Chapter 169

Arc 16 - The Fastest Man Alive - Part 6

Once upon a time, there was an entity who was so powerful and evil, everyone hated them - and rightfully so.

They lived a life, thinking as long as they are happy, the rest don’t matter.

People disliked that entity for that and feared it.

But one day, another entity appeared, and the two of them fought. They fought and fought, changing the universe in many ways, yet neither of them noticed the changes they were causing.

Their battle ended on the world of the humans.

After a battle, one entity killed the others, slaying them in front of billions of souls that watched their battle.

But...

Every human and alien gasped loudly as someone breathed their last breath.

Everyone across the universe could see the fall of this entity.

With their wide eyes, they watched the screens in front of them and questioned, “How?”

The dead entity slowly fell to the ground. First, its spine clashed with the ground. Then the back of its head crashed into the concrete ground, bouncing ever so slightly.

Then it's head slowly rolled to the side.

The white lifeless eyes stared back into the eyes of anyone who looked at it.

At last, its arm plunged into the ground. Once the arm collided with the ground, it bounced a few times for a few seconds before the body stopped moving completely.

The lifeless body lied on the ground and people watched with horror.

On Earth, the dead body was picked up by an angel.

He looked down at the body and bit his lip in anger.

The angel looked at the humans and spoke a few words to them, but his words were cut short when everyone across the planet felt a shadow fall upon them.

The humans gulped in fear as they looked up to the once beautiful blue sky.

Above them, towering beings that looked like robotic monsters, stood. The menacing and angry aura they were giving off caused the people to feel weak.

Their rumbling sounds caused the world’s ecosystem to change momentarily, becoming something no different than Jupiter.

"...Huh?"

"What is that?"

"Aliens?"

At a loss for words, the humans questioned each other, hoping someone will finally open their mouth and answer these lingering questions.

But no one spoke up, not only because they did not know, but because the fear deep within their hearts spiralled out of control.

Those five robotic monsters - or perhaps monsters wearing shiny metallic armours - straightened their forms, casting an even bigger shadow across the world.

In their right hands, they were holding giant claymores.

They brought their palms together and gripped the claymore with both of their hands.

In unison, all five of them raised their claymores and then stabbed it into the dark space around the planet, cracking it slightly.

Although the normal humans could not see it, they could feel it. They could hear a silent sound that passed by their ears.

And once again, the humans gulped in fear.

Those who were of weak will fell to the ground and lost consciousness and some even lost their lives.

However, no one paid them any attention. Everyone was scared and they knew they could not help the weak no matter what.

After all, these monsters, bigger than the very planet, could eat them at any moment.

And at that moment, they asked themselves in unison; “What did we do to deserve this fate?”

“Listen, you natives of this planet, we are 「Libra Iolos」,「Creatures of the Void」, the 「Celestial Judges」 and by the authority of your Ultraverse, Lucifer, we accuse your planet of heresy and thereby...”

They raised their claymores and slammed it in space again.

The humans did not understand how they could hear the thud sound, but they did not have any time to think about it.

“Your planet is to be destroyed along with your species until the end of time.”

The angel on the ground, who was holding onto the entity, narrowed his eyes as he sensed a dwarfing presence above the planet. A presence so powerful and threatening, the monsters felt like bunnies compared to it.

He quickly looked up to the sky and saw a beautiful blonde angel with red flaring eyes descend.

He had never seen this angel before, but he knew who it was. Everyone knew who this angel was.

“L… Lucifer?”

The angel descended and looked down at the entity.

“Oh this… This is bad.”

The angel looked at Lucifer with a complicated look on his face.

Was Lucifer happy this entity finally died? Or was he angry?

This angel could not tell.

"Libra Iolos," then Lucifer raised his head and looked up at the judges.

He wanted to check if the rumours were true, but now that he had confirmed it, he nodded to the judges.

The judges understood Lucifer's conclusion and so, they slammed their claymores into the space once again.

“However, the Great Lucifer wishes you are given a chance, a chance to fight for your survival. So, if you want to send a representative, someone who will stand up for you, then please, send them in."

The humans did not have to think, only one person came to their mind at that moment.

But… will he help them?

"Know this, you are putting the future of your kind in the palm of their hands, so choose wisely," Libra Iolos added.

Is humanity's future doomed?

But… How did it come to this?

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

Two days before the Celestial Judges descended, Earth:

Inside the lab behind their house, Aeron had slumped over the table and his eyes were closed.

Over the last year, they had come extremely close to becoming the first humans to traverse between dimensions, but with Nazar’s secret out in the open, he lost all of his crew and worse, he found out that the research conducted by this lab was leaked to the entire world.

They had come close to doing something no human had ever done before, but now, people have conspired against them and credited his brother’s powers for everything.

Tarnishing their name and branding them as liars caused great damage to their reputation across the world. Those who did not know them yesterday now hate them.

All those years of studying and research, only for it to slip away from his fingers.

No matter how much he tried to extend his hand, it was too short and at the end, it was all gone.

"Damn it, Nazar," he muttered under his breath.

"Well, that stings," Angela, who entered his office, sighed. "These people sucks… we trusted them, and they backstabbed us. How can a person throw away their own hard work for something this pitiful?"

She sat opposite him and leaned back in the comfortable chair, letting out another heavy sigh.

"Yeah, to think some of whom we considered friends…"

"Mm-hmm, that stings the most. Like how the fuck do you just throw-- Ugh, what is wrong with people?"

Arron raised his head slowly.

"The better question would be; why did that guy, a walking misfortune, had to be born as my brother?"

“Ask your parents.”

“Maybe we should build a time travel machine and stop him from being born,” Aeron sighed.

“Can you?”

“...” Aeron grunted. “Of course, not.”

“Would that even work on him?” fascinated by this unique existence, Angela questioned if Nazar would cease existing if someone killed him when he was child.

“No,” Aeron answered without hesitation. “He only exists in the “now”. He doesn’t exist in the past or the future.”

“Hm? Then how was time reversed and it affected him?”

“I suppose they pushed him back from the future and placed him inside his young body.”

Angela leaned forward in a confused manner.

“But you just said he only exists in the “now”?”

“Oh, I meant his essence. His body in the past would be a lifeless husk of nothing but carbon.”

“Hm...” she leaned back in the chair and stared at the ceiling above. “That’s complicated.”

Aeron stood up and placed his hands on his hips tiredly.

"In any case, do you think there is a chance for us to come back from this?"

Angela scoffed, "Doubt it. I wouldn't be surprised if someone comes up with another lie and the next thing we know, we will be in jail."

"We didn't do anything bad, did we?"

"Well… I suppose the monster appearing would definitely put us in jail. Endangerment of human life and whatnot."

"Oh… Fuck. I hope no one ever remembers that."

"Or the part where our teleportation device, if failed, could create a crack in localised time-space."

"...I told you it was not safe," Aeron said slowly.

"But it worked?! So! I don't get what the problem was."

Aeron walked around his desk as he thought.

What if the device they made did not work? What if she was sent to a different dimension and never returned? What if she got hurt so bad that she could no longer open her eyes?

Aeron sat opposite Angela on the desk.

He held her hand between his palms as he looked at her in the eyes.

"You could have died."

"...I mean… fair enough," she lowered her head with a heavy sigh. “But in my defence, when we tested it on animals, it worked perfectly.”

“Yes, but humans are… Well, different. And we could always use...”

Aeron pursed his lips as he thought.

He tried to come up with an answer that will not make him sound like a horrible person, however there was no answer to his worries.

“Well, on other people. Maybe prisoners. We are allowed to use them freely.”

She let out a soft grunt.

"Yeah, but… what about everything we promised?"

"Right."

"When we were young, how many promises did we make?"

"A lot more than we should have."

"And at this rate, not even fifty percent of those will be realised in our life."

"I suppose that's the limit of us, humans. We are not meant to achieve everything."

Humans have limited life spans, their intelligence and power is limited as well. What they can achieve is below what they dream of.

No matter how much they work, in the end, they will never be able to achieve every goal they ever set. Some are above the limits of what a human can do.

“Any-way, what are we going to do now?”

Aeron scoffed.

“I have no idea.”

He moved away his hands from hers and stood up.

"I don't know anything anymore."

"Then talk to him."

"What am I going to tell him?" he looked down at her, expecting an answer.

But like him, she also doesn't know.

"Just figure something out," she sounded slightly frustrated. "He is your brother; I am sure you will know what to say once you face him."

"Some brother he is," Aeron chuckled.

“My parents won’t even talk to me because of him. They won’t pick up my calls. Tell him to fix it somehow.”

Aeron bit his lip in anger.

Why did she have to be dragged into this… he clicked his tongue.

The way Aeron saw it, Nazar did not care what the world thought of them. Afterall, he only cared about himself and ignored everyone else.

"I will ask him to rewrite our history with him in the eyes of the public."

"..."

Angela slowly looked up to her husband with a complicated look on her face.

"Wait a minute…"

Hearing the hint of anger in her voice, Aeron grew confused.

"You are telling me; he could have fixed this a long time ago?!"

"Probably?" Aeron shrugged. "I am not sure exactly, but he should be able to do it."

"Then why wait? Just go and ask him?" she pointed to the door exasperatedly.

Aeron let out a soft sigh.

"Sure, but don't get your expectations up," he added slowly in a joking manner.

Aeron walked out of his office. He walked down through the staircase and left the laboratory.

He was expecting his brother to be nearby, but it seems he was not around today.

For some odd reasons, he could always feel his presence when he was nearby, so that sensation is missing at the moment.

Even if he was not here, Aeron wanted to talk to him immediately.

So, he sucked in a breath.

He relaxed his shoulders as she slowly shut his eyes.

He exhaled loudly before inhaling again.

Then he opened his eyes and shouted, "NAZAR!"

He called out to his brother who was not in this country.

Although he shouted, his voice was not loud enough to reach anyone else in this house.

However, he knew that he would hear it.

In the first timeline, Aeron also possessed great powers. He had gained cosmic powers that allowed him to transcend the many phases of the universe, so he understands how easy it is for Nazar to hear his voice.

Transcending even by a singular level allows us to view this world as something smaller - like looking at a cat in a box, so picking up distinct voices among the screams of trillions should be easy.

Imagine there is a box in which small animals live and it follows you around everywhere. You look down at it and see then from above, something exceedingly small and insignificant.

When the few animals cry out, you can tell whom that voice belonged to.

Even Nazar is another universe, he can still see their world as something small, so he can definitely hear Aeron's shout.

I am correct, he can see us and hear us like that.

And Aeron was not wrong.

Nazar slipped through a glitch that appeared in front of Aeron.*

"What's wrong?" with a worried look on his face, he asked his brother.

Aeron was taken back by the entrance of this Godly creature, so he found himself unable to answer his question.

"Is everything alright?'

"It's…" Aeron let out a heavy sigh. "I will be frank; can you get rid of this mess?"

Nazar shook his head with complicated feelings as he glanced down.

"No," he arched his right palm and created a concentrated ball of psychic energy. "I tried last night but it did not work. I tried making myself irrelevant to you, Emma and the others, but it did not work."

"Oh…" Aeron was at a loss for words.

He knows how powerful his brother is. After all, he can do anything.

So…

As he gritted his teeth, he asked himself, Then why can't he do this?

"See?"

The ball of psychic energy dispersed and flew to every corner of the world, making the world forget him and everyone else around him.

He was free for an instant, but another wave of psychic energy flew across the planet and made them remember everything again.

"It doesn't work," Nazar spoke in a frazzled tone. He had tried this a few times but could not get rid of it. "I have tried everything around it, just to make you guys be forgotten or they don't think about it, but… They had planned for that."

"..."

Aeron was quite miffed by Nazar's answer

"Chris, Harry, Laura and others were fine after Solace made the world forget about them, but the same can't be said about you, Emma or mom or Angela."

Aeron slowly opened his mouth, trying to say something but no words came out of his mouth.

“Ah...” Nazar opened his mouth a little as he realised something. “If I were to rewrite the world’s history, I suppose that would work… But if it doesn’t, I can recreate my place and family in this world.”

Aeron looked at him blankly.

“Why do you always go for the doomsday option?”

“Because that’s the only way I can see that might work...” he spoke in a defeated tone. “I tried rewriting the reality, creating a localised reality for this world only, even after it was detached from its rightful place… Nothing worked. I cannot get rid of this… This annoying psychic energy will not go anywhere.”

“Hm.”

“Arthur said he had a plan; I suppose I will take up on his offer.”

“Arthur?”

“King Arthur,” Nazar replied in a casual tone.

Aeron, however, smiled stiffly.

“Ah...”

He was not sure how to react to the thought of his brother being on first name basis with a living legend.

As usual, he forgot that Nazar once ruled over a thousand-star empire and is a God who created everything - albeit he doesn't know he gave up the throne.

“When I spoke to Weq earlier, he recommended that this is the best possible method of fixing my current problem.”

“What’s His Majesty’s plan?”

Nazar looked up to his brother and shrugged, “No clue.”

Aeron frowned.

"That guy is weird and the all-knowing smile on his face is annoying, but I wish it would actually work…!!"

Nazar narrowed his eyes as he sensed a rift in space-time opened near them.

The space between him and his brother expanded, moving him away to a safe distance.

From the portal, a man in a cyan-coloured armour walked out. He was followed by a few dozen soldiers from Chochica Empire.

Baros looked at Nazar with a very grim look in his eyes.

There was no respect in his cold eyes.

"Under the authority given to me by the crown of Chochica Empire," he spoke to Nazar in a very serious tone, "I am hereby arresting you for your crimes against the universe and the Chochican people..."

Nazar did not react in any way to what Baros said.

"Former King of Chochica Empire, Nazar."

"Nazar...?" Aeron looked at his younger brother in worry.

He wondered, what kind of crimes did he commit? Were his crimes so bad that a close friend turned against him?

"King Baros of the Chochica Empire, do you really think you can take me in?" Nazar smiled evilly.

The last time they met, they were on good terms and Nazar still had a death wish, but things have changed.

"..."

"Please try your best," with two fingers, Nazar saluted to Baros before flying away. "I look forward to our game of tag."

"!!"

Baros clicked his tongue wearily.

He spread his wings wide as a halo shone brightly above his head.

He gestured something to the soldiers before flying after Nazar.

"What the…" Aeron stared openly at the two of them leaving. His face was full of confusion and his mind was full of questions.

The soldiers diverted their attention towards Aeron, so he gulped as he took a step back.

လလလ

On the first floor of the lab, Aya was arranging papers and placing them in its rightful boxes while she hummed.

She slowly worked through the large piles of paper leisurely.

“Haa,” she let out a long sigh with a nostalgic smile on her face.

Memories of someone precious flooded into her mind as she thought back to her younger days.

Decades ago, she met someone who shared similar interests of one another and before they knew it, they were sharing a life together. They were together at work and at home, so they shared a lot of memories.

Today, while working, she was reminded of the good old days, a simple life without the complications they face today.

There was not a God living in their house nor was their name tarnished in the mud.

Despite all the bad complications in their lives, she cannot look at those days with bitter feelings. Those simple days were great, but right now she had children who meant the world to her. And the God living in their house was the child she gave birth to, so deep down she couldn't help herself but feel proud of him.

He was born a human but became a prominent figure in the cosmos, an all-powerful and all-knowing God.

I wish you could see it, she thought. I wish you could see what they all became.

An old memory resurfaced in her mind, in which she was talking to her husband after she found out she was pregnant with Aeron.

They were starting to lose control to the demon, but when they got a chance, they would talk about their future.

One day, she asked, "What will become of our child?"

James scoffed in return.

"That I do not know, but if anything, he or she will be free from this demon. They will be free to choose their own destiny and we will make sure of it."

However, they forgot that humans cannot mould their own destinies in the face of cosmic adversaries.

The demon with his awesome and evil cosmic magic was never going to let the child go free, no matter what these two did.

She might not have experienced the first timeline herself, but from the memories in her mind, her shoulders shivered.

How could she commit such evil acts against her own children?

They were humans - children - but they suffered for the sake of a power-hungry maniac. And they could not do anything about it.

But knowing that her children grew over it makes her happy.

She does not know what is inside their hearts or minds, but seeing them smile happily - genuine smiles, it warms her heart.

Maybe they will forever remember how evil their parents were, maybe they are bound to hate them, and there was nothing she could do to change that. Those memories of their distant past will forever reside in their minds.

It's no different for her. For she remembers the good and simple life they once had, which she cannot forget even if she wants to.

But forgetting is erasing what happened, which means taking the easiest way out of the problem.

Aya glanced down at the papers in front of her.

Those papers were the arduous work of her son and daughter-in-law, but now they are worthless. These papers were some of the solutions which could move humanity and this planet further than anyone could hope for.

Last year, rumours about their research spread around and of course, people in similar fields were jealous and wanted to discredit them, but it did not work.

However, once the world remembered the first timeline, they had more reasons to use against Aeron, Angela, and their team. However, they could prove them wrong if an opportunity were given.

And then recently, a simple rumour spread like wildfire, which ruined everything. Their names have lost credibility and so has hers. And no matter how much they try to fix it, it's too late.

No one will listen to them and if worse comes to worse, they could all face jail time for harbouring a criminal in their home.

Why did it come to this?

She did not have to look further away; the answer was staring back at her.

Her second child, the Supreme God of Everything, was responsible for the downfall of his own brother.

Everyone has dreams, everyone has bad memories they cannot forget, so deep down in her heart, a dark thought spiralled; is he worth more than her other son? Is his pain worse than everyone else? Are his interests and wants more important?

She shook her head, throwing away all the dark thoughts she had bottled up within her. That was not something she wanted to think about.

Now then...

With a heavy sigh, she stood up and picked up a box.

She inhaled and exhaled heavily for a moment and relaxed her body.

While humming, she picked up a box full of papers and started to walk upstairs.

Legally speaking, once something like this happens, the research papers will be taken by the government or else the researchers will go to jail.

She prepared these boxes just in case if it comes to that.

However, she was not sure if that would happen.

Afterall, everyone fears her other son.

Would anyone dare to knock on this door?

Oh well.

She let out a defeated sigh.

I suppose it can't be helped...

Once she walked upstairs, she frowned once she released the door was closed.

Her hands were full, so she could not knock on it either.

So, she tried lowering the handle with the edge of the box. It failed a few times, which caused her to click her tongue, but finally it made a clicking sound and it opened a little.

"Phew."

She pushed the door with the weight of the box and entered the room.

"I have compiled the most important files in... this box…"

Aya swallowed her words as she heard an unpleasant sound.

"What's wrong?" she put the box down on the ground and asked win a worried manner as she walked closer towards the desk.

Going closer, that unpleasant voice was replaced by, "O-oh, it's nothing."

Hearing Angela's forced reply, she walked faster and looked at her in the eyes.

Seeing the tears in her eyes, sour feelings welled up within Aya.

She could not handle seeing this girl in this state.

Aya had known Angela since she was young, and she always had a cheerful aura around her. So, it was the first time since she saw her in a state like this and she hated that.

Angela sniffed, seemingly forcing down her emotions, and asked, "So, what exactly--"

"No, leaving that aside, what's wrong?" Aya asked with a worried look in her eyes.

Aya caressed her hair and continued, "Did something happen?"

“It’s-- It’s fine. It’s nothing.”

Angela rubbed her eyes and forced a smile.

“I was just… Eh, it’s nothing, really. Just...” she let out a heavy sigh.

“You are no different than my own daughter, so if something is bothering you, please tell me.”

“Thanks,” she nodded.

Aya placed her hands on Angela’s face and raised her head slowly.

“So, what’s wrong?”

Angela sighed one again as she slowly averted her gaze.

“It’s just this whole ordeal has been…”

“I know,” Aya said slowly with a sad smile on her face.

“But the worst is that…” Angela scoffed. “I know it sounds childish, but my own parents won’t talk to me. They don’t see me any different than the average person around us. That’s… Infuriating.”

"..."

Aya fell speechless for a moment.

"I mean, I am their child - in fact, the only child - so how the hell are they… Ugh."

Aya was not sure how to reply to her, she did not have an answer to her problems.

In all her life, not once has she come to hate her children, but she did fear one of them.

"Human fear is instinctive and cannot be helped, it takes some time to get used to it and everyone has their own method of dealing with it, so…"

Aya questioned, was it right to tell her this? Would she not already know this?

And she doubted that it would get rid of her worries, but even then, she answered.

"Give them a little time, they will see the flaw in their judgement."

"..."

Angela did not say anything but lowered her glance.

She had already thought of that solution.

But…

"Yeah, that makes sense."

Perhaps she just wanted to hear that from someone else.

"The problem began with us, from our home and…" Aya hesitated to continue speaking but Angela knew what she would say.

"Yeah, you are right, they can't be blamed. I just hope he will fix it soon."

Aya smiled softly, "When I see him again, I will make sure he knows the problems he is causing everyone else. But… I am sorry."

Nazar was her child, and to some degree, she felt responsible for the problems which he helped create. So, she apologized from the bottom of her heart.

"Eh, it's fine," Angela rubbed her eyes and stood up. "Aeron is talking to him. Probably right now."

"Oh."

"Plus, he seems to have too much on his plate as it is."

Aya tilted her head a little in a confused manner.

"He does? He seems more cheerful than before."

"..."

To that, Angela had no answer.

She wondered, was she wrong? Or does he not care enough about the worries of others?

Angela knew Nazar since they were children - or knew at least a version of him. He always came off as someone who was distant from everyone else and uncaring.

Maybe I am thinking too hard about it… Angela let out a sigh and started to walk away.

"Well, since there is nothing to do, I will just rest for a bit," she said tiredly and left the room.

"Yeah, do that."

Aya watched as Angela left the office, leaving her all alone.

With a complicated look on her face, she bit her lip.

"Just what are you doing, Nazar?"

Aya picked up the box from the other side of the room and placed it in one corner. Then she began walking downstairs when she heard a horrified scream.

She quickly ran outside only to widen her eyes in horror.

Dozens of soldiers had fallen to the ground, unconscious and near them, Aeron too had fallen to the ground.

His eyes were closed, and his heart was barely breathing.

Aya watched from afar, but she could tell there was something very wrong here.

Her mind and emotions entered a state of disarray, causing her body to freeze in its place.

In a state of disbelief, Aya muttered, "What happened…?"