Chapter 141

Arc 14 - Absolute Wish - Part 22

Darkness.

Darkness.

Darkness.

There was darkness.

The darkness that every road leads to.

But then some ripped it open and the light shone.

The man groaned.

The man reached his hand and held him by the neck, pulling him out by his neck.

“Rise!”

The man squinted his eyes to keep his eyes safe from the bright light that shone on him.

“Welcome to 「The World」.”

A world far from the reaches of anyone, anyone from the lower realms, even the supreme beings.

“Let’s kill God.”

That was a long time ago. A million years ago.

No, perhaps only two days ago.

The man could not tell.

He had been forcefully brought out of the darkness with no understanding of the situation.

And after so long, he still doesn’t.

He is watching someone exclaim victoriously, but he does not understand why.

လလလ

"Splendid!"

Inside a dark cave on a certain world, a man shot his arms into the air excitedly.

"This plan of mine worked amazingly. Just perfect! The perfect plan, if I say so myself."

There were two other people with him in this cave.

They looked almost lifeless, not talking or even blinking.

"Millions of years of orchestrating this perfect plan, I can see it coming to fruition."

He seemed happy, very happy.

"I am glad I did not get rid of the energy within that luscious woman's body. If I had, this wouldn't have worked."

He was informing those other two people, but they did not hear. Or did not care.

"Ahh, this is great. I cannot let him be happy for more than a day. Something bad must always haunt him."

He let out a burst of comically evil laughter.

"Now then, God of Light, do your thing. I know you have something up your sleeve."

He laughed once more, triumphantly.

His plan was coming together.

It will work.

It will.

And he… He will finally rest after countless years.

He will finally die.

"Now then, I should prepare for my next attack."

He glanced at the two other people near him.

"With your special connection, I shall apply 「Narrative」 to him."

In his mind, he calculated every possible outcome.

"The rate of success is 1%, much higher than the last one hundred attempts."

Against a God who exists above all else, a 1% rate of success is rare.

"Now then…"

The two people's eyes lit up with white energy without their control.

"Let's finish the final check-ups. I don't want 0.99%, I want a 1% rate of success. Got it?"

There was no answer.

He waited.

Waited.

And waited.

But no answer came from them, so he let out a heavy sigh.

"What a pitiful existence…"

His eyes turned white as he looked at a certain someone, enjoying himself.

He groaned.

“Fine. Have your fun for now. But soon… Oh yes, SOON.”

His voice crackled with wet sinister laughter.

“You will want to wish you were dead after I am done with you. And then she will....”

But his laughter soon turned bitter.

The image of his accomplice flashed through his mind.

He thought back to the day before, and then the days before that. “Like you, Dragon… Did I gamble on the wrong person?”

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A few days ago - Bradley Isle:

“I have concealed the sword, you and...”

The woman with grey hair pursed her lips in a confused manner. Her purple eyes flared for an instant.

“Ebo Kojo?” Ishaya Bradley spoke.

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter, you humans all look the same.”

Ishaya tried not to show any emotion on his face.

He was not sure who this woman was, but she made him remember an old world and promised him that she would help him achieve his goals. The only condition is to help her test the 「God Killer」 sword against Nazar.

“I have concealed the three of you, so you can do your work freely.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“Failure is to be expected against him, but don’t - not even for a second - think you can take this task any less seriously. No matter what, be victorious.”

Ishaya had no other choice but to nod his head, agreeing with her condition.

“Can I ask a question?” Ishaya regretted speaking a mere second later. He should have not done that.

“Hrm,” the Queen of Virrasil was not amused. “Ask away.”

“You said he hates power, but why?”

She sat on his desk and looked down at him.

“This universe is built around suffering. The Dragon did so. Suffering leads to greater power and once you do reach that high, the suffering of those people don’t stop. It is simply fate.”

“Hm?” Ishaya was confused. It did not make sense to him.

“He wanted to use this method to produce a powerful being, a being powerful enough to stand against me.”

She scoffed, although bitterly.

“It’s silly, very silly.”

Ishaya had no more questions, so he just sat in silence for a moment to think about it.

“In any case, try not to fail me, human.”

And so, she swished into the air, leaving the human to himself.

လလလ

Flying through the dark of space, she suddenly came to a halt.

To make sure nobody sees her, a mask concealed her face.

She glanced left and right, looking for a certain someone.

“Who are you?”

She had sensed someone watching her closely.

“Tch,” someone clicked their tongue and made themselves visible.

“You...”

The Queen of Virrasil saw a beautiful petite woman with pink hair and hazel eyes. Her long white dress flapped in the place where there was no wind.

She was the Goddess of Life, Esme.

“How?”

Esme shrugged in return.

“Did you know, you might have concealed yourself from certain few people, but to the rest of us, you are visible. We can sense your energy when you enter the multiverse. But most do not want to face you. Some out of fear and others are not interested.”

The Queen snorted proudly.

“But I thought it was enough. I need to face you at least once.”

Before the Queen could say anything, Esme raised her hand, stopping her.

“No, not to battle you. Of course, that would not end well for me. But merely… speak.”

The Queen of Virrasil had no reason to object.

She is the one with superior power, experience and knowledge. If worse comes to worst, she will kill this Goddess with but a mere thought.

She did not want to amuse the idea of killing the Goddess of Life no matter how much she wanted to, but the other person would not like it. And angering him is not something she wanted to do, even if she hated it.

“Hmph, what is it you want to know?”

“Why?”

Esme asked a simple question and the Queen understood.

Why was she doing all of this? What was the point of it? What was her final goal?

“I want to reach a higher state, a state so high my father could not even fathom.”

Laughable, Esme thought.

“Is this what is it all about?” Esme narrowed her eyes, almost angrily. “You reversed time over and over again, you killed too many people, you manipulated Solace and Nazar, you ruined everyone’s life… Just for something so pitiful?”

The Queen’s cheek twitched in anger.

How dare a God so small to look down on her plan?

What does she know? What does she know about betrayal? What does she know about being left behind?

“I understand, trying to force him to change by putting him in odd situations was quite pitiful but my main goal?” the Queen shook her head with a laugh. “Call it pitiful or pathetic, but I want you to know one thing, I will achieve that goal of mine. No matter what.”

Esme heaved a long sigh as she scratched her head.

“What are you going to do next?”

“I have plans in mind, plans you cannot grasp yet, little Goddess.”

Esme pretended she did not hear her taunt.

Either way, she never cared for something such as power or status.

“In any case, I would recommend not coming to face me again. Or else it will be you who dies.”

Esme did not say anything, she had many questions but all of it flew out of her head as if it was never there once she sensed something.

“!!”

The Queen’s body flinched.

She felt someone coming.

A presence so powerful and scary, it caused her to gulp.

Who--

Someone flew in, flew faster than anything Esme could comprehend and punched the Queen in the face, breaking her mask to pieces.

While the pieces of mask slowly drifted in space, another punch was thrown and hit the Queen of Virrasil.

And then another.

And then another.

The Queen tried to get a grasp of this being, but she could not.

She has never met someone like this.

So, who is this?

"!!" She felt something odd.

“So, you are the culprit, huh?” spoke a familiar voice as he slowed down.

The presence moved, kicking her in her rib, cracking a bone or two.

“The source of all our problems?”

Neither the Queen nor Esme could see this man, not even his blurring figure.

“Who are you?” the Queen screamed past her pain and shattered the dark space around her into small pieces. “!!”

She just now realised.

She was inside a pocket universe.

When had she been thrown here?

And did the Goddess of Life know this? Did she plan this?

The Queen quickly glanced at her, but she was as confused.

Guess not.

Another kick went to her side, breaking her pelvic girdle bone.

“I am...”

The figure slowed down.

She could see his face.

But she glanced down a little and saw his clenched his fist. It came crashing into her face, throwing her backwards. But luckily, she managed to recover herself before it was too late.

“The God of Power.”

It was Arael.

The Queen, now her face as naked as the sun, smirked with her bloody lips.

“You can see me, right?”

Arael nodded.

“Oh, this is very interesting. How, if I may ask?” the blood vanished from her face and her bones were fixed. She was as good as new.

The Queen seemed impressed, but Arael increased his powers once again. His energies skyrocketed, almost as if it would jump out of his body.

So, he moved again and punched the Queen of Virrasil in the flat chest.

She coughed blood in return.

“How…!” she groaned in pain.

“She was right, you are so pitiful. Why must you hurt us?” his words sounded harsh, but he was smiling. “Hurt him?”

Arael was drawing power from a source unknown to her.

For a split second, she wondered if the Dragon was involved, but that couldn’t be the case.

Or perhaps is she growing weak?

Or perhaps her original train of thought was correct?

“I remember every timeline and every bad thing you did to him. You forced him on a path to fall in love with one of the three different people in different worlds, only to kill them in the worst ways possible while you giggled like a maniac. I truly despise you for that.”

"???" Esme stared at him questionably.

"Whose turn is it this time? On whose path have you put Nazar in this world? Those three--"

He trailed off and shook his head.

"Two. The two who are still alive. So, on whose path did you put Nazar on?"

The Queen stared at him bewildered.

“Did you manipulate her this time too? Or let it happen naturally?”

“...How?”

To her one-worded question, Arael spread his arms wide.

“Because I am the God of Power.”

She frowned.

“And I hope you are not underestimating me.”

His eyes narrowed as it lit up with the energy of an unknown colour. The Queen thought she had a grasp of it, but she did not. This colour was alien to her and everyone else.

“It’s funny, I am the God of Power yet everyone underestimates me,” he complained while placing his right hand on his hip. “Unbelievable!”

He twirled something unknown in the palm of his left hand.

“Just because I lose to Nazar and everyone thinks I am weak?!”

He let out a heavy sigh.

"What a pain..."

“Who are you?”

His head tilted at the Queen’s question.

A confused look stole his complaining look and tone as question marks appeared all around his head.

“I am Arael, the God of Power?”

“No,” the Queen shook her index finger. “I mean, who are you really?”

More question marks popped around Arael.

“I am Arael, the God of Power.”

He repeated the same words again.

“That’s impossible,” the Queen blurted out. “Your energies and power levels… It doesn’t make sense… to… to...” she found it hard to continue her words, so she slowly clenched her words. “Are you under the Dragon’s influence? Who is giving you this power? And how can a God of your calibre hold this much power? How is your body… hm?”

Arael’s body had formed a few cracks, but it could not be seen by the naked eye unless someone looked very hard for it.

“Oh, you have slowed down time for yourself to the point where a second can last for an eternity.”

“Yes,” he confirmed it as if it was obvious.

“And that...” the Queen pointed at the thing in Arael’s hand. “What is that?”

“Ah, this...”

Arael glanced at it.

“I call this, 「Crux Nexus of Lazarus Vortex」!”

The power radiating from the unknown object increased.

“What is--”

The Queen’s body flinched.

Her face twisted in anger and her lips spread, creating a cruel smile.

"Is that how you are weakening me?"

Arael let out a sigh with a nod.

“Because you are weak. Weaker than before,” Arael’s voice was low, but she heard it anyway. However, she ignored him and continued with her questions.

"What is this? What is this power you hold?"

“Not telling,” Arael smiled like a child. “But I do have a question.”

The Queen glanced at the object in Arael’s hand.

“You are weaker than you were in the other timelines. And far weaker than you were a few months ago. Why is that?”

“...”

Her mouth opened wide.

“Huh?”

What do you mean, weaker? I am stronger than I was…

Her thoughts slowly derailed off as she glanced down.

She was not so sure anymore.

I am far weaker than I was in my prime, but what is he talking about?

Esme, too, shot an interested glance at Arael.

What was he talking about?

“Speaking of, how did you kill Nazar in the last timeline?”

The Queen tried to keep quiet, but her body was not listening to her. It was as if she was being forced to speak.

“... With the white light.”

Arael shook his head left and right with a laugh.

“No, you slit his throat with a Void Blade.”

“That-- What is a Void Blade?”

Wait, why am I… Why am I talking to him? the Queen thought in a confused yet angry manner. Why did I even stop for her?

“I have never heard of such a thing.”

“Mm-hmm, as I suspected,” Arael nodded knowingly.

“Huh?”

“Nothing.”

“Tell me!” the Queen shot herself at him with everything she had.

When Arael nodded, he closed his eyes for a split second, so she used that opportunity to attack.

She tried to take the unknown object from him, but it hurt her. It pained her greatly. She had never experienced pain like this before. So, she instead twisted Arael’s left arms and slammed it into his chest.

“Aaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!”

As soon as the object touched Arael, it entered his body.

And in the next instant, a blinding flash of light exploded inside this pocket universe.

Esme raised a barrier around the explosion to keep it contained.

As for the Queen… She was forcefully teleported out by someone else.

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Present - Arael’s World, Sixth Dimensional Plane of Existence:

A colourful universe full of beautiful lights. Bright planets and galaxies visible to the naked eyes. Planets were shaped differently, some circular while others square and others in unknown shapes.

In this colourful universe, cyan coloured rectangles floated and a man flew through it.

He passed one, then another, then another, and so on. He followed the triangles which were above each planet.

Flying through them, the riddle was solved, thus each planet started to glow brightly, making the universe even more colourful.

“Welcome to...”

Spoke a voice, a voice that came from every direction.

“Arael’s World.”

It was a machinated voice with an excited voice.

“You have solved the riddle, thus the Lord will greet you personally.”

The man clicked his tongue as he flicked his finger, which stopped the voice completely.

“Arael,” spoke a cold and evil voice, “come out!”

The universe vibrated vigorously.

“What do you wan--”

Arael appeared in front of the man, but as soon as he did, he swallowed his words.

“Ahh, I see how it is now. It was obvious.”

Arael slapped the side of his head a few times. He was disappointed that he could not figure this out earlier.

“I should have known.“

“That does not matter,” the man said bluntly. “Why did you attack her?”

“Well, it’s because I needed a fraction of her energy to make it mine...” his usual tone turned gloomy. “But sadly, she smashed that thing into me, ruining my plan. I did get a fraction of her power, but it’s hard to analyse it.”

“...”

“Sigh. I noticed interesting energy on Earth which belongs to a beautiful woman, but sad to say, I won’t be able to analyse it properly until I fix… Wait.”

Arael raised his head.

“Why am I telling you all of this?”

“Same trick you used on her.”

His answer was simple, but Arael gulped as drops of sweat streamed down his face.

“Oh…”

“My control over that is far greater than anyone else, even the Dragon.”

Arael was at loss for words and breath in a state of confusion.

He held his chest in his hand as he gasped for breath.

Swallowing his saliva once again, he asked in a breaking voice, “W-wha-- What are you g-going to do now?”

A thin smile appeared on his face.

His red eyes flared brightly.

Just a few seconds later, Arael's universe blew up to pieces.

And on this day, Arael vanished.