Many light years away from the Alzard World, there existed a planet that was the home of the aliens, who had a vast population with a wide variety of species who were all monsters. It was a world with great modern technology that could not be found anywhere in the galaxy. That planet also served as the main base of operations in sending ships with many monsters to take over or destroy other worlds by the order of their master, the Overlord.
Several hours ago, there was a ship that was on standby, which was given the mission to invade a designated planet, which was Alzard. While the preparation was underway and monsters boarded the ship, the three-eyed warrior was seated in the chair inside the control room of the ship with his eyes closed. He was thinking of the recent events that had occurred in the past ten days after managing to get back to the planet using the still functioning Teleporter inside the nearly crushed space ship.
After getting back, he faced a humiliating situation with the General of the alien army, who was a tall and muscly red coloured monster, and was reprimanded for his failure of taking care of one planet. At the same time, his colleagues jeered at him for his failure and seemed to enjoy the downcast look that the three-eyed person presented to them. He was so furious, he wanted to kill them all on the spot, but he maintained his composure and endured it because he had a mission given to him by his master.
“I will have my revenge. This, I promise!” He thought fiercely while clenching his fists tightly until blood started to seep as his nails dug deep into his palms.
A day later, they officially received the orders from the Overlord and the three-eyed person quickly urged them to get his ship ready. Originally, the people wanted to play with him and delay his work, however, they were disgruntled when the order came, not from the General, but from the Overlord himself. This made them realise that the mission the three-eyed person received was crucial and quickly got his ship prepared in ten days.
“Be glad it’s the Overlord that supported you. I would not have given you a second chance,” said the General, clearly showing his distaste but was unable do anything about it but vent his irritation this way. “Make sure you repay him for his kindness, otherwise, I’ll find you and kill you myself! Do you understand?”
The three-eyed person merely nodded with an extremely serious look on his face, doing his best to hide his irritation. He did not need to be told by anyone because everyone on that planet is fiercely loyal to the Overlord. This resulted from the time that he saved them from a deadly crisis and helped their civilisation reach their current stage in evolution.
One the tenth day, the preparations were complete and the boarding of monsters was finished, allowing the people in the control room to lock and seal the doors. When the people in the control room received the confirmation to take off from the master control, they turned and awaited to receive command from their ship master.
The three-eyed person, sensing that all eyes were upon him, opened his eyes and said, “Let’s go.”
With those two simple words, the people quickly got to pressing keys while looking at the display, which changed a few times. In an instant, the large metallic grips on the ship let go and the large space ship slowly glided away from the boarding bay into the open space. From there, it slowly moved towards the exit and flew up through the large hole above.
Once outside, the engines of the spaceship came alive and it sped away at incredible speed. It took the ship several minutes to break through the planet’s atmosphere and into outer space before the three-eyed person gave an order.
“Activate Hyper Drive towards Planet-93.”
“Setting course for Planet-93.”
“Setting complete. Activating Hyper Drive.”
As soon as the Hyper Drive activated, the ship was surrounded by a blinding light and, a moment later, it entered into Hyper Space, a space that allows its travellers to travel at speeds faster than light. It took them several hours to reach their destination that was several light years away. Once they were a few normal space-time hours away from reaching the planet, the people at the control deactivated the Hyper Drive and the ship came out of Hyper Space and glided slowly through space towards the planet, which was slowly appearing as the sun shone its light on it.
It was the sixth planet from the sun, a grey marble ball, no blues or greens visible from space, indicating no oceans or major greenery survived, the greyness of a planet totally transformed by technology into a metal construct, nature overtaken by the technical evolution, totally encased in metal.
“Arrival complete. Switching to camouflage mode.”
“Sir, we have reached Planet-93,” said one of the men, turning to face their shipmaster.
“Good,” the three-eyed person said, who nodded his head and asked, “Can we detect the location of the strongest power levels emanating from the planet surface?”
“It’s possible.”
“Get onto it then,” he ordered firmly.
With the orders issued, the men in the room began to operate the ship and used its detecting system to locate the strongest power levels from the planet. A few moments later, their search returned data on the planet and they informed him of the location and more.
“Sir, it appears the power levels are fluctuating wildly. It’s as if—”
“As if a battle is taking place,” the man finished his subordinate’s sentence and narrowed his eyes to form a sharp expression. He remained silent, forming a strategy in his mind before he told his men, “Okay. Let’s take them by surprise.” When everyone looked confused, he explained his strategy by saying, “They’re too busy fighting amongst each other to focus their attention on anything else and a battle with wild fluctuations only results in severe exhaustion. This is our chance to strike with minimal resistance.”
“Oh~!”
“That’s clever thinking, sir!”
As he nodded his head in reply, one of the crew asked him, “But sir, what if they aren’t as tired as expected?”
“Even under such a condition, we have the element of surprise. They’d be expecting us to come down to the planet’s surface to announce our arrival, but we’re doing something different this time. We’re teleporting into their planet’s atmosphere before any of them could detect our arrival and attack those with strong power levels.”
“Ah~!”
“Good thinking, sir!”
He shrugged his shoulders indifferently at their complement and said in a serious voice, “As soon we teleport onto the planet, deactivate our camouflage and fire the main cannon!”
“Yes, sir!” The men replied in firm voices.
After seeing the resolute expressions on their faces, the thee-eyed person nodded back at them and extended his hand towards the planet and said, “Activate the Warp Drive!”
Thus, they inputted the location of where the fluctuating power levels originated from and activated their Warp Drive, a different drive system to the Hyper Drive as it allows their ship to travel from one place to another within a short distance. This allowed them to vanish and suddenly appear hovering above the Hero Academy’s battle arena to launch their surprise attack.
★ ---- ★ - ★ ---- ★
Gram lay on the sidelines on the battleground and wore an expression on his face that was both shock and disbelief. He had expected that his opponent was hiding his potential, but this much was something he did not expect one bit. Lakshman had exerted his full might in one blast and pushed even more force into that attack, which destroyed the main cannon of the alien ship and collapsed from exhaustion. While that was happening, all Gram could do was watch with a horrified expression on his face.
“Incredible… He’s far beyond anything that I expected… Who is he…?” Gram muttered, recovering from his shock and turned to look towards the collapsed form of Lakshman.
Then he heard an explosion from somewhere nearby followed by screams, making him look up at the sky. The alien ship was still there and it seemed to be firing some kind of blasts from the smaller cannons all around its body.
He cursed and muttered, “Damn. It’s still there. Well, I may have been hoping too much for its destruction along with its main cannon. Oh well.” He turned his attention to his surroundings and muttered, “For now, better get out of here and find everyone.”
He jumped to his feet and ran over to Lakshman, bowed to the ground and hoisted the collapsed warrior over his shoulders. Surprisingly, for a man possessing such overwhelming power, he was not as heavy as Gram had anticipated. With him secured over his shoulders, Gram sprinted towards the door that they had come through earlier from their seats at the top of the building in hopes of finding the others and figure out what to do next.
When he reached the stairs leading towards an exit, a staff member noticed him and escorted him down to the underground, where everyone was currently at. Upon the staff member opening the door, a loud chattering sound was heard as its occupants were speaking hurriedly to each other; some in panic, some in anger and some in fear. He weaved through the mass in search of the people he recognised and, soon, he spotted them located near the other end of the room.
“It’s Gram!” Martin said, looking astonished to see his comrade there.
“He made it!” Maxwell said with a smile on his face.
“Ah! He’s here,” said Vikram indifferently.
He passed Lakshman’s unconscious body to two of the staff members, who laid him down on a stretcher. Only then was he able to look around and notice that many of the academy students were injured, clearly by stumbling and falling on top of each other in the earlier scuffle, as well as when the attack was fired.
“I’m glad you’re safe, Gram!” Bolten said, gripping the hero’s shoulders with both of his hands. “We were worried since we left you and Asura behind.”
“Were you able to destroy the ship, Gram?” Santa asked anxiously, moving a little closer to stand beside his brother.
Gram shook his head and turned to look at Lakshman when he said, “Unfortunately, no. We managed to destroy the ship’s main cannon, but it wasn’t enough to destroy the whole thing. And, just to clarify, I didn’t do anything; it was him again.” As they turned to face Lakshman with amazement, he continued on to say, “He spent all of his energy stopping the attack and firing his own that managed to destroy the enemy’s main cannon.”
“Wow…”
“He did all that…?”
“How is he, sir? Will he be alright?” Raze asked anxiously.
The staff members finished examining him and reported to her, “He’s fine, but is currently out cold from exhaustion. I believe using his power, all at once, left him quite drained. He’ll recover in a few hours at this rate.”
“That’s a relief,” she said and breathed a sigh in relief.
“Well, what’re we going to do now?” Maxwell asked the most important question.
“Yeah! The aliens are attacking again, and we need to stop them!” Vikram said in a firm voice.
Bolten raised his hands in a gesture of calm and said, “Please wait. We’re currently waiting for the situation on the outside from the League of Heroes. Only until we’re sure of the situation can we deploy you.”
“Ha?!” Vikram exclaimed in disbelief as if he misheard him. “You’re not serious!”
“Prince,” began Natsu with a serious tone. “Even with their main cannon disabled, they still have various others means to attack this city, such as firing their smaller cannons and sending in their ground units. It’s better that we deploy right now and head them off before a devastating carnage occurs.”
“I agree with Natsu, your highness,” said Maxwell in a supporting voice. “We have to protect the people and destroy the aliens before they destroy the livelihood of the people of this city!”
“Being on the sidelines isn’t something that heroes do,” added William with a sigh.
“I… I think we should fight! We are, after all, the Nine Heroes of Legends!” Fred said with determination filling his face.
Bolten looked at all the eight heroes before him and was amazed by their resolve to battle the enemy just because they are heroes and there are people in need of their aid. This made the first prince smile at the simplicity of their beliefs and decided to accept this resolve as his own.
Santa, however, was against it because that would break the order of the proceedings, and he made it clear when he said, “It’s not good to just go out and do as we please! There is a set order of things to follow and acting on our own will cause harm and possibly place others in danger!”
They were all amazed, and Vikram was the first to exclaim, “Are you kidding me?! Do you even understand what you just said? Break the order of things? Are you serious?!”
“Do you want us to wait for an order to save people and arrive too late to do anything?” Maxwell asked, a dark look forming on his face.
“While your point is correct, this isn’t the time to wait for orders. Sometimes, acting based on the reality check leads to a better solution than waiting around for something to move us,” said Natsu in a quiet voice.
For the first time, Santa got angry and said in annoyance, “Listen here! In this world, proceedings are placed with a structure!”
“If so, then what’s the meaning in summoning us?” Gram asked, taking Santa by surprise as they all turned to look at him. With a dark expression on his face, Gram continued to ask the second price, “What’s the meaning behind us being here? What’s the point of us sticking around and being useless? Why are we even called the Nine Heroes of Legends?”
There was a moment of stunned silence amongst them while the chatter around them continued on while ignoring them. A moment later, Bolten smiled at them and announced his opinion.
“I agree with the heroes, and if anything were to happen, I’ll take full responsibility for it.”
“Brother?!” Santa exclaimed while the heroes all smiled in relief. The younger brother implored his elder brother, “Please reconsider your decision! You don’t have to do this!”
“There’s no choice, Santa. Everyone’s taken by surprise and communications are in disarray. Right now, acting our part as heroes and protecting the people is the right thing to do,” he said in a calm voice. Then he smiled softly at his younger brother and said, “One more thing, Santa. I wouldn’t be a good king in the future if I don’t protect my people starting now.”
Santa widened his eyes in shock and seemed unable to say anything, but he sensed the wisdom behind his brother’s words. He soon stepped back with his eyes downcast with the clear intention of not wanting to interfere any further. Bolten smiled sadly at them and turned to speak to his sister.
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“Erza, what’s your opinion?” He asked in a cool voice.
Erza opened her mouth and hesitated for a moment before turning to glance sideways at Raze. In the next moment, she focused her attention on her brother and said, “Yes! I believe your decision is correct!”
“Thank you,” replied Bolten with a nod in appreciation. He turned to the heroes and said, “Please head out and do whatever you can to minimise the casualties and defeat our enemies!”
“Yeah!” Vikram replied firmly. He punched his hands together and said, “Finally, we’re going out and use our powers! I’m so hyped!”
“Yeah! I’m also eager to test out my powers as well,” said Maxwell, flexing his hands experimentally.
“Let’s stay focused and carry out our mission instead of causing more injury than assistance,” suggested Natsu with a firm look on his face, who was looking at Vikram.
Seeing all eyes turned towards him, the Sonic Hero became agitated and exclaimed, “Dammit! Stop treating me like some sort of wild man! I’ll do more and achieve greatness more than any of you could!”
Bolten smiled and came up with an idea, which he put forward to the others immediately by saying, “I have a great idea. Whoever has the most achievements will receive a great reward and will be permitted for some more comforts!”
“Shot gun!” Vikram said, punching his hands together again with a grin on his face.
While everyone was excited, Gram was the only one who remained calm and snorted as he said, “You’re such a child.” He looked down at his hands and clenched them tightly while thinking, “I will win! I’m a prince! I must win!”
★ ---- ★ - ★ ---- ★
Several minutes later, eight of the Nine Heroes of Legends arrived at the surface, wearing armoured clothing and wielding a Hero Weapon with fitting their ability. The armour they wore was formed by activating an Armoured Ring, which they had received together with their backpacks. As soon as it was activated, it took the measurements of the clothing and instantly created armour that would match each individual in boosting their abilities.
“This is such a mess…!” Fred muttered with a sorrowful look on his face.
The outside was nothing but chaos. Everywhere they looked, there were destroyed buildings and damaged vehicles littered on the streets. Monsters were flying around, firing energy blasts from their hands and mouths while engaging in combat against the members of the League of Heroes. This world’s registered heroes were doing their best to push them back but the sheer mass of enemies was easily pushing the heroes them back.
“We need a plan of attack,” said Natsu, turning to face his group.
“Do we need a plan to attack?” Vikram asked in exasperation.
“It’ll help us fight better than performing random attacks,” Natsu replied with a serious look in his eyes.
While Vikram sighed in exasperation, Maxwell nodded his head in agreement and said, “I think forming a strategy is a good idea because, look, there are a lot of monsters and the people are still being evacuated.”
Gram, who was becoming irritated by this discussion, interjected by saying, “Then here’s the plan… Attack!”
Without warning, he surged with power and kicked off into the sky, creating a wild wind that buffeted them. As he soared, the monsters caught sight of him and a group of them flew towards him, letting out their monstrous roars. He directed his flight towards them and unsheathed his sword from its scabbard before cutting down several monsters in a blink of an eye.
The surviving monsters held back and launched mega blasts at him from both their hands and mouths, and in retaliation, Gram held his sword in front of him and seemed to activate it. In an instant, a powerful barrier formed around him and the incoming attacks exploded on contact while the barrier did not let a single attack to touch its caster. A few seconds later, his sword began to glow brightly and, he swung it around in a full three-sixty degree turn while deactivating his barrier.
A strong wave of slicing energy was unleashed from his swing and it soared to all sides at an incredible speed. The wave scorched the monsters in an instant and turned them into ashes and continued on until the energy decreased and it vanished from sight. With that, he got the full attention from the other monsters and they flew towards him with a deadly intent to kill.
“Wow…!” Fred, Martin and William muttered, staring up at their comrade in awe.
“Show off!” Vikram said, looking irritated. He began walking forward while saying, “Well, you heard the man! I’m also attacking!”
“Wait!” Natsu called him hurriedly, but Vikram was no longer listening.
He summoned his headphones and put them on before starting to run towards the monsters on the ground. A grin formed on his face, and he exerted his powers, causing him to suddenly move at a speed that he seemed to become light. As he reached the monsters, he would cut them with incredible force before moving towards the next monster at super speed, punch it as well and move onto the next one with while moving at a blinding speed.
“Well, no point sticking around here and watching them achieve the most merits,” said Maxwell, winking at Natsu before rushing towards the hero group fighting desperately against the wave of monsters.
He imagined his weapon and summoned a Machine Gun, taking aim at the monsters and firing rapidly at them. A rapid blasting sound was heard as bullets flew at an incredible speed and riddled the monsters with them, causing several to be killed in an instant. Their attention diverted by his arrival, the monsters turned around and flew towards him while firing energy blasts at him.
The machine gun vanished on the spot, and with the visualisation of his new weapon, he summoned two Pistols. He gripped them firmly with both of his hands and started firing rapidly at the oncoming attacks. Within seconds, he launched many bullets and they pierced into the energy blasts, causing them to explode a few meters away from him. This caused the other blasts to explode one by one after getting in contact with the already exploded energy blasts.
Roaring madly, the monsters flew through the smoke and attempted to bite into him, but they were shocked when a sudden louder bang went off and the monster at the front collapsed with a head shot wound. The monsters paused, taken by surprise by the sudden death of their leader and saw that their enemy had switched his weapons, now wielding two longer weapons that were known as the Shotguns.
“Eat lead, you stupid idiots!” Maxwell shouted, aiming and firing the shotguns.
With unbelievable accuracy, he shot the monsters directly in the head and they went down with a single hit. Even as the monsters reached him with the intent of ripping his head off, Maxwell switched his hold on the weapons and used it to smack the monsters across the face while twisting his body around. As they were diverted away, he switched his hold on the weapon once more and began firing again, taking out the monsters with incredible skill and ease.
The advantageous situation started to crumble and became dangerous when he saw many monsters headed his way all at once. They fired blasts from their mouths and from their hands while many more were charging forward in an attempt to cut him down with their sharp claws. Due to him not yet being fully in control of his powers, he was slow to react and started to get injured as some blasts hit his weapons and destroyed them, which resulted in him getting hit by the explosion.
“Oh no!” Martin exclaimed in a fearful voice.
“Maxwell’s in trouble!” Fred exclaimed while his eyes widened in shock.
Natsu watched as the Gundas Hero was injured by another explosion from the destruction of his weapons, he immediately issued out commands to his comrades to rescue him.
“William, shoot the monsters down with your arrows!”
The Titanium Hero, realising the sense in his comrade’s command, immediately obeyed it and replied with a grin on his face.
“Okay!”
He summoned his Hero Weapon, a bow, and extended his hand out to the side to catch a newly materialized arrow. He knocked the arrow to the bow and took aim before telling Natsu.
“Just so you know, this is my first time doing this,” he said with the clear intention of not wanting to give them too much hope.
“I'm confident in your powers,” replied Natsu in a firm voice.
William shrugged his shoulders and aimed his arrow towards the monsters before launching it. The arrow sailed away at super speed and soared through the air until it struck one of the flying monsters right above Maxwell. It was a deadly shot because the monster suddenly spasm and fell, collapsing onto its comrades down below. This startled the nearby monsters and allowed Maxwell to blast several of them with his shotgun before backing away to safety.
“Wow! I totally didn't expect that to happen,” said William, stunned at his own amazing ability.
“That was a good shot, William. Please keep it up and cover Maxwell!” Natsu told him.
William knitted his eyebrows together in seriousness and replied, “Sure!”
As he began firing arrow after arrow at the monsters, Natsu turned towards Fred and asked, “Fred, please proceed towards the officers and assist them in the evacuation! Martin, you go with him as well to provide support.”
While Martin looked surprised, Fred looked anxiously at his comrade and asked, “Are you sure? I'm more useful here than helping those people,” but Natsu shook his head in denial.
“No. You're better off helping them because they are defenceless. Just take a look at how unorganized they really are. They're practically struggling to keep an effective communication between each other and proceed smoothly with their mission. Besides, I believe the people will be less worried if a member of the Nine Heroes of Legends came to their rescue.”
Fred looked a little taken aback by that statement, and Martin anxiously asked, “Are you sure we can do it? I mean, Maxwell's supposed to be good but he's struggling already, so how can we do any better?”
To this, Natsu formed a cool smile and said, “A Wiseman once said in my world: 'Focus your mind, and anything is possible.' Same thing here. Believe in your ability and fight hard, and you'll definitely succeed.”
Martin still looked doubtful, but Natsu clapped him on the shoulder and turned to speak to Fred.
“Get going, you two. The people won't save themselves,” he said with a wink and a smile.
Finally strengthened in his resolve, Fred nodded silently and began to hurry away with Martin right behind him. They were headed towards the only path to the people, which was being blocked by a wall of monsters that Maxwell was engaged in close combat with.
“Shall I create an opening?” Ward asked telepathically as he came to stand next to Natsu.
“Please,” Natsu responded shortly.
Ward lifted the book in his hands and it instantly fell open to a certain page with writing that only he could understand. As the book began to glow in a bright green colour, he aimed his hand towards the wall of monsters and said the spell name telepathically.
“Ground Breaker.”
In an instant, the ground beneath the monsters began to shake violently before it exploded, sending monsters flying in all directions. Fred summoned his shield and activated it, which formed a strong barrier in front of him, protecting them from the flying debris.
As they passed Maxwell, the soldier from another world asked, “Where are you going?”
“To help rescue the civilians!” Fred replied loudly.
Maxwell nodded once in understanding and shouted, Good luck!”
“Thanks!” Martin shouted back while Fred merely waved his hand.
While the monsters were in disarray from the sudden attack, the two men crossed the destroyed portion of the ground and were soon disappearing behind some ruined houses. Natsu watched them go with an anxious look on his face, and seeing this, Ward spoke reassuringly to him.
“Don't worry. They're heroes like us, and they're strong.”
“Yeah,” said Natsu in a quiet voice, turning his eyesight towards his hands. Then he thought, “Everyone is indeed strong and powerful in their own way.”
The reason all of them were able to perform as well as they did despite not having prior practice was due to a discussion that Natsu had with them earlier. It was during the time that they were at the lockers to pick up their Armour Rings when he brought up the subject of their powers and how to use them.
“I believe our powers are based on our abilities judging from the names we all received,” he had said, “and the way to use them is basically visualising what we want to do or want to happen by activating the summoning spell. Take Maxwell for instance, all he needs to do is imagine a gun type he wants to use and it’ll materialise.”
“Really?” Maxwell had asked, looking amazed. “So, if I imagine having a grenade, it’ll appear?”
“Quite possibly since it fits your Hero Ability of Guns and Artillery.”
“Wow… This means if I accidentally visualise a Nuclear Bomb, then we’re all dead meat!” Maxwell muttered and shuddered by the fearsome repercussions that would bring.
Natsu nodded and began to explain each of their abilities that he was able to guess and come to some kind of understanding just by seeing their Hero Weapon or their title.
* The Tempest Hero is capable of summoning a sword and creating storms and lightning while allowing him to use various other magic, like fire and the raw form of energy
* The Sonic Hero is able to run almost as fast as the speed of light while wearing headphones that cover his ears entirely. He also surmised that Vikram could summon some kind of instrument that creates loud sound that disturbs its victims, such as a sonic boom or sound blast
* The Titanium Hero has the ability to summon a bow and fire arrows as many times as he possibly could. Even the arrows themselves could depend on the visualisation of its user, such as making them become Fire Arrows, or Exploding Arrows, and things like that
* The Dynamism Hero is able to control magnetic objects and move them around, such as metal, steel and the such
* The Gundas Hero possess the ability to summon any gun or bomb that its caster visualises, and surmised that anything with high calibre weapon would require him to possess a great amount of power and skill
* The Bulwark Hero has a shield that he can use to protect himself, his comrades, and maybe it could be used as an attack but that depends on the way Fred was willing to use his Hero Weapon
* The Walmeky Hero was basically about possessing a magic book and can use extra ordinary magic spells
He was giving them the explanation while they were retrieving their rings, activating them and wearing the armours that were made specially for each of them. By the time his explanation came to an end, they were nearly on their way to the surface.
Gram, for once, showed his soft side by praising him with, “That’s some splendid explanation you gave us, Natsu.”
“Yeah! You even explained how my powers might work even though mine are pretty vague!” Martin said enthusiastically. “You’re smart.”
“Thank you,” replied Natsu with a smile, looking a little pleased with himself at the newly increase respect he received from them. However, they did not know of the trouble he was feeling in his mind as he thought, “But what about me? What is my ability? What can I do? What is up with my title? What does ‘Zeklock Hero’ mean?”
Question after question sprouted inside his mind and now, facing the horde of monsters along with his comrades, he was troubled again by him not understanding himself. All he could manage to do was use his high intellect to issue commands to his fellow heroes and lead them to possibly achieve an uncertain victory. At that time, he had no idea that his undiscovered ability was far greater than any of the abilities possessed by the other heroes.
★ ---- ★ - ★ ---- ★
In a place far, far away existed two beings who are the only known existences in that place. One was lying down on the field of flowers while the other was swinging off the swing located near the sprawled figure. The man lying down was Lakshman, and he was sleeping peacefully with his eyes closed and a calm expression on his face. The person swinging on the swing was Asura, and he was moving back and forth while eying his current self-lying on the field of flowers.
Silence stretched in that place for an unknown amount of time in Lakshman’s Unconscious World before Asura broke it by speaking in a voice full of wonder.
“You really are something! Using all of your energy, fighting with all you got, and even risking your life for the sake of others…! Seriously! Just what kind of man did you grow into?”
No response came, nor did he expect it to come out of a sleeping figure while Lakshman remained asleep. He thought back to the way he was in the ancient times, which was nothing in comparison to Lakshman’s kingly, righteous hearted character. Asura was a cold-hearted man with a firm hold over his clan and led them to bring down destruction onto those that did not yield to him and fought back against him.
He felt regret, many times, for taking lives that he cannot restore, however, he still continued to do it for the sake of the future. For his brother’s bright future, a world at peace, he even challenged the gods, and was gifted along with his clan, which put the Phoenix Clan above the rest of the world. No one stood a chance, and all eventually bowed down before the Phoenix Clan’s overwhelming might.
The biggest regret of his life was being unable to save his family; first his parents, then his wives, and finally his brother. Because of his decision to stain his hands with blood, his family paid a heavy penalty, and he was left all alone. This is why he looked enviously at his current self, who was far different and better in every aspect, making him respect Lakshman greatly.
“If the world was a better place… If I had an upbringing like you… If I was surrounded by lovely and supportive people… I… could’ve been like you,” he spoke regretfully, wearing a smile of sadness on his face.
He was distracted when, suddenly, the entire place started to shake a little by a small tremor, but it did not wake the sprawled figure on the flower bed. Instead, it had an effect on Asura, who shifted his attention away and focused up at the white space situated above them.
“What’s going on? There appears to be a lot of disturbance taking place outside,” he muttered, eying wearily as the battle for the control of the Alzard World raged outside. “I suppose it’s the alien invaders. What a nuisance they are becoming.”
He sighed and wondered out loud, “I don’t like this. Apart from Erza, who’s our wife, I don’t like anyone here. It’s strange to the point that I feel like an alien myself in this world. They even had the audacity to conveniently have us fight these monsters while making it look like they’re pleading for help, but I know it’s their fault!”
Then a thought struck him, and he muttered, “Or maybe this is for the better since it got us to meet Erza before she met him.”
He suddenly got very annoyed and said, “Ah…! This is too much to contemplate about!”
Sighing deeply, he looked towards his current self-sleeping peacefully and wondered out loud, “What would you do, Lakshman? Would you fight the aliens, or leave the people to their fate?”
Obviously, a sleeping person was unable to reply, but Asura knew the response he would have given.
“I will fight!”
Knowing the answer, Asura chuckled lightly and words that Lakshman said echoed in his mind.
“If they cry out for help, I’ll save them. I may not save everyone, but I’ll save those that I can. It’s the least I can do with my powers.”
He chuckled again and thought back to the past, during the time when the Ancient Evil suddenly attacked. With the loss of his family, he had lost all hope in the world, but not wanting to end his own life, he fled from his clan duties by passing them onto the next in line. Due to him not being there, the Phoenix Clan was nearly destroyed by the Ancient Evil’s surprise attack, and they managed to survive only due to the Dragon Emperor, which was Lagron, and the Dragon Clan coming to their aid.
“I am a coward,” he muttered, smiling sadly with his fists clenched tightly. “I may be strong, but even with my powers, I couldn’t save anyone, and even ran away because I couldn’t deal with it. I… I am… a failure…!”
As tears began to form on his face, he immediately wiped them away while muttering, “I don’t have the right to cry! I’ve lost that luxury ages ago! I’m just a fragment from the past, still shouldering the punishment of my crimes but… I want to change… I want to… be different…”
One again, a tremor occurred in that place, and Asura looked up before letting out an audible sigh.
“Things won’t leave us alone, will they?” He asked jokingly, then let out a small laughter.
He got off his swing and stood on his feet before turning to look down at his current self’s sleeping form, who had a peaceful expression on his face. Asura liked it, that no matter the difficult situation he faced, and the threat being extremely great, he never lost his inner peace, something Asura never had as he was always riddled with turmoil.
“I’m going up,” he said to Lakshman, who did not respond. “I don’t know how good I will be in doing what you do, but I’ll try my best. Since you can do it, I should be able to do it, too. We are, after all, one and the same.”
He remained silent and continued to smile down at Lakshman before he waved his hand and said, “See you later.”
Shifting his clenched hand to the centre of his chest, Asura closed his eyes before particles of light started emitting out of him. As the particles left him, he started to lose his form until nothing remained as his consciousness rose to the surface to take charge. He wanted to change, to be different, but he was not aware that the change in him had already begun.