Satoshi was taken aback by the situation that he was speechless for a few seconds. He didn't expect the Summoner to just disappear in front of him after being touched by the blue flames. After all, he believed that Dex's suggestion would work out for the better. Who would've thought that it would end in a way that he least expected. Slowly, he inhaled and exhaled to regain his composure before turning to Dex and asking him about the current situation.
"Care to explain what just happened, Dex?" He said in a calm tone. He didn't want to blame everything on Dex since Dex was the only one who instigated it. For all he knows, he was the one who listened to him and killed the Summoner.
Before Dex could answer, however, another bright glow appeared, just when Satoshi had fully concluded that his blue flames killed the Summoner. In an instant a man appeared in a white robe. Based on his looks, he was at least in his early twenties. His long blond hair and phoenix-like brown eyes were the first things that Satoshi noticed as soon as he appeared. He was at least six feet tall, and his body was that of an athlete.
For a few seconds, the man looked around, and then his gaze landed on Satoshi. They locked eyes, and somehow, Satoshi thought that maybe they'll get engaged in another fight. However, the man didn't charge at him, nor did he do anything that would prompt Satoshi to attack.
"I am Gabriel, it is my pleasure to serve my new master." He said, cupping his hands and bowing down on a ninety degree angle as if he was a disciple meeting his master. Satoshi felt the sincerity in his bow and he became a bit confused. Since when did he become this man's master?
"Satoshi's fine. You don't have to call me master." Satoshi said, shaking his hands in the air to reject what Gabriel just said.
"Oh, in that case, I shall address you as Satoshi." Gabriel continued, cupping his hands a second time. "I am eternally grateful that you gave me another chance. In this second life, I shall serve you for as long as I live."
"You don't have to be so formal." Satoshi scratched his head. Unbeknownst to him, Gabriel only knows how to speak formally.
After the exchange, Gabriel stood up and looked around. "This doesn't resemble my planet at all. Where am I?"
"Oh, that? You were summoned here in a Gate. I assume you were human before, right? Do you know who placed you here? And if so, what is the purpose of these Gates?"
The question made Gabriel's mind almost short circuit since he didn't understand what Satoshi just said. Fortunately, he still has his memories from his past life and the memories of fighting with Satoshi, along with the memory of the voice that constantly told him to kill. Based on those memories alone, Gabriel concluded that this place is neither his nor Satoshi's planet.
"Yes, I was… " Gabriel decided to tell his story to Satoshi.
While all that was happening, Emma joined in on the conversation, just when Gabriel was talking about how his wife died and how he killed everyone who betrayed him, ultimately dying in the end. Emma was so touched by the story that she started bawling her eyes out. Satoshi ignored him.
"Are you sure about this? Following me for the rest of your life, I mean." Satoshi asked upon hearing Gabriel's history.
"I don't know if this is a good choice, but I know you're a good kid. I'll do my best to assist you. Besides, I don't have anything else to do before I die again."
"I guess that's that then, welcome to the team. It is a pleasure to be working with such a capable summoner as you." Satoshi said, extending his hand.
"No, the pleasure's mine. And you're a much better summoner compared to me, Satoshi. During our fight, I immediately noticed your affinity with your summons. You can even integrate with them. Throughout my life, I've only ever heard of one summoner who was able to integrate with his summons, and it took him decades to achieve such a feat."
This was the first time Satoshi heard about that person so he made a mental note to ask Gabriel for details once they were out of the Gate. As if on cue, the ground started to shake as if an earthquake was imminent. That was the signal that the Gate was closing.
"Can you walk? Satoshi asked the three men he healed a few moments ago.
They nodded in response.
"That's good. Please walk towards the Gate, it's supposed to be still open." Satoshi instructed. "You'd best get out of here or else you'll be trapped in here forever.
Hearing that, the three superheroes stood up, thanked Satoshi for saving them, and then got out of the Gate. Later on, they would then narrate their experiences to the reporters who would greet them as soon as they came out of the Gate. Their story is pretty much similar to how the American guarantee Japanese Exploration Team cleared their respective gates.
Meanwhile, Satoshi instructed Gabriel to stay in the Orb Oboros first along with his familiars when he returned to Earth. Emma decides to scout the other Gates before Satoshi rejoins her. They took it upon themselves to clear all the Gates, but they couldn't guarantee the safety of the superheroes that ventured there.
When Satoshi teleported back to the restroom, he then explained that he fell asleep inside and no one asked him any questions about it. His parents bid them goodbye after seeing that Satoshi was back to his normal self again. At first, they wanted their son to drop out of the tournament after he almost died but they then realized that Satoshi won't drop out even if they told him to. Because of that, they just kept quiet about the matter and instead gently reminded Satoshi to always be safe.
That night, Satoshi once again teleported to Emma and assisted her in clearing all the Gates. It didn't take them that long to clear most of the Gates since Satoshi had many more summons at his disposal. To his surprise, Gabriel could still wield his summons even after becoming Satoshi's summon. This made Satoshi's overall offensive output to skyrocket as Gabriel resembled a one man army.
Emma also found herself sitting more and more in the backlines and letting Satoshi and Gabriel do all the work. When she first came to Earth to look for a suitable partner, she didn't expect to find someone so capable. 'At least this world will have a different ending.' She told herself as a smile formed on her face.
When the Gate that appeared in Europe was already dealt with, Satoshi, Gabriel, and Emma gathered so they could form a plan of attack on the only Gate left— the one that opened in Antarctica.
Of course, there were already people living there and some superheroes were present there as well. But due to the lack of manpower, someone has yet to enter the Gate and clear it.
Unlike the other continents where superheroes abound, Antarctica is one of the remote continents to exist on Earth so it was only normal that no one has taken action to clear the Gate there yet.
"So… are we going to clear it by ourselves?" Satoshi asked the group. He was already a bit exhausted after all the fights he'd been through but thanks to Sera constantly replenishing his energy, he could still fight.
"We don't have much of a choice, I guess." Emma mumbled. She was getting tired of all the Gate-clearing as well.
"If I may, Satoshi. I think it would be better if we wait for other people to take action and try to clear it first. At least they'll be able to whittle down their numbers, and then we can intervene and clear the Gate." Gabriel suggested.
"But there's a good chance that the first ones to enter the Gate will die. We've seen what happened to the other continents. If we can do something about it… I mean, your idea is great, but aren't there any other alternatives aside from clearing the Gate by ourselves?"
"You know what, let's just go and scout the area first. After that, we can decide if we'll wait for the other superheroes to take action. If the Gate is more dangerous than it actually is, then we have no choice but to clear it by ourselves."
" I guess it really does come down to that, huh."
"Don't worry about it. The people would just think that the Gate disappeared without anyone doing anything. At least no one has to die if we were to clear it by ourselves." Emma said, patting Satoshi on the back.
Without further ado, Emma opened a portal that would teleport them into the Gate that spawned in Antarctica.
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