Chapter 134

Arc 14 - Absolute Wish - Part 17

Bradley Isle:

Eddie walked closer to the innocent civilians which were caught up in the battle between Gods on this island. They were normal students and teachers, here on a vacation.

But everything went horribly wrong when the island was first sucked into a pocket universe and then nearly destroyed along with the world.

While Lucifer did not let that happen, these innocent people are still horrified.

So, Eddie wanted to console them.

“Is everyone okay?”

The civilian looked behind him and at Nazar who was floating a little farther away.

They had seen him throw around the buildings like it was nothing.

But right now, he was recreating them as nothing had happened.

“If you are hurt, let me know. I can heal you.”

There was nothing but silence in return.

So, he decided to heal them anyway. Perhaps they are too terrified to even speak?

Alrighty then...

He released a burst of green energy, healing everyone just in case they were hurt.

“Just to let you know, I am sorry about what happened to all of you. Is there anything I can do to make up for it?”

*Crickets*

He was ignored again.

They didn’t reply for two reasons. One, they were in shock. And two, their eyes were fixated on the world being built around them.

The sight they were seeing was simply inhumane.

Some of them knew Nazar for years but they were seeing a new side of him which left them in shock.

Did they ever know this person?

The answer they arrived at was; no, they never knew him.

Nazar finished rebuilding the world and walked closer to them.

Snapping his fingers, a giant portal appeared above the group of people.

“I am sorry about what happened today. This place might bring in bad memories, so I will send you back to London,” he spoke slowly, but everyone heard him. “Your belongings will be there, waiting for you when you come out of the portal.”

Still dumbfounded, the portal swallowed them and sent them to London, where the university was located.

That's it? Eddie's eye twitched in annoyance.

“Well, that could have ended better, no?”

Eddie turned around and let out a heavy sigh.

“Indeed. I should have been ready for something like this, but instead… I wasn’t able to predict it.”

“Not to say the fault lies within you but… You moved from ‘let me try to defuse the bomb’ to ‘let the bomb explode in my face’ type.”

Nazar glanced down as he thought.

“You know, you might wanna change that a little.”

He nodded.

“Yeah, sure...”

Both of them floated from the ground and flew through the air.

“I should make a few changes, huh?”

“Oh yes. A lot of changes.”

His quick response made Nazar chuckle.

“Leaving that aside, what’s up with your magic?”

Eddie paused for a brief moment as he thought. He hated that Nazar changed the topic too quickly, but for now, he let it aside.

“A few days ago, I, uh, unlocked a new form of magic.”

“Ehhh?” he pouted his lip in a confused manner as he squinted his left eye. “The fuck is going on in this world these days?”

Eddie shrugged.

“I am as confused as you are.”

“And what happened with those superhumans?”

“They are the same as usual… but learning. Learning new techniques and stuff. So, that’s good.”

Nazar nodded.

“And thissss is where I live.”

It would take hours for normal people to reach from the island to London, but these two were not normal people.

“Oh yeah, I came here before. This place is biiiiiiiiiiig!”

The two of them landed in front of the house.

Eddie walked in front of him but Nazar stopped moving as he started to think about what happened today.

His heart was full of sadness and regret and disappointment.

I made a promise with her today. I told her that I won’t kill anyone, but I couldn’t keep that. Was that all it was worth to me?

He glanced down at himself.

Is that all I am worth as a person?

What kind of worth does a person have who go against the promises they made?

This home...

He looked at the large house before him.

It was nothing special as a building, but it held a lot of meaning to this man right now. Especially those that lived within it.

Can I always come to this home? Will they always welcome me with open arms?

“Hmm, what’s going on here?” Eddie spoke to him, but Nazar was thinking hard, so he couldn’t hear him.

Even…

Even with blood dripping from my hands?

Even though I killed trillions today?

When will they give up on me? When will they...

In anger, he bit his tongue very hard, he tasted blood.

How far will their unconditional love go? How long will they love me? Or… At some point, I won’t be able to come to this home unless I change… but do I want to change? Or should I change?

Images of his entire life flashed before him.

People tell me I have changed, but what part of me? Eyes? Hair? Face? What has changed? I feel no different than I did years ago, decades ago, centuries ago. Which part of me are they talking about?

“Hey!” Eddie called out to him loudly. “Something is wrong.”

Nazar noticed the tremors in the ground and saw cracks in the house.

His heart skipped a beat.

As star-shaped bright light appeared, he vanished from Eddie’s sight and went to the back of the house, where he found Phantom Star.

Seeing her, he was sure that his family wasn’t harmed in any way, so he let out a sigh of relief.

လလလ

After a few short moments, Phantom Star left for the stars.

Aeron, Angela and Laura were staring at the sky after her.

“So, who is she?”

Nazar was confused at Angela’s question.

“A...”

While rubbing his chin, he thought about their relationship.

Were they friends? Allies?

What exactly was their relationship?

He could not come up with the right answer, so he chose the easy way out.

“A friend, I guess?”

“It’s his lover,” Eddie spoke from behind him with a thin cynical smile.

Everyone, including Nazar, looked at him in reflex.

“Dude!” surprised, Nazar shouted out, with questioning and somewhat annoyed and angry expression.

“I am joking,” Eddie giggled. "But I am not wrong," he added with a shrug.

Scratching his temple, Nazar turned around and faced the three of them, especially Laura.

“It’s not what it sounds like.”

“First I find out you are a criminal and now this… So, disappointing!” Aeron shook his head.

“WHAT? THAT’S-- Ugh!” Nazar groaned. “Nevermind.”

He looked back at Eddie.

“Fuck you, bitch.”

In return, Eddie grinned thinly.

He faced them again and started explaining.

“It’s not like that, don’t worry.”

“What about the demon girl then?” Angela added, teasing him.

Nazar froze in his place with a stiff smile.

“I can’t believe you let a succubus steal your virginity,” Eddie shook his head, almost looking disappointed.

He was feeling a little down, so he wanted to make fun of Nazar to start feeling better.

“Oh yeah,” Nazar looked at Eddie with a thin smile, “didn’t you lose yours to a--”

Eddie moved at his fastest speed and covered Nazar’s mouth.

“Blahs lah lah blah!! He isn’t talking about anything importanttttt,” he shouted out, pleading for Nazar to shut up. "Now, shut up!"

The three of them stared at them disgustedly.

“There is something fundamentally wrong with the two of you,” Aeron said as he walked past Nazar and Eddie.

Angela shook her as she walked past them too.

“Mmph!”

Nazar forcefully removed Eddie’s hand from his mouth.

“I will kill you one of these days.”

Eddie wrapped one arm around Nazar’s shoulder and spoke while looking down on him.

“You can’t live without me, bro. You love me too much.”

“Ugh,” Nazar rolled his eyes.

“Are you two...” Laura spoke in a flat tone with a suspicious smile. “Are you two gay?”

Eddie and Nazar glanced at each other with confused looks on their faces.

“Are you?”

“Are you?”

Both asked each other in unison.

“No.”

“No.”

And both denied it unison as they shook their head.

Then they looked at Laura and said in unison, “No.”

“Oh good--”

Eddie smiled thinly and kissed Nazar on the left cheek.

Let's see your reaction, Eddie thought.

Laura ogled her eyes at them in a confused manner.

“...What the...?”

Both Nazar and Eddie giggled.

“Is it not normal to show this much intimacy with your best friend?” Nazar asked a genuine question.

Laura shook her head.

“Not that I know of...”

“Odd. It’s rather normal in most cultures I have come across.”

“Same, but we know how weird Earth can be.”

Both Eddie and Nazar nodded their heads, agreeing.

“Say, Laura, do you kiss your friend on the cheek?”

To Eddie’s question, Laura answered, “Why yes, of course,” without any hesitation.

Nazar and Eddie looked at each other as they nodded disappointingly.

“You were right, Nazar, Earth is weird.”

“I know, right?”

Laura shook her head furiously.

“Anyway, it’s really good to finally meet you again,” she smiled at Eddie.

In the old world, they knew each other. Although not as well as Nazar knew Eddie, but they were friends. Laura was one of the first friends Eddie made. And vice versa.

“Me too,” he smiled back at her. “I am sorry about what happened to you.”

Laura’s smile vanished as a confused expression took over her face.

“What happened…?”

“Oh, falling in love with this potato,” he pointed at Nazar with his index finger.

“......Shut up or else I will throw you to another universe.”

Eddie moved away his hand and stood in front of Nazar.

Clasping his hands together, he begged, “Please, please, please, not again! PLEASE!!”

Nazar sighed.

Nazar wanted to tell him that she is the one he saved today by stabbing the Queen. However, he did not want that gloomy atmosphere to return, so he kept quiet about it.

“Now go away, I need to clear some things with her. Because OF YOU, you dumbass!”

Eddie rolled his eyes in annoyance, “Sure, sure. I don’t want to be a third wheel either.”

Nazar repeated his words silently with a silly face.

“We could have been a dope trinity of friends but you two couldn’t keep it in your pants,” he breathed out exasperatedly. “Disgusting! Fie on your relationship!”

“I think he is jealous,” Laura teased.

“Me? Jealous? Never!”

"He is," Nazar agreed with Laura, causing Eddie to groan.

Eddie slowly floated away.

“Alright, alright, alright! I will leave you two behind and find myself a new trinity.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“What even makes sense to you?” Eddie spoke in a mocking tone.

“Yeah, yeah, go away now,” he chuckled.

“Ah, before I go, meet me in-- I will think of the place later, but be free on Friday.”

Nazar was confused but he nodded anyway, “Alright.”

Once Eddie was gone, Nazar looked at Laura.

“There is nothing between me and that girl, Phantom Star.”

Seeing how serious he was, she giggled while covering her mouth with her hand.

“I know.”

Nazar placed his hand on his heart and breathed out a sigh of relief.

Or he meant to breathe out a sigh but instead, he felt intense pain in his chest.

However, he did his best not to show it on his face.

“So, who is she really?”

“She is Phantom Star, the greatest hero in the universe at the moment,” he spoke as if it was something obvious.

“No, no,” Laura shook her head. “What is she to YOU?”

“Ohhh… Nothing, really. Just someone who helped me and vice versa over the years.”

“That’s it?” she brought her face closer to his and probed him very carefully.

He averted his gaze.

“Maybe she had a thing for me once… I think.”

His tone was rather gloomy, so she figured out what the reason was.

She pretended to not notice it, so she kissed him on the right cheek.

“Well, nothing can be done about that no, is there?”

“Well, I could always...”

He was going to suggest changing her emotions, but then he remembered what happened last time with Emily, so he swallowed his saliva in guilt.

“Nothing can be done about it, unfortunately,” he spoke in an almost broken voice.

“What’s with your voice?”

Her usual sweet voice and smile caused him to feel even more guilty.

After all, the reason they love each other is that their emotions were manipulated by an elder god.

He always wondered, what kind of life would Laura have led if she never got involved with him?

Would it have been good? Or bad?

Is he a curse in her life or a blessing?

She tapped him on the right chest with the back of her hand.

“Anyway, come. Fix the house,” she spoke as she walked past him.

“Al-alright.”

He cleared his throat and followed her.

“You are fitting rather well in the house.”

“I know, right? Maybe I should replace you as a member of this house.”

“Well, I guess it can use one extra member. Shouldn’t be a problem, it’s really big anyway.”

She paused and looked back with an awestruck smile.

He could see a hint of surprise on her face too.

“Was that...”

For some reason, she turned her back to him and walked towards home a little faster.

He tilted his head to the right slightly in confusion as he watched her enter the house.

“Hm?”

Well, at least she is feeling happy, still confused, he thought. Oh well...

He swept his hand grandly through the air and restored the house to its perfect shape.

လလလ

Inside the living room of the house, Nazar saw Emma sitting on the sofa, still feeling somewhat fearful. Their mother, Aya, was holding her tightly.

“Are you hurt?” he sat next to her on the sofa’s arm.

“No,” she shook her head, still looking down. “But that sound it made… Is this how it always is?”

Nazar leaned back into the sofa.

“Most of the time. There are many monsters but trust me, they won’t cause you any harm. I did mention a barrier to you, right?”

Emma nodded.

“That thing can protect you even if the universe is destroyed. So, don’t worry about small monsters like that, okay?” he patted her on the head as if she was a child.

In his left hand, he produced a dark device.

“Here, always hold onto this. It will provide you with extra protection just in case the other one fails, which it won’t, but better be safe than sorry, eh?”

Emma took the device and looked at it.

“Isn’t this like those clothes thingy you have?”

“Not quite. You said you did not want it, so I made you this. This provides you with multiple shields that protect you on multiple fronts.”

"Like?"

"Hmm," Nazar thought about it for a minute. "From cosmic energies, very cold, very hot, telepathy, and nobody can harm your soul. In case you forget the bracelet, then this should also protect you from someone messing with your fate and future."

“I see,” she seemed impressed.

"Actually..."

He took it back and Emma looked like a child who lost her toy.

"One second."

His eyes lit up with blue energies for a split second.

"Now you don't need to hold onto it always. It should protect you no matter where you are."

Before handing her the device, he held it between both of his hands.

As he retracted his hands away, a similar device had appeared. He had cloned it with the exact same abilities and features.

“Here, mom. It's designed to your... For the lack of a better term, your DNA.”

“Thanks,” she took the device from him and looked at it. “But you did not have to. I don't think I would need it.”

“It’s no trouble, so don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks again,” Aya nodded, thankfully. “Anyway, I hope another monster doesn't attack again any time soon.”

The concerned words of his mother were engraved deeply within him.

He should have been more careful than he already was.

“Don’t worry, I will erect a giant shield around this house that will protect you no matter what.”

I should have done it when Absolute Wish was in use… But I guess I will have to do with my “Godly” powers.

Nazar inhaled through his nose as he straightened himself.

“Don’t be alarmed when I fall to the ground.”

Both of them squint their eyes in a confused manner.

“Decipher the laws of science, magic and logic...”

A white glow surrounded Nazar.

It was so bright, Emma and Aya had to raise their hands to cover their eyes.

“「Void Calamaty」!”

He extended his arm forward.

“「Ultimate Nullification」.”

A huge invisible shield appeared around the house.

A perfect force field that will protect this house no matter what happens to the world or the universe. It will protect it from anyone and anything with hostile intentions.

Return to normal.

The white glow vanished from Nazar’s body as he fell to the ground.

“Ahh! What the…?”

Emma rushed to his side and noticed he was unconscious.

“Mom, do something!”

Unlike Emma, Aya was very calm.

She sat behind him on his knees. Picking up his head slowly, she gently rested it on her knees.

“Give him CPR or something,” Emma spoke anxiously.

“CPR isn’t always good. Sometimes, it can cause problems rather than being helpful.”

This was the first time Emma heard about it, so she was very surprised.

Aya held a finger to Nazar’s nose.

“Hm, he is still breathing. So, that’s good.”

“Then?” Emma looked at Nazar and then Aya a few times with a worried look in her eyes.

“I don’t know… What does it mean for him to...? I do not know. I have never seen him become unconscious.”

“So-- So, what are you going to do then?”

“Just wait and see.”

“Mom...”

“What?”

“Aren’t you a biologist who excels in… in… What was that again?”

“Genetics, cell and molecular biology.”

“So, can’t you help him?”

Aya slowly shook her head, “No, I cannot. He needs to recover on his own. He did say that we did not need to worry. So, we should just wait.”

A thought ran through Emma's head. What if they take him to the hospital?

But she quickly threw it away.

There is no way a hospital be of any help.

“I see... We should wait.”

They did not have to wait for long.

“Huff. Huuuu,” Nazar suddenly opened his eyes as he gasped for breath.

The worried look on Emma’s face vanished as she breathed a sigh of relief.

He scratched his eyes as he tried to sit up, but he felt his head being pulled down.

“!!”

With his head resting on his mother’s lap, he was confused.

A bewildered smile spread across his face.

“Hm?”

“Just rest for now.”

“What…” he did not understand the reasons behind her actions, but he did not object to it.

“So, tell me about your day. What happened?”

"Long…"

For a moment, he wondered, should he tell her that he killed trillions of people today?

Restarting creation… I am glad it worked. Or else it would have been worse.

Should he tell her that her son nearly destroyed everything because he took a gamble of restarting everything?

Should he tell her that all of this happened because he wanted easy answers for his questions by activating the greatest ability ever, even though he announced he won't take the easy way out just seconds before it?

He couldn't say any of that.

He couldn't.

So, he forced a tired smile.

"A long day," his tone was as tired as his smile.

"Then I will listen to it. Tell me everything."

Everything, huh?

Can he tell her everything?

How will she react if he were to tell her everything? Will she look at him in horror and run away? Live in fear for the rest of her life?

Or will she still accept him with open arms?

The latter seems unrealistic to him.

Emma might pretend to ignore it, Aeron might ignore it, but Aya is different. She is new to this world of superhumans and Gods.

She could react differently.

I do have to tell her about it one day, no?

So!

He decided to keep certain details hidden for now.

"Hope you don't get bored," he chuckled.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

Unknown world:

“What will you do now, Supremer?” Aiht, the Negative God spoke to the Supreme One as they floated high above a small nameless world.

“I have been researching and found an interesting person.”

Aiht knew it was someone on this planet, but he was not sure who it was. Or what this person could do.

“Have you heard of a person called the 「Omniscient Reader」?”

“No, never before.”

“I see… I have had my eyes on this person for centuries and it’s finally time to meet him. I wanted you to come with me.”

Aiht was confused.

He was never regarded highly by the Supreme One and the Nameless One. He was just a temporary ally they needed.

“The Nameless One’s name has been removed from the celestial hierarchy, but after this, I too will be removed from that ladder.”

Aiht chuckled.

“You are going on a suicide mission?”

“Hah!”

The Supreme One forced out a cold peal of laughter.

“I am not as stupid as him… No, no. I have greater goals.”

“Goals that will save everyone in the universe or goals that will get you closer to omnipotence?”

The Supreme One kept quiet for a few short seconds.

“Both.”

“Another hero, huh?” Aiht groaned.

The Supreme One shook his head, denying him.

“There exists entities known as 「Chaos」 and 「Order」. Us, beings at the top of the ladder, cannot tip the scales of either by becoming a hero or villain. If we do, it could cause the collapse of our very universe. Our actions must always be balanced or else… You understand the rest, no?”

Aiht nodded by blinking.

“The good actions and bad actions will add up to their rightful entity, and if one grows greater, it will swallow the rest, which then leads to a collapse of everything,” Aiht’s tone was exasperated. He found this system very tiresome. He wanted to be as evil as possible, but if he wants this universe to survive so he can continue his mischievous, he must balance his actions.

This system, of course, doesn’t apply to someone like the Queen or the Dragon, who did not originate from this Ultraverse.

It shouldn’t apply to Nazar either, but he changed his body so it does. It made him feel a little smaller in the grand scheme of things.

“So, what can this… Omniscient Reader of yours can do?”

“You will never believe this… Our understanding of this universe and creation… It was flawed."

“W--”

“No, not flawed. Wrong. Simply wrong. Very wrong.”

Aiht scratched his hair uncomfortably in confusion.

“Stop speaking in riddles and spit it out already.”

“...”

The Supreme One pointed at the world beneath him with his chin.

“You will find out yourself. It’s better this way.”

Aiht rolled his eyes as both of them flew down to the small world.