The Moe Crew followed by the rest of their group, returned to the palace together with the king to discuss what was to come.
"So, these are the other sixteen mentioned in the prophecy. Are you also able to undergo a spirit transformation?" Asked the king.
"Unfortunately, your majesty, we only have two elemental spirits. So cannot achieve that transformation." Said John.
"I see. But it is clear that you too have a purpose. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been sent here along with the other ten. Like how you four managed to decipher the encrypted message sent here by Serbus."
"That is correct your majesty." Said Jordan.
"Now to more urgent business. Briggs, Animak and Hirito, you have proven to be exceptionally strong. In fact, stronger that The Guardians who stood at the top of the world for over a decade. As I mentioned at the arena, you ten shall take the Abyss Trial on the first day of the month of the lion. Which is twenty days from now. Please take this time to prepare for the trial."
"Yes, your majesty." Said the ten.
"You already know what awaits you in the dungeon. There are one hundred floors with twenty God Level monsters."
"That's two thousand monsters that each of us must face." Said Dono.
"That is correct. When the trial is over, the guardians of the gate of the dungeon, create another two thousand."
"Guardians? Who are they?" Asked Connor.
"They are two statues said to be placed there by the Alpha himself to keep the gate to the dungeon closed so that no monsters escape."
"The Alpha? Who is he?" Asked Spooky.
"The Alpha is the ruler of the entire multiverse. The strongest being in existence. Not even Serbus could hold a candle to him."
"Wow. He sounds overpowered." Said Nux.
"Your majesty. I have a question." Asked John.
"What is it, Miss John?"
"Between the immortal being and Serbus, who would be stronger?"
"From what Serbus told me, even as a Celestial, he would still be much weaker than the immortal being."
"I see. One last question. If someone would possess the ability of sucking out someone else's magic, what would happen to their levels?"
"That is forbidden in this world. But the person sucking out the magic will have his level increased while the other dies. But that is only if the level of the victim is the same or higher than the one sucking out the magic."
"And if the one who's magic is sucked out is immortal or has infinite magic?"
"The he survives but would require a long time to recuperate."
"It's just as I thought." Said John.
"What did you figure out?" Asked Johnny.
"We are in deep trouble."
"What? Why?" Asked Mental Quorum.
"Remember how the spirits told us that Serbus' magic is being sucked out?"
"Yes." Said Steve.
"Oh no." Exclaimed Melody as her face grew pale.
"That's right Melody. Verkonis is about to achieve a level higher than the Celestials."
"WHAT?!!" Asked everyone in shock.
"But it doesn't stop there. I figured out his endgame. He plans on sucking out the magic energy of the immortal being and be strong enough to defeat the Alpha." Said John.
There was a silence throughout the room. Everyone was pale at the thought of what might happen in the next few months.
"Will we be able to beat him even if we become Celestials?" Asked Tekking.
That was the question on everyone's minds.
"We have to. And we will. There's ten of us and one of him. We can take him." Said Hirito.
"Yeah. That's right. With us there, he won't even come close to the immortal being." Said Animak.
"And all of us are going to become Celestials soon. He doesn't stand a chance." Said Dono.
"I WILL NOT LET HIM LAY A FINGER ON MY MASTER AND HIS COMAPNIONS." Said Zomok as he came out of his sword form.
"Don't worry your majesty. We will surely defeat him." Said Recon.
The king looked at all of them. He then stood up and to the shock of everyone standing there, he bowed before The Moe Crew.
"Your majesty! What are you doing?!" Asked a nobleman.
"I thank you. I cannot express how grateful I am. You have been brought here all of a sudden, leaving your home and loved ones behind and now are made to face the most dangerous being in existence. We have no right to ask all this of you. But you still rushed to our aid even though you owe us nothing nor do you gain anything from helping us. All I can offer is my most humble thanks, Moe Crew." Said the king.
Everyone looked at the king. Briggs then stepped forward.
"Your majesty, it is true that this is a difficult task. It is true that we have a large burden on our shoulders. But when we came into this world, you all welcomed us with open arms. You treated us like one of your own. You gave us all a home. So, your majesty, the reason why we are fighting Verkonis is because we want to defend our home. All of you are our family. And we will defend our family till our last breath." Said Briggs as he and the other twenty-five heroes bowed.
Everyone in the room were astonished at what Briggs said. Melody even started to tear up. The king lifted his head and looked at them.
"On behalf of the citizens of this world, you have my thanks."
*****
That night, in the middle of nowhere, a man was contacting the Demon Lord.
"You really are useless, aren't you?" Asked Verkonis.
"Forgive me my lord. I never expected them to be this strong."
"And you call yourself the best." He then turned to Serbus. "Well, Serbus, it looks like that those small fries you prophesied about are quite tough after all. I should thank you though. At least now I have some new toys to play with when I get back. So how does it feel to know that your precious world you fought so hard to protect is about to fall under my rule? Oh sorry. I forgot you can't talk anymore since you're out cold due to having your magic sucked out." Said Verkonis as he kicked the unconscious Serbus.
Verkonis then got enveloped in a bright red aura. The dimension he was in started shaking.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
Cracks in space and time began forming due to Verkonis' overwhelming magical energy. Verkonis then stretched his arms out and placed them on one of the cracks in front of him and tore them apart, freeing him from the dimension Serbus trapped him in.
"Ha ha ha ha! Finally! I missed this feeling. This great sensation of power. I'm getting there Deius. Just you wait. I will finally get my revenge for what you did to me." Said Verkonis. He then turned to Serbus. He walked to where he was and stretched and arm. Suddenly, a sword came out of Serbus' chest.
"You thought you could hide this from me at this level? Thanks to the Calamity Level, my magic senses have grown incredibly high." He then looked at the gold sword he had in his hand. "It's all because of you and this stupid Holy Sword. But I guess I'll keep it now. It might come in handy later." He then remembered his servant. "Oh. I forgot all about you. Well, count yourself as the luckiest person in the multiverse for you just witnessed the birth of a god."
"My lord, it is an honor. I am overjoyed to be back in your presence." Said the servant as he bowed.
"Yes. I have finally returned to this world. And now I can finally put the last part of my plan in motion. Now go and send a message to the others to assemble here at once."
"What will you do now, my lord?"
"I have an appointment with a certain creature. I need to pay it a visit. I won't be long."
"I understand, my lord."
"Now go. I have work to do." Said Verkonis as he flew towards the center of the planet.
Behind him, a tall black-haired man with golden armor stood there terrified at what he just witnessed.
"This is bad. Incredibly bad. With the way things are, The Moe Crew won't stand a chance against him." Said Gigguk. "At the very least, I can stall him a bit by not summoning his generals."
"Now that won't do Gigguk." Said someone standing behind him.
Gigguk went for his sword, but was stabbed from the back by the person standing behind him.
"Tsk tsk tsk. You received a direct order from our master and you were just about to disobey him." Said the man.
"And you know what happens to traitors, right?" Said another man who just walked out of a portal.
"And you know what happens to traitors." Said a woman who came out of the same portal.
One by one, more people came out. In the end, there were seven men and three women standing there before Gigguk. He knew exactly who they were.
"Y-You w-won't g-get a-away w-with t-this."
"To say that means that you have no idea what awaits this world. So as a person who is about to die, I'll at least grant you the favor of witnessing what is to come." Said one man. He then walked up to Gigguk and placed his hands on his head. Gigguk was then showed the world in ruins and under Verkonis' rule. He then saw Aki and Mastar dead, hanging from the walls of the city.
"N-NOOO!!! I refuse to believe it!"
"It doesn't matter what you believe. That is the future. And nothing can change that."
"Now go to sleep. You have served your purpose." Said another man.
He then proceeded to slash Gigguk's head off. He then went over to him and took his sword.
"I'm sure master will make use of this." Said the man.
"Well then, why don't we head over to Osval and play a bit with those humans? I want to see how strong they actually are." Said a woman.
"Yeah. I've been so bored these past thirty years. I need to let out some steam." Said another.
"Let's be on our way then?"
*****
"I am exhausted." Said Hirito as he fell face first on the couch.
"You and me both." Said Animak.
"Like, I know we have a ton of training to do for the next twenty days, but can we take tomorrow off?" Said Hirito.
"You know we can't do that. We have to use this short time we have to train as much as we can. We each got two thousand monsters to face. We can't afford to slack off. Especially now that the day of reckoning is fast approaching." Said Briggs.
"Yeah, yeah. I know." Said Hirito.
"Well, everyone, I suggest you all go to bed as soon as possible and get as much rest as you can. Tomorrow, you all must begin your intensive training." Said Melody.
"You heard her guys. Off to bed." Said Nux standing next to her.
"You too simp lord." Said Noble as he dragged Nux upstairs.
"Good night, Melody." Said the others.
"Good night. Rest well."
Everyone went their separate ways and got straight into bed. They were so tired from the tournament that they slept instantly. The night was peaceful. Just like every other night. Melody took the rest of the month off from her work because of the tournament and other royal duties that she had. She followed the others and went to bed as well. They all slept very peacefully. Until…
BOOOOOM!!!
"What the hell?!!" Said Jordan as he fell from his bed.
Everyone rushed out of their rooms and noticed that the roof of the mansion was destroyed. They all looked up to see ten people floating above the mansion. One of them held Melody by her neck.
"That sure woke you up." Said the man holding her.
"Let her go right now!" Said Evan.
"Ladies, relax. We came here to talk." Said another.
"That's right. We came ahead of our master to say hello." Said one of the women.
"Don't make me say it twice. Let her go or you'll regret it." Said Dono.
"You really care that much about this weakling?" Said the man holding her as he lifted her to look her in the eye. "Hmm. Say, what if I just crush her throat."
"ARIUS ZECT!!!" Shouted The Moe Crew.
They instantly launched themselves at the other ten. Johnny managed to get Melody out of his grip. The rest of the crew began attacking the intruders.
"Ha ha ha! This is hilarious. We haven't even done anything and you just decide to attack us? Fine. If you want to play, then let's play."
The battle was so intense that the entire capital woke up to the ground shaking. Explosions and magic attacks could be seen from the capital. The battle lasted for almost half an hour. It looked like the crew were pushing the enemies back. But they were just toying with them. And Briggs realized that.
"STOP!!!" Shouted Briggs.
"What?! Why should we?!" Asked SOS.
"Did something happen?!" Asked Tekking.
"They're toying with us." Said Briggs.
"Ah. So, you noticed." Said one of them.
"Took you long enough." Said another.
"You're strong, we'll give you that. But you're just not there yet." Said a woman.
"Truth be told, we just wanted to kill time." Said another.
"Who are you?" Asked Animak.
"We are known as The Ten Fatalities. We are Lord Verkonis' generals." Said one of them as he stepped forward.
"Verkonis?!!" Said the crew in shock.
"Why are you here?" Asked Recon.
"Why else? To welcome back our master of course." Said another of the Fatalities.
"So, you're here to set him free?!" Asked Hirito.
"Set him free?!" Asked another.
The Fatalities started laughing. Suddenly, there was a giant explosion that could be seen for miles. The explosion was so great that it shook the entire planet.
"Lord Verkonis is already back."
The Moe Crew were shocked at what they just heard. This was all wrong. They were meant to have more time. How could he be back so soon?
From the direction of the explosion, something came flying at an incredible speed. As the dust cleared, The Moe Crew saw the Ten Fatalities bow.
"Welcome back Lord Verkonis!" Said the Fatalities.
The Moe Crew looked up to see a tall and muscular, black-haired man floating in the sky. His red flaming eye shifted from the Fatalities to The Moe Crew. The crew were terrified. They knew who they were meant to face. They heard the stories about him. But seeing him in person, made them realize one thing. That they were starring death right in the eyes.
"It has been a long time Fatalities. I see you have already met my so-called mortal enemies."
"We just wanted to test them." Said the man that seemed to be the leader of The Fatalities.
"And what was the result?"
"They are no threat to us, my lord."
"I see." Said Verkonis.
The crew just starred in total fear. That's when they finally noticed that he was holding someone in his right hand. He then proceeded to drop him. On closer inspection, they saw that this man looked like an angel with six wings wearing what used to be a beautiful golden armor.
"This is the so-called immortal being of this world."
"My lord, I take it that now you are about to achieve the Universal Level?" Asked the leader.
"Yes Herios. It will take some time, but soon enough, I will become a Universal."
The crew were shocked to hear all this. What's more, they became more terrified by Verkonis. Especially now that they might not become Celestials anymore.
"W-We w-won't let y-you do that." Said Evan.
Verkonis looked at him and the others. He flew down ad began walking to the ten.
"I applaud the fact that you were still able to utter such words to me even though you are in such a state. You truly have courage." Said Verkonis as he got in front of Evan. He then punched him which sent Evan flying miles away.
"But that's all you have."
"MOE CREW!!! WE NEED TO ATTACK NOW!!!" Shouted Briggs.
The others launched numerous attacks and spells at Verkonis. After countless minutes of attacking, they stopped to see what damage they have done. As the dust cleared, they saw Verkonis standing there without a single scratch on him.
"My turn."
With that, Verkonis disappeared. They all started looking for him, but one by one, they were all hit and sent flying in different directions. He was moving so fast that they couldn't even see him. With each hit, their transformations became undone.
"H-He's t-too s-strong." Said Hirito.
"It's just as I told Serbus. All these prophesies are the same. Talks about heroes coming to take me down but all failing in the end. And you most all are the weakest so-called heroes I have ever seen. You disgust me." Said Verkonis. He then flew into the sky.
"This world looks like it would make a perfect base for me. I'm just going to need to renovate it a bit."
Verkonis then stretched forward his arms. The sky turned red and dark, large mana clouds covered it. Verkonis was then surrounded by a dark aura.
"I can't believe we failed like this." Said Dono.
"And after all the promises we made." Said Tekking.
"So, this is the end?!" Asked Johnny.
"But I don't want to die." Said Animak.
At the capital, Melody and the other sixteen joined the king and queen at the palace.
"We were too late." Said the king.
"We are terribly sorry your majesty." Said Connor.
"It was not your fault. We had no way of knowing when he would return exactly."
"But the prophesy." Said Joey.
"There is nothing that can be done anymore. We should have sent you to take the Abyss Trial from the start. All we can do now, is ask The Alpha to rescue us." Said the king.
They all looked out towards the horizon. The king was right. They have failed. Nothing was standing between them and Verkonis now. They were all doomed.
Verkonis had his eyes closed and his arms were still stretched out. The dark aura surrounding him grew larger and larger and the mana clouds became thicker and darker. The world shook as he opened his eyes.
"It all begins here and now. Endogēmu!"