I know you all probably want to murder me right now for the lateness... *sees people with blunt weapons in hand* But I have a good reason for that!

This chapter was quite hard to write for it is MAJOR important to the plot of this Act. Also it's big.

Anyway, before we start, a skit for you who waited:

This one is between Zelos, Aqua, Glacius, Tenebrae and Regal:

Zelos' Trauma

Zelos: Urgh, honestly... from all of the Desian Grand Cardinal we had to face, it had to be one with a freagin' tentacle?! I swear, I'm taking a long bathe when we arrive.

Aqua: Seesh, you already said that five times. What is your deal with tentacles anyway? Are you scared of them?

Zelos: What?! N-No way! *smile while posing* Why would I, Zelos, the Last Romantic, be afraid of something as lame as...

Aqua: Behind you!

Zelos: AAAHHHHH! Get it away from me! Get it away... ! Huh?

Aqua: Hah! I knew it.

Zelos *sighing*: That wasn't funny, Aqua hunny.

Aqua: Don't call me that.

Tenebrae: Yes. Only "Master Richter" can call Aqua that.

Aqua: And you shut up, Tenebonehead! Who invited you in the conversation, anyway?

Regal: Still, the Centurions did raise a good point. Did Celsius have some kind of phobia towards tentacles, Glacius?

Glacius: Not that I remember. Although she never really tried it before.

Zelos: Eeewwww! Thanks for the disturbing, mental image.

Tenebrae: Maybe it has something to do with your childhood. Most traumas tend to develop at that age, right?

Zelos *sighing*: Ok, ok... I'll tell you. When I was little, I used to rummage through my grandfather's collection of magazines.

Regal: What kind of maganizes?

Zelos: Oh, there was economy, gossip and even... mature ones.

Tenebrae *chuckling*: My, my, weren't you a precocious one?

Zelos: Anyway... one day I found this one that was from Mizuho.

Glacius: How could you tell?

Zelos: It was written in letters I never saw before and it seemed that you read it from the end to the beginning. The only thing that circulated in Meltokio of that kind were Mizuho publications. I think they were named "manka", or something. Even so, it was kind of like a comic with this well-endowed, beautiful hunny... *heart eyes*

Aqua: Oh boy... here we come...

Zelos: And she wore these really skimpy clothes, more like straps, and there was some awesome fighting scenes. Until... she faced a tentacle monster.

Glacius: I think I have an idea how it might have ended.

Zelos: It was horrible. I never knew what rape meant till I saw it. Those slimy, gross things were wrapping around her entire body like it wanted to squeeze her life out, entering in every cavity there was... it was... just... horrible! I didn't leave my room for a week after and got nightmares from it.

Regal: Well, you should have paid attention to the age rating of this... piece of work before reading. Although I do have to admit, I feel sorry for you.

Zelos *sighing*: Seriously... why did my old man even had something like that on his library?

Tenebrae: Maybe he was a hentai fan.

Aqua and Zelos: Hen-tai?

Regal: Oh yes. I heard that is the category of this kind of publication. Although my father never let me close to any of those that were in Altamira's paper stores.

Tenebrae: Yes. Although, it would go under the sub-category "tentacle hentai".

Glacius: Honestly, I don't understand why some humans think females might find pleasure from it. I mean tentacles tend to writhe around, so they cause more discomfort than anything.

Zelos *narrowing eyes*: Can we, please, stop talking about tentacles? Thank you, very much!

Aqua: I guess even perverts have their standards.

Zelos gained the title "Tentaclephobia"


Chapter 44

Storm

It was a known fact that the Sylvaranti Liberation Front was a group that lacked a permanent base of operations. Not for the lack of offers, but Brute Lualdi was a man that didn't like to freeload on anyone, even if they were his allies.

With most of Sylvarant either in ruins or being dominated by Cruxis-loyal communities, it was quite difficult for them to find a place to build a permanent base. The dwarves once offered to dig them a base in one of Sylvarant's several mountain ranges, but a study of the geography of the places quickly shot that idea down.

Finding remote areas devoid of demon presence was a daunting task in the least and the few that existed would be far too costly to turn accessible.

So, the Vanguard was reduced to rotating the location of their key members and leaders from one safe house to another. A tactic that had worked very well until now, since it guarantee that should a member be captured, they wouldn't give away any information on their leaders' location (though that didn't stop the demons from putting a mole in and almost eliminating the heads of the resistance).

However, all of that was about to change as Brute was called back to the main Renegade base near the Mizuho mountains...

- / - / - / - / - / - / -

The three rebel leaders had their jaws dropped as Botta finished his report together with those involved in the Submarine Ranch takeover. He had even showed slides and photos taken by the EC systems and the cameras inside of the ranch.

"So... you were captured by Rodyle and taken to his ranch... which is a submarine," Yuan was the first to recover and ask, seemingly trying to assimilate it all.

"Yes," Presea said.

"And you incited a jail break to escape and to take control of the ranch... which is a submarine."

"That was our cool-headed hunny's idea, yes," Zelos said, sitting with his legs crossed in a relaxed pose.

"And you not only took control of the ranch... which is a submarine. But you also killed Grand Cardinal Rodyle in his own laboratory and control room... of his submarine," Martel spoke.

"You said submarine twice, grandma," Colette spoke.

"And now you are all presenting us with the ranch... which is a submarine," Brute completed.

"I think we already established that; yes, it's a submarine," Marta spoke, a sweatdrop on her forehead.

"Sorry Marta, it's just... that's a lot to take in."

"What is there to take in?" Ratatosk said. "We killed the bastard. We don't need a submarine base. You, on the other hand, might make a good use of it. Doesn't the Vanguard need a base? So, there! It's mobile and it's virtually untraceable."

"Plus, I made sure to check the communication and radio logs and it seems Rodyle was very reclusive and protective in regards to his experiments as not even once there had been any kind of communication with ranches," Raine assured.

"So you mean that as far as the Desians are aware, Rodyle is still operating his ranch?" Yuan asked.

"If they even know he had one to begin with."

"That might require further investigation, but, for the time being, I can't deny this is a valuable asset."

Yuan was just putting it lightly, Martel knew. Never in their wildest dreams have the leaders of the Renegades ever thought on taking something like that. They usually settled for pieces of altered magitechnology or Exsphere cargos.

"I also agree with Ratatosk. Brute, you should take it," Yuan spoke to his comrade.

"Are you sure, Yuan?" the man asked out of courtesy.

"I am. As our brash friend pointed out: the Vanguard is in need of a permanent base. Plus, a submarine base of that size would not only will allow you to house all of your troops, but it can also double as living, training quarters and a new refuge."

"Also, some of the rescued sailors are willingly to help. It seems they became quite familiar with the working and maintance of the vessel," Regal informed them.

"Well, if they don't mind," Brute mused as he looked at Yuan and bowed slightly to him. "I thank you for your generosity, my friend. I'll just contact Hawk and Kratos to arrange things and..." Brute was interrupted as the automated door opened and Hawk entered, looking a little out of breath. "Ah, Hawk. We were just talking about you," Brute regarded the lieutenant.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, sir," Hawk said, paying contingence, even though it wasn't necessary. Marta always said he was a little too stiff and serious sometimes. "But we've uncovered an uncommon demonic activity in the Ossa Mountains."

- / - / - / - / - / - / - / -

The surveillance center of the Renegade Base was a large room with several agents working on desks or in front of large computers. There were separated rooms for briefings and others that housed equipment for more accurate analysis. Although one would see it as mostly a confusion of people from both resistances going in and out with reports in their arms, Yuan saw it as some kind of organized scramble.

The party was now in one of the rooms that one of the Vanguard technicians had lent them. Hawk was showing them maps of the box valley in the center of the Ossa Mountains and images of demonic fliers' activity in there.

"Two days ago, we caught a small activity in the area, but the reading could very well mean a small group of demons passing by, so we decided to ignore it," Hawk was explaining to the assembled Summon Spirits and rebel leaders while a map slide showing the readings of chaos energy in the area was projected against the wall. "However, yesterday, the concentration got higher and now it reached the point where you can identify entire squads of fliers around the region."

An image of flying demons was shown on the projector. Although it was somewhat far, even for the zoom, one could discern the silhouettes of the demons flying around the mountains.

"But what would the region have to attract such a concentration of demons?" Brute asked.

"There isn't anything, sir. That is what we find suspicious," Hawk said. A new image appeared, this one showing a panoramic view of the valley. "From the old documents about studies and researches in the region, the soil doesn't contain traces of Exspheres. The region also doesn't have any strategic value, so to speak, since almost nobody travels through the Ossa Pass anymore.

"In fact, the only thing in that valley is a tree at its exact center," an image of said plant was shown. "An Linkite Tree, which, according to the records, had been there ever since the Kharlan War. Although no botanist had been able to discover how come a tree could grow in the middle of that place, considering the soil is so poor on nutrients."

"Could they be after the tree?" Colette asked.

"No," Yuan said. "Even though the Linkite Tree does have powerful magical properties, it would have withered away with the condition of the world. They were between the first plant species to become extinct at the end of the War."

"Couldn't we just ignore it?" Zelos suggested. "I mean, we know there is nothing there of use to the demons and the Desians, so why bother?"

"It is exactly because there isn't anything of interest to them that we should investigate," Yuan countered. "Believe me, I've seen enough of this kind of thing to know when the demons move like this, it means they are after something and found it."

The group stood quiet at Yuan's declaration. Most could understand his line of thinking, but even so...

"Yuan..." Brute spoke up. "While I agree with you, we must also take into consideration the possibility of this being merely a hoax. They might just be using this to attract our people to their death."

"If that's the case, why don't you just ask us to go?" Lloyd offered, making the three rebel leaders look at him.

"Yeah. It's not like we have anything better to do around here," Sheena said.

"Are you sure? We don't want to impose on you or anything," Martel said.

"Grandma, Sir Brute is right. You shouldn't send your soldiers to what might very well be a trap. We can handle it by ourselves," Colette answered in a determined tone.

"Yeah. What they said," Zelos inputted with a smile as the others glared at him with irratation.

Yuan and Brute thought for a moment until they came to a decision and nodded. Besides, they had a limited number of Rheairds and none of them was suited to fight against even a small flying force.

Deciding this was the best time to talk to his daughter, Brute called Marta to a corner of the room. He had been worried sick and more than a little pissed at the fact his dear daughter had come back sporting second degree burns after fighting a Desian Grand Cardinal. Brute had only calmed down when Marta herself told him they had killed the bastard. Even so, the brunette swore she never heard her father cursing at someone so much and so loudly as her father did.

"Marta, are you sure you should go? I mean, this isn't something that requires all of you to go," Brute asked his daughter.

"Daddy, I already told you: I'm fine. Besides, just because I'm a Summon Spirit that doesn't mean I abandoned the Vanguard. If I remember well, we combined with that I was just taking a 'temporary leave' when I went to travel with Emil," Marta told him with a smile.

"I know, I know. But it's just..." he sighed. "So much happened and so fast. I am still having trouble accepting the fact you're actually a Summon Spirit. To think you will have to face a monster like Nebilim someday."

It was at this point Marta hugged her father, making him stunned for a moment. Brute then relaxed and hugged his daughter back as Marta spoke:

"Don't worry daddy. I won't die. I promise. I now can do something about all of this. And I have friends that will protect me," she said, looking at him with a smile and then looking at the others talking with Yuan and Martel.

"Yes, I know, dear. You are already a grown woman and as such you can make your own decisions. I will try to worry less," Brute then chuckled. "If your mother was here, she would probably scold me for being so worried."

"Heheh. Mom always said you were kind of a worrywart," Marta spoke, taking a step back and smiling at him. Brute smiled and patted her head like he used to do when she was small.

Meanwhile, Emil was still looking at the photo of the Linkite Tree on the boxed valley. If anybody looked closely enough, they would notice his intense gaze.

"You feel it too, right?" Ratatosk asked him.

Yes. There's something... familiar about that tree. When I looked at it, I feel...

Suddenly, the image of his alter-ego's speech inside their mind came:

It is how I choose things to be.

Sadness...

- / - / - / - / - / - / -

"Boooring..." Alice spoke for what seemed to be the tenth time, kicking her legs up and down while she was sitting in one of the dried roots of the old Linkite Tree. Decus was on the other side, checking something on that Iron Maiden he always carried around. Probably his broadsword. "Isn't there something better to do?"

Hearing that, Decus poked his head around the trunk and looked at his crush with that devoted and worshipping expression he always wore when speaking to her:

"If you want, my dear Alice, we could always..." for that he got a Collapser on his face, which got scared as it was suddenly summoned and started to scratch Decus as the half-human, half-demon waved his arms and tried to get the creature off his face.

"I wasn't speaking to you, Dumbo Decus!" Alice scowled. When Decus finally got rid of the digger and stomped on it until it burrowed itself away, the blonde, honey-eyed, young woman spoke. "What are you doing behind this tree, anyway?"

Normally, she wouldn't even care. This was Decus, so it was probably something stupid. But she was bored and the only source of entertainment in several kilometers was either her self-proclaimed "knight" (stressing the word), or...

"Can you two quit it?! I can barely hear my own thoughts with you two bickering every five minutes."

Richter, who was send here by Nebilim himself to investigate a mysterious slate buried underneath a tree.

And of course, he needs an escort to be sure he won't try to run away again. Whoop-de-doo... Alice thought. Seriously, couldn't Lord Nebilim send Genis here instead? At least he's cute.

Alas, Genis arrived at the fortress pretty banged up, again, and his aides didn't let anyone get close to him. Alice didn't have anything against the armored, knightly one. She looked more stuck up than Richter, so the chances of she actually making a move on the young looking half-elf were slim to none. But Reritits was another story.

If Alice could, she would rip off those offending, overgrown mounds of fat she called boobs and feed them down the demoness' throat. The fact that she was actually an incorporeal demon who could change her form at will and turn solid enough so one could touch her was even worse.

Humpf! Perfect whore... that's what she is.

"Well, maybe I could, if I didn't have to babysit you. Seriously, you're worse than a recruit," Alice spoke in a haughty tone and tilting her chin up in a superior pose.

"Interesting. I was under the impression we were of the same rank," Richter said, coming up from a ladder that lead to the hole on the other side of the tree, opposite to where Decus was standing. "Besides, Lord Nebilim is well aware that I have every intention of ditching you all should the chance present itself and hasn't done anything about it," he flipped one of his red bangs to the side. "I wonder if he actually values his subordinates if he doesn't even dignifies himself to inform you of something as basic as that.

"Either that, or he didn't see the need to bother with you."

Truth to be told, Richter felt like he was the one making the babysitting.

Do these two ever stop arguing? One would think they have been married for decades. he couldn't help, but feel a little bit of sympathy for Decus, who was aiming for that very thing. Poor, delusional fool...

Decus had even went as far as acquiring one of those iron maidens they sold in Altamira which, according to popular belief, if you put a photo of your beloved one inside, after a set amount of days (roughly a year by what he remembered), the person will return your feelings. In another words, complete and utter rubbish made to catch unaware tourists, at least in Richter's opinion.

That made Alice pout and turn to Richter. However, Decus was quicker than her and pointed an accusing finger at the red head:

"How dare you speak like that to Alice?! She at least isn't constantly trying to turn on us!"

"Decus..." Alice said in a warning tone.

"No," Richter said. "She only needed one attempt at the Vanguard."

"Decus!" Alice berated at him, but the young man was already marching up at Richter, looking for all intents and purposes, ready to beat the crap out of the red head.

He didn't even reach Richter. Instead, Richter reached him, grabbed his collar, flipped him over his head and threw him on the ground with violence. The blue haired man tried to get up, but stopped at seeing a sword pointed at his nose.

"I thought I taught you better than that, Decus," Richter said, fixing his glasses with his free hand while his sword was inches away from Decus' face, being held by his other hand. "You weren't this quick to lose your temper before."

Decus looked like he wanted to retort, but in that moment an ice spire rose batting Richter's sword away and interposing between the two males. Alice then spoke:

"Both of you, stop! Decus, don't get into fights you can't win. And you!" she looked at Richter while patting her whip-rapier on her hand. "Get back to work. We might be the same rank, but I am in charge here. Lord Nebilim said so."

She liked to think this was a sign that she was out of house arrest since her fiasco with Ratamil and Martmart. She was finally back on field and taking charge of situation, even if it was a really boring and uneventful situation. The last thing she needed was having her subordinates killing one another.

Decus grumbled as Richter sheathed his weapon and went back to the hole near the Linkite Tree's base to resume his work so he could be out of there. As Decus got up and mumbled an "I could have won", Alice berated him:

"No you could not. Honestly, you're worse than a kid sometimes."

Alice always kept a close eye on everybody she worked with, specifically, their powers and abilities. Richter was, as Rodyle had quoted, an "exceptional subject". No matter the fact he didn't want to turn into a demon, his soul had adjusted to the chaos energy and his body had an assimilation rate so big he was given blood from a demon of the high species, the one considered the deadliest and most dangerous of all three demon species.

The honey-eyed girl had only seen Richter exhibit his demon form once and that was enough for her to realize he wasn't somebody she would like to fight against. She suspected he received blood from Genis' knightly aide's race, which only made him all the more dangerous.

The Desian General may be many things, but she certainly wasn't an idiot. You didn't survive in the midst of a bunch of bloodthirsty demons by being stupid. She knew when somebody was too dangerous for her to tackle without some kind of plan or backup.

Meanwhile, Richter was back to examine the "oh-so-mysterious" tablet (as he had taken to call it). Honestly, he understood the fact Nebilim wouldn't let him out without supervision on this one, but did he have to choose Alice and Decus? Their bickering was enough to drive anyone up the wall.

He's certainly getting more creative with his punishments. Richter thought. He then looked back at the tablet. Heh, never thought I would be doing this kind of job again... Richter smiled sadly.

In Sybak, Richter had been in charge of the Archeological Research Center, a big irony if you considered his previous position on that same department. In that place, he had learned much about ruins, ancient languages and many other archeology-related subjects. Actually, those were probably the reason he met Raine to begin with.

He never told her, but he considered his job a dreadfully boring one. Thinking on it now and seeing as she turned out, it might have been for the best.

The tablet, just like Merahwdir's aide said, was written in the Spirit's Language. Richter happened to be one of the last language specialists alive that had knowledge about this incredibly archaic tongue (although he was sure Nebilim would have been able to decipher it just fine too).

From what he gathered and from what Imasix told him, this was indeed a seal for something called "Watcher of the Heart", and it clearly wasn't a demon. First, because the seal was deceptively intricate. When sealing demons, the seal had to be " shut tight" to prevent any chaos energy from leaking and affecting the environment around. This clearly wasn't the case. It seemed more like it was preventing the environment to have an effect on whatever was imprisoned.

Second, it was common knowledge amongst any researcher of the Spirit lore that powerful demons were sealed by default on Gladsheim, the Prison of the Abyss, a pocket dimension inside the Dark Abyss itself, with an entrance created by Shadow and hidden away from mortal eyes. Anything imprisoned there could never escape to the light again, except if it received help from the outside.

Also, there was the warning in the seal that had taken Richter's attention:

... through protection, may its slumber never be disturbed. Until the world's corruption is undone... "Corruption"? Could it be talking about the state of the world today? Richter wondered, shaking his head right after. No, the seal clearly dates back to the last century of the Kharlan War. Hmmm... considering the name of the creature imprisoned here could it maybe be referring to...

"Decus, what the hell is this?!" Alice's voice sounded, interrupting Richter's line of thought.

"Dear Alice... I-I can explain..." Decus' fearful tone came.

Maybe it refers to the emotional state of...

"What?! YOU PERVERT!" the sound of her whip rapier lashing out was heard, repeatedly, accompanied by Decus' cries of pain. "I always knew you were an idiot, but a creep?!"

"But...OW! They were taken...OW!...strictly with the...OW!...preservation of your...Ouch!...modesty in mind! I swear!"

"Then what is this one of me in Altamira changing in a swimsuit?!"

"It's, uhhh... for my... personal collection... ?"

... anyway... considering the emphasis it gave on the word "heart", it...

"THAT'S IT! I'm getting rid of this stupid iron maiden!"

"NO! Please don't! It's still not completed... !"

"CAN YOU TWO SHUT THE HELL UP?!" Richter said, finally getting fed up with the couple's arguing and climbing up to ground level again. "I swear to the Spirits, I'm gonna burn your bodies and... !"

He stopped when he saw the two had stopped, Alice holding the iron maiden's handles while Decus was in a pleading pose, with his hands stretched, and looked up. It was then sounds of explosions and the feel of magic came to Richter.

The red head looked up and saw the aerial squads that had been patrolling the mountains to assure nobody would discover their findings where moving much like bees while several dots that seemed to shine with different colors collided with them, frequently sending one plummeting out of the sky as they approached a bit more to the center of the valley. The color on those was that of their auras, visible to the three half-demons down below.

Richter knew those auras.

"Well, well..." Alice said in her sing-song voice and deceptive, sweet smile back as she let go of the iron maiden (which Decus quickly grabbed and hid away from her sight). "Looks like things are about to get interesting."

- / - / - / - / - / - / - / -

It felt like fighting inside of a hurricane. The demons circled around them relentlessly, charging with talons, spikes, claws and everything else at their disposal.

The plan was for those with flight capabilities to distract the demons while the others approached the center of the valley, which meant Lloyd, Sheena, Presea, Zelos and Raine were downing demons with their magical projectiles or even fire beams, in Lloyd's case.

Man, am I glad I took some time to master this. Lloyd thought.

He briefly looked below and saw Marta, carrying Ratatosk towards the middle of the valley. Confident that they would be able to find out what was happening there, Lloyd turned his attention to the aerial combat.

Sheena flew close to Lloyd until they were back-to-back. Looking at one another, they both nodded and Sheena created a blade of light as Lloyd ignited his blue sword. The two grabbed their hands and started to spin in the air, shooting to the demons and destroying anything in their path in a maelstrom of light and fire.

Presea was covering Raine, who gave support with light magic and healing Artes whenever it was needed. Since they were in the air, Raine wouldn't be able to use most of her Summon Spirit powers, tough she could convert the water "bra" on her in a staff whenever a creep got to close. Only problem was, it left her breasts completely exposed.

What did the female-looking Summon Spirits had with skimpy clothes? Raine wondered.

Presea threw her ax, which in a flash of purple divided into several dark blades that cut down the demons, letting them plummet to their death. However, when she turned, something rammed into her, almost taking her out of the air. When Presea stabilized, she saw a dark lance coming straight at her. The Warrior of the Deep Abyss managed to move out of the way at the nick of time.

When the reincarnated Shadow looked again, she saw a huge, undead dragon with an armored demon mounted on its back swinging a very long sword at her. Zelos came in right in time and blocked it with an ice shield, shoving the demon knight back.

"So, you're here too," the Knight of Frigid Glory glared at the demon. "Hell Knight."

Lloyd and Sheena stopped and saw their old foe staring down at Zelos and Presea, however they also noticed something: his right arm was back, although it looked different. The limb was a metallic grey with runes on its back instead of the purple on the armor of the Hunter demon.

"Well, well. So the worms show up once again," the demon said in its raspy voice. "Finally, I can pay you all back for the humiliation from that time!" he then threw his right arm out and from it a blade stretched out to Zelos.

The red head dodged it, but the blade moved together with the demon's hand and forced him to bring his shield up. It managed to defend against the attack, but the ice cracked and broke away. Lloyd and Presea took that time to attack the Hell Knight, only to fly back when he raised his right hand and it suddenly shot a blast into the air which divided into several others, issuing a rain of energy projectiles.

During all of that time, Raine analyzed their opponent and saw that the new hand of the demon had changed into some short of weapon. That could only mean one thing:

"So, you replaced your lost arm with a demonic implant," Raine spoke loud enough for the others to hear.

The flying Summon Spirits looked at the Serene Sage and back to the demon, who seemed to chuckle behind his skull helmet.

"So, you've noticed. I should probably thank you. After all, it was you who cut off my hand and gave me this new one," he gazed at his hand as he held the saddles of the dragon with his other one. "It's really useful. Of course, I swore that the first thing I would do would be to bathe it in your blood!" he then raised his substitute hand and the aerial demons charged at the group, letting loose barrages of chaos projectiles.

Raine conjured a barrier on the group as they flew to meet with the vengeful demon...

- / - / - / - / - / - / -

"Really? The Summon Spirits?" Decus asked as Alice looked up through an ice binocular she just conjured with her powers.

"And it seems they're facing Gary Lish. Oh my, I wonder if he can actually kill them with his new toy," Alice said in a sweet, excited tone.

"If he couldn't take care of them when they were at their weakest, I doubt he would have any more luck now," Richter inputted, having complete confidence on the abilities of the group.

It also helped that Gerash had a terrible temper and was prone to make decisions based on his ego and anger.

Best Hunter Demon. Yeah... only if self-proclaimed. Richter thought.

That was when the three of them felt two powerful auras approaching. Two very familiar ones.

Alice dismissed her binoculars and her smile was gone as she looked on the approaching Marta and Emil. She gripped her whip-rapier tighter. On her end, Marta also identified Alice's aura and gritted her teeth. So her most hated rival was here too.

Well, isn't that just convenient! both thought as they attacked at the same time, right after Marta warned Emil she would drop him so she could launch one of her wind spinners at Alice, while she launched ice projectiles to counter.

The flying brunette then attempted to ram at the blonde, but Alice used her arms and managed to actually stop Marta`s charge. She attempted to counter, but the Whirlwind Rider quickly flew back and her feet finally touched the ground.

"Well, well, if it isn't Martmart. Still playing the willing bitch to Ratamil?" Alice said, there was no smile or sweet tone, only pure scorn now.

"Alice. Still the same power hungry whore, I see," Marta talked back.

"You know, I was dying to meet you again..." she then stood on a battle stance as she showed a fanged smile. "So I could rip your tongue off and make you eat your own words, you hypocrite."

"Look who's talking, the traitorous, little slut," Marta made her ethereal spinners materialize on the back on her hands.

"What did you say?!" Alice shouted in anger, but Marta continued.

"Oh, sorry, was I not clear enough? I called you a slut. 'Cause I'm pretty that's just what you are. You do have the habit of hanging out with people only to take advantage of them, right? I can only wonder what else you do on your free time."

"At least I'm not some over obsessed fangirl! Really, Martmart, can't you get any more pathetic? There must be something wrong with Ratamil for him to be attracted a flat board like you."

"WHAT?!"

The trade of insults quickly escalated. Alice finally got fed up with that and transformed into her demon form; her skin and clothes becoming pure ice and her honey-colored eyes became golden, shining pools. Her clothes changed to what looked more like a light set of armor and there was also an ice crown on her head.

Her whip-rapier became a sword with an electric-blue blade and a dark hilt. She swung it at Marta and, to the brunette's surprise it extended and bent like it was made of rubber. She flew to avoid the weapon as it hit the place she was moment before, scarring the ground.

Deciding that getting closer would put her at advantage, Marta flew towards Alice, who jumped back, trying to distance herself as Marta threw her wind spinners at her. The ice half-demon made a motion to jump back to the right as Marta was ready to throw a wind disk in that direction. However, that was a feint as Alice suddenly smirked, a now truly fanged smile on her ice face, as she instead jumped forward to meet Marta in mid-flight. The brunette was caught off guard and Alice punched her with all her strength.

The half-demons' cold body caused a light frostbite on Marta's face, even with her Summon Spirit protection, and the force of the blow was enough to send her to the ground. Marta rolled before she was able to regain her balance and stand on her feet.

The Whirlwind Rider looked up just to see an Ice Tornado forming around her and Alice then materializing in the midst of it, grabbing Marta by the chin while the icy coated winds attacked her.

"When I'm done remodeling your pretty face, Martmart, your little friends won't even want to look at…" she was cut off when Marta suddenly raised her left hand, wind spinner already materialized, and it cut through her face.

Alice let out a scream of pain as she let Marta go. The Desian General steadied herself and looked at the brunette with pure hatred on her eyes. She didn't need a mirror to see what that attack had done to her face.

"The only one getting a facial remodeling here is you," Marta said with a smile.

"You… you… BITCH!" abandoning all strategy, Alice threw herself at Marta, insulting her non-stop as the brunette did the same. The fight quickly descended into a brutal cat-fight with the half-demon trying to scratch the Whirlwind Rider's face off and Marta trying to retaliate Alice's body with her spinners.

Observing the two females trading powerful blows, slaps, punches and kicks were Emil and Decus. They stood in their place, not able to look away or interfere. The blue haired man then asked to the blonde:

"So… should we… help them?"

Emil thought about it for a moment, but Ratatosk soon came with the answer:

"Don't even think about it."

"If you don't have a death wish, it would be wise of you to never interfere in a fight like this between two women," came the curt and serious tone of Richter.

Emil turned to his long-time friend and put a smile on his face at seeing Richter there. The red head greeted him as Emil asked how he had been:

"Pretty much the same; running errands for Nebilim and his band of demons and inspecting a mysterious stone tablet they found here."

"Wait a minute!" Decus said. "Richter, you're not supposed to tell them that."

"Why not? My orders did not say I couldn't impart this information," Richter crossed his arms.

"Really now? So, are the rumors really true? Have you been leaking information to the resistances?"

Decus' tone became a threatening one, however, Richter didn't draw his weapons, merely staring down the blue haired man. Emil brought his hand to his scabbard, just for precaution. Richter didn't answer him, but his silence told the half-human, half-demon everything he needed to know.

"Ha! So you really are a traitorous snake, huh?"

"I never ever pledged my alliance or support for the Desians' cause, I made that clear since day one. I would rather be dead than in the place I currently am."

"Then allow me to make that a reality!" Decus then charged, broadsword in hand.

There was a "CLANG!" followed by sparks as Emil held Decus' sword in place.

"Don't think I'll let you kill Richter!" the blonde shoved him back.

"Why not? He himself said he would rather be dead than in this situation. I consider that a win-win," Ratatosk commented. Emil decided to ignore it.

"Emil, get back!" Decus said, his voice assuming an uncharacteristic, angry tone.

The blonde was about to say "No!" when Richter stepped forward, looking for all rights as if he was simply taking a stroll. The new Lord of Monsters called him, but the red head only answered:

"Emil, you don't need to defend me. I can take care of myself. Besides, it seems Decus hasn't taken his medicine today," he asked looking at the man.

Decus gasped and took a step back at that, wondering since when did the half-demon knew about that. Richter could practically read the question on the blue haired swordsman's face and answered:

"I always knew the injection of demon blood would have more severe effects on humans than on half-elves. I've wondered how come your mind and aura hadn't degenerated yet. Imagine my surprise when I found out you were receiving some help," Richter pushed his glasses up, his eyes shining dangerously. "I wonder what your dear Alice would think if she knew you were confraternizing with the 'enemy'? At least I am expected to do that, but her loyal slave? Some servant you are."

Richter's tone was a biting one and even Ratatosk had to admit that he approved of Richter's words. Decus took another step back, as if he had been struck. Divided between fear and anger, Decus choose to attack and end Richter before he could expose his secret.

The red head simply raised his sword and stopped the attack effortlessly. The half-human tried to go at it again, swinging his broadswords so fast it almost looked like a blur, but Richter parried every blow without breaking a sweat.

Emil could only look as the two men fought what was quickly revealing to be a one-sided battle…

- / - / - / - / - / -

Down in the hole at the base of the Linkite Tree. The golden crack on the tablet, which had remained inactive during Richter's examination, thus going undetected by him, started to glow …

- / - / - / - / - / -

In the air above the mountains, magical projectiles rained upon all combatants as magical shields and protections broke upon the strain and continuous fire of both parties.

Lloyd, Presea and Sheena couldn't approach to deliver their stronger blows, reduced to send magical blast and their weapons (on Presea's case) against their enemies. Raine was doing her best to cover for them, but even in this form she had her limits. Zelos was blasting ice away, concentrating on freezing their enemies and letting them pummel to the ground below.

However, the Hell Knight kept behind the lines, firing with his demonic implant hand lances, bullets and even throwing axes at the party. Even though they downed a good number of demons more kept showing. The sheer number of demons was quickly pressing away at Lloyd and the others as they were now forced to activate their individual defensive Artes to defend from the hail of fire.

Even though he was anxious, the Hell Knight had learned his lesson and kept his distance. Here, in the air, he held the absolute advantage with his troops as it seemed Sylph was absent. That only gave him a bigger edge as the Summon Spirit of wind would surely make things difficult had she appeared.

"Dammit Raine! We need to do something!" Sheena yelled amidst the hail storm of chaos fire.

"I'm trying to think, but that's quite difficult to do when they are bombarding us and I have to keep these barriers up!"

"Presea?! Can't you do something?!"

The adult-turned girl tried to convert her wings in dark tendrils, but the Hell Knight saw that and ordered the demons to disperse, giving a momentary pause to the fire. Lloyd and the others tried to use the change to approach him, but saw that their enemies had actually surrounded them, forming a ring. Now they were in a worse situation than before.

"FIRE!" the Hell Knight order in demonic.

The reincarnated Summon Spirits threw their defenses up. Sheena's shield was the first to break as the Hell Knight aimed his gun on her and unleashed a charged shot. She screamed in pain as chaos fire exploded all around her, her wings flickering out of existence as the demonic energies conflicted with her own.

"SHEENA!" Lloyd dived after her.

"Dammit! Frigid Shield!" Zelos went after his friends, using his defensive Arte to cover Lloyd as he dived after his girlfriend.

Raine wanted to curse too, but she was too occupied. With everybody out of formation like that the demons only had to pick them out one by one.

Are we… going to die here? After everything we had gone through?! Raine desperately thought, panic dominating her senses.

- / - / - / - / - / -

Down at the Linkite Tree, the golden crack on the tablet expanded until it covered all half of it…

- / - / - / - / - / -

Presea only looked on as her friends were about to get killed. Her cold analytical mind knew that as soon as their barriers shattered like Sheena's had, the demons would rain fire upon them. Even if the chaos blasts didn't kill them, there was a high probability they would break their defenses and reduce them to human form and a fall that high would be enough to kill any mortal, no matter how powerful.

Quickly weighting her options, Presea saw only one way out of this. For her friends at least…

"Raine, I'm going to attract their attention. When I do, fly to the earth with the others. You all should have better chances to defend yourselves there as you are closer to your element," Presea spoke.

"What? Presea what are you…" it was then it dawned on Raine. "You don't mean to… ?!"

Raine's eyes widened. She was about to stop Presea, but the pink haired Summon Spirit didn't give her the chance as se lowered her shields, flaring her dark aura to attract the attention of the demons and flew up.

It worked as the creatures looked up at her. Raine thought on attacking, but quickly dismissed the notion as she didn't have any wide area spells that would work in this situation and being so far away from water she couldn't use more offensive spells. Her heart ached painfully as she dived right when the Hell Knight called in demonic:

"KILL HER!"

All of the demons unleashed a barrage of chaos projectiles as Presea raised in the air higher and higher. Even so, she could feel the attacks colliding with her even as her aura protected her against the brunt of it and she avoided some. But against so many attacks even her defenses were starting to falter as she started to halter on her ascent each time a hit connected.

When the attacks ceased, she felt a stronger presence coming at her. Looking down she saw the Hell Knight flying to her. The demon materialized his long sword with his implanted hand, ready to take a swing at her. Presea stopped and materialized her hand ax, ready to defend and cleave at him.

The Hell Knight passed by her, made a U-turn in the air and dived, swing his sword. Presea swung her ax and, as she predicted, it shattered the purple, ethereal blade. However, she soon realized she should have attacked when the Hell Knight had passed by her.

The demon had jumped from his mount as soon as the blade had connected with Presea's ax, avoiding her swing. When he avoided her attack, the Hell Knight pointed his right hand at her, already having transformed it into a gun. Presea couldn't block it at that distance, as the gun was centimeters away of her face.

There was a loud "CRACK" in the air as the chaos gun went off. The shot hit Presea right in the forehead. The shot destroyed most of her defenses, resulting in her shadow wings to vanish as the damage took a tool on her powers, sending the woman pummeling to the ground. The Hell Knight's mount flew bellow him to steady the demon in the air again as he laughed at his accomplishment.

When Lloyd managed to get to Sheena, he and her looked up to see Presea falling through the air. The couple and Zelos widened their eyes and tried to go rescue her, only to be blocked as a swarm of demonic fliers rammed at them, blocking the reincarnated Summon Spirits even as they tried to cut through them.

Raine called for the Warrior of the Deep Abyss, but the Hell Knight blocked her way and she was forced to flee as the Hunter Demon tried to decapitate the Serene Sage.

As she was falling, Presea could feel her power leaking around her in the form of dark wisps of smoke. That direct hit contained some kind of enchantment that ate away at her weak defenses and the power behind almost knocked her out.

As she fell, she could see her friends still fighting for their lives as the seemingly endless wave of aerial demons flew around them, attacking the party from all sides.

I've... failed them... Lloyd... Sheena... Colette... I'm... sorry... she could only think that as she fell through the skies. Strange... I always thought that when I died, I would finally feel something, but... I feel so... sad now.

When she thought she wouldn't be able to see Colette again, be with her, or talk to the blonde… when she thought that Colette would cry because she was gone... that had made Presea find the will to go on living, but now... she could only cry at the thought of never seeing the blonde she had fallen for.

- / - / - / - / - / -

The tablet's ethereal cracks now covered its entire surface as they glowed strongly...

- / - / - / - / - / -

Marta and Alice still fought with savagery, not paying attention as demon limbs and corpses rained around them. There was only one thought on their minds: kill the one they hated so much.

Marta tried to saw Alice's head and face off as the icy half-demon tried to grab the Whirlwind Rider's throat, but only managed to scratch it. Alice could teleport by sublimating her body and reforming it anywhere she wanted. It also helped her body was able to reform itself using the humidity in the air.

The two now only wanted to cause each other as much pain as bodily possible.

Nearby, Decus was desperately attacking Richter, his frustration mounting as none of his attacks landed and the red head delivered several glancing blows on him. None were fatal, but that was just because Richter wasn't aiming to kill him.

That only served to incense the blue haired man even more.

- / - / - / - / - / -

A heartbeat-like pulse emanated...

The tablet shattered to pieces...

- / - / - / - / - / -

Suddenly, all those fighting on the ground felt a strong tremor that almost made them lose their balance. Marta and Alice, who had been now fighting on the ground, pulling at each other's hair and clothes, stopped when they felt the earth below quaking.

A pillar of light suddenly shot from the Linkite Tree to the skies. All the combatant's eyes widened at that. Richter quickly realized that probably was linked to the tablet, which could only mean one thing:

Whatever was sealed there, probably freed itself during this entire commotion.

- / - / - / - / - / -

Presea lost consciousness due to her loss of power, so she never saw the pillar of light reaching her and engulfing her entire body, however, the same couldn't be said about all of the demons and reincarnated Summon Spirits around the area.

All fighting stopped as they turned to look at the strange phenomena.

The pillar then faded away and a silhouette started to become visible. When the light cleared away all those in the air could see the figure of a woman dressed in what looked like ceremonial, crimson and golden robes with green branch-like and blue flower-like patterns on it. She had dark hair, closed eyes, a gentle smile gracing an attractive face, without any marks or blemishes and long, elegant fingers, which were holding Presea on the newcomer's arms.

However, some things stood out on this strange female. For one, she was floating in midair without any apparent effort. Around her neck was some short of red, leather collar with a golden bell on it and coming out of her back were nine golden, fox tails. However, what really caught the attention of the demons around was the woman's aura.

That aura was unlike anything any of the present had ever seen. It was a literal storm of power in which they could practically feel several emotions radiating from the female. Raine couldn't identify any kind of elemental affinity, only raw power.

Suddenly, the power receded, vanishing like it never existed. The woman then looked at her arms, at the unconscious Presea, who almost woke up when the full extend of that entity's aura was unleashed. She looked at the Warrior of the Deep Abyss like a mother would to her child and said:

"So, this is what has become of you all... how sad. Yet..." her voice was soft and melodic, so much one could practically lose himself listening to her talk. "I'm so glad to see you again," she gave a genuine, happy smile.

The woman's eyes never once opened, even though her face was directly facing Presea. Raine idly wondered that maybe she didn't need to see. To speak the truth, she didn't even remotely feel like a mortal or a demon. The feel she got at sensing that subdued aura was more akin to...

Ratatosk... yet… there's something vastly different on her. What is it?

The strange entity then looked at the demons with her closed eyes and spoke:

"Oh, how many demons. It's been so long since I saw so many in one place. Say, I don't suppose we could be friends, right?" her happy smile was still there as she asked the question in a very innocent tone.

The Hell Knight didn't seem to think so as he ordered:

"Attack!" getting over their confusion, the demon fliers went after the woman.

"I thought so…" she seemed to sigh, letting the demons come at her.

Seeing the woman hadn't made an effort to defend herself or charge a spell and still had Presea in her arms, Lloyd and the others flew to her as they tried to call her.

However, that soon proved to be unnecessary.

"Final Beat."

There it was again; that storm of unique power. This time it was directed at the demons, acting like some sort of pulse that violently threw all of the away, making them collide with each other and even ripping part of their bodies apart, like they had been hit by a giant, blunt weapon. Before he even knew what was happening, the Hell Knight's instincts kicked in and he threw a shield up, right in time defend himself from the attack.

The invisible force pushed against the purple, energy shield of the demon and was so strong he was shoved back. Right when it was about to break, the attack ceased.

Down in the ground, Emil and the others could barely discern what was happening above, even with enhanced vision, though they had felt that incredible, powerful aura. They saw the demons falling and moved to avoid the rain of demonic corpses. When it passed, the only thing they could all think of was:

What the hell just happened?!

The woman was still floating in the air with Presea in her arms. Not a single strand of hair was out of place. Gerash'Läh could only look at her, shocked she had brought down an entire legion of demons with a single Arte.

"Now, mister demon," she called him. "I believe you are the one responsible for my dear brothers/sisters' state. Correct?" when that question was uttered, the woman finally opened her eyes. And suddenly the world around the Hell Knight seemed to shrink and converge as he felt himself paralyzed on his place.

Although her eyes were open, no one, but the demon to which she had opened her orbs for, could see it. To anybody else, it looked as though she still had them closed. Her eyes were gleaming pools of gold, with vertical pupils. However, that wasn't what truly scared the demon.

Those eyes… they seemed to instantly pierce Gerash'Läh, looking past all of his defenses and touching directly his essence, his core. They transmitted to him a stream of negative emotions so strong that even he, a demon, felt like he was being crushed by it. He tried to look away, but he couldn't. Her eyes seemed to try and devour him, crush his essence with its power.

That was when his survival instincts finally kicked in and he turned tail and urged his mount to leave. It had become as scared as he did as it recognized a power it couldn't comprehend. And those emotions... demons didn't fear emotions and some could even turn them into power. But there was a limit to it. And the ones the eyes of that entity transmitted... they were already power.

Power she could easily crush him with.

For the first time, the Hunter Demon felt true fear.

Then the woman appeared ahead of him at the blink of an eye. When did she drop Shadow off? He didn't know, but he knew one thing: she was going to kill him. The Hell Knight then commanded his mount to fire as he aimed his right hand at her.

When he was charging his shot, one of her yellow tails extended and shot to his mount in lightning speed, piercing it through its mouth. A wave of power seemed to pass though the tail and suddenly his mount exploded inside out and he was airborne.

Another second passed and he suddenly felt his skull helmet in that entity's grip. If he had eyes they would have widened to the point of looking like they would pop out of their sockets. In a last, desperate effort, the Hell Knight pointed his transformed hand at her and shot at pointblank range. The shots hit, but they weren't doing anything. It was like she wasn't even affected by his chaos energy.

"You know..." the woman said, her tone still held its soft, melodic lilt to it, but there was something strange with it. "I don't like it when someone threatens my cherished ones," those golden eyes bore at him, he felt like his power was being squashed away like it was nothing.

The Hunter Demon was thrown in the air and when he started to fall, he saw the woman aligning her fingers on her right hand in a spear motion.

The Hell Knight screamed... and was silenced forever when a hand came up in a spear motion, piercing his head through the face of his helmet. The body stopped its descent... and subsequently exploded as a wave of power traveled the woman's hand.

Although she was covered in a rain of gore that would soon disperse, the woman still smiled that serene smile, golden eyes now closing as the one they were directed at with anger was no more...