Chapter 21: Incoming Danger

"Well, that was an utter waste of time." The woman in the white coat snarled as she stomped into her hideout.

"I wouldn't quite say that." The dual-colored being stated, remaining calm even though the withering glare he received. "True, Poseidon lives for another day, but at the very least I know what this frame is capable of."

"That doesn't help us in the least, not with how you squandered your energy showing off."

"Eh, I can just go nosh on a couple thousand human souls. It's not as if they're all going to die in an instant."

"...and yet what was the purpose of waking up the chaos beings?"

"Fine, fine, you got me there, but who says we're not allowed to spread some fear and loathing?" Whatever retort she was about to deliver died on her tongue. Instead, she had the look of someone who just realized something. "Yes'm?"

"Remember when I said Epsilon was awakened?"

"More or less. You got something planned?"

"Oh, do I. We find Epsilon, we can tear out her Utasako Unit."

"Gesundheit."

"...smartass."

"I try. In all seriousness, though, what is this Utasako?"

"A special unit built into every one of the Desco units Mao had produced. When it registers a kill, it draws in the life force of the target, restoring whomever has the unit. However, the one inside Epsilon I had modified."

"Go on."

"The unit inside Epsilon draws much more life force from the victims, enough to the point that even if your arms were broken and your legs were chopped off, getting no less than three kills would fully regenerate your limbs, and increase your overall power to boot."

"In short, I keep a streak of kills going, I could last almost indefinitely."

"You catch on rather quickly."

"You know, once this is all over, you'll have to bring me to your side of the universe. Something tells me we'd get along immediately."

"Of course, the first course of action is to locate Epsilon. I had a remote that would let me see through her eyes, but it seems to have disappeared."

"It couldn't have gone far. There's only so much in here."

"Time to seperate the junk from the useful."

"Much as I'd like to ask of your origins..." The Demon Lord kicked off the meeting. "It'll have to wait for another time. The first order of business deals with those creatures that attacked the humans, even consuming one of them. Word from your missing one is that they absorb holy power."

"Indeed." Zio was the first to speak up. "We carried the corpse of the one that had consumed one of the Order's cavalry. This human was easily one of what you would call blessed."

"And how did you manage to cut it open?"

"It has a soft underbelly. Manage the correct strike there, and much of its internal organs will be heavily damaged, if not outright eliminated."

"Perhaps, then, you can explain about another individual seen at that battle." The Demon Lord's husband spoke up. "From what several of our own noted, there was some unknown humanoid being there, at first defending the Order, but after those creatures appeared, you had shown up to deliver assistance."

"The one whom looks like a living shadow, I would surmise." Brutus received a nod in return. "While we're grateful for the assistance he's provided, at this point it's too early to tell if he's really here to help us."

"Considering he's wanted not only for causing quite the disturbance in Lescatie, he also had the gall to break into this place and release several prisoners... I'd say your sentiment is on the mark."

"I imagine next time he shows up, we're going to have some words exchanged." Whatever he was about to say next was interrupted by the approach of several thousand monsters, the Demon Lord's personal troops. However, several of them were heavily damaged, and a few were seen adorned in eye-themed jewelry that outed them as being Deruella's.

"My word, what has happened?" Seeing this many of her damaged children was a cause for alarm.

"Bad news, I fear. During our investigation of the assault on Poseidon's Domain, we came across the culprit... well, culprits."

"There was more than one?"

"Yes, a woman in a white coat, but she was merely the introduction... the real problem was whom she had accompanying her."

"If I might hazard a guess," Zio spoke up, "The other was the one who delivered the threat of global genocide?"

"That was too good for a guess. How'd you figure?"

"Psychic powers." This got a look of surprise from the others. "That was what you would call a joke. In all seriousness, what did this other being look like?"

"It was the strangest thing I've laid eyes on. It was half white on one side, half black on the other. It hadn't any face, nor any distinguishing features. Even its voice was impossible to pin down as male or female. Not only had it torn through a sizable population of Poseidon's children, when we launched an offensive against it, it seemed completely unfazed by our tactics."

"Unfazed? In what manner?"

"Whenever we tried to attack, it seemed as through the very elements themselves were lending it power, even though we could not sense any of the elemental spirits."

"Yet, what would provoke an attack against Poseidon's?"

"I overheard their plans. They plot to reawaken the primordial beings of chaos through Poseidon's elimination." At this bombshell the entire throne room went silent.

With everyone outfitted and the rest of the mansion's supplies tightly locked up, the group of offworld demons and angels decided to head out and scour the city for clues.

"There go the humans." Hilde idly noted as the Order patrol left the abandoned town. "Guess they didn't find much."

"Still, for an entire town to just up and disappear... aside from the minimal battle damage, there's no real sign of a giant struggle." Vash couldn't quite add it all up. Something was missing from the big picture.

"I don't like it either..." Raphael commented to the Ranger. "Something has been going on beneath everyone's noses."

"It's almost as if everyone got spirited away or something..." Atreya was peering into a house through its window.

"Hm? Hey, check this out!" Shizuka shouted, drawing everyone's attention. The Kunoichi had found what appeared to be two feathers. One of them was white, the other black.

"I'll be..." Raphael was intrigued. "The white one is undoubtedly an Angel Feather, but the black one I am unfamiliar with. The feeling I'm getting from it seems... twisted."

"More and more questions keep getting added."

"Not within this room..." Epsilon, now curious as to how Nelius had suddenly disappeared from the Yoshitsuna Warship, was now floating up and down various halls, checking different unlocked rooms to verify his location. "Not within this room... hm?" Seeing a door near the end of the hall ajar, she went to check out the room.

This room was stocked, wall to wall, with various weaponry and armor. There was a desk on the far wall with the disassembled parts of a gun.

"Armory room coordinates verified and stored within memory..." Entering the room, she looked around, but noticed nothing out of the ordinary. "Target can't be located... this presents a problem."

"Oh hey Epsilon, dood." York, who'd seen the open armory room and decided to investigate, noticed the Desco unit looking around. "What brings you into this place?"

"Difficulty in locating the one named Nelius... he was not present in any searched room."

"Eh, isn't he allowed time for himself, dood? From what all I've heard of him, dood's been on his feet pretty much nonstop."

"Last known location was his room, asleep after rescuing your group."

"Leave it be, dood. He can hold his own. Anyway, what say we take a looksee in here? I bet Mita's got tons of fun stuff to use."

"I was under the impression this room was emergency only."

"Dood, it's just a peek. Nothing's gonna leave here."

"...very well."

"It's been a little too quiet for my liking..." Sif couldn't help but notice as she made another sweep of the mansion's south side.

"Hey, nothing detrimental's going on... far as I care, that counts as good news." Carl didn't share her sentiment. "Though you have a point. The silence is a touch unnerving..."

"Any word from Atreya's group?"

"Not yet... never mind, I stand corrected." Carl's eyes closed as he focused on the mental transmission. "Well, that's a surprise."

"Something up?"

"Looks like Shizuka's rumored information about an angel was right on the Hell. There was another group from our side out there. Two Celestians among them, to boot."

"Whoa, I never thought Celestia had a stake in this."

"I'm as surprised as you are. Never would I have imagined there'd be angels here from our side." Carl went silent as he received the new information. "Apparently their team was split during the dimensional transfer. They had a Prinny, Galactic Demon and a Holy Dragon with them beforehand."

"Ooh, I never got the chance to see a Holy Dragon up close. Are they as fluffy as I've heard?"

"I.. wouldn't be able to answer that. As I just said, their team got split up. For all we know, they could be on the other side of the globe."

"...nuts." The Thief went into something between a sulk and a pout. "Anything else?"

"Apparently the town they were in just up and vanished." That got her attention. "No clues as of yet as to what caused it..."

"...Carl?"

"She says if anything else comes up, we'll know. For now, they're getting back to scouring for any clues."

"They're...they're mad, to say the least." The news of a threat on Poseidon's life was going around quickly. "To even think of releasing them..."

"Say, you mentioned there'd been a woman in a white coat." B spoke up this time. "Did you manage a good enough look at her?"

"Well, beneath her white coat she work some kind of sleeveless black shirt, and had very short black trousers." One of the monsters that had survived the one-sided battle answered. "However, the one feature that stood out more than anything was her eyes. They were simply without color, without any kind of soul behind them..."

"She sounds much like someone from our side... problem is, that person was put to death for her crimes." Notably, this sentiment made the monsterwoman jolt back a bit, as if she had been shot in the heart.

"What crime would warrant death?"

"The exact same thing going on right now, attempted global genocide. The woman I refer to is- rather, was known as Asagi Kurosugi. She came pretty damn close to succeeding in her attempt."

"Yet she was stopped, correct?"

"She was, but I reiterate, she was essentially a hair's breadth from completing her goal. If that woman at Poseidon's really is Kurosugi..."

"But for that to happen, she would have had to find a method to escape or be unaffected by death itself." Zio pointed out. "Though now the only way we can confirm this woman's identity is by finding her and getting a good look ourselves."

"In short," Mita declared, "Should she or her new friend show up somewhere and start causing trouble, let us know. We'll tag along, and if it is Kurosugi-"

"We put her back into the Underworld, permanently." A new voice finished her sentence. Everyone turned towards the ornate double doors to see who just walked in uninvited.

"What the- Nelius?!" Indeed, for it was Nelius.

"Nobody told me there was a get together going on." As if oblivious to the thousands of staring monsters, he strolled on in. "I admit, I've only read about the shit Kurosugi's pulled in our world's past, but to find out that she's potentially hiding here, of all places..."

"You said you were snoozing." Brutus was just as surprised as everyone else.

"Key word: was. Throttled Prinnies make for surprisingly effective alarm clocks. So, I miss anything important, aside from this supposed Kurosugi being a plague upon this place?"

"Well, while you were dozing off, it turns out that Poseidon, this world's deity of the oceans, came under fire by this woman and her new friend. They've been plotting to awaken several beings that currently slumber within her domain."

"Huh. Unusually brazen for someone infamous for being manipulative and unwilling to directly do the dirty work. And what about those weirdass holy eating bugs?"

"Still nothing new on them yet. They seem to be more of a random occurance."

"How'd you get in here?" The Demon Lord's husband seemed more irritated than intrigued.

"You left the front door wide open and unguarded. Were it anyone else, that'd be an open invitation screaming 'Hey, rob me blind!'"

"You would be wise to cease your flippant ways."

"Dude, I'm a demon. Being a smartass is gentically coded into us." Disregarding the glare he was receiving, he continued on. "Back to the topic at hand, though, if this really is Kurosugi we're dealing wiith, she needs to be flushed out, and quick... then there's also the matter of her new friend."

"I take it you have a proposition for taking that being out?"

"At this time, no. Given that I've only heard about what it can do, I'll have to actually see it in action to form a countermeasure. So, not to be parroting Mita, but if there's any sign of either Kurosugi or her friend causing trouble, let us know."

"Very well. We will be expecting you to keep your word."

"Of course. We're all in the same boat, more or less." With that, the offworld demons began their trek back to the underground Yoshitsuna.

"Hm?" Sif, upon seeing several other monsters headed back, focused her binoculars to get a better look. "Hey guys, there's some monsters headed back, but they look kinda beat up... and unless I'm seeing this wrong, a majority of them got weird jewels on them."

"What kind of jewelry?"

"Oh, hey Ada. I didn't hear you enter the room. The stuff I'm seeing on them... looks kinda like eyes."

"...Sif, those are Deruella's minions, but you said they're all beat up?"

"Yeah, even with these things at half magnification, I can see all kinds of cuts and bruises all over them. One even looks like she pissed off Liebrich."

"...that is thought-provoking. Perhaps it has to do with that voice we'd heard."

"Something that can tear through this world's defenses other than us? That'd be the day."

Downstairs, Carl was mulling over a few notes that Atreya had lent him before headed with Tomoe. These notes were based on calls for a dimensional transport, but modified to simply allow conversation.

"Let's see, if this is supposed to work like that, then if I take this... hm? Hey, this might just work!"

Outside the mansion, Uutyk could be found patrolling the outer borders, spear in hand. He knew that Sif was keeping an eye out the south and west ends of the mansion, and so kept to the north and eastern ends.

'That border is wavering again.' He kept an eye on the fluctuating border of demon realm power that was clearly visible. It kept expanding and retracting, bit by bit, much like an indecisive person who couldn't decide wether or not to enter a place.

"Hm?" Atreya's head perked up as she felt something in the air. "Hey, check that out!" She pointed out something appearing on a wall of the house she was next to.

"What is that?" The something on the wall flickered in and out of focus, and a person could be vaguely seen.

"He...trey... ead... treya, do y..."

"Wait a minute... Carl, is that you?"

"Oh, co-" The picture flickered out for a second before coming back into clearer focus, a certain Green Skull appearing. " Hi there!"

"Whoa, Carl, how'd you do that?"

"I was checking out the notes you left me about trans-dimensional communication. I decided to rearrange them some, and lo and behold, here I am!"

"Nifty. You gotta show me how you did that when we get back. Anyway, what's going on?"

"We were getting a little antsy about what was going on. What happened out there?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out." Vash took over the conversation. "As it is, this place looks as though everyone just abandoned the town. There's no other clues aside from some feathers Shizuka found."

"Feathers?"

"These ones." Shizuka held the black and white feathers up to show the Green Skull. "Raphael has identified the white one as being an angel's feather, but the black one is a mystery to us."

"I think I've seen one like it back when we were on the run in Lescatie, but I can't quite put my finger on it."

"Either way, assuming nothing else comes up, we'll be back soon enough."

"If I might make a suggestion..." Raphael spoke up. "Would it be a more tactically sound idea to have your friends come here instead?"

"Have us all gather up in one place..." Carl thought on it for a moment.

"Well, if we did take that offer up, we'd have to head back to grab everything anyway." Tomoe pointed out. "You aren't the only one who's got things stashed away."

"Fair point."

"I'm gonna let the others know. This might take a while, since we're all spread out." Carl's image disappeared, and the picture flickered away.

"Not here..."

"Nothing over this way."

"Not in here, either...agh, damn it all!"

"Problem?" The dual-colored being turned its head to regard its affiliate.

"Yes, damn near everything that's happened up until you arrived. First I lose my ship, then I lose all my research into these-" She gestured to several glass tubes, each one incubating more of the holy-absorbing creatures, "-then I lost the one guide I had at finding this one's opposite-" She then pointed to the contained soul she'd detailed to her partner, "-and now Epsilon's remote is likely on the other side of this mudball. If this shit keeps going any further south we're gonna end up hitting Space Mexico!"

'Space... Mexico?' Even though it had no face to show, the twin-toned being was confused by her choice of words. Choosing to say nothing, it returned to its search for the remote. "Hn?" Seeing an odd pile beneath the desk containing the incubators, it crouched down, trying not to knock anything over as it reached between the low-set legs of the table to sift through the pile. Feeling something solid in the mess, it took ahold of the item and fished it out. In its hands was some kind of miniature screen, with an array of buttons. "Pray tell, what is this?"

"What is- that's it! That's Epsilon's remote!" Crossing the room in the blink of an eye, she took the remote from its hand. Flipping a switch on its side, she waited for the remote to boot up. "Blast, interference at this range, but no matter. Now that we have this, tracking down Epsilon will be much less of a hassle."

"The unfortunate thing is that due to our attempt on killing Miss Aquatits, it's likely we're being hunted down."

"Then we'll simply fight back." Reaching over, she collected six of the incubated larva, storing them into new tubes before pocketing them. She then headed to a seperate table, gathering several pieces of equipment, including what appeared to be two emblems and a piece of footwear. 'Good, they're just as I needed them to be.' "Time to hunt down my ex-pet and get you a much-welcomed upgrade."

Chapter 21: Complete