Chapter 263.

  If anyone would observe him right now, with him sitting on the floor, and various machine parts scattered throughout the room, they would think he is some kind of engineer who is tinkering with the machines around him.

  They wouldn't be wrong. The alternate Hatori worked hard on fixing the destroyed yantras. He has stored the fragments he has acquired within a pocket dimension. The only way to access this dimension is through the runes on his wrists. So, he was not worried about someone stealing his fragments while he worked.

  Once the final yantra is fixed, he gets up from the floor. There was no popping sound or stumble from the sudden change of his position. These are the perks of an immortal body, refined and enhanced for millions of years. After all, what else a man can do when he has all the time in the world, and he is kept in one place?

  "Master, the house is fully operational now." Said the central yantra. "But your scouters will take a while to come online."

  "It is fine. I have the location of the next fragments. Put everything under a lockdown while I go and retrieve the damn thing." He ordered.

  "As you command."

  He left his house and appeared in a different reality. It took him a long time to learn how to do this smoothly, without attracting any attention.

  The fragment is located on a destroyed planet. Hatori does not need to look up and see the different sizes of the sun, as well as the intensity of its glow to understand that he is not on Earth. The planet seems to be lifeless. There are no intelligent life forms, and no animals either. The air appears to be toxic, though Hatori knows that toxicity is not natural.

  While he cannot detect life on the planet, there is one signature that is bright to his senses. He took flight and landed near a tall man, who appeared to be well-built. He is looking up in the sky, where the sun is setting. "What a remarkable sight." He spoke. "Such a clear and beautiful sunset."

  "Having little to no stars or constellations will do that." Said Hatori in reply.

  "Correct." He turned around, and Hatori was surprised.

  He is the alternative of that same man who murdered his "master", resulting in his freedom. He later found out that his name was Anantayudha, one of the strongest battle mages who lived for 500 years. His death wasn't natural: an entire army fought against him for one full day before they managed to pin him down and kill him. Despite that, his body was so tough that it was not destroyed in the battle.

  'Looks like this alternate didn’t die.' Thinks Hatori. "Soooo. This planet. Is it you’re doing?"

  Anantayudha shook his head. "It was like this when I got here. Not every act of destruction is my fault you know."

  "Right. But we get accused of the things which we did not do all the time." Said Hatori from his experiences.

  "There is nothing to be done about the weaklings," Anantayudha said with a dismissive gesture. "Now, I believe you are here for a reason. I suspect you already have some of these mysterious pieces." He opened his palm and showed Hatori the broken jewel.

  "Any chance you might hand it over peacefully?" Asked Hatori.

  "Hahahahaha! For your amusing question, I will give you a quick and painless death." Said Anantayudha in reply.

  "Figures." Grumbled Hatori.

  "Now, pay attention!" A massive wave of fire appears on Hatori. The land melted due to the intensity of the fire.

  But his opponent did not turn into ashes. Anantayudha was not surprised. Anyone who managed to acquire one of these mystical pieces is no weakling. It would be embarrassing if this man died so quickly.

  He was proven right. Soon another wave of fire comes, which assaulted him. He regretted showing off, as the wave did more damage to him than he expected. Once he was healed, his enemy appeared before him, preparing another spell. Anantayudha prepared a counter to the attack which he can see coming already.

  "Out of curiosity, how did you acquire this piece?" Asked Hatori, while getting ready to cook Anantayudha in the language of young people these days.

  "It was quite an adventure." Said the battle mage. "It resulted in the death of two so-called divine beings by my hands. But given how miserably they died, and how easy it was to wipe them out, I don't they should be called divine."

  "Pretentious pricks." Said Hatori, completely agreeing with his opponent.

  The spell fired, and the matter started to twist around Anantayudha. The battle mage swiftly tried to wrestle the control away from Hatori, but he appears to have become a sorcerer recently. He does not have enough experience in fighting while using primordial forces. This cost him, as the pressure resulted in such a large explosion that it wiped out the entire solar system.

  The reality fragment floated in the vacuum of space, unharmed. There was no scratch on it. It did not appear to have suffered a solar system-destroying explosion. Hatori's palm closed around it, and it was transported to the storage dimension.

  "Nine more to go." He said to himself.

  While the alternate Hatori is having his fight, in other reality, our Hatori and his group are searching for the next fragment. So far, they are the ones to reach the fragment. Even during the mission to fix the time, the case was almost the same.

  But for a change, the reality shard came to them, instead of the other way around. Who the holder is even more surprising.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  A swift and brutal attack split the group. Several rocky walls come from the ground. These walls have jagged edges on top, one of which nearly skewered Josh.

  A man with a lithe build walks out of the dust generated by this sudden attack. "You." He pointed to Hatori. "I know you have those pieces. Hand them over, now."

  "Father?" Asked Hatori, ignoring the request entirely.

  The alternate Karan looked at the face of the tall man. He could not mistake this face for anyone else, despite the age and the artificial-looking eyes.

  "I'm glad to see at least one version of my son is doing well." He sighed. "I'll spare you. Hand over the jewels you have."

  "No." Said Hatori, regaining his equilibrium.

  "Then I'll give you an easy death. That's the least I can do for you." Another attack comes, a non-elemental attack. Hatori batted the spell aside, which collided with the wall to his right, where Josh was with James.

  Upon impact, the spell blasted the wall. Karan seized control over the boulders and sent them Hatori's way. A few he also sent flying towards James and Josh. When Hatori ducked and punched these boulders at first, they behaved like normal rocks struck by an immortal: they broke apart.

  But then, they started to explode and peppered him with the shards. The same happened with the boulders sent towards his two friends. Even when they collide with the ground, these rocks explode.

  Taking advantage of the blasts, Karan closed the distance with Hatori. He cast a close-ranged spell, which is also non-elemental in nature. It struck Hatori on his chin. He was sent flying, and the bones on his lower face shattered with a snap.

  James and Josh tried to double-team Karan, but he handled them both. Demonstrating his flawless grasp on magic, he countered their attacks by using both of his arms, handling them both. He disrupted the wave of water by Josh and blew apart the rocky construct by James.

  Raven finally managed to create an opening to the other wall, where he witnessed the effortless dispatch of James, Josh, and Hatori with Shin. Samay is watching the action from one of the walls, resting on top without a care in the world.

  Focusing on these new opponents, Karan doesn't give them any chance to understand what is going on. He closed the distance with Shin and engaged with him in a furious exchange of punches and kicks. Given how magical battles don't end up like this, Shin was surprised. Karan punched his chess, demolishing his ribcage. He seized his arms and broke them with a loud snap. He then kicked Shin away and blasted Raven who was trying to sneak up on him with the same spell with which he blasted Hatori, sending him flying while the blood spread from his torso.

  Karan turned around when he heard the walking steps of the alternate of his son. "Impressive." He said with a smile. "Mind telling me what happened to you? There is no way you became this monster all because you had a simple interest in magic."

  "Right." Said Karan. "You died in a civil war. It was not a magical one. Your mother passed away shortly afterward, unable to deal with the trauma of you being killed right in front of us. Later, the magical side showed itself and started to train people. My aptitude was quite high, but I didn't want to be their puppet, so I struck out on my own. Later, I discovered these fragments. These have the power to rewrite reality itself. Once I acquire them, I will turn those horrible events, and I will make sure that my wife and son don't end up dying."

  Hatori listened to Karan calmly. "So, you want to fix things hmm?" Asked Hatori.

  "Exactly." Said Karan with a nod. "But I don't think you will hand over the fragments you have easily, even after listening to me."

  "Right." Said Hatori with a smirk. "Also, as impressive as your battle prowess is, it is nothing compared to me."

  With a crackle of thunder, an eagle took shape on Hatori's shoulder, entirely made of lightning. "Your immortal protections are also quite weak. They won't survive this strike." He said to Karan. "You can join us though."

  "No. I will not deviate from my chosen path!" Said Karan, preparing a spell of his own.

  "Very well." The eagle took flight. It appeared on top of Karan before he could complete his next spell.

  The electricity stunned him, overwhelming the runes he made on his body to heal him. Another crackle of thunder echoed in the sky, and with a lightning strike later, Karan was annihilated. The only sign of his existence was the large crater and the destroyed walls which he created to separate them.

  The jewel was present in the center of the crater. Shin took it, while Hatori looked in the sky. He shook his head and focused on his friends.

  "Let's just leave this place." He said to them.

  "Of course." They all replied.

  "You asshole, you electrocuted me!" Said Samay, joining them with her frazzled hair.

  "I don't recall doing any such thing." Replied Hatori in a nonchalant tone.

  A young-looking man with delicate features observed the warp in reality. A large figure stepped out of the portal he saw, and he immediately made for that direction where he sensed his target.

  He shook his head. He cannot allow him to get there before him. But judging by the sense of his power, he cannot take him directly. 'A sneak attack is in order.' He thought.

  So, he followed his large opponent, thinking he had the edge since he remained undetected. But this illusion is shattered with just one sentence.

  "Your spying is sloppy." Said the large man, turning around and glaring at his hiding place with his artificial-looking eyes. "Come out and show yourself."

  "Damn." Said the alternate of Shin, coming out and looking the alternate of Hatori in his eyes with his different colored eyes.

  here.