Hello again dear readers. I got some mixed reviews from this latest chapter, allot of you liked the future diary dark level feeling it gave while others expressed their concern that a DBZ character is coming and it seems like they are random, I will try to address both in this chapter.
Now to individually address the messages.
To Guest: Hello again, I'm happy to respond to all the reviews you give and I take allot of your word to heart. My main reason for bringing in these two people is because if I didn't bring them in then Rudeus would face no challenge what so ever in this new life. Elizabeth actually isn't a character I made up, she is from a video game and I dropped a few hints as to what game she is from if you haven't noticed it yet. As for this chapter I introduce this new character and who he actually is so I'm hoping and praying you like him, if not that is fine too. I can't impress everyone. Either way enjoy this chapter. I also corrected a few other things in the chapters you had mentioned before in your previous comments and I'm going over them a few more times to correct some spelling errors I'm finding that you mentioned. Hope this addresses some of your concerns.
To 321Jaz: Glad to have you back Jaz reading my chapters again. I totally understand your point with DBZ and I address that in this chapter, the new character, while OP, won't do much that's grand and explosive unless if and when he fights Rudeus. Anyone else he fights he will use the least amount of energy and care in order to win a fight, kind of like how Orsted would only use his fists to win a fight and resort to the God Sword when he was in a pinch. I also tried to address your issue with run on sentences and I hope this chapter doesn't have as many for you to see.
To Zairyo: Could be angry with him, could not be. Let's find out haha. As for being above the big bang, AND THIS MIGHT BE SPOILING IT a little bit so skip this line if you want to, the new character does but doesn't survive the big bang. I will explain more in future episodes.
To XaiGRS: I took your advice to heart. I think writing in my spare time has given me allot of time to write long and good chapters. Speaking of long and good chapters I think this new chapter fits that description.
Rudeus paced the great hall that he had done most of the dance lessons in so far with Eris. He had gotten there a few minutes early to think over the most recent events that had transpired a few days ago.
"Three artificial touki, two are known, one is unknown. The transmission touki can slow down or accelerate the user or an object like a sword or bullet. And the immovable touki allows the user to pass through an object without damage." Rudeus bit his thumbnail going over and over these facts again.
One thing was clear though, if this person was from the sixth sided world he wasn't invincible. At the very least the person would still be human but just with extraordinary abilities. Even Immortal people in this world weren't really immortal, they just had incredible regenerative abilities paired with longevity. To the average person they were immortal by all intents and purposes but if this being was thrown into a sun their atoms would still be burned to a crisp as they became apart of the nuclear fusion.
But Elizabeth said that this being survived something as huge as a big bang which seemed absolutely ludicrous to Rudeus.
"She said she saw him completely fine and talking about the experience a few days later but she never said his body survived, she only saw him taking on those cosmological forces and talk about it later." Rudeus thoughts so far on this was that it was like reincarnation for the third touki while at the same time preserving the users memories of the experience. Technically Laplace could survive a nuclear bomb and just reincarnate a few hundred years later when his soul found the right body to latch onto through the process of the Laplace factor. But yet this being came back in the original body that he had experienced the damage in.
Speaking of this being and his powers, she also said if Rudeus continued to multiply his mana then he would be just as strong as this being. That put some things into perspective into how powerful he was getting however he didn't feel that powerful. If anything his mana was no longer trying to explode from his body, instead it felt like it had permanently expanded beyond his body and was there for him to grasp it whenever he felt like it. Experiments would have to be done in order to find an answer as to why this was happening.
The first thing to do was to find a target that Rudeus could actually release all of his mana on but that would have to be at a later time. For now he had some dance lessons to attend.
Edona walked in not a moment later but Eris didn't follow behind her. The etiquette teacher noticed the look on Rudeus's face which was written with anxiety and stress but she chose to remain silent. The two just remained in the room in awkward silence. Then Edona chose to speak up.
"It would seem Eris is running late for her lessons, I fear she doesn't want to attend."
Rudeus understood her meaning behind those words, she wanted the young boy to find the red haired girl and get her to attend. He nodded. "I'll go try and find her, if you don't mind you can return to your other duties. I feel I might need to talk to Eris for a while to get things sorted out." She bowed giving her approval and Rudeus departed to go find Eris, in all honesty all he wanted to do was go back into his room and take an afternoon nap and forget about all the stress for a moment. But he knew that the moment he opened his eyes again the stress would only return and be worse than before, he needed some form of relief or answer to his pent-up anxiety.
It didn't take long for Rudeus to find Eris. She was outside of the barn on a stack of hay looking up at the sky with her hands behind her head as she ignored her problems.
"That's a fine stack of hay. May I join you?" Rudeus asked looking up at the queen of the hay bail. She only scoffed looking away from Rudeus, she was in some sort of mood it would seem.
Instead Rudeus sat down leaning against the pile of hay that Eris lay on top of, he knew he would just be kicked off if he tried to join her. He didn't say a word as he looked up into the sky, a moment later he closed his eyes and felt the cool breeze trace it's fingers through his hair and tickle his cheeks. It was a pleasant experience to take a pause now and again.
"I don't need dancing." She finally broke the silence with a statement of absolution. In a way she wasn't wrong. In Rudeus's previous incarnation she devoted her life to being a swordswoman to stand by Rudeus's side and she had lost the ability or care to dance. But for now the lessons were important for the family reputation in this life.
"But…" Rudeus was about to say.
"I'll skip the party." That response sounded a bit more sad than absolute. She was worried about messing up it would seem.
"It's your party. You can't skip it." Rudeus spoke the truth in that. This was something unavoidable, kind of like what he would be facing in two years only on a life or death scale.
"Why do I have to do things I'm trash at?" She asked, still with allot of attitude laced in her voice.
"Eris, you may not believe me… but I know how you feel. I want to run away from allot of things, I want to run away right now actually from something that will be coming up when I turn ten. But I can't run away from it either. There are some things we have to face."
"I doubt you get it Rudeus, you can do anything." Now envy took the lead in her voice. He didn't blame her for that. She was a competitive person by default and in their previous life together had confessed to Rudeus that she liked it when he acted so weak when they were in bed together, it made her feel like she had won.
"There are still plenty of things I can't do." Rudeus confessed. He felt the hay above him shift as Eris looked down at him briefly, intrigued by his response.
"Really?" She asked.
"Really." He confirmed. "I'm not strong enough to protect the ones I care about and love, I'm not strong enough to prepare for the future to come, and I'm not strong enough to protect myself."
In one sentence of confession he had given the entire reason why Rudeus worked himself in his previous life to become so strong. At first it was simply for educational reasons of growth. Then as time passed on he grew alongside Orsted to protect his family from Hitogami, but every moment he felt like his family was in danger so long as the man god lived. That feeling slowly faded as they continued to beat the man gods plots but the feeling never truly died. Rudeus felt around his wrist and at that point wanted Orsted's bracelet to be there for comfort. Instead there was nothing so Rudeus just clasped onto Roxy's necklace that was tucked under his shirt, the one given to him as a gift before she left for her next teaching job.
Now he had worked himself far beyond what he had previously thought possible to attain the power necessary to stop the teleportation event. To save Zenith from being trapped in a labyrinth and to save Paul's life from having to even step foot into that dangerous place. Rudeus had grown as strong as he could and now a shark had noticed his presence and was swimming towards him in the murky waters to consume him, at least that was what it felt like.
"I still have a long way to go. I need to keep growing, even in skills I'm no good at." Rudeus whispered, clenching his fists in determination.
"Why?" Eris asked quietly.
"That is a hard question to answer. Maybe it's because the worse I am at something, the better the feeling is when I overcome that obstacle."
"You are strong enough Rudeus, I'm no where near your level." Eris refuted.
"No… I'm weak."
Eris looked down at him to retort but stopped herself when she saw the look on Rudeus's face. Anxiety, stress, and depression were engraved onto the features of his face and eyes. It looked like the boy hadn't eaten in days, his skin a shade paler than normal and his eyes were sunken in slightly. Rudeus had still been eating but the food had no flavor to it and his mouth always felt dry and stale.
Eris slid down from her hay bail and looked at the young boy.
"Who did this to you?" Eris said crossing her arms. It was clear she wanted to fight the person that had inflicted such damage onto Rudeus's mental health.
Rudeus hesitated for a moment but he knew if he kept this a secret from the young lady her concern for him would only grow. Later on she was feel sad thinking Rudeus didn't trust her enough to depend on her. He sighed, choosing to confess a little about what was plaguing his mind.
"Someone is coming for me Eris. In two years that someone will arrive and I don't know if I will be strong enough to face him. Hell I don't even know if he wants to fight me or befriend me. I just know he is coming."
"How do you know about this." Eris asked.
"There is a person that is walking towards me in my dreams now and again. And that woman I talked to a few days ago when I disappeared in the market, she was the one to confirm that person is real and is coming for me." Rudeus confessed.
Eris took a pause for a second thinking it over. "Any enemy of Rudeus's is an enemy of mine, and any friend of Rudeus's is a friend of mine."
"What do you mean Eris?" The boy asked looking Eris directly into her scarlet eyes.
"I'm saying I will stand beside you." Eris said firmly.
Rudeus's mind ran blank for a few seconds and it was clear to him that Eris didn't understand the depth of her own words. Soon he was able to tell that she had fully processed it when her face turned as bright red as her hair. She had just said the corniest, most beautiful, romantic thing that Rudeus had ever heard. He laughed at her reaction which quickly earned him a harsh punch in his shoulder but he couldn't help but feel relieved from her words. Embracing her in his arms while he leaned against the hay she didn't protest or punch him anymore, she just froze up completely.
"Thank you, Eris, you made me feel allot better. Promise me this though, if I tell you to fight with me you can fight, but if I tell you to run you will run." Rudeus said, his face serious. He didn't want the young Eris to get hurt or die trying to save him much like how his future journal said when she fought the demon king Atofe.
She hesitated for a moment but nodded. Then she seemed to realize how little dance practice seemed in comparison to the challenges that Rudeus was facing.
"If you want to, let's get back to dance practice." She said outstretching her hand.
Rudeus then cursed himself for letting Edona free for the day so he could allow Eris to spend some quality time talking to him.
"Edona left for today when you didn't show up. I'm sure we can find her though if you like?" Rudeus began to list his other options as to what they could do for the day but Eris wasn't listening. She grabbed Rudeus's hand and lead the way briskly toward the great hall.
When they got there she stood in the middle, her arms folded in her traditional Tsundere fashion. When Rudeus approached her she outstretched her hand, inviting the boy to dance. He smiled, accepting the request as they went from one move to the next.
Her moves weren't anywhere near graceful so Rudeus whispered in her ear the thing he knew would make her flow with the steps. She already knew the moves but she regularly outpaced her dance partner as she visualized the person she was dancing with as an opponent rather than a teammate. Not having Edona clap in the back round was helping but it wasn't enough yet.
"Eris, close your eyes." Rudeus said to Eris while she quickly moved around to preform the next move.
"What?" She asked, thinking that his demand was ludicrous.
"I will cast a charm on you, it will make you a good dancer." He said smiling.
"There is a spell for that?" Her eyes sparkled with excitement believing that Rudeus had power over human will.
"It's not a spell but a charm. When I give the word preform the next move as if you're dodging an attack."
She was about to protest but Rudeus interjected.
"Ready. Now!" She closed her eyes and went with the movement. Rudeus knew that if he paired the dance move with fighting then she would link the two together and truly understand the practice.
It was a smooth fluid motion as she twirled around.
"Now!" The next move was also fluid as she remembered Edona's teachings, the pace, the rhythm, and the moves. Paired with Rudeus's command she flowed through it with ease.
When they were done dancing she opened her eyes astonished.
"That was perfection Eris." Rudeus said as he held her in his arms, the were low to the ground with his right hand on her waist and his left hand holding hers. Lifting her up slowly he let go and started to clap. She looked at her own hands and then beamed at him smiling.
"You are amazing Rudeus." She said returning the compliment.
"You honor me milady." He bowed goofing off a little and she just tapped him lightly on the head laughing.
"One more time." She said smirking.
Rudeus smile widened, he was proud of her. Normally she would have just run away at this point but she was having so much fun right now she didn't want it to stop.
"Okay, but this time I want you to hear my voice in my head. If you need to practice, whisper it to yourself. You know the timing and when you hear my voice within yourself, you will know when to preform the next set of moves."
She nodded as they continued to dance. It took her a few tries but soon it was one fluid movement as they went together around the great hall. Their footsteps and breathing was the only thing that echoed throughout the hall but it was pleasant. It seemed like their heartbeats sang together in unison as the dance neared it's conclusion.
When they were done they both panted sweating from the excitement as they looked at each other. She embraced him and without saying another word walked away, leaving the room quickly as she seemed embarrassed by her action.
Rudeus smiled as he looked back in the great hall. Remembering a few days prior in that dark parallel world the conversation he had with that woman.
'I need to practice and prepare. That is the most I can do for now.' Rudeus said reaffirming his determination. He had thought about talking to Perugius and try to get in contact with Orsted about the oncoming teleportation event but the Dragon King would most likely be hostile toward the young boy and refuse to help him. Speaking of, Rudeus had seen his castle flying by now and again. Most likely the Dragon King was also observing or studying the red orb that was the epicenter of the calamity.
Rudeus sighed. There was no one in the world that could help him in this potential upcoming fight if the words Elizabeth said were true, so the only solution would be to build up Rudeus's arsenal.
He went to his bedroom and used the teleportation circle under his bed to go to his first underground base in the mountain near Buena village. When he went to his study he shuffled and organized the piles of blueprints of the device that he was building to stop the teleportation event. Putting the papers away he got out a new paper and began with a title for the design.
Magic Armor mark IV
After a few hours Rudeus came up with an outline of the design. It would be a mix of the mark I and mark II magic armor allowing for a high amount of mobility while at the same time not compromising on strength.
The mark I was a 3 meter tall tank of a suit with a large shield on one arm and a gatling gun on the other side that could shoot rock bullets, basically a small Gundam. The mark II armor on the other hand was something that Rudeus wore everyday where it had a shotgun built into the gauntlet of the suit and offered allot of protection from basic attacks. It was concealed by the robe he normally wore when he was working for Orsted. And the mark III armor was developed by Roxy and Zanoba, that armor he designed to be sold to armies and adventurers alike. Rudeus this time chose to go with a combination of the mark I and II armors.
This mark IV armor wouldn't shoot bullets though because of the opponent that was coming. The rough sketch so far was a 2.3 meter tall suit. Rudeus in his small body would control the arms and legs with the required magical circles and mana while he remained safely inside the chest plate of the suit much like the mark 1.
8 spheres the size of a fist would be floating around the set of armor like an orbiting asteroid belt, four of those spheres would be replicating the four attack magic categories, fire, wind, water, and earth. The magical output of these spheres could go up to God class but the magical items would be at risk of destroying themselves from the magical output if he chose to go to that level of destruction. Hundreds of magical circles would be engraved into the sphere to make the attack magic feasible. A good example of the God Class mana the spheres could output was the miniature sun Rudeus had created when he demonstrated his abilities to Roxy, that felt like so long ago.
2 of the other spheres would be based on healing and detoxification magic which would be able to heal his organs and limbs with ease or stop a deadly poison from spreading throughout his body then extract the poison rendering the damage inert.
The final 2 spheres would be based upon Gravity and Time. Unlike the Future version of Rudeus from the future diary Rudeus didn't spend allot of time learning how to go into the past using time travel magic, instead this sphere would replicate the Perugius's Time spirits abilities where it stopped the atoms of the person but Rudeus would make it more difficult for the being to adjust to this by randomly changing the speed of his atoms. The gravity sphere on the other hand would be strong enough to replicate the pressure a person would feel if they were at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean discovered by man. The pressure someone would feel would be eight tons per square inch or about a thousand times the standard atmospheric pressure on earth.
Rudeus's hope was that if the being turned hostile then Rudeus would use the time sphere to slow him down and then use the gravity sphere to crush and kill him. But in order for this to work both spheres needed to be in physical contact with the person for the magical circles the spheres contained to have any affect. As per Elizabeth's warning this wouldn't mean a win for Rudeus, only a temporary stalemate until the being came back and resumed the fight so this method of killing would be Rudeus's last resort.
The priority when the two finally met would be determining if Rudeus had to fight in the first place though. But he would make every countermeasure he could to prepare for if things went south.
He continued to go through design after design on the base armor but couldn't land on one.
"I should try and find some inspiration." Rudeus said going down into his summoning chamber. The chamber itself hadn't been used in awhile, he mainly used the new and improved summoning chamber near the capital of Ars but this would do for now.
Wiping away a small layer of dust from the center panel he placed his hands down and concentrated on what he wanted to summon and replicated.
They were pertaining to books that detailed how certain armors were made, going as far as the materials used at the time and the blueprints of such armors.
The summoning chamber creaked to life as his mana fueled the mechanical arms. The arms gathered the magical circles necessary to narrow down the search to what Rudeus desired. Once the magical circle was complete book after book was summoned and created detailing armors throughout the history of humanity.
Once all the papers and books were gathered, he walked through the hallways until he reached the library where he would study the various armor designs and then add them to his own concept. Sitting down in the center desk he flicked on the lamp, a classic green study lamp. Then he began to sift through the material.
After hours of looking at the different designs from many cultures Rudeus chose to settle on a blueprint. A Japanese Samurai Armor paired with a mid-evil based chainmail. The body armor would be a dark blood red paint with gold accents and framing. The underbody such as the chain mail and the mask would be pitch black.
The mask would look like a smiling demon with red eyes. Other than that there weren't any features like horns on the helmet or elongated shoulder guards that would be easy to grapple and pull. Everything was sleek, tight, and efficient in allowing movement while aiding in durability throughout the suit.
Speaking of durability Rudeus chose to implement plates of pure tungsten into the concept design of the mid evil samurai suit which would provide the most protection. The chainmail underneath the tungsten plates would be microscopic in size but thick like a leather jacket and completely composed of graphene, the strongest formation of carbon atoms. The armor would be so heavy the suit would cripple any mobility for a normal man but Rudeus would pair the mark 1 skeletal design to assist with movement as well as having an active gravity magical circle that would reduce the weight to the suit but not the mass.
Rudeus would also work on magical circles that would be his highest level of absorption magic and engrave them on the inside of the suit. At that point any magic based attack would go into the absorption and convert back into mana rendering Rudeus unscathed.
Elizabeth didn't indicate the beings main form of attack method wither it was with magic, a sword, or something along those lines but based on what she told him the person was prideful and cocky. So Rudeus took an educated guess in that the being would want to be up close and personal to humiliate the prey before killing it, like a cat playing with a mouse.
Orsted mainly used his hands and resorted to the God Sword when he was in a tight pinch. The sword required a massive amount of mana to use and he only brought it out as a trump card in order to survive. So Rudeus would assume the being he was preparing for would use a sword or his fists as well.
When all the drawings were done Rudeus sighed leaning back in his chair glossing over the entire concept design. It would take him about a year to complete the armor given his current schedule. When Rudeus was tricked into trying to kill Orsted he devoted himself to the task in order to protect his family. However now he would only have an hour or two to spare before he had to go back to working on his other projects.
Rudeus walked outside of his study room, walking up towards the cave exit. It had been so long since he had opened it and in this moment at least, he wanted a breath of fresh air. When he opened the cave entrance the cool fall air overtook his lungs as he breathed the smell in with all the force he could muster. Relief overtook him as he grasped Roxi's necklace while he closed his eyes remembering the sensation of her sitting on his lap with her head cradling in his embrace as he smelled her hair and kissed her tenderly.
Then a moment of sadness paused his tender memories.
'If the multiverse truly is as massive as Infinity and Elizabeth have said, then I probably haven't travelled back in time, I have just gone to a different universe where it would take me a lifetime to find any difference.' That thought made Rudeus feel pathetic that he wasn't 100% prepared to accept death and go into the afterlife… come to think of it he didn't even know if there was an afterlife. Hitogami told Rudeus before he faded away that a persons soul normally degraded into mana, but it was possible that the man god said that to try and make Rudeus sad out of spite for beating the mosaic being.
Rudeus shook his head. He needed to accept the consequences of his actions now as he carried on.
Looking up at the stars he outstretched his hands and expanded his mana far beyond what he had ever expanded before. He thought it would just stop at the world but it kept going. He could feel everything, from every blade of grass to every asteroid in solar system he resided in.
He felt Sylphys mana respond to his, Eris, Roxy, his family, and so many others like Ruijerd. The only person he couldn't detect was Orsted, his abilities really made him invisible to other people's mana. Rudeus reflected on his ability to detect others using mana, it must be like how the Superd Race can used their third eye as a radar. Most of the time the farthest they can reach is a few hundred meters but the largest factor that determines the size and strength of the radar is ones own mana.
Rudeus shut off his radar knowing people like Ghislaine, Kishirika and others with demon eyes that could detect mana would be bothered if not blinded by the prolonged mana exposure of Rudeus's wave. More importantly people like Perugius would take notice of the sudden mana pulse and search for the source with the intent to kill believing that it could only come from someone as powerful as Laplace.
Still the extent of Rudeus's radar was unbelievable, it didn't even feel like he was straining himself and yet he could feel every living thing on this planet, he had never felt so connected.
"She said I will become as strong as the being that is coming. Just how strong is that?" Rudeus looked at his hand pondering the answer. Mana doubled everyday if the user exhausted their tank consistently, Rudeus thought he would hit a limit when his body was no longer able to contain the vast amounts of mana. Yet his expanded outside his body and was only noticeable by people like Ghislaine when he manipulated his magic to form a certain purpose like a radar or a rock bullet.
He looked down at his hands.
"One grain of rice that doubles everyday for thirty days will be 536,870,912. I've been doubling the number everyday for almost eight years…. So how big is the number now?"
With that thought in mind Rudeus got back up. Patting off the dirt. And descended back into the cave to continue his work.
In another part of the world, in another time, and in another place in the cosmos, the place Rudeus had left the mortal plane of existence behind a blue haired woman walked toward a graveyard with a bundle of flowers. It had been eight years since the man she had fallen in love with so long ago had passed away peacefully from old age and yet the pain didn't subside at all. So every month she visited his grave, sat down next to his tombstone and talked about her day, then asked him how he was doing.
Roxy Greyrat still looked like a young girl but she was almost 150. She waited for the day that she would be rejoined with Rudeus but that day would come faster if she paid attention to her work at the university, however most of the work felt hollow ever since Rudy died.
"Eris sure was lucky to grow old with Rudeus, I wish I could've had that." She whispered sadly. There was no crueler thing than being separated from a lover. She then snapped herself out of her sorrow for the moment shaking her head, no, it wasn't good to be jealous because of another's mortality. She could only imagine how Ruijerd felt when Norn passed away. He still had about 400 years before he would die of old age.
For now her two children that Rudeus had helped her bring into the world were her greatest joy. Other than that it was nice to talk with Sylphy about Rudy but she always talked about him whenever they were alone in the house which just reminded Roxy of the loss she was feeling without Rudy holding her in his arms and placing her on his lap.
She was almost at the tombstone but when she looked upon the hill Rudeus rested on she saw a tall man, about 1.9 meters tall, looking down at her husband's grave. He was dressed finely in sleek black pants and a white button up shirt where both sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, his forearms were riddled with scars that looked like they were self-inflicted. The man's hairstyle was a bit unusual, shortly cut on the sides and back of the head where the length increased until it reached the top of his head at which his hair was flicked to the side on top, a fade haircut with a combover. Most people chose to go with a long haircut or go bald but this was something in-between. What was more noticeable was the mans hair color, it was dark red like blood or wine. In the right light it would look more brown than red but in the setting sun his hair was a blood red. He was quite muscular as well but not too much.
'Weird, I didn't see him there before.' Roxy thought, she was sure the hill was absent of anyone. At least that was what she saw a few moments ago.
The man kneeled down and started to touch the tombstone standing on top of Rudeus's grave. Roxy was about to run forward in fury that anyone would dare disrespect Rudeus's resting place but she then witnessed the man was cleaning Rudy's grave with magic. A layer of dirt and moss ripped itself off of the tombstone and burnt to a crisp in the mans palm making the tombstone look brand new.
'Silent spellcasting?' Roxy thought. He must have been a student of Rudy, probably paying respect to his master. Yeah, that was it.
She kept her distance, eavesdropping was wrong but she wanted to hear what this man had to say about her husband.
The man took a deep breath to compose himself. "So this is where you kicked the bucket huh Rudeus. I'm curious why you wanted to start over again instead of buying the farm? Well, I suppose you will tell me the answer in due time when I see you."
'Is he dying of some illness?' Roxy thought. But what was on the forefront of her mind was the man kind of sounded like Paul, but not exactly the same. This man had a voice that was a tad bit colder, like some sorrow constantly plagued the mans thoughts.
She decided to approach.
"Did you know my husband?" Roxy said.
The man shook his head without turning around to face Roxy.
"No, but I thought it would be nice to sightsee and pay my respects before I continue my journey to see him in person. And if possible, I would like to know what kind of man he was."
"I can talk about who he was if you'd like. I knew him ever since he was a young boy. I was his teacher and later on his wife after he saved me from a Labyrinth when he grew up and became an adult." Roxy said. She figured now this man wasn't a student but an admirer, that he was dying and wanted to introduce himself before he passed. That was understandable, most people in this world knew the name Rudeus Greyrat.
"That sounds nice." The man said, he turned around and smiled softly at her and she was taken aback by the resemblance to Rudeus… no that wasn't it, he looked allot more like Rudeus's father Paul but the man had dark scarlet red hair and purple eyes. He even had a small mole on his lower left eye just like Paul and Rudeus had.
"Are you related to Rudeus at all? You look allot like him." She was on guard now, Rudy had never told her about this man.
"In a way I am related to him, he's more of my half-brother but in terms of relation I am closer than most. My name is Perseus Greyrat, son of Paul and Lilia Greyrat." The man smiled softly at her noticing her stance and realizing that she was prepared to run or fight in that moment, however no hostility radiated from him.
'This was too strange. Neither Lilia or Paul had ever mentioned having a son, what is even more strange is that this man looks no more than 25, chronologically he should be dead from old age by now and yet he looks so young.' Roxy thought.
"You don't know about me but I know you, you were my teacher as well when I was 3 after I was first born in the six sided world." Perseus exclaimed as he reached down his shirt and pulled out a necklace, it was the same necklace that Roxy had given to Rudy all those years ago.
"Explain now." She said, still on guard, she had no memory of this man at all.
The man sighed. "I don't have much time before I need to get going so I will make this short and simple. I am from the sixth sided world, just not yours. I'm from a different version of this world one where Paul did the idiotic thing, he took Lilia's virginity aaaaannnnddd forgot to pull out. Lilia became pregnant and Paul, despite him being a huge playboy took responsibility and cared for Lilia. He was an adventurer for a majority of the time spending months separated from Lilia while she raised me in Buena Village. They both wanted me to learn the sword, but magic, magic was my bread and butter. I continued to grow my magic in pursuit of multiplying and expanding it enough to reach the cosmic plains so I could explore and find out who I was originally before I was born." His response was quick and slightly sarcastic as if he was running through explaining the worlds biggest joke.
"So that's it, you are from an alternative timeline?" She concluded.
"That's a linear way of putting it. No. I was simply born into a world where the big bang in that universe happened a few hundred years before this world is where it is now. Not only that my universe was identical in particle pattern as this one so it formed the same world, same people, same actions, but the only difference was Paul, Lilia, me, and later on my younger sister Aisha. No Rudeus, and no Norn. Anyway now that I'm done explaining who I am and where I came from can we get back to the main question?"
Honestly at this point Roxy had a huge number of questions to ask this Perseus person but she stopped herself. She would honor her offer to tell this man about her husband.
"He was a kind man, a little perverted but a good man who prioritized family over everything. Rudy faced off against Orsted to protect us and at the brink of death pledged allegiance to Orsted in order for the dragon god to help protect our family. He continued to serve the dragon god until he died of old age." She said smiling at all that Rudy forced himself to endure in order to protect her and her children.
"How did he react when someone threatened you or his family?" The man asked inquisitively.
"One time at a nobles party he was an honored guest and one of the nobles insulted me or Sylphy, it was so long ago I can't remember who the noble insulted but Rudy took such an offense to it that he grabbed the noble by the collar and burned down a whole forest. It was a visual demonstration of the man's rage." She said snickering at the fact that the noble utterly pissed himself at the physical image of Rudeus's rage.
"Hmmm good to know, I would hate to tick Rudeus off so I will remember that." The man said smiling sweetly. He sure was being cryptic with his responses and questions.
"Anything else you wanted to know?" Roxy said, she wanted to get back to asking a few more questions but then she heard allot of footsteps behind her.
"Roxy get away from that man!" A deep voice of authority shouted behind her. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she heard that voice, she knew who it was.
She turned around and saw Orsted in a battle stance, fists clenched and his helmet was off, killing intent radiated from him. Behind him was Roxy's daughter Lara, Leo the spirit dog was growling behind her, and Sylphy's son Sieghard was on the right side of Orsted. Both were glaring at Perseus. There were two others that were with the group, North God Kalman III the left hand of Orsted and the immortal demon empress Kishirika. She was vomiting into a bucket while holding her hands to her eyes crying.
"Roxy run! He is countless times stronger than Laplace!" She screamed as she continued to vomit into the bucket panting like her life was being clawed away by Perseus.
Roxy looked at Perseus with hostility and fear but the man seemed irritated at the most. He didn't show any fear in the presence of Orsted nor killing intent. When he laid eyes on the Dragon God he smiled sadly as if recalling a distant memory.
"I would like to apologize to you Orsted." He shouted from the hilltop down at the Dragon God. "I kept you from your mission to kill Hitogami and I would like to report with joy I have completed your mission. Well at the very least a different version of you, but since you are here now I wanted to get the chance to say I'm sorry." Perseus said smiling. He then looked at Roxy.
"Like I said I don't want to anger Rudeus without reason so I won't do something as petty as hold you hostage in front of your children. You can run to them if you'd like." He said smiling.
Roxy chose to run down behind Orsted trying to keep her knees from shaking too much in the presence of the Dragon Gods curse.
"How do you know the name Hitogami?" Orsted snapped.
"He tricked me a long time ago, telling me a lie that he knew who I was originally. Simple as that." The man shrugged like he had no care in the world.
"So you're an apostle of Hitogami?" Orsted's glare intensified but Perseus showed no reaction to the waves of murderous aura.
"I am worse than that, far worse."
"Stop with the cryptic bullshit." Kalman interrupted brandishing his sword, he was itching to fight against someone that Kishirika herself was terrified of. It would be a legendary battle.
"I have no desire to fight Orsted, I would hate to waste his mana reserves. But you Kalman, you are part immortal, not to mention your cocky attitude pisses me off. So I can have some fun with you." Perseus said, a huge grin of anticipation and sadistic emotion forming on his face. "But let's not fight here. I would hate to desecrate Rudeus's grave."
"Fair enough where would you like to…" Kalman began to offer to take Perseus to a field to fight in but was interrupted. The speed of the man was faster than the North God could react, Orsted himself barely had any time to register the movement.
Perseus in one swift movement appeared right in front of the man and punched Kalman in the gut. Roxy heard bones snap and flesh tear as the punch penetrated the mans touki, ripping apart the mans skin as his intestines flopped onto the floor. A massive pressure wave from the punch was felt by the rest of the people in the group.
The ground itself vibrated from the attack as Kalman flew into the air flying far beyond the borders of the city disappearing from view. Orsted struck his hand forward in an attempt to punch a hole through the mans chest… well his fist did go through his chest but no hole was made. It was like he was passing his hand through a ghost.
Perseus just looked directly at Orsted as he laughed. "The only one who will pose a challenge for me is Rudeus." Perseus took a step back and removed Orsted's hand from his chest showing now damage was made. "Other than that, this fight is just me dicking around."
And with that Perseus shot up into the air as if propelled by some invisible force. He flew forward in the direction of Kalman.
"We need to get in contact with Perugius. Sieghard run as fast as you can to the teleportation circle to the Dragon Kings Palace and get as many of his spirits as you can, especially Karowante. Lara with me. Roxy and Kishirika go back to the house pack up your things. If we are not back tonight travel to the Ars capital to bring the kingdom under a state of alert." Orsted instructed, with those words said he began to run toward the city gates as Lara got on Leos back. Leo barked and took off in hot pursuit of the Dragon God.
A few minutes later Orsted arrived with Lara in tow to the battlefield that was commencing between Kalman and Perseus. To put it simply it was a one-sided slaughter. The two became a blur when they were prepared to fight but every time the dust settled Kalman had an arm missing or a leg severed in tattered pieces of flesh. Perseus let the man regrow or reattach his limbs after waiting a few moments at which the two would fight again.
The process repeated itself five times before Orsted managed to engage. His fist once again passed through Perseus like he was just punching open air.
"I thought I told you I didn't want to fight you. You need to save up your strength for Laplace returning and containing Hitogami." Perseus sighed.
"Orsted! No matter how many times I strike him my sword just passes right through him without any damage." Kalman yelled out on the other side of the field as his left leg continued to grow back. His right arm was severed too and the seal that Rudeus had put on it to keep the arm from growing was broken as well during the fight. Soon he would be back at full capacity.
In the meantime Orsted was trying to analyze this man's abilities but they were unlike anything he had seen before. That was why he wanted the spirit Karowante of Insight. He would be able to determine the persons powers and give them some insight to beat this person.
Orsted outstretched his hand resorting to disturb magic. He saw the magic travelling toward the target but the mana warped around Perseus rendering the magic useless.
'So he has a counter to disturb magic just like me?' Orsted thought.
The dragon gods opponent just stood there yawning. "Look it's been fun but I will say this one last time. I do not wish to fight you Orsted, if you continue I will beat you into the ground." An aura radiated from the man at this point, it was an aura many times stronger than Orsted's and for the first time in the dragon gods life, his knees trembled.
In a moment of desperation, he summoned the dragons gate. The abortion magic would drain Perseus's mana enough for Kalman to deal a fatal blow.
A few minutes passed, Perseus made no attempt to flee from the gate or resist it. He just let it consume his mana.
"Hundreds of years ago that would have worked on me." Perseus said gradually growing more pissed off. "But if the dragons stomach is smaller than the thing it's chewing on and it continues to eat…."
The gate cracked and burst into shards a few seconds later. Orsted was left completely stunned, even his best counter attack was rendered useless. Regardless the mana the gate absorbed was a huge amount so he was sure that the man had little mana left. A moment later a flash of light appeared behind him.
"It's not often that I hear you requesting my help Orsted." A deep voice said behind the Dragon God. Orsted turned and saw Perugius with all twelve of his servants as well as Nanahoshi. Sieghard stood in front of the black-haired Japanese girl to protect her.
The atmosphere suddenly changed to one of killing intent. It was coming from Perseus. The air responded to his rage as the sky darkened with black thunderclouds forming above their heads, no rain fell though. It was like a scene someone would imagine that would set the stage for a grim and dark battle.
"Hello Perugius, tell me, have you started treating the demons in this world fairly? Or do I have to beat that into you by bending you across my knees and smacking your ass a few times."
Perugius seemed to be taken aback by the man's insult but he regained his composure a moment later.
"Almanfi and Sukeakoto! Engage." Perugius shouted out as the two spirits rushed forward, Sukeakoto reached Perseus first as Almanfi rushed in to attack the man frozen in time. Their plan was to stop Perseus's time and then cut him down while he was frozen. Almanfi grabbed Perseus by placing his hands on the mans shoulders and the two entered into a standstill.
'So he is weak to attacks by spirits? Unlike everyone else Sukeakoto was able to physically touch this Perseus person.' Orsted thought.
"I can't see Perugius!" Karowante of Insight shouted when he tried to analyze the mans abilities.
"What?" Perugius asked. "You mean you can't see his abilities?"
"No… I'm blind." Karowante yelled out holding his hands over his mask trying to see something, anything.
No later had the spirit of insight cried out in desperation than had Sukeakoto burst into flakes of light as a fist punched through the spirits skull and came out the other side. Perseus broke through the time entrapment.
Everyone paused and stared blankly at the man before him. His fist was covered in a white glowing liquid that looked like the blood of the spirit. Almanfi leapt back barely avoiding a follow up punch from Perseus as the spirit made a strategic retreat. Going back to the main group.
"How….?" Perugius began to ask.
"To quote a mad savage scientist, I reject your reality and substitute my own." Perseus said laughing. "But in all honesty that pitiful excuse of a being wasn't stopping someone's time, they were only stopping their atoms from moving."
He flicked the blood off of his fist and looked at Karowante. "And to answer why Karowante is suddenly blind, he is not blind. I simply controlled the frequency of the equation E = h v E=h\nu E=hv. In other words I'm controlling the waves of electromagnetism around him preventing any rays of light from reaching his eyes." He exclaimed grinning.
Everyone excluding Nanahoshi looked at the man like he spoke absolute gibberish.
"You aren't from this world." She whispered, she didn't understand the math he just said but it was math more complicated than anyone in this world could understand. A moment of joy flashed in her eyes that she didn't have to be alone in this world again.
"Correct Rice Cake. And before you go calling me a racist I'm calling you that because of how depressing conversations with you used to be. You were bland and stale. My relationship with you is best visualized in the reaction of Peter Griffin when he started his diet by eating a rice cake, do not watch the first video on youtube though with 5.1million views, that one is ear rape. Watch the second one with 1.7million views…. Ah shit that's right you don't have internet here."
Despite the insult to her personality Nanahoshi continued with her questioning coldly asking. "Do the names Shinohara Akihito, and Kuroki Senji mean anything to you?" She asked in Japanese.
Perseus proceeded to roll his eyes and gag as if the conversation took a huge amount of effort to endure. "Typical Nanahoshi, always prioritizing herself and no one else, just like Perugius, no wonder the two of you got along so well. I wonder why Rudeus was so kind to you in this world. Yes I know the first name Shinohara Akihito you dipshit. As for the last name, nah I've never met him in the sixth sided world.
And before you go asking another stupid question I will answer it for you. Shinohara Akihito will be summoned to the six sided world during the time of the Playback Miko otherwise known as Riria. She was the one responsible for summoning you to this world. Her shear willpower tore through time, but since her rudimentary perception of time is so pathetic she caused a paradox, deleted a universe, etc."
"Wait what…" She began to ask.
"Do you mean by paradox?" Perseus said interrupting her. "About your theory that the future is keeping you from travelling to your world? Yes it is correct okay! Although here is the second fuck up you did since you are still here it means you are a perfect clone. Think about it, Perugius's teleportation device worked perfectly but yet the playback Miko and Shinohara both met you in the future in this world. That is a paradox between two worlds and so in order for the motion of events to continue the machine worked while the universe itself created a perfect clone of you to preserve the already fucked up time line. This world and the cosmos itself almost has a consciousness and you put ice cold peas in its porridge. So it went through all this hard work to keep itself from destruction."
"I'm a clone." She whispered seeming to break down on the inside when someone revealed that her life was nothing but a hollow empty shell.
"Wow! Is that all you can focus on and not the other words I just said. Well to answer your selfish question yes." Perseus said coldly. Then his tone changed to one of sarcasm. "Well not exactly, you are a different but equal version of the Nanahoshi that went through the teleportation circle back to Earth. When the timing is right you can go back home and you will most likely be fused back together with the version of you that's already on Earth."
She fell down on her knees like she had given up all hope.
"Don't do that. Think of it like you are a piece of the pie and a part of the whole. When the two versions of you fuse back together then you will be a complete pie again…. Dammit now I want Marionberry Pie." Perseus said. It was clear he made no attempt to comfort her, only spilling out the truth of her situation.
Then in a moment of despair she reached for Sieghard's blade to end her life but a stone hand came out of the ground and stopped her. It was Perseus, earth magic surrounded her and chained down her hands and feet restraining her movement.
"If you do that you will just be proving my point that the only thing in this world that you care about is yourself. And it will prove how weak you truly are." He whispered into her ear.
"What do you mean! So what if I want to end it? I hate this world." She proclaimed clawing at her restraints trying to break free.
"Regardless you will be forming yet again another paradox. The two people who see you in the future meet you and yet you kill yourself now. At that point this world is destroyed and has to make a perfect copy of itself, one where despite my words you choose not to kill yourself and continue to press on toward the future."
"How do you know of all this!?" She screamed out.
"Because I've already had this conversation with you Rice Cake." Perseus said, his voice no longer was chastising or sarcastic but soft and pleading. "Look at it like this, it is the second most important law in the universe, time must continue. And the multiverse will do all it can to make that rule happen. In most cases it just creates another branch in the timeline but in this case someone who has a false perception of time is meddling with it, that's the Playback Miko and without knowing it just put a thumbtack on the office chair of the cosmos. The two people that have used the correct form of time travel without having to worry about paradoxes is Orsted and Rudeus, they just hopped over to an alternative universe."
"Either way we are getting off topic. If anyone else wishes to fight me come at me. I promise not to do anything dragon ball Z or gurren lagann level, that's just not my style. I am a tactician and physicist at heart." Perseus said outstretching his hands. "But I will tell you this. None of you stand any remote chance of winning, I can make objects pass through my body, I can accelerate my body or decelerate anything thrown at me, meaning no matter how many opponents come at me I can make it a one-on-one fight."
Perugius wasn't listening in his fury as all of his remaining spirts, eight in total, descended onto Perseus. But Perseus just laughed at the approaching warriors.
"The only person who can pose a challenge to me is Rudeus, I thought I told you all that." He giggled sadistically like a child that was about to pull out an uno reverse card.
Almanfi was the first to reach him but he stopped mid air looking like he had fallen through a pool of invisible corn starch. Perseus outstretched his hands on either side of his body and clapped them together, in-between the mans hands was the spirits head which was still moving in slow motion. The clap shattered the head and mask of the spirit as more white blood coated the mans hands. The headless spirit collapsed at his feat bursting into shards like glass.
The remaining spirits followed in a similar fashion, having their chest get a cannonball sized hole created by the mans fist. Or a swipe to their head as he decapitated them. Soon none remained.
"Well that just about wraps things up. Anyone else?" Perseus said snapping his fingers, once he had snapped his fingers Karowante removed his hands from his mask being able to see again. Perseus was now stained with the blood of Perugius's spirits but none of that seemed to bother him.
"Man this must be what Riley Reid feels like every day." He said laughing to himself.
A hiss could be heard as the white blood began to evaporate from Perseus's body.
"If it's any consolation I won't come back to this world… probably… I just wanted to pay my respects to Rudeus and learn more about him before I continued my journey. But it would be funny to see your reaction of absolute despair again sometime Dragon King Perugius." A bright light engulfed Perseus and just like that he was gone.
Everyone was just left speechless.
Leave your reviews and I will respond to you all in the next chapter.
Authors notes:
What do you all think? I'm so concerned about your opinions on this latest chapter. I wanted to drop the ball as to who this person was before the teleportation event began and do it when Rudeus and Perseus finally met but this should add some well paced explanation to the new character Perseus. As for why I chose that name I figured anyone that heard the name would be able to pair Rudeus with Perseus that they are both brothers.
To summarize Perseus in which I gave the info on him and who he is in this chapter: He has no memories of who he was before he was born into the sixth sided world, kind of like Perugius's reincarnation being incomplete and therefore not being able to retain his memories of his life before he became the Armored Dragon King. Perseus's goal is to reach Rudeus and people like him to find out who he was originally. More depth will follow on this.
He will not be DBZ level of destruction. For example if he was faced off against a fight against someone like Perfect Cell he would just synthesize several nanograms of Botulinum toxin around the bug faced man that smells like patchouli which would kill him. To put this toxin into perspective a single gram in a cities water supply can wipe out the entire cities population. So ultimately Perseus is a big believer in using the least amount of force in order to generate the largest result.