Chapter 45 "Hiroshi"
Chapter 45
Hiroshi
“Store!” Raven yells out of desperation.
Just as Lamia is about to chow up Logy’s soul, Raven’s large red book suddenly appears closer to them. Just a mere second away from getting devoured by the fake Grim Reaper, Logy’s soul quickly gets pulled into Raven’s book, which shuts closed tightly.
The chain from the soul to Logy’s body is still partially outside the book. Raven tries to call back her book, but Lamia snatches up the floating book. “Damn!”
“You’re too late!” Lamia laughs loudly as she gives the chain a fast and powerful chop with her own arm, cutting it in half.
”No!” Raven shouts.
All of sudden, the book is gone from Lamia’s hand. “…Huh?” Thinking it may be her imagination, she has to take another look at her hand, which is still empty.
At first she thinks it is someone different and new who is holding the book, but then she realizes that it is the same Universe Warrior. His entire aura feels… Completely different.
Knapp carefully places Raven’s book on the floor next to Logy’s soulless body. He says with eerily calm anger, “Return his soul.”
”I-I can’t..” Raven stammers.
”Once the chain that is connected between the body and soul is severed, there’s no way for them to reconnect,” Death King says softly. “You’ll have to let the soul go.”
”Go where?” Knapp asks.
”H-heaven, obviously,” Raven says with tears in her eyes.
Knapp turns to the girl demon and asks, “Who can reconnect them?” His voice is starting to tremble. “Priests? Double God?”
When he gets no answers at all, he collapses to his knees. He wraps his arms around Logy’s shoulders only to feel how cold he is. He begins to choke on sobs as he says shakily, “No, no, no…”
Lamia gives out a loud laughter as she carries herself towards Knapp. “You see, you can’t bring him back to life. Everyone dies eventually anyway! I’m giving you one more chance… Give me the book or—“
Before anybody, including Death King, can react, Lamia gets slammed into the ground hard immediately after getting hit in her chest by Knapp’s powerful kick.
Knapp does not even stop right there as he stomps on Lamia several times, making her cough out large amounts of blood. The ground under Lamia is slowly turning into a small crater.
All the Universe Warrior can see is red. Pure rage.
“Knapp!” Jade yells as soon as he and the remaining Dark Team members stop running as soon as they spot Knapp. When Sybil died, Knapp did not have his usual powers as the Universe Warrior so he was given enough time to recover. They can never forget how it felt when Knapp was trying to suppress the power of the universe because he thought Logy did not return the same feelings back then.
When Lamia stops moving and is completely unconscious, Knapp bends down to take the scythe from her. It turns back into a bright red orb. Lamia transforms back into a regular demon, except she is much shorter than most demons.
The Elixir! Death King tries to move his legs but remains frozen in his place. His instinct is screaming for him to run. But why? Isn’t he the Universe War—
He begins to feel some kind of breathing. Not that kind of breathing from a normal person. He realizes that the atmosphere is literally extending and shrinking repeatedly.
It’s as if the entire universe is breathing heavily. It’s in perfect sync with how Knapp breathes. He turns around along with the Elixir floating above his hand until his eyes land on Death King.
Death King is unsure whether to feel sorry or fear because Knapp, with tears sliding down his face, is practically looking into his spirit with those blank eyes that are pretty much void of all emotions.
The partial blue sky is turning redder and redder.
Knapp!
Knapp barely reacts to Kawaii’s voice in his own head.
Knapp, please…
The castle is the first thing to crumble into pieces, making the demons yell and run around in panic. One of them is yelling, “It’s the end of the world!”
“Death King!”
Death King jumps startled by Kawaii’s sudden voice. He turns to the hovering child. “Kawaii, w-what is happening to him?”
”He has nothing to live for anymore. He’s going to restart the universe!” Kawaii says shakily. “Hikyou can barely hold me together!”
”Restart? Is the Universe Warrior even capable of doing it? What about Light and Dark Gods? Where are they?”
”They have not awakened yet… Please… Fight him,” Kawaii starts tearing up. “Defeat him. Priests have no chance against him but you… you can try.”
“Shit…!” Death King watches him fading away into nothingness. The higher ground is already cracking in different directions. Sooner or later, the entire palace will fall.
Knapp withdraws his Divine Sword. He strokes the crack part of the blade gently. His touch has healed and closed the gap. He taps his sword on the Elixir only to absorb it. At least it has stopped the progression of Hell’s self destruction.
Even so… the universe is still collapsing. Death King briefly looks up at the sky. Millions of stars are moving at unusually high speed.
“Death King,” Knapp says with so much tense in his tone as he points his sword at him. Darkness and light are surrounding him. “You’re next to go.”
Has he already lost himself again? Death King chuckles lightly. “Well shit…!”
The dark and light energy that is surrounding the Universe Warrior is now gathered into one swirling orb hovering above his hand. It begins shrinking smaller and smaller until it disappears from everyone’s sight.
Before Death King can do anything, someone already beats him to the Universe Warrior.
Without even moving any of limbs except his left arm, Knapp instantly blocks a fast ray of unknown power with his own left hand. He frowns a little bit in confusion. What is this power?
”Oh my…” comes the girly giggles. “He really did block my power of Holy. What a terrifying guy!”
Knapp quickly turns around to find a red star moving swiftly. He quickly slices through the air with his sword, narrowly missing the red star. He follows the star moving until he finds two more people hovering in the air.
”Huh…? Where the hell did they come from?” Death King asks.
Two strangers gently land their feet on the ground across from the Universe Warrior. One male and one female. Dressed in a tight black shirt and black jeans, the guy has large red wings, which flap at the air and then shake off its loose feathers. His scarlet eye pupils are the most unusual because they are shaped as stars. Literally. He would’ve been mistaken as Gules due to his red hair as well but Gules’s is more curly. The red star is orbiting constantly around him.
”Whoa, there… You know what that is?” The man with red wings laughs nervously as he points at the tiny orb above Knapp’s hand. “Don’t you know that it’s the Big Bang? You know that it will kill everyone? And annihilate the entire universe?”
“You know he is going to do it anyway. His lover is dead.” The female stranger with long black hair jerks her thumb at the fresh corpse. Like her friend, she also has hot pink wings but they’re a little smaller. She taps her finger on her chin. Her lab coat is ruffling a little bit due to the strong winds from the Big Bang attack. Under the coat, she is wearing a short dark blue dress. She asks almost innocently, “Here we go again… What to do…?”
“You’re not from this universe,” Knapp says matter-of-factly. The remaining structure of the castle is still slowly dissolving and being sucked into the Big Bang sitting on his hand.
“Whoa! Didn’t expect you to speak.” The man chuckles lightheartedly. The moving red star makes a chiming sound as if it’s reacting to its owner’s cheerful emotion. He guides it towards the space next to his head and above his shoulder, leaving it there. “So you’ve been conscious this whole time?”
“Universe Warrior of the Fifth Universe… Yes, you’re right. We are from the First Universe. I’m the Healing Angel, Liza. And this is Hiroshi.”
“The Angel…!” Raven exclaims in relief. “That means-- ack!” The entire planet shakes violently, lasting several minutes.
At this point the castle is completely gone. Next is the flowers and plants. The Big Bang is getting brighter and brighter every minute.
“...Fuck…” Death King growls as he turns to the demons. The demons are trying to hold on to the ground, fighting against powerful winds coming from the Big Bang. “You have to go. Anywhere but here!”
“I’m tired of you,” Knapp says bitterly. “All of you aliens keep coming to this universe. The immortal ones- Gods, Angels, and Priests… they do nothing. It’s because of them as well as you aliens, Logy is dead!”
“You are the protector of the universe. Not a destroyer,” Hiroshi says, his smile not going away from his face. “What about your friends who are still alive? Don’t you have a family?”
Knapp’s dull eyes begin to soften as he begins to remember Clear, Johnny, Jade, Gules, Katja, Ketsu, Ryu--
No, no, no. Nononononono. Danielle, Sybil, Zack, Sky, and Logy are all dead. It’s all because of me. I’m a failure. How can I ever live with that? Regret, sadness, and pain. I need to… I need to…
RESTART.
Violent vibrations in the empty air come suddenly.
“You have no idea what will happen if you use the Big Bang,” Hiroshi says carefully. “The universes can be reincarnated but they will never be the same every time. How would you ever know if you will see your loved ones again? You said his name- Logy, isn’t it?”
“You leave him alone!” Knapp snaps. His Divine Sword is getting out of the scabbard by itself, without the help of its owner. It is now floating in the air and pointing at Hiroshi.
“You think Logy would’ve wanted this?”
Knapp can never forget all of his interactions with Logy. His warm smiles, sweet kisses, neverending desires… If Logy has seen what Knapp is about to, will he ever forgive him?
The Universe Warrior scowls at the thought of Logy possibly hating him.
“This isn’t working. You’re only angering him further,” Liza cannot help but giggle. “Looks like we have no choice but to fight. Think Hikyou-sama will be pissed off if he finds out about us sneaking into his universe?”
“Hey, I’m trying to help him out! Geez.” Hiroshi sighs lightly. “Alright then, I guess we have no choice but to beat him senseless.”
As soon as Knapp sends his sword flying straight towards his opponent from the First Universe, Hiroshi throws a fist at the air. The large powerful shockwave from his fist easily knocks away the sword.
As soon as he makes his next move, he has already bumped Knapp in the forehead with his own head. Surprised to see that Knapp has not backed down yet, Hiroshi is staring at the Universe Warrior’s eyes which are drowning in the darkness and light.
Knapp slams the Big Bang onto Hiroshi’s chest only to find it blocked by the jingling red star.
“Got you!” Hiroshi quickly moves backward away from Knapp, followed by the bouncing red star.
Knapp, it hurts… Please don’t do this!
As soon as he hears Kawaii’s desperate voice, Knapp quickly glances at his hand where the Big Bang is supposed to be. To his surprise, it is completely gone.
“Are you listening to the voice of the universe?” Hiroshi asks softly. “Weren’t you chosen to be the Universe Warrior so you could protect it?”
“You hear it? How is it possible?”
Hiroshi calls back the red star which makes a couple of chiming sounds. “Let me try again… I’m Hiroshi. The Savior of the First Universe.”
“Fucking hell…” Death King growls.
Knapp raises an eyebrow.
“I guess it means nothing to you if you’re going to destroy everything.” Hiroshi gives a few chuckles. “How I came to be the Savior and why I decided not to destroy the First Universe is just a story for another day.”
“The Saviors exist with the only one purpose- to destroy the universe in order to save it from getting itself completely annihilated. Why are you trying to stop me?” Knapp asks.
“Ah, you care! Perfect! You see, the reincarnation of the universe has always come at a high price. The Saviors from every universe are different, depending on the outcome of the choices that were made by the immortals. Gods, Angels, Priests, and many more. But the Universe Warriors are different. All of them were originally mortals who were chosen by the universes. Isn’t that your story as well?”
“You don’t know me.” The boiling feeling in Knapp’s chest is growing.
“Oh no, you’re right.” Hiroshi says as he scratches his red haired head. “We literally met just minutes ago, didn’t we? How do you know if we’re trying to help out? Or trick you? Or destroy you, even?”
The jingling red star happily bounces around him. Hiroshi guides it around until it’s facing Knapp. “You see this star? It’s part of my heart. It’s called the Savior’s Heart. Cliché, I know. So you see, your Big Bang is inside my Savior’s Star—“
Knapp instantly launches himself toward Hiroshi. He calls his sword back into his hand once again, getting ready to pierce through the star so he can get the Big Bang back.
Just as the tip of the Divine Sword barely touches the star, a sudden burst of red energy appears surrounding the star and deflects the sword out of Knapp’s hand.
He tries to call the Divine Sword back again. He is shocked when the sword does not move. Not even a barge at all. He glances around only to find his teammates. Instead of full confidence, the Dark Team members only show fear. Not even a drop of hope.
“Your friends… your sword… even the Fifth Universe… they no longer stand at your side! From their perspective, how could you continue being the protector of the Fifth Universe? After what you could have done if it wasn’t for me!” Hiroshi grins widely as he commands, “Runaway Star!”
The cute and small jingling red star suddenly bolts all the way up into the sky. At the same time it is growing bigger and bigger until it becomes the size of a normal meteor. The entire battlefield gets covered by the red star’s gigantic shadow.
Knapp shudders for the first time as soon as he detects the presence of the red star.
Powerful gusts are starting to blow almost everything away on the surface. The Dark Team and just a few demons are holding on for their dear lives against the powerful winds.
The second a realization dawns on Knapp, he gives a deep yet exhausted breath. He places his hands on his face, clenching them into the fists. Tears are freely coming down his face. Logy… I failed you.
No. You know that’s not true. Logy never wanted any of this, but he would understand. And forgive you as well.
Knapp looks up from his hands until he sees a familiar man with a pair of wings with black and white feathers. Half black and white hair. Heterochromia eyes. He recognizes him from a long time ago when he first became the Universe Warrior. He asks shakily, “Kawaii?”
We all made mistakes that we don’t always intend to make. Please… We still need you. Come back. And save us all.
Kawaii’s mouth is not moving but Knapp can clearly tell that those words are truly his. The Universe Warrior turns back to the huge star still falling from the sky.
He yells, “Big Bang!”
~*~
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