Hello Internets, and Happy April Fool's Day!
As you may have guessed, this isn't actually the next chapter. BUT DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL NOW. After all, I have taken the effort to write this massive short story for you (B-But don't misunderstand okay!? I-Its not like I wrote it because I thought you'd be disappointed by the fact there wasn't a new chapter. Got it!?)
Anyway, this next part is a serious announcement. As in, it's not an April Fool's joke.
Due to various obligations and a lack of inspiration, this fic will be on break until mid-May. Sorry, but right now I just can't even think about writing fanfics. Maybe if things settle down I might be able to get something in, but from what it looks like the next month and a half is going to be rough.
I'll say it twice since it's important, THIS IS NOT A JOKE. If one of you later complains about lack of updates, thinking 'oh, I'm sure that was just a joke (lol)' I swear I will- [Due to technical difficulties, the next portion of the text was lost. We here at (your internet browser here) apologize for the inconvenience]
*Ahem* Now that I'm finished with that tirade, here's the short story. Enjoy and review (or don't)
To answer some questions:
fangs of death: Undecided for pairings. Only if I can think of funny ideas for omake
ahsoei: Ah, my bad, those were errors. They should be fixed now.
April Fool's Short Story
(An Untold Period of Time Ago)
In a vast and ornate room, atop a massive stone staircase, were six enormous thrones. This was the Throne Room of the Elemental Lords, the absolute rulers of Astral Zero. Though they had their own responsibilities overseeing the various lesser spirits, the Elemental Lords often came to this room to meet with each other.
Of the six thrones, however, only five of them were glowing brightly, indicating the absence of one of the Elemental Lords. It seemed that the Strongest Elemental Lord, the Darkness Elemental Lord, Ren Ashdoll was not present at this meeting.
"Hah…it looks like it's that time of year again…" The Wind Elemental Lord, Belphal sighed despondently. He was a young boy with light green hair.
"A year….already…?" The Water Elemental Lord, Iseria Seaward asked nervously. She looked like a young child with blue hair.
"No doubt about it. I am not looking forwards to what she intends to do this year" The Fire Elemental Lord, Volcanicus grumbled. He took the form of a man with a fierce face.
"Maybe…she'll forget?" The Earth Elemental Lord, Lode Gear said hopefully. Despite being the youngest of the five, he took the form of an old man with a staff.
"I wish. Onee-sama always takes that day of the year strangely seriously" The Holy Elemental Lord, Alexandros replied. The reverse of Lode Gear, he was the eldest of the Elemental Lords, but had the youngest form, a young blonde boy.
""""Hah….""""
At Alexandros' words, all five of the Elemental Lords sighed simultaneously.
"Really, of all the human customs Nee-sama had to pick up, why'd it have to be that one?" Belphal complained.
"Well, she's always loved pranks, so I guess the idea just stuck to her…" Lode Gear said "…I suppose her picking up that custom was inevitable"
"In the first place, why do the humans widely celebrate a day for tricking each other in the first place!?" Volcanicus shouted "If it wasn't so popular, we wouldn't have to deal with this every year!"
"Ah…that's…not quite right" Iseria said quietly.
"Hm? What do you mean" Volcanicus asked, turning to Iseria
"Oh, you guys didn't know? Fool's Day was originally a very obscure human custom." Alexandros said, helping out the shy Elemental Lord "It wasn't until Onee-sama picked it up that it became known across the continent"
The day the Elemental Lords were discussing was Fool's Day, an annual event that took place on the first day of the fourth month, in which people endeavored to trick and prank as many other people as possible. Though to humans and lesser spirits it was a sacred festival to entertain the Darkness Elemental Lord with interesting tricks, to the other Elemental Lords it was nothing but a headache.
"Really, it wouldn't be so bad if she'd at least restrain herself a bit" Volcanicus complained.
"Ugh, tell me about it. Though last year wasn't too bad, do you remember the year before?" Belphal asked.
"Yeah…she prepared a world consuming spell and was about to activate it, saying she was bored and felt like killing everyone, before saying "tricked you~" at the eleventh hour. I really thought we were all going to die!" Alexandros exclaimed.
"Y-Yeah…t-that was scary…" Iseria trembled, remembering the past.
"Or the time that she cast a global illusion that hid everyone's faces?" Lode Gear chimed in.
"Ah, that was really creepy" Belphal said.
For a period of time, the Elemental Lords shared their grievances about their beloved but troublesome 'elder sibling' and her pranks.
"Say…I've been thinking…" Volcanicus suddenly spoke up in a strangely serious tone.
"Hm? What is it?" Alexandros said, turning to the Fire Elemental Lord.
"…Why don't we don't we get back at her this year?" Volcanicus said. At these words, the other Elemental Lords leaned closer conspiratorially.
"What do you mean?" Lode Gear asked.
"Well, we've been the victim of her pranks all this time…" Volcanicus explained "…so why don't we get her back this year"
"Oh? I like the sound of this…" Belphal said with a smirk "…What do you have in mind?"
"Well, I was thinking something along the lines of pretending to stage a coup d'état, you know, fake a rebellion" Volcanicus said slowly "We can even prepare some powerful offensive magic and mobilize our armies to make it seem authentic"
"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan! It's time nee-sama got a taste of her own medicine!" Belphal said, giving his approval to the plan.
"I…I don't know…t-that's kind of mean for a prank…" Iseria said hesitantly.
"Do you remember the time nee-sama changed all your acolytes into frog—"
"I'm in"
Not even waiting for Belphal to finish, Iseria bluntly gave her support. Her cold glare at that moment was enough to give even Volcanicus chills.
"W-Well if even Iseria agrees to it…"
"Y-Yeah, I guess I'll help too…"
While they didn't particularly approve of the plan, Alexandros and Lode Gear didn't really have any reason to object to it, so they hesitantly agreed to participate. Besides, they were getting tired of their 'elder sister's' pranks as well.
"Great. Fool's Day will be in a bit less than a week, so we'll have plenty of time to prepare. Until then, make sure not to tip her off about the plan" Volcanicus said.
"Sounds good. See you in a week then" Saying this, Belphal left for his domain.
"Hm. Until then"
"Well, see you later"
"Goodbye"
"I'm looking forwards to this…"
One by one, the Elemental Lords left their Throne Room, leaving the cavernous chamber empty.
Or so it would seem.
"Ha ha, I'm surprised it took them this long to consider pranking me before I could prank them!" A voice from seemingly nowhere laughed heartily.
From the center of the Throne Room, a swirling mass of darkness coalesced into the shape of a young woman.
The young girl was an eldritch beauty with a happy, playful expression. She had long, white hair and a pair of jet black wings protruding from her back. A closer inspection would reveal that there were a pair of horns growing out of the side of the girl's head. Wearing a jet-black dress, this was undoubtedly the Darkness Elemental Lord, Ren Ashdoll.
[Author's Note: Her description is based on an unofficial image drawn by the illustrator of Seirei. May or may not be canon]
"Pretending to stage a rebellion, huh? Volcanicus can think of some pretty nasty things…" Ren said to herself happily "…Still, I'm kind of surprised even the timid Iseria and the straight-laced Alexandros agreed to participate. I guess I might have teased them too much~"
"Well then, what should I do about this?" Ren continued. Though she was discussing a malicious prank aimed at her, she seemed nothing but happy.
"While normally I wouldn't let anyone prank me, since it's those children, I guess I can pretend I didn't hear their plotting" Ren decided, while humming merrily to herself "Besides, I'm kind of curious what kind of grand magic those children will come up with~"
Giggling cheerfully, the Darkness Elemental Lord disappeared into darkness from which she came, leaving the Throne Room empty, this time for real.
"Hm…if I use a powerful Radiance attack, that should be enough to disperse onee-sama's defensive shadows and…" Alexandros muttered to himself as he began preparations for the Fool's Day prank.
"Oh? What are you up to Alexandros?"
"I'm perfecting the spell to remove—Wait, onee-sama!?" Whirling around, Alexandros found himself face-to-face with his 'elder sister', who was grinning happily. "W-What are you doing here?"
"Me? I was just checking on you…hm, that's quite a complicated spell. What did you say you were using it for again?" Ren asked, maintaining a smile that revealed nothing.
"A-Ah…uh there was a 'Wild' Spirit with extremely powerful defense capabilities that was raising a ruckus in my territory, so I was making a spell to deal with it." Alexandros lied.
Wild Spirits referred to spirits that were not created by any of the six Elemental Lords. Instead, they came into being spontaneously, so they had no particular loyalty to the Elemental Lords. The Sacred Sword of Severian, Terminus Est, was such a spirit, as were Dragon spirits.
"I see, I see" Ren nodded with an innocent smile "Shall I help you out then? Offensive magic isn't really your specialty after all"
"N-No, t-that's quite alright!" Alexandros quickly declined "I'm, uh, trying to improve myself. Thanks for offering though!"
"Suit yourself…well, if you don't need help, I'll stop bothering you" Saying that, Ren disappeared into the shadows.
"Phew…" Alexandros breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he made sure his elder sister was gone "…That was dangerous…Does she suspect?"
*Crack*
"Huh?"
As Alexandros mumbled worries to himself, a faint sound, similar to that of shattering glass, sounded out beside him, surprising the Holy Elemental Lord. Turing to the source of the noise Alexandros saw—
"What…is that…?"
—A blob of pure darkness streaming out of what appeared to be a crack in the air. Looking closer, Alexandros could see that space itself was distorting around the crack.
"Is this another one of Onee-sama's creations?" Alexandros asked himself cautiously. Ren enjoyed experimenting with her Creation magic, so she often created all sorts of abnormal spirits. Apparently, these spirits were called as Demon Spirits by humans and were revered for being the Darkness Elemental Lord's creations.
"What should I do with it…?" While the other Elemental Lords weren't too fond of these spirits, Ren treated them like her own children. Though this particular being gave Alexandros a bad feeling, just destroying it was probably a poor decision "I guess I should call Onee-sama to pick it—"
Za, zazaza, za—
"Ah…Gah!"
Before he could finish talking, Alexandros felt a sharp pain in his head
"AHHHHH!" Clutching his head, the Elemental Lord screamed in agony.
"Ahhh….ugh…huh?...what the heck was I doing?" Eventually recovering himself, Alexandros looked around him in confusion. The strange, Otherworldly entity was nowhere to be seen.
"Um…let's see…I was working on this spell to…kill onee-sama?" Alexandros asked himself carefully "Yeah…that's right...we were going to kill Ren Ashdoll, who has betrayed all of creation…"
"Heeey! Belphal! What are you doing?"
"Gah! N-Nee-sama!?"
Belphal, who was carefully constructing an intricate wind spell mid-air, lost control of his flight magic after being startled by his elder sister's call. Falling out of the sky, he was caught by said 'elder sister' moments before hitting the ground.
"That was really dangerous Belphal-kun!" Ren said worriedly "You need to be more careful!"
"You worry too much nee-sama. Falling from that height wouldn't have hurt me anyway…and wasn't it your fault I fell in the first place!?" Belphal yelled out angrily
"Ahaha, sorry about that~"
"You don't look sorry at all!"
"Don't worry about it, don't worry about it" Putting down Belphal, Ren tried to wave the issue.
"Ah, jeez, you're hopeless…" Belphal shook his head incredulously
"Ha ha, sorry about that too~"
"Ah, whatever…" Belphal said, deciding that it was pointless to press the issue "What brings you to Ragna Ys, nee-sama?"
"Hm, I guess I just felt like checking up on my cute little brother" Ren declared happily "Aren't you glad you have an elder sister that worries that much about you?"
"You're just bored aren't you?" Belphal said with a sigh.
"Yep~"
"Well at least you're honest…"
"Anyway, what were you up to Belphal? That looked like some intense magic you were working on"
"Ah…uh, I was working on mass destruction spell…" Belphal said hesitantly 'Why is she even asking? Nee-sama should definitely be able to tell what kind of magic it was at a glance…'
"Oh, mass destruction is it? What are you using it for?"
"There…is a certain mountain that's blocking my view from my main shrine so…"
"I see, I see" Ren nodded in understanding "I'll leave you to your work then"
With those parting words, Ren disappeared into the shadows.
"And people say I'm unpredictable…" Belphal muttered to himself as he watched Ren disappear. Though he sounded irritated, he had a light smile on his face.
"Belphal"
"Wha…oh hey, what are you doing here Alexandros?" Belphal said turning to his fellow Elemental Lord who had appeared out of nowhere.
In response, Alexandros opened his mouth slowly and—
Za, zazaza, za—
"GAAAAH!" Belphal screamed in pain.
"Hey Belphal are you listening to me?" Alexandros asked, ignoring Belphal's pained screams.
"Gaah…ugh…aah…"
"Oi. Belphal"
"Ahhh….Alexandros….why are you here?" Belphal asked Alexandros with a blank expression, acting like his agonized screaming never happened.
"I thought it would be best if we learned coordinated our spells to make sure the plan goes smoothly" Alexandros answered matter-of-factly
"Yes, that's a good idea" Belphal nodded in understanding "Killing nee-sama will require all of us working together after all…"
"There's no need to call her that" Alexandros said angrily "That traitor is no sister of ours"
"That's true…she is now just an existence that must be killed" Belphal agreed "Let's get everyone else…"
"If I increase the intensity of a simple Flare spell it becomes Prominence…casting it multiple times becomes easy and…ha ha, this is going to be amazing!"
Volcanicus chuckled sinisterly in the depths of the Fire Mountain as he worked on a spell strong enough to give even his 'elder sister' a scare.
"Guess who~?" Suddenly the Fire Elemental Lord's vision was cut off.
"Gah, what!? Who!?"
"Not telling~"
"Hah…it's you isn't it?"
"I don't know. Who's this 'you' that you're talking about?"
"Don't test me, Ren Ashdoll!"
"Oh, you're calling me by my full name now? That makes this onee-chan sad, you know?" Ren said despondently, taking her hands off Volcanicus' eyes "Ah…I remember back when you called me nee-chama, you were so cute back then!"
"D-Don't mess with me!" Volcanicus shouted angrily.
"Hai, hai, onee-chan understands. You're just at that difficult age" Ren said, nodding 'yep, yep' to herself "Don't worry, I won't abandon you just because you're being difficult or something. Feel free to express yourself hooweeveeer you want"
"Are you…mocking me!?" Volcanicus demanded
"It might seem like it, but I'm really not" Ren said, staring straight at Volcanicus.
"!" Taken aback by Ren's suddenly serious expression, Volcanicus was unable to respond.
"I know it's a bit hard to see, but I'm really worried about you, you know?" Ren said with a rather troubled smile.
"T-That's…y-you're probably just messing with me again aren't you!" Volcanicus stammered, feeling embarrassed by Ren's concern.
"Yep~" Ren declared with her usual, playful smile.
"…Huh?"
"That was aaall a joke~"
"…YOU…!"
"Ha ha, what a scary expression" Ren said with a laugh "I better run away before something bad happens to me"
Ren turned around and created a portal of shadows, but—
"Hold on"
"Hm? What is it, my dear little brother?"
"I'll take your title of Strongest Elemental Lord someday, onee-sama. Until then, you better not lose to anyone!" Volcanicus declared boldly.
"Hmph, is that so? I look forward to it"
Saying that, Ren disappeared into her shadow portal. Just before she left, Volcanicus thought he heard her mutter "back to 'onee-sama', huh?" happily to herself.
"Really…for the Darkness Elemental Lord, you sure are bad at lying…" Volcanicus whispered to himself
"Volcanicus? Are you in there?" A familiar voice called out.
"Oh? Do have business with me Belphal, Alexandros?"
Za, zazaza, za—
"GAAAAH!"
"…So if I modify a Drought spell to absorb Darkness instead of water, I can….hah, I can't figure it out. Nee-sama was always better at Consumption magic anyway…" Lode Gear scratched his beard as he tried to think of the most efficient way to construct his spell.
"Yes, it's your troublesome elder sister here! Did I hear you call my name?"
"Nee-sama…no, not really…" Though he was surprised by his elder sister's sudden appearance, Lode Gear remained calm, as if he were used to this sort of thing.
"Aw, don't be like that!" Ren said with a light pout "Let's see what you were working on….hm, an earth element draining spell is it? A powerful one too; even an Arch-demon class spirit would be consumed in an instant…This sure is a fine piece of work…you're quite the genius Lode Gear"
"Ha ha, it's nothing much…" After Ren, Lode Gear was the Elemental Lord most interested in experimenting with magic, so they often showed the results of their research to each other. Because of this, Lode Gear was used to Ren's compliments (and very used to her criticisms) "…Besides, it's not even complete yet. It might not even work
"No, even so this is really impressive…" Ren said sincerely "…All your other siblings seem to be going for a brute force approach, so seeing something as elegant as this is refreshing"
"Eh, what was that?"
"Nothing~"
"I see….well anyway, this level of magic pales in comparison to your Creation magic"
"Oh, you need to have more confidence in yourself!"
"If you say so…" Lode Gear said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.
"Hm, I do" Ren nodded seriously.
"…So what are you even doing here anyway? Did you have something to tell me?" Lode Gear asked, changing the subject.
"Oh, I just thought I'd drop by since I was concerned about—"
"So you're bored" Lode Gear interrupted
"Pretty much~"
"Well at least you're honest…"
"Pfff, ahahaha!" At Lode Gear's response, Ren burst out laughing.
"? What's so funny?"
"N-No i-it's just...Belphal s-said the exact same thing…" Ren said while giggling
"That really isn't that funny…." Lode Gear said incredulously "…wait, you say you met with Belphal?"
"What, jealous that I didn't visit you first?" Ren asked, grinning mischievously.
"…No?" Lode Gear said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Hah…I suppose I should know better than to get a reaction from you…" Ren sighed in disappointment.
"Hm, maybe some other time…" Lode Gear said with a small smile "…So what, are you going around visiting all of us because you're bored"
"Basically…wait, how'd you know I was visiting all of you children?"
"Well, if you visited me and Belphal, I just guessed…"
"Hm, well you guessed right. It's been a while since I visited and I was bored, so I thought I might see how you lot are doing"
"Hm…that's nice and all, but…"
"Ah, right. You're still busy working on that spell. Don't worry, I'll get out of your way" Ren said cheerfully, stepping back into the shadows "Keep up the good work!"
"Ah…thanks" Lode Gear said, waving goodbye to his 'elder sister' "…Well then, I really need to get back to—"
"There you are Lode Gear. I've been looking for you" A voice said from behind.
"Hm? Why are you guys here?" Lode Gear asked, turning to face his three 'elder brothers'.
Za, zazaza, za—
"Ugh…I might have gotten carried away, agreeing to pull a prank like that…" Iseria Seaward mumbled worriedly to herself. She was staring despondently at her reflection in the mirror-like lake that surrounded her residence "Doing something like that to onee-sama…what was I thinking?"
"Hm? Something like what?"
"Kyaa!"
*Splash*
Surprised by being suddenly spoken to, Iseria fell into the lake.
"Whoa, are you okay? Here, take my hand" The speaker offered her hand to the drenched Elemental Lord.
"A-Ah, thank you….w-wait, onee-sama!?"
*Splash*
"Ha ha, am I really that scary? Come on, let's get you out of there" Ren said, once again offering Iseria her hand with a wry grin.
"S-Sorry…"
"That's not what you should be saying at a time like this, right?" Ren said with a smile
"Mm, right….thank you"
"Good girl" Ren said, patting Iseria lightly on the head.
"Mmmm…" Iseria sighed happily as her head was massaged "…huh? I feel like I'm forgetting something..."
"Oh? What is it?"
"If I knew I wouldn't…Ah, right! Why are you here onee-sama!?"
"Who, me? I just wanted to see if you were doing alright, since I hadn't seen you in a while"
"Is that so? Thank you very much for your consideration onee-sama!" Iseria said, giving Ren a grateful bow.
"…" Ren silently stared at Iseria in amazement
"I-Is s-something wrong onee-sama?" Iseria asked nervously.
"No, it's just when you takes me seriously like that, I'm at a loss of what to say…"
"Uh, what?"
"I said that I'm happy to have such a lovely, straight-forward younger sister~" Ren said cheerfully, hugging Iseria tightly "Aw, you're so much cuter than those other children! Who's bored you jerks!?"
"Onee-sama!? S-Stop, y-you'll get all wet too!"
"That doesn't matter at all~!" Ren said, hugging Iseria even tighter.
"Ugh…you hug too hard onee-sama…" Iseria complained after eventually escaping Ren's grasp.
"Sorry, but you were just too cute to resist hugging" Ren said unrepentantly.
"Hah, please restrain yourself a bit more onee-sama…" Iseria sighed.
"Maybe next time" Ren answered merrily "So, what's been bothering you?"
"E-Eh? H-How could you tell something was bothering me?" Iseria exclaimed.
"It's all over you face" Ren said, lightly poking Iseria's forehead.
"Uuu…so it's that obvious…" Iseria said, looking down.
"Yep, so spill the beans" Ren answered.
'I can't just tell her about the prank…' Iseria thought to herself as she considered what to say "Umm…w-well basically…uh, I-I agreed to do something without thinking it over properly…"
"I see…" Though she wore a serious expression, Ren was laughing on the inside, amused by Iseria's poor attempt at concealing her thoughts "…So what do you think about the pr—err, task, that you agreed to do? Now that you've had time to consider it."
"Well…the task itself isn't too bad but…I'm concerned that someone might get hurt…" Iseria said worriedly.
"Ha ha, you worry too much Iseria!" Ren chuckled
"T-That may be true…" Iseria said timidly "...But I just can't help but worry…"
"Really now, you should learn to relax a bit more…" Ren looked kindly at Iseria as she spoke "…but if you really do worry about it that much, then I'll do something about any problems that might happen"
"H-Huh?"
"Whenever you plan to do whatever you're doing, just call me. I'll help you resolve any issues that might arise"
"W-Well that's…u-um…" Iseria said while averting her eyes 'I can't tell her that she's the primary focus of what's I'm worried about…'
"Aw, am I that unreliable…?" Ren said with mock hurt, well aware of what Iseria was struggling with.
"N-No, t-that's not it onee-sama!" Iseria said earnestly "I-It's just—"
"Let's just leave it at that then, since you seem unwilling to speak" Ren said, summoning a shadowy portal "Just remember, you can always depend on me if you need help, so feel free to do whatever you want"
"Ah…onee-sama…thank you!" Iseria said happily
"Well then, see you later" Saying this, Ren disappeared into the portal.
"She's gone…" Iseria said wistfully, staring at the spot her 'elder sister' had been standing.
"W-Well, since onee-sama said not to mind it, I guess I can start working on a spell for the prank…" Iseria said to herself.
"What? You're just starting now? Don't you understand the gravity of our situation!?"
"?" Iseria turned around to see—
"Oh, everyone! What are you doing here?"
(A Few Weeks Later, Fool's Day)
In the depths of a massive, dark Cathedral, Ren Ashdoll sat languidly in a great obsidian throne, as if waiting for something. The castle-like Cathedral had numerous levels piled up into an immense spiral tower, with the throne room located in the heart of the structure. This was the primary shrine of the Darkness Elemental Lord, built in the center of Ren's territory, the glorious city-state of Megidoa.
Megidoa was supposedly the first piece of land that Ren Ashdoll had created in Astral Zero, so it was considered the holy capitol of the spirit world. As such, the city's buildings were ornate and massive, so as to celebrate its patron Elemental Lord.
Because it was the Darkness Elemental Lord's place of resident, the entire region was covered in an everlasting night. Though this made it an unpopular place for humans to live, it was a paradise to Darkness Spirits and Demon Spirits, a lively city for things that went bump in the night.
That being said, Ren still had hundreds devotees (mostly elite princess maidens) willing to sacrifice the light of day to serve directly under her. The leader of these humans, the Darkness Queen, suddenly barged into Ren's throne room with a haggard expression.
"Huff….Huff…"
"You seem rather anxious, Veronica. Did something happen?" Ren asked the Darkness Queen imperiously. Though she acted childish to her 'siblings', Ren acted cold and authoritatively when before her subjects. Seeing how easily she switched personalities, the other Elemental Lords sometimes wondered what the true Ren Ashdoll looked like.
"Y-Your Holiness, whose glory covers—"
"Skip the formalities Veronica. What's going on?"
"Y-Yes! A huge force of spirits led by the other Elemental Lords are invading the city! They're headed straight for the Cathedral!" The Darkness Queen exclaimed "Your servants are fighting back, but the enemy is too strong! A-At this rate they'll—"
'They really went all didn't they? Ha ha, is that supposed to be payback for when I conquered all of their territory with my forces the Fool's Day thirty years ago?' Ren chuckled internally, before looking seriously at Veronica "I understand the situation. Order the evacuation of Megidoa."
"B-But Your Holiness—!"
"I'll handle the rest" Ren interrupted with finality.
"! Yes! May you conquer all who stand against you!" Seeing her master's confident gaze, the Darkness Queen could do nothing but obey. She quickly left the room to communicate Ren's orders.
"Now then, let's see what those children are up to…" Ren said once her attendant left. Casting a powerful observation spell, she studied the state of the besieged Megidoa carefully.
"Really…I don't really mind the destruction of the city that much, but you children are going a bit overboard, killing my servants like that…" Ren grumbled, sensing some of her Darkness Spirits disappear "…Looks like I'm going to have to give a lecture about the dos and don'ts of Fool's Day once this is all over."
Deciding that waiting until the army reached the Cathedral would result in too much damage to the city and its people, Ren created a portal to the center of the conflict. Stepping onto the battle field, she could see her servant spirits and elementalists were fighting back valiantly as they retreated, but were being overwhelmed by the combined might of the Elemental Lords.
"It would be a shame to lose such loyal servants for something like this…" Ren mumbled to herself, preparing herself for battle. A dark aura began emanating from Ren as she gathered her power"…Rise, Shadow Wall!"
Invoking powerful Darkness Magic, Ren created a wall of pure shadow that bisected the entire city. The forces of the other Elemental Lords were stopped in their tracks.
"A-Ah, Ashdoll-sama! You saved us!" Saved by Ren's barrier, the retreating Darkness Spirits thanked their master.
"Don't worry about it. Just get out of the city" Ren said brusquely
"Y-Yes!"
With the wall of shadow preventing the enemy forces from pursuing, the Darkness Spirits were able to evacuate the city. However—
"Ren Ashdoll! In the name of my master Volcanicus, I shall claim your head!"
—Enemy spirits capable of flying or leaping to great heights managed to make their way over the wall. One of these spirits, a young girl with short, red hair and cat-like ears, flew straight at Ren with a giant, flaming scythe in hand.
"Is that so? Good luck with that" Ren answered, lazily bringing up her hand. The flame spirit's scythe stopped inches from Ren's upraised hand, blocked by a shadowy barrier.
"As if this would stop me!" Yelling defiantly, the flame spirit focused her power to her scythe. The scythe's flames grew darker and more intense, slowly cutting through Ren's defenses.
"Oh? It's been awhile since anyone has been able to damage my barrier…" Ren said, impressed "…but let's see how good your defense is"
Saying this, Ren pointed a finger at the flame spirit and blasted her with a bolt of black lightning. The flame spirit crashed through a nearby house, which collapsed on her.
"You still alive in there?" Ren asked.
"HAAAH!" Intense flames incinerated the ruins of the house as the cat-eared flame spirit got up from the wreckage.
"Barely any damage…you really are strong" Ren applauded the flame spirit "What's your name?"
"I am the Scarlet Valkyrie, Ortlinde, and I shall be your death!"
"Ortlinde, huh? I'll remember that name" Ren said
"Like I care! Just die!" Ortlinde exclaimed charging at Ren.
"No thanks" Ren answered lightly as she pointed at the incoming flame spirit "Devour, Abyss"
A black portal opened directly in front of Ortlinde. The Scarlet Valkyrie desperately tried to jump away from the dangerous looking portal, but several shadowy hands emerged from the portal and dragged the flame spirit into its depths. Having consumed its prey, the dark portal disappeared, leaving behind no trace.
"Don't worry, it'll let you out in a couple of decades" Ren said, though she knew that the captured flame spirit couldn't hear her "I have a feeling I'll be seeing her around…"
"…Now then, the main event…" Ren turned around, just as the Shadow Wall behind her collapsed revealing—
"This is the end, Ren Ashdoll!"
—Her 'younger siblings', the other five Elemental Lords.
"Well, you children sure took your time. Did you get lost or something?" Ren asked the other five Elemental Lords mockingly.
They were not their usual appearance; their forms now were befitting of the avatars of power that they truly were. Belphal took the form of a great vortex that was only vaguely humanoid. Volcanicus was a blazing inferno. Lode Gear had become a giant golem. Alexandros had changed into a great knight, whose armor glowed with an intensity capable of incinerating a human. Only Iseria remained in a human-like form, having changed into a mature beauty with an ice-cold gaze.
"Laugh while you can, traitor. Now that your servants have abandoned you, you won't stand a chance against our combined might" Volcanicus said angrily
"Traitor, huh? What a convoluted setting this prank has…" Ren rolled her eyes as she mumbled this.
"What did you say? Speak up. It'll be your last words after all" Belphal said, putting a hand to his ear.
"Ugh, how cliché can you get? If your script is that lame, could you save me some pain and just kill me now?" Ren facepalmed as she continued her criticisms of the supposed prank.
"With pleasure! Rainbow Radiance!" Alexandros yelled, casting a spell of great power. A giant magic array appeared in the sky, and rays of every hue rained down on the normally dark city. Anything imbued with the Darkness element was quickly vaporized by this light.
"Amazing…to think you were able to create a Holy Element spell capable of dispelling my Darkness barrier…" Ren murmured in awe as she observed her defenses disappear "…But I think you really need to improve your naming sense. That was probably the lamest name for a spell I've ever heard."
"!" Alexandros needed to focus on maintaining his spell, so he could only growl angrily in response.
"What, you can't do anything while casting that spell? How are supposed to kill me then, you idiot?" Ren snickered.
"He only needs to break your defenses! We'll do the rest!" Lode Gear rumbled, his rocky from fusing with the ground "Be consumed, Great Dearth!"
A swarm of countless worms made of dirt and dust arose below Ren and bit into her. With each worm, Ren could feel a significant portion of her power being absorbed.
"This is very impressive too, the rate of energy consumption is astounding. Not to mention doesn't have a lame name like Rainbow (lol) Radiance. Good job Lode Gear" Ren said, somewhat proudly "But it seems to have a rather obvious counter…namely this!"
Ren blasted the ground below her with ball of shadowy flame, destroying the worms and sending Ren flying into the air. High in the air, the remaining worms were unable to reach the flying spirit.
"That spell can't do anything if the opponent is in the air…that's true, I admit but..." Lode Gear said.
"…If you're in the air like that, you're wide open!" Volcanicus finished "Turn to ash traitor! Solar Flares!"
Several dozen magic circles appeared around Volcanicus, which vomited out streams of incandescent material at the mid-air Ren.
"Lava?...No, it's plasma isn't it? And in such quantity…that's awfully scary Volcanicus" Ren said, looking worried for the first time in the battle "Vorpal Blast!"
Pointing her hand at the incoming stream of plasma, Ren sent out a stream of ebony lightning. Colliding with Volcanicus' Solar Flares, the two attacks created a bright light rivaling a supernova. As the two spells clashed, it became clear which one was stronger. The black lightning was slowly being pushed back.
"As expected, it wasn't enough…those guys sure worked hard at this" Ren muttered, as she teleported out of the way of the stream of plasma. Since her energy had been drained by Lode Gear and Alexandros' magic was still weakening her magic, Ren couldn't compete with the sheer power of Volcanicus' attack
"Ah, what should I do—Wait. Where did Belphal go?" Looking down on her 'siblings' Ren saw that the Wind Elemental Lord had disappeared.
"Right here!" A booming voice like a thunder crack from above declared.
"!" Ren whirled around to see that Belphal was flying above her. The Elemental Lord brought it's 'arms' up, and the atmosphere distorted around him, creating thin, rotating javelin in his hands.
"Oi, Oi, are you seriously trying to kill me, using something like that?" Ren asked worriedly. Though the weapon was small, Ren could tell it was extremely dangerous "Alexandros', Lode Gear's, and maybe even Volcanicus' spells might be acceptable for this kind of thing, but if you start throwing around something like that, I might start to misunderstand your intention you know?"
"Misunderstand? If you're trying to confuse me, it won't work. Heavens-Piercing Drill!" Belphal hurled wind spear at Ren without hesitation. Flying at supersonic speed, the spear stabbed into Ren, sending her smashing into the ground.
"Gah…ugh…ah, I get that you children are tired of all my pranks, but this is going a bit too far isn't it?" Ren groaned in pain, crawling slowly out the crater her impact had created. She was a sorry site, with a large hole in her abdomen. Though she was regenerating, the process was being slowed greatly by Alexandros' spell. Raising her head, she looked up to see Lode Gear and Iseria were before her
"Really, what are you children—!?" Ren stopped her complaint mid-sentence after looking into her sibling's eyes for the first time this whole battle.
Though their forms (besides Iseria's) were not human-like, the Elemental Lords still had eyes. Staring straight into their eyes at that range, there was no way that Ren was able to misunderstand their intention.
Ren finally realized that, without any doubt, her family was trying to kill her.
'Eh….EHHH!? W-What is this!?' Even after realizing the truth, Ren simply couldn't understand what was going on 'Why would they do this!? Where they really that upset by my pranks? Were they unsatisfied with my rule? Why? Why!? WHY!?'
"Look how low you've fallen Ren Ashdoll. It's good to see that a traitor like you has been put in your place, crawling on the ground like an insect" Lode Gear said coldly as he looked down on Ren.
"Ah, Lode Gear! Why is this happening!?" Ren desperately asked 'The word 'traitor' came up again…what am I supposed to have betrayed!?'
"It's because…your existence can't be forgiven…" Iseria whispered quietly.
"Iseria? What does that—?" Ren turned to her younger sister, but was silenced by the intense pressure Iseria was exuding.
"Bye-bye, Onee-sama." Iseria said sadly. While Ren had been talking to Lode Gear, she had been casting a powerful spell "Still everything in existence, Frozen Elysium!"
Ren's vision went white as she was trapped in a glacier. Not just Ren, but the entire city of Megidoa was frozen solid. With the colorful rays of Alexandros' spell reflecting off the glacier's massive ice crystals, the city's perpetual nightscape had been transformed into a wintery wonderland.
Completely immobilized, Ren was—
'Ah, seriously, what is going on here? They were trying to kill me the whole time? Ha ha, I really made a fool out of myself…'
'…No, if I hadn't overheard their planning about a prank session, there's no way I would have misunderstood for that long. Oh, did they know I was there and deliberately confuse me?'
'…That doesn't really matter though. What's important is why they're trying to kill me in the first place…'
'…Let's see…they mentioned 'traitor' quite a few times and Iseria said I can't be forgiven…
"…Traitor, traitor…any way you look at it, they're the traitors aren't they? Those ungrateful children who would rebel against their creator…'
'…Unforgivable…but anything that I've done that can be considered really bad I've apologized and been forgiven for. Though there might be some residue resentment, it wouldn't amount a rebellion like this…'
'…Ah…Have I just been hated by those children this whole time?...Was I the only one who considered us a family?'
'…Was what we taught each other…'
'…The times we laughed together…'
'…The fights we had, the moments we shared…'
'…Was it all a lie? Was nothing genuine?...'
'…I don't know…'
'…I don't know…'
'…I don't know…'
'…I just don't know anymore…'
'...'
'...'
'...'
'…Ah...I don't really care anymore…'
'…What was true, what was a lie, I just don't care…'
'…I'm just tired…'
'…So very, very tired…'
'…Tired tired tired tired tired tired tired tired tired tired tired tired tired tired tired, absurdly tired…'
'…This absurdly long life, I've been tired of it for a while now…'
'...If those children really want me dead that much, I'll grant their wish...
'…and so…'
'…"I" will sleep for now…'
'…and so…'
""I" shall leave everything to you…Restia"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…Yeah. I'll handle those brats from here on out"
"Is she dead?" Alexandros asked, moving up to Iseria.
The five Elemental Lords were meeting at the border of the city, where their armies had retreated to once the battle with Ren had begun. The great city was still glittering magnificently and the residue power of the spells that had been thrown around made it impossible to sense if Ren had truly perished or not.
"Yes. Not even she could escape this spell" Iseria nodded in affirmation
"Ha ha, good work everyone! The traitor is finally dead!" Volcanicus laughed boisterously.
"Why are you celebrating? You barely even did anything!" Belphal said with a snicker.
"S-Shut up!"
"We can leave the issue of Volcanicus and his uselessness for another time. For now, let's celebrate!" Alexandros declared happily.
""Yeah!""
The Elemental Lords cheered happily and turned to leave, but then—
"RAAAAAAAH!"
—A loud, ominous roar froze them in place.
"W-What was that…?" Iseria asked timidly
*Crack*
As if to answer Iseria's question, the ice encasing the city all shattered. Instead of falling to the ground, however, the shard of ice were converging at one point. Flying to the spot where the ice was gathering, the Elemental Lords saw—
"This presence…it's—!"
"So you've arrived"
—A terrifying monster. Its entire body was black as the darkest of nights, except for its hair, which was a pure white. It vaguely resembled a human female, but was clearly a spirit of untold power. Two pairs of horns grew out of the side its head, which crackled with black lightning. The spirit had no facial features, save a gaping, slit-like mouth that opened across the whole of its face. Its ivory hair writhed about, forming six snake-like heads. The shattered ice, no, even the ground around the monster was being pulled into it, consumed by its power.
Despite its terrifying appearance, however, the Elemental Lords could tell that this was the Darkness Elemental Lord.
"So this what onee-sama looks like when she gets serious…" Alexandros murmured anxiously. Even he, the second eldest of the Elemental Lords, had never seen Ren like this.
"That's wrong, Alexandros" 'Ren' answered, in a distorted, inhuman voice completely unlike Ren's usual, childlike voice.
"What?"
"While I am definitely Ashdoll, I am most certainly not Ren"
"You are Ashdoll but not Ren? What kind of riddle is this!?" Volcanicus bellowed.
"It means exactly what it sounds like. I'm the side of Ashdoll that Ren doesn't show you brats" 'Ren' answered "But more importantly…"
"…Weren't we supposed to be killing each other?" 'Ren' said, suddenly appearing behind Alexandros.
"!" The startled Holy Elemental Lord whirled about while casting the strongest spell he could think of, but—
"Too slow"
—Before he could even comprehend what happened, he had already been blown away.
"Wha, so fast—"Unable to even finish her sentence, Iseria was also blasted away.
"T-This ridiculous monster" Belphal, the fastest Elemental Lord, was the only one who could perceive 'Ren's' movements. Because of that, he could see that 'Ren' was defeating his siblings one after another not with powerful magic or skillful technique, but with brutish, beast-like strikes.
"Gah!" Volcanicus cried out as he too was defeated.
"Tsk, Belphal! Distract her!" Lode Gear shouted out
"That's a lot to ask!" Despite his complaints, Belphal did as he was told and challenged 'Ren'. The two exchanged several blows but it soon became clear to Belphal that he was hopelessly outmatched.
"Geh, then how about this!" Belphal exclaimed, jumping back to put some distance between 'Ren' and himself. Quickly chanting, he cast a weaker variant of the spell he had cast earlier. "Sky-Piercing Spear!"
The vortex-like spear flew straight at 'Ren' and—
"N-No way…"
—Was completely absorbed into the Darkness Spirit. Belphal could only stare in amazement as the unaffected 'Ren' sent him flying with a tremendous punch.
"You got Belphal too? But it's too late, I'm done casting" Lode Gear declared confidently "Absolute Dearth!"
Unlike his earlier spell did not absorb energy from an intermediate form like the dirt worms. It was an invisible attack that drew the opponent's power into the caster. Lode Gear's spell stole an enormous amount of 'Ren's' energy, and as if to reflect that, 'Ren's' luxurious white hair turned pitch black. However—
'It theoretically should be able to consume an infinite amount of energy, but I can't handle this much power!' Having absorbed over his capacity, Lode Gear was forced to cut off the spell or run the risk of shattering into pieces.
"Huff…not bad…" The sudden loss of power exhausted the Darkness Spirit considerably, as her movements had become sluggish. However, despite her drop in speed, it was clear that she was still in fighting condition.
"Damn…just what kind of monster are you? You really aren't Ren Ashdoll are you?" Lode Gear asked hopelessly.
"As I already said, I'm not Ren. However, since we're both Ashdoll we are pretty much the same person. We share memories and feelings after all…" 'Ren' said and despite not having a face, she managed to look extremely angry "…Which why I absolutely can't forgive you brats for hurting her. Come to me, Vorpal Blade"
A black sword darker that the furthest deeps of space manifested in 'Ren's' hand like crackling lightning. It was an impressive longsword, which seemed like it would destroy all of creation. Raising the sword up, 'Ren' took up a stance similar to an executioner.
"So we couldn't beat you…before I die, can you tell me your name?" Lode Gear implored.
"If you really feel the need to identify me, than I suppose I'll honor your last request" The Darkness Spirit said with a sigh "I am Restia—Gah!?"
Just as she named herself, 'Restia' was wracked with intense pain.
"Grrr…rah!" 'Restia' roared as she writhed in pain.
"What's going on?" Lode Gear wondered.
"Ugh…I see, so that was your plan…" 'Restia' groaned in agony "…You…absorbed enough energy…for me to become unstable...and…with Ren being dormant, I can't stabilize myself…well done…"
"Eh?...I-I mean y-yeah, you sure fell for my plan…" Lode Gear stammered
"Really…so from the start you had the resolve to sacrifice yourself to kill her…did you really hate Ren that much? It didn't…seem like it from our memories…"
"Well, we wouldn't have tried to kill her if—Wait, sacrifice?"
"Ha ha, you read this far but didn't consider this? What would happen if a being with as much power as I became unstable?"
"Well obviously a massive explosion would—Oh"
"Nice knowing you, little brother!"
"Like I'm going to die here!" Lode Gear proclaimed defiantly, teleporting himself and the rest of the Elemental Lords to his territory in the mountains of Astral Zero.
"Tsk, they got away…" 'Restia' said in disappointment "Should I go after them?…No, I won't be able to manage such a long distance teleport in my current state..."
"...In that case, I'll take what I can get!"Saying this, 'Restia' teleported herself into the midst of the other Elemental Lord's army, which was camped on the outskirts of Megidoa.
*Ka-Boom*
With a tremendous explosion that annihilated the army, Ashdoll's existence was scattered across the world.
After that day, the existence of Ren Ashdoll was erased by the other Elemental Lords. All her images and temples of were destroyed, and festivals that celebrated her glory, like Fool's Day were forgotten.
Megidoa would henceforth only be known as a place of death, its previous glory forgotten. Travelers who adventured near the necropolis would report having nightmares haunted by a dark presence whispering 'I'll be back~'
(Hundreds of Years Later)
"Ugh…where…am I…?" Waking up suddenly just as twilight fell, what appeared to be a young girl slowly picked herself off the ground. She wore a black dress and had hair as dark as the night sky. Looking around, she saw that she was in the ruins of a long dead city.
"This is…?" The young girl said, looking bewildered. Though she couldn't remember anything about herself, she felt that this city was very familiar"...It's different but this must be…yes, this is definitely Megidoa…and I am…I am…"
"I shall leave everything to you…Restia"
For some reason, these words resounded in the girls mind. The voice that said them was exceedingly familiar, almost as if it were her own. They were probably the last words she had heard before falling into her slumber.
"…I am...the will of the Darkness Elemental Lord, Restia Ashdoll" She declared
That day was the first day of the fourth month.
(Six Years before Present)
"…And so, that was how I came into being" Restia said proudly as she lightly pat a young Kamito Kazehaya's head, which was comfortably situated on her lap. Though they had been training together, only Kamito showed any signs of exhaustion or injury.
"Why would I care?" Kamito asked dispassionately.
Though he was usually interested in Restia's stories, this one seemed like a blatant lie; parts of the story just seemed incorrect to the young assassin. Besides, he was still irritated by how badly he had been beaten by the Darkness Spirit in their last training bout.
"Don't you know what today is?" Restia asked
"Hah, the first day of the fourth month" Kamito sighed.
"That's right, it's my birthday! So you have to do something for me right?" Restia declared.
"…Why would I buy you anything?" Kamito asked coldly "…Besides, spirits don't celebrate birthdays…"
"Aww, but the Demon Kings I met always got me something?" Restia said cutely.
"…At the moment, I am but a candidate for that position" Kamito replied
"No, you're definitely it" Restia declared with confidence
"…What makes you say that?"
"You and I, we are definitely the same." Restia said
"…Tsk fine. So what do you want anyway? I can't exactly buy you a gift" Kamito asked, defeated.
"Oh, you know full well, don't you? I've been asking it of you since we've met, right?"
"…That's true…" Kamito said after a pause "…Fine, since I was planning on doing that anyway…"
"Really? You promise?"
"Yeah…I swear that you will die by my hand. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but someday, I will be the one to kill you." Kamito said confidently
"Fufu, thank you Kamito. I look forward to that day" Restia said, looking down at the assassin a smile that warmed even his cold heart "Oh, and Kamito?"
"…What is it?"
"Happy Fool's Day" Restia said, affectionately flicking Kamito on the forehead
"Hmph, I'm still not convinced such an absurd holiday actually existed..." Kamito snorted in disbelief as he gingerly rubbed his forehead "...But..."
"Hm? What is it?" Restia asked
"W-Well, t-that is to say..." Averting his eyes, the young boy looked away with a flushed face
"...H-Happy Birthday, Restia"
Could you figure out what Kamito found wrong with Restia's story? I tried not to make it too obvious, but I'm not exactly good with subtlety.
(And no, the answer is not terrible, terrible grammar. It's not bad spelling either)
