Moments of peace were always time to be treasured. Before now, things were a lot simpler. Training, a bit of socialization and then classes. Of course, some of the training was extreme, but it was nothing like being out in the field.

During times of peace small things like hanging out with friends were so special. Remembering the little details about another person. Spending time laughing with people. That was what life was to Anthony.

He was able to discover this through hanging out with Cecilia, Talia, and Sariel. Those three were a part of his close-knit group and he couldn’t imagine life without them. Before meeting them…

I probably felt exactly like Terios. Lost, depressed, and lonely. I always felt like there was something missing. A hole that couldn’t be filled.

I wondered why I was born into a world like this. If this was some kind of sick joke. If God existed then he was playing a cruel joke.

I started to hate Vin-Sync with every fiber of my being. They claimed what we were doing would benefit mankind. But they were putting us through inhumane experiences.

I started to resent them and the world. The people we were protecting who didn’t even give a fuck about us.

Once the relationship between me and Cecilia grew. That bitterness in my heart changed. Instead of wanting everything to fall apart. I wanted change.

Good change. I wanted to see the positives that we were making. Maybe we could make a difference in the state of the world. So nobody would have to live in fear.

This feeling that I got in my chest. It spawned from love. It was gratitude. I was grateful for what I was given. Grateful to be born.

I understood what my purpose was through my friends. It was making sure they were okay. Making sure I could reach a hand to help more people.

It was because of them where I got my name from. They are my oasis.

That is where I get my strength from. I only get stronger the more the odds are stacked against me. Because I’m not just fighting for myself. I’m fighting for them.

He took a moment to stop a few miles from the Church as he caught his breath. He took in the scenery and then started to stretch a bit.

“Once I get into their field of vision I won’t have a chance to relax. If things had gone as planned the three of us would have easily taken hold of this place.” He sighed as he looked up at the night sky.

QuikFlash was a strong ability. Very versatile with the things that he could pull off with it. However, it was very stamina heavy. He couldn’t keep this ability up for long despite it being one that he used mostly.

On a good day, he could keep it active for an hour. That was also if he never deactivated it. There was an activation cost. He used it twice to clear Belial’s leftover demons. And once to come to Cecillia’s aid.

Add in another time just to get here. This was putting a lot of stress on him which caused him to chuckle a bit.

“A hero’s back against the wall like usual. I admit, this is pretty grim. I know nothing about Abigail and her forces. If we were to fight now.”

He wondered if he would win. In his current state, he believed he could if he fought cautiously. But, getting to her would be another story. He still had known threats like Terios and Anna. Not to mention the unknown threats.

“Maaaaaybe I should have let her tag along. Hehehe.” He chuckled nervously before running his hands against his face. “No… we couldn’t leave Talia alone with the humans. We shouldn’t even have told them about us.”

He was starting to draw a blank as he wondered what to do then realized he wasn’t really the planner of his squad. Normally Talia would do that. She was too valuable to lose. The thought of that happening nearly made him sick.

“Never been one for plans. I’ll just take out the guards and then rush into their base and seize the Queen. If I run into anyone else, I’ll quickly deal with them!”

His aura exploded out of him as he started to run across the plains. It was anything less than quiet and sooner or later the guards would be alerted.

“Enemy alert! Let the Queen know!” One of the snipers said.

“You do that. I’m going to kill him.” The other sniper mentioned as he started to look into his scope.

“You’ll never hit him. He’s too fast.”

“I’m not trying to hit him. I’ll aim to see where he will be.” The demon mentioned as he quickly put his mathematical skills to the test. Trying to pinpoint where Oasis would be and when. After pinpointing this he fired.

Oasis continued his trajectory. Right now he didn’t seem phased by anything, not even the one who was preparing to take a shot at him. Once he noticed the bullet in his field of vision he gasped for a bit.

He was surprised that this demon could keep up with him. He was wondering if he was this drained, or if this guard was that strong. The bullet bounced off from his body due to how fast he was moving and the protective Either around him.

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If his ability worked like normal superspeed he would have been done right then and there. Thankfully in order to add an extra layer of protection he had to work to increase his Either output and sustain a protective barrier around himself.

This surprise was going to be used in his favor. He wasted no time running up the building of the church leaving the four guards on the ground speechless. They fired off a barrage of bullets from their guns, but each one was easily dodged.

“Abiga-” That was all one sniper could mutter.

Oasis was there. His elbow struck his throat and left him gasping for air. Afterward, Oasis immediately cracked his neck. Twisting it so far around that his neck elongated slightly.

The other sniper tried to strike back, but Oasis moved so quickly that he passed him. He increased his speed even further as he went back down to the ground.

The men who were still firing blindly were unaware of when their target would return. Unfortunately for them having their backs turned was the wrong move. He immediately rushed towards one of them and punched him in the back of the head to knock him out.

Afterward, he took hold of their rifle and started to make it rain with bullets. The others screamed out in pain as they could barely register what was happening.

The sniper hearing their screams then decided to raise his communication device before trying to contact his Queen. “Abi-”

Much like before he was cut off as the back of his head was whacked with the blunt end of the rifle, effectively knocking him out. Oasis looked down at him before deciding to start his search at the entrance.

“Guards handled. This might be easier than I thought!”

He entered the Church and quickly darted around. The entrance was empty… Most of the halls were also empty. It was a big Church, but it was also kind of rundown and old. The floors made a lot of noise when he ran against them.

Eventually, he saw someone coming out of the restroom. It appeared to be none other than Anna. He wasn’t going to hold back now. He bolted and she turned to spot him and gasp.

WHACK!!

One hit was all it took to have her laid out on the ground. She couldn’t even put up any defenses as she fell onto the ground unconscious.

Oasis didn’t want to deactivate his ability, so he continued to move past this. What if he could clear this entire Church without even running into anyone of note? This might be his lucky day.

Soon he found himself in the lunchroom. It was a rather spacious area with about five long tables that looked as if it could fit twelve people. The tables were bare aside from the tablecloth that covered them.

Thankfully for him, the next room was right up these stairs. All he had to do was walk over towards them and head up. It would have been so easy… well it would have until he saw a giant monster.

“Oh great… nobody mentioned anything about giant werewolves.”

Standing in front of him was a big, hulking humanoid wolf with gray fur. The monster snarled and yelled before smirking and licking his chops.

“You will not make it any further than this. I’m going to gut you like a fish!!”

His claws were absurdly thick and sharp.

From the size of those claws… this fight will be over in two hits if he manages to nab me. Thankfully, I’ll end it before he even has a chance to strike me down!

He wasted no time… after all, right now Oasis was a force of nature. Pure energy that could not be stopped once he was set in motion. He blurred off and went directly for the monster. His right hand balled into a fist.

SMACK!!!

What the?

Something was wrong. Something felt wrong.

“That all?”

The werewolf then attempted to cleave into Oasis, thankfully all he managed to his was an afterimage.

After this faint, Oasis went all out, delivering an onslaught of fists. It was hard to keep track, but it was estimated that he delivered about fifty strikes before the enemy could even react. However, when he did he delivered a thunderous kick which sent our hero flying back, crashing into one of the tables and breaking it in half!

“Uggh!!”

I focused everything I had on offense. My attacks did nothing!

He took his time getting up, hoping to avoid any splinters. The area where he was kicked; his right oblique was now throbbing. How much Either was packed into that kick?

He could take a look… channel his Either into his vision to see what could not be seen. But… if he did that he would have to deactivate his ability. While in this mode he could only enhance his aura to attack or defend.

Anything else like extending his energy, specifically channeling it into one area was impossible. Would it be worth it for him to do this? No, he didn’t want to deactivate his ability. Not until he cleaned the house.

“Lucky shot!” He zipped back towards the werewolf, delivering a flurry of strikes to the same area as before. The abdomen. With his speed and power continuous damage to one area would eventually cause the body to collapse.

Yet, the enemy still acted as if his attacks were doing nothing. Once again he raised his leg up and attempted to swing. However, Oasis was waiting for this and nimbly avoided it by hopping over him.

While in the air he clenched both of his fists and in this instance, they acted as if they were high-caliber machine guns. Striking numerous times without any sign of stopping. He was determined to keep his goal of ending fights quickly.

His ability was simple yet effective. Speed and power. That was all he needed. No mere human could keep up and even demons struggled behind. His fists essentially were becoming pure energy with how fast he could move his body.

In just twelve seconds he was able to deliver twenty-five strikes directly to the monster’s head before he could even react. Oasis then narrowly avoided a strike attempt from the beast before he garnered some distance between them.

“Were those attacks? It felt a little weak!!”

“No way… not even a scratch? I doubt even a high-ranking demon could come out unscathed from that.”

Something’s wrong… my attacks aren’t hurting him. I could run past him, but leaving him around is dangerous. It could cost me.

“Are you shaking in your boots!? You must be scared, huh!? You want to know something, kid? You’re going to die here.”

“Shut up!!” Oasis increased his output. Radiant sparks of his aura emitted from him. It was really amazing how much control he had over his aura.

He wasted no time rushing in. Attempting a strike toward the creature’s face. But, he wasn’t as fast as before… The monster noticed this and went for a devastating slash attack. However, when he expected to hit flesh, instead all he hit was air.

Mirage Step

The Mirage Step was a trademark ability of Oasis’. There were two variations of this technique. He could use it with QuikFlash by making use of his speed to create afterimages of himself. Or if he wanted to save energy he could merely bend the light around the area to imitate this effect.

Now that the enemy’s attack was forfeited he appeared and performed a violent leg sweep, knocking him off of his leg. While the monster was in the middle of falling onto his back, Oasis leaped up.

Spinning a few times like a hedgehog to garner speed before allowing both of his legs to stomp down on the monster. This additional force caused the floor to crack a bit underneath them. However, he wasn’t done yet.

Oasis had a very serious look on his face as he started to stomp a mudhole into the creature. Running in place with everything that he had. It didn’t matter how strong you were, something like this was bound to end you.

Yet, the monster was able to resist and even landed an attack on him.

SLICE!!

“Agggggghh!”

Those long arms aided with a claw attack directly along his abdomen. Ripping through his shirt and causing a lethal wound. The boy quickly leaped back, landing on the ground with his back and sliding across the ground.

He groaned out in pain as he kept one eye closed. The pain was so much that he even ended up deactivating his ability. That surge of aura faded and now he looked as helpless as ever.

“That’s the look. The confusion. The anger. The fear. You’re going to die here.” The werewolf growled as he released an intense amount of Either, red in color.

It was… more Either than he’s ever seen before in his life. This was the amount a demon lord possessed. What the hell was he thinking? He slowly stood up, clutching his wound with his left hand.

But the monster charged, becoming a beam of red for a moment before he appeared in front and delivered the meanest knee known to man.

SMACK!!!

The impact was so strong it sent him flying up into the air. Oasis didn’t know where he was right now. His entire body was spinning through the air like he was some kind of stuffed animal. To add insult to injury the werewolf wasn’t done.

He used his strong hind legs to leap up, in pursuit of his target and delivered a strong double-handed strike, enhanced with that devastating aura. This sent the genome crashing onto the ground and causing a fair size dent in the floor.

He lay there stunned for a moment, surprised all of this was happening. He soon slowly turned onto his side as he stared at the ceiling and then his view was blocked by the large enemy standing above him.

“Time for you to die!!!”