Chapter 189

[Third Person's PoV] 

After Cid's activities with Zeta were over, the two prepared to leave their room.

"Wait a minute..." Cid motioned for Zeta to stop. She looked at him in confusion as Cid disbanded all of his shadow clones.

Memories of their studies on Aether, Godrunes, space, and time flooded his mind. Cid pinched the bridge of his nose, focusing as he processed and digested all the information.

From his sides, two shadowy appendages appeared, giving him four arms in total. Cid closed his eyes briefly, and when he reopened them, his irises had shifted to a dragon-like purple with a red glint, signifying his use of Observation Haki.

In each pair of hands, two spheres began to form, accumulating Aether. Using his Ruler's Authority, Cid carefully shaped the Aether into runes. After nearly an hour, he crafted two identical Godrunes.

"Here," he said, holding one out to Zeta. "Sorry to keep you waiting. One of these is for you."

"What does it do?" Zeta asked, intrigued by his work but not wanting to disturb him earlier.

"I guess I never explained, did I?" Cid smiled. "Well, these are crafted from Aether, the next stage of mana…" Cid then went on a brief explanation on the concept of Aether and the different forms of them and turning them into Godrunes. 

"I see," Zeta said thoughtfully. "But shouldn't I—and the others—be able to use Aether as well, since we've passed the white core stage?"

"You're right. You can, but it'll be much harder to use and experiment with than you might expect," Cid explained. "Anyway, these two runes are made using Aevum, which is Aether related to time. I made one for you and one for me."

Cid sent the Godrune forward, and it latched onto Zeta's core. He did the same with his own.

"The name of this Godrune is *Static Void*. It allows you to stop time, using your mana as fuel."

"That's so cool!" Zeta exclaimed, feeling the connection to the Godrune Cid had gifted her.

"Shall we activate them at the same time?" Cid asked with a smirk, and Zeta nodded, smiling.

Purple markings appeared on both Cid and Zeta's bodies, especially around their eyes, as the world around them came to a standstill.

Cid picked up a pillow and tossed it into the air. It slowed down as it left his hand, eventually freezing in place mid-air.

With an awkward smile, Cid looked at Zeta. "It's obviously cooler than this. Luckily, monsters will be attacking in a few hours."

Zeta smiled at Cid's awkward expression and nodded in understanding. They both deactivated *Static Void*, causing the pillow to fall back down with a soft plop.

"Shall we go find Akane now?" Cid asked.

"You just want to keep embarrassing her," Zeta said with a straight expression before sighing and shaking her head.

Cid laughed. "Am I that predictable?"

"Yes."

Still chuckling, Cid stood and headed out with Zeta to follow Akane's mana signature.

As Cid made his way through the corridor, he unfortunately crossed paths with Saejima. Saejima approached Cid with a stern expression and attempted to grab him by the collar. 

However, before he could get a grip, Saejima found himself on the floor, a sai dangerously close to his eye. Zeta stood over him with cold, emotionless eyes. 

"What were you planning to do?" Zeta asked, her voice icy.

Saejima gulped loudly, his gaze fixed on the sai poised to puncture his eye. "I wanted to tell him something…"

"If you need to speak with someone, use your words, not your hands. If you try something like this again, I will pluck out both your eyeballs. You clearly didn't understand who you were dealing with," Zeta warned in a deadly tone.

"Do I make myself clear?" she whispered.

Saejima nodded rapidly, his eyes wide with fear. 'I'll agree to anything as long as this crazy woman gets off me.'

Zeta scoffed and released him, landing back at Cid's side. Cid had been smiling throughout the ordeal.

"Now, care to try that again?" Zeta asked, her disgust evident.

Saejima, gritting his teeth in anger, picked himself up and glared at Cid. 

"You," Saejima began, "I asked around for your name. When I spoke to Akira, he told me your name. You really are Minoru, aren't you? You son of a bitch."

Zeta's pupils dilated as if she were about to leap at him. However, Cid placed a calming hand on her shoulder, causing her to huff in displeasure.

Cid smirked and addressed Saejima, "Are you referring to the person Akane mentioned? She told me a bit about him, including how we share the same name and have similar features."

"Cut the bullshit. Your lies might have fooled Akane with her naive nature, but they don't work on me. Those eyes of yours… they're the same as that time. The time you held me upside down on the rooftop. I saw your eyes then. You were seriously planning to kill me…" Saejima's anger was palpable.

...

[Flashback]:

Minoru stood at the edge of the school rooftop, holding Saejima by the leg with one hand while his other hand rested casually in his pocket. 

"AHHHHHH! PLEASE! SAVE ME! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY, ALRIGHT!? I WON'T MESS WITH YOU ANY LONGER!!" Saejima pleaded desperately.

He strained his neck to look at Minoru, who regarded him with cold, indifferent eyes, as if he couldn't care less whether he let him go.

'I'm going to die! I'm going to die!' Saejima repeated mentally, his fear mounting.

"I'll pay you! I'll give you all the money I have! Please!" Saejima sobbed, tears streaming down his face.

Minoru threw Saejima into the air, and as he fell, Saejima screamed. Minoru caught him just in time.

"Sorry, my arm was getting tired of carrying trash. I wonder what would happen when both my arms get tired."

"Please, what do you want? Just don't throw me off! I beg you!" Saejima cried.

Minoru shook him, causing Saejima's wallet and phone to fall from his pockets.

Minoru ignored the wallet and grabbed the phone with his other hand. "Password?"

"What?" Saejima asked, confused.

Minoru didn't repeat himself, simply staring silently. Saejima cried out his password, his face reddening from the strain.

Minoru disregarded Saejima's cries until Saejima asked, "What do you want with my phone?"

"Your mother's phone number," Minoru replied with a sinister smirk. After sending himself her number, he dropped Saejima back onto the rooftop.

Saejima lay on the ground, gasping for breath, his fear evident as snot ran down his nose. "Why do you want my mother's phone number?"

Minoru didn't answer. He tossed Saejima's phone back to him and pulled out his own phone. "Don't come home until later," he said, texting as he walked away.

[End of Flashback]

...

Tears of rage streamed down Saejima's face as he gritted his teeth. "When I came home that day… and heard those sounds from my mother's bedroom, I wanted nothing more than to snap your neck, to kill you myself."

Zeta looked at Cid with shock, while Cid wore a proud smirk.

"Not only did you have sex with my mother, but you also destroyed her marriage to my father and had her imprisoned due to the fact you were a minor at the time. You ruined all our lives just because I tried to hustle you for money," Saejima's face twisted in rage. "You destroyed everything!"

Mana began to leak from Saejima in response to his anger, while Zeta continued to gaze at Cid in disbelief.

"Heh," Cid said, his expression turning slightly mischievous as he reminisced, "Good times."

"YOU BASTARD!!!" Saejima screamed.