Chapter 172

Arc 16 - The Fastest Man Alive - Part 9

On the floating city of Monarcity, Nazar slumped on his large luxurious bed, befitting an emperor of the highest state, and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"I missed this," he spoke with a blissful look on his face. "It's so soft and big."

"You have been gone for just a week," Lian, who was standing near the footboard of the bed, spoke to him with a blank look on her face.

"Well… In the real world, yes."

"Hm?" she tilted her head sideways in a confused manner.

"It's a long story," he said slowly.

"In any case," Lian smiled a faint surprised smile with a hint of awe, "I was ninety-nine percent sure you will never show up here. So, what changed?"

"No idea…" Nazar stared at the ceiling and his blissful look slowly started to fade.

"Be truthful," Lian insisted.

Nazar glanced at her for a moment before looking back up at the ceiling.

"Someone had taken residence in my mind, to control me and mess with me, so I went to sleep for a week and defeated them."

"??" Lian chuckled in a confused manner. "That's not what I asked."

"..."

Nazar let out a soft grunt and sat up. He wanted to change the topic, but Lian wanted her answer no matter what, so he gave up and decided to tell her the truth.

"I relived my life, countless lives in fact. So many different timelines and realities. I lived through them all to look for the hole, but in doing so, I might have realised how stupid and reckless my decision that day was."

"Uh-huh," Lian nodded, agreeing with his conclusion.

"I realised how by giving up this throne, I would be letting them win."

Although he did not take their names, Lian understood who the people in question were.

"They want me to lose everyone and everything, and I was on the verge of doing just that. But that is no longer the case. I'm not going to give up this place because I like it and care for it. I won't abandon those who care for me, just as I won't abandon them."

"I see…" Lian nodded with a complex look on her face. But at the same time, she was glad he didn't leave because he didn't like being the emperor of an empire like this.

"I care about you, Baros, Ereh, the maids, the chefs… Everyone. And that's why I won't give up on them, especially since they got dragged into this war because of me."

Lian wanted to ask a question, which she just remembered, but instead, she nodded her head, waiting for Nazar to finish what he was talking about.

“I have said this to myself many times, but this time, I am very sure of it. I will do it.”

“Mm, good,” she nodded rapidly a few times while she sucked in her lips.

“I...” Nazar glanced down. “I am sorry about everything that happened so far. As usual, my mess was fixed by you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“I can’t thank you enough.”

“I said, don’t mention it. It’s nothing, really.”

Nazar raised his head, trying to say otherwise, but he noticed her relentless look, as if she was trying to say something very quickly before she forgets it, so he stopped talking and smiled softly.

“What is it?”

“Ah,” her face brightened up and asked her question quickly, “about Michael-- Archangel Michael, what… What is his goal? Have you figured out anything?”

“He wants his powers back, but that seems to be on the surface… He has a grander goal. I know of that.”

“How can you tell?”

“Two weeks ago, when the Queen came to Earth, he was there too… But he did not help her. The Seven Deadly sins were there too, but they were working on someone’s orders… Michael, however, was there for a different reason. If Orion had not intercepted, I wondered… What was he doing on Earth?”

“Hm, he destroyed a huge proportion of your planet, which shared a singular religion… And from what you have told me in the past, he never liked his father, the Supreme One. And according to my research, Earth is the only planet in this universe who still worships him as the supreme deity… What if Michael wanted to destroy the concept of the Supreme One in the lower worlds once and for all?”

“...”

Nazar rubbed his chin and thought before shaking his head.

“No, that can’t be right, I have stopped everyone from making changes to concept…” Nazar swallowed his words as he grunted, “Ugh, shit. I only stopped them from creating new concepts but not destroy them...”

Lian rolled her eyes a little with a sigh.

“I didn’t really think about it...” Nazar said slowly.

Lian wanted to say, "What else is new?" but she swallowed her words and continued speaking about something more important.

“Anyway, if I am correct, the destruction of that region sent a message to the residents of your world. Check this for me to see if my hypothesis is correct.”

“Sure, I can do that.”

“What do people think about “God” on your planet right now? And religion as a whole?”

Nazar’s eyes lit up with white energies for a moment as he studied his world.

“Also check if people are losing belief in this entity.”

“Okay.”

“If I am correct, Michael didn’t just destroy a region, he sent a message on a conceptual level too. He told your world that God had abandoned them, and everything they knew was false. Physically, the people will try to keep this deity alive, but conceptually, he is dead to them. In a few years, everyone will stray away from him.”

“Ah...”

Lian smiled an accomplished smile, “So, I was right.”

The impressed Nazar nodded, “One hundred percent spot on.”

Just a second later, Nazar’s eyes gaped widely as he gasped.

“Wait...” he stood up from the bed with a complex look on his face, full of confusion and surprise. “Without Earth, the multiverse will soon lose this concept and then...”

“Yes, it seems he is actually helping you.”

“That would explain why he developed that device which can turn me human for a split second. But… Why would he do that?” Nazar rubbed his chin as he thought. “But then why did he come here today? It helped neither me nor him, if anything it ended badly for him… Something doesn’t add--”

Before Nazar could finish his words, the large door to this room opened and a child ran through it.

Seeing the child run towards him giggling, Nazar’s face brightened up as he forgot about the troubles at hand, “Ereh!”

The child hugged his leg happily as he looked up, “You are back!”

He picked up the child and hugged, “Oh, look who it is. I missed you.”

“Same,” the child hugged him back tightly.

"Did you really?" Nazar playfully narrowed his eyes.

"Yes. More."

Soon after, the mother of this child, Ella, entered the room, albeit unlike the other two in the room, she showed great respect. The head maid took up the hems of her skirt and curtseyed elegantly, “Welcome back, Your Majesty.”

She was not sure if Nazar heard her, but it was her duty as a maid to greet the emperor no matter what.

"Thanks," he replied to Ella without looking at her.

Ella nodded in return and straightened her posture with a faint smile.

"So, what have you been up to?" Nazar asked the child.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? That's not very good."

"(Didn't you sleep for a whole week?)" Lian whispered with a smirk.

"What about school?' Nazar ignored Lian's snarky comment and continued to speak to Ereh.

"Close."

He looked at Ella with confused eyes, "Really?"

"Yes, all schools and businesses are close for two weeks because of the incident which occurred the week prior," Ella explained in a diligent tone.

"Did…" deep down he cursed himself for leaving at a critical time like that before continuing. "How many casualties?"

"Casualties are in single digits across all planets. It was contained rather quickly," Lian explained. "The Silent Shadows did their job well."

"Ah, good," he breathed a faint sigh of relief.

He put the child on the ground and crouched before him.

"Were you scared?"

The child shook his head.

"I knee… now…" he averted his gaze left and right, forgetting the words to utter, so he frowned and switched to his mother tongue. ""

Hearing his words, sour feelings erupted deep within Nazar.

He didn't realise how much people relied on him across the stars. He had a duty to them and yet, he took the easy way out.

"I see…" he glanced at Lian, and she shook her head ever so lightly.

It seems except for a few people, no one believed I was gone...

Nazar looked back at Ereh and smiled bitterly.

“I promise, nothing scary like that will happen again,” he patted Ereh on the head and assured him. “It will never come to that again.”

The child smiled brightly and nodded, “Mm.”

Nazar rubbed the child’s head as he stood up.

“You are going to be my sidekick of evil in the future, so don’t be scared. I will need my most trusted general when I take over the multiverse.”

"Oh," Lian found herself surprised, but amazed. "I thought you had forgotten about that plan of yours," she added slowly.

“Yay!” the child gleefully cheered, but his mother did not share the same sentiment.

Ella cleared her throat to get Nazar’s attention.

Nazar looked at Ella and seeing the unusual smile on her face, he smiled stiffly.

She squinted her eyes, her cheeks stiffened, and she spread her lips across her face. She was not angry, but Nazar could see a hint of it on her face. She, however, was very serious.

“I am sorry, but that will not be happening,” she spoke with utmost respect, but he could see a hint of how serious she was about this matter.

“Hm?”

“You have been quite a… harmful influence on him,” she spoke bluntly. Normally, she would never say something like that, but today, she seemed quite irritated.

I suppose she is angry because I left them at such a terrible time and then came back without any consequences… Anyone would be angry, to be honest.

“... No, I haven’t," Nazar denied in a somewhat playful manner.

From her squinted eyes, she stared into his very soul, causing Nazar to avert his gaze.

“Have I?” he asked Ereh, who replied by shaking his head.

“If it was up to you, he would have been a killer already,” Lian added her teasing comment with a faint laughter.

“Geh,” Nazar grunted.

“Just the other day, he threatened to destroy our city with…” Ella paused for a moment as she recalled the exact words the child had uttered. “Ah, destroy it with “Abazel”.”

Abazel is a demon who appears in many of the empire's mythologies and legends. It is an extremely powerful demon that can be summoned by almost anyone. Legend has it that he will be the end of all things.

While this demon is present through legends, there is a rumour that if his name is spoken carelessly, he can be summoned and bring about the end of the world. As a result, it is considered a taboo to take his name casually, and children are forbidden to say his name in any circumstances.

“That demon is dead,” Nazar muttered under his breath.

Nazar sighed.

“Fair enough.”

“I am sorry,” the head maid bowed and apologised, “I spoke too much.”

“No, no,” Nazar shook his head, “I should apologise.”

“By the great God of the sky, heavens no,” she shook her hands in front of her chest alongside her head. She felt embarrassed for cornering the emperor of this empire and her superior into apologising. “You mustn't.”

Nazar looked down at Ereh and said, “You should listen to your mother more often.”

Nazar grew up by himself, he had parents who could lead him down the right path, but he stayed away from them and is now regretting his choices.

“When you get older, you will appreciate it.”

The child nodded.

“” Ella ordered her child in a very kind voice.

“” the child gleefully ran away.

Ella bowed down once again, “I am sorry, Your Majesty, I hope you can forgive me.”

“You don’t have to apologise, and you don’t have to be so professional all the time. Just be yourself.”

Ella slowly straightened her posture.

Nazar stretched his arms and let out a soft groan.

“Oh yeah,” he looked back at Lian, “have the other soldiers returned?”

Lian nodded with her eyes.

“Yes, they returned just a few minutes ago. They looked a bit scared, though.”

“I didn’t do anything to them,” he said in an exasperated tone.

“You never do anything,” she replied in a sharp tone. “Which is scary on its own.”

Nazar frowned.

“I changed my aura, so it won’t be scary, but it's still not enough?”

Lian shrugged in return.

"In any case, why even send soldiers?"

"For your grand return. Or if you ran away - which you did - then they would explain everything to anyone who saw it. Or if you and Baros somehow fought there, they would try to keep the surrounding people safe."

"..."

Nazar stared at her blankly.

"It wasn't my plan," she replied in a low annoyed voice. “Ask the general.”

“Mann...” he slumped back on the bed.

“Thanks for believing in me.”

Lian nodded with a soft smile.

“Now please leave, I think I want to sleep.”

“About that...”

“About that...”

However, both Lian and Ella objected to his request simultaneously.

“Hm?”

“I must clean the room and the bed; it has been two days since I have last cleaned it.”

Nazar couldn’t help but stare at her blankly. Was that reason enough to deny him his beauty sleep?

“Dirt never bothered me.”

Ella couldn’t stop herself from smiling a stiff smile with a lot of conflicting feelings.

“Anyway, you can’t sleep now. Afshahan wants to meet you.”

“...”

Nazar groaned loud.

“Fine.”

He stood and walked towards the door, trying to leave the room instead of the other two, whom he ordered to leave.

“Why am I treated like this in my own castle?” he asked slowly.

“I don’t know, maybe you subconsciously wish for us to treat you like this,” she teased.

“I realised recently that might be the case. I am wishing for a lot of things without my control--” his eyes widened as a serious look swallowed the tired look on his face. “It can’t be...”

Lian tilted her head in a confused manner, hoping he will continue and answer the questions that are floating in her head.

“The reason I couldn’t see the Dragon or X’s face was because...” he spoke in a barely audible voice. “I didn’t want to see them? Then what about the other Ultraverse? Was it ever real? Did I...”

He clenched his fist in anger and guilt. Once again, he cursed himself for prolonging this mess he has created.

My subconscious wishes seems to affect everything around me without my permission, I know that much, but I didn't realise it reached that far…

He tightened his fist, almost stabbing his fingers into the palm of his hand and causing it to bleed.

"Damn it!"

He clicked his tongue and left the room abruptly.

Ella glanced at Lian, who looked back at her. The two of them shrugged in a confused manner, not knowing what just happened.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

Near the sun of this solar system, a large grey spaceship was stationed.

Inside this large spaceship, a man in a shiny black armour took off his mask and sat at a desk.

He leaned back in his chair and glanced around his office, which was quite empty and less luxurious compared to some others he had seen, but it was large, so he liked that.

As his eyes surveyed the empty large office with barely any decorations, suddenly, a white haired and red eyed monster materialised in front of him.

“I heard you wanted to speak with me, Afshahn.”

“Welcome,” Afshahan nodded at Nazar with his eyes. “King of Chochica Empire.”

“I did not expect to hear a snarky comment from you too,” Nazar sighed softly.

“Has anyone ever told you that you sigh quite a lot?”

“Yes, and I realised as much myself. I tried to force myself to avoid it, but somehow it's harder than creating a universe.”

“Hm,” Afshahan leaned forward in his chain, “is it really?”

Nazar nodded.

“Honestly? Creating a universe is as easy as destroying one.”

Afshahan blew a raspberry, “If you say so...”

“You destroyed yours, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did,” Afshahan nodded. “First, I destroyed my world and then unleashed everything I had… Well, it's safe to say that destroying a sixth dimensional time-space continuum is quite easy.”

Nazar was quite surprised that Afshahan knew about the phases and how it worked.

Although he thought he was being sneaky, Afshahan saw the look on his face, so he scoffed.

“Phases are odd. There are too many of them, each phase is above the other, but the way some of them differ is… interesting. Phases are layers above our universe. The third one is space, fourth is considered time by some, and the fifth is considered reality by some, and the sixth one is where the three meet to create a liveable place for the normal people with a normal reality and time.”

Nazar chuckled, seemingly impressed by how much knowledge Afshahan had regarding this topic.

“Most people only know about the layers, but not the space and time aspect of it. Impressive.”

“I am hurt.”

Afshahan leaned back in his chair.

“So… Is it this the time where I say… “I told you so”?”

“About what?”

“Oh, something about how you should clear your name, but you didn’t listen… So, where is my apology?”

Nazar laughed.

“I didn’t know you were able to joke like that, Afshahan.”

“Eh, I learned it from you in my world.”

Nazar sat down with great interest in his eyes.

“Something never made sense to me regarding your origin story.”

“Which part?”

“You said the me in that world gave you your powers, right?”

Afshahan nodded.

“You got your powers in 2001, so he would have been only a year old… But you speak about him as if you have known him for a long time. Something doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Oh, that,” he murmured, reminiscing about a time long ago. “When I was thirty years old, I met the world's first superpowered person. Naturally, I became friendly with this young man, attempting to assist him - at least on the surface. However, after a few years of caring for him, I realised how much pain he was in. He was suicidal, but he couldn't take his own life. Since all other options had been exhausted, he transported me back in time and gave me his power when he was still incredibly young. Soon after, I destroyed our planet and then the universe, ascending through the phases before I reached the Outflow.”

“Ah, I see. Time travel… It’s annoying.”

“Can’t say I disagree; it gets very confusing. Which is why I avoid travelling through time myself.”

“If I am being honest, I don’t disagree. A small mistake could have… dire consequences.”

A few years back, he and Eddie travelled to the far past of Earth, but they made a small mistake which led to the planet being changed drastically. Their short presence turned that world into a utopia.

“Then again, I never cared for its consequences,” Nazar added with a chuckle.

Afshahan scoffed.

“Anyway, the reason I called you here...”

Afshahan gestured to a screen behind him with his chin. It seems he did not want to waste anymore time.

“Hm?”

Nazar followed the trail of his eyes and glanced at the screen behind him.

On the wall opposite Afshahan, there was a screen which was showing a histogram with multitude of colours.

If an ordinary person looked at it, they would not understand that chart, but Nazar understood it immediately.

“So, you know him...” Afshahan said in a muffled voice.

Then, he cleared his throat.

“Who is he?”

“Someone with an unknown origin who takes whatever he likes.”

“He was here.”

With abrupt speed, Nazar turned around and looked at Afshahan in the eyes.

He thought Afshahan might have been kidding, but the look in his eyes said otherwise.

“When?” Nazar asked apprehensively. “Today?”

“Yes, just a few moments ago.”

“Then…?”

“His spaceship flew past this system a while ago. Just around the same time as that angel appeared.”

Nazar grunted softly as he rubbed his hair and looked down, “No wonder why I didn’t sense it...”

He thought about what this person is doing and why he appeared at such a time.

Could it be a coincidence? Is his return related to me? Or am I thinking too much about it?

Nazar raised his eyes and asked Afshahan, “Where was he going?”

“Just in a random direction. His trail vanished a minute before you teleported in.”

“Ah...”

He clicked his tongue.

“His timing is always weird… but always with reason. He must have sensed a unique energy which is why he appeared again.”

Afshahan felt very lost in regard to the identity of this entity.

While Nazar was not scared, the look on his face suggested he was anxious, which surprised him.

“This person… What exactly is he?”

Nazar lowered his hand and straightened his posture.

He looked Afshahan in the eyes and said, “He is a man with a mysterious history and origin. He calls himself...”

“Oh?” Afshahan gulped as he waited for Nazar to utter out this creature’s name.

“The Collector.”

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

Frankfurt, Germany:

Inside a three-floor house in the middle of the city, Nazar’s short cousin known as Aria Lorre started to breathe heavily with wide eyes as she glanced at her hand.

“No, no, no, no.”

She arched her palm, facing upwards, and swallowed her saliva.

In her tender hand, the air swirled around at great speed. The air slowly started to change its colour and its properties, becoming something extremely different than before.

What was once air, was now turned into a ball of orange energy, similar to a fireball.

“No, no, no, no!”

The anxious woman felt cold sweat streaming down her face.

Her hands started to shake.

The fear in her heart spiralled out of control, causing her body to feel weaker than ever before.

“No, no, no, no.”

Suddenly, behind her, she felt an eerie presence, so she forced her body to turn around.

However, what she found was something even more unexpected than before.

The moment she turned her head, she saw an entity so large, it covered everything in front of her.

And then, a dark hand was extended towards her.

The hand expanded and expanded, and it slowly covered her entire view.

"You are mine!"

Before Aria could react, her vision turned completely black before she lost her consciousness.