Urban Plundering: I Corrupted The System!
Chapter 444 - 444: The Weight of Infinite Souls

The moment Parker's consciousness expanded to encompass infinite realities, the pain hit him like a cosmic sledgehammer to the soul.

This wasn't mere discomfort—it was agony on a scale that transcended physical sensation entirely. Eight million souls multiplied by infinite dimensions meant that every emotion, every moment of suffering, every death across countless timelines crashed into his awareness simultaneously.

He felt a mother in Reality-7,429 dying of cancer while her children wept. In Reality-12,881, a man committed suicide on the Brooklyn Bridge while his family searched frantically for him. In Reality-94,773, a terrorist attack claimed hundreds of lives in Times Square. In Reality-2,847,394, an entire New York burned as nuclear fire consumed everything.

But it wasn't just the deaths—it was everything. Every broken heart, every moment of despair, every instance of suffering across infinite New Yorks flooded through his consciousness like molten metal poured directly into his nervous system. Parker's scream echoed across dimensions as the collective agony of billions threatened to shatter his sanity entirely.

His knees buckled. Blood—his ichor—began streaming from his eyes, nose, and ears as his physical form struggled to contain the emotional tsunami.

Each sob from a grieving parent felt like a knife twisting in his chest. Every cry of pain from accident victims sent jolts of sympathetic agony through his body. The sheer volume of suffering was beyond what any single consciousness was designed to bear.

"Stop!" Maya cried out, watching as her husband convulsed on the crystalline floor. "You're killing him!"

But Parker couldn't stop—wouldn't stop. Through gritted teeth and tears of liquid gold, he forced himself to not just endure but embrace every moment of infinite suffering. His hands clawed at the floor as another wave of collective anguish crashed over him—this time the accumulated pain of every person who had ever died alone and forgotten in any version of New York.

*Can you bear this forever?* the Guardian asked, its voice carrying no cruelty, only solemn necessity. *This is what it means to be responsible for infinite souls. Their pain becomes your pain. Their loss becomes your loss. Every tragedy across every reality will flow through your consciousness for eternity.*

Parker's response was to reach deeper, accepting even more. The agony was indescribable—like having his soul flayed while remaining conscious, like experiencing every possible form of suffering simultaneously.

His cosmic power, normally used for destruction and dominance, now served only to absorb more pain, to shoulder more responsibility.

He thought of himself as a villain, someone who took what he wanted and destroyed what opposed him.

Yet here he was, voluntarily accepting infinite suffering to become protector of realities that would never know his name. The irony would have been amusing if it weren't so agonizing.

*This is merely the first test,* the Guardian observed as Parker's form began to flicker under the strain. *Can you bear the joy and suffering of infinite souls without losing yourself to madness?*

The answer came not in words but in action. Parker forced himself to stand, even as another wave of collective trauma threatened to drive him insane.

He had been a Prince of Existence who commanded cosmic forces for his own purposes. Now he was choosing to become something else entirely—a being whose existence would be defined by service to others, no matter the cost to himself.

When the Guardian presented him with the impossible choice between two dying realities, Parker's response revealed the depth of his transformation. He had the power to reshape fate itself, but the price would be horrific.

Yet without hesitation, he reached for abilities that would literally cost him pieces of his soul.

The moment he activated Nyxilith's Will Over Fate, the payment began immediately. Time ripped away from his lifespan in visible chunks—years, decades flowing out of him like golden light being drained from a dying star.

His youthful features aged rapidly, lines deepening around his eyes as centuries of potential existence were sacrificed to save sixteen million souls he had never met.

But the aging was nothing compared to what came next. Parker screamed as fragments of his very soul began tearing away—not metaphorically, but literally.

Pieces of his consciousness, his memories, his fundamental identity were being permanently severed and consumed as fuel for fate's reversal. Each fragment that departed left him diminished, hollow, less than he had been moments before.

The pain was beyond description. It was the sensation of having parts of his essential self amputated while remaining fully conscious, of watching pieces of his identity dissolve into cosmic energy. Yet even as his soul bled away, even as he felt himself becoming less human and more void, Parker pressed forward.

"Both... will... LIVE!" he roared through the agony, pouring what remained of himself into saving both realities.

When it was over, he knelt trembling on the crystalline floor, visibly aged and spiritually diminished.

Gaps existed in his consciousness where pieces of his soul had once resided—empty spaces that would never heal, never be filled again. He had literally sacrificed parts of his fundamental being to save people who would never know his name.

Maya stared at her husband in horror and awe. The man she loved had willingly mutilated his own soul to save strangers. This was no longer the cosmic entity who took what he wanted—this was someone who gave everything he was for others.

*Remarkable,* the Guardian observed, genuine reverence in its ancient voice. *You have proven that even beings of cosmic power can choose sacrifice over dominion. But one final test remains.*

Parker struggled to his feet, his soul-damaged form trembling with exhaustion. Whatever came next, he had already demonstrated that the Prince of Existence was willing to pay any price, bear any pain, sacrifice any part of himself to protect those under his care.

He had transformed from cosmic villain to universal guardian through sheer force of will, proving that even the most powerful beings could choose love over power, service over dominion, infinite responsibility over infinite freedom.

The weight of countless worlds pressed down upon him, and Parker smiled through his pain, ready to bear whatever burden came next.

****

Do you guys remember the Nine abilities? If you don't, then I hope you understand in the next chapter or read Chpt: Nyxborn Chaos