After leaving home, Lakshman first took Valerian to visit Amaranda Lefrity, the Magic Titan. She was the closest member from the Nine Pillars of Power located near their house as she stayed atop her familiar, the Eternal Turtle. Within a few minutes of flying towards the open sea, they saw the sight of a large island that seemed to be resting on top of a massive creature.
“A turtle!” Valerian exclaimed loudly while flying through the air.
Lakshman chuckled and used his telepathy to communicate with the newly instituted Storm Titan, “Don’t speak while flying, or you may have to swallow some bugs.”
This made the other man flinch and nervous, which subsequently caused him to shut his mouth tight till they soared towards the giant turtle. Sensing them approaching it, the turtle let out a loud roar: “TRAAAAAA!!”
“Hey, Telker!” The Phoenix Titan greeted his friend’s familiar using telepathy. “Is Amaranda home?”
“TRRRAAAAARUUUUU!” The Eternal Spirit roared back in response.
“Great. Thanks for letting me know,” he replied appreciatively.
For Lakshman, it was much easier for him to simply use the Emperor Ranked Sensor Spell, World Sensor, to check if she was home and then teleport onto the Eternal Turtle using his Phoenix Portal. However, he did not wish to depend on magic for every small thing and wished to greet her in a more honourable manner.
Once they soared down and landed gently atop the turtle, Valerian finally opened his mouth and asked, “Sire, the turtle said ‘She’s home.’”
“I know. I understood what it said,” replied Lakshman with a smile.
Valerian did not doubt him for a second because he remembered how the Phoenix Titan from his time was able to communicate with his people, whose language was completely different from the language of the surface dwellers. Still, his interest was piqued by hearing that the person they would be meeting was a female.
“Who are we seeing exactly, sir?”
“The Magic Titan by the name Amaranda Lefrity.”
It seemed her name had sparked curiosity in Valerian as he asked, “Lefrity? That sounds like an Elven name.”
His comrade smiled and stated, “She is from the Elven race, more specifically a High Elf.”
This made Valerian nod in understanding, and he did not say anymore as he followed after his comrade to meet her. On their way, they saw a magical glowing sphere of light form in front of them before it disintegrated to reveal a beautiful woman wearing gold armament as if she was ready to do battle.
“Hey, Amaranda,” Lakshman greeted her cheerfully and raised a hand in greeting.
“Greetings, Lucky. I see you brought a guest with you,” she said telepathically with her eyes closed and a serene smile formed on her face.
“Huh?” Valerian asked with a puzzled look on his face. “Is this voice… yours?”
She merely nodded with her eyes and mouth closed with the smile remaining the same as before.
Valerian blinked in surprise before he heard Lakshman explain, “Amaranda, this is Valerian Stormdrake. The newly appointed Storm Titan. Valerian, once again, this is Amaranda Lefrity, the Magic Titan.”
“The new Storm Titan, is it?” Amaranda asked telepathically, and she focused her attention on him despite being unable to see him.
The Storm Titan was a little disgruntled by her way of focusing on him and turned to slowly ask Lakshman, “Sir, can she not... see or speak…?”
Lakshman nodded with a sad smile and explained, “Yes due to circumstances beyond her control.”
“Oh…” said Valerian shortly, turning back to face her with a troubled expression.
Amaranda ignored their words and widened her smile a little as she said, “Interesting. You certainly possess power equal to or greater than my own. This explains why Lucky chose you to be the Storm Titan. However,” and she addressed her question to Lakshman by asking, “what about Tempest, the Elemental Spirit?”
“That was a temporary membership that the Spirit King granted to support us against the Nine Testaments of Darkness. I fully intended to find permanent members for the roles of the Storm Titan and the Sun Titan and the opportunity to fill the Storm Titan role came before me when Valerian showed up.”
“Very interesting,” commented Amaranda in amazement. Then she focused back at Valerian and asked, “I sense that you are part of the ocean dwelling members from the power you are emitting but… it’s certainly not related to anything I have sensed before.”
“W-What?” Valerian asked while blinking in surprise. “You were able to guess I was from the ocean just by sensing my power and its type?”
“She honed her other senses to the maximum, allowing her to sense things that not even I am capable of sensing without use of magic,” stated Lakshman with a smile, which made Valerian become very impressed with the Magic Titan. Then the Phoenix Titan turned to her and said, “Yes, he is an ocean dweller. A Leviathan to be precise.”
This piqued Amaranda’s interest as she asked in a surprised voice, “A Leviathan?”
“Yes,” replied Lakshman firmly. “The last of his kind.”
Amaranda remained silent for a moment as if thinking about something before she said telepathically, “That explains it why this feeling was so unfamiliar since this is my first time meeting a Leviathan in person.” She bowed her head a little and said, “It is a great honour to finally meet a member of the legendary race from the ancient times.”
Valerian nodded appreciatively with his impression of her growing as he replied, “The honour is mine to finally meet someone of the Elven race after all these years. I can understand why you were appointed to be the Magic Titan. We of the Water Clan have always regarded your people with high regard for your willingness to protect nature and strive for peace.”
“Ah. Such words of your impression for my people is pleasing to hear,” she responded appreciatively.
As Valerian smiled, Lakshman raised an eyebrow in puzzlement and asked, “You don’t seem all that surprised to find that he is the last of his kind? Also, did I mention that he had been asleep since the ancient times?”
“Really? This whole time?” She asked, sounding surprised for the first time since their arrival. “It is impressive to be asleep since then but not too surprising to be honest.”
“Really?” He asked, sounding surprised by her statement.
“Well,” she began and turned to face him, “taking into account the unnatural things that keep happening to us, I believe it wouldn’t be all that surprising for this to happen. Such as, you being a reincarnating entity since the ancient times, my curse being passed down like a never-ceasing bug, and many other things that occurred over time. So, if one or two people from that time survived till now by either sleeping or being in hiding wouldn’t all that surprising.”
“Oh. When you put it that way,” said Lakshman with a smile and gestured at her attire. “Also, what’s with your clothes? Were you about to go out or do something?”
She shook her head and said telepathically, “I was actually on my way to head to your home after Telker informed me of an unknown creature making its way there rapidly. However, I stopped when I sensed that you engaged in combat against this unknown entity of great strength and power and defeated it. And as it turned out, that unknown creature turned out to be Valerian.”
This made Lakshman look amazed before he let out a small laugh to express his feelings. Valerian put on a wry smile and glanced sideways at his laughing new friend. Then he turned back to her and sincerely apologised before bowing his head.
“I suppose I did cause trouble and for that, I am truly sorry.”
There was a moment of pause, where Lakshman sighed with a tired look on his face. Then Amaranda faced him and spoke softly.
“The one you troubled was him, not me. Besides, I do not sincerely believe I could stand a chance against you judging solely based on the great strength, power, and rage you were exerting against Lucky. As such, I should feel a little relieved that I was not needed in this battle.”
“Huh?” Valerian asked, looking puzzled as he did not clearly understand what she said. “No way! No way! I mean, you said the same before, but I didn’t take it very seriously, but you saying it again is definitely not right. Just take a look at your power! I am sensing great power that makes me feel a bit nervous just being in your presence! So, I would not stand a chance against you one bit.”
She shook her head with a serene smile and said, “No. You are mistaken, Valerian. You only see what is perceived on the surface, but look below, deep below the surface and you will find your true potential. And then? Well, you’ll know what to do then.”
With that, she smiled sweetly at him and caused Valerian to blink in surprise before blushing a little and looking away. They continued to speak for several more minutes before Lakshman decided to move on from there since he wanted to introduce Valerian to the others as well.
“Well, see you later!” Lakshman said as he and Valerian rose into the air.
“Yes. Bye, madam,” said Valerian with a bright smile on his face.
“Indeed,” she replied before pointing her staff at Valerian before asking, “Also, would you stop that ‘madam’ thing? My name is Amaranda Lefrity. Call me Amaranda.”
“Yeah! Stop calling me ‘sir’ as well, will you?” Lakshman added to the question, turning to face Valerian in exasperation. “It’ll look like you’re our soldier and less than a friend.”
“Um…” Valerian began and hesitated before saying feebly, “This is all… new to me, so please… give me time to adjust,” then he looked determinedly at him as he finished with, “but I promise I will relax around you! I promise!”
Lakshman and Amaranda nodded in understanding and smiled in agreement. And so, the two warriors bid her farewell and flew off towards the Floria Kingdom, with Amaranda waving them farewell. Once they were gone, she heard her familiar roar questioningly, which made her nod her head in agreement.
“Yes, Telker. Judging by the potential I was able to feel from his exertion from earlier, I dare say he is as strong as Sevedant,” she said telepathically in a cool voice just as the wind blew quickly from behind her in timing with her words as she watched them fly off and disappear into the distance.
Meanwhile, Lakshman and Valerian continued to fly at high speed, which took them a few minutes to cover the forest before arriving near the barrier surrounding the capital.
“We should descend,” instructed Lakshman telepathically, and they soared down to land several meters away from the main gate leading into the capital.
“Why land so far away?” Valerian asked, looking confused. “Couldn’t we land near the place of your friend directly?”
“We could, but due to the capital constantly being under threat, there is a barrier in place to keep teleporters or unexpected visitors from directly entering the capital,” explained Lakshman with a smile.
“Oh! So, that’s why there’s a barrier around here,” said Valerian, and he extended his hand out experimentally as if he could touch it. “You certainly are being cautious. Has your place been invaded before?”
“A few times,” replied Lakshman with a wry smile.
“Oh. But couldn’t you just send in the Phoenix Clan to take care of the threat?” Valerian asked and pointed to the north of the capital. “I sense strong power levels resonating from that location. That is where the Phoenix Clan currently resides, right?”
Lakshman nodded and explained, “Good pickup. Honestly, the Phoenix Clan doesn’t possess the same kind of overwhelming strength that we once possessed back in the day. Right now, what we have is numbers who are mostly King Ranked while more are mostly Sage Ranked. Even the current Phoenix Emperor is only at King Rank.”
Valerian blinked in confusion and asked, “What’s a King Rank and a Sage Rank?”
When asked such a question, Lakshman simply stared at him before he heard Asura snort with laugher and say, “Ha! I was hoping someone would say it, and he finally did it! Ha! Ha! This is excellent!”
“Hey, you’re being disrespectful to the system placed by the Emperor,” sighed Lakshman.
“Oh really? A meaningless system that only works to incite conflict and difference instead of allowing all forms, ranks, and levels to mingle together on a single place. I don’t see any greatness in that.”
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Lakshman had to admit that Asura made a valid point. The original purpose for the ranks created by the Emperor of the World was to identify people with different capabilities and put them into their respective categories for easy identification. That was how he had created the Nine Pillars of Power by bringing nine titan ranked warriors together and granting them special privileges to act as the world guardians and as his rule enforcers. Afterwards, it became a thing that those in higher ranks would exploit, to look down, show disdain, and bully those in the lower ranks.
“I guess it’s a meaningless system that was implemented by a man called the Emperor of the World,” stated Lakshman with a wry smile.
Valerian blinked in surprise and asked, “Emperor of the World? Doesn’t that mean… you?” Then he knitted his brows together and wondered aloud, “But that can’t be? As far as I could remember, my people referred to you as the Demon that brings war and destruction.”
“Well, I never knew his clan thought so highly of me!” Asura thought indignantly.
Lakshman chuckled and said, “I suppose that does summarise what I was doing back then.”
His reaction made the newly appointed Storm Titan realise something before he waved his hand and said, “Sorry, sir! I didn’t mean to blurt out my thoughts like that! Also, my intentions weren’t to be rude. It’s just… this Emperor of the World was new to me.”
“It’s fine,” said the Phoenix Titan with a causal wave of his hand and began walking towards the capital.
“So, who was this Emperor of the World?” Valerian asked out of curiosity.
“Well,” began Lakshman and retold the events of the past during the War Era.
His explanation passed the time until they finally reached the front gate of the capital. Valerian was so absorbed in listening to his explanation that he was taken aback by finding himself at the front gates so soon.
“I can’t believe there was another who ruled the world after you,” commented Valerian in amazement, “and you said he did it with little difficulty? That’s amazing, sir.”
“Yes. He really was,” agreed Lakshman with a smile. Then he turned to Valerian and said, “Now, keep a low profile, and by that I want you to stay quiet and let me handle the talks. Okay?”
Valerian did not really understand why that was necessary, but he still nodded in agreement to follow the lead of his comrade. So, when they approached the gates to enter, the two guards halted them and demanded IDs from them. Valerian knitted his browns in annoyance at their disrespectful stance against their king, but to his surprise, Lakshman pulled out his Adventurer Card and showed it to them and then assured that his friend with him was new and will be joining his party since he came from a nearby village.
“Phew,” said Lakshman with a sigh once the two of them passed through the gates and entered the capital. “I’m glad they recognise me as the once pupil of the late Sword King by the ID.”
Valerian looked back at the guards, who were already checking on the next visitors, and asked, “I don’t get it. Why didn’t they recognise their king?”
Lakshman smiled as he explained, “The truth of the matter is that hardly anyone ever saw me directly other than those at the castle. So, to the people that live on the streets or guard the capital, they practically don’t know my face. On the other hand, they know me as the pupil of the late Sword King who goes by the team name Phoenix Knights. That’s why they were so friendly with me earlier.”
“Oh,” said Valerian shortly while blinking in surprise. “I’m not sure, but since it’s not hurting anyone, I’m not bothered to make my presence known.”
“I see,” said Valerian as he turned back to face the front and instantly his mind was diverted by the bustling street. “Wow!”
The Phoenix Titan smiled at his newest comrade and said, “Welcome to Floria Kingdom.”
They passed through the bustling streets at a normal pace while others passed by minding their own business. Valerian glanced from side to side, looking at the shops and at the chatting people with a wondrous expression on his face. It was not long before they reached the part of the capital where Dominic lived.
“The place was life with energy! That’s amazing!” Valerian remarked happily.
Lakshman nodded and said, “Yes. Despite the damage that was done to this place not too long ago, they still recovered fast and went back to their daily lives. They’re resilient after all.”
“I see,” said Valerian, looking impressed. Then noticing that there were fewer people here, he asked, “So, where are we headed?”
“My best friend’s place, Dominic Rutherford. He’s also the Sword Titan,” announced Lakshman with a smile.
“The Sword Titan? Does that mean he fights with swords?”
“Haha. I suppose the title gives it away, doesn’t it? But unlike the others, he’s the only human among us with the capability to stand with us.”
“A normal human who possesses the capability to stand with us? That’s incredible!” Valerian said, sounding very impressed. “I really want to meet this… your friend, sir.”
“Of course. There’s his house,” said Lakshman, and he pointed ahead to where a large home was located at.
They approached the front gate, which was closed at that moment. Opening it and pushing it inward, the two let themselves enter and walk along the path set by the stones laid on the ground to divide the front lawn in half. As they approached the house, a woman came out of the house to see who the visitors were.
“Who is it?” Shalany asked when she caught sight of Lakshman approaching her.
She froze on the spot with a look of disbelief on her face before tears of joy began spilling out of eyes. Then she quickly stepped down the stairs and rushed at him before giving him a grand hug.
“Ah! Lucky! Lucky! You’re back! You’re finally back!” She exclaimed happily.
Lakshman did not hug her back but instead patted her gently on the head while saying, “Stop crying, will you? I thought you’re happy, so why are you crying?”
“Don’t be silly. These are tears of joy!” She replied happily and pulled away from him. “When did you get back?”
“Yesterday,” he said simply with a small smile. “So, how are you, Dom, and the kids?”
“We’re doing great!” She said energetically before saying, “Wait till Dom finds out!” Then she hurried away towards the house while calling, “Dom! Dom! Look who’s here!”
“Who is it?” Dominic’s voice asked from somewhere inside the house, and Lakshman felt a warm feeling on hearing it.
“It’s Lucky! He’s back!” She declared loud and clear for the whole house to hear.
“What?! Really?!” Dominic’s voice exclaimed.
Then they heard the sound of hurried footsteps before his best friend appeared in the door frame of the entrance staring out into the open. When he saw his friend standing near the entrance, Dominic’s flustered face lit up with joy and excitement at finally seeing his friend again after a long while.
“Lucky!” He bellowed loudly.
In an instant, he vanished from the spot and reappeared standing a few meters away from him. This startled Valerian as Dominic moved forward and hugged his best friend tightly.
“Welcome back, my dear friend! Welcome back!”
“Yeah. I’m back, Dom,” replied Lakshman with a smile as he hugged his friend back warmly.
After separating, Dominic wrapped around his friend’s shoulder and began leading him towards the house while asking, “So, when did you come back, and why didn’t you let me know sooner?”
“I got back yesterday after spending quite a bit of time in another world,” explained Lakshman with a smile. “Also, sorry if I didn’t contact you, but I thought I’d surprise you as I drop by to let you know.”
“Oh! You cheeky boy!” Said Dominic with a grin as they walked up the stairs and entered the premisis.
Once inside, Lakshman saw that nothing had changed in the interior of the house. Except, there was a swing attached that cradled a baby inside who appeared to be fast asleep. Additionally, a person sat nearby playing with a kid that was energetically pulling on his mane.
“Ow! Ow! Ow! Will you stop that, Tom! It hurts!” Nara the War Titan exclaimed while the kid danced around laughing. “Oh? You think it’s funny?! How’s this then?!”
With an exclamation, Nara grabbed the kid and pulled him towards him before trying to pull on his hair. Instantly, the kid began to cry out loud in pain and fight fiercely to free himself from the War Titan’s firm grip.
“Not so funny now, is it?” Nara asked coldly, but the boy shook his head while wailing from pain.
“Mama!” The boy named Tom cried out when he noticed his mother enter the house. “It hurts!”
“Nara! Let go of him!” Shalany said sharply, to which Nara promptly let him go with a sigh.
Her son rushed over to her and hugged her tightly while she rubbed his head soothingly to calm the pain.
“Does it hurt? Oh. Here. Here,” she said to get her son’s attention. “Pain, pain, go away,” she said and leaned forward to kiss the part of the head that hurt. “Does it hurt now?” She asked while leaning back.
After sniffing twice, he shook his head and formed a small smile up to her. Feeling a rush of love for her son, she hugged him, and he too hugged her. Then from the side, he glanced at Nara and stuck his tongue out at him cheekily.
“Oh! You little rascal!” Nara exclaimed, rising to his feet and going after him.
“Oh, oh, oh!” The boy exclaimed, freeing himself from his mother and rushing energetically up the stairs.
“Why you…?” Nara said slowly with an irritated look on his face.
“He’s just having fun, Nara,” said Shalany coolly.
“Pulling on my mane is not the way to have fun,” retorted Nara coldly.
“He also likes you after all.”
“Yeah, well, if he liked me so much, he shouldn’t take out that likeness on my hair. It’s painful!”
As he grumbled, he heard laughter from the front and looked to see Lakshman and a stranger standing there.
“L-Lucky!” He said, feeling taken aback. “Y-You’re back.”
“Hey, Nara. How are you?” Lakshman asked, walking forward and extending his hand out.
“Ah. You can tell just by seeing what just happened, right?” Nara asked back, shaking the hands of his comrade with a wry smile.
“Yes. Yes. You certainly are having fun,” remarked Lakshman with a small smile.
This made Nara eye him in exasperation and ask, “Do I seriously look like I’m having fun to you?”
Lakshman simply laughed and turned his attention to his friend as he asked, “So, you named him Tom?”
“Yeah. Though, his full name is Thomas. Thomas Rutherford,” stated his friend.
“Good name,” commented Lakshman, and his friend smiled. “Then, what about this child?” He walked over to the swing with the baby cradled inside and as he peered inside, he immediately guessed that it was a boy. “What will you name him?”
“We didn’t think of a name for him yet,” admitted Shalany with a smile.
“Well, you better name him soon,” suggested Lakshman, to which his friend raised an eyebrow.
“Hey. You shouldn’t be the one to tell me that when you haven’t named your children yet.”
“I know, but I was busy training, fighting, and away in another world.”
“I was busy too, you know? Training for that Phoenix Calamity War, remember?”
Lakshman laughed as he gave in to his friend’s sound argument and said, “Fine. We’ll both think of good names for our kids, okay?”
“You bet!” Dominic replied firmly.
As they headed back to the chairs, they saw Valerian standing at the entrance and looking nervously at them.
“Come in, Valerian,” Lakshman called him inside.
“Uh. Okay, sir,” he replied and slowly entered the house.
“Who’s that, Lucky?” Dominic asked curiously.
“This… is Valerian Stormdrake! He’s the new… Storm Titan!” Lakshman announced dramatically. As they looked on in amazement, he glanced at Valerian and said, “Come on. Introduce yourself.”
“Oh. Um,” began Valerian nervously, “Hello there. I’m the son of Xavia Stormdrake, Valerian Stormdrake and like the sir said, I’ve been appointed as the Storm Titan. Pleased to meet you all.”
“The new… Storm Titan?” Dominic and Nara asked quizzically.
“I thought you already had a member designated to it?” Shalany asked curiously.
Lakshman shook his head and said, “No. They’re temporary members that the Spirit King granted us to fight in the Phoenix Calamity War. Now, I’m seeking permanent members that are suitable for the sport and can get along with the rest of us.”
“I see. That explains it,” she said, looking satisfied with the explanation.
“So, where did you find him?” Dominic asked curiously.
His friend shook his head and replied, “No. He found me,” and he explained about what had happened and also of Valerian Stormdrake’s past that lead up to that point. At the end of his explanation, he finally sighed and said, “That is how he’s come to be the Storm Titan.”
“That’s quite the long story,” commented Nara with a tired look on his face.
“Don’t be rude,” said Dominic from the side.
“It’s a fact.”
“Maybe, but you’re being rude to the person in question,” his friend said and indicated Valerian, who was making a sad smile. “Hello there. Valerian, is it? My name is Dominic Rutherford, and I’m the Sword Titan. This here is—!”
“Nara Simhara from the Simhara Beast Clan! I carry on the title of the War Titan!” Said Nara with a fierce smile on his face.
“N-Nice to meet you sir… and sir…” said Valerian, glanced from Dominic and looking nervously at Nara.
“Oi. You’re scaring the kid,” said Dominic coldly.
“Just giving him a good impression of me, that’s all,” replied Nara without a care.
Dominic sighed and asked, “How’s being scary going to give a good impression?”
“Hey. It’s better than you hiding your true colours,” retorted Nara coldly. Then he looked at Valerian and said with a smile, “Hey, Val! Be careful with that guy. If you make him angry, he may hit you just like he did with his wife!”
Dominic jumped at those words, and Shalany widened her eyes in alarm and exclaimed, “N-Nara! What are you saying?!”
“I’m only speaking the truth of what happened, though,” said Nara flatly. “This guy lost his temper on you and hit you! There’s no two ways around that, is there?”
“T-That doesn’t matter,” said Shalany as he tried covering up for her husband, “and besides, I was the one at fault there, so—!”
“What did you do?”
The sudden serious voice that resonated with power caused her to stop in mid-sentence. In the next instance, everyone looked at Lakshman as he was the one who spoke those words with such seriousness. At the same time, he was looking directly at his best friend with narrowed eyebrows with a serious expression on his face.
“What did you do?” He asked again in a cold voice filled with great seriousness.
“Um…? Lucky?” Dominic asked nervously as he was startled by the anger of his friend that seemed to come out of nowhere. “W-What’s wrong?”
His friend remained silent for a moment before asking again, “What did you do?”
As his friend blinked in surprise, his wife said to Lakshman, “Lucky, it was nothing. I was the one at fault at that time because I made him angry. That was all.”
Her friend glanced at her sideways and then back at his friend seated opposite him. Suddenly, he rose to his feet and walked out of the house at a brisk pace. Everyone was surprised, causing Valerian to follow after him and then came Dominic, Shalany and Nara. Once outside, they saw that Lakshman had stopped in the middle of the walkway with his back to them. Valerian stood a little distance away from him as if ordered to stay away.
“Wait here,” said Dominic to his wife and friend and then descended the landing to walk over to his friend.
“What did you do?” Lakshman repeated his question from before, causing his friend to come to a stop with a few meters away from him with the others watching from a distance.
Feeling unnerved by the anger his friend seemed to hold towards him, Dominic gulped and tried excusing himself with, “Lucky…! I was tired and very irritated with a lot of things that day, so I… I couldn’t help it!”
There was a moment of silence before Lakshman asked again, “What did you do?”
This time, it sank in Dominic that his friend would not drop the questions unless he would admit to what he did. So, he resigned himself and admitted, “Yes. I slapped her.”
There was a moment of silence between them as the wind gently breezed around them with the other three watching from the housed. In that instant, everyone there understood what was coming seconds before it actually did.
His anger finally peaking at his friend’s stupidity, Lakshman whirled around while shouting, “You… idiot!”
Hearing his yell and sensing the intense killing intent, Dominic cried out loud, “Seta! Armament!”
In an instant, golden armour materialised out of thin air and equipped themselves to his body like any other armour. In the next instance, Lakshman kicked off the ground and rocketed towards his friend at an incredible speed that one moment, he was preparing to move, and a blink later, he was already upon him.
“W-Wha?!” Dominic exclaimed in shock.
For Lakshman, it felt like everything was moving fast around him, while he was moving normally, while in reality he was the only one moving at an incredible speed. As such, it felt like time stood still for others as he approached his friend with the pure intention of defeating him. Upon reaching him, Lakshman unleashed his clenched fist firmly against the upper stomach area of his friend’s body.
On impact, the there was a powerful resonating sound that occurred from the fist making contact against the armour before a strong shock wave was released. Dominic widened his eyes in shock at the unbelievable power behind the strike while his armour broke apart and crumbled away as Lakshman continued with the movement and used his strength to direct his friend’s body in an upward angle before blasting him sky high at an incredible speed.
With his body flipping end over end, Dominic disappeared into the sky and vanished from sight. At the same time, destroyed fragments of the armor rained everywhere. Lakshman remained in that position for a moment before letting out a sigh and straightening up. The others came outside and kept looking up at the sky to see where the Sword Titan had flown off to.
Several seconds later, they spotted a black dot in the sky that gradually grew larger as it came closer to them. Then they saw Dominic continuing to spin end over end as he soared down like a meteor and smashed with great impact on the ground before his friend.
The crash landing caused the ground to shake slightly and dust to escape everywhere before it slowly disappeared to reveal him lying face down. The only indication that he was still alive and well was by his legs that stuck out, which continued to twitch with life.
“Get ready to have an earful from me when you get up, idiot!” Lakshman scolded his face down friend and turned away with his arms folded in front of him just as Shalany and Nara hurried to check on their fallen member.