92 US Presiden (2/2)

It was only a few minutes before Ed and Dupe were seated within their temporary Orlando headquarters.

”What's up, Ed?” Dupe questioned as he shuffled through some papers he brought with him, filling out paperwork as he went. ”You look like hell. What made you get out of bed?” He commented as he continued focusing on the paperwork.

”I beat Phantom.” Ed replied.

”No shit?!” Dupe looked up in surprise.

”Mm.” Ed nodded as he felt his head sway down to the side, He quickly caught himself, trying to prevent himself from nodding off. ”Now we have three problems.”

”Oh?” Dupe rose an eyebrow, eagerly waiting for him to continue.

”First and foremost, the President should be on his way here. We probably have less than ten to twenty minutes.”

”That's bad.” Dupe nodded as he agreed. ”But we expected as much. What else?”

”Two. I'm suffering mana exhaustion and will barely be capable of putting up a fight. I didn't think the battle with Phantom was going to be quite this difficult. I also underestimated the amount of mana I'd need to use to fend off an attack from the manullium rifle.”

”That's worse.” Dupe frowned as he rubbed his chin. ”If you can't fight against the President, then we'll be completely at his mercy.”

”On the bright side, I probably couldn't beat him at full strength anyways.” Ed joked as he smiled. ”Third. Phantom wasn't Nexus, so who knows what they might do to interfere, though they might stay out of the fight altogether.”

”Phantom isn't Nexus?” Dupe's eyes widened in surprise. Apparently, he had come to the same conclusion as Ed had previously. ”How can you be sure?” He questioned.

”There was no golden faith energy when I killed him.” He replied. ”I know for a fact that Nexus has a substantial amount of it. I should have experienced something similar to what had happened with the Governor, even if only on a smaller scale. The fact that I didn't means that Phantom was never Nexus.”

”Are you sure Phantom is dead and didn't trick you with another illusion or something?” Dupe questioned, doubt visible within his eyes.

”I'm sure.” Ed nodded. ”I doubt he could create authentic seven-colored mana-cores with his powers.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a marble-shaped object, placing it on the table. It had the seven colors of the seven elements, all existing with perfect balance within the core. Not a single element overpowered another. It looked just like Ed's own mana-core, which made him even more sure of its authenticity.

”Hmm.” Dupe rubbed his chin. ”Maybe we can offer the mana-core as part of negotiations? It must be quite valuable. I've never seen a core like that one before.”

”Maybe.” Ed nodded, his eyes growing heavier as the conversation dragged on. ”Anyways, wake me up when he gets here. Even if it's just a bit, I need some sleep. Hopefully I recover some mana.” With that said, he held back no longer, collapsing onto the table.

...

Ed was having a pleasant dream when he suddenly felt extremely pressured. His dream shifted as he held a heavy rock above his head. The rock slowly grew larger, increasing the pressure exerted on his body. Slowly, the rock became a hill, and then a mountain. The pressure was so crushing that he couldn't breathe. Finally, the mountain crushed him.

”Gah!” Ed awoke with a startle as sweat covered his body. However, the pressure had not vanished. He looked towards Dupe across the table. Dupe was lying flat on the floor, the pressure completely preventing his movement.

'Fuck! He's here!' Ed trembled as he forcefully stood up from his chair. He took one step at a time against the pressure. It was like he was being enveloped by threads. The more he pushed forward, the more threads covered him, trying to force him back to the ground.

Finally, Ed managed to exit the building. To his relief, the pressure vanished almost immediately. He gasped heavily as he looked in every direction, trying to spot the president. The soldiers still continued their routine, as if nothing was happening. Ed ground his teeth in frustration when he saw there was no sign of the President. 'Bastard's just as strong as I predicted.'

He lifted his mana-radio and ordered for Gunther to prepare himself. Same as last time, they planned to use the manullium rifle. It was a multi-use weapon, unlike the rail gun which had all but collapsed after firing a single round. It was simply too difficult to find materials capable of withstanding the power of lightning mana-powder for the fine control of such a machine.

Next, Ed called for the ten enslaved espers. Each one had a forced 2nd awakening and a pair of mana limbs. They had stayed out of the fight until now, all for the purpose of being Ed's last trump card. They were his tools to be used in negotiations with the president. Whether he could trade them away or make them suicide bombers in the fight that was to come.

”You act quite decisively.” A deep voice boomed within Ed's ears. He felt his hearts momentarily stop in panic as he looked around. Still, he saw nothing.

Suddenly, black threads began to appear out of nowhere. They swirled together from thin air, forming a tall and muscular human outline. The threads almost seemed like they didn't exist. It could best be described as a humanoid hole now standing in front of Ed, as if something in the background was simply missing. Wind bellowed past him as it was suctioned into the hole, disappearing God knows where.

”Mr. President.” Ed said towards the towering black figure.

”Mm.” The man nodded. ”You've caused quite the mess down here. It's been decades since a scandal like this last happened.”

Ed clenched his hand as he immediately jumped to the point. ”What do you want in order for me to become Governor? I'm willing to become a vassal to the United States.”

The shadowy figure crossed his arms. It was hard to tell what he was thinking. This figure was completely unlike Nexus, lacking the obvious emotional expressions that Nexus liked to use. After a brief moment, the figure shook his head. ”I will not take you as a vassal.” His deep voice boomed.