Strongest Nova: Path of Vengeance

Chapter 316: Memories

Stanley focused on the voice upon hearing his name. He couldn’t see anyone, but he recognized that voice. And from that alone, he could tell who was in front of him, yet hidden.

"Sheila?" he called out, slowly getting up from the man below him.

He felt two arms wrap around him immediately and what was hidden was revealed to him.

"You’re alive!" she shouted as she began crying. "Thank god you’re alive."

Stanley was stunned. Sheila was here.

He could not understand why or how she was here, not that he cared. He was so very happy to see her.

His single arm wrapped around her, holding her tightly.

How long had it been since he had seen her? He couldn’t remember anymore. It had been such a long time ago that he had been sent out on a secret mission and months had passed during that time.

He finally had the chance to see her again. Only now did he realize how much he had missed her.

"Sheila... what are you doing here?" he asked, letting go of her. "What is the AAA doing here?"

"Do you know where you are?" Sheila asked.

"Yes, I think," Stanley said. "This has something to do with the Silent Nexus doesn’t it?"

Sheila nodded. "And we finally found them right at their home. We are launching a full-blown assault on them," she said. She looked at him again and finally noticed his missing arm.

"Did that happen in the explosion?" she asked.

"No, before that," Stanley said.

"Alright," Sheila said. "Don’t worry, Amy can get it back for you."

Stanley was surprised. "Amy can regrow my arm?" he asked.

Sheila smirked. "You don’t know much of what Amy can do yet, do you? You’ll see," she said, finally moving away from him. She returned to the darkness, all perception around her becoming limiting as everyone found it hard to notice her. Her concealment powers were amazing.

"We need to continue," Sheila said. "Gray is taking care of most of it, but we still need to find the person that improves their powers and kill them."

Stanley nodded. "Give me your hand," he reached out.

Sheila was confused but she grabbed his hand nonetheless. Instantly, Stanley saw began seeing the past.

He saw flashes. Compared to an inanimate object, a person was different. They placed more importance on some memories than others, and Stanley only now realized that he could use that to quickly look through her stronger memories, even though that was not what he had planned.

He saw her meeting with someone important along with Gray. He saw her watching the explosion of East Vanli on the large screen. He saw the night when they had run away from the Shadow Nova.

He saw her fighting the Shadow Nova. He saw her watch in horror the destruction of her moving into the city. More and more images flashed.

He saw blood pooled up on the floor, reaching knee-high. He saw her alone, surrounded by corpses that towered, and a man who stood at the center, his eye crimson.

The memories before that were nearly nonexistent, as though she did not want to remember them.

Stanley focused, quickly pulling himself out of what he was being shown, and tried to see what he wanted. The more recent information. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder what the last one was.

Stanley checked the more recent memories and understood who among all had come. Among the forces, the ones that mattered that had come were 2 of the 5 and Gray.

The berserker Hank and Ella who could put people to sleep with a whistle had come. They were quite frightening to fight against, and of course, there was Gray.

He saw how they had teleported to this ship and then begun their assault. Sheila was tasked with finding the person who improved everyone’s power.

Stanley let go of her hand and nodded. He finally understood most of the situation.

Sheila took back her hand in confusion, looking around. Only then did she seem to notice Stella who was hiding at the back. "Who is that?" she asked.

Stanley looked back. "She was in the death game with me, run by the nexus. We escaped, but there were more people on the island. We need to get them after this. Most of them are criminals anyway."

Sheila nodded and quickly wrote something into her wrist pad. "Let’s go. We need to hurry."

She got the two people on the floor back up, introducing Stanley as one of AAA’s individuals. They had heard of him but had never seen him. Not to mention, they had heard he had died.

They apologized, but Stanley didn’t hold it against them.

"Do you know where to go?" he asked Sheila.

"No," Sheila said. "That’s why we are roaming everywhere."

Stanley thought for a moment and placed his hand on the metal wall next to him. Memories flashed through his mind, too quick to gather anything.

"This section is not it," he said. "Nobody big comes through here."

"Oh?" Sheila said. "How do you know?"

"The explosion killed a lot of people, so now I have more powers," Stanley said with an awkward smile.

"Right..." Sheila said. "I forgot you were... never mind. Let’s go."

They quickly walked in the direction Sheila had come from, this time Stanley moving at the front, with Stella and Sheila in the center, while the remaining two moved at the back.

They came across another section where the shield had gone up once again.

"Here, let me," the man who could create noises to fluctuate the shield moved forward, but Stanley waved him back.

"No need," he said and swung his sword. A single swing was all he needed to destroy not just the shield but also the metal that accompanied it.

The two men and Sheila were wide-eyed at the sight. "How did you get so strong?" Sheila asked.

"I didn’t," Stanley said. "It’s the sword. You have her to thank for this."