New Game+

The Unlocked army was very relieved to see that their many superiors were alive.

Dara Park of the Covenant was burnt and wounded, but she was seen to be awake. Although she remained afloat as if held by something invisible and kept groaning, her small movements proved that she was alive.

Danny Haze was also standing as John Octavion III, and Titan Tristle stood by him.

Lander was being drawn in towards the Four Winds of Hermes, and Gardo was surrounded by his own team.

The Small Time Drug Dealers finally approached Gardo.

"Boss! We're so glad you're alive!" Zidane wept.

"You guys need to get stronger. You were practically useless in that fight." Cliff sighed.

"We… Our abilities… They didn't work." Hank hesitated.

Cliff shook his head. The trio bowed their heads in shame.

Lynd glanced around and noticed that everyone was alive.

"You must be the Thief in the Night. No wonder there were strange movements in the water. It seems you guys have a complicated cloaking device that is superior compared to the SPU." 

"We wanted to simulate a battle against a Presider. The main concern is if we have a strong enough force that can kill a Presider. And since Presiders are equipped with numerous technology and weapons, we decided to use you as a reference point. So this battle was made to see if our armies and the training we have been employing are good enough to kill one. And they were. Of course, that's thanks to General Cliff's decisions." Seeker laughed.

"So this is what I am? After making me fight those Heroes and that Near-Overcomer, you use me as a guinea pig to test your army?"

"You already knew that, didn't you? That's why you wanted to kill them so badly. You wanted to teach us, Overcomers, a lesson! Too bad you failed. You even lost to Cliff!" Seeker laughed.

"I DIDN'T LOSE!" Lynd roared angrily, and a sound wave echoed out. But the sudden sound wave disappeared.

The Realm King lazily raised his hand to disperse the vibration.

"This is my primary disciple in your future?" Lioncourt turned to Seeker and asked.

"Don't worry, Master. It's just a phase." Seeker answered.

Lynd glared at the lazy bearded man. But after a few seconds, Lynd's expression turned grim.

"Oh? Wondering why you can't copy me? Kid. I'm the Realm King!" Lioncourt laughed.

"Anyway, I hope that all Overcomers, even those watching us live, will take note of this battle." Seeker interrupted.

"Cliff was able to use diverse tactics as a Commanding General to send each of his members to cause Lynd to use his attacks. After identifying the gaps, the timing of Lynd's attack, and the recovery time that Lynd needs to switch to another Path, he employed his tactics to defeat Lynd. If we granted Cliff a Funneling Commander's Exoskeleton suit, he would have found a way to defeat Lynd without sacrificing Dara, Danny, and Lander. I hope there are no objections to granting his suit."

"No objections with me." Grant Hermes answered.

"None from me." Lioncourt answered.

"What about for those online?" Seeker asked.

"None." Lennox answered.

"Meng's team, Richie's, my own, Amir's, and the Tyrant Empress has no objections to Cliff's rank up. They will report the suggested changes they want to employ in two days." 

"Give us your analysis, Lennox."

"Increasing the number of Skills that the Unlock can do will greatly increase the odds of killing them. We need to increase more ranged-based Skills as well. If the long-raged attacks of our forces increase by at least thirty-four percent, or we have a way to increase the speed of our attacks by twenty-four, then an opponent that is at Lynd's level would have been defeated without casualties provided the General is at least on Cliff's commanding level."

"What if the battle wasn't underwater? What would we need to improve on?" Lioncourt asked.

"Detection and analysis. The intelligence team was immediately able to analyze the changes in Lynd's body with my assistance, and the information was relayed quickly. Yet, this was easy since this is underwater. Should this battle have occurred above, the Unlocked would have quickly lost sight of Lynd. Only those with Zone would have the shot of attacking Lynd."

"Why was Zone canceled out in the first place? This is the first time that I'm hearing reports of Zone being negated." Grant Hermes asked.

"My team uses Zone similar to the soldiers under Cliff. Yet, in this battle, the group was not able to do it. What happened? Although my team would perform well. Still, that's an annoying thing to experience."

"It's because of Lynd's Zone. Simply put, the Zone that Lynd released was so powerful that it distorted everyone else's momentum. It's something that the Tyrant Empress released. Lynd was there and experienced the very self-centered Zone of the Empress. It seems that his battle against Octarion allowed him to understand and apply it differently."

"He absorbed the Zone? Impressive. This will be great for our future studies." Lioncourt smiled.

"Look at you all!" Lynd shouted.

"All you Overcomers ever-busy yourself is this! Everyone is an experiment in your eyes! You don't care about the lives you ruin! The pain you cause! You all are arrogant pricks!"

"Oh, please. Coming from a selfish brat, that's rich." Lioncourt laughed.

"Get off your high horse, Lynd. You're just mad because you're finally one of the folks we experiment on! You were next to Cliff and saw all the crazy missions I made Cliff do, and you didn't do anything about it! All you and Meryl ever did was try to talk me out of it!" Seeker chastized.

"Because you always made sure that Cliff would be alright! You made me face three Heroes and an Overcomer!"

"And yet, here you are. What exactly have you lost forever? Every body part that was plucked, hacked, or eaten off you could recover. If you were to get stronger, you had to face those kinds of terror. Cliff was a normal person, and look at him now! Who was Cliff compared to you? You who Tread the Narrow Road?"

"I overcame because of my own strength! You sentenced me to die in that battle!"

"Now you're just ridiculous. You overcame because I knew you would. And if there were real threats, the many soldiers were there to aid you. They'd give their life so that you can live on. You must have sensed them! Didn't it make you think why those soldiers were there?" Seeker challenged.

"You're no longer the Seeker I knew! You are a bloodthirsty monster who would willingly allow the deaths of billions!"

"You mean the billions that sided, funded, supported the Aragarians, and waged war against us? Do you mean the billions who laughed when Pangea was at their last straw? Do you mean the billions who were happy when the Americas, Canada, and One China fell? Please. The fact that I didn't plan to kill them before their betrayal is already making me look like a saint! And you're just changing the topic. You had to grow! But you're just angry because I treated you like a chess piece! Newsflash, Lynd. You always were a chesspiece! We all are! I even fought my Master in a dangerous battle. If I have to give my life for the future, then so be it! You're still a coward that doesn't want to bear his weight in this battle. I thought I beat it out of you. It looks like I have to do that again!"

"You sent me to my death! Me! I who holds power and mystery of the Unlocking! I am the Way!"

"Is that your excuse? You used to be the King piece on my chessboard. But you need to come down, Rook! Look at you! Even Cliff won against you! How laughable and embarrassing! No offense, Cliff."

Cliff sighed and shook his head.

Lynd's body began to glow bright yellow as he looked hatefully towards Seeker.

"I didn't lose against Cliff! I would have killed them all if you weren't here! I would have massacred your army if you didn't interrupt!"

"You still don't get it, do you? If we weren't here, you would have been killed by Cliff!"

"Killed? You think that the heart-stabbing attack wounded me?!" Lynd laughed.

"Exactly! What is Cliff's Path if not memory? Wasn't he there when you fought against Typical? Hadn't he seen how Typical lost in that battle against Meryl? He knows you have a heart full of powerful mitochondria that would melt his blade! He thought you'd understand!" Seeker laughed.

Lynd's expression changed.

"You underestimate Cliff too much. You see, at the middle of the battle, he already sensed the Thief in the Night! Through his memories, he can memorize everything and see the smallest changes! He's been glancing at the direction of the Thief in the Night when she saved Dara. And so, at the final moment, instead of cutting off your head, he went for your heart! Because he knew we were around! So from trying to kill you, he went for your heart! That was an obvious giveaway. But you were too dumb to notice!"

"Liar!" Lynd roared hatefully.

"His condition is quite erratic, Seeker. I feel that two personalities are trying to come out of him." Lioncourt frowned.

"It pertains to a certain secret that Lynd's parents told me. Lynd has always been an angry person and kept another side of him. It awoke once when he attacked that base and found how the Aragairans sexually toyed with and killed kids. That rage threw him to become Inhuman. And right now, it's that rage that's controlling him. This is why he looks so immature. All his selfish perspectives are kept in this person right here."

"What are you blabbing about, Seeker!? Don't put me on the same level as you?!" Lynd harnessed bright energy on his palms and sent a powerful bright beam towards Seeker.

Seeker smirked and readied to counter-attack but suddenly…

The Realm King raised his arms.

The bright beam stopped in the middle of the sea. It couldn't move, and Lynd was shouting in anger as he felt an immense pressure crush on him.

The bright beam was slowly weakening as the waters devoured the beam until it disappeared.

"Master?" Seeker frowned.

"I'm not interested in your fight, and I have to get back to Australia. You can fight after my last question. Is there a backstory to his split personality? Perhaps within Lynd lies the secret of enabling a secondary thought process on all Unlocks. Your case isn't helpful after all."

"Yes. His parents told me about Lynd's secret condition. In my future, you must have found a way to destroy it. Being the son of the two wild mercenaries who bathed Ivalice in blood, Lynd inherited a form of uncontrollable rage from his two parents' bloodlust. While his parents learned to control it, Lynd had a pretty rage-driven childhood. They sought many doctors and even tried hypnosis when Lynd was still young. Eventually found a way to contact the Zulu family to cast a spell on Lynd."

"How ironic. So the reason for his sudden insanity was because the Zulu family cast a curse on Lynd and broke that spell?"

"Yes. I realized that it would be the perfect time to make this test and have our armies fight against this version of Lynd. This will also be the perfect moment to accomplish something that we never could before. In my lifetime, Lynd rampaged and broke through several cities before his death because of his anger. But that anger was spent, and he became that other kind, Lynd. Right now, I plan to split the two personalities forcibly. If he can imitate what I did with the Adult, we'd get the best of both worlds."

"I see. You kids have fun then. As discussed, I'll be taking Git Godlike with me, and they will be my first disciples." 

"We'll also be taking our leave. Send Lynd on his way to New Great Britain too. If Lynd can copy new Great Britain's weather tech, my Path ought to grow stronger. I hope your fight can push him or you to the next level." Hermes laughed as he looked at the struggling Lynd.

"You want a go at him, Omricon?" Hermes offered.

"I am not yet ready to die, Boss." Omricon shook his head.

"At least, you know your limits. Don't fall behind from that Cliff fellow, though. It'd be too embarrassing if he surpasses you. Er- No offense, Cliff."

Cliff sighed again.

"The next time we see each other ought to be after the we complete operation City of Refuge. Till next time then." Hermes smiled as he led his group away.

Seeker turned his attention back towards Lynd.

"Alright, Lynd. Let's have this anger management session, shall we?"

"Can- Can I go home now?" Cliff begged.