Carte Blanche : The Ultimate Power - Great Encounter Battle Arc

The definition of Carte Blanche – complete freedom to act as one wishes.

Kuro-Yami had used the final ace up his sleeve. Without Carte Blanche, he would be slaughtered immediately. An eight on one was possible all those years ago, but the God of Darkness had vastly underestimated his power in Hiroshi’s body. It hardly even scratched the surface of his previous power.

He waited for his Carte Blanche to activate, hoping to get on even terms with the Gods.

However, nothing happened.

“W-What?!” Kuro-Yami gasped in shock. He couldn’t understand. His Carte Blanche was unusable. For the first time during this fight, Kuro-Yami was plagued by fear. He knew that he was going to lose, and Zetsubo knew this.

“You can’t use Carte Blanche. The man you have inhabited can’t use Carte Blanche, so neither can you. You should know that Carte Blanche comes from the soul, and your souls are bound together. Surrender. You have no hope,” the God of Hope laughed, and the other Gods began laughing too. In a frustrated rage, Kuro-Yami charged forward, hoping to at lease damage one of the Gods.

Hiroshi was falling even more into despair. He was almost still, not moving a muscle. He couldn’t believe it. Kuro-Yami’s plan was going to fail, and it was all his fault.

The eight Gods floated about twelve feet into the air. Kuro-Yami tried to stop, but it was far too late for that. The figure on the far-left side flew towards Kuro-Yami, launching an attack with their blade. Kuro-Yami managed to dodge in time, but turned his back on Utsu, who punished his error, punching him in the back with an electric blast.

“Zetsubo needed to use eleven of his Carte Blanche to beat you all those years ago, and that was with our help! Have you really become that weak!” Utsu laughed, as he flew forward at near light speed, to circle around Kuro-Yami’s flailing body, and grabbed him by the neck. Kuro-Yami coughed and spluttered as he tried to force his words out.

“You know…you can’t…kill me,” he grunted out, much to Utsu’s enjoyment.

“Oh yeah, I know. But we can make this hurt,” he snickered, yelling out as he threw Kuro-Yami with all of his strength to the opposite side of the arena.

Wisteria was becoming worried. She could tell that the fight was not going to plan at all. She discretly took out her blade and covered it in ice. Tomokazu was curled in a ball, utterly deflated at his father’s words. Alexander was doing the same opposite him, cowering in fear. Only Bibi was standing up with Wisteria, and she knew exactly what she was doing.

“Wisteria? Don’t you think about going in there,” Bibi told Wisteria assertively.

“Hiroshi is getting battered out there! He is going to die if this keeps up!”

“He can’t die,” Tomokazu piped up.

“Huh?” the two women asked in confusion.

“The God of Darkness. Twenty years ago, he was called the God of Light. He and the other eight, including my father, were granted these abilities by even higher beings. At least, that’s what we were led to believe. They were unstoppable and given those powers to protect the world. However, five years after that, that man converted his light to dark magic, and hated the way the world was run by the other eight. He is an outlier in terms of the Gods. If there is darkness in this world, he will live. However, Hiroshi can still die if he is the one in control of the body.”

“What! I’m going in there!” Wisteria yelped. Just as she was about to rush in, a firm hand grabbed her shoulder. She looked up behind her at the overwhelming stature of the man who had grabbed her. It was Tsuyoshi Kage.

“That’s suicide, young lady. It doesn’t matter who it is. That man, you, Tomokazu. It doesn’t matter. We would all die,” he admitted to her. Wisteria slumped to her knees. She wanted to help him, but she just didn’t have the strength.

“Oshi…” she whispered, trying to hold back tears.

All eight gods were toying with him now. He was being juggled in the air constantly. One of the figures punched him so hard, that he was flung over to another God, who launched him up into the air. Another God flew up and gave the final blow, smashing him into the ground. Dust kicked up around the arena. The spectators watched the events unfold in a hopeless mess.

When the dust cleared, Kuro-Yami was still standing. He was black and blue and bleeding all over, but he wasn’t giving up. Zetsubo smiled. It was time to end this.

“You remember what my Carte Blanche does, you filthy rat?”

“Of course I do, but you know that it won’t work on me! I have nothing that I regret in my life!” Kuro-Yami let out a weak laugh.

“Hmm…indeed you are correct. However, it will affect that pathetic human that you inhabit. Your souls are bound. I wonder what trauma he has suffered in life. Why don’t we take a look and see together? Besides, we can’t kill you in that form. But I want to show that human just how far the gap in power is between Gods and normal beings.”

Kuro-Yami knew that the fight was over. He was so weak; he could hardly move. This was the end of the battle.

“I’m sorry, Hiroshi,” he whispered to his only friend.

“You remember what my real title is?” Zetsubo grinned, knowing full well that he had won this battle.

“Yeah, all too well…The God of Despair.” Kuro-Yami gasped for breath. He didn't want to lose like this. But he had no choice but to hope Hiroshi didn't die. "I'm sorry, Hiroshi, my friend."

Zetsubo opened his left palm, and smashed his clenched right fist into it, with an evil grin.

“Carte Blanche – Unwavering Depths of Despair.”