Chapter 56 - Challenge – Part 7

Detroit, Michigan, USA - Earth:

Standing in the street, Haru, Katie, Jalil, Arno and Illya looked at Eddie in a confused manner.

“So...”

Eddie sighed.

“He can’t die. It’s, uh, it’s his physiology. Every time he dies, he comes back more powerful. So, if you ever see him shoot himself in the head, don’t be alarmed. He also kills himself for fun.”

“How many times has he died?”

“A few million.”

Their eyes widened in horror.

“To him, dying is just another way of having fun. He is weird. I think he might be a masochist too.”

Eddie laughed but the others looked at him with a blank look.

Haru sighed.

Looking around, she noticed that they were missing two people.

“Where did that girl go?”

“I don't know.”

“And what about the other guy? Matthew?”

Zhi shrugged.

“He is coming this way. And he is hurt,” Eddie said.

“Hey, so, what can you do?” Illya asked Eddie in an excited manner.

“As my name suggests, I have the power of Norse Gods.”

“Oh?”

“I have Speed of Hermod, the Norse God of speed. I have Thor’s Thunder. Odin’s powers of energy emission, absorption, etc. Also a little magic with it too. And Mimir’s wisdom helps with the magic part. Heimdall’s precognition and senses. And, uh, Yggdrasil’s life. Which gives me healing and long life.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Eddie smiled.

“Let me show you.”

The weather changed. In the blue sky, clouds appeared.

“Ooh.”

“And I used magic earlier to heal N--Ion.”

“I see...”

Illya did not seem convinced.

Matthew Johnson walked near them.

“So, we done?”

He was holding his arm since it looked like it was broken.

“What happened to your arm?”

“When I use my strength, I hurt myself in the process.”

“Somehow it reminds me of something I read or watched...”

Eddie sighed.

He held his palm towards Matthew.

Using a magic spell, he healed Matthew.

“Oh?”

Matthew looked at his arm and Eddie in a confused manner.

“Th-thanks...”

“You're welcome.”

Eddie looked around and noticed something.

“That girl… She is crying.”

Haru felt a little bad for what happened earlier.

“Wasn’t she with you?”

“Yeah, some stuff happened...”

Haru looked back and Jose was standing next to one of the nearby buildings.

“I see...”

"It's not like it was my fault or anything like tha--"

Haru trailed off as someone landed near them without slowing down, leaving a small crater in the street.

“So, what did I miss?”

Nazar, still covered in blood looked at them with a smile on his face.

“Not much.”

“I see...”

Nazar seemed disappointed.

“Now that you are here, can you get us back to our homes? The way you brought us here?”

“About that...”

Nazar averted his gaze and scratched his cheek nervously.

လလလ

A few minutes later and inside a fast-food restaurant, they were waiting for their food to get here. Eddie was nowhere to be seen.

Nazar had placed an illusion around himself, so no one could see the blood on his face.

“You can’t?!?!” Haru stood up in anger and slammed the table with her palms. “What do you mean, you can’t?!?! I have work early in the morning and if I...”

Haru noticed that there were people around, so she calmed down and sat back in her chair.

“Even if I use my powers, I won’t reach Japan until the next day or something,“ Haru said slowly. ”I will miss out on my presentation tomorrow. Which, I was given today… or yesterday. I busted my ass off finishing it off as soon as I got back from work.”

“Don’t worry, you will reach there soon.”

“Being tired from work and everything, you bring me all the way out here and now my identity is known too.”

“Actually, it isn’t.”

Everyone else seemed very tired and anxious but Nazar seemed very calm.

“I have placed all of you under protection. No one can figure out your identity unless you specifically want them to.”

“You can do that?!?!” All of them blurted out in unison.

“Yeah, Haru, you can do it too.”

“Okay, now that’s pretty cool… But I am still pissed that I will miss my presentation tomorrow.”

“Hey, what about me?” Zhi said as she slumped over the table.

“What about you?”

“I told you I will take the evil side, right?”

Nazar nodded.

“So, I expect something in return for helping you.”

“So, what do you want?”

“Money, what else?”

“How much?”

Zhi raised her head excitedly.

“$100,000.”

“Done.”

“Wait, what?”

Zhi was not expecting Nazar to agree with that amount, so she seemed very surprised.

“I will make it $200,000. Happy?”

“Uh…. Um...”

Zhi was so happy that she didn’t even know what to say.

“In fact, I should give all of you that much.”

Everyone looked at him with a blank look on their face.

“Thanks?”

“Anyway, eat up. It will help you regain your energy and feel better. And I apologise for bringing you here abruptly. But I needed to stop these guys. And of course, test you guys out.”

Nazar stood up.

Nazar was about to walk away but he remembered something.

“Hey, Katie...”

“Yes?”

“Why did you thank me the other day?”

“Ah. It’s because… My husband was always blind. And on that day, for the first time, he saw me and the world for the first time. So, thank you.”

“Ah. I see.”

Nazar left the restaurant chain and called someone.

“- Hi, sweetie. -”

“Hi, Laura. Can I ask for a favour?”

“- No. -”

“Please?“

“- Sigh. What is it? -”

“Can you go to my home then?”

“- No. -”

“Please?”

“- What do you want? -”

“You see, my armour is busted. I am in Detroit. And I need to teleport a few people. So...”

“- Sigh. I am cooking. -”

“Let me guess, instant noodles?”

Laura did not reply, so he knew that he had guessed right.

“That’s not cooking.”

“- Shut up, smart ass. -“

“So, can you please go?”

“- Hmmmmmmmmmmm…. -”

Laura took a deep breath.

“- Hmmmmmmmmmmm…. -”

“I will get you some nice food from here. Will that work?”

“- Hmmmmmmmmmmm…. -”

“Please?”

“- Sigh. Fine. Just give me 30 or 40 minutes. -”

“Awesome! When you get there, call me. Thanks.”

“- Wait! -”

“Hm?”

“- I sent you a picture. Look at it and then maybe I will go. -”

“Why does it feel like it’s a picture I shouldn’t be looking at in public?”

“- If you don’t look at it, I won’t go. -”

“Okay.”

He slowly opened the image with stiff expression and opened the image.

Seeing it, he let out a sigh of relief.

He held his phone back to his ear.

“It’s a picture of you, smiling.”

“- Haha. I know. Now you have more pictures of me. -”

Nazar saved the picture and scrolling through his images, he immediately closed the app.

Holding his phone back to his ear, he said, “I have a lot of pictures of you. Some which I hope no one ever sees.”

“- Uh... -”

“I asked you before taking those pictures. So...”

“- Oh yeah, I remember now. Anyway, I will get going in a few minutes. And I will call you back in like 30 minutes. Or maybe 40 minutes. Who knows? -”

“Thanks.”

“- Oh, and don’t forget the food. -”

“Okay.”

Nazar cut off the call and went back to the restaurant.

လလလ

London, UK:

After a while, Laura reached Nazar’s home.

Inside it, she looked around.

“He said to call him, right?”

She pulled out her phone from her purse and called Nazar.

“I am here. What do you want me to do?”

“- Perfect! Go to my room and--- Hm, where did I left the teleportation device? -”

“How am I supposed to know that?”

“- If I were to… Ah, do you have that device I gave you? -”

“Mhmm.”

Nazar started muttering something, so Laura did not understand him properly.

She did make out a few words and it dealt mostly with numbers.

“- That should work. -”

“Hm?”

“- Now, look at the ceiling. -”

Confused, Laura did as Nazar said.

“- And say the password, which is “AC11938.” -”

“AC11938?”

All of a sudden, the room became dimmer and dimmer.

Laura’s heart skipped a beat in fear.

In the middle of the room, a large holographic screen appeared.

- Identifying… Identifying... -

“Uh...?”

“- Don’t worry. That’s the AI of that home. Wait for it. Then connect the device and it should start working. -”

“How many do you have?!?!”

- Identity confirmed. Laura Marino. Species: human. Date of birth: 31.10.1999. Birth location: Venice, Italy. Blood type: A-Positive. -

“Uh, Nazar?”

“- I am sorry. But this is the world’s largest database. So... -”

“WHAT?!?! Why do you have it?”

“- Long story... -”

Laura sighed.

- What can I do for you, Laura Marino? -

“Uh? Um?”

Laura looked around frantically, not knowing what to do.

“- Aiya. -”

Nazar said the AI’s name and the AI heard him.

- What can I do for you, master? -

“- Teleport me and the others to their rightful place, please. -”

“How are you guys talking?”

“- Through your phone. -”

“Forget I even asked...”

“- And Aiya, connect to the device within her, remodel it temporarily and teleport all of us out. -”

- Got it, master. -

Laura was not sure how they were doing it, so she just accepted it.

- I have located you. Connecting to the device in Laura Marino’s body… Connecting... -

Laura felt a sting throughout her body and suddenly, Nazar appeared in the room.

“Phew. Thanks, Laura. And Aiya.”

In Nazar’s hand, he was holding a plastic bag.

“Umm… What the hell just happened?”

“The device I gave you, it’s made of nanites. So, it can be remodelled very easily to work as a teleportation device. But since the only device on Earth was with you, I had to connect you to Aiya and then remodel it as teleportation device and bring myself home. And of course, send others to their homes too.”

Confused and frustrated, Laura scratched her head.

“Now it’s back to normal. The device, I mean.”

“Dude! This is supposed to be a house. Not a… Not... Whatever this is.”

“Err… I got food?”

She sighed.

Nazar handed her the food.

But his hands were shaking with fear.

So, he placed another illusion and Laura didn’t notice.

လလလ

A little earlier, in the Void.

Nazar appeared in this dark place.

As he did, he heard a cold and emotionless voice in his head.

(“Why do you not end up in Hell? Or Heaven?”)

(“Oh hi, Dullahan. We meet again.”)

(“Answer my question, God.”)

(“I know you are hot. And so am I, but I can’t. I can’t be with you. I am so sorry. It’s like… I have a girlfriend whom I love a lot. I am sorry, Dullahan.”)

All of a sudden, the dark warrior of Hell attacked Nazar.

But she missed it because she could not sense Nazar’s energy or see him.

(“Look, I love you too. But our love is-- Argh?!?!”)

Nazar felt a pain like no other.

(“God?”)

Even the Dullahan was not sure what was happening to Nazar.

(“Why am I feeling pain? This place is not supposed to hurt?”)

(“Ngh. I… I feel the same. Do you…?”)

(“Wh… What is--? I… I can’t move… Can you feel anyone else?”)

(“There is this presence but… I can’t seem to...”)

(“Hello, lowly creatures.”)

Both of them heard another voice.

(“Time to pay for your sins.”)

(“The Void doesn’t have… Sins? This isn't heaven or hell. So...”)

(“God does not sin. Who are you?”)

Nazar frowned once he heard Dullahan refer to him as God.

("Yeah, she is right, dude. I mean, come on, it's me.")

(“Of course, he sins.”)

(“Wait!”)

Nazar recalled hearing a similar voice before.

(“Motherfu-- What the hell are you doing here?”)

(“Who is he, God?”)

(“I am Wrath. Wrath of the Seven Deadly Sins.”)

လလလ

A few short moments earlier, in an unknown dimension:

Archangel Michael was talking to the woman in a black dress, who was lying down on her large bed.

“So, why did you call me here?”

“I noticed something about Nazar’s powers… What happened to it? I thought it was getting better?”

“It was… I am not sure anymore. He is getting weaker and weaker and weaker.”

The woman seemed in even more pain but she tried not to show it.

“If his power doesn’t come back…”

“This would have been nothing but failure. And a waste of time.”

“This wouldn’t have happened if I… If I was not making this… This…. This… This masterpiece of mine. Damn it!”

She gritted her teeth.

“And why does him killing himself not working? It should have worked. Every time he dies, he comes back more powerful.”

“Well--”

“Wait, I got an idea.”

Michael felt annoyed that she didn’t even listen to him.

“The next time he dies, send in one of the Sins and have them see if the problem is permanent. They should be able to tell once they are close enough.”

“...Okay, got it.”

Michael seemed a little angry but he left.

“Oh, and where is he?”

“Who?”

“Him.”

“Ah.”

Michael found out what that woman meant.

“No idea. He doesn’t play by the same rules as us.”

“Oh, but I do, Michael. I might stand in a category above, but right now, I am playing the same game as you and following the same rules.”

Michael felt like he would pass out just by being in the presence of this person.

This person who comes out of absolutely nowhere and is powerful enough to kill all of them in an instant.

“So, you are going to send in a Sin?”

She nodded.

The other person laughed.

“Pathetic.”

The other person sighed.

“I won’t stop you. But...”

With a thin grin, the other person looked the woman right in the eyes.

“You should slow down with resurrections, it might mess up your pace.”

With narrowed eyes, he looked at the woman.

"If you fail... Well, you know what will happen, don't you?"

Waving his hand, the other person vanished as he entered the room.

The woman in the black dress rolled her eyes.

"I hate him."