Master of the System

Chapter 51

Istoriya sat with his hands folded in front of him. His display was pointed at him, along with a camera. On the display, there was a room with millions of other people inside of it. The council of primordial gods had called a meeting of the gods, and the topic of discussion was Vremya, the unruly god of time. Istoriya nodded. Thank you all for attending. As we all know, the god of time froze thousands of titans, transported them to the financial world, and unfroze them all, nearly killing all the gods who were present at the time. He did all this to give his snack god companion, Kartofel, the god of potato chips, Rynoks divinity. His behavior is inexcusable. As such, we will be taking actions to prevent something like this from happening again in the future.

And how are you going to do that? a god asked. The asking god didnt look nervous, and Istoriya nodded as if he had expected the question. It wouldnt make sense for him not to expect it since the questioning god was a plant the council had set up. However, what he didnt expect was for someone else to answer first.

Isnt it easy? the god of spears asked. We identify Vremyas weakness and strike where it hurts. Before this meeting started, the rest of the weapon gods and I were discussing how to defeat the god of time, and we came up with a brilliant idea. The god of spears stood up, making sure all eyes were on him. Everyone knows about relativity. The faster one travels, the slower time becomes relative to that person, and that is where Vremyas weakness lies. Dvizhen is Vremyas natural counter. If the god of motion moves at the speed of light, Vremya will become completely helpless.

Yeah! Do that! another god said. A primordial god is the one creating trouble. It should be up to a primordial god to fix it.

Istoriya glared at the god of spears. Why did the combat fanatic have to speak up at that moment? We cant send Dvizhen. Hes temporarily unavailable, which is why Im leading this meeting.

What could he possibly be doing thats more important than defending our way of life? the god of spears asked. Titans threaten our society, so us combat gods go out to deal with them. When a primordial god threatens our society, us combat gods cant do anything to them. Its Dvizhens responsibility to handle Vremya. Everyone has to do their partthats what we agreed on eons ago, no?

Istoriya cleared his throat. Dvizhen has been sent into the future by Vremya. He isnt here, and he wont be here with us untiljudging by the distortion created by Vremyas powerat least a hundred thousand years or more.

Then, what? We have to wait a hundred thousand years for Dvizhen to show up? a female god asked while raising a wing. In the meantime, we let Vremya do whatever he wants? How is that fair to anyone?

We are not going to let Vremya do whatever he wants, Istoriya said. If the council didnt have a solution, we wouldnt have called this meeting. We will be calling Gravitat from the frontlines to take care of Vremya. As we all know, the god of gravity is one of the main pillars holding the titans back. To fill the void hell be leaving behind, all the combat gods and every immortal user will have to be mobilized.

Grumbles and groans came from the crowd, but Istoriya ignored them all. The only way to stop Vremya is by trapping him with Gravitats power. If you want to complain about how unfair it is you have to send your users to prevent the titans from overrunning our society, then you can direct those complaints towards Vremya. Hes the one whos the cause of all this trouble.

Why cant we give in to Vremyas demands? the god of cowardice asked. He was a man made of a gaseous substance, his body barely holding together. Luckily, it was a virtual meeting, or he wouldve been blown away a long time ago. Didnt Vremya retaliate because Rynok stopped selling things to him? Why did you have all of us cut contact with him? Isnt that poking the sleeping bear? It makes no sense to me.

Istoriya snorted and pressed a button on his computer. It made a slamming sound that cut through the cries of agreement that came with the god of cowardices speech. We dont negotiate with terrorists, Istoriya said. Everyone has the right to do business with whoever they want. That includes the right to deny certain people from accessing their business. Rynok was consistently being lowballed by Vremya, and he got tired of it, so he cut Vremyas access. If we, as a society, dont take a stand against the god of times actions, wouldnt that mean we approve of what he did? It isnt okay to threaten and kill people you disagree withwhich is why we have to punish him.

The gods in the meeting gradually settled down. It did make sense. If a primordial god could go up to them and demand all their users or face the threat of death, was that a society they wanted to live in? Of course not. Even though some gods were a bit doubtful of the interaction that allegedly occurred between Rynok and Vremya, they couldnt go against the crowds will. Istoriya nodded and signaled the end of the meeting. Even though there was one hiccough, the plan still unfolded as intended. Vremya would soon be trapped in a blackhole created through Gravitats power, and that would be the last anyone ever heard of the god of time.

***

Vremya frowned when he saw Pravos. The god of justice looked like she had been run over by a truck. Her clothes were dirty, and her face looked like a malnourished skeletons. What happened to you?

Huh? Pravos asked and raised her head. She had walked into the living room with her head pointed at the ground. She looked around. What do you mean? Nothing happened to me. She opened her mouth and yawned. Your users are immortals now. I had to go down into the world a few times to slap some sense into Smith Jr. for straying on the wrong side of justice, but other than that, I think things went pretty well.

Is it okay for the god of justice to slap people? Karta asked, raising an eyebrow.

Yeah, its fine, Pravos said and yawned again. She rubbed her bloodshot eyes. Ive done it a few times already, and it hasnt affected me one bit. She wandered into the kitchen, and there was the sound of the fridge opening accompanied by the sound of rummaging around. Dont you have any beer? Arent naked old men with dogs supposed to have lots of beer?

Vremya and Karta exchanged glances with one another. Karta cleared her throat. So, uh, shes fine, right?

Of course, Vremya said and rolled his eyes. Drinking lowers ones inhibitions. Even if Pravos gets wasted, which is very difficult in the first place for a god, shell only do more things related to justice. Its like how if Pozhar were to get drunk, all he would do is set things on fire that he wouldnt set on fire if he were sober. What can drunken justice do?

Karta scratched her head. When I get extremely drunk, I dont do more potato chip things. I puke.

Well, thats because youre naturally stinky. Vremya shrugged. It doesnt matter anyway. Theres no beer in the fridge.