"Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak,"
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"...Show me something beautiful!"
As Hugo exclaimed with such fervor and exhilaration, his already foggy figure began to disappear, and on the checkered floor, 2 groups of finely sculpted men and women slowly appeared from the ground; one group white, while the other black. Both groups, apart from color, were similar in every way shape or form. Naturally, these were chess pieces, on a chess board.
Looking at these 2 meter tall figures, in addition to how they were arranged, Lukas almost instantly figured out what he had to do in order to obtain Hugo's inheritance. So did Anne, but due to her taut nerves from the enemy being right in front of her, she couldn't be bothered to realize the way to taking the inheritance.
As they jut stood there in absolute silence trying to figure out how to make the best of this strange situation, large amounts of footsteps rung out of the door, though faint at first, it started getting louder and louder, until the four couldn't ignore it anymore and glanced at the entrance to the chamber.
There they saw hundreds of players, all of them with their cards out, though they couldn't do anything on their own, them just being together emitted such a pressure that it even made Mirca, the silent one, gulp in anxiety for what's to come.
When the players all stopped, a man came to the front, Lukas recognized him to be the chicken man, and he cried out:
"There they are, the four bastards, get them!"
Hearing his cry, all of the players started rushing towards them, their momentum like a giant tsunami, each footstep literally creating small-scale shockwaves, each second making them closer to their destination, the lives of the 4 strongest people in the Pantheon.
"Heheh, this sure is a sticky situation ain't it? Let's make a deal, we call a temporary truce, kill all these fucking idiots, then we kill each other after that, hmm?"
"Sounds like a great idea, just one thing..."
"what?"
Seeing her agree so fast, Mika was slightly surprised, but she quickly recovered and asked what Anne wanted. Seeing the other 3 pay attention to her, she just smiled and shouted:
"...Celeritas(Speed)! Lukas, go for it! I believe in you!"
"Whuh!? You'll pay for this ya conniving bitch!"
What Mika didn't expect, was that while she was busy talking to Anne, she was busy preparing a spell, an acceleration spell, to be exact. Using this spell, she made Lukas faster than any of them for a split second, and using this opportunity that was given to him by Anne, Lukas instantly headed for the chess board, and the moment he pushed the pawn from d2 to d4, time seemed to stop for him, as his eyes trembled, as information entered his brain faster than the speed of light, until... they stopped.
Yes, they stopped looking like his eyes, Lukas... wasn't Lukas anymore! They belonged to him, yet there seemed to be another person in control. That wasn't the only astronomical change to his body; everything, his eyes, limbs nose and even heart, contorted and changed dramatically, every change, slowly making Lukas anew, this Lukas... Anne knew this Lukas, he was the one that always came out when Lukas was playing games! Any games, whenever he came out, he completely destroyed whoever he was playing against, apart from one person... Atsushi. This was why they bonded so well, their completely destructive talent in games brought them together.
'Atsushi, come to think of it, where... is he? I've been here for a year, I should have been able to hear of him at least once, unless...'
Before Anne could think any further, Lukas's transformation was complete. But instead of the cocky attitude he displayed during the world championships, or when he was playing in general, this Lukas felt inhuman, his perfect body, his eyes, mouth, nose they all added up to make someone, unfeeling, like a robot. After a slow pause, Lukas finally eyed Anne who was staring at him, then the sisters, who also looked at him like they saw a monster, even the giant crowd, who was rushing towards them paused, not daring to move under his ginormous amounts of pressure. Slowly, his mouth started to open, whispering only 1 sentence:
"...It's good... to be back,"
His voice was electrifying, it made everyone in the room shiver in fright, like a cat seeing a cucumber. Then, as his left hand sluggishly moved in front of him, a mysterious card floated just above his palm, it's glacial-like beauty only serving to magnify his aloof and cold appearance, That card, was the only card he currently had on his deck:『Osiris』
"L-Lukas, why are you holding Osiris? Don't you have insufficient mana?"
Anne began to question him, while her confusion magnified; if her memory served her well, he had just one MP short of summoning. Looking at his sister like she was an idiot, Lukas simply waved his hands again, like he was bothered by her question; a giant blue screen appeared, allowing everyone to see what was on it:
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Lukas Von Matten
age:???
MP: ∞
HP: 150,000,000,000 (G.L.A.D.Y.S field activated)
Bloodline skill: Infinite Zero (The universe is your slave, and you are it's master, go wild... Master)
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"E-E-Ehhhhh???"
Anne freaked out, I-Infinite MP?! And what was that Bloodline Skill!?!? She had never seen anything like it, not on Lukas before this, and certainly not on ordinary people! With Anne, being so "Uncalm", you can certainly imagine the reactions of the sisters and the crowd behind them:
"E-eh... Umm, sis... C-can we pwease go home...?"
"H-heh?? A-ah... yes, l-let's get going..."
The ones speaking were naturally Mika and her sister, of course, they didn't have the same bravado as before, in the face of his absolute might, both sisters just wanted to go home and live and idyllic life somewhere in the woods...
"Y-yeh, ya have a great idea lassie... L-let's get outta here, we should- we should leave 'em to it!"
Anne, seeing such cowardice from the people so willing to kill them a few minutes ago, realized something: That wasn't her brother, nor was it the man he turned into when playing games, he was someone else, coming from some place else... Far, far away. So she started screaming, her voice shrill and so full of rage, you'd think she was a bull seeing red.
"Who are you!? You're not my brother! Give me back my brother!!"
Just as they were all about to run for the hills, so scared that her shout might've angered him and he decided to kill them all in an instant; Lukas directed a glance at them, no emotion could be gathered from those cold... almost dead eyes, they were like the eyes of an undead... He again said just a few words:
"Where... do you think you're going?"
Everyone stopped, in fear certainly, but his voice had a magnetic feeling to it, as if calling to them, like sirens calling to sailors. He spoke again:
"Entertain me... I will leave the last one alive... Anne Von Falken, come here, your death is meaningless,"
Saying this, he, as if Darth Vader, used his hand to pull her towards him, then stared at the others, before delivering his ultimatum:
"Get going..."
Hearing this, a few people, so weak willed and so desperate to live, pulled out their swords or cards, and began slaughtering the others who weren't paying attention. Instantly, Chaos ensued and a giant free-for-all started: friends started killing each other, lovers who believed their love was strong betrayed each other, and even the sisters, who were so driven by their will to live... They started tearing each other apart.
Staring at the gruesome scene as if it was a circus, Julius Cae- I mean, Lukas created a giant throne made from some mysterious metal and sat there... just watching... as if waiting for the last person to die. Anne, still struggling by his side, shouted at him:
"Who are you? Why have you taken over my brother's body?"
Looking at her, he just frowned and said:
"Your brother, he is me, and I am him... you needn't be worried about him... I will let him explain it himself"
Suddenly, another clone of him formed in front of them, though he was a smidge shorter than the man sitting on the throne. Seeing the man, Anne's eyes lit up, it was the Lukas who took over when playing games! He smiled at her and said:
"Heya Anne! look, this guy in front of me is just a darn cockroach, he won't die, trust me, I've fought with him way back when a few times, and *Whistles* Hoo boy, was he just unkillable! So put away that knife, anyways, me and Lukas are safe-"
"Y-you and Lukas?"
"Oh yeah! Me and Lukas! My name is Lukas Von Falken, the first ever Falken, while the other Lukas is Lukas Von Falken too! Just... the 100th Falken,"
As she heard his slightly confusing explanation, things started to click and her eyes widened like saucers, before she shouted in extreme shock:
"Yo-you're THE Lukas Von Falken, founder of the Falken house and my ancestor?!"
"Yup, that's me! Because of the spell I casted to the Falken lineage, any descendant named Lukas will share their body with me,"
"...Get... explaining,"
"O-oh, yeah... So this darn cockroach, he is a Lukas, but from another dimension, to be exact, this dimension,"
As he started to explain, Anne had already knew what she meant, and happily squealed in excitement:
"So you mean he's from the 7 realms? and he must be the previous grand arbiter, who was the strongest in the 7 realms, that's why he's called the grand arbiter by Isabelle!"
Nodding at her answer, Lukas showed an impressed face before explaining further on:
True, but not exactly right... You see, there is another realm above the seven, That is where he originated from, that realm is known as the Faery Plane, it houses creatures like Isabelle, or your guide. This is where I come in, A loooooooooong time ago, I entered the faery realm, after my death on earth, and after a few years there, I was both this man's mortal enemy and future husband!"
"...Shut it."
Hearing what Lukas just said, Matten(man on the throne) slightly blushed, and spoke out against his blatant revealing of their relationship.
"Heehee... So anyways, while we lived together, Lukas was born, and remembering my darn spell, I was pulled into his body! And seeing as his spouse just kinda disappeared on him, he rightfully, went investigating, then wound up in Lukas's body too,"
Listening to this highly convoluted explanation, Anne's face was numb from the shock, and just nodded stiffly, before asking:
"How about the chess game behind you?"
She had gestured towards the still chess board, until she quickly realized, They had already won!
"Yeah, he's good with things like that, learnt my skills from him really! Oh the battle's just about finished!"
Listening to what Lukas just said, the trio looked towards the last person alive, they were bruised and battered, so damaged Anne could barely recognize her, yes, it was one of the sisters, as to which, the fact that she held scissors already answered her question.
Mirca walked up to them, going through mountains of corpses, one of them somewhere... her sister. Looking at them, her gaze wasn't one of hatred, nor fear, they saw through a world of sadness where everything looked bleak and hopeless... What a cruel world to live in...
But before any of them spoke, she just whispered, her voice full of pain and torment:
"Please bring her back..."