Chapter 114

Arc 13- Public Enemy No.1 - Part 16

Back in Universe Prime, Nazar left Mars and went to Earth.

Appearing in his room at his parent’s house, Laura was sitting at the desk in the room and using her phone.

Without looking up, she spoke, “Where did you go?”

“Mars.”

With an excited look on her face, she looked at him in reflex.

“Why is Mars more exciting of an idea to you than me ruling over an alien empire?”

She shrugged while smiling playfully.

“Oh yeah,” her smile faded. “I think your brother was looking for you.”

Nazar’s expression turned gloomy.

“What does he want now?” he groaned.

“Your brother is nice, don’t be so gloomy.”

Nazard scoffed.

“Just don’t fall in love with him,” he said jokingly. “I heard girls like nice guys. He is nice and handsome, haha. More handsome than me, anyway.”

However, she did not take it as a joke, which caused his smile to vanish and clear his throat nervously.

“I have been meaning to ask you a few questions. What Aarin said about you and… Um...”

She looked around in a confused manner as she tried to remember what Aarin had said to her a while ago.

“Aarin said something that you subconsciously manipulate how others see you. You make yourself appear… less attractive to them.”

Nazar widened his eyes.

(Huh? I do?) Nazar thought to himself in a surprised manner. (I mean someone did mention it a long time ago, but… Is it really true?)

“Is that true?”

He shook his head.

“I don’t think so.”

(Of course, you wouldn’t realise it.) Laura thought to herself. (Ah.)

“Okay, how about… How attractive do you think you are?”

Confused, he tilted his head to the right a little.

“Odd question to ask… But around average, if I am being nice to myself.”

She stared at him blankly.

“Take off your shirt.”

“Umm...”

“Please?”

Seeing the serious look in her eyes, he did as she asked and took off his shirt slowly.

Once she saw his well-built body (for the hundredth time), Laura’s serious expression slowly melted into an excited one.

Whistling, she said, “Thanks for the food.”

“Hm?”

She quickly wiped her almost drooling mouth with the back of her hand.

Clearing her throat, she straightened her posture.

“You are pretty insecure about your looks, aren’t you?” she said bluntly.

“I am no--”

“Come on now, really?”

“Well… Yeah.”

She stood up and pushed him on the bed.

Sitting down on the bed, he wondered what was going on.

“I know you look down on yourself, but I want to tell you something...”

Laura placed her hands on his cheeks.

“I love you.”

“I know that,” he sounded confused yet serious. “And I love you too.”

“So, I want you to stop looking down on yourself. Just be you.”

“...”

“You might think you are a four out of ten, but just know, that you will always be my ten out of ten.”

She looked up and smiled to herself proudly.

“Huh, that’s a pretty good pick up line.” However, her proud look soon vanished with a gloomy one. “But cringy. Very, very cringy.”

Putting that aside, she looked down at Nazar once more.

Seeing the never-changing confused look on his face, she let out a sigh.

Smiling nervously, she said, “I didn’t mean to make it sound so… I don’t know, weird.”

Laura cleared her throat once more.

“Anyywayyyyyy, I wanted to talk to you about this a while ago… And sorry for ruining your jokey mode,” she scratched her cheek nervously. “I will try not to ruin your jokey mode for the next few days. So… Sorry.”

He looked down.

“Thanks,” he smiled an honest smile. “It means a lot.”

(What means a lot? My apology? My compliment?) She thought to herself in an agitated manner, while still showing a smile on her face. (DON’T TALK SOOO LITTLE!)

She thought very seriously about finding the right word which would fit in both situations.

(I am sure he meant to say thank you for my compliment-- Wait, that’s not really a compliment, is it? He is actually fucking hot. Wayyyyy too hot. Wait but then… Oh well.)

Nazar did not notice how hard she was thinking about it.

(Anytime… Anytime what? Hmm… Ah!)

However, from her mouth, came out a gentle word, “No problem.”

(Aaahhhh. No problem what? But that is fitting... Wait, why am I struggling with my English today of all days.)

Residing within her were conflicting feelings.

She knew how she was feeling but did not want to admit.

Putting that aside, she leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

(Ahh, this feels nice. Just perfect.)

She moved her lips away from his lips and smiled widely at him.

“I like you better when you are not beating yourself up. It’s easier to tease you or flirt with you.”

He smiled back at her.

The shirt in his hand started to disintegrate and then reform around his body.

“Why did you make me take off my shirt?”

“To stare at it. It’s a turn-on.”

He stared at her blankly for a moment before saying, “Alright then.”

“Annnd because I had a horrible idea. It was stupid.”

"Hmm."

Seeing how he was looking at her, she realised he won't let it go unless she answers.

"Well… I thought I would tell you "oh look at your body. It's sexy." But then I realised how dumb that idea is. It sounded good in my head at that time, okay?"

She seemed quite flustered and embarrassed about it, so he smiled.

"Anyway, what was the second question?"

"Hm? Oh."

However, she quickly threw away her embarrassment and with her usual look, she smiled sternly.

“About the...”

On his birthday, she found out that Nazar had cheated on her a few months earlier. He also said something which he could not hear. So, she wanted to know more about the cheating incident and what he was talking about back then.

Laura wanted to talk to Nazar about it today and that was the main reason she was waiting for him today.

But seeing how Nazar was smiling carefreely, she skipped that question and moved on to the next one.

(I will leave that to tomorrow me.)

“I have been meaning to ask you for a while this now… You know how you never really take initiative in anything… Are you by any chance holding back on me?”

Nazar was not sure what she meant by that, so he thought about it. Although Laura could see the nervous look in his eyes, which he was trying to hide.

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s see...”

She took a deep breath.

“You don’t take the initiative in doing anything… Kissing, or sleeping, or going outside… or anything. So, are you holding back on me?”

He shook his head slowly.

But Laura did not accept his answer.

“I am--!!”

Nazar’s eyes widened.

“Did Solace say anything?”

Without any hesitation, she nodded with her eyes.

“Yes, she also told me how you used to have anxiety.”

“I see...” Nazar averted his gaze and looked outside the window with complex feelings.

He walked towards the window.

Not sure how to feel about the question she asked, Laura smiled nervously as she looked down and tried to speak.

“Sor--”

Nazar raised his hand, stopping her.

“Don’t. I don’t really like it when people apologize to me,” he scratched the back of his head slowly and laughed bitterly. “It’s kind of my job, haha.”

“???”

“Anyway… She isn’t wrong.”

Which caused her to raise her head in an anxious manner.

“Can I be honest?”

“Y-yes,” she replied, waiting in anticipation for his answer.

“There is so much I want to do with you. Kiss you, hug you… Do so much more. But...”

He looked down as he trailed off.

“She told you about my anxiety, right?”

Laura nodded her head.

Although he wasn’t looking at her, he could tell that she nodded because he sensed the air breaking apart vertically.

“It’s not as bad as it used to be, but…”

He paused momentarily as he bit his lip.

“You don’t want to make me feel uncomfortable?” she finished the sentence he didn’t have the courage to finish.

Nazar was feeling conflicted about telling her that he is holding back on her. He didn't want Laura to beat herself over it since it was his problem, not hers.

Although, he thought wrong.

"Seriously?"

With slight hesitation, he nodded.

“Why?”

“I don’t know, I just don’t want to be too clingy. Some people don’t really like it apparently, so I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

He took another short pause before continuing.

“It’s hard to tell for me what other people are feeling without using my power. I can’t tell what they are feeling, or what they are thinking, or what they want. Or what they don’t want… I just can’t get the timing right. So, that’s why--”

He turned around to look at her, but she was standing in front of him and placed her hand on his mouth, causing him to cut off his sentence.

“You really don’t need to worry about that with me.”

She smiled an honest and happy smile.

“So, whenever you want to hug me or kiss me or whatever you want to do… Just do it. I like it.”

Nazar smiled nervously.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. If I am sad or angry, kisses and hugs make me feel better. So, don’t hold back.”

“What if you are already feeling better?”

Laura stared at Nazar momentarily with an expression which said; “Dude seriously?”

Even then, she answered his question.

“Then I will feel extra better.”

“Hmm,” Nazar’s eyes lit up with blue energy for an instant.

Noticing that, she felt a little annoyed, “Don’t calculate it!”

Which caused Nazar to laugh.

“I have given up on calculating emotions and magic a long time ago...”

She was relieved.

“Which is why I invented a new form of mathematics. Specially made to analyse magic and emotions with numbers.”

Annoyed, Laura groaned.

“Don’t worry, I don’t use it. I only let Solace-- Hm?”

Nazar’s eyes lit up for a split second.

(Magic…? No, it’s something else. Something… Cosmic? Hm, what could it be…?)

Then he finally remembered what he did at the beginning of the year.

He created superhumans, but he also created two artefacts. One magical and the other cosmic.

Five months from now, ten random people will gain superpowers. Two others will find artefacts. One artefact is magic based and the other is cosmic based. The artefacts might be found earlier or very later. Who knows.

(I will need to check them out soon.)

Laura was staring at him with a confused look on her face.

“I hope you aren’t sleeping with your eyes lit up.”

“Haha, no. I just felt something so I was trying to look for it. But it’s gone now. It was there just for a split second.”

“Oh,” she was not sure how to reply. His world is still too far from her.

Although it will make anyone feel inferior, Laura did not feel like that. She didn’t feel inferior.

In fact, deep down, she felt another emotion, which she didn’t show on her face.

Pride.

In a world with so many powerful beings, he loves her. Which made her very happy.

“There was a surge of energy for a moment. Everything is fine.”

She shot a sceptical smile at him, “...I see.”

“There shouldn’t be a problem, but if there is… Don’t worry, you will survive it.”

“Hm?” Laura tilted her head to the right a little in a confused manner.

“I placed a barrier around you.”

Nazar’s finger twitched and Laura noticed a faint glow around her.

“UHHHHHHHH?!?”

For a second, she was scared.

Nazar couldn’t help but chuckle at her rather cute reaction.

“Anyway, this will keep you safe from any problem. Even if the multiverse was to be destroyed, you will be safe.”

“Huh?”

She relaxed her shoulders and took a deep breath.

Then with a smug look on her face, she said, “So, I am one of the most powerful people around, huh?”

“Well…”

However, she did not pay any heed to Nazar.

Instead, she started to realise something.

Seeing her expression become very serious, Nazar started to worry a little.

“That energy within me,” she placed her right hand on her chest as she looked down at it, “I always had it within me, right?”

Nazar nodded.

“I see...” Laura said with a distant look in her eyes as she thought very seriously about it.

He started to worry, so he tried to speak but Laura lifted up her top, revealing her belly, which caused Nazar a lot of confusion.

“I haven’t been to the gym in a very long time, but my body is still in perfect shape. I still have my six-packs.”

Laura's body might not be as muscular as Aarin's but she has a pretty well-toned body.

“...Oh?” Nazar’s eyes lit up with white energy as he analysed her body.

“I have been eating junk food most of my life, but it never affected me. And I don’t get fatigued mentally or physically as much.”

“Since when?”

“All my life,” she replied immediately.

“Hmm,” Nazar’s eyes returned to normal. “I see. So, that’s what it is.”

Laura fixed her top and looked at Nazar.

“I think the energy within you is keeping you at your best health and shape. The food you intake, that energy burns it immediately to keep you in a perfect state… Ah!”

“Hm?”

“Have you ever gotten ill?”

Laura crossed her left arm around her chest and with her right hand, she held her chin.

“Now that I think about it… Never.”

"Hm-- Wait," he remembered something. "I remember you said you can't go out with us because you were and I quote "Very, very, very ill. I have a cold and my body hurts all over. Also, I think I might be dying." Those were your exact words."

She averted her gaze as she tried to whistle.

"If you didn't want to hang out with us, you didn't have to lie."

"Wh-whatever you mean?"

Nazar frowned.

“Anyway, I was right. It keeps you physically perfect.”

She let out a sigh of relief.

“Well, I never have to worry about getting fat, haha.”

“Well, I guess the Nameless One did something good for once...” he said slowly.

Nazar slowly trailed off as he remembered what the Nameless One had done to his and Laura’s emotions in the original timeline, so he swallowed his saliva in a remorseful manner.

“Anyway, setting that aside… What do you think of my clothes?” she spread her arms wide.

He examined her from top to bottom and then said, “It looks nice.”

Laura stood on her tiptoes, stared at him closely and smiled playfully, “Hmm? Hm? Did no one ever teach you how to compliment a girl? Hmm?”

Nazar averted his gaze in a nervous manner.

“W-well...”

He lowered his head and shoulders in a gloomy manner.

"Aarin never thought I will get a girlfriend."

"Haha," she burst into laughter.

Nazar rolled his eyes at that.

“Do as I tell you.”

Nazar nodded.

“When you see a girl dressed up nicely, you wrap your right arm around her back, pull her in, hold her right hand with your left hand, look her in the eyes and then say, “You look gorgeous, m’lady”. That’s… pft… that’s...”

Laura burst into laughter again once she noticed how serious Nazar looked and how stiff his movements were.

“O-okay that’s… haha…” she paused for a moment to finish laughing. “That’s not going to work.”

Nazar was not sure what to say, so he just smiled stiffly.

“Anyway, so what do you think of my clothes?” she spread her arms wide.

Nazar examined from top to bottom again.

“If you manage to give a proper compliment, I will give you something nice in return tonight,” she smiled a seductive smile as she winked.

“...”

“Take your time and come up with a worthy compliment. I am going now.”

He did not say anything but just stared at her for a while as he thought very hard about it.

She turned around and looked away.

“I know you are going through a lot and you are fighting someone with an insane amount of powers… But once this is over, I expect a lot in return.”

“...”

“Kisses, hugs, dates, or anything like that... Or having fun in general like watching things together or playing something. Sooo much more in return, okay?”

Focus on the now. Live your life in the now. Leave those dark futures to the time when it comes.

He remembered what Arael had told him.

“Sure.”

Nazar smiled lightly in a relieved manner.

“Look forward to it.”

“Okay.”

Laura started to walk away and leave the room with a smile on her face.

“Angela was going to show me around the laboratory behind your home, so--”

But Nazar held her hand, which caused her to trail off.

Pulling her in, he hugged tightly her from the back.

With a surprised look on her face, she slowly turned around and looked at Nazar.

“Want to go somewhere tonight?”

Her surprised look was replaced by a confused one.

“Anywhere you want. Just me and you.”

A cheerful smile appeared on her face.

“Yes, let’s."

Nazar let out a sigh of relief.

As he started to think about what they will do tonight, he remembered something.

"Ah."

Something he wanted to ask earlier but forgot momentarily.

"What happened at the interview? Did you get the job?"

The 20 days they spend on Bradley Island is a chance for them to meet the organisations who want them. There, they decide where to work for the next few years, or even for the rest of their lives.

"Oh, yes. I had many offers, so at the end, I went with Bradley Con… Congr…"

Her excited and proud look was replaced by a confused and frustrated one.

"God, I hate that word."

"Conglomerates."

"Yes, that shitty word."

She shook her head and let out a sigh as she cursed the person who first used this word.

"Anyway, I got the job."

"Ah, that's great," he smiled. "You are going to be a researcher from the start or…?"

She shook her head as she let out another exasperated sigh.

"I wish," she sounded defeated. "Even with a PhD, I have to be an assistant researcher for years before I can do things of my own."

"I see… Well, at least you won't be jobless like me," he smiled bitterly as he remembered the current situation on this planet.

"At least you have an empire to run. So that's something, I guess."

"True."

With a gloomy expression, she said, "Lucky you, you don't have to wear a suit for the rest of your life."

"Suit…."

He slowly trailed off.

"Suit?!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"What's with the… overly excited--"

She trailed off as she moved away from him.

Standing face to face, she shook her head and arms and said, "No, no, no."

"But I haven't even--"

"I am not wearing a suit in front of you."

"I ne-never said that you should wear it."

Nazar averted his gaze nervously as he slowly scratched his right cheek with his index finger.

"But if you want to…"

His suggestive smile vanished before it was even formed when Laura immediately rejected his proposal.

"Nuh-uh."

With his shoulders drooped, in a gloomy tone, he said, "Fine."

"Is that your fetish?" she stared at him in a curious manner.

"Well… It's one of them."

She was slightly surprised, but also very curious.

"So, what's the other one?"

"..."

He tried to dodge the question but Laura's stares made him change his mind.

"Cosplay."

Laura was taken a little back by that.

"I-I see..."

Seeing the complex expression on her face, which had hints of disgust and a little pride, Nazar wanted to turn it around.

"So, what's yours?"

Now it was her turn to try and dodge the question.

But seeing how Nazar was not going to give up, she sighed.

“Your red glowing eyes,” she said slowly.

“Uhhh…? That’s it?”

She shook her head.

"... And foreplay," she looked away and smiled stiffly.

Nazar's mouth curled into a crescent moon seductive smile.

"Heh."

လလလ

The next day, Nazar went to his apartment in London.

“Aiya.”

Aiya is another AI created by Nazar. Its purpose is mostly to work as a database, but it does have a few extra features.

“- Yes, Master. What can I do for you? -”

“Anything on Solace?”

Recently, Nazar added a specific feature that searched for Solace around the multiverse.

“- I am afraid, I have found nothing. -”

He narrowed his eyes.

“Damn it!”

Nazar has been trying his best to look for her without using his higher levels of power.

“There is no other choice then...”

He took a deep breath.

(Activate: [Nigh-Omnipresence] and [Nigh-Omniscience].)

Nigh-Omnipresence. An ability that allows the user to be almost everywhere at once, that includes the past, present and the future.

Nigh-Omniscience. An ability that allows the user to know almost everything there is.

(Focus: Solace.)

Unlike most, Nazar can modify his powers. He can choose how powerful the ability has to be and what it exactly needs to do to avoid his mind overloading with unnecessary information.

(Range...)

He hesitated to assign range for the powers he activated.

He has already looked for her in this Ultraverse and has not found anything.

And since Emily told him about the existence of other Ultraverse, he thinks that she might be taken into another place.

However, he isn’t sure what he will do if he finds her in another Ultraverse.

But more than that, he is worried that he might see more than he is willing to. Not all places operate in the same way.

So, he is worried it might not work in the same way and he will see things he wishes he hadn’t.

If he sees more than he wants to, the information that enters his mind will get too much and could cause him a lot of harm.

Even then, he took another deep breath as he clenched his fist tight.

(Range: omniverse.)

His eyes lit up brightly with white energy.

Nigh-omnipresence and nigh-omniscience are some of the most powerful abilities in existence. He should be able to find anyone with these powers.

However, he gasped as he fell to his knees.

Finding it hard to breathe, he raised his right hand to massage his throat.

(Wh-what is this?)

Nazar has used these powers many times before, but this is the first time he is experiencing something like this.

(This pain and suffering… It’s worse than what Aarin did… It’s as if the pain and suffering of the entire…)

He swallowed his saliva, trying to wet his dry throat.

(Just a little… Come one… Where are you?)

He fell to the ground while groaning in pain.

“- Master? Is something wrong? -”

(Just a...)

The light in his eyes vanished.

With drools coming out his mouth, he lost consciousness.

His lifeless body was lying on the floor with open eyes.

“- Master? -”

If someone saw him, they would think he is as good as dead.

“- Are you still there? -”

Unlike Solace, Aiya was built differently.

Aiya’s sole function is to be a database, with some minor features like teleportation, technology manipulation, and communication.

So, it can’t tell if something is wrong with Nazar and can’t help him in any way.

Solace would have healed him or helped him in some way, but Aiya doesn’t have the power to help him nor does she have any way of knowing what’s going on with him. And even if she did, she isn’t developed in a way to help him in this situation.

“- What is your next command? -”

There was silence in the room for a few seconds.

“- If there are no more commands, I will return to my normal duties. -”

And so, Aiya’s voice vanished too.

“Heh,” giggled someone as they appeared out of thin air.

Crouching next to his body, with a thin smile, he spoke.

“How does it feel, God?”

His demonic yet divine voice caused the universe to shake, reality to go out of control, and time to stop moving at its correct rate.

“Does it feel good? Does it feel good to see how terrible your creation is doing? Does it feel good to know that you are the worst God ever?”

The person chuckled disappointedly.

“Leaving that aside…”

He narrowed his crimson eyes.

”I told you, you need to be ready. You need to be ready for the enemy. I told you to be ready for &S£@? but you haven’t, have you? All you did is waste time looking for someone whom you couldn’t find.”

The person gritted his teeth.

“Why would you waste all that time looking for me, when you could have gotten more powerful?”

He clenched his fist.

“I gave you all that time to try and increase your power and yet you wasted all that time, looking for me. Do you understand how big of a mistake you made, God?”

He stood up.

“Damn it! Why did you have to become such a major failure?”

Then he remembered something, which caused his angry expression to change and be replaced by a self-loathing one.

“I should have gambled on someone else.”