Chapter 181

Arc 16 - The Fastest Man Alive - Part 18

"" Laura knocked on her brother's room. She didn't wait for him to let her in and just went in. As soon as she entered, she smiled stiffly. ""

Marco, who was sitting at a small desk in his room, clicked his tongue at the sight of her.

“”

“” Laura scratched her cheek stiffly as she glanced away slightly. “”

“”

He looked away from her and faced forward with a sigh.

“” at a loss for words, Laura bit her lip. “”

“”

“”

“” Marco scoffed. “”

“” Laura grunted softly with her inability to produce an answer.

“” Marco leaned back in his chair as he looked up and started to reminisce about the old timeline. “”

In the old timeline, Marco could not use his body at all. In addition to that, he could neither talk nor even hear. He could do only one thing and lay in bed and wait for Laura to feed and clean him.

He was just brain and blood in an unmovable shell.

“”

“”

Marco banged his hand slowly on the table.

“” he then looked at Laura. “”

Hearing his angry words, Laura looked down.

“”

Marco smiled with gratitude. In his entire life, he could never hope to repay her for all she did for him.

“”

In that world, Nazar destroyed the organisation who experimented on him alongside all its employees, unaware that a demon was behind them.

Laura had no other path in life, but lucky for her, one day, she was recruited into a secret organisation to try and continue the organisation’s work and find a way to kill Nazar, who is a threat to the world. Albeit they did not know the demon was behind the organisation or else they would have not dared to continue its mission.

The demon wanted to empower humans so he could have an army of unstoppable superhumans, but he had failed. The new management of the organisation, however, managed to empower hundreds very easily.

The organisation recruited the family of the “dead” scientists by using their emotions against them, and since Laura was one of those people, she was recruited into that organisation as the assistant of the one who had recreated the demon’s organisation.

She had no skills or knowledge, but she was simply happy to have a job so her brother wouldn't starve to death because of her inability to take care of him.

One day, when she returned from work, she found Nazar in her house and questioned her about one of the subjects of that organisation: Aria. But of course, Laura did not want to help that monster, so he healed Marco in return for answers.

At that time, Aria, who was imbued with the ability to warp reality, was used against Nazar to try and hurt him emotionally, but her power ran out of control, so Nazar wanted to stop her before it was too late. He couldn’t let this world just die yet.

But soon, it was revealed that the secret organisation was founded by the Duluria Empire, who had gone against the wishes of the Galactic Council and wanted to rule over Earth.

Of course, she did not learn of that for a long time, but Nazar got rid of that organisation and seized control of a powerful army for himself.

What neither of them realised back then was that their emotions were manipulated by an entity who wanted to see his creation hurt in terrible ways.

The Nameless One wanted to torment him emotionally so he would hand over his unlimited power to this evil cosmic being.

“”

Before Laura could say anything, Marco added, “” Marco narrowed his eyes. “”

“” as guilt overwhelmed her, Laura’s head drooped downwards.

“” Marco clicked his tongue slowly. “”

Marco stood up.

“”

Laura slowly replied, “”

“” Marco widened his eyes. “”

“”

“”

“” Laura nodded.

“”

Marco was not sure how to react, so he just bit his lip.

“”

“” Marco glanced away and slowly said, “”

“” Laura raised her head as she began to speak in a stern tone. “”

“” Marco said slowly with a scoff.

“”

“” Marco inhaled deeply and changed the subject slightly. “”

“”

“” he couldn’t believe what he just heard. He thought it was ridiculous for such things to exist.

“”

Although she dropped heavy information about her near-death experience, Marco did not pay any attention to that but focused on a different part.

“” he chuckled. “”

“”

“”

Marco sat back down on his chair and sighed.

“”

With a grimacing smile, she averted her gaze and evaluated whether she should tell him the truth or not.

“”

“” Laura’s head tilted left and right as she began speaking slowly. “”

Marco could only make out two words from what she said, so he frowned and said, “”

Laura grunted softly.

“” she groaned. “”

Laura smiled stiffly.

She knew what kind of reaction her brother would give to her.

“” he shouted loudly. “”

“” Laura quickly closed the gap between them and covered Marco’s mouth with her hand. “”

Marco moved away her hand and said slowly, “”

“” she moved her palms downwards slowly, gesturing to lower his volume. “”

“”

“” with a shy smile. “”

“”

“”

Laura wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

“” she said slowly.

She felt terrible for moving on so quickly after her brother went missing. And she hated the fact that her brother had grown up all by herself and distanced himself from her.

Deep down, she began to worry if the same would happen in this world. What if he distances himself from her again because of her relationship with him?

She doesn’t want that to happen no matter what.

“”

Marco broke free from her arms once he understood why she was apologising now.

“” he slumped over the table. “”

She smiled softly.

“”

“”

“”

Marco got up, placed his hands on her shoulder and forced her body to turn around. Then he pushed her out of the door.

“”

Laura laughed.

“” he said slowly.

As soon as Laura left the room, he closed the door behind her.

လလလ

A few minutes later, Marco went downstairs to drink some water. To his surprise, Nazar asked him to sit down so they could talk about his "fate".

Marco fearfully sat opposite Nazar at the dining table and waited for him to speak what he wanted to say.

However, deep down, Marco thought he would die any moment. He thought Nazar wanted to kill him.

""

Marco let out a soft yet silent sigh of relief.

""

He arched his right palm, facing upwards.

In his palm, four constructs appeared, showing people Marco had never seen. One of them was a child.

No, in fact, he knew one of them.

He looked just like Nazar but dressed differently.

""

"" Marco swallowed his saliva to wet his dry throat. ""

So, he doesn't know about the Nameless One, nor his older self or his wife and child… As I thought.

""

The Nameless One's construct vanished.

""

""

Marco gasped before he raised his hands to cover his mouth.

He realised how carefree he was answering this monster's question.

"" Nazar rubbed his chin as he thought.

Has Laura told him about his family then?

""

""

Marco thought, wouldn't a monster say just that?

""

""

Nazar pointed at the other three holograms.

""

Nazar leaned forward and said, ""

""

Marco widened his eyes slightly.

""

""

He knew what Marco would say, so he answered before he could finish the question.

"" Nazar nodded. ""

""

"" he whispered. ""

"" Marco nodded slightly. In a low tone, he added, ""

"" Nazar stared at him blankly.

Nazar chuckled with a light shake of his head.

"" he watched Lena's energy construct very closely. ""

""

At that moment, Nazar realised that Marco's fears were withering away like the leaves in autumn.

However, he did not mention that to him.

""

"

""

Maybe I should tell him what happened…?

Nazar breathed softly as he began to tell the full story about the older Marco and his family.

After Nazar finished speaking, he slipped Marco a piece of paper.

“”

Unlike Violet, if he somehow manifests his powers… That won’t end well. He will have a mark on the back of his head. He will be a destroyer, and that could also cause damage to the universe. I don’t care much about that, but ultimately, he falls under mine and Emily’s jurisdiction. He will become our responsibility.

Nazar scoffed.

Look at me, responsibilities… Hah! But eh, as long as the Nameless One doesn’t get to him.

“”

“”

“”

“”

He slipped in another number and added, “”

Marco took both numbers and replied in a confused manner, “”

“”

His phone rang and he answered it immediately.

“What is it, Arthur?”

“- Come to London, more specifically, Camelot Palace. -”

Nazar’s expression turned serious.

“Is it… time?”

“- Yes. -”

“Alright.”

Nazar stood up quickly and looked up.

He arched his palm and a piece of paper appeared in it.

The paper teleported out of his hand.

“” he said slowly as he phased through the floors and flew away.

“”

Marco looked at the numbers then added it to his phone.

As he was adding the numbers, his eyes began to slowly widen.

“”

He gulped loudly.

“”

He realised that he was talking simply fine to that monster. How did that happen?

Did he...

Marco wondered if Nazar was influencing his mind or if he isn’t as scary as he looks on the television.

He looked at the numbers and then closed his fist, wrinkling the pieces of paper.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

A while later, in Laura’s room:

“” Laura’s mother said angrily in her lowest possible voice.

On a small bed, Laura was sitting down while she listened to her mother. Laura placed her elbow on her thigh and rested her face in her palm.

Laura glanced up at her mother and then to her father, which was standing quietly with his back pressed against the wall.

Seeing how everyone was both confused and angry, she looked down.

However, Laura was not feeling fearful or remorseful, instead, she found it hard to stop herself from laughing.

“”

Laura did not say anything but kept quiet.

“” her mother asked in a worried voice.

“” Laura replied slowly.

Her mother frowned, “”

“”

Laura blew a raspberry in annoyance.

“”

“” she glanced at her husband, who shrugged. A soft groan escaped her lips as she rolled her eyes and then looked back at Laura. “”

“”

She looked back at her husband, cutting off his sentence, “”

Laura thought back to a few weeks earlier where she had a chance to end it all but decided against it. She was not controlled by anyone, but an alien influence was definitely involved because of the origin of these feelings.

“”

Laura glanced down as she thought back to the previous night.

After everyone had fallen asleep, she was visited by an angel.

Aarin said the influence is no longer present. In fact, it wasn’t present in this world at all after she reexamined me. She said, “Your feelings for each other transcends time and space.”

Laura cringed as she remembered that part from the previous night.

But either way, this means that no one and nothing, even this energy wasn’t affecting how I felt about him. I thought I couldn’t “fall in love” with someone else because I wasn’t allowed to… But it seems, it’s just that I didn’t want to.

In the old world, your emotions were influenced by the Nameless One, but I assure you, that was just then. Your feelings for each other stemmed from there, but grew on its own, so far and beyond that it transcends everything. And as the Angel of Love, it is not something I often witness. No, in fact, it's extremely rare.

Erm…

I would never lie, Laura. I did test it a few weeks ago, but I wasn’t too sure of it, however… My powers have grown since then, more precise and attuned to a greater level. So, I am sure now.

After remembering what Aaring had told her, Laura sucked in a breath and looked up at her mother with confidence in her eyes.

“”

“”

Her mother did not expect a reply, so she was left speechless.

“”

Seeing how serious her daughter was, she sighed.

“”

“” Laura looked her mother in the eyes. “”

“” she stared at Laura in confusion, but there was a hint of annoyance and perhaps even a bit of anger on her face. “”

“”

“”

“”

Laura was taken back a little by her question.

He did say something about a barrier, so...

“” Laura answered with confidence. “”

“” and let out a soft groan.

“”

“” she said exasperatedly as she walked out of the room, leaving her husband and Laura alone.

Laura nodded at her father with a smile when suddenly a paper floated in front of her.

Confused, she opened it and read it.

I need to go now; I have something to do. But I will come back later tonight. I was thinking of taking you to one of my casinos. It’s a fairly good place on the other end of the universe. Also… good luck with your parents (haha!), but… I guess, I should also apologise. (Hope this doesn’t ruin your relationship with them.)

Anyway, we will talk about this later. I will be back shortly. An hour max… Or maybe even less.

Bye for now, love you.

Laura smiled and blew a raspberry.

Well, he took the effortless way out.

“” her father asked.

“”

“”

Her father sat next to her and sighed.

“”

“”

He looked at her and smiled.

“” Laura glanced down at the paper in her hand. “”

As guilt spiralled within her, Laura bit her lip.

“”

That was not a rhetorical question. She wanted an answer from her father, but he did not say anything.

He just kept quiet.

“” she scoffed. “”

Laura sighed heavily as she rubbed her face with her hand.

After clicking her tongue, she continued, “”

“” her father opened his mouth to reply to her question, but she cut off his sentence.

“”

Laura looked at her father in his eyes and added, “”

“”

“”

“” her father began speaking slowly. “”

He narrowed his eyes a little.

“”

“”

She slowly turned her upper body towards him.

Her face twisted up in anger.

“”

Her father smiled wryly.

“”

“”

In all her life, she was the closest to her father.

They understood each other and were supportive of each other throughout their life so far.

But more than that, they had never been angry with each other, ever before.

So, for the first time, she got angry at her father, the one whom she loved the most.

“”

To her father, a lot of this was news, so he was taken back a little.

“”

"" curious about what she meant, he asked slowly.

""

Laura softened her expressions and held her head with her hand.

""

"" he said slowly.

"" her reply was slow in an analogous manner.

Deep down, she knew that it was not their fault, but the demon's, so she felt guilty and cursed herself for bringing it up.

""

""

""

Laura groaned in a muffled voice.

""

Still feeling conflicted about his daughter's engagement to a monster, her father sighed and threw away his negative thoughts.

He always wanted her happiness, and if she is happy, then he believes he should just accept it.

But even then, a creeping thought escaped his mouth.

""

""

He nodded.

"" she chuckled and added. ""

""

She nodded.

"" he smiled softly.

She was surprised at first, but then smiled and said, ""

""

"" Laura scratched her cheek as she laughed stiffly while she remembered the previous day where Nazar said everyone wants to kill him after meeting him once. ""

"" he flexed his muscles - albeit they were small - jokingly. ""

She laughed once again, but this time sincerely.

""

She hugged him.

""

I...

After she hugged, she felt bad that she got angry, so she bit her lip.

Moving away from her father, she said, ""

""

"" she waved her hand dismissively. ""

Her father nodded.

""

He nodded once again as he stood up.

""

""

Her father opened the door and was about to leave, but she called out to him, ""

"" he turned around and looked at her.

""

""

""

""

Her father left, leaving her alone in the room.

She lied down on the bed and looked at the ceiling.

"Well… this is not going to be fun."

She looked at the paper in her hand and smiled softly.

"I wish it had happened differently. I didn't get to see you make any more weird expressions."

After sighing, she got up and walked out of the room.

လလလ

And on Earth, Nazar flew slowly above the skies, thinking of what to do or say.

လလလ

Elsewhere, Rewind smiled thinly as took a hold of the Golden Sword.

လလလ

In a place far away, the Queen lay on her bed, face down and created a mirror that allowed her to watch Earth.

With great eagerness in her eyes, she said, "Let's get this party started."