Akumu struggled to get out of his bounds, as Ōritsu stood up, removing his cloak, letting it fall to the ground, showing off his royal attire, walking over to Hikari, grabbing her by the head looking all over her.
"You do look so much like the original, you will be so fun to take my anger out on you, for stealing my most loyal soldier away from me." Ōritsu said.
"I did no such thing." Hikari said, spitting on his face.
He then wiped spit off his face, then slapped Hikari, causing Akumu to yell out.
Ōritsu turned around, walking toward the throne, turning around.
"My most loyal soldier was none other than your precious Akumu." Ōritsu said.
"Nonsense, I was never loyal to you, nor your soldier!" Akumu yelled out.
Ōritsu moved his head, as one of the Demon Knights ripped the chain off Akumu's neck, bringing it over to Ōritsu, he took the ring, looking at it, seeing the chained ring.
"Of course, you don't remember, your precious ring is broken, the ring you gave me, after you slaughtered your entire village." Ōritsu said calmly.
"No you're wrong, I would never betray the ones I love!" Akumu shouted.
"Oh you don't believe me, then maybe I should help you remember." Ōritsu said, gripping the ring.
His hand started to glow, once the light faded, he opened his hand, showing the fixed ring, he walked toward Akumu. Akumu was thrashing trying to get out of his bounds, a Demon Knight handed Ōritsu the Apocalyptic Driver, Ōritsu took it, putting the ring against it.
A loud ear screeching sound echoed from the driver, Ōritsu put the device on Akumu's wrist.
"C̷̗̲͌͊o̵̥͑͝r̶̟̠̉̚r̸͖̳̒ư̴͔̤͊ṕ̵͇̇t̵̩͚́͝ï̷̼͘ó̴̜͎n̷͕͛" Apocalyptic Driver chimed.
"Nooo!" Akumu shouted.
Akumu started visually thrashing in his bounds, his head shot back, then slumped forward, his mind going blank, only hearing Hikari screaming until he faded.
833 Years Ago
Akumu continued slaughtering his village, laughing loudly, as tears ran down his cheeks. Later on Akumu brought the remaining family rings from his clan, the rings were connected to the severed fingers of the heads of the family, Ōritsu had a soldier take the rings.
"Very good Akumu, you follow orders very well." Ōritsu said.
"Thank Milord." Akumu said. "I hope I can make your vision shine. You are the Royal Light after all."
Ōritsu smiled and then laughed loudly, as Akumu's vision faded, then it came back, to him slaughtering many innocent people for his lord.
Present Day
Tears streamed down Akumu's cheeks, as his body became Ripa, then green smoke was blown downwards, covering his body with a sickly green, his cloak split down the middle, forming what looked like wings. Ōritsu looked at him grinning evilly.
"Pesuto Ripa." Apocalyptic Driver chimed.
"What is your wish Milord?" Ripa asked.
Ōritsu nodded as the Demon Knights untied Ripa, he fell to his feet, then straightened himself up, he lifted his right hand up, as a spear formed in his hand, creating the Plaque Spear.
"For now just stand guard." Ōritsu said.
"As you wish Milord." Ripa said.
Hikari thrashed, trying to get out of the grasp of the Demon Knights.
"Akumu wake up, this isn't you!" Hikari shouted.
"I'm sorry dear Hikari, he can no longer hear you." Ōritsu said, motioning to his Demon Knights.
They started carrying Hikari out of the throne room, as she screamed.
Dreadnaught Crusader
Ryu looked upon the still unconscious Malum, he had shown no signs of waking up, he sighed, then walked out of the room, passing the training room, hearing a sound from inside, he peeked in, seeing Sora fighting a robot assistant, he kept to himself, then proceeded toward the command center.
Shortly after he entered the room, Gishiki came rushing in.
"I learned what the Nine Trials could be." Gishiki said loudly.
This caused Sora to hear him, as she entered the room, wiping sweat from her head, she had on a sports bra and wiping sweat from her body. Gishiki, opened a book from a tab he marked, setting it on the table. Ryu looked at the book, examining the words on the two pages.
"The Nine Circles of Hell." Gishiki said. "He is currently somewhere, going through the Nine Circles of Hell."
"So you're telling me Kaiza has a week to live and is stuck going through the Nine Circles of Hell." Sora said, drinking water.
"He could be in danger, he should find him quickly." Gishiki said.
Sora looked at the book, then turned around, starting to leave.
"Where are you going, aren't you worried about Kaiza?" Gishiki asked.
"Of course I'm fucking worried about him." Sora said, punching the wall. "But at the same time I'm not. This is Kaiza we're talking about, call me when we're ready to raid some demon bases."
"She seems so different from her time at Heaven's Rite Foundation." Gishiki said.
"I think she is acting more like herself now, Kaiza pulled that out of her." Ryu said. "Has Blazing Hound returned at all?"
Gishiki shook his head and spoke.
"No, not since it attacked Wrath in the Hellhound form." Gishiki said. "It seems to have vanished, it feels kind of weird, but it looks like Angel's Chariot is acting up as well."
"Things are still a mystery here." Ryu said.
Jan's living quarters
"It's good that you are finally getting some rest Jan." Nora said, rubbing his back.
"Yeah, I think it was finally a good time to relax, with everything going on." Jan said.
Nora slid her arms around Jan's neck hugging him, Jan leaned back in her embrace, closing his eyes. Nora then grabbed his right hand, yanking the glove off, seeing his hand.
"I can explain …" Jan started to say, but was stopped with a kiss to the lips.
"I knew you would do something reckless, I just want to spend as much time with you, that we will have left together." Nora said.
Jan laid back in bed, pulling Nora into his arms, as they cuddled.
Nine Trials: Floor One Limbo
Kaiza and the others made it down the flight of stairs, right when Kaiza foot hit the ground, his ears were blasted with the sound of anguished screams, he went to cover his ears.
"The screams of the Uncommitted, these are the dead of those who are neither Good or Evil, only the selfish." Be said.
"So this is the first trial?" Kaiza asked, getting really dizzy.
"No, we are still only at the entrance." Atr said.
Kaiza starts wobbling, reaching his right arm out, grabbing a hold of the shirt of Be, ripping it off, then starts tying it around his head, then starts walking forward.
"Oh very nuaghty." Be said.
As they continued walking, Kaiza kept his hands over his covered ears, as the screaming kept ringing in his ears, they were soon met with a large lake, Kaiza looked on both sides, then eyes went wide when a boat and ferryman appeared in front of him out of nowhere.
"Hey Charon, long time no see, we got a new person to take part in the Nine Trials." Ice said.
Kaiza looked upon the ferryman, they were a cloaked being, the only part of his body shown were skeletal looking hands, which were holding onto a long oar. Charon lifted his left hand slowly, pointing toward Kaiza, swaying his index finger side to side, meaning no pass.
"Just let him through. I will make it worth your while." Be said, winking at Charon.
"Vuolsi così colà dove si puote / ciò che si vuole." Kaiza said, speaking up.
Charon said nothing, as Kaiza, fell forward unconscious, following into the boat. Charon looked down at Kaiza's left hand, then back at the other three, letting them come along, as he started sailing down the lake.
Unknown Location
The Lord of Madness, pushed open the large door, walking into the throne room, looking over to the throne seeing the shriveled form of the Master of the Sinful Seven, he skipped over to him, giggling happily.
"Looking like a piece of jerky, everyday." Lord of Madness said.
As he continued skipping, getting closer, until he stopped and an evil grin covered his face.
"Oh you wouldn't believe it, my time in the Human World has been amazing, you wouldn't believe how many adults would help a poor scared child." Lord of Madness said.
Acedia and the second cloaked figure made it into the throne room, watching the interaction between the two. Lord of Madness, raised his hands, clapping them above his head, as a large bowl-like object formed, then humans started appearing out of nowhere and falling into the bowl.
Lord of Madness started laughing maniacally, as the humans were trying to crawl out of the bowl, while calling for help. Lord of Madness, created a lid to cover the bowl, then clapped his hands together, the room was filled with the screams of humans as the bowl was crushed, Lord of Madness, letting the blood fall onto the shriveled husk and Acedia yelled out.
The blood covered the shriveled husk for some time, until the blood ended, covering the entire ground, Acedia looked over, seeing the shriveled husk and a bit of a more humanoid appearance, she didn't expect to see what happens next, as the husk took a large gasp of air and then started coughing.
"You have my thanks Lord of Madness." The Master said.
He slowly moved himself, walking forward slowly, as his feet absorbed the blood that had been spilled on the floor, then he stopped in front of Acedia, looking down at her, as she felt the pressure of his force, knocking her to her knees. The Master's voice echoed through her head as he spoke.
"Stand."
She weakly stood up, as the Master took hold of her head, kissing her deeply, until something slivered down her throat, her eyes widened, as she stumbled back, falling onto her butt, looking up at the Master scared, only to see him grinning evilly.
"Enjoy the little parasite, it will not kill you, but I won't tell you what it does." The Master said.
The hooded figure let out a loud laugh.
Dreadnaught Crusader
Gishiki was flipping through the books in the library, until a weird vision appeared. He showed a young boy smiling at him. The boy had slightly dyed hair, coloring it orange, along with his already black hair, making them look like tiger stripes, so he wouldn't be bullied much, he had a weird birthmark that looked like a tiger strip, that ran down his right eye and remembered the nickname of his childhood head.
"Tora." Gishiki said, then shook his head.
Gishiki gripped his head, shaking it, not sure why that memory came back at a time like this, it has been years since he remembered Tora, he was his best friend and rival.
The scene shifted over to the command center, as Ryu was looking over some holographic screen, until he saw a gust of wind that picked up, then faded away revealing a hooded figure. Ryu pressed the intercom and spoke up.
"We got trouble, our hooded buddy is here."
Sora rushed into the room, followed by Gishiki shortly after and Jan not too long after, putting on a shirt. They all watched as the hooded figure snapped their arms back, as their fingers grew claws and they started running forward. By doing this, their hood blew back, Gishiki's eyes went wide and he slammed his hands on the console and uttered one word.
"Tora."
He jumped out the window, watching Tora get closer, until they noticed Gishiki and slowed to a halt.
"Tora i-is that really you?" Gishiki asked, visibly shaken.
"Well if it isn't Gishiki, come to take me on all on your own?" Tora asked.
"What are you doing here, why are you with the Lord of Madness?" Gishiki asked.
"Ha, like you really, after the gang crumbled away and that woman took you, you left me with nothing!" Tora yelled. "I guess my name always screwed me over, along with this damn birthmark!"
Gishiki shook his head, not wanting to hear this, he looked toward Tora, opening his arms.
"Come back, you can help us stop these demons." Gishiki said.
Tora just started laughing maniacally, looking toward Gishiki, with an evil grin.
"Oh, I can't do that now, I have already made a deal with the devil, after I slaughtered my entire family." Tora said coldly.
Gishiki's eyes went wide, upon hearing this, he remembers hearing his family were killed, but his body was with them.
"Tora, no Ochita Michi, you are my fight." Gishiki said calmly, putting on Heaven's Schiff, turning into Arch (Rapheal). "Henshin!"
Ochita grinned wickedly and charged at him.
"Die Gishiki!" Ochita yelled.