Viktor sat silently. Open on the simple wooden table lay the next biography he had intended to find the subject of in the vast multiverse that had recently been his to prey upon. He simply gazed upon the words, their meaning lost as his mind was contemplating his forthcoming end.

He was smart enough to realize that the Tess girl was coming for him, and would indeed kill him. Were he in her shoes, he would kill himself. Those with moral codes might hesitate, but she was capable of putting hers aside. Her attack on his entire operation proved it, since it had become clear that death here now meant death forever. She had to have known that such a possibility existed, yet she still came here.

An explosion echoed from relatively close by, drawing Viktor’s attention towards the window. The remnants of the lab where he had his ongoing attempts to create a new, suitable heir to his own legacy were burning. She had certainly taken her time there, but he held no sympathy for the doctors and scientists she had likely slaughtered while inside. He may be an immoral, egotistical prick at times, but many of those people were that and much worse.

Viktor watched as the figure of Tess emerged from the flames and, as though she found him by his gaze, she turned to stare straight at him. In a fraction of a second, she was gone, then the front door of the cabin opened

“Welcome home,” Viktor remarked, laughing at his own wit.

Tess approached slowly with her weapon drawn, yet he remained calm and composed.

“Please sit,” he said, nodding towards the other open seat.

She paused, glancing around the interior of the cabin. Her gaze lingered a moment on the bookshelves, which were about ten percent empty. Some sections had more missing than others, as he had tried pulling from every section.

“I haven’t placed any traps here, if you’re wondering. I would just like to have a conversation before we end this.”

“You don’t care about how many have died already?” she asked.

“No. Why should I care about them? They have served their purpose.”

“Cold.”

“Practical. Their deaths so far have continued my existence.”

“Not for much longer.”

“Indeed,” he replied.

“You accept what is going to happen here?”

“I don’t like it, but I can’t change much at this point. You are stronger than I, and nothing I can do will change that. I am too dangerous to whoever created the world, this System, to be left alive. Am I wrong?”

The shock flitted across her face confirmed it. Whoever or whatever was powerful enough to control her was surely more powerful enough to decimate him. It made him wonder just how his presence threatened them. Surely he, an ant compared to a person, was so insignificant that why would they focus on him? He broke their interlocked stare to glance around the room, debating just what it could be.

“It’s this, isn’t it?” he asked as it dawned on him.

“What?” Tess asked.

“This!” he said gesturing around them, “This System thing. The Tutorial. Whatever you want to call it. It’s not them that I’m a threat to, it’s whatever this was built to block.”

“You aren’t wrong,” said an unfamiliar voice from behind him.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

A sudden painful, piercing sensation shot through his chest. A burst of blood shot forth followed by a length of blade. Viktor was able to look down, seeing that the blade had come through his own chest. Weakness set in and he could no longer feel his own legs. The blade moved to the side, slicing out of his torso and taking his left arm just below the shoulder.

Viktor only saw the approaching floor before everything faded to black.

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Tess had been shocked to see a portal open directly behind Viktor and a massive sword lance out from it. Her thoughts that it might have been Charles were dashed though when the ornate armor that Chariel was wearing emerged. Their faces may have been the same, but the aura they carried was very different.

Viktor fell unceremoniously, her target now dead by another’s hand. It was not even just a random someone, but the someone that had asked her to kill him in the first place. Chariel took the now vacant seat that Viktor had held.

“Hello, Little Puppet. It’s been a while.”

Tess’s mind raced as it restarted.

“The instability. The glitches. It’s Chaos Energy disrupting your imposed order. It’s why you’re able to be here now.”

“Yes. He had no idea what he was doing when crossing the void without guidance. The feedback into his portals has been causing damage all over the place. Those worlds he visited are being ripped apart, just as this Tutorial is. Though I will say that here it is happening far faster.”

Then there was still time to save those worlds from complete destruction. She would just have to deal with the one standing, or rather sitting, in front of her.

“I would like to offer you a deal,” Chariel said.

“What sort of deal?” Tess asked cautiously.

“I will free your profile completely from the System. You’ll be able to continue to utilize your skills and such, and you won’t have to worry about the possibility that I might tamper with you. Your usage of Divinity already buys you some room on that, but you want assurances, correct?”

“Divinity?”

“You keep calling it that stupid name, Chaos Energy.”

“Oh. What do you want in return? I can’t offer you anything you don’t already have.”

“You can. I want you to destroy my failed project.”

Tess felt a sense of dread growing inside.

“I want you to kill Charles now.”

“No.”

The reply left her lips before she truly processed the request, not that her answer would have changed.

“You wouldn’t leave me alone afterwards anyway. I’d become your new target for whatever hopeless soul you ensnare in your web of deceit next.”

Chariel’s expression did not shift. Perhaps he expected her to reject him. In fact, she was certain that he only offered what he did to make it seem like he was trying to be honest.

“True.”

She was not certain what it was, but something forced her aside as Chariel’s blade bisected the space where she had just been. The table separating them, the chair she had been sitting in, and even the door behind her split from the motion.

“How?” Chariel asked, staring at her for a moment.

Tess would not bother to give him a response. Infusing the Witchblade with Chaos, thanks to her newfound control, she leapt at him. He easily caught her blade with his own, as it was a somewhat reckless attack. She pushed off to disengage, creating a gap.

Tess understood that right now, the duel for her own fate was on.

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Charles had been easily keeping the rest of the base busy. He had yet to figure out where exactly Tess had gone, until the explosion of one of the buildings sent debris flying in all directions. With that, he had moved to the far edge, giving each of them room should they decide to do something large scale. He was still looking for Viktor, their primary target, but given that the man was in charge of this entire operation, he probably would be headed after Tess. So Charles contented himself with dealing with the rest. He had even taken down a few of the other fallen heroes who used to be Tess’s apprentices.

The process was becoming rather dull though. It seemed to have finally sunk into most of the general soldiers here that Charles, and likely Tess too, were not going to be beaten by them. Most had come to him, only to throw down their weapons and flee outside of the fortress.

It was then that Charles felt the presence emerge here, piercing the barrier that had kept his originator out. In an instant he left his position, forgoing the plan and rushing to join Tess so that they might have a chance together to defeat Chariel.

“Please stay safe until I get there.”

The cottage was not far, but it felt like ages passed as he sprinted to it. He saw the doorway split, as though touched by the sharpest of blades. As he came skidding to a halt, there stood both Tess and Chariel, staring each other down.

All three combatants rushed forward.