"Eight minutes... damn… It will be tough to figure out a way to stop that weapon. Especially with Overlord here…."
"Now then, time to get rid of you nuisances," Overlord summons Water JōKai onto his hands, and as he launches a water ball toward the ground, the impact creating a crater in the ground. With an outstretched palm, he conjures long, narrow streams of water from the droplets from the water ball that shoot up at incredible speeds. "Water Manipulation: ..." Overlord clenches his hand, and the raging water streams chase Navar and Pikati. "Roaring Stream Seekers!" Navar dodges the wild constructs with lateral leaps, causing debris to scatter across the arena as the attacks strike walls and other structures.
Navar dodges most of the attacks, but one connects, hitting him squarely in the back and sending him tumbling to the arena floor. He grunts in pain and clutches the injured area, then regains his composure. "Agh! It hurts!" Suddenly, Pikati's scream pierces the air, capturing his attention. As he scans the area, he notices Pikati trapped beneath a boulder, with the danger of falling rocks looming over him. "Don't worry, Pikati! I'm comin'!" Navar sprints at breakneck speeds, lunging over and grabbing Pikati as they avoid the falling rocks.
"Pikati! Pikati!" Navar shakes Pikati repeatedly, but he remains unresponsive, his breathing shallow. "Dammit. He's out cold," He places his hand on Pikati's heart and feels the thump-thump of his heartbeat. "Thank goodness nothin' terrible happened to him. He's still alive."
Overlord's inner turmoil causes the Spark JōKai to stop flowing on his hand as he watches Navar rescue Pikati. "That brat. Why is he so desperate to save a useless goblin like him? No, don't think about that. Get a grip. Remember your mission. Remember your plan! Those people murdered your family!" Overlord's outstretched palm causes the rocks surrounding Navar and Pikati to transform into rough, fist-shaped objects. "Hard Terrain Manipulation: Battering Barrage!"
From all around Navar, the Hard JōKai objects hurtle toward Navar with blunt force. "I need to get Pikati outta here! Anymore attacks, and he'll die," Navar throws Pikati aside and is pummeled by the Hard Terrain constructs, getting buried under debris.
Overlord clenches his fists in anger, feeling his blood boil at the sight of Navar saving Pikati once again. "Why... Why… Why does he continue to save a goblin?!" Overlord thinks to himself.
As Navar emerges from the debris, he brushes off the dust and debris, taking a deep breath of fresh air. "Finally, I'm free," As he frees himself from the rubble, his attention is drawn to the intense stare of Overlord. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Why… Why… Why are you so set on saving some as useless as him?"
Navar's face breaks into a confident grin, the corners of his lips lifted high. "Because he's a friend of mine. Anyone who's my friend will get treated awesomely, no matter what race they are."
"Quit saying lies!" Overlord lunges at Navar, his massive form casting a menacing shadow over him. He summons Wind JōKai into the palm of his hand, ready to strike. "Wind Summoning: Squalling Push!" Navar is thrown back by the force of Overlord's attack, which fiercely slams into him and propels him into a wall.
We now shift back to the POV of Haru and the legion of soldiers, with their shields below 10%. "Everyone! Once these shields come down, we'll bolt to that door and take our chances," says Haru.
The squadron leader places his hand on Haru's soldier. "We'll take the brunt of the fire. We'll deploy a smokescreen and advance on 'em to keep you distracted. Once the smokescreen deploys, y'all run like hell to get to that door and make your way to the hackin' station."
"No! You can't do that you- "
"Hey, if we don't do this, millions of other people will die. Let us do our job, officer."
Haru takes a moment to consider the squadron leader's proposal before acquiescing. "Alright, words can't describe how thankful we are to you," Haru taps Jax, Soma, Rojo, and Yuki on the shoulder. "Okay, guys, come with me to the front of the shield. Once it deactivates, run for it, got it?"
"Yes sir!" they say.
"Good."
As the shield nears deactivation, the squadron leader takes out a pack of cigarettes. "Hey, sir, didn't you say you were trying to lay off those? I know how Hina feels about you smoking them."
The squadron leader chuckles as he ignites his cigarette and inhales deeply. "Ah, I never quit... You know me all too well to know I don't quit at anything..."
"Understood, sir, and might I just say. It's been a true honor fighting with you all these years."
"It sure has, now, men! Let's ready our blasters! And die like real soldiers!"
"Yeah!" The shields disappear, and the soldiers fill the air with smokescreens. "Go now, Haru! Get the hell out of here!" They ready their weapons, their eyes never leaving the goblins and elf soldiers before them as they fire at the goblin and elf soldiers.
As the Ion beams pelt, the soldiers, Haru, Jax, Rojo, Yuki, and Soma, scramble toward the exit, their bodies concealed through the smokescreen. "Come on, guys, we're almost there. Do not look back!" says Haru.
As they run, Soma's shoestring tangles, causing him to trip and fall to the ground. "Soma!" Jax attempts to save him, but Haru quickly intercepts him. "Come on, Jax! We don't have time!"
Miles of tears stream down Soma's face as he holds out his hand, bracing for the impending doom. "No! Please Help me!"
Haru leads them to the door, pressing the button as they arrive and closing it behind them. Haru looks over at Jax, tears streaming down his face. "Jax, I'm sorry. But we can't afford to lose any more lives. Especially young lives like yours. You guys are our future."
"I know... it just hurts to see all those people die. They're innocent people! They don't deserve this."
"But they didn't die in vain. They died saving millions of people and trusting that we would make their sacrifice worth it. So come on, let's save Ozania," Haru places a comforting hand on Jax's shoulder and flashes him an encouraging grin.
Jax wipes the streaming tears from his face and inclines his head. "Alright. Let's do it."
In order to reach the enhancer, they follow the same path through the mechanical room as before. Haru checks the timer above the enhancer and sees it will activate in three minutes. "Yuki, can you perform this hack in three minutes?"
"You betcha!" Yuki plugs in his V.M.I. and starts hacking.
We now shift back to the POV of Navar and Overlord's battle with the enhancer nearing activation. "Are you ready to accept your idea of hope is useless now that my enhancer is near activation? Answer me..."
Navar walks through the opaque smoke with his blade held low, ready to continue the fight. As he continues his confident stride, a glint of determination glistens in his eyes. "Never! I can't afford to lose here. The lives of millions of people depend on whether I can win or lose this battle! And I will not stop fightin' until the very last second!" Navar's war cry pierces through the air as he charges towards Overlord, his eyes locked onto him.
"Teh, such ignorance," Hard Terrain JōKai surges into Overlord's palm, and a towering construct rockets toward Navar, leaving a trail of dust and debris in its wake. "Hard Terrain Summoning: Battering Bash!" The enormous object plows into Navar's stomach, leaving him tumbling across the arena floor.
"2 Minutes remaining until AC-X Activation," says the computerized system.
We now switch back to the POV of Haru, Yuki, Rojo, and Jax in the mechanical room. "Yuki! You have 2 minutes left. How are you looking?"
"I've almost got it. Just give me some time!" Amid his hacking, red lights illuminate the room, and a blaring alarm echoes throughout the space. "V.M.I infiltration detected! Emergency Firewall Activated!" "Shit, this isn't good! Now it's going to take me longer to hack!"
We now switch back to the POV of Navar and Overlord's battle with Navar, lying on the ground and struggling to recover. "Damn, I only have two minutes to save everyone..." Navar struggles to stand up, stumbling and falling to the ground again and again.
"No matter how hard you try, you won't be able to succeed. The AC-X will annihilate the capital world, and those people will pay for the bloodshed they thrust upon my once proud race. And there's nothing you can do about it! Just give up!"
Despite the damage he's sustained from battle, he rises to his feet, planting his sword into the ground for support. His breath falters as memories of his family come rushing back to him. "Mom, Dad, Jax, Miri, Lucky, Rokuda, Seiju, Nozomi, Juyon, Denkei, Astran, Nozomi, Captain, Shinjiro, and millions of other people's lives are depending on this moment here and now!"
A wild force emanating from Navar lifts countless rocks and debris around him and throughout the arena. "I've trained too hard... too long for it all to end this way!!!"
"I cannot lose!"
"I will not....."
"…"
"…"
"Lose!"
Then, a massive burst of white energy erupts and circles around Navar at an astonishing speed that even Overlord bats an eye at. "What is this power? It's incredible… I've never seen a force like this before…"
As he observes the power for a moment, he realizes the incredible potential that Navar has unlocked. "There's no way…. That brat has...."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Light JōKai!"
Navar's blade and body are encased in this glowing white energy. "I'm gonna do what you failed to do... Even when the chips were stacked against you, you lost hope and chickened out when things got hard! Where I'm from, the chance you get of a happy life is slim, everyone from Wellfort works tirelessly forever until they die. My siblings and I don't want that life, so we worked our asses off day in and day out, trainin', huntin' beasts. You name it! We did everything we possibly could to achieve our dream, and we never gave up, even though everyone doubted us! But you gave up! That's your loss; millions of others don't have to suffer. But I swear... no, I promise.... this blade I hold in my hand will be the Shining Sword of Salvation for all of those across the universe, and I will save them from people like you!" Declares Navar!
He channels his energy into his blade, and the blustering force around him sends debris flying in all directions. He steadies himself and brings his blade back, causing the ground beneath his feet to quake and form a small crater. Navar's feet leave the ground as he springs towards Overlord, moving twice as fast as he ever had before. The white contrails trailing behind him tear through the wind with a deafening crack.
We now return to the POV of Yuki, Jax, Haru, and Rojo in the mechanical room. "T-Minus 30 Seconds until AC-X Activation!"
"Yuki, I don't mean to hurry you, but now you have to hack that faster!" says Haru.
"I know! I'm trying, but the firewall has screwed me over big time!"
"Ok, think... There has to be some way to slow this thing down or deactivate it," While Jax is scouring the room for clues, his eyes fall upon a panel on the machine with instructions written on it. "For emergency shutoff, turn the emergency cutoff valve to the right. However, be warned, turning this will cause the enhancer to explode, and anyone near the blast radius will be killed immediately."
"15 Seconds Until Activation," says the computerized voice.
"Guess I have no choice. Navar, Miri, Mom, Dad, Lucky, and everyone. It looks like this will be my end," Jax aims his blaster at the valve and shoots the Ion blast beam.
"Jax, what the hell are you doing?!" asks Haru.
Jax's lips curl upwards at the corners, showing a sense of assurance. "Savin' Ozania Officer."
We now go back to the POV of Navar soaring through the air, his blade glinting with bright light as he closes in on Overlord for his new attack. "Shining Sword..." With a powerful swing, Navar strikes at Overlord's torso. "Dynamic Salvation!"
We now return to the POV of Jax's Ion blast bolt approaching the valve.
"AC-X Activating in 3-2..." Jax's beam shifts the valve to the right, causing the timer and enhancer to stop activation just before the machine can hit one. "AC-X Activation Emergency Shutoff detected, Initiating Self Destruct."
"Jax! You caused the thing to go off on self-destruct!" says Rojo.
"I know, but at least the apocalyptic weapon didn't go off," With his eyes closed, Jax smiles and feels a sense of calm settle over him, knowing that his sacrifice was worth it. "I'll see you guys later..."
"…"
"…"
"…"
The mechanical room shakes as the explosion goes off, and a spaceship's photon blast beam blasts a gaping hole. With lightning speed, 499 emerges from the hole and ushers everyone onto the spaceship just in time to avoid the explosion.
Once the spaceship has flown far enough from the blast radius, Rojo collapses onto the floor, feeling an immense sense of relief. "Whew! I thought we were really about to die there! Thanks, man, you saved us!"
"It's a part of my mission, now for Navar..." says 499.
"Navar? Where is he?" asks Jax.
"He's at the space station with Overlord, and it's about to detonate due to you hitting the emergency shutoff."
"No way! Then hurry the hell up! We gotta save him!"
We now return to the POV of Navar and Overlord's battle following Navar's attack. Overlord appears unfazed even after Navar's potent attack. Navar looks back, disappointed to see Overlord still fresh and unscathed. "Goddammit, wha-?" Navar glances at a device on Overlord's wrist, and it reads 'AC-X Activation 0:00' "If the timer says zero, why didn't the weapon go off..." The longer Navar stares at Overlord's hand, the more it trembles.
The once menacing voice now sounds weak and somber, evoking a sense of melancholy. "Navar..."
"What?"
"Tell me again... what do you want to do with your sword?"
"I want to use it to save every creature in the universe from evil people like you, that's what!"
"I see...." Overlord, now fully aware of his failure, feels a deep emptiness inside him, the same emptiness he experienced at the end of his journey through the forests. "All this time, I spent years letting my hatred blind me. And rather than focusing on saving millions from other oppressors, I was too caught up in vengeance and revenge and became what I wanted to destroy. And to make matters worse, I didn't keep my promise to my family."
"Hey, jerk! Why do you still have your back turned?! Why don't you have the guts to face me, you coward?! Because you failed, you can't face me like a man?!"
"Navar... tell me more..... I want to hear more from you.... your words they...."
"Hit a chord within me..."
Overlord's request leaves Navar bewildered, causing him to jerk his head back. "Why do you want me to do that? Why should I say that to someone of the likes of you?!"
"Just tell me, please..."
"Ok... I want to make this universe a place where everyone can live happily. Not only that, but back at my home in Wellfort, I want to change it from the once horrible "shithole" my Mom calls it into a paradise. I don't want my Mom and Dad to work another tirin' day in their lives again. They've sacrificed way too much to be there. And then I wanna be one of the greatest warriors ever! Yeah, and I'll be 20, no 30 times the man you will ever be!"
"I see. You and I share the same ideas. You shared the same dream as I did when I was younger. It's so... touching..."
"R-really?"
"Yes… all the time when I was younger, I was often the target of everyone around me. I was weak… That inspired me to become a powerful person to help save the weak."
"Oh, I didn't know that. As weird as it sounds, I'm glad we share the same dream."
"Me too, kiddo, me too," The timer in Overlord's trembling hand slips from his grasp and shatters on the ground. "Kid, you have no idea how inspiring you truly are. Thank you for making me see the error in my ways."
Finally, the man once thought to be incapable of feeling anything has a surprising breakthrough and experiences something he hasn't for 30 years…
Emotion…
Overlord turns towards Navar; his face contorted with grief and a sea of tears streaming down his face. "Navar... I'm going to tell you something my father told me..." He pulls out the same watch his father gave him when he was younger. "Never rush time, no matter what. This will remind you that everything good in life comes at the right time. Let it come naturally, and I promise you, you will receive great rewards," Overlord throws Navar the watch, but before he can say anything, a massive explosion shakes the space station.
"Woah! What's going on?" asks Navar.
"Because the AC-X machine cut off abruptly, the space station will undergo a self-destruct. You and your friend need to get out of here now," Overlord strides toward Pikati and tosses him at Navar.
"Wait a second, you jerk! Don't tell me you're gonna stay here and die with the explosion! That's a coward's way to die! Now come on! You have to pay for the crimes you committed!"
"I figured you'd say that…"
"What do you mean, figured?! Are you planning to die like a coward?!"
"Yes… This is my end. I already accepted it. I have no place in this life anymore."
"What do yo-" Overlord moves so fast that he blitzes Navar's defense and strikes him with a sharp blow to the neck, rendering him unconscious.
"It isn't your time to perish yet… You still have a lot left to do if you want to achieve your dream."
Overlord activates Farsight and spots a spaceship approaching the station. With a powerful throw, he hurls Navar and Pikati through the wall, sending them hurtling toward the ship.
499 leaps into the vastness of space to rescue Navar and Pikati, then re-enters the ship.
The station's explosion is so intense that it causes a Rift to appear. A rift is a space storm that creates a powerful vacuum, pulling in and crushing anything near it. Overlord and the space station are drawn into the storm's vortex, and as he faces his last moments, he reflects on his life. "Is this how my life will truly end... All but a man who got lost in his own hatred and sought useless revenge that ultimately led to nothing but turmoil."
"Mother, Father, Kiyo, Mariko, Takashima, Kazumi... I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise. I've shed too much blood, caused too much hatred, and desired too much suffering for me to meet you in the afterlife..."
"And as for you, Navar... I leave the rest to you... Live out your dream, make the universe a better place for others to live, and rid it of monsters like me... Thank you for making me realize the error in my ways..."
"Thank you…"
The rift pulls Overlord deeper and deeper until he was no match for its crushing force. A fitting end for the life he lived…
~Navar Vs. Overlord Winner: Navar