Simultaneously, unbeknownst to Rin it would seem everything was not as dire as he thought if you don't consider, the regression of his cultivation and the minor damage his soul sustained.
But while unfortunate and downright horrible there was a fortune amid his misfortune, in the form of a long-forgotten system, if what Ezekiel was seeing before his eyes was right.
"Huh? So out of all my reincarnations it was in my fourth life that you would return to me, old friend?" he muttered as he gazed upon the charred flickering CPU hidden behind layers of wires and alien machinery floating before him.
Which faintly resembled the invention he once crafted eons ago, following his and Elizabeth's unforeseen discovery of those ruins in what the world now calls the God realm.
But later lost during his death at the hands of his wife, Margaret someone he once cherished and loved above all. Yet, feelings meant nothing in the face of immortality and ascension, for who would care by love if they could live forever?
"Sigh, just how long has it been, Artemis since we last saw each other?" Ezekiel chuckled as he gazed fondly upon his creation as a cascade of emotions swelled up in his eyes, "Aww, is this what people call nostalgia, what a strange yet soothing feeling to feel in a time of peril."
"... is that you, *cough* Master?" Artemis asked cautiously with nervousness as a pair of dreamy blue eyes appeared above the central core of the system, which transformed into a tiny robotic spirit made of cracks.
That crisscrossed and traveled around his body like stitches, woven by a mad scientist that discharged electricity and bits of neon light.
"Yes, it would seem, Artemis; so just how bad is it?" He asked as he got straight to the point, destroying whatever beautiful and heartwarming scene was building up as Master and creation were reunited.
"Master, aren't you curious about my new appearance and why I've sustained such damage?" Artemis asked with concern even though his voice was flat, and he had no facial expression to indicate if he truly felt that way.
"Nope," Ezekiel replied, "So how bad is it?"
Blink. Blink.
'No wonder his wife killed him, who would be glad to marry a blockhead that's stingy,' Artemis thought before replying to his master's question, "It's critical, sir as most if all of my systems have shut down with even basic functions being reduced to just 1% of their full capability. Due to me being stripped of my power source, following the destruction of an unlicensed soul tracker and command switch, which was implanted by the bugs that salvaged and repurposed me."
"Hmm, damn... and here I thought I had it rough, but then again you're a soulless prick so I guess that's what you deserve, Artemis." Ezekiel chuckled before frowning as he sensed something that shouldn't exist on the planet he chose to reincarnate on.
'Sniff, is that Aether, just what has Rin been doing while I've been slumbering?' He thought as if he didn't realize they weren't on Earth anymore but currently somewhere in Dreamworld.
"Master is that any way to talk to your son when I was brought into a world, I would have gladly wished to never to be born in! Yet while I'm here keeping everything in order, chaos himself says... I'm the fucking problem and I deserve what I received due to his unresolved issues with his bloody wife."
"Bro, chill it isn't that serious, plus if you have time to act bitchy like Margaret, then surely you could initiate System Creator Command Override - XLV10 - Code: [Reconfigure/Assimilate/Reboot]." Ezekiel yawned as he ignored everything Artemis said and started step 1 of his plan to rescue his and Rin's asses from death.
Even though he didn't have a full picture of what was going on yet it's better to focus on the now than worry about something, he won't even be here for later.
"Tsk, just why was I the Great Artemis made by such an aggravating being?!" Artemis shouted with annoyance even though he still obeyed Ezekiel's orders, causing a red holographic screen to appear before him as a few warning signs popped up here and there.
Yet, he ignored them and proceeded to type in a string of binary codes that brought up a separate screen, where he inputted the code and pressed enter resulting in a prompt appearing that said successful.
Just as the system underwent a wipe and reboot, almost immediately just as a timer in the far right corner ticked away ever so slowly.
"Ten minutes, huh?" Ezekiel muttered with a sigh as he conjured a rocking chair for him and Artemis since that's how long, it would take the system to complete the command.
"Yup, so what's the plan, Master?" Artemis asked as he sat down across from him.
"Live to see tomorrow or at least die trying for if I die everything else dies with me and that is something I can't let happen anytime soon. Or else Elizabeth wins, gaining the sheep she desired to become an entity comparable to a Quasi Supreme Sovereign with near limitless power and talent."
"Is that honestly a bad outcome, Master; for what does it mean to be a sheep, if all your needs are taken care of by a benevolent yet jealous God?" Artemis asked with a hoarse voice as there was a price to pay to initiate such a command, which led to his situation becoming even worse.
Following the drastic reduction in his reserves which have fallen to a measle 0.5 after using 3.5ths to conduct Ezekiel's order.
"So, she's got to you too, huh?"
"No, but sometimes... I wonder if this is the best option for us, Ezekiel."
"Sigh, while true, Artemis... sometimes it's better to be a fool than a wise man," Ezekiel said with a smile as his soul shattered and turned into particles that were absorbed by Artemis, "So watch over Rin for me, and please don't allow him to make the same mistakes as I, my dear son."
"..." Artemis, 'Will do, sir! But still, why go through all this when you had the chance back then to eliminate the threat?'
He wondered as the timer ended and he remembered, something the first warden of Cell Zero used to always say at every press conference, 'Don't you know the saying to kill a problem, you must first eliminate all its roots before new fruits sprout and more trouble heads your way?!'
Before everything went black...