Todd Herzman
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Free Tier - Accidental Champion (Book 7) - Chapter 52 - A New Order
🕑 Added 2025-12-03 18:00:14 +0000 UTC“The day has come for a new order in the Ventorin sector.” Xavier’s voice echoed off the walls of the grand hall. The throne room had perfect acoustics—because of course it did. The gathered Denizens stood at attention, backs straight, arms folded behind them, gazes locked on him. A little too stiff, a little too formal. But that was to be expected. Xavier lowered his gaze to the marble floor, his forehead creasing in thought.
This moment was one he’d been contemplating ever since he’d decided that when he killed The Collector he would push to rule the sector. He still wasn’t sure of everything. Of how much he could trust the people in the room. Of how much he could trust Palini. But trust was something that was built, brick by brick. They’d already chosen to follow him, a decision that changed the course of all their lives.
If he was to be different to The Collector, even different to the far lesser evil of Sovereign Rewke Fouran, he had to show them that he returned that trust—he had to place the next brick.
But first…
Xavier raised his chin and drew his soul bound weapon from its scabbard. As he did this, he was careful to pay close attention to the reaction in the room. A small spike of fear came from every Denizen gathered. Palini gave Xavier a reproachful glance. He paid it no mind, pointing the weapon—in the form of a sword—at the throne atop the dais behind him. “This throne is a symbol of The Collector’s rule.” He walked up the steps. “And like The Collector himself, if this sector is to heal, it too must be broken.”
The blade came down.
The throne was cut clean in half.
Xavier returned the sword to its scabbard. His shoulders relaxed. He stepped down and sat on the first step. Lower than everyone else now, they had to look down at him. Some of the Denizens shifted their weight from foot to fit. Others had almost imperceptible lines form on their foreheads. “The new order for this sector… It’s going to be different. Very different.” He waved a hand, gesturing out there. “I don’t know what the breaking of all those contracts is going to do. In preparation for this moment, I read about what happens, about similar events in other sectors. This universe has a long, long history. It wasn’t hard to find examples.” He sighed. “But reading and theory, and actually experiencing the rupture of order in a sector —even if that order was tyrannical—and putting things back into place… Well, they are entirely different beasts.
“I have power enough to enforce my rule. Of that, I am confident. But power alone isn’t enough. It will be needed, but if I all did was use my power to control, I’d be no better than those who have come before. That is why I need you. All of you will be able to help in profound ways. Compared to each and every one of you I’m nothing more than a child. My time alive, let alone integrated into the System, is but a blip.” Xavier nodded at Palini. “That is why I wanted Palini. He will rule this sector in my stead. However, he won’t do it alone. Each and every one of you standing before me now will rule with him. You will form an inner council, with Palini at its head. But just because he will head the council, that doesn’t mean every decision will come down to him, or even to me. You have all experienced something neither of us can imagine. Whether you are originally from this sector or were dragged here to be a part of Gregori’s ‘collection,’ you were all directly subjugated by The Collector, and so you will have an acute understanding of what every citizen of Ventorin is going through—because you’re all going through it right now. That, along with your individual strengths, is why you are needed.
“The inner council will not be the only council in the Ventorin sector. A representative from every single world will be found and granted the power to make decisions for the benefit of their world, and they will be backed not only by this council, but by me. This representative will not necessarily be the most powerful Denizen from these worlds. Power is important, but as each of you have seen firsthand”—he gave a curt nod toward The Collector’s remains—“power does not guarantee wisdom, and it certainly doesn’t guarantee kindness.”
Xavier sighed. “There is a part of me that thinks these representatives should be elected by the people who stand on them, but… I have seen how such a system of governance can go awry. No, the representatives will be chosen for their merit, and if they break their promises, infringe upon the rights of their people, or show that their interests do not align with good? Then they will be stood down. I do not intend to govern and dictate every detail of every world, nor is that why the inner council will be formed, but a Rule of Law will be established, as will a Charter of Denizen rights. There representatives must follow these laws ensure the Charter is enforced.” He looked at each of those gathered. “That counts for everyone. You have all put your trust in me, and I’m putting my trust in you. Mistakes can be fixed”—he looked at Palini—“and forgiven, but if you do not stand for good, then I will not allow you to lead.”
Xavier stood from the step. “We have all signed a truth-contract, so you know that I speak the truth. I want what is best for all of you, and everyone else in this sector.” He released a breath. “And if you uphold those values…” He bit his lip. This was the part of his plan he was least sure of, and he had no idea how he would eventually execute it, just as he had no idea how to rule an entire sector. He had already shared the unique powers he had access to—with his found family—and he’d always intended for that to merely be the beginning.
But he had to be honest, he was afraid of taking that next step.
He didn’t want “might to make right.” He didn’t believe that it did. But might—power—was what allowed one to rule. Logic would say that meant he should keep that power to himself and never share it with others. That it should be his power and his alone. How else would he be able to back up his rule? How else would he be able to do the things he wanted and needed to do in order to make the lives of so many better?
If he gave that power away, allowed it to spread too far, there was no doubt in his mind that it would end up in the wrong hands. How much more powerful would that make his enemies? How would he ever be able to catch up? Move past them?
Xavier shut his eyes. He stood, silent in front of the gathered Denizens, all staring at him with rapt attention. Including Palini. Though Palini had been privy to must of Xavier’s plans, and had seen glimpses of his unique powers, the man didn’t know what he was going to say next.
Trust. Connection. This is how I will change the face of Earth, of the Silver River sector, of the Ventorin sector—of the entire universe. Not merely through conflict, but through conflict resolution. The threat we face at the end of the universe is not one another, after all.
Xavier had done a lot of things in the decade he’d spent in the Roving Seed Base. One very important thing that he’d done was research. Over the years, he’d drawn countless Otherworldly Communion spell patterns to seek more knowledge about the multiverse, and while he was limited to his own corner of the multiverse that still left more universes than he would ever have the time to learn about.
He spoke to many thousands of spirits, and in his research, not once had he ever heard of a universe that came to its end truly united. Many of spirits he spoke to had died at the ends of their own universes, while many other spirits simply showed an interest in such things and had been doing research of their own while in the Otherworld.
The latter type of spirit turned out to be more valuable. So many times, the lived memories of the former spirits were incomplete. He was never able to gain a full picture of “the end,” even from spirits who’d observed the end of universes from the Otherworld—it appeared as though whatever threat ended a universe wasn’t something they were able to see. Either that, or they simply weren’t able to share that knowledge with him. He’d long wondered if the System was hiding what the true threat was, though why it would do that he didn’t know…
Regardless, despite Xavier’s lone-wolf ways, he had long come to the conclusion that people were stronger together. Many universes did indeed combine their forces in the end, but that unity was never as strong as it could have been had it stood long before the threat came to the fore, and even when they fought together old conflicts got in the way. Their truce came out of necessity rather than trust. The bonds formed were not only fragile, but volatile.
Over and over Xavier wondered: What would it look like if a universe was truly united at the end? What would that level of connection, of not only combined power but combined knowledge be able to create? What could the universe become if trust was seen as the natural order?
A force to be reckoned with…
Xavier still stood in front of the crowd. His momentary pause had stretched to the point where people were shuffling their feet and glancing around. Looking at their faces, he released a long breath. It’s my turn to take a leap of faith.
“If you uphold those values, and the representatives uphold those values, and the citizens uphold those values, then you will benefit from far more than peace and a chance to gain agency over your own lives. You, and everyone who shows they are worthy, will benefit from the knowledge to do… what I can do.” Xavier smiled. “What I tell you next will no doubt come as a surprise. I’m not some prodigy who has managed to jump all the way to mid B Grade in a short amount of time. No, I haven’t advanced to B Grade at all—and again, as per the contract, you know I’m telling the truth when I say this—I’m D Grade.”
That made more than one of the Denizens in the room stumble back or freeze in shock, while many more had their mouths fall open and their eyes widen.
Xavier had a little more to say, a little more to explain, but the moment was interrupted when the Void Being flickered again. This flicker lasted longer than any of the others, and when the being reappeared it was two feet forward of where it had disappeared. Xavier raised his head to look at the strange version of him. “I was going to tell you about some of the things I have to share, but I suppose a demonstration is in order.” He rolled his head from side to side, cracking his neck. “Watch closely and you’ll see what I can help you do.”
Currently Xavier’s time dilation field was now the only one in play. Everyone in the room was encompassed by it except for the Void Being.
Xavier snapped the time dilation field to cover only himself and Palini, then he shut his eyes and turned his spiritual sense inward.
As he’d moved about the room, speaking to the Denizens, gaining their loyalty, then as he’d stood in front of them and given that speech, the abundant Soul Energy that he held within was moving in a constant flow toward four parts of him, bringing a process that he’d started out in the vacuum of space toward its completion.
The process was almost at its end. Three of his four cores had already reformed. He had left the final core—his Intelligence Core—until last, pausing the final step until he was ready. He wanted to savour the experience. Closing his eyes, he pushed the Soul Energy to cycle in the desired pattern, bringing the last piece of the shattered Intelligence Core into place, then he opened his eyes and released a long, relieved sigh.
All his shattered cores were reformed.
Xavier felt… whole. A tension he hadn’t realising was in him—suffusing every part—seeped away, and a look of serenity fell upon his face.
The instant the final core had been reformed, several System notifications flashed into his vision.
