It has been 3 days since Onex became a Destroyer. The bleeding of his wound has slowed down, but that did not stop the hunger and thirst he was developing. Despite his body feeling swore, he practiced with his sword as much as he could, so he wouldn’t have to deal with someone like the white coat man again.

  Onex sat down after practicing with his sword, his breath heavy. He tried not to reopen his wound, but it was difficult.

  But an island soon appeared. Onex felt hope well up in him, happy to finally see land once more. But his heart sank as his island drifted closer, all of the buildings were burnt into ruins.

  Though he wouldn’t let that crush his hopes, last time he found ruins he did find a person after!

  So, once he drifted close enough, he hoped off his small island and onto the bigger one. This burnt island was much larger than his own original island. But very much smaller than the last ruins he visited.

  He walked through the ruins, some of the buildings seemed to have been burnt 3 or 5 days ago. There were also corpses laying around, that looked recent.

  Onex tried to look for food but found none. But he did find a single shield, it had the logo of a burning rose. But Onex didn’t know what it belonged to and moved on.

  After a while, he sat down and looked up to the sky-less sky. Onex sighed, making the only sound in this landscape. If he couldn’t find water or food soon, he might die. So, he got up and started walking once more.

  Onex legs began to feel sore with all the walking and searching. But he could not stop, he needed to some food and water. But the sound of running stopped Onex in his tracks, he let out a deep breath.

  This can either be my killer, or my savior. Let’s hope for the latter.

  Onex thought as he began to walk as quickly as he could to the source of running.

  It didn’t take long for him to find the source. It was the Wanderer from the last time he found he was in some ruins.

  “Hey,” Onex said as the Wander was digging through some burnt rubble.

  “It’s you. Where’s your mask?”

  “Better question, do you have any food and or water?”

  “Food and water? Of course, I got food and water, I spend hours in these ruins, only an idiot wouldn’t have food or water.”

  “If that’s the case. Can I have some?”

  “Huh? Why don’t you have your own?”

  “Well, a Destroyer came and revoked my title of conquer, and then he pushed me into the void. So, I need your food and water.”

  The Wander eyes widened in shock, “Y-you fell through the void?” He stuttered out.

  “Uh, yeah? Second time actually.”

  “What do you mean second time! Your mind should have shattered with falling through the void!”

  “It felt like that the second time, but I recovered, so are you going to give me food and water or not?”

  The Wander did not register the repeated request, “Y-you must be blessed by something to have that kind of mental strength.”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “I asked if you could give me food or water.”

  “O-oh, right.” The Wander gave Onex a bottle of water and some food, which he devoured in seconds.

  The two talked for a bit, until the Wander had to continue scavenging the ruins. But before he left, he gave Onex a some more food and water, some to fill him up, and some more to save.

  …

  Akari was leaving from the 26 interviews with Folly, he hasn’t revealed any useful information. He only did one of two things, one, he would just talk nonsense, two, he would lash out at Akari and talk about not wanting to “fall”.

  Every time she tried to talk to him, she got annoyed, so annoyed that she felt like burning him to death. But she had to restrain herself.

  I might have someone with more patience interview him. Or I might end killing someone.

  She rubbed her forehead as she thought about this. But her thoughts were interrupted by her co-conquer, Teran.

  “Your majesty, there is someone at the northern most of the island wishing to speak to you.”

  Akari groaned, “And what are they? Conquer, Destroyer, Wanderer, Priest, Cultist? Give me some information.”

  “They don’t appear to be of any of those classes, though they do appear to have artifacts, so possible a former top 40 conquer.”

  “And what do they want?”

  “He wouldn’t specificity, all we know that it’s about Folly.”

  Could this be Folly’s master? Well, that would make things complicated, especially if he used to be a top 40 conquer, that means whoever conquered him must be an overlord, or a monarch.

  After considering this, she told her soldiers to stand on guard all around her island, just in case of a surprise attack. Then she went to the northern most part of her island. Where she saw a man with black hair. His presence felt similar to Onex’s, but at the same time, the exact opposite.

  He had black gloves and chain-mail armor, he also wore a grin, a cocky grin, almost narcissistic.

  “Well, hello there, Queen of Fire,” he said, his voice light and almost mocking.

  Akari’s eyes twitched, “Who are you? And what do you want?”

  “I am a magician, yes, a representative of the Demon Monarch,” Akari’s eyes widened as she took a step back.

  Monarch! You gotta be kidding me!

  He didn’t let Akari to speak, “I have come to retrieve my pet, Folly.”

  “Pet? That’s a living person you know.”

  “Physical, yes, mentally, no, I’ve broken him so much he doesn’t even consider himself human.”

  Akari’s eyes narrowed, “There’s something wrong with you. Not even the cultist would stoop this low.”

  The magician clicked his tongue, his smile unwavering “But here’s the thing, I am a representative of the Demon Monarch. Do you think the Demon in that title comes from being nice?”

  “I don’t like how you're talking. I will not be handing him over.”

  “What? You think you can stand up against the Demon Monarch? You won’t even be able to face me at your power.”

  Akari sighed, “Still, I have powerful allies.”

  The magician laughed, “Allies? Your only ally was the King of X, and he’s dead now. I made sure of that when hiring that Destroyer.”

  Akari’s eyes widened, “Huh? Why would the Demon Monarch want to deal with matters of a conquer ranked 64?”

  “No, no, you don’t understand, I made sure of it. The Demon Monarch doesn’t even know of him.”

  “Why? Is he that much of a threat to you?”

  The magician’s smile faded, “That brat is no threat! I just have a personal grudge against him!” After a few moments of silence his smile returned, “Anyways, hand over Folly, or I will take him by force.”

  “You're on your man, you can try.”

  “Oh, I will do more than try.”

  The man started to turn into a bunch of golden flowers, and soon completely vanished.

  Magic? Only nobles of the surface can use magic, and teleportation no less. How could the King of X have gotten someone of such power to have a grudge against him?

  After coming to turns to what was happening, she quickly called all of her soldiers to go and not let Folly get taken. But once they got to his cell, he was already gone.

  Akari slammed her hand against a wall and cursed under her breath, making a few soldiers flinch and take a few steps back.

  …

  Onex has been sitting down in the ruins for quite some time now. He tried to entertain himself by drawing in the burnt ruins, but it wasn’t very effective. So, he did light excises, trying not to go overboard to conserve energy.

  But that got boring as well. So, he took out his pendulum and started to swing it around.

  If I want to leave, I’ll have to try to find the tower. But I can’t find the tower by just drifting through the void, I need to become a conquer again so I can move my island.

  Onex sighed as he looked up into the void. He spoke, not expecting a response.

  “Hey, how can I become a conquer again?”

  After a few seconds, he looked down about to go back to playing with his pendulum, but then he heard the pleading voice.

  “Find a System Maker.”

  “Huh? You answered? What’s a system maker?”

  But he did not get a response. The void went dead silent.