"Come and die."Omega floated down from his throne of storm clouds. He didn't fly like I did—with the grace of the wind. He descended like a falling building.Heavy. Inevitable.He landed on the edge of the crater I had made. The ground hissed as his boots touched the molten asphalt."You look surprised," Omega said, his voice a grinding rasp that made my teeth ache.He stepped into the light of the burning city.I saw his face.Runa gasped. "Master?"Sae covered her mouth. "Impossible."Omega didn't just have violet eyes. He had my face.But it wasn't the face of the "Saint." It was the face of a corpse that had been left in the sun for a week. His skin was grey and peeling, revealing black muscle underneath. His lips were cracked. His left cheek was missing, exposing teeth made of obsidian.He was a rotting mirror image."Who are you?" I whispered, my stomach churning."I am the First Draft," Omega smiled, and the skin around his mouth tore further.He tapped his chest."The Playwri

"My turn to eat."I walked toward him. The ground beneath my feet turned to nothingness, leaving footprints of absolute void in the molten asphalt.Omega didn't retreat. He snarled, his rotting face twisting into a mask of pure hate."Eat me?" he roared. "I am the Decay! I am the End!"He raised both hands. The Crown of Decay on his brow flared with a sickening grey light.[Skill: Entropy Beam (Maximum Output).]A torrent of grey energy erupted from his hands. It was wide enough to engulf a city block. It was pure death—a force that aged matter a billion years in a nanosecond."Die!" Omega screamed.The beam hit me.I didn't block. I didn't dodge.I just kept walking.HISS.The grey light washed over my skin. My clothes—the tattered remains of my tuxedo—disintegrated instantly.But my skin?My skin drank it.The blackness that covered my hands spread up my arms, across my chest, and over my face. The Void inside me swirled, acting like a drain in a bathtub. The S-Rank entropy didn't r

"Report," I commanded.I sat on a throne. Not the gold-and-velvet prop Ayaka had bought for the stream. This was a chair I had made myself. I took the rubble of the Imperial Palace, fused it with the [Crown of Decay], and reversed the entropy until it was pristine black marble.It was perfectly ergonomic. It offered zero comfort."The... the Shinjuku district is 90% reconstructed," Ayaka said, standing at the foot of the dais. She held a tablet, but her hands were shaking. She wore a business suit, but her eyes were red-rimmed."Inefficient," I stated. "The nanobots I deployed should have completed the grid by 0800 hours.""Renji," Ayaka stepped forward. "The workers are tired. The mages are exhausted. We can't keep up with your pace."I looked at her.[Target: Ayaka Saionji.] [Fatigue Level: 85%.] [Emotional State: Grief.]"Fatigue is a chemical imbalance," I said, raising my hand. "I can fix it."I pointed a finger at her.[Skill Selected: Entropy Reversal.] [Target: Biological Fati

"He needs the truth."Sae Kirishima stood before me. She held a photo of a dying scammer in a cheap apartment.I looked at the image.[Object: Photograph.] [Subject: Renji Amagiri (Pre-Ascension).] [Value: 0.]"This data is irrelevant," I stated, leaning back in my black marble throne. "That version of me was inefficient. He was weak. He was dying.""He was human," Sae whispered.She dropped the folder. Papers scattered across the floor—medical records, police reports, receipts for instant noodles.She stepped onto the dais."You are trespassing in the Sovereign's personal space," I warned. "Return to your designated zone."Sae didn't stop. She walked right up to the throne.She reached behind her back.CLICK.She pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Not the mana-dampening ones. Just standard, steel police cuffs."Give me your hand," she ordered."Illogical," I replied. "I have committed no crime in this timeline.""Give me your hand, Renji."Her voice wasn't authoritative. It was shaking.

"More," I demanded."Master," Melody warned, holding a platter of sushi. "That is your fifth plate. If you eat anymore, you will lose your buoyancy.""I don't care about buoyancy," I said, shoving a piece of fatty tuna into my mouth. "I care about flavor."I sat at the head of the long dining table in the Saionji Villa. The table was groaning under the weight of a feast fit for a king—or a starving void-man.Steaks. Pizza. Sushi. And right in front of me, a steaming bowl of spicy seafood noodles.(Oh god. It tastes so good. It tastes like salt and grease and joy.)For weeks, under the influence of the [Crown of Decay], food had tasted like data. Texture. Temperature. Caloric density.Now? It tasted like being alive."He is eating with such... passion," Runa whispered, watching me from the side. "It is a warrior's meal! He devours the cow to gain its strength!""He's just hungry, Runa," Jessica laughed, stealing a fry from my plate. "He spent a month running on empty."I swallowed the