He opened his eyes to find himself standing in a place that was utterly destroyed by a fierce battle considering the amount of ruined buildings in the background and meteor craters all over the land. This person was Alestor, and he was feeling confused by the heavy destruction that had occurred there, making him wonder where in the world he was.

“Ah?!” He exclaimed, as he glanced around in a full circle to see a prominent structure remaining in the distance.

It was the castle in which he resided in and did his daily work from, which also served as his home as he had no place outside it. The once majestic building stood tall and proud, but now, it appeared to have sustained heavy damage. There were broken windows everywhere and the once empty courtyard was filled with the bodies of the countless souls that had lost their lives in a tremendous battle.

“No…!” Alestor said slowly, appearing to be in great pain at the sight of so many lives lost. “What’s the meaning of this?”

At that moment, a great shock wave hit him from behind that buffeted him and almost made him fall. However, he quickly regained his balance and turned around to see two violent flashes of light darting back and forth in a randomised movement, hitting each other constantly and causing shock waves to go in all directions. He watched in silence as the battle between the two unknown individuals raged on for several seconds before they came near him and stopped fighting to reveal a being he had never met before while the other was none other than Lakshman.

“What?!” He exclaimed, shocked at the sight of Lakshman fighting this unknown individual, who was shrouded in some kind of darkness that hid his face from sight.

“You’re dead,” the stranger said in a calm voice that was filled with great power.

“Says you!” Lakshman replied furiously, narrowing his eyes to look very seriously at his enemy.

The man chuckled and spread his arms out while stating, “Those who fight me perish. It’s the rule.”

“Well, it’s about time that gets changed!” His enemy replied before surging with power that while radiating golden-red aura that surrounded him.

“It’s not up for debate,” replied the man, surging with power while radiating golden aura that surrounded him. “The hour of justice is at hand, and my quest for ultimate power is almost complete. So, stay out of my way!”

He continued to surge with more and more power, slowly causing the world to shake from the intensity of his power.

Lakshman clicked his tongue and said, “I’m not going to let that happen,” and he too continued to surge with more power that further added to the shaking of the world.

“What right do you have to stop me on my quest?!” The man demanded, eying his enemy with a silent fury on his face. “This isn’t even your home!”

“It may not be my home… but I swore that I’ll protect it!” Lakshman replied in a fierce voice.

The unknown individual seemingly stared at his enemy in silence for a few seconds before saying, “There is no more point or reason to speak with you. Come as you sincerely have a death wish.”

“Likewise!” The Solaris Hero shouted back in a firm voice, and he rocketed forward with great intensity at his enemy.

The stranger did the same, flying forward at an incredible speed towards his enemy, and the two warriors met in the centre of the battlefield before unleashing their fists at one another. When the two collided against each other, a violent flash of light occurred that begun obliterating everything in its path as it spread in all directions.

“Stop! You’ll destroy the world!” Alestor cried out, extended his hand towards them in desperation.

However, the destruction did not stop and the wave consumed his hand, and as he screamed, his entire body got consumed by it. In that instant, he woke up with a start on his bed and cried out, “No,” with his hand extended towards the ceiling.

His breathing was quick and unnatural as he was covered in sweat while he wore a terrified expression on his face. He blinked twice and glanced around to realise that he was in his room and that everything he witnessed was just a vision granted to him by his ability, All Seeing Eyes.

“It was… just a dream…” he muttered, sitting upright on his bed and looking out of the window at the rising sun across he horizon. Then he shook his head and muttered, “No. It wasn’t a dream. It was more like a vision. Yes. A vision into what our would happen in the future. Damn! The great confrontation between two super powers from different worlds is going to take place… and I don’t know what I should do about it.”

He sighed deeply and closed his eyes, focusing on calming his racing heart. As it steadied, he reopened his eyes and muttered, “I should speak with Lakshman and inform him about this.”

As such, later that day, he made a request for the Solaris Hero to meet with him after school was over that day. He sat in his chair and was doing his usual work when there was a knock on the door, and he heard a familiar voice request entry.

“Come in,” he called in a calm voice and saw Lakshman enter the room with a smile on his face.

“Hello, Alestor. It’s good to see you again,” he said, greeting the older man in a friendly manner.

“Likewise, Asura,” replied Alestor with a friendly smile on his own face, gesturing for Lakshman to take a seat on the other side of his desk.

Lakshman sighed as he took the seat and said, “My name’s Lakshman, Alestor.”

“I know,” replied the older man with a sweet smile, “but pronouncing it is proving to be troublesome, so I prefer to call you by Asura. Besides, Asura seems to hold more power than your true name does. Does your name hold some sort of symbolism in your world?”

The Solaris Hero chuckled and replied, “Not really a symbolism but… well… my parents gave me it and… it means to be lucky. They wished me to have the entire luck the world could offer since they never received that grace during their lifetime.”

“Fair enough,” replied the older man, nodding his head in understanding. “Actually, I called you here today to speak with you about something important, and by that I’m referring to the prophecy.”

This instantly made Lakshman put on a serious face as he asked, “Did something happen? Did the alien do something?”

He was ready to take action against the alien at any given opportunity, however, the older man shook his head and replied, “No. It’s not about the alien, it’s the vision I had earlier today.”

“A vision?” Lakshman asked, looking surprised and looking directly into Alestor’s eyes. “Did your ability activate in your sleep or something?”

Alestor nodded while looking grim and explained about the vision he had about him about a world that was mostly destroyed, and him witnessing Lakshman battle against an unknown individual with incredible powers. Lakshman listened intently until Alestor completed retelling everything he had witnessed in his dream. Then there was a silence that stretched on for almost a minute, with Lakshman leaning back in his chair and thinking about what he just heard.

“I see,” he finally said, relaxing his seriousness to smile at Alestor, who blinked at him in surprise. “It looks like the thing about Erza’s been discovered by the other party.”

“I think so too,” replied Alestor in agreement, “but… I don’t understand how their side would’ve known. The mask she wears is a powerful ancient artefact used to supress one’s presence completely. It was said to have been forged by the Zeklock Hero in the past.”

Lakshman smiled and asked, “How was the battle between me and that unknown individual? What did you think about it?”

“What did I think about it?” The older man repeated, looking puzzled by the hero’s question. He thought about it for a moment and said, “Well… it looked like an even battle.”

Lakshman narrowed his eyes and asked, “Even huh? Did I appear different to what I look right now?”

Alestor shook his head and said, “No. You looked normal except for the clothing obviously.”

Lakshman chuckled, and he smile at the older man before saying, “I see. If that’s the case, then the enemy is really strong.”

Alestor looked surprised by his statement and asked, “What makes you say that?”

“It’s simple, Alestor. I normally fight at full power in my base form, but the fact that he appeared to fight me on even terms means that he’s either as strong as me or maybe even stronger.”

This made the older man widen his eyes in shock and exclaim, “Even stronger than you?! Are you serious?”

He was remembering from the time a few weeks ago when Lakshman unleashed his power during a sparring battle between Gram and himself. There he utterly crushed the Tempest Hero’s spirit with his overwhelming power that caused everyone in the castle, the capital, and other parts of the world to realise the insane amount of power he possessed. Comparing that to Lakshman’s statement, Alestor could only look concerned at the prospect of what the future held for his world.

“Dammit,” he said finally, leaning back in his chair and sighing deeply with a disgruntled look on his face. “Even with this power, all I can do is sit back and watch it happen. I tried to save Erza’s mother but failed, I tired help society in any manner but failed, I tried to change the king’s mindset but failed, and now, I’m going to fail in saving the world as well.”

Lakshman watched the older man look saddened by the grim future that awaited them before saying with a smile, “It’s when you give up that you’ve truly failed.” As the older man looked at him, Lakshman rose to his feet and began strolling around while saying, “Life isn’t easy, Alestor. I’m sure you’ve been through a lot and tried to do many things but couldn’t do them for whatever reason, but that’s just life. It never goes the way you want it to and all you can do it accept it and move on.”

He turned to face the older man and said, “Back in my world, I always wanted to promote arts like dancing, drama, musicals, and many others while putting conflict aside. I never got the opportunity because I always had to deal with the politics of governing my kingdom as well as dealing with the unreasonable attitude from the other kingdoms. Not to mention I have a family to take care of, leaving me with not much of a chance to do anything else.”

After circling around the office, he came back to take his seat and look intently at Alestor with a smile on his face.

“Indeed, I failed to carry out my vision, but I’m not giving up. I’ve learnt enough lessons from the past that it’s time to show what I’ve learnt through my actions in finally bringing peace to my world.”

Alestor blinked in surprise before asking him, “Aren’t you being a little too idealistic in your goals, Asura?”

“Aren’t we all like that?” Lakshman asked, causing the older man to raise his eyebrows in surprise. “Think back to our history, and you’ll notice that the world leaders in the past and great heroes from society did what they could because of the ideology they believed in. Indeed, you are correct in saying I am being idealistic, but it’s when you make your ideals a reality is when you truly achieve your goal. What’s the worst can happen? That you die? Heh,” and he snorted in disdain.

The older person blinked in surprise as he heard the hero say, “If you’re going to go out, then it’s better you go out in a blaze of glory trying to achieve your goals of making your ideals into a reality. Even if the world rejects your ideals and turns itself upside down to fight you, keep going because it’s better to leave on a high note rather than be labelled as a loser for all of eternity,” and he showed a smile that came from wisdom and experience from his own life.

When he finished, there was silence between them as Alestor gazed at Lakshman in amazement. He wondered just what kind of world he lived in, what experiences he had in life, and what sort of treatment he received back in his home world for him to be this steadfast and strong in his beliefs. What Alestor found was even more amazing about him was that he must have faced countless defeats but still kept on going with hopes of bringing his visions to life.

He finally smiled warmly at the young man and said, “If only everyone had your kind of perseverance, then they’d all be the victors in this game called life.” As Lakshman merely showed him a bright smile when there was a knock on the door, making Alestor say, “Come in.”

The door opened and revealed it to be the commander of the League of Heroes, but he was not alone. As he came in, he was followed in by a platoon of armed men carrying guns in one hand while having equipped a shield on the other. Alestor was surprised, and he rose to his feet to greet them while Lakshman remained seated, but he was cautious as he felt this to be an unnatural occurrence.

“What brings you and the platoon here, Cyde?” Alestor asked the commander with a serious expression on his face, sensing that all was not well with this strange arrangement.

Cyde nodded and looked at Lakshman’s back before saying, “I heard the Solaris Hero was here, so I came as I was ordered to by the king.”

Upon hearing that, Lakshman turned sideways to glance up at the man and asked, “And? What did the king order you to do?”

Cyde narrowed his eyebrows in seriousness and replied curtly, “That you are to be arrested for treason and carrying out propaganda against the people of this world.”