The group traveled through Road's door and appeared inside the Earl's Ark. It had been a while since Matt had spent any real time here. Last he remembered it was still being worked on by the Earl. Despite being functional there was still much work left to do. The layout of the Ark was very similar to the former Ark that the Order now possessed. However, the buildings had a more gothic design to them with a blend of stone and steel. The color of the buildings were also much darker than the light colors of the former Ark. Matt and his group arrived on the top level looking over everything. Behind them was a large cathedral-like building that towered into the artificial sky.

"Well this place is certainly a welcoming sight" Matt said somewhat sarcastically. While it was true the place had a grim feel to it, it was truelly an impressive sight to see.

"Yes, the Earl has been hard at work with Maitora in the construction" Sheryl pointed out.

"Maitora? I haven't heard from him in ages" said Matt.

"Well you do work through the Skulls. So I'm not surprised" Tyki added.

"And to think, it wasn't all that long ago that the Skulls were only used for menial chores" Sheryl remeniced.

"Yeah, who would've thought they would make such good scientists" Road agreed.

"Indeed" said Matt. As the stood there looking over the Ark they heard two voices yelling from behind them coming from the cathedral.

"Hey what took you all so long" a voice yelled out.

"Yeah! We've been waiting forever for you all to get here" yelled the other voice. The group turned around to see Jasdero and Devit walking towards them.

"Must you two always be so loud" Matt said to the two Noah.

"Seriously" Road agreed. "I don't think I've ever spoken to you two without either of you yelling about something." The twins didn't appreciate the comment from Road and Matt and began to yell at them about random things over the years and a few things that didn't seem coherant or thought through. Eventually Tyki had enough.

"Is there a reason why you two are out here" he asked, annoyed at the two.

"We were told to come get you" Jasdero said in a normal tone as he finished yelling at Matt.

"We were just about to come in" said Tyki.

"You took too long" Devit chimmed in.

"The Earl is waiting" said Jasdero

"Then lets not keep him waiting" said Sheryl. The two twins nodded and began to head back to the cathedral with the rest of them close behind.

The twins showed the group the way to where the Earl was waiting for them. Along the way though Matt ccouldn't help but notice just how similar the place was to an actual cathedral. The main room had high ceilings and was longer than it really needed to be, for what reason he didn't know. Outside of that room there were halls and halls of smaller rooms that probably held some sort of purpose but he didn't have time to go and explore the rooms.

Eventually they reached a large room with an equally large rectangled table in the middle of the room. Surrounding the table was 14 chairs and sitting at the end of the table was the Millenium Earl.

"Ah welcome back everyone" the Earl said obviously pleased with their arrival. "And a special welcome back to you Matt, it's been quite some time since we've last seen eah other hasn't it?"

"It has my lord" Matt said with a slight bow.

"I'm sure we will have time to talk later but we have business to discuss" said the Earl. "Would you all mind taking your seats" he gestured to the remaining open seats. Every seat was filled with a Noah and there was just enough open seats for them plus one extra. Matt scanned the table as he sat down searching for the missing Noah.

"My lord, where is Maitora" asked Matt. "I thought you called all the Noah here."

"Maitora is working on a special project for me" said the Earl. "A project that you will in time hear about."

"Alright then" said Road as she took her seat directly next to Matt. "So what's this all about?"

"Before we start, Matt could you have your akuma leave the room" asked the Earl. Lilly and Jynx were standing behind Matt on either side.

"Sure but why" Matt asked, confused.

"This is a Noah only meeting, you can tell them everything after we are finished." Matt didn't understand the Earl's logic but nodded and motioned the two to leave. They did so quietly.

"Right, onto business" said the Earl. "I've gathered you all here today because I belive it is time to launch our major assault on the Black Order's leadership." There were a few grumbles from the Noah.

"You do realize that most of the Order's high ranking officials are located in the Vatican correct" Sheryl asked.

"I am aware of that which is why we will be launching a full assault on the Vatican" said the Earl, the grumbles now audible complaints.

"You're kidding right" Matt asked. "Unless something has changed since I've been gone the Vatican is the most difficult location for us to assault. In fact I don't think we've ever successfully attacked there."

"Well, things have changed. The big one being we are nearly finished weaponizing the Ark."

"That's all good my lord but last time I checked our old Ark is positioned over the Vatican" Lulubell chimed in. "And they're using it's power to create a barrier around the place preventing a full scale assault."

"Not to mention Allen Walker can still create portals to the Ark thanks to his ability to control it" Sheryl also pointed out.

"All good points" said the Earl. "But that is exactly why Maitora is not hear right now. He is currently putting the finishing touches on a very specific weapon capable of punching a hole through the barriers they have set up."

"So what, we punch a hole in the barrier and charge through, there's still going to be a small army of finders and exorcists waiting for us" said Tyki. "And thanks to those artificial innocence they've created those finders will prove quite difficult to handle, especially for the akuma themselves."

"Not to mention in order to use the Ark we must remove the barrier hiding and protecting it, leaving it exposed to attack" Sheryl.

"So we all attack and what, the Order just ignores us and goes straight for the Ark" Road chimmed in.

"Now now everyone calm down I do have a plan here" said the Earl. "What you have all said are valid points but I have accounted for all of that. The goal of the mission is to destroy the Vatican and kill the leaders of the Black Order. As mentioned earlier, Maitora is finishing a weapon that will allow us access to the Vatican but doing so would leave us exposed. So we will need to split into two teams. One will stay here and defend the Ark while the second group will attack the Vatican on the ground."

"And who will lead these groups" asked Lulubell.

"I shall stay behind and lead the defense" said the Earl. "I am going to entrust the ground assault to Matt." Matt was a bit surprised by this.

"Me? Why me there are far better leaders here than myself" Matt protested. "Sheryl is more qualified, heck even Lulubell is a better tactcian than me, and probably a better leader too." Lulubell was surprised to hear anything resembling a compliment from Matt seeing as it is still assumed he still dislikes her. The compliment also surprised Road and Tyki.

"Perhaps" said the Earl. "But, who have a tendancy of stepping into the role on critical missions so I'm going to take my chances with you."

"Fine" Matt said reluctantly. "If only because I know I won't be able to change your mind."

"Good" the Earl said happily. "Now I will tell you what you'll be doing."

"Is there more to it" Matt asked. "Seems pretty straight forward."

"You and your group will be tasked with taking up the Order's attention while we use the Ark to destroy the Vatican."

"So we're distractions? Wonderful" Matt said sarcatically."

"Don't sound too upset" said the Earl. "You will be choosing your own team as well as access to the majority of the akuma we have available."

"Well that makes it a bit better" Matt admitted.

"Do you know now who you want with you down there" the Earl asked. Matt thought about it for a moment. The room was completely quiet as he thought.

"I want Tyki, the twins, and Road" said Matt.

"That's it" the Earl asked.

"No, I want Lulubell with me as well." This came as a bit of a surprise to everyone.

"Matt, I was pretty sure that you would never work with Lulubell again" Road pointed out.

"Yeah well, that was before I nearly died" said Matt. "Now my opinions have changed and I have ideas of how she can help down there."

"Well then" the Earl said happily. "If that's everyone then the rest shall stay in the Ark and pick off any straglers that managed to enter the Ark."

"Alright, it's a plan then" said Matt. "Perhaps not the smartest plan but it's crazy enough to just might work."

"That's the spirit" said the Earl.

"So when can we expect this all to take place" asked Road.

"We should be ready to go in exactly one week. Until then make your preperations and get some rest. This will be the toughest fight we've ever faced" said the Earl.

"You can say that again" Matt said under his breath.

"And before you all go I just want to say that I don't want anyone leaving the Ark until the day of the attack. I don't want to risk the Order picking one of us off." The Noah nodded in agreement. "Alright then you're dismissed." With that everyone stood up and left the room. The mood was quiet and somber, especially Matt who had came to the conclusion that the Earl had chosen him and the other Noah on his team to run a suicide mission.

Thanks for reading everyone! Please review! Sorry it took so long life got a bit in the way. The next chapter should hopefully be out next week! So this is it, the final arc is now in full swing and should hopefully start getting real interesting soon! I certainly can't wait to write it, so many ideas. Anyways I'll see you all next time!