1 The Prelude to Victory

A Day in Our Fated Future

Location - "Our Last Destination"

(???'s POV)

Fate is a funny thing, isn't it.

As our swords collided repeatedly throughout the battle, amongst other things that I was thinking about, that one thought came across my mind.

I didn't even believe in fate at first, and cared only for my own "destiny".

But that was atleast until I eventually learned that everything, both the good and the bad, had already been predetermined since the very beginning.

All of this was set in stone since the day the gods themselves chose to first breathe life into the story they created.

"Everything was supposed to go the way it did."

"Everything was going all according to plan."

Once I heard something like that, I can no longer hold any more regrets.

The past may not have been exactly the brightest and, hell, even now, I still have my own conflicted opinions on how I should feel about this situation…..

But at the very least, I can say for sure that I…

…am looking forward to the future ahead.

That's why the two of us stand here now. It's just me and "him" now. And nobody can interfere with what is about to unfold now.

I need to defeat him. I need to clear this one last hurdle. After all, I need to live up to the person who died in our place.

No, I need to be far, far better than him. I'll learn from the numerous "mistakes" he made and become a better person overall.

That's what it means to inherit the title of "king".

Our weapons collided yet again. This time, creating an enormous outburst of energy strong enough to blow away both realities and dimensions alike.

My opponent was no ordinary foe.

Every swing he swung at me was like trying to parry against a multiversal level attack. His power was in a completely different tier of its own. One that could not be measured or even be reasonably understood.

With him, there was no such thing as an upper limit. It was quite literally, "boundless". A man who was so absurdly strong, not even an omnipotent god could properly scale up to his strength.

And yet, this same man nearly threatened to erase me off the face of existence with another overhead swing of his heavy blade.

"Woah!"

That was not an attack even I could block. I had to dodge, lest I would have died trying, just like all the other fools who tried doing the same.

Although I was able to avoid the initial attack successfully, the destructive shockwave that followed after nearly sent me flying.

Thankfully I was able to reposture myself to safely land, and the numerous magic I had equipped at the time was able to heal all the wounds I sustained.

Still, while I may have high tolerance to pain, getting hurt by this guy wasn't all that fun….

Knowing all too vividly well how a reckless approach would only get me killed, I chose to keep my distance from my opponent and go on the defense.

"What's the matter? Don't tell me you're running away or something?~" He replied, antagonizing me.

"Nice try, but your Provoke tactics aren't all that effective against me." I calmly said, ignoring his emotional manipulation magic.

"Tch, still was worth a shot though."

"Besides. I'm too busy trying to come up with a way to kick your ass~" I snickered at him, while trying to reverse his earlier play.

"Please. Against me? You of all people should know just how futile that is. It doesn't matter what trick you come up with. I'll crush it altogether, just like before." The man announced, ambitiously.

The very second he said that, he maneuvered his blade into making yet another attack.

"Be careful Darling!~ He's going on the offensive!"

Those words of caution came from a woman who had been standing on the sidelines.

However, her warning was sadly unnecessary.

The moment she said that, my opponent swung his weapons about several times, which launched three powerful blades of "almighty" energy towards me in the process.

Thankfully, I saw the attacks coming, but with them moving so fast, I barely had enough time to narrowly escape. However, it seemed like my opponent was already one step ahead of me.

As if predicting that I would try dodging again, he magically engineered those "shockwaves" to suddenly explode when entering my proximity.

*BANG!*

Unfortunately, I was caught in the very epicenter of each of those attacks and sustained heavy damage.

That strike alone would have knocked me unconscious, but I was too stubborn to kick the bucket the moment I realized my opponent had leapt to the air for a follow up attack.

"Gargantuan Judgment!!"

"Shit!!"

Even though I could have used instant transmission magic, it was still way too damn fast for me to avoid. And guarding was pointless since all of his attacks ignored physical defense and magic resistance.

Tch, I'll just have to tank it head on!!

*BANG!*

"Urk!??"

That fierce blade of light hit its target with unparalleled accuracy. Blood split from both my mouth and all the other wounds that were open.

The amount of damage I sustained in that single blow was something no other opponent up till now was able to inflict against me.

Whether it was through a miracle or an act of mercy, I somehow survived a direct attack from him.

Still, trying to heal and recover from the damage was both tedious and exhausting in itself. That attack alone was extremely dangerous. Even if I did survive, it was strong enough to knock me flat on the floor and dampen my fighting spirit.

"C'mon. Don't tell me you're throwing in the towel, already!" My opponent replied, condescendingly.

"Oh….S-....Shut up…."

Still, at this rate, I might actually need to wave the white flag sooner or later…

But just when such a dreadful thought came across my mind, there was an opposing cheer coming from someone sitting in the sidelines.

"Get up, Darling! You can't give up now! We have come way too far to just call it quits! Get up! Get up! GET UP!!" That woman shouted, urging me onwards.

"Oh, look at that. Your wife is cheering you on. So what are you going to do now?" The man asked.

"Are you going to make a bitch out of yourself, or are you going to get up and finally do something about this?" He continued, listing out my choices.

Being caught between the woman's cheers and my opponent's pride-threatening retorts was like being stuck in between a rock and a hard place.

The persuasive power that these two possess are something that should be feared….

"Tch, fine! You want a fight!? You got one!!"

Screw this. I don't even care if I die anymore. I'm casting everything aside, just for this one moment.

"Heavenly Coats of Splendor!!"

After dawning an added piece of armor to fight with, I got back up and wielded my two swords into another offensive posture.

"Alright then!! Now that's what I like to see!!" My opponent said, reposturing himself to do the same.

Suddenly, I decided to propose an idea to him. One that, thankfully, he found to be interesting.

What I was about to do was an extremely risky gamble, but considering how my opponent was him of all people, this was the only trick I could think of that would give me a reasonable chance to win.

"I see. So one strike that will decide it all, huh?"

"You said that no matter what I come up with, you'll crush all of my tricks all the same, correct? So I see no reason for you to refuse this idea. Not unless you're scared or something~..." I replied.

"Hah! Fine, but remember! This was your idea, okay!?" He boasted in excitement.

The moment he said that, he gripped his sword with both hands. Indicating that, in the next moment that was to come, he was going to strike me with a portion of his true power….

"Just…. don't try to kill me, okay?" I pleaded.

"Heh, no promises~..."

As frightening as that statement was, my resolve held steadfast. It was just one strike I'm looking for.

One chance for me to turn the tables and topple this insurmountable challenge. I have to give it everything I got and hold absolutely nothing back.

As we both got ready to mount our attack, my opponent suddenly threw his sword to the air above him.

"Victory….!!"

As he said that, I closed my eyes and channeled all my focus and attention to the two swords I had gripped in my hands.

"Don't fail me now, Balogar…."

Once I mumbled that aloud, my swords began shining brightly with unimaginable light. One brighter than that of a hypernova or a white hole.

"Royale…!!"

As if using his words as a countdown, my opponent leapt to the air to chase after his sword. Once he gripped in both of his hands, he was finally ready.

But so was I. All my preparations were complete, and my strongest attack was raring to go.

"BUSTER!!!"

"Promised Victory, Under the New Banner of Glory!"

As we shouted those words aloud, our voice echoed throughout our dimension we were in. It was like thunder if it had come before the lightning that was about to suddenly strike forth.

In the moments that followed after, only one of us was declared the victor…

Who was it? Who was the one who was able to truly come out on top? That was a question only the us in the future could answer.

"Seven heroes, seven keys. One door, and one truth."

The story in which I'm about to tell you is a tale of a boy who yearned for the power of "excellence".

And how his fate, and the many others that he would entwine with would help shape the very future of the Omniverse itself.