A/N: Okay, so, first off, glitch on FFN. Dunno what happened, but i apologize.
Second, and most important, is why I haven't been uploading recently. I've been focusing on school and getting a grade back up. Finals are around the corner, so that's on my radar, and I haven't been working on this as much as I want to. So, with that being said, I'll try to get two chapters up for you next week, not counting this one. Maybe a third one, but it might be a filler.
Anyway, let's get back to the Chapter. You all have been waiting for this for a while now.
Momo had fought against National level threats. She was the host of a god. She survived the war against the Monarch's armies, which would even be considered Divine. She survived the mass extinction that Antares planned out. She had even died, and was only breathing because of Izuku. She watched him fade into nothing, his left over power being carried into the Gap. And yet, she was not prepared for Bellion nearly in tears when Momo had told him about the Quest.
Bellion was not one to lose composure so easily. Even though his body posture was the same as always, she could hear all of the emotions he had in his tone.
"M-My Liege lives?"
A simple question, yet holding a remarkable amount of power. If he lives, Shadows would be immortal. More forces could be added to the Shadow Army, and more Shadows would Rank-Up. The more Shadows to Rank-Up, the stronger the Army is.
"Yes. According to the System, he's alive… and apparently beyond that Gate."
Bellion looked apprehensively at the Gate, wondering who was powerful enough to revive someone long gone.
"Mania could not have done this. She used every last drop of power gained from My Liege, the Rulers' and the Monarchs' Essence. Maybe another Ten Primordial has awoken?"
Bellion cast that thought aside, and instead focused his attention to the swirling Gate.
"My Lady, my Liege is in there? Why is he in there, and how?"
Momo looked at Bellion, a pensive expression on her face. "The System either knows and won't tell me, or it doesn't know, and this Quest is to get him out of there. It is strange, though. Why would the System think that I am a person worthy of.. It?"
"I detest you saying self-deprecating things, My Lady. It does not suit someone of your caliber."
"Thanks, Bellion, but I lost the power of Correnic in that… war years ago."
Bellion kneeled, hand held over his chest. "That does not matter, madam. You are someone My Liege saw worthy of his love. Therefore, you are a high caliber woman, and we will treat you with the utmost importance."
Momo just chuckled, shaking her head slightly. "I hope that applies to the other people in his family."
"Of course, My Lady. You all are people the Liege loves and cares for. In the Shadows eyes, you all are royalty. Forgive me for saying this, but those are technicalities. I am not certain if you are descendants of royalty. Again, please forgive me."
"It's fine, Bellion." Momo smiled, looking back at the Gate, apprehensively. "I just hope he has some memories of us..."
"I am sure he does. But, let us not linger, My Lady. We are approaching the time to enter the Gate."
"You're right, we need to get ready. What's behind that Gate?"
"Only time will tell." Bellion turns to Momo. "Excuse me, My Lady. I must rally the forces."
"Alright. Inform me when you're done. I need to do something." Momo mumbled to herself, more as a question rather than a statement. Still, Bellion heard.
"As you wish, My Lady."
Bellion walks away, towards the three-million strong Shadow army positioned outside the entrance of the Gate, leaving Momo to her thoughts.
"What do I say once I see him? Would he remember me? Wait, didn't the System say that he lost his memories? Would something happen when he sees me? Does he-"
Nakir cut off Momo's train of thought. "My Lady, we are nearly done with preparations. Bellion is almost complete in, what the locals call, "pep-talk." Also, the Seraph Blacksmiths' have made some armour for you."
Three Seraphs shuffle forward, holding something wrapped in cloth.
Masamune steps forward, bowing with a hand over his chest. "My Lady, we have made the best armour we could have within the rushed job. If we had more time, we could have made it a higher class."
"No one could have seen this coming, there's no need to be apologetic."
"T-Thank you. My Lady! We hope you enjoy this armour!" Masamune steps to the side as the three Seraphs walk up, two holding out the wrapped item, and the other carefully unwrapping it.
The first thing that Momo noticed was the color. The scheme of it was almost exactly the same as her first costume design. The shape of the armour was corset-like in style, showing off the curves her body had. It also had a detachable cape, a deep purple in color, matching the shades of Masamune and Nakir's Shadow bodies. Two golden shin guards make themselves known with a golden glow. The boots, lined with a warm yet comfortable fur, follow, glowing a similar shade of gold. Soon, the entire suit of armour was encased in a warm, soft light.
Donning them, she was greeted by the System, displaying the armour's Stats and abilities.
[Item: Love Goddess' Helm]
Item Class: SS
Item Type: Armour
+100 Intelligence
+100 Sense
[Item: Love Goddess' Chestplate]
Item Class: SS
Item Type: Armour
+100 Strength
+100 Vitality
[Item: Love Goddess' Dress]
Item Class: SS
Item Type: Armour
+100 Strength
+100 Agility
+50 Sense
[Item: Love Goddess' Charm]
Item Class: SS
Item Type: Accessory
+50 Sense
+50 Intelligence
[Item: Love Goddess' Ring]
Item Class: SS
Item Type: Accessory
+50 Vitality
+50 Intelligence
[Set Bonuses have been unlocked!]
Set Bonus 1: Skill: Enchant: All Beings affected by this Skill will do what you tell them to do, no matter the consequence. The effect lasts for 10 minutes. Costs 2500 Mana. 5 Mana can be used to increase time by 1 minute.
Set Bonus 2: Skill: Charm of Love: All Beings within a 10 meter will stop fighting, friend and foe. Effect lasts 2 minutes. Costs 50000 Mana. Cooldown 2 hours.
Set Bonus 3: Passive: Mana Increase: The Users Mana limit increases by 50% whenever the full Set of Armour is donned.
Another Seraph scurried into Momo's view, holding, what looked like, a short, back-handed nightstick.
Unwrapping the weapon, she realised that there were two arm blades, both having straps to hold itself to Momo's arm.
[Item: Angelic Arm Blades]
Item Class: SS
Item Type: Weapon
+150 Attack
Ability: Clean Cut: Any attack has the potential to slice through any living material, depending on User's strength and Level.
With each line Momo read, her mouth dropped further, eyebrows rising higher. "H-How did you… make all this? In such a short time?"
"We have put every drop of Mana we could in this short time! Alas, we have used large amounts of Mana! We hope you enjoy this Armour, and come to us whenever you need a new set!"
"I will, thank you Masamune. I most certainly will."
"Thank you, madam!" The three Seraphs and the Celestial gave a low bow, then scurried away, most likely to repair and craft new weapons and armour for Shadows without the proper armament or protection.
"Now, Nakir, let us enter the Gate."
In the Gap Between Dimensions:
"That is the plan the System gave you? And you trust it fully?"
Mania scratches her chin, mulling over the plan Izuku had just explained.
"I trust it, yes. Fully, also yes. As to why I trust it… I don't know. It is… a gut feeling, for lack of a better term. My best assumption is that my mind has a memory of it that has me trusting it." Izuku scrolled through the System, looking at all the Items, Armour, and Skills he has, mindlessly answering Mania's question while muttering to himself.
"Did I obtain all these Items from Quests or the Shop? May be I got them from Chaos World Inhabitants? Why did the System keep the Skill active? Was it to keep me alive? To fight another being?"
"Young Primordial, calm yourself. You have been muttering for… who knows how long."
Izuku immediately stops, mentally berating himself for muttering. "Sorry, I just… do that when I think… I think? That is really frustrating. I subconsciously remember something, then I immediately forget." He groans, becoming somewhat angry.
"The time will come, young one, when you remember everything. When it may be, we do not know. For now, let us follow this plan."
"Fine. I… yeah, okay." He sighs, shaking his head. "Let's go. Through the Gate. I wonder if I'll get new Shadows."
United Nations Conference Hall:
"Why are we sending all the Shadows to the Gate? Isn't it only B-Rank?"
"China, the Gate was measured as S-Rank before a spike in energy was detected. Now, it is a National-Rank."
Shock spread throughout the hall within seconds, as there have been only two before: Kamish and Jeju Island. The Monarch's invasion was considered Divine-Rank, the only event in history where the threat of gods came to destroy Earth.
North Korea's question light came on. "How are you handling the situation now?"
"We already have evacuated Tokyo and half of the neighboring cities. We need all the Shadows there to deal with the problem. We… we don't need another disaster like the Monarch invasion."
The hall was immediately filled with murmurs of agreement and sighs of sadness. No one in their right mind could forget that hell. And the sacrifice of the world's strongest Hero.
He beat the National-Rank Hero Thomas Andre without breaking a sweat. He killed multiple gods, and fended off billions of enemy invaders. He even survived a punch from Beru before he became a Shadow.
Germany's light lit up. "If anything goes wrong, what are you going to do?"
Another person walked into the camera's view. "We were just about to get to that. We request all of your help, in case this raid goes south."
This time, South Korea's light went on. "And what would that help be?"
The woman's ears stood straight up. "Any S-Rank Hero willing to charge into a death-trap. I'm going."
Russia questioned, still unsure about sending people. "Miruko, why are you going? You said it yourself, it's a death trap."
"I… have a reason. Not one I'm willing to share, but it's there." Her ears flopped forward after saying that, looking away. No one dared to push her. They all saw what happened when she snaps.
America injected a statement, thoughtfully rubbing his chin. "Well, we haven't had something like this for… years, no? People have been sending me emails all week asking if they could join."
"America, all of us have been getting those emails. If we accept, I already have a few people chosen to be backup." China interrupted. "If we cannot reach an agreement, we might end up in another war with gods again. And this time, we won't have the power of the Rulers and Ashborn to help us."
Argument broke out between all the world powers, debating on how to manage the Gate.
"For once, I agree with China." Complete silence ensued, with every person in the room staring at North Korea.
"I say this because we do not have the power to deflect god-like beings once more. Once upon a time, we did, but not any more."
"So, with that being said," Miruko smirked, "Who wants in?" Hundreds of signal lights go on, illuminating the room.
Black Eye Galaxy:
"Are the preparations complete?"
A few Angels scurry forward, heads all bowed in fear and respect.
"Almost, sir. We need a longer-"
"No. I need it now. How much longer?"
All the angels wouldn't speak, except for one.
"O-one more week, My Lord-"
The Absolute Being sighed. He knew how long it would take, which was much shorter than this. Of course, this was with his power, not his subordinates.
"Make it a day. I might forgive this… foolishness."
"Y-Yes, sire." The angels practically ran, scared for their lives. They had one day to complete the project, which had the power to destroy entire planets in the push of a button.
The Being did not miss this part of being alive. Being dead, he didn't have to tell his subordinates what to do, or be bored. He didn't have to be in the endless cycle of telling his followers what to do, waiting for them to be finished, them asking for more time, and waiting once more. It was boring. Waiting is boring.
"Ashborn… where are you now?"