What…?

“...the hell?”

“Hmm?” 

“Become your herald? Fight a war? What are you on about?” Kyle demanded. “I just turned eighteen a few months ago. I play airsoft and fight against my asthma while running cross country. I consume an abundance of anime and manga, and kill spare time by watching random trivia and educational videos on the internet! Honestly, I’ve had it pretty easy for most of my life compared to stuff I know other people have to go through.”

Kyle pointed to the pocket watch Khali still had out. “You saw my memories! Even if you won’t tell me how you’d sentence me or whatever, I know that you’re fully aware I’m one of the worst persons to ask! Surely there are soldiers or warriors of some kind that pass through here who you can better rely on, right? So why in the heck would you want me to fight a war for you, a Deity? Me!”

“I did say that you weren’t my first choice,” Khali said coolly. “Nor would you be among the first dozens I’d choose. Maybe top one hundred, but I’m not actually going to count.” She put the pocket watch inside her robe, exchanging it for what looked like a white parchment of some kind. She moved to hand it to Kyle, gesturing for him to read. “This is why I have no choice but to ask you.”

Kyle took it wearily. It was too thick for paper but just as flexible, and it felt structurally sound somehow. The text it was scrawled with was written in red ink, and very faded. “I, Khali of Time and Death, in an effort to better keep the balance of the world, hereby do vow that I shall not interfere with any soul from How’lea prior to the appropriate time of death as established by Fate. I further vow that after reaping a soul as Fate has orchestrated, I shall judge and sentence them in the same fashion as I have done for the last two millennia. To violate this pact would be to render myself unfit as a deity, resulting in my banishment from the domain of deities and forfeiting my rule and responsibility over both Time and Death.”

“That pact was written on one of my ribs, unrolled and stretched to make room for the content written in my blood,” Khali explained. “Since thirty years ago, it has bound me to the oath I made. As such, I must not break it, unless I wish to relinquish my position as a deity.”

“...Gross.” Kyle stifled a yelp as she casually revealed the origins of the parchment in his hands. He made a conscious effort not to drop it in disgust as he handed it back to Khali. She rolled it up and stuffed the pact in the left of her torso, phasing it through her body. As she continued, she began her circular walk around where Kyle remained sitting.

“Because of this pact, I myself am unable to deal with the imbalances being wrought on How’lea. My brothers all made a similar pact, insinuating they would not do anything that might affect the balance of the world. Unfortunately, I was duped by the careful wording of the pacts they made. That conniving trio, ugh!” Khali held her face in her hands as she paused, letting out a groan. Kyle imagined a deity being made a fool of was more embarrassing than it’d be for him, and decided not to comment on it.

“Brothers, huh…”

“Yes,” she said, raising an invisible chair where she stood and taking a seat on the spot. She spun a finger in the air, and Kyle’s seat rotated to face her. “Together, we siblings are the Ushers of Chaos. Each of us is responsible for one of the many hardships that humanity must endure: Strife, Illness, Despair, and Death. Callous has explained that come the end of How’lea, our full powers will be unleashed, and we will be tasked with purging the mess of humanity. But until then, our job is to monitor and regulate those aspects, to maintain order and balance until Fate deems it is time.”

“That sounds really familiar…” Kyle said, scratching his head. “You four wouldn't happen to have a bunch of horses you would ride out on as you ushered in the apocalypse, would you?”

“Horses?” Khali asked, perplexed.

“Nevermind. So, what loophole did your brothers find?”

“They are able to provide influence on the world indirectly,” she explained through gritted teeth. “Because of the pact, I am not able to prematurely reap anyone before Fate has deemed their time. I'm not able to interact at all, even with dreams or visions as my brothers have done, as that would be "interfering" with mortals, which is explicitly prohibited in the pact.

“Meanwhile, my brothers have sworn “to not start any wars, spread any plagues, or sow undue despair" anywhere in How'lea. However, they need not do that themselves if they can influence humans to do so on their behalf. This indirect influence does not constitute a break in the rules of the pact, and as such, they use those influenced by their malignant energies and corrupt whispers to do their dirty work.

“A prime example is Avalonia, where you showed up,” she continued, returning to pace around the area. “It was at war for a year about a decade ago due to my brothers’ indirect influence, and it was only resolved peacefully by chance. If they are not stopped, there’s no telling what other global disasters may occur, and the likelihood of wars or pandemics having a similarly calm resolution are near zero.”

“So then… you need me not for me, because I'm not from How'lea? I'm your counter-loophole? A “Herald,” as you call it, to fight for you in your proxy war?”

“Precisely.”

Kyle nodded his understanding, but as he stood up, he shook his head instead. “I understand why you need me, but the fact remains: I am not a fighter. This is beyond someone like me.”

“As you are now, yes,” Khali said. “But I can grant you something nobody else will have: an indefinite number of chances.”

Kyle’s eyes went wide. “You mean–”

“If you take up the mantle of “The Herald of Death,” then no matter how many times you die, I will let you try again. And again, and again, until you either finish your task… or until you break.”

“Well, the difficulty of my task aside… what's the catch?”

“It’s simple. I will only grant you this Gift if you agree to find as many of the blights my brothers have created as you can, and excise them.”

“Excise the blights?”

“Kill, slaughter, end, remove from the face of the planet everyone that my brothers are conducting influence on!” Khali said in a fury. Her eyes began to radiate even brighter from behind her veil as her voice continued to rise. “I don't care how you get rid of them, but my brothers’ plans must be stopped! And that means getting rid of the Harbingers, Omens, and Bearers of Chaos by any means necessary!”

Kyle took a step back, Khali’s intensity almost radiating off of her. “Okay, I get it! You want them stopped, but why are they doing this in the first place? You said your job is to keep the balance or whatever, right?”

“It’s for power. What else?” Khali transformed her halo into its weapon form, splitting it into two swords to emphasize her point. “I told you, come the end of How’lea, Callous has said that the full extent of our powers would be unleashed to rid the world of the rest of humanity. My foolish brothers do not wish to wait any longer, and are eager to usher in the end as soon as they can.”

“That’s… very petty, and remarkably human-like,” Kyle noted. “I mean, really? You Deities can be corrupted by personal desires for power just as easily as us?”

“Oh shut up,” Khali spat. “You know nothing of the burden of being a Deity, nor the loss of a mass of believers who worshiped and idolized you. And since Callous won’t allow us to return to How’lea as we once existed, the next best thing would be to start the world over from scratch. I won’t deny that mentality has its merits, but I will not succumb to it.”

“What about Fate? You keep talking about this other Deity having predetermined deaths for people, or having a plan for all of How’lea from the sounds of it. Why can’t they do something about all this?”

Khali stared at Kyle for a moment. “There is no Deity for Fate,” she said finally. “Fate is Fate. The ultimate outcome of every action ever taken, of every being that’s ever existed. Even the world. Honestly, for all I know, my brothers’ actions are a part of Fate’s grand plan.”

“But… if that’s true, then–”

“If that is the case,” Khali interrupted, “then so too shall it be in Fate’s plan for me to fight back. As much as Fate may very well already be decided, we know not what its decision is until we have reached it.” She returned her weapon and held out a hand. “So will you do it, Kyle Concord? Will you become the Herald of Death, and help me prevent the end of How’lea?”

Kyle stared at her outstretched hand. It had held the massive scissor-blades with ease, and had likely held millions, maybe even billions of souls, before sending them to their destination in the afterlife. Kyle was the only one she was unable to touch, and that was why she was asking him.

This… this is why I was summoned, wasn’t it Fate? To become her Herald? And yet…

“You want– no, you need me to become your Herald,” Kyle said. “You need me to go back out there, and… kill an untold number of people to stop humanity from bringing about its own end of the world. And you’re telling me to die as many times as it takes to do so, or else it could be the end of How’lea. I get that right?”

“It’s likely only a few hundred people, but yes. It’s the best chance at stopping my brothers. I literally just explained all of that to you, now are you taking my hand or not?” The irritation in Khali’s voice was palpable, but Kyle stayed where he stood.

“I… can’t,” he declared. “I’m sorry, but you’re asking me, who you just mocked for being “childish” moments ago, to become some mass murderer or serial killer, without any idea how many people I’d be going after, or if what I’d be doing is guaranteed to work. And even if I had an infinite number of tries to do any of that, I don’t have the skills or the power to do anything on my own once I’m back there! I just… I’m hardly more than a kid, much less a capable person in general. On top of that, I’m not some cold hearted murderer. I know I’ve always had this fantasy of becoming some hero, but now… I’m sorry, Khali, but no. I can’t take your offer, not like this.” Kyle shook his head firmly as he refused the Deity’s offer. He watched as her hand dropped to her side, a sense of dread building up within him. 

“You’re aware that the alternative is you go back there, right?” Khali asked, pointing at Kyle’s feet. The light beneath his left foot suddenly stopped glowing, and he dipped into the ground. 

“Woah!” He barely caught himself, his hands and right foot still able to hold on to the invisible floor and keep him from falling back to the edge of oblivion. Another pointing of her finger, and he'd be gone once more. For good this time. 

Even so…

“I know. It’d be as close to the end for me as it gets,” Kyle said, pulling himself back up. “But… I’d rather that, and maybe even lose my mind in the process, than have to kill a bunch of people all because I was told to. How would I be able to live with myself?” His legs were all too eager to give out as he stood tall in defiance against the deity. But–”

“I’m… disappointed,” Khali interrupted him, her voice filled with disdain. “You, who plays simulated war games with friends, pretending to kill and be killed. You, from a world filled with media displaying the rampant death of your kind for nothing but entertainment. You, who have wished for the harm of others when you see injustice that could be prevented, or should be rectified! And now you attempt to grandstand on morals? Truly hypocritical.”

“None of that is even remotely the same as actually taking someone’s life! And besides–” 

“I sincerely didn’t want to do this, but… you leave me no choice then,” Khali sighed, ignoring Kyle’s defense. “Girls, if you would?” She reached up and took off her hood, but as Kyle blinked, she disappeared. 

Girls? Who was she talking to? I thought there was nobody else here! He twirled around, looking everywhere for where Khali had gone or who she might have been talking to when he suddenly felt something grab him from behind–

“Please, Master Kyle?”

“The world is counting on you!”

…Huh?

Kyle found himself face-to-face with a black-haired and a white-haired maid, both topped with cat ears, and cattails swaying behind them. Their faces were practically identical, and their voices were exactly as he remembered them to be from watching them in Made in Another World. They were, without a doubt, Shiroshi and Kuroshi.