While Ichiro was engaging with an unknown opponent to him, the Round Table of Ichiros was monitoring it. 13 seats stood near the circular table, one of which was vacant. On the round table, a holographic simulation of an arena was projected. Every detail, including those hidden behind the walls, was visible. It was the lone source of light in the futuristic chamber, radiating with blue light. Nine different Ichiros were operating the holographic boxes, each executing their assigned task. The remaining three, one with glasses, one youthful, and the scarred warrior, sat and gazed at the holographic simulation. The room was deafeningly quiet.
Ichiro, with the glasses, who was a lieutenant, adjusted his glasses and broke the silence by opening his mouth.
“... So you’ve showed up, huh? Update the mission ‘Foreseen Causations’ to the third phase, second sub-phase. We need to plan our countermeasures now. You know what we’re facing, so prepare yourself. This is going to get messy.”
Everyone nodded. Their leader had expected this outcome. They already started preparing themselves for the upcoming war against the chaos incarnate.
“I need an update on ‘Chosen One.’”
As soon as the lieutenant said that, the nearest worker-Ichiro responded.
“95 percent of the energy was absorbed by the ‘Chosen One’! According to calculations, finishing time is estimated to be roughly 20 minutes!”
Another one chimed in.
“The demonic invasion is entering from the sector 9! The gate has expanded to accommodate for its growth!”
“How are our agents doing?”
“Agent Alpha is protecting the ‘Chosen One’ by maintaining a barrier with the excess energy released by the Chosen One! Agent Delta has successfully infiltrated and is waiting for an opportunity to save VIPs! Agents Gamma and Vega are currently observing the situation.”
The commander finally spoke out.
“Good work. Prepare the teleportation gate for the fourth phase. Is there any information about the ‘employee’?”
One operative raised her hand. She was the youngest among them, probably around 16 years old. It was a female version of Ichiro.
“Yes, sir, we discovered him in the Headquarters database; please have a look.”
She swiped the box that appeared in front of her, and it stopped just in front of the lieutenant’s seat. An image of a man wearing a formal suit was projected onto the surface.
|
Ha-Beleth, "Demonic CEO of ■■■■■■■ Legion"
One of the low-level demonic princes to survive the Armageddon. It could control low-level demons, but after being recruited by the ■■■■■■■ 100-150 years ago, it evolved into an evil controller. The abilities had been enhanced by ■■■■■. Aside from that, it possesses unusual talents, most of which have been documented. Ha-Beleth is active in Sector 8, where he deployed his followers to conquer low-ranking worlds after corrupting the administrators of those worlds through the use of his minions. He can create portals and summon monsters, but prefers to do things by himself. It is speculated that he has occupied 25% of the Sector 8 planets. His current location is unknown. The reason it is called a ‘demonic CEO’ is because of its ability to manipulate the low-ranked demons, which is like how CEOs manage companies. Its primary goal is to expand its territory and thus increase its own power. It does that by absorbing the souls of people, turning them into mindless slaves or demons. Defeating him may cause chaos to ensue in the ranks, so Headquarters wants him dead ASAP. The less ■■■■■■■■■■ have power, the better for us, angels, devils, and humans alike. |
After reading the report, she then sent more holographic boxes featuring images and explanations of each observed instance, along with information about the legions, which were not needed for a moment. The Ha-Beleth was spotted appearing to be a middle-aged man, with a disgusting face. His skin color was pale white. He wore a suit made from some sort of cloth woven with gold threads, creating an elegant outfit that contrasted with his ugliness. But now, the appearance of a regular human middle aged man, wearing a formal suit, with no trace of demonic features.
The lieutenant swept his glance and closed the boxes a minute later. He rested his head on his arms and evaluated the mission. Aside from a few changes, the mission was going well. No major issues occurred during the first two phases. However, Phase 3 would be troublesome. There were several reasons, ranging from the Commander that was currently facing the demons to the Chosen One. The latter was causing headaches, since he was unpredictable and dangerous. The others weren’t really problematic, since they were mostly minor problems.
Commander’s actions more than a day ago changed a few things, and his mindless replacement of the operative who was deployed there altered the mission, but his outstanding performance ended up causing the target to appear quicker, which was both good and bad. Commander can’t defeat it right now because he was, for some reason doesn’t use his powers fully. He doesn’t have to do this, though, because the world has given the quest to defeat the Ha-Beleth to the ‘Chosen One.’ The corrupted administrator was destroyed a day ago, so no one could steal their bounty. Now it was up to the chosen one to finish it.
He sighed.
“Damn it...”
If their mother-ship was fully functional, it wouldn’t be an issue. Unfortunately, it isn’t. That’s why they have to be in shadows, watching the one that saved them to do their job. If he fails, the entire plan will go awry, and that world will die. And that won’t happen until the boss, Ha-Beleth, is gone. Until then, the best thing to do is watch and wait.
“Just all according to keikaku.“
Lieutenant muttered that while faintly smiling. He took a deep breath and returned to gaze at the holographic simulation of an arena while listening to the conversation of two Ichiros, a youthful one and a warrior one, arguing over the Commander’s tactics.
***
Two men made eye contact in the blood-soaked arena. Ichiro felt the man in the indigo suit was a tremendous threat, despite being unarmed. Ichiro was terrified by his uncanny older appearance with no flaws, as well as the middle-aged man’s voice. He resembled his former boss of a black company where he worked as an IT technician. He also had a scar running across his face, just like his previous boss.
He showed the aura of authority, forcing the berserk demons to freeze after a few claps. The red clouds sped up and turned dark purple, circling around the boss. Without making a sound, lightning struck the skies above the arena, creating thunderclap explosions. The air shuddered as the stormy winds blew in every direction. The demons froze and remained motionless.
The man smiled as he watched the arena. Ichiro stood there, clutching the ebony sword in both hands, ready for any attacks that could come his way. But the boss did not attack him; instead, he snapped his fingers, and a metallic throne adorned with skulls rose from the ground. A skull helmet floated before him, and the boss put it on. He looked exactly like the demon lord, except that his eyes were pure white. The man sat on it, and the throne ascended higher, stopping at 30 meters above the ground. The boss clapped once again, forcing the demons to stare towards Ichiro in a frenzy. After that, he pointed at Ichiro, and opened his mouth.
“So, in just TWO days, you’ve ruined my long-term plans for this world. Do you even know how much effort I’ve spent corrupting this world? And now you come and ruin everything I’ve done?! Don’t make me laugh!”
His tone was condescending. In fact, it was vulgar and arrogant. Not only that, he seemed to mock him. He wanted to show off his superiority to Ichiro. This nightmare became more absurd by the second. Ichiro showed a middle finger toward the sky, ignoring the words coming out of the man’s mouth.
“Fuck you!”
He shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. He always wanted to say that to his former boss, for giving him hell in the workplace.
The being that looked like his former boss chuckled.
“Hahaha! Oh my god, you’re such a fool. You think that your little gesture of disrespect would scare me?! Weaklings! Kill him, The First Son!”
Surrounding demons moved their heads like robots, stared at Ichiro with purple eyes for a second and rushed towards him. Those who could fly flew high in the air, while those that couldn’t run fast on four legs, and dropped from the heightened arena walls, killing themselves in midair. All these actions happened simultaneously, forming a large swarm of demons.
If it hadn’t been for the flying ones that had already reached him, Ichiro would have laughed. They were quick and had few skills under their sleeve. They threw blue fireballs, laser-like fast red projectiles, and purple soul slow beams at him while they flew.
Ichiro swiftly evaded the bullet hell coming at him with ease. He blocked the missiles using his shield, dodged the fireballs, and used his sword to block the other three types of projectile weapons. As soon as he finished blocking them, he effortlessly cut them in two when the handful of them came within melee range of him. This was a simple enough encounter, so Ichiro focused on figuring out how to fight this nightmare’s his former boss (?).
After a few minutes, the initial wave of demons was defeated. Ha-Beleth didn’t sit still. While the fodder died, it summoned the least costing ones to replace them. Dimensional cracks appeared in every direction surrounding the area. The demons started pouring out of them. The sheer number of enemies made Ichiro want to cry.
While everything was going on, the boss was pointing at Ichiro and muttering indecipherable blocks of words. Its finger had had emitted a pink glow.
Ichiro was now completely engulfed by the demons, having been hit several times. As a result, he employed hit-and-run tactics and demon meat shield methods to keep himself alive. Because they were mindlessly firing projectiles towards Ichiro, he run toward big ones and hidden behind them so they would take damage instead. When he got close enough to them, he jumped and slashed away with his sword, avoiding the incoming projectiles. It worked to some extent, and he used his ‘dream powers’ to strengthen and regenerate his body faster.
Ichiro wished he still had the holy fire flamethrower he used in his last dream, so he could mindlessly burn them all down. Instead, he had to rely on his swordsmanship alone. Even if he killed many of them, there were too damn many. It wasn’t possible to win against such odds.
Ichiro hacked and slashed with looted ebony blade, scarlet blood splattered everywhere, and corpses piled up on the ground. The whole arena had now been entirely devastated, filled with countless piles of dead bodies. The demons were slowly dying, and the boss kept muttering something, occasionally opening its mouth wide to reveal rows of sharp teeth.
The place was being consumed by fire. There were two black pillars lying there, unharmed by anything. A swarm of demons, ranging from imps to massive muscular demons, were in a stupor, running in one direction, then turning around to another. They were pursuing zigzagging Ichiro, whose armor had become scarlet from the blood. Ichiro’s face was spotless because he used his ‘dream powers’ to clean it every time blood entered his vision. Ichiro did not pause for a second since doing so would spell DEATH. And he was right, because a minute later he did a grave mistake.
Ichiro sprang into the air to slash the enormous winged demon with a massive trident. It was flying down at a high speed, pointing the trident at him.
Ichiro intercepted the demon and cut it enough that it lost control and fell to the ground, crushing a swarm of demons that were on the ground. Ichiro hovered in the air for a fraction of a second before gaining momentum and falling to the earth. But before he could fall down, something unexpected was coming to Ichiro.
A beam of pink energy shot at him at breakneck speed, giving Ichiro mere hundreds of milliseconds to react. He immediately sliced the energy, splitting it in two for the duration of a slash, giving him enough time to build an anti-magic shield around his body. Ichiro then curled up in a fetal posture, his sword in front of him. He could maintain the shield for a longer period if he had less surface area. Then the beam hit Ichiro, and he flew away like a bullet in the air, slowly disintegrating because of the intense heat. His clothes melted, revealing his bare skin. He was burning from head to toe, and flew into the sky.
When Ichiro vanished from sight, Ha-Beleth, who had been casting the beam from his finger, stopped. It was his ultimate spell, the Finger Of Death, level 6 magic. It was can instantly kill anyone in this world. His employer was kind enough to provide him with a scroll with the strongest version of it. After the beam, there appeared to be nothing in the air, and it laughed maniacally.
However, the Ha-Beleth’s plan went awry. Why? The answer was obvious: Ichiro’s power nullified it. He created a magical barrier between him and the beam, preventing it from hitting him directly.
In the end, First Son was a weakling. Weaker than the stupid legion from its reserves, it was summoning just now. He couldn’t figure out why his employer was so afraid of the First Son, talking about his blood brothers that were imprisoned by the weakling he just killed. Wasn’t the First Son supposed to be strong? No matter what, it didn’t seem like the First Son was stronger. So why did the boss treat him like an enemy worthy of respect?
It was hard to understand the logic of the ■■■■■■■■■■. But one thing was obvious—the boss considered First Son dangerous.
Ha-Beleth shook its head. He clapped as he hovered above the legion that was still heading towards the Ichiro’s direction. They came to a halt and stared at the boss. Ha-Beleth opened his mouth.
“With the First Son gone, I must complete my conquest of the world! Go out, my dumb, inept troops, and destroy the last bastion, Leonhart Empire!”
The legion dashed out in the direction Ha-Beleth pointed. He levitated the throne down to one of the black pillars and landed on it. Ha-Beleth then weaved his hands and began performing a spell while sitting on the throne. It was trying to salvage the pillars to open the dimensional gates again. However, the pillars were unstable. Several cracks formed along the edges, causing them to collapse. A blood ritual was needed, and given that there was a pool of blood below the throne, it should work fine.
***
Things were horrible on Ichiro’s side. He had successfully protected himself against the annihilation beam, but his body was in shambles; he was nearly naked, with portions of meat missing everywhere. It wasn’t an issue because regeneration was operating at full capacity. The ebony sword couldn’t survive the beam, but it protected Ichiro. His worry was that he was flying at such high speeds, heavily rotating, causing him to feel sick, and that he may crash at any time, splattering himself into the gory mass.
The surroundings changed swiftly, from arid wasteland to dead forest to peaked mountains, which Ichiro freaked out at, afraid of crashing on them. Ichiro was lucky in that he passed right near the highest mountain, with gravity pulling him down. The harsh wind blowed, and it stopped his rotation, allowing him to regain control of the moving in the air.
After that, Ichiro had a brilliant idea for slowing him down.
Ichiro attempted to conjure a mana construct of the wingsuit on his body using a portion of his ‘dream powers.’ He’d seen videos on NueTube of daredevils jumping off cliffs and flying through the skies with their wingsuits. He conjured a substitute because he couldn’t make the real thing. It slowed his regeneration, but he was well enough healed to not be concerned about the minor wounds all over his body. It worked, but they were portions of the actual wingsuit attached to his arms and back, so he could move freely without hindering himself.
Now that he had gained mobility, Ichiro spread his arms and legs and maneuvered his body to create as much air resistance as possible. A strong wind blew over his face, distorting it. After all, he wasn’t wearing the helmet. Ichiro now was gliding down with incredible speeds in mountains, while feeling sick and dizzy. He thought he would vomit, but held it together somehow.
***
The Round Table of Ichiros was more active than usual. They were shouting at the lieutenant about what was going on. Lieutenant was reacting with orders on what to do. They were preparing a dimensional blockade to prevent the target from escaping. Because of the hundreds of dimensional cracks that appeared in a short period, the world had a failsafe system the Ichiros can exploit.
They were not surprised by the Commander’s sudden loss, though.
“Sir, ‘Chosen One,’ you have completed the energy absorption! The Chosen One is presently heading to Agent Alpha!”
“Excellent. Is the teleportation gate ready?”
“Whenever you want, sir! Simply issue the command!”
“Alright. How abo-“
Female Ichiro abruptly interrupted the lieutenant.
“Sir, I calculated Commander’s direction, and he was 75% of the way to the location of the ‘Chosen One!’ Should I notify the agent? Or should we wait until he gets closer?”
Female Ichiro asked with a serious expression.
“Tch, what a fortunate bastard our Commander is. Yes, please do so. What about the VIPs? Are they safe?”
Scarred Ichiro looked at the screen where he saw the legion marching towards Leonhart's Empire. There was a large native army intercepting the demons.
“VIP’s are safe. They reached the natives‘ territory already.”
Lieutenant sighed in relief.
“Thanks, Great One... Half of our mission has been completed. Tell Agent Alpha to reassemble with the Commander and plan a surprise attack on the target. Then, prepare the troops for invasion.”
“”"Yes, sir!""“
Everyone present knew what was happening. The commander was getting close to the ‘Chosen One.’ Their goal was one step closer, and the rest of the task will be accomplished by the chosen one.
***
[Few minutes later]
The wingsuit slowed Ichiro by more than half, but not enough for him to land safely. Ichiro had enlarged the wingsuit as he healed his wounds. He flew safely around the mountains, looking for somewhere to touch down. He was on his way to an eerily similar crater. The red sun shone down upon the barren landscape, illuminating the area. The air was thick with smoke and dust, golden particles that were floating looked familiar to him. They were floating inside the crater, and they were glowing faintly.
Ichiro’s only option was to glide into the crater and try to slow down even further.
After a few kilometers inside the crater, Ichiro was now face to face with the ground, with only one meter between them. Ichiro closed his eyes and released the wingsuit mana construct, bracing himself for impact. But the impact never happened. Instead, he felt a gentle breeze blowing across his face. He opened his eyes and saw...
“Chichi?” 1 “Dad?” or “Papa?”
Rewritten 07/12/2022, and now I don't have time to play video games. Life is hard.
Added details.
Slowed down a pace a bit.
Overall, a good chapter, no mistakes were made.
Here's extra for opening the spoiler:
Jouji Yamashita (52 years old technically)
I just love how much of a professional Ichiro is in his dreams.
I am here my good citizens
Loving the build up to the showdown