Okay. Okay. Stay calm. Professional. You're a therapist. You've dealt with difficult clients before.

  Levi's internal monologue ran at a thousand miles per hour while his face remained perfectly composed.

  Sure, none of them were seven-foot skeletal nightmare creatures who just ate their own afterbirth off the floor like a starving dog, but the principle is the same. Deep breaths. Professional demeanor. Don't scream. Do NOT scream.

  "Mr. Levi?" Reven's voice was still layered, still distorted, but there was genuine concern in it. "Are you alright? You look pale."

  I look pale? I LOOK PALE? You're a fucking horror movie monster with no face and needle teeth and you're asking if I look pale?

  "I'm fine," Levi said evenly. He stood up, brushing off his clothes with steady hands. "Just... processing. That was quite a transformation."

  Understatement of the fucking century.

  Reven looked down at himself, holding up one clawed hand and examining it with those empty black pits he now had for eyes. "Yes. I suppose it was. I can feel the power coursing through me. It's... overwhelming."

  "I imagine so." Levi walked over to where his tea cup had fallen, picked it up, and was disappointed to find it empty. He could really use some tea right now. Or whiskey. Preferably whiskey. "What exactly did you gain? From the book?"

  Reven tilted his head, the motion somehow birdlike despite his skeletal appearance. "I became an avatar. The Avatar of Morvexis. I have full control over plague magic now. Both destruction and healing."

  "Both?"

  "Yes. The book showed me the truth. Morvexis is two entities. Nug and Yeb. Destruction and creation. Rot and growth. I was given only Nug's blessing before, which is why I could only kill. But now..." Reven raised his hand, and green light flickered around his clawed fingers. "Now I have both."

  Great. Fantastic. The walking nightmare can now heal AND kill. This is fine. Everything is fine.

  "I see," Levi said. He gestured at the chairs. "Why don't we sit down? We should have a proper counseling session about this. Process what you've experienced."

  Reven looked at the chair, then back at Levi. "Will it hold me? I'm... different now."

  "The Library's furniture is pretty sturdy. It'll hold."

  They sat. Reven folded his too-long limbs into the chair with some difficulty, looking like a mantis trying to fit into a space meant for humans.

  Levi pulled out a notepad he'd materialized from his inventory. He clicked his pen. Professional. Calm.

  Holy shit holy shit holy shit.

  "So," Levi said. "Tell me about your experience in the book. What happened?"

  Reven was quiet for a moment, those empty eye sockets staring at something Levi couldn't see.

  "I met Nug," he said finally. "The god who chose me. Who gave me the blessing of destruction specifically because he thought it would be funny to watch me suffer."

  "He said that explicitly?"

  "Yes. He chose the weakest, kindest human he could find and gave him a blessing of rot, just to see how much I would break trying to use it to heal people." Reven's voice was flat, emotionless. "It was all entertainment for him."

  Jesus fucking Christ.

  "That must have been difficult to hear," Levi said carefully.

  "Difficult." Reven laughed, and the sound was like glass breaking. "It destroyed me, Mr. Levi. Completely. My mind shattered. My body started rotting. I was dying."

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "But you survived."

  "Because Yeb intervened. Nug's twin. The other half of Morvexis. She and Nug fought, and she won, barely. Then they merged back into one being, and Morvexis offered me a choice."

  Levi wrote this down, his hand steady despite the internal screaming.

  So the books in the Library contain actual gods. Actual fucking gods who can talk to people and offer them power. This is what I'm dealing with. This is the shit I'm giving to people as therapy. Holy fucking shit.

  "What choice did she offer?" Levi asked.

  "To become her avatar. To receive the full blessing. Both destruction and healing. In exchange for rebuilding her religion and gathering faith."

  "And you accepted."

  "Yes." Reven's clawed hands clenched. "But not because she asked. I made it clear I wouldn't be anyone's toy again. I accepted on my own terms."

  "Which are?"

  Reven leaned forward, and despite having no eyes, Levi could feel the intensity of his gaze.

  "I'm going to build a world where everyone has access to healing. Where disease doesn't discriminate based on wealth or status. Where nobody suffers the way those twenty-eight people suffered because of me."

  "That's a noble goal."

  "And if I have to destroy the current world to build it," Reven continued, his voice dropping lower,

  "I will."

  Oh fuck.

  "I see," Levi said slowly. "That's quite ambitious."

  "The church turned me into a weapon, Mr. Levi. They cultivated me as a plague bomb to destroy their enemies. The Eternal Sun Church hunts and kills people like me. The entire system is built on suffering and exploitation." Reven's clawed hands dug into the arms of the chair, leaving gouges in the wood.

  "I won't be their weapon. But I will use the power they tried to control. I'll tear down their corrupt structures and build something better."

  "Revolution, then."

  "If that's what it takes."

  Levi set down his pen and looked at Reven for a long moment.

  Did I just help create a revolution? A plague-wielding revolutionary who can kill or heal with equal ease? A walking apocalypse with a social justice agenda?

  "Reven," Levi said carefully.

  "I want to make sure you understand something. The path you're describing is going to be difficult. Dangerous. There will be consequences."

  "I know."

  "People will try to stop you. Kill you."

  "Let them try." Reven's grin widened, showing more of those needle teeth.

  "I'm an avatar now, Mr. Levi. I've looked at the face of god and held onto my sanity. I've been to the edge of madness and came back. I won't be stopped by mortals."

  Yep. Demon king. I definitely just released the demon king upon the world.

  Reven suddenly stood and, before Levi could react, dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead to the floor in a deep bow.

  "Mr. Levi," he said, his voice thick with emotion.

  "Thank you. Thank you for bringing me here. For showing me the truth. For giving me the chance to become this. Without you, I would have died as the Eternal Sun Church's prisoner. Or worse, I would have become the weapon my church intended. You saved me."

  Levi stared at the skeletal creature bowing before him, this avatar of plague and death and healing, this being who had just declared his intention to potentially destroy and rebuild civilization.

  Did I just release the demon king upon the world?

  "You're welcome," Levi said faintly.

  Reven looked up, still on his knees, black pits staring at Levi with something that might have been devotion.

  "I will never forget this debt, Mr. Levi. Whatever you need, whenever you need it, I am yours to command."

  Oh fuck. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck.

  "That's... that's very kind of you, Reven," Levi managed. "But let's focus on your immediate goals first. You mentioned rebuilding Morvexis's religion?"

  "Yes. I need to gather followers. Establish a base of operations. Begin offering healing to those who need it most."

  "And the destruction part?"

  Reven's grin returned. "Reserved for those who try to stop me."

  Definitely the demon king. Absolutely the demon king.

  "Right," Levi said. "Well. That's certainly a purpose."

  Reven rose to his feet, towering over Levi even when the Librarian stood as well.

  "Mr. Levi," Reven said, placing one clawed hand over where his heart would be. "I promise you this: I will use this power wisely. I will help people. And I will make the world better, no matter the cost."

  Levi looked up at the seven-foot skeletal nightmare who was earnestly promising to improve the world through revolutionary violence and mandatory healthcare.

  What have I done?

  "I believe you, Reven," Levi said, because what else could he say?

  And in the back of his mind, a small voice whispered:

  Did I just release the demon king upon the world?