Chapter 180

Arc 16 - The Fastest Man Alive - Part 17

Wednesday, 14th of July - London, UK:

“Ugh, still not finished...” Laura groaned as she fell to the floor.

She tiredly looked at the bags and cursed herself.

“Here is what I noticed… One, you have bought too many items. And two, a lot of them are quite useless. And three--”

“Nice deduction, Einstein.”

“Einstein wishes he was me.”

“Uh… Sure.”

For some reasons, Nazar did not like his intelligence being insulted.

“You know what, I will bring back Einstein one day and show him how a lot of those theories he worked on are… Bullshit. Yeah, that’s right. A lot of those theories don’t work like that in real life. It’s just some random blabbering.”

“I don’t believe you,” she replied in an even tired manner.

“I will prove his theories wrong to anyone. Also, what the hell is the theory of relativity? It doesn’t apply to me or anyone else I know or any alien race with enhanced technologies.”

He took a short pause.

“Also, Einstein wasn’t a genius, he was just smart. Genius is different.”

He moved back slightly and sat in a relaxed manner.

Holding his nose high, he smiled a thin confident and proud smile as he pointed to himself.

“Now me on the other hand… I am a genius.”

“...” Laura stared at him blankly. “Sure, Einstein.”

“Hrk!” Nazar’s smile vanished slowly as he frowned.

“A genius wouldn’t be hurt by that.”

“Ugh, fine. I will… acknowledge him… Just for now.”

“Pfft,” she laughed. “At least put up a bit more of a fight.”

“Some other time maybe,” he laid down and stared at the ceiling.

He remembered what he wanted to do today, but he is still waiting for the "perfect opportunity".

Nazar thought that time won't come any time soon, so he tried to say something, but nothing came out of his mouth.

There was something important he wanted to ask, but he wasn’t sure how to say it.

“Say...”

She waited for Nazar to continue, but he took too long, so she raised her head slightly.

“Yes?”

“You finished school at the age of 15, right?”

“Yes, I skipped a few years and started at the second year of university as part of a special programme. And finished my PhD this year.”

“Nice.”

“But you should already know this. Why ask?”

“No reason, just wanted to ask.”

“By the way, doesn’t that make me a genius?”

He shook his head.

“Eh…”

She picked up a shirt and threw it at his face.

“Oh, that smells nice, just like you.”

“For fuck’s sake...” she let out a soft grunt.

“I love you too.”

“Prove it.”

“I can create a constellation if you want,” he moved away the shirt and looked at her.

While their eyes did not meet because of all the clothes and bag, she felt like it did. She saw the smile on his face.

It was as if everything else was made invisible.

Or maybe there was no smile and she just imagined all of this.

“Do you want me to create a constellation for you?”

“...Maybe not,” she turned around and stared at the ceiling too. She sighed deeply.

“Something wrong?”

“No. Nothing.”

“Hm...” Nazar saw the sour look on her face, so he sat up. “Really?”

“Yeah, I just realised that I will be going to work five days a week and possibly working as an assistant for a good few years before I am able to do anything good...”

Nazar let out a faint sigh of relief.

He had thought her mood changed for the worse because of him, so he was happy that was not the case.

”Well… That happens when you study a field like that.”

But sat up abruptly and blurted out in an exasperated manner, “But I am a genius. I should have some credibility. I should be starting work immediately!”

“Err…” Nazar scratched his cheek, unsure of how to reply to her. So, in the spur of a moment, he said, “When I clear my name, I will create a new company and you can do--”

“First thing first, it will take you a million years to clear your name.”

“...Okay, that is a justifiable concern.”

“And I want to do this by myself, with my own power.”

The pure and devoted look in her eyes made him smile.

He could understand where she was coming from, after all, he can do anything, and he hates that.

“I can understand.”

“Ugh,” she lied back down on the floor. “What am I going to do?”

“Uhh...” he was going to re-suggest his earlier plans, but he remembered it did not go too well the last time he mentioned it. So, instead, he changed the topic. “Why not fix what’s in front of you for now? You can worry about the future later.”

“...”

She looked at the pile of clothes and other things before groaning loudly.

“You know, I could put them all inside a pocket dimension and you can fix it at a later date in your home.”

“I wish… But my mom will ask what happened to my stuff and whatnot... She also doesn’t like to throw away clothes. Plus, there are some cutlery and things like that which she gave me, so she will ask about that… Siiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh.”

On one hand, she needed to fix her mess, but on the other hand, she was not motivated to do anything.

"Hm," seeing how stress was started to surface on her face, Nazar stood up. Going closer to her, he picked her up in his arms and smiled widely at her, “Don’t worry, it will all work out.”

"Woah," she let out a starlet noise as she was picked up from the ground. "A little warning next time, please?"

He looked down at her and said with a smile, "You like it when I pick you up, so... No, I am not gonna warn next time."

Laura shook her head with a scoff.

She then wrapped her arms around his neck so she wouldn't fall.

“You know, I will miss those silly yet cute expressions of yours from a few weeks earlier. Bashful you was quite nice.”

“As I mentioned the other day, I can always regress my existence.”

“Nah,” she clicked her tongue. “As I also mentioned the other day, I am starting to like this “you” more.”

“Nice.”

"So, where are you taking me now?"

"Wherever you want," he began to leave the room.

"Hmmm."

"I am surprised I didn't take you to other worlds or universes. There are a lot of fun things I need to show you."

"Like?"

"I don't want to spoil the surprise."

"Oh, alright then."

"Yeah, so I should start taking you there. You name it and we can go there."

"Sweet. I will think about it."

"Take your time. Until then…"

They entered his bedroom.

"It's your last day, we should be spending it by doing something memorable."

"Uh… Sure, but what about my stuff?"

"I have stopped time for this apartment, don't worry."

"Cool…" she sighed softly. "Can't be helped then."

“So, we can do something better. This way none of us is bored.”

He let her down on the bed and smiled.

“I am going to make you fall in love with me all over again,” he smiled confidently.

The words that came out of his mouth were rather unusual for him and unfitting of his character, so Laura cringed.

“Oh?”

“Yep,” Nazar replied earnestly.

"Alright then," she nodded with her lips pursed. “You really want to do this now?”

“Well, it’s not like I come to visit you there every day, and can’t do much either… You said your home is rather small, did you not?”

“It is...”

She started to take off her hoodie as she glanced around the room.

“I think the biggest room in our house is smaller than this.”

“I used to live in a small, extremely small room, so I understand the limitations of it.”

“I don’t get why… Why would you put yourself in a small room like a prisoner?”

“Err… I used to hate extra space.”

Laura chuckled lightly.

“Sooo weird.”

“The usual me,” he shrugged.

“Come down.”

He leaned forward and she wrapped Nazar’s head between her thighs.

Once he was close enough, she pinched his cheeks.

“You know, small rooms have their own merits. We could snuggle together and be warm forever.”

“It’s summer.”

She clicked her tongue.

“God, I hate you sometimes,” she said jokingly.

“Love you too,” he blew a kiss at her.

She unwrapped her thighs from around his neck. Now that her knees were up, his head was free to leave, but he didn’t move his head.

“...Seriously?”

“What did you just say a moment ago? Oh, if I remember correctly, you said, “We could snuggle together and be warm forever”. That’s what I am doing right now.”

She chuckled as she glanced away slightly.

“Fine, I got nothing else, so let's make memori-- Hm?”

Laura suddenly felt chilly.

She realised that her clothes had disintegrated.

“O-- Aahh. Hyang ♡.”

As her body jolted, her hands reacted by itself and pushed down his head.

““Ah…” Laura raised her head and asked loudly, “Already?”

He did not say anything, so she laid back down.

“At least give a warning next time,” she said slowly as she covered her face with her forearm.

လလလ

A long time passed Laura was sitting on his lip and wrapped her arms around his neck as she kissed him.

The two of them were breathing and moaning as a little movement took place between them.

They could feel the warmth of their partners’ bodies, and their moans were like the singing of Sirin under the sea. Wet and sticky fluids streamed down their bodies as they continued to make love.

In the middle of their kiss, Nazar pulled his head away and said something absurd, “Wanna marry me?”

Laura ignored it at first, because she thought her mind was playing tricks on her.

But then she slowly widened her eyes as her movement stopped.

With wide eyes, she asked, “...What?”

“I said, do you want to marry me?”

Laura cleared her ear with her index finger and asked again, “What?”

Nazar sighed softly.

“I said, do you want to marry me?”

“...”

She gasped loudly.

“Wait… You mean...” she stared at him in disbelief. Laura thought he wouldn't pop this question in a billion years, so she could not believe her ears. No matter how many times he repeats it, she wouldn’t believe him.

She continued to stare at him in disbelief.

Nazar realised that she won't believe him, so he wanted to show her that he really meant it.

Space opened between the two of them and a shiny silver ring with sparkling white diamond started to appear.

It looked normal on the surface, but it was made from the rare metal known as Nilluferite.

“I am being serious,” he added. “I always thought it was quite useless and… moronic to get married when you can just date, but then I spent time with you and after what my mom said… It could be something special. I want us to be closer than we already are and more special.”

She looked at the ring and then to him.

At first, she thought he was joking, but she was wrong. He was profoundly serious about what he had just said.

“I want to be someone you can rely on. I want to be someone whom you can trust with all. You can use my shoulders to rest or even cry, whatever you want. And of course, I want to be… I don’t know, do the same.”

He chuckled.

“As odd as it might sound, but I… I want us to entrust our lives to each other.”

He looked right into her eyes and continued, “Anyway, the same can be done when you are dating, right? I might still believe that, but… I mean, I don’t know, this could be more special than that. I don’t know, this could enhance the connection and relationship we already have.”

Laura scoffed with a soft smile.

“I know, I used to hate the concept of it, but I have never experienced it in this world, which means I cannot have an opinion on it… Maybe. So… Maybe, if you don’t mind...” he glanced away shyly. “Do you want to marry me?”

Laura wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and pulled him closer.

She locked his lips with his and kissed him.

Tasting her lips again should have given him his answer, but he was still unsure, so he waited for her to say "Yes" or "No."

Once she moved her lips away, with a big and happy smile, she squealed, ”A MILLION TIMES, YES!”

She pushed him down on the bed and kissed him again.

“OF COURSE! OF COURSE, I WILL!”

The ring floated above her head, and he clutched onto it.

He held the ring to her face and said, “So? Can I put this on now?”

“SURE!” she replied excitedly.

They sat up once more and he put the ring on her finger slowly.

“And now, we are one. Until death do us apart.”

“Ehh… That’s what you say when you get married.”

“...Fair enough, I guess. It’s all the same,” he laughed.

Laura sat at the edge of the bed then picked up a towel from nearby and started to wipe herself while looking at the ring on her finger.

Nazar couldn't help after seeing the smile on her face, so he watched her for a long time.

I think I can stare at her for an eternity and still not get tired of it... Sigh, what is happening to me?

“Wow...” she said slowly, still smiling in disbelief.

“It looks beautiful,” he sat next to her and looked at her finger.

“Mm-hmm,” still staring at the ring on her hand, she added, “I love you, but you really have a weird way of proposing, don’t you?”

“Hm,” he tilted his head side to side and smiled.

“When you asked me to be your girlfriend, we were in the middle of having sex. And then you asked me to be your wife in the same manner… Well, it’s certainly an interesting way of proposing.”

“I thought this would leave a bigger mark,” he laughed.

“I will give you that.”

She rested her head on his shoulder and snuggled.

“It’s really beautiful. Way shinier than any other ring I have come across.”

“Yeah, I made it from the rarest metal in the multiverse. And then equipped a bit of diamond on it.”

“Oh,” she was not sure how to react regarding the origin of the ring, but she just smiled.

“I wanted to get you an extremely expensive ring from Planet Mial, but money is worthless compared to this metal. The beauty of this is unparalleled.”

“Quite… thoughtful of you.”

"Thanks, I guess?"

She kissed the ring and squealed.

“Okay, calm down, you are way too happy.”

“Shut up,” she lightly tapped her head against his before resting it on his shoulder again. "You should be as happy."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“So, how does it feel to be the wife of the most powerful creature in existence?”

“Same as I did five minutes ago, and five days ago.”

“Hrk!” he grunted.

“I mean, if you had done it in a traditional way, maybe it would have felt better.”

At this point, he knew Laura was just messing around with him and she was not telling the truth.

“Fine, I will give you what you want.”

He got up and kneeled before her.

He took her left hand and said, “Will you marry me?”

She took off the ring and gave it to him.

“Come on now...”

Nazar sucked in a heavy breath.

“Alright, third time's a charm.”

He looked at the ring and then looked her in the eyes.

“Wait, I need my clothes too.”

He sighed softly as clothes appeared around the two of them.

She was wearing a fancy black dress with golden jewelry, and he was wearing his normal clothes.

“So...”

He took her left hand.

“Laura Marino, will you marry me?”

At that moment, a few images flashed through his head.

He was in an analogous situation, on his knee and holding a ring. He looked up at a woman whose back was to the sun and her red hair was flowing in the cold breeze of spring. He asked the woman a similar question. And she replied with a “Yes!” too.

The new memory stinged, but he did not show it on his face and continued to smile.

He had no time to think about the memory he saw. After all, today was a special day.

Laura nodded with her happiest smile, “Yes!”

He put the ring on her left hand and smiled widely.

She leaned forward, kissing him again.

Shortly thereafter, Nazar sat beside her and showed her the last few moments again in the form of a video.

“I recorded that bit just in case. It’s wonderful, isn’t it?”

“Send it,” she asked immediately.

He touched his phone with hers and the video was sent to her.

“How did you do that?” she asked while rewatching the video with a happy smile.

“I can digitise my memories into photo and video format.”

“Oh, right.”

She watched the video again and giggled.

Laura then looked Nazar in the eyes and said, “I still can’t believe you did this.”

“Me too,” he replied slowly.

Before wasting any more time, Nazar then pinned her down.

“Now that we are engaged and in a happy mood... What should we do now?” he asked. “I have stopped time, so don’t worry. We can take all the time in the world.”

She let out a soft sigh.

“Using your powers in all the right ways, eh?” she winked at him.

“Mm.”

“Then let’s waste days here, exploring each inch of each other. Every part is a go.”

“Actually...”

“If someone asks why I am walking weirdly, I will just say I fell down,” she ignored him and continued. “So, let’s--”

“Ahem.”

“What?”

“I have a different idea.”

“Oh no...” Laura knew what he was going to ask, and she did not want any part of that. At least not now.

She placed her hands on his chest and gently pushed him back.

“Yep, I think that’s my queue to leave then. You are going to ask something weird.”

She got up and got out of the bed.

“I am not doing any of your weird requests.”

His shoulders drooped.

“And here I thought it would work this time around… Siiiggggggggggghhhhhhhh.”

“Nope, never.”

She stared at the ring as she happily walked out of the room.

“Can’t wait to tell my mom about this. She thought I would never get married.”

”Why?”

“She said, and I quote, “You slept with the entire world, so no one would want to marry you.” And that’s all.”

“Oh...”

Upon entering the living room, she asked, “So, what was your request?”

“There was this scene in anime-- or rather a trope I saw often, so I was wondering how it would seem in real life.”

“...”

Laura came to an abrupt stop and turned around.

“...”

She stared at him blankly.

“Bitch what?”

“I got curious,” he shrugged.

“...”

“That’s all.”

“Oh god, what did I get myself into,” she turned around and walked in.

“Regretting it already, eh?”

“Yes, very much,” she said slowly as she raised up her eyebrows.

“Ouch.”

She started packing her stuff again.

He sat opposite her and said, “So, never?”

“No-oo-ooo-o. Never. Ever.”

“Nothing to change your mind?”

“Nope. Nothing. Ever. I am serious.”

“Well... That sucks,” he shook his head in a dejected manner.

Laura hated seeing that look on his face, so she slowly said, “I will think about it one day."

His mood went through an abrupt change. With sparkling eyes, he asked, "Really?"

"Oh no..." she frowned with a croaky voice.

“Yess!” he heard that and threw his hands into the air.

“Okay, I regret that already...” she sighed softly.

“Alright, let’s get rid of these. It’s making my house ugly.”

For some reasons, he was full of energy once again, so he was excited to get something done.

But...

“Ehh, your house was always ugly."

He didn’t like her snarky comment, so he stared at her with a sour look on his face.

“Alright, you don’t have to tell me that. Sheesh.”

“But it is ugly. It’s so small.”

“Uh… I own the whole apartment complex. So, it’s not small.”

“Wait... what?!” she blurted out in surprise. With wide eyes, she pointed to the floor down below and asked, “You… You are telling me you own this WHOLE thing?”

“Yep,” he nodded with pursed lips.

“But… But people live down there?”

“Yeah, those are guards stationed by the empire in case of an emergency.”

“...”

Her mouth and eyes widened even more.

“Whaaattt?!”

“Yeah,” he pulled out his phone from his pocket. “There were two of them and got married last year. I think she is expecting a child soon. It’s usually against the rules to have a romantic relationship or a child when on duty, but I am the rule maker so...”

“Just what the hell is going on...” she sighed and gave up.

He showed her his phone, which was displaying a picture from the wedding ceremony. “See, this was their wedding day.”

“Err… You went to their wedding but not your own brother’s?”

“...” Nazar glanced left and right. “No, I did go there...”

Seeing zero confidence in his voice, she knew he was lying.

“How are you going to make up for that?”

“Anyway, that’s irrelevant,” he moved his phone away from her, trying to put it back in his pocket. “This house isn’t sma--”

Laura held onto his hand, “Wait, wait, wait.”

“Hm?”

“Wait… Is that you?”

She pointed at a person in a black suit.

“Oh yeah, that’s me in my monarch attire.”

She narrowed her eyes and looked at it very closely.

“No way, I don’t believe you. You? Wearing something like that? Nuh-uh. Nope. Don’t believe it.”

Nazar tapped his chest and new clothes appeared around him.

"See?" he spread his arms widely and showed her his monarch attire.

Right now, he was wearing formal clothes. It was a black suit with the emblem of Chochica Empire fitted on his right chest. He also had a red cape and a sash covering his left shoulder and his left chest.

“Oh wow… You can actually dress properly,” she examined him from the top to the bottom with a look of disbelief.

“Of course,” with steam coming out of his nose, he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “My pride has been hurt.”

“...” Laura glanced left and right, avoiding looking him in the eyes. “You have pride?”

Seeing how genuine her question was, his upper body limped downwards as he sighed heavily.

“I wish I was dead.”

“Just do something really bad and someone will kill you.”

“Err… I have like a billion people who want to kill me. Everyone I meet, they tend to want me dead.”

“I don’t think I want you dead?”

“You… don’t seem too sure of that.”

“Okay, but there is no way your sister or mom would want you dead.”

“Hmm… I will be sure to ask them.”

“Great, lemme know what they say.”

“Will do.”

“Sweet.”

လလလ

Plymouth, UK:

Aya was standing in the kitchen and making coffee for herself.

Lately, there hasn’t been a lot to do at home or at the lab, so she gets bored rather quickly. Which means she thinks about a lot of things in her life.

She often worries about what would happen to Nazar and the effects he will have on this family.

She sighed softly as she poured some sugar in her cup.

While thinking deeply, the door of the kitchen opened abruptly and Nazar walked towards her at great speeds.

She heard the door opening, so she started to turn around, but she stopped halfway through as Nazar wrapped his arms and hugged her tightly from the side.

Nazar picked her up a bit and kissed her on the cheek.

“Woah?!”

Baffled, Aya questioned what happened to her son. Was he possessed by someone?

“I love you, mom,” he said happily.

“Err… Thanks?”

He put her down on the ground.

She looked up to him and became even more baffled after seeing a smile he could barely contain within him.

“Oh, you seem happy, what’s the occasion?”

“Nothing,” he didn’t tell her about what happened today. He wanted to keep that a surprise for now. “Anyway, have you ever thought about killing me?”

“...”

Aya widened her eyes and pursed her lips in a confused manner.

“What?”

“Just a question, nothing.”

“No,” she said out loudly, with a hint of anger. “Of course, I wouldn’t think like that. What is wrong with you?”

“Oh, nothing. Thanks.”

He kissed her again on the cheek and walked away happily.

Aya watched him leave while she scratched her head in a confused manner.

“... What just happened? What is going on with him...”

Instead of helping her worries, it just caused her greater stress.

"I hope he is okay," she prayed toa God she didn't believe in to keep him safe.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

Thursday 15th of July - Venice, Italy:

At Laura's house, Nazar stiffly sat alone at the dining table as he glanced left and right.

Now that the beans were spilled, Laura and her family left off to talk amongst themselves, away from him.

He could eavesdrop, but he thought that would be wrong to do so.

This is not awkward at all.

He shook his head.

Nope, not at all. I have been in a worse situation. Yes, that’s right. I remember feeling like this when I died for the first time in this timeline. Yes, yes.

He tried to convince himself that he was neither nervous nor worried, but apparently it wasn’t working.

Under the table, he was bouncing his legs up and down nervously.

“Mm-mm-mm,” he pursed his lips as a weird noise came out his lips.

Okay, shut up. This is nothing. Yes, nothing. NOOOOOOOOOOTHINGGGGGGGGGGG!

He sucked in a deep breath and calmed himself.

“Phew.”

At that moment, Laura’s younger brother walked into the kitchen and smiled stiffly after he saw Nazar taking a deep breath.

“” Marco nodded.

At first Nazar was confused, but suddenly a sour look surfaced on his face.

He remembered the old timeline in which he failed to save the child.

With a guilty look on his face, he nodded back at the child.

Before Nazar could greet him, Marco went to the fridge and took out a bottle of water.

He was so young back then and the Nameless One sent him to his death… Does he remember what happened? Does he remember his old self? Or does he not? If he doesn't, why does he fear me then?

The world around Nazar slowed down as he began to think deeply about what he should do here.

What kind of fake memories does he hold? Is he in an indistinguishable situation to Violet?

He clicked his tongue silently.

I guess I need to ask directly then.

Marco closed the fridge door and was about to leave, but Nazar called out to him in a serious voice, “”

Marco’s shoulders jerked as he heard Nazar call out to him.

It was not Nazar’s intention to scare him, but he did not realise what he had done, so he couldn’t ease Marco’s fear.

“”

Marco gulped in fear.

In fear, his body moved on its own and sat opposite Nazar.

As he sat down, he looked at Nazar and regretted it immediately after those crimson eyes stared into his soul.

“”

Marco’s heart began to beat faster and faster each second.

With every passing second, he thought his end was coming closer.

He genuinely believed that.

“”

Marco’s eyes widened and so did his mouth. He stared at Nazar in confusion, seemingly forgotten about his fears from just a moment ago.

“”