Arc 6. A seemingly endless loss
Road to a Hero:
Three Chances in Another World
Chapter 59. ORDER! ORDER!
As Gray continues to make his way back to the mayor’s office, he’s met with a large crowd of people running toward him. He instinctively climbs a nearby building, trying to make sure he doesn't get trampled again, and while he’s up there, he takes the time to ask where they’re going.
Gray: “HEY! WHAT’S GOING ON!?”
A few of the civilians yell an answer as they run back to their homes, but it’s muffled by all of the panic going on. Gray, now panicking as well, begins running across the rooftops to make it back to the mayor’s office as fast as he can. While he does this, he takes some time to think about the state of the city. Even though they’re being attacked, there aren’t Anarchists running around attacking anyone, it’s a bit barren. What were once streets filled with soul, they’re empty. Broken glass on the ground, bits of food scattered around, and abandoned shops make it feel like the entire cities have been evacuated.
Gray, still without his cloak, wonders if he’ll be able to win a fight without it. All he has is his wrist talons, his armor, and a sword on his back, which isn’t anything, but his fear still has some ground. Every time he’s had an utter victory, it’s been with the cloak. It saved him from falling off the castle when he was fighting Jeremiah, as well as against Calgary, Caesar, and Arthur, but now he’s here.
With the five acres of land in sight, he notices that there are no more people in the area. What was once a seemingly never-ending amount of people running for salvation is now a completely vacant area as quiet as a mouse. Cautiously, he walks through the gate and toward the courthouse, where Ganga, the mayor's assistant, should be stationed. Once he makes it inside, he sees nobody around, panicking him even further.
He begins running through the halls, screaming for anyone, but nobody responds. Once he makes it into the main courtroom, he finds somebody. A figure in one of the Sect’s robes put him on his toes. Though it’s a bit different, looking more like a poncho than the long cloaks he’s used to, and he can tell she isn’t wearing a mask either. With the intent to figure out her identity, and to learn more about what’s going on, he doesn't attack and asks for her name.
Gray: “Hey lady! I'd like to talk to you, so could I get your name!?”
The woman turns around, flinging her arms into the air, revealing her identity.
Ganga: “What’s wrong Gray!? DON’T REMEMBER ME!?”
Gray: “Oh you’re super evil.”
Gray is confused to find that the mayor’s assistant is an Anarchist, but isn’t given time to think when she abruptly attacks. Mana leaks from her chest, falling right out her OD, pulling the spirits from the atmosphere to create four black arms with a purple aura. This immediately reminds Gray of Jeremiah, who seemingly has the exact same power. The three-fingered arms launch at Gray, bursting through the courtroom’s seats to get to him, causing bits of wood to fly everywhere.
Gray takes out his sword, swiping at the arms.
Gray: “HEY! THIS POWER’S COPYRIGHTED!”
Ganga: “DO NOT SPEAK TO ME ABOUT THESE ABILITIES! I SHOULD NOT POSSESS THEM! YOU DID THIS, YOU SHOWED ME WHAT I COULD DO….WHY, WHY, WHY!?
Her way of speech and constantly changing pitch also reminds him of Jeremiah. He flows mana around the blade and swipes at one of the arms, but unlike Jeremiah, they aren’t weak. He bursts mana throughout his body, ducking and jumping over the arms, trying not to get hit.
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Gray: “THESE ARE SUPPOSED TO BURST WITH JUST A BIT MANA! YOU’VE UPGRADED!”
He continues screaming at her with a cocky tone in his voice, trying to anger her further. The arms split off, spawning eight shorter and weaker arms to attack Gray with. Ganga maintains her distance, trying her best to keep Gray away. Gray, flipping and sliding around to dodge her arms, spins in a circle, slashing at the arms. Then, two of the arms merge into one right before they land, clashing with Gray.
He forces the blade down the arm, pushing as hard as he can without injuring his body. He puts one arm in front of him, flowing mana into his palm.
Gray: “WALNIC!”
The transparent blue sphere forms around Gray, protecting him for the time being. He closes his eyes, and opens them, using his spirit senses to boost his reactive ability. Ganga uses the arms to hit the dome, attacking at random intervals with each of her arms, trying to catch Gray off balance. With each strike, the shield lessens in power, even beginning to crack. He lets the shield go and dashes between the arms, using his increased sensory abilities to do so.
Mid jump, he swings his sword down, sending out a blade made of wind and mana that’s kept together by the spirits.
Gray: “BREAKER!”
Ganga uses the arms to lift herself out of the way, and then quickly charges Gray. Gray lands and prepares to defend against the arms, but she suddenly uses another ability. He stares into her eyes, filled with both sadness and hatred, along with her sinister smile, reminding him of Jeremiah as well as Carla when she licks her lips. Then, further reminding him of Carla, Ganga's arms leak mana, forming into crescent moon-shaped blades around her hands.
Gray: “GOT THE WHOLE FAMILY BACK TOGETHER!”
Ganga: “DON’T SPEAK OF MY FAMILY YOU AWFUL, ANNOYING, AND BRATTY CHILD!”
Gray: “Awh, you hurt my feelings. Say you're sorry!”
Gray continues to smile at Ganga while she rampages towards him, breaking the room as she gets closer to let out her rage.
Gray {I don’t think Walnic can tank this…damn I wish I had my cloak right now.}
Gray: “EL-WALNIC!”
Gray casts El-Walnic, a much stronger version of the basic shield spell. It creates a much thicker shield, though he still needs to remain to use it. The shield easily absorbs the impact, but using a spell Gray has yet to master, it crumbles only seconds later. Gray leaps forward at her, trying to strike at her head, but she uses her blades to block the attack, then follows this up by rushing arms to Gray’s back.
With Gray's sword wedged between Ganga’s blades, he flips himself upward, barely dodging the arms, and flips around her. Mid-flip he throws another breaker, and right before it hits her, she mixes all of her arms into one, creating a Goliath arm to block the attack. Due to the size of the attack, it almost grabs Gray, so to dodge he kicks the air, slightly pushing him up enough to jump off of the ceiling.
The Goliath's arm rushes toward him, so he boosts the finite amount of mana his sword can handle, tries to fuse it with pure spirit mana, and stabs it into the arm. Now, because the arm is made of mostly spirit mana, this gives Gray an idea. Right before the arm can close its hand, the white snake-like pupil in Gray's pure black eye spreads through it, cracking the darkness. Once it bursts through, signaling his entrance into the spirit state, and allows the arm to try and crush him.
Ganga: “YES, YOU FOOL! DIE, DIE, DIE AND I WILL TAKE REVENGE ON YOU FOR MY LOST CHILDREN!”
Right before the arm can completely close, as it slightly touches the armor on his back, it begins to bubble. Ganga tries to get it to maintain its form, putting all of her might into it. Her mutated spirit magic ability should follow her orders, this is because spirits are normally in a hibernation-like state, but when somebody with a large connection to the spirits asks for help, they wake up.
The spirit's mana within the arm begins pulling itself apart, making sure it doesn't harm Gray. Then, in an exploding finish, the Goliath arm unravels, dropping Gray to the floor.
Ganga: “HOW…HOW!? NO!”
Ganga stomps her foot over and over, like a child having a tantrum.
Ganga: “I have been working for so long, having to deal with so much, for this!? THIS!? THIS WAS MY MOMENT! MY REVENGE! I DID ALL THEY TOLD ME! AND USED WHAT THEY TOLD ME!? THIS ISN’T FAIR!”
Gray lets the black shell within his eye recover the blinding white light that is the spirit state, holding it back.
Gray: “Now you’re really reminding me of Jeremiah. He whined and cried for his mommy and daddy when he died, and he stared me in the eyes with tears streaming down his face. It was pretty pitiful.”
Ganga’s voice begins to crack as she continues screaming. The blades on her hands melt away so she can drag her nails down her face, causing them to break. He watches as her eye drowns out, turning completely white with black lines going up and across, creating four squares within her eyes.
Gray immediately remembers what this is, Charlie's ability to push and pull things by charging up his eyes.
Gray {This was an issue, I don’t know if I can block it with the spiritual state…and I don’t know if I should waste stamina to find out…dammit, I shouldn’t have wished for a boss fight…Also, Charlie is not an intimidating name, and his brother, Don? Those names are such ass}
Gray, while running toward Ganga, grabs his sword, and launches another breaker at her. Then, her eyes split into a grid of three over three, causing the power to jump to six. Gray, shocked, doesn't stop and speeds toward her. Ganga dodges the breaker while charging up her ability. Gray closes the distance almost instantly, trying to slice off her head. In just a second, in the blink of an eye, faster than thought, two out of the six white boxes turn black and send a devastating blast toward Gray. It rips the wooden floor apart, knocking Gray back, and bursting through the judge's podium.
Gray: “Ugh…can we call it a recess?”
Ganga: “SHUT UP! DIE, DIE, DIE!”
Gray: “You were much nicer as a kinda bitchy assistant.”
End of Chapter Fifty-nine