Season 2 of Rising of the Shield Hero Confirmed

Continue?

[Yes]

[No]

...

[Yes]

...

TAKE A STEP TOWARDS [THE END]


Epic 38: The Contradiction


"Unhappy the land that is in need for heroes."

Bertolt Brecht


At [Siltvelt]...

Several arduous days had passed. Several arduous days endured, inside a cage where he and his other party members were separated in, surrounded by other hostiles stronger then them, have now come to an end as their mobile cages stopped before a fortified checkpoint.

As they passed by, they saw several villages being deserted, some converted to quarantine units for holding a foreign disease, and the rest being on the verge of desolation, the more Naofumi thought about it, the more similar that Siltvelt felt no different from Melromarc.

People live off of exploiting the other, that's the fact that he'd learned living in this world, but even so, a fragment of his good consciousness was sickened by the prospects of the current status quo.

Why am I agreeing with him, of all people? thought Naofumi as he was carried out of his cell by the demihumans dressed in Chinese warrior armor, just because he's right doesn't mean he's right. Killing the ones responsible won't solve anything, they'll just simply be replaced.

He then spots Raphtalia and Filo coming out of their own cages, both looking sickly and malnourished, just as he first met the former. Still though, they were holding on stubbornly, still refusing to show weakness in their faces.

... Still, that doesn't mean that I'll forgive them, he thought as he continued to trudge his feet across the gate, I'll make them answer for this, in my own way.

After all the guards have guided them through the gate, a few dressed in robes puts up a few hand signs while uttering a chant undoes something unto them. A green dragon-like circle appears before them, only to shatter afterwards.

"... Since when did we have those on?" asked Naofumi as the people clad in robes walked away.

"While you were all asleep," a youthful voice remarked. Before him, a large crowd of Chinese-armored demihuman guards armed with [Dadao]s sheathed around their waists and [Arisaka Type 99]s slung around their shoulders accompanied a young boy with vermillion red hair and wings, dressed in ornate black and gold regalia that wouldn't be out of place in a Dynasty Warrior game or a page of Kingdom, a pair of round glasses adorned his round and immaculate face, and in his hands were a white-plumed paddle fan with a red ruby at its hilt, while in the other, a book labeled with the numbers "1984" on its cover. An air of sagely confidence and royal dignity exuded from this boy, but for Naofumi, his mere presence felt like an unholy combination of Reinchott's gentle and pristine soul and that bitch Malty's outright toxic deposition bubbling beneath its surface. Despite the latter, he himself couldn't comprehend him at the first glance, as in his intial distrust with strangers felt like an afterthought, and that no amount of forethought or anticipation can help him prepare for what came next.

Naofumi knew, he was no ordinary royal brat. He's a snake with wings. And with an army outnumbering them 100 to 1, along with a levy of hostages that they've secured with their mercenary group, doing anything felt like it was going to spring a trap.

"... Raphtalia, Filo," discreetly spoke Naofumi, "... whatever you do, don't act recklessly."

The two nod, although Filo herself was struggling to keep it in.

But before one of the boy's foremost guards can call for attention towards his liege, he instead raises his hand to cease the action, and approaches the three by himself.

"Dare I be so bold to ask, but who are you?" Naofumi asked the young man with the red wings, "and why did you bring us all here?"

But before the foremost guard can chide Naofumi for his supposed disrespect, the boy raises his paddle fan, causing the head guard escort to go silent.

"Let them speak their minds," the boy addressed his surrounding men with a voice sounding akin to the most benevolent soul imaginable, but all it did was put Naofumi more on edge due to how wrong it sounded. "They had a rough journey prior reaching here, so consider their circumstances, despite my stance."

The boy then looks around his surroundings before letting out a sigh.

"This place isn't the most ideal of places to converse," said the boy with wings, "I shall make arrangements as of so."

He then raises his fan, calling forth a tunnel of wind.

"[Divine Intervention]."

For a brief moment, Naofumi's eyes were gone blind from light, but at the next moment, he and the others around him found himself inside of a mansion's entrance hall.

"Welcome, dear [Shield Hero] and his compatriots," the boy addressed, "to my embassy, provided by the king of Siltvelt."

"Wait, so you're not from here?" pointed out Raphtalia.

"I believe introductions are in order," answered the boy, "I am Q'ten Lo's 13th Crown Prince, and grand ambassador of my representative dominion, Zhuge Yi Ruftmilia. A pleasure to make your company, Sir Naofumi Iwatani, Lady Raphtalia, and Lady Filo. I do hope that our relationship proves the utmost fruitful-"

"Master, he's taking too long to speak," Filo complained out loud.

"HOW DARE YOU!" the head guard roared out as he aimed his [Arisaka Type 99] towards Filo, "DIE FOR YOUR INSOLENCE-"

"HONG ZI, STAND DOWN!" barked Yi, causing the head guard to sling his rifle back around his shoulder. "... Upon my head guard's behalf, I sincerely apologize for his actions," he said as he then approached the head guard with a stern look on his face. "HONG ZI! WHAT IS OUR MANDATE!?"

"ALL FOR TO USHER IN THE ERA OF ABSOLUTE BENEVOLENCE!" Hong Zi recited with a bellowing roar.

"WHAT IS THE FIRST RULE OF OUR MANDATE!?" the prince barked out the question like a drill sergeant.

"TO ACCEPT ALL WALKS OF LIFE WITH DIGNITY!" the head guard answered back.

"WHAT IS THE SECOND RULE!?" he asked again, still firm and loud with his voice.

"TO FORGIVE EVEN THE SLIGHTEST OF TRANSGRESSIONS!" the head guard answered back, this time, his composure steadily breaking.

"AND FINALLY, WHAT IS OUR THIRD RULE!?" Zhuge Yi barked out.

"TO DELIVER RIGHTFUL DESTRUCTION UPON ALL MALIGNANCE!" Hong Zi cried out. But after a few moments of silence, the head guard then breaks down crying and wailing on his knees.

Zhuge Yi then kneels down before the wailing Hong Zi and places his hand over his bawling head, like a parent comforting a troubled child.

"You are forgiven," declared Zhuge Yi to Hong Zi, "now carry on with the Mandate in your heart."

The guard then sobers up before returning to his post with the rest of his subordinates.

"... What just happened?" asked Raphtalia.

"They're my responsibility, Lady Raphtalia," answered Yi, "I am their master, so I must treat them as I would do to my own kin."

"That guy reminds me of the nasty people back at the Three Heroes Chapel..." remarked Filo while her face squinted in mild disgust.

"I can assure you, I have no ill intentions aimed towards you or your companions, Lady Filo," Yi reassured.

"Then explain why you have us surrounded with armed men," Naofumi demanded.

"Simple really," the Q'ten Lo's 13th Crown Prince went on, "for you see, when the people of Siltvelt heard of the Shield Hero being a human, it's like as if a devout believer had somehow learned that the god he or she'd been worshipping and the devil that he or she'd learned to revile, are one and the same."

"... So that's why that lion girl from before implied that she didn't trust me, despite being from the same kingdom where they worship my specific status as a walking god," Naofumi reaffirmed, "I mean, that sort of makes since, given that not only I'm human, but also religion itself being just a fig leaf propaganda."

"Call it a crisis of faith, Sir Iwatani," replied Yi as he gestured his paddle fan across the room, pointing specifically towards all the mercenaries that he'd met before, their expression being ranged from Amiya's reserved compassion, Alps's stoic neutrality, and Sigrun's seething feeling of utter loathing. "They now have to come to terms with that their lord and savior also happens to be from their same race of their own opposers and destructors. A bit of a sociopolitical paradox, really. But that's why the king himself has bestowed me upon the duty to survey you. And should I fail, then I would be another of the sacrificial pawns that fell in the line of duty."

"And what makes you so sure of that?" asked Raphtalia.

"Because that's what my higher ups are expecting, and quite frankly, that's also what the fair majority of these sellswords also agree on," answered Yi, pointing his fan toward Sigrun. "However, the orders doesn't specify that I have to kill you on sight, so that leaves me with plenty of options."

"Meaning?" Naofumi remarked as he raised his eyebrow.

Yi then extends his open hand towards Naofumi.

"Will you come join me?" Yi asked, "will you aid us in our crusade to uphold our Mandate of Absolute Benevolence?"

"Sounds tempting..." remarked Naofumi as he reached towards Yi's before slapping it away, "however, I refuse."

But just before the entirety of Yi's guards can dogpile the three, Yi himself raises his hand between them and Naofumi's party.

"... Once again, I apologize for my subordinates' collective recklessness," stated Yi, "although, may I ask why you refused?"

"I know how this usually goes and ends. Hell, it's how I ended up like this to begin with, only this time, I can't trust anyone of you," Naofumi answered, "I don't even know who any of you are, but other than all of you kidnapped us beyond the borders without any of our consent after the [Spriggan] attack, put Raphtalia and Filo behind bars, the former being a former cargo before I bought her under my care, and now you're asking me to join you?"

"When you put it like that, yes, it does sound rather lopsided, even convoluted," Yi pointed out. "But, I must stress this," he continued on, "the other noble houses of Siltvelt will use you and your party as a disposable tool, since everyone on this continent each has their own price, whether gold or moralistic jingo."

"And what makes you any different from them?" Naofumi shot back. "What makes you any different from the same kinds of people who preach about justice and honor for their own sake? What makes your 'Absolute Benevolence' any better than what they shit out their collective assholes!?"

"Their words ring hollow, only serves to exist in order to perpetuate the cycle of exploitation and debt that has plagued both this continent and my kingdom since time memorial, all so they can profit from the chaos they've sewn," Yi replied, his expression growing ever more serious. "This whole world, is sick. Terminal in its cycle of hate and violence propagated between all facets of power, and a slow dry rot has settled into this world's very goodwill. However, I seek to end the cycle, so that no one is the exploiter or the victims of said exploiters, but in order to do so, I mustn't compromise, I must see you in person first so that I will be able to achieve harmony for all races, human and demihuman alike."

"And how is knowing all that supposed to benefit me?" retorted Naofumi. "How am I supposed to know that I won't be part of the sacrifice for your vision, let alone Filo or Raphtalia? Or how am I supposed to trust you that you aren't one of the symptoms that makes this world sick in your own words?"

"Because someone has to do it," shot back Yi. "It's not enough to save this world by fending off the [Waves] alone, nor is it enough to save the people you know and love as much you could. One must pull out the weeds by its roots rather than simply clip them down to a nub lest it chokes the fields later in the future. There's still time to save this world from itself, Sir Naofumi Iwatani. All you and your companions must do is simply say yes!"

"... Hard pass," replied Naofumi. "The reason why I'm still not saying 'yes'?" he continued with his remark, "is because you just had to go and get others who didn't want all of this involved. I'm at least decent to let other people live their own lives because that's what matters the most right now. I don't care for the future or this world. Right now, all that matters is that I get Raphtalia and Filo out of here, and live on another day without anything big hanging over our heads. I never asked to be a Hero, but I sure as hell am going to do my damnest to make sure that people don't die for stupid reasons."

Yi then lets out a saddened sigh as his head hung down from his neck.

"It seems... that it was never meant to be, then," remarked Yi, "... you and your party may walk away."

"Thank you," replied Naofumi as he picked up Raphtalia over his shoulder and Filo behind his back and walked towards the exit, only for a massive shadow of a horned female with a triangular blade of a shield eclipsed over them. "... Of course, I knew it was too easy."

"I didn't do it, Sir Iwatani. I never objected to your reasoning," Yi pointed out, his slinking down head rising back up with a completely vacant expression on his face, his eyes now completely devoid of any youthful enthusiasm he had prior. "However, the others disagree."

He raised his own shield up as Hou Gui swung her own, knocking the three of them back into the entrance hall as all of the guards cleared out the room along with the rest of the hostages and sellswords, sans Zhuge Yi himself, who is now sitting on one of the stair steps on the grand staircase leading towards above floors of the embassy.

"You know, in hindsight, your notion of living a normal life in spite of a great power is quite sobering. Need I say, almost noble, in fact," remarked Yi with a genuinely look of pity aimed towards Naofumi and his party. "But I'm afraid the time for peace has come to an end, for this continent is already reaching towards its endgame that it inevitably led up to with its countless games of war and politic since the time memorial. A line in the sand has been drawn with none of us to blame, Sir Iwatani. So, with that in mind, I must ask you, will you join us in our pursuit for Absolute Benevolence?"

"Screw you!" Naofumi cried back as he stood back up, "none of us wanted this!"

"No one did, which is why, I must ask you again, for good measure," Yi persisted, "please accept my offer and shepherd this ill world out of its decadence."

"WHO WOULD FOLLOW A MADMAN LIKE YOU!?" barked out Raphtalia before she went into a slight coughing fit that she'd done well to hold in for a good while.

"... Well, when you put it like that, then yes, you have every right to call me a madman," Yi plainly answered as six additional figures cloaked in red and gold hooded robes walked into the room, all lining up besides Hou Gui, who herself was now in a fighting stance, her shield posed right in front of her as a deadly bulwark of heavy blade. "But that brings me into mind that a certain lesson that my teacher has taught me," the prince continued on, "'In the hour of Darkness a blind man is the best guide. In the age of Madness look to a madman to lead the way'."

The other six then throw off their cloaks, revealing the people beneath.

One was a snow-white-haired male in his late teens, sporting a pair of twitching vulpine ears and a set of nine fox tails that seemed to glow from their sheer brilliance of their bright platinum-white coat shimmering in the air. His dull black-gray Taiji uniform with white pants with red flame marks on them flowed like streams of water as he slowly struck a soft pose akin to that of a seasoned martial artist, both of his hands glowing in golden flames before striking a hard pose, his dominant hand faced outward, left hand tucked below his breast, legs spaced out for balance, and his yellow eyes with crimson sclera locked eyes with Naofumi's own in absolute focus.

The other next to him was a taller, more toned male, but unlike the former, his features were that of a normal human, ruffled black hair and plain brown eyes and a neutral expression akin to a statue's. His black and white sleeveless Taiji uniform with black pants stood gently still, as he caught his bandaged fist with his other, also-bandaged hand, remaining in a calm pose before raising one foot upward before stamping it back down towards the tiled floor, causing a slight tremor from the impact, his once neutral expression now switched to that of a calm killer.

The other was a petite, brown-haired and winged female akin to Filo, but more bookish in her demeanor attributed by her large round pair of glasses, with her almost-kiddish look, but no less professional than the other two revealed. Her blue and green Hanfu dress with comically oversized sleeves and miniskirt danced in the wind as she jumped out of her own cloak, drawing her equally-ridiculously large [Miaodao] blade with a tiger's tail for its scabbard, which would be impossible in any sort of person of regular stature to draw such blade, performing a practice swing midair, cutting through the air and sheathing her sword back as she landed back on the ground in a kneeling position.

Another simply took of his clothes, revealing a shirtless simian-like young man looking a lot like Sun Goku of Chinese lore, down to his quarterstaff being the typical red and gold coloration, his head being wrapped with a golden circlet under his dark-brown hair. He then plants his bo-staff onto the floor before jumping up into the air and landing on the staff's tip on his two feet flawlessly, looking down upon them with a smug expression.

The second-to-last then revealed a short white tiger girl in a black and red Hanfu dress and a small silk cap perched between her ears, though her sleeves were not as comically oversized compared to the girl with the [Miaodao], but around her fingers were ten bladed rings that looked like a set of a feline's claws, with Naofumi noticing that they were dripping with something, most likely being poison, and that her default expression of haughty confidence with her cat-like smile compounding her smugness even more.

And finally, the last one whom thrown off its cloak was a horned woman with a reptilian tail, her head draped with dark-navy locks tied into a simple ponytail, and her bright topaz irises glimmering in the daylight. Her ensemble was that of a simple Chinese officer's armor sans the helmet and a yellow-colored scarf tied around her color, a straight sword was sheathed around her hip, and upon drawing it, the straight-edged blade then breaks apart into a whip-sword, its segmented and winding blades grinding across the tiles with visable sparks flickering from the generated friction, performing a rhythmic gymnast-like performance with her uniquely-crafted [Jian] weapon as her "ribbon". Upon finishing her performance with a straight-bodied posture like soldier standing in attention, her segmented blade then reassemble back to its straight double-edged sword held in front of her, the edges facing her sides.

"Lee Pon, Dai Wui, Lu Mia, Ji Mui, Tai Gu, Hou Gui, and the leader, Chen Long," Yi presented in order of introduction the seven warriors before the three. "My personal ensemble, the Seven Sacred Scholars, will now test your meddle. You wish to leave? Very well, I respect your decision, but now, you'll have to convince the majority of them to agree with you."

"By 'convince the majority of them to agree', you mean fight our way out?" Naofumi replied as his [Forbidden Shield] transforms into the [Wrath Shield 3]. "PEACE WAS NEVER AN OPTION!"

OST Now Playing: Cold-Blooded (Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon)

The Seven Sacred Scholars then all took their battle stance and broke off into two groups, three consisting of a Level 121 [Baihu Kagemusha] Tai Gu, Level 120 [Oni Guardian] Hou Gui, and a Level 122 [Shenlong Kenshi] Chen Long, and the other four composing of a Level 110 [Kyubei Thaumaturege] Lee Pon, Level 106 human [Berserker] Dai Wui, Level 107 [Humming Fairy Kenshi] Lu Mia, and a Level 108 [Hanuman Dragoon] Ji Mui. The former engages Naofumi as braced for the collision with the towering female Oni, while Mui's bo staff extended it's shaft length, cutting off Raphtalia and Filo from jumping into Naofumi's support, the two then being beared down by Wui and Pon's fists speeding towards them.

"[Blue Dragon Fist-Ironbreaker]!" Wui roared out as he fist flashed towards Raphtalia's face.

"[Burning Hand-Meteor]!" Pon cried out as flaming fist dug into Filo's stomach, sending her flying off the ground at the same time as Raphtalia, both hurled into the air, and waiting for them up there was Mia, flying in the air, ready draw her [Miaodao].

"[Moonlit Sword, 28th Stance]..." declared the brown-winged [Humming Fairy Kenshi], a single gleam of light flashed as she drew out her blade from her scabbard, "... [Horseslayer]!"

Both Filo and Raphtalia were caught in the swing of Mia's blade, the flat of her [Miaodao] buried into their stomachs as they were then sent crashing through the windows behind them. In the ebb and flow of their fading consciousness, the two saw the horrified crowd beneath them, with Melty and Reinchott watching in aghast shock their messy descent towards hard earth below.

"... Big sis," Filo winced as she laid next to Raphtalia in a broken mess of tears and fractured bones, "... it really hurts..."

But before she can comfort the Filolial, a giant shadow casts over the two of them. Above was Ji Mui, standing atop of a flung pillar that was coming down towards them.

"JI MUI ORIGINAL KILLER MOVE!" the [Hanuman] declared with a bright and cocky smile on his face as he stood on the giant cylinder coming down towards them. "[SEA KING SLAYER-LONGWANG GUILLOTINE]!"

With the last reserves of her strength, Raphtalia picks herself up back up to her feet, grab Filo by her dress's collar, and pulls themselves out of the impact zone just in time not to be flattened into a pair of grease spots. She then spots Lord Reinchott ahead, which she then trudges towards him for safety.

"MR. REINCHOTT!" Raphtalia cried out as she dragged Filo to safety. "PLEASE FIND HELP!"

"Right back at ya."

"Wait, what-"

The so-called "Lord Reinchott" then high-kicks her across her jaw, causing her to spin in the air before landing back on the hard earth once again.

She looks towards her attacker, and sees that "Lord Reinchott" was actually Ji Mui in disguise, the facade fading away around the [Hanuman].

"[Heavenly King Light-Yu Huang's Doubles]," Ji Mui declared as multiple copies of himself surrounded Raphtalia's broken body. "... Not bad, kiddo. You actually managed to survive enough physical trauma to even move after our combo."

Raphtalia tries to reach out towards one of the Ji Mui copies, trying to go for the real one, only for her hand to soak through one of his afterimages instead.

"Don't worry, we ain't gonna kill ya," reassured Ji Mui as he took out an apple and bit into its pale-white flesh beneath its red skin, the other 3 encroaching upon her, with Dai Wui carrying the unconscious Filo over his shoulder, "it ain't fun to keep fighting a corpse. Rest up, you'll do better next time."

After those words were spoke from the [Hanuman Dragoon]'s stuffed mouth, the Tanuki girl's consciousness goes black.

Back inside the embassy, Naofumi himself was now being pinned down by Hou Gui's massive bodily frame, her height and bulk being roughly equivalent to that of him being pressed under an upturned semi-truck, and his flames weren't doing anything to push the [Oni] back, in spite of her clothes and hair catching on fire, none of which were even making her flinch.

Her eyes were solely focused on keeping Naofumi pressed down like a riot cop suppressing an unruly mob.

Shit, at this rate, I'll get crushed under her weight! Naofumi frantically thought as he struggled under Hou Gui's triangular blade-shield covered in metal throns and visages of beasts, have to find a way out, or I'm screwed!

His HUD then begins to shuffle through the options available, and while summoning [Gottfried] would be the obvious option, even he doubts that the crazed blood-martyr would be able to break free from her weight.

Wait, he thought as he noticed the [Oni] breathing heavily through her teeth in visible tufts of air as she pressed down onto him, ... gag reflex.

"[Shield Prison-Hedgehog]!" Naofumi declared as the sphere of spiked shields and chains encased around Hou Gui's head, causing her to recoil away from him in panic, allowing Naofumi to escape. "Alright that worked... wait, what?" he remarked as he noticed the [Oni Guardian] desperately bashing her [Shield Prison]-encased head against the floor, causing tremors with each strike, all the while shrieking and wailing in fear like that of a child.

"CHEN LONG! TAI GU! WHERE ARE YOU!?" the [Oni]'s muffled voice screeched out, "... too hard to breathe... too dark to see... GET ME OUT OF HERE!" she screamed out as she then dug her clawed fingers into the [Shield Prison-Hedgehog]'s gaps, trying to pry herself free as she flailed around like a headless chicken.

"Tch tch tcvh, shame on you, Sir Iwatani," chided Yi as he watched in disappointment, "I'd give credit to your creativity of your escape plan, but you just had to trigger her trauma."

"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT SHE WAS THAT SCARED OF THE DARK!?" barked back Naofumi. "I MEANT FOR A GAG REFLEX, NOT PTSD!"

But around Naofumi's ankles, several baseball-sized lead spheres with lit fuses rolled on the floor of the embassy, then exploding into clouds of pink smoke. As his vision was now clouded by the loudly-colorful smoke around him, Naofumi then hears the sounds of chains being broken, followed up by the sounds of metal plates clanging against the floor, indicating that Hou Gui successfully freed herself from the [Shield Prison].

"Hou Gui, Hou Gui, calm down, it's me," a stern-sounding female voice remarked through the clouds, "it's me, Chen."

"... Don't want to go back... don't want to go back underground..." the [Oni] whimpered out in Chen Long's company, for at least what Naofumi can eavesdrop from, "... want to stay with you two... Chen and Tai my family... want to see the sun and moon..."

Naofumi was slightly taken aback by the [Oni]'s semi-infantile state caused by him simply encasing her head in [Shield Prison], but shakes it off when he realizes that they're the enemy right now. Sympathy cannot be shown as they're the ones responsible for putting them here in the first place.

I'm getting me and the others out of here, no matter how many things I have to trample upon just to do so! he resolutely thought as he then activated his [Tyrant Dragon's Shield] and [Damned Prisoner's Shield] to activate his recent trump card used against the [Spriggan].

The [Forsaken Tyrant's Prison Shield], with his [Wrath Shield 3] as it base, and the [Tyrant Dragon's Shield] and [Damned Prisoner's Shield] as it supplements.

"... Hey Gottfried..." Naofumi called out as he activated [Summon-Blutschwur Märtyrer, Gottfried] from his trump card. "... It's showtime."

From the bloody depths of his confinement, the black-armored knight with the visage of the Iron Maiden answered.

"Kill... Maim... and BURN!"

The seal comes undone, and the crazed forsaken zealot awakens to the living world, dispersing of the pink smog around them, replacing it with a new shade of sanguine crimson.

"WHERE ARE THEY!?" the bound knight-familiar screeched out as it swiveled its head frantically around its new surroundings, "WHERE ARE THE ENEMY!? WHO HAS DONE YOU A MISDEED THAT MUST BE PAID IN BLOOD!?"

"Nyahaha..." a bemused chuckle echoed throughout the now-ruined and empty embassy, Naofumi's bloodshot eyes looking around to find where the voice came from. "You sir, are the definition of an ubermensch, rejecting the conventional norms and morals in order to save your friends who're just outside, but staying here knowing that we are also a threat to your loved ones, trusting them to hold on just long enough for you to save them in time."

"WHERE ARE YOU!?" Naofumi and Gottfried cried out in unison.

"You're strong, Sir Iwatani," the bemused voice replied, "but unfortunately, this is what they call..."

In a split second second, Naofumi realizes that Tai Gu was floating behind him, her feet not touching the ground, and her clawed thumbs aimed directly into his earholes.

"... a 'forced loss-scenario'." Tai Gu smirked as she then drove her fingers into Naofumi's ears, rupturing both of his eardrums, and causing him to recoil in agony as he screamed in pain from the venom entering into his system instantaneously taking effect.

... But he couldn't hear his own screaming, or anything. The strike has rendered him completely deaf. His head begins to feel lighter with each second, his eyes twitching uncontrollably, trying in desperation to augment his other senses to discern what was going on around him, with every single strand of his nerves anticipating a counterattack.

"By the way, that 'floating' trick was simply me standing on a few wires. Learned that from my time at the circus-oh wait, you can't hear me, can you?" Tai Gu deadpanned as she looked down at the flailing and writhing Naofumi, her dosage of mercury from her claw-rings taking effect and destroying whatever's left of his sapience as the flames proceeded to destroy his body. "Nyahaha, I guess you assumed that your Shield's resistances meant that you were immune to all aliments, but your sources completely disregarded the location of application, didn't it? Q'ten Lo science is the greatest in the world-"

"THERE YOU ARE!" Gottfried roared out as it flung itself towards the [Baihu], the latter skipping out of the way unfazed.

"Oh Mr. Black Knight, if you're going to touch a lady, at least take her out for dinner first," cooed Tai Gu as she skipped out of the crazed knight's warpath, her heels barely being missed by the knight's spikes and claws. "Chen Long, an intervention, please."

A segmented whip-[Jian] constricts around the knight's arm, causing him to pull the snare towards itself in hopes of bringing the perpetrator to his grasp, only instead, Chen lets go of her own weapon last-minute before getting on top of Hou Gui's shoulder as the massive female [Oni] charged towards Gottfried with her shield facing forth.

The knight then grabs the [Jian]'s handle to use the weapon as its own, only for the blade to instead constrict the knight, preventing it from breaking free, and even extending its spikes outward to pierce through the bindings proved for naught since the segmented blade's wires simply wrapped around the spikes instead.

"Don't think that you can wield [Huanglong Jian] as your own!" declared Chen Long as Hou Gui charged towards the bound Gottfried. "Only of the Chen lineage can claim it as their own arm!"

The [Oni] then rams her whole body and shield against the black knight, pinning it down against the floor with her shield, and with Chen Long pulling out a bayoneted [Nambu Type 100] submachine gun behind her back and begins emptying the weapon's magazine directly into Gottfried's iron maiden-like mask. Upon her subgun clicking blanks, she pulls out the empty mag, reloads in a new one, pulls the bolt back, and begins emptying the gun's mag all over again, up to 5 times more in quick succession of her cycle, until the visage of the iron maiden was nothing more than a dented piece of brass and iron.

"... I think it's stopped moving," Chen remarked as she poked the knight familiar with her [Nambu Type 100]'s bayonet while Tai Gu pressed against the struggling Naofumi's mouth and nose with a cloth dabbed in chloroform. She then pries the mask off of the familiar's face, only to find nothing beneath it. "Well, I guess we're done here," the [Shenlong Kenshi] remarked as she slung her submachine gun behind her back and went to retrieve her [Huanglong Jian] from the knight's grasp, but suddenly, the black gauntlet grips around her wrist, crushing her flesh to a ripened pulp and the bones beneath into fine gravel.

"CHEN!" Hou Gui cried out as she tried to hack off of the black knight's wrist from Chen Long's own with her bladed shield in vain, as Gottfried began to cackle out wickedly as its spikes extended more outwards, three of them staking through Chen's own wrist, ripping through bone and sinew alike as the [Shenlong] girl shrieked in pain.

"Your mistake... is that you assumed I can be killed like any other human..." the hollow-faced Gottfried droned out as its spikes continued to extend outwards, "... as long as the flames of hatred burn within me and my benefactor... I will never cease... SO NOW PAY FOR YOUR IGNORANCE WITH YOUR LIFE, LIZARD-GIRL!"

The familiar's armor then opens up like its visage's namesake, ready to swallow in the rest of Chen Long whole.

"HACK MY ARM OFF!" Chen cried out to Hou Gui in urgency, realizing her life or limb decision presented before her, "DO IT!"

"TOO LATE!" Gottfried interjected as its armor began to surround Chen with its shadow casting over her, "[BLUTBANK SABBAT]!"

"CHEN!"

In the split second, Tai Gu tackles Chen Long out of the way at the exact same moment when Hou Gui's shield severed Chen's arm off, allowing enough time for Chen Long to escape with her life, and Tai Gu taking her place.

The last the two see of the [Baihu Kagemusha] was her giving a wry smile and a thumbs up before she literally explodes into giblets inside Gottfried's spiked shell embracing her from all sides.

"TAI!" Hou Gui cried out as she then ran after the familiar withdrawing back into Naofumi's [Forsaken Tyrant's Prison Shield], the seal reapplying itself over the bulwark. "GIVE HER BACK!" the [Oni] cried out as she banged her own shield against Naofumi's own, "GIVE HER BACK OR I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" hou Gui wailed and wailed on as her eyes dripped with tears as she then raised her bladed shield over her horned head over Naofumi's semi-conscious body.

"HOU GUI! STAND DOWN!" Zhuge Yi firmly addressed the distraught [Oni]. "Get that weapon away from him."

"HE KILLED HER! I HAVE TO MAKE HIM PAY!" the [Oni] protested, still insistent on avenging her [Baihu] brethren.

"Yes, but so will the other side should you do the same unto him," pointed out the [Fenghuang Sage], trying to reason with the emotionally unstable [Oni]. "... She made her choice, so respect it. Killing him would be a waste of a life not worth killing."

"He's right," Chen remarked as she clutched onto her bleeding stump of where her right arm was, "Tai Gu knew that she wasn't going to make it after I got myself caught. So if you're going to get angry, get angry at me for underestimating the enemy. It was my mistake for getting her killed. I have two arms, but we only have one life to spare. Please... he's the enemy, but it's I who you should be blaming."

Hou Gui then throws her bladed shield across Chen Long, slicing off her left horn as the shield embedded itself into the wall behind her.

"... I don't want to hurt my friend," the [Oni Guardian] weeped, "... I was supposed to protect my friends... it should've been me instead."

"What's done cannot be undone, Hou Gui," remarked Zhuge Yi, "... the light of the sun shines as does the moon. We may choose to deny of their existence, but they will still be there, that is for certain. Hou Gui, take Chen Long to a nearby medic to get that arm treated. Leave Sir Iwatani to me."

The [Oni] tearfully nods as she carried Chen out of the embassy, leaving Yi only with the semi-conscious [Shield Fallen] on the floor.

Naofumi tried to speak, but he couldn't tell since he can't hear the words coming out his mouth anymore. Taking that into consideration, Zhuge Yi then takes out a small bamboo notepad and scribbles onto it before showing what he wrote to Naofumi's blurring vision.

An eye for an eye; that's how the world ran since the time immemorial, it wrote, Tai Gu has made her choice as you did, so I will not fault you for her death.

What was really weird was that the words he wrote on his notepad were written in Japanese.

"... How?" Naofumi croaked out, moving his lips to throatily vocalize his words in spite of not being able to hear what he's saying.

Yi then simply flipped to another page of his notepad and scribbled something else down before showing what he wrote.

You weren't the first Japanese native here, the note read, many came and gone like the rest of us born here. Some willing, others not so. My teacher, for instance, wished that he died and be forgotten rather than be here. How could I not agree? Who would want to save this world?

As Naofumi's mind then began to lose its grasp on the waking world, Yi quickly scribbles down something on his notepad before showing it to Naofumi.

We'll talk later. You'll live to see me next time you wake up.

And from the doors, Siegfried, the current [Claw Hero] representing the Aotatsu House appeared with a displeased look on his face.

"YI! THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?" the [Claw Hero] barked out as he paced towards the diminutive-looking [Fenghuang Sage]. "WHAT'S WITH THE CROWD OF HUMANS AND DEMIHUMANS OUTSIDE!? WHAT'S THE [SHIELD HERO] DOING ON THE FLOOR OF THE EMBASSY!?"

"... We had a disagreement," he remarked as he covered his face with his feather paddle fan. "I suppose you brought help?"

The [Claw Hero] spat out in disgust as two [Aotatsu Lizardmen] came in carrying a stretcher.

"Know your place, foreigner," he remarked as he pointed his [Salamander Claws] towards Yi, the flames flickering on the blades leaving Yi unfazed in spite of the blatant intimidation, "you may be married off to the Shusaku House by the Emperor himself, but you try anything funny, I'll have you hanged for your antics!"

As the [Claw Hero] walked off in a huff with Naofumi in tow, Zhuge Yi then walks back up to the ruined staircase, where behind the door waited two females with veiled faces, one tall and muscular with bloodstained fists, the other being thin and short, pulling her [Blood Scythe] out from an [Assassin]'s chest, the room that they were waiting in being riddled in corpses of numerous assailants sent by the various Houses around Siltvelt.

"They really fell for it," Yi deadpanned at the bloodied guest room. "... Regrettable, but what's done cannot be undone."

He then reached out to one of the dead bodies, pocketed out a slip of paper, and reading it, finds the orders of Zhuge Yi's assassination.

"... This makes the 14th time on my life this month alone."

With the snap of his fingers, the whole room then lights up in blue flames burning the dead bodies into nothingness in an instant, leaving the two females, Zhuge Yi, and the room itself completely unburnt.

"We'll call this state of disrepair 'collateral damage'," he remarked as he walked out of the room, with the two mysterious women following behind him. "Until then, I'll make myself scarce for the time being."

He then turned towards the short one with the sheathed [Scythe].

"Agnes dear, make sure that you keep things discreet," ordered Yi. "The last thing they need to find is a dead body, and I rather not add any more to the pile, particularly unneeded ones, so do be sure to keep things under wraps. Understood?"

The short female nods before speaking in a monotone voice.

"For Absolute Benevolence."

She then disappears from sight, leaving Yi and the large female alone in the ruined embassy.

"As for you, check on our dig site," Yi ordered the large female. "Take the princess and the noblemen with his villagers and slaves in name only to the place and put them to work. Be sure that they're treated humanely, feed and aid them daily, and as long as they're under my watch, no harm will come to them, internal or external. Violation will be met with your judgement, and above all else, no one must know what we're excavating. [Tiang Xiang Er Hao] is to remain classified even to the king himself, understood?"

The large female nods as she walked away.

"As for the other two accompanying the [Shield Hero]..." he muttered to himself as he walked outside the embassy, with the hostages now being corralled by his personal guards while the four of the Seven Sacred Scholars paid the sellswords their due. "... I'll deal with them myself."


Back at Now-Destroyed [Melromarc]...

The whole kingdom's captial was now nothing more than an overglorifed quarry of rubble and burnt timber. And from the daylight stood out a bright-red colored dome, shimmering in the burning daylight amidst this ruin.

The bubble the dissipates, revealing several blood-soaked people from underneath, with Fubuki pulling her [Blutsauger] out of the now-mummified corpse of Aultcray, completely drained of his blood down to the last drop.

"... Okay, we're alive," Fubuki flatly remarked as she looked around her surroundings as the others gasped for air or vomiting. "... [Blutsauger] ain't twitching anymore, so I guess we're in the clear."

Then from the distance, several people showed, causing the rest of them go into an alert stance, only for some to sigh in relief to see Nan and the others.

"... I take it that no is left alive?" remarked Nan, his voice completely monotone.

"Seems like it," Garou remarked as he looked around. "I think we're in the clear-"

Behind the wolf-boy, a half-mangled survivor burst out of the rubble, in his hands being a [TT-33] pistol aimed at him.

"DIE!" the survivor growled out as he aimed his gun.

"GAROU!"

A shot rang out throughout the sky.

Nan's own [Oracion Seis]'s barrel tip smoking, the mangled survivor now baring a hole in his throat, and Fubuki herself on top of Garou.

"... Fubuki?"

Garou's right hand found itself pooling a fresh pool of blood seeping from his sister's upper back.

"... Someone..." he whimpered, "... SOMEONE HELP HER-"

"It's too late," Nan remarked as he looked at the wound. "The bullet struck through her heart. Her main valve ruptured. She's already placid."

The face on Garou broke down into a pathetic look of grief as he bawled and wailed profusely at this sudden tragedy.

"... Nan, what the hell happened to you!?" L'Arc remarked as he grabbed Nan by his collar, only for his fingers to start bleeding, finding razors beneath the clothes.

"You're mistaken. Nan Hon-Jah is no longer present," the figure remarked as its missing eye then began to grow human-like teeth from its eyelids.

"Only #18 is now present!" the eye-mouth declared, causing everyone present, including the ones behind him, Grimm himself included, to recoil back in utter horror. "... What, never seen a mouth where the eye's at before?"

"THERE'S ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE ONE MOUTH PER PERSON!" Rio screeched out in horror, completely freaked out of her mind. "THE HELL HAPPENED WHILE YOU WERE AT THE FOREST!?"

#18 then began speaking.

"He chose this for himself. Nan Hon-Jah sacrificed his emotions and restraints to obtain the power of the Final Sin, [Suicide]," the [Abomination] answered. "If you wish to know more, return to the [Archives] and read the will left behind on the [Matrix]'s tabletop."

Without a word, everyone returned to the [Giant's Groves], leaving behind the exsanguinated corpse behind while Garou carried his sister's corpse behind his back. As they walked by, no one said a word, utterly broken by #18's mere presence, a being of complete emptiness and unrestrained madness had led them, a complete walking literal contradiction, one side completely uncaring of what's around it, the other reveling at the madness it causes.

Only Nan's shell of a body was left, and all the more reason it came for them to ditch him, but somehow, their collective feet became ice-cold, unable to run.

"... Are you feeling what I'm feeling?" Glass remarked to L'Arc and Theresa. "... It feels like something heavy is latching onto my back, and if I try anything, I'll feel like I'll get crushed to death."

L'Arc and Theresa all stop in their tracks as they look at Glass, both having their jaws completely agape at what they're seeing.

"... Glass," Theresa's voice trembled out as her face turned purplish-blue from fear, "... whatever you do, don't freak out."

"... There's something on me, isn't it?"

Both nod.

"[Soul Eater]?"

"No," L'Arc replied as he tried not to hyperventilate at the sight of what he's seeing before him. "... Something way worse."

He's only heard of stories about these creatures. The next evolution of [Soul Eaters], and why in his kingdom, they're killed off before they can completely reach maturity.

One case of that thing getting loose resulted in several villages becoming graveyards, the corpses of the villagers left rotting in their beds, their faces completely frozen in fear in-between the states of arousal and languor.

Back when L'Arc was only a child, he's lost several family members to this creature, forcing him to spend several nights trying not to fall asleep lest he joins them, only for the sacrifice of his dear friend and mentor to liberate his kingdom from this walking nightmare.

Where the two last met, all it left was a smoldering crater where once a forest stood. And now, he's begun to realize that his friend's sacrifice might've been in vain upon seeing such thing.

A [Dream Eater] followed them, and looking back, #18 was facing them, with his eye-mouth mouthing the following as L'Arc read its lips.

Don't. Fall. Asleep.

"... We're dead," he remarked. "He wasn't trying for a diversionary raid. He was going for the checkmate."

As they entered the cave, the three saw Malty being carried off by two by Alpha and Beta by her shoulders, malnourished and on the verge of death, her feet dragging against the stone floor.

"Keep watch of her," #18 ordered, "I still have one last use for her-"

"I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!" Fohl's voice screamed out as the Hakuko boy approached #18.

"... If you wish to leave, feel free," #18 stated. "But the next time we meet, you will die."

"I don't care if I'm going to die..." he remarked as the tears of sadness and the expression seething anger boiled on his face, "... THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THAT SHE KILLED HERSELF!"

His fist then punches into #18's stomach, spilling out black-colored blood from the wound. Fohl tries to pull his arm out, but it felt something was clamping his fist inside the wound.

#18 lifts up its shirt, and finds that Fohl's hand was now clamped between a pair of teeth rows.

"Word of advice, kiddo," the eye-mouth mocked, "you might wanna grit your teeth."

What followed was the sound of flesh and bone being crushed between two course rows of mandibles, causing Fohl to scream out in agony as sinew by sinew, his right arm was compacted right before him.

"This is the power of that this body has been bequeathed with," #18 dispassionately declared as Fohl was left flailing on the ground while his severed arm was being chewed up in #18's new stomach-mouth. "The ultimate physical malleability. But that's not all there's to it."

Before them, a horror show unfolded before them as Fohl's screams of pain shifted into laughter. As his cackle echoed throughout the caverns, he then began bashing his own head against the floor, blood slowly being spilled out from each impact as his laughter refused to cease, seemingly taking joy into his own self-mutilation.

Khronos and Malva tried to stop the boy's self-harm, but Malva's ring finger gets bitten off of her hand in the same manner as Fohl's own arm did, allowing him to break free and begin headbutting his father to death and towards his own.

At the climax of the madness, both Khronos and Fohl's heads implode unto each other, killing them both. Upon seeing the aghast sight, Malva takes her own life in her own fit of madness by thumbing both of her eyes out.

The last of the Hakuko House has now fallen in an orgy of insanity.

"... The fuck happened?" Rino asked as she fell to her knees and wetting herself.

"Feel free to attack me," #18 remarked. "But as so much as one drop of the Ink stains you-"

"One-way trip to the loony bin without padded cells!" the eye-mouth and the stomach-mouth remarked in unison. "Stains right down to your very soul! It's also highly infectious to anyone who has a soul, so watch out!"

And like that, no one talked back, even as they all saw the Homunculus returning from the [Giant's Groves] carrying large parts looking like clockwork, or the albino humanoids arming themselves with various weapons from [M4]s and [P90]s to [Striker Shotgun]s and [FGM-148 Javelin]s. Some were converting [FN SCAR]s into [FN SCAR-H]s by fitting longer barrels and red-dot scopes onto their picatinny rails, and [Remington 870 Tactical]s into their [Masterkey] configurations by removing the buttstocks and replacing the barrel and magazine tubes with shorter ones. The rest who were armed kept their weapons at ready in case should the situation call for it.

Chi himself, after holstering his new dual [USP .45 Match]s around his waist, hands L'Arch a folded slip of paper.

"His will, like he promised," Chi remarked.

"Why're you're still serving him?" L'Arc asked.

Chi then looks back with a look of disgust on his face.

"Because we find living itself repulsive," the junior butler answered as he picked up an Altyn helmet sitting on a crate. "Honestly, Byakko's a dick that he got to go before us."

After he walks away, everyone then looks at the paper as L'Arc read what was read on it.

"What does it say?" Rio asked as she and the others peeked over L'Arc's shoulder.

This was what was written on the paper.

If you're reading this, then that means I, Nan Hon-Jah, is sleeping with the worms/dead.

To all who still have a bone to pick with the kingdoms, then feel free to stay with me and join me burning this shithole to bedrock.

To everyone else, I hereby relinquish my hold unto you. Feel free to go about your ways, since in the end, I forced all of you to join in my regard, and in all honesty, my reasoning to keep you all with me was half-assed at best.

Then again, I dunno how people and relationships worked to begin with, and hell, I only stayed with my family back home because I kinda didn't bother questioning it out of convenience. So yeah, bit of a hypocrite myself, but then again, from what I know, people are always on a prowl to find a reason to keep living, and honestly, I never had one other simply spiting everyone else's reasons for living because I am that empty.

As for what I'll leave behind, I entrust Grimm and the [Archive] to L'Arc and his group, since they're the only decent-minded people I've ever met, and I know that I met others, but out of all the people I've met in my life, L'Arc was the only one who I can call resembling a friend, despite yours truly being an asshole.

Look, I never had any close friends before coming here, so my situation made little difference. All I know in life is to simply play heel, just as my home has labeled me as.

Still though, what comes after you're done reading this, the whole continent will be reduced a wasteland, and I'll be long gone.

They say that good and evil are part of the whole "circle of life", but in all honesty, I call horseshit.

L'Arc then flips the paper over, with only a few words left.

I leave the rest of your own lives to you all. And again, I leave Grimm and the [Archive] to you.

-Sorry for being an asshole, Nan Hon-Jah the 18th

P.S., have you ever seen yourself commit suicide? Because I sure as hell have!

Everyone who were reading the paper then heard the sound of flesh being cut off.

Before themselves, Grimm and a severed arm that he was chained to plopped down before them, the Ink/black blood pooling beneath the bleeding stump.

They all looked towards #18, the severed stump turning into another mouth that opens up to gestate out a demonic-looking arm made of fire in its place.

"... That's Rubicante's arm," Suzaku pointed out. "Did you-"

"He was a sacrifice, nothing more," #18 remarked. "The same be said for the rest of them. I am now an amalgamation of all the [Summons] held within a single vessel."

Before all of them, Gaileon began to disappear from existence as the other [Summons] outside began to scream in panic as they all presumably vanished from existence.

"If you wish to join, feel free," #18 stated as its body began squirming around like a sack full of kidnapped kittens, implying that it'd literally cleaned house of all of his own [Summons] and made it into parts of his own body.

"A line in the sand has been drawn," the eye-mouth remarked in a faux-dramatic tone, "this is the last of we will see each other as non-hostiles."

No one steps towards him. All of them wished to no longer associate with this [Abomination] anymore.

"... Then this is farewell," #18 remarked as its back sprouted out a pair of boney wings, likely being Yaelia's own.

It then takes out a deck of cards with 52 cards in them, pressing against the gem button on its surface.

"... Wait, isn't that [Lemegeton]!?" remarked Seiryu.

"Now we're enemies, I no longer have the reason to spare any of you," pointed out #18.

"[52 Pickup]," [Lemegeton] declared as the deck case was thrown into the air, scattering all sealed 52 [Daemons] all over the [Giant's Groves], the deck case itself shattering into pieces upon releasing the contained [Daemons].

"Well, feel free to take a gander at all 52 [Daemons]!" the eye-mouth mocked as #18 and the other [Homunculi] walked away. "Nice knowing ya schmucks!"

"GET BACK HERE!" Glass screeched out as she tried to go after Nan, but only to be stopped [Deer Daemon]s horns spilling lightning all over them, causing them to scatter about as the other [Daemons] began to flood the caverns that they were in.

"HE KILLED MASTER GAILEON!" Seiryu fiercely cried out as she bashed her [Torture Anvil-Vulcan] against the [Polar Daemon]'s ice-infused attacks. "I'M GOING TO RIP HIS HEAD OFF!"

"GET IN LINE!" Spitznagel spat out as it clashed against the [Mole Daemon]'s drill-claws boring into his armor before he knocked it away.

"EVERYONE! INTO THE [ARCHIVE]!" L'Arc cried out as he blocked a charge attack against the [Boar Daemon] as he and Glass fended off the coming [Daemons]. As the others began to pull back, he then spotted the [Deer Daemon] regroup with a [Hopper Daemon].

The [Hopper Daemon] then jumps up into air as the [Deer Daemon] then supplements it's legs with its own lightning.

"[LIGHTNING BLAST]!" the two [Daemons] declared in throaty voices as the insectoid's electrocuted flying kick landed on L'Arc's chest, sending him propelling back, landing in Theresa's arms as the [Deer Daemon]'s lightning edged towards them.

"NO WAY!"

Only then, a thrown tantō dagger intercepted the thunderbolt, and from the explosion, Rio jumps back out to face the hoard of [Daemons].

"Rio!?" Rino cried out, "the hell are you-"

Before she can say anything more, Rio than kicks the side of the entrance, causing her to be blocked off from the others, leaving her alone to the [Daemons].

"RIO!" Rino cried out as she tried to reach out towards the cave-in, only to be pulled back.

"She bought us time, don't waste it!" Garou remarked as he and the other survivors retreated into back into the [Archive] willed to them.

The survivors then begin piling up whatever they can find around the ruined underground to form a barricade should the [Daemons] breach through.

"Shite, we're cornered!" Genbu remarked as he pushed a cupboard up to the empty elevator shaft. "Where the bloody hell do we go from here!?"

"DON'T ASK ME! I'M JUST AS CLUELESS AS THE REST OF YOU!" Garou barked back as he piled on a bookshelf onto the barricade.

"Grimm, if you know anything, now's a good time!" L'Arc cried out as he readied his [Sacred Scythe]. "There better be an emergency exit or something like that!"

The talking [Forbidden Tome] trembled its lip-pages from the shock of betrayal and his mind starting to remember something again.

"... The [Matrix]," Grimm uttered out as it turned towards the central hub, "INSERT ME IN THAT SLOT!"

L'Arc picks up the [Tome], hurls it towards Garou, and the wolf-boy then dashes towards the main hub as he weaves across the panicked crowd like a runningback on high. He then spots central computer's rectangular slot, and in a last desperate attempt as his ears began to pick up the [Daemons] from the other side trying to break in through the barricade, he tosses Grimm towards the slot, landing onto it in a perfect fit.

The whole central computer [Matrix] then begins to hum to life as its cassis began to open itself, revealing inside being a black cube of some sort.

"THE FUCK!? I THOUGHT THIS WAS A WAY OUT!" Garou bemoaned as the barricade collapsed behind him and the others, the [Daemon]s making their way inside.

"TOUCH IT!"

Garou then places his finger onto the black cube...

... and in the next second, everyone, sans the [Daemon] horde, were gone.

The other [Daemons] continued to search the area in confusion, thinking that they were hiding elsewhere within the [Archives].

Behind the other [Daemons], a tall and imposing fiend with a golden, horned carapace walked into the underground chambers, being the only one to notice the floating cube where the [Matrix] once was.

"... Object," it spoke as it took the cube into its claws, "... unknown origin..." it remarked as it fiddled around with the blank black cube, trying to discern its purpose and/or function, "... nowhere to be seen..."

"[Caucasus Daemon]..." another throaty voice remarked, coming from an eight-legged [Daemon] that crawled down from the elevator shaft, "... prey still around... must hunt down... every living being..."

"Understood..." the [Caucasus Daemon] replied as it left the black cube back where it was, "... [Tarantula Daemon]... call others back to hunt."

Letting out a shrill cry from its mandibles, it called back the other [Daemons] out towards the [Giant's Groves] to resume their hunt.

In the ruined [Archive], all that was left standing was the floating black cube, left alone where it was emerged.


To Be Continued...


Author's Notes: Welp, time for the endgame to begin. Dunno how it's gonna turn out in the end, but I just want to see this through to the very end. I got college second semester of second year to start, 2021 to get over with, and dunno how life is going to treat me and everyone else in the foreseeable future, so consider me scared out of my mind.

As for the chapter name, "The Contradiction" isn't just a God of Highschool shout-out, it's also a double meaning for the coming theme of the endgame antagonists, #18 itself included.

As for plans with Malty... consider the remnants of the Hakuko family as a TEST RUN.

And with that, another week of college over, and another chapter done. I'm probably going to touch this whenever I have time in-between my schoolwork.

For usual, let me know what you guys think of this Epic, for I'd like to know what you guys are thinking.