'… Huh… Hahahah… So that's what's happened.' As more knowledge poured into him like a humanized data transfer, he came to a fitting conclusion. 'How… interesting.'
The Demon Emperor remembered something Nobu once said. Servants receive all relevant information for the time period from the Grail. He then reminisced on how Gilgamesh once remarked about him, calling Lelouch's existence an anomaly, being neither servant nor human.
Lelouch had been perceived as a normal human. And yet, only after closely examining him, the King of Heroes then knew there was something else. Something that only the two-thirds demigod was able to sense by his divine eye.
But now, the false god called Angra Mainyu sensed it too. He sensed the truth manifesting now. A truth that even the Demon King herself wasn't unaware of, having dropped her wariness of her Master.
But after confirming the knowledge he received out of nowhere was the truth, the boy—Nay, the Demon Emperor finally saw the full picture.
He looked at the being before him. Information that would've been discarded had he not cared rushed through his head. The creature that called himself god, Angra Mainyu. He was once—
'Servant Avenger, summoned by the Einzbern family during the Third Grail War. The first Servant to fall.' He affirmed it once more. The Throne's knowledge confirmed the same. Emiya Kiritsugu wasn't lying after all. 'But that's not the whole truth, is it?'
He eyed the creature that seemed to quake under his intense gaze.
"Servant Avenger, the first Servant to fall in the Third Grail War," the robed mud creature flinched. "Also, the one who corrupted the Holy Grail, let me ask you something instead. What did you wish for the Grail?"
"Hn?!" It grunted, confused at his nonchalant question.
"You said you desire revenge but against who? The people who tortured you?" Lelouch wondered.
The black mass fell silent before answering. "… No. Those who are long dead are beyond my reach. But those who exist are not! What I want is to destroy their legacy! To spread the fires of vengeance that would burn everything! Destroy everything! I will bring about the very end of mankind!"
Its form started to shift again. This time, a million faces, each with a more horrifying expression than the last, writhed and groaned on the surface of its robes. And, like a madman, it bent its body backwards before leaning in, empty eye sockets glaring insanity as it barked with hate for all.
"People! Humanity! Life itself! I will burn it all! They called me a God of all Evil… so, I intend to live up to this name! NOW, WISH FOR IT! WISH TO RETURN SO THAT YOU WOULD BE SPARED OF MY PURGE! WISH AND LET ME BE FREE!"
'Free…' The very notion of it had Lelouch scoffing. Once, he thought he'd known freedom. The freedom to choose how he died. And yet, he'd forgotten long ago how to live.
After swearing vengeance to destroy Britannia, he lost his drive when Nunnally became his enemy. After swearing to destroy the world for her sake and recreate it free from any who would threaten her then, he accepted his end at the hand of Suzaku.
He was once free. Or rather, he'd chosen to disregard his freedom for the sake of his goals. A relentless march, trudging on through hell and back for the sake of that singular dream. For the sake of a world where his sister could smile happily, now and forevermore.
But to allow someone like Angra Mainyu free… Well, that's just not negotiable, wasn't it?
The destruction of humanity? Lelouch didn't have many people he cared about in this world, but it didn't mean he wanted to see its immediate end. No matter how bad this world might be with inhuman people like the magi, the innocent didn't deserve extinction.
An Evil God? He'd once met a god, but there was no evil in its nature. The only thing he fully comprehended about it was its weakness to the Sword of Akasha and its continued existence for the sake of humanity itself. He'd already chosen to destroy the former for the sake of the latter. Yes, it was to spite his bastard pair of parents, but he too didn't wish for global stagnation.
What he sought was the future. And if his future was to be plagued by an annoying arrogant deity, then he can't very well enjoy it, now could he?
"Sorry, but your desires will never align with my own." An amusing smile formed on his face while Angra Mainyu writhed in place. "After all, how can I and my dear Nobunaga enjoy conquering the world if there is no one to rule over? Becoming an emperor of ash and ruin is just as boorish as your own title, wouldn't you agree, the self-proclaimed deity of all that is unholy?"
"YOU DARE CHALLENGE MY EXISTENCE?!"
"'Dare'?" Lelouch chuckled to himself. "Was there any doubt I wouldn't?! Ye who has peeked into my heart would question my motives?"
"SILENCE, BRAT! I WILL CURSE YOUR SOUL FOR ETERNITY!"
"Yet, you still opt for threats, not actual execution?! I dare say, you far more resemble a child throwing a tantrum than an actual god."
Lelouch remembered when he met his first deity. That which his father tried so hard for many years to kill.
Throughout his confrontation with Charles and Marianne, the God of that world neither said nor did anything. Except until he made his request, it did nothing but observe, only heeding his request at the last moment in the form of consuming his parents' souls.
Angra Mainyu was not a god. And though he lacked a Geass, this foe could do nothing to him without jeopardizing its own need. The need to be birthed through twisting one's wish.
But, then again, Lelouch wasn't truly, helpless, was he not? 'If I truly became that, then there should be more to it than just the information and continued existence after death.'
Closing his eyes, he delved on it for a moment. Servant abilities came from their legends, a crystallization of their myths and amplified by the way humans remembered them.
Who was Lelouch Lamperouge?
Of course, he was Lelouch vi Britannia, the fallen prince of the Britannian Empire. Then, he was the rebel leader Zero, leader of the Black Knights and the bane of all the world's injustice. Soon after discarding that, he took on the mantle of the Demon Emperor. He, who'd raised the flag of rebellion. He, the one who'd kickstarted a justified insurrection. He was the Man of Miracles for he had once even compelled a god to grant his one request.
Lelouch's mind flitted back, to World C. Back then, he was but a young man whose only purpose was to end the evil known as Charles zi Britannia. Back then, he was a lone individual taking on a single objective. That being to rid the world of those who sought to control it! To extricate those that wish to destroy it!
Those feelings, that desire, that single-minded goal… It was a myth. One forged through the flames of sacrifice and quenched in blood. If that was not a legend worth remembering, then what was?!
Immediately, as he reaffirmed this in his heart, Lelouch felt a familiar feeling. Pain seethed in his left eye, causing him to cover it for a moment.
"WHAT IS THIS?!" As he endured, he heard the panic in Angra Mainyu's voice. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
Considering he was the only one there, of course, the evil entity would assume it was his doing. But why was the self-proclaimed god in such a panic? Well, it must be due to the fact that the world has changed around them.
The black endless space was gone. Now, the two beings found themselves standing on a lonely platform floating above the clouds amidst a red sunset. Gone was the darkness, there was suddenly light. And Angra Mainyu faltered under the warm glow of the madder sky.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" It repeated.
"Hm. For a supposed god, it is quite easy to surprise you." Lelouch mused with a huff, keeping both his eyes shut.
He need not see to know. The air about the ruined place, the empty void below, and more importantly, the heavy presence above. It was all too familiar for it was a world as unreal and unforgettable as any.
The place where he saw the ugly truth. The place where he killed his parents for good. The world that was the birthplace of the Zero Requiem.
'Ah, how long has it been?' The otherworldly breeze swept his hair, answering his nostalgia. "It's quite the poetry, really. To think, the place where I once saved a god would also be the same place I'd order the end of another! Cruel poetry, to be sure."
"W—WHAT—NGH?!" Angra Mainyu looked affronted. Confused, more so, but the fear the mud-being exuded was quite palpable. It turned even more frantic when Lelouch quietly met its gaze.
Lelouch could understand the Grail parasite's wariness. He could understand his dread. Once, he too thought he wielded immense power. But in the face of it being used against him, he thought he couldn't sink into hell any lower. Just the thought of this power being used against him and his own, he once brought a violent end to those that tried to misuse its power.
The royal purple was overridden with brilliant crimson. The vague symbol of birds spreading their wings overtook his pupils as the ancient power that brought him victories, as well as pain, resurfaced once more.
The power of the King.
Nay, the power that once ordered a god.
Geass
All the World's Evil, Angra Mainyu, froze under the burning gaze of his vacant stare. The Demon Emperor continued to disregard the being's enmity, the creature's fear and anxiety. And all he did to cause a reaction was simply to stare into the hollow eyes of a being fearing everything they'd lose.
"IMPOSSIBLE! FOR A MORTAL… TO INDUCE FEAR… IN ME?!" the mud creature hissed before desperately lunging at him. "DIE!"
Before the vile tendrils that was the mud monster's coat drilled holes into him, the young man simply waved his hand, a practised theatrical sweep that drew all attention to his face—, nay. His eyes.
"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you, Angra Mainyu, disappear from this world!"
The entity drew back immediately.
"NGHAH!" The hollows of its eye sockets glowed with recognition. With it, so did Angra Mainyu's limbs rush to cover its face. The deformed deity started to take a step back, howling as he did. "NGRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
"What's the matter? Can't accept such a request?!" Lelouch hid the surprise of finding someone who could resist Geass with a devilish smile. Widened eyes relished the pain and torture suffered by the one who dared pretend to be his sister. The boy's demonic glare simply couldn't help but smirk. "Oh, dear! And here I thought you'd answer any of my wishes!"
That got the mad god's attention. Through the cracks of its fingers and the seams of its robes rapidly wrapping itself around its face, Lelouch saw it. The faint glow of magenta as Geass slowly but surely corrupted the being into obeying.
But despite Geass' irrevocable power, the so-called god managed to cry out. "DAAAAAAAAMN YOU, LELOUUUUUCH!"
"Pitiful," he mocked. "To think that for a second, you made me nervous. To think I almost feared a being as despicable as you. You, who claims to have the power to grant wishes. You, who manipulates people through their desires. You, who would seek to birth your own destructive longings through the earnest efforts of others…you do not deserve to be called a god."
"YOU DARE—?!"
"Yes, I dare!" he dismissed the creature who'd fallen to its knees, still trying to resist him with its all. "You're no god. Your selfishness… your corruption… your very nature defies any deific ideals that humans would want! If demanding you remove yourself is too much for you, then grant me the power to remove you forever! Otherwise, BEGONE FROM MY SIGHT!"
The entire world shook, reacting to his order. The symbol of the Geass appeared up above, on the surface of the planet. It was akin to the time he ordered the World of C, but instead of ordering the god back then, he enforced his will on the creature before him.
"THIS… CANNOT BE!" The entity shook in fear, quaked with a rampant panic. Its entire being tried to resist, but not for long.
Considering his myth had already ingrained the authority to enforce his will upon a divine, there was no chance a deified entity as Angra Mainyu, one who'd been brought reverence and worship through hate and disdain, could refuse him.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—!" As swift as his parents' own obliteration, the black being faded into the spiritual fire.
The entity's muddy robes cindered. Its tendrils of red and black writhed as they withered to nothingness. Soon, gone were even the being's ashes, carried into this empty world's wind to be lost forever.
It was done. He'd done it. For this was a part of his legend. Lelouch Lamperouge—Nay.
Lelouch vi Britannia. Zero. The Demon Emperor.
Whatever mask he wore, Lelouch knew who he was. He was a revolutionist. One who would always be rebelling against the established norm. An antagonist to many.
Be that against his royal family. Against the oppressive empire. Against a corrupt and hostile nature of humanity.
He would always be the one to challenge it. To collide with it all head-on. To be the one to crush the very world… and recreate it from the ashes.
Not simply as a hero of the masses, but more than an ideal. A scapegoat, but also a sacrifice. A living avatar to embody the world's desires… as well as its sins.
Once, a boy had a dream. To create a world where Nunnally could forever smile with genuine happiness. But… then that same boy took upon himself an even greater mantle. He'd become a hero for the masses, wrought ruin upon more enemies than his sister's own, unintentionally becoming more than he intended.
Even now, his myth resonated within his heart—his soul. From royalty to revolutionary, morality be damned for his goals, all of that with a hint of Geass, the catalyst that allowed his plans to accelerate beyond his original goals, the power that embodied his very path of a ruler.
Through it all, his hopes, his dreams, the criminal acts he exacted upon his many foes… and friends… he became… more than a man. But he wasn't a god, no. He refused that role, demanding the Collective Unconscious of Humanity persist itself, regardless of his own existence.
He forced what was considered divine to do what he wanted. So, having done it once before, how could a lesser god do anything to reject his will?
"Haha…" Lelouch chuckled in the silence, basking once more at his inopportune victory. "Hahahahah…"
Finding himself alone in the void he'd been brought into, he found amusement in the dramatic irony.
"My, I wonder what that bastard would be thinking if he saw this?" For the briefest of moments, the son's thoughts were of his father. "How would you react to me doing what you've failed at, I wonder… Killing a God, it's quite the cathartic thing. Hn… don't you think so as well, Charles?"
No one answered, yet he felt satisfied. Satisfied at his own victory, but also a bit of minor jubilation on superseding his own kin yet again. The damned father would never amount to anything ever again, but he couldn't help years' worth of parental negligence mock those who no longer existed.
However, now that Lelouch found peace of mind, he had a new question. That being how he could return to Fuyuki.
"Here, I thought getting rid of him would be the end of it… but…" Looking around, he could only quietly ask himself the obvious. 'This place… why hasn't it vanished along with that parasite?'
"Because there is still a matter we need to resolve, Lelouch vi Britannia."
Lelouch jolted in place to turn and face the new speaker. Expecting another foe from the indifferent tone, he didn't expect to see a familiar face.
"… Irisviel… von Einzbern?!"
The one who was supposed to be his hostage looked a little bit different now. She was wearing a white dress with majestically white sleeves, a similarly white crown, and red robes draping down either of her shoulders. Her face felt different too. Lacking warmth and now reminding him of some kind of doll, it was identical to the person he saw before. And yet she felt… different. Almost… inhuman. Perhaps maybe even alien.
"No," he corrected himself as his mind, enhanced by his new abilities, raced to a more accurate assumption. "Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern. Am I wrong, former founder of the Grail System and head of the Einzbern clan?"
"The very same," a nod of recognition accompanied the cold tone. Instead of replying like a person, it was almost robotic. A pure and proper homunculus, his mind assured him it was the correct guess.
Lelouch couldn't help but narrow his gaze as he stared back at the unflinching face of the beautiful woman. Somehow, he couldn't help but feel unnerved somewhat. 'Is this really the woman that monster of a worm fell for so many years ago?'
"Is something wrong?" Justeaze asked, acknowledging his cursory stare.
"No. I just feel like I should be surprised by your sudden appearance, but right now I'm more interested in this matter you referred to. I'm guessing it's about the dead parasite of the Grail, Angra Mainyu?"
"Indeed." Justeaze nodded once more, mechanically. "However, I must clarify something. That which you've demanded removed from the Grail, the apparition of All the World's Evils, isn't dead yet."
Lelouch froze with a vengeance-filled glare. "What?!"