[Day: Sunday]
[Time: Evening]
[Location: Grove Temple]
We made it to the temple, the eerie presence becoming stronger as we walked inside. Looking around my surroundings, I noticed many destroyed statues and rubble along the ground. The temple surely showed its age with how it was presented before us.
As we walked around, I could see bones of the past victims that were brought here...it made me sick inside, but I stayed strong as I continued down the long corridor. We went deeper into the temple, landing upon a room with many advanced scientific machines that contained unidentified substances within.
"What is this place..?" I asked, looking around the area.
Lustie held her arms as she scanned the room, memories of her past flowing in her mind. She closed her eyes, letting out a deep, sorrowful sigh. "This is the experiment room. This is where most of the dirty work is done. The sight of this very location makes me sick..."
I continued to look around, trying to find anything that could help me learn more about Lotus and The Syndicates. Alas, I couldn't find anything except old documents of the failed experiments but my eyes landed on the one document that marked the experiment a success. I picked up the document and gave it a quick look.
{October 31st. Name: Eliza Druand. Sex: Female. Nationality: French. Subject #93 is a success. She survived the Philosopher's Stone Infusion...but she is yet to be perfect. Her Narcolepsy is holding her back and she doesn't seem to listen to anything I say. I'll give her some time to adjust to her new life before we put my plans into motion. She will be one of my greatest weapons..}
"This was a few years ago...Is she still even alive..?" Celene asked, looking at the document with me.
"She is...I can assure it. He's not gonna let someone like Eliza die. Not when she's the first success he's had within the 92 other women he's killed. You know the truth about The Syndicate's plans. They are only using those women to experiment on and make them into Bio-Weapons," Lustie answered, walking around the room, her hand tracing the dusty tables and equipment.
"As you know, The Syndicates aren't native to Sanctuary City like Karma. The Syndicates are Old Heavenly Bay members who want to destroy Destiny Central and have Heavenly Bay as the main capital of Destiny Islands..everyone who has the Syndicates Sigil is a descendant of the old Heavenly Bay members," Lustie finished, her ears twitching as she heard someone walking inside.
A middle aged man walked into the experiment room, his eyes landing upon us. He looked at each of us then his eyes landed upon Lustie. "I knew you'd come back sooner or later, and it seems you've brought three new test subjects. I knew you'd remember your place in this. I hope you've had fun because it's time to get back to business."
Lustie grunted softly, the memories with this man flooding her mind. "Lotus, I—"
"That's not happening," I interrupted, walking forward, my expression tense and serious. "After what you've done to those women, to Lustie...no way we're letting you get away with this!"
Lotus looked at me, his eyebrow rising with curiosity. "Hm...and you are? No, don't answer that...you are Shiro Moji aren't you? The guy who's been giving my allies trouble. You've even gone as far as to kill Vance which isn't an easy feat.."
"So what you know my name. What matters is you will be put down!" I countered, my gauntlets appearing on my hand and Lust-E hovering beside me, ready to take down Lotus.
Lotus chuckled softly then let out a soft sigh, walking toward his equipment. "Putting me down? Aren't you the overconfident one. You had a few lucky encounters with my allies, winning each bout you've had with them...only because of your System. I have to hand it to you though... for you to give them such a hard time is no easy task."
"In fact, I applaud you, Destiny's Hero. You alone are the chosen one aren't you, however I can understand how you got along this path. It all stems from when Caden kidnapped Whitney then you saved her with Lusella and Karma. Ever since that day, you've been enemy number one for The Syndicates. As long as you're alive, we can't truly get anything done," Lotus continued, opening a box that contained two techno-magical revolvers inside.
Lustie noticed the revolvers then quickly flew backwards, the tip of her tail becoming a blade. "Shiro, those revolvers. Blitz und Feuer, Lightning and Fire Energy resides in those revolvers. Those bullets...have the potential to not only harm you but also kill you.."
Lotus grabbed his revolvers then pointed his red revolver at me. "You've stepped into the wrong location, boy. If you had minded your own business, your fate could've been different."
I glared at Lotus, bracing myself for anything that could happen. "As if I could just allow you all to continue hurting those I love and the innocent people you keep dragging with you. Lotus, if Lustie won't be the one to kill you...I will do it.."
Lotus chuckled softly and closed his eyes. "You have heart, kid. I haven't met someone with such ambition like yours...until I met Feleti."
My eyes widened at the revelation he just dropped. "What...are you talking about?"
"Oh? You sound like you know him well. He went to Sanctuary City, meeting Axel and now he's a part of the team. He talked on and on about how he was going to kill you and this and that, but he won't have the chance to. Not when you're in front of me," Lotus chuckled softly, his eyes shining with a sinister glow.
I clenched my fists, gritting my teeth and tossed my jacket to the side. "Well you won't have the chance of killing me either! The Syndicates will fall...and I will save everyone. I won't breathe my final breath until I know those I love are safe!"
"Then come, Shiro Moji! Show me your conviction!" Lotus challenged, firing three rounds at me.
I immediately awakened my Crest of Talent, Lust-E transforming into her Ace Form then we evaded the bullets with swift movements. I dashed toward Lotus and lunged toward him with a swift flying spinning kick. Lotus dodged my kick then countered with a kick of his own, knocking me into his equipment. He aimed his yellow revolver at me, emptying his entire magazine at me.
I dodged each lightning bullet then launched myself toward him. I feinted my kick and warped out of the way, Celene taking my place and landing a powerful strike to his face. Lotus grunted as he stumbled back, regaining his balance then dodged Celene's next attack. He poured lightning energy into his revolver, reloading the bullets inside then aimed it at Celene and pulling the trigger.
Celene ducked under the lightning fast bullet, catching Lotus off guard. "You're gonna need faster bullets if you're gonna hit us!" Celene bellowed as she launched herself toward Lotus.
Lotus holstered his revolvers then ran toward Celene. He evaded her first strike, landing a clean blow to her stomach then grabbed her head, smashing her face into his knee. Celene recoiled backwards, holding her face but quickly recovered, but was a moment too late. Lotus moved faster than she could recover, landing a powerful lightning infused strike to knock her away.
Charismari caught her then formed four orbs of light behind her, each orb firing lasers of heavenly energy at Lotus. Lotus was quick in his feet, creating a lightning shield to block the lasers.
Charismari scoffed then her Crest appeared in her tongue. "Don't move."
Lotus grunted as his body obeyed Charismari and was temporarily paralyzed. His eyes widened with shock as he noticed me appear in front of him with incredible speeds. I bellowed as I landed a Destiny Flash directly to his face, sending him crashing into a wall. I pointed at Lotus, Lust-E launching multiple bolts of destructive energy at him.
Lotus noticed the bolts of energy then dodged each one before applying lightning to his legs. With a lightning fast movement, he rushed in front of me, knocking me back with a powerful blow. I recovered off one hand then grunted as Lotus was already in front of me once more. Lotus landed a clean knee to my face, sending me crashing through a wall.
[Stamina has lowered to 80%]
Lustie watched the interaction, her body slowly starting to freeze up in the presence of Lotus. She closed her eyes, shaking her head then slapped herself. 'Get a grip, Lustie! Your boyfriend is fighting for his life and you're freezing up?! Go help him!'
Lustie let out a battle cry, her demonic energy surging around her body and she speed blitzed Lotus, knocking him through the hole in the wall with a powerful lariat. She bellowed as she ran forward, crashing through multiple walls before flinging Lotus forward.
I slowly stood up, looking at Lustie and noticing her demonic energy flowing through her body. "Red.."
Lustie looked back at me with a smile on her face. "Let's do this, Partner..~"
I nodded in agreement then awakened my Crest of Lust, my demonic energy surrounding my body. "Mari, Celene. Go find Eliza. Lustie and I will deal with Lotus."
Charismari nodded then held Celene's hand, running off to locate Eliza who was within the temple. Celene looked back at me once last time before going off with Charismari.
Lotus walked forward, dusting himself off and looked at the two of us. "Hmph...so you have decided your path.."
"I'm staying with Shiro! He's treated me better than any of you EVER have! He is my one true master, and most importantly I love him," Lustie said, her Sigil glowing upon her pelvis.
Lotus chuckled softly then held his hand out, constructing an anti materiel rifle, holding it at his hip. "Love...stuff like that is meaningless! You can hold onto that emotion all you want, but the truth is power is all that matters!"
Lustie smirked and snapped her fingers, warping us into the forest. "Well, allow us to prove you wrong!"
Lotus braced himself, watching us closely and his weapon ready at his hip. Lustie and I launched ourselves toward Lotus and launched an attack together, but he dodged both of our attacks then watched us closely. Lustie and I began to synchronize our strikes, but Lotus was too quick on his feet, evading each strike and kick we threw.
We rushed around Lotus at high speeds, Lotus rapidly moving his eyes to try and keep up with our speed. Lustie appeared beneath Lotus, landing a kick that launched him in the air then I warped in front of him, knocking him away with a Destiny Flash. Lotus flew backwards across the forest, but he recovered and took aim at us, firing three bullets with one shot.
"Shiro! Those bullets home into you! Dodge them!" Lustie warned, evading the three bullets then flew forward.
I ran forward, using my environments to evade the three bullets then used my Wind Manipulation to propel myself toward Lotus. As Lotus reloaded his weapon, I struck him with an axe kick then landed a Sanctuary Combo, juggling him in the air as a halo formed beneath me. Once the halo was complete, Lust-E knocked him into the air with a burst of wind then I sprang into the air, landing a Superkick to his chest and launched him backwards.
I landed on the ground then the halo shined gold, I awakened my Crest of Luck, expanding the halo to a vast range and activated a Luck Zone, boosting my luck along with Lustie's. Lustie noticed the golden glow the field effect provided then smirked, feeling extra lucky now.
Lotus stood up then grunted, dropping his rifle and becoming annoyed. "How is he this strong..? He should not be matching with me.."
Lotus felt Heavenly Energy and looked ahead, noticing that I had awakened my Angelic Soul as I activated my Crest of Charm. He grunted softly as Lustie transformed into her Ascended Demon Form, feeling her increasing power.
"Well, when were you gonna tell me about this form?" I chuckled softly as I summoned my cross behind me.
"I know you're impressed, babe~ I've had this power hidden in the wood works for a while~ I'm not an Angel Hybrid, but a Demon with Heavenly Energy..~ Now let's show my old master, what we can do together," Lustie said, her horns and wings changing from black to white.
"Let's go!" I said, using a burst of speed to launch myself toward Lotus.
Lotus grunted as she noticed us rushing toward him, launching attacks all around him at near light speeds. He tried his best to evade and block each strike, but our speed began to overwhelm him. 'They've gotten faster..! Way faster..!'
Lustie chuckled as she landed a kick straight to Lotus's chest, sending him flying backwards. I appeared underneath him, surrounding my arm with Heavenly Energy and Iridescent Energy, landing a Heavenly Flash to his back. Lotus groaned as he was launched in the air, trying his best to recover from the damage he was taking.
Lustie appeared above him, landing a kick to send him back down to the ground. I used my Earth Manipulation, launching a massive chuck of stone directly toward him and knocked him away. We flew toward him, our barrage of attacks seemingly having no end.
Ruby watched from her window, in awe of how Lustie and I were thrashing on Lotus together. She couldn't help but to keep her eyes glued on the fight, wanting to see how it all ends. 'Master Lotus...is losing ...and what is that Heavenly Energy coming from Shiro..?'
Lotus recovered on the ground, sliding backwards then summoned his anti materiel rifle. He began to pour energy into the gun then aimed it at Lustie. Lustie grunted and went to dodge, but it was just a feint from Lotus. Lotus landed a crescent kick on Lustie, knocking her to the ground and immediately fired a bullet straight through her stomach. Lustie groaned loudly in pain, holding her stomach. The bullet began to burn Lustie on the inside, causing her excruciating pain.
"Red!" I yelled out, rushing toward her aid, but dodged a bullet from Lotus's gun.
"You stay back, boy, I'll deal with you after I get done discipling her! You're nothing but a slave and you should always remember that, Demon! No matter who you run to, you belong to me!" Lotus yelled, stomping on her body, letting his rage consume him.
My eyes widened as I watched Lotus stomp on Lustie, her wails of pain echoing loudly across the forest. My heart thumped hard with inner rage, the only thing now on my mind being to help Lustie get out of her current situation.
[Bloodlust has increased to 70%]
Lotus felt a powerful energy, stopping his foot from landing on Lustie. He turned to look at me then noticed the rage in my eyes. "Heh...is someone mad that I'm hurting his little girlfriend?! You brought this upon her! You got her here!"
I let out the loudest Tribal Howl I ever mustered, my tribal tattoos shining a deep red with anger. I awakened my Jigoku Form, the power mixing with my Angelic Source. I glared at Lotus then vanished at blinding speeds.
"Wha—" Lotus started, but couldn't finish his sentence as I blew him away with a Destiny Flash.
I landed in front of Lustie, holding my hand out toward her and using my angelic energy to heal her. "Are you okay..?"
Lustie looked up at me then performed a kip up, landing on her feet. She exhaled then nodded her head. "Yeah, thanks to you..~ He just caught me off guard is all. He won't get another chance like that.."
Lotus recovered onto his feet, wiping his mouth and catching his breath. 'That doesn't seem like the same guy...his entire demeanor changed...what is that power..?'
The Golden Star in the sky began to shine brightly, giving me the strength I needed. I looked at Lust-E then nodded my head at her. Lust-E nodded back, manipulating my cross and taking it with her in the air. As she ascended to the sky, she transformed into her Heavenly Form. Her hair turned into into a bright, golden color with a halo around her head, her clothes changed into an elegant, flowing white and gold robes that seemed to be made of light. Her wings even became a set of large, feathery angel wings with a golden hue.
I adjusted my Gauntlets, Lotus never leaving my sights. I got into my stance then my eyes shined brightly. "Red...let's go."
"Right!~" Lustie nodded, getting into her stance as well.
We both rushed toward Lotus at blinding speeds, landing a synchronized strike then Lustie flew forward. Lustie flew around Lotus, knocking him around with a barrage of strikes then kicked him toward me. I struck him with a roundhouse kick, iridescent lightning flashing upon impact, stunning him. I surrounded my gauntlets with Aether Energy, blowing him away with an aether enhanced strike.
Lustie and I rushed after Lotus, our attacks synchronized and leaving no room for Lotus to recover or breathe. Each strike landed true, our attacks wearing him down bit by bit. Our onslaught never lessened, every attack that landed boosting our strength bit by bit.
Once Lotus was able to recover, he unholstered his revolvers and rapidly fired bullets at us. Due to the Luck Zone, the bullets completely missed us. Lotus thought it was a fluke, so he reloaded and fired again but the same result happened.
"You never had a chance!" I bellowed, landing a flying spinning kick.
Lotus stumbled around then groaned as Lustie struck him in the jaw, causing him to stumble then grunted loudly as I struck him on his other jaw. Lustie and I began jumping Lotus, each attack fueled by our rage and desire to defeat Lotus.
Lotus groaned as he stumbled back from my last attack then grunted as roots emerged from underground, wrapping around his body and constricting him. I flicked my amulet, activating it and summoning a Talisman. I rushed forward and placed it on the roots, causing the Talisman to shine and take effect.
Lotus grunted as he couldn't burn the roots, his eyes widening. "What is this..?!"
"Weakness Inversion. The more fire you use, the stronger the roots become. I've learned everything about you the moment we started fighting and I know...that you don't have any Wind Energy. You're now defenseless...there's nothing you can do to evade this attack..." I said as I raised my hand in the air, snapping my fingers and gave Lust-E the signal.
Lust-E awakened the cross and multiple rays of light formed above Lotus. "Activating Heavenly Rain!"
The waves of rays began to rain down upon Lotus, striking him and causing bursts of light to harm his body. He groaned in pain as the heavenly light began to burn him and his soul. I jumped backwards and pulled Lustie behind me. I charged up a ranged Destiny Flash and began to charge it beyond it's full power, banking for this attack to end Lotus's life.
Lustie grunted as she felt the power of my attack, grunting her face from the high winds. "Babe, what are you doing?"
I let out a Tribal Howl and unleashed the massive beam of iridescent energy at Lotus. The beam struck Lotus and yelled in pain, his body unable to withstand the beam of energy in his weakened state. I let out on last bellow, the beam engulfing his body and causing a massive explosion that could be seen from Destiny Central.
Celene and Charismari grunted as they felt the ground rumbling from the explosion. Celene kept steadying as she had a weakened Eliza on her back, and didn't want to drop her.
"What in the world was that..?" Celene asked, her tone filled with concern.
"It...was Shiro...that energy output is beyond anything I've felt from him before. Let's hurry out of here and check up on him," Charismari said, hurrying down the corridor.
Celene followed as quickly as she could. Her mind raced with questions, and she wondered if I was okay. 'Stay strong, my little one...'
I panted heavily, reverting back to my normal form and falling to my knees from exhaustion. I placed my hands on the ground, catching my breath, my pants heavy. I heard a laugh and looked up, noticing a red glow in the smoke.
"You almost made me forget that my Philosopher's Stone makes me immortal! All that work you did was for nothi—" Lotus started then coughed a bit of blood, his eyes widening with shock. He felt the stone within him was badly damaged and tried to retreat.
Lustie wasn't going to allow him to escape and quickly flew toward him at high speeds. She bellowed and thrusted her hand through his back and her hand ended up out of his chest. In her hand was not a human heart, but the Philosopher's Stone that was cracked and damaged.
Lotus choked a bit, his breathing shaky as he looked down to see Lustie's hand through his body with his stone in her hand. He looked back at Lustie, his movements slow.
"You are only just one of the big bosses...and I know each of you. With Shiro at my side, I will crush every one of you...I know there are more women out there like Eliza. I will free each and every one of them...and at the end...I will make sure Feleti is killed by Shiro. The generational battle for Sanctuary City will end...with Karma on top.." Lustie said coldly, crushing the Philosopher's Stone in her hand.
Lotus's eyes slowly became lifeless and his body went limp. Lustie took her hand out of his body, letting him fall to the ground. She walked over to me, crouching down and holding me close in her embrace. Ruby watched everything transpire then closed her eyes, walking away from the window and hurrying off.
Charismari and Celene made it outside then noticed me and Lustie on the ground. They hurried to check on us, noticing I was all out of stamina and was resting in Lustie's loving arms. Celene looked back at Lotus, noticing his dead body and remnants of the Philosopher's Stone he once possessed.
With Lotus dead and Eliza saved from his clutches, the four of us warped back home, taking the rest of the night to rest up and recover our stamina. With all five days complete, Lustie believed I was ready enough to tackle Sanctuary City to start my new legacy and purpose.