Chapter 9: So Your Faith Wasn't Blind?

Mikaru looked puzzled as more cars and debris were sucked into the vortex.

Kurai eyed him coldly, wanting this fight to end soon. He spawned medium-sized black holes around himself while the large one still hovered behind him, then launched them at Mikaru.

Mikaru deliberated with himself, his mind racing. How exactly am I going to deal with this? Should I show him that power now? The black holes kept moving toward him. Am I not strong enough for this? Can darkness really overcome light?

No. He straightened. I am a noble knight, and I have a sword that proves my valor—filled with light, filled with energy, and full of faith.

For some reason, he had a hero complex, but unlucky for Kurai, this obnoxious trait only fed into his faith. That delusional self-belief was what had propelled him to the heights of the World Government.

A light sword spawned in his hand after he chanted, and he dashed through the black holes with a quick slash, moving toward Kurai. Kurai didn't expect this—it startled him, dissipating the giant black hole behind him. Mikaru positioned the sword and went for a slash at Kurai's head.

Kurai looked up and blocked the slash with a black hole concentrated in his hand. He then spawned two mini black holes beneath Mikaru's feet and shot them upward toward his hands, aiming to cripple him.

Mikaru stepped back, then dashed in again, hoping to land a hit—until Kurai pointed behind him. As soon as he looked back, a building came crashing down on his head.

SMASH.

People's blood and bones cracked and spilled everywhere. Kurai had used his mini black holes to destroy the building's foundations, hoping it would completely crush Mikaru—faith or no faith. Kurai was pleased with himself, allowing a slight smirk to cross his face, as much as a nihilist could give.

Rustle, rustle.

"Yo, you still wanna finish this fight, right?" said Mikaru.

Kurai turned his head, flabbergasted, and looked toward Mikaru.

"Are you serious?! You didn't have any time to react, no time to generate faith. How is that even possible?"

Mikaru started laughing obnoxiously. "Look at those in the past—all the believers, the kings, queens, and even the subjects. People throughout history—have you ever once seen them 'generate faith'? No, they didn't! Faith is something you have. Something you embody. Something that's just there. Why would I need to generate anything for something as simple as that? I just have it. And let me show you what faith can actually do..."

Mikaru disappeared and reappeared in front of Kurai. He sent a punch toward Kurai's stomach, and Kurai blocked it. But then a gush of air blew from his hand and sent Kurai flying across the street, crashing into a building.

While Kurai was bouncing around inside the building, Mikaru followed. He pulled out his sword and started slashing from all directions while Kurai was still bouncing through the store. Kurai desperately spawned black holes upon each impact to evade the blows.

Mikaru's hand started to glow, and he shot a ray of light at Kurai. Kurai panicked, but then he realized something. This kid can create things with his faith—the air blast, and now light. I need to take this seriously.

He turned his entire body transparent and let the light pass through him.

Mikaru paused for a second with a deadpan look of disbelief.

Kurai looked at him with a slight smirk. "I mean, what did you expect, buddy? I am a black hole, after all. Light gets trapped in there. It's not like a laser was just going to magically hurt me, especially when I had time to react. Haha."

He grinned wider. "So, Faith Guy, is it my turn now to show you what I can do?"

Mikaru knew this was going to be big. He already started to pull back, but Kurai was too fast. Kurai began shooting mini black holes from his hand like machine gun bullets. On the spot, he came up with something new. "Thanks for shooting at me earlier," he called out. "Now deal with this! Hahaha!"

These mini black hole bullets could distort space around anything they came in contact with. Faith powers or not, they were dangerous. Mikaru tried his best to evade them and ended up dashing outside—but as soon as he got out, a medium-sized black hole was waiting for him at the store exit.

It pulled him toward it, and he started to panic. Kurai kept shooting more mini black holes at him while he was being sucked in, then spawned three more medium-sized ones to hold him in place.

Mikaru was in a sticky spot and knew he had to do something soon. You could feel the tension in the air. The soldier on Mikaru's mic started speaking. "Mikaru, what the hell is going on? I can read that you're panicking on your neuro-leveler, and we can't lose you."

Mikaru had had enough at this point. He decided it was time. Since he was already pre-approved, he had to do it. As the mini black holes were just about to hit, he shouted, "neuro-leveler limit release!"

Then a bright light in the shape of a cross filled the entire city of Star City. It seemed as if it was another Big Flash event. Everyone started to panic—everyone in the city was unsure what was happening.

The soldier on the mic said, "Hey, what's going on? Did you go ahead and release your limits?! Why didn't you say anything?!"

As the light faded, Mikaru looked at Kurai with a smug grin. "Hey man, I did what I do best—I had faith."

Mikaru's form changed. He had a yellow aura around him, and he now had angel wings. Faith was his essence, but his unrestricted essence was that of an archangel.

The being looked on in delight. Yes, finally you show yourself, and the stage is set. What will happen now? How will you keep entertaining me? He was at the edge of his seat in anticipation.

Kurai looked at him, unbothered. "Faith, faith, faith—fucking faith, man! You do know I am void, emptiness. I am nihilistic, and so what does that leave us exactly? I am not going to waste my time here."

He called out, "neuro-leveler limit release!"

A black hole spawned from the middle of Kurai. It started out small, then instantly turned the size of a car, then a bus, then a building—and then it instantly disappeared. His body had a purple hue around it, and he looked at Mikaru intently. He was using a piece of black market tech that allowed him to do this for thirty minutes.

They looked at each other intently.

It was now an archangel versus a living black hole.