A Chronometric Defect

I check Pathfinder for Leario. Reah, guess who's standing a few rows behind this guy with the non-existent dog?

This has gone too far. He either listens to me now or becomes a lost cause. I can't willingly stay silent while knowing where this leads.

I 'unzip' my voice. That is, I remove the Origin Program which makes him unable to hear me.

"Leario. I'm trying to make good on my mistakes. There's no point in doing this except to make me suffer. Why make me suffer while I try to heal the hearts of others?"

A pause.

He steps forward once he realizes I know he's here. He's still wearing his signature white suit and fancy hat, but he looks much older. It's only been a few days. Hraah. At least this confirms my guess about his intentions.

He finally speaks.

"Hmph, you broke your vow of silence? No surprise at all. You, you deserve to suffer. What you did is unforgivable. It doesn't matter how you try to justify or make up for it. What happened, happened, and cannot be undone."

"What I did, Leario, was fight to protect you all. What I did, was fail. I didn't walk outside one day and decide to commit a massacre. Even early on— those who died, died because I was careless rather than because I held hatred or malice."

"So what? You think calling it an accident makes everyone I knew come back to life?"

"No, I don't. But let me remind you. You, personally, were employed by the man who made the decision that day. The one who knowingly chose to kill one point three billion people. You served him. You personally helped him build that weapon. I did not. My goal was to stop him. So, if you want to hate me, realize that you also share the blame."

"Screw you! I had a job—"

NO. We're not reliving the darkest moments of my past world's history simply because you can't take some goddamned responsibility. We. Are. Not. Reenacting Nuremburg.

I raise my voice over his.

"A job you carried out diligently! A job that specifically entailed building, improving, and strengthening the weapon which killed over a BILLION people!"

I go back to a normal voice.

"I know you were on the experimental council, Leario. You gave me those documents, don't you remember? I know you created another weapon, in addition to that one."

I pause.

He looks worried.

He knows what comes next.

"YOU CREATED ME!"

His face crumbles. I continue.

"Imagine that. A weapon you made is going around making amends for you and your boss' horrific decisions. Meanwhile, you try to stop him. No, not your boss. You couldn't be bothered to do that. Instead, you try to stop me, who's so much more powerful than your old boss that it's entirely hopeless. We live in such a strange world, don't we, Leario?"

He falls to his knees.

{*tud*}

He's crying.

{"Huut."}

...

"Then what... What am I supposed to do?"

"Stop lying to yourself."

He sharply looks up at me— baffled and angry.

I continue speaking.

"You know you can't hurt me, so you're trying to get in my way by any means necessary. To force me to deal with you, so you can make me out to be the 'true enemy.' But casting me as 'Pure Evil' isn't going to fix your life. It's just going to harm everyone you ensnare in your schemes. Those people are dead, Leario. Let them rest in peace. Let the living prosper whilst they cherish their dearly departed ones' memories."

"How DARE you! You ARE Pure Evil!"

I show him my status card.

"Am I? That's not what's written in my status."

"You— but—"

"I sent you a communication, Leario. You saw my name had changed back then, too. It wasn't fake."

"How the hell would I know you're not faking it even now? Look at you. You couldn't build a stage from nothing back then. Changing your status is probably child's play!"

Which is true. However, this is where I made a fatal mistake when dealing with Aitos. Thanks, Aitos. You've helped me yet again. I never seem to stop regretting your death.

"Even if I was faking it now; my actions prove my words. Even if I was faking everything I've done or said to everyone on this entire planet; the results of my 'fakery' are what matter. I'll just keep faking my way to making peoples' lives better, Leario. You tell me: is that a good enough 'fake' for your standards?"

He falls onto his hands.

{*thotch*}

He silently starts sobbing, but with his eyes wide open.

...

He looks...

Mentally unwell.

Reah. That's what happens when a person gets hit in their most closely held beliefs. Though, there's no way I could convince him otherwise.

I'm not trying to convince him that I'm good. I'm saying he's hurting others who aren't me. That's why it hits so damn hard.

I stare at him for a few more seconds.

The crowd starts murmuring.

C'mon Leario— c'mon.

Let yourself heal.

Overcome.

Mend.

After several minutes, he gets back up.

"You... Chronom— Chronovoid."

"Yes?"

"You talk well."

"I've had many good teachers. One of those, I killed. I've never stopped regretting his loss."

"Aitos?"

I nod my gem dragon head.

My body scintillates wildly in the sun.

I decide to talk in case he can't see what I did.

"Yes, Aitos. He taught me several things I said to you just now, in fact. One of which he taught me mere seconds before asking me to kill him."

"Aitos— he asked you to kill him?"

"That's right. That's why I used what he said to try to change your mind. I don't want you to walk the same path he did. I don't want you to use others as a reason to take your own life."

Leario shudders once.

"You... Knew?"

Holy hell.

"No, I didn't. I've just seen it before."

"Why are you making so much effort to help? To help me, even, who's tried so hard to hurt you?"

"Is that not what we should all do?"

"You're a dragon, though."

"Indeed, I'mma dragon. Rawr."

His face twists in mild annoyance.

"No, I mean, why does it concern you?"

"Because I want it to concern me. Even though I have no responsibility to others, I do have power. The only good use for power is doing the right thing. Even if I must take a long time figuring out what the 'right thing' is, it doesn't matter, because I'm immortal. I have an eternity to figure it all out."

He stands there, lost.

Reah, I get it. It's hard to argue with a god, right? Reh, wait. Am I actually a god?

Status.

Name: Chronovoid Dragon

Talents: Causal Coherence, Causal Conduit, Causal Decoherence, Causal Void, Devour, Endless Will, Void Will, Parasitic Void, Spatial Absorption, Spatial Void, Temporal Diffusion, Temporal Void

Lineage: Origin

Rank: Void

Weapon: (debug: invalid reference [-8q1+{717}])

Stats:

Str: 9.22 (391.7t) / 2.22 (90,771)

Sta: 8.89 (391.7t) / 2.81 (90,771)

Int: 9.31 (391.7t) / 2.71 (90,771)

Wis: 9.33 (391.7t) / 2.60 (90,771)

Will: 3.18 (1.73÷|)|6.72(92,008)

Rawh, losing the god title did cost me something.

My god rank!

Though, I'm not sure why it matters with stats like mine. Based on what I've learned— I'm well into Rank 2 god territory, closing on the 100k mark of a Rank 3 god.

There's a few other things which changed.

First, I notice my Will appears to be capping my raw stats. Which makes sense. The human god's memories suggested this would happen, though I hadn't confirmed it until now.

The reason? It's not a hard cap. It only becomes slightly more difficult to gain physical stats as they become closer to the Will stat. Thus, this required some testing to figure out.

Second, I appear to have a 'Void' version of each class of talent. Parasitic Body and Mind straight up got Voided. The original talent's entirely gone.

Third, my weapon isn't exactly gone, per se.

I check the code.

It's part of my Origin now. Not merely merged. It's literally my Origin; they're one and the same. Hence, it caused a program fault.

I toss out the bad reference.

Seems I am my own weapon. Rawah.

Fourth, hot damn those stats. 391 trillion? But not in the value column. Nope. In the exponent column! I might've eaten more than Gluttony!

Moving forward, I need to figure out two things:

One, what does Void Will do? I know Endless Will spreads out ones' Will to subsume the Wills of others. I write an Origin Program to deactivate it after a moment in case it voids my own Will or something equally asinine.

Annd...

Test!

...

...

...

But nothing happens!

Chronovoid Dragon is refusing to follow orders!

Chronovoid Dragon used Smack Thyself!

Critical Hit!

Chronovoid Dragon hurt itself in its confusion!

...

No, seriously. Why isn't it doing anything?

"Chronovoid. Why did you hit yourself?"

"Err, sorry Leario. I was thinking and got distracted."

"It's not because I hit you that day?"

"Actually, no. But if it'll make you feel better—"

"No, it won't. I already feel a lot better. It's like my mind got forcibly straightened out a moment ago. Did you do that? Is that why you smacked yourself?"

Rah, crud. I shouldn't have tested my ability whilst in the middle of a conversation.

"I don't know? I decided to try a talent which I don't know the function of— but it has a name diametrically opposed to the gods' sciolation talent, soooo... Maybe I did do that?"

A pause.

"Why?"

I'm not going to tell him I got bored mid-conversation and randomly decided to try my new abilities. Even though that's exactly what happened. My boredom is truly a lethal hazard.

Still, I also won't lie to protect myself. What I'll do is skirt the truth. I don't want to give Leario yet more reasons to hold onto his hatred.

That's another mistake I made with Aitos: I was too bluntly honest without considering his feelings. Truth may be the best disinfectant, but too much of any disinfectant can kill.

All wounds need time to heal.

"I don't know either, Leario. Whether I personally helped you is entirely irrelevant. What matters is whether you feel like you can live."

"I do. I'm still not over it. I may never be over it. But, thank you for allowing me to move on."

"You don't need to thank me. I simply talked you through your struggle. Ultimately, you picked yourself up."

"Plus your talent."

I shrug.

"Maybe. But it probably wouldn't work unless that's the conclusion you already settled upon. If sciolation takes away memories, then that talent likely strengthens them. I don't see how such a talent could change your mind."

"So you tested it while knowing it could have a beneficial effect."

No, I keep telling people this: I'm smart, but not that smart.

I think back to Thaddeus' explanation of dragon brains.

Maybe I am, but I can't understand my own immense intellect? That sounds a lot more 'dragon.'

Reah, let's go with the one which makes me impossibly amazing. Dragons like myself do deserve to be too incredible to comprehend their own intellect, after all.

"Not exactly. Still, if it did, then great. All I want is for you to live better."

He shakes his head.

"Alright, Chronovoid. I forgive you."

He turns and walks away.

...

Hra? He— forgave me?

Whelp, hr hra! Good for him!

I go back to dealing with the crowd.

"I think I've taken care of all the personal requests, yes? Now, if you all would, please poke Dracosect if your house needs rebuilding. He and his dragons will do the yard, decorations, and furnishings as well. I'm not letting him off the hook for destroying your city quite so easily. Even if it was meant as a good gesture."

I point at the leg of the roughly 280 meter tall dragon called 'Dracosect.'

Hrem. Reah, seems he got bigger. As we dragons should.

I look at the crowd. They aren't moving.

"Dracosect, can you make yourself... Ruhm, approachable? I doubt they want to talk to the side of your foot."

#"My god, Chronovoid! This is one of those times you told me about, where I must lessen my size to carry out your divine Will!"#

Dang, he's loud. Quiet down.

"Yes, Dracosect. Yes it is."

He shrinks to a near-human height.

Roah. Not what I expected.

He walks up to the crowd and throws his clawed hands in the air like he's saying 'surprise!'

Reah, you surprised me too, Dracosect.

"Everyone! Let Dracosect here, me, know what you need and we'll fix it right up for you!"

You carry out my Will better than I do at times. The issues you mistakenly created are getting sorted in record time.

I glance at the crowd of humans again.

Plus, unlike me, nobody seems to die from your mistakes.

I deconstruct my stage and stand on the grass.

Speaking of issues, I wonder where the fals—

I feel an oppressive sensation.

Reah, that's them alright. Right on time.

They're not coming here, they're...

Hrr.

I don't know what they're doing.

Why are they going there?

Of all the places, too.

How odd.

...

Hrem.

Since I assume the false virtues and deadly sins are stronger than typical gods, I'll need to accelerate the progress of my Will. That'll allow me to raise my physical stats.

I can't read what my status says in regards to Will, but I've surely absorbed more Will than I've assimilated.

It seems my Origin is converting physical matter it infects into Will. That's probably what that ethereal crystallization does. I don't think it can be seen by anything other than my Origin, but when I eat it?

Roh boy, do I feel the boost.

However, this must mean my lineage needs to evolve more. Once it does, what I've taken in should be fully assimilated and my stats will uncap.

Pathfinder— all absorbed Deification Tokens.

My body turns into a solid red dot.

Rokay, I've absorbed them but not completely assimilated them. Good to know— it means others would likely not be able to do any better. After all, my talents are pretty darn overpowered.

Pathfinder, all absorbed Deification Tokens more than 20 meters away from me.

A big red X. I shiver a little. Last time I saw that red X... No, don't think about it. Not right now. I can mull over my past mistakes once I've secured our future.

In any case, this means nobody else has eaten any. Therefore, all the ones left over must be owned by gods and demigods.

Pathfinder— Deification Tokens owned by gods.

It shows a red X.

Wut. I'd expect the gods to have some? Did they assimilate them after all?

Pathfinder, gods.

It shows a red X.

Hruh? I knew it wouldn't show me, but. None at all?

Pathfinder, Void.

It shows a single red dot. Me. Reah.

I am THE VOID!

...

Then it starts zooming out. No, I don't have time for whatever else you found. I close my map.

But yes, this confirms Pathfinder is working.

Hrr. I think back to Centrail Primia's summoning ceremony. I have his memories, after all. Then I think about the god's memories.

Are we on a different plane of existence?

I must've not gotten all the god's memories! How would he not know this?! I think a lot more closely.

Eventually, a fuzzy memory surfaces. This guy didn't give any shits about the 'lower universe' as it's called, so he forgot he lived in the 'god realm.'

He really was a scumbag. Rawh! How do you forget that you live in an entirely different plane of existence?!

I focus on his memories again. Specifically, of the day when he descended to fight me. I realize they're hazy too. Is this interference caused by the Endless Will talent? Thank goodness I've never used that one.

Hrr. Well, I can see what he did to create what I fought.

He put a tiny fraction of his stats into his avatar because he couldn't be bothered. That backfired, since one of his last memories is of his mind and Will being infected by my Origin after Centrail took over. He was going to attack it with Causal Void, but then realized he'd be voiding himself. So he gave up?

I check his final memory, but it isn't his mind or Will being Devoured.

It's.

No way...

It's a giant maw?!

I suddenly know what his final memory means.

My Origin thread crossed dimensions.

I devoured a god's entirety?

His main body, also?

...

Holy hell!

Alright.

Rokay.

This changes things. A lot of things. Most importantly, it explains why the Abyssals would need to descend and why the gods haven't all shown up to smack me down. The whole avatar thing makes more sense, too.

Awesome! Doesn't that mean there's a whole other dimension I haven't already mostly Devoured?

...

Wait.

...

BAD Apocalypse Dragon! BAD!

...

I make a newspaper and smack myself.

It's shredded by my spikes. Hraw! I did learn.

Some guy is looking at me weird.

I wave my hand at him.

Shoo, I'm busy.

...

He's still staring at me. I think he's dazzled like a deer in headlights. I am indeed sparkly.

...

Pathfinder, show all Deification Tokens.

Again, several thousand tokens spread throughout the universe. Most of these are— I ask Pathfinder to color the dots based on their owner's Rank— owned by Demigods. Roh. Seems my earlier assumption was wrong. Some are also owned by immortals, and a few even by mortals. Which seems obvious in hindsight. I mean, Dracosect wasn't a Demigod when he got his token. No idea why I thought otherwise.

I see the guy who was staring at me fall over.

*thush*

What's his problem? Seizure?

Mreh, none of my business.

Rokay. Here goes.

I split myself into as many tiny copies as there are remaining tokens. I cast transference, then expand myself to the same size as my target on the other side.

I learned a little from Dracosect. Hreh, 'a little.'

But!

I won't stay small if they make me... Bored.

My little meetings will soon be famous.

Nay.

They'll be universally famous.