Imagine each world as a story. A book. His role was to make sure that these stories went in a certain direction. He can create the necessary ripple to set things in motion. He doesn’t need to manipulate everything. He needs to ensure the occurrence of some key incidents.

His name… varied between worlds. Like Kara, his real name was incomprehensible. He had a name he used most of the time. But that was butchered and jumbled into what it was now: Kiryuu.

Was it a correction? He assumed so. He felt a bit awkward but there was nothing he could do about it.

There was one thing he was sure of. He was never good with saints. One of his most bitter ‘jobs’ had him raising a saint. He worked in the shadows. He created miracles that a god took credit for. He poured everything to turn that saint into a beacon of hope.

But then came his next mission. To cause the demise of the very saint he created. He manipulated people and events. She was branded a heretic, betrayed, and condemned. She burned. Her rise and fall led by strings he pulled. He hated it.

The client was happy, much to his chagrin. They now had the spirit of the saint join their myriads of heroes and legends. Many of which, he also had a hand in their story. Those spirits never knew his involvement, save for a few.

Some hated him. Some understood him. There were a rare few that loved him.

He was livid. But there was nothing he could do. It was a normal occurrence. He told himself that he should not get attached. It was easier said than done. After all, he was the one involved in the world. He wasn’t some pompous being up in the clouds. More often, he knew the world and its people better than the gods.

There are some deities that interact with their worlds. But it was meager compared to him. He doesn’t see the gods in a positive light. And they couldn’t care less about him.

They handed over their requests to Kara. They would bow their heads towards her. They treated her with utmost respect. Respect—and fear—from her incomparable power. They knew not of a being that could be above her. Her appearance wasn’t even her true form. It was a concept given a body. As for her gender, that was Kiryuu's doing.

Root. Akasha. Void. Beginning. Alpha. End. Omega. Emptiness. Those were but a few names that used to describe her. But they can only grasp the surface of what she really is. There are beings that are not limited by the comprehension of the human mind. Even they cannot fathom the depths of her identity. Kiryuu simply referred to her as the Library. She calls him her Keeper.

That made the other gods think he was a lackey. Just a minion they look down on. They mocked him and called him the ‘machine of the gods’. Unjust complaints were common. Sometimes they want a story to go in a very specific manner. Almost impossible, even. They scrutinized even the most minute of details, often on purpose.

That was the way things went. Especially with humanoid gods. He thought it was petty and ignored it. Until one day, a deity took a step too far with both their words and actions.

His task was to save the human beings oppressed by various dominant races. Their biggest enemy was magic and demonic races. It took him a thousand years. He established a kingdom that became a beacon of humanity.

“Wouldn’t it be exciting to turn things around?” That god said. “How about I have the humans wipe out the other races? Maybe, I’ll even give them my blessings.”

Kiryuu wasn’t human. He only looked like one. It was common knowledge. He interacted and formed relationships with all kinds of races. That was sneered upon, especially by gods who have a favorite race. The narcissists are the worst. Their discrimination is extreme.

He took a deep breath and sighed. In the blink of an eye, he floored the god. Even though the deity struggled, he couldn’t get up as the pummeling continued.

“Scold me later,” he said, taking a short break to crack his neck and knuckles. The beatdown continued. Merciless. Relentless. The god was beyond recognition.

The gods turned to Kara. They called it an outrage. They said that it was disrespectful to the gods. Even though the offender started to plead, Kiryuu continued until he expired. This incited the gods to riot, showing off their divinity and powers.

Kiryuu glared at them and they went silent. He exuded an overwhelming amount of pressure and divinity that made them shrink. They have never seen this before.

“What’s the fuss?” Kara asked them, “A god died? So? I'll just have another one created.”

They were dumbfounded. It was a daunting task and required a lot of power, divinity, mastery of concepts and ideas. They watched as she called him and gave him the task to create a god.

“With whom?” He asked, nonchalantly. It was unnerving. He had slain a god in a one-sided beating. Yet, he was indifferent to it. As if the rage and pressure from before did not exist. That god was already starting to dissolve. Divinity flowed out and scattered. They were overwhelmed and shaken to the core.

“Anyone you fancy,” she answered.

He glanced at the remaining gods. Many retreated and immediately returned to their realms. They found that he had already been there. But he did nothing but visit and have a cup of tea with a goddess, usually their spouse. It was a warning.

They realized that he was one step below her. But that level was beyond them. They thought him harmless and a pushover. But it wasn’t the case. Some of the more respectful gods didn’t have much of an issue with him. The arrogant ones tried to negotiate with Kara in vain.

“Who are you to tell me what to do?” Her smile was terrifying. It was a calm and gentle smile. A complete opposite of the pressure of her words. She sent Kiryuu to their realms to cause havoc and tragedies.

“Not everything is sunshine and butterflies,” she said. It was easy for her to have a world destroyed and another created. Although, he was the one that did the dirty work.

She is the one that assigns him the tasks he needed to fulfill. She gives him the stories he needed to be in, and what roles he should take. It was all down to the specifics. From the man (or woman) of the hour, to the exact second, to the minute details on who the witnesses should be. It became monotonous. He didn’t like it.

She had him take on the darkest and dirtiest tasks. He is the best with what he does. It doesn’t mean he enjoyed it. The repetition. The grind. It was all boring. He hated his job. He hated her. But she could handle him, even if he was at his worst. He was her own guilty pleasure.

Their relationship is just as complex. They have been locked in a forceful coexistence. His past actions caused her to become who she is now. His actions caused them to be bound to each other.

His only means of escape had already been bargained. It was a means to be erased completely from existence. A means that would free him from her grasp.

She was the void. Emptiness. The Root.

He was a paradox. Outside of any reality. Unbound to any rule.

She was the Library, and he was her Keeper.

Unbound from everything and nothing. Bound to one another.

“That is the gist of things,” Kiryuu tried his best to explain the summary of it. He shuffled his legs a bit. He had been sitting formally on the floor. The other women were sitting on the bed, listening to his story. His legs were starting to go numb. But he endured it. “Well, before I arrived in this world, at least.”

Things had finally calmed down after they noticed his barely conscious state. It was not surprising that they would have questions. He was gone to god knows where. His body was left behind like an empty husk. Moreover, when he returned, it caused Vena’s eyes to trigger intensely. They already figured he had been hiding something. It looks like that was no longer possible.

He asked them to sit comfortably. He sat on the floor. Shino was quite familiar with that pose.

He started to explain but… they each had their difficulty understanding it completely.

Dessa was able to comprehend most of it. She was a demon lord, after all, and the peculiar one that thirsts for knowledge. She was in a state of pure bliss, muttering to herself incomprehensibly. She was in her own world, trying to visualize what she had heard about the gods. She was a simple being with curiosity as her fuel. She was already determined to follow him to the ends of this world. If possible, maybe even to other worlds. Would he even allow her? She was willing to do anything. Anything.

Shino had come from a world where each part had their own way of worship. Some worship only a single god. Others had their own pantheon of gods. The concept of various deities was not new to her. But she believed that the gods are the most powerful beings to exist. The image of her master trampling down a deity left her conflicted. There was admiration. But there was confusion as he tried to comprehend this ‘job’ he was describing. Why was he in this world? What role was he supposed to play? Rayis’ face flashed through her mind. She felt anxious.

Vena’s focused more on those he affected with all his travels. It would explain what she saw with her eyes. He seemed cursed and possessed by myriads of horrendous beings. Was it a manifestation of his guilt? Or did it show how much blood he had in his hands. She noticed that his expression often darkened while he was explaining. He continued to talk, while his dead eyes stared blankly into space. How long has he lived this life? It was difficult to believe he was still sane after everything.

Hilde felt anxious. For some reason, she felt as if she was sinking into a dark, murky place. She didn’t know the intricacies between deities like Dessa. She couldn’t see people and intentions like Vena. She didn’t have an outside perspective of this world like Shino. She tried to comprehend as much as she could but one thing stuck to her mind: the tasks.

Not how he was stronger than gods. Not how he can travel between worlds. But that he acts even if they were atrocious. But the suffering of other people.

She wondered. Was she supposed to suffer the way she did? Could he have stopped it? Or did he choose to let it happen? The image of him ignoring her cries for help plagued her thoughts.

‘Why?’ She wanted to scream. She wanted to shout. ‘Why didn’t you save me?’

Hilde felt someone squeeze her hand tightly snapped out of it. She felt fished out of murky water. She didn’t realize she was hyperventilating. She started to take deep breaths until she calmed down.

Kiryuu had placed his head on the floor and prostrated before them.

“I’m sorry for deceiving everyone and causing a mess.” He explained that he wasn’t supposed to be in this world. It was already balanced and there was no need to interfere. His presence was unnecessary.

But his selfishness threw a wrench in the machinations. It caused a mess of everything. The hero selection. The actions of the demon lords. Even the cycle of generations. His meddling affected everything.

All because he wanted to take a vacation. He wanted a break from all the madness Kara put him through.

The problem was his capabilities with world jumps. His control over interdimensional travel was unstable.

Kara can plant him in a world or dimension without any difficulty. Her authority allows her to stitch together everything needed to place him in a world. Before he met Kara, he was able to travel between worlds, only involuntarily.

If done intentionally, his mere presence can alert the Wills of the Worlds. They will try and erase him as soon as possible. He avoided that by breaking down his soul into the weakest possible state.

It bypassed the sense of the Will of this World. But he didn’t expect his state to be noticed by one of the goddesses. But that was only the beginning. It caused a chain of events that disrupted the natural cycle.

He explained that he finished dealing with Rayis. He was supposed to return but Kara intervened. Shino flinched slightly when the name was mentioned. Vena and Hilde were curious about what he meant. Vena held off from asking but it was already too much for Hilde.

“What do you mean you dealt with Rayis? Rayis is dead!” She was exasperated. He was overloading her with information. She found a lot of them difficult to comprehend, and when she did, it pained her.

“I’m sorry… I…” She clenched fist and looked down.

Kiryuu tried to get up but she held up her hand. “I’m fine. Just… continue.”

An obvious lie. He bit his lip. It felt like that time with Vena. It was as painful as well.

He took a deep breath and sighed. He explained that he had a negotiation with Kara. He omitted the part about what happened before that, for obvious reasons.

In the end, they reached several compromises. He will continue with his ‘job’. Instead of being given a role immediately, they will discuss it. But the advantage will alternate between them. Since he forced himself on this world, he will be the one to compromise for the next. As for his tasks, she will avoid giving him highly specific tasks. She normally dictates his exact actions. He will be allowed some leeway as long as it doesn’t completely affect the story. Instead, he only needs to affect the world’s myth and history.

The most important part is that she will allow him to fix his mistakes in this world. He was already on the clock. His first task was to tell them the truth. The second was to accept the consequences.

“Get up.”

He obliged. He could see her trembling. Her fists were clenched tightly.

“Hold on a minute, Hilde… I mean, Mistress…” Shino got up from went between them. She inadvertently addressed Hilde by name. She intended to refer to her as ‘Mistress’ as she did with Vena.

“Why are you taking his side?!” Hilde shouted.

Hilde knew about Rayis’ doings. He was a high priority target. A lot of people and organizations were looking into him. She has information about his organization and members, including those broken into obedience.

She figured that Shino would at least understand.

“Why are you acting up now?” Shino argued. The organization was capable of gathering information. She knew about Hilde’s circumstances as well. Still, she believed this wasn’t a matter of whose circumstances were worse. But she can understand that Hilde had been unstable since that incident. “Didn’t you say a while ago how much we don’t want Master to go?”

“I… But…” Hilde fell to her knees and broke down crying.

Shino went to Hilde and embraced her. “It’s never too late to be saved…”

Kiryuu knelt down and placed a hand on Hilde’s shoulder. She tensed up. She couldn’t look him in the eye.

Vena gave her a gentle push. It felt reminiscent of the push she gave her during the ‘descent’. And a while ago, Hilde kept her from running when her eyes went haywire.

Hilde fell forward and into his chest. She closed her eyes and bit her lip. She couldn’t deny the warmth that enveloped her.

“I can’t… understand anything anymore…”

Kiryuu combed through her hair affectionately and sighed. He turned to Vena and smiled a bit. He glanced at Shino who sat by Hilde. Then he looked at Dessa at the edge of the bed.

“I have experienced countless lives. I have lived countless roles. I have taken on countless names. But know that as long as I am here with you, I am and always will be Kiryuu.”

He paused and took a deep breath. “This is my fault and my responsibility. So let me tell you about ‘corrections’.”

“Mmm! How delicious!” Rune purred as she cut another piece of the steak and ate it.

“I-I am humbled, your majesty,” the cook did his best to bow despite his shaking knees.

“Please, try it,” she addressed the woman sitting in front of her.

“Thank you very much for your hospitality, your majesty,” Lysis looked at the steak on her plate. It was definitely appetizing. But she was distracted by the other figures seated on the table.

“Are you not hungry, Tyrf?” Rune smiled at the woman to her left.

“I’m…” Tyrf’s hands were trembling. Her clothes were disheveled, stained, and torn. A musky smell wafted from her. She was on the verge of tears but she held back from crying.

“Oh my, is it not to your liking? Ah, of course!” Rune nodded to the cook.

The cook pushed the tray towards Tyrf and brought out a small pitcher. Lysis can clearly see the hesitation in the cook. He forced himself to approach the second queen. Tyrf’s eyes widened as the cook poured a viscous white liquid all over her steak.

“Hrggrhhhng!” The person seated to Rune’s right made a commotion. Seated might not be the best term. The beast king Artashir was nothing more than a limbless stump placed on the chair. There was prominent damage on his throat and he couldn’t form coherent words.

“There you go,” Rune ignored Artashir and beamed at Tyrf.

Lysis shuddered when she saw the strange liquid. She didn’t know what it was but it disgusted her.

Tyrf took a long look at her steak then turned slowly towards Rune.

Rune kept smiling. “Go on.”

Tyrf’s teared up as she slowly cut a piece of the white-covered steak. Her face contorted in disgust as she took it in her mouth. She forcefully swallowed it without chewing.

But…

“Urk!” Tyrf reeled back and fell off her chair. She threw up on the floor and started coughing.

“Ah, I guess she can’t eat steak yet.” Rune sighed and shook her head.

‘I don’t think the steak was the issue,’ Lysis thought to herself.

She was sent here as a messenger. After it was approved, they used one of the teleportation gates. They were welcomed by the first queen herself. Lysis noticed that The Savite Principality was covered by a translucent red dome. She never heard of the principality using any barriers.

The other knights were given meals and some room in the barracks. She was invited over for lunch. It was not how she would expect it to be. They already have information on the friction between the queens. She never expected it to end up this way.

Lysis kept her judgment to herself. Rune was definitely being cruel but… it was vastly different from how she normally was. Lysis wondered what could have pushed such a kind and gentle soul to this extent.

She remained composed, but forced herself to eat the delicious steak. At least, as much as she could stomach after seeing that.

“I apologize on behalf of Tyrf,” Rune turned to Lysis.

Lysis forced herself to slice off another piece of the steak and smiled. Her instincts were screaming at her right now. She should avoid offending Rune as much as possible.

“Please do not mind it,” she said and wiped her lips with the napkin. “I can see that you have some domestic affairs to get to so I’ll make this brief.”

Tyrf looked up at Lysis. Her eyes pleading in desperation. Lysis ignored her to the best of her ability. She had a terrible feeling that one wrong move and she won’t make it out of the principality alive, or sane.

“In a month, there will be a conference held for the heroes. We hope for your participation in the matter.”

“Ah~ Of course.” Rune clapped her hands together. “I hope Aislin is doing well~”

Before she became queen, Aislin had met with Rune. She was like a daughter she never had. Rune had not been able to bear any children. That might be the reason she was particularly close with Aislin.

“She is particularly busy with the kingdom’s hero but I will send her your regards.”

“I am grateful,” Rune nodded. “I get to see Aislin in a month. I can’t wait~”

“Your majesty will be escorting the beast principality’s hero?” Lysis can already see the logistical nightmare. If they weren’t careful, they could start a war. The safety of all foreign VIPs is of utmost importance.

“Oh my~ Did I not inform you?”

Lysis tilted her head to the side in confusion. Rune rose from her seat. Her tails split and emanated a powerful aura.

“I am Savite’s hero.”