‘Wait, why am I running away as a Half-Elf? I’m very slow so why don’t I become a wolf again?’

[Self Reality]

‘Oh, wait, there’s a problem with this. Now I’m stuck in the mana shell. I can’t continue running. Hm, oh well, I’ll deal with it later.’

“Co… bu… fo… su…!” A barely audible noise came from outside.

‘Well, I’m going to assume it’ll become louder as the shell is falling apart due to [Self Reality] being done.’

“Three, two, one!” A sound I understood came from the outside.

‘A guard, I assume, was counting down outside but what were they counting down for? I doubt it would be anything good but I don’t know. I guess I’ll find out soon.’

The mana shell finished falling apart and me and the guard could see each other. There were a few more guards than I remember though and none of them looked friendly.

“DRUID! CAPTURE… ESCAPE!” The one guard shouted.

‘Time to continue running.’

*****

The people continued their actions of moving around and searching for things. Sometimes they found scraps of food while other times they found bits of shiny metal. They gave this metal to what appeared to be guards in exchange for scraps of food.

They didn’t notice or perhaps didn’t care about me. Merely thinking that I was a new part of the constant hopeless scenery.

The guards ignored me as well for some reason.

“Hey Phil, wanna make a bet on who will get eaten this time? That wolf over there doesn’t look very hungry so I’m going to guess that old man Brote’s going to get eaten. He’s basically nothing but bones.” One guard told the other nearby guard.

“Hmm, I think that wolf’s going to want to stock up on food. I’ll bet that Henry and Yarn are going to get eaten. We’re betting our standard amount?” Phil replied.

“Of course, a full meal at The Divine Garden.”

“Ahh, it’s been a while since I’ve had one of their salads.”

The guards didn’t continue speaking and merely watched me. I couldn’t understand what they were saying but they seemed very amused.

I ignored them and walked through the very sad street.

‘Hm, why don’t I use [Silence] and see how it works? Its description does say what it does but is also very vague.’

Activating [Silence] was very odd. Originally I could hear small noises that were caused by me walking but afterwards they were gone. I also started moving noticeably faster and could see quite a bit farther.

‘Hm, there are two possibilities, the first is that speed and eyesight are included in the things that are strengthened by [Silence] while the second is that not having [Silence] active reduces everything by a lot.

‘I’ll assume it’s the second because while eyesight is increased while [Silence] is active, speed is not. So eyesight lost its penalty and gained a bonus so it increased much more than speed.

‘Now then, how much do the skills get increased? [Reality Sight] has to do with my eyes and [Stealth] is a stealth skill so I may as well test them.

‘Last time I used [Stealth] I couldn’t notice any difference while [Reality Sight] isn’t extremely detailed.

‘Alright, [Reality Sight].’

Name: Tim Kneel

Level: 28

Race: Human

Title: None

Class: Guard

Job: Baker

Profession: None

Description: Random guard, one of many.

‘Ooh, I can see the Class, Job, and Profession now. The description isn’t very detailed but that might just be because this guard isn’t special.

‘Now then, how different is [Stealth]?’

I used it and two things happened, firstly I felt a bit lighter and looking at myself I saw I was somewhat transparent. Secondly, I heard Tim shout, “Oi, where… wolf… bet…”

‘Interesting, it seems like even though they were watching me I could hide from them entirely.’

“Tim, are you stupid? It’s right there, next to Henry. Guess I’m going to win the bet.” Phil said something that I couldn’t understand.

‘Odd that I can understand some of the words sometimes and none of the words other times. I should level up my [Basic Communication] more.

‘Now then, what exactly should I do? I should get back to Maria’s house but the guards are chasing me. Now that I think about it, shouldn’t I kill these guards? That would prevent them from chasing after me as I go to Maria’s house.

‘Hm, how difficult would that be? I assume [Quiet Casting] is strengthened by [Silence] so it would be easy to cast a spell but would that be enough to kill them? If I don’t kill them all quickly then other guards would appear and cause more problems.

‘Although, I do have a solution to escaping. I can use [Imperfect Mana Clone] and then use [Stealth] to escape. It might not work perfectly though. If the guards have enough people then they could chase both and not have to worry about which is real.

‘But if I do kill these guards then they would have less people and I could escape easier. Alright, I’ll kill the guards then.

‘A [Dense Earthen Spear Barrage] should be enough to kill most of them and then I can use other spells for the rest.’

I used the spell and my mana along with the natural Earth mana gathered to form a large amount of spears. I let them go and the mana turned into rock that flew forwards. The two closest guards were to my side so they weren’t hit, but most of the other guards were. Some managed to dodge while others hid behind some of the people in the area.

‘I guess the Earth mana gave me some piercing ability.’

You have killed multiple Sentient Race creatures with various levels.

Awarding experience. Bonus experience for killing a Sentient Race while being a monster. Bonus experience granted for the creatures killed that had a higher level than yours. Reduced experience granted for killing creatures that had a lower level than yours.

You have leveled up.

Level 5 → Level 8

‘Now to deal with the remaining ones.’

I casted [Lava Ball] and [Earthen Spear] at the remaining guards.

A few guards were hit and promptly died but most avoided the spells again. One did get hit but a barrier appeared around him and blocked the spell.

The guards weren’t going to stand there and do nothing so they approached me. They didn’t seem to know exactly where I was however as the ones that did have bows were only having them ready rather than shooting.

I moved away from my original position and towards where the two closest guards were before starting to cast more spells.

One guard noticed and shouted something I couldn’t entirely understand, “Moved… stealth… west!”

‘Ah, so that one noticed where I was moving. What will they do now?’

The guards started moving towards my new location although the ones with bows still didn’t fire.

My spell still needed a bit more time so I stayed still as they approached.

Closer and closer the guards came while my spell neared completion.

Soon one shouted “Here!” and swung down with his sword. However, as the sword came close I finished my spell and immediately dodged.

I was still hit however.

‘Ow, more pain. Hm, I should get the [Pain Immunity] skill.’

The guard who had hit me was about to swing again but stopped.

“There’s no blood?” He said and looked at his sword in confusion.

“Another one!” Another guard said and pointed to where the mana clone I had created currently was.

“Illusion!” The guard who had slashed me shouted and ran towards my clone with the other guards.

‘Run away my clone.’

‘Okay original.’ A voice responded in my head. It felt similar to [Telepathy] but there wasn’t a feeling of it being different. It sounded like I was talking to myself.

The clone proceeded to run away and through the streets of despairing people.

‘Hm, do I continue to kill the guards? That would be a bit difficult now that they are chasing my clone. Although, if my clone can respond then it has some intelligence. Perhaps it can cast [Lesser Illusion of a Spell]? That spell requires mostly knowledge and since my clone has some of my knowledge, as proven by the fact it can understand me, it should be able to cast the spell.’

‘Would you like me to use [Lesser Illusion of a Spell]? I think I can but it might cause me to disperse from spending too much mana.’ The clone explained to me.

‘Yes I would like you to cast it. I don’t think we have any spells that would stop them so have it cast randomly.’

The clone didn’t respond but I felt a change in the mana. Originally it was calm and unchanging but then there was a shake. Looking towards where my clone had run I saw something new. The spell that I had copied when I first cast [Lesser Illusion of a Spell] was a fire one and was very bright. This spell was also bright but seemed different. It didn’t seem harmful but rather it seemed like it didn’t exist.

“[Dimensional Mirror]?” One guard apparently recognized the spell and spoke to the rest.

“Why?” Another responded.

Then the spell had a change. It fractured into many pieces and spread across the area. The pieces then started to show people and the places around them. One showed a man sitting on a throne while another showed a place of white flames with a silhouette inside of them.

The only thing these fragments had in common is that all of them showed a being staring directly into the fragment.

“So many… who… they?” The guard who recognized the spell questioned.

“Oh? This is a bit awkward. Oh well, to answer your question mortal, we are the people watching this little creature you are chasing. Chasing quite poorly I might add.” The man on the throne casually replied.

“I know… who exactly…?”

“Ah, you were asking for names. Well to start with I can say there are nine gods here, if you include me there are ten. I can say that there are fifteen demons and two unknowns. There are also three of… let’s say anomalies. One anomaly I know personally, one anomaly is trying to pass off as a demon, and the final anomaly I can only recognize as an anomaly. Anything else you would like to ask?” The man replied.

“You know, I could tell you what those two unknowns are, would you like to make a deal?” The silhouette in white flames asked.

“Shut up anomaly, I can’t recognize you from anywhere so clearly you aren’t special. I do wonder however, why you are trying to hide as a demon.”

“What do you mean hide? I’m not hiding at all actually, just recently I paid a visit to the Mortal Realm. I thought you would’ve heard about it by now considering you’re trying to become a God Emperor. So, do you want to hear or not?”

‘What exactly is going on? Why are there so many people and why do they seem so hostile?’

‘That’s a bit of a complex thing. You see, these are all of the beings watching you. The ten gods are all trying to win you over to their own sides so that they can take complete control of the Godly Realm. The demons are most likely just curious and don’t really care what happens to you although some might want to take your soul. As for the anomalies, we’re a bit more special. You see, an anomaly is something that causes great change in the world or is the result of a great change. If everything went according to fate then there would be no anomalies. I would assume I’m an anomaly due to the fact that I took the title of System Owner forcefully. That being in the white flames has exactly one record about it while the last anomaly is something that shouldn’t exist in this world.

‘The only record about the being in the white flames is that it was the head priest of an old god, the God King. We had no idea where it had gone after the God King was killed. The other anomaly is much more dangerous. You see, while our world has the three realms that is actually just a tiny part of the actual world. Outside of our three realms are five territories. These territories are controlled by the five strongest beings in the entirety of reality. I only know the names of two territories which are The Void and The Abyss. That anomaly is from The Void meaning it is most likely good at hiding and Void magic. Be very careful around it.’

“Since you’ve agreed to the deal I’ll tell you. That dragon is connected to someone else here and the other one is actually a human.” The being in the white flames told the man on the throne.

“That little bit of information is what you’re going to give me? What use is that!” The man on the throne replied.

“If I may ask a question, where exactly has the wolf gone?” A woman asked.

“For apparently being a human you’re very bold. What is your name?” The man on the throne asked with a smile.

“My name isn’t important, if you would like my title I can tell you that it is The Baker.” The woman replied without fear.

“The Baker is it? Well, I have a question, do you bake pies?”

“Of course not, what use are pies? No, I prefer to bake something much nicer.”

“Oh? What might that be?”

“I love to bake people into ashes, it gets rid of some very annoying pests.”

“Mortal, I do believe you have an issue. There aren’t enough demons here to justify the rest of us not taking action against you. Now tell me, how many people have you killed?”

“Hmm, let me think. Around five million? It got a bit hazy after the first million but since it took a month to kill a million and it’s been five months since I started it should be around five million.”

“Then by my authority as a God Emperor candidate I call a vote on the decision to remove this mortal from existence. All in favor?”

The other gods in the fragments let out their first word, “““Aye”””

“Good, now suffer divine punishment as a result of your arrogance and your genocide.” The man on the throne said with a smile.

The woman didn’t get a chance to shout as the area in her fragment was bombarded by a mess of colors, flames, lights, and other magics and she, along with her location, were removed without any trace remaining.

The mirror fragment shattered shortly afterwards.

“Sigh, if only you had baked pies. I would’ve given you a chance to be one of my bakers.” The man on the throne said while shaking his head.