Book Three

This is the third book of Reaper.

## Prologue

An extremely pale woman with light blonde hair and bloodred lips was stumbling towards a window, hooks embedded into her body as broken chains hung from said hooks, rattling on the ground as they were dragged along. The woman bled and cried, breathing heavily, as she tried to make it towards the window, paying no mind to the weathered stone brick walls around her, instead, it was the many wickedly sharp, rusted metal tools that caught her eye, as she felt sick just from seeing them. She had to get away, she had to save herself, since he wasn't going to save her from him. She had no choice now. She couldn't keep being his test subject. The man she loved abandoned her, the man she married tortured her. She was the princess, yet no one cared for her. It was a hopeless endeavor to have hope in the face of all this. And so, she gave in. She would deprive her horrific husband of his favorite experiment: her. And today, was that day...it was even more torturous to have starved herself, but it was the only way, and she wanted him to finally, perhaps, feel any kind of pain.

## Chapter 47

Charlotte and Trevor were walking through the city together, hand in hand, smiling. This year felt so peaceful. As far as they knew, all their enemies were gone. They could finally relax. "I can't believe it...we finally got peace after so long." Trevor said, looking around the city. "Yeah, it feels nice, to not have to fight anymore." Charlotte replies, as her expression then went a little solemn. "But...what if there's still someone out there?" "I don't think that's a good way to think." Trevor responds. "I want us to enjoy this peace as long as we can." She smiled and kissed him, as he kissed her back, blushing.

They walked into Rosette's shop, seeing Connor and Rosette happily chatting. "Hi Connor, Rosette." Charlotte says. "Oh, hey Charlotte, Trevor." Connor replies, as Rosette waves. Charlotte and Trevor sit down with them, as Rosette goes to make them ice cream. "Things have been going pretty well since we defeated Scorpios." Connor says. "I feel like after all the criminals, monsters, aliens and cyborgs we had to fight, this kind of peace is a nice change of pace. It feels good to have a break." "Yeah." Trevor replies. "Say, where's Khaldun?" "Training somewhere." Connor answers. "He says he's preparing."

Khaldun was currently firing down target-shaped drones with his blaster, his Khopesh in his other hand to fight off more humanoid drones with bladed shields. "Can you please let me out, Khal~?!" Katsuragi called from her cell. "No!" Khaldun replies, still focusing on fighting the drones. "Let me know when I'm able to get out~!" Katsuragi calls back. "You're not getting out, you were in on a plan to destroy a planet!" Khaldun shouts back, beginning to struggle against the drones. "I was not!" Katsuragi yells, as Khaldun is hit by the drones. "Guh! Argh! Gah!" Khaldun grunts, as the drones shut down.

"Well, that went wrong quickly." Krincax says, as Khaldun turned to glare at him. "Soundproof the training room." He says at the scientist. "I thought you'd like to talk to your partner." Krincax replies, tilting his head with an evil grin on his face. "She's not my partner! She's a Cydran!" Khaldun roars back. "Whatever, edgelord." Krincax retorts, Khaldun's eye twitching. "Well, then. I'll be on my way, now." Krincax then turns to leave, before Khaldun stops him. "Krincax...are they coming here?" He asks, as Krincax went silent for a moment, before turning towards Khaldun with a more serious expression.

"...Yes, they are." Krincax answers in an equally serious tone.

Charlotte and Trevor were enjoying their ice cream (Honey for Charlotte, chocolate for Trevor), as they and Connor walked back towards the house that had been built for them. It was somewhat large, like a mansion, but most of it was to act as a base of operations. The living quarters made up the lowest of the three floors, only above the basement below. "It's nice to have this place to live." Connor says. "I...hope your mom wakes up from her coma soon, Trevor." Trevor didn't respond, as he started to tear up. "Oh, sorry." Connor says. "It's...it's alright...I hope she'll wake up, too." Trevor replies.

They then entered the house, which inside had brightly colored walls and furnishings, as well as a large TV screen and from the look of the kitchen, a large fridge and multiple ovens. Trevor and Charlotte sat on the couch, holding each other closely, as Connor sat down on a chair and turned on the TV, showing the news. "Breaking News! It has been a year since Scorpios' horrific attack and yet there still seems to be peace! Everyone hopes for this peace to last forever, and for humanity to keep growing as a species. Thanks for watching and as always, we are Channel 13." The news lady says.

Daniel and Maria were walking along a road, as a number of soldiers stood on either side of said road. They smiled as Daniel saw Kaguya and their children standing there, as the two of them approached Graham, who simply had the same small smile as always. "It is an honor to be here to promote you two for your bravery against the robotic menace of yester-year." Graham says. "It's taken a while for us to get everything ready and commence everything, but it's time. Daniel Cross, you will now be promoted to Brigadier General, and Maria Collins, you will now be promoted to Colonel."

At that, the two receive their medals. "It is truly an honor, Fleet Admiral." Daniel says, as he and Maria turn around, saluted by the soldiers as they saluted back. Then, Daniel went to his family. He and Aayuk hugged and kissed, as they then hugged their children. Daniel was rather happy, but though Aayuk also smiled, she almost seemed troubled by something. "Is anything wrong, Aayuk?" Daniel asks. "Oh, it's nothing." Aayuk answers, as they leaned their heads against each other. Graham seemed to watch them, his expression not changing in the slightest.

Elsewhere, a curvaceous, pale woman with long, bright orange, almost flamelike hair, wearing a red and orange military outfit with golden buttons on it, kneeled down before someone in the shadows of the dark room. "Is it time, Father?" The woman asks. "Yes...go and ensure the seeds are planted." A familiar voice orders. "Yes, Father, it shall be done." The woman replies, turning to walk out of the room, as her father watched, with his pair of glowing red eyes.

Charlotte and Trevor were walking across a beach, looking at the scenery with smiles. "It feels good to look upon the beach without being attacked." Charlotte remarks. "Yeah." Trevor replies. "Seems like a nice day to have a beach day, too." They held hands and sat down on a rock, looking at the sun setting. "Trevor..." Charlotte begins, as the two look into each other's kind, warm eyes, smiling sweetly at each other. It felt like a perfect moment, one meant for them.

But it was not to complete.

Suddenly, they see a fleet of large ships, seeming to be equipped with weapons, appear from the horizon, making a beeline towards the beach! "What?!" Trevor shouts, he and Charlotte noticing the ships being red and gold in color. "Is this...Adam...?" Charlotte demands, her hands balling into fists and shaking with rage. Then, the ships aimed what seemed like cannons at the two, and fired flaming cannonballs at them! "Gh!" They exclaim, trying to dodge the cannonballs, which exploded upon impact with the sand!

"Who are these guys?!" Trevor yells, throwing a Bokyaku at one of the ships, which fires a cannonball at the attack to cancel it out, firing yet another cannonball at them. Charlotte draws her sword to slash the cannonball in half, as it explodes behind her and Trevor. "I don't know who you people are..." Charlotte remarks, lifting her head up to glare at the fleet. "...but I want you to know you started this." She leaps at the ship nearest to her to slash at it, cutting down its bridge as multiple cannons aim at her, ready to fire, but multiple are hit by a Bokyaku explosion.

Charlotte slashes down the remaining cannons, and cuts a hole to leap further down into the ship, tearing it apart from the inside, though not directly killing the personnel. Trevor begins to run towards the ship, but it explodes, Charlotte flying out as she lands on one knee, burned. "Ghhhh..." Charlotte growls, as Trevor goes to check on her. That's when they saw a woman in red, with orange hair and light grey skin, as well as red eyes. "So you two are Charlotte and Trevor?" The woman asks. "Call me Venus, I'm here on behalf of Reledgard." "What do you want?!" Trevor demands, Venus chuckling.

"We are here to declare war." Venus answers, drawing her sword as it suddenly bursts into flame! "Wha--" Trevor barely has time to exclaim, as Venus swings her sword to send the fiery shockwave at them, Charlotte slashing it in half with her own sword. "Your Mutation is fire? Like Colonel Cross'?" Charlotte demands. "You could say that, in a sense..." Venus replies, suddenly appearing in front of Charlotte to slash at her with her still flaming sword, Charlotte barely having time to block as she is still sent through the ground! "Charlotte!" Trevor shouts, as Venus turns towards him.

"Hmm, how to kill you..." She remarks, pointing her sword at Trevor, however, she quickly swings her sword to block a slash from Charlotte, who, burned and bruised, had re-emerged from the rubble. "Leave him alone!" Charlotte roars. "Well, I suppose I can leave him to my soldiers..." Venus replies, unleashing a massive blast of flame at Charlotte that sends her flying back, then rushing at Charlotte as a number of soldiers wearing similar red and gold outfits to her own aim rifles at Trevor. "Ghhhh..." Trevor exclaims, forming another Bokyaku.

Charlotte and Venus were blocking and dodging each other's strikes, though Venus clearly had the upper hand, and combating her left Charlotte with more and more burns that combined were taking longer and longer to heal, Charlotte wincing and grunting in pain the whole time. "What will you do to stop us from overtaking the rest of the world?" Venus taunts. "We stopped Scorpios, we can stop you!" Charlotte roars, Venus laughing as she gets into a swordlock with Charlotte, aiming her hand at Charlotte's face. "Oh, dear..." Venus sneers. "...Scorpios was nothing compared to me."

Then, another massive blast of flame, one which sends Charlotte flying further as she nearly drops her sword, almost falling unconscious from the sheer agony of the many severe burns across her body. She lands on the ground, digging her sword and feet into the ground to avoid sliding through it, as Venus had once again appeared in front of her, pointing her sword at the side of her head. "I hear to kill a vampire, you cut off their head, stab their heart, and burn them alive." Venus says. "Am I wrong, Vampire Queen?" Charlotte just glares, as Venus smiles darkly, prepared to swing her sword again.

However, she swings it behind herself to bifurcate another Bokyaku, which flies inches past her head. The two see Trevor, panting and glaring at Venus. "So you defeated my soldiers, did you?" Venus asks. "Hmm, then maybe you're worth personally killing after all." "I won't let you hurt Charlotte now that I'm here!" Trevor shouts back, Venus laughing. "True love is announcing 'I won't let you hurt 'X' is it?" She says, mocking them. "Be smart...and flee. You know you cannot defeat me."

The two glared at Venus, but they knew she was right, they couldn't stop her right now, they had to get out of here. Trevor takes out a golden communications device with purple lights, of course made by Star-C, and turns it on. "Khaldun, beam us back to base!" Trevor shouts, as Venus watches, raising an eyebrow. A moment later, Charlotte and Trevor vanished in a purple light. "Well...that was something I just witnessed." Venus remarks. "It seems they also have teleportation, I'll have to report this back to Father and the Emperor. The rest of my troops, conquer this land."

As Charlotte and Trevor had returned to base, Connor and Khaldun went to treat their wounds. "What happened?" Khaldun asks. "A country called Reledgard...they're attacking...they had someone with fire powers...named Venus...she kicked our asses." Trevor answers, Charlotte remaining silent. "...This is bad..." Khaldun remarks. "We need to stop them as soon as possible, whatever they have planned." "If they're trying to conquer every country...their army must be immense." Connor remarks. "We'll stop them...we have to." Charlotte replies, still wincing in pain.

“Are you certain that we are ready to advance?” A man sitting on a throne asks. “Yes, my Emperor.” Venus answers. “The beach is ours, and the state shall soon follow.” “Good.” The Emperor replies. “Tell Admiral Dourryanne to fortify the beach and create a blockade.” “Yes, my Emperor.” Venus replies, as she walks out of the room with a smile, the larch torches on either side of the door seeming to flare up as she walks past them. As she walked out of the room, she noticed a rather tall figure, blue and fishlike, wearing darker blue clothing that resembled something stereotypically Renaissance. “Hello, Degan.” Venus says. “How was your meeting with the Emperor?” Degan asks. “It went well, I’m on my way to tell Admiral Dourryanne to fortify the beach and create a blockade.” Venus answers. “Alright, then. I’ll tell Father of your new mission.” Degan replies. “Yes, you do that.” Venus responded, walking away.

“Reledgard is a rather new civilization, popping up in the last century.” Khaldun explains. “They are an Empire formed from the domination of the Reles Archipelago, and their second Emperor, Orestes, began a major military reformation campaign. Now, it seems like Orestes is looking to conquer the world.” “This is bad, this is really bad.” Trevor says. “How are we supposed to stop these guys?” “The same way we stopped Scorpios, and all the guys before his group?” Connor asks. “In theory, Reledgard shouldn’t be so bad to fight, given they’re only human and we’ve dealt with basically everything else. But I wouldn’t count them out just for being human. They are still dangerous, and we need to be on our guard.” Khaldun remarks. “What do we do?” Trevor asks. “Firstly, I think we need to see exactly what we’re dealing with.” Khaldun answers. “And that means spying on the beach they took.”

“Admiral Dourryanne!” A man of average height, somewhat muscular with orange eyes, brown sideburns and brown hair ponytailed and without bangs, shouted, running to a man with a similar appearance, but more plump and with a mustache and monacle. “What might it be, Captain Zhadok.” Dourryanne asks, as Zhadok comes to a stop in front of him. “The Head of Military is here to see us.” Zhadok answers. “Oho! What a nice surprise.” Dourryanne replies, as the two hear footsteps and turn to see Venus walking along the wooden pathway towards them. “Hello, boys.” Venus says. “Hello to you, too!” Dourryanne replies. “You look fine as ever, Lady Venus.” “I know how great I look, so cool it with the compliments.” Venus responds. “What brings you here, Lady Venus?” Zhadok asks. “The Emperor wants this land to be an outpost by the end of the week.” Venus answers. “I’ll be taking my leave now.” “Wait, can’t you stay a little longer? To, err, supervise?” Dourryanne asks. “I’m not here to satisfy your lust, I’m not interested in any of you.” Venus retorts, continuing to walk away. “Isn’t this outrageous?” Dourryanne demands. “I quite frankly don’t care, Sir.” Zhadok answers plainly.

In the cave of a mountain near the beach, Khaldun led the others as they watched said beach. “That man in the chair looks like the Admiral, given his shoulderpads and medals.” Khaldun says. “The man next to him seems to be the Captain of one of the ships.” “I would never have known that without you, Khaldun.” Trevor replies. “Me neither.” Charlotte says. “We need to take them out soon, it looks like they’re building something.” Connor observes. “An outpost. If they get that completed, they’ll have perfect foothold for getting into America.” Khaldun explains. “We need to wait for the right moment, and then we strike.” They all nod and wait, watching the soldiers march off and on the ships, carrying various supplies to build with.

“The beach is secure, Father.” Venus says, standing before the figure from before. “Good…” The figure remarks slowly, in his raspy, yet somewhat deep voice. “I have finished sewing my robes, it shall not be long before I introduce myself to the Emperor…” “Are you sure this is a wise decision after last time?” Venus asks. “Are you questioning my orders?” The figure demands. “No, Father.” Venus answers, bowing her head down. “I have done this many times, in wait for this year in particular.” The figure remarks. “Soon, hiding and scheming will no longer be necessary.”

A few soldiers walked by a large crate, which the four were hiding behind. Khaldun motions for them to move in, which they do. They see Dourryanne looking down at a map, his back turned to them, as they begin to sneak towards him. However, right when they were about to attack, he puts the map down. “Come to assassinate me, have you?” Dourryanne asks, before whirling around to throw a knife at Trevor’s face! “Ah!” Trevore yelps, leaping to the side to avoid it. Charlotte goes to slash Dourryanne, but Zhadok blocks using a saber. “My name is Captain Zhadok, and I’m keeping the Admiral safe.” Zhadok says, before taking out a pistol and firing at Charlotte, who slides back and deflects it. Khaldun prepares to fire on the two when a large number of soldiers and other Captains begin to surround them. “How many options do you have left?” Zhadok asks, as Connor sends his scythe bladed tendrils at them. Zhadok and Dourryanne both leap back and fire at the tendrils with their guns, not doing much damage.

The other soldiers open fire on the heroes, who do their best to dodge and block the bullets while attacking back. Khaldun notices Dourryanne and Zhadok walking towards the Flagship of the fleet and runs at them, firing at them as they quickly dodge. Khaldun then swings a tornado kick at the two, Zhadok blocking with his forearms before rapidly drawing his saber to slash at Khaldun’s face, Khaldun blocking with his Khopesh. “I didn’t expect an alien to use such an archaic weapon.” Zhadok remarks, sweeping Khaldun off his feet immediately after saying that. “Agh!” Khaldun shouts, getting back up and leaping back to dodge a bullet from Dourryanne. He attempts to give chase to the Flagship, but he heard his friends struggling, and went to go help them against the overwhelming amount of soldiers. They were holding their own well, but there were still too many to fight, as Khaldun takes out a teleportation device and grabs hold of the other three, before activating it to teleport them back to base.

“What do we tell the Emperor?” Dourryanne demands. “We tell him like it is. Those heroes in training attacked us and forced us to retreat, but the situation is under control and our soldiers likely reclaimed the beach.” Zhadok replies. “Well, soon we’ll be able to send one of our Generals over there to advance our forces.” Dourryanne remarks.

“I can’t believe they got away, and that they forced us to retreat.” Connor remarks a little angrily. “It’s definitely unfortunate, we should have prepared better, and gotten the army involved from the start.” Khaldun replies, palming his face. “How could I have made such a bad decision?!” “That’s in the past.” Trevor says. “We need to focus on getting help in destroying that outpost.” “Yeah.” Charlotte replies, looking down at her sword. Trevor sat down beside her to comfort her, as she leans into him.

“Who exactly are you supposed to be?” Orestes demands, looking down at the figure, who was wearing robes the colors of Reledgard and bowing. “I am merely…an aspiring Advisor.” The figure replies, lifting his head up, revealing his stone gray skin, pale yellow hair, and glowing red eyes. “Let me guide you to victory, Emperor Orestes the First.”

## Chapter 48

"Fellow esteemed members of Reledgard's military." Dourryanne starts. "I have decided, after he personally saved my life, to make Captain Zhadok my vice-admiral!" Many people in the massive room began clapping and cheering, as Zhadok looks on, smiling darkly. "I thank you for this promotion, Admiral." Zhadok says. "It's nothing, really." Dourryanne replies. "Just a way to pay back a friend of mine for showing his selflessness and loyalty." The two shake hands, before turning to look upwards at Emperor Orestes, who sat on a throne with a robed man standing on one side of him and Venus standing on the other side of him. The robed man was apparently a man named 'Csillag Teremto', a name that sounded odd to Zhadok, though no one seemed to much care about Teremto. Zhadok kept his suspicions, but decided he'd enjoy this promotion. Knowing it wasn't the last in his goal...

Charlotte was currently sparring with a robotic samurai, as Trevor was practicing his throwing and sneaking skills, and Connor was sitting, looking down. "What's wrong?" Noelle asks, sitting down beside Connor. "I wanna train with them." Connor answers. "But I don't know what to train, I've never really understood my powers." Noelle puts a hand on his shoulder, and smiles at him. "Don't worry, Connor. I'm sure we'll be able to figure out soon if we try. I've always thought your powers are cool." "Thanks, Noelle." Connor replies, as the two lean into each other, closing their eyes. Khaldun, meanwhile, was staring a screen with one hand on his chin, that arm resting its elbow on his other arm, trying to figure out what strategy Reledgard might have next, and develop the best counter to that strategy. "Don't you wanna train with us?" Sabrina asks. "I'm the tactics, not the muscle." Khaldun answers.

"Ever since they took that beach, we've had a hard time pushing them back..." Daniel remarks, looking down at paperwork with his eyes slightly squinted. "What's wrong, Daniel?" Aayuk asks, sitting beside Daniel. "I don't know what strategy to try next...this army isn't letting up." Daniel replies, sounding a bit tired. "Whatever you come up with next, I am sure will fare better." Aayuk says with a small smile. "I certainly hope so." Daniel replies, pressing his forehead. "But right now, I'm stumped." "Don't worry so much." Aayuk responds, putting her hand on Daniel's shoulder before leaning against him. "It's going to be alright, I know it will." "Your optimism has always been one of my favorite things about you." Daniel says, smiling a bit.

Charlotte slashes at one of the training robots, and tries to parry its own slashes at it parried hers. However, though she put it on the backfoot multiple times, it managed to knock her down and disarm her. "Guh!" She shouts, glaring at the robot, and tries again. A few minutes later, the same result. "This is horrible..." She remarks, looking down at her sword, at the robot. "...I need to get better fast. We need to be able to keep up with these guys!" "We need to not strain ourselves too hard." Khaldun replies. "But if you really do want to train, I've heard of a man who used to be in Pirani's group, but left when she trained Adam." "Who was it...?" Charlotte asks. "His name...is Chen Jian." Khaldun answers. "You'll find him in Mongolia, last I heard."

Epsilon, meanwhile, was currently standing atop a building, looking at the sky. "...My vengeance on Scorpios is complete..." He remarks, looking down at his own hand. "...But I must liberate my people from Nebiru..." Then, he looks back up at the sky, which was currently somewhat cloudy, seeming as if it were about to rain any second. "...The others might want me as an ally...but I am not needed for them. Not right now..." He muses, as the sky began to rain, lightning flashing throughout it, Epsilon watching, knowing the weather of this world was an interesting sight to behold, it always has been. Certainly more vibrant than at the Crocatoan homeworld.

Trevor was walking through the city, having not done too well in training, as he looked around for the hospital. It had been so long, and he was hoping some progress had been made towards recovery. Then, he sees it, weathered but present, and, with a gulp, walks into the hospital. "Hello, Mr. Dillard." The receptionist says. "Err, hi." Trevor replies, looking around. "Could I...see my mom?" "Pay the visiting fee and go right ahead." The receptionist replies, Trevor nodding and doing so, before walking into the elevator to the fifth floor. And there, as he opened the door, he saw her, laying in bed, awake, and smiling at him, as he smiled back.

"I'm glad to see you again, Little Dreamer." Vanessa said, as Trevor ran and hugged her gently. "M-mom...you're okay..." He replied, tearing up. Vanessa hugged him back, continuing to smile. "I-I was so worried..." "Well...I'm alright, now." Vanessa responded, as they kept hugging for a bit. "How have things been since I was out?" "It's...a long story." Trevor answers, chuckling a bit. "Well, I can't wait to hear it." Vanessa says, continuing to smile, as Trevor kept smiling back. His mom was back, he hadn't lost her after all. He felt so happy...happier than he thought he felt in a while, as he then proceeded to explain everything that happened.

A squadron of robots, holding rifles, were positioned in front of a D.E.E.R. Labs Building, stationed to be ready to fire at anything that came their way, as the owner had heard of Reledgard's attack, and knew it was only a matter of time until they reached this place. However, what they were about to encounter, they had no way to prepare for, as they saw two figures standing near the entrance, one rather tall and muscular, and the other short and thin. They immediately take aim at the two, who walk towards them rather slowly and normally. The robots fire, but the blasts were deflected, and it wasn't long before a cutlass slashed off the heads of at least four of the automaton soldiers, and at least three others were melted into puddles of slag by the other one.

And as they walked into the light, it revealed Crith, uneasy, standing next to the tall and muscular figure, who's skin was bluish green and scaly, and who's hair and mustache seemed rather similar. His blue eyes were large, as were his lips, like a fish's, and he wore something akin to a pirate's outfit, complete with black leather boots and a bluish green coat. "You see anything, Crith?" The large one asks. "...I see an entrance..." Crith replies, as they walk towards it, the muscular one cutting it down with his cutlass, before they walk inside, Crith causing any cameras to melt before they see them. "Where is he...?" The large one mutters, looking around while slashing down every door he sees to look inside the rooms. There were a lot of inventions of various kinds, but no sign of what, or who, they were looking for.

"Is anyone there?" Daniel asks, as Trevor was cleaning up the base. "Oh, Sir!" Trevor replies, quickly saluting him and going comedically stiff, as if trying to look like a statue. "Is it only you, Trevor?" Daniel demands. "Uh, yeah. The others are training." Trevor replies. "...Well, call them when you can." Daniel says. "Because there's been a break-in at this D.E.E.R. Industries building." And then, the screen shrinks the view of Daniel to show a graph of the building, as well as its coordinates in both numbers and names. "We need you to check it out." "Yes, Sir!" Trevor replies, as the screen turns off and he runs to strap multiple utility belts to himself, covered in various weapons, before running to a jet to strap in. "Take me to this place, please." Trevor says, uploading the coordinates into the jet. "Preparing for departure." The jet's autopilot replies, as it begins to take off.

The remains of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of robots littered the ground, as Crith and the figure walked into another room, and saw it...an urn, a vase, a mix of both, sitting there in the center, covered by a metal plate. "Here goes nothing..." The large one remarked, as he slashes the top off the urn off, reaches in, and pulls out...a heart. Non-beating, completely dry, but a heart nonetheless. Then, he took out a syringe filled with blood, and injected it into the heart, before throwing it back and throwing a white and bright blue Gi-like T-shirt, beige jeans, a black leather belt with a silver buckle on it, and black and blue sneakers, at the heart.

Before their very eyes, the heart began to rapidly grow a body around it, one who's skin seemed yellowish, but with a small tint of an icy blue, who's hair was a blue so bright it could be mistaken for white, who's eyes had small blue pupils, who's teeth formed the cruelest smile they had ever known, as the body generated, regenerated, into the clothing, and then, in the air, was a boy who looked barely older than Crith, a boy who began to laugh maniacally. "I'M ALIVE!" He screams in delight. "I'M ALIVE AGAIN! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" "...Welcome back, Kyoki." The large one replies. "Oh?" Kyoki remarks, seeing them. "Degan? YOU saved me? And who's he?" "Crith, our newest brother." Degan answers. "He's shy." "So, he's a little bitch." Kyoki says. "Got it." And then, they heard something land outside. "Oh?" Kyoki wonders, flying through the halls as if through levitation.

The jet had just landed, as Trevor hops out of it, and sees the destroyed robots. "What happened here...?" He wonders, as he looks towards the entrance to the lab, and for a moment, nothing. But then, he started to feel the wind pick up, rushing from said entrance, as if...as if something was making a bee-line towards him! And then, he leaped out of the way, right when something blurred past him, slicing the jet in half! "H-huh?!" Trevor shouts, leaping back as the figure landed in front of him. "Hello, human." He said. "I'm Kyoki...and I am going to FEED ON YOUR ENTRAILS!"

"WHAT?!" Trevor yelped, reaching for a bomb, as Kyoki had seemingly teleported directly in front of him to grab his arm. "Too slow!" He shouts, throwing Trevor through a tree as he swings his arm to send multiple shurikens of air at him. "W-OAH!" Trevor yells, dodging the air shurikens and preparing to form a Bokyaku in his hand, but he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder from behind him, and barely had time to turn to see Kyoki when the latter had already blown him across the yard with an airblast. "GUH!" Trevor roars, as he is socked in the gut by Kyoki exactly when he gets back up, being sent into the air as Kyoki began to fly around him so fast that he was almost invisible.

Trevor, panicking, forms another Bokyaku to throw in a random direction, as he then sees Kyoki appear in front of it, holding the Bokyaku as he slams it into him to send him flying into the ground! "GAH!" Trevor screamed, as he felt multiple bones in his body break, right as he saw Kyoki floating down over him, the wind picking up even more. "I wonder how you'll taste, Ningen..." Kyoki says as his smile became the most wicked and sadistic grin that Trevor had ever seen, and he felt himself seize up, his hair standing up on the back of his neck, chills running throughout his entire body, as Kyoki formed a blade of air in his hands to slash down at him with, but the slash was blocked by Khaldun, who fires at Kyoki with a laser, Kyoki easily dodging and flying back to land on a treetop.

"Oh, you have a friend?" Kyoki asks gleefully. "He certainly doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before." Khaldun glares into Kyoki's mind and attempts to read it, but the instant he did, he screamed in pain. Not because of any mental block, but because of what was IN his mind! "We...have to leave!" Khaldun shouts. "Now!" "W-we have to stop them!" Trevor shouts back. "We'll do that another time!" Khaldun roars. "Just grab my hand so we can get out of here!" "OH NO, YOU DON'T!" Kyoki roars, appearing to slash at them right as Khaldun and Trevor grabbed hands, and teleported away. "...Heh...I hope we'll see them again." Kyoki remarks. "Right now, let's get back to Father." Degan replies. "He's excited to see you." "And I'm even more excited to see him!" Kyoki responds. "Onwards, to Dad!" Crith looked even more uncomfortable, as Degan crossed his arms and shook his head.

Charlotte, meanwhile, had been walking in a desert, with a hooded white cloak on, as she saw a small wooden hut, with a large wooden fence, connected to the hut, surrounding an oasis, forming a massive backyard. This was the place, as far as she knew, as she walked to the hut and prepared to knock. But the door opened, and standing there was a tall, thin man, slightly elderly, with black eyes and black hair tied up into a bun. The man wore faded red and gold robes, and had a saber sheathed by his side, as he looked down at her. "The leader of the Hero School Program told me to expect you, Charlotte Nechita." Chen Jian said. "Who?" Charlotte asks. "He's not too important right now." Chen replies. "Just come inside, and have something to drink."

And so, she walked inside, with her new mentor.

## Chapter 49

Inside a chamber with walls of black bricks and a floor and ceiling of black tiles, was a long table, long enough for each side to have six seats. On one end was a larger, throne-like seat, and on the other, another normal seat, deemed for visitors. And sitting on those six side seats, were a tall man with blonde hair and yellow eyes, wearing golden armor and yellow robes, along with...Ayuk, who wore as she always did, a simple white and lavender kimono, and next to her, Crith, who looked more uneasy than ever before as he tried to look as small as possible. Opposite to Crith was Venus, who was tapping her foot to wait, and next to her was Degan, who seemed to be drifting off to sleep, and next to him, was Kyoki, who seemed a bit irritated by something.

"Hey, Crith, Degan..." Kyoki starts. "WHY DIDN'T EITHER OF YOU HELP ME?!" "You didn't look like you needed help." Degan answers. "He's..." Crith trailed off. He had almost called Trevor his friend...in front of his whole family. That would have only ended in disaster. "Yeah, yeah, that bullshit..." Kyoki retorts. "But wouldn't it have been fun to beat a human into pulp?!" "No." Degan replies flatly. "You're all so damn loud..." The tall one complains. "Suck it, Helios! You're not a part of this!" Kyoki shouts. "I am now." Helios retorts, glaring at Kyoki as his eyes glowed like the sun. "Can we please just calm down?" Ayuk asks quietly. "NO!" Kyoki roars. "NOT UNTIL DEGAN AND CRITH HERE GROW A SPI--"

The large doors to the room opened, and through them, walked Teremto, his hood lowered, his mask off, showing once again his emaciated face, as he walked slowly past them, and all of them remained completely silent as he did so, not daring to speak in his presence. And then, he sat down, putting his hands together on the table, and looking towards Kyoki completely calmly, without a shred of emotion visible on his face. And yet, Kyoki saw in his eyes, an absolute fury unlike any other, and found himself feeling uneasy as well, trying not to think about the punishment he might be about to receive for whatever his father was angry about.

"Kyoki..." Teremto starts. "...is such malignance necessary?" "They...they're all pussies." Kyoki replies, having lost all his previous enthusiasm in the moment. "You are my favorite child...for your willingness to follow my instructions." Teremto remarks. "But...you severely lack restraint. That is why you all but perished, all those years ago, is it not?" Kyoki didn't answer, he felt uncomfortable about the entire situation, and after a few moments, he nodded. "...Then practice it." Teremto replies. "I know when to pick my battles, which targets to fire at, everything I do, is to learn, to plan, to control. Everything is strategic. But you...everything *you* do is chaotic. And this discord you sow among your siblings, must end."

"...I understand, Father..." Kyoki replies. "Good...that had better be the truth." Teremto says, before turning towards Ayuk. "Kaguya...is there anything you wish to tell me?" "...No, Father..." Kaguya replies nervously, as Teremto raises an eyebrow, and walks behind her seat to place his hands on her shoulders, as she could feel his bony grip, and began trembling. "Do not lie to me." Teremto orders. "I know about your relationship with Daniel Cross...I orchestrated it, or did you forget that?" "P-please..." Kaguya pleads. "L-leave my family alone..." "*This* is your family." Teremto retorts, waving one hand at all of them. "I care not for your other one, as long as you prioritize us over it. After all...it gives me a means to control every aspect of this war."

And then, Teremto sat back in his seat, placing his fingers together as he looked towards all of them. "Crith, Kyoki, you are to head to the Sukayu Onsen to bring the Winter Bride here." He says. "She will pity Crith, and take mercy on him, while you, Kyoki, will subdue her and bring her to me." "Sure thing, Dad!" Kyoki shouts, as Crith silently nods. "Kaguya and Degan, you will bring the Fall and Spring Brides respectively. Fall resides in the countryside of Ireland, and she will be easy to find if you listen to her song. Spring resides in Delphi, and she has many who would protect her, or in this case...fail to." "Yes, Sir." Degan replies, as Kaguya shakily nods. "And..." Teremto continues. "...ensure Fall is brought to me conscious. I wish to speak to her again..."

Charlotte and Chen stood out in the back of the cabin, staring on at the oasis, covered in palm trees, bushes, and foliage, filled to the brim with life. "This place has been my home for a few decades, now." Chen remarks. "I love this place for its beauty, for harboring life of this scale in the desert. Especially since oases are very rare here." "It really is lively..." Charlotte replies. "But...it's not what I came here for." "You came here to train, didn't you?" Chen asks. "First, realize what it is you're fighting for. And then, you will learn the true art of the sword. Let's get back inside." Charlotte nods, as they walk back inside the cabin.

Trevor stood in front of a large building that had spontaneously appeared in Killeen. It was covered in runes and vines, and seemed to have a pillar in every corner. The roofs were tall and pointy, and the windows seemed to come in all shapes and sizes. What was more, it seemed to had replaced Reaper High! "Wha...?" Trevor wonders, as he walks inside the building, looking around. Everything seemed to be normal, as all lights were on and people were doing their jobs. Yet something seemed a little off. He kept walking, deciding to go up the stairs until he reached the top floor, inside one of the spires of the castle-like building. And in front of him was a wooden door, which he went to knock on as it opened by itself.

And sitting there, beneath a painting of who looked like King Arthur, was a man with pale blonde hair and dark brown eyes, wearing black glasses along with a well-kept green suit that had gold trimmings, and a green top hat with a belt on his head, said belt connected to a pair of golden goggles. And then he noticed the other pictures, pictures of other historical figures, of heroes. The man seemed to be reading a book, as Trevor just watched, nervous, not knowing who the man was. And right when he was about to clear his throat, the man looked up, noticing him, and set the book down on his desk, putting his hands together with a small smile.

"Hello, Trevor Dillard." The man says. "Please, have a seat." He gestured towards the chair next to the desk, as Trevor slowly moved the chair to face the man, and sat there. "Who...are you?" Trevor asks. "Ah, right. Forgot to introduce myself." The man replies. "Culian Dáithí, most recent leader of IHEP, the International Heroics Education Program." "...How have I never heard of you?" Trevor asks. "Most likely because Rossini forgot to mention me." Culian answers with a small sigh. "He was always a bit forgetful, though creative." "...Hey." Trevor says. "What's that book about?" "Oh." Culian responds. "It's a collection of fairy tales from Ireland. Would you like me to read you one?" "Sure." Trevor answers, now paying more attention, as Culian flipped a few pages.

"Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess." Culian started. "Her hair was a shining gold, her lips were the color of blood and roses, and young men from all across the land, near and far, came to visit her, offering themselves to her, or many various gifts. Yet she rejected them all, even when they were the bravest and most talented of knights, as she could tell they only wanted her for her body." And at that, he showed Trevor the picture. The princess was indeed beautiful, but what caught his attention even more was the landscape in said picture. The fields, forest, village and castle all looked incredibly detailed and wonderfully well-done, as if they had been painted by Leonardo da Vinci, or Michelangelo, if they had personally been there, at that time.

"However," Culian continued. "When she was visiting a village to ensure everyone was still loyal to her father, the King, she had tripped and nearly fallen in front of a carriage. But she was saved by the most unremarkable of boys. His features were plain and dirty, he was short and thin, and wore clothing sewn together from rags. He was a mere peasant, and a poor one at that, his family barely able to make any kind of stable living. And yet, he had saved her, not for her admiration, or for the admiration of everyone around him, but because he had seen a person in need, and jumped in to help. More than any of the brave knights who slayed dragons, this boy, was a true hero, as he put the safety and happiness of others over the glory and admiration of himself. And as they spent more time together, it became clear that they were each other's true loves. That they...were meant for each other."

Culian seemed to tense up a bit, as he continued reading. "But the King did not approve of this relationship." He remarked. "And so he kept his daughter in the castle, and married her to the Head General, an old and skilled man, feared for his terrifying tactics on the battlefield. This man, though, cared little for the girl, deciding to make her into his twisted experiment as he would draw blood from her body regularly. Yet, she held out hope, hope that her one true love would come and save her from this predicament, that the day would come that she would see her freedom, and feel the warmth and love that the madman put in charge of her life could and would never bring her." Trevor seemed eager to hear the next part. This was the part that the peasant rushed in and saved the princess, and they lived happily ever after! And yet...that General...was it possible that he took on a new name after defeat...? Was he--

"Yet though the day came..." Culian read, as his eyes seemed to suddenly fill with pain and something else...guilt? And that...was when Trevor's stomach dropped. "...the peasant boy didn't. Some say he had simply started the rescue too late, while others held the belief that his kindness had all been a lie, and he never cared for the princess to begin with. But whatever was the case, she had realized that no one was coming to save her, and so, decided in a desperate bid to save herself. She stopped eating, refusing all sustenance, as she slowly but surely withered away. Her last, dying breathes, were of pure agony, and anguish, as she cried out to her lover even knowing that he would never answer her call."

"She passed away, and was buried by her grieving father, who had been told that an assassin from a neighboring kingdom had poisoned her." Culian continued. "The ensuing war caused the destruction of both kingdoms, leaving ashes for the survivors to pick up. Meanwhile, she rose again, the only vampire to truly be undead, and swore vengeance on humankind, singing a song to lure young men to their demise." And at that, he closed the book, looking to be on the verge of tears, as he closed his eyes. Trevor, meanwhile, looked...furious, his teeth gritted, his hands balled into fists, as his whole body was shaking with rage. "...That was Teremto..." Trevor breathes. "...He was the general...wasn't he...?"

Culian merely nodded, as Trevor bowed his head down. "...Why did you read that story...?" Trevor asked. "...Specifically..." "Because, Trevor..." Culian answers. "...I'm giving you the task of speaking to the princess, the Jarug-Do." Trevor's eyes widen as his pupils shrink. "What...?" He breathes. "I want you to talk to her." Culian says again. "I need you to warn her about what might be coming for her, I need you to bring her over to our side of this war. Because I can assure you, that Reledgard is *not* the enemy here. I shouldn't even need to say who I suspect is the man behind the curtain of this whole war..." "...You think Teremto is behind this...?" Trevor asks. "I'm almost certain he is." Culian replies. "Conquering America will cripple IHEP severely, paving the way for world domination. Reledgard isn't targeting America, they're targeting America *first*."

Charlotte was slashing at Chen, who blocked each and every slash with relative ease, keeping his free hand behind his back the whole time, as he tilts his head to dodge a thrust and bows it down to avoid being slashed at the neck, before knocking Charlotte's katana away with a single swing of his saber, tilting it a bit to block yet another slash, and another, and yet another, before leaping back and, as Charlotte rushed at him, leaps forward to swing his arm in an arc while tilting his wrist in the opposite direction, causing his blade to hit Charlotte's in such a way that it knocked it out of her hand, and caused it to land in Chen's in just the right way to allow him to grab the grip, and place both blades at her neck in an X shape, lowering the blades to make her get on her knees while still looking at him dead in the eyes.

"...Pirani never trained you against, sabers, did she?" Chen asks. "...She...told me I could apply what I learned at her monastery...to sabers." Charlotte replies. "Hmm, not entirely inaccurate." Chen remarks, handing Charlotte's sword back to her as he sheathes his own. "However, it's best to train against all kinds of weapons, if you want to truly be skilled against all kinds of weapons." Charlotte nodded, and sat down, as Chen handed her a cup of tea, and sat down holding his own. "Culian told me about Reledgard and their offensive campaign against America." Chen explains. "I heard he used most of his magic at the time to transport his base of operations there to lend them a hand." "So you're a leader of IHEP?" Charlotte asked. "Here in Mongolia, yes." Chen answers plainly, sipping his tea. "Having an essentially direct lineage to Genghis Khan helps."

"Is...there an IHEP leader for every country?" Charlotte asks. "Every country that sends students to IHEP schools, yes." Chen says. "We're a bit like the Illuminati in that way, I guess. Though our goal is obviously to train heroes for fights bigger than even all-out war, rather than...whatever people think the Illuminati does these days." "...So...there's a Romanian IHEP leader..." Charlotte breathes. "...Yes...he's your father..." Chen responds. "...He's no hero..." Charlotte says with a bit of a growl. "To Romania, he is." Chen explains. "The whole impaling thing he did was to keep Turkey out of Wallachia's business. Brutal, but ultimately heroic, since it was to protect the innocent." "And now people fear him..." Charlotte remarks. "...and by extension, me." "Not after you helped save the world from the Crocatoan Scouts and Scorpios' army." Chen retorts. "You've come a long way, Nechita."

Charlotte smiled a bit, but then sighed and closed her eyes, before looking up at Chen. "I'd like more of the saber lessons." She says. "But if I'm going to match that woman with the fire powers, then what I need is more power and a better reaction time, not just skill." "That, I can't teach you." Culian replies. "However, I do believe that your father can, if you give him a second chance, or, really, a first chance." Charlotte closed her eyes again, silent for a moment, but opened them once more, and looked right into Chen's. "I'll do what it takes to protect the people I care about, and to save as many lives as I can." She responds. "But I hope my father doesn't expect either of us to be happy about this."

"Ah, war is always such a wonderful thing!" Dourryanne proclaims, reading what looked like a manga of some sort. "I love telling my grandkids about my war stories, and once we're back from this I'll have a truly great one to tell!" "Must be nice to have grandkids." Zhadok replies flatly. "I just hope I'll get back to my fiancé. She said she'd join the military to stay with me if relationships between soldiers weren't banned." "A shame, too." Dourryanne responds. "Ever since my wife died, I've had eyes for the Head of Military." "That Succubus bitch?" Zhadok demands. "She'll show her body off to anyone, but she clearly doesn't actually intend on giving it out. It'd be a waste of time even if one of you *weren't* in the military."

And then, the boat, the fleet, reached the shoreline, and saw dozens of tanks, hundreds of jeeps and thousands of soldiers stationed there, all U.S., pointing all their weapons at said fleet. "So we already lost our outpost..." Zhadok remarks as his lower eyelids droop. "Remind me again why we're challenging America? Isn't IHEP led by Ireland?" "America's much closer, and has most of IHEP's might." Dourryanne answers. "Besides, isn't it fun to challenge the strongest military in the world?" "No. No it isn't. Especially since half of these guys probably have posters and weird pillows." "That'll make this even more fun!" Dourryanne replies, as he picks up a communicator and turns it on. "Men, fire!"

And so the carnage ensued, missiles, bullets, bombs and tank rounds flying everywhere as countless people died on either side, soaking the sand and water with blood as ships sank and tanks exploded. Dourryanne watches with a clap, Zhadok watching as well but with his arms crossed, as they notice someone land onto the ship. A man wearing a military helmet, vest, armpads and kneepads, but pointing a simple revolver at them. "Must be a general." Dourryanne says. "Hey, what's your--" The general immediately fires at them, cutting Dourryanne's question off, Zhadok deflecting the bullets as he rushes forwards to slash at said general.

Trevor walked across a grassland, feeling the wind on his face, as he looked up at the partially cloudy night sky, up at the brightly shining moon. It seemed to be full tonight, but aside from that all seemed normal. He noticed a tall rock standing up and, wanting to train, took out a Chakram to throw it at said rock. It seemed he was as accurate as possible, but he felt that wouldn't be enough for the battles to come. Nearby him was a small but nice town, who had received him rather well, especially when he said Culian had sent him. Seemed Culian was rather popular here, which made enough sense to him.

And then, he heard it.

"Ó, a ghrá dhílis, mar is fada liom tú..." The voice sang, feminine and beautiful, hypnotically so, as Trevor immediately felt hot in his cheeks. "Mar is fada liom do shaoirse agus do ghabháil..." Trevor, immediately being able to tell the exact direction the voice was coming from, began to walk in said direction, continuing to listen to the song as it became a bit difficult to think. "Cé chomh fada liom go dtiocfaidh deireadh leis an bpian..." She sang. "Cé chomh fada liom tú a shábháil dom..." Trevor kept walking, a big, goofy grin on his red face, as he began to hear the sound of leaves beneath his feet, but barely noticed it. He felt himself walk right past a treebranch, but paid it no mind. He had forgotten the mission, he needed to follow the song...

Right then, however, an electric shock was felt in his wrist, from the wristband Culian had given him, which shocked him back to reality as he realized he was in a forest, and heard the clip-clop of a horse from somewhere distant. Then, he realized the singing had stopped, and turned around to see her, sitting on a rock in a clearing, illuminated by the moonlight. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes on, her skin the same white as Charlotte's, yet almost silvery, her hair almost the same color, but with a tint of gold. Her lips and eyes were blood red and her fangs were clearly visible, even with her mouth closed. She wore a black dress one might wear at a fancy party, but greatly tattered, and her ears curved upward.

But what he noticed most, was that she was frowning.

"Leave." Jarug-Do says sternly. "I don't deal with boys as young as you."

## Chapter 50

"Uh...what?" Trevor replies, confused. "I told you to leave." Jarug-Do retorts. "I can tell you're still in High School, I don't want your blood." "...I didn't come here for that." Trevor explains. "I came here because the leader of IHEP sent me here." "The leader of what?" Jarug-Do demands. "Maybe I should've given a name..." Trevor remarks. "It's Culian Daithi." At that, her eyes widened, and her pupils shrunk, but only for a moment. "Culian...?" She asks, almost whispering, to which Trevor nods. "You know him?" He asks in response, the former princess turning away with her head bowed down, shaking. "...So he's...he's still alive..." Jarug-Do remarks softly. "...You poor boy...to be involved in this..."

Kyoki and Crith were walking through the currently rather snowy Sukayu Onsen, Kyoki wearing the same clothing he had earlier while Crith wore a hooded winter coat, gloves, pants and boots, shivering. "Can't take the cold, Crith?" Kyoki taunts. "I can't believe you're my brother!" Crith bowed his head down in shame, as Kyoki flew over to a house and banged on the door with his fist. "Soko ni iru no wa dare?!" A voice demands, as the door flies open and a man walks out, staring square in the face of Kyoki, who smiles before slitting the man's throat and walking inside, Crith looking a bit scared at the whole affair as he follows behind, hoping not to anger Kyoki, or get in his way.

"A map! A map! Where's a map?!" Kyoki shouts, bouncing all over the place as he rams into a chest, which flew open and showed a map of the area. He eyes it for a moment, before rushing out, dragging Crith behind him with one hand. "Alright, we're in the right place!" He yells, as he forces the wind around them to die down, and zips around the area to look for someone. Crith, meanwhile, didn't have the first clue who to look for, and so he just sat down and continued to shiver, hoping to get home as soon as possible, Kyoki noticing and flying back down. "Why aren't you helping, Crith?!" Kyoki demands. "I-I don't kn-know who w-we're l-looking f-f-for..." Crith answered, his teeth chattering.

"Oh, that's simple." Kyoki retorts. "We're looking for Yuki-Onna!" "Wh-who...?" Crith breathes. "Long black hair, long white cloak, kinda transparent, probably hates me." Kyoki answers. "Ah, you'll know her when you see her." "I-Is that her...?" Crith asked in response, pointing at a woman at the edge of the town who fit the description, and simply stared at them while holding what looked like a child. Then, Crith saw Kyoki's face contort into the most wicked, demented, and cruel smile he had ever thought anyone could have. "Oh, that's her, alright..." Kyoki sneers, chuckling darkly. "THAT'S DEFINITELY THE BITCH WHOSE SON I ATE!" While Crith stood in horror at what Kyoki just said, his clearly insane brother rushed at Yuki-Onna, clearly intent on fighting her!

Degan walked through the ruins of Delphi, looking around at the architecture before him. Perhaps it would have stood out otherwise, but he'd seen similar ruins before. Whatever, the Spring Bride had to be here somewhere. He just continued his walked, looking up at the sky, as he listened out for anything out of the ordinary. It didn't take long to hear other footsteps nearby, as he saw a man walk into a temple. He followed in secret, well, as secret as he could be, and saw that the man was standing before a throne of sorts, and sitting in the throne was a woman with green, vine-like hair that had a number of different flowers growing from it, a woman wearing traditional robes, as she sat there, waiting for her gifts.

"Guess I should strike now..." Degan muttered, as he could tell he had found Vividus. And so, he leaped into the temple, kicked the man aside, and drew his cutlass to point it at the Spring Bride, who raised an eyebrow. "A resident of Insmouth...?" She wonders, peering into Degan's eyes. "My father has requested an audience with you, Vividus." Degan replies without answering. He did have a heritage tied to Insmouth, but that didn't matter here. "Your father?" Vividus demands. "The beast who has sown discord between all of us for the past two thousand years?" "Yes..." Degan answers simply. There was no need to respond to complicated wording with his own. "...How dare you enter my grounds, son of Csillag!" She retorts.

"If you would-" Degan started. "NO!" Vividus roars, the plants around them beginning to shift. "I will NOT grace the man who threw away and nearly stamped out his own culture, the man whose every waking intention is to turn the world against itself, with MY presence!" And then, dozens of plants rushed at Degan, aiming to restrain him! Degan is quick to react, swinging his sword in multiple arcs to slash the plants apart, but more plants grew from the pieces, beginning to wrap around him like ropes. However, Degan then begins to rip the water out of those plants, and sent them at Vividus as a pressurized jet, Vividus using a pitcher plant to absorb the water as quickly as possible before creating a wooden spear to rush at Degan with.

Venus sat in a ship the size of a large aircraft carrier, looking out of one of the windows at the front deck, which had a number of houses resting on top of it. "It's such a beautiful place." She remarks. "This ability to detach our cities from our island, makes us a rather mobile country." "Don't forget a major naval power." A male voice remarks, as Venus turns to see a thin man sitting there, wearing the standard Reledgard uniform as well as an admiral cap that had a blue ribbon on it. He also wore golden glasses with dark red lenses, and had black hair and brown eyes. "Though we already know all this. No need to think about it aloud." "Of course, Montgomery." Venus responds with a smile. "I love it when you give me that look." Montgomery remarks.

"Because I am a woman?" Venus asks. "The most beautiful woman in the world." Montgomery answers with his own smile. "I would love you as my wife, if we weren't in the military." Venus shifts her shoulders, her smile becoming a smirk. "No, you wouldn't." She retorts. "Because I have too much power, physically and politically, for you to control." "You're the only woman I respect around here..." Montgomery responds. "I think that should be a good reason." "It would, if I thought I'd get anything out of it." Venus counters. "But you don't seem particularly like my type, always being so controlling and demanding. I prefer a good boy who will do whatever I say." "Suppose that's one thing the wimps have in their favor..." Montgomery mutters.

"That's why we're not really fit for each other." Venus explains. "We both want the submissive ones, because we both want power and control." "On the contrary..." Montgomery retorts. "...I think I'd appreciate the challenge." Venus chuckles, almost maliciously, as she looks out at the ocean. "Perhaps when this war is over, we can resign and take that challenge." She responds. "I doubt so strongly that you'd be the victor...or that any of you would remain afterwards. I can be quick to anger...and you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." "So much nerve from you, Head of Military..." Montgomery replies coldly. "...but that's what I love most about you." "Let's not lie, Grand Admiral." Venus replies just as coldly. "You *only* love me for my *looks*."

The wind was howling, as Trevor shivered but Jarug-Do looked unfazed, sighing. "Culian roped you into this...whatever is going on." She remarks. "If he's still alive...then so is...*he*..." "T-Teremto...?" Trevor asks, as Jarug-Do grimaced, showing her fangs fully. Trevor could tell, by looking at them, that she could kill him with a single bite, and felt extremely uncomfortable. And then, she began to cry softly. "...Why didn't he come here, himself...?" She breathed, closing her eyes. "H-how m-m-much do you know about C-Culian?" Trevor decided to ask, Jarug-Do sitting on a rock to bury her face in her hands, crying harder. He would go to comfort her, if he felt the least bit safe doing that.

"...He's...he was..." She started. "...he was my true love..." "He was...?" Trevor replied, as Jarug-Do nodded. "...Well...I've heard about what you do." Trevor replies. "Why...?" She didn't speak for a moment, her head still bowed down. "...I don't know..." She whispers softly. "...I just...feel compelled to do it...at some point, I just...stopped caring..." "...Culian told me the story..." Trevor remarked. "...Everyone loved you..." "...No...not everyone...you know that..." She retorts. "...But you're right...now I'm just...another monster..." "...I know someone like you." Trevor says. "She's actually a lot like you, and we've been together for a few years now! I'd love for you to meet her, and even more for you to see Culian again! He's a hero, now!"

"Unfortunately..." Kaguya says from above them, both of them seeing her floating in front of the moon. "...she won't get the chance." Kaguya landed in front of them, drawing a katana, as Jarug-Do stared at her. "Who are you?" She demands. "Ayuk?" Trevor asks. "My real name is Kaguya Teremto." Kaguya answers, walking towards them. "I am...the secondborn of Csillag." "So you're here to kidnap us?!" Trevor shouts. "Only her." Kaguya replies flatly. "You may leave if you wish to." "I will *NEVER* go back to that beast of a man!" Jarug-Do roars, as the wind picks up, rushing in the direction Kaguya was coming from as thunder boomed in the sky. "YOU AND YOUR FAMILY CAN DIE A THOUSAND DEATHS BEFORE YOU CAPTURE ME!"

Kyoki rushes at Yuki-Onna to send a wind blast at her, the spirit countering with her own blast of air, but far colder, and icier, from her mouth as a chilling breath. When Kyoki was hit, he was frozen solid, and Yuki-Onna turned her attention towards Crith, who hid behind a rock. "...Pure..." She remarks, forming a blade of ice to block Kyoki's blade of air, as Kyoki had broken himself out of the ice by now, and had an ear-to-ear grin. "...Cruel..." And then, she slashes viciously at him, Kyoki leaping back to dodge as she has the blizzard rush at him! However, he flies through it and behind her, as he slashes her in the back with another air blade, sending her gliding forwards as she turns around to send a storm of icicles at him.

"Why aren't you helping me with this, Crith?!" Kyoki demands, as Crith was still shivering, but also now trembling, and unable to respond. "Ah, whatever!" Kyoki then swings a spin-kick at his opponent, who ducks beneath it to approach Crith, who sat there, paralyzed in fear. "You poor thing..." She remarked in a motherly tone, before going to hug him. "HEY, DON'T GIVE HIM LOVE!" Kyoki roars, sending a tornado-like airblast at Yuki-Onna to send her flying, and destroy a house. "Just so you know, Crith." He says. "She was gonna turn you into an ice statue." And then he rushed at the area he blasted her too, being slashed across the chest by a blade of hers, and thus forced to fly back.

"You come to this place just to attack me..." She remarks. "...why do you continue to torment me?" "Well, my dad asked me to!" Kyoki answers with a sadistic grin. "And I probably would've anyway, just to rub in your face that I ate your chi-" An icicle pierces through his mouth, stabbing out the back of his head, as he falls backwards, Yuki-Onna glaring at them as her hair and robe blew violently in the raging blizzard. "S-so c-cold..." Crith whimpers, on his knees with his arms crossed, as the spirit floated towards him. "W-want...t-to...s-see...h-her..." "...I pity you..." Yuki-Onna remarks. "...Allow your demise to be in the embrace of a mother..." "...I-I'm s-sorry..." Crith whimpers further, as, when Yuki-Onna hugged him, chains wrapped around her!

Degan avoided numerous spear stabs, as he slashed at Vividus numerous times with his cutlass, Vividus blocking with her spear as she has massive flytraps grow from cracks in the ground to bite at Degan, who whirls around to slice the flytraps' heads off with his sword before leaping over a spear thrust to slice the spear's head off, swinging a kick at Vividus, who stumbles back before regrowing her spear and throwing it at her opponent, Degan catching it as he feels thorns grow on it. He is quick to throw it to the ground and rush to slash at her, as she raises her forearms, wooden gauntlets forming on them, to block the slashes, the spear growing into a truly massive tree behind them.

Then, the tree slams one of its branches at Degan, who hears it in time and blocks with his forearm, grunting in pain as he slashes at Vividus in the stomach, Vividus stumbling back again to dodge as Degan grabs the branch, rips it off, and swings it at her, but the branch warps in ways that prevent it from ever hitting the Spring Bride, who raises her arm to make vines sprout out of the ground and rush from trees to grab Degan's limbs and slam him all over the place. Degan is quick to act, drawing water from the air to turn into blades to slash the vines apart with, before sending those same blades at Vividus, who uses the branch from before to absorb the water, before splintering the branch and sending its splinters at Degan en-masse.

"This is more than I bargained for!" Degan shouts, deflecting the splinters and leaping to grab Vividus' by the arm, before swinging her through a pillar, pulverizing it, and then slamming her into the ground, shaking Delphi in the process! Vividus sent more vines and branches at Degan, however, this time he decided to pull all the water from the nearby plants, and condense it into a drill shape, spinning it accordingly as he condensed it more and more to increase the pressure. "You...will...never...take...this...world..." Vividus groans, as the water drill bit crashes down onto her, shattering the temple and flooding the area! As the water washes away the dust, Vividus was shown to be unconscious. "Phew..." Degan remarks, picking her up.

Kaguya slashes at Jarug-Do, who dodges the slash as fast as she can before slashing Kaguya in the face and kicking her away. Kaguya quickly heals, and sights, going for another slash, as Jarug-Do blocks with her forearm, which afterwards starts to bleed, but heals as well, as the former princess grabs the Moon Princess by the face to throw her at a tree, Kaguya slashing behind herself to cut said tree down in a way that it would fall backwards, before flying behind Jarug-Do to slash at her back, but she leaps up to dodge the slash, and kicks Kaguya in the face to send her flying before landing on her feet, Kaguya later doing the same as she exhaled sharply, all her wounds healing, as did Jarug's.

And then, Jarug-Do sends lightning to crash at Kaguya, who manifests a glowing white yet transparent shield to block the lightning, sending that shield at the former princess in the form of shurikens, Jarug leaping over them and sending a powerful gust of wind to send Kaguya sliding back, as Kaguya opens a portal behind herself and flies into it, emerging behind Jarug-Do and whirling around to slash at her back, sending her to the ground as she grunts in pain, yet quickly began to heal. However, Kaguya then forms a cube-shaped forcefield around Jarug to keep her in place, Jarug punching, kicking and slashing the barrier to try to break it, but was unsuccessful.

"This will keep you where you are, while I take you to Father." Kaguya explains, as she sidesteps a Bokyaku, and slashes a bomb in half with her katana before catching a punch from Trevor and flinging him into a tree. "GAH!" Trevor screams, as Kaguya prepares to open a portal back to Teremto's base--right when a rune appears on the barrier, causing it to dissipate! They all see someone walking out of the shadows, that someone being Culian, who now had his sword drawn as he rushes at Kaguya, who barely manages to block the first few stabs before being repeatedly stabbed in all of her pressure points, causing her to fall to the ground, paralyzed and unconscious for the moment, as Jarug-Do looks on in shock and awe.

"Culian...?" She whispers.

Charlotte and Chen were walking through Romania, Charlotte wearing a cloak to hide her features from the many civilians, while pinching her nose to avoid the smell of garlic. "I expect your father to be happy to see you." Chen remarks. "I doubt he's really so cruel nowadays." "...I...suppose we shall see..." Charlotte replies, as Chen takes a cross from one of the civilians, and they walk up to a massive gothic castle, sitting between two mountains and in front of another, illuminated ever so briefly by the occasional lightning strike, as it seemed to be swarmed with bats. Charlotte sighs, as Chen knocks on the door, which soon opens, as a man with a long black mustache, long black hair, a red and gold royal outfit, and a red and gold crown, with pointed teeth and ears, and bloodred eyes, opened the door.

"...Welcome back, daughter." Vlad says, somewhat bitterly.

## Chapter 51

Jarug-Do and Culian looked on at each other for a few moments, staring directly into each other's eyes, as Trevor just sat down. "Where were you...?" She asked quietly. "When I needed you the most...you didn't come. Why did you abandon me...?" Culian didn't respond, just standing there in silence, as Trevor could see the guilt in his eyes, before they began to tear up, yet his overall expression didn't change at all. "...No I answer I could give...would make up for all that's happened." He finally answers. "...But what I had tried to do...was kill Csaelan. To stop him. I failed...and for that...for failing you...I am eternally sorry."

After another moment, Jarug hugged Culian tightly, taking Culian by surprise as he looked shocked, yet relieved, before he hugged her back. "Every day...for so long...I have missed you, Culian..." She whispers. "I've missed you as well, my love..." Culian replied softly, closing his eyes as tears began to roll down his cheeks. They continued to hug for a little while, Trevor looking at birds to wait quietly, before they both turned towards him. "Trevor, I would like you to properly meet Faye, the Jarug-Do." "Err, hi there?" Trevor replies. "...If Csaelan is still alive, then I'll help fight against him however I can." Faye says, Culian nodding.

"Attention, all men and women of Reledgard's mighty military." Montgomery says on a megaphone. "We have made proper foothold on the grounds of the United States of America. It was a bloody and costly battle, yes, but that's to be expected when fighting a country whose history is better judged by the years it *hasn't* been at war with anyone. And now that we have prevailed, we can expand this outpost to become the temporary center of all Reledgard operations in this country, and secure more and more parts of it." Everyone listens to Montgomery's speed, Venus beside him, including Zhadok and Dourryanne.

"We may be outnumbered and outgunned by these rebellious savages!" Montgomery continues. "But what can they do against our wit and our brave men?! We rule the seas, we are ruled by some of the most powerful beings on this planet! We are superior to all other countries of this world and as such, this world is our birthright! We are going to take it in any way we can, so that we may bring our power and prosperity to the rest of this world upon which we walk! WE ARE GOING TO TAKE THIS COUNTRY, AND THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO ABOUT IT!" Everyone cheered and saluted Montgomery, everyone, except Zhadok.

*"It's ludicrous how full of himself he is..."* Zhadok remarks. Though he supposed he was one to talk, considering his intent upon joining the military was never to serve as a faithful soldier. Regardless, Montgomery's speech certainly did rally up the troops, and Venus seemed pleased with it, considering the discussion they seemed to be having atop the stage. Whatever, Montgomery's pompous nature was bound to get him killed soon, and then Dourryanne would probably take the role of Grand Admiral from him. And then, Zhadok could play the waiting game. Or at least, that was his new intention...

"Have a seat, my daughter." Vlad says. "And you as well, her mentor." Charlotte sat down uncomfortably, as Chen followed, Charlotte being offered a chalice of blood as Chen was offered a cup of another kind of drink. "What brings you to my castle?" He asks. "She needs to learn how to harness her Eletero." Chen answers. "I request her be taught the other vampire Eletero channelings. "Hmm...of course, then." Vlad replies. "Please, follow me into the training chambers. You will find all the necessary equipment." He then stands up and walks through a door, Charlotte and Chen following without having drank anything.

Khaldun walked through the corridors of the Star-C outpost he was in, hearing what sounded like a mechanical drill bit whirring from inside a room. "Guess Krincax is still here..." He remarks with a sigh, but as he went to walk in, he heard his name be called, and decided to walk through the hallway into another room, one where a man wearing a golden business-like suit sat. He, of course, had the same pale green skin, bright green eyes and golden hair as Khaldun. "Glad to have you here, Felix." The man says, as Khaldun sits down. "What is it, Sir?" Khaldun replies, as the man sighs. "We need you to investigate Reledgard." He explains.

"What about them? Khaldun asks. "We think Emperor Orestes' right hand man has, to put it simply, orchestrated the war between Reledgard and America." The man answers. "His name is, reportedly, Csillag Teremto." At that explanation, Khaldun's pupils shrink. So Teremto was still alive...that was just about the worst news they could have heard. "...I'm on it, Sir." Khaldun says, saluting the man as he walked out of the room. He closed his eyes, thinking for a moment about his friends. He'd like to see them again...whenever he got the time. If he ever got the time.

Yuki-Onna and Vividus were dropped at Teremto's feet, as he stared down at them, his expression not changing a bit. "So you are the father of my son's killer..." Yuki-Onna breathes. "Silence." Teremto replies coldly, as Yuki-Onna's mouth suddenly froze over. "The time to take your power is now, and it will be grand." "I want Yuki-Onna's power!" Kyoki shouts. "No." Teremto retorts flatly. "But I wanna be more than the Wind Elemental!" Kyoki roars. "I wanna be the WEATHER Elemental! And carry out your will better than ever!" "...Succeed at my next mission for you, and you will gain her power, as well as my first wife's when she is brought here." Teremto responds, then turning towards Kaguya. "Speaking of which..."

"...I am terribly sorry, Father." Kaguya whispers. "Culian was there...I couldn't face him..." "...So, he has decided that my children are his enemies as well..." Teremto seems to remark. "...As expected. All you'll see in the human race is hypocrites, liars, killers, rapists, and thieves." Kaguya didn't respond to that. "...My daughter...you disappoint me." Teremto softly growls. "I expect better from you, and so I expect you will do better. You have always been competent." "Y...yes...Father..." Kaguya says. "...And forget not..." Teremto finishes. "...that Daniel Cross likely views you only...as his possession." "Wh...what...?" Kaguya breathes. "You know it to be true..." Teremto replies. "...I am the only one...who sees your value."

Connor had just finished eating a cone of ice cream, as Rosette sat down beside him, and leaned on his shoulder. "You're great at this, Rose." He said with a smile. "Thanks, Connie." She replied, as Connor blushed a bit. Rosette giggled and hugged him gently, as he hugged back. "...You know..." Connor starts. "...I'm worried about this war that's going on. I feel like we should be doing more right now." "I guess that depends on what plan you guys have." Rosette responds. "I'd like to help however I can." "We'd really appreciate it." Connor answers, as they kiss, hearing the door open a moment later as Trevor, Khaldun, Culian and a woman in a hooded black cloak walk in. "Well, we can start by taking out Reledgard's outpost." Culian responds, smiling.

Charlotte, Chen and Vlad walked through the massive dark room, lit by torches and chandeliers of blood-red fire. Dozens of hundreds of vampires in black armor sat in a kneeling position, maces in hand, as various weapons, armors and shields lined the massive walls. "This is where you will train to unlock the rest of your abilities." Vlad explains. "No longer will the loss of your sword leave you vulnerable to attack." Charlotte nodded, and looked around wearily. "...But...how will I learn them?" She asks in response, before being smacked in the head by Vlad using his own, staff-like mace! She yells in pain, but gets up to her feet, her wounds healing, as she glares at her father. "...By learning them from me." Vlad answers coldly.

Montgomery sat on a red and gold sofa, his head resting on one of his hands as he looked on at where the army had been. Soon, would be the news that their triumph had been reached, and they would be able to move on to the rest of the world with America's forces under their control. And then, he smiled darkly. "I know you're all there." He states, as Trevor, Connor, Khaldun, Rosette and Sabrina leap out from the crates they had been hiding behind, Khaldun pointing his blaster pistol at the Grand Admiral. "This war is ending today!" Khaldun shouts. "Orestes must surrender, and millions of lives must be spared!" "Save me the speech." Montgomery retorts. "I'm more interested in actions than words." And then, he drew his sword, still sitting.

"If you want us to surrender, *make us*."

## Chapter 52

Sabrina was the first to rush, slashing at Montgomery as he blocked her sword with his own, sending her flying backwards, while still sitting down. He then moves his sword to block Rosette's strikes, sending her back as well before repeatedly blocking Connor's slashes and Khaldun's laser blasts. Then, they all rush at him, slashing at him from every angle, but he blocks every last slash, still not moving from his seat, before Khaldun catches his sword in his own, and flips it out of Montgomery's hand, but is quick to dodge when Montgomery fires at him, the Grand Admiral catching his sword to slash them all back with a shockwave!

"Don't tell me this is all you have!" Montgomery shouts. "Bokyaku no Uzekara" Trevor shouts, throwing the Bokyaku at Montgomery, who stares at it for a moment before slashing it clean in half! "...Why..." Connor then sends dozens of tendrils at the Grand Admiral, aiming to restrain him, but Montgomery slashes them all away with his sword, then using it to block another slash from Sabrina. He feels a pulling sensation on his arm, and sees Rosette, before swinging his arm to fling her through numerous trees, freeing himself from her power as he blocks another slash from Khaldun.

"Wow, you really are all pathetic!" The Grand Admiral taunts, unleashing another shockwave to blast them all back yet again. "...Are we really?" Khaldun responds, as Montgomery then hears beeping from behind himself. Before he could look, however, the bombs Khaldun and Trevor had planted went off, causing a massive explosion that blasts everyone further back! "GAH!" Trevor yelps. "Did we get him?" For a moment, just the sound of fire. But then, the smoke cleared, revealing Montgomery to be standing there. He was almost completely unscathed! "...Well..." He remarks. "...It seems you have a bit of bite after all."

Charlotte was being tossed around the enormous room like a ragdoll, each mace strike breaking every bone it came into contact with, Vlad barely giving her time to regenerate before he struck again. She saw the mace coming, and tried desperately to block it, but it knocks her sword out of her hand and crushes her forearm, sending her flying once more. She noticed the mace swinging toward her head, and managed to barely duck, but was kicked in the stomach and sent flying yet again, crashing into a wall this time as she fell on the ground, groaning in pain.

"Get up, daughter." Vlad orders, standing there and glaring at her. "Do not let yourself be defeated so easily." Charlotte slowly struggled to her feet, breathing heavily as her wounds healed, before rushing at her father, attempting to grab the mace. He smacks her hand aside, grabs her forearm, and swings the mace at her chest, shattering her ribcage before kicking her to the ground. "G-gu-ugh..." She growls, before Vlad grabs her by the neck and throws her into another wall, creating massive cracks in it.

Charlotte noticed her sword laying beside her and quickly grabbed it, healed just enough that she was able to again narrowly dodge Vlad's mace, and slash at him, but he blocks the slash and, in that same action, knocks her sword out of her hand again, causing it to again go flying as it stabs into the wall opposite of them. Vlad brings the mace down on her again, as she quickly raises her arms to take it. Yet...this time, no bones broke. "Wh..." She breathed. "Ah..." Her father remarks. "...you've unlocked your Scutulviață."

Montgomery immediately rushes at Khaldun, slashing him so fast that Khaldun barely had time to block, being sent flying regardless. Connor tries to slash at Montgomery repeatedly, but the Grand Admiral dodges all but the last strike, which he deflects, slashing Connor back while simultaneously blocking slashes from Sabrina and Rosette, while tilting his head to dodge another Bokyaku thrown by Trevor. Khaldun fires at Montgomery, who fires at the lasers with his gun, getting all but one, which blasts the gun out of his hand.

Montgomery is quick to slash everyone back, droplet of blood flying through the air, as he whirls around to slash apart bombs that Trevor had thrown. He feels Rosette and Connor pull on his arm again, chuckling as he flips through the air to fling them into the ground with such force that it split open! "GUH!" Rosette screams, as Khaldun tries again to slash at Montgomery, who tilts forwards to dodge the slash before cutting Khaldun across the stomach. "Ghhh! Khaldun grunts, landing on the ground as Sabrina tries to bash Montgomery with her shield, Montgomery blocking even this before dodging an attempted stab from her.

Montgomery then kicks her back, slashing away Connor and Rosette when they try to attack him again, before preforming another flip to dodge a laser, deflecting the rest as the last one to be deflected was sent directly at Khaldun, who dodges it quickly before pressing a button on a device, causing golden orbs placed around the Grand Admiral to restrain him with glowing purple ropes. "Trevor, now!" Khaldun roars. "Right!" Trevor replies, forming another Bokyaku. "Bokyaku...no...Uzekara!" He then throws the Bokyaku at Montgomery, who is hit and caught in the enormous blue explosion!

"Wh...what...?" Charlotte demands. "Scutulviață is the ability to use your Eletero to shield your body." Vlad explains simply, before leaping back and swinging his mace at Charlotte again, Charlotte blocking again as she is sent flying, but lands on her feet. It isn't long before her father is rushing at her again, hitting her in the stomach and sending her flying once more. She grabs her sword again and ducks under the next mace swing, slashing at the Vampire King, who blocks again with his mace as he whacks her in the head to send her to the other side of the room.

Before she knew it, he had already leapt at her, swinging his mace down as she is barely able to roll out of the way, the floor gaining a dozen new massive cracks. Before she can fully escape, however, he swings his mace at her face, sending her flying yet again, and into a suit of armor, as she roars in pain and falls to the ground, rolling out of the way of the armor as she could feel that Scutulviață was not fully protecting her. Her father swung his mace once more at her, as she once again just barely managed to dodge.

The dodge was short-lived, though, as he swung his mace yet again at her head, and Charlotte, seeing it and knowing she couldn't defend against it this time, quickly ducked beneath the mace, faster than she ever had before, and slashed its head off, causing it to hit the ground with a loud 'clunk'. "...And now...you have unlocked Vitezaviață, the ability to use Eletero to enhance your speed." Vlad remarks, drawing a Kilij from its sheath and rushing at Charlotte again, which she manages to block, before leaping back from him. "Viață...TRANȘĂ!" She roars, swinging her sword to send the blast at him...which he cuts in half!

They looked on at the blue flames and smoke for a minute, weary, before they see all of it rush into Montgomery's sword, as they had only destroyed some of his suit, hat and glasses! "I bet you really thought you had me..." The Grand Admiral remarks, sweeping his hair out of his face. "...But I will allow you to understand..." And at that, he suddenly absorbs all the Eletero in Rosette and Sabrina's weaponry as well, forming a sword, chest plate, helmet, boots, gloves, and wings of Eletero, as his eyes glowed blue! "...You pathetic 'heroes'...are nothing compared to a real war hero!"

## Chapter 53

Sparks flew through the air, illuminating the area with a red glow each time they did so. Sword clashed against sword dozens of times over within seconds, creating sonic booms that shook the room, causing dust to fall everywhere. Blood stained the floor, as Charlotte stumbled back, dodging another slash from Vlad, before blocking another after that. Even with the two abilities she now had, keeping up with him was extremely difficult, and she could tell he wasn't even trying. She kept trying to dodge and block, breathing heavily as she glared again at her father, who glared back.

She kept dodging and blocking his slashes, and he kept dodging and blocking hers. It didn't seem as if either were able to hit the other for the most part, but he clearly had the advantage, as more and more of Charlotte's blood hit the ground, and Vlad had gone, so far, undamaged. It was becoming harder and harder to dodge and block his slashes, as she started to feel fatigue and dizziness set in from the blood loss she had experienced thus far. And then, he once again knocked her sword from her hands, as it stabbed into the ground when it landed.

Then, he immediately cuts her across the stomach, and sends her flying across the room, slashing his sword across the wall to send dust, debris, weapons, armor and gear at her! Charlotte is hit by essentially all of it, as she hits the wall, and falls to the ground, barely moving, barely breathing, bleeding from numerous wounds as searing hot agony from numerous broken bones filled her body. She sees Vlad running at her, weakly points her fist at him, and focuses, as a ball of Eletero rushes at him, and he slashes it in half, causing it to explode red behind him. "Balulvieții, excellent." Vlad remarks. "That leaves one more to go."

"I suppose I can spare the time to explain what I just did..." Montgomery remarks. "...my Mutation is the ability to draw all Eletero towards myself, and take control of it, even the Eletero of others, and thus add it to my own." Before anyone could react, he was already behind Khaldun, his wings erupting a massive amount of energy at him! "GRAH!!!!!!!!!" Khaldun screams, as Connor tries once again to slash at Montgomery, who stops the blast to block the slashes, before having his wings erupt more energy to blast Connor across the landscape, leaving a trail of lava where Connor hit.

I suppose I should kill all of you now, as well." Montgomery says, pointing his sword at Sabrina and Rosette before firing a massive beam of energy from it, both of them dodging as it tears through the area and hits a city, causing what looked like a massive nuclear blast! The wind and heat from said blast sent everyone but Montgomery flying, as he smiles darkly at all of them, before flying into the air to appear behind Sabrina, and slash her in the back. Right as Sabrina started roaring in agony, the Grand Admiral stabbed Rosette in the stomach, and kicked Trevor in the head.

Montgomery landed where they did, each crash shaking the state, but before he could finish them off, he notices a purple blast of fire rushing at him, and deflects it, turning with a twisted smile to see Daniel standing there, as Daniel glared viciously at him. "Good to finally meet you, Cross." Montgomery says darkly. "Good job on the promotion." "...So you're the Grand Admiral of Reledgard's navy?" Daniel replies. "...In that case, let's get this over with." And at that, he draws his rapier. "I will burn you into ashes for what you've done!"

"You focused your energy to create that blast." Vlad explains to Charlotte, who was slowly standing back up, regenerating. "...Now, only one technique remains to teach." And so, without warning, he rushes at Charlotte to slash at her again, Charlotte ducking beneath the slash as it sent more debris flying off the wall, and shook what felt like the entire castle! She sends another Balulvieții at him, but he merely cuts through it again, weaving around the next one as he slashes at Charlotte, who took the slash to try and kick him in the arm, but he grabbed her leg, slammed her into the ground, and kicked her across the room.

"G-ghhhhh...GHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" Charlotte growls, standing back up yet again, as Vlad rushes at her. "WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?!" She screams, grabbing her sword again to block his slash. "WHY DIDN'T YOU EVER TRY TO HELP ME?! WHY DID YOU LET ME SUFFER?!" "DO YOU THINK YOU KNOW SUFFERING?!" Her father roars in response, slashing her back as she stumbles to stay on her feet when she lands. "THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF MY LIFE WERE HELL! I HAD TO IMPALE THOUSANDS OF SOLDIERS ON PIKES TO KEEP THIS COUNTRY FROM BEING ANNEXXED! WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW ABOUT SUFFERING?!"

"...You never cared..." Charlotte whimpers. "...Nothing I lost...meant anything to you..." "You're the one who ran away." Vlad retorts, as Charlotte glares viciously at him and roars in rage, putting her hands together to try and fire two blasts at him, but instead fired a massive red beam! And he rushed at it, slashing through it with his sword as the country shook! "Yes!" He roars. "This is Fazaviață! The most powerful non-royal technique any vampire can learn!" And yet, he slashed through the blast in its entirety, and cut Charlotte across the torso. She tried to keep fighting, but she had lost too much blood, and passed out a moment later.

Blue explosions of Eletero and purple explosions of fire ravaged the area, as Daniel and Montgomery clashed blades over and over again, neither able to land a blow on the other. "How talented, you are, Daniel Cross!" Montgomery shouts. "But it won't be enough to defeat me!" "Keep talking out of your ass!" Daniel shouts back. "It doesn't make you any stronger!" Their blades then locked, as Daniel immediately snaps his fingers to blast Montgomery back, but Montgomery had shielded himself with his wings, as he fires the beam at Daniel, Daniel snapping his fingers to block the cataclysmic explosion.

Daniel immediately whirled around, barely blocking Montgomery's wing blast with another blast of fire, as he managed to deflect a sword slash and stab Montgomery in the arm. However, it was only a second later when Montgomery kicked Daniel away, took the sword out of his arm, and rushed at him with both swords. Daniel was quick to react, snapping both fingers in quick succession to send flame explosions at Montgomery, who is seemingly enveloped in them, but soon flies out, severely burned, but otherwise undeterred!

Montgomery went to slash Daniel across the stomach, as he barely managed to dodge, grabbing his sword and pointing his fingers at the Grand Admiral's face, snapping his fingers to have the blast erupt from *inside him*! "GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" Montgomery howls for as long as he can, right as the Eletero gear dissipates, and he falls to the ground. "Is everyone alright?!" Daniel shouts. "Ugh..." Connor groans. "...wait...where are the others?!" "They're...they're at the White House!" Khaldun shouts.

Sure enough, at the White House, thousands of Reledgard soldiers swarmed, shooting and bayonetting down anyone who got in their way, as Dourryanne and Zhadok walked through the front door, Zhadok killing any security they came across. "Just how many soldiers do you think we lost to get here?" Dourryane asks. "Millions, Sir." Zhadok replies, as they kick down the front door, and Dourryanne points a gun at the President. "You have nothing left to fight us with." Dourryanne says in a suddenly serious tone. "Surrender...or die." "...Liberty...or death." The President replies, pulling a gun on Dourryanne, but being shot in the head.

## Chapter 54

Daniel ran through the streets of the nearest city, blasting soldiers out of the way as he saw American flags being lowered and replaced with those of Reledgard! "...No..." He breathes, as the billboards, news screens, and television screens all changed to show Dourryanne, sitting in the President's chair, Zhadok standing beside him. "Hello, people of America." Dourryanne says. "As you can see, this country is now part of the Reledgardian Empire. This is not a matter of surrender anymore, you are now our citizens. Any resistance will be met with maximum force, as will be the case for the rest of the world." The screens then turn off.

"Finally, I've finished that boring speech!" Dourryanne shouts, spinning around in the President's chair. "This chair is amazing!" "Sir, what do we do now that we've conquered this country?" Zhadok asks. "I guess there's some laws that need to be added, changed and removed." Dourryanne replies. "Though these people's Constitution could make it difficult..." "The Constitution is a piece of paper you can shred." Teremto says, walking in through the door as Zhadok narrows his eyes at him. "America was ruled by an empire once, it will not be willing to be ruled by one again. Maximum force of might and power is required. You must crush them under your heel, crush their very spirits, into obedience." "...Okay, Mr. Cult Leader." Dourryanne replies hesitantly.

Charlotte slowly woke up in a massive bed, sitting in a massive bedroom, and sat up, holding her head in pain. It took a moment, but she remembered what had happened, and winced. She'd unlocked all those skills...and said her father didn't care about her. She groaned and got out of the bed, opening the doors and walking through the dimly lit halls. As she reached the entrance, she saw her father standing there. "It is good that you learned those skills." Vlad says to her. "Now all we need do is hone them." Charlotte didn't respond for a moment, before running over to her father and hugging him, holding back tears. He stood there, looking down at her, and sighs after another moment. "Of course..." He remarks, as Charlotte began to cry, still hugging him.

"They...they took over...?" Trevor breathes. "Yes..." Daniel replies. "...As far as the law is concerned, we're now citizens, soldiers, o Reledgard." "Surely the other nations can help?" Connor asks. "They can, but Reledgard will draft and conscript anyone and everyone necessary to win." Khaldun answers. "Even if they stop Reledgard's advance, they'd be wiping out this country to do so." "Well...we can't just do nothing!" Trevor shouts. "We have to get to Dourryanne and take him out of power!" "You make that sound easy." Rosette replies. "It's worth a shot." Daniel responds. "If we just let this happen, then we're all going to die here, possibly...everyone will." "No..." Culian says from behind them. "We definitely will...because it's not Reledgard that's behind this."

"Culian?" Daniel demands. "The Relegardian Empire is merely a puppet of our true enemy." Culian explains. "As so many other empires have been..." "...Teremto?" Trevor asks. "Teremto is still alive?!" Connor shouts in response. "...He's immortal." Culian replies. "Scorpios negated his Mutation temporarily when he killed him, but that didn't permanently destroy him, because his immortality is not biology. It's magic." "...Magic...?" Trevor asked weakly, as Connor clenched his fists. "Yes. He's been honing that, his Mutation, and his skill for the past two thousand years, while also manipulating every country and war from start to finish that whole time. He hijacked Christianity, twisting its messages and rewriting the Bible, to make the religion commit...atrocities."

"...What...are we fighting...?" Sabrina whispers. "...For all intents and purposes..." Culian answers. "...We are fighting what you would probably call...the Devil." "...So our true enemy...is a Lich?" Daniel demands. "I suppose you could call him that." Culian replies. "However, I prefer to call him what he has tried to resemble, a Sluagh." "...A what?" Khaldun asks. "...The spirit of a sinner, doomed to pursue the souls of the dying from the west...to devour them." Culian explains. "...He did try to steal my soul..." Khaldun remarks. "...When I destroyed Scorpios' Artificial Eletero Factory...you're saying Fadepawe was powered by the souls and Eletero of innocent people?!" "Yes." Culian answers. "Teremto is...the closest thing I have ever seen...to how Satan is described."

Crith sat next to a window, looking out at the ocean and thinking of Sabrina as Degan slept beside him and Kyoki bounced around the room. Kaguya sat on her knees with her hands together, Venus standing outside on the balcony, the air blowing her hair around, as Teremto appeared from a puff of smoke, walking past her and opening the doors with seeming telekinesis, entering the room as Kyoki abruptly stopped. "Kaguya." Their father says. "You are to ensure that no harm comes to Grand Admiral Dourryanne." "...Y...yes, Sir..." Kaguya replies, trying to keep herself from trembling. "You will need to redeem yourself after your previous failure." Teremto explains. "Do ***NOT*** fail me again." She nods shakily, as Crith tries to make himself smaller.

Culian, Daniel, Trevor, Connor, Khaldun, Sabrina, Rosette and Maria walked into Washington D.C., immediately taking out the guards present before they can alert anyone. "Maria, position yourself in front of the White House, and make sure to conceal yourself." Daniel orders. "Yes, Sir." Maria replies, running off as a patrol of soldiers notices the heroes, all of them being shocked as Daniel walks towards them, his fingers ready to snap. "W-wait!" One of the soldiers said. "W-we were drafted! You don't need t-to worry about us!" "They're telling the truth..." Khaldun remarks. "I don't need a mind reader to know that." Daniel replies. "Our orders were to shoot to kill...that's the orders given to all the soldiers here." The soldier explains. "I figured." Daniel responds.

As they walked past that patrol of soldiers, they soon saw another, and went to hide. But it was too late, they had noticed, and they were from Reledgard. "Fire!" The commander of the patrol shouts, as the soldiers open fire on the heroes, Culian deflecting the bullets while seemingly standing still as Daniel snaps his fingers to erupt a massive torrent of flame at the soldiers, completely incinerating them and melting the building they were next to. Trevor stared aghast at the sight for a few seconds, but they were soon on the move again, as they didn't have time to think about what they were doing right now. And right then, they saw yet a platoon of soldiers, this one lead by Zhadok. "Ah, hello again." Zhadok says with a small smile.

"I'll deal with him." Khaldun says. "All of you, get to the White House!" Daniel nods, as they run to do so, Khaldun dodging a majority of the bullets fired at him before deflecting the rest. While the soldiers were reloading, he fired a number of them down with his laser pistol, and threw a grenade at the rest, Zhadok noticing and leaping out of the way as the grenade exploded, first blasting outward, but then collapsing inward, pulling the soldiers with the blast, and killing all of them. "Well..." Zhadok remarks. "...I suppose that just leaves the two of us." Khaldun didn't reply, instead holstering his gun and unsheathing his Khopesh, as Zhadok unsheathed his saber and rushed at him, Khaldun barely blocking as he attempts to pull Zhadok's saber down to strike.

The others had made it to the White House by now, having taken down another few patrols of soldiers, as Daniel motioned them to sneak in as quickly as they could. The halls were eerily silent, as Trevor shivered, feeling like they were being watched as they walked. A few guards appeared to fire at them every now and then, but said guards were usually rather quickly taken out. It didn't take long to reach the doors to the President's office, as they briefly stopped, Daniel sighing, for a moment before snapping his fingers to blast the doors down, Dourryanne whirling around in the President's chair to face them with a smile. "I knew you'd come." He says dramatically. "Well...yeah, you had cameras everywhere." Trevor replies, Dourryanne frowning a bit.

Khaldun and Zhadok were parrying each other's strikes, as Zhadok's sword clinked off of Khaldun's armor any time Khaldun couldn't block the slash, while Zhadok dodged any slashes he himself couldn't block. The Admiral goes to stab Khaldun in the eye, but Khaldun leaps back to dodge, rushing in again to slash at Zhadok once more, Zhadok rolling to the side and slashing at Khaldun's ankle, his sword once again clinking off of Khaldun's armor. "Damn you..." Zhadok mutters, leaping back to avoid being beheaded as he slashes again, Khaldun dodging to avoid being cut across the face before raising his visor and swinging a kick at his opponent, who blocks with his forearm and slashes at Khaldun's leg, Khaldun flying backwards with his jetpack to dodge.

"I'm assuming you're here to kill me?" Dourryanne asks. "Well, go ahead and tr--" Daniel immediately snaps his fingers, but the flames erupt on a transparent white forcefield before dissipating, revealing Kaguya to be standing there, as her eyes and Daniel's widen in shock and horror. "...Aayuk..." Daniel breathes. "...Daniel..." Kaguya whispers. They continued to stare at each other for a while, before Daniel, screaming in rage, erupts fire at both of them! Kaguya keeps blocking the flames with her forcefields as Dourryanne watched while sipping a cup of coffee. Trevor sends a Bokyaku at him, as Connor sends a bladed tendril, Sabrina slashes, and Rosette attempts to grab him, but all of it is blocked by Kaguya, who draws her katana.

Zhadok leaps in the air to slash at Khaldun's stomach, Khaldun blocking as Zhadok uses the sword lock as leverage to flip through the air and kick Khaldun in the face, sending him to the ground as he rolls out of the way of Zhadok's next slash before slashing at his head, Zhadok quickly blocking the slash. "It's interesting to see you only use your sword against me..." Zhadok remarks. "Do you want me to use everything else I have?" Khaldun demands. "I think you want to fight me, not stop me." Zhadok replies. "I need to stop you, those are my orders." Khaldun retorts. "And *my* orders are to stop *you*." Zhadok responds, kicking Khaldun back as he slashes at him yet again, Khaldun leaping back from the slash, and ducking beneath the next.

Kaguya slashes at Daniel repeatedly, silently crying, as Daniel blocks each and every slash. "WHY?!" He roars. "WHY WOULD YOU WORK WITH THEM?!" "I have no choice..." She answers solemnly, as she blocks multiple stabs from Daniel, having trapped Culian inside another forcefield as Culian began carving a rune into it. Daniel snaps his fingers again, as Kaguya sends a blast of lunar energy at the blast of fire to neutralize it, Dourryanne chuckling while still sitting down. "Well, well. It would seem you're all a lot more impressive than I--" Dourryanne starts, before he hears a gunshot, his eyes widening as he turned to fire at where the gunshot came from, right when a bullet went right through his head, killing him as he fell to the ground, everyone looking on.

Zhadok continued to slash at Khaldun, beginning to draw blood from anywhere not protected by proper armor as Khaldun grunted in pain, blocking as many of the slashes as he could, before they heard the snapping of fingers, and Zhadok leaped out of the way of a pillar of purple flame, throwing down a smoke bomb to escape. "Wha..." Khaldun trails off, as he sees the others. "...Dourryanne is dead." Daniel says. "...And my wife...has betrayed us." "No, Daniel." Culian replies. "She was never on our side to begin with, for she is one of Teremto's children." "...Of course..." Khaldun breathes. "...Reledgard's going to keep coming until we go take the fight to them." Rosette says. "Then that's what we need to do." Daniel says. "I'm going to take charge for now."

## Chapter 55

Six soldiers carried a stone coffin, with a red and orange flag nailed onto it, towards a hole that had been dug in the ground. Gathered in the funeral were soldiers from every part of Reledgard's military, along with two civilians and their three children, and Zhadok, who closed his eyes as Dorryanne's coffin was lowered into the hole, which began to be filled up by the same soldiers who had been carrying it. This place was to be his grave, and unlike Montgomery, everyone had come to watch this. "...How is uniting the world worth this...?" Zhadok remarks quietly. "...That charlatan, Teremto...there's something wrong about him...he's steering us into a war we cannot win..." And then, a man walks up to Zhadok, and hands him a letter, which he opens.

"...Dammit."

"So...you have failed me again..." Teremto remarks, Kaguya kneeling behind him as she trembled. "...and so you have failed me for the last time." She said nothing in response, just looking into his unfeeling eyes with her own terrified ones. "You have outlived your usefulness to me, and thus you shall be condemned to eternal torment." Teremto says, as a portal opens behind Kaguya, showing through it a dimension of a red and black city, charred yet burning, under a red sky with clouds of fire. "You are condemned...to Hell." And then, Kaguya screams, as she was pulled into the dimension, and the portal closes, the other Elementals, save for Kyoki, watching in horror. "Well, that was excessive." A voice says from the darkness, as they turn around.

Pyro Scarlet walks out of the shadows, clapping his hands with a dark smile, right as Teremto fuses his feet to the ground. "You have made a grave mistake in coming here." The old General says flatly. "Have I, Your Edginess?" Pyro retorts. "I came here to ally with you, since I wanna help you with your real goal." "And how would you know what that is?" Teremto demands. "Because it's the same as mine." Pyro replies. "And I mean, you're an evil cult leader, so I think it's pretty obvious." "...And what is it that you offer?" The Elementals' father asks. "Oh..." Pyro says as his smile widens. "...I can offer a lot that you don't have. Most of all...a way to get Charlotte to reach the level you need her to be at. I can challenge her." "...Succeed at this next mission, and you may join us." Teremto replies. "Fail...and earn the same punishment that Kaguya has." "I accept." Pyro responds.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Maria walked through the city Montgomery had destroyed, looking for survivors. "This city...how did he even target it...?" Maria remarks. "I don't know...but he did..." Daniel replies, as they looked upon the devastation. It was less of a city and more of a crater. "...I wish I had been there sooner." And then, they saw two people running towards them, a young man carrying a little girl, his sister perhaps, and panting as both of them were covered in burns, bruises and cuts. "P-please!" The boy shouts. "Y-you need t-to get her to a h-hospital!" The girl was whimpering, and seemed to have severe burns all over her body. "...I'm sorry...there's nothing we can do..." Daniel replied, the boy falling to his knees in response, the two looking on, despaired.

Charlotte and Chen were walking away from Vlad's castle, Charlotte raising her hood up to not draw any more attention as Chen takes a sip of his tea. "I...feel better, now." She remarks. "I feel like...I've fixed my relationship with my dad, a bit." "That's good to hear." Chen replies. "With the new techniques you have, you should be ready to get back to Trevor and your friends. I...hear America hasn't been faring well lately." "Wh...what...?" Charlotte breathes. "Reledgard invaded and killed the President." Chen explains. "They were driven off, but there were still major casualties." "We need to go back, now!" She shouts, beginning to run, as Pyro Scarlet suddenly appears in front of them. "Uh, uh, uh!" He taunts. "Not quite yet! I wanted to see what you've learned!"

Charlotte barely has time to draw her sword before Pyro draws his and slashes at her, which she manages to block as she glares at her brother. "Why did you choose now to appear?!" She roars. "Why not?!" He shouts back, as he swings a kick at her stomach, Charlotte blocking with her lower leg as she rolls across the ground to slash at Pyro's leg, Pyro blocking that slash as well as the next before taking out his gun to fire at Charlotte. She dodges with her new speed and slashes his gun out of his hand, before kicking him in the face to send him tumbling through a stand that was dangerously close to a stand of garlic. "Viata..." Charlotte starts, closing her eyes and getting into position as her sword began to glow, Pyro standing up to see her doing so.

"...TRANSA!" Charlotte roars, swinging her blade to send the massive arc of Eletero at Pyro, who snaps his fingers to erupt fire at it, the resulting explosion blasting everyone and everything nearby back! Charlotte lands on her feet and swiftly block an attempted stab by Pyro, who then lights his sword on fire and leaps back to erupt more flames at her. Charlotte slashes through the flames as her new defense protects her from the heat, before she slashes at her brother again, but he merely blocks once more and erupts more flames right in Charlotte's face, Charlotte being sent flying as she manages to throw her sword into the ground to, before landing on it and leaping back from another slash, holding her hand out to blast an Eletero ball at Pyro.

Pyro slashes the Eletero ball in half, and quickly snaps his fingers to block an incoming beam, but the explosions do cause him to stumble a bit. Charlotte, pulling her sword out of the ground, takes advantage of this to rush over to Pyro and slash him across the chest, causing him to stumble back again as he manages to stab her in the side! "Gh!" Charlotte grunts, as she kicks Pyro back, causing him to drop his sword before she pulls it out and throws it aside, slashing at Pyro again as he dodges and swings a kick at her head. She quickly ducks and slashes his leg open before kicking the knee of his other leg backwards. "Grah!" He shouts as he throws a punch at her face, but she dodges and returns in kind, causing him to be sent into a pile of garlic.

Charlotte and Chen walked over to Pyro, who began to cough fast and hard, blood flying from his mouth as he did so. "D...dammit..." He groans, as his blood began to pool beneath him. "...Guess I have to...up my game..." "...Did Teremto send you?" Charlotte demands. "...Sure...did..." Pyro answers, coughing more. "...I can't waste my time with you." Charlotte retorts, then turning towards Chen. "I need to get back to America. Where's the quickest ship?" "Well..." Chen replies. "...it should be over in Spain." And so, they walked away, leaving Pyro in the garlic pile to cough progressively weaker and weaker. Until, he snapped his fingers again...and vanished in a puff of flame and smoke. The villagers who had survived were terrified, as they watched.

Connor looked down at his hand and the bottom of his sleeve as everyone was currently at Rosette's ice cream shop. Dourryanne was dead, Kaguya was a traitor, and Daniel was now standing in as President for the time being. Everything felt so confusing, though perhaps that was par for the course by now. "What's wrong, Connor?" Rosette asks, sitting beside him, as he sighs. "...This suit...saved me during the plane crash..." Connor almost whispered. "...I'm...supposed to be its new guardian, but...I feel like I'm missing something. Like there's so much more to know. And I feel like...it's important." "I've always thought you've been the best of us, and the coolest too!" Rosette replies, trying to cheer him up. "I'm sure you've learned almost everything."

Connor smiled, but sighed again. "I just...I hope I learn it soon. I want to know...how significant this suit really is." He responds. "Whatever it is, it's probably best to look inward for it." Khaldun states. "That suit is clearly a part of you, so introspection might reveal a new side of it that could be what you're looking for." "Thanks." Connor replies. "No problem, really." Khaldun says, as Trevor sat alone, worried about Charlotte. He saw Sabrina sitting alone too, and walked over to her. "Is everything alright?" He asks. "Oh...there is." Sabrina says softly. "...Crith...I haven't seen him since last year. I'm...really worried that his father's done something to him." "Whatever it is, we'll save him." Trevor replies. "After all, we're heroes, right?" He then smiled, as did she.

But he was just as worried as she was.

Faye stood atop Culian's tower while Culian himself slept. The city was rather bright, even at night, and vehicles were whizzing by at a relatively quick pace, people walking across the sidewalks from who knows where to who knows where. It was so...strange. All she had ever known up until this point were the castles, the villages, the plains and forests. She had never dared to go into one of these concrete jungles, and yet now, she was here. She was...a part of society again, and her expectations were so much lower. Yet...this wasn't it, yet. Not while that monster masquerading as a man was still alive. Csaelan needed to go, by any means necessary. He needed to pay, for everything he had done to her...and for everything that had happened.

Suddenly, the wind began to rapidly pick up...and not because of her! She looked up to see Kyoki floating in the air, grinning down at her as if intent on doing to her as Csaelan once had. "You must be Jarug-Do!" Kyoki shouts. "...I'm not playing this naming game." Faye retorts, leaping up at Kyoki. His response was to laugh and blow her to the side, but she stopped the wind before using it to fly as well and punch Kyoki through an antenna, Kyoki righting himself as he creates a sawblade made from wind and throws it at her. She flies over it before sending lightning at Kyoki, who dodges it and its return stroke with that same wicked grin as before and rushes at Faye to blast her back with a wave of strong winds, as she lands on a rooftop.

She is quick to make the wind slam Kyoki into the same rooftop as her, as she rushes over to throw multiple punches at his face and stomach, causing him to briefly stumble as his bones could be heard cracking, before he dodges her next punch and slashes her across the stomach with an airblade. She doesn't pay much mind to it beyond a grunt and grabs Kyoki by the neck to throw him into the entrance to the skyscraper's stairway and blast him with more lightning while he's stunned. He stands up crookedly, the grin on his face wider and more crazed than ever, as he rights himself with more cracking bones being heard and rushes at Faye to kick her in the stomach and send her crashing through an apartment building! "Guh!" She grunts at this.

She had grabbed onto the fence of a balcony, and managed to pull herself up and frontflip into a room where a very shocked, confused and terrified family were standing back and holding out a cross and Bible. "Stay back, beast of the night!" The mother shouts, as Faye felt a pain in her chest, yet also a bout of anger. Before she could respond in any way, however, Kyoki kicks her into the bathroom, breaking the curtain bar in half and cracking the wall, before grabbing the cross and Bible and rushing over to start beating her over the head with them! "AHAHAHAHAHA! IN THE NAME OF JEEZOOS CHRIS, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST, OR SOMETHING!" Kyoki roars, as she grabbing him by the mouth and throws him into a wall to make him drop the items.

She leaps out of the apartment and dodges a lamp that was thrown at her, before dodging an airblade that cuts the lamp in half, and catching a kick from Kyoki to throw him onto the roof of a building that was under construction, causing it to collapse. Barely a moment after, Kyoki was already flying out of the wreckage and swinging a girder at her, which she kicks in half to catch the other half, knock his half out of his hands, knock him to the ground, and throw the girder at him, which he dodges as soon as possible before directing the wind to wrap the crane's rope and hook around her. She Attempts to blast lightning at him, but he dodges again, holding her in place and began to pull the air out of her lungs! And it wasn't long after, that she passed out.

Trevor, who had heard the fight, had run outside, as did the others, where they saw Kyoki in the sky, holding Jarug-Do by the ankle, before he briefly turns around to smile darkly at them, the wind becoming a thunderstorm as lightning crashes behind him. Khaldun points his blaster at him and fires, right as the next flash of lightning occurs. And when that flash had stopped, Kyoki and Faye were gone. "Gh! No!" Khaldun roars. "We need to tell Culian about this immediately!" And so they ran towards and into Culian's tower, running up through it to reach his room and open his door, as he finally woke up. "What have you woken me for?!" He demands. "They took Faye!" Trevor shouts in response, Culian's eyes widening in horror. "...No..." He breathes weakly.

Soldiers gathered at the docks of Reledgard, all looking at a massive stage with cameras, microphones, screens and speakers everywhere. And out from behind the curtain walked Grand Admiral Zhadok, looking down at his soldiers with a solemn expression. "The loss of Montgomery, Dourryanne, and so many of our troops has proven our enemy to be formidable." He says. "We have been beaten over and over again, our advantages snatched away just as quickly as we gained them, and so, heed what I have to say: I doubt any of us are coming back from this mission, but it is our duty, we have no choice but to proceed. And so, before we depart, I am giving you the time needed to contact your families...and to say goodbye. For a Reledgard victory."

Though the soldiers cheered, Zhadok kept his expression. He knew this next mission they were being sent on...was a suicide mission.

## Chapter 56

In the air, flew bullets, missiles, jets and lasers. In the sea, swam ships, submarines and torpedoes. Blood stained the decks of any ships that hadn't yet sunk, and smoke began to somewhat darken the sky above. Between the U.S. and Reledgard ships floated down a photo of a man and his family, the photo hitting the water, and slowly sinking into it. Daniel stood at the front console of the bridge of the main aircraft carrier, looking on at the carnage taking place in front of his eyes, hearing the devastation being wrought. Over the radio were reports of damages and boardings, which soon cut out as the ones sending the transmissions were no more. He couldn't just stand here and do nothing, and neither could Graham. They had to do *something*!

"We should be doing something!" Daniel roars. "What more need we do?" Graham asks. "Every ship we lose, they lose two." "Their navy is three times ours!" Daniel shouts in response. "We should be down there helping them!" "We are helping by directing, Daniel." Graham replies. "We give orders, they take orders. That's how the chain of command goes. I would think you of all people would know that, given your rank." "...You're in charge of commanding the fleet for now. I need to go down there and help!" Daniel retorts, running to the ladder to climb down as Graham watches. "Well, I suppose that's that." He remarks, walking over to the radio to listen in on any orders needed. Even with the expansive view of the aircraft carrier, the navy was far more expansive.

Trevor, Khaldun and Connor were all seated inside the aircraft carrier, feeling things shake from impacts from time to time, the shaking becoming more and more frequent. "I don't like this..." Trevor whimpers, checking the military vest he was wearing to make sure it was fully equipped. "Trust me, Trevor." Khaldun replies. "None of us do." As Khaldun finishes charging his laser pistol, and Connor shifts his gloves into scythe blades, everyone gets ready to enter the battle as well. They walked down to the lowest level of the aircraft carrier, and saw a submarine, which they walked towards. "Let's hope this doesn't blow up..." Trevor remarks, as they get inside. Khaldun is quick to pilot the submarine into the water, managing to evade multiple torpedoes immediately!

Teremto stood beside and behind Orestes, who sat on his throne in a throneroom of a bridge, though there was a proper bridge just a hallway apart from the throneroom, where a screen displayed the battle instead. "By the time this battle is over, we'll be a third of what we used to be..." Orestes remarks. "...but it will be worth finally stepping onto the political stage, and uniting the world under one banner." He then turns towards Teremto. "I've always wondered why you wanted to help us with this, since you don't seem to be the cooperative type." "I wish for unity under a single ruler as well." Teremto replies bluntly. "Humanity is too foolish to keep its freedom. If it does for a little while longer, then this world will soon be experiencing a Nuclear Winter."

Zhadok stood on the roof of the bridge, looking down at the chaos as Venus walked beside him with a dark smile. "This is everything you've ever wanted, isn't it?" She asks. "You always wanted to rise through the ranks, and become Grand Admiral of Reledgard's navy?" "...Not like this." Zhadok answers. "Not through the assassination of Dourryanne, or the chaos of war." "Oh, Honey." Venus retorts. "Without war, the title of Grand Admiral is meaningless. Surely you knew that when you were hatching your plan?" "...What does my plan mean to you people?" Zhadok demands. "I doubt your Father sees Reledgard as anything more than a set of Chess pieces, and the rest of you the same." "Well, without you, I'd have no one to really talk to." Venus responds.

Khaldun continued to maneuver around torpedoes, grunting a bit from exertion, as Connor stood ready to patch up any leaks caused, and Trevor looked out the periscope to try and see more of said torpedoes. "What if we're hit?!" He yelps. "Then I'll get all of us to safety." Connor answers, as Khaldun maneuvers around another torpedo by preforming a barrel roll, which makes Trevor nauseous as he falls to the ground and shouts in pain. Then, they came up across the flagship of the Reledgard Navy, as Khaldun fires two torpedoes at the doors to the docking bay, blasting them open as the submarine slows down and raises up above the water and into said flagship, as lights flashed red and Reledgard soldiers fired upon the submarine.

Khaldun is the first to rise out of the submarine, blocking the gunfire with his cybernetic arm as he fires the soldiers he sees down with his blaster pistol, and fully climbs out, followed by Connor, who started catching and taking bullets, and Trevor, who frantically dodged them. Khaldun keeps blocking bullets from the soldiers as he flies onto one of the staircases with his jetpack to whack them aside with his arm, kicking one down the stairs as he places a device on the electronic lock to force the door open and run in. Connor quickly takes down a number of soldiers, as Trevor throws a bomb at a group, said bomb exploding in a blue blast and sending the soldiers every which way. Trevor looked on sadly for a moment, before following Connor up the stairs.

"Stop them!" One of the soldiers shouts, as they fire at Khaldun from behind the corners of that section of the hallway, Khaldun once again blocking with his arm as he throws a grenade their way, the grenade exploding in a purple blast that sends the soldiers back, severely burning them, and creates holes in the floor, wall and ceiling. He grabs onto a tube in the ceiling to get over the hole and land on the floor, turning the corner to see a brass ladder before walking over to it and climbing up, punching the hatch off as he emerges in a new hallway. He knew this could take a while, and so he read the minds of every soldier he was fighting for information on the layouts of the Flagship. He needed to get to Zhadok, and stop this. And he needed to do so soon.

Zhadok and Venus continued to stand on the bridge's roof, when they heard the door be blasted down, and turned to see Khaldun standing there, Khopesh and blaster pistol in hand, glaring at them. "Oh, it seems we have a guest." She remarks, a small bit of flame bursting from her hand. "I believe I should ask for his invite." "Leave him to me." Zhadok retorts, glaring right back at Khaldun. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't be all that fun." Venus says with a sigh. "I bet I can manage though--" And then, they hear a jet, and turn to see Daniel flying towards them, firing at Venus, who leaps back to dodge the initial bullets and draws her saber to deflect the remainder, slashing at one of the wings to send an arc of flame there, cutting it off as it crashes!

Daniel had leaped out right before the crash, and lands on his feet to point his rapier at Venus, who smirks. "My my, what an entrance." She says tauntingly, pointing her saber at him. "If you're here to fight me though, that's a big mistake." "Show me why." Daniel retorts. "If you can." And then, he rushes to stab Venus, who barely blocks as she slashes at his arm, Daniel blocking that slash and in return slashing at her side, Venus taking a few steps back to avoid it as she kicks Daniel's foot and slashes at his chest, Daniel leaping back with a grunt to avoid it, having also felt the heat coming off her blade. "What the Hell are you?" He demands. "Me?" She asks in return. "I am Venus Teremto...the Fire Elemental." And at that, she erupts flames at him!

As Daniel erupts his own flames to block, Khaldun slashes at Zhadok, who is quick to block as he kicks Khaldun in the knee and slashes him across the stomach, though Khaldun's suit takes the slash for him as he throws a punch at the Grand Admiral's face with his cybernetic arm, Zhadok stumbling back in surprise as he takes off his own cape to throw at Khaldun as a distraction, Khaldun sidestepping it to fire at Zhadok with his blaster. Zhadok manages to dodge it and kicks the blaster to try and kick it out of Khaldun's hand, Khaldun dropping the blaster to grab Zhadok's leg and throw him into a wall, but Zhadok had managed to slash him across the face as this happened! "Rrgh..." Khaldun groans, holding his now bleeding face in pain as Zhadok gets up.

Venus slashes at Daniel with her flaming sword, Daniel ducking as the fire cuts the top of the ship diagonally, causing it to slide off. Rather than pay attention to that, however, he instead opts to snap his fingers and erupt more flames at her, Venus blocking with her own as she is stabbed in the arm by Daniel, who had leaped through the flames and emerged from the smoke. "Gh...impressive, I suppose." She says, as she slashes at Daniel again, cutting him across the chest before she kicks him back and tears his sword out of her arm to throw at his face, Daniel very narrowly catching it before he is stabbed in the eye. Venus wastes no time leaping at him to slash at his neck, as he rolls out of the way and snaps his fingers again, Venus blocking again.

Khaldun fires at Zhadok more, as Zhadok deflects the lasers with his saber to rush at Khaldun again, slashing at him once more. Khaldun blocks with his Khopesh and attempts to disarm Zhadok, who takes the opportunity to punch him in the face and disorient him. Before Khaldun can fully recover, he is forced to block a bullet by raising his visor, a bullet from Dourryanne's pistol, which Zhadok was now holding. "You aren't the only one who can dual wield." The Grand Admiral says, as Khaldun fires at him, and he dodges, slashing at Khaldun, who blocks as Zhadok sweeps him off his feet, Khaldun whirling around to throw a punch at him with his cybernetic arm, which Zhadok dodges, leaving that place to be cracked, before kicking Khaldun back.

Daniel had blocked a number of slashes by Venus, as he kicks her in the stomach and slashes her across the arm to make her flinch back a bit, but she is quick to recover, as she erupts more flames at him, which he barely manages to block as he is sent back, and just barely is able to block a slash from none other than Pyro Scarlet. "Charlotte's brother?!" He roars. "Took me forever to get out of the garlic!" Pyro shouts back. "...What--" Daniel starts, before being kicked in the face to be sent back, Pyro landing on the ground as he smirks at Venus, who just turns towards Daniel and slowly walks towards him. "I didn't expect the help, and quite frankly I didn't want it." She remarks. "However, results are results, and you seem to be on your last legs."

"Daniel!" Khaldun shouts. "Guh!" He had been slashed across the chest by Zhadok, and this time, the cut got through, drawing more blood. "Well, that took too long." Zhadok remarks, as he kicks Khaldun in the chest to send him into a wall, Khaldun quickly righting himself as he fires at Zhadok again, Zhadok dodging the lasers once more as one grazes his cheek, leaving a burn mark there, which Zhadok winces from but otherwise ignores as he slashes at Khaldun again. Khaldun blocks swiftly, and kicks Zhadok in the stomach to make him stumble back again before disarming him by locking with his saber and twirling his Khopesh. "Guh!" Zhadok grunts, firing at Khaldun, who blocks the bullets with his arm as he grabs and crushes the gun.

Connor and Trevor had made it to the top, and saw Daniel in need as Connor leaped between him and Pyro and Venus, the latter two erupting flames at Connor, who takes all of it as Daniel gets back to his feet. "Pyro?!" Trevor yells. "Long time no see, Trevor!" Pyro yells back. "We saw each other last year!" Trevor yells louder. "That's still a long time!" Pyro yells even louder. "As amusing as this is..." Venus interjects. "...shut up, both of you." She then rushes to slash at Trevor, Pyro rushing to stab at him as Daniel blocks both and snaps his fingers again to blast them back with a enormous plume of purple flame, which seemed to severely born both of them! "What took you so long?!" He demanded. "We can't read minds, Sir!" Trevor answers, as Daniel groans.

"I...have had...enough of this!" Venus roars. "FELTÁMADÁS!" And then, a massive amount of fire erupted from her, forming a pillar around and above her which caused all of their throats to go dry as they started sweating! The pillar then shrank down, condensing into what seemed to be a bodice and wings of fire, as Venus' hair was aflame and her eyes glowed bright orange. "This is over, humans!" She screams. "I WILL BURN YOUR ENTIRE FLEET TO ASH!" And then, she slashes at them, Connor tackling them all down as the slash rushes across both fleets, causing numerous ships to fly apart and explode, fire erupting everywhere across the entire battle! The smoke blotted out the sun, leaving the only light to come from the raging inferno around them.

"WHY?!" Trevor screams, as began to form a Bokyaku. While Connor rushed to slash at Venus, who caught his blade and threw him aside, causing him to skid across the now boiling water! Daniel rushes to stab at her, but Pyro blocks, and Venus blasts both of them aside, before slashing almost half of Daniel's body off vertically! "GAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Daniel howls in white hot agony, the wounds having been somewhat cauterized as steam erupted from them. The entire fleet was wrecked, and no one was firing at anyone anymore. Everyone who survived was trying desperately to escape, regardless of which side they were on, and they were screaming out of terror as they did so. "Wh...what...is this...?" Khaldun demands, as he fires at Venus, who grabs his neck.

"This...is the ultimate power...of an Elemental." Venus answers angrily, as she throws Khaldun through numerous vessels before turning her attention towards Trevor, who sat there, trembling. "...You seem like the type of boy to have immense faith in humanity." She remarks. "Yet you fools have cause so much bloodshed with so little influence, and so much longer than our Father has been around. You know nothing but destruction, so it is fitting that it would be your end." "...Reledgard...were never the real threats...were they...?" Trevor replies weakly, looking up at Venus. "...You guys are. And all these people...with their own lives and families...were just...your cannon fodder." "Exactly." Venus responds, preparing to unleash an inferno on Trevor.

But then, they hear the horn of another ship, and turn to see a cargo boat moving towards them, as Trevor could see...that it was Charlotte who was standing at the bow. She lowered her hood and looked upwards, gazing upon the devastation and glaring at Venus. "Well...it seems your friend has come ov--" Venus starts, as Charlotte appears in front of her to slash at her! Venus manages to block, and erupts a torrent of flames at the Vampire Princess, who blocks with her arms and sends a blast of Eletero at the Fire Elemental to knock her off-balance and slash at her again, Venus dodging and kneeing Charlotte in the stomach to send her flying before unleashing another torrent of flames at her, Charlotte countering with a beam and rushing through the resulting explosion.

Through the smoke emerges Charlotte in her Bloodlust State, as she slashes at Venus yet again, Venus blocking once more as she grabs Charlotte by the neck to throw her back, Charlotte kicking Venus in the face as she lands on her feet and charges a Viatatransa. "You..." Venus growls, preparing to send more flames at Charlotte. "Bokyaku no Uzekara!" Trevor yells, throwing the Bokyaku at Venus, who quickly blocks it when she hears Charlotte roar "VIATATRANSA!" and turns to see the massive red blast, attempting to slash at it as it engulfs her, Venus screaming in pain as her flames are blown away and her body is severely burned. She attempts to slash at Charlotte again, but is stabbed through the heart by Daniel, roaring in pain, before collapsing.

"Charlotte!" Trevor shouts, running to hug her as she reverted to normal, and hugged him back. "I missed you so much, Trevor!" She shouts back, before they both look on at the destruction. "...Both navies...are completely wrecked..." Daniel explains, before collapsing himself from his injuries, Charlotte and Trevor running to him to carry him to a lifeboat that Maria was piloting. Connor had brought Khaldun back, as Khaldun had used a healing device on himself, but couldn't repair his suit at the moment. "It's not over, yet." Khaldun says. "Orestes is probably below us, and we need to arrest him before he retreats." The other three nod, and run inside the ship, down the stairs, through the hallways, and into the throneroom, kicking down the doors and seeing...

...Orestes' corpse, a stab wound in his chest as his throne had been reshaped to twist around his body and, at the top, look like a Chess King, the word CHECKMATE spelled in blood on the wall behind him.

"...I guess it's that time of year, again." Trevor remarks.

## Chapter 57

*Over 2,000 years ago...*

A young woman, slender in frame with brown eyes and long, golden blonde hair, clad in fine wool robes, walked out towards a crowd of people gathered at the entrance to the castle. "Welcome, everyone!" Said Princess Faye Ní Scalaidhe, looking on at her subjects with a smile and wave. "Don't 'welcome' me!" One of the men in the crowd shouts. "Our farm has been suffering lately and we haven't been getting very much support!" "I'll...I'll see what I can do." She replied, before seeing an elderly woman glaring at her. "My son is off fighting in the war under that vile 'general' of yours, and for what?!" She roars. "Do you even know what that man does to everyone around him, including and especially his own men?!" "I...I'm afraid I don't." Faye responds. "I'll look into it."

"May I have the honor of courting you?" One of the other men shouts, as Faye backs away back into the castle. "N...not right now! I need to tend to a few things!" She replies, walking back into the castle as a man with a wooden pitchfork runs toward the entrance but is blocked by two guards. "No entrance without permission!" One of them shouts. "This family has caused too much of my family to die!" The man roars, trying to get past. Faye, meanwhile, had taken a note of the name of the man complaining about poor farmland, Gréagóir Ó Dáithí, and was figuring out where the Ó Dáithí farm was when she heard footsteps. She turned her shoulder to see her father, King Berach Ní Scalaidhe, standing at the entrance to her room.

"Hello, my daughter." Berach says. "Hello, Father." Faye replies, a bit wary. "What was that about earlier?" He asks. "...I'm sorry, Father. I...am not sure I can handle all of these duties." She responds weakly. "Well, you don't have to do them yourself!" He shouts. "Remember, no one rules alone. And remember, too, that one must have the strongest of minds and the hardest of wills to rule a kingdom, especially one that's expanding its territory by the day!" "Of course, Father." Faye replies. "...And where is it you are going?" He then asks. "...The...Ó Dáithí farm." She answers nervously. "To see what is causing their poor farmland." "I see...it must be that Csaelan is using up too many resources." Berach remarks. "I'll have a couple guards escort you to the farm."

A young man, with grey-green eyes, dirty skin and messy brown hair, wearing ragged clothes made from wool and animal skins, began planting seeds after having just finished tilling the fields. In between that first batch of seeds and the next, he wiped his forehead. He couldn't see very far, so he had to get in close to do his work properly. At the sound of an oink, he turned towards a pig and smiled a bit. "Better get you away from here." Culian Ó Dáithí says with a chuckle, beginning to walk the pig back towards the pig pen, trying to memorize where it was. Then, he saw someone coming towards the farm, and walked over to them, seeing it was his father, and behind him, a horse-drawn carriage. And out of that carriage, walked...someone.

"Son..." Gréagóir says. "...meet the Princess of this kingdom, Faye." "Uh...hi." Culian says, waving at the blurry shape he thought was Faye, as she seemed to somewhat wave back. "This is your farm, correct?" Faye asks Gréagóir. "Indeed it is." Gréagóir replies. "And that boy there is my son, Culian. He probably works the hardest out of all of us, but he doesn't seem to know his right hand from his left." Culian, hearing this, bowed his head down in shame. "It's very nice to meet you, Culian." She says, as he looked up at her face, and as she had walked closer to him, he could see she was smiling, before he smiled back. "We believe Csaelan is taking resources for the war." She says. "Ah yes, the war, because your father wants more power." Gréagóir grumbles.

"He...merely believes the Kingdoms should be united." Faye objected. "He believes whatever that general of his tells him." Gréagóir retorts. "This war is destroying countless crops and families, on all sides! Don't try to paint this as some grand act of benevolence, at best war is fought in retaliation." Faye looked down sadly, before noticing that Culian was back to planting seeds, and walked towards him. "Will any of this be for you and your family?" She asks. "Probably not, depending on how much that Csaelan guy needs." Culian replies, Faye pausing for a moment. "...Well, I'll make sure you keep enough to live." She declares, as they smiled once more at each other. "Well, that's good to hear." Gréagóir remarks. "Hope it helps the rest of the Kingdom."

Iron struck against iron, sparks flew through the air, and blood was quick to follow. A pale, slightly wrinkled man with bright blue eyes and bright blonde hair, clad in chainmail, blocked strikes from sword and spear alike, dodging arrows fired at him as he grabbed the shaft of a spear and used it as leverage to slam a soldier into the ground, grabbing the wrist of another to stop their attempted dagger stab. He kicked that soldier in the face to crush the front of his skull before tossing him back and picking up his shield to block more arrows and a stab from another spear. As he did that, more spears were pointed at him, as were bows. "We have you surrounded!" One of the soldiers roars, as the man sighs and raises his hand, trapping the soldiers' bodies in stone.

"Another decisive victory." Csaelan Ó Síoghraidh remarked, as what remained of the opposing army surrendered. Everyone walked back to their horses, Csaelan's seeming to be sick with something, as they began to ride back towards the castle. "It feels like we get closer to uniting Éire with every battle!" One of the soldiers shouts. "Indeed, it does..." Csaelan replies. Everything was working as intended, this army was a well-oiled machine, trained by him. Enlisting was one of the best choices he had ever made, as being both the Head General and the, as the King had put it, Royal Druid, essentially made him the second most powerful person in this Kingdom, and soon to be in this whole country. All was going according to plan, well, almost all...

His mother had given him a taste of power, teaching him to serve the gods well, yet, why serve the gods when you could stand alongside them? Or above them...as he pondered that once more, he noticed the bridge beginning to crumble, and forced it to remain whole as he and his men crossed it. This power he already had...he was effectively a god himself, and he was still preforming experiments with it. He felt like the only one here who was enlightened, who even tried to push the boundaries of knowledge, who even tried to push his Mutation to the limits, rather than shunning it for the sake of magic and iron. All were useful, and all would aid him in finally asserting himself...as a god. Yet he pondered what he could be the God of...

*One Week Later...*

Every night, Faye would sneak out of the castle to be with Culian, who always seemed to be asleep when she arrived, but that was understandable given his duties by day. And as she spent more time with him, she learned more and more of his good nature. He scarcely spoke of her as beautiful, as so many others had before him, and even then only when she asked him. He seemed to know the land around here better than anyone, and he had even helped her find a pet bird. Or indeed, a whole nest of them. They laughed rather hard at the antics their feathered friends would get up to, including an odd bird-like creature which seemed composed of mostly wings and eyes and gave them an odd feeling. They couldn't find it the day after they found it.

Tonight, they skipped across the fields, laughing in sheer joy, joy neither had felt before in their lives. As they lay on the grass, Faye rests her hand on Culian's, and smiles softly at him, as he smiled back just as softly. War raged on, people died for things they never believed in, and she wished she could stop it. Perhaps it'd be her very first act upon becoming Queen, if it wouldn't already too late by then. Yet...laying beside Culian, looking up at the stars, she felt...peaceful. No stress, no responsibility, no pressure, no onlookers. Just her and Culian. Here, she found herself wishing that she had been born a normal girl. Yet...perhaps it was for the best that she was royalty. Maybe she could make the change this Kingdom desperately needed to improve.

"You know..." Culian remarks. "...living as royalty sounds kinda awesome. Getting to help everyone and eat good meals every day. Sounds like a dream come true." "I...can see how bad it is, here...that you have to go through this." Faye replies. "...I wish I could make everyone else safe and happy." "You make me happy." Culian says with another smile. "I'm mostly content with the life I've got anyways. It doesn't leave much time to do whatever, but I've made my work fun in other ways." "I'm glad to hear that." She replied, before they noticed a light coming towards them. "Huh?" Culian wonders, as Faye's eyes widen in shock. The carriage comes to a stop, and out of it walked her father. "Come with me, Daughter." Berach orders. "...We have much to discuss."

*Later that day...*

"I can't believe this!" Berach roars. "You fell in love with a peasant?!" "He is the most purehearted and hardworking man I have ever known!" Faye retorts. "He is not royalty!" Berarch shouts. "No one will accept him as King if he marries into this family!" "I DON'T CARE IF HE'S ACCEPTED AS KING!" Faye bellows. "I ACCEPT HIM, I LOVE HIM WITH ALL MY HEART!" "THAT DOESN'T MATTER ON THE POLITICAL STAGE!" Berarch nearly screams, before catching himself, calming down and sighing. "...I am sorry, my Daughter, but Culian isn't eligible. We have to marry strategically to keep this family strong." "And who is you want to force me to marry?" Faye demands. "...General Ó Síoghraidh." Berach answers, sounding as though there were pain in his voice.

Faye's eyes widened in shock, as her mouth slightly gaped open for a moment. "...Wh...what...?" She whispers in disbelief. "...He is our most skilled fighter, and our most powerful Druid." Berach explains. "I do not agree with his tactics, effective as they are, but he is the most logical choice to become the next King." "I WILL NOT ACCEPT THAT MONSTER IN THE SHAPE OF A MAN AS MY HUSBAND!" Faye shrieks, Berach flinching back. "I've heard pf the things he done! Not only to our enemies, but to his own soldiers! How he torments them for failure and doesn't allow them anything but the bare minimum to survive! I've heard he makes some of his own men disappear during battles so he can do who knows what to them!" She glared at her father viciously.

Yet he only looked on in disappointment and sadness. "As I've said, my Daughter..." Berach replies. "...I am truly sorry." "No you're not..." Faye retorts. "Or you wouldn't be forcing this upon me. You're the King! You make the laws, you can change them! You don't have to make me marry Csaelan, you WANT to!" Tears flowed freely from her eyes, and his, as he wipes them off and glares back at her. "I am the King, so you will obey me. Is that clear?" Faye prepared to object, but she had vented all her rage, and just sits back down and nods weakly. "Good...follow me, please." He says, walking away as she follows, until they walked out onto a grand stage, beholden to hundreds if not thousands of onlookers, where Csaelan already stood, staring into her very soul.

*Midnight...*

Vials of Faye's blood lay straight up on one of many desks in this room of Csaelan's. Parts of people and animals were hanged in some sort of organization, and candles covered everything. Her new...husband...seemed to be writing in various books, as he created various types of elements from seemingly nothing. She herself was chained to the wall by one arm and both feet, a scab on her other arm where her blood was drawn. "Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid..." Csaelan mutters to himself, drawing some sort of twisted ladder shape in one of the books as he began messing around with various vials, including one containing some of her blood. Then, he pulls a fang from one of the skulls, seeming to eye it carefully, before dropping it into one of the vials.

After what seemed like hours of him mixing the chemicals into various combinations, he walked over to her, holding a tube with a needle on one end, a button on the other, and a blood-red liquid inside. "Let's see if this can be done...without magic." He says, grabbing her by the neck and shoving her head against the wall as he injects the substance into the same blood vein as before. "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screams in agony, sounding rather like a Banshee, before she suddenly went limp, feeling the world around her spin and fade. "Hmm...we shall see when this fully takes effect." Csaelan remarks, as Faye fully blacks out, but not before feeling multiple sharp pains in her mouth, most notably where four of her teeth were.

Csaelan had walked to where Berach was, holding a blood sample of Faye's. "She wished to know if I could extend her life." Csaelan says. "And so?" Berach demands. "That is all on that matter." Csaelan explains. "But as for the peasant...he may attempt to save her, we must stop that from happening." "Hmm...how would you propose we do that?" Berach asks. "We burn the Ó Dáithí Farm to ash." Csaelan answers flatly. "What?!" Berach roars. "It is the only way to stop this marriage from failing, and it's just one farm." Csaelan retorts. "I am prepared to do it, and I need merely your permission." "...Very well..." Berach replies reluctantly. "Please, do not make me regret such a horrible decision." "Oh...you won't." Csaelan replies with a small smile, walking away.

Culian woke up to the sound, light and heat of roaring flames, and quickly jumped out of his bed and looked out the window to see the farm and village ablaze! Shocked and scared, he grabbed his pitchfork and hoe and ran outside, where his father, holding a scythe, was rushing at a man in chainmail armor, who seemed to block every strike Culian's father attempted. "Father!" He shouts. "What's going on?! Is that the General?!" "Stay back, Son!" Gréagóir screams, attempting another strike on Teremto, who slices the scythe in half before cutting Gréagóir across the chest! "DAD!!!!!" Culian screams, running over to his father, catching him in his arms as he began to cry. "Stop...him...at all...costs..." Gréagóir manages to say, before he passed away.

"DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Culian roars, before turning his anger towards Csaelan and attempting to stab him with his pitchfork, Csaelan grabbing it and ripping it out of his hand before eyeing it intently. "...Hmm...interesting." He remarks, before slashing at Culian, who attempted to block with the hoe, but it was sliced in half, and his chest was sliced open. Right when he screamed in agony, he was stabbed in the chest, Csaelan grabbing him by the neck and raising him up to be level with him. "Just so you know..." The General says, whispering into Culian's ear. "You will never see the Princess again." And then, he tosses Culian inside, stabbing him in the stomach with the pitchfork before walking away. "Faye..." Culian whimpers, crying hard, as everything faded to black.

*One Week Later...*

Faye was stumbling towards a window, hooks embedded into her body as broken chains hung from said hooks, rattling on the ground as they were dragged along. She bled and cried, breathing heavily, as she tried to make it towards the window, paying no mind to the weathered stone brick walls around her, instead, it was the many wickedly sharp, rusted metal tools that caught her eye, as she felt sick just from seeing them. She had to get away, she had to save herself, since Culian wasn't going to save her from him. She had no choice now. She couldn't keep being his test subject. The man she loved abandoned her, the man she married tortured her. She was the Princess, yet no one cared for her. It was hopeless to have hope in the face of all this.

And so, she gave in. She would deprive her horrific husband of his favorite experiment: her. And today, was that day...it was even more torturous to have starved herself, but it was the only way, and she wanted him to finally, perhaps, feel any kind of pain. And then, darkness, at last...

Csaelan, dressed in white robes from head to toe, walked into the Council of Clermont, and kneeled before the Pope. "Who are you? What is the meaning of this?" The Pope demands. "I am an agent of the Byzantine Empire." Csaelan replies. "And I will help you retake the Holy Land...and ensure no one else gets the idea to take it ever again." "And how would you suggest we do this?" The Pope asks. "...Let's all be honest here..." Csaelan explains. "...'Do no harm'...is the most foolish of the commandments...and no one will ever...love thy neighbor. Why stick to what he taught, when you could have so much more? When you can defend this faith from those who may challenge it, and label those we fight as the enemy, so the masses can believe in their own morality?"

And then, he looks up at the Pope with a small smile. "The Lord has told me that it is time for a Crusade, and he shall tell you so, too. I you merely ask...and listen."

Culian slowly opened his eyes, which hurt from the white light coming from...everywhere. Then, as his eyes adjusted, he saw a pale woman with a third eye on her forehead floating there, wings and robes covering most of her body, as four golden arms protruded from her back. "...Wha...?" He breathes. "I don't believe we've met." The woman remarks. "I'm known as Parvati by most, you may simply know me as the Goddess of Fertility and Life." "What...do you want with me...?" Culian asks weakly. "I need you to ensure that Csaelan, now calling himself Csillag Teremto, does not drive humankind to extinction." Parvati replies, as Csaelan could make out golden rings of eyes and wings swirling around her as she looks at his eyes. "The fate of all depends upon it."

## Chapter 58

Trevor was currently eating a chocolate ice cream cone, as Connor had vanilla and Charlotte honey. They were celebrating the defeat of Reledgard's forces at Rosette's shop, as Sabrina sat at a table alone, looking outside for Crith. "You were awesome, Charlotte!" Trevor shouts, grinning at Charlotte, who smiled and hugged him. "You were too, Trevor." She replied softly, as she leaned his head against his. Trevor closed his eyes and smiled, hugging back, as Connor looked down at his hand for a moment. "You okay?" Rosette asks, sitting next to him. "...I feel like...I need to train, too." Connor answered reluctantly. "...I just...I don't think what I currently have is still gonna be useful, whatever we face next." "That's not true." Rosette replies. "You're awesome! And you shouldn't let Montgomery or whoever make you think you're not." Connor smiles at her, as they hugged as well.

"He's right, in a sense." Culian suddenly interjects, standing at the entrance. "As talented as you all are, you should be training for the fight ahead when you can." "What is the fight ahead, though?" Rosette asks him. "I don't really know anything about this...Teremto guy." Culian sighed, and closed his eyes, sitting at a chair and putting his hands together. "Teremto, as he calls himself, is an ancient man." He explains. "He made the life of me and my beloved a living Hell, before killing us both. She came back as a more...historically traditional vampire, and I reincarnated over the ages. He must have gained his immortality by simply making it a new Mutation, and, or...by using dark magic." "...Oh." Rosette remarks. "Crith, Kaguya, Venus, Degan, and Kyoki are all children of Teremto, as I believe we've all learned at this point." Culian continues. "As is another, who's never been sent on any missions I know of. Indeed, my only knowledge of him is that he has to embody the most powerful of all the elements in a classical sense...the Sun."

"...Crith was...always our enemy..." Trevor breathes. "...But...he was...he's our friend!" "I am not refuting that, Mr. Dillard." Culian replies. "But it is clear that Csaelan...Csillag, only had them birthed so they could essentially be his child soldiers. Now that Reledgard is gone, he will no doubt decide that they must directly be our enemies." "I won't accept that!" Sabrina shouts. "There has to be a way to save him! To...to save them all!" "I hope there is." Culian responds. "But right now, we must focus on what means we have at stopping Teremto. Coffey simply removing his Mutation isn't going to do the trick, since his dark magic has likely allowed him to return so long as his spirit exists. We need to find a way to destroy, or depower, that spirit." "...Remember when all we fought were criminals?" Trevor asked. "Yeah..." Connor replies. "...I do. I wish we weren't fighting...the closest thing to the Enemy."

"We shouldn't be wasting even a single moment." Khaldun says, heaving been leaning against the wall and abstaining from the conversation this whole time, opening his eyes only now. "We need to train non-stop if we're going to beat Teremto." "Please, take the time to rest for today." Culian interjects again. "If you wish to spend your free time training, then that is the best case scenario, but at least for now, you should all have room to breathe." "...We don't have the time you think we do, Mr. Daithi." Khaldun responds, sounding less assertive. "We need to stop Teremto, as soon as possible. We cannot allow him to become a threat beyond this world." "...Star-C wants to be involved in this?" Culian asks. "Yes, we do." Khaldun answers simply. "Because we believe that if Teremto succeeds at whatever he's planning...all life in the universe could be at stake." Khaldun then walks out of the shop.

Daniel woke up in the hospital, and sat up slowly with a groan, before looking over at his new prosthetic. It was mostly black, with silvery joints and hydraulics, along with wires of various colors. He sighs, and gets out of his hospital bed, as he sees Maria standing there. "You okay?" She asks. "...I will be." He replies, as they start to walk towards the exit. "Reledgard has surrendered, Sir." Maria explains. "They've lost too many soldiers, and they don't want to lose any more of their people. Not only that, they also don't currently have a leader." "Understandable." Daniel replies. "Perhaps we could...try to build some sort of relation with them." "Culian thinks we should focus squarely on stopping Teremto, Sir." Maria responds. "Right..." Daniel breathes.

They walk out of the hospital and towards an armored van with weapons attached to it, before getting inside. The van drives off, as they look around at the city. It was still recovering from the earlier attack, but it would be back to mostly normal in no time, they thought. To know that Teremto had assassinated Orestes like that...to know Kaguya had been on Teremto's side all along...Daniel held his head in stress, sighing again, as Maria puts a hand on his shoulder. "We'll get through this, Sir." She says. "I promise." "...I hope so..." Daniel responds, as the van continues to drive towards the airport. It was crucial, Culian said, that they all have a central base of operations. And that was where they were now headed, Daniel figured.

Epsilon stood atop the tallest building in Killeen, looking down at the city. The people who had once been his enemies lived here, yet now, they were to an extent his allies. Perhaps it would soon be time to speak to them directly, but they'd be unlikely to accept him he thought, and he worked alone regardless. They didn't need to be involved in this mission when they had their own problems to solve. He looks up at the sky for a moment, the stars blotted out by the city's light, as he heard someone land behind him, and turned to see a man with the green skin of a Lanrete, but only visible at his mouth and chin. The rest was covered by black and gold armor with Egyptian stylings, including an almost Greek-looking helmet with purple lenses.

"Hello, Crocatoid..." The figure says. "...it is time to exterminate you."

## Chapter 59

Epsilon gets into a fighting position, right as he is kicked square in the face, and through numerous buildings! "Guh!" He grunts, as the figure appears behind him to grab him, throwing him down to the ground and shaking the city as a result. Epsilon groans in pain and notices the figure rushing down at him again, quickly skipping time to appear behind the figure and deliver a karate chop to his neck, though the figure didn't budge from the blow. "Wha--" Epsilon starts, as he is punched in the gut, that same fist blasting him back with purple energy. Epsilon falls on his back, rolling out of the way of a punch from the figure, who moved his other hand towards the former pirate to hit him with another blast, sending him tumbling through more buildings. Epsilon gets up weakly, and throws a punch at the figure, who sidesteps it, grabs Epsilon's forearm, twists his arm, and punches his gut.

Epsilon is barely able to shout in pain when he's kneed in the gut and kicked in the knee, a karate chop being delivered to his back, sending him to the ground as the figure promptly stomps on his back, grabs him by the head, punches him in the chest, and tosses him through more of the city, flying after him as the purple energy emanated from his body. Epsilon lands on a rooftop and gets up as quick as he can, blocking a punch from the figure with his forearm as his foot is stomped on. The figure punches him in the face and goes to punch his chest, Epsilon skipping time again to try and blast the figure's back, the figure dodging the blast and twisting Epsilon's other arm, punching him in the face and chest repeatedly before kneeing his gut again, kicking him into another rooftop and leaping at him for a punch. Epsilon, seeing it, quickly skips time again, vanishing, as the figure stopped his punch.

"...You cannot run from me forever, Crocatoid." The figure remarks, looking on at the parts of the city they had fought in, hearing the sirens, and sighing, before flying up into the sky to search for Epsilon.

Faye awoke behind rusted bars, trapped within a cell of cracked black bricks. Lining the walls of the large room were statues of people she didn't recognize, accompanied by flags she similarly didn't recognize. Cogwheels turned on the ceiling, behind the walls and beneath the floor, seeming to be connected to a chessboard in the middle, where a chair was attached. Black candles lit with red flame illuminated the room in a blood-colored glow, some on the walls, some on tall candlesticks on the floor, and some on chandeliers. A large spiked door, made from black metal, creaked open, as the emaciated figure of the General who'd taken everything from her walked in. He wore red and orange robes, elegant in design, yet his face was like that of a Sluagh's, save only for his eyes, which were pitch black sclera and glowing red irises. Despite her feeling colder upon seeing him, she almost laughed.

"Welcome back, my first wife." Teremto said, walking to her cell and attempting to caress her chin. She tried to punch his face, but he used that same hand to instead grab her wrist, a white-gold energy emanating from it as her wrist was burned. "GAAAAAH!!!!!!!!" Faye screamed, pulling back and holding her wrist in pain as Teremto let go and watched, a small smile forming on his wrinkled face. "Do you like my castle, my wife?" He asks, waving his hand at the room. "I made sure the aesthetic would...demonize the Pagans." Faye only laughed in response after a moment. "This is what you always were, huh?" She demands. "This must be your true form, you were never human to begin with." "I was very much human." Teremto retorts, before pulling back and smiling again. "But I have cast aside that weakness, and become something more." "You've cursed yourself..." she growls.

"A curse only to one who values weakness." Teremto responds. "My humanity was a more than worthy sacrifice to take another step towards putting the gods in their place. Below me." "...Is that...what all of this...has been about?" Faye demands. "Is all of this just a power trip?!" "Yes." Teremto answers simply. "Everything I have done has been in service of becoming a being beyond the gods." "...I always knew you were insane..." She mutters. "Sanity is relative, my dear." Teremto replies. "DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Faye screams, glaring viciously at the former General, who only looked on in mild annoyance. "It matters not." He retorts, walking towards the Chess board and sitting in the chair. "My machinations cannot be halted now, and you are going to bear witness as this world is handed over to me." He then picks up the white Queen piece, and moves it a square towards the black King piece.

"You and Daithi both."

"A tracking device placed on Faye earlier has finally pinged back." Khaldun says. "She's in a castle on Ireland." The screen zooms in onto a map of Ireland, which showed the castle in question. "...That's...the castle of the old King..." Culian remarks. "...so Csaelan has butchered that, as well..." "We need to get there, now." Khaldun continues. "We can rescue Faye, and we might just be able to take Teremto into custody." "Let's get ready, then." Charlotte replies. "I'd rather we get this done as soon as possible." "I can only hope it will end, today..." Culian remarks again, as they all began to equip themselves with various weapons and gadgets, Khaldun getting his spacecraft ready. Sabrina looked at a school photo, staring at herself and Crith and sighing. Whatever was happening to him...she had to save him. They had to stop his father from hurting him any longer, and stop his other plans as well.

Khaldun's spacecraft landed near the decrepit castle, which sat in the middle of extremely green fields. Those fields contrasted against the structure, which looked old, yet refitted to have a more sinister look, with torches of red flame and twisted black metal spikes placed everywhere. "...It's horrible..." Culian breathes. "...this castle...used to be so full of life..." "Let's get in and stop Teremto." Khaldun says, using a grappling hook to pull the drawbridge down by force. They all walk in, seeing that the corridors were dimly lit, as they looked unnerved, Trevor most of all, as he stayed close to Charlotte, trembling. "This is the most typical evil lair ever..." Rosette remarks. "Teremto may be the reason this aesthetic came to be associated with evil." Culian responds. "He's twisted many cultures in the eyes of the Church, directly destroyed so many lives, and caused the destruction of so many more..."

No one verbally responded to Culian, though they all looked disheartened by his words, to varying extents. They continued to walk, until they heard the doors close behind them. They all looked on in shock, before hearing footsteps, and looking up to see men in black robes and silver bird masks standing on corridors up above. "Cultists..." Khaldun mutters, as said cultists leaped down to surround them. "Father Teremto was expecting you to come here." One of them says. "He has tasked us druids to defend the castle." "Do not call yourselves druids..." Culian retorts, drawing his sword. "We'll have to go through them, first." Connor remarks, his arms turning into scythe blades, as they all got into fighting positions, ready for whatever the cultists would throw at them, though not knowing whatever it would be that the cultists would be throwing at them. Trevor sweat a bit, but otherwise they remained calm.

The cultists unleashed blasts of black and red energy at the group, Charlotte, Culian, and Connor deflecting them as Trevor, Khaldun and Rosette dodged, Sabrina blocking with her shield. Charlotte immediately slashes at one of the cultists, who creates a barrier of the black and red energy to block, before having it explode outward to blast her back. "Guh!" She grunts, Khaldun firing at cultists who do the same. Connor slashes at two, but they teleport behind him and blast him forwards, before forming knives from the energy and going to stab him, though they were pulled into the air and slammed together by Rosette's telekinetic power, right as Rosette herself was blasted down! Sabrina leaps to slash the cultist who did it, and barely blocks another cultist slashing at her with her shield, as Culian slashes and stabs through three cultists at once, dodging and blocking their attacks.

"Everyone, dodge!" Trevor shouts, leaping forwards as a massive axe flies down at them! They all manage to dodge, and see that a massive statue was holding the axe, as it gets into its own fighting position. "A...golem...?" Connor breathes, helping Rosette up. "Another thing Csaelan has perverted..." Culian responds. Charlotte runs at the golem, which swings its axe at her. She blocks with her sword, but is sent into a wall all the same, another golem emerging from its pose as Charlotte roared in pain. "Charlotte!" Trevor shouted, forming a Bokyaku to throw at one of the golems' heads. Khaldun threw a bomb at that same head, which was promptly destroyed by the attack, but the other golem slashed them all back, shaking the ground and sending debris at them at the same time. They all yelled and groaned in pain as they were sent back, the golden stomping towards them, right as its own head flew off!

Charlotte landed on her feet, the statue falling on its back behind her lifelessly, as she herself was breathing heavily, and holding her chest in pain, though the wounds were already healing. "Woah!" Trevor shouts, smiling, before they hear more footsteps, and see more cultists and golems approaching them from behind. "We'll hold them off!" Culian yells. "You four, go!" "Right!" Khaldun replies, as they all bust down the door and run inside, seeing the many blood-red candles, the many cogwheels, the chair, the chessboard, and the cells. Faye had noticed them, though she did little to show it, as they run towards her. "We're gonna get you out, we promise." Trevor says. "I really hope you do." Faye replies, as they hear the doors close, and slowly turn to see Teremto standing there, wearing chainmail and wielding a sword, while gazing upon them all, chills running down their spines.

Right as Teremto opened his mouth to say something, Charlotte and Connor slashed at him. He blocked the slashes with his blade, and went to slash at Charlotte's wrist. Connor blocks as quick as he can as they both leap back, Teremto creating spikes of lava that rush at them! Khaldun fires at the former general, but the lasers do next to nothing as he turns towards Khaldun, who had leaped at him to punch him in the face and plant a bomb on his chest, leaping back with his jetpack and detonating the bomb. Though limp for a moment, Teremto's body began to twitch and contort, his face and chest regenerating fully as he stood right back up, blasting Khaldun into a wall with solar and lunar energy. "Gah!" Khaldun grunts, as Trevor throws a Bokyaku at Teremto, who catches it with one hand, and opens his mouth to siphon all the Eletero from it, before sending a wave of fire at Trevor!

Charlotte tackles Trevor out of the way, as Connor and Khaldun slash at Teremto from opposite sides, Teremto creating a miniature tornado around himself to block them out. "Viata..." Charlotte starts, getting into position, as Trevor, trembling, forms another Bokyaku. Connor tries to slash at Teremto through the tornado, Khaldun trying to fire through it, but Teremto catches Connor by controlling his blood, and contorts him, Connor screaming in pain as he's then thrown into the lasers, and Khaldun, sending them both almost tumbling into the gears below. "TRANSA!" Charlotte roars, swinging her blade to send the Viatatransa at Teremto. "Bokyaku no Uzekara!" Trevor shouts, throwing the new Bokyaku at Teremto, who was hit by both attacks in a brilliant explosion of red and blue. However, before the smoke could even clear, Teremto leaped out of it, slashing at Charlotte, who barely blocked.

Teremto knocks Charlotte's sword aside with his own, and cuts her across the stomach, kicking her into a wall right as she shouted in pain from the cut. "Char--" Trevor started. but Teremto grabbed him by the neck, threw him against the wall, and had chains wrap tightly around him. "G-guh?!" Trevor yelps, his expression one of pure terror as Teremto pointed his now-flaming sword at him. However, cloth tendrils wrapped around Teremto's limbs, from Connor, as Khaldun leaped at him from above with what looked like some kind of taser, ready to paralyze him and knock him out. Right then, Charlotte, regenerating fired a blast at Teremto, the energy orbs she had learned from her father. "ENOUGH!!!!!" Teremto roars, unleashing a massive blast of all six elements at everyone in the room, blasting them all against the walls and cancelling out their attacks, as they then fell to the ground.

"...A-agh..." Charlotte groans. "No...!" Khaldun says weakly. "Ghhhh..." Connor grunts. "As I was about to say earlier." Teremto starts. "I commend you for making it this far, but you were fools to come here." He then walks towards Trevor, a ball of fire floating in his raised and otherwise empty hand, as Trevor whimpers and shakes, Teremto about to place the fire on his face. "N-no...NO!!!!!" Charlotte screams, trying to leap at Teremto, who turned around, turning the fire golden, and unleashes it at her. She screams in agony as her skin was severely burnt, as Teremto grabs her sword arm, kicks her to the ground, raises his own sword, and goes to stab her in the neck with it! However, the stab is blocked, by Culian, who had just made it into the room, and was glaring lividly into Teremto's eyes, Teremto seeming to glare back, though his face remained stoic as they had ever seen it thus far.

"Csaelan..." Culian almost growls, leaping back as Charlotte rolled out of the way. "The farm boy, Daithi..." Teremto replies, a small smile forming on his face for a moment. Culian rushes at Teremto to stab at him repeatedly, Teremto blocking the stabs and going to slash Culian's stomach, but Culian blocks Teremto's slashes and goes to cut him across the face. Though Teremto is cut, he doesn't seem to care, as he blasts Culian back with a beam of fire. "Argh!" Culian grunts, just managing to land on his feet as Teremto sends another beam of fire at him. Culian swiftly draws runes in the air with his sword to form a barrier, which blocks the flames, right as spikes of rock and crystal erupted from the ground towards him! "Gh!" Culian grunts, leaping up to avoid the spikes, as Teremto held his arms and legs in place with the very air they were in! "No!" Culian roars, Teremto sending an airblade at him.

However, the airblade is blocked by Sabrina, using her shield, as Rosette uses her telekinetic powers to slam a golem head into Teremto, sending he himself into a wall. The air around Culian returns to normal, as he lands in front of Faye's cell, and slashes the bars apart. "Culian!" Faye shouts, running over to hug him. "Don't thank me yet." Culian replies. "We still have to get out of here." They all began to run to the doors, Teremto beginning to rise back up as Charlotte stabs him in the chest. Teremto merely looks down at her, and blasts her back with just wind, as she grunts in pain and decides to run with the rest. Teremto watches them go, but right as they made it out of the castle, he heard beeping, and turned to see that another, different bomb was attached to the black Bishop piece, which in turn was checkmating the white King piece. Right then, the bomb exploded, destroying the castle!

Back at the city, everyone was currently resting at their base, taking the time to let their wounds heal, as the sun was setting outside. "There's no way that actually killed him, but destroying his base should be a major setback." Khaldun explains. "He'll be on the run now, out in the open, so we are going to soon have him in custody." "I fear no prison will be able to hold him." Culian replies. "And quite frankly...I think he does deserve to die." No one objected to this, as Trevor, still scared, leaned into Charlotte, who gently held him close. Suddenly, the window behind them is opened, and a figure wearing a Star-C styled golden suit landed on the table beneath said window. Everyone noticed, and everyone looked shocked, everyone except Khaldun...who looked utterly horrified. "...Aphris..." He breathes, trembling. "So you are heroes trying to stop this 'Csillag Teremto'..." Aphris remarks.

"...you must do so soon, or this planet will be destroyed."

## Chapter 60

"...D...destroyed...?" Trevor breathes. "Teremto's going to destroy the world?!" "No." Aphris answers. "We are." "...What...?" Connor demands. "Teremto's threat level is increasing rapidly." Aphris explains. "Soon, he may reach a point where this planet needs to be destroyed for that threat level to not rise to an unmanageable level." "No!" Charlotte shouts. "You can't just destroy our world! And all the people living on it!" "We can, if it becomes necessary." Aphris retorts. "It is that, or you find a way to defeat him before that becomes a necessity." "...Star-C gave him the orders..." Khaldun remarks. "...There's nothing we can do to sway him..." "Just who is this...?" Rosette asks. "Aphris." Khaldun responds. "The World Cleanser." No one spoke for a while, before Aphris turned back towards the window. "We'll stop Teremto, and if we need to, we'll stop you too!" Sabrina shouts, Aphris' only response being to leave.

"Rise, Kyoki." Teremto says, as Kyoki, who had just been kneeling before him along with Crith and Degan, rose up with a wicked grin on his face. "What is it, Father?" He asks. "You are going to test Charlotte Nechita's new power in a duel." Teremto explains. "I care not where it takes place, but should you successfully draw out all of it that you know of, your reward will be the abilities formerly possessed by Yuki-Onna and my dear Faye." Kyoki's grin only became wider, as he giggled maliciously and manically. "Yes! I will not fail you, Father!" He near-screams, laughing as Crith flinches back from him and Degan gives him a side-eye. Kyoki rushes out of the room, as Teremto looks towards Crith and Degan. "Should he succeed..." Teremto starts. "...you two will aid him on his next mission." "Of course, Father." Degan replies, Crith nodding shakily. "I promise we will not fail you." "Good..." Teremto responds.

"World...Cleanser...?" Rosette breathes. "...Star-C...wasn't always spacefaring." Khaldun replies. "We used to live on just one planet, one formed long, long ago. But our world was consumed by something, and we were forced to leave. Upon the rise of the Crocatoan, we formed Star-C, to protect as much of the universe as we could. But...we also knew that others like the Crocatoan could arise. Star-C refused for that to happen, and so, if any world seemed like a villain upon it could rise to the same threat level, that planet would be destroyed, along with the villain, by Aphris and those like him." "...Wh...what...?" Connor replies weakly. "...We have to stop Teremto." Khaldun says. "We have to stop him as soon as we possibly can." "We'd need a way to destroy his soul..." Charlotte remarks. "...does anyone here know how to do that?" "...There might be someone." Culian answers, his hand on his chin.

Kyoki stood atop a skyscraper in Killeen, looking down at the people below, before grinning. He began to make the wind pick up and swirl around, creating a massive tornado that became faster and faster throughout the city. Cars, trucks, trains, everything was being blown around, as the Wind Elemental laughed manically at the chaos he was causing. Then, he is kicked in the face by Charlotte, and sent stumbling back. "Woah! I totally didn't expect you!" He shouts, getting back up as Charlotte landed on the same roof as him. "You wanted me, didn't you?" She asks. "No one else has to get hurt." "On the contrary!" Kyoki retorts. "EVERYONE'S GONNA GET HUR--GAH!" He had been kicked again, this time out of the city and into the desert outside it, as Charlotte leaped after him, the tornado in Killeen dissipating. Kyoki stood back up again, and grinned. "Let's make this fun!" He roars.

Before Charlotte can react, Kyoki kicks her in the stomach, sending her tumbling across the desert. Charlotte, groaning, gets back up, and barely dodges a blade of air being tossed at her, only to be blasted back by a beam of pressurized air. "Guh!" She grunts, landing on a highway, quickly trying to leap off as Kyoki rushes to slash at her with a blade of air in his hand. She blocks a few of the slashes, but cuts appeared all across her body as she yelped a bit, Kyoki grabbing her by the neck and preforming a backflip to toss her through a streetlight. "Argh!" She shouts, landing on her feet as her wounds began to heal. Kyoki goes to slash her with two airblades in an X shape, but she barely blocks with her sword, and tries blocking the subsequent slashes, having even less success than before. She's sent further back and onto her knees, as her blood slightly pooled beneath her.

"I thought the Vampire Queen would pack more punch than this!" Kyoki sneers with a wicked smile on his face, pointing a finger at Charlotte to have a spinning airwave blast her throughout the desert and highways, causing burns and bruises on her body along with the normal cuts. Charlotte gets back up after the onslaught, sees Kyoki rushing at her as a blur, and quickly raises her arms to block a kick from him, grabbing his leg to slam him to the ground and slash at him, Kyoki deflecting the sword to his leg to cut it off before he flies back and uses airblades to slice the leg into seemingly nothing. "Gh!" Charlotte grunts, dodging another slash from Kyoki as she blasts him back. Kyoki flips around from the hit, but lands on his feet, right as he notices a dagger pinning his foot to the sand and is slashed in the stomach by Charlotte. "Gahahahahah!" He roars, blasting her back with more air.

Charlotte grits her teeth but stands back up, narrowly dodging a pressurized airblast aimed at her eye before deflecting another. Kyoki rushes in to slash her repeatedly, but she blocks the slashes most of the time, grabs his wrist, and attempts to impale him through the chest, which he notices and quickly cuts off his own arm to evade. Charlotte leaped to slash at him again, his wounds having regenerated by now as he leaped back and unleashed a massive column of air down on her like a hammer, slamming her into the sand repeatedly as she yelled in pain and he laughed at her. As soon as he stopped, he formed the column into a Yari spear, and leaped down to stab at Charlotte's head with it, Charlotte barely noticing and barely dodging as she cuts his throat and leaps back. "Viata..." She starts, charging up her attack while Kyoki is still regenerating. "Too slow!" He roars, rushing at her.

Charlotte barely dodges the spear again, and slashes at his stomach. "TRANSA!" She roars right as her sword cuts into him, the Eletero gathered up exploding upon contact and sending them both back. After a moment, she stood back up...and saw Kyoki doing the same. The massive wound in his torso was already regenerating, as he chuckled. "...Didn't...think you could keep up with me, huh..." He remarks. "...Up the ante, won't you...? Use that...new form of yours." Charlotte doesn't respond verbally, her hair turning red as the red aura surrounds her. She watches Kyoki, who only smiled darkly upon seeing the Bloodlust State, and stood back up after having fully healed. "...Lemme show you...how big the difference is between six and five!" He roars, as a torrent of wind suddenly surrounds him, fast enough and carrying enough sand to be completely opaque, Charlotte looking on.

When the torrent mostly dissipated, standing before her was Kyoki, his hair and clothes blowing in wind that now closely surrounded him. "You have that form, too..." Charlotte remarks. "Haven't you heard?!" Kyoki roars. "It's called Feltamadas!" Before Charlotte could blink, Kyoki had already slashed her in the stomach, sending her flying across the entire desert! "GAH!!!!" She roars, trying to use her sword to land, but Kyoki hit her with dozens of airblasts, and slashed at her again. She had no time to even realize half the attacks were there, and was sent into the ground again. "The Elementals have got these special physical attributes." He explains. "My greatest physical attribute is speed!" Right as Charlotte turned around and lifted her sword, she was kicked in the face, repeatedly, into the sand. She grunted with each kick, but couldn't do anything to block. She then tried to blast him.

Kyoki just dodged the blast this time, and floated above Charlotte. "I know you're gonna heal from that...but your healing isn't magic!" He shouts. "What do your cells need to divide? AIR!" And then, he began pulling all the air out of Charlotte's lungs, as she held her throat to try and stop it, choking and gagging as she dropped her sword. Kyoki laughs and continues, beginning to create a vacuum bubble around her to keep her deprived of oxygen. Charlotte collapsed to the ground, the world beginning to fade in and out, the Wind Elemental floating over her. As she closed her eyes, she saw Trevor, and felt something encroach towards her from all sides. It was then that she suddenly opened, them, her aura blasting outwards to send Kyoki back and thus destroy the vacuum, allowing her to breathe again! "Gah!" Kyoki yelps. "Wha?! What is this?!" "...I...don't know..." Charlotte answers breathlessly.

She stood back up and grabbed her sword again, Kyoki rushing at her to slash with two blades of air, yet she blocked all his slashes, and left his limbs sliced off and his torso sliced open! "Guh!" Kyoki grunts, flying back as his wounds healed again. Charlotte walked towards him, glaring, and prepared to rush at him with another slash, aiming to cut off his head. Kyoki, taking a few steps back, quickly rushes into the air, Charlotte watching on as he vanished beyond the horizon in less than a second. She sighed, as Trevor ran over to hug her. "Charlotte!" He shouts. "Are you okay?!" "I...I think so." She replies. "I'm...not entirely sure what just happened." "It looks to me like you tapped into more power." Khaldun replies. "Which means you might have an entirely new form." "Then...we need to train with it." Charlotte responds. "Yes, we must." Culian says. "Lets the entire world be destroyed...by Star-C."

"So you've returned, Kyoki." Teremto says. "What have you discovered?" "She has a new form!" Kyoki answers. "She was so fast I couldn't do anything!" "I see..." Their father remarks, putting his fingers together. "...Perfect. The lamb has been primed further to completion, and soon it will be ready to be offered. Good work, my favorite soon." Kyoki smiled, as Teremto took a crystal ball out of a desk. "This...holds the powers I took from my dear wife and from the Ice Spirit. And now, they will be yours." At that, the crystal shatters into dust, streaks of lightning and waves of icy wind rushing into Kyoki, as he stumbles back and screams, that screaming soon turning into maniacal laughter, as lightning crackled from his eyes and his breath could be seen. "AT LONG LAST!" He shrieks in sheer ecstacy. "I AM NOW...THE WEATHER ELEMENTAL! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

## Chapter 61

Sabrina sat on a stool in Rosette's ice cream shop, deathly worried about Crith. She knew how his father was...and knew his father now directly opposed them. If they were forced to fight...she couldn't even finish that thought. At the base, everyone was trying to plan their next move against Teremto, yet couldn't find his new base. "It doesn't make sense!" Khaldun shouts. "I can't find it anywhere on Earth!" "Maybe it's not on Earth?" Connor wonders. "...I'll tell Krincax to search the rest of the galaxy." Khaldun responds bitterly. Krincax was the last person he wanted searching for Teremto. If they joined forces, nothing would stop them. "Is it true?" Culian asks. "Did he truly take your power over lightning?" "Yeah..." Faye replies. "...he planned to put that and an ice spirit's power into that psychopathic brat." "Kyoki has ice and lightning powers, now?!" Trevor yelps.

"He probably got them as a reward for fighting me..." Charlotte answers, looking at her own reflection in her blade. She'd be training her new form, a 'Second Bloodlust', carefully. Were her instincts...or whatever that thing was...going to take her over again? She desperately hoped not, and would do everything in her power to not let it. If she did, if she got out of control...her train of thought was interrupted by a hand put on her shoulder. She turned to see it was Trevor, smiling at her. "Don't worry, Charlotte." He says calmly. "I'm here for you, I want to help however I can." She smiled back, and kissed him, as Khaldun was holding his temple in stress. "Choosing between Aphris destroying the Earth and Krincax possibly aligning with Teremto..." He mutters. "...this is about as bad as it gets, the worst case scenario!" "Perhaps rather than looking for them..." Culian starts. "...we should lead them to us."

"Rise, Kyoki and Crith." Teremto orders, as Kyoki, eyes still crackling with lightning and ice still forming in his breath, rises up, Crith doing the same a moment later. "What's our mission, Dad?!" Kyoki asks. "You are going to meet Culian's 'heroes'..." Teremto explains. "...wherever they decide." "Of course, Father..." Crith replies quietly, as they walk through the doors of the massive room, Teremto watching them unceasingly.

Pumice and ash blotted out the sun, lava ran across the blackened stone of the ground, the searing mountain stood as tall as many buildings, ominous as one could expect. "A volcano?!" Trevor yells. "Why here?" Connor asks. "They will come if they think they have the advantage." Khaldun answers, holding his blaster pistol. "Everyone, be on guard." They nod, and follow Khaldun into a cave inside the volcano. The heat was almost unbearable, as Trevor seemed close to collapsing numerous times. Connor was sweating and Charlotte checking to make sure she wasn't burned, as Khaldun kept leading them further and further inside the mountain. Small rivers of lava flowed past them, as Trevor worried about what might happen if the volcano were to erupt. And there, as they came to the center of the volcano, were Kyoki and Crith, standing at another entrance on the other side of the lava.

"Well, hello, there!" Kyoki shouts. "You wanna see what I can do?!" "No." Khaldun retorts, pointing his gun at Kyoki. "Ah, I thought we were gonna exchange witty banter!" Kyoki yells. "No time for that inside a volcano." Khaldun replies coldly, firing at Kyoki, who dodged the laser with a grin. "Take this!" He roars, creating a bladed disc of air to throw at him. Khaldun leaps over the disk and keeps firing at Kyoki, who keeps dodging. Khaldun turns to keep his aim on the Air Elemental, but a tendril of lava wraps around his prosthetic, and slams him into a wall! "Guh!" Khaldun grunts, before quickly blocking blades of lava sent at him by Crith, Connor leaping over Khaldun to slash at him. Crith blocks the blades with a shield, flinching back as he did so, before turning the shield into gunpowder and lava to have it explode in Connor's face, sending him back. Charlotte then rushes to slash at Crith.

Crith, eyes widening, forms a sword to block her slashes with, taking a step back for every step she took forward. "Why?!" Charlotte roars. "Why would you work for your father if he's like this?!" "I have no choice!" Crith shouts, attempting to slash Charlotte's wrists, but quickly blocks another slash of hers. Trevor dodges another airblade thrown by Kyoki, and threw a Bokyaku back, Kyoki simply dodging it as the Bokyaku hit the rock wall of the volcano's interior, shaking it. "Gh?!" Trevor whimpers, as the lava almost seemed to rise a bit. "Dammit!" Khaldun grunts, firing more relentlessly at Kyoki, who weaved around the lasers with ease before creating something like a miniature scythe out of ice to slash at Khaldun's throat with, Khaldun barely dodging as he grabs Kyoki's wrist with his prosthetic arm. "So you can use ice, now." Khaldun remarks. "Yep!" Kyoki roars, blasting lightning at his face!

Khaldun, shocked, barely dodges, as Kyoki brings his now-electrified kama down on him, but Connor manages to block it and slash at Kyoki, who blocks the slashes with the kama while flying back, and whirling around to blast lightning at Trevor, who reflexively dodges it before throwing another Bokyaku at him. Kyoki leaps over it, Connor crossing his arms to block the Bokyaku as it sends him into another rock wall. "Sorry!" Trevor shouts, as he sees Charlotte still slashing at Crith and Crith still blocking, before the Earth Elemental has tendrils of lava with metal blades attach to them rush at Charlotte, who, seeing them, leaps over them. "Viata..." She starts, Crith's eyes widening in horror. "...TRANSA!!!" She swings her sword to send the Viatatransa at Crith, who uses the tendrils to block as they are destroyed, sending him flying to the other side of the volcano. "Huh?" Kyoki demands.

Charlotte leaps to where Crith was standing to slash at him again, Crith rolling to the side and blocking another slash from her before throwing up dust in her face, turning the dust into sulfuric acid! "GUH!" Charlotte roars, holding her face in pain as Crith sends a lava tendril at her again. She hears it coming, and blocks it with her sword before slashing at Crith again. He just barely blocks, leaping back from the next slash, and rolling out of the way of a weaker Viatatransa, which hit a rock wall and shook the volcano even more. Charlotte, regaining her eyesight, furiously slashes at Crith, who tried to block and dodge the slashes but was too slow, starting to be slashed every which way as her sword inevitably cut his wrist, causing him to let go of his sword as it fell into the lava below. Kyoki had been blasting the others with lightning and slashing them with ice, as they then saw Charlotte and Crith.

"No way!" Kyoki shouts. "Come ON, Crith! You're better than this!" Crith was whimpering, covering his face with his arms as Charlotte pointed her sword at him. "Crith, surrender." She says. "I don't want to keep fighting you, not like this." "...I...I don't, either..." Crith breathes. "Oh, come on!" Kyoki shrieks, blasting lightning at Charlotte, who deflects it and, glaring at him, slashes a Viatatransa at him! Kyoki dodges it, but the blast knocks him back, right as Connor slashes him in the stomach. "Argh!" Kyoki roars, blasting lightning at Connor to send him sliding back as his wounds began to heal, right as Khaldun pointed his blaster at his face, and Connor wrapped his tendrils around his wrists and ankles. "There's nowhere to run now, Kyoki." Khaldun says, powering up his blaster. "...Who's running?" Kyoki asks with a creepy grin, as Trevor turned back towards Charlotte and Crith, worried about them.

"...I'm sorry...Charlotte..." Crith whimpers, stumbling back to his feet. "...But I have no choice...but to fight you." And right then, Crith suddenly erupts red energy, Charlotte trying to block it with her sword as everyone else turns to look. "Finally!" Kyoki shouts. "At long last, we'll get to see what his Feltamadas looks like!" As the energy dissipated, they all looked in horror to see Crith still standing there, except that his upper body save for his hands and face were covered in scales, and his lower body was covered in black fur, his feet now black hooves. White horns like that of a deer or a goat protruded from his head, as eight green, octopus-like tails protruded from around his waist, five or six razor-sharp teeth jutting out of the end of each. "...Wh...what...?" Charlotte breathes. "...Well, that was unexpected!" Kyoki remarks. Crith looked at them, before turning his attention back to Charlotte.

Charlotte, taking a step back, enters her 'Second Bloodlusted State', and slashes a Viatatransa at Crith, who forms a spear of molten metal to block it, ending up cutting it in half! Charlotte stares on in shock, as Crith himself looked surprised, but Charlotte was quick to slash at Crith multiple times, Crith blocking the slashes and slashing Charlotte in the stomach, cutting right through her aura! "GAH!" She grunts, stumbling back and holding her stomach in pain as her bleeding, burned wound struggled to heal. "Charlotte!" Trevor yells, running towards her and charging a Bokyaku. Crith notices, and waves the hand holding the spear to send a wave of lava at him! Connor, noticing, quickly leaps in front of Trevor to block the lava, Kyoki grinning and blasting Khaldun into a wall with a bolt of lightning! "GUH!" Khaldun grunts, as ice clamps trapped him on the rock wall. "No!" Connor shouts.

"RAH!!!" Charlotte roars, unleashing a beam of Eletero at Crith, who notices and spins the spear to block it, having numerous lava tendrils slash Charlotte from behind. "Guh!" She growls, as Crith slams a hammer made from solid, burning-hot tungsten into her face, sending her flying across the volcano. "GRAH!!!" She nearly screams, as Crith leaps over to the same place at them to stomp on her sword. She looked up at him in horror, as he stared down at her with a look of remorse on his face. "I must fight...or he will punish me..." Crith whispers, preparing to slash at Charlotte with the spear, right as a Bokyaku hits him! "Charlotte!" Trevor shouts, running over to her and helping her up. "Trevor..." Charlotte breathes. "Get out of here! We're no match for him!" Connor slashes at Crith, who blocks the slashes with the spear and send a torrent of lava to blast Connor into another wall.

"Connor!" Trevor yelps, as Crith slashes at them both with his spear. Charlotte barely blocks before leaping back. "Free Khaldun!" She says. Connor, getting up, nods, and goes to slash the ice clamps as Kyoki blasts more lightning at them both. "GAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!" Khaldun roars. "Grrrr!!!!!!" Connor grunts. Kyoki then starts to form ice prisons around them, laughing maniacally as he does so. "No you don't!" Trevor shouts, throwing a Bokyaku at at Kyoki while he isn't looking, blasting him into a wall. "Ow..." Kyoki grunts, as Crith sends numerous boulders, stalactites and stalagmites at Trevor, Charlotte blocking them all with her sword before falling on one knee, breathing heavily. "Charlotte!" Trevor shouts, right before he is grabbed by the neck and slammed into the nearest wall by Crith, shaking the volcano even more! "GAH!" Trevor screams, falling to the ground as Crith let go of him.

Kyoki stood back up, and noticed Charlotte and Trevor on the ground. "Good going, Crith!" He shouts with a thumbs up, right as he notices Connor and Khaldun bursting out of the ice to slash at him. He blocks the slashes with his ice blades, unleashing lightning at them into the eyeholes of Connor's suit and the electronics of Khaldun's. "GAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Connor and Khaldun howl, falling to the ground as Connor's suit reverted back to being his jacket and Khaldun's suit turned off, including its heat regulation. "G-guh..." Khaldun groans, trying to grab Kyoki's with his normal arm. Kyoki stomps on his wrist and laughs again. "There's nothing you clowns can do against us!" Kyoki roars, as Charlotte, still on one knee, glares up at Crith, who only looked down at her with the same expression as before. "You must be the strongest..." She breathes. "...Once we stop you...it's just Teremto!"

Crith, looking on for a moment, sighs, closing his eyes, and sweeping his hair aside. He lowers his hand, and opens his eyes, as Charlotte's eyes widen in horror once more.

The number three was etched onto Crith's right eye.

"...Wh...wh..." Charlotte breathed. She couldn't even utter the word through her stuttering. She could feel herself trembling, and struggling to stay even on one knee. "Defeating me is easy." Crith says. "Defeating the others...is far more of a challenge." Charlotte glared a moment longer, before losing the strength she had left, collapsing to the ground and dropping her sword. "...Ch...Charlotte..." Trevor whimpers weakly. "...It's...over..." Charlotte replies just as weakly, her tears turning to steam in the intense heat of the volcano. Crith held the spear up, preparing to stab Trevor in the head with it. "No...No!..." Charlotte pleads, as Kyoki only looks on with more laughter. "Oh, this is too good!" He shouts, lifting Connor up by the neck and forming his own spear, a yari, from ice. "Damn...you..." Khaldun groans, unable to move, as, right then, the walls of the volcano were burst through by someone else entirely!

Kyoki and Crith both turned to see Epsilon floating there, glaring at them both. "So you're the ones causing trouble..." Epsilon remarks. "YEET!" Kyoki shrieks, blasting lightning at the former pirate, who appeared directly in front of Kyoki to place two fingers on his forehead, knocking him out. Crith sends multiple lava waves at Epsilon, who crosses his arms to block before blasting through them with orbs of Kozmikus Eletero, which Crith barely dodges before sending a cloud of sulfuric acid at the Crocatoid, who dives below it and rushes at Crith to punch him in the face. "Gah!" Crith yelps, before lifting up his arm to cause the volcano to shake even more! "It's going to erupt!" Khaldun roars, Epsilon noticing them and, seeing the lava rise faster, goes to grab them all and take them away from the volcano, Kyoki waking up and, seeing the lava, flying out, right as the volcano erupted!

"...Did...did we do it?" Trevor breathes. "If they didn't escape...then we may have dealt a serious blow..." Khaldun replies. "Can either of you tell me what was happening, there?" Epsilon demands. "Why was that student working with someone else to fight you in a volcano?" "It's...a long story..." Connor answers. "...How are we supposed to beat them...?" Charlotte wonders. "...They're...too strong...and they're not even the strongest..." "...We'll find a way." Khaldun says. "We have to. Or it won't *be* them...who destroys this world..." Connor looked down at his hands, narrowing his eyes a bit as he thought to himself. Rosette looked on at them all, confused. "At the very least, that eruption will hold them off for the meantime." Culian remarks. "But we need to find a way to permanently take Teremto out of the equation entirely...perhaps Star-C could be of greater use to us than you think, Khaldun."

"So you have returned, Kyoki." Teremto says, turning around to see Kyoki landing. "Where is Crith?" "Blew up the volcano." Kyoki answers. "No idea where he is, but those 'heroes' got away." "...You've succeeded in your mission to perfectly gauge them..." Teremto remarks. "...Find Crith. Do not return until you do." "Yes, Sir!" Kyoki replies with a salute.

Sabrina was sitting on the balcony of her house, looking on at the city. Just a few years ago, Killeen had little in the way of highrises, and yet now it looked as grand as any other of America's greatest cities from afar. She sighed and sipped her tea, walking over to sit on a couch, when she heard a knock on her door. Shocked, she walks over to her door, ready to form a weapon, and opens it. Laying there was Crith, severely burned and unconscious! She gasped, and crouched down to pick him up, taking him inside and locking the door behind them. "Don't die, don't die, don't die..." She whispered, walking him over to the couch, setting him down, and taking a first-aid kit out of a nearby drawer. She began to quickly bandage him up, treating his burns beforehand, and placing an ice pack on his forehead. He was barely breathing, and it was clear to her what must have happened.

Crith slowly opened his eyes, groaning weakly, and noticed Sabrina laying beside him. She was holding him closely, and a blanket was draped over them. He could see they were in the second floor's living room, windows showing the moonlit city, fields, forest and highways outside. He sighed and began to close his eyes, as Sabrina leaned her head on his. "How do you feel, Crith?" She asks softly, whispering. "...I...I don't know..." He whispers back, leaning into her. "It's okay." She says. "You're okay. You can be happy, here." Hearing this, Crith began to force a smile, but immediately saw Sabrina's shock. "No! Not like that!" She shouts, before holding her hands to her mouth, shocked further by her tone of voice, and shocked even further by Crith flinching and curling up into a fetal position, trembling and breathing heavily, almost to the point of hyperventilating, as he nearly fell off the couch.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry..." She says, holding him close once more. "You don't have to do everything I say." "I-I must..." Crith whimpers. "...I must..." "No." Sabrina responds. "You're my partner, not my servant! I want you to be happy, truly happy. You don't have to smile if you don't feel like it, you can't just force yourself to be happy like that." "Then what do I do...?" He breathes. "...what can I possibly do...? I'm a failure, I ruined everything, I--" He wasn't able to finish, as Sabrina held him even closer. "Shh..." She whispers. "You're not a failure, not to me. You shouldn't be listening to that horrible man just because he's your father, he hates everything and everyone. Just...rest." Crith nods, and began to relax. "How do you feel?" She asks again, tearing up a bit. "...Safe...and warm..." Crith whispers. "Then focus on that." She replies. "Let yourself rest, and be safe." He nodded again, and slowly closed his eyes.

She could feel his heartbeat and breathing slowing down, he was trembling less and becoming less tense, as she smiled, and held him closer still, before closing her eyes to the sound of crickets, owls, and distant city noises.

An unknown amount of time passed, before suddenly, the door is kicked down, shocking Sabrina and Crith awake as Sabrina leaps from the couch and ran into the hallway to see Kyoki standing there, most of the front of his body being cast into shadow by the streetlights outside. "Who are you?!" Sabrina demands. "Surely you know me!" Kyoki shouts. "I'm Crith's big brother, and I'm here to take him home!" "You're not taking him back to that monster!" Sabrina roars, rushing to slash at Kyoki, who dodges and freezes Sabrina in a block of ice before walking towards Crith, who was trembling more than ever. "B-Brother..." Crith whimpers. "So this is your girlfriend's house." Kyoki remarks. "You could've invited her over to Dad's house if you REALLY wanted to see her that bad!" Crith's eyes widened in horror at what would be said. "In fact..." Kyoki says. "Let's take her over there right now!"

Culian and Connor were walking through a desert town, towards a building carved from stone. Its door slid downwards, as they walked inside. "What are we doing, here?" He asks. "You wanted to learn the techniques of your forefathers?" Culian asks, as they enter a room filled with pictures and words written in the Hebrew alphabet, Connor looking on in astonishment. "This is the place to do so."

Crith and Sabrina awoke at Teremto's feet, as he stared down at him in a cold fury. "...So you...still see...this girl..." He near-growls, seeming to be struggling to keep his composure, nearly trembling with rage. Crith himself was trembling, trembling with complete terror, unable to even speak. "Take the girl to a cell once this is over." Teremto orders. "But first, she shall watch what punishment my son awaits! For disobeying my instructions..." "No! Please!" Sabrina screams, tearing up again. "Don't hurt him! You monster!" Kyoki keeps Sabrina at bay, as she watches Teremto pull his arm back, before thrusting it towards Crith's chest. His screams of pure agony and horror filled the entire base, as Sabrina screamed in protest.

## Chapter 62

On the front of the palace in the Kingdom of Reledgard, an orange-eyed young man, wearing a red and orange cloak along with a black eyepatch on his left eye, with his hair blonde on one side and brown the other, walked up the stairs and turned around to stand beside and between two elderly men, who in their left and right hand respectively held a golden crown. "Today, we are gathered here to mourn the death of Emperor Orestes." The men say together. "We have lost much in this war, and had no choice but to make the world believe we surrendered. Now, it is time for the coronation of the new Emperor of Reledgard. All salute and kneel before Emperor Vassiles the First!" And then, they place the crown on Vassiles' head, everyone else kneeling and saluting as Vassiles smiles darkly, looking down at all of them with a cruel yet small grin. At long last, like Teremto promised, the Empire was his.

"Somehow, I have a bad feeling we'll see Crith and Kyoki again." Khaldun remarks. "And even then, Teremto still has Degan and Kaguya at his disposal." "...Can we talk about your insistence on working in Star-C?" Epsilon demands. "That organization sent Aphris to destroy this planet if we cannot stop Teremto in time, they're just as much a threat as he is!" "We *will* stop Teremto in time!" Khaldun retorts. "And what if we don't?!" Epsilon roars. "What if we're too late?! What if Star-C moves the timeframe closer to now?! Are you really so willing to allow the organization you work in to destroy an innocent world and all of your supposed friends?!" "...I'll contact Aphris, now." Khaldun responds after a moment, pressing a few buttons to change the screen to show Aphris, who seemed to be standing in a golden room.

"Is that the Crocatoid?" Aphris demands. "Have you apprehended it?" "He hates Omicron *more* than we do." Khaldun explains. "He's an ally." "...I suppose we'll see how true that is..." Aphris mutters in response. "What did you contact us to discuss, then?" "The terms you set." Khaldun replies. "We've defeated three of Teremto's known minions as well as the entire military force he had aligned himself with, we *think* we will defeat him soon. But we *don't* think we can defeat him soon enough to beat your deadline." "That is not an issue." Aphris responds. "We will destroy him with utter certainty if you cannot do so soon enough." "And when *is* soon enough?!" Khaldun demands. "You *never* gave us an actual date, we don't *know* how much time we have *left*!"

For a moment, Aphris was silent.

"...The Perdition Station will arrive in orbit of Earth in a few days at most." He finally says. "I am currently inside it."

"...Wh...what...?" Charlotte breathes, as her eyes widened in horror. "Wh-what do you mean?!" "The Perdition Station is how we destroy worlds." Aphris explains. "We use Strange Matter to eradicate everything on the planet, especially the actual target." "You can't do this!" Trevor roars. "This is our home!" "Can't I?" Aphris retorts with an edge in his voice. "If Teremto succeeds in his goals, he will become another Omicron, and we're barely able to deal with *one* of those. We need the lich gone as soon as possible if biodiversity in the universe is to *survive*!" They all looked on in silence, eyes wide with fear and rage. "In the grand scheme of the universe..." Aphris states. "...one planet means nothing." "You don't have to do this!" Khaldun suddenly shouts. "I do." Aphris corrects. "It is my orders, my mission, my duty, and my purpose."

Then, Aphris cuts the transmission.

"...This is bad..." Trevor breathes. "...This is very...very bad..." "How can you work with these people?!" Epsilon roars.

"Yes...how can he?" A new voice says from behind them all.

Shocked, they all turn around to see an odd-looking man standing at the entrance, a man who smiled darkly at them.

"Who are you?!" Trevor asks.

"Vassiles." Vassiles answers bluntly, though still smiling. "I'm not exactly the type to play coy." "You're wearing Reldgard clothing..." Trevor notices. "Yep, I'm the new Emperor!" Vassiles confirms. "That cultist guy made sure you wouldn't find out about me, so your golden friends wouldn't try to assassinate me ahead of time." "Then you must be here to attack us!" Trevor realizes. "Cutting to the chase, eh?" Vassiles mocks, pointing a crossbow at Trevor and firing, Trevor narrowly doging. Charlotte draws her sword, and immediately blocks a slash from Vassiles. "Viata...TRANSA!!!!!" She roars, sending the massive crimson blast at him with a swing of her blade. Vassiles is hit, and blasted to the ground, groaning in pain. She prepares to slash again, but Vassiles had leaped up to kick her in the face, causing her to stumble backwards. "Argh..." She groans, before blocking another slash and being kicked in the stomach, sent back once more. "Charlotte!" Trevor shouts, before narrowly avoiding arrows from Vassiles and beginning to charge up a Bokyaku. Vassiles goes to fire at him again, but he is slashed back by Khaldun, who then blasts him just as Trevor throws the Bokyaku, the Emperor being hit by both attacks! When the smoke cleared, Vassiles had vanished.

"Woah..." Trevor breathes. "...that felt a little quicker than normal."

"I welcome you both to this sacred place of worship." A man sitting in the middle of the structure Culian and Connor were in said. The man had a bit of an olive tint to his skin, and he sported a large black beard with warm black eyes. "We're honored to be in your presence." Culian replies. "My name is Culian O'Daithi, though I imagine you already know that. This is Connor Zelinger, he is the owner of an ancestral suit his parents handed down to him." "Ah, the Bindings of the Archangels." The man remarks. "Your ancestry is that of warriors of Yahweh, defenders for that which we stood for, and of the world at large. A suit, should it be lowered down to that term, that is almost impossible to destroy." "It was the only reason I survived that plane attack..." Connor responds. "There is a secret to this holy armor, Connor Zelinger." The man continues. "One that you shall now learn."

Swaddled beneath a black tarp, Crith laid in a cell. He didn't bother look up, or move. Everything hurt too much, everything was hazy. Even thinking was practically impossible. He just laid there, crying silently, wallowing in the immense agony he now felt. He heard someone knock on the bars of his cell, but didn't turn to see who it was. "Uh...ey, Crith." Degan says. "You doing any better?" Crith doesn't respond, he didn't believe he *could* respond. "I'm not gonna let you go down this spiral, Little Bro." Degan continues, Crith still not responding. "Look, I know how our father is, though I...I didn't think he'd do this. But please, don't give up on everything. I'm, uh...I'm sure when this is all over we'll...uh...we'll be able to see all our friends again." Crith remained silent, before, while whimpering, finally managed to turn around, Degan's eyes widening in horror at what he saw. No one spoke, before Degan left.

Sabrina sat within a dark cell inside the castle, dressed in brown robes as she looked out at the city around them. It was abysmal, built of weathered red bricks and surrounded by flames and lava. Above them was a red sky, full of brightly-glowing red stars and orange planets. It seemed as if there was some sort of atmosphere everywhere, and that everything was rather closer together, given just how much was visible. As she was thinking about Crith, unable to burn that horrific memory from her head, she heard the cell open, and turned around to see Kyoki grab her by the arm! "Wh-what are you doing?!" She screams. "I'm taking you in for a good time!" He screams back, a twisted and crazed smile on his face. Sabrina forces him back and glares at him, before he raises his hand to try grabbing her again, before his own wrist is grabbed by Degan. "Leave her alone, Kyoki." He says sternly.

Kyoki, now looking livid, pulls his arm free of Degan's grip and walks away while grumbling to himself. "Why did you..." Sabrina breathes. "I may be a monster, but I'm not a *monster*." Degan explains. "...Crith!" Sabrina shouts. "Is he okay?!" "Uh...define 'okay'." Degan replies. "He's alive, and still able to fight, but...he's given up everything. He's no longer responding to anything anyone says, and...his wounds haven't really healed that much." For a moment, Sabrina just looked on in shock, before she buried her face in her hands and began to sob. Degan winced and looked on, almost balling his hands into fists. "...Wh...why..." She whimpers. "...Why does...why does Crith have to suffer all this...?" "...I wish I could answer you that question." Degan responds. "I really...really do." And then, Degan walked away, Sabrina continuing to sob at Crith's fate as the Water Elemental's face slightly contorted in rage.

"Dammit!" Khaldun shouts, slamming his fist on a table. "Why did I think defeating Reledgard would be so easy?! Of *course* Orestes had an heir!" "It seems you took care of him." Epsilon replies. "It's never that easy..." Charlotte remarks. "...I would know." "Just when we said we were gonna get rid of all the bad guys, more show up." Trevor groans. "How did we go from some silly crime boss to all this...?" "...We just need to hope that Connor actually gets the method he needs to stop Teremto." Khaldun responds, calming himself down. "If we can take Teremto down, then we don't need to worry about Aphris anymore." "We wouldn't have needed to worry about Aphris at all if you dealt with him already." Epsilon retorts. "It's not that simple." Khaldun retorts back. "It's *never*...that simple." "We just need to find Teremto, right?" Rosette asks. "What if we built something that could track him?"

"...Only Krincax could..." Khaldun replies. "...and I *still* think it would be a bad idea to ask him to help." "How is it a bad idea?" Charlotte demands. "If we get Star-C actively involved in taking Teremto down without Aphris, then we can solve both our problems at once!" "...I don't *trust* Krincax!" Khaldun shouts. "He's only ever been in it for himself! If he even *thinks* Teremto can offer him more than Star-C, he will gladly switch sides as if he never worked with us to begin with!" "...I'm going to be honest, Khaldun." Rosette retorts. "I am genuinely more accepting of Krincax' aid than Aphris', and I think there's less of a risk working with Krincax *than* Aphris. Besides, he can just read Teremto's mind, right? He'll know that Teremto'll probably double-cross him, so he won't accept the offer." "...I hope you're right." Khaldun says, before the alarm goes off. "Huh?!" Trevor yelps. "It's Vassiles!" Khaldun states. "He's back!"

Vassiles stood outside the base, looking at a digital watch on his wrist and tapping his foot. Then, the door to the base opens, Khaldun pointing his blaster at the new Emperor. "What do you want, now?" He demands. "What do you think?" Vassiles retorts with a smile. "To show you what I've learned." Vassiles then points his crossbow at Khaldun, the arrowhead of the crossbow bolt being made of some sort of crystal, before firing a laser from it! Khaldun immediately dodges and fires back, but Vassiles flips and twirls out of the way of each laser and blast. Charlotte leaps out of a window to slash at Vassiles, but he blocks with a quickly-drawn bayonet, before said bayonet begins to glow red. "Wha--" Charlotte begins. "Viatatransa!" Vassiles shouts, unleashing the crimson red blast at Charlotte, which she narrowly blocks while still being sent back! "Wha?!" She yells, her eyes wide in shock.

Vassiles smirks, before pointing his finger up to create a Bokyaku over his head. "Bokyaku no Uzekara!" He bellows, before throwing the Bokyaku down, only for Trevor's Bokyaku to counter it in a massive blue explosion. Vassiles lands one foot on a street light to look down at Trevor, who nervously takes an Eletero bomb off his ultility belt to throw at the new Emperor. Vassiles points his finger at the bomb, sending a stream of fire at it to detonate it prematurly, before rushing through the smoke to kick Trevor in the side of the head, sending him flying into a car! "GAH!!!" Trevor screams, as Charlotte runs over to him. Khaldun fires at Vassiles again, but Vassiles keeps doging the lasers as he gets closer and closer to him, before slashing at Khaldun with his bayonet. Khaldun is quick to block with his khopesh, flying back with his jetpack after planting a bomb on said bayonet.

Vassiles, shrugging, tosses the bayonet behind himself and draws another leaping at Khaldun as the explosion casts him in shadow. Khaldun quickly blocks these slashes as well, and tries to disarm Vassiles by catching the bayonet in his khopesh. However, Vassiles merely heats the blade of the bayonet to an extreme degree and slices right through the Khopesh, while tilting his head to dodge a laser blast from Khaldun's arm and then grab the prosthetic, causing it to shut off! "Wh?!" Khaldun grunts, before he is kicked in the stomach by Vassiles and narrowly manages being kicked in the head by blocking the next kick with his organic arm. Vassiles, however, merely palms Khaldun in the face, sending him flying into the road hard enough to create a small crater and dust cloud. Vassiles then dodges attacks from Rosette, before being quickly ensnared by her psychic power.

"Grrrrrrrh!!!!!" Rosette grunts, trying to slam Vassiles down to the ground, but he was *resisting her control with his own*! Vassiles then forces himself in front of Rosette and places a finger on her forehead to knock her out, then being hit on his own forehead by two of Epsilon's fingers. However, Vassiles stays conscious, and leaps back, only to be karate chopped in the back by Epsilon, who had appeared behind him. Vassiles doesn't even land before he's kicked in the chest and sent crashing through a street light and into the wall of a nearby mall. Vassiles, grunting, narrowly dodges a punch from Epsilon, before ducking under a kick and leaping over a sweep, using the bayonet to block another karate chop as it is shattered and he leaps back. Then...Vassiles' forearm meets Epsilon's about halfway through Epsilon's timeskip! Epsilon has little time to be shocked, before he's blasted back.

"Wh...what..." Epsilon breathes, as Vassiles lands on his feet, grunting a bit more in pain. "...Well, I'd say that concludes my little showcase, don't you think?" He says mockingly. "Yep, my Mutation lets me copy any power that affects me!" "You're not getting away!" Khaldun roars, as he fires at Vassiles, who merely blocks with a blast of red and blue energy, as when the smoke cleared, he was once again gone. "...D...dammit..." Khaldun then collapses, as do all the others.

## Chapter 63

"You possess the greatest armor one could ever hope to wear, Connor." The man in the temple explains further. "It can become almost any weapon, and survive almost any attack, it is both the ultimate defense and the ultimate offense. But...are you aware of its other capabilities?" "I'm afraid I'm not..." Connor replies quietly. "...they never got the chance to tell me." "Well..." The man continues. "...simply put, that armor also acts as a conduit through which all those who wore it before can act. Those who died and went to Heaven, who can now channel through you the power of the angels, of divine justice. With this power, it is possible to completely destroy the soul of one who has sinned enough that redemption is impossible for them. O'Daithi's ancient enemy certainly qualifies from all I've heard of him, it is only a matter of actually coating him in these divine flames...in the holy Soulfire."

Charlotte, Trevor, Khaldun and Rosette were all in bandages, while Epsilon leaned against a doorway and crossed his arms. "He can copy our powers...?" Trevor breathes. "Which means he now has you and Charlotte's attacks." Khaldun responds. "Along with Rosette's telekinesis, and my telepathy. And who knows how much more..." "...I hope Connor is doing okay." Rosette remarks. "Hopefully, he'll come back with the solution to all this." "We can't worry about Vassiles, right now." Charlotte butts in. "We need to stop Teremto, first and foremost, and that means actually finding out where he is." "We've looked everywhere..." Trevor replies. "...what if Teremto's nowhere on Earth, or in the universe?" "...Then there's really only one place he could logically be..." Khaldun remarks. "And I believe I know *exactly* where that is!" Krincax interjects, entering the room with his typical massive grin.

Vassiles was laying on his throne, overlooking Reledgard while sipping what looked like blood from a wine glass. "Your Majesty?" Zhadok asks. "Yeah?" Vassiles replies. "What is it?" "...Surely you know that Teremto is not to be trusted." "Oh, I know." Vassiles clarifies, sipping from the glass. "I just don't care." "What?!" Zhadok demands. "Why?!" "Cause I wanna see what happens." Vassiles explains. "I wanna see what becomes of a world ruled by a guy like Teremto with power beyond the Gods." "...Are you serious, Your Majesty...?" Zhadok breathes. "I'm drinking the blood of my mother." Vassiles retorts. "I'm not what you would call...'sane'. Just watch it all burn with me, I can't wait to see what this 'Dark Lord' actually has planned, what he actually wants from all this. And you'll be there to enjoy it too, no doubt." Zhadok looks down at the ground, trembling a bit as he balled his hands into fists.

"Welcome here...Krincax..." Khaldun says shakily. "I see you just...let yourself in..." "Of course I did!" Krincax replies. "Did you think a little lock was going to stop me?! Now, then. About your 'Teremto' problem." "Get to the point." Khaldun retorts. "We *do not have time* for your theatrics." "Ugh, fine." Krincax grumbles. "Anyways, what better place for the closest thing to your world's 'Satan' to live in than Hell itself?" "...Hell...?" Charlotte breathes. "Hell?!" "He's nowhere in this universe, that's for sure." Krincax explains, raising his hand a bit. "And since you're still dealing with Aphris' antics, I believe that it's time Star-C helped you, so we're going to go to Hell right along with you!" "...That's...not something I ever thought I'd hear..." Trevor remarks nervously. "Now, then." Krincax declares, putting his hands together and somehow smiling wider. "Let's get all our...preparations...in order!"

"Focus, Connor." The man says, as Connor sat in a praying position. "Focus on your ancestors, on the angels above, on Yahweh. Through prayer, you can create a communion with them, and gain the power you need to slay Teremto once and for all." Connor nodded, before beginning to do exactly that, speaking to his family, to his ancestors, to them all, in a tongue no one in that room currently quite understood. Culian watched silently, as did the man, as a golden energy began to surround Connor. A pressure of wind built up inside the room, almost feeling searing hot as it began to shake. And then, just as quickly as it happened, it all stopped, and a moment later, Connor's eyes opened, briefly flashing gold, and he stood back up with a smile. "Thank you, thank you very much." He said to the man, who nodded. "I think we need to go over to Reledgard, and stop Teremto right here and now!"

## Chapter 64

Vassiles sat in the guest seat of Teremto's table, as on either side of said table sat Kyoki, Degan, Helios and the still-tarp-wearing-Crith, Teremto himself sitting at the ornately-designed other end of the table. The seats for Venus and Kaguya, of course, were absent. "Welcome, Your Majesty." Teremto says with a small gesture. "Drop the formalities, I know what you really see me as." Vassiles replies, leaning back against his seat as he put his hands behind his head. "Just get on with the actual info we're getting." "Hmm..." Teremto mutters, putting a hand on his chin as if thinking, before closing his eyes. "...Kyoki, Degan, Vassiles, you three are going to defend Reledgard's portal from anyone who goes after it. Helios, Crith, you two are going to defend Hell itself in case anyone actually gets inside." They all nod, Crith more shakily so, before Teremto waves his hand to dismiss them.

Charlotte had her katana sheathed on her back, as well as multiple combat knives sheathed on her belt. Khaldun had multiple blasters, khopeshes, shields, bombs and various gadgets all stashed into and onto his suit. Trevor wore three different belts with Eletero bombs strapped onto them, along with some armor padding. Meanwhile, Krincax had multiple specimen jars, medical equipment, and vicious-looking gadgets stuffed into what was essentially a large, golden version of a first-aid kit or briefcase. "Are you seriously going to take demons back to your labs?" Khaldun demands. "Yes." Krincax answers flatly. "What did you expect?" Khaldun palms his face and groans, right as the door opens, and they see Connor, Culian, Daniel, Chen, Marcus...and Zhadok, standing just outside the room. "Connor!" Rosette shouts, as Connor goes over to gently comfort her.

"You should have told me about all this, sooner." Marcus states bluntly. "I would glady have helped you against the source of vampires and closest a mortal could ever come to the Enemy's evil." "I quite frankly forgot you existed." Epsilon retorts, before Khaldun gets between them. "We need to focus, everyone." Khaldun says. "We're about to go to *actual physical Hell itself*, we need to work together as seamlessly as we can, and focus squarely on Teremto first and foremost. *Everything else is low-priority*." "As long as I get to kill the monster who I refuse to acknowledge as my father-in-law, I'm good." Daniel responds bitterly. "Speaking of, do we actually have a way to take him out now?" Trevor asks. "Yeah." Connor answers. "At least, it *should* work." "There's no time to waste, then." Chen says. "We need to head to Reledgard *now*."

"...And what about him?" Charlotte asks, as she and Khaldun turn towards Zhadok. "...I...cannot bear to serve our new Emperor..." Zhadok explains. "He...and that warlock...both need to go for our country's...our species'...survival." "And we should probably act fast, too." Krincax butts in. "Because the Perdition Station is arriving tonight."

Everyone went silent when Krincax said that, absolutely no one spoke for a few moments, as they all looked on in horror.

"...Wh...what..." Charlotte breathes. "We need to kill Teremto today." Krincax repeats. "What's the issue, here? I thought we now actually had a *method* for that!" "We need to stop talking, *now*!" Khaldun roars. "Everyone get to the spacecraft *IMMEDIATELY*!!!!!"

And so, after around a minute, they were off, heading towards the country from which this problem had stemmed, the latest in a long, long line of puppets Teremto had pulled the strings of.

Kyoki and Degan stood on a pillar of either side of Vassiles, who stood with one foot on the cushion of his throne and the other on one of the armrests with his arms crossed and the wind blowing his hair and cape to further show his smug grin. They watched as ships, planes, helicopters and submarines slowly appeared on the horizon, spearheaded by sleek and shiny golden ships with bright purple lights. "And so come the heroes." Vassiles remarks, pointing his crossbow at a ship to fire an arrow coated in Viatatransa at it. The ship is hit, and destroyed by the blast, as the artillery on both sides opened fire on one another! The ensuing carnage made Kyoki's grin widen from ear to ear, while Vassiles just looked on with the same smugness as before. Right then, the Star-C spacecraft flew overhead, and landed in the middle of the city, where soldiers immediately headed.

The soldiers pointed their rifles at the spacecraft, as they opened to Connor slicing them apart with his cloth tendrils. Zhadok winces at the sight, as Charlotte runs out, dodging and deflecting all of the bullets, before slashing the soldiers in the arms, legs and stomachs to make them buckle over. "The rest of the Star-C task force shall be here shortly." Krincax explains, holding up some sort of device. "Now then, where is this portal?" "It's just atop that mountain." Zhadok answers. "You can all head there, I have matters here to attend to." Charlotte nods, as she, Khaldun, Marcus, Krincax, Daniel and Trevor begin to make their way towards the Gates of Hell. Right then, Zhadok sees Vassiles land, drawing a bayonet. "Tsk tsk tsk, switching sides?" Vassiles taunts. "You are no Emperor worth serving!" Zhadok roars in response, before drawing his saber and rushing to slash at the new Emperor of Reledgard.

Sparks fly through the air as Vassiles kept blocking Zhadok's slashes, casually tilting his head to dodge a gunshot before grabbing Zhadok's gun and ripping it out of his hand. The Emperor is quick to dodge a thrust from Culian's spear, and unleashes an energy blast to send Culian through numerous city blocks, before blocking a slash from Chen and leaping over the next one. Epsilon swings a kick at Vassiles, but he just blocks the punch with his forearm, and slashes at Epsilon's leg. "Gh!" The rogue Crocatoid grunts, flying back before blasting Eletero orbs at the new Emperor, who merely cancels them out with his own Eletero blasts before preforming a backflip to dodge a swipe from Chen's blade, and another of Zhadok's own slashes.

"Is that all ya' got?" Vassiles demands, kicking Zhadok in the chin to send him flying into a lamp post while simultaneously whirling around to slash at Chen, who blocks each and every slash without fail before slashing Vassiles in the stomach, Vassiles managing to block the slash with iron skin! The Emperor then catches an attempted karate chop from Epsilon, and slams him into Chen to send them both crashing into a wall, before creating a massive flame-cloaked Bokyaku in his hand to throw at them. The block is eviscerated by the blast, but Epsilon had protected Chen from the majority of it, rushing out of the flames to punch Vassiles, who of course blocks with his arms as he is sent through a building himself. Chen, appearing behind Vassiles, slashes him in the side faster than the Emperor can notice, causing him to grunt in pain as the wound spurted a bit of blood.

"Got me there." He says. "I suppose I should keep my guard on more often!" As he says this, he turns around block yet another slash from Zhadok, and dodge another bullet from him, before kneeing him in the stomach and delivering a karate chop to the back to send him flying into the ground below. Epsilon attempts kicking Vassiles in the head with his ankle, but the Emperor weaves around the kick and slices Epsilon across the chest with his now-superheated blade, Epsilon roaring in pain as his heart had nearly been slashed, but he manages to grab the blade of the bayonet and tear it in two before blasting Vassiles back. "Woah!" Vassiles shouts, landing on his feet and drawing his other bayonet to block slashes from Chen, who kept slashing and slashing in increasingly harder-to-block ways. Eventually, Vassiles resolves to just unleash another blast of Eletero to send Chen back.

"You guys really are giving me a good time!" Vassiles yells, swirling two fingers through the air to coat them in electricity before pointing them behind himself to unleash a massive lightning bolt at Epsilon! Epsilon dodges, but the lightning forks to strike him anyway, sending him into another building with a pained growl. Vassiles creates another bolt of lightning to send at Chen, who lets the lightning hit the blade of his sword before immediately slashing a street lamp next to him to transfer the electricity to said street lamp, causing it to rush down to, and dissipate in, the ground. "...Huh." Vassiles remarks, before swiftly blocking even more slashes from Chen, narrowly blocking a slice to the throat by coating said throat in iron. The Emperor of Reledgard then coats his bayonet in fire, and swings it at the swordsman, who dodges the slashes and their resulting fire waves.

While Vassiles is slashing at Chen, Zhadok manages to get back up, groaning in pain, and points his gun at the new Emperor. "Last bullet..." He says weakly, before pulling the trigger...only for Vassiles to skip time and appear directly in front of Zhadok, wasting no time in running the bayonet through his heart! Zhadok screams in agony as boiling blood spurts from his wound and mouth, but yet, chock-full of adrenaline and experiencing hysterical strength, he slashes the superheated blade of the bayonet at where said blade met the guard, causing both blades to be destroyed. Vassiles feels a knife pierce his stomach and leaps back, pulling it out as Zhadok fell to the ground. "...You don't deserve to rule our Empire...you bastard..." Zhadok groans weakly. "...Dourryanne, Sir...I suppose I'll see you again...soon..." "...Must've learned that skill..." Vassiles remarks, setting Zhadok's body aflame.

He then ducks under an attempted kick from Epsilon, and delivers a karate chop to the Crocatoid's neck to send him to the ground. Epsilon attempts skipping time to poke at Vassiles' pressure points, but the Emperor catches Epsilon's wrists and twirls him around to disoreient him, before pointing his crossbow at his heart and firing! Epsilon and wheezes clutches his chest in pain, but has no time to do much else as Vassiles immediately blasts him into the sewers with red and blue Eletero, along with fire and lightning. However, right as Vassiles is doing this, he hears something behind him, and whirls around to fire an arrow at Chen, who slices through both it and the crossbow, barely not slicing Vassiles' hand and arm as said hand and arm turned to iron. "You don't know how to quit, do you?!" He taunts, before feeling Chen stab him in the heart, looking down at the sword in shock.

"...I noticed your wounds have not healed..." Chen explains. "...One power you did not copy...was high-speed regeneration. Which makes sense, since that's not a power that would or could ever be used to attack you with." "...H-heh..." Vassiles chuckles weakly, blood trickling from his mouth. "...don't think I'm out of tricks just *yet*, Old Man!" Vassiles is quick to freeze Chen's entire arm, blasting him back with a powerful gust of wind! "Guh!" Chen grunts, feeling ice shards pierce some of his limbs and organs, as he sees Vassiles surrounded by, and emitting, fire, water, lightning, lava, and Eletero. "If I'm gonna' go down..." The Emperor of Reledgard states with a rapidly-growing grin. "...THEN I'M GONNA' TAKE YOU WITH ME!!!!!!!" And at that, before Chen can do anything else, Vassiles violently explodes, the blastwave and fireball expanding to encompass the entire city as a whole!

"Woah!" Trevor yelps. "What was that?!" Charlotte shouts. "It doesn't matter right now!" Khaldun retorts. "All that matters is getting Teremto to Connor!" "And look!" Krincax chimes in, pointing up at the sky. "The cavalry has arrived!" They all look up to see dozens, no, *hundreds* of Star-C battleships, surrounded by thousands of the kind of spacecraft they flew to Reledgard in earlier! "My my, I believe this is the largest task force I've ever *seen*." Krincax remarks, as Khaldun smiles. "We might just be able to take Teremto in today, yet." He responds, before they, along with all the ships, go through.

Connor, who had initially gone to enter the portal as well, immediately rushed over to protect everyone he could from Vassiles' explosion instead. "Rose?!" He shouts, before seeing that Rosette and Maria were all alright. Faye leaped down from atop one of the few remaining buildings, or at least, half of said building, looking around at the destruction. "...Sheesh..." She remarks, as everyone else got up, before the wind suddenly picked up, and they noticed Kyoki and Degan standing there, weapons in hand! "Well, I guess you know what they say!" Kyoki shouts gleefully. "If you want a job done right, then you've just gotta' do it yourself!" "Sorry 'bout this." Degan adds, as everyone got into fighting position.

Charlotte, Trevor, Khaldun, Krincax, Marcus, Daniel and the Star-C task force came out the other end of the portal...and into a massive landscape of bloodred stone, red and orange flames and lava, and a red sky filled with orange lights. This was it.

They had entered into Hell itself.

## Chapter 65

The sky was a deep blood-red, dotted by orange stars and lit by a yellow moon. The ground was at places red, at places grey, as well as cracked and cobbled, fire roaring throughout the land. Chains, broken and mended, laid all across the area, as the silhouettes of mountains, volcanos and a city could be seen in the distance. The corpses of twisted creatures, partly humanlike, partly batlike, partly goatlike, partly snakelike and crocodilelike, littered the rock and soil, some torn apart, some sliced up, some burned, some crushed, many various mixtures of the above. It was like nothing they had imagined before, yet now, it almost seemed fitting in a way, if a bit expected in hindsight. They knew they couldn't stare on forever at Hell, and so they began to walk, listening to the sound of fire, wind and screams, seeing a dust, glowing red and orange, fly past, as they did so, towards the city.

"This place gives me the creeps..." Trevor remarks. "...it just feels so...*wrong*." "We're in Hell, aren't we?" Krincax retorts. "What were you expecting, a giant prison building?" "This is the land where sinners go..." Marcus says. "...no doubt, all we currently see is merely a taste of what the 'denizens' of this place truly go through." "Can't say I feel sorry for them, right now." Daniel butts in. "Where exactly are we heading?" "According to this spacetime navigator I whipped up on the way to Reledgard..." Krincax explains. "...the city we're heading to right now is the 'Capital' of Hell's 'First Layer', Tartarus." "Let's get ready for Teremto, then." Daniel responds, as they continued their walk through Hell. "I'm not having your 'friend' up there destroy our planet just to take out one guy who might not even be on Earth right now." They kept walking towards Tartarus...unaware that they were all being watched.

Faye was blocking Kyoki's ice blades with blades of her own, trying to slash back at him and swing kicks at him, all of which he dodged with that same maniacal grin that he always seemed to bear. "What's wrong, Princess?!" He taunts gleefully. "Can't hit a little wind boy?!" He then laughs before blasting lightning at Faye, who dodges it before deflecting the fork, right as another fork forms to blast her in the back! She hears it and leaps up to avoid it, but is then hit by yet *another* fork. "Argh!" She grunts, landing on her feet before leaping out of the way of Kyoki's ice breath, which turned seemingly everything it touched into pure ice almost immediately. The Wind Elemental cracks his neck to turn back towards Faye, before rushing at her for a kick. She crosses her arms to block it, but is nonetheless sent flying, preforming a backflip through the air to once again land back on her feet.

Degan was blocking slashes from Connor and Rosette using his cutlasses, before he twirls around to create a column of water around himself, then sending that column at the two of them. Rosette stops the water heading towards her with her psychic power, while Connor slashes right through it and sends tendrils at Degan's wrists to try and restrain him. Degan swings his arm to send Connor into the air, before slashing at him, though the blades simply do not penetrate the armor, or even for that matter scratch it. Connor turns his right arm into a massive club to send Degan back to the ground with, Degan managing to get up before feeling himself be forced still by Rosette. "Rrrrrrrgh!!!!!!!" She grunts, sweating, right as Degan forces himself to move towards her, slashing at her and causing her hold to fully break. Connor had moved in time to block, glaring at the Water Elemental.

Kyoki, meanwhile, was now dodging punches and kicks from Faye, laughing once again before he blasts her back with a gust of icy and electrified wind, and points his finger up to create a massive ball of lightning above his head. "TAKE THIS ON, BITCH!!!" He roars, pointing at Faye to make the lightning ball rush at her, which she tries to dodge as it creates a massive electrical surge upon contact with the ground. Kyoki creates multiple ice shurikens to toss at Faye while she was still in the air, but the shurikens are shot down by Maria, who wastes no time in then firing at Kyoki. The Weather Elemental just grins again, and weaves around the bullets like nothing, then creating an ice spear to throw at Maria. She dodges, but sees the spear create numerous spikes of ice upon hitting the ground, and just barely manages to land safely on the side of a spike before then dodging a kick from Kyoki.

Degan had leaped back from Connor's flurry of slashes, and points one of his cutlasses at the warrior before water swirls around said cutlass. Connor, striking his bladed forearms together to create golden sparks, rushes at the Water Elemental, who then sends a massive and pressurized jet of water his way. Connor slashes the water with his arm blades, still rushing towards Degan, right as ice suddenly gathers around his legs to hold him in place! "Urgh?!" Connor grunts, before he's suddenly coated in a cloud of steam. "I don't think I need to explain what I just did." Degan remarks, before erupting a geyser from beneath Connor, sending him flying into the air. Connor, quickly righting himself, rushes down at Degan to slash at him, but Degan once again manages to block using his cutlasses, and slashes them, blades of water coming off them, at Connor to send him flying once again, grunting.

Maria was barely dodging Kyoki's slashes, wincing in pain from any, of which there were many, that actually connected. Right before he can slash again, she manages to leap over it, placing a bomb on Kyoki's wrist and detonating it. "ARGH!!! THAT HURT." Kyoki roars, before devolving into maniacal laughter...which is then cut off by a knife to the throat, as Maria takes out two MP5s to fill Kyoki with bullet holes with while he is still caught off guard. "You're fast, but predictable!" Maria retorts, right before ice builds up in her guns, causing them to jam. "Dammi--" She doesn't even get time to finish, as Kyoki was already upon her, slashing her in the stomach with electricity-lined blades. She screams in pain, right as a massive ice club hits her in the face to send her crashing through, and thus shattering, numerous spikes. Right before she can hit the ground, she's blasted up by a jet of frigid air.

Rosette, meanwhile, was picking up massive boulders, tanks, buildings and so on with her mind, before tossing them all at Degan, who notices and raises a wall of water to slow them down, then turning that water into steam, then ice. Rosette quickly shatters the barrier and sends them all at Degan again, as the Water Elemental simply slashes down all the projectiles and erupts a wave of water towards the Furni. Rosette is shocked, and just narrowly stops the wave, but is kicked in the stomach by Degan, who had merely used the water as a distraction before suddenly causing ice to build up on Rosette's forehead. "GAH!!!" She screams, holding her head in pain. Right as Degan is about to swing a finishing kick at her, Connor blocks, and slashes him back. "...Huh...sorry about all this, then..." Degan remarks, regenerating. "Unfortunately, our orders are to kill you all and keep you out."

"...Does anyone else think it's too quiet around here?" Trevor asks nervously, staying close to Charlotte, who was watching vigilantly for any trouble. "Oh, yes!" Krincax groans in disappointment. "I was desperately hoping to take a demon back to one of my laboratories!" "These creatures are meant never to walk the Earth again, alien." Marcus interjects. "They are prisoners for defying the ways of God, not your *science projects*." "Oh, shut up!" Krincax retorts, side-eyeing Marcus. "I'm not very religious, and even if I was, it wouldn't be towards any of *your* gods. Besides, if I actually *did* meet a god, I probably *would* experiment on them!" "You are depraved." Marcus growls. "You deserve to be here for all eternity, in a manner that will prevent you from ever preforming another experiment again." "Don't remind me why I so detest your species..." Krincax replies coldly, Marcus glaring at him.

Before anyone else could say anything, they all suddenly hear a low growl, right before seeing something and quickly leaping back to dodge a claw swipe! A large demon with numerous eyes on its face had landed where they just were, making a small crater, before it stands upright, and looks hungrily down at all of them. "...H...h-hi...?" Trevor asks weakly, as Charlotte draws her sword. However, before she can even slash, Marcus takes out a vial of liquid and, while simultaneously popping off the cork, flings it at the demon, causing it to scream in agony and stumble back. "Oh?" Krincax asks. "Holy water." Marcus swiftly explains. "By the word of the Lord, it can ward off the Enemy's dark forces." "Interesting..." Star-C's scientist remarks, as Daniel snaps his fingers to blast fire at the demon. Though this didn't affect it whatsoever. "Only Hellfire or Soulfire will work." Marcus explains to him.

Kyoki had kicked Maria multiple times to send her to the ground, right before he was grabbed by the face by Faye and kicked through a mountain himself. As he climbs himself out, he narrowly dodges a rocket fired by Faye, and grins. "Is that all you go-" He starts, as he's slashed in the throat by her claws, grabbed by the arm, and flipped over to be slammed into the ground. "Stop...talking." She replies bitterly, before swinging yet another kick at the Wind Elemental, who manages to dodge that kick as he sends blades made of ice, air and lightning at the former Princess. She dodges these attacks, even using some as footholds to leap closer and closer to Kyoki, grabbing an ice blade to swing at his face. The blade dissipates into a shimmering blue dust before it can even reach the Elemental's throat, right before he's stomped in the face, and send right into the ground by Faye!

Connor was blocking Degan's slashes and water attacks, trying to send in his own attacks whenver he could, though Degan either dodged, blocked, or merely took the attacks head-on, suffering minimal damage while regenerating from any he did take. "Maybe you should've called for more backup." Degan says, swinging his now-ice-covered blade at the warrior, who catches it before wrapping tendrils around Degan's other blade. "Oh, really?" Connor retorts. "I think it's YOU who needed backup!" And right then, he tosses Degan into the air, stabbing the cutlasses into the ground, and starts rapidly slashing and hammering away at the Elemental, grabbing him with a flew tendrils and slamming him into the ground repeatedly so as to not give him a chance to react. And then, Connor flings Degan into the ocean, right before slamming multiple mountains directly on top of him.

Everyone had dodged a swing from the demon's arm, as Khaldun fires at it with his blaster. "You wouldn't happen to have any more Holy Water on you, would you?!" He asks Marcus. "Only a few more vials!" Marcus responds. "I will need the demon to directly drink it for it to be defeated!" "Then let us not waste any time!" Krincax replies, having his arm extend like a grappling hook over to a rock to pull himself away from the demon's spiked wing before he presses a detonator to have a bomb explode where the wing had hit. Though this doesn't physically damage the wing, it does coat it in purple energy, seemingly weighing it down. "Graviton Bomb!" The scientist exclaims with glee. "It coats the nearest lifeform to it in, well, gravitons! And I made sure to have it recognize demons as lifeforms." The demon, enraged, breathes fire at them all, Charlotte managing to get them all out of the way of the flames.

Daniel leaps onto the demon's forehead, and stabs it in one of its eyes, causing it to shriek in agony before it grabs him and throws him through a rock. "Grah!" He grunts, as Trevor tosses a Bokyaku at the demon. It is hit, and though undamaged, did seem to feel pain from it, as it flinched back just long enough for Charlotte to rush at it and slash out more of its eyes. She lands on its forehead, and leaps away from its grab, before managing to block its next few swipes, but is then blasted back by a fireball from its mouth! "Guh!" She grunts, managing to land on her feet as Trevor runs over to make sure she's okay. "Hey, Mark!" Krincax shouts, as he shoves a small drone in Marcus' face. "What?" Marcus demands. "It's blinded, isn't it?" Krincax explains with a grin. Marcus, immediately realizing the plan, hands Krincax a vial of Holy Water, as he places it inside the drone and sends it to attack the demon.

The demon, indeed no longer able to see, feels the drone ram it in the nose, and opens its mouth to chomp on it and swallow the remains. "Viata...TRANSA!!!" Charlotte roars, swinging her sword to send the attack at the demon. It is hit by the attack, and then by the Bokyaku, and then by a rocket from Khaldun. It shrieks more and more as the Holy Water was clearly starting to affect it, before Khaldun blasts it back with a laser from his bionic arm. Marcus rushes towards the demon, taking out a cross as he does so. Everyone else gets back, save for Krincax who doesn't move from his spot, as the monster hunter leaps onto the demon, which was now writhing in agony, before shoving the cross in its face. "The power of Christ compells you to leave!" He roars, as the demon, after a moment, goes fully limp, having either died or fallen unconscious from the battle.

Connor was holding Rosette close, hoping to warm her up in his embrace, while soldiers were applying bandages, medicine and the like to Maria, the sun setting on Reledgard. "You think that's the last of them?" Faye asks, walking over to them. "...No..." Connor answers. "...I know they've got something else."

Kyoki blasted himself out of the rubble he was buried in, rising into the air as icy armor, reminscient of a samurai's body covered in blades, formed around his body. Two massive wings and a bird tail sprung from his back, as a horned pilot's helmet formed around his head, only showing his lower face as his eyes were obscured. His grin was wider than ever, as hail, lightning and wind swirled around him in a sphere. "Did you really think you were done with me?!" He roars, the number four appearing on his helmet. "Only the Top Three Elementals are stronger than I am!" "...What...?" Faye demands as her upper eyelids drooped. Kyoki merely grins again, floating down a bit as he put his legs together, spread his arms out, and spread his wings. "It ain't complicated, *Princess*." He sneers. "I'M THE FASTEST ELEMENTAL OF THEM ALL, AND THANKS TO YOU AND YUKI, I NOW CONTROL THE WEATHER!!!"

Having long since passed the demon, the group stops in front of a truly massive gate, one the size of an apartment building, and one built into an even larger wall, taller than most skyscrapers. "Is this it?" Daniel asks. "What do you *think* this is?" Krincax retorts. "Anyways, I'm detecting three Elementals inside the building placed opposite to this wall, probably the capital building. There's also someone else inside it, and her life signature matches your, I believe...'Sabrina Kirkland'?" "Sabrina's here?!" Trevor shouts. "We have to get her out! Her *and* Crith!" "Why *Crith*?" Krincax asks. "Isn't he one of the bad guys?" "He's our friend!" Trevor yells. "We're not just gonna leave him behind! Not when he's probably suffered enough under his horrible father!" "Ugh...fine, fine..." Krincax growls. "...but don't blame me if he turns on us all." "That be fun to see!" A familiar, though distorted voice, suddenly replies.

All of them, shocked, turn to see a familiar, though also distorted, face. His skin and eyes were the same as when they last saw them, but mandibles were now protruding from his robotic cheeks. His fangs were visible, his lower jack jet black, his nose missing, as horns now sprouted from his head like a demented crown. The attire he now wore was like that he once had in the Sabertooth Clan, though more ornate, covered in swirls and hexagons, as demonic wings were sprouted from his back, along with more tendril-like wings that reminded them of that battle in Killeen. He wore a blue mask, reminiscent of his old glasses, and around his wrists and ankles were cuffs, which themselves were connected to chains, which themselves were connected to spiked balls. Despite all the demonic distortion he had gone through, there was no mistaking who the smug vampire scientist was.

Standing before them all...was Shiraki Zeshin.

## Chapter 66

"You!" Marcus roars, turning his hands into blood blades, as Khaldun drew his Khopesh, Krincax looked on in curiosity, Daniel in fury, while Trevor and Charlotte just looked horrified. "Yes, me indeed." Shiraki replies, putting his elbow on one hand, and his other hand on his mask, narrowing his eyes. "I'm sad to see that the rag boy isn't here. I was so looking forward to a rematch." "He's dealing with your friends down below!" Trevor shouts, as Shiraki's gaze turns towards him. "Oh, I remember you..." The former Smilodon sneers. "...you're the one who *killed* me." "I am interested in your current look." Krincax interjects. "Shiraki Zeshin, correct?" "...I'm sorry, who are you again?" Shiraki asks. "You may call me Krincax, Test Subject!" Krincax answers.

"...Anyways." Shiraki continues. "I look like this because Hell decided to have me retain features from every form I ever took. I am now a perfect hybrid of everything I ever became, and a demon as well to boot! *I am well on my way to becoming a perfect being*!" "You're never going to get the chance, scum!" Marcus growls, rushing at Shiraki to slash at him. Shiraki merely blocks with his own arm blade, before sending tendrils at Marcus. He's quick to dodge, before barely dodging a beam of Eletero from the former vampire. "I will enjoy adding you all to my own laboratory..." Shiraki remarks darkly, grinning madly as he rushes behind Trevor in order to slash at him! Charlotte blocks the slash before Trevor even realizes what happened, right as they're both blasted back by a wave of energy. "Who else wants to come at me?" Shiraki then asks. "I'm perfectly willing to take you all on at once!"

Before anyone could even realize what had just happened, Kyoki was already behind Faye and Conner, having cut open her stomach and sliced the soldiers apart...*all* of them. Every, single, *one*. The entire army that had been brought to Reledgard was just gone, all their vehichles, weapons and artillery dismantled, in less time than an eyeblink. "Wha-" Connor barely has time to start saying, right as Kyoki swings his arm to send a massive, icy, lightning-filled gust of wind at them, eroding every single mountain it hit to about half its original size in mere seconds! Connor had tried to shield Rosette, Maria and Faye from the ice and lightning, as Kyoki forms multiple building-sized shurikens of ice to send flying at the four of them. Connor manages to slice them apart, but the ice gathers on his blades and tendrils beginning to freeze them all into place! "Ghhhh?!" He grunts in shock.

"Like I just said..." Kyoki starts, pointing his finger up to create another ball of lightning, though this one was hiding inside it a spiked ball of ice. "...*I control everything to do with the weather, now*." Connor suddenly finds himself unable to fall or land, as he and the other three had been wrapped up in a sphere of air, right before Kyoki lobs the electrified ice ball at them. It connects, though Conner once more shields the rest as they're all sent flying, where hundreds of airblades slash at them every second. Connor tries to block them with a flurry of tendrils, but he felt he could barely even stop a tenth of them, as the others were starting to sustain serious slash wounds faster than they could even notice they were being harmed, before Connor himself could even properly process what was happening. Right then, Kyoki kicks Connor in the head, sending him crashing into the ground below!

"Come on!" Kyoki roars in glee. "I thought you would've had more than that! Or are you just too slow?!" Kyoki then raises his arm up to send a massive blade of air at Connor, who is hit, but once more not cut, even as the gusts from the airblade colliding with Connor blew any remaining buildings right off their foundations. "What the fuck is that thing made of?!" The Weather Elemental demands, right as Connor swings a massive hammer-shaped arm at him. Kyoki flies over it, and blasts Connor with lightning, before sending icicles at him from his wings. Connor crosses his arms to block the onslaught, right before Kyoki points his finger at him. Suddenly, it seemed like all the air on the island was sucked into that point directly in front of Kyoki's fingertip, compressed into that small space. And then...the blast fired, hitting Connor square in the face as the sheer force caused a large flash!

Shiraki blocks a slash from Charlotte with his forearm, and grabs the blade of Daniel's rapier to snape it off, before throwing Charlotte into the flames the new President created. "Bokyaku no Uzekara!" Trevor shouts, tossing the Bokyaku at the former vampire, who whirls around to bat it aside before blasting an orb of Eletero at Trevor. He is shocked, but Khaldun tackles him out of the way and fires at Shiraki, who merely takes the attack before grabbing Marcus' wrist. "Your tricks won't work on me anymore, Vampire Hunter!" Shiraki growls with a twisted smile, before stabbing Marcus in the chest with his tendrils. Marcus growls in pain and kicks Shiraki in the face to get back, while Shiraki quickly sends a tendril to stab Daniel through the wrist. "RRRRRRGH!!!!!!" Daniel grunts, as Shiraki chuckles. "I still remember when you burned all of Texas, you monster." The scientist says mockingly.

Charlotte unleashes her own Eletero blast at Shiraki, who points his finger at it to nullify it, right as she slashes him across the face, the blade grinding across it as sparks fly. "And how is our supposed Queen doing?" Shiraki taunts. "Still struggling to control her bloodlust? Or has she fully gone soft?!" He attempts to stab Charlotte in the throat, but Trevor tackles him away from her. Shiraki rights himself, and fires a laser at Trevor, who is quick to dodge before tossing an Eletero bomb at the demonic Cydran. Shiraki merely catches it, as well as a bomb from Khaldun, and crushes them both in his hands, the explosions only mildly burning his palms. "You should face reality, 'heroes'." He sneers. "I am now the Ultimate Lifeform!" "Oh, *really*?" Krincax demands, pressing a button on the bottom of his Khopesh to have multiple drones fire at and ram Shiraki, who destroys them with an Eletero beam.

"Is that *actually* the best you can do, 'Krincax'?" Shiraki asks with a small chuckle. "Oh, don't tempt me, Shiraki!" Krincax replies with a mad cackle, right before having multiple Graviton Bombs float at Shiraki to explode. While Shiraki is weighed down, Charlotte rushes over to him with her enhanced speed, kicks him in the side of the head with her enhanced strength, and blasts him with her own Eletero beam. Shiraki is barely able to hit the ground when Marcus, now in his more monstrous form, leaps onto him and starts to brutalize him, punching and slashing while roaring. Yet soon, a tendril stabs through Marcus' stomach, and tosses him off the former vampire. Shiraki stands right back up, snapping his neck back into place, and floating up into the air to let thousands of tiny red strings emerge from his tendrils, which then rush at everyone! Though they try to block, some inevitably do hit.

"GAH!!!" Trevor screams. "WHAT IS THIS?!" "It's...he's going to..." Marcus starts, remembering what had happened back in the massive battle of Killeen. Krincax had tried blocking the strings with a force shield, but some had just went around him and pierced him regardless, as they were all ensnared and impaled by the strings. "Ah...I haven't felt this in a long time." Shiraki remarks, before removing the strings from their bodies. "I'm sure you remember this ability of mine, Marcus, to create voodoo dolls by usage of your DNA?" "Damn you..." Marcus growls back, beginning to revert to human form. "Oh, you pathetic creature." Shiraki retorts. "*I've already been damned, and it's given me power beyond anything I had while alive*." And then, pods that had been growing on his tendrils burst...revealing jet-black clones of the six of them! They all look on in horror, save for the curious Krincax.

In the crater that used to be Reledgard, Kyoki looked on at the smoke where Connor had been blasted, grinning widely and maliciously, before the smoke cleared, and his grin slowly turned into a grimace. Connor wasn't just alive, he was *unscathed*! "Excuse me, what the *FUCK*?!" The Weather Elemental roars in fury. "HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?! HOW ARE YOU UNDAMAGED?!" Connor could see that Kyoki was yelling, but his ears were ringing, and he couldn't hear anything but that. So rather than respond, he wraps tendrils around Kyoki's legs, and slams him into the ground. Kyoki, furious, blasts Connor away with a powerful gust of wind, before freezing Connor to the rock he had been blasted into with ice, and blasting at him relentlessly with lightning-based attacks. None of it worked, Connor survived all the attacks unscathed, or at the very least, the armor did. Nothing Kyoki did hurt him.

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" Kyoki manically screams. "DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE D--AGH!!!!!!!!!!!" He had been kicked in the back of the head by Faye, and sent flying into a mountain hard enough to shatter it. She lands on the ground, her wounds from before having mostly healed. "Is Rose okay?!" Connor asks, sprouting blades from his hood to free himself of the ice. "What about Maria? Is she alright too?" "They're both alive." Faye answers. "Barely." Connor sighs in relief, before Kyoki bursts out of the mountain, as wind, lightning and hail once again swirled around him, and his face, even if mostly obscured by his helmet, was clearly contorted in pure rage. "I AM GONNA KILL YOU, RAG BOY!!!!!" The Weather Elemental shrieks, his voice being amplified by the wind to the point of almost being a sonic boom in and of itself. "EVEN IF I HAVE TO KILL THIS ENTIRE PLANET TO DO SO!!!!!"

Suddenly, he raises his entire arm above his head, as the air bubble violently swirled around it as a disk. Before long, the disc rapidly grew, in both width and height, beginning to encompass the entire Pacific Ocean as said ocean was swirled around by the sheer force of the wind, as that, along with all the lightning and hail, completely eroded away what remained of the mountains, the eye of this storm slowly but surely closing to shroud them all in the single largest storm the Earth had ever seen in its entire existence! "OH, I KNOW WHAT YOU ASSHOLES ARE THINKING!!!!!" Kyoki screams. "BUT THIS AIN'T NO HURRICANE!!!!! NO!!!!!! THIS IS A FUCKING *HYPERCANE*!!!!! AND IT'S GONNA TEAR YOU ALL, AND THE FUCKING CRUST OF THIS FUCKING PLANET, *APART*!!!!!!!" Connor and Faye were soon blown around by the winds of the hypercane, berated by skyscraper-sized hail and lightning!

"I'm sure you remember this little invention of mine, Trevor." Shiraki says with his arms outstretched. "Here in Hell, I've perfected the technology, and can now create them at will merely by using your DNA as a template!" "Fascinating..." Krincax remarks, as the clones rush to attack their respective combatants. Charlotte begins to dodge punches and kicks from her clone, Trevor doing the same in response to punches from his, and Marcus blocking his clone's punches, which Khaldun and Daniel did as well. Charlotte then decides to slash her clone in the stomach, right as an identical slash appears in her own stomach! "Guh?!" She grunts, leaping back as the clone didn't regenerate. "Indeed!" Shiraki declares. "I merged the clone technology with my Voodoo Dolls! They are now one and the same, and so striking them will only get whoever they're clones of hurt in the process!"

"Then I won't waste my time with them!" Charlotte shouts back, leaping at Shiraki to slash at him once again, but he forms his old sword to block the slash. "You don't really have a choice." The former vampire retorts. "And of course, while they can fight as long as they have limbs to move, you'll go down if you merely recieve enough wounds, which won't regenerate as long as the clones are wounded, by the way." Charlotte glares at him, before she's kicked in the back by her clone, the back of which did not in turn break. "And of course, it's only when you hit them that their damage transfers to you!" Shiraki continues. "Not the other way around, that would be stupid." "Shut your damn mouth, vampire!" Marcus roars, slashing at Shiraki, who blocks the slashes with the same sword before stabbing Marcus in the stomach with it. "I prefer 'Smilodon', *Clayton*." The scientist retorts coldly.

Shiraki quickly uses his wing to block lasers from Khaldun, before side-eying him. "If we kill you, the clones dismantle and lose their effects, don't they?" The Star-C Officer demands, Shiraki not answering as he merely unleashes a sonic screech at Khaldun to send him tumbling through a large rock. Daniel tries to thrust at Shiraki with his broken Rapier, but Shiraki slashes the rest of the blade off while throwing Marcus at Daniel to send them both flying. "HAH!!!" Trevor yells, throwing another Eletero Bomb at Shiraki, who merely blocks with his other wing before slashing Trevor in the stomach. Trevor screams in agony as he falls to the ground, before he, Charlotte, Marcus, Daniel and Khaldun are put into headlocks by their respective clones, who then form their free hands into blades and place at their own throats. "And this is where you all die." Shiraki states. "Any last words to say?"

"How truly fascinating..." Krincax remarks, Shiraki turning his attention towards him to see him having paralyzed his clone with something, yet had somehow not paralyzed himself. "...but these clones require a link, don't they?" "...What?" Shiraki asks flatly. "It's quite simple, really." Krincax explains. "These clones are connected to us through our shared DNA, that's how the magic binds us. So I merely used this Gene Editor I brought along with me to rearrange all the DNA in this clone so that it no longer matches my own!" "...*Excuse me*?" Shiraki demands. "That's not possible, it's magic." "Magic is just a branch of science." Krincax retorts. "I had thought a fellow Mad Scientist would have agreed." "*The magic should still work regardless*." Shiraki replies coldly. "No matter, if you disabled your clone, then I will just kill you myself. The others are still doomed." "*Are they*?" Krincax rhetorically asks.

Connor, Faye and the rest were still being tossed around by the hypercane, as Kyoki looked on with a laughter that was completely drowned out by his own wind. Connor tries to send a tendril at the Weather Elemental, but that tendril is just blown aside as well, as Kyoki just looked in in glee. "That suit's gonna give way eventually, Rag Boy..." He taunts, as he appears in front of Connor slash him in the chest and face with an arm blade multiple times a second. "...BUT HOW 'BOUT I *SPEED UP THE PROCESS*?!" Faye was trying to position herself in a way that she would strike Kyoki, but when he turned and saw her coming, he casually dodged her attempted punch, before having lightning and hail rush at her. Connor slashed at the Elemental relentlessly with his blades, but not a single slash hit. "Can't touch me, can ya'?!" Kyoki shouts, before kicking Connor further out into the harsh winds.

Connor tried to anchor himself to something, but there was seeming nothing to anchor to, and his tendrils just couldn't get very far before getting blown around themselves. Kyoki has more and more hail and lightning strike the warrior, though as before it did little to no damage whatsoever to the armor. "YOU CAN'T HIDE IN THERE, FOREVER!!!" Kyoki shrieks, before punching, kicking and slashing Connor hundreds if not thousands of time every second. Connor was hopeless to dodge or block any of these at this point, yet they still did absolutely no damage at all to him, as he slashes at Kyoki's chest. The armor, and Kyoki's chest, are cut right through, as he leaps back, his wound regenerates, and his armor repairs itself with more ice. "DON'T THINK I'VE TRIED EVERTHING YET, RAG BOY!!!!!" The Weather Elemental screams, right before he is punched in the face by Faye from the side.

"GRAH!!!!!" Kyoki roars, as this time he's kicked by Faye, and then elbowed, and then rammed, then tackled, then headbutted. She was using the rotation of the hurricane to speed herself up, and positioning herself to be able to hit Kyoki with the force of a continent. Kyoki eventually managed to fly out of the way, regenerating and repairing his armor once again, before slamming a massive, spiked ball of ice, coated in lightning, into Faye, slamming her to the ground as the ice shattered and she was once again blown around, though this time she was frozen inside a pillar of ice. Connor had finally managed to wrap tendrils around Kyoki's neck, but Kyoki just flings him away, unaware that Degan had finally woken up, and was seeing the chaos from beneath the waves. "...Wh...what...hap...argh..." Degan growls, holding his head in pain before he started to scream, the number five glowing on his chin.

Shiraki immediately blasted at Krincax with an Eletero beam, but Krincax dodged with the use of rocket boots, before blocking lasers with his forefield and sending identical Gene Editors to the other clones. "Is this all you have?" Star-C's scientist demands, as Shiraki flies up to his level. "Not even close!" The former vampire retorts, sending dozens of blades of Eletero at Krincax, who uses his sword to deflect them while also deflecting the tendrils that Shiraki then sends at him. "These copy powers, don't they?" Krincax asks. "Quite useful, I must say!" "Indeed..." Shiraki responds, pointing his hand at Krincax to send a massive blast of Eletero at him. Krincax blocks with the forcefield, but is sent flying into the wall, before he narrowly dodges being stabbed by more tendrils, and is then barely able to block a slash from Shiraki, who then grabs him by the face and throws him down to the ground.

Krincax uses the rocket boots to avoid actually hitting the ground, as he sees Shiraki flying towards him. He tosses a few Graviton Bombs at the Sabertooth Clan's former scientist, who just blasts Eletero at them to destroy them, flying fast enough past them to get away from the High-Gravity Field they collectively created. He slashes relentlessly at Krincax, who's sword just keeps blocking. "You don't look like the type to practice swordplay..." Shiraki remarks. "Correct!" Krincax replies. "I put a sensor on my Khopesh so it could block for me!" "Then I'll just destroy the sensor!" Shiraki roars, unleashing a massive beam of Eletero at Krincax to blast him back to the ground below. Krincax tumbled for a bit, before getting back to his feet, and using a holographic umbrella to block Shiraki's next wave of attacks. "Quite impressive, I must say!" Krincax says. "You will be fascinating to study!"

"Don't humor me..." Shiraki growls. "...and don't imply *you're* the one who's going to be studying *me*." The demonic Cydran then swings his sword to send a Viatatransa at Krincax, who merely points his Khopesh at the blast to cause it to dissipate. "Wha--...let me guess, an Eletero Disruptor." Shiraki groans. "Precisely!" Krincax confirms, before aiming his hand at Shiraki. "Ayahla Eaeihs!" At those words, Krincax blasts at Shiraki with a beam of golden energy, Shiraki blocking with his own beam of red energy. "You think this is enough to stop me?! The Ultimate Lifeform?!" Shiraki roars. "I am going to kill all of you and take me to my own little laboratory I set up in Tartarus! And you're going to all die *SCREAMING*!!!!!" Suddenly, however, Shiraki is slashed from behind by Charlotte and Marcus, roaring in pain as he tries to bat them away with his wings, both of them having leaped back.

"And what do you think *that*'s going to--" Shiraki starts, before seeing Krincax press the button on the bottom of his Khopesh, and hearing beeping. To his horror, he sees that bombs had been placed on and thrown around him during the clash, and the whole group had leaped behind Krincax. Before he can do anything else, the bombs all explode, creating a massive fireball! "WOAH!!!" Trevor yelps, covering his eyes, as the explosion soon subsides, and Krincax had protected them with a barrier, before walking towards Shiraki, who was severely burned and wounded, and seemed almost immobilized. "When a High Gravity and Low Gravity Field collide, they cancel out, freezing the target in space." Krincax explains, stabbing Shiraki in the core with his Khopesh. "Go on without me, I shall be taking this specimen to my laboratory on one of those approaching ships!" After a moment, the rest keep going.

At this point, the winds of the hypercane had broken all of the ice off of Faye, who was currently struggling to move as she watched Kyoki continue to bombard Conner with lightning, ice and pressure. None of it, of course, caused any damage, and Kyoki was beginning to become absolutely livid at this. "JUST DIE ALREADY!!!!!" He shrieks desperately. "WHIMPER, SCREAM, BEG FOR MERCY!!!!!! DO IT, YOU FILTHY LITTLE FUCKING HUMAN!!!!!! SCREAM!!!!!" Connor, currently trapped by ice and wind, just let this happen, waiting for another opportunity to attack...when, all of a sudden, a massive, deafening roar completely blasted the hypercane away, and shook the entire planet! Everyone who was still alive immediately stopped what they were doing, as everyone, every*THING*, was sent flying without discrimination. As they landed, they all looked on at the source of the roar, most with faces of horror.

The creature easily towered over even the tallets mountains. Its body was covered in scales, fins, tentacles and blades. Its eyes were glowing pure blue, and its whole shape was that of a limbed fish, with features of a turtle, an octopus, a shark, a manta ray, a jellyfish, a cod, a salmon, and of so many other different sea creatures. This abomination of a being bore the number five on its chin, as it glared down at everyone and everything currently on what was left of Reledgard. Everyone...*including Kyoki*. "Wh...what the..." Connor breathes. "WHAT IS THAT?!" Kyoki was laughing maniacally, before he turned to Connor and Faye, the only two seeming to be so much as conscious right now. "That, my dear 'friends'..." The Weather Elemental sneers. "...is the Feltamadas of my dear brother, DEGAN TEREMTO!!!!!" Connor and Faye look on at Degan in complete and utter terror, as the Kaiju roared once more.

## Chapter 67

Faye had noticed Degan slamming a colossal fist at her, and quickly leaped up to avoid it, the shockwave from the fist hitting the ground sending her and Connor flying as Kyoki gathers it all into a point on his fingertip before pointing it at the two to send another beam of sheer concussive force at them. Connor barely managed to block, as Degan went for another fist slam. He tried to block, but was buried into the ground by the fist. Faye had leaped up into the air again, but was backhanded by Degan through a mountain, causing said mountain to evaporate! Degan roars again, flattenning the remaining mountains and knocking everyone back once more, before blasting a massive jet of water at them all. Kyoki flies out of the way as Connor blocks, grunting as he felt the pressure beginning to crack his bones even through the suit! And then, *Degan's foot stomped onto him*!

As the formerly nonaggressive Elemental lifts his foot, Connor was laying there, completely motionless. Kyoki grins at the sight, seeing that Connor had finally taken real damage from something, but is unable to revel in the victory as a jet of water then blasts him to the ground, shaking the Earth. "GAH!!! WHAT GIVES?!" The Weather Elemental roars, before his eyes widen in genuine horror. Degan was gathering all the water in every ocean on the planet into one place, forming a dome above Reledgard that was ready at any moment to collapse. And then, Degan has it collapse, making the largest tsunami to ever exist crash down on them all! Kyoki tries to block with fields of wind, electricity, and ice, but the water merely crushes him right through the defenses, as Degan's next roar itself shook the entire planet! The Kaiju then turns towards the U.S. airforce approaching him, and deeply growls.

Charlotte, Trevor, Khaldun, Marcus and Daniel were walking through Tartarus, flanked by the Star-C fleet that had followed them, and where Krincax had headed with Shiraki. "This place is horrible..." Trevor remarks weakly, looking on at the chained-up corpses and hearing the guttural screams. "They're here because of how evil they were, presumably." Khaldun replies. "There's no need to feel pity for anyone who was cruel enough to earn a spot in this place." "What do we do when we're in the castle?" Marcus asks. "We rescue Sabrina and search for Teremto." Khaldun quickly explains, as they came to the foot of the stairs leading up to the castle's courtyard, stairs that opened up to the massive city square they were in. A place surrounded by a lava moat, traversable only via the various bridges, a place that almost seemed arena-like in its design, only with no spectator seats in sight.

"You must be the intruders." Another voice says, as they see a blonde, pale and yellow-eyed man walking down the massive staircase. He wore white and yellow robes over most of his body, including his neck, and golden armor covered his torso and right arm, a leaf-shaped crown made from gold on his head, and a leaf-bladed Xiphos in his right hand. Golden sandals protected his feet while a yellow cape flowed from his back. "Who the Hell..." Daniel demands. "This has to be another Elemental." Khaldun responds. "Indeed I am." The Elemental states, coming to the foot of the stairs. "You may call me Helios, the Sun Elemental, and furthermore, *the God of the Sun*." "If you have aligned yourself with Teremto, then you will be slain as well." Marcus retorts, as Helios' face seemed to ever-so-slightly change, but then quickly turned back into the smug look he had before, as he turns towards Marcus.

"Father cannot be slain, human." Helios states bluntly. "You cannot defeat me, and thus you cannot defeat him. Because of all the Elementals...I am the strongest." And at this, he removes the scarf he was wearing, revealing the number 1 tattooed on his neck. "...Everyone, move, now!" Khaldun roars, as they run towards the staircase. Helios only smirks before slashing his Xiphos at them, creating a massive wave of golden energy, energy that gave off so much heat that it was almost unbearable even to be near it, despite the fact that they had all managed to dodge it except Charlotte, who blocked with her sword and whimpered in pain when the energy hit her arms, immediately turning them from paper white to jet black as her skin was instantly burned, and seemed slow to regenerate. "Hmm, a vampire?" The Solar Elemental asks. "I suppose I will humor you specifically. Carry on, the rest of you."

Khaldun, Daniel and Marcus wasted little time running up the stairs, but Trevor was more hesitant, looking back at Charlotte in worry. "Go with them, Trevor!" Charlotte shouts, gritting her teeth in pain. "I'll keep this guy busy!" After a moment, Trevor nods shakily, and goes with the rest of them. "We have to make sure she's okay!" He shouts. "If she can deflect his blasts without getting hit, then she can stab him in the heart." Khaldun responds. "After studying Venus' body, I realized that the Elementals can only heal at a supernatural pace if their heart is intact. While it won't immediately kill them, destroying their heart slows that healing speed back down that of a regular human's, and allows for them to be killed in a different way." "Charlotte should have the skill to fight him off, then." Daniel remarks. "We just need to focus on rescuing Sabrina and killing that son of a bitch Teremto!"

Helios was blocking Charlotte's slashes almost lazily, and regenerating from any successful hits she made that didn't just bounce off his armor. He grints before slashing at Charlotte with his Xiphos. Though she blocks it, the sheer shockwave of the clash sends her crashing into a building and causing all the nearest buildings to just collapse into rubble immediately! Right as she gets up, she sees Helios rushing at her to slash again, and narrowly dodges, being blasted back by the shockwave of the blade clashing with the ground as it seemed like the entire planet was split open. *Just like that*. Helios slashes another solar wave at Charlotte, who barely manages to deflect it while grunting in pain just from being near the wave before ducking under the next and drawing a knife to slit the Sun Elemental's throat. Helios merely regenerates, however, and grabs her wrist to twist her arm.

"GHHH!!!!" Charlotte growls, before being kneed in the stomach by Helios and tossed into a pile of rubble like she was a random object he had lost interest in. "You should really quit while you're behind, Vampire Queen." Helios declares. "You cannot possibly defeat the power of the sun, and so you cannot defeat the man who fathered that power in me, his first and most powerful son!" "You really think...he sees you as his son...?" Charlotte groans, standing back up as her wounds were healing. "...you're nothing but a slave to him, a robotic soldier he created to do his bidding!" Once again, Helios' face briefly changed, before changing right back to his smug smile. "You cannot possibly comprehend my Father's ways, girl." He retorts. "I am his greatest creation and the only Elemental related to his first wife. I'm not just a god, I'm royalty!" He spreads his arms out with a wide grin, chuckling.

Helios then noticed that his arm had been cut off, Charlotte took the time he was speaking to slice at it before swinging a kick at his neck. Helios slides back before grabbing his head with his newly-regenerated arm and cracking it right back into place. "Foolish vampires like yourself are such an amusement..." The Solar Elemental remarks. "...I will enjoy burning you to ash, Charlotte Nechita!" He then slashes another wave of energy at her, which she dodges right before barely blocking another slash, and being sent flying once more by said slash, crashing through more buildings as Helios appears right next to her, grabs her by the leg, and throws her right back into the center of Tartarus, shaking the planet with the sheer force of the throw and impact. Charlotte screams in pain, but manages to get back up as she sees Helios landing between her and the staircase, still smiling.

"Is that all you ha-" Helios starts, before deflecting a ball of Eletero from Charlotte, and then slicing a beam in half. Charlotte appears behind him, having enhanced her own speed, before getting into a position to swing. "Viata..." She starts, beginning to enhance her own strength as her blade glowed red and Helios turned towards her. "...TRANSA!!!" She then slashes at Helios at the same time as unleashing the attack, the Sun Elemental blocking the slash with his Xiphos as the shockwave blasts Charlotte into the staircase hard enough to leave a crater and send cracks all throughout the structure! Helios, meanwhile, emerges from the smoke unscathed, dusting himself off with his free hand as he walked slowly towards her. "As I was saying..." He repeats. "...is that all you have?" "...No." Charlotte retorts, a red aura surrounding her as she stood right back up, tapping into her Bloodlust.

Daniel snaps his fingers to blast down a group of cultists, as they pass the Holy Water doused demons and into the prison hall, where they could see Sabrina...as well as Kaguya. "...Ayuk..." Daniel breathes, as she turns towards him with tears running down her cheeks. "...Daniel..." She replies weakly. "...I'm...sorry..." "...Is that also a lie?" Daniel demands, glaring down at her. "Like the rest of our relationship?" "Our relationship was never a lie..." She pleads, whimpering. "...all I want now...is to stop that depraved man who had me birthed...from ascending!" "Let me handle this." Khaldun says, placing two fingers on Kaguya's forehead to read her mind. They all watch in silence, Trevor concerned, Daniel furious. "...She's telling the truth." Khaldun explains, before shooting the lock to both her cell and Sabrina's. "S..." Sabrina starts, as they all turn towards her. "...s...SAVE CRITH!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!"

"What happened to him?!" Trevor asks, worried. Sabrina seemed unable to actually say, as she was clearly horrified by even having to remember what happened. "We can look for Crith after we deal with Teremto." Khaldun says reassuringly. "If we don't deal with him in time..." "Your heartless organization will destroy humankind for him." Marcus retorts. Khaldun didn't respond, merely closing his eyes and gritting his teeth as, even though he didn't want to admit it to them right there...they were right. Star-C was a much more horrible organization than he had originally known, and now, having learned all this, seen all this, it surprised him nothing that Krincax was allowed to roam free as their top scientist. "Khaldun!" A familiar voice shouts, as they all turn to see Katsuragi Kagami standing there with her lance in hand. "What?!" Khaldun demands. "Krincax freed me." She replies.

Charlotte immediately rushes to slash at Helios again, Helios blocking some of the slashes while the rest either hit his armor or cut his skin. "Well!" He yelps, as he unleashes solar energy from himself to push Charlotte back, though her Eletero was now protecting her from most of the heat. Charlotte doesn't give Helios a chance to charge another attack, as she slashes a Viatatransa at him. He is quick to swing a wave of solar energy at the Viatatransa, the attacks colliding in a massive explosion as Charlotte kicks Helios in the face through the smoke to send him sliding back. Helios only smirks and rushes to slash at the Vampire Queen again, Charlotte blocking the slash as yet another shockwave shakes the planet once more before she blasts a beam of Eletero at his face to force him back, and then slashes another Viatatransa at him while he's stumbling back from the blast.

Helios is hit, as the smoke clears, revealing him to have already started regenerating from the wounds he took as he pointed his Xiphos at her. "Let's see how you handle this, bat!" He shouts, his sword glowing brightly before unleashing a massive beam of plasma and radiation at Charlotte! She tried to block it with her blade, growling in pain as her body was starting to become burned even through the Eletero, before the blast abruptly stopped, and Helios was upon her, grabbing her by the face, flinging her into the air and slashing another solar wave right at her. Charlotte, this time, was his directly, and screamed from her back suddenly being severely burned. She lands on the ground and briefly curls up into a defensive position, as Helios smirks again and walks towards her. "How many times must I repeat it?" He demands. "A vampire cannot defeat the sun, much less the sun's creator."

"...Keep...talking..." Charlotte barely manages to groan, beginning to stand back up, heal, and regain her composure. Helios immediately slashes at her again, as she blocks the slash and is send tumbling back from yet another shockwave, before rolling out of the way to dodge a verticle wave of solar energy from another slash. She was breathing heavily, and struggling to keep standing, before she ducks under another slash from Helios and slashes him in the stomach, where no armor seemed to be present. She's quick to block another one of his slashes, but is once again blasted back by the shockwave of said slash, as almost every structure in Tartarus was destroyed just from being anywhere close to near the battle. She slashes another Viatatransa at the Solar Elemental, but he merely deflects it before slashing her across her whole torso, causing her to shriek in agony and collapse!

"You truly don't give up, do you?" Helios demands, grabbing Charlotte by the neck and lifting her up. "Shall I incinerate you, now?" Charlotte, thinking just clearly enough, unsheathes another knife to cut Helios' wrist and force him to let her go, as her aura flares up, and her hair starts to glow red. "Another of these?" He demands, right before she slashes yet another Viatatransa at him to send a city-sized wave of Eletero his way! This time, he is hit full-on, and sent stumbling back, yet once again, he regenerates, now with tattered robes, and looks on to see Charlotte standing there, her wounds healing even faster than before, as her hair was partly red and she was glaring at him in her next form, her Second Stage of her Bloodlusted State. "I don't like to fight for anger..." She breathes. "...but I am going to wipe that smug grin right off your face." "...You can try, vampire." Helios retorts coldly.

Kyoki had regenerated from being crushed under the weight of the entire ocean by now, and was watching Degan uttly annihilate the Air Force, taking little to no damage from anything they threw at him, even nuclear bombs. "These humans really don't know how to give up, huh?" The Weather Elemental remarks, reforming the icy armor of his new Feltamadas. Connor was merely looking on at Degan's new form in fear and confusion. Was this a Feltamadas, he thought? No...a Feltamadas was different. Venus, Kyoki, their Feltamadas States only covered them in their respective elements. Why would Degan's be different? This was...this was something else, entirely. Was it possibly all the Elementals had access to a more bestial, non-Feltamadas form? Or was this unique to Degan? Wait, it *wasn't*, he just remembered! The other Elemental he'd seen with a transformation like this...

Was Crith.

Right as Helios opens his mouth to say something, Charlotte is upon him, slashing at his chestplate. He blocks with his Xiphos once again, and erupts solar energy from it, but she manages to cut in a way that most of it rushed away from her, and the rest was kept out by her Eletero aura. "What?!" The Sun Elemental roars, as he is kicked in the chest and send sliding back once more, before barely blocking Charlotte's next flurry of slashes, the last of which was hiding a Viatatransa. While Helios is disoriented by the blast, Charlotte blasts a beam of Eletero at him from behind to send him stumbling forwards, before kicking him in the back to try and break this spine. Though this fails, she does manage to dodge Helios' next slash, land on top of the flat of his blade, and slash him in the eyes. "Argh!" He howls, as he is kicked in the neck and sent once again stumbling back, holding his face in pain.

While Helios' eyes were regenerating, Charlotte rushes around him to further disorient his sense of where she was. While running around him in circles, she slashes at his tendons and vital organs to try and further weaken him, right as she once again slashes at his chestplate. "ENOUGH!!!" Helios screams, erupting solar energy from his body in a massive explosion! Charlotte yelps when she's hit and once again sent flying, as Helios kicks her right back down into the arena and swings his blade to send an arc of solar energy down at her. She deflects it, but is then hit by another beam of plasma and radiation, grunting in pain before the beam dissipates and Helios punches her face-first into the ground, stomping on her back as plasma erupts from his foot. "GRRRHHH!!!!!" She growls, slashing up at Helios, who blocks that slash while taking a few steps back and glaring down at her from above.

Charlotte, however, rushes away from Helios as he's preparing his next slash, now back on her feet. "Viata..." She starts, powering herself up as Helios prepares to swing his once-again-glowing Xiphos at her. "...TRANSA!!!!!" They both slash, sending the massive waves of power at each other before they collided in a powerful blast that could be seen from nearby planets. The Star-C fleet from above, having been fending off demons, find themselves free to bombard Helios with blasts, which they do. Helios dodges and deflects most of the blasts, slashing wave after wave of plasma at the many alien spacecraft as he sees the Vampire Queen rushing to slash once more at his chestplate. He blocks the slash before leaping away to let her be hit by a laser, which she grunts in pain at but regenerates relatively quickly from before forming a few Eletero balls in her hand and throwing them at Helios.

Helios slashes his sword to destroy the balls, as they explode, creating a large dust cloud. As the Sun Elemental looks around for his opponent, he feels his leg and arm tendons be slashed, as well as his wrists and ankles. He drops his Xiphos and, when he tries to pick it up, finds it no longer there. Charlotte slashes him from behind to disorient him further, before appearing in front of him through the smoke, holding both her Katana and his Xiphos, and slashing them both down at his chestplate in an X shape. He roars in pain and shock from the attack, right before Charlotte points her hand at his chest and unleashes yet another beam of Eletero, which blasts right through Helios' chest, causing him to scream in agony and creating a shockwave that forces the nearer Star-C ships to fly back or risk being sent to the ground, as they all watch Helios stumble back, somehow still alive!

"W-woah!" Trevor yelps, as they all felt the latest shockwave from the battle outside. "That was Charlotte!" "It sounds like she may have dealt with Helios." Khaldun remarks. "Now we just need to get to Teremto, who should be just behind this door!" Khaldun is quick to blast the door open, and sitting in Teremto's chair...was Pyro Scarlet. "Huh?!" Daniel demands. "What are you doing here?! Where's Teremto?!" "I broke out of the cell he put me in." Pyro answers with a smile. "Terry went back to Earth as soon as you guys came here to Hell, all of this was just a distraction for something greater." "What do you mean?!" Marcus roars. "What is his ultimate endgame?!" "What reason do I have to tell you guys?" Pyro retorts with a shrug. "You're all gonna' die soon, anyways, and you can't fathom how angry I am that it won't be *me* who finally kills my little Sis unless I play all my cards the right way."

"You have to help us, please!" Trevor shouts. "Why?" Pyro demands. "I *want* humankind to go extinct, I *want* monsters to rule the world, with vampires on top of it all! I'm all too glad to let Terry slaughter all you guys, though I may save some of you for myself." "You don't understand!" Trevor yells. "Look, I know we're enemies, and I don't forgive you for everything you've done, but if Teremto wins, Aphris...Star-C, is gonna destroy the world!" "...Excuse me?" Pyro asks, as Khaldun remained silent. "We need to all stop Teremto!" Trevor continues. "Or there won't be any humans *or* vampires! Or anything *else*!" "Hmm...so you want me to work with you guys against Teremto and thus share the glory, all to stop a hypothetical alien threat?" Pyro asks. "Hmm...nah, I'm good." And then, with a snap of the fingers, he vanishes in a cloud of smoke. "Dammit..." Khaldun breathes. "...we need to get back to Earth, *now*!"

Helios' heart had been destroyed, and though he still stood, he was no longer regenerating at any visible speed. He glared at Charlotte, his robes mostly destroyed as his muscular, yet somewhat lean, frame could be seen, with a gaping hole in his chest...where floated, a perfectly spherical red crystal. "...Wh...what is that..." Charlotte demands cautiously. "...This is...the Orb of Compliance." Helios answers reluctantly. "...I once saw myself above my father...I tried to rebel against him, take his whole plan for myself...but he won, and sent me to Hell forever as punishment. This gem causes me physical pain any time I think or say anything against my father, and so it has made me perfectly loyal. Even now, I cannot resent him for what he did, as doing so physically harms me. I, the Sun God Helios, am the strongest servant of Csillag Teremto. You can't beat him...*because you can't beat ME!!!*"

Suddenly, a massive amount of heat and light erupted from Helios' body, engulfing everything a massive wave of plasma! Every ship was blasted back, every structure and formation was reduced to more plasma, as Charlotte screamed in sheer agony, her body turning pitch black with the solar energy washing over her, completely blasting through her aura and blowing it away! Right before those in the castle could be hit, Katsuragi had leaped in front of them, predominantly Khaldun, and created a massive electromagnetic field to bend the sheer heat and power around them! "Wh-wh-WHAT?!" Trevor screams, as Marcus, Daniel and Kaguya look on in sheer terror, and Khaldun looks at Katsuragi in shock. "How exciting!" Krincax roars from his lab in one of the ships, using a currently-failing heat shield to try and block Helios' sheer power from turning the Star-C fleet into a rain of molten metal.

Eventually, the temperature stabilized, coating the entire area, now scorched of any features, in gold. No flames subsided, for no flames could exist in this aura of Helios'. Charlotte had willed herself to stand as much as possible, putting all her Eletero into her defenses, as she saw Helios. It was painful to look at him, as he was now wearing new robes, robes made from solar energy. He formed a brand new Xiphos out of sheer solar energy, and turned towards Charlotte with a smile. "Do you still think you can defeat the power of the sun, Queen of Vampires?" He sneers, his two capes blowing through the air and resembling, to an extent, wings. Helios floats up into the air, which itself was essentially just plasma by now, and points his sword at Charlotte, an energy hotter and brighter than even their surroundings swirling around it, before he blasts the beam of sheer solar energy right at her!

Charlotte tried to block with her sword, aura and arms, but it didn't matter. the aura was blown away, the Eletero-enhanced skin burned regardless, the sword simply too narrow and small to block it all. She shrieked in pain, tears evaporating into even more plasma right as they left her eyes, as the blasts the Star-C ships were still firing at Helios were now simply diffusing into the superheated atmosphere around them. "Isn't this amazing?!" Krincax screams with glee. "The temperature recordings indicate that the entirety of Hell is becoming as hot as Sol's core!" "It is wonderful, Sir." Aezla replies, sweating but looking otherwise stoic. "What is our method to defeat Helios?" "...I...am not entirely sure." Krincax answers. "But I should be able to find or come up with something in the...about two to ten minutes we have left before everything in Hell becomes plasma." "Of course, Sir." Aezla responds.

Charlotte was desperately trying to slash at Helios with everything she had, but Helios was easily blocking her slashes. She was sluggish, and could not increase her speed without lowering her defense. She tried to draw a knife to slash at Helios with, but the knife immediately evaporated upon being drawn. She tried to slash at Helios with a Viatatransa, but the Viatatransa dissipated and diffused into Helios' new plasma field almost instantly. Even her aura was starting to diffuse with the plasma, before she, in a moment of clarity, realized that Helios was *absorbing it*! He was absorbing power from *all* her attacks, and all of Star-C's! Right then, Helios kicks her away, and she lands on the ground, her vision becoming hazy and wobbly as her head and body were really starting to hurt. She had experienced Heat Stroke before, but this...this was...this was so much...so much worse...than that...

"...I..." She whispered, her vocal cords feeling weak and dry as blood evaporated from her cracked lips. "...I can't do it..."

Degan was, at this point, fighting off every airforce on Earth, still undamaged by anything any of them tried. The broken remains of the U.S. Airforce and Navy lay on the now-exposed sea floor, as massive waves crashed all across the world. Kyoki was laughing at the sight, right before he was slashed in the back by Connor. "Argh! You're still alive?!" He demands, as he blasts lightning at the warrior, who took the hit and glared at the Weather Elemental. "This suit can heal me...and work as long as I am conscious..." Connor explains breathlessly, as he slashes at Kyoki with a flurry of tendril blades. Kyoki blocks with his bladed forearms with frustrated growls, before causing ice to begin forming all across Connor's suit, aiming to completely freeze him from the outside in. Connor tried to resist it, groaning in pain, as Kyoki grinned widely...right before he was hit by a green blast, and sent flying!

"Wha?!" Connor shouts, as Kyoki righted himself in the air. "WHAT THE HELL?!" The Weather Elemental shrieks, before they both see who had blasted him...it was Culian. He had drawn his sword, the blade of which was now covered in runes, and giving Kyoki the most serious death glare Connor had ever seen. "I am through...with the machinations...of your father." Culian says flatly, before rushing to stab at Kyoki. Kyoki is barely able to dodge when he's slashed in the face by Culian. He regenerates from the slash, only to be slashed again, and again, and again and again and again, also stabbed repeatedly during this whole process. "GRAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" He screams, blasting an icy and electric wind at Culian to send him back, before sending lightning, hail and air blades at him. Culian deflects each and every last attack so fast he didn't seem to move, then pointing his sword at Kyoki.

"WHA-" Kyoki starts, before narrowly dodging a massive blast of green light, and then being entangled by vine-like ropes made from the same green energy. "RRRRRRGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" Culian wastes no time in having numerous spears of light rush at Kyoki and impale him, the Weather Elemental screaming in rage as he blasts his way out of the restraints and dodges the spears, sending blades of ice at Culian, who once again deflects them before dodging the iciccles Kyoki sent at him from his wings, even using some as footholds to leap closer and closer. "HOW?!?!?!" Kyoki roars, creating a wave of lightning to send at the Leader of IHEP, who catches the lightning with his sword and points it at a wrecked tank to make the lightning rush over to said tank. Before Kyoki can even try another attack, his arms, legs and wings are all slashed off, as his his helmet, and then, he's kicked down.

The Weather Elemental rights himself right before he hits the ground, and flies back to avoid a stab from Culian, who pulls his sword out and swings it to send energy knifes at Kyoki. Kyoki sends ice shurikens at the knives for the attacks to cancel out, before forming two Kama to slash at Culian with. Culian blocks all of the slashes and slices the blades off the grips before dismantling Kyoki's arms completely, muscle by muscle, bone by bone. Before Kyoki can even scream in pain, Culian points his blade at his chest and blasts him away with a massive swirling wave of green energy. Kyoki is sent tumbling through the air, shrieking in rage and agony, as he sees Culian rushing at him and just sends hundreds of icicles, lightning bolts and tornados at him. Culian dodges, deflects, and otherwise nullifies all of Kyoki's attacks, before kicking him into the ground, and stabbing him in the heart.

"...G-guh...guh..." Kyoki wheezes, as Culian draws a rune on his heart to turn it to stone, pulling his sword out with enough speed to clean it of all the blood just by swinging it against the air, before sheathing it, and looking down in contempt at the Wind Elemental. "...I was...going to watch Dad...take over this...damn world..." "...What a pathetic existence." Culian remarks. "Being created as a child soldier by and for your delusional 'father', sharing all his worst traits without anything that has made him such a pain to deal with, such a threat, and commanding the absolute weakest element, needing to steal the powers of others just to feel powerful. You are very much like your father, Kyoki...a small, pathetic little man who would have amounted to *nothing* had he never stolen or corrupted anything." Kyoki only wheezes in response, his face one of fury and agony, before he goes limp, dead.

Culian looks down at Kyoki for a moment longer, before hearing Degan's roar and turning towards him, seeing that the Kaiju had wiped out the world's militaries by now, and was now set on killing him and Connor, the two of them standing together, ready to face the Water Elemental, and then get to Teremto.

Charlotte didn't know how long she had been laying on the ground, covered in burns, losing blood and water so immensely fast that she wasn't sure she had any left. There was nothing left of Tartarus, the city had been reduced to a sea of plasma, and soon the planet would follow, if not the entire rest of Hell. Helios kicked her onto her back, staring down at her hopeless face. She wasn't really able able to even think anymore, and her vision was even blurrier, even wavier. She could only make out Helios because it was just him and the now-orange sky, the light of the moons, stars and planets having been long-since drowned out by the Solar Elemental's sheer heat and aura. She couldn't tell what he was saying, neither through his muffled-sounding speech or his wavy-looking lip movements. All she then did was close her eyes, knowing Helios was raising his sword, and bringing it down.

In the distance, she thought she heard something. It was her name, yet it was muffled. She couldn't yet tell who it was. Then, she felt herself beginning to come back to a bit, able to make out that Helios did indeed have his sword raised above his head, also now able to make out who was calling her name...it was Trevor. He was terrified, he was concerned, he was begging for her to get up. She felt herself cry what felt like the last bit of moisture in her body. She didn't know what she would tell Trevor if she could speak, if she could really tell him that she just...couldn't win, this time. And yet, as she started to fade more and more back into consciousness, she felt something inside her. Not long after that, she could feel her body again. Then, she suddenly realized Helios was bringing her blade down, and quickly rolled out of the way, leaving his sword to hit the ground and crack the planet in half!

"...*What*?" The Sun Elemental demands, standing back upright, as Charlotte stood there, still severely burned on most of her body, but now once more surrounded by, and indeed emanating, that same red aura, her hair once again red, and glowing bright red at that, as she glared directly into Helios' eyes.

"...This...ends...*now*." She states flatly, picking up her sword.

Charlotte immediately rushes to slash at Helios, who swings his own sword at her. The blades clash, and the resulting shockwave blasts absolutely everything away...except for the two of them! "Urgh?!" Helios growls, flying back and swinging his sword in an arc to send another wave of energy at her. She deflects it before dodging a beam of radiation, and then slashing a Viatatransa at Helios, who is quick to block but is sent back somewhat by it. As he's processing what's happening, she blasts him further back with a beam of Eletero, before charging up a stronger Viatatransa. Helios once again swings his sword in an arc, as she swings the Viatatransa at the attack. The explosion eclipses the planet as the two rush at each other through the rapidly-dissipating smoke, clashing blades and countering each other's attacks. At one point, Charlotte manages to kick Helios down to the ground.

"Urgh..." The Solar Elemental groans, before blocking another slash from Charlotte and blasting her back with a massive wave of solar energy. He then swirls his sword into three different arcs, and slashes at them to send the attacks at the Vampire Queen, who is quick to dodge the attacks as Helios swings his sword to send a massive burst of energy at her. "Guh!" She grunts, being sent back once again before Helios kicks her in the stomach to send her crashing into tha lava pit that used to be Tartarus' center. She leaped away from his next attack, and ducked beneath a slash of his to slash at his armpit. Helios growls in pain and blasts Charlotte a few dozen feet back before pointing his sword at her to send a swirling vortex of large spiky plasma balls at her. She dodges and deflects most of them, but is hit by one, and blasted to the ground! Helios then manages to grab her this time.

Right then, he throws her into the castle, and goes to stab her in the chest, but she rolls out of the way to let the blade stab the side of the castle instead before kicking Helios through the side of the staircase. "Argh!" He roars, carving an arc above himself as it transforms into arrows with sun-shaped arrowheads that then fly towards Charlotte. She deflects these as well, and narrowly dodges one piercing her side, as she blasts a few Eletero balls at the Sun Elemental. Helios is quick to slice through this, rushing right through the explosion with more grunts of pain as he slashes a point-blank solar flare at the Queen of Vampires. Charlotte is caught off guard, and roars in pain from the attack, but she manages to quickly recover and land on her feet before blocking numerous slashes from Helios, once again noticing the Orb of Compliance in his chest that had replaced his heart.

Helios tries another blast, but she leaps over it and slashes him in the back, skidding to the side to avoid another slash of his before slashing Viatatransa at him. He roars in pain once more and blasts yet another Solar Beam at her, but she manages to deflect it far away. "YOU DAMN BAT!!!!!" Helios screams, slashing blast after blast at her, which she keeps dodging over and over and over. She realizes she still has one remaining knife, and, mid-dodge, draws it to throw at Helios' wrist, causing him to drop his Xiphos. Right then, she flies very high up, raises her sword above her head, and flies right back down to Helios, who, having just picked his Xiphos back up, notices, and raises it above his head to swing right at her! The blades clash in a massive shockwave, as...after a moment, Charlotte's blade cuts right through Helios', and then cuts through his brain, Orb of Compliance, and body.

The heat from Helios' Feltamadas began to vanish, as the point-end of his blade stabbed into the ground. "...N...n...no..." The Solar Elemental breathes weakly, as he falls backwards, onto the ground, while dropping what remained of his sword. Charlotte, breathing heavily, lands on the ground, looking down at her fallen enemy as the heat then fully returned to normal. Her burns remained, and still hurt tremendously, but she could feel them starting to slowly heal. She found herself using her blade to support her stand, as she had still lost a lot of blood and water, and only now realized how dizzy she felt, holding her head in pain with her free hand. "...Guess I...had a Third Stage of Bloodlust..." She remarks, looking at her sweaty, aura-covered hand, and then down at Helios. "You can rest now, free from your father's control. We'll take him out for you, for Crith...for everyone who he has ever hurt."

But as she let out a relieved sigh, she then noticed someone standing atop what remained of the castle. He wore the same plain black suit with golden buttons as always, but his black hair was much messier, and revealed both eyes, along with his severely burned face, and terrified expression.

Crith stood at the highest point of the rubble, looking down at her.

## Chapter 68

"...Crith..." Charlotte breathes. "...You defeated him..." Crith remarks, his voice cracking. "...You defeated Helios, the strongest of us all..." Charlotte didn't respond to this at first. "...If you beat him..." The Earth Elemental whispers. "...Then I won't be able to stop you..." "You don't have to!" Charlotte shouts at him. "You don't have to follow your father's fucking orders! LEAVE HIM, LET HIM CRASH AND BURN FOR ALL THE SUFFERING HE'S CAUSED!!!" Crith just looks on for a moment, before he forms a knife to cut his own shirt open...and reveal the gaping hole in his chest. Charlotte didn't say anything, as her former friend removed his shirt to reveal the full extent of the burns and wounds. It was abundantly clear what had happened, Teremto had removed his heart and damaged him as much as wouldn't kill him. "...C-Crith..." She whimpers. "...I...I'm so sorry..." She began to take a few steps towards him.

"...That night..." Crith explains weakly. "...F-Father...made me realize...I wasn't obeying him enough..." "Please, just come with us!" Charlotte pleads, tearing up with the little water she had left in her body. "I'm not going to stand here and watch one of my friends be beaten down like this! "I DON'T HAVE A CHOICE!!!!!" Crith suddenly screams, as Charlotte goes silent from shock of that scream, watching Crith hold his head and tremble. "...I don't have a choice...I never had a choice..." "Yes you do!" Charlotte roars. "Don't let that man control you!" "I-I can't...I c-can't..." Crith whimpers. "...I've always been...the weakest of us all...I can't do anything to him!" "We're going to stop him!" Charlotte shouts. "We're going to help you get out of this, I *promise*!" "...I'm so sorry..." Crith whispers, somewhat regaining his composure. "...there...there is no saving me, anymore...there's no saving *anyone*...anymore..."

At that, Crith transformed, into the same form as before, only now complete with black wings filled with yellow eyes. A blood-red rain began to engulf the planet, as Charlotte looked on at him, no longer even able to cry due to a lack of water. Crith forms a spear made from lava in his hand and slashes at Charlotte's neck, something she barely has time to block before the spear explodes. As she leaps back, another spear rushes at her, this one she deflects as it explodes to the side of her, right before she is forced to dodge and deflect spiked chains and tendrils of lava. "Urrrghhh!!!!!!" She growls, before seeing Crith fly up above the smoke and point his hands at her, unleashing a massive beam of red energy! She tries to block it with with her sword, but this causes her to be blasted down into the planet. She groaned in pain before seeing another spear be thrown right down at her!

Crith watches the explosion with a pained look on his face, right before Charlotte leaps out and swings a Viatatransa at him. His eyes widen in terror, as he crosses his arms and wraps himself in his wings to try and block the attack. Charlotte kicks him in the stomach to send him into the side of the castle, wincing as she hears his yelp of pain. She gets into a fighting position, as Crith rushes through the smoke and slashes at her with another spear, which she blocks before suddenly being hit in the face with another spear, sending her to the ground with another explosion! Crith is quick to then have the lava try to swallow Charlotte up, while also slamming rocks and weapons into her to try and further bury her. Charlotte, screaming in rage, blasts herself out of the debris, and tackles Crith right through the entire castle, shaking it and causing it to begin crumbling and collapsing on itself.

"Woah!" Daniel shouts. "What now?!" "It's Crith..." Khaldun replies. "...we need to go." "I'll go on ahead of you." Kaguya says. "I want Teremto gone as soon as possible, so I'll buy you whatever time I can." Khaldun nods, as she, after looking on sadly at Crith, enters a portal to Earth. Daniel, after a moment, decides to walk through the portal before it closes to follow Kaguya, as Khaldun, Trevor, Marcus and Katsuragi watch Charlotte and Crith's battle. "Why does this all have to happen...?" Trevor asks weakly. "...Why couldn't we have just...kept having fun adventures...? Why do we have to all suffer this? Why do Crith and Kaguya have to suffer all this? Why can't we just be happy?!" "...I wish I knew, Trevor..." Khaldun answers, closing his eyes. "I truly wish I knew." "...The Vampire Queen...I once thought of as my greatest enemy..." Marcus remarks. "...But now...she and her friends may be our only hope."

Crith was swinging large spiked clubs at Charlotte, who kept blocking and dodging them when she could while also slicing through them. He then has a wave of lava rush at her, but she slashes it in half and then uses Viatatransa to destroy a volley of boulders and cloud of Sulfiric Acid Crith had sent at her from behind. He then tackles her before unleashing a blast of red energy, of Eletero, from his hand to blast her back, but she swiftly recovered and blocked more slashes from him. "What is that?!" She demands. "Sotet Eletero..." He answers quietly. "...it is what Father uses to fuel his magic, and it is everywhere in this realm." Crith flies back and throws the spears at Charlotte, making them explode once they get close to her. She flies out of the smoke and is hit by a giant metal cube, falling into what is effectively quicksand. He tries to have it swallow her, but she bursts out of it, even angrier.

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS, CRITH!!!" She screams. "WE'RE YOUR FRIENDS, LET'S ALL STOP YOUR EVIL FATHER TOGETHER!!!" "I TOLD YOU I CAN'T!!!!!" Crith screams back, his face wet with tears ashe unleashes a massive wave of lava, boulders, spikes and Sotet Eletero at Charlotte. She manages to get through all of it, but is blasted in the face by another red beam, managing to right herself before trying her own. Crith tries to block again, only to find that the beam seemed to bend around him upon touching his own Eletero aura. "Wh...wha..." He breathes, right as Charlotte appears in front of him and kicks him back down to the ground below. Crith struggled back to his feet, as Charlotte lands in front of him. "Fine..." She says weakly. "...I'll knock you out and wake you up when this is all over!" Crith throws another spear at her, but she dodges, and slashes him in the stomach and headbutts him.

Teremto was floating above the direct center of Ireland, where he had burned a massive and complex Pentagram, as he looked up at the red moon, smiling darkly. Everything that had happened since his machinations first began was leading up to the moment soon to come, the moment...of his ascension. He spreads his arms out wide and lets the wind blow his robes for a moment, before, with a thought, dismantling them into individual threads that soon scattered to the currently-westward wind. Adam was useful for getting Charlotte involved in all this, Scorpios was a convenient distraction for Reledgard to build up their forces, and Reledgard served to invite the world's militaries to their own destruction. And this time, Culian wasn't able to prevent it. And nor would he now, not with Degan keeping him and the Hebrew warrior occupied. Now, no one could stop him anymore.

"Csillag...Teremto." The voice of Kaguya said sternly, as Teremto lowers his arms and turns to see her and Daniel standing on a platform she had created. "Ah, my daughter, Kaguya." Teremto replies. "Have you learned not to fail your loving father, yet? Just as Crith learned not to disobey me." "You've never loved anything but *yourself*." Kaguya retorts. "It's all about you. You can't bear to be seen as human, you can't bear to see the beauty in nature, or to recognize the whims of the gods. You had to worm your way into every religion and government you could find because nothing was ever enough. You control this world from the shadows, can manipulate matter down to the atom with your mind, and are immortal, and yet somehow, *none* of that is enough for you. *Nothing*...will *ever*...be enough, not even godhood. I can't tell which is most prevalant in you, Pride, Greed, Gluttony...or Envy."

At this, she forms her Katana out of moonlight, Daniel readying his fingers to snap, as Teremto glared at them both before creating a shortsword in his hand. "You have ceased to be of use to me, Kaguya Teremto." He growls. "And as such, you shall simply cease to be."

Charlotte and Crith both stood on what was left the castle, which the others had long since vacated. They were both breathing heavily, and looking at each other. Charlotte was desperate and angry, while Crith was terrified and in despair. Yet neither of them were going to stop. They rushed to punch at each other repeatedly, Charlotte getting the upper hand as Crith would so often flinch. She tries once more to knock him out, but it doesn't work, as she looks on in concern. "Please...just...stop..." She asks breathlessly, barely even able to maintain her Third Stage Bloodlusted State by this point, yet knowing that if she stopped using it, she would die from blood loss and dehydration among so many other things. "...His orders...were to keep you here..." Crith whispers. "...I can't...I can't...I CAN'T LET YOU LEAVE THIS PLACE, NO MATTER WHAT!!!!!" And then, his body suddenly erupted Sotet Eletero!

Charlotte could only look on in horror as the Sotet Eletero coated the area in an even heavier blood rain, before blasting it all away. Crith's hands, forearms, wings, horns, lower torso and legs were now all made of segmented metal, with red crystal spikes all over them. The wounds remained, as his eyes turned yellow. A third eye opened up in his forehead, one opened on each of his shoulders, his eight tails became one, metal, bladed tail, and rows upon rows of sharp teeth began to line the inside of his chest wound. His cheekbones were a bit more pronounced now, and the red lines running from his eyes down his cheeks now looked so, so much more like he was crying blood. Before she could even process what she was seeing, Crith had already grabbed her by the side of the head, and flinged her through an entirely different planet, shattering it as if it were made entirely out of glass or china!

Charlotte had landed halfway through another planet, and was barely able to register where she was when Crith kicked her further in, breaking that planet as well as he wraps his tail around her leg and swings her through multiple chuncks of said planet. Charlotte's screams of agony could barely be heard over the destruction, as Crith lets her land down onto another planet before landing on the same planet hard enough to cause a crater. Before Charlotte can even realize what's happening, the planet itself began to suck her into it. She manages to blast her way out and slash at Crith, but he crosses his arms to block the slash, having been completely undamaged by it! She tried again but with Viatatransa, Crith deflecting it with his wing before blasting a wave of Sotet Eletero at Charlotte to send her flying through the next few planets, before flying up to rush right up after her.

She was unable to even land on the fourth planet, as Crith blasted her through it and all the way to the seventh. As she just started to groan in pain, Crith began to form a planet of his own above his head by pointing his arms upward. Charlotte's eyes widened in horror at the lava planet covered in metal spikes, before Crith tosses it down at her! She quickly boosts her own speed as much as she possibly could to dodge, but she was beginning to succumb to the injuries she had suffered, as Crith points his hand at her to unleash yet another beam of red energy. She attempts to deflect it with her Katana, but is send through numerous planets by the force regardless, screaming in pain again as she felt many bones in her body completely shatter. She couldn't move anymore, aside from her sword arm, as she saw an orange glow in the sky from where Crith had thrown her from, eyes wide again.

Crith had created a more ornate spear, one with blades on either end, out of lava, and was looking towards the planet Charlotte was on. "...I don't know what happened to me...I don't know what this is..." Crith remarks. "...I only wish you could know...that I am truly sorry." Then, he grabs onto the spear with one hand, and throws it at the planet Charlotte was on with all his might. And the moment the spear connected with Charlotte's blade...everything went black from her perspective. The explosion completely engulfed not only that planet, but also the planets, moons, and stars immediately surrounding it. "Wh-WHAT?!" Katsuragi screams, as Marcus was covering his eyes in pain. "What the Hell was...what just..." Khaldun stutters. "...WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" "CHARLOTTE!!!!!" Trevor screams at the top of his lungs, tearing up. "NO!!!!!!! PLEASE NO!!!!!!!!! CHARLOTTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

When the blast faded, there was simply nothing in that area but dust and a severely burned, limb-missing, melted-skinned, Charlotte, still clinging onto her sword. "...I...I did that...?" Crith breathes. "...If it had been at a closer range...I'm sure I would be..." He turned back over to Charlotte. He had flown over to her so fast that even he wasn't sure how he did so, before he wraps his tail around her neck and lifts her up, pointing his finger at her chest. "...I wish this could have gone differently..." He whispers. "...I wish I wasn't forced to kill one of my only friends, but...I cannot...I can't...I can't disobey Father..." And then, a blast goes right through Charlotte's chest, in a very similar manner as to what Helios had suffered not long ago. He unwraps his tail from Charlotte's neck, and watches her drift away, while tears fell down his face, and he was trembling again. "...What have I done..." He whimpers.

Connor and Culian were avoiding as many of Degan's attacks as they possibly could, trying to attack anything that looked like a weakspot but to no avail. The once-friendly Kaiju bats them to the ground with his arm, and blasts down an ocean's worth of water at them! Connor does his best to shield Culian, as Degan grabs the two of them and slams them repeatedly into the ground, shaking the Earth with each slam and each roar. After a stomp, he lifts his foot, and shrieks loud enough to blast away part of the atmosphere. "A-agh..." Connor groans weakly, seeing that Culian had healed himself with a spell. "I don't know how long we can do this..." Culian remarks. "...we can't even damage Degan...and in case your Soulfire is one-use-only, we *can't* use it here." "We have to-agh...do something..." Connor replies, managing to stand back up right as the area became coated in steam and hail.

Teremto was nullifying every single flame Daniel created, while blocking each and every single last one of Kaguya's slashes. She attempts to trap him in a cube, but he dissipates it. She tries to blast him with a lunar beam, but he bends it into space. She creates numerous spiked cylinders to send at him, but he easily deflects them before unleashing a concussive blast to send them both back. "Argh!" Daniel roars, before taking out a gun to shoot at Teremto with, the Elementals' Father merely disintegrating the bullet, and the gun, by willing it so. "You both are clearly quite eager to perish..." Teremto remarks, erupting a massive tornado-like gust around them that he made sure not to touch the ground with. Though they try to fight through it, and Daniel tries yet another snap, Teremto is quick to slice his arm off, slash him vertically across the torso, and unleash a blast of fire right into his organs!

"DANIEL!!!!!" Kaguya screams, watching her husband plummet down to the ground below. He himself could not scream, he could not move, he could not do anything but bleed as he landed on the grass below, staining it red with his own blood. "...No..." Teremto merely pointed his blade at Kaguya's neck, something she responds to by unleashing a massive blast of lunar energy at him to send him back. "YOU'RE GOING TO DIE FOR THAT!!!!!" She shrieks, as white light erupts from her body! Teremto looks on quietly as Kaguya emerges from the light wearing armor made from moonlight, now dual-wielding Yari spears with moth wings sprouting from her back. The glare she gave Teremto was one of the most vicious fury one could possible imagine, as she rushes at her 'Father', aiming to make him pay for what he had done to Daniel, and for what he had done to so many others across time.

Crith had laid Charlotte onto a piece of rubble and closed her eyes, before he hears a livid scream from behind him and turns to recieve a Bokyaku to the face. It doesn't harm him, as he uses one of his wings to block multiple Eletero bombs, and sees Trevor rushing at him. "N-no! S-stay back!" Crith yells. "I don't know what's happened to me or-" He is punched repeatedly by Trevor, who completely ignores the pain he was feeling from punching him and just keeps going. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!!!" Trevor roars. "I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!!!!! FRIENDS DON'T KILL EACH OTHER FOR THE WHIMS OF THEIR PSYCHOPATHIC FATHERS!" "PLEASE, STOP!!!" Crith screams, grabbing Trevor's arm to try and stop him, but ending up ripping it clean off! "...GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Trevor shrieked in sheer agony, collapsing to the ground.

Crith looked on at Trevor, seeing him assume a fetal pose and continue to scream and spout blood, horrified at what he had done. "I-I'M SORRY!!!" The Earth Elemental howls. "I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY, I--...I..." Crith collapses to his knees, and puts his hands on his face, trembling more than ever as the Star-C fleet approached them. "...what have i done..." Crith barely whispers. "...what have i done..." Khaldun and Marcus looked on at the scene with wide, horrified eyes, as Katsuragi put her hands on her mouth, unable to believe what she was seeing. "...no..." Khaldun breathes. Everyone else was completely speechless at the sight, as the fleet pointed its weapons at the Earth Elemental. "...Set weapons to maximum." The Admiral of the fleet orders. "Do not hesitate to kill." Khaldun grits his teeth, as the ships began to fire at Crith, who curled up into a ball and shielded himself with his wings.

While this was happening...Charlotte's body slightly twitched. "...At long last..." The voice from so long ago said. "...I can finally use you as intended."

Suddenly, Sotet Eletero began rapidly entering Charlotte's body, violently mutating and healing her body! The entire Star-C fleet noticed this happen, and was shocked. "What's happening, now?!" The Admiral demands, as Charlotte stood back upright, a torrent of energy surrounding her to the point where it was almost impossible to see her. It felt like the entirety of Hell itself shook as Crith and Trevor turned towards Charlotte in horror. When she emerged from the smoke, her head now sprouted two bull-like horns, her eyes were pitch black, her feet were talon-like, and a row of fangs replaced her mouth. "Ch-Charlotte...?" Trevor asks weakly, as Charlotte's body turns towards them, silent for a moment, before holding her hand out to pull her sword towards her. The moment she swung it, everyone and everything, be they friend or foe, was blasted away millions of miles in mere seconds!

Crith didn't even have time to process what just happened when 'Charlotte' grabbed him by the head and tossed him directly through one Star-C ship and into another. Any soldier that even so much as pointed a weapon at her was violently dismembered or blasted apart, as she used the lower half of one's body to slam into Crith like a baseball bat. Crith, terrified, just tried to block it all out with his wings, but she bit onto one of the wings and *tore it straight off*! Crith's scream of pain was brief, as his arm, too, is torn off, and he is slashed across the stomach and kicked into another ship, completely shattering the forcefield Krincax had set up. Charlotte was fired at by hundreds of soldiers, but the blasts did absolutely nothing but agitate her reanimated body, as it tore through the platoon, leaving only blood stains, limbs and broken armor pieces in its wake as it pursued the Earth Elemental.

Crith was breathing heavily, as the soldiers who may have otherwise shot him were now just running for their lives. "Please...no more...I beg you..." He whimpers, right before feeling molten metal emerge from his wounds to rebuilt his wing and arm. He notices this and is dumbfounded, given he no longer had the heart needed to regenerate, but his confusion is short-lived as he just barely dodges being stabbed in the throat by Charlotte's sword, and points his hands at her to blast a beam of Sotet Eletero at her. She blasts her own from her mouth as the explosion destroys that ship and the nearest other ships, before Charlotte grabs Crith by the tail and swings him into yet another ship, turning a soldier into green paste and golden fragments in the process! Trevor was being helped up into a stretcher while all this was occuring, and was starting to pass out from blood loss.

"Charlotte..." He breathes weakly, as he sees Charlotte blast Crith through another one of the starships before rushing after him. Crith tried to raise a wall of lava between himself and Charlotte, but she rammed right through him, grabbed him by the neck, slammed him to the ground and diagonally slashed his torso. "GAH!!! PLEASE NO!!!" Crith screams, but Charlotte completely ignores his words as if she didn't even hear them before tossing him into a wall and blasting him out of that ship. As she's rushing at him again, he creates a lava spear to throw at her, but she grabs it, snaps it in two, and throws the halves at him. Crith braces for impact, right as the spears dissolve into particles. Before he can wonder if he caused that to happen, she blasts him through another ship, and slashes at his arm. He desperately tries to block and blast back, just trying to flee by this point.

And then...he saw her.

Sabrina was standing inside one of the ships, looking on in complete and utter horror at what she was witnessing. His eyes widened even further the instant he realized what this meant, as he sees Charlotte rushing at him, and quickly flies away from the ship Sabrina was in. Sure enough, Charlotte's reanimated corpse followed him, he could lure it away. But as long as she was in Hell...she could go after Sabrina. If he left Hell, if he let Charlotte back to Earth, then Teremto would no-doubt be furious...but if he didn't...Sabrina would *die*. They *all* would die! While Crith was thinking about this, he was blasted by a beam of Sotet Eletero from Charlotte, and send crashing right back into where Tartarus was. Charlotte had immediately followed him there, and he could see the Star-C fleet was not far behind, likely aiming to return to Earth themselves, he couldn't let that happen...he couldn't...

...*NO*.

If keeping everyone here meant Charlotte was going to kill all his friends, if it meant she was going to kill Sabrina, then he was not going to let everyone stay here.

Charlotte let out a horrible guttural scream that made everyone's skin crawl, as Crith looked one last time at them all, before flying through the portal, Charlotte, of course, following him as he had anticipated. The moment they exited the portal, they were blasted by Degan. Charlotte almost immediately righted herself, and attempted to rush at the Water Elemental, but Crith grabbed her by the sword arm to try and hold her back. "What the Hell?!" Culian demands. "Is that...Charlotte?!" Connor shouts. Teremto smiled when he sensed Charlotte's presence, blocking a massive explosion of lunar energy from Kaguya. "Ah...the final piece of the puzzle has arrived." The Elemental's Father remarks with a malicious chuckle, before looking back up at the blood-red moon. Kaguya continues trying to attack him, and yet it continued to be of no avail, as she hoped everyone had prepared by now.

Degan tried to swipe at Charlotte with one of his arms, but Charlotte swings Crith into the Kaiju to send them both flying. Degan's land once again shakes the earth, as his roar did the same and so did the activation of his Feltamadas, which surrounded him in a vortex of water and covered him in ice and steam. He blasted a titanic jet of pressurized water at the corpse of Charlotte, which blasted a Sotet Eletero beam right back to counter. The beam clash was further shaking the Earth, causing the tectonic plates to begin jostling around! "DAMMIT!!!" Culian roars, as he starts drawing a truly massive amount of runes in the air to try and use the right spell for this situation. Connor looked on at the beam clash, and narrowed his eyes, gritting his teeth under his suit before he leaped at the beams to try and absorb all of their Eletero into himself, screaming in agony as he did so!

"Connor, no!" Culian screams, as Trevor, Khaldun, Marcus, Katsuragi and Sabrina look on in terror. "Wh...why is this happening...?" Sabrina asks weakly. "...This is bad..." Khaldun remarks. "...this is very, *VERY* bad!" Connor continued trying to absorb the power from their beam clash, as Crith looked on at Charlotte and Degan. "...There's only one way to stop this..." He remarks, before suddenly ramming directly into Deganm causing his beam to stop hitting Charlotte's and instead fly into space, which resulted in *both* of them being hit by her beam! The resulting explosion eclipsed anything that had ever been witnessed before, right as Culian finally manages to use the spell to contain and dilute its power. Everyone had covered their eyes for a moment, before they see Degan collapse to the ground, and Crith fall into what was left of Reledgard. "CRITH!!!" Sabrina shouts, rushing after him.

All the water from Degan's attack was now raining down onto Reledgard, as Sabrina ran over to Crith and held him close. Crith was missing his horns and wings, as well as an arm and leg, as he came to, and realized he was in Sabrina's arms. "H-hh!" He exclaims, before turning towards Sabrina and leaning into her, trembling as he started to sob hysterically. "P-please don't be mad..." He whimpers. "...I-I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I should've...I should've listened to all of you, I--" He wasn't able to finish, as Sabrina had already kissed him, before hugging him gently. "It's okay, Crith, it's okay..." Sabrina replies, her voice cracking. "I-I'm not mad, no one's mad...we were all just scared for you. It's okay...you're okay...just take it easy for now, okay...? No one's telling you to do anything anymore." Crith nods shakily and begins to calm down a bit, still crying as he laid in her embrace and closed his eyes.

"...He...saved us..." Katsuragi remarks. "If he hadn't lured her here...if he hadn't stopped that beam clash..." "Don't celebrate just yet." Khaldun interrupts, glaring cautiously at Charlotte's body, which lowered down to where Crith and Sabrina were, pointing Charlotte's sword at them. "Charlotte, he's on our side now!" Sabrina roars, getting no verbal response from Charlotte. "I don't know what happened to you, but I won't let you hurt him!" Charlotte's only response is to walk towards them, ready to slash. Connor, who had just barely survived the ordeal, had ran in to block the slash. "Charlotte, I know you're still in there!" He shouts. "You have to fight whatever this is!" Charlotte's only response is to slash Connor out of the way and keep walking, before Trevor runs between her and the couple. "Charlotte, please!" He pleads. "It's me! Trevor! Please, don't hurt Crith! He saved us all twice, now!"

For a moment, Charlotte still does not respond, and then...

"...Charlotte can't *hear* you, anymore..." Spoke the body of Charlotte, but in a voice none of them recognized, a deep and distinctly male-sounding voice.

"Wh...WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!" Trevor demands, as he is grabbed by the face and thrown aside. "I am killing every living thing on this planet." The voice says simply. "Starting with that eldritch abomination you call your friend." Khaldun attempts to read Charlotte's mind, but all he sees is a pair of green eyes before he screams in agony. "KHALDUN?!" Katsuragi yelps. "...Something's possessing her!" Khaldun shouts. "We need to get it out!"

Kaguya was laying on the ground beside Daniel, her heart removed as a moonlight-made blade pierced her neck. Teremto 'stood' in the air, looking up at the moon with his arms once again outstretched. "Charlotte...my Elementals...my followers..." Teremto remarks. "...it is through your power, that I shall surpass the Gods themselves!" All of Teremto's remaining cultists were gathered around the circle in a pose of worship, ready to cut their own throats. "Yeah, see that's cool and all." Pyro says from behind Teremto. "But I kinda want that power for *myself*!" Teremto had turned Pyro's sword into candle wax, and immobilized him with air, the moment he went to backstab him. "I'm afraid you can't beat me at my own game, Scarlet..." Teremto replies coldly, before opening a portal to Hell beneath Pyro and having it rise up to engulf him. Then, the portal closes, as Teremto sighs.

As he and his cultists chant an entire phrase in an unknown language, the cultists cut their throats simultaneously, their souls entering Teremto's body as the pentagram he carved into the landscape began to glow bright red. Sotet Eletero began to rush out of the bodies of Venus, Degan, Kyoki, Kaguya and Helios, and long with out of Crith, who screamed in an agony never felt before. The Sotet Eletero also began to rush out of Charlotte's body, much to the voice's anger. "NO!!! I WILL NOT BE DENIED AGAIN!!!" The voice screams, as Charlotte's demonic features slowly fade away and she collapses into Trevor's embrace. "...Wait..." Culian breathes. "...The Elementals are losing their powers, and so is Charlotte, then...WE HAVE TO GO TO IRELAND!!! *NOW*!!!" And so all who could still move immediately began to rush over to Ireland, where the energy surge was, as Faye, who had been blasted there, awoke.

Teremto lands on the ground, now sporting a simplistic black suit with red linings, seemingly the entire right side of his body was covered in crystal, and massive crystalline horns now sprouted from his head. His hair was black, his wrinkles gone, as he held a spear with an axe blade on either side of it, in the likeness of a pitchfork. As Culian arrived, his eyes widened in the most horror anyone has ever felt, upon seeing Teremto's new, final, divine, or rather, demonic, form. "...By the Gods, Csaelan..." Culian whispers. "...what have you *done*?!" "All that I needed to, Farm Boy..." Teremto replies with a small smile, opening his still-red eyes. "I have now become a being...who surpasses the very gods themselves. And the new age which I am going to now usher in...will be an age without humans. An age of monsters, an age without gods, an age that worships only one entity..." At this, he grins widely.

"*Me*."

## Chapter 69

"I'm sure you want to know my full plan in detail, now?" Teremto asks in a mocking tone, still smiling as Culian only glared. "Of course, all 'heroes' beg for the monologue. Very well, now that my plan has concluded, I suppose there is no harm in indulging your curiosity." He stabs the bottom spike of his weapon into the ground, as a red variant of each element swirled around him, crimson flames, blood-like ice, scarlet lava, vermillion air, and the pale red of the translucent moonlight and overwhelming sunlight. Culian took a few steps back, still glaring at his oldest foe, as the former general has the elements swirl above him into the shape of a pentagram, each part of which contained a symbol for each of the elements. Venus' was a flame, Degan's a wave, Kyoki's a spiral, Crith's a rock, Kaguya's a crescent moon, and Helios' a sun with wavy points. Then, Teremto takes his weapon out of the ground.

"First, I of course had to be immortal." Teremto starts. "This was easy enough, as with my knowledge of what you would call dark magic, I was able to extend my lifespan indefinitely, and allow my body to reform from only my soul. Then, to keep humanity off my trail, and honestly for my own amusement, I infiltrated every religion and faith I could, to warp and twist them against each other. I had agents play pivotal roles in various governments, and ensured that my name would be erased from history through forceful conversion and erasure. I wasn't fully successful in removing my historical presence, in part no doubt because of your own counters, but also because of the fact that human beings are stubborn. The only way to stamp out a belief is to kill everyone who follows it and ensure no one else can learn of it, and that, to my annoyance, was very much not successful."

"'The Elementals?', I'm sure you will ask next." Teremto continues. "I created them after extracting their initial eggs from powerful women I had ensnared. Helios came from my beloved Faye, Kaguya from a long-dead race of lunar aliens, Kyoki from a vicious mouth-slitting Samurai's wife, Degan from a Mermaid, Venus from a Siren, and Crith...he was different. For his creation, I lowered myself to indulge the will of a goddess, one who's names you've no doubt heard. She goes by many names, so the one I will use here is Zoxmera. She was all too pleased to hear my plan, and asked that I kill the other gods after my celebration, so I think you can imagine how it went...potentially. Regardless, I confess my plan was not one that needed thousands of years to happen in and of itself. I kept trying, over and over, to align the pieces in just the right way, but you and your posse always threw them off."

"But..." Teremto explains, looking on at Culian's increasingly enraged glare with a small smile. "...by swallowing my pride, and allowing the goddess most similar to me in on the plan, I had created the instrument of destruction. I had already planned this a few years prior, so I ensured that Adam Troy Ross and Hector Kirkland would be the way they were, and then...I ensured that Dracula would have a daughter, and that daughter would interact with Adam, pique his curiosity...and give into wrath. It was because of their cycle of hatred that the events of the past few years were set into motion, and all you could do was watch and wait for me to once again reveal myself and my next set of pieces. But you already knew it was too late, didn't you? When Charlotte died in Hell, its energies surged into her, and she was reborn as the monster who, along with my children and cultists, would feed me power."

"And was it also your intention that she attack her friends?" Culian demands. "Was that you controlling her?" "I'm afraid not, I don't know who it was inside her head." Teremto answers flatly. "Regardless, as I have now explained, once Crith was born, I knew these few decades would be when I was finally able to achieve a power beyond that of the Gods themselves. I no longer have any need for any of you, and so, as celebration of my victory, I shall wipe out your pitiful species. *Slowly*." "You're human, too!" Culian roars. "No matter how much you change your apperance, no matter how depraved you become, you are still *human*! Many others exist who are exactly like you in mind, they don't go to lengths such as these to reject their humanity!" "They had the ambition." Teremto retorts. "They merely lacked the power. But I did have said power, and have achieved said desire. Now, let's end this."

Sabrina was cradling Crith in her arms, terrified at whatever had just happened, and desperately trying to feel a pulse. Charlotte, meanwhile, was holding her head in pain, having awoken and mostly healed. "Dammit..." She groans. "...what happened? Is Teremto down?" "...No..." Khaldun whispers. "We took care the Elementals, but we were too late to stop Teremto himself. Whatever he's done, he took all the power from them, along with that form you took to finish Crith and Degan off. Culian's already left to confront him, but...I don't think he can stop him alone." "Then what are we waiting for?!" Charlotte roars, trying to stand up, but she immediately stumbles and falls, as Trevor catches her. "Please don't move right now!" He pleads. "Whatever that beam was, it sapped almost all of your energy!" "Your body is physically healed, but your Eletero is almost completely depleted." Khaldun clarifies.

"...I can't just sit here and do nothing..." She retorts, her voice trembling with anger. "I'm not just sitting by while the man who ruined all of our lives is running lose with that much power!" "We have to play this strategically!" Khaldun shouts. "Krincax' stasis bomb and Connor's soulfire are the quickest and easiest solution, we just need to disguise it as a regular bomb and Teremto won't pay any attention to it." "Khaldun, we have a bit of a problem!" Krincax shouts. "Apart from the fleet being trashed, I mean." "What is it, Krincax?" Khaldun demands, before he sees something in the sky, and his eyes widen in horror. "...No..." He breathes, his voice cracking as he began to tremble. "No, wait! We still have time!" "Khaldun?" Connor asks, as Epsilon blasts some rubble off himself while holding his chest in pain. "...We have to stop Teremto, *now*." Khaldun explains, shaking. "...Because Aphris is already here."

The sun shone down on the Earth, helping to cast the lunar eclipse, before it was suddenly blotted out, causing the moon to return to its normal color, and thus catching Teremto's eye. The massive pyramid-shaped space station settled into a geostationary orbit around the Earth, and opened up, revealing a spire that began to charge. Aphris looked down at the Earth, the sun behind him, before opening a transmission to every screen on Earth. "Hello, denizens of this planet." Aphris says. "A dangerous villain is about to become too powerful for our comfort, and so we will destroy your planet to stop him. You are free to leave the Earth if you have the resources, but I can promise you that no matter how many missiles you launch at this ship, all resistance...is *futile*. There is no stopping your fate now, so make peace with it, and allow this universe to be saved from the probable wrath of Teremto."

"No!" Trevor shouts. "We can't let this happen! There has to be something we can do!" "...Epsilon." Khaldun says. "You're coming with me to the Perditon Station." "I would gladly take out that pretentious wannabe..." Epsilon replies. "Our main objective is to destroy the station itself." Khaldun clarifies. "But if it comes down to knocking sense into Aphris, if such a thing is even possible, then so be it. Connor, you need to go help Culian out. With him backing you up, you should be able to back Teremto into a corner, and destroy his soul. With it gone, his body should cease functioning due to the fact that it's probably been decaying this whole time. In combination with a spell of Culian's his body and soul should be destroyed at once. Charlotte, when you regain your strength, you and Trevor'll help Connor and Culian against him." They all nod, as Connor leaves the island, and Khaldun and Epsilon look up.

Culian was avoiding massive plumes of fire and arcs of lightning, all red, from Teremto, before drawing a rune in the air to send his own massive blast at him. Teremto creates a portal in front of himself to suck the blast in, before changing it to blast it right back out, Culian looking on in shock before leaping over the blast, and being knocked forwards by the backblast of its colossal explosion! "Guh!" Culian grunts, right before he barely manages to duck under a swing from Teremto's spear-axe, the shockwave of the swing splitting mountains off their foundations. Teremto is quick to swing down, Culian leaping out of the way and attempting to draw another rune, but red lava erupts from beneath him, foring him to interrupt the spell and leap back, right as Teremto drives the spear part of his weapon towards him! Culian manages to dodge, as the spear-axe causes an earthquake on contact.

As Teremto pulls his weapon out of the ground with ease, he then spins it to block another blast from Culian, before swinging his weapon to create his own blast, this one red instead of green. Culian manages to dodge, as the blast continues outwards, and hits one of the 'stars' in the sky, causing it to glow bright red before vanishing! "Jupiter..." Culian breathes, right as he is blasted through what remains of a mountain by a wave of red solar energy, roaring in pain and quickly applying a rune to his own body to heal himself. He just barely manages to roll out of the way of Teremto's next slash, and thus avoid being decapitated, as he drives his blade through the former General's heart, Teremto only grinning wickedly as he grabs the blade and snaps it in half! "No!" Culian roars, before he is blasted back by a gust of wind, and sent tumbling across the landscape, getting more and more cuts.

"You are delusional to think you can defeat me, now." Teremto sneers, pointing his weapon into the air while glaring at Culian. "I now contain the power of not only my Elementals, but also of my entire cult, and most importantly of that form Charlotte had taken. 'Crescent Princess', shall we call it for now? It won't really matter, soon..." "Keep...talking..." Culian groans, as he uses a dagger to draw a rune on his sword and thus repair it, right before he sees a tornado crackling with red lightning and rushing at him! He tries to run from it and send blast after blast at Teremto, but the Elementals' creator blocks the blasts with forcefields before increasing the size and speed of the tornado. Culian roars in shock as he is hit by it and tossed around, as ice shards and strings of flame hit him simultaneously. He barely manages to draw another rune, which causes the tornado to slow down and dissipate.

As Culian is catching his breath, he sees a massive wave of fire, lightning and lava rush at him, and is quick to leap over it, right as a powerful gust of wind, filled with tiny ice and rock shards, hits him, blasting him into another mountain's foundation and causing massive cuts all across his body, while almost immediately eroding the mountain base into a hill. Teremto then spins his staff to create a ring of blood-red water around it, and points the weapon at Culian to send the water at him in a massive spinning pillar, Culian barely leaping to the side as the water cores through the hill and barely misses the moon. Before Culian can fully process what just happened, he roars in pain, as he had just been impaled in the stomach by Teremto's ice-covered knee, and kicked to the ground. "Give up now, Culian." Teremto demands, before they both see Connor arrive. "Ah...welcome." Teremto mocks.

Khaldun and Epsilon had been taking out Star-C soldiers, Khaldun trying to be as non-lethal about it as possible, as they then bust down the door to the massive Command Center of the Perdition Station, and see Aphris standing at the window, hands behind his back, looking on at the latest planet in his crosshairs. "I know you both are there, Felix." Aphris states, his back still turned towards them. "Do not bother trying to shut the station down, I locked *all* of us out by having the computer automatically change its password every femtosecond. "We're fighting Teremto right now!" Khaldun roars. "You have to give us more time!" "With how powerful Teremto has become, you wouldn't be able to destroy his body even if you can destroy his soul." Aphris retorts. "If this station does not kill him, he *will* become another Omicron, and we can barely hold our own against *one*. We have no choice."

"We always have a choice!" Khaldun shouts back. "Star-C has no trust in the heroes of this planet, and I can see that, but I DO trust them! I trust that they have what it takes to stop Teremto WITHOUT killing the only planet in the entire universe that still HAS a civilization living on it! What's the POINT in stopping Teremto when we no longer have anything to PROTECT?!" "There will still be something to protect." Aphris corrects. "*Ourselves*. We tried to be a galactic peacekeeping organization, but now it is just us, the Crocatoan, that damned robot, and these humans. We need to do what we must to survive, and that means following instructions to the letter, even if it hurts." "It doesn't hurt for you." Epsilon retorts. "To you, this is just business, these humans aren't a civilization of flesh and blood beings with thoughts, emotions, and souls, they're a roadblock to *your* species' glory, *your* prosperity!"

Aphris merely glares viciously at Epsilon upon hearing this.

"You can't be reasoned with, Lanrete." Epsilon growls, getting into a fighting position. "You must be taken out right along with this station if this world is to survive."

Before either of them can react, Aphris is upon Episilon, kicking him across the room and creating a shockwave that blasts Khaldun back as he does so! Neither of them are even able to hit the ground as Aphris had grabbed both of them by their legs, and then throws them into the ceiling hard enough to shake the entire station. As they both fall out, Aphris punches them both in their guts, sending them into a wall hard enough to create sizeable dents in it. As he goes to throw a punch at Epsilon, the Crocatoid skips time to appear behind Aphris and throw a punch at him, but Aphris catches Epsilon's wrist, and crushes it. "ARGH!!!" Epsilon roars, as he is blasted in the stomach by the World Cleanser. "You are far too predictable for your ability to be a real threat to me, *Crocatoid*." Aphris growls, as he catches a punch from Khaldun's bionic arm and then takes a blast from it point-blank, unscathed!

"Gh!" Khaldun barely has time to grunt, as Aphris tears his arm clean off and kicks him to the ground! Khaldun held where his arm was in pain, seeing Aphris crumple the prosthetic into a ball of scrap metal before tossing it aside and blocking a punch from Epsilon with the same forearm he had just tossed the former arm aside with. Epsilon is quick to blast at Aphris, but Aphris just dodges or deflects the blasts before kneeing the Crocatoid in the chest, sending him into the window hard enough to crack it, before preparing to fire his own blast at him. Khaldun fires at Aphris from behind, but Aphris just takes the shots before whirling around to sling the blast at him! Khaldun, in brief horror, just barely manages to avoid the blast, as it creates a massive explosion that just barely doesn't hit the control panel but does leave a sizeable hole in that room and the rooms above, around and below it!

Right as Khaldun process what happens, Aphris hits him with an ankle to the back of the head, forcing him face-first into the floor, before grabbing him by the leg, slamming him into the ground again, and tossing him into a wall. Epsilon had attempted a kick on the World Cleanser, but he just blocked the kick with the same forearm as before, and grabbed Epsilon's ankle with his other hand to throw him into the ceiling again, before blasting at him. Epsilon manages to dodge via timeskip, but the blast chews through the entire upper half of the Perdition Station, as its shining purple light could be seen from the side of Earth the station was facing. Khaldun tries to slash Aphris with his Khopesh, but Aphris just catches the blade in his hand before snapping it off the grip and slashing Khaldun in the chest with it, causing green blood to fly out of the wound. Khaldun roars in pain and stumbles back.

Aphris Tosses the blade behind him into Epsilon's stomach, and charges up another blast to fire at Khaldun, who narrowly dodges before running towards the console. "I told you, you cannot override it." Aphris retorts, preparing another blast. Khaldun is quick to leap over this one, as it hits the console, and destroys it...yet the Perdition Station's Strange Quark Beam was still charging up! "Dammit!" Khaldun roars, before he is grabbed by the neck and slammed into the ground, then kicked in the face and sent flying. "Did you think it would not have a backup internal computer?" Aphris demands, before he sees Khaldun press a button on a detonator, and hears beeping from behind him, realizing Epsilon must have timeskipped a bomb onto his back. He attempts to reach toward it, but it wasn't anatomically possible, right as the bomb explodes, enveloping the World Cleanser in flame.

Teremto unleashes a massive blast of electricity at Connor, who is quick to block it as he is pushed back and then blasted into the air by a lava geyser. As Teremto goes to slash at him, he is kicked in the side of the head by Faye, and sent flying. The former General almost immediately rights himself, and slashes at Faye with airblades, causing her to roar in pain before she is blasted by solar energy back to the ground, leaving her severely burned. "You truly think you can kill a being beyond the Gods, boy?" Teremto demands, pointing the speartip of his weapon at Connor, who only glared at him in response. "You are a fool if you truly believe you've become a being like that, Teremto." The warrior retorts, turning his arms into scythe blades and slashing at Teremto, who is quick to block them before erupting a concentrated blast of flame and wind at Connor's stomach, blasting him back.

"Argh..." Culian groans, healing his wound with another rune as he looks on at the three. Teremto twirls his staff to block another kick from the regenerating Faye, before wrapping a whip of air around her ankle to swing her into Connor, sending them both into a hill. Culian is quick to send another massive blast at Teremto, but the Elementals' creator immediately dissipates it before unleashing his own blast, ten times larger than Culian's! Connor leaps in front of him to take the hit, as the explosion resembled a colossal version of a nuclear blast which engulfed almost all of Ireland and reached into the Exosphere! The smoke clears to reveal a green barrier covering most of the country, a barrier which soon dissipates as Culian collapses again. "YOU'RE NOT DESTROYING OUR HOME, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!!!" Faye roars, throwing a punch at Teremto, who blasts her back.

Faye lands on her feet, as the ground she landed on grips onto her ankles to keep her there! "Grrrh!" She growls, as the ground turns into a superheated quicksand to pull her in. Culian manages to blast the ground to free her, before Teremto appears before him and swings his poleaxe down at him! Connor manages to block the slash, before erupting in a blue flame. Teremto's eyes widen in shock at this, as he leaps back and uses a lunar barrier to block the fire from hitting him, then blasting Connor away with a flaming tornado, and encasing him in ice that looked like it was frozen blood. "...So you came here because you can now unleash Soulfire..." Teremto muses, grimacing. "...This will be a more irritating celebration than I intended." Connor bursts himself out of the ice and sends a massive sledgehammer at Teremto, who blocks with the poleaxe before creating a tornado of ice shards.

Connor blocks the ice, but is then slashed by a blade of Sotet Eletero, not long after slashed by blades of lava, metal, ice, wind, and lunar energy. Right as he finishes deflecting those, a massive beam of solar energy hits him, scorching his eyes! "ARGH!!!" He screams in pain, as Teremto appears behind him and sends him to the ground by slashing him with his poleaxe. Before he can go to stab Connor with it, Culian manages to blast him back. Grunting in slight pain, the Elementals' Creator blocks the next blast and erupts a wave of lava from beneath Culian, forcing him in by dramatically increasing the air pressure! "CULIAN!!!" Faye screams, as she grabs Teremto by the throat and crushes it. Teremto, however, merely slashes Faye across the stomach with a blade of red crystal, which, upon just completing the cut, explodes and blasts her to the ground, where Charlotte, Trevor and Sabrina arrived.

"Ah...more of you." Teremto remarks with a cruel smile. "Perfect...*all* my pawns shall perish, tonight."

Khaldun and Epsilon looked on for a moment at the cloud of smoke, before it slowly dissipated, and they could see the glowing purple eyes of Aphris' suit. Right then, a blast is fired right through Khaldun's side! "GAH!!!!!" Khaldun roars, before he is grabbed by the throat and slammed into the same wall repeatedly! Aphris tosses him through the air, and blasts multiple beams of Kozmikus Eletero at Epsilon, who narrowly manages to avoid them as he blasts his own back. Aphris weaves, twirls and flips around most of them, but blocks the last few and rushes at Epsilon to throw a punch at him. Epsilon immediately skips time to try and deliver a blow to Aphris' neck, but Aphris whirls around and delivers a karate chop to Epsilon's neck, kneeing him in the stomach before he can even process that he was chopped as he is sent flying across the room and crashing into the same window with a yell.

Khaldun tries to fire at Aphris, but the World Cleanser deflects every last blast with his hand, grabs Khaldun's wrist, twists it around to dislocate it, and grabs the pistol, crushing it into a ball of scrap metal much like he did the arm, then palming Khaldun in the face to send him flying into a wall, blasting him through it soon after. Epsilon tries numerous punches and kicks to Aphris, but he blocks each and every last blow, before punching Epsilon in the throat and blasting him to the ground. Epsilon barely has time to yelp before he is kicked across the room and elbowed in the back, right then blasted up into the ceiling, grabbed by the wrist, and slammed into a wall himself. Aphris then blasts Epsilon repeatedly and continuously with a beam of Eletero, Epsilon screaming in pain as his chest was being molten through! But before Aphris could destroy his heart, he was blasted by lightning.

Khaldun and Epsilon both see Katsuragi land on the ground, electricity sparking around her. "Katsuragi...?" Khaldun breathes. "...wait...no...get out of here, you can't beat him!" "Says you!" Katsuragi replies. "I'll protect you, Khaldun, I pro--" Aphris grabs Katsuragi by the throat and tears it out before blasting her into a wall...but she regenerates and grins, right as she unleashes a massive beam of electricity at the World Cleanser! Aphris, grunting in annoyance, at first dodges the blast, but then cancels it out with a blast of his own. He swings a kick at Katsuragi, who dodges it before dodging a subsequent stomp and then slashing at Aphris with a double-chainsaw staff thing. Aphris blocks it with his forearm, before kicking Katsuragi in the chin to send her flying and swing his arm to send multiple blades of Eletero at her. She just manages to deflect them by spinning her staff around.

However, Aphris is immediately upon her, grabbing her staff to snap half of it off and drive that half through her stomach. She manages to grunt in pain before she is grabbed by the face and tossed into the floor hard enough to create a dent. She manages to fly out before Aphris' stomp reaches her core, and unleashes more blasts of electricty at him, which he cancels out by waving his arm to create a massive blast of Eletero. He rushes through the smoke to deliver multiple punches and kicks to her, but she regenerated from it all and grabbed his wrist to send electricity through his body. "ARGH!!!" Aphris roars, as he unleashes a blast from his hand to destroy half her face, and then pulls the chainsaw out of her stomach to slice across her throat, chest, wrists and ankles. Katsuragi roars in pain, and tries to erupt electricity from herself, but Aphris deflects it to the window, breaking it!

The Perdition Station now sat in front of the once-more blood-red moon, watching over the battle in Ireland and still charging up its Strange Matter Beam. Teremto was deflecting Charlotte's blasts and blocking her slashes, while every bomb Trevor threw at him turned to dust with a thought. Sabrina slashes at the former General, who is quick to swing his poleaxe at her! She blocks with her shield and slashes at his arm, but he lets his arm be slashed and stabs right through the shield, almost getting to her stomach before she had leaped back! "Viata--" Charlotte starts, before her eyes widen and she leaps away from Teremto's attempted stab. The speartip of the poleaxe stabs into the ground with such force that it not only rips the tectonic plate Ireland is on from the crust, but also shatters said plate, sending all the mile-wide chunks upwards! "WOAH!!!!!" Trevor screams, trying to stay safe.

Teremto raises his staff into the air, causing lava to rush upwards and swirl into a violent torrent, aided by a tornado of fire and hail above it, and a cloud of steam and ash inside it! Culian rushes in at Teremto, having magically enhanced his speed as he stabs at the Elementals' Creator over and over. Teremto blocks only a few slashes, before he slashes Culian in the stomach to send him flying through a chunk of land hard enough to reduce it to dust. Culian's roars of pain are not heard over the howling wind and raging fires, as Teremto points two fingers at Charlotte to send a blast of lightning and pressurized air at her. She manages to block it, but the shockwave from the clash still sends her back, as she grunts in pain. As she opens her eyes after the attack, they widen in horror as she sees a massive beam of solar energy rush at her! Trevor tackles her out of the way, as the chunk is gone.

Teremto has the hurricane above open its eye, as a smaller supercell forms inside said eye and unleashes a storm of blood, hail and lava. As everyone tries to find cover, the former General creates thousands of crystal blades to send at them all, which Connor barely manages to catch. Teremto is quick to tap his staff on the ground of the chunk he was standing on, said chunk converting into steam tendrils which wrap around everyone's legs to pull them together. Teremto then has them become incased in an orb of Uranium, and makes it explode violently, watching as Connor had, once more, shielded everyone. Faye, roaring in pure fury, punches and kicks repeatedly at Teremto, but he blocks all of them and slashes her across the throat and stomach, grabbing her by the face. "You are nothing more than an obstacle now, my dear." Teremto mocks, erupting solar energy from his hand at her!

"TRANSA!!!!!" Charlotte roars, swinging her sword to send a massive Viatatransa at Teremto. He turns around just in time to be hit, as a Bokyaku hits him from behind, and Sabrina slashes at his chest. Teremto almost immedately recovers, and catches Sabrina's slash with his hand, right before he *devours what remained of the attacks*! "Wh-what?!" Trevor yells. "Fools..." Teremto growls, regenerating before he blasted them all back with wind and aura. "...I can consume souls, but I can also consume...Eletero." Teremto then stabs at Charlotte's wrist with his poleaxe to stop her attempted knife swing, before cutting her across the torso with it and blasting her back with a lunar orb that erupted into a powerful blastwave! "CHARLOTTE!!!!!" Trevor roars, as Teremto is immediately upon him, slashing him, too, by the torso, and then stabbing him through the diaphragm with Charlotte's knife!

"TREVOR!!!!!" Charlotte screams, as Teremto seemed to turn his attention towards the Perdition Station.

Khaldun had used his visor to save himself from suffocating, Aphris doing the same as he blocks slashes from Katsuragi's chainsaw blades. She twirls around like a ballerina, building up electric charge, before unleashing the massive blade-like wave of lightning at the World Cleanser, but he creates a blade of Eletero on his forearm and uses it to deflect her lightning, then slashing her across the chest and face with it faster than she could react! She attempts blasting him again, but he teleports behind her and sends her through the entire station with an Eletero Beam. "KATSURAGI!!!!" Khaldun roars, as he is slashed in the back by Aphris and screams in pain. Aphris then tears the jetpack off of Khaldun's suit and tosses it at the newly-up Epsilon. Epsilon attempts to timeskip away from it, but Aphris grabs him by the throat and slams the jetpack into him, blasting both for another explosion!

Then, Aphris sees hundreds of pieces of scrap metal rushing towards him, and creates a circle of Eletero to rush outwards at them and atomize them. Katsuragi appears behind Aphris to slash him in the back, and though he is sent forwards, he just flips and twirls through the air to land on his feet, not damaged by her strikes. "You have made this pitiful world an enemy of Star-C by fighting back!" Aphris roars. "As I told the Earthlings down below, RESISTANCE IS *FUTILE*!!!!!" "TELL IT TO SOMEONE WHO'LL BELIEVE YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!!!" Katsuragi retorts, lightning erupting around her body and from her eyes as her staves both form electric chainsaw blades around themselves. She immediately rushes at Aphris to slash at him, as he blocks the slashes with his Eletero blade and forms another to stab her chest. He had just barely missed her core, as she leaps back and glares angrily at him.

"Cydran are minions of that robot..." Aphris remarks. "...so many world-destroys, today." "You're one to talk..." Katsuragi growls, as her wounds were regenerating. She rushes at Aphris again, but while she was in the process of slashing, her arm was sliced off, and her torso was sliced open! She doesn't even have time to heal before her throat and eyes are slit and her leg is slashed off! "No!" Khaldun barely manages to scream, as Epsilon tries a kick to Aphris' head. The World Cleanser, however, just slices Epsilon's own leg off before stabbing him just shy of the heart. Katsuragi blasts a beam of electricity at Aphris from her other arm, but Aphris uses the Rogue Crocatoid as a shield before tossing him aside, pointing both his hands at Katsuragi, and charging up his own blast as she did for hers. "Ayahla Eaeihs." Aphris says angrily yet calmly, as they fire their blasts at each other and they clash.

"Charging at 98%." A computer voice says, as Khaldun listens in horror, both he and Epsilon being unable to move as they could only watch the beam struggle between Aphris and Katsuragi. "HOW 'BOUT I DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT!!!!!" She screams, as she began to absorb all the electricity from the Perdition Station, beginning to overpower Aphris' beam! "*What*?" Aphris growls, right before the beam hits him and blasts a massive hole through the entirety of the station! "DON'T MESS WITH KHALDUN!!!!!" Katsuragi bellows, electricity surging from her body. "AND DON'T MESS WITH MY HOME!!!!!" However, right then, a blade pierces her throat. From the smoke emerged Aphris, and though his suit was somewhat burned, he was otherwise *completely fine*! "...wh...wha...what..." Katsuragi breathes, struggling to speak as they all looked on in horror. "100% Charged." The Computer states.

"Fire." Aphris orders flatly, as all they could do was watch as the beam fired down at Earth!

Everyone down on Earth was watching the beam with complete, utter, and absolute terror, terror like which none of them had ever felt before. All of them stopped fighting Teremto, frozen in place as they saw the destruction of their home approach closer and closer, faster and faster. There wasn't time to evacuate, there wasn't time to stop, there might not even be time to say goodbye. The entire half of the world that saw the Perdition Station's Strange Matter Beam looked on in the same kind of terror that the heroes felt, as they screamed and panicked, pushing past each other to try and escape, even if they knew there was nowhere they could ever possibly go to flee if the entire planet was about to cease to exist! Then, through the minds of so many of these people, came the inevitable thought. When Scorpios had threatened the Earth, he did not put them in *nearly* as much peril...

Was this the galactic peacekeeping organization that was supposed to keep them all safe?! Was this their answer to a particularly dangerous villain on *every* world?! How many worlds were actually destroyed by the '*Crocatoan*' and not by Star-C *themselves*?!

Aphris looked down at the world, almost in disgust, as he watched the beam grow closer and closer to where Ireland, to where the entirety of Eurasia, the Atlantic and much of the Americas, had used to be. His mission was complete, there would not be another Omicron, and these three unlikely allies weren't able to complicate the matter in any egregious way, as all three of them watched in upmost horror, fury, and despair.

Everyone was terrified, everyone truly thought this was the end.

Everyone...but Teremto.

"...So they would destroy this world I planned for *thousands* of years to rule..." The former General growls. "...Star-C have made themselves my enemy on this very day."

He creates a vaccuum to pull all the Strange Matter into a ball, before converting all of it into a mess of superheated matter. Aphris, everyone, looked on in shock, as the Elemental's Creator sends the beam *directly back at the Perdition Station*! "No!" Aphris roars. "NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Katsuragi grabbed Khaldun and Epsilon, and, right as she rushed towards the nearest non-window exit...the blast hit, and the station exploded in a truly massive blast that drowned out the Sun just as much as it drowned out all the other stars! Debris almost immediately began crashing into Earth, along with the moon, each piece creating an explosion comperable to the most powerful nuclear weapon upon impact with either! Everyone watched, even more horrified than before, right before Teremto repairs the atmosphere, and turns towards the heroes, all of whom were now practically in shock.

Aphris was floating in what little wreckage of the Perdition Station actually remained in orbit, as Khaldun, Epsilon, and Katsuragi were near him, still shocked from what had just happened. "...Go..." Aphris said weakly through telepathy. "...now...you and your...friends are...the only hope...left..."

"...khaldun..." Trevor breathes. "...epsilon..." "Ah, finally I can focus on all of you." Teremto remarks, right before Connor slashes him across the torso and kicks him back. Teremto regenerates, and swings his axe at Connor to create a shockwave filled with fire, hail and solar energy at them, but Connor shields them all and keeps slashing at Teremto. The Elementals' Creator growls and traps Connor in cuffs made from air, before bombarding him with fire, lightning and radiation and creating a box made from lunar energy around him. Charlotte kicks Teremto from behind, now once again in the Third Stage of her Bloodlust State, before unleashing a beam of Eletero at him. Teremto just consumes the Eletero, and forces Charlotte to the ground with his control over air. As Connor breakes out of the box and rushes at Teremto again, they all look up to see a massive meteor filled with red crystals!

"Perish, fools." Teremto sneers, having the meteor crash down at them, but Connor and Charlotte slash through it, leaping from fragment to fragment to get closer and closer to the former General. Teremto groans in anger and slashes at them both with his poleaxe, but they manage to block it and slash at his chest, face and arms. As Teremto once more regenerates and unleashes a blast of Sotet Eletero from his entire body, Charlotte manages to slash the bladed part of his weapon off, but right as Connor begins to summon more Soulfire, Teremto teleports behind them in a cloud of smoke and blasts them both with jets of ultra-compressed steam! As they hit the ground, Teremto turns it into lava to bury them, right before bending lightning from Katsuragi away from himself. "TAKE IT, UGLY!!!" She roars, right before Teremto is upon her, driving a blade of red crystal directly into her skull!

"Katsuragi..." Khaldun weakly pleads, as Epsilon had sluggishly tried to blast at the Elementals' Creator. Teremto consumes the blast, right before he is hit with another Viatatransa, and then slashed repeatedly by Charlotte. He forms another crystal blade to block the slashes, soon disarming Charlotte of her sword before stabbing into her chest! "G-GUH!!!!!" The Vampire Queen roars, as Teremto grabs her by the neck and and begins constricting her windpipe! "I have become a being beyond the Gods, girl." Teremto growls. "None of you *ever* stood the *slimmest* of chances against me!" And then, Teremto opened his mouth wide, devouring Charlotte's Eletero...*and beginning to do the same to her soul*! "CHARLOTTE!!!!!!!!!" Trevor screams, right before vomitting up blood! Teremto then holds up his other hand, beginning to gather a ball of air into it...*from their breath and the air around them*!

"Nearly every single one of you only ever existed because I required it..." The former General sneers. "...and as you have all lost your uses, you will all end...*because I will it so*." Everyone was beginning to suffocate from the lack of air, still bleeding out from all their wounds and suffering from burns, all they could do was watch as Teremto continued to eat away at Charlotte's soul. Charlotte could feel herself growing weaker, slipping away, and as Teremto was in the process of consuming her energy, she knew she was not going to be able to achieve another state of power in time. *"...Trevor..."* She thought, closing her tearing-up eyes. *"...I'm so...so sorry...that I brought you all into all this..."* However, just before she felt herself lost completely, Teremto is stabbed from behind by Connor! "ARGH!!!!!" Teremto roars, tossing Charlotte aside as air returned to them all. "And what is your plan, now?!"

"You already know!" Connor retorts, as his entire suit and eyes erupt in the blue flames, the Soulfire! They all watch as Teremto is engulfed in it, and it began to spread outwards. "HARRRRRRRRRGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The Elementals' Creator screams. "DO YOU THINK THIS WILL BE ENOUGH?!?!?! WHEN I HAVE THE BODY OF A GOD?!?!?!?!?! HOW WILL YOU FULLY DESTROY ME WHEN WE ALREADY KNOW YOU CANNOT MATCH MY LEVEL OF POWER?!?!?!?!?!" "There's one thing you forgot..." Culian replies, standing back up as he had healed his own wounds, now pointing his sword at Teremto. "...he's not the only one who's been planning to take you down." Teremto glared down at Culian with such ferocity that he seemed more like a wild animal than any sort of sentient being. "Connor is the one who will destroy your soul through divine judgement..." Culian explains. "...but *my* spell, will destroy your *body*!"

"GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Teremto screams, as green runes appear all over his body and begin turning it to stone. Everyone looks on in the display, as Connor's eyes only glew brighter. "Csaelan Ó Síoghraidh!" He roared in hundreds, thousands, of distinct voices! "Your crimes against all of humanity, against all of life, have not gone unnoticed, and shall not go unpunished!" "AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGH!!!!" Csaelan continues to scream, as the Soulfire dissipated, having done its job as the former General's body continued to turn to stone. "All of you are fools..." Csaelan growls. "...to think yourselves heroes." "Save your words." Sabrina retorts, standing on her shield to stay in the air as she wielded her sword with both hands. "There's nothing you can say to manipulate us anymore." Csaelan only glared in response. "Goodbye...Csaelan." Culian says.

"...Goodbye...Culian Ó Dáithí." Csaelan replies bitterly, as the last of his body turns into stone. "This is for my father, for my friends!" Sabrina roars, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "...for Crith, and for everyone you have ever hurt." And at that, she slices Csaelan in two, and his petrified body cracks and crumbles into dust and pebbles, the moon just then changing from a blood red to a cool blue. Connor and Sabrina landed on the ground, as Culian sighed in relief, and began to heal everyone's wounds, including those of the unconscious and dying Daniel's. "Finally..." Faye remarks. "...he's finally gone." "...But he took Ireland...most of the world...with him..." Culian replies, closing his eyes solemnly. "...Crith!" Sabrina shouts, rushing back towards Reledgard as they all watched for a moment, before following, Culian and Faye once more looking on at their home before then.

"Crith!" Sabrina yells, running over to Crith and gently holding him close to her. For a moment, nothing, and then, Crith slowly and weakly opened his eyes. "...S...Sabrina..." He whispers, as she smiles tearfully and held him closer, leaning her head onto his. "...I'm...sorry about what happened with Aphris..." Connor says to Khaldun, who only sighs. "...Hopefully, things can start changing in Star-C." Khaldun replies. "I might have to go back to them for a while, to get everything sorted out." "I'm coming with you." Katsuragi chimes in, Espilon nodding in agreement. "...Alright, fine." Khaldun replies a bit jokingly. "Just please don't cause any more trouble than's needed." Charlotte and Trevor smile, before leaning into each other. They had finally defeated the man responsible for so much of what they went through. "What will you do?" Connor asks Culian and Faye, as the look at the moon.

"...We're not sure, yet." Culian answers. "We've suffered from Csaelan's actions for so long that it's...really been impossible to think of anything to do afterwards." "But I'm sure we'll think of something." Faye adds. "Honestly, I would just love to be back on the farms with Culian...to play and laugh in the greenest of lands once again..." The two of them then hugged, before Connor walked over to Rosette, and hugged her. "Connor..." She whispers happily, hugging him back. "We did it, Rose." Connor says. "We finally beat him." "Heh...I just wish I could've been there to sock him in the face." She replies, while Daniel sat down, deep in thought with a pained look in his eyes. "We're so sorry for your loss, Sir." Trevor says, as Daniel puts his hand on his forehead and sighs heavily. "...I...I still need to process all this..." He replies weakly. "...but...thank you, Trevor...you guys have come so far since Chaemirah."

"What do you say we get back to Killeen?" Rosette asks. As Charlotte, Trevor, Connor, Rosette, Sabrina and Crith nod in agreement.

## Epilogue

Trevor woke up to the sound of birds chirping and the light of the sun having risen. Beside him was Charlotte, holding him close as she continued to sleep for a bit. He smiled happily, and leaned into her, before he felt her stirr. She had now woken up as well, and smiles back at him.

They walk down the stairs, and into the kitchen, where sat Connor, Rosette, Sabrina and Crith, who was now wearing warm shades of green and brown, the red lines once prominently running down his cheeks now completely gone. And even more wonderful to see, he was smiling a bit!

"How have you guys been?" Trevor asks. "We've been really good!" Sabrina replies with a grin. "Crith and I have been trying so many new things, and therapy has been going great!" "They say I'm very lucky to have a support system like all of you..." Crith adds meekly, brushing his hair more across his face and smiling a bit more. "I feel like Killeen's been a much safer town for a few weeks, now." Connor remarks. "Not a lot of crime or villainy." "Town?" Rosette asks. "This place is a city, now! With skyscrapers and everything!" "I feel a lot better now, too." Charlotte says. "I finally feel like I have control over my life." "I know the feeling." Crith replies, half-joking, half-not. "I'm so glad to see you're all still friends!" Vannessa butts in, placing plates of pancakes on the table for them to eat. With almost all of the threats they knew about definitely taken care of, they felt their could relax for a little bit.

"...Oh, right!" Trevor shouts. "Today's the graduation!"

After frantically packing their things, they waited for the bus. As had happened so long before, Trevor and Charlotte sat together, Charlotte leaning against him as they both smiled.

"Akina Kitamura."

"Here."

"Wen Kuo."

"Here."

"Azad İlqaroğlu."

"Here."

"Wanda De Blase."

"Present."

"Noelle Rosette."

"Here."

"Sabrina Kirkland."

"Here."

"Danilbek Machacek"

"Here."

"Crith Cruine."

"Here!" Crith shouts, very much emotional this time around.

"Connor Zelinger."

"Here."

"Khaldun Georgas."

"Here." Khaldun says, having just entered.

"Charlotte Nechita."

"Here."

"Trevor Dillard."

"I'm here!" Trevor replies, without hesitation this time.

"Three years ago today, Meneo Rossini enlisted you all into Reaper High." Culian says, Faye, Daniel, Maria, Coffey, Lawson and Marshall stood beside him, banners of Austin Summers and Marko Hartmann clear to see for all. "For three years, you battled valiantly against so many different villains. You defeated Beta's scout force and Adam's machinations, you stopped Scorpios' robot, and you saved this world from the wrath of Star-C...and the game of Csaelan. Perhaps not all of you started this way, but as far as I am concerned, every single person who is currently in this room, is a hero, and that is saying the least of it." Charlotte smiled upon hearing this. For so long, she had seen herself as nothing but a monster, a force that killed everything she touched. But thanks to her friends, to those she was trying to protect, to Trevor, she felt she had atoned for it all, and finally, truly, defeated Adam.

Trevor smiled as well, when he had first come to this school, he didn't think he would amount to much, and Kevin didn't help with that, but he had made friends, found love, and saved the world so many times. Now, he really, truly, felt like the hero he always wanted to be.

Yet...he couldn't shake the memory of that dream he had, the dream that involved the pair of wings...