"Error"
"Confirmation required to proceed"
"Elo... who are you?"
Elo's eyes were bleeding, his heart racing. His sister, no, his everything, Dala, was dying, her broken body and shattered soul consumed by pain.
"Stop!" screamed Elo in agony. "Stop!" He could feel her, see her empty eyes, and a shy smile forming on her face...she was breaking.
"Error"
"Confirmation required to proceed"
"Elo... who are you?"
"Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!" screamed Elo, almost breaking his throat.
"Founder Privilege invoked 1/3"
"Accepted"
"Executing"
Suddenly everything stopped. Even Elo's heart was still. He couldn't cry anymore. His focus shifted to the message that popped in front of his eyes.
"Time stopped"
Elo was shocked for a moment, but this event allowed him to focus. He noticed that the images portraying the atrocious things being done to Dala were now paused. Even the golden circuits of the wall, which were moving moments ago, were still. Time did stop.
"Elo, you invoked the Founder Privilege."
"Use of this is restricted, be aware."
"Elo, saving Dala could be easy with your full power."
"But currently you have your soul stats locked, meaning you can't do much beyond using the privilege."
"What can I do?" he asked in his mind.
"We can download some Karma from Gaia and force the awakening."
"What?"
"I'll explain later. It's going to hurt."
"Karma download initiated"
"0.0001%"
Elo had been through so much pain in his life. Bullied for years, lost his only family, betrayed by his best friend. His sister was abused in front of him. He was hurt a lot, so he thought he was used to it. But the pain he felt now was like being under an eternal waterfall crashing down on his head. Elo's veins were popping and shining like hot lava. A red substance started to flow from them and suddenly turned into golden strings of light that surrounded his whole body. A loud crack was heard, and the space around Elo shattered like glass wall breaking reality. He could move again, but he was not the same Elo. He felt powerful, filled with energy and data. All he needed was on his mind.
"0.0002% Karma Download successful"
"Soul stat unlocked"
"O has been remembered"
"Stat Added O: N/A (+8)"
Elo opened his eyes. He was within Gaia, time was stopped, and Dala was in danger of complete soul destruction. "This time took him 34 cycles to awake," he thought. "And it was mostly due to Dala's sacrifice." A deep and great pain ran through his body, but he didn't have to think anymore. Somehow, he knew exactly what to do.
-Jump, destroy, time break, full recovery, memory reset, jump, revenge, jump back, Gaia execute! -Elo whispered deeply.
"Gaia approved."
"Executing"
"<
Said Elo's and his surroundings changed in an instant. He was there, everything was still but there was Dala being used as a toy in front of him. Her eyes were dying out. He controlled his fury and whispered:
"<
The whole dimension buzzed for an instant. Every being in that place exploded into red blood particles—all humans, all animals down to the roach nest hiding in the corner. All but Dala and "him," "the betrayer." He was still alive. His eyes locked onto Elo's, his wicked smile beginning to move. He was breaking through. Elo reacted quickly and said:
"<<
"<<
In Gaia, Elo pondered about what had just happened. He awoke some kind of system, some "O" stat or whatever, and then he was teleporting and destroying humans like they were nothing. What's going on? He was currently in a white misty room with weird bone-white walls covered with golden threads. Dala was in his arms, looking at him. He looked at her and said:
"I'm sorry," Elo cried while holding her. "I forgot." Dala smiled while looking at him and closed her eyes. She was so frail, skinny, mistreated, abused. Her body was filled with bruises, and somehow he could see within her a slowly moving substance. It was white, but it was broken, with cracks all over. That couldn't be forgiven. Elo instinctively knew what to do, even if his mind was all over the place. With utmost care, he placed her on the now protruding white surface. Feathers started manifesting around Dala, forming a cocoon surrounded by strings of golden light that wrapped the cocoon like a spider web, leaving small gaps to see through. She was smiling with her eyes closed. Tears started flowing uncontrollably from Elo's eyes. She was safe. It was time.
"<<
With tears in his eyes, he jumped back to that barn. He was going to destroy it all.
"Great rescue," a voice greeted from a figure sitting in the shadows at the back of the barn. "This time, I almost broke her. You almost had to wait another iteration. Are you getting tired, ***?"
"You, I thought for long that you were really a friend, even a brother, but look at what you did... you need to die!"
"<<
"Founder Privilege invoked 2/3"
"Awaken Revenge, Privileged level Revenge Rank SSS+ Skill"
"8 + Sub Skills needed: approved."
"Executing Awaken Revenge."
All this was shown in an instant and without warning, the scenery changed. All the lights were pulled toward the place Elo was standing. It looked like Elo was the center of reality for a moment, and all that light turned into pure energy forming strings of light. In the split of a second, all this raw power, with a quiet but sharp buzz, was projected toward the shadowy figure in the corner. This unstoppable force of light and heat flew instantly through the small space between them and, just when it was close enough to light up the face of his friend, it was suddenly deflected to the side. Transparent strings of light flowed over his nemesis body like an armor made of a wool sheet. The sides of the barn were gone, and only two fiery holes the size of small canyons could be seen. But in the middle of this, he was still sitting, unscathed by the event. He stood up and looked at Elo with a smile.
"Elo, Elo... Elo, time has changed you. I don't like it. Feels like we're in easy mode. I'm going to give you two days. In two days, I'm gonna come back, I'm going to whoop your ass, and I'm going to fuck her and then eat her, in front of you. Then I'm going to take your authority and destroy this reality. Two days, Elo," - he said and suddenly disappeared like he was never there. Elo was stunned beyond belief. So many thoughts were in his mind when suddenly he was back again, and with a wicked smile said in a whisper:
-<<
Those words reverberated through the space, and it felt like a dimensional event. Reality was breaking under the pressure of the energy waves.
"Self-defense system activated."
"Full Defense Skill unlocked Rank SSS+."
"Unable to resist status."
"Code broken"
"Error"
"imminent damage detected"
"Founder Privilege invoked 3/3."
"Status resisted."
What unfolded before Elo's eyes was beyond human logic. The space started to separate between atoms, and black holes started forming kaleidoscopic shapes for a second before turning into endless closed eyes. The eyes opened, revealing a deep dark space where light, matter, and sound didn't exist. Elo found himself surrounded by this event. The ever-expanding deep hole was even pulling Elo's cells, it looked like he was deconstructing bit by bit. Elo was being pulled toward that blackness. Again, he was alone in the dark...
"Elo, you are not alone," said Dala in his head. As she spoke, the last tear fell from Elo's left eye, turning into a golden thread that began shining and emitting heat. Burning a spiral shape into Elo's cheek before resting over the wound, looking like a tattoo.
"Self-defense system activated."
"Martyr activation initiated."
"Karma Downloaded 0.12%."
"Penalty Applied 12% Soul Damage"
"O has descended."
"All praise O, all praise the founder."
"Martyr Authority approved"
"Executing External control"
-<<
At once, the whole place vibrated, and a crushing wave of golden energy flowed out from Elo. Golden cracks appeared in the space, and suddenly the darkness surrounding Elo shattered like glass and vanished. Elo felt tired. He needed to sleep. He was falling, his eyes closing, when he noticed his friend smiling, but it wasn't a smile of joy or malice—it was fear, pure fear.
-Two days, Elo.
"Executing jump."