Chapter 65 - Reawakening - Part 6

Monarcity, Chias, Chochica Empire:

Everyone in the throne room gasped as they saw the scene before them.

An instant earlier, in Nazar’s hand, an energy sword appeared and he shot himself towards Darkness.

But!

Baros had blocked Nazar’s sword attack with his own sword. His Excalibur-like sword was glowing with white energy.

Nazar was going to hit Darkness but Baros blocked his attack.

As he blocked his attack, Nazar's energy-based sword vanished. Which surprised both Baros and Nazar.

Realising what he did, Baros gritted his teeth.

He was angry at himself.

“I am so sorry. I did it on reflex...”

Baros dropped his sword in a depressed manner.

“No matter how much I apologise, it will never be enough. This is one of the many times I have betrayed my empire. So, please...”

Baros knelt before Nazar.

“Kill me, your majesty. Or--”

“No need.”

Nazar smiled.

“I just wanted to check something.”

Baros looked at Nazar in disbelief.

“What do you…? Ah.”

Baros understood.

He sat back on his throne.

“Sure, you have my permission.”

“...Huh?”

“.......Your majesty?”

Darkness could not believe what she was hearing and Baros' mind went completely blank.

“Call me Nazar, Baros.”

Nazar held his palm towards them and in his palm, a few spheres appeared.

He checked their emotions.

“I wanted to see if you both felt the same.”

Nazar laughed.

“Dude, that fearful look on your face when I… I...”

Nazar saw the horrified look on his family’s faces and stopped laughing.

“Ahem. Look, it was just a test. Nothing too serious. Plus they are both immortal.”

However, his pleading did not help the situation.

Nazar sighed deeply.

“And I don’t kill my own citizens and friend.”

Of course, they were still not convinced, so Nazar faced Darkness once more.

“Anyway, you should ask someone else, Darkness.”

“Oh?”

Unlike the others, Darkness was unfazed by what Nazar did, so she followed his finger's trail and looked at where he was pointing at.

She, however, was surprised that Nazar accepted her proposal.

“Lian.”

Lian, who stood behind Nazar and was confused about why Darkness was here or why Nazar’s family’s face looked horrified.

“You should ask his daughter, Lian. You have my permission, but you need to ask hers too.”

Lian, who was now wearing a long blue dress now, looked at Darkness and then at Nazar.

“What the hell is going on here?” she said slowly to Nazar.

“Well, Darkness here has come to ask for Baros’ hand in marriage.”

“...”

With a blank look, she looked at Baros and then Darkness.

“What the… what?”

“Yeah, I know, right? Today is such a weird day. I have been bombarded with a lot of surprises.”

Darkness walked closer towards the throne.

She bowed slightly and smiled.

Seeing the gentle smile on Darkness’ face, Lian shuddered.

“Can I have Baros’ hand in marriage?”

“Um… Uh...”

Lian tried to avert her gaze.

“Lian, the answer is up to you.”

“S-sure.”

Hearing Lian’s reply, on Darkness’ face, a wide smile appeared.

“Thank you.”

“Okay, she is actually kind of cute,” Nazar muttered.

“But if you betray him or try to use him… Look, I might not be as powerful as someone like you or Baros but...”

Lian narrowed his eyes.

“I will find a way and kill you.”

Hearing Lian’s warning, Darkness smiled stiffly.

“Oh, but I do have a condition.”

Nazar narrowed his eyes.

“Darkness...”

Darkness looked Nazar in the eyes.

“You will pledge your loyalty to me.”

“...”

“If needed, you will answer my call of help, right?”

After some thinking, Darkness had made of her mind.

“O-of course.”

Nazar stood up and clapped his hands twice as he smiled.

“Well, this is a cause for celebration, no?”

“I guess so...” Lian, still unsure of what just happened, said slowly.

“Now then, when is the marriage ceremony?”

Darkness looked back at Baros and blushed.

Flustered, she teleported out.

“Wait, this hot guy didn’t get a say in just getting married!?”

Out of all of his family, only Emma was still not frozen.

In the previous world, she had seen Nazar kill a lot of people, so she, unlike the others, recovered much quicker.

“Is this what arranged marriages are like?” Emma said with a confused look on her face. “I feel bad for him, you know?”

“Hm, I don’t know. Never been in an arranged marriage so...”

“Huh. I guess I shall get you arranged marriage.”

“Do it. I don’t care.”

Baros, who was still confused just vanished into thin air.

“Just everyone teleports in and out as if its nothing?”

Nazar looked at Angela and nodded.

“That’s how life is around here. You get used to it after a while.”

Nazar cracked his neck and hands.

“I am going to be back in a few minutes,” he said in a low voice so only Lian could hear it.

“Sure.”

“Ah, before I go… Did you say you were attacked by a speedster?”

“I didn’t but they were fast. So, I am not sure.”

“Hm, interesting.”

Nazar placed his hand on her head.

“One second, I am trying to pick up the residual energy… Ah, got it.”

“You know, you could warn someone before putting your hand on their head. Now my hair is messy again.”

“Sorry.”

Nazar forced a smile on his face.

“It has been an eventful day,” he muttered to himself as he teleported out of the throne room.

လလလ

Just below the castle, inside a small and dark room without windows or doors, Nazar appeared.

The room might have been under the castle but it was occupying space in another dimension.

Sitting in an armchair, in front of him, a table appeared with a chessboard on it.

Only the chessboard could be seen in the darkroom.

Unlike normal chess, this had four sides to it. And it had small statues of people and things instead of chess pieces.

The four different sides had different people on it.

On his side, there was only his statue, Solace’s, Aarin’s, Eddie’s and Baros’.

“My trusted allies…. Hmm.”

Despite what Baros has done, he is a trusted ally of Nazar.

He thought about removing Baros from there but then changed his mind.

So, he looked to the right side.

To the right, there were statues of Lucifer, the angels, the Gods, Reaper, Omegan - the leader of the third dimensional Gods, and a few others.

“People who are neither allies nor enemies.”

In his hand, a small statue of Darkness appeared. He placed it on this part of the chessboard.

“I still cannot say she is 100% loyal to me. But this is a rather nice addition.”

He looked to the left, and there, he found a statue of an invisible being. He placed that there because he doesn’t know the identity of the person who controlled Lucifer.

“This side… The unknown? I know what that person did was against me… But it did help me find out about my other personality. And they have not made a move since then. So...”

In his hand, a statue of Emily appeared and placed it there.

“And of course, Emily… I wonder what her goal in all of this is?”

He knew that she wanted to restore time but what is her ultimate goal?

“So, she belongs in the unknown section too.”

Then he moved his eyes and looked at the opposite side.

There was a pitch-black statue of a woman, Archangel Michael’s, the Seven Deadly Sins’, the Demon King and a few other enemies of Nazar.

“The opposites.”

In his hand, a blurry statue appeared and he placed it on the opposite side.

“Welcome back, Rewind...”

He smiled thinly.

“Old friend.”

Waving his hand, the table and the chessboard vanished. It was dark once more.

"This is interesting. To think he even avoided death..."

He sighed and leaned back in his chair.

“Recurring people… Emma, mom, dad, Angela, Aria, Laura, Rina, Aarin, and of course, Emily. Some who dies in different timelines just to get to me. And some who betrays me. But what is that betrayal? I cannot remember it.”

He closed his eyes.

“I cannot get rid of my family, so I will just place a barrier around them. Hmm… A barrier, huh?”

He thought about it. What kind of barrier will be able to keep them safe 100%? What kind of barrier can keep them safe even from the likes of that woman? Something that will keep Nazar at ease, knowing they will be safe.

“That’s right!”

He opened his eyes wide excitedly.

“[Ultimate Nullification]!”

Ultimate Nullification is an advanced version of nullification ability. It can nullify anything. But how will Nazar utilise that to keep those close to him safe?

“Ultimate Nullification barrier. I should place it around them and it will keep them safe. No matter what’s thrown at them.”

In theory, it should allow his family to be safe. But would it really work?

“If I remember correctly, the Nameless One had placed a weaker version of it around Emily when I found her in the eight-dimensional plane of existence.”

He smiled with relief.

“This should work...”

But suddenly, his shoulders dropped and he sighed.

“I guess there is no other choice but to use my Absolute Wish and Godly powers.”

He took a deep breath.

“I will do it tonight since I don’t want to be gone for too long.”

He hated it but there is no other way.

“Okay, now that they are done, I need to get rid of the other occurrences.”

He closed his eyes as he thought about it.

Not coming to an answer, he said the name of a single person who can help him.

“Solace.”

From the thin air, she materialised.

“So, you want to get rid of the regular occurrences, right?”

Nazar nodded.

"First is Laura…"

"No!"

"Huh?"

Nazar was not sure why Solace reacted so angrily.

"You are not getting rid of her."

"But--"

"But what?"

Nazar lowered his gaze.

"Is it because of what Emily said to you?"

Nazar couldn't deny that.

Solace laughed.

"She told you that you are walking on a route set to you by the Nameless One and you want to diverge from that path so you are going to throw her out of your life?"

He couldn't deny that again. He could only look down.

"You think throwing away those close to you will help you win?"

"...Maybe."

“You can still do it. You can still choose your own path and beat that Goddess without throwing people aside. You think that approaching this situation alone is the right thing to do, but you are wrong. It happened before. And you FAILED!”

“I am---”

“I am pretty sure that’s exactly what she wants to do. Look at those memories of yours. She tries to use your loneliness as a way to get to you. She manipulates you, messes with your emotions and makes people remember… And the only logical conclusion I can come up with is that she wants you to be alone at the end.”

Solace shares all of Nazar’s memories. They are connected.

"Remember your dream?"

When the Demon King used the Dream Sphere on him, he relieved some of his worst nightmares.

"What did you ask in that dream?"

Nazar wanted someone else to get the power so he can be free.

“At the end, when there is nothing and you wish for your power to go away… I am sure that’s when she will tell you to give her the power. And guess what? You will do exactly that. Do you not see this? It was always in front of you. Throughout the many timelines, she always tries to separate you.”

Nazar was not sure what she was talking about or how she came to that conclusion. But it seemed somewhat logical to him.

“Throwing away the people around you who can somehow help you go through this much easier… You are the most pathetic man I have ever met, Nazar. You are no different than the likes of Lucifer who tried to do everything alone and failed every time.”

Nazar turned off his emotions and said, “This is different.”

“Is it though?”

“Yes.”

“Explain to me how?”

“Lucifer wanted to save the angels. But he could have asked for their help because they had powers. But these guys? They don’t. They will just be used as a way to hurt me. I am just saving myself and them in the long run.”

Solace frowned.

“I get where you are coming from, Solace… But that’s the thing, both of those routes are already set for me. If I stay with Laura, that’s a route set for me by the Nameless One. And if I throw them all aside, that’s the route set to me by that woman. What else is there?”

“Which one makes you happy?”

“...What?”

“Which route will allow you to be happy?”

“Neither. If I take the Nameless One’s route, I will only be happy for a short time. And if I take her route, I will be… Well, I don’t have to suffer in the long run, right?”

“So, you were not happy when you were with Laura?”

He kept quiet.

“You never loved her? It never felt real?”

Of course, he did. But he didn't want to admit it.

“No."

Solace clenched her fist.

"I am going to ask again…"

Nazar's emotions were forcefully turned on.

"Do you love her?"

Nazar didn't answer, of course.

Not getting an answer from him, she sighed.

"You are an idiot."

"Hm?"

"Why don't you place the same shield around her as you are going to do with your family?"

"Oh!"

Nazar's eyes widened.

He has not thought of this idea earlier.

"That can actually work!! You are a genius, Solace."

Solace facepalmed.

“You know...”

“What?”

“You had that exact thought yourself, didn’t you?”

Nazar chuckled.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Solace sighed and changed the topic.

“Anyway, what about the woman named Rina Greenphord?”

“Yes, about her… ”

Nazar stood up.

“I need to give her a visit and see if I can find something.. Anything would do.”

“Want me to come with you?”

“No...”

Nazar shook his head.

“Yes, please.”

“Now go back out there and spend some time with your family.”

Nazar sighed.

“Alri--Wah?!”

Solace placed her hand on the back of his collar and threw him through a portal.