The end was not how he had imagined it: him lying in his bed, old, surrounded by people he loved, falling into Death's embrace peacefully, with a smile.
No.
It was worse. Much worse.
The end came in the form of a crack in the sky, red as blood, as if the very concept of sky were being wounded.
And then, from that crack, dozens of eyes appeared. Eyes that induced madness in every being they observed, bringing life to everything that was inanimate.
Objects, furniture, structures, even the world itself. Everything came alive.
And in that same way, everything died.
It was not years, nor even months. It was days.
Cities were completely wiped out in minutes, and by the end of the first day the larger countries were totally inactive, all life dead.
The last thing to be killed was a man.
Not quite a human anymore, but also far from being something else.
Just someone focused on surviving, perhaps on vengeance, driven by pure will, hope, determination.
And maybe that last living thing had the worst of ends.
It was not an agonizing death like heat, cold, or suffocation. It was not a painful death like dismemberment, torture, or beating.
It was something rawer, more honest.
Because when the last life remained in that event, the crack widened.
And from that crack, something incomprehensible emerged.
A colossal black figure.
Red and unusual eyes in its thorax, a body completely black with long arms capable of crushing the world with ease.
Black horns extending from both sides of its head that reached beyond where the world and space themselves were. With a simple, irregular crown atop its head.
A distorted smile on the figure's mouth widened as its eyes swept the world and then noticed the last form of life staring at "it."
Horrified? Afraid? Despairing?
No. The emotion seen on the face of that last piece of life was what broadened the distorted smile of the black figure.
Courage. Resolve. Determination.
The last bit of life knew he wouldn't be able to kill "that," but he refused to despair, to give up.
And so he stared back at what most closely resembled the Abyss.
And that was how it all ended.
Not with defeat, but with a challenge. A challenge that came from an ant, directed at something superior even to "God."
…
…
…
Space was beautiful. That was the only thing I could think of at that moment.
My determination, my hope, still existed in my chest, but without a target to burn for. Just stagnation.
I was dead, that was what the events of the last days revealed to me.
The apocalypse did not come from men, but from evil itself. What I consider the concept of evil.
It was terrifying, horrifying, much worse than anything I had seen during the brief apocalypse.
And even though I did not let fear take over me, and used fear to drive my purpose… it was insufficient.
And I was okay with that.
I had already cried and lamented enough for those who were gone. I had given my best to try to honor their memories, their meanings to me.
Even if I failed in the end, it did not matter. I did my best and that was all I could ask.
Now all that remained was to face that space, a cosmic river of a size incomparable to almost everything I had seen, and let myself be carried.
…
For me it had all happened days ago, but maybe more time? Or less? I did not know if time was still considered to exist in that place.
But with that I could analyze what was happening in each part of this place, in my own form.
This river was completely black; the blue tone moved like waves, but they were essentially souls. I discovered that after comparing my "physical" state with the environment.
Looking at "myself," I only found blue, not a physical body or anything else. I didn't even know how I looked, or if I could claim I had a form.
Perhaps I was now moving toward the long-awaited reincarnation? Or maybe to heaven?
Who knows.
But something told me it would take a long time. Very long.
So I would spend that time resting as much as possible.
…
…
…
I rested and rested and rested.
Until the environment around me changed. No longer a cosmic river, a sea of souls.
Instead, a complete and absolute darkness. Not even the strange feeling of movement existed anymore.
It was just me and the darkness.
It was everything I had to face, and it was everything I faced… for a while.
Until suddenly, something new happened.
[Ding!]
A new sound, like a notification, was detected by me. Then I watched a blue screen appear in front of me.
[You have been selected for the "Absolute Great Evil" system]
[Accept / Reject]
A strange light screen with letters talking about an Absolute Great Evil…
Nonsense.
Reject.
[!!!]
[Are you sure you want to reject the "Absolute Great Evil" system?]
Yes.
I don't want that.
[…May I know the reason?]
Apparently this screen had someone behind it? Or an artificial intelligence or another form of life, who knows.
But the reason is quite simple, actually.
I don't want to spread evil.
I have already witnessed enough of it, and I am honestly saturated.
I see no benefit in causing evil, bringing pain and suffering.
Plain and simple.
In the past, when I was a teenager, immature, I loved reading stories about evil protagonists who had no mercy and killed everyone who opposed them.
But when I matured and went through what I went through? I felt disgust, revulsion.
And I hope to remain that way.
[…]
[You are… incredibly stupid!]
[Good people rarely have happy endings! Heroes almost always sacrifice themselves for others, leaving their families, lovers, and friends behind, sad! Only by living for themselves and exclusively for themselves will you have a long and good life! Filled with the things you want!]
So I am stupid.
Perhaps the stupidest of all.
Heroes are magnificent existences, the true heroes.
People who went through hardships and never gave up, who give everything of themselves for the world. Or simply for a better day.
You cannot save everyone, but nothing prevents someone from trying. From giving their all to save the most people possible. Helping others.
Whether it's a stranger or your own family.
I do not have to choose between my family and a stranger, crafting a tragic story to please the public's taste.
I am not a story, I am real.
And with this reality I choose to embrace both options, and do my best to save both.
Heroes can be selfish; they have the right to err and make bad decisions, like everyone else.
The only right they do not have is to give up, to refuse to improve.
So, leave that "stupid" me behind, and go do something else, okay?
[…]
[Let's start again, then.]
[Choose the type of system you want me to be.]
[- ]
So that's how it will work?
...Fine. I don't have many better options.
Be a chaos system.
Not the misinterpreted concept of "evil and devastation," but true chaos.
A force that mixes good and evil, the worst and the best of both worlds.
After all, I believe that is the ideal representation of what I consider myself.
Human.
[Chaos system generated successfully.]
[I hope we have a great adventure, hero-stupid.]
[ :) ]
Likewise, dear system.
END
------
Well. A few things to say! (The first and last time I'll do this, so please read.)
This prologue gives a general idea of how everything ended for the protagonist and how he thinks and acts.
I didn't try to "philosophize" or say something impactful; I just developed the protagonist's thoughts in my own way, regardless of whether it's "cringe" or "ridiculous."
(He was bored, so he spoke in a strange way!)
He saw death, pain, war, suffered losses, is tired of seeing evil and bad things, so he acts and thinks like that.
Of course, he is not a puritanical, unrealistic hero, those written nowadays just to make the child/teen audience hate the good things and start liking anti-heroes and villains more.
He, like anyone else, is just another human who can do good as well as evil. But he chose the first over the second, regardless of how hard it is.
With that conviction, he faced "that," which some may already know what it is, and remained intact when faced back. He did not crumble along with his conviction.
And that is enough.
The protagonist's weapons and powers will work differently than expected, and I will try to use the "Chaos Gacha" as a secondary aspect of this system.
All credits for Chaos Gacha go to my dear -Bronzdeck-; he created Chaos Gacha and is developing it alongside two fanfics.
Fanfic 1: The Gambler's Guide to Heroism
Fanfic 2: Highschool DxD: Crawling x Chaos
So check out those two fanfics if you haven't seen them yet (however unlikely that may be).
That said, see you in the next chapter!