Is this really a Game?!

A voice echoed through the cavern, cutting off Avargan's frustrated rant. The mysterious figure, who had been observing silently, now stood beside Avargan.

"You did too much, you tried to shift fate itself, even if the tapestry would allow it, do you believe the system would want such a thing to occur?" The figure asked Avargan who was frozen in fear.

He couldn't sense it.

The figure was standing next to him, he could see it, but he could not see any features, they were shrouded by a black mist. He could not sense the being at all, even with his connection to the angels, all who were Saints, couldn't sense him.

In his current state, although weak, Avargan was sharing senses with the angels, which meant that even if a Saint were to appear, he could easily sense him from miles away and place countermeasures.

And yet, this person arrived suddenly, and even the angels were too frightened to do a thing.

It wasn't that they were disobeying Avargan's orders, it was simply that they couldn't move from the fear they felt. It was the type of fear that paralyzed a person, one that even Saints were not excluded from.

'Was this what they were talking about?!' Avargan asked himself before glancing at the figure. Suddenly, he tried sensing fate, only to see that the threads of fate were going around the figure, none daring to come too close, and in an instant, he felt immense pain assault him.

"Trying to see my fate, what an insolent mortal you are."

"Did you really think you could just have a glimpse without any repercussions?"

"Let me tell you something, a little secret of sorts." The figure said with a condescending voice as it stared at Avargan who was barely able to hear him from the pain.

"Once you reach a high enough level, fate will not play a role in your life, after all, fate is more something that is there for mortals, not those that have reached the realm of a God and higher."

"At that point, the rules are completely different, you would do well to remember that."

"Although you don't really have to, after all, you will not exist much longer."

The figure chuckled before suddenly glancing to the side as Reign moved, attacking the angels.

"Stop." The figure said in a calm voice, to which Reign replied by suddenly freezing and then falling down on his knees, unable to move a single muscle.

Reign's body trembled as he knelt on the ground, completely immobilized. The mysterious figure approached him, the black mist around its form swirling with an otherworldly presence. Avargan, still recovering from the pain inflicted upon him, watched in horror as the figure exerted control effortlessly over the powerful Nephilim.

"You mortals are quite fascinating," the figure mused, its voice echoing through the cavern. "So much potential, yet so limited by the boundaries of your existence, and yet so arrogant to believe you know everything."

Avargan continued shaking as the figure spoke to him, but was walking away and toward Reign.

"And you, get a grip on yourself, the danger has passed, the situation is back to normal, your anger should be subsiding, and yet, it is only rising." The figure said to Reign as he continued walking to him.

Reign, struggling against the unseen force that held him captive, growled in frustration. The dark copy, standing alongside Aethion and Jared within Reign's consciousness, remained silent, observing the unfolding events.

"Hmmm, so the anger is now targeted at me?" The figure asked with a chuckle.

"Interesting, so it is the fact that you cannot do anything that makes you angry, not the fact that your comrades were about to die before."

"It is hopelessness and the feeling of being weak that drives that power, not losing those you care about." The figure spoke as it stopped right in front of Reign's face.

"So, what if I do this to you then?" The figure asked as it suddenly lifted a foot before gently pushing Reign back, causing him to fall on his back. In an instant, the figure appeared above his head, and placed his foot on it.

"Hmmm, as expected, your anger is rising once again."

Darkness exploded out of Reign, as did his lightning that flickered around, threatening to destroy everything that came near it.

And yet, it could not do a single thing to the figure who continued standing still, the darkness coming from Reign doing nothing to him in the slightest. The lightning went around the figure, not daring to strike it, and he continued applying pressure to Reign's head.

Avargan, his defiance undeterred, attempted to regain control over the angels while the figure was dealing with Reign. However, the fear that gripped them persisted, and they remained frozen in place.

"What are you?" Avargan demanded his voice a mixture of anger and desperation.

"You should have already understood what I am, mortal."

The figure turned its attention back to Avargan, the black mist around it pulsating with an ominous energy. "I am beyond your understanding,"

"You sought to manipulate fate, to control forces beyond your grasp, such arrogance demands consequences."

"Although I don't truly care for such things, I would be leaving a bad example behind to my juniors if I did nothing."

Avargan's eyes widened as he realized that his worst thoughts had come true. He had already thought of it, but now, he was certain.

The being that was standing above Reign and pushing his head into the ground was a God, and he was here to help them.

The figure released its hold on Reign, allowing him to finally move. The Nephilim, now freed from the unseen force, gasped for breath, the remnants of his anger still flickering around him as the foot was still on his head.

Avargan, on the other hand, felt a chill run down his spine as he faced the mysterious god-like entity.

"What do you want?" Avargan asked, his defiance waning as he realized the futility of resistance, he knew that a single thought from this being was enough to annihilate him.

The figure remained shrouded in its enigmatic aura. "What I want is some peace and quiet, unfortunately, you have made that difficult, so I had to intervene to restore balance, to make this damned system shut up."

Avargan, though weakened and battered, mustered what was left of his pride. "Balance?!"

"This world is nothing more than a game for beings such as yourself, why would you care for balance here, it will do nothing to the grand scheme of things, nothing!"

The figure chuckled, its voice echoing through the cavern. "Your perception is limited, child."

"The balance I speak of extends beyond your understanding, your attempts to manipulate fate disrupted the natural flow, and for that, consequences were necessary."

Avargan gritted his teeth. "What will you do?"

"Erase me from existence?"

"Banish me to a place where I will spend centuries alone?"

"Imprison me somewhere from where I will only be able to see what is happening in this world without being able to interfere?"

"You have quite the imagination." The figure said with a chuckle as its misty form shifted while it glanced at Avargan.

"No, that would be too merciful, your fate is now entwined with the repercussions of your actions."

"And, to your unfortunate luck, it is directly connected to me being annoyed that I had to make a move and come here."

"Fate won't have you, the system will not do anything to you, it will be me that will give you your punishment."

Suddenly, before Avargan was able to say a thing, his form twisted before he suddenly disappeared.

"I will hold you imprisoned in myself for the next couple of decades, maybe a few millennia, that will be enough to appease me." The figure said before it lifted its foot, and Reign quickly moved out of the way before attacking him.

"My, my, what an aggressive kid you are." The figure said before suddenly extending a finger and flicking it, causing space itself to distort and Reign to be sent flying across the cavern.

"You three may leave." The figure told the angels who bowed deeply before disappearing.

"Now, are you calm enough to talk?" The figure asked Reign whose form started dissipating, the damage done to him being great enough to force him to revert back to normal.

"Finally, I was beginning to believe you had truly fallen, thing would have gotten quite annoying had that happened."

"But still, I can why the teacher has placed so much importance on you." The figure said with a smirk as the people present suddenly rolled their eyes back and fell unconscious.

"Did my actions please you, teacher?" The figure, who was no longer shrouded in the dark mist, asked as it looked to the side, which made Raziel, who was observingthe entire thing, shake his head with a sigh.

"You were always a rowdy one as well, Quin."