“I think the fake angel is almost dead,” Gilbert said, going with an obvious statement to spark some conversation.

Things were very weird right now. Very, very weird. And that was the fault of Zarian having a wormy body made up of parasitic strands while strangely shaped in ways that bothered Gilbert.

When Zarian didn’t respond – nor Hannah – Gilbert slowly pushed his Healing Force +2 toward Zarian.

“Don’t,” said Para, who spoke directly from Zarian’s mouth. “Healing me will cement my takeover. If we wish to restore my host, do not heal. In fact, please use your tranquilizer on me, the parasite. But only a little.”

Gilbert slowly nodded. He took one glance at the large lumps made of worming strands on Para’s chest. Apparently, the girl version of Zarian had the biggest knockers.

Gilbert didn’t know why that mattered, but he’d just come back to life after having his brain turned to mush by a mad engineer’s irresponsible accident. He did as he was told and used Tranquilizer +2 on Para, but only a little.

“Let us finish this.” Para stood confidently even with the tranquilizer inside her.

She moved her arms fast to throw up hand signs. Little cubes moved up and down on the legendary gauntlets Hannah had made. Para performed the motions and said the chant to unleash one percent of Overwhelming Darkness.

Gilbert held his breath.

Hannah sat dumbly on the floor.

Metatron kept crying and spiraling.

Para sighed, sounding disappointed. She tossed her wormy strands of hair over her shoulder, which made Gilbert wonder where Para had learned that.

Then he noted how Para reached into her chest and pulled out something grotesque and covered in dark, oily blood.

It was the corpse of a corrupted one she had kept in her pocket dimension.

“Overwhelming Darkness won’t work for me. I’m not Zarian. Which makes things even more dire. So I’m going to try something interesting,” Para said.

“Be careful, please,” Hannah said shakily.

Para smiled gently down at Hannah. “We will be careful. Come along, Gilbert. I will need you to be my knight.”

Gilbert took out his flask and drained it until it was empty, activating his Intoxicated Brawler trait. He kept his head up and his eyes on Metatron while he followed Para.

She was dragging the corrupted corpse behind her without a care for the dripping and spreading mess that was the Enhanced Shadowfell Tears. As they drew closer to the busted cherub, Metatron turned about and let loose a mad howl of sonic destruction.

Gilbert did the only thing he could.

He sprinted forward and launched into the air with all his Strength, adrenaline, and buffs. He sacrificed a bunch of his vital health and drew close to near death again. He waded through the sonic torrent, losing a lot of himself, and reached the middle of Metatron’s body.

Then he punched the false angel with all he had.

His arm exploded from the sheer force and lack of vitality. His body fell away like a flipping meat patty.

He blacked out.

He snapped awake.

He blacked out again.

He woke up on the ground with a sharp spire of rock spearing through the small of his back and out of his guts. Gilbert cussed a storm as he smashed the top of the spire away and shoved himself up and free.

He hit the ground with a stumble and tried to catch himself with his right hand. That was currently gone, still in the process of healing, so he kept falling over.

Hannah showed up in the nick of time. She caught him and held him up.

He grunted out thanks as they turned about and watched Para wrap up the corrupted corpse with skeletons for some reason. Then Para dragged the corpse and skeletons to where the cherub lay in a daze between piles of rubble.

Metatron was slowly waking up when Para threw the corrupted corpse and skeleton tagalongs into one of Metatron’s mouths. A second later, a colossal explosion blew up another of Metatron’s mouths and all that was inside.

Metatron screamed. It convulsed. It tossed and turned. Its battered and torn up body started turning black like oil.

Then Metatron did the most surprising and unsurprising thing Gilbert could expect.

“Please, have mercy! Do not let me become corrupted!” Metatron begged with its remaining mouths.

“Why?” Para asked.

“Kill me, now! Please!”

Normally, Gilbert would’ve felt uncomfortable, but he’d nearly died twice and he was still feeling a strong buzz. He also found all that begging to be pathetic from Metatron.

It was truly a false angel, a pretender masquerading as a force of good.

He let Para do her thing, which comprised her waiting as the Arch Cherub twisted and turned, becoming more corrupted.

Finally, Metatron cracked. “It is final death! Death rarely holds upon us from the God Land. Not even when we take on these weaker forms to serve as World Bosses.”

“Or regressors?” Para questioned.

“Yes! But the evil taint from Shadowfell will turn me and leave me dead forever! Now kill me before I’m corrupted! I won’t resist you! Please, have mercy!”

Para formed another pair of arms from behind her shoulders. The new arms formed a long bone-like blade that reached up far into the air. Red, gray, and black magic covered the mega long blade.

Then Para chopped down.

And missed.

Metatron released a strangled cry. “Why won’t you kill me?”

“Because you are a fake authority of good, an entity of true evil. You are the antithesis to civilizations who are open and filled with progress. You are the sworn enemy of what my host and his friends stand for. You are an enemy of freedom.”

As Para spoke, Gilbert could’ve sworn he heard a familiar-sounding avian screaming proudly in the background. He ignored that in favor of listening to Para, since she had more to say.

“Worst of all, Metatron, you hurt my dear, dear host by torturing him as you attempted to seal him away. So no, I won’t free you from this fate. On this day, let it be known that Metatron dared to fight Dark Lord Zarian Darkrun and the Floridians, and is now no more after his foolish folly.”

Metatron howled with monstrous rage. It tried to throw itself at Para, but it froze up and turned completely black.

The Arch Cherub was corrupted now. It turned into something more horrifying.

Gilbert glanced away briefly, feeling a little sick, as the horrid monstrosity twisted and reformed itself with new limbs, new mouths, and more grotesque appendages.

Then it stopped moving and spoke with a chilling, dark, and gothic female voice, one that was both alluring and deadly, tempting and sinful. It was the voice of Zarian’s wife.

“Hm, Arch Cherub Metatron, how interesting. It always voiced its dissent against me from a distance, never daring to speak to my face directly. Now it is one of mine. How tragic and lovely. What do I owe for the pleasure of having this new toy gifted to me?”

Para shook her head. “Nothing, Shadowfell. Because the kill is still ours to have.”

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“My husband is out of the fight, is he not? I can decide for myself to be against you here. A corrupted Metatron would make for an interesting toy.”

“Yes, you can. But as long as someone who is ride-or-die with him is in the fight … he, too, is in the fight.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, it is. Which leads me to asking this: have you had the pleasure of meeting Princess Bianca? Apparently, she is the purest and highest form of good, especially with Metatron losing his traditional good.”

“Wow,” Hannah said. “Para, that’s brilliant.”

Gilbert watched as Para smiled and spun about. She danced in a way that was too weird for him to watch, but he ended up watching anyway.

Then Para used one of those void spells and brought Bianca down into the cavern with a flick of her hand.

Slip was still up on topside, quelling unrest, which probably meant the Sleipnir was stomping and kicking rioters with a bit of excessive force.

Half an hour later, Para and Bianca finished slaughtering the Corrupted Metatron, with Bianca looking brighter and shinier than usual. Gilbert sat back on the sidelines, throwing out some adrenaline support to the combatants while keeping Hannah company.

“I want to hold entire universes in the palms of my hands,” Hannah murmured, her arms wrapped around her knees tight. “I want to look down on everything and dictate how all of them run to the tiniest details. I don’t want to be just an in-universe deity. I want to be bigger. Bigger than a multiverse. Maybe as big as I can get beyond all of that.”

Hannah lay her head on her knees. “I’m scared that it’s impossible for us, and we’ll be nothing but little pet bugs to the grand schemers. Or maybe we aren’t even alive. Maybe we’re NPCs for Zarian and his family’s game. Once they finish playing their game, we’ll get turned off and left in the darkness of inexistence. Forever.”

Hannah’s breathing sped up. She trembled. “I don’t want that, Gilbert. I don’t want to disappear as an afterthought. I want to matter.”

Hannah broke down and cried.

Gilbert reached over and rubbed around her back. He didn’t know what to say.

He was the type of man to take it one step at a time, very unlike Hannah who thought far, far ahead.

In his mind, if he could help redeem Zarian and Ariana, then Gilbert had done his duty for the Big G. Anything more than that was beyond him as a mortal man.

“Gilbert,” Para called.

Gilbert swapped places with Bianca, who instantly broke down into tears to cry with Hannah. There were a bunch of notifications to look at, but none of that mattered now.

Zarian needed him.

Para explained how.

“Gilbert, you must use tranquilizer on me gradually. I will encourage Zarian to bring himself back together and depart from my consciousness. Then, when I call for adrenaline, you must direct that to Zarian’s consciousness. Once there is more of a clear division between us, then you can heal the body to finish up. This way, my host will be returned fully to us.”

Gilbert nodded. He said the first thing that came to mind. “None of that sounds very scientific.”

Para chuckled. Her eyeless sockets held a glint of mirth. “We don’t need a man of science. We need a man of faith to save us.”

Gilbert nodded.

That sounded about right to him.

Before they got started, someone creepy walked barefoot out of the shadows.

Everyone turned to Empress Ruvaria, who had a creepy smirk on her face.

Gilbert prepared for a fight. The others might’ve thought grandly of the elf, but she was way too old and crafty for Gilbert’s liking.

Para seemed like the smartest right now, so he followed her lead. However, he wasn’t expecting the direction the conversation went.

“One would think this is the perfect opportunity to deal with Overwhelming Darkness,” Para said. “Zarian is unraveled. I am the dominant personality. If we can’t put Zarian back together mentally, I might consume him and make Overwhelming Darkness inert.”

“Why would you consume him?” the empress asked.

Gilbert gulped. He looked at Para carefully. They all did. But he was also prepared to hit the empress with Tranquilizer Touch +2.

Para chuckled. “Because I was created to be an evil skill, a parasite, and the purpose of a parasite is to take advantage of the host, sometimes in small ways, and sometimes in ways that would end the host and give birth to a stronger form of the parasite. However, I don’t want that.”

“Is that so?” Ruvaria tilted her head.

“It is so. I’ve shared some of my thoughts and feelings about this with Zarian already, but for you, I will say this. I have awareness. I am sapient. I can feel emotions. I care for my host and what he cares for. I may be born of evil, but I have learned to act beyond evil. I dare say that I am truly good. I dare say that I have more true goodness than you, Empress Ruvaria, the Chosen One.”

Gilbert opened and closed his mouth.

Bianca covered her mouth. Hannah watched the tense conversation with wide, watery eyes.

Gilbert figured they all were probably thinking the same thing.

When did Para become such a boss?

The empress watched Para for a long while. Then the elf let out a small chuckle. “I have killed, enslaved, and tormented countless lives for the greater good. I was born in the Reset Era, but I knew the era before the system reset as the Absolute Era. That old era was back in a time before the Alignment System renamed itself as the Star System, lessening the effects of the alignments.”

“God almighty, no,” Gilbert murmured. “It used to be worse than this?”

“Indeed, it was,” the empress said.

“Puta madre,” Bianca cussed.

“Puta madre,” Gilbert repeated, because it was worth saying twice.

Gilbert and everyone else knew of three eras so far. They were currently in the Dark Era. Before that was the Adventure Era. Before that was the Reset Era.

Now Gilbert understood why the Reset Era had that name. It was a clear separation of whatever the hell was happening in the eras prior to that.

Ruvaria chuckled again. “Yes, the alignments were much worse back in the Absolute Era and the eras before then. They were much less tolerant compared to now. To be fair to me, the old ways from the Absolute Era had reached into the Reset Era, refusing to die off just yet, so I did what was considered absolute good while Infinita was still adjusting to the changes.”

The empress sighed. “Because I was raised on old absolute teachings, I have done things that would give you nightmares. I used to enjoy the tormented screams and shouts for mercy from those I deem my enemy, because they were slightly different and not good enough. I acted in service for what was absolute good many times, having spilled enough blood to drown these lands and make the savage gnolls look like kittens.”

Gilbert could barely believe what he was hearing. He always knew this good and evil stuff was hogwash, but he had no idea by how much.

The so-called Chosen One of Corma was truly a monster. Her good +4 meant nothing in the moral sense when she’d done acts of horror like the fantasy version of freaking Nazis.

The empress licked her lips. “The evil alignment acted the same. Perhaps more so. So don’t think ill of only the good alignment. To be honest, it was really all about whose side would win and hold dominance, which was all that mattered in the older eras, before the reset.”

“It all sounds terrible,” Para said boldly. “It sounds unfair and cruel. You are truly evil, regardless of alignments.”

“Yup,” Gilbert added.

The empress snorted softly, which was a strange and unrefined gesture coming from her. “It’s always nice to share the truth and histories from a life that goes back over ten thousand years. Only to receive condemnation from children with modern opinions.”

“Did your ten thousand years or whatever include anything like him?” Gilbert asked, waving at Para/Zarian, ignoring the weird stuff.

The empress snorted again. “Fair point, Gilbert, fair point. Now, let us proceed with the original matter. You are wondering if I will foul your chance to bring back Zarian. This is a unique opportunity where I can seal Para, which would seal Zarian, and perhaps that would stick for so long I would die before the seal is undone. But will I do that?”

“Yeah, that sounds like the gist of it. Will you?” Gilbert braced himself to fight an evil elf monster, regardless of alignments.

He would lose, but he would give it his best shot.

Empress Ruvaria turned away. “Go on. Bring back my student. He is amusing, filled with talent, and driven. He has interested me in many unique ways. I would like to explore him at my leisure until it all comes crashing down.”

“Pause. Your phrasing there is weird,” Gilbert pointed out.

The empress let loose a beautiful laugh that was charming and haunting before disappearing. Nobody did or said anything for a while, then Bianca broke the silence.

“Wow, isn’t Abuela Ruvaria the best? She’s got a lot of heartache to work on, but I think I’m getting through to her a little. There are so many tears to shed in her future, I can’t wait.” Bianca beamed a bright smile while hugging Hannah.

Then the Light Princess turned to Para and kept saying more insane stuff. “So, welcome to the girlie club. I’m totally getting you your first bra, and by the look of them, we’re going to have to shop big.”

“Having these front and back storage units is the best way to hold what I eat while maintaining an athletic shape, staying fueled without sacrificing form,” Para explained.

Bianca giggled. “Yes, exactly, everything you said is what all us girlies aspire for, mami.”

“Can we start now?” Gilbert begged, feeling highly disturbed.

Para instructed Gilbert on what to do step by step. Hours later, Gilbert brought Zarian back to being himself, mentally and physically.

Para returned to her original form as the Parasite Cloak +2, wrapping her host up with unfettered adoration and loyalty.

A few more hours later, Gilbert was wandering in the hallways of the tower, unable to sleep. When he saw Bianca pay Zarian a visit at the doorway of his room, Gilbert stopped to watch.

She came with a few large sets of bras, some other female undergarments, and more girly stuff such as dresses and ribbons for Para. Zarian accepted the gifts before slamming the door shut in Bianca’s face.

Gilbert finally cracked. He fell to the floor and howled with mad laughter. He even shed a few tears from laughing so hard.

When he regained his composure, he noticed Bianca sitting next to him. She was laughing with full trails of tears dripping off her cheeks.

Gilbert knew she wasn’t laughing and crying because of the situation. She was doing it because of him, like some sort of emotional farmer.

Gilbert burst out into more laughter.

It couldn’t be helped.

It was hard to stay sane while surrounded by forsaken sinners, fallen angels, and arisen demons. He was getting older, too, having turned thirty this month.

So letting himself crack up a little kept him from thinking too hard about his life before Zarian and the portal to Infinita. He was, after all, just another sinner trying to find salvation just like the rest of them.