Crimson Eternal - Book 6 - Chapter 25 (Patreon)

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Table of Contents

Click the following link for the 1404 word chapter 25:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y7ydmesDu8mP5Dui6Krl8nBoWE1jWBVw-lyciHveOm0/edit?usp=sharing

Or you can read the unformatted version below:

Aria

I occasionally turn to glance at the battle as I watch TV. Just to see what’s going on while enjoying my show. But what I find during those glances is actually pretty interesting.

And, to be honest, kind of expected.

The ruler of the disaster system is starting to show signs of weakening. Not only is it covered in those pestilences, but it has numerous other injuries from the other Grands trying to kite it over to Pestilence.

Of course, the other Grands all show major injuries at this point as well, and even Pestilence seems to have a few fingers that are either cut off or badly injured to the point of pointing the wrong way. But the ruler is far worse off than any of them. To the point that I think it might end up dying soon.

And if the ruler of the disaster system dies, then the seal on the disaster system will be broken. Thus allowing Pestilence to escape into the Plane of Pestilence. Or, if he wants, to summon forth an army of Pestilence Spirits to fight alongside him.

Honestly, the only reason Famine died before during their onslaught was because Famine himself is weak compared to the other Horsemen. And the Famine Spirits are even weaker.

A Grand Famine Spirits is weaker than a Grand like my parents or the emperors and Raja. It would probably take one and a half to two of them to face a Grand head on.

On the other hand, a Grand Pestilence Spirit is stronger than a regular Grand in the universe. To the point that it would need two or three regular Grands to fight one evenly.

And Pestilence himself is probably a quarter or so stronger than Famine.

He would be even stronger than that if it weren’t for Famine being older than Pestilence.

If I’m counting just the base power amongst the Horsemen, completely ignoring levels as if all of the Horsemen were the same level, I was told that the younger the Horseman is, the stronger. And Famine is the oldest of the Horsemen, followed by Pestilence, then War, and then me.

The more apocalypse energy that is needed to form the Horseman, the stronger they are when formed.

And the same goes for the Spirits behind them.

It would take five to seven Grands to face one Grand War Spirit, but no amount of Grands can match a Grand Death Spirit. To the point that a Grand Death Spirit can kill a disaster system ruler without an immense amount of difficulty. All on their own.

All of that to say, Famine was just an incredibly difficult person to kill and was significantly weaker than Pestilence. And even then, the main reason they succeeded was likely Famine’s own arrogance and pride.

So I’m not all that surprised as I see the ruler’s control over the disaster system finally beginning to slip, opening it back up for a brief moment before closing it again. Then it slips again not long after that. And again.

After several control slips, one finally happens that is long enough for Pestilence to create a Gate and leave the disaster system with an incredibly irritated look on his face. Albeit only after he takes a powerful cursed hit charged by all of the Grands and sent at him by Arthur. One that seems to disable one of his arms before he passes through the Gate.

I get the feeling they were charging up that attack for a very long time. Just waiting for Pestilence to leave an opening to launch it.

And now that he did, they managed to hit him before his departure. Leaving behind an enraged and half dead disaster system ruler that is clearly going to go on a rampage outside of its disaster system if it isn’t dealt with now.

In fact, the moment Pestilence leaves, the ruler releases the disaster system lock and begins rushing out of the disaster system. Seemingly in search of Pestilence.

Huh. It really only cares about Pestilence.

Then again, Pestilence is the one that caused it the most harm by far. What with all of the different types of pestilence filling the ruler’s body.

I watch the Grands all look between the closing Gate and the disaster system ruler. Only for them all to rush towards the disaster system ruler as it begins to spread lava across a different solar system, threatening mass slaughter as the lava approaches inhabited planets. All the way until they’re all out of sight again.

And once they are, I just turn my attention back to my TV again to finish this episode.

Well, at the very least, even if they don’t manage to kill Pestilence during all of this, it looks like they should have dealt with one of the disaster systems. Two, in fact, if I include the spider they already killed from the last disaster system.

Out of curiosity, I ask the Crimson Empire knights hiding away near me as guards for an update about the Pestilence situation. At which point they tell me that he hasn’t left the Plane of Pestilence yet.

He’s probably just going to hide away in the Plane of Pestilence until he recovers from the damage. Then he’ll either just stay there and continue his experiments, or find a new place to put his lab.

Honestly, though, if I had to guess based on how well I know him so far during our times meeting for him to experiment with his little age reversal poison on me, he’ll probably just stay in the Plane of Pestilence. Even after he finishes recovering, he’ll probably stay there. Just to not be bothered by anyone.

As for whether he’ll continue doing experiments on others during this time, that much I’m not sure of.

He might, or he might not.

Right when I’m getting close to finishing the final episode, I briefly notice the fallen demons out of the corner of my eye that are still here. Fallen demons I kind of forgot about.

I stare at the fallen demons for a few seconds before deciding that I don’t care enough about why the Demon King even decided to help to try and figure it out as I focus on my TV once more. Finally finishing up the last episode of this TV show when I do so.

Then I get up from my chair, stretch a little despite not needing to, and open a Gate of my own to move straight to a café on Vortel. Where I happen to find it’s currently winter.

I smile a little as I see the snow falling outside.

Winter is a beautiful season, that’s for sure.

The people in the café look surprised to see me. Likely because the broadcast of the battle showed me there in the disaster system just watching TV for so long. They probably didn’t expect me to suddenly appear here out of nowhere.

I ignore the looks as I walk over to the table designated for me specifically, with Asher having shrunk himself down and crawled into my jacket pocket at some point. Then I order my usual before looking out the window at the gently falling snow.

This place really is peaceful, and it always brings back memories.

I watch the snow fall until a waiter arrives with my usual. Only for me to notice two people with familiar auras arriving before entering the café and walking over to my table to sit down.

My smile grows a little wider at the sight of Ruby and Ryan both just ordering the exact same thing as me without another word. Proving that they have excellent taste.

And this time around I don’t have to worry about them wanting me to do paperwork. All thanks to that proxy system.

With that thought in mind, I just sit back and relax. Meanwhile Asher jumps out of my pocket and onto the table, where a bowl of milk was placed specifically for him.

A bowl of milk that is part of my usual. Even though the café doesn’t actually charge me for it.

They just started bringing it out one day because they took a liking to Asher.

I raise my drink to my lips before taking a sip and letting out a sigh.

This is the life.

One without paperwork.