Chapter 184

Arc 16 - The Fastest Man Alive - Part 21

Moments ago, Aarin was in Lucifer's dimension and playing with Azazel out of boredom.

These days, she has nothing to do, and she cannot return to heaven for long because her power is too great now.

The best place for her is this dimension, which is in a place only few know about.

Lucifer still struggles to understand her powers and new statues, but he doesn't want to expand that knowledge now. He is busy with another matter.

It was the usual scene in this dimension - with Azazel playing around, Aarin laughing and Lucifer watching the two of them - until...

"Do you not have anything better to do?" Aarin joked.

"I am everywhere," Lucifer with his glowing white eyes spoke. "I am here watching him, in Asteria discussing something important with Aiht, in the Aurora - the highest phase in the third plane - I am currently discussing something troublesome with Daya, on a lowly planet, I am overseeing an interesting revelation take place. I am everywhere… save for the four black holes."

"Oh?" intrigued by Lucifer's words, Aarin stood up and wiped her dress slowly as she listened closely to Lucifer.

"No, to be precise, two black holes. Earth has been turned into a black hole and there is a small one at the edge of the multiverse too. Daya knows something but his words don't reach me."

"I thought you knew everything," she chuckled.

"I do. That is my curse and existence, but I believe there is interference from extra-dimensional beings."

Aarin knew instantly whom he might be talking about.

"You mean… her, right?"

Aarin had never faced the Queen herself, but she knows enough from what Lucifer has told her.

"Mm'" Lucifer nodded.

"I see… What do you think she is up to?"

"Same old game."

"!!"

Aarin widened her eyes slightly when she felt Nazar's presence near her.

She turned around but he was not around.

In fact, it was just an odd projection of him sent throughout the magical existence of this Ultraverse.

"...Huh?" she blurted out a shrieky confused voice.

She listened to his “speech" and sighed deeply.

"I should have taught him communication skills when I could…" she mumbled to herself.

"Was it not you who taught him this strategy? To always answer questions with questions, minimising the damage?'

Aarin groaned with a roll of her eyes.

"Right," she replied slowly. In a stern voice, she added, "It worked for me, alright?"

"Gloriously."

She was not sure if Lucifer was being sarcastic or praising her methods.

So, both happiness and displeasure danced on her face, fighting to take control.

"By the way, why Aiht? Do you not remember what he did? Or wanted to do?"

"Madmen like him, we come across them often. Everyone wants to destroy the angels or me or what I am. He wanted to destroy the Nameless One's legacy, but he couldn't. And now there is no need."

With narrow eyes, she said, "What do you… mean?"

"A tremendously long story, but leaving that aside, I am working alongside Aiht because I need his expertise on transcendent energies - a concept that I still cannot comprehend. He is a being of a similar manner, I can feel it, so he is useful."

"Heh," she rolled her eyes as she shook her head with a scoffed. "Remember what I said that day?"

"I am using him like a tool, huh? But that's irrelevant. He is a Supreme Being, so it does not matter. It won't drive me mad with guilt."

Aarin did not understand what he meant by quite a bit of that, but she ignored it for now.

However, she also did not have enough time.

Suddenly, she started hearing something odd out of Nazar's mouth, so she turned around and stared at an empty spot with a stiff look on her face.

"Why is he telling everyone what he is into…"

She heaved another heavy sigh.

"Huh, interesting theory," the intrigued Lucifer nodded his head. He considered taking his "advice" but then he realised he is the oldest being in the Ultraverse now, so he cannot test out his theory. "I am too old, so I cannot confirm it."

Aarin slowly turned her head around to look at Lucifer.

"Perhaps the Queen? She is the only one older than I who could possibly…" Lucifer shook his head. "No.”

With an even more baffled and stiff look on her face - which also carried a faint confused smile - Aarin said, "You… You can't be serious."

Lucifer shrugged, "I mean…"

"No!"

Lucifer was confused by her reaction.

"Do you even realise what he was talking about?"

"...Yes," Lucifer nodded as confusion danced faintly on his face.

"He didn't mean something as innocent as you heard," she spoke exasperatedly. "He meant… You know?"

"...I don't know," Lucifer replied bluntly, causing Aarin to frown. “Please explain yourself further.”

"Look, what he said sounded innocent… but he meant something extremely degenerative. His interests are… abnormal."

"Hmm."

Aarin clicked her tongue.

She hated the idea that she knew about his dark secrets. After all, they were no different than brother and sister, so she found it odd.

"He has a…" she massaged her neck and then the back of her hair as she tried to find the right words to express what she was really thinking.

Aarin then mumbled something to herself, but it was faint for Lucifer to make out.

"What?"

"You know how some people have a…" Aarin spoke stiffly. "A weird fetish about wanting a partner who acts like a… a…"

Aarin struggled to finish her sentence.

She clenched her fist and ground her teeth.

Ugh, whatever.

Aarin sucked in a breath.

As she put all her strength into it, these odd words appeared, "Like a mother figure…"

"..."

Lucifer was not surprised, but disappointed.

"Not exactly, but similar."

"..."

"Wait…" Aarin widened her eyes, with anger lingering deep in it. "You knew, did you not?"

"No, but I was able to deduce it."

"Then why make me say allllll thattttt?!"

"..." he shrugged.

"Oh, I get it. You just couldn't believe it. I get it," that was her way of trying to make herself better. "It's understandable.

"In a way, I just refuse to believe such a pathetic being is our creator."

Aarin didn't like the way he talked about Nazar, she hated that.

But she cannot help the situation since he keeps making their relationship worse.

"Well, that doesn't--"

Suddenly, Aarin's body stiffened as she sensed something on Earth.

The Golden Angel could identify that presence anywhere in the multiverse.

"Rewind?!"

With an alarmed look on her face, she flew down to the Third Plane of Existence.

"Wait--"

Before Lucifer could call out to her, she was gone. He didn't bother appearing in front of her, since it would be a waste of time for the two of them, so he just gave up.

"Ah," he realised something. "So, that is what Daya was trying to say."

Lucifer smiled faintly and added, "Let us see what you can do."

လလလ

In the Third Plane of Existence, Aarin suddenly came to a stop.

"Huh?!"

She did not understand at first, but after taking a quick glance at the universe around her, she realised something.

The entire Plane was robbed of its momentum and its influence was spread outwards to the heavens.

Movement of any sort was almost impossible, even energy struggled to move.

"How can this…?"

Aarin shook her head - or at least the gesture of it. Moving in this universe was almost impossible.

So, Aarin narrowed her eyes as it exploded with golden energies.

"Now then."

And so, she began working on freeing her and this universe of this mess.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

In a different "place", Rewind and Nazar had gone beyond the concept of space, time and even void. They were battling in a state of existence that was unknown to everyone.

"Stop this madness, Rewind!"

"Why would I?" Rewind replied while laughing like a psychopath. "This is what I wanted! For you to unleash more and more power. I am going to hurt you real bad this way."

Nazar clicked his tongue and moved backwards.

In his palm, a glowing red gem flared.

The next instant, a dark red liquid oozed through this new state of existence and shot its tentacles right at Rewind.

Rewind dodged them with ease.

So, Nazar picked out a cosmic ring that allowed him to create a time cube and try to stop Rewind, but it also failed.

However, that allowed Nazar a short fraction of a second to get the upper hand.

Rewind was concealed within it for a moment, so Nazar used that opportunity to shoot a barrage of pointy and thin swords right at him.

Rewind, once recovered, tried to move, but the swords didn't let him move freely.

They followed him everywhere.

"You and your weapons…" Rewind sounded annoyed.

Rewind phased his molecules and matched the frequency at which the swords were following him, so he was able to shatter them.

Before Rewind could recover, Nazar imprisoned him inside a cube of reality which he could change in any form or shape.

He made a terrible environment which was going to eat the very flesh of Rewind but never let him die.

He was going to make him suffer forever.

However, Rewind exploded his energies outwards and managed to escape the barrier while breathing heavily.

In all this time, it was a rare occasion for him to be out of breath.

But this match is taking a toll on him.

However, that is to be expected. He is fighting God himself, after all.

"It won't work!"

Nazar ignored his shout and unleashed a different weapon.

This time, it was a small gun.

He held it at Rewind and shot it without a warning.

"This will erase you on the deepest level, can your master return you?"

Rewind nodded.

He could see the bullet in slow motion, so he stole the momentum from it further, forcing it to stop moving.

"Cease existing?"

"Mm-hmm," Nazar nodded.

"You are trying to help me, huh?"

"Worse."

Rewind clicked his tongue.

He flicked the bullet right at Nazar, but it turned into ash before it reached him.

Rewind sighed, thinking it was over.

Oh, how wrong he was.

Nazar flicked his finger again and a million more bullets rushed towards Rewind.

“Oh, come on...” Rewind groaned loudly.

Rewind managed to evade the bullets that were following him.

He evaded them with ease, far too easy for him.

While moving, he charged up the energies within him and unleashed it as bolts of electricity.

Through the electrical bolts, he supercharged the bullets and could change their course at will.

"You shouldn't have shown me this trick," Rewind snickered. "Using my body's bioelectricity to play around with the magnetic properties of an object is quite fun, don't you think?"

However, Nazar was expecting that.

So, all the bullets exploded, forcing Rewind to be thrown forward like a lifeless vegetable.

"Wah?!"

Gritting his teeth, he ate away his confusion and began to take control of his own movement once again.

And so, he moved forward once again.

However, Rewind struggled for a little while as he tried to avoid the million explosions in front of him.

If I get caught in this, I could die. Not good, not good.

He will be resurrected immediately, but that will take a second or two, and that is far too long.

Far too long where Nazar could be doing anything.

So, he increased his speeds once again and finally managed to avoid all the bluish white explosions.

"Phew," he slowed down to be on a similar pace with Nazar.

But...

"It won't work twice, Rewind," Nazar spoke sternly.

Rewind frowned.

"Can you please send something less annoying?"

"..."

Nazar stared at his old friend blankly.

He recalled a similar scene from when they were young, and everything was simpler. The two of them were battling for fun and Nazar unleashed everything from his armory and Rewind couldn't help but run away.

"Heh," Nazar laughed briefly before he sighed.

"Yeah, what a waste," Rewind took off his mask and with sad eyes, he looked at his old friend. "What a waste of…" Rewind swallowed his saliva.

Nazar had seen this face of his before, but he had never noticed the sadness in his eyes.

The sadness and regret that crawled out of his eyes and could be even visible on his face which has no skin.

"I am sorry."

"Me too."

And so, their swords clashed once again, starting to destroy even this new Void they had found.

None of them had time to question what would become of this, but they didn't care.

Seeing how this was going nowhere, Nazar clicked his tongue.

From his armory, he picked up a small square which he exploded immediately, creating a bright white light in this odd existence.

"Damn it…"

Rewind tried to outrun the explosion of light, but he nearly failed.

He was lucky to have escaped at a hair's breadth.

"We live in an Ultraverse with phases and dimensions that far exceeds the infinite number, and each is bigger than the previous by an even bigger number."

He grinned thinly.

"Behold, a big bang explosion, operating at the highest phase of our Ultraverse."

The explosion kept getting bigger and bigger.

"Can you outrun it, Rewind?"

Rewind ground his teeth as his eyes exploded with energy. And then again, it exploded with more energy. And so on.

His power was increasing by a trillion-fold with each explosion but the big bang expansion operating beyond a number that can be considered infinite, made it hard for him to outrun.

He was not the fastest being in existence, but merely a man. A mortal.

"A big bang is usually a sixth dimensional expansion of time, space and reality, but you can outrun that. However, something that comes from the highest phase of our reality… it's beyond your comprehension. Even if it wasn't, can you outrun infinities in an instant?"

Nazar chuckled with a shake of his head.

"I mean true infinites. What you saw in the Fourth Plane of Existence was nothing compared to this."

Rewind kept quiet.

He was beginning to realise the limitations of a mortal mind and body.

He didn’t want to think about it, but it was hard to throw away those thoughts.

However!

I can’t lose today.

"A single molecule from my dimension is bigger than the seven Planes of Existence all together. Can you outrun something which--"

"I."

Rewind increased his speed even more and Nazar adapted to it.

"Don't."

All he had to do was get faster, fast enough where nothing could harm him.

So!

Rewind moved faster and faster, reaching an entirely new level of existence where the big bang expansion no longer existed.

"CAAAAARRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

White light radiated from his body as colour began to appear for a brief moment.

Nazar clicked his tongue and increased his speed, but Rewind came to an abrupt stop as energies exploded out in every direction from his body.

Damn it, Nazar cursed himself. I really should have waited, now slowing down is a pain… Oh!

"You are going to lose something precious today, Nazar. You are going to become so fast; you won't be able to interact with the real world."

That is right, Rewind thought. The faster you get, the more this existence will cease in your eyes. You will not be able to do anything, ANYTHING. Forever alone in a grey world with no sound or light. It will eat you alive.

However, to the angry words of Rewind, Nazar merely smiled.

"I don't want that to happen."

And so, the two of them were forcefully slowed down.

"!?!" Rewind looked left and right as his body felt a new sensation, a sensation of standing still at a normal speed.

"!"

Rewind looked at Nazar and tried to move, but he was slower than a turtle.

Even then, the world around them was still frozen, but colour and light had become visible.

He always could…

Albeit just for a moment.

"You forget, Rewind, speed is somethin----------"

Nazar's body bent forward as he held his head in his hands.

Immediately after, he shot his upper body upwards and looked at the heavens with a loud and painful scream.

"Oh."

Rewind felt relieved.

"Finally.”

His victory was assured, the doubts in his heart and mind were cast away.

”That's what I wanted to see."

Rewind gripped tightly on the God Slayer.

"The God Slayer sword is finally showing its effects on your immortal body."

"Hng?"

"Every moment, every power you use, it will hurt like your entire existence is being ripped apart on the deepest level. And the only way to stop the pain is to increase your powers. INCREASE AND INCREASE, HAHA!"

Rewind moved, stabbing him in the stomach with the sword.

"And after a while, the itching and pain will begin once again. And you have no way of removing it unless you unleash your true power, God!"

Rewind laughed victoriously as he stabbed his old friend in various parts of his body.

"Behold, the Ultroids created by Michael. It seems to be doing its job just fine."

He stabbed Nazar once again.

He felt his very existence being consumed by the sword.

"It will de-evolve into your days before you become the Supreme God of Everything! I am GIVING YOU EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED!"

Nazar did not believe that.

If it were only this easy, he would have saved himself a long time ago.

This is wrong. Something is very WRONG!

"However," Rewind smiled thinly. "If you want to "die" you would need to stop holding back and unleash everything. The more you unleash your power, the closer you will get to humanity."

Those provocative words would have been useless against someone like Nazar, whose mind operates at an extremely elevated level of existence.

But Nazar lost all reason.

This is everything he always wanted.

He wanted to not give into Rewind's temptations, but his control over his emotions sometimes is greatly lacking.

So, he stopped holding back.

His energies ran wild and the more he unleashed, the weaker he started to feel. The more human he started to feel.

Huh… Is this it?

"Buuuuttttttt… It's Absolute Wish against a weapon of a lowly angel," Rewind snickered with a grin.

No... NO!

It was never meant to work. It was a ruse.

He wasn't de-evolving, instead he was evolving but his mind was made to think otherwise.

His body and power have a will of its own, so it was evolving him instead of returning him to an earlier state.

It was all in my mind...

However, before he could try to make a change, before anything could be done, Rewind swung the sword towards his body.

"Good night, God. Our talk was short, but sweet. And now, at long last, you are dead."

And so, the Fastest Man Alive stabbed the sword in Nazar's heart, killing him.

Or at least, starting the process of it.

But he still had a bit of life left in him, he wasn't dead just yet.

Or perhaps this God didn’t want to die just yet, so he was holding onto his pathetic life?

"I am sorry…" Rewind said slowly with a lot of regret creeping out in his voice. "I truly am, but this is my last chance."

"Yeah…"

Nazar clicked his tongue - or at least tried to.

He coughed and blood streamed out of his mouth.

"This death… It feels different," he chuckled. "You know, I found my will to live not too long ago, but I guess it wasn't as concrete as I had hoped. Shattered so easily…"

Nazar bit his tongue, regretting everything in life.

Spending time on other planets and avoiding those he loved, and when he finally fixed his relationships, he is dying.

And yesterday…

Yesterday, he got engaged. He thought he would begin a new life with a new promise, but it seems that was as easily shattered as glass.

"What was it all for?" he asked himself slowly.

Looking back, what was the point of it all?

He never wanted to exist, and when he wanted to finish it all, the universe said no.

I didn't want to be born, I didn't want this power or this position, yet I got it.

However, that is not what he was questioning today.

Why did I have to change my mind now…?!

In anger, he bit his tongue, causing his body to bleed further.

If I had stayed away just a little longer, JUST A BIT-- then, then, then, then, I wouldn't have died with so much regret. I would have been happy.

"If…" Rewind began speaking, so Nazar looked him in the eyes as he stopped thinking. "Today, I too shall die."

"Mm."

"So, if we ever meet in a different time, in a different life, then…"

Nazar was surprised for the faintest of a moment but then he recalled their earlier days, so he thought, I should have known.

Rewind, like Nazar, always had a death wish, and similarly, he was alone.

He was too fast for anyone to catch up to, he could speak to none, or drink with them, or even eat. There was nothing he could do with them.

He didn't mind at first, he wasn't a people's person, but as time went by, he wanted people to catch up to him, to stand by his side, to smile with him.

However, his power kept increasing and increasing, with no sign of slowing down.

Every second felt like an eternity, every minute even longer, and days even more. He had to live alone in a frozen world.

Even when someone like Nazar showed up, he could not keep up with this speedster.

But even then, the two of them became close. Rewind wanted to use him, and Nazar was just bored. Their selfish reasons developed into a fun friendship for both.

They had fun killing people, destroying worlds, or playing around with the cosmic laws.

Rewind, however, moved far beyond. Every day he was moving forward, moving away from everyone and everything.

All alone in the far reaches of the cosmos, Rewind would look back, but no one could be seen.

So, he would set sail forward and run towards a never-ending life.

“Let’s be friends.”

Nazar smiled and nodded.

“If there is a second life waiting for you, that is,” the Queen who appeared in front of them, said in a thin victorious voice.

“!!”

“!!”

Both Rewind and Nazar looked at her direction in reflex.

“Rewind, you have disappointed me,” she waved her hand, throwing Rewind far back.

He tried to move forward, perhaps to leave, or fight back, but his speed had been stolen.

“I promised you death, you should have believed me,” her voice lowered in disappointment. “But you went against my wishes, so...”

“ARGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH?!”

Rewind felt his bones being crushed into dust.

“Live forever, become eternal.”

Rewind exploded into ash suddenly, leaving nothing behind.

She looked down at Nazar and smiled thinly, “So, my love, are you going to accept my gift, my final gift to you?”

Nazar did not reply, he couldn’t reply. He was confused, but he was also nearing his death.

He found it hard to even think.

“Do you want to accept the death I am gifting you?”

Nazar did not reply, but she took his silence as a positive response.

But even more than that, she took his silence as inducement for anger.

How dare a lowly God like him ignore her?

“You deserve nothing in life,” her voice turned sinister, evil, and hateful. Her hoarse angry voice stabbed into his very soul. “You will die today; you will die in front of everyone.”

Nazar wanted to say, “I know,” but he couldn’t utter a single word.

“The world, the universe, the multiverse will see your death.”

With a voice that was trying to contain a laughter of victory, she added, “And let me show you...”

Nazar’s almost dead eyes saw visions of his world, his universe and then Ultraverse.

And his eyes began to gape open.

He saw things he never wished he would see, or even witness something similar to it.

“Mom...” using every ounce of his strength, he finally moved his lips.

“Even the ones you loved so closely, no matter who they were, sister or mother, brother, or lover…” she spread her arms wide, extremely wide with a smile that matched her pose. “LET THE ENTIRE CREATION BREATH A COLLECTIVE SIGH OF RELIEF!”

He saw their faces, the relieved look on their faces, and the relieved heartbeats.

“...”

Nazar’s dying heart began to beat faster and faster, as a horrified look spread across his face.

His eyes welled up as he remembered all the good, they went through, but immediately after, it was overtaken by all the bad he had experienced at the hands of his parents.

He felt every knife that was stabbed into him, every burn that branded his skin, every ice that froze him, and more. Everything was coming back to him, as if it were happening all over again.

The pain and the fear, it all returned. It all returned in the end, eating everything good in his history.

No… Noo… NOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

He thought he had fixed the relationship they had, they genuinely believed that, but it seems he was wrong.

They feared him and hated him, and he never changed that.

He thought he tried to, but he didn’t. He merely took their smiles at face value and thought everything was good.

Oh, how naive of him, how childish of him.

Truly, a pathetic end for such a pathetic existence. It's a fitting end, almost poetic.

“The monster, you, are finally dead. Everyone is happy without you and will live better lives.” She leaned forward and stared at him in the eyes, “Do you want to see the love of your life? Do you want to see the look on her face? Do you? Do you?! Do you want to see it?”

Her voice began to get louder and squeakier; the excitement was foaming out of every inch of her body.

“Do you want to see the look she is making right now? The happiness and relief on her face?”

Nazar shut his eyes for a brief moment and then reopened it.

Seeing the defeated and broken look in his eyes, she giggled.

“Your death means safety; your death means happiness. Look,” she, who was standing in front of him, turned her side to him. With her arched her palm, facing upwards, she pointed to the world. “Everyone is happy, relieved. They are safe, safer than they ever felt ever since they found out you existed. Your existence, your name, it's a black dot that darkens this light. Every light.”

“I...” Nazar swallowed his saliva. “I thought....” with every ounce of his strength, in a broken voice, he said, “I had something.”

She laughed as he gave up everything.

“You had nothing, nothing. You never had anything aside from this awesome power,” she said in a laughter that radiated happiness, anger, and excitement. “If you did, then this would have not happened.”

She plunged her hand into his chest and took a hold of his beating heart.

“So! Do you accept the death I have gifted to you?”

Before he could say anything, she squeezed his heart and forcefully pulled it out of his body.

The barely beating heart, the pink organ full of blood and oxygen, came out of Nazar’s body.

She stared at the scarcely beating heart, almost as if she were a toddler staring at an apple that he was about to bite into.

“At last...”

The queen held up Nazar’s heart in the air, as if it was a trophy.

And at last, Nazar closed his eyes as he watched the world and felt their sighs of relief. Knowing he had lost everything, he felt empty, emptier than he had ever felt before. In the end, nothing mattered, he did not matter.

“At last!” an evil yet soft smile spread across her snow-like face.

And so, she laughed sinisterly.

She was victorious, she had “won”, and God was dead.

There was nothing anyone could do to stop her.

With the copy of Absolute Wish, there was no one who could hope to stand against her.

“I have it all.”