A/N:

To chuyachups: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it. And as for the dragon contract, it's still there. However, the reason as to why the black dragon didn't appear will be explained later on.

"K-K-Kurokocchi?"

Kuroko shifted his gaze from Akashi to the doorway, where the rest of the slightly slower rebel group members finally arrived.

Kise was first, followed by Midorima, Aomine and Murasakibara.

Kise was staring at Kuroko like he couldn't believe the person before him was truly Kuroko, and Kuroko took much amusement in that.

"Kise Ryouta." Kuroko greeted him.

"…Kurokocchi, you… Did you lose control again?"

"I did not. I simply awakened my full power."

"But…"

Kuroko sighed, turning away from Kise. He wasn't in the mood to have this conversation.

He stared at the large gem on the floor, blinking once. Then, he lifted his head towards Akashi.

"Do you know the true nature of this gem, Akashi Seijuurou?"

"Even if I do know, I have no plans to tell you."

"I see, so you do know."

Akashi narrowed his eyes at Kuroko.

Kuroko tilted his head. "Why won't you tell me? Is it because you fear me?"

"That is not it. Your ability to make a mess is troubling, so the less knowledge you hold, the better it is."

"Hm." Kuroko crouched down, resting a hand on the gem. "Well, I do have my own suspicions. And your ambiguous words actually helped me to confirm it."

Akashi did not reply, though his body did tense up.

"This gem is in fact, a very ordinary jewel. But the thing inside is not ordinary at all, right? It's not magic, it couldn't be magic, because there is a warmth coming from it. And when I pulled it out from the wall, this whole palace had destabilised. Mere magic is unable to do such a thing."

Kuroko grinned, stroking the gem lightly with his fingertips.

"The thing inside this gem is the First Emperor's soul, isn't it?"

Kuroko's eyes stared straight at Akashi, focused and not missing even the tiniest movement. But Akashi was formidable indeed, he didn't so much as twitch. Still, Kuroko lightly chuckled.

"Earlier, when I was away, I felt your burst of power. You must have dealt with the First Emperor then, but after that, you realised that the First Emperor wasn't whole, and so you started searching for the missing soul, right?"

Kuroko stood up.

"With a man that is obsessed with ruling, I knew that he would be overly cautious when it came to his well-being. He was naïve and reckless, because he was certain that everything would work out in the end, as long as the other half of his soul wasn't discovered."

Kuroko hummed, facing Akashi.

"So then, are you going to let me destroy this soul, Akashi Seijuurou? Or will you fight me, to protect this soul, to protect your duty?"

"I have been tasked with the First Emperor's annihilation, and I will not allow anyone to interfere." Akashi replied.

"I see."

Kuroko took a step forward, the air around him beginning to crackle.

"Then, that means that you will have to fight me for it. Come, prepare yourself. Give me a worthwhile fight, Akashi-kun."

"Uwahh!"

Kise cried out as he dodged a wayward spell.

Akashi's and Kuroko's inevitable fight had him looking on in dread, the room they were in somehow staying in one piece due to the emperor's magic.

Kiyoshi had told them that the entire palace was fortified by the First Emperor's magic, and was only spared disaster due to it. It even survived the explosion of magic from both Kuroko and Akashi, which clearly told of the emperor's strength.

The ground shook again, nearly causing Kise to fall backwards, as another spell was shot.

He stared up at where Kuroko was floating, joined by Akashi, dozens of magic circles around them.

The Kuroko he knew was no longer the same. It was very different from the time he lost control, this Kuroko was a terrifying demon. He had eyes of a monster, astounding magic capabilities, and a cruel temperament.

To Kise, it didn't look like Kuroko was fighting for the emperor's soul contained within the gem, but rather, he only fought against Akashi because he wanted to test Akashi's strength.

"Midorimacchi, is there any way to bring Kurokoccchi back to normal?"

"I don't know. I have never encountered something like this before."

"How in the world did Kurokocchi become like this? That First Emperor must have done something!"

Midorima frowned. "Do you mean a hypnosis?"

"What else? This is not Kurokocchi! We have been with him for quite a while, so I can say for sure that this is not Kurokocchi!"

"Hm, I don't think so." Murasakibara spoke up.

"Eh?" Kise blinked.

"I don't think this is anything like a hypnosis." Murasakibara explained. "Kuro-chin has always been very strong, and what I see now, is an unrestrained release of that power. There is a chance that Kuro-chin may have been swallowed up by his own power."

Midorima nodded. "Yes, that seems more likely."

"Swallowed up by his own power, eh." Aomine commented, eyes fixed on Kuroko. "That's a really strong kid, isn't he? Impressive. However, at the same time, he is extraordinarily weak. The moment there is the slightest doubt, it is enough to become overwhelmed by the power he holds. Only those who are truly strong, physically and mentally, could ever resist being swallowed."

Kise turned to face Aomine.

"Is there a way to bring Kurokocchi back?" Kise asked.

Aomine shook his head.

"Of course not. There's nothing we can do to help. The only hope we have is to rely on Akashi."

"But Akashicchi will not bring Kurokocchi back! Akashicchi will kill Kurokocchi!"

"Do you really think so?" Aomine raised an eyebrow at Kise.

Kise glared. "Of course! Didn't you hear what Akashicchi said earlier?"

"Really?" Aomine hummed. His gaze shifted from a joyfully attacking Kuroko to the serious Akashi. "Then, why has their fight gone on for so long?" Aomine softly asked Kise.

"What do you mean?"

"Akashi Seijuurou is a Sleeping God, one who is made to handle souls. It would be easy for him to distract this Kuroko Tetsuya, and steal the soul from the gem. However, Akashi is not doing that." Aomine tilted his head.

Midorima reached up to adjust his glasses, narrowed eyes staring up at Akashi.

"True. If Akashi really did this because he had to get the soul from the gem, this fight would've ended in minutes. But… Akashi has not once attempted to do so, instead, he is fighting Kuroko."

"Right?" Aomine chuckled. "If you truly want to kill someone, isn't choosing a method that is the most convenient for you a natural thing to do? You won't waste time with meaningless moves, unless, there is a hidden agenda that you want to achieve."

Kise stared, first at Aomine, then at Midorima and then back again. After that, he lifted his head to look at Akashi.

Skeptical, Kise softly murmured, "But what if… What if, Kurokocchi is somehow managing to seal off Akashicchi? Kurokocchi is unlike anything we have seen before, so what if he is preventing Akashicchi from taking the soul and ending this quickly?"

Midorima frowned. "It is true that Kuroko is something none of us have ever encountered before." With a thoughtful hum, Midorima shook his head. "But still, as a being who is under the direct control of the Higher Calling, even if Akashi is bombarded on all sides or robbed of his sight, he will still manage to easily draw out a soul that is a distance away.

"His existence is absolute and undeniable, a being that's cruel yet merciful. That is what it means to be called a 'God'."

Midorima glanced at Kise out of the corner of his eyes. "Perhaps Akashi is doing this because he too, wants to bring Kuroko back? Though he's not showing it."

Kise gaped at Midorima, stupefied.

A sudden violent explosion startled all of them, and they were unable to even react before they were sent flying out from the room due to the impact. Kise landed hard on his back, knocking the air out of him. But he managed to gather himself quickly, immediately looking around.

The walls within the palace had been completely blown apart, leaving gaping holes in their place. Kise turned his head, noticing the main doors of the palace not too far away. They were currently in the very place where they had first encountered the emperor's army.

But now, the place was completely empty.

Where did the hundred or so people vanish to?

Kise didn't even have time to think before something crashed into the ground beside him. Through the clearing smoke, Kise struggled to make out the figure buried in the ground.

…Kuroko!

Kise gasped, pushing himself to his feet. He barely got his feet underneath him when a loud boom rang out, and Kuroko shot back into the air, a frown on his face as he glared at Akashi. Soon enough, that frown changed into a smile as Kuroko's eyes flicked over to Kise.

Kise was yanked back and a barrier casted over him just as a tremendously strong spell was fired in his direction. The barrier shattered, and was swiftly replaced in the next second.

"Kise-chin, are you stupid? Why would you approach a crazy Kuro-chin?"

"Eh? Murasakibaracchi? Ah… That's… Just now, Kurokocchi was stuck in the ground… I wanted to help him."

"You idiot!" Aomine roared. "Didn't you see the way he targeted you without any hesitation? To help him now means getting killed, stupid!"

All four of them were encased in Murasakibara's barrier, staying close to each other so that Murasakibara did not have to spread out his magic too far.

Akashi had intervened the second after Kuroko had fired a spell in their direction, managing to intercept most of it and distracting Kuroko enough that they were spared another attack. Murasakibara's barrier was not enough to stop the current Kuroko, and would have surely caused all of them to be killed if Akashi didn't help them.

"Kurokocchi, please stop this!"

Unknowingly, a desperate plea slipped from Kise's lips.

Kuroko paid no heed towards those words, flying higher instead. Kise could only look on in horror as Kuroko spread out his arms, lips moving as he chanted out an incantation.

A massive sliver circle appeared behind him, lined with a beautiful light blue. That wasn't all, the incantation spilling from his lips never ceased, and then four more magic circles took form at the corners of the main circle. They were blurry at first, but rapidly came into focus.

Akashi had immediately fallen still upon the sight of the forming circles, and began chanting a spell of his own to counter it.

Kise wasn't stupid enough to not recognise the circles Kuroko was calling forth.

Water, earth, fire and wind.

The four major elemental magic. Their power comes from nature itself, from this very world. Unleashing all four types of nature magic at once was unheard of, since there have never been anyone capable of such a feat.

Magic that draws power from nature was the strongest, and the deadliest.

Just one spell from nature, like the fire spell Kuroko seemed to favour, was enough to cause devastating effects.

Using all four nature spells at once…

The entire world would be obliterated.

"He's gone completely insane!" Aomine shouted.

In response to Aomine, an uncharacteristic curse came from Murasakibara.

Midorima, Aomine and Murasakibara all immediately thrust their hands forward, shouting out their incantations as they called for the strongest magic they have. Kise's magic was too weak compared to the rest, but that didn't stop him. He too, chanted a spell.

No matter how weak, magic was magic. And with the additional magic from Kise, perhaps they would be able to somehow survive the release of the magic Kuroko was planning to use.

Akashi would surely do his best to cancel out Kuroko's magic, but they couldn't burden him with their protection at the same time. They would do anything, even if it meant sacrificing their limbs, to hold out against this insane magic, to protect themselves…

…To survive.

A bright explosion of light consumed the entire palace, the forest around it, and even the villages closest to the royal palace.