Magnus: Sorry for taking so long, here goes the new chapter, this time with the end of a kingdom, and the demise of one bad guy, enjoy! And remember, Read and Review!

Disclaimer: We don't own anything but the original characters, most names are aliases, and anything the seems to be identical to reality is mere coincidence. Mentions about Final Fantasy Tactics and other games or animes are just minor crossovers

Chapter 24

The fall of the kingdom

"A man who works for the good of his people, and the stability of the land, is a King. A man who makes others work for his pleasure and comfort, not caring for the land and it's well being, is a Tyrant… A man who is a King for his people, and makes himself look like a Tyrant for the rest of the world, is an Emperor" –Mark Hunter-

Agrias and Boco were running on the hallways, there were way too many rooms to check, and they lacked the time to do so, they will have to decide, and soon, while hoping to not chose wrong

"Were to? The dungeons? The master bedroom? The torture chamber?" Agrias asked while running aimless

"Do we have a torture chamber?" Boco asked, and Agrias had to fight the urge to face fault

"YOU ARE NOT HELPING!" Agrias shouted, although didn't stop running

Meanwhile, outside the castle

The clash of mystic metals sounded all the way from the castle gates to the city wall, it wasn't like the clash of mere swords, but like the sound of the thunder, strong and ominous.

"Damn it! You can't be that strong!" Celia shouted, this was more than a challenge. This man was giving her hell

"Of course not. I'M FAR STRONGER!" Illidan shouted, while bringing Anathar down on Celia, who barely had time to block with her small blade, she managed to not fall, but the concrete at her feet was destroyed

"If you think I'm weak, you are wrong" Celia said, holding her ground against the massive strength that Illidan had

"Then show it!" Illidan shouted, while kicking her away, just to follow after her

"Damn it, at this rate I will have to show my true form…" Celia muttered, while rolling to the side to prevent being beheaded

At the same time, inside the castle…

"ORA!" Shadow shouted, kicking the shield away from Dycerag, who began to lose his temper

"You insolent brat! I'll have your head decorating the gate of my castle!" Dycerag shouted, while trying to behead Shadow, who ducked the blow, and used the momentum to jump and make an spinning kick to the face of the lord, who went all the way to the floor

"The likes of you will never beat me. You've hurt Ramza, and for that, MY FISTS WILL RAIN OVER YOU WITH FURIOUS JUSTICE!" Shadow shouted, he was incensed, thinking on all the hell his precious Ramza could have suffered during the night

"A pro pokegirl-rights person, how amusing. The likes of you are nothing but betrayers to mankind. Pokegirls are nothing but the bane of mankind, giving them rights, recognizing them as sentient, then they will destroy us just as Sukebe wanted, eliminating mankind from earth's face, and supplanting us with these sex toys" Dycerag said while rising to his feet, hoping to make Shadow angry, forcing him out of focus

"BASTARD!" Shadow shouted, darting against Dycerag, who grinned for his tactic seemed to work just fine. Dycerag tried to intercept Shadow with a beheading slash, but Shadow, out of adrenaline, managed to react and punch Dycerag in the hand that was carrying the sword, thus, punching away the deadly sword

'THAT WAS CLOSE!' Shadow screamed on his mind, but refrained to say it aloud, for Dycerag had a face of shock that recognized him as a true master of the martial arts… the battle was about to become a one sided one.

Meanwhile in the basement…

The battle, while slower than the others, was not less intense. Mark and Zetsumi were slowly circling Lettie, who didn't let down her guard… it was as if she was facing the ultimate predators, one step wrong, and she will be a goner

"What's wrong? Can't take on a little girl?" Lettie tried to taunt them, but they were unfazed

"You know, if you don't take out your pokegirls, you won't really stand a chance" Lettie said now, with a truly serious voice, but there was no reaction

"Now?" Zetsumi asked, earning the attention of the demon in disguise

"Now" Was Mark lone reply, and as one, they charged against Lettie

Lettie tried her best to deflect both sword users, her small blade resisted well, but both attackers were relentless, and had a terrifying accuracy. It was a scary pattern, first Mark would attack with an horizontal slash, just for Lettie to block it, this was followed by Zetsumi's glaive in a downward slicing motion, which gave Lettie no room to counter attack, but to block. She was about to try to get some room or to try to attack, but then Mark would slash again, starting the pattern, it was repetitive, but there was no room for errors or trying anything at all.

'I can't believe that two humans are giving me this much trouble!' Lettie thought, trying to not miss any of the steps to remain in one piece, not noticing that they were getting near the slavery orb

'Come on! Take out your pokegirls, so I can turn them against you!' Lettie gave a desperate thought, the orb was there to turn any pokegirl against her tamer, so the vaults could be safe, it also prevented all the Ghostlies to reach the place… and it was linked to the sisters, allowing them to remain beautiful, young and strong

The deadly dance remained the same, blocking attacks in perfect timing, it had turned repetitive, so much that her body went into autopilot, so she could think in a way to outsmart the warriors, so much was her focus, that she failed to notice the lack of an horizontal attack…

CRACK!

Mark was over the orb, Elexorien was embedded into the orb, which was cracked… and the cracks were spreading at an alarming rate…

"What have you done? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Lettie shouted in rage

"Making use of your lack of brain" Mark deadpanned

"What?" Lettie suddenly asked

"You never were the target, only an obstacle" Zetsumi said, although he had to admit that he didn't know what the true target was… not that he would say that aloud

"Do you have an idea on what have you done?" Lettie asked in an ominous voice

"Enlighten us" Zetsumi said offhandedly

"You've just condemned this kingdom, every living being, even the pokegirls you so much try to protect, the Zombabes will ravage everything in their way, and it'll be all your fault" Lettie explained, while looking at the Zombabes that were entering the chamber

"They are the least of your troubles" Mark suddenly said, with the orb finally shattering and going dull. Mark's eyes gleamed with evilness that not even Zetsumi recognized

"You… don't care about them at all, do you?" Lettie asked, falling in the realization that this man was in another level of thought process

Mark placed the tip of his sword on the floor, while holding the grip with his right hand. He moved his left hand to the edge that meets with the hilt, and then applied pressure to make himself bleed. The blood, while little, reached to the floor, and then, much to the horror of the witnesses, Ghostlies began to come out of the floor, as if being summoned… only Lettie understood how dangerous was this.

"Rise, penitent souls of the damned.

Rise and greet the one who is responsible for your unending suffering.

Rise and unleash you fury on the evil living.

RISE!"

Mark ordered, and then the basement got filled with Ghostlies… who quickly found in the Zombabes the bodies they once occupied in life…

"Aw, shit!" Zetsumi and Lettie shouted at the same time, for they watched hopelessly how the mostly harmless Ghostlies evolved…

BANSHEE, the Prosecuting Ghost Pokégirl
Type: Inhumanoid
Element: Ghost/Flying
Frequency: Rare (All Leagues)
Diet: Unknown
Role: Revenge
Libido: None
Strong Vs: Ghost, Psychic, Bug, Fighting
Weak Vs: Dark, Ghost, Electric, Rock, Magic
Attacks: Night Shade, Possess, Lure, Illusion, Fear Aura, Sprite, Ghost Blade, Haunted, Shadow 3, Invis 3, Wailing(*), Cacophony(**)
Enhancements: N/A
Evolves: N/A
Evolves From: Ghostly (Discovering own body or murdered body of loved ones), Rooder (Failing the Trial)

Lettie knew in that moment, that she was screwed. One pokegirl was no match for her, a dozen pokegirls would fall before her without breaking a sweat… But hundreds of enraged Bashees?

The Banshees in question immediately began to rip apart their bodies, for they wouldn't allow them to be Zombabes… that only enraged them more

"Ok… Mark, any way to make them not try to harm us?" Zetsumi asked, he could easily fight his way out, but he was also respectfulof the spirits

"Vengeful spirits of the penitent, hear now my command!" Mark shouted, and then all the Banshees turned to look at him, for a moment, just a moment, Zetsumi thought that he was going to be killed in the spot, but the Banshees gave him their undivided attention.

"The lords of this castle are the ones who have bind you to this place of suffering, but in order for me to break the chains the held you here, I have a small request for you" Mark continued, even Lettie was frozen on her spot, cursing herself for not finish this when she had the chance. Zetsumi for his part gave a breath of relief, for this would not become a large scale carnage as he feared… he was wrong…

"Search for Tsuruko, and bring me her head! And if she is not within the walls of this castle… BRING IT DOWN! LAVE NO STRUCTURE WITHOUT BREAKING IT! LEAVE NO STONE OVER STONE! TURN THIS CURSED PLACE TO DUST! AND BURN EVERY ROCK TO ASHES!" Mark shouted, and then the Banshees went berserk

"This is not worth it! I'm out of here!" Lettie shouted, and then jumped into the shadows, abandoning the castle, and returning to the demon realm

"Ok, this is taking a turn for the scariest" Zetsumi said as the banshees ran rampant, ignoring him at all, but obliterating the Zombabes before going to the castle

Inside the Castle…

Agrias and Boco kept running to the throne room, all in hopes of finding a clue where to start searching for Ramza. They managed to get to their destination, but only one started to search frantically…

"Quickly! We have to search for Master's whereabouts!" Agrias shouted as she started to search between the documents in a nearby table

"Agrias" Boco called, but Agrias was way too absorbed on her important task

"These bastards… I'm sure that they had to have written either where they left her or what they've done to her!" Agrias kept ranting, turning the table upside down and then darting to the nearby bookshelf

"Agrias?" Boco called again, but her call fell upon deaf ears

"I swear that after I'm done with this, I'll castrate every male in this kingdom. Bunch of pigs they are…" Agrias muttered in rage as she looked on the bookshelf… that was filled with magazines focused on how to break pokegirls

"AGRIAS!" Boco yelled this time, finally earning the attention of the zealous battle angel

"WHAT?" Agrias snaped, but Boco seemed unaffected, at least for now

"There is a pink pokeball in the throne" Boco stated, while signaling to the throne, where the love ball was resting

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Agrias shouted, while reaching for the ball, and Boco silently promised to take revenge. Agrias threw the pokeball to the ground to open it, and was rewarded by the image of her mater, fully clothed and seemingly undamaged… although she will have to make sure that she hasn't been touched by the elder Beoulves.

"OOOWWWWWW… My head hurts… Where am I? Where is Shadow?" Ramza asked on her normal girlish voice, too tired to try to sound like a male. Agrias was about to greet her, when Boco trampled over her, and tackled Ramza into a happy hug

"Master! I missed you so much! I was worried out of my mind!" Boco shouted between kisses, too happy for being again uder the care of her rightfully master. Agrias so much wanted to turn her into an stuffed animal right now, but duty was first

"Master, we have to get out of here. Illidan and… Shadow… are giving support in the shape of a diversion, so we can escape without finding resistance. Mr. Hunter and the Mystery Man went into the basement in order to demolish the castle… I'm afraid these two won't wait to make sure we are out of here before taking down this place, so we have to hurry!" Agrias reported, using a lot of despise to name the tamer that took away Ramza's virginity… and her own honor and pride

"Castle? Do you mean the Beoulve castle?" Ramza asked in utter shock and fear, and by seeing both Agrias and Boco nodding, she knew that things were about to go straight to hell

"And you said that Mark and Zetsumi went into the basement? That place is filled with Zombabes!" Ramza shouted, fearing the worse for the legendary tamer and the mysterious guy

"I seriously doubt that such obstacle would buy us enough time…" Agrias replied with dread on her voice, remembering the drive that Mark showed when telling his plan. Suddenly the castle trembled, it was only a second, but it was enough to make paintings and many other items fall to the ground, they didn't know if that was a warning, but they decided that time was not in their side

"As I said before, we have to hurry" Agrias repeated herself, and as if to put more pressure, a Banshee appeared from beneath the floor, making them flee at top speed

Dycerag was now laughing, for some time, Shadow has kept beating him in a very merciless way, until leaving his face disfigured and bloody, but with the first tremor, Shadow lost his balance a little, allowing Dycerag to take out a concealed dagger, and stabbing it on Shadow's shoulder

"Well, that's what you get for rising up against your superiors, a no name like you was simply fated to die by my hand. But since you dared to humiliate me, I'll do the same to you, I'll bring you into the dungeons, where I'll make you watch how I break that rebellious sibling of mine. I'll make you watch until she has no mind of her own, and then I'll make her rip off your heart from your chest… yes, that will do" Dycerag described his idea, seemingly unaware that Shadow was already overcoming the pain, and while he would not be able to use his right arm for the rest of the battle, he still had two good legs and one arm.

"I think I have a better Idea" Shadow said, while reaching for the dagger on his shoulder

"Oh?" Was Dycerag monosyllable reply, he could have reached for his sword, but he felt safe in front of the injured Shadow

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Shadow shouted in absolute rage, the mere idea of his beloved Ramza being tortured like that gave him much more strength than in every other fight he had before. Shadow delivered a brutal combo, one that could have him expelled from any tournament, first he delivered a full force kick to Dycerag's balls, lifting him in the air for an instant, then he made an spinning kick that sent the lord to the wall, from where he bounced due to the great force, just to be received by an axe kick to the top of his head, sending him face first to the ground. Shadow took off the dagger from his shoulder, he aimed it to the head of the elder Beoulve… but couldn't bring it down

"You are… a coward… a pitiful… excuse of… a man… you'll never… AAAARRRRGGGHHH!" Dycerag tried to keep talking, if only to buy some time to try to heal, but Shadow silenced him, by stabbing the dagger on one of his knees

"I may not be a murderer, but I'm not a coward. And unlike you, I'm a true man" Shadow said, and then started to walk away… just in time to see Boco running at top speed on her avian form, carrying Ramza and Agrias

"Ramza-hime!" Shadow shouted in pure happiness, ready to heal her of anything that the evil brother may have done to her. However that will have to wait, as he was violently grabbed by his injured arm, and dragged away in their mad rush. Shadow could have asked, but the girlish scream that Dycerag gave was a good indication to get a firm hold and not look back

Outside the castle…

Illidan and Celia were still fighting, but with every passing second, Illidan seemed to gain not only more strength, but also speed. At the beginning, it wasn't too hard to block Illidan's attacks, but with every passing second, Celia had to make more effort… until she was sent skidding a whole yard with a sudden strong slash, which finally shattered her tanto

"Damn it! What is that sword made of?" Celia shouted, unable to believe that her demonic weapon was now useless

"Power! Pure power! And I'm just warming up!" Illidan shouted, the rush of power was not fading at all, in fact, it was getting stronger with every passing second, and there was no sign of stopping, or even slowing down

"At this rate I will have to change to my true form. I'd hate to forfeit my beauty, but I can't let this human defeat me…" Celia muttered, hating Illidan with all her heart

"WWWHHHAAAAAAA!" A sudden scream emanated from a yellowish blur that crossed between Illidan and Celia, leaving them puzzled

"Damn that was fast!" Illidan said, looking in the direction that the yellow flash went

"I couldn't even recognize who or what it was" Celia conceded

"Celia, you will have to abandon your current battle, we have to leave" Zalbaag said, appearing out of nowhere

"Hey! This battle will only end after one of us is dead, so stay away, you old fossil" Illidan said to the lord, who turned to look at him without showing any kind of emotion

"I strongly advise you to flee immediately, should you want to live enough to have a rematch" Zalbaag said, and then Illidan widened his eyes as he recognized the guy in front of him

"You… I'LL KILL YOU!" Illidan shouted, and then changed into his unrestricted form. The tips of his silvery hair became purple, his eyes not only were of different colors, but they also glowed with a malefic light, and he even grew an inch of two in height, and expanded his muscles even more, then he charged, aiming to cleave the man in two with Anathar.

"You haven't changed at all since the last time we've met. You may have been the strongest being of your world, but your physical prowess means nothing against my magic!" Zalbaag declared as he raised a curtain of solidified darkness between him and the incoming Illidan.

"Watch out!" Celia shouted while tackling Zalbaag to the ground, just in time to save him from the massive sword that cut through the veil of darkness as it it were paper… although she had to pay an arm for her deed.

"DAMN YOU! ONE DAY I'LL BATHE IN YOUR BLOOD!" Celia shouted, and then from her back two demonic looking wings emerged, and she took flight along Zalbaag

"Don't take too long, sister. Come quickly to me at Devil's peak!" Celia called back at the castle, knowing that her sister will hear her

"I know I'm scary, but they have run like I was going to suck their souls!" Illidan said to himself with a dark chuckle, he was about to go into a full evil laughter, when the sounds of blood chilling screams of agony and death reached him… and the whole city

"What the…" Illidan began to rant, when another tremor took place, and the castle began to fall apart…

The towers, the walls, everything. Soon Illidan, as well as everyone in the city, understood why the castle was falling apart. Banshees by the thousands, attacking and destroying the castle and everything inside, fo every bit of it reminded them of their tormentors, so they were solely focused on making sure that there would be no stone over stone of the castle by the sunset

"Nice…" Illidan muttered at the show of absolute horror, knowing that the hearts of the people will be frozen in fear for decades to come… until one yell was heard… then he was sure of it…

"TSURUKO! WHERE ARE YOU, TSURUKO? I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN! I'LL DRINK YOUR BLOOD! I'LL EAT YOUR SOUL! AND THEN I'LL LEAVE YOUR FLESH TO BE EATEN BY THE WILD BEASTS OF THE EARTH, SKY AND SEA! TSURUKO!"

The people of Ivalice will NEVER forget this day…

Far away in a road that leads to God knows where…

Tsuruko was scared, she was currently looking in the direction she came from, her heart had just felt something that she had not feel in a long time. So many times she had killed either tamers or pokegirls, prompting the survivor to hate her, to hunt her down, so they can become stronger, making training dummies of them. This time however, she actually regretted doing so, for she sensed that she has just freed the Devil from his prison, a darkness far stronger than the one she wields, for she was forced to obey the darkness… while this darkness seemed to serve the one who called upon it. So her heart was filled with the only one feeling she promised to never feel again… FEAR.

"I… need to become stronger… soon…" Tsuruko muttered, and then began to walk again, faster, trying to not look behind her shoulder as she kept fleeing

Back at Ivalice…

It was the sunset now, and from the castle, only debris was left behind, a mere plain stone table was the only intact item that was left of the once imposing castle. The people of Ivalice were holed up on their homes, prying to all the goddesses that they weren't the next to suffer the horrible demise that the screams made them imagine, none of them aware that there was only one survivor left.

"I don't want to die! Please! I'll do everything you want! Just don't leave me with them!" Dycerag kept shouting, while being carried by some of the Banshees

"Then tell me where Tsuruko is" Mark commanded. The horde of Banshees watched with unholy interest, for some reason, they obeyed Mark… Thing that made the scene even more unnerving

"I… I don't know where she went…" Dycerag managed to reply

"Place him in the altar" Mark ordered, and then the Banshees placed him on the table, one Banshee getting hold of each of his limbs. Mark moved to be by his side, and then took out his cuter, and began to make small and painful cuts on Dycerag's body

"NO! WAIT! I KNOW WHERE SHE'LL BE! SHE'LL BE AT HINATA CITY ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, YOU CAN WAIT FOR HER THERE!" Dycerag shouted in a last attempt to not be offered to the Banshees

"Old knowledge have no value to me. Now you will be punished, for you have committed sins against Gaia. You have communed with the demons, and you have offered the lives of those who didn't belong to you, forcing their souls to penance and not returning to the earths embrace. Your sentence will be to forever penance among the ruins of your own doing, no one will hear you, no one will see you, no one will ever help you…" Mark stated, and then began to chant, painting circles and inscriptions on Dycerag's body, with the blood drawn with the cuter

The sun finally set on the horizon, at the same time that Dycerag gave his last breath. In that very moment, the stone table broke, leaving no stone over stone of the once beautiful Ivalice's castle. In that very moment, the banshees transcended, leaving behind their penitent state, and going to the light, every one of them waved thanks to Mark

"Well, he lived up to his word" Zetsumi suddenly said, earning Illidan's attention

"Huh?" Illidan grunted in puzzlement

"The day ended, and since he couldn't get a hold on Tsuruko's head, he completely destroyed the castle" Zetsumi explained, and then Illidan began to laugh. This too, will forever be written on Mark Hunter's legend…

Magnus: Well, there you go, I hope you've liked it, next chapter is the aftermath, see ya until then!