Ch 38: Paradise Lost (Part 3)
Gyer
(3 years 1 day after Valefor massacre)
I don't think I've ever experienced such a potent mix of fear and hatred before.
I reflect that it's a fairly new experience, staring at Skyhook with a dull gaze.
What had once been the crowning jewel of EDEN is now a half-collapsed, shadow-wreathed skeleton that has the appearance of some horrific marine beast, all writhing pseudopods and undulating waves.
"I still don't think this is a good idea, King."
"I didn't accept you into my Peerage to be the voice of reason and restraint, Berne. Don't start now."
"Trust me, no one is more out of their element right now than I am. But my point still stands. I think we have to face the facts and accept that whatever it is the kid did, it's given him all of the advantages and us all of the disadvantages."
I glance around EDEN, signs of it's large continent of guards hurrying to their stations and preparing to carry out my plan, the other revelers of EDEN loudly and repeatedly complaining…but nonetheless making their way to evacuation points regardless.
They're used to packing it in at a moment's notice, what with Kalichi being practically next door, massive and extensive wards or not.
…Four minutes to go before Valefor's deadline expires.
"I get what you're saying, Berne, I really do. But we don't have a choice. Say we do run. What then? Whatever technique Valefor did either seems to have done away with his rationality…or he's so enraged he relishes the idea of playing with us before going in for the kill. He will go after us if we leave."
Berne shrugs.
"So? Live to fight another day."
"It's not that simple. Considering the rage he's in Valefor won't be subtle. He'll charge after us and he knows where Crocell territory is…assuming he doesn't spread news of his return all across the Underworld, just to spite us. And in that case it hardly matters what will happen to him."
A scowl draws my mouth downwards.
"Father will have our heads long before Valefor does. Not informing him of the severity of our situation, exposing the fact that a Valefor still lives to the world and potentially indicating us the prime suspects of the families destruction? I would honestly take my chances with the enraged boy…"
Berne considers my words before heaving a sigh.
"Hoisted by our own petard, eh?"
"We'll see."
Andreas and Pallas land on the roof next to us, both of them quickly reporting in.
"Everyone is out of EDEN, King. We can begin at your command."
I nod and glance at Pallas, my Bishop pursing her lips before shaking her head.
"Nothing. The inside of Skyhook is just one enormous mass of indistinct power and, well…malice. I couldn't sense a damn thing."
…Just what in Satan's name did that damn brat do?
No matter.
Raising a communication circle to my lips I order, "Beginning the countdown. Fire in twenty…nineteen…"
Almost sixty Supernaturals and Humans direct their aim towards the base of Skyhook. Elemental Magic, lightspears, heavy projectile and explosive weaponry…the whole works.
We'll wipe out that damn brat in one go.
"Fifteen…fourteen…thir-"
"Starting things off before I said we could begin? I shouldn't have expected anything else from you, Gyer…oh, and everyone else in attendance? I suggest you duck."
I blanch as Valefor's words obviously reach all of the surrounding groups, flinches and scowls of confusion dominating their expressions-
-and mouths begin to gape as Skyhook moves.
A deep, echoing groan issues from the building as it's physically lifted into the air, loose concrete and debris falling from it's titanic frame as the shadows surrounding it writhe all the more frantically.
And then they squeeze.
Skyhook shatters.
Enormous chunks of the structure impact the ground below with crashes that can be physically felt, leaving only a crumpled mess of support beams and braces held aloft in Valefor's grasp.
My face pales as with horrendous screeches of distressed metal the skeleton of Skyhook is ripped into jagged shreds, twenty shadows holding aloft twenty ragged pieces of scrap…the smallest of which is no longer than eight meters.
"King? Your orders?"
Orders? What orders, I don't have the slightest clue what the Valefor is hoping to get out of this other than shock valu-
His shadows begin to rotate, swinging their prizes in wide arcs and creating a surreal scene, like some form of demented circus attraction.
I pale as I suddenly realize what he's planning to do, the shadows picking up pace and beginning to create an audible howl as their arcs tighten and tighten.
"EVERYONE GET OFF THE ROOFTOPS, NOW!"
Suiting actions to words I dive off the lip of the hotel I'd posted on, my Peerage right behind me-
-and deafening CRACKS echo across all of EDEN, rapid explosions of percussive force following a split-second later.
The top four floors of the building we'd been on disappear in a spray of dust and shrapnel, a volley of metal ripping through them like they weren't even there.
Even through the clamor of the strike I can hear panicked cries from the other groups.
"Well I think that's enough foreplay…oh, and I heard you talking with Berne, Gyer…you really need to be more discreet, you never know what shadows on the wall might be listening..."
I can't help the instinctive twitch that has me checking over my shoulder…and prompts a dry chuckle from that damn Valefor.
"Jumpy, are we? Don't worry, Gyer…I'll come to you."
In the distance a spray of gravel and stone arc into the air, as if something that had been buried beneath Skyhook just tore it's way loose.
…He's coming.
"What the fuck, Crocell?! You said this would be easy!"
I barely have time to spare a glance at the few surviving members of Valefor's attack, a group of eight Devils all sporting various injuries and varying looks of anger and panic.
"Whatever the fuck it is you're having us fight, it ain't worth it! We're out of here!"
One of them spits on the ground before turning around and leaving, the rest following suit.
Thwarted anger boils inside my veins as, in a fit of rage, I open my mouth to berate those spineless cowards for running at the first sign of danger-
-and Berne tackles me to the ground, a sharp hiss noise suddenly surrounding me as air tugs at my clothes.
What the Hell was that?!
Berne releases his grip and I glance upwards-
-only to find the eviscerated remains of the eight Devils falling to the ground with anti-climactic plops, the bladed shadows that killed them idly waving in the background like underwater plants.
"Berne, did you see…what…"
I can only blink as my eyes focus on the corpses of Pallas and Andreas, my Bishop and Queen staring with unblinking gazes at the sky above, necks cleanly sliced through and calmly pumping arterial blood.
Dead where they stood.
"Whoops. Guess I missed a spot. Oh well, I kinda wanted to kill you with my own hands regardless, Berne."
My head ratchets around with jerky movements, the numbing terror at how quickly everything has gone so wrong and the deaths of my Peerage taking it's toll.
Valefor stands at the end of the alleyway, hands on his hips and a smirk on his face, somehow traversing the distance in the blink of an eye.
Before, he was jagged and harsh in his movements and demeanor.
Now?
Now he's a Hellhound out for a stroll, the boneless confidence of a predator on full display.
"King, once I attack him you need to hit him with everything you've got, forget about catching me in the crossfire…that's all that I've got right now. Sorry."
The deranged monster that's wearing Valefor's skin heartily chuckles, amusedly commenting, "Well as far as plans go it's not bad…considering that you don't have the slightest chance in Hell of so much as scratching me, that is."
His words spark an unthinking fury in my breast, grief and terror forming a potent cocktail of emotions as I lurch to my feet, demonic power pouring out of my body in a visible flare of energy as dozens-hundreds-of spiraling lances of water form overhead and inside the confines of the alley, my Knight channeling his sword's power as a low hum reaches our ears.
And through it all Valefor mockingly applauds, laughing without fear.
"Not bad, not bad! Let's get this show underway! Make your last stand a memorable one!"
A feral snarl leaks past my lips, a last exertion of my strength sending the countless spears tearing towards Valefor with a noise halfway between a crack and a whoosh, Berne trailing a scant second behind them, sword raised for a lethal downward swing.
Time slows to a crawl as our combined assault closes in on the monster before us…and it lazily raises a single hand, fingers pressed together-
"This is just adorable, you two."
-and an echoing snap releases a wave of shimmering power from his hand, my lances bursting backwards into a wild spray of droplets that give the scene a surreal tinge, the crimson star overhead coloring everything in a bloody hue of refracted light as Berne swings-
-and a bright, emerald light-ensconced fist closes around the blade, an ear-splitting squeal echoing throughout the area as Valefor effortlessly catches my Knight's sword, politely examining it even as sparks dance between the locked figures.
"Hmm…nice knife."
A flex of his muscles, a sharp clang as Berne's sword shatters-
-and the fight is over just like that, Valefor ramming his free arm into Berne's chest and causing my Knight to wheeze in pain as the appendage effortlessly breaks skin, bone and muscle.
"Well as long as you two don't mind me upping the cheese factor…"
His lips peel back in a shark's grin.
"Berne, have you ever heard the Human phrase, feel the burn?"
His body blazes into azure incandescence and I have to shield my eyes from the blinding display.
"And then there was one…"
Something heavy and hot lands directly in front of me.
…It's Berne.
Charred, steaming, ashen…sizzling fat leaking through ruptures in his body as the stench of my Knight's corpse suffuses every pore in my body.
I can only stare in deadened shock as Valefor leisurely approaches me…all trace of cheer gone, only icy fury left.
"So? How does it feel, Gyer? To see someone you care about dead? To know that you were responsible, that only if you were just a bit stronger, a bit faster, a bit smarter…they would be alive."
Fingers curl into a fist, the shadows surrounding me writhing in a frenzy.
"How does it feel, to have the remains of a friend turn into a mess of leaking flesh before your eyes? To have the smell of it burned into your very soul? To know that their deaths weren't clean? That dying was frightening, that dying hurt?"
He stands before me, appearing as tall as a mountain even though he can't be more than a few centimeters larger.
"Because I can tell you. I can tell you in excruciating detail…you saw to that."
His impossibly strong grip closes around my head, futile kicks to his legs and abdomen accomplishing nothing, his fingers and wrists forged from unbreakable steel as my fingers uselessly pry.
"This is the end of the line for you."
His thumbs press themselves against my eyes and push, an agonized cry leaking past my lips as Maous above it hurts and I can't fucking see-
"Time to split, Gyer…"
Excruciating agony rips down the center of my body-
-and then blackness.
Vallia
"So what's the plan, Girlie? Or are we just winging it? No pun intended."
I can only shake my head at Galeran's words, the hybrid already in his larger form and effortlessly keeping pace with me.
"I…I don't know."
The man grumbles but leaves it at that, instead focusing on flying as we tear through the outskirts of EDEN.
It had taken precious minutes for me, the gang leaders and the Fallen to break into EDEN, Linus thankfully forgetting subtlety and merely ripping a hole in EDEN's defense wards, allowing us to break in at record time.
…I can't shake the feeling that everything has gone wrong.
Kuroka and Shirone hadn't come with us. All they had been able to do was sit there and shake, Kuroka trying to explain-and failing-what had happened.
…Don't they get it? Their life mate is in danger! It shouldn't matter what they're feeling!
It's the first time I can actually remember being angry at Shirone.
It's not a feeling I like.
[Don't get distracted, Vallia…we don't know the whole story yet.]
[I know, but…you can feel it too, right? Like…like something has changed.]
[…Yes, I can. But do not dwell on it. Focus, hatchling.]
I thickly swallow, trying to follow the ancient dragon's advice as best I can.
"Hey, I think I've got him! Left, 300 meters!"
Raynare's shout instantly grabs my attention, my head snapping to the direction she's pointing and instantly veer off.
I don't miss the way Nihil, Tiana and Galeran give wary looks to the buildings around us.
Yes, it's strange how so many of them are practically destroyed…but I can't help but feel like that's not important right now.
I surge ahead of everyone else, clearing the corner of an alleyway-
-and blink in surprise at the sight before me.
Caine is alright, thankfully…but what's lying at his feet is a horrifying sight.
Several eviscerated corpses as well as a heavily burnt one…and what looks like a body that was physically ripped in half, spinal column wet and glistening with chunks of meat still attached to it, innards and blood coating the distance between the two halves.
…That's…rather brutal, even for Caine.
His eyes meet mine-
-and I freeze, a chill crawling up my spine.
That's not Caine.
The smile that crawls onto his face is familiar, that smug smirk that suggests he knows more than he's letting on something I'm well acquainted with.
But the unnatural aura surrounding him is decidedly unfamiliar.
"Good to see you all finally made it. Val, where are Kuroka and Shirone?"
Everyone around me must no doubt sense the same danger that I do as they split apart and warily encircle Caine as best they can in such a cramped area.
"They're fine, they're awake, but…Caine, they were afraid of you. What happened?"
He breathes out a sigh of relief, running a hand through his hair and muttering, "Whew, that's a load off my chest if they're still in one piece…"
I almost sag in relief at those words.
He's still the same Caine, if he was worried about our resident Nekoshou.
"But what the fuck is their deal with being afraid of me whenever I get like this? Don't they realize that I'm strong this way? That I can keep them and everyone else safe? How I was before got everyone killed..."
Something cold and slimy crawls down my spine.
[Hatchling…remember what he said about Senjutsu madness? I think that's what happened here.]
Watching how Caine's eyes ceaselessly roam over each and every one of us-like a shark examining a group of minnows-I can't help but feel sick to my stomach.
…What did he experience, that he would go so far as to do this? Dammit I should have been here!
I snap out of my thoughts as Caine begins to walk forward, all of us tensing-
-and he strolls right by, seemingly without a care in the world.
…Huh?
I'm just about to grab his arm and ask what the Hell he's doing-
-and Mittelt beats me to the punch, her open palm slapping across his chest as she glares up at him.
It's moments like these that drive home just how tall Caine really is, the top of Mittelt's head only coming up to just below his chin.
"And just what the fuck do you think you're doing? Or going?"
The air takes a cold turn, Caine meeting the Fallen's piercing blue gaze…and just the slightest hint of teeth show.
"That depends, Mittelt…are you going to force me to tell you?"
My apprehension ratchets up a notch. Caine almost never calls Mittelt by her name.
She doesn't budge an inch and goes so far as to raise herself up on her toes so she can more evenly glare at him.
"You're damn fucking right I will. Now talk."
For a split-second I think the Fallen has pushed too far, that Caine is going to attack her-
-and instead he gently brushes away a lock of her blonde hair, a fond smile on his lips.
"Uncompromising and unwilling to let a question go unanswered…I guess that's what I always liked about you, Mittelt…"
"Save the flattery, Caine. What. Are. You. Doing?"
Taking a step back, my fellow Devil smiles at the group in general, explaining, "That's easy. I'm going to kill everyone who was involved in this. Everyone who had a hand in my families death, everyone who was responsible for David and Lisa…they're all going to die. And the whole Underworld is going to know it."
…
Oh…oh no.
Suddenly, Shirone and Kuroka's fear makes so much sense. He's lost his damn mind.
"Boss, pardon my french here…but what the fuck are you talking about?"
Galeran's incredulous tone snaps me out of my shock, Tiana and Nihil flanking the hybrid with dangerously neutral looks on their faces.
"While it kills me to agree with the pedo-bird over here…he's right. Boss, you had good reasons to fly under the radar and while I respect that you've got power…you're talking about taking on a huge chunk of the Underworld. By yourself."
Nihil's words are seconded by Tiana, the Fallen slowly dropping her hands, as if to grasp the handles of some hidden weapon.
"Whatever it is you did to successfully kill Crocell and his men…it seems to have come at the cost of your common sense."
His back is turned to me, so I can't see his face…but the absolute relaxing of his body tells me the whole story.
"So…you doubt my power, hmm?"
That voice-a confident purr, intermixed with something feral-sends another wave chills down my spine.
And not the pleasant ones.
"Caine, please."
He turns around, orbs of crimson and emerald meeting my own.
"Don't…don't do this, this isn't you."
He only grins.
"On the contrary. This is very much me. You want to prove me wrong? Then do as a Dragon does, Val…and force me to listen."
Something black and thin streaks towards my head-
-and a devastating impact to my midsection has me flying backwards, Dohnaseek's voice shouting in my ear, "Pull it together, Lucifer! That's not the boy we're familiar with!"
And he's right.
The Shade that would have hit me directly across the face slides back around Caine's waste, a knowing smirk on his face.
…
The real Caine would have never tried to hurt me. Not like that.
[You'll do yourself no favors by holding back, Hatchling…we need to stop him, no matter what.]
[…I know.]
My power flares to life, Divine Dividing snapping into place across my back as my jaw clenches.
"Ok then, whoever you are…you want me to prove you wrong? I'll do just that."
No reply, other than for four wings to sprout from his back-when did he get those-and become wrapped in Shades, the appendages morphing into scythe-like weapons.
The moment stretches, only a distant breeze to make so much as a whisper…
And then we move as one.
The three Gang Leaders charge forward, Nihil shifting to it's larger form as Galeran charges in talons first, Tiana manifesting several shuriken shaped lightspears and whipping them towards Caine in intersecting arcs.
"Yawn-o-rama."
His Shades-which would previously have been burned away without a trace-smash aside Tiana's spears without hesitation, Galeran and Nihil's charges no longer provided the cover they had thought would be present.
It's over within a second.
Caine pulls his left leg back-
-and with a kick that I can't even follow Galeran's right arm snaps like a twig, the transferred force throwing him through a nearby building. Nihil drops a bare moment later as both of it's descending lightaxes and swords are caught by Caine barehanded, providing a convenient bit of leverage for him to perform a sideways kick that staves in the Nephilim's ribcage as it goes flying backwards, a line of spittle and blood trailing from it's lips.
And then Tiana is down, a mass of Shades as tall and wide as a Human automobile crushing her into the ground in a brutal attack from seemingly nowhere.
…Just like that, he brought down three of the toughest people in this city.
But it buys me enough time.
Leaping directly behind Caine I place my hands on his back, call on my Sacred Gear's power-
[Divide!]
-fire.
Fire racing through my veins, my brain, my very soul.
[Hatchling? Hatchling, answer me!]
So much…so much…I want to hurt something, anything!
[Vallia, snap out of it!]
Albion's roar is like a wave of cold water, breaking me out of whatever it was that held me in it's thrall, a frantic gulp for air finally breaking the spell.
The four Fallen are gathered around me, a wall of lightspears pointed outwards at Caine as he just stands there…wagging his finger at me.
"That was a rather bold move, Val. Dividing my energy, as I am now? I'll give you credit for not losing your mind straight off the bat, but maybe be a bit more careful now, would you?"
Kalawarner scoffs, sharply retorting, "Big talk, boy. But she succeeded in shaving away at your power nonetheless. Even you can't fight forever."
A playful smile.
"An interesting theory you have there."
My senses go haywire, raw energy surrounding Caine's body in a prismatic display of light and darkness, as if the city itself was offering visible clumps of it's strength to him.
When the glow dies down I can tell at a glance that he's regained every bit of power I drained away from him, as if it was never gone to begin with.
"I don't need to filter out tiny scraps of natural energy. All I have to do is will it to become mine…and nature answers."
His smile turns malevolent.
"Do you five get it yet? This isn't whatever you seem to think it is…it's just one big theatrical performance until I decide the curtain needs to fall. Case in point…"
I can't even follow what happens next.
All I know is that what seems like every shadow in the city comes to life at once, crashing towards the spears of light my friends had set up around us like some horrific tidal wave-
-and everything in my body hurts.
Dammit…
Why did this have to happen?
I'd finally found friends-real friends-and discovered something meaningful in my life, been able to take pride in who and what I am.
And now it gets brought down by one of the very people who gave me the strength to find those answers in the first place?
I force myself to my feet, distantly noting that the ground around me is cracked and broken, as if some incomprehensibly powerful giant had smashed it's fist down.
Kala, Dohna, Raynare and Mittelt are all crumpled and bleeding…but still moving, still alive.
"Damn, I'll give you five credit. You're a lot tougher than I figured you would be. Then again, I guess I shouldn't have expected anything different from you of all people, Val."
A trickle of blood leaks into my eyes and I shakily wipe it away with my left hand…pretty sure my right is broken.
"Heh…this is nothing. I'm not letting…you do this, Caine."
An unstoppably powerful hand squeezes my throat, lifting me high into the air.
"I wasn't aware you were in a position to let me do anything."
Even as my vision turns hazy, as the muscles and bones in my throat creak under the pressure…
I can't help but smile at him, slowly bringing up my one working arm-
-and rest my hand against his cheek.
"Caine…I don't care if…it kills me, but…I won't…let you die because of this…"
The hand of iron slackens enough that I can gulp down air, my vision clearing enough that I see his conflicted expression.
"Why? Why do you all care so much? What about the weakling who I was is so damn important to you?!"
"Because who you call a weakling…was one of the most powerful people I know. With nothing but a goofy smile and dumb joke…he could make me forget my weakness, make me feel strong. As you are now? You don't hold a candle to that kind of ability…"
His head bows low, eyes squeezed shut in agitation.
"…I won't. I can't. Who I was before this was pathetic. I was weak. Because I was weak people I loved-we loved-died. I'm not going back, Val."
His gaze focuses on my own, resolution burning bright within those familiar yet foreign eyes.
"…Thanks anyway."
Even as the weight of failure settles on my soul-
-a melancholy smile pulls my lips upward.
"Heh, even at your most basic, at your very worst…it's all for everyone but yourself, isn't it?"
"…Yeah, I guess it is. Sleep tight, Val."
He raises an arm, no doubt for a knockout blow-
-and said arm disappears from the elbow up, a sharp hiss noise following a second later and his expression turns to one of open surprise, even as I collapse onto the ground.
"Jeez, Little Bastard…make one mess after another, yah?"
In the blink of an eye Caine leaps backwards into shadows, disappearing from view as his voice echoes without a source.
"Well I'll be damned…looks like an actual threat arrived."
Wearily turning my head reveals…
Chow.
Clad only in a tank top and sweatpants, his wrinkly, tiny frame ambling without care down the alleyway, only an ornate pipe in his hand to differentiate him from all of the other times I've seen him.
…
And Caine was scared of him. Scared, despite not caring about us in the slightest.
A puff of smoke leaves the man's mouth, his voice as gravelly and cranky as ever.
"You make big mistake, Little Bastard…cause ruckus, make a fuss, hurt kitty cat's feelings…not nice things to do, yah? Kinda shitty, yah?"
"Oh spare me the sob story, Chow. Like you would know anything about hurting people's feelings, I know what you once were."
The tiny man merely chuckles.
"Oh? Reputation precedes?"
"You're damn right it does. The very second I knew that you were familiar with my parents I looked you up in the list mom gave me. You're a scary man, Shōugē zhě. The Jade Emperor and Sun Wukong don't give out titles like that as party favors…"
"Bah. Old farts, those two. Walk path of peace, be at ease with life…so boring. Mommies life was better. Shorter, but actually worth living."
Something shifts in the air, a coldness…precisely when Chow stares at a specific spot of shadow, taking a long drag of his pipe as he does so.
"I respect-even like-mommy like few others. Right now you spit on wishes, by going off to die. Guess I gotta teach you few more lessons, Little Bastard."
He makes a motion with his hand as if he were petting a dog-
-and with a spike of pressure that causes my ears to pulse in pain the building he was staring at is flattened. Crushed to nothing as if never existed, only a ring of hyper-compressed concrete and metal to remain where a fifty meter construct once did.
All with a motion of his hand.
For a split-second I'm panicked that he outright killed Caine…and he promptly snorts out a puff of smoke.
"Quick on the draw, aren't you, Little Bastard?"
"I'm more of the opinion that you've slowed down in your old age, Chow…perhaps the student has surpassed the master?"
Silence reigns for a few cold seconds…and Chow deliberately taps out a smattering of ashes from his pipe.
"Lemme tell something, Little Bastard…just because sun burn a little less bright, don't mean bird has better chance of flying to it."
"Hmph. My wings are made of sturdier things than wax, Master."
"We see."
And at some unseen agreement between the two the battle begins.
watch?v=zdECN7LI4q8&list=LLPb9QcsQSjQ-ZjknfuFwTqw&t=0s&index=12 (Blood Bag/Doof Warrior metal cover by Dextrila)
It makes our attempts at trying to subdue Caine look laughable.
Dozens of Shades gather out of the surrounding street, coalescing into one gargantuan blade that towers over even the skyscrapers and with a noise like a tsunami impacting the world it drives towards Chow-
-who lazily flicks a finger in it's direction, the demonic appendage scattering with a heat-haze of Weiji-do energy as if it was wet paper.
And it was only a distraction.
Caine leaps out of a nearby Shade in a blur of speed, his arm somehow regenerated-
-and an equally lazy motion from Chow has his pipe impacting on Caine's chest, the blow sending him skidding back several meters with an echoing sound as if someone broke glass over a gong.
…And it hurt him.
Doubling over and gagging out a stream of clear liquid, sweat painting the ground beneath him Caine can only look at Chow in open bewilderment.
"All power in world don't mean shit if can't control, Little Bastard. And you control still sucks."
He doesn't reply other than for the Phoenix Heart hanging around his neck to suddenly glow like a beacon, blinding light and shining flames surrounding his body as he abruptly stands straight.
...He can channel Phenex powers through that?!
"Maybe in comparison to yours…but here's the catch, Chow. I have an infinite amount of power at my disposal and can heal anything you dish out to me. You, on the other hand, are only going to get weaker and weaker as time goes on. I don't need control."
A cold glare from the older man.
"Hmph. Thinking like true Devil, dumb ones I used to cut down like straw. C'mon, Little Bastard. See if this 'power' of yours worth damn."
What follows afterwards is a battle that I can barely follow, even though I'm no more than a few meters away from it.
Caine blurs into motion, leaping from shadow to shadow in a random and bewilderingly fast pattern of directions and orientations, firing off a constant barrage of high-level elemental magic that would have left him completely drained within seconds, were her at his normal level.
Arcs of lightning shaped like hawks, deluges of flame that writhe and snap like snakes, gales of wind that rip and gouge concrete straight from the ground, waves of hoarfrost that glaze and chill the very bone.
And he's not letting his Shades rest idle either. Snapping forward with painfully sharp cracks-like those of a whip-bladed scythes lash out at Chow, all while Caine himself repeatedly charges the man in hand-to-hand.
It's one of the most devastating assaults I've seen in my life thus far, a constant stream of destruction and lethal attacks that-as much as it hurts to admit-would have killed me simply by being close to it, since I'm laying immobile not more than a stone's throw away from the battle.
…
Chow doesn't look like he's even trying.
One arm occasionally bringing his pipe to his lips for a smoke, the other calmly resting by his side…and nothing so much as scratches him.
Minute twitches of his feet, head, arms and fingers are the only sign that he's doing anything.
A shift of his right foot has a deluge of electricity skitter off in a crazed arc, blasting apart a nearby building in a spray of superheated gravel and glass.
His pointer finger twitches and a hurricane of air that would have flattened a Dragon flows around him without so much as mussing his hair, solid stone pulverized in the attack's wake.
Fire is quenched or redirected, ice halts it's encroachment a meter from where he's standing, Shades evaporate into nothing mere centimeters from where they would have eviscerated his body…and from his back pocket plastic pieces of tableware will occasionally drift into orbit around him-
-before blinking out of existence, Caine's legs, arms or even occasionally torso disappearing in a spray of blood at the very same moment that they vanish.
…This would be awe-inspiring all on it's own…but Chow isn't just protecting himself.
He's protecting all of us.
Me, the Fallen, the Gang Leaders…we're all still in the immediate vicinity of the battle, either crippled or unconscious…and Chow is keeping us alive.
A collapsing bit of EDEN's architecture falls directly towards me-
-and promptly accelerates away, impacting directly onto Caine's charging form and briefly stunning him.
…
This is madness.
[It may very well be…but remember this scene, Hatchling. One day you will obtain this level of strength, and then surpass it.]
…
Surpass this? I might as well ask for the stars themselves…
I heed Albion's advice regardless, sear every raw emotion and action into my mind, a scene that I can play back and learn from.
And then-as if some cosmic switch was thrown-the fight ends.
Caine dashes in for another blow, his magic and Shades covering his approach. A plastic knife floats next to Chow, about to launch itself forward once again-
-and it falters, the old man instead swinging his pipe where it again connects with that ringing noise, Caine's arm bending and tearing like a rotted stick-
-and his free arm rams itself through Chow's chest, jutting out of the Human's back with a fistful of muscle, blood and bone clenched within.
…
What?
How did he…
"And so the student surpasses the master…"
"Hmph. On contrary, Little Bastard. Have you right where want you."
Chow's open palm places itself on Caine's chest, rotates downwards-
-and the younger male suddenly wheezes, staggering backwards as every single Shade surrounding us vanishes, the Phoenix Heart pulsating wildly, almost as if it's trying to activate but can't.
"W-what the fuck did you do to me?!"
Ripping his arm back out of the restaurant owner's chest, said owner merely smirks as Caine staggers, hands desperately clutching at his chest and looking as if he's having trouble merely breathing.
"Simple, Little Bastard. I shut off magic in body. Now can't keep gathering, in fact gonna pass out pretty quick and be back to normal once wake up."
"Y-you…it was all a trick."
Chow lifts his pipe to his lips, seemingly ignorant of the hole in his chest.
"Course was. Could have killed you any time wanted. But harder to take alive, yah? Had to be tricky."
"By killing yourself?"
He shrugs.
"Was dying anyway. Now listen good, Little Bastard."
Taking one long, satisfied puff of smoke Chow quietly says, "I nowhere near prime. Been long, old as shit. Mommy was way scarier than me even in prime. You just starting to scale very tall mountain, Little Bastard…pinnacle distant, but obtainable. Don't stop, learn from mistake and be better for it."
With perhaps the last air in his lungs Chow blow a ring of smoke…
…and perhaps for the first time in as long as I've know him, smiles.
"Family heirloom is in restaurant underneath counter. You've earned. Take it. And past few years…weren't too bad. See yah, Little Bastard."
Like a puppet with it's strings cut Chow crumples, pipe clattering to the ground like the closing of a curtain at the end of the performance.
…And through it all Caine can only weakly rasp, bellows of breath escaping him as he fights to stay conscious.
Strong-but shaky-arms haul me into a sitting position, my eyes weakly flicking over to see who's conscious…
…and a weak smile plays across my lips as I see it's Shirone and Kuroka, both Yokai gazing around the scene with abject horror.
"It's fine, you two…they're all alive."
Kuroka just stares at Chow's corpse, Caine heaving no more than a meter away from it.
"…Kuroka, Chow did that to save us, it's not-"
"Dammit…"
We freeze.
Slowly regaining his feet, staggering drunkenly with bloodshot eyes and animalistic breaths Caine focuses in our direction-
-and my blood turns cold.
Those eyes.
There's nothing familiar in them. Just an instinctive panic, the cornered reaction of an animal on the brink of death.
"Why…why? Now…now I'm going to be weak again…I can't keep you safe anymore…"
One shaky step forward, Shirone's grip on my body becoming painful as she buries her head in my chest, shaking like a leaf.
"C-Caine? C'mon you recognize m-me, right? Kuroka? Your mate?"
Caine stops in his tracks, dangerously swaying left and right-
-and my heart breaks as tears gather in his eyes, his voice harsh and rasping.
"Kuroka? Dammit…why did it have to be you? You, Shirone…all of this happened…and I couldn't stop it, I couldn't keep you two safe. And know, just when I finally could…you're trying to stop me?"
Anguish is wiped away, replaced with a hysterical fury.
"It's your fault…your fault, dammit!"
One last exertion of his power summons several Shades to restrain the visibly defeated Kuroka, the Yokai too distraught too resist as a single, bladed Shade snaps to life along the length of his arm.
And all along his face is contorted into a rictus of helplessness, grief and rage.
"Caine, wait-"
Shirone's grip is gone, my friend leaping in between Caine and Kuroka-
"NO, DON'T!"
-and with a soft ripping noise, a shadowy blade protrudes from Shirone's back, white suddenly stained with crimson.
Caine
…
It feels…like being at the bottom of an ocean.
An ocean of raw, mindless emotion.
Anger, hatred, love, compassion, tranquility, hastiness…it's crushing me.
I can't think, even something as simple as focusing is impossible…
…
Warmth.
Along my arm, slowly traveling along it in random rivulets, something soft touching my knuckles.
That's so strange…
And…white. Hazel. Pale skin covered in a few scars, small lips, small nose and slanted eyes.
…Shirone?
And blood. It smells like blood.
Dammit, focus. Shirone and blood sounds like a recipe for disaster, if something went wrong then I…I…
…
Oh…Oh no…
What…what have I done?
"A-are you…back…?"
My arm…my Shade…
I…
I stabbed her.
Her blood is all over my arm.
"S-Shirone, I-I-"
My words die in my mouth.
Just like last time…I remember.
I remember it all.
My…
I broke it.
I broke my promise…and I killed one of the people we care about.
I stabbed my mate.
…
Is it any wonder she's staring up at me-blood freely pumping from the ragged hole in her stomach-with fear?
The ragged cry of grief, followed by a fist impacting the side of my head and sending me into unthinking darkness?
It's a blessing.
Because this is one nightmare I'll never be able to escape, even when awake.
Well...
Next chapter is dealing with the aftermath.
Because there is a LOT to deal with.
...
Sorry, FataLInfluence0...I killed best girl.
Ok onto an entirely different note that may or may not delve into spoiler territory concerning the LN's (if that's the sort of thing you care about)
So I occasionally read translations of the LN's in order to get ideas, get a better understanding of character motivations and other stuff like that.
...
It's not something I particularly enjoy doing (I can't stand the way most LN's are either written or translated, beats me which party is at fault or if both of them are) but if I'm going to be doing a grand old story in this universe the least I could do is brush up on my homework.
One of the more recent novels caught my interest because it delved more into Kuroka and Shirone's backstory and the Devil they were originally subservient too, Naberas or something along those lines.
Here's where shit get's crazy.
Apparently their dad (A Human, I think) was doing experiments on them and their mother (again, I think, it all kinda turned into a blur of holy crap this is BONKERS) for Naberas in the hopes of discovering a way to artificially create Super Devils.
...huzzawha?
And THIS part is what cracks me right the fuck up.
Apparently their dad put all of the results of his research...in Shirone's hairclip.
Yup, that's right. That little kitty-cat clip she always has on contains the nuclear launch codes, ladies and gentleman.
It's a real stroke of fucking luck that she likes it so much, otherwise some bargain bin dealer might have gotten ahold of some pretty dangerous info.
...
I mean, I'm not even talking about the fact that it REALLY doesn't make sense why studying Yokai and Senjutsu would correlate to making Super DEVILS...but whatever.
...Oh, and they also ask the their dad from beyond the grave, since he's dead (which is something they just DO now. Need an exposition or plot device? Call up the dead, they'll have something in their magic box).
...
Ok, I feel kinda dickish for ragging on a franchise who's universe, name and characters I'm borrowing from, who's audience is predominately teenagers (and I just KNOW I would have loved this series if I was a teen when the anime first came out) and is first and foremost a fan service show...
But DAMN, dude...this stuff is just insane in the membrane.
And remember, I skimmed over a fair amount of the writing. There was probably all sorts of wackiness that I missed.
xanothos: As my AN (the ranty one aside) proves, I agree.
Xenith5: I'm something of a contrarian-the fact that I gave Vallia small boobs being a prime example-and seeing as how a LOT of stories typically tend to be bloodless affairs (that's not a criticism, lord only knows I enjoy some pleasant, happy stories) I wanted to make one that would see some meaningful deaths here and there.
Deep Sea Diver Man: We'll get there, but by the time we do I plan for the landscape to be a very different thing.
L'assassin orange: Other than, 'to be continued'.
Except that's pretty tasteless on my part.
Dark White Fang: It's actually a text generator called 'zalgo', you can find it on the interwebs. And this chapter might have also not held back with the fisticuffs :_(
JustAGuestReview: The more you know!
dragon slayer of death 98: can't comment on the exact circumstances of death...but there was no sexual stuff involved, I can tell you that much.
