Second Genesis

When Grey’s heart settled down, he found himself smiling. It was ridiculous to the point of being amusing.

Compared to the destruction and power the first two displayed, Joaquin was barely competent. He was good with his spear, and he improved quickly, and the editing was definitely making him look better than he actually was, but Grey could just feel it.

There was almost this pressure coming from the first two that wasn’t on him at all.

Whether that would last once he gained an influx of sponsors, though... that was unknown.

Grey himself had gotten his own highlight reel. The difference was twofold, though.

First, Grey’s wasn’t being presented as a candidate with potential specially selected by The Great Udon. He was a villain that was entertaining, but that was about it.

Second, Joaquin had boot licker written all over his face. Grey could practically see that creepy politician grin spreading over the fuck’s face as his first private viewers started rolling in.

It wasn’t lost on Grey that he wasn’t maximizing the few watching his private live stream. In fact, his viewership had fallen. It wasn’t much, just 5% or so, but it certainly would have been more if he wasn’t so entertaining in other ways.

Grey just had no desire to be a dancing monkey for people for a few shekels. Joaquin, though, was definitely not beneath anything so long as the ultimate optics of it all benefited him in the end.

’I need to kill him.’ Grey thought, a flicker of cold dancing in his eyes.

He knew that this was exactly what the Great Udon wanted, but Grey wasn’t about to let that tap dancer start shucking and jiving his way to upgrades and power ups while he was scratching and clawing for everything.

If the Great Udon wanted Joaquin to die, he would give him that.

Grey would let the floating bastard have his fun for now. One of these days he was going to stick a blade in... well, whatever equivalent of an ass a hovering mask had.

’Hm?’

Grey’s eyes narrowed as the images of Joaquin quickly reached the end, only to end on him kneeling before a throne of white-gold, a halo appearing above his head.

"I know you all be wondering why it is I’m showing a youth of a Cracked World. Compared to the others, he’s not much. Weak and fragile, a little gust of wind could knock him over. The Human Race is not particularly strong either.

"However, I have taken great interest in this one. He’s quick and witty, not to mention strong in his political maneuvering. More interestingly than all of that, he has taken a rare path, choosing to side with the Goddess. I have to wonder what sort of fascinating outcome this might have for Zone 234’s first arc."

Grey felt his heart skip a beat.

During every other introduction, the Great Udon never once mentioned the Zone in question. It was like he was deliberately avoiding it.

But now he was mentioning theirs by name.

Why?

The more Grey thought about it, the more he felt like something was off. He was being conned, he just didn’t know how quite yet.

The fact he had been snubbed didn’t matter to him. In fact, it was probably a good thing in the grand scheme.

But this...

’Something’s wrong.’

"That concludes the recap episode for today, ladies and gentlemen. There’s still much more entertainment to come, a brewing war, a stunning betrayal, and oh my, a few Canon Events that just might decide life and death for our most beloved characters.

"Stay tuned, and say it with me now: the Greats ROAR."

The world around Grey popped like a balloon and a rush of color came back as though painted all at once in wide, broad strokes.

Grey took a breath that felt like he had been holding it for a while. Had they been depriving them of oxygen while they froze the world like that?

"Please this way," Silva said with a smile from the side.

Grey looked over to see the silver fox reacting like no time had passed at all. Then again, he, too, had been greyed out. It was just Grey and the other three that weren’t, though they were frozen in place.

’Why are the NPCs greyed out of viewing the recaps? I’m pretty sure they saw the Great Udon’s earlier appearance. Is that because that one was live?’

Either way, Grey followed along.

The roads to the Church Palace were practically paved in gold. Grey was half convinced that if he managed to pry one of the laid bricks out, he could have sold it for a pretty penny back on Earth. He had no idea what gold was worth here, though. But it had to be worth something for them to treat it like such a luxury.

Grey felt several gazes flickering toward him from time to time, many with flattering eye flutters and nods. A lot more of them were indifferent as though they were simply sizing him up. Those latter gazes seemed to have far more respect for Silva than himself.

He could only assume that the first group of gazes came from people that were at or below knighthood, maybe those from families with a knight at the helm or lower level knights themselves.

The latter group, however... they likely came from families with far stronger existences. Barons and above without a doubt. They probably had such respect for Silva mostly because they saw him as the representation of Baron Giyoto.

"We will wait here." Silva said softly.

"We aren’t going into the church?" Grey asked.

He received a chuckle in response first. "No, no. The Church is only open to the public for very special occasions. Otherwise, only the servants of her Holiness are allowed in."

Grey nodded.

The group had been led into a guest of honor ring. The situation looked a lot like what Grey had seen from the American presidential inaugurations on TV. The difference was that technically he was supposed to be the president right now, but he had no grand stage to stand on.

Instead, he was behind a velvet rope waiting just like everyone else. He watched the wide set of stairs leading up to the Church Palace.

A sudden notification practically slapped him awake.

—

[Canon Event — START]

—

The wide double doors of the Church Palace slowly opened and a series of Holy Knights began to walk down the stairs.

Grey recognized one immediately, but he looked away at once. If he stared at that guy for too long, he would definitely leap over these barriers and try to run a bloody blade between his eyes.

However, what Grey didn’t expect was that the instant he looked away from Captain Terran, his gaze landed on someone he probably hated even more.

There, wearing white and gold robes, and that signature fake smile, was someone he had just seen projected for all on a screen just moments ago.

Joaquin walked down the steps along with the Holy Knights, and in those brief moments, it actually looked like they were following his lead.

’What the hell did I miss?’