A chill ran up the spine of god, spurred on by the words of a mortal.
"What?" Eternity's mouth spat out that word without his consent. He found himself paralyzed with fear at the advent of something utterly inexplicable. He was the world, he was existence. He could see the future and the past of everything and anything, because he created it and resided within them. Frost Direshard caused the first instance of his future-sight failing in the history of everything. He took a closer look and found that, after making that declaration, Frost's entire future had gone dark.
Eternity felt terror.
Frost had come to many epiphanies in the last few minutes. He'd lost his true purpose somewhere along the way, and he'd lost the memory of Vera. Now it was all back. But what constituted freedom? Not being controlled by anything at all? That inspired an unsettling thought in his mind. He stood now before the being that had created everything. He'd granted Frost powers, and so could clearly control things to some extent despite claiming to be powerless.
The individual before him was an enemy – perhaps the greatest enemy – to the freedom Frost desired.
Eternity read his mind and saw those thoughts. He realized the reason he could no longer see Frost's future. The universal principle of 'tactical advantage' didn't allow a being to learn of significant events in their own future. Eternity hadn't guessed that such a silly rule would've applied to the creator of all things until confronted with the undeniable proof.
Frost Direshard's decision to pursue freedom made Eternity's own future uncertain, therefore denying Eternity the right to view it.
They locked gazes.
"You're not as powerless as you claim, are you?" Frost asked. "What exactly are you playing at?"
The only thing Eternity knew for sure was that he couldn't let this path come to fruition. This was a level of disaster that even he couldn't allow. Destruction of the entire universe's ruling order? It was true that he was powerless. He couldn't snap this boy out of existence. He couldn't stop his awakening. Harming him in this world wouldn't do anything at all. He found himself stammering over his words.
"Nothing to say for yourself?" Frost was pictured in the scenes of himself doing what needed to be done. He clubbed civilians in the head with no hesitation just for money. He had the skills and he had the mindset. This was an individual of unfathomable cruelty and unmatched drive.
Eternity had many words to say that couldn't possibly be comprehended by Frost Direshard at this time. Indeed, he was a small dog barking at a lion. Just because Eternity's future was uncertain did not mean he was going to die, it just meant that he couldn't see what would happen. There was no way in hell he'd lose to someone like this. It was best to treat Frost as he would anyone else. Equal treatment, as always.
"I have nothing to say that would dissuade you, at least," Eternity said. "It's as you say. I'm not powerless in the way you might define it. But believe me when I say, I'm not the higher being you should be worrying about."
"Perhaps." Frost eyed the exit at the side of the theatre and started marching confidently. Eternity stayed rooted on the spot as the boy walked towards it. He'd expected that last line of dialogue to catch on, and yet Frost Direshard continued to march uncaringly. Through the threat of one God and now two, how was it that he didn't care?
"Hey!" Eternity bellowed. "Who the hell do you think you are!?" He didn't know why he asked that question or just what kind of answer he was expecting, but he still had to know. Frost Direshard was a regular person until a few moments ago, but he'd come in here and shown animosity towards his creator all for the purpose of pursuing a petty ideal like freedom. It was laughable. Nonsensical. It wasn't something an ordinary human would do, to be sure.
Frost placed one hand on the door and turned back one last time.
"What do you expect me to say to that? I'm me." He sighed.
And that, perhaps, was the most terrifying answer of them all. Nonetheless, Eternity needed to make one final attempt.
"Entropy is your true enemy," he said. "Not me."
Frost hovered in the open doorway. He shrugged. "Then I'll kill it." And he vanished beyond the threshold.
[Frost Direshard's main attribute is: Wildcard.]
For once in his life, the universe smiled upon Frost Direshard. His soul flew through the cosmos, empowered by the very energy that encompassed it. Hours passed in only a fraction of a second. There was a feeling of disorientation as he zoomed it like he'd flicked the scroll wheel on a mouse. He saw himself from a third-person view, the noose around his neck and his eyes closed in silent acceptance. The body called to him, and he allowed his soul to return to its rightful place.
Frost opened his eyes and returned to the real world with an explosion of energy. The rope that strained against his neck burned away under the increasing heat that surrounded his body. He landed on the ground, lifted his arms, and pulled to the side with all of the strength he could muster. The handcuffs exploded into trillions of tiny bits superheated with the energy of the Void. As they flew, they were connected with a web of electricity that exploded with a violent thunderclap resembling a ground-shaking applause. When the pieces hit the ground with a series of quiet thumps, all went silent.
Frost's feet crackled with lightning, the corners of his eyes sparking and threatening to escape the confines of his body. His muscles twisted and spasmed, aching to move and to destroy. Power coursed through him the likes of which shouldn't be available to any one man. Each step he took forward sent ripples through the ground, the lightning dancing up and down, snaking through the grass greedily searching for a foe.
Richmond's eyes were wide open. He'd been standing at the front of the gallows, waiting to watch Frost's feet dangle from the bottom. Instead, Frost was now granted a straightforward passage to the man before his guards could even find out what was going on. The fat man seemed to debate running, but decided to stand his ground and draw his pistol.
Frost was quicker. He moved with all of the practised precision of a man used to fighting on the street. Richmond's pistol was redirected into the air and fired off a shot that alarmed anyone who wasn't yet aware of the commotion. Frost followed through with a knee to the gut before wrenching the pistol free and moving into a full-body throw. Richmond's own weight worked against him as he slammed into the ground and groaned in pain.
"It's your job to protect this man!" Frost cried. He was already pointing the gun at the helpless Richmond
"Don't shoot, men!" Richmond yelled at almost the same time. He put his hand in front of his face like that would do anything at all to stop a bullet.
[GreatGadfly30: I had my doubts, but I'm glad you made it.]
[Checkpointer20: No. He hasn't made it yet.]
And indeed, Frost was surrounded from all sides by men with rifles trained on him like he was fresh game. He now had access to strange abilities he had no clue how to use and a boat-load of memories he'd been trying his best to forget. This situation was anything but ideal. His only advantage was that he had their boss in his cross hairs, so he'd exploit that to the maximum.
The message was clear, but Frost said it aloud anyways. "How confident are you that you can kill me before I kill him?" He asked.
"Stand down, Sixty-three," Richmond begged.
Frost grinned evilly. "My name is Frost Direshard."
The guards were silent. The slaves were silent. The world itself was silent, waiting to move at his word. Frost relished in it. The fear of the men that were wondering what he would do next. The chains subtly shifting away from himself to bring down his enemies as his words resounded through the crowd. A god that cowered in front of him. For the first time in his life, Frost Direshard felt in control. He felt alive, like wires were buzzing beneath his skin.
"I have a name!" He bellowed again.
And the slaves felt it too. One hundred of them, but only about ten guards on deck at the moment. The situation was advantageous in their favour for what might have been the first time in their entire tenure, and Frost's intervention was just enough to spur them on even though they didn't understand what had happened. The man to start it all was none other than Fourty-two.
When Frost arrived, he was shaggy and depressed, refusing to refer to himself as anything other than a number. He'd found something worth caring for in Frost, however, and finally those feelings came to fruition as he boldly stepped forward to declare his side in the final battle. At that moment, Frost saw something that looked like a foreign object upon the sad man's face.
Fourty-two smiled. "I have a name too!" he cried. "It's Klein. My name is Klein."
Liz stepped up behind him. "Yeah! My name is Piv!"
"Shmidt!" Hulk yelled, beating his chest
"I have a name, too, dammit!"
"Me too!"
Frost gave the names back to these men who had spent day in and day out mining diamonds for money that would never be theirs. One by one, even the men that hated him stepped forward to declare their names out to the men that had spent so long torturing them. Here, with the light of the sun shining on their face at last, hope was born where they were supposed to watch it die.
"Go get backup!" One of the guards declared loudly.
The fight started with a hail of cracking gunshots. Two slaves hit the ground, but the first guard was overwhelmed just as quickly. This wasn't Earth, so the men had quite unwieldy bolt-action rifles. By the time they shot one person and locked another bullet in place, they'd already been overwhelmed. The crowd overtook Frost and Richmond, swerving around them to make room for one confrontation while focusing on their own.
The thumping of boots felt like an earthquake. Voices mixed together and created a triumphant chorus. Frost breathed in the air, sparking as he stepped forward towards the helpless Richmond. The passing of the crowd obscured him for seconds at a time, and yet each time still revealed the same terrified and paralyzed face.
Richmond scrambled across the ground and tried in vain to escape somehow. A terror that he could never comprehend was written on his face. This man had never come face to face with death before, and he'd probably never been in its general vicinity either. No. This was a first for him. Frost would relish in it.
He stepped forward and grabbed the little man by the lapel of his shirt. With the strange black energy permeating his body, he found it quite easy to heave what was easily three-hundred pounds with a single hand and walk towards the edge of the cliff. Richmond soon found that his legs lacked ground to fall upon. His only lifeline was Frost as his body dangled hopelessly over the edge of the cliff.
His tophat fell off and fluttered into the depths of the infinite expanse below him, and the man started pissing himself. This was a type of visceral terror that Frost had never quite seen in his life. The man's facial muscles were making unnatural movements to accommodate for an expression that shouldn't have been possible. An otherworldly look of terror wherein his eyeballs threatened to bulge out of his head. Needless to say, it was not possible for him to speak any words but blubbers and stutters that seemed to form some sort of begging.
"Tell me their names." Frost demanded over the noise.
Richmond's shirt finally started to tear, and he gripped Frost's arm with both of his own. "F-five men!" He said. "Their leader was called Ren!"
"Ren," Frost said with malice.
"I'll give you whatever in the hells you want, Frost!" Richmond pleaded. "Please!"
Frost looked into his eyes, and Richmond saw within them a darkness that wanted to permeate and devour even his own. "Finally got my name right," he said.
And he dropped the slave owner to his death. Richmond reached his hand upward and screamed from the bottom of his throat. The sound vanished just as quickly as it began, as did the image of the man's figure into the landscape below. As if it was a call and response, the ground started rumbling like a volcano was bubbling beneath the surface and begging to explode. Frost stumbled backward and crouched down to stay stable.
"Chat…?" He asked.
[Checkpointer20: Ruleset violation, I presume. Your powers don't 'exist' here.]
As if to respond to that explanation, a box of text from the system itself appeared to explain it.
[A Voidhunter has violated the current world's 'ruleset'.]
[The unnatural influence has attracted the attention of the 'Void'.]
[Localized distortion will now commence.]