Crossover: Monthly Character Templates in the Multiverse Chat Group — Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Beauties Only Belong to the Strong

“Please. I don’t want to drag them down right now. If possible, it is best to make them leave.”

Until she had complete control over her body, Kiana refused to meet her aunt and the others. She could not bear to become a burden to the people she loved.

“No matter what it takes. Even if it makes them hate me.”

The young lady had made up her mind. Frez did not waste breath on empty comforts, offering only a single question. “Are you sure?”

“I am sure.”

Receiving her resolute answer, Frez nodded. He set Kiana down gently, removed his glasses, and ran a hand through his hair, slicking the pale strands back away from his face. His demeanor shifted instantly, adopting a cold, untouchable edge.

“Ms. Durandal, please cooperate with me in a moment.”

“Understood.”

Durandal gave a curt nod. She respected her sister’s decision and had a firm grasp of the grim reality of the situation. She readied her stance. “Just leave the rest to us.”

“Durandal! Let go of Kiana!”

Theresa stormed onto the scene, her face flushed with absolute fury. Raiden Mei and Bronya flanked her, weapons drawn and expressions tight with anxiety.

Seeing Frez standing casually nearby gave Theresa a sudden pause. Confusion warred with her anger. How did he end up here with them?

“That is right, it is me.” Frez offered a sharp, unfeeling smile and pulled Kiana behind his back. Bronya’s eyes narrowed, her instincts screaming that something was terribly wrong with this picture.

Raiden Mei ignored the tension, her focus entirely on the white-haired girl. “Kiana, are you okay?”

Kiana kept her head down and refused to answer, shrinking further behind Frez. Beside them, Durandal stood like an impenetrable wall, her lance leveled at the newcomers.

“What on earth happened? Why is Durandal here?” Theresa demanded, her voice echoing across the open space.

Frez let out a dry, amused chuckle. “Naturally, I made a deal with Bishop Otto. He gave me an offer I simply could not refuse.”

Theresa’s confusion instantly morphed into panic. “You made a deal with Grandpa? Aren’t you on our side?”

“I never said that.”

Frez clamped a hand around Kiana’s slender wrist, his grip firm. “I am taking her with me today. If you have any complaints, take them up with Durandal.”

A sharp metallic ring pierced the air as Raiden Mei unsheathed her katana. Behind Bronya, the massive, imposing form of Project Bunny materialized, its mechanical joints whirring with lethal intent.

Durandal cast a brief, unreadable glance at her sister before stepping forward to draw all the aggression. “Headmaster Theresa, I will be taking Kiana back to Schicksal.”

“Don’t even think about it! You arrogant girl, you have no respect for your elders at all. Today, I will remind you exactly why I am an S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal!”

The massive golden cross, the Oath of Judah, slammed into the earth beside Theresa. Despite her diminutive stature, she hoisted the heavy divine weapon with terrifying ease, swinging it with such ferocity that the air screamed, leaving golden afterimages in its wake. Durandal met the onslaught head-on, her expression utterly unfazed.

Taking advantage of the clash, Raiden Mei and Bronya launched themselves directly at Frez and Kiana.

A storm of flashing blades and crushing iron fists rained down upon him.

Frez did not bother to dodge. He did not even shift his footing. The invisible barrier formed by Limitless caught the synchronized assault flawlessly.

To the two Valkyries, it felt like wading into an endless swamp. Their weapons sank into the space around him, unable to bridge the final gap. Even though he stood mere inches away, an infinite expanse seemed to separate them. No matter how much force they poured into their strikes, they could not touch a single thread of his clothing.

“What?!” Raiden Mei gasped, her eyes widening in disbelief.

“Stopped? That is impossible.” Bronya stared at the point of impact. Project Bunny’s hydraulic punches could flatten an armored vehicle into scrap metal. Even if this man possessed immense physical strength, it made no sense for their attacks to simply halt in mid-air, repelled by an invisible void.

“Rather than saying it stopped, it is more accurate to say that the closer you get to me, the slower your speed becomes.”

Project Bunny retracted its massive fist, pulling Bronya back to a safe distance. Frez slipped one hand into his pocket, his striking azure eyes narrowing with a predatory glint. “How about this. I will explain my ability to you. After all, disclosing my technique provides a rather nice amplification to my power.”

Disclosing a Cursed Technique. By voluntarily revealing the mechanics of one’s power to the enemy, a binding vow was formed, enhancing the technique’s effectiveness. It was a foundational tactic for any Jujutsu Sorcerer.

Bronya and Raiden Mei exchanged a wary look. Explaining his own weakness to the enemy? Was this man insane?

“My ability is called Limitless. In simple terms, it is the physical realization of the Achilles Paradox. You might know it as one of the four great beasts of physics, Zeno’s Tortoise.”

“Zeno’s Tortoise?” Bronya calculated the data instantly, her tone flat but laced with shock. “That is impossible. That concept was proven false centuries ago. If it were truly realized in reality, the fundamental laws of physics would collapse.”

The paradox of Zeno’s Tortoise proposed a scenario where motion and distance were infinitely divisible. The tortoise, given a head start, would always remain a fraction of a step ahead of the infinitely faster Achilles. No matter how small the gap became, as long as the tortoise kept moving, Achilles could theoretically never close the distance.

It was a philosophical nightmare regarding the indivisibility of motion that had plagued scholars for two millennia, only solved when Newton and Leibniz developed calculus to prove that the sum of an infinite subdivision process was finite.

“It exists within me. No matter what you do, your attacks will never reach the reality of striking my body.”

Frez vanished, reappearing directly in front of Bronya in a blur of motion. He extended a hand, his knuckles well-defined and relaxed. “Come on, you can verify it yourself. I promise I won’t hit you.”

Bronya stared at him, her expression deadpan. ‘Bronya will not believe your nonsense.’

Despite her internal skepticism, Project Bunny’s massive mechanical hand reached out, attempting to crush Frez’s outstretched palm.

The moment the construct exerted force, the minute shifts in its mechanical components and the surging electrical currents within its circuits were laid bare before the Six Eyes. Frez moved faster than the machine could process. He bypassed the crushing grip and drove a fist directly into Project Bunny’s chest plate. The reinforced armor caved inward with a deafening crunch.

Refusing to retreat, Bronya sacrificed her robotic companion’s defensive position to secure a point-blank opening. She drew her firearm and unloaded the entire magazine in a heartbeat. The bullets tore through the air, only to freeze dead exactly ten centimeters from Frez’s face. They hung suspended in the void, completely robbed of their kinetic energy, unable to advance a single millimeter.

Raiden Mei seized the momentary distraction, stepping in with a sweeping horizontal slash. The razor-sharp edge of her katana caught the sunlight brilliantly, but it met the exact same invisible wall, sliding harmlessly to a halt.

Casually swatting the suspended bullets aside, Frez delivered a sharp punch to Bronya’s face.

Blood immediately flowed from her small nose. The sudden, jarring pain made the stoic girl see stars, her vision swimming. She knew instantly that he was holding back. If he had struck her with the same force that dented Project Bunny, her neck would have snapped.

Before she could recover, a hand forged of pure steel clamped around her throat. She was lifted off the ground, her legs kicking empty air. Oxygen vanished from her lungs. She clawed at his fingers, but he was an immovable statue. Project Bunny rained a frantic barrage of blows against his back, but every single strike was swallowed by the infinite void.

Her vision darkened at the edges. Death loomed over her like a suffocating shadow.

Just as her consciousness began to slip, the crushing grip vanished. Bronya collapsed to the dirt, gasping violently for air. Before she could push herself up, Frez brought his foot down, shattering the mechanical exoskeleton on her leg. The broken metal fell away, exposing her slender calf wrapped in white stockings, trembling against the cold ground.

“Bronya!”

Raiden Mei screamed, abandoning all caution as she lunged forward to save her friend. Frez merely sidestepped her desperate thrust and buried his fist deep into her abdomen.

The air left Mei in a violent rush. She collapsed, curling into a tight ball on the ground, paralyzed by the agonizing pain radiating through her stomach.

Frez looked down at her, his expression devoid of pity. “You are still far too weak, Raiden Mei. Beauties only belong to the strong, and you… you cannot do anything to protect what is yours.”

So powerless. So incredibly painful.

Raiden Mei dug her fingernails into the dirt, her body trembling with absolute unwillingness. But the cruel reality of his words echoed in her mind. She truly could not do a single thing to stop him.

“Let us go, Kiana. We are leaving.”

Through blurred, tear-filled eyes, Raiden Mei watched the two of them walk away, their silhouettes shrinking in the distance. Hot tears of sheer frustration spilled down her cheeks, mixing with the dust.

It hurts. It hurts so much. Kiana, why…