Two weeks ago, two events occurred almost simultaneously- events which would set the world on a path to war.

The first- the uniting of the monster realm underneath the Queen of Evil- the ruler of monsters.

The second- the uniting of the three human nations under the Indeterminant- the savior of humanity.

However, to a certain blonde haired man who sat in a throne surrounded by legionnaires, the news regarding the uniting of the monster realm did not reach his ears.

"My Liege, contact with the third legion has still not been confirmed. As unfortunate as it is, I think it is safe to say that they have all been eliminated..... save the people who were assigned to remain stationed at the wall."

Standing before this blonde haired man who now wore a white tunic and a crown of leaves atop his head, stood Longitudinas- the Minister of the Empire.

"So you mean to say that the monster realm has become dangerous to the point where a legion of 8000 men can simply disappear without warning?"

"It is so. This, combined with the legends which are spoken about you, and the recent rumors of the Queen of Demons..... well, it does not sit well. Indeterminant, I am sure you have a plan to counteract the monsters?"

"Of course we do. What, you think we've been sitting on our asses like that other Emperor?"

The one who stated this was a woman who sat at the side of the blonde haired man.

Risa Saheed- hero of the Sultinate, and the only promoted hero who was currently alive.

The woman now wore a tunic dress, in the style of the Empire, just as the man she sat next to. Looking down upon the minister with snobby irritation, she turned to the man she sat next to with eyes seeking recognition.

"Right?"

"Of course. However, these things take time. The reason why 8000 men have been lost is because the young Emperor sent them off without any preparation, merely ordering them to 'go off and figure things out'. To put it simply, he was a fool. He did not consider the consequences of his actions, just as he did not imagine the repercussions of going back on his own word.", Oscar explained.

Relaxing with a grin, Oscar stared to the ceiling with a nostalgic look.

"Right now, the people of this Empire need a hero to rule them. We've taken on this task, and until all our domestic issues have been solved, we can't run off to defeat the monsters. If we split our own forces like that, things will always end in failure. Either we go all in, or we don't do anything at all. That is the only way anything will be done properly."

"Yep."

Nodding in agreement, Risa quickly confirmed the statement of Oscar.

"We've solved the drought issue in my homeland for the most part, but there are a whole lot more issues throughout this new joint nation. The people of the Kingdom have accepted the new rule, but they're restless. I can understand why too. They've had so many changes in leadership and society lately that nothing seems permanent. We have to give them that reassurance and show them that everything will be stable from this point on."

"If you have given things that much thought, then I suppose I have been worrying too much. As you know, Indeterminant, the young Emperor was a man who acted without thought.... and it was due to his own hasteful decision making which led to the current state of things."

Longitudinas was a politician, through and through.

He was a man who served the one at the top, not questioning their authority in the least.

He was an advisor who gave his opinions when he felt they were necessary, yet his own loyalty merely lay with whoever wore the crown as Emperor.

For this reason, Longitudinas made no mention of the deception which Oscar had performed towards the young Emperor.

If Oscar was able to deceive the people around him to such an extent, then he deserved the position which he sat in.

This was the opinion Longitudinas held.

Furthermore, speaking ill of the Indeterminant would be political suicide.

Even knowing about the trickery which the Indeterminant had used, Longitudinas' hands were tied. If he spoke of it, he would likely be accused of lying to gain face, and instead be subject to ruin himself.

Therefore, he quickly changed his tone as soon as Oscar had taken the throne to one of absolute loyalty as a vassal.

"But..... if we are to put the issues of this nation aside, the next step in the fight against the Queen of Demons would be finding out about the hero of the Alliance- a task which I alone can undertake. Therefore, I will remain here in the Empire until things have stabilized, however when I believe it is acceptable to move, I will do so."

"I see. It truly is a tragedy that two heroes have been killed before the battle between the monsters even begins.... however the strength of even a single hero is immense. It will certainly be more difficult, but with you at their head I'm sure you will find a way to win."

With obvious brown nosing, Longitudinas spoke thus, provoking the woman who sat beside the Indeterminant to roll her eyes.

"Yeah, we get it. Do you have anything else for us?"

"Actually, it would seem that the census has finally completed. Messengers, step forth."

From a line of men who were waiting for an audience, three men knelt before their Emperor, each man holding a massive stack of paperwork in his arms.

"According to your orders, information has been gathered on all the citizens of the newly expanded Empire. The name, age, wealth, occupation, family members, location of residence, and a drawn portrait of each person has been acquired."

As Longitudinas explained this, a smile drew itself across the face of Oscar.

"Great. Please bring them over here so I may look over the information.", Oscar ordered.

The servants quickly stood forth, respectfully laying the documents in piles on the stand beside the throne before returning to their kneeling positions.

"Why did you want drawn pictures of the people? It probably took a ton of effort for the artists to produce profiles of every citizen in the nation.", Risa questioned with a confused look.

Oscar lightly smiled as he glanced over to the stack of papers, then to Risa.

"We're heroes. Do you know what I've always hated about Kings and high handed rulers? The fact that they can make decisions that effect people without even seeing their faces. Take a look."

Grabbing a document off the top, Oscar flipped through the pages to a page filled with information.

"Theresa Ardia. 29 years old, single with no family, a resident of the city of Orphelis in what was once the Kingdom. She works at an orphanage, and her wealth is below middle class. Now from what I just told you, did you feel anything at all?"

"Feel anything?"

Risa looked to the page, then back to Oscar with a confused expression.

"Not particularly. She's a regular citizen. What about her?"

"Now take a look."

Flipping the page, Oscar revealed the picture of a woman with a soft, loving expression.

"Now when you make decisions as a ruler, would the way you go about things change a little bit based on having seen this picture?", Oscar asked.

Risa looked at the picture, placing her hand to her forehead as she thought.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"I guess maybe a little."

"Seeing people is important. When we simply read off information, that's all it is. Information. Data. We're not collecting data because we're trying to run a bunch of numbers like some computer. Although, you probably don't know what a computer is. If we read off hundreds or even thousands of these statistics, don't you think it would get to the point where we stop caring at all?"

As Oscar said this, Risa sat back with realization.

"Ah..... I think you're right about that."

"We can't have that. We're heroes, not robots. Though, you wouldn't know what a robot is."

"But it's still a lot more work. For us, and for everyone else.", Risa mulled.

"But wouldn't you say it's worth it? For the sake of the people?"

With a sigh, Risa nodded in agreement.

"Alright. I understand."

"Then, I'm going to get right to work. Fortunately, I happen to have a database I can upload all of this to, so I can process it immediately. But whenever I look over this data, I'll have all the faces and names in my head. Watch."

Holding out his hand, Oscar typed a command and used it on the stacks of paper.

[/scan]

A beam of light was emitted from his hand, and it scanned up and down the stack before a screen appeared before Oscar- one which only he could witness.

Thousands of pictures appeared before Oscar- pictures of people from all over the nation.

[/sort Categories: Male and Female]

Soon enough, the men were separated from the women, and each were placed into a respective folder.

[/sort: 'Worth banging' and 'Not worth it']

And in the next moment, the young and good looking females were separated from the older and uglier ones, each placed into their own respective folders.

Holding back a smirk, Oscar looked onto his own newly created database with satisfaction.

'Getting to know the people? Seeing their faces? Ha! This girl is getting more and more gullible by the moment. It took me a week to bang her, but she's easing up on me- and me alone. I'm probably the only person in the world she trusts. But I'm getting kinda tired of her. After all....'

Scrolling through the list of attractive females, Oscar could not stop his lips from curling upward.

'Just look at all the options I have.'

----

[One week earlier]

"I..... don't want to go back."

With a quivering voice, a girl who had the demented form of a ghastly spirit shivered, her own eyes twitching back and forth as she recalled her own past.

"School is the one place.... that I never want to see again."

Sitting at a round table in an office, this girl stared down with a traumatized expression.

Placing a clawed hand on her shoulder, she looked up to witness the demented grin of a crimson demon.

"That was when you were alone and powerless."

Staring up at the ceiling with thinned eyes, the demon grinned to himself, letting out a cackling laugh.

"Life has a difficulty setting for everyone. There are some people who are naturally talented when it comes to athletics or academics. There are some people who just seem to be good at everything they do. There are some people who pretend like they're good at everything, when in reality they're struggling with every fiber of their being to keep up."

Kicking back his legs and placing his arms behind his head, the demon leaned back in his seat, tottering on the edge between falling over and remaining upright.

"But at the end of the day, you were set on nightmare mode. Because you were an introvert."

The baggy eyes of the girl went wide as she heard this, and she looked up to the demon with renewed hope.

A smile slowly creeped across her face, and her green eyes thinned with pleasure.

Her hair stood up on end as electrifying pulses raged through it, and she begun to giggle to herself.

"Hehe..... that's right. I almost forgot."

With immense sadism, the girl twirled her finger around aimlessly.

Were she to shoot off a bolt of energy, the entire universe could be destroyed in an instant.

"We're demon lords now."

"Exactly."

Rushing his own hand through the chaotic hair of the girl, the demon laughed alongside the girl.

"Are you finished with your dramatic performance? I'd like to get on with this."

Interrupting the two as he checked his watch, an elven figure who wore the outfit of a businessman spoke with haughtiness, ignoring the demented demeanor of the two.

"She's fine now.", the demon replied while caressing his hand through the hair of the spirit.

"Ahem. We've run a thorough analysis of the Alliance over the past few weeks, and we've been constantly monitoring the actions of the Indeterminant. He has made but a single movement which is..... concerning, at the very least."

At this statement, all five others who were present payed close attention, forgetting their previous concerns.

Particularly, a woman who took the form of an angel looked to the elven figure with dedicated interest.

"What has he done now?", she stated sharply, with disgust in her tone.

"He has performed.... a census. They are in the process of collecting data all over the nation on the names and information of the people."

Thinning her eyes, the angel looked as if she was about to spit on something.

"Shithead.", she murmured.

"This poses a problem.... yet I have a grand solution to said problem. Will you hear me out, Determined?"

"Go on."

Standing up, the elf looked around him.

Present here were the four antiheroes, along with the Determined and the former Host of Greed, Avarco.

"It's a simple matter. Our goal is nothing less than complete and total dictatorship of the entire world, and elimination of any who pose a threat to the establishment of our new order, with the Determined as the leader. And the number one threat to said order is the Indeterminant, who holds abilities on par with her. However, the humans are under the impression that we are nothing more than lawless beasts who wish for nothing more than chaos."

Pushing up his glasses, Trevor smirked deviously.

"And that is not all that far from the truth."

His expression fading, the man then begun to walk around the table with his arms folded behind his back.

"However, I cannot say that we are nothing more than bloodthirsty monsters who would take pleasure in the total annihilation of humanity. After all, there are likely at least a few people who are worth keeping alive, if for nothing else than our own personal use. Melody, for example, has proven excessively useful in our own endeavors. My point is this- the annihilation of humanity by the Indeterminant would be quite the issue. After all, he holds the ability to force something into an Indeterminant state. Whether or not this could be altered after his death is not within our knowledge, however the possibility of such a thing is low."

"Could you explain that in terms that I can understand?", Samantha asked.

"Of course. To put it simply, the Indeterminant may be able to kill people permanently. Any resurrection capabilities which we hold may not be effective against those he kills. Therefore, allowing him the chance to kill anyone- human or monster- is a failure on our part. After all, if he were to kill a good human, this much cannot be taken back. More importantly, however, if he were to kill a human who deserves far worse than mere death, we would be unable to resurrect and torture them."

At this statement, all the people around the table nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that's the important part.", Ashley murmured.

"Furthermore, the Determined is a being who holds two vastly different personalities. If it were to get out that she has both an angelic and a demonic persona, then the Indeterminant would likely not hesitate to take the humans of this world hostage."

Closing her eyes while biting her lip, the angel merely nodded.

"Yeah.... he would do that.", Claire whispered.

"Which is why we should just kill em all.", Clarice added.

"Exactly."

Claire was about to rebuke the statement of her alternative persona when Trevor agreed.

Her eyes widening with surprise, the silver haired girl looked up to the elf with confusion.

"Eh!? What do you mean exactly!? That's where I tell my other self no!! Killing scum is one thing, but killing everyone!? I....."

Looking to her own two hands, as if she were seeing a vision, Claire witnessed a flicker of blood covering them.

And then, another flash.

The memory of her own death played once more in her mind.

Claire witnessed the casual disgust of the man as he drove by, more concerned with the stain on his vehicle than with the young girl he had just slaughtered.

"Are you not ready for such a thing? You'll never kill that man at this rate. Don't allow your own kindness to become a weakness."

As Clarice made this statement, Claire snapped back to reality, looking around to witness those sitting at the table around her.

"Ah..... that's right."

A demonic smile drew itself across the angel's face.

"What do we need to do?"

Seeing the sudden change in the angelic figure, Trevor continued his explanation.

"It is simple, truly. How can we prevent the Indeterminant from using the people of this world as hostages, and at the same time establish that we are nothing more than heartless monsters who could care less about the deaths of insignificant humans?"

With thinned eyes, the man fixed his own jacket as he beamed proudly before the others.

"By leading a legion of monsters to slaughter every last person in this world."

And with that, he laid his own intentions bare.

Tension filled the room, and not a single person spoke.

Smiles covered the lips of the six present, and they slowly begun to chuckle to themselves.

"My.... truly excellent, if I do say so myself.", Avarco stated. "To think that you would be willing to use the lives of every last human in order to make a mere statement and deceive your enemy into truly believing in your demented nature..... perhaps that much is demented in of itself."

Looking up with a delirious grin, Claire nodded once in agreement.

'I've already killed people.'

'I've already tormented people.'

'I've already made people suffer more than imaginable.'

With mad laughter, the angel cackled to herself in malicious manner.

'What's a hundred thousand more deaths? After all, death is nothing more than a state.... right?'

"I'll do it."

Standing up, the angelic wings of the woman fluttered as she turned her back on the five.

Holding out a demonic left hand, the woman made a grasping motion.

"So that he doesn't get his satisfaction.... in order to remove suffering from this world..... I will embrace my nature as the entity of suffering. And I will destroy everything."

This unstable woman, indecisive between good and evil, made her own stance here and now.

She herself knew that what she was about to do was wrong.

Yet even so, she was filled with a thrill.

The thrill of seeing that man as he grasped at the last straw, hoping beyond hope, only for her to cut that thread herself.

She wanted nothing more than to remove all possibility of weakness from herself, so that she could cut that thread without the slightest bit of hesitation for the sake of others.

And it was this corrupted determination, which set the gears into motion.

For she was the Determined, the Queen of Evil.

Ruined by her own hatred, demented with her own lust for revenge, this girl who once held the great desire to save people had been destroyed from the inside out, her own morals rotting away with her mind.

And she would pull the trigger on the rein of terror that would follow.

In this world where heroes were scarce, and self interest was prevalent, she would act as no hero for the people.

She would be the villain to end all villainy.

A monster so heinous, that none would ever dare to do any evil in her sight.

A Dictator who outlawed evil itself, through her own immense wickedness.

This is the story of the Determined, and her revenge on the manipulative, two faced man who took the title of a hero.

This is the story of the antiheroes.

----