Chapter 153

Arc 15 - Dead Men Rising - Part 6

New York City, Earth:

Above New York City, Eddie stood still as he dazedly looked down at the city.

Just a few moments ago, his sister called him. With a broken voice, she told him she was scared, which means the zombies had gotten to his home, but he was not sure what he was supposed to do.

Was Eddie supposed to save his family?

He should, and he knows that.

However, if he leaves, the zombies will start moving, meaning he will be risking millions of lives.

Can he trade one for the other?

Eddie clenched his fist, breaking the phone in his hand.

“In my long life, I had forgotten something important Soar had told me, but I am glad I found this memory again recently. He told me, to be a hero, you must never neglect those you love, because if you do, you will regret it for the rest of your life.”

Eddie heard a voice in front of him, so he raised his head ever so slowly.

"I am giving you two options, Eddie."

Like always, when he was in distress, his guardian angel appeared just at the right time.

"Leave now and let the world be or let those close to you die. What do you choose? What will you regret the most?"

Eddie's eyes widened in horror.

How could give him such an ultimatum?

"What kind of hero do you want to be?"

'The ones that saves everyone', Eddie would have responded with this in the past, but now it was a different situation. That was impossible.

In the fantasy world, a hero can save everyone, but what can Eddie do in this real shadowy world? Maybe he will save the city, the country, the planet, but can he pay the price for it?

And what about the universe? Can he save that?

"The ones who live for others and ruin yourself and those close to you or the one that will do whatever is necessary to not let his loved ones be harmed?" Nazar added in a cold tone. "You cannot have it all."

"I…"

Nazar went closer to him.

"So, what will you choose?"

He wrapped his right arm around Eddie's neck and pulled him closer, making his head rest on Nazar's shoulder.

"Tell me, what is your deepest wish, Edward Hunt."

For the first time in many years, Nazar called by his real name rather than his nickname, and that made Eddie feel even more horrified.

This was no longer a conversation between two good friends, no it was between a God and a mortal.

"Do you really want to sacrifice them for the sake of strangers? Can you?"

"..."

"Please, go home, Eddie. I need to make sure you are safe. I need to make sure Violet is safe. I need to make sure everyone I care about is safe, not just physically. So please… just go," Nazar's cold tone was shunned away and replaced by a soft one. "There is a whole universe of zombies out there. Strong zombies that even scared the angels. You think you can fight them?"

"...No."

Nazar scoffed.

"Good, good."

Nazar moved back a little.

"I placed a barrier around your home."

Eddie's horrified look slowly started to vanish.

"Huh?"

"But I don't think it's perfect. Maybe one of those powerful zombies will break through it," he lied in a sarcastic exasperated tone. "Anyway, go home and I will save the world. But if you don't, I might as well destroy it," Nazar added jokingly.

"..."

Eddie stared at Nazar for a moment before letting out a long and heavy sigh.

"Now go before I change my mind."

A portal opened and it swallowed Eddie.

He did not give him a chance to refute against Nazar's limited options.

That must have damaged his ego quite a lot as a hero, but sorry brother, this isn't the time. Nazar thought with a hint of sadness. He wanted Eddie to live his life freely and become the greatest hero, but at every turn, he ends up solving his problems for him.

Eddie is weak but he is growing stronger. Nazar, however, doesn't want him to become stronger immediately as it will hurt him later.

“Now then...”

Nazar looked down at the city.

“「Necromancy」!”

Dark purple energies floated around Nazar’s body.

He looked at his hand which was radiating these dark energies and scoffed.

“This is fun.”

He held his palms together and created a ball of dark energy, which’s centre was glowing white.

Death itself has died and everyone is returning, could he be...

The image of his father flashed before his eyes.

Nah, let’s pretend this is a special case as usual.

“Vilramore!”

He called out the name of this universe’s manifestation.

『Master.』

“What is happening across the universe?”

『The zombies have swarmed every corner of the universe. But that is not what you wish to know, is it, master?』

“...”

Nazar clicked his tongue.

“Don’t say anything.”

『As you wish. I will keep an eye on the universe, making sure it is not destroyed.』

“You do that. And let me know when that person shows up.”

『Very well, I will do so.』

The voice of the universe vanished, leaving Nazar alone.

He glanced at the energy ball.

Without further ado, he slammed the energy ball on the ground, sending dark purple energies across the planet, which caused every zombie stop moving and their dark glowing eyes vanished.

As usual, that was easy...

Nazar clicked his tongue in anger as he kicked the air, creating a powerful shockwave, which threw down a few buildings nearby.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

Nazareth, Israel:

On top of a grey hill, inside a ruined temple, a short man with black hair and black eyes sat on a half-broken wall and stared outside at the ruins nearby.

Thirty years ago, this hill had many homes, schools, and shops, but a meteor fell, destroying it. No one understood why or how the meteor was broken to pieces, but it was, and the damage was reduced.

As he was reminiscing about the past, he heard a rustling sound and started to speak.

“Two thousand years ago, in this same city, I appeared before you and asked you to stand beside me against God himself.”

The other man in this nearly destroyed temple did not speak in return.

“Then, you threw me away and went on with your journey to convert the non-believers so they could believe in the words of your “father”. If you had listened to me, you would have not died.”

“And if I had listened to you, I would have been a pawn in a greater game for the rest of my life. My sacrifice freed humanity, albeit in an exceedingly small way.”

“It’s interesting you say this, but tell me, did it really work?”

“I was a God created to spread the words of our creator and fight against the words of the devil, Lucifer. I did as it was asked of me. But then I learned the truth about the world and its creation. I learned about our creator and I sacrificed myself so he would let these new species walk free.”

The short man laughed.

“You have been told lies, old friend.”

“I am not your friend,” while the words of the man were malicious, but his tones carried nothing as such. It was calm and benevolent.

“You were not here, but that creator of yours sent more, so many more to change them. A lot succeeded; a lot failed.”

The other man was confused.

“But humanity seems so… free.”

“You were lied to; humans were never free.”

The other man wobbly walked towards the broken wall and sat on it, opposite the other man.

“When I died, I was reincarnated in Heaven and I was told, I succeeded. The creator told me he let humanity make their own decisions.”

The short man narrowed his eyes interestedly.

“Then what happened?”

“Then I closed my eyes. My eyes could see nothing but the dark, until mere moments ago.”

“I see, I see.”

The other man stared out towards the ruined town once again.

“Why does humanity seem so free then?” the curious man asked.

“An angel and a demon lived in this world; they changed the landscape of this world.”

The other man looked at this short man with a complicated look on his face.

“That’s impossible.”

“Funny, right?”

“It’s not going to be as funny in a second.”

Before the two men could react to the voice, something fell near them.

Unable to bear that heavy weight, the ground shattered into pieces and it flew in every direction.

The two men stood up as they looked at a white haired and red eyed man still kneeling on the ground.

“It’s you...”

The short man could not see him, but he knew who it was.

“Nazar.”

Nazar raised his head slowly, revealing his red flaring eyes that caused both of them to swallow their saliva.

“William Brown, Zerathos,” Nazar spoke in a cold beast-like voice.

The short man’s grey suit ripped open as he transformed into a hulking red figure. A demon with crimson eyes and grey wings.

Growling like a beast, the demon Zerathos nodded his head, “It is good to meet you again.”

“Can’t say the same,” Nazar replied with a faint confident smile as if he was looking down on this man, or perhaps trying to keep his fury down.

"It seems there is still bad blood between the two of us."

Nazar ignored him and looked at the other figure.

“And Jesus of Nazareth, your second coming was prophesied differently by your followers."

"Who… are you?" the other figure, Jesus of Nazareth, a third dimensional God who is also the figurehead of a large religion on Earth called Christianity.

Nazar spread his arms wide.

"What do you think?"

The speechless man out of his time stared at him in confusion.

"I am a human."

"!!" His face stiffened. "That's-- That's impossible. Humans with power… that's…."

Flustered, he looked at the demon.

"Unless--"

"It's not magic," Zerathos shook his head, denying's Jesus' claim.

Jesus darted his eyes towards Nazar.

"He is an anomaly."

Nazar's red eyes flared brightly as he looked at the demon.

"Leaving aside that useless conversation about me, Zerathos, I hope you are prepared to meet your end."

"...."

The demon glanced down.

He had enough power to wipe out a universe but against this human, he knows he stands no chance.

So, he nodded.

"Then go on--"

"But before that, let's talk."

"!!" He looked at Nazar with wide eyes.

"I have questions for you."

Zerathos glanced at Jesus then at Nazar.

"Very well, then."

လလလ

Above Nazareth, a large floating castle had appeared. The demon and Nazar sat in its garden as they spoke.

"What is it you wish to talk about?"

"First thing first, why?"

"Everyone across the universe have one goal, to grow more powerful. Simply, that was my reason too."

Nazar frowned.

"That's it?"

"Yes, that's it."

"You ruined my WHOLE FUCKING LIFE for something this pathetic?" Nazar wasn't even angry, just disappointed.

The demon could not deny that, so he nodded and said, "Yes. I ruined the lives of many."

"And what did you gain from it? Eternal damnation, that's what."

"You are right, I failed, but if I had succeeded, as I did in other universes, I would have brought upon a new Hell on this world. Does it not pique your curiosity?"

"Nope," Nazar shook his head with a click of his tongue, "not at all."

Before the demon could say anything, Nazar asked him a different question.

“Why did you control my parents?”

“So, I can get the best results possible.”

“Then why set them free once in a while?”

The demon chuckled.

“For fun, obviously.”

Nazar's body stiffened in anger as he narrowed his red eyes.

“Why kill my brother?”

“Experiment,” the demon Zerathos shrugged. “Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Why Alice?”

“I wanted a weapon of my own.”

“Did you ever love her as your own child?”

“No, not at all.”

“Is power all that you think about?”

“Indeed, it is the only goal I ever had in my life.”

The fuses in Nazar’s head blew up as his anger soared greatly.

“If, say, Alice was standing before you, what would you do?”

“Control her.”

“Ahhh… I am so glad.”

The demon tilted his head in a confused manner.

“So...” Nazar’s face twisted as it formed a thin evil smile. With bloodshot eyes, he looked down at this demon. “I can kill you again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again. FOR AN ETERNITY!”

He slashed his hand through the air, cutting off the demon’s head.

But it did not kill the demon. His head merely regenerated.

However, Nazar did not care. In fact, he was happy.

He swung his hand forward in anger and created a huge hole in the body of this demon.

The hole quickly regenerated.

“Ngh,” death did not exist, so he could not die, but it did not mean that he could not feel pain.

Hearing his painful moan, Nazar sucked in a breath in satisfaction.

“Oh, this is good!”

He kicked his upper body, slicing it in half

“GOOD!”

Then he called down thunders frying the demon in front of him into a crisp.

“GOOD!”

Then he ripped him apart molecule by molecule.

“GOOOOOD!”

He stabbed his hand into the demon’s chest, taking a hold of his soul and crushing it between his palms. The demon screamed in pain like never before.

His painful screams travelled across the stars and Nazar laughed like a maniac.

“GOOOOOOD! THAT’S IT! GIVE ME MORE!”

The soul of the demon had been remade, so he destroyed it again. Then again and again.

In this deathless world, his angry attacks killed the demon repeatedly for what could feel like a year.

No, it really was a year.

He had stopped time for the two of them and killed him repeatedly.

Every time the demon screamed, Nazar laughed louder.

“Pl-please...” the demon begged with his last renaming strength, but Nazar pulled out his heart and crushed it as if it was a bug.

Then he slammed his fist into his meaty body and pulled out the black soul as he slowly munched it with his teeth.

He devoured the demon whole, but even then, it returned to life.

However, Nazar was not dejected.

In fact, he was happy.

"How does it feel, demon?" he asked with a slow laughter. "How does it feel to be killed repeatedly?"

Nazar arched his palm and in it, he created a few dozen universe.

"I hope you are having fun."

He swung his right hand full of universes and slammed it in the mouth of the demon. He pushed these universes deep into him.

"!!"

Once the universes were within him, it expanded, causing the demon great pain.

So, he screamed in pain once more, and Nazar sucked in a breath with a satisfied smile.

"Good, good. Let me hear more of them," Nazar closed his eyes with a blissful look as he listened to the painful screams of the demon. "Music to my ears."

While the universes within him expanding should have shredded the demon into a million pieces, but Nazar made sure that they would not expand on that level yet.

The universes shifted between large and small to give the demon a moment to heal so he could be hurt over and over again.

Within the demon, more and more universes appeared, causing him even greater pain.

Shortly after, Nazar snapped his fingers, exploding all of the universes within the demon, causing this large hulking figure to explode into a million pieces.

"I supposed I should leave this here for now," Nazar muttered under his breath.

He was not satisfied with this, but he had to stop here now as he was taking too long.

“Now it’s your turn,” Nazar spoke to someone else while the demon regenerated.

In the frozen time, someone walked forward and caused the demon to swallow his saliva.

“You...”

“Yes, indeed, it is I.”

Nazar’s face and body were painted red with the blood of the demon.

He smiled thinly as he crouched in front of the demon.

“Before they have their turn, let me tell you a secret, a terrible secret.”

From his mouth, drools of excitement fell, causing the demon to shrink even further in his place.

“Since the days of your experiments, I have grown up. No, I don’t mean physically, but power wise. I have become...”

His body radiated with white energies for a split second.

The demon saw the light and understood.

Everything was laid in front of him like an open book.

“The Supreme God of… everything,” the demon muttered in a voice that could not be heard by anyone. “A true omnipotent.”

The demon wanted to shout that this is an illusion, it can’t be real and how it's impossible to reach that position, but the light could not lie. He could not deny the power held by this human. He could not question his might.

“Yes, that’s me,” he shrieked in the face of the demon, unleashing a powerful blast of sonic waves, which ripped the skin off the face of the demon. “The child who cried every day has become someone you cannot even comprehend.”

“Then you have achieved--- That means...”

The demon glanced down happily as he thought.

The ultimate position of power, if a human can have it, then so can he.

Everything is perfect.

There is a chance.

“No,” Nazar’s cold tone stabbed into his head, causing his thoughts to wither away like the leaves in the autumn wind. “It’s nothing but suffering.”

Nazar arched his right palm once again, creating an orange ball of energy which looked like a fireball. He closed his fist, hardening the ball of energy.

With great force, Nazar slammed the ball of energy in the demon's mouth and he screamed in return.

“The pain…. What is this? How-- Make it stop!!!”

“Power is a curse, which is what I am giving you right now. Power that will make you eternal. Power that will make you feel every pain there ever is. Power that you can never become immune to.”

“Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“When a world falls, you will be on it, you will absorb their pain into yourself. When a universe dies, you will feel its pain. Be the harbinger of pain across the creation.”

The demon continued to scream as pain from across the multiverse flowed into him.

“Pl---please---PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!”

“You wanted power, so I gave you. Ultimate power has an ultimate price, can you pay for it?”

Nazar stood up as he walked away from the demon.

He placed his hand on the shoulder of the other person.

“Do what you must. The pain you inflict on him will be a million times worse than anything else.”

“Can… Can you stop his pain for a minute?” they asked him.

“...”

Nazar did not need to question, he understood. He was disappointed, but he understood.

That person wanted to hurt him in their own way.

“Sure, as you wish.”

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

Heaven, not too long ago:

The angels spread their white wings in anger as the halos above their heads activated their true power.

The most powerful army in the multiverse descended from the heavens into the lower realms with the killing intent to find the one who caused this mess: Alice.

The Supreme One stood still in the Heaven as he watched his soldiers leave Heaven.

The almighty God of this universe watched the wings flap away with a distant look in his eyes, as if he were losing control of them.

He looked down at his palm.

He could still clutch onto the threads of the angels, but he did not need to do that here. Everyone wanted to avenge the angel they shunned away.

Neither he nor the other angels cared about Azazel, so he found it laughable they wanted to avenge him now.

"Or perhaps they want to kill that weapon once and for all."

To the Supreme One, it did not matter what the angels did anymore but at the same time, he felt a complicated emotion regarding their freedom.

“A pity,” the Supreme One muttered under his breath.

He created this multiverse from nothing, he created the angels and assigned them their roles.

For eons, he controlled them as if they had no free will of their own, but now, after so long, he feels as if they are slipping away from his hands. He can see the threads, he can clutch onto it if he tries, but he doesn’t want to control them anymore for a reason that escapes him at the moment.

He raised his head and stared at the never changing blue sky above the silver city.

“What if...”

The one who created this multiverse envisioned a world where he was a caring God just like the stories, he told the lower people. He envisioned a world where his angels were not tools.

A world where evils did not exist, and people did not want to become the most powerful.

Everyone had a free will, not influenced by anyone.

Wars and bloodshed were minimal.

And humanity did not exist and neither did a certain God.

That world was simply wonderful.

“Where is he?” an angry voice spoke, shattering the dream of this God.

While the Supreme One was indulging in his dream, the space in front of the Supreme One was ripped open like a paper as Lucifer walked into Heaven.

The Supreme One lowered his head and looked at Lucifer.

“What happens when an angel dies?”

The Supreme One did not answer, he was quiet.

“I know that they don’t die, they go to a certain place, far above heaven. But where?”

“Heaven.”

Lucifer squinted his eyes in a confused manner.

“Pardon?”

“No, that word would be wrong. 「Oblivion」.”

Lucifer’s eyes lit up with white energies as he searched every place within himself for this place.

“You cannot find it. Only he can.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Lucifer frowned.

“You must put aside your enmity with him if you want to save this universe.”

“There is no bad blood between us,“ Lucifer clicked his tongue. “But forget that, tell me about Oblivion.”

For the first time since he created the angels, the Supreme One saw them from a different angle.

For the first time, he realised how childish Lucifer can be.

For the first time, he looked at himself in a different light. He was a little childish too.

If he had taken the time to be more mature, to be different, he would have still been at the top of the Celestial hierarchy.

But that did not matter anymore.

He was going to achieve his only goal in life, so thinking about the past and scenarios that can never be anything, but fantasy was nothing more than a waste of time.

“Initially, I created that place to be my own personal dimension, but then I turned it into a Heaven for angels when I killed them 30,002 years ago. However, with the birth of a certain man, the dimensional structure of our multiverse changed, so Oblivion was lost to me. I can no longer access it, and neither can you.”

Lucifer’s eye and left cheek twitched in anger.

“Why would you create such a place?”

“When you have the power to do so, Lucifer, you don’t question the why of it, you just do what you want to. I am sure, you can relate.”

"That's it?"

The Supreme One nodded.

"So, there isn't another way to access that place?"

"I am afraid so."

"Damn you."

Lucifer scratched his head furiously as he thought.

"Don't think too hard, just do as I recommend," he patted Lucifer’s shoulder as he walked past him, "Get his help. You cannot save the universe without God's blessing."

The Supreme One walked away from Lucifer and the Heaven.

What Lucifer at this time did not realise was, this will be the last time he will ever see his creator.