Last Man On Earth When There Is No Earth ?

Sector nineteen

Verta clan's mothership was a fairly large craft to be owned by a group of outlaws. It boasted of strong defenses and military grade offensive power, hosted hundreds of soldiers and their families, and offered a safe place for the members to get some rest.

The arena on the highest floor is part of the recreational facilities built to provide some stress relief for the resident clan members. Tournaments are held occasionally and most disagreements are solved through duels in this place.

However, those tournaments and duels were always between the members, sometimes between the newcomers as a way to decide ranks. Never did anyone expect the clan head himself would visit it for a purpose other than having his followers entertain him.

No one expected the duel he proposed to the human prisoner to escalate to such extent. Every single Herara in the entire fleet believed the head would make short work of his opponent, but the human stood his ground, he even got the upper hand for most of the fight, doubt was growing in their hearts the longer it went on.

the battle was nearing its end and besides the devastated state the arena was in the damage has spread through the lower floors.

"Sigh… can't they hold back a little"

The rumbling could be felt all across the craft, but for someone in the small waiting room beneath the battleground it felt more like flying through a meteor storm.

"… maybe I should get going..." a Herara Male sitting on the floor with his back against the wall sighed in an extremely lazy way. His name is Ginger, one of the guards that kept watch while Seven had his talk with their leader.

"I don't want them bringing the whole ceiling down on my head… and that thing doesn't seem to be coming down"

Ginger was an average Herara male. He wasn't particularly strong nor was he the smartest of the bunch. But one thing he was known for between his close friends was his judgment, if Ginger said it then it must be true. He rarely ever made the wrong choice -even when gambling- which solidified his words as something hard to doubt.

For that reason when he told his fellow guards that with them failing to protect Coney, the short advisor that blond Zesionien female made shorted, their chances surviving dwindled, they all dropped their weapons and went to spend whatever time they had left with their families.

They trusted his word to such extent, yet there are things he had to be careful not to speak of out loud. he couldn't tell anyone that the human facing their boss would most likely come out as the winner of this fight. On the rare chance that his prediction comes out as wrong he might be executed for treason so staying silent about it was the right choice.

The clan ran around the belief that their leader is blessed by the ancient god Verta, having doubts about his power was enough to cost you your life.

Ginger knew he wasn't the only one who doubted the head though. Most of the members never got the chance to witness his power, there were even rumors about him growing weaker circling around, that his name won't hold their rivals for much longer. Some speculated that that was the reason why he left Namira, and that's why he promised them a new land instead of going back to their homeworld.

then the human appeared with a whole planet for them to take. Weren't they supposed to settle after finding their lord? Many asked that question but no one wanted to hear the answer. They were out in space for years, most were just happy to find ground they could put under their feet, a place to call home. which is why they failed to notice

If the head loses this fight, the Verta clan was done for.

There would be chaos with no one to control the filth that made most of their ranks. Their enemies aren't so blind as to miss the chance.

Ginger felt the clan's days were numbered. He didn't Have much proof to back the feeling he had but he could tell the end was near. He was childless and didn't have a mate, he felt no particular attachment to the rest of the clan and came aboard the ship because he had nothing better to do. Cutting ties with them now was in the best line of actions.

"Well, I will wait for those two to get done then…" he stood up slowly and made his way out of the waiting room "guess I need to steal one of the sh.i.p.s"

Hir's blast hit Seven directly, just like he intended.

It was hundreds of times stronger than the little bolt Hir brought down on Lilia, concentrated in a small range. It perfectly countered Seven's crimson blast. Seven stopped pushing to let it through and by the time Hir cut it down most of is was absorbed by his opponent.

"Tch… I fell right into it…"

"YES YOU DID!"

Hir grimaced and Seven laughed at him maliciously. An outsider looking at them would never doubt that the white haired human was the villain.

"w-whaaaaat… what did I miss" in the back of his mind, Seven heard the half asleep mumbling of his freeloading ghost.

'Not much, backup just arrived at the right time'

"is that….so" Iris yawned. Not even ten minutes had passed since they ran out of Verta's energy, yet for her it felt like she was a fast asleep for days on end.

'Oh, and Lilia said yes'

"… what did you just say?"

'for some reason she got her hands on the box when we were busy and saw what was inside, and said yes' Seven couldn't help but smile, and Hir started to doubt he was in his right mind.

"Tch…" Iris clicked her tongue.

'… what was that?'

"Nothing" he couldn't see her expression but Iris sounded clearly irritated "congratulations, yeah, not like there was any reason for you to propose to her when you already slept together"

'Well yes but no'

"Anyway, focus on ending this for now" Iris knew what she had to do, preparing to play her part in this fight "you can resume your fun time with your wife once we are done"

'Ookay'

But how exactly are we going to beat this guy?

If it came to pure strength Seven was a level or two ahead, the problem was his energy consumption. He couldn't afford to let this drag on for too long or he would lose his advantage.

That said, he couldn't see a clear way to win. Even if the clan head could produce thunder himself he probably can't keep doing it forever.

'It's the law of equivalent exchange. He must stop to replenish whatever he is transmuting into energy, unless he is using air itself, or absorbing mana from the air. No, even if it either of those there should be a limit to how much he can get while keeping me at bay…'

"that put you in the same position, in a sense"

Seven didn't know how deep Hir's mana pool was. He would deal as much damage as he could to keep the clan head busy with regeneration, then try to steal as much energy as he could, the same tactic he's been using all along. This way he might still keep the upper hand even if it went on for too long. Though, this plan came with one single problem.

'I wonna end this soon…' preferably in the next move. It's has to do with his motivation, Seven no longer wanted to beat the clan head, the anger that drove him isn't there anymore and all he wants now is to take a bath and go to bed with his wife.

"Then smash his head. I don't believe he is capable of growing a second one"

'Nah, that would be a waste…' he is a valuable source after all, he might be of use in the future. Then there are his underlings, who knows what they would do when their leader is down.

"You ordered Lilia to kill all of them sometime ago, remember"

'I was really pissed off back then okay?'

He didn't want to kill him, and he wants to end the fight as soon as possible. His opponent was the leader of a giant space pirate group, would he really surrender to keep his own life?

'Let's try getting as much as we could out of him before dealing the finishing blow'

"All right"

Finishing his discussion with Iris Seven stopped dodging and caught the arm Hir was swinging at him. He was constantly under attack during the entire conversation but still managed to avoid everything thrown at him with ease, all while consuming the least amount of energy he needed.

"Hey, just to be sure, won't you give up and llet us leave?" Seven looked Hir in the eyes "I'm kinda getting tired of dealing with your kind"

"if only it was that easy" Hir smirked as he went for another attack with his free arm.

Seven ducked down and performed a low kick throwing the clan head off balance, put his hands on the floor then sent him flying with a somersault.

Seven followed after him immediately and was met with a fur covered leg. Holding onto it he spun Hir's giant body changing their positions just before they reached the ceiling.

Using the same concept as before Seven created a magnetic field at the bottom of his feet and propelled the two of them into the floor at an insane speed.

The dust cloud cleared slowly. Hir survived the impact even though he went down face first, Seven had pinned both of his arms, pulling them backwards while stepping on his back.

"I want to end this really quick but…" saying that, Seven strengthened his grim on Hir's wrists "well, take your time. I will just do my thing"

Seven made sure he was using enough strength to keep Hir down without dislocating his shoulders, that's why he was taken off guard when the two arms suddenly disconnected entirely from his body. Hir had turned off his second form, allowing himself to lose two limbs instead of letting Seven drain him.

Seven stumbled back and fell on his b.u.t.t, meanwhile Hir concentrated on healing.

"You know, this is really getting on my nerves" he tried, he really did "how many arms do you have to lose before we can end this?" Seven was losing his patience, the pulsating vein on his forehead said as much.

"you are strong, I admit" back on his feet, Hir prepared to launch his next attack. He couldn't simply putt his hand up and admit defeat, they both understood that. But with each second passing Seven was losing his grip. He was sure he was going to win now, it might be arrogant of him to think that when his enemy was still in tip top shape, but he seriously getting tired of dealing with the tiger faced bastard.

'Each time I tore his arms the guy just shrugs it off and regenerate. How many times is he planning on doing it?'

Losing limbs didn't seem to bother Hir much. He learned how to turn off his pain receptors long ago, going that far prevented stress from building up.

'sigh… it's not like you are the only one who wants to end this, you know' the fur covered guy thought to himself 'I also want to end this soon. Producing my own thunder doesn't mean I can keep going forever'

Same as Seven, Hir had his own plan. He was waiting for Seven to go berserk like he did at the beginning, that's when he becomes the most vulnerable, and that's when a chance would present itself.

He would use everything he got to kill him in that moment. If he failed to do that, there was nothing else he could do.

HIr took a deep breath, relaxed all his muscles, then entered his second form once more.

"You know what…" Seven said something as Hir went down on all fours, his feet forming a dent in the floor as he prepared to charge.

He launched himself forward, almost breaking the sound barrier

"f.u.c.k it!"

Seven opened his mouth as wide as humanely possible. Seeing that Hir tried to stop himself, yet his momentum prevented him from doing so, it was too late to avoid what's coming, dodging wasn't even an option.

Not holding back any longer Seven released his biggest crimson blast ever. The light filled the whole arena, the surrounding walls struggled to held their place while everything facing Seven shattered.

When everything was done most of the upper floor was destroyed. The damage was beyond what the temporary repair panels could cover, everything that wasn't turned to dust was lost in space. as for casualties, no one could possibly survive such disaster.

Holding his breath Seven walked in the direction of a small opening in the floor while dragging a half cremated corps. He stopped for a few seconds to witness the distraction he caused, then with disinterested he continues to walk

"Whoa… you really went all out this time" Iris spawned out of thin air as she does usually. She looked around in amazement as she spoke.

'You don't need air since you are a ghost, but sound doesn't travel through a vacuum'

'right…' Iris switched to telepathy, realizing her lips were moving without her voice coming out 'anyways, I can't believe this guy is still alive"

'Hm' Seven nodded once.

Although he was burnt to a crisp, Hir was still alive. he lost both his arms and most of his lower half, his head and torso were all that was left of him. he still has pulse and his regeneration refuses to stop even though he's unconscious and Seven was freely draining him nonstop.

'Tough bastard'

'Hm'

Iris decided to save the nagging for another time. As much as she wanted to lecture him about nearly putting her in a coma a few minutes after she woke up, he didn't seem to be in the mood at the time. she silent floated behind him as he made his way to the lower floors.

The holes slowly closed in the same manner as the first one he opened into the ceiling allowing air to be pumped into the room.

Having replenished everything he used in his last attack Seven threw the piece of charcoal on a pile of debris and sat down at a distance watching it. Without Seven holding it back Hir's self healing kicked in at full power and he soon regained a humanoid shape. It took about five minutes for bones and muscles to form, then when everything was in place skin started growing followed by white and blue fur.

Hir was back to normal in under seven minutes, even so it took him another ten to regain consciousness.

During that time Lilia and Logan arrived at the scene. Seven told them to stay silent as they waited.

When he opened his eyes the first thing that entered his sight were the stars beyond the hexagon shaped half transparent panels covering the hole in the ceiling, after a few seconds of thought he started to recall what happened and rose up.

"I will say it one last time, surrender" looking down on him, his human opponent said "I'm not merciful enough to save your life a second time"

He had lost

'no… I never had a chance at winning to begin with'

Hir walked forward in a slow pace. Seeing that, Lilia prepared her spear and Logan loaded a new cartridge into his mech, but Seven stopped both of them with a motion of his hand.

Hir, the Verta clan head stood before Seven. He looked at him for a few seconds, all the previous animosity had already vanished from his eyes.

Closing his eyes he sighed once and placed a tired smile on face, he then went down on one knee resting his fists on the floor and in a very relaxed tone he said

"I finally found you, my lord"