BXBX NOVEL Chapter 34: I will be the one to surpass you.
'He looks like a fucking comic book superhero!' I marveled inwardly.
The superhero then asked in jest, "So boy? Does that still look lame?"
Before I could answer Lilly hurriedly explained while keeping my head low.
"Father, please forgive him. He is ignorant of the Revenants as he has no sponsor nor handler."
"Did I address my question to you daughter? I remember telling you to speak only when spoken to did I not?"
Silenced by the intensity of her father's reprimand, Lilly instead crushed my head with even greater force.
'This bitch... If you and your old man had problems talking to each other leave me out of it.'
"I apologize for my disrespect father."
My girls all greeted the sovereign in front of us immediately after.
"Hail to the Sovereign of the North American Battlefront, David Thomas the Invincible! May your fate end the darkness!!"
At their cheers, the rest of the reapers joined in and the atmosphere became electrifying. I could feel the reverence and emotion from the greetings. Was this what it meant to stand at the summit?
"Ho? You all seem to be covering for this man how amusing."
He then approached and stood in front of me. Our height differences had him staring down me like a judge to a convict.
"I will kill the next person that interrupts me. Again I ask boy, Does that still look lame?"
This fucker, are you that bratty you needed validation for every little thing? In annoyance I couldn't help but chastise him.
"It was. If you are aiming to look like a superhero your actions must be full of flair and dramatic poses. Right now, you just look like a trying hard wannabe."
Just then I felt my entire surroundings turn cold. When I looked back, I could see my girls and Lilly all sweating profusely. I could feel an electrifying energy course through my body, it was not fear but excitement. The man before me was like a god from myth.
Jasmine's description was spot on.
'I do. You are either making a joke or are foolish to the point of insanity. Jo and I are 10th generation descendants. We have personally saw Virtuous, his majesty Clive in combat. Even with such a powerful force of nature and generations of the best reapers of the continent, the European battlefront is stuck at the 39th floor.'
A force of nature. Like a volcanic eruption, a tsunami, hurricane or an earthquake. Unstoppable, infinitely powerful and something that invoked wonder and awe. But then so what? Who said I can't become like such? Despite such power, hasn't man learned from, survived and even adapted to them?
"So you say. You have a lot of nerve for a little wraith, are you not afraid of me?" David remarked.
Afraid? How the fuck can you not be afraid of someone who can create a nuclear explosion with a simple punch. What if this dude decides to slap me? I could very well be erased from existence. But despite all that, this man was my peer. As such I cannot bow down to him.
One day I would go beyond him. And he needed to know that.
"I am but that is only for now. Mark my words Revenant, I will be the one to surpass you and close hellsgate." I declared in fury.
Just then Lilly, Bella, Jo, Jas, Robyn, Aki and Liv all stood up and began pleading for me.
"Father! please forgive this man's insolence."
"Your majesty this man is insane please ignore honey's ramblings."
"My lord Invincible, darling is crazy. He doesn't know what he is saying."
"Husband, please be silent. Your highness please allow me to re-educate him as he lacks discipline."
"You highness the wombat got pummeled too hard and turned stupid, his mind is full of sex."
"Mightiest Thomas-sama, this man knows little of reaper affairs please grant him compassion."
"Your majesty Invincible, this southerner may be foolish, but he is beyond courageous. It would be a lost for everyone if he was to die here."
I had mixed feelings about the girls standing up for me. On one hand they were sticking up for me, but did they really have to insult me as well? Interestingly David ignored them and just stared into my eyes.
"Most interesting. A Formless you might be yet you show no fear nor doubt that you would surpass me." He then gazed at the girls as if studying them.
"On top of that, you charmed such a large group of women including my own daughter. Your performance when you took charge to kill both the brute and the stalker was also impressive. Lastly that final charge towards the brutes made my blood boil," David commended.
He then ordered the girls to answer, "Identify yourselves and where you come from."
One by one my girls began to comply to his command.
"Isabella Taurus, South American Battlefront, Brazil. Formless."
"Josephine Benelli, European Battlefront, Italy. Formless."
"Jasmine Denel, African Battlefront, Seychelles. Formless."
"Liv Ivaldi, Northern Battlefront, Idistaviso. Formless."
"Aki Miroku, Asian Battlefront, Japan. Formless."
"Robyn Lithgow, Australian Battlefront, Australia. Formless."
"Lilly Browning, North American Battlefront, USA. Should I also say formless?"
I couldn't help but growl inwardly 'Lilly, why the hell are you also introducing yourself? He is your dad right?'
"So you not only gathered a harem from all seven continents but did so even knowing they were all Formless. Furthermore you managed to gain the respect of even the manifested like Amari Soldat and Mia Flair. How impressive."
Is he praising me? Or was this just an objective observation? Somehow it didn't feel like genuine praise. My gut also told me something was about to go horribly wrong.
David then faced me and asked in a sneer. "So tell me John Smith. Your women violated what I previously commanded. How should we go about this?"
"Eh?" I blurted out in confusion.
Just then a silent pressure came from NA Revenant, it was so heavy everyone including me were forced to kneel.
"Didn't I say it earlier? I would kill the next one that interrupted me. Seven of them including my daughter stood up to defend you. Now choose. I kill them all or you take the punishment in their stead."
He intended to kill my girls? This fucking asshole. In anger I forced myself to stand up. The weight almost crushed me, like I was squatting weights over two hundred pounds.
"Are you an idiot? How tiny is your fucking ego to kill people just because they spoke out of turn. And one of them is your daughter you fucking lunatic! Revenant my ass you are just a bratty tyrant!"
David then vanished and reappeared in front of me. He then grabbed me by the neck and lifted me up from the ground.
"Rules only apply to the weak. Do not expect me to follow such nonsense. Choose John Smith. Do you wish to die in their stead or abandon them to their fate?"
Ah. This was it. Similar to how I removed myself from the limits of humanity, this man removed himself from the rules of even reapers. This was what it meant to be a Revenant.
"FUCK YOU! DAVID THOMAS! YOU WILL NOT HARM THEM! GIVE ME YOUR BEST SHOT YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!" I roared at him.
The Revenant of North America then made a blood thirsty smile and announced in glee.
"Very well, for seven women you get seven strikes. Die!"
"{REGEN}!" I shouted in panic.
David sent a simple punch to my gut. In response my body vomited blood and what looked like my intestines. My eyes almost popped out from their sockets. The pain was unreal. It hurt so much I wanted to just die. David let go of my neck allowing me to drop on the ground.
Despite the pain {Regen} allowed me to heal almost just as fast. In response I hurriedly invoked as many {fates} as I could. Luckily killing the brute and the stalker gave me a lot of souls so I could use {fates} without issue.
"{Save}. {Suffer}. {Withstand}. {Endure}."
"Ho? You still refuse to surrender? Good here is the second one."
The man then sent a cross punch that landed on my cheek, the power made my entire body spin as my neck cracked under the strain.
'I think I died just now didn't I?'
"Third."
I then got pulled by the collar then got kneed in the face. I felt my eyes burst and my nose shatter into a million tiny pieces. Holy hell these fucking hurt so bad. Unlike with the brute, {Regen} couldn't keep up to reform my broken parts. With David Thomas, just keeping myself alive consumed everything I had. That was how powerful his blows were.
"{Carry}. {Hike}. {Listen}. {Perceive}." I chanted deliriously.
"Fourth."
My arms got ripped apart while a foot smashed against my ribs and chest. The impact knocked the wind out of me and caused my heart to stop. Again I died a second time.
"Fifth."
A kick to the back sent me flying.
'I think my spine snapped in half.'
"Sixth."
An heavy blow to my head slammed me to the floor. My mind could hardly made sense of anything as I felt I already had multiple concussions and brain injuries.
"Seventh." Upon his last declaration I took this time to strike.
"{REWIND}."
I suddenly dissolved into light and appeared behind him. I then charged towards David Thomas at full speed with a punch that contained every ounce of power I could muster.
"{COUNTER}!"
Using {Save} halved the stored power for {Counter} but as the bastard removed both of my arms it could not be helped. If I could even return a fraction of the power he hammered me with I would be satisfied.
Unfortunately, my fist got caught by David's hand and its power dissipated like a lie. With a disgusting smile he then slammed his head into mine as he roared. "HAHAHAHA! AMAZING JOHN SMITH!"
With his last blow I could no longer hold on and passed out into the quiet darkness.