Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Kallistus Kal’s eyes flickered as he sat in the dark chamber. Before him, a purple rift in space continued to twist and turn. The amorphous outlines of tendrils tried to reach out from this broken world, however it stopped each time it reached the edge of the portal.

A voice spoke to him as he stared at it for a moment.

Obey my will— give yourself to me and you shall be granted salvation.

It was the Fal-Deus. It goaded him into completing this rift. So that it could enter Vacuos through him. And he did as he was told.

Or at least, that was what he had been doing until now.

At the moment, he was distracted. His gaze was not focused on this portal to the Void. Instead, he slowly turned to the side as he looked through the eyes of another clone.

“…I see,” he whispered, witnessing the clone’s death at Astral.

And he rose to his feet as the Fal-Deus screeched within the portal. But he ignored it, looking towards a trio of figures who were standing behind him.

Ammon the Arcane Archsorcerer. A young-looking human man who had been exiled from Scholus for his dabble in the dark arts.

Si-Vus the Land Conqueror. A merman general who had been cast out of Mare for his failure to save the previous Merfolk Emperor.

And Rakash the Tormentor of Alius. A troll who had laid waste to dozens of dwarven cities across the continent of Alius as revenge for what they had done to his people.

They were his most loyal followers. Even more so than Melissa. After all, they were the only ones who knew of his involvement with the Void.

They were outcasts, just like him. And they would do anything for him. Even sacrifice their own lives.

“What is it, my King?” Ammon asked as he bowed his head low.

“The ritual is almost complete,” Kallistus Kal replied as he shook his head. Then his eyes flickered to the memory his other clone had of the Elder Dragon, the Forsaken Archer, and Arthur— that strange man who wielded the power of the Fal-Deus. “However, I am certain there will be interlopers who wish to put a halt to what’s happening here. Guard my body— ensure that nobody enters my chambers before the end of the day.”

“As you command, my King,” Ammon said and swept back.

Both Si-Vus and Rakash followed after Ammon, leaving the room. When the massive double doors swung shut, the [Hero King] closed his eyes and nodded to himself.

Kallistus Kal was glad that they were gone. Or at the very least, he was glad he had an excuse to dismiss them. While they would have obeyed him regardless of what he had to say, so theoretically he could have sent them away at any point in time, he still felt like he needed a valid reason to do so.

After all, they had stuck with him throughout everything he had been through. So he was grateful for their assistance. And just like with Melissa, he did not want them to suffer.

That was why he was glad Arthur appeared. Even if he posed no real threat to stopping what was going to happen next. He at least served as a reasonable excuse.

“Because that strange man, even if he was sincere in his words, does not know my pain,” Kallistus Kal whispered as he turned back towards the rift. He heard the Fal-Deus call out to him, and he stretched a hand out. “He does not know my suffering, nor does he know my motivation.”

All the while, the echoing voice of the Fal-Deus grew louder.

Yes— submit! Give yourself to me! Free me from my prison!

The [Hero King] placed his hand at the edge of the portal. The coiling tendrils of the Fal-Deus tried to touch him. And yet, they couldn’t connect. Not without Kallistus Kal giving in to the Void entirely.

He looked up as the rift grew wider— as it expanded by his workings. As he gave more of himself to the Fal-Deus.

Do not resist. Do not falter in your desires. I shall grant you all that you deserve.

Perhaps a small part of Kallistus Kal sought for revenge against Vacuos. Maybe a part of him had the ambition to become a god. However, all other desires he had were like a candle against a storm of his true goal.

To return back to his family.

The rift twisted, opening wider as the Fal-Deus began to cross through into the real world for the first time— as it began to merge into the body of the [Hero King].

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He smiled as he saw this.

That was one thing which Arthur hadn’t known about Kallistus Kal. It was possible that Arthur had been a pawn in the hands of the Void at one point— that he had been used and manipulated. But this was never going to be the case for the [Hero King].

And Kallistus Kal knew this for a fact. Not because he believed that the Fal-Deus wouldn’t use him. Not because he believed that the Fal-Deus was telling him the truth. Rather, it was because…

Yes. Yes! YES!

The Fal-Deus cackled as it continued to pull itself into the [Hero King]. He could sense its intentions— its vile nature. And it began to pour into him, filling his entire being.

FREE ME FROM MY PRISON, AND THE WORLD SHALL BE—

Kallistus Kal’s body twisted as the Fal-Deus laughed wildly.

MINE!

It made the declaration as the [Hero King] began to scream. As he dropped to his knees, the color of his skin turned purple. Dozens of eyes began opening up across his chest. The tendrils of the Fal-Deus poured into his mouth as he let out a muffled scream.

That was right. The Fal-Deus had been using him all along— stringing him along as a pawn. But this was something he knew. That was why he had strung the Fal-Deus along as well.

That was why he had been using and manipulating the Voidgod too.

Kallistus Kal began to laugh as his body broke. The Fal-Deus stopped its laughter as it continued to try to enter his body. However, he continued to collapse.

What is going on…?

In response, the [Hero King] just laughed as his face collapsed— as his arm covered in eyeballs began to melt away.

“Oh, God of the Void, do you really think I am such a fool?” Kallistus Kal said, but his voice came not from the crumbling body. “I have been observing you, studying you, and understanding you all this time. And I learned that you are no God of the Void. You are a prisoner of the Void.”

The many eyes of the Fal-Deus began to dart around the room, searching for where the voice was coming from. And it came not from within the room.

But from inside the Void.

Beyond the edges.

Deep within, where the battle against Guardian Angel Z357 played out.

The true body of Kallistus Kal stood atop a broken moon with a savage smile on his face. And throughout the Void, his voice echoed as he declared triumphantly what he learned from having spent months in that broken space.

“This world which you have been trapped in is a prison, not your domain, so you know not what goes on within. That is how I knew I could hide my true self from you, tricking you to believe that that body that you’re trying to possess is the real me. When it was, in fact, a clone.”

And the Fal-Deus began to seep out of the collapsing body of Kallistus Kal in Vacuos. The Fal-Deus slowly streamed back to the Void as its voice boomed.

DO YOU THINK YOU CAN CHALLENGE MY POWER? DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT ME IN A BATTLE? ONCE I RETURN TO THE VOID, I SHALL BECOME ALMIGHTY ONCE MORE!

Kallistus Kal raised his hands to his chest, smiling as he began to create a rift.

“No, I do not believe I can win in a fight. But right now, while you are weakened, outside of the Void, I can trap you,” he said simply.

And the rift opened up to a broken world within his chest. A mini-Void inside of his heart.

The many eyes of the Fal-Deus blinked as its being twisted, before being suddenly sucked further into the Void— into the mini-Void being held up by the [Hero King].

HOW DID YOU CREATE THAT? HOW DID YOU—

The Fal-Deus screamed as its being was pulled into Kallistus Kal. He just smirked. The time he had spent here in the Void was not a waste. He had studied the essence of everything around him, and now, he was replicating it to trap the Fal-Deus before it could regain its full power.

It was a risky plan. But it was working.

The Fal-Deus continued to disappear into the [Hero King] as he ignored its screams.

YOU TRAITOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!

And then when the Fal-Deus vanished within the mini-Void, the rift closed shut. Kallistus Kal stumbled back as his skin became empurpled. A single eye opened up in the middle of his forehead as he felt an immeasurable strength wash over him.

“This is my victory,” he whispered as his body shone brightly.

And a pulse shot out of him, exploding out of the Void and washing over all of Vacuos.

—--

All across the continents of Vacuos, a sense of dread was felt across every living being. Not everyone could comprehend the power that was rippling across the world. But a few recognized it.

Arthur, Grat-ra’zun, and Jax stood silently alone amidst the celebration in Astral as they realized that they had failed at stopping the [Hero King].

Leonhard the Archmage King of Scholus dropped to his knees in his throne room as he recognized the source of this unending power.

And Noele paused right behind Garron atop a hill and looked in the general direction of the Kingdom of Kal. It was a familiar power to her. After all, she had seen it upfront with the possessed Lich King.

“Amelia…” Noele whispered. “Where are you?”

—--

And in Wolfwater, I sensed it too. Right now, I sat alone on a wooden stool right outside of my restaurant.

I had closed Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant for the day because of the lack of customers coming in. Also, because I didn’t want to be continuously pestered by people to do something about the [Hero King].

But even I couldn’t deny the power I sensed right now.

“Noele, Bucky, Dorien, Justyn, Harlan, Edlyn, and practically everyone I know keeps telling me to intervene,” I sighed as I rose to my feet. “Do I really have to do something about this?”

It was a question I asked nobody in particular. But in response, I heard a buzzing behind me. Glancing back, I stared at a familiar bee that was the size of my head. She stared at me with round eyes as I pursed my lips.

“Melita? Not you too?” I stared accusingly at her.

But she didn’t react. Instead, she just flew up to my shoulder and clung onto me. She didn’t make a sound. All she did was hug me. And the realization settled in.

“Oh.”

I looked at her as my head spun. I saw the same look from her which I saw in Edlyn’s eyes. And I lowered my head.

“You don’t want me to do anything. You’re just scared, that’s all.”

It was never about justice. It was never about doing what was right. Everyone who turned to me— they were just scared. And they looked towards the only person they thought could assuage their fears.

“I guess I should do something about it, huh?” I said as I rose to my feet. Melita flitted back at that, and I tossed aside my apron. Donning my cape, I drew my rusty sword as I shook my head.. “Well then, I guess it’s time to be a hero again.”

And as the baby queen bastion bee tilted her head, I disappeared.

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