As the wind of the War-Torn Nation howled, us 6, we were the last line of defense against these two.
Road & the Energy Psycho!
"Well, Jesse? Are you gonna run away and hide like a coward this time?" S chastized me.
"Nah, this time I actually want to fight." I said, chuckling at the fact that she almost died. "Either way, it's kinda funny that you nearly got your ass beat by a goody two-shoed punk. You know she held back, right?"
If she had fought to kill, it would've been an entirely different outcome.
"She's right, Freedom Junkie. You have no honor. You're just a coward." The Dimension God said from the side.
"And who the fuck are you, her best friend?" I pointed at her sarcastically.
Later, General Krieg displayed his opinion on the matter.
"I'll put aside our differences, Adrenaline Junkie. Right now, my army is dwindling, and I can tell that the Energy Psycho is a much bigger threat."
Laughing, sticking out my tongue, I said with a smile. "So you think im not the coolest one here? You have no taste."
"It doesn't matter. All 5 of you better not get in my way. You're all useless!" The Guerilla King snapped.
That struck a cord in all of us, and we started fighting over who was the best.
"Shut up. Clearly I should be the leader, everyone else in incompetant." Luc, the Perfect Human, laughed.
"Oh, you have something to say, genius?" Both S & the Guerilla King said simultaneously.
As we all started arguing, I realized that this wasn't going to work. We all thought that we were the boss of this massive group, yet we had to work together to defeat a powerful threat.
If I had to rank us in terms of power, General Krieg would be the weakest. S, with her new form, would definitely be the strongest, way stronger than me.
But she was incredibly wounded from the other battle. We had to rely on the second strongest of the group, the Guerilla King. In that regard, he was right about us being the ones to get in his way.
"Ahh..." I sighed. "3rd strongest isn't so bad, I guess."
Unfortunate.
As we all argued over who was the greatest, giant red lightning bolts started raining from the sky, and the Guerilla God instantly shot back in a massive burst of fireworks!
"OH SHIT!" I teleported out of the way, nearly being burnt to a crisp by their massive clash.
General Krieg picked out a gigantic raygun, shooting it at the Energy Psycho, but even the strongest rayguns were nothing compared to a ruthless Chaotic Demon. She easily dodged it, and was nearly about to kill Krieg when I vanished, appearing behind her. Just taking barely enough time to distract her, that allowed the Perfect Human to throw another grenade, nearly hitting us both in the face.
"Watch where you're aiming that thing, jackass!" I shouted in anger.
"You have near instant teleportation. It's on you to dodge."
This dude...
Annoying me from day one!
The giant army under Krieg's command started bomboarding Road, being pelted by almost 50 Celestial Angels.
Despite the fact that the Perfect Human was fighting with the army, it seemed like General Krieg couldn't control him.
In other words, he was an ally, not a recruit. He worked for no one but himself.
General Krieg likely offered him a lot of money to come here.
As I saw the Energy Psycho shoot out a giant blast of energy, I noticed that a few forest animals were in the line of fire, right next to Krieg. Instantly, I tried to teleport them out of the line of fire, but it was too late! They were burnt to a crisp.
Scowling in anguish, I sneered! "Do you have no care for them? Those innocent creatures did nothing to hurt you."
She had a grim expression. "They were in my way."
As another shockwave hit, we were all struck to the ground.
S cried out. "Every time a shockwave hits, she becomes stronger! Why do I feel an impending sense of doom!"
At that moment, the fear of death crept into all of our souls. The Energy Psycho was winning!
And as she landed her next blow, it devastated all of us. It was me! She was going to kill me! Why couldn't my reaction time be just a little faster!
Before I could complete the leap, someone appeared directly in front of me, shielding the blow!
Her heart completely popped. She would only have a few minutes to live, at most. Due to her body as a new form, she still had a bit of life left in her.
I snorted a bit. "You idiot. Sacrificing yourself for me, when I wouldn't do the same?"
She smiled, being thrown out of the way.
"It was worth it. In order for Libertas to revive, you must live!"
She coughed up blood upon landing, still conscious, but most certainly being minutes away from her death.
As the Dimension God laughed, Road completely vaporized her body with lightning.
"One down. 5 to go." He remarked.
"I don't think so." Somehow, the Dimension God was still alive, but I was certain that she died.
All of a sudden, a weird memory resurfaced in my mind, but it quickly vanished. My head creased in pain for a moment.
"Josef... Carver..." I said, my brain melting. Why did I say that? What was the significance?
Regardless, I ignored my pounding headache.
But it wouldn't go away, it kept pounding in my dome, ringing it apart.
And from the shadowy depths, I heard a voice.
"I remember."
S looked to me while lying on the dirt, and shocked, whispered in utter joy.
"It's happening! Libertas is reviving!"
Those were her dying words, as she slowly lost the rest of her blood, and died.
The Dimension God looked to the side in fear.
"Not again!" She shouted in abject terror & fear.
All of a sudden, I could feel something overriding my body. All the way from my muscles, to my nerves, and finally, my spirit.
Somebody was taking control! It was her! Libertas!
As Libertas took over my mind, I realized that I was still conscious! I just couldn't control my body.
Libertas, with my body in her control, snide as ever, started to speak.
"The conditions have been met. In order for a God to fully take over a human's body, that human must lose all empathy for every human being on the planet...
This brat still cared for S, so I wasn't able to control him, but now that she's dead, I can control him!"
The Energy Psycho laughed. "So you made 2 new pawns after you failed to control me! So nice. Unfortunately, you have no power, here! You can only use your full power while asleep. And right now, you're anything but that!"
Apparently, Libertas was just as useless as I was in this situation. As I stayed back, trapped as a consciousness, I tried everything to escape, but nothing worked.
All I could do was sit back & watch the battle unfold.
Even Libertas was getting completely demolished, as she struggled to survive the intense shockwaves.
The Energy Psycho, however, had gotten used to the power of the shockwaves. They had long since stopped causing damage to her.
I desperately tried to fight, but I was just a consciousness - I couldn't move!
I had no ability to control my body, all I could do was see through it.
As Libertas continued getting ravaged by energy blasts and lightning bolts, I felt every bit of pain.
Ouch! It's still my body! I don't want to die!
Just when it seemed like the Guerilla King, General Krieg, the Dimension God, and Libertas were about to die, something unexpected happened!
From the sky, a giant red lightning bolt struck!!
It shredded the Energy Psycho apart in a ton of tiny pieces, but she managed to reform from the small particles of energy.
"You bastard! What did you do?" She screamed to Road in shock & awe.
"Attacked you, of course."
Every single one of us were confused.
As Road joined the group of 4 fighting against the Energy Psycho, thousands of streaks of bright lightning shot throughout the land, and the barrier closed in once more!
"If you want to know the reason I betrayed you, the truth is...
You scare me..."
Road stated that calmly, but I could tell, in his eyes, he had felt true fear.
The Energy Psycho screamed a rueful shout, yelling at full volume.
She was PISSED.
All of a sudden, she transformed!
She turned into bright red swirling energy in the sky - It filled every single one of us with awe.
As the spiraling energy grew larger and larger, the shockwaves increased in power. It was difficult for anyone to dodge, but finally, someone was hit by it.
Libertas was caught off guard & accidentally teleported directly into one of them.
At that moment, with all my power, I tried to move my arm, and succeeded!
All of a sudden, control was snatched from me once again, and from the depths of my consciousness, I heard a voice.
"Do not try to overwrite fate. The red thread of fate has dictated that you will be a slave, to only exist as the vessel of a revived God - MY vessel."
This must have been Libertas! When hit by the shockwaves, she loses control, just slightly.
As I continued to watch the battle go on, I noticed something.
The Energy Psycho... was she... crying?
She was!
Tears were streaming down her face as she turned into a giant mass of energy once again.
Every time she did this, the mass would get bigger, the barrier would get smaller, and the shockwaves would become faster & stronger.
She turned into a gigantic amount of circling energy and shot out in millions of directions, flying all across the War-Torn Nation.
At that moment, everyone was vulnerable. They couldn't escape.
It seemed like this was the effect of that machine she talked about earlier.
It was at this point that the group she was fighting against realized it. She was far too powerful!
They couldn't defeat her, not even together. She was growing in power at an immense rate.
In an instant, a piece of her energy ripped off the Guerilla King's arm.
He shouted in pain, but was unable to say anything, as he was nearly fried to death.
At that moment, he cried out.
"FUCK YOU!"
And turned into a giant mass of fireworks.
He then proceeded to shoot out in many different directions, in a beautiful shine of glory, completely exploding into a million pieces.
The impact seared a large section of the Energy Psycho's face apart. It looked gruesome, but she just regenerated back to normal.
"Holy shit, did he just kill himself? That motherfucker just suicided!!" The Dimension God cried out in pain & anger as a red energy particle cut right into her abdomen.
To be honest, even I wasn't sure if he died or not. It was very unclear, but I had to be prepared for the worst. I just assumed he'd killed himself.
"My best friend dies, and now you betray me, like i'm some kind of worthless fucking guppy!" The Energy Psycho screamed as she was nearly about to turn into a pile of surging energy again.
But before she was about to, a stray ice particle hit her on the back of the head.
It was Ice! She was conscious again!
I thanked the lucky stars, but quickly realized that it didn't matter.
She was still reeling from the last battle, and she'd be almost useless now.
Even if having her join in did change the tide of battle, it wouldn't make a difference for me. I'd still be trapped in my own body, unable to move.
Damn it! If only I could control my body! I hate only being able to see through her eyes.
It feels intensely hopeless!
As I struggled, trying to control my body, I heard a voice, a different voice, from the depths, once again.
"Don't worry. Just perservere, a little more. I'm here for you."
It was a sweet voice. A motherly voice, filled with love & affection.
But it sounded familiar. Distantly, it started to come closer.
I finally realized who's voice it was - Lake!
I didn't know what was happening, but I could only listen as she spoke.
"When I said I had a bit of a crush on you, I wasn't lying. I did."
As a consciousness, I was unable to reply, so I continued to hear her, despite wanting desperately to shut her up.
"The truth is, I don't exist in reality, i'm more of a consciousness, like you are. Libertas tried controlling me a long time ago, and she succeeded."
"But I died. My consciousness now existed inside of her newest vessel as a punishment she created for me. That was you."
"But if you're able to do what the Energy Psycho did to escape the control of Libertas, then you can escape too. You can control fate!!!"
As she said it, I started to fade to black. I was no longer seeing what Libertas saw. Instead, I saw pure blackness.
"You see that", Lake stated. "I'm overriding your consciousness. You see the red thread, don't you."
As she said that, I saw a red string, continuously wrapping around the entire world. It was connected to everybody, everything.
"The red shockwaves. Anyone hit by the red shockwaves can see the Red Thread of Fate. But that isn't what makes them special. They work differently on Chaotic Demons. Not false Chaotic Demons like those Guerilla's."
Suddenly, I could feel my voice coming back. I was able to communicate with Lake.
"I get it now. Anyone hit by the shockwaves can leave the barrier at will."
Lake praised me.
"Good job. I'm glad you figured it out, but that wasn't what I meant."
Huh? That part confused me.
"The real truth is, any real, not fake, Chaotic Demon hit by the shockwaves will develop an amazing power. A power that allows them to change the world!"
Suddenly, it dawned on me.
The amazing power she's talking about! It's so obvious now!
Why was the Energy Psycho able to control bright red pure energy.
Why was Vampire also able to use the same power, despite seemingly already having a different power?
The power she was talking about couldn't be more clear! It was the power to control energy!!!
But how!
How could I use this to my advantage.
Lake laughed. "Jesse. You see the Red Thread of Fate. Think of grabbing it. I believe you can do it."
As I felt myself growing a body in this consciousness, I reached out, grabbing the Red Thread of Fate!
A weird feeling, no.
A desperate need, almost carnal in nature, took over me!!!
I must pull it! I must pull the red thread of fate!
And suddenly, the moment I did that, I heard Libertas scream of horror.
"No! Not again!" She started screaming that over & over again, desperately pleading. "Please, I need this vessel!"
Too late! My spirit body grinned, as I completely unravelled the thread, and from out of my body, not 1, but 2 people shot out - I was in the real world!
I looked at the other person that shot out of my consciousness.
It was Lake. Before, she simply existed in my mind & dreams, but now, she was real. A physical form.
As I looked around, I saw the devastation, and realized that I had full control of my body! We did it!
We took my body back from Libertas! And on top of that, I freed a friend from captivity.
Looking over at Lake, I grinned.
The Energy Psycho looked at us, shocked.
"So, another one of you is here? But that no longer matters. Look around you. Every single enemy... they're all defeated!"
As I looked around, I noticed it before Lake.
The Cold Hearted.
The Dimension God.
General Krieg.
Even Road was completely down for the count.
All of them were defeated. They were barely conscious, unable to move.
At that moment, they had lost all hope - But I knew what I was about to do!!
"We're here! We're at the end."
I looked at Lake, and realized it at that moment. We were linked. We could instantly read each other's thoughts while being in close proximity to each other.
Go hide! This battle is for me, only.
As she did just that, the Energy Psycho laughed, mocking me.
"What are you gonna do? Teleport my socks off? You do remember when we last fought, right?"
She continued spouting nonsence, stupidity flying out of her mouth as easily, spitting with unfiltered rage.
"I beat your ass already, you're nothing special. You were only a match to me when Libertas was controlling your body, but where is she now?"
She drivelled on, and on, and on, about stuff I didn't care about.
"You see, I am God! All of my enemies have been defeated! What can you do!
YOU'RE WORTHLESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Smiling, with a happy-go-lucky facade, I looked up to her.
"Watch this."
And at that moment, giant waves of red energy came pouring out of me.
Powerful, beautiful surges of energy blowing through my entire body.
The power, it was suffocating. It was the most powerful I've ever been.
And amidst all that energy, was me.
I was controlling it.
And using this newfound, amazing, brilliant power, I struck the Energy Psycho with it, shattering her ego, and filling her with fear from her core.
"I figured out your little trick. You're nothing special."