Chapter 100 - 99
Chapter 100: Chapter 99
Realm Of Freedom
In a flash of golden light, the Golden Being appeared, his arm outstretched to catch Hikari before he fell.
"You have failed me, son," the Golden Being's voice resonated through the entire realm, causing it to shake. "I gave you a second chance to redeem yourself, and yet you were defeated. My daughter Uriel, your sister, took the time to train you personally, but you are a failure," the Golden Being spat.
Hikari coughed out blood as his body healed itself from the Crimson purgatory flames that had nearly destroyed him in an instant, forcing him to constantly repair himself.
"Father..." Hikari began, as he started to regain consciousness.
"I've heard enough from you! You have failed me for the last time!" the Golden Being roared, lifting his hand and pointing his index finger at Hikari. "Now I'm going to teach you a lesson. A lesson on what happens when you disappoint me."
"It's not my fault, it was Ayame!" Hikari desperately tried to defend himself.
"You, my son, lost to that woman. The same woman who denied me for that disgrace of a boy! The same woman who not only refused my offers of a life with me!" The Golden Being's anger surged to new levels as he spoke.
"She... Father... Her love for Noboru makes her stronger. She uses his love to fuel her, she utilizes true Omni Energy manipulation like you," Hikari stammered, attempting to explain to his father.
"I know all about the power love grants and how it fuels her, but I gave you a mission, and you failed, boy," the Golden Being said in a cold tone. "I have given you chance after chance, even alerting Lucy Morningstar herself to save you. Yet you couldn't even kill him after all that training."
"Father, please, I'll do better," Hikari pleaded, his eyes widening in fear.
"Don't worry, my son, I will make sure that you will not fail me again," the Golden Being said as he raised his hand, a ball of golden light appearing in his palm. "But first, I will make you fear disappointing me again."
The golden being aimed his hand at Hikari and fired the golden light, hitting him squarely in the chest. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Hikari screamed in agony as the light burned through his skin, bones, muscles, and organs.
The Golden Being watched his son writhe in agony and smiled. "Remember this pain, my son, and don't disappoint me again."
"Ple...ase... stop," Hikari begged as tears streamed down his face. "I'll... do... better," he added.
The Golden Being lowered his hand, and the golden light disappeared, leaving a gaping hole in Hikari's chest.
"Remember, my son, don't ever fail me again," the Golden Being said with a sigh. "It hurts me as much as it does you, but if you fail me again, if you lose to any of the abomination allies or the abomination himself ever again, do not return to me. I suggest you take your time to plan how to kill him. If you fail, I will disown you. You will have no family or home; you will be on your own."
Hikari stared in horror at the Golden Being. "No! Father, I promise I will bring you his dead body myself. I won't fail," Hikari shouted.
"Your promises mean nothing to me anymore!" The Golden Being thundered as his golden aura flared angrily around him. "Go!"
Hikari bowed his head in defeat and nodded. "Yes, father," he said as he teleported away, leaving the Golden Being alone in the Realm Of Freedom.
The Golden Being stared at where his son had been moments before and sighed. "He has potential, but if he fails me again, I will disown him. I can't have someone with his potential undermine me."
The Golden Being then returned to his realm and took a seat on his throne, observing his other sons and daughters, the seven heavenly kings. "Perhaps I should strengthen the beings in the prison realm, created to hold Noboru, and boost the realm's power to be able to contain the abomination's power," he mused aloud.
"Father, you're right. Maybe we should upgrade the power of the beings and give the realm more power to hold him," one of his sons suggested.
"Yes, father, maybe we should," another son chimed in. "At least boost the power of the beings in the realms to be able to fight on an equal level with the Abomination. His growth is insane, but considering his heritage, it's no..."
"Don't ever mention what you were about to say ever again!" The Golden Being roared as his anger flared. "The Abomination is nothing more than a mistake that needs to be erased. To think that thing has Lucy Morningstar's... I never want to hear that thing's heritage ever again."
"Fath..."
"Silence! All of you are dismissed!" The Golden Being ordered as he waved his hand, sending his children away.
The Golden Being then decided he would boost the power of the realm itself, not just the beings in it.
"At the very least, they should be able to hold off the Abomination for some time with the power increases I will give them. It's nothing; after all, the prison realm, the Abomination's home planet, the realms up to the demon goddess realm, and the infinite levels of the boundless battlescapes are all considered lower existence. Those realms aren't even on the level of the higher existence, which starts from heaven and higher," The Golden Being said as he waved his hand, elevating the realms to their utmost strength.
Noboru flickered as he teleported to where Layla was, in the exact position before he left for the boundless battlescape to fight Hikari. He surveyed the scene, seeing Chikyu Chikara City and his castle repaired, as if the battle between Hikari and himself never happened.
"Noboru-Kun, why did you run out? You looked so worried," Layla said as Noboru smiled at her.
"It's nothing; I just felt like getting a breath of fresh air. Let's head on in," Noboru said. It was exactly as he thought; Layla did not remember Hikari. It was better that way; she didn't need the stress of worrying about someone so strong being around. He would protect her. Noboru noticed she had gotten stronger, as had everyone else. If he had to guess, she matched his base form powers, and some others, like the elemental gods, matched his base form full power. This meant Yami might have gotten stronger too, but it didn't matter. They didn't possess omni energy, so they were not a threat. He could handle them. He would become even stronger; this was a good thing. The tougher the challenge, the greater the gains.
"Okay, Noboru-Kun," Layla said as she hugged him close to her. Noboru hugged her back; he missed her, Emiko, Sky, Yumeko, and Fire General Kai. They were his first friends. Noboru also blushed as he thought back to what Ayame told him.
Flashback
"Noboru, my darling, after our... activities, I can tell that myself alone cannot satisfy you, so I will allow you to have a harem as long as I am your number one mistress and lead wife," Ayame said as Noboru's face turned a shade of bright crimson.
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Noboru asked, dumbfounded.
"Noboru-kun, it's pretty obvious that you need multiple women to satisfy you, and a lot of women like you back, so I will allow you to have a harem as long as I am your main," Ayame said.
"Wh... What?" Noboru stammered, still shocked by what Ayame was saying.
"Noboru-Kun," Ayame sighed as she walked over to Noboru and hugged him, "It's okay if you want more than one woman in your life; I'm not going to get jealous."
'You had quite a few in the past,' Ayame mentally said as she remembered the feeling of being the dominant wife. None of the other women even dared to look at her, let alone make a move against her. To be honest, she missed the feeling of being in control, but it wasn't the same without her Noboru-Kun. However, since her precious Noboru was finally here with her, she wouldn't mind letting him have fun with other girls as long as she was the dominant wife. She didn't care if he had a harem.
End flashback
"Noboru-Kun, we've been waiting for you," Emiko said as she ran up and hugged him. "I missed you. Why did you run out?"
"I missed you too, Emiko," Noboru said as he returned the hug, realizing she wasn't talking about him fighting Hikari or going to Ayame's realm this time. It seemed whoever helped Nijuu restored the realm to the point before Hikari appeared. She was being clingy, missing him if he went out for a walk, but anyways, now it was time to complete this story. He would figure out how to ensure the realm didn't collapse when he's closer to completing it.
Noboru then suddenly remembered what Ayame told him about the transcendent state and closed his eyes, entering the state. The entire world shook, but to Noboru's surprise, it wasn't destroyed, unlike lesser levels of power before that had created mass destruction.
'Did Hikari or the seven heavenly kings do something, or was it this father I keep hearing Hikari mutter about? Oh well, nothing will stop me from getting stronger,' Noboru thought as he pondered how he would master the Transcendent state to a point where it was integrated into his base form.
"Noboru, why are you in that form?" Fire General Kai asked, seeing him in a more powerful form than he saw in the last battle.
"That is my transcendent state. I can't fully control it yet, so I'm trying to master it, make it an extension of myself rather than just a form like the red/golden state," Noboru explained.
"When did you get it?" Fire General Kai asked.
"I've had it since I unlocked my power, but I never knew much about it. Now, I've learned about it from a source, let's just say, and am working on trying to control it. It's a state of connection to my Energy that slowly helps usher you into full synchronization with my Energy. My people can train to unlock this state, but there are those who are special, born with such access to a state because they are born with a high connection to their energies compared to those who aren't," Noboru elaborated, showing his understanding of his transcendent state.
"Interesting," Fire General Kai said.
"But anyways, what was I doing before that? Ah, yes, Yumeko, how have you been?" Noboru asked.
"Noboru, Sky and I were really worried about you," Yumeko said as she gave Noboru a hug. "What happened? You just disappeared and then suddenly came back."
"I'm sorry, Yumeko, but I had some business to attend to," Noboru said, returning Yumeko's hug. "I'm glad to see you again."
"I'm glad to see you again too," Yumeko said as she let go and walked to Sky. Noboru smiled; he shipped them together; they would make a great couple.
Noboru then looked around to see Layla, Emiko, Fire General Kai, Yumeko, and Sky and decided to relax. "Okay then, let's prepare. We need to attain higher noble ranks, meet the earth god, form an alliance, and then prepare to defend the world against the Disciples Of Darkness and stop the void," Noboru said. But mentally, he added, 'and save Void Queen Yami; she is just lonely being stuck in the void, the only place she can stay without erasing everything.'
Noboru then prepared. He had no idea what challenges awaited him and, more importantly, when Hikari would attack next.