Chapter 914: Deviation
"Seraph 021... step forward."
Within what appeared to be a heavenly courtroom, one that shone with majesty and splendor, stretching for what seemed like an eternity, there was a certain precipice that a particular
angelic being rose to.
As this beautiful angel-having four wings and a golden aura that radiated her beauty-stood on the stage, her face filled with dread.
Her hands were currently bound with golden energy that sealed off her powers, but even if she had access to her power, there was nothing she could do to escape or avoid the fate that had befallen her.
All she could do was powerlessly stand before the tribunal before her.
Seated on a platform much higher than hers were 12 supremely powerful entities that resembled deities. They were the most powerful sentinels of the 6 Supreme Ancients of the Aethers—the Archangels that governed the affairs of the System.
Even at the current moment, they were performing their duties by overseeing her punishment.
"Seraph 021... you became a Seraph and governed the entire Ea Sector of the System, which also means the current breach in security and abnormality in the System's algorithm, which caused the deviation of a world to arrive at its projected ending is your fault." The one who sat at the center of the twelve said.
"Do you have any objections to what I have just said?"
"N-no, Archangel Mik'ael, but I genuinely didn't know that the situation would escalate to such a degree..."
There was silence in the hall as the Seraph was allowed to speak.
"I was simply overseeing the transmigration of a few humans-a task that should have been allocated to my colleague, but she was a little occupied, so I decided to pitch in for her and pitch in for her."
"Humans?"
"Y-yes, that's what they're called in the Ea Sector... particularly the planet Earths. My colleague, who governs the sector that they were transmigrating to, was negligent in her duties, so I facilitated the transportation."
"Your colleague has already been punished for her negligence." A deep voice echoed forth. "Due to the deviation occurring in one of her worlds, she has been assimilated into the System."
Seraph shuddered as soon as she heard this.
Getting assimilated into the System was worse than death, and it practically meant becoming nothing more than data-a slave to the infinite layer of interchanging realities that was the System's program.
Her colleague would be split into multiple pieces, distributed to many sectors, with the brand of the System constantly embedded in her core programming.
She would be no different from the natives of the System's worlds.
-The mortals.
"You were elevated from the ranks of the other Aethers and given the sacred task of overseeing a portion of the System for the sake of Nature, yet your mistake was what led to the breach and deviation that occurred in your colleague's world."
"I-I don't understand." Seraph muttered. "I already explained that—"
"We have listened to your explanation, and we indeed punished your colleague for her transgressions, but after further investigation into the root problem behind the deviation, we realized that the problem stemmed from one of the 'humans' that you processed." "A-ah..."
A bead of sweat formed on Seraph's face as soon as she heard that.
"The System's design is perfect, it's algorithm is intricate, and the outcome of every reality is set in place-designed to birth another reality, which causes a chain of never-ending progression that constantly ensures the longevity of its mechanism."
Seraph nodded.
She understood these things, as they were protocol.
"Which is why we were surprised by the deviation and chose to investigate further."
"That was when we realized that the Singularity was one of the transmigrators that arrived in your colleague's sector... a transmigration you supervised, isn't that correct?"
"Y-yes..."
"So, how precisely did a Singularity like that get processed into another world? Why was it not immediately deleted or purged per protocol?"
"W-well, a Singularity has never occurred since the conception of the System eons ago, and I didn't think it was going to escalate to this point."
"What?"
"It was a simple glitch... something I corrected immediately."
"A glitch? And how exactly did an error like that occur under your watch?" Another query echoed out.
"I don't know!" She answered truthfully. "But it's not my fault! I simply acted according to my duties and corrected the error the moment I noticed it."
It wasn't her fault that the error occurred, to begin with, and that the damage had already
been done by the time she noticed the problem.
"And what precisely was the nature of the error?"
"It had to do with the skill and Class allocation based on Karma Points. The glitch changed the value of the requisite Karma Points to a Percentage."
"What? So instead of the precise figure, it was represented in percent?"
"Yes! I had never seen anything like that, and as a result, one of the humans managed to get
their hands on one of the Core Skills for influencing the System's framework-well, more like
the watered down version."
"What Skill was that?"
"[Doppel]."
"[Doppel] is an essential portion of the System's framework, Seraph." The one who headed the tribunal said with a sigh. "It doesn't only contain the building blocks of all the other Skills that are produced by the System, but it also has assets that contribute to the System's central
interface."
"I-I understand..."
"So you understand that with enough clearance... say an SSS Class, this individual could access the central mainframe of the System and could gain access to the whole framework of the System in its entirety?"
"Y-yes..."
"Which means he could control it to his whims, or more dangerously of all—"
"B-but I didn't think that could happen! The person in question was a loser that would have perished within the first act of the world he was placed into. He wasn't the type that would
last very long."
"Well, it seems you were wrong in your assessment."
"I have served as a low-tier Angel, and even to the rank of Seraph, and I have never made an error in assessment before." Seraph pleaded. "Please believe me... this person could not have gone very far-at least, not without help."
For a moment, there was silence in the hall as all the Archangels looked at each other.
"Hmm... it is true that the appearance of the glitch is still a mystery yet to be resolved, and the fact that the System did not automatically identify and purge the Singularity while it was still
an Anomaly is strange too."
Something was definitely wrong, and it was most likely the doing of whatever aid the human
in question had.
"What is the name of this subject?"
"His name is Rey Skylar." Seraph admitted with a sigh. "He is a nobody, he isn't supposed to matter at all in the grand scheme of things."
"It says here, in the records, that he actually went pretty far in the world before the current one, and he even survived to its final act." One of the Archangels spoke. "Still, that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, so he shouldn't be a bother."
And yet, the opposite was happening.
"It must be because of [Doppel] and the assistance he received down the line."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"And where is this Singularity now?"
"Back in my Sector, Ea!" Seraph answered very quickly. "He is back in his homeworld, Earth, which has undergone a considerable development since he and his classmates were ejected
from it."
"His native homeworld itself?" One of the Archangels asked, sighing.
"Yes. It seems the deviation really messed things up." Another said.
"Indeed." Yet one more answered with a sigh.
The Archangels were clearly bothered by this scenario because ejected subjects were never
returned to their native homeworld. It was usually somewhere similar, or a completely different landscape in order to further improve and propagate the System's perfect algorithm.
Yet, the error had caused so many complications that this was happening. Seraph tightened both her fists as her eyes shone with determination, swiftly raising her hand in order to seize the opportunity that was now being presented before her. "Please give me permission to personally exterminate this Singularity!" She begged. "I will not fail you in this task."
The Archangels glanced at each other, most displaying uncertainty at this proposal.
"You realize that since the problem has festered, you can no longer remotely remove him, as this will further entangle the System's Interface and cause further corruption. Since he possesses [Doppel], and has the potential to access the mainframe, it's imperative that this
matter is dealt with intricately."
"I can be intricate! Very intricate." Seraph's enthusiasm could not be denied, and she was eager to prove herself.
"So you are willing long into your Sector and as an avatar and eliminate the problem as
swiftly and as efficiently as possible?"
"Y-yes!"
Going into the System was scary for Seraph, but since she wasn't being 'assimilated', but was
simply using an Avatar to log into the Sector and world that was her target destination, she
didn't have much to fear.
Besides, if she didn't offer to fix her mistake, the alternative would be Assimilation.
And she couldn't have that.
"In your avatar, you won't be able to utilize your [Ethereal Conception], and I am honestly
tempted to strip away the use of [Ancient MajiK] as well, but that would be too harsh."
"Not to mention the fact that it could impair her ability to complete her task."
"That is true as well..."
Seraph sighed in relief as soon as she heard this.
If they didn't allow [Ancient MajiK], she would be stuck with the use of Skills-something she
would not prefer to do since that would make her no better than the natives of the System.
But she was an Aether-an Angel, servant of the Ancients.
She was better than them.
"Fair enough... then your sentence will be postponed and this hearing will be adjourned until
you return from your task."
"T-thank you, Archangels!"
"Complete your mission and all of this may be forgiven, Seraph 021."
"I understand."
She bowed her head as she watched them leave her presence and she was escorted to the place
where she would log into the nearest [Domain Of God] and be uploaded to the world that was
her destination.
After the scary experience she had just had, Seraph knew deep within herself.
Failure was not an option.
'I have to kill Rey Skylar and eliminate the problem... no matter what.'
*
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[Welcome To Arc 7: The Last Frontier Arc]
I hope you are all prepared for one last ride as we sail into the sunset!
The end is upon us!