SOS CH 50 (Patreon)

Sitting in the cockpit of his Mecha, Noah observed the darkness around him quietly. From every part of his body, a dark substance flowed out continuously, covering the entirety of the Mecha.

He could feel strong shaking and a feeling of being burned filled his body, making him feel like he was being burnt alive.

—Are you satisfied?

Noah had no words. He simply observed,

—Your recklessness might cost us our lives. Was it worth it to fight a losing battle just to prove you were the better pilot of the two?

“I am the strongest.”

—You are not!

Her voice came out like a screech as if she was tired of listening to Noah.

—I do not understand your obsession with this title but you are not the strongest! Not anymore! Not in this world!

“...”

He closed his eyes and thought back to why he fought Omid. Noah had many reasons he could use as an excuse but in the end, all it came down to was simple.

He was the strongest.

He needed to be the strongest.

If he was not then…What use did he have?

Noah ruffled his hair, feeling like he was turning in a circle, constantly thinking of things that should not have any influence on him anymore but there was simply no way for him to escape this reality.

“Say, what do you think a Hero needs the most?”

—Seriously!? This isn’t the time for some introspection!

He ignored her scream and continued, “Many might say it’s a sense of justice or morality and in a way, they aren’t wrong. A hero needs all those things to be a hero but this isn’t the most essential. The most essential thing is pretty simple.”

He simply smiled, “Strenght. Strength is Justice. Even if hundreds of laws were created, justice can not be done if there is no power to implement it. The absence of power to implement will result in tolerance of the intolerable.”

To become a hero, you need to be strong enough to implement your vision of justice. This was the simple reality. This was why, the hero in all stories had to be strong.

Even when the hero saved the day by convincing the bad guy to join the side of good, this would always be after an epic fight and an ass-whooping. Only after that would discussion be possible.

For Noah, all his life, he had been meaning to fulfill the rule of absolute justice. Be it him or the other constellations.

They were nothing but experiments born for the sole goal of assuring the survival of humanity and for that, they needed to be strong.

They needed to be the strongest. If they were not the strongest then, they were nothing but failures.

This was the kind of doctrine Noah had been made to follow all his life and he lived by it. Strength was Power. Strength was Freedom. Strength was Justice.

But ever since he woke up in this new world, he realized one thing…He was not strong anymore.

“If I am struggling to beat Omid now… Then about his boss? What after?”

So many things were changing, too many, too fast. The more he explored this ruin, the more information he received and the more he realized just how little he knew and just how insignificant he was.

If the earth he went to was not the earth he knew. What would he do?

If Earth needed his support. Needed his strength. What could he do?

The answer to that question was simple. As he was now….There was nothing he could do.

This clarity about his situation brought insecurity and those insecurities transformed into fear. Fear consumed him and became recklessness.

—...

“Sorry, forget it. Like you said, this is not the time.”

—-You are not the only one worried about the universe. My memories may be blurred, but I have no memories similar to anything even close to this universe. Everything we learned was new.

“Heh…”

—But remember. When we landed on this planet. We were weak. We were at the lowest place in the food chain and what did we do?

“...”

—We survived. We adapted. We grew, We evolved and finally, We became the strongest on this planet.

“Hah…”

—If We could do it once. We can do it again and again. Our potential is infinite and now we have an even greater weapon and our growth will be even faster.

“Once again, being comforted by my old enemy.”

—Do you truly think you are still human?

Noah looked down at his body and could only show a bitter smile. Right now, he could not even call himself human by any means of the word. At the very least, physically speaking, he had nothing human now.

—...You understand right? Even though we avoid talking about it. On that day…The two of us perished. Whether you are still Noah and I am still the parasite Queen is a philosophical question with no clear answer. But if there is one thing clear. The only way for you to get an answer is to win here and now.

“You are right.”

Noah smiled, it was a more light-hearted smile this time and he took out the new core he was given as a reward. It wasn’t as if all his worries and all his troubles vanished instantly with just one speech.

There was no way that such deep-seated trauma could vanish like this. But at the very least, at this moment, all the self-doubts he had were pushed aside and gave way to a more positive outlook.

His mentality was widely fluctuating and he knew this was proof of the damage his mind had taken during all this time he spent on the planet and even before during the war. problem he never really had the time to process.

—What is the plan? The cocoon I created is breaking down and I can feel a big attack incoming. I only managed to stale him because of the shock this sudden transformation must have brought.

As if feeling that Noah was back on his A-game again, the Queen asked and Noah as always delivered.

Placing his hand on the place where the chamber for the core was, he asked, “When we entered that last mecha, I asked you to observe the internal structure. How much were you able to analyze?”

— 80% thanks to the memories of the Cyclops woman we ate it’s far easier. Don’t tell me…

“You don’t have enough material to create an entire mecha but this should be possible, right?”

He pushed the new core and immediately…Everything changed. His eyes lit up even more as the line of a snake eating its tail appeared.

“Let’s give Ouroboros one last epic battle!”

[New equipment system detected.]

[Compatibility with Perpetual core: 50%]

[Proceed with the fusion?]

[Y/N]

[Warning: A sudden source of thermic energy was absorbed.  The system is not able to handle the initial load. Heightened risk of self-destruction.]

Noah grinned, his eyes blazing with a new fire. It didn’t matter if Ouroboros alone could not support the power.

He could share the burden and so could the Queen. This was not one one-man show. This was a team effort.

This was why, Noah decided to give all out even at the risk of his life

❰Full Dive❱

(AN: I  know I promised to end the fight this chapter. Heh, well, I became too engrossed in writing this sequence between Noah and the Queen. But don't worry. CH 51 definitly gonna be the last.)