Master of the System

Pravos stared down at the world beneath her. There was a thin barrier covering the land, and she sensed the aura of the evil god coming off of it. Her allies were standing beside her, each of them holding onto their respective weapons. The weapons weren’t useful against gods, but first impressions mattered. As long as they looked like they could trounce the evil god, the evil god would be placed in the inferior position.

“Come on out!” Pravos shouted. “We know you’re down there!” The evil god was a coward, but then again, which evil god wasn’t? Adding on the fact the evil god was also a newb, it made sense for him to hide inside his barrier. But if the newb thought that was going to be enough to get them to leave, he was going to be in for a rude surprise.

“Let’s set up the signal disruptor,” Blagora said. The god of prudence glanced at Umerennost, the god of temperance. “Did you bring it?”

“Sila has it,” Umerennost said, gesturing to her right.

The god of fortitude nodded and waved her hand. A glowing white orb appeared in the space above the four gods. Ripples spread outwards from the orb, wrapping around the shielded world.

An aged voice came out of the world. “Eh? What happened to my display?”

There was a barking sound. “They cut off our signal!” A moment later, a black Labrador retriever rushed out of the barrier. She growled at the four women standing outside. “What’s your problem? If you wanted to fight, you didn’t have to cut off our signal! I was ninety-five percent done with a download that’s been going on for a week!”

The four women exchanged glances with each other. “A snack god?” Blagora asked. She held back a smile and nudged Pravos. “Your user was stolen by a snack god.”

Pravos’ expression darkened, and she pointed at the black dog with her sword. “Don’t you know hypnotizing people is something only evil gods do? I’ll give you one chance to apologize for your actions and renounce the path of evil. If not, you’ll face the consequences.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, lady,” Karta said and snarled. She swiped her paw at the air, and the four women retreated. A cellphone appeared by Karta’s face, and the four gods felt a bit silly for taking such a defensive stance. Karta whirled around, positioned herself such that the four cardinal virtues were in the background, and took a few selfies. Then, she stowed her phone away and turned back to face the four annoyed gods. “Ahem. As I was saying, you got the wrong person.”

Pravos snorted, her face flushed red. First, she was outplayed by a snack god, her user having been stolen. Then, she was tricked into taken a selfie with the lowly god. “Nonsense! We captured the user you stole, and the traces of divinity led us here. Umerennost, capture her!”

Umerennost wrinkled her nose. “The three of you owe me,” she said and sighed. With a bang, the god of temperance exploded into a bloody mist. The mist flew towards Karta and surrounded her, trapping her in a sphere of blood.

“Hmm?” Karta looked around, but all she saw was red. “Is this the legendary bubble warfare?”

“That’s right,” Pravos said and placed her hands on her hips. “If you have any allies, you better call them out right now.”

Karta stepped towards the bubble of blood surrounding her. When she tried to break free, the laws against harming other gods prevented her from doing so. She summoned her cellphone and opened Kosmos’ portal app, but she couldn’t connect to it thanks to the signal blocker. She snapped another selfie before putting her phone away. “How dirty,” she said. “Next, you’re going to drag me to the void and release me near a titan, right?”

Pravos snorted. “Only evil gods do that,” she said. “We’ll merely keep you here until we’ve confiscated all your users and systems. Also, we’ll take your spirit stones as compensation for those you’ve hurt through your evil means.”

Karta scratched her head with her hindleg, completely unconcerned. “So, that’s what you do to gods who purchase hypnotism methods? Catch, rob, and release? Doesn’t that make you evil yourselves?”

“We’re only obtaining justice for those who’ve been harmed,” Pravos said. She shook her head. “It isn’t evil. We would never do something like this to someone who doesn’t deserve it.”

“So, no matter, what, you’ll always go after people who do deserve it?” Karta asked, her eyes lighting up. Umerennost, the only god who could see Karta’s expression, couldn’t help but feel uneasy upon seeing the glint in the dog’s eyes. It was as if the snack god was waiting for a great show to start.

“That’s right,” Pravos said, standing proud, her chest puffed out and her back straight. “No one is above justice, not even primordial gods. Even Kosmos had to pay a price when she obliterated a lower dimension.”

“Well then,” Karta said, beaming, “I’d just like to say that I’m not the one who purchased the hypnotism method. It was actually my landlord, Vremya, the god of time.”

“No excuses, you’re…. Wait, what?” Pravos blinked and glanced at the two gods standing beside her. “Is she telling the truth?”

“I can’t detect any falsehood in her words,” Blagora said with a frown. She had suspected something was wrong ever since the dog had come out. There was also that aged voice that spoke earlier. If the snack god was speaking the truth, then Pravos had just picked a fight with a bona fide primordial god. The worst part about primordial gods was they tended to have ways to harm gods indirectly. Kosmos could teleport titans near her enemies. Dvizhen could force the space around someone into motion, pushing them into a titan-infested region. Istoriya could temporarily summon historical figures, grand titans, into the present.

“Vremya! Don’t you think it’s about time you came out?” Karta shouted. “It stinks of blood in here.”

A naked old man with a bright-red fanny pack covering his crotch appeared in front of the three women and sphere of blood. They flinched and took a step back upon seeing him. Pravos covered her eyes with one hand and pointed with the other. “You pervert!” Her fingers spread open slightly, letting her see through the slit. “How dare you stand before the four cardinal virtues without clothes!? Who do you think you are!?”

Blagora’s hand twitched, annoyed she couldn’t slap Pravos over the head thanks to the law against harming other gods. “Are you…?”

Vremya frowned. “I’m the god of time.” He raised his head, ignoring the three women and sphere of blood. His gaze landed on the glowing orb. “Is that the thing blocking my personal computer?” He raised his hands and clapped them together. The orb vanished, causing Blagora’s face to pale. The signal disruptor contained her blood. If Vremya could do something to it, he could do the exact same thing to her. After removing the signal disruptor, Vremya narrowed his eyes. “Which one of you stole my user?”

“You stole my user first!” Pravos said, taking a step forward. It took her a moment to realize she was the only one there. The other members of her alliance had retreated backwards, separating themselves from her. Even Umerennost had released Karta and returned to her original form. Pravos turned her head. “Um, hello? A little backup would be nice.”

Vremya scratched his cheek. He did steal Pravos’ user first, but…. “I wouldn’t have stolen your user if you didn’t send him to attack my chef.”

“That’s your fault for hypnotizing people,” Pravos said, taking a step back. She crossed her arms over her chest and bit her lower lip. It looked like she was about to cry. She wanted to teach the evil god a lesson, but how was she supposed to know he wasn’t an evil god or a newb? He was an ancient monster, a primordial god! Even someone as thickheaded as her realized how serious the issue was by examining the expressions on her allies’ faces. However, what kind of righteous god would she be if she backed down in the face of power? Allowing corruption to occur without saying anything about it was basically being complicit in the corruption! So, even if she was going to die, Pravos still had to stand up for what was right. “Don’t you know hypnotizing people is evil? It breaks the balance of the world. As a primordial god, don’t you have better methods of making money? Why do you have to resort to such lowly measures?”

Vremya furrowed his brow. What was right, what was wrong, he never considered things like that before. So, why did he do what he did? “Because it was convenient.”

“Many things are convenient,” Pravos said. “But that doesn’t mean they’re right. You have to consider the feelings of the people you’re affecting in the name of convenience. You can’t just—”

“It seems like you have your own series of troubles,” Blagora said, interrupting Pravos. “How about this? There are some things you find inconvenient, so why don’t you let Pravos stick around to help you out? Although she’s a bit outspoken, she’s good at almost everything she does. Use her like a slave if you want.”

“Huh?” Pravos turned to stare at Blagora. “What are you—?”

The god of prudence smiled at Pravos and nudged her in the direction of Vremya. “Isn’t this a good opportunity for you? You can help Vremya walk on the righteous path.” She leaned closer to Pravos and whispered in her ear, “If you want to die, don’t drag us down with you!”

Pravos’ eyes widened. “Wait—”

But it was too late. The three women waved at Pravos and fled through a portal, leaving her behind to deal with the black dog and naked old man by herself. Pravos turned to look at Vremya. She gulped down her fear. “Look deep inside your heart and find the kindness within you to let me go?”