Chapter 23 - Purple

(Altair POV)

"The answer to that is beautiful purple, big sister."

Shock!

Hearing him call me "big sister" elicited a natural reaction from this body. The last time he called me that was when he was just two years old.

At that time, I was merely a shadow of his mother; even Roberta didn't know much about my existence. Except for that woman, the only person aware of my presence was Nero, a two-year-old child who couldn't even say "big sister" properly.

And now, here he was again, the boy I once held in my arms, calling me "big sister."

I couldn't help but smile.

That was definitely a simpler time, a time when the person I loved was still alive.

While I was lost in fond memories, I suddenly heard Nero's voice.

"I feel brand new," Nero exclaimed with a frantic smile.

"Boy..., you're not okay," I said, stating the obvious.

His left eye had been cut out, the nerves in his left hand were partially destroyed, and there were countless cuts all over his body. In fact, the fact that he was standing at all was a miracle considering how much blood he had lost.

But what caught my attention was his single eye, which glowed; it was almost as if there was a galaxy in his eye.

What happened to his eye?

Before I could think any more about it, I heard Nero's voice again.

"No, Non, Nein!" He said, wagging his finger. "Right now, I feel like a god."

"Is that serious?!" From this boy's dilated pupils, it was clear that he wasn't completely sane. He was delusional.

"Seriously." His smile widened, and he looked up. "Hahahaha! You don't understand; I now grasp the essence of space. Besides, I see the world as if it were in high definition."

The only thing I could think of was that his brain had been fried by the pressure his quirk had put on it.

I admit that he is above average, but honestly, I expected more. Right now, he is just a newborn duckling.

"Big sister, you lost because you didn't kill me when you had the chance," he said, not meeting my eyes, his golden eyes looking upward.

"I lost!? Boy, our fight has just begun," I said, flexing my feet.

"Hahaha! That's true! My mistake!" he shouted, opening his arms and looking directly at me.

I raised an eyebrow, sensing that something had changed around him.

Without dwelling on it, I moved forward at high speed.

In a few seconds, I was in front of him.

Nero wasn't even looking at me; he seemed lost in another world.

Without hesitation, I swung my blade, imbued with the concept of "cutting."

My blade moved toward him, but before it could hit, he tilted to the side, easily dodging and avoiding the path of my cut.

How?!

I flexed my arm and rotated my waist, unleashing a storm of cuts.

But Nero evaded everything as if it were nothing.

This should be impossible; my speed is much higher than his, and my blades have the "cutting" concept.

Worst of all, I felt that the barrier that usually prevented my blows was not activated.

"Having trouble hitting me?" he said, amused by the situation.

"You talk too much," I said, attempting to cut him again, only for him to disappear.

"Hello." His voice echoed behind me. I turned around to see him floating upside down in space, pointing his finger at me.

A perfect red sphere formed on his fingers, generating powerful repulsive energy.

Without saying anything, he fired the red sphere toward me.

I quickly raised my two blades, defending against it.

The red sphere collided with my blades, pushing my body forward.

Even while defending, I felt my hands tingling.

*Clack.*

The sound of my blades breaking echoed throughout the place.

He has become stronger.

With that thought, my blades shattered, and the red sphere struck my stomach.

Blood spewed from my mouth as I felt some of my organs being destroyed by the impact.

The sphere threw me into a building.

My body fell, and I immediately vomited blood.

"This is getting fun, kid," I said, raising my hand to summon a Soviet PPSh-41 submachine gun.

"Hahaha! We're going to play FPS now," he said, sitting on the floor and shaking his head from side to side.

I just smiled and pulled the trigger.

A storm of bullets headed towards him, but the rain of bullets hit an empty space.

My eyes went up to where Nero was sitting in the air, hands on his legs.

"I think you missed the gunshots." As he spoke, his nose started to bleed, showing that his body had already reached its limit a long time ago.

I raised my hand upwards, creating countless blades in the air.

I snapped my fingers, firing the blades while pointing the Soviet PPSh-41 submachine gun at him.

Show how strong you are, little Nero.

••• ••• •••

(Nero POV)

I looked at the blades coming towards me. For some reason, I could read their flow, anticipating their trajectories.

I tilted my body to the side, avoiding the first, while I grabbed the second blade with my hand, using it to deflect the third.

The two blades collided, pushing the third one away. Meanwhile, all the other blades converged on me.

Realizing that I couldn't dodge everything due to the condition of my body, I used "Mercury" to teleport a little lower, still floating in space.

At the same time, a rain of bullets entered my vision range. I tilted my body, lying in space, letting the bullets pass right by me.

My eye looked at the dome that covered this area.

"So beautiful!"

Hahaha! Not the dome, but space itself—an ideal extension, without limits, containing all finite extensions and all existing or possible bodies or objects.

How could something be so beautiful?

At that moment, I felt free, and honestly speaking, I wasn't worried about anything.

I just wanted to observe the space that surrounded me.

While I admired the space, I heard my older sister's voice.

"[Second Movement of the Cosmos: God Particle]."

Hearing her voice, I straightened my body in the air.

In Altair's hand, a small white sphere formed, causing ripples through space.

Oh! This is also beautiful.

I thought, raising my hands pressed together.

[Blue Lapse] is a negative force of energy. [Red Reversal] is a positive force of energy.

Blue and Red began to merge, distorting the surrounding space and generating purple rays.

Calmly, I released my hands from each other, extending my index and little fingers outward while keeping the rest folded.

The blue and red energies combined completely, forming an imaginary mass of purple energy in front of my fingers. This mass distorted space, creating an area where the concept of infinity was applied.

Altair saw the purple for a few seconds, and an expression of pure surprise formed on her face. However, she quickly suppressed this emotion and launched the [God Particle] towards me.

With a calm face, I moved my index finger and thumb in a pincer pattern while extending my middle finger.

"[Hollow Purple]," I said, firing the purple energy toward the [God Particle].

The two techniques clashed with each other.

But instantly, the [God Particle] was erased, and without any drama, in the next second, Altair was hit by the purple energy that destroyed everything in its path.

My consciousness was heavy from the countless wounds on my body and the fatigue in my overloaded brain, but I still looked in her direction, only to see a beautiful woman with the right side of her body completely destroyed.

Looking at this, I smiled, and finally, my consciousness faded.

••• ••• •••

(Altair POV)

Half of my body was destroyed, and a waterfall of blood flowed to the ground. Even I, if I stayed in this state for a few more seconds, would die.

With extreme difficulty and pain, I moved my hand to the left side of my body which no longer existed.

"[The Third Movement of the Cosmos: Representation Exposition]," I said with extreme difficulty.

My left side, which didn't exist, was completely restored, allowing me to finally breathe.

[The Third Movement of the Cosmos: Representation Exposition] allows me to modify reality, almost as if I could "revise a story." In short, this ability allows me to make a wound no longer exist. But this ability has certain limits.

Interestingly, even though this wound no longer existed on my body, I still felt the pain of [Hollow Purple], almost like phantom pain.

With that thought, I looked back to see a trail of pure destruction left by Purple.

This blow is extremely powerful. Anyone other than me would have died. Not even the [God Particle] could withstand it; it was erased by Purple in an instant.

I turned my gaze forward to see Nero's body falling.

I stamped my foot on the ground and caught him in the air before his body could hit the ground and break.

He wouldn't die, but he would have several broken bones.

With that thought, I started to float towards the ground.

Touching my foot to the ground, I looked at Nero, who was sleeping comfortably in my arms.

Well, some things never change.

When you were born, I was the first person to hold you on the boat, even before your mother.

I thought with a nostalgic smile. But when remembering the past, a woman naturally came to mind.

Asami Fujiwara! Nero's mother.

Asami was an exceptional woman; she was the kind of person who exists once every hundred years. A woman whose every action could be seen as flirting, even if it wasn't her intention, especially when it came to women.

Women who fell in love with her without her knowing it were in the dozens. And yet, she was 100% faithful to her husband, never cheating on him.

To think I was one of those women who fell in love with her makes me feel a little sorry for myself.

But there was no way I couldn't fall in love with her—a woman who possessed supernatural charisma, superior intelligence, and a perfect body, in addition to being a powerful woman.

Furthermore, another factor contributed to my unilateral love for her: the simple fact that I am her quirk.

Yes, I lied. I am not exactly human but rather the manifestation of her quirk.

"Holopsicon"—this was Asami's quirk. This is me; I am "Holopsicon."

"Holopsicon" is nothing more than a set of powers that possess the Infinite Power of all Creation, capable of even going against the real world itself.

The skill set I possess consists of three abilities: reality-warping, matter manipulation, and the power of creation.

With these three skills, I can literally go against the world itself if I wish.

I am so powerful that I evolved to have consciousness during Asami's teenage years. At that time, I was still Asami's quirk, and she was still alive.

However, she was human, and humans will die, naturally or not.

You can run away from death for a while, but in the end, it will always catch up with you.

When I remembered her death, an expression of sadness and loneliness formed on my face.

I was probably the one who killed her.

Much like Nero's quirk, I also put pressure on her body—only in this case, it was at least 100 times more.

I hate myself, and I have a greater hatred for the real world.

With that thought, I descended and placed Nero against the rubble of a building.

"Little Nero, you need to get stronger because I wish to destroy the world," I said, running my hand across his cheek.

A world where Asami doesn't exist is a world that doesn't deserve to exist.

But still, I don't wish to kill people.

Contradictory, right?

Currently, I lack the resolve to continue on this path because if I do, the death of a person will be inevitable.

So, that's why I want you to become strong enough to defeat me.

I moved my hand to his forehead.

"[The Third Movement of the Cosmos: Representation Exposition]," I said, restoring his right eye, healing the nerves in his hand along with the wounds on his body, and restoring his stamina and endurance depleted in our fight.

I also restored his clothes that were destroyed.

Now you look great.

I thought with a small smile on my lips.

I leaned toward him, kissing his forehead. For a few seconds, my eyes drifted to his lips.

I pulled away from him with a red face.

Yes! Because he reminds me of his mother, I almost lost myself for a few seconds.

Pushing this perversion to the back of my mind, I ran my hand through his hair.

"Stay strong, my little one," I said, ruffling his hair gently, and in the next moment, I disappeared from that place.