Volume 15 - Child's Reality

## Chapter 169 - Train of Thought Begins

Andromeda was doing her best to block Apollo's slashes, although was bleeding from multiple places and only still alive due to luck. Jack had been firing at Apollo, who had been slashing apart the bullets. Andromeda knew her wounds were healing, and it didn't matter to her, they were losing this fight. "How does it feel to be on the losing end against someone who isn't cheating?" Apollo asks, as he slashes at them both. Once again, both only dodging from dumb luck. Jack attempted to reload his gun, but quickly hid behind a crate from a slash, which went through the crate like nothing!

Andromeda sends multiple Psychic Weapons at Apollo, who blocks with more of the light, before sending it at her. Andromeda continues to place shields in front of herself to survive, knowing Apollo could knock them out of the way at absolutely any time. She felt...vulnerable. Then, she picks up a couch and throws it at Apollo. Noticing this, Apollo slashes the couch in half, but Andromeda had leaped at him in this time, and he is left unable to stop a punch right to his face, sending him flying back into a wall. "Gah!" Apollo shouts, before holding his head in pain. "You are all annoying." Apollo growls.

"Don't be so harsh on them." Another voice says.

It sounded young and male like Apollo's, but a bit deeper and not distorted. Then, they saw two figures walk out of the door, both looking about as old as Apollo looked. One was clearly Artemis, and the other was a boy with blue hair, wearing a shiny yellow raincoat that covered the entirety of his body, and went down to his feet. However, what caught Andromeda's attention the most was the fact that...his eyes were glowing red. He lowers his head, as his eyes are hidden from view. "Wh...who is this...?" Jack breathes, as Artemis smiles. "This is Orion, he's the one I like to be pushed by the most." She says.

## Chapter 170 - God of Science (Pt. 1)

"...So, how long are we just gonna' stare at each other?" Demetrius asks. "I was just thinking about all the ways I am going to dismember you." Caelum retorts, with a cruel smile on his face. "Oh? Tell more." Demetrius replies. "Actually, don't." Demetrius then takes out what looked like a square of metal, which quickly rearranged and unfolded into...a bow. One made of metal, with energy cylinders on it. Demetrius takes an arrow out of a pocket and draws his bow, before firing, the arrow rushing at Caelum...and bouncing off. "Oh?" Demetrius asks. "Nothing in this world can touch me." Caelum answers.

"Is that so?" Demetrius asks. "Well, you just set up a really fun experiment. Time to get experimenting." Demetrius takes three more arrows out of seemingly nowhere and fires them at Caelum, but not one isn't deflected by the invisible shield. "So it's not based on quantity...or maybe I just didn't use enough..." Demetrius remarks, before firing 21 arrows at Caelum with a lot of difficulty, all of them bouncing off of the shield. "So I was right, it's not based on quantity." He mutters. "Then how about quality?!" Demetrius takes a test tube off his waist and throws it at Caelum, as the test tube explodes.

Demetrius had shielded himself from the explosion, as the smoke cleared. And...Caelum was fine. Completely fine. The shield was likely not even scratched! "Well...quality didn't work, either..." Demetrius remarks. "Nothing will work on my shield." Caelum replies. "Nothing." "Oh, but we haven't tested everything, yet." Demetrius replies. "What about...merging them?!" Demetrius then throws dozens of test tubes at Caelum from both his hands, Caelum confused as to where the bow just went, as the test tubes exploded repeatedly, and in rapid succession. Demetrius watches, until they stop, and the smoke clears.

...*Caelum was still fine!*

"Dammit." Demetrius says.

## Chapter 171 - Brainpower

"...Orion, huh?" Jack asks. "Hey there...Orion." "Hello, Jackson Holland." Orion replies. "You're just like I imagined." "...Thanks?" Jack replies, a bit confused, as Andromeda sends her Psychic Weapons at them. However, many, many more appeared around Artemis, and rushed to stop Andromeda's. "...I can...see them!" Jack shouts. "What?!" Andromeda demands, glaring at Artemis, who gave an innocent smile. Orion just stood there, not seeming to do anything. Jack decides to fire at him, as Artemis catches the bullet out of the air. "Leave him alone! He can't fight!" She shouts, as Jack looked on in doubt.

Orion probably had the ability to fight, he thought, why else would he be brought here?

Jack then notices a blade of light rushing at him, and, shocked, barely dodges it. "How did I--" He starts, before leaping back to dodge some of Artemis' Psychic Weapons. "You wanna know why you can see 'em?" She asks. "It's because they're super powerful!" "...What...?" Andromeda demands. "That sounds like bullshit." "It's not. Socqreath weapons move more across the spectrum the stronger they are. Were they exceptionally powerful, they would be on the opposite end compared to normal, and thus still invisible." Apollo explains. "And we all...have a reason to be that strong. You see..."

"...I am the first Socqreath."

"...What...?" Jack breathes. "It's true, I was born before any other 'Socqreath', as they are now genetically." Apollo replies, not noticing that Jack had taken the time to fire at them. Apollo and Artemis manage to react to and catch the bullets, as Orion is hit square in the forehead. "Orion!" Artemis shouts, as the boy in the raincoat falls back. "Agh..." He groans, as he seemed to go limp. "NO! ORION!" Artemis screams, as she sends her Psychic Weapons at Jack and Andromeda en masse, obliterating the castle!

## Chapter 172 - God of Science (Pt. 2)

"WOAH!" Demetrius yelps, as he is sent back by the sudden rush of Psychic Weapons. However, not one had made it past Caelum's shield. "Dammit...that was quality and quantity of the highest order and it didn't do anything...not even the shockwaves harmed him..." Demetrius mutters, as he takes out a bow and fires it, Caelum not eve looking at the arrows as they are reflected. However, they land in a way that forms a square, and form an electric field. "Let's see how you handle this!" He shouts, as he has the electric field close in around Caelum...yet it still doesn't get past the barrier.

"You just noticed me deflecting the most powerful Psychic Weapons of all time, apart from my own, and think electricity will work? You are pathetic." Caelum mocks. "Yeah, well, I'm not the fighter of the group." Demetrius replies, as he notices Caelum warping air currents at him with the shield, dodging, weaving, ducking, flipping and twirling to avoid them. "For a scientist, you are acrobatic." Caelum remarks. "Gee, thanks!" Demetrius replies shouting, as he sweated. He then throws more test tubes at Caelum, as they explode, forming a smokescreen. "Huh?" Caelum wonders.

Suddenly, arrows and test tubes rush at Caelum from all sides in rapid succession. Yet, despite the fact that he had no way to anticipate them, the projectiles were still reflected. "Damn...so it's a passive shield." Demetrius remarks, as he feels himself be lifted up, and wringed around, yelling in pain as he felt his everything be twisted and broken. Caelum slams him onto the ground, and chuckles. "You are not on my level, human." He says, as Demetrius groans in pain. "Ugh...I can agree with you, you dirty cheater." Demetrius replies weakly. "You're still alive?" Caelum demands, shocked.

"I've survived worse." Demetrius replies, as...he began to stand back up.

## Chapter 173 - Wrath of the Lover's Clouded Mind

Andromeda and Jack, somehow, managed to dodge the utter maelstrom of Psychic Aura that Artemis sent at them, shrieking in anger as Andromeda held Jack close and formed a shield around them with her Psychic Weapons. Apollo watches and smiles. "That's my baby sister." He remarks, knowing no one would hear him...they didn't need the full explanation right now. Andromeda then avoids an arrow, deflected from the other battle she had no knowledge of, as she grabs it and throws it at Artemis, who immediately destroys the arrow, still furious beyond belief. "I WILL KILL YOU ALL!" She roars.

Andromeda continues trying to protect Jack, not even really focusing on doing real damage, as Artemis wraps her Psychic Weapons around them and begins to slam them around the place, the ground shaking from each impact. Andromeda is then shocked when she notices some of Apollo's Psychic Weapons rushing at them as well, but as bright, jagged and unnatural as they looked, they were vastly overshadowed by the Psychic Storm Artemis was creating with her sheer rage! Andromeda knew that she couldn't keep this up, she was beginning to lose focus, and if the Psychic Weapons flickered...

"Please stop this, Arti." Orion's voice says.

Artemis, Andromeda, Jack, Apollo, all turned, shocked, towards Orion, who was standing up, and looked to have healed. No...

***It looked as if he was never injured in the first place!***

"Wh...what the Hell...?" Jack breathes, appalled. He...he knew he hit him. "Thank you for putting my mind at ease for a little bit." Orion says. "I needed time to adjust to everything, and to heal, but once I got that time, I could put my Psychic power to use." "Wh...what kind of Psychic power...?" Jack asks warily.

"The power over the strings." Orion answers. "Wh...what...?" Andromeda demands. "Simply put, this universe is comprised of eleven dimensions, each one higher than the last by an uncountably infinite amount." Orion answers. "I control the strings at the highest of those dimensions, and because of that..."

"...***I am the strongest living creature of all time.***"

## Chapter 174 - God of Science (Pt. 3)

"Well, looks like that hellstorm finally ended." Demetrius remarks, as he turns back towards Caelum, who seemed a little anxious. "What's wrong? Scared?" Demetrius taunts. "Not of you, of...him." Caelum replies, sounding completely, one hundred percent...genuine. "Must be whatever the Hell's over there." Demetrius says nonchalantly, as he then runs at Caelum, and throws a punch at him, which earns him getting blasted back by the shield. "Gh! So it doesn't matter whether it's a projectile or a physical attack..." "Indeed." Caelum replies. "My Psychic power is...the Ultimate Defense."

"I am completely untouchable, by absolutely everything."

"Gh...I...I guess it is like you said...no amount of matter or energy will get through that thing." Demetrius replies. "So you finally understand it, you are doomed--" Caelum starts. "Wait! You didn't let me finish my cool speech." Demetrius interrupts. "What about...information?" "...Huh?" Caelum demands, as Demetrius grins. Suddenly, he takes out a glove and puts it on, as a hologram forms above it, a hologram of a knife. "An image?" Caelum asks, as Demetrius sends the knife at him...it also bounced off. "...Are you fucking kidding me right now?" Demetrius groans. "Psychic Weapons an holograms are not so different." Caelum replies coldly.

"So...ready to give up?"

Caelum walks towards Demetrius, grinning what could be seen as 'evilly' by those with a more structured moral code, but Demetrius just saw a tryhard fearmonger in that face. "Not yet. Sure, I can't touch you, but if I could, you'd die, right?" He asks. "Not before I kill you." Caelum replies. "But that's the thing..." Demetrius responds, standing up and looking up at Caelum, his face partially illuminated by the fires.

"*You can't kill me.*" He says.

## Chapter 175 - Imagination Gone Wild

"R..really...control over...reality?" Jack breathes. "Yeah." Orion replies. "Like this." He then holds out his hand to his side, as a missile appears, floating over it. "This is...a BrahMos." He says, as the BrahMos missile rushes at Jack, who yelps and dodges it. "How am I doing that?!" He shouts. "I'm thinking you can." Orion answers. "My power can even affect...living beings." "...What...?" Andromeda demands. "I told you, didn't I? I am...the most powerful living creature in existence, and my power...is far above it." "Stop showing off." Apollo says. "Let me get a slice!" He then sends his Psychic Weapons at them.

Andromeda and Jack dodge the weapons, Andromeda also blocking a few, as Artemis watches, wrapping an arm around Orion. "Wouldn't it be better to let them have their own capabilities?" She asks. "I want them to last, to make this fun." Orion answers. "This is...the first time I've been in a 'fight'. I never fought before because everyone knew...not to cross me." He says this as Apollo continues to slash at Jack and Andromeda, who keep doing their best to...not be slashed. "Artemis! What are you doin--gah!" Apollo shouts, as he had been hit in the head by a bullet, stumbles, regenerates, and stands upright again.

"...Great, he heals fast, too." Jack remarks, as he fires at Apollo more, Apollo deflecting every last bullet with ease now that he was focused. If Orion was intentionally making the two of them stronger, they could take that to their advantage. Jack is almost hit by a Psychic Weapon while thinking, but Andromeda had defended him at the last second. "Ah! Thanks, Andy." Jack says. "You're welcome...please don't call me that, especially not in front of them." Andromeda replies. "Sorry." Jack replies. "Aww, they're in love, too!" Artemis says. "It would seem they are..." Orion replies, as he watches the fight.

## Chapter 176 - God of Science (Pt.4)

"...What? What do you mean you can't be killed?!" Caelum demands. "Exactly that." Demetrius replies. "I'm immortal, I can't die, I've been around for a super long time, et cetera. Let's just get this over and done with. I have another thing I want to test out." "Another...?" Caelum breathes. "But...can you not see that nothing will work?! You've exhausted every option!" "Gee, you don't even let me explain." Demetrius retorts. "Anyways, I just need to press a couple buttons and we're all set." Demetrius begins to fiddle around with devices on his wrists, until a burst of light suddenly erupted from him!

Caelum covers his eyes, and soon is no longer required to cover them, as he lowers his arm. What he saw was Demetrius without the top half of his suit on, apart from the scarf and gauntlets. He now had some sort of orange eyewear on, as on his back were...'wings', glowing orange wings that had shape properties of both DNA and generic molecules. The pose he made seemed to be a mix between the 'enlightenment' pose and a shrug, as his head was bowed down. "Do you like it?" Demetrius asks. "I decided to give myself a 'super form', since no one else seemed to get one."

"...It looks ridiculous." Caelum replies. "Eh, guess so." Demetrius remarks. "Still though, I can't wait to show you what it does! Just sit back...and watch!" Suddenly, the wings began to erupt nodes in the shape of molecules, which spun around, and formed a circle around them, multiple circles, each one higher and smaller than the last. It wasn't long before a dome formed, and immediately, Caelum felt woozy. "Wh-what?!" He roars. "Me?! Feeling dizzy?!" "That was the suggestion I planted in you." Demetrius replies. "Oh yeah, should have specified this a lot earlier, this form of mine...can induce suggestions into your brain, which thinks they are real."

"...Great..." Caelum growls.

## Chapter 177 - Destructive Thoughts

By now, Apollo was being overwhelmed, Andromeda would distract him, and he would be unable to react to Jack's bullets, and Jack seemed to have infinite magazines on him. "Dammit..." Apollo thinks to himself, as he sends all the light blades he can at them. However, Jack and Andromeda dodge these, and rush at him, Jack kicking him in the face as the Psychic Weapons vanished. "No!" Apollo roars, as Jack and Andromeda turn towards the others. "That was fun to watch." Orion says, as he walks forwards. "Stay behind me, Arti." He says, as he forms missiles and machine guns around himself. "This time, I'm not enhancing anything." He says. "Let's see how well you trained in between the moon base and here." He says.

The missiles and machine guns all attack, as Jack and Andromeda barely dodge, Andromeda blocking most of everything except the missiles, which she dodged for the most part, except a few, which hit with catastrophic force, sending her and Jack flying back with burns all over and broken bones. "Gah!" Jack shouts, in agony. "No, Jack!" Andromeda shouts. "I-I'm fine!" Jack replies, despite the fact that he was bleeding from his mouth. If Andromeda had not shielded him at the last second, he would be dead and charred. She then quickly dodges a massive hand holding a massive sword.

"Gh!" She grunts, as she leaps towards Orion and slashes at him, Orion forming a pillar out of nothing to block, before thrusting it forwards to whack Andromeda forwards. Orion sends the pillar crashing towards them, as Andromeda slashes it apart with all the Psychic Weapons she could currently form. She sets Jack down somewhere she thinks is safe, and rushes at Orion and Artemis, the latter sending out Psychic Weapons to block Andromeda's slashes from Orion, who turns the ground below her into lava and forms a wall of spikes above her, attempting to crush her between them.

Andromeda pushes herself back, away from the lava and spikes, as a beam of light hits her, and explodes. "Gah! That's...not...even what..." Andromeda trails off, coughing a bit from the pain. "THIS IS MY MIND, I THINK WHAT I WANT!" Orion roars, as he begins to send shurikens of burning ice at her. Andromeda blocks them with her Psychic Weapons and glares at the boy in the raincoat. Andromeda then dodges spears that were now rushing at her, each one exploding upon impact with anything. Bulletfire that she blocks, sword slashes that she parries, little of it felt new.

"Grr...stop moving around so much!" Orion shouts, as he forms multiple portals around Andromeda, mechanical tendrils with buzzsaws on the ends of them rushing out of the portals at her. Andromeda slashes apart all of them, and boosts herself out of the portals, which she saw converge into a bomb and explode, blasting her back. "Gah!" She shouts, as she notices herself almost falling on a Flamberge, but slicing it in half just in time. It did indeed feel like all her training had paid off...but she had still not even scratched Orion. This fight was onesided and she knew it. "Ghhh..." She grunts.

"Orion, can I try? I think I can take her down." Artemis says. "...Just be careful." Orion replies, as he steps back. Artemis then sends her Psychic Weapons again, this time looking somewhat like a storm of arrows. Andromeda does her best to dodge and block them, but feels plenty hit her, whether stabbing into her or grazing and leaving cuts. "Gah! Agh! No!" Andromeda grunts, as she rushes at Artemis, a rock wall forming between them. "You will not hurt her." Orion says, suddenly sounding genuinely angry. "..." Andromeda says nothing, as she just glares at them both.

## Chapter 178 - God of Science (Pt. 5)

Caelum was on his knees, breathing heavily. He felt like he was on fire, drowning, freezing, melting, yet he refused to scream, despite the pain and shock he was in. "Resilient, huh?" Demetrius asks. "Well...I finally found something that can get past that pesky barrier of yours." "...I hate you...with every fiber of my being..." Caelum growls in response, as he begins to stand up again. "What...?" Demetrius breathes, a bit shocked as he looked on at Caelum getting back up. "I...refuse...to lose...to you!" He roars, as he sends multiple Psychic Weapons at Demetrius, who, before he can react, is sliced apart.

Caelum laughs as Demetrius' body parts fall to the ground. However, he then noticed something...they were moving. No! They were regenerating! They all became new Demetriuses, but only the one that formed from the head spoke. "You like it? I can clone myself with my abilities. Now to get rid of that pesky shield of yours." Demetrius says, as his clones rush at Caelum, who begins slicing them apart, into drops of blood, but they still regenerated! "No! This can't be possible!" Caelum screams, as the clones began to overwhelm him. He started putting pieces of his shield around the individual drops of blood.

Eventually, all the clones were destroyed, all the parts contained, but...one Demetrius remained and, holding an arrow, walked towards Caelum. "You...you..." Caelum trails off. "I made you put your shield elsewhere." Demetrius finishes. "And you didn't even notice, arrogant bastard." Caelum growls at Demetrius and attempts to punch him, Demetrius taking the punch with a soft grunt, as he drives the arrow through Caelum's skull. "Gh...gh...gh..." Caelum groans, as he thrusts his head forwards to gore Demetrius on one of his horns, but Demetrius still ignored it. "It's time to give up." He says.

"You've lost."

## Chapter 179 - Broken Minds, Broken Hearts

Be it arrows, bullets, arms, missiles, Andromeda dodged and blocked them all, accessing the highest percent of her power she could and relying on her current opponents' arrogance. It was immensely difficult even then, with many, many close calls, burn marks, slash wounds and more. Each one hurt like Hell, but she pushed past it, she needed to win. However, she could tell they felt the same way, and she couldn't deal with two opponents at the same time for much longer. She had to take out one...and she knew the one that would go down easier. As such, she began to run towards Jack's gun.

"Huh?!" Orion shouts, as he sends a missile at Andromeda, who punches it to make it explode while shielding herself. The resulting smokescreen kept Orion and Artemis from seeing Andromeda, as she crept around until she was sure she was behind them. Slowly, surely, she crept out of the smoke, aiming her gun at Artemis. Bullets moved at the speed of sound, so if they came from behind, they wouldn't be heard until too late. Feeling, though...was much more tricky. Still, she pulled the trigger...and watched, feeling something hurt inside her, as Artemis bent forwards.

"ARTEMIS!" Orion shouts, as he holds her in his arms. "Sh...she's...over...there...Orio..." Artemis couldn't finish what she said. As it appeared, she had died.

Andromeda watched Orion turn around, and felt herself sweat. "You...you killed her." He says spitefully. "You have just made the biggest mistake...that anyone...has ever made."

Suddenly...*there were two Orions!*

"...What the Hell...?" Andromeda demands, as they both look up at her with tear-filled, angry, insane smiles on their faces, with those glowing red eyes now more apparent than ever. "Do you remember when I said I can control life?" Orion asks. "I can also...create it." The other Orion says. "This is not a clone." The original Orion says. "I am...a perfect me." The other Orion says. Andromeda grits her teeth, and rushes at one of the Orions, slashing at him, as he blocks with his arms, *without damage.*

"Neither of us can be cut."

"Neither of us can be killed."

"And the power I have, the power I was only using half of earlier...has been doubled."

"I am at full power...without the risk other Socqreath take."

"Now watch...as I reduce your world to atoms."

## Chapter 180 - Coming of the Cataclysm

"...Wh...what the Hell is..." Andromeda trails off, left speechless by what she saw.

It so perfectly, so hauntingly, illuminated and darkened the skies and land at once, as if it were a spitting image of Hell itself, of Armageddon.

"You...you have to be kidding me..." Demetrius remarks, sweating.

"This...can't be real..." Candice breathes, horrified.

"What...is...that...?" Jack groans weakly, and scared.

"...PROTECT HIS MAJESTY!" Lynx screams. "SIR!" The soldiers shout, as the run to Copernicus, who just stood at the window of his castle, watching the skies above, with an almost indifferent, yet angry, look on his face.

"...Is this...God's judgement...?" Rosenstock asks.

It was a meteor.

A massive meteor, far larger than what had been previously thought could be the size of meteors, it looked about a fifth the size of the entire country!

***WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!***

That...was the only thought that went through the citizens' minds, as air raid sirens sounded across the entire planet, across the entire Star System...across all the Human Colonies, as Sechsgrad watched from the moon, his fists shaking.

"DO YOU SEE, NOW?! ANDROMEDA?!" Both Orions scream, their eyes glowing bright red. "I...I AM GOD! YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME! NO ONE, IN THIS ENTIRE REALITY, CAN DEFEAT ME! IT'S OVER!"

And...

Andromeda found herself agreeing.

...This was the end.