Noa watched with widened eyes as the person she had tripped on turned to the side.
She knew she was supposed to run again, but the teal tablet that had been stubbornly pointing northward all this time had finally changed sides and was pointing right at the man on the ground.
The man suddenly stretched his hands above his head and yawned out loud. The Outer God on her tail still approaching.
Did he have no sense of danger? No… why… was the damned teal tablet pointing at this guy.
"Hey. You…"
"Haaaahm!" The man groaned and wiped his eyes. "Was that three days? Catene, was that three days?"
"Catene…?" Noa muttered. She recognized the name.
Perhaps alerted by her voice, the man that had been woozily yawning all this time suddenly looked toward her.
The face… It seemed familiar.
It seemed largely familiar.
Even though it was hidden by the glasses that the man donned, even though his eyes and his hair had completely changed color, even though his smile was more expressive than ever.
She still recognized it.
"How… You… Eugene…?"
The man suddenly smirked.
He reached his hand out and gently touched Noa's cheeks.
"Excuse me, who?"
A tear fell from Noa's eyes. There was no mistaking it.
"Eugene… you…"
"HIHII!" The Outer God chasing after them suddenly approached. It sent a spear of sharpened, dense stone after them at a speed that made Noa dizzy.
But…
The attack never hit them.
It lodged into the ground behind them as if it had missed from the beginning, but that wasn't the only change. She had also somehow ended up in the hands of the black-haired man and was standing ways away from the Outer God.
"When… How…"
The man laughed as he pulled her closer and held her tight.
"I am sorry, I was messing around."
"You…"
"You've grown prettier, Noa. I almost didn't recognize you."
"You're… alive… you…"
***
I buried my head in Noa's shoulder as I held her tight in a hug.
I almost didn't recognize her. She had grown up a bit too much, five years was a long time, and it was almost as if I was staring at a different person. After becoming a Demon Lord, I had become more perceptive to souls.
And it was only thanks to that experience that I could barely make out her identity. I guess I had changed a lot too.
Compared to when my head was white like a bumbling senior's it was now filled with a lustrous black.
"I am sorry I left you behind," I said.
"I told you…" She tightened her grip around my back, trying her best to not cry. "I told you that I'll come along, and yet… I thought you died…"
That day, I had decided to take only Albert and Luka along to the Sanctuary. Would things have been any different if Noa had come along too? It didn't matter anymore.
"You won't get rid of me that easy," I said.
"I don't want to. I don't want to get rid of you ever. Don't go anywhere—"
"HIHIHI!"
A groan left me as I slightly pushed Noa away.
"Fuck, this mutt won't let us have a moment huh? Hey, overgrown ghost imitation, mind giving us a minute?"
"HIHI!"
The giant curtain thing Outer God growled in anger. The immense concept it carried rumbled through and aimed straight at me.
It seemed as if the laws of the universe itself were bending to make way for the Outer God's will inside my body. And without any delay, the entirety of its strength was swallowed up by the sea of Cataclysm, leaving me unscathed.
"Noa, darling, what is this thing?"
Noa suddenly pushed me back and stood in front of me.
"You should back away," she said. "It's an Outer God. One that commands over Reconstruction. It is definitely in the EX Class."
"I see, I see."
—Whirrr…
"An Outer God will be too spicy for you. Run, Eugene. I'll keep you safe."
"Noa darling, did you hit your head?"
Noa turned toward me and scowled.
I mean, no matter how you looked at it, that sounded to be a very strange thing to say.
"You are the one going around and dying all the time!"
"I've only died twice, please!"
"That's two more than me!"
Touche.
"Anyway," I wrapped my hand around Noa's back and glared at the Outer God. She seemed to be using a lot of her Ki to keep its attacks away, that was as fuel efficient as a rocket.
"Reconstruction, huh?"
Noa nodded once more, glaring at the Outer God. Our reunion got largely ruined because of this thing, we could have gone for a dozen more sappy lines.
"HIHIHI!"
Reconstruction… was here against me…
Complete, malicious destruction in the realm of Cataclysm.
My mouth opened and words that Noa couldn't understand spilled.
"y???o???u???'???v???e??? ???m???e???t??? ???a??? ???b???a???d??? ???o???p???p???o???n???e???n???t???.???"
The Outer God stopped and widened its eyes.
"What were you planning to do, Noa?"
"I don't know… I thought there should be something very strong here and was going to let them fight."
"And if that didn't work?"
"I would have tried to kill it."
I raised my hand and gently patted Noa's head.
"These beings aren't meant to be killed. You have to counter their concepts."
"What?"
Noa muttered.
I swooped her up in my arms once more. If she didn't have any concrete plans, keeping her around for the fight was going to be bad.
"Did you come here with anyone else?"
"Ah… yes… there's a team and survivors from this world."
I closed my eyes and tried to sense everything around me. There were a lot of groups of ants all over the place.
It was tough to tell weak things apart.
I located the most crowded presences and slowly pushed my feet into the ground.
The Outer God was about to charge in with rage, it's ability ready to display its full prowess.
If there was one thing I had developed the most in these years…
It was my speed.
"Grip tight."
A tempest of wind pushed by us as I dashed ahead. In the mere span of a few seconds, we were in front of a group of humans and half-humans half-snakes and other beings.
"Huh? What?" I didn't have time to keep looking at them though.
I dropped Noa on the ground as fast as I had appeared in front of her group and dashed back at the Outer God.
Before the Outer God could make sense of our disappearance, I was in front of it again.
The giant apparition spotted me and growled.
I stretched my neck and my back.
"Right, let's play a bit."
"HIII!!"
My hands came closer.
—Clap!
"Stage Zero."
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