Chapter 173

Arc 16 - The Fastest Man Alive - Part 10

Friday, 23rd of April - planet Cloudia, Wiviel System, Eifil Galaxy, Chochica Empire:

On this planet where it's always cloudy, Nazar was flying under it with great speed.

“What is it this time?” he asked exasperatedly.

“The usual.”

In front of him, Solace was flying backwards while facing Nazar. Her right leg was crossed on her left one, and she had tied her right hand behind her head, it was almost as if she was sitting on a chair.

“Someone erected a barrier around the city, sending everyone into a state of madness.”

“Ugh, madness, I wish I was still weak against those attacks.”

Solace sighed, “Irrelevant.”

“Right. Anyway, I don’t get why they aren’t attacking one another. That’s a bit odd.”

“...”

Solace stared at him blankly.

“What?”

“Sometimes, I think you need a few slaps to the face.”

“What have I done now?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe if you used your brain for once, you wouldn’t be asking that.”

“...?? I always use my brain.”

Solace rolled her eyes with a soft grunt.

Nazar came to a half and looked down at the city that was engulfed in a multi-coloured barrier.

“So? Are you going to expand upon what you said earlier?”

“The reason people aren’t attacking is because they are programmed to do so.”

“Mm-hmm, make sense.”

“Whoever is controlling them, doesn’t want them to start killing one another. The way I see it, they want you there before they move on with their attack.”

“Oh, how boring,” he frowned.

“Eh, I thought having them lose their minds in front of you and not being able to save them will "hurt" you. Differently, obviously.”

“Solace, my dear,” Nazar crossed his arms in front of his chest, and he held his nose high. “Surely you have thought wrong.”

“Surely, you jest,” Solace flew around him like a deflating balloon before floating next to him. “The average man has a room temperature IQ.”

“Celsius or Fahrenheit?”

“...”

Solace stared at him with a displeased look on her face.

She was not expecting him to ask such a dumb question.

No, to be precise, she was not expecting him to refute her in any way. She was expecting him to agree with her.

“I hope you die, you fucking bitch,” she jerked her head away. “In the worst conceivable way possible. Have spikes, yes, spikes, just stab into you from every angle. And then your brain turns into ice, and then they explode.”

“That doesn’t make sense...” the confused Nazar curled a corner of his lip.

“Ahh, but you know what will be better?”

“Shoot.”

“If a giant universe just falls on you and you can never get out of it until the day you die.”

Nazar let out an exasperated sigh knowing she will not make any sense.

“Is it that time of the month for you?”

To his rude and childish comment, what he received was a kick to the face that slammed him into the barrier that was engulfing the city.

Due to the heightened strength of Solace’s throw, he broke through the barrier and entered the city of madness.

Nazar fell on his back in this city of madness.

“Ahh, sometimes she...”

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His eyes flared red as he used the ground like a spring and shot himself up.

He stood on his two legs and looked around.

The people who were infected with a psychic virus started to scream in his face for help.

After all, he was their leader, so he had to save them.

However…

He jerked his head from one side to the other, unleashing a burst of red energy from his eyes, killing everyone in his path and getting rid of their pains.

Above the city, Solace widened her eyes in a worried manner.

The sudden change in his behaviour was nothing new, but it was never on this level.

He never started killing people randomly without a reason.

While it's true, he destroyed many worlds, but they annoyed him, and Solace too, so she understood.

But this was different.

He suddenly felt like a different person.

“What…?”

Nazar shot up towards the sky like a rocket and slammed his fist into Solace, creating a huge hole in her body.

Before she could utter a single word, he erased her from the very existence, forgotten by everyone and everything.

And then the next moment, Nazar screamed, ending everything.

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“Huh...” the sudden "memory" in his mind caused him great confusion.

He started to question, just what was that? How did this happen? And why? Why would he hurt Solace?

No matter what happens, he can never harm Solace.

She is his everything.

“Is she...” he looked up and realised that Solace was perfectly fine.

His thoughts trailed off as he saw a horde of people screamed above him. If not for their screams, he would have forgotten about the gravity of this situation.

But before that, he touched his head lightly and asked, "What the hell was that…?"

Occasionally, he sees a vision that seems like a distant memory. In those memories, he always kills someone close to him.

What could it mean…?

He used to see these memories once in a few years, but this year, it has increased drastically. He saw three of these memories in less than five months.

Maybe it's that bitch…

Images of a dark figure having their way with him flashed through his mind.

It pained him every time that images flashed through his mind.

That laughter in that memory caused every bone in his body to clatter.

"Damn it!" he stabbed his fingers into his face and ripped it apart, hoping that physical pain will stop this mental and emotional pain of his.

However, it was useless.

So, he moved onto the second option.

He stopped feeling emotions. The concept of emotions no longer existed within him.

"Phew."

The pain was gone, everything was fine.

"Alright."

The gravity beneath him increased to an extreme level, then it suddenly depleted. Using the ground as a sprint, his body shot up and helped him stand up easier.

Now that he was standing up, he looked at his citizen and sighed.

Their minds will enter a new stage of madness, which will lead to chaos like never before.

So, Nazar inhaled sharply.

Range: planet.

"Stop!"

And just like that, time stopped.

Everything froze in its place, including the air and light.

In this frozen time, he did not have to worry about carrying out his tasks quickly.

"Now then… who did this?"

In this frozen world, a faint energy travelled across the planet and pinpointed the origin of this madness.

So simple...

He clicked his tongue in an unpleasant manner. Or so his tone suggested. There were no emotions within him at the moment, but he could act as if they were.

The space around him moved, engulfing him and then spitting him out in the other side of the city.

He stood in front of two people who looked quite similar to one another.

The two of them were facing one another.

One of them had a strange mark on his face and blood were falling down from his eyes.

The other man had his hands on his shoulders, as if he was trying to stop him from doing something.

"Perhaps they are brothers?"

Behind Nazar, Solace landed and said, "What are you going to do with them?"

"Kill them?" Nazar shrugged. He was unsure of his decision, so he was waiting for Solace's input.

"Works for me," Solace walked closer towards the two men who could be the culprits of this phenomenon. "But first…"

She extended her slender arm and touched one of them, causing them to leave their frozen state.

As soon as they returned from the frozen world, they both gasped loudly in fear.

The man with a strange mark fell to his knee and the other one turned around and faced Nazar and Solace.

""

"" Nazar's flippant expression from a few moments ago was replaced by a serious one. ""

"" The man forced out his words.

He then spread his arms widely, as if he were stopping Nazar from taking a step forward.

"" the fearful man tried his best to have this devilish God forgive the man behind him but when Nazar's red eyes flared brightly, the man felt himself shrinking in fear.

However, despite the intense fear, he slammed his foot into the ground and took a step forward.

"" with every ounce of strength in his body, the man unleashed those words.

However…

""

He brushed aside the man and walked towards the other one with a strange mark.

He crouched in front of him and asked, ""

The man with the strange mark could not reply, he had no energy. And even if he did, he would not have been able to talk because of fear.

Nazar realised as much, so he placed his hand on the man's shoulder and forced him to regain his energy and speak without fear.

""

""

""

""

""

"" the man behind Nazar shouted out. His voice carried a hint of relief. ""

Nazar slowly turned his head around and shot an icy gaze at the man behind, causing him to instantly gulp in fear.

The man understood his gesture.

He was angry.

Nazar faced the man with a strange mask once again and said, ""

""

""

The man behind Nazar bit his lip, worried for the life of the man with a strange mark.

""

""

""

Before the man behind him could continue, Solace rewrote his molecular structure, and the man lost his mouth. He could no longer speak or breath from his mouth.

""

Nazar narrowed his eyes and the man with a strange mark regained complete control over himself.

His eyes fell on Nazar and the next instant, he knew his end was coming.

So, without even fighting, the man just closed his eyes.

""

Nazar raised his hand and slapped the man once.

However, he held back most of his power so he wouldn't harm this man too much.

"" the man with the strange mark let out a pained sound. But he did not try to defend himself in any way.

Nazar slapped his again, and then again, and then again. He continued to slap him until the man's cheeks turned red and then swollen.

""

With those words, Nazar stood up and looked down at him.

The man with a strange mark slowly raised his head and looked at this towering figure.

""

Both men widened their eyes in a surprised manner.

""

And the two of them had expected a price to be paid.

As long as he didn't die, they were happy.

""

The two men found themselves confused.

They were expecting a punishment far harsher than this, but instead, this emperor of them gave them such a light punishment.

They couldn't believe their ears.

They wondered, perhaps they were already dead, and this was the afterlife?

"" Nazar glanced back at the man behind him. ""

Solace twitched her finger and the man returned to normal.

Immediately after, he fell to his knees.

While crying, he said, ""

Nazar started to get annoyed very quickly with this man.

""

""

Nazar grunted softly with a frown.

Maybe I should kill them after all?

After a few minutes, the two men ran far away and began their lifelong service to this empire without pay or holiday. That was their punishment.

"You went easy on them," Solace narrowed her beautiful blue eyes full of suspicions.

"Not really," he looked at his lifelong companion with an accomplished smile. "The pawns have been placed in the right place, I can keep my powers hidden from these people and still fight the enemy that's threatening them."

"Hmm. They already have a clue regarding your power."

"Why yes, they think I am strong, but are unaware of my other abilities."

Solace sighed.

"I still don't get why you won't get rid of the Church of Michael… You don't even have to reveal your powers to do something of this calibre."

"True. But removing the very idea from the heart of everyone…" Nazar arched his right palm, facing upwards, and then clenched it to catch onto his victory. "Getting rid of the black sheep is no easy task, but it will be fruitful."

"Well, whatever. My idea of exterminating them instantly was a lot easier."

"Plus, these attacks could be useful one day. Who knows?"

"You will make a good politician one day."

"Aww, I am not that evil."

Solace scoffed.

However, her laughter was short before the two of them tensed up.

Up above the planet, they sensed an odd energy signature. An energy signature the two of them knows very well, but also hates a lot.

"The Collector," the two of them uttered the name of this entity in unison.

"He came after this guy…" Nazar spoke slowly as he looked at the sky.

Behind the clouds and the light, there was darkness, and in that darkness, he could see a spaceship.

"He is leaving," Solace informed him after she registered a movement of binary commands in that spaceship. "I suppose he lost interest after seeing you here."

"Hmm," Nazar groaned loudly. “One of these days, I am going to kill that guy!”

“You can’t just kill a universal figure; the backlash will be intense.”

Nazar giggled evilly.

“My dear Solace,” he shook his head while wiggling his index finger in front of him from left to right, “you have never heard of the phrase; “Accidents happen”, have you?”

The prideful and evil look on his face caused Solace to grunt with a sour expression.

“Here he goes again...” she rolled her eyes.

Solace sighed again as she placed her arm on her hip.

“Anyway, I will bite,” Solace held out her hand, giving him the permission to lay out the details about his amazing plan, “when are you going to “accidents happen” him?”

“”Accidents happen” him…” Nazar was taken by a little by the words Solace used. It didn’t make grammatical sense to him, if anything even a kid would use better words. However, those words quickly grew on him. “I am going to do it soon. I am going to fucking accidents happen him very soon.”

Solace stared at him blankly, “Good job.”

Nazar looked back up to the sky and added with a sigh, “I wonder when he will appear next?”

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Now, Nazar blew a raspberry as he recalled an old memory.

“I wonder why he is here...”

“Where does he live?” Afshahan asked.

“At the highest phase of this plane.”

Afshahan leaned forward in his chair with great interest in his eyes.

Afshahan has traversed to many universes and phases, but the idea of higher planes was extremely alien to him. He doesn’t know if Nazar knows anything useful about the planes, but he is interested in knowing.

So, he opened his mouth, trying to ask the burning question within him.

However, he was forced to close his mouth and click his tongue unpleasantly as the knowledge he was seeking slipped away from his fingers.

Nazar had forcefully stood up with a worried look on his face, causing Afshahan to swallow his question.

“Something wrong?”

“No… thi...”

Before he could finish his word, he teleported out and left for Earth, leaving Afshahan alone in his office.

Being left alone, he let out a sigh.

“What a weirdo he is…”

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Plymouth, UK:

Nazar appeared in his home with a worried look pasted on his face.

He teleported into the living room and saw Emma lying down on the couch with her eyes closed. She was not whom he was looking for.

As soon as he entered the room, he moved his head left and right with great speed, trying to find someone.

However, since he could not find them, his body started to tense up as he found it hard to breath.

Did he somehow fail to protect them?

What if his worries had become real?

No…

Nazar shook his head and started to think rationally. He only looked in one place, maybe he should look elsewhere.

So, he left the room and went to his room on an upper floor.

He appeared out of thin air in his room and saw Laura laying down on the bed. Her eyes were also closed.

Nazar got worried for a fleeting moment, but before he did anything rash, he analysed her, only to find out that she was just sleeping, and he was worried for nothing.

He breathed a long and loud sigh of relief.

I thought he would come after her...

The Collector is an entity who collects people with unique energies, and recently he found out the energy within Laura can be sensed by others, so he thought the Collector might have come for her.

However, the Collector had not come for her or maybe even earth, so, Nazar scoffed in a relieved manner.

“I was overthinking this.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled to himself.

Glad nothing bad happened...

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While everything ended well for him, someone else in a faraway universe disintegrated into nothingness after a prolonged battle against antimatter.

What really happened to Rewind?