Last part, the sextet exited their simulated vacation- and had Quilline scout the area outside of the boat they were hiding in, to make sure no one was waiting outside to ambush them in the abandonded apartment building they decided to hide in.

Seemingly, the coast was clear- however Amandeath was the first to notice that after everyone had exited the boat, Quilline had disappeared. Soon after- an explosion knocked the remaining members of the group out of the boat, and they first spotted Taylis AKA Mrs. Magic suddenly standing in front of them. After Metallic told Taylis to get lost however- Hopian AKA "William" punished him severely and launched him out of the building.

Hopian then confirmed that he wished to give the group some commands- however, Elio without thinking insulted the man, which caused Hopian to gun him down...

Seric's P.O.V.

"...You left off at not liking Elio anymore. About that- William, the guy got dragged into this mess unwillingly- and has morals too. Better morals than most of the people on this continent. He may be filth but, why not give him another chance? He could still become cleaner later on, just because he found Amandeath cute doesn't mean he's as bad as she is." Taylis says- why?

"Is she on our side? So maybe we should negotiate with her instead..." I think to myself... but is Elio not already dead, as nice as she's trying to be? Ah- never mind, right Metallic and Amandeath already declined her offer from before, shit.

"No. He deserved it." William replies-

"H- William! The way you killed him, you made him suffer on purpose- he's STILL in agony even now! That's not the you I know. You're really going to kill someone over saying something stupid that they didn't think through? You told me before that you normally only kill when it comes to self defense or protecting others, those are the morals that YOU always told me to follow too." Taylis says in tears, as she walks in front of him and grabs one of his gauntlet covered hands.

William seems confused and rubs his forehead, "...There's a fair chance he'll die in the future. You understand that, right? These people chose the path that will most likely lead to deat-"

"No- Amandeath and Metallic chose this path for them. Elio is technically a hostage. And Seric and Karia are only staying with Quilline because of what Big"a" told Bersia. They're desperate. I know you look down on people sometimes William- but most of the people here are like animals doing whatever it takes to survive. So... I think we should at least give them a chance. Sorry, if that was disrespectful." She finishes, and in response William rips his hand away from Taylis, and steps back to look up into her eyes.

"Indeed, that was quite disrespectful dear. But... just this once, fine. You always assist me, so I'll do you a favor and save this boy, even if it is pointless." William responds as he walks by Taylis and towards Elio's body, who Amandeath is kneeling over.

"Move, whore." He says, and Amandeath quickly scuttles away- this guy's a prick but I am glad that Amandeath's smart enough not to react to him.

Taylis follows him and confirms, "I don't think his body's repairable-"

"Elio's soul is no doubt already on the way to the afterlife now so it doesn't matter. We'll have to try transferring his soul to a new body then before it gets there- I'll be back soon. Taylis, make sure that no one leaves." William says as he brushes some hair of of his face with one hand, and again twitches his fingers weirdly. A second later he disappears.

"Should we run while we have the chance?" Karia whispers to me.

"I'm faster than you two are, so no." Taylis quickly says- well shit she has good hearing.

"...Grudges aside, thank you by the way. For trying to save him." I say to her as I nod at Elio's body, which Amandeath is still staring down at as she's sitting on the floor now, looking... confused or shocked, I think.

"I'm not doing it for you." She replies coldly- I wonder why? I'd say my morals are fairly decent for this crew.

Karia starts to talk though, "I mean- not sure if you'll answer this but... you mentioned Big"a" being the one who gave Bersia her fortunes? Would you give us any info on that, or-"

"No way. Or- I can tell you one thing. Do. What. He. Says. The guy's the real deal when it comes to his future-sight Blessing... ability... whatever it is. Even my husband is still using his advice to guide his plans, and that's saying a LOT. Plus- if you all don't follow his fortunes- both you, and this entire world possibly, are royally screwed." She says... WELL THEN...

"The hell? So we're doing the right thing, in a way. That's... encouraging." Karia replies.

"The right thing, the wrong methods. Not like you started your journey off planning to do the right thing anyways though." Taylis corrects, which I can't help but agree with. I nod to hopefully make her like me more.

...

...

Finally, William reappears from out of thin air, and with a tall naked humanoid white robot with only basic facial features like a mouth and nose standing next to him. His eyes are just white orbs, kinda like Metallic's old disguise. Overall though, the robot next to William reminds me of a mannequin, with it's "skin" looking rough not glossy.

"Done. Dress or paint him how you please, I don't care, I only did this for my wife. That was the last spare soul compatible body I had in my lab, so you'd better be grateful. They take a while for even I to make." William says as he crosses his arms... and the robot, or Elio only looks down at his hands in shock.

"Elio? That... is that you?" Amandeath asks as she slowly walks up to Elio's new body and stands in front of him.

"Y-yeah." It responds- holy shit, it's a bit distorted but that's his same voice and everything! Me and Amandeath gasp at the same time, Karia hides her reaction better than we do though- or maybe she just doesn't care. Regardless,

"How the hell?! Wait- no, Habram told me that Metallic is in the same boat with having a soul... plus I guess in a way, this is similar to our souls being put into the simulation before. But no- how was this guy able to save Elio's soul from Habram though? Unless there's a certain amount of time it takes for someone's soul to meet him after they die? Fuck. And Metallic's existence proves this tech existed over 250 years ago too... creepy." I think to myself as my head starts to hurt from all the possibilities.

On a happier note, Amandeath gives Elio's new body a hug which is surprising- I guess that simulation really did help them bond a bit like Karia told me. Elio doesn't react to the hug though, and is instead looking over Amandeath's head, and at his own corpse on the floor... yeah that must be traumatizing.

"Oh. I should definitely ask Elio about what he saw while he was dead- if anything. Might give me more info on Habram." I think to myself with a nod, that shouldn't break any of his rules either.

"Ha. A fitting punishment for you Elio, I like this after all. You've always despised how people's lives are becoming fully dependent on technology, and now you ARE technology. Also don't consider this an upgrade, the body you have now is far more fragile than your old human body was. No one will know how to repair you either." William says with a small laugh... that is twisted irony actually- of course Elio didn't deserve that though.

"..Heh. Yeah- that is kind of funny actually, even if I feel bad for laughing." Taylis replies as she covers her mouth and laughs.

None of us respond however and so William continues, "Now then. So- these are the instructions you all are going to follow, I'm sure even the dumbest of you here will be able to comprehend them. Simply- go through with your plans, go to Fixed Reality Casino, and escape to Dalkan. No doubts, no change of plans. And prepare yourselves to fight the Hopian Army- they WILL take you on with their full strength by the time you leave. No one will be there to save you, and in fact I will be the one bringing the army to you in the first place. I'll be pitting them against you to see who's worthy enough to help with my plans, willingly or not." William says, which brings up my spirits- but brings them down right after that.

"...OK. But can I ask, why would you tell us about this stuff if we were already going to go through with those plans anyways?" Karia asks- I'm more concerned about trusting this guy though if he's literally bringing the army to us already.

"It wasn't for you Karia- it was for the members of your crew who are actually somewhat cautious. For example, earlier today Seric brought up his concerns about going to Fixed Reality, after hearing that my wife already knew about your plans." William says- which does make sense I guess, even if Quilline's logic before kind of made sense too.

"Or did Quilline's justifications for still going through with the plan make sense? Maybe she's an even better manipulator than I thought..." I think to myself, creepy to consider.

William continues talking a second later, "Train, plan, and find a way to reign Quilline in without irritating her. That is my advice to you all- and as a note, Head Commander Prósopsi- as well as the other members of the Hopian Army have been training as well. I am not picking sides, and will only tell them where you are when I'm ready for you to take each other on. I will not tell either of you when it will happen either, or tell either of you about the other sides current plans. Any questions?" He asks, and I guess that means he didn't kill Quilline... good, I guess.

"Where's Metallic and Quilline?" Karia asks- shoot, I almost forgot about Metallic with all the shit that just happened.

"You'll find them soon. I assume that's all. One last thing however. Seric, come here." Oh, William motions for me to come towards him- and so I hesitantly walk over.

"I don't think I disrespected him, so I should be fine." I reaffirm myself to get a boost of confidence.

Suddenly though, he closes the gap and teleports to me. Then he grips my shirt and whispers to my ear,

"I believe I know the answer to this question already, but I would like for you to confirm this with me. When Diosa Natash stabbed you, and sent your soul to the afterlife... you met with Habram, didn't you?" I freeze.

...

"How? Did I somehow slip up?! Fuck!" I start to panic.

...

"Dripping flames, and a shocked face- I'll take that as a yes. I already had a strong feeling that my guess was correct beforehand, however I wasn't 100 percent certain, as normally servants of Habram's only destroy souls, not send them to him. Intriguing. I'm assuming he sent you back to the land of the living because he knew how important you are, despite your origins. That's good. But based on how frightened you've been ever since meeting with him, as well as how he marked you as his servant- I'm assuming your confrontation with him wasn't pleasant. Not surprising, he's a stupid cunt." William says with a scoff... I can't react...

"No. I can't ask him anything, I'd break Habram's rule about keeping quiet if I didn't." I remind myself, as I feel flames start to creep up and burn my throat.

"He forced you into silence too, I assume. So my advice to you is this- follow who you need to follow to survive, and keep quiet as you've been doing to survive. Your fortunes and trials should allow you to do so, but if not for whatever reason, then follow Habram instead to survive temporarily. I'll talk with you again when you get further along in your journey." William finishes- which calms me down a bit.

William coughs and loudly states which snaps me back to reality, "Seric here now has a feeling as to how important I am, and can vouch for following these instructions I gave you. Do NOT pressure him for any information on the conversation we just had, or you will be punished. May the stronger group survive- my wife's tears will not save any of you ever again." William finishes as I just stare down at the ground.

...

"They're gone now. You ok, Seric? You don't need to tell me anything." I feel someone say and tap my shoulder, Karia I think.

"I don't know." I reply honestly... this web I'm in keeps on getting bigger and bigger.

"Who the hell was that guy? I'm... glad that I'm not alone about knowing the truth anymore, regardless. Maybe some people like him can help me "deal" with him in the future- no offense Habram if you're listening, I meant negotiations too." I think to myself in a daze...

"Elio? What about you?" Karia asks, and so I glance up to notice him in his new body, slowly walking across the hall. Amandeath's walking next to him- and I can see why as he almost stumbles to the floor before Amandeath struggles to catch him.

He finally replies, "Bad. I want to cry like hell but, I can't. I can't- I can't feel anything. I'm scared- this is all so different. But- no. This is better than dead... thank you, guys. For whatever you said to convince that guy to revive me, or whatever the hell this is. I was stupid to agitate him..." Elio says as he turns his body to me and Karia, and bows. That's new, I nod back at him though.

"Yeaaaaah you kinda were. But still, sorry for hitting you after you shoved me- should've been more careful. So I'll help ya out and all while you get used to the new bod." Amandeath says which is nice...

A/N: Thanks for reading.