WARNING!
The story contains graphic depictions of violence, sexuality, strong language, and/or other mature themes.
[The Fiend Lord: Arc 18]
Once upon a time, on Planet Earth, a young girl was born; the story goes that her identity was never adequately clarified, but she was effectively known as the 'Holy Light.'
Her title depicted the real life of one's planet. Humankind did not know the Dimensions that had appeared alongside her birth, only of the Spirits that had been destroyed or disappeared.
The woman... The Holy Light, the heir of all the inhabitants, was not born alone. The arrival of the Demon God, whose name was Rez, caused anarchy, and humanity was on the brink of extinction.
Humans terrified him because of his recklessness and hunger for blood, and Demons started to manifest all over the Earth and The World of Zero, alongside alternate races such as The Inner Fiends, The Shades, Wraiths, and Spirits.
To combat the challenge, a new breed of people has awakened, the 'Spiritual Duelists' and 'Substitute-Duelists,' who have been dubbed the "First Army to Face Evil."
With their Legendary Weapons, the Ginken. This swarm of humans increased the world's cleanliness to the greatest extent possible, overwhelming the Demons of various grades and placing their survival at risk.
But, after several years of waiting, the 'Holy Light' gave birth to a human child, a girl of theoretically greater worth than Zero herself, but unlikely to become the next 'Holy Light,' their Goddess gave the girl to a friendly family, and since her mother needed to participate in protecting the divinity, the girl's memories were wiped.
But there is another royalty trapped within the shadows that have been concealed for millennia, even longer than the birth of a Demon...
The only one who has beaten the 'Holy Light's own is the Fiend Lord. Its lurkers will undoubtedly be wiped out, and the newfound foe will ready the battlefield...
- Yashikami City, Saturday, 11:00 am -
(Tim raged out a violent screech when he swept his sword over Ayuka's throat, slashing her neck as the blood sprayed, and with it, his eyes were caught with terror when he began to slash Ayuka's body to reach her demise.)
"Wake up. Get up!" Tim's body began to lean upward.
"Ayuka!!!" Tim's body was completely coated in terror and shock as sweat began to trickle down his brow.
Around the same time, he got a glance of Elliot's body leaning backward. "Hey, chill out..." Tim's pulse, however, appeared to be audible. "Where is she?! Tell me!" Elliot immediately felt anxious and nervous.
"She's right there... she seems to have reached her lifeless body in some way..." Elliot said, as Tim reached for his hand, shielding his heart and finding that he was totally bandaged.
"Is she... alive?" Elliot stated this without hesitation. "I don't know what happened... But she's still alive... yes..." Elliot scratched his jaw to clarify.
"What time is it? What are we doing?! Where are we?!" Tim was perplexed as he looked around.
"We're in Yashikami City... Thingy in Tishida's new merchant shop..." Elliot explained this by pointing his thumb behind his back, where a hand fan was free. "Shall I say, what a clumsy intuition..." Tishida burst out laughing when Tim found Akari dozing on the floor.
"You seem to be on a roll, don't you?" As she looked up at Tim, Akari yawned. Tim tapped his body to see if he was hurt. "So... What happened exactly?" Tishida chuckled as he pondered. "...." Tim, on the other hand, lay back down on the bed and gazed up at the ceiling.
"What's the deal? Hello? Can you hear what I'm saying? Hello, Tishida, I'm moving in. Is this level appropriate?" Tishida wondered, but Tim covered his brow at the same time. "... I don't know who I am anymore..."
"The creature you just spawned wasn't a humanoid entity, you know... Tell me about it, what was it exactly?" Tim, however, had no answers, no matter how hard Tishida tried. "... please keep quiet..." Tishida became perplexed as a result of it. "Oh, disregard that... We're only lucky Elliot managed to cut those horns... without him, we'd probably be trapped in the depths of terrification." Akari explained, yawning once more.
"... Just tell me... How many days have gone by?" Tim pondered, his face perplexed. "Two... You've been out for almost 40 hours since the fall..." Elliot, who was seated in the chair, explained. "What in the world happened? So, how did I even end up here?" Tim's jaw shook as he wondered.
"Well, as soon as I cut your horns, your body started to turn back and reclaim its humanity... as for Kin, he fled once more in the process... Tishida and Akari arrived just in time to assist me in getting you and Ayuka to this merchant store..." Elliot explained gently while sighing.
"... I told her that I would keep her safe... However, what I ended up doing was unacceptable..." Even though Tim was depressed, Elliot consoled him. "Please relax... She isn't gone... She's still alive, and you haven't broken your vow to either me or her..." Elliot twisted the pen in his right arm and tucked it behind his ear.
"... Would you like a cup of tea? Or Is there something to eat?" Tishida was perplexed, but Tim agreed to the offer. "Yeah... that'd be fantastic and accommodating... thank you..." Without further ado, Tishida walked through the door and shut it, while Akari lifted her gaze.
"For one thing, coping with this much obligation is a whirlwind... You know, as much as we value your help and assistance, that will always be too much for you to bear... you've made commitments that you would be unable to fulfill in the future. This may be seen as a foreshadowing of the future..." Akari said as she stretched her cat body.
"... I understand... Still, it wouldn't be me without these promises. If I don't keep them, I won't embrace them, at least not until I can keep them alive with me. Another danger appeared out of nowhere, forcing me and Ayuka into a corner, even awakening this dreadful force that I despise..." Tim explained, obviously realizing how much he despised it.
"That may be the reason. But if you don't get through it... There will be nothing you can do to save it in the future... And if no one is there to stop you? What if you face an enemy who is even more powerful than even this Fiend Lord... and what if your ally is weak and unable to cut the horns? All of these events have the power to cause you and your allies grief and anxiety..." Tim understood every nuance of what Akari had been doing, she said.
"I understand... Thus it happened just within an instant. My body snapped, and my humanity vanished in the pitch black..." Tim frowned and cocked his head toward the exit. "What about the Guild, for that matter? Is that-" And the solution was straightforward.
"Yes... the Guild was destroyed and is no longer operational..." Shin and Midori appeared unexpectedly from the backdoor, shocking Tim. "Toyama, Kanai... both of you are here?" And, though each of them nodded, they began to clarify the situation.
- Yashikami City, Saturday, 11:03 am -
Tim sat on the edge of the bed, holding the cup of tea in his right hand.
"So... what's next? If the Guild is done and unable to function, is there something we can do to change it without having to repair it?" Tim questioned himself as he looked at his reflection in the coffee cup.
"Apart from restoring the Guild, there was not anything we could do to repair it. However trying..., this will necessitate the use of a massive amount of our resources as well as income. We cannot do anything, to be precise." Shin explained as he looked at Tim. "Ok, I'm sure we'll be able to come up with something?" Midori giggled, trying to lighten the mood of the conversation.
"I see... we've had a lot of disappointment..." Tim lifted his head and gazed up at the skylight. "We should still use our resources to restore the whole thing, after all! Of course, it would require more than thousands of our bank accounts... but I'm sure we could restore it if we combined all of our resources..." And when it was said, everybody denied it.
"It's not worth the trouble... Besides, the Guild has been in existence for four years and has yet to die... So, apart from a location for receiving missions, we haven't lost anything..." Tim continued but quickly changed the topic.
"Wait, hold on. What about Codey and the others? Have they yet to return to Yashikami?" Tim sighed in disbelief, noticing that they've denied their arrival. "Excellent... Another thing to be concerned with..."
- Toazu City, Saturday, 11:05 am -
"What am I missing here? We've been cornered by so many of these forces, and none of them seem to know where Tsuneo is hiding!" Kanji complained, irritated by the challenges. "... Be still... I'm sure these idiots were aware of the potential consequences of spilling the tea and exposing their secrets..." When keeping his chin, Codey said.
"So there you have it. The forces we faced had been fully manipulated by the enemy. Of course, these men ended up choosing death rather than revealing their secrets..." Jessica appeared to be in front of a rocky wall, hitting the concrete, Eva said.
"Oi, ladies and gentlemen. I believe I've discovered some clues as to where these armies originated." When they saw her, Codey and the others dashed for her. "Are you sure it's not a ruse?" Sakami asked, but she was mistaken. "Well, if these are the remains... How can they assist us?" Ume was questioned, trying to figure out what they were talking about.
"These 'traces' seem to be emanating from under the ruins. However, this doesn't tell us who they've pursued or how they've gotten through this debris without using their physical bodies... but my assumption is that these people have additional powers like Spiritual Bodies that enable them to phase through physical items...." Jessica explained, her claymore slung over her back.
"Is that accurate? Do you think you'll be able to crack these rocks?" Kylin pondered, while Jessica grinned and agreed. "Sure, of course. Sure thing."
All took a step back as Jessica reached for her claymore's handle and increased her physical strength. "Try to hide behind something for your own protection." When Jessica released energy, everybody hid, and she easily sliced with her claymore over the top of her head and through the debris, revealing a massive cavern.
Jessica was trapped between crystallized crystals, as the rocks piled around the cavern and the area they were standing on. "Well, look at that... it seems to be some kind of glowing cave..." Eva said, peering out from behind the wall.
- Yashikami City, Saturday, 11:30 am -
Tim was standing in front of Akari, with Elliot sitting in the distance behind her. "So, what's the point of this meeting?" Tim pondered, perplexed.
"What do you think? I hoped you'd figured it out by now... I think we will reclaim your Henshin's mastery... Of course, mastering it would take some time, but all I need is for you to confirm..." Tim was perplexed, though Akari smiled.
"Are you saying there's another stage to my Henshin?" Tim, already perplexed, inquired. "That is right. For the time being, you've just been using 'Henshin' as a power-up, but you've never really perfected its full ability... but in order to do so, I need you to wear this new robe that goes well with your Henshin." She grinned, though Tim was perplexed when Akira put it in front of him.
"... Hello, Akira..." Tim began to speak but quickly changed the topic. "However, if that is the case. Why hadn't I been taught this before? I was taught how to do it..." Tim was ashamed, he claimed.
"That was due to the body's inability to withstand the impact. But now that you've finally changed and balanced your skills, I believe Henshin is your final choice... You've lost every kind of blaze but the White one, as well as every other technique that can't be used..." Although Tim stared at the black cape, Akari explained.
"... I see ..."
To be continued...