One Eyed G Re:birth

by HunterXKiller87

As a partial Amnesiac, one Nico lives a full life as a Spec Ops Agent of the Guild, visiting an old friend he hadn't seen for a while. That night, he and said friend witness something that'll send them on one bizarre adventure. OC X Harem but with a few twists

224. Chapter 193 - White Serenity Stained

Chapter 193 - White Serenity stained black

Agony enveloped her senses in a similar manner to the old song sound of silence or to be more specific the 'hello darkness my old friend' meme. The agony consumed every sense in her body like a searing flame though she could hardly claim was the most dominant feeling she was going through right now. But the agony paled in comparison to the sheer devastation that had been inflicted upon their form.

White Heart in her HDD form levitated on the spot albeit hunched over despite her barely being able to keep herself afloat, her body littered with a series of different yet utterly vicious wounds all the same.

Blood trailed down her forehead, her mouth, chin, shoulders, biceps, thighs, stomach and feet forming a puddle on the ground beneath her, these wounds coming from various lacerations of varying depths, some still squelching blood like water fountains briefly being turned on. Her hair had been singed and scorched in multiple areas, reduces in length by a considerable amount whilst whatever had held itself together in its original style had been destroyed utterly, letting the remnants fall lifelessly down her back whilst various strands closer to her head were stained crimson with her blood…right arm bent and twisted into an unnatural state (thankfully her nerves in that arm were shot or she'd be in a world of pain… worse than she already was) with the blood being that of the many enemies she had slain in her vain attempts to save her people. Her left arm hung limply by her side whilst her Axe, her prized axe that served as her companion throughout the entire console war, lay shattered in front of her. She only held the weapon's middle shaft in some form of rebellion against the fact that she had lost it.

Coming with this was a layer of exhaustion that felt like a heavyweight set of weights having planted themselves atop her shoulders, which added with the previous statements about her abysmal condition demonstrated one fact in particular and that was that the CPU was in no condition to fight right now, no matter how much she wanted to.

And by Goddess, she wanted to as she lay in what could best be described as a living nightmare for any Goddess worth her salt.

All around her, the once beautiful and serene land of white serenity had turned into something out of a horror movie. The entirety of its capital NINTENDO looked to have been reduced to a searing inferno, a mix of fire, lightning and countless energy attacks raging through its streets setting entire streets light like some kind of neon display. Buildings were either slanted, shifted or straight up reduced to piles of rubble, a mix between solid and molten puddles that singed and scorched whatever it came to contact with. Scorch marks adorned the streets like some kind of twisted artist had decided to paint the NINTENDO streets a mix of black, red and white… out of the poor, helpless victims that resided within.

And oh god the victims.

Every second White Heart's ears creamed with the countless voices of the dying from those who were buried beneath ruined buildings and scorched alive by the fires. Then there were the helpless civilians and soldiers alike being shredded to pieces by the claws of Youma mercilessly ripping them to shreds and tearing into them with their fangs, blood splattering across the town enough to french it in the infernal crimson colour that she had quickly grown to loathe with a passion. Both for its despicable appearance and how it signified one of the biggest failures of her life, a failure unbeknownst to her would scar her for a long time yet. Even worse, some of the areas in the city's surroundings she could see through her blurry vision were starting to transform completely, vast areas that were taken over by the invading forces and would be irreversibly changed for years to come.

It had gone on its way to changing from the pure white serenity that White Heart considered her beloved nation, into a twisted corrupted cesspit filled with chaotic monstrosities and infernal magics that'd claim lives as easily as one breathed air.

Worse were the countless screams belonging to both fleeing civilians and the furiously fighting soldiers desperately trying to stave off the inevitable, that was what lay atop her priority list right now, more so than the rest of the horrendous atrocities committed every second she breathed. These were mixed with the inhuman growls, roars and shrieks from the Youma, the almost inaudible gothic chanting from both those worshipping cultists, the frantic caws of the Demons of Tzeentch that supported them with magics fouler than anything she had ever seen, demoralizing any that stood before them by reviving their fallen comrades as horrific monstrosities, sending illusions into the minds of their deepest fears or distracting them with their deepest desires, leaving those mortal souls helpless before the countless claws and fangs descending upon them.

"Hmph, how fucking boring…!"

Two whooshing sounds informed her of a set of figures landing across the ground, likely in the same hovering state as her, and alerted White Heart of the two major causes of her misfortune, the ones who had reduced her to her current state. Not only that but some of the architects behind Lowee's demise as she knew it, others weren't present from what her senses told her, but she didn't care just these two alone set her off inside despite being unable to even move a muscle. It was all she could do just to maintain her HDD form, for she feared that turning human again would sap the last amount of strength from her being.

And that only worked to irk her even more.

Through her blurry vision, the brunette CPU managed to make out the unmistakeable forms of the two DPUs Kafka and Jules, names she had learned through listening to their quick quips with one another that sounded like they were on the verge of slaughtering one another at any moment. Although her vision could still make out their general outlines, White Heart couldn't see much else but she could still hear the disgust and ridicule one of them aimed at her.

She could also tell they were still in their human forms, as these entities felt much like that of a CPU and from what she had seen it was apparent that these guys could transform as her kind could. So the fact that they had bested her while in human form, whooping her ass from her Basilicom across her entire capital city (contributing over 40% of its damages in the first few moments of the invasion alone) further stung her pride, as well as gave her the first taste of their disdain towards Goddesses in general.

What was even WORSE was that like them White Heart had also not been at her best due to various factors. Ever since she had returned from Celestia, White Heart had found that there had been a growing faction within her nation that consisted of former believers who no longer supported her as a Goddess, they no longer believed that she was a deity capable of leading them and felt some better entities layout there who would give a shit about their worship. Apparently, they had been inspired by a destroyed Coalition whose ideals still lived on across Gamindustri, though it somehow went from humans taking control over governance to surrender to (in her opinion) even worse gods. Because of the nation's instability, her shares had plummeted and with that, her power decreased a ton as well… what also didn't help was that shortly after barely escaped her former advisor's attempt to take her powers away (which had been suspiciously easy for her to do she would later suspect), these two had pulled up and tried to beat her ass to kingdom come.

"To allow such an event to unfold within her own territory… how pitiful. Disgustingly so."

"Sheesh, this wench is one of those so-called CPU things I heard about back in the day? Aren't they supposed to be super strong or something, how the fuck did someone so fucking pathetic manage to oust us last time?"

"Things must have degraded severely since our kind's departure, the people and the wildlife here are a far cry from the warriors of old even though those people couldn't compare to a DPU's power."

"Man, that shucks, I was hoping for a fight against a super OP Goddess who can shake the very foundations of the universe like the one I heard apparently could do. Instead, all we get is this loser magical girl wannabe who can't even inspire loyalty in her shitty ass minions. No wonder it was so goddamn easy to get this far, this person SUCKS as a leader!"

"Agreed, this one has failed as a leader, as someone those whining masses put what little faith remained into her abilities, and now she has lost complete control over her capital city. The rest of this pathetic hunk of rock should fall momentarily if THIS was the leader they relied on the most in this world."

"Shit I hope that so-called 'successor' of that battle-crazy lunatic has some balls compared to this wench, she just doesn't get me going like that one in Leanbox do, goddamn you seen those melons? Compared to this broad who only her transformed state even implies she's female otherwise I'd call her a male washboard, that babe looks ripe to be mindfucked to oblivion."

Under ordinary terms, White Heart would have just started yelling profanities and insults to those who insulted her chest size and gone all she hulk on their asses, something that probably didn't help her cause when she had been working on restoring faith after her return. But not only did her current condition prevent this, but she also couldn't help but acknowledge their words as true to a point, both their claims about her failures and her inadequacies compared to her fellow Goddesses. She'd even failed at the primary directive given to her by her birthright, so how the fuck could she even continue calling herself a Goddess, her weapons lay broken before her, her capital city now lay a smouldering inferno and her people were being butchered left and right. She'd done her best to organize a resistance effort that should have fled the city by now, hence another reason why she had stayed behind to prevent her foes from targeting them, but from the looks of things what she did only delayed the inevitable, a gut-wrenching fact for her.

It was all she could do to keep her tears of frustration and helplessness from dropping, she refused to give these assholes the satisfaction of seeing such weakness.

"Anyways, what the fuck do we do with her now? Kill the bitch?"

"Remember what was instructed of us, you oaf. Her life still has some value left before we extinguish this nation for good."

Due to her vision, Blanc couldn't see who was talking to who anymore but she could still hear one of them sigh in resignation, probably that rash rude one Jules who had a mouth as foul as her own. The other one known as Kafka had then seemingly reached into himself in her blurry vision but it probably was just him reaching into his pocket or something, for in the following seconds he pulled something out and held it before his comrade. Though she would use that term loosely considering their volatile-looking relationship. Despite her vision, White Heart believed it to be some kind of gem… though considering the pulsating crimson colour it had it didn't seem to be something like anything she had seen before. Aside from it being crimson but it also had a tar-like appearance, drips falling to the ground between them.

Additionally, the moment she saw this thing alongside the way the drips started sizzling upon meeting with the ground like a weeb on his first date in the outside world where he had to touch the grass, Blanc nearly flipped her lid. If she wasn't so injured, she would have exploded into a more physical panic attack instead of just feeling her heart hammering away in her chest like a jackhammer. Additionally was the way her entire being shuddered in sheer REVULSION at the sight of the gem, something which quickly told her that thing was going to be the stuff of nightmares for him if it manages to contact with her skin.

But when White Heart tried to make a pride-hurting motion to gather the strength to move…

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!

A burst of panic and terror gripped her heart when she sensed a bloodthirsty glare that the man known as Jules launched her way. The poor girl shuddered uncontrollably as she bit back a curse from the pain inflicted upon her thanks to these actions, a fresh wave of terror gripping her heart more than she ever had felt from Jules. White Heart also had her panic attack from the sheer brutality of Jules, the woman had seen Kafka as the more collected of the two… but perhaps there was more to him that made the guy even more dangerous than his colleague.

FWOOM!

"GUH!"

THUD!

Instantly, an unseen pressure slammed atop her shoulders and back, causing her to scream in agony as she felt pinned to the ground and indeed lost her ability to remain hovering in place. Worse still, several long pieces of debris got levitated out of the ground and then impale themselves around the CPUs initial surroundings to make a pseudo cage around her, sealing all movements… though it got reinforced by nearby buildings that suddenly slanted themselves on their own, looming over her head and poised to seemingly shatter their remaining windows atop her, burying her beneath them at any moment.

'Holy shit…!'

A whole NEW wave of dread flowed through her body, especially at the thought of Kafka. Their prior battle had mostly been fought by Jules himself as the more thoughtful of the two, something which she had indeed found odd but had dismissed it when she saw how he had been providing backup to Jules the few times White Heart got close enough to landing retaliatory blows.

But instead, maybe his lack of participation was intentional…

THUD-THUD!

Two thuds accompanied a pair of dress shoes which planted themselves before her, prompting White Heart to shakingly raise her head so she could gaze upwards towards Kafka's eyes, the closer proximity allowing her to make out the more intricate details of his attire as well as the… thing, that he currently held in his hand. The man kneeled on one leg so that they were closer to eye level, his gaze once more of stoic calmness… though this time the woman wasn't fooled, there was something hidden behind that gaze, she just didn't know what it was.

Although she feared finding out…

"To see you in such terror… your instincts may be the sole redeeming feature you have, Goddess," Kafka whispered under his breath though those words only terrified the woman even more. Especially with how that thing was getting held closer and closer to her face. "This thing contains something that's normally poisonous to your kind, a poison that would have been like cancer for mortals… but I wonder if the 'modifications' we made will work on your race. Oh well, we shall soon find out won't we? Perhaps if you survive all this, you will learn to not be such a weakling pansy bitch who can't keep her own territory under control…and who can actually find prospects in her life."

"?!"

Once more Kafka's eyes flashed with that unique energy of his, and a force unseen forcefully yanked White Heart's mouth open. This immensely amplified the pain she felt inside to the point where her will lost the battle to maintain her tears from falling, a sight the man shook his head silently at which all but shattered what will White Heart had left.

Her consciousness then promptly cut off once the damn gem got pushed down her throat.

---

"GYAH!"

A loud scream left her lips, hoarse and weary, as White Heart ripped herself free from her slumber and shot up into a sitting position. Her breathing laboured, sweat rolled down her forehead as her eyes shrunk to dots, her blue orbs bloodshot and covered in dark bags. Violent tremors wrecked her body harder than a stepdad whacking his family with his belt, tremors which she tried to suppress instinctively by wrapping her arms around herself and curling into the fetal position at the same time.

Tired eyes gazed down at her knees, knees which had once had holes blown into them during Lowee's fall and had only been healed shortly after her resistance to the enemy began to gain traction… though even now part of her still wrestled with what this resistance would even change. She just couldn't let herself die in a ditch as the last thing kept what remained of the 'old' Lowee in check.

Though this also came with the nightmares she had of that day, nightmares she'd had ever since the unthinkable had happened.

Lowee's fall…

'Gonna have to find the asshole who coined that term and shove my hammer up his booty hole…' the brunette CPU remarked internally, waves of irritation coursing through her at the name of her biggest regret.

She didn't recall much about what happened afterwards, having been found by Theta's forces buried under heaps of corpses 5000 km from NINTENDO and then brought to Easton Point where he, who had been the main guy other than Financier to be leading the residents and remnants of the Nation to safety, had set up shop. Apparently, this place held great importance to him due to it being where his own resistance to the coalition had been based. Still, White Heart had been hesitant to stay around here for too long when she learned of this, but their mages had already done what they could to form a barrier which kept them hidden from the enemy's gaze… for the most part. Why they hadn't tried again had bothered her.

White Heart refused to believe it had been because of the others arriving and saving the day at the last minute. Both out of stubbornness and of the whole thing with Neptune wrecking her ass harder than a drunk trunk driver on the motorways. It had been the same stubbornness that told her she could have done something to face those asshole DPUs back at NINTENDO, only for both their wilted faith and their power to give her a harsh reality check. It had been her first experience fighting a race strong enough to rival CPUs in battle, no, surpassing them at it was a better descriptor.

Whatever they had done to her at the end really fucked her over though, White Heart figured, because ever since the fall she had been having constant nightmares of her subjects' plights, horrific scenes of battles too great in scope to have been on Gamindustri's soil, of entire planets being razed to the ground and then turned into horrific eldrich abominations much like her own beloved Lowee. These nightmares plagued her every time she closed her eyes, showing her own demise either from Youma claws or as a sacrifice in one of those twisted rituals that had been reported, each vision getting worse and worse.

Of course, she didn't bother seeking any advice from medical professionals like her closest aids Theta and Financier pleaded with her to, mostly because she already knew the cause of it all. That damn gem that was shoved down her throat like a dick in hentai, the thought sending shudders of disgust and revulsion. That thing… despite her numerous attempts to find any reference to it in the remains of their archives which had facilities scattered across Lowee including Easton point, letting them keep multiple records of their knowledge in cases of emergencies, nothing about the gem had turned up leading her to believe that thing hadn't been of this world.

Knowledge of other worlds wasn't as daunting as White Heart had thought of it, as being an avid novelist the concept of the multiverse, isekai and other such worldly tropes had been a thing for her for some time. Still, the knowledge that outside of Gamindustri was a universe full of such horrors didn't fill her with confidence, but anxiety and dread for the future especially those outside Lowee's sphere.

But the nightmares weren't the only things she had to deal with, unfortunately, for even in the waking world White heart found herself slighted by visions and hallucinations no different from her nightmares, hallucinations which plagued her on a daily and often distracted her from her current matters. Initially, they hadn't been too much only the mild case of a headache that she could have explained away as just another headache. She didn't have to worry much regarding them, and could contend with the nightmares by dressing herself up, but in the end, this was like wear and tear on the body: it got worse over time.

In her case, the hallucinations got increasingly frequent, vivid and violent. Sometimes, they would come in the middle of important meetings which sometimes made her freak out at seemingly random moments, and other times they would have appeared with such intensity that they sometimes made it difficult to tell which was which, reality or fantasy. White Heart could sometimes find it near impossible to differentiate between sanity or madness with the visions warping many of her senses. She'd tried multiple things like ignoring the taunting the visions did to her like they weren't there, she'd even tried mental therapy by counting or thinking random thoughts or even immersing herself in her books in her makeshift quarters.

None of them worked, and thus White Heart had to fight a losing battle for her own mind.

Now one could understand why she would be so irritable and stubborn. Worse was that members of her inner circle had figured out something had gone wrong with her but none of them could have done anything about it. She'd known for a fact that the cause had been what those assholes did to her back in SEGA, meaning that any efforts they made which also applied to herself to her chagrin, wouldn't lead to anything worthwhile.

Once, White Heart had proceeded to oversee her former advisor prior to Conversation who died of a battle with cancer which he'd been fighting for years at this point. She wondered if this was how he felt knowing that his efforts would only prolong the inevitable, cause she certainly felt like she was living on borrowed time.

"?!"

A sharp grunt escaped the brunette's lips when she suddenly felt a sharp pain assault her brain, forcing her to clench her teeth and clutch her hanging head by the scalp with her nails. 'Shit… not again!' she screamed in her mind as once more against her will White Heart began experiencing the usual flashbacks… of the burning NINTENDO, of the screams of agony coming from uncountable dying soldiers who fell beneath the youma's inhuman claws, or were unwillingly transmogrified alive by the unholy tzteenchian magics cast by their demons. She referred to the lord of change as a male just now due to knowing that it was an excellent shapeshifter just like the sibling Chaos God Slannesh. While she hardly knew much about these gods compared to her fellow CPUs it seemed, it didn't mean that she hadn't any knowledge at all.

She wouldn't be Lowee's CPU if that was the case…

None of that helped her cope with the searing pain that coursed through her veins like a second bloodstream as if she were being exposed to a hot furnace that evaporated every blood drop inside her body. Initially, she would have cried and screamed in agony knowing that her walls were soundproof, but White Heart had grown used to this tortuous agony, one could compare it to every joint in her body aching constantly from fibromyalgia, but intensified by a scorching sensation that accompanied her almost every day's minutes. Soon, she feared that it would start happening every second, an impending feeling of doom washing over her. White Heart didn't know what those assholes did to her, she'd remained adamant about researching her symptoms, but that didn't mean she wasn't aware of how little she had left.

Especially with the gothic chanting in her head becoming increasingly vivid every day.

Internally as her condition slowly alleviated like someone soothing their arthritis, at least to a more manageable level, White Heart cursed herself not only for her own weakness, but for her powerlessness to stop her ever-worsening condition. As much she feared her impending deadline, it remained unknown how much longer she could still fight without being bedridden afterwards. Just like that time repelling that invasion when she'd spent the remaining day in her room as soon as she'd been alone amongst countless other times. They needed to find a way to get their Capital back, and soon otherwise Blanc dreaded the future awaiting her subjects once she…

---

After getting ready for her day and applying enough cosmetics so that nobody would be able to tell how bad her condition was, Blanc had decided to try and take a walk to cool herself off, leaving her usual duties to Financier and Theta for the time being.

A rueful sigh left the brunette's lips with her every movement practised and poised to hide the underlying pain that it invoked in her. To be honest, it was a small comfort having those two loyal subordinates, who've stuck with her through thick and thin. Financier with her usual duties alongside her more… off the books kind, and Theta practically commanding a resistance against those unfaithful who wished to topple the order that had existed for centuries, out of loyalty towards her.

Looking around at her surroundings, White Heart hummed at the many citizens doing their best to hold on to what normalcy remained, a sight which caused her to exhale through her nostrils. No wonder why they had managed to survive for as long as they had, having made the choice to listen to his advice as 'someone with experience with this sort of thing had been the right move… one of the few she'd managed to make in this whole mess.

Wandering Easton point's streets, White Heart soon found herself close to a bookstore, one which she recognized as one she frequently visited as a regular customer. She personally knew the shop owner, met his wife and 2 daughters who had been one of those she'd first met during the evacuation, having rescued them from a pair of Youma about to rip them a new one. Last she had heard he and his family were doing well, memories of her prior visits flashing through her mind… though she wasn't sure if it was her own mind or whatever was trying to take her generating those thoughts anymore. This 'infestation' had sometimes lured her into lowering her guard with the more pleasant memories she had, only to then torment her further by showing visions of what could happen if she failed again.

As much as that memory soured her already downcast mood, White Heart's mood darkened even more when she noticed a figure standing near the store's entrance. The CPU immediately recognized the figure as someone who, while they had been a great source of labour for Lowee by getting various tasks done through unorthodox means, also reminded her of more… unpleasant experiences. Specifically through her prior interactions with the rest of his kind.

Said person had also noticed her approaching him after having sensed her presence and judging by the way he widened his eyes he also didn't appear to have expected her here. Especially with how he rudely made the "You!" exclamation upon meeting her here, a coincidence maybe? White Heart wasn't sure but gambling with maybes would have gotten her killed in the past so she wouldn't start now.

"Yes, me. What, you didn't think I'd be patrolling the last bastion for my people? You think I'd be that lax?"

"...Honestly, I figured you'd either be in a meeting with the other leaders or spending your time alone, Lady White Heart. Your reputation as a loner is known to me and my men." The redhead known as Nico, DPU and leader of the band of Abnormals known as the Tekkadan responded evenly… or rather as evenly as he could since she could tell there was some level of nervousness in his gaze. Nervousness was likely born from encountering her in a place he did not expect, something that in other circumstances she would have sympathised with him on. But thanks to Lowee's fall, things weren't really the same anymore and that included the limits to her empathy for the enemy.

Still, a level of awkward silence overcame the two soon after this exchange happened, with one of them seemingly starting flatly while hiding the truly distrustful thoughts she held inside. Thoughts stemming from her suspicions about the other born from the knowledge of not only his race but how he had managed to charm the rest of her fellow Goddesses into seeing him as an ally instead of an enemy. Something she herself couldn't even begin to understand.

As for the other…

'Sheesh, this is awkward…' Nico thought to himself while trying not to let those emotions show. Though he figured he was about 80% effective on that front compared to the sheer dead fish-like stare that this CPU had been giving him since this surprise meeting between the two of them, a meeting which usually only happened when she had a job for him and his comrades in the Tekkadan or when there was an important meeting he needed to attend to. It didn't help that thanks to his senses, Nico could sense a massive buildup of negative emotions rolling off her in waves, a mix of stress, pain and most prominently in this current moment distrust.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why this was the case.

'Damn, looks like she's still wary of us…' The male mused when he felt his Demon Persona manifest within his mind and open their usual mental link. He could tell from a few hints here and there that White Heart distrusted him immensely, more than she let out on the surface. What's more awkward was probably that she only tolerated him for his competence and contributions to her people and that she was prioritising her people's safety over her own biases. The good word from Theta that he likely gave her probably helped too. Why that was he wasn't completely sure, but he had a strong suspicion it had to do with those two DPU disciples of Mundus, especially considering the theories he had devised with Biko about her current situation…

Which made him internally cringe.

'Her situation has deteriorated hasn't it, Biko…?'

'Unfortunately, that is true. Her symptoms have indeed worsened and it's apparent that it's a condition related to her soul. Managed to make some breakthroughs in the lexicanum about matters to do with the concept of a 'soul', both in general terms and more… insidious methods. Apparently, something has indeed infested her soul and is trying to establish dominance over it, from what I'm seeing. So far she's been holding out through sheer willpower, but this is only going to advance her condition, I'd wager if she doesn't seek a way to strengthen her own soul… I'm afraid she will only have 4 weeks to live.'

'4 FUCKING WEEKS?!' Nico internally shrieked and through a series of mental talks with his alter persona. That was indeed not a lot of tone at all, there had to be something they could do! Nico feared the likely outcome of what could happen if Lowee lacked a CPU, not only would his girls be saddened immensely by his death, especially Neptune who did give a damn about White Heart despite their initial meeting, Nico know how necessary some of these religions were for the masses. Right now, the faith people had in White Heart was all they had to keep themselves going, so if they lost her then the morale bomb would shatter what will to fight they had left. His prior self wouldn't have cared if this happened and likely would have supported such a measure considering his dislike of relying on such mundane subjects as religion, but as a leader in a manner himself, Nico had to face the fact of its necessity.

'Worse, is if my theory's correct, then those who did this to her are some sadistic monstrosities.'

'What do you mean?'

'In this case, I fear that there's a small portion of power left in white heart's possession and it's keeping the island from completely transforming into a demon world's continent. Remember how there were demons invading Leanbox and how bad it was there, especially with the cultists? Vert may have lost her power for the most part but she had a failsafe to keep herself going and people who kept their faith in her, a lot more than what White Heart had. There was also a sizeable difference in demonic presence between the two nations, meaning that Leanbox could have become another version of Lowee had Vert not regained her power and the faith of the people as a result.'

'Yeah, I can imagine that…' the memory of the various hell gates he had stumbled across throughout the Leanbox continent flashed through his mind, making him consider the possibility that their construction was meant to summon Demons into Leanbox and start the transformation process. That didn't happen though because the hell gates were either closed or destroyed by himself or others, maybe that invasion of the Basilicom had something to do with that theory too. 'So you're saying that whatever the case, White Heart's presence mitigates the whole transforming thing?'

'Indeed, but as you've seen the whole continent has been massively transformed by the forces of Tzeentch, which I suspect is due to the increased demonic presence compared to Leanbox. I also believe Khorne himself prefers to transform land only when they have completely conquered it, they believe more in glorious combat themselves, which could also be a factor in the whole thing. Tzeentch on the other hand functions differently from all the Chaos Gods. Back to White Heart though, because she appears to still possess the power she does there is still hope for the continent to return to normal which the enemy must not allow. They thus must have done something like what was almost done to Neptune, though in this case White Heart's got an affliction, unlike a poison.'

Now that was a bunch of bullshit that Nico couldn't really find any ways to refute. White Heart's life was now even more important to the country than just for religious sake, if she died then the whole country was essentially dead as people knew it, becoming a foothold for chaos.

Whilst the redhead conversed with his persona…

'Shit, just looking at this guy's pissing me off…' White Heart thought to herself while trying to maintain her own sense of self despite the fury threatening to explode within her. Meeting him here was something that existed on the bottom of her list of things she'd prefer, especially now when her mood was especially volatile, more so than anything she could have imagined since it was mixed with sheer fear and terror for the imminent future.

Just looking at the redhead reminded her of THOSE TWO who beat her ass black and blue during Lowee's fall, playing with her till they had their fill of humiliating and violating everything she stood for as a Goddess of the land of white serenity. She could just imagine those fuckers laughing at her misery or perhaps looking at her plight like a movie with some popcorn, it wouldn't surprise her if that was the case. he had fought her fair share of monsters and assholes, one of the biggest being a certain Leanbox CPU though that Neptune was a close contender for that spot too, but THOSE TWO? They felt more like dark voids with the few fucks they gave about causing mass genocide on a daily basis. Not to mention she'd read the reports from previous missions this guy had taken part in, and she saw very little difference between the three of them.

DPUs were just that: brutal, assholish and abominations that were not fit for Gamindustri.

But then a thought stopped her thoughts in their tracks, one which caused a brief stilt in her angry storm. White Heart recalled how her fellow Goddesses had recommended her several times since their reunion to try and learn about him as a person first before judging him herself, as whatever they gave him had their own personal biases. It wasn't just them though but even Theta and Financier (to her surprise) had been on their side as far as opinions go, with the latter basing her assumptions on what she had seen the boy act like both when he was with the girls and when he was on his own. He seemed to her, nothing like the DPUs she knew of.

Now ordinarily White Heart would have just paid them no heed after some deliberation, after all, none of them had seen the things she had of DPUs other than this guy, but then she remembered something else, one time it had been mentioned of the existence of other DPUs on Lowee and he didn't seem to be surprised or even flinched, implying that he already knew of them.

Perhaps the guy knew them better than she did meaning that he might have information on them she couldn't acquire anywhere else. He could be a goldmine of useful information that she could apply to her rematch with those two in the near future. This stalemate couldn't continue, after all, something would have to give eventually. From the reports she received, it was clear to her that the redhead was an intelligent and capable person if he was able to keep these Abnormals in line, not to mention he had insights that many of her army's militants lacked both in the enemy's tactics from constantly harassing their bases, but his intentions weren't as cut and dry as her enemy's it seemed. She had once heard of the saying keep your friends close but your enemy's closer, and right now that seemed to be an easily applicable position to take.

At the same time, it offered a tempting situation for her to finally figure this guy before her out.

'Alright, you bitches. I'll play your silly little game, I'll show you who this asshole DPU really is and you'll finally come to my side of the coin. Depending on this outing I'll either be closer to my goal or more knowledge of my enemy and like they say information is half the battle.' With this thought process in mind, White Heart turned on her heel and made the 'come hither' gesture. "Walk with me, DEATHSTROKE," she stated.

One could easily tell that was a command, not an order, an order Nico accepted as he silently trailed after her, not seeing it wise to refute her. 'Biko, my primal twin… you said he will be able to return with the spoils, right?'

'Indeed, we should do what we can to buy that time.'

'Got it.'

---

At this point, the male began wondering if today was some sort of cursing Nico day because nearly all of it had been spent dealing with awkward tensions involving the opposite gender.

The atmosphere surrounding the two had been as awkward as the date between him and Raven's initial stages, no perhaps it was better to describe it as even worse than there. At least back then it had been with someone who understood Nico and held no animosity towards him, but in this case, it seemed that Blanc was the complete opposite and he had a good idea as to why that was.

In all honesty, he'd very nearly raged when his Demon Persona had revealed to him the truly dark state that she had been reduced to. It may have seemed a little out of the left field, but pondering on prior events in Leanbox and other Nations gave more validity to this theory. Planeptune aside, Lastation had some of what Lowee was going through with those Abnormal Dungeons which were able to warp reality itself to the whims of the 'boss' within, but nothing more than that. Thanks to the Goddess Noire being significantly powerful and having strong support, she didn't have to worry about her Nation turning into a chaos cesspit… unless Slaanesh wasn't really trying yet but that was a thought for later.

Leanbox like Biko had said was closer to becoming Like Lowee compared to the other Nations due to their current state of affairs and likely would have fallen had Vert been killed before she could have regained her powers. Those Hellgates led to worlds infested by Demons of all kinds and if they were allowed to become what the Hellverse dungeon had become, then Leanbox would have changed forever in that case.

Lowee really DID get the shittier end of things since out of the four Chaos Gods Tzeentch seems to be the one with the most cunning and intelligence. They were gonna have to play it smart if they wanted to fix things.

Speaking of fixings, how was he going to fix this awkward tension in the air?

It was obvious that the majority of this tension came from White Heart herself who walked in front of him without ever glancing behind her to see if he was still obediently trudging along for this ride. Perhaps he could consider their encounter itself to be a point of discussion. Did he encounter her when near a book store, so maybe that could be a source of conversation? Thinking back to what he had told Noire to do back in Lastation when she was faking being amnesiac, Nico internally sighed to himself at having to finally practice what he preached. He should do that more often, now that he thought about it.

"By the way, seeing as we met next to a bookstore I take it you prefer to read books as a hobby?" Nico dared to ask to try to disperse this tension. Thinking about it, if its own CPU enjoyed books then it'd be a boon for the massive book market since it'd be like it had the seal of approval from one of the most significant of figures. It was a remnant of what had once been a part of Lowee's culture.

Briefly clenching her fists before he could notice, White Heart clenched her teeth to suppress her urge to snap at the honest question. That wasn't what she had expected to hear from him but it wasn't a nasty-sounding question she figured after analyzing it for any hidden meanings, finding none. "Yes, I do. More than that, I write books myself," she explained, though internally she wondered why the hell she made that last admission. Maybe she got ahead of herself when her favourite hobby was brought up.

"I see… that makes a lot of sense…" Nico mused, having once heard how there had been a few writer's competitions lately which had official support from the CPU herself. He did get why though, an activity that required creative thinking would be a great outlet for the people who wanted something to focus on during these hectic times.

Apparently having read his thoughts seemingly, Blanc rolled her eyes at him after facing forwards. "It's always all the dark shit with you, isn't it?" she questioned scathingly, her tone harshly hissing at him which initially caused the redhead to tense up at the thought of having irked her somehow, but with how she didn't continue onwards he took a chance to continue.

"To be honest, darkness follows me whether I want it to or not. Kinda like a cloak that one can't get off no matter how hard they try…" Nico remarked with a bitter chuckle as many memories of his time as the guild's watchdog came to mind, having been sent on countless missions to catch some of the scummiest people on the planet and being given free rein to rip them apart as he saw fit. "At this point, it's something I've come to accept for better or worse."

This almost philosophical answer actually caught the brunette's attention, the woman now glancing behind her at him while slowing her priorly brisk pace so they were closer to walking side by side. She even temporarily forgot about her pain at the prospect of an intelligent conversation, something that reminded her of the many debates she had with fellow authors on various topics. She also forgot to scold herself for snapping in an un-goddess-like manner. "You sound less like a soldier and more like a philosopher," she commented dryly, though with less edge to her voice.

A fact which the redhead quickly picked up on with his senses, telling him he'd the right call with his questioning. Mentally patting himself on the back, the male hummed in acknowledgement of her statement. "Philosophy's more important to living life than one might suspect. Just look at the various philosophers that have existed in history." Nico explained, thinking back to a few he had read about. "Their philosophies and ideals influence world leaders even today let alone the average citizen. Those who exist without ideals of their own are no better than cattle or snowflakes. They simply exist without any meaning or purpose beyond yapping about the latest trends and then forgetting them days later. Honestly, that sounds which are worse than any death in this world called Gamindustri."

"Makes sense." White Heart admitted to herself, more than that than to the redhead. She herself had read the books and works of many philosophers in her research for writing her novels, something which had introduced her to countless ways of thinking and how her advisors also did so whenever they sought guidance from past thinkers.

"Though I think it also helped me understand leadership better too, Lady White Heart."

"Hm? How so?"

Having caught the brunette's attention again, Nico smirked to himself when he pocketed his hands within his coat and looked up to the skies above. "Honestly, I'm still of the opinion that I'm not leadership material, but now when I say that I mean like someone like you who has an entire nation on her shoulders, thus has to distrust anyone who says they want to help them." he elaborated, to which White Heart briefly tensed with a look similar to a child caught doing something naughty by their parents. That statement told her that he did indeed understand what she had been doing and why she viewed him the way he did, making her realize that perhaps he had known more than he let on.

She… wasn't sure what to feel on that one either, she thought she would have felt fury at the insinuation that this damn DPU knew what she was thinking, but… instead, there was this rare moment of still tranquillity in her mind. Something she hadn't felt in a long ass time.

"But now? Leading the Tekkadan changed things for me…" Nico admitted, bringing her attention back to him once again. "Before I didn't see myself as the compassionate sort and still don't, but leading a small force like the Tekkadan feels more up my alley, more familiar. Maybe that's why they still follow me despite their knowledge of my flaws as a leader."

Turning to the side, the brown-haired CPU crossed her arms under her non-existent chest area. "Hmph, leading them can't be that different, they've become so much larger recently." White Heart remarked with a scoff. She honestly held no such animosity towards the Tekkadan, she did initially but seeing how well they've been fighting for Lowee made her reconsider her stance on them, even when the few disagreements broke out between them and her guards.

But leading them being different from a country? She would call bullshit on that.

"It is," Nico repeated, the two now walking side by side in an almost symbolic manner with how their conversation was breaking the walls between them ever so slowly. "Talking to them's easier since we're all united under the single desire to survive. A whole country's far more complex and while I don't consider myself inept in the political sphere it's by no means my speciality. And despite me being a bad leader I must be doing something right."

Why was he telling her this? White Heart initially wondered about this until she remembered something, that he was someone trying to find some common ground between them. It was apparent through the way he handled himself without hiding anything and his prior statement indicated that he wasn't inexperienced in the ways of politics either. Then again, when she heard him talk about leadership problems, maybe the reason why she had snapped the way she did had been due to seeing herself in the boy.

He had flaws as a leader? So did she.

This guy felt like he didn't have the stones to lead a whole country. She felt the same, especially with her recent blunders.

"...You definitely are from what I've seen." White Heart admitted without even realizing it, catching the male by surprise (which she internally admitted to finding amusement in) as she glanced at a dwarf and a guard walking past them, the two giving them polite greetings along the way. There wasn't much animosity between the two that could be seen, and that only served to reinforce her point. "You consider yourself a flawed leader? Everyone's like that, it's just some leaders are more popular than others with their decisions and ideals. It probably helps that you haven't been lying to them this whole time, unlike the majority of these political leaders…" she elaborated, though she trailed off at the end there when she realized something, that despite her aversion to him because of his race, this guy had a better standing with his comrades than a lot of politicians these days. It reminded her of when each Goddess founded their own nations when their upper brasses each worked unanimously for their nations' betterments.

In a stroke of switcheroo, Nico huffed as he glanced to the side thinking about how the politicians of each nation were in current times. Even with his shift in perspective, this was still an undeniable fact. "True that." He could only this carnage and suffering would jumpstart the idea that working together may be their sole remaining tool for surviving but Nico wouldn't hold his breath. "By the way, what do you think of me as a leader?"

"Huh?" White Heat blinked as she heard the question, though it took longer for her to properly process it. When she did so and wondered why he would ask her that, the brunette instead found her thoughts going back to reports on the Tekkadan's state. Thus, her answer came before she even realized it. "Politically, you have ways to improve." she started, her eyes slightly glazed over as she slowed her stride prompting Nico to do the same, his eyes dead set on her in intrigue. "You are too cautious when dealing with other leaders, I'd say, constantly trying to push them away will only alienate you in the long run. Then you claim you are better than them just because your style is different. Don't do that, that just paints a target onto your back especially when politicians start thinking you are a threat to them. Plus in Lowee's situation we can't afford excess deaths, so only insulting and potentially killing politicians is something only done after careful consideration and replacement preparations." Rimuto was an exception due to his traitorous actions, but she knew that the redhead held no love for nobles or politicians. Personally, she didn't either, but personal feelings can be damaging in the political sphere, she'd learned that first hand.

'Hmmm…' Nico thought, pondering this info while clutching his chin in thought. As he expected there were things he could do to improve himself, and a lot of them seem to come from a diplomatic side of things. Though he cared little for such people who hardly fight and have others do the dirty work for them if they were less likely to try anything funny with his comrades that'll only benefit them in the long run. It also wasn't like he had to proclaim his hate publically since everyone and their mother knew how he felt about those wimps. "So better diplomacy, then…" he mumbled.

Blanc nodded her head, watching the way his eyes shimmered and glinted. It didn't take a scientist to figure out what the guy was thinking, personally, she probably had similar views about politicians in that they were hardly worth the trouble they cause a lot of the time. But in the end, politics was like that annoying older brother in the house, they were a burden but were also still family. Politics were a bitch but still necessary.

Yet in spite of this…

"Though what you're already doing well is being a figure people will support." White Heart added, catching his attention as Nico stared at her with mild intrigue. Now, this wasn't so easy to admit compared to addressing his flaws, because these traits weren't ones she herself embodied and that irked her, especially when she wasn't completely at fault. "People like those who they agree with and while politically you are relatively unknown, your constant military victories, lack of scandals, your growth as a competent leader, fearlessness when charging into battle, and more grounded approach to problems with your subordinates has led to many who support you, even some humans will take to believing in you, worshipping the ground you walk on like you were a god… though that is what you are."

Nico rolled his eyes at the last part, the notion of him being some divine entity sounding like a fool's fantasy. "No way am I a god, I'm closer to a Demon or a beast than anything," he commented, something which the brunette could see if she were honest. But that wasn't the point she was trying to make.

So she reiterated it. "My POINT…" she began, narrowing her eyes at him in a way that told the male to wisely shut up and let her finish lest she shoves her foot up his ass. "Is that you will be seen as one by the masses who have no faith or those who believe you to be a better alternative to the current order…" she explained, mumbling something under her breath that she hoped he didn't hear. Shaking her head to return to reality, White Heart once more tried to address the male. "Surprised you asked for my opinion instead of those floosies who would ignore your faults in light of your so-called 'greatness'."

Internally bristling at the way White Heart had referred to his comrades, Nico nonetheless refrained from commenting on it seeing as it could ruin his plan. Though perhaps he could add some vindication to the events to come, it'd be most satisfying. Keeping his thoughts to himself, the redhead merely shrugged his shoulders while commenting on the following. "Figured it'd be something to help you see I'm somewhat different from those two DPUs. Oh, I should also mention those two are also disciples of a third, goes by the name Mundus and he's WAY worse than the two of them combined."

White Heart snarled both at the information and the fact that she'd been right about him knowing more about those two DPUs than she did. "Figures."

"Also, perhaps we're not really strangers at all," Nico added, getting her to look at him to see how he had a pondering look on his face. "As long as there's common ground, cooperation seems to be possible even amongst strangers, and let's be real we've both gone through the same troubles on this continent and albeit for different reasons those two DPUs want our heads, so that's some common ground for us."

At this, White Heart reluctantly conceded to his point. Neither of them was strangers or even just ordinary acquaintances, not with what they'd collectively gone through on their respective battlefields. She also agreed with him on the fact that those two assholes wanted their heads on sticks since she'd read the report he had submitted about their trip to destroying the isolation barrier and ending the youma scourge.

Before the two could continue with their conversation White Heart's gaze zeroed in on another bookstore coming up to their left. Something which quickly roused her interest as she recalled this one having some new books in stock thanks to the re-established trade routes between Lowee and the other Nations. Wordlessly, the redhead followed her into the bookstore, silently contemplating visiting more bookstores to keep her mind occupied so she didn't think too much about her condition, something which would also buy him the time he needed.

Entering the store, a loud boisterous clerk greeted them. "Ah, welcome back lady White Heart!" he proclaimed with a burst of laughter that came straight from his stomach. He looked to be a bald man with a star-shaped moustache and slightly glowing purple eyes, something which had gotten more common in Lowee's residents due to their exposure to all this Chaos stuff. It was a… lesser mutation one could say. "You here to browse our wares?"

"That's right, Kousuke. I remember hearing that new books arrived from Lastation." White Heart replied with a slight smile.

The clerk known as Kousuke nodded with a toothy grin, glancing over to the brunette's escort his eyes twinkling in recognition. "Ah, welcome to you too Nico good sir.!" he bellowed heartily, much to the said agent's surprise.

"You know me?" Nico questioned, disbelieving.

Kousuke nodded his grin never fading. "Of course! Your recent exploits aside, you've become quite the name since your helping of ol' Theta with the Coalition. For good or ill, you did Lowee a solid that time." he explained, once again surprising the male with how he had apparently been amassing a reputation he didn't even know about. Though he had mixed feelings on this one considering how he'd been in the past, something his complicated expression conveyed clearly enough.

Nevertheless, the clerk appeared to know when to change the subject, as he glanced back to his patron CPU. "Thanks to the Tekkadan boys alongside the resistance, their efforts allowed my shipping routes to be reopened. Got a fresh new batch of stock from Lastation, I did."

'Noire must approve of that.'

'Indeed…'

"You must read often if you apparently come here a lot, lady White Heart." Nico mused watching the brunette closely.

Before she could respond to this statement, Kousuke beat her to it. "Heh, that's an understatement sonny. Little ladies read every book in the stores across Easton Point." he proclaimed, watching proudly as Nico glanced at the Goddess with a look of amazement. He practically ignored the look of murder on the said Goddess' face alongside the clerk whilst she muttered something inaudible… her look not helped by the red hue of embarrassment on her cheeks. Though the clerk laughed merrily regardless.

While the CPU decided to retreat to fight again another day, knowing that the asshole could kick her ass easily in her current state, Nico watched her as a thought crossed the mind that made him perk up. 'Hmmm… that could be interesting…' he thought now looking forwards to this visit being concluded.

---

Once Blanc had rented out the newest books and had them delivered to the Basilicom, a perk of being a CPU one could say Nico and Blanc stood outside the store. The books would be delivered to her residence in due time, leaving them free to conduct more business.

Business the redhead intended to conclude by the time the sun would set.

Glancing around, Nico noted the lack of people within their imminent vicinity, his senses corresponding with this sentiment. 'Is everything ready? Should we begin now?' he questioned his demon persona.

'Yes, it is time.'

With Biko's confirmation, the redhead shifted his attention to the brunette still immersed in a book she had bought. This resulted in a sharp decrease in negative emotions, though he decided to enact his plan for the future. "You got any plans before returning home?" he questioned slowly.

Apparently happy enough to not notice the tone in his voice, White Heart glanced back at him with a slight shake of her head. "No I do not, DEATHSTROKE," she replied, though the more she looked at him the more her prior reasoning came back and suspicion followed suit.

Briefly glancing at her book, Nico mentally prepared himself for the upcoming commotion. 'Here goes nothing…' he thought before giving her a statement as blunt as the hammer she wielded. "As good as it is to see you are faring well, those books won't help the underlying problem," he told her, closing his eyes and engaging his DDD seconds later to cut off any response she had prepared.

The CPU briefly blanched at his words, her expression that of alarm before she used her book to shield her face from the heat those black flames generated when they surrounded their master. She even transformed into her HDD form upon sensing a surge of demonic power in the atmosphere that reminded her of her fall to those two damn DPUs back in NINTENDO.

Lowering her arms, the now transformed blunette glowered at the asshole with her book having been put in her inventory mid-transformation. She would have started surging through multiple curses that her foul mouth possessed, something which would have been fouler than Nurgle's toxins.

But before she could do so the black flames receded, the newly-revealed Crimson Soul unfurled his flaming wings while crossing his arms beneath his chest, his tail swishing behind him. "FOLLOW me." He started using that multi-voice of his,, flapping his wings to take to the skies. His form literally became a flaming comet, shooting off to the distance to the east with a single streak of energy trailing behind him.

Utter annoyance and anger fuelled her when she saw this, White Heart taking to the skies herself and following the trail to catch up to the DPU. Utter fury filled her being at how he had not only reminded her of her failure by transforming, but also doing so in the middle of Easton Point. She may not have seen those two transform but the CPU had sensed an ENORMOUS power within that transformation. Power great enough to potentially vaporize the entire Loweean continent if it got out of control. That and she felt now more than justified for distrusting him like the rest of his kind.

'Damn bastard how the fuck dare he risk everyone's lives here!' she screeched like a banshee internally, all sorts of thoughts promising bloodlust flowing through her mind and somehow the voices and the demonic, insidious archaic chanting seemed to be in support of this. But right now she just couldn't give a shit about that right now, all she cared for was to beat the ever-loving shit out of that DPU shithead.

Fortunately for her, White Heart managed to close the distance between them while flying above it, parallel to the male in question. Why she had been able to catch up with him at all when those two in human form had outclassed her in speed didn't really register in her mind as she reared her axe back in preparation to strike him down.

Right when she had been about to swing through…

An abrupt shift in direction came when Crimson Soul jerked downwards, descending towards a large snowy plain oddly reminiscent of the one that IF and Cecil had once trained in. This also caused White Heart to miss her swing and nearly knock herself off balance had she not used the momentum of her swing to regain herself. 'Huh? What in the actual fuck?' she wondered, briefly shocked at the happening before her anger took over once more, steering her down towards the ground after Crimson Soul.

The said DPU crashed onto the ground in a kneeling position like a knight, his wings unfurled and spread outwards. But instead of curling in like a bird's would when not in use they reformed into a large shell, blocking the overhead strike from White Heart's axe.

BOOM!

CRUMBLE-CRUMBLE-CRUMBLE!

Immediately Crimson Soul's legs trembled from the wake… but only slightly. Whereas the ground beneath him wasn't so lucky. Instead, it formed a massive indentation with cracks spreading forth from his feet out to the rest of the snowy plain.

'Hmph, despite her weakened state her power level's commendable… somewhat.' the DPU thought while staring flatly at the ground. Compared to the poor ground the male himself hardly felt the blow land on him, a testament to how weakened the CPU had become. 'Time is of the essence, then. I'll have to pull no punches here.'

'Do so with mainly DPU abilities, including ones you don't use that often. That'll hammer the point home harder for her.'

'Agreed.'

Morphing his wings into a single long arm tipped with a massive hand, Crimson Soul grabbed onto the weapon's shaft and used it to toss White Heart to the side. The said CPU flipped several times through the air, righting herself before she slammed all four limbs into the ground to halt herself. Once she did stop, White Heart reasserted herself into her usual hovering stance while holding her Axe in two tightly clenched hands.

Having regained his own floating posture with his wings back to normal, Crimson Soul turned to face his opponent with his Soul Edge manifesting itself into his right hand. "FIGHT me, White HEART. We are FAR enough from any means of CIVILISATION, nobody will DIE in the crossfire." He declared, pointing the blade at White Heart whilst its beady-slitted eye narrowed itself at her.

Said CPU narrowed her eyes as she expanded her senses, finding that he wasn't lying to her when he mentioned their lack of potential victims. In fact, there was at least an 8 hours driving distance from the closest town, meaning they were truly isolated from any form of civilization. As much as she worried like fuck about her people now that she wasn't there to protect her, something which wasn't helped by her lack of trust in those other CPUs or their companions, White Heartfelt more relieved than angry at there not being any potential for needless casualties. Why the hell did this guy even do this, she wasn't sure but White Heart wasn't going to look one of those gift horses in the mouth.

"Well, thanks for that I guess…" she admitted, but she still had some grievances that she wanted to smash onto this fucker. Something which she quickly started doing. "That still doesn't mean I'm not pissed at you for transforming in the middle of town! Your way more destructive than a Goddess so how the fuck dare you to do so when you could have destroyed my entire people you asshat!"

"Understandable, but UNNECESSARY. That would NOT have HAPPENED. I would NOT will it. To ME, killing is NOW a CHOICE. If I wish to KILL, I will. If I do NOT, then I won't." Crimson Soul replied evenly. As someone who knew fine well how destructive his power was, he had ample experience in containing the power surge within himself whenever he transformed even before he first entered his multi-continent class. Post that transition his power had indeed gotten larger and harder to contain, adding further necessity to train in its handling. He wasn't willing to destroy his surroundings whenever he transformed, that was stupid. "NOW… don't BLINK. Not EVEN for a SECOND. You MAY miss MY next attack."

FWOOM!

Warping forwards, Crimson Soul instantly appeared before his opponent with a wide-angled, diagonal swing being launched at her. White Heart's eyes widened considerably at the speed he demonstrated and quickly raised her Axe in the direction his monstrous-looking blade descended from.

BOOM!

In an instant a tower of black Hellfire roared to life as it shot up to the skies like an atomic bomb explosion, searing the very heavens themselves and burning away all the snow land beneath it and in its vicinity. The tower kept persisting in the atmosphere as well due to how much power had been concentrated with the sheer heat making the surrounding wilderness start catching fire as well. Upon contact with the searing heat, the snow blow melted into a liquid-like form and then evaporated into vapour just as quickly, creating a mist-like effect that blanketed the entire plain.

Shooting herself out of the hellfire inferno, White Heart growled at herself while monitoring her condition. Half her entire body had been scorched like wood after being used for campfires, sending horrid aches and pains throughout her body which caused her to grit her teeth to bear it all.

Still…

'Shit, that thing is fucking HUGE!' She screamed internally, watching what she could only describe as a natural disaster roaring up to the heavens showing no signs of abating any time soon. 'That thing covers the entire freaking plain! There's even heat being directed towards the surroundings on what I can only guess is a several hundred-mile distances in every fucking direction!' She had long since been made aware that she hadn't seen a DPU's full power, those two had made that perfectly clear. But this? Neither of them EVER showed this level of destructive capability.

Just how much did those two hold back?

"There are MULTIPLE classes for DPUs, White Heart…"

"?!"

White Heart's eyes shrunk in size upon hearing Crimson Soul's voice behind her, forcing the woman to glance in that direction. Her eyes shrunk even further when seeing the male's sword having already been raised and that she had been flying straight towards him.

"These CLASSES are MEASURED by our destructive ABILITY. Continent CLASS, the WEAKEST is capable of reducing CONTINENTS to DUST at FULL power, whereas the CHAOS class is a world DESTROYER. I MYSELF…"

SWING!

BOOM!

"... Am MULTI-continent CLASS."

In an instant that his blade started swinging, White Heart reflexively raised her axe right at the last second. Conveniently the blade had also engulfed itself in Hellfire at the point of impact, causing yet another eruption to envelop the Goddess. This one wasn't NEARLY as large, enough to only envelop a single-story building, but nonetheless, it sent the Goddess shooting towards the ground below and created a long, large dust cloud from the impact.

The long trail ended at about 30 football fields worth of distance, something which made the DPU's glowing eyes flash as he held Soul Edge above his head. 'Biko mentioned using lesser used DPU abilities, so maybe I'll stick to my Hellfire since I hardly use it much…' the male thought while holding Soul Edge diagonally by his side. Using his free hand, the male held it up to the air above his head… and in the following seconds, HUNDREDS of fireballs the size of the second hellfire eruption manifested into existence above him. They all practically covered the skies like they were stars within outer space, snuffing out the persisting prior eruptions with their combined heat alongside the vapour and anything else not nailed down.

Thus, the previously hidden White Heart paled at the sight of so many fireballs.

"A DPU has MANY racial ABILITIES, White Heart, these ABILITIES develop over TIME like OFFSHOOTS. The basic FORMULA appears to be an ELEMENT, and SEVERAL other POWERS that AFFORD them GREAT, DESTRUCTIVE potential, such as this TRANSFORMATION I myself UNDERGO. A TRANSFORMATION which EVOLVES the STRONGER we BECOME."

Without any warning nor mercy, the DPU coldly threw his free hand down, allowing the fireball shower to cascade towards the ground where White Heart lay. On his other hand, Soul Edge's eye widened till it could be described as bulging as a faint crimson glow flashed atop each fireball… causing each one to shift its direction to the imminent vicinity of the CPU on the ground.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Now… instead of the countless smaller explosions that could have wiped out small towns like Easton point, Crimson Soul watched the moment the blue-haired CPU readied her axe by holding it by its rear end, her eyes glinting with surging malice and determination like a bonfire in the middle of the night on a camping trip. "fuck you, asshole ZESTORUNG BARRAGE!" She shouted right as she launched her own counterattack in the form of…

Batting each fireball away from her land as twisted and corrupted as it was, towards the DPU who had launched them.

'Hmph, so she finally counters after being a little wimp for the initial stages…' Crimson Soul thought with the faintest upturning of his lips and their corners as he readied Soul Edge… whose form engulfed itself in hellfire once more before he proceeded to start swinging like he was using his QUICKSWORD technique in combination with the VIPERSWORD. Each swing cut through the fireballs right down to their cores upon collision with his infernal blade, causing them to dissipate into harmless embers behind him… which unbeknownst to White Heart had been his ideal goal for this part of their little skirmish.

By the time the fireballs had been extinguished by his blade, Crimson Soul narrowed his eyes when he saw White Heart already halfway on her journey to close the distance between them. The male responded by speaking once more whilst raising his sword and transforming it into its axe form, twirling it in one hand before gripping its shaft firmly in preparation.

"In ADDITION to our BASE abilities…"

SWING-CLANG!

Both parties swung at one another the moment they were in one another's range, White Heart going for an overhead smash while Crimson Soul went for an underhanded swing upwards causing the two weapons to meet in the middle. The moment they did two surges of bluish-white share energy and the black and red demonic power erupted out on both sides of the battlefield, enveloping their users.

Breaking apart seconds later to disperse their respective energies, they clashed once more through a pair of horizontal swings, each fighter striking from opposing sides to one another, their blades sliding along one another's edged during the brief collision between them. Several more strikes that followed this path concurred between them with White heart briefly pushing her opponent back, though that ground soon got retaken and before long it was Crimson Soul who pushed her back… without losing the ground he'd gained.

"DPUs also GAIN a PLETHORA of ABILITIES and TECHNIQUES honed throughout COUNTLESS battles against a PLETHORA of FOES… instead of THREE of the SAME foe across a POINTLESS war."

"Shut yer hole!" obviously not a fan of being lectured especially by someone who had resembled her prior foes, White Heart launched a straight kick to the gut which landed, pushing her foe back. She then went for another ZESTORUNG attack aiming to slice the asshole in half, uncaring for any kind of healing ability nor without anything held back. All she currently focused on in her crimson vision was the single desire to put some blood on this DPU.

She also didn't need to have this guy tell her how bad her mistakes had been cause she'd known FINE well, having been tormented by it thanks to whatever those two DELIGHTED doing to her.

Once more breaking away from his opponent, Crimson Soul shifted Soul edge into its Cleaver form and imbued it with his Hellfire, resizing his wings into a pair of large hands that slammed into White heart, knocking her back before he raised his cleaver and swung, launching an ATOMIC INFERNO at the CPU who quickly turned into a blur of motion in order to slice through the many homing rays that slammed against her defences.

Sadly, however, some of them were able to break through and sash into her back, causing the goddess to sneer and grit her teeth at the damage she felt both externally and internally when the flames seeped into openings in her skin and burned through her insides. Nevertheless, she didn't let that stop her and instead charged forth toward the male…

Who had restored Soul Edge to its base sword form in preparation for a thrust considering his current stance… but what REALLY caught her attention was the way his sword arm looked to somehow have coiled in on itself like some kind of spring. Immediately her mind's alarm bells rung at the sight causing her to alter her flight path upwards, shooting to the skies above the DPU right when he allowed his arm to thrust forwards, taking him along for the ride as his form turned into that of hellfire…

His attack slammed into the ground below and spread forth into a long line in the distance, creating a long wall matching the size of his first attack.

'What the actual fuck…?'

Seeing this sight filled the blunette with dread, the same dread she had felt the moment she had been defeated by those two. Just how the fuck were these DPUs so freaking OP?! Were they the manifestations of every dude's isekai power fantasy or something, was that why they seemed to be able to beat practically anything in their way like whacking a golf ball away from them with a club?!

"My kind, BUILT for BATTLE… has MANY traits to help us THRIVE on any FIELD…"

"?!"

White Heart's now fearful eyes shrunk further when she heard a familiar multi-vocalled voice speaking directly to her ear in some sort of seductive whisper. She slowly glanced behind her to see the DPU himself with his Soul Edge now in its Bow form with its arrow already ignited in Hellfire. The CPU knew at that moment she had only a split second to make a decision on how to avoid this fucker, so she just as quickly dropped downwards like she had jumped off a helicopter which had been in flight.

Good thing she did, because she had JUST BARELY avoided an arrow round that hit the ground below and caused an explosion large enough to envelop a multi-story building. Furthermore, she didn't notice earlier but White Heart sensed something of a distant explosion down beneath her feet which had implications she did NOT appreciate. 'Shit, did he shoot through the whole continent or some shit?!' she wondered, though what that answer was… she didn't know if she wanted that knowledge or not. Nonetheless, thinking about it that was the optimal answer to her question…

Which only scared her more.

After planting all fours onto the ground, the Goddess slowly got to her feet while sensing her opponent descending downwards to her. She looked up with anger as she watched Crimson Soul hover in place, arms outstretched while his Soul Edge hovered in place behind him.

"Do YOU see, GODDESS? This IS what a DPU is!" Crimson Soul bellowed, spreading his arms out like that one guy who got crucified on a cross like he were some kind of holy saint or something. Around him, entire PILLARS of hellfire generated themselves into existence around him as well as the plain itself, and though she may not have seen it, many more could be seen generated across the entirety of the Loweean continent, spreading long fireballs and homing rays to specific areas across the continent. Their creator's eyes shone brightly like searchlights, illuminating the shadows cast upon him by the light from his demonic-looking, overflowing aura. "A DPU is MIGHT incarnate! The WEAKEST of US make entire CONTINENTS tremble in FEAR! Entire PLANETS fall before OUR kind at our PEAK! DPUs are what a GODDESS fails to BE, true LIVING gods! COUNTLESS species FALL beneath our BLADES, entire CIVILISATIONS are WIPED from EXISTENCE! This is the ENEMY you FACE, White Heart! This is the POWER of a DPU who does NOT hold BACK!"

The spectacle before her, combined with the energy she could feel in the air sent White Heart into a state of sweating like she were in a shower, her brows raised as her teeth clenched in rage…. As well as fear and downright traumatic terror. Her eyes, smaller than a dot, shook violently at the sheer MONSTROSITY before her, this THING which did not exist in the natural order and shouldn't have ever existed in the first place.

No that wasn't quite right, this wasn't a monster, demon or anything like that.

It was a wall. A solidly erected wall and an obstacle that had been erected in front of her barred White Heart's way to regaining her nation from Tzeentch's clutches. It had been erected in front of her not only by her enemies but also by the past mistakes she'd made that now had come back to haunt her and haunt her in a big way. Everything about it had been something she had contributed to making for over hundreds of years fighting a war that let humanity stew in its resentment and its own self-destructive tendencies, something she'd seen due to reading up on all the history that had taken place since the Console Wars began.

If she couldn't get over this wall and continue her journey, she would have zero chance of retaking Lowee from chaos.

That… couldn't be allowed to happen. No matter the fuck WHAT stood in her way.

Gritting her teeth and steeling her resolve, White Heart stood tall and resumed her hovering position, gripping her axe as firmly as she could. She briefly winced when she felt a surge of numbness assault her being, her strength briefly vanishing from her hands before it returned, though the alarm bells had already been raised. By her mental calculation, she would lose consciousness in about 5 minutes due to her weakened state, so by then, she would have to defeat this DPU and return home to the resistance, specifically her quarters where she'd likely be out for at least the rest of the following day.

While she had been preoccupied with psyching herself up, White Heart failed to notice the look of approval in the DPU's eyes.

In the end though…

STAB!

… it turned out future fighting got halted when a massive flaming sword made from pure crimson-coloured flames, as tall as a skyscraper, smashed into the ground between the two combatants.

"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL?!" A rightfully stunned White Heart shrieked while hovering backwards from the blade. Not to mention how it radiated a demonic power that DWARFED her own even when she had been at her peak. "WHO THE FUCK-THERE'S MORE OF YOU?!" She cried when looking to where the blade had come from, only to see a Nico wearing a crimson long coat split into three tails and a hood, leering down at her with two glowing eyes shrouded by the shadows his hood generated over his head. The only reason she knew it was another Nico were the tufts of red hair that she had seen, not to mention the similarities between their energy signatures.

Ignoring the looks directed at him, the red-coated Nico slowly descended towards the DPU whilst pocketing his hands in his pockets, and when the two were floating opposite one another the redhead merely held out his hand. The moment he did, a brief flame lit up in the space above his palm, vanishing in the next second to reveal a set of books, tomes as thick as a dictionary to be more precise. The red-coated Nico held them out towards Crimson Soul who accepted them into his free hand, prompting the redhead to then shoot back up into the air and dash off like a comet falling from the heavens above.

The whole thing didn't last that long and it threw White Heart for a loop, taking the wind out of her sails as it were to the point she just wondered what the hell had just gone down.

Things only got even MORE puzzling for her when she saw Hellfire wrap around the male and return him to his human 'Nico' form, holding the tomes in his hand and wincing at how large they were. He seemed to mutter something under her breath, before looking back to the blunette with an arched brow at her expression. "What? Cat got your tongue or something?" he wondered, tilting his head in her direction.

CATCH!

Briefly feeling her anger return to her, thinking that the male wasn't taking her seriously anymore, White Heart roared as she dashed forwards like a human bullet, striking at his head with her axe. However, to her shock and dismay (and more than a little humiliation) he simply reached out to catch the axe in his free hand, the same one that had once held Soul Edge in its grasp.

"Alright, I know what I wanted to know about you, Lady White Heart," he commented, furrowing his brow after lightly tossing the Axe away from him and knocking the Goddess back. He could tell that she wouldn't attack him again thanks to having shocked the will to fight out her. "Seems that you've been having sleeping problems and likely some kind of halluinationary stuff going on, as evident by the cosmetics that you try to apply to hide them. You've sometimes had moments where your focus drops out of nowhere, your behaviour and attitude are prone to bouts of madness for seemingly no reason whatsoever, leading to tendencies akin to more like those of a tyrant."

Now, THIS snapped the blunette out of her state of shock, her face reddening in a desire to bash Nico's skull in. However not only did he hit the nail on the head but she had also been reminded of what he had just done to her axe, meaning that it'd be useless for her to rage against him since he would just be able to stop her in her tracks, both in human and in his other form. There's no way that he would tell her about that red-coated Nico either, which only further fuelled her frustration towards him.

"Now normally I'd not give a shit about problems concerning those who aren't my immediate comrades, but this time I'm making an exception. Though to be fair the best solution here is for you to solve the problem yourself, we both know you'd accept nothing less than you solving your own issues to validate yourself," he stated like he was reading a report to his boss… with his clothing somehow shifting into a corporate attire with a hat and a long coat.

It only befuddled the blunette even further.

His outfit returned to his normal one so fast that he didn't even realize he did, Nico skimmed through the contents of each book while allowing his Demon Persona to memorize their contents for later study/training. He knew Biko would reform the books in his inner world so they could have no more need for their original copies, so once they had all been translated Nico looked back to the woman he had just gotten done sparring with.

At that moment, the male tossed the books to the blunette who easily caught them in her arms, dropping her axe which vanished into pixels without its user sustaining it. "The fuck are these?"

"Instruction manuals and research into matters of the 'soul' itself," Nico answered causing White Heart to widen her eyes, realization dawning on her as to exactly what had been handed to her.

"You're not shitting me, are you…?"

Nico rolled his eyes at the insinuation, somewhat insulted that she would think he'd do that though this time he gave her a break since he DID just spar with her without her consent nor her permission. "Hardly. I know we just duked it out like a pair of drunkards in a bar, but cut me some slack here, lady," he stated, mentally chortling in amusement at the death glare she threw his way.

"Forgive me for being cautious of the asshole who transformed without cause or justification and then attacked me."

"Meh, I didn't want to destroy everything in sight so I didn't, plus you could handle it easily enough, your you after all." the male retorted with casual ease and a dismissive hand gesture, much to her shock. "A woman still fighting for her country like you even when her enemies have surrounded her wouldn't fall victim to anything less without giving it her all to stick it to those who wronged her," he stated further, now well and TRULY stunning her into silence.

Internally, the male cringed to himself when glancing at their surroundings. 'So, this is what it could be like if I completely let go of my power while transformed…' the male thought, recalling the countless big attacks and the scars he had left behind like a dad skipping out on his newly pregnant mistress after a one-night stand. Yeah, it was a good thing he'd prioritized learning how to control this power when it had evolved the way it had. Destroying continents just by getting excited in that form was usually only done in his inner world, something that wouldn't be a problem since he wasn't destroying anything that couldn't be fixed later. Out here? Whole different story and this had only been when he'd slightly LOOSENED his hold over himself.

Those two would no doubt have zero such limitations, nor would Mundus when they next met.

It only reinforced his desire to keep his power under control and to use it sparingly, not to mention it reminded him that the power classes that form stepped into weren't named the way they were for nothing.

Meanwhile, White Heart had been holding the books given to her in her hands, eyes almost twinkling with stars of disbelief at the sight of them. Immediately she could tell these weren't normal books, she could feel that in her bones, though that also meant they had content in them that she just wouldn't be able to find anywhere in her nation's archives. Nor anywhere on Gaminidustri she suspected which made her question where this ass had found these things… but did he say something about souls? Was her problem something to do with such an abstract, subjective concept? Normally, White Heart would have brushed off such superstitious rubbish, but seeing what she had forced her to rethink such an approach.

"Take your time with them, lady White Heart, just like not judging me by my race. Instead, judge me by my actions, they speak louder than words after all." the redhead stated to the blunette before he turned to leave, his coat fluttering in the breeze that he generated with his movements. "In the future, those DPUs will only make life harder for the two of us and who knows what else they have up their sleeves. What we DO know though, is that you have on your court a DPU of your own, so should you seek to learn more about our ways come and find me again. My blade will be itching for when next we cross swords." he told her, about to leave once more when he noticed her having returned to her human form, eyes closed as she slumped towards the ground, had he not caught her and the books in time princess style. "Yo, u good?"

"Too… weak… will… conk… out… soon…" the now brunette weakly responded to which the redhead snorted in annoyance, the severity of the situation dawning on him.

'Damnit, things must be worse than I thought if White Heart gets this weak after a battle…!' he cursed after a pang of guilt burst in his chest for letting this happen. Worse he should have foreseen this when he recalled how White Heart had vanished right after they had helped repel that invasion by Arfoire when she'd been suspiciously absent. He couldn't leave her here now after knowing this, he wouldn't be much of a man anymore. Gritting his teeth as he held her in his arms, her books now atop her stomach, Nico quickly summoned Soul Edge and allowed it to carry him into the air, to then launch them on their way back to Easton Point.

Despite her weakened state, White Heart still felt aware of her surroundings. Ordinarily, she would have tried brutalizing this pig for daring to touch her like this, but her weakened state prevented that possibility. Even as her eyes felt heavier with each passing second, the Lowee CPU could still retain some cognitive awareness, of which she put to immediate use.

What had all of this been for anyway? This guy comes along and takes her out here after potentially endangering everyone with his power, to then spar with her and now was carrying her back home? Asshole's trying to make her have a brain aneurysm trying to figure him out, she swore.

Nevertheless, it was also true that he apparently had control over his powers enough to ensure no civilians got destroyed when he transformed, something she'd sensed when she felt the process take place. Not only that but when they had been sparring this guy's been telling her things she had sort of already figured out from rummaging through her memories of her defeat by those two, only he had more info on it and even now had promised to be there to provide additional intel for her whenever she needed it.

In the end, only one conclusion made the most amount of sense as annoying as it seemed to be. That was that the redhead had noticed her problem a long time ago, but he also knew that she wouldn't accept any help from him or anyone when it was offered. It was especially so if it came from him: one of those monsters who ruined her nation forever. So instead of the traditional way, he had decided to show her what resources she actually had at her disposal WHILE providing her with what she could use to help her problem out till a more permanent solution came to pass. He essentially made it so she could keep what little dignity she had left while at the same time providing his own assistance in a unique way.

(Flashback)

"A woman still fighting for her country like you even when her enemies have surrounded her wouldn't fall victim to anything less without giving it her all to stick it to those who wronged her."

(Flashback END)

Once more, those words rang through her mind giving White Heart a clear picture of what the male had been intending all this time. He had wanted to help but did so in a way that preserved her pride, giving her the chance to achieve results on her own power instead of making her feel more like a damsel in distress than the leader she was meant to be.

How insightful…

'Maybe that brat Neptune… and thunder tits… and the rest weren't that far off about this guy… maybe this is… what they saw in him… I'll let him call me Blanc from now on…'

With that thought in mind, White Heart now named Blanc finally allowed unconsciousness to take her, to trap her within it's embrace… though she found it to be much warmer than usual.

---

While the two deities had their little spat and resolved things…

"Haaaahhhh….."

A certain group of girls (Neptune, Noire, IF, Compa, Vert, Raven, Lucy currently sat together within one of Easton Point's recently established restaurants which had been built by foreign investment. It had been Noire's idea to do this and invest in Easton Point's infrastructure to make it more of a tourist attraction later down the line, though for now most investments came in the form of military equipment, mercenary recruitment and supply chains. Things had been going well on that front and while the Lastation CPU had intended to continue such talks personally she'd been dragged out of the office to this little meeting (one guess who) for a break.

Well… she guessed she'd made satisfactory progress so far…

Fortunately, they didn't have to worry about finances since they'd accumulated a sizeable amount of loweean currency by constantly working for Blanc's people, and since the nations, each had similar currencies in the form of credits it wasn't hard to convert funds acquired from other nations into lowee currency. They just had to pay attention to inflation, though considering the situation here that was likely the least of everybody's worries.

This and Demons weren't present in the girl's minds though, instead, they were too busy grilling Raven (who had dragged Lucy along for the ride) for details on the date she had with the redhead male.

"There is little to discuss." Unfortunately for them, Raven wasn't being too cooperative with spilling the goods to what she saw were a bunch of teenage high schoolers trying to get in on the latest gossip. Despite not being the most social of the group even she was familiar with girls teasing their friends after their first date.

Neptune who was spearheading the assault on the fortress that led team RAIL wasn't deterred evidenced by the troll face she had going on. "C'mon girl, at least tell us how the outfit worked out. Surely you knocked Nicky dead with that body of yours. You got it going on, girl, just like yours truly." Neptune remarked with a Cheshire cat grin.

"And unlike yourself, I do not need to show off every second of the day." Raven countered bluntly with the purplette slouching like she had been struck in the heart by an arrow with the kanji 'validation'. The black-haired woman did not feel the need to regal the details behind her date with the redhead male to everyone like it was some sort of prize, it wasn't like it was a commodity or anything like that. Though she had foreseen the way everyone was going to react to the fact that it had been a success and that she had now 'officially' joined their group.

Though if asked, Noire would still proclaim she was still in the position Raven had once been or even outright deny any insinuation whatsoever.

"Ouch, my vulnerable heart… you struck me in my own one weakness…"

"Ignoring Nep's melodrama for the moment…" IF mused, pointedly doing what she said when the former preteen gave her an accusatory look. "It's good to hear that you got your feelings sorted out Raven. Figured you'd have left them to fester and blow up further down the line. Believe me, sister, that'd be a spectacular disaster."

Raven glanced back to the brunette with a look that didn't have as much hostility to it compared to that which she addressed Neptune with. "Your concern is noted and appreciated, MAMMON. Nevertheless, it is unnecessary to worry about my prospects. Being team RAIL's leader means I must act decisively when the moment arises." she responded neutrally.

IF meanwhile nodded her head with a look that stated 'sure, you tell yourself that' which bled into her tone with the following words. "Sure, you tell yourself that. I may not know you as well as your team, but even I can see you have difficulties with emotions and acting on them, bet you that if Lucy hadn't intervened you'd still be in that rut of yours," she stated.

Initially glaring at the brunette who returned the stare with an even one of her own, Raven eventually relented after a few moments of tense staring between them. "...you may have a point, MAMMON."

"Also you can quit calling me by my codename, you know. We may not be close but we're not really strangers either."

"I maintain professionalism as much as possible, MAMMON. Additionally, if I do not, then the author will forget about the codenames assigned to the lot of us Spec Ops Agents."

Off to the side, Compa sweatdropped with a weak smile on her lips at the way the team leader seemed to pull a Neptune. She may not seem like it but perhaps Raven wasn't as sane as one might expect from her or something. 'Then again, sanity has long since left our little posse…' she thought in silent resignation, though if she were asked if she regretted such things then the nurse-in-training would say that sanity was for the weak anyways, and in their situation sanity had no place existing.

Deciding to take a shot at it herself, Lucy grinned as she teasingly slipped an arm around her leader while leaning close. She idly noted several stares coming their way from some of the guys in the restaurant, alongside a couple of girls too which made her wonder if poly relationships were on the rise in Lowee or something. She wouldn't be surprised if that was true. But back to their conversation. "But Ravey, it IS true that I'm the MVP in this scenario for bringing you two stubborn mules together, is it not? Both of you in fact are experts in waiting obscenely long ass time for any advancements."

Briefly glaring back at her for her comments, Raven nonetheless admitted to herself that the female redhead was once again right about this stuff, though she refused to say it out loud. Nico aside, she herself never allowed herself to feel these kinds of emotions due to seeing them in the same light as those clutzy school girls who have nothing better to do than idly gossip like a bunch of annoying harpies. So in terms of emotional matters, she may as well be a child, not like she would admit that to Lucy of all people though, knowing how she tended to be.

Nevertheless, due to knowing one another for so long, Lucy could see straight through the woman's silence, prompting her to grin like a cat catching a canary which got pointedly ignored.

"Well, I for one agree with my precious Iffy." Vert chimed in, clasping her hands together with a pleasant smile on her lips as everyone drew their gazes towards her. After taking a sip from her cup of tea, Vert placed it back on its teacup while keeping her opinions on it to herself knowing the circumstances around the bigger picture. "It is nice to see you were able to sort your feelings out, not many can claim the same, though compared to the outfit we chose for her that clothes are almost the main weapon for any woman."

Now THAT was truer than saying Spec Ops Agents were monstrous. It was a known fact that women had more of an arsenal clothing-wise than males do, their amount of clothing choices could rival the arsenal of entire militaries.

"Maybe, but guys' clothes are more practical." IF retorted as she thought back to some more masculine clothes she saw on her father and other guys she had worked with in the past. More than a few times she had found herself a bit jealous of men's clothing and for a time it had led to her tomboyish style. Though in current times she wasn't as jealous as she'd been in the past. "They've got insanely good pockets, it's almost a scam that makes you buy a handbag."

Compa hummed thoughtfully at this, thinking back to what she had seen from fellow students at her school before it had been shut down by the surge in Abnormals. From what she'd seen, women's clothes were meant to be more form-fitting than men's due to the latter being expected to work outside the home more than women's, so things like larger pockets were not considered when conceptualizing women's clothing. She had also heard that men generally were more conservative than women when it came to their dress code but despite the growing interest from men in their appearance, it's still a fact that everyone wants to dress well as it promotes a feeling of empowerment.

She knew for a FACT her Ni-Ni held his current dress code in high esteem.

It was then that Lucy chimed in on the situation as she leaned back and crossed her arms beneath her chest, crossing one leg over the other. "Women have used their clothing as weapons since the dawn of time let's be honest here, but more than that women use them for a variety of purposes," she explained rather seriously, something Raven herself noted as rather rare from her second in command. Though she soon retracted such statements when she saw the smile spreading across her face. "One of the funner ones is knocking our guys of choice dead with how good we look. Just like I'm sure how our good ol' Nicky-dear reacted when he saw what we picked out for her."

"Now that you mention it, why is it that you seem so fascinated with me 'knocking 'em dead' regarding DEATHSTROKE like what you are implying?" Raven questioned, arching a brow in Lucy's direction. Eyeing her comrade throughout this whole discussion, Raven managed to pick up signs that the woman had been planning something and she didn't like that she wasn't aware of this, hence why she decided to interrogate the woman. "Is there some kind of ulterior motive at play?"

Hearing the tone in Raven's voice, Lucy held her hands up in surrender. "Nothing so insidious, I assure you." she quipped playfully which didn't settle the black-haired warrior's nerves. Nevertheless, Lucy continued while addressing the entire group. "I'm just curious as to what kinds of fashion trends catch his attention is all. I've tried all sorts of revealing clothes even straight-up bikinis and it seems that while they do make him embarrassed, he quickly becomes immune to their charm. They don't have that OOMPH that indicates they're his favourite kind."

"Huh, I can see that." now recovered from her prior assault, Neptune bounced back into the conversation when she heard the woman's words, crossing her legs in the lotus position and placing her hands atop her ankles, leaning forward slightly like she was sitting in a gaming chair. "A few pranks involved me in some sexy ass clothes that show a lot of my angelic skin, but the dude doesn't seem as embarrassed compared to when we once dressed as maids for him," she remarked, thinking back to a prior time in Leanbox. Maybe their man had a maid fetish or something?

IF remembered that time as well, though she couldn't say for sure if afterwards, Nico had erased his memory of that event or not since during that time he hadn't been in the same state of mind he's in now where he'd reveal things he liked about the female form. "Maybe he likes more conservative clothing, or maybe he's into the more mature look since he's obviously a leg person…" she mused.

While all of this was going on, Noire herself stayed quiet and busied herself by sipping the coffee cup in her hands. She'd only been absentmindedly following the conversation and had been instead focusing on mentally reviewing the reports she had received about Lastation's current affairs while she had been away. 'So far things seem relatively stable, though Avenir's making some dodgy moves using the new Trade routes established with Lowee… but that can't be helped at this stage with the position they've secured themselves. Some are starting to wonder why I've been away for so long but that's pretty natural considering what had happened…' she thought to herself, but once she heard the discussion apparently shifting to a different topic, she paid extra close attention especially when she heard Nico's name being mentioned a lot. "Doesn't he like just well-dressed clothes?" she questioned, or rather she blurted that part out when she had meant to think it in her head.

A fact she quickly turned pink over when she saw everyone glancing over at her. "I-I mean-he just seems like the kind of guy who isn't into overly sluttty clothing, he's from leanbox originally right? Maybe he has some likes from the men there!" she tried to say, briefly recalling that men in Leanbox were well known for their tastes in classy clothing that didn't cover too little or were form-fitting. When she saw the trolling look on Neptune's face though, her defensive walls immediately rose up in preparation for combat as she glowered at the purplette. "Nope, not one word Neptune! I feel nothing for him!"

"Hey, I wasn't going to say anything…" the said Planeptune CPU started holding up her hands in a surrendering motion. Though that soon changed alongside the smirk that formed on her lips and the gremlin-like glint that shone in her eyes. "Though saying that does raise some interesting questions Noire…"

"I've nothing to hide!"

"Whose saying anything about hiding? I sure ain't, you know me Noire. I like to bear it all!"

"That's not something to joke about Neptune!"

While Neptune practically escorted Noire down a rabbit hole out of shits and giggles, everyone else sweat dropped for a bit before the blonde Leanbox CPU shifted her attention back to Raven. "If you don't mind me asking, Raven… what WAS the best part of the date in your eyes? Surely you can tell us that much at least."

"Battle." Raven immediately replied, both so that she could get these lot to shut up about things she didn't want to discuss as well as wanting to talk about something she DID have an interest in. "The spar we had at the end… I'll admit that it was the most liberating spar I enjoyed from him in a while." She explained, and while her expression remained the same the general air around her turned rather warm, memories of the spar playing through her mind. There had been many spars between Nico and them let alone herself, but something about this spar had felt different from the others and for a time Raven hadn't understood what it had been till recently. The difference had been that it had formed a new level of understanding between them, something that she felt less in prior matches which had been more for training and stress relieving purposes.

"Ahhhh, I see." the female redhead remarked while pulling back from her superior like she had all the answers she needed for every question she had in life. She honestly should have figured that Raven would find THAT part of the date most preferable, she wasn't like most women who enjoyed more cliche dating activities and the fact she had forgotten such a fact was a mistake on her part. But the answer itself didn't surprise her, she had known her superiors would have that kind of view.

Now that the topic had shifted towards the whole strength thing, Neptune pulled back from Noire who had looked like she wanted to pounce on her and wring her neck. She then sat down on her seat again, pulling one leg and curling it into her chest while wrapping an arm around it. "Yeah well, strength's just the new trend that's not going away any time soon. In fact, I heard it's become a new hobby for the kids these days to start practising throwing hands, honestly, it's kinda whacked," she remarked, thinking back to some things she had seen. In fact, it was turning into a more popular sport than even gaming, she'd played many online games during their journey across Gamindustri for those key fragments, and more than a few times she had been forced to wait for some time in gaming lobbies before players assembled. Neptune… honestly wasn't too sure how to feel about that. On one hand, she didn't like the lack of gaming buddies since everyone was going about their days training themselves like its the last day of their lives, on the other she could understand that people wanted to stand a fighting chance and thus were taking an almost Leanbox-style approach.

Speaking of leanbox, its CPU hmmed in thought as she crossed one leg over the other. "Sounds like our people are wising up to the fleeting illusion of safety provided by their families. It's only natural that they sense the dangers approaching us and thus try to protect themselves." Part of her did admit to being surprised by their lack of mass panic though, outside of Leanbox people who weren't under threat of invasion by abnormals led rather lavish lifestyles under watchful gazes belonging to their respective governments. Perhaps it was due to independent news outlets urging people after launching conspiracy theories to prepare themselves for the worst, hope for the best expect the worst and take what comes. Turning towards IF, the blonde woman hummed when she recalled something about her. "You've been training cute little Cecil haven't you, Iffy? How has that training been going for her?"

Upon the mention of the one girl not present in their little meeting, IF rolled her eyes and gave a small snort. "She's a training nut I tell you, when I'm not around she's either pushing herself to abysmally high heights to master her abilities or going on these huge questing marathons for the currency to send it back to her village in Leanbox. What little she keeps she either returns to Easton Point's economy, not to mention she's in love with the fashion trends me and Nico have going on, girl wants to one day copy us when she becomes and I quote a proper edgelord'." she explained, using quotation marks with her hands. "She's as bad as Nico in that regard."

Several chuckles left the other girls at the way the brunette BOW explained that titbit with exasperation, though the way she grinned behind one of her sleeves betrayed her true thoughts at the image of a female Nico learning from the original. Something IF knew Cecil would LOVE if it could happen though she knew that the redhead had a lot on his plate already.

"Ufufufufufu, we may think it much, but we all like him anyways," Lucy commented after a short bout of mirthful chuckling. She stretched her arms above her head, unintentionally pushing out her chest which caused several onlooking guys to fall back with nosebleeds, something she rolled her eyes in amusement at.

Now THAT they could agree with the redhead woman, the girl's thoughts each shifted to the male Spec Ops Agent who had managed to worm his way into their respective hearts.

Watching them all brought a small wave of confusion to Lastation's CPU who eyed each and every one of them. 'Now that I think about it, ever since the hot springs when we all heard his confession everyone seems to be quite chill with one another. Why is that?' she wondered, furrowing her brows at the sight until her curiosity couldn't be contained any longer. "Funny that you mentioned that, Lucy, I've been curious about something…" she began to say.

Only for a knowing look to cross onto Neptune's face which cut her off from continuing. "Why do we all agree to wait for Nicky at all instead of just searching for someone else?" she remarked though it sounded more like a statement, one which Lastation's CPU nodded her head slowly at. In the said Goddess's mind, Nico had been fully prepared to give up on them if they didn't want to be with him, even asking that they move on if they had felt he had kept them waiting too long. So what was their reason for them sticking around like this, especially those who had waited years for him to finally notice?

"Well, I think that those like Compa and myself are already self-explanatory but I'll just go ahead and say we're a bunch of persistent, stubborn ladies who don't know when to quit." Lucy started off, heaving a slight sigh as she thought back, closing her eyes as the memory of that day on the roof played through her mind. "In my eyes, Nicky-dear was one of the few who actually 'saw' me and not my body, though in all fairness not many would think that a slutty woman like myself had more to her than on the surface, forgetting that a slutty woman is still a woman and thus, their hearts are like oceans of secrets." she mused, Compa going ahead and agreeing with her mentor.

Perhaps there were more things the two of them had in common than they had first thought before entering this student-teacher thing they got going on.

After nodding her head, Compa looked down at her glass of orange juice that she had ordered, her eyes losing their focus slightly. "I don't know about you lot.. But isn't it a bit arrogant to assume there's someone out there just right for you?" she questioned the rest of them, causing silence to be their answer. Perhaps it was like Lucy mentioned to her that she was a stubborn girl clinging onto the one person who helped her when she was at her lowest points, someone who had descended into the world of monsters years ago. Thus, she never wanted to lose that person ever again, to the point where she just couldn't see anyone else comparing to them. "Why keep searching for that 'one perfect guy who doesn't exist when you can have someone with flaws and strengths, yet is working on both to become a better person in the future?"

"It's also not like he's leading us on or anything either." IF quipped, thinking back to that confession at the hot springs. She couldn't even BEGIN to imagine how much courage it took to say all that stuff and not explode into a mass of panic, she had to admit, IF bet that fighting n entire army of Demons isn't as daunting as confessing your true feelings the way Nico did. "He laid everything out for us the moment he realized the situation, albeit after some time to think about things and gave us the option of walking away. Not saying we're all trophies to be hung on his wall or anything, but someone willing to step back and let us find partners who could be with us now is someone who I'd say is boyfriend material. It's like that one old film about a woman and a beast said, loving someone means learning to let them go if necessary."

These two points put silence into Noire as she pondered their situation from those perspectives. Their logic wasn't that bad if a bit against the usual logic of relationships, but if she were honest the black-haired Goddess believed that people's definitions of various things were already starting to change. It really was an arrogant thing to assume that one would eventually encounter that one partner who would suit one's tastes perfectly, so what the girls were saying was that they wouldn't mind being with someone as flawed as Nico the Spec Ops Agent, someone whose actively working to better himself and those around him. How many out there would have the courage to do something like that?

"You also have to remember Noire…" Vert's voice broke Lastation's goddess from her pondering and brought her back to reality. The said CPU had a serious look on her face, telling her that what she wanted to say was likely going to be something worth listening to. "That things are increasingly hectic and will likely become more so in the near future meaning relationship prospects aren't necessarily guaranteed. It's not like a hookup culture where hundreds of simps are going to be climbing over themselves to satisfy some e-girl's every whim. People are going to die in the future, people already have died and yet we have someone who managed to survive, is strong enough to do so while teaching others to do the same, is good with his finances, and obviously likes paying attention to us and notices when we are unnerved about something, yet has no problems showering us with affection. I don't know about you, but the choice seems like a no-brainer to me."

Then Neptune chimed in when she saw an opening. "Nicky's also fun when he wants to be!" she chirped. "He can tell when I wanna play when I'm trying to prank him and when I wanna just spend time with him, it's awesome. He's not afraid of being with me, is grounded when I go too wild, and is a cool dude when he's not being all super 'look at me, I'm super edgy, cool dark and mysterious without the dark past…'" near the end, she tried her best to imitate the dark brooding protagonist tone by deepening her own and puckering her lips to the side. It didn't last long though and soon enough Neptune returned to her chipper self. "He's really cheered up recently, his sense of humour can be cringe but he's still a blast to be around. How often can you find people like that, lonely heart?"

As much as she wanted to blast Neptune for that nickname, the Lastation Goddess focused on the more important details, that being that Neptune really didn't seem to care about the more complicated stuff… honestly, that sounded just like her. She never did seem like someone who let complicated stuff like this get her down, maybe she had always been like that Noire wondered, she just never showed it in the past due to their tenuous relationship during the Console War.

'Thinking about it, wasn't Planeptune initially founded upon the principles of mixing business and pleasure?' Noire wondered as she tried to recall the base idea around Planeptune's founding. If she remembered correctly, Blanc's had been founded on the ideas of magic with knowledge becoming part of its constitution many centuries later, her own was built on the precipice of business and contracts above all whilst Vert's Leanbox was founded on honour and martial prowess. Neptune's Planeptune… that's right, her nation was founded on the concept of tranquillity, of accepting things as they went and not trying too hard. That didn't mean to put any effort into anything otherwise the Nation wouldn't be nearly as productive.

She DID recall a planeptune study showcasing that taking breaks on purpose refreshed one's brain and increased productivity in the long run. Noire didn't really grasp that concept and put her Nation's principles first… maybe that's why Lastation didn't have the same levels of productivity as Planeptune. She might have to think about that in the future, not like she'd tell Neptune that though. She had enough of a big head as it was and it's not like the author was struggling to come up with any comedy for this scene or anything.

Nope, not at all.

"Be that as it may, all this talk about our beloved does make me wonder if he takes any time off from his duties. He's almost like Blanc in a way." Vert remarked with a worried frown, placing a hand on her cheek while tilting her head.

The moment that Blanc's name came up, the atmosphere's prior vibrancy dried up faster than funds during an inflation crisis. Fortunately, the restaurant had been mostly deserted save for a few guests at the very back so nobody was going to be listening in on their conversation.

Uncharacteristically, Neptune cringed to herself while recalling the last member of this CPU quartet. "Oh yeah, things are pretty bad on her side of things aren't they?"

Noire nodded her head in just as grim a manner as Vert's expression whilst the other girls remained silent. "To see her Nation that she cultivated be reduced to this state… I can't imagine what she's feeling," she muttered, though seconds later she blinked a couple of times and reiterated. "No wait, I think I do…"

"What do you mean, Lady Noire?"

Glancing over to Compa who had asked that question, Lastation's CPU heaved a sigh. "It's simple, each one of our Nations has had the issues that can potentially destroy it, Lastation with its ongoing civil war, Leanbox's constant struggle for survival and now Lowee's shadow of its former glory. Why I'm not going to be surprised if Planeptune starts having problems and don't try saying it won't Neptune, we both know you can't predict the future," she stated, narrowing at the said CPU who did her best to look as innocent as possible.

"What happened to Lowee could happen to any Nation," Raven stated with arms crossed under her chest. "Each nation had been relatively unstable from the lack of CPU and constantly unsupervised human governing. All sorts of problems arose, and as a result, they may be different from one another but the end result is the same: humanity losing faith in you all and prompting you to descend from Celestia."

Raven's words combined with the old chill to them made them sting even more, even for Neptune who still didn't remember her past as Planeptune's Goddess. Everything seemed to have taken a turn for the worse starting with Neptune's fall and their following descent to see what had happened to their people. That only made things more apparent to them including their failure to lead their people properly, something which stung like a humiliating cut to their pride.

"That's all well and true and all…" just then IF interjected into the conversation with a grim frown, gazing out towards the restaurant's window at the darkening skies above. "But something tells me that isn't all there is to Lady White Heart's predicament. The way she acts around us at times and sometimes says weird things make her sketchier than modern art," she remarked, thinking about a few things she had noticed that were off about Lowee's CPU.

Noire frowned, thinking back to the morning when she had wanted to talk to Blanc about some business matters, only to find that she had left her quarters and put her subordinates in charge. Normally she would have questioned such behaviour and assumed she was acting unbefitting for a Goddess, but somehow Noire's instincts told her otherwise, that something else had been afoot for a while now. She and likely the rest of the group (even Neptune and if that's the case the situation must be REAL bad) had noticed the oddities. There were times when Blanc's temper flared for no apparent reason and she seemed to have a 'lot' of imaginary friends too, with how often she seemingly yelled at nothing but air. With the way she seemed to openly distrust Nico more than the rest of them even her fellow Goddesses, it became clear to them that the situation is far more complex.

At one point, Vert had wondered if something had happened to her when Lowee fell since Blan's threats to her whenever she idly teased her about her breasts were almost beyond 18+, so foul that even she didn't want to repeat them.

So yeah, they KNEW something had definitely been wrong with Blanc for her to be acting that way, even their resident amnesiac could feel it.

"Whatever the case may be…" their silence got broken by Raven, who slowly stood from her seat after glancing at the darkening skies as IF had. "It doesn't change the fact that the only one who can truly help Blanc was herself," she stated coldly, shrugging her shoulders before stretching her arms about to get them nice and nimble again.

These words didn't sit well with Compa though, the girl pouting at the callous nature of Raven's speech. "T-That may be true, but shouldn't we at least try to do something? If not, then we're playing right into the enemy's hands and I don't see the idea of that ugly-looking witch bitch getting the drop on us as a positive," she questioned, briefly stunning everyone with how she addressed Arfoire. Though they cared little about that woman's feelings, Compa's usual demeanour had led them to foolishly believe that she was the same girl as they'd started this journey. That uncouth language, on the other hand, derailed such notions.

The only one not affected by this, perhaps she somewhat approved of it, was Raven who nodded her head in the Nurse-In-Training's direction. "Perhaps, but you're forgetting something. We can offer her help if needed or even provide the means to," she admitted, though her tone and expression didn't change while the memory of that whining child in that one special event she was featured in crossed her mind. The memory hardened her gaze as she thought about the CPU in question, already having an opinion about her as a person. "But in the end, this stuff had to be dealt with by Blanc so she can grow not only as a person but also as a leader. A leader sets an example, whereas the followers follow."

---

Chapter end!

Hey guys, the next chapter is here and the final chapter is before the next and final Lowee arc.

Now here's the thing, I've been torn on which franchise I could base my next arc on, solo levelling or hunter x hunter. Both are similar to one another, especially with ther ant arcs, but I've been struggling to come to a decision so here's what I'm going to do. I'll create a poll and you guys can decide which arc would be the better source material for the final lowee arc, an option to use the two of them will be available as well so don't worry there. The poll will likely stay till the end of 2022, so there's enough time for planning while I focus on Tekken's side story which has been in limbo since its first arc's conclusion.

Thanks again for reading this story and hopefully you won't crucify me too much for my slow writing.

PEACE OUT!