'No, they're real' Zastin realized quickly and stepped in front of the king, realizing they were facing an attack most likely directed at them.
The weather, previously clear with a warm sun high in the sky since it was already close to noon, had vanished, covered by a massive thunderstorm, enormous bolts of lightning crackled through the clouds like dragons racing across the sky.
However, it was not everywhere, Zastin noticed the irregularity immediately, beyond a radius of one kilometer, the weather remained perfectly normal.
But that only lasted a second, out of nowhere, the area expanded even further, covering at least ten kilometers or even more, and the lightning in the clouds, as if something prevented them from falling, began to gather more and more.
"My king, please stay back" Zastin immediately took a defensive stance at full alert, sensing the threat.
But Gid shook his head.
"It's not necessary."
"But Your Majesty..."
"Zastin!" At Gid's command, Zastin could only step back in frustration.
Gid, on the other hand, looked around with interest, the weather was changing, of course it was not calming down, on the contrary, it was growing more violent, however, unlike before, when it seemed to worsen without any purpose, now it appeared to have a goal, all the lightning was beginning to concentrate at the center of the storm.
Finally, when the amount of lightning was so great that the storm clouds were barely visible, all of it shot directly toward Gid.
Gid raised his hand to stop Zastin, who was already rushing to protect him again, and looked at the lightning coming straight at him.
However, at the last moment, the thousands of lightning bolts did not reach him, instead, they seemed to crash against something in front of him and, in less than half a second, fused together, revealing the truth.
A figure appeared before him, it was a normal young man, but his eyes showed the crackling of lightning and his fist, aimed at him, seemed to carry all his will.
At that moment, Gid not only noticed the young man before him, but also that his strength had weakened out of nowhere.
All of this, which happened in less than a second, was seen almost in slow motion for Gid, however, he did not choose to dodge, instead, he raised his hand and stopped the blow, grabbing his fist directly.
But even though the fist had stopped, the attack had not, at the moment the fist touched his palm, Gid felt a massive amount of energy burst out from it, comparable to several times all the previous lightning combined.
The attack was so powerful that it generated a kind of energy explosion, a large sky blue dome expanded from his direction with a tremendous roar.
...
After using all his power in a single strike, Yuuji did not actually intend to harm Gid, he was simply showing all his determination.
He even used Divide before his blow reached Gid, and if it were not because he would probably explode from such power, he would have added it to the attack as well.
But once the blow connected, not even Yuuji expected the result, at this moment he was standing in front of Gid, supposedly, but around him there was nothing but a deathly silence and a vision of absolute white.
There, Yuuji cleared his mind for a moment.
Having decided to leave earlier, Yuuji was not really sure why he came back.
He was not lying when he said he had no romantic intentions toward Lala, but even so, when he imagined her antics, her proud smile at her inventions or even her laughter while watching the same invention explode due to a mistake, Yuuji felt that it was a part of his life he definitely did not want to lose.
As for love or friendship, he would have time to worry about that later, but if he truly ran from Gid, even the chance to choose would be taken from him, and Yuuji truly hated having his life controlled.
Finally, colors returned, the side effects of the explosion disappeared, and Yuuji could see his surroundings.
As for the man in front of him...
"Yeah, I expected that" Yuuji complained internally.
Gid had not moved even a single centimeter, at most, a bit of smoke rose from his hand, showing that at least his palm had been slightly scorched.
Despite knowing he would not really hurt him, seeing the result in person disappointed Yuuji.
"Why are you disappointed, boy? With only a month and a half of having abilities, and coming from Earth, achieving this is already impressive" Gid replied as if reading his thoughts.
"Yuuji Rito, you..."
"Calm down, Zastin, let me talk to him" Gid had to calm the agitated Zastin again, he could not be blamed, their king had just been attacked right in front of him, and the attacker was none other than one of his subordinates, someone he personally recruited and allowed to approach the princess.
"Boy, to dare attack me, do you know who I am?"
"Lala's father" Yuuji answered without hesitation.
"Is that all you know?"
"It's the only part that matters to me."
"...Good" Gid nodded after observing Yuuji a bit more. "Then, what are your intentions toward my daughter? Do you like her?"
"I don't know."
"So you're saying my daughter doesn't matter to you?" Gid asked, becoming more serious as he narrowed his eyes.
"If she didn't matter, I wouldn't have dared to attack the strongest person in the galaxy" Yuuji replied while enduring the invisible pressure.
Gid looked at him again for a few seconds, scanning every inch of his expression before stepping back.
"Good, Zastin, we're leaving."
"Of course, Your Majesty."
With that, Zastin pressed a button and both of them disappeared from the place, surprising Yuuji.
"...What the hell just happened?" Yuuji muttered while looking at the empty surroundings, but after a few seconds, his legs gave out and he fell to the ground.
"Phew, I've never been this nervous in my life."
Even though Gid basically greeted him and left, did not ask why he attacked him, did not ask how he knew him, did not ask about the ability that cut his strength in half, nor any other question he should have asked, Yuuji was really not in a position to worry about that. Right now, he was simply happy to have gotten through the situation.
Although he does not know what impression he left on Gid, at least for now, it seems he has no intention of killing him or forcing him to marry his daughter.
...
"Arrange for him to be brought together with Lala somehow, I want them to be together before the end of the month and married no later than when they turn eighteen" Gid said aboard his ship.
In a kind of overly pretentious fusion between a throne and a command seat, Gid sat inside his spaceship orbiting the planet, through a main screen he watched several perspectives of Yuuji at that moment.
From when he collapsed to his knees on the ground, to when he stood up and walked toward the school entrance, and finally when Lala greeted him through the classroom window with a raised hand and a cheerful smile.
Perhaps Yuuji himself did not notice, but from all these perspectives, both Gid and Zastin could see how, the moment Lala called him, Yuuji's previously tired steps became lively and a small smile formed on his face, at the same time his shoulders seemed lighter.
With Yuuji entering the institution, Gid turned off the screen, as he had promised his daughter not to spy on her at school or at her residence.
"Your Majesty, are you sure about this?" Zastin asked doubtfully.
"Zastin, do you know why I have wanted for so long to pair my daughter with someone?"
"I... am not sure" Zastin admitted, because although he had known Gid almost since the beginning of his journey to his current position, he knew the fighter Gid, the cruel Gid, the conqueror Gid, the ruler Gid and even the lover Gid.
But even so, when it came to any of his three daughters, Gid acted differently, the father Gid was someone Zastin still could not understand.
"I am the king of Deviluke and of the galaxy, I cannot always be by her side to protect her, I have other responsibilities" Gid explained. "Lala says I try to marry her off to strangers, but the truth is I never wanted to force her, I simply introduce her to many people so that at some point she ends up falling in love.
Lala is not just anyone, she is my firstborn, whoever marries her will inherit my position someday. Even if she does not know it, she is in incredible danger all the time.
I just want her to find someone she loves, someone powerful who can protect her."
"But are we sure about Yuuji Rito? He does not seem certain about his feelings toward the princess."
"Does not seem certain?" Gid scoffed at those words. "He has simply never fallen in love and has no idea what he is feeling, just set up a few situations between them so he realizes it and that's it. Make sure he does not notice, he seems to be the type of person who hates being controlled."
"Your Majesty, are you speaking from personal experience?" Zastin asked, recognizing the situation.
"Do not say nonsense, Zastin" Gid ignored his subordinate's comment before continuing. "This time I came directly to Earth to check on Lala's condition, let us return to Deviluke, I want to see Sephie, and it has been a long time since I last saw Momo and Nana as well."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
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+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)