Wrath roared out, charging toward Diavolo, lifting his right hand, energy claws formed from his claws, bringing his hand down, creating five slashes toward Diavolo. Diavolo turned to the side, gripping Wrath's wrist with his left hand, twisting his arms, rushing his right palm into Wrath's elbow, breaking it.
Wrath stumbled back, snapping his arm back, the broken elbow healed quickly, rushing back at Diavolo. Over at where Malum and Acedia were fighting, Acedia looked over from the corner of her vision, snapping her fingers, causing the ground beneath everyone to break and split creating several chasms, splitting everyone up further.
"Stop messing with my fight!" Wrath roared over to Acedia.
Wrath looked back, to see Diavolo, pulling his right fist back, shooting it forward, the fist connected with Wrath's left cheek, sending him spiraling backwards.
"That is for my mother." Diavolo said.
Wrath skidded along the ground for a bit, then the ground broke under him, he used right hand to grasp onto the cliff, using his wings the flop himself back onto the ledge.
"Fucking Hell, why isn't my arm regenerating!" Wrath yelled loudly.
"Holy Water can be a bitch to demons." Diavolo said.
Close by on the ground still weak, Jan raised a finger.
"You owe me a quarter." Jan said weakly.
Diavolo charged at Wrath, slamming a Contract Card against Hell's Access II.
"Overload Finisher: Angel's Arrow." Hell's Access II chimed.
Both of Diavolo's feet grew a white aura, as he performed a drop kick, knocking Wrath over the chasm, Wrath let out a grunt, as he hit the ground hard.
"That is for my Father." Diavolo said.
Diavolo reached down, grabbing Wrath by the neck, then half turned, throwing Wrath into the air, pulling another Contract Cards out, bringing it to Hell's Access II.
"Overload Finisher: Holy Cross." Hell's Access II chimed.
Arachne Blade formed in front of him, he split it in two, connecting the bottoms together, forming the Arachne Naginata, a gold string connects the tips of the two blades, as an arrow forms in the middle, creating the Holy Cross, he pulled the gold string back, aiming it toward Wrath.
"This is for Sora." Diavolo said.
Diavolo released the string, the arrow shot toward Wrath, Wrath's wings sprouted from his back, as he lurched to the side, as the arrow shot past him, he then let out a loud laugh.
"Foolish mortal, you can't hit a moving target." Wrath said.
"You know I can't hear you from down here!" Diavolo shouted up to him. "And who said that I missed?!"
Wrath looked up toward where the air went, just in time for the arrow to pierce through his right eye, hollowing in pain, as the wound was filled with a holy light, burning him from the inside.
Diavolo took out one more Contract Card, bringing it down to Hell's Access II.
"Overload Finisher: Heaven's Final Requiem." Hell's Access II chimed.
The wings that formed the bottom part of his armor snapped up, to become working wings and Diavolo flew into the sky, floating into front of Wrath, Diavolo's helmet opened up, letting Wrath see Kaiza before his death.
"Any last words before you die?" Kaiza said calmly.
Wrath just let out a loud laugh then looked back at Kaiza.
"You know what will happen when I die don't you?" Wrath asked.
Kaiza said nothing, but only nodded. Wrath let out another laugh.
"Just kill me already you pussy!" Wrath said aloud.
Kaiza closed his eyes, as his helmet formed around his head once again. His wings extended forming a holy cross, he flew higher into the sky, Diavolo split into five forms of himself, creating hive holy crosses above Wrath. They all began to shine, creating beams of light toward the ground, one beam hit Acedia after she was knocked into it and it burned her right arm severely burning her right arm from the elbow down.
Her eyes widened not thinking something like this would hurt her, as she looked up toward Diavolo and Wrath. The beams pointed toward Wrath, burning him, as he let out a blood curdling scream and the five Diavolo's shot down toward him with their right foot out, piercing through Wrath five times, killing him once and for all.
As Diavolo floated there, the five of him formed one being again, Diavolo looked upon Wrath's Black Symbol, as it started floating toward him and into his body, waiting for what he knew was coming. His vision went black, seeing the black void once more, then the scene changed to Wrath being in his office.
Wrath looked up from his computer, seeing Sora and began to speak.
"Sir Kaiza Akuma, has just been captured, please take Heaven's Access to him and bring him here, so he can help defeat the Sinful Seven."
Sora bowed, taking the suitcase.
"As you wish Sir." Sora said, before leaving the office.
Wrath leaned back in his chair.
"So the time has finally arrived, to think Kaiza would break into his home, to steal the Diavolo Contract Card, without even knowing its purpose, he must have sensed a familiar connection to it." Said to himself, even though no one heard him.
Found on his desk was a picture of a young Kaiza and himself, they were both smiling, it was taken after Kaiza graduated Middle School, they started to drift apart soon after, since Wrath knew they could never be a true family, no matter how much he hates to admit it, he enjoyed their short time together.
Wrath stood up walking toward the window, looking at the landscape of Tokyo, he placed his hand against the glass.
"To play my part I will have to play the villain." Wrath said.
The scene faded back to the black void as Kaiza was met with Wrath. Wrath looked at him and simply smiled, walking over to him and hugged, Kaiza just stood there.
"I'm so proud of you Kaiza." Wrath said calmly, then started to fade away.
Kaiza's vision returned to the world.
"Goodbye Father." Kaiza said, then doubled over in pain.
Diavolo gripped his head, screaming in pain, his form broke away and he started falling toward the ground, still screaming. Puppeteer saw what was happening, she turned to her Earth Phase, creating a rock hand to catch Kaiza, but a large skeletal bone shot through the hand destroying it, followed by seeing Malum being launched toward her, she caught him, looking over to Acedia, seeing a young child next to her.
Acedia knelt down to one knee and said aloud.
"It is good to see you, Lord of Madness."
Everyone was shocked after hearing what Acedia said, they remember what Malum said about Lord of Madness being a Lord Tier demon in this land, what Malum had failed to mention was that they were a child.
"What brings you to show your presence to us Milord?" Acedia asked.
"Hehe you don't have to be so formal Acedia." He patted her on the head.
Acedia didn't say a word, she was internally scared of this child, as he could kill her in the flick of a wrist. Lord of Madness looked up watching Kaiza still falling to the ground, then his smile faded away and spoke to Acedia.
"Open up the ground under him, he has a week to live, have him try to survive the Nine Trials."
Acedia's eyes widened as a shiver went down her spine, remembering that the Nine Trails were a proving ground for the Sinful Seven, even as a spy she was forced to go through it and she still has nightmares from it. She took a gulp, placing both of her hands on the ground, the ground opened up to devour Kaiza.
Kaiza's friends yelled out and Jan groaned on the ground, charging over to save Kaiza, but they were stopped by two hooded figures, one of them grabbed Hikari and Akumu then vanished with them.
"Hikari, Akumu!" Gishiki shouted.
"Eyes over here." The raspy voice said.
The second hooded figure raised their left hand and long claws appeared, slashing toward Gishiki and Puppeteer, as they jumped to the side dodging the attack. Puppeteer created another earth arm to grab Kaiza, but the hooded figure destroyed the rock hand before it could even get close to Kaiza.
Kaiza fell into the open maw of the earth, Acedia made the earth jaw close up, sealing Kaiza away from the others.
"Very good Acedia, now you take out the remaining members, He is allowed to keep the other two as a part of our promise." Lord of Madness said.
The hooded figure moved toward Puppeteer and Gishiki, but was stopped by Malum who finally got up, he grabbed the two and moved over to grab Jan and then vanished from the sight of the group.
"Sir shouldn't you go after them?" Acedia asked.
"Now, why would we do that? There is no fun in our little cat and mouse game, plus we know where they stay." Lord of Madness said playfully. "They are more divided than ever, but how fun would it be to fight them when they are weak and defenseless. Sadly I lost my precious Bat Demon, but oh well, many more toys to throw after them."
Acedia was shaken to her core, her first interaction with the Lord of Madness is scaring her.
"Come more, let's go see your Master, there is only a short time now until the Lord is revived." Lord of Madness said, turning around to leave.
Acedia nodded, as she and the hooded figure followed the Lord of Madness.
The Dreadnaught Crusader
Ryu was working on finding everyone, when Malum appeared in the command center, collapsing to the ground, Ryu rushed over and noticed Jan's right hand grotesque.
"You used the Forbidden Arts!?" Ryu said aloud.
"Sorry I had to give Kaiza some time with Lust, one last time." Jan said weakly.
Ryu was quiet, then called in for help.
Several minutes later
Malum was currently unconscious, Jan was getting his hand looked at, Ryu was seated at a table with Sora and Gishiki.
"So the Sinful Seven are all dead, but once Wrath fell the Lord of Madness appeared along with two hooded figures and one of them took Hikari and Akumu." Ryu said. "And the Lord of Madness had Acedia send Kaiza to a place called the Nine Trials, but Kaiza was screaming in pain when he was falling."
"That about sums it up." Gishiki said.
"But what did the Lord of Madness mean by Kaiza only having a week left to live?" Sora asked.
"I myself don't know either, the only person that could be of help is currently unconscious." Ryu said.
Sora stood up and started to walk out of the room.
"No point of sitting here twiddling our thumbs, I'm going to train and be ready for the coming fight." Sora said, walking out of the room.
Gishiki sat there thinking, then stood up fast.
"I might have a clue about the Nine Trials." Gishiki said, rushing out of the room.
Ryu sat there, rubbing his eyes, getting up, walking out of the room, going to check on Jan. Ryu found Jan pulling a glove on to hide his right hand. Jan looked up seeing Ryu walk in.
"Before you say anything, I know what I did was wrong, but I had no other choice." Jan said.
"I understand, but one thing I should warn you about is the Forbidden Arts. Final Life, if activated, will start corrupting your mind. If you don't have the proper training, the more time you use it, the more the corruption spreads until you are no longer human." Ryu said.
Jan sat there, soaking in all the information.
"I'm aware of that Ryu, if it comes down to it and I can't return to myself." Jan said. "Please kill me."
Ryu said nothing, walking up to Jan, lightly patting Jan's right shoulder, then walked out of the room.
Unknown Location
Hikari awoke in a strange looking room, it looked like an old Feudal Japan looking place, she looked down finding that she was wearing a dress, she got up, tripping while in the dress.
"Damn thing." Hikari said, picking the bottom of the dress up and walking through the place.
The place was eerily quiet, as the place started looking more like a Feudal Japan living quarters of some noble, Hikari walked into a throne room, seeing the hooded figure.
"Welcome dear, how are you enjoying your time here?" The hooded figure asked.
"Where is Akumu, what have you done to us!?" Hikari shouted.
"Insolent wench, is that any way to speak to your King!?" The hooded figure said aloud.
The man snapped his fingers, as Demon Knights, started walking into the room, pulling a large wooden table into the room, Hikari's eyes widened as she say Akumu tied to the table, she charged over to him, but two Demon knights, grabbed a hold of her arms, forcing her onto her knees.
The table Akumu was on was moved on it's side, and one of the Demon Knights punched Akumu in the stomach, causing him to wake up, looking around and seeing Hikari.
"Hikari!" Akumu shouted.
"Silence you, no speaking out in front of your King!" The hooded figure yelled.
Akumu's eyes widened looking toward the hooded figure then spoke up.
"That voice, no it can't be." Akumu said.
The hooded figure removed their hood revealing himself.
"Ōritsu, you bastard, how are you still alive!" Akumu yelled.
"Oh it's simple, I made a deal with the devil." Ōritsu said, laughing loudly.
"Akumu, who is this man?" Hikari asked.
Before Akumu could speak, a Demon Knight punched him in the stomach, as Ōritsu spoke up.
"Oh poor Hikari, how could you forget your own father." Oritsu said.
"You're no father of mine!" Hikari yelled.
"Oh maybe I should call you by your previous name, Daishi Hikari." Ōritsu said.
Hikari's eyes widened, shaking her head, she remembered the tale of how Akumu first met her, the mad king that had killed them both. Ōritsu just smiled evilly looking at his new toys.
Unknown Location
Kaiza landed on the ground, weary from his fight, wanting to rest a bit until the sound of three voices woke him up.
"Oh my, isn't he a handsome one." A soothing male voice said.
"Silence you idiot, you know you know what he is here for." Another male voice said angrily.
"This one is different, he looks human, oh what fun would it be to see him tortured." A female voice said gleefully.
Kaiza woke up slowly, sitting up seeing three blurry beings, once his eyes adjusted, he saw a humanoid Leopard, Lion and female wolf.
"Eh furries." Kaiza said.
"Hey no getting up maggot!" The lion yelled, slamming his foot into Kaiza's chest.
Kaiza let out a blood curdling cry, they looked at him strangely, the female wolf knelt down, ripping off Kaiza's hoodie, leaving him with a torn shirt from Malum and now torn hoodie, so he will now have to be shirtless. She found an energy sucker attached to his chest, with red, white, blue, purple, orange, yellow and greenish blue crack sprouting from his chest and she had an evil grin.
"Oh boy this one doesn't have long to live, this energy sucker looks like he has about a week to live and being sent to partake in the Nine Trials, is basically a death wish." The female wolf said, laughing, pushing Kaiza down.
She stood up and looked at her brothers gleefully, looking back down at Kaiza.
"Hello, valuable human, welcome to the Nine Trials." The Leopard said.
"Here is where the Sinful Seven, seven powerful demons who are chosen by going through each of the Nine Trials and given a power by the Master." The Lion said.
"The only way to get out is to either go through all Nine Trials, which are impossible or simply die." The female wolf said.
Kaiza looked at them, getting up and dusting himself off.
"Doesn't sound too hard, also the Sinful Seven aren't that strong." Kaiza said, walking passed them. "Besides they are now all dead."
The three of them eyes went wide, hearing that their best students were all dead, the leopard turned around and yelled.
"How can they all be dead!?"
Kaiza stopped and raised his hands and started counting.
"Pride was weakened from Sacrifice Mode and I killed him. Gluttony was defeated by three of my allies. Greed died by his brother Malum. Envy fused with Wrath. Sloth revealed to be a traitor from your Master, she technically isn't dead, Lust …" Kaiza said then got quiet. "Mother died protecting me from Wrath and I killed Wrath.
"Mother!" The leopard yelled.
"Malum!" The lion yelled.
"Acedia!" The female wolf yelled.
Kaiza turned and looked back at them and spoke.
"Not real Mother, she only raised me for 6 years, Malum is one of my allies and Acedia I last saw with the Lord of Madness."
The three of them looked at each other, then over to Kaiza, then back to each other.
"Y-You don't happen to be?" The leopard started to say.
Kaiza lifted his right hand, removing the bandages, revealing the mark of The Child of The Devil. The three of them shot up, their mouths gasped. Kaiza covered his hand once again, turning around walking toward the large gate, the three of them looked back at each other, then followed Kaiza.
Kaiza looked up at the gate, seeing the words above the door, saying Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate.
"Oh it says." The lion spoke up.
"Leave all hope, you who enter." Kaiza said. "I studied a bit of Italian back in the day."
"You plan to go through, you could die!" The leopard yelled.
Kaiza looked back, as the leopard closed his mouth, looking down, the three of them felt awkward, while they were mad their best students died, they also felt like something could change with the help of this human. Kaiza looked back toward the gate.
"Also I'm not a human." Kaiza spoke up, with his back to them. "I'm born a demon."
They all stayed quiet, until the lion spoke up.
"What is your name?"
"Kaiza Akuma, or I guess I used to be called Kia Ziolos." Kaiza said.
The three dropped to one knee, as Kaiza turned around, looking at the three of them.
"What are your names?" Kaiza asked.
"Be." The leopard said.
"Atr." The lion said.
"Ice." The female wolf said.
Kaiza looked at them and nodded, turning around walking toward the gate, pushing it open.
"Let's go conquer the Nine Trials." Kaiza said.
The three of them looked at each other, getting up and following Kaiza through the gate. The gate slammed behind them, with the words "Gate to Limbo." appeared on the door.