Shortly after finishing off Demon Lord Envoy Amy, Raymed took a break with Kourin in the Siberian Forest. The two of them spent some time in the woods looking at the beautiful scenery.
"You did really well defeating that Demon Lord Envoy!" Kourin said, her eyes filled with stars.
"Thank you, though I may be overdoing it. I should hold back a bit more." Raymed looked to the southeast. Demon Lord Envoy Vine is currently running havoc in Japan. The magical energy expelled from there is so strong. "Fighting in the city would be a very bad idea. I need to find a way to avoid the city."
But something was wrong.
Another great force is manifesting.
"That can't be right! Is that a human?" Raymed asked.
Kourin nodded beside him. "That is a human. It seems he is using some kind of artifact."
"A hero?"
"No, I wouldn't say he is. Using an Artifact doesn't make you a Hero. It's much more sophisticated than that. To be considered a Hero, you yourself must be as strong as the artifact itself. Only by being equally strong will you be able to synchronize fully. If you remember, you used Ezel's armor before, right?"
"Yes, I did. Huh, that's true. I wasn't anywhere near this strong."
"Yes, you were never a graded hero back then even if you used a feature only a grade 2 hero may use. It's because I made a pact with Ezel at the time to release the most he can to help you fight. In exchange, the mana consumption would be higher than usual. Since the mana consumption is higher, the chances of Ezel himself being destroyed due to lack of mana will be close to zero. But the chances of the user suffering necrosis is almost always possible."
"I see, so using an Artifact without matching its own power is like leeching its own existence. Just like anyone else, an artifact too can suffer necrosis if too much magical energy from themselves has been taken away."
"That's precisely right. But since back then everything was so dire, I figured sacrificing safety for extra utility was the right choice."
Raymed took one more look at the forest before thinking again about the current situation.
Controlling light... does it mean I can travel at the speed of light?
No, that's not possible.
Even if I can manipulate light to make a Photon Propeller.
I can't reach the speed of light.
Not to mention....
Raymed closed his eyes and imagined what the speed of light would be like. In his fight against Amy, he managed to move so fast due to his own overwhelming speed enhancing his body. But to move at the speed of light, at 299km per second, is something unimaginable to Raymed. Even if he managed to do that, the weight of a million G-forces would black him out, possibly killing him.
However... if I accelerate at a constant of normal gravity, which is 9.8 meters per second squared.
In theory, I wouldn't feel any G-force crushing me. I could also take Kourin with me without any consequences.
But the scary part is how much energy I would be spending.
I wish I had the necessary skills to count it in detail.
But if I had to guess, I would need to use half of my mana reserve.
"Kourin, we have to move now." Raymed said to Kourin who was enjoying herself. Her face slowly became serious and she said, "Yes. Let's go."
Raymed nudged closer and hugged Kourin's body. He held her so close that their faces almost collided. With that, Raymed unleashed his raging wall, putting up a barrier of mana around both his and Kourin's body.
"Hold on tight. Don't let go." Raymed said as Kourin put her arms around his neck. He lunged before flying into the sky. Once up in the air, Raymed took a deep breath as he began imagining. Two Photon Thrusters supplied by magical energy using Light Energy Manipulation.
From his boots, light energy was concentrated and exhausted. This light energy was pushed in a certain direction, creating a force to push Raymed away from it, making them similar to that of a rocket jet. But this rocket jet was using photons instead of normal fuel, which meant Raymed needed to use more mana to fuel his Photon Rockets.
However, due to the absurd quantity of Mana Reserve Raymed has, the amount of Magical Energy is never an issue. In the next 21 minutes, Raymed will travel from Central Siberia to Central Tokyo.
BOOOM!
Raymed started his acceleration towards Tokyo, pushed greatly by his Photon Boosters. Every second, his speed gradually increased as he easily broke through the sound barrier. As he made his way towards China, Raymed began to ready himself. He understood that he wasn't able to stop himself instantly, not at this kind of speed. Stopping so suddenly would cause both his and Kourin's body to be crushed by the gravitational force of the Earth. Therefore the only way to brake was to accelerate in the opposite direction.
As Raymed was flying fast, exactly at the 11th minute, with pure instinct he maneuvered himself to face the opposite direction. His Photon Boosters on his feet were now facing the opposite direction, effectively decreasing his own speed by 9.8 meters per second squared. Doing this for another 10 minutes would allow him to brake and stop exactly at Tokyo.
Upon his successful braking, Raymed viewed the city of Tokyo in ruins. There were magic users fighting off the Demon army. They were exceptionally strong, but without defeating the core problem — that being Vine — the demonic army wouldn't cease its attack.
Raymed looked to Kourin as she stood distressed. He wasn't sure if she was distressed due to the scenery or if she was remembering something awful. Kourin opened her mouth and said, "That Demon Lord Envoy, Vine, has turned the Tokyo Skytree into 'his own.' I can feel corrupted mana all around the vicinity."
"I sense two people fighting Demon Lord Envoy Vine." Raymed said, feeling two great forces clashing with Vine.
"To combat Vine alone is actually very dangerous for normal humans. Since he is a Master of Destruction Magic, not to mention territory creation, which means he can raise structures with ease, particularly towers that are sentient enough to carry his orders. Mikoto and that unknown person are doing all they can to fight him."
***
Ninigi Mikoto 9999th, the Strongest Human in Japan, is currently fighting against Demon Lord Envoy Vine. It has been almost an hour since the start of their fight. Beside him is a man wearing a Victorian outfit who claims his name is 'Hero.'
Mikoto was a man with black hair and black eyes. At this point, he himself had been injured quite a lot, noticeable by the amount of blood here and there on his body. Even so, the armor he was wearing didn't seem ruined just yet. He was wearing a reinforced armor in the style of old samurai armor. That being said, his sword wasn't a katana, but rather a pseudo artifact reminiscent of a European sword.
The blade, even after all this time, still glowed red.
A thin smile was present on Mikoto's face. Even if things were dire, as the Emperor's next in line, he was ready to fight with all he had to protect his land. "Even if I won't have any limbs attached anymore after this fight, I won't back down." He proclaimed towards Demon Lord Envoy Vine.
Vine was a humanoid creature with the face of a lion but the manner of a man. He was wearing pitch black armor and riding his dark horse. "Humans are truly foolish. Clinging to hope won't get you anywhere. Soon, my king will descend and you all will know true power." He lifted his hand, casting a destruction spell.
Suddenly a flash of blinding light appeared in front of them, stunning them all.
"What the hell?" Demon Lord Vine said.
"That light!" Mikoto said.
"Heh." Noticeably, the man with the Victorian outfit threw his cigar to the floor before crushing it with his boot. "Took you long enough," he continued.
A man appeared between them. He was wearing white armor, his white cape fluttering with the wind inside the top floor of the ruined Tokyo Skytree. The man looked back, facing Mikoto, and asked, "Are you Lord Mikoto?" He said with a smile.
"Eh! You know who I am? Mr. Raymed?" Mikoto said in confusion, pointing his finger at himself.
"Eh? You know who I am?" Raymed replied with a dumbfounded face, pointing at himself.
"PAY ATTENTION!" Demon Lord Vine launched an attack abruptly at Raymed with a flame spell that looked like a thrown ball of fire. Raymed swiftly turned towards him with an unimpressed face and flicked the ball of fire away from himself.
"Guess we better deal with you first." Raymed said with a serious tone. "Lord Mikoto, if you die here, I think our chances of securing humanity's future will be at stake. My country will need help if that Demon King decides on a full frontal attack. Indonexta will be on the frontlines." Raymed walked closer towards Demon Lord Vine, raising his aura as his eyes glowed fiery red.
"Let me take care of this for you." Raymed lifted his fists, ready to fight Demon Lord Envoy Vine.
"I refuse to stay idle."
The response wasn't from Mikoto.
Rather, it was from the person wearing the Victorian outfit. He walked, positioning himself beside Raymed.
"Who were you again?"
"Does it matter? Well, since you are here — I am just a fake hero. A 'Faker,' if you will." The man with the Victorian outfit said with a smile.
"Got it, Faker."
Mikoto smiled, feeling the weight of it all. His pride wouldn't let him just walk away from the fight. But he understood that he too had another role to play. That was to protect his people. "I'll leave them to you two."
"Leave it to me!" Raymed said before locking eyes with Vine. "I usually ask first. But since you've already ruined this city, I won't."
"What are you blabbering about, human? You are but a..." As Vine blinked, Raymed suddenly appeared before his eyes, his right fist launching towards Vine's face. At the moment of impact, Vine was thrown out of the Tokyo Skytree through the window, crashing to the road below.
***
Demon Lord Envoy Vine was feeling powerless.
How can one single punch be this powerful.
Raymed speed-blitzed one more time with a kick directed at Vine's stomach.
The Demon Lord Envoy was launched towards a building. Upon maneuvering his position, he began gathering magical energy.
"Calamity. Destruction. Fire."
Raymed, seeing the chant, began to prepare himself. He charged his own magical energy, focusing it on his fist.
"FIRE STOR—"
SHURST!!!
Suddenly blood spilled from Vine's body as a hole was punctured through him. But Raymed hadn't touched Vine's body. He had launched something.
What the hell?
Could it be?
Air pressure?
Raymed wouldn't have made it in time to cancel Vine's spell chanting.
So he compressed air with magical energy and pushed it with his fist, making a 'ray' of air that blasted through his opponent. Due to wind being slightly easier to control than water, it was significantly much faster.
This person isn't human!
***
At the moment of weakness, Vine had no choice but to make an all-or-nothing gamble. He raised his hand before launching hundreds of orbs made of fire element, each launching towards Raymed, whom Raymed would counter each and every one of with his wind ray.
Expending most of his mana, Vine was left wide open as Raymed speed-blitzed towards him one more time, delivering an uppercut into the air. He launched several wind rays towards Vine, puncturing holes through his body here and there. Appearing below Vine's position, Raymed concentrated all his mana and gathered wind energy before releasing it toward Demon Lord Envoy Vine. "Zephyr Ray!" The ray made of wind element was released and destroyed most of the Envoy's body.
The remains of Vine's body fell to the ground near Raymed. He took out Blastur and swept it clean of the corpse, revealing the Demonic Core.
"Haah... Haah...." Raymed panted. It wasn't Vine that had made him so tired. In fact, what made him so tired was expending most of his mana using the trick to get to Tokyo so fast.
Even though I expected only half of my mana to be gone.
It was actually 90% of my total mana.
Fighting while maintaining the Armor was so hard.
That's why I had to resort to wind element magic.
Even with my Blessings.
I can't counteract the mana I spent so recklessly.
As Raymed started pointing Blastur towards the demonic core, someone stepped in and grabbed it away from him. It was the man wearing the Victorian outfit.
"What the hell, Faker?"
"Sorry, Hero. I need this."
"Huh? What for? You know what that is, right?"
"It's a demonic core. I am perfectly able to understand how dangerous this thing is. However, I can't afford to let this opportunity go." The man with the tricorn hat slowly held the demonic core in the palm of his hand and raised it towards his back. Then the demonic core suddenly turned invisible.
"What are you doing!?" Raymed asked angrily.
"I am digesting it." He said, looking down at the ground. "I see. So that's who she is."
"RAYMED!" Kourin shouted as she slashed her blade towards Faker. However, his movement was unordinary, as if teleporting — Faker suddenly zapped 5 meters away from them. Kourin didn't mind her enemy escaping, but she had to make sure Raymed was okay. "Did he do anything to you?" Kourin asked with a worried face.
"No, Kourin, he didn't do anything. But he did take the Demonic Core." Raymed explained to Kourin in a weak voice.
"I am not planning to do anything unnecessary. I am just here to find out the truth of it all." Faker stated. "Everything we believe in — I believe every person has the right to distrust it. Since the truth itself is not equivalent to the words of others, it is equivalent to the witness of your own self."
"But I will say this, Hero. That woman is a sinful woman. She will be the arbiter of destruction upon this world. This Demon Lord Envoy Vine was specially tasked to lure her out. So by now, you both have been played into their trap."
Kourin's eyes twitched in horror hearing the words from Faker. She began to shiver and said, "No. I am not. I am just here to..."
"You never told him the truth, did you? I know you were the cause of the 2012 incident. Everything that has happened is spiraling down because of what you did."
Kourin's memories started resurfacing...
—~
"I have been a researcher since 2012. My field was studying the theory of an unknown particle known as Mana."
"But I was betrayed by a woman known as..."
—~
"Arghhhh!" Kourin screamed in pain, caressing her head.
"Asshole! What are you saying about her!" Raymed stood up even though almost all of his mana had been depleted. He raised Blastur toward Faker in anger.
"I don't tell lies. What I said is the truth that I have witnessed after consuming information from those who have passed. If I were to explain it — I can eat a person and gain their memories as my own."
"I don't care if it is the truth you have witnessed. It isn't the truth that I have witnessed!"
"That's a sound argument. But know this, Med. If you continue on this path of yours, what awaits you is only never-ending hate and agony. At least, that's the plan in store for you by the Demon King Ars. Though I say I can extract memories, my power isn't perfect. Since I am not a Hero nor have I been chosen by an Artifact, I can't get the entire picture, but all I get are glimpses of a person's memory. Not to mention, I only consumed a Demonic Core, which is the 'soul' of the Demon Lord Envoy."
"Tell me, how am I a danger to everyone? I lost my memories. I want to make amends."
"I can't help you with that. But there's something inside you that lurks, and it is waiting to be let out. If you never find out what it is, then you are doomed to lose control when the worst comes to worst."
Faker suddenly took out a cigarette and lit it. "Lastly, I am sorry for the harsh words. I am just here to protect my daughter, whatever the cost." Faker turned his back on them and walked away. "The Demonic Core is safe with me. I won't hand it to anyone else, especially our mutual enemy Zuatha Il Zikmel. Who knows — when the time is right, I would be glad to give you a hand and put her in her rightful place."
Something inside Raymed had been stirring for a while.
His explanations don't seem hostile.
They seem rather grounded.
A familiar feeling coursed through Raymed's veins as he stared at the man's face.
"Who are you, really?"
The man stopped. Turning one last time to Raymed, he said, "I am Faker. I am no one of consequence." His figure suddenly went invisible until there was nothing left. Raymed, unable to catch the person's movement, suddenly cast Alterity, wanting to know where he had gone.
But alas.
"He disappeared?" Raymed's eyes widened.
For the first time, his Alterity could not detect a life force.
It was as if that person was never even alive.