Chapter 16- Walloped

What was power? the definition of power can be different from perspective to perspective. If you take a leader for example, his definition of power could be, the ability to better influence, guide and nurture the people he is in charge of.

If you look at a veteran fighter for example, his take on power could be the sheer physical prowess along with the discipline, strategy and control to deliver his knockout blow to the target. From a parent's perspective, it can be the ability to better protect, nurture and forge the destinies of their children. For a poverty-stricken person, it's the resilience of his heart to survive another day in the harsh annals of society.

Whatever the case may be, in essence, power is the ability to influence one's immediate surroundings in a way that better suits them. Although it's a common consensus, it is just one facet of a broader and intricate concept that has been explored and analysed in various ways throughout history and across disciplines.

For Rihan Nura, the direct heir of the Nura clan, his definition of power was already defined at a young age, and that was his father. His father, the Nurarihyon, the first of his kind, the first-ever individual to bring the archipelago of Japan and its various supernaturals under a single command, and maintain the sovereignty for over a millennia.

Rihan was by no means a spoilt brat, he was a hard-working youth who had the grand vision of bringing his father's empire to the next level. That said, as the firstborn of the Nura clan, he did revel in his father's power, he had enjoyed his father's influence and had taken it for granted. His role model was his father, and his goal was to become an individual as renowned and powerful as his father.

But all this crumbled down when his father willingly gave up the sovereignty of Japan to another clan after they formed an army and launched a coup. Nurarihyons were stripped of all their glory, and forced to live on an island disconnected from the mainland.

In his own father's terms, fighting and ruling weren't worth much if he could secure the safety of his family and enjoy the rest of eternity with them. To this day, Rihan couldn't understand how his parents and siblings could cope with being stripped of all they ever had and live a normal life.

Rihan left the island shortly after, in search of power, to restore the former glory of his clan.

Over the millennia, Rihan had become powerful, made a name of his own, and explored various places. He became powerful enough to stand on his own in a world filled with supernaturals. But through his experience, he understood something else, there is always a bigger horizon.

The world underwent various changes over the millennia, and Japan wasn't unaffected by time's influence. Over the years, Japan had changed, supernatural and mortal were divided, with supernaturals restricted from doing as they pleased.

At some point, the monarchy had changed again, with the Otsuki clan suffering the same fate as the Nurarihyons in the past. But this time, the overlord was more powerful, someone from the higher realm, after this news had reached his ears, he had given up on taking Japan back. He knew far too well the power of those from outside of Earth held, he had experienced first-hand the abilities.

After the emergence of champions, the outside influences that had plagued Earth had been banished, but the truly powerful still remained. No one, not even the champions were powerful enough to contend against the land and authority they occupied. And Japan was one such land. 

Over the years, Rihan's determination had wavered. He was powerful, he was confident enough to g head to head with the so-called champions of humanity. But… was it worth it? He was well aware of the power disparity between those from higher planes and their influence. Was it worth it to antagonize them to take over land even his father didn't seem to care about? Was it worth it to spend another portion of his life toward a goal that seemed all but possible?

As it turned out, it was. It was worth the effort. As Earth was closed off from every plane after the celestial summit, all who were significant enough were informed about the incredible opportunity that was on the horizon. Irrespective of race and power, everyone was eagerly waiting to take a bite off that pie.

Earth was like ripe golden fruit hanging from the tree that was Yggdrasil, with no outside influence contaminating it. Everyone was eager to take a bite of that apple. And Rihan was all too determined to contend for the bite that was Japan.

But… as all things are, there were exceptions, the overlords of Japan still remained, despite being an outsider, despite the celestial summit banning all outside forces from Earth... That day, Rihan was forced to accept the reality of capitalism.

All that changed when an organisation reached their hand out to him. He accepted as their goals aligned with his own, he was given sufficient power and authority, suitable for his position. The organisation's goals were noble, no matter how dirty they had to get their hands, they would achieve the noble objective they strived to complete. He did various tasks assigned by the organisation to slowly move forward the plans to rid Earth of any outside influence.

That current mission he dutifully accepted was one such task, and since it was targeted at the overlord of Japan, he was all too eager. The task was simple, he needed to use his unparalleled disguising abilities and other skills to kidnap the son of Tao, the overlord who was spreading her influence over Earth. It wasn't even her real son, just someone she adopted from the earth, the report had stated that fact clearly.

The perfect scenario would be set up by the organisation, all he had to do was just snatch the kid, use his powers to tap into the mirror dimension world along with the kid and reach the rendezvous point before any relevant forces would be informed.

Even Tao with all her powers would be hard-pressed to locate him once he had entered the mirror dimension, at least that was what he was led to believe.

There were a lot of goals they could complete with this mission, and Rihan was hoping to make Tao move, push her over the edge to violate the thin strand of regulation she was threading, just by existing on earth.

They planned for well over a year, made preparations, and even used their connections with the liberation front to divide the forces of Tao, to make the perfect opportunity to kidnap the child.

The plan was perfect, he was in top condition. He mirrored the target he was disguised as so perfectly; he even disguised the natural aura. Although the point of contact was brief, he even managed to fool Tao, the most difficult point of the mission, the opportunity had come.

In his humble opinion, Tao's eye for the welfare of her child rather than efficiency would be the prelude to her downfall.

Rihan didn't understand why the organisation wanted the child alive, as killing him directly would be more beneficial since that would most certainly enrage Tao to the point of using all her power to try and kill the perpetrator. That was until, the kid, Aito found his location when he was concealing himself.

That was until the child used Qi sense to scan the battle, that was until the child didn't cry despite all the chaos happening around. There was panic in his eyes sure, but that all vanished as a mirage giving way to the calm visage.

A normal child wouldn't even be able to differentiate between hand and leg, let alone use Qi sense with perfection to the point of Him barely perceiving it.

It was humiliating to be blocked by some mere mortals who hadn't been trained for barely 5% of the years he had lived. But as the plans they had made in well over a year crumbled down, he saw the object of his fear looking at his soul while cradling the child he was supposed to kidnap like the world's most precious treasure, he had only one thought in his mind.

'I need to escape.'

The plan was flawed to the extreme, as even after Tao had undoubtedly used power beyond what was allowed on earth, she was still here, not looking pressured in the slightest.

Instead, the lavender eyes of tyranny only held one thought toward him, and that was the destruction of him, along with all those involved…

And the heel of judgement too, seems to share the same thought.

…

Yuuki used the momentum of directly plunging down from the troposphere to land her heel in the man with the combo of a backflip. With all the pressure that weighed down on him at the moment's notice, Rihan was directly turned into a meat patty.

As Yuuki's heel touched the ground with the force of a meteor, the ground exploded, making a depression on the ground which spanned more than a mile, overcoming the radius of the previous world prison.

"Sigh."

Tao, who was still patting Aito's back let out a sigh as she snapped her fingers. An invisible ripple spread through the atmosphere, but no one understood what had happened.

The sight was spectacular. The dome, which covered most of the Kema Sakuranomia park, popped like a balloon. The few heroes and police, who had surrounded the dome after taking note of the anomaly, were blown away by the shockwave that followed.

None of the unfortunate spectators were injured, as a silver glow surrounded their bodies, protecting and healing them from all the resultant injuries in a split second. The glow vanished as promptly as it appeared, however.

Yuuki was using her immaculate control of Qi to protect the people surrounding her. The control one would need to pull off this feat, especially with energy as crude as Qi will baffle mortals and gods, alike.

But there wasn't anyone conscious in the vicinity who would recognise this feat, as Tao was all too used to it, and the only conscious person on the battlefield with the ability to appreciate the feat had gotten his face planted with a heel.

Similarly, the same silvery Qi wrapped itself around Kimi and the team.

Every one of their injuries was serious, the only exception being Akio, but his mental faculties were exhausted to the extreme. The silvery glow didn't instantly heal their injuries. Instead, it closed the wounds to prevent bleeding and gently levitated their bodies from the ground toward Tao, who was still holding onto Aito while patting and whispering something in his ear.

The mortals were treated in the same manner, but since they didn't have any injuries, they were instead brought toward the hero team that had gathered. Of course, Mizuki and her nephew were brought to Tao.

Tao waved the hand she was patting Aito with, and an ashen bubble with a golden outline secured everyone, Mizuki and Bakugou were stuck together. Thin golden strands of energy came out from the bubble and started infusing the people with life-saving energies. If one observed closely, one could accurately see the flesh of the victims stitching together in a rapid manner. All the body parts of Kimi's and Watsuchi were gathered and stuck together by Yuuki, except the completely decimated parts, they will have to regenerate those parts gradually.

This was the first time in decades that Tao was forced to expend this much power.

Yuuki sent a message to Tao via mental communication as she looked at Rumi, who was levitating toward Tao. A slight frown creased her face, the Nurarihyon wasn't through when he dealt with Rumi, and neither did he seem to care for the fact that she was a simple mortal-mutant.

[You need to do something about this mutant, I don't think she has much more to live.] Yuuki shrouded the girl's body in a thick layer of silver layer, obstructing the view of any observers as she transported her to Tao's side. Yuuki didn't care about anyone else, but she didn't want Aito to see more than what he was forced to see.

A blow with that much destructive force behind it would be enough to vaporise any mortal, but if that was enough to kill a Nurarihyon, then their clan wouldn't have been able to reign sovereignty over Japan for over a millennium. They wouldn't be called elites that could contend against the champions of earth.

Now, Rihan couldn't enter the mirror dimension once the world prison was erected, since he needed incredible focus just to maintain the world prison, not to mention repairing it mid-battle once it was damaged.

But as Yuuki had forcefully shattered the world prison, his connection with the mirror dimension was established again.

As soon as Yuuki had shattered the world prison, the Nurarihyon's survival instinct kicked in. He managed to conjure multiple wards in a split second and just like Watsuchi, haphazardly gathered Yoki from his body to reinforce his body. He did everything he could in that split second to lessen the impact of the force.

But like a heel of judgement, Yuuki's heel shattered the wards without showing any signs of slowing down. As soon as Yuuki's heel touched Youhara's head, the force from the momentum and Yuuki's own power turned him into a meat patty.

Now, turning into a meat patty was a direct death sentence for any human, and that is also the case for most of the races in the vast universe. But the appearance is where the similarity between a mortal and a transcended being ended.

Once a mortal transcends their mortal constraints, a physical body becomes 'mostly' irrelevant, with lots of exceptions considering the circumstances. As long as he managed to keep his consciousness and soul intact, he could gradually recover.

Fortunately for the Nurarihyon, Yuuki wasn't intending to kill him, instead she was keen on capturing him alive. After all, now that Aito was safe, they needed intel about the situation.

The meat patty that was the Nurarihyon disappeared from the physical world and reappeared in the mirror dimension. The meat patty didn't remain idle for a second, it bolted to the sky.

The mirror dimension was a black-and-white dimension which existed parallel to the plane of reality. With only the bloodline holders such as the Nurarihyons have access to this separate yet overlapping plane of reality. But it wasn't to say anyone else couldn't interact with his plane.

The meat patty that was the Nurarihyon's physical body and its scattered remains flew to the sky as the patty swelled up into the form of a humanoid, and all the bites started piecing together. The Nurarihyon's regeneration was nothing to scoff at.

Now that he had entered the mirror dimension, his ability was strengthened, and he was confident in getting away. As long as he reached the rendezvous point, he could get away. Then, and only then, not even Tao with her full power wouldn't be able to catch him.

But before he could fly out of Osaka City, the Nurarihyon's body had recovered, but the disguise of Ron he was wearing was gone, the man didn't seem to care much for his missing clothes as he flew in the mirror dimension, bolting in the direction of Ogasawara islands.

Buuut… He rammed into an invisible barrier on the outskirts of the city, much like the one he had erected to block Aito and his group.

Yuuki had stood in the same place where she had landed, unbeknownst to Rihan, Yuuki's eyes traced the figure of Rihan as he swam through the mirror dimension. Her eyes exuded contempt as her emerald eyes took on a silver hue, similar to the silver sheen that enveloped her clenched fists.

"How?" the Nurarihyon didn't fall to the ground however after ramming into the mirror dimension, he still floated in the air as he placed his palms on the barrier.

To interact with the mirror dimension, one had to have a special bloodline or… his mind raced with possibilities, but it only took another split second before he felt two gazes stinging his back.

He turned around to see two pairs of colourful eyes staring at him, one was Tao, who was looking at him with her lavender-reptilian eyes, and the other was Yuuki's emerald pupils looking at him coldly. These two sets of eyes were the only thing retaining colour in the black-and-white environment.

Before the Nurarihyon could even comprehend the situation, Yuuki vanished from her spot, appearing right before him as she held him by the neck, and pressed him hard against the walls of the barrier. The silver hue in her hand let her interact with the entirety of known dimensions, let alone the mirror dimension.

"Don't even think about escaping, your fate was decided the moment you decided to harm a single hair on Aito."

The Nurarihyon wasn't shell-shocked at the face he was seeing, but at the fact that Yuuki could interact with this dimension. The Nurarihyon didn't even have to ask how, as he had understood the situation the moment, he saw the illuminated eyes of Yuuki. It seemed like the intel they had gathered was outdated.

In the outside world, Yuuki was holding something invisible in the air pressed against some invisible barrier, but as soon as she tilted her hands in a snapping motion, the body of Nurarihyon surfaced in the outside world, and his neck was snapped, but he wasn't dead, nor was he unconscious. The man still stared blankly into space, looking as if he had given up his life to fate.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw two figures levitating in the distance, but his view changed drastically as he was flung across the air by Yuuki who was dragging the man like a rag.

…

Aito was still leaning on Tao's shoulder. This should be the moment when a reincarnated protagonist would go through a series of monologues and internal musings about the dangers of the world, and how just his existence was enough to sow this much destruction. The moment the mentality of a main character was planted on the protagonist's personality.

But as he leaned on Tao's shoulder, enjoying the warmth the warmth of Tao's presence and the gentle caresses on his back, he felt at peace.

The worry in Tao's voice, the warmth in caresses, the gentle distortion on her always-in-control face, and the gentle yet present disturbance in her presence made Aito aware of just how much Tao cared about him.

This wasn't a feeling Aito was fortunate enough to experience in his past life, as all these emotions buddled together making him feel suffocated yet refreshed and loved. He knew deep in his soul that, as long as he stayed by her side, nothing in the world could truly harm him, just like how a son felt being by his mother's side. At that moment, the bubbling feeling in his chest was enough to make Aito display a truly carefree smile, which came deep from his soul.

His eyes met Mizuki floating in a bubble with the blonde delinquent. Aito showed the same carefree yet apologetic smile to Mizuki, which despite his missing teeth, looked cute. 

He met his gaze with the blonde, and the kid was looking at Aito with a face he quite couldn't identify.

After that moment of emotional overload, Aito felt exhaustion washing over him. he felt drained, and he needed a bit of sleep. Since his body and mind were at peace, he promptly fell asleep. His thought came to a stop as he regarded why Ciel was being so silent…

Aito's horizons weren't wide enough for him to comprehend the intricate details regarding Tao simply floating in the air, protecting him. 

If he understood, instead of the smile, he would be brought to tears. 

…