"And… now we're done."
Processing Vita is a difficult process for many variations of techniques and Artifacts. One example is 'Eternal Sight', which processes and rejuvenates new reserves of Vita gradually. Even if the chosen Vita amount doesn't belong to Ace Wilder exactly, Divergence's innate ocular technique will quickly adapt if ordered to do so. In layman's terms, Eternal Sight analyzes its enemy's movements at such extreme speeds that it can attempt to mimic or predict what move they'll enact next while battling. As of right now, the Scarlet King was using this ability to the maximum, having adapted to Naraku's stolen technique in a matter of just a few seconds.
But this wasn't any ordinary Territory. Hana's pink eyes wandered, noticing the outer scenery still visible even from within Wilder's domain. No barrier enclosed the two of them. Just as he'd learned from the Master, he'd allowed an escape route for the target if they so wished to retreat. Allowing this to exist vastly improves the Territory's guaranteed hit to a wider range of 150 meters.
Ace instantly released the Territory's unrelenting slashes, but they only attacked for 0.2 seconds, the same total amount of time the Scarlet King's domain was open for. Hana was mostly unscatched—except for her mutilated arm missing her left hand.
Blood endlessly leaked from her handless limb all the while Ace's fingers pushed against his temples. Dramatically sighing, he walked closer, removing his hands from his head and hiding them within his ivory-shaded hoodie's conjoined pocket. By the time he'd arrived before her, she'd already collapsed to her knees.
"Are you ready to give in, old lady?" Ace asked, glaring down at her bloody face.
"You really… won't kill me," Hana observed aloud, blood trickling down her cut forehead and over her nose.
"Of course I won't," he quickly answered, still staring down at her.
An aberrant silence filled the air. If they remained this way for any longer, this needless violence would only persist further.
Hana asked her executioner one last question, "Will you ever change your mind regarding Requiem Subjects' continued survival?"
"Probably not," Ace replied.
"Me neither," she said.
Seeing no other way they could work alongside one another as allies, the Master saw to the end of their partnership personally. Her hand raised and then she beheaded herself. Ace's widened eyes were forced to watch as her decapitated skull tumbled from her shoulders, then rolled across the concrete highway. His shock ended fairly soon, though only to be replaced by unbridled disbelief. The very structure he was standing on seemed to begin crumbling due to the rumbling coursing through the lower streets and shaking the highway's very foundation.
Then, his gaze upturned. Replacing the Requiem Tower that served as the Evolutionary brass's headquarters was none other than the previously dormant Tower of Chains. The building's sword-like tip released a beam into the air, coursing through the skies and effectively splicing the hovering blimp in twain. In awe while gazing at such an unbelievable spectacle, Ace shook himself out of the trance. His gritted teeth withheld tears, reluctantly staring at Hana's decapitated head lifelessly staring with pink bloodshot eyes into the fiery-orange sky.
How long would he stand here staring? Of course, the time for dawdling and mourning would come later! All that mattered now was his comrades' safety! So, he rushed toward the rising Tower, blitzing through the flaming Evolutionary streets until he reached his destination.
In front of the Requiem Tower's destroyed fragments, there was everyone fighting. Ace skidded to a halt against a nearby rooftop's edge, overlooking the situation while perched at the verge and rubbing his chin. Eternal Sight's markings encircled his pupils as Wilder surveyed the situation from above, some ten or fifteen minutes after having witnessed Hana behead herself.
'From where I'm standing, Riot and the brass aren't fighting any more of Retly's demons. It could be that since the Jester's 'dead', their command link's been severed and they immediately dropped dead. I shouldn't have to worry about them again. However, I can't say the same for the citizens the old man managed to incite from the Seas of Time. Whatever. I have a plan anyway. Once we enact it and slaughter the remaining rebels, we can finally rendezvous and plan our next move after the Tower's complete manifestation.'
Differing from the perched stance he was previously nestled into, he stood tall. Just about to speed off into the night, he heard two female offices call his name—thereby stopping him. Spiky red hair swaying in tandem with the wind's flow, Ace looked down, spotting his sister and girlfriend waving to him from below.
He jumped down immediately, stray bolts of red leaping off his jacket before he eventually landed. His arms spread out, pulling June close and holding her in a tight brotherly embrace. The white-haired girl of the two feigned choking, dramatically acting as if she were suffocating in her sibling's chest while they hugged.
But he didn't care anymore. This conflict had gone on for long enough. Ace pulled away from June and stepped over to Kima. She looked up at him, he looked down at her. Until his lips parted.
"Master Saiai is dead. She killed herself after her fight with me," he said aloud.
June, standing behind her brother, instinctively stepped back with shrunken pupils. The one who stood at the height of the realm of supremacy had fallen? How? And more importantly, why? All of her questions would soon be answered, and as would Kima's, as her face was identical to Ace's sisters' just moments prior.
"We don't have time to mourn. Stay right here," he told his girlfriend, kissing her forehead and then backing away.
Retreating from in front of Kim, his hand touched June's shoulder—silently beckoning her. As expected, she obeyed and now stood tall beside him, awaiting his next orders. Then, in unison, two thunderbolts erupted from the ground and shot into the air. If the blast's vibrancy didn't capture anyone's attention, then the booming audio of resonating lightning did.
Azazel disfigured someone's face with his mechanical claws, instinctively shifting toward the sound's deafening source. Natalia, fighting on the same rooftop, pushed someone away and heard them crumble to ashes as she walked toward the Detective.
"Is something…?"
Upon asking, she noticed it. The dual beams of red and green shot into the clouds, vanishing behind the gathered heavens. Finally, backup had arrived. Yet, there was the oddest thing. For someone like Azazel, unable to utilize any of his techniques without the Blackened Blade, he wouldn't pick up on it. For her, however, it was entirely the opposite. Some miles away was June, Ace, and Kima—their presences all familiar.
'Didn't Ace and Katie go to save Hana and Alex? Where are those three? Why's Ace the only one left..?' She scratched her chin while pondering.
"Looks like the cavalry's arrived," Azazel said, knee propped up against the roof's verge.
Natalia realized where she was; returning to the real world after losing herself within her thoughts. She sighed and then nodded.
There wasn't any time to question anything. All they could for now was keep fighting.
"Let's go," she said.
Azazel didn't even need to look at her. His eyes still glared forward. "Yeah," he said.
With that, the former Crow made his way across the city, Natalia running alongside him while doubts coursed through her mind.
"There they are," June spotted from an opposite rooftop.
"Kima," Ace said.
"Already on it—" she replied, walking away from the crouched posture beside him.
Watching Darrell burn the rebelling Evolutionaries from atop the Rainbow Dragon, Kim prevented herself from laughing further. Instead, her fingers interlocked, and she summoned another flying beast.
'Chimera.'
Its wings flapped but once, and even then, the faux Rainbow Dragon was no match for the real thing. Before she knew it, she was already standing the winged Chimera beast, tailing the unknowing Jefferson atop the multicolored dragon.
"Hey!" Kim called out to him.
Jeff turned his head. "When did you—?" he asked.
"No time to elaborate! Head toward the clocktower! Every last one of them will follow you!" She assured him, leaning against him from behind.
"What makes you so sure?!" He loudly asked amid the roaring dragon spitting out flames.
"You're killing their comrades." Kim pointed from behind him, "They'd do anything for revenge," she informed him.
He looked away dejectedly. He shakily inhaled through clenched teeth. Was he the same individual who wished for educational reform through new schools? Right and wrong seemed so interchangeable, he didn't even know what was happening anymore. Was the man who burnt them all to ashes… the same Darrell Jefferson he's always been?
"I know how it feels, sir. But—but now's not the time to mourn. Just keep moving forward. Just keep fighting. Is it alright if I ask that of you?" Kim sweetly inquired of him.
"Of course." He faced her, flashing a fake smile with one tear streaming down his right eye. "That's the duty of a Requiem… right?" he asked.
"Right," she affirmed.
Despite how much she wanted to, she couldn't comfort him. Instead, she turned away from leaning over his shoulder and dove through the air. Luckily for her, the winged Chimera beast obeyed her commands and she landed against its back yet again, soaring throughout the air.
Ace's gaze shot toward her. She flashed a thumbs-up. He knew that signal, almost instantly! His hand went to his sister's shoulder yet again, beckoning her verbally this time.
"Follow me."
"Uh, we're gonna lead the Evolutionaries to the clock tower, right?" wondered June.
"Correct," he affirmed without turning, hands pocketed.
"What exactly is that going to do?" She curiously asked.
"We'll be able to get the high ground and bombard our enemies with relentless attacks. Are you ready?" Ace asked.
"Not really. But when has that ever stopped us?" She threw back at him, cheekily smiling.
Having reached the other verge of the rooftop, he crouched against it. His head turned to her, intently listening to his adorable little sister and noticing the gentle grin across her lips.
'That's right…'
"It's always been us 'gainst the world, remember?" His hand patted her head while speaking.
"Of course I do!" She excitedly responded.
'I know what I'm fighting for.'
"HEY, ASSHOLES!!" Azazel yelled, swinging by through the streets.
Ace and June turned toward his voice, watching as he quickly swung past.
Natalia lagged behind, following up his insulting words by loudly screaming, "THEY'RE COMING!"
That was all they needed! Immediately after hearing that, the two siblings leaped off the rooftop and started sprinting down the street.
Unraveling differing threads from their fingertips and then gradually relinquishing them, June spun around in mid-air, flipping across the sky while happily giggling. Ace, on the other hand, was simply dashing down the main street, watching as his sister spun around above him. Stifling his laughter, Wilder glanced over his shoulder and noticed the imminent chaos of the Evolutionary subjects gaining on them.
"THEY'RE CLOSING IN!!" He warned his comrades.
"I GOTCHA!!" Natalia replied from ahead of him.
Brushing her fingers against the ground just barely to rearrange the street's concrete structure, she erected a rock-hard blockade behind Ace's sprinting build. Without having to worry about them gaining on him anymore, he shot a golden rope from his fingers, watching as it attached to a building's edge. Yanking him ever further into the sky, he enclosed himself into a ball, spiraling through the air before shooting another golden rope toward his sister's behind. She immediately caught the thread, pulling him closer so they could seemingly be flying beside one another.
"Hahaha!" She giggled aloud.
Ace shot another rope toward a nearby building, running along the edge momentarily before throwing himself forward yet again. Soaring through the air, he temporarily spun, shooting another thread so he could dash past everyone—even Azazel at the front. He clicked his tongue against his teeth, smirking while watching the ginger blitz past.
"That little brat…" he competitively uttered.
The Detective unraveled another chain from his wrist, swinging against it temporarily. Rolling to a halt as he landed against a rooftop, he leaped from the verge, diving through the air and shooting another chain from his wrist. Running along a building while attached to the chain, he extended his left hand, flipping through the air as the secondary chain pulled him through the skies and left him running up the clock tower.
"Took you long enough," Ace teased from the top.
"You're just like your father, y'know that?" Azazel muttered, struggling while attempting to pull himself up the tower.
Ace extended his hand to his struggling uncle.
Perhaps the past vision of the Reaper's image overlapped with the Scarlet King's helping hand.
The former Crow took his nephew's hand and pulled himself upward. Now standing beside the red-haired young man, the Detective surveyed the chaos from below, watching as June continuously giggled while swinging through the air.
"They're not heading up…" noted Karlo.
"I know. That was my plan. Now watch and learn, old man," Ace told his black-haired relative.
Seeing no reason to reply, Azazel obeyed.
June stumbled to her feet after relinquishing her hold on the blackened threads she inherited. Releasing a shockwave, she left a green-lightning streak in her wake as she zipped through the clocktower from the front entrance. Skidding to a halt once arriving inside, she smirked–-stifling another giggle. She could spot their unfamiliar faces, extending their hands to shoot fire blasts, lightning bolts. It was inconsequential. They'd already grazed the clocktower's surrounding perimeter.
Interlocking his fingers into the Karana Mudra, the Scarlet King mischievously grinned and invoked the divine technique.
"Territory Envelopment: HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS!!"
Ace released his soul's domain, not enclosed in a separate barrier, into the real world. By allowing an escape route, he inadvertently formed a 'covenant' that vastly increased the Territory's effective range. Instead of the base 150 meters without the use of a barrier, he expanded it to its limit: 400 meters.
Including his allies, every living being within 400 meters would be forced into paralysis, leaving only the Scarlet King standing. Removing the shades hiding his scarlet eyes, he sighed. Instead of simply leaving the enemies paralyzed with prolonged exposure to his Territory, he opted for the less dangerous option, by only opening the domain for a total of 10 seconds. In those ten seconds, he removed the sunglasses covering his scarlet eyes… and began moving.
The time was just a guess.
Ace conjectured that anyone not amid the ongoing conflict was simply in hiding, waiting for their turn to strike should the opportunity arise. The 10-second limit of Human Consciousness left everyone standing, unconscious. This included his allies, scattered about the City near him. But this would only last for a few seconds.
If he wasn't fast enough, his enemies could awaken at any second and they'd fail. Taking into consideration his tired state, the triple usage of Territory Envelopment and his top speed, he limited his targets to only the Evolutionaries the Reaper had incited from the Seas of Time.
Approximately 700 rogue Evolutionaries, some scattered across the Evolutionary Capital and some right in front of him, would be annihilated in 10 seconds… after the deactivation of the domain by the hands of the Scarlet King.