Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 8) - Chapter 12 – Everyone’s Work

The broadcast was shown to every single one of the over ten billion worlds in the Ventorin sector. It was impossible for them not to see it, though at the same time it was impossible for every part of the broadcast to be seen.

Over the skies of all those worlds, images of all the men and women Xavier had executed were shown. Massive holograms that couldn’t be ignored. Xavier’s voice was heard, too, describing to the people what they were seeing.

“Murder. Rape. Enslavement. These are the things that will not be tolerated. Each and every person you see now is guilty of one or more of these. I show you this not because I want you to live in fear, but because I want you to know that I can, and will, keep you safe. And to those of you out there who would do such a thing, know that you will be found, you will be judged, and you will be eliminated.

“There is no room in the Ventorin sector for such atrocities.”

Hovering in the air in front of the large portal he’d created, the intricate web of spell patterns still glowing with that same bright light, Xavier felt something come back through the portal from all ten billion worlds.

Fear.

Fear like he’d never experienced it before.

This… This is what The Collector used. He fed off the fear of every one of his subjects. Used it to make him feel, and become, powerful. Fear is all these people know and I’ve just thrown fuel onto the fire.

He shut his eyes. It wasn’t fear he wanted these people to feel, but he knew that a certain amount of fear—especially in these early stages—was necessary.

He released a breath, then spoke, his words carried out to every citizen in the sector.

“I feel your fear, and I understand it. In your shoes, I am sure I would be afraid as well. Your worlds, your lives, have been turned upside down in barely a blink of the eye. But please know this—I fight for you. For each and every one of you. For your children and their children. For a future every single being deserves a chance at living. A future where we each have agency over our own lives. A future where we don’t need to fight if we don’t want to fight. A future where conflict is not the norm. A future filled with peace and unity. You’ve experienced my memories. You know what it is I believe. You know what it is I fight for. So, understand this—unless you are guilty of one of the three things I listed, you will never have anything to fear from me. I will fight for your safety every day of my life.”

When Xavier finished, he stopped the broadcast and floated down. He landed softly on the marble floor. Half the Denizens in the room were looking at him, while the other half had glowing white eyes, looking through the vast network of Observation Crystals.

Xavier walked over to them. Though he had just spent a good while resting inside of his Roving Seed Base and his mind and body had felt refreshed, he suddenly experienced an intense bout of weariness at the thought of what was likely to come next.

More executions…

Giving the announcement, Xavier had allowed time to flow normally. He couldn’t imagine how many terrible things had happened as those few minutes passed. The purge he’d just performed to the sector would have gotten rid of the majority of people who didn’t deserve to live in his society, but he was no fool. He knew there would be countless more people out there capable of terrible things…

There are so many terrible, hateful people out there…

“Report,” Xavier said as he reached the others.

Palini’s eyes were glowing white. Once Xavier had finished his announcement he’d adjusted the time dilation field again. Time was moving slowly outside of it, but not so slowly as to look like it was frozen. This allowed the team to observe things as they happened, rather than try to discern what was happening from a frozen image.

Palini opened his mouth to say something, then shut it once more. He frowned, his eyebrows coming together.

“What is it?” Xavier asked, thinking, Is it worse than I thought? Did that broadcast do nothing? Or did it make people even more chaotic and awful to one another?

“There’s…” Palini shook his head. “Bad things are happening, but the people doing them are being stopped.”

“Stopped?” Xavier creased his forehead. “What do you mean? Who’s stopping them?”

The B Grades and some of the C Grades that had been sent by Palini initially, before Xavier had returned from the arena, were still out there—but there was no way they would be able to stop all the violence that was happening on over ten billion different worlds.

Palini reached out to Xavier. “Take my hand. I’ll show you.”

So Xavier did.

What he saw made his eyes instantly go wide and his mouth fall open. What he’d expected to see and what was actually happening… They were two very different things.

Before his eyes, he watched a scene in a dark alleyway. A man approaching a young woman—one who didn’t look old enough to have the System yet. A great anger filled his heart. He wanted to fly straight up and through the portal to deal with this man personally.

Palini’s touch stayed his hand.

Suddenly, the man and the woman were no longer alone in the alleyway. A group of Denizens appeared. C Grades by the look of them. They put themselves between the young woman and her would-be attacker.

Similar things were happening all over every single world. Everywhere in the Ventorin sector, the strong were protecting the weak. Xavier, in his initial announcement, had laid down the laws. In those laws killing in self-defence or in the defence of another was legal.

These protectors, when evidence of atrocities were clear, were making good use of that.

After all he’d seen, all he’d done, meting out justice over countless years… The sight he was seeing filled him with a hope he hadn’t even realised he’d been missing. A hope for all the Denizens out there in the universe. His faith in the inherent goodness he felt for others hadn’t been lost… simply misplaced.

Admittedly, it was a hard thing to hold onto when he’d witnessed so many terrible things happening in this small slice of the Greater Universe.

But now, all that hope came flooding back to him. He hadn’t doubted his cause. Hadn’t doubted the importance of it. Hadn’t doubted what he needed to do to make it happen. Not really.

He had, however, wondered on more than one occasion if people were even capable of the type of unity that would be required.

Those doubts fled as again and again he watched the protectors among all the different worlds do something he thought he would need to do.

“You don’t have to do it all alone,” Palini said. “This isn’t a burden only you can carry.”

The man somehow managed to put words to what Xavier was feeling. And though the weight of all he’d done didn’t suddenly lift off his shoulders at those words, something that had been solid in his heart eased. A hardness that had become a part of him softened. Not completely, but enough. A tear came to his eye as he watched the strong amongst his new people protect the weak.

He hadn’t asked them to do it.

They’d taken it upon themselves.

They were doing his work.

No. Not my work. This is everyone’s work. Just as saving the universe is everyone’s work.

Xavier had thought he would need every moment of the next week to solidify his rule over the Ventorin sector before officially laying his claim, thinking much of that time would be spent putting order in place of chaos, as once he did lay his claim and finish the fights in the arena he knew he would be taken from this place and plopped straight back into the Tower of Champions.

Now, he wasn’t so sure that he would need that long after all.

Deep in his heart he’d hoped something like this would happen. Hoped that once the people saw they could be safe, that The Collector was gone, that they could take control of their own lives, they would do something good. They would take their power back in a way that helped.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so beautiful,” Xavier said. He couldn’t stop himself from watching.

“Maybe one day we will,” Palini replied. “Maybe one day we’ll actually make a universe like the one you describe. A place where this, where people like you and me, are no longer necessary.”

Xavier smiled. “Maybe.” He gazed at one protector after another keeping the people safe. “Maybe one day.”

He spent hours like this. Just watching. There were several incidents where interventions became necessary. Where the protectors weren’t strong enough or simply weren’t aware of someone being in trouble. Palini insisted he stay out of them, sending others to do the work through portals they created—apparently while he’d been gone, the Denizens had spent their time altering the network of runes and getting the city’s interstellar teleportation hub back in order. They were now more easily able to travel to any of the ten billion worlds inside the Ventorin sector.

Xavier had almost refused Palini and gone himself, but the man had made it clear they needed this experience. Xavier would soon be gone. Besides, he’d never intended to stick around and rule the sector permanently. They would need to function without him.

He accepted this reasoning with a gritting of his teeth, though it didn’t take long for him to relax into the idea.

This is only the first sector I’ll rule. There will be so many more. I have to get it functioning independently as efficiently as possible.

The things he’d taught those first loyal to him would allow that to happen more swiftly, what with each and every one of them able to stop time. Several of them even had the ability to encompass an entire planet with their time dilation fields, allowing them to more fully integrate that planet into the new order of things. Then, they could train others to do the same

 Utilising time dilation on a grand scale, and allowing the teaching of spell patterns and the gaining of another advancement path for those who were worthy…

It would turn this entire sector into a powerhouse in no time.

And then I’ll spread my rule to the next, and the next. One by one, I’ll unify the entire universe against the threat of its end.

Once an entire day had passed with the other Denizens dealing with the meting out of justice in the Ventorin sector, Xavier raised his chin and looked over at Palini. “It’s time.”

“To lay your claim on the sector?” Palini asked.

Xavier nodded. He brought up the notification dealing with the claim.

You have 7 days to lay claim to the fallen ruler’s sector.

Laying claim to the fallen ruler’s sector will initiate a sector-wide System notification allowing anyone in the sector to challenge your claim in single combat. A selection of arenas will be provided. You and the challengers will be teleported by the System to the arena. Challengers cannot be avoided. More than one challenger may apply. You must fight each one after the other with a brief respite for recovery time. Interference in the one-on-one duel will be prevented by the System.

Winning the claim will allow you to control the sector’s defences and resources, but it will not guarantee citizens of the sector will obey your commands.

Note: If you choose to claim the world and win, the castle becomes yours by default. If you choose to claim the sector and win, the world and castle become yours by default.

If you do not lay your claim within the time provided, all claims will be forfeit and each world and their individual bases and territories will be considered fair game, triggering leadership quests for every Denizen on every world, causing large- and small-scale conflict across the galaxy.

Choose wisely.

Xavier willed the choice to lay his claim to the sector, confident there shouldn’t be a single Denizen around that would be even near to equal his strength.

He would deal with the opponents swiftly, making them surrender where he could, then he would move on to the Tower of Champions where he would now be able to freely go to any floor he wished.