I Killed the Hero and Took His Achievements-Chapter 23: Stealing The Future

[Location: Arcadia Coliseum - The Grand Finale]

[Event: The Masked Merchant vs. The Champion of the Stars]

The arena floor was suddenly customized. It wasn’t sand anymore, but it was a domain in a void of simulated space. Stars swirled around us.

"Fancy," I noted while tapping the floor with my shoe.

My opponent stood opposite me. It was The Prophet. He wasn’t an elf or a human. He was Foreign. His skin was luminous, showing galaxies swirling inside his veins.

[Boss: The Prophet (Observer Class)]

[Level: 90]

[Affiliation: The Constellation of Knowledge.]

"Cain Cross," the Prophet spoke. His voice didn’t use sound waves; it fluttered the atoms in the air. "You wear a mask, but your soul is roaring."

"I like to cast," I said while adjusting my cuffs.

"Why are you here?" The Prophet floated a few inches off the ground. "You do not seek the Orb for answers because you already know the answers."

"True," I admitted. "I don’t need the Orb to tell me the future."

"Then why the need?"

"I need the Orb to Call someone." I said while drawing the Soul-Eater’s Fang.

"Call who?"

"Your Boss."

The Prophet froze. The galaxies under his skin swirled faster. "You wish to contact the Librarian of the World? You are an ant wishing to speak to a sun. You will burn."

"Let’s test that theory."

FIGHT.

The Prophet didn’t move. He blinked.

[Skill: Gravity Crush.]

The air pressure was increased by 1000%. The floor cracked completely. My knees buckled. It felt like a mountain had been dropped on my shoulders.

[HP: -500/sec.]

"Kneel," the Prophet commanded. "Submit to the weight of the galaxy."

I gritted my teeth. "Jokes on you," I buzzed. "I carry the weight of Consumer Debt."

[Skill: Market Crash.]

(Chaos Broker Class Skill).

I targeted the Gravity. "Devalue!" I spent 100,000 Gold. The "Value" of the Gravity spell plummeted. The pressure lifted instantly.

I stood up. "Money talks," I grinned. "And physics listens." I charged.

[Skill: Shadow Step.]

I appeared behind him. I slashed at his neck.

CLANG.

My dagger hit a barrier of pure starlight.

"Futile," the Prophet boredly waved his hand. [Starfall]. Meteors began to rain from the simulated sky. Actual, burning rocks.

I dodged left. BOOM. A crater where I stood. I dodged right. BOOM.

"Ahri! Now!" I shouted into my earpiece.

From the stands, a tails-wagging fox girl stood up. She wasn’t fighting. She was holding a Mirror. [Item: Mirror of Reflection.] Ahri aimed the mirror at the Prophet. [Skill: Illusion Cast.]

For a split second, the Prophet saw a reflection of himself. But Ahri’s magic twisted it. He saw his own Death.

The Prophet flinched. "A cheap trick!"

That split second was all I needed. I wasn’t aiming for him, but I aimed for the Prize Podium.

The Orb of Divination was sitting on a pedestal in the center of the arena. It was protected by a barrier forcefield.

I shadow-stepped past the Prophet. I slammed my Black Gold Card against the forcefield. "System! Purchase!" [Transaction Error: Item Not For Sale.] "I’m not buying the Orb!" I shouted. "I’m buying the Pedestal!" [Transaction Complete: 5,000 Gold.] The pedestal vanished into my inventory. The Orb fell. It rolled to me perfectly.

I caught it. "Gotcha."

The Prophet turned around. "NO!" He unleashed a supernova. A wave of white light that would vaporize the entire stadium.

I held the Orb high. "Hello, Operator?" I shouted into the crystal ball. "Connect me to the Interstellar Species!" I poured my mana into the Orb. [Activation: The Call.]

The Orb screeched. A beam of light shot from the arena, piercing the roof, piercing the sky, and shot a hole in the atmosphere. The sky turned completely black. The stars went out temporarily. An Eye opened in the void above the planet. It was the size of a moon.

[Entity Detected: The Monarch of Greed.]

[Entity Detected: The Librarian.]

[Entity Detected: The War God.]

The Interstellar Species were watching.

The Prophet fell to his knees. "You... you summoned Them directly? You have doomed us all completely!"

I looked up at the giant Eye. "Hey!" I shouted. "Can you hear me?"

"WE HEAR YOU!" The voice shook the planet.

"I have a proposal!" I held up the Orb. "If you don’t call off your dog," I pointed at the Prophet, "I’m going to spoil the ending of the story."

The Eye narrowed down.

"YOU ARE BLUFFING."

"Do I?"

I took a deep breath. "The System is a harvesting tool created by the likes of You to farm soul energy."

"SILENCE!" Thunder cracked. "HOW DID YOU KNOW?"

"Well it’s just an assumption. But if I’m wrong there’s no need to be mad right?" I didn’t know this was true I just went to threaten them.

"THE EVENT MUST BE PRESERVED." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Then give me a System Update." I demanded. "I want the Admin Privileges for the Northern Continent."

The Interstellar Species conferred. They whispered in a language that sounded foreign.

"AGREED. BUT KNOW THIS, CAIN CROSS. YOU HAVE ESCALATED THE DANGER. WE ARE WATCHING AN APPROACHING TRAGEDY."

A beam of light hit me.

[System Update: Admin Access Granted (Region: North).]

[You can now edit Terrain, Weather, and Spawn Rates in your territory.]

The Eye closed. The sky returned to blue.

The Prophet laid on the ground, smoking. His connection to the stars was severed completely. "You won," he whispered, fading away. "But you have made enemies of the Gods."

I pocketed the Orb.

[Winner: Cain Cross.]

The crowd went silent. They didn’t understand what just happened. They just saw lights and me shouting at the sky but they didn’t see any abnormal.

Then, slowly, they cheered gleefully. "He... he talked to the Gods? He’s the ultimate Chosen One!"

I walked out of the arena.

Sylvia ran up to me. She was very pale. "Master... did you just blackmail them?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"And I got a promotion." I checked my status.

[Title Acquired: The Story Breaker.]

[Effect: Immune to ’Fate’.]

"Come on," I said. "We’re leaving."

"What about the Hero Party?" Ahri asked.

"Check the quest log." I opened the window.

[Status: Kenji is currently crying in a spider nest.]

[Status: Alice has lost her armor (durability 0).]

I laughed maniacally. "Let them grind a bit more. Character development requires an ultimate suffering. We have a new destination."

"Where?"

I pointed to the far East. "The Empire of Machines. I need to upgrade my ship into a spaceship. Because next time?" I looked at the sky where the Eye had been. "I’m not waiting for them to call. I’m going up there to knock on their door first."