Underworld Arc

The third story arc in Cerberus High. This arc kicks off a few days after the conclusion of the Brazen Youths Arc.

## Summary

This is the point where the story takes on a much darker tone as more and more of Rouge’s buried past is uprooted before our heroes’ eyes. Neo Delwyn Fowler is the main antagonist of this arc as he pursues Kazuki with the hopes of using the blood of Hades which courses through him to achieve godhood. In the middle of the arc, Neo abducts Rouge in her “blossomed” form in hopes of making her his bride along with the intention of using her as bait to lure in Kazuki.

## Chapter List

### Chapter 14: Underworld Rescue Mission

Rouge requests to have her soul exorcised from Kazuki’s heart so that she can finally be at peace. Surprisingly, Kazuki fulfills her desire with the help of Ember but something goes wrong and Rouge is ejected out from Kazuki’s body with her soul becoming reborn. Rouge is initially uncooperative when telling them what happened to Kazuki but eventually relents and explains that he was most likely taken to her homeworld. With her grimoire. Ember opens up another portal and the party consisting of her, Rouge, Axel, Sherbet, Xiomara, and Blanc embark to the Underworld to rescue Kazuki.

### Chapter 15: A Familiar World

Kazuki is bombarded with scenes of Rouge's final moments when he his dropped into his Forever-still Space. When the party of 6 reaches the Underworld, the Mark of the Beast brands of the Overworld characters begin to burn painfully. Rouge spots two cloaked Viscera Purgers and is instantly hit with PSTD. Noticing Rouge, the shorter purger runs up to embrace her which causes the wind to knock of their hood, revealing them to be her younger adopted brother Rey. Rey pulls away from the embrace, noting how cold her body feels which causes Rouge to reveal that she is a reanimated corpse. Rey doesn't believe her but Rouge doesn't have time to chat and tells him that she only came back to retrieve someone. Rey is crushed by this and returns to the Viscera Purger's castle where his master Neo is made aware of Rouge's revival. This ignites Neo's desire to find Rouge and make her his bride

### Chapter 16: Awkward Tavern Stay

The Kazuki Rescue Party comes across a tavern where they can rest for the night. There the characters are paired into rooms with Axel and Rouge being in one much to the werewolf's chagrin. There, Rouge confesses to Axel that out of all the rest, she always hated him the most but adds how after seeing how deeply the werewolf cares about the mission it’s no wonder why Kazuki is in love with him. Axel becomes flustered at this and repeats her but Rouge just goes into the bathroom.

In the middle of going through the drawers of the master bedroom, Kazuki come across a journal owned by Rouge's father sees a photo inside that of Rouge and her family. He flips the page to see Casimir's final entry written on Kazuki's birthday but before Kazuki could read any more, his Mark of the Beast brand starts burning painfully. Kazuki is transported out of his Forever-still Space and into an alleyway located in the Underworld where he soon meets Lita and Oralee who takes him out to dinner.

### Chapter 17: A Withered Rose

While bathing, Rouge suddenly senses Kazuki's presence and after getting dressed, sneaks out of the tavern through a window as Axel slept. However it wasn't Kazuki she was senses and Rouge is brought to the middle of the red light district where she is knocked out by a intoxicating smell. Shortly later, Rouge wakes up paralyzed in Neo’s bed and is sexually assaulted by the demon. Rey watches this all unfold trough the slightly ajar door. The morning after, Rey accuses Rouge of seducing Neo. The imp calms down when he begins to believe the Rouge standing before him is actually an imposter sent by the gods to test his willpower. He then proceeds to stroke Rouge's cheek as she cries, telling her how special she is to his master and that she should do everything she can to continue making him happy.

### Chapter 18: The Forever-still Space

Kazuki and his friends are reunited after Sherbet spots him in a crowd and the two share an embrace. However, relief turned to horror when he is informed of Rouge's disappearance as well as the destroyed grimoire. Axel blames himself for the demoness's disappearance but Kazuki tells him that he shouldn’t blame himself and that he is thankful that they were able to find him.

Meanwhile, Rouge is summoned to a tea party attended by Rey and Neo. There Neo summons a crystal ball showcasing Kazuki and the rest which fills Rouge with relief. Kazuki and the others suddenly disappear into thin air, causing Rouge to question if they had found a way out without the grimoire. Within the Forever-still Space, Kazuki explains to his friends that this place was somehow connected to his past. Ember recalls hearing about a place like this when she was younger and deduces that this still-space was made to be an exact replica of the place where Rouge’s life ended, causing a chill to go through everyone in the room.

### Chapter 19: Deep Suspicion Arises

Later in bed, while gazing up at the crystal ball, despair hits Rouge when she sees Kazuki reappear in the Underworld from the Forever-still Space. Rouge gives Neo the silent treatment when he enters the room. He playful chides her, explaining that she’s only allowed to stop talking *after* he achieves his dream. However, Neo has his mood spoiled after Akuji knocks on his door. He turns over to sleep which Rouge eventually does as well.

### Chapter 20: An Imp Scorned

Rey stalks the Overworld characters from afar until he is accosted by Axel who had left the group to use the bathroom. Axel brings up Rouge's disappearance and the two fight. The fight ends with Xiomara dying while trying to shield an injured Axel from Rey's **Silver Bullet Breacher Palm.** This officially cements the Viscera Purgers as enemies.

### Chapter 21: Neo the Evil

While alone in the castle, Rouge makes the horrifying discovery of Nadia Edward's corpse. Neo runs into the room in a heartbeat and is delighted to see what Rouge had discovered. He explains in great detail to a horrified Rouge how he killed his mother and what he did to her body afterward.

### Chapter 22: Blanc vs. Akuji

When Neo leaves Rouge to cry alone, he bumps into Akuji who is interesting the woman he is keeping in his room. Neo promises the drunken demon that he would get to spend all the time he wants with Rouge only if he continues to be on his side. Meanwhile in the Forever-still Space, Blanc soon finds the will to go on without Xiomara and transports himself out of the space to a vast wilderness. Blanc yells for a member of the Viscera Purgers to fight him which brings out Akuji who doesn't hide his attraction to the frosthound. The two fight and Blanc is able to hold his own despite being struck with the demon's poison sebons.

### Chapter 23: No Longer Useful

The fight between Blanc and Akuji ends with the frosthound skewing the demon with his many ice pillars. However, Blanc succumbs to the poison and dies with his body soon being discovered by the others. Rouge watched the battle unfold from the crystal ball and seeing the death of Blanc causes her brain to shut down permanently. Neo leaves Rouge alone to go to Rey's room where he asks the imp if he wanted to go into town with him. Rey was convinced that this was a date which was made even more evident when Neo brings him to a love hotel. However, Neo had other plans and used this opportunity to kill Rey.

### Chapter 24: Her Brother Rey

This chapter is dedicated to showing Rey's childhood on the streets and how he was eventually adopted into the Bellerose family.

### Chapter 25: 15 Years Ago

This chapter is dedicated to a long flashback of the night that claimed the lives of Rouge, ending in her reincarnation as Kazuki Akai.

### Chapter 27: The Final Battle (Part 1)

Awhile later, Lita confronts Neo about the disappearances of Akuji and Rey. Lita's sees Rouge's body laying on the bed and panics, believing that the melancholic demoness had died. Neo summons his saber, and the two fight. Lita manages to land a few hits on Neo with her lightning kick and appears to have the upper hard until the demon knocks her to the ground with a diagonal cut to her chest. Neo was about to deliver the fatal blow but stops when Oralee walks in on them. Lita transports Oralee far away from the castle with her cloak before she is swiftly decapitated by Neo. Rouge soon snaps out of her catatonia and makes her escape from the castle.

Later, Kazuki is lured to an abandoned town by Neo who confesses that he killed Rey and Lita. The demon lies about killing Oralee to get Kazuki riled up which succeeds and the human began attacking him with his onyx blade. To Kazuki's shock, his blades shatter and Neo charges at him with his Ephemeral Platinum Saber. Neo uses his illusion powers to toy with Kazuki before stabbing him in the heart. After draining out all of Hades's blood from Kazuki's heart, Neo fuses with his saber and he awakens as a god. With despair and rage fueling them, Sherbet and Axel charge at Neo but they were both killed with a single head tap that destroyed their brains. All seemed dire until Kazuki absorbs the souls of his fallen friends and transforms into his Cerberus form.

### Chapter 28: The Final Battle (Part 2)

In the middle of searching for a new grimoire, Ember and Oralee bump into each other. Oralee is hysteric as she explains that Neo murdered Lita and now she going to die too. Ember reassures Oralee that she won't let her die and brings her to the Forever-still Space where she can be safe. Oralee suddenly collapses and screams that the ghosts have found her, the ghosts being the souls of the dead purgers of the fist generation with her mother being one of them. Ember saves her at the cost of her own life, by transferring the souls into her own body through her Mark of the Beast brand.

Cerberus Kazuki defeats Neo with his newly acquired **Hades Raging Blood Burst** which sends the demon to his own Forever-still Space where he will stay for all eternality. This causes all the Overworld characters to come back to life but Rouge is not so lucky as she crawls over to Kazuki to say her final goodbye. Kazuki cries as he doesn't want her to leave him but Rouge reminds him that his friends are still there and places a final kiss on his forehead before fading away. Ember and Oralee appear and the demoness uses her newly acquired ability as the Child of Light to send all the Overworld characters back to their homeworld. There Kazuki makes his feelings for Axel known as he kisses him.