Hey everyone.

Back again after a bit. You know how it is.

More traveling, more getting some papers filed, etc. Busy, busy, busy.

And you know, hanging out with friends whenever I can.

But, I am happy to say I finished up the chapter quicker much to my liking.

In any event, please enjoy!

Chapter 70: The Greatest Kingdom

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"You mind telling me why we're in another dusty tomb?"

Râum held his hand upwards, a light green burst of Aura lighting up the darkness in the tomb. His pitch black spikey hair shone a little under the light, showing off his dark green sleeveless shirt, black pants and boots. His dark green eyes with black slit pupils scanned the tomb, another person following behind him.

"Come on, I told you the last two times when we visited those two other tombs in Vacuo!" The woman spoke, "We still need to visit the last ruin site while we're here in Sanus."

Eren, the woman speaking to the Dark Entity pushed past him.

Her shoulder length and slightly curly light brown hair fluttered briefly with how quickly the woman moved about, scanning the tiles and pillars with her light brown eyes that were framed by a large pair of perfectly circular-lensed glasses. Her gray cotton sweater that fitted her figure rather snuggly almost blended in with the darkness in the room, as well as her dark blue skirt that reached her shins.

She usually wore black slip on shoes, but whenever investigating ruins or tombs, she always wore a pair of brown knee high boots.

"You never really explained why." Râum said, his eyes taking mental notes of the scrawlings on the walls and ceiling.

"No, I explained why when we left Anima." Eren said, making notations in her Scroll, "But you don't always listen, you know."

"I listen plenty. I just zone out once in a while." The Dark Entity King explained, "You forget I'm new to your profession. Building an interest into it after doing what I have for so long is taxing."

"Well… I understand that I suppose. Say, since you were a king, did you lounge about or pass laws?"

"My kind aren't those sorts of 'Kings', Eren. Well, I suppose my older brother is compared to us other three Kings. 'King' is just an identification of our class really, or level of power. So far, there's only been four of us."

"Your older brother is the first, right? Who was the second?"

"Abaddon, but he's dead."

"O-Oh… Um… If I remember correctly, you were the third, but who-?"

"The Fourth is just a bastard not even worth mentioning. Heh… Ironic really… Now that I think about it, I thought I was the war-mongering one. But that guy… He really took the cake."

"So you were in wars quite a lot…"

"Truthfully, I was only ever in three serious wars. The rest was just fun and games. And the last game... Well, you know how that turned out."

Eren smiled at him rather warmly, "That I do. Though I suppose… it turned out for the better. After all, you're here with me now."

He froze at her statement, wide eyed and dazed for a few moments. But soon enough, he offered a smile in return with a light hum.

"I guess so." Râum spoke as he returned to looking about, "Now if I remember what you told me, you seem to think there was an ancient civilization that used to be around."

"Not think. I know so. Ever since recorded history, humanity and Faunus kind have found ruins scattered across Remnant. Ruins, that when dated to the best of our ability, suggest that there were civilizations before… well, us."

"Hold on, you never mentioned that before."

"I didn't?"

"No, you didn't. You only ever said we were searching ruins and tombs for any sort of records from ancient times. But you're telling me you think there was a civilization that existed before the people of this World could create records?"

"Everything seems to suggest that's the case. Every one of the ruins we've discovered across the World seemingly predate recorded history by nearly a thousand years. If humanity and Faunus kind are truly the only known forms of sentient life to exist on this World, how do you explain the pre-existing structures?"

Eren explained all this as she took down more notations of the hieroglyphs she saw on the walls.

"The first true Kingdom of Remnant popped up ten years before recorded history, which was about the time people began to form language and learned how to read and write. The records from that first kingdom, and the kingdoms that followed suit around the World, all suggest the same thing." She stopped her notations and looked directly at the Dark Entity, "There were civilizations that existed before the first documented humans and Faunus kind."

Râum gritted his teeth.

"What is it?"

"That's something… I was really hoping not to hear..."

"What do you mean?" Eren asked, a look of concern upon her face now.

"If what you're saying is true… that people found signs of life that predated even recorded history, then that's bad news." Râum explained.

"Bad how?"

"It means… that the first humans that used to inhabit this planet were wiped out completely."

"H-How can you be so sure..?"

"I'm not exactly proud to admit this, but… Back when my kind first came about eons ago, we weren't nearly as mild mannered as we are now. Frankly speaking, we were more like intelligent animals. In those days, we traveled across various Worlds to find a place to call home. We tried forcing our way in, and when we were rejected, we wiped out whole Worlds, only to leave in the end to find a new place. Sometimes, we'd go back to the destruction we left in our wake, and to our surprise, found new life or peoples blossoming. But like now, they all had the same question the scholars of Remnant do."

Râum turned around to face Eren, who audibly gulped at hearing such a thing.

"If we weren't the first people to exist here, then who was it that came before us?"

Eren was beyond shocked to hear such a thing, not sure where to look until she focused her eyes back on the Dark Entity.

"If such a thing happened… What could've possibly..?"

"Whatever Gods used to inhabit this World is my guess, seeing as my kind never came here until recently."

"But if Gods really did exist, why would they do such a thing?"

"Who knows? Maybe they just got sick of Humans, or whatever sentient life used to exist before the World we know now. While it's rare for Gods to do something like that, it's not exactly unheard of either."

"Such a thing… To think such a thing is possible…"

"While my kind may have started out as nothing but wild animals really, we still understand things like dignity and honor. Most of us stopped our warmongering since we had respect for those fighting to keep what was theirs. Eventually, my brother made what we know as the Dark World. Home. And while we were content with just living in our own little World, Angels and other Gods weren't. Sometimes our kind left and attempted to settle into other Worlds to live out lives of their own. And at times, some of those Worlds were raised to the ground."

"Is that why your kind went to war with these Angels for eons?" Eren asked.

"You're goddamn right that's why. While we didn't have such a great start, most of us learned from our mistakes and tried to be better. We lived among others to achieve understanding, power, intelligence, and so forth. We became better and stronger. Which is why… whenever we saw shit like that happening, we couldn't accept it either."

Râum lowered his hand briefly, sighing as he recalled memories from ages past.

"My brother is the most powerful and the most intelligent of our kind. He's our true king. And like most of us, he didn't take too kindly to what Angels and Gods were doing. So he protested them a great deal. For us beings that were lesser, we seemingly knew better than those 'Perfect Beings'. Eventually, things got out of hand, and war broke out. But of course, we went down in history as villains for sticking up for the little guy." Râum waved off, "While we weren't necessarily good, we weren't totally evil. At least, not all of us. No… By comparison, we're just more honest about our feelings and desires. But after their Maker left them… the Angels only really cared about one thing. Power, and total control."

"So you all kept fighting…"

"We did. Not necessarily for other Worlds, but… because if we did nothing, surely we'd be next. My brother is even more well mannered now compared to how he used to be. But during those Wars… he got more personally invested than the rest of us. It was only natural… since they killed his wife."

"His wife..?"

"If I'm being honest, even I forget about that period of time myself quite often. But yeah, he used to be married. And when Angels killed her for no reason other than shielding those they wanted to destroy, he quite literally went mad with grief. Frankly speaking, he would've won if he kept pushing onwards. We had them that severely beat towards the end, but… I don't know what changed. He just… gave up on the whole thing, and resigned himself to a one sided truce that left him forever remaining in the Dark World. Not that it stopped him from walking about though whenever he damn well pleased."

Eren sat down on a piece of rubble, taking in the information with a solemn glance that she gave the Dark Entity.

"Your brother's wife… Was she a King Class Dark Entity?"

"Her? No… She was something else entirely."

"What do you mean?"

"Ah… I guess I forgot to mention this to you when I was telling you about myself. Truthfully… there aren't just four classes of Dark Entites. There's actually a fifth classification."

"A fifth?!" Eren asked with amazement in her tone.

"Yeah… Thing is… this class is so rare they're practically nonexistent. They were known as Queen Class Dark Entities, or simply Dark Entity Queens."

"Queens… So, your brother's wife was someone of the Queen Class?"

"That's right. But like I said, they're incredibly rare. More rare than those of us that are of the King Classification. After her, there was one more. We have no idea what happened to her though. And after that, there was a third in more recent years."

"More recent..?"

"Yeah. If I remember things correctly, the third was about that bastard Dante's age, though she bit it about a year or two ago. I think her name was…"

- Nearly two years ago -

Dante sat in the booth furthest away from all the couples that flooded the cafe, sighing as he did so. The place was quite literally filled to the gills with all sorts of couples. Boys and girls, girls and girls, boys and boys.

There were even couples of the yōkai and human variety, which was only natural since quite a few did start coming to his school after the treaties were established.

It was nauseating, but not for reasons most would think of. The place was just too damn crowded. He practically came here after school every day just to relax or work in peace. Now?

It was a fiesta. He was hoping he could relax, since he got off shift not too long ago from the Valentine's Festival at school.

"Really? Here alone today, Dan?"

Dante looked up and saw the ever tall Ed looming over him, his deep voice startling the teen to attention. He was dressed as he normally was, white dress shirt, black dress pants, a pair of shiny black shoes, and a rather fancy black metal watch. For today though, instead of his usual black apron, he was wearing a pink one. His hair was black, chin length, and slightly spiky, framing his rather handsome face while his eyes shone a steel-grey color.

"Don't you have more important things to do? Like work?"

"I got some new hires recently, if you didn't know. Just in time too." The man spoke with a hand on his hip, while in the other was Dante's usual; a cookies and cream milkshake, "But seriously? No one?"

"What's it to you, wise guy?" The teen snapped back.

"Well… Guy like you in your youth… It's kinda natural that there'd be some girls out there throwing chocolates and themselves at you."

"You realize how superficial that is, right?"

"I do. But that's how it is." Ed shrugged slightly, "Anyway, like always, the first one's on the house." The man spoke, sliding the huge glass onto the table.

"I've asked before, but why?"

"Because you're not some punk who whips his swagger around. And, you not only come here just about every day, you're my best customer."

"Yeah yeah, enough with the sweet talking and hand me my straw."

Ed smiled as he drew a plastic straw pipe from one of his apron's pockets, along with a silver colored spoon.

"In case the baby boy needs to wallow a bit."

"Kiss my ass."

The man chuckled heartily as he and Dante looked to the opening door, the teen ducking his head.

"Shit..!"

"What? You know her?"

"She's the Student Council President at my school!"

"Ah… I figured she went to school with you, even with a jacket different from what you wear."

"Do you know her?!"

"She comes by every so often. Then again, you wouldn't really know since your head is buried in that HoloScreen of yours." Ed explained.

"Are you really looking for 'the finger' today?"

"Come on. Nice as you can be, you're just too easy to wind up sometimes, you know? Think of it as payment for your first free meal instead of paying actual cash." The man said, taking a glance at the girl looking for a free seat.

Ed looked back at Dante, noticing the young man had been staring at the girl a bit too much. His gaze was more focused instead of "lovestruck", but who knew with Dante.

"She your type?"

"H-Huh?! What the hell are you-?!"

"Hey miss! There's free space over here!"

"What are you doing?!" Dante silently shrieked at Ed.

"Setting you up with a possible date. If I'm being honest, she's way outta your league though."

"Excuse me?!"

"But hey, you gotta try. Take care." Ed waved off.

Dante was about to silently curse at the man, but immediately regained his composure and sat upright at the table.

"Hi."

"Oh, hello." Anya waved at the teen, "I thought that-"

"The owner is fond of his pranks, I'm afraid."

"I-I see… I'll just-"

"Sit down."

"What?"

"You can sit with me. The place is crammed full. You're not gonna get a seat anywhere."

"If you say so…"

Anya folded the back of her skirt towards her legs like a "proper lady" and sat down in the booth seat opposite of Dante, using a hand to brush back a few strands of her silky, blonde hair that almost shone like gold. Her turquoise blue eyes that shone like crystals were focused on the menu in front of her, unaware Dante had been staring at her.

"What is it that you're having, exactly?" She asked, only looking up then and seeing the teen looking in the opposite direction.

"Uh, cookies and cream, or something… Ed! Same thing!" Dante pointed down to his own shake, rapidly beginning to inhale it.

"You're awfully hungry. I don't think I've ever seen you eat so quickly."

"Didn't have anything since my shift."

"You could've taken a break, you know?"

"Maybe… But I had to keep the whole event in order with security and whatnot. Me and my three compatriots, that is." He spoke in between bites.

"Still, you worked yourself rather unusually hard today."

"There's been worse days."

Anya smiled a bit, leaning back a bit as she let Ed place her order on the table.

"Enjoy, miss." He said, looking at Dante briefly with a smug smile, and the teen giving him a quick shake of his head.

"Speaking of security, I didn't manage to read today's report, except for the note 'nothing eventful today' left by you."

"Well…" Dante said as he leaned forward, thinking, "Soren Braige and Conner Mayer both thought they were dating Miranda Chasen."

"Oh goodness…" the girl replied.

"Sasha Revin and Teru Amano almost got it on in the women's locker room, but I happened to pass by near the exit, heard them getting touchy, and promptly sent them off to an address of a respectable love hotel."

"Y-You what?!" She stuttered, almost dropping her spoon.

"Hey, if they're gonna get freaky, they may as well do so from prying eyes. Besides, it's a day of romance."

"How do you even know about such a place?"

"I have friends that know places and people."

"But of course..." She sighed, "Honestly, is there a single person you don't have an acquaintance with? Much less are in possession of rather… inappropriate knowledge?"

"Hey, if you wanna make it in this World, you gotta know all sorts of people, even if you don't find them agreeable. Like you and me for instance."

"You're plenty agreeable, Dante. I don't find you abhorrent as you might think I do. We just… function differently to an extent. It doesn't mean we can't come to terms on matters." Anya said.

"Funny… You've never said my name without the 'mr.' bit to it."

She was pouting.

It was… kind of cute...

"So… What brings you here?"

"You, actually."

"M-Me?" Dante said, choking a little on his shake.

"I came to see if anything eventful happened, but I suppose nothing of the sort 'truly' happened. Other than that… I suppose we can bask in each other's company for a while."

"Really now? You? Taking time out of your schedule just to hang out?" The young man asked quizzically.

"Why not?"

"Well, you are busy. And I wasn't sure you were the type to hang out."

"I-I'll have you know I 'hang out' with others plenty." She said, giving him another pouty look.

"I'm sure you do." He smiled back.

She seemed… amazed by that.

"Why have you been so focused on me?"

"W-What do you mean?" Anya asked.

"Since the day I actually first met you, you've had a particular interest in me."

"Because I believed, and still do, that a person of your many talents would do a great deal good. Not totally restrained as to do nothing, but not totally let loose and be tempted. I wanted to test you as an individual."

"And the results?"

"Varied… But still very favorable. I'd like to think perhaps I've taught you something."

"A little bit."

"A little?"

"You can help people and try to change them all you want, Prez. But people will continue to be just that. People. They'll always retain a lot of their original self and the like."

"I'm not trying to overwrite you."

"Then? What has this little pet project of yours for the last three months been about?"

"I…"

"Well?"

"I just wanted to know you better. To know the real Dante, not the tall tales they speak of you and how terrible you are. I was… interested in knowing the real you."

"The real me…" he scoffed.

"Is that so hard to believe?" She asked.

"Prez, very few people want to get to know the real me. The majority that 'want to know me' want something from me one way or another."

"That's not what this has been about!"

"Then? Truth. What do you really think about me?"

She paused for a few moments, unsure of what to say.

"I think that in spite of how terrifying you can be, you're actually kind at heart. I think you're far more talented than what you lead others to believe. I think you're capable of a great deal of good."

"But?"

"But I think you have anger in you that's too well hidden. I think at times you're troubled, and that you could use help."

"Right."

Dante immediately stood up from the table and strode out the cafe silently.

Shocked for but a few moments, Anya regained her senses and quickly rose up to follow him out into the snowy streets as white powder gently but quickly fell from the afternoon sky. She caught a glimpse of him turning the corner into an alleyway, and rushed to find him.

"You gonna stalk me all the way home?" He said as he kept walking without so much as turning his head.

"I think that you're trying too hard!"

Those words made him stop dead in his tracks, only making him glance over his shoulder a little.

"You make friends with a great many people. You earn their trust, their loyalty… But for what exactly? Personal gain? I couldn't think of a more ridiculous idea. No… You earnestly wish for the approval of others. You want others to respect and love you so that you don't have to be afraid of them calling you some sort of a monster because of your unorthodox methods and unnatural talents!"

He scoffed as he continued walking down the darkened alleyway.

"No one should ever have to try so hard to be loved by others!"

The young man froze again, this time with eyes wide open. Just by speaking those words, he felt as though she stole the very breath from his lungs.

"I don't know what it is that has made you so bitter and hateful towards the World… but even I can tell your heart still has love in it!" She spoke, steadily approaching him, "I know that some walk by you full of disdain for how you are and that you're one of the few who'd stand up for others! I know how people call you an ugly person behind your back with those proud, scornful looks on their faces! And despite knowing all that… I know that you're still willing to offer others the love that's in your heart!"

She moved past him to stand in front of Dante, taking hold of his hand as she looked into his narrowed eyes, almost dull, yet pensive.

"I haven't gone so far because I have something to gain from it. I didn't try to know you better because of pity. I… I just want to know you. The real you that you've carefully and meticulously hidden from others. I want to show you… To really show you… that you do have worth. That the real you can be loved."

"I'm not…"

"You are! You are worth it! More than you realize now!" She spoke with more assurance, grabbing hold of both his hands as he finally met her eyes. "That's why…" Anya lowered her head briefly, soon raising it up to gaze into his eyes with a proud, confident smile, "That's why… I want you to entrust yourself to me… and I you."

He was shocked by her words. Was she really..?

"I've come to know and understand a great deal about you these past three months. That's why… I'm sure of my decision, and what it is I want. So I'll ask you again like I did before, only now a little more differently."

Anya leaned in closely towards the stupefied Dante.

"I want you… to be mine… so I can be yours."

"You're making a mistake." He quickly responded.

"I'm not." She immediately told him.

"You'll regret it."

"I won't."

"How are you always so certain of yourself..?"

"Because when I make a promise to someone… I keep it."

"I see…" he said, smiling faintly, "Aren't you bold though? Holding someone's hands after confessing to them."

She sputtered briefly with an embarrassed look on her face, looking off towards the side.

"Y-You didn't say no to my proposal… Nor do you seem to object to this current state of affairs…"

"No… I didn't."

"T-This is the first time I've done something like this… P-Please don't tease me like you normally do…"

"I'll try not to, even if it's tempting." He said before he asked once more, "Are you sure about me though?"

"I'm certain."

"Heh… Of course you are…" Dante smiled at her, "You better not complain about your decision down the road."

"I won't." Anya affirmed, smiling back, "C-Considering you've accepted my proposal… There's still quite a few places we can go today…"

"Like a date?"

"Y-Yes."

She was nervous, something Dante was seeing for the first time ever really. Anya truly never had this kind of relationship with someone before.

"I guess your boldness was pretty effective…" he spoke, now only holding one of her hands, "I know a few places we can still go to before the day ends. What do you say, Anya? Up for a bit of an adventure?"

She was avoiding eye contact now, but still firmly holding his hand.

"Y-Yes. P-Please… take care of me."

This was a side of her he'd never seen. Sure, he'd seen her embarrassed a few times here and there, but this? This was something new entirely.

It was… pleasant. Moreso because she bore herself to him so earnestly and truthfully, but… It was also because of how she managed to see the real him, and be accepting. It made him wonder though…

Had she seen through him from the start? Or did her earnest desire of genuinely wanting to know him lead her to the accurate conclusion Anya made? He didn't know.

For the moment, he didn't care all that much. He was just… happy that someone else could truly 'see him', and accept him in spite of his faults. And in turn, Dante could tell she too was happy he put his faith in her as the two walked down the alleyway together.

"O-Oh! Before we leave! Shouldn't we pay the bill?"

"It's fine. He said it was on the house."

"A-Are you sure?"

"I'm as sure as you always are. That being said… anywhere you'd like to go to first?"

She pondered a moment, still clutching his hand tightly as Anya soon gave her answer.

"Perhaps…"

Dante's eyes snapped open, the young devil shaking his head briefly as he tried to sit up. However, he couldn't get up entirely, and heard a metallic "clinking" noise, looking down to see glowing white chains that tied him down to the bench.

Hearing the snickering of the others, he immediately snapped his attention towards the cockpit, seeing both his sisters, Ruby, Inuba, and the gang staring at him, trying to contain their laughter.

"Very funny guys. Can't let a guy sleep in peace, can you?"

"Come on dude, how could we miss a chance like this?" Yang explained, "At Beacon you never slept. Like ever. You know how hard it was to prank you?"

"I'm painfully aware..." The teen said, "Remember that you started it back then in the second semester."

"Yeah, but just because we aren't in school anymore doesn't mean it's ended. Score's even now."

"I'm sorry, brother." Dawn apologized, bowing her head, "I had the lowest score in the card game we were playing, so…"

It took some effort, but Dante brought his arms outwards to snap the chains, sitting up to grab the chains wrapping his legs and ripping those apart too.

How long was I out?

~About three hours. From what I heard, we're a couple of minutes away from Atlas.~

*This city of Atlas… The others have said it is an illustrious city of advancement and technology. Is that true, my Wielder?*

I wouldn't know. I've never been. What I do know about Atlas is that it's one of the largest and technologically advanced Kingdoms in Remnant, second to only Vale. If you're looking for a comparison between your Kingdom and Atlas, I'd say yours is better and more beautiful.

^The last time I was there, it was called Mantle previously, was it not?^

Yep. But they essentially expanded their territory, and when they got advanced enough, mostly out of necessity, they created Atlas, their "Kingdom in the Skies".

*A Kingdom that sits in the sky?! How marvelous!*

It was. Not that such a thing was really new to Dante, but… He was interested in how they kept Atlas afloat. One of the many conclusions he came to was that they had to use a massive quantity of Gravity Dust, but…

When he heard the approximate dimensions of the entire kingdom, Gravity Dust was ruled out of the equation. The amount to keep such a Kingdom afloat was far too much a use of resources, and likely would have eventually bankrupt the Kingdom. From what he last heard, seeing as how it was still prosperous and full of resources, they had to be using something else aside from Gravity Dust or intense propulsion systems.

So what was it that they were using?

…

…

Could they be..?

Snapped out of his thoughts, Dante looked off to the side, noticing The Seeker had been sitting at the opposite end of the bay, far away from everyone else.

She wasn't doing anything. She wasn't reading, she wasn't playing with her hair or fiddling with an object… She was simply sitting there as still as a stone, her staff resting atop her thighs.

~If it's any consolation, the others did try to invite her to join in. She flinched a little when they got close, but other than that, she didn't so much as say a word.~

Dante let out a silent exhale, standing up to walk towards The Seeker, whose head shifted towards him once she sensed his approach.

"Not much for games?" He asked, sitting down next to her as she moved her staff.

The girl gave a shake of her head.

"You can join them, you know."

She didn't really move, only clenched her blackwood staff tighter.

"You don't have to be afraid of them. They're good people."

"The kindest of people… can at times becometh the cruelest of Demons." She spoke, her voice hushed.

"Ain't that the truth…" Dante sighed, "You trust me, right?"

The girl nodded.

"Then trust me when I say those guys will never hurt you. Knowing you, you won't give them a reason to either. So… If my friends do invite you to do something, take them up on it. It could be fun, you know?"

She didn't give a nod, or a shake of her head, but was silent. The young devil had been studying her mannerisms carefully, and by now, he could tell that she was thinking about the proposition with the slight tilt of the head she gave.

"Other than that… Are you okay?"

She seemed confused by his question.

"Seeker… That… power you lent me… It's… I don't know how to describe it… It's great. It's… intense. You were wary to let me have a taste of it, not because you didn't trust me, but because you were concerned it might do something to my health. As we both saw, it made me exhausted, more so than I ever would be. What I'm getting at is…" He exhaled, "Does it… hurt you in any way? Using your power, or doing what you do with me?"

"You need not fear for mine safety, Umbral Star." She gently spoke.

"I said it before, and I'll say it again. You don't have to do anything just because I asked you to. You can say 'no'."

"I am here for thee, and thee only."

"And I get that. But just because you're working with me doesn't mean you can't have a mind of your own. If you feel like I'm being unreasonable or putting too much pressure on you, you can tell me no."

Another ponderous tilt of the head.

At least she's talking a little more each time…

"Just keep what I said in mind." He said standing up, "And thank you. For the help you gave."

The Seeker gave him a nod as he walked off.

~You seem keen on pampering her.~

I'm not pampering her.

…

…

Not a lot.

~Then? Why such careful consideration?~

I don't entirely know what it is about her, but… Seeing her just reminds me of days long past. When I was… well, worse… Regardless of her circumstances, she's one of us now. And we take care of our own, remember?

Dante looked up ahead to see everyone's attention drawn to the cockpit, and eventually saw what they did as he approached.

The skies were full up with Manta Airships, busily flying about hurriedly as their comms chatter began to filter through the radio.

"Welcome home, Manta 5-1. Please continue your approach to Atlas docking bay Omega-12. A security team will meet you there. Over."

"Well that's no good…" Dante said.

"What's happening here?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know… But they seem awfully jumpy if you ask me." The teen replied.

"Regardless, we're here and we got the lamp to Atlas, so I guess we land and get some answers." Jaune said.

"We can't land at the airdocks though for obvious reasons. Aside from the fact we practically stole this ship, I don't think they'll be happy to see us inside it. I don't know about you, but I don't want to sit in jail or be carried off to meet my end and start an Elder Scrolls journey."

They all looked at Dante, confused.

"I keep forgetting you guys don't get my references at times..."

"Jokes and references aside… I've never seen our forces deployed so aggressively before." Weiss noted, "But Dante has a point. We land at any dock with a stolen ship, there's no way the security team will let us anywhere near Ironwood. They might even take me back to my father."

"That's not gonna happen." The young devil spoke firmly, looking to Weiss, "Is there any way we can get in there without abandoning ship?"

Weiss let go of her sullen glance, suddenly looking up with an idea in mind.

"Winter! If I can contact her, then..!" The heiress brought out her Scroll mid-sentence, quickly shifting through her list of contacts. "Put some distance between us and the fleet. We can land somewhere safely in Mantle, I reckon." She asked the old Huntress Maria.

"You don't have to tell me twice."

Mantle was… well, not really what the devil expected.

Dante wasn't being disrespectful. Just… The entire town from up above looked rundown and shoddy and for miles on end. A lot of buildings weren't even buildings, just piles of rubble that hadn't fallen yet. For the buildings that did stand, they were clumped together, barely leaving any real space, save for the streets and maze-like alleyways.

Even when Dante glanced inside some homes from the windows, he could see some people wearing ragged clothes. This was more so true with the few people walking about the streets.

"I cannot express our appreciation enough." Dante spun around at the sound of Ironwood's voice, only to look up and see the general's face on multiple monitors hanging on the sides of buildings or plastered right on them. "Many describe these as uncertain times, and while that may be the case for the rest of the world, I can tell you what is certain. The Kingdom of Atlas will remain strong, and it will remain safe. That is my promise."

"The General… He looks so different compared to when we saw him last…" Inuba pointed out with a concerned glance.

"No kidding… He looks…"

"Tired." Ruby finished for Yang, "He must've been fighting hard to keep Atlas and Mantle safe these last few months…"

Dante looked across the street, hearing citizens complaining mostly about the presence of the newer Atlesian Knight models.

The 200 Series… Haven't seen those in a while…

^Machines shaped like men? How fascinating…^

*Truly! I've never seen such a marvel, much less heard of it before!*

~They're shiny and nice when looking at them, but when they're focused on gunning you down, well… Not so nice.~

The devil noticed a small drone floating along a sidewalk, while a pair of small children hid in an alley. One of the children even picked up a rock and threw it at the drone, which spun around to look for its attacker, prompting the children to hide against the wall.

"This isn't right... None of this is right." Weiss spoke, saddened by the sight of how the people lived.

"Never been down here before I assume?" Dante asked.

"There was no reason to. Aside from combat training, dance recitals and singing performances, I was never really allowed to leave the mansion."

"Well… Did you want to leave back then?"

"Of course! Unlike now, I didn't really have the means to sneak out. I didn't stoop to delinquentism like you did!" Weiss argued, half joking with a smile.

"You just missed the finer points of bad behavior is all." Dante smiled back, "Any luck reaching your sister?"

"No, but-"

Before she could say anything else, they heard Winter Schnee's voice on one of the monitors following Ironwood's own announcement.

"A reminder. Failure to cooperate with Atlas military personnel is a punishable offense. If your sector is under lockdown…"

She seemed different too, aside from her hairstyle and attire. Winter looked… even more stern than before, if such a thing was possible.

Dante thought back to the first time he met Winter Schnee. Elegant, beautiful, firm, fierce… The very definition of a strong and powerful woman, and someone he could respect. Her adoration of Weiss, her desire to look after and help her was everything a younger sibling could hope for.

She was reliable.

But taking a look at the general, and seeing Winter now, even if just on a monitor…

Can we trust her? Or even Ironwood?

"There's obviously something very wrong." Weiss shook her head, "If we can just talk to her, then we-"

"Look, I'm not even sure we should be talking to Ironwood until we know exactly what's going on with Mantle." Qrow spoke up, peeking out of the alleyway.

"But-"

"I'm kinda with Qrow on this one." Dante added, "We don't know what exactly is happening here in Mantle or in Atlas. We don't know if things have gotten intolerably harsher, or just simply stern."

"I know someone who can help with both." Maria spoke up, "What street are we on now?"

Dante brought up his HoloScroll, quickly downloading map information of Mantle from a nearby network, finding their position soon after.

"6th Street, intersecting with Bailor Rd." The devil replied.

"Alright, stick close to me. We'll use the alleyways, but spread out a little to make it less conspicuous."

And so Dante and the group split up into smaller groups, quickly traversing from alleyway to alleyway as trucks drove past and AK-200s stood on various sidewalks.

"Are this many soldiers normal?" Jaune asked.

"Considering what happened at Beacon, I would say that now it is normal." Dante spoke up silently.

"True, but normally there aren't this many roaming about street corners." Weiss noted, "At best, they're only deployed when there's turmoil and the police need more assistance. At least, that's how it's like in Atlas. From what I used to hear about Mantle, this much wasn't even normal."

Dante remained near the rear of the group with Weiss and Jaune, and so was the first to hear a whirring noise. Turning around, he saw a drone similar to the one he saw children throwing rocks at earlier focusing its lens on him. As the lens began to contract, likely to take a photo, the devil pulled out Eclypse in her double barrel revolver form, twirling her around twice before he steadied his hand and fired. The drone practically exploded into pieces when the bullets made contact.

Turning around, the young devil saw everyone give disapproving glares.

"What?" He shrugged, "I may be photogenic but I'm still camera shy you know?"

"Yeah… Sure thing, mr. Fashion Model." Yang sighed, "Maybe we should pick up the pace."

Everyone did so, but looking at Inuba, Dante could tell she was somewhat disappointed with him.

"You gonna lecture me too?"

"Must I really do so?"

"No..." The teen said softly, like he had just been scolded by a mother.

"Then please don't break anything else." Inuba said, passing him by to walk alongside Ruby.

"Are you really that immature?" Noland asked.

"Zip it Elijah Wood, I don't need you piling on." Dante replied, "You were a resident of Atlas, right? I've only ever read bits and pieces about this Kingdom, but… I didn't expect something like Mantle."

"After losing the Great War, the people of Mantle needed a sign of a brighter future. From what I remember of my History lessons, Atlas was the answer to that need for a better future. After all, who could complain about a Kingdom in the clouds? It was like a fairytale torn straight from a book and made into reality. As to how it remains in the skies, well… Even I have no idea as to how they made such a feat possible."

The duo kept pace with the group as they looked up at the City of Atlas, while the earlier broadcast from Winter played once again nearby. A pair of trucks drove by with miners, covered in black material, sitting in the beds.

"This whole city, it just seems awful." Blake said further up ahead.

"Yeah?" The voice of a drunken man wearing glasses, previously watching a monitor mindlessly as he drank from his flash, startled the group as he came down from his porch, "You don't like it here? There's plenty of space out in the tundra!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Atlas is the greatest Kingdom in the world, alright?!"

Ruby, with an angry glare, stepped up to say something, only to be stopped by Blake, who gave a quick shake of her head.

The drunk man had a friend, equally as shitfaced, that had stumbled towards them.

"The embargo... The embargo's got us in a rough patch. But it'll blow over, you'll see."

"We try and help the other Kingdoms, and this is what happens? I say let 'em rot!"

"I apologize. I didn't mean to insult you." Blake said disengeously.

The drunk man spare on the ground, glaring at Blake.

"Stupid Faunus like you wouldn't unders-!"

He looked down to unscrew his flask and paused when he saw a black glyph beneath his feet. The glyph then flung him into the air, catapulting him into a dumpster in the nearby alley, his glasses and flask accompanying him soon after.

"We shouldn't be making a scene, but… That, admittedly, was worth it." Weiss spoke, proudly sheathing her Myrtenaster.

"Guys! Tin cans, down the street!" Ciel called out silently before ducking into the alleyway across the street. The group fled while a pair of AK-200's rounded the corner to investigate.

The group eventually came across a building with a glowing green plus symbol above its front door. The side door opened, and a Faunus with a prosthetic arm exited, waving cheerfully to the man who spoke to her from inside.

But the prosthetic… It looked familiar to Dante…

That couldn't have been… Could it..?

"No more heavy-lifting, yah hear?" A man called out from inside.

"Ah, it's good to see you again, old friend." Maria spoke with a warm smile as she entered the shop first

An older man was sitting behind the desk, shuffling things around in a drawer. Maria cleared her throat as the others shuffled in, startling him as he lifted his head to look at her, shutting the drawer.

"Ah, yes, yes. Have we met?"

"Cybernetic optical implants." The elderly Huntress pointed to her eyes, "You adjust them every ten years or so?"

The man with glasses stared at her for a few moments before throwing his hands cheerfully into the air.

"Maria!" The robotic chair he was sitting in began to walk out from behind the desk, it's legs like a mechanical spider as they quickly carried him, "Yes, with the cybernetic optical implants! I adjust them every ten years or so!"

He offered his hand to her and led her to an examination table.

"Oh wow, has it been that long already?" The man asked.

"Ah, I know. I age like a fine wine. Would've been here sooner if I hadn't run into these jokers. At the time, I thought they might need my guidance while fighting a little old Sphinx."

"Oh, did they?"

"No, no. They had much more complicated issues."

"And this is?" Qrow asked, clearing his throat.

"So impatient!" Maria replied, smacking Qrow in the shin with her cane, "I didn't think I'd need to introduce one of Atlas' finest minds."

"Really? Atlas' finest mind, working in a place like this?" Dante asked with crossed arms.

"Unlike you, young man, he likes to keep a low profile. Frankly, I've only come to realize that all of you know nothing about that, save for Blake and Inuba.

"You can call me Pietro." The elderly man said.

"Finest heart, too. This pharmacy is just where he volunteers when he's not building the future of Atlas alongside Ironwood, up in the clouds." Maria added.

"Oh, it's stuffy up there. Down here, I get to help the locals and have a little fun. I'm currently working on shoes that make you dance. Wanna try 'em on?"

"YES!" Called out Nora and Ciel.

"Yeah, but before we get to tap dancing lessons, we'd like to ask some questions. Namely, what the heck has been happening here in this Kingdom?" Dante asked.

"Well, the Fall of Beacon took a toll on all of us. James was no different. I couldn't tell you exactly what it was he saw there, but it changed him. He's…"

"Damn terrified?"

"Paranoid would be the more appropriate term. You have to understand, it wasn't just the Grimm. Someone completely dismantled Atlas security code, made it their play-thing, and made us look like traitors to some and buffoons to everyone else. Whoever managed to do that is either a genius or one of our own. I fear the answer may be both, and so does the General."

"Maybe this place isn't as safe as we thought." Athrya spoke up from the back.

"After coming all this way… We can't just leave, can we?" Oscar replied.

"How does the council feel about all of this?" Weiss asked, "Or Winter Schnee? Do you know anything about her?"

"Well, the council's so scared that they'll agree to whatever James wants. Though, some representatives from Mantle…"

The man stopped, adjusting his glasses as he took a look at the heiress.

"Wait, you're… You're Weiss Schnee!"

Weiss gasped and stepped back, everyone sharing a nervous look.

"Wait, what was it that you were trying to say about Mantle?" Yang stepped forward in front of Weiss,

"You painted it… And got it modified…" Pietro said with a rather disappointed tone as he looked at Yang's prosthetic arm.

"Uh… What?"

"You're Team RWBY!"

"You know us?" Ruby asked, a little amazed by the recognition.

"Oh, my girl, I do. I most certainly do. And I feel like such a dunce for not recognizing you sooner."

Pietro looked off to the side at the devil, who quirked an eyebrow at the man looking him over.

"As I live and breathe… Dante Aetherveil, Remnant's Demon of Vengeance!"

"Seriously? That's what they're calling me?" The teen sighed, "Pleasure, doctor."

"Doctor… Been a while since I've been called that."

"Well, I did follow your work back at Beacon. Speaking of…" Dante nodded towards a glass case of prosthetic arms, "Those models… Where, uh… Where did you get them?"

"Funny story about that! Usually I take the time to custom build all of my orders, but recently I was approached by a representative from DarkStar Industries. They offered to help me manufacture more prosthetics for just a 15% cut, and me featuring some of their products."

Dante went completely pale as he did his best to hide his nervous state of mind.

Shiiiiiit! She did it! She went and did it! She talked about doing it and she did it! Oh my god..!

"I-I see…" The young devil spoke, his voice cracking temporarily before clearing his throat, "G-Gosh, those people from DarkStar Industries sure are helpful, h-huh?"

"What's up with him?" Oscar asked Dawn, who only gave the boy a shrug.

"Uh… All that aside… I assume Avery Davis has been pretty vocal about us?" Dante asked, regaining his calm while quickly changing the subject.

"Sure has! He got in just yesterday and already he's putting out a lot of articles on you and RWBY. Though, I know about you all mostly from my daughter."

Everyone shared a questioning glance.

"Er, your daughter?"

Any further conversation was cut short as the sound of an alarm and people screaming flooded the streets.

The group runs outside without hesitating, Athyra and Maria being the only ones to remain behind.

"Alright, RWBY, JNR, Oscar and Dawn, cover this block! Noland, Ciel, Inuba and Blaire, with me to cover the block on the opposite side!"

The group split up as Dante instructed, both he and his squad taking to the opposite street. Ciel, Noland and Blaire already shot forward, engaging the Sabyr Grimm flooding the street. They were quick, but that's all they had to them as Ciel reaped their lives with her scythe, Blaire cleaving them in smoldering twos with her flaming Greatsword, and Noland using his two Grimm to eradicate them.

Before Inuba unwrapped the black cloth covering her katana in order to draw it and rush off, Dante held her back, the kitsune looking at him in confusion.

"Before anything happens, we're going with Stratagem 1."

Inuba was shocked, "A-Are you certain that's a necessary measure?"

"I don't know yet, but we need to play it safe here in Atlas." The devil cautioned, "If things take a turn for the worse at any point, for any reason, or I'm not around... You, Ruby, Blaire, Ciel and Dawn are the Aces that'll turn any situation in our favor. If we're gonna start making a dent in the shit that happens in this World, we need to play it smart."

"You can count on me. Always."

"I know."

Finishing their conversation, Inuba moved the wrapped up sword to her back, reaching to a small pouch on her right hip to draw perfectly rectangular slips of paper with various markings on them. She joined the fight, throwing out those talismans and drawing new ones quickly, each either electrocuting the Grimm, burning them alive, or eviscerating them with gusts of wind.

Before he could join them, something took a powerful hold of Dante from behind, dragging the teen around the corner before he was flung into a car. The alarm went off as soon as he made impact, but with deeply embedded he soon was, even the alarm had been destroyed from the sheer force of impact. Shards of glass flew everywhere, like fireworks that had been set off.

The devil exhaled strongly as he removed himself from the vehicle, looking down to see nothing had impaled him thanks to his Threat Tracer ability.

Thanks for the save guys…

~*^You're welcome.~*^ All three blades spoke at once.

Shaking his head, the teen focused his gaze down the street, taking note of the black cloaked figure that stood further away.

It was the one that marked him and his siblings.

"Well well… Here I thought you might've just done a hit and run. I really did think I wasn't gonna see you again." Dante wagged his finger briefly as he paced to his left, "But here you are. I'm betting you think you can take me on, now that I can't use my Shadow Skin." He summoned Navâra to his left hand, giving her two quick twirls as platinum Aura streaked behind each twirl, "Care to try your luck now?"

The cloaked figure's cloth fluttered; a hand that was translucent and crystal-like to resemble diamond flesh shot out, slender fingers glowing with a dull light as they dug into the asphalt. As it drew its hand out, crystalline quartz emerged in massive quantities, crunching and clumping together to take the shape of a massive, moving wyvern. It let out a shrill roar, it's voice resembling that of a beast and hundreds of shards of broken glass crunching together.

The figure sat atop the crystal wyvern, the creature snarling at Dante before it took to the sky. It's maw of crystal teeth opened as it reared back it's head and breathed a concentrated hailstorm of wind and jagged crystal at the devil. But he was quick, moving about the field like a stretching shadow, using the abandoned vehicles as cover. He would have used his Aura Swords, but given how the crystal breath of the wyvern tore the vehicles apart in mere seconds, his Aura projectiles wouldn't have fared better.

So he moved faster.

Eventually, he did begin the start launching volleys of his Aura Swords at the flying wyvern, but with how quickly he was moving in thanks to wielding Navâra, it seemed like he was attacking from all directions. The intervals were sometimes staggered, other times seemingly hitting simultaneously, but regardless of how, the stranger and it's dragon were caught into a perpetual vortex of swords.

This gave Dante his opening as one of his swords flew past the dragon, allowing him to shift to the Aura Sword's position above the wyvern. He quickly landed on the creature, and kicked away the clearly surprised figure, who let out a feminine cry of pain that sounded hollow.

Ignoring "her", the young devil went to work on the wyvern, trading out Navâra for Eclypse in her Longsword form as he gave his Blade a two quick twirls. In the underhand position, Dante reared back his sword, using a spectral arm of platinum Aura to grab hold of the dragon's neck while using his free left hand to pull back the top of the crystal creature's mouth and rammed Eclypse into its throat.

She blazed with platinum Aura as Dante twisted her about, moving the handle like the rev of a motorcycle handle as he unleashed spiraling blasts of Aura down the wyvern's throat.

To finish the thing off, the devil kept his blade in the creature's throat as he leapt up, using his own strength and the power of his spectral arm to spin the creature around thrice before throwing it away into the ground. Before he gave it a possible chance to rise back up, he surged downwards and slammed his own knuckles and his spectral arm's knuckles into the crystal wyvern's head, shattering its entire head in one, destructive blow.

Looking up, the young devil saw that the figure had staggered away, becoming one with the darkness of an alleyway to vanish entirely out of sight.

Ran away again, huh?

"Tch… What a pain in the ass…" Dante said as he rested Eclypse on his shoulder.

"Tell me about it…" Eclypse's voice emerged from the sword in a slightly echoing tone, "So? How's Threat Tracer?"

"First time we used it, it was a bit off in terms of responsiveness. Now, it's virtually flawless. Your guys' timing is excellent and the impact absorption was pretty much perfect."

^Individually, we'll need more practice. It was much more fast flowing and easier to use since we're all connected, but… As you always say, we have to prepare for any possibility.^

"And we will."

Dante's attention was drawn to a Sabyr he saw flung across the other end of the street, quickly walking over to bump into Ciel.

"Yo."

"Yo."

"What the hell grabbed you?" Ciel asked, exhaling as she made her scythe disappear.

"Our friend from the train." Dante answered, showing the black hollowed out diamond mark that spanned his entire forearm.

"Shit… Well, next time, yeah?"

"Yeah."

The siblings walked a bit further down the street, seeing Inuba, Blaire and Noland hiding behind the corner.

"What's up?" The devil asked.

"Nothing good…" Noland pointed out.

"We don't know who they are exactly, but… It would seem Ruby and the others have been captured by a group called... the Ace Ops." Inuba relayed, using her Fox ears to listen in closely.

"Ace Ops? Shit…"

"You know them?" Blaire asked Dante.

"No… I only read about them when I hacked into the Atlesian Military Network during the Vytal Festival. They're a special operations unit usually deployed for high priority missions, and at times, when Atlas is in a State of Emergency."

"Is that what we are to them? High priority targets?" Noland asked.

"I've heard no mention of us being targets… They've just apprehended them without giving Ruby and the others a chance to fight." Inuba explained, "There's someone else though."

Someone else..?

Dante peeked around the corner, seeing…

"No way..! Penny?!"

"The Android girl? Wasn't she..?"

"Yeah, she got ripped in two at the Vytal Tournament, but I guess she got rebuilt. Wait…"

Daughter… Penny is Pietro's daughter..? Now that I think about it, it's plausible. Pietro's a brilliant mind in the field of cybernetics. I'm sure building Penny wasn't too much of a challenge for the old man.

"What's our plan guys? Do we just… step in and pummel those Ace Dweebs?" Ciel asked.

…

…

Charging in all at once would be a mistake, mostly because if they were going to fight, Dante would be showing his "whole" hand. There was one thing to do really.

Dante exhaled slowly, closing his eyes for a brief moment before he opened them.

"I'm going in. You guys are leaving."

"What?!" Ciel silently spoke out, "We aren't just gonna leave you here!"

"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you." Dante spoke firmly, "If we all go in at once, sure, we'll pummel them. But I'm fairly certain at this point in time they don't know about the rest of us, save Inuba."

"He's got a point." Blaire said, "If things go south with Ruby's group and Dante, it'd be up to us to help them, since we'll be maintaining the element of surprise. We hit them, they won't see it coming from a mile away."

"But where will we hide until then?" Noland asked, "Pietro I assume, but until the rabble clears the street?"

"We can chill out in one of my 'Lockers', I guess. I only have three, and one of them I use just to store some crap in there. I just put an apartment in the second Locker before we left Argus, in case we went camping or something." Ciel explained.

"Hide in there until the coast is clear and Pietro can take you in." Dante instructed, "And if things do get bad…"

"We'll rescue Ruby and everyone else. And your sorry ass, if need be." Blaire said.

"So much inspired confidence…"

"Hey, there have been times you screwed up. Maybe not royally, but…"

"Then let's put some distance between this location and hide." Noland spoke, the first to leave.

Ciel and Blaire followed after, Inuba staying behind.

"I'd like you to go with you."

"If they get rough with you for any reason, I'm likely to murder them on the spot without question." Dante said, "Aside from your safety, you're the best chance any of us have if we can't get out."

"You know full well you needn't be concerned for my safety."

"I know." Dante spoke, hugging the kitsune, "If I somehow die… Delete the folder on my HoloScroll called 'Study Notes'. You can imagine for yourself why."

Inuba giggled softly as she shook her head, kissing the young devil on the lips before she let him go and followed after the others.

~You do realize we're here too, right?~

I know. But you three are my secret weapons. And it isn't like they can confiscate you.

*I'd very much like to see those fools try!*

^Shall we negotiate first?^

I'll try…

Dante let out a quick sigh and stepped around the corner, summoning Eclypse in her dual barrel revolver form.

"Now who the hell might you all be?" He spoke out, garnering the attention of the five soldiers.

"Dante!"

The teen heard Ruby call out and saw the door to the van she and the others were placed in promptly shut.

"Dante?"

The devil looked at the shocked Penny Polendina, who was still unsure of what to do.

"Hey Penny. Glad to see you again, all things considered." He said, focusing his gaze on the five soldiers as he pointed Eclypse at the pack, "I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna just let em up and take Ruby and everyone else. So… How about you and me teach 'em a lesson?"

"I…"

"Stand down, Penny." Spoke one of the white clad men as he stepped forward, holding his… fishing rod sort of weapon.

"And who the hell are you, exactly?"

"Watch your mouth!" A dark skinned woman with platinum blonde hair shaped like Mohawk stepped forward, angrily warning the teen.

"Sorry, Mrs. Chicken. Let me rephrase that." Dante mockingly smiled, "Who the fuck are all of you and why are you taking my friends into custody?"

"Clover Ebi, leader of the Special Forces division Ace Ops." The man announced, "Am I correct to assume you're Dante Aetherveil?"

"In the flesh." The teen politely bowed, lowering his gun for a moment before pointing it at the man, "Now that introductions are done, and seeing as I don't really care about the rest of you, mind letting out my friends and uncuffing them? We've got a date with the General that doesn't involve cavity searches."

The woman with the Mohawk was about to charge right at him, but was stopped by Clover.

"Unfortunately, you and everyone else came in on a stolen ship. Until we have a full understanding of the situation, we have to take you all into custody for questioning."

"I'll do you one better. You uncuff them, and you escort us to see Ironwood. We've got a lot to discuss and have some pretty valuable intel to share. It's in everyone's best interest."

"You're in no position to make demands, boy." A very tall woman, likely two or so inches taller, stepped forward, a giant hammer weapon slung over her shoulder.

"Uh, yeah I do. For starters, I have a very powerful gun that'll likely explode you if I shoot you." Dante explained, "Secondly, Ms. Jolly Giant… This 'boy' can likely kick your collective asses if he so pleased."

~Seriously?~

I'm bluffing, for the most part. But if I have to fight…

^I recommend taking out the woman with that… strange hairstyle first.^

I'll keep that in mind.

"What do we do, sir?" One of the soldiers asked, a dark skinned Wolf faunus with a boomerang-like weapon, "He doesn't seem to want to reasonably surrender…"

"Yeah Clover, what do we do? Meet my slightly reasonable demands? Or brawl with me, where I send you guys packing? Your call."

The leader nodded his head, looking to his four allies.

"Disarm mr. Aetherveil and take him into custody."

"Wrong answer."

"STAY!"

Before he could take a shot at any of them, his entire body seized up, or rather, he was completely frozen. The four started to close in quickly, the Wolf faunus at the lead keeping a finger pointed to Dante.

His body started to shake, his magic resistance beginning to fight off the effects of the Semblance.

Seeker… A little… help please…

In but a moment, black Aura flared around Dante's body in a translucent outline, his left hand closing into a fist before he punched the Wolf Faunus in the face, sending him on his back.

The five special operatives looked on in brief shock, Dante wasting no time as he raised up that very same fist and punched the ground. A powerful burst of black Aura burst outwards and swept through the street, blinding all of them.

(Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance - Soundtrack Edit 02)

The snow blind had blanketed the entire street in powder, obsurring Dante from sight as the four colleagues gathered together, keeping their eyes front and center.

Then they all heard it. A soft, sinister, otherworldly growl.

"What the hell was that..?" The tall woman asked.

"Grimm?" One of them spoke, a bald man resembling a monk.

"Grimm don't make that kind of noise…" the Wolf Faunus spoke, rubbing his chin.

(0:18)

Then he emerged from the mist without warning, fully transformed as the Draconic scales of his dark platinum coat glistened under the lamplight.

They were utterly shocked by the sight of him, all five of the soldiers breaking out into a cold sweat as terror began to grip their hearts.

The Wolf Faunus stepped forward first, pointing to the teen.

"S-STAY!" he shouted, but the devil did not cease.

Instead of stopping, he moved forward completely unhindered, briefly glancing at the Faunus before he quickly brought in his arm and backhanded the Wolf soldier in the face, swatting him away like a fly as his body crashed into a nearby car.

The Mohawk soldier surged behind the devil, her body crackling with golden lighting as she tried to kick Dante's spine. Instead, he grabbed the woman by the ankle, lifting her up over his head like a toy and smashing her into the asphalt harshly. Shortly after, she was tossed away towards the second story of a building, her scream briefly echoing through the street as she crashed through the window.

The monk-like soldier had large arms of Aura that glowed with a golden color as they grasped Dante in a vice grip. The young devil summoned his own spectral arms of dark platinum Aura, the limbs larger and much more fiercer looking as they shot out, one hand grabbing the man by the neck while the other grabbed his entire head, promptly smashing him into the asphalt repeatedly until his golden arms disappeared.

The tall woman charged in from the side, trying to smash the teen into jelly. He stopped her hammer with one hand, shocking her before she took a backhand to the face, staggering her. With a fierce tug, Dante took the woman's weapon and bashed her with it twice before swung it at her for a fourth and final time, launching her down the street as he tossed away the hammer.

A huge hook and wire wrapped around the devil, the metal line fastened tight as Clover made to tie him down to a vehicle. Before he had the chance, Dante stretched out his arms, breaking the line. Instead of letting him go, the devil grabbed the line and reeled in Clover, grabbing the man by the neck as he lifted him up in the air.

(1:21)

He struggled, constantly slamming his hand down onto Dante's wrist in the hopes he'd force him to let go, but it was all in vain. He felt not even the slightest bit of pain, tightening his grip even further as his maw opened, the dark platinum furnace within glowing fiercely as he unleashed a long, bone-chilling roar that echoed throughout the streets.

(End)

"You underestimated me." Dante spoke, his maw only cracking open as his voice emerged hollow and echoing, "You were probably thinking I was just some small time punk with rumors about him that were inflated, right?"

He loosened his grip a little and made the man kneel, seeing if the man calling himself Clover had anything to say.

"I'm sure you must be awfully embarrassed to have your asses handed to you by a 'boy'. So… Here's how this is gonna work. I'm gonna tie you guys up, and I'm going to go free my friends out of that van." The devil pointed behind himself, "Then, we're all gonna take a nice little trip to see the General without further violence, unless, of course, you insist."

"If you think… we'll let you anywhere near… the General..!"

Dante sighed as his transformation came undone, the wisps of black surrounding him fading away into nothing.

"What exactly will you do? Stop me? You think you stand a chance?" Dante questioned, "I didn't travel all the way from Vale to be stopped by you. I and everyone else didn't suffer as much as we did just to be halted here by a bunch of idiots. So we're going to see the General, one way or another."

The young devil saw the man smirk a little, the teen's eyes widening a little as he pushed himself away from Clover, avoiding a sword strike to his arm.

He looked up at the new arrival, seeing he was wearing the same white, blue and red uniform Clover did in the same exact fashion, only his coat had long sleeves, and he wore black gloves.

The new arrival was as tall as Dante at 6'3, his hair black, almost a charcoal color, short and slightly spiky, while his eyes were a golden amber color. He was young. Had to be seventeen like Dante from the looks of it.

But the sword this young man held…

It was a sort of silver colored claymore from the looks of it, the sword being almost as tall as he was in total length, stopping at his shoulders. The handle seemed to be a foot long and wrapped in blue leather, with a pommel rounded out into a sort of crown with eight points. The guard curved inwards towards the thick blade, its center inlaid with a line of sapphire. The base of the silver blade was colored sapphire blue for half a foot, and thicker than the rest of the blade, almost as wide as the guard itself before it rounded inwards and spanned out into a thinner blade.

Strangely enough, the sharp edges of the claymore's base had prongs reaching from the guard, protecting the edges up until the end of the sapphire colored base. The sharp edges of the claymore were a bit thicker than normal too, the tip curving outwards very slightly before curving back inwards towards the point.

"Reporting for duty, sir!" The young man spoke.

"I thought I told you to wait at the checkpoint, rookie." Clover replied, rubbing his throat.

"Everyone's signal vanished moments ago. I thought it best to come to your aid as soon as possible."

"Heh, the rookie's got more balls than the rest of you it seems." Dante called out, summoning Eclypse to his right hand as he rested her on his shoulder.

The young man stepped in front of his leader.

"Are you hurt, sir?"

"Nothing that'll kill me…" Clover said as he stood back up, "We unfortunately underestimated him and paid the price for it."

"Who is he?"

"Dante Aetherveil."

"Remnant's Demon of Vengeance?!"

"Please don't call me that. It sounds corny as hell as it is." The young devil spoke.

"I see… If that's the case…" The young man turned to his commander, "Sir, please retreat temporarily to rally the others. I'll hold him here."

"Rookie-"

"I'll be alright, sir. I'll be able to withstand him with my Semblance. And my sword."

Dante looked over the blade the young man held once again, tilting his head a little.

He's moving that sword around like it weighs nothing… Is it because the sword is light, or that he's just physically stronger than the rest? Maybe that's his Semblance, if he said he was gonna be alright. But what about his sword..?

~Be careful with this one, Master. Something's… off with him. His Aura Signature is different from a normal person's.

Is it now..?

"Hmmm… You're pretty gutsy, you know that? Not to mention honorable. You could've struck me from behind, but you deliberately chose to attack me front and center from above."

"Some have spoken that you're an honorable individual… But after seeing this… I'm finding that harder and harder to believe."

"Honor doesn't win every battle, rookie." Dante scoffed as he spoke the name, "Sometimes you gotta fight without honor, because in a battle where lives are at stake, winning is all that matters. Winning preserves lives. I intend to keep winning, regardless of whatever people think of me."

He looked a bit troubled by those words, but shortly took on a firm stare and grasped his claymore with both hands.

"I urge you to surrender, Aetherveil."

"Surrender? Why would I do that when I'm on a hot-streak?"

"There's no reason to fight-!"

"For all I know, you guys bringing in my guys for questioning might be a pretense for bullshit. It might just be a lie to imprison them and scatter us for easy pickings."

"That's not-!"

"I'm not taking the chance. So if I have to go through you… Well, do I really need to explain the rest?"

Dante twirled Eclypse twice, holding her with both hands as he took a stance, the young man doing the same.

"What's your name, rookie?"

The young soldier hesitated for a moment.

"William Ardâin, Private in the Ace Ops unit."

"Alright then, William… Do your best not to die!"

Dante immediately shot forward like a bolt of lightning, clashing with the young soldier. He may not have been forced off his feet like the devil intended, but he was still struggling to keep himself from being forced back by his opponent. Shortly enough, Dante's advance was halted as William managed to stand his ground.

The two broke off their clash, and as Dante expected, the soldier was swinging his sword with ease, as if it's huge size was actually weightless. The young devil wasn't nearly going as fast as he could nor swinging as hard as he normally can.

With every attack, every swing of his sword, Dante upped his speed and power by increments, amazed that William was adjusting himself so well.

He's a fighter this one..!

All he could do was smile as he fought, continuously challenging this… interesting opponent. Some attacks he missed on purpose, just to give the soldier an opening, and sure enough, he took the opportunity to attack.

While William was keeping pace with Dante to an extent, his technique was still a bit sloppy, but good enough to give most Huntsmen and Huntresses a run for their money.

Another clash.

Another moment they locked blades, but instead of talking, Dante gave the soldier the gift of a headbutt, one strong enough to send the young soldier skidding on his heels as he struggled to regain his balance. When coming to his senses, the young man could only see Dante's longsword ready to take his head.

The young devil stopped.

Not because he wanted to, but because he was forcibly stopped. At the last moment, William did something irrational.

He raised up his right arm to sacrifice it.

Instead of cutting off said arm, Eclypse bounced off William's forearm. This shocked Dante, seeing as he knew he had the strength to cut off people's limbs even when protected by their Aura. But as the shredded sleeve had been cut away, Dante saw something odd.

The soldier's flesh was darker and almost smoke colored, but had a shiny gloss to it.

The devil chuckled, leaning back to avoid a swipe to his face as he kicked William in the stomach, putting distance between them.

"I see, I see… So that's why you're so confident." Dante said as he stood up straight, "Your Semblance gives you extremely hardened flesh. Though from the color and the toughness... I'd have to say you were using graphene just now to harden your skin."

"Not exactly right, but not entirely wrong either." William explained, raising up his right arm as his forearm's skin changed color multiple times, "My Semblance allows me to configure my skin's carbon atoms freely without causing me harm. Your guess of configuring my skin's carbon atoms into graphene was indeed correct, but I can do so without needing to sacrifice my mobility."

"Thus making you the ultimate tank, in essence. Not bad, not bad." Dante said, resting Eclypse on his shoulder, "Though I imagine there's three real weaknesses, right?"

The young soldier narrowed his eyes, making Dante smile.

"The first weakness is an obvious one. I shove my blade into your eyes or your mouth, and you're done for. The second, I imagine, is that constantly keeping your Semblance active to protect yourself must be incredibly draining. Which is why instead of protecting your whole body, you instead used your excellent reaction speed to defend with your arm and use your Semblance on only your arm. The third…"

Dante chuckled, tapping Eclypse on his shoulder blade.

"The third is... that while it makes you invincible to a vast majority of attacks or environments, it doesn't make you entirely invincible."

Without warning, the devil brought Eclypse across his body and swung outwards, loosing a small, arcing wave of platinum Aura that quickly soared through the air towards the soldier. Instinctively, he raised up his right arm to defend, and as he expected, his Semblance managed to block the attack.

Then he began to feel a stinging sensation on his forearm that felt like a burn.

William was shocked when he saw a large cut on his arm. It wasn't too deep or life threatening, but it was still deep enough to make him bleed quite a bit.

"I see the rumors are true then… You are a demon that totes around madness… Yet you possess the mind of a tactical genius, capable of finding any weakness in your enemy. Even so… that changes nothing!"

Dante's eyes widened as William approached with such incredible speed and swung at him. Now, he was much faster and hitting a lot harder than he did previously.

Is this another part of his Semblance?! No, he's too straightforward and honorable to lie about his Semblance… And it doesn't seem like he has a Duality Semblance like my brother and sisters…

As he thought, the devil kept exchanging blows with the young soldier, the two relentlessly fighting each other. Sure, Dante was shocked more than anything, but he was entirely amazed a human like William could keep up with him in terms of speed and strength.

The devil found many openings and went for them, but William managed to react well enough to most of Dante's counters to keep himself protected. Eventually, the two clashed once more, and William, from the looks of it, seemed to be more daring.

"That technique of yours truly is fearsome… But if I keep you deadlocked…"

"Oh? Is that what you think? I must have given you the wrong impression then, soldier boy." Dante spoke with a chilling smile.

William watched the devil raise up his hand and press his palm against the sharp edge, but he did not use his hand to push the blade further. Instead, he calmly uttered two words.

"Eclyptic Edge."

All the soldier could see was a blinding flash before his entire body had been consumed in a blast of platinum Aura that shot out in a brief torrent. When the platinum Aura subsided with the smoke, William had been pushed back a great distance, his sleeves completely torn away as the rest of his clothes suffered burns. He also had quite a few cuts now on his arms and his chest.

His breathing was heavy, but still he stood up slowly, using his unscathed claymore to prop himself up to his feet.

The devil whistled, "I thought I'd do more damage than that… Then again, I did deliberately try not to turn you into ash just now."

William glared at Dante, slowly steadying his breath.

"Come on, don't give me that look. It's your fault for underestimating me, you know?" Dante explained as he sat down on the hood of a car, "Frankly speaking, you really shouldn't believe any rumors about me being an evil guy. But… you should believe the ones that say I'm some kind of demon."

"What's… the difference..?"

The young devil chuckled, "You think that all Demons are evil? That they only intend to ruin or harm the lives of others? Well… you'd be surprised, William. You see, labels are just that. Labels. Anyone can point a finger at anyone and call them a good person. But anyone else can do the same thing and call that person evil just because they have a different perspective. Good and evil are fundamentally flawed concepts. While right and wrong isn't all too much better, it's still a lot better than classifying the actions of others as good or evil." Dante explained, "I might be something of a Demon, sure… But does that mean I'm evil just because I'm sort of a Demon? Can't I just do the same thing and universally label all humans as evil?"

William's eyes seemed to trail the ground, as if ashamed he was so quick to judge.

"Relax. It's not your fault. Not really." Dante spoke as he pushed himself off the car, "These things happen. It just takes an open mind to correct those errors in judgement."

The devil steadily walked over to William, who struggled to take a stance, Dante raising a hand to assuage him.

"Relax, soldier boy. I'm not out to take your life. Or anyone's life really, unless they give me a reason to. I'm not here to bring down your cities and kill your people." He spoke, standing almost face to face with the young soldier, "I'm here to save it. If I can, that is."

The way he smiled, the way he spoke with assurance… Without hate or conceit… He was just speaking to him, person to person. It was… disarming.

And yet, without warning, and to both of their surprise, sapphire Aura flared around William's body and shot forward. Dante leaned back and out of the way of a claymore blade, looking down to see the young soldier still holding onto his weapon without having swung it. Yet this Blade attacking him was entirely identical to the one William was wielding.

As the identical claymore emerged from the young man's sapphire Aura, a figure began to emerge as well. Dante dodged another swipe to his face and leapt back, getting a full view of this new foe.

Their stature was small, being half as tall as William. This figure wore thick, silver plate armor from head to toe. Attached to the sides of their armored waist were two thin plates to guard their hips, their thighs and legs completely armored but still made well enough to allow full mobility. Two neat sapphire cloths draped in front of and behind the waist armor to cover the crotch and rear, draping down to the armored figure's knees.

The gauntlets this person wore were also as thick as the armor, the fingers clawed, the knuckles adorned with small teeth, and the forearms decorated with three rows of three larger serrated teeth each. The elbows and upper arms were left unarmored for maximum mobility, and instead, revealed long, sapphire sleeves that fed into the gauntlets and thick, kite-shaped pauldrons covering this warrior's shoulders.

The helmet this individual wore covered their entire head, the chin elongated slightly. There wasn't a gap for the mouth. Instead, the entire faceplate was like two corners meeting together to form an edge, where the eye gaps were thick, rhombus shaped cutouts. The faceplate, unlike the rest of the dark silver armor, was a dark shade of grey. In addition to the sides of the helmet were two ox-like horns, each horn a black color and as long as the armored warrior's shoulders.

In their hands… they held an exact replica of William's claymore.

No way… Are they..?!

A loud battle cry emerged from the armored warrior as they quickly surged forward, sapphire lighting trailing both their legs and their sword as they readied a swing. Instead of meeting Dante head on, the warrior was stopped completely by Eclypse, who held a replica of herself in her Longsword form.

"Wow… For someone smaller than me, you sure are pretty strong…" Eclypse spoke.

As if realizing something, the Blade's eyes went wide briefly, then were narrowed as the corners of her mouth formed into a sly smile.

"Oh… I see… You're a pretty strong woman, too…"

The armored warrior was silent for but a moment before she let out an angry battle cry, swinging at Eclypse with all her might to absolutely murder Dante's Blade. The two young men watched their brief battle, which ended when Eclypse kicked away the armored warrior towards William.

She meant to charge Eclypse yet again, but the young soldier's right hand quickly grasped her arm, stopping the woman from going further.

"What's the big idea?!" She spoke, her voice a little on the huskier side.

"As strong as you are, you can't take them both on." William explained, "Especially if that woman is like you."

The armored girl clicked her tongue as she took a few steps back. Her helmet split apart into three portions, quickly retracting. The top center shifted towards the spine, and the sides, with half a faceplate each and the horns shifted towards her shoulders. The horns faced behind her, and looked as though it was extra protection for her neck.

She looked as young as they were. Her eyes, like parts of her sword and the cloth of her armor, was a sapphire blue color. The woman's hair was light blonde, and glossy enough to shine like finely woven gold. Her hair almost matched Yang in terms of messiness, but… the back was tied into a ponytail, flaring out wildly and covering the nape of her neck. Her bangs almost touched her shoulders, and was shorter above her eyes, splitting off towards the sides a little.

"All the more reason to fight them then, if they're like us." She spoke again.

"Listen to your Master and pipe down, little girl." Eclypse cautioned.

"You looking to die, bitch?"

"No, but I am looking to maim and kill a little girl who thinks she's cute acting tough."

"That's it!"

"Mòrai! Enough!" William called out, making his Blade halt in her tracks.

"Listen to your Master, brave Knight." Dante spoke as he approached, standing next to Eclypse, "Your Wielder may not entirely look it, but he just took some serious damage from my attack. Last time I checked, Blades and their Wielders fight together."

"Don't lecture me, clown." Mòrai pointed her blade at Dante, "That much is perfectly obvious. But it's also the duty of a Blade to fight in place of their Wielder when they can't."

Dante smirked at the armored girl, annoying her even further.

"I couldn't agree more. But you should understand when it's a lost cause to fight." Eclypse told the armored girl, "You can't beat us."

"Of course I can, you cow." Mòrai said, pointing her sword at Eclypse, "I'm Mòrai, Sapphire Lighting of the West. I can take anyone on."

"Don't be jealous just because I have way bigger tits than you ever will."

"Please stop antagonizing her." Dante asked.

"What? She started it."

The devil sighed, "Look, just call it quits, yeah? Aside from having no interest in fighting a guy who can barely stand anymore, I'm more interested in hearing your guys' story." He pointed between the Blade and her Wielder.

"Then surrender, and we'll trade stories all you like." William implored.

"I'm not surrendering for any reason."

"Do you honestly think we're that deranged enough to imprison you without cause?!"

"I don't know what to think. Imprisoning us might just be a pretext for your people to slaughter us at a later date, or perhaps even turn us over to some less desirable individuals." The young devil shrugged, "Have you seen what's out there these days? Not just here in Mantle, or Solitas overall. I mean out there, in the World. Short of it? It's pretty crazy. Trusting the wrong person can get you killed, or worse, get others killed. That's why I'm not gonna hand my friends over to anyone for any reason."

"Do you intend to go against the entire Atlesian Military?!"

"If I have to, sure." Dante calmly spoke, shocking the young soldier.

"That's insane…"

"For you maybe. But for me? I'd say it's just about realistic."

Mòrai glanced over her shoulder at William, "Do we fight?"

"We don't have to." He sighed, nodding his head at Dante.

"He's right. This fight is over."

The young devil looked behind, noticing a squadron of nine soldiers walking down the street, a woman leading the pack.

She was dressed like the Ace Ops, more specifically like William with long sleeves and black gloves. The only difference was that her uniform, as well as the ones she lead, was a dark blue, with tints of black and red. She was a young woman, possibly the same age if not a bit younger than Winter Schnee.

Her hair was a charcoal black color and seemed to be long with how it was tied in a bun, a few strands of her bangs neatly parted towards the left side of her face. Her eyes were a golden amber like Willaim's, and from her face, he could tell she had fair skin. The woman seemed to match Inuba's build; long legs, curvaceous hips, and a seemingly ample bosom restrained beneath her uniform. The only difference was in height, where Inuba stood at a solid 5'7, the woman seemed to be 5'10.

Her uniform also had a dark blue half-cape, and instead of a helmet, she wore a dark blue Atlesian officer hat with an amber colored visor to block out sun rays. The hat had the Atlesian crest upon it. In addition, she also had bits of dark silver plating on her shoulder, hips, knees and feet.

What truly caught Dante's eyes were the twin swords she wielded. The swords were as long as the woman's arms, and overall were dark blue. The blades however were double-edged and segmented, indicating that they could extend or act as sword whips. Within those segments seemed to be an amethyst glow.

The guard looked to be a mesh of amethyst and dark blue, where the guards were a u-bend that bent downwards towards the handles. The handles looked to be of dark blue leather, only with an amethyst line spiraling down from the guard to the pommel. The pommels themselves looked like amethyst rosebuds that had a faint glow, the buds yet to bloom.

Is she a Wielder too..?

"The fight is over just because you showed up?" Dante questioned, "Who even are you?"

"Melia Ardâin. Special Inquisitor of the Atlesian Council Inquisition." The woman promptly replied, "And you are Dante Aetherveil, of Vale."

Melia folded her hands together, keeping a calm expression about her as she looked past the devil.

"Are you well?"

William only wordlessly nodded in response.

"Good." Melia exhaled, focusing on the young devil, "Dante Aetherveil… By special order of the Atlesian Council, you are to be taken into custody and appear before them to answer for the charges brought against you."

The teen scoffed.

"Have you understood everything I've just explained to you?"

"I understand… that more of you are standing in my way right now. Am I gonna have to tear through all of you as well?"

The woman smiled, chuckling lightly, "Are we going to have to forcibly take you into custody?"

As she asked, her nine soldiers raised up their guns, keeping them aimed at Dante as William stepped out of the way with Mòrai's help.

"You already know the answer to that."

As he said this Eclypse surged forward with blinding speed, heading straight for Melia as she readied her blade to cut the woman down.

But she did not flinch. The woman soldier stood perfectly still as amethyst Aura surged from her body, forming a copy of her twin blades first that stopped Eclypse in her tracks. From the same flaming amethyst Aura emerged the figure of a person.

A beautiful woman as tall as Eclypse at 6'0, with long purple hair that ombréd into crystalline purple at its ends, glowing slightly. She let half of her hair loose, reaching down to her thighs while the other half was arranged into neat buns, the tips of her hair buns curving upwards to look like horns that were constantly ablaze in amethyst fire. Her eyes were closed, narrowed perfectly to slits in the same fashion as Inuba's mother. Her forehead above her eyebrows had glowing amethyst marks, each of the two marks resembling a singular thorn vine.

In addition to being as tall as Eclypse, this new woman had an equally curvaceous figure, which was accented by her dress. This dress was shoulderless, the fabric stretching above her bosom and feeding into an ornate black metal choker covering the base of her chest and neck up to her throat. The dress itself was entirely amethyst and floor-length, the center fronted by a transparent chemise that showed off some of her ample bosom and her stomach. The rest of the dress covered her lower half down to the center of her thighs, leaving the rest of her thighs and both of her legs exposed. The edges and inside of the dress were frilled with black fabric.

Her fingers all the way to her upper arms appeared to be covered in amethyst crystal, the shape resembling solidified flames. Her entire legs were also covered in the amethyst crystal in a similar fashion, stopping just above her knees. She also wore a black belt diagonally on her waist, the left side holding a dagger.

This new woman held exact copies of the same twin swords Melia had resting in belt loops at the sides of her hips.

"Seriously? Two of you in a day?" Eclypse complained, "And here I thought I'd just have one other Blade to deal with…"

"Perhaps you shouldn't make light of the situation." The woman spoke in a calm, dignified voice that had a soothing, feminine deepness to it.

"I can make light of the situation however I damn well please. Especially since I'll kick your ass."

"Oh really?" The woman challenged, twirling her dual blades twice.

"Stand down, Dhîrga." Melia ordered.

"But my lady-"

"As Ace Ops Private William explained, the altercation has ended. Dante Aetherveil will surrender himself because he has no other choice but to do so."

*My Wielder, I implore you to bring out myself and Sêrythîl to even the odds!*

^Can you even wield two of us at the same time? Let alone three?^

Don't know. Haven't tried. Yes, it's strange enough that these two have Blades as well, but… They don't know I'm in possession of the two of you. They only know about Eclypse for the time being.

~I'm with him on this one. The less they know about Master possessing three of our kind, the better. Still… This Melia seems pretty confident she can make you surrender.~

Let's find out why.

"Why exactly am I going to surrender?" Dante asked, looking to Melia, "Because he has a Blade? Because you too have a Blade? I think you missed the memo where I said none of that matters if you're going to take me on."

Melia smiled, still keeping her hands folded in front of her.

"One, we won't be fighting. And two… You're going to surrender because if you don't… I'm going to start executing your allies one by one."

He froze at hearing such words, narrowing a harsh glare on the woman.

"Bullshit. You can't do that."

"Really? I can't?"

She waved her hand towards her soldiers, two of them bringing out Ruby and Weiss, both cuffed and shackled. Another soldier drew her pistol, handing it to the Special Inquisitor as she pointed it at Weiss.

"That's Weiss Schnee!" Dante shouted.

"Yes. And from what it seems, Weiss Schnee was aiding and abetting an individual charged with multiple cases of murder. An action, which is punishable by death."

Eclypse wanted to gut the Blade standing in front of her, but she could only remain still and glare angrily at her fellow Blade.

Weiss and Ruby had been gagged so they couldn't speak, but their faces were full of anger.

It didn't matter to Melia, who cocked the hammer, making Dante take a light step forward in response, keeping his mouth shut as to not shout the obscenities he was thinking of.

"Surrender or I will execute the both of them, then move on to the others in the van."

He had his Aura Blades. He could-

No, it wouldn't work. Yes, he'd certainly kill the soldiers, but it'd be highly unlikely he'd be able to kill Melia and her Blade, Dhîrga.

He even thought about asking The Seeker to transform him. But would he be fast enough to slaughter them all in a second? No...

Killing any of them, the Ace Ops or the Special Inquisitor, would bring down a world of trouble upon his head and the head of his friends. It's why he simply "played" with them until now and only gave them minor injuries.

…

…

There really was no other choice then.

Eclypse looked back to Dante, seeing him give the girl a slight nod before she relaxed her stance and vanished in a burst of platinum Aura. Following that, Eclypse vanished from his hand, and the teen extended his arms outwards together, silently surrendering himself.

"You better chain me up while I still have the mind to let you. Otherwise… I'll crack open those ribs of yours and tear out your heart."

Hearing Dante's threat instinctively made Dhîrga strike him across the face with the pommel of one of her blades. It didn't hurt nearly enough as it should have, but her strike was still strong enough to force him to the ground and rattle his brain quite a bit.

The soldiers wasted no time and moved to chain up Dante with specialized cuffs to block him from using his Aura. As they worked to chain him up, Melia and Dhîrga moved past him, approaching William and Mòrai.

"Do you need medical attention?" She asked the young soldier.

"No… My Aura has healed most of my cuts. I'll be fine, Special Inquisitor." The teen replied.

She sighed at his words.

"You can call me 'sister' when it's just the two of us speaking, you know?"

"T-That would be-"

"It's fine. You are my brother, William. You needn't be uptight with me because of my position." She told her younger brother, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Melia's attention was drawn towards the end of the street, seeing Clover Ebi and the rest of the Ace Ops, all of them injured, if only to a small degree.

"Special Inquisitor Ardâin… I wasn't informed you'd be arriving…"

"Special Operative Ebi." Melia spoke in kind, "We only recently received word that Dante Aetherveil set foot in Mantle. Considering the Council has marked him as a high priority target, it was imperative to capture him first above all else. I understand that the Ace Ops have higher priority when it generally comes to these sorts of affairs, but… Even your Authority can be superseded by mine with majority backing from the Council."

"And the others?" Clover asked.

"They're yours. As far as the Council is concerned, they're General Ironwood's problem to deal with. Dante Aetherveil is our only priority, so we're taking only him into custody." She explained walking towards the airship that landed in the street.

"Do you need additional backup? I don't imagine he's going to go quietly even after you've put him in chains."

"That won't be necessary. I think he understands full well he can't simply escape since we have all of his allies in custody."

"All of them?" Clover asked with a questioning, quirked brow.

Melia knew he was speaking of the girl in black; Dante's Blade.

"She won't make a move unless he tells her to do so. And she definitely won't slip past either myself or Dhîrga without either of us knowing. She knows that if she manifests, she'll only be captured. That's why she'll stick close to her Master, completely out of sight where we can't touch her. She has no choice but to do so."

"If you say so, Special Inquisitor. Safe travels." Clover saluted, him and his fellow Ace Ops taking to leave.

"We should sit down and chat sometime this weekend. It has been some time since we last spoke." Melia told William.

"Y-Yes, sister… I-I'll see what I can manage…" he spoke awkwardly, giving his sibling a polite bow before he began to follow behind his leader.

"Please make sure you continue taking care of him, Mòrai."

"Yeah yeah... You don't need to tell me." She waved off, the Blade following behind her Wielder.

"My lady, I would ask that you take special precaution with the prisoner." Dhîrga spoke up, both Blade and Wielder looking behind them.

They saw the nine soldiers struggling to keep Dante in place right after they placed numerous special cuffs on his hands, arms and legs. Despite that, he was headbutting them relentlessly, cursing them and calling the soldiers all sorts of foul names he could think of off the top of his head, and even made insults about their mothers in the mix.

"He's trying to escape."

"He isn't, Dhîrga. He's just having a bit of fun."

"Fun? That's… fun?"

"He's having fun by having his small delight of defiance until we take him up." Melia explained, walking up towards the pile of soldiers trying to restrain Dante.

"Ah, Special Inquisitor! I was just telling them about how I shagged bedded this one's mother." He nodded towards one of the soldiers grabbing his arm, the very same one punching Dante in the jaw.

"Playtime is over, Aetherveil." She calmly spoke, "Load the prisoner in the cargo bay. Assist with patrols in this sector until a deployment of AK-200's arrive."

"But ma'am..! He's-!"

"He won't be an issue. I can handle him on my own." She nodded respectfully towards the soldiers.

They hesitantly did as she asked, sitting him down in one of the seats and buckling the heavily restrained teen in, Melia following after them and sitting in one of the seats across from him.

"Take us up, pilot." She said.

Shortly, the Manta Airship rose up off the ground, the bay doors closing as the ship took off, flying towards Atlas.

"You must be pretty skilled if you think you can take me on by yourself." Dante said, spitting out some blood towards the door of the cargo bay.

"I'm not one to brag, but yes, I would like to think I'm skilled enough to subdue you."

"But it isn't just your skill that makes you confident. Your Blade does too."

"And?"

"And…" Dante paused, thinking a little before he spoke, "I'm under the assumption that you haven't quite imagined yourself without your Blade. Without your power."

She giggled a little bit.

"It's precisely because I've imagined such things happening that I've reached the level that I have, Aetherveil. It's the reason why I still ascend to greater heights." Melia explained, crossing her leg as she rested her hand on her lap, "I'm never simply satisfied with my current level of power or skill. I always strive to better and improve myself in whatever way I can. I'm not conceited enough to simply rely only on my power or my Blade to win my battles."

Dante let out a genuinely impressed hum, nodding his head in approval.

"For such a capable woman, I find it hard to imagine you're just a Special Inquisitor. Especially since, seeing you up close now... you seem to be more capable than the current Grand Inquisitor, Tycos Pycelle."

She smirked. Smirking was the best she could do to prevent herself from laughing, seeing that he had caught on.

"So I was right then…" Dante sat up straight, briefly wagging his finger, "You know, for the last ten minutes, I kept thinking to myself, 'Of all the bastards up there in Atlas, who would want to try and pin me for murder'. My first thought was probably Ironwood since I'm sure he doesn't like me very much. But, from what I know of the dear old General, he wouldn't be so cowardly as to hit me from a safe distance. If anything, he'd get up close and personal with me."

"And the other Council members?"

"The other Council members can't so much as take a shit without worrying about public opinion. Pycelle, as Avery Davis informed me two days ago, has been the only Council member to publicly denounce me. Calling me anything and everything from a 'lustful beast', to a 'demon risen from the Abyss to steal our sanity and our souls'. Things like that."

"So you know you're walking into what's essentially a sham trial."

"It wouldn't be the first time. Because of his position, Pycelle has the resources and the man power to fabricate evidence and the like."

"Knowing this, do you have some plan of attack? A strategy? Or perhaps you simply intend to kill all the Council members once court is in session?"

"I'm not an animal, you know?" Dante scoffed, "I'll play by their rules. It's only fair, since you got me to surrender with that bluff of yours."

"You can hate me all you like for resorting to such tactics. But I see my actions as a complete victory, since I managed to make you surrender without spilling your blood, or you mine."

"I don't hate you for it." Dante assured, "I hated the action, but I don't hate you. It was smart. Props to you for doing your homework. I assume Davis' articles and your own gathered intelligence helped you make up that little tactic of yours?"

"Indeed. The Ace Ops were an unintended variable, but… My plan still worked within expectations."

"Again, kudos to you for being one of the very few people to outsmart me." The young devil applauded briefly by tapping his cuffed hands on his lap a few times.

The ship came to a sudden stop, and the doors automatically retracted, revealing a large structure to Dante as he swung his legs out to stand, Melia following behind him.

"I trust I don't have to explain to you to not attempt an escape if things don't go your way?"

"You don't. I'll face it like a man."

As he said this, Melia walked him up the marble steps, guiding him through the doors of the building. When they entered, many people spotted them immediately and stopped what they were doing, shocked at the sight before them.

Being put on trial again… It was certainly going to be an interesting experience.

Two new Blades in one chapter?! Oh my! And here you thought it'd be a little while until another one came along, huh?

That aside, this was intended from the start when I created my "game plan" for this new arc we've just started. I admit, the inquisitorial squad was more of an on the fly thing, but I expanded outwards a little more.

The two Ardâin siblings are going to be an integral factor of this arc and the coming one for the events of Volume 8, William more so considering he will be facing the dilemma of Ironwood's decisions. But Melia won't be stiff armed to the side either. She too has a very important role to play in the events to come.

If you're going to ask, "Oh, wait! What about Cosmos?", don't worry. Noland and Dante will have that talk. And when they do… we'll have all learned about Blades, and what they are.

That's pretty much all I had to say. So with that...

If you have questions, ask them anytime. I will try to answer them without spoiling anything.

Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Your support genuinely matters.

With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend, and remember... be kind and excellent to one another, stay safe, and stay healthy.