Hello everyone, finally, Chapter 11 is complete. Very sorry for the late update as I have exams recently. This is again is gonna be a long chapter. Also, there are some theories I have for DAL incorporated into this Chapter. Special shoutout to Keeper of the One Winged Angel for liking my work. All the best to your story too. Oh and also, there will be some Diablo references on humans, thus sums up some of my theory on Inverse and stuffs.

Without further ado, enjoy!

Chapter 11: Calm Before the Storm

"You…"

But before Shido can finish, the migraine strikes Arashi again.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

The pain forces him laying down on the floor, both of his eyes turn into blood red. The veins swells and slowly his cry turn into a demonic cry with his arms slowly covering in curse marks.

"ARASHI!"

Yuki rushes to his side. Suddenly, the spacequake alarm is sounded. Arashi can hear what the rest cannot hear, it is the devil within him that is talking.

"Everyone is doomed, Nanaya! The Spirits, yourself and everyone in this realm will die. And the high heavens will be the next. You can't do anything to stop us, for you being the lone survivor, nothing can stop the hell now."

"Commander! The spacequake…"

Kotori look at her screen and she is shocked, the same place where the first spacequake has hit. The disturbance is so massive that the alarms are tripped all over the world, in fact, it is the same scale as the one 30 years ago.

"What in the!?"

Kotori regains in composure and ordered.

"When is it going to hit?"

"Calculating…" Nakatsugawa the Dimension Breaker reported.

"Hah… hah… hah…"

Once again, the torment on Arashi's head is over. He is panting heavily with Yuki weaving shadows into his body.

"The soulstone… the seal has weakened… It was that operation…" Yuki said.

"Don't worry… I'm alright." Arashi assured.

"For how long more?" She asks.

"..."

Everyone look at the twins in concern, until the silence is broken by the crew member calculating the time.

"It will hit exactly on this Saturday!"

Kotori remains calm, she only muttered to Arashi.

"So what you said is true, because you lived and they are coming next week."

"I'm dying anyway, might as well take as many of them with me as I can."

"Don't say that!" Yuki said.

"Look, only I have the ability to deal with them. It is my vow to protect the Spirits, look at you, you are now more than just my sister, I have more reasons to protect all of you. Let them seal you, I won't let anyone else die."

Yuki is firm not to let Arashi go as she reprimands him.

"You idiot! I'm not going to let them seal me before you."

He seems to have expected that and says.

"You and I, we already lost too much... When the time comes, you will understand…"

Arashi strikes his finger to a nerve on Yuki's head and she passes out instantaneously, not before grabbing her before she falls to the ground.

"What?"

Shido asks in surprise as the younger twin knocks out the elder twin.

"Take care of Yuki for me…"

"Arashi…" Shido.

"How long can this ship last?" Arashi asks.

"2 weeks if we are not combating." Kotori replied.

"Good. Do not let them leave the ship unless it really has to land."

"Wait, you are telling us that you are leaving?" Kurumi asks.

"Of course."

"Are you out of your mind? You versus the hell alone? Not to mention up against DEM and Anti-Spirit forces in China and Mongolia!" Kotori tries to knock some sense to him.

"I'm perfectly sane. Now tell me, if you can go up against hell. Even with the whole world's wizard, they will be decimated. Those things are invulnerable to the field that you can manipulate stuffs except for barriers to protect yourself."

For a moment, there is only silence.

"And also, it is the perfect chance to end the whole DEM and Spirit combat force operations against Spirits." he added.

"How are the odds stacked?" Kotori asks.

"40% that this world will survive if all of them work together with me and 60% if the Spirits are in too, this is impossible of course." he replied.

"Then you being the lone wolf?" she asks again.

"10%..."

He said it so confidently that Kotori couldn't fathom on whether the headache has cause him to go crazy.

"You're insane…"

"I'm not going to pass that 10% chance. I have my own plans, and that at least will be a truth to all my efforts." he replied.

"What?"

"If all of them can unite and fight against the hell. I'll be happy to die in combat. But if they are not, then I'm afraid I will have to bring quite a few of them with me too."

"Arashi, you can't solve that with just killing. If you are gone, then what happen to Yuki?" Shido added.

"I made up my mind. I..."

For a moment remain silent, he doesn't know what to answer anymore.

"I have to do this… I started everything up, and it will be me to end it." he stated.

Everyone look at him worried.

"I took this vow along with my brother to avenge our friends and to protect my family from my uncles. But things had changed, I'm not only going to avenge my brother, I want to protect my sister, I also want to protect all of you who are my friends. I thank all of you for trying to save me, but there is something much more important than me being rescued."

"Arashi..."

Kaguya look at him very worried.

"I'm sorry, and please, tell Yuki this. Kyo and I never regretted our decision to take that oath. For all we know is that we can use our powers to protect our loved ones. She should not feel bad at all, so do you guys."

Everyone remains silent for a short while.

"Please, take care of her for me. Tell her, I love her. And Kaguya, I love you too…"

He puts on the oxygen mask again and sprints through the glass leaving a puff of black smoke. He appears outside of the ship like just now.

"WHAT!?"

He stands at the strut of the ship, opens up his arms and falls backwards.

"PULL HIM BACK!" Kotori commanded.

The ship's realizers activate at Mana's command and tries to pull Arashi back through telekinesis, but what happens surprises them.

"He… He just repelled the territory!"

Mana is surprised when she heard that.

"WHAT? Immunity!?" she exclaimed.

"No doubt, the field didn't even slow his free falling speed." Hinako the Nail Knocker reported

"What is his status?" Kotori asks.

"Still free falling." Minowa answered.

Arashi, falls even faster as he enters into a dive position, reducing the air resistance.

"They did use that, but why am I not even affected?"

He couldn't care about much more. When he can feel that he could breathe normally, the dark tendril wings manifest as he re-balances himself. He flies towards the West as he manifest the compass he got before.

"Those bastards used me as a proxy no doubt. This my fight alone… Too many things at stake… Not just the hell and DEM I'm up against, he said that guy… Kyo… He's still alive? No… It can't be, I traced his line on his arm, no way he could have lived from the blood loss."

The confused young man keeps flying, using the compass and the sense of mana, flies towards the place where the first spacequake has struck, the China-Mongolia Frontier.

"But still… If he had lived, could he be pulling all these? The attacks just now are no coincidence, someone is pulling the strings and even Westcott didn't even know about it… This, is far from over…"

Fraxinus

"Intercepting transmission, from UN to leaders of the world."

Transmission

"Dear presidents, this is an emergency transmission. The spacequake just now is rated SSS. DEM predicts that there will be spacequake aftershocks. This means there will be a lot of Spirits coming to our world. I hereby request that we will be having an emergency meeting ASAP for the sake of the people's safety."

End of Transmission

"This… Is getting out of control…"

Shido look worried. If what Arashi said is true, those who are coming are not merely Spirits, but rather a Fallen Spirit.

"Fallen Spirits are so powerful that they can kill many Spirits before going down themselves…"

It keeps repeating in his head, he fears for the safety of everyone.

"Uhh… No, Arashi, don't go…"

Yuki wakes up muttering for her brother. Only to find Shido and Tohka at her side.

"Yuki, Arashi… He's gone."

"What?" She grasped.

"Incoming transmission! It is from the Rounds!"

Transmission

"Kotori!"

"Mr Woodman."

Yuki opens her eyes widely as she hears the name.

"Where is Assailant?"

"He… He just jumped off the ship…"

Woodman doesn't look surprised as if he had expected it. The sighting of Yuki catches his sight.

"Yuki?"

Yuki only remembers the name that his father told her when he was alive.

"Are you… Mr Woodman?"

"Yes… Your father entrusted both you and your brother to me."

"You know each other?" Kotori asks.

"Yes… I knew their parents. Yuki, I know you want to save your brother. But I really don't know how to." He said it remorsefully.

"But…"

"Don't let his sacrifice goes into the drain. He did so much to protect you."

"No… I'm not going to let you guys to seal me, not until I know my brother is safe!"

"Everyone…"

A distorted voice can be heard with a blur mosaic figure appears. Yuki activates her eyes and look at the figure.

"Phantom!" she shouted.

The agent of high heaven, who temporary saved Arashi and brought her back to life.

"Situations has become dire. This matters everyone's survival. The Lord of Wrath's essence is consuming Arashi and Azrael."

"Phantom, I beg you, you brought both of us back to life, you must also have known how to save my brother!"

"There is a way to save him, but you must trust yourself… The soulstone has cracked, Amon's essence will overwhelm Arashi even more. You must cut open his chest and extract the soulstone. Should it shatter, your brother will be lost forever…"

"He values each and everyone of you here, including those whom he had met. All of you here are the ones he values the most. He must know that there are still people care for him, revenge will not bring him back those that have died. Amon's power will only be stronger with his emotions unchecked."

"..."

"He may be a fallen now, but he is and will always be a guardian that protects Spirits and humans alike. Odds may be against all of us but with all of you supporting him, his soul will be stronger. After all, a shadow without its light will only be consumed by void."

Everyone now knows what they have to do to protect themselves. To Shido, it is the most important to save the life of a friend and to seal them up.

"I can only give guidance until here... Now, save the last guardian, Avatar of Azrael. Rally all humans, protect this world from turning into a battlefield of heaven and hell again. Farewell."

The blurry figure disappears leaving everyone puzzled.

"...We have to wait before we can go there. Our moles are ready to attend the meeting and Yggdrasil has been rallied too. Kotori, go to the supply station for resupplies. We will discuss our strategy even further."

"Yes sir. We'll proceed right away."

"Oh and also, have your brother be trained for combat."

"Yes sir."

The transmission ends with Kotori gives out a sigh.

"Guys, set coordinates to South Korea supply station." She commanded.

"We're going to South Korea?" Shido asks.

"Schools will be cancelled because of that spacequake. This matters all of our lives and Shido, you heard him, you have to be tougher."

"But…"

Before he can finish, Kotori talks to Yuki.

"Hey, Yuki. Can you train him in swords?"

"What? But…" she is surprised.

"You are one, if not the best swordswoman here, so you will have to train him."

"The issue is not about combat, it is Shido's soul. Using the angels excessively will only burn out his soul." she stated.

"Now… I don't care how you are going to train him. If you want your brother to be saved, train him!" Kotori commanded.

"Alright…" Yuki accepts it.

"And Mana, Yuki has something for you."

"Huh?"

"Yes… We'll talk later." Yuki tells them.

London

"Mr Nanoka, I thought you have absolute confidence that the mission was going to be successful…"

"I have the confidence, but I didn't expect him to be able to recover from his injury that fast."

Westcott is talking with Nanoka on the phone, very disappointed on the failure of their mission.

"I don't waste my people just like that…" the CEO said it sternly

"Oh are you sure about that? I know much more than Jays Gray let out… Don't you forget I was Nanaya." the young man countered.

"Tsch…"

He is annoyed by the young man, Wescott is fully aware on what the young man is capable of. He needs to use the former Nanaya at his advantage.

"Now, the spacequake… There are people from the other world are crying to be unleashed into the world… Power awaits you there, you want to be something great, but so is he who will bring back the whole clan. It will be good if you can rally up a coalition to get him. Afterall, there will be more male Spirits coming too, did I mention their power is far more greater than their female counterpart?"

"..."

This intrigued Wescott as he has hypothesized that the male Spirits are significantly stronger than the female Spirits.

"And drop the idea on the guy you are after, the male Spirits have powers that are even stronger."

"What?" Wescott asks in surprise.

"The guy that the Spirits are with, I know you are looking for him. I will kill him for you..."

Wescott starts to worry a bit, he and Ellen are the only ones that know about Itsuka Shido, not even the board knows. He decides to end the conversation hastily.

"Well… We'll talk next time, I'll have my people to fetch you guys. Is my people at there with the stuffs?"

"I got them wearing it and in training. Thank you."

The conversation ends with Wescott gives out a sigh.

"Can we really trust that kid?" Ellen asks.

"We can, after all, I have you…"

Ellen blushes a bit as she heard that.

"Now… Rally your people, and do a final test on Excalibur. I'm going to the meeting…" Wescott commanded.

"Yes…"

Training Room

"Shido-san, Mana-san, what I am about to tell both of you is a truth of you two..."

"What?"

Unbeknownst to the three of them, Kotori is listening in.

"...Both he and she already figured out..." she muttered.

"You two... Are just like Arashi and I, are Psychics."

"Wha... What?"

"Yes, you two possessed Spirit powers. But that power has yet to awaken, and neither I have the ability to know or even awake your powers."

"..."

Both Shido and Mana are speechless, Yuki continues.

"A human soul can seal only one Spirit, but it is believe that a Psychic's soul does not have that limit. You are the evidence of this theory, and Mana-san's abilities as a wizard. They are using you to save all the Spirits, an outcome that the High Heaven did not expect. But it is good that your powers are not awakened."

"What?"

"A Psychic's power can be shaped by actions. As we all were the offspring of angels and demons, so is the good and evil that is with us will shape the power of a Psychic."

"Then you mean..."

"Yes... My brothers, who protected the Spirits tapped into the evil side of their powers, which is stronger and faster to mature. They killed, and it shaped their powers, thus, the Shadow Fiend without the power of Azrael is born in Arashi. Those who taps the good side of their powers, their power is weaker and probably will never mature. It is a good thing, the price to pay for my brother is that the powers to haunt them until he kills that persona. Also, because you are naturally good, the angels respond to your call."

"I see..."

"Now, Mana-san, I have a cure to undo the damage of your body."

"What is it?"

"But there is a price, your wizard's powers."

"What?"

"You can get your strength back through training, instead of those artificial powers, it is the true strength of Psychics."

"I..."

Mana is speechless, she do want to live longer than 10 years. The opportunity for a cure is now right in front of her eyes. But after a serious consideration on how her brother would be at risk in the upcoming battle. She declined.

"Thank you, but no."

"What?"

Shido is surprised to hear that as he couldn't comprehend her intentions.

"What if my brother gets hurt? I would want my strength to be used in helping my brother... Maybe after all this, I'll consider."

"Mana..."

Shido has a sense of guilt as his sister sacrificing her life to protect him.

"Alright, now Shido-san. You know you have the divine souls on you. You need to learn how to protect yourself. Using Sandalphon will not work if you don't know how to use a sword."

Yuki summons a pair of shadow blades and she passes one to Shido.

"Now... Let's begin shall we?"

Shido grabs the sword, holds it firmly and shouted.

"ALRIGHT!"

Somewhere near South Korea

"Damn, I knew I should have eat something before I jumped out."

It is raining and Arashi is cold, hungry and tired. His astral suit doesn't keep him warm at all. He has money, but he doesn't know how to speak Korean, and not quite fluent in English either, he doesn't even know about the place too. All he knows is that he is on a small island. It is dark and there is no animal in sight.

"Thank god I bought these for escapes before I see Kaguya…"

His shadow distorts and it reveals some anpan he had stashed in his shadow, and also the box that contains the sigils. He hides underneath a tree to minimize rain shower onto him.

"Time to put on the gears again…"

The shadows shrouds him, the short sleeved astral suit is removed as the dark fire engulfs him. Soon a blue light erupts from the darkness, his suit has changed to black hooded coat with a black undershirt. The chest of the coat still retains the fiendish visage of Nevermore, his pants has changed to black denim pants with knee guards that is styled with the visage. His shoulders are also protected by a pair of shoulder pads. The whole suit is completed with a few straps holding the shoulder pads in place along with a holder on his belt that Arashi holds his switchblade.

Arashi then distorts his shadow once again revealing a case, he opens the case which reveals small knives. They were once Arashi's gears that he used when he was young. He inserts his throwing knives into the holders. The master sigil is now worn by Arashi. The young man's mind is now set, he is ready to die and face his ultimate fate as a fallen. He can't do anything but to kill those who are coming because of his cursed existence, and to mock at himself for the irony of one who hunts the fallen now becomes one.

"I can summon much more than these, but I have to make all of my blades count. Each bit of mana matters…"

He rips open the packet of anpan and chew them so fast he finished four of them in less than 5 minutes. As he gathers the rainwater to drink, he sees flashlights near the shoreline.

"What the… Coast guards?"

The guardian immediately pulls up his mask and dons his hood, with his agility, he immediately grabs the wrappers and climbs to the canopy. It is impossible for them to deploy a helicopter, not to mention for coast guards would actually set foot on this island in such ungodly storm. His run ins with the "law" tells him that something is very fishy here as he carefully observes the lights.

He activates his eyes which allow him to see what is unseen. The coast guards' soul are visible to him, but something is off here, the "coast guards" are surrounded by an invisible field. He immediately realizes that they are not coast guards.

"What the… Wizards? Korean Spirit Respond Force..." he muttered.

"The Spirit signature disappears right here! Search the island!"

The leader of the squad of Wizards commanded in Korean. The lights are getting dangerously close, Arashi can dispatch them without any problem, but he chooses not to.

"I need them, each of them counts towards the survival of everyone."

The guardian manifests his dark tendril wings, and immediately flies away from the island with hastily, blending into the dark skies.

3am Ratatoskr South Korea Base

In another island at the coast of South Korea, it is a secretive base of Ratatoskr. It has a dock which Fraxinus can dock in and allow all repairs and resupplies to be carried out on the ship too.

"Docking!"

"Hello, Commander Itsuka. We welcome your arrival."

"Thank you in advance for the works up ahead."

"Ship's docked, you are able to leave the ship now."

Training Room

"Hah… Hah… Hah…"

Shido is panting heavily from the training that he received.

"Gambateh Shido!"

The Spirits are cheering for him as he has an intensive sword training from Yuki. He gives a bitter smile as he is exhausted. He can even tell that Yuki is holding back a lot, a girl worthy of the name Nanaya.

"Come on Shido… You're much better than that."

"I'm really tired…"

"Everyone we have reached South Korea base, please leave the ship. Further instructions will be given."

Everyone exits the room and then Fraxinus, Kotori and the crew are waiting for them.

"Alright, it was a long night. We should be very safe here."

"Hello, Commander Jang."

"Hello, Commander Itsuka."

In front of Kotori is a middle aged man with gray hair and brown eyes, and then another man comes in.

"Commander, Assailant is last seen at an island. He stayed there for less than an hour due to the KSRF."

"Where was he heading?"

"West. Towards the first spacequake crater."

A member speaks in Korean with Commander Jang, with a gesture, he dismissed the member and converse with Kotori in English.

"Well, Commander Itsuka, Assailant was last seen here, basically he left again towards west again."

"I believe the rounds have told you what is about to happen."

"Yes, we are going with you too. It is an honour to fight along side with you."

"Thank you, it is an honour for us too."

The commanders shake each other's hand firmly.

Meeting Room

A video conferences is taking place with Woodman along with Yggdrasil and other Ratatoskr commander worldwide.

"If what Phantom said is true, we will have to pull the stone out of his body." Woodman stated.

"It will be difficult, we have accidentally cut the stone and now the seal is weakened. He is now very unstable and will turn into a devil." Kotori reported.

"We will give our assistance in the operation to neutralize the threat." other commander reported as well.

"Now, just watch the meeting, the moles did a great job." Mr Woodman commanded.

UN Meeting

"This spacequake scale is exactly the same as the one 30 years ago. Many Spirits will appear and destructions will ensue! We must do something to drive the Spirits back!"

"The Spirits are highly powerful beings in combat, our forces will be decimated easily. We will need all the forces from all over the world."

"But risking all of our personnel will be a very big mistake! There must be a way, in fact, Mr Westcott, you have any strategy?"

"Yes, now in case you ask why this is possible. I have a very important intel, it happens because of this man."

A picture of Arashi taken from the past now flash on the screen. Along with his statistics by DEM, a SSS rank is enough to catch everyone's attention. Everyone is surprised to see a first ever SSS rank Spirit except the Prime Minister of Japan.

"Who is this?"

They whispered among themselves.

"Behold, Shadow-Ripper, formerly Assailant, a male Spirit. His sister, Shadow-Reverser is killed by Adeptus 1. But now, his identity so far has been found to be Nanaya and a confirmed member of the global terrorist organization, 14 Blades."

"What!?"

The leaders of the world's face pale as they heard that. Nanaya was active in Japan, but their influence has spread globally, with the formation of 14 Blades to not only combat wizards but also assassinating the leaders.

"As you know, Nanaya and 14 Blades are already gone, but Ripper may be using the first Spacequake's power to bring back all the member of Nanaya and 14 Blades. The Ripper so far have at least 1000 confirmed kills within the three years and possibly even more before he turn into one. I request all nation to form a coalition with me, it is our utmost duty to hunt down this terrorist and prevent the killers from walking in our world again."

The leaders at first are indecisive, until one of them asks.

"Do you have any strategy?"

"Yes, but I need everyone's hand in this. Also, Prime Minister Takasugi of Japan, my deepest condolence to the death of your Wizards, I request that my Wizards to lead AST in this war."

The prime minister at first is unhappy as the country's wizards have the highest death rate over any other country due to Spirits' frequent appearance and skirmishes in Japan. But without any choices left, he have no choice but to do it.

"...Alright..."

"My strategy is to take out Ripper near the crater, afterwards, the Spirits that are coming. Ripper may be a Nanaya, but he is now all alone, he can't possibly fight so many of us at once, at the very least we can force him to surrender and prevent his ritual to bring the Nanaya back."

"What about a Plan B?"

"Plan B, if they were to be brought back, my ship will launch the Magic Decomposition Bomb."

"What!? A nuke-scale bomb?"

"This is the only way to kill all Nanaya effectively and once and for all."

The leaders are at first not comfortable with the plan, but it matters their own survival, thus a decision is made.

"I agree to form the coalition!"

One after another, the leaders agree to form a global coalition.

"It is decided, the coalition will be formed with all wizards are to be stationed at China."

Ratatoskr Meeting

"They still have no idea on why that happen. But still, it is very dangerous for Arashi, he can't overuse his powers."

"Then our strategy?" Dante, the leader of Yggdrasil asks.

"When the hell arrives, depending on situation, we will have to fight the hell back. Yggdrasil will have to assist him." Woodman replied.

"Roger that."

"Then my brother?" Kotori asks.

"He will have to go hot. You have to keep the rest of them safe, unless things get too hot. And all of the crew should be wearing combat armor starting from now. You are also to rendezvous with Dante along with other ships at the Eastern Frontier. All ships are on stealth camo, they should not detect us that easily." Woodman commanded.

"Yes sir."

"Now, have a good rest."

"Alright."

London, Ivory Bar

"My lord, what about the Majestics?"

"Overlord wants the Majestics to stand down from the battle and assassinate everyone in DEM. I will command you guys from a distance instead."

"Now, pack your gears and let's move out!"

The group of hunters enters the van that brings them to the DEM base. The young leader only thought of one thing.

"4 years of preparation… 1 more step closer..."

The young man flicks his knife and look at the sharp edge.

"The total domination of world…"

Ratatoskr Base

"There is no doubt the hunters like what Aokaze has said, will pursuit Arashi… But Westcott's decision is very strange here…"

"I believe my sister and him are being misled, could the hunters have contacted them?" Karen asks.

"Likely… The hunters have been inactive for 3 years, all awaiting this very moment… Their lord's possession on Arashi. I can hardly believe that he would do this to his brother and sister…"

As Karen pushes Woodman's wheelchair, he then speaks again.

"Still, be it anyone, the person leading the hunters is the most dangerous foe we ever encounter. If even the Spirits can't stop him, then the wizards will just be decimated by him."

DEM Base

"Final tests, Excalibur-online!"

Ellen activates the territory and the unit releases diamond dusts.

"Testing dusts' out of territory!"

She suspend the dust which gathers and forms into a small cube, then levitates it and shifts it out of her territory. The cube not only remains intact and allow Ellen to shape it to any form as she pleases.

"The weapon is stable, Ms Mathers."

"Well done, I will exterminate all Spirits that are coming."

"And most importantly, that two Nanaya..."

She wants revenge from Arashi who almost killed her, and also Nanoka that defeats her.

The world is now in martial law with soldiers and police forces to have all people to live in the shelters. All anti Spirit forces all prepare their logistics are ready to take off and land at Chinese air base. Meanwhile, the leader of the hunters commune with another group of his men through telepathy.

"What's the meaning of this? Our lords don't want us to fight?" one asked.

"Calm down, we are the Majestics, the chosen vessel of our lords. They don't want anyone of us to die." the young man asserted.

"Easy for you to say! You are the next in line!" the other one scolded.

"Easy? I'm fighting my brother, he like all of us should be in the Majestics in the first place!" Nanoka countered.

"Fine… What is their orders?"

"Kill everyone in the DEM building. But again, at my signal…" the young man ordered.

"Understood…"

Ellen comes out of the testing chamber only to see the hunters dons their blue-white exoskeleton provided by DEM, although it is only powered by a basic defense realizer, to the hunters it is more than enough. She looks at Nanoka donning the exoskeleton and uses his skills for a test, the shadows burn in his palms as he wish and dissipates at the clench of his fist. The young man looks around at everyone, only to let out a devilish smile and muttered.

"Your doom… is imminent… Hehehe..."

His action has been noticed by Ellen, his morbid demeanor and aura only worries her even more. She knows that he is not as simple as he look, but she can't do anything but to follow Wescott's orders. Speaking of the devil, Wescott calls her.

"Isaac..."

"Hey Ellen, how's everything going?"

"Fine."

"Alright, now, you are to take command of Qliphoth."

Ellen opens her eyes widely as she hears that.

"What?"

"I will be joining the Americans to China. So see you there..."

Ellen is slightly irritated by her boss' nonchalant towards things.

"Alright..."

Just as she hangs up, Nanoka approaches her.

"So, Ms Marthers. Are we all ready to go?"

"Why are you so determined to kill your partner?"

"...For fun..."

His answer shocks her as he seems to speak it without a second thought.

"What?"

"We used to have fun. I can only remember there are piles after piles of dead bodies around us. I want to feel alive again, I want to feel what is it to have the fear of getting killed... I want to kill like no tomorrow again..."

Ellen is disgusted at his answer, she couldn't help but to think if he is sane. But she decides not to waste anymore time.

"...Moving out in less than 2 hours..."

"Yes mam..."

The young man then goes back to his hunters and waits for the departure.

Tenguu City

*Ring…*

The telephone is ringing and Origami wakes up only to find out she is at her apartment. She only remembers her encounter with Arashi, only for him to knock her out with hypnotism.

"How did I… Even get back here?"

She realizes that even the defensive security measures have been disengaged. She couldn't care less as she picks up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Sergeant Origami, well I'm sure you know what had happened. But still we need you to report to the base as soon as possible. Things had gone very bad with the city in martial law. Report to the base as soon as possible, the higher ups have decided to drop the charges on you temporarily."

"Alright."

JGSDF AST Base

Origami is reunited with the remaining members of AST, her comrades and her team leader Ryouko. They hugged each other upon meeting, relieve to know that their friend is safe.

"I'm glad you guys are alright... Assailant..." Ryouko said with tears at her eyes.

"We'll avenge them... With Assailant's life!"

The remaining 20 wizards in the whole of Japan now enter the meeting room to be briefed on the coalition. The commander of AST briefed the wizards on what had happened and the coalition to take down Ripper, the male Spirit formerly known as Assailant. Then, the part that surprises everyone.

"The prime minister has decided... DEM will be in charge of you guys in the coalition."

"WHAT!?"

Ryouko is clearly unhappy about this as she thinks that this is showing weakness to DEM. Origami isn't quite happy either as she had her run ins with Ellen and managed to hurt her before.

"I'm sorry, but to avenge your fallen teammates and the nation's pride within this coalition to take down Nanaya once and for all, you have to do this."

"Tsch..."

Though reluctant, the team has no choice but to follow orders. After all, the want to avenge their fallen comrades whose life have been taken by Nanaya.

"Well, it is time for you guys to move out."

"Yes sir!"

The wizards and base personnel begin to pack their equipment for the departure.

12pm Ratatoskr South Korea Base

"So this is our combat armor?"

Shido is wearing a suit that is very similar to a wiring suit that is in cyan-white. The suit has some armor plating along with shoulder, elbow and knee guards with a chest armor. Shido now also has a laser blade to use other than his suit.

"This will keep you alive so that you will get to him without getting killed."

"..."

"We never know what will happen there, but it is certain that everyone's lives now depend on us, especially you and him."

"I understand now…"

"Now… Continue your practice with Yuki."

Shido leaves the room, only to find Tohka waiting for him outside.

"Shido..."

"Tohka."

"Shido, the Spacequake... You will save Arashi right?"

"Yeah of course. I not only promised Yuki, and you too. You want me to save all Spirits..."

Tohka only smiled as she is happy to hear that.

"Shido, don't you worry, you will be fine. He is our friend right?"

"Yeah, thanks."

Shido is aware that Tohka doesn't know that much, he knows the weight of his task. The Spirits are linked to him, should any mishap happens to him, let alone the life of Arashi, everyone's life will also be in danger.

Coalition Wizard Base

Many planes have landed with wizards and CR-Units on board. Wizards from all over the world gathers in the big airbase. The wizards gather and share information throughout the whole base with training. The mechanics are also hard at work maintaining the CR-Units. However, as AST is to be in charged by DEM, they share the same section in the base. Despite the little friction between AST and DEM, the overall morale of the wizards are high.

"So... the supposed in charge is late... What a good coalition..." Ryouko said it sarcastically.

"Come on, who knows what kind of gears they are packing here, other than the nuke there must be more crazy stuffs."

Before the conversation can carry on further, someone shouted.

"DEM is here! AND THEY GOT AN AIRSHIP!"

The whole of AST runs out and check it. The large red airship of DEM, the Qliphoth astonishes every wizard. After the ship has docked, Ellen along with many DEM wizards and the hunters walks towards their section of the large base. They only find that AST is waiting for them.

"Ms Marthers, I'll bring my people to our section."

The hunters speed up their pace and walk passed the AST. Ellen and Ryouko meet face to face. There is an awkward silence as DEM had disregarded civilian casualty to fight Spirits before.

"Well, I hope that this operation will be a success. My deepest condolence to your fallen comrades." Ellen said.

"Thank you, Ms Marthers."

Ryouko reluctantly shakes Ellen's hand. Ellen sees Origami, the one who had managed to harm her. She remains silent as she doesn't want to spoil the coalition. The arrival of Ellen has caused a stir in the base as the other forces. After all, they want to train with the squad that is led by the world's strongest Wizard despite there are many other DEM wizards.

"So, my beloved Adeptus 1 is finally here."

The wizards look at the source of the sound, only to find Westcott.

"Mr Westcott!"

The DEM wizards salute Westcott with the utmost respect.

"Now, ladies, do continue the training. I'll be tending other stuffs."

Focus on the Hunters

"My lord, how do you feel?"

"Fine. Avoid talking to anyone. You will be tired to explain on which squad you are in and lots of stuffs... Commence training soon..." Nanoka commanded.

"Yes my lord."

Time Skips to Friday

With the global martial law in effect, the cities worldwide are practically emptied as the people are ordered to be staying in the underground spacequake bunkers. Military personnel constantly patrol in the cities to prevent people from leaving and get all people in. This has caused quite some trouble for Arashi.

Night, China-Mongolia Frontiers, at least 100 km away from the crater

"Damn it..."

In an abandoned city, the constant patrol of soldiers is getting on Arashi's nerves as he attempts to conserve mana and find something to eat. The soldiers enters the mall he is in while he is attempting to look for food. After grabbing a few loaf of bread and cans of luncheon meat. He sneaks out of the mall and find somewhere else to eat. The pain in his head has worsen as the apocalypse comes closer each day. He endures it despite resorting to biting himself.

"Come... Nanaya... Come..."

He hears a ghostly voice calling out for him. He thought that the coming of hell has cause the dead to be active.

"The dead are getting restless..."

The young man nonetheless follows the source of the call, after walking into the desert, he reaches a graveyard. Upon closer inspection, the grave markers are carved with the names of Nanaya along with the clan's symbol on it. He realizes this is the grave site of those who perished during the Second Spirit Wars.

"The avatar of Amon... I can't never think of seeing a Nanaya being chosen..."

Arashi looks to his back, only to see an old Chinese man. Arashi's eyes see his soul being in blue, he immediately realizes that the old man is no human, but an angel in disguise.

"Why are you here, angel?"

The old man only smiled and answered.

"I am the grave keeper. I tended to the Nanaya who bravely sacrificed their lives to prevent this world from turning into Pandemonium, the eternal battlefield between High Heaven and Burning Hell. The Third Spirit Wars is coming, but this time without the clan to protect the world. But you are the game changer, a Psychic, not to mention Azrael is in you."

"...I don't even know if I can do this..."

The old man then asks a question out of random.

"Ever fought using scythes?"

"Only once."

The old man then smiles again.

"There is still hope, Harvester's true form... The angelic form of Harvester... The sword for judgement and purification and the scythe for decimation."

"...I don't have the soul to wield that..."

"No... You may not have the soul, but you have the heart."

The angel's answer intrigued Arashi.

"You tapped into the evil side of your powers to protect your loved ones. Unlike others, no matter how deep you dwell into, your heart stays clean. You motive is because of love. You have lost too much, the destiny shaped you into what you are now."

Arashi then look at both of his hands. Only to ponder even further.

"Well then, it is time for me to report back to the High Heavens."

"What?" Arashi is surprised to hear that.

"Don't forsake your feelings. You'll need them. And also, do me a favour, return Azrael intact! I miss my superior a lot!"

The old man then transforms into a being clad in shiny armor with bright tendril wings with a helmet.

"Goodbye, Nanaya."

The angel then disappears into many particles of light. Leaving Arashi behind at the graveyard.

"..."

Arashi sits near a grave marker to rest. Only to have the migraine to strike him again. He bites his arm to ease it.

"Arrrrggggghhhhh..."

11pm, Focus on Ratatoskr

Fraxinus and the other ships has arrived to the rendezvous point with Yggdrasil.

"Dante here, hi guys."

"Dante, I'm sure the rounds have already talked to you."

"Yeah, there will only be one Fallen Spirit, but a lot of Lesser Fallens. My men will be dealing with those and the coalition."

"We can only sit and wait now. The spacequake is coming anytime starting from now."

Shido's heart races as the threat approaches, the don't know what to expect later.

Focus on Coalition Forces

Nanoka is communicating with one of the Lords of Hell, the Lord of Pride, Lucifer. His demonic voice pierces Nanoka's mind as the master talks to the servant.

"The hell force is already being informed of your plans... Do not fail me!"

"Yes, Lord Lucifer..."

The conversation ends and the other hunter asks.

"My lord, they are coming in?"

"Less than 2 hours..."

Meanwhile, Ellen and Westcott are together in a meeting room.

"Patrols are ready to move out."

"Good. Now go, I will take command of Qliphoth and standby."

"Yes."

In just a short time, many wizards in their CR-Unit moves out to patrol the area near the crater. With one goal, that is to hunt down Arashi.

Ratatoskr

Mr Woodman is also monitoring the situation and orders the ships.

"The coalition has moved out, do not do anything yet."

All ships are anxiously waiting for the spacequake to come. Yuki is also very anxious as her brother's status is unknown as of now.

Back on Arashi

"It is coming..."

Arashi can feel that the spacequake is hitting soon, he slowly walks towards the crater as he has just recovered from his throbbing headache.

"THERE HE IS! RIPPER!"

Suddenly, someone opens fire at him. With his reflexes, he dodges the bullets without any trouble. Then he realizes that it is the British SSS wizard that was shooting at him.

"Oh shit! Not now!"

He sprints as fast as he can as more wizards gathers to the area.

On board Qliphoth

Westcott sits in the cockpit and waiting for news on the hunt.

"We found Ripper, sending coordinates."

Ellen's report alerts everyone on board as Westcott commands.

"MOVE OUT!"

The airship un-docks and moves to the coordinates.

"Ripper, you are finished."

Back on Arashi

He continues to run towards the crater only being chased by many wizards. Among them is Ellen who tries to shoot him as well, but with no avail due to his speed.

"STOP!"

In his way are a few hunters with their weapons drawn.

"Tsch..."

Arashi unsheathes his switchblade and swiftly runs passed the hunters. Severing their body with quick tracing of the lines. Also, explosion takes place near him as well. He looks up to the sky and find Qliphoth firing at him as well.

"So the big toy is here as well eh?"

He let out a bitter smile and continues to run. Determined to rally the wizards to fight against the hell, he decides not to kill them.

Back on Qliphoth

"Mr Westcott, do not open fire at the Spirits from the Spacequake. If you want to harness his powers, you must make the Spirits to turn against him."

Westcott hears the voice of Nanoka and formulating the plans as well.

"Ellen, tell them do not open fire at the Spirits. We'll need the Spirits to capture and Ripper." Westcott commanded.

"Roger."

Back on Ratatoskr

"Heavy fire near the crater. He is under attack!" one of the ships reported.

"Do not do anything yet." Woodman commanded again.

Everyone is now even more anxious when they hear that.

"Come on..." Shido muttered.

Back on Arashi

As he continues to run, Qliphoth also projects voice of Westcott.

"Surrender, Nanaya. There is no way for you to run, or reviving the clan."

Arashi realizes that Westcott has been misled. But he nonetheless continues to run and hoping to let Westcott to witness the truth.

Without warning, the spacequake hits.

"GET BACK! STAY CLEAR FROM THE SPACEQUAKE!" Ellen commanded.

The crew in the Ratatoskr's ships are also on high alert.

"Move in now!" Woodman commanded.

The ships on stealth camo move towards the spacequake site slowly. Arashi sees that it is his best chance to shake them off, also runs towards the raging spacequake.

"Come on!"

His head hurts once again as the spacequake hits. The largest spacequake to date ends right at the same brim of the crater. Just as it dissipates, while the dust is not even settled, Arashi jumps into the deep crater and flies towards the center with his tendril wings. DEM and Ratatoskr forces also flies towards the center. Meanwhile, a distance away from the edge of the crater on top of a high mountain. Nanoka sits on the summit alone and look at the crater.

"Are you guys ready?" he asks his men.

"Yes. All at your signal."

He smiled when he receives this answer, and only to mutter.

"Arashi my brother, this will show you how foolish you are..."

The wizards pursue Arashi with full speed, closing the distance fast.

"Do not open fire at the Spirits later!"

Despite being confused on why, the wizards nonetheless listen to Ellen as they trust her leadership. When the dust settles, what they see surprises them. Arashi, is standing there looking at a direction. Then more shadows appear, there are many man, at least hundreds of them, all males. They emit Spirit waves, shocking everyone at the scene.

"MALE SPIRITS?"

Alright, that's all for this chapter. The ship is a reference to Westcott's obsession on Inverse as inverting means that the Spirit controls the dark side. Thus the Qliphoth tree.

I believe this is actually quite clear already as of now. Nanoka is going to have a major role in the sequel. His true name will be reveal in the end if you can't guess it.

As always, reviews are welcomed to improve on the stories.