A few hours passed since I received the information from Athena.
Initially, I was considering what to do and how to wrap my head around all the information Athena told me. But soon I understood one simple thing. I am powerless.
I won't be able leave the current Universe in the foreseeable future. And changing the future is practically impossible unless you have enough power to overpower the Order.
So, in reality, the only thing I can do is to continue my leveling. Now I had a clear goal for now. Don't be involved with the original storyline and get powerful. Powerful enough to straight-up ignore that Order bullshit. Moreover, I have plenty of ideas on how can I become stronger.
Time to travel.
The first stop is Greece. The task of getting manticore skin is long overdue I think. But first sleep.
***
In the meantime, 2 men were moving towards the last location where Magnus was last spotted. In other words, the Burrow.
"Markus, there is still an option of going back. After setting up the blockage and communicating with Universal consciousness, there will be no way back. I am saying this to you because you showed a lot of promise. You can reach incredible heights with time."
"No point in talking about possibilities. I am ready to sacrifice my life to kill Athena."
Dark stopped at his words and put his hand on Markus's shoulder.
"Bullsh*t! If you are doing this, then no need to create good excuses. We both know. After this, we both will be hunted by Order. Maybe even die. So rather than lying about sacrifice, isn't it better to just tell me the truth?"
"Truth?"
"You want Athena dead. You are scared. Anger and Fear are your motivators! Not righteousness!"
"Result is the same, so what's the difference!?"
"Goal is different! The methods are different! We are no heroes. If there will be an innocent person between me and my goal. Then that person dies. Nothing will stop me. No mercy. No benevolence. I suffered enough for the Creation. So now, I just here for vengeance. Capiche?"
A long period of silence followed Dark's question. Markus was in doubt. He wasn't ready to go to such lengths, but at the same time memories of his homeland's destruction were not letting him say no.
"I understand."
"Then? You can still go back and become a great person. Save lives and be a good guy, you know..."
"I can't. Every second of my life, I see them. I see their faces. I remember the moment when I promised my family that everything is gonna be alright. And I also remember how my planet was burning from inside. How Athena, sucked planets dry, sapped lights of brightest stars and collapsed black holes of my Universe. Numerous lives were just ants living on top of the gold mine to her."
"Our path will be cruel. Athena won't leave this timeline, but neither will we get any reinforcements. After Universal consciousness gives us a green light to exterminate progeny, all paths to and from the current timeline will be blocked. We are on our own."
"I know... I am ready. Let's start. We are close to his last registered location. I'll request blockade."
***
I was moving towards Greece, but rather than doing one big jump with the apparition, I jumped shorter distances and had some rest in between jumps.
Somewhere halfway through Italy, I felt something. I wasn't sure what it was, but it was certainly strange.
'Athena, was that my imagination or something bad just happened?'
[...]
'Athena!?'
[...]
'System?'
[Yes. What is it that you need?]
Strange. Athena ignores me or she just can't talk? Either way, it can't be good. Although I said that I have a goal and all that crap about being strong, I am still very concerned about the Order's activities.
'I felt something happening. Was it my imagination or something actually happened?'
[System registers no changes. Would you like to start the diagnostic procedure?]
First time I hear about this functionality.
'What does it do?'
[It is a functionality that was introduced first in this system. It allowed the user to call for a diagnostic check in case of an external influence on the system or its functions.]
'Run it.'
[Diagnostic protocol is activated. The scan is in action. Please wait...]
This whole situation is strange. I have this feeling that something is coming but don't understand why. Let's hope that it is just me overthinking.
***
"Blockade is active. Universal consciousness agreed to cooperate with us. We can proceed."
"Great."
Markus turned around and started walking, but was once more stopped.
"Markus!"
Markus turned his head a little towards Dark.
"Yes?"
"Remember... no mercy. Find progeny and annihilate him. Destroy his body, scatter his soul and wipe his very essence of this world. Do you understand?"
Another period of silence followed. So Dark continued.
"You know this right. The progeny might be an innocent boy who just got his hands on the system. He might even be a saint inside, that wishes for peace and prosperity in the Universe. But...it does not matter... he needs... to die! Please promise me, that you won't doubt your actions and you will do everything... and I mean, absolutely everything to find and kill him!"
Markus turned his body to face Dark and asked:
"You are doubting me? Or have you forgotten how much I lost to Athena?!"
"I remember. But I also know that you believe in the teachings of the Order. And I know that when the moment will come... The moment when you will need to murder an innocent man, not erase from a timeline or just move him to another Universe, but... Murder... that will feel different... You will hesitate."
"... I killed before. There will be no hesitation."
"Trust me... you will hesitate... erasing somebody's very being from the Creation... is heavy. There is no Undeath, eternal darkness, rebirth or Yellow river. This will be his end. The absolute end. Moreover, the consequences of erasing somebody from Creation are heavy enough for the Order to ban this activity."
"You want to erase him? But I thought..."
Dark interrupted him.
"You thought I want to just pierce his heart and stop life processes in his body? No! I will erase him and the curse he carries. Otherwise, why would I carry this tool with me?"
Then he moved his hand and shadows covered his whole arm, before receding and leaving a scythe, similar to the one you would imagine in hands of the Grim Reaper.
"Thanatos's Reaper? How did you get it?"
"Does it matter? Point is that I was preparing for erasing Athena from existence for more than 3 thousand years. I am not letting her escape my reach this time."
Markus stared for a long time at Dark in silence.
"I understand."
"You do? Then let's go. Now that blockade is up, we have eternity to kill Athena. She won't be able to escape. Not with her current resources at least."
***
[Diagnostic is complete. Save function was blocked.]
'Oh... what? By "Save function" do you mean I can't save my progress anymore?'
[No. You can save progress, but you can't load to it anymore.]
'Huh?! Was it the Order's doing?'
[Unknown.]
'Anything else?'
[No.]
'Okay. And Athena is not online I assume?'
[...]
*Sigh*
The world is getting more and more complicated. I think it would be safe to assume that the Order did something to block my ability to load into the past. I thought Athena said that they won't do anything unless I continue my rash actions.
Also this whole thing about the System and Athena. Why was I given it? Why did nobody tell me the rules of how to use it? Plus if the Order already fixed the issue, why it still hunts for me?
I have a really shitty premonition and currently, my mentality is very unstable after continuous apparitions. I need some sleep. I looked around and tried to find a location where I can safely sleep. That's when I noticed some empty hollowed space in the tree nearby. It wasn't big, but it can be used as a nest for some small bird family.
"Well, that can be a good idea."
Shadows under me engulfed me...
***
"So what's the plan?"
"Plan? Barge in. Paralyze all living beings in the house and find the progeny."
"Okay."
Dark was moving quite fast and when he reached the door, he made a strange sign with his hands.
{ Wind element - Standing accent - Area Sigil }
Then he touched the door of the house and some kind of energy overcome the house and all of its inhabitants.
Then he opened the door to enter.
Markus followed close by. There he saw people sitting around the fireplace. Frozen in time.
Dark lowered his torso to look into the eyes of the frozen people. Even though his eyes were covered by the cloth, this didn't hamper his ability to gaze into souls. After looking into each of their eyes.
"Neither of them is a progeny. They are all part of the plotline of this world. Markus, scan the house for any other living beings."
"Okay."
Markus rolled up his left sleeve, under which incredibly complicated technical device was hidden. The device wasn't small and looked as if it covered more than just one hand. But it was hard to say how much exactly it covered, because it was hidden by clothes. He put the thumb of his right hand into the location that looked like a fingerprint scanner.
"Activate."
Some robotic and genderless voice answered him in response to his command:
"Fingerprint recognized. Voice recognized. DNA scan in process. Accepted. Greetings Markus."
As soon as the machine was fully activated, blue light started shinning all over Markus's body from under his clothes.
"Suit, start life signature scan."
"Accepted."
A few seconds later, Markus had a full overview of any living creature 200 meters around him.
"Nobody except for them here."
"He escaped? Did he know we are coming or was it just a lucky coincidence? Well, doesn't matter, I will know everything soon enough."
Then Dark took off the cloth that covered his eyes, but his eyes were still closed.
Although Markus knew what's coming next, he only frowned while exiting the house and quietly murmured:
"Nothing can be hidden from the god's eyes..."
Then Dark opened his eyes and the world was submerged in darkness.