Nico approached the castle's entrance, staring up to the giant eye carelessly. He was at a point where this world no longer surprised him, and it didn't matter anyways, he was only focused on his goals.
He raised his right hand, the gears in the prosthetic shifting as a blue energy started to form through the crevices. Nico opened his hand, as the energy turned yellow, a bolt of lighting shooting to the eye.
The eye split into pieces, blobs of red eye matter flying in all directions, as blood painted the entrance frame. Nico walked past the now destroyed eye, entering the castle as he nearly instantly pulled out his pistol, aiming it forth.
"Reece."
Nico glared down at a young girl on the floor, holding her shoulder as her entire arm was removed. It was Reece, the eye being formed from her arm, as he'd completely obliterated it.
"What the hell..!! What'd you do that for..!?"
Reece yelled, gritting her teeth and growling, before quickly gasping as Nico put the gun to her head, pulling the trigger without a care. He knew it didn't matter, Reece could just regenerate.
"That's 1.."
Morell suddenly appeared, her eyes widened as she carried a nervous smile and chuckle, approaching Nico with held out hands.
"Huh.. What are you doing, Nico..? You're just proving my earlier point.. Surely there's a less harsh way to deal with this.."
Nico shrugged, picking up Reece and carrying her over his shoulder as he entered the castle's next room.
"You said it takes the sacrifice of few to save many, right? A few missing limbs doesn't kill anyone, right?"
Evan sat in the next room, already startled from the earlier heard gunshots as he stared at Nico. Nico raised his gun, firing a bullet, but Morell quickly came in the way, catching the bullet in her bare hand as she glared at Nico.
"I don't give you permission to injure my allies."
Nico tilted his head, looking at Morell with a smug grin, trying to imitate how she usually acts, as she gritted her teeth.
"You have no reason to call me out when you're the cause of this all, did you not put them in this position in the first place? Imagine if you didn't, and just returned to your normal life, or are you too far gone a monster?"
Nico said cockily, Morell's eye twitching. She was about to burst out at him, but instead she looked down to her feet, her hair becoming undone once more as her eyes were covered by her bangs.
"Maybe…"
Morell's appearance began returning to her past state, before she turned to the darkness. Her hair shrunk to a shoulder length, her makeup becoming less subtle, as she gained a much more innocent presence.
"I can…"
Morell's eyes suddenly widened, a giant dark aura forming out of her, as a banshee's scream was heard, Nico bracing himself as powerful winds formed. Evan rushed to Nico, the two watching Morell as she screamed in agony.
Half of her body encased in a dark material, forming her two sides, past and present, dark and light. Both sides began splitting into separate individuals, tearing themselves apart from each other, before fully separating.
Morell laid past out on the ground, as a dark figure stood aside from her, a distorted laugh heard. The dark figure held up their hands, carrying Morell's Ring of Space, though the Ring of Darkness remained on her.
"Such a fragile vessel.. But it seems my plan failed. Not that I haven't gained anything out of it."
The figure's ring glowed a bright green, the figure's shadowy smile growing, as they tilted their head, their empty glare causing a heartstopping presence, as if one in sight couldn't move an inch, it wasn't out of power, it was out of fear.
"I can't have you interfering anymore.."
The ground began to shake, Evan tripping, though Nico stood his ground. He went to swing his sword at the figure, though they quickly disappeared, the castle seeming to be falling.
"What the hell's going on!?"
Evan shouted, standing back up, holding onto the door's frame to stay standing. Nico rushed to the exit of the castle, quickly catching himself before taking a step out, as he looked down, the castle now falling through the sky as it had entered a giant portal.
"Shit..! Hang on..!"
Nico took a deep breath, before lowering himself to under the castle, the momentum keeping him pinned to it. With struggle he crawled to the center, facing the ground they quickly plummeted to.
The crevices of his prosthetics released a bright orange light as he began firing a constant stream of flames, the heat causing Nico's skin to slightly burn as he yelled out, the stream slowly decreasing the castle's plummeting speed.
The castle made it to the surface safely, Nico still below as he landed on his feet, carrying the castle with his bare hands, yelling in struggle.
Nico was losing hope in succeeding Despite his many abilities, and his powerful technology, Nico is a mere human. He fell onto one knee, his body failing him as he couldn't keep up.
A sudden flash of turquoise could be see in front of Nico's eyes, as suddenly the weight on Nico's shoulders completely disappeared, the castle being tossed to the side. Nico rubbed his shoulders, looking around.
A monster stood nearby, his skin pitch black as veins of glowing blue spread through his body, his face that of an oceanic beast. The monster didn't mind Nico, instead rushing into the castle, coming out with everyone inside in hand, as he placed them down.
Nico ran to the monster, his sword unsheathed as he stayed cautious, the monster glaring back at him, as Nico's sword was met to his neck.
"Who are you..?"
Nico asked, the monster slowly turning towards him entirely, crossing his arms as a flicker of blue light came from his finger, Nico's eyes widening.
"Aku."