'So close, I was so close, dammit!'

After Styles had killed himself after being defeated, Naruto released an incredible amount of demonic energy that destroyed everything around him, including Style's body, reducing it to a pile of ash.

[Naruto, you need to stop and rest]

"Not until I catch up with the others. The last thing I need is for them to be in anymore danger."

After the death of their third commander, I wasted no time and ran to catch up with Akeno and Asia, running as fast as I could following their scent. "I need to make sure Gasper-kun's alright."

[I understand, but you've lost a lot of blood. I can feel you're not doing well.]

The thing was he was right. Before he died, Style's had consumed a lot of my blood and took off with it. I wasn't sure how much it took before you started feeling things, but my body was way past its limits. It felt like my brain was trying punch it's way through my skull. My throat was so dry it was closing, my chest was tightening, and I could feel my eyes growing heavy. It wasn't long till I stopped and huddled over, the contents of my stomach shooting out of my mouth. The sight of it made me extremely dizzy. I stabbed Ascalon to the ground and used it as a crutch as I tried to keep my consciousness. The blade was still glowing purple, meaning Kisara and Mina should still be under Nightmare's effect. However, I noticed the glow was starting to dim.

Nightmare required more mental energy than what little physical I had left. And right now, I felt like my brain was going to burst.

"If that girl finds me, I'm as good as dead."

Thinking about Kisara, brought a really complicated feeling within me. I couldn't describe it, but it might have had something to do with what Style's said before he died.

"If it's all true, then why don't I remember anything?"

Ever since becoming a Devil and realizing that I had amnesia, the whole thing was very complicated. At first I wanted to know so badly about who I was. As time went by, after I reunited with Kiria and my parents, I didn't make a big deal out of it because I thought that I just had a normal. And now after what Kisara and Styles said, I was now scared of who I was in the past. I didn't know anything and nobody would tell me. It was like they were trapped within a puzzle box that was difficult to open.

And if that wasn't bad enough…

"He's in there!"

"Surround and kill him!"

"Shit."

Various soldiers armed in an assortment of weapons or charging their magic attempted to surround me. Scowling, I summoned another sword and retaliated, hacking at soldiers when not dodging or blocking their attacks. It was bad enough I had to exert all my physical strength, I had to conserve the little spark of magic power in order to keep Nightmare in effect. If either of those two broke out it would be game over. Compared to them and Styles, these grunts were less of a pain, despite the overwhelming numbers. I simply let my instincts take over.

I was engaged in a clash with one soldier wielding a halberd and blocked his attempts to decapitate me, following with a roundhouse kick to his head. A sensation hit the back of my neck and I moved my head to the side, dodging a fatal spear stab to the head. I brisked backwards and closed the distance between myself and the grunt, delivering a fierce elbow and throwing him amongst the crowd of his comrades.

"Black Dragon's Roar!" The tornado of darkness scrambled the soldiers unfortunate enough to be caught in the black tornado all around the room and caused them to crash into the wall and fall unconscious.

I was able to survive, but it wasn't long until my last two fights eventually caught up with my body, and I could feel the fatigue fading over me, as well as the blood escaping my lips as lungs felt crushed.

I didn't have time and spread my wings in an attempt to at least gain distance and made a break for the other entrance.

That was when the searing pain unleashed itself on my shoulder in the form of a dagger that was thrown with enough strength to bury three quarters of the blade into my shoulder blade. It must've happened when I wasn't aware. With all the adrenaline that worked overtime in my body, God knows how many injuries I received without knowing. Bringing out my wings caused the wound to spread and open, it almost felt as worst as just twisting it. A pained grunt escape as I found myself back on the ground. In the confusion, I had dropped Ascalon and the purple dim glow that indicated Nightmare was in use disappeared.

"Dammit!" I pulled the knife out of my shoulder and gritted my teeth. I focused a small amount of darkness around the wound in order to keep the bleeding from getting worse, at least until I was able to find Asia.

However, the potential blood loss was the least of my problems.

The grunts I was dealing with, about twenty or so, regained themselves and stood back up. The halberd man picked up his weapon and ordered his men to charge.

No strength to barely walk, no magic left, and I carried more injuries than I knew what to do with. I was completely screwed...or at least I thought I was.

Right when the soldiers were in my vicinity, they froze in their tracks, and I meant that in the literal sense. The temperature started to feel lower, and ice layered itself around the room.

"What the hell...is this?" The halberd mad muttered as his entire lower body became encased in ice, followed by his arms, and up to his neck till his entire body became encased in ice, followed by the rest of his men.

It was at that moment that I felt an intense bloodlust creeping from behind me. It was suffocating and intense. It brought a torrent of fear that seemed to revitalize my body with excess adrenaline long enough to defend myself. There was only one person I knew he could control ice, and if she was there, then that meant her "significant half" was by her side.

It had to have been less than five minutes since Nightmare was dispelled and they already found me while I was at my worse. It was as if lady luck just outright abandoned me.

I turned around, racking my brain whether or not to fight or flee. Taking on a boss, even a mini one with absolutely no HP or PP to spare was downright suicide, and I had no intention of doing such thing.

Picking up Ascalon, I held it at the ready. It might have been because of my lack of energy, but for some reason, the blade felt heavier in my hands.

I could hear footsteps coming from the corridor where the ice originated from. Because of the blood in my nose, I couldn't discern their scent.

The footsteps grew closer and closer until I saw a swishing white and a pair of blue before someone crashed into me, their arms wrapped around my waist and their lips pressed against mine. "Naruto-kun!"

"Mff, Kiria-san?" I muffled as I felt my arms slack. She was dressed in her one piece battle suit from when they were reunited. Her lance Grandoma was held at her side, and her hair was tied in a ponytail reaching her mid back.

A yelp escaped my mouth signaling her to stop. "Goddamn that hurt."

"Those injuries…"

"I'm fine. Just need time to get my strength back. Asia and the others shouldn't be too far. I can find them."

She placed an arm around his shoulder in order to support them while Grandoma sat on her for protection. With that, they carried on to the corridor to find the others.

"Style's bloodlust is gone?"

Damian looked in the direction where Style's power was resonating from as Saji unleashed several barrages of punches aimed at him. Even while looking away, he was still able to effortlessly dodge with a look indicating he wasn't concerned in the slightest. "Somebody was actually able to kill him?" He said as if the thought was near impossible.

What did bother him was another power coming from the same direction. It was familiar, but far darker, far more evil, something he was also familiar with. He narrowed his eyes. "I thought he was dead."

Saji lunged at him with a fist imbued in cursed black fire. "Quit spacing and fight me you son of a bitch!" Damian sighed and blocked Saji's punch, right before sending him flying at the wall at mach speed with a simple palm thrust.

Some of the flames from his punch remained in Damian's hand. "Hope this won't leave a mark." He shook it off and blew on it like it was a simple burn.

From Saji's helm, a small trail of blood flowed out of the mouthpiece. "Just how strong is this guy?"

Damian was finally able to shake off the last of the black flames and sighed at the ash left on his hand. "How many years has it been since we last saw each other? Got to tell you, I'm rather disappointed. I would've thought you'd step up your game, Vritra."

The gem in the middle of Saji's chest glowed as Vritra's voice rang out. "And I see your vitality hasn't decreased in the slightest. Tell me, what do you go by these days?"

"My name is Damian Belloc Vale."

"What the hell, you know him?" Saji asked.

"Enough to know that if we don't come up with a plan, you and your friends are doomed."

"Even with this armor, even as a dragon, I still can't even measure his strength? Just what is he?"

"Strong. Far stronger than the Heavenly Dragons. Genshirou Saji, on terms of power, we are far weaker than him."

"Well, thanks for those words of encouragement!" Saji yelled in sarcasm. "Aren't you supposed to be my partner? A little help would be appreciated."

"I'm merely assessing the situation. And it's not looking good in our favor."

"You useless so called Dragon King!"

Damian watched the two of them bicker like an old married couple. "Screw this. He's not worth my time."

Damian was beginning to walk away and waved them off. "Hit me once your lover's quarrel is done."

Before he could walk out the exit, he was blocked by a giant wall of black flames radiating an intense heat. Damian felt something wrap around his arm and looked at the glowing blue line on his arm. He could feel power being sucked from his body. He sighed in annoyance and turned to him. "Cute, now let me go."

"You're not going anywhere asshole!"

"You're one stubborn little man aren't you?" Damian turned to him and gripped the line. "Fine then, don't say I didn't warn you." Grabbing the line, he pulled Saji with incredible strength that sent him hurling towards him. He held up his right fist and imbued it in an incredible amount of lightning, preparing for the end. "Your master is next."

Just as Saji reached his vicinity, he hurled one final fist. However:

"Delete Field, Shadow Prison."

Saji ducked his head and barely missed, the top part of his helm broke away as a bright purple circle appeared under them. The lightning around Damian's hand disappeared. "What the hell?" From beneath them, a mass of black shot out around Damian and tied around him, restraining his hands and legs. His struggles proved to be futile. "Shit, I can't move! My strength!"

"On terms of power, Vritra is weaker. But his strength lies in his cunningness."

"You set yourself up for that. Shit, I can't use my powers!"

"My ability "Delete Field" nullifies all powers in the immediate area. And my other ability, Shadow Prison, will keep you immobile."

"Now then," Holding up one hand in the air, all the deadly black flames around them flew in his hands and slowly began to take shape, taking the form of a great sword that reached fifty meters towards the ceiling.

Damian's eyes widened. Because of his power being blocked, he couldn't disappear or run. "Not good."

"This is for threatening my master!" Saji's hands moved forward, the sword hit dead center of its target, releasing an enormous amount of flames that spread across the room. It took time for the flames to disappear. It was nearly all gone, save for one spot that still burned vigorously for some time before all that was left was a pile of ash cloaked in what was left of its owner's uniform.

"Goodbye…asshole."

Releasing his helm, Saji stood for a minute or two while the blood from his open wounds began to spread, and proceeded to pass out with a thud.

At the head center of the base, which served as Draco's private quarters, the man could only sit and watch as both his son, and his beloved little brother perished in battle. He knew waging a war like this would result in tragedy. He could see their deaths through clairvoyance eyes he set all around the ship.

To him, everyone in the ship was nothing more than an expendable pawn. He was that detached of humanity. The only exceptions, were his eight commanders. All but one of them have yet to reach the age of 18, They were like his children. He raised and vowed to see their smiles, even if it cost him his own life.

His hands covered his eyes, where a stream of tears managed to find its way out from his grasp. "Damian, Kaidzu-kun. I promise you. I will make sure your deaths do not go unjust."