Tess turned towards the source of the voice. There stood Olivia, standing next to Chariel’s sword and staring at it.

“Is it really over?” Olivia asked again.

“That depends on what you do next,” answered Tess.

Honestly, Tess was impressed that Olivia was still alive. When she had discovered the lab and its vile research, she had suspected that Olivia was already dead. Not finding her within the lab had furthered that suspicion. Yet here she stood.

“What I do? What I do has never mattered anyway. Daddy always got rid of the problems. Now he doesn’t even want me anymore.”

Tess’s heart tightened a bit.

“Olivia… He’s dead.”

There was not an easier way to say it.

“I know. You killed him, didn’t you?”

“Actually, no. I was there to do so, but I didn’t do it.”

Though it was the truth, Tess could understand that it might be hard to believe. The expressions crossing Olivia’s face were a testament to the struggle she was facing as she processed that information. Yet Tess did not press her for a response. After several minutes Olivia finally looked up, meeting Tess’s gaze.

“I can’t beat you, even if I tried,” Olivia said.

The response confused Tess. While she had thwarted Olivia’s goals several times now, her anger towards the girl had long since faded as she was drawn deeper into the complex webs of others. She had tried to correct what she felt were her own mistakes when trying to mold Olivia into a hero, but that only highlighted an error in her judgment; some of those that passed through the Tutorial were not meant to be heroes. Those that had sided with Viktor were proof enough of that.

“Most likely,” Tess replied cautiously, “Why?”

“Like I said, nothing I do has ever mattered. I have no meaning for people. Nobody wants me around and I can’t even do anything.”

Tess could see it now. Olivia had only ever had, in the grand scale, minor setbacks. Here, she was facing a major change and did not understand how to cope with the new reality before her. Even when she had been sent to Ireia, Olivia had tried to recreate her lifestyle from home. Now, there was truly no threat of her father returning to loom over her. She was free.

“I’ve learned something about you,” Tess said.

Olivia looked confused, “What do you mean?”

“You’re not a dumb person, Olivia. You are capable of doing many things, but have never been given the capacity to do so.”

“I’ve always done whatever I want. It’s never mattered! What aren’t you getting!”

“And you were meant to take over from Viktor, weren’t you?”

Tess was slowly moving closer towards Olivia. Though she could have used speed to some other skill to close the distance, she felt it better to keep Olivia’s attention. A sudden shift could take this meeting in a dire direction.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Yea. But Origin was always better. Then Daddy stopped caring about me, so I did what I wanted.”

“Origin is not going to do things anymore.”

“What?” Olivia asked in disbelief.

“Origin left your father’s side before this fight.”

“That’s… that’s not possible. He was the most loyal person to Daddy. He would never…”

“Your father stopped listening to him. And do you think your father truly didn’t care at least a little about you? You’re still alive, here right now. He was a vile man, but you think he would still have you around if he was what you think?”

Olivia was dumbstruck. Tess closed the remaining distance, imposing herself between Chariel’s sword and Olivia, and gently took her hands.

“You have the opportunity to create something new. Take it,” Tess said.

“How?”

Tess started to walk, leading Olivia away from the place they were. She glanced back at Chariel’s blade, sensing an ominous aura emanating from it. It was why she was so interested in getting Olivia away from it. Once Olivia was facing away, Tess gave a subtle flick of her wrist. The blade disintegrated into nothing, causing the aura to vanish.

“That’s something only you can decide,” Tess answered, feeling relieved.

----------------------------------------

Charles tossed Chariel to the ground after they emerged back inside Chariel’s private workstation.

“End it now.”

Chariel glared up at him.

“If I end the System, you’ll have all the blood of those who die on your hands,” Chariel retorted.

“No I won’t, you will.”

“I have already accepted the blood on my own, you haven’t. What’s a few million more to me? Nothing.”

“This is going to go a lot differently than you think,” Charles warned.

“You think you can threaten me? I made you into what you are!” Chariel stood, getting in Charle’s face.

The two stared into each other’s eyes, fury echoing from within that would incinerate any less stable mind. Neither was about to back down, yet neither attacked. Charles had already proven his superior fighting ability when Chariel could not read his movements. In this way at least, the creation had surpassed the creator.

“Shut it down,” Charles repeated slowly, emphasizing each word.

Chariel caved after a moment longer. Pulling up the transparent display, he punched in a series of characters before pausing.

“Live with this knowledge: Once you have seen others rise and fail to master divinity, you too will want to save them from themselves.”

“I have. Once Tess freed me, I reclaimed all of the memories you did not originally give me. I’ve seen them all.”

“Then you know why I did this.”

“Because you have always desired power. You blanketed it under the pretense of safety, yet you created control. Then you quietly got rid of all who opposed you. It’s why no other deities have ever called you out. They don’t realize what you’ve done, as they’re all too young. Only the quantum could, but the treaty prevented interference.”

“So join me.”

“No. I may be based on you, but I am not you.”

Chariel smiled, which unnerved Charles in a way he could not describe.

“You’ll see.”

Chariel hit the final button. A progress bar appeared on the display, which rapidly began to fill up. Every trace of the System was being removed from everyone who utilized it across the universes. Only Charles and Tess retained their usage, as Tess had separated theirs in such a manner that the System’s deletion was ineffective.

“What will you do now?” Chariel asked once the bar had completely filled.

“I thought that I would try and keep you here,” Charles began, “Educating you about why you were wrong. But once I got the memories back I realized that it wouldn’t work.”

“That’s truly why you brought me here.”

“Yes.”

Charles then shoved his blade through Chariel’s chest.

“You made the right choice. I would not have stopped.”

With that, Chariel died with only Charles to witness his passing. He made certain that there would be no possibility that Chariel would return before opening a portal back to what had once been the Tutorial.