Chapter 4

Impetus

-:-

2nd FLOOR BASEMENT OR MANEKI NEKO MAIN BUILDING

When Maneki Neko said that they'll safeguard the villian's identity, they really ment it. Its actually very surprising how much special treatment Raph is getting. The 2nd floor basement was specifically built to house the main villains during the 8 hour diving session of TWOF, away from the prying eyes of the greedy protagonists.

"Underground…. The place where cunning and power are hidden within the dark shadows of mother earth's bussom."Raph thought as he stared blankly at a book. "I must say, the difference in perspective does allow me to see the world in a whole new light. The profound sense of claustrophobia truly brings out the grim essence of human ambition and greed….. truly a subject worth my full attention"

Do forgive Raphael's sudden increase in intellectual capabilities. People have different coping mechanisms when under extreme stress. In Raph's case, he suddenly becomes a philosopher that rivals the likes of Plato or Socrates (FYI, that is 100% BS).

In philosopher mode, Raph tackles some of life's confounding subjects. For instance, he reasons out how a simple underware catapulted Genghis Khan to establish the 2nd largest empire in history, or how Hitlers lack of loli-love caused his defeat in the 2nd World War (once again, 100% BS).

More importantly, there is that issue of 3 little dna strands that may or may not end up being his children. Its been 2 days since Eduardo's big reveal, and Raph has done nothing but stress over it.

"Man…. I know I'm over thinking it, but IF I do end up being a father, I instantly start thinking of what school to send them… *sigh*" for the umpteenth time, Raph thinks unnecessarily about which cramschool, highschool, college to send his yet-to-be children. Then there's the cost of going to those schools, which is quickly followed by his uncertain (and potentially lethal) employement.

All in all, Raph is unnecessarily stressing himself out, especially if he considers the fact that those 3 may not even surive Eduardo's experiment.

Suddenly, a heavy hand smacks him in the shoulder, breaking him out of his eratic thought process.

"What's wrong comrade? You look like you've gone through hell and back." The scar faced Andrei said as he takes the seat opposite to Raph. "I've known you for a fair bit of time now, but this is the 1st time I've actually seen you stressed."

"Me? Stressed? Preposterous !" Raph replied with the energy he did not have. "Your words have no solid proof behind them!"

"Ho ho…. A battle of wits huh?" Andrei said exagerately. "Very well! I shall show you the intellectual prowess of the Kustov Family"

"Very well impudent worm! I, a representative of the Norton Family, shall crush your flimsy theories beneath the dirty boots of logic!" Raph replies in kind.

The 2 enters a stare down for a couple of seconds before Andrei launch his attack.

"You're reading Sun Tzu's Art of War"

"WEAK!" Raphael quickly counters. "The Art of War does not imply that the person reading it is under any forms of stress"

However, Andrei smiles and unleashes the logical retort that instantly smashed the scales into his favor. "You're reading it upside down….."

"…. ah"

"….."

"….."

"Its in Italian." Andrei brutally follows through. "You don't understand Italian"

"…."

"…."

"….. ~Bonjour?" said Raph

"…. That's French. You don't understand that either."

"…... oh"

"…."

"…."

Raph FACEDESKS in epic proportion, marking the end of their pitiful excuse of a debate.

"I surrender. I should have known that my wit cant hold a candle compared to your years of experience" Raph says while keeping his face planted on the desk.

"Hahahaha! As much as I want to rub it in your face, I'll abstain." Andrei replies. "How about you tell me what's bothering you? Maybe I can help?"

Raph ponders for a bit, then begins to talk. "How's Karalyeva by the way? Is she doing well?"

"Oh, she's fine. She could really use a bit of your Aunt's enthusiasm though. The young lady is as cold as the SiberiaaaaAAAAaHOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HER?!"

"Ayala. Go figure" Raph shrugs in response

Andrei makes a series of faces which allows Raph to read his mind. First is the Ayala-did-what?! face, followed by the I'll-skin-him-alive! face but is quickly replaced by the Well-he-did-help-create-Karalyeva face, and finally ends with a I'll-let-him-live-for-now face.

It's a very interesting spectacle to watch if Raph says so himself.

Andrei sighs and faces Raph with a serious expression. " Well, since we're already in THAT topic, you might as well tell me what happened."

"Sure, but will you even understand the technical jargon?" Raph asks. "I remember the words themselves, but the meaning is as much sense a snot on the wall"

"Ha ha ha! Do not insult our kind young padawan!" Andrei slams his fist into the table. "As a member of the Otaku race, you should be ashamed of yourself! To us otakus, a pole stuck in pikachu's anus is a viable explanation for the complete and utter destruction of the pig race of the Bermuda Triangle! There is nothing in the world we cant comprehend!"

"Toche, Mr. Kustov. Toche"

With that, Raph tells Andrei what happened 2 days ago.

After Eduardo's big reveal (which nearly gave Raph a heart attack) and laughing at Raph's reaction, Eduardo makes an even bigger revelation. It wasn't only the 4 of them, but everyone in the TWOF cast that received a potential child.

Why?

TWOF is the answer to that annoying question.

Originally, the PURGATORY system (the one that TWOF is running on) was set to emulate a peaceful 1935 European farm town where the AIs and their respective parents would live. When the AIs reach the age of 5 years, 3 months, 1 week, 4 days, 21 hours, 58 minutes and 2 seconds (roughly 4.5 hours IRL), their data is copied and stored in a different hard drive for the next phase of the experiment.

Phase 2 is fairly straight forward. Forcefuly transfer the brain signals from virtual reality into the clone. Unfortunately that comes with tons of complications on its own. The main problem lies on the act of manipulating the electrical pulses in the brain.

There are 2 ways to do it.

1st option: open up the brain, stick some electrodes in and electrocute it. This may sound brutal and primitive but this is the simple and cost effective means to the desired end. With the proper manipulation of voltage and current, it is possible to mold the electrical impulses to the desired specifications. Unfortunately, the clone would look like something out of a horror film, thus the plan was scrapped.

2nd option: NerveGear, plain and simple. You may be surprised but the Sugou Nobuyuki incident was actually good for something. By borrowing Sugou's research, Ayala's team quickly grasp the electrical response per emotional stimulus. It only took them a week to manipulate the electrical impulses without butchering the clone's head.

Ofcourse, there were setbacks to the plan, and they weren't minor. Controling the brain's electrical pulses requires a fair bit of electricity.

What happens if you send too much electricity into the brain?

The brain gets fried, SAO style. And that's the minor setback.

The Major setback is how precise the manipulation has to be. If the electrical flow was even a nanometer off or if the voltage was ever-so-slightly more than what is required, the damage done to the brain is catastrophic. They have repeatedly attempted to map a full adult brain into a 5 year old clone that was just fresh out of the age acceleration process.

Result: 93% of the clones died before they could even leave the tank. The remaining 7% were brain dead.

This is why they are relying on the TWOF's Dynasty styled design to provide them with a 5 year old soul that they could copy into a clone with the exact same age. They also made sure that the clone is a biological and spiritual offspring of their origins to increase the chance of success.

But enough of the technical jargon. What stresses Raph out is the extreamly small possibility that he might end up being a parent. Sure, the chances of a successesful clone is almost zero, but never the less, there is still a chance.

"So…. Any advice for this poor lost soul?" Raph asks Andrei

Andrei thinks very seriously for a good 10 seconds. He then nods, looks at Raph in the eyes and says. "You sir are screwed."

"…."

"…."

Ralph sighs in disappointment. "I guess its my fault for expecting anything from you."

"WAHAHAHA! Stop worrying about the details and enjoy life!" Andrei repeatedly slaps Raph on the shoulder. "Anyways, lets talk about the present. How's the situation ingame? "

"Hmm… I don't remember everything but if I could recall correctly, I was in the middle of training to become a full pledge black hand." Raph rubs his head in slight annoyance." If my memory is right, the training was down right sadistic."

"Ho… how so?"

"Normally dragons are a sign of absolute power right?" Raph asks which Andrei respons with a nod. "The training I can remember was taking down a 100 year old fire breathing dragon ALONE!"

"Hmm…. Its kind of hard to imagine that. Can you supply me with an image of the dragon?"

"The closest comparison is an Ancient Dragon in ELDER SCROLL SKYRIM. And to make matters worse, I was seriously underleveled for the fight" Said Raph, causing Andrei's jaws to hit the floor

"Good lord! How in gods name did you pull that one off?"

"Well, its like what the great Jamie Hyneman once said "When in doubt, C4."" Raph said in a very Jamie Hyneman-like voice. "I rigged an entire mountain for a month before I faced the damn thing. FYI, those bombs I used were expensive and powerful as hell. Thankfully, someone else was willing to pay for it."

"Hoo…. Then what happened?"

"Well, all I needed to do was to lure it into a tight valley where it flying was a hinderance. Then I blew up the valley to trap the damn thing beneath the rocks. Once I could retreat into a safe distance, I turned the mountain into a pile of debris. After I salvaged what I could from the dragons corpse, I blew the debris to oblivion"

"Damn it! That sounds awesome!" Andrei roars in envy. " What I'd do to join the game"

"Why not apply? Im sure the villain side could use a bit more muscle" Raph said, though that was an understatement.

Truth be told, he was the only antagonist with the ability to make any considerable impact in the game. Sure enough, he knows about Kaori and Ange are on his team, however, that doesnt really help ease their numerical inferiority. Compared to the 15 supporting cast of the main protagonist, Raph's 3 is very pitiful. In short, it all comes down to Raph to start pulling rabbits out of the hat.

And ofcourse, Andrei was top 1 in his priority list.

Unfortunately, Raph is slapped in the face by the cold hard book called REALITY.

"HAHAHAHA! I would love nothing more than to play along side you comrade….. Unfortunately there is an unwritten rule that only bishoujos and bishonens are allowed into the cast." Andrei says dejectedly. "Naturally, my rugged exterior is not generally accepted amongst the populous"

"Ha ha ha ha ha! And I'm suppose to be a bishonen?" Raph laughs sarcastically

"Nope. Not at all" Andrei replies in kind

"Exactly! We're not one of those fancy pansy bishis who look pretty for no good reason!" Raph replies with conviction. "We are REAL MEN! Screw the general populous! Ill show them that it takes more than just a pretty face to win!"

"Right you are my friend! Show them that underneath our muscular exterior lies the heart and soul of a MAN!"

Suddenly, a school-like chime interrupts their obligatory clowning around session. It is quickly followed by a familiar male announcement.

" The time now is 7:55 AM. In 5 minutes, the dive session for the day will begin. TWOF players, please head to your designated machines and prepare for dive sequence."

"Its that time already huh." Raph and Andrei stands and heads for the nearest room. "Time to waste another 11 years in the cyberspace."

MANEKI NEKO treats the players as employees most of the time. The dive session is 10 hours long (roughly 11.4 years in-game time), from 8 AM to 12 NN and 1 PM to 7 PM, with a one hour lunch break in the middle. In order to keep a fair playing field, TWOF can not and will not start unless every last relevant player is present. If even a single one of them is late, the day's dive session is canceled.

Raph lies down on a bed which is connected to an MRI-looking machine. Despite its menacing looks, it is actually a highly advance medical equipment that monitors everything from blood pressure to brain wave fluctuation.

'Why is that here?'

Raph has a very good idea why but decides to ignore it for now. He puts on a NerveGear-like helmet waits for the go signal.

"Give them hell comrade" Andrei says

"That's exactly what I had in mind" Raph replies.

"All players are confirmed present and ready. Count down to simultaneous full dive commence….5….4….3….2….1. LINK START"

-:-

GAIA, CAPITAL CITY OF THE FORCESS OF DARKNESS.

SOMEWHERE WITHIN THE GREAT REAPING STORM.

FRONTLINE.

The wilderness within the Great Reaping Storm is as you expected of the demons home ground. The terrain, climate and wildlife varies every few kilometers. Right now, they resided in a dense rain forest underneath the calm summer sky, but 200 kms ahead is a winter wonderland minus the wonderland part.

The rain forest also hosts the bulk of the Arian expedision force into the Great Reaping Storm. They turned the forest into an impenetrable fortress of traps, magic and loads of pointy things that can make anyone hurt.

The main attraction of this make shift fortification is GAIA, Aria's supporter and the most powerful being in existence. Gaia is a massive turtle with a 50km radius shell which houses thousands of people, effectively making it the capital city of the forces of darkness.

As for Gaia's armaments, it sports 12 20km long cannons positioned like the numbers in a clock, allowing it to fire in nearly every direction. Its has unlimited range but requires a spotter for exceedingly far targets. The destructive power of each shot is as expected of the most powerful force in the world's history: it is insanelyfuckingstrong.

To put it in perspective, everytime one of the cannons is fired, 4 mountains the size of Mon Olympus disappears from the map. Naturally, every thing (living or non-living) also gets sent to the wild blue yonder, irregardless of how strong they might be.

To top it all off, the cannons can hit targets in other dimensions (spotter required ofcourse.) Entering the Great Reaping Storm is essentially being forced into a chaotic dimension that lies between their realm and the realm of the Gods. Firing from within the storm greatly to the outside world reduces it's firepower. At the very least, a shot can level an entire town into a parking lot.

As far as they can tell, only the Immortal Gods can take the damage and survive. They are immortal afterall.

The only downside of is its excruciating 1 week long recharge time per cannon.

Though Gaia is impressive, it's Aria that really takes the cake.

For one, Aria has endless amounts of mana. She can keep Gaia in DEAMON KING mode indefinitely and fire off all 12 cannons at the same time. If she wasn't so tied up with the Great Reaping Storm exploration, she could conquer the world in a month.

"But ofcourse, I wouldn't do something like that. That would be too quick. My people would be bored to death if I just went ahead and conquered the world." Aria thought as she stares outside her castle which was conviently located on Gaia's back.

As she ponders on her personal plans for the upcoming war, a small black wisp suddenly appears behind her.

"Lady Aria, the others are here." Said the wisp in an old yet very gentleman voice.

"Are you sure everyone is there Radharc?" Aria asks sarcastically.

"Ho ho ho ho. It is as you think Lady Aria. As usual, the Scarlet Devil is nowhere to be seen."

"*sigh* Would it kill her to act a little more responsible?" Aria gets up and heads to the throne room. " Thanks for the heads up Radharc. You're dismissed."

"Yes milady." Said the wisp as it fades out of existence.

There is only one person that Aria considers an equal, and that is RADHARC THE ALL SEEING. Though created 2 generations after Aria, it wouldn't be an exaggeration if she calls him the single most important person her empire….. yes, she even considers herself inferior to Radharc in terms of importance.

Radharc is a mage that specializes in espionage, hence his name. His familiar, the WISPS, are invisible, eternal and limitless in numbers. Through the Wisps, Radharc can see and hear what everyone is doing/saying, turning him into the ultimate spy. His Wisps can also allows long range communication, giving the Arian race the ability to coordinate and mobilize quickly.

Just like Aria, Radharc also has some limitations to his ungodly ability.

1st. During the initial years of Radharc's life, a sudden growth spurt in his power nearly costed him his life. The only way to save his life was to literally fuse his body with tons of mechanical equipment, which unfortunately, requires enough mana to kill 10 people every 5 minutes.

Fortunately, at that time, Aria was already at the point where she can already generate abnormal amounts of mana. All they needed to do was plug the machines directly into Gaia, and the rest is history.

The 2nd weakness is Radharc's inability to utilize his full power outside the Great Reaping Storm, a similar case to Aria. Though he is still capable of spying on every being in Forsena, his wisps disappear when the mana in the air becomes too chaotic. This chaotic mana is normally found in combat situations where execive use of abilities is common place.

The presence of an ETHEREAL also results in a chaotic flow of mana in a ½ kilometer radius. For some reason, the action of an ETHEREAL breathing generates a lot of power that destabilizes the mana in the air.

But enough of the glorified ego boosting. The point of all those gloating is simple: The fate of the Arian race (and to no small exaggeration, the entire world) rests in the hands of Aria and Radharc.

"….. Now then…. How should I get about starting the Light VS Dark war?"

….. yes…. The fate of countless lives rest in this war crazed beauty…. Without a doubt, the world is screwed.

-:-

Gaia's throne room consists of 13 very luxurious thrones placed in a circular manner. The ones that occupies the seats are the 13 Diabolis that rules over the Arian Race. One could say that these 13 beauties are probably most evil beings in the world, seeing how one decision of theirs could easily lead to the deaths of millions, and due to their constant state of war against the demons, they care more of their personal interests and care very little about the lives they have sworn to protect.

"No one can really blame us though." Aria thought as she absent mindedly listens to the other diabolis. "For one, we're doing a thankless job. But more importantly, the same people we're defending is gathering strength in order to kill us!"

Thanks to Radharc's unparalled spying abilities, the Arians discovered plans amongst the Forces of Light to destroy the Cancer they call the Forces of Darkness. Frankly speaking, the Arians were overjoyed by the news. If the Forces of Light has enough strength to go up against them, then the Arians can finally abandon their duty and finally concentrate on what they want to do (which greatly varies amongst the Arians.)

After 100 years of watching what the Light Forces were up to… the Arians were greatly disappointed on what their future opponents have achieved.

The Forces of Light was copying the Arians, and they were doing it horribly. From demon enslavement to the lethal arts of DECADENCE, the Forces of Light were doing a very good job of preparing for their eventual demise.

The Arians cant allow that.

Truth be told, the Arians are avid fans of many things that the Light has created. Fashion, jewelry, poetry, sculptures, food and literature are some of many things that Arians follow with idol-like worship. Many of these people have defected to Aria after suffering under the nobles of the light….. and they were thankful that they did.

In Aria, these people are valued grealy and at times, these people are more influential than distinguished generals. For example, there have been many instances of two or more Arians trying to kill each other just for the sake of the last remaining strawberry pie of their favorite baker. These same combat hardened Arians would also throw away their pride and grovel when threatened of a life time ban from their favorite baker.

Weird as it may sound, but to the Arians whose life could end the next moment, every bit of happiness is worth dying for. This is why Arians in general are greedy and irresponsible. They would rather enjoy life than be shackled by the responsibilities that comes with a high position.

The main reason why the Diabolis rules the Arian race is not because their leadership skills are valuable, but because they were the only ones who was willing to put up with the pains of responsibilities.

Anyways, back to reality.

After her fellow Diabolis deliver their customary whining, a surprising question directed at Aria caught her off guard.

"Battlehymn of Dominace, I would like to inquire something…." Asked a boyish looking diabolis named Hella the Trembling Might, causing Aria to cringe.

FYI, Battlehymn of Dominance is Aria's diabolis name.

"Go ahead Hella, but would you please call me Aria? My Diabolis name is… unpleasant to hear"

"Understood." Hella leans forward and makes a serious face. " Lady Aria, I've noticed that you have been interfering with a certain Black Hand's training schedule. May I ask why?"

True enough, Aria has been altering that Black Hand's training regiment, but not to make it easier for him. On the contrary, the assignments she hand out to the rookie was borderline suicidal. There are times where Aria felt a small sense of guilt….. especially the one time where she assigned him to kill a dragon alone….. but then again, these were all necessary for her plan.

Hella continues to talk seriously. "If you wanted that Revenant dead, you only needed to say the word. I would have gladly taken care of it for you."

The other Diabolis noded in agreement.

"Hold on! Why in gods name would I want to kill him?!" Aria suddenly stands.

Everyone in the room at her questioningly.

"Er… don't you usually give someone an impossible task so that he/she would die trying?" Hella asks which suprises Aria.

"Hmm… now that you mention it, that does sound like the logical explanation for the situation" Aria replies. "But dont misunderstand, I have no intention of killing the Revenant. I want him to get stronger at the fastest possible pace possible. He is the most important piece in my plans, thus no slack cutting for him."

"Why?" Asked Hella in a displeased manner.

It wasn't just her. The other 10 Diabolis were also displeased by the fact that their natural predator (a Revenant) was given such a great role in the war that is yet to come.

"There's an explaination for that. Have you girls ever heard of the Light Forces story about the DREAD KING?" Aria asks.

"Is it another one of those Anti-Arian fairy tail?" Hella replies. "Please save us the misery of listening to another brainwashing propaganda."

Aria chuckles in response. "Fufufufu. While I do enjoy listening to the Light forces' dillusions of honor and glory, the story of the DREAD KING is not a fairy tail. The entire story reached it's climax a mere 30 years ago."

-:-

As much as the Forces of Light want to believe that the alliance they have was sincere, the truth is far from it. The countries within the alliance are constantly in a state of cold war against their neighbors. Backstabing, black mailing, kidnapping and corporate sabotage were in the rage back then.

It was only when someone pissed off the ruler of Genghis did the façade of peace finally shatters.

The country of Genghis is mostly situated in a vast mountain range right in the middle of Forsena. The country is normally acts as a crossroad where merchants pass to get to the opposite side of the continent.

The country is famous for their special bread of horses which the entire Genghis country considers as the most . These horses are smaller than the others of its kind, resulting in a lack of trampling abilities. On the plus side, it eats grass instead of hay making it very cost effective and easy to repopulate. The Genghis horses are so abundant that each person has atleast 2 of them, irregardless of their social standing.

This horses is also the very reason why a war broke out.

About 31 years ago, one of the town in the edge of the Genghis territory was slaughtered. Apparently, a son of a noble in a neighboring state demanded a peasant to give him a horse, clearly not knowing how valuable each horse is to a Genghis native. Obviously, the peasant refused with all his might which insulted the young noble.

The young noble then had his bodyguards kill every last one in that small town because they didn't know their place.

Bad Idea.

Khan (King) Leamas Nergui of Genghis values contribution over bloodline, thus peasants are treated very well. Sure, there are also nobles within Genghis, but they are not given special treatment in this country. If they think that money can save them in the harsh Genghis steeps, they'll end up being dinner to the many wild beasts that roam the field.

The town that the young noble massacred was also one of the few places capable of growing vegetables in the steeps. Even though the inhabitants of Genghis rely greatly on hunting, the loss of that town and its inhabitants would mean a sharp plunge in food supply.

While the peasants were obviously angered, their fury was nothing compared to Khan Leamas. He didn't bother demanding compensation for the perpetrators… what he did was far worse. 4 days after the incident, 20 thousand mounted riders descended from the mountain range and razed 4 towns in one day. They killed about 90% of the inhabitants and allowed the 10% to live in order for them to spread the fear.

And it didn't stop there.

Due to the unique unit composition of the Genghis military, half of the country fell in a mere 5 days. A week later, the last bastion falls way before the poor country could even mount a proper defense.

Now you're probably wondering 'What is the name of the country the Genghis invaded?'.

Answer: Every heard of the Yuuya Empire?... No?... Exactly.

Complete and utter annihilation. The Yuuya Empire was sacked for all its riches and then burned to the ground. 3 allied nations of the doomed country tried to stop the horde by sending their army, but soon discovered that they have mistakenly awakened a sleeping giant….. and they payed dearly for it.

With a combined might of 600 thousand strong, the alliance was certain of their victory.

They were wrong.

By time the 3 nations assembled their army, the Genghis had already gathered up their troops numbering at 100 thousand. In addition to that, the Kurogane Empire (a Canis Lupis empire located north of Genghis) sent a fair bit of their military to aid their long time ally, the Genghis. With 150 thousand Canis Lupis shocktroopers added with the Genghis soldiers, the collision of the two sides was inevitable.

Unfortunately, there are way too many details during the 2 week clash and Aria has no patience to expound, thus she'll keep it short.

The alliance was doomed because one very simple: the Genghis Cavalry.

The Genghis military is composd of only 3 units: 9% KYUDOKA (2nd tier Long Range), 1% SHISAI (2nd tier Support Mage) and 90% GENGHIS LIGHT CAVALRY (3rd tier Balanced Warrior, though it is heavily altered by their school)

Unlike the SAMURAI, The Genghis Light Cavalry has no skills, are lightly armored and very fragile. Their primary weapon is a short composite bow with a maximum range of 300 meters and does heavy damage per shot. They also wield a Scimatar in an event of a melee combat, though they try to avoid such situations.

Their main strength is speed, but not in the way most think.

It takes about 1 week to march to the Yuuya Empire from any point of its neighboring countries.

On the 2nd day the allied army left their base, they were subjected to nearly 24 hours of harassment from the Leams-led Genghis Cavalry. By splitting into groups of 1000 men, the cavalry performed their favorite hit and run tactics with the supply chain as its primary target. It effectively bringing down moral and hampering the allied army's march into a crawl. In result of this action, the allied forces took 5 whole days to reach the half point of the journey.

At the 5th day of allies march, they were beatened, demoralized and hungry. About 10% of their total number have deserted and another 30% were killed by the Light Cavalry. And to make matters worse, at the half point lies the battle ready Kurogane and they no longer had any patience to spare.

The Krogane clan is well known for their heavy foot soldiers, namely their own take on the SAMURAI class. Instead of dual wielding one hand katanas, they use the heavier nodachi in junction with their werewolf form for maximum damage.

It goes without saying, the battle between the exaushted allied forces and the Kurogane-Genghis army was very bloody and very short. Like a car traveling at 90 kph, everyone in front of the Kurogane werewolves went splat like bugs.

To ensure the complete and utter destruction of the allied army, Leamas had his army surround the battlefield while providing fire support for the Kurogane clan. Any enemy that tried to leave was killed. Any enemy who fought bravely was also killed. Surprisngly, any enemy that surrendered was spared.

With no formal army to defend their realms, the 3 allied nations fell to the Genghis-Kurogane army in 1 short month.

Naturally, this sudden increase of territory didn't go unnoticed. Nearly every country in Forsena saw Leamas' peasant-priority form of governance as a threat to nobility and must be eliminated. Amongst all of those contries, 10 of them decided to do something about it. Led by the Ieyasu Shogunate, the 10 nations band together against what they call "The Dread King's Army"

Now normaly its obvious what happens in a 2 vs 10 match. However, all military experts of the present would agree on one thing, the Genghis-Kurogane alliance actually had a very good chance against winning against the 10 nations.

Why?

For 1, the country of Genghis has yet to display its full military might. The ones that Leamas brought with him was only a very small percentage of the total population of Genghis. While Genghis has no formal military, every last one of their populations are trained hunters that survived the mountain's harsh conditions. Every last one of them is qualified Light Cavalry Archer.

The 2nd and most important reason: commoners outnumber nobles one million to one and its no secret the ones at the bottom dispise the nobles for lording over them. If the news that someone is fighting the nobles spreads, Leamas could easily have an army the size only seen in legends.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the same military thinking as the experts.

A certain Diabolis who was fairly skilled in insight foresaw the wrong things. This Diabolis was a close friend of Leamas began to fear for his life. She decided to sell out Leamas to the nobles with the condition that the Genghis ruler was to be kept as a prisoner.

True to form, the nobles agreed to the Diabolis' condition, then killed off the Genghis Ruler while no one was looking.

That was how the great Dread King met a pathetic end

-:-

After the story, the other Diabolis were silent. Some in awe, others in confusion. Either way, they were endowed with enough intellect to understand the relevance of the story.

"…. Aria…. Don't tell that the REVENANT is-" Hellas as.

"Who knows." Aria shrugs. "But basing on the Scarlet Devil's abnormal obsession with the walking corpse, I cant help but consider that possibility."

Once again, the room is silent for a couple of silence until Hella speaks out once again.

"Then what are you planning with him?" Hella asks. "I mean, look at the team that you assigned to him. Its like you're preparing for something big."

The Revenant's team consists of the following:

2nd tier CONSCRIPT, Kuro of the Plague Blade. Considered by many as one of the rising stars of the Arian Race, Kuro boasts some of the best sword techniques amongst the newcomers. He would have been more popular if he wasn't afflicted with the Curse of Mammon which mutates his body into diseased hulk of flesh, which often leads to the lose of any indication of his race. On the bright side, the Curse of Mammon renders him immune to pretty much every poison and disease in existence. His body also becomes increadibly resistant to pain.

2nd tier Dark Elf WARLOCK, Matina Aplaya the Combat Mage. As another one of Aria's rising star, Matina's skill in demonic fusion is only second to her fist fighting abilities. Her demonic fusion combines her soul with her familiar in order to boost her physical strength. With her small frame and lightning quick movement, she can easily fight 5 people without getting hit.

2nd tier Dwarf SHARPSHOOTER, Gaul Greyfang the Hunter. As a man born in the harsh wilderness of the Arian jungles, Gaul and his faithful Giant Spider companion have survived by tracking enemies and putting a bullet right between their eyes. It goes without saying that his abilities in the wild is just as valuable in the battlefield. Unknown to most people, Gaul is the leader of his tribe of jungle survivors.

Aria cant help but let out a chuckle. "Fu fu fu… true enough, my plans for the little boy is a bit ambitious, but inorder for him to reach that point that I've designated for him, it is imperative that his supporting cast must be up to the task."

"And what is this plan of yours?" Hella asks.

"Fufufufu. That's a secret, but I can promis you this…. you will be entertained."

-:-

KASAKIRA CITY. SOMEWHERE DEEP WITHING LIGHT FORCES TERRITORY

DURING THE DIABOLIS MEETING

Kasakira City is one of those fwe places where Diabolis are well regarded. The Daimyo of the city is actually a Supporter of a Diabolis, hence the great tolerance to them.

But that's not important. What's important is the 5 soldiers ( 3 Bushi, a Sohei and an Onmiyoji) in front of Matina.

"Uwa…. Scary looking people" Matina thought as she prepares her claws for combat. "Lets do this then!"

She charge at the group at break neck speed, surprising them in the process. Clearly they didn't expect anyone is capable of moving in such speeds. The Bushis tried to cut her down to size but her speed and size allowed her to dodge the blades with ease. Once she enters their formation, she ferociously attacks everyone around her.

Like a whirlwind of blades, her claws drew blood from everyone except the Onmiyoji who was too far away. Unfortunately, her high speed attacks is a compensation for her relatively weak striking power, something that her enemies instantly notices.

Her enemies charges at her from all sides but they soon realizes how futile it is to go toe to toe against her. She ducks, dodge rolls and sways in rapid succession while stricking at the nearest opponent. Though the damage she deals was small, it was disruptively constant and annoying. As you expected from an ally of a Black Hand, it is filled with surprises, something that her enemy will soon realize.

The enemies soon backs off as they finally understood that Matina is a tank of a different sort.

Matina then realizes that her enemies were simply buying time for the Onmiyoji cast his spell.

"Oh crap…."

Before the Onmiyoji could utter the last part of his spell, a small hole suddenly appears on his forehead, effectively killing him in one go.

"As expected of Gaul!" Matina thought as she rushes to the nearest enemy before they could recover.

300+ meters somewhere behind her was her ugly guardian angel, Gaul the Boozebreath (she made that nickname for him) and his equally ugly companion Arachne. As a jungle survivor with out compare, Gaul can take as many shots as he wants and still not get spotted. That is why Matina can fight and be confident that someone has her back.

As she continues to harass her opponents, their movement is noticeably slower than normal. They're breathing is ragged and their bodies are shaking uncontrollably.

"Ho…. Its already starting to kick in huh?" Matina thought. "Samael sure knows his poison"

Her claws were dipped in a poison called EL NINO. While it does no real damage to those affected, they are afflicted with an increadibly high fever which causes a significant drop in movement speed and combat effectiveness. The downside is its short affliction time of 20 seconds, thus forcing Matina to constantly renew the poison by attacking them.

However, thanks to this little bit of dirty play, it only took them 2 short minutes to kill their opponents. It was so easy that it wasn't even challenging.

After snapping the neck of the final strangler, Matina waits until Gaul catches up with her.

"Yo kiddo, nice work" said the short brown haired, very thick bearded dwarf. "I never get sick of that high speed fighting style of yours. You're like a rat or something."

"Oy… I resent that." Matina replies. "By the way, where's that creepy pet of yours?"

"Arachne? She's somewhere around here. She's a shy type you see." Gaul shoulders his gun and begins walking up the mountain. "Anyways, lets go. I bet Kuro is already done with his assignments."

At the top of the mountain lies a typical Japanese themed temple. On top of the steps sits a pure black, fully armored samurai wearing an Oni mask. The samurai, Kuro, was cleaning his bloody blade in a relaxed pace.

"Hey Kuro! You done with your targets?" Matina asks as she approaches the emposing samurai.

"Yes." Kuro replied with his usual one liners.

Ever since they first met, Matina can count the number of times that Kuro has said more than one word. Maybe he is being secretive? Or maybe he is just born that way? Regardless of the reason, it sometimes gets to Matina's nerves.

"Well, its not like it's a big problem or anything…." Matina thought as she takes a seat a couple of steps below Kuro. Gaul does the same.

Mind you, she doesn't hate Kuro at all. The problem is the closer you are to Kuro's blade, the more unbearabe the stench is.

"Not bad for a stinky swordsman if I do say so myself" Said Gaul. "With this, we just moved up Radharc's timetable by a month or so."

"While that all sounds and all, I'd wish our not so sane leader would hurry up." Said Matina. "I know his fighting a DEAMON KING and all, but its not very comforting to stand in the middle of enemy territory."

"HAHAHAHA! Right you are Kiddo!" Gaul laughs carfreely. "I know Sammy (Samael's unofficial nickname) pumped a lot of paralysis poison into the water, but eventually, the effects will fade. And when it does, a lot of angry citizens will want a piece of us…. Literally."

Suddenly, a loud explosion is heard from a distance.

"Ho…. Its about to end, isn't it" Gaul says as he stares at the distant dust cloud

"Yup. Pretty much" Matina replies. " Its about time Samael shows his opponent just how conniving he is."

-:-

As a Revenant, Samael has long accepted the fact that he will be in the receiving end of unjustified hate. However, there are those times that he is very much tempted to whine and scream like a little child.

This is one of those times.

Samael parkours with all of his might. He runs, jumps and vaults through the roofs of Kasakira City in a desperate attempt to increase his distance with the DEAMON KING behind him.

Deamon Kings are usually oversized, demonized version of animals. Traditionally, a human's upper body is unnaturally attached to that monstrosity, normally turning it into a centaur-like creature.

Yuu Kasakira (Samael's current enemy) is a house sized lion with half a human being stuck on the top of its head.

"GET BACK HERE AND FACE ME YOU COWARD!" Roared the lion as he plows through another house like it was nothing.

"Like hell I will!" Samael replies while putting more effort in getting his undead hide out of there.

A 3rd tier Deamon Lord has been rumored to fight and kill an ethereal. What the hell was Aria thinking when she assigned him to kill Yuu Kasakira and Mimellia (Yuu's Diabolis Partner) ALONE?! It doesn't matter if his opponent is a 2nd tier Deamon Lord, he has absolutely NO CHANCE of winning in a straight up fight!

But then again, this is Samael we're talking about. Even if he wasn't a Black Hand, there will always be a dirty trick or two up his sleave. One of them happens to be the reason why he's being chased by a Deamon King.

10 minutes earlier, Samael was able to poison Mimellia in a failed ambush attempt when they were relocating to a secret safe house. Unfortunately for the Samael, the two was able to escape him while their guards kept him busy. To make matters worse, something is jamming his access to Radharc's network, which cuts him off from some much needed information.

However, thanks to the poison, Samael only needs to wait for Yuu to seek him out.

The poison he used was the infamous and very rare ETERNAL STIGMA, a slow acting venom with an indefinite duration time. The only times when the poison stops is either, if the increadibly-hard-to-make cure is administered to the patient, or when the patient dies.

There have been cases where the patient survives the poison through sheer willpower alone. Unfortunately, their Life is forever stuck at 1.

Ofcourse, that's the information that the Black Hand leaked to the general public

In reality, the Eternal Stigma is structurally weak and, more importantly, it is NON LETHAL. Those who survives with only 1 Life left has nothing to do with willpower, but simply because the poison does not kill its host.

To cure it, all you need to do is administer another poison, effectively overwriting the Eternal Stigma in the process.

'And what of the increadibly-hard-to-make cure?' you ask?

That cure is a combination of a large assortment of herbs, crystals and other expensive stuff that normally has a positive effect on the body. The product of that mixture is a fairly weak poison that is just enough to overwrite the Eternal Stigma.

Once again, the Black Hand made sure that this information was kept from the public.

"Hmm…. It normally takes about 10 minutes for the Eternal Stigma to drop someone's life to 1. " Samael thought as he quickly changes his direction. "I guess its time to execute my plan"

While trying to keep his speed at its highest, he aims for a large park at the very heart of the city. He goes through food stalls, jump over reservoirs and even goes through a house in order to keep himself at a straight line to his final destination.

He takes a quick peek behind him and spots the ever menacing Daemon Lord hot on his trail.

"Hoo…. Not bad. But its time to end this game of cat and mouse!"

He dashes into the empty park, taking extra care to avoid stepping on certain stones that he has marked.

As expected, Lion-Yuu carelessly rushes towards Samael. The lion steps on the mark stones and then… BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A massive explosion rocks the entire city, consuming the massive lion in a firestorm. Unfortunately, due to Samael's close proximity to the blast, he was blown off the ground and crashes into a tree 10 feet away.

"….man…. And here I thought that the merchant was just exaggerating when he sold me these bombs…." Samael thought as he tries to collect himself.

He slowly rolls to his side and spots a massive pillar of fire where the Lion once stood.

"I shall never doubt that merchant ever again! It was worth ever-….. oh crap" Samael was cut off as he saw the Daemon King emerged from the flames. "*sigh* I know he's only a tier 2 Daemon King, but he's just too damn tough!"

While the Daemon King suffered a fair bit of damage, he walked gallantly towards the fallen Revenant. He stops about 5 feet away from Samael and picks up a small red bottle from the floor.

"CRAP! I dropped the cure?!" Samael attempts to stand, but his body fails to hold him up causing him to fall back to the ground.

"Normally, I would rip your guts out then drag you around the city…." Said Yuu with a voice filled with killing intent. "…. but I have more important things to do. I suggest you crawl out of town while you still can. If you're lucky, you might get far enough for me to chase you. IF you're lucky that is"

The giant lion calmly turns around and walks away.

The second the lion is out of sight…..

"Pfft….. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Samael laughs maniacly.

He easily got back on his feet, as if the damage he received was just a lie… and it was.

While he was fairly close to ground zero, the only thing that hit him was the shock wave of the explosion, which did very little damage to himself.

To make sure that Yuu would pick up the cure, Samael accidentally dropped it when he was blown away by the blast.

Why would he do that?

Simple. Once Yuu has the cure, he would head straight to Mimellia. All Samael is allow the lion to lead him to their nest, then he'll have them right where he wants them.

"The hunt is on!" Samael thought as he disappears from sight.

-:-

Samael walks swiftly yet confidently through the shadows while keeping a close eye on his limping prey. No longer was Yuu the gigantic beast of overwhelming power, but a SOHEI (Monk) who was on his last leg.

A Daemon King is a product of massive amounts of mana being siphoned from a Diabolis to her partner. As long as the Diabolis has mana, the Daemon King will hit harder, move faster, heal at an ungodly rate and endure so much more punishment than normal. In simple terms, a Daemon King is a royal pain in the ass to fight.

The best way to kill a Deamon King is to kill the Diabolis, though that's normally not possible since the Diabolis is almost always heavily defended. The alternative is to shave off the Diabolis' mana by either prolonging the battle for as long as possible, or heavily damaging the Daemon King.

Samael used both strategies to their fullest effect earlier, thus leaving both Yuu and Mimellia both physically and mentally drained. They are nothing more than helpless pigs that are about to be slaughtered, cooked and aftering a bit of seasoning, they are to be eaten by yours truly.

Truth be told, Samael is barely holding his urges back. Yuu's limping figure is as tempting as a sheep to a hungry wolf.

"Abstain man. Just for a few more minutes, I must abstain." Samael thought as he follows Yuu through the less extravagant part of the town. " Yuu is just an appetizer. Its Mimellia that truly matters. For now, just savor the meal that is to come."

After a few minutes of stalking, his prey enters the last place Samael ever expected to find a noble's safe house.

"No way…. The sewers?" Samael thought as he stands in front of a massive sewage pipe. "Then again, it has always been the Black Hand's motto to hide something in the last place anyone would look. Hard to believe that I'm getting schooled by a bunch of fancy pants"

He enters the putrid sewage tunnel and navigates the complex maze with ease. As person who has practically spent the last 10 years in the shadows, the near pitch black sewage tunnels didn't hinder him one bit.

On the contrary, he actually becomes much more efficient. Thanks to his racial ability of sensing any living beings, it only took him 30 seconds to track down his prey.

Yuu heads for a large man made cavern. In the middle of it lies an out of place wooden cottage. It wasn't safe house material, but it was definitely very hard to find. Yuu enters the cabin with all due haste, completely unaware of the hooded figure 10 feet behind him.

Instead of following Yuu in, Samael position himself near a window. He stealthly peeks inside and spots 3 figures. Yuu and Mimellia were expected, but the third one was not.

"Hmm…. Who's this guy?" Samael thought.

Yuu gives the red bottle to the mystery man. The man then tests the red liquid a couple of times, then gives Yuu a thumbs up.

"An alchemist to check if I gave you a legit cure? Wise move Yuu."

When fighting a Black Hand, always assume that you are being led by the nose and never assume that you have an advantage. These were the wise words of a well known Elf general during the 1st Forsena Civil War, which ironically, was killed by a Black Hand in a not-so-stealthy frontal assault.

True enough, it was wise to overthink anything when faced against a Black Hand. Unfortunately, this also leads to people not considering the most obvious ploys, simply because it looks too simple. This misguided judgement is exactly where the Black Hand tends to exploit excessively.

Yuu takes the bottle and attempts to feed it to the bedridden Mimellia. That's when Samael made his move.

He draws his heavy long sword, jumps through the window and chops off Yuu's extended hand, causing him to wither in agony.

"Wha-?! Impossible! You were severly injured! How did you get here so fast?!" Yuu said in confusion. His face suddenly change as he connects the dots. "Don't tell me… you where never injured in the first pla-"

Samael rudely interrupts Yuu by chopping his head off.

"Seriously…. You hero types talk too much." Samael turns to Mimiellia.

Heartless

Inexorable

Inhumane

Ruthless

Cruel

As carefree and laid back as Samael tends to present himself, he is the physical manifestation of those words and then some. Be it man, woman or child, he will not hesitate to destroy those who needs to be destroyed.

He approaches the fear strickened Mimellia.

"Y-you cant kill me! You have no right to kill me!" Mimellia wails in desperation. "I don't care what faction you're aligned with, everyone is forbidden to kill a Diabolis!"

True enough, there is an unwritten rule that forbids the killing of Diabolis due to their ability to produce Daemon Kings. If he kills Mimellia, his name would be black listed even within the Arian race.

However, Samael simply laughs at Memillia.

Maybe it's because his face isn't clear due to the darkness of the sewers, but Mimellia obviously doesn't know WHAT Samael is.

He places his right hand over Mimellia's head and gently strokes it.

"Ms. Mimellia. I hate to be the one to inform you this but…." Samael suddenly sinks his fingers into her skull and begins draining her. "I am a REVENANT!"

Upon realizing this, the weakened Diabolis desperately screams and trashes with what little strength she has left. Unfortunately for her, the mechanical arm did not let go until her total life and mana hit zero.

"Fu fu fu. As expected. Diabolis are the most deliscious morsels." Samael crushes the poor girl's skull after draining her dry.

This wasn't the first time he has drained a Diabolis, and it certainly isn't going to be the last. It's no wonder why nearly every Diabolis in Aria is so scared of him.

As he truns to leave, he suddenly realizes the Alchemist was still present, albeit petrified in fear.

"…. I guess a little dessert wont do me any harm" Samael thought as he approaches the terrified soul. " Sorry Alchemist dude."

-:-

A FEW MINUTES LATER. SHRINE ON TOP OF THE HILL

"Hmm… I guess I'm the last one." Samael said to his team as he reaches the top of the stairs.

"Its your fault." Replied Matina, the tan skin loli Dark Elf. "If you just stop playing with your food, we'd be gone 20 minutes ago!"

Samael pats Matina in the head. "Fu fu fu. No matter what the situation is, your punk Lolita charm still reigns supreme!"

"You disgusting corpse! " Matina retaliates with her usual front kick, causing Samael to tumble painfully down the fairly long flight of stairs.

"HAHAHAHA! Never a dull moment with you youngstes!" Gaul says as he descends after Samael. "Well let's hightail out of here. We don't want to be here when the paralysis wears off."

Kuro and Matina nods and follow suite.

"By the Gaul, can we connect to Rad (Radharc) now?" Samael asks while still lying on the floor.

"Unfortunately no." Gaul helps Samael up. "Something is still jamming the signal"

"Unnecessary worry." Kuro says as he passes the two. "Mission Accomplished. Withdraw"

"Kuro's right ya know?" Matina says while pushing Samael. " Our assignments are done and we already knew that there was something in this lands that causes the chaotic mana flow. Lets just get out of here"

"Okay okay! We're going so please stop pushing me!" Samael replies.

Despite their casual slapstick comedy, the 4 man team actually took on something that would normally be deligated to a 20 man team and a 2 month long undercover opperation.

Just to put it into perspective, here is their individual assignments.

Kuro- there are 20 targets on his hit list that resides within the city. He has to kill them all.

Gaul- he has 5 targets to kill. Aside from that, he has to protect Matina while she does her assignment.

Kuro- steal a rare metal from the Kasakira Mansion that is to be used as a smithing material for some secret weapon. This can only be done by someone familiar with the arcane arts.

In normal circumstances, their assignments are downright impossible. Unfortunately, Aria herself gave them those assignments, thus saying no will have dire consequences.

This is where Samael comes in.

Armed with his usual bag of dirty tricks, he crafted a plan that allowed the 3 to achieve their objectives with the absolute minimum amount of bloodshed. And as expected of Aria, she gave the order to eliminate the Diabolis Memillia by any means necessary… and he has to do it ALONE!

It was another near suicide mission, but he pulled it off somehow.

While the actual mission is dangerous, you have to live through it to be able to consider it as a successful mission. This is the main reason why Samael's instincts are going ballistic, and from the looks of things, Gaul shared his sentiments.

"I guess people who are trained specifically for survival tend to think alike" Samael thought.

"For now lets move out" Gaul said to Samael as if he knows the Revenant's anxiety.

"Roger that."

-:-

2 DAYS LATER

The 4 is currently following a pre set route towards the snowy mountains northwest of Kasakira City. Originally, the plan was to head to southwest to a town where the railroad passes through. There they would stealthly board a train and ride it straight to the Storm Wall.

In an unfortunate event that they were to face something beyond their capabilities, they were to head to an abandoned town on top of a platue.

Truth be told, they haven seen their opponent-to-be, however, they still cant make contact with Radharc even after leaving Kasakira City. There can only be one explanation to this predicament… and none of them liked it.

The 4 climbed the steep slope with Samael reaching the top faster than anyone else. From there, he could finally spot the monster that was chasing them.

It stood 8 foot tall, completely incased in silver samurai armor. It is the physical manifestation of power, skill and discipline. It is the unstoppable juggernauts of the Forces of Light. It is the….

"ETHEREAL!"

Oh, how they ran when their worst fears was only a few meters behind them. They ran into the city at full speed, but the Ethereal didn't take long to catch up to them.

"Oh crap…." Samael draws his sword and faces the behemoth. "This is seriously gonna suck"

Based on the sound behind him, the group followed suite and readies themselves for the fight of their lives. However, the Ethereal stops about 20 meters away from them and doesn't even bother drawing his weapons.

"Heathens of the Darkness! Cease your futile escape attempt and surrender" The Ethereal said haughtily. "I am Rommel-Synthesis-527 of the Ethereals. That should be enough to make you bow to my will correct?"

"Nope. Not the slightest" Samael replied with the arrogance he didn't have. At the same time, he secretly signals Gaul to come closer

"You insolent welp! You are nothing but-" Rommel-Synthesis-527 begins cursing Samael, though the Revenant didn't bother listening

"Gaul, retreate far enough to make the call" Samael whispers to Gaul. "Take the two with you."

"YOU DARE IGNORE ME HEATHENS?!" Rommel takes out his swords

" Sorry about that. When you get bombarded with insults, you tend to ignore the source." Samael replied haughtily, much to the annoyance of the Ethereal. "Anyways, what do you want with us? Make it quick okay? We've got places to go"

As pissed as the Ethereal is, he seems to have a good sense of priority.

"You have stolen a piece of cursed metal sealed in Kasakira City. You will now hand it to me" Rommel said.

" Don't wana" Samael instantly replies.

Rommel stares at him in disbelief for a couple of seconds. "Do you even understand what that thing is?!"

"Nope. Don't know. Don't really care" Samael replies arroganly

"That thing is a piece of Izanami, the great deamon that decimated our world during the initial appearance of the Great Reaping Storm!" Rommel says. " Even a fragment of that thing could be used to destroyed the world! Surely you u-"

"Hoo… It can destroy the world huh? I like that" Samael rudely interrupts. "Now I REALLY don't want to give it to you."

"Y-you….. are you serious? Do you seriously want to destroy the world?!" The Ethereal asks

"Not really. But thanks to your information, I suddenly want to" Samael lies throught his teeth.

Mind you, he likes the chaotic world that he lives in and has no intention of destroying it, but this act is necessary for the Ethereal to focus on killing him than chasing Matina who has the metal.

"You are EVIL! DIE!" The Ethereal charges at him with reckless abadon.

"Gaul NOW!" Samael rushes at the enemy.

Suddenly, the Ethereal's legs are caught on near-invisible spiderwebs, causing him to loose his balance and trips.

"Arachne's tripwires! Gotta love the classics!"

Before the Ethereal hits the ground, Samael stabs Rommel in the chest with his very think left hand long sword. Unfortunately, the Ethereal's armor proves to be abnormally tough, seeing how his sword only sink an inch but doesn't hit any flesh.

Samael figure that would happen, so without missing a beat, he sacrifices 90% of his life and smashes the sword in with his Black Hand, blasting the Ethereal away in the process. Half of the sword is destroyed from his punch, while the other half imbeds itself into the Ethereal. The blade is so deep within the Ethereal's body that it cant be removed by simply pulling it out

"Not a very comfortable experience when something foreign is stuck in a place where it shouldn't be."

Suddenly a roar echoes within the desolate city

"RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!" The Ethereal wildly swings his twin blades, destroying the structures near him. "You DARE make me bleed?! A mere pest like you have no place in this world! I will exterminate you!"

Samael sighs in his misfortune. He takes out a Life Potion and drains it in one go

"I have to face the best race in the world without any weapons huh?" Samael cant help laugh futily. "I know I thought of this plan, but I'm really regretting sending the others ahead"

The Ethereal charges at Samael with every intention of erasing his existence from this world.

"Just this once, I want to fight fairly"

-:-

5 MINUTES LATER

"Damn you Samael! You better not die on me!" Kuro thought as she runs away from the abandoned city

FYI: Despite her appearance, Kuro is FEMALE. Unfortunately, the BLESSING/CURSE OF MAMMON turned her body into a manly hulk of putrid rot, all the while giving her abnormal durability. As far as she knows, only Aria and Radharc knows her gender….. and her origin.

"But that doesn't matter right now." She thought as she put more power into her bloated legs. Unfortunately, her passanger is making it very difficult for her.

"Let go of me Kuro!" Matina said as she desperately squirms from Kuro's grip. "We have to go back! We have to help Samael! He cant take on that monster alone!"

"Shut it! Don't you think I want to do that to?!" Kuro raged in her head, but decided to keep it to herself. She knows that she has a foul mouth, that's why she restrains herself from speaking more than what is required.

"Pipe down and don't make it harded for Kuro to run!" Gaul shouted back at them. "Samael's orders were crystal clear, and if there's one thing I know, that is Samael specializes in fighting impossible battles"

Despite his stuby legs, Gaul is actually a very fast runner. It actually makes Kuro a bit envious of his mobility.

"But-!" Matina begins but Kuro cuts her off.

"SILENCE YOU UNDER DEVELOPED BRAT! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I WANT TO LEAVE HIM BEHIND?!" Kuro roars, surprising the 2 into silence. This is probably the longest sentence that has left her mouth since she was afflicted by the Curse of Mammon.

As much as she wants to go back and help Samael against the Ethereal, she understand very well that his survival hinges on how fast the 3 can get out of the Ethereal's natural jamming range.

Suddenly, a small black wisp floats beside them, forcing them into a stop

"Radharc can you here me?" Gaul speaks

"Loud and clear. What's the sit-" Radharc replies but Gaul quickly cuts him off.

"Ethereal at elevation A481! Provide fire support ASAP!" Gaul says in desperation

Radharc is silent for a few seconds, then speaks. " Aria has already fired one of Gaia's ARMAGEDDON. Touch down in 30 second. By the way, where's young Samael?"

In response, the 3 simply stared at the distant city

"Oh. Best pray that he survives" Radharc says.

Kuro's heart aches a fair bit.

While Matina was the 1st one to meet Samael and Gaul being his second in command, Kuro is the one who has spent the most time with him. They normally get partnered in missions due to their increadibly ugly exterior (which not a lot of people can stand), but mainly because she is one of the very few people who isn't affected by Samael's abysmal reputation.

In any case, Kuro considers Samael as her very best friend, so its only natural that she cares for him deeply.

"You better survive this you bastard"

-:-

Love and Pride are two emotions that each Black Hand has trained to spot. Both tend to inflict tunnel vision on a person when the source of their Pride/Love is threatened, causing them to act carelessly. This is when Black Hands exploits those moments of weakness to horrible effect.

As much as Samael wants to do it the fancy Black Hand way, he has done nothing but run and hide for the last 5 or so minutes. If you consider the fact that Samael has no weapon and the enemy is a pissed off Ethereal, it's incomprehensible how he survived for so long.

And it wasn't easy, but certainly not impossible.

The Ethereal is an 8 foot tall hulk of muscle while, fortunately, the abandon city consists of many tight alleyways. With the terrain at his side, all he needs to do is to use his parkour skills to its full effect, and at the same time, keep a watchful eye at the sky.

"I already have a couple of escape routes nearby I could use. All I need is the-…. Oh crap, here it comes!"

The miday sky suddenly gotten brighter with a blood red taint.

"30 seconds…. It's now or never!"

He takes a rough estimate on where ARMAGEDDON might land and runs as far as he can away from it.

Suddenly, the Ethereal plows through a house behind him.

"GET BACK HERE!" Rommel roared as he swings his swords wildly

"Wew…. Tenacious guy, aren't ya." Samael thought.

He jumps through a window of a small house and rushes out the front door. A few meters away was the one of the spots he marked for his survival bunker. It was nothing but a small water well, but if plays his cards right, it will not only save his life, but give him one hell of a profit.

He carefully slows his pace to make sure that the Ethereal can catch up to him.

Once he reaches his destination, he jumps into the well. He quickly turns around and timely deflects a sword thrust from the Ethereal. Unfortunately, he was only able to redirect it slightly, causing it to sink into his left shoulder.

"I've got you know, you little cockroach! I'll drag you out that well and skin you alive!" Romell roars maniacally as he reaches down the well.

"GOT YOU NOW!" Samael grabs the nearest wall, sacrifices 20% of his life and pulls himself down the well, dragging Romell with him.

Due to the Ethereal's size, only half of his upper body was able to fit on the well's entrance, but that was enough. Samael stops pulling down the Ethereal deeper into the well. Using the blade that's still in his shoulder, Samael pulls himself closer to the Ethereal, grabs his face and begins draining him.

The ground shook and intense heat is felt even from within the well.

"Game Over" Said Samael.

All sound cease to exist.

-:-

How long was it since ARMAGEDDON fell on the abandoned city?

30? 40 seconds perhaps?

Samael wasn't sure, but his gamble has paid off big time.

He used Rommel as a shield from the intense heat of the blast by plugging the well with the Ethereal's body.

"Poor guy. His ass got burned to a crisp while I was draining him dry at this end. Not a good way to go, that's for sure"

But more importantly, Samael did what no one has ever done before: To drain the entire life of an Ethereal.

Thanks to that, his smooth mechanical Black Hand changed in appearance. It now takes a more diabolic form, similar to what his teacher, Laerer, has.

He was no longer a 2nd tier Black Hand.

He was now a 3rd tier Demon Arm.

And little did he know that this little incident is the impetus to a large scale war that would consume all of Forsena.

-:-

IRL

MANEKI NEKO STUDIO, 8PM

"Whew…. Long day" Raphael Norton said to no one in particular. "Another brutal 11 years in cyberspace passes me by. Well, atleast things are looking up"

Normally, the participants of TWOF goes home at around 7:30 PM. In order to keep his existence a secret to the other participants, Raph has to stay another 30 minutes so that he wont accidentally meet anyone.

After saying his goodbye's to the staff, Raph walks out the basement and heads for the exit. Upon exiting the building, he spots beautiful foreign girl standing just outside the doors. She has short bleach blonde hair, sporting a black long sleave shirt, black mini skirt and knee high, high heel combat boots. Based on appearance alone, Raph puts her around 12-15 years old.

"Death flag. I've seen it on many eroges! This is such a death flag event" Raph thought nervously.

The girl walks and stops just right infront of him. She stares at him for a couple of seconds in silence.

Now that she's that close, Raph notices that her left eye is sky blue while her right eye was hazel.

"While Heterochromia is a Moe inspiring trait, something about this girl is bugging me" Raph thought. "I think I've seen her before….. but where?"

Raph ponders in silence until the girl speaks up

"Raphael Norton?" said the girl in an emotionless voice

"E-er yes. That's me. How can I help y-"

Suddenly, a spike of killing intent cause Raph to instinctively move, but his reaction was a second too late.

The cold, hard boots of Mother Russia smashes mercilessly into his golden balls of fury. Unimaginable pain shoots up his body causing him to crumble on the floor in agony.

"Priyatno Poznakomit'sya" the girl says as she looks down on him

As he withers on the floor from extensive damage to his pride and his nuts, Samael can do nothing but ask….

"WWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYY?!"

-:-