The cold wind was like a wake-up slap that roused Marty from his unconsciousness. He slowly opened his eyes, but they shot open when he saw the ground below as it became larger. Had he not already obtained some flying experience, he may have become flustered instead of calm. He very quickly cast his gravity spell and completely nullified its effect. This only prevented his acceleration, but this was unable to slow his speed. He very promptly created and flapped his Ki Dragon Wings, and he slowed at an astonishing rate. Unfortunately, he was too close to the ground, and landed undamaged thanks to his Ki.

Marty brushed himself off and looked around. He didn’t see anyone near him, but he saw a few things in the distance. There were many buildings that Marty could only describe as looking to be about 50 years in the future. They had a small science-fiction vibe to them. Marty’s eyes swiveled as he looked around the grassy plane. He saw what appeared to be a statue, but it was not facing him so he could not see who was depicted. He continued to look around until his eyes locked onto a half-burnt crystallized cherry tree. When he saw this cherry tree, he began to have a slight headache and, when he blinked in pain, the scene suddenly changed. No buildings could be seen, and the statues were also gone. Instead, the lone cherry tree was in full bloom, and there were flowers all across the field.

In an almost hypnotized state, Marty slowly walked toward the tree. Every few blinks, the scene would change too, and from the two different points in time. As he walked up towards the cherry tree, he noticed a young woman lying there. When he saw this woman, he was overcome with happiness and sadness. Out of his control, he slowly sat down next to her and bent down to kiss her forehead. However, two deceptively strong arms wrapped around his neck, and he suddenly felt very soft lips press against him.

For a moment, he was stunned. He did not know this woman, yet he couldn’t deny the immense gratification and fulfillment he felt. [Already crossed a line.] He thought as he gave in to the feeling and began to participate actively.

The young lady’s kiss seemed slightly dull and jerky, but when their tongues touched, that changed. She started to kiss him with what felt like an unrestrained passion as two tears gently fell from the corner of her eyes.

When they finally slowly separated, she looked at him with a loving expression as she gently caressed his face. “You finally came, Anata.”

“Miss, I think you made a mistake.”

Her face froze for an instant, but she had already affirmed she was no longer dreaming, and everything about him was the same. “Are you saying I kiss random men?”

“Not at all.”

“Are you saying you don’t remember me?”

Marty gave an awkward smile. “This… I don’t know how I should explain it. I’ve never seen you until now my entire life, but I feel like I’ve known you that entire time.”

The young lady gave a beautiful smile. “Does the name Hanahime mean anything to you?”

Marty stared at her as he winced from a headache. “It should?” he asked himself.

The young lady gently flicked his forehead. “You meany. I waited for you for so long, and you forgot about me? What’s her name?” She asked with a playful smile.

However, that momentarily coagulated when Marty coughed on air. “Why do I feel I’m getting the ‘caught cheating by the wife’ treatment?”

When she heard Marty’s retort, she couldn’t help but smile again. “I wonder why? Hopefully, you will soon remember, and know I’m not a narrow-minded person.”

Marty couldn’t help but slightly gawk as she had implied that not only they were lovers but that she wouldn’t mind if he got some external attention.

“What’s your name?” She asked him.

“Marty, Marty Cross.”

The young lady nodded as if having confirmed something. “My name is Miyuki Hanahime Ayatsuri. My middle name is such because I am one of the few individuals who has retained their memories from their previous life.”

Marty wasn’t stupid. He indeed caught onto her insinuation that they had been lovers in a previous life. However, how could this be possible? It was unlikely that his soul originally existed in this world then was reincarnated back on earth. Then, he remembered that strange dream had; The dream that he wanted to forget. That dream was of the future, a possible future. One of the last things that he remembered from that dream was going back as far as he could to a random world. If this were that random world, it would’ve made perfect sense. A future version of himself went back in time to this world. There, he met Hanahime and was romantically involved with her until they died. Hanahime was reincarnated, while the future version of Marty remained in that strange space. The future Marty’s soul had used his past self as a vessel, and the occasional pain he felt seemed to indicate that the two souls were in the process of fusion.

Marty gave Miyuki an awkward smile. “I have a theory if you care to listen.”

“Go ahead.”

Marty spent a few minutes explaining to her his theory. When she heard it, she couldn’t help but be surprised by his explanation; however, she readily agreed.

“You believe me so easily?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Firstly, it’s a little too detailed and crazy to be thought of on the spot. Secondly, you just fell from the sky. Thirdly, a wife must trust her husband.” She finished with an alluring smile that, coupled with her last remark, made Marty stare at her blankly.

Seeing an opening, and Miyuki quickly snuck in another kiss.

Marty gently pushed her away after he snapped out of it only to see her give a disappointed look. “Sorry,” he said as he looked away embarrassed.

Miyuki gave a sweet pouting expression. “Sorry? What have you to be sorry? I’m the one that kissed you. Is there a problem? Do you have a wife at home?” She teased.

Marty couldn’t help but awkwardly look away.

“Don’t tell me, more than one?” She asked overacting being hurt.

“I’m technically not married yet, but I have a fiancé.” He said, strangely feeling it necessary to defend himself.

Miyuki chuckled as she rolled her eyes. “I don’t care how many women you have, or what status you give me so long as you accept my condition.”

“Condition?” Marty asked, taken aback. The situation almost felt as if he was begging her to become a secret lover.

“I’ll tell you later. For now, come with me.”

Marty couldn’t help but smile as she pulled them along, arm-in-arm. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw some movement in the shadows. However, there was nothing there. This wasn’t the first time he felt as if someone else was here. When he initially appeared, he thought he felt a second source of happiness. However, there was nobody else present. Without any evidence, he could only allow Miyuki to drag him along.

As they went further away from the tree, her smiling face started to disappear and became cold. However, there was still a slight smile on her lips, which she couldn’t freeze over. After a short walk, she led him to a limousine where an older man greeted her.

“Young Lady, this is?” The older man asked, clearly wary that she had come back with someone.

“Who do you think?” She asked back with a chilly voice.

The older man squinted before he looked at Marty again. Suddenly, his eyes went wide in shock as he quickly glanced behind them and made a double-take as if to confirm something. Fear plastered over his face, but he managed to force out a smile. “Young Master, forgive this insignificant person.” He said before he quickly made his way over to open the door.

Marty glanced over his shoulder and finally saw the front of the statute. He couldn’t help but gawk when he realized that the young woman looked like Miyuki and the man closely resembled himself with the beard.

Miyuki quickly brought him into the limousine and sat down.

“What on earth did I do to make them so afraid of me?” He asked her.

“Not much. You just single-handedly killed thousands of enemy troops is all.” She replied nonchalantly.

“Did I kill people?”

“Is that hard to believe?”

“No… It’s just; I was hoping to live my life without killing people.” He replied with a bitter smile.

Miyuki shrugged. “Technically, you haven’t. Unlike me, who is a further extension of my previous life, you are your past self. You shouldn’t be held accountable for what your future self-did.”

Marty gave it a few seconds of thought but bitterly shook his head. “If that’s true, then wouldn’t that mean that I shouldn’t be held accountable for you either?”

Miyuki visibly tensed up, “I… I suppose not.” She said, unable to hide the tremble of her body and voice.

Marty glanced at her as she refused to give him eye contact. Even from the side, he could see the blood drain from her face, her fists clenched so tightly he was afraid that they might draw blood, and he could sense that fear was overcoming her. He already knew, from the moment he saw her; she loved him. Even if that person she loved were the future him, they soon would become one.

[God, are you playing with me?] He couldn’t help but think bitterly. His mind thought about Caelia who he had promised to marry. Then he thought about Yutsuki who he found his thoughts had drastically changed after the experience in that dream. Naturally, he also began to think about the other girls before thinking about Miyuki. Even though he and Miyuki could count as strangers in his mind, the thought of leaving her broke his heart. He couldn’t call himself weak to beautiful women, but he was vulnerable to sincere affection.

His vision began to turn gentle. “Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. If that dream I told you about is any indicator, I will most likely remember events so vividly that I can’t call them anything but memories. No matter how much I don’t want them, they will become a part of me. There’s nothing I can do to change it, so I should take responsibility to the furthest extent possible.”

After Miyuki heard his words, she immediately turned around and kissed him. Where the previous case had been one of passion, this one was of pure affection. Marty almost pulled away, but he stopped when he tasted the saltiness of her tears. Their kiss was slow and tender; never beyond their lips. After, she buried her face in his shoulder. “I don’t need to be your wife. I don’t need to be your lover. All I want is to wake up and not have to wonder if I will ever see you; Not know where you are. All I want us to see you, even if from afar.” She whispered gently.

Marty couldn’t help but slowly bring his arm up and hold her.

“You’re not different.” She said softly.

“What do you mean?”

“Shiba, the name I gave you when you couldn’t remember anything, hardly acted any differently than you do now. It’s nice to know that you didn’t change even though you lost your memory.”

Marty nodded as their conversation went silent.

“Where are we going?” He asked after a short bout of silence.

“The Ayatsuri Company. It’s one of the largest companies in the country. It focuses on the extraction, research, and commercialization of Energy Crystals.”

“Energy Crystals? This world has them too?” Marty asked a little excited.

The ring that Marty wore allowed them to transcend the language barrier. The fact that he had heard the exact words’ Energy Crystal’ meant that it was the same thing that he knew.

“You know about it?” Miyuki asked.

“It was brought from other worlds to my world. It has a very high demand as not much exists.”

“I can get you some. You can sell it at a high price.”

“Will think about that later. Do you know what creates Energy Crystals?”

“We have an idea, but we can’t prove it. Energy Crystals seem to exist wherever there is a lot of deaths, or where a powerful mage dies. Eventually, an Energy Crystal will appear there. We think that the Energy Crystal forms from the container of the soul once the Well of Souls removes the soul. Ironically, the best proof that the Well of Souls exists is you.”

“Was that tree covered by Energy Crystal? Who died there?” Marty asked, having just remembered. “Also, what’s a mage?” He asked as the term mage was general and could describe a different type of magic user then he knew.

“That cherry tree is encased in Energy Crystal. As for who died there? Two very powerful mages.” She replied as she tightened her grip on Marty’s hand.

Having remembered the statue, he suddenly realized who had probably died there. “Sorry for making you remember that.” He said softly.

Miyuki gently shook her head. “It’s alright. It’s one of my most precious memories because it’s where we made a promise I will never forget.”

“Marty couldn’t help but break out into a cold sweat when he saw her mischievous expression. “What promise?”

“I’ll wait until you remember. As for mage, I’ll show you.” She said as she began to move her finger in the air. As she did so, lines trailed behind her finger until they formed a character which Marty recognized as being the Japanese character for ice. When she finished the character, Marty heard what sounded like her voice say ‘ice.’ Then, with a flick of the finger, a cool breeze extended from the character towards the glasses of water which iced up. “This is the magic that magicians utilize. We use mana to write a character which gives meaning, creating the effect that you saw.”

“What are the limits to casting?” Marty asked, intrigued.

“The character can only stay in its form for a limited time, which can be problematic as more powerful spells require multiple characters. If a character disappears before the spell is complete, then the spell will fail. The speed of spellcasting, the amount of mana, and the intent of a mage are the primary factors spellcasting. Ring any bells?” she asked him.

“Not really. However, I understand the principle.” Marty responded as he moved mana to his finger, created a magical circle, and a flame appeared. “I happen to know a different way of spellcasting.”

Miyuki looked at his finger in shock.

“From the sound of it, these two types of spellcasting are similar. Both use a medium to give meaning, and mana is used as a type of fuel to create an effect. The primary difference is your method of spellcasting is more flexible.”

“Interesting. We’ll have to talk about this more.” She said, obviously intrigued.

“Enough about magic, what about you? Family?”

Miyuki’s face turned a little sad. “My parents used to own the company we’re going to before they died in a car accident. My uncle is running the company now though it is under my name.”

Hearing this, Marty almost wanted to shout ‘foul play,’ but it was only a gut feeling with no evidence.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s alright. Even if only for a short time, I got to know what it’s like to have a mother.”

“Sounds similar to me. My parents and younger sister died because of a car accident.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yes, I miss them quite a bit. I would’ve died too, if not for my sister’s dying wish to transplant her heart for me.”

\Miyuki’s complexion crazily changed at his words to the extent that Marty had yet to see. “Something wrong?” He asked.

Miyuki shook her head. “No, I just realized something.”

“What?”

“You should be able to figure out when you remember.” She replied with a mischievous smile.

Marty couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He couldn’t tell if she wanted him to find out for himself or she was too lazy to answer him. Given how she had cuddled up against him, he suspected it was the latter.

As they rode along, Marty couldn’t help but realize how easily he had accepted Miyuki. Even though he hardly had any memory of her, he couldn’t bear the thought of separating.

Very quickly, they reached their destination. Miyuki led him into the building and up into a special room. Along the way, Marty ignored the surprised and envious glances he was getting. Miyuki had been dubbed a ‘man-hater’ as she refused nearly any interaction with men. Given her status, she was also a well-known public figure. He naturally knew these people were posting, and news of the two of them being together would become a trending topic on whatever social media network was popular. However, he got a little annoyed when pictures were taken. He used his mind, infiltrated the devices, and corrupted any images before they could be posted.

After they reached a room, Miyuki quickly got a couple of things in place and had a slideshow ready.

“Because you seem so interested in Energy Crystals, I’m going to tell you a little bit about them and our company. Energy Crystals seem to merge if multiple of them are forming in the same place at the same time. Because of this, Energy Crystals can be monstrous in size and impractical for commercial use. However, my parents figured out a way to cut them, which led to the founding of this company.”

“Are you going to tell me how?” Marty asked with a chuckle amused that she had suddenly begun to act like a businesswoman.

“Of course; What’s mine is yours. Energy Crystals have been around for a long time, but no one has learned how to use them even if they understood the basic principles. Energy Crystals can absorb any energy but have a limit. If this limit is exceeded, and more energy is input faster then is released, the Energy Crystal shatters. This continues multiple times until it becomes a fine powder that, while it can still store energy, is inefficient. This method of breaking the Energy Crystals is extraordinarily ineffective and dangerous.

“My parents invented the device that can drain the energy from an Energy Crystal. You see, Energy Crystals may seem indestructible, but they aren’t. The problem is that they absorb the energy before any damage can be done to the Energy Crystal. By drawing out the energy as fast as it enters the Energy Crystal, this is no longer a problem. With the utilization of the device, all we need to do is cut the crystal with something like a waterjet to shape it to the required specifications.”

“Clever. What are the uses you have found?”

“Electricity providers, mostly. It provides the most efficient and cleanest way to transfer energy into electricity. We own quite a bit of electric company stocks because of it. The government also purchased massive Energy Crystals to replace streetlights. When an energy Crystal is full of energy, it will release a light. While this light is inferior to a modern light bulb, it doesn’t require any maintenance. You see, it doesn’t hold the energy perfectly, but sunlight can balance this out, so it saves the government a lot of money. Finally, it is used in various appliances. We used to have this thing called the rechargeable battery, but Energy Crystals have replaced that.”

“Interested in opening up a new market? Say, in another world?”

“You mean a market that doesn’t have anything like our product and has no possibility for other companies to enter? Just because I have these doesn’t mean I don’t have brains.” Miyuki said as she pushed up two deadly weapons. She smiled when she saw Marty gulp and look away.

“You seem quite knowledgeable about business matters.”

“Of course. Even though my uncle runs the company, I still have ultimate control. It’s my parents legacy, after all. I have to take it seriously. Besides, a certain someone stole my heart, so it’s impossible to use these to find a pretty rich boy.” She said as she gave her chest a shake, enjoying making him feel awkward.

“Did you get some work done? They seem bigger than I remember.”

“How rude.” She said, actually having taken a slight offense. “These are completely natural. If you don’t believe me, come check yourself.” She said, acting angry, but she could not hide a slight grin.

“That’s all right. I was wondering how you look almost the same as your previous life. After all, even if you were born in the same country and the same ethnicity, your DNA is different.”

“While there isn’t proof, there’s a theory as to why this is the case. It’s believed that a soul powerful enough to be reincarnated can cause physical changes in the body. However, it may not completely change their appearance to how they were their first life. If the body from the second life has features that they want or they had features from their first life that they don’t want which haunt them, then the body can change. For the latter, there was a person who had his arm cut off in his previous life. The cause angered him to the point that his arm died and fell off in his second life, and nothing could be done to save it. As for the latter,” She said as she gave her weapons a good bounce.

“I get it,” Marty said. He had an incredibly strong desire to run over and pin her down, but he withstood it. This wasn’t the first time he had this feeling around a woman, but it was the first time he almost gave in.

Miyuki, who saw the slight red glow in his eyes, smiled as she knew full well what it meant. She was about to continue to tease him but stopped when she heard a commotion down below. There was some shouting, which was odd, but her expression changed when he heard a gunshot.

“Guns?” Marty asked to confirm.

“Yes. They’re strictly controlled, so I don’t know why they have them.”

Marty rolled his eyes. “Yes, by controlled you mean that all of the guns that were legally purchased in the hands of law-abiding citizens were confiscated while none of the criminal’s weapons were?”

“Is it time to be worried about semantics? We should leave.” Miyuki said, clearly worried. Even though she was a magician, she was no miracle worker. While a magician was highly valued, it was mostly for historical purposes as they were extremely outdated. Compared to a mage, guns required hardly any training and allowed for a nearly immediate return. In an open one-on-one fight, the mage would die almost every time unless the gunman was a lousy shot.

Marty smiled at her. “Relax, I’m here.”

Marty wasn’t worried in the slightest. He could tell by the sound of those guns that they were only small firearms. So long as it wasn’t a sneak attack, small firearms were nearly invalid against someone who had reached Ki Rank 10 and could use it to reinforce themselves. He had also noticed that Ki didn’t exist in this world. From the information he had been able to gather on the net, the only significant difference between this world and earth was the writing magic and how it had affected the course of history.

Because the office walls were transparent, they spotted the assailants before they reached the room. When he saw the masks they wore, he suddenly became solemn. He didn’t know why the mask that showed a face with the left cheek removed would cause this reaction.

“Dammit, he is alive,” Miyuki said under her breath.

“Who?”

“Nero.” She replied, clearly angry.

“As in the Roman Emperor?” Marty asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes.”

“He seems to be after you. Why?”

“Revenge.” She said before she looked at Marty. “He should have died... Right after he killed us.”

Marty’s eyes narrowed. “Well, who gets revenge has yet to be seen.” He said as he protected both of them with Ki.

Miyuki was shocked when an aura of blue energy suddenly wrapped around her. However, that went away quickly as she stood behind Marty, and she felt an incredible sense of security.

Right after he had done so, four masked men entered the room. They were surprised to see Marty and his strange light coming from him, but they all adopted a wicked grin when they saw Miyuki behind him.

“Snow Miko, our Emperor wants to see you.”

Yuki nearly had an impulse to follow them to protect Marty, but he said he could handle the situation, so she coldly looked at the masked man. “I have no intention of seeing that lowlife.”

The leader of the masked man’s smile disappeared. “Well, I’m sorry to inform you, I’m not asking.” He said as he raised his gun to Marty.

Even though Marty could take a bullet head-on, it would be more efficient to deflect it, so Marty created a triangle in front of him. Miyuki flinched at the gunshot, but when she realized that Marty was fine and an area to the side had a bullet hole, she finally felt relieved.

The leader of the men looked shocked. “Open fire!” He shouted.

All four of them opened fire at Marty, who stood there. Eventually, the room filled with the clicking noise signaling that they were out of ammo. The masked men looked at Marty, terrified as what it just occurred in front of them was beyond their expectations. Even though there was defensive magic, there wasn’t a single one known to be able to stop a bullet.

Marty gave them a cold smile. “Now that you’ve had your fun, is it my turn?”

The man flinched and quickly tried to reload their weapons. “Oh, by the way, I’m not asking,” Marty said before he dashed towards them and began to knock them out with Gentle Touch. He had successfully knocked out the first three and was going to the fourth when something unexpected happened. A fifth masked man jumped into the room appeared and fired a stun gun, ironically powered by Energy Crystal, at the unaware Miyuki. When Marty saw this, he was overcome with anger. It was apparent they wanted to take her alive, and Marty couldn’t help but get the feeling that it was so that Nero could finish what he started. Although Marty didn’t exactly know what that was, he only knew it would happen over his dead body. He was about to act when a mutation suddenly occurred.

Miyuki’s shadow very quickly morphed, rose up next to her, and pushed her aside, which caused the electrodes to miss. Marty was shocked by the development and even more surprised when a woman clad tightly in black formed from that shadow. However, besides surprise, he also felt a strange familiarity. The masked man was stunned and was unable to move when a ninja star thrown from the woman suddenly embedded itself in his forehead, killing him instantly.

Miyuki looked at the woman with a delighted expression as she recognized her. She was someone who Miyuki thought she would never see again. Miyuki was about to shout her name but was suddenly interrupted.

“Kuromi?” Marty asked.

The woman physically shook before she quickly went before Marty and got down on one knee. “Kuromi has seen Master.”

“Stand up,” Marty said after he quickly got over the shock of her action. When she did so, in that Marty got a good look at her. She was beautiful, only slightly inferior to Miyuki. Her build was slender, very appropriate given that her specialty seemed to be stealth. Compared to Miyuki, who was jubilant, Kuromi appeared cold.

“Kuromi, were you protecting me in secret all this time? Since when?” Miyuki asked excitedly.

“Since you were 12 years old, Mistress.”

“6 years?” Miyuki said shocked as she hadn’t realized in the slightest. She then turned to Marty. “So how is it you have nearly no memory of me, and couldn’t remember my name, but you recognize her at first glance?” She asked with a glare.

Marty broke out into a cold sweat. “I don’t know. The name popped into my head when I saw the shadow turn into her.”

Miyuki gave him a quick look over before she smiled at him. “I believe you,” She said which revealed that she was only teasing him. Then, she turned back to Kuromi. “As for you. You spent six years of your life protecting me in secret and left me lonely all this time?”

“I’m sorry Mistress,” Kuromi said as she looked down, ashamed.

“How should I punish you?”

“Whatever you feel appropriate, Mistress.”

“Very well. Tonight, you will serve him to the best of your ability.”

“What!” Marty exclaimed though he was not upset enough to see Kuromi give a brief smile and feel her excitement.

“If that… If that is your order, Mistress.” Kuromi said shyly.

“Of course, I have to be there to watch. *Smack!* Ouch!” She shouted after Marty planted a firm spank.

“Don’t decide something like that yourself,” Marty said a little angry. “What’s wrong?” He asked when he noticed she was trembling and turned away from him.

When she heard his question, she turned to look at him. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, her eyes teared up, and she seemed somewhat bitter. “Shiba you jerk.” She muttered.

“Anyway, I’m going to interrogate them now,” Marty said as he walked over to the passed out men.

“Do you want me to help?” Kuromi offered.

“Unnecessary. My method of interrogation is quick and efficient.” Marty said as he bent down near the masked leader.

Even though these people had no Ki, Marty had already proven that Gentle Touch worked against regular people. He quickly sealed up this person’s limbs and unsealed the point at the back of his neck before he slapped him awake. The masked man woke up with a start and became slightly afraid when he realized he couldn’t control his body.

“Why did you come here?” Marty asked.

The masked man responded by spitting at Marty. However, the spit suddenly froze in mid-air before it could hit him and went back down and landed on the masked man’s face.

“Second question, what are you and your organization planning?”

The masked man didn’t respond and sneered at Marty. It wasn’t extremely uncommon for people who died around the same time to be reincarnated at the same time. He was one of the soldiers who initially fought under Nero, which was why he willingly joined him in this life. He was confident that no matter how much he was tortured, he wouldn’t let any information slip. By then, it would be too late. In his confidence, he happened to think about the significant points in the plan.

“Damn,” Marty said before he punched the man to knock them out.

“Anata, what’s wrong?” Miyuki asked.

“They were here to take you alive. As for the plan… Miyuki, is there a river up North with an electrical cable stretched across it and a good number of regular swimmers?”

“There should be,” Miyuki said with a nod.

“The plan is to cut the wire above the river.”

Miyuki’s porcelain skin went more white when she heard this. It was a very sinister move aimed at her. Nero hated Kuhon so it wasn’t surprising that he would be willing to kill off a bunch of civilians. However, the way he decided to do it was by electrocution, which implicated Miyuki’s company.

“I’ll contact the company and the government,” Miyuki said as she pulled out a phone.

“There’s no time. Kuromi, keep her safe.” Marty said before he blasted the window with Ki and jumped out.

Kuromi and Miyuki were shocked by his action and ran over to check on him. They relaxed when they saw him flying off with a set of Ki Dragon Wings.

“It seems he forgot more than just who he was,” Miyuki mumbled as she quickly turned around and headed for a car. Kuromi quickly melded with her shadow and followed her.

Unfamiliar with the area, Marty went the wrong way for a short while. It wasn’t a massive delay, but it was enough to make him worry.

“We haven’t heard from the team yet?” Nero asked from near the bridge as he gazed up at the bomb attached to the wire.

“Not yet, my Lord.” The masked man responded.

“If they were successful, they should’ve messaged by now. We’ll give them another five minutes, but this is happening whether or not they capture her.”

“What’s that?” One of the men asked, prompting the others to look in a specific direction. There, they saw something that they could hardly believe. It was a man glowing red with wings. He was flying toward the electrical wires and began to fly parallel.

Nero’s face went from shock to happy anger when he saw this action because he managed to see that person’s face through a pair of binoculars. “Mahesvara, you sure hid well.” He said with a laugh. “Now I know why we haven’t heard back from the team. I don’t know what strange magic you devised, but if you go near that bomb, it will be the end.” He said with a grin. He very quickly prepared the detonation device, waited for Marty to reach the bomb, and immediately pressed when Marty did so with a gleeful expression. However, this immediately changed when he noticed that it didn’t cause damage.

Unfortunately for Nero, while the explosion would’ve hurt an ordinary person, it wasn’t designed to do so. When Marty realized he couldn’t disarm the bomb with his mind, he protected himself with his Ki and Draconified. The result was that Marty was only stunned for a moment, but was not damaged. However, the bomb successfully severed the wire, which had slightly raised from the explosion.

Nero looked on with a cloudy vision as he noticed that the bridge filled with police cars which he hadn’t seen because he was distracted by Marty. He also saw Miyuki who had quickly rushed out to the edge of the bridge to look at Marty. Nero wanted to run over and kill them both, but he was too far away, and the police force protected her so he could only hope that his plan would have no further complications.

Unfortunately for him, Marty intended to complicate the matter. He protected himself with Ki and immediately created two Ki Dragon Claws to grab each of the wires. He gritted his teeth, knowing what would come next as electricity suddenly surged, using himself as a means to complete the circuit. Fortunately for Marty, he had some experience when he guided lightning as a weapon. Unfortunately for Marty, the electricity was abnormally powerful as it was the main cable into the city. Furthermore, a strange phenomenon began to occur.

Though Marty directed the electricity, not all of it perfectly followed through this path, and some went into his body. When this occurred, Marty suddenly felt as though time had slowed down, but it was his brain that suddenly sped up.

If his brain had somehow become like a computer, then the electricity overclocked him. This was also a blessing in disguise as it allowed him to make more minute and quick changes to more effectively channel the electricity. However, it was also a double-edged blade as seconds felt like minutes, and the pain was not lessened.

Eventually, the electricity finally stopped. Marty finally relaxed as blood and smoke slowly poured out of his mouth, arms, and chest while the smell of burnt flesh. He gently looked down at Miyuki who was holding her mouth in horror as he began to fall, unable to move. He blinked his eyes very slowly as he fell, but they suddenly shot open when he saw that Miyuki had brazenly jumped after him and was only a few feet away from him.

[Stupid girl.] He thought as both anger and warmth filled him that she had risked herself in such a foolish manner. However, it was not the time to indulge in these feelings. Even though the bridge wasn’t abnormally high, the impact of the water could still cause damage, and he couldn’t let that happen to Miyuki. His eyes that had already changed similar to a Red Dragon began to show specks of gold as he summoned the willpower to move. With a snarl, he somehow managed to make another Ki Dragon Claw which grabbed Miyuki and quickly brought her to his chest. He quickly used his remaining consciousness to create a shield of Ki to help them break through the water safely. Just before they hit the water, and he passed out, he heard Miyuki whisper: “not even until death do us part.”