(Written while listening to: "The Line" by Twenty One Pilots on youtube)
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Laito's glowing figure, still connected by a growing rope of flowing light to The Gate, took a step to join the fray.
Before his senses even registered anything, his body ducked on instinct honed(beaten in) by Master Marigold during their swordfighting lessons.
Laito pivoted to face the enemy that apparently managed to sneak in from behind to backstab him.
Then, he froze in shock.
Because what attacked him was something he didn't expect at all… despite the fact that he probably should.
It was himself.
Not the current light construct one, but him from the past.
The scrawny, nerdy looking ten year boy clad in chainmail draped over white robe, wielding a heavy cavalry sword, which just got used to slash at Laito's back…
And now was in position to strike again.
The S-WORDS clashed. Sparks flew.
Laito had no more comfort to act confused. He focused and started exchanging blows.
He noticed quickly that, whatever was attacking him, was capable of almost perfectly mirroring his skills.
Yes.
Mirroring.
Laito noticed that when he was focusing on repelling attacking Darkness creatures, something had again changed in the environment in the opposite direction from which the Darkness came.
Earlier, Laito observed the tsunami of black mist-like substance hurling towards The Gate, only to stop at the edge of the light.
But then, without him noticing, another wave of unnatural mist approached The Gate silently.
Unlike the one before, this one was pure-white. Not made of light. It didn't give off any glow, nor warm and just its touch was extremely deadly.
It was Nothing.
And the creature that was currently attacking Laito was one of the Others.
The Others were Nothing and what they wanted the most was to become something.
And to become something they need to be witnessed.
So Laito did his best to avoid looking in the direction of the milky mist that, just like the black one, had stopped at a certain distance from The Gate, as if shying away.
Laito was at loss.
The Other attacking him had very similar fighting skills, they attacked, parried, made feints and evaded with mirroring efficiency.
On top of that, the Other had Incandescent Chainmail equipped, which granted it additional defenses. Compared to Laito who had none.
He ordered Apollyon and Phantasm Warriors to stay where they were, at the opposite side of Nothingness, so that no Other potentially hiding within the white mist could steal their image, or use whatever amount of awareness that Echo's had to become something.
The battle continued simultaneously on two fronts.
On one side creatures corrupted with the influence of the Void that wished to extinguish all life fought the undead protectors.
On the other, the being of Nothing that wanted to gain its own life fought the living human.
Void and Nothing…
Technically both mean the same… and yet they are so different.
The battle entered a stalemate.
No more Others emerged from Nothingness, while the stream of Darkness creatures was perfectly manageable, by Apollyon alone.
But then, the situation changed again.
Just because the two mists stopped their advances at the periphery of The Gate, it didn't mean that they stopped moving at all.
No.
Both mists, black and white still moved sideways, continuing to encircle the stone platform.
And then…
They touched.
For a moment Nothing and Darkness struggled against each other, one trying to push over the other.
And then their clash began.
The Nightmare creatures suddenly stopped emerging from Darkness.
Laito's forces suddenly were left without an enemy.
The only fight left was between the boy that became a light construct and the Other that tried to become the boy.
Unfortunately for Laito their duel brought them too close to Nothing, so Laito couldn't safely call for help to not risk accidentally stirring the Others.
Their duel continued.
If there was anyone observing their fight(aside the giant eyes from below) they would swiftly notice the skills of the two fencers were indeed polished to the extreme(in the scope of their capabilities).
For almost an entire year, Laito was tutored in combat by an entire roster of battle-hardened Knights. Each of them with distinct styles and fighting philosophies.
Laito didn't create a separate battle-style for himself per se.
He just moved in what he considered "most efficient" at the moment. Restricting himself to any particular way of fighting felt too… restricting, for the fledging Knight.
But then again, Laito wasn't "only" a Knight.
At the moment a "Spellsword" would be more accurate.
And what Laito noticed after their quite prolonged duel…
Was that the Other he faced most likely couldn't yet speak. Maybe it haven't learned yet.
But what it meant was: no Words, no Spells.
Laito made a bet on this potential advantage.
He increased the pace of the blow exchange… and the Other matched his pace.
None yet managed to hit their opponent even once as until now they prioritized defence over offense.
Now they moved to attack.
With each slash positioning itself to strike again instead to deflect.
During fencing duel its important to maintain distance at the blade's reach.
Yet Laito tried to increasingly get closer and closer.
Until finally Lait jumped through close distance zone into direct body contact with the Other.
Of course that meant that he…
Got impaled on Other's S-WORD.
Sharp pain flared from Laito's chest.
In exchange, Laito got too close to use his own sabre.
Thankfully, he didn't plan to.
Laito embraced the imitation of his past self…
And stabbed the Misericorde right into its heart, a slim blade of stiletto perfectly missing the chainmail's tiny rings.
The Other screamed, but instead of escaping it also embraced Laito as if to assure mutual destruction.
What it didn't know was that Laito was currently under the influence of [Mark of Invulnerability] that he managed to cast stealthily.
Not the Mana powered version of it, but still. It reduced the damage he received by being skewered into a non-lethal one.
The Other felt itself dying. So it decided to abandon its current form. Dissolving itself into a puff of white mist…
And instantly wrapping itself around Laito.
'Not good!'
The reincarnator instantly felt the effects of being in contact with Nothing.
Beyond his vision all his Echoes, Memories and summons have disappeared. Returning to where they came from, whether to inside Laito's Soul... or wherever the Phantasm Warriors originated from.
Laito's self-awareness dissolved at alarming speed.
He was after all, just a… human? Definitely mortal. With no Will, nor True Name to resist getting dissolved into nothingness.
And he would…
If not for The Gate.
Just at the moment when Laito's consciousness was about to succumb…
A second rune lit up, sending out another, even stronger wave of light.
This time the flow of light that headed from Laito's body alongside the "rope" towards The Gate has reversed.
A small influx of Mana poured into Laito's body, strengthening his existence.
He was still conscious, but his self-awareness was not completely there.
Laito could see and feel. But his Mind didn't react to anything, as if he became a passive observer.
Just watching and remembering.
His newly acquired body started changing.
Earlier, it was brightly glowing with warm light.
Now the light still glowed, but it turned cold… no. Not exactly cold, but it wasn't warm either.
It just was.
His silhouette also changed.
Until that moment, Laito's Soul managed to maintain its previous humanoid shape.
Now it started to shrink… and fold.
Laito's body slowly turned…- into a small, perfectly shaped sphere of nothing-light.
Under the watchful eyes of the below ones, the rope that still binded the white orb to The Gate has slowly started to drag what was left of Laito towards the middle of the stone platform.
Right into the centre of the stone arch.
And in the moment, when the small white orb found itself at its destination.
The Gate fully lit up.
The Spell declared with joyous voice:
[You have turned yourself into the perfect Key to complement The Gate.]
[Your Soul shares The Gate's Light.]
[You are the Gatekeeper.]
[You got reborn from the Nameless Mist.]
[The Gate welcomes you in your joint communion!]
[May the Existence-Beyond-Space-Time be witness to the birth of The Beyond-One!]
The Gate released another shockwave of pure light. This time, it was infinitely larger than previous ones.
It spread in all directions. Enveloping both Nothing and Darkness and reaching beyond them.
It reached up, passing the swarm of Wolf-bats.
It passed through the clashing titanic red Dragon and tiny Sovereign, who somehow managed to still stay alive, defying all odds. The knowledge of a certain name being the tiny nudge, allowing him to pull up new tricks, letting him survive long enough.
The grand pulse of Light didn't stop there.
It phased through hard bedrock. It ascended higher and higher.
Until it reached the surface.
There stood a grand castle, with a tall tower that managed to recover its artificial sun.
Right below it, within a scholarly room, sat an aged white wizard, munching on freshly baked biscuits with a distant gaze. He was smiling.
Within the keep's walls the small number of surviving Knights were doing their best to maintain order, while aiding the civilians in efforts to rebuild. Among them:
A flamboyant Master, who constantly teleported here and there while complaining: "I'am not an errant boy! Where's that damn kid when he's needed...".
A pair of cultists was trying to replicate the effects of certain grenades, without the need to harvest a very difficult to obtain material.
Another pair of knights was leisurly patrolling the walls. A big-big gruff man and a hood-covered woman, that wore a rouge armor. They were holding hands.
A red-headed girl, who was finally allowed to resume her apprenticeship. She was training with a prop weapon at the moment, determined to one day become a proper squire... "
The Light moved further and further, until It enveloped the entirety of Forsaken Lands.
Including a certain savage lion, still locked in vengeful hunt for a withering ugly hag that attempted to abscond, after failing repeatedly to achieve her goals.
He was acompanied, by calm and silent druid-looking old man and a pale woman, with hunger in her eyes, dressed in crimson armor.
The wave of Light passed all of them, reaching the oceans on all sides of the continent.
And then the Light stopped expanding.
Everything within it stopped. As if frozen.
The Light pulsed once.
And the entirety of Forsaken Lands, everyone and everything within them…
Disappeared.
Ripped off from Reality.
Stolen from Fate itself.
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[You have devoured a fragment of a Mortal Realm: Forsaken Lands.]
[Wake up, Laito Yogami! Your Nightmare is over.]
[Prepare for appraisal…]
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[??? years left until MHA plot beginning]
[Chapter End] The story is not over yet
My tipping jar: [email protected]/marasis (change "@" into "a")
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Author notes:
BOOM!
Damn.
I think I might have overdone it.
But it felt so cool to write it!
Unfortunetly sometimes:
too-much-cool=cringe
The tastes are also diffirent.
But I have no regrets.
Btw. All that sounded very grand and all, but you can expect MC to actually get NERFED instead of getting stronger…
At least in the short run.
I planned for him to sacrifice almost all of his current strength in exchange for ultimate scaling.
You will see what I mean in a very short time.
Anyways.
See ya soon!
In the long awaited appraisal.