18 - Otto Richter’s Sacrifice

Otto Richter, a man who was assured of his victory, was close to questioning himself and his capabilities. But at the same time, he felt a sense of absolute fascination. In reality, time stop was just a cheap trick.

It didn’t ‘stop’ time, it more so immobilized it. Here’s another way to understand it...it essentially froze everything in one position, excluding Hayk himself. Nobody could perceive anything or interact with anything except Hayk. The trick with light worked because light wasn’t immobilized, because if it was, Hayk would have a really hard time navigating stopped time. The same takes place for oxygen, which allows Hayk to breathe, and other similar variables. Otto’s adaptation allowed him to adapt to the ability.

But an ability like foresight was something much stronger if utilized to its fullest potential. While time stop had limitations, foresight, aside from the heavy strain on the user, had no apparent limit. Otto had originally intended to acquire Time Stop for himself, but the opportunity to grab something like this had caught his attention completely.

Hayk felt content. Perhaps it was the result of his drug injection, or maybe he truly did enjoy what the battle meant for him personally. The painkiller somewhat numbed the pain in his eyes, which allowed him to use foresight much more efficiently and consistently. It didn’t matter to him that time stop was adapted to, as its main purpose now only served to nullify gravity manipulation.

And so, the battle between the strongest soulfuls shifted to a different level. Could Otto really take down an adversary with such an ability? Could Hayk keep his promise and strike down the man who possessed four of his students’ powers?

The gentle wind blew Hayk’s hair. His eyes, slightly red, stared Otto down.

“So this is it?” Otto commented, getting up from the rubble. “You’ve been hiding this card for so long?”

“There’s four gemstones on your sword now.” Hayk noted. “Assuming adaptation takes care of time stop, let me see...the remaining three expressions are gravity, frostbite and detonation. Am I correct?”

“My offer still stands, are you willing to accept it?” Otto asked, raising his sword.

“Don’t tell me you’re getting desperate. Really? Recruiting me mid-fight?" Hayk said.

“He’s high...” Otto thought. “He’s not reacting to the redness in his eyes. He took something before the fight.”

“So be it.”

“I never thought you’d turn to drugging yourself to win.”

“Looks like you still haven’t accepted the choices I made.” Hayk said.

Otto rushed in. He threw a flurry of strikes and kicks, which Hayk swiftly defended himself against, mostly by dodging. Otto struck the ground with his fist, creating a massive explosion which knocked Hayk away. He chased him down, chucking the debris paired with explosive ice projectiles at him. Hayk weaved through them and struck back.

The two exchanged blows, but despite his perfect dodges, Hayk was still worse off in close quarters.

“He’s gotten annoyingly proficient with combining soul expressions. I mean, really, combining freezing and explosions in your fists?”

“Such a pain in the ass.”

Hayk leapt back and dashed forward again, almost miraculously not getting struck down. He threw a jab and an uppercut, followed by a kick in the stomach. Otto recoiled back, and tried to blast Hayk away with a quick formation of ice. But unfortunately for him...

“Time; Stop.”

“He’s using time stop...despite being aware that I’m immune to it?”

Otto was confused by the maneuver. The ice that began to form was frozen, literally. Hayk got closer and unexpectedly, summoned his sword to pierce Otto’s stomach. He tried to deepen the cut, but Otto landed a nice punch with his right hand and a slashing attack with his sword. Once time resumed, Hayk, instead of retreating, kept on pressing.

He kicked Otto away, and chased him down - this time, he shot for a takedown. Unbeknownst to many, Hayk was a very good wrestler. He took Otto down and quickly tried to mount him, but a powerful explosion knocked him up into the sky. As Otto stood up and moved out of the way, he strengthened the gravity, causing Hayk to fall down. On top of that, a large ice block fell on top of him, and exploded with tremendous violence. Was this the end?

No, in fact, this was just a slideshow Hayk saw. A bit of blood squirted out of his right eye, as he quickly stood up and gave up attempting to mount Otto. The explosion still took place, but Hayk was far enough not to be affected by it. He rushed back, swinging his sword and slashing Otto who was trying to get up. Their swords clashed once more.

Hayk’s soul presence kept on elevating. He landed a nasty kick to Otto’s liver, and a powerful slashing attack that heavily hurt Otto’s legs. Otto forced gravity upon Hayk, but was met with a response he could anticipate.

“Time; Stop.”

“I’ve got you, Otto.”

“You cannot overwhelm me when I see your moves.”

Hayk’s eyes gushed out blood. Unfortunately, he took a second to regenerate them and wipe the blood away. Otto managed to create distance and rejuvenate his wounds himself. The battle continued, as the two clashed again. This time, Otto landed a strong one-two, followed by a sword strike that pierced Hayk’s chest.

Seeing that, Hayk evaded the strike. His eyes were begging for mercy, but they were used to this. Only Hayk could fight this recklessly using such a soul expression. But something happened that he couldn’t foresee. A spark appeared on Otto’s chest.

“Shit...does this mean he’s adapting to foresight? How would that even work?!”

“I guess I shouldn’t question the phrase ‘adapting to anything’ anymore.”

He looked at Otto, who looked absolutely serious and concentrated, even a little anxious.

“The way the fight is going, he’ll drop dead before he adapts to it.”

“What was it you said about saving the world, Otto?”

Hayk sent a pair of slashes at him, which ended up missing and instead destroyed the buildings behind Otto. He rushed in, exchanging blows, narrowly avoiding the entourage of ice projectiles, explosions and zones with strengthened gravity.

“I don’t care about the world. I only care about my world.”

“I’m scared of it more than I’m scared of losing anything else, Otto. You didn’t understand that.”

At this point, Hayk was using foresight during almost every other strike he threw. His eyes were filled with blood, but he didn’t seem like he cared at all. Every strike Hayk landed, every time his sword, when summoned, slashed Otto or clashed with the Replicator, his soul prowess itself was ejected.

A second spark appeared on Otto’s chest. Unexpectedly, he smiled. He retreated, hiding behind a building which he quickly destroyed with a massive explosion - launching its remnants at Hayk.

“Let’s see...”

“Pieces of rocks, metal...furniture and utensils...a pair of icicles...”

Hayk fled back, dodging the debris. Suddenly, though, he was hit with a powerful release of energy.

“What? Why didn’t I see that?!”

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“No, I did foresee it...but it was hard to recognize. It looked blurry, I thought it was just another utensil being thrown at me...is this how he adapts to foresight? By rendering his movements difficult to comprehend?”

Amidst the settling dust, Otto charged in, clashing with Hayk once more. Hayk evaded the strikes and counterattacked. They continued to clash with their weapons, constantly pushing each other back, using every martial arts maneuver they knew and every terrain advantage they had. In the meantime, their surroundings were steadily being destroyed. The battle had them throw each other in the air, chase each other on the ground, fight realistically in every way that they could.

And still, while their physical prowess played a major role in how the fight went, the one in the lead was the one who was more skilled not at regular or even superhuman combat, but in soulful combat.

Amidst their exchanges, the third spark appeared on Otto’s chest. If foresight allowed Hayk to keep up and even overpowered Otto, once that card was off the table, Hayk would be truly out of options.

Once back on the ground, Otto created a shard of ice in front of him and detonated it.

“Time; Stop.”

Hayk assumed that gravity would follow the attack, and he was partially right. Those five seconds were full of him fighting with Otto in an area engulfed by dust and the remnants of a strong explosion. Otto was once again on the back rope, as Hayk utilized foresight more and landed decisive blows. But something felt off...

“The more I try to predict his actions...”

“He’s blurry. His actions look like they are in a low framerate. The way foresight works is it maps the future actions of my opponent, but this...this feels like watching a video with shitty internet connection and low quality.”

Time continued to flow. The rubble went flying, and was further scattered around by a second explosion. Hayk foresaw a slash coming his way, but what his now flawed foresight saw was a regular release of energy. He chose to simply block it with his sword.

At the same time, hiding beneath the rubble, Otto swung his blade with all his might.

“ ✦ Soul Sacrifice - Soul Detonation! ✦ ”

The number of the gemstones of his blade was reduced to just three. The powerful gust of energy shocked Hayk. It was partially blocked by his weapon, but parts of it seeped around it and delivered a devastating impact. In a grandiose explosion, Hayk was ragdolled into the wall of a building behind him.

There, he sat down, with almost no sign of life. He survived thanks to his healing, and a phenomena known as “soul determination”, but he was as powerless as a rabbit with its foot broken. And the sorrowful wolf would soon claim its prey.

“It appears you didn’t trust your disciple, Hayk.” Otto said, approaching him. Hayk’s chest was covered in heavy bruises and blood, his limbs were barely moving. “You must’ve been deaf when he told you that he can adapt to absolutely anything.”

“He’s quite the powerhouse, isn’t he?” Hayk said, coughing up some blood. “You’re not scared you might have to deal with him one day?”

“I’m sorry it has come to this, Hayk. I truly hoped we could cooperate.” Otto said, taking another step forward.

“Come on. If you’re gonna be corny, at least ask me for my last words.” Hayk said, his eyes slowly closing.

“I told them I’d come back, didn’t I?”

“Part of me wants to join Otto, be it by dying or by becoming his ally. To fight for the right cause.”

“But another part wants to keep the kids away from a war they might not have even the slimmest chance of winning.”

“What should I do?”

“Narek, Gevorg... Tsunehiro... what would you do?”

“...”

“I see...”

”When one part of me is ready to sacrifice myself for the world...”

“My soulful part wants me to sacrifice the world for you.”

“So be it.” Otto sighed, looking grim and sorrowed. “Do you have any last words?”

“Yeah.”

At this moment, the apotheosis of Hayk’s voltage would be released.

“ ✦ Divine Acclamation ✦ ”

Immediately, a white and black eruption of soul prowess enchanted with a green hue took place behind him - resembling a giant cross piercing the sky and breaking apart. The pieces hit the ground with tremendous force and caused rather powerful shockwaves. The release of energy could be felt throughout the city, and even sensed by a certain sharp few noses in America.

“ ✦ Timeless Opera ✦ ”

“What the hell is this...?!” Otto thought, in shock and even terror, as he saw Hayk stand up and regenerate his wounds.

“How fascinating...” Kaito said, sitting in his office. It seemed like Hayk’s acclamation cheered him up quite a bit.

“He’s still fighting back.”

“For the sake of a better world, Hayk Nakama. You need to fight harder.”

“Never thought I’d find myself actually using this thing, but here we are.” Hayk said, his presence at an all time high. “My head should feel like it's about to explode, but it for some reason it feels just fine.”

Almost instantly, Hayk appeared behind Otto. He struck Otto with a powerful right hand punch, and kicked him off into the air with a left kick to the head. There, he once again appeared right behind him, slamming him down into the ground.

“My divine acclamation...that I thought I’d never get the chance to use.”

“The strain on my body is unbearable. It hurts so much even with painkillers. But this is my only chance.”

Hayk summoned his sword and fell down, attempting to shove it into Otto’s head. Otto dodged, responding with a large ice formation. But Hayk dodged it perfectly. Otto got up and swung again and missed.

“While in my acclamation state...I can use foresight with incredible precision, and time stop with almost no delay.”

Hayk continued trying to overpower Otto, and slowly, he was succeeding. Each punch released a wave of soul prowess and dealt great damage to him. Each strike with his blade carved a deep wound on Otto’s body. The overwhelming voltage that Hayk possessed was starting to pick Otto apart.

Otto himself couldn’t give up. He tried utilizing gravity, but to no avail. Ice was simply too little, and adaptation took a while to activate. Was he about to lose?

“We’ll live in a much better world.”

“Sacrificing freedom for safety, huh? Safety from the devil and his hounds alone is enough to let us enjoy whatever time we have left in this shitty world.”

Hayk released a massive amount of soul prowess from his sword. Otto barely managed to block the attack. His arms were scarred from their constant exchanges, and his regeneration was slowing down. Despite lasting so long, Otto couldn’t maintain divine acclamation for too much longer.

Foreseeing a mass of ice flying his way, Hayk weaved around it and closed the distance. Constantly teleporting and slashing at Otto, he managed to reduce the powerful soulful to a bloody mess. At last, Hayk finally saw an opening, as the gemstones on Otto’s blade shone brighter than before. Hayk stepped to the side and delivered a powerful piercing strike.

From there, Hayk continued to carve a much deeper wound. Once the sword ripped Otto’s stomach open, Hayk noticed Otto raise his sword. He quickly chopped his arm off, and before the sword could appear in his left hand, he delivered the final strike.

No matter Otto’s sense of justice, Hayk’s will to sacrifice everything prevailed. Hayk watched Otto’s body slowly fall to the ground, covered in blood...

...and so did Otto.

“Thank the heavens.”

“Thank the hand of justice that guided me for so long.”

“I was right to assume you didn’t notice.” Otto said, evading Hayk’s surprise attack perfectly. Somehow, he looked to be one step ahead. Hayk lunged to deliver the piercing strike that was promised to spell Otto’s defeat, but ultimately, Otto dodged. He stepped aside and appeared right behind Hayk.

“What was that movement just now?!” Hayk panicked.

“I’ve already foreseen it.” Otto said. He grit his teeth together from pain, as his eyes were starting to bleed. The fourth gemstone on his blade was red, and at that moment, it shone brighter than the others. “I’ve already foreseen everything!”

“He copied foresight?! Fuck...it all makes sense now...”

Hayk tried to turn around and strike Otto, but unfortunately, while Hayk was good at utilizing the ability to peek into the future, he wasn’t used to fighting against it. Otto’s Replicator pierced Hayk’s chest. They looked each other in the eyes. Alongside blood, Otto’s eyes were full of tears.

“Hayk Nakama.” He said, as his blade lit up a cool blue shade. “Thank you for your sacrifice.”

“ ✦ Soul Sacrifice - Frostbite ✦ ”

“Ichika...” Hayk thought, sensing the incoming attack. It was all he could think of at that moment, and all he had enough time to conjure in his mind.

Otto stood still. Hayk’s body was torn apart, mutilated in the worst way possible, devastated, destroyed, obliterated. Otto held the replicator which was now decorated with only three gemstones. It took him great effort, extensive preparations, sacrificing three incredibly powerful soul expressions, and risking death...to kill someone he used to trust.

So he just stood there, and shed tears.

He swore to do everything necessary to achieve his goal, after all. He was willing to sacrifice everything.

The end of Part 3