Noah crossed his arms while lifting his chin.

"So we finally meet. The reason for my presence here."

"Indeed."

Miasma's deformed figure nodded. Usually, he would smile deviously and show arrogance, but to Orion's surprise, Miasma was rather dispirited.

From the beginning, he noticed the grave look on the Remnant's face.

"This battle is already settled. I will kill you, and you will defeat me. Nothing will be able to change that fact."

That's when Orion noticed the difference between the Miasma in front of him and the one from the past.

"You... You've given up."

His expression changed to a darker one. Orion glared at Miasma in disbelief.

"When you realize that fate catches up anyway, you'll also understand. Whatever plans I had were all put down, and none amounted to anything."

The dark purple figure snapped his fingers, and two massive rifts opened as black blood poured from his right eye.

"Kh!"

Holding his head in pain, Miasma clenched his teeth.

"It's normally impossible to bring these beasts from their secluded space, but by paying a heavy price, it becomes possible."

The remaining force that Miasma wasn't sent to the future marched through the white rifts, making the earth shake from their footsteps.

A hybrid elephant, and a hybrid tiger, walked out of the rift alongside hundreds of 'Corrupted Lords'.

The first giant was as tall as ten houses on top of each other. It had the head of an elephant, but the body of an ox. With each step, the ground cracked under its weight.

The other one, half the size of the elephant, was a tiger with the body of a polar bear. Its powerful arms grabbed a tree and ripped it off the ground effortlessly.

'My power... The price for using it isn't a small one. It's a miracle his soul didn't shatter, and his body hadn't withered away.'

Tetra spoke with disdain at Miasma for using the power that was given to her by Nature.

'But his mind might have been eroded by its constant use. That's what you get for trying to kill me.'

The venom in her voice completely rejected Miasma's existence. She wished him dead, and she wanted to see it with her own eyes.

Orion chose to focus on Miasma instead of answering, in case the Remnant were to act rashly. The two incoming giants were also a problem he had to be wary of.

"The least I can do is create a little distraction for you while I finish the first Hero. Then, you'll perish alongside him."

Without any enthusiasm in his voice, Miasma shrugged. His disturbing voice was still the same irritating tone, but the energy behind it was gone. His erratic and berating cackling wasn't heard anymore.

Confused if this was a plan to distract him from another devious plan, Orion frowned.

"What are you planning to do?"

He decided to ask his enemy a straight question. While lifting his hand, Miasma glared back.

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"Finishing this fight. Isn't that why I'm here in the first place?"

Miasma dropped his hand, signaling the start of the battle.

The two giants roared with a might that could paralyze any animal in the vicinity.

Birds fell to the ground, instantly dying from a heart attack, while the other animals stood frozen in place, trembling in terror.

Shaking violently, the ground became unstable. The two giants, followed by the Lords, ran straight toward the two Heroes.

"I'll take care of this."

Orion glanced toward Noah with a neutral expression.

"Alright. Let me do my part, and I'll be sure to hold this until your return."

Bumping their fists together, they nodded at each other. Before leaving, Orion threw a light jab at him.

"Don't go 'boom' on me yet."

Noah chuckled.

"Don't worry about me. Now go."

Without a moment's notice, Orion was already gone, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

Miasma opened his eyes wide in surprise.

'He could have killed me instantly. Why hasn't he done it?'

Looking at the Remnant's expression, Noah grabbed his hips.

"I'm your opponent. Focus on me."

Forced out of his head, Miasma growled.

"I know saying this to you won't amount to anything, but you truly were a thorn in my plans, you piece of shit."

Noah smiled, unbothered by the insult.

"I had heard about your crude speech. Provocation won't really do much for you."

"Let me release my bitterness. Since everything I've done amounted to nothing, I'll at least repeat the same mistake properly."

Dark clouds of smoke began to lift off the ground around Miasma, slowly choking the surrounding air.

'I've been made aware of this. Orion, you have my thanks.'

White light, imperceptible to Miasma, began to cover Noah's entire body, sealing his body in an airtight pocket of purified air.

—

"Miasma will slowly corrupt the surrounding air, sealing your magic and rendering you powerless."

"That information came directly from Henrietta and Tetra, so it's a trusted piece of information."

"As light magic is Miasma's weakness, use it to protect yourself during the fight. We'll think of the result together when the time is needed."

—

What caused his loss previously would not happen this time.

Seven elements began to form behind Noah's back, something different from Miasma's memories.

The five natural elements appeared behind his back as they previously did, but the light and dark elements also appeared in the center of the other elements, revolving in the opposite direction.

"I see you're trying to fight back your fate."

Miasma's entire body darkened, and his body grew as tall as a three-meter-tall giant.

Spikes broke through his spine, and his arms became the size of large logs.

"Wow."

Noah whistled lightly, slowly reaching for his breast pocket.

Pulling out a piece of ore from it, a crude sword formed in his hand, aimed at Miasma.

"Should we start?"

...

"Hmph!"

*BOOM*

The head of a 'Corrupted Lord', a massive beetle, was crushed under Orion's foot, leaving a large crater and a puddle of dark blood that seeped through its cracks.

'How are you feeling?'

Tetra asked, even though she could feel every fiber of his being listening to his every order.

'Pretty good. Honestly, I am genuinely surprised.'

A massive brawl of magic and melee attacks ravaged the entire territory, leaving scorched marks and craters everywhere.

All creatures were aiming at a single individual: Orion.

*ROOOOAR*

A sudden electric current caught his attention. As his eyes followed the path of a lightning bolt, Orion carefully jumped two steps backward from his previous location.

"That's highly dangerous, you know?"

He turned his head toward the source of the magic. The giant tiger with the body of a polar bear rapidly rushed toward him while destroying its allies' ranks.

"Being popular is quite a curse. Literally."

With a cunning smile, Orion lifted his arm in front of his chest. With the curse in his soul attracting the beasts, he prepared himself.

"If you want to kill me, you should be prepared to die."

The air around Orion turned heavy. His presence began to grow in front of the beast, intimidating each of them.

His darkened, empty eyes forced even the giant to stop in its tracks.

"Let's work this out quickly. We don't have much time left."

Inside his heart, a single sentence kept repeating. Tetra answered alongside his own wish.

'I want to go home.'

'Me too.'

Orion's body disappeared in a pillar of flame. In his left hand, a powerful spear made of the purest flames appeared, while in the other, a large shield protected his front.

On his lower back, metallic wings covered in water spread widely, clicking and ticking as they adjusted perfectly.

"Hecate, Cael, Celine. I will borrow your strength."

The hundred demons and angels ready to help Orion shared their power with him one after the other.

Through these six years, Orion learned each of their names, and obtained the power to fight back the endless enemies in his path.

Though borrowed, the powers in his hands were greatly appreciated.

Even if the knowledge was temporary, Orion could fight because of them. The mutual respect between him and the protectors of the past created the beast who ravaged the corrupt ranks.

"This is nothing to me. This is also..."

"A duty I have to accept!"

Throwing the spear in front of him with a light movement of his arm, he made use of the 'Overdrive' force with complete ease.

The artifact in his core, the 'Shackles', was one of his main focuses during his meditation, alongside understanding his void element.

Training his body with Procyon to heights even greater than before, the iron muscles he built before coming to this era became tougher.

Now, his muscles were as tough as titanium. Not even throwing the Hecate's spear with his full strength would injure his arm.

As the spear traveled toward the giant tiger-bear at a supersonic speed, the giant still managed to dodge it.

"Too bad."

With the full potential of the 'Fourth Gear', Orion appeared next to the spear, grabbed it, and pierced the giant's flank, spraying blood everywhere.

Celine's wings were stretched like a bird, helping him to achieve a speed breaking the law of common sense.

"Burn everything."

The tip of the spear, lodged inside the beast, began to sear its internal organs. As an effort to free itself, it thrashed around and opened its mouth.

Aimed at Orion, a breathtaking roar used to paralyze him echoed through the land.

"Shut that mouth."

Letting go of the spear, he smashed the shield into the tiger's lower jaw.

*CRACK*

Its bones shattered, making the beast suffer tremendously in the process.

But at the same time, the ground shook with more strength.

Glancing over his shoulder, Orion noticed the giant elephant-ox rushing him and the other giant.

"Nothing's as easy as we think, isn't it?"

'That just means we have our work cut out for us.'

Orion smiled while recovering the spear. He jumped off the tiger, and flew into the air thanks to Celine's wings.

"That couldn't be more correct."