"Hehe.... walk a little faster, will you? Come on, humans. Don't tell me this is all the strength you can use. Chop chop."
"Forgive us..... your excellency..... it is....."
"Are you going to say it's heavy?"
Walking through the fleshy streets of the Dictatorship, a spiritual figure sat upon a throne which was being carried by four human men.
"N-no! Nothing of the sort, your excellency!! Forgive us!! We are beyond weak!!"
"Yeah. That's about right I suppose."
The spiritual figure looked forward with a bored expression, the light in her baggy green eyes nowhere to be found.
"After all, I don't weigh anything. So how could this be heavy?"
"Tormenting the humans as always?"
From behind the throne, a sinister voice called out, to which the spiritual girl whose hair was nothing less than a disaster turned around with a delighted smile.
"Garett! I'm so bored. Let's do something."
"Haha..... you're always bored, aren't you? You've been bored ever since we took over the world."
"Well.... what can I say? The world became boring when there was nobody left to oppose us."
The man who spoke to this spirit was a crimson demon, and he merely laughed at the absurd statements of the spiritual figure.
"Come on. There's someone that we haven't seen in a long time. Why don't we go check up on how he's doing?"
As the demon stated this, the green eyes of the girl lit up with excitement as a horrible grin drew itself across her ghastly face.
"Heh..... heh heh..... you mean that one?"
"Yep."
Jumping off the throne, the girl landed without touching the ground, hovering just slightly above it as she rushed towards the demon.
"Let's go."
----
"How..... how long has it been?"
"Years? Decades? Centuries?"
"I don't even know....."
"How many times have I died now?"
"How many situations have I been through like this now?"
"Am I even... two people anymore?"
A man with the humanoid form of a snake found himself in a cavern.
Before him was a pair of buttons.
"Save yourself"
"Save everyone else."
The snakeman merely stared at these buttons, his slit eyes vibrating madly as he looked upon them.
"I've tried this before..... I've been in so many situations like this before.... save yourself.... save everyone else..... ha....hahaha.....hahahahah..."
Holding his hand to his face in anguish, the snakeman begun to cry as tears streamed down his face.
"No matter which one I pick..... everyone dies anyways....."
[Notice. You have 10 seconds to choose.]
"10 seconds...."
"10 seconds....."
"A time limit? Wait.... what? This is different from usual..... there has never been a time limit before.... is this a special case? Is this a special opportunity!? If I choose something-"
[3....2.....1....]
As he heard the mechanical voice play in his head, the eyes of the snakeman went wide as he immediately thrusted his hand forth, hitting the button labeled 'Save yourself'
[Notice: User has selected to save themselves. Commencing with punishment.]
"No.... no no no..... NO!!!! Not more punishment!!!! Please! PLEASE!!!! STOP!!!!! NO!!!! I'LL NEVER CHOOSE IT AGAIN!!!! I'LL NEVER CHOOSE TO SAVE MYSELF AGAIN!!! JUST STOP THIS!!!!!"
It was then that the cavern was filled with a purple mist, and the snakeman was filled with anguish as the poison entered his bloodstream.
His limbs became tormented with a furious burning sensation and he fell to the ground, spastically shivering as the tears flowed.
"Stop..... this... ngh..... why..... why..... why am I still here!?!?! Was there a need to put me through this forever!?!?! AGH!!!!!"
Closing his eyes as he screamed, the man then became silent.
He had died.
And then, opening his eyes, he was alive again.
'Not again..... not again.....'
Looking around, his vision was blurry as if his eyes were adjusting to the sudden change in lighting.
Now he was in a prison cell.
'Not again.....'
The man tried to speak this, however when he did so, no sound emitted from his voice.
'Huh? I've been..... silenced?'
"Should I unmute him?"
"Depends. Do you wanna hear his screams?"
"Nah."
Two crackling voices could be heard, and as his vision became clearer, the snakeman realized who it was.
'The ones..... who put me here.....'
Not knowing whether to shout out in rage or curl away in terror, the snakeman merely froze in place.
"Hey, half assed Dictator. How's it going? Just came in to let you in on a little something."
Walking towards him was a spiritual wretch.
Her hair was ragged beyond belief, and that sadistic smile was something which the snakeman would never in his life forget.
It was the being who had put him under such immense torment.
"We've taken over the entire world. We did what you tried to, on a scale that you never could have. You tried to rule your village by labeling outsiders as evil. But for us..... heh...."
Grabbing the head of the snakeman, the man who was the combined existence of Hergar and Dern looked up with terror as he felt the immense pressure, powerful enough to crush his skull.
"There was no need to rely on such things. Even after labeling ourselves as evil, we were able to defeat all our enemies."
It was then that the snakeman felt his head being ripped off and thrown to the side.
Immense pain filled his neck, however he did not die immediately.
Walking over to his bodiless head, the crimson demon looked down on him, placing his foot on top of the head.
"That's the difference between us..... and you. You were nothing more than a cheap imitation."
And then, the snakeman's head was crushed, exploding underneath the foot of the demon.
"Should we leave him dead, or should we let him continue to suffer?"
"Mmm..... I suppose he was too destroyed to even be able to continue repenting. Let him die."
Walking out of the bloodied cell, the two headed off, intertwining their hands as demented smiles plastered their expressions.
"We're the only ones in this world who are allowed to hold the title of Dictators."
----
Sitting across from one another at an elegant restaurant, two figures carefully picked from their plates, taking enough time to savor the food before swallowing in synch.
Wiping his mouth with a napkin, the elven figure nodded in deep approval.
"Excellent."
Carefully placing the napkin back at his side, folding it perfectly, he looked over to the woman across from him- a succubus with teal skin.
"Do you not agree?"
"I agree.", she responded.
With a smile, the man sat back in his seat, taking in the atmosphere.
This elven man who had black hair which was slicked back in professional manner gave off an aura of maturity and class, and the woman across from him gave off a similar feeling.
"A society in which all are equal except for the ones on top..... this is a true Dictatorship, is it not?"
The man spoke to the woman, to which she leaned forward with a smug grin.
"That's right. After all.... heh...."
Closing her eyes, the woman took another bite of the meat on her fork.
"Everyone else in this world..... they are merely insects in comparison."
The two then laughed together, chuckling with a slight tint of madness.
"Heh...."
"Haha....."
It was then that a waiter appeared before the two, a demon dressed in a clean suit.
"Your excellencies.... is everything to your liking? If not, then I will order the execution of the chefs immediately."
"There is no need for such measures. The dishes were acceptable."
On hearing these words from the elven man, the waiter let out a visible sigh of relief, the tension dispersing in him.
'Thank goodness.... we were running out of chefs....', he thought.
"That is wonderful to hear, your excellency. May I take your platters?"
"Do so."
With the wave of his hand, the elven man allowed the demon to do his job as the dishes were carried off, and the two were left alone once more.
"About time. To think that even after increasing their abilities, there would still exist people who are incompetent.... hahaha..... I suppose there are some people who, even when given talent, are unable to refine it. No?"
Resting her chin on her hands, the succubus looked into the eyes of the elf.
"Indeed. There is no place in our Dictatorship for such incompetent fools. This is a place for the hard working. And the only excuse which those who are talented have for failure...."
Taking a sip of wine, the elven man paused his speech for a moment before placing the glass down lightly.
"Is laziness."
The two then laughed in unison together, haughtily mocking everyone and everything around them.
For everyone around them was below them.
Raising his glass, the elven figure tapped it lightly to the glass of the woman with a smile.
"To our absolute rule."
"And to our nation."
"That there may never again be a person who forces another to pick up the burden for him."
"And that we may exist as the one and only evil."
----
"They're imposing themselves as beings of evil again. Are you going to do something about it?"
"Hm? Why ever would I do that, my other self?"
Sitting in a demonic throne with servants all around her kneeling in reverence, was a woman who gave off the aura of a demonic queen.
"If you truly wanted this world to be filled with peace and equality.... then would you not stop them from doing such things? Even if they are your comrades, as the good one, don't you think they're going a bit too far?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about. I never once said that I wanted this world to be filled with peace and equality."
Lifting up her legs, the half demon and half angel crossed them as she rested them on the back of a servant.
"I said it before, did I not? Ah.... how long ago that was..... heh...."
Holding out her demonic hand, the woman glanced over to one of the maids, speaking a single word.
"Blood."
"Yes, Lady Claire."
With a polite bow, the woman headed off, quickly returning with a platter.
On this platter was a clear glass goblet, filled with a red fluid which resembled a glass of wine.
Taking this glass in her demonic hand, the woman took a sip as she smiled, her fangs poking out of her mouth.
"I wanted to optimize this world. And in order for evil to be minimized.... it must be concentrated."
Swirling the glass, the demonic woman watched the liquid with a demented smile, thinning her eyes maliciously.
"And it just so happens that the five of us..... are the points of the highest concentration."
Closing her eyes, the woman then spoke again, addressing her servants.
"Entertain me, lower beings."
At this command, the servants all stepped forward to form a line, kneeling before the woman with fervent expressions of loyalty.
And then, in unison, they spoke.
"Yes, my Queen."
Thus was the rule of the Determined.
The Queen of Evil.
And her antiheroes.
And they all lived.
HAPPILY.
EVER.
AFTER.
The end.
----
Thus, the afterstories come to an end.
For the record, as I said before, these afterstories are what would have happened in the "Good ending"
Whether these afterstories are canon are for you as the reader to decide.
If the story ended with Volume 18, then these stories are nothing more than a 'what if', however if you wish to believe that these stories are the true ending, you are free to do so.
So let's talk.
This is the ending. It's over. I'm finished writing this series, Undetermined.
I originally thought that my work as an engineer would be simply too much to allow me to write again.
However, after working for a month as an engineer, I can tell you with good news that my job is a good one. The environment and the people are good, and I'm not overworked at all.
And because of this, I am making very good progress on my new story "Number 7"
For those of you who did read Undetermined, you're in for a hell of a lot of easter eggs.
As I write this story I am realizing all over again how great it was to write something. How much fun it was to create a world, characters, and a story.
I'm extremely excited for this new series, and I hope you all are as well. It's so much fun to think up all these ideas, and they just keep on pouring into my head.
There are so many similarities in my new series to my old, to be honest. I guess old habits die hard, eh? Even with a completely different setting, a completely different plot, a completely different world, everything feels so similar.
And I love it.
I don't know when I will release the first chapter. It probably won't be until a few months from now. However, I know one thing for certain.
I'm going to try and make this story better than Undetermined.
It's a high hurdle.
There are some chapters that I look at Undetermined and I just drop my jaw and say 'Oh my goodness. Did I actually write that?'
I love every last one of my characters, to be completely honest.
Except Oscar. He can go die. All my homies hate Oscar.
But seriously.
Oscar did have a purpose to his existence.
Oscar represents all the politicians of the world who are beloved by so many, yet behind the backs of the public, they are nothing more than swindlers and liars.
Oscar represents the very concept of irresponsibility, immaturity, and frivolousness.
Oscar represents everything bad about humanity that we see so often, just jumbled up into one person.
Oscar is without a doubt evil, but as one of my reviewers said, there is a realism to his evil despite how excessively over the top he is.
There was also a part of this review which said that my story was abstract enough to not be offensive yet real enough to make us want to better some issues.
And that is exactly what I was trying to do.
I don't want to pinpoint a group of people in real life, because that would be blaming one group.
That is exactly the opposite of what I have done in my story.
I don't want to blame a group of people. I want to blame individuals.
And for this reason, in almost every group, I placed good and bad people.
Even among the demons, there were people who cared for others.
Among every type of monster and humanoid, I tried to place those who were legitimately and straightforwardly pursuing their goals.
And among every nation of people, I placed those who were both good and evil, smart and dumb, capable and incompetent.
I did that on purpose because I never wanted anyone to think that 'This particular group is bad'
I wanted people to understand that the majority of the time, it is the actions of an individual which are to blame.
And Oscar was that individual.
Yet even so, there was a sheep mindset among the people, who were coaxed by the very word 'hero'. And this is another major point that I wanted to get across.
People really like to use nice words to say horrible things.
I've encountered many situations where people will use the most beautiful sounding words to describe the most vulgar and vile concepts, and I merely look around me at everyone agreeing with such things merely wondering 'why have these people all been so brainwashed?'
Just because something sounds good, just because everyone around you accepts it as good, doesn't mean it IS good.
But anyways.
Thank you, readers.
This story has been an amazing journey.
It's one that I will never forget.
I tried from the beginning of the series to make a series which was anything but cliche.
And I know this is arrogance on my part, but I personally absolutely love everything about my series.
I love my characters. It hurts me to see them go. But it's finally time for the sendoff.
Goodbye, Claire and Clarice.
And goodbye, antiheroes.