"Wake up Shotaro"
"Wake up & save everyone, Shotaro"
it was the same voice.
"WAKE UP SHOTARO!!!"
The crimson eyes jolted awake, as Shotaro woke up on his bed, shirtless, he looked around & it was...not the Forrest he was....he was in his bed.
"It must be from the time I was still on earth", He woke up clutching his head as he looked back at the mirror, he saw his tall, buff body shirtless.
"Yes, I used to sleep shirtless due to my sweat problem" He said as his past was getting less & less blur.
"My skin" He looks in a mirror, "yes I remember the reason why my skin is light tanned".
"I used to live in Hokkaido, I got tanned playing under the beach sun", he looks outside.
Suddenly, the memories of Madona getting bitten in half.
"AGHHH" He screamed as he fell to the ground.
"What happened, Shotaro?" a familiar voice said outside the door.
"Wait....that's mum, I had a mum" Shotaro said as he runs towards the door but.......the whole house is empty.
"Where is everyone" He said as a voice, led by a severe headache.
"Wake up Shotaro"
"wake up"
Followed by his mother's voice.
"Shotaro what happening".
As tears of blood came out of his crimson eyes, the silver haired boy forces himself to stand up & walk outside, but the streets were empty.
"No" He realised, "this is fake, all of it is fake" he said as the sky turned red as blood began to pour over him, slowing drowning him, but the voice continued.
"Wake up Shotaro"
"wake up"
"keep moving forward... Shotaro" the voice repeated its dialogue it always said.
Suddenly, as he was drowning in the red ocean, suddenly Shotaro's eyes went towards some black thingy, the pain, the voice, it all intensified, but Shotaro managed to swim towards it, despite all the pain, he managed to punch it, where his arm felt something hard, like a handle or something, Shotaro makes one last effort with all his life.
"Please explore the world for me" a familiar voice ranged as he pulled it out.
Just then, at the battlefield.
Just then, back in reality.
A black goo exploded from Shotaro's body as it quickly ignited to have crimson accents.
The barrier exploded finally as the black goo smoke stuff began to burn towards the sky as it finally dispersed.
Garm looked towards it, letting a low growl as she saw the man standing there.
His spiky-slicked back silver hair shining for a bit, but then going back to normal.
A red waist-cape, floating towards the flow of find.
Two brown military style leather boots being there, with metallic sole, paired with black pants.
& Finally, a sleeveless black body shirt, tight enough to show what's behind it.
Although his body features were still the same.
He opens his eyes, looking here & there.
He sees the torsoless legs standing there, that once belonged to Madona.
Rage flew through his veins, a familiar rage.
But it was not an anime, so Garm had no reason to let him power up, so she spams her meteor blast atomic breath thingy on him, again, again & fucking again smouldering him from head to toes, but he stood up, his face looked like a beast unleashed.
"AGAGGAGHAHAHHAHAHAHA" He roared so hard his eyes glowing, it shattered the field into a crater, as Garm just freezes his shit.
"Bro thought he was HIM" the queen of great wolves thought to her, but Shotaro, out of sheer rage & will, forces himself outside the supposed infinite below freeze attacked, maybe he did that cause the attack name was way too cheesy, but we talk about that some other times.
Garm seeing him regenerate not only his burned flesh out of sheer rage…but his drip-I mean attire too, but her wolf eyes felt a terrifying presence, not from the man, but from the saya on his waist, it wasn't there, but the katana was making it harder for her to not throw up, & while she was distracted, Shotaro jumps, destroying the field below his feet & drop-kicks her right on the face, causing her to fell, she was mad so she tried to stand up, but suddenly the same thing happened that happened to Kanal after Shotaro punched him, while she lost her balance & began to puke bloody stuff as she gets mad, howls in rage, activates berserk mode, her claws drew out, her fangs got longer, & a third eyes popped up on her forehead, while the once white fur around it turned crimson as she moved instantaneously, not at light speed, but instantaneously, as in it took her 0 seconds for her to go from point A to B, but somehow, Shotaro fucking reacts to that, "how" Garm though as she looked above her, she saw a black silhouette, shining spiky slicked whatever silver hair, bright crimson eyes.
She knew it was the end, but Shotaro finally takes out the sword & swings it, not being cheesy enough to name an attack like 99% anime MC he watched on his TV, he just swings it with full force, a black slash with crimson accent hailed down on her, as the plain was literally cut the field into a damn valley.
Shotaro pants as he finally defeated the queen of the great wolves.
"Fufufu!! It happened" Halasar, "You finally became the part of this world, your new attire is the symptom of your linking"
"Linking?" Shotaro said, "What the fuck is linking".
"When you woke up here, you were Shotaro Mugyiwara from Gaia, also known as Midgard, earth, human realm"
"your existence was linked to that world, that's why this world's concept didn't work on you"
"But now, Madona's death triggering a forced linking...a sort of awakening made of pure grief & utter rage, making you the part of this world"
He points at Garm trying to stand up, "Making you able to have a chance of fighting her".
"So it ended, you defeated Garm" Kanal asked.
"No" Shotaro firmly, "I didn't, I survived her".
"What do you mean by that, Mugyiwara" kanal asked horrified.
"Fufufu" Halasar chuckled "Garm is the strongest of her race after fafnir, Shotaro was only able to defeat her because she was centuries past her prime, already injured from the wounds she received for the last couple of decades, already tired due to her performing 3 Infinite below zero canons, as cheesy it sounds &…"
"& what?" Kanal said wanted the guru to continue.
"I suppose Mugyiwara here can explain it" He turns to Shotaro.
"Before dying Madona...she inflected a poison spell on her flesh, as Garm consumed it, mixed with the dying force of her body, it resulted in her being infected" he continued with honesty "I didn't beat the queen of Great wolves, I needed an awakening to survive a tired, old, injured & poisoned version of her".
"That's right, fufufu" the Guru continued, "Shotaro just awakened his powers, it's not logical for him to suddenly one shoot the wold queen who can destroy the time tree with a breath"
"I am just a dude, a very tall, muscular, exotic feature having, brown dude" Shotaro said, "I am not a power fantasy".
"What's a power fantasy"
"Don't bother yourself with it".
"uhhh I get why my daughter hated it so much" he said rilling as he heard a voice from behind.
Garm was trying to hide something, since she can't walk for shit now, Shotaro created the valley on her ass.
It was her cubs, finally coming out of their hiding place, trying to mend the wound on their mother's side.
"Her cubs, they were hiding nearby the whole time" Halasar said, "One more reason she was holding back from destroying this field".
"I was lucky the situation was on my side" Shotaro admits "There is still a lot of room for growth for my newly acquired powers".
But the piece was long gone as Kanal saw the legs of his daughter just standing without its upper torso, as tears came out of his eyes, being alone in the world "Madona... My baby" he fells to the ground, "I knew I would lose you, but like this" he began to wail his heart's out punching the frozen ice until his fist bled.
"He may have been beating her ass to ground some chapters before, but he loved the last blood & flesh he had left" Halasar said, casually breaking the 4rth wall, but no one got it so Shotaro ignored him.
kanal was not in right mind, he needed someone to blame, & he knew a person exactly fit for it.
"You" He looked at Shotaro reeling, "You did this", he continued, "YOU MOTHERFUCKER IT ALL HAPPENED CAUSE YOU SLAPPED AWAY THAT DAMN HEART TO THE GROUND, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO GOT MY BABY GIRL LIKE THIS, IT's ALWAYS YOUR KIND, FIRST MY FATHER BACKSTABBED & KILLED, THEN MY SISTER CAPTURED, RAPED, FORCED TO HAND HERSELF & NOW MY DAUGHTER!!!!!".
He ran towards Shotaro, who side stepped.
He wasn't a religious guy, let alone superstitious, but Kana's words are making him feel guilty now, maybe it was his doing that led to this.
So he lets Kanal beat him up until he is satisfied, even if he won't be calmed down for eternity, Shotaro was ready to endure it for all long, being shrouded by his doubts & guilt.
But suddenly his katana, on the waist glowed up, it released a bust of that black red thing, seemingly to protect its master, Kanal blew to back, not much hurt as Halasar simply karate chops him on nape, making him go black for a while.
"Fuffu, he sure loved his daughter" he looked at Shotaro who was on the ground, his pretty face bruised & bloodied, "Ummm Mugyiwara?" the guru asked with concern in his voice, not quite fit for his usual cheerful, laid back, wise old man demeaner.
"Maybe it was my fault" Shotaro said.
"No it wasn't, she died cause the writer---I am sorry, the gods willed it in her fate" he explains in his wise self.
"Willed it in her fate?, for what?" Shotaro asked, "to protect me?".
"To awaken you, to make you stop Garm's rampage, to make you realise your destiny" He said cheerfully.
"What destiny" Shotaro asked, "I am just a lad from Hokkaido, what destiny is mine?".
"I know you hear voices" the guru reveals, "Telling you to keep moving forward, to save everyone", he rubs his beard, "Maybe those are the voices of Destiny".
He points at Shotaro's waist, "That sword, it's an artefact, I remember it was named something like.....Alakshmi?".
"that sword" he continues, "Sees everything as a dream, mere story & cut through everything if the weilder have enough will to keep moving forward the tragedies that will come at his life" he revealed, "The tragedies it will bring to its master".
"Tragedies?" Shotaro Mugyiwara asked.
"You will encounter fate worse than death, that's to be sure" The guru said in an unusual serious tone, "It's up to you how to deal with them"
"Mugyiwara Shotaro"
"What will you do now you know that this sword will never leave you & misfortune will never leave this sword?".
Shotaro stands up, with a determined voice.
"Not only because I want to" he said "Not because I am some shining night in armour, or some hero from bollywood" he puts a hand on the Katana's hilt.
"But also because Madona told me to explore the world on her behalf".
"I am Shotaro Mugyiwara, I will find my past, & I will keep trying to save everyone"
he declares.
"I will find the secret of the voice"
"& even if all world's tragedy befalls upon me"
"I will keep moving forward"