The animated corpses of the rogue immortals slowly stepped out of their gaudy coffins without a sign of stiffness.
"Meet your soon-to-be family of despicable cretins that dared to make a mess of my markets."
"I won't tell you again Ruler of Barter, I did not intend to do this. I was going to go see his father's last creation. I just wanted to go on an adventure across the cosmos."
Null felt frustrated. Was it his fault for dropping his agitated and deeply distressed attitude for just a chance at a future where he had something to live for?
Of course, it was... but so what?
Null was just another unfortunate soul waiting for the time it would meet its fate. He had been through a world-wide extinction, met beings the likes which could do so without the slightest consideration or consequence, and to top it off, he had to find a way to Sophina before the time was up.
Grief and sorrow would have to wait until otherwise.
"I am leaving."
He said as he turned to leave, but the obol-eyed immortals would not let him have his way.
They marched over in unison with an organized, seemingly rehearsed movement.
"You see, here's what I don't understand," Barter's Ruler responded irritably, "If you admit to your wrongdoings and are truly sorry for your actions... then why are you not accepting your death sentence."
"I have other things to attend to, so thanks but no thanks."
"How many lives is it that you have lying around the place. Are you implying that the lives of tens of peoples, each with their own goals and ambitions, can just be waved away like a passing of gas."
There was no hint of emotion on the ruler's face.
"I won't ask you again. Do you know the value of a life?"
Null's next answer would determine how the next events would unfold.
"I...," Null seriously considered his answer, "However useful the life is for me is as valuable as it will be. Everything else means nothing."
Null spoke his truth as he felt it. His life was changed and with it, so did his judgement.
"Aren't you just a piece of work," Barter's Ruler sighed and rubbed his temple.
He recalled the reanimated immortal corpses and the lustrous golden equipment he made.
"Does this mean I'm not going to have to kill you?" Null expected the complete opposite of the response he saw.
'Huh?'
Barter's Ruler was confused at the scary words spoken nonchalantly from the bloodied and beaten kid.
"Greed is good, but too much greed will get you killed. I would know, it's literally the muse for my strength."
"Um... are we just going to stop the fight here?"
"There's nothing to gain from killing you. You're worth more for me alive, so I will keep you alive."
"What do you mean by that?" Null thought he was mad about the dead people, but it seemed like that anger dissipated with his answer.
"I won't fight you in a battle of physical might, but in return for you killing my subjects you will help me with something else."
"What is it?"
"Just answer a few more of my questions like you did with the last and you're free to do as you please. But just so you know, if I don't like a single answer you give me, I have a spare coffin just for you."
"Then ask away, I've only got a couple of strings left before I snap completely." He looked around and at himself again.
'Don't think about that stuff right now.'
"Firstly, if a life's value is determined by its usefulness for you, how valuable might you find yourself?"
"I don't care enough about something like that to give a proper answer," Null responded brazenly.
"Then secondly, what is your goal for this journey you spoke of?"
"The safety of the universe and everything in it, including the only person I love."
"Lastly, where does-," Barter's Ruler was about to finish, but was interrupted by a scream.
"NULL!!!" Theef emptied his lungs as soon as he arrived at the Wanderer's Market.
He rushed towards the well-kept ruler as soon as he saw Null's condition along with the environment around him.
As there was some distance between the two, Barter's Ruler turned to Null with a face full of repugnance.
'For the love of everything can this guy just stay put.' Null palmed his face.
"False alarm man! I don't think we have to kill him anymore!"
'Really?!'
Barter's Ruler let it slide the first time, but it was starting to tick him off, 'What gives this punk the confidence to spout that nonsense even now!'
"What the hell have you been up to little man! You even went and grew a bit while I was away." Theef was his usual yappy self.
"I'm... You know what, just give me a moment. I was kinda in the middle of something," Null gestured to the still frowning face of the ruler.
"Well hurry it up! I'll go get the things from my storage and wait for you in the ship. Let's hurry up and get off this shitty planet already!"
Theef took another look at the immortal ruler's face and took his leave; a few more moments and he would have been in a coffin— and not the golden kind.
'Pfft. That guy looked constipated; what would Null do without me to protect his fragile self.'
"Anyways, you were saying?" Null wanted to pretend that never happened.
"How exactly do you intend on accomplishing your goal?" After Theef's abrupt interruption, Barter's Ruler changed his last question.
"I'll follow the path paved for me by my predecessor. I will figure out about my power and my role in what seems to be the end of reality itself."
'So that's what it comes down to.'
"Follow me. I'll take you to the greatest masterpiece of Benji's father and send a team to clean this place up. For what it is worth, I will not blame you for their deaths. Only the worthy can withstand the temptation of greed; that it the real reason for you still breathing."
"Whatever you say golden nugget." Null pettily insulted him before following.