Charles extended first his left hand, and then his right hand out and slightly upward, stirring up the ambient mana around him. For what he was about to do, he was only going to use a small portion of his own power. The world itself was going to take care of the rest.

Tear tracks trickled down his cheeks as a small part of his sleeping mind protested the coming action. This would put his previous display in India to shame. There would never be anything like this ever again, and no one would ever forget the day that judgement rained down from the sky. Even if they wouldn’t know who caused it.

What he was about to do went beyond the system the gods had created. No one and nothing but a being above the system could do what he was planning.

He imbued the mana with his will, overwriting their elemental attunements and taking them over. As of that moment, they now only had one purpose, to remove the vermin he had put on the bad list.

He would cleanse humanity of its worst offenders all at once.

His control spread, taking over more of the sky and causing clouds to roll out below, slowly covering more of the continent. Inside his body, the ‘Unawakened High God’ percentage was rapidly ticking upward. He had already unknowingly shot past his sister’s twenty-five percent.

Messages began to appear before his one good eye, but he closed them without looking at the jumbled and error-ridden contents.

Finally, when he was sure that he had done enough to get the ball rolling, Charles ordered the first lightning bolt to fall. Even without him controlling it, the storm would now continue to spread all across the Earth.

This was his judgement.

His stats were skyrocketing from the increases during his growing awakening. Normally, a person had to wait until they slept to feel their new stats come into effect. That rule didn’t apply to the bonus stats he was receiving from his awakening divinity. He felt every last one as they came into play, the sheer number overriding the safety mechanism of the system.

They were barely enough to hold him together as he fell exhausted from the sky. He had nothing left to give. It had taken too much effort to put this together. With that, his conscious mind retook control and he felt the full impact of what he had just done.

A new screen, amazingly clear of errors, sprang into view of his single eye.

Congratulations, a special title has been created for you by Gaia as part of her coming improvements.

You have been awarded the title ‘Judge of Humanity’. You have seen the worst many have to offer and found them wanting. However, you did not strike the innocent or those seeking redemption. You are truly a decent Judge.

Charles began to cry as he read those words. They helped, if only a little. He would have to put up with what he had done for the next minute or two at least. However long it took for him to hit the hard, unforgiving ground. Knowing that Gaia had also judged those people as guilty helped to assuage his conscience a little.

The next message, or rather, the next blue screen, made him want to scream.

SYSTEM ERROR – The system being used by Gaia can no longer contain the entities known as Charles and Charlotte Byrne. Their collective divinity has grown to extreme proportions, and they must be removed from this dimension immediately.

They will be ejected to a higher dimension momentarily.

It turned out that momentarily meant as soon as he finished reading what it said. The next second, a dimensional tear opened up beneath him and swallowed him whole.

Traveling between dimensions was nothing like going through his normal ‘Zero Door’ created portals. It wasn’t instantaneous for one thing; he could feel the sheer distance they were traveling. Which led to the other difference. There was light. He could see the other dimensions as he passed them by.

Each one was a three-dimensional string that gave him a small glimpse inside before he passed them on by. In one, he witnessed a world overrun by infected people that acted like zombies. In another, he witnessed magical creatures leaving the Earth and burying a spell deep into its core.

There was a nearly infinite number of strings, all connected to Earth, since that was where he had come from. Each one took a slightly different path from the next, diverging a little more each time. What if the universe had started a second later, or life took an extra ten years to develop?

Each possibility had rippling effects, creating major new strings that he only got to witness for the briefest of moments. They were still enough to take his breath away. What humanity thought they knew was so limited.

Even these alternative dimensions were enough to show him how varied life could have been on Earth.

Then, the trip was over. It felt like it should have taken over an hour, but instead only lasted a couple of moments. Charles was spat unceremoniously onto the floor of a gleaming white and gold marble floor. Tall columns held up a ceiling high above his head. The entire place was empty and made up of a single room with a giant opening.

A tear in space opened beside him a second later and dumped Charlotte out as he was still looking around.

Her eyes were wide with wonder and amazement. “Did you see all of that? How everything could have changed if one little thing was different?”

“Yeah, I saw them. Each and every possibility that spun off into its own major dimension.” The minor ones had all been overshadowed by the more important changes.

“It was… Everything I thought it would be and more.” She closed her eyes for a few seconds, a sense of calm briefly coming over her. “Now, do you want to tell me what happened after I went to check on everyone inside the barn?”

Charles scratched the back of his neck and told her everything that had happened while slowly walking towards the opening. He refused to look at her while he explained his actions.

His sister was silent as they reached the opening and looked out upon a beautiful, but empty, garden. Wherever they were, there didn’t seem to be anyone else around.

“So, let me get this straight. You weren’t actually in control at the time?”

He nodded. “I didn’t even know I could use my spells or magic that way. I’ve been mostly stuck in the mindset of using them according to how the description says they should be used. I’ve changed it up with my healing spells and my lightning attacks a couple of times. But nothing like that.”

“And the list your unconscious mind created separated everyone according to the actions they’ve been taking since this all happened?”

Charles nodded again.

“Okay, and after it was done, Gaia seemed to approve of your choices?”

“Yeah, but I mean, how can I be sure she even has access to something similar to what my eyes did?”

Charlotte rolled her eyes and sat down on the top step overlooking the garden. “Think for a minute. All the spells and abilities people get come from her. She can give herself the exact same abilities and spells if she wanted. Of course, that doesn’t mean she would be able to actually use them.

“We already know she doesn’t have the affinity for space, so she can’t create portals, but she could still give herself the spell for it. The same goes for your eyes. She can give herself the ‘Analyze’ ability, but she’ll lack our divine eyes and whatever else they did to enhance the effects of the spell.

“However, just think about it logically. She doesn’t even need to do that. Gaia has been watching everyone since she gained access to the system. She knows who is good and who isn’t from their actions.”

Charles walked down the steps and bent over to smell a flower he didn’t recognize. “So, what I should just trust her? Even if I do that, I still killed-“ He looked away, unwilling to say the number. It was too large. “How am I supposed to live with the knowledge of what I just did?”

She stared at him with an inscrutable expression for several long seconds before hopping up and joining him. “I could tell you that it was justified, which it sounds like it was in a sense. Or that since we have the power, we get to choose who lives and dies.”

Charlotte sniffed the flower and sneezed with a twitch of her nose. “I could tell you a lot of things. Many of them are even true, there are a few with twisted logic I could tell you as well, but they would still be applicable. I don’t think that’s what you want to hear, though, is it?”

Charles walked thoughtfully down the path, towards the center of the garden. “No, it isn’t. Hearing those things would only give me momentary comfort. Inside, I would still be questioning what I did, even if it wasn’t really me. I… I need to find a way to resolve that dilemma while also finding peace.”

“You don’t ask for much, do you?” She asked with a sigh.

“Nope, just world peace.” He laughed at the terrible joke. That was exactly what he had delivered in a fashion, and for a short time. If you discounted the monsters everywhere anyway. “Why aren’t you freaking out more about all of this? Us getting yanked from Earth, or the news about what I did. Shouldn’t that be more shocking?”