Azazel was targeted by his very own former partner. Truth be told, it was rather embarrassing. He was the Reaper's killer and yet his soul managed to slip past Hana's fingertips. Wherever he was and wherever he would be, it was obvious that no matter the location, August would always challenge them regardless of anything. The type of unceasing determination the Requiems were born with… the Detective remembered how nauseating that self-righteous sense of justice drove him to mind-numbing hatred for his future partner.
Karlo turned his head at the sound of discourse enveloping his comrades. Indistinct whispering came from their mouths, but he already knew what outcome they'd arrive at. The Detective spit out a chain from his wrist, embedding the spear-like end into a building and swinging across it so he could land right in front of his contemplating former allies.
"D-Detective Karlo!" One of the citizens yelled.
Azazel's dark blue eyes examined their faces. Sweat running down one's face, another with tears in their eyes, and another with snot running out both nostrils. He sighed. And then stood up.
"What's the situation around here? Did you get that message, too?" The Detective interrogated the quartet of Requiem Subject citizens.
"F-from the Reaper, right? Y… yeah, we got it but he's lying, right? There's no way any of you would ever think that slaughtering all living beyond our borders would put an end to our trouble, right?!" Another female citizen tearfully asked.
"Of course I don't. Katie, Alex and Ace—or better yet, all of Riot on the other hand…" He averted his eyes from their faces, scratching his neck with his mechanical Crow claws.
"Well, tell us where they are! We can all go and ensure they pay for their treason against the New Requiem Empire—!!"
Before any of them could actually finish blinking, their faces split apart, revealing the malodorous innards their skulls hid inside. Wiping away the slick red tainting his black-metal gauntlets, Azazel stood up tall, now behind their mutilated corpses.
'It's just that, in this world, I couldn't truly be happy from the bottom of my heart.'
His fingers were still slick with blood. Despite how far he'd come, he remained unchanging. Digging so deep into his memory, he remembered this exact scenery where he was amid the Crow's mask. The same mistake, the same history; regardless of the world.
'Even if the whole world is destroyed, all that matters to me is…'
Katie's face reappeared in her father's mind. Azazel scoffed while remembering his selfishness. But this wasn't the time to be dwelling. He realized that upon his face just barely weaving away from the incoming beam blasting by his head, scraping his cheek with blood. Shifting around immediately, he retreated slowly, allowing his eyes to analyze his destroyed whereabouts.
'Where the hell did that blast come from? It couldn't have been from above. Maybe it's…'
He gasped and widened his eyes upon spotting the sniper's vantage point. Reloading their rifle, the barrel venting steam, the sniper upturned their eye—light reflecting off the glass hiding their retinas' coloration.
"Wait, that's…" Karlo waved to the sniper and watched as they waved back.
Having it confirmed the sniper wasn't his enemy, he decided to reconvene with them, landing onto the broken window frame the sniper was perched at. After he'd slipped into the apartment, the sniper began speaking, removing the cloth hiding their features.
"Nice to see you again, Detective Karlo. I told you we'd dine at the same table again, didn't I?" Kosuke asked him.
"Rizia. Where were you when they started attacking?" He interrogated them.
"Inside my quarters. What about you, sir?"
"The Tower's meeting room. Katie was with me but we decided to split up to cover more ground after we met up with Ace," Azazel explained to them.
"I see. I suppose this was inevitable, though. Regardless if you attacked Retly or not, they would've destroyed you either way." Kosuke walked back toward the window, peeking out the shattered frame, before continuing, "Right now, Riot, the Subjects and the brass are all fighting one another for their lives. If this continues, we'll be sitting ducks and eventually be exterminated from the world, just like the world desires."
"Meaning we have to come up with a plan. I already have the beginnings of one but how are we supposed to broadcast it to the rest of our allies?" queried the Detective.
"I have a technique that could help with that," they flashed a wide-toothed smile at their savior.
"I thought you didn't have any powers?" Azazel asked; question mark over his head.
"I don't! I have this!" Riz revealed a speaker, Karlo curiously examining the device.
"What's this s'posed to do–?"
"Nevermind that! Tell me your plan. After you do, I'll announce it to everyone from atop this apartment!" They excitedly declared.
Azazel's expression was clearly skeptical—his brows raised and his eyes scanning their face. Yet something inexplicable called to him, maybe from within his very own heart. Looking down at them with short black hair and identically-shaded dark eyes, that 'something' compelled him ever further. Karlo nodded down at them.
"Alright. I'll tell you."
To be wary of anyone listening, he stepped closer, whispering it into their ear with one hand on the shoulder. The Detective slid away from Kosuke after informing them of his strategy, arms now idle beside his body.
"There. Now don't die before you tell everyone," Azazel warned the former assassin, patting their head with his palm three times.
"Say no more!"
Rizia nestled into the window frame overlooking the chaotic street. They immediately shifted their body into a ball, descending downward through the air with outstretched limbs. From below their very flesh, the suit peeled over their body, beginning from their chest and extending outward to cross all over their nimble form. Conjoining miniature bots individually moving within the armor, they accumulated together to form individual weapons for their two hands.
Seconds prior to landing, hovering above their bloodthirsty fangs, they unleashed a powerful slash with both swords. That one attack would assuredly stab into the hearts of all demons everywhere and mark the beginning of humanity's retaliation!
"RAGH!"
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
Having just been cleaved on the chest, a diagonal cut splurged out excess amounts of blood into the air after Katie stroked her Blade. The tiniest red splatter dirtied her left cheek. She apathetically glaring forward; lifelessness ingrained into her sapphire pupils. After affixing her stance, her sight darted upward, scanning the creeper watching from above an apartment complex. Sheathing her sword to feign harmlessness, the grip clicked against the cover while she mentally considered her next move.
'What the hell is that thing? The aura I'm sensing is definitely hostile but they're refraining from attacking. Does their technique prohibit them from close-range?' Katie looked away, falsely scanning the remainder of her surroundings. 'I'll step closer. If he shoots something at my foot in an attempt to ensure our distance remains, I'll close the distance and kill him with one slash.'
She decided to test her theory. Pretending to check her environment for lurking enemies similar to the perched creeper, she stepped out from the alley—and just then, someone's voice loudly infiltrated her ears.
"Don't get any closer!" They warned loudly.
Katie decided it safe to comply, so she did; for the time being. She stepped back, retreating further within the shadowed alleyway. She removed her hand from her sword's sheath attached to her hip.
"WHO ARE YOU?!" She curiously yelled back at the rooftop watcher.
"Oh, you don't know me. But I know you, Katie Moon. The Blackened Blade is said to only be usable by any of those descended from Karlo blood, whether it be from the Old or New World. I'm sure you know that though, right?" The watcher whispered menacingly, sadistically smirking.
"How do you know that? Am I missing something here?" Katie asked, raising an eyebrow.
"All Artifacts adrift in the Remnant World were possible weapons each nation of the world was eager to get their hands on. Most of the citizens of those nations are Incarnated spirits from the Old World. What all of you can do is already common knowledge!" The watcher replied, pointing at her bust.
"I assume you're a government agent sent to recover the Blackened Blade. And if that's so, you're an Evolutionary. What's your… Vita technique then?" Katie glared into their hidden face carelessly.
"I'm glad you asked." The watcher withdrew a spear from the shadowy portal beside their foot. "My Vita technique is divided into two types of darkness control. One side is 'Shadows' and the other is 'Tomb.' I can reach into the nether and contact dead spirits' unsurpassable power using 'Tomb'," they said.
Katie's eyes widened. Instantaneously, she withdrew her Blackened Blade and closed the distance between them, clashing her katana against their darkened spear. They jumped away, watching as she pounced after them before kicking her away while retreating. Tapping the lance's end against the lower rooftop three times, the sharpened edge shone bright red. The Source attempted to close the distance once again, simply diving off the end and slashing at her enemy's neck.
Unfortunately, right before she could, someone's hand caught her wrist. Someone who possessed far greater strength than any one of them could ever hope to hold. The smoke hiding his features dissipated quickly, revealing the crimson pupil plastered against the eyeball's blackness. It was unmistakable; the resemblance was uncanny if this was an illusion!
Right now, before her eyes, she bore witness to a puppet of carnage. Bearing his fangs at the strongest around, Jason Rivera had incarnated once again, into the flesh he abandoned so long ago.
Trivia: Katie doesn't have much variety in her attacks when utilizing the Blackened Blade. She does use 'Purge of Demons' like her father before her, but that's about it. However, she makes up for it with enhanced tactical intuition, superior strength with speed, and boundless Vita-life control. Due to all previously mentioned factors, Katie was ranked second to only Alexander Amara in… unusual abilities.