Entering into a chamber that lay beyond the throne room, Jack paused, his gold eye settling on the deformed man in golden armor.

“I must say Jack, bravo… bravo indeed,” The sultry voice of the red-eyed blonde man said, brandishing a smirk as he readied his golden spear. “When I threw you off the citadel walls, I truly hoped that you would survive. Now look at you, so rugged. So dashing! You're a spitting image of your father! And after-”

“Do you ever shut the fuck up?” Jack asked, raising his hand to catch the gold spear that hung a mere inch away from his face.

Lancelot grinned, his scarred face twisted in a maddening expression that irked Jack to his core. “My, that's quite a grip you've got there.”

Jack said nothing, instead deploying his wings, the silver feathers arcing through the air towards the Knight of One.

Lancelot backed off, spinning his spear, deflecting Jack's feathers in a stream of sparks as he laughed.

“Yes! Now this is a fight I've been wanting! Finally an equal!” Lancelot barked, summoning arcs of blue lightning as scales dotted his scarred body.

“That's where you're wrong Lancelot,” Jack said, appearing behind the gold knight and learning to whisper in Lancelot’s ear, “You aren't my equal.”

“WHAT?!”

Lancelot spun, swiping at Jack who caught his wrist and broke his hand.

Immediately Lancelot swiped at Jack, only for his nose to be smashed in by Jack headbutting his face.

“Fuck!” Lancelot spat, kept in place by Jack's grip, “You mongrel-”,

“Kneel,” Jack ordered, glaring at the man whose eyes couldn't look away from the golden glare.

He could feel something intrude his mind, a jab that… that…

“N-no,” Lancelot let out, his voice almost a whimper, all bravado lost as he fell to his knees, the knight still attempting to pull away.

“What do you see?” Jack coaxed, his hands reached up, grabbing the man's face and forcing the knight to stare into Jack's eyes. “What do you see?”

“NO!” Lancelot spat, snapping his head away, his body releasing a blast of energy that dissipated when it touched Jack's skin.

“What. Do. You. See?” Jack repeated, Lilith”s hand reaching out to embrace Lancelot from behind as spectral chains rose from the shadows to bind the man.

“I… I see them! Those! Those scum! Those curs! Filthy!” Lancelot struggled, still trying to move his eyes away from the gaze that bore into his soul. But it wasn't Jack's stare that Lancelot was trying to flee, but the memories flooding his vision.

Jack released the man, watching as he stumbled about.

“You! What did you do?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!” Lancelot roared, “Ah! GO away! GO AWAY!”

Lancelot grabbed at his face, his golden gauntlets digging into his eye sockets to rip out his eyes. “STOP! STOP! STTTTTTOP!!!”

“How is it? The weight of your sins? The memories of every misdeed you've ever done?” Jack said, standing over the man ripping his face into a smoldering mess of steam and flesh.

“Stop! You filthy fucking dimmies! You scum! SCUM!” Lancelot screamed, the knight falling to the floor and writhing in pain.

Jack crouched over the man, “Look at their faces.”

Lancelot began to smash his head against the ground, cracking the floor over and over again with red marks expanding with every hit.

Jack stood up, leaving the man to drown under the weight of the souls that clung to him. The data that lingered in every action he took. The hung around all living things only perceivable to those of true strength.

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Moving forward, Jack stood before an ornate door covered in moss. From his angel vision, he could see the enchantments, nearly a hundred different defensive elements to safeguard the Queen's quarters.

He raised his hand, placing it on the door as his authority took effect. The enchantments fell away, Lilith's power consuming the defensive spells until all that stood before Jack was just a regular door.

Jack opened the door, side stepping a blast of white energy.

“Vargas… you've come back to me…” The velvety voice of Camilla Cordelica called out from the Queen size bed that sat in the center of the massive chamber littered with gold trinkets and illuminated by red sunlight leaking from above.

Jack exhaled, deciding to play along with the former tyrant who mistook him for his father.

“Yes. Yes I have,” Jack replied, crossing the room to stand before the woman who was an older twisted version of Selfia.

Red eyes, white hair, pale skin covered in black boils, the former Queen's face were filled with tears as she clutched the legendary weapon Excalibur with one hand while her other reached out for Jack.

“Vargas…” The woman said, still calling out the name of Jack's father. The only man she had truly ever loved.

“Camilla. Look into my eye,” Jack prompted, guiding the former Queen to meet his gaze by way of his hand on her chin.

The two made eye contact.

“What do you see?” Jack asked.

The woman giggled, “I see red…”

Jack furrowed his brow, his jaw clenching as he eyed the broken woman.

From Jack's point of view, he could see hands reaching out, the traces of hatred latching onto the woman, remnants of those who died and cursed the woman.

Yet, despite the echoes of the victims hanging in the air, the former Queen paid them no mind, the memories Jack brought out of the woman bringing not with it anguish, but comfort.

Jack sighed, pulling away from the woman, his back turned to the former Queen.

Despite coming here, the strain on his heart felt no better. On the contrary, the sight of two prominent people he once feared now reduced to this state… It was a grim reminder that at every turn the Black King was there.

An omnipotent god whose machinations ran so deep, Jack felt as though he were but a puppet on a string.

“Vargas?” The disheveled woman cried out, falling out of her bed to chase after Jack. “Where are you going?”

“Someplace you can't follow,” Jack said, watching as Sahaqiel entered the chamber with Selfia’s hologram in tow.

“Thank you for sparing her Jack,” Selfia said as vibrations wiggled through the air and the telltale sound of an imperial dropship nearby pricked Jack's senses.

“In the state she's in. You won't get anything from her,” Jack said, looking over to the Excalibur nearby, “I suggest you keep that sword handy, the number of apostles cropping up keeps escalating.”

“Noted. But we'll take it from here,” Selfia said as dozens of blue-armored soldiers entered the chamber. “Speaking of, we could use your help dealing with one.”

Selfia”s holopad deposited a data chip, offering it to Jack who locked eyes with the woman who was technically his wife before his gaze settled on Sahaqiel.

The Angel's eyes went downcast, guilt and shame hidden behind her irises as Jack took the chip and left.

“Are you seriously going to keep acting this way towards her?” Lilith asked, floating behind Jack.

Jack remained silent, stepping back into the adjoining chamber where a corpse of a man in gold armor now lay.

He stood over Lancelot, his glowing hand reaching out to grab hold of the lingering source of powerful mana.

Gathered in Jack's hand was the very essence of the man known as Lancelot, the entirety of the man's ego and spirit that cried out in pain and confusion as Jack held it.

Before long, the spirit would be pulled away, drawn into Infinity where it would be repurposed, recycled, and churned out as an abomination to prey upon humanity.

But not if Jack had a say.

“I grant you mercy,” Jack said, crushing the orb between his fingers, Lancelot’s power becoming Jack's power with Lancelot’s ego entering Jack's body where it immediately attempted to wrestle control from its new host.

However, Jack's will won out in the end with Lancelot’s screams fading into oblivion as he became a new source of strength for Jack.

This, was the true use of Gehenna. To destroy. Consume. Own. A fragment to mirror the Infinity Machine. A key to save humanity by cleansing it.

At least, that was what he'd been told by the Gold Queen before he slit her throat.

I wonder what the weight of my sins would be? Jack said to himself, walking out of the Solarus to stand upon its balcony where the Selfian remnants were taking apart the ruined Valkyrie MECHFrames and stripping bodies of weapons.

A sad spectacle. But this was the state of the world nearly completely overrun by monsters.

The Black King had won, the world was over, and as far as Jack could see, he saw nothing but hopelessness on the horizon.

But… as futile as his efforts had been, people still needed him. His son and daughter still needed him.

So he would hunt down every threat to ensure his family's safety. Unfortunately, due to his status, his very presence endangered everyone.

Jack looked down at the plastic data chip, thumbing it on to display the image of a headless winged beast holding a spear aloft in one hand while the other held a head.

“Athena…” Jack whispered, trudging up a memory that wasn't his own.