[Turning back time to the early afternoon, the same day in which Vex led his attacks on the Capital of the Dictatorship and on the village of the ratmen.]
Four beings rode leisurely across the landscape within a carriage.
The carriage which appeared to be crafted from bones and flesh was not excessively large, however the space inside it was warped such that there was ample room- almost too much room for four people.
Sleeping on something which looked like a couch was a spiritual figure. Her skin was a pale and transparent shade, and her own form seemed to fluctuate between formation and dissipation.
She wore a ragged gown and wore a necklace which had human fingers and the green eyes of a snake strung into it.
Her eyes drooped as if she had been excessively sleep deprived.
Her hair was a complete mess and seemed to wrap around her body with not a single shred of order or logic.
The girl who appeared to be in her early 20's was lightly grinning and chuckling as she slept.
Sitting right next to this girl as if he was watching over her was a crimson demon, who currently was running his hand through her hair.
This crimson demon wore a high class suit and a matching necklace, and despite his own evil appearance, his expression was a peaceful one.
Sitting across from these two were two more beings.
One was an elven figure who was also wearing a well tailored suit and tie, and had his own hair styled in a professional manner.
This elven figure wore glasses and was currently gazing at a screen in front of him, running numbers as the others peacefully relaxed around him.
Next to this figure was a woman who looked to be the same age as the ghastly figure across from her, yet this one seemed to be completely the opposite in almost every way.
She sat with class and wore an elegant dress, her legs crossed over one another. Her hair had been styled nicely into a bun with locks draping from her head.
However inside this bun, instead of a hairpin, there was a human finger.
This woman, who gave off the appearance of a succubus with horns, fangs, and the veins of a demon, wore a bracelet on her arm which was strung with human toes and a single fang.
The elven figure wore a matching bracelet as if it was a medal of honor representing his own achievements.
These four beings were the antiheroes, and currently they were traveling to the East from the fishmen village.
"It is safe to assume that all 7 house leaders are either our enemies right now, or will be at some point. While the humans are stumbling under the chaos that has ensued recently, we should take advantage of this and eliminate all threats within the monster realm."
The elven figure, Trevor, spoke with a smile.
"Of course, just because they are our enemies now does not mean that we cannot use them to our own advantage. However.... it seems that they hold some strange abilities. I am not so concerned with their physical strength, speed, or magical power. Rather, the more concerning thing is their specific abilities."
The crimson demon, Garett, nodded in response.
"The abilities we've gained.... they're the things that have been the real game changers from the moment we entered this world. And it's exactly these abilities which make the Indeterminant someone that we gotto keep our eyes out for at all times."
Thinning his eyes, Garett spoke with a cold voice.
"After all, no matter how powerful one is, they cannot defeat the laws of the world itself."
"Indeed.", Trevor agreed. "We have watched the growth of the Determined with our own two eyes.... and it is astounding. Her actual physical strength is not comparable to even your own, and her magical power doesn't hold a candle to that of our spiritual madwoman here.... yet she has other abilities that have allowed her to ensure that her will is done, regardless of her nominal strength."
"I guess that really is how things are turning out to be, isn't it?", the teal demon, Samantha, remarked. "Do you actually understand her abilities?"
"I spoke with her the other day and she explained her own abilities to me."
"And?"
"Not a single one of us could hold a candle to her."
"It's.... she's that powerful!?"
Trevor nodded gravely.
"How strange it is. Since the moment I have come to this world, all these women have been one upping me like it was nobody's business. Even you have obtained some strange abilities that allow you to do greater things than myself."
"Don't say that.... you're simulation abilities are amazing. It's because of them that we've been so prepared for everything."
"But is the intuition of that one not enough for that? It is true that she doesn't seem to know exactly what will happen, but somehow she can feel her way around to the right answer every time. It's.... terrifying."
"Ah, are you still thinking about that chess match?"
"I will never forget it. Never in my life before this have I lost at a game of strategy and tactic. And to lose even after obtaining this simulation ability..... it fills me with disgust at my own inability to think."
"It's alright."
Samantha grabbed the hand of Trevor, reassuring him.
"She's on our side. Don't you see? Both of them are on our side. They'll never betray us. So the stronger the better, right? But even so, without your simulations we wouldn't have been able to plan everything out so well. We would be blindly moving forward with nothing to guide us but intuition. I mean.... you're right, maybe the intuition would be enough, but we wouldn't even know where it was taking us."
Putting his free hand to his chin in thought, Trevor nodded.
"I see.... that is correct, woman. However, how can you be so sure that they won't betray us? I don't want to be one to doubt the comrades that I've spent this entire life with, but I cannot simply throw away the possibility."
"We have a similar goal, don't we?"
Samantha grinned while gazing out the window.
"We all agreed together that we would take over this shitty world, and turn it into something decent afterwards."
"Hahaha.... that is correct. I shouldn't be thinking about such trivial matters. After all, according to my simulations, the chances of such betrayal occurring are negligible. Even so.... there is something else that I have been considering."
"What is it?"
"Now that I am well aware of the abilities of the Determined.... this gives me some insight as to the abilities of the Indeterminant. I have a certain theory."
"Go on. I'm listening."
Trevor leaned forward, hanging his folded hands in front of him.
"This world..... it's laws.... they are created by a computer system."
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Samantha didn't respond, but merely watched as Trevor closed his eyes.
"I knew this from the start. No, perhaps we all knew this. From the moment that we could see these screens and had these statistics and abilities, it was obvious."
Looking up, Trevor looked at Samantha with a face of concern.
"Is this world..... is this life..... is anything truly real?"
"Hahaha..... Hahaha! If this world was fake? If everything here were all a dream?"
Samantha began to laugh at Trevor's statement, but she was not laughing at the statement itself.
She was distressed.
Holding her head with irritation, she spoke with vulgar tone, opposing her usual seductive manner and reverting to her previous self.
"That would fucking suck. Can you imagine going back to our regular lives at this point!?"
"It would be a terrible thing.", Trevor stated. "However, the same thing happened to the Determined, no? Half of her life.... 10 entire years.... 10 entire years of her life were nothing more than a simulation. An exaggerated dream."
"Maybe becoming dictators wasn't such a good idea after all, but it's too late to go back.", Samantha said while her eye twitched.
"We've already become monsters."
"Do you think we would become serial killers if we returned to the normal world?"
"Maybe."
Samantha thinned her eyes.
"After gaining the power to destroy the scum before me, I don't think I would be able to keep on letting them live in front of me anymore."
"Hahaha..... I thought so. The same goes for myself.", Trevor responded.
"It doesn't really matter, does it?", Garrett butted in while stroking the head of Ashley. "Hey, why don't we come to an agreement. There's almost no way this is just some massive dream, but if it is..... why don't we become serial killers together in the real world?"
"I can't believe I'm having such a conversation.", Trevor said with a chuckle. "Fine then. I'll do it."
"I'm in.", Samantha agreed.
"Mee..... too.....", Ashley said with a muzzled voice while barely opening one eye.
With a grin, Trevor nodded.
"Then it's settled. It seems that we even have a plan for something like that now.... ah, but where was I? Right..... if this world truly is under the control of a computer based system, then I have reason to believe that the Determined and the Indeterminant..... are something like administrators."
"Administrators?"
Samantha looked at Trevor with confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"To put it simply.... they can hack into the code of the world and mess with it's laws. As a matter of fact, I believe that even among the four of us, there are some things we can do to mess with the laws of this world. For example, the soul manipulation ability which Ally holds is likely this sort of ability. The same goes for the equivalent exchange of Gary, and perhaps even my own simulation capabilities and your mind reading powers."
"I see... I never really played games before so I don't really get it, but basically it's like hacking into the game and changing the code to give yourself more power?"
"More or less. If this world is a game, then it's inhabitants are the enemies or the npcs. The leveling system is supposed to be the regular game, and we were supposed to fight enemies and become stronger, unlocking abilities along the way. However.... something happened. Specifically, two administrators showed up to the party."
"The Determined and the Indeterminant.....", Ashley murmured while half asleep.
"And I have reason to believe that when the Indeterminant set the conditions of the world to nightmare mode..... he didn't only set it to such a mode for us."
With a smirk, Trevor looked out the window as he watched the hilly plains pass by.
"Nightmare mode... we believed it to mean that the world itself would become a nightmare..... however it seems that the reality of this mode was that we became the nightmares."
"So more or less, when he did that he unlocked some moderator abilities within us, and that changed the dynamics of everything?", Garett mused.
"Exactly. It is likely that we were only supposed to become as powerful as the 9th tier, however when the Indeterminant set such parameters on us, the very essence of the world changed. Even so, we cannot allow our guard to be let down for even a moment when referring to that man. As I said before, he carries similar powers to the Determined.... the abilities to manipulate the laws of the world itself."
Fixing his tie, Trevor continued speaking.
"It is likely that we cannot defeat him through direct means. We will have to continue observing his actions, and find his weaknesses. For this reason, we must overtake the monster realm and prevent any issues from arising on this side before truly studying that man."
"Speaking of which, what about Oraguth? Any news from him?"
"Nothing of note. He has been watching the hero and the young Emperor carefully, but there have been no movements as of yet. It seems that two legions have gathered in the capital of the Empire, and they are awaiting the return of the Indeterminant before they make any movements from there. Although, I am certain things will become quite chaotic once it is discovered that the 3rd and 5th legion have been destroyed."
Trevor couldn't help but smile as he thought about his own work, performed by the hands of his subordinates.
"So we still have time then."
"Indeed. If possible, I would like to finish things up here while the Indeterminant is preoccupied with his current situation before word comes to him about our movements."
Garett nodded.
"However.... there is sufficient evidence that the heads of these 7 houses contain abilities which are similar to those of our own moderator abilities. To put it simply, even if their physical strength is only of 9th tier, there is a likelyhood that they hold abilities which will permanently effect us.... and perhaps even hold the power to defeat us."
"So what should we do?", Ashley asked while sitting up and stretching her arms, which had sleeves draping from them.
"Simple. We do our research before taking any of them on. What laws and rules govern their abilities? Once we know this, we will understand how to avoid such abilities. Even so.... in order to do that, we must first take a few risks."
----
In the land of darkness, where the light of the sun did not reach, a ghastly cobble tower rose from the land.
Surrounding it were twisted gates, the bars of which bats hung from.
The tower spiraled up into the sky, daring to approach the stars themselves.
From this tower, a single sound could be heard.
A light whisper, carried by the wind.
'Oh.....'
The darkened windows showed not a single flicker of light from the inside of the tower.
On the top floor, in the largest room, a single woman sat on a throne.
The throne was black and demonic, in contrast to the pure white figure who sat upon it.
This figure had skin which was so white it appeared to have been bleached, and sat with a smug smile while resting one of her feet on the head of a ghostly man below her.
She wore shoes that looked to be a mix between boots and sandals, with the straps creating a crisscrossed pattern up her legs, ending at her short cut plaid dress.
This dress had loose long sleeves which completely covered both of her arms, each of which rested on her throne.
Atop her head was a baker boys cap with a similar plaid pattern, which her relatively short-cut white hair poked out of. Her mouth was painted with bright red lipstick, matching her sharpened red nails that just barely peeked out of her sleeves.
Her acute eyes grazed the figures who were prostrated before her- an assortment of spirits, men and women alike.
'Oh.....'
They lightly hummed as they bowed before her, shivering with respect.
"Such a bother that I was called out of my home for a pointless meeting.....", the girl murmured. "I have no intention of leaving this place to fight against the antiheroes. After all.... I am sure you would miss me if I left for such a long time. Isn't that right?"
"That is correct, Madame Lustia. We would be distraught if you were to disappear on us."
The woman spoke in a sensual manner, appealing to the men and women before her with her sharpened eyes.
"I thought so.... I will remain here then. The other 6 will not have any issues on their own. This treaty was established to prevent fighting among ourselves, after all. It doesn't say anything about working together to defeat a common enemy."
Brushing the head of the man underneath her foot, the woman closed her eyes as she sat back.
"A common enemy? How can Huberos deem such a thing? They are not on my doorstep. If he was truly concerned with them and wished for my assistance, then should he not have lowered himself and begged? Well, I suppose he wouldn't have, given his own experiences.... but that's what he should have done if he wanted me to lift a finger."
"That is.... exactly right, my queen.", the man underneath her replied, clearly happy at being in contact with the foot of the woman.
"Yes, my queen. There should be nobody in this world who should give orders to you.", another replied.
"If they wish for you to do anything, they must grovel and appeal to you. And only then should it even be a possibility for you to move.", a woman stated.
The woman in the throne placed her finger to her lips with a slight smile.
"I thought so."
"My queen, is there a reason that you didn't simply charm such a man and put him in his place for making such a disrespectful request of you?", one asked.
"That is right, my queen. Could you not easily control the hearts of those around you, bending even the other house leaders to your will?"
"Even if you are not the strongest in terms of physical strength, there exist none who can combat your charm. This is why you have not been questioned as the head of the house of lust for hundreds of years."
As one man made this statement, the woman on the throne glared at him.
"Did you just imply that I am hundreds of years old?"
"ER! N.... no! That is not what I meant, my queen!! To this day, you look as if you were still in your prime, with every bit of beauty!!"
"As if I were still in my prime? Implying.... that I am not currently in my prime?"
The man was now sweating bullets, fumbling with his words.
"That is not.... what I meant to say.... please forgive me, my queen!!! You are as young as ever!!!!! I did not mean to offend you in any way...."
Closing her eyes, the woman readjusted her own legs.
"Did I ever say that I was offended? What do you all think? Did this man have intention of offending me, or did he not? Leave my sight. I wish to be alone now. I must go wallow in sadness knowing that you all believe me to be nothing more than an old bag of bones."
The woman got up from her seat carefully, and walked to the door behind her, shutting it with a loud slam.
"You....."
"How dare you make such comments about the queen!!!"
The other ghostly figures around the man began grabbing him, surrounding him and furiously shouting insults.
"Now you've saddened her!!!! She will be in her room for another hour at the least, during which we will not be able to see her!!!!"
"This is all your fault!!!!"
The spiritual people began to punch and kick at the man who made the statements as he cried out in torment.
"W-wait!! Oof!! Ugh!!! I.... didn't want.... ack! To offend her...."
"You should know that Madame Lustia is sensitive to the topic of her age, and it should never be brought up!!!!"
The people continued to kick the man, who was defenseless before the crowd.
"Our queen.... we will avenge you!", one person shouted.
----