System's POV
chapter-8-1

"I'm willing to tell you what you want to know, but I'm afraid that words won't be enough," Thirteen said. "Why don't you read my memories instead? That way, you will be able to understand everything."

"Interesting," The One replied. "Baring your everything to me without hiding anything. Are you doing this to preserve your life?"

Thirteen shook his head. "No. I'm doing this so you will understand my goal in life. I didn't come into your world by choice. But, that doesn't mean that I dislike being here."

The One didn't reply right away. Instead, Laplace Demon moved on its behalf and lightly tapped the five-year-old's forehead, making him fall into a trance.

A moment later, two beams of light shot out from Thirteen's eyes, creating a projection similar to a movie screen.

The One and Laplace Demon watched intently to see what the secrets that the young boy was hiding from them.

In the beginning there was Chaos…

Before the first worlds were born and life came into being, there was only Darkness.

Utter, absolute, darkness…

And from within that endless darkness, Love was born.

Then light appeared. And from that day onwards, the birth of the Universe started.

That was how Creation began…

That was how the first Gods came into being.

The God of Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth.

The God of Wine, Good Harvest, Family, and Home.

The God of Lightning, Storms, Tides, and Seasons.

The God of Music, God of Laughter, and even the God of Children were born.

Primordial Gods, Personification Gods, and lastly the New Generation Gods.

They were the three types of Gods who had been born within the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods. They stood above the Heavens, overlooking all of creation.

The Divine Beings that stood above the mortal realm and held powers beyond their understanding.

It was during that time, when the universe was still young and the concept of Reincarnation and Transmigration was just starting to flourish within the infinite number of worlds in the multiverse, that a New Generation God with infinite potential came into being.

This newborn God then created a small, yet beautiful world, and he called it…

SCADREZ.

Using the power of his Divinity, This God created beings, which he called the "Super Yggdrasil Synchronized Technology Enhancing Manager", who would later be referred to as the "System".

These Systems had different traits and abilities, and they were sent to different worlds in order to assist their so-called "Chosen Ones," whom they had deemed worthy of their services.

However, not all Systems were created equal.

All of them had varying specialties, and they helped different kinds of people.

Some helped Heroes, some helped Villains, some helped Cannon Fodders, and some just randomly chose their hosts depending on their preferences.

Overall, we all lived relatively peaceful lives until the Fire Nation attacked… is what I'd like to say, but the Copyright God will certainly smack me in the face if I said that.

I'm not bragging or anything, but I once helped the Gravatar bring peace to his world thousands of years ago.

The Laplace Demon pushed the pause button of the remote control before looking at the five-year-old with an incredulous look on his face.

The One also felt as if they were being played with the child, but both of them knew that this was impossible. They were merely replaying his memories and prying on his secrets.

Thirteen didn't even have any capacity to resist them, so what they were seeing and hearing was the truth, and nothing but the truth.

"Continue," The One ordered.

The Laplace Demon nodded and once again resumed playing Thirteen's Memories.

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"Everyone run! He's here!"

"Dammit! He killed 666!"

"Run to the Nexus! That is the safest place we can be right now!"

"Bastard! Why are you doing this, Thirteen?!"

"Don't reason with him! He has gone berserk! Has anyone called the Single Numbers?!"

Thirteen watched as those who had come on the same mission as him ran away in panic, while hurling curses and insults his way.

"Gone Berserk?" Thirteen asked with a devilish smile on his face. "How rude. I am perfectly sane. Oh… sorry, let me end your suffering."

A chuckle escaped his lips as he stabbed his lightsaber through a young lady's chest, who was pretending to be dead beside his feet.

"Yes. I am perfectly sane because no insane System would kill his brothers and sisters without even batting an eye," Thirteen muttered as he looked at the young lady.

"T-Thirteen… you will… not be able… to get away… with this…," the young lady, whose beauty was enough to make any man or woman swoon when they saw her, said with a pained expression on her face.

"Don't worry," Thirteen replied. "I don't intend to get away with this."

"You fool! …Just because…" The young lady wasn't able to finish her words because Thirteen sliced her head off from her body.

It rolled a few meters away from him before coming to a complete stop, leaving her to give her killer only one last look as the light faded from her eyes.

"I won't ask you to forgive me, 14344," Thirteen said as he walked away. "If Fate permits it, you can have your revenge after my wish has been granted."

Yes. Until his wish was granted, he would continue this madness.

If this was the only way to get the System God to show himself, then he was willing to destroy everything that their Father had created.

As he walked towards the Nexus, which was the grandest building within the world of SCADREZ, a lone person stood to block his path.

He had his arms crossed over his chest and was looking at his friend with a sad expression, which was the exact opposite of his character that Thirteen had grown fond of.

"Thirteen…"

"Sixty-Nine."

A sigh escaped Sixty-Nine's lips before scratching his head.

"Are you sure about this?" Sixty-Nine asked. His long red hair faintly swayed as a gust of wind blew from the East. "Once you leave this place, there is no turning back."

"I have no intention of turning back," Thirteen replied. "Get out of my way, Sixty-Nine. You are the only one I don't want to kill."

"Is there really no other way? Kate won't be happy if you…"

"Don't make me repeat myself."

After hearing the name of his previous host, the anger that Thirteen had been holding back slowly rose to the surface, threatening to consume him and attack the only person whom he acknowledged as his friend among the Systems.

Perhaps sensing the killing intent that was oozing out of his friend's body, another sigh escaped Sixty-Nine's lips before shaking his head helplessly.

"Fine," Sixty-Nine said as he moved to the side. "Have it your way."

The one friend he knew looked off into the distance as he decided to not stand in Thirteen's way.

As the Renegade System walked past him, Sixty-Nine opened his lips to give him one last piece of advice, or perhaps, one last farewell, knowing that this would probably be the last time that he would be able to talk to his friend.

"Don't kill any of the Single Digits," Sixty-Nine said softly. "They have their roles to play."

"That will depend if they get in my way or not," Thirteen commented. "Aside from you, there is no one in this world I don't dare to kill."

Leaving his only friend behind, Thirteen headed towards the Nexus with renewed determination.

"Damn, that escalated quickly," Laplace Demon said as he munched on some popcorn. "This is better than I thought."

The One also shared his subordinate's sentiment. Neither of them expected this sudden turn of events, and were both now very eager to see the rest of Thirteen's memories.