Chapter 102

Arc 13- Public Enemy No.1 - Part 5

Friday, June 25th - Planet Wul:

The small planet known as Wul at the edge of Milky Way Galaxy is where the Galactic Council is located. The Galactic Council is an organisation created for the sole purpose of keeping the surrounding few galaxies in check.

On this technologically advanced planet, in front of a large courtroom - that could be easily mistaken for a sports stadium - Nazar slowly landed.

Nazar was wearing a black expensive suit, which had a small flag of Chochica Empire stuck to his right chest. Behind him flapped a red cape, connected to a red sash that covered his left shoulder.

He looked around himself and noticed the wary gazes of these strange alien creatures on him.

Nazar clicked his tongue.

From the stadium-like court, the handsome man with big eyes, wearing a cyan coloured armour came out. He was accompanied by Lian.

“Don’t mind them. They are...”

Baros trailed off due to not being able to continue.

“Uh, nevermind.”

Nazar rolled his eyes as he shook his head a little.

“This is going to be fun...”

Ignoring the malice around him, he took a deep breath.

The three of them then walked into the courtroom.

Everyone’s wary and malicious eyes were fixated on him, even inside the courtroom.

Inside the large courtroom, thousands of people were sitting down.

“Welcome, King Nazar. I do apologise for this...”

The tall amber coloured alien man with big black eyes - which did not have sclera. He had two large legs which resembled that of a chicken and four hands which resembled that of a monkey. He had a face like a tiger.

The large body was covered by a white cloth. All of his body was covered, except for his hands. The clothes had ancient golden decorations on it - which included a landscape of sort with animals, fields, starry sky and sun.

A dark grey scarf with similar decorations was wrapped around his long thin neck.

In one of his hands, he was holding a tablet. And in the other, he was holding hundreds of sheets of papers in it.

“Cold welcome,” said as he rubbed his two empty hands together.

“If I were them, I would do the same.”

“You are more understanding than people believe.”

“This is our first time meeting, right?”

“Ah! Yes.”

The man raised one of his hands and slapped himself very slowly on the forehead.

“Where are my manners?”

Nazar smiled stiffly in return.

“I am Val’Ikryn of the planet Wul. I will be your judge for today. I am the newly appointed Supreme Judge.”

Despite his warm smile, Nazar noticed the coldness in his voice.

“I...”

Val’Ikryn looked around nervously.

“I do not see your lawyer.”

“She is right here.”

Val’Ikryn glanced at Lian, who was wearing a black suit.

“That would be me,” Lian said as she smiled. "I did have some training in law."

“A-ah. I see. Well then, let’s go. We shall get started then.”

Val’Ikryn narrowed his eyes as he turned away from Nazar and walked towards the judge’s bench.

He sat on a big comfortable chair. He placed his tablet and sheets of papers on the table.

“Shall we begin?”

He looked around the courtroom. Receiving a nod from the spectators and the jury, Val’Ikryn smiled.

“Well then...”

With one of his right hands, he pointed at the witness seat.

“Please.”

Nazar took a deep breath and walked towards it.

He sat on the seat. To his right, it was the spectators' area and to his left was the judge’s bench. The jury was sitting opposite him.

He glanced at the familiar faces and let out a sigh.

Baros sat in the spectators’ section and Lian sat at a table which was located near Nazar’s witness seat.

With her facing the judge and with her back to the spectators’, with a stern tone, she said, “I will be doing the talking.”

“By all means, please go ahead.”

Val’Ikryn looked down at the paper before him.

“First question… Are you--”

He looked at Lian and smiled.

“Is he guilty?”

Lian forced a smile on her face and stood up.

“No, not at all.”

He placed two of his elbows on the table and held his palms together.

“And why would you say that?”

“Are you aware that there are being who exists in a place above us?”

“Angels? Of course. Lucifer laid waste to the Brot Empire with a snap of his finger. That is a moment in history that will not be forgotten.”

Lian opened her mouth, trying to ask her next question, but Val’Ikryn continued.

“And of course, the devils. This universe has had encounters with them in the past. Many.”

Lian cleared her throat.

“Are you aware of the existence of the Gods?”

Val’Ikryn thought for a moment. As he was about to speak, Lian spoke, stopping him.

“No, not the Omega People - also known as the third dimensional Gods.”

The judge looked around with conflicted feelings.

His black eyes turned white.

Nodding, he looked Lian in the eyes and said, “The Omega People are the only Gods we know.”

“As it turns out - and this is the trade secret of the Chochica Empire - higher dimensional Gods exist. They could lay waste to our universe with a mere thought.”

“I-I see,” Val’Ikryn sounded nervous. “Continue, please.”

“It was one of the Elder Gods who had a vendetta against our king, Nazar. So, when he tried to destroy time beginning at the end of time, our king fought very hard against him. With help from the angels, he managed to stop the menace.”

What she said was not 100% accurate, it was not false either.

“However, they were too late. Time is not the same as it was and some of us had to live the last few years again.”

“Then--”

“We do not know. An unknown enemy is out in the open. They are trying to push--”

“Unacceptable,” said one of the jury.

She, who resembled a dwarf, was the queen of Niansax empire.

“She tells a story that is not all true.”

Lian inhaled deeply.

“When--”

“She is correct, Lian,” said Val’Ikryn in a serious tone. “You have told us the truth. But there is some false mixed into it. Or perhaps there are some truths you don’t want to reveal.”

Nazar, with the corner of his eye, glanced at Lian.

“As you might know, the majority of us - people with certain levels of power and above - have an ability called the [Eye of Judgement].”

Eye of Judgement. It’s an ability that allows the user to learn the basics about a person or a thing they are looking at. It can reveal their history, powers, abilities, power levels, age, gender, species, and more.

However, that’s not all.

“We can tell when someone is lying. Or not telling the whole truth.”

Niansaxians don’t have such an ability. No one in their world is powerful enough to have such an ability. However, their queen has a keen sense for the truth and lies.

“Of course, secrets are different. But right now, it feels like you are keeping some truth from us.”

His eyes turned white.

He looked around the room.

“It seems others agree with me.”

His eyes turned black once more and smiled.

“So, tell us the truth.”

Lian, troubled, glanced at Nazar and he nodded.

“Under one condition,” she said with a stern look on her face.

Everyone looked at her in surprise, including Nazar.

“Turn off the broadcast. What I tell you, must remain within the walls of the court.”

“No,” Val’Ikryn replied immediately.

“Then we are done here.”

Nazar looked at Lian in a worried manner.

Snapping his finger, time froze.

“What are you doing, Lian?”

Lian noticed the frozen time and looked at Nazar in the eyes.

“They want to push us into a corner. But we need to put pressure on them too. This is a two-way street. Whoever puts more pressure on them, they win.”

“I...”

Nazar bit his lips as he tried to think.

“Don’t worry, I will make my way around it.”

“Thanks. I will do my part of the job.”

“Oh?”

“It’s a matter of perception,” Nazar said casually. “Whatever you tell them, their eye won’t be able to differentiate it.”

“I see… Then I don't have to reveal your secret.”

Nazar looked down.

"I was only going to reveal parts of it. Not the whole thing."

She pointed at her temple.

Nazar's eyes lit up with purple energy and looked inside her mind.

"Ah."

He smiled in a relieved manner.

"Then you should go with that."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded.

“I will unfreeze time.”

Nazar snapped his finger and time returned to normal.

An elf with chalk-like white skin, long golden hair and green eyes, wearing a black gown, looked at his palm.

A small holographic screen - which was only visible to him - appeared before him.

He looked at the screen and then to Nazar.

Weq, the ruler of Outox Empire noticed that the flow of time had stopped.

“Let’s go, Nazar,” Lian said as she plastered a serious look on her face. “We are done here. This--”

“No, Miss… Lian, it does not work--”

“Oh, I know how it really works. We, as contributors to this council, deserve to have our conditions met, Val’Ikryn. Unless you want us to opt-out of this agreement we have...”

Lian smiled thinly.

“You know what will happen then, right?”

A chill ran down everyone’s body.

“You will lose access to the magical side of the universe. Outsourcing magic… Heh. That’s going to be problematic.”

Magic, anyone can access it. But only a few can access the stronger forms of magic and live to tell the tale.

Anyone can use normal magic. All spells are compatible with it. However, it is the weakest form of magic. The capabilities of this form of magic are very low.

Angelic magic is only accessible by the creation of angels. Humanity and Chochicans.

Demonic magic, like normal magic, is accessible by anyone - however, most of them can’t live with such magic for even a minute. And those who survived, their soul are tainted forever.

Only a few have been able to master this form of magic - Darkness is one of the few - however, they will never play nice with the Galactic Council.

So, if Chochica Empire is not around, the Galactic Council will have no magical help or knowledge of magic. And that’s the weakness they don’t want to have.

“But...”

She smiled thinly once more as she looked at Nazar.

“Do you really want us as anything but allies?”

Val’Ikryn’s body jolted.

Everyone in this courtroom has seen Nazar in action. They know what he is capable of.

With a serious look on her face, Lian said, “So, what do you say, Lord Val’Ikryn? Are you willing to listen to our conditions, after all?”

Val’Ikryn’s eyes turned white as he looked around.

After a short while, his eyes returned to normal.

Sighing, he said, “We accept.”

Lian smiled.

“See? Wasn’t so hard.”

Val’Ikryn gestured with his finger and the broadcast was cut off.

“Please. Do tell us the truth.”

"But first, I have to know…"

Lian leaned back into her chair.

"Why are you doing this to us?"

Val’Ikryn thought about it for a minute.

"Well because he had committed a crime. A crime cannot go unpunished."

"I see… But it wasn't him who committed it."

Of course, no one believed her.

"It was his father."

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"His father was the one who "destroyed" time. Not him. In fact, he helped stop that menace."

"Hm?" Omegan, who was setting in the spectators' section, spoke to himself very slowly. "His father… Ah, I see what you are doing."

She wasn't speaking lies. She was telling the truth - to a certain degree.

People did not pick up on it because of Nazar's ability to manipulate the perception of people. They will believe what they hear.

"His father… This evil God destroyed time. It was not him. And perhaps he has returned to turn the people of this universe against him?"

Val’Ikryn looked down as he thought.

"This clearly seems like a set up by his father. This evil God--"

"Insufficient proof," said Val’Ikryn. "If you want me to consider him innocent, then you need to bring in proof. Concrete proof of who this God is and how he destroyed time. I can't consider King Nazar anything but a criminal at the moment."

"I was goi--"

"What you are saying... It is the truth. There are no lies hidden in it. However, the universe needs proof. Proof of who this evil God really is and what he has really done."

(I should have seen this coming.) Lian thought in a worried manner as she bit her thump. (Of course, they need proof. But we couldn't prepare anything and I just revealed his secret to them. But who can be used as proof? Someone who knows what happened that day. Nazar mentioned Lucifer and Michael... But they can't help us now, can they? No, the better question is, why would they help us? And even if they did, would the universe really believe them?)

Neither Michael no Lucifer has a good image in this universe. People know of their evil doings.

(Damn it. The only other person who was there was the Dragon... But we don't even know where he is. Or even if we knew him, would people ever believe him?)

After a short moment of silence, Val’Ikryn glanced at the jury section.

"King of Outox Empire, Weq. King of Duluria Empire, Hial. King of Vanaha Empire, Kiet. You are his friends, are you not?"

They nodded.

"Do you believe their story?"

These three powerful empires are ruled by friends of Nazar. They know the truth about him - most of it, anyway.

"No, let me rephrase that. Do you need more proof?"

They know Nazar and the truth, but they represent some of the largest empires.

So.

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Yes."

They said in unison.

Nazar, however, didn't budge. This is expected. They might know the truth, but their people would want proof.

"And you…"

“I believe their story,” said a tall, muscular yet feminine woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. “I have fought beside him many times. He is not evil.”

Nazar glanced at the beautiful woman in an azure coloured skirt and a top - with a large star on her (large) chest.

As she stood up in her jury seat, her red cape flapped.

"I, the Phantom Star, believe in this story. They are telling the truth."

Nazar sucked in a breath.

"I have seen him risk his life to save the innocent many times over."

"For example, when he fought against the pirate known Jina. When their firsts clashed, stars extinguished. However, Nazar kept everyone on those stars safe. Every one of them."

She gave off an aura that made everything she said believable. She gave off an aura that suggested she can’t lie.

The Phantom Star was not using any special power, it was her charisma as a royalty and her status as the greatest superhero in the universe.

However...

(I wanted to die.) Nazar thought to himself. (I wanted to see if she could kill me.)

"I know a hero when I see one. And he isn’t one of them."

(I have only saved people for my own convenience.)

Nazar felt a lot of guilt now that he was reminded of that day.

"Annihilator was going to create a singularity that would collapse the universe on itself. He fell partially thanks to Nazar."

(I wanted to fight someone who used nothing but numbers to fight. I wanted to see if he could kill me. Wanted to see if they could be a challenge.)

"Recently he freed a planet from the rogues known as the Gunslingers. Of course, you haven't heard of them, but they had an entire planet enslaved."

(...)

"Then he freed another small planet from another menace not soon after."

(When I gave the superhumans powers, I was under the influence of my other personality. But that applies here too. I wasn't in the right mind. I might not have saved them.)

"So, I believe their story. I will stand by his side in this case."

The Phantom Star looked at Nazar and smiled widely.

"He is innocent."

Nazar inhaled sharply.

His guilt-filled heavy heart started to lighten.

It was as if she washed away all of his guilt with just a smile.

"I see…" Val’Ikryn said with conflicted feelings.

The greatest hero in the universe was vouching for him.

But…

"The court will be postponed until further notice."

Lian clicked her tongue as she muttered, "He asked the jury too quickly."

"Proof is needed. Witnesses are important."

Lian glanced at Nazar. He nodded.

Sucking in a deep breath, she looked at Val’Ikryn and smiled a confident smile.

"Sure. We will see you soon."

Val’Ikryn collected his papers and started to leave the courtroom.

Everyone else started to leave the place too.

Except for a few.

Weq, Hial and Kiet stood before Nazar.

Hial, a grey-skinned tall and thin man with spikes coming out of his body, spoke, “Sorry, but I don’t think the rest of the galaxy would just let you go without further proof.”

With his pitch-black eyes which did not have sclera, glanced at the two others near him.

“Politics. You know how it is, right?”

Nazar chuckled.

“Of course. I am kind of glad you guys kept my secret.”

“I will not try to question your decision, Lian...” Kiet, the King of Vanaha Empire looked at Lian. “But was it really wise to tell them about the “evil God”? And his connection to Nazar?”

Lian thought about it for a while.

“I had to come up with something... But that could have backfired easily."

"No, she did the right thing," Nazar said in a heavy tone. "It's better they heard it from us. If they found out differently, it could have been worse. Furthermore, if we tried to lie and somehow they saw through it, it could have ended badly for us. Very badly. Telling the truth is the best option we have."

"I see..." Kiet was not sure what to think.

“But Nazar...” Weq said in somewhat of a worried tone. “How exactly did this happen?”

Nazar sighed.

“The unknown enemy I told you about?”

Weq nodded.

“I am sure it’s them. I think...”

Nazar trailed off as he thought.

(Are they buying time?) Nazar thought. (But for how long? They sent me to planet Eir and blocked most of my high tier powers… They sent me back in time in order to give up. But why? What purpose did it serve… Ah.)

Weq tilted his head in a confused manner.

(They sent me back 10 years into the past for a simple reason. I would stay there for 10 years. When it reaches “present” and starts moving in the same line as time in this universe, I wouldn’t really notice it and will stay there. And when the time comes, they will attack me… right?)

Seeing how Nazar was spacing out, Weq let out a sigh.

(That seems like the only plausible explanation. Are they… They are aiming for a specific time frame.)

Nazar’s eyes widened.

(It is always between February or March of 2021 and August 2021… Why is that?)

Nazar slumped over the table as he let out a heavy sigh.

"Ugh, this is such a pain..."

Hial laughed.

"Well, good luck with it."

And so, the three kings left.

After a short while, Nazar felt someone coming towards him, so he raised his head.

Seeing the beautiful superhero Phantom Star walking towards him, Nazar took a deep breath and stood up.

Nazar's lips curled into a smile.

"Thanks, princess."

"It is my durty, after all. Truth and justice."

"And the American way?"

Ignoring Nazar's joke, Phantom Star smiled as she leaned forward and…

"?"

She kissed him.