Free Tier - Accidental Champion (Book 7) - Chapter 44 - That Wasn’t Exactly an Amazing Peptalk

Xavier hovered in the silence of space, peering at Gregori The Collector, fighting his urge to make the man suffer.

He’d brought The Collector here to put him down as swiftly as possible. Without the time dilation field from one of his B Grade time mages, the man was at a severe disadvantage.

One more strike like the one he’d performed to break through The Collector’s defences might be enough to take him down.

And yet Xavier found himself toying with Gregori. Found himself feeling a rage he struggled to control. The perfect state of calm he’d acquired when repairing the damage caused to him in the Arakashinai Queen’s chamber was out of reach.

The Collector doesn’t deserve a quick death for all the fear and pain he’s caused. He deserves to see, to feel, what his actions have wrought.

There was no one else here. No one to see Xavier’s cruelty. No one to tell him to back down. No one but Bones, his soul bound weapon, who remained eerily silent since coming to the Ventorin sector.

Inside the grand throne room that was so tall it pierced the atmosphere and could be seen easily from where they were, Palini was fighting for his life. But that was barely a thought in the deepest parts of Xavier’s mind as his anger took control. For so long he’d been moving forward yet standing still. Becoming stronger yet not accomplishing his goals.

Now, here was one of his goals—a foul, villainous man who represented all the universe’s ills and the darkest parts of sentient beings brought out by the System’s drive to create conflict, conflict, conflict.

Why shouldn’t Xavier indulge his desire to cause this man tremendous pain?

But these thoughts didn’t feel right. Didn’t feel like his own.

Not the kind of thoughts he wanted to explore, at any rate.

The Collector deserved to die—that much was abundantly clear. And Xavier wasn’t Batman. He wasn’t going to capture someone irredeemable, not kill them, then have them come after him later. He believed in people. Believed they could change. But they had to want to change.

Besides, this man had System contracts as collars around trillions of people. His death would instantly ease the suffering of an entire galaxy. It was an easy price to pay.

Maybe he did deserve to feel pain. Maybe he did deserve to be tortured. If negative karma were real, he would certainly have accrued enough of it.

But Xavier wasn’t going to be the one to dish that out.

I am no torturer.

The universe he wanted to live in didn’t have such levels of cruelty. If he wanted to create that place, he needed to be better than his desires. Better than the darkest parts of him.

He needed to let good win out.

“A swift death,” he whispered silently into the void of space as he flexed his wings, burned a chunk of Reality Energy, and readied over a dozen spells for a single melee strike just as powerful as the last he’d performed.

Xavier raised his scythe.

He would not be karma’s torturer, but he would be its headsman.

He was but a fraction of a second from reaching his enemy when Gregori The Collector’s veil slipped and a surge of power the likes of which he hadn’t felt since the Arakashinai Queen’s chamber exploded inside the man.

Is that… Soul Energy? It’s to dense! So powerful!

Xavier’s eyes widened. His attack faltered.

The surge of power disappeared from the man and instantly reappeared inside Xavier.

Something tugged at his heart. His spiritual sense washed over it even as his body tried to panic and his mind tried to remain in control.

It was a portal. Inside his heart. A powerful portal. Xavier was intimately familiar with portals, yet he’d never felt anything like this one. Even so, he knew what was on the other side, and it wasn’t just the condensed ball of Soul Energy he sensed.

On the other side of that portal was the void.

Not the void of space—the void that lay outside the fabric of reality. The void that the Void Being that had taken over the Elemental Dragon back on the one-hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions had come from. The void that the drop of Reality Energy had slipped from and into Xavier when he’d been suffering from a tremendous amount of Universal Pressure pushing down on him.

Several things happened at once: The ethereal chains The Collector had on his wrists disappeared and appeared on Xavier’s wrists. All the spells Xavier had just cast were forced into what felt like an absurdly long cooldown, and his active spells—Time Alteration, Spiritual Trifecta, Body Cultivation, and so many others—were stripped and forced into that same long cooldown; just like the runes down in the city would have done to him.

System notifications crowded his vision.

A Denizen’s status effects had been transferred to you.

Your active spells have been stripped.

You have been afflicted with cooldown delay.

You have been afflicted with Soul Chained.

Error.

Soul Chained cannot affect you as you are the caster.

The ethereal chains disappeared, but everything else he was suffering from remained.

The Collector had a wicked grin on his face. A portal appeared behind him. He gave Xavier a casual wave, blew a kiss, then disappeared backward into it.

Xavier’s spiritual sense had been unaffected. As powerful as it was, he’d pushed it outward and sensed where The Collector had travelled—to the grand throne room. He could no longer sense The Collector as the man’s veil had snapped back into place, and so he’d used the C Grades he could easily pierce the veils of as a reference point, and he’d felt that portal flicker into life in the throne room.

The portal The Collector fled through disappeared before Xavier reached it.

For a moment, the whole universe seemed to stop. Xavier was alone in the vacuum of space. His spells had been stripped. And there was a portal open inside his heart.

I did not see that coming…

It wasn’t only the active spells that had been stripped, either. The Pocket Time Stream spell pattern he’d been connected to—even this far from the throne room the string of energy was able to reach him—had flickered out of existence at the same time.

He could cast Portal or even Teleport and appear straight in that throne room where The Collector had escaped back to, but he would be at an acute disadvantage.

Palini…

Even as all these thoughts tornado-swirled around his head the void portal in his heart changed. When it appeared inside his heart he’d felt a tug. That tug had been instantly identified—it was pulling at his soul, draining Soul Energy straight from it.

But all this had happened in the span of roughly a single second before the flow of the portal shifted.

The condensed ball of Soul Energy on the other side of the portal flowed straight into Xavier and rapidly exploded.

A thousand thoughts streamed through his mind as the sensation of the explosion tore from his heart outward.

The Spirit of Time…

It wasn’t too late. Despite the pain. Despite what was happening. His last resort was still available to him. His cores weren’t cut off. His energy still rippled through his channels. His spells—the ones that weren’t forced into cooldown—could still be cast before the condensed ball of Soul Energy ripped through his body from the inside out.

Xavier cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit and chose the Spirit of Time. Just as the explosion was about to reach out from his heart and consume his entire body, the universe truly did come to a stop. Usually when he cast this spell colour would be drained from the area, and though he was in the vacuum of space this time was no exception.

The planet below him lost its vibrancy and turned a dull grey. The stars dimmed. The massive sun that sat at the centre of the solar system darkened to his eye.

A bright light appeared not far from Xavier. His vision pierced the light easily. The pain he felt from the frozen explosion inside him was an agony so acute it was hard to tear his mind from it.

But he’d experienced worse things.

Far worse.

At least, worse than the pain… The explosion itself might be another story if he wasn’t able to stop it.

A figure became clear through the bright light, and the light disappeared as quickly as it came to reveal an impossibly beautiful woman.

The Spirit of Time. Not just the Spirit of Time, either—the woman happened to be one of the most powerful spirits in the entire Otherworld.

The woman tilted her head to the side and gave him a sad smile, recognition flickering in her eyes.

Xavier Collins. I was wondering when I might see you again. The woman gave him a long look up and down. You are in great pain. She took a deep breath. Not a real breath, of course. Spirits couldn’t breathe. Even if they could, they certainly couldn’t breathe in space. When she finished releasing the breath she frowned. I’m not sure exactly what is happening to you, but I sense you are about to die. I wish I could give you advice, but I do not know how you will get out of this one, young dragonkin.

Xavier smiled at the Spirit of Time.

It is quite the puzzle.

His smile was strained to its limit. In the frozen, grey space, he took a moment to collect himself. This was a secondary advantage of summoning not only the Spirit of Time, but any of the other spirits available to him when he cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit. It was also something possible when he used Otherworldly Communion.

He was constantly surprised that wasn’t put into the description—that time would freeze as a Denizen communed with an Otherworldly spirit.

It was an advantage that should have only been available to a Time mage. Even then, a Time mage would have great difficulty freezing time like this.

Xavier shut his eyes. The Spirit of Time was right. He sensed it too. The explosion was more than powerful enough to destroy him if it continued upon its course.

The Spirit of Time was silent while Xavier’s eyes remained shut.

Time. I do not have much time. Even if I had Time Alteration and were able to cast it before the explosion did its damage, it wouldn’t be enough to save me. It wouldn’t freeze the explosion.

If only he’d cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit earlier—he would have been able to see this coming. He would have been able to stop it from happening.

Xavier had thought he’d come a long way over the last decade. There were prideful parts of him, arrogant parts, that he’d diligently worked on. He’d brought in his old party to show himself that he didn’t need to do everything alone. He’d trained them. Trained their families. They’d all become family. He’d even taken a risk and brought Palini with him.

And yet here he was yet again suffering from his own arrogance. Yet again completely alone.

He could have brought his found family with him. How much of a difference would that have made in The Collector’s grand throne room, if he’d had them all with him?

He’d told himself he didn’t want to bring them with him because he didn’t want to risk their lives.

Was that the reason—or did he still believe he didn’t need anyone else?

Except I’m not alone. Palini is down there. He might be B Grade himself, but he’s not going to last long without my help.

Except how could Xavier help Palini if he couldn’t ‘t even help himself? He’d rushed into this. It hadn’t felt like he had. He had prepared, hadn’t?

Not enough. I guess I haven’t been pressure tested since I faced the Arakashinai Queen.

Xavier opened his eyes and looked over at the Spirit of Time. The woman was staring at him with a forlorn expression. She was a master—a mistress?—of time, and yet she didn’t see a way out of this for him.

As powerful as she is, she must have been powerful in life, and yet she still eventually perished.

Xavier had faced what appeared to be certain death so many times that he’d thought he’d grown to accept that it might be his fate, but he hadn’t—even the very thought of accepting that it could one day happen didn’t feel right to him. All those “certain death” situations he’d been in were ones he’d thwarted.

And this will be no exception.

He chuckled to himself and shook his head.

The Spirit of Time frowned. Is there something about your predicament you find… funny?

A little. Xavier pursed his lips. For one, I came into this fight thinking I wasn’t as arrogant as I used to be. Now, even after… He gestured at his body, pointing out the explosion of Soul Energy frozen in his heart. All this, I still can’t accept that this is the end. That this is my end. That… I could actually die here.

The beautiful woman gave him a sad smile. The expression tugged at something deep within him. You think you’re invincible.

Xavier shook his head. I don’t.

Her sad smile quirked into a smirk. You don’t? There is no harm in lying to me, I suppose. But I do not think it is good to keep lying to yourself.

Xavier hung his head. Maybe I do think I’m invincible. He turned his gaze toward The Collector’s tower, which was easily visible from here, and the dome at its top.

But can you blame me? You know but a fraction of what I’ve been through, what I’ve accomplished—you know how many times I’ve been close to death and come out of it.

The Spirit of Time inclined her head slowly. Indeed. I have been there for a few of your more difficult moments, and I have heard stories. Even in the Otherworld, people talk. The gossiping… There is no end, I will tell you. Your exploits have been a topic of interest for many. Some say you will become… Well, perhaps I have already said too much. The woman sighed. You must know something else, however. You, more than many Denizens, are aware of the multiverse and the fates that people just like you have met. She tilted her head to one side. I have seen you—versions of you, to be precise—die more than I have seen you yourself overcome death.

She closed her eyes.

Actually, Xavier Collins, I’ll admit something to you, only because unlike you I do not see you surviving this. I have seen you die a million, million times. Versions of you have summoned me again and again in moments of desperation. Sometimes they are able to survive with my help. More often than not, however, no matter how many unfoldings pass… It ends with death.

Her eyes flashed open, her gaze boring into him.

That is the one truth of all reality, Xavier Collins: It always ends with death. Your universe will end. You will end. Even the Otherworld will one day come to an end. You fight and fight and fight… Another sigh escaped her lips. But death awaits us all.

Xavier blinked. That wasn’t exactly an amazing peptalk.

You did not summon me for a… peptalk.

No. I summoned you because I believe you can help get me out of this mess, not so you could… What, tell me, ominously, that “death awaits us all.” What, exactly, am I supposed to do with that?

The Spirit of Time’s eyes hardened. You are supposed to listen. You know how having control over time can change things. Yes, I’m quite aware of how your powers have progressed in that area. It gives us a false sense of immortality. Not only that, it allows one to live outside the world, rather than in it, reducing one’s connection to others. Regardless, I have seen what happens when one pushes too hard against their inevitable death, Xavier. I have seen what happens when one is too prideful, too arrogant, too gods damned stubborn to accept death.

Xavier’s forehead creased. When he’d summoned the woman, he hadn’t expected her to truly care about his predicament. Not like this. He’d assumed she would show some care, but this wasn’t surface level. This felt deeper.

It feels like you have more to say. What happens, then, in these people you have seen?

The woman closed her eyes. Their souls are too distraught to move on. They rarely make it to the Otherworld, and if they do they become shells, unable to recall the details of their life, unable to cobble old memories together to create any sense of self.

And if they don’t make it to the Otherworld?

They become trapped in the void, where they became broken things and if their immortal souls aren’t eaten by the predators there, then they become the predators themselves—no matter what they were like in life.

I understand. Xavier gave the woman a solemn nod. But that isn’t going to happen to me. He gritted his teeth. Felt the pain in his heart. Felt the beginning of its spread. First, I’m not going to die here. Staring into the woman’s eyes, he tilted his head forward. And second, I’m not going to die, period.