Chapter 310: Façade

The Artificer stood by on a balcony hanging from the side of the Tower of Babel in his realm. As he did this, he waited for the arrival of Kronos. 

Moments earlier, he had received word that Mizik was finally dead.

And soon, the containment sphere was opened and a portal appeared next to the Artificer.

Slowly, a man walked out of it.

It was Kronos...but he was gravely injured and holding an unconscious Nasumi.

"Kronos...? What is the meaning of this? Where are the others?" 

Kronos dropped to his knees and laid Nasumi down.

"They're...dead, my lord. One of the two women he keeps at his side managed to get into the containment sphere. The one called Isabella took over the version of herself inside and used it to break one of our terminals..."

"I see...then all of this was a distraction..." The Artificer said.

"Pardon...?" Kronos said as he looked around. Many drones flew around attacking each other in rapid succession. "What is happening...?"

"The paradox known as the Mad Admiral arrived to give the Cursebreaker unsolicited aid. We are still trying to contain the damage he has caused. All of our systems have been flooded with viruses and the entire mainframe was turned inside out by his meddling. I would ask you to deal with him, but...well, you look worse for wear."

"The Destroyer was more trouble than I imagined... He destroyed Vengeance and absorbed it into himself. I barely survived long enough to defeat him and escape with Nasumi thanks to the Progenitor OS. He...somehow converted her to his side. Nasumi has betrayed us and requires reprogramming. And then there is the matter of rebuilding the others from stored backups..."

"Slow down... He destroyed Vengeance!?!? Kronos! Do you have any idea what that means!? I CANNOT SIMPLY BUILD ANOTHER DEUS ARMA LIKE THAT AT THE DROP OF A HAT!!! THE CURRENT SITUATION IS ALSO FAR TOO DIRE FOR ME TO HAVE THE TIME FOR IT!!!" The Artificer roared.

Kronos lowered his gaze.

"My lord...I apologize... But how did you expect this battle to go? You made him to overcome enemies by absorbing powers around him. He COPIED our powers! He nearly ended me! Even though we spent several weeks inside the sphere trying to decrease his power...even if I managed to slowly siphon his power...it was near infinite. He awakened his exo-power, my lord!!! That failed experiment would have been the death of us all!"

The Artificer sighed.

"I understand...very well... I am simply in a foul mood thanks to the Admiral. However, your mission was a success...even if only by a hair's margin. Would you like to go to the medical bay? Perhaps I should take Nasumi as well... By the Creator... How the hell can we beat that Void abomination now...?"

Kronos stood up with Nasumi in his arms and smiled deviously. Then his form began to change to that of Mizik Iratus.

"No need to worry, my lord. I'll have Nasumi heal me when she wakes up. She'll believe that I'm Mizik. And so will the rest of the Cursebreaker. I'll just use his forces to beat the void abomination...and then finally, the Source."

"Very good. I assume you know which cell the twins were placed in?"

"No. But I'm guessing you placed them in the Calamity Cell?"

The Artificer nodded simply.

"Then I will go. After I've recovered and my allies have been rebuilt, we can deal with the Admiral. Thank you, my lord," Kronos said.

"Please try to be quick about it. We are very short on time."

Kronos nodded and began walking away.

* * *

As I traveled down the hallways of Babel, I recalled my fight with Kronos. I was certain that he was dead, but something in me was angry about the lack of confirmation.

I tore out his heart and blasted a hole through his entire abdomen after Eris removed his arms and legs.

Surely that was enough to kill even a god-slayer like him.

Regardless, I now had a game to play. I had to pretend to be Kronos while pretending to be myself through him. Meaning I had to account for errors due to lack of information on his part. 

At the same time, I had to utilize all of the data gained from killing him that I obtained through his heart. His memories, the information on his behavior towards the Artificer, and even his access codes to the tower.

I walked into an elevator as I thought about this and attempted to input the destination of where I wanted to go.

I was met with a panel that had an image of an AI-generated woman wearing lingerie atop the caption 'Hot singles in your area! Click now!'.

"Why would I care about dating strange women that don't exist?" I mumbled.

Regardless, the elevator didn't work at all.

So...

"Ugh... Command: move. Outside of the Calamity Cell," I said.

Nasumi and I were immediately transported to the entrance of the calamity cell.

"Can I pretend to wake up, yet...?" Nasumi said quietly.

"Not yet. We need to get away from the prying eyes of the Artificer. Then you can wake up," I said.

She didn't speak, but continued pretending to be asleep.

I input several codes into the cell door and it refused to open.

'YOU ARE THE ONE MILLIONTH VISITOR! CLICK NOW TO GET YOUR FREE MALE ENHANCEMENTS!'

All I could do was roll my eyes at the scam message that appeared on the doorway.

"Progenitor OS: Open gateway," I said.

The door opened as I expected it to and I walked in.

I saw the twins standing there and began my acting.

"Greetings you two. I've finished my 'training' under Kronos and escaped that awful containment sphere. So everything should-"

"DAAARRRRLIIIIING!!!!!" Cassandra shouted as she nearly tackled me to the ground, causing me to drop Nasumi.

"Waah!!!" She shrieked.

Cassandra backed away a moment later and narrowed her eyes. She leaned in and smelled me, then lept back.

"Cassandra?" Isabella said in confusion.

"It looks like darling. It smells like darling... But that thing isn't darling. He has an aura of the curse. And I can't feel the blessing skill. Who are you? Why would you dare mock darling?" Cassandra hissed.

"Owww...ow ow ow..." Nasumi mumbled as she rubbed her backside. No one else seemed to acknowledge her existence.

Perfect. She doesn't believe that it's-

"Cassandra what are you on about? I can feel adoring resonance. Can you not feel obsessive resonance?" She said.

Crap...

I quickly cloaked both strands of magic coming from them and Isabella narrowed her eyes.

"Mizik...is there some sort of plan you have that you wish to tell us about?" 

Something about her gaze made me nervous...but I pressed on.

"No plan. I'm not sure what you mean. I'm your husband Mizik and I always share everything with you, haha!"

Isabella smiled and approached me. She placed a hand on my shoulder and leaned in.

Something about her movements and expression made me feel very uncomfortable.

"Mizik, perhaps you should drop the act? Just a suggestion..."

Cassandra began smiling deviously.

"Darling is playing with my emotions now. Will he take my emotional virginity as well...?" 

EMOTIONAL WHAT!?!? WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?!?

"Mizik, I think the plan failed..." Nasumi said.

No. I can still salvage this.

"You two have been ordered to move to a different cell. The Artificer wanted me to move you personally...because he felt you would be more comfortable. We should get reacquainted on the ship," I said.

Just accept it. All will be made clear soon!

"Cassandra."

"Yes, sister?"

"Our husband doesn't trust us."

"That isn't good..."

"Cassandra."

"Yes, sister?"

"You can have him for a while. Don't hold back. Do as your heart desires. And if he asks you to stop, it means he likes it. Please help me snap him out of whatever this is."

Cassandra looked at me like a predator.

I took a step back instinctively.

Cassandra charged at me and I barely managed to avoid her. I ran to the other end of the cell and she cornered me immediately.

"Is this some kind of weird ritual...?" Nasumi asked.

"No, it's his punishment for keeping secrets," Isabella said.

"Hold on! Can we talk about this!?!?" I said frantically.

"Darliiiing...I haven't eaten in so long... Hold still for a bit..." Cassandra said.

"ISABELLA!!!" I shouted.

"What? Can't hear you... All I hear is the cries of a man pretending to not be my husband..." She said.

"To be more accurate, he's pretending to be Kronos pretending to be himself..." Nasumi said.

"Why? Mizik is a terrible actor. I'll give him some credit, but his acting skills need much more practice."

"FINE, DAMMIT!!! JUST COME WITH ME AND I'LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING!!!" I shouted.

"Cassandra, down girl," Isabella said.

"Aww..."

"It's okay. I'll let you have your fill later," Isabella said.

Cassandra smiled and narrowed her eyes seductively at me.

"By the gods..." I managed to say.

Isabella walked over and hugged me tightly after that.

"Idiot...don't scare me like that... We were worried sick!" She said.

"Yeah... Don't worry. I'm alive and well. Where the hell is Vakra?"

"Let's leave this cell. There are cameras in here. I would prefer not to attract attention..." Isabella said.

"Okay. Everyone hold onto me. Command: move."

After everyone grabbed onto me, I transported us to the Cursebreaker. Specifically the bridge.

Rastair was sleeping in her chair and no one else seemed to be around.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Hmm... The other Avatars were deemed too dangerous and placed in their own cells away from the ship," Isabella said.

"Great...I suppose I should go retrieve them...? Do you think the Artificer will notice?" 

"Likely not. The monitoring systems might be disabled at the moment thanks to Vakra's interference. He wants to join the crew, by the way," Isabella said.

"Who is Vakra...?" Nasumi asked.

"A perverted ally of ours..." Cassandra said.

"So...I can retrieve them without a rousing any suspicion?" I said.

"Sure. But only after I get a kiss. I was worried sick about you..." Isabella said with a pout.

"I'm so sorry for that. I'll make it up to you soon, I swear it."

I leaned over and kissed Isabella, then smiled at her lovingly.

She seemed confused. Her face turned red.

"Wh-what...what is this!? I-isn't your head hurting!?" She stammered.

"Me next! Me next!!!!" Cassandra protested.

I gave her the same treatment with an equally appealing smile.

"Haaaah...I'm warm... I feel like I'm melting!" Cassandra said.

"I'll leave you with this as I round up our allies. I broke the curse. Now...I'm unbound. Once this is all over, we can finally finish things for real. Command: move!"

* * *

Since the realm was in chaos, it was much more simple for me to grab our allies. Even without knowing their locations, I could sense the locations of the other Avatar Eyes. Once I had gathered them all, I brought everyone back to the ship.

Rastair seemed to have woken up. She was drowsy and looked at me in mild surprise.

"Oh...hey captain. You have a fun trip...?" Rastair said.

"Nope. I'll tell you all what happened now..." I said.

I spent the next few minutes getting everyone up to speed on current events. I told them my plan and explained the situation regarding Vengeance. 

...which reminded me.

I pulled out Bravery and Intelligence, then looked at their blades.

The swords seemed instinctively afraid of me now.

I could tell that they didn't want me to hurt them.

"For betraying Isabella and Cassandra, I condemn Bravery and Intelligence to death and eternal servitude by fusion," I said.

"Yaaay! We get to be like darling!" Cassandra said happily.

"My sword! Thank you my love!" Isabella said with a loving smile.

I shattered the hilts of the swords and fused their power gems with the Eyes of Chaos and Order. Moments later, they summoned their respective weapons.

"Oh Bravery... So sad to see you go. But it's better this way," Isabella said.

"Mhm. No more betraying darling. Never again!" Cassandra said.

"Master...may I have an upgrade as well?" Stella asked.

"Give me your sword."

Stella did as instructed and I granted her the same treatment. I allowed Faith to continue living within Stella since she hadn't betrayed me. Nasumi also looked curiously at me.

"Umm...Mizik...? Are you going to introduce me?" She said.

"Right... Everyone, I mentioned someone named Nasumi being a member of the Hero Party and betraying them to help me. This is Nasumi. She's the wielder of Compassion. Nasumi will be joining our crew as an on-ship medic as she has requested an exclusive non-combat role. Treat her well, she saved my life after all."

"So what's our next move, Master?" Nirani said.

"Simple. I'm going to burn this shitty realm to the ground and kill the Artificer. Everyone will stay on the ship. I have a rather personal and severe grudge that I need to get rid of...and I want to display my new power to do it. Don't worry, it won't take long..." 

"I really think it would be best if you didn't go alone, my love..." Isabella said.

"I'm not alone," I said.

I manifested Eris next to me.

"I get to blow stuff up with my hero! So cool!!!"

"If darling says he's fine, then I will trust him. Please come back soon, okay darling?" Cassandra said.

I gave a nod and prepared to attack Dominus.