Accel World: The Ashen Wolf

Thirty years have passed since the Demon War ended. Japan has managed to recover, but the amnesic Marth is struggling to find his place in the damaged world. He then finds himself getting dragged into Brain Burst by Kuroba, the Black King where they must team up against new enemies, both human and demonic.

This is a reimagining of my original Black Wolf story. I feel like I went overboard with it with adding reference characters from different series into it so I'm rewriting it to be something I'm more proud of (there will still be reference characters in this story though but it hopefully won't get too crazy). Not to mention that I want to better incorporate elements I've been recently developing in the original Black Wolf, like with Rias being more proactive with protecting Marth and his sister (because honestly, she would not have waited so long with locating Thorrnn; Rias would have took her in the moment she found her).

Here are the series that will have reference characters and which of them I will use (keep in mind that I only add characters I feel can add something to the story, mainly wordbuilding):

Code Geass- Lelouch (a half-demon from Eternus who spies on the Darkfallen for Scathach), C.C. (a mysterious AI that is occasionally seen in Brain Burst), Jeremiah (a demon loyal to Lelouch and the Umbris royal family), Cornelia (Lelouch's only surviving family member from the War of Light and Shadow; she is the viceroy of Western Eternus)

Fate Stay Night- Scathach (a human cursed with immortality and servant of Sinestra; she is an old friend to Rias Morningstar), Merlin (a twili wizard with the gift of foresight; knows more than he lets on), Medusa (a goddess persecuted as a monster, servant of Sinestra), Artoria (a reborn human king from the Era of Chaos and fights to protect Arun, the realm of fairies), Lancelot, Gawain, and Mordred (all three serve as Artoria's knights)

Legend of Heroes- Elie MacDowell (her last name will be Mograine though; a teenage twili who had lost her parents at a young age before being adopted by Darion), Crimson Roselia (Roselia le Fay in this story; a twili sorceress who acts as the steward of Delsgade, Zane's fortress during the Era of Chaos), Rufis Alberea (right hand of the viceroy of South Eternus but is secretly a spy for Merlin)

Warcraft- Darion Mograine (Viceroy of North Eternus and Highlord of the Ebon Knights; a staunch supporter of the missing Umbris family)

Next I will reveal the original characters that will appear in this remake and their brief backstories (more may be added later down the line):

Marth Umbris- The reborn demon son of Altena Umbris and once known as Frank Storm-Furuta. He had disappeared during the aftermath of the Demon War after learning about Yuuki and Celina's deaths before suddenly being found as a small child by Rias twenty years later, but with no memories of his past (the scars of which still remain). He is seen as a freak among his peers, making him distant towards strangers. He is extremely protective of his sister.

Kisara Umbris- Formally known as Meg Storm-Furuta and is the reborn demon daughter of Altena Umbris. She and the rest of the Alfheim Warriors went missing shortly after her elder brother vanished without a trace, their memories missing as well. She cares deeply for Marth, her only remaining blood relative, to the point that she will fight anyone that dares take him from her.

Nakamura Hajime- an OC created by me and ScytheMasterX. Known as the level 8 Burst Linker, Dark Cerberus, he is a former member of the Red Legion, Prominence. He is friends with Sky Raker but he has a vendetta against Kuroba for beheading his best friend, Red Rider, an act that forever banished the Red King from the Accelerated World.

Rias Morningstar- Altena's childhood friend and adopted mother of Marth and Kisara. A master sorceress and is one of the six demon lords of Sinestra. Known as the Crimson Sorceress and Demon Lord of Lust. Inspired by Rias Gremory from Highschool DxD.

Altina Umbris- a homunculus girl created from the combined blood of Altena, Marth and Kisara.

Anthiese Arnor- The Queen of the Faires and ruler of Arun. Mother of Kuroba Yukiko by spirit and birthmother of Erynis Arnor. Despises demons.

Lucius Shinra- One of the six demon lords of Sinestra, with him representing sloth. Has a noble heart, but his duty as a knight led him to siding with the False Demon King and Zeta, the God of Destruction, becoming a member of the Darkfallen.

Morgan le Fay- formally known as Morgana Berlitz. A twili sorceress and the Demon Lord of Envy. Holds a grudge towards her surrogate sister, Artoria, and fought for Zeta during the War of Light and Shadow. She does not share the ideals of the Darkfallen and wishes to find someone worthy of her loyalty.

Arcanos Calibrond- the Demon Lord of Gluttony and right-hand to the False Demon King. Tends to act calm and level-headed but is bit of a sadist.

Zarc Satinial- the Demon Lord of Greed and right hand of Zeta. He betrayed Eternus by killing its king (Altena's father) and siding with the dark god. Known as the False Demon King (or simply False King), he has been missing since the Demon War. His followers plot for his return in the shadows.

Lianna Pendragon- aunt of Artoria and skilled with a spear. A human servant to Anthiese and Celestia, with her being granted immortality to serve as an eternal protector of Arun.

Altena Umbris- The Demon Lord of Pride and the original mother of Marth and Kisara. The strongest demoness to ever live but was tragically slain by Zarc near the end of the War of Light and Shadow.

Sinestra- The Goddess of Darkness and progenitor of the demon race. Has been missing since the end of the War of Light and Shadow.

Celestia- The Goddess of Light and progenitor of the fairies. Twin sister of Sinestra, who she constantly argued with (a trait shared with their children). Has been missing since the end of the War of Light and Shadow.

Now I will reveal the different worlds/realms that this story will take place in:

Earth- the human realm and where Marth and his friends live in. Magic used to exist there but after the War of Light and Shadow, magic pretty much became non-existent. Technology is the primary focus of this realm.

Eternus- the realm of demons and dark beasts. Was once part of Earth but was separated into its own dimension after Zeta's defeat during the War of Light and Shadow. A harsh land but its inhabitants have created incredible technology with their magic.

Arun- the realm of the fairies. Once a part of Earth as well, now it is a different dimension. Technology does exist, but not to the extent of Earth and Eternus. The fairies prefer living in their traditional cities without the luxury of machines.

Okay that was longer than I anticipated, but I felt that I should be upfront on which characters will be staying in this version and get the setting largely out of the way. Obviously Kirito and the others will be here as well. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 1- The Beginning

A horrifying sight. Monsters, real monsters, were storming through Tokyo, destroying everything in their path. Thousands of humans, all dressed in otherworldly attire, struggled fiercely to keep the creatures at bay, but they were vastly outnumbered. Regular citizens screamed in terror as the chaos of battle spread devastation throughout the great city, each of them desperate to find shelter.

Buildings were smashed through, trees and streetlights were uprooted, debris littering across the streets. High in the sky, below the gray storm clouds, was a large floating black fortress, its name unknown, but a dark power was radiating from within its walls.

The whole sky seemed to be alive as fierce winds blew in every direction and purple lightning dancing through the air. With every bolt, a powerful boom of thunder soon followed, terrifying anyone who heard it from the ground. This was no natural storm.

Clashing above the city were two humanoid mechs, the storm not deterring them in the slightest, unlike the aerial monsters who struggled not to crash into any buildings from the strong gale. The first was a silver and black mech with twin swords of the same color and cannon-like appendages attached to its hips. On its chest was a silver crystal shaped like a cross. The second mech looked almost identical, but it was black with bloodred accents. It wielded a wicked black greatsword. The crystal on its chest was bloodred.

The first mech moved rather erratically, as if its pilot wasn't in their right state of mind. Its crystal was glowing with silver light, but a black miasma surrounded the main body. It was a rather unnerving sight. It was as though something was trying to suppress some kind of darkness, but it wasn't strong enough to do it.

Both mechs looked pretty damaged, but the silver one seemed the worst off. Multiple deep gashes decorated its plating. Electrical sparks shot from the open wounds. It was honestly a miracle that it was still capable of flight.

The pilot of the second mech chuckled sinisterly at the sight. "C'mon, Marth!" he said brazenly. "You'll have to do better than that. Didn't you say you'd make me pay for my sins?!"

The first pilot was in fact the Dark Swordsman and co-leader of the Alfheim Warriors himself, Marth. However, something was off about the top player. His eyes were a bloodred and the same black miasma had overtaken his own body. His eyes were full of hatred and malice, an unbridled fury that held no equal. On his chest was the same silver crystal, its bright light being overtaken by the darkness.

"You…will regret…saying that," the Spriggan said slowly, his voice full of venom but it seemed difficult for him to even speak. "You will… pay for your…atrocities! Zarc!"

The False Demon King sneered from within his mech, which had been created by duplicating Marth's through the power of the Shadow Crystal within his flying fortress, Orline. The half-demon had been completely overtaken by his own power, just like Zarc had planned. Marth may seem to be at his most powerful, but this was when he was most vulnerable.

The time has come for Zarc to slay his nemesis, the boy who had been a thorn in his and his master's side, once and for all. He was laughing in anticipation of his victory. The two Siren mechs charged at each other one final time. They exchanged a flurry of blows, neither able to land a solid hit on the other. In the end, however, Zarc was able to disarm the Silver Siren and severing its particle cannon, leaving it seemingly defenseless. He pulled his sword back and lunged towards the silver crystal, the cockpit of the mech.

His blow struck true and easily pierced through the Artifice's heart. The Silver Siren let out a weak groan as its blue eyes and thrusters flickered, its strength fading rapidly. He had done it. He had succeeded in killing the Dark Swordsman. His revenge was complete.

However, the miasma around the silver Artifice did not disappear. If anything, it was growing stronger, more intense! But how can that be? Its master was dead. He should be dead!

Suddenly the Silver Siren's core crystal lit up with a bright light. The entire nation seemed to shake as a bloodcurdling roar bellowed from Marth, who was somehow still alive. The scream even sent a chill down the demon lord's spine. Countless bolts of purple lightning and silver energy blasts shot in every possible direction, hitting monsters, various parts of Tokyo and even the floating fortress Orline. Of course, the one object that got hit the most was Zarc's Siren.

Each attack forced him away from his opponent, the duplicate mech's armor unable to withstand the constant barrage and was beginning to fall apart. Soon the black Siren was no longer able to stay airborne as its body was too badly damaged. It then began a freefall towards the ocean, with Zarc screaming the Dark Swordsman's name in a rage.

"Maaaaarth!"

September 26, 2056

Kuroba Yukiko shot awake instantly. Sweat caked her forehead and her breathing was uneasy. She quickly examined her surroundings and saw that she was in her homeroom class at Umesato High School in Tokyo. There was no destruction or terrible storms anywhere. In fact, the sky from outside the classroom windows was quite peaceful, with puffy white clouds drifting from high above.

Thankfully no one seems to have noticed her sudden movement, which was quite the relief. It wouldn't do good if the student vice president and idol of Umesato, "Kuroyukihime", was caught napping in class. She didn't even know how she had dozed off in the first place. It's not like she was up late last night or something.

But still, the dream she just had shook her to her core. It felt real, every scream, every little detail, everything, like it was a memory. But Kuroba has never seen anything like that before in her lifetime. If anything, it reminded her of stories she had read about the Demon War, a terrible event that nearly destroyed Tokyo thirty years ago. There were people that dismissed it as a modern myth, refusing to believe that monsters actually exist. Kuroba was not one of them. She believed that the terrible war actually happened, in fact she admired two of the people who fought in that war. Two swordsmen dressed in black, the ones who managed to clear the death game known as Sword Art Online and saved over six thousand players that were trapped there. They were Kirito, the Black Swordsman, and Marth, the Dark Swordsman. Together they were known as the Darkness Duo and co-leaders of the Alfheim Warriors.

Weirdly enough, all records of the Alfheim Warriors stopped after the Demon War. Some speculate that they might have lost their lives in the conflict, but none of their bodies were ever recovered. It was as if they had simply vanished off of the face of the Earth.

The teacher's lecture on calculus was incredibly boring. Maybe that was why Kuroba fell asleep. She really should be paying attention since there was a test coming up in a week or so, but she didn't have the energy to do it. She opened a menu in the holo-display of her Neurolinker and set it to record. She'll just make her notes off of the recording when she gets back to her apartment.

With that inconvenience out of the way, the school idol let her eyes wander around the classroom, the teacher too oblivious to notice. Curiously, her gaze fell upon a certain young man who looked just as bored as she did. He had shoulder-length black hair that fell straight and looked around her age, which was eighteen years old. Instead of the traditional blue Umesato uniform, his outfit was entirely black, just like hers. Resting on the back of his neck was an ash-gray Neurolinker. He seemed like an average guy, except for one thing. He had bloodred eyes and his skin was a little paler than it should be.

His name was Marth Umbris, a fellow third year. He made pretty good grades yet something about him made people wary about him. It wasn't just his bloodred eyes, but his very presence was off-putting, as if it wasn't human. Many of the students even view him as a freak and constantly looked down on him. Barely anyone on campus treated him normally, meaning he only had a handful of friends.

For some reason, every time Kuroba saw him, she felt her heart skip a beat. She only shared a handful of classes with the teen and rarely spoke to him, but deep within her very soul, she felt like she knew him. Was it because he reminded her of the missing Dark Swordsman, or was it something else?

She noticed Marth's eyebrow raise up for a brief second. Did he notice that he was being stared at by her? Strangely, he didn't turn to the student VP, instead he glanced over his shoulder and glared at three arrogant teens close to the back of the classroom. It was obvious that the "freak" was not on good terms with the trio.

She decided right then and there. Marth Umbris would make an excellent protégé.

It was lunchtime. However, rather than be in the cafeteria, or hang with people that actually gave a damn about him in this school, Marth had stormed onto the school rooftop carrying a paper bag with one hand. Araya, the school bully and the person he despised the most on campus, had "requested" (more like demanded) Marth get him two yakisoba buns, a cream melon bun, and three strawberry yogurts and deliver them to the roof five minutes after lunch started.

Contrary to what Araya and his goons thought, Marth wasn't intimidated by them, not even a little bit. Instead he just saw them as a pain in the ass. Araya has been harassing him and his sister, Kisara, since middle school, with Marth taking the brunt of the abuse. It was because of the bully that the siblings got completely blacklisted from clubs as he kept calling them freaks and leaked that they had unnatural strength and speed.

Honestly, he was getting tired of dealing with Araya. He didn't know why he even bothered doing any of his "requests". Today will be the day he cut ties with the bully and move on with his life. He had better things to do than be someone's delivery boy.

As expected, Araya and his goons were waiting for him on the rooftop, with their arrogant grins plastered on their faces. They chose this place specifically because there weren't any security cameras located here, meaning they were free to harass Marth as much as they wanted here. Of course, he could just record the abuse and deliver it to the principal, but he didn't feel like they were worth the effort.

"Well?" Araya said in expectation.

"Here," Marth said dismissively as he casually tossed the bag over to the bully, who barely managed to catch it before it hit the floor. The raven-haired teen then rested his right hand on his hip. "Just so you know, you can buy these for yourself. I'm not your personal vending machine."

Araya sent a death glare towards him as an intimidation tactic, but it had zero effect on him. Marth had seen way scarier things than the redhead, like his adopted mother and his mentor. Compared to them, a regular school bully was nothing. "Watch your mouth, punk!" he said menacingly. "Or do you want a knuckle sandwich?"

One of the goons opened the paper bag and removed one of the items, which was a blueberry yogurt. They naturally voiced their complaints, which Marth responded by saying that the cafeteria had out of strawberry yogurt (when they actually hadn't, he just got the wrong yogurt to spite the bullies).

"One other thing," Marth added, his eyes narrowing at the trio, "this is the last time I'm getting your lunch. Next time buy it yourself! I'm done with you." He turned his back towards the bullies and began to make his exit.

Of course Araya wasn't going to let his meal ticket go away. He rushed over and forced Marth into a stop by grabbing his shoulder with his right hand. "Hold it, you little freak," he said coldly. "Do you really think you can walk away from me just like that? You better apologize or I might have to pay a visit with your sister. I bet she and I will have a lot of fun together."

In his own arrogance, Araya didn't notice that he had made a terrible mistake by threatening Kisara, something his goons noticed instantly. Unfortunately for them, it was too late. Something snapped in Marth's head as he suddenly grabbed Araya's right hand, forcing the bully on his knees, and kept his arm in a painful lock.

Marth's eyes were cold and fierce, not a trace of mercy could be found. His voice was just as terrifying. "Care to repeat that last comment? I didn't quite catch it."

"I-I-it was just a joke, man," Araya said in a blind panic as his arm flared in pain. "A j-joke between friends, is all."

"We are not friends," Marth interrupted, causing the bully to yelp. "Try that stunt again and you're history. I won't allow any harm to befall Kisara. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal. Now please let me go. My arm's killing me!"

He had half a mind to leave a more lasting injury on the terrified redhead, like dislocate his arm, but that would go against what his mother taught him. A true demon should be feared but they should also be respected, especially one of the Umbris family. If he attacked Araya, he'd be no better than the bully, not to mention the repercussions he would get from such an act.

The demon let out a heavy breath to calm himself before releasing his hold on his fellow student and backed away. Araya examined his right arm in worry, hoping that it was alright. Marth didn't say anything, nor give the bullies the chance to speak up, and left the school roof. He knew that Araya will want some payback for this, the dude never seemed to learn his lesson, but he'll deal with that another time.

He then ducked into a nearby bathroom, which was thankfully empty, and punched the wall to let out some of his frustration. The act, however, did leave a small dent in the tile. The school will probably send his mother a complaint about it, again.

Thankfully his adopted mother, Rias Morningstar, was very understanding. She was a demon, like him and Kisara, and a demon lord at that. Eight years ago, Rias found the Umbris siblings in a city park in Tokyo as children, completely unconscious. Neither of them knew how they got there, and they had no memories of their earlier years. Using her magic, Rias was able to bypass certain legal issues to adopt Marth and Kisara and raised them here in Tokyo.

Starting out, she kept her identity as a demon a secret because their mental states were fragile, but after two years of living with her, she revealed the truth about her. Naturally, the siblings were fearful of their new mother being a demon, but Rias swore that she wasn't a bad person and that she really loved them like her own children. She even revealed that they themselves were demons, which was a shock to them and their friends, but promised to give the full story to them all once they were old enough.

Marth opened up his right palm and focused his mana into it, just like Rias had taught him. Suddenly a silver cross-shaped crystal surrounded by a black barrier emerged from his palm. Its color was a little dull and there were several hairline cracks running diagonal through the intersection. This crystal was once attached to his chest, but Rias used her magic to remove it as Marth was in constant pain and had trouble breathing. The crystal seemed to be the source of the issues, so the demon lord had no choice but to remove it through a rather painful procedure. She then contained it within a small barrier and gave it to Marth as a memento, which he stores in his right hand (with the barrier keeping the core crystal from affecting his body).

Deciding he wanted to blow some steam before joining his friends for lunch, he went into one of the stalls and sat on the toilet lid. He closed his eyes and muttered his custom Full-Dive code," Link start."

The Neurolinker responded to his voice command by sending his consciousness into Umesato High's virtual world, which was a fairy-tale forest. Giant mushrooms grew everywhere, with a crystalline spring located in the middle of a patch of grass. On the outer edges, enormous hollow trees formed a circle and towered over the area. The inside of the trees was divided into layers to be places for people to chat and play, with each floor connected by stairs.

There multiple students logged into the server, all with varying appearances. About half of them were just bipedal animals, while some were tin robots or robed mages. There were even some avatars that resembled fairies with wings sprouting from their backs (which obviously don't work; although thinking of fairies did make Marth's head hurt on occasion, probably one of his missing memories trying to return but never making the mark).

As for Marth himself, well his avatar was just a human. It had the same hair and eye color as his real-life appearance, but it was the outfit that differed. He wore long gray overcoat with black accents and popped collar, a gray undershirt and gray gloves, long black pants, and gray boots. He had modelled his appearance over the outfit his mother and mentor had made for him to use in training but made some differences to give it some individuality. He had even managed to make copies of his swords, Lunara and Solaris for his avatar as well and had them strapped to his back (neither of which could actually harm anyone, especially since HP wasn't a thing in this world save for a few games).

Speaking of which, that game might be a good way to blow off some steam. He began to sprint down the studded path towards the coliseum, the location of said minigame, before coming to halt when he noticed a large group of people gathered in the forest's heart. Someone had probably just created a new unique avatar and was showing it off to people. While Marth didn't really care for such a thing (he preferred to not stand out any more than he already does), he was a little curious, so he slowly made his way to the crowd, but kept a good amount of distance.

Sure enough, it was indeed a student showing off a brand-new avatar, and surprisingly managed to leave the demon breathless. She wore a jet-black dress studded with transparent jewels, the gown exposing her shoulders and back (also complimenting her rather modest chest), long black gloves that went up to her upper arms, and black heeled shoes with black butterfly buckles. In her hand was a folded black parasol while shooting from her back were the pink and black wings of a spangled butterfly. Her skin was a snow white, her long straight hair a luscious black. As for her eyes, they were a golden brown.

Marth knew who the student was instantly. Kuroyukihime, a third-year student and the student vice president. Because of her beauty and seeming grace, she was considered the idol of Umesato High School. Kuroyukihime wasn't her real name, it was just a nickname. In fact, she never really revealed what her real name was. She had transferred to his school sometime during his first year because of unknown circumstances. She had an unusual presence to her. It was more graceful than his own, but still no less fierce. She was certainly a mysterious girl, though he himself isn't so different.

For a brief moment, the two students locked eyes. Neither of them said anything but it felt like they were trying to analyze each other. Eventually Marth broke the stare-off by turning away and continued his way towards the coliseum. Unbeknownst to him, Kuroyukihime formed a faint smile as she watched him depart.

He reached medium-sized stone arena with no issue and un-surprisingly, found it empty. Most of the students preferred more non-violent minigames in this virtual world, or to simply chat with their friends. Only Marth and his friends actually came to this minigame, enough that its practically their virtual base. This particular game was a boss rush, with it pulling various monsters from different games with increased difficulty, the goal being to reach as high as you can.

Marth currently held the high score of reaching level 70, tying with his best friend Kazuto. But today he'll be breaking a new record. He opened up the game menu with a hand gestures and selected an input to start the game. A timer then appeared and started counting down from ten as he drew his twin swords while the coliseum lit up.

Here in the virtual world, anyone can be strong. While it didn't mean much to Marth as he was actually a demon, meaning he had access to different real-life abilities that human couldn't do, he still liked the thought. While strength in the virtual world was just a bunch of numbers, if anyone worked hard, they could do whatever they wanted regardless of their circumstances.

The timer reached zero, prompting three blue lizardmen wielding curved swords and wooden bucklers spawned in. The monsters let out a snake-like hiss, their tongues flicking in the air, before they all rushed at the dual-wielder. Marth simply smirked in anticipation as he let his instincts take over. He won't have to get serious until reaches level 55. When it came to fighting, things just came natural for him, as though it was ingrained into his muscle memory. Training with his mentor also helped as Scathach tended to rarely show mercy. Even to this day he still hasn't beaten her in a fight.

After around ten minutes, he reached level 73, which was a fight against a gray stone golem that stood at fifteen feet. The boss tried to crush the demon swordsman with its right arm, but Marth sidestepped out of the way. The black blade of Lunara then glowed bloodred as he activated with One Hit Sword Skill, Vorpal Strike. The sword skill propelled his body forward with inhuman speed stabbed the golem in the chest, reducing a good amount of its HP.

The boss stumbled for a moment before quickly recovering and slamming the dual-wielder with its other arm, sending him flying into the stadium wall. Marth felt a brief flare of phantom pain from the collision but was otherwise alright. Unlike the real world, pain wasn't a thing in the virtual world. His HP had dwindled a lot during the course of his run and was already close to the red zone. He couldn't make any more mistakes.

Knowing what he had to do, he rushed at the golem with an incredible burst of speed. The boss tried to stop his advance by attempting to crush him with its arm, which the demon easily evaded with a dodge. As soon as he was within striking distance, he activated the four-hit sword skill, Horizontal Square with Lunara, striking the golem's waist with four horizontal slashes which created the afterimage of a square from the light effects.

The boss let out a painful groan as its HP took a hit, but Marth wasn't finished with his assault. Using incredible willpower, Marth managed to get Solaris into the preset position to activate the four-hit Vertical Square, the counterpart skill to Horizontal Square. This act nullified the post-motion delay that would normally occur after concluding a Sword Skill and allowed one to attack consecutively. This exploit is what Marth and Kirito dubbed as "Skill Connect" (if only it actually helped either of them against Scathach). This exploit wasn't easy to pull off as the post-motion delay kicked in mere seconds after the Sword Skill ends and it took a lot of willpower to move the adjacent sword into the correct position to activate a new Sword Skill. The maximum amount of skills both dual wielders were able to chain before being forced into the motion delay was around four or five times.

Marth successfully landed all four hits of Vertical Square onto his opponent, creating the brief afterimage of a square from the light effects. Finally, he finished it off with the three-hit Sharp Nail using Lunara. He began with an upward right to left diagonal slash against the monster's chest, followed by a left to right horizontal slash across its waist before concluding the combo with a downward right to left diagonal slash on its chest.

The boss let out one final groan before shattering into blue polygons. Marth let out an exhausted sigh as the prompt to continue to level 74. He took a quick glance at his HP and seeing how low it was and his mental exhaustion, he decided to end it right there. The lights in the coliseum then cut off and Marth returned his swords to their scabbards that were strapped to his back.

He looked over at the leaderboard and smiled with pride over his new high score. If only the others were here to see this.

Suddenly the sounds of applause interrupted his reverie. He quickly turned around and cracked a small smile from the sight. Standing a few feet behind him was a girl with long pale white hair that fell straight and eyes as red as blood. She wore a green and white overcoat with a studded collar, a pale green tunic, light brown pants, white fingerless gloves, and brown boots. Strapped to her waist was a green rapier. She looked around seventeen years old.

"I thought I'd find you here," the white-haired girl said with warm smile. "Congrats on reaching level 73, Brother."

"Thanks, Kisara," Marth replied in a casual tone as he made his way over to his sister. "So what brings you here?"

"Uh, did you forget that we were supposed to have lunch with everyone? We've only got about ten minutes of lunchtime left."

The male demon slapped his forehead hard with an open palm. In his rush to blow off his frustration with Araya, he had forgotten that he still hadn't eaten lunch yet.

"I'm really sorry, Kisara," Marth said sincerely, his eyes full of regret. "It completely slipped my mind."

Thankfully, his sister gave him a sympathetic look. She easily knew what could have caused such a slip up. "I think you should stop giving Araya and his goons any form of attention. That's one of the best ways to stop a bully."

"True, but I worry what could happen to you. It's bad enough that I'm pretty much an outcast at this school, but you get picked on too. I couldn't forgive myself if something bad happened to you."

"Oh, please," Kisara said with a light giggle. "Like anyone would have the guts to harm me with you around. It's because of you most guys keep their distance from me. You can be a little overprotective sometimes, even though I can handle myself."

Marth simply shrugged at that. "I can't really help it," he said matter-of-factly. "You're my only blood relative. Is it wrong that I want to protect you from getting hurt?"

"No, but it does tend to lead to some rather…unpleasant rumors. There are some students that are saying we're in a relationship."

Thank God that this was the virtual world, otherwise Marth probably would have barfed at hearing that. While there was no denying that his sister was beautiful, he didn't feel that way towards her. He would rather see her end up with someone that can look past her heritage and see her as the girl she really is. It's just that most of the guys who try to ask her out are only doing it for her looks rather than herself.

"Dear Sinestra, I feel like I need some mouthwash," he said slowly. "Anyway, I'll head over to the meeting place now. Make sure Kazuto doesn't eat all my food, okay?"

"Alright, but you better hurry," his sister said teasingly.

The two siblings shared cheerful laugh before both logging out. Marth then found himself back at the restroom. He had about eight minutes before the lunch period ends so he needed to hurry. He rushed out the door and made his way to the school courtyard. There he soon found Kisara (who looked exactly same in the real world but wearing a blue school uniform instead and had an emerald green Neurolinker), Shino, Asuna and Kazuto sitting around a picnic table under the shade of an oak tree.

Shino Asada had thin dark hair tied in small ribbons by the sides of her face, with the back cut short, and black eyes. Aside from the blue Umesato uniform, she also wore a pair of half-rimmed glasses with oval-shaped lenses (which were non-prescription as she actually has better than average eyesight; although even she didn't know why she preferred wearing fake glasses), and a blue Neurolinker. She was around seventeen years old and Kisara's best friend. Her nickname was Sinon.

As for Asuna Yuuki, she had long chestnut-brown hair, brown eyes and wore the girl's blue school uniform, a white Neurolinker around her neck, and had a small picnic basket with her. Kazuto Kirigaya (nicknamed Kirito), on the other hand, had black hair and eyes, was around eighteen, and was wearing the same uniform as Frank and a black Neurolinker. Asuna was around nineteen years old but somehow fell behind one year, so she was in the same year as Marth and Kazuto (although the former suspects that she did so deliberately to spend more time with the latter boy, who has been her boyfriend for two years). As for Kazuto, he was eighteen, the same age as Marth.

All three of them knew that the Umbris siblings were demons, as well as their adoptive mother, and while they were initially shocked by the revelation, still cared about the siblings. They were the only ones at Umesato High School to not look down on the young demons. It was something that they both appreciated. The three humans even receive training from Scathach as well, who also serves as Kazuto's caregiver (although her cooking skills are just as atrocious as Marth's, causing Asuna to frequently visit the apartment to make sure her boyfriend doesn't get food poisoning or something).

"Hey, guys!" Marth called out with a light smile as he hurried over to the group.

"About time you showed up," Kazuto said with a chuckle as his best friend took a seat next to him. "I was just about to eat your share of Asuna's prepared lunch."

"Be nice, Kirito," Asuna scolded, like a mother to her child. "Otherwise no more of my meals for you."

The black-haired teen practically shot backward in horror at that. "Please no!" he said in desperation. "I'll die if I have to eat my mom's cooking again. Please!"

Everyone else just laughed at his reaction, making him feel embarrassed. Of course, they themselves have had the displeasure of eating Scathach's cooking, an experience none of them wanted to go through again. It was a miracle that they had survived such an ordeal.

Anyway, Asuna reached into her picnic basket and pulled out a sandwich and a bag of corn chips for Marth, who gladly accepted them. She then poured him a glass of homemade lemonade. As expected, it was all delicious, with him practically wolfing it all down like there was no tomorrow. She really had a gift with cooking, though Rias and Kisara weren't too far behind. As for Kisara and the others, they had already eaten.

"Honestly, Marth," Shino said with the roll of her eyes. "You eat like a wild animal. Just because you can turn into a wolf doesn't mean you should eat like one."

He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, suddenly finding himself feeling a little embarrassed. "Sorry, sometimes I just can't help myself," he said slowly.

"Cut him some slack, Sinon," Kazuto added in a light-heartened tone. "Can you really blame him? Asuna's cooking is the best."

The chesnut-haired girl's cheeks suddenly went red in embarrassment as she suddenly turned her gaze towards some random trees, the opposite direction of her friends. "You're giving me a little too much credit," she said dismissively. "I kinda made these in a rush because I overslept. It's a miracle that I managed to get to school on time."

"Regardless, it's always a pleasure to eat your cooking, Asuna," Kisara reassured. "I think I'll even make everyone's lunches tomorrow."

"Just don't try to get Marth involved like last time," Shino replied. "I don't think my stomach managed to recover from eating whatever that was."

"Blame Kisara, not me," Marth deflected hastily. "She's the one who dragged me into the kitchen to help prepare the beef and rice. It's not my fault that all kitchens hate my guts."

Everyone else, including his sister, found themselves bursting into a fit of laughter. It was true that every kitchen seemed to have it out for the male demon as every time he tries to prepare a meal, something goes horribly wrong. Sometimes things catch on fire, sometimes things don't cook all the way, sometimes the food ends up horribly burned and inedible. Honestly if Rias wasn't a demon lord and master sorceress, the entire apartment building they lived in would likely have burned to the ground by now. The only thing Marth could make properly without any screwups was tea, and he was actually pretty good at it.

"Anyway," Kazuto suddenly spoke up in a more serious manner. He turned his eyes to the male demon. "Kisara told us that Araya was up to his usual antics. Did anything bad happen?"

Marth groaned in disgust. He had been so close to banishing that meeting from his memory. Now it was totally back and more annoying than ever. "Nothing too major," he said in dismissal. "Although he did make the mistake of threatening my sister. I made sure to put him in his place after that and I've got no intention of buying his lunches anymore."

"Honestly," Shino said slowly as she shook her head. "It's like you become a completely different person whenever Kisara's involved. You need to be more careful, Marth. You're already on a tight rope with how fearful the school is of you. Any more and you might get expelled."

"Eh, I wouldn't worry too much about that. If my secret gets revealed, my mom can always just erase their memories. Human minds are the easiest to manipulate, especially for someone of her caliber."

While what he said was cold, it was definitely true. As a skilled sorceress and the Demon Lord of Lust, Rias was incredibly gifted with mental manipulation. She can implant false memories, erase memories, to even direct mind control (although she uses that one the least because it made her feel dirty).

Whenever someone found out about the Umbris siblings being demons, Rias would erase the memory of it and make sure said person could not come across the duo again as a precaution. Both Marth and Kisara tended to be pretty careful so this didn't happen too often, although the elder sibling did have a few more close calls because of his rage fits whenever his sister got threatened.

"Anyway," Kazuto spoke up, wanting to change the topic. "Everyone still good on us all heading back to my place so we can get some more training in?"

"I'm down with that," Marth replied instantly.

"I've got some homework I need to do, but I should have enough time to squeeze in a little training," Asuna added.

"Shino and I are good too," Kisara concluded. "Heck we were even planning on doing a joint study at me and Marth's apartment this evening, so it all works out."

The adopted son of the Witch of Dun Scaith nodded in acknowledgement before the lunch bell rang, signaling that it was time to go back to class.

The rest of the school day went on without any issues. Marth's final class, which was history, had ended early so he decided to pass the remainder of class time by playing that boss rush game again. He wasn't intending on beating his new high score, he had too little time for that. But it would help to pass the time.

Unfortunately, as soon as he entered that virtual coliseum, he knew something was wrong. The leaderboard had changed. He no longer held the highest score. Somehow, someone else had managed to ascend past level 73 and went all the way up to level 80. But how was that possible? Even he and Kazuto could never go that far. Even they had their limits. For someone to have surpassed their rankings, well, it was unheard of.

"Were you the one who managed to beat level 73?"

It was a female voice, one that he had heard in rare instances. He turned around and realized that he wasn't alone. Standing in the bleachers was a female black-haired avatar with pink and black butterfly wings, who held a black umbrella in a resting position, almost like a sword embedded into the ground. It was none other than Kuroyukihime standing with her ethereal beauty, but how did she manage to evade his detection? Only Rias and Scathach were able to do that, even in the virtual world.

"Why are you here, Hime?" Marth said in suspicion. "Isn't this game a little too violent for someone like you?"

Surprising, the black-haired girl smiled. "You'd be surprised about my interests, Marth Umbris," she said calmly. "Anyway, don't you want to go further…to accelerate?"

That only made the demon even more wary of the school idol. He just couldn't get a good read on her. "What are you talking about?"

"If you want to know, then come to the lounge at lunch tomorrow. I'll be waiting." She then abruptly logged out without another word.

Marth felt confused, more than he did in his entire life. Why would someone like Kuroyukihime invite someone like him to lunch? He was generally considered to be a freak, someone to be shunned or feared, and yet she didn't seem to hold any hostility towards him.

What was her motive, her end goal? For some reason, Marth felt like he was getting dragged into something big. The question is, would he be able to handle it?

To be continued

Well this ended up way longer than anticipated, but that's largely because of the beginning author's note. The next chapters hopefully won't be as long since I'll be able to focus on just the story. Anyway, welcome to my revised Accel World: The Black Wolf now rechristened as The Ashen Wolf. The reason I'm rewriting Black Wolf is because I feel like I made the original story too much of a melting pot and that probably turned off a lot of my readers. With this story, I'm hoping to fix those issues and make more concise narrative. There will be no Yugioh monsters (I kinda starting regretting that the moment I added them) and not quite as many reference characters from other franchises (some of them are even just minor characters that mainly serve as worldbuilding for Eternus and Arun). While I still plan to include the same arcs as I did in Black Wolf, they will be handled somewhat differently to fit with the new context (like Marth no longer being a Blade Eater, another thing I regretted).

Anyway, let me know what you all think. If you want to see me continue with this version, let me know. If you preferred the original Black Wolf, also tell me, but I'll probably need to get enough public support to continue that story because of the reasons I mentioned previously (sorry in advance). I'll see you guys next time!

Edit (4/10/2021): Scrapped Ereshkigal. I'll just come up with more of my own gods.