Bridestone Hunt

Aawoot was given the name Cowboy Daybreak and asked to recover 7 miraculous gems called the Bridestones, for a critical mission to be fulfilled by Yuko while assisted by Baifin.

These gems came in 7 different colors: yellow, pink, blue, green, red, white, and orange, and they were originally inside the novageist body of Yuko before that body of hers disintegrated. Daybreak had to get the Bridestones before anyone gets them. If those 7 gems were to fall into the wrong hands, it could very well be the end of the world, since it had enough power to create more than enough atomic bombs to destroy the world. However, the same power can also be used to heal thousands of sick people, fix anything that was broken, or even raise the dead.

Seishokai was an organization that originated in Japan dedicated to upholding religious tolerance all over the world, even though it started as a body to promote Japanese Buddhism. The organization had founded universities all over the world, and also founded research institutes and other task forces dedicated to the research in paranormal activities, paranormal weaponry, and fighting paranormal crimes. It was also working with the Novagels, a team of supernatural superheroes, in providing research and intelligence support in tracking down activities involving evil spirits, demons, organized crime.

Cowboy Daybreak was tasked by Master Garaya to work with Tsuyoshi Takemori, a senior researcher at Seishokai University and Commander of the Intelligence Battalion at the Seishokai Command Center located in Tokyo. Based on readings recorded on a radar, they were able to locate the Bridestones that have scattered at different places all over the Earth. However, it was difficult to determine the exact location based on the satellite settings, so Cowboy Daybreak have to go personally to detect it using his pocket radar.

Cowboy Daybreak's had the ability to teleport to anywhere in the world. His first stop was Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia. Intelligence officers had reported that the gem was picked up by one of the monks of the temple to be used to decorate their altar. Therefore, Daybreak had to go down personally to convince them to give the gem up.

However, it turned out that he didn't need to do any of that.

When he arrived outside the temple grounds, he saw bodies on the ground. There were bodies of men in soldier uniforms. Some were soldiers in Cambodian army uniforms, and some were soldiers in Thai army uniforms. Apparently there was a shootout between soldiers representing the two countries, since Preah Vihear was a temple where there is a dispute over the two countries over which countries it belongs to, since Preah Vihear temple is located along the border of Cambodia and Thailand, and there were discrepancies over which country the temple belonged to.

Cowboy Daybreak checked the bodies. They did not appear to be lying on the ground because they were shot or wounded. Their bodies were drained of their energy, as if a vampire sucked them dry, but they still had blood in their bodies.

They were still alive, but were weak.

Before Cowboy Daybreak stepped into the temple, a man stepped out of the temple entrance.

He was not local. He was a foreigner. He was holding a yellow Bridestone gem in his hand and laughing to himself.

He was bald, had no eyelids or any form of hair on him. His skin all over his body was dry and peeling. He was wearing a pair of Bermuda jeans and Hawaiian shirt.

Cowboy Daybreak reported what he saw to Tsuyoshi on his wrist-com.

Tsuyoshi immediately told him about one scientist called Boris Barabash, who was one of the victims of the Radiation disaster at Chernobyl decades ago whom the Seishokai were working with the FBI to capture, since he was responsible for putting many people in a coma by draining all their energy. He was wanted dead or alive ever since then and was last spotted somewhere in South East Asia. "Get that gem from him and kill him! That's your mission! Simple, isn't it?"

"Hold it right there! Where do you think you are going taking that gem?" shouted Daybreak.

The man replied. "None of your business!"

"Boris Barabash! An energy vampire who sucks energy out of people and put them into a coma! Are you expecting the Bridestone to provide you that kind of energy?"

Boris then turned around and extended a hand forward. That hand only had four fingers. "You know and talk too much! I will barbeque you now!" And he fired a bolt of energy from those hands.

Daybreak dodged, and the bolt of energy create a large explosion. His sunglasses had a mini computer that analyzed events around him shown on his lens, and he saw that very strong nuclear radiation was being emitted from that blast.

"You're going to make this place unlivable with that!" Daybreak scolded.

"Then don't force me! I can turn the whole of Cambodia into a nuclear wasteland if I wish! The Bridestone can help me make one blast of that into one equivalent to the bomb dropped on Hiroshima!"

"I won't let you!" Daybreak took out a gun, and he fired spiritual energy from it.

Boris was hit by it cried out loud, and the Bridestone gem fell to the floor, but another voice was heard contributing to that cry. There was something inside him. Another soul.

Daybreak used psychokinesis to mentally carry the Bridestone gem back to him.

"No!" said a voice. No, make that two voices. The voice of Boris, and the voice of another, though it sounded more bestial.

"I know you're controlling this scientist! Show your true form!" commanded Daybreak.

Suddenly, Boris' skin turned more leather-like, as if he was a crocodile except that his skin was yellow. His eyes turned green, and he grew fangs. One of his fingers fell off, leaving him with three fingers. Three of his toes fell off, leaving him with two toes. His body also grew taller, and his muscles started to bulge further. He laughed as his bestial nature took over. "I see you are interested in seeing who I really am, eh? I am Omega Radium, and I take over the bodies of people deeply poisoned by nuclear radiation! This body is really fit and makes a good host for some real hand to hand combat! What say you? Hand over that gem, or I'll pulverize you!"

Daybreak just tapped on the gem, and it vanished into thin air.

"You fool! Give it to me! I have nuclear radiation! Lots of it! I'll create a fallout that will make Indochina unlivable for thousands of years! You're probably die of cancer soon or your descendants will be born as mutant freaks!" cried out Omega Radium.

"It takes a freak to call one a freak!" mocked Daybreak. "My first mission is over! Now I'll finish you quickly!"

Omega Radium fired a few bolts of nuclear radiation energy at Daybreak, but Daybreak created an energy shield to absorb the rays and create a fireball to return all that nuclear energy back at Omega Radium. However, Omega Radium just absorbed everything, and smiled triumphantly, showing his fangs.

"Daybreak! Do you read me? Come in!" It was Tsuyoshi trying to contact him on his wrist-com.

"Yes boss?" asked Daybreak.

Tsuyoshi continued, "You need a suit of lead to fight him. I'm sending to you now. Even though you are a novageist, your physical body is still human and that will make you vulnerable to radiation. Even with the most powerful magic, you're still weak against radiation."

All of a sudden, a black hazmat suit materialized on his body. He now had protection against the radiation blasts fired by Omega Radium.

"What? As if that is going to protect you! I can still hurt you with my brawn! This man has the body of a wrestlers!" Omega rushed forward towards Daybreak to grab him, but Daybreak ran away. Omega tried to do the same thing again, and Daybreak kept following him.

However, Daybreak kept running in a fixed pattern. Daybreak noticed a consistent pattern in Omega's movements. He kept using his left foot to propel himself into a different direction whenever Daybreak changed his direction. Daybreak was levitating, so he did not need to use any muscles.

Daybreak was planning to cause Omega to overexert pressure on his left foot, so that he will sprain his ankle and collapse.

But Omega realized that. He stopped moving, and suddenly leapt into the air, clenched his fist, flipped his body till his fist was pointing towards the ground, then dived. Once Omega's fist collided with the ground, it sent a strong shockwave not just through the ground but through the air, sending Daybreak flying towards the exterior walls of Preah Vihear temple, causing that section of the wall to collapse.

"Hahahahah! You think that stupid trick will work on me?" mocked Omega. "I will destroy you and get back my Bridestone! I'll use its powers to give me the ability to create blasts more powerful than atomic bombs! I will turn Earth into a radioactive paradise! No life! It will be just me, and radiation!"

"Hahahaha! You are a sick joke, Mr Omega!" mocked Daybreak even though he was down on the ground in the rubble of the bricks of the collapsed temple wall. "Your mistake just sealed your fate!"

"What the hell?" asked Omega.

"Earlier, when Boris entered the temple, he entered as a human being. You were a spirit possessed his body but never merged with his body to transform into a demon. Now that you transformed into a monster, you won't risk defeat by reverting to your human self. Which means, as a monster now, you can't touch anything that comes from that temple."

"What nonsense are you babbling about?" asked Omega.

"Monsters that adopt a physical form are vulnerable to anything blessed with holy energy, such as the bricks of this temple. This holy energy is to ward off evil spirits and any monster that is formed from evil spirit possession. However, if you're just a possessing spirit that does not transform, you can remain under the radar and slip into the temple grounds unharmed. That was how you retrieved the Bridestone that was at the altar of the temple."

"So what? I don't need to go into that temple again!" retorted Omega.

"Yes, all I need are objects with holy energy. I can't carry the whole temple with me to throw it at you, but I can throw some holy bricks at you."

Omega started to tremble. "No, you can't!"

"Yes I can!" declared Daybreak, and the bricks started levitating in the air at Daybreak's mental command, and flew towards where Omega Radium was. The bricks rained down on Omega Radium and paralyzed him. Omega Radium screamed as if it was raining concentrated acid, then he caught fire and disintegrated like a how a vampire would in sunlight as portrayed in the movies.

After that, Daybreak wasted no time in doing a few things.

He mentally lifted the bricks into the air, and restored the walls by chanting the spell, "Arubeki Sugata", which means "revert to your former state".

He used a golden samurai sword given to him by Master Garaya to absorb the soul of Omega Radium. That soul was needed for a spell to restore all those he killed back to life. That golden sword was called "Donki Houtei", and it had demonic powers that could come in handy when fighting demons. Professor Takemori explained that they needed to do this because they did not have the Bridestones with them, so they can't perform a spell called "Le Grand Retour" which can reverse all the damages done by a certain demon's soul by sacrificing it and sending it back to hell. This was an example of how the Bridestones had the power to raise the dead.

He summoned some positive energy from the trees and animals around him to return the fallen unconscious soldiers back to normal, so that the soldiers can continue to fight with each other again over their country's claim over the Preah Vihear temple.

He also magically cleaned up whatever radiation he could detect using his smart- sunglasses.

After that, it was time for Daybreak to teleport back to the Seishokai headquarters where Professor Takemori was, and get ready for his next mission.

****************************************

It was the day for Prathep's father to be buried when he found the green gem. Prathep's father was Tham Meng, a revolutionary in Malaya and Singapore after their independence from British rule. However, after losing in a certain political battle where his team was betrayed by those who ended up forming parties to become the current rulers of Singapore and Malaysia. Tham Meng was exiled to Thailand and could not enter Malaysia, the place of his birth, ever after. He lived in Thailand till his death, as a broken man missing his home.

Prathep was a dashing young man of 22 with a slim build and long black hair, but had a face that made him resemble Hong Kong singer George Lam in his heyday, so much so that the girls would call him "Pi George" (Pi is elder sibling in Thai). His roots were Malaysian Chinese, but he grew up very much as a Thai. Still he learned Chinese from his father and eventually spoke 3 languages. Thai, Chinese, and English. He just graduated with a law degree and was scouted by one of the major law firms in Bangkok to work for them. If he accepted, he would become another of Bangkok's finest elites. However, he refused, more because he was seeking to fulfill his father's lost dream: To take over Malaysia and Singapore by restoring the party his father worked in: The Hongxiaojun (红晓军) or Red Dawn Army.

Prathep dabbled in sorcery during his university days when he met a foreigner who was a boyfriend of a female student in his class. This guy, Raymond, was from France and the magic was not quite the usual sorcery used in Thailand. The magic that he learned from this guy had practical uses. He could create visual illusions out of his own imagination and turn them into real objects. Prathep learned quite a lot from Raymond before Raymond left Thailand for Egypt for some business there. Prathep was a genius in learning. Apart from learning legal English, legal Chinese, international law and other mentally demanding subjects, he was practicing this new form of magic, studying the French words he needed to learn the spells, and getting the hang of it very fast. One of Prathep's motivations was to find some loophole in the law to allow his father to fulfill his dream of visiting his neighboring homeland again.

However, once his father died, he lost all motivation to do law, and that was after he graduated and rejected the offer of one of the biggest law firms in Thailand.

Just when the soil was being dug to create space to lower the coffin into the ground, they found the gem. When Prathep came into contact with the gem, the gem itself vanished. Prathep knew the gem had been absorbed into his body, or rather his soul. He could not feel the gem's physical existence at all. It just became part of him. The energy was inside him.

Prathep continued to practice. He realized that he his magical powers had been enhanced. The same spell that he cast in the past now had four times the effect. He could do more things with the same spell. In the past he could only turn cockroaches into frogs. Now he could turn cockroaches into human gangsters. He could steal live chickens from a farm and transform them into human beings that obeyed his will. He even turned a female dog into a human woman, redesigned her to look like a girl in school that he liked, had sex with her, then turned her back into a dog and killed her after that. He tried it on a chicken. So, that meant that men did not need to fork out money for commercial sex. He was getting more perverse as he experimented. Not long after that, he started doing it on human beings, like turning people he didn't like into chickens and then making chicken nuggets out of them.

Prathep continued to research further, and realize that he could bring his father and his father's ex-comrades back to life as undead warriors.

He tried and succeeded.

He went to try out the power of his undead army on terrorists in South Thailand and some gangsters in Bangkok. All within 7 days.

That was when Seishokai was able to track him down in Ipoh, Malaysia, and they sent Cowboy Daybreak alone to find him and get back the gem. Prathep was too dangerous and they could not risk any of their human agents entering Malaysia and getting slaughtered. Daybreak was more of a powerful spiritual entity so he could not be touched. Anyway, Daybreak was all they could count on, because they had no other choice.

Daybreak used his radar to track Prathep all the way to a limestone quarry slightly south of Ipoh before Simpang Pulai. The area that was once a quarry was turned into a temple. It was a temple to honor his father and his comrades who were wiped out by the former British rulers and the people who formed the current ruling parties of Malaysia and Singapore.

The newly erected temple was formed from magically carving statues that appeared to be some underworld deities in Chinese mythology, however the words on a rock at the foot of the statue read as "This is the temple of my father, Tham Meng, and all the revolutionaries who died unjustly in the war for a better future for Malaya and Singapore."

This temple had a visitor.

Prathep turned around just after paying respects to his father at the shrine to look at the visitor.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Prathep asked.

"It doesn't matter who I am!" said Daybreak. "I'm here to take back something that does not belong to you. The green gem in your soul."

"Attack!" Prathep commanded.

A battalion of a dozen men dressed in black cloaks attacked Daybreak with weapons hidden in their sleeves. Daybreak easily turned his body into a non-physical body to avoid being hit by their attacks, then fired a few bolts of lightning from his hands to fry them.

"Not bad! I presume you're not human."

"You're human and you possess enormous talent in magic. You can easily contribute to society with it. Why resort to all these harmful magic and destructive revenge?"

"Why benefit society when it has done nothing for my family except bring them misery? My father died a broken man after being exiled to Thailand by those who made use of him, betrayed him, and caused the deaths of his comrades. All I heard at home was a miserable man who kept complaining about the injustice of a failed revolution and betrayal by his own masters."

"I don't care what injustice your family suffered at that time. Right now, the two countries are enjoying a period of peace and prosperity. The countries and people are quite happy on the whole and doesn't need you to use your powers to plunge them into another period of chaos and hell."

"I don't care what the other people think. All I care is that now I have the power to conquer and rule over the hearts of people with fear. Fear is the only justice now that is fair enough to redress the injustice of a peace the people don't deserve to be living. A peace built on my father's unhappiness."

"Well, I don't care. Your father is not a god and does not represent the people. Now you're going to create a living hell for the people. Is that what you call justice? If that is your justice, for the sake of the people, I shall become a criminal and break your laws, for the justice of the common good."

"Well then, based on my laws, I shall sentence you to…DEATH!"

Prathep then raised a medallion into the air. It was a golden colored medallion that could be held within one's palm which had the Chinese characters 革命幽霊軍隊金牌 which meant "Revolutionary Ghost Army Gold Medal", engraved on it. He then announced in Chinese, 冥府幽軍出動, which meant "Undead Army, Move Out!"

The sky suddenly turned dark and a bolt of lightning struck the ground. At where the bolt struck, something emerged from the ground. They were humanoid beings, but they were larger in size than humans, had rough metallic exoskeleton-like skin and horns on their head. There were easily 10 of them. Giants. Outnumbering Daybreak 10 to 1. And the charged towards him.

Daybreak gulped. How was he going to defeat these 10 giants? After gulping, he spat on the ground, and whatever he spat out just burrowed into the ground. "Alright then, I'll fight you even if it's the last thing I do", he said confidently.

Prathep cheered. "Yes!" Then he retreated into the cave behind the temple.

Further into the cave was a large air well where light shown through, and he saw Daybreak right in front of him, and he was holding a gun.

"What? How did you get in here? Then who are my subordinates fighting?"

"That's also me! A body double who is really good at fighting!" Daybreak pulled the trigger.

Prathep fell as he was hit by the bullet made of energy. His body vibrated and the green gem flew out of his chest as if there was a hole in there.

Outside the cave, the 10 monsters he created from the soil turned into stone and disintegrated, leaving Daybreak's body double outside with nothing to fight.

Cowboy Daybreak then caused the gun in his hand to disappear and be replaced by a sword. "Do you know that without a gem, anything you do is useless against me?"

Prathep then started taunt Daybreak. "You won't kill me, you scum! It is a sin! A crime to kill someone so gifted! I am an elite! A talent! I have a bright future! I am the future of the world and I will be able to make the world a better place. It's such a waste to the world, isn't it?"

Daybreak then poked Prathep's neck with the sword and said, "I don't care how talented you are. You don't deserve to live. If you wanted a bright future, you should have made that choice long ago." Daybreak then slashed Prathep with the sword, absorbing Prathep's wicket soul into the sword and spilling blood on the walls of the cave, then disappeared into thin air leaving Prathep's lifeless body in the cave to rot.

**********************************

Back at Seishokai headquarters, the scientists extracted information from the memory of Prathep's soul and discovered where his teacher, Raymond Delon was hiding. That man was called Raymond Delon Poulain, a Frenchman who was working in the oil industry, and also had a business in videography and photography and the entertainment industry. On top of that, he was a graduate of one of the top magic schools in Paris (not known to the non-magic world). It was discovered that wherever the man went, a number of women in that country would go missing. However, the latest discovery was that the orange gem and white gem were also in Egypt. Could they be in his possession? Could it be a coincidence that the recent discovery of a large oilfield in Egypt by his company be related to the gem?

Professor Takemori told him, "For all you know, he might actually be in possession of the orange gem and used it to create fake oil by turning sea water into temporary oil and selling it for a profit."

Daybreak couldn't agree more. Of course, he was anxious to get all the gems so that he could save the others.

***************************************

The Seishokai intelligence team managed to find the villa at which Raymond was staying in Egypt, and Daybreak was planning to sneak in in the middle of the night. However, halfway there, Daybreak was carried away by a gust of strong wind and ended up at the Temple of Kom Ombo, where he was confronted by this shadowy figure. Daybreak also sensed that the wind around him was moving rather abnormally and was very likely controlled by this shadowy figure.

It was dark and he could not see very well. Before he had time to figure out more what was on his body or what moves he had from his actions. Then suddenly, the dark figure charged at him. Daybreak desperately took out his gun and fired shots of spiritual energy at him, but he missed. However, as those shots were fired, the light from the shot revealed the appearance of his attacker. He was a figure covered in bandages, almost like an Egyptian mummy.

He was in Egypt, and fighting a mummy. That felt like a movie.

That was when Daybreak closed his eyes to try something new: Blind fighting. During the training after he became a novageist, he was forced to train himself while blindfolded so that he could fight in the dark by sensing wind movements, temperature, and other factors.

That was it! It became easier to dodge attacks by this mysterious attacker that way.

However, things were not going to be so simple anymore. The wind movements became more unpredictable and confusing. It was almost as if the wind particles were manipulated to make one punch look like five punches, or make a punch from the left seem like a punch from the rights, making him dodge in the wrong direction and get hit eventually. Eventually Daybreak was pulverized, and had to quickly switch to his non-physical body. Then he leapt behind this guy and then leapt towards him again with a flying kick, switching back to his physical body just in time, sending him flying into a wall.

That was when Daybreak sensed something coming from within this attacker. He had a Bridestone gem within him, but it was not the orange gem. It was the white gem. The gem of wind.

"Tell me! Who are you? Who sent you? Why do you have the gem?" asked Daybreak.

"I am an assassin! My name is Musa, and I am after the head of Raymond Delon for a bounty. I know you are also after him but he is my prey! He's mine!"

"No! His gem is mine, and so is yours! They were originally mine. You helped me to find them. Thank you. Now return it!" Daybreak said.

Musa then said, "Never! This power will make me the most powerful assassin in the Middle East! I will rid our holy land of infidels including you!"

"Did you know that power came from the djinn? Would heaven have a place for you if you relied on the power of a djinn?" Daybreak asked. "What would your almighty think?"

"What? This power is from a djinn?" Musa quickly reached into his pocket and took out the gem. "You must be a djinn! My attacks went through you! That explains it! You can have it back, infidel!" Musa threw the gem back at Daybreak, then he took out a blade and charged at Musa. "Die! You spawn of shaitan!"

Musa maneuvered his blade to cut off Daybreak's head, but Daybreak was quicker. Daybreak caused his sword to materialize in his hand instantly, which he used to slash Musa into two halves. The blade absorbed Musa's soul into a world of captivity that is hardly the world of the harem of virgins that rewards martyrs that he was expecting to go to if he died.

The assassin of wind was defeated. Now it was time to get to the orange gem.

Daybreak eventually found the villa and proceeded all the way to the top floor. He then found himself in a dimly lit room with a faint gothic design and some occultist symbols on the wall and floor.

That was where he found Raymond, standing in the center as if he were waiting for him. He was short, slightly plump, bespectacled, and had slightly curly brown hair.

"What's the meaning of this?" Daybreak asked. It was as if Raymond knew he was coming.

"Hahahahahahha! I am Raymond Delon Poulain, a genius in sorcery with the gift of clairvoyance, which I admit I used to build my fortune. I should thank you for helping me rid my life of that pest. I didn't have to lift a finger."

"Don't thank me! I'm here to do exactly what he wanted to do! As a bounty you're worth a fortune! But all I want is your gem!" Daybreak told him.

"And what makes you think you are capable of taking it from me?" said Raymond in a smug manner.

"What do you mean? Do you have something up your sleeve?" asked Daybreak in a worried manner.

"Oh why should you be concerned? I have only one gem! You have three! You clearly have the advantage!" Raymond said. "Come on! Attack me!"

"Okay, since you say so, I won't hold back!" Daybreak retorted. He took out his gun to shoot a bullet of spiritual energy, but nothing came out. Daybreak tried to shoot fireballs from his hands, but nothing came out. Daybreak tried to use the power of his gems, but they didn't react.

"Hahahahahahaha!" Raymond laughed. The door closed beyond Daybreak.

"No!!!" Daybreak said.

Raymond then retorted. "I think you have just realized it by now that you have stepped into an anti-magic space. You can't use magic here. Only I can.

Daybreak suddenly realized that something coiled round him. It was a giant snake, something like a python. All of a sudden, he screamed in fright as he realized that it was a giant snake. The snake tightened its grip and Daybreak moaned in pain. After that, the snake turned to stone, which was like being tied up with a rope made of stone.

"Cowboy Daybreak!" Raymond said. "I've heard all about you. I've even studied about the legendary novagels. The legendary lovers, Endymion and Selene! All your different personalities connected to the different elements represented by the gems! Your different incarnations throughout history!"

"I don't get you. I don't know any of that!" said Daybreak. There was a brief story told by Professor Moridake about the story of the legendary Endymion and him being the reincarnation of Endymion, but he doesn't remember anything. In addition, Professor Moridake also told him his memories are sealed for the time being so all he needs is to get the Bridestones so that he can save Yumeko's other comrades, who were also supposed to be his family.

"You don't need to know, because you'll be dead soon. I will penetrate this ghostly entity of yours and find out where your original body is, and destroy it from here," Raymond said as he walked towards Daybreak. "First I will penetrate your mind, then absorb your powers and the gems." Raymond then menacingly reached out his right hand to touch the forehead of Cowboy Daybreak.

"NO!" Cowboy shouted in distress. "I'm just having a dream of being a superhero, even though this is real! This is just a dream! Don't get into my real life!"

"Hahahaha!" Raymond caressed Daybreak's forehead in a way that made him cringe. Then, Raymond slapped Daybreak's face. "Stop resisting like a girl whose virginity is about to be taken! You must know that without your powers and your heritage, you're nothing. Your life is worth nothing to me! No one's life is! Once I have your powers, you're more useful to me dead than alive. I will use your skull and the skulls of your comrades as an offering to the supreme masters of Darkrealm, or maybe as fodder for my research."

Daybreak glared at Raymond as he spoke. Raymond's hand drew closer…closer enough for Daybreak to have a bite.

"Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!"

And that bite came with an electric shock…

Raymond screamed as a strong electric current flowed through his body.

The current kept increasing, and the stone snake wrapped round Daybreak's body shattered.

The finger that Daybreak was biting had a ring on it, and he was lucky to bite the ring. Daybreak turned his head hard enough to tear out Raymond's finger and his ring. Raymond screamed again.

The ring on Raymond's hand controlled the spell that limited magic in this chamber. Once that ring (and his finger) were taken off, the spell was broken and Daybreak was free to use his powers.

The strong electric current caused the orange gem to be released from Raymond's soul. Daybreak didn't hesitate to absorb it instead.

"Ha! You won't defeat me that easily!" All of a sudden, Raymond transformed into a swarm of bats that charged at Daybreak and threw him against the wall before escaping through the window.

Daybreak tried to follow him out of the window, but he was gone.

It was night. It suddenly dawned on Daybreak that Raymond was a creature of the night. He was currently on the loose and very dangerous.

But Daybreak had other plans. He had to get to the location of the next gem.

*******************************

Ivy Fortress University, one of the top twenty elite universities in the US, was a crime scene. A number of male students and female students were shot in their dorms. The gunman, Ivan Elias Seymour, killed himself after a shootout with the cops. Investigations have shown that he wrote online that he was driven to do this as a punishment to women for denying him sex while he was the perfect gentlemen, and other guys who are enjoying sex with beautiful women despite being not as perfect as him.

Coincidentally, the pink gem of 'mind' and the blue gem of 'water' was also located there, and Daybreak was sent to find it.

The university was a beautiful place. Beautiful and modern architecture and ample greenery. However, the atmosphere had a lot of negativity generated by anger and hate, and the negativity was being drawn towards a certain direction.

In the middle of campus was the statue of a frog. It was a bronze sculpture named "Grenouille Delon" donated by a person called Raymond Delon Poulain.

Raymond Delon Poulain? Now everything made sense.

The readings on the Bridestone radar was also very strong around this statue. In fact, it was the intensity of two Bridestones. Daybreak did not hesitate to take out a gun to shoot the statue with spiritual energy since everyone was too distraught over the whole incident to take notice of the statue.

The bronze statue shattered, and out came a pink colored humanoid frog. Inside its translucent body were two Bridestone gems. One was pink and the other was blue. They were the mind and water gem.

"So you found me ribbit? In that case I just have to kill you, ribbit!" The frog leapt towards Daybreak to kick him with his long legs, but Daybreak dodged to fire another shot of spiritual energy from his gun.

The bullet of spiritual energy hit the frog in its stomach, but it was only absorbed into his body. The frog cackled with laugher. "That idiot boy, Ivan Elias, tried to stop me by shooting himself, thinking he could kill me! But no! I'll just look for my next vessel! A vessel similar to him, and YOU! Zoner Sun!"

"What? How did you know my…"

"Fool! My master is Monsieur Raymond Delon! He is a clairvoyant and already knows everything! I know everything about how you are bullied in school! I even know everything about how you'll be bullied at work! How you'll be rejected by girls till 30, and eventually remain single all your life! I know how indignant you must feel…"

Daybreak was paralyzed with shock. That was indeed true. The loneliness and humiliation and injustice of seeing other people who bullied others get the girls was not an indignation to be taken lightly.

"I, Grenouille Delon, shall create a similar tragedy in Singapore after I take over your soul!" said Grenoulle Delon as he stuck out his tongue and extended it towards Daybreak.

Daybreak dodged and the frog's tongue struck the pavement like a whip striking the floor, creating a small crater of shattered tiles and stones. Grenouille did the same thing a few times and Daybreak kept dodging, causing lamp posts, trees, benches, and statues to be destroyed. It was only after the fifteenth time that Daybreak managed to grab the tip of Grenouille's tongue with his bare hands.

Daybreak slowly absorbed heat from Grenouille, freezing his tongue all the way to his mouth, and froze the rest of its body, then used the Donki Houtei sword to smash the frozen frog into pieces like shattered glass. After the frog shattered to pieces, the two gems of mind and water were free, and the soul of the frog was absorbed by the Donki Houtei sword.

At that moment, he heard a voice from the soul of the frog demon.

"Remember, human! Even with me defeated, there are many of us who are out to destroy you just like how I destroyed that boy and his friends. You're no hero! You're just a pathetic loser crying to be accepted, just like the boy who gunned down his mates!"

Daybreak closed his eyes, as if to talk to Grenouille. "No, I've already outgrown that. I went through that process but that wonderful person set me free," he said, thinking back of that wonderful moment when Yuko saved him.

Daybreak proceeded to use his psychic powers to probe into the soul of the frog that's held captive inside his sword, and managed to discover where the last gem was located, along with where the escaped Raymond Delon Poulain was.

******************************

Daybreak used the authority given to him as a member of Novamos, a secret clan of intelligence gathering ninjas to enter a secret military base on an island in South Korea located close to North Korean waters.

After speaking with one of the scientists, he found out that Raymond Delon was one of the key founder of the secret research facility located on that island. In fact, the research was actually more on using sorcery as a means to defend South Korea and the surrounding countries from North Korea if North Korea were to declare war on its neighbors.

Halfway through a meeting, the researchers whom Daybreak was having a meeting with suddenly told him that their Chairman was looking for him. That was when Daybreak guessed it was Raymond. Daybreak was looking for him anyway, while Raymond was looking for him.

Raymond had the red gem and Daybreak was here to collect it.

Daybreak was escorted by two soldiers towards the room. Daybreak was wondering, "Seriously, are two soldiers enough?"

They knew he was here to be executed. However, Daybreak was determined to survive it. He would. He didn't have a full physical body after all.

Daybreak walked in, and the door behind him was shut. His escorts didn't follow. It was burning hot. It felt like it was inside a volcano. He saw a metallic structure in the center with the red gem glowing on top of it. All of a sudden, the red gem glowed brightly and emitted strong waves of energy. At the same time, the other six gems that have merged with Daybreak also started to react, causing Daybreak's body to glow.

Daybreak started to cry out in pain. All of a sudden, the red gem disappeared, as it was absorbed into Daybreak's body.

All of a sudden, the metallic structure exploded, causing Daybreak to fly into the metallic wall. Despite the pain, Daybreak got up and walked forward to the debris where the metallic structure stood, and in its place was a thin humanoid figure covered in black body-fitting metallic armor, mask, and helmet, making him look almost like a ninja. Imprinted vertically on his chest plate were the Chinese characters "Gui Yan" (鬼厳), where gui (鬼) meant demon and yan (厳) meant severe, making him literally a severe demon.

Daybreak asked, "Who are you?"

The ninja-like humanoid answered in Japanese, "Kigon de gozaru (I am Kigon)".

Kigon then assumed a fighting stance, recited a phrase "Imjeon Mutwi", and then dashed forward so quickly that Daybreak did not have time to react when Kigon delivered a flying kick that sent him flying. Daybreak reacted in time to match up to his opponent's speed. Kigon's movements and moves were swift as lightning, and every movement of his generated a gust of wind. Daybreak tried to punch, but Kigon was behind him in a second. Before Daybreak could turn around, Kigon had grabbed him by the head and rammed it against the steel wall.

Raymond then appeared out of nowhere, levitating above the ground in the two story high chamber in his black military uniform with silver shoulder pads, wrist pads, shin guards, and a crimson red cape. Raymond laughed mockingly at the fight. "Pathetic, Daybreak! I was expecting better! How do you like my new living weapon? I developed it under the name Kwiyeom (鬼厳/귀엄) as a secret weapon for South Korea against North Korea in case a war breaks out."

Raymond recalled the time he discovered Kigon sealed away in suspended animation inside a cave in Japan. He was actually Kim Wonsul, a Hwarang (a member of an elite group of warriors during that era) and general of the Silla Kingdom, one of the ancient Three Kingdoms of Korea, actually disappeared without a trace after defeating the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty in China who were invading Silla. Still ashamed to face his family over a shameful defeat many years before, he disappeared. He ended up in Japan and was captured by some heretic mountain hermit clans that were the early predecessors of ninjas during the Asuka Period (although there were no real records of ninjas until the Muromachi Period in 1336). He ended up learning their magic and 'ninja' skills, and activated a spell that transformed him into an undead warrior and put him in suspended animation by mistake. Raymond found him and activated him. He had no memory of his past, and became blindly loyal to whoever found him. He was the perfect weapon for Raymond.

Kigon was supposed to be a Japanese ninja by training, but he still remembered the five commandments of the Hwarang Warriors. One of them was "Imjeon Mutwi (임전무퇴 / 臨戰無退)", which literally meant to "never retreat in battle".

Kigon threw a spearhead attached to a rope that was tied round his hand, and the spearhead found its way into Daybreak's chest. Daybreak writhed in pain, but Kigon showed no mercy. "Yogiewara (Korean for 'Come over here')", he shouted, and then pulled the rope and swung Daybreak against the wall. Daybreak's chest was a fountain of blood. Luckily neither his blood nor body was real. Daybreak got up though he struggled to stand. "Bridestones", he said while coughing blood. "Lend me your strength!" His body started glowing. Daybreak then charged forward. Kigon threw the spearhead at Daybreak again. Since the spearhead was attached to a rope that was attached to Kigon's hand, Daybreak grabbed the spearhead, then did the same thing to Kigon, which was to hoist him up into the air and swing him towards the wall. He did this a few times till Kigon's armor cracked. What existed behind that armor was mortifying. He was literally a specter, a living corpse without skin, which only has meat on the bones. His head was nothing but a skull. He didn't even have any eyeballs.

"He doesn't have any eyeballs either. How on earth does he see?" thought Daybreak.

Kigon dashed forward towards Daybreak, breathing clouds of fire at him. Daybreak called out to his fire gem, "Fire Bridestone, lend me your strength!"

Immediately, his right hand was generating a flame, and that flame was protecting Daybreak from the damaging effects of Kigon's fire. Daybreak strengthened the intensity of his own flame, pushing back Kigon's flame back to him. Kigon started burning until only his bones that were left collapsed onto the ground and continued to burn until only ash remained.

"Alright, you're next, Raymond Delon!"

"Hahahaha! I think you misunderstood the situation, you inferior ghost! Let's have a little talk about history, shall we?"

"What do we have to talk about?" retorted Daybreak.

"I wonder if you have read about Gilles de Rais, a notorious serial child murderer in the history of France who also fought alongside the famous Joan of Arc," said Raymond. "I suppose you don't since you don't study French history in great detail. Gilles de Rais was me in my past life!"

"I'm not that into history. So what of it?" asked Daybreak.

"Did you know why I killed children, and lots of them?" asked Raymond

"How would I know?" asked Daybreak.

"I needed to summon a demon to help me restore my wealth, and I was told by my cleric, Monsieur François Prelati that I needed the body parts of young children."

"What the hell?" asked Daybreak.

"What I didn't know was that Monsieur Prelati was actually Lord Jeblis himself in human form when he was banished from Darkrealm to the human world," said Raymond.

"What? Jeblis? You know him?" Daybreak was shocked. He recalled that it wasn't too long ago when Daybreak himself defeated Jeblis in his dimension together with Yuko.

"That's right! He is the source of my power! When I was executed by hanging, my soul belonged to Jeblis ever since. He gave me a chance to be reborn again as a human, learn magic, and summon magic far more powerful than before using his grimoire, which I managed to acquire in the library at the magic school where I studied."

"You sick demon!" scolded Daybreak while he clenched his fists.

"The power of his grimoire grew over time, and I was able to summon demons to make me rich and allow me to acquire the pleasures in the world that any man would desire," said Raymond. "Money, power, fame, women, and assets! But I sought more power! The power of the Bridestones! The power of the novagels! That was beauty that I could never obtain!"

"You're not fit to obtain anything, you monster!" scolded Daybreak.

"I deserve everything I have fought to acquire! I sacrificed my parents, my siblings, my wife and daughter to obtain this power! It was well fought for! I have everything now and I don't regret it! The Bridestones that you have will give me eternal life and eternal youth! I will become an asset to Lord Jeblis through my eternal life and rule of Earth."

"You rely on a demon to rule the world and you're proud of it?" asked Daybreak. "You disgust me! You're just a slave to the devil!"

"You're no better yourself! As a novagel you have demon blood in you! What right do you have to claim you are pure and righteous? You lived a life of pleasure too, haven't you?"

"No! You're wrong!" scolded Daybreak. "I don't care who I am or what's in my blood, but I know very well that whatever I do, I will do it to save the people I love, and keep the innocent safe from harm." However, deep down he was already curious about what he is, even though Master Garaya told him he was a revolutionary being that contained the cells of humans, angels, and demons in one body.

"You don't remember, that's all, but that's okay. You're going to perish anyway." Raymond raised his hand into the air, and caused a very large red spherical cocoon to appear near the ceiling. Daybreak could tell from the red translucent cocoon that Jeblis was inside. "Force Majeure!" Raymond commanded. The cocoon then shrunk to the size of a tennis ball, fell into the hand of Raymond who absorbed the ball.

Raymond started to emit a light pinkish glow from his body. All of a sudden, the surrounding started to crack as if it were a piece of glass. The steel walls, the steel floor…everything! As if it wasn't real in the first place. After that, the surrounding just shattered as if it was some sort of glass panel, only to reveal another world within it…an arid desert surrounded by the ruins of ancient European civilization, probably Roman or Greek.

Standing opposite him was Raymond. Nothing changed about his appearance, except that he could feel a stronger aura from him. He laughed triumphantly and said, "Lord Jeblis has absorbed all your novagel friends! Now we have your powers! We don't need your Bridestones! Once I destroy the Bridestones, your chance to evolve into Novas or Supernovas permanently will be gone."

The legend is such that once the novagels merge to form a Nova and the transformation is permanent, the Bridestones will disintegrate and become one with the Nova forever. Daybreak had heard about it from Master Garaya before but he didn't understand what that means. Garaya only ended off by saying, "Once you're awakened, all your memories will be unsealed and it will all make sense to you." Daybreak was all the more curious, which is also why he is eager to collect the Bridestones and solve the mystery. At this point, Daybreak's physical form and strength was significantly enhanced by the Bridestone gems. However, as a novageist, if he were to be located at a dimension that physically separates him from where his host body is located, his novageist would disintegrate and the Bridestones will scatter all over the Earth again, just like what happened to Yuko when she fought Jeblis inside his dimension. Daybreak's soul shall return to Zoner Sun, his host body, just like how Yuko returned to her host body, Annabelle Lee.

"If I want to win, I have to defeat him quickly, or else I will disintegrate in 3 hours", thought Daybreak.

Daybreak fired a few fireballs at Raymond. Raymond jumped into the air, glowed bright red, then flapped his cape, recited the spell "Blood Legion", and released a horde of vampire bats from his chest. The swarm of bats homed in on Daybreak. Daybreak had to leap backwards to dodge the bats that crashed onto the ground where he stood and exploded as if a bomb had exploded right there. Daybreak then fired a few more fireballs at Raymond to knock him out of the sky.

Raymond then descended from the sky and few towards his like a missile while extending his fists forward to deliver a flying punch to Daybreak. Daybreak then dodged in an instant like he was teleporting.

Daybreak and Raymond went on like this for another half an hour dodging each other's attacks. However, just as Raymond got tired and decided to land on the ground, which he did, Daybreak appeared out of nowhere and pummeled him to the ground. Raymond then vanished instantly and appeared around 500 meters away and started levitating into the sky. He then used the "Blood Legion" spell again to create a horde of vampire bats out of nowhere and direct them against Daybreak. Daybreak started charging a ball of energy in his hand. The legion of bats swarmed towards him like an advancing snake. That was when the ball of energy in Daybreak's hand was large enough to be fired. Daybreak recited "Piece".

The legion of bats were getting closer, almost halfway through their trajectory path towards him.

"De…"

The legion of bats were almost less than 2 meters away from him. In 2 seconds they would collide with Daybreak…

"RESISTANCE!"

Daybreak released the ball of energy towards the swarm of bats, wiping them out, and knocking Raymond out of the sky.

"Mer…de", Raymond cussed 'shit' in French as he fell to the ground. When he got up, he wasted no time in generating a red sphere from his right hand.

"Now I'll let you behold my final technique! I'll just transform into a spherical being that would destroy all matter in this dimension, including you! Through this dimension, I will discard my body and use this sphere to absorb you to evolve into a superior lifeform!" said Raymond, and then chanted "Ouroboros!"

The sphere enlarged and Raymond dived upwards into it, and then allowed his body to disintegrate once he was inside.

"Wow, is he so desperate to die", Daybreak thought.

The red enlarged sphere called "Ouroboros" started to move around on its own. It started out with moving in circles. Along its trajectory course, it vaporized any form of matter it touched.

The Ouroboros moved around randomly and almost hit Daybreak on many occasions. Daybreak was having a hard time trying to avoid touching it or letting it collide into him, otherwise his body would be gone in a second. At the same time, he was trying to find a way to destroy the Ouroboros. Daybreak fired a few fireballs at the Ouroboros, but the fireballs just bounced off. However, Raymond's dimension still existed, which meant that Raymond was still alive even though his body was destroyed.

"Zoner! Zoner!" Daybreak heard a voice. It sounded like…Yuko.

"Use Donki Houtei! It has power that only you can unleash, since it is linked to your power! Focus your energy on the sword and either use it to slash Raymond or try to cut your way out of that dimension! Ouroboros only works inside that dimension, and he won't revert back to normal for 5 hours but you can't last that long in there! But once you cut your way out of that dimension, he's power will be weakened. It's your only chance! Nothing else would work if this doesn't!"

"Okay here does it!" thought Daybreak, and he started to channel his energy into the sword. He was starting to feel weaker but this was a chance he had to take. He suddenly felt some pain within him, and he also felt some other form of energy being channeled from within him into the sword. The flow of energy was creating a feeling of pain, like an electric shock.

After that, Daybreak checked the dimension for a place where he can slash to damage the dimensional fabric. This dimension was a Dreamscape Reality, according to what Master Garaya taught him. All Dreamscape Realities were spherical. When the Ouroboros moved around, sometimes it would be far from the border of the dimension, and sometimes it would be near the border. All dimensions were weakest at their borders, and once enough damage was inflicted on the border, he could open a dimensional rift and break out of it. Once Raymond chased him out of that dimension, he would revert to his mortal form and become vulnerable.

When Ouroboros was orbiting around the dimension, Daybreak noticed something. When Ouroboros was close to the border, contact with the border would not destroy it. The Ouroboros ate matter but not anything nonphysical. Earlier whatever fireballs he fired at it just bounced off, even though the buildings made of rock simply disappeared upon contact. Just when the distance between Daybreak and Ouroboros. Ouroboros and energy based objects or beings didn't go well together.

Daybreak started switching to his non-physical form and flew towards the border. Ouroboros, on sensing this, followed him. Daybreak waited patiently, and Ouroboros came forward, almost cornering him to the border of the dimension. Daybreak leapt off the wall of the dimension. He tried to get behind the Ouroboros, but his feet accidentally touched it. Surprisingly, he bounced off, as if he were stepping on rubber. This actually proved his theory. Ouroboros and energy did not react with each other.

This was his chance. He changed back to his physical form so that his sword will turn physical and become usable. It wasn't usable in its intangible state since it could not cut anything. Daybreak summoned his energy into the sword despite the painful sensation, and slashed the air hard enough to create a vacuum-based energy projectile. That projectile struck both Ouroboros and the border of the dimension. The dimension started to crack. Just as Ouroboros transformed back into Raymond, the energy released from the projectile that struck it electrocuted Raymond, causing him to disintegrate. Raymond screamed. "Noooooooooooooo!!!"

Daybreak flew out of the dimension, and found himself levitating a few meters above the surface of the ocean.

Daybreak then checked his sword and realized that the souls of Raymond, Jeblis, and 18 other souls were absorbed by the sword.

All of a sudden, there was a red flash of energy in front of him. Garaya teleported to where he was, levitating over the ocean offshore Korea.

"A splendid job well done if I should say so myself!" said Garaya. "Now, we must hurry back for the ritual to return everyone back to life!"