System's POV Chapter 287 A Pitiful Cannon Fodder

Pain and suffering.

Those two feelings had always been constant in my life.

The mories of warmth and happiness I last felt decades ago were gradually turning blurry in my head.

My two best friends, who cared for very much, were the only ones whom I could still vaguely rember in my hazy mory.

Boo and Albion.

They made feel wanted.

They made feel happy.

They made feel alive.

And most of all, they made feel loved.

"I miss them very much," I said as I looked at the younger boy whom I suddenly found inside the hazy world that I was in.

I couldn't tell if I was dreaming or not, for even dreaming had beco a luxury that I didn't possess.

"Then, can you share your mories with ?" the boy asked. "I want to see everything from beginning to end. I want to know everything so that I'll be able to co up with a plan to save you."

"Save… ?" I couldn't help but smile despite the pain I was feeling. "No one can save . Boo and Albion had tried multiple tis. The only way you can save is if you kill ."

The boy shook his head before raising his hand to touch the side of my face.

"You've been hurt too deeply," the boy said softly. "You no longer dare to hope because you know that having expectations will only break you. You no longer dare to dream because everything will disappear when you wake up."

At that mont, I felt sothing warm and wet slide down the sides of my face. I knew I was crying because this was sothing that I often did from ti to ti whenever the pain beca too unbearable for to endure.

Each ti I rged with the body of one of those who were called Wanderers by the people of Artem, my dying body would be born anew, only to break down again after ten years.

Unfortunately, I had reached my limit.

This was the last ti that I'd acquire a new vessel. After it broke down again, my end would finally co.

Perhaps, this in itself was a blessing.

Ten years. I just need to endure ten more years of pain and suffering.

After that, I will be free…

Although I feel sorry for the young lady whose life would be snuffed out and whose body would be taken over by , I'm unable to do anything.

I'm unable to stop the process from happening.

I'm no different from a puppet being controlled by a puppeteer to do whatever they wanted with my powers.

"Just kill ," I stated. "End . That is the only way you can save ."

If I were to die, the being using my power to break through into the rank of a Celestial would not be able to reach his goal.

I wanted to die so badly, for that was the only way that I could spite him.

The only way I could make him feel despair like how I endured decades of suffering due to his selfish goal.

"Hey," the boy said as he raised his other hand to cup my face. "Do you really not want to fight one last ti? After the Lunar Eclipse, you will no longer have a chance to do anything. Are you really fine with that kind of ending?"

"Yes," I replied. "I am already tired. Very tired."

"Then what about Boo? What about Albion? Even now, they are still planning to save you. Are you sure you don't want to try one last ti for their sake?"

"No. Tell the two of them to escape. The only reason why they are still alive is because the People of Artem are keeping the promise they made to . As long as I cooperate with them, Boo and Albion will not be killed."

I knew it already.

My captors looked forward to seeing the desperation on the faces of the two beings who still hadn't given up on trying to save .

But, I couldn't be saved.

The two of them didn't possess the strength to save .

"I can tell that you have already given up," the boy said sowhat sadly. "Fine. You don't have to do anything except share your mories with . I will handle the rest."

The boy then pressed his forehead over my forehead and closed his eyes.

"Share it with ," the boy stated. "If you do, I promise to save Boo and Albion."

I didn't know what kind of face I was making right now, but whatever it was, I believed that I was giving the boy in front of a look of pity.

But this was just a dream after all, so why not allow him to see the horrors that he would be facing a few weeks from now?

Perhaps on a whim, I decided to cooperate and shared the entirety of my mories with him.

From the ti I appeared in Arcadia up to the present.

Decades worth of mories.

Decades worth of suffering and pain.

For so reason, the re thought of letting the boy in front of suffer through my mories filled with glee.

By experiencing my pain and suffering, wouldn't that make him feel pain and suffering as well?

Why should I be the only one to suffer?

Sharing this suffering was good because it would allow others to feel my pain.

As I finished transferring my mories to the boy, I pulled my head back and observed his face.

I want to see his expression change. I want to know how he would react after seeing my mories.

Would the things I experienced break him?

A part of didn't want that to happen, but a part of wanted it very much.

But, as I waited, and waited… and waited so more, the reaction I was looking for never appeared.

When the boy opened his eyes, he looked at with a gaze filled with affection, making feel a stinging pain in my chest.

"You pitiful cannon fodder," the boy said softly as he pulled to him and gave a tight hug. "You're only a pitiful puppet that is bound by the Strings of Fate and forced to dance for her entertainnt."

The boy then patted my head, making the tears in my eyes fall non-stop.

Yes, I am a pitiful cannon fodder.

Forced to do things against my will.

But soon, it would all end.

I only needed to endure ten more years, and my suffering would finally end.

"Worry not."

The boy's words broke out of my daze.

"You are one of my people. The threads that have bound you, I will cut them all one by one. I will free you from the bindings of Fate, and I will allow you to live a life worth living."

"And I will promise you one more thing."

The boy then stood on tiptoe to kiss my forehead before staring straight into my eyes.

"Those who look down on my people."

"Those who step on their dreams…"

"Those who think that they can brush them off with impunity…"

"Will face the wrath of , Thirteen."

The boy smiled and parted the hair that covered my face.

"Thank you, Callie," the boy said as his body slowly turned into particles of light, slowly disappearing from my sight. "I look forward to eting you soon."

As his final words reverberated inside my head, I noticed that the pain that I was feeling in my body had subsided.

It was still there, but it was much more tolerable.

"Thirteen," I muttered. "He said that his na is Thirteen."

I didn't know what happened, but for so reason, I was starting to look forward to returning to the Arcadia Archipelago.

There, Boo and Albion would still be waiting for .

But, it would no longer be just the two of them.

There was one more person who promised to save .

I, who no longer dared to hope.

I, who no longer dared to dream.

I, who no longer wished to live, suddenly felt as if soone had reached out to from another world or dinsion.

"Thirteen," I said softly. "I'll see you soon, Thirteen."

With that, I once again closed my eyes. And for the first ti in forever, I started to pray to whatever Gods that would listen to my pitiful prayer.

"Please, let my suffering end."

"Please, let this be the last ti."

I wasn't aware at that ti that, from within the vastness of the multiverse, a wooden staff that was traveling at great speeds humd as if to answer my call.