Chapter 312: The Gap Between Champions and Overcomers

The scene of Seeker disappearing shocked everyone.

"Impossible!" Lennox and Richie chorused. 

Seeker appeared several meters more.

Lynd immediately threw one of the suns towards Seeker and immediately retreated. The waters he controlled followed, and even the cold fusion that he made around him trailed along with his movements as well.

The sun he threw immediately grew unstable and exploded. A red sun exploded. The explosion was so strong that the waters above were affected.

Lennox had given commands to execute the Last Stand protocol, which ordered all Unlocked to make it look like the battle between the Lingkaran and the King Naga continued.

Lynd was nearly a kilometer away from where he was. His gaze pierced through the dark ocean. Yet despite such a display of power, all that Lynd felt was fear. Seeker had one power that could easily defeat him.

"How's this possible? Even Seeker doesn't have the strength to do that!" Lynd cursed out angrily. All his preparations to entrap and attack Seeker failed. The energy he had was less than half, and he was running out of options on how to attack Seeker.

"Where are you?!" Lynd shouted.

"Scared?" A voice was heard. The source could not be seen. As if the darkness of the water was talking to Lynd.

"He combined my sound and Herme's ability. Water Whisperer?" Richie laughed as he heard the sounds moving across the waters.

"Erm… Lennox… Richie? What happened?" Cliff asked in confusion. He didn't understand how Seeker did that.

Lennox knew how impossible it was for Seeker to do so. This was the ability that the Void Assassin had.

The Void Assassin's Path was one of the most confusing Paths that Seeker's team had no workable framework to imitate or weaponize. This was because there were no visible changes in the physical nature of the Void Assassin. Yet, with Nogard's help, they could sense that the Void Assassin's power was hidden in the other dimensions. And with all the techs that they had, they could not see or look for it.

Only Seeker and Rai had seen the dimensions beyond it, and they couldn't explain how it was possible to study the dimensions with their words or explanation. They could not explain or describe something that cannot be experienced or seen in the three dimensions.

And even though Lennox studied the DNA of Rai in search of the means to see the dimension, he could not see it.

Even more mysterious was the fact that Seeker was able to teleport with such strong power remaining.

Their tests had proven that it would be impossible for those at the higher stages of the Unlocking to move through space. Back when Rai teleported Seeker after throwing Harker's large cannon, it was inside an area where space was distorted. Crostfree's technology managed to distort the laws of space and its dimensions, so Rai could teleport Seeker out of the battle at that time.

But now, the current space they were fighting in wasn't distorted, yet Seeker was able to teleport in it!

"I thought Inhumans couldn't teleport!" Cliff asked.

"It's not impossible. We simply don't know how to."

BOOM!

Lynd attacked another space as Seeker continued to taunt him with words.

"Come out and fight like a man!"

"But Lynd, we're both Inhumans. Shouldn't we fight like Inhumans?" The Adult gave a strange crackling laugh as if he was telling an extremely funny joke.

"It's the adult Seeker!" Cliff identified the current possessor of Seeker's body through that bad dad joke.

"How is he doing that?! He's moving in the fourth dimension!" Cliff asked once more.

"Seeker does not meet the requirements to teleport! Rai's body is the only one that can physically cross the dimensions and move in it. Wasn't it explained that Rai confirmed that he could teleport a large canon and Seeker because Crostfree had weakened the integrity of space at that time? But even then, Seeker couldn't move when he was brought in!"

"Right. What are your thoughts, Lennox? Haven't we concluded that it is impossible to send the physical body of any human that is at the Unbecoming stage? Aren't they 'too big to fit in the entrance that leads to the fourth dimension?" Richie asked as well.

"Yeah! Rai's team was trained to have a body that was most conducive to teleport. But when we made one of them an Unbecoming, he couldn't teleport with Rai anymore! How can Seeker enter that dimension and move in it!"

"That is the question. There are two miracles that Seeker did in that act of teleportation. First, how did he walk into that dimension? We know that unless he is below Unbecoming, he can't. I think Lynd's curse made it possible. Seeker's body was weakened. But that alone is not the right answer. I saw Seeker channeling a majority of his power onto the sword."

"Has he thread on Rai? That doesn't feel right." Richie frowned.

"Interesting. Maybe that's how it was made possible. The future Seeker is finally showing us his Path. Didn't you hear what he said? He is the He that Treads and Passes Over."

Seeker's weakened body capitalized on the power that Rai showed him. Using the Sword of the Dragon Slayer, Seeker struck the one thing the Kid Seeker couldn't see. And that was the entrance to the other dimensions.

When the Adult had gained sentience, he had always been taking a back seat ride at Seeker and only helped the Kid on several occasions. But the Adult always knew that this new life allowed the Kid to develop the wildcard Path.

But the Adult Seeker had long guessed what his Path in his lifetime was. It was to pass over obstacles. As long as he had a destination in mind, he could reach it and move through it. It was a condensed Zone that allowed Seeker to know just where to go and when to move. And this time was no exception.

Seeker harnessed most of his power into Desolation in the Sword of the Dragon Slayer. With it, Seeker forced an opening that allowed his physical body to move into the void.

And there, in the place where space was curled up and compressed, Seeker moved. The Kid Seeker could not move because he didn't have the body. But the Adult Seeker had that body in his previous life. He just didn't know it. When he took over, the mysterious changes in the dimensions beyond finally gave Seeker the ability to move in this dimension.

Lynd was panicking. The tricks and taunts that the Adult did were childish. But this was very effective against Lynd.

"Die!" Seeker's sudden shout caused Lynd to raise his hand towards the place where he could feel a strange distortion and created a powerful blast channeling the sun.

The beam was sliced as it met a powerful Desolation that ate away the energy.

Lynd raised his other hands to reinforce his attack. His right hand contained Gardo and Meryl's power as Lynd began to prepare for his other attacks.

But then, he heard it.

"CLIFF! NOW!" Seeker ordered.

Without hesitation, Lynd retracted his other hand and aimed for Cliff, and shot a powerful attack.

But then, a fist emerged from the dimensions and smashed on Lynd's abdomen.

BOOM!

The fist struck the location in Lynd's abdomen where the energy was being harnessed and penetrated deep into Lynd's stomach.

Lynd was coughing up blood as the energy in his body was being wildly released. His two arms that wielded different concentrations of energy also exploded as the instability of having various Paths returned once more.

All of a sudden, the chaotic battle suddenly became quiet.

The sword that Seeker created could be seen falling into the abyss. Seeker used it to clash with Lynd's attack. But after Lying and scaring Lynd, he moved and abandoned the sword to punch Lynd.

The sword suddenly stopped sinking and began to move and approached Seeker.

"Its… Over…?" Cliff couldn't believe what he saw. The attack that Lynd pointed at his direction was so far away that it took Cliff no effort to evade it. Cliff did not approach Lynd, and Lynd had always sensed that Cliff was quite a distance away from him. But that was why Lynd suddenly attacked.

The memory of the beautiful ambush that Cliff managed was engraved in his heart. And so, his fear acted ahead and made Lynd move to react to it. And so, Seeker's simple lie proved so effective.

"That is the gap between them. Seeker is an Overcomer, after all. This Adult version not only bears the marks of one but is far more cruel and cunning than the child Seeker." Lennox assessed.

"Cunning? This is a more cunning Seeker? That's a scary thought…" Cliff gulped. He had already been treated like a guinea pig from the regular Seeker. And now there was a more cunning Seeker?

"The moment he managed to teleport and walk in the other dimension, he already won. But of all the was to defeat Lynd, he chooses one that is the harshest way to spank Lynd into realization. He lied. The old' made-you-look defeated a World Champion level hero. And that was considering all of Seeker's disadvantage." Richie laughed.

Seeker had retracted his fists that were buried in Lynd's stomach. Seeker then placed his palms over Lynd's chest as strange energy began to course through Lynd's body.

"Are you done with your tantrum?" The Adult Seeker asked as he crushed a small ball that created a sound shield that held them afloat in the ocean.

"I...lost… just… like… that…?" Lynd couldn't believe it. His entire body was suddenly spent of all the energy. The sudden destruction of the energy chamber that he made collapsed in itself and damaged his body. All of a sudden, Lynd could not muster the strength and power that he could wield before.

"Just like that? You forced me to awaken my Path. And to do that, you had to pressure me to the point that I had no choice but to Overcome. Not many can do that, Lynd. You are a legitimate World Champion. A bit below to an Overcomer, but far great than a Hero." The Adult explained.

"Why… is the anger gone? Is it because I'm dying?"

"Like hell, I'll allow you to die. I never intended to carry the weight of being a Messiah alone. I'm not Jesus, you know. At most, we are but typologies of the real Messiah. Besides, I need you alive so that we'd have a shot at making the Life. Relax. I'm already performing a transference of power. Because you're the Way, my cells ought to work hand in hand with yours. As for your anger, it admitted defeat. It can win anymore, and all it could do is hide. You must learn to control it and bring that out at the right time." Seeker smiled.

Lynd could somehow see the smile of his friend.

"I don't know you anymore, Zeek. Both you and Kid, you have… changed so much." Lynd gazed curiously at the sudden shift of Seeker's temper.

He could feel his strength recovering as the critical wounds in his body were recovering.

"Sure you still do. If there's one thing the Kid me and the current me have in common, it's the fear of losing his friends. That's why it took a while for us to put you in that series of events and awaken the raging monster within. It worked beautifully in the end. We both got stronger in the process."

"I'm… sorry…" Lynd began to cry. The guilt that his anger covered finally got to him. Lynd remembered what he tried to do and couldn't help but feel a sickening and stifling sensation on his chest. The civilians he killed in his fight also appeared to his memory.

"I got mad because of what you were willing to do to me. I knew that it was a test. But I hated it and got mad at how expendable I felt I was." Lynd cried out.

"I did… so many horrible things, Zeek! I am worse than those aliens!" 

"No. I'm the one who should be sorry. I was so afraid of losing you, but it wasn't for the reason you'd think it should be. I was running away from my own fear. The Kid wanted to save the world. But he also didn't want to bear all the responsibility of doing so. He- no... we were both afraid of bearing this messianic title." Seeker sighed.

"You carried it so well in my future that you're death really took a toll on me. I even began to think that we'd lose when you died. I was pinning my hopes that you'd be able to save the world. It was only when the Kid became an Overcomer that I was finally able to convince him to get out of the saltshaker and into the world."

Seeker withdrew his hand.

"I arranged those battles and planned it in a way that those people will die. I am to be blamed for it. This is the responsibility that I knew I had but hesitated from pulling off. Knowing the future urges me to make cruel decisions. The death of those people was necessary to awaken your inner rage. Knowing that you couldn't win fighting those four, you opted to use skills that could kill more civilians. To cover up that guilt, that anger in you took over. I knew about that rage even in my future. So it's still my fault." Seeker sighed again.

Lynd continued to weep as the pair was moving towards the surface. Cliff's exoskeleton followed quietly, not daring to speak.

The rise towards the top only contained Lynd's sobs that slowly grew quieter and quieter until there was perfect silence.

Between Seeker and Lynd, the pair knew that their friendship was restored and even grew stronger after the painful battle.

"ZEEKEE! I'M HERE WITH YOUR FRIEND, RICHIE! WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO VISIT THE AMERICAS? YOU'VE WRECKED THE WORLD BUT YOU CAN'T FIND TIME TO VISIT YOUR GRANDMA!" 

A sudden cry was heard from Cliff's Exoskeleton.

"Gra-Granny!" Seeker shouted as he scuffled towards Cliff's Exoskeleton.