I felt my body healing in real time.
It was a strange sensation—my broken muscles mending themselves, the pain fading, and the blood staining my body vanishing within seconds.
Through it all, there was complete silence.
Ruby's voice was gone.
Serena wasn't saying anything.
Why wasn't she stopping me?
The moment my five seconds of healing passed, I understood why—Serena had completely ignored me.
She wasn't paying attention to me at all.
Instead, she had turned her focus to the ones who had betrayed her.
Ruby and the others.
"Screaming for help won't change anything," she sneered. "He can no longer save you."
Ruby's eyes widened as she saw me standing behind Serena.
I had no time to waste.
I dashed forward, sword raised like a spear.
One goal.
One strike.
Kill Serena.
She turned at the last second, her mouth curling into a smug grin.
"Just look at him, he's bleeding out on the grou—"
She never finished her sentence.
My sword plunged through her chest, piercing straight through her heart.
A sickening splash.
Her eyes widened in shock as her body trembled.
I didn't stop.
Before she could react, I ripped my sword from her chest and slashed downward, cutting deep into her abdomen. Then left—then back to her heart.
I made sure there was no chance of survival.
Her body collapsed.
She gasped, clutching at the wound, but it was too late.
A second later, she disintegrated into particles.
Moments later, she respawned nearby, looking completely dumbfounded.
"Y-You… how did you…"
She looked at me, her face pale.
"How didn't you die?!"
"Just what are you? An alien?!"
I ignored her.
[Many Watchers are in awe of what just happened.]
[Heavenly Angel thinks of you in a neutral light.]
The messages flashed before me, but I didn't care.
"Argh… just what the hell is happening to me?"
Serena suddenly coughed, blood spilling from her mouth as she collapsed to her knees.
"W-What did you do to me?"
The truth was, I hadn't done anything. This was the backlash from her earlier enhancements—the effects of whatever power the Watchers had granted her.
Without her staff, she was nothing.
I glanced around, trying to find it, but it was already gone. Just like the rest of the equipment she had been given.
Gone.
Vanished as if it had never existed.
I didn't have time to think about it.
[The Enemy Team has entered the Control Point.]
[They have begun capturing it.]
[Current Progression: 0%… 1%...]
[Time left before the Control Point is fully captured: 5 minutes.]
My eyes widened.
I had wasted too much time dealing with Serena.
Five minutes.
I clenched my jaw.
Could I even reach the Tower in time?
It had taken me seven minutes earlier while using a speed potion.
"Quick, we need to head to the Control Point! We can't lose!" Ruby grabbed my arm, trying to pull me forward.
But I didn't move.
I knew the truth.
We wouldn't make it in time.
There was only one way left.
I had to ask for help.
From the Watchers.
The same ones I had insulted just minutes ago.
"What are you doing?!" Ruby shouted. "We need to go now! Otherwise, it'll be too late!"
I ignored her.
Instead, I looked up at the sky.
"Please help me," I said. "I know you're watching. You've been watching this entire time. You're curious about me, aren't you? You want to see how far I can go. I can't reach the Tower in time. I need your help."
Silence.
Then—
[Many of the Watchers are considering your request.]
[Some disagree, remembering your previous words.]
[Others agree.]
[A vote has been initiated.]
I waited.
Thirty seconds passed.
The enemy team had already captured 10% of the Control Point.
Then, the result came through.
[The vote has passed. A majority of the Watchers have decided to help you.]
[You have received x1
[Teleportation Pearl – Allows the user to instantly teleport to any previously visited location.]
I exhaled.
Without hesitation, I activated it.
I glanced at Ruby, who looked at me with a mix of shock and worry.
"See you in the Universal World," I said. "This won't take long."
And then—
In an instant—
I vanished.
I reappeared right in front of the Tower.
Not inside.
That would've been too risky.
I glanced up at the massive structure.
Inside, the enemy was already capturing it.
They had no idea what was coming.
I tightened my grip on my sword.
"Time to kill them all."
POV: Ruby
The timeline had changed.
Something was different.
Levi had almost lost against Serena.
That wasn't supposed to happen.
Why?
He shouldn't have needed help from the Watchers to win.
By now, he should have been overwhelmingly stronger than the enemy team.
Had something changed because of me?
I clenched my fists.
Was I affecting the events of this world?
I shook my head. No. It was too early to tell.
But I needed to be careful.
I couldn't let things deviate too much from what I knew.
If I lost my knowledge of the future, then my advantage would be gone.
And I wasn't going to let that happen.
I pulled up my Status.
[Ruby Clark's Status]
[Level: 1]
[Race: Human]
[Blessing: Cronos' Blessing]
[Talent: None]
[Strength: 7]
[Agility: 8]
[Stamina: 6]
[Mana Constitution: 4]
[Skills: None]
[Cronos' Blessing – You have been granted a second chance at life.]
I bit my lip.
So far, the changes were small.
But if things continued shifting, there was no way to tell what would happen.
I walked forward without the slightest worry.
I had completely dominated them once. Doing it again would be just as simple. That is, unless, they didn't receive outside help like Serena had.
I could only shake my head thinking about her actions. I knew she harbored hatred toward me. After all, with me around she had never been able to truly be the one that everyone looked up to. She had never been the one everyone admired.
"He's here! It has to be him!"
Someone from the enemy team was already sounding the alarm as they learned of my presence. However, they couldn't do anything against me. It was faster and stronger. I even had a weapon, they could only use their fists.
It would be a massacre without the interventions from the Watchers.
The person who had been around the entrance of the Tower ran away up stairs as fast as he could. However, it was only a question of time before this match ended now.
Walking inside the Tower, I had expected some kind of ambush. But there was none, it seemed they were all hiding at the very top of the Tower.
[The capture of the Control Point has been stopped since a member from both teams is inside it.]
Was it a smart choice?
Only time would tell.
I walked upstairs for a few more minutes, letting my sword drag against the floor, metallic noises echoing with every step I took.
-Cling!
-Cling!
POV Alek
This guy was basically the demon in person. His presence alone had made us all cower in fear at the top of the tower.
The only plan we had against him was simple. We would attack him with all we had.
Then, a whistle echoed followed by the sound of a sword. He was getting closer and closer, and we still had no clear way to victory.
We had prepared for this moment for all of our lives and we were about to be defeated by one individual.
'Just why did we end up facing him… we would have won against any other team?! This guy is just a monster, an anomaly… no one can win against him.'
"Psst. Everyone get ready, he's about to be here."
We were currently all inside the control room of the Tower, at the very top, hidden on both sides of the stairs, waiting for him to place a single step inside of it.
Last time, we hadn't even been able to see his face. This time, at least, we would be able to see the identity of our killer.
"ATTACK!" I screamed as loudly as I could the moment I saw his shadow.
Everyone jumped out of their hiding spot at the same time, winding their fists back. But then as they landed, the shadow that I had seen was gone.
Instead, a low, threatening voice resounded in my right ear.
"Nice try… you almost had me there."
H-He was behind me.
I felt his presence.
I was about to die. It was only a question of time now.
The last strand of hope inside of my body disappeared. I had no idea why I even hoped that we would win against him. We had no chance right from the beginning, no hope to win against such a monster.
He defeated us alone, without even needing any help from his allies. Instead, they murdered each other.
Then, the world became upside down and my vision darkened.
I was dead.
My life wasted because of one individual.
***
"H-He killed Alek… w-what are we going to do now?"
They couldn't run. If they did, then I would just kill them in the process.
There was no way out of this situation, only death.
"W-We can't do anything. We lost…" One of them said as tears formed in their corner of their eyes. "Just kill us, you've defeated us."
Shortly, all of them got on their knees facing the ceiling as tears ran down their faces. Some were praying, hoping that someone would come to help them right until the very end. And some knew that it was over, the look in their eyes dull void of life.
Looking at them, giving up their life, I found it pathetic.
They hadn't even tried.
I killed one of them, and they all gave up. They hadn't even put on a fight for their lives.
"Hmpf, all of you really accepted your deaths. Pathetic. How pathetic." I shook my head as I brandished my sword walking toward them. "The least I can do now is kill you all painlessly."
I grabbed the hem of my sword, walked behind the first person in the row, who was shaking, crying to his core and I cut off his head.
Then, I went to the next one and did the same.
I continued until they were all dead. All fifteen of them.
As I watched their dead bodies, I strangely did not feel empathy for them. They were simply enemies that I needed to kill, that's all.
[You have killed the opposite team on your own.]
[You have been granted the achievement: Team Slayer]
[Team Slayer: All of your stats increase by two when faced with more than three opponents.]
[You have leveled up once.]
[You are now level 12.]
[You have won your first placement game.]
[You now have access to the full version of the Universal System.]
[You now have access to the Universal World.]
[Based on your actions in your first Universal Game, you have been awarded the rank of Bronze 2.]
'Bronze 2? That's it?'
I frowned.
I had just won the game all by myself. What more did the system even want? It didn't make sense. I should have been higher.
I clenched my fists.
"Bronze? Is that really the best you could come up with?" I said, shouting my lungs out to the Watchers.
But then, dozens of new messages appeared before me.
[Heavenly Angel offers you to become her apostle.]
[??? offers you to become his apostle.]
[Chronos offers you to become one of his apostles.]
…
I received over twenty offers. All of them with the same content.
It seemed while the system hadn't recognized my talent… the Watchers had.