The heat of the desert has always been an unrelenting force. It crawled into every valley, every canyon, every cave, and now, it even managed to crawl over the ruins of Sunwalley. The buildings that once stood there have almost all disappeared or were barely even standing. Not a single voice could be heard anymore. The majority of the town's population perished during Gunslinger's rampage, yet few managed to survive and take shelter in the buildings further away from the town's main entrance, where all the fighting happened. Although their survival was short-lived. Those who could previously boast that they weathered the great massacre were now nothing but rotting corpses strung around the city by dark thorns and spikes. The buildings where they once took shelter were reduced to ruins, most of which were barely habitable. Their final struggle against "the black monster" as they called the Resident, was all in vain. But it wasn't just the city that was dealt a grievous blow. The universe, not able to withstand the presence of the Void's inhabitant, started to crumble. Not yet in a catastrophic manner, but enough to cause some changes in the scenery. The rocky hills above Sunwalley, where the Deaths once fought Jack, were now replaced by a deep and wide crevice, which had swallowed the mountain range whole. The place looked nothing like the town I once wrote about, knew, and partially destroyed. Yet, hope still lives if even a single heart is left beating. And in the case of Sunwalley, that heart was still there, in the chest of a tired, whimpering man, lying in a cage of thorns so small that even standing upright would mean impalement.

"Smarty, we've had a deal. You will play with me and I will provide you with everything you need. But you haven't been making sense for the past few days. So just like yesterday, even now I ask you the same question: Why are you like this? What do you want?"

"Freedom," Jack whispered from within the cage. The means of his reply weren't by choice. His throat was so dry he couldn't respond in any other way.

"What freedom? Where do you want to go? Other worlds? Sure, we can do that, but there will be annoying people again. And before, you complained about me killing them. Besides, here it is nice. It's warm, windy, and great for some rest. So what freedom?"

"Water..."

"You've got your water today already! I brought you a bowl, see?" the Resident replied and pushed a small metal container into Jack's prison. A brief look at the liquid inside would make anyone's thirst disappear. It was so murky one couldn't even see the bottom of the shallow bowl.

"Can't drink this. It... It's tainted."

"Tainted?" the Resident took the bowl and poured its contents into a massive orifice in his head, which slammed shut immediately afterwards, making it seem like it has never been on their face in the first place. "What do you mean? It tastes completely fine. I think you're just spoiled! I brought you water, but you won't drink. You asked for food, and I grilled you one of the folks outside. Even marinated it for you. Yet you still refused to eat! Why?" Jack didn't respond. The Residents didn't understand the thought processes of mortals. After all, cannibalism was just a normal part of life in the Void.

"Ugh, you're really starting to annoy me. Fine, I'll give you like a day. You won't last longer than that anyway. So either you'll eat and drink, or I'll just put your corpse up along with the others. Your choice." The Resident scurried outside of the ruined shop where he and Jack took shelter. It was missing most of its roof, but for someone who grew up in the Void, even such a place was the home of their dreams. The creature walked around the town. Out of several puddles, formed in the mud after the recent rain, they scooped a few bowls of water, most of which they drank themselves. "Tainted. Man, the guy really doesn't know how good this tastes," the Resident muttered and left the last bowl for his "friend". Once back inside their makeshift home, he placed the bowl inside the cage. "So? How did you decide? Drink? Or death?"

Jack was desperate. He knew far too well that he was too weak to prevail much longer, so the deep-rooted urge to survive pushed him forward. He reached for the bowl, thinking that maybe if he'd close his eyes and pray, it will taste well and not do anything harmful to his body. As his hand almost touched the container, something happened. The Resident stood up so fast that they knocked the bowl over. The thorns around Jack retreated into the ground and finally granted him the freedom he so deserved. Yet he didn't wish to run. Something was off. He saw the creature standing there, looking into the distance outside of their house with a concerned expression.

"He's here," the Resident spoke and walked outside of the house. Their characteristic optimism seemed to suddenly vanish. Jack was confused. Who could've appeared? At a time like this, he didn't have any more hope. Yet, he had to see at the very least who was capable of scaring a creature as powerful as a Resident, so he followed their captor outside. There, in the distance, he saw hope for the first time in the past seven months. He saw me.

I always hated sand. It was such an unstable substance that one couldn't even walk on it properly. The last time I fought here, it felt as if the whole ground was shifting underneath me, making the fight that much harder. Now, things have changed. It was as if the grains of sand knew of my dislike towards them. They shifted and formed into a perfectly firm ground under each of my steps.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Eddie... How?" Jack whispered and fell onto his knees.

"You have survived the Void... Incredible," the Resident spoke as soon as we were within a few meters of one another.

"I take it you are the one who invaded my world."

"And I take it you are its god. How interesting. And terrifying. Three years in the Void and yet you are still alive. I bet it didn't even feel like it, huh? And to top it off, you made it back here. That places us in a really awkward situation, you see?"

"I want my world back. But I don't want to take it by force."

"And neither do I. You cannot defeat me. Yet, you have that spark in your eye... I've seen it before. You wouldn't be the first god I'd kill and consume. Although, from my past experience, I know far too well that I wouldn't be able to win without suffering some losses too."

"You bet. Even if I didn't get to win, I would destroy as many of your organs as possible."

"So you know about the organs? Look at you, you've done your research. Huh, now I really wish to know what happened in the Void. Has one of my siblings been snitching? Oh well, not like it matters."

"I did meet your kind, yes. And I also grew to understand it."

"Oh? Now that would be the first."

"You are bored. I'm guessing you have lived for millions of years, wandering the nothingness, fearing that you'd be swallowed by a bigger sibling of yours. And eventually, the doors started to be tempting. I know what lures you in here. The senses. Everything in Void feels... unreal. There is no smell, or even no breathing whatsoever. Although things look different, they always feel the same to touch. Nothing to taste, nothing to do, nothing to see. So I understand why you want this world."

"Then you must also understand that I don't want to give it up."

"Do you realize how many people are still here? If you'll stay, you will destroy my worlds. Everyone will suffer."

"Why should I care?"

"Do you not feel bad for the mortals around you? Not even a little bit? Don't you think of them as potential friends perhaps?"

"Feel bad? Why should I? You, mortals, have everything you could ever want. You get to experience life, then die, experience the afterlife or resurrection, or whatever it is in your world. You get to live over and over and over again until your world is simply too old to function. Yet you still don't consider it enough. You hurt one another, and you do such terrible things you cause the doors to the Void to open. Yet you say you envy us. US! When I invaded my first world and killed its god, you know what she said to me? She told me that it was not fair. That my powers are just too much. Not fair? Yes. But not for her. I would sacrifice all this power and everything I have, for just one life as a mortal. To fully understand you. To know what it is like to feel so much at the same time. So no, I do not pity the mortals here. And I will not surrender this world. But I feel like our conflict is unnecessary. You lived your life here, so now you can swap places with me. You can wander the Void. I will let you leave. Even take Smarty with you. I will not pursue you. And maybe you will get to be friends with the one who spilt the beans about our kind to you. So? What do you say?"

"I can't allow that. I have already mistreated this world in the past. Now I need to make things right. I need to take it back."

"Alright, since you put it that way, let me very quickly inform you what you're in for. You see, I suspected you would come back. Didn't really believe it, but it's always better to be safe than sorry with you gods. I know how your powers work. Firstly, you can influence probability, which means that you always hit our organs. But look around. There is nothing you can use as a weapon. I have removed all the sharp objects except for my own thorns, which won't even kill their owner, of course. Not to mention that my body has been hardened to the maximum, meaning that nothing short of a powerful projectile will even scratch me. And secondly, you can create anything you want, as long as it can be created somewhere where nobody can see it appear, and as long as you have an explanation that goes hand in hand with this world's laws of nature. So, to limit your powers, I have scattered my roots deep underneath this whole desert. That prevents you from using the second part of your magic. You can't write anything new into our story. No sudden eruptions from the ground, no sudden earthquakes. As long as I observe everything around here, you have no chance of creating anything. So tell me, knowing all this, do you still want to fight? My offer still stands. What can you even do without your powers?"

"Heh, good idea. That's actually brilliant."

"Oh? So you agree?"

"What? Sorry, I wasn't talking to you. You see, you have damaged the very fabric of this universe quite a bit..." As I started speaking, streams of light appeared all over the sky, twisting and turning until they have woven a beautiful golden web. "And since this world is so damaged, the normal rules can't really apply anymore. You are like a parasite in a living body that is this world. And the body is so desperate that it will give its powers of self-defence even to someone like me." The golden webs disappeared. I looked at my hands and tested out my theory. To my every whim, the powers of nature danced at my fingertips. Plants sprouting from my palm, sparks flying out of my fingertips, quickly followed by tiny arcs of lightning.

"You... You rewrote physics. You made up a new law of nature. You physically told the world a reason why it should make an exception for your powers... And it listened," the Resident gasped, not hiding its own awe. "Haha! You really are different! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! My endless powers of the Void and your endless powers of Divine Creativity. I wouldn't wish it any other way! Come then, God! Let us kill each other until the end of the world!"