. Payton found himself growing nauseous.

Don't throw up! Don't throw up!

"Why couldn't we just walk or something!? Couldn't we take some horses?"

"This is faster. By horseback, it would've taken us half a day to get there. Another to get back. Amberline is much faster."

"I can tell!" He glanced over his shoulder. "How many times have you done this!? Why aren't you freaking out!?"

The orc laughed softly. "During my adventures, I actually had to ride a wyvern once. They're basically smaller dragons but with only two legs and wings instead of four with wings. This is basically the same thing."

Huh... You know... I've never actually heard about Ghorrend's life as an adventurer before he became stuck as the Executioner of Gobhood.

"What happened? Why did you have to ride a wyvern?"

Ghorrend told a tale of a quest where he was tasked with routing an ogre warlord who had killed a passing noble and taken his goblins as prisoners. Naturally, the warlord saw the value of the goblins so he had them breed until he had an army. The ogre took up residence high up in the eastern mountains and the only way to reach him was to make a perilous climb that would take days or go get there faster. Ghorrend had opted to capture a wyvern and use it to get there faster.

"It was a relatively easy mission," the orc admitted. "The goblins hadn't bred enough to reach Level 20 or to promote one into Goblin Warrior so I could easily cut through their ranks. The ogre was a little more difficult but I killed him eventually. It was actually the mission that got me to Level 20."

And then you found out the Speakers won't promote you...

Amberline began her descent. Payton let out a soft sigh of relief. She circled a few times around the lone hut in the middle of the forest. Payton and Ghorrend were nearly positioned vertically as she flapped her wings to stall her fall. Her massive feet raked across the ground and she lowered herself so that the two could step off. Payton combed down his fur with his claws to keep them from sticking up far too much.

He regarded the quaint little hut positioned a few yards away from him.

To think if I hadn't escaped, I would have ended up in this place one way or another.

"Okay, we're here," Payton announced. "You still haven't told me why, though."

Ghorrend took a deep breath and strode towards the door. "Come in," he beckoned.

The wolf didn't get more than a few forward when Ghorrend opened the door and the smell of rotting flesh, blood and the dead immediately hit him like a physical wall. With his sensitive nose, he immediately retreated a step and instinctively wrapped a paw around his muzzle. Behind him, Amberline lifted her head in worry.

What the...?

Peering into the darkness of the home, it was impossible to make out the exact corpses that were before him. They were littered everywhere. The indicators for each of their statuses including their HP and names were overlapping to the point where his UI was nearly flooded with them. He had to shut off the mess of data so that he wasn't overwhelmed.

"This is how I used to live," Ghorrend admitted. "Gaolsheer the Gobhood Executioner was literally surrounded by blood and death all the time. I bathed in blood both literally and metaphorically. I didn't bury the corpses after I had executed those brought my way. I just let them rot in the very same space that I lived in. Maggots were my roommates and flies constantly kept me company. At one point, I couldn't even see the floor because it was caked in so much dried blood."

How could anyone live like this...?

Payton could feel Ghorrend's stare, watching his expression. It took a lot of effort to pull his paw away from his nose and to breathe as little as possible. He wasn't sure what his orc Governor expected of him. Judging by the silence that followed, he was supposed to say something. In the back of his mind, he was conscious of his relationship value with Ghorrend and was paranoid about doing or saying something that might compromise that. He had just reached the Trusted level.

Why can't I have a dialog wheel or something!?

Should I approach this lightly? Joke about it?

Maybe I should admonish him for that life? Show disgust?

Say nothing at all?

Ghorrend's red eyes were like twin lasers that were burning his cheeks slowly.

Goddamnit! I don't know what to do!

"I've glad you decided to at least bathe in something else apart from blood," Payton said, keeping his features neutral. "Orange-scented bath salts suit you."

For a second, Ghorrend looked like he was going to say something then he fell silent. The edges of his lips turned upwards in the faintest of smiles.

Did it work? Did I do something right?

In the dialog box at the bottom right of his vision, he got a little message.

'Ghorrend will remember that...'

Goddamnit!

"I will confess that was the first time I had bathed with any scented bath salts," said the orc. "I would like to try others."

I think he liked it...?

"I might have a few recommendations," Payton answered coolly. "But I sincerely doubt you called me here just to ponder what scents would go well with your frame and personality. You mentioned something about Goblinshredder?"

Ghorrend nodded and turned his gaze resolutely towards the home. "Amberline and some of the others in Avergreen had mentioned that I seemed somewhat distracted. Politics and diplomacy were never my strong suit and my actions as Gaolsheer the Executioner do not translate well to Ghorrend the Governor. My approach to gaining assistance from the other townships have thus failed."

I didn't think it'd be easy...

"I have lived so long as Gaolsheer that it's so hard to just turn all of that around and suddenly become someone else. Amberline advised me to learn from who I was but embrace my new identity as well. Not many would get a fresh start like this."

Huh... I suppose the same could be said about me. Not many people would be lucky enough to fall into an Isekai.

"The problem with is that I do not know who I am outside of Gaolsheer." The orc lifted his head, tilting his gaze to regard the stars above his head. Dawn was coming. "I had thought long and hard about what I wanted to do. Who I wanted to be. When I think of Gaolsheer, most of my memories of that life are consumed by the blind rage and bloodlust that came from the deluded belief that I will someday be promoted to the next class if I just served the Speakers long enough. But then I think harder... and then there are those memories of Gaolsheer the adventurer."

"Like that time you rode a wyvern."

"Yes," the orc chuckled. "I had all but forgotten those moments." His features turned serious as he leveled his gaze once more at the hut. "The Executioner lives in that house. Part of me wants to see it destroyed. Another wants to keep it as it is in memory of who I was. I was divided until you reminded me about our moment in the baths."

There was a curious grunt from Amberline but Payton ignored it.

"I realized that there are many more happy times much like when I was an adventurer ahead of me," Ghorrend said with a brighter smile. "Moments like that because you are leading me there. I don't want to forget who I was but I don't want it to weight me down either. So I have decided on what I want to do."

Payton waited for an answer even though he felt he already knew what it would be.

"Would you summon Goblinshredder for me?" asked Ghorrend. "It was part of what made me the Executioner. I wish to see it burned along with this hut."

"Of course."

He held out a paw, reaching for the book that he kept hooked on a chain by his side. A quick flip and he opened it to the page of the item index. A flash of light later and an exact replica of Goblinshredder appeared in his paws. Hagden would no doubt detect its creation but he didn't mind. After what the Greensmith had done, it would just be a small but still significant middle finger to the manipulative blacksmith.

Ghorrend took the axe and flung it into the open door. It was impossible to see where it landed within the darkness.

"There was another reason I asked Amberline to come here," said the orc. "Goblinshredder is a unique weapon and cannot be dismantled through ordinary means. Normally, only a master blacksmith or some incredible power such as yours would be able to destroy it."

"You want me to delete it?" Payton asked.

"No." Ghorrend stepped aside and the thundering footsteps of the towering Amberline boomed in the small clearing. The mighty blue dragon took a deep breath and then exhaled. Bright blue flames erupted from her draconic jaw, flaring out and shooting through the doorway in an almost laser-like beam. The fire quickly spread, catching furniture and wooden frames. Angry, red and seething, the conflagration ripped through the small hut. The dry, straw roof collapsed within seconds. Amberline took a step back, shutting her jaw. The flames reflected against her sapphire scales and crystal clear blue eyes. Sparking embers flew into the night sky, carried by the quickly rising smoke. As the flames intensified, the walls of the hut collapsed. Silhouettes of the interior appeared briefly before quickly disappearing into the fire.

The shadow of Goblinshredder remained standing in the middle of the flames, the blade biting into the ground with its haft sticking up into the air like a dark flagpole. The crackling of the fire formed a dark symphony broken only by the occasional crashing from the structure collapsing. Ghorrend's expression was hard to read. His mouth was twisted downward in frown but one eyebrow was lowered and the other was lifted. His nose was wrinkled almost in disgust.

Is that... catharsis?

Sometimes I wish I could read people's minds.

Then again, how is that different from the real world?

Amberline suddenly posted something in the Guild Chat. 'Wait... Something is wrong.'

Barring the fact that Payton hadn't realized that Amberline couldn't speak in her draconic form, her warning came as a shock. His eyes first went from her bright blue, reptilian eyes back to the makeshift funeral pyre. At first there was nothing out of the ordinary in the flames. Then a sense of... wrongness. A wave of nostalgia hit him like a dark hand from the past and was reaching through him. This dark hand pressed up against his back, its fingers sinking through his flesh, worming its way through his spine with its nails digging into his heart. For a second, he thought his heart would stop. Then that shadowy hand pushed past his chest, shadowy wisps visibly pushing out of his chest. There was no time to marvel in awe at this phenomenon as that hand made of shadowy gas, roiling and writhing like an angry storm cloud, shot out of his chest while clutching what appeared to be a tiny, red star within its grasp.

The moment it shot out of his torso, he was left with a feeling of relief... of true catharsis.

Beside him, Ghorrend grunted and fell to his knees, clutching his chest. The same shadowy hand reached out of his chest and surged out carrying a much bigger red chunk. Both disembodied limbs flew high into the air, orbiting the column of smoke like two suns dancing around one another. Payton immediately rushed over to Ghorrend, checking the orc's stats in his HUD. No damage was inflicted. No status ailments.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Ghorrend was panting but small tears were gathering at the corners of his eyes and his brow was furrowed in confusion. "I... I think so. I feel... relieved. Glad. Like a weight was lifted off my shoulders..."

What the...?

'Look!' Amberline cried.

Then, other members of the guild began chiming in.

'Something just happened,' Ravenus said. 'This... hand just came out of me holding something red! It shot off into the sky!'

'Me too!' Durandal exclaimed. 'The sky is full of them!'

'Almost everyone in the town is producing something like that!' Carlisle announced. 'What in the name of my left nut is going on!?'

'I do not know but I will see to everyone,' Gustav said stoically. 'Where are those hands going?'

Payton's gaze lifted and he watched a swarm of these shadowy hands clutching the red lights swirling around the pillar of smoke like a crimson eddy.

'I think I have an idea...' he replied, rising to his feet. Ghorrend rose right beside him as the whirlwind began coalescing right beside Goblinshredder. The shadowy hands lashed and gathered together, fusing into a single being while all the red lights clashed into a single, central mass that emitted a malevolent light. Dark fingers reached out and clasped the hilt of Goblinshredder, pulling it free of the burning ground.

"What the...?"

A familiar figure stepped out from the flames, dragging Goblinshredder across the ground. As it reached the threshold of where the hut's door once stood, the creature lifted the axe onto its broad shoulders.

"Impossible..." Ghorrend whispered.

Two, burning red irises set in a sea of black like coals burning in the night greeted them.

'Gaolsheer the Executioner,' Amberline announced.

There was a collective cry of surprise from each of the Guild members but Payton ignored the questions that came as he appraised the creature before him. There was no mistaking that the creature was undoubtedly Gaolsheer. The same wild hair, the same enormous, meaty build and even down to the same apron. The only difference was that the creature was entirely black and its entire figure looked to be made of some sort of dark metal with a texture like thousands upon thousands of hands overlapping one another, all their fingers pointing towards the central mass of a glowing red core on the entity's chest. It was almost like someone had taken thousands upon thousands of black, metal sheets, shaped it like hands and then crafted each one into the shape of the Executioner of Gobhood.

The creature's wicked grin sent chills down Payton's spine, the cold seeping into his very bones and seemingly freezing him in place.

When Gaolsheer spoke, its voice was almost the same as Ghorrend's but held this sinister distorted tone that whispered at the same time as his words.

"Cro, fo desopsid ylisae os ton ma I"

In the dialog box at the corner of his vision, Payton noted that speaker was denoted as 'Gaolsheer the Unshackled Executioner of Gobhood'. The exact words were printed in the box. It didn't take him long to realize that it was exactly what Gaolsheer said but backwards.

Okay. That's fucking creepy!

"What...?" Ghorrend asked, shaking his head. "What is he saying?"

Payton shook off the fear that was crippling him and flicked his wring. There was a flash of light and Goblinfall appeared in his paws. The burst of illumination cut through both Ghorrend and Amberline's fright and they both immediately took up fighting positions.

'What is this...?' Amberline whispered. 'How could such a creature inflict fear upon an Elder Dragon?'

A glance over at the two showed that, both Ghorrend and the dragon now had a status ailment called 'Courage'. Apparently, it made them immune to fear effects for a few minutes.

"That's not normally possible?" he asked.

'Dragons naturally have a Fear Aura that causes others around them to be crippled with fear or outright run away,' explained the blue dragon, baring her fangs with blue flames lashing out between her fangs. 'Elder Dragons have even more powerful version and are immune to fear itself. For something to somehow break through that immunity...'

What are we dealing with...?

The Shade tilted its head to the side, manic grin still in place. "Em dracsid ot kniht uoy os? SrekaepS eht fo eman eht ni dellips evah uoy doolb eht lla yb delkcahsnu evil ot? Eman s'retsoaF ni? S'nahprO ni? Xiroirefni? Niaga kniht.

"Uoy fo trap ma I. Lla ta evil ton llahs uoy neht em tuohtiw evil tonnac uoy fi."

There was no time to translate as the dark Gaolsheer lifted his axe into the air. A mighty bellow rose from his throat. Burst of shadow with red lights at their core erupted from his throat, shooting into the air and crashing into the ground around him. From those shadowy burst, similarly-textured goblins appeared; same skin made out of black, metal hands, same red core at their chest but black, hollow eyes.

"Here he comes!" Payton shouted. "Get ready for a fight!"

'We're on our way!' Durandal shouted in the chat.

'No!' Ghorrend exclaimed, turning to Payton. With a knowing nod, Payton summoned the large axe that Tartarius had created for the orc. 'This is my fight. I must do this.'

'Not alone,' Payton declared, striding forward with Goblinfall raised. 'Amberline, ready?'

"At your command!' exclaimed the dragon.

******

It was a secret chamber. No one in all of Lexcia, not even the other Readers or his own Speakers knew of it. Perhaps it could be considered one of the greatest mysteries and secrets of the Godmage Inferiorix; the Compendium. The Godmage had felt something was... off while he was having his evening meal. Dinner half-finished, he had rushed off to the Compendium, away from the sight of everyone else.

On the large, circular platform the First Reader and arguably the ruler of Lexcia stood and watched as thousands upon thousands of glowing displays flew by his gaze in a spherical pattern. Each little square contained information about every citizen in Lexcia. A name. Base statistics. Derived statistics. Biography. Equipment. Skills. Classes if they had one.

They were character sheets.

The golden displays were perfect and kept up-to-date with everything.

Except for one.

One sheet stopped in front of Inferiorix. It had turned red and was being eaten away by blocks of ones and zeroes... it was glitching out.

Inferiorix lifted an eyebrow in curiosity as, on a whim, the sheet flew towards him.

"Oh... you poor simple fool," he sighed heavily. "You can't just erase someone from my world. There are repercussions. You're removing someone from the greater narrative. People's memories, events and history itself will rise up and rebel to set things right... or destroy the abomination that you've created."

The Godmage sighed heavily and waved a hand to dismiss the sheet. It would fade away eventually.

But when it didn't move... he turned back towards it in curiosity.

To his surprise, the sheet began to degrade more and more, the glitches growing more and more frequent. It almost seemed like there were two sheets overlapping over one another trying to take control.

"You... You didn't erase him, did you?" he asked, leaning towards the sheet. "Gaolsheer the Executioner of Gobhood and... Ghorrend...? What?"

His eyes widened in excitement as he watched the red sheet of Goalsheer momentarily phase out and be replaced with a blue coloration of Gaolsheer. The two were visibly struggling, fighting against one another for dominance over their shared history and place in the world. For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, Inferiorix was excited.

"Could it be...?" he whispered to himself.

The glitches grew more and more intense until...

Smash!

The sheet shattered entirely, disappearing from view in a shower of flicking ones and zeroes.

Inferiorix, eyes wide, grinned brightly. He threw his head back, letting out a bellowing laugh. He laughed so hard that tears began streaming down his face. His knees grew weak and he fell onto his back, laughing all the way. The Godmage laughed for a whole seven minutes before he finally found the strength to wrap a hand against his eyes and wipe away those tears.

"Fucking finally..." he gasped. "This nightmare can finally fucking end..."

******

The Shade of Gaolsheer continuously summoned more and more dark goblins while standing near the smoldering hut. The creatures were barely Level 5 and easy prey to both Amberline and Ghorrend. But to Payton, he found a problem.

I can't delete them!

Much to his horror, the creatures were blocked by a different kind of lock merely spewing 'ERROR' at him. That didn't mean he couldn't kill them. But he was made awfully aware of his ineptitude in combat as the creatures ran at him. He used GetLoc to instantly teleport behind them and deliver powerful slashes but as the battle wore on, he was quickly tiring. Unlike the battle of Avergreen, there seemed to be an infinite number of goblins spawning from the shadow Gaolsheer.

'We need to end this at the source! These goblins are never ending!' he cried.

'I will make you an opening!' Amberline shouted. 'Make sure to take it!'

The blue dragon suddenly reared back onto her hindlegs and them brought her considerable weight slamming back down. Her front legs shook the earth then her big wings flung back and beat three times in quick succession. Wind blasted into the ground and spread out wide. Goblins were knocked off their feet while Ghorrend remained remarkably rooted in position. Payton immediately used GetLoc to move behind the orc, pressing his back against the much bigger man. The Shadow of Gaolsheer remained unmoved.

When he focused his gaze upon the creatures, its indicators were glitching, the levels and health meter flashing amid a blocks of discolored squares and dancing letters and numbers. This was unlike the HUD indicators of the Speakers who had a series of question marks. This was really glitching out.

What is this thing!?

"Stay close to me," grunted Ghorrend. His axe glowed red and suddenly, he was gone.

Payton recalled the move from when they first fought and turned his gaze to Gaolsheer. Ghorrend reappeared behind the shadowy version of his past self, swinging his axe down overhead. Gaolsheer grinned darkly and lifted Goblinshredder.

CLANG!

Their blades met, sparks flying from the impact.

"Sdnah ruoy no doolb eht epacse tonnac uoy."

Goalsheer spun, grasping Ghorrend's wrist and flinging him easily over his shoulder and onto the ground. The orc gasped as his back hit the dirt but quickly scrambled to his feet.

Now!

Payton immediately used GetLoc and appeared right behind the shadowy Gaolsheer. He thrust Goblinfall and was met with a satisfying clang as his sword bit into the metallic skin of the shade. Small pieces of black metal flung off the creature.

Don't get distracted!

Payton pulled back his blade and swung wildly, hacking and slashing at the creature's back. It was hard to tell if he was doing any damage at all but he took the sparks and flying pieces of metal as encouragement.

"Erefretni ton od!"

Gaolsheer flung around -

"AGM!"

A white aura encased him just as Gaolsheer's Goblinshredder slammed into the side of his head. He felt nothing as the weapon harmlessly bounced off his temples.

"ACM!"

He charged forward, phasing right through the Shade and stepping right in front of Ghorrend. A quick deactivation of Clipping Mode and he went right back to slashing at the Shade. Gaolsheer snarled at him and took several steps back. For someone so big, he was surprisingly fast.

Don't let up!

"SpawnItem!"

Dozens of the small kitchen knives that he had first obtained back at the start of his adventure appeared above Gaolsheer and came raining down on the dark executioner. While not entirely damaging on their own, the momentum and height added to their damage. Gaolsheer lifted his arms to protect himself from the rain of small blades. Ghorrend pounced on the opportunity, speeding past Payton and swinging his blade wide.

CLANG!

The blade of his axe bit right into the chest of Gaolsheer, biting deep into the metal and dangerously close to that glowing red core. Ghorrend yanked his axe out, tearing a huge chunk of metal from the Shadow and sending it showering around him.

"I am no longer you!" bellowed the orc. "I will never forget you but I am no longer you!"

He swung again but Gaolsheer caught the blade in one hand. Even as the blade sank into his metal palm, the mad executioner did not flinch.

"Doolb eht tegrof uoy nac?Tlef ti woh? Uoy ot tnaem ti tahw?"

Gaolsheer drove the axe blade down into the ground, forcing Ghorrend to stagger forward. He slammed his elbow into the orc's nose, causing a burst of blood from the impact. He quickly followed up with a swung of his Goblinshredder.

THUD!

Payton stepped in front of the axe, holding out his paw and catching the blade. His eyes went to the weapon and was again met by the mess of errors. The reference of the weapon was masked in the flurries of glitches preventing him from altering it.

Okay... But we're still damaging this bastard and looks like he can't cut through my God Mode.

"Hguone enod evah uoy! Yaw ym fo tuo!"

He smirked at the Shade. "Sure. Whatever you say. ACM."

Payton lunched forward, lowering his arm in the process. The axe immediately clipped right through him, passing through his body and letting him drive the blade of Goblinfall right through Goalsheer's chest. With clipping mode still on, the weapon passed harmlessly through the Shade's chest... until he let go. The weapon immediately became embedded in the creature's torso, piercing that bright red core. Angry crimson light burst from the impact and Gaolsheer let out a familiarly chilling blood-curdling roar. That same chilling sensation ran down his spine and though he felt the threat of it freezing his bones and muscles again, his God Mode prevented that from truly taking hold.

For Ghorrend and Amberline, however, he noted how the Courage icon faded and was replaced with a red icon with an image looking like a ghost. They were suffering from Fear. Gnashing his fangs, he quickly rest their stats, banishing the effect from them and bringing them out of their stupor.

Gaolsheer grabbed Goblinfall and yanked it from his chest. That moment of distraction allowed Ghorrend to charge in, swinging his axe at the Executioner's neck.

"Sey! Kcen ym rof og! Ot desu uoy ekil tsuj!"

Ghorrend's axe glowed a red light and just as the axe was about to bite into the Shade's neck, the orc vanished. He immediately reappeared behind Gaolsheer. His momentum brought the axe crashing down against the Shade's injured back. Sparks and pieces of metal came flying out from the impact and Gaolsheer was thrown to the ground, the two weapons in his hands clattering away from his grip.

"My days of execution are done," spat the orc, wiping his bloodied nose with the back of his hand. "The only blood I spill will be in the name of my Dark Lord."

The dark human threw a foul sneer at Ghorrend. Burning red liquid like lava poured out of the wound in his chest and onto the floor.

"Em epacse tonnac uoy. Dnah ruoy ediug ot gnitiaw dnim ruoy fo sessecer tsepeed eht ni eb syawla lliw i ,ot ecnaigella egdelp uoy ohw rettam on."

Ghorrend shook his head and kicked the Shade down onto the ground. "Part of me wants to know what you're saying. But the other doesn't want to spend any more time on a disgusting creature like you."

"Tnaw uoy lla em hsinab! Nruter lliw I. Erew ecno uoy ohw fo uoy dnimer ot nruter lliw i ,ti tcepxe tsael uoy nehw. Era yllaer uoy ohw."

Ghorrend shook his head in exasperation and lifted his axe.

Payton lifted a paw, pressing it against his chest. "This thing is who you once were," explained the wolf. "It keeps saying that it'll just keep coming back every time. Whenever you're at your weakest, it'll come back to remind you of who you were and what it thinks you really are."

The orc slowly lowered his axe. "I am no executioner. Not anymore. I cannot change who I was but that" - He jerked his chin at Gaolsheer - "is not who I want to be. Yet how will I ever stop it from endangering anyone ever again?"

"Gniyd yb!"

Gaolsheer suddenly lunged for Goblinshredder and spun, lunging immediately at Ghorrend. The orc didn't hesitate. He flung himself at Payton, wrapping his big, meaty arms around the wolf and -

The axe blade bit hard into his spine.

Even without looking, alarms began blaring in Payton's HUD. Ghorrend's health dropped rapidly. Various status ailments from paralysis, sever blood loss and immobility flashed beneath the orc's name plate.

"Ghorrend! No!" he cried. "ResetCharStatus!"

A green light wrapped around Ghorrend and his health immediately jumped up but those status ailments didn't deplete. It took him a second to realize it was because Goblinshredder was still embedded into the orc's back. Without Ghorrend's legs supporting him, the orc fell down right on top of Payton, pinning the wolf. The shadow of the dark Executioner loomed over him, holding Goblinfall.

"Ton era uoy gnihtemos eb ot gnidneterp. Drawer tsuj ruoy si htaed."

Gaolsheer lifted the weapon... only for a bigger shadow to appear above the Executioner. Before Goalsheer could turn to look, a huge, blue paw came sweeping from the right and sent the Shade flying right into the burning debris of the hut.

"Amberline!" Payton exclaimed in relief. "Help me up!"

'Of course.'

She reached down and with one claw, propped up Ghorrend to allow Payton to slip out from underneath. The Dark Lord immediately grabbed the haft of Goblinshredder and pulled it free of Ghorrend's spine. He tried not to look at the wound and immediately cast ResetCharStatus, healing it and bringing the orc back to fighting form.

"Are... Are you alright?" panted his Governor.

Payton let out a soft laugh. "You get your spine chopped in half and you ask me if I'm alright? You really have changed, Ghorrend."

The orc returned the laugh and lifted his gaze as the Shade began rising from the flame again. "If only I could convince him..."

I've had enough of this.

"You have no one left to convince but yourself," he said, striding forward. "And as far as I'm concerned, you've already done that. This is just the world trying to tell you otherwise. So let's end this." He glanced over his shoulder. "Are you both with me?"

"Of course!" Ghorrend shouted, hefting his axe once more.

'Till the end of time,' agreed Amberline.

"Uoy ma I. Em era uoy. Taht egnahc lliw gnihton. Ynitsed dna etaf ruoy ot rednerrus!"

Payton thrust a paw forward. "Our destiny is our own. Our fate is our own. Ghorrend isn't just my governor or my friend. He is his own man! He is not a background character or some idle NPC!"

Close combat is a bad idea. He'll tear into us. But I don't have any ranged attacks…

Although…

SpawnItem!

Several copies of Goblinfall appeared hovering over his shoulder, just hanging in the air.

"He is a goddamn playable character!"

Before the swords could drop to the ground, he immediately grabbed their references and…

SetLoc(x+1000,y,z)!

It was an experiment and he had never used arithmetic with any of his commands that needed input before. To his surprise and his companions', the blades flew forward, streaking straight towards Gaolsheer. The Executioner swung his own copy of Goblinfall a few times, deflecting the first few blades but the continuous barrage broke through his defenses started peppering his armored flesh. Chunks of black metal flung off his frame and two even pierced his red core, causing burst of that lava-like blood to erupt from the it.

Yes! It worked! That means…

Amberline reared back, took a deep breath and then exhaled. A torrent of laser-like blue flames blasted from his muzzle, striking the Shade with enough force to stagger him and melt his entire left arm off! The Shade doggedly clung onto Goblinfall and staggered forward.

Ghorrend let out a terrifying roar and charged forward as Amberline ended her breath attack. The orc swung his axe in a sweeping uppercut, catching Gaolsheer right in the groin and sending the metallic amalgamation high into the air. Payton locked onto his orc.

Ghorrend.SetLoc(Gaolsheer.GetLoc,Gaolsheer.GetLoc+50,Gaolsheer.GetLoc)!

The string of chained commands was getting dizzying and he just hoped he had executed it right. Ghorrend was immediately teleported right above the Executioner. Ghorrend swung his axe, the blade biting right into the metallic construct's chest, biting into the glowing red core. Glowing blood splattered high in the sky. His momentum send him crashing back down into the ruins of his former home.

SMASH!

Payton rushed forward as Ghorrend rose, his axe still embedded into the creature before him, forming a clear divide between the upper and lower halves of his body.

"Loof. Era uoy ohw epacse tonnac uoy."

"He's calling you a fool," Payton translated. "Because he thinks you can't escape who you are."

"I'm not escaping," Ghorrend said with a snarl. "I'm embracing it. Because who am is Ghorrend of Avergreen. Rise as many times as you want. I will always defeat you. You will not change that fact."

The construct let out a dark laugh, blood seeping out of his lips.

"Cinori. Doolb nwo ym ni ehtab ot si emit siht lla rof gnikool neeb dah i tahw ,neht ,spahrep. Efil sselgninaem nwo ym dne ot egaruoc eht dah reven ylpmis I."

Payton knelt down next to the creature, resting a paw gently on the entity's shoulder. "No. I don't believe that. Your life wasn't meaningless. You were just waiting for someone like me to show you what that meaning was." He offered a soft, pitying smile to the creature. "Rest, Gaolsheer. Your life has meaning now and it is to live as Ghorrend."

The angry, red glow on the creature's chest slowly began to fade... then turn blue. "Egnarts woh. Uoy tsniaga si dlrow yrev eht. Hpmuirt dna erevesrep ruoy tey." His eyes grew distant, the angry red glow in them fading into a soft blue. "Noitucexe ...Gnittif ...A."

The glow faded entirely... and the creature went still, his fingers loosening around the grip of Goblinfall.

Payton sighed softly. He reached forward and shut the creature's eyes. In the corner of his vision a small announcement popped up.

'Relationship Level with Ghorrend is now Liked.'

That made him smile.

"Is it over?" Ghorrend asked.

"Of course not!" came the gleeful response.

All three of them turned in surprise. A man dressed in gold and white robes stood a short distance away, grinning from ear to ear.

"Who are you!?" Payton demanded, grabbing Goblinfall from the ground.

Amberline's eyes went wide and her jaw fell open in shock.

'He... He is Inferiorix... the Godmage.'

******

Daronllier Enphou otherwise known as the Head Chef of the Greenworks panted. Across from him was the Speaker that he was closest with Aldurin Xandel, the Emerald Mage. Both of them had experienced the bizarre phenomenon when a shadowy hand had surged out of their chests carrying a tiny, barely visible red star. This ethereal hand had swept up into the air and vanished into the air. It had left them with a strange discomfort followed by the odd sensation of relief and renewal.

"What was that?" he asked, patting his chest, checking for injuries.

"If I were to guess..." The Emerald Mage drew back the dark green curtains of their carriage. "It might have something to do with that."

Peering out of the window, he took notice of the strange black whirlwind in the distance with a mesmerizing red core. Other similar sparks were flying in from all directions to join the dark storm.

"Should we do something?"

Just as he asked this, the storm seemed to drain down towards the funnel, pooling in below the tree line and seemingly vanishing.

"We'll let some adventurer handle it," answered the Emerald Mage dismissively.

"Why?" The apathy of the Emerald Mage had irked him from the day they had met but many argued that they were the perfect foil for one another. "It could take up until tomorrow before someone investigates it and by then, the source of this problem might already have moved on. We are right here."

"There is nothing for us to gain if we do," answered Aldurin, folding his hands on his lap. "Our gear is already optimized to our builds. We cannot grow any stronger than our current level. Pursuing whatever that was will do nothing but waste our time."

Daronllier glanced back out the window. Now that he got a better look at the scene, he noted that there was a fire that was raging in the distance. The plume of smoke remained even as the red glow had faded.

"But what if it is related to the supposed Dark Lord?" he asked.

Aldurin smiled lightly at him. It was clearly bait to get him to rise and take action. "Let us be analytical here for one moment, my friend. Supposing that it was related to the Dark Lord, we know next to nothing about this being. Similarly, according to Hagden, he can cross vast distances in an instant. We are likely several miles from its location and that is if we can made a straight beeline through the forest. Since we cannot currently do that with things as they are, we would have to get out of the carriage and proceed there on foot. Correct?"

"I suppose..."

"If you are pushing for urgency as well, you realize we would have to leave our guards behind as only you and I can make it through the forest quickly. Therefore, we would be without reinforcements. You saw how quickly the Dark Lord dispatched the other men as well so it would be unwise to meet him alone even if it is just the two of us."

The Head Chef hated it when he was cornered like this but he had to submit to Aldurin's powers of logic and reasoning.

"Let us also not forget that we do not know exactly what had occurred. It could be that he has just obtained a great power somehow related to you or I and in doing so, gained an advantage. Both of us had those dark hands erupt from our chests, after all. If we -"

Daronllier raised his hands and slouched into the big, cushioned seats behind him. "Fine, fine. You've made your point." He crossed his arms in annoyance. "I still do not like the idea of leaving whatever that thing is alone. If we could just scout out the area..."

Aldurin laughed softly. "For as long as I've known you, a simple 'scouting mission' will never end with us simply retreating to report our findings. Our best option is to continue our mission. I will issue a message to Nevaught to post something to nearby adventurers. We have a crucial mission to attend to, after all. We cannot get sidetracked."

The Head Chef's fingers clutched his thick arms tightly in annoyance.

"I suppose we do. This can wait, I suppose. Kalastraad can't."

******

Inferiorix the Godmage. The First Reader and arguably the leader of all of Lexcia.

The man himself was just standing a few feet away!

Payton wasn't sure what he expected. Part of him thought Inferiorix would be this proud, old man that looked absolutely skeletal or maybe even this tall, knightly soldier decked out in thick armor. Something more... final-boss-like.

Instead, the man standing before him looked kind of... average. Apart from the flowing gold and white robes, he was about Payton's height, maybe an inch or two taller, had brown hair that was receding to show a pointed widow's peak. His features were broad, rounded and just had a few crease lines on his brow. Probably appearing in his early to mid-thirties. Bright green eyes were filled with mirth and glee.

"This is so exciting_!"_ exclaimed the Godmage, bounding forward and subsequently causing everyone to back off. The man was surprised by the reaction and quickly held up his hands. "Oh no! Don't be scared! I'm not here to hurt you." He grinned broadly, showing slightly crooked teeth. "In fact, I want you to hurt me."

"What...?" Ghorrend asked.

"Well, not hurt really. I want you to kill me with as little pain as possible but if you can't achieve that, absolute and complete non-existence is more than worth a bit of pain."

Payton inclined his head in confusion. "I'm going to reiterate what my friend just said... What?"

Inferiorix waved his hands. "Okay, okay. Let me back up. Which one of you is the Dark Lord?" He swung his finger from left to right.

Cautiously, Payton lifted his paw.

"Oh cool. Guess we're doing Grigori this time around. Okay." Inferiorix placed a hand against his chest. "Look, I used to be where you are now. I used to be the Dark Lord."

"Huh?"

"Sorry. Sorry." The Godmage laughed softly and banged his temple with the heel of his palm. "I've had... like five thousand years to come up with this speech and I'm just fucking it up because I'm just so excited."

Is this guy some sort of sadomasochist!?

"I'll try to explain it as best as I can," said Inferiorix, curbing his own excitement but still managing to dance a little on the tips of his toes. "About five thousand years ago, I came to this world. Probably turned out the same as you in many ways. I mean, before you came here did you encounter something that threw a series of questions at you? Something about three items on a pedestal? A door? Darkness and then an eldritch horror?"

Payton jerked his head back in surprise. "I... Yeah!"

"Awesome! Which of the items did you pick?"

He frowned slightly. "Uh... All of them?"

Inferiorix exclaimed in glee and pointed at him. "An unconventional answer! That's awesome! I said I'd pick up the pillar!"

Huh?

"See, the quiz is not really based on what you pick. It's all about whether you approach the questions conventionally or unconventionally. If you think inside the box or not. At least that's what I figured after speaking to all my Readers and the other Grigori." Inferiorix held up one hand. "If you answer completely conventionally. Like pick one item, open the door with your item, find a torch in the darkness or battle the horror, you get thrown in as a Reader. Back then, you were just a normal named adventurer from another world. Just like an Isekai!"

Holy shit! He knows about Isekai!?

He really is from another world.

"But if you answer half conventionally and half unconventionally," continued Inferiorix, "you get thrown in here as a Grigori. Unique powers but not entirely named yet. I think back then, the purpose was that Readers are meant to be the main characters and Grigori would be the side-characters or party members. You know, kind of the one-note guys that have interesting stories and develop alongside the protagonists? Kind of like that. Buuuuut..." There, Inferiorix grinned brightly. "If you answer every question unconventionally, you get thrown in as the Dark Lord! That's you and me!"

Payton ran through the answers to each of the questions he had been asked int hat bizarre text-based adventure that had thrown him into Lexcia. It was much to his shame that his answers had turned out to be something quite... lewd and hoped that no one asked him about it.

"And what does that mean, exactly?" he asked.

"It means that we are destined to rewrite the world in its entirety!" Inferiorix exclaimed. "I guess back in the day, Dark Lords would always offer to be the antagonists that would always be a challenge for all the adventurers that came here from other worlds. We'd always be granted these amazing powers to give us a head start but we'd have one glaring weakness that, obviously, the good guys can exploit."

That makes sense. I can access all the console commands but I can't use it on myself.

"What is your power?" Payton asked, not really expecting an answer.

Inferiorix grinned brightly and innocently. "Oh right! You're probably only here a few weeks so you've probably not really heard much about me or at least been fed all the rumors." He waved a hand absently. "My power is the Power of Regency." He rolled his eyes and drew circles in the air with a finger. "Inferiorix the Godmage, Reader of Regency. Basically, I can 'claim dominion' over something and that something becomes completely under my control. Everything about it is mine to manipulate and shit. Anything in my dominion can't hurt me either."

Whoa... That's... terrifying. I wonder what his weakness is...

But I guess that makes sense why a hero from another world would be able to defeat him. When they arrive, they wouldn't be under his dominion.

The Godmage continued on his rant. "But when I got here, I kind of asked myself... Why? Why go through all this if I'm just doomed to die, you know? So I went up to this one King and reasoned with him that I'm not a bad guy! I just want to make sure people are happy enough that they won't go stabbing me in the back. If I can get ownership of everything in the kingdom, I'll make sure everyone is happy and provided for. They'll never have to work another day in their life! This was too tempting for the king so he gave me dominion over his kingdom. Just like that!"

He snapped his fingers. "Suddenly, I had the whole kingdom under my control and I lived up to my word. I made it a real Eden. Everyone was provided for, no one had to work ever again and they were safe. I made sure everyone kept their free will as well. Whenever there was a dispute, I'd make a fair ruling. There was this one guy that lost an arm because of an accident from another guy. Instead of punishing either of them, I just fixed the guy's arm and made sure they both had gift baskets for taking the trouble to come up to me!"

Uh... Okay? Damn. He doesn't really seem that bad.

Inferiorix rolled his eyes again. "Of course people got jealou. Other kingdoms started spreading rumors and lies about me and there was the hero that was destined to defeat me. So the kingdoms enlisted the hero and his Grigori and they came knocking on my door ready to invade." The man lifted his hands and shook his head. "I wasn't going to have any of that. I just let the guy walk through the doors and gave him the grand tour. I showed him what I was doing and since we were basically from the same alternate dimension - a few differences here and there - we agreed that what I was doing was way better than how things were. The real bad guys were the jealous kings and queens who were just envious of my success because they couldn't do the same thing.

"So, we agreed. I made him my first Listener and we fought back. We conquered them. They fell under my domain. I didn't want anyone executed though. The moment they surrendered, I had every person that died resurrected and then set about fixing the place. Everything was good... until the next Black Halo came."

The Godmage grimaced and ran a hand through his hair. "I've gotta tell ya. I was scared shitless of what that would mean. Another hero would appear with more Grigori and there would likely be another Dark Lord amongst them. We had a good thing going here. I didn't want that to be destroyed. My Listeners said we should hunt them down and kill them but I had another idea. We found them easily enough but instead of killing them, I wanted to elevate them to the rank of Reader just like me. They could have their own land. They could have peace there and that's that. It would mean that I'd be at the top of the hierarchy because that's how my power works but it's a small price to pay for ultimate power, right?"

Inferiorix shrugged. "To my surprise, they agreed and then we just kept going like that for millennia. More people came from other worlds, always one hero and a bunch of Grigori. The heroes would become Readers, they'd get their own land and other Readers would even go around and help them learn the ropes. It was all good."

"Where did the killing of Grigori come in?" growled Ghorrend.

A grimace came from the Reader. "Oh... Yeah. See, everyone was still scared about another Dark Lord coming in to ruin things. The early Readers knew that another Dark Lord would mean someone else with powers similar to mine and they were afraid that if anyone were ever to come in like that, they could ruin everything. We needed to defend ourselves. One of my Readers discovered that if you tore off a Grigori's head and performed a certain ritual, you would absorb their abilities into your Grimoire and preserve their powers. That would make the Readers even more powerful and be able to hold their own against the Dark Lord if and when he arrived. After that... it sort of just became a thing."

"And what of the Dark Lords?" Payton asked, fingers tightening around the grip of Goblinfall. "What happened to those that appeared?"

Inferiorix scratched the back of his head. "See... That's the thing. No other Dark Lord appeared until you. For five thousand years, not a single Dark Lord came up to challenge me. I don't know if it's because I'm technically an undefeated Dark Lord and the world didn't want to send one in or if people just weren't thinking unconventionally and not passing the criteria to be a Dark Lord but no one ever came through."

He turned towards Payton with a pleading look. "And that's why I am so glad you finally came along."

"You're planning on recruiting me?"

The Godmage shrugged. "Sort of, I guess? I just need you to kill me."

A soft, feminine voice suddenly piped up and he turned to find Amberline once again in her human form. "Why? Why would you let us kill you now?"

Inferiorix threw his hands up into the air. "Because I'm fucking bored!"

...

Uh... That's not the answer I was expecting...

The man in the golden robes lurched forward, fingers formed into claws and eyes wide in agony. "Do you have any idea what it's like to be stuck in a world where you can have everything and anything you wanted? Each Reader that comes in adds more and more variety and more control over Lexcia itself. They get dominion over something and because I have dominion over them, I get that power as well! At this point, I can summon hurricanes that can level entire cities, split the world in half or even just turn every molecule of air into some combustible shit and literally set the world on fire! But I can't because nothing under my dominion can ever harm me!"

Wait... That's his weakness? Anything he controls cannot hurt him?

Payton imagined a scenario where a hero and his party charged up to Inferiorix and would made to attack him only for them to realize that the weapons they were using were technically under the Godmage's domain so they had to beat him with their fists. Another alternative was that one of the party members was actually under the Reader's control and there would be a sense of ultimate betrayal as they were turned to the 'dark side'.

"There is nothing to look forward to!" lamented the Godmage, clutching the sides of his head. "I can't even starve myself because there's a Reader of fucking food or something and I've constantly kept well fed against my will! Aging is out of the question because the Reader of Time made us fucking immortal!" He turned his dark, sad grin towards Payton, his eyes welling up in tears. "You want to know what the saddest part it? The other Readers know about my suicidal tendencies but because they are so confident about the fact that nothing in this world could ever destroy me, they just leave me alone! Can you believe that!? They're so confident in their own control over the world that they just let me walk around even though I want nothing more in the world than to die!"

Yikes... This took a turn for the dark.

Then Inferiorix's grin turned a little brighter and he took a step forward, arms raised and reaching for Payton. "But then you came. Oh god... Another Dark Lord. Someone who can just kill me. Please... Please release me from this nightmare. Just end me! You'll end all the Readers, Listeners and Speakers all at once! You'll win! You'll make things right again!"

Payton glanced towards Amberline who was returning a confused stare.

"I was... I was honestly thinking we would have to fight," she admitted. "To go through a grand quest before eventually charging at the Godmage and slaying him in an epic battle. This... This seems almost anticlimactic..."

"I don't see any reason not to take the opportunity," grunted Ghorrend. "If we do this now, less people will suffer and die in the long run."

Payton closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. "You're right..." When he opened them again, he had opened Inferiorix's character sheet. Every statistic was at its absolute maximum of 9999 and his biography was several hundred pages long.

Everything was still locked behind the Administrator locks.

Even if I wanted to, I can't delete him using my console commands...

... doesn't mean I can't stab him, though.

"Answer a few things for me," he began.

"Of course," Inferiorix said, smiling in relief. "Anything. Anything at all."

"Are you the 'Administrator'?" When he got a confused look, he clarified. "When I tried to delete the Goblin Knight or the Greensmith, I noticed that I was locked out because I didn't have 'Administrator Privileges'."

Inferiorix blew a raspberry. "Oh fuck that. It's this weird thing about my powers. Think of every Speaker and Listener like a pillar holding up a roof. If you try to tear it down without finding something to hold it up, the whole roof will come falling down. Each of them represents a certain 'pillar of society'." He waved his hand and a golden character sheet appeared in front of him. "Let's see... You were looking for the 'Goblin Knight'? Did you have his real name?"

"Nevaught Killgreen."

"Right..." The Godmage brought up the character sheet and nodded a few times. "See, the Goblin Knight is basically the guy that made sure that every goblin is under control and subdued in this region. His mere existence makes this happen. So if you were to kill him, the goblins would suddenly go wild. The system doesn't let you outright delete him because of that." Inferiorix pointed at the burning, charred corpse of the Shade. "I'm guessing by 'delete', you'd be outright obliterating his character. Bio and everything. That'd be equivalent to erasing someone from the past, present and future."

Ghorrend suddenly stepped forward. "Is that what happened with that... that thing?"

Inferiorix shrugged. "Depends. What exactly happened with 'that thing'? What did you do?"

"We were just burying my past! But then that thing just appeared!"

No… No it wasn't.

"That can't be all."

Payton narrowed his eyes. "It's because I changed Ghorrend's race and name, isn't it?" he asked.

The Godmage's eyes widened and then he nodded. "Oh yeah. That'll do it." He held up two hands. "See, if you only changed his race and name without doing it through some grand quest or something using the resources of the world, you're basically creating an entirely new character with the same history while wiping out the old character. This means that you're forcing the thoughts and memories of everyone else in the other parts of the world to see Ghorrend as the orc that he is now instead of whoever he was in the past."

That's what those red wisps were... They were the Gaolsheer that everyone remembered.

"Those two entities are literally fighting over their place in this world," Inferiorix explained. "Guess that might be a limitation of your powers. You've got to be really careful what you alter or you might do something like that."

"Which begs the question exactly what will happen if we delete you here and now," Amberline said. "You mentioned that the Goblin Knight is a pillar in Gobhood. Deleting him could have enormous repercussions on the same level if not greater than what Ghorrend just faced. So much so that the world purposefully locks him from being altered. I'm assuming Ghorrend's changes or role in the world was much smaller thus he was able to be altered."

"Probably, yeah," answered Inferiorix. "And I guess since I'm basically god of this world, deleting me could very well fuck up the universe. Seeing as you're probably like me, you wouldn't want that." The Godmage crossed his arms, a frown on his features. "Yeah... I can see how that's a problem."

Oh boy... Here it comes. Either he forces us into a fight or something worse...

"What makes you think you aren't locked behind the admin privileges then?" Payton asked, trying to stall for time.

"Probably because I'm an afterthought," answered Inferiorix. "The other Readers don't think much of me to the point that I'm really more of a background character. It's all driven by public perception. The more people have you on their mind in their every day lives and the deeper your roots are within them, the bigger the change if something in you were to change. I've tried it. Trust me. Look..."

He stepped over, holding up the Goblin Knight's character sheet. Payton retreated a step but Inferiorix was approaching so quickly he didn't have time to retreat. The Godmage showed him the character sheet and even with the view of the very god of this world, the sheet was entirely locked away. Inferiorix event went so far as to jab the big 'X' at the top right hand of the screen only to get the popup warning him that the sheet was locked by 'Administrator Privileges'.

"Again, it's my mistake," sighed Inferiorix. "Because I become the 'king', everyone gets linked to me. Everyone in this world is basically linked to me now. I'm guessing if you use your powers like you just did, you'll create some catastrophe and that'd just be bad. Not gonna lie either, if you just outright kill me, something bad will probably still happen but it won't be as bad as a shadow-me running around ready to murder everything."

Yeah, that'd be bad. As it is, I almost pity him.

Inferiorix puffed out his cheeks and let it out a long breath, dismissing the Goblin Knight's sheet with a wave of his hand. "Damnit... Why did it have to go on for this long?"

Amberline approached tentatively. "So you're really imprisoned, aren't you? Chained down in a paradise of your own making. You're no ruler. You're the keystone to this entire system that won't free you because it needs you to run."

He offered her a sad smile. "Exactly. And honestly, I don't want to hurt anyone. That's why I started this whole thing. I didn't want anyone to die because of some old, tired trope. But as time went on, the other Readers took more and more control from me until I was left as nothing more than a figurehead." Inferiorix sighed heavily and ran a hand down his face. Despite his mostly youthful features, there was clear weariness in his eyes. "If only there was a way..."

We can't just kill Inferiorix without replacing him with something else. We kill him and the power of the other Readers and subsequently their Listeners and Speakers would all vanish. Since they all serve some function in this world, that'd be disastrous.

Payton imagined that the Readers were responsible for making things as peaceful and prosperous as they were. He just imagined killed the Reader of the Weather or something and all of the hurricanes, tornadoes and thunderstorms kept at bay for five thousand years would all simultaneously come crashing down in a single instant.

There has to be a way...

"Is there some way to even beat the Readers?" he asked. "It sounds like no matter what we do, people will die."

Inferiorix shook his head sadly. "Honestly, I think all we can do is minimize the damage." Then his features brightened and he slammed a fist into his palm. "That's it! We minimize the damage!" The Godmage spread his arms wide in triumph. "Ah-ha! I'm a genius!"

"What?" Ghorrend asked. "What are you thinking?"

"Have you heard of the story of Noah's Ark?"

"No..."

Amberline shook her head as well. "Neither have I."

"I have," replied Payton. "It's from the Bible. God told Noah that he was going to flood the world and start all over because of all the wickedness in the world. Noah made a huge boat, an Ark, and took two of every animal. One male and one female. Along with him and the faithful, they boarded the Ark. God flooded the world to restart it and so Noah and those he had taken were spared."

"Exactly!" Inferiorix exclaimed. "That's what we'll do! I'll use my resources to start building an Ark. Something that'll comfortably store... I dunno... Fifty million people or something! And choice animals, of course. Might take some time but that means you can go out and start dismantling the empire of the Readers! Go around, killing Speakers, Listeners and Readers in that order so that the people will be free of their influence and you can start shipping them to the Ark! It's genius!"

Wait... what?

"Hang on," Payton said as Inferiorix turned away and began to stride back into the forest. "You want us to kill the Readers? That'll cause widespread chaos! You said so yourself, they're 'pillars of society'. If we kill them, things will go to hell!"

"If you just delete them. But if you fight them without using your powers, you'd just remove the service they provide to the world. That's not as bad, right?" Inferiorix asked over his shoulder. "It'll make it easier for you to pick out who gets to go on the Ark and survive. Let everyone fight for the right to survive."

That's insane!

"Why can't you do it, then?" snarled Ghorrend. "You're the Godmage. Don't you have the power to kill them? Can't you order them to die?"

"Me?" Inferiorix laughed. "You just saw, right? I tried to erase the Goblin Knight but I couldn't. And I never participated in the whole 'hunting Grigori for their powers' thing. I'm a Dark Lord not a hero. My abilities don't grow. I can get better at using them but I can't obtain new powers. Yeah my stats are through the roof but I don't have an army. I can't be everywhere at once and the Readers still keep an eye on me. Besides, if I start rebelling against them, they'll all just lock me down and then it'll be harder for you guys to kill me and end the world!" He glanced up at the stars. "Speaking of which. I should get back. If I'm missing for too long they might just get suspicious."

The Godmage turned back towards them, grinning brightly, hopefully, and waving his arms in an exaggerated farewell. "Good to finally meet you, Dark Lord!"

That pity Payton felt for this man suddenly turned into horror. This wasn't just some suicidal overlord who had grown tired of ruling. He was insane enough to take the whole world with him!

"Wait! We haven't even agreed to this!" Payton exclaimed. "You're telling us that you're willing to save fifty million people out of a potential seven billion? That's insane!"

"Fifteen," Inferiorix corrected, his smile obtaining a dark edge to it. "It's fifteen billion people on Lexcia. When everything is provided for you and you don't have to lift a finger to work, all you can really do is pursue hobbies or fuck. Then, when you don't need to worry about resources, having a kid isn't a problem. And yes, fifty million out of fifteen billion isn't a lot but it's more than enough to start the world anew. Better than a single family right?"

"There has to be another way!"

The Godmage shrugged helplessly. "Honestly can't think of one. I've spent the past few millenniums trying to find one but it just can't be done. People will have to die. If not fifteen billion people then at least the Readers and even then, taking them out will shatter the very foundations of this world."

Then Inferiorix's smile obtained a sinister edge as he tilted his head to the side.

"And by the way, I know you're just like me. You care about the people protecting you. Well. At least I used to until they trapped me in this hell. So as an added incentive and reminder... you only freed that guy from my dominion." He pointed at Ghorrend. "Everyone else is fresh game and I'm willing to wager that none of them are nearly as influential as a Speaker that they're protected by admin privileges. If you don't follow through, you can bet I'll make their lives a living hell."

What!?

"So I guess you can either try and break them free like what you did here but given it took so much effort to do that with one guy, that's probably not something you're willing to do for fifteen million people." Inferiorix straightened, grinning so broadly that his eyes were forced shut. "So... yeah! That's the game plan! Looking forward to the day you finally get to kill me!"

Before Payton could protest any further, the Godmage vanished in a burst of bright, golden light. Ghorrend and Amberline had to shield their eyes but Payton was just too dumbstruck to do anything but stare even as it hurt his eyes.

So... either we follow through with basically condemning fifteen billion people to death by systematically killing the Readers and saving only fifty million... or Inferiorix is going to make everyone, not just the people working with me suffer...

... then, of course, there are the Readers and their cronies...

"Well... Fuck."