We breathed in the fresh air, a lovely scent wafting into my apostle's nostrils... No, it wasn't true. In fact, we'd already been out of the Refuge for a few hours, an idea we'd regret more and more, as we were no longer used to walking in a city dump. And even then, the term was kind, given that no upper world was quite so filthy.

Perhaps it shows in my writing, but recalling these memories was distasteful to me, not just because of the sight or smell of this city. After all, I was about to do something I deeply regret. This moment was the first step towards a more or less unfortunate evolution of my personality.

Let's say for now that from that moment on, I disapprove of some of my past actions and am at odds with the values I was gradually moving towards. However, I promised to be as honest as possible in my story, so I will reluctantly tell you this part. Besides, it doesn't hurt to reminisce about these old moral failures; it's one of the only things I can still do.

And so began a long and complicated walk through the city. Indeed, after spending a few years in the Refuge, we had to relearn to be on our guard, scrutinize our surroundings, and relearn to reappropriate the environment. That's why I took a close look at the layout of the rooms, corridors, doors, and all the obstacles along the way.

But all this had to be put into practice, so I needed test subjects. But this prospect brought a dilemma I'd refused to address until now. Until now, I'd avoided confrontation wherever possible, only killing other people when we were attacked first. Thus, I was only reacting to blows, killing to protect myself.

However, what I was going to do today was different. I deliberately chose to come face to face, expose us to danger, and test our magic. Above all, I was trying to keep us in the shadows to run as little risk as possible. However, I monitored the behavior to see if the person belonged to a gang. Even I wasn't prepared to kill innocent people.

Incidentally, that last sentence made me laugh since all the people I'd found were gang-related. Less funny had been the time it took to convince Systalia of the need to kill with impunity without being able to invoke self-defense as an excuse.

Only, I didn't understand her point of view; we were already killing in self-defense, so what was different this time. These humans would be hostile to us regardless because we seemed undesirable in this World and this society. And like me, she had witnessed first-hand the cruelty of the World, both from the humans who inhabited it and from the environment that waited tirelessly for us to die.

All the more so as I still remembered the place where I'd woken up, all those corpses oozing blood. I was still thinking about the unknown of this place and the adventures in my past that had brought me to such a peculiar place. But most of all, I really wondered about the reason for being of this place and its connection with me, The Book, and my apostle. Did my sister and I already know each other?

As I pondered my apostle with a puzzled and suspicious air, I was interrupted from my musings by a happy accident. We came face to face with two groups of gangsters with swords of varying lengths in their hands. They didn't seem magic, even if our distance from each other didn't allow me to be entirely conclusive.

So we watched these two groups of gangsters fight with their swords and a few scrolls of spells. This scene reminded me to launch some research into reproducing the method of implanting spells on scrolls. Or, at the very least, to copy them precisely if my study didn't come to fruition quickly enough.

While I'd been bored by this one-sided fight, I was suddenly taken aback by an exciting turn of events. In fact, I was hardly the only one, for my apostle was genuinely disturbed by what she had seen. However, I soon learned that the causes of our reactions were quite different.

Indeed, for my part, the most astonishing thing about this story was the presence of a new, unknown weapon: a firearm. But if that was all there was to it, I wouldn't have paid so much attention to this weapon's features - after all, most weapons were different enough that I'd never seen one before. In fact, its main attraction was its firepower, which far surpassed any weapon I'd ever seen.

Once deployed, this firearm, which, with a prolonged glance, indeed resembled a revolver, annihilated everything in its path. Whether living beings, objects on the ground, or large structures several meters high, nothing could survive it. And the means were varied: by fire, frost, water, electricity, or even acidity, the cartridges of this revolver seemed to be of infinite variety.

There was no doubt in my mind as to the origin of the versatility of these cartridges - magic could only be the culprit. Despite my growing interest in this object, I felt a little frightened at the sight of it. And for good reason: an enchanted revolver, more than any other weapon before it, made me hesitant about our chances of winning this fight.

As a result, I increasingly doubted our safety if we were to interfere in their fight, even if we tried to kill them when their backs were turned. Especially as the humans were checking their surroundings and looking in such different directions that no familiar blind spot for everyone could be detected.

This tactic could only work with solitary individuals or even small groups. And I couldn't hold out much hope that there would be enough corpses to put us in either situation. After the first group had been instantly burnt to a crisp, other humans clearly belonging to the same gang were pouring out of every door.

For the losing gang to intervene so quickly, it seemed that this room was close to a gang's headquarters, which further increased our intervention's danger level, urging me to give up. Fortunately, for the moment, we were totally hidden amidst the rubble of sharp metal tools. My apostle had to try to keep his skin from being torn.

Either they didn't know we were there, or they'd picked us up but weren't doing anything because a priority target had to be shot first. And if it was the latter, I was genuinely grateful. Either way, this situation was a godsend for the time being, as we were safe as long as the gangsters' attention was focused on the battle.

I then asked my sister about her troubled expression, taking her out of her dazed gaze on the revolver: "You look worried, My Dear Apostle. What is it about this revolver that merits such an expression?"

Systalia completely recovered from her trance, stammering a few words before taking a deep breath and replying in a deep voice: "My Dear Goddess, as it happens, this revolver shouldn't be here. It should be simply impossible as far as I know."

Not entirely understanding what she meant, I expressed my incomprehension, prompting an apology on her part and a somewhat disconcerting response.

"I'm sorry again for the vagueness. I always think that others already have at least the same knowledge as me, so I sometimes need to remember to share all the information. In fact, I was... let's say... confused by the presence of a weapon of such caliber and potential in this world."

She paused for a brief moment, indeed pausing to search for words, before continuing her explanation, apprehension of unknown cause evident in her voice: "Normally, the weapons humans here have access to are limited compared to the higher worlds. That's not to say that interesting finds can't be unearthed. But here, only the weakest or most defective weapons are normally found. A weapon as functional and powerful as this revolver could never exist here."

A little puzzled by this statement, I could only reply: "And yet, incredible as it may be, this is indeed the case. So, if your words are the only immutable truth of this World, then we should consider the hypothesis that some people belonging to the higher worlds have given such a device to humans here for a reason that still escapes me."

Slightly dubious and conflicted by my words, she replied: "Yet this hypothesis should be impossible; a person from a higher world shouldn't be able to interact directly in a lower one. And if the person wanted to go there anyway, they'd have to expect their stats to be lowered to prevent an overpowered person from rampaging into a world that wasn't theirs. In addition, weapons deemed too powerful by the System could not be brought in. That's why I don't understand how such a weapon ended here. Especially since..."

She stopped her words, playing with her hands and looking to the side, betraying all her anxiety to continue. Nevertheless, I forced her to continue the conversation, far too curious about potential new information.

After enough time, she could only give in and reply, her eyes wide with terror: "This magic weapon is much stronger than one might think at first sight. Right now, it's only showing a tiny fraction of its full power. If the weapon's owner wanted to, he could wipe out everything within a radius of several thousand rooms. To be honest, this fact brought me back to the reality of our weakness within this World and makes me hesitate about my ability to reach its summit."

This information was shocking, and I remember thinking for several minutes to assimilate it. Yet this fact was also invaluable. Thanks to it, I learned a little more about the laws of the World that the System imposed. But it also raised many questions about the weapon-holder's motives.

Why didn't he use the weapon to its full potential? And why risk revealing the existence of such a weapon for the sake of a small fight? While it was confirmed that the present battle required potent weapons, I was convinced that the most powerful weaponry could perform the task with disconcerting ease.

Using such a weapon for a small street brawl, even on a large scale, didn't seem wise. But then, who was I to judge the choices of others? Above all, I'd omitted one point in my thinking: from my point of view, his actions looked stupid. However, I needed to gain all the knowledge about his situation, and it was likely that critical details were required to be noticed.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

To sum up, seeing such an actor in this town made me uncertain about my future, leaving me to assume the worst. After all, even if the revolver hadn't been used to its full potential if given to a human from the most inferior world, it certainly wasn't for charity. It was likely that some higher being had been hatching a plan, the content of which I couldn't guess.

The question was: when would the revolver be put to full use? Indeed, the question of location was simple enough: if it had been offered in this town, then the very thing these higher beings wanted to get rid of was here. But what it was precisely, I could hardly answer. On the other hand, when, and therefore under what conditions, the full potential of the revolver would be used was unknown.

Stressful as this lack of knowledge was, I wasn't in power. Now, once again, I realized that any progress I made was insignificant in the eyes of the World. Once this fight was over, I had to return to the Refuge and only leave once I had perfected my skills to escape or eliminate this threat. This was my new, unshakeable conviction.

Of course, this whole hypothesis was based on the fact that superior beings had managed to give a super-powered weapon to a human from a lower world, which was, according to my apostle. I wasn't accusing her of lying, but even she couldn't know everything about the laws of the World and the System. In this way, this hypothesis remained the most credible and would henceforth serve as the basis for my future decisions.

After examining all the thoughts in my mind, I turned my attention back to my sister. I had to reassure her so she wouldn't deviate from her objective because now I had the same objective, albeit for a different underlying reason.

I spoke to him in a determined, compassionate voice: "You know, My Apostle, one day we'll become as powerful as that holder or even those superior beings. One day, all these beings will be nothing before our power. Rest assured, I'll do everything possible to increase our power and unravel Nature's secrets. I'll dissect all the power, no... all the divinity of the World and the System, and make it ours. Even if it's in the distant future, I'll make sure we climb those steps to the top because I'm a Goddess who always keeps my promises."

Pausing to give her time to absorb my words, I continued: "It's up to you, My Apostle, to believe me, but I hope you'll end up with the same vision of the future. You may have doubts but know that, for the moment, we're not in a situation desperate enough to have the right to stop dreaming of the future with confidence. Let's save those feelings for when we have no other option but to wait for our inevitable end. At least, that's what I, Your Goddess, think, My Dear Apostle."

Just as I had finished my monologue, my sister's eyes moistened, drops of water threatening to run down her cheeks.

She breathed heavily for about ten seconds before saying in a low voice: "Thank you so much, My Goddess, for saying those words to me. It means a lot to me. You're right; I can't afford to bury myself in my doubts. My lamentations will wait until the last moments of my life. At least, I will try and think like that from now on."

I smiled inwardly, glad she wasn't denying herself her determination. It was the last thing I needed. We then refocused entirely on the increasingly intense battle, watching for the slightest opportunity to escape.

And it wasn't long before we did, the battle growing ever more distant as the dozen or so people in the group led by the man with the revolver moved further into the room opposite us until they were in an adjoining room. I didn't know why they were making such a maneuver when they had the advantage. Maybe the rooms were even more to their advantage, or they wanted to lure the other group into a trap.

These gangs knew better the lay of the land in this particular part of town, so only they could know which. Moreover, the fact that both gangs knew the lay of the land remained the same: the losing gang had no alternative but to follow the holder's gang, even if this proved to their disadvantage. Indeed, the losing gang had already suffered too many losses to turn back.

Indeed, while the confrontation first involved only thirty men, the losing gang had grown stronger, perhaps to overwhelm the enemy in numbers. In the end, this could have been a better strategy. I thought The losing group had a bad leader, and I took this decision as an example never to be repeated. After all, the failures of some are essential lessons for others.

So, the losing gang was now made up of thousands of humans, all gathering around the ten or so people from the opposite gang. The doors on the opposite side were blocked as if the losing gang wanted to encircle the holder in a final act of desperation, but it was too late; they could no longer hope to win. Knowing the true strength of the revolver's owner, I knew the outcome of this massacre.

Fortunately, the doors behind us were now free from the gaze of all those involved in the carnage, or so we thought. We made the risky decision to withdraw from the scene. But a small group was watching us and, after only a few rooms, caught up and surrounded us. As I had feared, we had already been spotted, no doubt, with the help of spells.

Trapped by the attackers, who called out to their colleagues, we were outnumbered. In total, several hundred came, which was still a modest group compared to the leading group, still fighting as fiercely as ever against the holder, who must now be approaching the ten-thousand mark.

Incidentally, I hadn't been paying attention before, but the human expressions of our assailants were distressed and angry with us. I was surprised to arrive at such an obvious conclusion: they were simply saddened by the loss of their comrade. An assumption that was quickly reinforced by Systalia's transmission of their words.

They wanted revenge and thought we were accomplices to their attackers. And nothing we could say would change their minds about that. It frustrated me that they didn't look at the situation with more distance, but I could strangely understand them. The familiarity I felt betrayed an impression from a seemingly distant past.

It was as if I'd felt this way so many times before as if I'd failed repeatedly in my quest and my promises. This feeling troubled me, bringing back an immense unexplained affliction, but we were about to go into battle, so I took control of these effects of unknown origin.

But the humans didn't wait long to attack us with spells. So when I came out of my brief absence of mind, I saw that my apostle was already running in all directions to save the mana, quickly exhausted by her diminished physical stats. Indeed, she didn't have enough mana to deflect all the spells thrown at her at top speed.

As if that weren't enough, some people had tried to stab her in the back. And time was running out before they tried again. I panicked, realizing that the situation had rapidly worsened. I forced myself to regain my composure, reasserting my tenacity. At least I could use this opportunity to carry out the experiment I wanted today.

I'd let myself be distracted and frightened by all of today's revelations, but in the end, I was still given an opportunity and wouldn't turn it down. So I plunged into my Void, extracting its Will as I had previously done. However, this time, we were in a dangerous place where we couldn't afford to fall unconscious at the end of the process.

And that's where my magic came in, which, with its external energy conversion into Will, allowed us to use almost none of our energy. What little energy we did use was to activate the process and link our Will to that of the Void. However, this Will be limited by the amount of mana allocated to the System for me. I still needed to tap into my apostle's reserves.

And since my mana was in ridiculously tiny supply, Our Will would no longer be able to propagate as far, traveling only a meter at most normally. However, this would depend on the ratio of Void's energy to mana. One meter was the limit so as not to risk becoming too much if a fight were to break out immediately afterward.

Especially for my apostle, it would be embarrassing if she couldn't escape danger after this maneuver due to dizziness or drowsiness. But this time, I had to risk going further, up to ten meters around us. But I was confident that my sister wouldn't have more than a few dizzy spells since the limit I'd set was quite broad.

In fact, it was possible to go up to five meters without any problems. One meter was the limit to keep Systalia's body at maximum capacity in case we had to fight another formidable enemy. As the holder was quite far from our position, I was sure we could lose him if we returned to the Refuge immediately afterward.

I then activated my magic, using my apostle's body as a gateway to the physical plane, and diffused my magic in a fifteen-meter radius to encompass the whole group of people. The humans had stopped assaulting us, anxiously awaiting some action from us because of our strange concentration amid such a battle. And they were right, but too late, for their fates were already sealed.

Then, in seconds, a tiny fraction of each person's physical energy was converted to compatibility with the Will. Our Will then absorbed all this energy, growing more and more as it was tasted. In less than five seconds, it had spread over the entire area, with all human beings hypnotized by what they had seen.

And so, as the area was painted in dark white and brilliant black, the humans prayed and wailed until they sank into pure madness and ended up skewering each other. Even I was shocked by the spectacle of blood, as humans with eyes full of madness ran around killing each other, laughing hysterically and grinning unhealthily.

I didn't know what to make of Our Will's effect at the time, which was quite different from previous times. However, I could always think about it another time since I first had to extract the energy from the corpses and leave the scene of the massacre. I then concentrated, activating my skill and converting the energy of the still-fresh corpses at high speed.

But no sooner had I completed my task than I heard the faint sound of footsteps. A human, more brilliant than the others, had withdrawn from the group, hiding from view. He looked as if he wanted to leave the room, although I don't know whether it was to report what he had witnessed to his superiors or out of sheer terror.

After carefully examining his face, I leaned towards the latter theory. The human looked completely distraught and horrified, just meeting our gaze. I told my apostle to move towards him. Unfortunately, the poor fellow was too terrified to be able to move.

And when my sister was less than a meter away from him, the gangster muttered some disturbing words to my apostle while he burst into tears.

My apostle, perplexed by the situation, revealed: "This human begs your clemency and forgiveness, My Goddess; he promises never to bother you again and to prevent his comrades from harming you. Should we let him live, My Goddess?"

Indeed, this human looked honest and genuinely traumatized by the experience, so he would no longer be a threat. I was conflicted for a few moments before finally deciding to kill him. I didn't want any survivors to be able to tell anyone about my power.

From what I'd seen, no one had ever witnessed a power like mine. For now, it was best to keep it secret to avoid the curiosity or covetousness of higher beings. Information should never reach them; I was too ready to fight them.

So, I couldn't afford leniency even if he no longer represented the slightest danger and was no longer hostile. Preserving my life was far more essential than any act of kindness. Besides, who knew what disastrous consequences this person's survival might trigger.

Not wanting to take any chances with the situation, I didn't speak, preferring to render my judgment by simply killing him in the same way as his comrades before him. My sister seemed slightly surprised before wearing a resigned, conflicted expression that said she had expected this conclusion.

Hearing footsteps approaching, which could only belong to the two fighting groups, we fled without delay, leaving the corpse of the last man and the belongings of the whole group behind. Of course, our run could have been smoother due to the after-effects of using magic.

The dizziness and slight drowsiness that accompanied us made my sister's escapade through the rooms arduous, both to lose the gangsters for good and to find the Refuge area. Still, I was pleased with the results of this experiment. We might not have been in the best shape, but at least we hadn't fainted instantly.

And so it was that we returned to the Refuge, shaken by the day's events, and I decided to set about drastically upgrading my skills as soon as possible. Even more than before, the idea of taking this city as my own echoed within me, as I recalled my weak position in this World and the fragility of my life.