Chapter 63: Empire's End

(Song Begin: Cruel Angel Thesis, Evangelion soundtrack)

The skies above Melitine were blotted out as a looming darkness eclipsed Eden's suns; Tatsumi and those who could fly with at him along with many others from the ground bellow looked upon the source of the darkness: Volgoth Ugor, an Arch-Demon now fully ascendant. The looming monster had drawn in the energy of all evil on the face of Eden, millennia's worth of human hatred and abominations committed in acts that were completely indisputably evil had been feeding an evil that now had one purpose: destroy the world and everything on it, but above all else Volgoth had one dark focus, destroy the person he viewed as being responsible for everything the ascendent demon had lost, the destruction of plans made over decades only to have been undone by a single individual the one who had escaped his plans and had at first been but a nuisance but overtime became the greatest enemy the demon had ever known and the only thing going thru the demon's mind which had been shattered by the ascension and separation from the original vessel Honest was to destroy Tatsumi and then destroy everything else.

"VOLGOTH!" Tatsumi yelled getting the attention of the looming evil that readied its weapons.

"TATSUMI! KILL! KILL! BOY!" Volgoth roared dementedly and flew towards Tatsumi, the plan at short notice Tatsumi had was simple; go for the head, he remembered the tale of Boic Bravesoul and had a plan to drive his sword into Volgoth's skull, but doing that was going to require some doing and he'd need to cause as much damage to Volgoth as possible to get an opening; so as they had flown up he had given orders to his aerial attack team: Esdeath, Spear, Bulat, The Four Rakshasas, Run, Shastavi, Merraid, and Sayo to target various parts of the demon's body while he took the brunt of the attacks; both Spear and Sayo had been against this plan but he had overruled the objections because as much as they hated Tatsumi putting himself in absurdly dangerous and potentially fatal situations it was the best and only option to distract Volgoth as Volgoth was focused on him.

Tatsumi activated the Golden Dragon Armor's trump card: Heavenly battle form and Tatsumi's armor now covered his whole body not showing an inch of his skin with a battle mask resembling the head of dragon on full display, various metal disks and protrusions jutted out of the armor. "Michael: Solar inferno!" Tatsumi declared and his sword's blade lit up with bright white fire that was hotter than the surface of a white giant star and radiated pure energy of order that was the bane of evil.

Tatsumi raised his shield and flew towards Volgoth who swung the demonic axe in his left arm at Tatsumi the massive head of that axe was about the size of a small tank but the shield took the strike; then as planned Esdeath unleashed a massive ice strike that froze the weapon shattering the head; Volgoth roared in anger as Tatsumi slashed at the hand that clenched a useless haft and the demon dropped it down but move his hand to grab Tatsumi who slashed the large hand with his sword Volgoth ignored the pain and grabbed Tatsumi then dived downward powering; Tatsumi struggled to free himself from the demon's grip and immediately felt a surge of momentum as Volgoth slammed him into a large abandoned building wall then flung him. The speed Tatsumi was moving at would have killed a normal unprotected human but the armor did protect him like an airplane protects its passengers. Also the armor had an interesting side effect as while Volgoth dragged him across the building the demon felt pain and when he could tolerate that pain no more Volgoth threw Tatsumi like one would a rock and Tatsumi was carried by momentum thru several buildings and several city blocks; parts of the armor broke off and he noted his face mask being broken with shards of metal breaking off, Tatsumi barely managed to stop himself before causing more collateral damage to structures; covered in blood and sweat Tatsumi returned towards Volgoth.

However during his brief stint as a human-meteor he had lost his shield, granted he'd get it back later but he decided to make do without and surged towards Volgoth who was busy exchanging attacks with Bulat and Shastavi who had in Tatsumi's absence taken up the role of diversion while Sayo launched a barrage of arrows at Volgoth's right wing, Run and Merra did the same to the left wing only with bullets and surges of javelins that Merra materialized out of energy using her Teigu; while the Four Rakshasas attacked the body; Akame had managed to get a serious blow thru the skin but was chagrined when the usually reliably lethal poison of Murasame didn't take hold the demon was immune to it or too powerful to be troubled by it; Kurome had barely managed to save her sister from a wrathful claw that had come down to swat Akame like she was a bee that had just stung Volgoth.

When Tatsumi returned Spear who had just flown in to cover Bulat's withdrawal to swap in herself was eager to allow Tatsumi back but now she would attack with him together: Volgoth noted Tatsumi's return and swung the Darkblade at him they dodged the strike but Tatsumi once again found himself in the free claw of Volgoth's grip who this time opted to start crushing him regardless of the pain Spear noted Tatsumi's bend inward and rushed to aid him. "Black Marlin: Cascadia!" Spear declared dousing the arm with water, Volgoth was confused but kept squeezing Tatsumi who felt more blood pouring down him "Yadwiga: Thunderstorm!" Spear declared and implemented the second half of her strategy, water and electricity never mix in a good way and Volgoth lost his grip as searing lightning struck his arm even the demon that could ignore the power of fire could not tolerate divine lightning striking his limb causing pain, Tatsumi felt an after current hit him but he was grounded and escaped Volgoth's grip flying upwards; as Volgoth brought his sword to bear, Tatsumi parried the massive weapon to his own shock and muttered the Trump card of Michael under his breath; suddenly time seemed to slow around him as he flew towards the demon's right-wing Volgoth could only register that Tatsumi had been in one place before Tatsumi had used this burst of speed to get behind Volgoth's wing; Tatsumi then summoned a large ball of light and hurled it into the wing searing it off to roars of pain from Volgoth who recognized now his enemy's ploy and now was plummeting; Tatsumi then dove towards the face of his enemy looking him plain in eye.

(Song end: Song Begin: This is war second half (I do believe in the life raise your hands to the sky, the fight is done the war is won. Lift your hands towards the sun) Tatsumi gripped Michael with two hands and drove the blade into the crown of Volgoth's skull "I Purge you Volgoth: Here my voice, you shall die, you have no choice, free from your evil Eden shall rejoice! In the names of all those you have slain I purge you and send you to the endless hell you'll live in for eternity: Michael! Solar Inferno!" Tatsumi declared his bloodied face exposed peridot green eyes looking into gold eyes that for once in the many times he had seen them now knew- fear. As Tatsumi drove the blade thru Volgoth the demon grabbed him and in one last act of defiance like the body of a snake that has no head flung him downward before limply falling, everyone flew towards Tatsumi and everyone on the ground moved in that direction. Above them Volgoth's body twist and warped the demon let out a primordial scream of agony as its body dissolved along with its weapon and armor and that vile crown that had set everything in motion before shattering in one final burst of energy molten shards would have fallen had they not disintegrated instead Tatsumi's sword Michael fell embedding itself into the ground of a park bellow it, the skies were now many-colored as the suns were starting to set; across the city, demons dissolved or were hewn down, across the city rejoicing was had by the armies of Order.

(The War is won, Song End) Tatsumi looked at his surrounding as he crashed, having total broken another roof, his armor was rent and blood was pouring out of many cuts that had come from being flung thru structures and slammed against walls in addition to being dragged across them like he had been a sponge scrubbing up a mess. "The war is won" Tatsumi stammered out, a portal opened and outran Aria and Dorothea followed by everyone else Esdeath landed and rushed to him pulling him out from under a metal beam that had fallen across his body as he had apparently had the misfortune of being lobbed into one of many piles of metal debris from the trashed Primus Imperator, he was surprised by her strength. "Esdeath; I did it" Tatsumi stammered out before blacking out.

"NO!" Esdeath screamed, "MEDIC! DOCTORS SAVE HIM!" She howled and Aria along with Dorothea rushed over breaking out ever medical instrument and treatment they had, tending to wounds at they noted they stripped Tatsumi out of his armor noting the abuse he had taken; it was horrible; parts of his body were covered with bruises, lacerations and many a bone was broken.

(Lift your hands towards the suns, the war is won) Tatsumi was on the verge of death and wives went into overdrive to save him suddenly a figure approached them; a figure with long brown hair and dressed in purple. "You know your work is useless he is going to die" the man stated Dorothea and Aria ignored him, but others looked at him. "I could save him" The man stated but nobody liked the look of him Syura especially.

"Who are you" Esdeath asked considering the possibility.

"I'm just someone with a vested interest in Tatsumi that's all, after all he did just go thru a terrible battle that will likely cost him his life without the proper help; I could help him but his soul would be mine" The man replied, Esdeath looked at him and then at Tatsumi.

"You're Valtor aren't you?" Esdeath asked, the arch-demon in human skin grinned.

"Clever women, you are smart Esdeath Patras, but your skill as a warrior won't help you save the one you love I can" Valtor replied then grinned as he thought he had her where he wanted her. Suddenly a bright white blade pierced thru his back and heart he turned to notice Syura standing behind him without a helmet and looking at him a face of utter hatred.

"We don't need your help demon; Eden has had enough of your 'help' I've lost my father because of you and I suffered torments of Hell itself; you can go back to Hell Valtor and tell the devil I send my regards! As does Asha!" Syura explained then drew out his blade and decapitated the Arch-Demon whose head laughed before he and body vanished.

"Have your victory; have your world; I've already gotten what I wanted from this planet; we'll meet again servant of Asha and you can bet on that!" Valtor's voice declared before there was silence as Aria and Dorothea did their work; Esdeath whispered "Mahāpadma Granda" it froze Tatsumi's blood in time to stop the bleeding while also freezing him in a state of suspended time so that Aria and Dorothea could save him.

Meanwhile… Tatsumi looked at where he was now a white plane with what looked like chairs scattered about for setting and many doors. Out of one of them came a beautiful woman with white wings and rainbow tail she was dressed as a queen and had bright green eyes long orange hair and deep brown skin. "Where am I? Is this the afterlife am I dead?" Tatsumi asked before noting he was dressed in the clothes he had worn when he first left Karsawa.

"Not exactly, many years remain in your life, you've done a great deed of heroism and selfless courage Tatsumi Gildenstrom; it's nice to meet you in person or close to it; welcome to well a transitory station as you will, this place is well the in-between or a realm of it, the in-between is a plane that separates universes and dimensions from each other and the afterlife; it changes shape to whatever person enters it; here I thought we could talk for a time" the woman greeted.

"Who are you, you know my name, but I don't know yours" Tatsumi replied

"You do know my name; you've heard in many times; you've prayed to many gods over the years Tatsumi but just one of them reliably and always answered your prayers" the women replied and Tatsumi knew immediately who she was.

"You're Asha aren't you?" Tatsumi replied.

"Indeed, Asha is my name, and Asha means me: Asha the Eternity Queen first and greatest of all Phoenixes and Greater Phoenix of Order and Justice: two things which you've proven to bring to shortage of" Asha explained. "Now while you are here I'm going to get to the heart of the matter; you aren't dead and in fact you will make a full recovery, your wife Dorothea is about to test an experimental treatment on you, it will repair the damage to your body, but not fully the scars will remain, it won't however completely save you; you bleeding internally I will heal that and many other injuries that the limited circumstances prevent her and Aria from treating. I do ask you a question Tatsumi, you had many chances to turn away from this quest that you chose to take why did you stay the course" Asha explained.

"Why? Because I wanted to make a difference, to change things, to fix what wasn't right with my world and make things better for everyone in it; and even now if I knew where my journey was going to take me I'd have still taken it; and before you ask why I'd make that choice because if I never took it I'd have never met with those I love most; especially Aria" Tatsumi explained, Asha smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that answer. Tatsumi you will be the greatest ruler your world has ever seen, but I have to ask why though was it you turned to me, was it because of Syura?" Asha replied.

"Not directly; though him being brought back from the dead as a divine knight is enough to convince anyone to worship you, no I just had a feeling, I prayed to all the other gods of the Empire then when I thought I had done enough the idea to pray to you came into my head; I prayed and I don't think you forgot that prayer" Tatsumi replied.

"No I haven't, I never forget a person's first prayer, Tatsumi you a fascinating man, brave, handsome, dauntless, and caring much like my brood-mate Erasiel, he's a fascinating person you'll definitely meet someday when he's not busy fighting off legions of chaos in my own world, but while you're here we don't have much time so ask what questions you may and I'll answer them" Asha replied.

"Why is it you have such a vested interest in Eden? It can't just be because of the demons" Tatsumi replied.

"You are correct in that, the demons are their own problem and have a habit of causing problems in whatever universe they touch; they are like cockroaches you can stop them as many times as you want but they'll just keep coming back to cause problems. Anyway my interest in your world well it comes from the fact I created it and all other objects in your universe; Eden was- the pride my efforts thru my intermediaries the Celestials who shaped your system; they created care-taker races and many other races, shaping the way even your system looks. I came in after the creation after they left behind your world; humanity didn't have someone to guide them on their wayward path and humanity is my favorite race because of the great capacity of humans for both good and evil along with their choice; they are the personification of order and chaos one cannot exist without the other and are a fascinating race, because of your races mortality being a divine being isn't all your race thinks it is, truth be told its rather painful living forever because you outlive so many wonderful people and though my race can share our immortality we cannot do so with everyone. Anyway I first came to your world after its creation as a source of unity for many tribes of humanity, your race was once scattered without leaders beyond those that made themselves fighting amongst each other it was then I decided on a specific tribe to bring unity; the Patrassi as they later became known as and had them worship me and I taught them many things, eventually they shared their gifts with other tribes of humans and eventually formed the first of your world's great Empires; the Empire of the Dawn, for 10,000 years they remained faithful to me but as time dragged on they became stagnant and wared amongst themselves; the demon you know as Valtor took advantage and began to influence the people: he crept into your world while I was focused on other matters: the seventh of twelve Phoenix Wars raged in my home dimension and with my own race fighting against themselves I could not spare my power to intervene or take my focus off of the great suffering in my own home; that war ravaged the home world of all Phoenixes Axeoth and I saved it barely reshaping it and giving it a new name: Axeoth-nal-Ashan or Ashan as humans called it. With my attention elsewhere Valtor was able to destroy Empire I had shaped leaving humanity to pick up the pieces, a normal group that had been enslaved by the Patrassi known as the Yeenkarai stepped in to fill the vacuum left by the collapse first they were a good race and worshiped me along with their own deities but over time Valtor's influence crept in and corrupted them. Eventually they were lost to evil and began to worship him and allow forth demons on the face of your world for the first time; I didn't know the intention of his plan but knowing know what he did I am saddened I didn't stop him sooner or have Erasiel do so. He warped them creating a nation ruled by hybrids of humans and demons all of his efforts culminated in one man: Tar-Esh-Tavani, the last Priest Emperor of Yeenkar who sacrificed his own civilization for bloody power creating Volgoth. He was defeated by the bravery of those that remained free and imprisoned by the Dwarves; the Patrassi first among them they still of all the races of men remembered me and venerated me and they were victorious I offered their leader the chance to restore what had been lost but he refused he had no desire to see what had happened to the Empire of the Dawn happen again and they became nomads. Long your world knew peace, Valtor would return from time to time but knew not where Volgoth was in your world until about 20 years ago when Valdis Castnir accidentally released him from his prison: you know what happened next you've lived it: the past is interesting Tatsumi remember it and take heed with what happened to both the Patrassi and the Yeenkarai both forged great nations but both fell to their own sins, try and make a power that will endure the test of time" Asha explained.

Tatsumi looked at her. "What happens next?" Tatsumi asked.

"You'll live a long life and be a wise ruler, the greatest Eden has ever seen; know that you will leave behind a line of millions of descendants your world will be shaped by your actions and your people will love your for it: Golden Dragon Emperor. My time now comes and as does yours we will meet again, know though that one day I will send my Brood-Mate Erasiel to see you, he will be your friend for your life. Also, Tatsumi for your actions you and those you love will be reborn after your deaths in my world; it's the highest gift I have to give, go now Tatsumi and go now into a brave new world.

Tatsumi awoke, laying in a bed in the Imperial Palace with Esdeath and Aria looking at him. "Urgh" he groaned, and both turned to him. "My head did anyone get a look at the horse that kicked me" Tatsumi griped; Esdeath lept onto the bed and kissed him.

"Your awake! Finally, It's a miracle!" Esdeath exclaimed, Tatsumi noted that the rest of his harem was in the room to and it was surprisingly spacious.

"I am alive, and- I had what either had to be an out of body experience or dream I saw her" Tatsumi replied.

"Her who?" Esdeath asked, slightly jealous wondering who it was.

"Asha" Tatsumi replied simply, Esdeath for the first time in his life now had a face of being completely and utterly flabbergasted by that single word.

"You were nearly dead; you would have died!" Aria exclaimed.

"If it weren't for a little something I was working on; Renewal" Dorothea replied, Tatsumi grinned.

"You know that was half you're doing Dorothea and half Aria's doing" Mine commented; both chuckled at that.

"So where am I?" Tatsumi replied, everyone looked at him; also, Makoto and his cousins and his mother were in the room.

"The Imperial Palace, you've been in a coma for about a month now; we were wondering when you'd wake up; Esdeath hasn't left your side since we found you in the state we did" Aria explained. "And neither Dorothea or I have stopped tending to you, my mom helped and every medical professional in the Empire came to tend to you, the city has been rebuilding and all remnants of Volgoth's cult have been wiped out, we've done our work rebuilding the Empire as well and making preparations for when you woke up" Aria added.

"So how bad was I?" Tatsumi asked.

"To put it bluntly Tatsumi: you were fucked up badly, there is no other way to put it, you were worse off than your first fight against Volgoth; it's nothing short of a medical and no doubt divine miracle that you're alive; you were in a medically induced coma for a month for extensive medical treatment, every MD in the Empire with a good record was brought in and it took a good amount of time your bones were a mess but from the latest X-ray scans they've somehow completely healed: in all my years in medicine I've never seen someone make the amount of progress you did, your worst wounds were treated in hours and the coma was just a precaution to make sure weren't awake for the pain of bone regrowth or rather trying to push yourself: luckily nobody gave you up for dead now how are you feeling?" Dorothea responded.

"Like I've just woken up from a hangover: but other than that I feel fine" Tatsumi replied, Aria and Dorothea then had him do a few standard medical tests before they allowed him to try to stand up which he did without issue he noted his clothes were different; they then detached him from the medical equipment and noted he'd made a full recovery. The next hour was spent getting him ready for the big day and sending out word that the Emperor was now fully recovered at that the time had come for his official coronation. That afternoon Tatsumi with Aria and Esdeath to either side of him walked down a grand opening in a crowd that had gathered at the Grand Plaza where the Emperors of the past had been crowned and he moved to stand overlooking the gathered crowd, on the stand was everyone he knew and many people he didn't like the leaders of many nations and Imperial fiefs that while they had been involved in the war hadn't been able to meet him in person; at the center Tatsumi's crown rested on a cushion with Syura and Angulas watching over it; a microphone was ready for him to address the gathered multitude and there were over a million people waiting for, Najenda approached. "People of Eden, of the Empire, of all nations thereof; we welcome you to a great day; The War that Mattered is over and won; we will live free of demons forever; many of you have been concerned over what befell the hero who saved our world who saved us all; he is here, the First Emperor of the New Golden Dragon Emperor has recovered from his injuries sustained for your sake and the sake of all on the face of our world and any that dwell beyond; today he shall finally come into his own and shall address you" Najenda spoke and there was a cheer from the crowd Tatsumi then came towards Syura and Angulas who were dressed in the garbs of their religious faith, he then sat in a throne next to them.

"With the authority vested in us by the people of Empire and by all the gods of the heavens in the name of Asha the Eternity Queen and Avawahy Lord of Life we crown thee Tatsumi Gildenstrom seventh of your family name the first Emperor of the new Golden Dragon Empire" Syura explained.

"We crown thee Emperor in Avawahy's name; take this crown forged in as a token of eternal friendship between Humans and Dwarves, the Golden Dragon Crown and uphold the duties of an Emperor; to lead the Empire, to protect and lead its people, to defeat its enemies whoever and wherever they may be, to protect and rule all under the skies and to always love and cherish the people thereof; we crown you Tatsumi Gildenstrom Emperor!" Angulas continued and placed the crown on Tatsumi's head. "For the Golden Dragon Empire: Long live the Golden Dragon Emperor! Long Live Emperor Tatsumi VII! Long Live The Emperor!" she concluded, and the crowd rejoiced letting up cries of 'Long live the Emperor!' Tatsumi stood and moved to the microphone and looked out at the crowds of people thought hard about he was going to say and said.

"People of Eden! Rejoice! For the War is won, evil is defeated and Volgoth is dead! In memory of this victory and my ascension I want to make things clear; I wasn't the only one to save our world and though I killed Volgoth I couldn't have done it without all the people who made it possible; with that in mind let us look ahead to a brave new world; from the fires of war we forge our new destiny let it be a golden age of prosperity, unity and rejoicing let the evils of the old world be washed away but not forgotten lest we forget our past and evil return once again, let the evils of the past be a memory and if acts of great evil must occur let them be rare and outrage righteously all that is good on Eden; let us enter a new age, a new epoch, a new era, and let us rebuild our world, the Empire, all nations and try and maintain a just and lasting peace among ourselves and all nations; let us give freedom to the slave and allow people to choose for themselves; let the Empire of old be a thing of the past let's let this new Empire be one of freedom where everyone can have the chance to make it for themselves and let our world be free of evil; let all worship as they please and let all rejoice; for ours is a new era: Eden will rejoice and a new generation will come forth one that will grow up without the shadow of evils past looming over them we are now all free and we will keep that freedom!" Tatsumi spoke, there was much cheering as Tatsumi lifted his hands towards the suns. (The War is Won! A Brave new world)