Odyssey Of Survival-Chapter 204 - Home

Zoro kept pushing the sword.

Madison's hands trembled as she held it back with everything she had, but her strength was running thin. The tip of the icy blade touched her chest—just above her heart—and in an instant, frost bloomed across her skin. It spread rapidly, crawling up her neck, down her arms, and over her chest like vines made of winter. Her breathing slowed. Her pulse weakened. Her eyes blurred as the chill crept into her heart, threatening to stop it altogether.

Zoro didn't blink. No satisfaction. No emotion. Just still eyes that watched her suffer.

He stopped pushing the sword.

Then, without hesitation, he dragged it back—and slashed.

His intention was clear.

He was going to take both Alice and Madison's heads in one clean cut.

Everyone watching from the bunkers screamed. They couldn't look away. They couldn't do anything. This was it. It was over.

Then—

BOOM.

A shockwave tore through the battlefield. Zoro was blasted off his feet, tumbling through the air like a ragdoll. Dust and frost lifted with the force, covering everything in a dense, blinding mist.

Silence.

Then the dust started to clear—and they saw it.

He stood there.

Nate.

But this wasn't the Nate they had seen before.

His body radiated with black lightning, tendrils of it dancing and snapping around him like living shadows. His eyes were no longer the fiery they once knew. They were pitch black, glowing faintly with suppressed fury. The energy pouring out of him bent the air, rippling the space around him like heat from a forge.

The world leaders inside the special bunker stood up without realizing it.

"That's… Nate?" one of them whispered.

They all looked toward where Ann had been cradling his unconscious body just moments ago, but he wasn't there anymore.

Now, he was standing in the exact spot where Zoro had been.

Madison collapsed backward, gasping as her body finally breathed again. She clutched her chest where the frost had stopped her heart. Nate reached down and touched her gently with one hand.

The ice melted instantly.

The frost on her hand vanished as well, and color slowly returned to her cheeks. She panted heavily, her breaths shaky but alive. Alice tried to rise to her feet, but her body was still too weak. Her legs wobbled, her sword gone, her armor shattered.

Before she fell again, a shadow caught her.

Sera appeared beside them, her face grim.

"I'll take care of them," she told Nate softly, her shadow tendrils already wrapping around the two girls for protection.

Nate didn't speak.

He only nodded.

Then, he turned.

Zoro was rising from the rubble he'd been blasted into, his body covered in dust and cuts. His eyes narrowed when he saw Nate standing there, glowing like a god of destruction.

"What… is this power?" Zoro asked.

His voice wasn't mocking anymore. It was cautious. Uncertain.

He wasn't the only one asking. From every bunker, every screen, every hiding place across the world, people watched Nate in stunned silence. This wasn't his fire. It wasn't his physical prowess. This was something new. Something terrifying. Something dark.

And yet… it was still Nate.

The black lightning surrounding him sparked violently. The ground beneath his feet cracked. His presence alone was shaking the battlefield.

He said nothing.

He just looked at Zoro—as if he was already dead.

Then he moved.

One step.

That's all it was.

But to Zoro, it was like a monster had vanished and reappeared in the blink of an eye.

CRACK!

Zoro's chest caved in from the force of the punch. He didn't even get a chance to react. He was sent flying backward like a missile, spinning through the air—and before he could hit the ground, Nate was there again.

Bang!

Another punch to the stomach.

Bang!

A spinning kick that sent Zoro higher into the air.

Bang!

A punch to the spine that echoed like thunder.

Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!

It was relentless. Like a storm had come alive in human form and was unleashing all its fury in one target. The attacks came so fast the people watching couldn't even see them anymore. To them, it was just flashes of black light and the sound of impact that shook the air.

Zoro tried to fight back—but he couldn't. Every time he raised an arm, it was shattered away. Every time he kicked, his leg was intercepted and twisted violently in another direction.

Black lightning erupted around them like a dome of destruction.

The battlefield disappeared beneath them as they rose into the sky, Nate still chasing Zoro, still hitting, still punishing.

From the ground, people couldn't even see them anymore. Only Jack stood quietly in the special bunker, eyes wide but unblinking. His advanced vision tracked everything.

"…He's faster than light," Jack whispered. "His energy... it's rewriting the rules of physics."

No one answered.

No one could.

Because in that moment—Nate wasn't a person.

He was a storm.

And Zoro… was just caught in it.

The ground where Zoro had fallen cracked beneath his weight, his body limp and bruised. The world held its breath as Nate descended, black lightning crackling with fury around him. His steps were slow, deliberate, as he closed the distance between him and Zoro. The silence was heavier than thunder.

Then, without a word, Nate grabbed Zoro by the throat and lifted him like a ragdoll. Zoro barely struggled, the weight of the battle showing in every twitch of his broken limbs. Nate raised his other hand, fingers closing like a vice around Zoro's throat. The end was near.

But before the fatal move could happen, Zoro's hand moved swiftly to his belt, where he smashed a glowing silver disk against the ground. Instantly, light engulfed both their bodies, and in a flash, they disappeared.

The watchers in the bunkers gasped. Madison screamed. Bella stood frozen, unable to speak. Jack's eyes scanned wildly across the global feeds, but the two were gone. No trace. No signal. No clue.

---

Nate's vision blurred as he felt himself pulled through dimensions. It wasn't teleportation—it was a shift in reality. Then, silence. Cold, overwhelming silence. When the light faded, he stood on a platform of dark stone, surrounded by towering walls that stretched to the heavens.

He looked up—and froze.

Massive beings surrounded him. Giants the size of skyscrapers, with obsidian skin and three glowing eyes. They sat in rows upon rows of thrones carved into the walls of this endless temple. Their eyes were locked on him.

The Koryathans.

He recognized them immediately—. Beings of limitless power. Manipulators of time, energy, life.

Zoro's broken body was still clutched in his hand.

One of the Koryathans, his voice deep and shaking the very ground beneath Nate's feet, leaned forward.

"Leave that man in your hand alone, child."

Nate's grip tightened. He looked up slowly, black lightning swirling around his arms.

Then, without hesitation, he snapped Zoro's neck.

A crack echoed like a scream.

Zoro's lifeless body slumped in Nate's hand.

Gasps rumbled across the Koryathans. The one who had spoken opened his three eyes wide in disbelief, his mouth slightly agape. The other giants stirred, shifting in their thrones, some even rising.

"He defied us," one of them murmured.

"He does not know who he stands before," another said.

Nate's eyes scanned upward. There, high above all others, sat the largest Koryathan yet—perched on a throne that eclipsed the sun above. His head nearly brushed the endless ceiling. Unlike the others, he had only two eyes.

But when Nate stared at his face, he felt his heartbeat stop.

The Koryathan looked like him.

No, not just similar.

Identical.

His jaw. His eyes. His presence. Except older. Timeless.

The titan rose from his throne, and in a flash, reduced his size until he stood face-to-face with Nate.

His eyes were calm. Powerful. Sad.

"Welcome home, son," the being said.

Nate's breath caught in his throat.

---

Back on Earth.

One year had passed since the battle that shook the world.

The skies had changed. Scientists spoke of abnormal energy storms that danced across the atmosphere. Governments had blocked off the battlefield, a crater so vast and unstable that not even drones could survive long near its core. Bursts of black lightning still cracked the skies above it.

The media called it "The Rift of Gods."

To most of the world, Nate was dead.

The hero who stood against Zoro, against impossible odds, and vanished in the final moment. The world mourned him. Statues were erected. Songs were sung. Memorials were held on the anniversary of the battle.

But not everyone believed he was gone.

Madison visited the battlefield every month. She stood at its edge and stared at the storming sky, her hands trembling.

Alice spent her days training in isolation. Pushing herself. Preparing for might never come.

Sera grew quieter. She had seen something in Nate's final moment. Something ancient.

But the one who refused to mourn… was Bella.

Every day, she would sit atop the same building where she watched Nate's final charge. She'd close her eyes, stretch her senses, and reach.

"He's not dead," she would whisper.

Others tried to tell her to move on. But she knew. Somewhere out there—he was alive.

"He's far," Bella said to Madison one day, "So far I can barely feel him. But the link isn't broken."

Madison nodded. "Then we wait. And when he returns... we'll be ready."

Thunder cracked in the distance.

Black lightning still danced in the sky.

The world had changed.