"Was Fear always so talkative?"

Is she not as you remember her?

"Kinda... Well, my interference probably caused this." He showed some impressive self-awareness.

"Don't act like I'm an idiot just because you're omniscient. Anyway, we need to deal with 'him'."

You mean that 'Killer'?

"Obviously."

I know you don't want to kill him... However, are you sure about acting on your own? You could probably do better if you just told me the rest about your plan. Why are you keeping it a secret?

"...You don't understand 'Alex', do you?"

I know enough to believe he wouldn't screw things up if you had just explained yourself a little better.

"I can't... I'd rather no one ever finds out about that guy. He's 'innocent', after all... Not 'bad' at all."

He's definitely your typical antagonist.

"Is he? You really think that? You know... It took quite a while for me to figure him out when I was the main character of that 'pre-retcon timeline', or should I say that 'he' was lead in circles once."

You mean your 'original', End?

"Damn straight. This story became a murder mystery thriller after those string of incidents."

Isn't that why the culprit is just an antagonist?

"You seem to have a misconception about something. He was an antagonist, sure. However, a person like him was no 'supervillain' like Alan. What am I supposed to do about this guy anyway...?"

Just kidnap him and put him in a box.

"You think that would work?"

You have Location Teleportation as a Half Spell.

Is it weird for me to think you can't do that?

"...You seriously don't understand the nature of that guy. He isn't tied down by a fear of death.

Even if I caged him, it would be a much worse problem if he decided to kill himself.

I'm NOT going to use my Paradoxical Return anymore... Never!"

Fine. Then what are you going to do?

"I need some information. Help me."

What do you want?

"I've forgotten his 'stats' and don't have my Runic Insight anymore. I need to narrate it for me."

You want me to narrate an effect without the cause? You know that's breaking the rules, right?

"Think of it as bringing up an old memory. You can do it if you think of it that way. I know you can...!"

...I guess you're right. I'll give you some help:

{Spirit Essence- Murdering Edge

• Innate Ability- Alaya Affinity

Magic Slots/ Angelic Physique:

(Dark Magic- Doomsday Infection)

• Holy Magic- Cancer Bestower

Unique Class- Berserk Killer:

• Class Skill- Massacring Prodigy

• Class Skill- Killing Impulse

Magic Pathways- Murdering Skills:

• Wound Opening- Unhealing Laceration

• Slaughtering Shadow- Hundred Stabs

Dark Ether- Phantom Movement:

• Killer Skill- Vital Severing}

{Spirit Essence- Murdering Edge

• Innate Ability- Alaya Affinity

• Racial Ability- Horned Calamity

Spell Slots/ Angelic Physique:

(Dark Spell- Doomsday Craze)

• Holy Spell- Cancer Bestower

Unique Class- Berserk Killer:

• Class Skill- Massacring Prodigy

• Class Skill- Killing Impulse

Magic Pathways- Murdering Skills:

• Wound Opening- Unhealing Laceration

• Slaughtering Shadow- Hundred Stabs

Dark Ether- Phantom Movement:

• Killer Skill- Vital Severing}

"...His stats are crazy. Was he always this strong?"

You don't seem to remember that you never actually beat this guy. He was just THAT strong.

"Hey, it's not like I'm the one to blame for the balancing issues. I mean, how the heck is anyone supposed to beat this guy...?! Ah, the memories of those days are coming back!" Samual shouted.

He started to remember who this 'Killer' was…

The escapee of the Prison Laboratory along with the Classless quintuplet girls. The heinous youth who gave himself the name of 'Malice' was the only successful clone of the Demon Lord.

He was created to be one of the greatest masterpieces along with the clone of Drake Lancelot. He was truly the mysterious Angel of Death. A being who could massacre any enemy.

A 'super-soldier' if you will...

Don't let his Angelic Physique fool you just as it did 'Alex Stuman' in the pre-retcon timeline. Using the fact that no one suspected those with the Holy Attribute to his advantage, the Berserk Killer was able to stay hidden despite murdering many.

Unlike the 'Time Assassin', who he was supposed to be paired with as a set when being gifted to Drake Lancelot, Malice was able to fight much more proficiently than his counterpart. He was the first subject to artificially awaken his 'Divine Heart'.

In fact, the Berserk Killer only got his Class thanks to the Divine Heart intrinsically fusing itself with his Dark Attribute Spirit Essence. As a pure yet artificially created 'Shadow Human', he had but one purpose he dedicated his dangerous abilities to:

And that was the destruction of his 'original'.

The Demon Lord he was created to be a copy of...

Malice literally only felt 'malice' towards the Demon Lord, who was the source of his misfortunes.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

However, he knew for a fact that killing the powerful man named Alan wasn't going to work.

This was especially true after coming to understand this enigmatic cult leader's secret...

He was no match for that freak!

That's why his focus shifted to the arms and legs of the Demon Lord: His Cult. The Berserk Killer was more calculative and cold than the name of his Class suggested. He wanted to destroy Alan from the ground up, which was why he waited patiently...

After hearing of how his 'original' planned to really advertise the Mirror Cult using the Battle Theatre that was going to be watched on a national scale, he hid his fangs and tested many alternative plans to the one he had decided to be his last resort.

His darkened Spirit Essence, one that was completely merged with his Divine Heart, couldn't be destroyed even if the user died.

As long as someone was nearby, the Divine Heart of the Berserk Killer would pass onto the nearest individual. Even if that was a Cultist... This was why he was fine with being reckless to achieve success.

Indeed, his death only caused anyone nearby to be corrupted by him. This was something not even Samuel could do anything about... Malice sunk into the Shadow Dimension and infected someone randomly should there be no one nearby in death.

It was his last resort, one Samuel had to be wary of.

Ah...!

Only now did I realise my mistake. I thought that Malice would treasure his life a little more like a normal person, but forgot that the ambitions of the Berserk Killer would be extinguished so easily.

He couldn't be caged up, or he would just kill himself when the time came.

He couldn't be taken out of the country, or he might just start a massacre somehow else...

There were little options Samuel could take to deal with such an individual.

I wonder... What could be done? I see no other options other than letting a tragedy unfold.

Should the mind of a Mirror Cultist be infected by that Spirit Essence, what would happen to the rest?

Just thinking about the tragedy that happened in the pre-retcon timeline me feel speechless...

(￣□￣;)

"Now you know how difficult this is..."

Is that why you're going to use that plan? I'm not even sure if it will even work... It sounds a bit dumb.

"Don't insult my intelligence! You think this will be easy to do...?! Even if I succeed, I can only hope that the outcome won't be as bad as all the other options. We only have one try, it's that or looping with Alex until HE figures out a solution."

...I feel like you're too keen on dragging him into this. Wouldn't he be happier if you left him alone?

"He needs to take responsibility for-"

The actions of the pre-retcon main character, End?

"...Who said anything about that?"

Logically, the responsibility for 'messing up the world' should fall on that ambitious person...

"End and Alex are one in the same. The current Alex Stuman is the same as the pre-retcon version of himself, even if their lives and personality are different. That's why... he should be responsible."

Where do you factor into this equation?

"I don't."

...Huh?!!! You're not messing with me, right?

(눈_눈)

"I'm just a blameless copy of End, just as Malice is a blameless copy of my brother. We are the same."

Sure, whatever floats your boat (you shameless jerk melon). M

Anyway, aren't the bigger problems than this C Plot already?

Malice doesn't exactly kill innocent people OR those related to you, but those quintuplets might really die...

They're a ticking time-bomb.

"I guess you're right.

He's kinda a guy in the background compared to what's going on with those quintuplets...

They never survived long enough to 're-choose' their Class like the others of the Light Attribute...

…but I'm guessing it will benefit Lily some way."

You sound too paranoid.

Her luck couldn't be so good that the clones of THAT disciple of yours would become enamoured with her. I'm pretty sure they'll choose a kind of Healer Class for the moment.

"She isn't my disciple, and I am not part of the Dragon Family... I am just a regular Dragoon."

You're one letter off being a 'Dragon', you know?

"Don't try patronising me. The Dragon Family doesn't need an extra 'Alex Stuman' among them."

Fine, but what are you going to do with them?

"Nothing. Their artificial Divine Mind is a lot less scary than that Berserk Killer's Divine Heart.

They have yet to gain a Spell Slot as well... As long as they behave, I have no plans for them." Samuel said before deciding to use the knowledge he gained from my narration to his advantage. He put on his helmet to hide his identity for that purpose.

He didn't say goodbye to me since I'm still here.

All he did was focus on what he wanted to do.

The power of teleportation covered Samuel.

He thought of making it harder for Alex to find Malice instead of giving him a helping hand.

Not everyone could be dealt with like 'Antagonists' even if they were bad people, so he chose to use this method.

His reasoning to defend this Berserk Killer and act as an accomplice for him was to gain that person's trust. If he wanted his plan to succeed, he needed to befriend that person and gain their approval.

With this in mind, he teleported straight to the mysterious Killer that was living by himself.

Meanwhile…

On top of a rooftop opposite to the Sanctuary owned by the Mirror Cult, there was a black-haired youth who was unconsciously watching the Cultists. His eyes were sharp as he fiddled with an identification card he took from a 'Researcher'.

Just as scientists were devoted to finding knew options for humanity on Earth, those of the Researcher Class took the role of those who observed the natural laws of Gaia intently.

All in order to find loopholes.

This was a 'Bestowed Class' given to those who created a Spell Slot that focused heavily on the aspects of studying rather than fighting.

The politics of the Human Empire weren't so heavy that people of the Politician Class were needed for the five kingdoms to stay peaceful (as Noble Rankers were enough). Only Researchers we're actually necessary to advance human society...

Of course, that was just the popular opinion. Malice himself hated Researchers, especially the ones who had a hand in torturing him so he would become a 'tool' of the Human Empire. He didn't even understand what Dr Frank was planning...

Gaia Humans were peaceful creatures who only had discrimination for Beasts (for the obvious reasons that their homeland is being attacked by them 24/7). There was no negotiations on that.

That's why he couldn't understand why the Prison Laboratory was focusing on creating human weapons. Should they be 'advancing society' the way Gaia had intended them to do instead...?

What were they preparing for?

Malice's thoughts were interrupted when he saw the figure of a helmeted spearman appearing out of nowhere. His dark eyes narrowed... The black 'Murdering Edge' Spirit Essence formed in hand.

He didn't let out his True Aura, but that was what made him even scarier... He knew that Alan might sense him and become alerted to his presence too early if he expressed great killing intent using his Divine Heart, so he chose hid it all instead.

This caused a feeling of dissonance to arise within anyone who saw him.

The current retracted nature of his True Aura would make it harder to spot him despite him standing right there.

He was thinking of immediately stabbing the person who was arriving and think later.

Malice wasn't the type to talk things out with any potential enemies of his... No words were needed.

The silence of death was enough for him.

That was until the tall figure that arrived casually spoke as if he knew he was there the whole time:

"I haven't came here to fight you." Samuel spoke to the Berserk Killer, who was holding onto his knife.

Seeing that the black-haired youth stopped after using his Emotional Empathy to measure the sincerity of his words, Samuel felt great admiration for the murderer… despite him being a serial killer.

After all, being able to switch between 'Intention Expression' and 'Emotional Empathy' so fast was something only highly skilled holders of a Divine Heart were able to use.

He acknowledged that this kind of Transcendent Burst was a lot more useful than the other ones in practicality, especially for someone who hid in the shadows and didn't play fair with others.

"Speak why you're here." Malice knew the implications of one having the Space Attribute despite being a Gaia Human, but he didn't show favouritism to a 'fellow victim of the Prison Laboratory' like himself.

This misconception about his background was something Samuel just rolled with.

The real truth was too complicated to explain…

"I've come to help you."

"I don't need any of your help. Leave."

"Don't be so cold~ I can clean up the mess you make and even help you kill stronger individuals."

"..." Malice hesitated as the spearman smiled slyly under his helmet... before saying with conviction:

"You won't regret this." Then he went on to persuading the black-haired youth patiently.

His experienced silver tongue worked its magic...!