(chapter 3) secret and power

"What do you want?" I said dropping my bag and closing the door behind me.

Shion was leaning on the window staring daggers at me.

If looks could kill I'd be very, very dead.

"If you tell me everything, I won't kill you right here and now." She said as five football sized suns appeared around her.

I could feel the heat coming from the other side of the room.

"Careful or you'll burn the place down." I said which caused two of the suns to burst into golden orange flames which then swirled around her.

At this rate she really is going to burn the place, if not, the entire school down.

"Ok." I said sighing. "If u put those suns away, I'll tell you."

Shion did exactly that as the suns and flames disappeared.

"All you need to know is that what you saw at play was my Unique Skill which is also my strongest Skill." I explained while walking past her heading towards the stairs. "Granted it is a very powerful Skill however I can't use it too often and it is leagues above all my other Skills."

"Why should I believe you?" Shion said stopping at the top of the stairs.

I turned round to face her.

"Sometimes there are miracles, and the truth won't always be the big grandiose thing that you expect it to be." I said starting to walk again. "I'm just an Ethereal that got lucky, nothing more to it."

"Can at least explain to me what your Unique Skill does at least." Shion said as I opened my bedroom door and went inside.

"I like to keep my special cards close to my chest." I said and closed the door.

"Ok class the day is not over we have one more lesson, then you can do whatever you want on the campus." Miss Skyline said writing on the chalk board. "Ok we're going to talk about Ethos and it's relation to Ethereals. Can someone briefly explain what Ethos is?"

It had been 2 hours after the little incident with me and Byron who was now very dead. If I had known that killing wasn't allowed, I would have knocked him out instantly plus I did feel some sort of murderous intent coming from him so that whole thing about him 'going easy on me' was false. Anyway, Miss Skyline has told the class to not talk about it with other students who are not from this class but that'll only hold for so long. A Lion Rank that only beat but killed a Dragon Rank in an instant. That'll draw some attention all right. Why am I so stubborn that I couldn't take just one, at least one loss?

Lazuli raised her hand and stood up.

"Ethos, grossly summarised Miss, is the energy that mutated and infused with the 48% in 1705 creating the first Ethereals who, and all the other Ethereals throughout time, were mutated so produce Ethos from their bodies which would then fuels the Skills that an Ethereal use."

"Correct Lazuli, you can sit down now Miss Skyline said. "Now as we all know Ethos isn't as simple as that."

For once I properly listened to what Miss Skyline was saying as the subject of Ethos is something I find interesting.

"From what we know, Ethos seems to transcend and bypass every law, concept, dimension, principle, platonic/true platonic concept, etc to ever exist. Except for one rule. Nova what is this one rule?"

I stood up and answered.

"Ethos and anything infused by Ethos cannot be affected in shape or form in any way. Ethos and anything infused with Ethos can only be affected by Ethos itself or things infused with the Ethos as well."

"Thank you, Nova, could you also further explain this?" Miss Skyline said and I nodded.

"This rule also applies to Ethereals. Because Ethereals are infused with Ethos they can only be affected/harmed/killed by Ethos and other Ethereals. You could throw an Ethereal into the sun and they will not even get the slightest bit hurt. However, if a Skill allowed an Ethereal to create a sun that would kill an Ethereal as Skills are fuelled by Ethos and therefore the results/outcomes of said Skill are infused with Ethos as well making it so they can be effective against Ethos, Ethereals and other things infused with Ethos."

"Correct Nova, you can sit down now." Miss Skyline said and continued.

"Everything Nova said was true, but he left out one vital piece of information. Ethereals still age. 99% of Ethereals (unless a Skill they have says otherwise) still bend to the naturally process of ageing. Emphasis on the natural." She said circling the on the board to make it stand out. "Anything that affects the natural process of ageing will not work against an Ethereal as that is no longer a natural process. We talk about this because of the infinite number of different Realities and Universes out there. We know for a fact that there are other beings out there that have what would be considered superhuman abilities from different Universes, Multiverse, Realities etc. Some with powers that dwarf even the power of Viro Cosmos."

I suddenly felt uneasy. Like there was something watching me or the feeling you get when you know something is behind you.

What the hell is that!?

I suddenly felt a presence that was so powerful and so full of bloodlust that it was suffocating causing me to feel an emotion I haven't felt in many years. Fear. This presence was so beyond powerful that I was more than 200% sure that it was far more powerful than even Viro Cosmos. And it was getting closer and closer.

"Now, although these beings that are more powerful than Viro Cosmos do exist they-" Miss Skyline began to say.

"EVERYOBODY GET DOWN!!!" I bellowed at the top of my lungs before the sound of what was like a sonic boom could be heard and then everything collapsed.

Everything was black and dark. I could feel the weight of heavy bricks and concrete on top of my back. I quickly activated Spectre and I, what only could be described as swam, up through the bricks and rubble until I saw day light. My body became solid again as I witnessed my classmates use their numerous Skills to emerge from the rubble. I looked around and realised that it wasn't just the class or even the school. What looked to be the entire city was reduced to rubble and ash.

"What the hell just happened?" I murmured summoning up heat from Solar Magic to burn up and get rid of the debris that was covering my uniform.

"Nova!"

I turned to where I heard to voice and saw a girl calling out the Lion Rank's name.

I think her name was… Lazuli.

"Nova where are you?"

The ground beside her suddenly erupted as if a mine went off and the Lion Rank landed in front of Lazuli before shaking his head and brushing his hair to get rid of the ash and debris.

"You two, ok?" I said running up to them as more and more students appeared from the rubble. In the distance you could see children and their parents emerging as well with Miss Skyline helping others out.

Nova was winding up his arm shoulder as if he had just done a workout and was stretching out his muscles.

"We're Ethereals" He said cracking his neck. "Even a mountain falling on us wouldn't leave a single scratch if it wasn't infused with Ethos so what would a building do."

Lazuli and looked at each other before shrugging our shoulders.

He wasn't wrong.

"Even so this is going to take a long time to rebuild." I said as we all let the scene sink in. The city that the school is in was easily the size of a whole country and it had been reduced to rubble in an instant. What could only be described as something out of a post-apocalyptic movie with the number of buildings that even resembled their original state being one you could count on one hand. Dust and ash filled the air and sky like a volcanic ash partially blocking out the sun.

"What could have done this?" Lazuli said wide eyed.

Nova then actually expressed something on his face, and for some reason that I could not name, it shook me to my core. Although very small, the expression of fear appeared on Nova's face.

"He did." Nova said calmly, a drop sweat trickling down his head as he pointed up in the sky behind him.

What sounded like a sonic boom suddenly heard and the dust and clouds were blasted away revealing a bright blue sky and a figure floating way up in the sky.

The figure descended from the sky and the closer they got the clearer it became how powerful they were and what they lookedlike. It was a guy who looked like he was in his twenties with two green eyes and one blue eye in the centre of his forehead which could be seen as his black hair was floating and waving around as if it was underwater. A halo that looked like it was made of lightning could also be seen behind his back which crackled with green sparks and electricity.

He stopped descending so he was just floating a few inches above the ground and surveyed the apocalyptic scene while looking down on the people as if they were ants. He grinned a sinister looking smile as glowing aura covered which also sent off great gusts of wind.

"Look at all of you." He said with his voice sounding like it was being implanted directly into my head. I saw that all others seemed to be experiencing the same thing judging by the look of surprise and confusion on their faces. Nova seemed to look particularly distressed even though it looked like nothing more than a slight narrowing of the eyes and frowning of the eyebrows with a small grimace.

"So confused, surprised." He said with a soothing voice even though it gave the opposite effect. "And also, so afraid. But colour me surprised, I counted about 65 million in your city which by the way I must say your city might as well be its own country. Anyway, point is I levelled your country sized city and I still sense 65 million life forms. Congratulations you are the first to survive me entering your Reality."

"Who the hell are you and what are talking about!?"

The voice sounded angry but also slightly calm as well.

I turned to see that it was Miss Skyline. She looked angry but not like what you'd expect more like when someone broke jigsaw puzzle you spent weeks on or a ruined a meal you put your all in to cook.

"Name's Carrion." He said as he suddenly appeared behind Miss Skyline with a cocky smile, his feet still just a few inches above the ground. "But you can call me god or whatever name you have for a supreme being above all others."

"In that case we would call you Viro Cosmos." I said as golden orange flames flickered around me like an aura.

"That's cute." He said seemingly appearing in front of me. "You with those flames surrounding your body, cool party trick what can you do destroy a whole planet, maybe even a solar system."

I immediately felt the power coming from him. I don't know how I didn't feel it before. It was like a divine being was staring me directly into my soul with his just presence alone to snuff out the flames surrounding as well as make me collapse to my knees. Carrion stared at me like I was an insect.

"Let me guess, this Viro guy is strong enough to what destroy a thousand Multiverses or so maybe a million. News flash people." He said floating a few feet away with everyone backing away, giving Carrion a good couple of meters of distance between them and him. "I'm kinda omnipotent as I can destroy notjust one, not a hundred, not a million, not even a billion but all Realities as well as even The Beyond. I know this because I erased one quadrillion Realities and shook the Beyond with a clap of my hands."

I could tell this Carrion person was many things but a liar. I don't know why but I could just tell as well as seemingly everyone else as they all displayed similar reactions to the horrified look on my face with Lazuli collapsing onto her hands and knees and throwing up next to me.

"I've been travelling to throughout the cosmos visiting every Reality that I come across. This is the first time when trillions haven't died from me entering one. So, give yourself a round of applause." He said nonchalantly as if he was talking about what he did over the weekend.

This can't be happening. How can someone this powerful even exist I thought shaking my head as panic began to engulf me.

A mix of the surprised expressions that I could see out of the corner of my eye along with a huge gust of wind caused me to raise my head. Behind Carrion what could only be described as a black and red portal opened throwing up dust in the process with what looked like red sparks and electricity crackled off it.

Carrion stopped floating a stood on the ground, taking a step back while raising an eyebrow with a suspicious and confused look on his face.

"Only the Dark Travel Skill can create portals" Lazuli said. "But the portals are always black and purple."

"Only one Ethereal creates portals that are black and red." I muttered.

The red and black tear in space seemed to war as someone came through the portal with it closing behind them. The person who stepped out wore a black sleeveless hoodie, revealing lean but muscular arms, with the hood up as well as a mask that completely covered the person's face. It was completely black with a two eye holes revealing glowing red eyes and a dark crimson Omega symbol on the forehead of the mask.

"Diablo Cosmos." I breathed.

"I'm not in the human world for a whole year and this mess happens." He said sounding like his voice was made from 2 different voices.

Carrion raised his hand into the air.

"It's about to be more than a mess mortal." He said and clenched his fist until it was white knuckled.

Instantly I could sense a colossal amount of power coming from him as the world, no, the whole cosmos seemed to shake and rumble. The sky seemed to crack revealing what looked like a void of universes and realities.

"I'm going to erase everything." Carrion said as his fist glowed a golden colour while a white aura surrounded it. "Everything from this planet all the way to The Beyond. All of it will be gone and I'll then rebuild the cosmos in my image."

Everyone began to fall back as panic beganto seep into the atmosphere. I just stood up and stared not being able to comprehend what was being said.

This can't be happening I thought.

"All the way to The Beyond?" Diablo said. "What about The Null?"

"What are you talking about?" Carrion raising an eyebrow before swinging his fist down.

Suddenly there was a massive bright light that consumed everything as far as the eye could see while time seemed to slow down.

This is it. I thought as I was engulfed by the light. This is how I die.

But then nothing happened, and the light disappeared.

I slowly looked around and saw that everything and everyone was still there with my classmates, Miss Skyline, and all the other looking around with mixed looks of surprise and confusion. Lazuli was sitting up next to me with a similar expression on her face, but she was pointing with a slightly shaky finger. I slowly followed the direction and my eyes widened at what I saw.

"No way." I breathed.

Diablo was holding Carrion's punch in his hand like he had caught a ball that was thrown at him.

Carrion stared at Diablo in shock before reeling back in horror.

"What the hell did you just do!?" He screamed causing a glowing aura to form around that spat and flickered like fire.

Although I couldn't see it, I got the feeling that Diablo was grinning as he slowly stepped closer causing Carrion to back away from him.

"What did I do?" Diablo laughed. "I caught your punch what else."

"Shut up!" Carrion yelled and threw another huge punch with it connecting directly onto Diablo's chin. It released a massive shockwave that tore up the ground around them.

When the dust cleared Diablo was standing completely still with Carrion's fist on his chin. He giggled before grabbing Carrion's wrist and crushing it with a sickening crunch.

He screamed in pain and fell to the floor, clutching the mangled mesh of blood, flesh and bone with his other hand.

"This can't be real?" He said sounding like he was having a nervous breakdown. "I'm a being that transcends every concept ever conceived. I control your very narrative and story. I shouldn't even be able to feel pain let alone be injured!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about but if that's the case, why are you crying and feeling this." Diablo said kneeling down in front Carrion.

He stared at the whimpering god for a few moments before backhand slapping him across the face sending him flying a few metres before landing on the ground. As soon as Carrion got up, Diablo came through a portal that opened up behind him and grabbed him by the face lifting him up into the air.

"What is this? Both those punches were powerful enough to wipe out the cosmos 100 times over." Carrion said slightly muffled by Diablo's hand across his face. "I dictate your very story this shouldn't be possible why aren't any of my powers working!!?"

"It's simple." Diablo said. "You don't have Ethos so therefor all your powers, especially those nifty ones that supposedly make you transcend everything and make you invincible, no matter how powerful they are, are completely useless when in the face of Ethos."

Diablo brought him right up close to his face.

"And since all Ethereals like myself are infused with Ethos, you are merely a human to us."

"I own every ability you can think of. Every power ever conceived across existence, but I don't have this Ethos you speak of. Impossible! But if that's the case I'll just take your Ethos for myself along with the rest of your power!" Carrion said but Diablo just threw him through a portal as another one opened up behind Diablo which Carrion flew out of but was suddenly knocked to the ground a few inches from hitting into Diablo's back. Carrion moaned in pain as he tried to lift up his body to no avail as if something heavy was on top of him.

"The Gravity Master Skill." Lazuli muttered next to me.

"You can't just randomly equip or take Ethos." Diablo said. "You need to have Ethos in the first place to have any affect on it meaning you have to be born an Ethereal."

Diablo tilted his head to the side in a mocking manner.

"As I said you are like a human to an Ethereal. An average, basic human with no powers of any kind. Even the weakest Ethereal who can't even destroy a city could kill you. You couldn't even wipe out the entire cosmos as The Null is a void outside of The Beyond that is completely made from Ethos." Diablo was now very clearly mocking him by the tone of his voice.

"Would anyone like to give the finishing blow?" He asked looking around.

There was a moment of silence as everyone, including myself, was trying to process everything.

"Why should we dirty our hands with the blood of a human." Someone called out from the crowd.

Diablo shrugged and his shoulders and Carrion let out one last scream before Diablo crushed his head with a single stomp from his foot.

Everyone whooped and cheered as Diablo gave a humble bow.

"Relax everyone, any of you could have killed him it's just his overwhelming power kinda hid that fact he didn't have Ethos."

He waved a hand forming another black and red portal but quickly whipped round and seemingly stared at me. I flinched but realised he was staring at the open space to my right. He stared for a few more seconds before entering the portal which closed around him.