And... as expected, I was attacked right away as I entered. But still, a hundred Artificial Gods came at me.

  I even had to activate Malice, melting most of them into molten metal.

  So right now, I'm having my coffee on the mountain side of the Alps. Really, are they free enough to just attack me?

  Hmm?

  I saw someone far away.

  I deactivated Malice and walked over...

  Huh, now that's a face I haven't seen for a long time. A beautiful girl with ginger hair, her clear blue eyes reflect her eternal sorrow. Vanessa, Van Gogh.

  "Hello again, Charlotte.", she smiled at me.

  "Hello.", I nodded, "What are you painting?"

  I looked over... ah, a painting about me. I was standing with my back turned against a sea of fme. The arts coming from the Gem Holder of Artist are powerful, they can manipute emotions - drawing out the true meaning of a piece of art.

  The emotion I feel from this piece is... loneliness.

  "Do you really see me in that way?", I asked her.

  "I am a painter, I just filter the world through my eyes.", she set her brush down, staring at me. I can see her flinching a bit from making direct eye contact with me, "Oh my, I suddenly got a new inspiration."

  She put the canvas down on the side and set up a new one. Refilling her colors, she began to paint.

  "Everyone sees the world differently, someone's view may be completely alien to someone else. Is the color red truly red? Or does red look like blue in someone else's eyes.", she painted the whole canvas bck, "Like my paintings, it is what I see through my eyes."

  "To people, it is just an artistic choice, a medium I express my view. But to artists, this is how they see the world. Ah, try to compare me to Picasso. Our art style is very different.", she let out a light chuckle as she began to paint eyes.

  "Picasso and me, Van Gogh, are two opposite ends. He can draw realistic paintings, but he chooses not to, why? Was it because he wanted to distinguish himself from others? For money? I am not him, so I don't know. But at least he is being true to his view of the world, he views everything as shapes, and that is why his art is so beautiful to me, he deconstructed reality itself into simple geometry because the world was that simple to him.", she lifted her brush, smiling at her painting.

  She painted eyes, hundreds of eyes, all flowing, staring, toward a bnk space. Each of those eyes was azure in color, the same as me.

  The painting was not finished yet but I can see what emotion this painting gives.

  Oppression.

  "People say that I can transform pain into beauty. Back then, I viewed my suffering as nothing special, I was nothing special, I thought of myself as a failure.", her brush stopped, and then she looked at me, looking into my eyes again.

  "Do you know what the first thing I did when I took over this girl's body?", Vanessa took her time, reminiscing about something, "Well, after the initial shock and guilt... pretty typical of me, right? I went to visit the Van Gogh Museum."

  I kept my silence. She nodded.

  "I cried, I was on the floor crying. Because I was recognized by humanity, by the world... those were tears of joy. When the curator there expined to me, how the people appreciated my painful life, they empathized..."

  She stares at me for a short while.

  "He said 'No man should suffer like that, Van Gogh is someone I confidently believed to have suffered the most in human history. Yet despite that, he still created the most beautiful paintings. There is no other artist who can do it'. That moved me, people did not view my suffering as a blessing, they viewed it as a part of me...", she let out a breath she had been holding on for a long time.

  "When I see discussions about myself online, I cry again. People love me, that means a lot to someone who saw his own life as worthless. I know I deserved those praises, but what I painted was just how I view the world."

  "That means you perceive the world as 'beautiful'.", I finally spoke, "Despite all the pain, all the suffering you endured, you still saw the world as a wonderful and beautiful pce."

  I've seen Van Gogh's art, to me, they are beautiful in the simplest sense. To hold onto that... not even I can do it— no, maybe I am like her.

  I can never change my view, but I must try to. To fight against Regression, even if it is a fruitless endeavor.

  "Your paintings are the proof that you are a kind person.", I stare at her, making my stance firm.

  "Thank you, hearing it from the Monarch herself, I am honored.", she let out a soft ugh.

  I nodded, accepting her gratitude.

  "Charlotte, would you mind sitting here with me and paint?", she suggested, already taking out another canvas from her bag.

  Well, that would certainly help me calm down.

  "Utopia, send out the Knight Order and deal with any and all Artificial Gods.", I commanded.

  "[As you Command, Your Majesty.]"

  I created a chair made of steel. With a snap of my finger, I summoned Ouroboros Omniscia, taking out my own paint supplies.

  "What should I paint?", I asked the expert here.

  "Just paint whatever you like.", she smiled and returned to her own canvas.

  What should I paint... I guess I could paint the Alps?

  Hah... every day is always fun. I seek joy, to sit down and paint?

  Well...

  I'll let myself loose.

  I began painting without a thought.

  What have I done since Argent Alexandria's announcement? It is rather easy to say.

  I wanted a world without the past. And the best way to cut off the past... is to expose its evil.

  Humanity is a contradiction.

  For this world raise every creature to kill each other, humans are the only ones who see the viciousness of this world. So they strive to be better.

  So the concept of Justice was created. In all of it's hypocrisy and self-righteousness.

  But that is fine.

  I said to Seria that I wanted to be a journalist. What is the job of a journalist anyway? It is to deliver the truth so that justice can be enacted.

  My creation, Argent Alexandria, is just that - the ultimate tool to bring out the truth and grant power to all humans. The Ultimate Justice.

  In all of the irrationality, of the madness of this world. Humanity proved me wrong.

  Justice may be blind, but humans are not.

  Take the case of Yuugure Kra, she... is genuinely a good person. She has always been one, someone who deserved to be praised, that's why she can't stand me wrecking up Kyoto or any pce for that matter.

  When the votes were tallied up, over ninety percent of people deemed her unfit for Judgement. Because she is just that good.

  Another case is John Titor... I know where he is now after reading his book in the Library. Although I deleted his power, the Beasts of Time can still smell him, it won't be long before Jerusalem is infested with them.

  Ah, ultimately, he was deemed Innocent. Despite all his crimes against time, he helped mankind time and time again, and humanity ultimately showed him mercy.

  Mitsuki was also put on Trial once, she was deemed Innocent. Raised in a traditional household that demands sacrifice to the elder, people outside of Japan cannot stand it.

  The Japanese government also faced backsh for supporting such outdated traditions.

  My generation, the Generation of Nihility. When the past had already consumed so much, and clinging on like a cancer. It is only right to cut it off.

  I don't look forward to tomorrow, I live in the present. The future is unknown, after all.

  Oh, I finished my painting.

  A world without color, dull, monochrome. Only white, grey, and bck.

  My Inner World, the Argent World of Chalk.

  "I see...", Vanessa leaned in over, "Is the world so dull through your eyes... no, that isn't right."

  She chuckled in a light tone, "You are pure, you see the world in a pure way. Despite knowing everything, knowing how bad things can get, you still choose to believe in humanity."

  Is that so?

  Though that is quite foolish of me, I like it.

  Heh...

  "Thank you for your time, I'll get going now.", I stood up, taking the canvas with me.

  "Then here is your gift.", she gave me the painting she just finished.

  The painting with many eyes, all nded on a single white lily. Despite using just a few colors, Vanessa brought out the beauty of a single emotion. The oppressive feeling from this painting also diminished, a touch of her own.

  Van Gogh, the painter transformed pain into beautiful, untainted by the hardship of life.

  "Do you have a name for it?", I asked her.

  She put a hand on her lip, thinking, "I don't usually give names to my paintings. But for you... 'Under the Eyes of the Beholder'."

  Well, that's fine.

  After that, we went our separate ways.

  I have something to do before entering Avalon. To settle the score with the Roman gods, the remnants of Romulus.

  I will kill them all.