Chapter 261.

  Back home, a meeting was called by Sushima. Daphne Junior was worried for a second that it might be about the family business. While she has some ownership of the company run by her eldest brother, her involvement is minimal. She wants to carve out her own way, rather than rely on her father and brothers.

  Ahim is also brought to the home, for the second time in a month. Luckily, it was just for a day, so the headmaster didn't mind. This time, his sudden return from the Academy is quite normal. Instead of being grabbed right out of the class, his brother Garuda was waiting for him at the gate of the school after he got permission to leave.

  "Alright. Garuda already knows why I've called this meeting. But for the sake of you two, I'll repeat it all the same." Said Sushima. "Father has gotten involved in something way beyond us, like usual. But this time, he has given us something to take care of ourselves. He was quite serious that we implement this as soon as possible."

  "And that is?" Asked Daphne in sarcasm. "And where is he?"

  "He returned to the castle." Said Garuda. "All important people are kept there to ensure no one could accuse them of something which they did not do."

  "Getting back to the point. Dad prepared a template of immortality. He showed it to me while he was here. While it requires some training for us to become strong, overall, it will help us in surviving anything this world could throw at us." Said Sushima. "That means real-time regeneration."

  "So, what. Are we going to be Cell now?" Asked Daphne. She would have said Majin Buu, but that one is way too ridiculous. Even with magic, it is impossible to imagine a being like that in their world.

  "Quite." Said Sushima.

  "That is bullshit! Are you sure he was not hallucinating? He has not been the same since he returned after fixing time." Said Daphne, slamming her hand on the table.

  "Look at it for yourself." With a wave of his hand, the template appears for everyone to see. The runes do not make sense for Ahim. His head starts to hurt after just one glance. He is unable to understand these runes.

  But Daphne, despite not being an expert like her brothers, understood it completely. "The power requirements are high, but nothing out of the ordinary for us." She said after looking at the floating template for a while. "It must be quite serious if he shared that with us."

  "Moms are preparing currently to raise their power in the time room." Said Sushima. "I suggest we do the same once they are done."

  "It will be long and will require a lot of effort, but it will be fine in the end." Said Garuda.

  Then the three older siblings turn to the youngest one in the room.

  "Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked fearfully.

  "We're gonna train you." Said Garuda, putting an arm around his shoulder.

  "A lot!" Said Sushima, doing the same from the other side.

  Ahim whimpered. "I'm not even out of the Academy yet!" He protested.

  "Doesn't matter. It is clear at this point that school is not going to be helpful for you in the future." Said Sushima.

  "Therefore, it is our job to ensure that you can take care of yourself in the coming time." Said Garuda seriously.

  "But that will come later. Until then, you can enjoy your time. Alright?" Said Sushima, patting his back and trying to assure his youngest brother.

  "Okay." Said Ahim. He is not comfortable, but he knows two important things. His family means well, and he must not tell anyone about this. Garuda's repeated warnings before the meeting began helped with the former, and the latter doesn't require any gesture to confirm.

  Avinash arrives together with Shin and James. Once the news spread of his return, the team gathers in his office. After what they went through, they would have liked to have some rest and relaxation. It is true that they recovered well in the home of the sorcerer, and that she did not torment them any further after their modification and training were done. But it is one thing to relax in isolation, instead of resting with friends and family.

  Avinash, being the king, has no chance of taking a break. Though the charter of the country does state that the court can send him on a break, it has not been used during his reign so far.

  Shin and James, though having the luxury of taking a day off, (or several days off), also cannot go on a vacation due to this emergency which has landed on their lap.

  Once it is determined that nothing worth his attention has taken place in his absence, Avinash asked a question to Samay who also returned with them in the castle.

  "So. Mind giving us a detailed explanation of what is going on and why?" He asked her.

  "Certainly. You see, the universe operates on possibilities. Every action you take is a possibility that is realized, and it cannot be changed. Trying to go back in time will result in the fiasco from ten years ago." They all nodded, having fixed that mess themselves.

  "Just like the time, the reality is kept together in the form of this jewel." Samay brings up an image in the middle of the table where everyone is sitting with a snap of her finger. "The problem is, this jewel is now broken."

  The image shatters in front of their eyes, turning into small shards in front of them. These shards are scattered all over the place, presumably at very long distances.

  "Now that the linchpin is shattered, the reality is going haywire. All the possibilities that were kept different from each other are now bleeding into each other, resulting in the situation where people from other realities come here and vice versa. But this won't remain like that forever. Soon, even deeper melding will start to happen, and at that point, it is unknown what may happen. There are theories, ranging from a great reset that would wipe out everything and start from zero to large-scale struggles between the same figures from different possibilities, to corrupt spirits causing havoc and destroying life across the universe. But all these theories have one thing in common: none of this is good."

  "I feel that the theory about corrupted spirits is the most plausible one." Said Hatori. "It is just like the data in the computer getting corrupted due to some kind of crash. Everything has now mashed into other things, and it is impossible to untangle this mess."

  In his younger days, the mages present in the office wouldn't have understood what Hatori was saying. But since their interaction with the other side increased, they do understand what a computer is, so what he said to them made some sense, even though none of them knew or understood how computers work at a deep level.

  "You might be correct. But we need to make sure that we don't get there. We will gather these fragments and recreate the jewel, solving this problem. But you will face people who are also searching for these fragments for their own ends, which is why I prepared you and trained you so hard. I will now teach you how to track these fragments." Said Samay.

  "It can be done from anywhere?" Asked Hatori, once it was his turn to learn from the sorcerer.

  "Sure. But remember, you have to go to the place where it is to retrieve the shard." She said to him.

  "That is fine and all," said Avinash, while Shin and Hatori practiced the method of tracking that Samay had shared with them. "But how are we going to be there?"

  "Don't worry, I will take you with me." Said Samay.

  Avinash doesn't like this. The only traveling option is an untrustworthy sorcerer, who might end up betraying them. If she does not betray them, she could always end up injured or taken as a prisoner by someone stronger and wiser than her. In which case, they will be stuck fending for themselves.

  "I don't even understand why this complicated system even exists." Said Hatori. "It all appears as if someone created this. It smells like an ancient conspiracy theory to me."

  While he was whispering this comment to Shin, Samay heard him all the same. She lets out a soft chuckle to herself. 'You don't know how close you are without even trying.'

  After the tracking practice is done, Josh, Shin, James, Raven, and Hatori leave to find the first fragment with Samay, while Avinash is left in the castle to manage the country.

  'Judging by the events going on around us, I feel like being the king of a small piece of land is nothing in the grand scheme of things.' He thought once everyone was gone.

  The mysterious man, whom the author has not revealed in the interest of keeping this story alive, keeping his identity secret even from the grand and illustrious narrator, is currently enjoying himself.

  Life is good. He slaughtered the guardians, starts on a quest on which he was making good progress, and he is drinking a milkshake in nice sunny weather. The fact that the sun is too close to the planet on which he is currently present does not bother him in the slightest, nor the thick atmosphere of the planet is troubling him.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  He has collected 89 of the shards, and now he needs to find eleven more, and then, he will be golden. The only thing afterward would be to teach those parasites calling themselves gods a lesson and free the sleeping consciousness. It is the least he can do for the help it provided him in the past.

  During his quest, he encountered many challenges: divine beings, sorcerers, and horrific monsters who played with magic and went too far. But he killed them all and acquired the shards as a price.

  His senses start to tingle. Many realities away, something interesting is happening. Quickly gulping down his cold beverage, he opens the portal and appears in reality which makes his senses tingle.

  "Oh?" He sees the five men with one sorcerer on the planet below, appearing for the shard also present on the planet. He was planning to acquire it and blow the planet up just because, but after sensing the strange magical signature of that second-tallest man with artificial-looking eyes, he refrained from doing so.

  "Quite an interesting magical signature he has. Doesn't he? Almost same as my own, and yet so different." He noted.

  He crossed his legs, and after sinching with the rotation of the planet around the star, he started to observe the events going on in the world below.

  The group of six appears in reality. A stray thought in Hatori's head makes him think that is an awesome name for a dangerous and deadly group before he starts to focus on the task at hand.

  "The shard is nearby; I can sense it. Though it seems to be retrieved by someone." He reported.

  "In which direction?" Asked Raven.

  "To the east." Said Hatori.

  They move in that direction. Hatori marvels at how smoothly the transportation to this reality was handled by Samay. He was thinking that she would just punch through the fabric like a brute. But there is a true finesse to her technique, despite her unusually energetic personality.

  "Looks like things did not go well for this version of Earth." Said Josh, observing the destroyed city through which they were walking. They have not encountered any people yet, though he can sense some people hiding nearby.

  "That is because the world has ended." Said a gruff voice from a roof right above them.

  "I thought he was further." Said Raven in surprise.

  "Well, you didn't ask me for the exact distance." Said Hatori.

  "Next time, report that!" Said James, as they all scattered to avoid the wave of fire coming their way. It is true that at this point, they can probably tank it and get away. But why show off needlessly?

  "Impressive." Said the man, jumping from the roof and landing on the ground with a crash. "I have not seen such a well-coordinated group in a long time."

  "He has the fragment. Let me handle him." Said Hatori, after looking at the face of this man.

  The face of Zeko.

  "Sure, go ahead." Said Raven. "Everyone else, ensure that we don't have any interruptions."

  "You got it!" Said Shin.

  The face of this man is the same as the one of his master. Though it is quite old and warned down. Zeko despite his advanced age was quite a muscular man, but this alternate looks like he has seen better days. Though the density of his magic is as strong as ever.

  "Any chance you will give what we want in peace?" Asked Hatori, for the sake of his master.

  "No." He said with a trembling voice.

  Then he attacked. Another wave of fire comes his way, which Hatori counters with a giant wave of water. "Show off." Grumbled Josh.

  "Well, maybe you will be able to do it one day if you train hard enough." Said Hatori, while countering the fist-size fireballs raining down upon him with the alchemical water which snuffed out the fire.

  He moved to attack then, causing the clouds to rumble. In a flash of lightning, he reduced the alternate Zeko into a chard corpse, and the fragment was ready for their taking.

  "I'll take it if you don't mind." Said a voice from the sky.

  The clouds disperse, while another mage descends from the sky like an angel. He lands before them softly and claps after looking at Hatori.

  "That was an entertaining performance." He said to him as a compliment. "Too bad you have run in with me. The curtain of your show is about to fall."

  Hatori was annoyed. The alternate Zeko died too easily. Granted, he has leveled up since his childhood, but that man was in such a pathetic state that it made him sad to think about his original master. He was likely trying to understand the secrets of the fragment to undo whatever had happened to this world.

  Then comes in this asshole, arrogantly crashing the moment.

  "He... He..." Shin is too shocked to say what is so clear in front of his eyes.

  "You. Why are you here?" Asked Samay, snapping out of her shock.

  "Why, don't be like that now. Don't you remember my performance? I can still remember our fun moments." He said to Samay with a grin. "In fact, given my long imprisonment, I think you can help me get rid of this dry spell. What do you say?"

  "As if!" Said Samay, denying his advances.

  "Oh, come on. I doubt you've found any man besides me who could satisfy you and stay alive." He said, his grin not faltering in the slightest despite the rejection.

  "Maybe I've found one." Said Samay, appearing before Hatori and caressing his arm softly.

  "I am romantically involved." He said to her in a frosty tone.

  "Hahahaha! No wonder you think he is worthy. He is me after all, one of the strongest alternates I've encountered of myself." Said the man. "Although, clearly he is quite wise. You really should stay away from such women who might decide to behead you after the screwing is done."

  Hatori looked at this alternative of himself. "Really?"

  "Like a mantis." He said to him, making Hatori shutter. While everyone else does not understand what exactly he means, Hatori knows that female mantis eat their male partner after they are done mating.

  "Whatever." He snapped out of his horror. "I can't let you take that fragment."

  "Well then." The alternate Hatori shifts from his relaxed posture and attacks them without any warning.

  Hatori is surprised by the massive buildup of magic, so he quickly prepares a shield. The entire city shakes from the impact. "I know that I didn't put much power into it, but damn. It has been a while since someone survived my opening attack." He said confidently. "Let's see whether you can handle this—"

  The shield breaks apart and turns into another spell. The volley of spells assaulted the alternate, but he walked out of it without suffering any harm. "Looks like I need to teach you a lesson, a lesson only an older brother can teach."

  "What?" Hatori does not have much time to contemplate the strange words of his alternate.

  The ground under him turns into a massive pile of gunpowder. With a small spark, the pile exploded. Hatori was sent flying, and the alternate provided him another push with a strong gust of wind to send him twinkling in the sky. If this were an anime, the entire event would have been concluded with a "ding!" sound.

  "Dust this bitch!" Raven took the command, and they attacked the alternate Hatori.

  He avoided the massive wave created by Josh and James. When the alternate Hatori looked up, it felt like all the water was falling at him in a shapeless deluge. He escaped underground, only for the water to seep in and pursue him further.

  After crossing a large distance, the wave is left behind. He surfaced to see the entire city drowning in the distance. He does not have much time to think about it, as a beautiful and haunting melody starts to play. He was disoriented for a moment before he canceled the illusion. But this was enough time for the wave to crash at him again, this time consisting of boiling water.

  While his friends are dealing with the alternate on the ground, Hatori is hovering in the atmosphere. "Idiot. He sent me to the worst place possible for him." He chuckled, as he started to gather the lightning around him.

  He then honed into the position of his enemy, and with the speed of a lightning strike, he crashed down upon his position with a loud crackle of thunder. The nearby water evaporated by the intensity of the heat, and there was a strong smell of ozone in the area. Hatori looks to the side after this attack, where Raven and James are regenerating, while Josh is keeping them protected. Shin extracted himself from the land where he was forcefully embedded after his second illusion on the alternate failed.

  Hatori sensed his enemy getting back up. "Well done." He said, with his face nothing but the regenerating bone. "You've done more damage to me than anyone else has managed to do in a million years."

  After his regeneration is completed, the alternate continues. "I'll deal with you later. For the time being, have this shard." He tossed it to Hatori. "But when I come back to take it, none of you will survive, not even that hot babe." He looked at Samay while he was saying this.

  'I'll find that next fragment. For the time being, I can afford to leave these kids alone. Maybe they will gather a few, sparing me the trouble of fighting every idiot who thinks he can take me on.' Thought the alternate Hatori, before he disappeared in front of their eyes.

  here.