Chapter 139:
Noboru took Yami hand hold it tight.
"Shall we my void queen." Noboru asked as Yami shyly nodded.
With thought Noboru teleported outside of the Chronolux where his friends of this world was waiting.
He saw them Sky, Layla, Yumeko, Fire General Kai, and Emiko
The air outside the the of Chronolux was thick with tension they don't know Hikari was dealt with and that everything was over, and yet Noboru felt something even heavier pressing down on him—his own guilt. His crimson eyes flickered with emotion as he stepped forward, Yami at his side, her presence now fully under control. The void no longer consumed her, no longer threatened to erase all in its path. She was whole again.
And now—he had to face them.
His friend who he had to manipulate for Yami's sake.
It was cruel to edit their memories but he did not want to choose between his past life's concubine Yami which due to traveling to past made him feel nearly unrivalled for and the friends he made here.
He then saw them waiting infront of him were
Sky. Layla. Yumeko. Emiko. Fire General Kai.
They were waiting. They had been waiting all this time
The moment they saw him, their reactions varied. Sky's sharp blue eyes widened in shock, but then softened with something else—relief. Layla's spear was already drawn, her silver hair flowing behind her as her body tensed in caution. Yumeko clung to Layla's arm, her usual warmth replaced by hesitation. Emiko's fists clenched, her emerald gaze locked onto Noboru with unreadable intensity. And Fire General Kai? He was seething. The veins on his arms bulged, his molten eyes narrowing as he stepped forward.
"You…" Kai growled, stepping in front of the others, his massive form towering over the battlefield. "Where the hell were you?! Hikari took the relics! Our kingdoms were left defenseless!"
Noboru took a huge breath did they just resist his reality warping.
Noboru exhaled slowly.
No?
It can't be.
Wait a minute thats it.
He needed to try something
"I know. I took got them back." Noboru replied
Kai's expression twisted into one of barely restrained fury. "And I suppose you expect us to just believe that?!" His hands clenched into fists. "You disappeared for a long time after your batter with the Earth God. Because of you Hikari unleash that—that thing! That monster!" He gestured violently toward Yami, who remained calm beside Noboru, though her violet eyes betrayed unease. "Now you just waltz back in, acting like the hero?!"
Noboru realised what was going the reality warping he did mixed with the plot manipualtion he didn't secify how to make them so they aren't friendly yet it preserved some off the feeling they were feeling cause Noboru never specified how they should feel to him. It filled out parts of the story of this world to make it work that he didn't specified. They know Hikari stole the Relics but because Noboru didn't Change how they felt the story made it happen in a way where they are still angry at him.
Layla's love for Noboru overpowered the distrust she felt as she gripped on her spear tighter wanting to believe Noboru she asked. "Noboru… is this true? Did you really take back the relics? Hikari—he's the one who stole them, isn't he?"
Noboru nodded. "Yes i did. I defeated him. And now, I'm here to return them."
The words felt heavy.
Because they weren't the truth.
Not the full truth.
Fire General Kai's expression darkened further. "And I'm just supposed to trust that?! You knew how important they were why didn't you stop him sooner?! Where the hell were you!"
"I... was injured. I over used my power," Noboru lied, his voice steady. "But don't worry i beat Hikari I even freed the void queen from his control."
The tension in the air thickened.
Layla's eyes snapped to Yami, her expression unreadable. Unknown to Noboru this was jealously. "And why, exactly, did he need wyou free?"
Yami, to her credit, did not flinch. "I was imprisoned. Manipulated. Hikari and his father twisted my very being, turned me into a weapon against my will. It was never my choice. It was never my doing."
Kai scoffed. "And we're supposed to believe that? That she's suddenly harmless? That she—"
"Enough," Sky interrupted, stepping forward. His deep blue eyes bore into Noboru's. "You never abandoned us, did you? You never turned on us."
Noboru's throat tightened. "Never."
Sky stared at him for a long moment before exhaling sharply. "Then prove it."
Without hesitation, Noboru extended his hand, and the relics materialized before them—Excalibur, Gaia's Armor, Poseidon's Trident, and the Braveheart Shield. Restored, whole, pulsing with divine energy.
Gasps filled the air.
Emiko's hands flew to her mouth. "They're… back…"
Layla's grip on her spear loosened as she stepped closer. "You really did it…"
Kai, however, still looked unconvinced. His eyes flickered to Yami, then back to Noboru. "And I'm just supposed to take your word for it? That she—"
"Look at the relics," Noboru interrupted. "Their power is restored. If Yami was truly an enemy, would she have done that?"
Kai gritted his teeth but said nothing.
Yami finally spoke, her voice softer than before. "I do not expect forgiveness. But I swear to you all—I am not your enemy. I never was. And I never will be."
Silence stretched between them.
Then, finally, Sky stepped forward, gripping Noboru's shoulder. "You came back. That's all that matters."
Noboru's heart clenched. He had done this to protect them. To protect her. These lies it was killing him. It reminded him of his birth mother and father in this life Hiroshi and Amaya.
Fire General Kai let out a huff he didn't know why but he felt compelled to forgive Noboru for being too late.
"Kid... Its okay I'm being harsh on you. in my line of work i have to be harsh," Fire General kai felt the need to say.
Noboru senses this it seems that a condition for his forgiveness was met to the plot of this world made him forgive me. Noboru said feeling bad. Suddenly red Beacon was beamed a few meters away.
As Noboru saw the red beacon—the signal of the trial's end, the only path home—he remembered.
A memory, a old one from his time with his grandpa haruki surfaced in his mind.
Phoenix Kingdom – 18 Years Ago
A small Noboru, no older than five, sat cross-legged on a silk cushion, his crimson eyes wide with curiosity. His fluffy black hair was slightly messy, sticking up in places from the roughhousing he had done earlier that day.
Across from him sat a man with deep silver hair, wearing an elegant but simple robe. His golden eyes, sharp and filled with wisdom, held a warmth that no one else in the Phoenix Kingdom ever gave him.
In front of him was his Grandfather. Haruki Chikara.
"Grandpa, Grandpa! Tell me again about the Combat Trial!" Noboru bounced slightly, his tiny fists clenched in excitement.
Haruki chuckled, shaking his head at his grandson's boundless energy. He reached forward, ruffling Noboru's hair despite the boy's protests.
"You never get tired of hearing about it, do you, my boy?"
Noboru pouted, puffing out his cheeks. "Of course not! I wanna know everything! So i can be the best. How does it end? How do you know when you've won?"
With a deep breath, Haruki leaned forward, placing a hand on his grandson's shoulder.
"Alright, listen well, my boy." His voice dropped into something lower, something serious. A tone he only ever used when he was about to pass down something important.
"The Combat Trial… it's a test like no other. No matter which realm it takes place in, no matter what kind of trial it is, they all share one absolute rule."
Noboru's eyes gleamed. "A rule?"
Haruki nodded.
"You don't leave until you win."
Noboru tilted his head. "Win? But how do you know when you've won?"
Haruki's lips curled into a small smirk. "That's the question, isn't it?"
The five-year-old leaned forward eagerly, waiting for the answer.
"You'll know, Noboru, when you see the Red Beacon. You don't see the regular Golden Beacons letting you know where you must be. Where a Story event is. Instead red signals the end."
"Red… Beacon?"
Haruki nodded. "Yes. The moment you finish your trial, a red light will appear somewhere in the world you're in. That is your way home. Once you step into it, you will transcend that realm and return."
Noboru's jaw dropped. "Really?! That's so cool!"
Haruki chuckled again, watching the way his grandson's excitement lit up his face. But then, his expression turned serious.
"However…"
Noboru blinked. "Huh?"
Haruki leaned in closer.
"If the realm you are in is destroyed before you reach the Red Beacon—"
His golden eyes locked onto Noboru's.
"—Then you will never return home. Well Never is a long word"
Silence.
The five-year-old's excitement faded slightly, replaced with confusion.
"What do you mean, Grandpa?"
Haruki's expression was grim. "I mean that if the realm collapses before you reach the beacon, then you don't get sent home."
"Then where do I go?"
Haruki was quiet for a moment. Then, he answered.
"You'll be thrown into another trial. It's still the same level that you were in previously."
Noboru's little hands clenched. "Another one? But that not fair wouldn't have I already won!"
Haruki nodded. "Yes. But the trial isn't the one sending you back."
He tapped the boy's forehead lightly.
"It's the realm. The dimension you're in. It's what transports you. So, if that realm ceases to exist before you step into the Red Beacon…"
His fingers curled into a fist.
"…Then you're stuck in the next available one."
Noboru shivered. "That sounds unfair."
Haruki smirked. "It is. But that's the rule of the Combat Trial. Power and strength isn't free. You fight in the world you're given, and when you win, you must return before the world takes you with it."
Noboru nodded, his mind already racing.
"So I just have to make sure I don't wait too long, right?"
Haruki nodded, a small smile returning. "That's right. You're clever, my boy. Always remember this—when the Red Beacon appears, you go. No matter what."
His grandfather's voice grew softer.
"Because if you don't… you may never find your way home."
Present – The Prison Realm
Noboru snapped back to reality.
The Red Beacon was there.
It was glowing. Flickering. Calling him home.
"Noboru…" Layla's voice was quieter than before, hesitant. "Before you leave… I need to tell you something."
Emiko stepped beside her, nodding. "Me too."
Their gazes locked onto his, filled with something raw. Something vulnerable.
And before they could say it—
The world shattered.
A golden arrow, the size of the entire realm, slammed down from the heavens.
Time froze.
There was no warning. No escape. No chance to react.
It struck—
And they were gone.
All of them.
Sky. Layla. Yumeko. Emiko. Kai.
Obliterated.
Their existence wiped away in an instant.
Noboru's breath caught in his throat. His mind refused to process it. One moment, they were there—standing beside him, reaching for him. And the next—
Gone.
"Sky""
"Kai!"
"YUMeko"
"LAYLA"
"EMIKO"
Noboru went from speaking to yelling.
No response.
"Guy's don'y don't do this."
"Please not again."
"NO NO NO."
A golden light crackled above, and laughter echoed through the shattered realm.
"Did you really think I would let you have everything?"
Yahweh's voice.
Mocking. Cruel. Triumphant.
Noboru's vision blurred. His knees threatened to buckle. His body trembled—not from fear, not from exhaustion.
From rage.
Yahweh's laughter grew louder. "Oh, you might have stolen my weapon, my dear abomination, but in exchange—I have taken the ones who loved you."
Golden cracks spread across the sky. The realm itself was collapsing.
Noboru felt anger.
Anger like when Yami was enslaved he was trembling his Omni Energy begging to burst out and destroy those who killed his friends but then Noboru felt it Yami hand on his srist he looked at her the ring on her hand pulsating calming him down
"No…" Yami whispered, stepping closer to him. "Noboru i know your angry but we have to go—"
Yami was scared hearing Yahweh's voice the voice of the man who tortured here but the ring Nobrou and her loved had a calming aura and she knew Noboru wasn't in the right mind.
He wasn't listening.
He was remembering.
His grandfather's words.
"If the realm collapses before you reach the beacon, you will be lost. You will have to start over."
Yami grabbed his wrist, her touch grounding him. "We have to leave—NOW."
Noboru clenched his fists but sighed.
Yami was right.
"I will kill you, Yahweh," he swore. His voice was dark. Unshaken. Absolute. "I will erase everything you hold dear. I will take everything from you."
Yami pulled him toward the beacon, her own violet eyes filled with devastation. "Revenge later. Right now—we run."
With one last look at the spot where his friends had once stood—where the ones he loved had been ripped from existence—Noboru turned.
And together, he and Yami with a mere thought appeared in the the red light. The final checkpoint the red beacon.
As the realm collapsed behind them, they vanished.
And then—
Darkness.
Silence.
Until—
A single breath.
Noboru's eyes snapped open.
He was home.