Chapter 78: Earth, Wind and Fire, Part 12

The information overload nearly destroyed Jonathan's consciousness, but immortality went hand in hand with adaptability. He was probably the only one capable of assimilating information not designed for a human brain and surfacing. Jonathan stood up at the bottom of the crater created by the impact of his fall. He climbed to the top, almost crawling, slowly and clumsily. Still... Disoriented.

He still didn't understand everything, but he knew this wasn't a fight he could win.

Not here, not like this.

As much as it pained him, he would have to flee with his tail between his legs. No. No. A damn strategic retreat, that's what it was.

He never ran. He was like a god among men.

So what?

These aren't men.

Jonathan shuddered.

Being weak, being... possible to defeat. It was one of the few things he had lost and didn't miss in the slightest. There was nothing beautiful about the fragility of human beings.

It was just painful and terrifying.

He was in this position because he had already lost everything. That had precipitated his search for the island, for the secret weapon that turned out to be immortality, along with a strange System of Statistics and Skills. He literally had nothing else to lose, but still didn't want to become human again.

That's why there was only one solution, Jonathan thought as he emerged from the crater, while the army of monsters surrounded him and tried to reach him, unsuccessfully, as he had directed all his energy to the wall of death surrounding him.

Kill the creatures in the sky, writhing, changing shape, size, mass.

No.

It was actually a single creature.

That wasn't even in this universe, but extended to several adjacent universes at the same time. For what purpose, he preferred not to know, but that's why it was impossible to defeat under these circumstances. It was like trying to kill someone by stabbing their reflection on the surface of water.

The monsters kept dying before they could even get close, and Jonathan staggered forward, traversing the ruined city once again.

Looking for the guy he had saved in that strange parallel dimension, before falling into this place.

He didn't find him.

The guy, Sylvester, found him.

He came flying, accompanied by the vaguely feminine inhuman creature that seemed to follow him everywhere, along with one more. A kid with horns. If Sylvester and the woman's (for lack of a better term) style was modern, then the boy's style was even older than his own.

It could be from another culture or a more underdeveloped region, he supposed, it wasn't impossible. But Jonathan believed he was a human being from another world, just like him.

"There's no chance of winning," Jonathan didn't waste time. There was no reason not to get to the point. "We have to get out of here."

"If we don't try..." Sylvester protested. Something must have changed. Suddenly he had some guts, some fighting spirit. Before he had just hidden behind him.

"I already tried and obviously didn't succeed. I don't think you'll do any better. The thing we're fighting isn't even here, not entirely, to begin with." Before anyone else could protest, he quickly added: "I'll explain everything to you. But in due time, not in the middle of this hellish war zone."

"It's not going to be easy," the woman protested, anyway.

He wasn't used to people challenging him, let alone women. In his world, the three would have already turned around, running. Eager to follow each and every one of his orders.

That's what being an emperor was like.

Damn, he hadn't even been gone a day and he already missed it. It wasn't such a terrible position after all.

"Are you not listening to me? It will be difficult, but defeating that creature here is impossible. Do whatever you want, but I'm leaving. And when you die miserably, you can't even say I didn't warn you."

Jonathan set off, his head still exploding. If they didn't want to listen, he didn't have to waste time convincing them to do what was best for them.

It would be convenient to lose his first point of contact with this world, but nothing more. It wouldn't kill him, but if he died, all the better. Then everyone left in this world on the brink of ruin would do anything to get his help.

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So it was up to them, that was their decision.

"Wait," Sylvester stopped him, grabbing his shoulder. "We'll go."

He thought that would be enough, but apparently not for the woman. Women.

"Why? You don't know him."

"I know enough. And he's scared, I can't wait to get out of here. That's enough for me."

For a few seconds, Jonathan vividly visualized running Sylvester through with his sword, tearing out his entrails, looking him in the eye as his life faded away.

Just a few seconds. Controlling that impulse, above all because he knew that if he did, he would only prove him right.

And so it was.

He was afraid.

Gods, what a strange feeling. Fear, again.

Trying to pretend it hadn't bothered him at all, Jonathan embarked on the journey...

Wherever, but far from here.

What scared him most was that the only thing he knew was that insisting on fighting under these circumstances would be a sure defeat.

But he had no idea what he could do to change it.

A strategic retreat without strategy... Come on, yes. It was just that he was afraid. Leading to survive, not because he had a plan. It was shameful, but it was time to admit it. At least no one but him had to know.

He hoped something would occur to him by the time they reached a safe place.

The situation was even worse than he had thought. They weren't just devouring the city, they were erasing it. There were pieces where nothing existed. A void, like a tear in the air. Everywhere, and more and more.

Sylvester apparently realized.

"Yes, we saw it on the way here. It didn't start long ago, but soon..."

The man fell silent.

Jonathan didn't understand. They knew that, but still took so long to make the decision to leave? Well, it was their world. And these people were living beings. They had things they loved, things they wanted to protect. That it wasn't the same for Jonathan didn't mean he couldn't understand it.

He had sworn it the day he killed the Count.

Gaining true immortality, eliminating the only person who could kill him.

That he wouldn't lose his humanity, that he would be better than him.

So at least he had to try to understand it.

Sylvester gave the retreat orders with a device in his ear that allowed him to talk to other people miles and miles away. It was hard to believe, but apparently there wasn't a hint of magic involved.

He had to be someone important, if he could give such an order and expect to be obeyed. Jonathan had been lucky. The first person from this world he had encountered, whom he had saved, was more important than he had thought.

Fate was smiling on him, as always, even if it didn't seem so at first.

In the end he always found a way, so he would manage now as well.

It wasn't difficult for them to avoid the army of monsters. They went across the rooftops, and the collapsed buildings, fallen in the middle of the streets, serve as bridges to other taller ones. The woman, whose name was Heather, and Sylvester flew. Caim kept up with them with a multitude of tentacles he could summon and dismiss at will, making him look like a monster from the depths of the sea, cold and wet.

As for him, he simply took advantage of his superhuman strength and speed.

He could propel himself with a series of explosions, as he had done towards that being, but it was a difficult flight to control.

Besides, his head hurt terribly. He wasn't in the mood to use that method, and this one worked without problems. Running on the ground and walls, taking big leaps, making the most of the environment.

Not as good as a pair of wings, of course, he was always behind. But he had no trouble keeping up the pace.

This is how they reached the outskirts of the city. Being about to cross the threshold, a strong wind howled, pushing them back. It was evidently something unnatural. Although it was the least of their worries right now, Sylvester and Heather didn't seem very surprised, but hadn't felt the need to share this detail. Why?

Jonathan smiled.

There were only two possible reasons, and one of them was easy to rule out.

He wasn't just a war machine, he was intelligent.

But it was none of his business, as long as they didn't get in his way.

"This is nothing," Jonathan said. "Come here."

The three gathered around him. Jonathan stabbed the ground with his sword and activated one of his various Skills, creating a yellowish-green defensive field, transparent, although only on the side of the people it defended.

He didn't use it much since, no matter how good a defense was, it wasn't very useful against an immortal being.

So he wasn't very familiar with its use and on top of that he usually used it only to protect himself, of course. The energy required to protect all four was considerably greater. But Jonathan's source was practically inexhaustible. Practically eternal, like him.

Leaving the city didn't pose a significant problem either.

——

Sylvester sighed.

Not even twenty-four hours had passed since the incident. Of course, he hadn't slept a wink in that time. Many sleepless days awaited him before all this was over.

Although of course, that was the least of it.

At least he had survived, like all his friends and companions, including the new ones. The newcomers from non-hostile worlds. At least for now. They knew nothing of the multiuniversal war, as he had suspected.

Rather, it existed.

The same couldn't be said for the city whose name he had never learned. Now he never would.

Everything had disappeared without a trace, as had the people who must have died in the disaster. Must have. Because there were no records that such a city existed. The videos, the photos, the traces of paperwork. Everything had disappeared, without exception. Even the survivors weren't sure what city they had lived in before this.

Even they only retained the vague feeling that they had been involved in the incident in some city.

He suspected that would disappear with time too. Soon.

And then it would be as if that city had never existed.

That was what was at stake, what could happen to all of humanity.

Could?

Jonathan had said too much, but the truth had become apparent, not even he had a plan. So what could they do besides wait to be erased by a cosmic fucking vacuum cleaner?

Earth, Wind and Fire, Part 12: END