In a dark world bordering Hell and Life, there were two beings. The Goddess whose face warped with fear, [Heruzen! Listen to me!]

The Goddess backed away gradually, trying to stay away from the other being with her in the darkness, Heruzen.

"No, it is you who has to listen."

His words were cold, his expression twisted from seething rage.

[I had to do it for you! You were going to b—Mpmh~]

"Stay your words—" Heruzen flicked his wrists, and the Goddess' words disappeared. With another movement of his hand, darkness congregated to form a serpent to restrict the Goddess' activities.

Like before, in this world, Heruzen controlled everything. A Mortal in the Physical World, a being who devoured and stole Godhood in the Great Beyond.

A being with unparalleled strength, the destroyer of Fate itself. A man who could rip Gods and Overlords in accordance to his desires, Heruzen was all-powerful, yet, he returned to the borders of life and death, betrayed and controlled, "I knew I shouldn't have listened to you. What was I thinking? You were the one who made me go through that Hell; you controlled those worlds' scripts, my fate, and my life.

"What should I expect? That you would change? I am the biggest fool to believe that you will give me a chance to live in silence! But—"

Putting his hands to face together, two ethereal hands appeared next to the Goddess, "—that kind of existence ends now. Goddess or not, you should know what kind of man I am after bonding with me…."

The Goddess summoned what little it had to reform its mouth, [Heruzen! I beg of you, don't kill me yet… the Prime World wil—ACK! Be in CHAOS! Please! Don’t—AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!]

The Goddess, like it had done so many times before, begged a chance for life. However, he had enough of lies, "What does it matter to me? Summoned Heroes must exist in that world; why not call some pubescent horny asshole to save humanity."

The Goddess' screams echoed in the Void. Heruzen rejoiced to see her beg, and though the same pain was transmitted to him, he never stopped.

"Admit it! You just didn't want to die! You Gods fear it more than any Mortal, more than any lepper or sickly being! Why are you afraid to die!? Is it because you assholes have no Paradise to go to!?"

In a burst of maniacal laughter, Heruzen was just about to erase the Goddess' existence together with him. She began to show cracks around her body, and Heruzen experienced the same. Because the Goddess meddled, she and he were both connected; if she dies, he disappears as well.

But what did it matter to him?

He wanted to die a long time ago. The Goddess wouldn't allow him to go to Hell, so he'll erase her with himweren'te Goddess' eyes reflected Heruzen's broken expression. Just like when she died from his hands, she was afraid.

"Be not afraid, Goddess...."

The Goddess' tears fell.

"It won't hurt...."

Swoosh!

~ Stop! ~

A weak, almost muffled voice echoed suddenly in the Void… Heruzen stopped inches away from erasing the Goddess' existence.

From the darkness appeared a cage constructed from an invisible prism. Within the prism was a young man, floating, with his eyes closed.

"…you—so you did not disappear, that must have been why I failed to inherit your memories, yet still connect to me deeper when it comes to empathy… the Goddess kept you imprisoned."

Heruzen laughed; he and the Goddess looked at each other, "You disgust me more and more, Goddess."

Snap.

CRASH!

The prism broke per Heruzen's snapping finger, freeing Theo from his cage.

"You must have sent selective emotions, I presume, how distasteful." he said while walking towards Theo.

[ACKKKKKKK!]

Theo opened his eyes and floated in the world of darkness.

"Can you hear me?" Heruzen asked as he looked at his weak figure touch the ground.

"..." he nodded.

"Good, then, why did you stop me from killing her? Are you afraid that you will not be able to return to your world if I kill her? Do not worry; I have researched Souls and Existences to its absolute limit. If only I wasn't bound by the [Villain Takeover System], I could have given back the lives I stole. If you still do not understand, I can return you to your body now."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"..." no reaction of any kind.

Against what was described to him, the original did not turn to become a rambunctious man. Theo was calm, even subdued.

"Don't… kill her….please." Theo begged.

"I see, so she has taken hold of your mind and heart?" Heruzen's hands hovered over his head, "Nature's Contract: [Gaia's Heart] — Lord of the Void: [Cleansing the Gods]."

974th life, Heruzen made a contract with Gaia, the incarnation of a World's Will to live to kill the ones plaguing her land through humanity's demise, an Omnicide per se. Of course, Heruzen failed as he always does, and Gaia, the Will of the Earth, crumbled, leaving the world's future in the hands of humans and merchants. When he returned to the room of white, Heruzen brought back the contents of the contract.

993rd life, Pope of the Void Cult, it was the life that manifested the Lord of the Void to wipe any touch of Divinity on Theo's soul. Heruzen wanted to erase any and every machination of the divine interventions.

In the World of Avalon, the Lord of the Void was what was called an Ancient God, or an Over God. It existed before the Genesis of the New Gods. It took a lot of Holy and Impure Souls to summon this abomination. This life was a simple culling of life to free those trapped and ostracized by the Orthodox religion.

In this life, Heruzen fell because of betrayal because others saw his methods "inhumane," as if to say the deaths of those ostracized by the Church weren't. It was a life he did not like, as it was a world that slapped the wrist of a World Power, hoping they learned their lessons.

But thanks to that life, he gained the ability to erase the Gods' influence. However, it was useless to him until today.

"With this, I have erased any hold the Goddess of Fate could have on you. I'll send you back now as well—"

Swoosh!

A circle of light appeared below Theo, "You have a good family, Theo, overcome your demons, and be good to them."

Shassssh~

Manipulating the soul, Heruzen extricated the binding power on Theo's existence. The Chains tying him to the borders of Life and Death broke—

"Serpent's Wheel — Ouroboros…" from the 997th life, the seizure of Souls and their reincarnation, "Life and Death, transcendents awaken in your truth… Wheel of Reincarnation — Reality Resurrection~."

Light came down upon Theo's soul…

CRACK!

"What the—" Heruzen tried to contain a crack—

SHATTER!

…but the circle below Theo's body suddenly shattered.

"I failed?" Heruzen was in disbelief, "That's unlikely; I summoned the Wheel of Reincarnation to increase the chances; in this world of Life and Death, the body is in a stasis in the Mortal World until the soul passes; to either Hell or Paradise."

Heruzen had seen this from Heroes several times before. They go to the borders of life and death, have a casual talk to their deceased comrades, and summon a second wind from their asses.

It was a complete Ass Pull. Theo was destined to become a Hero; this should affect him as well.

"—something is in play here."

Heruzen turned to the Goddess of Fate, "To the very end, you won't allow me to do anything? Fine, I'll kill you and resume the—"

A hand suddenly tugged upon his glowing ethereal figure, "Please… don't kill her…"

Theo crawled to Heruzen's foot, begging, "Did Cleansing the Gods fail? Is my collected strength failing because of some interference?"

"The Goddess of Fate… is not… at work… I cannot return anymore… so please, take my place and liv—" Theo's weak voice reached Heruzen.

However, Heruzen just scoffed at his words, "Is that what that bitch told you? Don't worry; I'm above all the Gods, I'll kill her, then return you to your family."

"No… that's not it … Sir… I… ack!" Theo tightly held his head, a surge of growing pain. From his soul came dark shadows that threatened to devour Heruzen.

They held onto the ethereal figure of the Villain, but, Heruzen summoned the stolen [Powers] of the 997th world; the Void's pressure kept all evil at bay. No, it was more like the hands bowed before him, "Know your place, you useless spectre—"

The hands retreated into Theo's soul, stunning the Mortal.

Heruzen looked over at Theo, "The hands of the Underworld… how did you come into contact with an Archduke?"

Theo wanted to answer, but he could only bite his lips.

"I… do not know how… but, it had been with me for a long time… eating away at my sanity, trying to claw its way out of my soul, attempting to take control… and since a month ago, some shady people who claimed that they could free me from this Hell further opened the gap. If I go back, it will only manifest and take control —AHHHHHHH!"

"Nature's Contract: [Mother's Embrace]" Heruzen alleviated Theo's pain, and though he held a passive expression, he was still worried over the boy. Heruzen and Theo, though incomplete, did become one, thus, their deep connection with each other.

Theo's figure was already dissipating, its color losing its color. He was being eaten from the inside out; darkness forbodes over his death. Heruzen suppressed the pain but failed to stop the darkness.

Demonic Power lies in the bloodline; he has no blood in this dimension, thus unable to summon a power to control the hands.

These hands were proof of the Archduke's existence corrupting a soul.

'… so the resurrection failed because his soul can no longer fill the vessel. His own body rejected him, or that his soul is being pushed away by someone else. What is worst is those hands... if he has them, then that means....'

Heruzen could already piece together Theo's story... and it was not a pretty tale.

'He was destined to become a tragic hero. Those hands meant he would grow up to become the reincarnation of an Archdemon, and considering how his family was all so kind, they were... going to die by Theo's hands.'

Heruzen was once asked to save Theo's family. He did not know who or what from, but now, he finally understood. Theo wanted to protect them from himself.

"The Goddess… she did not want to control your thoughts… I was the one who asked her to—Please… I beg of you... live… I will give my body to you…."

On his knees, Theo begged Heruzen, with his soul beginning to disappear.

"I had lived, so I do not endanger them… trying to protect them. I had long wanted to take my life… but when I do, the hands interfere…."

Theo had always lived a life of self-indulgence. He drunk alcohol all night long and sought out the pleasures of the flesh.

Looked down upon, he did not care because to Theo, drinking and getting drunk was the only to numb the pain.

He could not tell anyone about it, fearing the others would be branded as heretics by the churches and the Empires.

“I do not care… what others say to me… a waste, useless… a fallen trash, but… I don’t want others but my family, they are… innocent. If I can handle the burden, I would… but… I can no longer… do it.”

The Neutrality of the Sigurd House had already been a thorn in many noble's eyes.

Theo kept the pain to himself. Drinking so that he could forget, so he could drown the insanity growing. If he acts up, create a commotion, hurt others, the alcohol will take the blame; the title of a wastrel would be to blame.

Bang! BANG!

Theo banged his head on the ground, kowtowing to Heruzen…

" …if I die, or leave my body without a soul… I fear that the abomination will take over me and use them to… I beg Sir Heruzen… please live… I offer you my vessel… I have already caused them so much pain… I don’t want to shame them anymore… Sir Heruzen… I beg of you… please… save my family…"

Theo raised his head, tears flowing down his waning existence.