A/N: Something I forgot to clarify in last chapter's A/N. K1 is a nickname for Keiichi based on the pronunciation of his name in Japanese (ichi = one). It's actually a pretty standard nickname for people named Keiichi in Japan, from what I've seen. One thing I chose to change between chapters is how I split up the texts/IM sections, mainly due to how the site's coding works.

Also, I'd like to apologize for possibly spamming everyone's inboxes with this. There were SEVERAL errors I needed to fix, and I ended up having to delete and resubmit the chapter several times.


"You're kinda bad at this."

"No I'm not!"

"You are so bad at karaoke."

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with Sodeko-chan on this one, K1," Atsuro teased. "You were sucking pretty bad tonight. You were like… really bad off tempo."

It took Yuzu a moment to realize what Atsuro had just said. Once she did, she was rather red in the face, but she didn't get a chance to retort before Keiichi spoke up again.

"Okay, I was off tempo. I guess I'm a little tired…"

"A little? K1, I think it says something when you're nodding off while Frou-Frou's doing her screechfest."

"H-Hey! I wasn't screeching!" Yuzu shot a glare at Atsuro before looking back toward Keiichi. "You do look kinda tired, though… Maybe you should go home and lay down."

Keiichi rubbed his head before speaking. "I guess. I'll see you guys on Monday, then!"

"Yeah, see ya!"

Keiichi waved goodbye to Yuzu before continuing down the street in the opposite direction from Yuzu and Atsuro. Considering how well he'd slept the night before, it was likely this was just all of the sleep he'd missed over the past week catching up with him. Naoya had said he'd looked tired too. Keiichi sighed and continued on down the street. He looked up at the sky. Night had fallen while he had been singing karaoke with Atsuro and Yuzu. Mom was probably wondering where he was. He sighed and pulled out his cell phone. He'd gotten the first few digits of his home's phone number in before he was grabbed from behind and a cloth placed over his mouth and nose.

Keiichi hadn't seen them coming. He hadn't had much of a chance to react before he realized that he smelled some kind of chemical on the cloth. He felt very sleepy, and felt himself slipping out of awareness far too quickly. The orange-robed man caught Keiichi's unconscious body in his arms and looked toward his partner, who nodded and helped carry Keiichi into an alley. When it was all done with, the only evidence that the kidnapping had even occurred was a fallen cell phone on the pavement.


Yuzu was sitting in front of her computer in her home. She was home by herself that night, as usual. Her mother was out on a date with her latest boyfriend, so Yuzu would likely be by herself for a while tonight. Right now she was doing her usual late night computer activity: chatting with people online. After the Lockdown, Yuzu had managed to get in contact with Midori again through the website Midori hosted her videos on. On nights when Midori wasn't doing her thing with the webcam, she was usually chatting with Yuzu through IM.

Somehow or another, though, the subject had drifted to K1. Yuzu wasn't sure how it had drifted to K1. They had been talking about Atsuro, and Midori had asked how K1 was doing, and Yuzu had said fine, and she'd talked about how things had been, like usual, and then the subject of Amane asking K1 to have lunch with her had come up, and then it just spiraled from there. Yuzu shook her head and refocused her attention to the screen… and immediately her face got very red at Midori's response.

-MAGICAL GIRL DOLLY said: Y'know, you really need to ask Keiichi-kun out! (^w^)

-MAGICAL GIRL DOLLY said: That way you don't have to worry about Amane-chan taking him! (^w^)

-YUZ said: no wai! i mean, I lyk him as a friend not a BOYfriend

-MAGICAL GIRL DOLLY said: That's not what you told me last night~ (^w^)

-YUZ said: its not funny!

-MAGICAL GIRL DOLLY said: Come on, Yuzu! (^w^) You and Keiichi-kun have been friends for like, forever, right? And I know he likes you back, soooooo….

-YUZ said: i dunno…

-MAGICAL GIRL DOLLY said: Yuzuuuuuuuu

Yuzu groaned and began to type a response to Midori when she suddenly got a couple more messages.

-MAGICAL GIRL DOLLY said: Oh shoot! I nearly forgot! (-_-) I've gotta go, I've got a live webcast I'm doing in a couple minutes.

-MAGICAL GIRL DOLLY said: Try to catch it, OK? (^w^)

-MAGICAL GIRL DOLLY has left the chat-

-YUZ has left the chat-

Yuzu sighed and leaned back before laying down on the floor, not really caring about the hard wood floors and how much it hurt her head. She was… just so exhausted. And then Midori had gone and brought that up, and …. Just so exhausted. Yeah, she liked K1. She like-liked him. But unlike Midori, Yuzu wasn't so sure that K1 liked her back that way. No, that was a lie. She knew he did; if he didn't, Atsuro wouldn't tease him all the time about that kind of stuff that Yuzu tried to pretend Atsuro wasn't really saying. Really, Yuzu was just a little afraid of what might happen if they took their relationship past the friend level. What if it didn't work out the way they wanted it to? What if it turned out they just couldn't work out together like that? Yuzu had been in relationships before, despite her attraction to K1, and she knew it was pretty much impossible to be "just friends" after a serious relationship like that. She didn't want to end up breaking their friendship that way.

She sat back up as she heard the hallway phone rang, and scrambled to her feet as she ran for it. She picked it up on the last ring.

"Hello, Tanikawa residence," Yuzu said into the phone.

"Oh, thank goodness, Yuzu-chan. This is Keiichi's mother. Is Keiichi there?"

"No…" Yuzu said apprehensively. She glanced at the hallway clock. It was nearly midnight… why would K1's mother be calling at a time like this…? "Why?"

"Keiichi never came home tonight. I tried calling him, but he's not picking up. I tried calling Atsuro-kun and Naoya, but they both said they haven't seen him since earlier today…"

Yuzu felt her palms get sweaty. K1 hadn't come home… "Naoya-san? He saw Naoya-san earlier?"

"Yes, he visited Naoya's apartment before coming home earlier tonight."

Yuzu clenched her hand tightly around the phone. Why would K1 see Naoya tonight of all nights? Sure, before K1 had made a habit of visiting Naoya's apartment every so often, but ever since the Lockdown, he'd avoided going there. K1 had been acting weird today… he'd been strangely happy that morning, he'd gone and had lunch with Amane, and then seen Naoya after school… he'd been tired after karaoke, too, but K1 had been really tired lately anyways. Yuzu didn't think he'd been sleeping well. None of them had been. But even still…

"…have you called the police?"

"No, not yet… oh dear… Kei-chan…"

"He's probably fine…" Yuzu pressed the phone closer to her face, and was aware of a bit of moisture on her cheeks. "He probably got lost or something…" Somehow, Yuzu doubted that. K1 had lived in Tokyo his whole life; he practically knew the place like the back of his hand. And this was the same karaoke joint they went to every time they went out for karaoke.

"Yes, I suppose… thank you anyways."

"Yeah… bye." Yuzu placed the phone back on the receiver before taking a couple steps back and leaning against the wall. Her knees felt weak. Somehow… she felt K1 was in serious trouble. For some reason, Yuzu felt very scared. She reached up and wiped away a few salty tears. She couldn't cry right now… K1 was fine. He was… probably just lost.

Yuzu was very aware of the fact that was, quite simply, denial.


When Keiichi woke up, the first thing he was aware of was that somewhere in front of him, there was a light. The light was very dim, and it was obviously still dark outside. He felt like he had been asleep for a very long time. His entire body hurt all over. He could tell that someone had tied his arms behind him and tied his ankles together. It actually took Keiichi a few moments to realize what should have been an obvious fact: he had been kidnapped. As his vision began to come into focus, he realized that there were people standing around him. People in orange… oh god.

"…. sure of it?"

"He's …. one. He's the boy … Belberith-sama's power."

"How can you know….. looks human…"

"The…. told me so."

Their voices were indistinct in his head. He couldn't make out everything his kidnappers (he didn't want to call them Shomonkai in his head) were saying. He looked up a bit and croaked out a few words, his throat dry.

"What's going on…?" Keiichi choked out. All conversation ceased, and every head in the room turned his direction. A man who seemed to be the leader stepped toward Keiichi. He was wearing a tattered robe that looked like it had been stolen directly from the Founder's closet. Actually, it likely had been, Keiichi would think later.

"You are the Bel who absorbed His Majesty's power," the man said. "Keiichi Kimura. A human who was caught up in the Lockdown and yet managed to involve himself in the war His Majesty was set to win. And then you used that power to send the demons away."

Keiichi tried to open his mouth to speak, but he couldn't get any words out. He finally settled to just nodding. The man bent down and grabbed him by the chin, forcing Keiichi to look straight at the man.

"But in doing so, you killed His Majesty. You absorbed his very being into your body." Keiichi tried to look away at that, but the man jerked his gaze back toward him with another tug at his chin. "You absorbed Belberith-sama, and you can bring him back. I am ordering you now. Release Belberith-sama so we may use his power once more."

The whole situation shot into frightening lucidity for Keiichi at that moment. His jaw hung slack as he realized what was going on. He had no idea how they had found out, but that very day they had found out who he was. He didn't think these people realized what they meant by "release Belberith-sama's" power. Belberith was dead. He was long dead, despite what his nightmares told him. To release Belberith's actual power would mean giving in to that power locked inside him. And even then, it wouldn't be Belberith. It wouldn't be Keiichi anymore, either. Somehow, he knew that it wouldn't really be him anymore if he did that.

"…no." The word came out hushed and choked due to the lack of moisture in Keiichi's mouth.

"What did you say?"

"…I don't want to..." It hurt to speak. It hurt even more when the man pulled out a knife and sliced his cheek. Keiichi tried to give a scream, but it came out more a strangled gasp. A few of the followers took surprised steps back. One female follower, who looked to be about Keiichi's age, tried to step forward, but a look from their leader caused her to step back in line with the others again. She looked down and away from Keiichi.

"I can cut you all night until you listen to me, Kimura-san," the man said. Keiichi bit his lip and looked up at the man with a defiant glare. He got another rather deep slice for his insolence, this time in his arm. "Summon up the power of Belberith! Allow us to summon demons once more! I know you closed the gate!"

Keiichi swallowed back a gasp of pain and glared into the man's eyes. A fair bit of determination had come upon him then, one that would wane over the next few days of torture as this offshoot of the Shomonkai tried to get him to unleash his powers. He managed to work up a few words to say then and there.

"Eat shit and die," Keiichi snarled indignantly. He had the knife stabbed into his leg for his insolence and twisted, and then, he finally screamed.


Things had been slow for Gin lately. Haru was away, and she had insisted he not come with her. It was odd, she'd been so clingy for the longest time, and yet, this time she'd left him and run off on her own. Trying to show that she was more self sufficient, maybe? That she didn't need to depend on him and an old memory of Aya anymore? Well, hell if he knew.

He looked up at the sound of the bell on the front door, and narrowed his eyes at the man that had stepped through the doorway. Gin was already on the guard as the silver-haired man just ignored him and sat down at the bar. Gin walked over in front of the man and slammed his hand down on the bar to catch his attention.

"I thought I told you to never come back here," Gin snarled at Naoya. Naoya only smirked up at him and sat up a bit.

"I think you need to calm down a bit, Eiji-san," Naoya said. He looked a bit depressed after saying that, but Gin was aware that it was most likely an act. After what had happened with Aya, he couldn't trust a single damn word that came out of this man's mouth. He'd given a bit more of a glare at Naoya as he used his real first name, but he didn't comment on it. Naoya took a moment more to speak. "I'm having a bad day."

"Oh?" Gin asked with mock concern. He placed a cup of sake in front of Naoya, already knowing what the man was going to ask for from prior experience.

"Yeah. My cousin, Keiichi, went missing last night," Naoya said. Now Gin's eyes widened. Naoya took a drink, and looked back toward Gin. "The police think he might have run away from home, but I don't think so. The Shomonkai have been prowling around again."

"Which would give them enough reason to suspect you," Gin growled back. "You were a member of the Shomonkai once upon a time yourself."

At that, Naoya shook his head. "Never a member. They just commissioned me to work for them for a brief time."

"A brief time which got Aya killed!"

"What happened to that woman is none of my concern. Not now, anyways." He took another drink of his sake. Gin narrowed his eyes. And there he was feigning that depression again. "…Besides, do you really think Keiichi would have come to me about his concerns with the Shomonkai that same night if he knew it would get himself possibly killed?"

"I think him coming to you might have been the thing that possibly got him killed," Gin growled.

And that was what set Naoya off. He slammed his hand down on the bar and gave what could only be described as a death glare to Gin.

"You think I want Keiichi to get killed?" Naoya snarled. "I don't know what those Shomonkai bastards are doing with my little brother, but when I find them, they're dead! Don't even suggest that I wanted my little brother to get kidnapped!" He continued to glare at Gin for a few more moments before sitting back down. The man actually looked exhausted, both mentally and physically. In the very few interactions he'd ever had with this man, Gin had never seen him look so weak.

"You're sure he was kidnapped?"

"It's the only explanation I can see," Naoya said in a low voice. "He's a good kid… he wouldn't run away from home…" He shook his head, and stood up before pulling his wallet out of his haori. He pulled a couple bills from it and placed them on the bar before walking away. He stopped just as he was about to walk out of the door and looked back at Gin.

"My cousin saved your life once. I guess you're too concerned with running your stupid bar to return the favor," Naoya said with a rather hoarse voice. He continued out the door, and the bell hanging from just above the doorframe rang once again. Gin rang his hand through his hair. Aya always said he was too reckless, but dammit, that man had a point. He'd already planned on going to look for that Keiichi kid after what Naoya had said, but then he'd had to twist the dagger some more.

Outside the door, Naoya smirked. Eiji had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. Sometimes Naoya amazed himself with how well he could pull that off. He hadn't been lying either, he didn't actually often lie. All he'd had to do was amplify a few emotions, and Eiji, the gullible, headstrong idiot fell for it. Naoya had actually been looking into this still struggling faction of the Shomonkai for quite some time. It was lead by a Takashi Yamasaki, a man Naoya had worked with during his work on the summoning server. Yamasaki had quite the temper… Naoya wouldn't doubt he'd jumped straight to violence if Keiichi refused to listen to his demands. Most likely those demands involved releasing "His Majesty" Belberith in some way. Perhaps even reactivating the summoning server so a new god could be summoned. One thing Naoya knew was that Keiichi would refuse any demands Yamasaki would impose on him, but he also knew that Yamasaki wouldn't let Keiichi go free by any means. He'd rather kill him first. With no working COMP, the only way for Keiichi to get free would be to release the demonic powers boiling inside of him. Once that kind of godlike power was released, there wouldn't be any holding things back. In a way, this was a blessing in disguise.

When he found out who'd informed these zealots of Keiichi's identity, he was going to kill them.


"My daughter is not a kidnapper!"

Amane flinched at the sound of the phone being slammed back down on the table. The impact had left a sizable dent in the oak tabletop, and it didn't seem that her mother had realized she'd missed the receiver. Amane slowly walked out from behind the corner, staring at her infuriated mother. Amane's mother was a small woman, and she had bended under Amane's father's will for many years. She had allowed him to form his cult, had even joined it herself for some time. She had allowed the man to perform the ritual that had amplified Amane's spiritual abilities and made her open to the voices of angels and demons alike back when Amane was a child. It had been when talk emerged of killing the Devas that Amane's mother had finally run, leaving even her own daughter with that man just so she could get away. She "separated" from him by running all the way to Sapporo to stay with her family, and remained there until the Lockdown ended, her husband was "missing" (in her heart, Amane's mother had always known he'd died as a result of his fanaticism), and she could take Amane back.

It was at Amane's light footsteps that she turned to face her daughter. Amane's mother looked a little startled at her daughter. Amane felt a little afraid. She had been on her way out the door and on her way to school when she heard her mother yell, and had remained standing in the hall as her mother argued with someone on the other end of the line. She had only caught snippets of conversation, and while her name had never exactly come up, Amane knew they were talking about her.

"Amane-chan…"

"Mother… what was that about…?" Amane asked quietly. Amane's mother sighed and shook her head.

"It's not important, Amane-chan," Amane's mother said. "You should hurry to school with your friends."

Amane hung her head. Her mother knew she had no friends at school. It was such an obvious attempt to change the subject. Amane suddenly noticed that her mother's cheeks were wet. She was crying.

"Mother… please…" Amane pleaded.

Amane's mother wiped her face on her sleeve. "Amane, it's not important…"

"Mother! What were you talking about that involved me?" Amane was a bit surprised by the ferocity of her words. Her hands were clenched into fists. Maybe whatever it was distressed her mother, but someone had called Amane a kidnapper. She felt she had every right to be angry.

"Amane-chan!" Amane's mother yelled back. At that yell, silence fell in the room. Amane stood there simmering. It was Amane's mother who broke the silence.

"It was the police. A couple days ago, a student from your school went missing," Amane's mother explained. She looked Amane right in the eyes. "You're not involved with any more cult behavior, are you, Amane-chan?"

Amane shook her head vigorously. The only reason she could think her mother would be asking her about cult behavior was because of something to do with the Shomonkai remnants. The only thing to do with the Shomonkai she had involved herself in lately had been warning Keiichi to be careful. It occurred to Amane then that Keiichi hadn't been being as careful as he'd said he was going to be. Someone had gone missing. Cult behavior. Amane's knees felt week, and she collapsed, landing with her legs splayed out beside her.

"Amane-chan?"

"….I don't think I should go to school today…" Amane said weakly. She looked like she was going to be sick. She felt like she was going to be sick. This was her fault; somehow she knew it had to be her fault. Why else would Keiichi have gone missing the very day she told him to be careful about the angels and the Shomonkai? Why else had the angels' voices gone so silent over the weekend? Their outbursts of anger toward the young King of Bel had all but ceased after school that day, and it had seemed suspicious to Amane, but she hadn't thought anything of it. Why hadn't she thought anything of it?

There was an odd amount of understanding in Amane's mother's eyes as she crouched down beside Amane. She put a hand on Amane's back and helped her to her feet. Amane was covering her mouth as she walked back upstairs with her mother's help. It was the guilt alone that was making her feel this sick. She couldn't go to school and face Keiichi's friends knowing it was her fault like that.

For how long had she been this weak?


"…So the last time you saw Kimura-san was when you were leaving a karaoke box in Shibuya?"

"Yeah," Atsuro said. His parents weren't home right now, and as a consequence, when the detectives had arrived at his front door, he'd had to face them alone. K1 hadn't shown up at school that day. He'd already known he'd never come home Saturday night, he'd been one of the first people K1's mom had called. Atsuro was extremely worried. What could have happened to K1 in the short distance from the karaoke place they'd gone to and K1's house?

"Alright. That's all the questions we have for you tonight," the detective and his partner stood up and headed for the front door. The moment Atsuro heard the door close shut, he pulled out his cell phone and began to text Yuzu.

-To: Yoohoo

- We need to look for K1. Tomorrow, after school, meet me in front of that karaoke place from the other day. We can look for him from there.

A reply came quickly enough.

-From: Yoohoo

-u think hes still around there?

-Reply:

-I don't know what to think. But we can start from there. If he's been kidnapped, they probably didn't take him too far. Probably stuffed him in a warehouse or something.

There was a longer pause between texts this time. Given how fast Yuzu's texts usually came, it was odd to Atsuro. He got the distinct image in his head of Yuzu typing out a message, then changing her mind and going back and erasing it the moment she finished. When he finally got his reply, it was incredibly short.

-From: Yoohoo

-yea

Atsuro flipped his cell phone closed, and flipped it back open a moment later to send Yuzu a final message.

-To: Yoohoo

-Don't stress about it too much, okay? K1'll be fine.

And with that, he closed his cell phone and stood up from where he had been sitting on a cushion on the floor. He looked toward the front door for a moment. He had no intentions of informing his parents about that little visit tonight. Not like they'd likely be home for a while, anyways. Half of the time, if they were home, it was just to check in on him, make sure he hadn't killed himself or locked himself inside the house or something.

As Atsuro set his futon out for the night, he glanced toward his window. Full moon. Damn, that was ominous. He hoped that wasn't a bad omen…


Three days.

Keiichi Kimura had been tied up here three days without food or water. Didn't you die if you went three days without water? He felt like he was going to die. He didn't want to die by any means, but he just couldn't' do what that man, Yamasaki, wanted him to do. That one Shomonkai girl had tried to get him some water once. Yamasaki had beaten her for it. Somehow, Keiichi got the feeling she was his daughter. It was the only reason he could think that someone like her would get pulled into something like this.

His entire body was covered with injuries. Many of them knife cuts, some of them with a heated knife, done so that it would burn worse and scar badly. He'd been beaten a few times, whipped more than a few. His clothes were practically soaked in blood, and there were dried splatters around his feet from where it had hit the ground. He'd stopped trying to fight them after the second day. He was just too exhausted to fight back anymore. They couldn't keep him here forever… They were probably just going to let him starve to death.

Right now, Yamasaki was standing in front of Keiichi, with the same knife he'd used on the boy several times since kidnapping him. The other Shomonkai were, as usual, standing off to the side. As they had entered the room earlier, Keiichi had noticed one thing: they all had knives of their own today. This didn't occur as odd to Keiichi at the time, but there was another person in the room, a woman who wasn't wearing a Shomonkai uniform. Yamasaki advanced toward Keiichi, and he seemed oddly excited.

"I think you've dragged this on long enough, Kimura-san," Yamasaki said. Keiichi only continued to look down at his lap, and didn't speak. He was so tired, but he knew if he closed his eyes, he'd get cut again. "The silent act? Have it your way. You'll be dead soon enough." The woman standing against the wall walked toward Yamasaki, who grinned toward her.

"I must say, I have to thank you for all of your aid," Yamasaki said. "Had it not been for you, we never would have found the boy who absorbed Belberith."

The woman didn't even give so much of a chuckle. Her voice was oddly monotonic to Keiichi. "Our goals are similar. We cannot allow Bel's power to remain trapped within His favorite child." She looked toward Keiichi for a moment. "I had expected him to give in by now, but I suppose his will to fight was stronger than I thought."

"The ritual you granted us should be enough to force it out," Yamasaki said. His voice was practically giddy. At that, the woman gave a bit of a chuckle, but did not say anything else. She stepped back from Yamasaki and resumed her former position on the other side of the room. Yamasaki held his hand up.

"Let all who call themselves followers of His Majesty gather in a circle around the human who absorbed His Majesty's power!" Yamasaki called. The Shomonkai moved over toward Keiichi and made a circle around him. "The angels have granted us a ritual that will free His Majesty from this human shell he is trapped in! With His Majesty's power, we will resist the ordeal the angels have warned us of! The time has come for the next ordeal, and with His Majesty's power, we alone will survive!"

"…angels," Keiichi breathed. His eyes were wide and panicked. The angels were the ones who had told them. The angels who hated him had found out Amane had warned him and told the Shomonkai his identity, and then the angels had pushed the Shomonkai to make him release the power of Bel so they'd have an excuse to smite him and take humanity's free will from them. That was why he was here. Everything came together at that very moment, and a strong emotion began to overtake Keiichi. It was pure hatred. He hated the angels. He hated the God that had enacted the Lockdown most of all. He had never been fond of God, but this hatred bubbling up from inside him despised that so-called creator. It was His fault. It was His fault he was here, tied up. It was His fault he was going to die.

But he had power, didn't he? He could get away from here… there wasn't a need to die here. A crack appeared in the lock Keiichi had placed on that strong power of Bel so many months ago. The angels were still in Tokyo. He couldn't die here. He needed to live. More cracks formed. But Keiichi, you promised! A voice called in Keiichi's head. It spoke in Amane's voice. Promised? Fuck promises! How many of hers had she kept? How many promises had that "God" she had tried to make him serve kept?

And at that moment, the lock shattered.

Keiichi didn't even notice the surge of power that went through his body. He only began to grin and pulled his arm to the side, effortlessly ripping the rope tying his wrists together. The rope around his feet tore just as easily. He stood up from the chair he had spent the past three days tied to and surveyed the ring of people around him. He wasn't even aware of how strong the aura he was giving off was. The people around him looked afraid for more than one reason. Keiichi (if it was still right to call him that) gave a rather dark chuckle.

"So… the angels were the ones who told you everything…?" Keiichi said in his weak, yet somehow much darker voice. Yamasaki was staring on in horror, and then his expression widened into a grin.

"Belberith-sama has descended," Yamasaki breathed. The other Shomonkai members were still gaping in horror. They hadn't even had a demonstration of his power yet, and yet the horrid dark aura that was reaching into their very minds was enough to create that terror in them.

"…Belberith is dead. If you love him that much…. Then you should join him in hell."

The command created a marked effect among the Shomonkai. They suddenly stopped moving, and they looked much like they were possessed. The first to move was Yamasaki. He lifted the knife grasped in his hand up to his throat and gave an insane grin.

"All hail His Majesty," Yamasaki said before slashing his throat open with the blade. A fountain of blood sprayed from his slashed throat, and he fell to the ground. The other Shomonkai members began to gave the same gleeful grin and lifted their own knives to their throat.

"All hail His Majesty," they chorused, and slashed their own throats open. The woman in the back of the room only continued to marvel at the spectacle. Eventually, the only ones left standing were Keiichi and that one Shomonkai girl. The Shomonkai girl was shuddering, and it seemed she was trying to resist. Keiichi only continued to stare at her. She began to shake a bit more as his gaze penetrated her, and finally, she just stopped. She looked up at Keiichi with the same insane look.

"All glory to His Majesty," she said in her small voice before driving the knife into her throat. She fell to the ground, and landed in a puddle of her own blood. Keiichi stared at her for a few moments, not even noticing the still laughing woman in the back of the room. The laugher only ceased when the woman realized Keiichi would kill her if she remained and teleported from the building. Keiichi noted the ring of blood around him… and suddenly his legs felt very weak. He fell and landed on his side, and half closed his eyes. He'd forgotten just how hungry and tired he was… he shouldn't have even been able to stand up.

He'd killed them all. Just with a word, they had all killed themselves… for him. It was only here, injured, on the ground, that that fact began to bother him. He was vaguely aware of voices… all of them familiar, all of them panicked. The thoughts came easily, without resistance.

Kill them. Rip their guts. Destroy their hopes and dreams. The human realm belongs to you and only you.

"Oh god," Keiichi choked out. "I can't hold it back anymore."

And then, Keiichi finally slipped out of consciousness.