42 Ceremony Finale (1/2)
Ed weaved through the crowd until he reached his desired location. 'If my calculations are correct, then this should be the safest spot once things go to hell.' He yelled towards OP Baldy, ”I don't want to fight you here! The innocents could get hurt!”
”Humph.” Mr. Sai snorted as he walked forward. He pushed through the crowd as if he was Moses parting the sea. The people were pushed to the sides without any harm.
'It's almost time! Will he take the bait?' He raised his remaining arm in the air while smiling. ”Fine. I surrender. I can't allow myself to be the reason these people get hurt.”
”Good!” Mr. Sai nodded. ”At least you have some commonsense. I'm placing you under arrest for the murder of the mayor, known connections to a sinner group, and inducing panic.”
The people in the crowd whispered to each other. Several wanted to attempt stopping the man but didn't have the bravery nor means to do so.
Ed closed his eyes and sighed. 'It's time.' He used his powers flip a switch. He had kept a backup transmitter embedded within his own flesh near his shoulder. The one in his arm had only been a decoy.
”AGHHHH!!!” A high-pitched scream rang out. Yuki knelt on the ground while holding her head. Small streaks of lightning could be seen dancing off her body. Her hair became increasingly frizzy as the scream grew louder.
The crowd, Ed, and OP Baldy all turned to look at her. Her scream only lasted a few moments before she passed out. A loud thud rang out as she fell from her knees to flat onto the ground. OP Baldy turned towards Ed. Confusion and anger were visible in his eyes.
Ed made a sly grin. He silently mouthed the words, ”I warned you not to interfere with my speech.”
”I'LL KILL YOU!!!” OP Baldy disappeared in a flash. No one was capable of seeing him even if they wanted to.
'God, I hope this works!' He had already planned for the madman's inevitable charge. He knew he stood no chance against the man. It would take a miracle for him to survive under normal circumstances. However, he had prepared something extremely crazy before coming here to give his speech. Countermeasures he had never even dreamed of doing to himself in the past.
A bright white light flashed and OP Baldy was visible again. His arm slammed straight through Ed's chest, right where a man's heart was located. As he was taller than Ed, his arm was pointing downwards. His hand was in a knife shape and a white light shot from it towards the ground. It felt like a mini earthquake occurred as the ground shook. Large cracks appeared on the ground for dozens of meters in each direction. The street itself was lowered as a pit formed from the strong pressure. Blood dripped down Mr. Sai's arm as his eyes glowed red with rage.
Ed smiled while blood dripped down from his lips. He whispered, ”You lose.” Then, the entire ground started to tremble once more. A deafening boom rang out as the ground shook with increasing intensity. People fell down and screamed in fear. Loud popping sounds rang out as manhole covers in the surrounding streets shot into the air. Large blasts of flames followed the manhole covers as they traveled fast enough to leave Earth's atmosphere.
The surrounding streets began to collapse over an area of several kilometers. Buildings fell from their foundations. Screams and cries rang out everywhere. The crowd panicked as they pushed and shoved each other in hope of reaching safety. Hundreds of people were quickly trampled to death in the process.
”YOU MONSTER!” Ed screamed in rage. ”I surrendered, but you attack the people like this?! Do you hate your fellow citizens that much?! Just because they're weaker than you? The almighty god known as OP Baldy?!”
Mr. Sai looked around in confusion. At first, he had no idea what had caused the events around him. Then his eyes widened in realization as he looked back at Ed. He hesitated, deciding whether to finish the job or not. Espers were notoriously resilient. This was clear, based on how Ed had managed to still speak despite being stabbed through the heart.
Mr. Sai looked at his bloody arm and sighed while shaking his head. He pulled his arm back out and watched as Ed collapsed to the ground in a puddle of his own blood. He would die soon regardless of whether he bothered attacking again or not. But attacking again would only rile up the people even more. God knew how he would handle the publicity surrounding this event. He turned around and walked through the crowd. He didn't bother saving or helping them this time. They clearly didn't want his help, as they believed him to be the cause. He looked at his unconscious daughter and lifted her up into a princess carry. Then he was gone in a flash.
”Fuck!” Ed groaned in pain. 'That really hurt, god damnit.' He smirked while blood still covered his lips. 'I really need to thank Dupe. I couldn't have survived this without him serving as my precious research specimen for so long previously.' He had planned to get stabbed through the heart today.
It wasn't hard to find information about OP Baldy. He was too famous. He was known everywhere in the world. While it's true he usually only fought nightmares these days, that wasn't always the case. There was a time where he had also fought against sinners and mutants. His combat style was well-known and plenty of surviving sinners still passed down the stories. He usually chose to finish both people and mutants off by stabbing them through the heart. The reason for his combat style was that he hated wasting mana and strived for efficiency. This sounds ironic given the unfathomable power of the man. However, OP Baldy was not always the strongest esper. He was relatively weak when first starting out. But he never stopped growing in strength. Some even believe his power today is due to that efficiency and control as opposed to overwhelming strength.
Ed forced himself to sit up and quickly closed the wound. He had survived by melting his own heart before the speech. He had melted it and moved it to the opposite side of his chest. A single misstep and he would have died in the process. It was a bit of a tight squeeze having his heart moved near his lungs, but he managed to make it work. He would set things back to normal later.
He slowly stood and staggered forward. The ground was still shaking once every few seconds. More and more parts of the streets and buildings were collapsing. 'Looks like the dark and light powders are corroding the sewer walls well. The fire had a bigger impact than I expected. Was it due to the sewer gas?'
Suddenly, a voice rang out. ”LET'S MOVE IT! SAVE AS MANY AS YOU CAN!”