Blast's mind raced. Time, there wasn't enough time to do anything but—
No matter what. I've got to somehow manage… He clenched his teeth, raising up his arms, drawing upon his full might …to at least alter… the vector of the destructive energy away from Earth!
"'Seems we underestimated Earth.'"
Blast looked over to his left at King Boris' silhouette.
"'To think another hero besides you could display such a level of power…'" Va'thera's canorous voice sounded in his head.
"'Just who is h—'" Beast Prince didn't get to finish.
Abruptly, the energy threatening to destroy the Earth dissipated. "I am Charanko."
How can he hear our linked mental communication?
Blast's understanding of the universe faltered further as he comprehended two more truths.
Charanko had not only appeared behind him through speed alone, but his words had echoed out loud in space.
Blast spun around and became icebound.
"Va'thera, right? Today's the day you meet your future husband." Charanko grabbed Va'thera's outstretched hand and yanked.
Her panicked and stupefied screams followed. "'Impossible! H-How are you pulling me out of my dimension?! I am nothing more than a non-physical projection here!'"
Beast Prince and King Boris' silhouettes wore matching baffled expressions.
"Isn't that wonderful? You can identify as whatever you want," the C-Class Hero said, using his other hand to open a hyperspace gate. He grabbed its edge and dragged it toward Va'thera. "I'll meet you there." He tossed her into the gate, then glanced between Blast and the other two.
"Blast, Beast Prince, King Boris, lovely meeting you three. A special thanks to you, Blast. You've granted me so many quality-of-life features.
And don't worry, she's in excellent hands."
Charanko raised the hyperspace gate above himself and dropped it, letting it fall over him until it consumed him. The gate vanished the moment it passed his feet, leaving no trace behind.
"'That man is surely bluffing. Attacks of that magnitude should require him to burn through a major portion of his energy. Are we going to chase after him?'" King Boris asked.
Beast Prince's laughter bellowed out. "'There's no need.""
"'He's right. The three of us combined aren't her match.'" Blast stared at the planet below. "'Since the moment I met him hasn't released a single trace of killing intent. Based on a comment of his, he might seriously be doing all of this out of boredom.'"
"'I sensed that too. Did my eye deceive me or can he use one of your abilities?'"
Blast's brows scrunched together. "'Setting aside the impossible feats he displayed. He may also possess the ability to learn other's technique after seeing them once, though I don't know its limitations.'"
"'If he copies Va'thera's t—'"
"'You worry too much, Boris. He won't be able to copy her, let alone react to her speed.'" Beast Prince said with absolute confidence. "'She isn't worried either. You both observed how she toyed with him by pretending to be shocked. I almost bought into the act.'"
Blast doubted her shock to be ungenuine, but he knew how Beast Prince was, so he didn't press the topic and instead asked.
"'Hey Boris, he mentioned a friend of his is of the same race as you. Any ideas on their identity?'"
"My race, across the endless parallel worlds, is exceedingly rare. On my homeworld, I was the last surviving member after the planet's destruction. If what that man says is true, then his friend's strength should not be low.
I did search for my race in this dimension before, but all I found was an abandoned planet covered in volcanoes and oceans of lava.
Our posts need us, and I will watch over Va'thera's, but... I would like to meet another of my kind. How many millennia has it been now?"
King Boris' silhouette vanished.
"'Your Earth impressed me today.'" said Beast Prince bluntly, before he disappeared.
Blast generated a hyperspace gate, trying to make sense of today, to no avail. Though he felt certain the name was a fake, he would still ask Sitch to look into this mysterious ninja.
I'm afraid Vice-Captain Va'thera may not be his match…
¤ ¤ ¤
Va'thera emerged on the other side of the gate, currently standing on a cracked, dilapidated street surrounded by rows of buildings in disrepair. Weeds pushed through the fractured pavement and brushed against the sides of her black boots, making her frown in displeasure.
What manner of spatial magic has he mastered?
To her, everything under the heavens carried an explanation — she refused to accept the unexplainable.
Possibilities. Yes, she needed to consider every potential possibility.
An endless sea of theories and calculations stormed through her mind, not at a slow crawl, but with a speed that would put the greatest supercomputer to shame.
No.
Not correct.
Not within reason—
Her long, elven ears twitched at a sudden sound ahead.
"Are you lost, little beauty? Let me, Charanko, escort you out of this Ghost Town." He said, having appeared from around the corner of a building.
Va'thera's pearl-colored eyes shifted to the messy-haired man in worn, white martial attire. She almost laughed. What could this insignificant thing possibly hope to protect?
But his presence reminded her...
That ninja sent her here to meet her 'future husband,' an idea she scoffed at. What man could be worthy of her? The elven men of her homeworld had no desire to reproduce, fleeing the planet in a mass exodus once the women dared to speak up about it. Their absence forced her race to summon men from other worlds in desperation.
As the strongest of her people and a pureblooded elf, she was expected to track down a pureblooded male from the exodus and sire countless offspring.
The Royal Family cared nothing for her wishes, or for her duties, and she avoided returning home for that very reason.
When she was recruited as a defender of the Dimensional Seal, she thanked the divines and threw herself into her work.
But today a man dared to pluck her away from her post to meet her 'future husband,' caring even less for her will than the Royal Family ever had.
Wrath, an emotion buried for centuries, rose within her. Her strength could erase a planet in a heartbeat, yet she was still treated like a vessel built for mating.
Now she burned to meet this so-called husband, to show him just how unworthy he was of her.
As her emotions swelled, a snow-white light burst from her eyes and raced across her voluptuous body, only to vanish in an instant when an inveigling sound struck her elven ears.
Badump