Element Oasis: Project Zero

Chapter 19

Laros

Nikola laughed as he looked at Zero. "God of Death? I must have hit you on the head too hard. Maybe seeing your girlfriend splatter on the ground finally caused you to lose your mind." The man took one step towards Zero and cracked his knuckles. "Gods do not exist. In this world, money is God. I am God. I could stop this entire region from getting water if I wanted to and destroy the lives of thousands. Saying you're a god of death is laughable. Let me show you," his power flared up as the earth beneath his feet began to move around in an odd circle, "the power of a true god".

He dashed at Zero with speed so fast that Till couldn't keep up. The man wanted to step in between Nikola and the changed Zero, but everything was moving so fast that he couldn't tell where Nikola was until he saw Zero duck under an attack.

Zero flipped over another attack then ducked again to dodge another.

Nikola slammed his foot onto the ground and the earth began to move like a wave beneath his feet. The wave of dirt rushed towards Zero and with no way to dodge it, Zero jumped up into the air only for Nikola to be right behind him. Having the advantage in the air due to his new wings, Zero dodged Nikola's grab. Catching his arm, Zero swung Nikola back to the ground with tremendous strength.

Using wings, he flapped downwards using both the force of his flap and gravity to slam his knees into Nikola's stomach. Pulling his black sword out from his inventory, Zero swung it down toward Nikola's chest but using all his strength, Nikola managed to throw Zero off slightly. The attack instead cut his left arm completely off.

Nikola let out an agonizing scream so loud that it nearly broke every window in the room.

"I won't miss again," Zero said in his new double voice.

The man quickly got up and let out a sound similar to the growl of an animal that was backed into a corner. An animal with nothing left to lose and the lizard on Zero's shoulder had growled in return. Taking his sword, he slammed the tip into the ground and suddenly rocks began to form around it. The action continued until his sword had gotten 4 times bigger than its original size. The blade was no longer sharp, it was now covered by a dull rock that wouldn't cut paper even if you wanted it to.

"Is that supposed to scare me?" Zero asked as he began to fly up into the air.

"No," Nikola answered. "It's supposed to kill you!" He swung the sword and it seemed to move in slow motion. The force of the swing had caused a bunch of wind to slam into the walls of his once proud tower, now turned into a place of embarrassment. His focus was purely on Zero and with that last move, he would end the teen who had caused him to destroy his home.

Nikola blinked once, and suddenly Zero was directly in front of him with his palm placed on his chest. His face was focused and serious without a hint of happiness, but it wasn't filled with anger either. Just pure focus.

"You're going to die," Zero said without even looking at the man. "Since you're going to die, I'll tell you a secret." The wind around them continued to roar due to the swing that had yet to stop. Zero was just moving so fast that everything was moving in near slow motion. "My goal is to destroy the boss and destroy the system that she is in. You're a part of that system as well because you are one of her investors and that's why you're going to die."

Nikola couldn't even respond but every word sounded clear.

"Another thing," Zero said as a blue light began emitting from the palm of his hand. Nikola could feel the burn of the energy against his chest and he tried to move away, but his body was still stuck in an action. "My power is truly the power of the gods. It's called Astral energy. Similar to elemental power, except my power isn't limited to the elements. I know this because I am Laros, the god of Death."

Nikola again wanted to say something, anything just to shut Zero up, but his mouth wasn't moving and he was still stuck in his previous attack.

"Die, human." The blue light began getting brighter and the burn began to feel like a fire had been set on his chest. Suddenly Nikola felt his feet leave the ground, but he didn't feel the impact of the attack until a few seconds later which caused him to let out an agonizing yell. He crashed through the walls of his tower and began falling from the sky.

Zero looked down at him as he fell. "Now, you'll fall until your impending death so you know what it feels like."

The man yelled as he reached his hands out for something to grab, but there was nothing. It took a while, but after a few minutes of watching, Zero flew back into the tower where Code and Till sat there with shocked looks on their faces.

"Zero?" Till said as he finally took a closer look at Zero. He saw the markings on his skin and the change in his eye colors. Once brown, now purple with white spots.

"I'm not Zero," he responded. "I am Laros, the God of Death."

"Where's Zero?"

"He's here," he responded while pointing to the top of his head. "He's fine. Angry, but fine. I can feel his anger inside of me, but I had no connection to the woman that he lost so I'm not angry that she has fallen."

"Can he hear us?" Code asked while looking into Laros's eyes.

Laros nodded his head.

"Can you hear him?"

Laros shook his head from side to side. "I can only feel what he is feeling. If he is sad, scared, angry, or anything else, I can feel it. However; whatever he is thinking though, I cannot hear. I learned that the hard way when I figured out that I had no control over this body that was created by both me and him."

"Wait, what?" Code asked as he finally stood up. His height only came up to Zero's chest but when Till stood up he realized just how short he really was. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, right. He hasn't told you about who he truly is."

Code narrowed his eyes as his eyebrows drew closer together and his jaws flexed. "Has Zero been lying to us all this time about who he is?"

"No," Laros answered. "He only just found out about his real identity and how he came to be so I'm mistaken. I would tell you who he is, but I'm sure he won't like it so I'll just say this because I know that he can hear me. Because he used my power, the time we are stuck together in one body will be extended. If you are confused, think of it like a cup. Our astral energy has been pouring into this body since we landed in this world, but since we used most of it using this form, we will have to regain what we lost and then some so that we can finally separate into two separate beings again."

"I'm so confused," Till said in a whisper while bending down slightly so that only Code can hear him. Code eagerly nodded his head in agreement.

"For now, I'll give you this body back but before I go, I have to warn you. The power we just released will be a beacon for those who still want me dead. Try your best not to use this power again and they might not find you, but if they do then you better hope that we've separated, or you'll be dead in seconds." Laros closed his purple eyes and when they opened again, they were brown. The wings on Zero's back began to disintegrate and fly up into the air and the markings on his body began to fade away.

Zero looked at the rest of his party and smiled before his eyes and body suddenly became heavy. His arms felt stiff and everything else ached so bad that he nearly screamed but he felt so tired that he couldn't even open his mouth. Just as he was falling, he got one last glimpse at everyone's health bar. He noticed that the one right under his had disappeared.