[Nakime's POV]
Infinity Castle
It has been nearly ten minutes since Sir Sebas started fighting that monster. The beast was even more terrifying than that accursed Omni-Man.
I had transferred all the injured parties present at the building back inside the safety of the castle following Master's direct orders. All because Sir Sebas had finally gone all out transforming into his dragonoid form.
But that had been a grave mistake.
I sat on my wooden platform and plucked my biwa nervously. The notes came out discordant as my fingers were shaking too much to play properly. 'Maybe I should tell Master after all. But he is still injured from his training, not to mention he is mentally exhausted.'
"Oi! Blue Baldy! Patch them up properly!" Master yelled across the great Halls. He was leaning heavily against a wooden pillar and sweating profusely. "If even a single one of them dies it will be you who is going to join them in death!"
The massive blue Mauler grunted and aggressively wrapped a bandage around the unconscious Black Samson's chest, his huge hands surprisingly gentle despite his size. "I may like you Mr. Kaisen but I will not stand for such blatant slander! I am a brilliant scientist with unparalleled expertise in genetic cloning. Of course I will patch them up! Well….at least stabilize them just enough to let them survive the bodily toll of teleporting over to a proper hospital."
I watched Master and Mauler working around all the injured and passed out heroes.
"Master, if I may," I said quietly as I stepped down from my platform and gently pulled Master to the side. "Why do you bother with these dregs?"
Master just sighed and looked down at his bloodied shirt. He sat heavily on the wooden floor in a lotus position and I knelt down beside him.
"It is not that simple Nakime," Master explained softly. "Every single one of them needs to survive to minimize the butterfly effect. If I change too much too fast, I lose that advantage. If we plan to properly leverage my knowledge of the canon timeline, I need some events to follow as they originally would have. Plus I cannot be bothered to take on the active role of a hero every single time this world faces a crisis. And this world will face many of them."
Master rubbed his temples and groaned in pain. "Where is Sebas? I still do not see him anywhere through your gates."
Master had been actively trying to connect with Sebas through our familiar bond to order him to retreat back to the castle.
But the Dragonoid form was completely running on pure primal instinct. Sir Sebas was actively relishing in the ritual of violence with that beast and completely ignoring the mental commands.
"Master..." I stopped mid-sentence.
My eyeball scouts positioned around Chicago suddenly sent horrifying visual images directly into my mind.
"No! Sir Sebastian!" I screamed in pure terror.
I produced my biwa and frantically struck its cords, my fingers moving faster than they ever had. The notes came out desperate and discordant with panic.
TWANG. TWANG. TWANG
I rapidly opened dozens of gates around the battlefield, trying every angle, every position, trying to get beneath Sir Sebas to pull him to safety. But that damn beast kept physically dodging my attempts, moving with terrifying speed for something so large. And when he couldn't dodge, he just broke the gates away with his raw strength, shattering my gates with casual backhand swings.
"What is it Nakime?" Master jolted me out of my sudden delirium. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
"I apologize Master! It is all my fault!" I bowed my head deeply as hot tears started to trickle down my single eye.
"Hey. Hey, Nakime, calm down," Master said urgently. He shook my shoulders again to ground me. "What happened to Sebas? Why are you crying?"
I sobbed and covered my face with my kimono sleeves. "Sir Sebas... He gave me a direct order to not let you join the battle no matter what happened. But when he unleashed his Dragonoid form, he lost all his rational senses! He did not follow your orders to retreat even after we saved Fiona and her family!"
Master let go of my shoulders as his posture went completely rigid.
"Open the gate," Master said in a terrifyingly calm voice.
I had never seen Master truly angry at me before. But looking into his eyes and seeing them filled with cold disappointment stung my heart worse than the Nichirin blade those Demon Slayers used on me.
I quickly performed a deep Seiza bow right on the wooden floor, not caring for the new guests watching us. "Master please reconsider! The monster is unlike anything you have ever faced!"
Master reached out and gently tilted my chin up to force me to look directly into his eyes.
"I will not repeat my orders Nakime. Get all those heroes to Cecil's base. And open my damn gate."
I shook from the feeling of terror blooming deep inside me. I finally remembered my standing as a lowly servant, a harsh reality which had been completely covered in the fluff of laughter and consideration Master had always shown me.
With tears actively rolling down my pale face, I struck my biwa.
TWANG
[John Kaisen's POV]
I walked out, sliding open the gate, my mind buzzing with hot anger towards Nakime for the very first time.
I desperately needed to beat some sense into Sebas and drag his stubborn ass back to the castle.
'This is going to be incredibly painful, isn't it,' I thought to myself as I prepared my body for combat.
But the sight I saw when I exited the Tatami door completely stunned my mind.
The destruction was absolute. Chicago's downtown area looked like it had been hit by a thermal weapon. Buildings were reduced to rubble as the entire city block was levelled into fields of crushed concrete and twisted rebar. Dust hung in the air so thick it looked like fog. Smoke rose from a dozen fires scattered across the wasteland. The smell of concrete dust, burning plastic and blood hit me next. The street was empty and completely evacuated.
Just destruction and silence remained broken only by distant sirens and the crackle of flames.
All the worrying, the anger and the overthinking instantly left me.
In front of me stood Battle Beast. The massive alien lion was gripping a man covered in thick purple scales by his throat. The man's torso was brutally bisected from the lower half. Only a single arm remained attached to his upper body. The other severed arm was currently in the lion's mouth being chewed.
CRUNCH. SQUELCH.
The sickening sound of thick bones snapping and dense draconic flesh tearing filled the somber environment. Dark purple blood dripped lazily from the beast's massive jaws.
The setting sun lit the scene from behind and turned them both into dark, horrifying silhouettes against the orange sky.
The surrounding city blocks had been turned into a completely leveled mess of crushed concrete and rebar rubble.
It took me a full, agonizing second to recognize the dying man. He had white flowing hair reaching his waist, and his face was covered in a matted white beard.
It finally clicked in my brain and a horrible realization dawned on me.
"SEBAS!!" I roared with everything I had. The sound ripped out of my throat, raw and furious
I immediately slotted in my Blade Master ability to produce blades made up entirely of compressed energy. I bombarded the beast directly and used my newfound speed from all those radioactive doses to sprint toward Sebas's broken body.
But in all this mess, I forgot who I was facing.
A massive white furry hand swiped toward me. Fast. Too fast.
I barely managed to dodge the casual strike but three long, agonizing claw marks ripped directly across my chest. Bright red blood instantly oozed from my sternum and soaked my shirt.
"Mast...er," I heard Sebas mutter. His voice was incredibly weak and wet with blood, bubbling up through his throat, but he still tried to warn me. "Run... away... you will... die."
"Shut up Old Man and let me focus!" I yelled back. My heart was pounding out of my chest.
In front of me stood Battle Beast. The most terrifying being in the entire galaxy. I knew who he was. A monster who canonically fought Thragg of the Viltrum Empire for days straight and only died after he purposely disembowelled himself to match injuries previously inflicted on Thragg.
This wasn't like Omni-Man. Omni-Man was strong but Battle Beast was something beyond that.
'Lock in, John,' I scolded myself as I activated Call to Arms, forcing my hands to stop shaking.
"Battle Beast, listen to me!" I shouted as I backed up. "I am no warrior! I am just a friend of this old fool. Please just let us go! After all, it is not honorable for the most ferocious warrior in the whole galaxy to fight a weak and disabled old man!"
I kept spewing bullshit to stall him, buying time as I watched the familiar Gacha wheel roll rapidly inside my mind.
"I was promised a world overflowing with worthy adversaries," Battle Beast growled and his golden eyes narrowed with absolute disgust. "Yet I find only brittle bones and false hope. It would be a stain on my honor to not execute my prey. Much less this pathetic traitor!"
The gacha wheel finally landed.
[Anubis]
|Elite Familiar|
JoJo - Anubis is a spirit housed in an ornate strange katana. Anubis has the ability to make the blade of its sword pass through physical barriers and cut what is beneath, rendering traditional defences useless. In addition, Anubis is capable of adapting and learning incredibly quickly to counter opponents and become stronger. Anubis is capable of taking control of anyone who unsheathes the blade but is also capable of guiding their wielder if they wish to.
I quickly read the description as an ornate katana materialized in a flash of light right in front of me.
The blade was elegant. Egyptian symbols etched along the fuller, giving it an ancient look.
[Image Here]
"Traitor? What do you mean he is a traitor?" I asked as I carefully stepped between Sebas's dying body and Battle Beast to buy as much time as I physically could. I quickly slotted Polymerization, Impulse and Arc into my three remaining ability slots.
"He deceived me with the profound promise of a glorious battle," Battle Beast snarled as he gulped down Sebas's severed arm, blood running down his white mane in an Obscene visual. "After I permitted his pathetic allies to scurry away, I believed we would share a majestic ritual of death. But... but he was so weak!"
I gripped the hilt of Anubis hard as I wanted nothing more than to unsheathe it to attack the bastard immediately. But a strange, echoing voice suddenly calmed my mind.
'Partner, I would strongly advise you to maintain your composure if you actually want to live through this encounter.'
'Who? Anubis?' I thought back.
'Bingo, Partner. But for now you must focus entirely on his movements.'
"I finally had a shred of hope," Battle Beast continued. I actually saw a single tear trickle down from his golden eyes, perfectly conveying the deep disappointment and pain in his voice. "I thought I finally found a warrior capable of gifting me a glorious death. But even after pacing myself and allowing him to unleash all his hidden powers... he still remained a crushing disappointment. He was too weak to give me what I need"
"Then simply fuck off and fight the damn Viltrumite on the planet! " I yelled.
"I will not sully my honour by fighting an already crippled weakling, hiding in some medical facility." Battle Beast snarled.
I was about to make a counterargument, but a massive spiked mace appeared out of nowhere and swung straight for my head.
The katana moved on its own to deflect the heavy mace, Anubis taking control of my arm to block the strike I couldn't react to. If his strength was like a chasm, mine was but a crack on the sidewalk.
My arm snapped backwards in an odd angle with a wet pop and I was blown backwards by the force.
CRUNCH
I crushed the concrete wall behind me, my back slamming into it hard enough to crack the surface and coughed up a mouthful of blood. There was black in my vision for a moment, static dancing before my eyes as Iron Will kept my consciousness active. I briefly considered how much more durable I am to not explode on impact just now.
'Partner, we absolutely cannot win this fight,' Anubis warned in my head. 'The gap in physical strength is simply too massive. Give up on the old fart and make a run for it right now.'
"Shut up, you mutt! I am not leaving anyone behind!" I screamed as I pushed myself out of the rubble. "POLYMERIZATION!!"
The two tattoos on my arms spun rapidly. Purple and orange energy swirled and mixed together as the katana glowed with a blinding purple light.
Instantly my casual clothes transformed into a traditional Egyptian shendyt, white linen wrapping around my waist and legs. Golden ornaments materialized across my arms, heavy and ornate, covered in hieroglyphs. My chest filled with golden necklaces layered over each other, each one set with glowing purple gems that hummed with power.
My face was completely covered by a heavy jackal mask that perfectly resembled the god of death from Egyptian mythology.
[Image Here]
'Nakime! Try and get Sebas out of here while I distract this overgrown kitty!' I ordered through our bond.
And so I launched into a brutal battle. With the newfound knowledge of unparalleled sword mastery flooded into my brain, techniques from centuries of bladework downloaded directly into my muscle memory, I materialized purple katanas made of pure energy and attacked Battle Beast. The blades felt natural in my hands. Like I'd been using them my whole life.
Battle Beast snorted dismissively as he raised his mace to block the katana in its tracks. But surprisingly my glowing sword phased straight through the solid metal mace and actually sliced into his shoulder, cutting through fur and muscle.
SQUELCH
I drew fresh blood from the beast.
The Battle Beast. Holy shit.
"Hmmm. Interesting," Battle Beast said. He reached up and licked his own blood off his fur. "Finally, a spark of true resistance! But it is not enough."
He lunged at me.
Fuck.
[A/N]: A long ass chapter for all lovely readers.
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