"Ah, it feels so good to be back..."

Albius said as he stretched his arms, his face full of glee as he took all the sights in. Tsuruno was surprised, but when she considered how long he had been in the void, she realized it was an understandable reaction to have. 

"And for your rift to take us straight into the center of the action, this day keeps getting better and better,"

Albius said as he twisted his neck 180 degrees to face Tsuruno, who was behind him.

"Stop that! It's creepy!"

She screamed, and Albius laughed heartily, saying,

"Your reactions are as fun as ever!"

He didn't change one bit, did he?

At this thought, the atmosphere around him suddenly changed, and returning his head to its normal position, he said,

"No, I've changed, alright. For one, I'm never going to allow this to repeat itself."

He extended his right hand towards the Martian spaceships orbiting above them and clenched it. Once he did, the massive fleet of more than a thousand strong was compressed by a powerful force, shrinking into nothing more than a toy spaceship. He opened his clenched fist, and it flew into his hand in the blink of an eye. Turning to Tsuruno, he said,

"I lost a considerable amount of energy in the void, so I thought I'd recover it. Do you want some?"

He offered a piece of the toy spaceship to her, and that's when she noticed.

What? This smell...

"Yep, it's candy, the sweetest kind you'll ever find."

"Um, no thanks,"

She replied, and Albius smiled and said,

"Suit yourself..."

Then, he tossed the candy into his mouth, and that's when...

"Ugh,"

All of a sudden, the intensity of his aura brought her to her knees. 

T-this force... it's even greater than... I won't be able to...

She couldn't even form coherent thoughts, so Albius quickly switched it off, saying,

"Sorry, it's been a while, so I couldn't suppress my aura as well as I usually do."

"I-it's okay,"

Tsuruno responded as she staggered back to her feet.

"Where's Lydia?"

Albius asked as he looked around the barren Martian environment. He looked around for a while until his eyes landed on a massive crater with a distinct energy signature coming off of it. 

"I see,"

He said with an understanding look on his face.

"W-what do you see?"

Tsuruno asked, nervous all of a sudden.

"Relax. Shane must have used Embrace of Nothingness right there,"

He said as he pointed at the crater.

"Embrace of Nothingness?"

Tsuruno asked, and Albius answered,

"It's a powerful technique that uses null energy to partially erase an opponent from existence, but it's a double-edged sword, as it erases the technique user as well."

Partial erasure?

"It's when you erase a person and the memories others have about them while leaving their legacy. So, in the Martian King's case, people will remember that a Martian King worked with the engineers to invent something, but they won't remember his name, appearance, or pretty much anything else about him."

"Oh, I see..."

"He really saved me a lot of trouble,"

Albius said as he silently paid his respects to the deceased. Then, he turned to Tsuruno and stated,

"Lydia's not here. Knowing Shane, he must have transported her back to Earth before using the technique, so if I activate my clairvoyance..."

He touched his forehead with his right index finger and opened his eyes wide.

"Found her."

"That fast?!"

"Yes, and we'll be getting there even faster..."

 

***

 

I've waited so long for this moment. I'm finally going to make her pay,

Albius thought as his surroundings changed from the barren environment of Mars to an ornately decorated room with a single occupant who sat on a nearby chair.

"What do you want from me?"

Lydia asked listlessly. She was but a mere shadow of her former self, and Albius knew exactly what was going on.

"So, losing Shane did this to you, huh?"

She tried to send a glare his way, but she didn't even have the energy to do that properly. It took everything to stop herself from crying, so showing open hostility was a bit too much for her.

"Well, this is anticlimactic..."

"It sure is."

Tsuruno agreed. Then, she turned to Albius and asked with an enthusiastic expression on her face,

"Hey, Albius, can we kill her?"

That threw him off a bit, so it took him longer to find an appropriate response,

"No, an instantaneous death would be too merciful for her..."

It was like the air became freezing as he continued,

"She will spend the rest of her days in Cocytus for this..."

"Woah, that sounds wonderful!"

Tsuruno remarked with joy in her eyes. 

"I could never forget him, even if he tried to erase himself completely. I loved him with everything I had. I wanted him to recognize the value of his life with his own eyes, but maybe that was the wrong approach."

Lydia was lost in her world as she mumbled her regrets nonstop, but Albius said coldly,

"Whatever may have happened in your past is of no concern to us. It doesn't change the fact that you have committed an unpardonable crime."

He sighed and muttered,

"Seriously, we all could have been destroyed..."

Then, he extended his right hand, and chains came out of the walls and bookshelves. They wrapped around her and started dragging her to Cocytus.

"He meant everything to me!"

She repeated over and over like a broken toy. 

It's a fitting end for someone like her, but... what's this?

Albius noticed a hidden telepathic channel and tapped in to hear what was being said,

I appoint Amelia as my successor!

She broadcasted the telepathic message to all her subordinates before getting dragged by the chains into Cocytus.

Is she trying to destroy The Meritocracy?

Albius thought, but Tsuruno's hand on his shoulder snapped him out.

"What is it?"

He asked, and Tsuruno hesitated before answering,

"Your promise..."

"Oh, that's right,"

He answered with a smile. Then, he clapped his hands together and slowly separated them, revealing an orb of white light carrying an immense amount of power. 

"Hmm, the anti-matter destroyed his matter, but if I reverse the reaction..."

The orb of light disappeared, and at once, Ishimoto appeared in the room with a stunned expression on his face. 

"Huh? What? Where am I?"

"Ishimoto!"

Tsuruno screamed as she ran towards him and hugged him with all her might. 

"Wha? Mom! G-get off!"

He tried to push her off of him, but she wouldn't let him as she kept on saying his name over and over again. Seeing as there was no way out of it, he turned to Albius and cried,

"Please help me!"

"Unfortunately for you, sir, I cannot fulfill your request as I am quite indebted to that lady you refer to as your mother."

"What's with the strange accent?"

Tsuruno turned and asked.

"I just wanted to try it out,"

He said with a shrug.

"Where am I? What happened?"

"Don't worry. You destroyed the enemy, leaving no trace, but I transported you into the future before the anti-matter could reach you, as that was the only way to save you."

"W-w-who is this again?"

Ishimoto asked nervously, and Tsuruno answered,

"He is Lord Albius, the first Administrator."

At this, Ishimoto hurriedly prostrated himself before Albius and shouted,

"Forgive me for my insolence!"

"Enough of that already!"

Albius spat with disdain written all over his face.

"D-did I displease you, lord Albius?"

"Cut it off. I like it when people talk to me casually, so feel free to be as casual as you like."

"T-that's a difficult request."

Noticing the signal Tsuruno was giving him with her eyes, Albius looked at him and said,

"Well, it has been nice meeting you, Ishimoto. I have some other business to attend to now, so I'll leave you two to sort yourselves out."

And with that, Albius teleported out of the room, thinking,

I hope everything is alright.