Chapter 145

Arc 14 - Absolute Wish - Part 26

Kabul, Afghanistan:

It was evening and not too far away from the capital city, a shepherd - a man of average with black hair and brown eyes - came out of his tent, sweating heavily under this hot sun.

This man, before meeting a certain someone, had a physical disability, but when that man healed the world, he too was healed.

However, he is still not used to his body being in this shape, so he was still holding a crutch.

“Show me the extent of your abilities,” spoke a white-haired and red-eyed person floating above him.

“Eh?” the sweat pouring down on his face increased.

The other man, who was also floating, narrowed his green eyes a little, “I hope you haven’t been neglecting your training, Jalil.”

“Ehhh?” the man, known as Jalil, gulped.

“Right,” Nazar clapped his hands together with a cruel smile on his face, “turn him into a goat. Or a cow.”

“Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?”

Jalil was more confused than before.

“Wait, what?” Eddie looked at Nazar in reflex. “Why the hell should I be the scapegoat?!?! HUH?”

“I am immune to it.”

“Ugh,” Eddie groaned as his shoulder drooped, “you and your immunities.”

Eddie landed in front of the man.

“Alright, what’s your trigger?”

Jalil darted his eyes left and right as he thought.

“Trigger?”

“Has there ever been a time where your powers jump-started without your control? And no, I am not talking about that time.”

The man thought for a brief moment before shaking his head.

“Hmm, interesting. Anyway, turn him into an animal.”

“Geh,” Eddie’s eyebrows twitched.

“Alright.”

Jalil looked at Eddie and held his arm at him.

“Become a… cow...” he pressed his lips together, trying to suppress his laughter.

“Don’t laugh,” Nazar sighed. “I avoided giving you an even weirder order.”

“B-but--”

“Now, turn him into a goat or cow, else...”

Nazar’s smile became thinner and thinner.

Both Eddie and Jalil gulped.

“BECOME COW!!” in fear, Jalil screamed.

His scream became a seducing whisper to the reality and it changed to his will.

The man known as Norse God was turned into a black and white cow. A fat cow.

“Mooo.”

“Pft.”

Nazar tried to hold back his laughter but he couldn’t do it anymore.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! He is… He is actually… Man, I need to take a picture of this,” he held stomach with his right hand. “Unbelievable.”

He even coughed once because of his extensive laughter.

“This… Hah… What… I need to… Haha.”

With his left hand, he took out his phone and took a picture of the cow.

“Hahahahahah!”

Jalil blinked quickly a few times, wondering what was so funny about this.

“Ahh,” Nazar wiped his eyes with the right hand as he continued to take pictures, “this is the best--”

Jalil reverted reality back to original, which means, Eddie was back.

So, before that, Nazar stopped laughing and pretended he was very serious all this time.

“Very well, Jalil,” he nodded. “Well done. But next time, don’t hesitate.”

“A-alright,” Jalil’s cheek twitched. He was confused about how quickly he changed his mood.

“It seems fear triggers your power.”

“Hm, you live here?” Eddie examined the tent from outside.

Jalil hesitated to speak, but after a few moments, he forced a smile and nodded.

“Yes.”

“Since?”

“I cannot remember, but since I was very young.”

“I see... No girlfriend or wife?”

Jalil shook his head.

“Not enough money.”

Eddie turned his confused face to him.

“It’s complicated.”

“It is?”

Nazar’s eyes lit up for a split second.

“Apparently, in this country and the neighbouring country, the groom has to pay quite a huge sum of money to the bride’s family, it’s a pretty weird tradition apparently. Well, a huge sum for this country.”

“Ahh...” Eddie was not sure how to react.

While he held great respect for other nations and their customs, but he was confused as to why something as bad as this even exists.

“Plus, it seems most marriages are arranged marriages and family plays a very important role in it. Their status, money, influence, etcetera, etcetera. So many things to take into account. And...”

Nazar glanced at Jalil who looked down in a gloomy manner.

He has no family, not anymore. Many years ago, all of them were killed, so he was reminded of that grim time.

“Anyway, leaving that aside, has your power grown compared to before?”

A few weeks ago, Nazar found out that Haru’s powers had increased significantly. So, he was wondering if the same had happened to him.

Jalil threw away his grim thoughts and looked at Nazar.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Unleash everything you have, I want to see. If you don’t mind, of course.”

He shook his head.

“Mm, it’s alright.”

Jalil closed his eyes and whispered to reality.

And it changed.

Like a dam breaking and water streaming out without control, the entire region turned pitch black.

“That’s good enough.”

And so, just like that, the reality returned to normal.

“Hm,” Nazar rubbed his chin, “your control has definitely gotten better and the range has increased to neighbouring countries.”

Nazar snapped his fingers together.

That should take care of anyone who saw this.

“Anyway, you should cont--”

Before Nazar could continue, Jalil cut him off.

“I… I appreciate everything you did for me, but I will be on my own from now,” he smiled bitterly at Nazar and then Eddie.

“Hm, alright. Not a problem for me. But...”

Nazar narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t personally care what you do, but whatever happens, don’t get caught and become someone's slave.”

He was serious, Jalil understood that.

So, he nodded.

“Great,” Nazar smiled. “Let’s go, Eddie.”

Eddie, still unsure about the situation, flew after him.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

San Francisco:

“You sure about that?”

Nazar nodded with a little hesitation.

“Yes. He should be fine. If he isn't... Well, we did everything we could for him.”

At the edge of the city, on a hill, the two of them landed.

There was an old warehouse, which did not exist a few weeks ago.

Nazar had created it specifically here.

The two of them entered. They did not talk for a short time as Eddie was seriously thinking about the situation.

I am glad I made this thing, I am proud of its design.

The doors to the warehouse opened, revealing a small universe.

He created this pocket dimension to allow the new superhumans to train well in different environments.

As the two of them entered, the dark universe with bright stars and planets changed, making it look like a normal warehouse.

“!!”

And someone held Nazar by his collar and shook him violently.

“Wait, I can explain,” he pleaded.

“What do you mean you can explain?!? I had to do half of a day’s worth of work ALL OVER AGAIN!”

Haru Watanabe, who was fuming in anger, shook him violently.

“How could you do this? I had to do two days worth of work if anything! And had to attend two meetings when I didn’t have any!”

“But in the future, it will be more convenient,” Nazar shrugged.

With her face flushed red in anger, she ground her teeth.

“I will change your work schedule and you get to be free tomorrow. How does that sound?”

Her expression softened a little.

But just for a split second before it twisted in anger again.

“It’s Saturday!”

“Alright, how about Monday and Tuesday then.”

“Hm.”

Her expressions softened.

“Alright, then,” she let go of his collar.

“In any case,” Nazar fixed his collar, “why are you still working in that place? It seems to have terrible working conditions.”

“I… don’t know, honestly. ”

“Fair enough.”

Nazar stretched his neck.

“Anyway, why are there only two of you? Shouldn’t there be eight… No, seven?”

“Ah,” Katie Cambell, who was standing behind Haru spoke anxiously, “Zhi is not here. That quiet military guy never shows up. The kids are also missing. One of them used to come every week, but it seems he is not here this week.”

“And what about Arno?”

“Oh, he is here,” Katie pointed behind her to the empty area with her index finger. “He is practising inside.”

“Ah, alright...”

Nazar was quite disappointed in the results.

He wanted these superhumans to use their powers effectively to see how they can change the world, but it seems it will be a long time before he can reap the fruits from this tree.

“I… Uh, can I, uh,” Katie averted her gaze anxiously, “talk to you?”

“Me?” Nazar pointed to himself with his forefinger.

“Yes,” she blurted out in surprise, and with a hint of fear.

“Huh, alright.”

Nazar clicked his fingers and a black cube appeared around them. The darkness around them felt very alive.

She tried not to look at the darkness around her. It scared her. So, she looked down and not raised her head.

“What is it?”

“You know when you healed the world, for that, I want to thank you again. You have my husband a new life,” she spoke very slowly.

“Yeah, don’t mention it,” Nazar replied in a confused manner.

Why so formal?

“And I am sorry to put more troubles on your shoulder but...” she took out a letter from the pocket of her jeans. “I received this the other day.”

Nazar took it and looked at it.

“Can I…?”

She nodded.

He read the content of the letter.

So, he sent a letter to her too. But unlike mine, he wants her to join the special forces he is setting up. That… is unexpected.

“Interesting.”

Also, this man is too clear and open about his plans. Does he not hide anything?

Nazar handed the letter back to Katie.

“I… Uh, I don’t want to join them.”

“Yeah, that should be okay, just reject it.”

“Mm,” she shook her head left and right. “Can you...”

Seeing her fidgeting body, Nazar breathed out.

“I understand.”

She looked up with a bewildered look.

“I will make sure they neither remember your name nor face. And make sure they won’t question it either,” he nodded with a warm smile. “I gave you superpowers for a reason. I want to see how far you can take the world. So, don’t worry, I will protect all of you until you can stand on your own.”

She forced a soft smile, which looked very cruel to others.

“Thank you.”

“Anything else? I don’t mind, if you have anything else, just tell me.”

She had something on her mind, Nazar could tell that much but she was not sure if she wanted to say or not.

“Whenever you are ready, just call me,” a piece of paper appeared in her hand, “and I will see how I can help you.”

“...”

Her chest welled up in happiness.

“Thank you☆!”

He smiled softly at her.

“Mhm, don’t mention it.”

With a snap of his fingers, the cube vanished.

“You know, if someone seems scared to talk to you, especially in private, you don’t make a menacing space to cover both of you,” Eddie lectured Nazar as soon as the cube vanished. “It seems suspicious.”

“...”

Nazar stared at him blankly.

“Do I look like the type of person who kills people without reason?”

“Oh, yes,” Eddie replied instantly. “Didn’t you eat a planet once? With all those people in it.”

“Oh, that’s old news,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Katie and Haru took a step back subconsciously.

“...”

“...”

Nazar saw that and questioned, “What?”

“You are a cannibal?” Haru asked as she furrowed her brows in fear.

“Of course, not! Why would you think that?”

Haru, Katie and Eddie stared at him with an expression that said; “Are you serious?”

“Fine, fine,” he let out a soft groan. “I might have eaten human flesh before at one point.”

Seeing their expression of disgust and fear, he waved his hands before his chest, trying to explain.

“But it was only for experimentation.”

“What kind?” Eddie asked with a snarky smile on his face.

This guy is really enjoying this, huh?

Nazar let out a sigh.

“To see how it tastes...” he spoke slowly.

Katie hid behind Haru and was cowering in fear.

“I...” Nazar frowned. “I won’t eat you. It was only like once… or twice. Or maybe-- Ugh!”

With another heavy groan, he cut off his sentence.

“Well, whatever.”

He let out a heavy, a very heavy sigh as a sofa appeared in the middle of nowhere and sat on it.

“Alright, anyone else has any problems they want to discuss?”

He looked at each of them.

“Haru?”

“I…” she looked as if she wanted to say something, but then shook her head, dismissing her thoughts. “It’s nothing. Thanks.”

“Alright.”

“Why are you so eager to help?”

“I don’t know…” he rested his head on the back of the sofa. “Home feels kind of weird.”

“Oh?” Eddie narrowed his eyes.

“I mean, everything’s going good and all and it was fun… I don’t know really, but it just feels weird.”

Eddie glanced at the other two, who nodded and walked away. After a few moments, darkness swallowed them, sending them to a different world in this pocket dimension.

“How weird exactly?”

“It feels too… good for me. But I can see that it’s affecting others beside me negatively. Especially after what he said.”

Eddie opened his mouth, trying to say something, but Nazar continued speaking, so he closed his mouth back.

“TVs don’t even talk about you anymore. So, I don’t… Ah. Silence is sometimes worse. It makes you seem more evil and scary.”

“Am I that scary? I have never felt like I was scary. More comedic and stupid than scary.”

Eddie laughed.

“I mean, yeah, you are stupid, but…” Eddie hesitated to continue with a grimacing face. “You can be a little scary once in a while.”

“...”

Nazar stared at him.

“Me? Scary? How so?” Nazar looked around with a confused face. “Every time I pretend to be scary… I don’t think it’s working.”

“Have you ever seen the cruel smile on your own face when killing someone? Or have looked at yourself from the perspective of a normal human? It feels like you are a black sun, waiting to devour everything. And that isn’t mentioning when you unleash those dark energies...” Eddie shivered. “You should look at it from my POV.”

POV? Oh, point of view.

Nazar rolled his eyes a little.

“I will give you those dark energies… It really does make people scared, but the others… I don’t know man.”

Nazar stood up tiredly.

“Alright, I need to go to Chias. I haven’t been there in two days.”

Nazar started to stretch his back upper body.

“Enjoy your time there.”

“Will do.”

“Oh, and don’t worry about the weird feeling you get at your home. It just means you are starting to fit in with them. Family is not all smiles and rainbows and sunshine. These kinds of negative feelings once in a while… It’s normal. But it doesn’t mean she hates you. I am sure of it.”

“I know,” he muttered under his breath. Then he looked at Eddie and nodded. “Alright. Thanks.”

Ah!

{Haru.}

He sent a telepathic message to Haru. However, it did not reach her at this moment.

{When you are free, let me know. I was to talk to you about something.}

He was not sure if he should go with it. But this was the best idea he had at the time, so he threw away his apprehensive thoughts with a shake of his head.

Relay message in three hours.

Time and space always listen to him, so does every aspect of creation.

In three hours, Haru will receive this message.

"See you later."

And just like that, he vanished into thin air, leaving Eddie in this weird dimension.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

In a world formed from vibrant and colourful diamond-like triangles, Haru and Katie stood opposite one another.

Around them, there was a visible yellow aura.

“So, that’s what happened.”

“Ah...” Katie looked around in confusion with her lips pursed. “Is that so?”

Haru nodded as she swung her arm up.

A crystal rock flew up very high as a yellow energy barrier appeared around it.

“Mm-hmm, they asked me to join their organisation. I mean, why do I want to join a ninja clan? And I thought that thing was just a dumb legend.” Haru looked down. “Even though it was in history books, I did not believe it.”

“Ninjas are cool, though,” Katie spoke to herself.

Despite those words, Katie understood why she rejected the offer. After all, she did the same.

“Oh.”

The crystal was flying right at Katie like a meteor, so she raised her hand, trying to stop it.

“What kind… hng… training is this?”

She created one barrier above her, then one after it, then another after it, and so. She created dozens of barriers trying to stop the rock.

However, it broke through every one of her barriers.

“Eddie - (still weird he told us his real name) - said your barriers are too thin. You make too many instead of a strong one.”

“Ugh, I know. It’s… ngh… just… hard,” Katie grunted.

“You need better control over your energy. Luckily for me,” Haru flicked her hair back with her right hand as a smug smile spread across her face, “I perfected my power without any training.”

“Yeah, definitely lucky,” Katie's eyes twitched in envy.

“So, anyway, did you get an offer like that too?”

Katie looked up and focused her energies on the barrier.

“Some… ngh… Something like that.”

“Did you reject it?”

Streams of sweat started to pour down Katie’s face, “Yeah. I did… hf… I did not want to be part OF THEM!”

Focusing everything she had, the many barriers slowly merged into one.

The rock stopped.

Katie, breathing heavily, loosened her arms and looked at Haru with a tired smile.

“…How did I do that?”

“...”

Haru stared at her blankly.

“I was this close,” she raised her right hand a little and held her thumb and forefinger very close, “to congratulating you. THIS close!”

“Eheh,” Katie stiffly laughed as she scratched the back of her head.

“Don’t “eheh” me!”

Although she sounded annoyed, deep down, she did not want to admit that she enjoyed her training session with Katie.

Most of her adult life, she did not have a lot of time to have fun around. In fact, she did not have any friends. So, spending this time with Haru and Zhi these last two or three weeks, she felt a little happy.

However, she tried her best not to show it on her face.

It was not because she hated the idea of being happy, but she was just scared of this reality. These training sessions will end in a few weeks and they will go on different routes. Then what? She will be back to her usual life, without any of them.

“Let’s go again. This time--”

“Can’t do, I have to go home. My husband was coming back today.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, after he got his sight back, he wanted to meet his family and see some old friends, whom he couldn’t see before. Oh, and he wanted to go for a little sightseeing.”

“Ah, that’s good.”

“Mm, it’s great,” Katie’s smile turned a little nostalgic and sad. “I am glad that he finally got to see the world.”

Interested, Haru asked a question, “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you two get together?”

At the back of her mind, Haru cursed herself.

What’s the point of asking a personal question like this? And why even bother wanting to know, if they are going to part ways and never see one another?

“Hmm,” Katie rubbed her lower lip with her thumb and forefinger, thinking. “I can’t remember, but I had known him since I was a child. A lot of people… Well, they kind of avoided me, especially other children. But he… I mean, he was blind - (that sounded horrible),” she cursed herself before continuing. “Anyway, he stayed along and played with me. And that’s how, you know, started to love one another and then finally married five years ago.”

“Ahh, I see,” Haru nodded.

“Yep, quite a boring and cliche origin, huh?”

“Hah!”

“But either way, I am glad we stayed together. I love him, he loves me. There is nothing better than that, right?”

Haru nodded, although she felt very bitter on the inside.

She remembered her boyfriend how back then, she felt the same. But it all came crumbling down when he hurt her in the worst way possible.

“I am happy for you,” she forced out those words with a forced happy smile, which Katie did not notice.

“Thanks,” Katie smiled widely.

Sadly to Haru, it still looked quite cruel.

“Alright then, you better get going. I need to go home too. Maybe take some time off to relax.”

Katie walked closer to her and hugged her.

“!!”

“Thanks.”

“...”

Haru was bewildered.

“For what?” she asked in a surprised dry voice.

“For helping me.”

“Ah… No problem.”

Then Katie walked away and went home, leaving Haru alone.

She took a deep breath and looked at the beautiful sky in this odd world.

Haru pursed her lips with complicated feelings.

She loved spending time with some of these people and is happy that someone is showing sincere gratitude to her.

However, deep down, her heart was overtaken by negative emotions and her heart ached.

This too will end soon. Then what?

She watched the beautiful sky with ugly feelings for hours.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

Later that night, Nazar was flying from Chias when he suddenly came to a halt.

“What are you doing here?”

Emily, his oldest friend, had her legs crossed as she floated above the planet’s orbit. Her elbow was on her thigh and she was resting her face on her right hand, feeling very displeased.

“Bored,” she replied without looking back at him.

“Then do something.”

She looked at him with a blank look on her face.

“How stupid are you? Well, let’s say between 1 - 10. How stupid?”

“0.”

“So, infinite?”

“...”

He looked down at her and scoffed.

“Hey, do you have a game we can play?”

“A lot-- Wait, nevermind. I lost my spaceship that held everything. I have got one at home… but no way in hell I am taking you home.”

“Ouch,” she sounded very bored.

“So, what happened to you? I haven’t seen you pouting this hard before.”

“I got a reply from a job I applied for. They rejected me. But I don’t get why? I have all the right qualifications and skills they need. And I also got the experience for it. And the-- Ugh, fuck this country and these shitty companies.”

Nazar patted her on the shoulder.

“If...” he looked at the world beneath them. “I think you gave me a good idea. Just wait a few months, your problem will be solved.”

She nodded, acknowledging what he meant by those words but…

“You don’t have to force yourself.”

“I am not forcing myself.”

Emily looked at him.

“Hmm.”

He looked down at her again, and with a wide smile, he said, “I mean it.”

Well, if you are gonna smile like this at me… Emily thought with a sigh.

“Sure. I just have to survive for a few more months, huh?”

He nodded.

“Alrighty then!” she stood up and squealed excitedly.

“Now, you are all hyper again,” Nazar sighed.

Emily held her hands behind her, leaned forward towards Nazar and smiled thinly.

“Hey, let’s do something fun.”

“Oh?”

“Let’s race to the end of the multiverse. No teleportation, space manip, or… or… or time manip or anything fancy like that. Got it?”

Nazar thought about it for a moment as he pouted his lips slightly.

“Sure.”

“Ah but,” Emily looked down at her long one-piece dress, “I can’t run in this. So, gimme one of those… those...” she clicked her fingers, trying to remember the name of the device. “The clothes thing.”

“Sure.”

In his hand, a small black device appeared and handed it to her.

“Do you have a factory for this or something?”

“Haha.”

She took the device and equipped it on her chest.

Her dress vanished, replaced by black skintight armour. It slanted blue glowing lines from at the joints.

She stretched her arms and used that opportunity to look at the armour.

“Hrm, I don’t like it.”

“Well, that’s a first. No one has ever changed their body armour.”

The amour around her changed in colour.

It was a grey armour with jet black and red lines on her body.

“Much better.”

“I don’t know, I liked the first one better,” Nazar spoke bluntly.

“What’s your obsession with black clothes?”

“They are the best.”

“Hmm.”

Emily examined the armour around her and became a little disappointed.

“Yeah, it doesn’t look that good… I will change to black with red lines. Like Black Widow.”

“You don’t have her figure,” Nazar looked away as he muttered.

“Hey!” Emily heard that and narrowed her eyes in anger. “My boobs might be small, but I got a big butt. I always had a big butt.”

“Uhh...”

“Right, I might also be missing the curves… But I got a big butt. Everyone loves big butts.”

“Well, whatever.”

Nazar cracked his fingers.

A thin smile spread across his face.

His red eyes flared brightly.

She replied with a thin smile and blue glowing eyes.

“Race ya!”

“Why do you sound American all of a sudden?”

“Man shut the fuck.”

Nazar let out a sigh.

And so, the two of them flew through every planet, every galaxy, every universe while laughing happily.