Chapter 196

Arc 17 - Shadowy World - Part 6

The World:

Above the final layer of Aleph∞, there was a place like no other. A place so high in the hierarchy, none could reach it.

Yet, here and now, Aizen walked with a mighty creature known as Erina.

The Erina creature glanced around this plane of existence, this layer of the omniverse and said, “The sun.”

Aizen stopped moving and looked at this creature.

“This world...”

Then Aizen turned his head around and looked up to the sky.

The sky was pitch black, the sun was gone and so were the stars.

“Has no sun anymore.”

“...”

“He was the sun, the stars and...”

Aizen looked at Erina.

“Did you know? The moment he died, the omniverse began to weaken. Slowly but surely, it began to crumble.”

The Erina creature was no convinced by the words of Aizen.

“The sun.”

Ainzen scoffed, “As I said, this world has no sun. Or the stars.”

“I see...”

Aizen was getting quite frustrated with this creature, but he smiled a stiff smile and stopped himself from blurting out something hurtful.

“A golden sun.”

Suddenly, Aizen felt something behind him, so he turned around abruptly and saw a golden figure that was flying upwards towards the high heavens.

“Oh...” Aizen understood what she was referring to.

Erina turned around and looked at the figure that was flying upwards, illuminating the dark sky.

She knew who it was but did not say anything.

In fact, she was very uninterested in the Golden God.

The Golden God soon began to vanish, and Aizen started to walk away - the light show was over, after all.

Erina’s eyes, however, were still fixated on the dark sky.

“Come, Erina,” he called out to her; however, she did not run behind him.

She continued to stare at the black sky as her lips moved slowly, so slowly not even she could hear her own words.

“Star.”

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Unknown location, Earth:

Inside a large spacious room, over a hundred or so individuals sat around in a circle.

In front of them, on a large circular desk, there were various technological equipment such as a microphone, a touch screen laptop, a recording device, and a few other pieces of such equipment.

In addition, in front of each person, there was a name card which had two emblems on it, one of which was an emblem of their country of origin.

Their mouths moved, creating an indistinguishable chatter in this room like birds in an early morning.

"Quiet!"

While their chatters increased, a man with blonde hair and green eyes entered the room.

Upon entering very quickly - with a serious look on his face - he unbuttoned his blazer angrily as walked behind the birds and their loud and indistinguishable chatter.

He did not like that. He did not like their loud voices, so he said again, "I said QUIET!"

And just like that, the room fell silent.

This man was not a superhuman, but he was the most powerful person in this room, the man with the most control in this world.

He walked to his seat angrily and sat down. He placed his right hand on the table and began to angrily tap it.

The ones next to him could feel the steaming anger from his breaths.

"So, Mrs. Lionel... Why?"

He asked a simple question and they all understood.

In a red dress befitting of a queen of a corporation, the empress of the Revelation technology scoffed.

"Why, Ishaya, have you grown fond of that man?" she spoke in a teasing manner, as if she were speaking to a child.

“No, madam, but I don’t think using my untested antimatter bomb to kill the king of Britannia - mind you, it is the largest empire in this world - is something which I will take it lightly. Do you even have the slightest idea about what you have done wrong, hm?”

He looked at the leaders of other corporations with angry yet questioning eyes.

“This isn’t about you---”

Ishaya Bradley, the richest man on this planet and the one who has the most control over this planet, swallowed his angry words.

He leaned forward as he took a deep breath.

"You are tarnishing my name, my efforts. An antimatter bomb… Do you have the slightest idea about its costs? The efforts it took? The research? And now… it's all gone. Gone."

The angry words of Ishaya were buried deep into the mind and heart of the old woman.

"You have two options to pay me back, resign your company to me. I will take over it. Or… Within one week, I want my bomb back."

The woman did not budge.

She was expecting these words from him.

"Hm? What do you say?"

"..."

In the quiet room, the woman leaned forward.

"Your reign on this world will end soon, Ishaya, and we…"

A few dozen people stood up and looked at Ishaya.

He understood what that gesture meant.

"..." Ishaya spoke angrily. "You think you have a chance at taking me down?"

She nodded with her eyes.

"Oh…"

Ishaya backed down and leaned back in his chair.

"How?"

"Hostile takeover. But slightly different,” she wicked at Ishaya. “The No Names will do the job wonderfully. After all, no one besides you knows how well they do their job."

"Hmm."

Ishaya, however, did not feel threatened.

"... Interesting."

But suddenly, the walls behind Ishaya were broken into small pieces as three people jumped through it.

The walls could not handle the power that was being thrown at it.

Behind Ishaya, three superhumans - a woman with cosmic bands, a man with a magical book, and another man who had a faint red aura around him - stood.

"I like your idea."

And so, the man with the red aura narrowed his eyes.

With a blink of an eye, he had shot himself towards the woman.

Before she could even react, her head was cut off cleanly.

"Fighting with weapons is dead, an old concept."

The magician and the woman with the cosmic bands shot energy beams towards the people who were standing up and killed them on the spot.

"Magic, energy, and gravity…" Ishaya raised from his seat.

He glanced at his fellow rulers with a condescending smile.

The entire cabinet knew one thing; nobody could ever do anything which he did not want - his word was absolute.

Ishaya smiled thinly as he spread his arms widely.

"Welcome to the age of superhumanity."

The small group of elites, the rich, found themselves frozen in their place - unable to speak or even breathe properly.

Ishaya was a terrifying man, a man with power and influence, but they had never seen him do something like this in a place as public as this.

After so long, they were finally aware of the kind of monster that was residing in this room with them.

"Now then…"

With a thin evil smile, he looked around.

He looked at every person in this room while he buttoned up his blazer.

"Did I make myself clear?"

Nobody said anything, they couldn't, they were unable to.

It was as if a puppet master was controlling every aspect of their existence.

However, they all knew Ishaya was not using the magician. Which means, they couldn't because of the fear.

"!"

They collectively swallowed their saliva in fear. Their thick saliva travelled loudly in their mouths.

"Hmm?" he continued to smile a soft, thin smile as he looked at each and every one of them. The smile on his face was too innocent for the crimes he just committed. "Or do you want to take some time off and think about it?"

Everyone in this room had killed many people in the past, but the game changed today.

Their money and influence meant nothing before this man.

Before today, he only controlled over fifty percent of the world corporations and today, he has control over seventy percent of world corporations - and by extension, seventy percent of the entire world.

Money, influence, weapons, and now superhumans. This man had it all.

No one in this room could challenge him.

He was an unbeatable God standing in the heavens and looking down upon his creation.

"Alright then."

Ishaya left the room with three superhumans and walked through the dark hallway.

He entered an elevator and travelled at least fifty floors in silence. No one said anything.

And Ishaya continued to smile happily.

At the end, the door of the elevator opened into his gigantic office in the heart of New York City.

He walked through his office and looked out of a clean glass wall.

He looked down at the city and sucked in a deep breath.

Today was his happiest day, he finally got rid of that old hag.

"Ahhh, isn't this wonderful?"

But...

“It really isn’t, Ishaya Bradley.”

An angry voice reached his ears from the behind, stealing away his happiness and smile.

“Tch, of course...” he muttered.

Ishaya slowly turned around and faced the intruder.

However, his eyes widened slightly as he saw that all three of the superhumans were taken out.

All three of them had fallen to the ground, unconscious.

Above them, a radiant man stood. With bloodlusted eyes and anger that was overflowing out of every inch of his body, he looked Ishaya in the eyes and held the tip of his sword towards him.

Ishaya plastered a fake smile on his face as he welcomed the intruder, “Ah, King Arthur of Britannia, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I am afraid there is nothing pleasurable about today’s situation.”

Arthur began to walk towards Ishaya.

With every step, Ishaya sucked in a deep breath.

Arthur’s steps were heavy, full of anger and fury, so heavy Ishaya could feel the building will fall to the ground.

With every step, Ishaya felt the world shake to its very core.

Was it real? Or an illusion? Ishaya could not tell.

“Thirteen people died today, erased from the very existence as the antimatter destroyed their very core,” Ishaya spoke in a low brittle voice.

His muffled voice felt like that of a demon, of a mindless beast.

“Thirty people are on the brink of death.”

Ishaya did not take a step back despite the fear he was feeling.

He did not have to move back, if he did, he would be surrendering to the misconception.

“Over ninety people are in a critical condition.”

At the back of Arthur’s mind, he could hear the sound of the explosion, he could hear the screams of the victims of the bomb.

“Two hundred and fifty are injured, but safe.”

“And you are here to kill me, as revenge, no?”

“Oh, no,” Arthur shook his head as a faint thin smile spread over his face. “Not at all. Kill you? Of course, not.”

“Torture me then?” Ishaya shrugged.

“You created a bomb that not only tried to kill me but killed innocent people. I don’t think I will do either of those to you.”

Arthur’s sword lit up with golden energy.

“But before that, your majesty...”

Arthur found himself slightly confused by the nonchalant mood of Ishaya.

“How did you survive a blast that dangerous?”

“Antimatter and dark matter are not alien to a being such as I, I have seen it before, have fought it before. I know how to counter it, reflect it away and contain it.”

“Hmm… And I am sure you killed Patrick Lionel. Am I right?”

“Slit his throat, sent his soul to the deepest and darkest part of hell. He will suffer greatly for his crimes, for his sins.”

“I see. Good.”

Ishaya turned away from Arthur and walked towards the gigantic window of his office.

He passed by his desk and slid his fingers on the clean and smooth table.

As his fingers passed through it, a small part of the desk moved away, and a glass of champagne came out of it.

He picked up the glass and began to drink from it.

He stood in front of the window and looked down at the city.

“I am afraid you cannot kill me.”

“As I said...”

“No, you don’t understand,” Ishaya spoke in a slightly exasperated tone. “We are not meant to fight one another.”

“...” Arthur snorted angrily.

“In any case, how did you know the bomb belonged to me?”

“I saw one of your posts near the Celestial, and as we both know, they are antimatter generators.”

“Right...” Ishaya sighed.

“Who did it?”

“She is dead, I already killed her.”

“Revelation Empire?”

“Hmm...” Ishaya glanced back and nodded. “Yes. She is dead. I took care of her. I don’t like it when people use my weapons without my permissions.”

“And why were you developing such a weapon?”

Arthur’s sword dimmed.

“I gave up old goal after that day. Now, you could say, I am a protector of this world - sort of. I am developing these weapons to keep my world safe - safe from the aliens.”

Arthur chuckled.

“You really believe that?”

“...” Ishaya inhaled sharply. “Yes… I really do. Nazar died, Norse God gave into his grief and… You are the only one remaining, and I am not sure if...”

“I understand,” Arthur understood, so he dampened his anger deep down for the time being. He did not want his rage to blind him now.

Arthur walked up and stood next to Ishaya.

Ishaya passed his drink to him, but Arthur declined it.

“The Phantoms… Tell me about them. Tell me about your group.”

Ishaya looked down at his drink and shook it.

“Technology, weapons, medicine, banks, insurance, education, real estate, media… Some of the best performing sectors in this economy. Most of us control these aspects of the world, and through that, we control the economy, and money… It talks.”

“Hm, I am surprised you are not hiding anything. Why?”

“God. I should.”

“...”

Ishaya did not say anything else about that, instead he continued to answer Arthur’s earlier question.

"Politicians are only here for money, and those who are not… Well," Ishaya looked at Arthur, "Accidents happen."

Arthur did not like the words that left Ishaya's mouth.

He hated everything about it.

"Leaving that aside, Arthur, I have a proposition for you - something which will truly unite humanity. And in time for our survival.”

Without hesitation, Arthur said, “Go on.”

Ishaya smiled a faint thin smile and took a sip of his drink.

“The bad becomes the good, and the good becomes the bad.”

Arthur slowly turned his head around and looked at the emperor of this world.

“God’s plan.”

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??? - ????

*Huff*

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”

On a utopian alien world, in a dark alleyway, a man panted heavily as he run around in these dark streets.

He was scared, scared of something which was following him.

Running away from the unseen enemy, this tired man found himself in the light of a street.

“Ah...”

No, no, no, no.

He was running around wildly in the streets, avoiding the light, but his luck had run out.

“He-he-he… Oh, Tilirian, I am so impressed with you.”

The lights in the street flickered out of existence as this man began to feel a presence of a phantom.

“You have managed to evade me for an entire hour, more than your little friends that lay broken - broken into the smallest pieces, broken into dog food-- They lay on the street, their guts falling out of their little bodies-- Ohhh, the sweet smell of their blood -- their blood waiting to be consumed… Ahhhhh.”

This… pervert.

The man gritted his teeth and began to run away in a random direction.

The buildings around him were tall and full of light, he could not hide anywhere there.

“You cannot hide anywhere, anywhere at all. For...”

The phantom screamed loudly as he declared himself a God.

“NOTHING IS HIDDEN FROM MY VIEW!”

Damn it, damn it, damn it… I gave up my mantle, I am not longer a hero, so why… Why is he coming after me?!

While he was thinking, he suddenly stepped into something wet and mushy.

Oh… Oh NO!

“Oh yes.”

Something soft and wet - like a slime - began to cover his leg, then it began to slither towards his head like a snake.

Nooooo!

He reached into the back of his trouser and took out a handgun.

He looked at the gun and gritted his teeth.

“Has your countdown reached zero yet? Mmmm? Are you finally ready to fight back? Hmm?”

Five bullets… The last of its kind on this damn world… One use. Fifteen second cooldown.

The man sighed.

Oh, what the hell...

His eyes lit up with blue light for the briefest second and five bullets appeared out of thin air.

The bullets floated around the man then entered the gun as if it were always there. It was as if he was reversing time for the bullets.

“Oh, I am loving this. Five bullets, five tries, and then…”

The phantom shrieked, “DEATH!”

The man held his gun towards the phantom - or at least where he thought it would appear.

I cannot see him; he is the master of darkness. But...

A glitter of light shone in his heart.

My bullets surpasses the causality system of this universe, no matter who it hits, they will die - be it man, or alien, or a God.

And so, he shot a bullet towards the phantom.

Another downside… Unless all bullets are shot at once, the causality system is not surpassed.

And then another and another and another and another.

The five bullets joined together, fused with one another, and birthed a small explosion of light.

From the light, a different kind of bullet flew out of the explosion of light.

The bullet, which surpassed the speed of light and the baseline causality system of the universe, flew towards the phantom.

It reached the phantom and made contact.

The bullet went through the phantom.

It should die, long dead.

It will be erased from this world, this universe.

But...

!!

He was wrong.

The phantom did not appear there, only an image of his did.

“Now, it’s bye-bye time, he-he.”

And so, the phantom flew right into this man, stabbing him in the stomach.

Then, another phantom flew in and cut off his legs.

...Huh...

And then another phantom flew in and stabbed him in the very chest as their shrieking soul stabbed in the very core of this man.

I gave up being a hero, I retired… I was going to be a father tomorrow… Why...

Before his back could even hit the ground, or he could finish his thought, the phantom destroyed his physical body and form, leaving nothing behind.

In the pool of blood, only a man covered in dark robes stood, laughing like a maniac.

The phantom was just a man, a man with power.

လလလ

A glittering soul without a shape wandered around in a dark ocean.

It run amok aimlessly, with a form or purpose.

It could not think, nor could it understand anything.

The blob of energy was picked up by an angel with black wings and the two of them went away, never to be seen ever again.