"What!?"
Tanjo typically maintained a general hold over his emotions, never willing to concede himself to a dire moment by crying or spiraling out of control with anger—though that is not to say it has not happened a number of times, and, specifically, this was one of those times.
He had just hollered at the God of Time, his voice scratchy as he began to struggle with catching his breath. Tanjo Nozomu, a sixteen-year-old, destroyed the planet. The boy heavily doubted that Kronos was lying and knew that he was also incapable of incorporating jokes into his brief moments of dialogue, but being told that he had destroyed Earth was a difficult reality to perceive as true.
The blue-haired god exhaled. "Please, do not yell."
"Don't yell!? I just killed billions!" Tanjo exclaimed, his heart thumping erratically.
Kronos was already tired of the boy's anxious side. "Which is why I brought you to me. So, please, lower your tone."
As simple an order as it was, Tanjo had to force himself to comply, his hands tightly balled up into fists. Surely Kronos had a solution; after all, he was a god. A god that wielded time as an instrument for power.
"Good." Kronos closed his eyes, angling his head downward. "Now, firstly, how do you like your little gift? I trust that Aphrodite had some rational thoughts behind bestowing such a magnificent power on you."
Tanjo gathered his breath, his dilated eyes reverting to their original size. "I don't even know what it is nor how it works!"
A low but audible hum escaped from Kronos' throat.
"Aphrodite isn't the smartest goddess, but she still has an intellect greater than most: she has to have a reason, and I'm willing to follow along." The God of Time stated, opening his eyes.
The boy was still confused. "Then follow along by telling me what the lightning is!"
"It isn't lightning, Tanjo. Far from it." Kronos responded, proceeding to extend his right arm outward.
Tanjo simply watched as the God of Time allowed the spatial rifts that Tanjo had previously used to coat his hand—*KRRSHH!*—the color of the lightning-like power being a touch brighter than what the boy had used against Lord Phoenix.
"It's called Disruption of Reality. Pretty self-explanatory, I presume?" Kronos stretched the rifts through the space around the two, a luminous glow accompanying it.
The jet-black-haired boy entered a pensive daze, his mind washing over the events that had transpired since the moment he received the Disruption of Reality from Aphrodite.
"So that's why Lord Phoenix couldn't block or phase through my attack…" Tanjo voiced with an astute tone, his countenance sharp.
The God of Time nodded. "It's impossible to block, logically speaking. It rips through space itself, so there isn't a concept in the universe that can withstand its power."
"So why didn't Lord Phoenix immediately die after being hit by it?" Tanjo questioned thoughtfully, perking up slightly.
"Because you're weak, Tanjo." Kronos answered with indifference.
Those words stung Tanjo to the core, his shoulders slouching as a dumbfounded expression was etched on his face. It was painfully truthful and all the more obvious: Tanjo was, in fact, still incredibly weak when grouped with the mighty pantheon of warriors that roamed the planet, whether it be in his own universe or an alternate one.
"Another regrettable fact is that the more power a mortal wields, the more pain you'll feel while using it. I'm sure that you felt a mind-numbing sensation moments before blowing up the planet." Kronos added, his careless tone contrasting significantly with the gravity of the statement.
Tanjo hummed. "Oh. That's nice. So instead of me just feeling like I'm swimming through lava whenever I push myself with my Aura Amalgamation, I am now subjected to feeling another indescribable pain?"
"Would you rather be a corpse outside of your own universe?" Kronos asked tersely, his eyes half-lidded.
"I'd rather have my progression unaffected by external forces! And by external forces, I'm referring to all of the other-wordly, cosmic problems you gods and goddesses have also bestowed on me!" Tanjo retorted, his anger spiking temporarily.
The God of Time sighed. It was logical to accept the fact that a teenager who lived a moderately normal life would lag behind in the grand scheme of a god's work. For what it was worth, Tanjo would follow along quite well most of the time, and within his own right, the boy was also dubious and oblivious to more than what was preferable.
"I believe that we can both benefit from a mutual understanding. So, listen to me when I say this: If you do not strengthen yourself, everybody you love or will ever love will presumably die, no matter what you do to stop such from occurring." Kronos gave a heavy reminder of why the boy was training, informing him of what may lie ahead in the future.
Tanjo was not lost in those words. "And all I want is to actually progress. I can accept the pain if it means that others don't have to feel it, but I need the chance to grow and not die of my own exhaustion!"
Silence soon filled the space between them, an implicit queue to reflect on the situation at hand.
Uncharacteristically, the God of Time placed his left hand on Tanjo's shoulder, their eyes meeting.
"Your future is everyone's future, Tanjo, including mine. There is nobody I would have rather gifted with the Aura Amalgamation than you. I handed it to you the moment you were born with the hopes that you'd never use it wrongly, and I still harbor such feelings. Ignore the exhaustion you speak of and fight—that's what more than just the multiverse needs."
Tanjo was motionless, his eyes cast toward his feet as his jet-black hair hung over his face. Time and time again, the teen was opposed by his own close-mindedness. It was like a curse that balanced out his intelligence with an equal amount of naivety—and, in this very moment, Tanjo had a choice:
To uphold his promise to Aphrodite in which he shall never die, and to succeed in his own ambitions of making everyone smile, which, in a sense, related to Kronos' goals as well. To maintain balance and grant peace amongst all.
"I'll fix this universe's Earth; I'll reverse time to before the moment you and Lord Phoenix destroyed everything. With that in mind, I want you to push yourself much harder. That black hole is insignificant compared to what you'll inevitably face." Kronos said, removing his hand from the boy's shoulder.
Tanjo may have been silent, but Kronos only needed to see the ambitious fire in the boy's eyes to understand how his words had been effective. How the teen was still far from giving in or taking the easy route in his laborious training.
"The more disciplined, the easier; the harder the task, the greater the reward—think about those words, Tanjo."
Then everything went white.
XXX
"In essence… I am a god!"
Here he was, brought back to the moment where Lord Phoenix, the masked rival of Regashi Ketsueki, had created a black hole from his own hands, poised to throw the dense sphere of utter darkness toward him and the prince.
Looking to his left, Tanjo could see Regashi bracing for the black hole colliding with the two of them, completely giving up—he was unable to fight against Lord Phoenix at this moment.
It was a good thing Tanjo was not yet ready to die.
*KRRRSHHH!*
Mirroring the exact moment in the past, when Tanjo had challenged the black hole before accidentally destroying the Earth, the Disruption of Reality surrounded the boy like a protective wall. His arms stretched forward, and his open hand pointed at the dense sphere of darkness that was soon launched his way.
"Regashi!" Tanjo called out to the prince. "When I say blast the black hole away, you need to distract Lord Phoenix long enough until I can find the strength to fight again!"
The brown-haired male looked shocked. "What are you going to do? That's a black hole!"
"And, whether I can get you to understand it later or not, we're brothers! Now stay focused!" Tanjo proclaimed, gritting his teeth.
"Shut up and die!" Lord Phoenix roared with the thrust of his arms, the black hole raging forward.
*KRRRRSHHH!*
Tanjo valiantly shot a stream of spatial rifts toward the black hole, the Disruption of Reality clashing with the dense sphere of darkness once again, the fate of the planet in the hands of the winner.
The boy's muscles bulged as his body experienced more physical stress than before, but his mind was more defined and relentless—and so was his soul.
"My first act of forging a better future… is by beating… you!" Tanjo bellowed, blood trickling down from the corners of his eyes, falling to the floating ground with a minuscule splatter.
The Disruption of Reality and the black hole fought for several moments, each almost as unyielding as the other. But, as time passed, the lightning-like power began to have the advantage, shoving the devastating sphere of darkness back, its gravitational pull being greatly suppressed.
It was not long until the black hole eventually started to be forcefully warped, shrinking as it was torn apart like a piece of paper, vanishing in the wind.
*KRRSH!*
With the black hole gone, the Disruption of Reality raced through the air and slammed into Lord Phoenix with a mighty cackle, opening a window for Regashi to rush in and take his masked rival by surprise.
"My turn!" Regashi claimed, reaching Lord Phoenix in under a second and punching him in the gut, throwing his body further into the atmosphere.
The two continued to clash, resuming what they had started previously, before Tanjo took the liberty of joining in. Speaking of Tanjo, the jet-black-haired teenager collapsed to his knees, panting heavier than he ever had before.
And he was sweating! For the first time, Tanjo was sweating. No matter how hard the boy would work himself, his stamina never ran out, and the only pain he would feel was his Aura Amalgamation thrashing around inside his body. However, it was different in this particular circumstance, as his entire body was weak for the time being.
Tanjo needed to get a hold on the Disruption of Reality, and quickly.
'End this, Regashi…' Tanjo looked up to beyond the sky, watching the rivals soar. 'End this for not just me and you, but for your home.'
XXX
Hopefully the next chapter will be the final installment of this long fight! Though I say that, this may be my favorite fight of the novel as it includes a huge upgrade for Tanjo, both physically and mentally, along with progressing the novel farther than most of the fights I've written! How will this clash between Lord Phoenix and the two sons of Furusato end? Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_