“Huh. This is new. Genesis, where is everyone?” Nicholas asked. He spun around to see the room in its full frozen glory. Nothing had moved since he noticed his friends were gone. His connection to Eins was severed, and he couldn’t summon them back. He couldn’t use any magic at all. The only thing Nicholas was permitted to do was sit on the Demon King’s throne, but he wouldn’t do that. It was far too soon to jump at the opportunity of completing the Genesis Program.

“THEY ARE IN THEIR OWN TEMPORARY REALITY. ALL MEMBERS OF [THE UNNAMED TEAM] HAVE RECEIVED THE SAME MISSION PROMPT, BUT ONLY ONE MAY ASCEND. PLEASE, SIT ATOP THE THRONE AND COMPLETE THE FINAL MISSION.”

“No thanks. I’m good.” Nicholas said immediately. He still wasn’t interested in becoming a king, much less the Demon King. It was good to know the others were safe. He wouldn’t know what to do if they were wounded and trapped in another realm. No amount of effort would break him out of this place to reunite with the others, and communication between realms was impossible. There was no telling who would break first and sit on the throne. For all he knew, Nicholas could be that very person.

“VERY WELL,” Genesis said. The voice spoke as it always did but seemed oddly tired. It was difficult to maintain multiple different realities. The system was feverishly managing each separate realm, and this current batch of participants proved to be the most difficult. They had questions. Too many questions. Normally, a person would have jumped at the opportunity to be among the world’s strongest beings. Unfortunately, that didn’t apply to The Unnamed Team. Genesis was left with little option other than to create an alternate Nicholas and converse with him, “I WILL ANSWER WHATEVER QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.”

“I said no. I’m not interested in whatever the heck this is.” Nicholas said. He gestured to his other-self. Oddly enough, he found the sight of himself to be annoying. He could see the flaws that were always present. He saw how tired he looked. He saw how some slime was still stuck to him. The experience may have been akin to looking in a mirror, but he would have preferred talking to an invisible voice.

“ARE YOU NOT INTERESTED IN THE GOAL OF THE GENESIS PROGRAM? WHETHER YOU’RE THE ONLY ONES WHO HAVE DONE THIS? PERHAPS THE REASON YOU WERE CHOSEN? OR, WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU COMPLETE THE FINAL MISSION?

“Considering the final mission, you're probably planning to place new monarchs for both the demon and angel races. We’re definitely not the only set of participants. Demon King Chris and his stash of items from my world prove that. It also explains why he died of old age. He wasn’t a demon but a human. I don’t really care why we were chosen, but I am curious about the last part. What happens after all this?” Nicholas said. He may not have been the smartest person in the world, but even he could connect the obvious dots. It wasn’t hard to solve the puzzle. Some questions remained to explore smaller details about the Genesis Program, but his summary covered most of it, a fact that seemed to irritate a certain omnipotent voice.

“YOU ARE…CORRECT. AS WELL AS AGGRAVATING. I WILL, HOWEVER, ANSWER YOUR QUESTION. UPON THE FINAL MISSION’S COMPLETION, ALL REMAINING MEMBERS OF [THE UNNAMED TEAM] WILL BE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO THEIR ORIGINAL WORLD, SHOULD THEY CHOSE.”

“Let me get this straight. One member of The Unnamed Team, doesn’t matter who, will become the next Demon King, right? Then, everyone else will be given the option to either return home or stick around here. Did I get all that right?” Nicholas asked. It seemed pointless to reiterate what was just said, but he needed to reconfirm the statement. There was something off about what Genesis said earlier in the conversation.

If the statement was interpreted a certain way, then there was a solution that offered the best outcome. One where no one had to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the others. One that guaranteed everyone the opportunity to go where they pleased. All Nicholas needed was two things. First, he needed the others to be patient enough to not sit on the throne. Second, he needed confirmation on his question. Fortunately, that was exactly what he got.

“CORRECT.”

“Oh, Genesis, you beautiful system, why didn’t you just say so?”