"Why have you killed him, haven't you known the man?" Nitarja asked Frei who was carefully trying to slash Valen's body with his claws in a way it looked like the wounds had been made by the succubus before his death.

"Briefly. I knew him." He gave a short answer while finishing his work, he left the two bodies arranged in a way it looked like they had fought. An experienced person would see though the deception, but Frei knew that there would be no genius coming here just because of a single knight.

"We should leave, the sooner, the better." Frei grabbed Nitarja's hand lightly and they walked away in the direction away from the village.The corn field was large, but they could see its end nearing and in five minutes, they should enter a small forest that grew along a river that flowed through the village Valen and Frei had originally intended to visit, but now there would be no investigation or knight orders anymore, as his objective had always been getting to Nitarja and he had her right this moment at his side. When he thought about it, he felt a sense of happiness turning him almost into an idiot.

Now they were finally free, the both of them.

"He was with me for a day or two, but he saw too much back in this field." He sighed, Valen's blood on his hands spoiling the mood. He had spilled a lot of blood and had got quite used to it, but he knew that Valen was not a bad person and had just been doing his duty, helping the villagers. Still, he had seen too much back in the corn field. Neither of them paid attention to not expose their fangs when they had held each other during their reunion and Valen had to see it and he would have surely remembered it later. He could not have possibly explained his and Nitarja's fangs, the wounds on the demon's body that had been caused by powerful dark attribute spells, Crow's transformation, or how he had even met her with his background as a beggar simpleton.

  There was just too many uncertainty. Valen would have searched for clues and would most probably go after him if he tried to leave the order. If they were members of an afternoon naps and tea club, he would have just walked away, but it was not the case.

This was the case where someone working for a mafia would most likely say "Cutting loose ends, nothing personal.", yet it did not feel like it.

Frei tried to rationalize what he had done, but in the end he knew that a large factor was that at that moment, he felt like the long sought reunion with Nitarja was slipping away though his fingers and acted on impulse.

A sudden line appeared in front of Frei along with a sinister voice that made a statement interrupted his self-blame.

[If you want to save your girl and become a true master of your destiny, draw on the power of souls and find the Fabled Universe's core. Devour it and there will be no one to stand in your way anymore.]

[What? Who are you? She is safe with me, besides, you do not have any power to order me around.]

Frei was startled, because it did not seem it was Gabri'El, who was the only one who had ever contacted him in this manner.

[Actually I do and no, no one is safe over there in your little hideout. If Gabri'El succeeds in his task, all souls in that world will be recycled for reincarnation, probably by him personally for all the humiliation the Fabled Universe caused him.]

He clenched his jaw when he understood that the speaker was probably someone other who wanted to flex his muscles and manipulate him in some way.

[I have the highest system authority of Samma'El, so whether you are Gabri'El, Mikha'El, Adri'El, Azaz'El, Rapha'El, Sabri'El, Uri'El or whatever, your authority is at most equal to me. As for Gabri'El, he is an idiot and I do not see how he should be able to reign supreme with his vengeful lies and pitiful schemes.]

Frei answered sharply, remembering the lies that Gabri'El spewed about the one who was right in front of him at this moment, instead of locked away somewhere in a cellar, as he had claimed.

[Even an idiot will eventually succeed, as only the two of you have the ability to gather soul power. It is only a matter of time before his power becomes unmatched and he exacts his revenge. Well, if you decide to ignore my challenge that is.]

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

[As for the matter of authority, there is a little something I will show you. Watch this.]

Suddenly a stream of system messages appeared in front of Frei, making him gape with opened mouth.

[. . . trusted installer initiating update, awaiting authorization . . .

. . . account privileges changed, current level - greater demon, authorized by Sammael . .

. . . override . . .

. . . account privileges changed, current level - Samma'El, authorized by Samma'El . .

. . . override locked, authorized by Samma'El . . .]

[What is the meaning of this?]

Frei did not know what to think, he doubted that authorities of the same level could demote each other, it made no sense.

[Why are you so surprised? Why should everyone have only one account? Isn't it a matter of basic security to not be constantly logged in with the highest privileges account?]

Frei wanted to faint when he realized what it meant. He had thought that they had messed up and given him equal authority to themselves, but it appeared that had never been the case.

[Rest assured, there is only one God level account and its name is Sammael. Gabri'El does not have one. I am looking forward to the competition, the winner will be Gabri'El and the loser . . .What loser? Was there even such a person in the first place?]

Frei stayed silent after hearing the ominous words of the one who was probably the true mastermind behind the EL of the Divine Universe.

"The winner will be Gabri'El." Frei whispered and realized that Sammael deliberately said it that way to tease him. The title would clearly go to the one who would manage to conquer the Fabled Universe, bringing all its souls under the wing of the ever hungry Divine Universe.

[Why should I not tell Gabri'El and work with him against you?]

A thought immediately flashed through his mind.

[You clearly lack imagination about the term absolute authority. I can just kill you two and create a new Gabri'El with just a few taps on the screen. Do you fancy that approach or will you be a good boy and play along?]

There was a while of silence, as Frei thought about the possibility that the other side was bluffing, but he thought that this time, the danger was real and he had to swallow his pride to live another day.

[Very well, we will play.]

[Good boy!]

He received an immediate answer and the voice fell silent.

  Frei clutched his head with his hands and could not but hate the option. Even if he managed to outdo Gabri'El, he would still be Sammael's tool that he could erase at any moment and something was telling him that the whole machine-like efficient philosophy had to be his idea. There was only one option how he could truly free himself. He could not but remember the small statue and the text engraved at its bottom.

"In honor of Thaal Dane, Champion of The Arena. May his strength never falter." Frei mumbled, knowing what had to be done. He had to stealthily use the Divine Universe's system to make himself supreme in the competing system of the Fabled Universe, switching sides and becoming its champion right after taking hold of the souls and defeating Sammael with that newfound power. He had to time it carefully, because it was clear that Sammael would make a move the moment he found out his intentions of being a double agent.

"You look troubled." He looked at Nitarja and explained to her his thoughts. He knew that something was better not spoken about, but it would have been unfair to keep her in the dark.

She herself had plenty experience with some form of slavery and could not agree more with his proposal.

Naturally, he had to leave out the part about betraying Sammael, as he knew that he might be able to hear them. Even though it felt wrong to not tell her the whole truth, it was necessary. Besides, telling her that they needed to defeat Gabri'El using the power of the Fabled Universe that he would surely ignore in his arrogance was exactly what they were going to do, except for the last step where he shows a big middle finger to Sammael and his system.

"Are you telling me, we have to beat this whole world with an archangel as the last boss on top of that, Frei?" Nitarja asked, but as she spoke, a smile gradually crept in to the point that when she spoke his name, she looked like telling him the greatest news of the day.

"Yes, we have to beat this whole world and an arrogant divine being on top of that." Frei placed his hand on her shoulder while they walked side by side below the branches of the first trees and looked at her, his mood improving as well for absolutely no reason.

"That will be dangerous, we will probably die." Her smile turned even more pronounced, her eyes not dodging his focused stare.

"Then it will be a fucking good way to die!" Frei walked closer to her to touch Nitarja with his whole body and his hand fell down from her shoulder, finding something new, round.

"Fucking indeed." He felt Nitarja's breath in his face and let happen what had been bound to occur since the moment of their reunion.