[Nightmare]

—When I explain… please don't burn this city to the ground—

"Can't promise you a thing, chief." Charlotte replied while staring at her nails.

"Any ominous qualifier like that deserves a good razing." Atlas replied casually.

"I'm going to do what I want. Kill me if you like." Marie whispered.

"I'll listen first. I'll promise you that much." Riley replied.

Macron put his paws onto the sides of his head and massaged his temples with his thumbs.

"Good enough." He sighed.

His acceptance of their replies reflectively garnered their attention.

"Before I give you your group message and your personal message, I'm going to play the one that matters most."

Macron reached into his cloak and pulled out a series of magic circles drawn on textiles in the room.

"I'm going to unlock the first one.

If you want to listen to it again, I've been informed that all of you know the spirit mix required to activate it." He instructed.

Macron kneeled, put his hand on the outer ring of the magic circle, and activated it.

The circle lit up bright red, which was unnatural for the Circle of Remembrance.

It meant the message held malice.

"Hello. My name is Helix Hellsworth Margrave, and if you're listening to this, it means that Emelia has died and I'm currently dead or out of consciousness."

Marie and Riley burst into tears, Charlotte grit her teeth, and Atlas wore a crumbling poker face expression.

"I've left behind everything you need to survive the otakupocalypse that you've unleashed upon yourself.

I've done this for Macron and Princess Eliza and them alone."

Macron stared at the magic circle with a complex expression.

"However, that is the most you will get from me.

If I'm still alive, I'm warning you. If I wake up inside this city's walls, I will stop at nothing to raze it to the ground.

You may think that I've given you a treasure trove, but I assure you I held back. So don't mess with me."

Charlotte chuckled in amazement, and the others nodded.

"After abducting me, failing to protect me from three assassination attempts, and allowing someone precious to me to die, you don't deserve my help.

So if you plan to ask for more, let me die or kill me."

The room filled with pressurized indignation.

"However, if you do that, three badass women and one deceptively bored friend will raze this city to the ground.

So you better kill them too."

The four of them burst into minor, pride-filled celebrations.

Macron blinked twice and stared at the group with a wry smile.

"However! This entire country will explode once the otaku super-virgin elite gains power if you do that.

So if you're planning to kill us five, you better murder everyone else too."

The room burst into laughter.

"So unless you're not planning to murder forty-seven people by the time I wake up, you best not ask me for a god damn thing."

Tears of laughter flowed between the group, and the scene emotionally gripped Macron.

"That leads to the obvious consequence of my request.

If I'm alive now, I ask you to provide me with medical treatment as you transport me out of Alzeria to a faraway location where people can't find me.

Then, I ask that you fake my death."

The mood turned grave again.

"In case you have a flash of inspiration that states, [I know! Let's keep Helix's companions in Alzeria to solve our problems in exchange for his location!]... don't.

I'm not a cliche character that will disappear 1000 miles away for the safety of the people I love.

I find that cliche to be gross.

Moreover, I've recently discovered that I'm a selfish, shameless degenerate that greedily has feelings for four people.

That feeling will transcend death.

I'll clasp hands with the Mad Queen and rain hellfire and brimstone on Myriad if you keep me away from the women I love."

Tears of pride and joy flooded the area, and Atlas chuckled in amazement at the declaration.

"I have requests from everyone that will benefit everyone.

I request that you disclose my secret location to Marie Skybolt, Charlotte Kline, Riley Singer, and Atlas one month from now.

If you're wondering, he'll kill me if I say his last name."

Atlas chuckled with a warm smile.

p "At that time, you will allow them to leave if they want to, regardless of the situation in Alzeria.

I ask that those four people help you keep the others in check in exchange.

I'm asking for their help because it's hard to live if the most powerful kingdom on the continent is hunting you.

I want all of them to have fulfilling lives that aren't wrought with legal difficulties.

That's the only reason that I'm requesting this favorable exchange.

So if someone decides those four are too valuable to let go at any point in time, the deal's off.

Go wild, you four. Prove to these fucking idiots what they're up against!"

Macron cringed when he watched the battle-ready expressions of the people in the room.

"There were at least fifteen felonies broken to abduct us, enslave us, and have us fight your battles.

We owe you nothing."

Macron closed his eyes.

"However, you all messed up playing around with something that you don't understand, and those four are your only chance at survival.

With their help, the super-otaku elite task force can be a strong fighting force against the Mad Queen and the impending invasion.

Without their help, you're all going to die before the monsters arrive.

Do not take their kindness for granted."

Smiles lit up through the room.

"Marie, Charlotte, Riley—I ask you to help Macron for the next month.

If you're still in love with me, please seek me out.

I have no idea why you all care about me, but I… like it. A lot.

So I hope you'll continue to share my feelings and come back to me."

Tears of joy touched down onto the grey slate tile in the room.

"If you're expecting me to be a level 100 cheat character that gains broken stats by the time you arrive… please don't.

You'll probably find me working as a blacksmith or using magic circles to pretend I'm doing things.

That… is what you signed up for and why I'm confused you like me."

The women burst into laughter.

"Atlas, you will do whatever you want regardless of what anyone tells you.

So making requests would be an exercise in futility for the sake of nothing.

So… just find me when you're annoyed with the debt collectors again."

Macron looked at Atlas with wide eyes.

In response, Atlas shrugged and carried on with life.

"Macron—thank you.

I saw how hard you tried to protect me.

There is no way you could have understood the gravity of this situation.

I wish I could have bought 100,000 coins to a web site to improve your culture and give you nightmares, but alas… I'm the only person in Myriad with the internet."

Uncontrollable laughter overtook the room.

"Once again, thank you.

Don't thank me, though.

If I'm dead or fighting for my life—I probably unleashed a biblical-grade shitstorm on this place.

So if people are bitter I'm warning them of a calamity after creating one…."

Macron's face scrunched up.

"That's a you problem, not a me problem.

It sucks to be you.

Life isn't fair.

Sometimes people are born with wealth and status.

Other times they're born into poverty.

Sometimes, people are abducted, brought to a strange world, granted zeros for all of their stats, dodge countless assassination attempts, and the people they love still die.

Other times people spend considerable resources to abduct teenagers to fight monsters, only to learn that they're more dangerous than the enemy.

That's just how things are sometimes."

Helix summed up the situation perfectly in a two-sentence tragic comedy.

"A final message to all of the beautiful women in my life.

No matter what you do before now and the time that I still see you… I'll still love you.

That's a cultivation genre cliche that I hate, but guess what?

I have a god damn harem.

You love me despite being despicably shameless.

It won't faze me if you burn a few cities to the ground."

Macron's eyebrow twitched when he saw the women celebrating.

"That said, none of you are one-dimensional yanderes.

So please don't become one.

Keep being kind, loving, and caring to the good people and brutally maiming the small people who bully the weak.

Raise the confidence of the insecure, and snap the femur of those that act like cultivists.

Please don't take someone's life or hurt them unless it's a last resort.

Don't be like Angelina Wainwright."

Smiles flooded the room.

"Unnnnnnnnless people want to prevent you from seeing me.

If that happens, please turn into the peak immortal cultivist that reincarnates in their younger body with 20,000 years of experience.

Summon your inner yandere and save your damsel in distress.

I love you all. Goodbye."

Macron shook his head when he saw the excitement in the women's eyes.

He didn't want to know what a [yandere] was, but he knew it was a word he didn't want to hear in a practical context.

—

[A/N: If anyone feels like Helix is a hero after this chapter—don't.

There is nothing kind about what he's doing and the punishment is still far from over.]

Disclaimer: Grammatical mistakes and minor inconsistencies = more content.