That was all Alex could think as he really had no words to convey how emotionally he was feeling just now.

Obviously, Alex kept the whole him killing a man in cold blood ordeal to himself because god forbid he'd ever let Raven or Mei find out.

After contemplating over everything, the boy would finally get some shut eye and drift off to sleep.

Unfortunately, It would happen again.

The same cold feeling beneath him would suddenly arrive as he opened his eyes and saw the void less sky around him.

He was back in the Theater.

Alex would get up and looked around to see that he wasn't in the hallway like the first time he was brought here.

Instead, he was at the small theater platform where he and Seele was fighting the puppeteered mechs.

Then, he heard that trademark echoey laugh as Alex turned around and saw a puppet approach him.

"Hi there. Let's have a small chat, okay?"

He immediately went to grab Olympus only to find out that it wasn't with him this time.

"What the?"

"Boy oh boy. You sure resort to violence quickly. We simply brought you here for a chat." Said the puppet.

Before Alex could retort with anything, he noticed something odd the puppet said.

"We? Who's we? There's only one of you." He said.

The puppet had a brief chuckle before snapping its fingers as Alex felt the ground rumbling beneath him.

"The hell's going on!?" He asked himself.

After a while, Alex looked ahead to see that the puppet now stood above him on a pedestal however now, the initially empty stands that surrounded the stage were now filled to the brim with a ton of puppets.

It was like he stood before some kind of court hearing or something and he was the one on trial.

"Where the heck did all of you come from? I think it's about time you finally told me what you are!" Shouted Alex.

"Hmm........how should we put it? In simple terms, we're a Herrscher." Said the puppet at the stool as the others nodded in agreement.

"Well, I figured as much."

"Don't get us mistaken though. We're not like other Herrschers."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Every single puppet you see before you, we're all the same. All of us are one Herrscher."

"You all are the same Herrscher? How does that make sense? You all can't have the same core. That's impossible."

"That's what you think. However that's where we differ. Where as most other Herrschers have a singular core and one body, our cores are split up amongst a thousand individuals which equal the same output as a normal core." Explained the puppet.

When Alex heard the part of a thousand individuals, he began to think about that more deeply as he started to make a connection with something.

"Wait. You say you're all compromised by one thousand people, right? Answer me some then. Recently there's been a large string of people suddenly vanishing without a trace. Are you all responsible for that?"

At that moment, all the puppets began to laugh and even cheer Alex in approval as the noise was deafening for him.

"Correct correct correct! We all came from different places and have our own names, but why does that matter when we can all be one and the same?" Joyfully said the main puppet as once again the others agreed.

"Don't you realize how many innocent people are being taken away!? Who are you to suddenly strip them of their free will!?"

"Oh but in actuality, everyone before you willingly gave in."

Alex then remained silent as the puppet continued speaking.

"Everyone here was sick and tired of the real world. How cruel, unjust, and bleak it was. Those are the people who get lost in the shuffle. No one ever bats an eye towards them, not even their own families. It's like they never existed in the first place. We simply target those individuals, promise them an escape from that reality and become one of us. This world is cruel at its core fundamentally, and we intend to make it suffer."

This was all starting to make sense to Alex now, how nonchalantly the landlord dismissed and talked about Jane Doe's disappearance.

"Besides, who are you to talk innocent people being taken away? After all, you just took one away yourself."

Alex then gasped upon hearing that.

"Wait...........we're you behind all that...........?"

"Bingo! We can easily manipulate any Honkai Energy weaker than ours and seeing as your arm is filled with that, then it wasn't all that hard."

"H-How can you talk so casually about that!? You made me kill someone against my will!"

"Why's that matter? He was a criminal. No one truly cares about them." It said as Alex was shocked at how heartless the damn thing was.

"In actuality, we wanna hear some from you. Why do you continue on this journey when you were never meant to be here?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look around you. Everyone you know is basically superhuman, having fought the unnatural for their entire lives. You however? You're just a measly human. To them, you aren't worth anything. You're simply just a tool. An anchor. An afterthought."

The puppets all begin to repeat those words over and over again as Alex began to hold his head in pain again.

"N-No...............that's not true............"

"Don't you realize? You always fail when it matters most. You simply just aren't cut out for any of this. No one would truly miss you if you disappeared. You desperately try to act as if you're mature for your age, as if you already understand how the world works. In reality, you're just a scared, frightened little boy."

Alex's head pain began to get even worse as he fell onto his knees groaning loudly.

"S-Shut up.............shut up......!" He desperately shouted.

"They say the truth hurts, doesn't it? That means what I'm saying isn't wrong. You just deny it. No one would miss you. They'd all just move on with their lives shortly afterwards. All you have is that sword and without it, this is who you are. A scared, defenseless child."

The puppets all in union repeated those words as they all got louder and louder in Alex's head.

He just couldn't get why this place and why that Herrscher could mentally ruin his psyche so badly.

"I see that our chat has been quite the experience. It was definitely worth it."

The main puppet would snap its fingers as all the other puppets went away along with the pedestal as it slowly approached Alex who by now was laying in the ground, unable to bear the pain.

The puppet watched on in glee before slowly placing a hand on him.

"I eagerly await your soon to be demise."

Once again, Alex woke up in a cold sweat as he jolted up in his head, panting heavily as he was on the verge of hyperventilating.

After calming down, he felt something in his hand as he looked down and out of the blue, he now held a gun.

He was highly confused by this until he took a closer look and saw that it bore the same insignia as the ticket.

It was the logo for the theater.

'What kind of sick gift is this? That damn puppet.' Thought Alex.

The longer he looked at it though, the more his intrusive thoughts began to kick him.

The puppet's words began to ring in his head as suddenly all thought processing was lost in his head.

His eyes turned yellow again as the Herrscher was again manipulating him.

It's demeaning, cruel words kept on looping and repeating like a nightmare as all noise was basically gone save for his heartbeat and breathing.

He slowly loaded the gun and turned it around, aiming it at his head as he placed his finger on the trigger.

His heartbeat got louder and his breathing got more harsher as his hands began to tremble and shake a bit.

It was clear he was hesitating, but the Herrscher's manipulation was too strong.

"Do it. Do it. One of us. One of us."

He heard that puppet's voice repeat that over and over again in his head.

Alex had lost all sense of reason in this moment.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the door open as Mei stepped in to see how he was doing.

To say that the sight horrified her was an understatement.

The two locked eyes for a split second as Mei immediately lunged at him as Alex pressed down on the trigger.

BANG!

--------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 24: Complete