The Worlds Of Protations Are Not A Joke

Kazuki and Astro strolled upon some familiar names. Kazuki did not know who they were, and Astro did not either, but he had heard the rumor of the man from when he worked for the Royal City. “Masugo Aelig: The Ice King of the North.”

Kazuki: “Oh? You know of this man? Who is he in this era?”

Astro: “I don’t really know him, but I’ve heard of him. Nobody dares to enter his castle in the Northern Lands. I heard the barrier around the castle is not even 1% of his strength, yet anybody that goes into it is automatically detected. It’s supposedly stronger than Kouki’s barrier and he uses 30% of his strength to keep that up.”

Kazuki: “Hmm, he certainly is strong. It seems he is minimizing his strength and letting the boy fight as if he is teaching him.”

Astro: “Are you stronger than him?”

Kazuki: “Hahaha! Don’t make me laugh. Of course. Although…that man–he contains something inside of him that I have never seen. I wonder–”

They walked forward, but were repelled by a barrier that was keeping just the three of them inside fighting. The skeleton was not the one fighting, but others who were silhouettes of people. Astro immediately recognized one of them and his eyes rattled in shock. “Claudia…” he whispered. He then saw the others that were Great Swordsmen, witches, and even Dante and Welpen. He found everyone who he was looking for.

He became enraged and activated everything he had at once with his scythe, but no longer had Nyx’s Whip, which belonged to King since he had activated it.

Kazuki: “Hahaha! Relax my young swordsman. I see that he has the people you are looking for. Here, allow me. You were right. This barrier is quite strong.”

Kazuki poked his finger at the edge of the blue barrier, and then walked in with ease along with Astro. He did commend the barrier once more, saying that he had to use quite some strength to enter. Astro thought, ‘It didn’t look like he used any strength at all. Damn bastard. He’s beyond strength.’

Both their legs froze before they could take another step. “Oh?” Kazuki questioned. “Interesting. This is part of the barrier I see.”

He broke the ice off both of them and then trudged forward as it continued to keep coming back. Kazuki continued to break it with Alcion over and over until eventually getting to Aelig.

Aelig: “Halt! Do not go near my prodigy. He is learning. He must learn to break the curse set on him through strength in confidence. There is no better person to face than this man right here.”

Kazuki laughed, but Astro was enraged. Seeing the many ghost-like figures that were fighting pissed him off. Lucky, Dante, and Welpen. All these people are people that he swore to protect. However, he knew he couldn’t win. He held back for now, allowing for these three to do whatever it was they were doing.

The kid was brilliant.

He was fighting off most of the enemies that approached him, even if they were the lower ones that Lucky was producing. Root vines thrashed at him too along with witches that numbered 50, continuing to respawn and target him. ‘Why is he holding back?’ Astro thought. ‘Claudia, Wally, Dante, and all of those people behind him. They are certainly much stronger. What is his goal? Can I even get them back? Kazuki has to help me.’

Kazuki: “Aelig, huh? That is your name?”

Aelig: “Shut up. My prodigy needs silence and to be focused.”

Kazuki: “I see. My name is Kazuki Alcion.”

Aelig: “I said shut your mouth.”

Kazuki: “I see. Then I shall.”

He walked back to Astro who questioned why he would listen to him, but he did not say a word and sat down next to Astro, observing the playing field.

The young boy was holding his ground, but began to sweat and get tired. Aelig yelled out, “Kyuma! You must have the confidence to continue! Even if your body is against you, your mind can boost you forward!”

Kyuma: “Yes master!”

Aelig: “That is how you will break Centennial Parrel’s curse! Focus!”

Kyuma closed his eyes, focusing hard on his goal, then his mana swelled unlike before. He didn’t have much, but he was fighting like he had an unlimited supply, destroying the ongoing attacks of the witches faster than they could respawn. Then, Wally’s body swapped places and began to attack the boy.

He purposely attacked the lower body, avoiding any hits that could do significant damage. He defeated Wally in a short time, then pointed at the skeleton and said, “Bring it on! I need more!”

The skeleton laughed and then shushed his finger to his mouth before going back underneath the surface and disappearing.

Kyuma: “Alright! I did it! Master, did you see that?!”

Aelig: “Yes! You were good, but you can be better. You need more belief. I cannot be there to boost you all the time. You must conquer your body and mind in situations that arise in everyday life, not just fighting.”

Kyuma: “Yes master!”

Aelig: “You two…you may approach now.”

Kazuki and Astro walked over to Aelig, commending the young boy for his fighting. Kazuki explained that the skeleton was holding back though, which angered Aelig, but he already knew this. He shamed Kazuki for his negative words.

Aelig: “Speak. What do you want? We have opponents to face.”

Kazuki: “I see. You both are very strong. I believe that we have goals that are similar. How about joining us? We are going to fight some strong people. In fact, that skeleton was on our list, but we will find him again at a later time.”

Aelig: “No. I refuse. My prodigy here needs to learn by himself. We don’t need people to help us. We are strong enough.”

Kazuki: “You build strength through confidence, correct? That is something I have never seen. You don’t use mana, but the boy does. Yet, you mask it as mana. I see you are an anomaly of this era. There are always some in every era.”

Aelig: “Piss off. Go mess with someone else before we both fight you. Oh, Kyuma! I sense something coming! This is a good opportunity!”

Kyuma: “Yes! I can feel it! I can sense it! It’s huge!”

Kazuki: “Ah, this is not good.”

Astro: “Wh-What is this presence?”

Kaibo’s body landed hard on the ground in front of them, kicking up so much dust from the ground that it kicked up into the whole area, creating a smokescreen. He rushed at Kyuma who had confidence that he could win, going to deflect his sword, keeping up with his speed at such a young age. However, Aelig came in between them, sending a barrage of attacks with his own sword.

He smiled and laughed as sparks flew from both of their swords with the immense strength from them both. Ice thorns rushed from underneath the ground from Aelig, and similarly, white and black dots that looked like bacteria floated from underneath, cancelling each other out, but Kaibo began to push him back.

Aelig quickly pushed Kyuma out of the way, as he realized this was no longer a teaching moment. He recognized strength easily, and the skeleton was strong, but he was prepared at any moment to assist if his young prodigy could not continue, but this case was different.

His body became laced with letters of the alphabet that monitored his strength. It started with the letter A in a glowing red, warping all over him. The same symbols began to form together, encasing him in a square box that glowed the same red color.

Kaibo immediately broke out of it, and whispered something to himself, which caused Aelig’s soul to bounce back out of his body for a second before he pulled it back in himself, but in that second, Kaibo’s powers were overbearing.

Kazuki rushed in front of him before he could do anything, blocking Kaibo with Alcion. He recognized the sword and stepped back, finally speaking.

Kaibo: “The legendary Alcion user? Finally decided to step in? I sensed you from all the way across the world. Did you not sense me or did you choose not to save all the people I killed? Your friend, Michiaki Sen, set me loose. I guess you should blame him. You’re going to need the Devil’s help if you want to stop me.”

Kazuki: “Hmm, I see. Well, there is no saving you. Full Moon: Divine Reflection.”

Kaibo continued to attack only with his rusted sword, not using any powers, but he couldn’t touch Kazuki like this. His attacks were repelled and he ended up cutting up himself. He quickly shifted his attention back to the young kid, purposely going after him to enrage Aelig.

Aelig: “Endless Frost!”

Everyone’s bodies became frostlike besides for Kaibos. He cut up Kyuma into pieces, but he arose again in the same frost as if it was his main body.

Kaibo: “Ha! An illusion? You should learn some stronger techniques you waste of space.”

His sword lit up red, this time swallowing the entire area in red mana of its own. It wasn’t Kaibo’s mana, but the sword itself, completely wiping out Aelig’s ability.

He swung down once again on the young boy, but he disappeared. When he looked around, everything disappeared and he was in a world completely devoid of nothing but white.

Kazuki walked slowly behind him and Kaibo laughed. “So? The Greatest Swordsmen of all time has to use the World of White to fight? What’s wrong? Afraid that Chaplets won’t work on me?”

Kazuki: “Kaibo, is it? There are certainly a lot of strong people in this era. I love it. Swordsmen are beginning to evolve. It was not like this many years ago when I was around. Swords were beginning to decrease in value. People did not believe that they could gain strength unless they had a legendary sword. In a sense, I guess that is true, but a man just proved me wrong in this era. He has done something that even I cannot do. People continue to amaze me. I cannot give up on them.”

Kaibo: “Tell me. Do you think you’re some god? A deity? People aren’t justified. The man that broke me free has the same beliefs and yet he is the current 1st Reverend of the Swords. People don’t deserve to roam this world.”

Kazuki: “And yet, there is always a force that stops evil, no?”

Kaibo: “You call me evil because I kill? I can only assume you have been given your title because you have killed as well. Is killing really evil? I am purifying people’s souls. After all, it was people that killed my family, and it is people that continue to kill over and over and over again. We both know it will not stop. You are witnessing it yourself. Do not tell me something different.”

Kazuki: “I see. We do have differing beliefs. I suppose there is no way to fix this. Do not get me wrong. I am a very understanding man. I do see your viewpoint, but as I said, I cannot give up on people. Tell me Kaibo, what did you feel when you met your wife? What did you feel when you had your kid? You said you had a family, correct? Even if it was for a second, I would like to know.”

Kaibo: “I cannot explain it. If you have not experienced it, then you wouldn’t know. You wouldn’t know what it’s like to lose them either. A person that you do not know that dies is not the same. Kazuki Alcion, you may have the title of the Greatest Swordsmen Ever, but it seems you have not fought for someone that you love.”

Kazuki: “I see. Someone I love, eh? Love. To love someone. Hmm…dare I say that I love everybody? Is there something wrong with that?”

Kaibo: “Impossible. You cannot love everyone. You do not even know them.”

Kazuki: “Then…what is love? Why must I only love a select few? You have given me something new to think about. Do you see what I mean, Kaibo? People continue to amaze me in every era. I continue to question things.”

Kaibo: “You’ll never understand. I do not regret anything I’ve done. You should think about that some more. It’ll be the last thought you ever think.”

His body lit up in white and black dots and his sword gleamed red. Had Welpen been here, he would’ve wondered how he had gotten his sword back, however Kaibo’s sword never perishes. It continues to replicate over and over whenever he needs it, but Kazuki did not know this, nor did he care.

He chanted something that surprised Kazuki, making him weary now of this man. He called out, “Visual World: 3rd World of Protations!”

His ability obliterated the World of White, shifting them over to a new world filled with empty buildings that perfectly went in a straight line endlessly along one road while the rest of the space was an empty wasteland. Floating gumballs filled the sky with cameras on each of them, staring down at both of them.

Kazuki: “Blaming me for using a World, but then you use one yourself. Hmm, this is certainly unexpected. The Visual World? Not even a portion of it, but the real thing. You wanted to prevent Aelig from entering this space? You certainly achieved your goal. I wonder, how is this going to affect the other 8 worlds? I believe we are the first people in history to fight here. Isn’t that right, Reflectors?”

He looked specifically at the cameras on the large gumballs in the sky, and they shook up and down as if they were alive, watching over them.

Kazuki: “You do realize that this may change things forever?”

Kaibo: “Scared? I didn’t take you for that kind of person. However, even I do not know what will happen here if we fight, so I don’t want to take that chance. I still have work to do. See ya later.”

Kaibo disappeared in thin air, leaving Kazuki to fend for himself. He looked around at this odd space that he was in, seeing what he could do. Looking at the cameras, he thought about what this meant. ‘These Reflectors allow for any of the 8 Worlds to look into my strength. I wonder who is watching. The only problem is if someone has the Copy Chaplet in the 2nd World, or something with a similar ability. If that’s the case, then an entire world will have my abilities. This isn’t good. I can’t escape here either yet. He knew what he was doing. This is my mistake.’

He then said out loud, “Well! I guess I will have to rely on my allies! You all can do it. I must wait here for 1 full day. Do your best everyone! Once we beat those enemies, new ones will begin to emerge.”

He said this, looking straight into one of the cameras. Although he couldn’t see what was on the other side, a man that looked close to a teenager in age, wore a large black and white jacket that was puffy, covering his entire upper body. He wore jeans and gym shoes, and was accompanied by a large blue and grey wolf three times his size with eyes that lit up a neon blue color. He looked into a small watch on his wrist at Kazuki’s face, and smirked as he and his wolf walked across a sea of water with waves that parted for him.