Limitless by John Gold (best e reader for android txt) 📕

A new message appears in the local chat.

Note! Third-order strength is now permitted around the portal.

The cube in the middle of the ring starts to collapse into itself. Light shines out of the gaps that appear, and a portal opens above the group of players to reveal Tiamat in all his glory. His aura alone is enough for everyone to flee in terror. Finally!

This is the minute, the hour, the moment I’ve been waiting for. All I have to do is wait for him to fulfill his end of the bargain, and I can go get a new character. My parents will understand; the rest of the world will leave me alone. Goodbye, cruel world.

Femida, Ekron, and Reiji stay up on the observation platform as I jump down. Tiamat catches me with a black strength sphere just before I hit the ground.

“Thanks. I thought I was going to have to put my bones back together again.”

“No problem. Representatives of human kind would like to talk with you. You…”

I don’t listen to anything else he says as rage, contempt, and hatred for all the players left alive consumes me. Really, it’s more complete loathing than anything else. They experience enthusiasm, belief in their own abilities, and they scorn me. In the meantime, Tiamat just keeps talking as though nothing happened. And you’re with them?

“Even death betrayed me. Is there a single creature in this world who doesn’t want to kill me? How I despise you all. You’re weak, you’re worms, every one of you, and the only strength you have is in numbers. And as it turns out, you’re exactly the same, Tiamat.”

Death isn’t in the least perturbed by what I say. In fact, he doesn’t betray a single emotion.

“I will fulfill my promise. The way I feel about you is unprejudiced and has nothing to do with what goes on in the world of Project Chrysalis and humankind. I’m the judge responsible for the trial; you completed it. The conditions of the deal will be completed shortly, after all, you don’t want them resurrected right here, do you? A portal will open in the Gray Lands, and you can use it once to appear before me. It doesn’t matter what the name of your character is.”

Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies!

“You think I believe you? Aren’t you the one giving them their hatred and rage? What do you know about being unprejudiced?”

Tiamat, who is still holding me a meter above the ground, looks around at the crowd of players who are starting to surround us.

“I can’t stay here any longer. My strength could traumatize others, but I can tell you that there has been no mental interference.”

Bunch of bastards! Dung worms! If only they knew how hard it was for me to refrain from killing them all. I have less than five minutes left until I go crazy, and Reiji will be the only one who can pull me out of it. Bastards! I hate you all!

Demon form, chimeric shield, bone blade. Wait, where’s the buff for being the keeper of a place of strength? If Tiamat isn’t instilling the hatred, it’s that thing in the astral doing it. And he’s slick, too—I’m the only one everybody despises.

The anger inside me bubbles up higher and higher. Sure, I’m the only one who isn’t experiencing the emotion directly, but my empathy is bashing my brains in better than a sledgehammer. Do you know what it’s like to want to kill someone? I mean, to understand someone who wants to kill you out of pure hatred? I’m surrounded by a crowd of people who think they’ll be able to get away with it, too. My emotional buffer is going to go haywire pretty soon, but LJ is hanging in there so far. My love for people is falling behind. I will need anger and protection from the cherubs if I’m going to fight, however. Let him sit with his shield.

Battle! You won’t stand a chance!

Force blades, a meteorite rain, and an aura of darkness that does mental damage within a radius of a hundred and ten meters. You think the keeper was strong? You think I’ll be easier to kill? You smug, arrogant little idiots! Tornado personified, a blanket of true darkness. A thinned group of saints decides to try the same tactic they used on Idzumi—here’s a meteorite for you. There’s only one person who can kill me under the Tree of Worlds, and he’s on my side. Femida joins the battle; Reiji and Ekron refrain, which I understand. It isn’t their fight, and they aren’t formally my friends. How many of these morons are there? And where’s that damn Leon?

I don’t notice the divine alliance preparing an attack. They don’t bother with a diamond fortress, instead going straight to a combine erdo strike. There’s so much strength I invested in it that it wipes out all the players within a radius of two hundred meters. My flesh melts under the maximum light damage, though I heal myself instantly. You bastards! That hurt!

My head is already starting to buzz from the emotions I’m holding back, and I’m becoming wobbly. My demon visage disappears for a second, and the remains of my pants, other clothes, and rings collapse to the ground. Complete item destruction. The tattered breastplate barely covers my shoulders and chest; my head starts to hurt. There’s too much pain, too much emotion.

It’s time to finish Leon once and for all. A dwarf hammer crashes home, dropping three gods instantly to the ground. You thought flying would give you an advantage? Leon is the only one who doesn’t have a shield up, and that makes my job even easier. I hear his last words even through the noise of the battle. He throws his arms wide and prepares to accept the blow.

“No regrets.”

“Go to Hell.”

Where’s Rachel? I’m ready to even all my scores, and she’s next on the list. Ekron leaps down in her Beelzebub visage to keep Rachel from reaching an