"Lieutenant Anders, correct me if I'm wrong here, but did he just cut the damned Welshire Grand Center in half?" Governor Marglow asked in shock as he watched the skyscraper in the distance get bisected and then slowly topple over.

The militaristically uniformed man stood behind him and to his right saluted then said, "Sir, it would appear that he did. Right as he called you a terrorist, Sir."

"So it would seem." Despite how calm his tone was, the elderly man was having an internal panic attack. 'I didn't think he'd be so unreasonable. 'I do not deal with terrorists, I teach them in the ways of terror', was it? Consider the lesson taught. Hundreds of innocent workers are going to die at this rate and there's no way I can win a real war with him considering the difference in our comparative military power. He alone can match our entire military, for the Lord's sake.'

At that moment, the bubble-like creature made of blue fur on Daz's head which made him look a bit ridiculous shook and a massive barrier of some sort appeared around the top half of the Welshire Grand Center.

It encapsulated the massive structure and slowly moved it to Daz's side. The reaper himself had one of his hands to his ear and not a second later he and his companion that the governor refused to acknowledge spun around to face them.

"I don't know if you can still hear me, Timothy, since the T.V screen seemed to break, but it would appear that I have exactly 1,203 hostages while you only have 1. I'm demanding the peaceful release of Madison as well as your unconditional surrender. If you decline, I'll just bring this building back to Waterford and make a monument out of it. The citizens trapped inside will be brought under my wing with the system's help and I will then proceed to do the exact same thing to every single building in Los Angeles," Daz claimed without missing a beat or showing even a single sign that he wasn't being entirely serious.

Governor Marglow ran his fingers through his hair in frustration as he clenched his teeth. "That little bastard... He's humiliating me... Lieutenant Anders, what would you suggest I do in this situation, speaking solely from your experience as a soldier?"

The burly man in charge of Governor Marglow's armies wore a complex expression. "Being perfectly honest and off of the books, Sir?"

"Yes," the governor replied immediately.

"Were it not for the contract you made me sign, I'd hand you in myself and give the man the keys to Project Lockbox. I can lift a car without wrecking my back in the process, Sir, but he can cut a building in half without even breaking a sweat. That's without even mentioning the fact that he can create three clones each of which share 70% of his strength. We also can't forget the golem he commands. Logistically speaking, in a proper war, we're fucked, Sir," Lieutenant Anders honestly responded. Some would say too honestly.

"I see..." Governor Marglow knew Daz's objective to win the war. Of course he did. He, as one of the leading parties, had seen the exact same declaration of war that Daz had. "He's toying with me. All he needs to do for my people and my land to become his people and his land is to take my head... He doesn't want my head though, Does he? The twisted man..."

"With all due respect, Sir, you kidnapped his girlfriend and attacked his capital with a troop of explosive robots," Lieutenant Anders said.

"Explosive robots... Right you are, however, unfortunately for us, only a quarter of them successfully made the transfer to that castle of his, didn't they?" Governor Marglow asked as a certain glow entered his eyes.

"Sir, yes, Sir!" Lieutenant Anders answered with a stern salute. "And it's Fort Skip, Sir. So, technically it's a fort, not a castle, Sir."

"Indeed it is," the governor said calmly, all signs of his previous defeatist attitude were now gone entirely from his very being.

Daz used Hamson to cut open a door-sized hole in the massive window leading to the governor's office in the skyscraper Rose had informed him the man was watching him from. The ancient peridot he was standing on moved to the room's floor, allowing him to get off.

The far smaller peridots and spinals did the same for Jim. Daz looked around the room and said, "Nice decor," as he glanced at the crystal clock, the paintings lining the walls, the odd and unique car engine that was hooked up to hand from the roof in the centre of the room, and finally, the agarwood table and chair set.

Governor Marglow smiled as he kept his hands clasped behind his back. "Why thank you, Mr Hamilio."

Daz frowned. "You did that earlier. Don't call me that."

"Oh, my apologies, have I struck a nerve?" the governor asked somewhat mockingly.

"Yes, you have, and it would be wise if you didn't touch it anymore, Timothy," Daz said in a chilly tone.

Jim took note of the conversation taking place between the two leaders and his mind was in one hell of a mess. 'There's no way Daz will lose at this point. I need to endear myself to him somehow... I need to steal the governor's luck, that'll help him out with negotiations, but how do I do that? I need him to acknowledge my existence first...'

"Very well. I'm above petty revenge. I was simply a bit dissatisfied that you decided to address me by my first name. Only my wife does that, you see," Governor Marglow claimed.

"And does your wife sanction the bombing of innocents?" Daz asked inquisitively.

"Haha, does yours sanction the kidnapping of over a thousand people?" the governor fired back.

Daz shrugged. "She isn't my wife but I'm sure she wouldn't care. Anyway, I've had enough with the pointless circles we're going in here."

"As have I and Lieutenant Anders here," Governor Marglow said as he maintained his relaxed-yet-serious posture.

"Daz, be careful. The army of robots like the ones that exploded at Fort Skip suddenly disappeared. I'm trying to track them, but it'll take a minute or two," Rose suddenly said over the comms device.

"So, Governor Marglow, you know that I have to kill you to end this war, don't you?" Daz asked.

"Naturally. I had to accept as such in order to stop that lovely little sister of yours from discovering the plans before they were even enacted upon as well as to delay your announcement of the war. Something I now regret, but it is what it is," the governor said in a resigned tone.

"The thing is, I have no intentions to kill you easily. Cutting your head off would be a bit barbaric, but it'd also be quick and painless, which I'd hate to see for a terrorist," Daz said.

"Do you see me wearing a turban and praising Allah, King Daz?" Governor Marglow asked snidely.

"A racist terrorist. Noted. Anyway, my plan for you is to have you work as a prisoner for 6-months. Depending on how much you help our mining operation - which is what you'll be doing, by the way, mining - then I'll reassess your punishment. Either you'll get another 6-months or you'll be killed by lethal injection," Daz stated very matter-of-factly.

"You do realise that if you do not kill me, Daz, then our war will never officially end, yes?" Governor Marglow asked.

Daz shrugged. "The system isn't inflexible. I have no issues paying a fee to give me another method to win."

The governor seemed surprised as he laughed dryly. "You are far more shrewd than I first imagined, King Daz. It's wise of you to not outright murder me if you want to earn the loyalty of my citizens. What a shame. I was genuinely hoping that you'd be impulsive. Well, unfortunately for you, that seems to have also worked against you. I've already ordered the execution of your little lover, Miss McArthur."

"If she dies, I'll find your wife and children and torture them for centuries. I'll put in place systems to keep their souls in a hell-like existence for all of eternity, not that I'm actually worried about Madison, just thought I'd warn you," Daz said with a smirk on his lips. 'With her Alteration, Madison can escape anywhere. I know she can.'

"My children? Good luck. They were taken like most of Earth's residents when this whole nightmare began." Governor Marglow seemed to be genuinely saddened by this.

"I'm sure my lovely little sister can find them with enough time," Daz sarcastically replied, causing a genuine frown to form on the elderly governor's expression.

His eldest child was 32, but his youngest was only 5-years-old. He was a rather spry old man, but that didn't mean that he had no love for his children even despite his moral bankruptcy during his life as a massive political figure.

Jim saw Governor Marglow looking distant as an opportunity. He rushed the old man and tackled him to the ground. Lieutenant Anders reacted immediately and jumped back before taking aim and firing his strange-looking assault rifle right at the blonde-haired man.

"Get off of me, you hooligan!" Governor Marglow shouted at the top of his lungs.

Jim just closed his eyes and hoped he wouldn't get hit by any of the incoming bullets. He wasn't built for defense, so a single one hitting him would result in his flesh and organs acting like tissue paper as they pathetically tried to resist the impact.

Thankfully, he came out of the hail of lead completely unscathed. He quickly separated himself from the governor of Los Angeles and fled to Daz's side.

"I've st-started stealing both of their luck. I-It doesn't matter if they have the stat or not now. Things will stop going their way. I-If they even were in the first place," Jim told the reaper.

With a raised eyebrow, Daz said, "That was brave of you."

"I-I've never been shot at before, but I've won the lottery every time I've drawn for it, so I figured the odds were in my favour," Jim confessed a bit awkwardly as sweat dripped all down his face from fear.

"Good job," Daz calmly praised as he watched Governor Marglow stumble back up onto his feet.

"Damn it. I've had enough. Well, King Daz, fingers crossed that 250 are enough to kill you. If I can't have California, then neither can you!" Governor Marglow screamed as he reached into his pocket and pushed the activation button for a detonator of some sort.

Daz smiled as a large glowing circle made up of Italian words which had some sort of pattern transcribed in its centre appeared in the room. "Indeed. Fingers crossed, huh?"

"W-What's going on?!" Jim was beyond startled. He stumbled over his own feet and actually ended up tripping out of the building so fast that none of the other three present men could even look at him so much as try to stop him as he tumbled through the room and out of the door-shaped hole in the window.

Then, with a bright flash, the strange circle disappeared only to be replaced by a little over 250 spherical floating robots, all of which had a flashing red eye. Simultaneously, they all exploded, but not before Daz quickly moved the crystal clock in the room to act as a shield for Lieutenant Anders. He had plans for the man, after all, and if he was fortunate, the man wouldn't die here.

Warning! The host's [Halo of Absolute Judgement] has activated to save the host's life. Remaining daily uses: 1.

Daz closed his eyes as he firmly held onto Hamson which he'd stabbed into the floor. The blast from the collective explosions was threatening to launch him out of the building. That wasn't really a big deal since he had a few methods to fly, but he wanted to confirm what had happened to Lieutenant Anders most importantly, and, to a lesser degree, Governor Marglow.

All of a sudden, the building started to rumble. 'Damn, this penthouse office is about to collapse. In a worst-case scenario, it could topple the whole skyscraper. Hamson, time to get to work. Earth Wall. Earth Wall. Earth Wall. Earth Wall...'

Luckily, Daz's quick thinking had saved the building. He'd replaced all of the structurally unsound parts of the skyscraper that he could reach with the range of Hamson's skill, Earth Wall, and the shaking had stopped. For now, at least, the place seemed stable.

Now with the dust from the explosion settled and with his ears no longer ringing, Daz could get a good look around the room. Lieutenant Anders seemed to be alive, though barely. Blood covered the man's entire body and he seemed to be in critical condition, unfortunately.

And, devastatingly, the crystal clock and all of the other expensive furniture in the room were in a million pieces scattered across the room.

As for Governor Marglow, well, all that was left was a charred corpse. In fact, he was lucky he had been left with a corpse; whether that was actually a spot of good luck or perhaps bad luck was up for debate.

"You may not have killed me, Timothy, but you certainly got yourself out of punishment. I'll commend you for that much, at least." Daz approached the mess of a man and pulled his soul out of what was left of his lifeless body. "I hope you find peace in the afterlife, wherever or whatever that may be for you."

The reaper looked sad as he released the innocent soul back into one of Earth's circles of reincarnation. "This is becoming a bit too common and I'm not best pleased with that. Are all ruler takeovers going to be this violent? Why can't people just peacefully surrender? Is the 10-million merit point fine for failing the semester's goal too burdensome?"

Daz didn't know the answer to that even despite all of his intellect and instinct, but, what he did know, was that he had a hell of a mess to clean up, that was for sure.