I Awakened My Game System! Now Three Great Houses Want Me Dead!-Chapter 114: A

***

"The assassin has no idea that he’s fighting the Daemon!"

Lothar, loud as always, commentated on the obvious.

He was wildly floating about, his eyes glued to the massive projection.

"Would Xenos use this to his advantage, I wonder? Or will he just kill the assassin for interrupting their fight?!"

John, meanwhile, didn’t look at the assassin at all.

His eyes were fixed only on the boy with white hair and the amused grin.

"...what crazy thing will you do next, Xenos?"

***

The Daemon, the plant-covered figure that mirrored Xenos, was locked in a brutal clash with the masked assassin, dust blowing up in waves around them, daggers slashing through vines.

Indeed, Xenos could’ve easily used this assassin to end the Daemon, but...

He seemed to have no thoughts of doing that; rather, he stood off to the side, his hands behind his back, with his gaze lowered to the ground, seemingly lost in thought.

Right, Xenos wasn’t at all interested.

At the end of a sigh, he shrugged.

"...whatever."

Terminating his plants, he stepped forward.

Casually, he proceeded to walk behind the assassin.

When he got close enough, he simply said:

"Hey, look behind you."

The assassin actually did.

His masked head turned slightly—

"W-Wha...?"

—and he froze.

...There were two Xenoses here.

One standing behind him and one fighting him.

"You—?" was all he got out before a thick root burst through his chest from behind, thrown by the Daemon.

They tore through him without hesitation while pinning the rest of him to the ground.

The assassin spasmed dead before a flicker of light flashed around his body, the recall spell of the Butterfly activating, sending his Soul back to his body before it was fully killed.

Unlike those that attacked him in the first Game, those three had Butterflies. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

It was unfortunate that he couldn’t fully kill them, but eh, they weren’t exactly a priority.

Especially not now, when the fight had one less distraction. By the time this Colosseum Game ended, he didn’t doubt that they’d already be gone, so he simply forgot them.

Xenos and the Daemon were the only ones left now.

They’d continue their fight to the death.

***

"It seems Xenos had only stepped out to end the assassin’s life!"

Lothar shouted once more, saying the obvious part out loud.

"He doesn’t want anyone interrupting his duel!"

His excitement reached new heights, as did the crowd’s.

One could almost see the Inquisitor faintly smiling as well.

Thankfully, in the arena itself, they could see the assassins being dragged out.

There was no way they could allow them to interrupt the game.

***

Back in the clearing, Xenos tilted his head slightly.

"Annoying guy. Should’ve stayed out of the way."

He looked up at the Daemon again.

The thing tilted its head back, just like him.

It was unnerving how perfectly it mirrored his attitude.

"Alright... let’s resume."

And they did.

Both stepped forward at the same time.

The clash was near immediate.

Roots burst from the ground; Divinity coiled around blades.

Xenos stabbed through a wall of vines, tore through one tendril, ducked another, then countered with a palm strike that sent the Daemon stumbling back, only for it to recover instantly and whip a spike of thorns toward his face.

The tempo rose fast, much like last time. But it wasn’t all the same, as while fighting, Xenos’s mind ran in short bursts between attacks.

’I need to learn about myself.’

He ducked a swinging vine, rolled forward, and slammed a fist into the Daemon’s gut.

The Daemon didn’t flinch, copying his motion and punching back.

They both stumbled backward from the impact.

’Learn what? How I move?’

He charged again, his shoulder slamming into the creature’s chest.

It grinned with his face, trying to do the same, ramming forth.

Xenos jumped back before it could and exhaled sharply.

’I already know that, so then what?’

He spun, his heel cutting through another vine, before being tackled by a rush of thorns.

Xenos easily broke free with a fast stab of his sword, beginning to pant slightly.

’How I think?’

He jumped, caught a branch midair, twisted, and threw himself down like a hammer.

CLANG!

The impact shook the ground as the Daemon caught him mid-drop with a swing.

’I’m sure I know myself enough.’

They locked blades, strength pressing against strength.

The Daemon grinned wider, his DAMNED grin.

Xenos’s expression didn’t change.

’Then what am I supposed to be looking for?’

The Daemon’s headbutt came first.

He took it straight on and grinned back.

"Hard-headed bastard."

’I...’

The words lingered, even as they clashed again, over and over.

’I don’t know.’

Blade, fist, steal, vine, and thorn.

The sounds blended, but through it all, Xenos began to see himself clearly.

Since he was so focused on perceiving himself, slowly, he realized something.

This recklessness and lack of hesitation it mimicked...

Courage it was not, nor was it bravery.

Xenos had that, yes, but this was different.

It was... numbness.

This uncaring for danger that never left...

A familiar emptiness that he’d carried even before this realm.

And that brought up a question that he had asked before.

His schizoid personality disorder... why did it remain?

He had thought transmigration would’ve erased it.

It didn’t.

And now he understood why.

Because he didn’t want to lose it.

Xenos liked not feeling much.

The calmness in his head was relaxing.

The way love and anger both faded within hours.

It was a safe place, both predictable and comfortable.

Changing that meant facing something unknown, and he wasn’t ready.

Maybe he never would be, because, well, he couldn’t see himself without it...

’A coward.’

He was too much of a coward to do so.

So his transmigration brought it along with his Soul, intertwining it with his being.

It became something more than a simple disorder.

And that meant that it could be... cured.

’Ah...’

Xenos could do nothing but accept it.

’So I really am a coward.’

Something inside his chest pulsed.

A green light burned through his skin.

Arcane shaped in the pattern of plants flared to life.

They were spreading across his body like living tattoos.

In under a moment, they connected along his arms, reaching his fingers.

For the first time since they met, the Daemon froze, its mirror malfunctioning.

Xenos’s newest Rune [Living Ligature] had activated.

Indeed, he had Ascended into a Shepherd.

And suddenly, the realm didn’t seem to exist...

It was him and incredible Divinity.

Even if only for just a moment.