Creation began on 04-25-21
Creation ended on 05-24-21
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Grimoire of Evangelion: A Raging Firestorm
The night was a spectacular environment to perform actions that would change many things. Some believed that the darkness of the night could cover up a multitude of dark actions committed. Others believed that the night was magical and could unlock the potential for many things unknown to the most curious of minds. But not Yui Ikari, for she was out to do something completely different from what was expected of the Magic Knights. In the night, in the darkness, standing in front of a small settlement of sleepy residents of this foreign country, she was about to do something that would change many things for everyone.
"So, a darkness unknown to people sleeps in this country?" She asked Harbinger, who stood behind her.
"Demonic darkness," he told her. "Apparently, a few years ago, the royal family of this once-great nation was removed from power by a trio of mages that sought the dark powers that be out of the belief that humans are inherently evil. But if only they knew…the powers that belong to the darkness can only get you so far against other forces from which there is no defense against. All I need is your permission to act…and this place will be cleansed of its dread, people and all. Do I have your permission, Ms. Ikari?"
Harbinger could do what was necessary, and within the span of this night, but he couldn't unless granted the right to do so by the person he had entered into a pact with. This limited his actions; so long as he needed someone to enter into a pact with, his true strength was limited, and as long as he was unable to as he pleased without his master's authority, he was incapable of carrying out their will, as well. But Yui wasn't a stickler for any rules set out for her; ever since she could remember, there was no sense for her to follow any other authority unless she chose to for a certain amount of time, and this included her parents' authority. To do as she desired, she needed to make choices that went against other people's beliefs and practices…for the greater good.
Everything happens as it must, she thought as she opened her grimoire. "You have my permission, Harbinger. Gather them up…and leave no trace."
"With pleasure," he told her, and leapt into the air. "It is time to cleanse this land!"
-x-
Burning… The smell was foul. Something was wrong, but he didn't know what it was.
"…What?" He uttered, awakening from his slumber. "What is it?"
There was smoke around his room and a dim light outside his door. The woman that lay in his bed had her eyes opened…but her expression was locked in dread.
She's dead? The man realized, getting up and out of his room. "Aah!"
Fire! Fire was everywhere, as though he had stepped into Hell.
"What's going on here?!" He demanded.
"Aaaahh!" He heard a woman scream, recognizing it was his sister.
A large burst of flame was sent down a different hall…and he saw a horned creature the likes of which he had never seen before. It was as big as a human, but the aura it gave off was stronger than any he'd ever face. It held a woman in its enlarged right arm, dragging her across the floor.
"Dante Zogratis," the creature uttered, surprising him with how intelligent it appeared. "You, Vanica Zogratis and Zenon Zogratis, have all failed to achieve your grand design…and must be dealt the final blow."
The woman was clearly Vanica, despite being burnt and her neck broken.
"What are you?" Dante asked it.
"I'm the deliverer of final outcomes," it spoke cryptically. "All of you must be erased."
The man, Dante, brandished his grimoire as horns grew from his head.
"Not if I kill you first," he warned the beast.
"By all means, try and kill me."
-x-
Yui floated above the burning lands as everyone down there was paying the ultimate for her grand design. She had no idea that Harbinger was so powerful to be able to spread a fire so intense that it could spread for miles. In addition, with her magic boosting his power, the fire could burn harder and spread across the entire nation…and there would be no witnesses. Of course, even if there were survivors, there would be very few of them, less than a thousand, all as weak as commoners often were considered by the nobility.
This is cruel, but it's necessary, she thought as she flew across the fiery land. Harbinger is getting remarkable results, gathering the energy needed to further our goals.
BOOM! A building nearby was demolished and two beings were blown out onto the scorched ground, one a human and the other a large animal with singed fur and horns.
The human had small horns on his head and was already looking a little better, no long burnt.
"This isn't possible!" She heard the man yell as Harbinger got on all fours and cracked his neck. "I possess the power of a high-ranking devil! I should be wiping the ground with you!"
"It doesn't matter if you had the power of eight high-ranking devils," Harbinger told him. "I am beyond your understanding. I make devils look like rabid dogs tamed by garden flowers."
Then, Yui watched as the man sprouted two additional arms and thicker skin. Whatever magic he specialized in was quite impressive…but not that impressive to her. And if Harbinger was anything to be impressed by, he was clearly in a class of strength by himself.
"Rrraarugh!" He yelled as he charged towards Harbinger.
"End this, Harbinger," Yui expressed, and Harbinger grabbed him by his head and uttered a choice of words that clearly meant to seal the man's fate.
"Mortal and demon, begone from my presence…and never rise again," Harbinger told him, and the man burst into dark flames as he disappeared. "And now the whole of Spade…becomes nothing more than a charred waste of space that serves no other purpose than to remind others that something used to reside here."
Yui was impressed by Harbinger's power, and had to admit that, despite being a creature of magic, he had a degree of brutal truth to his abilities, which made him quite impressing, despite his lack of aesthetics that would make people poke at his appearance. Not even the Evas were meant to be attractive most of the time, just aesthetically pleasing to a degree. And if she could do so, she would augment Harbinger's power to a higher level; there was nothing wrong with something that was strong being made stronger.
Harbinger looked up at Yui in the night sky as it glowed red from the heat of the flames. This was…quite a night for himself. He hadn't had this much excitement ever since he was released from the Void by this woman; not even that man from House Silva gave him this much satisfaction when they entered into their path in order for him to obtain unjust vengeance against the Ikari family for his own family's imagined slights. Their goals weren't entirely the same, but they led towards the same outcome, which was the physical removal of all living things; an ethereal existence had nothing to do with places so long as even the most meager of living things was exterminated in his cleansing agenda.
The only threat to us is Guardian of the Void, he thought as he walked through the flames. Any other creature of magic stands no chance against me. Even regular mortals stand no chance against, no matter how strong their magic is. I am greater than all other organisms, past, present and future.
He looked to the distance, feeling a trace of magic that didn't belong to the people of the Spade Kingdom, but put the mage out of his concerns; whoever this human was, they were nowhere near a high enough level, in both body or magic, to be of any worry to him.
All they can do is whatever they think will keep them safe, he thought, sensing across the scorched earth of a former nation the scattered survivors. There's nothing left to claim here. We must go now.
He faded from sight, returning to the safety of Yui's grimoire, and the young woman flew away, leaving the Spade Kingdom in ruins.
-x-
Shinji awoke in the dead of night, drenched in sweat, feeling like something bad had happened. He looked around his room in the Black Bull HQ and saw nothing out of place. But he still felt a measure of discord within himself.
Knock-knock. Someone was at his door.
"Shinji?" He heard Suki on the other side. "It's Suki. Are you awake?"
"Just a moment," he uttered in response, getting up to go over to the door, opening it to see her. "Yes, Suki? Oh."
Suki, dressed in her blue nightie, was covered in sweat, too, looking like terrible had happened.
"Did you have a strange dream about fire?" She asked him.
"Yeah, a little, why?" He answered her, and noticed something he hadn't seen a moment ago. "What in the…"
On her exposed left shoulder, a small, burn-like bruise could be seen.
"Yeah, that's what I needed to ask you about," she told him, covering her mark with her other hand. "Do you have a mark like that on your body? It should hurt when you touch it."
Shinji felt around his arms and legs, but felt no discomfort. However, he did feel discomfort when he moved his arms up to stretch, requiring Suki to see what the problem was, discovering the same, burn-like bruise on his upper back just under his nape.
"What do you think it means?" He asked her.
"I have no idea," she responded, "but we should check in with Mother, Yui and Tenshi tomorrow. They might have the same markings as we do."
"Good idea."
-x-
"…Aah…" Tenshi groaned as he awoke the next day to find a painful, blistering mark on his left leg. "What the Hell is this?"
He looked over at his desk and reached out to his grimoire, and it levitated over to him.
"Water Healing Magic," he uttered the chosen spell, "Soothing Tides."
Water materialized around his leg and he felt the numbing sensation the recovery spell provided.
"Ah… How the Hell did I get a mark like this? It makes the Ebola virus look like poison oak…and make poison oak look like a skin rash."
He ceased the spell and looked at his leg, discovering something new: The mark was still present, which left him bothered by the fact that the Healing Magic spell he used should've removed the mark immediately once the discomfort was removed. He didn't feel the pain it gave him when he woke up, but the fact that it was still there meant something else entirely. Going over to his desk, he opened a drawer and pulled out his Communication Magic device, contacting his mother; surely, she would understand what the problem was.
Rika's face popped up on his device, her expression full of concern.
"You were the first person I was going to contact, Tenshi," she told him.
"Then I take it you already have an inkling to why, don't you, Mother?" He asked her.
"All I know is that when I woke up this morning, I was drenched in sweat and had a strange bruise on my body that feels like a burn mark. I've already used a healing remedy, but the mark is still there. I have researched marks like this, and they only stem from a very irrational cause: Someone has laid a curse on us. An ancient and unjust one."
"Does this curse target random people, a family, specific people?"
"It targets random and specific people, Tenshi. Someone has it out for us if we've been marked, and they're using dark powers to hurt us, whether or not we caused them some kind of problem."
"We've only been back for around a year, and now someone makes a move to cause us harm? Hold on, if this curse marks specific people, does that mean that Suki, Yui and Shinji could also be marked, as well?"
"Yeah, it could be. Healing Magic only abates the pain we feel from these marks, but until we find the person responsible, they're not going anywhere. Get in touch with Yui while I try to contact Suki and Shinji."
"Sure thing."
The transmission ended and Tenshi sighed. Whoever put a curse on them was going to pay for this, regardless of the reason. Nobody goes this far unless there's a justifiable reason for it that needs to be resolved properly. To do something like this without a reasonable cause is just playing sadistic with people's lives.
Sniff. He smelled his shirt and knew he was musky from the sweating he had done in his sleep prior to walking up.
"I need to shower," he told himself, at least happy that his discomfort was gone for the time being on his leg.
-x-
"…This cannot be," went Guardian as he looked at the marks on Suki and Shinji, recognizing their significance. "I've seen these marks before, and they're bad. Very, very bad."
"How bad is 'very, very bad'?" Shinji asked him.
"Put quite simply," he clarified, "you two could die or those around you may die unless you find the cause behind this matter. That's as bad as it can get right now, especially with those marks. Somehow, Harbinger got loose."
"Harbinger?" Suki questioned as they were walking in the woods on their way to Hage. "Who's Harbinger? Or what is Harbinger?"
"Harbinger is a creature that has history with Guardian of the Void here," Shinji explained, "someone that exists only to cause pain and death to anyplace that has life. He was imprisoned by Guardian long ago and hasn't been mentioned until recently."
"Hold on a minute. Is he some kind of demon? A devil from the underworld?"
"No," Guardian revealed. "He has no relation to any creature from the underworld. In fact, any demon wouldn't stand a chance against Harbinger; he is beyond demonic magic."
"How could he have gotten out of the Void?" Shinji asked him. "Are there loopholes? Hidden passageways in and out of the Void?"
"No, and Harbinger was locked in the deepest cavities of the Void. The only way he could get out, even just temporarily…would be the same way he came into this world the first time around; he'd have to enter into a pact, a covenant, a promise, if you will, with someone from this world. Only an arrogant and resentful person can enter into a pact with Harbinger."
"If this is the case, then we need to go now," Suki stated, and the two teens climbed atop Guardian as Shinji opened his grimoire and used the spell to generate wings for the beast to fly them off with.
-x-
"How do you know they won't suspect me?" Yui had asked Harbinger as she flew across the sky in the Clover Kingdom, examining a bracelet she had designed.
"If you can suppress or hide your immense magic, you can't be suspected of any foul play. You're a bright mind, able to see magic in ways that others can't. I trust that you know what to do, Yui Ikari." Harbinger had told her before returning to her grimoire, and she knew how right he was.
She used science all the time, and it was a simple task to develop a means to suppress most, if not all, of her magic, making her no different from most commoners. And what was more, by the time she was suspected of anything, it would already be too late to stop her. So, she made a bracelet designed to look like a simple, metal band on her left arm, locking away the majority of her magic power, all save the magic necessary to fly her broomstick and perform her minor spells, and knew to not speak about Spade, putting last night out of her mind. It was a necessity for her to achieve her goal, and in the end, all would be forgiven and forgotten about.
-x-
"…You, too, Tenshi?" Suki asked her brother as she and Shinji noticed he was at the house, as well.
"Yeah," he answered her. "So, what is this problem that we're facing?"
"My mother isn't with you?" Shinji questioned.
"Lately, she's been absent from the Golden Dawn HQ more than I am, and that's just to go to the villages the other Magic Knights don't go to. It's anyone's guess as to where she goes or what she does. She's probably not being targeted by a curse."
"Yeah, probably," Shinji accepted; his mother, as of late, was as distant with them as his father had been with him, and that had been mainly because his mother faked her own death and lived in the Eva for over twice as long as he'd been alive. What are you always doing in those solo missions of yours, anyway?
-x-
"…So, his mother's purposely keeping distant with the whole family," said Asuka as she and the others were still observing the limited perceived actions of the Ikaris in the Clover Kingdom through the photo album. "This isn't getting her in any of their good graces."
"I don't think she's worried about getting into anyone's good graces when she makes choices that are against what the rest of them do," Ritsuko expressed, reminding her that they had just watched how, two pages ago, Yui went and did something that involved a lot of fire and it felt as though they were there when she did it. I can't believe she would actually do something as unethical as that.
Not even Fuyutsuki could speak of Yui's actions, as they were just too inhuman that it reminded him of what those in power did to trigger Second Impact. He was starting to wonder if Shinji was even going to find out what his mother had done and actually forgive her for such a transgression…and doubt that he would. If it had been himself, he probably wouldn't have forgiven Yui, either, not at the expense of so many lives.
"How long do you suppose it'll be before her family finds out what she did?" He asked them.
"It's anyone's guess," said Misato, bothered by any parent's willingness to do what Yui did, and then she turned to the next page, seeing a picture of Shinji from when he was a little boy with an older Rika, learning how to make a new dish. "I guess this explains where Shinji gets his cooking lessons from."
On another picture underneath, they could see Shinji in a conversation with his younger grandmother, uncle and aunt.
-x-
"…So, where's your mark, Mother?" Suki asked Rika, showing where her mark was in the living room.
Rika sighed and then raised her green shirt up, revealing a bruise-like burn on her abdomen.
"Ugh," Shinji shuddered, needing to turn away for a moment. "This is worse than what Guardian told Suki and I on the way here."
"This…Harbinger of Death and Destruction…has really escaped from the Void?" Rika questioned her grandson.
"There's no other possibility. If he's no longer locked up in the Void, then it means that he's entered into a pact with someone new."
"But who would want to enter into a pact with him?" Tenshi asked. "Were you able to find anything relating to this Harbinger?"
"That was a feat I couldn't accomplish," Rika admitted. "I've looked through the salvaged relics we put under the house, searching through tablets and preserved textbooks going back centuries before my parents' time, but it looks like there's nothing about Harbinger written anywhere. And we haven't tried to look for anything that hadn't been lost over the ages we've been exiled yet."
"Then all we have is Guardian of the Void to rely on for information," went Suki, "but if the information our family had archived just went missing, where'd it go? Or better yet, who would want to possess such information and not distribute it to the Clover Kingdom?"
Rika and Tenshi could only suspect one other family that had a relationship with such a dangerous creature: House Silva. Despite the animosity that the family possessed for them over the years, it seemed that fear also ran parallel with their degree of hatred towards them. Even though they had no contempt towards the Silvas of today's generation for the actions of what happened to them centuries ago, the royal family seemed unwilling to let go of the feud.
"What makes you suspect that someone would want such information to hide?" Shinji asked his aunt, curious.
"People that obtain such a resource often do so for two reasons: One is either to use it as a form of blackmail to those that used to have it…or the other to hide it. Greed or fear can make people do unpredictable things with information."
"You're right, Suki," Tenshi agreed with her. "But if someone else did take possession of such crucial information regarding a dangerous creature like Harbinger, what would be the reason to possess it? Blackmail or fear?"
Shinji opened his grimoire and summoned Guardian.
"Any ideas, Guardian?" He asked him.
"Either reason carries its own risks," Guardian expressed. "Blackmail in order to obtain favors, fear because of something else that worries someone else. Still, Harbinger is the most dangerous creature set loose into the mortal world. Even if given carte blanche by whoever he's affiliated with, he can unleash unspeakable carnage upon others that reaches far into the past and even farther into the future."
"You…you saw Harbinger do something like that before you stopped him, didn't you?" Rika asked Guardian.
"He ravaged an entire village," he revealed. "Not a day or year goes by where I'm not reminded of that event that still weighs down on my soul. He murdered, slaughtered, decimated without any shred of mercy. Men, women, children, animals, nothing and no one was spared. Eighty-seven human lives…four-hundred-fifteen animal lives…all gone in an inferno that he reveled in. There wasn't a moment where he ever regretted anything he did to cause suffering onto others."
"He sounds like a person without any shred of hope in his soul, even if he has one," Suki expressed her opinion about Harbinger. "Who'd want to enter into a pact with a loser like that in this day and age?"
"Only people that are dead set on doing whatever they intend on doing," Shinji reminded her of what Guardian had told them earlier. "Harbinger only associates with people that take their convictions to the ultimate extreme."
"An example of which would be?" Rika questioned.
"Well…a vendetta that is completely unnecessary is one. A selfish need to get revenge is another conviction. Whoever has Harbinger may do whatever it takes to achieve a goal."
"Well said, Shinji. Well said."
Chime! Something on the countertop in the kitchen caught their attention. Chime!
"What's that?" Suki asked.
"An alert from the Wizard King," Rika revealed, getting up and going into the kitchen, coming back with her Communication Magic device.
Ding! Tenshi's Communication Magic device went off, and he took it out of his pocket.
"Something's up," he told them, answering the device. "This is Tenshi Ikari, speaking."
"Tenshi, we have a problem that's really bad," a man's voice on the other end spoke up. "Something terrible has happened."
"What's wrong?"
"It's the Spade Kingdom. It's gone. The whole kingdom. It's been…scorched."
"The whole kingdom?"
"It was just found out about this morning when several Magic Knights from the Praying Mantis and Azure Deer squads were out to investigate a strange fire. There are some survivors from Spade, but they couldn't say what happened, only that it happened last night. Something just set fire to the whole of Spade and burnt everything to the ground."
This surprised Shinji and Suki; they hadn't ever expected something like this to happen while here. Maybe an attack on a local village, a kidnapping ransom, but an entire country…and in just one night while they were asleep… This wasn't something they had anticipated at all.
-x-
It was hard enough that they weren't on peaceful times with Spade, but to know that the entire kingdom had been burned to the ground, with only less than a thousand survivors, now refugees without a home, and none of them could explain who or what caused the place to burn to a crisp. While this made any potential war with the other three kingdoms no longer possible, it left Clover, Heart and Diamond in a bad spot with the refugees if they were to be suspected of any foul play. But this made the Clover and Wizard Kings wonder who would want to set fire to the Spade Kingdom, if this was the doing of any one person. There was no feud between Clover and Spade that had escalated to a war just yet, and if it was someone from Clover, there would be consequences for the one responsible.
"Can we be certain that it wasn't a member of the Magic Knights that did this?" Augustus Kira Clover XIII asked Julius Novachrono.
"It is unlikely that just one Magic Knight could and would do something like this," Julius responded to the Clover King. "None of the Magic Knights that specialize in Fire Magic are capable of decimating a landmass as large as Spade. Five large villages, maybe, but not an entire kingdom. I'm hoping that Rika Ikari may have some information on who or what could've done something like this."
"What makes you think she would know?"
"House Ikari has been known to possess knowledge of the most ancient of beings that have been around since before our time."
"Yes, but that was over fifteen-hundred years ago, before they were forced into exile. Just because they still possess some knowledge, it doesn't necessarily mean that they're the experts, anymore. They have very little influence like they used to."
"That's mostly because the family's current matriarch and patriarch, Rika Ikari and her son, Tenshi Ikari, don't have a grudge with the descendants of the families that went after them the night they were forced to leave the Clover Kingdom and created the prophecy that foretold their family's return. However, I respect House Ikari, as they are still the most unique family within the kingdom. Their Infinity Affinity is to be respected."
"Yes, I know, the only individuals that can use multiple forms of magic that other mages can't dream of possessing. How can they possess such power and be able to use it in ways that seem impossible? The one form of magic they've never been seen or reported using so far has been Reinforcement Magic. Is that something they simply can't use?"
"No, I've spoken with Mrs. Ikari about that, and it's simpler than people think. They can use Reinforcement Magic…but merely choose not to, because in their conscious and subconscious minds, it constitutes as a form of cheating, enhancing their physical abilities when they don't have to unless absolutely necessary. Rika only used it once when it was to save some people in her past, but swore never to use it again unless she absolutely had to. I believe for all these Ikaris, Reinforcement Magic may enhance their physical abilities to god-like levels."
Hearing this made Augustus worry about his own standing with the people of the Clover Kingdom; it was bad enough that he wasn't as well-known as Julius was, but to hear about these people from House Ikari being much stronger than he or any other royals or nobles were… He felt threatened by their presence and potential to show the whole kingdom that they were stronger than he was.
A portal opened in front of the Wizard King's office, and out came Rika Ikari, Tenshi Ikari, Shinji Ikari, Suki Ikari…and Guardian of the Void.
"Oh, my," went Suki, seeing the Clover King in the office with the Wizard King. "How do you do, sir?"
"I'll be fine once this disaster has been explained and the culprit has been identified," he responded, although his voice tone made it a clear indication that he was intimidated by them.
"I didn't expect the majority of your family to be here, Rika," Julius expressed, noticing that one member was missing.
"As of late, my youngest daughter is as independent as she's always been," she explained Yui's absence. "She seems to keep her distance and go on solo missions for the kingdom to be as capable as she can be."
"Yes, Yui has been doing several missions on her own. Not the first Magic Knight to do so, but the first to have done so with consecutive results."
Shinji sighed, not really impressed with his mother's success.
"You don't seem impressed, young Ikari," he noticed.
"My mother really needs to learn how to work with others. Isn't the point of being part of a squad of Magic Knights to learn how to work with others that joined the same squad? I mean, who takes the exam and joins a squad…and doesn't try to work with others?"
"Not that many, young Ikari. Those that go down that route often do so because they have trust issues they need to work out."
"That's a challenge, sir."
"It always is," added Guardian, which surprised Augustus; he had just met this creature after hearing about it from people that had seen it, and was now afraid of its presence.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"Guardian of the Void."
"Are you affiliated with House Ikari?"
"I am."
"He has the identity of at least one of the suspects that may be responsible," Rika explained.
"Who?" Julius asked.
"Harbinger," Guardian revealed. "He escaped from the Void and entered into a new pact with someone in this world. Harbinger can use fire to burn whatever he desires, from objects, spaces and people. He has done so once before."
"So, this Harbinger is a Fire Magic user?"
"No. He likes fire, but Fire Magic isn't his attribute. His form of magic is…far more dangerous. He uses a form of magic referred to as Eradication Magic. It enables him to remove anything or anyone he finds in his way. Only those with access to Anti Magic or items imbued with Anti Magic can affect him, but even that is a challenge with his persistence to accept defeat."
"How old is this Harbinger?" Augustus questioned.
Guardian raised his right claw up and showed a memory he possessed of Harbinger, surprising everyone in the room with his visage.
"He's almost as old as I am…if not older. We have violent history together."
"He looks almost like you do, except he has horns and a mammalian face, whereas you have a more-reptilian look," Tenshi stated, "and his expression… It's like he's full of contempt. Towards everything."
"He doesn't know how to embrace life, being a being of absolute carnage."
"How do we find him?" Suki asked.
"Find the person he entered into a pact with," he revealed. "Just like me or any creature of magic that can take residence within a person's grimoire, he takes the form of a spell. Find the grimoire he's taken up residence within, you find the person he entered into a pact with."
"That will be like finding a needle in a haystack," said Shinji, realizing that this would be difficult. "He could be in anyone's grimoire. Anyone who's determined to do something they know they shouldn't."
"Just find the person with a grimoire that has a spell that shouldn't be there. His face and name will be etched into the pages, just as mine are etched in yours. He can only hide in one grimoire per person he's entered into a pact with."
"Where do we start?" Rika asked.
"Whoever has a grudge against us would be the first to be eliminated in the search," Tenshi suggested; whoever had a problem with them would be the most likely culprit.
"This is going to be a long and problematic search," Julius stated.
"Yep," the four Ikaris and Guardian agreed with him.
-x-
Even if those three siblings had ten devils in their possession, Harbinger was still stronger than they could ever hope to be. As he sat in Yui's little home away from home, he reflected upon the facts that these Zogratis siblings, despite their enhanced levels of magic due to being possessed by a trio of devils, were as pathetic as the demons that were locked in the Void with him. The Gravity Magic of Lucifero barely affected him by two tons of pressure on his legs and Dante's Body Magic didn't save the poor fool from his death, the Curse-Warding Magic of Megicula and the Blood Magic of Vanica were just pathetic. And when he thought of Zenon's Bone Magic and the Spatial Magic of the devil that possessed him, he had to wonder why anyone would consider striking bargains with these pathetic demons that he could subjugate into his servitude if he so desired.
All three mortals and all three devils were just an embarrassment, he thought as he got up and walked over to a observation window that displayed a much larger room where Yui was working on something much bigger than the human-sized humanoids she had already finished decorating with armor. As for Yui, a woman that hates magic, yet uses magic in order to achieve her grand design, which, in and of itself, falls into my own grand design. I could care less for the ethereal existence of other lifeforms. It is the physical existence that needs to be removed. Remove all tangible forms of life, balance is served. Nobody understands the cause as much as I do. And yet, these humans…they are a weed that needs to eradicated among the other weeds that inhabit this disgusting realm of life that is poison to me. But Yui and I are of similar goals. And now, with the magic harvested from the population of the Spade Kingdom, we'll have plenty of raw material to progress further. Guardian, when next time we meet, you will regret having locked me away for all those generations. You can't protect everyone.
To be continued…
A/N: Uh-oh. Things are only going to get more intense. With the Spade Kingdom no more, everything we know changes further, but Harbinger has only just started to get back into his dark passion and agenda. There's also a reason why Harbinger allowed for there to be some survivors; it's a method meant to leave people intimidated by a creature they have never encountered before and to be reminded how far they have fallen.