Chapter 75: No More Death

  “Found you.”

  Right. This wasn’t someone new. She’d never disappeared. John’s faulty memory was to blame. A whole year of memories that’d been swept away came rushing back like the tide, shoving their way into his brain. Prota, Jinae, the mercenaries, the demon subjugation squad, his death, Prota’s death…

  [Destiny Bond]

  How had he forgotten? Diaboli. She was the one he needed to deal with. Somehow, he’d lost track of his goal, of what he’d been fighting for, of what would happen at the end of this [Story]. He’d been so focused on the path in front of him that he’d failed to see the end of the road.

  “Really, you’re quite annoying,” Diaboli sighed, shaking her head. “To be completely honest, I wasn’t going to look for you. I would’ve found you eventually. But you just keep messing with time, and I grow tired of it. It was just a nagging feeling. But that feeling grew and grew, and now, I’m here to put a stop to it.”

  She licked her lips seductively, staring at him.

  “So I tracked you down. You did a good job of masking your energy; I’ll give you that. It’s almost as if you’re not using it at all. I would’ve never been able to track you if not for your… loops? I’m not quite sure what you call that ability of yours, but it gave me time to pinpoint your location. Every loop, I managed to narrow it down more and more. And now that I’m here…”

  A black energy began to swirl behind her as she rose into the air, flexing her fingers as claws began to extend. A bolt of electricity ran through John’s body. This wasn’t the time to stand around and chat. He’d allowed one monologue because he’d needed the information, but now that he’d gotten it, he needed to get the hell out of here.

  “Then, I’ll be taking your memories now. Bye bye~”

  John moved. There was no time to think, no time to plan. His body moved before his brain could even process what was going on. Before he knew what he was doing, his hand was reaching for a pill, shoving it down his throat as he desperately hoped for death.

  “Fuck you,” John gasped, popping the pill. “See you soon.”

  ~~~

  John sat up with a gasp, his heart still racing. He could practically feel it trying to beat its way out of his chest, the blood pumping through his veins, getting his body ready to either flee or fight. His body was in such a flight-or-fight state that he threw up, the vomit spilling through the invisible floor into the unknown. He didn’t care. Only one thought filled his mind.

  “John,” Prota said in a somewhat panicked voice. “John.”

  Her voice. He almost didn’t register it. He didn’t have time to register anything. What the hell was he supposed to do? What now?

  This wasn’t a question of getting the best possible ending anymore. This was now a matter of getting out of here alive. [Resets]. He’d known they’d be removed at some point.

  He just hadn’t realized it’d be now.

  “Prota,” John said, grabbing Prota by the shoulders. His grip was so strong that her arms were beginning to turn red. “We absolutely cannot mess up. This is our last try. There are no more [Resets].”

  “...?”

  “As soon as we [Reset], run. Go. Do not look back. If you can get Fate and Danjo to join you, that’s even better. If they don’t join you, don’t stop for them. Let them die. Do you understand?”

  “But-”

  “Prota! We don’t have time to argue!”

  She flinched at the sudden outburst. This was enough to calm John down, just a little, but he was still hyperventilating, still scared for his life.

  “You don’t understand. You don’t- I don’t understand. We cannot come back. If you choose to save everyone, you are actually choosing to die, ok? You are choosing to die along with everybody else, because there are. No. More. [Resets]. We cannot come back.”

  Prota looked at him strangely. Since when could they not [Reset]? She could understand why something like that would make John panic, but what in the world could’ve possibly caused this? He’d been almost bored just a few minutes before.

  She, too, began to feel fear.

  “Diaboli,” John finished. “She found us. And I don’t know what comes next anymore. I don’t know what’s going to happen anymore. This was never part of the [Story], Prota. Or… maybe it’s no longer a [Story]. Maybe… maybe this was never a [Story] in the first place.”

  Prota’s reaction was exactly what John had expected it to be. She froze up, turning stiff as if made of wax.

  “She got closer, every time, every time I [Reset], she knew, she remembered, and now she’s here. We’re cooked. It’s over. No more second chances.”

  Shit. He shouldn’t have been so careless. He’d talked about this before. [Resets] were an overpowered ability that held no place in a [Story] like this. They’d talked about this. He’d just gotten cocky. He’d assumed that he’d have the luxury of knowing when this ability of his would be removed.

  But no. The [Author] had pulled the rug from under his feet, and now, there was nothing left.

  “As soon as I hit that [Reset] button, she’s going to make a beeline for us. I will take care of whatever happens. You need to run. Do you understand?”

  This wasn’t about winning anymore. This was about living. He had to finish it fast.

  “I know you’ve been trying to get stronger. But this is simply not something you can handle.”

  Prota gulped and nodded. She remembered very well what had happened almost a year ago. John had lost then. He’d lose now, too.

  “Get ready.”

  Sweat poured down John’s face as he turned to the [Reset] button. For the first time, he was scared of pushing it. Never before had this ability turned into such a nightmare. Never before had it been turned against him like this. Victory was no longer the goal. Saving everyone was no longer what was important.

  [Determination activates!]

  Survival was all that mattered.

  “Here we go.”

  ~~~

  John’s eyes snapped open, his heart immediately going into overdrive.

  “What the-” he gasped, momentarily confused as to why he was so afraid.

  Memories came rushing back. Right. Diaboli. She was coming.

  He watched as the door burst down, Fate and Danjo piling in. Prota wasn’t there. Thank god.

  “O-Olivia? Is that you-”

  John didn’t have time for this. He let his power surge as he broke out of his binds, smashing Olivia’s chains.

  “Go! Get out of here!” he yelled with such ferocity that Olivia didn’t even stop to ask questions.

  “J-John?” Fate stammered, stunned by the sudden display of power.

  Fate wasn’t the only one who’d been shocked. Doctor was also frozen in shock, but unfortunately, instead of staying that way, he did something even worse. In a desperate act to manage the situation, his tendrils lashed out and pierced everyone’s heads, instantly killing them all. No one survived. The speed at which the tendrils had flown out was so incredibly fast that even Kit hadn’t had time to react.

  The only people alive were John, who’d caught the attack before it could reach him, and Prota, who’d already left the room as soon as things had begun to go south.

  “What the-” Doctor started, but John didn’t have time.

  His entire body began to glow as [Infinity] was activated to such a high degree that it could almost be mistaken as [Deus Ex Machina] energy.

  “Now! [Kill yourself!]”

  Doctor tried to struggle, but to no avail. His own tentacle was shoved into his mouth as he began to absorb himself, like a snake eating its own tail, until his body grew larger and larger. There was a big flash and a loud explosion as the body literally imploded in on itself.

  In the end, Doctor did what John had asked.

  “Flashy show of lights.”

  John whipped around and leapt out of the way just in time to avoid an attack from Diaboli. There was no time to reset, no time to gather his thoughts.

  He had to finish things now.

  “That man was useful to me, but honestly, I’m quite glad you killed him. I was trying to figure out a way to get rid of him. He’s far outlived his usefulness. To be quite honest, he disgusted me. I would even go as far as to say that nobody will be missing him.”

  “We’re killing our teammates now?” John said casually, trying to buy as much time as possible.

  “He was a [Character]. He was useful in his own way, but I never liked him. I simply had to use him as part of the [Plot]. Can’t you relate?”

  John grit his teeth as he stared the demon down. For the second time in his world, he had no idea how this fight would end up. He was afraid, but that fear wasn’t enough to unlock [Infinity] to its full potential, and he had no spare [Deus Ex Machina] energy.

  Diaboli, on the other hand, might have the full might of a [Writer] on her side, and John had no way of knowing just how much stronger she was.

  Experimentation was not the best method of discovery at the moment.

  “Your ability really is annoying. To think you would choose death, just to loop back.” Diaboli smirked. “It does suit you, though. I poured through your memories just a bit more. When did you become so cold and stoic? The you right now is nothing like the past you. You were much more fun. Much more cheerful.”

  “...I wouldn’t know what I was like. It’s almost as if I don’t have those memories. Wouldn’t it be crazy if someone else had them?”

  “They were mostly jumbled up,” Diaboli said, ignoring John’s sarcasm, “but some of them were coherent enough to read. It was quite entertaining. Like reading a book written by a disillusioned child.”

  “...yeah.”

  “Well. I suppose that’s all there is to be said. Let us begin.”

  Diaboli hadn’t even finished when John blinked out of sight. Diaboli followed suit, and they met in the middle of the room, their initial exchange obliterating the tiling that covered the walls and blowing the door off its hinges. The next attack knocked the wall down flat, and the ceiling began to crumble.

  Neither of them cared, even as the dirt above began to cave in.

  Diaboli snapped her fingers, and the earth stopped, now under her command. It began to swirl into a ball, the dirt gathering and compressing over and over as Diaboli clenched her fist, and soon, a metric ton of soil the size of a baseball was hovering above her head.

  “Catch,” she said cheerfully, throwing it at John.

  There was a boom as the sonic barrier was broken, but John was faster.

  He caught it in his hand and let the force spin him around, allowing the force of physics to do its job somewhat properly for the first and last time. He could feel the force of the ball pulling his arm out of his socket, but he held on, gritting his teeth as he flung the ball back as hard as he could.

  “Good boy!” she laughed, letting it soar past her.

  The attack smashed through the dirt, creating an opening for both fighters to float out of, fighting the whole way through. Each blow created a shockwave that opened the crater just a little more, flattening the mountain and the earth underneath, slowly turning the place into a ginormous crater.

  A single mistake meant death.

  Beams of energy poured through the sky as the two fired at each other, never expecting to land a hit. Both of them were too fast for that. The goal, rather, was to force the opponent to expend as much energy as possible. Sweat poured down John’s face as he was forced to fight to his limit—no, beyond that.

  Any other time he would’ve given up. Sat down. Admitted defeat, and taken the easier route.

  This time, there was no other route. This was all he could do.

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  “Is this all you’re capable of?” Diaboli taunted. “I was sure you were capable of so much more. Oh, is this out of desperation? Are you trying to protect that fake sister of yours?”

  The light coming from John’s body intensified at the mention of Prota.

  “Did I touch a sore point there?” Diaboli laughed. “She’s not yours, fool. She’s mine, and mine alone. I don’t know why you have her, but she doesn’t belong to you.”

  “She doesn’t belong to anyone,” John said, barely managing to get the words out.

  “She’s a [Character].”

  “Then she belongs to the [Author]. You, a [Character], don’t get a say in that.”

  “Mm. But what if your dear [Author] gave her to me?”

  John froze for a split second. It was nothing. Just a flinch at the thought that maybe she was right. That maybe Prota was never meant to be with him in the first place.

  In a fight like this, though, even a fraction of a second was fatal.

  One punch. Just one punch. That was all Diaboli landed, but it was enough to send John’s body crashing to the ground like a meteor. He’d blocked it, preventing a fatal blow, but he still smashed every bone in his body, crumpling up on the ground like a piece of garbage. It was a wonder he was still alive.

  “Stupid… fucking…” John cursed, blood pouring out of his body like a fountain.

  His vision was getting blurry. He could see a blur of purple floating above him. He couldn’t stop now. He had to keep going. He forced his body to get up, but it wouldn’t listen. He couldn’t even budge.

  “Your memories. Hand them over.”

  John tried to speak, but he wasn’t strong enough to get the words out.

  To his surprise, Diaboli sighed and extended her hand, a soft green dust flowing over his body. It wasn’t enough to let him move, but it was enough to let him speak. He coughed up blood a few times in an attempt to force air out of his damaged lungs, but he eventually mustered up the energy to say something.

  “Why… do you want them…? You have enough power… to rule the world… isn’t that usually enough?”

  “Rule the world? Fool. Why would that be my goal? No, my plan was never to do something as foolish as that. It is you who needs to disappear, at any cost.”

  “...me?”

  “You are a threat. You cannot exist in this world. And, if my theory is correct, you will persist until I remove all of your memories. Death is not the end for you. Total erasure. That is the only thing that can completely get rid of you.”

  John blinked. He needed to disappear? He hadn’t seen this coming. Wasn’t the Demon King supposed to want to rule the world or whatever? If that was the case, all John had to do was stay out of the way. But this Demon King didn’t want that.

  Diaboli wanted John gone.

  Was this how he was supposed to go out? Was this the [Author’s] big plan for him? Maybe… maybe this was fine. He could go out like this. There would be nothing for him. No more pain. No more confusion. No more anger.

  Just… nothing.

  “...John.”

  He should be dead. There shouldn’t be any voices. What the-

  “John!”

  John’s eyes snapped open, and he was greeted with a familiar sight.

  “John,” Prota begged, standing over him.

  Diaboli was watching them as one might watch puppies playing around. She had them where she wanted. There was no need to rush.

  “I told you to run…” John wheezed.

  Those words seemed familiar.

  “I’m going to protect you,” Prota said quietly, her body shaking with fear. She was barely standing, her legs were trembling so much. “If John dies, then I die too. No more running. No more hiding.”

  Despite all her fear, she wouldn’t leave his side. She wouldn’t make the mistake of losing someone again. His life was far more important than her’s, because without him, she was back to wandering alone. Back to being without a home.

  Back to being a monster the whole world stood against.

  “Prota, I…”

  John let out a laugh, blood trickling out of his mouth. He wanted to step in and save [Characters]? Enforce justice? Look at him now. He couldn’t even save himself. A [Character] was stepping in to save him.

  How ironic.

  “What are you going to do? Fall over and die?” Diaboli laughed. “Little girl. You don’t even stand on the same level as us. How could you possibly hope to fight against me?”

  Despite Diaboli’s words, Prota kept fighting. Her eyes lit up as she formed a Frozen Flame, throwing it at Diaboli with all her might. The spell exploded, frost falling to the ground, but not a single scratch was left on the demon’s body. It was like a child throwing a pebble at a tank.

  John watched as his sister threw spell after spell, panting as the fear in her mind took its toll, greatly reducing her stamina. In no time at all, she was completely exhausted, and Diaboli was unchanged, if not slightly more amused than before.

  “Do you see? What could you possibly hope to accomplish?”

  Diaboli laughed, taking a step forward. Prota fell to her knees, unable to do anything more.

  “Prota… run,” John said, reaching out.

  Logically, he should let her die. Time bought was time he could use. She was a [Character]. She was expendable.

  But then again, wasn’t he? He, too, was ultimately a [Character]. What made him less expendable than others?

  In the face of death, John had a little thought. It wasn’t something he usually would’ve thought of, but in these last moments, he felt he had no control over his thoughts. As if his brain were simply wandering wherever it pleased, choosing to think whatever it wanted.

  As much as everyone was a [Character], he was just as imaginary as they were. Just because he knew more, could do more, it meant nothing in the end. His role was just as puppeteered as everyone else’s. His memories as a [Writer] and [Reader] didn’t make him real. To be a [Character] was to be imaginary. It was to be someone who could never exist in the real world. And so, in the end, he was only as real as the [Characters] he ignored were.

  What an interesting thought.

  “They, too, are destined to lose someone.”

  John reached out. [Infinity] was still running strong, so if he tried, he could send Prota away in a last attempt to save her. He was bound to die, and there was no reason to have her die with him. Maybe she could learn some kind of magic strong enough to defeat their enemy and take his memories back. He was just about to do it when something caught his attention.

  On the ground was a singular red page, glowing softly. It wasn’t bright enough to be obvious, but it was illuminated enough that John noticed. A red page. It seemed insignificant. But he knew what it was.

  “This…”

  He forced his broken body to grab it. [Determination] was blocking the pain, but it felt as if his body was responding to what he wanted to do a full ten seconds later. He let out a little laugh. Wasn’t it funny? He’d thought her presence was pointless, but in the end, it’d been exactly what he needed.

  She’d given him just enough time to be saved by a literal Deus Ex Machina.

  “What are you-” Diaboli started, but it was too late.

  There was a flash of light that blinded everyone in the area. The demon king blinked, trying to recover her vision, but immediately took a guarded stance as she opened her eyes once more.

  John was standing there casually, looking at his hands, rotating his arms and legs to make sure everything was working well. It was very anticlimactic. But Diaboli knew.

  The tides had changed every so slightly.

  “You…” Diaboli said cautiously.

  “Damn. No memories,” John sighed. “Just energy.”

  He flexed his fingers, making sure his body was fully repaired. Despite his recovery, he was still extremely afraid. There was barely any [Deus Ex Machina] energy in that page, but it was enough. It definitely wasn’t enough to win. But that wasn’t what mattered.

  He was back. There was a chance. An open window, a pinhole of light in a room of darkness. That much was enough to see that there was a way out.

  A sense of calm spread through his body. Right. Since when was he afraid of what a [Character] could do to him? There was no reason to panic this much, even if the situation was strange. He was a [Character], yes.

  But he was also more than that.

  “Hey, Zero. What can I do with this much?”

  “...Zero?” Diaboli frowned. She shook her head.

  No. This wasn’t the time to be shocked. The boy was standing there, guard down. He wasn’t paying any attention to her. Even if he’d obtained some power, it wasn’t enough to defeat her. She’d ensured that the amount of energy she’d given to that man was minimal, so that he couldn’t overpower her himself.

  She had no need to worry.

  Purple energy accumulated in front of her, twisting the space around it as the pressure accumulated.

  “John!” Prota cried out, unable to stand up.

  She wanted to fight, help, anything, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t even move. This was a battle beyond her capabilities. She looked back, only to find a completely unconcerned John having a discussion with his soul, as if they were sitting in a park rather than in the middle of a battlefield.

  “Three options, huh… Which one uses up the least?”

  He closed his eyes and nodded. Prota stared at him. What was he doing? Why wasn’t he getting ready to respond? Diaboli was right there. She was charging an attack. He needed to react to it. However, he just continued to stand there, and a small smile formed on his lips.

  “Someone’s already done this,” John said quietly, shaking his head. “This is very unoriginal.”

  Zero said something that nobody heard.

  “Fine. Let’s do it. You just can’t complain about this later, got it?”

  Silence.

  “She won’t be involved, right?”

  Diaboli fired her attack instantly, obliterating John where he stood. Prota cried, reaching out, but she was helpless to do anything other than watch. The pressure of the attack alone blew her back, slamming her into the wall. Her body slumped down as multiple bones in her body shattered, the pain somehow reaching through her tolerance and causing her to cry out as blood poured down her eyes and ears. The taste and smell of iron filled her senses, and she slowly realized it was her own blood.

  Her vision swam, but she forced herself to look up. She needed to get out and escape, even if John was dead. Somehow, she instinctively understood that there were no more chances. They’d lost. And there was no second try this time. She readied herself to see the demon king, but… there was nothing there.

  Prota looked up, moonlight shining down on the giant crater, and neither her brother nor the Demon King were anywhere to be found. All she could see were corpses. Kit’s pink fur stood out the most, and she could spot Fate nearby. Danjo and Olivia were dead, their bodies somehow side by side. Doctor… wasn’t there.

  But there was no John.

  And no Diaboli.

  Prota fell back, her body incapable of going any further. She couldn’t see or hear. Everything was going dark.

  “John…”

  ~~~

  “What- where is this?” Diaboli exclaimed, her head swivelling as she scanned her surroundings.

  There was nothing. It was just a bright, empty room, an endless void of white. A somewhat visible line represented the horizon, but Diaboli knew it was just more of the cursed white ground she stood on. John was just a singular red and black dot in the vast sea of emptiness that was their realm—the only blemish in a world of light.

  “By the way, if it’s any consolation, I was against this idea, too. It just saves the most energy.”

  John turned around, a tired look on his face Diaboli’s face twisted into a frown, enraged. Had the boy played her for a fool? What had he done?

  “We’re technically still in your universe. Like, your realm. But it’s a separate space with its own flow of time. How do I- eh, whatever. I don’t know why I’m explaining this.”

  “What are you…?”

  “This idea was really stupid, but I was only given three options, so bear with it.”

  “...stupid?”

  John sighed. “They did this in a movie once, I think. Maybe somewhere else, too, I’m not sure. But the point is you’re stuck here with me.”

  “Then aren’t you stuck here with me?” Diaboli said, her frown slowly being replaced with confusion.

  “Yeah. I guess you could say that.”

  John sat down and crossed his legs, resting his chin on his hand. His posture indicated that he had no intention to fight.

  “Look. It’s a pretty disappointing ending to this fight. But I’d rather win than satisfy the [Readers], so let’s just get this over with. We’ve been dragging this on for way too long already.”

  His response provided no useful information, but he spoke as if everything was obvious.

  “Oh. In case you haven’t noticed…”

  John reached into his pants, visibly checking for something, but when his hand came out, it was empty, save for a flipped middle finger.

  “It’s impossible to use [Deus Ex Machina] to change the rules of this space. So have fun trying to get out.”

  Diaboli’s face slowly twisted into one of understanding. She didn’t like what she understood.

  “Yeah. You guessed it, right? The movie… was it Doctor Weird or something like that? Anyway, like I said before, someone else did this. They just kept their enemy locked in a loop until they gave up. Real smart plan, huh?”

  “You…”

  “You never removed my ability to [Reset]. You just used it to your advantage. I can’t kill you, but you can’t kill me. So, what’ll you do?”

  He sighed, apparently annoyed, but then his eyes lit up as an idea came to mind.

  “Well, you know what? I’ll fight until I get bored. I haven’t been able to have a good round since I came here. We can fuck around a little, just for fun, you know?”

  “...fun?”

  “That’s what a [Story] is all about. It’s for entertainment. No one likes a boring story. And as a [Reader], I’d rather be entertained than bored, you know?”

  John slowly wound his scarf around his face, hiding his nose and mouth.

  “So, what’ll it be? How many [Resets] do you think it’ll take for you to give up?”

  “I won’t! I’ll keep you here for eternity if that’s what it takes!”

  “All of eternity is a pretty long time,” John shrugged. “The most I’ve [Reset] was over four trillion times. That sucked, but at least I have a way to cope with it. Do you?”

  John’s hood came up, overshadowing his eyes. The only thing that came through was the red light piercing through. A wave of fear washed over Diaboli. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in order to ready herself for what was to come.

  This action was misinterpreted as something else.

  “Praying? In this place? It’s just you and me. God isn’t listening anymore, you know.”