Chapter 352 – Day 773 (Part 5) – Viewpoints 33
Added 2023-02-05 00:01:01 +0000 UTCThe High Priestess
I had done the impossible. It was a complete mess at times, and I was worried there for a bit as everything happened. But all my plans had succeeded and the events needed to kill the Divine Empress had been set in motion and I also had been rescued. Both of my personal goals had been fulfilled. There was only one way for her to die and it truly was a weakness of the mind. I had not been lying. I knew Michael thought I was a scammer, but I had spoken truly.
It was a long shot. But after what she did to me, I had spent every waking moment searching for a way to kill her within the constraints I was given. There were so many constraints it was baffling and exasperating. I had thought this choice would give me power and freedom. Instead, I became trapped, and then the Divine Empress had trapped me further inside my own body.
Michael liked to call it the Almighty System when I had been observing him. It was almighty, but also uncaring just as much. If only these people truly knew its vast and insurmountable power compared to us. What it had done and was still doing. I knew it all. But could not speak of any of this. Not even a hint.
The Almighty System was constantly watching through me. It did not care about the pointless power struggles of these nations and very rarely the people resting on this fragile land. It had far more pressing things to contend with.
While people might curse me, I would save everyone I could. I had hope that future would be brighter. No matter how many deaths or how grim things looked, it wasn’t over until everyone had died.
Except the Divine Empress. She was doing to die. Screw her and everything about her. Like lady, get some chill. Cutting off my arms and legs so I didn’t run away when I had surrendered. It was very extreme. When I cussed her out for that, she removed my tongue and eyes as punishment to motivate me to behave better.
She was sick in the head and was going to get what was coming to her. I cast my gaze towards her location. The monsters noticed me, but they would not attack me or really care. I could not attack them either, but their cries still unnerved me. One of the many limitations I labored under.
It had taken countless hints, pokes, and prods to make the Divine Empress go to Purgatory. But she had, and I had been hopeful she would have died, but did not hold my breath. Her survival while not a complete a surprise and been incredibly disappointing.
Her current predicament had given me hope for a brief moment. Then she had earned a second piece of favor and recognition from the Almighty System. It had made me want to kill myself, but I had to preserve my life at all costs. Another limitation from the Almighty System. I wish I could have sat on that throne and just been melted.
But I was compelled to act. The same way I was compelled to save the brat. The Almighty System wanted the child to live a bit longer so it could observe his development. I was skirting its commands doing what I had, but the child would live. Michael would ensure that. It wasn’t foresight like many assumed and I played it off as that, but careful observation and extrapolation of the various moving parts throughout these lands.
I had been ready to act if the Mistress of Shadows had tried something, but when her thoughts turned to killing the kid, she got my warning of doom. I couldn’t read minds, but seeing a person and their emotions were enough for me to work out what they were thinking in most cases and project the necessary ones back at them.
It would be like threading a needle in a moving car and a dose of luck to kill the Divine Empress, but the pieces were in place. Sorry Champion Michael, you saved me and did so much, but you would have to suffer a bit more. Consider me distracting the Master Fleshcrafter and letting you get those points as an apology and with the hope you might survive.
What the Astrologer’s Homunculus had done to those people after the calamity was depraved, but I would take his plan and make it my own and use it to kill the Divine Empress. The genius of the plan and the way he had saved himself from the calamity had been awe inspiring. No matter how much of a man slut he was, he made it up in spades with his ingenuity and applications of energy. From lowly researcher to Supreme Ruler of the UCS. Soon he would reach the pinnacle that only the Divine Empress had ascended to with her death.
Now to get the timing just right so the Divine Empress arrived at the precise moment and the Astrologer had the knowledge he needed to kill her. Timing was everything as the last collision of forces had shown. The Mistress of Shadows had been unexpected, but a minor player with a build that echoed the weakness she held onto.
To make things happen would take more work, nudging the pieces into place. It was frustrating that this job didn’t come with health insurance, but one does not live under the yoke of the Almighty System and get the right to complain. That was something that needed to be earned. Perhaps, I would live to see that day.
The fact that the Astrologer would become the strongest afterwards was something I knew would happen, but there was no way to stop with my plan. The Divine Empress had to die, and he was the only one who could pull it off.
I would need to begin thinking of ways to handle him when the time came. The airship had a smooth flight back at least as the monsters did not attack it with me onboard. The Master Fleshcrafter was working extra hard to stay in the air. His time would come. But he could wait for now. I planned to deal with him as personally as possible. For no matter how he hid, I would always know him. No person could truly hide from the Almighty System and its gaze I borrowed.
Keeping the monsters at bay for my people who had risked and sacrificed so much to save me from my torment was the least I could do. We needed to prepare, for with the fall of the Dragon Empire, many events would spiral into motion.
Clarissa always did have such wonderful ideas on how to properly run a government. I would have to pay attention to her for a while. It was boring, but unlike the Divine Empress, I did not want a rubbish heap that was on fire. I also needed the points. Using my skills was quite taxing. The only way for me to get points was to depend on others.
Just like monsters. I was forbidden from killing any human directly. They were to live and die by their own merits. I just needed to arrange the pieces, so they all fell where they needed to go.
The Inquisitor
I was carried back to the pillars for a restoration. I could only hope it would work. The soldiers set me there and I barely managed to grip it while puking out my guts. Blood and bits of flesh poured out of my throat.
Despite the immense pain I was suffering, I could only feel like a failure. I had drawn on the energy of the world to keep going. At the last moment my body had failed me. I had pushed too far. Grandmaster Hei Long had warned me and trained me. But I had failed her. She had failed me.
The young master had been kidnapped and I was going to die. I didn’t have the strength to cry. “What happened?” the Envoy asked me. I puked out more blood and bits of my guts.
“Champion Michael and the Fifth Caliphate attacked at the same time,” I gasped out. I could tell the Envoy was looking around at all the damage.
“The Divine Empress? Where is she?” I wanted to cry at that. I had seen the fake and had heard whispers about what had happened. All these people were idiots. They didn’t deserve me or my help.
“Champion Michael used a monster to impersonate the Divine Empress and stole the treasury,” I gasped out and began coughing. I couldn’t stop. This was the end. I gripped the store pillar praying for salvation. Anyone, please help me.
“How dare you let this happen!” the Envoy shouted. He kept shouting in the background. I was tired, so tired. From grinding countless hours, to barely winning a difficult fight against Death, the favor of the Heavens themselves or whatever entity was running this place, and finally the Divine Empress crushing me in battle.
I remembered that fight all too well. It had been a long match, but I just didn’t have the energy to keep up or escape her. Once she had me in her hands, all I could do was swear to serve.
The Envoy continued yelling at me in a panic. He had clearly lost his mind, not that there ever was much to begin with. He was always the first to get motivated, well after the Chief Diviner, but he had disappeared. Hopefully he had escaped this hell.
I my limbs were trembling, there was no chance that I was going to make it. I had been such an idiot. A stupid foolish idiot. But I was afraid. Afraid of dying. Afraid of what would happen to me. I had let my fear control me.
My mind drifted to my husband. I was unable to have a child, but he had stayed with me regardless. Our love was the hope that kept me going. My vision was already blurry from the backlash and self-inflicted curse damage. The tears didn’t help either. Drawing on the energy of the world, made you of the world. My body was breaking apart. My mind was fragmenting as I couldn’t even remember my own name.
I pictured my husband smiling at me one last time. If he was going to be taken to this place, this hell, then I would give him the chance I never had. “How could you fail!? The Divine Empress will punish you for this betrayal!”
Also, if I was going to die, this asshole could shut up. He knew nothing. He was a frog in the well. A slave at best. An idiot at worst. I teleported behind him and jabbed the back of his head. His brain began to rot, not like there was much left there anyway after what the Master Fleshcrafter had done to him.
With the city and the lab wrecked, he would not be coming back again. If the Divine Empress wanted to have an Empire she could run it herself. At least I would avoid being grafted into that stupid throne of hers. The screaming and décor were hideous and garish.
I was glad Champion Michael had melted it. I wish I had the courage to stand up for decency and against the wonton waste and abject cruelty to the Dragon Empire. I served since there was no other choice. I had seen what had happened to those who didn’t obey. I wanted to live. Now it was all too late, at least for me.
If I was going to die. Then I would do so with no regrets. All the people I had killed for the Divine Empress weighed on me. If I was going to meet my maker than I would do one last good act before I died. I gathered my breath to shout my last words. Let them strike at the Divine Empress in a way, I never could.
“The Divine Empress is dead! Save yourselves! Long live the Dragon Empire!” I screamed with the last of my voice and collapsed to the ground. Too weak to cough anymore as my flesh and blood choked me to death. My husband, I am coming to join you, wherever you are.
Comments
Owwwww!!!! Now I understand so by meaning directly is that the monster is cool and all untill disturbed or "grinded" as kichael puts it... Also the death scenario is a good explanation in that it still didn't hurt anyone if not promptet. Intresting anyway thanks for the explanation.
Ansordia
2023-02-05 20:20:22 +0000 UTCGood question and point out. Monsters react to stimulus. They don't go around hunting people outside of their zones. They don't attack the landscape or go into cities. It is always a person that instigates the monsters in some way. Never the other way around. If people just stayed in the cities and never upgraded the store, they would never see a single monster. The Avatar could kill someone by tripping and falling on them....if she had legs. Or bleed out into someone's mouth and choak them to death. But since she has agency, she can't just say, 'oh I don't like that person, I am going to go kill them'. The monsters don't do that either. Since she has agency she can always choose to deescalate. Yes this is stupid, but it is a very important distinction and mindset. I don't want to go into the specifics, but it has to deal with the thought process of the Almighty System itself and how it views everything. It doesn't punish or go after people that don't do anything. People only die, by their own actions or someone else's actions. Even Death, didn't fight Michael until he confronted it. It was just following him. The people who died, attacked it, stood in its path. Purgatory, was just the response to the store being wrecked. You poke the Almighty System it pokes back.
Mister Vii
2023-02-05 20:16:35 +0000 UTC"just like monsters I couldn't be directly responsible for someones death" HOLD up cowboy... This doesn't make a lick of sense. Monsters have been killing people they may not have killed all the people that vanished in the outland BUT we know for sure that the golems at the tower killed several people like that woman who wanted a lvl 4 crystal to join the immortal council. Or does this relate to only lvl 3monsters and below? Because I'm fairly certain thats horse shit considering clarissa had to implement a system where people babysitted the arrivals and even then people weredying from the acid and such.. Oooowww wait is this bit only for people that are touched by "god" and have meta points? But then how do they earn a second meta point like Divine empress did just now with the monsters she is surrounded with if she can't be killed by them.... I'm confused here.
Ansordia
2023-02-05 19:19:07 +0000 UTCMy theory is that it's a decaying simulation with the AI in charge being focused on damage control.
jack_oatt
2023-02-05 08:43:41 +0000 UTCOkay Envoy and Inquisitor brain :) But for "People can just check to see owns the buildings. They will know she is still alive" How they will check building if the whole city get reset and total blasted when the pillar all get destroyed? Did she have building own by her in every other city? that's seem way messy and distracting for her, having constant mental ping on everything that happen in so many thing/building at the same time, or i missed something? Also its a bit forgotten i guess this setting (i just remember what it can really mean just here) but the DE know most of what happenned, need to not forgot that she can feel some things in the building she own, so she is rushing here very fast normally after all the shit she perceived that happenned here Also it clash (i think?) with a previous chapter where the Envoy receive message of the city attacked by Rebel and talk about minor rod of com or etc for that and the cost of it I wonder if it's not (was) better to delete this "old"/early setting (in a pass of edit?) because it can change a lot of thing in the background and make it plausible or not on reaction/action and info character get to have (speed of having them and etc) In a old comment i have explained/pointed how its so fucking easy (and so obvious to do) to put in place a real instant communication canal using this setting who cost basically nothing (and can transmit a lot of info and fast and precise/detailed one by "morse" code thing, telegram style) between city using this setting, so a real total nexus and system of insta com for whole Empire/area/group is so easy to put in place The minor Rod of Com are basically useless with that, except only when outside city for emergency coded message (and even its limited to only send info to the city (city can send info to the owner of building easely when they outside without using these rod, like the DE for example or leader of group put in place for) so "basically" only used by guy outside city and for sending info to the city, not receive them (can receive info without it by putting things in place for doing that with the setting of owning building) Just a fast recap not detailled but the fast concept is 2 owner of building in different city switch place/city between them and so sit into the other building that the other own in the other city And they can build/bring item that they break into the building (or pierce wall or whatever shit into the building of the other) that send the mental ping and they are different one depending on action/item/intensity of breaking thing, so so they can put a "morse" code type talk fairly easely between them, rince and repeat putting thing like that in city (like a group of building/little house for a system com nexus infrastructure in a city) (or only put in Capital this "central" nexus if you want city can only send to capital and so all message need to pass by them) and you have a whole com system of com for whole Empire/region who can transmit detailled info/message fast and instantly and all the time, statue report on everything and etc each hour (or even constantly) for example (who can be send to important people like DE or etc so they insta know what happenning if something is important and need to be bring) That change really a lot of thing, and it's impossible that people missed that (the very early thing/concept was already used by MC to receive very "simple" coded message something happen in his city) everybody who own a building will be aware and realize that and the obvious use/possibility with it Hmm that why i feel this early/old setting and how it work and what it can mean for a lot of things who happenned/can happen seem to be forgotten a bit here xD better to maybe edit it and delete it (or huge change of it) when you will do hard editing at some point in the old chapter
Zarik0
2023-02-05 05:42:05 +0000 UTCI was thinking something similar about the biological vs energy thing. Something branching from that would be that the system is simply trying to learn. Take test subjects and release them slowly and slowly introduce them to energy and stuff. There's no real rules, just live and people will eventually innovate. If all humans were released at once, then any misconceptions of energy or.. anything at all, would be quickly spread and corrupt peoples freedom of thought and innovation. It's been proven that the system isn't paying a ton of attention to them, other than exceptional people, which could mean that there are a ton of other planets subsumed into separate "systemic lands" and its just using them as a learning tool. Hell, there's tons of explanations that give the system different purposes. Fun to think about and exciting to see where it goes (:
ZaA
2023-02-05 05:11:23 +0000 UTCThe Envoy is not coming back. The Master Fleshcrafter launched a bomb and a juggernaut. His lab is toast. The Inquisitor's brain was melting. People can just check to see owns the buildings. They will know she is still alive, but the Empire is shattering. Nation's rarely die quick deaths like people do.
Mister Vii
2023-02-05 04:16:24 +0000 UTCChapters like this make me ponder the purpose of the systematic lands where the system is shown to be dismissive and inattentive towards the systematic lands. If the system is spending so much attention and energy elsewhere wouldn't the energy spent maintaining the systematic lands be better spent on whatever has it so preoccupied? The only thing the lands seem to be meant for is to make humans stronger but why? Couldn't it just make a powerful monster instead of spending so much on empowering humans. The only thing I can think of is that the almighty system can't make a sapient creature using energy only very advanced energy based machines IE the monsters. From what little I've gleaned from reading the system is not as adept in biological means and is just extremely powerful in energy manipulation so if it can't make sapient creatures through energy manipulation it's only option would be to use existing sapient creatures. I know this is a massive stretch but it's the only advantage humans have over monsters and I can't think of another reason why the system would chose to waste so much energy making humans stronger rather than just making a stronger monster. Maybe that's why the system is interested in the DE's son because he was made out of energy manipulation rather than regular biological means.
Daniel Fuller
2023-02-05 01:38:16 +0000 UTCWelp i like where this go :) but really too bad the Inquisitor don't have destroyed all Pillar in her last move and thinked about it (instead of just kill the Envoy again, Envoy who gonna ressurect again for sure in the infrastructure in the city...), that was here the real fuck you i think, to total blast the city and reset it totally, this city have too many points and time invested into it (and lot of stuff into it), its perfect to rebuild using it as ground base zero for a empire (and they for sure lot of stuff around too so to rebuild a empire you don't have to do it again really with starting really with zero thing, you have millions, billion? of infrastruture and stuff in the city already build and levelled) a total reset here and lost of every people (and so zero info get for DE) will hurt so much more in my view :( (also it's do the same thing more or less (i think) as sub goal that with saying DE is dead, the whole city dissapear with zero info on it and DE is missing, everyone who think a bit will think DE is really dead (that not change thing a lot untill the time she reappear again anyway and that hurt her more in the long run and info she can get and what she have left in hand to rebuild and need to pass time and energy of her to put in "order")
Zarik0
2023-02-05 01:31:07 +0000 UTCYeah! Thank you for your support you amazing person. Thank you to all you patrons. If it wasn't for you this story wouldn't be possible. I am glad things are engaging after 350 chapters.
Mister Vii
2023-02-05 01:20:24 +0000 UTCWell the thing is the Inquisitor was dying. So she didn't realize the Divine Empress still owns everything. There is legit proof she is alive. But yes, the Empire has collapsed since everyone at the top is dead. Still it is big and the Lords run their cities independently of the tribute.
Mister Vii
2023-02-05 01:12:49 +0000 UTCI'm sure there will be some pretty devoted followers that will always stay and wait for DE but other than that glad at how things turned out... And just abjectively looking at how the story grew from him fighting slides and having to kill his first ever teammates and working for the 30min torches to how far he has come today. I'm really proud of your journey Vii and glad to be a small part of it. Kudos.
Excal04
2023-02-05 00:57:05 +0000 UTCDamn so the empire is pretty much completely gone. The entire inner circle is dead besides the Master Fleshcrafter who escaped. The ruler is missing. The capital city has fallen. Many other cities will soon defect once the news is out. Enemies on all sides to deal with regular people and cities. It is completely fucked.
Alessan
2023-02-05 00:42:06 +0000 UTC
