As'' ring crumbled into dust.
Gradually, cracks expanded out on As'' purplish alien body. Small pieces crumbled off, dissipating into dust. ??
In a moment, cracks had covered As'' body.
Pa!
As'' body shuttered into pieces. Falling in air, those cement-like pieces evaporated in the air as well...
It was just Jeff standing in air now, staring forward with an unfocussed gaze.
...
As opened his eyes.
Looking around, As found himself on a ssy in. The ground emitted a warm creamy-white glow.
Above, there were clusters of little orbs that brightened up this dim space. They looked like stars in the night sky.
Some distance away, there was a horizontal stream of glowing lights. It looked like the milky way gxy.
This was the world inside Jeff''s mind.
"To think you''d let your guard down just like that." As snickered as he flew up.
"How foolish of you Norman.... Be a human again..." As scoffed. "Are you mocking me? You should know there''s no going back!"
"You can''t hide forever Jeff! Fight me! I will erase your consciousness! I will take over!" As'' rumbling voice travelled down this space. "You are just wasting your talents Norman! I can put it to much better use!"
"This oue is inevitable! After taking over your body, who will stop me?"
"This world is a stage, and I, As, am the sole protagonist!"
This space shook at As'' promation.
In the distance, the glowing pixels of the milky way fluttered.
In the next instance, this stream of starry light opened up like an eyelid.
A beam of light bursted out as this eye opened up. Gradually, a pupil like a helix neb came into view.
That beam of light brushed through this space.
As held up his hand and closed his eyes under this blindingly bright beam.
"I-Impossible..." As grumbled and clenched his teeth. He was trying his best to stand tall under the pressure of Jeff''s gaze.
"No... Ugggghhh! No!" As'' body exploded into dust.
"No..." As'' voice faded into silence...
On the outside, Jeff opened his eyes and raised his brows.
''So As'' psychic level is still SS-rank?''
''It''s just that his body has high psychic defenses?''
''Or is my ability too trash?''
''He dared to enter my mind space, a sage-tier''s mind space, as an SS-rank? What was he thinking?''
As'' decision still felt unreal to Jeff.
Either way... Yeah... There''s some gap between the Supernatural-realm and Sage-realm.
''Wait... Just because he blocked out my psychic attack, he thought he was at the same level as me?'' The golden light surrounding Jeff dimmed away.
The battle was over. As was dead.
Jeff turned off his stack of abilities. He was feeling a little hungry now.
Leaning back, Jeff entered free fall towards the ground.
Jeff thought he''d feel some sorrow for As'' death. As wasn''t a friend... But Jeff had known this guy for months now.
But no. Jeff didn''t feel any sorrow actually.
''Thinking about it... Life without As doesn''t seem all that bad... Maybe even better...''
''Tsk. Who''d miss As anyways...''
Plop!
Bringing out a spurt, Jeff fell into the nket of fog.
...
Looking down at the sanctuary from the sky...
Streams of people headed away from the sanctuary. At this moment, the streets became congested again.
Everyone wore a worried face. Carrying luggage big and small, the residents here moved along with the streams of people.
Some people were still trying to look for their friends. Some squeezed through the tight crowds.
From time to time, groups of hunters hopped across the roofs the buildings. These guys were fleeing away from the sanctuary as well.
Inside the buildings, some quickly packed their belongings. They''d decided to join this stream of people. After all, As'' speech did not sound very enticing...
Others looked through their windows and decided to wait...
In the crowd, Alice''s friends, the KMR group gathered up.
"Don''t worry! The Mission Machine will win!" Jeff''s fan boy shouted.
"The Mission Machine will never lose. He''ll never lose!" The boy sounded like he was trying to convince himself as well.
"Of course Alex. Of course." Wearing tired expressions, these guys moved forward.
Inside the sanctuary, there were very few people left now. Up in the sky, silhouettes of canoes could be seen.
These settlement leaders waited in silence.
Gardener, Telepathy, and Magni clenched their fists in unreconciliation with the situation. This feeling of powerlessness... Knowing that your fate is in someone else'' hands...
Oracle sat at the tip of a canoe with her eyes closed. Wearing a nk expression, nobody knew what this girl was thinking.
Tyler Anas repetitively wiped his sword. His message was clear. He won''t surrender to the void without a fight.
Liam Evanstein looked forward with half-closed eyes. This guy sweated a little. It''s like this guy was still thinking of a way out.
...
A few miles away from the sanctuary, a ray of blue light flew through the foggy sky.
Noticing this obvious light source, the crowd looked up.
"It''s Jeff Norman!" Someone shouted.
Flying at only 50 meters above the ground, it''s not that difficult to see Jeff from the ground. Any detection ability would do the trick to be honest.
"He won!"
"We don''t have to leave anymore!" Someone threw their fist in the air.
"Yes!" Someone cheered.
More people in the crowd rxed at this result.
"Norman! Norman! Norman!" Someone begun to chant.
"Norman!"
"Norman!"
Looking down at the endless stream of people, hearing their cheers and apuse, Jeff smiled and gave them a thumbs up.
At this moment, Jeff suddenly felt an epiphany.
''I''ve done something big and important huh...'' Jeff genuinely smiled.
''I''ve always seen myself as a monster ying machine. But turned out, I became a hero...''
''Those hunting trips really paid off.''
''Now, I''ve defended my home...''
''We''ve fended off another threat...''
As Jeff flew down the street, the wave of cheers followed him. Gradually, people turned around and headed back to their homes.
As was gone already. It''s not like Jeff was going to rob them and hold them hostage... right?