Rain

Idunn is hugging me tightly, as we flew, I wanted to distract Monica through talking about nonsense, Idunn is also not one for conversation, so instead I just spent time explaining to her the wonders of technology, but I didn't get as much as a reaction, I know she got it but…her lack of soul makes her very…empty

Still, she did show a lot of reaction towards the affirmation that she loves me, so I guess that's just something I will have to deal with now…[umm, Monica?]

-Yes master?

[Is there an upper limit to…marriage partners?]

-Luckily for you, no, though the most outrageous one was a dude who married 35 girls, no clue in hell how he did that

[Ok…and for the other gender?]

-A woman married 29 dudes, again, it is still a mystery how the hell they pulled that off…but if you keep going the way you are going, you might surpass both combined

[Bullshit! That's impossible!…Right?]

-…Umm…

[Please tell me it's impossible]

-I won't lie to you master

[Ok]

-…

[Monica?]

-I said I won't lie

[So you ain't saying shit?!]

-I ain't lying

[God dammit!!]

She got me good there…

Regardless, once I finally landed back home, I introduced everyone to Idunn, and she quickly was a favorite for both manaketes, both felt pity on her for being used by the evil energy and being turned into a demonic dragon by her so called allies

She also showed a lot of interest in Zelda and Leona, but by the end, was able to answer their questions, at no point did her expression shift, only when she tasted my food did her expression show both genuine joy and surprise

I texted Chun-Li about my "Discovery", hell, that just made the enemy look worse, I won't stop lying since it explains logically what I knew, and it fucks over my enemy, 2 birds, one stone

Tomorrow she will send her people to look for Manaketes or try to capture them alive, as for me? They decided to trust me with Idunn thanks to my abilities, as such, all good

Uh…yeah, night time, umm…

-Leona, we are gonna need a bigger bed at this rate…

-Isn't that your fault?

-Well, I am actually considering to move out, I have more money than I know what to do with so…why not just get a place for ourselves instead?

-Hmm…Ok

-Our own house? Make it 2 stories Er-Er!

-…Home…

-It would be wise to ensure the master bedroom has a large bed as well Eric

…Ok…[Monica?]

-Here is the address, check it out tomorrow

With Leona on my right, Idunn on my left it was enough for my hormones to activate, unfortunately both Tiki and Myrrh are atop me, so I had to force myself completely to relax, I had to use mana to cancel the damn hormone production, Monica again, helping out, but seriously, if shit will be like this, I'm gonna have Myrrh and Tiki sleep in another room, cause this shit is painful

Regardless, I was able to fall asleep after a lot of effort but…

…

-…Hmm…? Freyja?

I got up but I wasn't in Freyja's realm

-Where…am I?

-I'm sorry Er-Er…

-! Tiki?!

I looked around and I saw her, heavily wounded, the wings on her back noticeably torn, I saw red as I rushed her

-Who did that to you?! Who dared?!

-I thought I could help you…but I was just a hindrance…

No matter how I ran, I couldn't reach her, someone then showed up behind her, he was faceless, but he had a blade, a Falchion, I went berserk right there and began launching magic as I took off the ground and launched myself at them…but it was all repelled, I didn't cover any distance…

And Tiki was impaled

-NO!!!!!

-Er-Er…

And she fell, on a pool of her blood, I exploded, I was able to break through whatever was holding me and I grabbed the faceless man, I then beat him, I punched him until his skull cracked, I wanted to continue but forced myself to stop and checked on Tiki

Unfortunately…she no longer drew breath, I sealed the injury and closed her eyes, I felt the man get back up and tried to stab me, I stopped him dead in his tracks by breaking the Falchion with a punch, knocked him to the ground and started punching again

I didn't stop

Not when the skull cracked

Not when my fist began to hurt

Not when the sensation was no longer of hitting something solid

Not when I felt my vision be completely covered by red

Only when I heard wet thuds did I clean the blood off my face and looked at my handiwork

If there wasn't a human body attached to this red soup, I would have assumed someone dropped lasagna or something similar

Then, the whole place changed, I was now in front of a tower, a massive tower, the place was dark, dreary, it felt off

-Monica?!

…No response

-Shit, I gotta get it together…that was an illusion…must have been, I wouldn't allow Tiki to be in that situation…

I looked around but…doesn't seem like there is much else to go off, so…tower it is

As I went in, I saw a lot of people in, all with an empty look in their eyes and their weapons raised…all medieval weapons, no guns

-…Er…Er…

?! WHAT?!

THE FUCKING TOWER IS CALLING ME?!

!! OF COURSE! NAGI!

Shit this doesn't make any sense, Nagi only appears if you let Tiki die and break the fucking Falchion in game, this ain't no game anymore, I will never risk Tiki (I didn't risk anyone even in game) so why am I in the Alterspire?!

-…Er…Er…

Gah… if you call my name like that…

FUCK IT!

I pulled out my scythe and yelled out

-GET OUT OF MY WAY, OR BE CUT DOWN BY MY STEEL!

The men ignored me as they charged at me or used magic, I merely sighed

-CHAOS! CONTROL!

I dunno if you are humans anymore, but it doesn't matter, I am getting Nagi out of this shit hole

-1

I sliced through them without mercy

-2

The enemy magic was easily dispelled in one move

-3

There is no need for mercy here

-4

I WILL change this story

-Time flows again

I ignored the wet thuds and the sound of flesh falling and being sliced, I walked without caring, more enemies emerged from the shadows, but I sliced without hesitating…they were weak, so very very weak

To be totally frank, I am not sure what I am facing…I don't know if these things are alive or mere puppets, though they certainly act like the latter…whatever the case, I am changing this story

I ascended the tower, it threw wave after wave at me, the classes were from all over the place, pegasus knights, wyvern knights, magicians, bishops, shamans, paladins, heroes, swordmasters, all weaker than Link when I fought him last, 5 years ago

When I reached the top, I saw the coffin, it was painful to see, this is supposed to be Tiki if you mess up and get her killed, I won't allow that sweet girl to suffer, not while I have something to say about it

So, the story is a lot more like this, Nagi only appears if Tiki dies and the Falchion breaks, since the Falchion is a dragon killing sword and the final boss of the game where Tiki appears, Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon is in fact a Dragon, she, who deals extra damage to dragons and the Falchion are necessary to survive

So if both are gone, you get the Alterspire, a lesser Falchion and are sent on your way to fight the final boss, the thing is, for Nagi, that is her only battle, she gets no happy ending, either she dies in battle claiming that she needs to keep going or she lives only to disappear the second the fight is over implying she got sent back to the coffin to sleep until she is needed again

Needless to say, I didn't like it in game, and now that I am here? I fucking hate it

So I am changing it, I already have spent my entire life here changing fate, what is one more?

However, before I could say anything, Nagi got up from the coffin

-?!

She looked straight into my eyes, and tears began falling from her cheeks

-This…tears…?

I wanted to greet her but for some reason, I said something else instead

-…You remind me a lot of my little sister…

-…Little…sister?

I wasn't sure why but…that caught her attention, now I could introduce myself

-My name is Eric, can you tell me your name?

-…Nagi…my name is Nagi

-Pleased to meet you Nagi

-…Why did you…awaken me?

-I haven't said a word

-Your soul…it's crying…calling me desperately…

…Do I seriously grow attached this fast to people now?…Or is it because of my fond memories with them? Me and sis spent hours playing the fire emblem games trying to get a perfect route, one where no one died…guess we always cared a lot about pixels…or…

-Is it?

-…It is…Eric…who is your sister?

-Tiki

-…Tiki…?

-Is that not you?

-No…I am Nagi…but…Tiki…I have heard that name before…but where?

-Oh well, what now? I woke you up

-…I…must go with you

-Why?

-…Because…my soul is screaming at me to do so…

-Ha…it almost feel like both our souls are calling each other huh?

-…I… believe that to be correct…our souls are calling out to each other…

-Then, come with me

I offered her my hand, she looked at it but, instead of that, she dove at me

-?!

She hugged me incredibly tightly, in fact…it almost felt like she was afraid I would vanish if she released me

-Nagi?

-…It's…warm…

-…Yeah, everyone says that

As I hugged her back however, something happened

"Reality error has been detected"

What?

"Champion Eric is responsible, purging…"

Something felt off, like my very being was being destroyed, however, I didn't think it was enough to kill me…it hurt but…nothing compared to other fights I have had

"…Purge failed, soul of the subject is too powerful…sending cleaner"

Ah, god dammit

I felt danger and dragged Nagi down with me, the top half of the tower was annihilated all of a sudden by a massive strike, the rubble threatened to hurt us so I casted a barrier to protect us, Nagi was surprised and looked where I was looking

Whatever had completely destroyed the tower, was now looking at us straight in the face, I smirked

-This is bullshit…

-Eric?!

-YOU CAN'T KILL ME YOURSELF SO YOU SENT FUCKING QUEEN-BEAST AFTER ME!!?

Queen beast, from Drakengard, ending E…

At least I can rest assured no fuckwit pilot will shoot me down once I kill the bitch…seriously…dumb mother fuckers…how could they kill the being that killed this fucking monstrosity!? Are your eyes for fucking decoration?!

Sorry, rambling, Queen Beast shows up

in the E ending of Drakengard, it is a final showdown in Tokyo of all places where the queen sings to activate her magic and you do the same to counter it, her appearance is that of a female mannequin, it is very off putting, and after killing her, she crumbled releasing an infection that ends the fucking world killing or turning everyone into monsters, everything about her is horrible, and now this skyscraper sized bitch is here to kill me…fucking JOY

Rant aside, I really am in deep shit here

"Queen-Beast (Watcher) (Cleaner Z rank)"

Z…

-What…is that thing Eric?!

-A God…perhaps something worse…it doesn't matter, you are a Manakete, are you not?

The queen was watching us, likely awaiting our futile struggle

-Yes…

-Transform then, we will take to the airs, focus on dodging that thing, I will kill it

-Can you kill it?

-Of course I can, it's here to clean us both up

-Me too?

-You and I are not supposed to exist together, you are meant to sleep here forever, after helping out, you will be sent back here to sleep again, maybe dead, I don't know

-How do you…

-Because that is how it went in my world of origin, you helped a hero, should said hero allow Tiki to die

-Huh?

-A game, a game is all it was originally, one where I had control of the hero to save the world, I reincarnated after I died

-…My life…was a game?

-There, but in this world, I have met a lot of people who used to be games, nothing more than products of fiction

-…

-But now…They are real, I know them, I love them, I care for them…hell, Tiki is like my adorable little sister, I genuinely love her, and I will protect her

-You…

I told her upfront about everything, since this thing is here, she needs to be up to speed, after all, I am certain this thing will also talk at some point, if I am not upfront, I could end up with another Kazuya like mess…ok…now, since emotions are so important, let me try something

-It's absurd, how quickly I grew attached, how deeply I care, because I know their stories, I know the kind of people they are…and their pain, their suffering…

I gripped my scythe in fury as I looked, dead into the Queen's eyes

-WILL NOT HAPPEN AS LONG AS I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT IT!!

To my delight, it worked, speaking did indeed motivate me, dunno if it's mana or the soul, but now in this state of anger, I feel quite strong

I aimed at the Queen and screamed

-CHAOS! BLAST!!

The explosion appeared right in the face of the atrocity, making her scream loudly and as I was about to go charge her, Nagi appeared by my side, transformed and picked me up, tossing me in her back and we began circling the beast as it now began to sing

-Nagi?

-If you know my fate, if you know what awaits me…why are you here?

-Because I will change it

-Can it be changed?

I smirked

-I have been doing it for 7 years Nagi

-…Can you truly kill this beast?

-One way to find out!

That's when the bitch started to fire her white and black rings of magic, except these weren't rings, this was total area coverage, like multiple explosions emerging from her and destroying everything, the tower was obliterated in an instant, but I didn't care

I casted holy magic and dark magic to counter each of the explosions and it was working, each hit deflected her explosions back at her, unfortunately, instead of picking up the pace so I can easily win, she screamed, causing a massive earthquake and a sonic boom, sending us both flying

-Eric?!

-RESIST ALL YOU WANT BITCH! THIS TIME, THERE WILL BE NO SAD ENDING! YOU WILL DIE!!

"Unyielding Activated!"

Just in time too, since she used her hand to smash us, I countered by using my scythe to stop her massive hand, yes, I kept her in check with my own strength

-!! ERIC!!

-THIS ONLY ENDS ONE WAY! WITH YOUR DEMISE! NAGI!!

I kinda get why in so many games or shows, the characters yell at the enemy, this is a very effective way to amplify emotions

She caught on and moved us out of there as the queen launched more explosions and flailed trying to catch us, I answered back by going full burst with my mana and scythe, one hand deflecting her spells back at her and the other repelling her swipes

"The cleaner is…struggling? What…what are you?!"

-FILTH!!

She spoke, screamed

-A MORTAL DARES DEFY A GOD?! DOES YOUR SINFUL ARROGANCE KNOW NO BOUND?!

I fired back

-GOD?! YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A FUCKING PARASITE! EVEN IN DEATH YOU ONLY BRING MISERY! THIS TIME NO ONE WILL DIE! YOUR LIFE ENDS TODAY YOU FUCKING WHORE!!!

The fight intensified even more if that can even be possible, Nagi was no longer able to dodge the attacks of the bitch and I had to work overtime to protect us both, I slammed each swipe aside and countered each explosion that really felt like the last 30 seconds of the original fight

It didn't feel like fighting a graceful queen, I was fighting a rabid animal, swiping like crazy while causing countless explosions of mana, things got worse when she stopped using one hand to swipe and used it instead to cast countless fire balls that chased us ruthlessly, I could only trust Nagi on this one since I was too busy fighting back against everything else this bitch was throwing at us

I tried to summon Kasha and Yuki, but it was to no avail, my soul must have been separated from them again, just like the first time I was when I arrived at Dökkálfheimr, all I could do was try and fight back, but we all know, I don't think I am doing much damage here…

-Eric…This is…difficult…

-Hang in there Nagi! We are not losing!

Suddenly, the attacks ceased, so we did too, looking in confusion in front

-You…you damn filth…you are too strong…how could a mortal reach this level?!

-Who cares?! Why did you stop? What gives?!

-…My only target is her

She aimed at Nagi, I flared up again

-OVER MY ROTTING CORPSE!!

-Mortal, you cannot save her

-YOU DARE!!?

-I am merely stating facts mortal, her fate is separate from Tiki, she is to sleep, until she is needed again

-What kind of life is that?! Sleep only to wake up and fight, only to then sleep again?! That's no life! THAT'S HELL!!

-Blame the ones who were unable to protect Tiki, this is the outcome, you cannot oppose this fate

I was ready to fight again but Nagi stopped me

-Nagi?

-If I go back to sleep, will you let Eric leave?

-You have my word

Nagi landed and turned to me, tears in her eyes

She was going to speak but…

-NO!

I pushed her aside and jumped to slice the Queen, she groaned in pain at the sudden attack

-YOU FOOL!!

-ERIC PLEASE! STOP!!

-I REFUSE!!

The Queen now fully focused on me, used all the previously mentioned attacked to try and swat me down since I was now flying around with my own wings, she was pissed

-She is saving your life, and you spit at her determination?!

-SAVING MY LIFE?! SHE IS GIVING UP! GIVING UP TO FATE'S WHIMS! I WON'T ALLOW IT!

-Giving up?! She is accepting her fate! She is bravely accepting her lot to keep you safe and you do this in return?!

-I DIDN'T ASK HER TO SAVE ME, NOR DO I RECALL ASKING YOUR WORTHLESS OPINION! CHAOS BLAST!!!!

Bitch screamed in agony again as I kept attacking, even if I am doing no damage, I am making her hurt!!

-Eric! Please you-

-SHUT UP!!

I snapped at her, her expression shocked beyond belief

-YOU CLEARLY HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT YOU ARE AGREEING TO, YOU ARE MERELY DOING AS THE GODS COMMAND LIKE A GOOD PUPPET! SINCE YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR YOU, I WILL ASK

I refuse to believe she wants to sleep for eternity, it is no better than death

-DO YOU WANT TO SLEEP FOREVER?!

-YES I DO!

-LIAR!!!

I shouted at the top of my lungs, she was crying, of course she didn't want that, who would?! She wants to live, and I will have her admit it, by showing her, I AM NOT FOLDING!

-?!

-WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT?!

She seemed to have fallen into confusion, she was gonna speak but I interrupted

-DON'T THINK ABOUT CONSEQUENCES!

I dodged a swipe and sliced the bitch, but my scythe broke

-DIE!

Instead of falling into despair, I grew further enraged

-DON'T THINK ABOUT FATE!

"Unyielding is evolving!!"

I punched her in the face, sending her back heavily

-WHAT?!

-WHAT DOES YOUR SOUL DESIRE NAGI?! DON'T LIE TO ME, DON'T LIE TO YOURSELF! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!?

The Queen again sent out her magic and I countered with mine, I realized then that I was bleeding, but I didn't care

-GIVE ME YOUR ANSWER NAGI! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!?

-MORTAL!

"Unyielding (SSS) has evolved!"

"Fate Crusher (Ex) has been acquired"

My power amplified in an instant, allowing me to properly clash with the monster, as mana exploded and flowed everywhere from our clash, I heard Nagi, barely, but I did

-I-I WANT TO LIVE WITH YOU! MY SOUL YEARNS FOR YOU! BUT IF YOU DIE, WHAT WILL I DO?!

I smirked savagely

-FIGHT!!!

-!?

-FIGHT UNTIL ALL THAT WISHES TO HURT YOU FALLS! NO ONE BUT YOU-

My fist caught fire, purple fire as I could visibly see my soul emerge from me and join me in the punch

-HAS THE RIGHT TO DECIDE YOUR LIFE!!!!!

The Queen's arm broke as my punch went right through and blasted half her face off, sending her flying and crushing what was left of the tower and destroying nearly all terrain, I fell soon after, feeling all my bones break simultaneously

-Agh…

-ERIC!

Nagi arrived by my side as she freaked out noticing just how atrocious my wounds are…pretty sure my limbs are twisting the wrong way around…ugh…

-No…NO! Something…I have to know something please! Anything! Just…let me remember! PLEASE!!

-DISGUSTING FILTH!! HOW DARE YOU?!!! HOW DARE YOUUU?!?!

Ah…bitch ain't dead huh?

Yeah, I guess I was optimistic in assuming she would die immediately after that punch…oh well…it was worth a shot…now what?