Chapter 28: The Strongest Man

The four teens and their plushy inspector enter the light at the end of the strange colored tunnel and find themselves in some sort of grassland, everyone stumbled upon landing

"ACK!"

"OW!"

Ninotchka landed on top of Veronica, Glock and Nao on the side and Chips on the marooned haired's belly

"Sorry!"

Nino quickly stood up and hid her blushing face using her hands, Veronica stood too (after accepting the black haired woman's apology) and so is Glock, Chips went to the girls' side and sniff

"This smell...it's so good!" the inspector said, they follow his lead and sniff too and found out that the Inspector was right

"It is..."

"But what is this place?"

Veronica and everyone look around to see a wide area grassland with winds blowing on their skin, they were stunned, something like this was inside the Glyphian structure, it's as if they were teleported in a different dimension

"Anyway, let's look around and find the 'Blueprint' before their boss do" Glock said, they nodded and start walking until they came across another strange structure with some sort of a crystal ball on the top, and inside of it was...

"Misuzu!"

"How did she ended up there?"

Iniside the crystal ball was the image of Misuzu sleeping on a flower-shaped bed

"I can't believe she's sleeping at the time like this!" Veronica complain

"Veronica, I don't think she was sleeping...it's more like she's unconscious, you shouldn't be angry at her" Ninotchka said

"But what was she doing there? I have a bad feeling about this" Nao share his opinion until...

"So, you arrive here too..."

Everyone became alerted and turn to their right to see Cain, the Heavensider's boss, looking at them with a slightly annoyed look

"You!"

Nao release his SPH and materialized Drew, wielding his weapons and consciousness, he prepared for the battle, Glock and everyone else do the same

"How did you get here so quick?" Cain asked them, on which it surprise them

"What!"

"What do you mean!?"

"The moment I enter this ruins, There's no grass at all, it was like a desolated place..."

Flashback:

Cain landed on some sort of wasteland with the same structure on the center but it was projecting a grassland instead

"King! Over here!"

Cain turn to see Trumbo in front of it, his virtual computer was on and the guy was working so hard in order to figure something out

"Trumbo...did you find anything?" he asked

"Not yet...it appears that the Glyphians were very careful on hiding their possessions, I still don't get the most of the parts here..." he replied as he keep working, Cain look around as well and after some time, he notice a blue box with a Glyphian sign, he kick it open and reveal a portal-like dimension with a green pill-shaped orb on the center

Trumbo quickly notice it and he hurried to Cain's side, inspecting the thing

"This isn't look like the blueprint..." Trumbo then took it and then, he was actually making some words on the pill while taking a closer look

"Hmmm...let's see...life...and...exchange..." the genius kid blurt out and that's when something happen

*CLICK*

A needle morphed on the surface of the orb and thrust itself, hitting trumbo on the forehead, the kid screamed as his life was slowly fading and being absorbed on the orb, this alarmed Cain

"Trumbo!"

"I get...it now...you need to sacrifice one...life to activate the...teleporter..."

That was trumbo's last words before he collapse on the ground and never to move again, Cain grit his teeth at the loss of another member and then, he look at the structure on the center litting up, creating a portal that will take him deeper inside the ruins

End Flashback:

"And after entering the portal, I find myself here" Cain told them

"I see, so another one has fallen, this will make things easier" Nao said

"You guys are going to pay for what you have done to my family by using your lives as a fuel on that teleporter so I can finally take the 'blueprint' to ourselves" Cain declared

"Okay, this will be tough but we can do it" Glock said, trying to lift their spirits

"Yeah"

"We know that already"

Ninotchka's clothes were ripped away and was replace by her battle suit and Veronica's shoes glow pink

"You won't even stand a chance against me" Cain said dangerously, and then, his body float and release his SPH, an intense wind blew to the group and at the same time, they can feel the pressure around him, his SPH was really terrifying compared to the rest

"Ngh!"

"Tch! Now he's angry" Glock muttered while trying not to get blown away

But for Nao, it didn't matter to him, he unleash his wings and then charged to the man, he will defeat him right here and now, he ignore the cries of his friends to stop and continue charging

Cain didn't even attempt to move or dodge, he's actually waiting for the boy to come at him, this action angered the orange haired teen more, then as he was closing in, Nao saw something and...abruptly stop

The monitalien host gasp at what he was seeing right now, an ethereal clawed hand was in front of him, then his gaze follow the hand and it was connected to something that was surrounding Cain, all in all, there was an ethereal creature that was floating around him in a protective way

"Why did you stop?" Cain asked Nao

"W-What is that thing?..." was his only question

Meanwhile, Laine and Chuuta was now being teleported inside the ruins, following Alvah who manage to get away from Chuuta's assault earlier, the two elDLIVE members were silent until Chuuta broke it

"Chief Laine, what about Dr. Love and Taro-san? Are they here as well?" he asked

"Yeah, we all manage to escape the main HQ, Dr. Love as well as Taro and another person was on Janu-o-R..." he explain to him

"Another person?" he thought, confused, but he shrug it off temporarily

"Why are they on the station? it was currently infected with a virus, and..." he didn't said the last part

"Oh, about the one who 'died' at the station...don't worry about it any longer" Laine told him, this made Chuuta look at him with slightly wide eyes

"What!"

"You see, Dr. Love was thinking of reviving them, I don't know how will he do it but he was determined to do it on any method he can think of, so we have no choice but to trust him" Laine said, Chuuta felt a tiny spark of hope, but knowing how harsh reality is, he wasn't expecting too much

"I see"

Glock, Veronica, Ninotchka and Chips gasp seeing Nao stop on his tracks and looked shocked while staring at the Heavensider boss

"Why did he stop charging?" the marooned-haired boy asked

"I don't know..."

"What's wrong with him?!" Veronica yelled

At the top, Nao was still staring at the ethereal creature before him, he grit his teeth

"Hey Nao! What's wrong?!" Glock yelled

"This guy...there's something invisible floating around him!" He yelled back, this cause the entire people to gasp, especially Cain

"What!"

"Seriously?!"

"That can't be..."

"You...you can actually see it?" Cain asked the orange haired guy

"Tch! No matter..."

Nao, ignoring the initial shock, use his wings to quickly get behind the black haired man, then Drew materialized on his chest, it open it's mouth and release a yellow SPH beam, an explosion occurred around the Heavensider boss

"He did it!" Chips cheered

"Let's hope he got-huh" Glock gasp

The smoke subside to reveal Cain, unharmed and fine, the attack was blocked completely, the elDLIVE members was stunned, how did that happen?

"It's that creature! It completely block my attack" Nao told his group

"I..see, but how are we suppose to defeat him if that thing was blocking all of our SPH with ease?" Ninotchka asked them

"I told you, you can't defeat me, now then..."

It was now Cain's turn, flying towards Glock first, the maroon-haired boy create four set of small red orb made out of his SPH between his thumb, point, middle, ring and index finger

"Take this!"

Glock threw all of the of the SPH orb at Cain, the orbs then transformed into shuriken-like thing after traveling a certain distance, it was about to hit Cain, but...

The moment Glock's SPH made contact, it dispersed into nothing and Cain continue his way to him, this earn gasps and shocked reactions from everyone

"What! H-How are you-?"

Glock was suddenly thrown away by an invisible force, sending the maroon-haired boy on the grassland with a loud thud

"GAH!"

Glock cough a little blood at the impact

"Glock!" Ninotchka yelled in worry, Veronica didn't take that too lightly, so she charged toward Cain with her shoes glowing pink, SPH infused blades were ready to slice anything it touches, she went straight at the Heavensider boss, who just merely float above, seemingly waiting for the oranged-haired girl to attack him

"Don't you dare mock us!" she yelled in anger and then proceed to kick him, she gasp when something actually blocking her feet, sparks of SPH was going wild between her and whatever was blocking her attack

"Damn it! Why can't I go through you?!" she angrily asked and tried to apply more force but it was pointless, It seems Nao was right, something was protecting this guy

"Because you're weak, that's why..."

Then, just like what happened to Glock, the oranged-haired woman was slammed by something, hurling her body back to the ground in a painful way, Veronica grit her teeth at the feeling of her body connecting to the ground violently

"Ugh..."

However, it didn't last long as she felt a immense weight pushing her down further, pinning her at the same time, she slightly open her eyes to see Cain floating few feet above her

"I'll finish you off first..." Cain mused but unfortunately, before that happend,. green SPH funnel came straight to his direction, the Heavensider boss swipe his left hand and then, something block the attack

"I won't let you!" Nino yelled as she put more power on her attack, Cain gasp a bit seeing his ethereal creature was being pushed back... but only a bit

"It seems that you guys recieve a power-up, but it wasn't enough to defeat me"

Cain then disperse Ninotchka's attack and then proceed to slowly crush Veronica below him, the woman spat blood at the intense pressure pushing her down

"GAH!"

"Veronica!" Nino yelled, and that moment, Cain took that chance and his invisible creature do something

"You let your guard down, woman"

Nino feltna dreadful sensation, she doesn't know why or what, but whatever it is, she knew that she'll get injured any second now, she tried fruitlessly to look around, and then...

*CLANG*

A metallic sound occured in front of her, she turn to see Nao in front, his SPH blade-clad arms were crossed and it appears that he's blocking something invisible, but on the boy's point of view, he's blocking a pink beam

"Officer Nada!"

"Ngh!"

Nao was trying to push whatever he was blocking but, in his current state, he had no chance, and so, he was blown away, this cause the black haired girl to yell hia name once more

as he fell on the ground, Nao cursed himself, damn it! why...just why when he's powering up, the enemies they're facing became more powerful than before...he grit his teeth at that until he heard Drew's voice

Nao's POV:

"Nao..."

The oranged haired boy hummed softly at the voice of his partner

"What? You need something Drew? Sorry but were still fighting the Heavensider Boss and...it looks like we won't make it...he's too strong" he replied

"Nao..."

"I failed them...I failed everyone...especially Division Head Madigan, who went through a lot of trouble training me...damn it! Why?..."

"So, you're giving up just because of those things...if so, then you really let them down, do you think that your heart can bear the conscience seeing them destroying the el civilization?" Drew told him

"But what I can do? he's got something, an invisible and powerful creature protecting him from any form of SPH...our attacks have no effect..." He asked his partner, h didn't want to give up either, but it seems that reality hated him for facing such powerful enemy

"Why do you think you can't reach him? Why do you think you can't lay a single finger on him?...Nao, I want you to think that carefully, and if you do, we may have a chance against him" Drew said, this cause the boy to gasp

"What!"

End POV:

Nao fell on the ground with a loud thud, Ninotchka could do nothing, Glock was knocked out, Veronica was being pinned and Nao was probably out too

"Everyone..."

"Well, then...I think it's time to end this, your lives will be my key to get the 'Blueprint'..."

Cain then turn to the one that was closest to him, Veronica, who already pass out

"Die"

Cain was about to stab her, when...

*BOOM*

A powerful force of gale startled him, Cain and Ninotckha quickly turn to the source and saw Nao's entire being was being encased by his own SPH in form of a dome...and not just his...but they can also feel the Monitalien's SPH as well, and it looks like they're merging together

"W-What is this?" Cain questioned

"Officer Nada..."

Ninotchka stare at the floating dome, and after few seconds, it dispersed to reveal Nao, but...

"What!" Cain gasp

"Officer Nada was floating...without wings?"

As the fight goes on, deep inside the Glyphian's structure, Misuzu was groaning, it looks like she's having a dream, the person in front of her was looking at her with slightly wide eyes

"What!"

Then, everything around her was dyed on red, from her bed she was laying on until it spread through the entire room

"I...want to...remember...what is...that...thing...I...saw...ngh!" Misuzu muttered between breaths

The person could only nodded, as if agreeing to her