To Write Anew – III

'Focus.'

I took a deep breath and calmed my racing thoughts.

The events were already put into play.

I had joined a chess game that was already half-finished.

Evelyn's descent into a demon and her subsequent death had already been arranged by that bastard of a prince Maximillian. The man who pretended to be a kind older brother to her face but actively worked to secure her death behind her back.

I instinctively clenched my hand at that thought, crumpling a notebook page. I forcibly let out a breath and smoothed the paper, continuing to write and organize my thoughts.

...Again, Maximillian had been actively working to secure Evelyn's death. And if the demonification didn't work, he undoubtedly had at least ten back-ups set to fire on the same day. That was the first Disaster.

I underlined that fact and then continued writing.

Despite Maximillian's ruthless efforts to secure the throne of the Eternal Empire, it would be pointless. His 'ally' who let him secure it, Void Sovereign, had been actively plotting for the downfall of the Empire for decades already.

Subtle nudges here and there to key people. Faint ideas slowly ingrained into the common sense of people in the Empire and all around. Cults worshipping the end of the world, a powerful underworld that even the nobles feared... and used with abandon.

Void Sovereign had orchestrated it all to slowly bring everything to a tipping point where absolute and irrevocable chaos would unfold.

That was the second Disaster.

I underlined that point and sighed, rubbing my forehead.

The third Disaster was straightforward. It was the Demon God's descent. The problem was... that couldn't be stopped. Due to Void Sovereign's expert manipulation of information, the Demon God was cemented in the minds of everyone in this world. Either as a mythical apocalyptic figure, or as a true deity that individuals prayed to.

Either way, there was sufficient 'faith' and 'belief' that Void Sovereign could theoretically force the descent tomorrow if they wanted.

Of course, until there was sufficient negativity and death in the world, the Demon God's power would be limited. But as a Rank 10 being, his mere presence would be enough to slowly gather his power.

I sighed and wrote that down. Then I read everything again and carefully thought about what I needed to do.

First of all, it was imperative to not corner Void Sovereign. As long as that person felt there was even a little room for controlling the situation, they wouldn't force the Demon God to descend.

That was my number one priority. I had to ensure Void Sovereign never felt like they had to pull the trigger on the end of the world early. Fortunately, I could be certain they wouldn't do it unless they were backed against the wall.

Void Sovereign's main motivation was to ensure the 'absolute erasure' of the world. And that could only come about when the Demon God was at his absolute best. Anything less would only result in a 'world collapse' and subsequent reconstruction as the gods turned back time.

At least, that was the backstory I wrote for Void Sovereign.

That person's situation was like a save scummer looking for the final bad ending.

In contrast, I was a player with a walkthrough that was trying to get the absolute golden ending. But while I was trying to win, all that bastard had to do was make me lose.

Void Sovereign could afford to end the world and try again.

I only had once chance... probably. But even if I had multiple chances, I didn't want to see everyone I had met here die.

This was something people didn't consider about regressors or time travelers. Even if the events in the 'present' were reset... that didn't change the fact that they 'had happened.' There was no way to truly erase what had happened before. Because if there was, then it would never have happened in the first place and you wouldn't have a memory of it. But since you did, it was real. And that reality would always exist.

I wouldn't allow that. A world where everything had been destroyed... even if I met the same faces, they wouldn't be the same 'people.'

...But I was getting side-tracked now.

If all the fluff got cut away, there were only two things to focus on.

First, find a way to save Evelyn.

Second, defeat the Demon God.

I could rely on Roland for the Demon God. Especially if I drew aggro from the big hitters in the story like I planned to. That guy was set to grow at an exponential rate. And if I gave him enough time... especially since he had Marisa's help now so early, he would definitely get strong enough to reach the ending I wrote.

That just left saving Evelyn.

I wasn't the protagonist of this story. My role wasn't to defeat the big bad. Instead... it was to change everything around that ending.

The golden ending was locked from the start. In fact, it wasn't even written in the first place. No matter how much Roland struggled, it would be forever beyond his reach even if he spun back time over and over again.

But that wasn't true for me. Like my Trait said... I was the . I was the author of this story.

And so that was the path that had to be walked.

The story was set to be told already. So I had to make sure it was told in the best way and according to the vision I wanted. And that vision... it was one where nobody died. Where the characters I coldly wrote off with my own hands would be saved and had the life they deserved instead of the death I callously sent down for a few more views.

And the first person on that list was Evelyn.

'So think. How can I save her?'

Could it be reversed? Say Evelyn did turn into a demon.

If I reversed it somehow... No. That wouldn't work.

Maximillian was too clever for that and had too much authority. He would use the attempt and bend public opinion to paint me as an assassin. Then he would lock Evelyn up somewhere to be quietly taken care of. Whether that was to be killed or whether to be used to-

No. Let's not even consider that line of thought.

Either way, turning Evelyn human again after she became a demon wouldn't work.

Could I just stop it from happening in the first place?

...It was possible.

With what I knew about mana and divine power in this world, I could probably cobble something together to keep Evelyn human. That would win my bet with the Void Sovereign.

But Maximillian was still in the picture.

And like I considered before, that guy likely had ten or more back ups.

Although Maximillian wanted to take over the throne with the least bloodshed possible... he wasn't above it. The reason to get rid of Evelyn by turning her into a demon was to give 'justification.' But he had enough personal power to ignore insufficient justification.

I wrote that bastard, so I knew all of his tricks and thoughts.

And while he lacked the cheat that Evelyn had, Maximillian wasn't a slouch. By every measure, intellect, skill with magic and blade, and political prowess, he surpassed Evelyn. The only reason he wasn't selected as the heir to the Empire was because he lacked , which had traditionally been used to signify the candidate fit for the throne.

Which meant that if Maximillian was pressed, he would just flip over the table and cut his way to the throne.

Could I just kill him? There were plenty of ways I could think of to assassinate the guy without a trace- No. That wouldn't work with the Void Sovereign watching my every move.

Anything used against Maximillian would be observed, reverse engineered, and used by the Void Arbiters in the optimal way to bring chaos and destruction.

No. If I wanted to clear this by force, I'd need to kill both Maximillian and Void Sovereign in one go.

But that was fundamentally impossible. Both the bastards were slippery antagonists who would turtle away into the shadows the moment they got a whiff of danger. Not only that, but they both had triggers if they were cornered.

Void Sovereign would force the Demon God to descend to restart the world... and Maximillian would just run a purge and build the Empire from scratch.

I ran my hands through my hair as I glared at my notes. "Goddammit... how do I win?"