Chapter 132 - Pillar

"What was that? I thought you were dead. Well, it doesn't matter either way. I'll just make sure to beat you to death," said 1 as he began to walk towards Yuki who was laying down on the stone cold ground. I(1) really believed that he could defeat Yuki, even as he approached Yuki once again, he was completely sure that he could bring an end to Yuki's life in an instant. 

As he pointed his gun at Yuki's head once again, he prepared to pull the trigger. There was no remorse in his eyes. Not a single bit of pity for the helpless child. It was so easy for him to take a life. 

"It seems you don't truly understand how valuable a human life is," said Yuki as he activated his ability. 

"Activate ability: Fire Control"

Yuki instantly created a cylindrical wall which covered him and I(1) only. The cylindrical wall seemed to reach for the heavens as it stretched upwards beyond what anyone could see. In doing this, Yuki had managed to gather the attention of everyone in the kingdom as they saw the fire pillar which stood in the front of the kingdom. 

"Fire? No... you couldn't be. Are you the one who took on over 3000 men and still came out on top? Do you happen to be Yuki Kaito by any chance?" 1 asked as he began walking backwards in fear. Incidentally, he tripped and landed on his back. Even so, he continued to crawl while keeping his eyes on Yuki. He continued to shiver while Yuki began to stand up from the ground. 

"Oh, I've grown to be famous, I see. Well, that doesn't matter now. Your fate is sealed," said Yuki as he looked down menacingly at 1. 

"I still don't understand how easy it is for you to take a human life. You don't feel the slightest bit of emotion when you end that person's future just for what you seek. Even with the slightest bit of being provoked, you're quick to jump to murder. Just because there aren't any laws stopping you, do you feel that it is correct to kill?" Yuki asked. 

Hearing this made 1 quite perplexed. He didn't understand what Yuki was saying as it made absolutely no sense. How could someone who mercilessly killed over 3000 in one day talk about the importance of a human life. It was a literal paradox. 

"What do you mean? Didn't you kill a whole army on your own within the span of a few hours? What makes you think that a human life is precious? You above everyone else should be fighting against that ideology," 1 replied to Yuki. 

"What reason do you have to kill people? Did you even bother asking yourself that same question?" 1 asked. 

Yuki of course had his reasons for killing. Anyone in his way should've died. He didn't kill just for the fun of it. Everyone he killed deserved their fate. On top of that, it wasn't like they were important. Yuki had solidified that killing people was okay due to the fact that to him, they were just NPCs. What harm would come from ending the life of someone who in the grand scheme of things wouldn't achieve anything important. The world which Yuki had created was based on the belief he had. In the previous one, he wasn't able to portray his perception of humanity, however, in this one, things were different. 

Yuki would be able to use the NPCs to help him reach a higher goal. Just like regular NPCs in a video game, humans would also serve their role to be Yuki's tool. However, Yuki didn't commit his horrific crimes just because he could do it. It wasn't because he didn't care about people either. In fact, he cared about humans a lot. That was why he was able to make the hard decision of sacrificing people for the sake of the greater good. In the end, if Yuki were to be the one to reach level 100 first, he would be able to govern the world in the best way possible. 

The reason for this was because he didn't have any ulterior motives. Yuki only sought to better humanity as a whole. As opposed to anyone else which would have something that they sought to achieve through the power of removing their limiter. Why else would someone endure years of endless hell as they constantly leveled up? Once someone has something they want for themselves, they end up resorting to any methods necessary to achieve them. As such, they would bring corruption to the world.

It made sense why Yuki would be the best candidate for the position of the first level 100 player. He didn't have something he sought. In the end, if he wanted something, he could ask Zero for it or let Zero turn him back into his original form. Yuki was the only one capable of saving the world from the problem he'd caused. 

Although all these facts stood to be true, Yuki couldn't tell I(1) about them. Instead, he would have to lie his way out of the situation just as he had so many other times. 

"My situation is different. I have something I want to gain. I only killed all of those people because they wouldn't get out of my way. In truth, I gave them multiple chances to run away with their lives. However, they were too prideful and in the end, they were dead," said Yuki. 

"And unless you want to face the same pain, it'd be best for you to surrender and leave this place right now," Yuki continued. 

"But I can't. Their boss will kill us if he finds out that we failed to complete our mission. Even though he seems nice a lot of the time, it's best not to get him mad. Once he gets like that, he'll do anything to torment and kill you along with anyone else you care about," 1 pleaded. 

"That's really crazy. What's even crazier is that I don't care. Leave right now or I'll kill you before he does," said Yuki.