The children in the mine were the first to feel the change. Their bodies shaking even more fiercely as they felt the air next to them being rent asunder. The shadows on the corners of the room growing deeper and deeper and deeper. As small arcs of lightning began spurting out of the metal manacles around the altar.

  The children began to faint. Their bodies turning into ragdolls while Charlie and the others began to rip the bars apart.

  “Drift off to sleep.” I ordered them. “Sleep and dream of better days. Of the sun and of flowers and of warm hugs. It will all be better when you wake up.”

  Those who were resisting fell as well and I wasted no time in releasing more and more of my Psy. Opening up cracks on the walls. On the floor. On the veil of reality.

  Gashes opening throughout the mine and throughout the town and throughout the country. The sky lighting up with the glow of new stars while the earth rumbled with the songs of my realm.

  I spent 1000 Psy. Then 10, 000. Then 100, 000. Then 1, 000, 000.

  I didn’t need to be outside to know that the sky was on fire. The very atmosphere imploding in on itself as a purple tint erupted across the firmament. The very stars shining like amethysts in sunlight as the planet entered a period of perpetual twilight. A second sun crashing through reality to illuminate the ground below.

  Now, normally I wouldn’t go this far on account of… well. The very real chances that regular people might spontaneously combust. Or spontaneously turn to glowing ash. Or spontaneously melt.

  That and the chances of possession got higher and higher the more the veil got degraded. Given how much I had grown the ability thanks to my little cheat training with the Tutorial Doppelgangers, that was less of a possibility and more of a certainty.

  At that moment, one of them tried to break free. His hands… copies of mine, trying to escape from between my ribs. As he tried to kill me with my own abilities. Or copies at least. He had no Titles and, frankly, he and all the others I’d swallowed whole just kinda sucked. Like Henry with all the abilities I’d given him for free.

  I flexed my will and turned my ribs into a gaping maw. Chomping down on the Doppelgangers’ arms and suffocating his screams by growing new bones inside his throat.

  ‘It’s a great way to train since they’re always trying to kill me at more or less my level, but it can get a bit annoying at times.’ I reflected.

  Then I shook my head and banished the distraction from my mind.

  The issue remained that a boost as high as the one I was giving could and would kill regular people in their billions.

  But that was where my new little toy came into the picture.

  Then I looked at my status.

  “Oh yeah. It’s all coming together.” I grinned.

  Then I looked at [Vicissitude] again, and to some of the abilities I had neglected until now.

  Those were a given of course, as I absolutely needed to make sure none of my new friends died while I was being… less than gentle with the whole ability-granting business. They were absolutely going to get a much bigger blast than Henry and Luigi did after all. Also, I needed them to have knowledge beyond what I was giving my friends. Just in case things went wrong with my dear buddy Hazimon after he found out about Deketer.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  Still, I also wanted to give the people more of a fighting chance. Beyond the healing provided by [Vicissitude].

  That’s where [Solomon’s Empowering Majesty X] came in. A nice little combination that brought together [Hum of Attack], [Hum of Striding], [Hum of Defence], [Hum of Harmony], [Hum of Discord], [Hum of Cleansing], [Painful Gaze], [Cleansing Gaze], [Entrancing Gaze] and [Degrading Gaze].

  All to make a neat little passive.

  Thing was, these effects all led to a funny little outcome. That is, at this level and with the overcharge, the boosts turned regular people into superhumans. Ones even stronger than the current Charlie with his Enhancer boosts.

  And with the [Spores], those effects would persist long after I and my team left the planet.

  What’s more, I had an open slot with the [Spores], so I added [Solomon’s Protean Form X] to the package as well. Making sure that all the affected people turned into proper titans after all was said and done.

  With that, I allowed another 10 million Psy to flow into the spores with all the overcharged abilities and then I let the spores explode into Pandemonium and into the hands of all my Intruders. So they could spread them everywhere they went.

  And then I activated [Limited Omniscience X] and let the powers flow.

  I saw a guard out in town keeling over. Vomiting as Solomonlings brought some spores to him and his body began mending the damage. His eyes exploding into showers of gore that ran down his cheeks before remaking themselves into orbs with perfect 20 / 20 vision. Dispelling his near-sightedness even as [Solomon’s Protean Form X] and [Vicissitude] made his muscles and bones swell up into the figure of a two-meter-tall superman. His mouth erupting as his blackened teeth were expelled to make way for new, perfectly white replacements.

  He was shaking. And crying. And begging for it to go on and on and on. The pleasure of being exposed to my realm and my presence and [Majesty] all at once. All while the degradation of reality boosted all the effects even further.

  He was remade and so was the woman he was protecting. And the family in the house next to him. And the other families in that street. In the whole town. In the whole of the country and beyond.

  I saw the king and queen and a whole assortment of ministers collapsing while Solomonlings brought them spores. Salves to keep their bodies from turning into a mushy red pudding. They felt their entire existences disintegrating and wept in pleasure through the whole thing.

  I saw random soldiers twitching on the muddy ground of no-man’s-land in the continent across the sea. The corpses they were fighting lighting up like candles as Solomonite Gnomeburners, Flagellants and Anchorites manifested.

  I saw the spores being spread all around the globe and in all the corners where reality had broken. Their fungal limbs clawing their way into their new hosts and into the ground to grow and spread.

  ‘Good.’ I thought solemnly. ‘I can always erase the memories of their pain and of their brainwashed love for me later. But this needs to be done. I need them to be better than the rest right now. Not a month from now. Not a year from now. But right this instant.’

  Now, Hazimon probably wouldn’t kill me. And even if he did, I would probably be able to resurrect like the Drake. That is, out of entities I had affected with [Vicissitude]. Whether that be people, spores or the present version of Deketer I would heal upon our return after she asked for it.

  But I still couldn’t see futures associated with him and so I figured better safe than sorry.

  I looked around and saw Charlie bending over in agony. His skin literally sloughing off faster than those who had been previously infected in the town above us. And growing back almost as fast thanks to the spore attached to his shoulder blade.

  He was still hugging Borond’s unconscious body, despite his pain and the unconscious boy’s frame was covered in raw-red blood and liquified flesh. All of it Charlie’s own.

  “You realize I’m going much harder on you than on anyone else right?” I asked.

  He didn’t answer. His body too pained to even nod.

  But I heard his thoughts regardless.

  “Do you want me to stop?”

  He stared with newly-grown eyes and I chuckled.

  “Just checking. I’m not affecting the others with their second blast yet. Saving it for more controlled circumstances.”

  I glanced over at Henry as he vomited a spray of purple-gold blood. A stream that immediately floated up and back into his face as gravity gave way and decided it was done playing nice.

  The others looked unperturbed. Even Randall.

  In fact, Vince looked like he was jealous.

  I raised a hand to forestall him.

  “You’re not done growing by yourself.” I reminded him. “You can still combine a few more abilities by yourself. Make use of the momentum and I’ll boost you and the others again before I go.”

  He nodded. And mirror images shimmered in and out of reality as he did so. Not a conscious effort on his part, but merely the side-effects of the local space-time collapsing in on itself.

  “Okay. If that’s all done…” I began. “Time to see to our new captive and to the Intruder responsible for this. I’ll just step out into Pandemonium. Won’t take long.”

  Well, that wasn’t entirely true. The time I took would depend on one’s perspective.

  As far as the System was concerned, I spent roughly a minute on the other side.

  Within my realm, time flowed a bit differently.

  I had time to clean Buddy up. And to finally boost him again for the second time.

  I had time to send out a few Intruders on a few little errands out in the wider Labyrinth. Contingencies upon contingencies in case everything turned out wrong and Hazimon figured that he’d rather have me dead than out there boosting randos.

  I had time to find the offending party’s own realm of Pandemonium. The one that had previously belonged to some gnome.

  And I had time to relish its annihilation to the fullest.

  I walked, or floated, I guess. Through the burning remnants of what had once been a swamp filled with bodies. The black waters of my lake rushing in like tsunamis to clear away the filth laying in wait.

  With the water came my Psy and my knowledge and my will. All of it. My Intruders riding the flow with ecstatic faces. Expressions frozen into ones of exhilaration and bloodlust.

  I saw ghostly forms being torn apart by swarms of Solomonlings. I saw Flagellants slicing immaterial flesh to ribbons as they flew in and out of the bleeding realm. I saw my Inquisitors blasting their way through with vastly enhanced firepower. Canes swirling in the air to purge the very essence out of the native Intruders they’d caught.

  All of that happened across distances that might have outclassed worlds and the destruction was so expansive that portals into other planets the Intruders had affected began leaking my power as well.

  I turned to my shadow and found the Tall Man emerging. His two faces as expressionless as always. And next to him, I found Serpent-Tongue.

  “Follow the fleeing Intruders.” I commanded. “Take my spores to any realities they are connected to as well. Have them heal any human beings they find and have them blast out with my boosts as well.”

  “A wonderful decision, oh supreme being.” Serpent-Tongue sighed as he genuflected. “Truly, this is a glorious day! To be able to smite the filthy spawn of gnomes and aid the needy all at once! Why, I should expect nothing less from you, my Master.”

  I nodded half-heartedly. Looking around at the corners of the realm. Watching with both my eyes and my powers as the whole bubble began to unmake itself under the weight of the assault.

  I stopped, considering.

  ‘It’s about time. I have too much Psy and no place to spend it all. No place to go all out.’

  I nodded to myself again.

  Now allowing tens of millions of Psy to flow out into this space of unreality. Feeling the excess leaking out and tainting the untamed parts of Pandemonium in my colors in my image.

  Then I pushed out hundreds of millions of the energy units out. Into my [Presence] and into [Majesty]. Into [Domination] and into my Veiled Prince. Going all out and determining to create a few more problems for the future version of me in order to solve some of my existing problems.

  The first thing that happened was that the realm imploded. It just, disappeared. All the Intruders who were in the process of having their essences cannibalized by my Intruders simply popped like zits. Here one moment, gone the next.

  The second thing that happened was that my own realm swallowed up whole swathes of the unclaimed parts of Pandemonium. My feet touching the grass in the gardens near the lake within a single instant.

  The third thing that happened was that all the Doppelgangers I had swallowed died. Despite me putting a lot of Psy into [Vicissitude] to keep them alive enough to continuously test me.

  ‘Oh well. I can always get more.’ I reasoned.

  And then the fourth thing happened. My realm expanded so much and disturbed Pandemonium so much that the space began to twist and turn in on itself. Creating sections where my own realm was pushing out against a thousand others.

  I felt Intruders. Both natural borne and those who had been created by others, screaming in anguish as my own realm swallowed them up.

  I felt their terror, their desperation, as all that they were, all that they had been and all that they would have been was overwritten. The essence that made their minds being forcefully turned into more gardens. More water for my lake. More parts of me.

  Others would take note. Of that, I was sure. I was also more or less sure of what the consequences would be.

  Following Sarcophagus Solomon’s lead wasn’t exactly a course of action I was happy with. Not with the issues that would follow. But again, as with all the other plans and backups I’d made, they’d be needed if Hazimon reneged on his end of the bargain.

  “But that’s a problem for future Sully. He can deal with it when the time comes. If everything goes according to plan.”

  I waltzed back and made my way over to my mansion. Sitting by the windowsill as I stared at the new status.

  ‘Tier 7. And still nowhere near strong enough to challenge Hazimon in a straight-up fight. Tier 7 and still a big fish in a small pond.’

  Okay so perhaps others in the Labyrinth would rip their own faces off if they heard that, but it didn’t change how I felt. Charlie’s little side-quest aside, I’d been torturing myself in every way I could think of and every way I could predict with my powers. Harming myself both physically and mentally. Even going so far as to let the Doppelgangers flay me from the inside out when I first started. Away from mom and dad’s judging eyes of course.

  And still, the gains were not what I’d hoped for. I was exceeding Sarcophagus Solomon’s pace thanks to his memories, but that would lead to me reaching Tier 10 in half at year at the earliest. Maybe more if the speed at which I gained kept getting slower.

  ‘I’ve been making up for it by breaking myself, but even that isn’t yielding as many results anymore.’

  I frowned, sighed, and made my way over to the basement once more. Determining to get at least another level in before meeting Deketer.

  I opened the door and stepped into the space where I’d taught Ryan and Randall their lessons. Where the Tall Man still kept the remnants of Anezka’s shattered mind.

  “Oh.” I said while passing a relatively new face on one of the columns. “So you’re still sane enough to talk coherently?”

  “Kill me!” The fat man begged. “Please kill me! Let me die! Please!”

  The Intruder next to him, Gorxa-something or other, didn’t even bother pleading. Though perhaps the anguish he was feeling was too horrific for him to be able to form words. That sort of thing tends to happen with Intruders who are smart enough to act on their own, but also dumb enough to cross me.

  “Oh but you’d miss out on all the fun!” I told then. Casually strolling closer while holding up a single exposed finger.

  I traced it over the Intruder’s form and managed to obtain a scream so anguished that it seemed to reverberate throughout all of Pandemonium. His essence wavered. The thoughts that made him up rushing to escape. To dissolve into nothingness to flee from the pain, from the agonizing torment.

  I stretched the sensation out. So that a single microsecond felt like eons. Briefly alternating the ways in which the pain consumed him so that he never got used to it. One moment, he was drowning in pitch darkness. The next, he was being set on fire. The next, he was being flayed and salt was being poured on the wounds. The next, he was being electrocuted and amputated and run over by heavy wheels. The next, he was alone in a white chamber with no windows and no doors. And he slowly spent a year and two and three in that small room, before then feeling all the tortures at the same time.

  He babbled something, but I doubted the Intruder itself knew what the words were.

  “Nuh-uh-uh. None of that now Mr. Gnome-spawn.” I tutted at him. “How many worlds have you invaded? How many lives were sacrificed so you could outlive your maker? Tut-tut. You had your fun. Now it’s time you pay for it.”

  I turned my finger into a claw and sank the tip deeper into the unreal flesh.

  Making it experience a blissful pleasure unlike it had ever known before. I allowed it to think that it was over, that I had forgiven it. That is would all be okay.

  Then I yanked it back and allowed the torment to resume.

  The fat man sobbed. Drool and tears merging as he heaved.

  “Oh, stop being such a baby.” I turned to Whitmer and slapped him. “I’m undergoing the exact same thing you are. Voluntarily entering that void to feel nothing. All to save more people. Not like you could relate.”

  “Kill…me.” He begged again. His tearful eyes pleading. “Please let me die!”

  “No!” I snapped again. “Dude! I’m a forgiving guy, but… you hurt children! Women and children! I am not going to be done with you for a long time yet. Now shut up and get back into the void with me.”

  I sighed.

  “Need to train some more in case I die.”