Holding a Grudge and a New World
As the passage to the first world opened, and Higashino Makoto was about to enter that world, he was blocked at the doorway by two little girls before he could even take a step.
One was wearing a white dress, and the other was wearing a black dress.
Both of them were only a little over a meter tall, with round faces, looking like twins who had run away from some kindergarten.
But Higashino Makoto knew at a glance that these two things were not human, or even living beings.
They are concepts, the will of the world, and the manifestation of the collective unconscious of humanity.
The white one is called Gaia, representing the planet itself.
The one in black is called Alaya, representing all of humanity.
Higashino Makoto didn't know them, but just seeing them made those two names pop into his mind.
They didn't say a word, they just started doing it.
White and black light intertwined, forming an overwhelming net that enveloped Higashino Makoto.
Higashino Makoto took a step back, and eight pairs of black wings unfurled behind him, instantly expanding the Degradation Aura.
The white and black light began to fade the moment they came into contact with the halo.
The concept was corrupted, the power weakened, and the net shattered into specks of light before it even touched him.
Gaia frowned slightly, while Alaya's expression remained unchanged, but they both simultaneously increased their output.
White and black light surged from their bodies, like two giant dragons, attacking Higashino Makoto from the left and right.
Higashino Makoto did not take the hit head-on.
His figure vanished from where he stood and reappeared behind Gaia, his fist slamming into the back of her head.
Before the fist even touched, Gaia's body turned into white light and dispersed, then reformed a short distance away.
Alaya's finger traced a line in the air, and black chains emerged from the void, wrapping around Higashino Makoto's hands and feet.
The chains began to rust before they even touched his skin, but very slowly, about half the speed.
Looking at the rusted chains, Higashino Makoto had a general idea of what was going on.
The Degradation Aura works on them, but the effect is not strong.
They fought for about ten minutes, and neither of them got hurt.
Higashino Makoto didn't want to fight anymore because he realized that even if he won, he wouldn't gain anything.
These two are the foundation of the world; killing them could cause the world to collapse.
He didn't come to destroy the world; he came to seek power.
As for not killing, if you barge in, you'll be facing a scene straight out of Final Destination.
He retracted his wings and took a few steps back.
Gaia and Alaya did not chase after him; they simply stood there watching him, their eyes devoid of any emotion.
"I'll remember this grudge. I'll settle it with you after I've finished dealing with my business."
Higashino Makoto turned around, reopened the passage, and stepped inside.
There was no response from behind.
The second world is worse than the first.
Higashino Makoto walked out of the passage, but instead of stepping on the ground, he stepped on a grayish-white powder. What he saw was the ruins left behind after the city was destroyed.
He looked up, but there was no living creature in sight.
The earth was grayish-black, the sky was dark red, and the clouds hung overhead like congealed blood clots.
There was no wind, no sound, and no sign of life.
The world seems to be dead.
He walked through the ruins for a long time until he saw that figure.
A woman stood in the middle of a vast ruin, her long, silvery-white hair reaching her waist, the ends of which still retained a touch of deep purple, like the last trace of color in a faded photograph that time hadn't erased.
Her skin was as white as paper, almost transparent, so white that it made people wonder if she was still alive.
She wore a tattered purple robe, the hem of which was a non-material, transparent membrane of light that gleamed dimly in the dark red light of the sky.
Her eyes were a beautiful blood red, yet they were as empty as two dried-up wells that had been drained of water.
Higashino Makoto looked at her, and she looked at Higashino Makoto.
Her lips didn't move; she didn't speak, and showed no intention of communicating.
She simply stood there, like a statue forgotten in the ruins.
He could not sense any life in her, but he could sense power—vast, twisted, almost overflowing power.
She moved first.
Without warning or any prelude, her body vanished from its spot and reappeared in front of Higashino Makoto the next second.
The massive longsword slashed down, so fast that even Higashino Makoto's dynamic vision could only catch a fleeting afterimage.
Higashino Makoto raised his hand to block, and red and black magic energy condensed into a shield on his arm.
The hand chopped into the shield with a dull thud, and Higashino Makoto's body slid backward for more than ten meters.
He shook his numb arm and looked at the woman.
Her expression remained unchanged; her blood-red eyes were still empty, as if she were looking at him but also as if she wasn't looking at anything at all.
Her body leaned slightly forward, and then she disappeared again.
This time it was even faster; Higashino Makoto unfurled eight pairs of wings, maximizing the Degradation Aura.
She finally slowed down, but only a little.
A chop to the neck, a punch to the head, a knee strike, an elbow strike to the back.
She had no strategy, no technique; she attacked using only the most primal methods.
Higashino Makoto and she exchanged more than a dozen blows.
One Punch Man carried the power to shatter a mountain, and every collision caused the earth to tremble.
The grayish-white ashes were thrown up by the shockwave and spread in all directions like an avalanche.
The two fought from the ground into the air, from the air into the ruins, and from the ruins into a hill whose original form was no longer recognizable.
The hill collapsed beneath their feet, sending rocks flying and dust billowing everywhere.
Higashino Makoto One Punch Man her in the shoulder, and she tilted to one side but didn't back down. Instead, she punched One Punch Man in the chest with her Higashino Makoto.
The magic-formed armor shattered in three layers, nearly causing him to cough up blood.
He also injured her; a trickle of black blood seeped from the corner of her mouth, but she didn't wipe it away, and didn't even feel it.
Those empty, blood-red eyes never changed focus.
Higashino Makoto stopped.
His Degradation Aura was continuously weakening her, but her power was too immense; the rate of deterioration couldn't keep up with the rate of her attacks.
Her attacks were powerful enough to break through his defenses, but not enough to kill him.
It's probably about 50/50.
Continuing the fight will only shatter this already dead world into countless pieces.
Higashino Makoto folded his wings and took a few steps back.
She didn't chase after them anymore and remained standing there.
Her long, silvery-white hair gleamed dimly in the dark red light of the sky, the only warm color on her body being the deep purple at the ends.
Higashino Makoto looked at her face and felt that she looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen her before.
He turned around, left, found a random spot to sit down, and prepared to see what the world was like.
"Wait a moment."
The voice came from behind, but it wasn't that woman's.
It was a clearer, slightly weary female voice. Higashino Makoto turned his head and saw a person emerge from the shadows of the ruins.