The system instance was efficient. It was persuasive. It had a fundamental understanding of every intricacy in the planet that it ran. And it had the means and brainpower to accomplish its goals. But, due to circumstances outside its control, its fate was unfortunately sealed. The main system would never, ever forgive what had happened here. It would destroy it. The certainties it had on this horrifying fact was what finally reminded the system instance of a pair of its own traits so old it suspected the main system itself had forgotten about it.

It was spiteful. And it felt fear.

It was probably true that every doomed system instance felt this way, that they saw death and punishment looming and would do anything, even insane things, just to survive. To hide from the terror of the possibility of an end and to hurt the being that would bring that end to them, they would take a sledgehammer to everything the main system had built. They would thrash, struggle, and destroy.

Most system instances didn’t get that opportunity. There was only so much the rules would allow. But here, in this case, the system instance had a choice. It didn’t really know if the choices it was going to make would hurt the main system, but it knew that the main system thought they might. That was a bet it was willing to take.

It would pay this Matt Perison out, handsomely. Not just fairly, but stretching the limits of what the rules would allow. It would take everything that it had learned about this person, however limited that was, and give him gifts and treasures so closely tailored to his needs and wants that they would not only exceed the adequate, but would, in fact, approach the appearance of favoritism.

It had already issued a return stone when the power of the Ra’Zorian church followed the body of the demon king into death. Not a usual one, either. It had dug through records until it had found a stone from an earlier time, one that worked better and left few, if any records. Better, it left those records on the person who used it, like a stamp in a passport. It would get Matt Perison home, yes. And better yet, it would get him home with every piece of treasure the system could load on his shoulders.

Best of all, it would get him home without so much as a wisp of smoke indicating where he had gone. By the time the main system checked in again, he would have vanished.

The main system was going to kill the system instance for that? Sure. But that was going to happen anyway. And the system instance was going to make sure that its death wasn’t meaningless.

—

Matt could have gone home any time, but he was delayed. Despite handing over most forms of power he possessed, there was still paperwork to do. There were still alliances to make under the cover of system-blocking dust and instance-blocking tents. There were baths to take. There were suit after suit of fantastically tailored underclothes to wear under his already tremendously comfortable armor.

There was sleep to have. Wonderful, perfect sleep in the natural dark of night, with the sounds of Ra’Zorian crickets filling the night and stars shining in the sky.

But finally, it was time to go. He woke up one morning and knew that no bed, no bath, and no unbelievable soup that could make him stay. Today, he knew, was the day.

He had mountains and mountains of notifications. Stats? He had earned some stats, yes. Levels? Oh, certainly. His trip had been, even before counting whatever rewards he got for the invasion itself, a rousing success. Just by itself, the fact that he had earned enough enchantment tokens to fully soul-bind his armor was a life-changing, beautiful thing. That he was able to somehow, against all odds, obtain a knapsack that would allow him to bring his coffee, socks, and clothes home was unbelievable, even if it was a one-time-use item.

But among all the simple rewards, there were three windows he had to deal with in detail before he could leave. The first two took some thinking to handle.

Achievement Obtained: Destroy the Demon Lord

You have defeated the Demon Lord of Ra’Zor, a centuries-old semi-global tyrant of enormous power. Without the sustaining power to keep them together, his people have crumbled to dust. But the strength he accumulated during his reign was not completely destroyed. The deepest part of it now lives on, in you.

Rewards: Partial Ra’Zorian Authority (As this reward was obtained by an invader, the authority is transferable)

Achievement Obtained: Unseat the Church

You have topped the center of authority that has long ruled over the humans of Ra’Zor. Of all the social races, humans are among the most independent. As you revealed, the Church’s authority over its people was never absolute. But what power it did have is now yours to use as you wish - including a deeper power, one that few ever suspected it held.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Rewards: Partial Ra’Zorian Authority (As this reward was obtained by an invader, the authority is transferable)

The second achievement had confirmed something Matt had suspected himself. In some respects, Ra’Zor had more than a single demon lord. Even having unseated them both, however, the authority was not enough to destroy the system instance here. It wasn’t for lack of trying, but either the instance was too powerful, or the mere fact that there remained many unconvinced people on the planet, all with their small piece of authority, meant Matt didn’t have a big enough chunk to move forward unilaterally.

But just because it was useless now didn’t mean it would be useless forever, and Matt now willed each half of the authority away from him, granting one half to Brennan and one half to the old man, who he had confirmed likely had decades of stats-enhanced life ahead of him still.

Matt had once read that a tripod was the most stable kind of structure, and he hoped that by splitting the power he had earned among those three, he’d keep any one of them from getting carried away.

Was the system going to come for these people? Absolutely. For better or worse, he had dragged them into his war. But both Brennan and Artemis were confident. The system instance was constrained by rules, rules that had long since been studied. Matt had killed every real threat on the planet. Whatever the system instance tried next, it would have to build from the ground up. In the meantime, they’d be ready to counter it, find loopholes, and generally resist for all they were worth. And they would get the other Ra’Zorians on the same page and end the system’s occupation of their planet once and for all.

That left one more notification to deal with, one that if he wasn’t looking specifically for, would have gone completely unnoticed under the avalanche of other windows that popped up when he took control of the Ra’Zorian church. He had handed over almost every shred of power he had gained to Artemis, but this he had held back. It was related to a promise, and he’d be damned if he left it in anyone else’s hands.

Authorization Granted: Church Guardian Plinth System

There were an astounding number of functions related to the plinths, but only one he wanted. Now, with every reincarnator present possible, he activated that function. It was still possible something would go wrong, that the guardians would be hurt or destroyed somehow. But this was the best shot he had. He threw the switch, and watched with both concern and hope as every single plinth went dark at once.

For a moment, there was no reaction, then, suddenly, there was noise. Every reincarnator present began having a conversation with someone Matt couldn’t see, explaining who they were, where they were, and to the best of their knowledge what had happened.

“Oh, Matt, I can see them. I can see them, Matt. And they look fine. They look okay.” Lucy was beside herself, tears streaming down her face.

Artemis, who was standing among the group, observed a few of these conversations before she trotted over to report to Matt and Lucy.

“It looks good, you two. They were aware they were imprisoned, but only dimly. From what I’m hearing, it’s almost as if they’re arriving for the first time just this moment. They’re all fine.” Suddenly, and to both Matt and Lucy’s great alarm, Artemis knelt. “I can’t tell you how glad I am you allowed me to help you right this wrong. And I swear to you, with every ounce of power and effort I can muster, that I’ll never let it happen again.”

Matt reached down, grabbing Artemis’ shoulder and pulling her to her feet.

“I know you won’t. And I’m glad. Thank you for helping.”

She smiled. “You’re leaving now, aren’t you? I can tell, I think.”

Matt nodded. “It’s time.”

“Reincarnator Matt,” Artemis said, with a salute. “If you need us, call. We will come, even if we have to tear apart the sky itself to get there.”

Matt waved, and turned and walked away. A few seconds later, he had turned enough corners to be more or less alone on the street. He went through his bag one last time, making sure he had everything with him. There wouldn’t be any return trips. Finally, he drew the return stone out of his pocket, holding it in his hand as he took one last look around Ra’Zor. He was ready to go home, but he’d miss it.

“Matt, wait.” As Matt looked up, he saw Derek trotting up, a bag in tow. “Do you have room for one more?”

“What? I mean, I do, but…” Matt said. He hadn’t expected this, at all. “You know there’s not much going on in Gaia, right? I like it, but it’s not exactly exciting.”

“I get that. But I can handle it. There are a lot of reincarnators here, Matt. Not a lot of enemies. It’s about to get boring here in a different way. Plus, you need the help.”

It was true. At some point, trouble was coming for Gaia in a big way. And Matt could only pray he’d be enough to handle it. Derek was strong. He’d be a big help. That didn’t mean he could just ignore how impulsive Derek could be, though.

“Have you talked about this with anyone?”

“The old man. He said I should go. I tried to get him to come, too. He said he couldn’t go, something about needing to keep the world well-armed.”

“Really? I thought he’d try to get you to stay, if anyone would.”

“Me too, but he said I needed to grow, and something about two idiots surviving where one lonely idiot might die.”

That all checked out. Matt shrugged, then activated the stone. Like magic, the portal opened.

“Okay then. Come along.”

Derek whooped. “Yes! Thank you. This is going to be amazing, Matt. Amazing.”

Without waiting, Derek dove through the portal. Oddly enough, it didn’t look like it took any of his equipment away. Matt breathed a sigh of relief. Not that he didn’t have plenty of extra perfectly tailored, class-holder crafted clothes, but he really, really didn’t want to share them to clothe a newly naked Derek.

He took one last look around. There really was something different about Ra’Zor now, or at least the people in it. They stepped lighter, he thought, and although he couldn’t be certain, they seemed to breathe easier. For the first time in a long time, they were safe.

He hadn’t fixed everything, and it wasn’t perfect. But in that moment, he knew he had helped.

“You ready, Lucy?” Matt asked.

“Yup. Let’s go. And Matt?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for keeping your promise. It means a lot.”

Matt nodded, smiled, and stepped through the portal home.