The Error Vs the Administrator

The moment time moved back, I could see the smug bastard in front of me. His eyes briefly flickered with absolute terror as my fist collided with his face. The duke spiralled in the air and landed on the ground with a thump.

“What?! Why?! How did you get here?!” he screamed, rubbing his face.

His eyes glowed golden, and he vanished, only to reappear right where he was moments before, still with a bruised face.

My fist collided with his face again. This time, he went tumbling into the bookshelf against the wall. The impact sent several books tumbling down onto him.

“It shouldn’t be possible!” he screamed as his eye flashed golden, and time reset once more.

My fist collided with his jaw, and I felt the crunch I had been looking for. He staggered, barely able to remain on his feet. A tooth flew from his mouth as blood began to pour out.

“How are you doing this? Why won’t you reset?” he screamed, the blood from his mouth splattering as he shouted.

“That’s a secret.” I landed another blow, this time in the gut. He heaved over and fell to his knees, wheezing.

“This is impossible. You are powerless!” he screamed, looking up at me. His entire body was trembling, and visible terror was evident in his eyes.

“Powerless?” I asked, tilting my head as I gazed down at the pitiful man.

His face turned pale as I took a step down towards him.

“Oh, that’s where you are wrong,” I said with a laugh.

I took another step.

“It’s true that you have skills. Pretty powerful ones at that.”

Another step.

“And sure, you have all the stats in the world.”

The man began to shuffle back, not breaking eye contact as he tried his best to escape me.

“But I?”

Step.

“I have none of that.”

I took one last step forward to tower over him.

“So, do you know what that means?”

The Administrator looked as if he was about to pass out. Blood trickled down the corners of his trembling mouth.

I pinned the man firmly under my boot. His arm flailed about, occasionally gripping my leg before realising it was futile. Once his efforts ceased, I leaned down close to him with a cruel smile.

“It means I’m not limited by the System.”

I landed a mighty blow on his face.

“The System can’t contain me.”

I landed another blow.

“I’m beyond it.”

Another blow.

“You monster!” he screamed through broken teeth, tears and blood.

Another blow.

“How dare you? I am an Administrator…”

I continued to beat him until he lay bloodied on the ground.

“K did a bad job eliminating you. Or maybe that bastard set this up to begin with.”

I punched him one more time in the face, and I saw his eye roll up as he ceased moving. The faint rise of his chest signalled that he was merely unconscious.

“Sorry, but this is the end for you,” I spoke to myself as I lifted my hand to deliver the final strike. Just as I was about to bring it down on him, I was restrained by a strong hand.

I turned my head to see Kenji with a serious look on his face.

“You got here quicker than I thought you would,” I commented as I shook off his grasp.

“I received your message from the pink-haired girl.”

“Then I take it that Valgroth has been defeated?”

He shook his head.

“He was too strong. The best I could do was fend him off and convince him to retreat.” He paused and looked away. “I’ll fill you in on what I know at a later time.”

“Great, then all I have to do is finish this guy.”

I lifted my hand one more time to deliver the finishing blow, but felt Kenji grab my hand once more.

“Any further and he’ll die. He may be a murderer and a vile man, but he is still nobility.”

“So?”

“Well, you’ll be held accountable,” Kenji tried to reason. “Besides, he can no longer defend himself. He is already defeated. There is no reason to take this further. Murder is wrong.”

I shrugged him off once more.

I sighed.

“You’re right.”

Kenji relaxed as I slowly placed my hand inside my jacket and gripped what was inside.

“If I kill him, it’ll be murder, and I’ll be held accountable.” I withdrew the concealed Tetanus Blade and plunged it into the unconscious Administrator's chest.

The Administrator flailed for a brief moment before going limp, his eyes clouding over. The red glow from the accursed gem meant his time jump ability was now sealed away.

It was over.

“Susami… no, the Accursed Captain Lark… what have you done?” Kenji looked at me, horrified.

I didn’t respond to his question. Instead, I stood up, covered in the Administrator's blood. I pushed past Kenji and stopped just behind him.

“It’s not over yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“There is one last thing I have to… no… that we have to do.”

“Why would I help you with anything else?”

“Just bring Princess Haruka to the throne room.”

“Why?”

“Do you not trust me anymore?”

He looked torn.

“Well, you should never have trusted me.”

“You aren’t planning on harming her, are you?”

“No, she will be alright.”

Kenji sighed before nodding.

“Alright, I will meet you there.”

Kenji turned and left. Seconds later, a piercing screech erupted behind me. I turned and saw the Administrator, who should’ve been dead, had begun to twitch. His feet planted firmly, his body jerked unnaturally as it rose.

His eyes were no longer the same shade of royal purple. Instead, it was a glowing blue. He opened his mouth and spoke.

The System puts out an urgent message to all Administrators. The Error has killed an Administrator. The Error is in possession of the forbidden item created by the Former Administrator and traitor X. All Administrators should prioritise the elimination of the Error. A reward will be offered to the Administrator who succeeds.

The possessed Administrator corpse turned its head towards me.

To the Error, there is no escape. Only death awaits…

Before the system could finish its sentence, I ran my hook through the possessed administrator. The moment I did, the accursed gem glowed bright red, and everything went dark. It was a space of utter nothingness, except for the possessed Administrator and me.

The System is shocked. The System doesn’t understand what is happening.

“This is my warning to all those Administrators listening in. I am Captain Lark, and I’ll kill you all. Just as I did to N, and I will plunder the system.”

I removed my hook, and the world snapped back to how it had been before. The body of the Administrator contorted and collapsed back on the ground, lifeless.

▪──── X ────▪

End of chapter 52