September 27, 2020

  Mara rests her body on the soft ground. She huffs and puffs, catching her breath from the intense training session with Waldo. She winces, clutching her stomach and feeling the need to vomit. Her nose is also bleeding from how much she has been overworking herself. Fortunately, Waldo makes sure that she doesn’t end up killing herself out of exhaustion, just enough that she’s extremely out of energy. He’s currently sitting on the edge of the stone wagon and examining the map in his hands. About a month ago, the two of them had the fortune to come across a town that contained this map in a building. This building had many types of books and texts and they eventually found this map lying around. The map contains the entire United States on it. Waldo finds it much more convenient to travel with this map. Although he cannot see every individual settle that they come across, just knowing which part of the land is next is quite important. Their current destination: Iowa. That is where Mahoraga was last seen rampaging. Waldo kept the radio that was on the body of that soldier and would frequently listen in. It turned out to be helpful. Without it, the two of them would have just ended up moving wherever without having a clue as to where to go.

  Waldo looks over at Mara hunched up on the ground. He shakes his head and looks back at his map. Judging by how much distance they have covered and the tracks they’ve been following, they should be at the edge of Missouri and on the lower right corner of Nebraska. They’re just about to enter the bottom of Iowa’s border. Just a bit more time until they arrive. Mahoraga certainly hasn’t stayed in one place this entire week. At least Waldo doesn’t want to assume so. A creature like Mahoraga wouldn’t stay in one place for such a length of time. He remembers seeing Mahoraga in his past lives through his inherited memories. His unique ability to adapt to any and all phenomena is exceptional. Could this be an opponent that can drive Waldo into a corner too?

  (I suppose after having fought Iravin, every other fight I’ve been in seemed dull and empty. There has been no one out there that can give me a good fight anymore. Mahoraga might be the answer to my personal drought. That’s why I have been pursuing them.)

  Waldo rolls up his map and gets off the wagon. He walks over to Mara.

  “We’re heading out. Your break is over. If you can still walk, you can pull the wagon. Let’s get moving. I don’t want Mahoraga to run off because you were slacking away.”

  “Yes, Waldo.”

  Waldo watches as Mara moves past him. Her body has started to go through changes. She seems more fit and able than before. It must be because her muscles and body have been working hard in order to endure this rigorous journey. Mara pulls the wagon along while humming a tune to herself. Waldo walks in front of her. He doesn’t particularly mind her humming, but he does wish that she could be quieter while doing it. Waldo looks down at his map. They should have entered Iowa now. There are remnants of an old highway around. Then, there’s what appears to be a broken giant sign that has the state’s name on it. It’s in such a rustic and torn condition. Cars and other types of vehicles are lying around as well, albeit incredibly broken and in pieces. Mara doesn’t seem to be bothered by such a scene. She should have gotten used to seeing things like this a while ago. Waldo glances back at her.

  “It seems that we have arrived at our destination. This is Iowa. This is where Mahoraga was last seen.”

  Mara gets herself ready for whatever is to come. During these two months, she has learned more about Mahoraga from Waldo. She’s now aware of what it is capable of and how dangerous it is. And of course, Waldo wanted to fight such a thing. She wasn’t surprised at all by that. She smiles and grips the handles of the wagon tighter.

  “Then, I guess we should get moving. You wouldn’t want it to get away.”

  “You’re right. Let’s get a move on.”

  Waldo and Mara pass through the Iowa border. Waldo immediately creates some clones and animals out of his cursed energy. He gives them instructions to spread and find any clues that could give away Mahoraga’s location. The cursed energy clones immediately disperse in several directions. Waldo and Mara then head in their own direction. The two of them look around diligently and look for any kind of ruined town or city that they could go to. However, even after traveling for a couple of hours, Waldo and Mara have not found any clues. None of the clones have reported anything out of the ordinary either. Waldo begins to feel a sense of irritation, but he calms himself.

  (I’ve been searching for it for quite a while. Searching a little bit more is nothing.)

  “Mara. Do you have anything to report? Any more visions?”

  “No… nothing yet. Maybe Mahoraga isn’t here?”

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  “I’m sure that they’re somewhere around. The radio hasn’t said anything yet. I’m more or less waiting for another update from it.”

  Almost as if on command, the radio turns on and noise comes out of it. Waldo and Mara stop and listen in, hoping to get a clue.

  “Static Any… anyone… whoever is out… there… help me. Mahoraga is here in Omaha. Static Anyone… send help…”

  After that, the radio turns into constant static with no further words. It’s safe to assume that the person on the other end has passed away. But Waldo doesn’t care about that. He now knows the exact location of the Divine General. He looks at Mara with a gleaming eye and an excited smile.

  “You heard them, Mara. It’s time we head to Omaha.”

  Fortunately for both Waldo and Mara, Omaha was one of the cities listed on the map of the country. Waldo looks at the sun’s location in the sky and starts to pinpoint the direction. Mara watches curiously, tilting her head slightly.

  “Why are you looking at the sun like that?”

  “It is so I can determine our direction. The sun is supposed to rise from the east and set in the west. The sun is moving up, which means that direction is west. Judging from where Omaha is on the map, that means we have to head in this direction.”

  Mara nods her head as she listens to Waldo. She sort of managed to follow what he said. She at least understood the part about the sun rising and setting in the east and west respectively. Waldo turns in the direction and starts to move. However, he’s moving faster than before. It must be due to his excitement and eagerness to fight Mahoraga. Mara quickly gathers herself and follows him as best as she can. Because of her development, she can pull the wagon along much easier. At the very least, she isn’t falling behind too much. The two of them move quickly in the direction pointed out by Waldo. While they’re doing so, Waldo connects with his clones and communicates with them. He issues new orders to them. With that being finished, he smiles to himself and moves on ahead.

  “Mara, you better move as fast as you can! I’m going to be picking up the pace. I’m not letting this general get away!”

  Waldo then puts more explosiveness into his movement and sprints forward, leaving Mara behind in the dust. Mara covers her eyes from the dirt and dust kicked up from Waldo’s running. Once it has cleared away, she opens her eyes again and tries to run as fast as she can. She uses her cursed technique to get the assistance of air pressure to propel herself and the wagon forward. Even so, Waldo eventually becomes a mere line in the distance. Mara continues to follow him as much as she can. Meanwhile, Waldo begins to pick up activity up ahead. Running at speeds exceeding Mach 35, Waldo arrives in Omaha in no time at all. He stops himself from crashing into a structure and quickly looks around. Instantly, he feels a small rumble in the ground and turns. He can hear sounds of crashing and wrecking at about 10 o’clock. He sprints off in that direction and jumps up. He lands on top of a decently tall building and looks out ahead. There, he sees what he has been looking for: Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga. Its giant white body and imposing aura sticks out like a sore thumb. There’s that wheel as well. It’s hard to miss when everyone has been toppled down. Waldo smirks and he proceeds to jump down from the building.

  “I’ve found you now, Mahoraga!”

  Mahoraga’s body twitches and it turns around. It can immediately begin to sense the immense levels of cursed energy radiating from Waldo. It identifies Waldo as a curse, which means the Sword of Extermination should work on him. After all, the Sword of Extermination is packed full of positive cursed energy, which is basically poison to cursed spirits. It can easily exterminate them. However, Waldo is already aware of the Sword of Extermination’s abilities. All he has to do is make sure he doesn’t get hurt by it. That’s all there is to it. Now, Waldo comes out from a crumbled building and looks up at Mahoraga. Mahoraga stares down at Waldo with its intimidating expression. Of course, it wasn’t enough to scare the likes of Waldo. Mahoraga fully faces Waldo and snarls. It immediately runs up at him, appearing in front of him and attempting to slash him with the Sword of Extermination. Waldo dodges the sword and counterattacks with a powerful kick to Mahoraga’s chest. Mahoraga instantly reels back from the force of the attack and is sent flying through multiple buildings. Waldo cracks his knuckles and laughs out loud.

  “Here I am, holding back from going all out, and you’re still getting thrashed around like this. Try not to disappoint me, Mahoraga.”

  Waldo fires shockwaves from the soles of his feet and follows Mahoraga. Mahoraga lands back on the ground and grabs some of the nearby debris. It turns the debris into a giant chunk of compressed material and hurls it at Waldo. Waldo extends his arm and fires a shockwave at the chunk of debris. The shockwave destroys the debris and Waldo fires another shockwave, now heading towards Mahoraga. Mahoraga is hit by the shockwave and staggers on one knee. Waldo appears in front of it and lands a nasty uppercut. Mahoraga is launched up in the sky as Waldo follows him up. Mahoraga swings the Sword of Extermination but Waldo dodges it. He then grabs Mahoraga’s other arm and throws it back to the city grounds. Mahoraga crashes down and Waldo begins to fly down laughing. Mahoraga clenches their teeth as they struggle and grab an entire building now. As they’re about to throw it, Waldo crushes it with a kick and grabs Mahoraga’s face. Mahoraga, however, acts quick and swings the Sword of Extermination. Waldo moves out of the way and smiles to himself.

  “Well, you’ve already started to become accustomed to my style. That’s what I like to see. Now show me more!”

  Waldo releases immense pressure towards Mahoraga. Mahoraga puts their arms up to guard. It’s never felt any kind of presence like this before. It’s as if this was a new type of curse. Waldo’s eye lights up brightly as his mood continues to rise.

  “War crumbles everything in its path. Will you be able this survive?”