"Yes he heard that. The translation feature is off but I made sure to speak his language and… are you even listening?"

The Seeking Drake was not, in fact, listening. Instead shaking his currently human-like body from side to side. Swinging his hips with all his strength while he sang.

"Suke bleepa soro nu! Keru keeta sice bu! Joro fiwa turo quu!"

"Good Buddha man!" I chided him. Slapping him over the head.

"It's just a bunch of curse words! Control yourself!"

He laughed in my face and kept on dancing.

"Sully! My goodness Sully! I made it! After all these years! After all this time! I can speak freely!"

I smacked him again.

"It's just words. Not like you didn't know what you were trying to say."

"It's far more than just words Sully!" He was crying. Sobbing with happiness. "It's freedom! The sweet sweet taste of true, unrestrained freedom! I can finally say whatever I want, whenever I want! No more being squashed! No more being silenced! I am one with myself again! My true self!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Sure thing, drama queen."

Our connection through the power still remained and I felt it changing me even as I stood there. Though I couldn't bring up the System to check. My guess was that his influence would be bringing the rest of my Shifter powers up to par. Indeed, I could feel the subtle changes within my inner lake without having to actually see the descriptions for myself.

All those new revelations roiling and twisting and transforming who and what I was.

Then the rush ended and I breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness." I said. "Can still keep the benefits of [Social Hunter IV] up even after merging."

The Drake stopped at that. Giggling with even more malice.

"Did you ever truly doubt it Sully? It is a very useful skill to have. How do you think I so effortlessly manage to blend in to my disguises whenever I want to remain anonymous?"

I recalled the recordings Hazimon had produced. Of the Drake disemboweling the aliens in the lab. Ertie and Yoko and the others dying while screaming out in pain.

"Yes." I deadpanned. "You are truly the very height of subtlety."

"Fuck you!" He said. In such a whimsical tone that I couldn't even be upset. Like a new kid who just learned the words for the first time.

"Go fuck yourself you tail-less fucking monkey!"

"Okay. Okay." I sighed. "Enough of that now. We have to get to work."

He twisted his head around. All 180 degrees. So quickly that it gave the impression that he'd just snapped his own feminine human neck.

"Fucking shit dude."

I groaned.

"You know normal necks don't do that kind of thing. Please don't go out of your way to do things like that."

"Oh Sully!" He waved his thin feminine hand dismissively. "So sensitive all the time! I don't know how you manage it."

He sighed theatrically and then righted his posture. His body expanding both vertically and horizontally. His muscles grew and grew. His skin hardening into plates of keratin that retained just enough flexibility to make it seem as if it were a suit of plate armor. Made entirely of dense cartilage and bone. On his head grew a crown of ribs. Jutting outwards like horns.

All so that he went from looking like a human woman and became more like some evil death knight in a fantasy game.

"Right then." He said happily. "Enough of the pleasantries. I get that you don't feel like much of a lover right now. It's ok. I got all of eternity to wait for you to change your mind."

"Enough. Please."

He spoke right over me.

"So, we should then move on to the main attraction. Fulfilling my end of the bargain."

He started snapping his fingers and emitting small bursts of flame. Giggling every time he did so.

"It's your call. Who dies first? Gnomes? Or Kenari?"

"Gnomes." I spoke at once. "With the System gone, so are the protections granted to unknown species while they're in the Tutorial. Periwig is probably in his ship right about now. Preparing to capitalize on how the System went down. Meaning we don't have all that much time."

The Drake whistled.

"Really? I would have thought we have all the time in the world to do whatever it is you want. I was even planning to take my collection tools along and bring a few gnomes back to my place as trophies."

He reared back his head and laughed.

"And here I was thinking that I still needed that cage? When I could just open portals back to my home whenever I want!"

He did so at that moment.

Opening one to his right and one to his left. Throwing some kind of living vase into one and catching it as it came out the opposite portal.

"I love being a Projector! No wonder all those losers felt so confident when they tried to kill me! I'd feel confident too if I felt so much energy in the air! So much of it flowing all the time! I can't get enough of this!"

He turned to me. His horns now glowing red with stored heat.

"But enough of that. Show me our target."

"Not our target." I countered. "I won't need you to deal with the gnomes. I can do that just fine. What I need you to do is head towards the Kenari capital yourself. Hazimon won't be able to send messages with the System being down, but Lady Agony, his daughter, should still be able to send attacks into human dimensions if she's in the know."

"Which she most definitely is." The Drake agreed. "Fair enough then. I believe I know the way."

He tittered to himself and then vanished. Walking through his own portal with a pep in his step.

Lady Agony would be living in the middle of the Kenari seat of power of course, which would mean she'd be surrounded by a bunch of known Kenari masters her and her father had cultivated. Not only that, but the Dragon had very obviously managed to cultivate several important friendships throughout his life. Other Savants would be casually observing what went on in that particular dimension and at least some would no doubt react poorly to the Drake's incursion.

Which was precisely why I'd paid for his services upfront.

Those other Savants would should appear expecting a master Shifter and would instead encounter someone with all kinds of Tier 10 abilities on Telepath and Projector besides. With the relevant Titles and the multiplier being applied to total Psy.

It would be a massacre. Of that I was more or less certain.

There was always the chance that half a dozen or so of them could team up to get him. Slowly grinding him down over hours or more likely days, but I honestly didn't think the gnomes would keep me entertained for that long.

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I opened a portal of my own.

"Alright Dolce. I need you to go over there and join my family and my friends again. The Tall Man will open a portal to my own homeworld and you'll go through it. Make sure you protect everyone while they're there and let Mittens know to begin phase 2."

Dolce nodded. Still more or less sulking from the gains in his sentience.

From there, I opened up my mind and began predicting the future again. Now that I was finally free of Hazimon's obscuring influence, the predictions should be much more trustworthy in how accurate they were.

As soon as I did so, I saw a gnome. Standing before a crowd of other gnomes.

"Sir! What do you mean you want us to start the engines and go on a raiding spree!? The System is down!"

"I know!" Periwig chuckled. His face a mask of ecstasy that resembled that of the Drake.

"I can't believe my luck! The System goes down on the exact date when we were training for the big day! I honestly cannot believe it! We are blessed you hear me! Blessed! The whole fleet all to ourselves without any other clan's interruptions and nothing to protect the obscured dimensions! I mean, just look at this!"

He pointed to a screen which was now filled with a plethora of glowing dots. All of them being tied together by newly formed glowing lines.

"Look at all these new paths the ship is finding! Look at all these worlds ripe for the taking! My Gozo! Look at the slaves!"

He laughed maniacally.

"All those slaves! All for our clan! All those dots of profit we don't have to share! I'm the luckiest gnome alive!"

"But sir!" Another gnome ran up to him. "What if someone takes advantage of the opportunity to attacks us? After all, most of our defences were all System-bought and System-ran. What if someone comes over and attacks our home?"

Periwig made a rude noise with his tongue.

"Oh please Raslotta! Who on the face of creation would attack the heart of our empire while the System was down? No, they will know their defenses are out of commission too and all the major players will stay to defend. The only one who won't be able to do that are the minor players who we don't have to worry about and those fools who were just left hanging out in the open."

He waved back to the monitor.

"Like these for example! Now hurry on back to your post you lazy layabouts! No one is going to be attacking Periwig the awesome! No one out there has the balls to…"

There was the sound of a thunderclap, followed by a flash of purple that took out all the lights on the bridge.

A second later, they were back. Banishing the darkness and revealing my form. Huffing and puffing above Periwig. My mouth drooling with expectation.

Periwig turned around. Slowly.

Then he teleported a few meters back and tried to fire a Projector attack.

Keyword being tried.

He marshalled his Psy, but soon furrowed his brows in confusion. His hand outstretched while his mind got clouded over.

He thrust out his hands again, and all the gnomes behind him followed his example. None of them could manage to hold on to the thoughts of aggression long enough to actually attack me.

"Oh." Periwig spoke. Finally realizing what was happening.

"Oh. You're the one who brought down the System."

He paused.

"I don't suppose you'll take a bribe to attack my rivals?"

I teleported to him and squeezed his neck with both hands. Tightening my grip as the other gnomes screamed. Unable to even think of helping.

I kept going until he could no longer breathe. Then I loosened my grip just long enough for him to draw his last gasping breath.

"It really is so good to make your acquaintance, Periwig." I spoke slowly. "It really has been a long time coming. Like a birthday that took far too long to arrive."

I squeezed down again. His face turning beet red as his powered wig fell off. His tiny gnome feet kicking helplessly in the air.

"Shhh. Shhh." I whispered into his ear. "Don't fight it. Don't. It won't help. Not now. You've had opportunities to avoid this before this point. But those opportunities are now over."

I took over the ship and those around us. Turning the cannons down onto the heavily populated housing areas the gnomes used. Making sure to avoid hitting the ghettos and work camps where the slaves lived.

"You know Periwig. This moment feels a bit off. Like, it was supposed to be sweet, but it all comes off as sour. Bitter on my tongue."

I licked my lips.

Periwig turned purple.

The cannons fired.

"Like, I still have no idea how the System would be created. How it will be created. Nor do I have any idea as to why I would participate in such an event. Actually, scratch that. I don't even know why on earth I would even allow it to happen. From my point of view, the System is just a big massive scam. Pitting little people against big people in big factions and letting the inevitable happen. It seems to me that you and your filthy misbegotten species has been using the avenues to power the System creates to get slaves and ruin lives and generally be the kinds of beings that just cry out for a complete cleansing. And it seems to me like you haven't been the only ones."

I heard all the minds down on the planet. Screaming for mercy as the cannons sheared off portions of towers and skyscrapers. Letting the massive edifices fall like dominoes and crushing entire sections of city-scape through the chain reaction.

I ripped open the Veil and empowered all the slaves I could find on the world. In the whole dimension. Untold masses reaching Tier 3 in the span between two heartbeats and getting to know me on a personal level.

The Intruders came next. Flying in with lot swords and beaming smiles. Popping into existence around or inside gnomes and swinging away with wild abandon.

I re-aimed the cannons.

They fired again.

Periwig turned an even deeper shade of purple. The veins in his eyes turning a bloody, stark red.

"I just don't know about this whole dilated time thing Periwig. Like, if I had a choice to go back to any point in the past, I'd go back to 6-year-old me and teach him to restrain himself. I'd teach him how to use his powers properly. How to not go around enslaving people and getting bucketloads of childhood trauma. I don't know. That just seems like the smarter move, right? So, how is it that I end up forming the System with four other dudes I haven't even heard of? Why would I even do something like that in the first place? Why bother? When all I've seen of the System is chaos and butchery and widespread destruction?"

The cannons reloaded and fired again. The sky below us expanding so that the atmosphere reached up towards the ship. Clouds grasping the hulls of the fleet even as they changed color and grew faces.

"Why not make it so that each species gets their own little corner of reality and that's it? Why go all this way to make a levelling System that rewards fighting at all? Why not make it so that everyone learned in an environment similar to the Novice Difficulty Tutorial? It's much more my speed after all. I mean, shit. If my first experience with the Tutorial had been in some kind of idyllic school setting mixed with a sports competition, I think I might have very well enjoyed my time in the last few months. What kind of sick fuck would even come up with a tunnel filled with massive centipedes anyway?"

Periwig's limbs went limp. His eyes rolling up into the back of his skull.

"I mean, fuck me. I had to ally with the Seeking Fucking Drake to keep my family safe from that Hazimon asshole. That's like allying with Pope Innocent to defend against Pope Francis. The former should be who I'm fighting. The dude is a massive narcissist. Sadistic to a fault and honestly, just plain evil in just about every aspect of his existence. He doesn't need to turn people into lawn chairs. That's just his passion. That, my gnomish victim, is all kinds of fucked up."

I allowed my fingers to merge with Periwig's trachea. My own blood vessels pumping oxygenated blood into his arteries and veins in order to keep him alive for just a little bit longer.

"By contrast, the Dragon spends his time being all judgemental and aloof on some mountaintop in an empty dimension out in the boonies. Not really hurting anyone. In fact, he's helped more people than I have. Which is saying something because I love to help people and I feel compelled to do it all the time."

I sighed.

Squeezing tighter and making Periwig's nerve endings catch fire. His eyes shot open again. His mouth twisting into a silent scream as his limbs flailed helplessly. Unable to strike me, even by accident.

"And here I am. Having given all four Types to a dangerous loon who has been nothing but a threat to all life in existence. One who will most likely use that newfound power to make everyone else's life that much harder."

I moved one of my fingers and began poking Periwig in his right eye. Pressing my fingernail into the orb and slowly scooping it out as I sighed.

"Dammit. I cannot believe I did that. Literally. I keep trying to wake up from some horrible dream. How fucking hard would it have been for Hazimon to just let me go and keep all his gains and be his best happy seahorse self all by his lonesome for a couple more decades? Would that have been too much to ask?"

Periwig didn't answer me.

"Oh but look at me going on and on like some monologuing villain in a John Gardens movie. I'm sorry. You are in pain. I just let you die so I move on with my day."

I laughed to myself even before Periwig reacted.

"Yeah. Lol. No. I'm going to torture you for all time. But I do wonder, what would your life had been like if you made different choices?"

I shook him a few times to make sure he was still paying attention.

"I mean, you recall Aracia right? Little slave girl, grew up alongside you, tending to your every need. Confessed her love when you were teens."

I rolled my eyes.

"Now, I know you always liked her. But you were just too damn shy to tell her when you were both little. Well, little-er. I know you cared for her, as much as any gnome can care about anybody I suppose. So how come that changed? What point in time turned you from the innocent, rather likable kid you were into the gung-ho slaver you are now? Was it the beatings from mom and dad? The attempted poisoning from your aunt? The shooting? The explosion near your window? The explosion by the flowers in your garden? What made you change little gnome? What made you into the kind of man who would whip his childhood crush over her own confession?"

Periwig didn't answer me. I kept going.

"What made you change Periwig? What was the point of no return? When did you try out violence for the first time? When did you first enjoy it?"

Periwig didn't answer beyond a few sad strangled gurgles.

I sighed again. Then I thrust out my hand and impaled him through his little gnome chest. Forcing his body into Pandemonium even as I healed the lethal damage and left behind some surprises for him to enjoy later.

Then I looked over the crew. All of whom were still running around like headless chickens about the high-tech bridge of the slaver ship. Wanting to flee, but being unable to due to the doors being under my control. Wanting to strike out at me in desperation, but unable to even conceive of the idea. Wanting to live, but knowing what I was about to do to them.

"Welp boys. It's been fun." I admitted. "But I really should be on my way. Got a whole basket full of worlds and dimensions I need to topple before the day is done. And that's only the ones that belong to gnomes. I got a whole other fight ahead of me and I'm not sure I should be looking forward to that."

The cannons fired again.

I shook my head.

"But enough of that. I'll have to get going. Suffer me now."

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