Tyrants of Earth - The Legend of Artigan

“Seffara! Seffara the Sapphire! Are the rumors true that you threw an axe into Legend’s Chocolate CEO’s house and threatened him until he made things right?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about! But I am a true believer in fixing your mistakes. If you believe in redemption buy Legend’s Chocolate today!”

*Seffara the Sapphire, after the chocolate company was found to be guilty of engaging in highly unethical practices in developing countries.

—

A pointless childish argument. That was what the [Dread Revenant] thought when looking at his alternate self. He understood what his [A Ruinous Insight] and class were telling him, that this was him but from an alternate reality. No, he was the alternate reality, a lesson in a game played by the Manager.

The true Ryan was staring at him, had been watching his journey the entire time. He needed to learn from him.

Show him your ideals so that he becomes strong enough to protect those important to us.

That was what his skill was telling him. Yet he paused, not able to figure out how to do it. This Ryan looked so alien to the [Dread Revenant].

The Real-Ryan ditched the silence to sneer at the Manager.

“I bet I can make him crack.”

The Manager rolled its eyes. “An argument does not show a winner, especially when one party is unable to reach over and punch the other party.”

“You said I would lose an encounter. This is an encounter isn’t it?”

What were these childish and pointless arguments?

Real-Ryan turned back to him.

“Hey, you know you’re the simulation right?”

He nodded, wanting to get to the point. It was important to convince this Real-Ryan of the right path. He needed to be stronger for what was to come.

“I also know you’re weaker than me. You think that by holding back, you’re the stronger one. It’s not true you can’t defeat me.”

Real-Ryan dismissed his words with a casual wave of the hand, then he swiveled in his chair, away from the Manager, leaning forwards, towards him instead. The Real-Ryan’s aura was a mess. Conflicting principles holding each other at bay, a separation that showed that he was compromised. Weak.

Yet his eyes were crystal clear.

“I know I’m the stronger one. I don’t think you understand, it doesn’t matter how much harder you can punch, it doesn’t matter how much faster you can move. I can break you with words alone.”

Real-Ryan then leaned back, his arms spread wide.

“C’mon, you and me. If I can’t make you crack then I’ll actually listen to you, how about that?”

For someone with [Unrelenting Willpower], a challenge like this should have been a joke. The [Dread Revenant] hadn’t come this far by being something that was capable of being broken. After all this time, against all odds, he had never faltered. Not when the Witch Tyrant declared him blacklisted, not when Seffara the Sapphire crushed his skull and not when he accepted the tortured soul inside of him.

…Yet for some reason, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of… trepidation.

“I accept. But when you fail, you will listen to me.”

“Deal.”

Real-Ryan started tapping on the Manager’s desk, contemplating his options.

“You don’t even know what you’re fighting for, do you?”

“I’m fighting to get stronger, everything else can come after.”

“And how strong is that?”

The [Dread Revenant] had to pause to think.

“Stronger than the Witch Tyrant, strong enough to beat the Fifteenth Trial.”

Real-Ryan had no trouble coming up with an immediate counter, smiling as if he knew something the [Dread Revenant] didn’t. “And beating the Fifteenth Trial will make you strong enough to face down the oncoming apocalypse, will it?”

“I’ll be better equipped to stop it than you.”

“Wrong. Tell me, do you think that just because you complete the Fifteenth Trial that you will be strong enough to beat the civilization that created the Trial System itself?”

For the first time, the [Dread Revenant] hesitated. “Then I’ll wish for both Earth and The Realm to be safe. If that’s not enough, then I’ll get stronger.”

“And how long will that take?”

“As long as it’s needed.”

Real-Ryan shook his head, disappointed at the answer. Then he turned to the Manager. “Seriously? Are you sure this guy’s a simulation of me?”

The Manager simply nodded. “You do tend to become obstinate when someone talks down to you as well.”

“Yeah but I’m not an idiot.” Real-Ryan turned back to him, “So what, you become stronger over decades and then what? Our parents are going to be dead from old age by then. Then you’ll have nothing left to protect.”

“I’ll give them regeneration potions if needed.”

“It’s hilarious that you think they’ll accept it from someone like you. But okay, let’s say you shoved regeneration potions down their throats, what about Milo, Clara?”

“What about them?”

For the first time, Real-Ryan was taken aback. “Wow. Cold, when I told Milock about our situation—”

“You told him?”

“Of course I did, you idiot. You know what Milo said when I told him everything? He said that he’d be with us until the very end, ride or die. No matter how shit it looked, no matter when a dragonslayer popped up to threaten us, he never once thought about abandoning us.”

For a moment, the [Dread Revenant] felt his pulse quicken, it was a weird reaction, he hadn’t had in awhile. The [Dread Revenant] understood what it was. This had to be the reason why this Ryan was so much weaker than he was.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Real-Ryan pushed.

“We have after-action reports, real ones, not like the ones you have, where the Witch Tyrant talks your ear off and you just sit there and nod like an idiot. Milock, Clara, Seffara and this angry old orc all get together and try to insult me…”

Real-Ryan trailed off as he realized that he had lost the [Dread Revenant]. Milock was understandable but…

“Clara?”

“Oh yeah, you remember, the cute girl we used to have a thing for? Turns out she’s way smarter than she pretends to be. Her whole personality is kind of an act, well, actually I don’t understand if it is all an act and I don’t know if I want to know, to be honest.”

His words didn’t make sense, Real-Ryan just kept going on, his eyes were staring in the distance, a self-satisfied smile on his face.

“There’s banter, actual arguments, good food, sometimes others throw mugs at me, Seffara throws tables sometimes.”

The [Dread Revenant] couldn’t imagine the world that this Ryan was talking about. How could he be a blacklister with everything that was going on, how could they even accept what he’d done?

“The Witch Tyrant simply allows this?”

Real-Ryan shook his head. “You don’t get it. Unlike you I fought for it. Told her straight up that if she touches anyone I care about, I will jump into the Trials and never come out. After that we came to an agreement.”

“A promise she could break at any time.”

“Of course she could, and she can do the same to you. But that’s the thing, I know what she actually wants and I actually sympathize. I’m not a pig being raised for slaughter, unlike you.”

He agreed with that until the last sentence. He didn’t understand what Real-Ryan was talking about.

“Explain.”

“The Witch Tyrant isn’t the cold hearted monster she’s pretending to be with you. Nor does she care about getting stronger to fight against some sort of multiversal threat. The only thing she cares about is bringing her daughter back to life.”

“What?”

A daughter?

Real-Ryan shook his head. “You don’t even know what she truly wants. Even if you complete the Trial System you’re not going to wish for her daughter back. What do you think happens when you become strong enough? She’ll either take everyone you care about as hostage, or harvest you to get stronger herself.”

The [Dread Revenant] turned to his own Manager.

“Is this true?”

“It would be unfair to give away the intentions of other Trialists myself.” The Manager said.

Both Ryans rolled their eyes at the non-answer. The [Dread Revenant] turned back to the Real-Ryan.

“And you’re not being raised for slaughter? When the time comes and she tries to kill us then at least I’ll be stronger than you to face her.”

“You’re a fucking one trick pony and you think you can defeat her? She’ll know exactly what you have up your sleeve. You don’t even know that she has two Legends and not one. When she comes to kill you, she’ll be as prepared as she could be.”

“And you think you can do better?”

“I’m already doing better. I’ve already forced her to make concessions, I’ve stopped her dragonslayer plot and most importantly, I’ve helped get her face punched live on television.”

The [Dread Revenant] was almost certain this Ryan wasn’t lying, he had learned some tricks about aura from the Witch Tyrant. And if he wasn’t lying…

“It’s probably a part of a greater plot.”

“Except I got a System Quest notification for it.”

The [Dread Revenant] once again turned to the Manager, unable to believe what he was hearing. The Manager simply gave him a nod of the head. So he turned back to the ‘Real-Ryan’ that came from such an impossible alien world. He could not imagine half of the things he talked about, he went back to the idea that this entire thing was a delusion. He wanted to believe it was a lie.

But it was hard to stare at the bright blue aura and see anything other than the truth.

He shook his head.

It was still wrong. The [Dread Revenant] could admit that perhaps there were other paths he had missed, he never believed he was perfect. But if he wasn’t perfect, then neither was this Real-Ryan. He felt the ruinous insight trickle in at the back of his mind, the skill being stretched over this entire conversation giving him more insight into both his targets.

“We could be great then, both of us together. If my aura can be projected through this simulation then—”

The [Dread Revenant] stopped as he stared at the pitying face of the Real-Ryan. A bit of frustration rose in his chest. This Real-Ryan had so much more to lose, so much more to protect.

So why couldn’t he see the world the way I do? He needed to get stronger to protect what he had.

“Listen to me.” The [Dread Revenant] spoke with frustration. “I’m not looking out for myself here. I just need you to stop holding back so you won’t regret being weaker when the time comes. Whether it’s the apocalypse or the Witch Tyrant. You know I’m right. You can’t break me, we both know I’m right on this.”

The Real-Ryan stared off into the distance.

“Seffara once said that there’ll always be another disaster, another problem and another war…”

“Yes, so then why are you like this? Power matters the most, it’s the fundamental truth. It won’t matter what anyone thinks if we become strong enough.”

There was that pitying look from Real-Ryan again. It grated against him, burning his soul in frustration.

Then the [Dread Revenant] realized something had been pushing at his soul the entire time. A trickle of invisible aura that he had somehow missed. So subtle that he had completely missed it.

Real-Ryan simply looked disappointed that he had taken so long to notice. This was the reason why he had been feeling so off this entire time. The [Dread Revenant] flared his aura back, the black and red aura pushing back flooding the other room. Little tricks mattered not against overwhelming power.

It flooded the other room, though it was unable to get an inch into Real-Ryan’s body. The [Revenant] pushed further, it didn’t matter if the Real-Ryan wasn’t willing to listen. He could just overwhelm—

The mass aura of dread couldn’t push a single bit into the Real-Ryan. A mismatched core of two auras that was looking down on him.

“What I want needs more than just power.” Real-Ryan declared. “I want to be wise enough to stop the disasters before they happen. I want to be smart enough to choose the right decisions when the worst happens. It’s the difference between you and me, and the reason why you’ll never be able to beat me. I don’t want to just protect what’s important to me. I want to win.”

The two disjointed red and blue auras that were holding each other at bay began to expand. The crimson of an uncompromising tyrant merged with the sky blue of a hopeful adventurer. Real-Ryan’s eyes flashed a regal, burning purple. A momentary flash cut through the darkness and slammed into the [Dread Revenant’s] chest.

And for that glorious moment, the [Dread Revenant] felt how the other did.

Real-Ryan smiled. “I did promise to break you, didn’t I?”

“I get it, I won’t be able to convince you. This was pointless.”

The smile and the uncanny purple fire made the [Dread Revenant] draw back. He had far more power but for some reason, he had lost the exchange of auras. He accepted that this Ryan would never listen to him and wanted to hurry and disappear back to the ether.

If he was being honest… the [Dread Revenant] was afraid. Terrified of losing the only thing he had left.

Real-Ryan’s smile was somehow both warm and unkind.

“I bought our parent’s home back.”

Completely random words, but the Real-Ryan knew what to say to hurt him the most. He had been holding this card the entire time.

“I bought it back from the previous owners. Oh yeah, our parents know I’m an adventurer.” Then he laughed, a kind warm laughter that the [Revenant] did not know how to make, “It’s funny, they refused to take it back, too proud to accept anything from their son. They had already saved enough to buy a new house somewhere else.”

The [Dread Revenant’s] mind was just blank. Gone was the thought of disappearing. Now he had to know.

“How… you said you’re a blacklister. You can’t have told them everything.”

“Seffara the Sapphire of course. She thought it was the right thing to at least tell them I was an adventurer, and forced it on me without knowing. Maybe it was Barry, but they’re both good at doing the right thing when it’s needed.”

For the first time the [Dread Revenant] understood the emotion that had been rising the entire time. Even without the subtle aura working on him, the emotion burst out like a shattered damn. It went straight through [Unrelenting Willpower], making his tough walls fragile in their tenseness.

The emotion was pure unadulterated envy.

Ryan turned to the Manager in desperation.

“Show me.”

…

It was glorious, glorious and beautiful. Ryan almost couldn’t believe the scenes he was witnessing. The declarations that were being made. Then he started questioning everything, and with those questions and the scene of a glorious life he could have had, something happened.

For the first time since entering the Trials, the [Dread Revenant’s] steely determination collapsed. He broke again and again.

Once when he saw the genuine antics between his budding team.

A future a boy had once dreamed of.

Again when Seffara talked with his parents.

A regret patched up in the most beautiful of ways.

And again when the Unwanted were uplifted.

A fate that was changed because he raged against the unfair.

And again when he realized he had missed such a big secret with King Theskar.

A secret hidden for those that could see the world in a different light.

Real-Ryan stood up, walking up to the wall that separated them. He stared down at the other version of him that was clutching at his chest, tears in his eyes.

“It’s not your fault. You were too exhausted by everything that happened. I’ve been there, you end up tunnel visioned on one thing and miss everything else around you. Unlike me, you just didn’t have someone else looking out for you.”

Then the Real-Ryan reached out with a red hand made of aura.

“It’ll be okay, take my hand.”