President Drazah had to take a moment to pause and let it all sink in. Though there was still a lot of work to do, his dream was actually already complete, but it didn’t feel real yet. Project Fiendless was out in the world, though there were likely still a few that hadn’t gotten their devices yet. But so far, there didn’t seem to be any major hiccups.

Those in the crowd in front of them had all gone through their evolutions, but from a purely visual standpoint, it had been a bit anticlimactic. A few had squirmed and jumped when they first saw the devices coming for them, but they got used to wearing them far faster than he’d expected. And a couple were currently fiddling with their new adornments, but the vast majority in the room were ignoring them entirely, waiting to hear whatever his next big announcement would be.

Now the king was wondering whether they should have added some flashy effects to make it feel more special, or left just a smidge of the pain, or even added a surging feeling of power. But that likely would have caused far more problems and accidents than would have been worth the trouble. And he did have to wonder what the bigger reaction was outside in the rest of the world. Likely the majority were now testing out the new fun features he’d teased purposefully at the end to make them not think too hard about the implications of the rest. Hopefully, some of the life-saving features had already been put to good use.

Nathym would also be getting a constant stream of data back from the devices, so he would know if anything was going wrong. Drim had instructed The Engineer to inform him immediately, even on stage through the president’s own device, if anything unexpected happened, or if someone wearing the device were to die for any reason other than natural causes. But so far it had been completely quiet.

That meant it was time to commit. One grand journey had come to an end, and it would be the beginning of a new chapter. But to successfully make the transition, closure was needed. Not just for himself but the entire world, otherwise, there’d always be a feeling lingering in the air, something to cling to other than the truth. So he had some words he needed to say, words that would be hard to get out of his mouth, and even harder for many to hear. Just as before, when he’d taken the stage, there was no turning back.

“No matter how you view the world that was just created, whether in your mind it’s a utopia or a dystopia, one thing can not be denied. I, President Drim Drazah, of sound mind, confess that I just ordered a weaponized attack on every citizen of this planet. I abused my powers as your leader, betrayed your trusts, and sought to proceed only with my own self-interests in mind. As such, I am not fit to serve in my station any longer.”

“Effective as of midnight tonight, I will be stepping down as President of Rathe!”

The man then had to pause again, not for any personal reason—frankly, it felt like a huge burden had been lifted just saying that single sentence. Rather, he had to wait for the rambling ruckus of a crowd to settle down so he could continue. And thankfully, they silenced when it became obvious he wouldn’t speak further until they shut their mouths.

“I know that to all those who believed in and voted for me, this will likely feel as big of, if not a greater betrayal than what just occurred. You were expecting to have me as your leader, to carry you forward for the next several years. But please, listen to my reasoning. Though we Fiends also live in it, ultimately, this is a human world.”

“As such, it should have a human leader, one who understands your trials and tribulations. I haven’t been human for most of my life, so I’m far too disconnected. I don’t feel pain the same way you do, I don’t struggle as you have, our expected life spans are too disproportionate.”

“As long as there is a large gap between the two species, Fiends are unfit to rule over humans. And it doesn’t help that many of you see us as something higher than yourselves, even worship us as deities. That simply won’t do, and will lead to an unsustainable, unfair, and ultimately biased society.”

“However, as the gap between the two continues to close, perhaps one day it will be a reasonable proposition, and Lessers likely won’t need that exclusion for much longer. But until then, this human world should have a human leader. And I can think of none other than my vice-president, Callum Briz.”

“He was not picked as my running mate on a whim. We actually considered every candidate that was already a part of the race, and countless others who weren’t, many that weren’t even politicians. Yet none of them even remotely came close to Callum. He is the embodiment of all of our ideals, and we know he will carry forth the values we hold dear. Not only that, he brings so much of his own to the table, and I believe he will surprise you with what he has in store.”

“Now I know that most of you had never even heard of Callum Briz before the campaigns began, and even then, far too many ignored him. We’re well aware that my name drastically overshadowed his on the ticket. But know that by voting for me, you were still voting for our influence, for the world we want to create.”

“However, I will be the first to admit that Callum is still inexperienced in the field. Not that I have much room to talk since I’m not even a politician—though that may have been a lot of the reason people chose me. So, in order to support him, we have chosen a replacement to take his seat as vice-president, and that is none other than my uncle, Harth Boldur.”

“Many of you may know of his work in the Central Peace Reconstruction Division. If you haven’t, I would highly suggest taking a look for yourself. He is the driving force responsible for how much the world has recovered since the war. Like us, his story is just the same, but he did it first. Despite his family’s history, his tarnished name, Harth has given his all and dedicated his life to making a better world. No one embodies better of what our legacy has become then him.”

“But if this all has not been enough to convince you as to why I should step aside and let them take over, maybe this will. I never once wanted to be president, just like I’ve never wanted to be king. It was all just part of the manipulation for Project Fiendless. Not a single day have I held any sort of political aspirations, and to be honest, it sounds like a Cosdamned nightmare.”

“So please don’t try to force me to do it, or we’ll all be miserable until my term is up. If you don’t think I’m not the person for the job after that, then there’s nothing I can say to convince you, and I’m sorry, but you’ll have to accept it. That’s everything laid out in the most honest way I can think of. So when I walk off this stage, that’ll be the end. I won’t be doing anything else as President of Rathe.”

“But as I said, I had two announcements, and I’m sad to say, but that was the easier one. This may be the most shocking news of the night, and there’s no way to sugarcoat it, so I’m not even going to try.”

“As of this moment, I am announcing the immediate dissolution of the Fiends For Hire!”

The Fiendish King didn’t even give the audience the courtesy to murmur this time. He knew that if he lost the momentum, they’d overpower him with their insistent questions, so he barged straight ahead. “If you check now, the website will have been shut off, our phone line disconnected. Any open jobs will be cancelled, and all prepaid charges will be reimbursed. Pending and future requests, if you can somehow get them to us, will go entirely ignored. We are closed for business.”

“I know this news likely isn’t what you all expected, but it needed to be done. Going forward, we don’t want there to be any remnants of our past manipulations and lies, and as such, our organization needs to be gutted as a result. Because that’s what it was. The Fiends For Hire was nothing but a front for our larger goals this entire time. Its entire purpose was to help earn favor among the public and create a nexus point that Fiends would be drawn to so that they could be monitored more easily.”

“That genuinely hurt me to say, but it is the bitter truth of why the group was founded. However, I like to believe that we did some honest good for the world in the process, good we could still do, but not under a corrupted banner.”

“I’d like to ease some speculation, though. We Fiends aren’t going anywhere. There’s still far too much work to be done. Though we hope to lessen our exposure in the public eye. As I said, the fame and deification need to stop, or at least be heavily reduced. That might not be as easy as I make it sound, as long we’re still looked up to. But just like you, we’re our own people, ones who aren’t all that special. That will become clearer as time moves on and the power imbalance fades.”

“That said, now I can only speak for myself, but I believe that every current member still holds the drive to help others. Each and every one of them will go on to great things. And I wouldn’t be surprised if, no, I could practically assure you that a new group will be created, ideally one without me as the leader. But even if it doesn’t happen, as long as there are people in need, we will do our best to provide all the help that we can.”

“As for the nation of Fiendish, it will continue, though with some upcoming changes to the border that you’ll find out about soon. We will stay as a member nation of the Central Peace with Phon Drazah retaining her role as the representative. And regrettably, so very regrettably, I will remain as the sole ruler, The Fiendish King.”

“In an effort to move the country to a democracy, we held out a vote as to whether the monarchy should be abolished. That vote failed drastically. I think it has more to do with no one else wanting to deal with it than it has to do with their approval of the job I’ve done. Or it's a method to punish me for a few unpopular decisions I’ve made recently, including the closure of the group, because they know I hate being king.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“As for what I plan to personally do next, besides my governmental obligations, well, I’m honestly not too sure. Work on Project Fiendless will continue and be the top priority of those who will retain their unemployment under our new official business, the Fiendish Foundation. Though I’ll make it clear now, this is not a public company, and you can in no way contact it or put in requests through it.”

“However, my work for that side of things is limited since the bulk will mostly fall on the science division. I’m not sure how much of a help I will be in the improvements they plan to make. So for my day job, I might honestly return to being a wandering monster hunter. Though great efforts have been made in both their containment and integration into our society, there are still a lot of problems in the world.”

“That, or I might take up a more recurring or permanent position teaching. I’m sure many of you heard about my recent stint at Weathered Woods Academy, and I honestly enjoyed my time quite a bit. Perhaps nurturing others and guiding the next generation really is my calling.”

“But for now, that’s all I have to say. Though I do want to be the first to officially welcome you all to the new world we’ve prepared for you. I know it's far from the speech you were expecting. You were probably anticipating a bunch of plans and promises for the future. From me, well you’ve already heard mine. So to get what you actually came for, and a proper speech this time, please welcome back to the stage, the actual President of Rathe, Callum Briz.”

There was a bit of a confused applause from the audience, a culmination of mixed feelings, doubt and surprise, but as the young man returned front and center, anticipation built as for what was to come. The now-former president took that as his chance to make a clean get-away. Slipping off the opposite side of the stage from where he’d started, knowing full-well a crowd would be waiting for him there.

Some of them had certainly already left like Xard, Tusmon, and Tize, to help deal with the fallout of Fiendless. And others like Kada had holiday plans for the evening and likely wouldn’t stick around. But he knew others were patient and stubborn.

Though the Fiends had been informed ahead of time that the For Hires were shutting down, they’d certainly still want to ambush him with discussions, questions, and opinions of what had just happened. While he’d be happy to talk about it with them all and allay any concerns, and he genuinely wanted to hear about their own personal plans for the future, the man just needed a single moment of calm before he faced anyone.

But just as was his luck, that moment didn’t happen. Someone was already waiting for him on the other side. Perhaps they expected him to flee in such a direction, or just wanted to get a better view of his speech without disturbing the others. It was the face he expected to see the least in the world—the world itself.

“You know, after our souls were separated for your ascension, I thought it meant you’d finally stop following me around everywhere,” the impudent son smirked at the spectral form of his mother.

“Well it’s the darndest thing,” Eleen gave a gentle smile back. “I’m still having trouble leaving the lair since my divine power is still very weak. But perhaps because we were connected for so long, all I need to do is think of you, and I can project my presence wherever you are.”

“You could have literally at least called first to say you were coming,” Drim retorted. “We gave you a phone.”

“Yes, well, I thought it would be best as a surprise,” his mother defended herself. “After all, no matter how strong they are, many children often get the jitters doing something when they know their parent is watching them. And if no one else will say it, I certainly will. I think you did an amazing job.”

“However… I do have one critique. Why the hell are you still calling the planet ‘Rathe’, huh?!”

“What, did you actually expect me to go out there and start calling myself the President of Eleen?!” the ex-politician snickered at the insanity of the idea. “Even if we have gone to great lengths to restore honor to the Drazah name—no thanks to you—that would cause more mass panic than anything else I just announced.”

“Besides… I don’t think they’re ready for the truth of demigods just yet. I’m sure they’ll find out eventually. Chorus will see to that no matter how much I object. But they don’t need more on their minds just yet. Let them get used to the new world order first. Then we can drop the new bombshell.”

“In the meantime, as far as I’m concerned, the name thing is your problem. And I suppose I should still call you by your known title, as a show of respect, demigod to demigod. Isn’t that right, Rathe?”

“Tah! Does your cruelty know no end?!” Eleen whimpered with faux tears in her eyes. “I even took your place in the ascension and you still treat me like this.”

“Well, I am ultimately glad in the end that it wasn’t me,” Thorn confirmed. “So thank you. I’ll say it just the once. As for the name, perhaps you could send some message on a global scale asking the people to call you something else. I wouldn’t go with Eleen though, but you could start fresh and pick your own. Or maybe you’ll get lucky and Cosmos will intervene and give you a new name like he did for me.”

“Ah, Cosmos did actually reach out,” the new demigod mentioned as if it wasn’t the most important thing that she should have led with. “He said he wants to meet with us soon.”

“Well that’s fine,” the man shrugged, finding himself surprisingly unbothered by the idea. “I suddenly have an abundance of free time.”

“Ooo, I wonder what type of demigod I’ll get to be,” his mother began to speculate. “Maybe Demigod of Will since I’ve proven how strong mine is, or Demigod of Vengeance!”

“Demigod of Annoyance would be my guess,” Drim couldn’t stop himself from spouting one more tease.

“My vote is on Demigod of Delegation,” Phon suddenly jumped into the conversation. The two had no idea how long she’d been eavesdropping, most likely the entire time. It was a wonder she hadn’t intruded sooner. “Because you were always shirking your responsibilities as a parent and making Mallea raise us.”

“Ah c’mon, that’s not fair,” Eleen whined even more now that both of her children were ganging up on her. “I had a world to conquer. Actually, that doesn’t sound better.”

“Well, I know how you can start making it up to us,” the daughter had a proposition in mind, and their mother was clearly interested, willing to do anything to mend their long-broken bond. “I don’t think you’ve ever fed us yourself. I’m hungry. You should make us something to eat since you can touch things now. Or… do you not even know how to cook?”

“Of course I know how to cook!” the woman boasted, though she didn’t sound remotely confident. “It’s just… been a while. And it’s mostly fish dishes. If that’ll do, then fine, I accept. Just come home and I’ll get right to it. Maybe you could bring your uncle along and we’ll make it a whole family affair. You haven’t told him about my new form, right? So maybe we should break the ice.”

“Well unfortunately, I think he’ll be busy tonight,” Drim reminded her. “And tomorrow, and probably for a while. But I won’t deny, a simple family meal sounds nice. Even if it is with you, mom.”

The woman’s eyes lit up with an overabundance of sparkles. It was the first time her son had called her that in, well, ever. Nothing could ruin her good mood, though it could be disrupted.

“Hey, what did I say about leaving me behind!” A clone of Jaid suddenly appeared just as spontaneously as when Phon had teleported by their side. “And umm, what’s this I heard about dinner?” The truth of her intentions was revealed after barely a second.

“Sorry, Jaid, you heard her. It’s a family affair,” Phon dismissed the unwelcome intrusion.

“Well I’m coming regardless!” The knight stood her ground. “And you may as well go ahead and get used to it, since I’ll be family soon anyways!”

“Ohoho, getting rather bold now, aren’t we?!” the potential sister-in-law understood the implication, having come far in her understanding of relationships over the years. “Weren’t you supposed to be pretending you’re mad at him to preserve your pitiful dignity? That didn’t last long. Come, questionably-related-by-blood brother. Let’s leave this wishy-washy woman behind and go have a nice meeting on this family-centric holiday.”

The two women then looked at the man for any sort of response and input, but, “Chh, haha,” all he could do was laugh—brought back earlier days and simpler times. It was a pleasant reminder that the worst stresses were over with many peaceful days ahead.

“Well, I don’t mind her tagging along,” Eleen was less-concerned about her son’s potential prospects, also having come far in being accepting of who they kept company with—only wanting her children to be happy. “It’s been a bit lonely down there by myself. I know that will change soon, but I’d enjoy it if you all were there tonight.”

There was a bit more arguing, yet Jaid won out in the end, and they all left together, teleporting away from the venue, across the world, and down The Drain. With their departure, the final chapter of the Fiends For Hire came to a close. The small group enjoyed their quiet night, though they were one of the few who kept it simple.

Across the globe, most New Year's Eve celebrations went on as planned, but at almost every party, there were different vibes than previous years. Many discussed the events that had just happened, still left in disbelief. Others debated the future, whether it would be prosperous or disastrous. And a few went off on their own or with tight-knit friends as they muttered to themselves, trying to figure out the features of their new tech and attempting to deduce any powers they might have gained.

Yet even after countdown concluded, and the night ended for most, there was still a lot of bustling activity. Particularly, the police force has their hands fuller than ever. Despite the device’s prevention of crimes from actually taking place, they received constant alerts from foolish criminals who were testing their new boundaries and restrictions. And as such, over the course of that night, it led to the largest number of arrests for organized crime in all of recorded history.

Then the following morning, as the masses woke to silent alarms in their head, rousing them peacefully from their sleep rather than jarring alarms blaring in their ears, they came to a collective consensus that the previous day’s chaos hadn’t been a dream. Most enjoyed their time at home due to the holiday, playing around with the new device features that had just been announced, but those who did continue with their lives also found themselves calmer throughout their day, enjoying a warming and comforting sense of safety that they’d always been missing before.

And in the isolated mountain town of Bisomote, things were even quieter than ever. At the compound to the direct north, the forcefield that had shrouded and obscured the area finally came down. What it revealed was nothing at all. Not that anything had changed, no, it rather the opposite.

Every building was gone. The roads were torn up. Even the walls that had stood there for decades had vanished. The tunnels underground had been stripped and refilled with dirt. And it all had been covered with a fresh coat of grass, like the area had never been disturbed. Everything that had given it any semblance of life had vanished from existence.

All that remained was a single pole at the dead center of the barren field. Atop was a shining button that would grab anyone’s attention who spotted it, and just beneath that was a simple sign. It read ‘Push for Help - Now Free of Charge’.