WarUlt

/xpand/rost
__TOC__
== Story ==
=== Chapter 1 ===
With no fanfare, Reiji Arisu and Xiaomu find themselves in Kawanakajima. As a group of monsters begin attacking them, the two begin to do their duty and begin an investigation, meeting Yukimura Sanada, Kunoichi, and Nobuyuki Sanada in the process, who are also fighting against the monsters. As they cut through the monsters attacking them, the group comes to discover Ghirahim and Lu Bu leading the opposing army. While Ghirahim flees from the scene, Lu Bu charges in as he sets out to challenge powerful warriors from other universes. Though they manage to take out the general's lover Diaochan and do some damage to the Han Dynasty general, once he sees their strength to be formidable he manages to take the group out with one attack. Knowing they'd not be able to take out someone of Lu Bu's strength, the group suddenly see themselves teleported out of Kawanakajima, appearing inside of a regal castle.
The group of five are shocked to find themselves in a new area, and immediately turn their blades towards a girl with blue hair. Introducing herself as Lana, she explains as much about the situation as she is aware of: they, and several others, have been brought into a pocket dimension filled with a chaotic and negative energy. Though she is a powerful sorceress, her power has been weakened within this new realm so she is trying to locate powerful energy sources in order to enhance her powers; this is why she saved the Reiji and the others, as they gave off a large amount of energy that she was trying to track down so she could return everyone to their original worlds. Yukimura believes her story and he, along with his brother and Kunoichi, pledge their aid to her.
Hesitant to trust Lana after having just met her, Reiji and Xiaomu begin to leave the castle they find themselves in, only to wander into an group of monsters invading Hyrule Castle. Led by Nemesis and Fang the Sniper, the monster army pushes the group back towards the castle which forces Lana to join the fight despite her lack of magic. As more monsters are summoned into battle, Lana decides to take a massive risk and uses her remaining magic to devastate the invading forces with a blast of energy, which causes Nemesis to flee. Unable to be of any more use as she needs to restore her powers, Lana retreats to the castle and begins trying to pinpoint more powerful sources of energy as the others fight off the remaining stragglers. As Fang the Sniper is defeated and taken hostage, Reiji and Xiaomu escort Lana back to the castle, now trusting of her. The others interrogate Fang, though the weasel shares no valuable intel with them as he too had only recently appeared in this world and joined with Nemesis for protection. Fang decides to pledge allegiance to Yukimura, though the others are hesitant to trust him.
Xiaomu tries to give Lana some of her power, though this is unsuccessful. Fortunately Lana reveals that she knows the location of several more sources of magical energy, which she had been planning to investigate after saving Yukimura and his group. In response, the warriors split up into two groups - Xiaomu, Reiji, and Fang in one group, and the Sanada brothers and Kunoichi in the other - to try and locate the magic Lana senses.
Reiji and his group travel north, ending up in a place that looks remarkably like the Shibuya they know of. Though they don't understand the reason for it being there, they know that it mustn't be the same city they work in due to one major difference: a large purple crystal embedded in the ground and raising to the sky. Knowing that must be the source of the magic, the group plans to approach it but notice a group of monsters protecting it. With Xiaomu ensuring the others that she can transport the magic to Lana, they decide to formulate a plan of attack. This planning session is cut short as they notice Viewtiful Joe and Axel Stone trying to protect themselves from those protecting Shibuya and they jump in to aid them and clear out the enemies. At the helm of the enemy army is Zant, who flees as Reiji's group enter the battle.
Meanwhile, Yukimura's group find themselves in an icy canyon as they travel east. Like the other group, they find another giant crystal protruding from the ground, with this one also being protected. Yukimura blindly rushes in to fight the group in order to help Lana, leaving Kunoichi and Nobuyuki to chase after him, though they are too slow to help him. Yukimura is surrounded as he approaches the crystal, and his allies unable to save him as he is attacked by a metallic beast known as Chariot. As they try to approach him, they are continually pushed back which lowers their morale as Yukimura is beat down. Luckily, he is saved from death by Robin and Lucina, who aid in pushing Chariot back and cause him and the army to retreat. To Yukimura's group Robin explains that he was curious about the magic he sensed and came to investigate it, and the Sanada offers his thanks for their aid.
Xiaomu and Robin both examine their respective crystals and find that they are overflowing with an unfamiliar power to them. They then use their magical powers to channel small amounts of the giant crystal's energy into small fragments that have scattered near the giant one. With a small collection of energy in their possession, both groups begin their return trip to Lana.
While the Sanada's group returns with no difficulties, Reiji and his group are attacked part-way by Lu Bu's army as they pass through a grassy battlefield. Unable to fight properly as they need to protect their stash of crystals, the group decides to simply retreat and try to avoid combat altogether. Unfortunately a ninja affiliated with Lu Bu, Hibana, manages to steal the crystal cache, leading Reiji and his allies to track her down and reclaim what was stolen. With some trouble they manage to avoid Lu Bu's rage long enough to defeat Hibana, but not before Ghirahim appears in one last ditch effort to prevent the group from escaping. Along with him, Fang also defects to Lu Bu's army with some crystals of his own, and Reiji's group fight the two of them in order to escape. They manage to do so without needing to deal with Lu Bu, but Fang escapes with his collection of crystals before they can be reclaimed.
All of the warriors regroup at Hyrule Castle and give Lana the crystals they collected, which allows her to restore her magical power enough to join them in battle. Wanting to learn more about the strange crystals, Lana and the group set off towards another site - apparently a new source of magic that appeared while the group was away. This source ends up being Aytolis City, where a battle is already taking place. The battle appears to be between a small army led by Rowan and Lianna, who are defending the town from an attack led by Lu Lingqi and Black Tiger. Lana's army decide to ally with Rowan and Lianna, and help them protect the town and yet another giant crystal protruding from the castle behind them. Their efforts are unsuccessful however as Lu Lingqi sets fire to the town. As a fire ravages the battlefield, Lana's army decides to retreat back the way they came, surrendering their chance at investigating this crystal. As they push to escape Aytolis City, the group encounters Asuka, who cuts down some of the enemies in the group's way as she aids their escape.
Returning back to their camp at Hyrule Castle, the small group welcomes Asuka into their ranks decide to go over all of the information that they have about this strange world: that it is a collage of areas stolen from other worlds, and it seems as though a large amount of other people have also been brought to this world; and may have been here for a significant amount of time. They also investigate some of the small crystal shards, and Asuka reveals that she had seen another giant crystal on an island just after being brought into this world. Before investigating that however, Lana suggests they return to Shibuya - an area that Reiji and Xiaomu are familiar with - in order to try and find out any clues that may explain why they were brought here.
Though the group follow their tracks back towards where Shibuya should be, they instead come upon Furuwatari Castle in the midst of a large-scale battle. Leading the two armies are cats, something that surprises Lana's army as they are suddenly attacked by both forces. During the battle, Lana's group fight against armies led by Nobunyaga Oda and Mona, and they come to learn that they had merely invaded a battle to decide who would lead their army; though with the appearance of Lana's army and the fact that they manage to defeat the two cats, they both (reluctantly) agree that perhaps Lana is the most fit to lead them. Together the cat armies - Nobunyaga Oda, Nyanmaru Mori, Mona, and Jibanyan - make truce and explain that they had been summoned to this world and attacked by a group of monsters, but Mona and Nobunyaga could not handle taking orders from one another and thus their feud extended long after the monsters retreated.
Exiting the grounds of Furuwatari Castle, the expanding army finally reach their destination of Shibuya. This time however, the city is drastically different from it's original appearance, as darkness now looms over the chained city. Before Reiji and Xiaomu can even question the change in surrounding, the army is split up as Shadows appear and half of the group is teleported across the battlefield. Axel, Jibanyan, Lucina, and Nobuyuki - the only ones who had not been teleported away - make it their mission to rescue their allies from the attacking Shadows. They manage to isolate most of their group with ease but as the Shadows begin fleeing, they notice that they had lost Yukimura and Lana. They need not make any effort to find them however, as they encounter the two of them fighting against a colossal suit of armour, Nightmare, in an isolated part of the city. They are losing against the monster, at least until Reiji and Xiaomu rush to aid the two.
Nightmare launches another attack at the army - a beam of red energy that cleaves the very earth in two - and the group judge that they are unable to defeat him at this time. Knowing this, they begin a new effort: to retreat back to Furuwatari Castle in order to form a strategy to defeat Nightmare. The monster does not let them go easily however, summoning monsters to prevent the army's escape and slowly chasing them down with his demonic blade. As the group make their way back out of the twisted Shibuya, Mona senses something and disappears from the battlefield, leaving his allies behind. Mona reappears as the group near their escape route, with Joker, Skull, and Panther in tow. With the new back-up, Lana's army manage to push back Nightmare's powerful army of monsters enough to allow them to retreat safely with the hope that Nightmare will not follow them.
Regrouping at Furuwatari Castle, Joker, Panther, and Skull introduce themselves and the group begin forming a plan. Knowing Nightmare has an army of monsters with him, Robin suggests trying to capture the outside of the city and lighting the inner city on fire. Though the others agree that this plan could work to defeat the monster, Rowan points out that others may be trapped within the city first. In order to make sure the city is empty of any civilians first, Rowan takes Yukimura and Kunoichi with him as a scouting party in the hopes of protecting anyone else who may have been summoned into this world before Robin and the rest of the group follow suit.
As Rowan, Yukimura, and Kunoichi reach the dark version of Shibuya, they notice that they had been followed the entire way by Jibanyan. Knowing the cat did not listen to the plan they had concocted, they watch as Jibanyan rushes into Shibuya with no care for his safety, so the other three follow him in haste. Alerting the enemies that they had arrived, the four then begin searching for any civilians who may be trapped in the city; they encounter four. Protecting them from Nightmare's army, Rowan escorts them out of Shibuya as Yukimura and Kunoichi protect him and Jibanyan runs wild. The four civilians are escorted easily, and the others arrive shortly thereafter and begin to light fires around the city's perimeter. As the fires are lit, Jibanyan rushes towards Nightmare and the others are forced to chase after him so he doesn't get defeated in battle. Rescuing Jibanyan, the group fight the weakened Nightmare as he is choked by flames but are still unable to defeat him so they are once again forced to flee.
The group rushes for safety but this time Nightmare stops them, standing in their way as the group begins running away. Forced into a fight against the monster, Lana senses a dark energy radiating from Nightmare and wonders if she could weaken him using one of the crystals that the others recovered due to the power they hold, though dislikes not being able to use it to sustain her own powers. As the group engage Nightmare again, Lana readies her plan; once the group holds off Nightmare for long enough, her plan is executed. Nightmare is significantly weakened by the crystal's power as she channels it's power into a devastating blast of magic, and the rest manage to take him down after the success of his plan. Nightmare collapses as he is damaged, but is consumed in a red energy as he crumbles, fading away as he does so. Believing him to be truly defeated everyone rejoices, but their celebration is cut short as they hear a sound from above.
Seeing a large pink crystal, not unlike the others, on a crash-course with the earth, the group brace for impact as they move out of the way. The crystal collides with the ground, it's tip shattering on impact; the spray of crystals flies away from most of the group, with the exception of Yukimura, who is on the opposite side of the crystal. Needing to be protected from the crystal's shrapnel, Kunoichi jumps in the way and is injured by the tiny shards, flying away as she absorbs the impact. Despite taking so many shards, Kunoichi shows no wounds as the crystals are absorbed into her body and she falls comatose from the pain. Yukimura, grateful for her help, picks her up and leads the others back to Furuwatari Castle to treat her.
As the group returns to Furuwatari Castle, Lana takes Kunoichi after sensing a great deal of energy within her. Leaving the others, Nobunyaga leads Lana into the castle as they look for a good place to treat Kunoichi. While they are gone, the Phantom Thieves question how they ended up inside a Jail and decide to return to Shibuya to see if it has a King residing in it; Reiji also decides to follow, in order to look into clues regarding the Shibuya he and Xiaomu were in before, while Rowan joins them in case a fight were to break out. Aster they leave, Lianna decides to return to Aytolis City to see if anything survived the fires set to the city, and Viewtiful Joe decides to protect her in this endeavour.
Lianna and Viewtiful Joe make it back to Aytolis City with no issues, and are shocked to find the city completely fine; as if it had never been burned down. Though no civilians reside in the village, Lu Bu's army has set up camp in the abandoned city. Wanting to protect her home, Lianna decides to fight against Lu Lingqi and Lu Bu in an attempt to push the monsters out of the city. Though Lu Lingqi and Black Tiger are easily defeated by Lianna and Joe, Lu Bu is too tough for them. Though the attacks do not faze Lu Bu, Ghirahim appears and cuts the fight short, something which Lu Bu agrees with as he sees the two as too weak for him. Ghirahim and Lu Bu leave the city with no more qualms.
Meanwhile the Phantom Thieves arrive at Shibuya; just as with Aytolis, this group too are surprised to find that the gloomy Shibuya is undamaged by the fires that had been set. With a giant crystal now sticking out of the landscape here too, the group are surprised to find that an army led by Mitsunari Ishida is investigating the crystal. The strange new army decides to launch an attack against the Phantom Thieves, and Mitsunari orders Takamaru and Sakura Amamiya to fight against their enemies, though they are quickly disposed of. Seeing their forces at a loss, Mitsunari orders his army to retreat as the Phantom Thieves close in on him. The group defeat him but allow him to escape as they instead set their sights on looking for the King of Shibuya's Jail. Though he is confused about their actions, Mitsunari flees as he knows he is beat but vows he will get revenge. Watching Mitsunari's army go, Mona then announces that it's time to find their King and the group begins their search.
Back at Furuwatari Castle, the remaining members of the army try to decide what their next goal should be while Lana examines the comatose Kunoichi. Their planning session is interrupted as Nyanmaru returns to the group in a panic, explaining that an army is heading their way. Asuka quickly goes to confirm the report while Nobuyuki and Robin begin rallying the others and forming a strategy. Their attempt to plan is cut short as monsters invade the town around them. Yukimura, depressed about bringing harm to Kunoichi, casts his doubts away as he rushes to the front lines to begin pushing back the monsters. Asuka, who returns to the group as the invasion begins, reports that Nightmare is leading the charge, spurring confusion in the group. They don't have much time to question the situation around them as the village is lit ablaze in a manner not dissimilar to their previous strategy, stirring panic among the warriors as Yukimura is separated by the blaze.
The group manage to evacuate some of the cat-civilians inhabiting the city while fighting off Nightmare's army, but are unable to discern both the location of the commander and Yukimura. Lana and Nobunyaga reappear to the group as the flames engulf the town and report that they'd managed to bring Kunoichi to safety and are willing to join the fight, and Nobunyaga leads Nyanmaru as the two push through the flames to aid Yukimura. As the two push through the burning city they find Nightmare and Yukimura locked in combat, but still walled off by deadly flames. The two watch as Yukimura is knocked around by the monstrous armour, clearly unable to win, and plan to aid him. They are cut short as, while a grounded Yukimura is about to be finished off by Nightmare, a bright pink figure emerges from the flames and saves the samurai: Kunoichi. Seemingly powered up by magic, Kunoichi throws her blades at Nightmare before leaping into him and retrieving them in the process, dealing a significant amount of damage to him. The others regroup with Nobunyaga and Nyanmaru as they rush through the flames to help Kunoichi, their morale boosted seeing that she's ok and Nightmare has been weakened.
With Kunoichi's help, the group manage to defeat Nightmare for a second time, and the monster once again fades away in dark red energy. The monsters begin fleeing as some of Nobunyaga's men begin putting the fires out, a calm rushes over the battlefield as Kunoichi tearfully reunites with Yukimura as the village burns around them.
=== Chapter 2 ===
Lianna and Viewtiful Joe decide to make their way back towards Furuwatari Castle and report back to Rowan that Aytolis City has somehow been unharmed after being burned down. As they leave the city in the direction they came from, the two find the landscape to have completely changed and they enter ThornTail Hollow, a battle raging in the city. One army, led by the tyrannical Dong Zhuo, chases after Sterkenberg Cranach and Princess Peach, and Lianna and Joe quickly jump to their aid. As Sterk and Peach are overwhelmed, Lianna and Joe assist them by focusing their energy on Dong Zhou himself. Dashing through the village, Lianna and Joe are attacked by Wario, and his strength deters them. Lianna and Joe's efforts to assist are further hindered as Dong Zhuo launches a full-out assault on the two, with the warlord himself entering the fray. Even as Sterk and Peach manage to fight their way towards the others, they are no match for Dong Zhuo's army. Just when it seems as though all hope is lost, two figures appear to help take down the seemingly-supercharged Dong Zhuo and Wario: Lars Alexanderrson and Hajime Arima. With the additional help, Dong Zhuo and Wario are forced to flee.
As the group introduce each other, Lars and Hajime reveal a shocking fact that explains why Peach was targeted by Dong Zhuo's army: in an effort to create his Grand Paradise, Jiǔ​chí​ròu​lín, Dong Zhuo's army has been travelling around this strange world and capturing any woman they come across. Lars and Hajime reveal that they had been working on concocting a plan to free the captives, and ask Lianna, Joe, Sterk, and Peach for assistance.
The six head towards Dong Zhuo's base of operations in Luoyang, and pass through the Forgotten Nursery on their way. As they pass through the abandoned field, the group is ambushed by a small force led by Sun Wukong. Wukong's forces surround the group, but are easily dispatched by Lianna's group. Enjoying the challenge, Sun Wukong goes into hiding as a number of his clones appear around the battlefield. Once all of his clones are dealt with, Wukong's back-up arrives in the form of Bark the Polar Bear and Bean the Dynamite. Despite the reinforcements, Lianna, Joe, Sterk, Peach, Hajime, and Lars easily disperse with Wukong's army, leaving only the monkey behind. Sun Wukong, too, is easily defeated and he flees in the direction of Luoyang. Assuming Sun Wukong has connections to Dong Zhuo, the group give chase with the goal of interrogating the monkey.
As Sun Wukong is chased down, he ducks into a nearby cave. The group easily catch up to Sun Wukong's group as he stops in front of another army. Thinking his pursuers foresaw his actions, Wukong commends Lianna's group but they are equally as confused about the sight of Nobunaga Oda and his army. Nobunaga orders his army to destroy the entrance to the cave, explaining that the radioactive substances within the cave do not harm Genma such as him and his army but should slowly chip away at the intruders' health. Knowing there must be another exit, Lianna, Joe, Sterk, Hajime, Peach, and Lars team up with Wukong, Bean, and Bark to find an escape before they are fully corrupted and perish. Nobunaga, enjoying their misery, sics his demonic army onto them to halt their escape attempts, though this proves unsuccessful as the group pass through the Phaaze caverns and towards relative safety. In one last attempt to end the lives of his intruders, Nobunaga appears at the exit, powered-up by the Phazon around him, and engages with the others. Though he is a formidable opponent, their numbers out-match Nobunaga's, and the Genma allows them to leave before retreating back into the cave. As the group venture out into the sunlight, the entrance to the cave behind them is blocked as another pink crystal falls from the sky.
The group finally interrogate Sun Wukong and his associates, and the monkey reveals that they were attacked by monsters as they appeared in this world, and thought Lianna's group may have been controlling them. Bark and Bean apologize for the misunderstanding, while Wukong just comments on how everyone makes mistakes. As they talk, they finally reach the gates of Luoyang, where another battle is occurring. Around the city, troops from two armies are already engaging. From a cursory glance, it is clear that Hildegard von Krone leads one group, while their opponents are led by Vashyron; the latter defending Dong Zhuo's land. Though the goals of Lianna's group seem to align with those of Hildegard's army, she sics Akira Yuki and Jean-Luc Cougar on them as they approach. Lianna's group, in a panic, fight back while also working towards their goal of freeing Dong Zhuo's hostages. Hildegard continues fighting both Vashyron's defences and Lianna's attacks, but eventually the former army overpowers her. Before Lianna's group has a chance to take down Hildegard, still while also staving of the attacks of Vashyron, Zephyr, and Leanne, she receives reinforcements in the form of Mitsunari Ishida, Takamaru, and Sakura Amamiya. Their appearance allows Hildegard to retreat safely, allowing Lianna to focus on the other army. Bean suggests planting explosives around the city in order to weaken it's defences and confuse the enemy; Lianna has him follow through on that plan, and after they clear out certain areas, they break open the wall of Dong Zhuo's palace. This allows them to fight Wario, who reveals that he has the ability to enter a magical-enhanced pink form, making him a deadly force that is a challenge for Lianna's entire army. Vashyron's group, surprised that Wario had been hiding such a power, defects to Lianna's as they become weary of Dong Zhuo and the knowledge he may have been hiding, and with their additional help the army is able to damage Wario enough to cause him to flee. With Dong Zhuo still in the city, the group set their sights on taking the tyrant down, and challenge him in a duel. His strength amounts to nothing without Wario's aid as he is easily defeated by Lianna's army, and taken captive.
With Dong Zhuo captured, Hajime and Lars then begin searching for his captives. The tyrant reveals that they are not here however, and that they had been pawns for a greater plan. Before they can get any more information out of him, a mysterious woman - Saya - appears before them and orders Dong Zhuo to say no more, and that their plans here have been completed. Though Dong Zhuo begs for her assistance, Saya leaves without another word, leaving the tyrant blabbering away with the others. Lars and Hajime return soon after with the women that Dong Zhuo had held captive. A fourth woman then appears behind the group, which surprises Sun Wukong, though the woman, Sanzang, prevents his leave. As Sanzang scolds Wukong for his disappearance, the other three women thank the group for their assistance, revealing that they were overwhelmed by monsters as they appeared in this world, and were taken captive before they could realize what had happened. The three women introduce themselves as Athena Cykes, Momo Kanda, and Sophie Neuenmuller, and the latter catches the attention of Sterk as she reveals that she is an alchemist. Lianna, not knowing what to do now, suggests they head back to Furuwatari Castle, unaware of it's desertion, and she thanks Vashyron's team for their assistance. They decide to follow them back as well, saying that they had simply been hired to protect Dong Zhuo and feel no remorse for his defeat, and the group accept them too.
Meanwhile the Phantom Thieves run through Shibuya trying to locate where it's King could be, and Reiji is surprised to find them enter the Shibuya from his world as it is seemingly within the centre of this gloomy Shibuya Jail. Mona suggests the King could be hidden in the normal Shibuya, and his hunch is instantly proved correct as Ghirahim appears before them. Explaining that the gloomy Shibuya was merely a side effect of his attempts to "resurrect his master", he orders Lu Bu's army to delay the Phantom Thieves a little more so their work could be completed before he disappears. The Phantom Thieves, now with a target, decide to rush into battle against Lu Bu's army, and swiftly take down Lu Lingqi and Black Tiger before setting their sights on Lu Bu. Just as the others turn their sights on Lu Bu, Ling Xiaoyu and Jin Kazama enter the battlefield and, confused about their surroundings, turn against the other two armies. This forces Lu Bu to turn his attention to these two strangers that appear strong, and Rowan rushes to their aid, though he is mistaken for an enemy and dispatched of as well. Lu Bu then attacks them head-on, and Rowan reappears to assist them. The Phantom Thieves join them, and together they manage to take down Lu Bu, though he flees before getting another word in.
With Lu Bu out of the way, the final base opens and the Phantom Thieves set their sights on Ghirahim, though three other figures await them when they enter the enemy's base: a sleeping girl, and two small creatures. The two creatures, who try to wake up the comatose woman, sudden panic as the warriors flood into the keep they had closed off, and the panic causes the girl to awaken and proceed to freak out. As the girl awakens, the shadowy Shibuya disperses, and Ghirahim appears to congratulate the Phantom Thieves. The girl, recognizing Ghirahim as the one who knocked her out, attacks the Demon Lord, and the rest of the Phantom Thieves assist her in doing so. After taking enough damage, Ghirahim decides to flee, taking the remnants of Lu Bu's army with him as they all teleport away. The girl and her two dinosaur-like companions thank the Phantom Thieves for saving them, and introduce themselves as Nokia Shiramine, Agumon, and Gabumon; the latter two claiming to be Digimon. Believing Mona to be a Digimon too, the two dinosaurs instantly befriend the groups (despite Mona's claims to the opposite) and Nokia decides to follow the Phantom Thieves despite being hesitant to engage in battle; her Digimon companions assure her that they will never cause any harm to her, so she decides to fight alongside them as well.
The Phantom Thieves, concerned about the fact that the Jail existed in this new world and was dispelled through unorthodox means, thank Jin Kazama and Ling Xiaoyu for their assistance in taking down Lu Bu, and they mimic the sentiments. The two explain that they have been travelling this world with the intention of tracking down any other members of the Mishima family, believing them to have a connection to this world, the two decide to travel with the Phantom Thieves as they could assist in their search. Grateful for the help, the Phantom Thieves and their growing army turn to begin marching back to Furuwatari Castle, but their efforts are halted when they see a giant pink crystal falling from the sky in the distance. The group decide to investigate the new crystal, and start their trek in that direction.
It doesn't take the Phantom Thieves, and their ever-expanding group, to reach the site of the crystal's impact: a middle-eastern marketplace. As they make their way towards the crystal, the group are surprised to find no resistance to their approach, but they are quickly proven wrong as Okatsu and her ninjas appear with the intent informing their allies of the group's appearance. The Phantom Thieves split up, with Jin and Ling rushing to out-pace the fleeing Okatsu while the others split up to deal with the ninjas attempting to deliver the message. Though the ninja messengers are apprehended, Jin and Ling Xiaoyu are caught up in an ambush led by William Adams and allow Okatsu to flee. While Jin and Ling Xiaoyu defend themselves against their attackers, the rest of the army is swarmed by William's reinforcements. William's reinforcements, which include the likes of Toyohisa Shimazu, June Lin Milliam, Yuri Lowell, Samanosuke Akechi, and Fiora, are far too strong for the Phantom Thieves, and with no other choice the group chooses to flee. Their escape is halted when a third party, a small force led by Kazuya Mishima, appears before Jin, who blindly decides to engage his father in combat, but he is merely thrown aside; Ling Xiaoyu too is quickly defeated by Kazuya when she tries to help as well. Seeing him as a threat, William orders Kazuya be the focal point of the battle, but Kazuya merely walks through the battlefield as no one can even touch him, and both armies decide to retreat as his back is turned. As he reaches the crystal, Kazuya reveals that the energy from it has already been drained and disappears without another word, but both armies are out of range of this.
The Phantom Thieves head back in the distance of Shibuya, but instead of reaching the city they instead find themselves lost in a desolate gorge. The group, confused about their presence here, are then attacked by an army of monsters and a man who, after his attacks are blocked, claims himself to be Satan. The group duels Satan, but he teleports away before he can be finished off, and creates clones of himself around the battlefield to toy with the Phantom Thieves. The Phantom Thieves decide to pursue Satan in hopes of interrogating him, but it is revealed that all of his six clones were fakes, with he himself hiding elsewhere. Just as they are about to give up on this cause, a girl named Arle wanders into the desolate gorge, and the real Satan appears by her side at once. Shocked and disgusted by the sudden onslaught of compliments Satan gives her, Arle flees towards the Phantom Thieves, and the group, with Arle's aid, use this opportunity to take down Satan in order to interrogate him but he teleports once more. Instead of creating doubles however, the group is interrupted by another army's appearance. This army, led by Hajime Arima and Lars Alexandersson, attack the Phantom Thieves, who are forced to take them out. Sun Wukong, also on the side of the opponents, creates clones of himself to retaliate for the attack on Hajime and Lars, and once they are defeated he goes for the Phantom Thieves themselves. The fight ends as Lianna and Viewtiful Joe arrive, surprised to see that their enemy had actually been the Phantom Thieves, and halt both armies. Disappointed with this outcome, the real Satan appears in front of the group, but he is swiftly defeated by the army's attacks.
Now captured, Satan reveals that he had been following Arle around (something which she berates him for doing) when he decided to teleport both armies to an open area for a fight, not knowing that they had been allies. Satan repeatedly denies knowing anything about the world they had all been summoned to (which Arle hesitantly says must be true) and he is let go. As Arle agrees to join the others in finding a safe way back home, Satan, like a little puppy following its master, does the same. At the insistence of Lianna, Rowan, Viewtiful Joe, and the Phantom Thieves, Satan teleports the group to Furuwatari Castle, unaware that it had been destroyed by flames; indeed, when they appear here, they find nothing but a landscaped scorched by flames. Lianna and Rowan, remembering Hyrule Castle, suggest they go there next, and Satan obliges and teleports the group there in an instant.
Suddenly appearing in Hyrule Field, the large army beat the others back to Hyrule Castle. Instead of finding Lana and the rest of their allies, the group find Zant and an army of monsters seemingly investigating the grounds. The sudden appearance of the armies led by Lianna and the Phantom Thieves, and the others cause the monsters (and Zant) to panic, launching an all-out attack on the army. The mishmashed army of warriors easily take down Zant's monsters, and the Twilight Usurper prepares to flee before he receives backup; just as Lianna and the group engage with Zant, Saya appears to reprimand Zant's inability to complete their objectives before rushing past them to fast Lianna in his stead. She puts up a challenge, even against the overwhelming disparity in the number of opponents in her army, and eventually pushes Zant into the limelight so she can go heal. Unlike Saya, Zant is easily defeated, something which Saya immediately chastises him for, and she jumps back into the fray to continue fighting. Though still fairly strong, the attacks eventually do wear her down but not enough to cause her to flee. It is only when Lana's group arrive on the scene does Saya decide she had worn out her welcome in the area. With a final snide comment, she grabs Zant and the two teleport away.
The group are left with Zant's parting words - that his master will be reborn once more. Lana, knowing this means Ganon, now believes that the enemy's goal must be related to acquiring the Triforce of Power, which she currently holds. Now that they seemingly know the enemy's goal, Lana believes they now need to find out who may the one leading the enemy army and make taking them down their first priority. To this end, she believes the crystals may be more significant than they initially believed,. Jin however, worried about his father's motives, decides that he and Ling Xiaoyu should try following him, as he seemed unaffiliated with the others. The army decides to split in two, with half going with Lana to find and capture the sites where all crystals have landed and the other half going with Jin to stop whatever schemes his father may be plotting. Some of the other remaining warriors remain at Hyrule Castle, defending their base of operations and monitor the appearance of any more crystals.
Jin and Ling Xiaoyu take a small portion of their army to track down Kazuya, returning back to the middle-eastern marketplace where they fought him previously. Arle, Satan, Lars, Vashyron, Leanne, and Zephyr follow him here, ready to follow whatever trace Kazuya may have left behind. As they reach the crystal, Satan discovers a trail of magic, and Jin recalls what his father had said previously - that the magic had already been drained from this crystal. The group decides to follow the trail of magic that Satan senses.