POV: Gzeph

Thinking won't get me further. I just can't imagine who would leak intel to the demons. Well, apart from Alex but he is too obvious a culprit.

Everyone I've worked with should be clean but someone has to be the cause.

From those that are left... I think Eva or W-Nwu would be the most trustworthy.

No, W-Nwu should be better, we have been together through several thousand years of war. We go way back to the original crisis from Deteoh.

I don't even remember much of my life before that anymore.

Shit, I don't know where W-Nwu is, so I can't ask him.

Guess I'll have to try my luck with Eva. Not that this should be a problem, she's always done the right thing even if it led to... that interrogation.

Now, where's her contact info...

Beep Beep

Or maybe she's just busy.

Click

Ah, now someone accepted the call.

"Hi, this is Sei speaking. The previous owner of this line is currently in captivity."

Eva is what?

"I hadn't heard of that. Any word on when she will be back?"

"Given the charges pressed against her, how about never?"

What the hell is going on here...

"What crime has she supposedly committed?"

"If the rumors are to be believed she is involved in top god Todo's death."

What? Todo is dead!? How?!

Sei asks me, "Umm, may I ask who I am talking to?"

"Doesn't matter. Thanks for the info. Was nice talking to you, Sei."

"Huh? Hey-"

Click

How does any of that make sense? You can't kill the guy. By all means, it should be absolutely impossible to harm Todo, forget about killing him. His [Alpha&Omega] skill makes sure of that. It trumps everything you can think of. Your divine intervention would need a divine intervention itself to even get a snowball's chance in hell to achieve one percent of its intended effect.

Todo is to a god what a regular god is to an ant. It simply cannot be true.

Unless... did the demons manage to find a way to drain his divinity? Is that what the artifacts are for?

But then... this should've been noticed. You can't keep such a massive change secret.

Wait... is that why he was so often sick in recent decades? Did the upper brass know and just sit on their damned asses doing nothing?

Shit.

What have those useless-

...

No, this is just a theory for now. I have to verify his death for myself first.

Don't be hasty for once, Gyev.

No, I haven't been Gyev in ages, that man is dead. He died with Yulia's disappearance. I'm only Gzeph now, just a broken, pitiful man.

Maybe I can go back to being Gyev once I find her?

Maybe the sins I've committed in the search for her can still be forgiven...

I just have to find her. She has to be... somewhere.

She just... has to.

...

Just another episode... I need new meds...

...

Shit, given what I've done recently, I can't just waltz into the front door and question people about everything... but I should be able to access the security cams. If something has happened it should be visible in past recordings.

Now how to get there...

This planet is under too much surveillance, someone would find out quickly where I am if I did it from here.

My closest secret lab is... a few lightyears away. But at least it would be safe enough for what I need to do.

I could be there in about a week, physics be damned.

...

Or maybe I should just risk talking to Graham.

Should I?

No, but I'll do that anyway.

Ring Ring

"Graham speaking."

"Hey, it is me, Gzeph. I have something urgent to talk to you about."

"Oh, god, please no, which planet did you blow up this time?"

"None. I wanted to do that once - justified if I may add - but someone wouldn't let me."

"Bah, it is too much that you even thought about it! Just imagine how many innocents would've died!"

"And you should consider how many innocents DID die because you three stopped me!"

"Gzeph, you goddamn fool..."

"Those demons took Yulia from me, Graham! You know that! And you know how long it took us to find their planetary headquarters! Over a thousand years! If you had let me, we would've been rid of the Creed! But now? Now they are everywhere!"

"We don't even know if they are at fault!"

"Who else could it have been? You were there, Graham! We were preparing for my and Yulia's wedding and the next thing we know Yulia is missing and the whole planet is under attack by a new demon lord and their army!"

"Then why didn't you find her when you destroyed that army? According to your report, not a single demon escaped that day."

"...I don't know."

"And even if it was the Creed, how would destroying that planet bring Yulia back? She'd be dead as well!"

"Doesn't matter, we could've resurrected her again. She is a deva, her soul would have returned to us."

"...you're a horrible person, Gzeph. Willing to kill your wife-to-be..."

"Still better than whatever they must have done to her. I can't imagine what she must be going through..."

Both of us stay silent for a while.

Graham tells me, "...you know I would've already helped you long ago if I could help you. But you know as well as I do that I can't."

"I know, Graham, I know. But that isn't why I've called. I... heard that Todo died. I need to confirm whether that is true or not."

"No one has seen his dead body but all signs point to it being true."

"How?"

"If they know anything they've managed to keep it a secret from the rumor mill."

"Got it... so back to plan C it is."

I need to see it with my own eyes. Seems like I have to travel to my secret lab after all.

"Gzeph, is there any chance of getting you to stop your warpath before I have to retire in the next ten years?"

No, you won't get me to... did he just say ten years?

"I thought you still had almost two hundred years ahead of you?"

"Well... that was the original plan. Then the second system crash happened and among other things, that timer was set that much sooner."

"I had no idea..."

"Yeah, I kept it a secret until recently. Between the loss of Todo and our inability to get anyone else to access the source code... life will become interesting soon."

"And until then the upper brass works you to the bone?"

"Pretty much. Though I have... circumstances that force me to prioritize certain other decision-makers from time to time."

So they still haven't freed them...

"...yeah, I know what is going on with your daughters."

"Then don't push this issue any further or my twins will be in real trouble. And if they are..."

"...you can do much more damage to the universe than I ever could. I know. Who else knows that your doomsday clock was moved ahead?"

"Only you and my wife."

"So not even the bosses? Doesn't change much. Any desperation measures in case you can't get the system stable in the remaining time?"

"None. Either it works or it doesn't. And I doubt the intruder will help us."

"Intruder?"

"There's only one more person that still has access to the dev tools. And trust me, they are not on our side."

"Great. Just what I needed..."

The good news just keep coming and coming...

"Can't you... just switch the system off? Let everything work according to its natural course."

The old man becomes angry, "Gzeph, you damn earthling, haven't you learned anything since you became a deva? The system is everything. You can't just switch it off. It is not just some fancy skill assistance or get-powerful-quick scheme. It is the unrefutable law of reality. Forget about stats or skills, without the system you wouldn't even be able to breathe. Everyone, everything would just die."

"Despite that importance, several gods were messing with it in the distant past. If it is such a fundamental core of everything, why do you gods not respect it as such?"

"I am no god, Gzeph, I'm the guy that cleans up after these fools. If I don't then no one else can. I can stay my hands if you wish but that won't make anything better. In fact-"

"-you would risk the well-being of your family by disobeying them. I know..."

Funny how he is the most powerful person in the multiverse right now but he is powerless against the kidnappers of his children...

And no one has a lead to where the twins are.

"If you know then don't keep me from my work and more importantly stop giving me more of it! We're on an impossible deadline as it is. One that can't be moved back no matter what."

"What work have I given you besides the small favor for the guy I sent to Deteoh? Speaking of, how did that turn out?"

"Sorry, they had a few oddly specific requirements that prevented me from giving some indirect help."

"Just my luck... and a more direct approach?"

"Couldn't find him. The ID in his file was fake."

"Fake!?"

"Yeah, it leads to nowhere. It couldn't even be a simple typo. To get any match at all, I had to change at least half of the characters in the given ID. I would believe one or two mistakes in there but not over fifty."

"That makes no sense..."

"Indeed."

This is going nowhere as well, great.

"Right, forget it. So the success chances are even worse than expected."

"I know I still owe you a favor despite... everything you have done but my hands are tied. The best I could offer would be messing with the restrictions undead get. But as you should know that would apply to all undead."

"No, don't do that. I doubt being able to cast healing magic after all this time would help him much but all of us would have to deal with Lich Bishops again, very bad trade if you ask me."

"Agreed. Anything else you want me to try?"

"...no, nothing you can help me with right now. I'll first check the security cameras for Todo's last moments and then... go from there..."

"I understand. ...good luck, Gzeph, and... please, think things through this time. We can't afford a third system crash."

"Hmpf, I told you that wasn't me!"

"Then why did the cause have your energy signature?"

"I... don't know. I don't know why it had that, I only know, I'm innocent of that crime."

"...I want to believe you, Gzeph, I really want to. Godspeed."

"Thanks..."