Chapter 194

Arc 17 - Shadowy World - Part 4

A monster floated just outside the planet - above Northern Asia - covering the majority of the planet under its ugly shadow.

To some, days are a concept of the old times. For them, light no longer shines.

The monster was left behind from that day, waiting for the inevitable end of humanity.

It is a judge, a judge of the cosmos, so it is judging. It is judging this world.

Libra Iolos, a group of Void Creatures with a singular mind, left one of them behind to watch over this world. And if the need arises, bring down the hammer of justice.

Humanity is under the watchful eyes of cosmic demons.

Above the shadowy Russia - the darkest part of the world at the moment - a golden streak flew up like a distant lantern.

Humanity could guess who it was and what it wanted to do.

After all, this has been the only light this part of the world had seen in the last month.

"Artorius "Arthur" Pendragon, King of Britannia," the Celestial Judge nodded its gigantic inhuman head, welcoming the King of Britannia. "To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing the emperor of this world?"

While Arthur did not hate being called the emperor of this world, on the surface, he showed displeasure.

"Libra Iolos, please," without greeting the monster, Arthur without any hesitation, began to beg.

"Arthur, you can be the greatest hero of the cosmos, you can be the beacon of hope in this darkness if you wished to, yet why do you want to stay on this small world, waiting for your inevitable end?"

"Because I believe in humanity," Arthur spat out. "I believe when the time comes, humanity will unite."

"I am afraid you are living in a world of fairytales and fantasies, of myths. You have had weeks, yet humanity is anything but united."

Arthur bit his tongue angrily.

This monster was right, so very right.

He wasn't wrong, he can't be wrong.

"Shall we evaluate your world, then?"

Arthur wanted to prove his world had potential to survive, but the monster can see everything. Nothing in this world is hidden from its eyes.

"In the past few weeks, you haven't made any progress regarding the unity of the human race. If anything, it is deteriorating. Opposite of unity."

He knew the monster was telling the truth, God help him, he really did.

He promised the monsters something and he couldn't be further away from it.

"The results speaks for themselves."

"I understand, I do very much. But…" Arthur searched deep down in his heart for answers. He could not produce a convincing answer - because he had used up all the excuses thus far. "Humanity cannot change this quickly."

With a sad look on his face, the King stared at a cosmic demon.

"I am a young person, torn out of my time and hurled into a time not of my own, I don’t understand humanity as well as you do, O’ Great One. However, the two of us know how slowly humanity adapts. They are slow, weak, unintelligent, and...”

“Of course, Arthur of Britannia. Humanity cannot change, especially in such an abbreviated time… Your bet was wrong, your faith in humanity was wrong. Oh, so very wrong and misguided.”

Arthur sighed sadly.

“What… I… Can you...” Arthur blew a raspberry. “I am asking a lot from you, and I understand you are from the beyond - not one of us… Even then, can I...”

“I am afraid, I cannot. I am bound by the laws of the cosmos, and the judges must never interfere.”

“Not even… I...” Arthur swallowed his saliva. “I don’t know… Just scare them. Force them...”

From his mouth, an unpleasant sound came out.

“What am I even asking of you?” he muttered under his breath. “...Sorry.”

“Arthur, over the course of the brief time, I have come to know you more, you are a good man. You deserve better, but your world, that I am sorry about.”

Arthur rubbed the back of his head furiously as he thought.

Then, he crossed his leg and sat in front of the Celestial Judge.

“Sorry,” he said slowly.

“I am beyond emotions, human. Even if you have said something which might hurt my feelings, I would not know.”

“...”

Arthur chuckled.

“You cosmic beings are all the same.”

“Perhaps we are, perhaps we are not, but this is the life given to us.”

“Mm, do you not question it?”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean… Do you ever question your life? The choices that are made for you - which you have no control over… Do you not want to change that?”

Without a speck of hesitation, the Celestial Judge said, “No.”

The mighty Celestial moved its large arm and arched it in front of him, facing upwards towards the skies.

Arthur turned around and looked at its palm, showing him a diagram, which he could not understand.

“The cosmos is built on a hierarchy - of not just dimensions, but people too. We are the primal architects of the cosmos, without us, it could not survive. Simply put...”

Arthur slowly began to widen his eyes.

“You… are not real.”

“In a manner, yes. We are not real - physically - at least not our true form. We are primal metaphors, ideas, thoughts, concepts… We are the primal aspect of the cosmos.”

Arthur was not sure how to respond to this demonic God. He felt sad for them.

“We don’t have a mind, nor do we have emotions. We are the inner workings of the cosmos.”

“But… that’s wrong.”

“A human body is made of atoms, do atoms have a choice? A mind? Do you value their opinion? Their existence?”

Arthur gasped inaudibly; he had never heard something as wrong as this.

He could not comprehend fully what the Celestial Judge was saying, but at the same time, he understood deep within him.

“King Arthur of Britannia, free will is a luxury only few creatures have.”

"I see…" he was not sure how to feel about that. "What about Nazar? Was he a bodily function of the cosmos too?"

"No," the Celestial Judge replied immediately.

Arthur felt a little relieved.

"In simple terms, he was the true body of the cosmos."

"..."

It took Arthur exactly two seconds to realise what the Celestial Judge said.

"!!!" his eyes went wide, wider than before.

Abruptly, he stood up (?) and faced the Celestial Judge.

"N-n-n-n-n-n-n-" Arthur struggled to speak his mind. "That…"

"One he was a human," the Celestial Judge lowered his hand, causing cold winds to fall upon this small world, "but then he was the Supreme God of all, our creator - all of us, including you."

"!!!"

Arthur could not believe what his ears were hearing.

He could not understand it.

Even though he heard the same words many times before.

Every time he meets this monster, he is hoping he will get a different answer.

A God-- God himself wouldn't live among humans, now, would he?

An angel lived, but the difference between the two of them is bigger than night and day.

"You have to accept reality one day, Arthur of Britannia. You must."

Arthur's skin went pale.

"Humanity has collectively forgotten God, only few lucky ones remember him. Remember his name and his face. To them, he was an invisible enemy. Use that to your advantage if you want to save your race."

Arthur scoffed weakly.

"Why are you trying to help us?" he asked slowly.

"While we lack individuality*, we don't lack common sense. We know what is right and what is wrong, we can distinguish between good and evil. You are a good man, a beacon of light in this world, and if you truly believe you can change humanity, then we believe in you. You promised us a better humanity."

Arthur failed to understand why they even agreed to his terms. Why did they spare humanity?

The answer was simple, and in front of his eyes.

However, he simply did not want to know it.

"God cherished this world."

And so, the Celestial Judge stopped speaking.

He continued to monitor the entirety of this world, to see its progress and regress.

Arthur started to descend like a meteor from the sky.

While he was coming down, his thoughts strayed off and he was reliving that day again.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

Weeks ago, London:

God was killed and the devils had descended upon this world to judge it.

The creator of humanity stood on the ground as he waited for the end of his masterpiece.

However, to stop the hammer of justice from ending this world, a hero rose to the task at the right time.

Like a Golden Sun, he stood before these demonic Gods.

"Humanity will survive."

The Celestial Judges replied, "Why?"

Their question was abrupt and without emotions, it caused Arthur to take a step back immediately.

Even Lucifer narrowed his eyes as he waited for Arthur to answer the question of the Celestials.

Lucifer did not care about this world he created, but he was interested in what Arthur would do.

I am standing here now; I must face forward.

Arthur sucked in a breath as he stepped forward once more.

"Because I believe in humanity, I believe it can be turned around," he looked them directly in the eyes, a part of their body no mortal should.

The Celestials did not reply, they found his reply almost pathetic.

"In any case, what is our crime? What have we done that we deserve extinction?"

"Simply put, you have hurt him."

"How so?"

"You are an exception Arthur of Britannia, but the crimes of your species outweigh it's good."

Arthur frowned.

That was not the answer he was looking for.

He had done nothing wrong, many people had done nothing wrong, so why were they all being punished?

“I am afraid I cannot accept your terms, demon,” Arthur narrowed his eyes as he spoke in a serious loud voice. “Your understanding of humanity is so flawed. Your understanding of this case is wrong.”

“Hm, enlighten us, human.”

Arthur sucked in a breath as he thought for a brief moment.

“Your understanding of humanity is wrong, you see only black and white, ignoring all the other colours in between. Yes, humans resented him, hated him… But that’s okay. Hate, anger, and fear is natural. It is a natural part of the world, of the universe. And he - Nazar - did not do anything to fix his name - to change their view on him.”

“So?”

The one word reply from the monsters caused the world to gasp loudly.

“Yes, he died. He died on Earth. But… It was not done by a human. It was done by an alien.”

“An “alien” who has already been detained and will pay the price for his crimes.”

“...”

Arthur bit his tongue in anger.

The monsters did not know reason, they would not change their mind, it was something he knew very well.

“THEN WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO CAUSE OUR EXTINCTION?! WHO ARE YOU TO DECIDE OUR FUTURE?!”

“We are the Celestial Judges,” the eyes of the monsters flared brightly with red energies. “We judge the cosmos, the people, the ideas… Our sole function is to judge. And that is what we are aiming to do here.”

“But your judgement is wrong!” Arthur spat out. “Your judgement is misguided.”

“And what would you know of what is right and what is wrong, human?” one of the Libra Iolos lowered their head - looking down at Arthur.

Arthur instinctively moved back a little - he feared his life might end at any moment.

“Only a fragment of the truth you know, of the universe and the creation. Your race is but ants before us, yet God gave you value. And you...”

While these monsters had no emotions, Arthur could feel something similar to anger from them.

The rage and fury of these demonic Gods was so intense, Arthur thought his mind will go mad, his soul will shred to pieces. Yet he stood mighty before them.

He fought against the madness and the pain.

“You - humanity - rejected him, you committed a heresy. In time of his need, none of you stood beside him.”

Arthur opened his mouth, he wanted to tell them that these humans are not powerful enough, but the demon continued speaking.

The next words from his mouth weighed heavily on the shoulders of everyone and everything.

“Before you lie our creator. A God who created us and you,” Libra Iolos spoke not just to Earth and humanity, but the entire Ultraverse. And perhaps more. “Omnipotent he may be, he still needs help, acceptance and love. ”

The Universe - Vilramore lowered its gaze (?).

The universe was guilty.

“Yet you failed him. And for that, we, the Libra Iolos, will judge you. We will judge this world. Your world will die for its heresies.”

“Wait… Creator…?” Arthur asked in a confused manner. He did not understand what these monsters were saying. He wanted to know if he heard it right, but the judges continued.

“If you want to prove yourself, then do so, or else...”

The monsters tightened their grips on their weapons.

The clanging sound of these cosmic hammers destroyed space around them.

“PERISH!”

“...!” Arthur swallowed his saliva in fear.

The monsters’ scary aura shook him to his very core.

I can’t… Breath… This…

The aura of these monsters was forcing him to faint, to fall and submit.

However...

Arthur bit his tongue with great force. Tasting his own blood, he managed to fight off against the fear inducing aura of these cosmic demons.

In his hand, he gripped on his sword which lit up with golden light.

As a fraction of Aarin’s power flowed into him, the fight against these monsters seemed easier than ever before.

Her power protected him.

“Is that so...” Arthur spoke slowly.

He sucked in a deep breath and slowly ascended to be on a similar level to these demons.

“Then...”

In the back of his mind, he kept shouting, “No, don’t do it.”

A pained look spread over Arthur’s face; he was angry - at nobody but himself.

“Don’t take just us, but the rest of the universe too. They have done him wrong. More than us. Far more.”

Lucifer, quite surprised by what he heard, smiled - impressed by this so called “hero”.

“Everyone in this universe has done him wrongly, thus… It is only fair if they go extinct just like us.”

Before the monsters could speak, Arthur added, “Yes, humanity’s contribution to the cosmos is almost zero, we aren’t worth anything, but how is it fair that we should suffer and not them.”

“Nineteen-ninety-eight of your calendar, the Harris-Frank case. It was clear, that Harris, who was the murderer of over a thousand people, but he was charged as “not guilty” simply because the jury - who were compared of this man-- The jury voted for Frank instead, a farmer, a good man, who tried to get justice for the death of his son. He had to die. Did that make sense to anyone? Was it fair? No, far from it. An innocent man suffered because the opposition had power and influence.”

Arthur knew how wrong the justice system was, but he questioned what these monsters were trying to say.

“In fifteen-forty-two, an emperor of your nation, sentenced an entire town - a town full of innocent people - simply because he had power. His court did not ask why, they simply obeyed. They simply pointed their fingers to this town and the soldiers acted. They wanted to save themselves, so the town had to die. The town had to die so the king and his allies could hold more power.”

“Wait...”

Arthur began to understand what the monster was saying.

“Two-thousand-eight, a large corporation pointed a finger to an innocent employee, and he died for the crimes of the corporation. That corporation now holds enough power to overthrow nations. Is that fair?”

“This… This can’t be.”

“It happens often on this planet, and it will continue to happen. It will until the end of time. Humans will point fingers collectively to a small and weak person, he will be sacrificed instead of the criminals. Even now, the humans - mentally - are pointing fingers at each other, hoping they will be the sacrifice.”

“The universes pointed their fingers at us and chose us as the sacrifice?!” Arthur spat out angrily.

“That is correct,” the Libra Iolos replied without hesitation. “You have been chosen as a sacrifice.”

“And...” Arthur swallowed his saliva to wet his dry throat. “And you accepted it?!”

Arthur pointed his golden sword at the monsters.

“AND YOU ACCEPTED IT?!”

“The better question is, why should Null not accept their offering?”

“...”

Arthur was momentarily at a loss for words.

Null was an entity he had heard nothing of, but he could imagine how dreadful it could be.

“Outox Empire’s science and knowledge has benefitted the universe, the multiverse. So has Vanaha Empire’s. The Alvexians are keeping the entire multiverse safe, and they happen to originate from the neighbouring galaxy. The Chochicans are the children of an angel, their mere existence has pushed the mystical aspect of the universe further, and it will keep pushing it. It has brought joy into the lives of many, it has made their lives easier. Should I continue?”

Arthur clicked his tongue.

“Now then, King Arthur of Britannia, can you tell us what humanity has done for this universe? Of course, leaving aside you and Norse God.”

“...” Arthur had no answer, so he blurted out whatever came to his mind. “Nothing.”

“Precisely. You, who have hurt him the most, shall pay the price. It is only right, no?”

Beneath them, Lucifer watched with great interest as Arthur tried to save humanity. While he did not care about them, Lucifer was quite interested in this “hero” out of time.

“In all of the cosmos, we have judged many worlds, seen even more, yet none comes close to how broken this world is. People hate one another for how they look, for how they act, for how they talk, for what they own, and the list continues and continues. A list without an end.”

“Of course, humanity is broken beyond repairs, but… !” at that moment, an idea flashed at the back of Arthur’s mind. “Ah.”

It was his last chance at saving humanity.

He knew it will not work, it was a long shot, but he couldn’t stop his mouth from moving.

So...

“What if I unite humanity, what if I bring them all together, and...” while deep down, Arthur had no confidence in his idea, he wanted the monsters to know he knew what he was talking about, he wanted them to know it will work. “Why don’t you and I sit together and watch humanity bloom like a flower, a golden flower that will light up the blackest parts of the cosmos.”

“I am afraid this world will not live until a few billion years.”

Arthur scoffed.

“No, I mean in one year.”

And in the next instant, he regretted his words.

Humanity could not even be united in a few million years, let alone reach the stars.

However, Arthur did not want to back away.

One year is a long time to find a different plan… I hope.

“In one year, that’s right, in one year, we will reach the stars and change the cosmos. We will make a difference; we will pay for our crimes by illuminating the darkest parts of the cosmos.”

Below, humanity gasped loudly in a collective manner.

They knew it will be and impossible task, it is not something they can achieve.

Their demise was written, that could not be averted.

Lucifer glanced back at his creation and laughed silently.

He found his creation amusing.

“Humanity does not believe in you, King Arthur.”

“Then so be it!” Arthur tightened his grip on his sword even more and the sword shone brighter than the sun. “I will change them; I will change them all. I will save us.”

The Libra Iolos were not convinced, after all, they could predict it will end in failure.

“You are prolonging the inevitable.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not. But I believe in humanity, in their potential, and I WILL MAKE SURE THEY REACH THAT POTENTIAL!” his roar reverberated throughout the stars, it awoke the human race - or something deep within them.

“King Arthur, you are a good man, but...”

Lucifer sighed as he began to ascend from the ground.

Floating next to Arthur, he looked the Libra Iolos directly in their eyes.

Lucifer and the Libra Iolos did not exchange any words, their eyes simply met once.

The eyes of the monsters lit up with a blue light for a brief moment and then moments after, one of them said, “Very well, then. It has been decided.”

The space around Earth began to rearrange itself. The cracks in space no longer existed.

“The destruction of this planet will be postponed.”

“!!” Arthur’s eyes opened joyfully as his lips spread widely across his face. He couldn’t believe his ears, he thought he might have heard wrong for a fleeting moment.

“King Arthur of Britannia, you have one year - human year - to unite your race and make a change in the cosmos. If you fail, however, then your death shall be far worse in comparison.”

“Th… Thank you,” King Arthur heart full of gratitude reached the ears of the monsters, however, they did not acknowledge it.

“One of us, one of the Libra Iolos will be stationed over your world. Your world will be monitored, your progress will be analysed, and if, after one year, we deem it unworthy, the hammer of justice will fall, not even Lucifer will be able to stop it.”

And so, just like that, the Libra Iolos vanished into thin air, leaving only one of them behind.

Arthur breathed a loud sigh of relief as his sword started to fall from his hand.

An odd yet loud laughter of happiness escaped his lips.

The people down below were confused, and scared, but Arthur was happy. He was happy his world and his race survived another day.

However...

“I am interested to see what you will do, human,” Lucifer spoke to him while looking at the sky. It seemed he was fixing the damage left by the monsters. “Whether you save your world or doom it, it shall be entertaining to see.”

Arthur’s happiness vanished in but an instant.

A new form of fear began to swell up deep within him.

He turned his head slowly towards the entity next to him - an entity whom he was not aware of it until this exact moment.

Arthur was too engrossed in saving his world, he did not realise Lucifer was standing right next to him.

The moment his eyes laid on Lucifer, his heart stopped beating.

His eyes blurred.

Screams, loud screams, echoed in his mind.

Pain and suffering, death and destruction, he felt it all.

Yet… he did not feel it at all or hear anything.

“Farewell, human.”

The man who seemed more human than anyone else, turned out to be far more terrifying than the monsters that nearly destroyed his world a few seconds ago.

The calm look, the faint smile, and the red crimson eyes sent a dread down the soul of this mortal.

Lucifer vanished into thin air, leaving Arthur and this world behind.

“Hrk?!”

King Arthur suddenly found himself in a state of nauseousness.

Huh...

His vision was spiralling out of control, he could not see very well.

He felt weaker than ever before, he felt as if his body would give out and die.

Was it the effect of the monsters or this human-looking angel?

King Arthur knows the answer to that, but he wished he didn’t.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

??? - ????:

In a universe far from here, inhabited by nothing but robots, a small meteor crashed into a small town, killing everything in it.

The arms and legs of these robots were turned to dust, their oil turned to fire which exploded in every direction.

The orange fires burned down everything and continued to burn for many days to come.

To the burning town, a thin robotic man - with thin prosthetic arms and legs - found its way.

"Day 10; Log 1: the hell town has been found by Bevarinver 1001.1001.1001."

The robot walked closer to the fire that never ended.

It couldn't stop itself, the orange fire was as alluring as the starry sky, if not more.

It was pulling it in like a black hole.

There was something inhumane - even inhumane by the standards of these robotic creatures - residing in this fire.

"Come, my child, come," the fire spoke.

It spoke as the fire evolved even more than it was earlier.

At this rate, it would swallow the robot whole.

But… it could not spot moving.

The fire was alluring, it wanted this man.

The robot lived a short life, unaware of anything in "life".

It was meant to live longer than the stars, it was promised to him by its God the Ultraviranx, yet...

"Why does it feel that my life will be shorter?" Submitting the inquiry into the server."

It made a whirring sound as the question was uploaded to the server, to the cloud, for the entire world - perhaps more - to see.

And there was no answer.

"I am your server, your cloud, your… life."

The fire stroked the skies, or at least the robot felt like it did.

It raised its mechanical head and looked at the flames that were about to touch the heavens.

No matter how much he tried, he could not look away.

It was pulling him in.

It walked and walked.

It walked into the fire and through it.

It took a step forward, then another, expecting to burn at the heat of a star.

But it didn't.

It survived.

It survived the supernova.

It looked beyond the beautiful fire and saw a burning robot.

A robot that looked like him.

"What are you?" it asked.

It asked a simple question.

"You."

"I don't understand."

Robots did not have emotions, which was the standard for them, so they could not panic or feel fear.

But… it questioned.

"How can I understand beauty?"

"It is not beauty, it's a set of mechanical strings that are being pulled. By me, of course."

The burning demon laughed.

And the robot, it did not understand anything.

"Ultraviranx," the robot uttered the name of its God. "You are him."

"Yes, 1001.1001.1001, I am your maker."

"But why, maker?"

"You are worthless, a heap of junk, so they sent you as a sacrifice. Every century, a new child is given to me. I must feast or else destroy all there is."

"Why… me?"

"You are worthless, a heap of junk."

And so, the fire demon absorbed the robot into itself, killing it.

And then, within a moment, it left for the stars.

The world sighed in a manner of relief, knowing they will live till tomorrow.

They were safe.

But 1001.1001.1001 wasn't.

It died.

And yet…

There was no solace for it.

There was no robot heaven waiting for it - even though they promised.

In death, it found darkness.

A never-ending darkness.

『Come, my child,』 in front of this robot, a robotic skeleton with golden wings of energies appeared.

It extended its arm, waiting for this newly dead robot to take it and go with him.

『Some souls are forever meant to suffer.』

"..."

The robot did not say anything for a while.

It was quiet.

It didn't understand.

In the end, a few words left its speakers.

"Why does it feel that my life will be shorter?"

And so, the angel took the robot's arm, and they vanished - as if neither ever existed.