Segato's eyes quickly flung open as he subconsciously leapt to his feet. It was a good thing he did, as the previous location was now burnt to cinders. He looked across to see a silhouette similar to him with its left arm stretched out.
[We're going in order, weakling. Defeat that which is Sacred within you. Conquer your faith.] I felt no need to go into further explanation.
Isn't this a little too high of a level to be starting with? Segato exclaimed in his mind.
I personally disagree with his assessment, since I determined that this version of Segato is the weakest.
Wait, what? What do you mean by version?
Segato had no time to think, and could only dodge. The intense, bright orange flames continued to pour out from the combat shadow's left hand in the form of brilliant lances. Segato wasn't even sure how he knew the trajectories, or why his previously incompetent movements now became less wasteful, but he knew that even a single lance could be the death of him. He twisted and turned, flipped, backflipped, sidestepped, squatted, jumped, skipped, and more. He felt like he should be in danger, but his current movements suggested otherwise. It felt like a dance, one he had long since practiced.
But when? When did I practice these movements? Why do I know the combat shadow's movements?
[If you don't get it yet, you have many other "versions" to fight. Think long and hard... maybe you'll remember something important. You can also give up, but you'll never surpass that which comes before you.]
The words that you need to hear... only you can say them...
Segato pulled his hair back, sighed, thought deeply, and then finally uttered after briefly widening his eyes, "... Fuck, you just had to remind me, Seiga Evol. How many times have I gone through this hustle and bustle now?"
His(?) eyes narrowed as he caught a fire lance in mid-air and then rapidly tossed it back. Such weak imitations couldn't land a scratch on him if he fights seriously--
"Stop for a moment, Seiga Evol. Or should I call you Hubris? Does it even matter at this point?" Segato(?) called out.
I am aware you have questions, but the answers do not lie with me.
"What convenient writing of 'the script' you have, as always. I only need 1 question answered, to be honest. What is the point in waking me up early?"
Segato(?) most likely forgot that he was being trained for the Potato Games after arriving in Flipside. The "version" of Segato here was living an ordinary life in comparison to his counterparts prior to arrival, and that made him significantly weak. Hubris/Seiga Evol determined that secretive intervention was a necessity. After the training is ingrained into the body through the hallucination, "THE ORIGINAL" can resume his slumber once more.
[I apologize for failing to handle this on my own, but we don't have time,] I growl through gritted teeth.
"Nah, it's cool. You just need me to awaken this kid's latent talent, right?" Segato(?) inquired to Hubris.
He gave a thumbs up and charged the combat shadow at a speed so fast that the ground was scorched. His palm touched the combat shadow's torso, and it immediately exploded and dissipated.
"The kid wants to walk multiple paths, but he won't have enough time... the answer is simple. You create a new class based on 'that which already exists.' You got the 10 Dragons' combat data, right? Combine them together. Create an artificial class only he can use. As for the 'cost' to intervene in this timeline, you can put me back to sleep. Everybody wins... except for our enemies. Yeah, those guys shall lose. Nothing new to see here... for now, at least," Segato(?) spoke while chuckling.
He quickly assembled new magic formations on Segato's arms as many more combat shadows appeared.
"Remind 'me' to beat up Hooligan for this later. I never forget any of my grudges with the Deities, and I hate being rushed."
Segato regained consciousness, and the scene before him left him flabbergasted. There were at least 1000 combat shadow remnants, and each one was maimed, crushed, or vaporized. He could only remember fighting the one, but he definitely felt like he did this; it was more like his body felt like it remembered causing this massacre. Segato stretched out his palm and closed his eyes. The form his body took, the moves the... the class?
10 Dragons Class... A class based on the essence of Flipside's strongest... Still, my memories are fragmented. Something isn't right about all of this. Hubris, what happened in the last 3 hours?
It had been almost an entire week in reality, but for Segato, who was in a hallucination, the time difference he experienced was a staggering 300 years.
Wait, what? How am I even alive right now? Hubris?
"Hubris" had exhausted his strength maintaining Segato's physical health, so I can only use the script normally in the meantime.
Thanks for that. So about those fragmented memories...
If the memories are fragmented, it must be due to somebody interfering with Segato's ability to remember them. Perhaps the goal was too ingrained into Segato for a new path forward to match what he had imagined?
Even so, something is horribly wrong. Like I've forgotten something imp--
"You're finally up, huh," a familiar voice snapped Segato out of his stupor, and his eyes opened in reality. He found himself staring at Layla, who had his head rested on her lap. "Don't say anything perverted about this, or I'll kill you, by the way," she added, which made Segato sweatdrop. Layla lightly lifted him up off of herself while she got ready to stand up. "I'm not sure what hallucination Hubris showed you, but you don't even feel like the same person. That I can feel your presence so strongly now is certain proof of your strength. I wanna ask what happened, but I'm not gonna bother."
"Actually, I'm not all that certain, either," Segato muttered under his breath.
"What was that?" Layla asked, causing Segato to freeze up.
"... it's nothing important. I just have a lot on my mind, that's all." Segato looked down at the ground sorrowfully. Layla definitely was confused, but he knew that she wouldn't be able to help with whatever he is experiencing.
Layla and Segato had returned to the fancy hallway from the pyramid earlier, but an unexpected guest was waiting for them.
"So you're that Segato guy, right? You've kept your big brother here waiting for a long time, haven't you?"
Segato pointed at the figure of the opposite side of the room and casually asked, "Am I supposed to know who you are?" Layla quickly stepped in front of Segato and caught a red lightning bolt aimed for his head. "Eh. Did that guy really just toss a lightning bolt at me? Oh, it's on, now--"
"Segato, run. NOW," Layla demanded.
"I am sure I can take him now that I've done a bit of training--" a lightning bolt landed right in front of Segato. This made his ears pop and his body stagger backwards slightly. "Yup. That's a good plan. Bye," Segato replied. He scrambled out the entrance and continued to run in a direction. It was a good thing he did, because the pyramid exploded from 3 of its 4 sides.
2 figures flew out of the pyramid while engulfed in very strong auras. He recognized the dark red aura that ripped him to shreds many times to be Layla's, but the opposing aura was no weaker. This one had the appearance of red lightning. The owner sported spiky blue hair and his--
"Even now, you keep your eyes closed while fighting me, Speedrun. This is why you can never beat me," Layla shouted while preparing an attack in front of herself. Speedrun cackled before his usual smile disappeared entirely and his face showed great disgust.
"I don't open my eyes unless an opponent is worthy of being in my eyes, you washed-up old hag. I simply came to play with our new toy. So stop getting in the way of my fun, or I'm gonna have to hurt you, even if you are Hooligan's favorite Dragon," he warned. Layla ignored him and threw a giant lance made of her aura. Although Speedrun did dodge this, it broke up into a dozen smaller lances that continued to pursue him at high speeds. Since it was Speedrun dodging, these lances couldn't catch him, but they also didn't give him enough downtime to retaliate. His frustrated face put a smile on Layla's face.
"Segato, this is a good a time as any to review what we went over in class, isn't it?" Layla yelled, which caught Speedrun's attention. "For your pop quiz, guess which classes of life force user Speedrun and I are a part of! If you get them both right, I'll award your efforts with something amazing!"
She dares to use me as a teaching example for a noob without my permission!? I've had it. You're dead, Layla, Speedrun thought to himself. He quickly spun in place, creating a mid-air tornado that shattered the lances, then abruptly stopped to launch the tornado at Layla. Without flinching, Layla smacked the tornado away with a flick of her aura-covered hand. Speedrun charged in towards her during that brief moment, but he too got smacked down into the ground, creating a crater right beneath Layla.
"Do you think I actually don't train and laze around like most of our fellow Dragons, Little Boy Blue--" Speedrun's aura flared up so unnaturally at the mention of that nickname. The crater's debris scattered around a large area, and Layla could barely react in time to throw up a shield comprised of aura. Segato also leapt back from the other side of the area, bewildered at the large storm cloud that was quickly forming above where Speedrun was.
What the hell am I even observing? Can this even be called a fight? Segato exclaimed in his mind. The storm cloud began to chuck lightning bolts indiscriminately, bombarding the area in an scorching field of red plasma.
Unphased, Layla muttered under her breath, "I was going to take it easy on you, but now you're overdoing your 'greeting' this time. Trying to leave an impression on Segato, aren't you?" Layla then begun to move her hands rapidly, as if weaving something together. Soon after, a humongous magic circle with a clock formed in the air. A frenzied Speedrun tucked himself into a ball and launched himself at Layla before she could cast anything else. The instant acceleration was too fast for her, and she ragdolled across the ground from the impact. Before she could even get her bearings, Speedrun continuously bounced back into her without losing any momentum. Crack! Snap! With each bounce, Layla grunted and Segato winced. Her bones were easily being broken while she was being overrun by Speedrun. Segato started trembling in place.
"Not so arrogant now, are we?" Speedrun roared. His frustration had not shrunk in the slightest, as he could see the real reason why he was only hearing grunts from Layla. She was maintaining her confident smirk and composure, even while being severely wounded by him. Why wasn't she properly defending like she normally would?