-The Hunter-

"The invasion into Ashfeld was a success for the most part; every objective we established was lined up and waiting for the 'storm' to pass over harmlessly...

all that had remained after my 'fight' with Grayfia was Tannin's 'fight' with Shalba Beelzebub; then after that the rest of the dragons following the dragon king – and Tiamat – would sweep across the remaining inner sector of the city limits and completely level the rest of everything... or so as planned at least...

I was right in some ways that most battle plans never survive contact with the enemy—and Serafall would gush at this because it was a solid fact of the matter.

My plans never considered fake bodies, or 'drones' if you will. At the time I assumed Euclid – the old-Satan's brightest shit head – had been called in to assist his sister with a known issue, that being me, so she could survive our little encounter to fight another day.

At the time I was too frustrated to consider the smarts behind that contingency; all that waiting and planning and just when I got a good clean hit and bam! It's a dud—try again next time champ.

After the matter though I slowly realised just what I was compared to Grayfia; in a sick notion we were the metaphorical 'Tom and Jerry' but without the cartoonish comedy. My outlandish muscle and power verses her experience, patience and smarts.

A classic 'Wile E Coyote and Road Runner' match up—and I was the Coyote.

Considering I knew exactly what happens to the coyote in that small arc of a story, I realised any attempt at hunting down my 'Road Runner' would end comedically bad—so I had to move on; swallow that lump of frustration down and press on with my other objectives...

I had several innocent devils sitting in a decommissioned sewer, two Deals to see through, one last Infernum Armis to hunt down and a god damn Civil war to win... Grayfia could wait until then.

But like all plans...

...It's never that easy

[Crimson Dagger operations log: 09/ field summary: noble families Belial, Vassago and Amon have been located and secured—(update) Lord Indus Vassago has been confirmed KIA/ HVT designation 'Lady lucifuge' has been neutralized—(update) immediate discovery of Lady Lucifuge's corpse suggests the use of a decoy body—subjects whereabouts are now unknown/ HVT Shalba Beelzebub, designation "locust", pending termination—(warning) potential use of a decoy body is highly probable.../Summary disclosed]

[With Rivia/ central courtyard of Ashfeld]

Rivia swatted aside another swing from Shalba—her form casually swaying from side to side as she continued to avoid and dodge Shalba's wrathful advance with expert ease. The clearly enraged descendant pressed onward with reckless abandon, desperately pressing for a clean hit yet every potential opportunity met nothing but empty air.

His teeth clenched when his jab was slapped to the side again by Rivia's scythe—the large energized weapon merely streaking through the air like a dance; expertly meeting his sword with fluid twirls and masterfully practiced counters that left him almost entirely off balance.

A part of his mind knew full well the woman could have killed him – hundreds of times now – yet with each counter and opening left on him, the woman merely smirked – coyly even – before retreating back a ways only for it to happen again and again whenever Shalba gave chase.

It was a fight against insanity more than a fight against a devil; it seemed every attempt at attack on his end had been done several times already with little results or progress.

It was insulting to think about— but Rivia Abaddon was toying with him, dancing around his blade as if he was a child with a sparing sword; yet the only thing missing was the small comments regarding his stance, posture and lack of emotional control.

If he heard one damn word from this woman he would—

"Your posture has become rigid—trying relaxing more" Rivia intoned with a clear look of playful mischief in her eyes.

Shalba's eye twitched. "Shut up!" he howled before sending a rapid flurry of swings that would normally dice a literal platoon of low-class devils—yet the woman before him simply chuckled at his attempt whilst bobbing a weaving through his attacks like they were nothing.

Rivia landed a few feet away after Shalba's last swings ended up targeting her legs—forcing her to leap away to momentary safety. She paused from where she was as she stared calmly at the slightly exhausted Shalba—her eyes lightly tinged with bemusement.

"Seems you are not as capable as I had hoped; with that level of stamina, I would say your status amongst woman should be rather... shall I say?—unsatisfactory" Rivia's smirk widened as Shalba predictably took her words far too seriously and snarled threateningly at her in response, yet his aforementioned exhaustion kept him from initiating another round.

Rivia had to quell her amusement when that thought came to mind and quickly shrugged off Shalba's childish frustration. "Please child—snarling like a rabid dog doesn't express your apparent entitlement to respect" she quirked a condescending brow at the young descendant. "Perhaps controlling your frustration and focusing it into something useful may yield similar results—but until then, your presence is nothing different then the devils you lead... lackluster"

If Shalba's eyes could express more malevolent hatred—then Rivia would have whittled on the spot; however the apparent skill and power that beheld the man in front of her, hardly constituted that level of potential—as all that stood before her was a frustrated child incapable of even touching her.

His demonic energy flared when Rivia barely shifted at his deathly stare. "You are an insufferable whore—when I get my hands on you I'll—"

Rivia stood by silently – barely even showing signs of insult – as Shalba pressed on his feeble barking; professing several horrid fates that would – nay – wouldn't be fall her, yet as the weakling continued to voice his clear and evident frustration by hurling ever vulgar word under the sun at her, Rivia suddenly felt her comm's link open.

[Rivia—it's me] Ryden's voice cut in like a beam of light through a fog of darkness, immediately brightening her mood.

"Oh?—go ahead darling" Rivia replied with a little too much affection—yet by the momentary glow to her features, she didn't seem to give a single fuck.

[W-wait...Darling? Did you just say—you know what? N-never mind that; I'll just give you a small update as to the matter of things]

Rivia heard the man pause for a moment, allowing her to momentarily catch Shalba's empty threats regarding her and several unsavory men—yet just as the devil pressed on about the obvious threat she'd heard a billion times over, Ryden spoke back up.

[Infernum Ignis has been released and Ashfelds energy supply seems to be remaining active via a fall back energy source—but it won't be long until it fizzles out]

"What are you doing?" she asked contently as Shalba had yet to finish his long winded rant about... er—something regarding toilets. Rivia kinda blanked out the devils voice after that...

[I'm heading towards Rosalina's last known location—I'll probably be escorting them out along with her; apparently she not only located the nobles but also the lower class servants that were transferred here with them]

Rivia nodded at his words. "Understood—I'll continued to dance with this Imp until the city finally falls; Tannin will have his chew toy"

[R-right... i should also add something regarding that 'imp' you're 'fighting'] Rivia's eyes quirked with mild intrigue at Ryden's added words.

"And that is?"

[Shalba may be using a decoy body—I had discovered this possibility after I partially cleaved Lady Lucifuge in two. Inside their bodies is nothing but magically infused gems, crystals and rocks that help make up their internal organs... I fear Tannin may be disappointed, but then again he won't be the only one]

Rivia's eyes fell at the disappointment in Ryden's voice—a small part of her slightly boiling at the clear cowardice in front of her. "I'm sorry Ryden..." she voiced kindly.

[Don't get hung up over it—killing her was a single moment pleasure; yet her cowardice – AND resourcefulness – gives me the chance to kill her a second time...]

"...Indeed"

[Alright, I'll leave you to deal with Shalba for now—but once Tannin's gets his chew toy, rendezvous with Nyx and Abigail and meet at our location... you should be able to find us]

Rivia nodded silently at his words before the comm's channel went dead—and just then, Rivia noticed Shalba's fuming expression.

The man had finished his tirade some time ago...

Rivia blinked with her usual dispassionate expression. "Sorry... were you saying something?"

Just as she spoke those words, Rivia rolled her eyes when the devil began snarling again—his eyes beholding untold violence. "Y-you...you..." with rage mounted to a peak point, Shalba's declaration roared out. "THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT OF YOU! YOU DISRESPECTFUL WHORE!"

At the loud declaration, the descendant of Beelzebub suddenly exploded with ripe demonic energy that dwarfed his earlier levels by miles; and from all round Shalba's body, small green orbs of energy built up by command of will before each respective orb of demonic energy morphed into a single insect; a hornet of the most terrifying design and uniform in appearance.

They formed in the millions—looming ominously over Shalba's shoulders with limbs of the most lethal degree. With six distended legs, each limb that adored Shalba's demonic 'bees' was shaped into winged blades – sharp as razors – and each set of mandibles that made up the hornets mouth was lined with tiny razor sharp teeth that gnawed at the open air, impartially salivating at the targeted devil before them. None of them possessed stingers—the anatomical need for such a thing being almost entirely impractical.

Their size was minuscule, but their numbers easily made up for their lacking power. Shalba suddenly twitched unnaturally – both unfamiliar towards the newly discovered power and inability to use such a power at the same time... the reason became apparent soon after his gaze returned to Rivia.

The woman's eyes widened when the right half of Shalba's face crumbled away to reveal a crystalline skull—further added by a jade crystal orb that made up right eye. For the most part, the devil seemed hardly caring towards the sudden reaction to the influx of his power and pressed his glare towards her.

"Kill you...I'll...kill you" the mechanical damage made to the descendants 'body' momentarily interfered with his vocal cords, creating a distorting effect that warped his previous voice.

He took one step and froze—his eyes momentarily losing focus before suddenly returning back to normal. "NOT...NOW!—not until I kill this one"

Rivia silently watched as the descendant raised his sword towards her, effectively releasing the cloud of razor hornets onto her. The action seemed taxing to the descendant, however Rivia quickly filed the sight away before vanishing from her place across from him and reappeared several meters away—her scythe already in motion.

She sliced in several dozen directions in the blink of an eye—showcasing her elegant form and expert skills to the descendant for the first time since their battle began; and For a brief moment, Shalba grew hesitant at the sight, momentarily transfixed by the sheer masterful prowess displayed—especially when not a single one of his bee's made contact with her. However, after a moment Shalba stomped away his nervousness and pressed his attack, further pushing more demonic energy into his demonic bees.

They flew faster than before; gaining even greater speed that quickly began overtaking Rivia's position—yet just when the mass cloud of deadly hornets quickly overtook Rivia, the woman vanished and reappeared directly behind the stationary devil—surprising him greatly.

Her leg flashed out like a lightning bolt, striking the descendant in his side hard—sending him flying some distance away, yet just before landing, Shalba soon found himself falling through a black rift in space. Disoriented, he never noticed his proximity with Rivia before he felt her hand clench over his throat.

Were it not for his fake body, the strength of the woman's grip would have painfully crushed his throat, yet the slight resistance made by his fake body allowed him enough leeway to merely stare angrily into the calm and neutral eyes of Rivia Abaddon—his control over his bees having been dissolved by the woman's prior strike.

She stared for a moment longer—favoring his damaged right side for some time before her gaze slightly shifted into a bemused smirk. "A Fake body—and a surveillance sigil woven into the eyes..." she tossed him away lazily.

"I'm safe to assume lady lucifuge requested such a measure? You don't strike me as the type to think that far ahead"

"You bitch"

Rivia scuffed Shalba's words off her shoulder without any sort of visible reaction. "Please—enough with your pathetic insults and remain silent, I'm no longer referring to you" Shalba made to comment but Rivia's high heeled greaves made short work of his ability to do so by tightly stepping onto the devils throat.

He glared rebelliously while Rivia stared through him—seemingly staring into the eyes of Euclid Lucifuge. Rivia could not tell who exactly she was staring at, but unknowingly to her, two secret observers were shockingly aware of the woman's cold and serious stare.

Rivia's grin slowly rose after a couple moments. "You have played the role of coward well enough – you who calls yourself 'Lordess of the house of Lucifuge' – your actions have deemed your fate sealed—" Rivia leaned forward until she was almost eye to eye with Shalba; cold white eyes of ancient malevolence locking with a Shalba's set of young inexperienced jade. "In time you shall face your sin, and by the true will of hell, you will pay for the pain that which you've inflicted." Rivia's eyes flickered dangerously when Shalba fought against her strength, a measly attempt if any, and an attempt soon silenced by a brief vengeful glance.

Within a second, Shalba fell silent once again after catching the full brunt of Rivia Abaddon's inner brutality, conveyed through her eyes; and soon after, she returned to delivering her message. "You cannot run forever, for his will shapes the earth, the skies and soon the ocean's—that in which makes the one known as 'TheArbiter'is hell itself—and hubris brands those who try defying him... and you know this" Rivia's stared held fast, hard and true—her words conveying a cold warning and promise that could not be ignored.

Shalba didn't feel the emotion of vengeful rage that swelled angrily at her words. To him – and a single other devil – the words of the blonde Abaddon devil were worthless, yet to the one that which she had been speaking to—the weight couldn't have been heavier.

[Unknown location]

Euclid's blood ran white hot at the words spoken by Rivia Abaddon; the brazen show of disrespect towards his sister being well enough to send his visage into a state of violent wrath. Veins bulged and eyes shone bright with clear hatred as the woman known as Rivia Abaddon pressed her words of warning.

"...and you know this"

"This insignificant little—"

"Enough Euclid—your inexperience has grown apparent"

Euclid's head whipped over to his sister – now dressed as immaculately as she normally was – and gave her the most insulted look he could muster. "I think not—this woman has crossed the line; to so brazenly insult you and threaten you without even knowing who you are shows to me an arrogance nothing of which I would have deign believe, yet to hear it firsthand..." he left his words hang as his demonic energy flared violently. "And to speak of a 'true will of hell'... does this wench not realize there is already such a thing?"

Across from him, Grayfia remained silent as she watched her younger brother rant—leaving her to silently stare back into her brothers observation tablet and into the desolate white orbs that made Rivia Abaddon's gaze. They were like the splendor of angelic spears of light, dangerous and threatening on a level only devils understood—yet far more ominous in nature compared to her angelic heritage.

This was what she knew of the woman that stared down at Shalba; having effectively discovered Euclid's well crafted and hidden surveillance sigil—Rivia Abaddon had at this point turned Shalba into her own messenger... and the message she delivered—was nothing to scoff at.

The true will of Hell—by historic accounts, the Abaddon family had proclaimed such a title to be the mysterious 'Arbiter' that had been discovered in several prophetical tablets regarding the four storms of hell. Such proclamations had led to minor conflicts with several ancient demons of yore back before the beginnings of the Great War when Lucifer had originally fallen. In those days, brief conflict between Abaddon and Lucifer had risen as the latter had argued against it – stating his providence as the true will of hell – only to silence himself when even the famed 'light bringer' couldn't conquer the volatile storms.

After that—the Abaddon's had stayed steadfast to their beliefs... and said beliefs had come to fruition.

Ryden Vale was the Arbiter...

...and soon his power will govern everything that stood before them.

In time, the land in which she tread, the ice in which she controlled and the air in which she breathed would no longer be something of a commodity—but a temporary gift.

Rivia Abaddon was a woman far older then her – this much was obvious – as the devil possessed a finer intuition then what Rizevim could understand. With one instance – without even knowing who she was truthfully – Rivia had managed to understand just enough to gouge her awareness.

Rivia was aware—and that alone unnerved her...

Bad enough Ryden was able to unseal the Infernum Armis from their prison, but it was even worse to have him followed by the one woman that believed in the 'Prophecy of the Arbiter' the most... and by extension; Rivia Abaddon was the single most lethal devil to walk the underworld.

Abaddon herself was a fearsome demon of old—yet Rivia's practice and power mixed with her abilities in combat created a being far beyond something that which even Sirzechs Gremory could achieve.

He had only one inherited power, and though it was mastered to almost complete perfection; Rivia however... possessed two—and had mastered both of them...

For the second time in her life, Grayfia felt a cold chill rise up her spine...

"I'm leaving" Grayfia called out coldly after a moment of staring at Rivia's cold white eyes. She tried to not think too deeply into the fact that Rivia hadn't broken eye contact with her ever since she had taken in the woman's harsh and truthful threat.

She tried—but failed...

Euclid ceased his angered rant just when Grayfia turned to leave; yet just before he could argue against her, she interrupted him with harsh orders. "Pull Lord Shalba out before he's killed or decides to push himself further then he already has. The shock alone will possibly kill him, and even more so now that he's pushed his limits beyond what his current body could contain"

He ceased his attempt at pleading right at that moment, his intuition and loyalty to his sister overriding his small desire to just stand by her side. With a bitter swallow, Euclid complied with a rigid nod as Grayfia rounded the corner and disappeared—leaving him alone as usual.

Just as he turned to glare hatefully at the image of Rivia Abaddon – cursing the very essence of the devil right then and there – he only briefly heard the sound of glass shattering; and his eyes quickly widened.

Ashfelds defenses had finally given way.

[With Rivia/ central courtyard of Ashfeld]

The sound of glass shattering was the first thing she heard after a long period of silence; and just as she heard it, so too did she hear the triumphant roars of the army of dragons looming over head. Rivia casually regarded Shalba Beelzebub with a neutral expression—the distant roars carrying forth a sense of familiarity.

"All actions have consequences child—and you are about to get a taste of yours" Shalba grew confused by Rivia Abaddon's cryptic words, yet the sound of beating wings and low guttural growls quickly forced his attention to her flank.

It descended to the earth with amethyst scales and thick black armor that hugged its form almost painfully—crimson eyes of deep rage and hatred shone amongst the cacophony of colors dotting around him. Like a beacon of destruction amongst a rain of death, it rained down behind the Abaddon devil; crashing violently into the stone earth with a thunderous smash—whipping debris and smoke all round.

Its form was masked by the shroud of smoke up heaved by its descent, yet the odd glimpse of taut muscle, groaning metal plates and hardened scales marked exactly what was standing before the both of them.

His attention was abruptly interrupted when Rivia suddenly reached down and griped his collar, her strength easily hoisting the descendant up to eye level. She shot him a coy smirk right as the bright crimson eyes locked onto the both of them from the cloud of frothing smoke.

He meant to say something harsh, to fight the woman's grip as his pride so demanded—yet the sensation of sheer killing intent radiating off the being behind her forced his throat shut... a reaction he loathed with a passion.

"It was fun boy—unfortunately however, your fight was never with me" her eyes suddenly shone white. "It's with him... do try and last long enough for him to enjoy himself"

Just as she finished those words, Rivia suddenly twisted around and threw him directly at the mass of scales and muscle. Shalba's body reacted as best he could under the circumstance; however before he could right himself and dodge the mass of death, the mass of death instead caught him in a clawed hand that wrapped entirely around his body—locking his limbs to the side and forcing him to stare into the now visible gaze of a royally pissed off Dragon.

But not just any Dragon – no – It was the one he had been trying to kill, the Dragon King of the north east valley.

"Long have I waited for such a pleasure..." the Dragon's snout pierced through the veil of smoke, fully revealing its visage to the captured descendant. "To finally stare into the cowardly eyes of the devil that has poisoned my kind—POISONED MY QUEEN!"

With mighty foot falls, The Dragon stepped out from its cover of mystery—fully revealing its titanic form to all around. Shalba locked rebellious eyes with the dark malevolent scarlet eyes of the dragon that held him.

"Who are you beast!?" he roared back defiantly, demonic energy flaring in response to the draconic energy that weighed onto his shoulders like a blanket of lead.

Its eyes flickered at his question, almost as if he was enjoying himself. "Who am I? You ask?" Its tone carried on like an echo—as if the air itself desired to carry the question throughout the city, garnering the attention of the dragons looming above.

As fires rose from the remaining towers of Ashfelds inner sector, as ash over took the clear sky above—every dragon stopped in their tracks as the words of their king reverberated throughout the air itself, pulling their attention to the sight below.

Shalba felt a cold sensation as the sounds of destruction all around him slowly ceased; the sensation itself quickly rising when every dragon in the sky turned towards them—their silent unreadable gazes creating an odd sense of fear that coated his body like ice.

After a moment longer, Shalba regarded the dragon king again, this time fully aware of the situation. The dragon snorted at his own thoughts, bemused by something Shalba did understand before the dragons loud baritone voice returned. "Too you, feeble devil, I am the end—the fire, the ash and the sky; however... for everything you've done, for every one of my kind lost to your actions—I. AM...DEATH!"

Loud roars carried out as Tannin held aloft Shalba, his words proclaiming his title to the feeble creature in his clawed hand before he soon turned to regard his warriors.

"LAY WASTE TO EVERYTHING IN SIGHT! DESTROY ALL THAT WHICH YOU SEE!—BUT LEAVE THIS RUNT TO ME..." Shalba could only struggle fruitlessly as the mighty dragon king threw him down into the stone earth below, cratering it by the force alone.

From a distance away, Rivia stood by casually as she watched Tannin advance on the downed Shalba Beelzebub. From all prospects, resistance towards the dragons might was fruitless, as even Ryden hadn't managed to harm him enough to warrant some form of progress, yet regardless of his status, the Beelzebub descendant stood up even as his lower half crumbled away to reveal reinforced marbled bone.

She hummed at the sight, already aware of the presence behind her. "He seems steadfast enough—normally some would have lost themselves to fear by now, but he seems resilient to such things... he has afforded a modicum of respect from me" Rivia paused and turned to regard Tiamat standing behind her, the militarily dressed dragon king merely staring lazily at the show before them.

"Hm... a marker of one's bravery is made by their true presence" the azure haired woman scoffed. "Tannin will not be happy about this. We will be listening to incessant whiny for some time once he's done with the welp"

Rivia smirked, her arms crossing under her bust line as she regarded the dragon king with a new sense of expression. "What seems to have gotten you so frustrated?—if it's about the force field then you should know it was more complicated than we expected"

Tiamat simply remained silent, a reaction that caused Rivia to smirk even broader—something that Tiamat instantly found annoying. "Cease your teases brat; I have little patience for such matters"

Rivia waved her off. "Sure...then I guess you can wait here while I head over to assist Ryden—I'm sure if you can't even handle my words, then I'm sure his far more aggressive way of speaking should be well above what you can handle" just as she spoke a rift opened at her flank just as Tannin sent Shalba through a distant marble pillar.

Tiamat's eyes slowly rounded onto the blonde devil, her gaze quickly growing conflicted by the second—yet all the same, her expression quickly turned pointed. "You have grown bold—I remember not much long ago you were almost eating out of my palm with how reverent you were of me, yet now you seem as if you wish to confront me in every way" her slitted gaze became mirthfully accusing, however she instead remained silent when Rivia shot her a innocent and mildly allured gaze.

"Oh? Since when did you believe I stopped?" Rivia retorted with a flirtatious blink.

Tiamat stared at Rivia as Tannin pressed his beat down on Shalba in the background, however to Tiamat, the small confronting conversation with the blonde devil before her seemed eerily more interesting than that. She slowly read the devils expression, taking in every twitch and motion with draconic precision—yet after a moment of study, her gaze slowly widened.

"I see—so that's your game...you are a strange one, but I can see what you desire; however do not believe I will 'yield' to such a notion before I claim that which is mine" Tiamat stepped closer to Rivia, predatory eyes locking with an equal predatory set. "Once I've been sated, I will reward you..."

Rivia cocked a mysterious grin. "Reward me?—your too kind; however don't get ahead of yourself—claiming what you've chosen will not be as straight forward as you think, and depending on who is chosen will result on who is rewarded" her eyes simmered with a visage of excitement.

Tiamat remained neutral, however she had become aware of many things regarding the devil in front of her... and aggressive didn't quite cut it. "You are seeking to beat me?"

Rivia shrugged dismissively. "Maybe—maybe not, either the outcome, I am rewarded regardless"

"Is this loyalty or pleasure?"

"—why not both?"

"...had I known I would have been in the presences of such a woman as you before; then I would have kept you for myself"

"Oh my—I'm flattered to have heard that"

"Tsk...Are we going or not brat?"

Rivia lightly chuckled at Tiamat's urgency before stepping into the rift without a word, the dragon king following closely behind her.

[With Ryden]

The energy source supplying Ashfeld with its defensive wards was quickly depleting by the second, allowing the Dragon's from outside to finally begin laying waste to the upper levels of the city itself—as there was no longer any source of viable and stable energy to help reinforce the castles walls and the chasms by extension; However, now that such parameters were met and the city itself was free to be destroyed at will, Ryden couldn't exactly trust Tannin's limits when it came to such a thing.

As evident by Ryden's worry, several violent tremors rocked all along the stone walls around him, causing smoke and loose rock to crumble onto his form while several unstable tunnels dotting along the mine caved in.

Yet amongst all the chaos he ignored the commotion and pressed on towards a new energy signature he'd randomly picked up a few minutes ago.

It was a jarring sense to note, but ever since he'd freed Ignis from his prison – as well as unlock whatever was sealed in the obelisk – his sense of spirit was vastly augmented.

The term was something he'd made up during his time in Halphes, when the only sensible pass time was to extend out his senses and feel around for individual signatures; and Back then, he'd first done so to the few prisoners around him—leading him to one of his first mistakes.

At the time, he could feel every source of emotion linked with every devil in close proximity to him—ranging from the usual suspects; fear, despair, anger and grief. Such senses were hard to take in upon first attempt, as every emotion seemingly extended out to him in random intervals—leading to a few involuntary tears whenever he'd graze upon an unfortunate victim of torture... or worse.

It wasn't all terrible for the most part however—as each individual devil that had been linked with him at some point had actually become aware of his presence; and as invading as it was to do such a thing, Ryden never did feel any source of anger towards his actions from those that could actually respond to his spiritual link.

Comfort was one of the dominate responses whenever he'd 'visit' a few isolated devils locked away further from the others—denying them the chance do anything in response to the horrors done onto them; yet his actions – that being in spirit – had managed to relieve many grieving victims with his own source of comfort.

After some practice and enough time, Ryden had managed to convey his own emotions to help relieve the many children weeping over the loss or 'disappearance' of their parents...

It was the least he could do for them—as they themselves were suffering in his stead.

So in penance...

He shared their pain...

Ryden's hand lashed out violently in a streak of crimson-black arc energy when a lone swarm knight rounded the corner in front of him—his explosive movements – augmented by his experimented use of Fulgur's hyper speed – ended with him merging the devils skull with the wall to his right with a loud crash.

Ryden ignored the blood splatter that coated his right arm as he followed along the path—ignoring the absolute terror in the eyes of two other swarm knights that had just witnessed their friend meet his end so quickly.

Again, he ignored them—not seeing the point in wasting his time with such mongrel creatures.

He breathed away his sudden spike of violent rage and immediately severed his attention away from the remaining swarm knights and pressed forward—his previous thoughts quickly returning as he took in how easy it was to locate Rosalina's demonic signature.

Ignis' new addition to his spiritual senses allowed him a few extra boons that eased his focus requirements to almost nothing. Like a motion detector or an advanced UAV, his senses seemed almost sharp enough to cut through solid matter—giving him brief awareness of any living being in the area... even fading ones.

This led him to where he was currently... the new energy signature that had stumbled into his sensory range.

He'd followed along the trail towards Rosalina's location for some time – following along the path of recently passed bodies of swarm knights – before he found himself traversing through several other tunnels until he came across one body that stood out amongst the rest. The corpse possessed short blonde hair and sported worn noble attire – dirtied by clear physical labor – which was embroidered with a unfamiliar family sigil—yet what caught his attention, was the evident stab wound in the devils abdomen as well as the lingering sensation of strong demonic energy that matched with the fading soul itself.

Ryden leaned down to inspect the body further—quickly noting a few additional wounds before coming to the obvious realization that this was the energy source he'd been following. However, The devil was dead... who he was, was a mystery to him, as he didn't fully know the family sigil embroidered on his coat sleeve—yet he knew – somehow – that it was one of the nobles that they had been sent in to rescue.

Ryden hummed angrily at the sight before he noted the several dead swarm knights littering the small cave opening around him—all of their souls having long since faded to whatever afterlife awaited the end for devils. It was a comforting sight—knowing the devil had managed to go down with a few bastards before his end, yet a small idea came to mind when he recalled how many Phenex tears he still had on him... as well as the spirits currently residing in his control.

Medical training kicked in as well as a few additions to the equipment and powers at his disposal—momentarily causing him to regard the recently deceased devil with a modicum of hope, as the energy signature corroding away was still very much present.

He had stated before the man's soul was still slowly fading, the strength of the devils will, or possible linger regret on his own death having actually extended his souls decay by some time—regardless of which, this meant he had a small chance to do this right.

Master—what are you doing?

"If I'm right—then I'm pulling off a miracle, but if I'm wrong... then at least I tried" he retorted seemingly to himself. "Now how's about we try and get a reignited pulse going?" just as he asked, Ryden clasped his hands together, calling forth two distinct elements before they answered his call—igniting both his hands in soothing flame and calm arc energy.

The twin elements coalesced in perfect unison while soft gouts of wind weaved through his fingers. He grew confused by Ventus' inclusion before he suddenly recalled what he'd be fighting off. Nether energy—soul consuming energy that corrodes the soul down to the point of...well—he didn't exactly know for sure; but Ventus managed to easily quell the process with ease.

If you wish to do this Ryden—then you will need me as well... I'll purify the soul and ward off the nether energy while Fulgur and Ignis reignites it

Indeed...

Whenever you're ready Ryden—

Though I'd make it fast—the devils soul is already at the point of disintegration

Ryden nodded at their collective comments – the lot of them already knowing what he was trying to do – before he pressed his hands against the devils wound, focusing his efforts on where he could feel the familiar cold and desolate sensation of nether energy.

It happened almost instantly—the weak source and presence of the nether energy was easily over powered by the combined might of the three Infernum Armis' at his disposal; as all it took to get a reaction was the moment his hands pressed against the devils wound.

The nether energy faded instantly under the might of Ventus' purifying power; before the spirit held his presence true while Ignis began reigniting the devils soul – repairing it with small waves of soothing warm soul energy – and just when the soul itself nit back together, Fulgur sent a jolt of energy throughout the body, reactivating dormant organ's for just a second before they faded again.

"Again" Ryden commanded as he summoned his second Phenex tear from his pocket dimension and uncorked the elegantly fashion bottle with his mind alone. Fulgur sent a second jolt through the man's body at his command, and just as the energy coursed through the devils body, Ryden poured the contents of the Phenex tear into the devils stomach wound.

The reaction was immediate...

Foreign energy sprung to life before it coalesced instantly with the three spiritual entities within—and the remnant nether energy fighting against Ventus immediately ceased their encroachment once it detected life within its target.

Ryden stepped back as he watched the devils stomach wound close to show perfectly healthy skin—and just as the wound shut itself, a loud gasp of air was taken in by the previously dead noble.

Confusion came first once his breathing stabilized before his hand reached up to grasp his stomach—leading to even further confusion when healthy skin met his touch. The devils senses were erratic for a few seconds before the nameless devil quickly noticed Ryden's presence.

Fear was the first thing expressed in the devils eyes as he seemingly considered him an unknown enemy for a fraction of a minute before he noticed Ryden's casual stance. Considering he was none hostile—the originally damned devil destined for purgatory voiced his confusion.

"W-where... a-am—I?" he asked with clear hesitance.

Ryden merely glanced down from his hands to the devil for a moment, silently bouncing with enthusiasm at his success.

Reviving non responsive victims was a fool's errand—especially those that were clearly and obviously dead for what seemed like a few hours now if he had to guess, but the supernatural world always had its options.

Yes master—this devil had been dead for 2 hours before our arrival—Ignis himself had even encountered a few hints of decomposition within the man's soul, meaning he may have small lapses in memory... most involving how he died—as such memories – if vivid enough – can possibly replicated the sensation of death—leading to possible fatal reactions. Therefore the soul, and by extension, Ignis himself—has sought to block those memories for a time until he has stabilized.

Revival from death is a jarring experience—so I'd recommend easing the man into it...

And don't go thinking this will be a regular thing Ryden—had it not been for that Phenex tear then we would have merely extended his souls decomposition process, which would've damage his soul and it would've forced the Nether energy afflicting him to encroach on him more violently... that would most painful.

Ryden idly nodded at the Ventus' words before regarding the man with a soft smile. "In Ashfeld—or more accurately, the Ashfeld mines" Ryden answered the man.

The man's eyes widened somewhat before he pressed his hand to his head—confusion still lying present in his eyes. "I-I—don't remember how I—"

Ryden smirked. "I have been told remembering such things may harm you so I've blocked those memories away; so aside from that, can you remember your name? Or in a broader question—can you remember who exactly you are?"

The man nodded almost instantly. "I can... my name is—Indus...Vassago... I'm married to—MY SON!" the man's eyes widened upon remembering something however Ryden's reaction was different.

"Wait what?!" Ryden all but questioned with horror in his eyes. "You're married to your what?!"

Indus Vassago waved his hands in abject terror at what his words had sounded. "Oh NONONO!—I know who I'm married to, I just remembered my son and... Amelia—Amelia" the man's eyes brightened upon recalling the latter name. "They were after her—I had managed to find them and lead them both to safety but...I—I can't remember beyond that"

Ryden nodded. "Alright—just don't jump around like that, that scared the shit outta me" he half joked – enticing a small grunt of humor from Indus – before he pat the devils shoulder. "Well aside from that though—I pretty sure my college found those two as well as your wife and the others"

Relief ignited in the devils eyes upon hearing Ryden's words. "Thank the Satan's..."

Ryden nodded. "Right—well, let's get moving then, I'm sure you're just dying to see them"

.

.

.

"You have a rather dark sense of humor" Indus pointed out with a slightly accosted expression.

Ryden shot the man a pained grin. "S-sorry... it's kinda the first time I've pulled someone from death so—the verbal filter is the least of my worries currently"

Indus nodded—partially understanding Ryden's excuse if only slightly. "I... understand—and... thanks; I owe you my life"

Ryden shot the man a firm nod. "Not a problem—the names Ryden Vale Gremory by the way"

"Gremory? Are you—?"

"Secret child born without the family power—Ayup" Ryden gave the devil a bored glance when Indus directed a confused look towards him. "You'll get the further elaboration once we reunite you with your wife and son—I'm sure they'll be asking a few questions that will lead to a few eye widening – jaw dropping – answers"

"W-well then—I'm Indus Vassago, lord of the Vassago family"

"Well it's nice to meet you Indus" Ryden replied before he suddenly heard the oncoming sound of encroaching swarm knights—the culprits being the fools he spared not a moment ago. Ryden turned back to Indus and stepped passed the man with a quick gesture to follow him. "While I'd like to dish out the formalities and all that lovely jazz, but unfortunately, I can't say the company is best suited right now—so let's get moving"

"R-right—lead the way then..."

[Decommissioned sewer—several minutes later]

Time seemed to blur as Ryden led the now revived Indus Vassago towards the distant demonic signature of Rosalina—her now stated location being a relatively large maintenance room deep inside the sewer he was heading towards. Ryden had half a mind to call ahead and update Rosalina about his "miracle" but thought against the idea because it wasn't exactly the best time to be explaining how exactly he pulled a dead man from the literal brink of death.

In Ryden's own mind he was still reeling from the whole thing—especially when he realized how simple it was to execute; sure it was a spur of the moment – rare by all accounts of rarity – but the fact he managed to pull it off spoke volumes of what his secret unified capabilities were.

With just three Infernum Armis' he had managed to quell away the lingering and ever present nether energy decomposing the soul of a dying man. By all human accounts, Indus Vassago was gone—but yet human limits were what caused Ryden the sheer feeling of awe when such limits were shattered by the unified might of just three Infernum Armis'...

With just three ancient weapons of yore and one Phenex tear—he had managed to cheat death... if only barely

But imagine what he could do with all four...

In time master...

Ryden nodded at Fulgur's soft words before he rounded the tunnel and entered a vacant cafeteria room with a lone blown out hole leading into the sewer maintenance room he was looking for. "Found it... your wife and son are just a few hundred meters inside—hiding out within a maintenance room" Ryden paused after a second when he felt the distinct energy signature of a few dozen swarm knight closing in on their location, their numbers being reinforced by four Death Knights.

Ryden held out his hand to keep Indus from stepping into the sewer entry way. The revived noble shot him a confused look just when his senses extended outward like a pulse—picking up several oddities just a few feet ahead of them.

"Stop—traps... and lots of them" he warned as his mind's eye revealed several arrayed magic sigils dotting the floor in front of them—a few of them being literal explosive mines.

Indus remained confused—clearly not sensing the expertly hidden sigils that molded perfectly with the ambient demonic energy wafting in the air itself; if Indus couldn't sense them then that meant some serious skill was at play.

"I'm detecting several magic sigils just ahead and even more down the sewer tunnel—either they don't want anyone following them, or they don't want anyone fleeing this way"

"Can we still get through?" Indus inquired as he studied the room ahead.

Ryden nodded simply before he shot him a look. "How's your demonic energy?—can you use it?" he counter inquired while unsheathing Fulgur. For a moment, the devil studied his hands – flexing them randomly without any sort of reaction – before shaking his head.

"Not—r-really...I-I don't feel anything—have I lost my demonic powers?"

It will take time for his soul to recalibrate to its status—right now, the devils soul has prioritized memories over power, but once his soul settles, his once owned power will return...

Ryden nodded at Ignis' words before regarding Indus. "No—your soul is just going through a sort of 'recalibration' faze; in time—everything will come back to you"

Indus felt relief at that information before confusion suddenly rounded onto his thoughts. "How exactly do you know all this?—you said before that reviving me was new to you, so how exactly do you—" the devil froze when his eyes caught the suddenly glowing blade in Ryden's hand, the image—the power and the sensation of bristling lightning being enough to awaken a memory of a few bed time stories he'd read to his son.

One of them had mentioned the crimson sword in the man's hand...

"Is that—?" he began before Ryden shushed him.

"Not now—we have company..."

Indus suddenly picked up the sound of several foot falls coming down from the sewer entry way, the number being around four or five; however the echoing bouncing off the tunnel's walls didn't help the noble devil determine the exact amount.

Ryden however knew exactly who was coming. "Stay hidden and don't make a sound—I'll be back" just as he finished his words, Ryden vanished from sight—courtesy of his cloaking sigil.

The runes and sigils dotting along the tunnels walls and maintenance room flared active for a fraction of a second before fading when three swarm knights stepped out into the opening—each one holding their swords at the ready.

Ryden stood just a few feet from them – hidden within a collection of pipes and valves – while Indus ducked away inside the cafeteria room as each knight survey the area only to come up with nothing.

"I told you it was nothing" one stated harshly while the other three continued to study the rest of the area.

"Sure—and next you'll blame the rats and bugs for spiking their demonic energy..." another commented back sarcastically.

"I know for a fact I felt a demonic energy signature spike up from here—it was faint, but it was here" a third knight stated assuredly as he and the second swarm knight pressed on towards the breach in the wall.

"Right—whatever, you guys go on your man hunt, I'll wait here" the first knight stated lazily while turning his back towards Ryden.

Ryden's opportunity was presented just when two of the three knights stepped into the open breach—leaving him with just one to deal with. His mind opened to several desired methods, but one prevailed within the nano second it took to close the distance.

Shing!

A sharp metallic sound exuded outward when Ryden extended his wrist blade and drove it into the back of the first knight's throat, effectively silencing the devil; however the noise of his wrist blade's activation caught the attention of the others. The sound was hardly loud enough to travel down the sewer tunnel; however the other two devils had managed to hear it and quickly twirled around in response only to receive a wave of arc energy that decapitated the both of them with ease.

Acting fast, Ryden stabbed Fulgur into the ground below him just as the devils hit the ground; and the effect was instant. With Fulgur's energy active, Ryden managed to manipulate the energy readings of the three swarm knights and create a sort of temporary window for Indus to cross over.

"lets go" Ryden called out quietly as he manipulated the sigils below them.

Normally it would be simply to just deactivate the sigils and be on their way; however considering they were potentially dealing with an expert trapper with a head start before them, he'd rather not force the devil towards more potent means when his previously established sigils suddenly vanished without a sound... that being the case, Ryden also liked the element of surprise over brute force when he's escorting a devil without the ability to defend himself—especially when potential adversaries may or may not possesses bullshit inherited abilities such as rapid cloning, invisibility, etc.

Shit could get out of hand really quick if that happened—and in tight spaces with a useless devil, safe to say Ryden didn't like those odds.

He could ways send down a massive wave of arc energy or fire from Ignis' battle axe down towards the larger clump of devils – kill them all in one swing – but again, collateral damage and friendly fire was a potential liability. And as the minutes passed by, the swarm knights and Death Knights closing in on Rosalina's position, the window for such a means of action were already well and gone.

Even if they were hiding in a moderately sized maintenance room, that wouldn't stop a literally blaze of fire from potentially cooking those devils within alive or frying them alive with a burst of arc energy... he wouldn't risk such a thing, especially when he could handle the situation well enough as it was.

Ryden grumbled as he lead a silent Indus down through the sewer tunnel, making sure to keep his mind's eye on any sort of hidden traps that may or may not have escaped his now enhanced senses— and as a means of caution, both Ignis and Fulgur were held in either of his hands – the direct usage of each weapon seemingly heightened to maximum potential when held directly – so he could keep both benefits active at the same time.

There were precaution sensors laid all throughout the tunnel – motion senses mostly – that Ryden easily detected and bypassed with the use of Fulgur and Ignis; and soon enough, his progress lead him to the confrontation between Rosalina and the large pack of devils closing in on her; apparently, Rosalina had considered confronting the approaching swarm knight's and Death Knights directly before they got too close to their hiding spot and was now confronting them head on.

Rosalina looked haggard and flushed from exhaustion while a few swarm knights lay dead at her feet. Surprisingly, at her flank stood two men and two women with a few others' hiding in the background, their complexion also sporting haggard and tired disposition.

Confusion was the first thing Ryden felt when he sensed the combined power of each noble devil standing behind Rosalina; and if he had to make a measurement – each devil was fully capable of laying waste to each Swarm Knight in front of them with ease – but then again, that never factored in the benefits and potential of the Death Knights that supported them.

One possessed an odd demonic energy that swelled with mixed power that felt similar to the devils he was staring at, while two other devils seemed to be erecting a sort of barrier that blocked any and all projectile magic that was on par with an ultimate class devil—albeit it was nullified by the fourth devil that seemed to actually half the oncoming demonic energy by exactly half of the original amount used.

Once it hit the force field, it swirled into the natural flow of energy and seamlessly flowed into the first devil—absorbing the residual energy for recycled use.

Ryden took a moment to processes the implicating abilities and compartmentalized the key target; Weaker devils resorted to unified methods to overcome stronger devils almost all the time – a natural method of survival for weaker beings – however the main weakness of such methods resolved around a very fragile formation, that if disturbed, could result in Death.

He needed to find the key target—which was not hard

The first devil seemed to be absorbing demonic energy; which Ryden confirmed when the aforementioned devil turned and infused a small amount of said energy into a swarm knight standing behind him—which then pressed through the force field and towards the now clearly pressed back nobles holding desperately to what little ground they had left—fortunately for the nobles and unfortunately for the Old-Satan's, Rosalina easily neutralized the buffed knight with several efficient swings.

On one hand it was interesting to see the Death Knights and Swarm Knights operating in uniform and actually press the flow of battle in their favor. It was a nice sight to behold – in a momentary sense that is – as all Ryden had seen them doing so far was screaming and disintegrating into ash from one lone bolt of lightning.

It seemed now though that given enough time and a chance to respond, the Old-Satan military did seem to possess more than just bumbling fools with swords...

Then again, being strong by default usually did make seasoned warriors look like chumps in the long run...

Arrogance had to be born somewhere after all...

Ryden hummed after a second before he dismissed his impression and found his target—the ones holding the force field.

Strategically, each of them were placed on either side of the formation – making priority targeting difficult for the nobles and also maximizing the size of the intended force field to cover the oncoming swarm knights funneling down the middle.

It was nice... but nothing he couldn't cut through...

"This shouldn't take too long" Ryden informed Indus as he stepped further towards the formation of Death knights and swarm knights—yet just as he took his third step, a new idea came to mind; one that resulted in the best outcome... as well as it being the fastest method.

Ryden paused mid-step before turning to Indus with a resolute nod. "You know what?—Fuck it, nuke them it is—ain't no time showing off anyway" he said while grabbing Indus by the back of his coat collar.

The man seemed confused by the action – even slightly peeved by it – yet just as he went to voice his confusion with a sharp tone, Ryden – and by extension – Indus himself, suddenly became wreathed in arc energy that rolled along their bodies and the walls around them. Predictably, the sudden rise in energy at the Old-Satan's flanks caused the majority of them to twirl around towards them once they felt it—however this response momentarily dropped their guard; effectively created a pathway for Ryden – and Indus – to move through without anyone standing in the way.

Well... some hadn't exactly gotten the memo...

VVPP!

In a burst of speed unlike anything seen before – for both sides, save Rosalina – Ryden suddenly appeared before the aforementioned devil and her entourage of nobles in a streak of crimson light with Indus in hand. Yet just as he dropped the shell shocked noble to the ground, he twirled around towards the thoroughly surprised devils with Ignis soon appearing in his hands – the flaming battle axe materializing in a flurry of embers and fire – before he rose the new weapon over his right shoulder and swung it downwards towards the large pack of confused and arguably terrified Old-Satan knights in front of them.

The might of Ignis—even surprised Rosalina.

VVVSSSSSHHHHH!

The evident build up of heat came first as Ryden raised his axe over his shoulder, which was felt by all in the vicinity – the effect easily evaporating all moisture in the air like a gust of wind to a candle – before a massive wall of flame rushed outward from Ryden's axe once he struck the ground in front of him.

Metal plated armor simmered and steamed painfully against skin while the skin itself blistered and melted upon the encroaching wall of fire—and just as the pained moments reached an all time high for each devil effected by the flames, the wall of fire over took the Old-Satan's completely—the loud rush of roaring flames easily masking out their agonized terror, and very easily overwhelming in attempt at defensive sigils.

Not a cry was heard by the Nobles as the flames rushed further down the vacant sewer tunnel—illuminating the entirety of it before fading in small gusts of embers; and after the flames faded—not even ashes remained of his adversaries.

.

.

.

Silence reined... an oddly common occurrence for both Ryden and Rosalina

One swing and around ten or so Old-Satan's were gone... to Ryden and Rosalina, it was another Tuesday—however, to the nobles behind him, especially the lower-class servants and two young bloods, he might as well have done the impossible in retrospect of their prior situation.

They'd all tried to fend off the slowly encroaching Old-Satan's to little effect—their combined formation and demonic powers helped them mitigate the strength of five pillar-class devils with meticulous ease, yet just from one mighty swing—Ryden had erased the whole problem with ease.

Ryden sighed at his handy work before turning to Rosalina with a smug grin adoring his face. "Were you having difficulty?" he teased while dismissing Ignis with a casual wave of his hand.

Rosalina responded by lightly punching his arm, a small blush adoring her features for reasons different to the current moment. "...what took you so long?" she interrogated tiredly—sapped of demonic energy.

Ryden hummed at her plight before resting his hand on her shoulder—thus pushing the blush into crimson territories. "I made a momentary pit stop on the way" he replied evenly as he jolted the woman with a rush of arc energy before he stepped passed her and towards the still silent Indus Vassago.

The revived noble was shocked by the showcase of power displayed but Ryden quickly grabbed his attention with a whistle. "Huh?" the man mumbled before he noticed Ryden pointing over his shoulder and towards two very shocked devils.

Ryden stood calmly over Indus as the man himself turned around to stare into the eyes of his wife – Vidalia Vassago – and his son – Gregor Vassago – the both of them literally staring at a ghost, a man whom had knocked on deaths door.

Ryden stepped back when the inevitable reaction occurred, and Indus was overtaken by both his wife and son in a rush of joy and relief—tears streaming from the both of them as they voiced their words of affection and relief on repeat.

For a moment, it was slightly awkward – yet still wholesome – minute for Ryden, as he was not only standing right in front of the lovely reunion—almost too close for comfort, but every noble devil present was staring at him as if he'd grown a second head.

The latter half was the first thing he noticed, which was something he had grown accustomed too for the better part of his stay in hell so for—but once Indus dropped the beans on his apparent survival and the one who had pulled him from the brink of crossing over to the after – after – life, well... things became rather interesting...

...Especially when Nyx, Abigail, Rivia and bloody Tiamat, suddenly stepped out from a rift behind him.

It felt like a bloody action movie when all the hero's stand in formation at one key point in the story; their heroic visage being silhouetted by a bright back drop—except in this prospect, reality kicked in hard, as two very aggressive woman seemed uncaring to the sheer shell shocked stares he was getting from the crew of devils before them, and chose to stand very close to either side of him—their proximity being way to damn inappropriate for the company present.

Ryden blinked at the two, his eyes suddenly twitching when he noted Rivia's alluring smile and Tiamat's uncaring stare.

His jesting nature kicked in, if only barely holding against his mild annoyance. "Ah! Rivia – Tiamat – it's been a couple hours but it feels like months, how's old Tannin doing upstairs?" he asked as his left arm delved deeper into the bust of Tiamat—causing his eyes to twitch and Rosalina's eyes to burn with further frustration, and Rivia seemed slightly annoyed with her breast plate suddenly, however it vanished after a moment.

My—aren't they aggressive...

Indeed... there is a rather an interesting selection of woman around you Arbiter...

You will get used to it Ignis—these devils seem incredibly infatuated with our master...

No kidding—if I'm reading their spirits correctly then it's seems they wish to mate with him—HAHAHA! Honestly, not even two hours and you are already supplying me with enough entertainment to fill my void of boredom, HAHA!

Ryden rolled his eyes at Ignis' exuberant words, his mind quickly flushing away his comment on their desires before he shrugged off the woman at his side... only to get glomped the second he came free by Indus' son, the one he deduced to be Gregor Vassago.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" the boy continuously wailed in his chest, tears still streaming from his eyes as he tightened his hold around Ryden.

For a moment, both Tiamat and Rivia refrained from their secretive actions of competition and stared at the scene in front of them with confusion..

Seeing as how they had not deigned to ask the reason, Ryden shot the both of them a scolding stare—yet even still, he summarized the cause with easy and minced words just to cut corners towards the inevitable outcome.

And within several moments of uninterrupted speech, he had his response...

Nyx's eyes were twitching faster than Abigail's eyes were blinking—while Rivia merely stared at him with silent awe – a similar expression as Rosalina's – while Tiamat... well... he didn't know exactly what she was thinking.

Yet her eyes left nothing to the imagination...

The better description would be "hearts of lust melded into her eyes" but Tiamat didn't seem capable of breaking her character twice within a week. The events prior regarding hers and Rivia's 'titty competition' that resulted in him literally passing out from suffocation was probably the one time he'd seen Tiamat act so aggressively – especially when he recalled her kiss and consequent arousal from the action – yet Ryden knew – by some cosmic relativity – that Tiamat wouldn't be pulling something like that off again unless the planets all align... or she got her hands on more dragon fruit

However her eyes – as lazily held as they were – gave off a desire only he could feel.

It was intense; the few seconds he spared to stare at her was probably the longest several seconds he'd ever experienced save for the time he spent staring into the wrathful eyes of his mother.

Safe to say he kept his gaze away from the clearly hungry dragon king—but considering the noble devils before him, they expressed even grander reactions then the latter—which did help in keeping his eyes off of the hungry dragon king.

He managed to learn of each devils names by their colorful exchanges.

Mallon Belial and Kareem Amon were both built devils, sporting dark hair that seemed in dire need of a trim, and noble clothing in dire need of a dry cleaning—and the both of them couldn't believe what he'd revealed, going as far as mumble out whatever incoherent jargon that came to mind.

Their wives however were contrasting to their appearances comedically as Calfa Belial sported silver or platinum hair that framed the sides of her face elegantly—and ran down to mid back freely; while Claudia Amon sported white hair that feel down to upper back while her left bang drooped over to cover her right eye.

The both of them were rendered speechless—and as par for the course for most times—Fulgur kept reminding him of their hour glass figures; like he hadn't noticed already.

Ryden shook his head...

Vidalia Vassago—

Has a damn rack on her...

...

—Vidalia Vassago possessed royal amethyst hair that hung down to the center of her back while her bangs extended down to her shoulders—

—And drooped onto her juicy bosom like silk fabric...

.

.

.

—her noble attire—

—Needs to come off...

For a good minute, Ryden remained silent – dreadfully silent – as his body shook with unprecedented frustration with Fulgur's constant interruptions with his mental observations. It took fractions of a second to get a bead on ones profile – a standard action used by anyone in military service or security service for that matter – as it allows him to identify key individuals within crowds or otherwise chaotic environments; and with enough of a mental image, he could probably spot each devil in front of him with surgical ease—yet every god damn time he filed away a devils outfit just so he could remember them later in case of accidental separation or whatever else, Fulgur would whisper in the nasty temptation—more so for the purple haired Vassago Lordess then the others.

Safe to say it was getting rather difficult to contain himself...

Oh? You mean you desire that hot piece of ass as well?—well why didn't you just say so? We can always—

In a flurry of motion that left many present confused, Ryden quickly unsheathed Fulgur and flung her down the tunnel and away from his mental connection—the indigent words of 'Oh come on!' trailing after the sailing sword before all words ceased.

Ryden sighed deeply – as did Ignis and Ventus – while the previously shocked and awed nobles behind him ceased their tuned out questions to now stare at him confusedly.

"Uhh—why did you do that?" asked Calfa Belial, confused by his actions as many of her colleges expected some sort of reason behind the action itself, yet when Ryden turned to them with a visibly annoyed expression, they got their answer—albeit a vague one.

"No reason..." he muttered back before Mallon Belial cut in.

"Never mind that—the more important matter is what that sword actually is" the noble intoned with clear shock—his eyes locking with Ryden's neutral expression. "How exactly did you manage to unseal that?—it's impossible, not even Lucifer could do it" the man's words were rung through the grinder of each of Ryden's teammates minds, the lot of them merely remaining silent while Rivia softly giggled into her hand.

Ryden however—as it was decided for him, delivered the blunt answer. "My brother introduced me to Arc energy and I got excited—so I ran up the nearest mountain and stumbled upon that sword" he summarized neutrally before he noticed Gregor Vassago and Amelia Amon staring at him like he was bloody superman.

Starry eyed, gaped mouths, the usual suspects...

He blinked however, after he took in their full appearances Ryden mentally recalled Rosalina calling them young bloods a few moments ago; he could recall when exactly but the words hung true—as by devil definition, the two 'young bloods' in front of him where in fact... well... young bloods.

However...

...They looked like they were in their teens!

Bloody hell—are devils considered young bloods all the way to their thirties?

No—once they reach one hundred years, they became 'new-bloods'; then after another one hundred years – and after careful testing via—

Ok—no need for the exposition dump Ventus—I got it...

Tsk—fine then... figure it out yourself from now on

Hahaha! He told you to shut up! Hahaha!

Ryden tuned out the oncoming argument between Ignis and Ventus and returned his attention to Mallon Belial after dismissing the small oddity that is 'young bloods'. The man himself had been staring at him for some time now—expecting some kind of answer Ryden didn't know the question to. "Sorry I didn't catch that last question—what'd you say?" he asked innocent while rubbing the bridge of his nose

The devil looked about ready to explode. "First you storm the castle of Ashfeld—with an army of dragons, take on lady lucifuge – alone – and then you resurrect the dead – with a legendary weapon that no one has been able to unseal – and then you kill an entire platoon of knights single handily" the man paused to take in a breath. "What I'm trying to say is—just who the hell are you?"

Ryden stood by neutrally, merely processing the man's words before he turned towards Nyx. "That doesn't sound even remotely as impressive as the things I've done in the last couple day's right?"

Nyx didn't even miss a beat. "Fuck no—not even close"

Tiamat mildly snorted. "Unless you managed to destroy a mountain range without me noticing then yes—not even close"

"I highly doubt Lady lucifuge could match Tannin in strength anyway so that fight was a wrap before it even started" Abigail chuckled knowingly before Rosalina mildly piped in with her two cents.

"Expect the 'resurrecting the dead' part—that's new" Rosalina proposed while the others closely followed her words with firm nods of agreement.

"Indeed..." Rivia muttered with a look in her eyes that only Ryden noticed.

"Yeah—that's a little bit pushing the envelope" Abigail agreed while shooting Ryden a nervous glance. "I hope you don't try resurrecting anyone dangerous in the future for the fun of it"

"No promises..." Ryden joked while the noble devils in front of them looked more shocked by the second.

"Destroy... half... a mountain range..." Vidalia Vassago muttered while staring at the man of the hour—mild beads of sweat creeping down her brow.

Ryden nodded before looking to Mallon Belial. "If you want to know who I am then all you need to know is my name and the rest will follow—now then, about the introductions" he bowed – all the training from Venelana and Zeoticus kicking in fluidly – as he regarded the nobles as he was trained to.

"My name is Ryden Vale Gremory—wielder of three of the four Infernum Armis', and branded the title of 'Arbiter' by right of their possession..." he gave each devil a comforting smile. "Under orders of the Anti-Satan generals, Sirzechs Gremory, Ajuka Astaroth and Serafall Sitri – as well as the backing of the council of 72 – we have come to bring you home"

Ryden mildly bit back a slight cringe when his own words entered his ears, his thoughts easily making those words sound better in mind then in reality—however by the looks of relief – as well as mild awe – on each devil, it seemed to have done the trick.

Right... ancient times—cringy shit isn't exactly cringy...

I'd imagine it sounded – now mind the pun – 'heavenly'for the lot of them—especially those young bloods...

Heheh—it seems the Arbiter has increased his fan-base...that's hilarious

Ryden shook off the voices rolling in his head and filed away their words for later dissection. Bad enough he had several fan-base's – both in devil culture and dragon culture – but now he seemed to have inspired a younger crowd... if he hadn't already... but considering the present expressions of awe on Amelia and Gregor – more so for the latter – there was a destined possibility that such a fan-base would rise up amongst others once the two were brought back to civilization.

Half a thought was horrified by the idea—but another thought loved the feeling...

To summarize the feeling, Ryden was conflicted on the matter—but thankfully, Tannin cut through his thoughts by forcing the entire sewer tunnel they were in to rumble violently from a massive surface level explosion.

It was high time they cut to the chase and got the fuck outta dodge...

Ryden blinked while staring up at the ceiling while Tiamat sighed loudly in annoyance. "That would be our queue to leave—Tannin just figured it out" she all but dropped with a lazy set of annoyed eyes. "Save the heroic speeches until after we leave and after I finish puking"

Ryden turned towards her – feigned hurt – and shrugged. "What? It sounded better in my head" he defended while Rivia opened a large rift for mass transport. "What else was I suppose to say?" he questioned while Nyx and Abigail escorted the lower-class folk in through the rift—leaving only the nobles, Rivia and Rosalina to watch the two bicker.

Tiamat responded with a shrug of her own—dismissive of the subject but otherwise humoring Ryden with an answer. "Anything but that..." she stated firmly while rolling her eyes

"Right—and I'm sure you could do better" Ryden countered

"I sure could..."

"...well lets here it then"

"..."

Ryden smirked at the dragon king with a smug expression as Tiamat stared at him blankly, yet all the while – and all around them – the foundation of the tunnel itself, and by extension the entire city, crumbled under the forced might of Tannin and his brood.

It took a moment but Tiamat formulated a line...

"Come with me if you want to live—it's short and precise, gets the intention across and wastes zero time" Tiamat stated with a shrug before she noticed Ryden's expression—which happened to be shining with awe.

"For fuck sake—why did I not use that?!" he laminated openly, surprising Tiamat and the others with his genuine response. "That's bloody perfect—" however he paused the second he said that. "But it doesn't—"

The mild bickering continued as the chaos around them grew more violent—and for the nobles watching, each of them seemed oddly entranced by the devils ability to speak with such a powerful entity.

"So is this normal" Claudia asked while her husband as well as Mallon Belial stared agape at the power radiating off the woman Ryden was speaking too... they had missed something—they could just feel it.

Rivia nodded at the devils question. "Indeed it is—" she replied casually before looking to Kareem and Mallon with a bemused smirk. "Ryden seems oddly comfortable when speaking with Tiamat—I'd call it a natural chemistry between equals if I had to brand such a thing"

The reaction her words caused was easily more bemusing then the conversation between Ryden and Tiamat—emphasis on the latter.

"Did you just say...T-Tiamat?" the two males questioned in unison—ghostly pale by complexion.

Rivia merely nodded—her smirk remaining ever present on her lips.

One would brand such an expression as pride...

Indus rubbed the bridge of his nose—shell shocked by the reveal. "I remember him saying that name before... he said it way too damn casually"

Rosalina snorted at the man's words. "You get used to it" she answered while glancing down to Amelia and Gregor—the both of them staring at Ryden like any child would towards a mythical or heroic figure.

Actions and deeds could create rumors that produced fame for anyone, and even the simplest of actions can do just that—and apparently talking casually to a dragon king like one would a sibling; the effect produced just as much credit as slaying said dragon king.

Safe to say Mallon Belial completely forwent his shock at Ryden's power towards the Old-Satan elite right at that moment.

Killing a platoon of swarm knights under assistance of four death knights was most likely not even cutting it.

Rivia chuckled at the collected expressions on those around her before she stepped towards the man in question – whom had at some point collected Fulgur in the midst of his conversation with Tiamat – and pulled him away from the Dragon King with a bemused laugh. "That's enough Ryden—it's time to leave" she stated with a smirk as she dragged the man towards the rift.

The man went to argue but ceased his attempt after a moment of thinking—yet even still, he shot Tiamat a challenging eye. "I bet you won't even get four stars—the highest you could get would be half a two, and that's if you throw in a smile"

Tiamat shook her head. "Such a simple gamble—getting all five stars would be child's play" she waved off his words as she followed Rivia and Ryden through the rift—the others closely following behind with perplexed expressions.

Directly behind them as they disappeared inside Rivia's rift, the remaining foundations of the sewer tunnel collapsed completely, burying the entire chasm and mine with the destroyed remnants of Ashfeld itself; the majority of the once 'mighty' city being nothing but rumble and debris—the uncounted casualties littering the city soon being buried in a mass grave of draconic destruction

[Several miles from Ashfeld]

"—prove it then" Ryden countered as he and the others emerged near an outcrop of stone spires and crevasses a few miles from the epicenter of destruction—the distant swarm of dragons still seen raining death upon the overwhelmed city.

Tiamat sighed at his words but otherwise held a knowing smirk. "I shall do so—and in return you shall heed my desired reward without argument" she stated while shooting Rivia a smug glance.

The aforementioned woman suddenly felt defensive when the dragon kings words filtered through her ears several times over...

Rivia's eyes narrowed.

Ryden waved Tiamat off casually while momentarily taking in his surroundings. "Whatever you say—and who knows—maybe I'll have that treasure you've been wanting back" he shot Tiamat a wink – for whatever reason – and watched as the dragoness fumble for words—it was brief – barely noticeable for a fraction of a second – but his odd choice of winking towards the woman had caused a slight blush on her.

"Tsk—and what if you don't have it?" she quickly countered while fighting control of herself.

He blinked at the dragons blush – as did Rivia and Rosalina, as well as a select few that overheard the conversation – before he reassured the dragoness with a laidback shrug. "Then I have yet to actually attempt retrieving it—and by extension, you would have fulfilled your end of the deal before I had even tried mine"

Tiamat eyed him closely before she noticed Rivia's gaze out of the corner of her eye—the sight of which causing the dragon to smirk—and if Ryden had to describe it, the smirk itself looked far more Cheshire then even a Cheshire cat... and that was saying something.

And for a moment, Ryden felt something warm swell up within him as his senses slowly awakened to acknowledge Tiamat's breach in proximity—the dragon having closed the distance between them in order to voice a secret that only he would know.

"If such a thing comes to pass—and I find myself waiting... I can only hope you have the strength to make up for it" Tiamat whispered with what Ryden quickly realized to be a hunger only Tiamat would know—but yet the feeling was ever present when his senses mixed with Tiamat's aura.

The others around them believed her to be intimidating him, and it may be possible Tiamat had raised her draconic aura to do just that to him—yet the adverse response had come to him with the help of Ignis' passive ability.

The aura of a devil or any living being is constructed from their very souls—and in the blueprint of each aura stems emotions that help strengthen them; and amongst those capable of creating an aura, Dragon's were the pinnacle.

Their raw emotions were vastly stronger than anything else; refined by years of existing, tempered by decades of combat and honed by naturally inherited instinct that allows them to use their aura whenever and wherever they desire without limit.

Most fear the aura of a dragon because they cannot sense the emotions that fuel it—and while most draconic auras are fueled by rage or a desire to dominate – like a certain red dragon – the mystery of the rare few dragons that are not fueled by such emotions go entirely unnoticed...

And it's in those rare few – the ones that mask their auras with a frosty exterior – became the largest of eye openers.

Ryden could sense emotions in devils – albeit when they are at the most raw – and even gain a slight bead on a few dragons personalities when they're at their most calm state. The jumbled emotions when in the heat of battle is something Ryden couldn't pick up—almost like looking for a needle in a haystack whilst in the middle of a hurricane that's on fire.

It was impossible for him... but with Ignis; that issue had been resolved, as his senses had been honed with his now symbiotic connection with the flame spirit.

Tiamat's aura was fueled by a foreign rage—one not linked to him personally, but otherwise used to mask what she truly felt deep within.

There was a yearning – deep and wallowing in the small corners of her soul. It was far too deep for him to sense from where he was—and his instincts told him that bridge would be crossed if he touched her, yet his instincts also told him that Tiamat would also feel his presences... which would not bode well.

Regardless, the discovery was enough of a beginning to take hold of—however the raw sensation of Tiamat's true emotion left him speechless... silent in the face of her words.

He held his expression firm as Tiamat smirked at him with a predatory hunger—yet the smirk alone was easily fake, a practiced facade so well constructed it had looked genuine enough that even Rivia had not noticed it—the only thing that woman noticed was the dragons hunger, which obviously construed to a sexual nature.

Yet now that he felt Tiamat's deeply locked away feelings, he couldn't formulate a response to her words – or even feel anything remotely sexual when her eyes skimmed over him hungrily before she stepped passed him.

He couldn't—not after feeling what he felt.

Sharing emotions was what he did for the devils in Halphes—and over time it became second nature to do so when looking into the eyes of a victim, or when he felt the cries of a victim through his extended senses—and while it had been a while since he'd done so, it seemed after he'd freed Ignis—that instinct had returned with the vengeance, and now he could not shut it away.

And once he felt Tiamat's deeply locked away emotions—he realized who had been the one to create it...

Ddraig...

"...Ryden?"

Ryden blinked – his eyes having momentarily flashing azure – before he raised his head to see Rosalina, Amelia and Gregor staring at him—Tiamat having stepped away some few seconds ago to speak with what looked like an oddly defensive Rivia Abaddon.

"What?" he asked, his voice cracking for a second before he coughed it away and regarded the three with an even expression.

Rosalina titled her head in obvious worry before she merely left it alone. "You've been staring at the ground for a minute; is everything alright? Or is Fulgur annoying you again?" Rosalina's questions came out soft, worry riddle by an obvious blunder born from his cluelessness.

He waved off her worries—ironically masking his own emotions with a fake smile. "Yeah—kinda got bogged down with her incessant—" Ryden paused when he remember the two 'young bloods' standing behind Rosalina and caught himself before he could get a little too raunchy. "...nagging—yeah, nagging... she just distracted me, what did I miss?"

That was easily the worst subject dodge he'd ever done—but thankfully Rosalina was not a prying woman – at least no recently – and merely followed along with his excuse with a slow nod of understanding.

Right then, she glanced down to Amelia and Gregor—the both of them staring at Ryden with their ever present starry eyed awe. "These two wish to speak with you—and, if had to guess why, I'd say it would be what we saw" Rosalina lightly smirked when both Amelia and Gregor fidgeted uncomfortably.

Ryden blinked. "What you saw?—wait... did you see me fight?" Ryden asked with deeply hidden nervousness.

Let it be known to all, but the methods of Ryden's kills down in that chasm had been something even he was not at all prepared for—the brutality, the mercilessness and the dishonorable methods he'd done on devils clearly unwilling to defend themselves – ones that were even begging for mercy – was not something he'd brand as an admirable quality—especially to the impressionable minds of young blood devils with more anger then they should possesses.

He could feel it in the Vassago heir—and he could feel something else entirely in the soul of Amelia Amon.

He was not dense to the physiological effects that rape had on those that had suffered such a thing—as many had suffered such unfortunate assaults in Halphes by the hands of their tortures... he'd consoled those before, some of which feeling far too suicidal then he was comfortable in remembering.

Hope was destroyed—dignity was shattered and the will was broken beyond repair... and justice went unanswered when those that committed such deeds were transferred elsewhere by Grayfia herself.

Yet the one relief he felt upon studying Amelia was that she had not suffered that atrocity, as she had been saved before anything could happen—that much he could guessed by her closeness to Rosalina. Sure the trauma was there – obviously that would take time to heal – but the young woman's aura still seemed to possess a normal vigor.

Gregor Vassago on the other hand was a lot simpler to study—as the young devil merely possessed a deep seeding hatred that he alone was familiar with.

"Did you kill her?"

Ryden blinked away his internal study of the two when the aforementioned heir finally spoke. His gaze was... normal—an odd expression to hold when speaking of death, but yet who was he to judge?

"We witnessed a little bit of your battle with lady Lucifuge" Rosalina revealed as she lightly patted Gregor on the head scoldingly while Amelia shot the boy a cute pout.

Ryden fought his third blink. "Really?—well that could have been dangerous" he muttered out while recalling the few instances Grayfia had used a few ice attacks that destroyed a good portion of the walls around them.

Amelia awkwardly chuckled at a memory. "It was dangerous indeed, but lady Rosalina kept us safe—" she nervously agreed before Gregor opened up again.

"Except when—"

Rosalina's eyes flashed just then as her hand rose to seal the boy's lips with a tight pinch—a vein lightly pulsating along her temple. "Never mind the boy—I had kept them safe and that is that... nothing else—Right?"

Ryden felt oddly sympathetic for Gregor when Rosalina pressed a sort of pressuring expression towards him—obviously keeping the boy from saying something too embarrassing.

Smartly, Gregor nodded enthusiastically at her question and for his sake—Ryden jumped away from the subject.

"Well I guess that's good" he muttered with a nod before shooting Gregor a pointed look. "And I'm not sure it's a good idea to be asking such aggressive questions like that—younglings shouldn't be speaking of death so lightly"

Ryden's words were meant in part to teach a sort of restraint in regards to certain topics, because god forbid Death became a common topic of conversation amongst young bloods. He could be ignorant in assuming their ages—cause for all he knew, Gregor and Amelia might be well above his age by about a century or two... but he at least had to make the effort in being an obvious role model in the eyes of the two "young bloods"

He really needed to drag Rivia away to confirm their ages...

Is that all you'll drag her away for?

...

...

Ryden shook his head of Fulgur's brief mental influence, momentarily catching a glimpse of Rivia and Tiamat's nude forms in the corner of his eye before their clothes shimmered back into his sense of vision. He shook his head calmly, barely phased by the image of Rivia's nude body— although Tiamat's nudity was still new but otherwise dismissable in retrospect of his prior experiences.

Ryden sighed to himself as he recalled the morning's events – his mind momentarily daring the world to top it – before he regarded a clearly peeved Gregor—his previous comment having obviously awoken something passionate in him.

He followed the boy's deep emotions with a modicum of respect for whatever travesty he may have experienced, however after feeling the boy's deeply sown anger, his suspicion – and mildly rising annoyance with the boys needless rage – quickly softened when his clear and apparent anger was a lot more innocent then he originally expected.

"That woman... she threatened to take Amelia from me!" the boy's eyes flashed with a passion as the aforementioned young blood behind Gregor delved further into a scarlet blush—hell, even Rosalina was getting it.

At that point, at least a few servant class devils and nobles were staring at him – as well as a smugly grinning Abigail and a goofy smiling Nyx. Why they chose to stare at him was a mystery; but regardless of that, Ryden felt mildly obligated to assist the boy with his clear affection towards the white haired beauty behind him.

And it wasn't hard...

He casually raised his hand and pointed at Amelia over Gregor's shoulder. "Well her threat seems to have gone empty boy—as the woman of your affection stands behind you" he shot the now shocked devil a confident grin. "Now I can only assume that passion you hold towards her isn't something of a brave lie, right?"

The boy – who was now obviously blushing in embarrassment – didn't formulate an answer quite as well as Ryden expected, so he merely patted the boys shoulder with a understandable nod and then quirked a thumbs up towards the kid—confidence leaking off of him like a facet. "Seems to me you have some business to attend to—good luck"

It was all Ryden had to say for the Vassago heir to understand—even muddled down by the pressuring looks of the silent servant devils or the proudly smiling nobles, Gregor Vassago understood what he needed to do—and Ryden was already aware of the outcome.

One look from him and he could tell a relationship had been forged through torment, and that the bond shared between the two young devils had already blossomed to something intimate.

Amelia had been waiting—and Gregor Vassago had been wanting...

"Ah, the love of youth" Rosalina commented soothingly as she watched the two young noble devils confess—their parents quickly pulling the both of them into loving hugs.

Ryden however shot Rosalina an odd look after stepped to her side, his look based purely on the woman's comment. "Really now..."

"W-what?" questioned the now blushing Phenex.

Ryden kept his neutral gaze on her. "It's nothing—I'm just trying to wrap my head around what you just said"

Rosalina had the audacity to look mortified by his meaning. "Tsk—for your information lord Ryden, I do possess some experiences with the odd crush and romantic ventures"

Ryden's eyes drooped further into disbelief. "Right—I'm sure you know your way around such things just as well as I know my way around subtly"

Rosalina's eyes twitched. "What's that suppose to mean?"

Ryden shrugged before he continued to watch the formation of union between two noble houses—the twin blushes on Gregor and Amelia – mortified of their parent's aggressiveness towards literal marriage – glowed clearly on their faces, yet their interlocked hands never left the other.

Adorable

"No idea—what do you think it means?" Ryden countered while shooting the woman a smirk.

Rosalina brushed off her mounted annoyance and huffed away her annoyance while turning from the man. "Then it is nothing"

Ryden observed the woman for a second and noted that no eyes were on them. Rivia and Tiamat were conversing about several things – such subjects appeared serious by nature at first but it dwindled down to topical conversation – and Nyx and Abigail were merely tending to the servant devils with care—even oddly conversing with them about menial things.

All in all however—no eyes were on them.

It was a chance...

"Rosa" Ryden called out softly.

"Shut it Ryden—I'm not in the mood" persisted the clearly frustrated Phenex... yet Ryden repeated himself, only to receive the same reply.

"Rosa" a third try bloomed into success as Rosalina turned towards him—annoyance written on her face before it was whipped clean when his lips pressed against her's.

He didn't hold it for long, merely choosing to mimic the speed in which she had done so before—but when he pulled back, this time, he could see the woman's expression clear as day.

Stunned silence, scarlet faced surprise... the usual suspects, but it was added with a pinch of something deep within the woman. He couldn't read it as it was brief—but his impartial union with the woman created a connection he couldn't ignore.

Yet he ignored it regardless, any longer and someone's eyes would gravitate towards them—so he kept his action as brief as he could, just for her.

His hand had taken to occupying her left cheek, merely to hold her head in place—so when he pulled away, his thumb gently ran along her lips, keeping her silent.

"Now...we are even" he whispered gently before stepping passed the silent woman.

He strode towards Rivia and Tiamat, leaving Rosalina to dwell on his actions with a visible blush—her eyes blinking at what just occurred. He kept his stride poised, making sure his own emotions were tightly controlled, though if he was honest, it was a hurricane of paranoia and pandemonium within his mind.

Well shit—did I just do that?

Oh my master—I never expected you to have done that all on your own.

Yes Ryden—you did indeed just do that, though I'm now sensing some levels of regret—which mildly disappoints me.

Stand firm Ventus—Ryden's decision was firmly planned, but I believe he is not very good with living with his decisions...

I can hear you ya know!

Good—then it should be easy for you to understand our reaction. Even if you believe yourself a fiend for progressing relations with that woman without full truths, your actions towards her has soothed her soul quite substantially, had you not done so—then your secret would only damage the relationship you have.

Ah—I see now, by creating familiar ground and a plateau of trust and affection, Ryden's secret would hurt less when revealed.

HAHA! Sharp as ever you damn leaf lover—

Tsk...

—But yes, the method will help her...

I feel even more a fiend for leading her on like that, if she wishes to commit then she needs to know everything...

Then tell her master—I'm sure it will work out just fine

As much as I'd love to agree with that sentiment and just get this tip toeing over with—I'm afraid it would be too soon.

Indeed—this one is a reclusive and fearful devil, she possesses unprecedented hesitation and fear, caution is needed unless you wish to have everything fall apart.

Ryden continued to ponder Ignis' words as he strode towards Rivia and Tiamat. He was surprised by the flame spirits wisdom and found himself understanding what he needed to do—it was scummy in his eyes, but right now, they were right – Ventus and Ignis mostly – he needed to create a much more intimate base with Rosalina before he dropped the bomb of his humanity on her like a lead anvil.

He was proud of it now, but he still had to remember Rosalina's seriousness towards nobility and her loyalty towards her family—and if he was remembering historical lessons regarding feudal marriages correctly, sleeping with what was obviously 'low born' in the eyes of noble families was not something easily accepted—and with devils, it could be much worse.

That is wise to understand, but remember what you felt before—

Ignis' words echoed in his mind, collectively pulling on a memory of Rosalina's emotion—one that he'd sensed with Ignis' passive ability.

For the briefest of moments when his lips were meshed with Rosalina's—and when his eyes locked with hers just afterwards, a deeply locked sensation of joy and passion was momentarily given life – signified by the sudden increase in her heart rate – yet almost a few seconds after he stepped passed her, that emotion was suddenly stomped away with doubt and fear—and reluctance of acceptance.

Ryden gently ran his thumb along his own limps, remembering the sensation of Rosalina upon them before nodding to himself.

I understand now... I'm far closer then I realize

Yes—I would suggest you keep your advances minimal, but do not pull away from her if she chooses to do so

Ryden nodded at the spirits words of advice, easily understanding the reasons behind them. If he pulled away, confidence would become stretched thin and Rosalina would lose the confidence that she'd clearly been building.

It was there—the earlier kiss deep in Ashfeld being enough of an indication... however... his nervousness was quickly mounting.

What would she do if she learns of his true heritage?

What would become of them if she took it the wrong way?

Questions with negative possibilities filtered throughout his mind as he continued his stride towards the secluded duo—the both of them quickly noticing him approach, leading them to cease whatever they were speaking of.

Rivia's blush and small grin made things slightly odd to imagine—yet his mind was open at this point.

He shook away his nervousness and glanced to Tiamat—yet just before he spoke, in the distance behind her, he could see the large collection of dragons slowly approaching them, the last remnants of Ashfeld toppling like a house of cards.

"Never mind" he intoned casually as he noticed the lead dragon quickly descended down towards them, his amethyst scales and hardly singed armor glistening with a battle worn gleam—yet his eyes spoke of a clear anger that each present understood.

Tiamat sighed and stepped forward towards the dragons landing spot and paused when the shrunken dragon landed on the ground with a powerful crash, his weight cratering the ground and his presence easily scaring the others behind them.

"What is the meaning of this?" Tannin spoke with clear vindictive anger before he tossed a disfigured body to Ryden's feet.

The body was that of a brown haired man adorn in heavily damaged armor—his long cape was but torn up rags and his armor was but crumbling dust. The man's face was caved in; revealing glistening jewelry within and his bisected torso spewed out crumbling stones that broke down into dust particles.

The whereabouts of his legs were unknown – clearly being destroyed – yet the man's visage ran true in both Tiamat's and Rivia's eyes.

It was Shalba—or at least what remained of the boy's fake body...

Tannin didn't look slightly abated with effort—his scales hardly possessing a singe of damage and his armor was still as pristine as before, thought minus the soot and ash that clung to the corners of the armor from all the fire and smoke that rose from the fires below them.

Ryden merely gave Tannin an apologetic expression, one that he knew meant jack shit for the clearly disappointed dragon king. "It's as it looks, the old-Satan's expected us and used fake bodies to protect their most important leaders—I wasn't spared of the disappointment either, my target – lady lucifuge – also employed such a thing"

Ryden's words hung like a wafting stench of shit—causing Tannin to spit angrily down at the crumbling body of Shalba—the super-heated saliva quickly melting down the body into a clump of pathetic mush. "Cowardly maggots—what sort of information did they gleam to learn to use such a means of defense?"

Rivia shrugged. "As far as we are aware, this lady lucifuge seems to know of Ryden quite intimately—so it's possible she picked up a few... hints, while we operated within Lilith's borders" Ryden's nose crumbled at the Abaddon devils words while Tannin shot him a expectant look.

"This woman...you were intimate with?" Ryden's right eye visually twitched at the dragon kings words, enticing the dragon to change his perspective. "Ah—now I see, this woman is someone you cannot abide by... rather interesting"

"Tannin—if you have little else to provide, then shut it" Tiamat all but growled out, forcing a small grin to Tannin's thin lips.

"Still salty are we?—hm, no matter" Tannin's gaze returned to a composed Ryden, his earlier twitch of disgust having eased over without any effort—and Tannin merely ignored his earlier breach in privacy with a change of subject.

"Now I believe we had two parts to our deal—though the first part had not been provided, I can only assume you have managed to secure the last of our deal" Ryden nodded at the dragons words and summoned Ignis forward with a flick of his hand.

Ryden chose action over words this time...

With a loud clang that garnered the attention of all present – if they had not been already watching – the pommel of Ignis was slammed into the ground with a light grunt of effort and the effect was instant. An orange light shone from the embroidered tree within the duel sided axe head—before the light itself ignited into a soft flame that soon slide down the weapons length and into the ground at Ryden's feet—spreading out for a few miles.

Dirt became fertilized soil, before the soil itself sprouted lush green grass that soothingly flowed along with the soft gusts of wind around them – courtesy of Ventus – yet upon studying the rapidly evolving environment; Ryden quickly became aware of its limits.

The range was poor—barely reaching even half of what the dragon valley was, and the potency of its purification was limited without the combined effort of life's first and most prominent element... water.

Though Ignis did manage to cure the land of its sickly curse of sulfur poisoning, it didn't however do so fully... what would be needed to cure the land permanently would be the last Infernum Armis. However a deal was a deal—and Ryden didn't plan on stretching out Tannin's patience anytime soon, so he had to merely hope this would be enough to cure Tannin's home to allow fertile land to once again return to normal.

Ryden eyed his surroundings with a keen eye. Tiamat and Tannin were merely staring at the rapidly changing environment with looks of interest and slight awe—and some of the lower class and the nobles behind him had even gone so far as to stare at him in awe—clearly dumbstruck by his show of less than destructive power. Nyx and Abigail had at some point stepped up to them while Rosalina did the same—yet her gaze remained on the changing land around them, and nowhere near his gaze.

He snorted at the sight, catching Tannin's attention completely—to which he locked onto the moment his crimson eyes met his ice blue. "Now then Tannin—I believe that should be enough to answer your question"

There was a moment of pause in the dragon, a brief moment of study that quickly reminded Ryden of the age and wisdom locked behind the crimson eyes of the apparent 'brute' that Tiamat so 'affectionately' branded him as.

Doubt dissolved and trepidation ceased within the mind Tannin – a small side of him having been disbelieving on the words spoken by the human – yet with the show of a miracle – as ironic as it was in the setting they were in – a rightful belief took hold—leading on to create a small smirk on Tannin's lips. "I guess my doubts about these weapons of yours was for nothing after all"

Ryden quirked a brow at that comment. "Doubts?—I'm surprised you possessed such a thing even after our bout"

"Doubts about your power were one thing—however I merely doubted your ability to uphold a promise"

Ryden's eyes quirked wide for a split second. "And you still followed along with the attack even with those doubts?"

There was something within Tannin's eyes that suggested something else entirely when he next spoke—yet all Ryden could do was smirk knowingly at it.

The dragon king shrugged. "You drew first blood—what else could I argue against?"

The dragon kings reply was laid back – something that seemed woefully against the dragon kings natural personality – which easily suggested something else was hidden within Tannin's reasons for following him even when he possessed doubts regarding the validity of the Infernum Armis'.

One look—one singular look into the dragon kings eyes was enough to garner his answer...

Hope...

Somehow or someway—Ryden had managed to stir up the potential of hope within the dragon king, a sort of hope that pushed the proud being to follow his plan even when he possessed his own opinion regarding the weapons in his possession.

Ryden merely grinned towards the dragon king—hiding his awareness of the beings hidden emotion before his hand lightly scratching away an itch at the back of his head. "Oh yeah—guess you couldn't argue against your king right?" Ryden quirked a smug grin towards the now silent Tannin—the beings eyes wide in shock; even some of his escorts behind him – still hovering a few dozen feet above them – simply went stock still at the humans words.

There was a bead of silence amongst the lot of them; Rivia and Rosalina looked slightly horrified by his words while Nyx and Abigail looked about ready to retire right then and there. Ryden had heard a slight hitch in a few throats behind him as well from the nobles watching on in intense silence, yet before anything violent could happen—a soft laughter resounded from an azure haired dragon king.

Tiamat couldn't hold in her amusement at Ryden's clear show of humor any longer than a few seconds once she got a good look at tannins stone shocked expression; eyes wide, maw agape—all of it created the perfect concoction for her humor to take hold.

And considering she had a bit of a bone to pick with the idiot, she made sure her laugh was as loud as possible—just for him.

Ryden chuckled at the sight with a bit of nervousness in his tone; yet before he could ease the dragons off of his prior joke, both Tiamat and Tannin were already glaring at each other with a murderous intention none could compare with—prior laughter all but ceasing the instant their eyes locked.

"Your obnoxiousness has become annoying"

"None more so then your voice"

"Careful wretch—my patience runs slim"

"My patience ran out the moment I saw you"

Growls followed after their little verbal spar while a comedic spark of confrontation arced between the two. Ryden – as well as the others in a more nervous fashion – stood by enjoying the spectacle before the former felt someone tap his shoulder.

"Hmm?" Ryden hummed before he recognized Lord Belial pointing nervousness at the clearly agitated dragon kings.

"Shouldn't we be running?" the lord asked nervously yet Ryden waved him off the second after.

"Naw—in a moment, those two will be making out like a freshly mated couple, nothing to worry about" he shot the lord a smile while lord Belial shot him a horrified expression—having obviously seen the redirection of murder towards the man he was speaking too. "Their adorable aren't they?" Ryden asked, oblivious to the danger he was now in.

Two looming shadows kept Lord Belial from agreeing...

"Boy..."

"Brat..."

Ryden ignored Lord Belial and turned to regard the two glaring dragon kings—the both of them mere feet from him and clearly less then pleased with Ryden's words; however the man himself kept his smirk and turned back to Lord Belial. "As you can see—their ability to unify forces in an instant goes to show you their deep burning love for one another" he turned back to Tiamat and Tannin, smile still withstanding.

"Your confidence has grown brat—far too much then I'm comfortable with" Tiamat lightly growled out while Tannin just kept his eyes on Ryden.

Ryden merely countered with prior facts. "Well I do have you to thank for that..." he answered back cryptically, yet the mystery of his reply easily shut Tiamat up with a blush to follow.

Last night was quite the experience... well not really – a lot of blue balling (except with Rivia) – however the realizations were real for a few others.

Rosalina likes cats...

And Tiamat is slightly attracted to him... sarcasm on the 'slightly'

Ryden playfully patted the dragon kings head. "Ah—nothing but simple teases Tia" he eased off with a thumbs up. "Lips are sealed"

Tannin gruffly snorted before his eyes shot to a silent and lightly blushing Rosalina—then his memory kicked in about what had occurred that night. Awkward was the major feeling he had upon recalling what that woman had been doing to Ryden, yet he guessed it would be a better alternative to reveal that then pummel the smug human in front of him.

He shrugged. "Your confidence seems to stem from what that Phenex devil did to you the other night" Tannin casually stated—and Ryden immediately felt the gaze of Rosalina, Nyx and Abigail on his back—and Rivia for some reason, suddenly found the far distance to be more intriguing then the conversation.

"Wait—did they?" Nyx questioned with several blinks of confusion while Abigail's eyes shifted between a calmly blinking Ryden and a severally overheated Rosalina, the woman herself clearly shell shocked by the reveal.

Ryden rolled his eyes. "Tannin you realize I was sober right?" the dragon nodded and Ryden narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips while Rosalina grew horrified by his words. "Then you should realize that revealing that doesn't necessarily affect me, but rather it affects the one who was not sober"

"True, however I do enjoy the idea of making you explain the situation, for I had to witness it...awkwardly"

Ryden shrugged before shooting his eyes to a clearly embarrassed Rosalina, yet before he could say anything, Gregor Vassago called out in alarm.

"Uh?...who's that coming towards us?" he asked while pointing out towards a large plume of dust rising rapidly to their south.

Ryden held his eyes on Rosalina for a moment, the heat of the prior misunderstanding hanging on the balance by a loose thread, and he knew it would bite him in the ass if he didn't clear things up now—yet just before he could quickly ease the woman's shock, Rivia pulled her towards the commotion, sending him a look he didn't quite understand.

It looked like a scolding expression, as if he was making a mistaking that she had to correct...

He remained silent for a second, merely watching as the two blonde devils walked over to the noble devils staring off towards what looked like an oncoming APC carriage.

"Damn it..." He swallowed down his annoyance with the interruption and quickly keyed in his senses towards the oncoming threat(?). Ventus appeared in his hand with a flurry of wind before he took aim towards the APC—using it to amplify his vision in order to see the exact details coating the vehicle.

And now that he could see it clearly—he realized it was heavily damaged...

Plasma burns from large demonic bolts of energy marred the outer haul of the armored carriage while massive gashes could be seen along the lower and upper section—courtesy of a large blade.

Ryden blinked at the sight—at the blood coating the front portion of the carriages hood before he called out his observation. "Hold fire! Don't destroy it!" he called out with a thunderous bellow.

The silent and ever present brood of three hundred dragons above were his main priority right now—as the majority of them seemed keen on blowing the carriage the second it came into effective range, yet his commanding thume kept them from acting on their destructive impulse.

Tannin eased his warriors with a nod of agreement while Tiamat kept her slitted eyes on the vehicle. Nyx and Abigail took up position within a large cluster of trees to their right while Rivia and Rosalina – slowly – fell into position in front of the nobles, their weapons drawn and ready.

A few minutes were all it took for the APC to reach them, and when it stopped a few dozen yards from them, it literally fell apart. A magic energy – familiar to each of them – seemingly faded off of the carriage, allowing the poorly damaged transport to succumb to its wounds. The six tires that held it up deflated and crumbled under the massive weight of the vehicles chaise; and the metallic armored plates dotting along the carriage slid off like crumbs while the protective glass windshield disintegrated completely.

Hot steam rolled off the overheated hood of the vehicle – suggesting over usage – before the rear drop door slide open with a sickly loud screech. Out from the darkened haul came a head of crimson and blue hair—with matching heterochromatic eyes.

Mephisto Pheles didn't look happy... nor capable of standing...

Just as he stepped out from the rear drop doors, Rivia was already there with a step through a hastily constructed rift to catch him when he fell forward into her arms. "Mephisto!" she called out in worry as she held him closely—studying his form for any wounds, yet none stood out to them.

Magic over usage was the best answer to the devils status...

After a moment, the Valefor's stepped out from the APC—battered, bruised and marginally blooded by some unknown battle.

Ryden's heart slowly began pumping harder than before as he hurried over with the others to assist them—and thankfully, Gale Valefor and his wife stepped out after the heterochromatic devil with their daughter shortly following after them.

Yet their conditions were anything but healthy—especially their escorts.

Gaviena was wounded heavily, a stab wound marrying her lower abdomen while Luna was seen helping the older maid out with a grizzled and pained expression—a wrapping of bandages around the younger maids stomach indicated her wound, which Ryden was fast in noticing.

Right at that moment, Nyx, Abigail and himself were amongst them—helping their respective maids as best as they could while Rivia pulled the now unconscious Mephisto over to the collection of trees for cover.

"Make some room!" Nyx ordered as he carried Gaviena over to a soft thick patch of grass and gently sat her down to assess and dress her wounds. In silence, the nobles that had been saved from Ashfeld quickly stepped forward to assist with medical treatment—pulling forward procured supplies as orderly as they could.

Ryden was at Luna's side, supporting the fatigue riddled maid as he could before he gently sat her down a few meters from Gaviena. Due to the lack of wounds on her person – or a lack of life threatening wounds that is – she was left to Ryden's sole care while a few of the servant-class devils merely supplied him with what little medical supplies that they had scrounged during their escape from Ashfeld and then proceeded to assist Nyx in dressing Gaviena's wounds.

Luna's bandaged side was bloody and overused and had clear signs of repeated fixes, which spelt terrible odds of infection—yet the determined look in Luna's gaze kept him thinking positively. She was clearly in pain, but not enough to break her focus.

"How bad is it Luna?" he asked as he tenderly began removing the woman's bandages only to see a grizzly gash along her side that released far too much blood then he was comfortable with, he grit his teeth at the sight while Luna kept her gaze on the sky—adrenaline easing her awareness of pain.

"I'll live..." she whispered tiredly, clearly growing exhausted by the second—which was something Ryden also took notice of.

Adrenaline doesn't last that long – considering the distance from Ashfeld to their S.O.B – a long road trip should be enough to at least lessen the effects of adrenaline even when it's in response to a physical wound; yet the sheer focus on Luna was enough of an indication that the adrenaline was still present... which did not bode well at all.

His eyes shot up to the horizon that they had come from—an action that was matched by Tannin and Tiamat once their instincts began to crawl.

"So you realized it as well" Tiamat stated with a keen eye on the large bloom of dust still rising before them.

"Yes..." Ryden muttered back while summoning nameless to his side; and out of the corner of his eye, Rena Valefor stepped over to him and crouched down to assist Luna. Ryden shot her a look that she understood fully. "Protect her"

Rena nodded. "she protected me, I'll shall do the same" she stated with conviction before she took over Ryden's task in dressing her wounds; yet before Ryden stepped away, Luna grabbed his hand tightly—pulling his attention back to her.

"He is not like the others..." she warned before pausing to cringe back a bead of pain when Rena summoned a healing sigil and pressed it too her wound. "—don't underestimate him, don't give him a chance to act, hit him with everything you have" Luna's words of warning were added with a dead serious glint of fear and Ryden could tell why...

Bron was missing...

Ryden didn't know much of Rosalina's silent butler, but he could deduce experience in the devils eyes just as much as he did with the likes of Saladin. Though he was low rank by status within the public, that didn't mean he could be deduced as a mere fool to be lightly disposed of without full attention—yet the present factor was clear enough.

Luna's fear was based on the loss of Bron—which by extension also hit Rosalina, possibly even far harder than Luna.

Ryden glanced over to a lost Rosalina, whose eyes had been scanning the crowd for some time, yet the dawn of realization had already graced her features when she didn't find Bron amongst them—or even within the crumpled Carriage. Ryden clenched his jaw at the sight of Rosalina's grief stricken expression before he nodded at Luna's warning and quickly closed the gap on Rosalina.

Without words he pulled her into a tight and brief hug of comfort. "I didn't know him, but I can see he meant a lot to you—I'm sorry" he whispered gently, yet the woman tried to shrug him off.

"Don't take me for a weakling... I don't...I-I..." Ryden tightened his hold on her even when she struggled against his grip, her eyes clearly burning with grief.

"You grieve later Rosa—but right now we have company..." he gently ordered with a tightened hold before releasing her. He gently wiped away the few hints of tears in her eyes before his gaze turned back towards the now clearly influenced smoke cloud.

"I see... more maggots are coming" Tannin's voiced boomed joyfully as he and his brood took to the sky to survey the oncoming threat clearly moving under cover of a smoke screen. Ryden shot his eyes to the ensemble of servant-class devils and the nobles they had saved before he locked eyes with Tiamat. The woman sighed deeply – clearly annoyed by the unvoiced request – before she rapidly shifted into dragon form.

Tiamat's now draconic eyes locked back onto Ryden, who in response merely nodded thankfully to her before looking over to the nobles and Gale Valefor. "Alright everyone! Due to Tiamat's extreme kindness, you have all been gifted a free trip back to their domicile—now get on board before she changes her mind!"

Ryden's words – though humored as they were – were clearly spoken in haste, and each noble present knew for damn sure his request wasn't random; as they themselves could tell what was coming...

Gale Valefor and Indus Vassago lightly passed each other, the both of them lightly recognizing the other with a momentary lock of their eyes before the former followed his wife onto Tiamat while Indus stepped away and towards Ryden; his hand quickly grasping the man's own with deeply gratifying squeeze.

"I'm alive because of you" the man stated with a firm grateful nod.

Ryden returned it as the servants and wounded piled onto Tiamat's back. "That was the mission lord Vassago, no man left behind—now get going, you got your son's wedding to look forward to" Ryden felt a smirk tug his lips when Indus looked far too emotional to respond at those words, so Ryden shot him a bright smile before smacking the man's arm and stepped away—only to pause when Gregor Vassago tugged at his jacket sleeve.

"Dear, let's go" Vidalia called out to her son from atop Tiamat, yet her son for some reason kept his eyes on him—hopeful inspired eyes locking with Ryden's blinking ones.

"Better get going kid" Ryden encouraged the young child, yet Gregor Vassago merely held his eyes on him—like one would towards a hero of some renown. Ryden found it hard to believe the boy managed to associate him with heroism so quickly when they only had a spare few words spoken between them, yet even still—the Vassago heir held his inspired gaze on him as if he was All Might himself.

Ryden paused at that thought—a coursing memory rolling through his mind as he recalled watching that series with his sister Sophia. It was one of the last little encounters he had with her before his arrival in hell—the last episode he'd seen was when that very man ended his conflict with All For One with his 'united states smash'

Inspiring was the first thing he could recall from that series—then a form of familial enjoyment when his sister voiced her excitement for the next season... too bad he'd not see it—for a long while at least.

Ryden's resolve hardened before a smile kicked up along his lips, yet it was not as extravagant as All might's – as any attempt at mimicking such a thing would result in therapy for both parties – yet the effort alone caused a visible reaction in Gregor Vassago, a dawning awe hailing forth at the sight before him.

"You'll win right?" he asked, hope ever present as the oncoming threat began looming over them far more than before—yet to Gregor Vassago, Ryden's figure never wavered at the weight behind him.

Ryden nodded before he lightly pounded his chest with a closed fist. "I will... because I am here"

Ryden didn't exactly know the affects of pure hope—as he never fully experienced what it was like to hear the voice of a heroic figure ease his own worries with mere words alone. Yet the feeling he got from watching All might say those very words... well... he might have an idea as to why Gregor Vassago suddenly looked about ready to shed tears—hell, he even saw it in a few other servants watching his interaction with the Vassago heir.

He internally snorted at the sight, yet his smile still remained before he idly scolded himself for not added a cape to his wardrobe; it would have made his image far more 'epic' once he turned to deal with the oncoming threat, but he guessed his resolute posture was enough of a substitute...

"keep them safe Tiamat" he called out, too which the aforementioned dragon king snorted in response.

"Like I'd need the effort to do so..." was all she said before she took to the skies with both the wounded, the servants and all the nobles all together—leaving behind Ryden, Abigail, Nyx, Rosalina and Rivia—with one last devil as an addition.

"Hope my presences doesn't interfere with your guy's chemistry; but I've grown restless as of late so I'll be cutting in for some fun" came an excitable voice, one filled with mirth and determination that quickly caught the attention of all present—minus Tannin and his brood of course.

Directly beside Ryden, Rena Valefor stepped forward—a small grin of amusement laced on her lips as she nodded to the man. "Your maid is stable Prince Gremory, I made sure of that before staying behind" she added in with a wink.

Ryden merely nodded before responding with his secondary worry. "and your parent's?" he questioned with a quirked brow.

Rena merely fell into a combat ready position, hands empty of any sort of weapon. "They understand..." was all she said before Ryden dropped the subject for the moment.

"Fine then, Abigail and Rivia are defensive support; while Rosalina, Nyx and myself are the vanguard—pick your roll and fall in" he shot his eyes to her empty hands. "and I'm sure you'll figure out how to procure a weapon?"

Rena snorted. "I'll find one..."

Ryden quirked a brow at the woman's words before obviously taking the hint; whatever she had planned was what she was comfortable with and he'll leave it at that.

"Ryden..." Rivia muttered as a sudden build up demonic energy fell into range.

"I know..." at this point, they could all sense the number of demonic signatures within the cloud of smoke in front of them, especially one such signature leading them. Their eyes widened at the feeling, of cold bloodlust and desolate hollow precision focused to a point of maximum output that rivaled the likes of Rivia herself.

Yet even amidst the realization of power output from the leading figure within the smoke screen, the large number of following forces equally disturbed them. a large number of over a hundred Old-Satan forces marched eerily through the thick cloud of dust, their thunderous marching echoing out for each of them to hear, and the matching output of steadily maintained demonic energy within their armored suits gave way to the status of their ranks.

Death knights... yet as the cloud of dust reseeded just slightly, their branching difference towards their common ilk became clear.

Gothic armor, black like obsidian and edged with aged gold—to Ryden, their designs matched that of something of the likes of Daedric armor, uniformed in make, and fused together with several fangs and horns that protruded from several keys areas along the armor. Their march was unified—unyielding and unbending, even in the face of three hundred dragons and a lone dragon king, as well as the unified efforts of six pillar-class devils, their march didn't waver.

Yet at the bulk of their march, a taller figure led them.

And while those behind him carried upon their backs layered armor the likes only a few had seen so far in their lives—the leading Death knight was even more of a sight. Standing at roughly 8ft in height and sporting a solid figure clad in regal yet harsh metal plated armor unlike any devil behind him, the leading knight loomed over his subordinates like a Primarch space marine—trained and focused on a single target, and marching ever so confidently towards it.

Unified eyes – crimson in color – bore deep holes through all before them, yet every gaze landed on the sole being marked for termination.

Ryden knew they were looking at him, yet he didn't think on it for too long—as instead, he sheathed nameless into the earth at his right and rapidly drew Fulgur before raising it above his head; bright cackling lightening exploded out word from his intended action instantly, easily illuminating the large number of oncoming death knights which caused the bulk of his allies to mildly harden once they got a good look at them all.

Even as he charged his opening attack – an attack he intended to whittle down the numbers – none of those marching hesitated. Ryden was perplexed by the sheer confidence shown, yet he didn't hesitate upon reaching a peak in Fulgur's energy. Black and red tendrils of arc energy rippled along his sword before he cleaved it down towards the oncoming threat with a loud howl of effort.

"HAAAA!"

BBVVVVVVVVVV!

Rosalina and Rivia knew for a fact Fulgur's power had increased over the course of their deployment—as the output of power easily dwarfed what he'd done in the Rose Garden. The massive wave of highly condensed energy rolled forward with easy, scorching the earth below it and ionizing the air around it—practically glassing all in its path.

The target was clear—the leading 'Primarch' was the key to dismantling the morale of the following troops and Ryden had chosen to hit him first, if not to full on kill, then to wound or cripple... yet the outcome did neither.

VVVVVV—...

Just as the wave made its way to the leading knight, the black and crimson wave parted completely—leaving the Primarch death knight unharmed and free of immolating—yet those to his left and right, fell away to ash, instantly vaporized by the might of Fulgur; yet even as so many as 60 knights fell, the rest managed to resist the oncoming flow of energy by unifying into matched formation.

Tower shield wielders stepped forward and took upon the vanguard of the march, and Abigail took her chance to begin her own long ranged attacks while Rivia and Rosalina followed afterwards. At the precipice of the clouds above—Tannin quickly saw the opening chance to descend his forces to pinch off any sort of counter attacking formation.

Large webbed wings pushed against the eased winds – Ventus' buff still withstanding – and he led his warriors in a descending carpet sweep over the large force of nearly 500 death knights. Tannin fought a blink when he swore the numbers had been less, yet he ignored his feeble worry and rained fire down upon the coming devils, scoring a massive kill count, and soon enough, the number of death knights returned to his original count.

"Hope that stopped them" Nyx idly remarked as he watched the dragons scorch the earth with their unified might.

"Doubtful—if they didn't stop before, they'll be running now—keep up the pressure!" Abigail barked back as she let loose several dozen scatter shot arrows—the blood red bolts quickly exploding into brilliant azure flames.

Without words, each crimson Dagger began letting loose a varying flavor of long ranged bombardment, creating a scattering series of explosions that ripped into the ranks of the slow marching death knights. Rosalina summoned several orbs of white flames before she swiped her sword across her body, sending them forth in a flash of movement—each one detonating a serious of bright explosions that added amongst the numbering dozens – courtesy of Abigail's arrows and Nyx's hastily projected fire magic.

Rivia opened several rifts above her head, counting in the dozens—and within the swirling void of each rift, pure demonic energy spewed forward in a condensed beam that shredded the earth apart before creating dozens of massive explosions that caused untold damage to the oncoming ranks of the Death knights—their numbers having been blocked by smoke, fire and debris.

None should have survived the onslaught—especially from what came afterwards.

"Get behind me!" Ryden called out after calling forth Ventus.

The others didn't hesitate and quickly retreated to Ryden's flank as the man pulled back on the bow. Bright jade light shown from the creation of a wind arrow before it darkened into black and red – courtesy of Fulgur's addition – and just as the spirits influence condensed the wind down into pure destructive energy, Ignis also added himself to the mix of power—the once orange flames quickly rolling over to a blood red hue that frothed with heat and rage.

The draw weight suddenly became heavier than ever before with the added pressure of three Infernum Armis' and Ryden found his original maximum draw distance to be half of his original ability; he clenched his teeth and flexed hard however, pressing forward with an effort he hadn't used before—and once he reached his peak, a loud bang of energy exploded off of him, cracking the earth at his feet and pushing away the dust within several miles around them—revealing the death knights by extension.

Those behind Ryden almost gasped at the sight of the undamaged and unfettered force before them; and though the earth at their feet was but glass—and the air around them all but drained of moisture to comfortably breath, the seemingly undamaged death knights stood up amongst the rumble and the fire—without fear or hesitation, and continued on towards them.

Rena seemingly took a step back in shock. "What the hell are these guys?! Everything we throw at them does nothing" she stated loudly with mounting fear.

Ryden held true – having dropped to a crouch to fight the pressure building around him – before he finally let loose his most devastating attack yet...

TTTTHHHHHUUUUUUUUNNNNNGGGGG!

Like a gunshot, the arrow was released with a echoing bang – the sound itself eerily matching that of an explosion – before the earth in front him instantly hardened and boiled down to immolated slag. The air became heavy for all as the wind pressure seemingly migrated forward – away from all present – with the release of Ventus' arrow. Energy arced randomly through the ionized air – connecting with random free electrons that created a series of electrical sparks that crackled around them while the air itself shimmered like a mirage from the sheer heat exuded from Ignis.

However—due to the pressure of the draw weight and the added pressure of all three Infernum Armis' present, Ryden's aim had been off...

Several seconds passed in eerie silence before it made contact—several miles away

A massive mushroom cloud rose suddenly in the desolate distance, kicking up sulfuric rock and parting several clouds above before the shockwave finally reached them...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

Ryden erected a protective dome just as the blast wave reached them, causing their ears to ring violently at the sheer volume of it, yet before either of them could collect their bearings and gather their wits on their possible next plan of action, the dust slowly receded to reveal the sheer destruction before them.

Flames coated the earth while clear visible electrical sparks cackled throughout the air from the epicenter of the arrows explosion and the one who shot it. Nothing should have survived the powerful vacuum, neither the sheer oppressive energy nor heat that followed after it.

They should be hearing screams of pain—wails of tormented victims at least; suffering from a multitude of wounds none should be capable of even feeling, yet even so... silence reigned over the desolate wasteland of Ashfelds sulfuric fields.

And then they stood up...

Ryden's eyes widened in shock, as did the others when the hulking form of the Death knights Primarch lifted his head towards them; barely fazed by the destructive damage done unto their ranks.

The Primarch glanced all around him, seemingly watching his comrade's rise back into formation like a legion of zombies. Knights pushed off the ground unnaturally before taking hold of whatever weapon they found at their sides—and then fell back into an orderly rank. Though Ryden had missed his mark by a few miles – a mistake born from the sudden change in Ventus' draw weight – the damage of his arrows close passing over their position completely dismantled their ranks to disastrous positions.

Very clearly showing off his potential...

This time, instead of continuing his march forward, the massive death knight remained motionless from where he stood within the glassed section of earth—silently calculating what stood before him, his eyes watching Ryden and only him with a precision focus none could match.

The cold crimson dots that shone from within the death knights helmet almost gave Ryden the chills, yet none so much more then Rivia herself.

The elder devil swallowed nervously at the sight before her—the now clearly visible Primarch – unveiled from his shrouded cover within the dust clouds and augmented smoke cover – quickly became a familiar sight for the veteran devil; the dark glimmer along his armor, the golden accents and the now clearly visible blood red gem centered in both his chest and that of his seemingly invincible followers, the design itself seemingly glaring forward... like an eternally opened eye.

"No...Not him" Rivia muttered with a clear expression of dread.

Ryden shot her a look for just a second – downloading the woman's knowledge of the unknown foe – before his eyes quickly returned to the towering death knight—the crimson eyes still unmoving as they were before.

However, the Primarch's focus shifted all around him—first to the distant city behind Ryden, then to the sky above, still filled with hungering dragons, and then to the distant crater behind him; the ever lingering power from the earlier attack still lingering around long enough to force the once marching army to a standstill of realization.

Ryden saw his chance to thwart the enemy and took it...

His muscles flexed back tightly – fighting the resistance of the draw weight – while the three individual elements of his Armis' gathered along a hastily created arrow of wind; fire and lightning intertwined once again while wind and air spiraled along the arrow; combined in might as before, the unified power cracked the earth below him like nothing once again, and this time, he centered his aim at the knights feet... and the message became clear enough.

Though unfettered as they had been from Tannin's constant aerial bombardments—as well as being unmoved by constant ranged attacks from the likes of them ad nauseam, it was clear enough to all that Ryden's singular arrow dwarfed all present... and the Primarch knew this well enough and had hesitated.

Ryden held his expression firm even as the draw weight on the bow grew excruciating to maintain—and if he was being true with himself, his draw distance was only a third of what he'd originally released, and if he released the arrow... they'd be hit by the explosion as well.

Acts and ploys are often made in certain conflicts to create the image of an unbeatable foe; this is done to disrupt morale and dismantle the idea of hope in an enemy force. However, the leading Death knight had made the mistake of hesitating—which obviously gave way the notion of a potential weakness...

Ryden didn't like the odds from where they stood, nor who they faced—though only one of their numbers matched that of an Ultimate-class being – maybe even super by some degree – yet that didn't mean the man could potentially overwhelm them with his elite forces, as they themselves displayed ZERO emotions since their appearance.

No man could stand firm under the might of dragon fire unless they possessed absolute faith in their leader, and their abilities by extension. Pride is one thing, but extreme practice, tons of experience and a sharpened focus were another thing entirely—and when pushed to the absolute limit, death becomes a feeble concept... if not a blissful release from service.

And what could they do against an enemy that didn't fear death?

Without any visible high ground, Abigail's ranged specialty was limited—and Ryden didn't exactly know what sort of power Nyx had up his sleeve; and though he'd seen the man use a ranged power just a few moments ago, the range of Nyx's personal skills stemmed only to the end of his spear as far as he knew.

Rena hadn't been able to assist just yet, having only contributed a few water spells that did little against thick magical armor sported on the death knights, and Ryden could just feel the frustration rolling off the woman's shoulders as she did so—oddly mumbling about her 'stupid luck' regarding her 'heroic act in staying behind'.

It's not always like the movies unfortunately...

With those three at some point of disadvantage, it left only Rosalina, Rivia and Ryden as the go to powerhouses with Tannin as overhead support—and even then, Tannin and his forces would only be so useful until shit got into melee distance, as from then on its danger close.

Ryden held his stance true; keeping his hard gaze on the silent Death knight Primarch before the latter slowly turned away—having been pressured to cease assault lest he actually get hit by Ryden's arrow. The aforementioned man blinked slightly in mild awe when the mysterious devil seemingly faded into black smoke before the others followed suit—each one fading into some form of spatial void with a flurry of blackened ash, an ash similar to what rolled off their armor in droves.

Ryden blinked again at the sight, yet just when the last of the massive army of 500 death knights faded into oblivion, his arm gave out from the strain, forcing his eyes shut from the pain of an overworked muscle.

Demonic energy lowered all around them, yet amongst the tense six, only Rivia remained vigilant—her eyes seemingly scanning the distant horizon as if it was a fraud illusion. Most however ignored the clearly shaken devil and eased their own tension with a quiet sigh of relief. Nyx fell back onto his ass – unnerved by the unnatural nature of what they had just seen – while Abigail did the same a few inches away from him, her fingers still brushed along her bowstring just in case.

Rena stood rooted in place—very clearly unnerved before she looked over to Ryden.

"What the hell was that?" she asked while Ryden stood to his feet whilst shaking his draw hand.

He shook his head. "I should be asking you that— if anyone should know, it's you" he stated, yet Rena shook her head.

"I wasn't aware of what was happening, all that I can remember is an explosion before coming to in the carriage—Luna said she pulled me in before we escaped, if only just barely"

Nyx piped in. "and the Carriage? How'd you guys get one?"

Rena gave him a responsive look. "Lord – er – Mephisto pheles brought it, said he'd escort us to safety"

Ryden nodded at the woman's summary before his head gestured towards the one person who had the most visible reaction. "Well aside from all that, if I had to take a guess on who knows our resident edge lord best, I'd say ol Rivia knows a thing or two" Ryden trailed his gaze over to a hesitant Rivia; a look he didn't think she'd wear regarding another being.

However her words didn't answer the unanimously asked question, as instead, haste was all that came from her.

"We need to leave. Now." She warned darkly, eyes still held over the horizon.

Ryden glanced from the rest of the squad and Rena before his eyes fell back onto a clearly shaken Rivia. he sighed before stepped up to her, a cautionary hand resting on her shoulder—yet just from the faintest touch, Ryden's eyes widened when he could suddenly feel the nervousness adoring the woman's soul.

He dropped his hand the moment he felt it, a mild rise of shame creeping into his conscious when he accidentally invaded the woman's privacy; and from the way the woman shot her gaze to him—she had felt him just as Ignis had warned.

However anger didn't flash in Rivia's eyes when she looked at him, as a deep sense of understanding replaced it when he himself recalled the woman's worry—and to say it was profound was a underestimation, as it easily made it clear that what she felt was not some random overreaction.

A ghost from the past had seemingly returned...

A monster from an Old war...

And what she saw just now was not something she liked... not one bit.

Ryden released a breath he hadn't known he was holding, and once he released it, he could recall the brief moment of unification between emotions and found himself nodding in agreement.

"We need to leave" he repeated Rivia's words before he picked up nameless and turned to the others, noticing a lack of action in any of them. "Now" he pressed with a pulse of energy, forcing both Nyx and Abigail to their feet while Rena and Rosalina tensed in confusion with his command.

Both Ryden and Rivia waited for none to act first and rapidly took to the skies; leading those behind them directly towards a calmly awaiting Tannin who gruffly acknowledged their approach with a heavy grunt of disappointment.

"Seems to me there's a running theme to this little siege of yours" the dragon stated gruffly before he snorted. "All of your foes seem to run before the fun can truly begin...Tsk... pathetic mongrels"

Rivia ignored the words of the dragon and took pause before the being, haste locked in her eyes. "We must return to your home valley, time is of the essence"

Ryden had to stare at Rivia's back for a second, confused by her haste even with the knowledge he'd gathered from her.

Tannin however, chose to glare at the woman. "Speak to me as if I'm a mere escort devil and you'll—"

"If we doddle and argue, the more time we'll waste to save your kind—we must move. NOW! Before his lieutenants make their attack on the valley!" for an uncharacteristic moment, Rivia's form shifted to that of a figure adorn in a pristine black robe and fashioned with ornate silver armor.

He ignored the brief glimpse after it receded before his eyes widened at her words—as did Tannin's.

"What?

"WHAT!?"

They both questioned in unison yet Rivia urged the dragon on. "We cannot waste time here, I'll explain as we go—all I can say now is that he came here... alone"

The last word lingered on in the minds of those present, and only Nyx found the ability to voice his shock. "The fuck? Alone? That's Bullshit—that was at least a force of 500 Death knights!"

Nyx's disturbed retort merely received a solemn knowing look from Rivia that said everything all in one glance.

Dreadful realization over took everyone quickly at the small reveal, leaving Nyx and by extension the others, in stone deaf silence. Yet Tannin growled at the information before shifting his posture to allow the devils a safe spot on his back—his expression hardened into action.

"We waste time—let us go before these vermin even dare cross into my land"

None argued or hesitated as all sensed the tense haste looming in the air around them and those following after Tannin's lead. And for Ryden, a deep sense of dreaded guilt slowly began creeping into his stomach at what was possibly happening.

At some point... someone had picked up their meticulously hidden tracks and triangulated their destination to the dragon valley—and then managed to follow their efforts to Ashfeld... and he could guess how...

Someone had called him...

...and only one person had been aware of their intended arrival.

Ryden grit his teeth painfully while the others looked on to Rivia for answers—as she had been the one to reveal the truth of who the mysterious Death knight was.

Rosalina rest her hand on the woman's tense shoulders—a hint of worry laced within her eyes as she gave Rivia a confused look. "What's going one Rivia?—who was that man?" she questioned with growing nervousness.

Rivia shook her head, hesitation marring her desire to answer—yet the combined expectant looks from all around her quickly melted it away. "There much for me to say—as I only know just as much as the few who knew of him; and to say our knowledge is limited is but a sole underestimation of the secrecy surrounding that man" Rivia paused in order to sigh away her own mounting nervousness—a nervousness born from standing within that mans presence.

After a moment to collect herself; Rivia turned to face the horizon. "He possesses many titles—'the attack dog of the Lucifuge family' is his most notable title however, as it was that very family that gave way to his uprising along with their one true master—Lucifer; however, that title speaks little of what that man truly is"

"During the first beginnings of the Great War—my position sort of gave way to a few...privileges—so to speak; as amongst several others whose powers were favored by Lucifer, we alone were enlightened to information not many knew of—and one of such pieces of information was in regards to a project to create a synthetic super devil using the remaining gene seeds from several ancient demons whose powers were but whispers in time, only ever documented through several tablets found by the lucifuge family..." Rivia paused to shudder at the memory.

"It should have remained buried—but Lucifer's ambition towards destroying heaven and his father overruled reason and logic; and I'm even ashamed to admit I never really cared towards such things"

"This project..." Nyx began. "It created him?"

Rivia nodded. "There were many candidates—most of them being pillar-class devils that showed promise and aptitude, yet the combined gene seed proved far too volatile for them, resulting in death—however; one day after several hundred years of trial and error in secrecy, one such candidate stepped forward... one chosen by Lucifer himself"

Rena snorted. "It's always him... why does it always have to be him?" she muttered rhetorically and the others couldn't help but agree with her sentiment.

Rivia gave the woman a fore lone smirk before answering. "He had a knack for finding the most damaged of us—and the child he found – a mere low-class devil – was nothing like any of us, or the hundreds of pillar-class devils before him that died during the augmentation trials"

"What did they lack that he possessed?" Abigail questioned.

"Each noble devil that died before him possessed vastly superior demonic circuits and vastly superior physical promise—yet out of all candidates, none possessed the drive, the rage—the hate, that he had" Rivia seemingly glanced off to the horizon again, watching the distant mountains and valleys that dotted the vast Lilith territory pass by slowly. "He was born poor and without a name, and lacked any sort of promising genes to even hint at a military life of his own promise; his father had died sometime during the Great War – another loss to the numbering billions – forgotten and unremembered; and his mother was later killed by angels when they descended into hell. His sister shortly followed afterwards a day later—courtesy of the fallen angel's that followed after their former brothers"

"Son of a—that was when heaven and the Grigori first made landing here; Billions of our kind were slaughtered like animals in the wake of their conflict" Nyx all but growled, his mind having rolled over a few stories told to him in his earlier years. "I can tell were the anger comes from... kinda hard to hold it back when those pricks pulled something like that"

Rivia nodded before her gaze landed on Ryden for a hesitant moment. "Indeed it was—not many of us could truly ignore our own anger when so many innocence were slaughtered without regard or honor, and many of the demons agreed with that sentiment"

Ryden could see the mild regret in her eyes at saying that; a clear contradiction of her words from yesterday, but he found himself more appalled by the actions of the angels then anything at the moment.

Monstrous actions partaken in war were expected, but he felt as though the angels should've held a higher standard than simply invading and slaughtering without rhyme or reason like some generic imperialistic villain... and this was apparently before God kicked the bucket.

Ryden sighed—it seemed God might have been a dick...

"In the wake of the initial invasion—when Lucifer lead his reaction forces to push back the invaders – killing all without any mercy – he had found the boy, half dead, still clinging to a life now consumed with hatred" Rivia continued her summary as Tannin and his legion of dragons crossed over into the mountain region—the sky slowly dimming down to 'sunset'.

Ryden had to quell a small chuckle at the stories correlation with a certain pissed off marine stationed on Mars; All that was missing was the catch phrase 'rip and tear'

Yet from what Rivia soon summarized, that phrase didn't seem too far off the mark...

She sighed, deeply, as a fore lone memory returned—and a small bead of guilt welled up within her voice. "The project was a complete success—everything from physical power to demonic energy circuits, the boy was rapidly ascended to the realms of a super devil in under a full hour of intense pain; and those that stood as Lucifer's chosen generals – I included – were tasked with training the boy in all fields of combat"

"And in all fields—he proved a master in every aspect within minutes of instruction; any weapon was his to use without folly, and every form of combat was his to master—within only a day's worth of training, he became Lucifer's most powerful weapon—and when the time came for him to take to the field, the heavens and all its fallen wept at their losses"

Yup—the story did indeed feel like something a retconned Doom would be like; and Ryden was sort of playing out the images of the massive armored figure shot for shot as Rivia continued her little briefing.

Rivia took in a breath. "It was rumored that the angels foresaw the decent of their worst enemy—and while stories regarding Sirzechs Gremory, Ajuka Astaroth and another devil know as Grayfia—" Ryden eyes widened at the mention of that woman's name right then and there, yet Rivia – and by extension, the others – didn't catch his reaction; and Rivia continued without pause. "—were spoken of as nightmares in their own way; however he proved to be worse—"

"—on blackened ash, they marched; wreathed in blackened armor, they moved without relent; and with unbroken resolve they conquered; and with unyielding fury—they ran the earth red with vengeance..."

Rena's eyes opened in realization, familiarity rising to her eyes. "I know that quote—that was written by Corax Dantalion regarding the black crusade; the 7 days and 7 nights that single handily changed the tide of the invasion."

Rivia nodded before Abigail cut in. "If you know of him—then does he have a name?"

There was a pause in Rivia's response, and all those present awaited her response.

"His name, is Atrinox...and he should be dead"

A/N:

And done... I'll wrap this up here for now because if I continue then we'll be looking at another few weeks of waiting.

So here it is! An update and a partial conclusion to this little "Ashfeld arc" I started... if you can call it that I guess, cause I haven't.

Anyways—on to this long awaited chance to clear the air on a few things; but firstly, my chose of name for my new resident OC villain who is obviously Inspired off of ATRIOX the brute from halo wars 2. The reason behind the inception and the use of the name is just that—a clear cut inspiration with a minor differential from Atriox's back story, and instead of just ripping the name from the original source material like I had had done with Saladin from destiny, I instead added a letter just to break it up.

Kinda how Sona Sitri thought 'Shitori' was a clever cover up name... two letters somehow make all the difference.

So—aside from my desired choice, I had planned on involving some form of rival for Ryden to deal with as a constant enemy. So from this point onward, Ryden will be tested both physically and skill wise as Atrinox will be the very obstacle Ryden solely needs to test himself against...

And ooohh—did I just involve a 'super devil experiment' subplot for canon?

That's not really explored now is it?

*deep sigh*

Now then... onto this dread Grayfia subject that has plagued my mind and dampened my motivation to continue immensely.

Nah wait—I've already done that, what I haven't done yet is point out a few things a lot of people seem to forget when it comes to writing—or at least story construction.

Generally, to sum up those that desire Grayfia to die are one of two differing viewers; the first are those that just don't like her... there is no reason, they just don't like her—no motivation, no actual reason, just pure adolescent distain for a fictional character.

I had shot a Pm over to one viewer who really didn't like Grayfia's apparent chosen survival and apparent "happy ending" that which I was going to give her (we'll get to that in a bloody second)... I asked him what benefit I would get to have Grayfia die.

No answer...

Either because he doesn't check his PM's or he really has no bloody idea what benefits could come out of killing Grayfia like a generic schmuck OC I could just whipped up if I wanted such a thing to happen.

So... that's the first group—

But then there are those that I believe to have taken Ryden's internal words as literal GOSPEL and ran with it when it comes to his hatred of Grayfia.

See this is exactly how Christianity turned to shit—one sentence and it suddenly means whatever someone wants it to mean.

Woah... we just got controversial there...

This MAY be my fault—but then again I do recall leaving a small sentence that could answer a lot of questions (If you're interested...go find it) and it could very well open the door to many possibilities that most have not considered.

Going back to what I said about story construction—there's a thing called "Show, don't tell" and what I've been doing is "telling something" through Ryden—but I have not deigned to "show" everything revolving around what Ryden is "telling" just yet...

If this is new to you then from this point onward, keep an open mind—and stop thinking Ryden is always right... even though I seem to make him that way a lot but still! Stawp that!

Until the story confirms or denies whatever is happening, don't hold onto a hope that may or may not come to pass so strongly—as you will be disappointed.

The reason I full on revealed my plans for Grayfia's survival was based purely on how many people couldn't wait for Ryden to kill her—so to avoid a literal shit storm of flames from several viewers when the time came to reach the zenith of Grayfia's character arc (that I have yet to actually start) I pulled the trigger before that could happen.

And for some reason, the word 'happy ending' seems to be a common back up subject for a lot them to worry about.

...and in response to that, I have already come across as a massive narcissistic prick at this point, so I'm just gonna laugh hysterically at that to add the cherry on top of my douche bag cake...Huehuehueheue...

Tsk..."Happy ending"... Pfffff... Not even Ryden is gonna have a "happy ending"...

.

.

.

Now if that made you nervous... good...

R&R—and until next time...

PEACE!

P.S: resurrection powers pending full explanation... if you really need it...

P.S.S: not all plot elements have been introduced yet... don't jump to immediate conclusions...