Disclaimer:
The Rising of the Shield Hero was created by Aneko Yusagi. Shin Megami Tensei was created by Atlus. Magic Knight Rayearth was created by CLAMP. Sword Art Online was created by Reki Kawahara. Digimon is owned by Bandai and Toei. Kono Suba was created by Akatsuki Natsume. Gate was created by Takumi Yanai. This story uses reference material from them.
Heroes of Another World
By: RB3
Lucifuge's Lament 4: The Demonic Mint
The Spade Mercs and the heroes boarded Filo's Vimana and waited in the seats in the passenger cabin. Filo gently brought the saucer into the sky and activated its Planar Travel ability. The Vimana passed through mists of bloody crimson, entering the Expanse nearest to Melro. In the distance loomed the Babelite island ship. It was near a massive swirling mass of crimson clouds the size of a moon. A group of threads connected the crimson clouds to each other world such as Cephiro and the Digital World, pulling them on a collision course with each other.
Explosions burst across the mass of clouds as the island ship fired on demons exiting Lucifuge's Domain. A volley of three shots came from the ship's cannons, mowing down a horde of Ose which attempted to approach for a boarding. A volley of fireballs came from a dozen Decarabia, who flew in to reinforce the attack. More booms resounded as the cannons shelled them to death. After that exchange, the Expanse became quiet.
"Here we go!" said Filo. She brought the Vimana into the crimson cloud, the Domain of Lucifuge.
They found themselves in a crimson world with root-like tendrils forming the walls and boundaries. A city of obsidian-black buildings spread from its core, where a compound stood, surrounded by two layers of cement walls. These walls had towers at each corner with gargoyles which acted as sentry cannons. One building had smokestacks on its roof, a factory which minted Macca coins for the demons of Chaos. A nearby blue, vase-like object drew in souls as white wisps of smoke and fed them into the factory through a pipe.
At the centre rear of the compound was a palace of gold with an especially high concentration of demons guarding it. At other parts of the city, the sound of gunfire and explosions echoed through the neighbourhoods. The Babelite soldiers were exchanging fire with demons in the city, using the houses and stores as cover. Demons from both sides flew across the rooftops, sending elemental and energy blasts back and forth. As the Vimana flew by overhead, the mint compound's gargoyles spit homing fireballs at it.
"It's gonna get bumpy!" Filo warned her passengers over the intercom.
She steered the Vimana around the fireballs as they exploded throughout the air. The Vimana shuddered as the shock waves radiated out from each explosion. The heroes nearly fell out of their seats from the shaking the Vimana endured while trying to fly through such a dangerous area. The Vimana returned fire with Phasers which exposed the compound's protective barrier. After several more shots, she eventually pierced through to the gargoyle and reduced it to goo. Once Filo got enough distance, she brought the Vimana to the ground gently, where everyone could disembark.
"It was bumpy, but we made it through," said Ren as he walked onto the ground.
"We landed west of the mint," said Filo. "We'll have to walk the rest of the way."
"Look alive! We've got company!" said Itsuki.
An angel-like being with a lion's head sent jets of flame at the group, forcing them to scatter. "That's Marbas!" said Abel as his eyes widened in shock to see him alive.
"He's alive?" asked Yuzu, who had the same reaction as Abel did.
"How? Did Lucifuge revive him?" asked Atsuro. He examined Marbas more closely, but his crimson aura was dimmer, suggesting that he was weaker than when he fought Abel the first time. "He's not nearly as strong as he was back then."
"Go ahead and leave him to us," said Itsuki, who fired an arrow which Marbas evaded.
"Itsuki and I can deal with him. Go complete our mission," said Ren.
"Okay. We'll hunt down Lucifuge," replied Abel.
"Good! Now hurry!" cried Ren.
As the others ran away, Ren summoned Laevateinn and parried Marbas' flames. They washed over the blade of the flaming sword, absorbed into it and dissipated. Itsuki lobbed ice-coated arrows in retaliation. They riddled Marbas' body and released a powerful, chilling burst of ice. While he was momentarily immobilized, Fauly and Terishia moved into close quarters. Marbas noticed them, then emitted a blast of flame which made them recoil and halt their advance. Rishia hurled the Sudarshana at him, but he parried and batted the weapon to the side.
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The remaining heroes and the Spade Mercs continued their way to the mint as the Babelites and their otherworldly allies engaged enemy demons throughout the city. In the distance, the demons of the Babelites continued to bombard the mint's defensive perimeter from the sky. A Roc hovered overhead and spit spikes of yellow energy. Before hitting its intended target, the mint, the spike struck a previously invisible pale blue dome of energy. A gargoyle statue spit back a fireball in pursuit, forcing the Roc to flee.
A bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck the mint's barrier. The protective dome buckled under the strain and exposed the mint to attack from the outside. The Roc returned and spit more spikes, this time to destroy the gargoyle fire shooter. Another bolt of lightning struck the main palace, but got dispersed by a localized, secondary magic dome which surrounded it. A second lightning bolt struck the palace, causing the barrier to finally fall.
"Look! The palace is exposed!" cried Yuzu, pointing at the palace.
Midori was elated. "This is our chance! Let's get in before Lucifuge restores his defences," said Midori.
Once the group got within range of the walls, Motoyasu fired an Ein Soph Aur at them. His attack blew a gaping hole into the already damaged outer wall, one more than large enough to allow them to run in. It also punched through to the second wall and put a hole through there, giving the group access to the central yard. Before the group could run in, an earthquake ripped through the ground beneath their feet. "Is that who I think it is?" asked Atsuro.
Their attacker, Agares, came at them at top speed while riding his crocodile. "It is!" said Yuzu before she leapt out of the way.
"He's not as strong as before either," remarked Midori, who could see his weaker crimson aura with her own eyes.
"Don't worry about him. I'll hold him off with Motoyasu. Get inside and flush out the big guy," said Naofumi.
"Okay, good luck!" said Yuzu.
Agares leapt off his crocodile, hurling magically formed rocks at the group. Naofumi got into their path and blocked them all with the Aegis. They hit with an unexpectedly great force, which Naofumi managed to weather by digging his feet into the ground. He retaliated by directing Medusa's Gaze back at Agares, who simply ignored it without penalty. Agares stomped the ground so hard that it shook. The group became staggered as they struggled to maintain footing while Naofumi got broken out of Medusa's Gaze. The crocodile lunged to bite Motoyasu, but Naofumi had recovered in time to dive in front and take the hit on the Aegis.
When Naofumi pushed away the large crocodile, Motoyasu sent Ein Soph Aur at its left flank. The golden beam struck and triggered a powerful explosion which put the beast onto its side. Despite such a powerful hit, the creature did not die. In fact, it showed how very much alive it was, by hopping right back to its feet to charge at the group. Kou came from above and landed a kick to the top of its head. That attack knocked the beast prone to the ground. It quickly recovered and turned to snap at Kou, who hopped away just in time to evade its jaws.
Agares himself chucked more rocks at Raphtalia and Eclair, forcing them to take a defensive posture to weather the attack. After parrying three rocks, Naofumi got before them and blocked the rest. "Thank you Master Naofumi," said Raphtalia.
Agares took a deep breath. Naofumi's eyes widened when he recognized what Agares prepared to do. "GET AWAY!" he cried to his allies.
Eclair and Raphtalia did as told immediately. Agares spewed a blast of brownish, dusty gas from his mouth which engulfed Naofumi. "Master Naofumi!" cried Raphtalia as she covered her mouth in shock.
When the gas subsided via Agares running out of breath, Naofumi was still standing there, Shield raised in a defensive posture. He did not seem affected by that attack. He lashed the Liger Shield's Diskarmor at Agares, searing him as he got knocked down. "That was petrification gas. My Shield made me immune, but you would be statues right now if that touched you," Naofumi informed his allies.
"That was a close one! Thank you, Naofumi!" said Raphtalia, relieved at avoiding that debilitating attack.
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The Spade Mercs and Vassal Wielders ran through the hole Motoyasu had created in the walls. They found themselves in the central yard of the mint compound with the minting factory directly in front of them. To their left was the golden palace they had seen earlier when they flew by above. "Let us take that mint. You guys go for the big boss," said Sinon, still sizing up the building.
"Okay! Good luck you guys!" said Midori.
"Yeah! Let's all return home safe and sound," said Atsuro. The group split up with the Spade Mercenaries moving away from the mint towards the palace.
Sinon called the Grenade Launcher Firearm, then lobbed a grenade at the blue, vase-like structure. In truth, it was the soul-siphoning machine which gathered the souls of those who died from the Waves. The machine got blasted to pieces with a boom. The Vassal Heroes entered the mint and passed through a reception area. They found a series of conveyor belts and pressing machines where the demons minted Macca for use as currency. All of the machines stood idle as the mint had suspended its operations in light of an enemy attack.
At the other side of the room, the Vassal Wielders saw Vepar. "That's Vepar!" said Guilmon, his eyes wide in shock and disbelief.
Vepar said nothing as she grabbed a conveyor machine and hurled it at the group. Takato simply formed a Barrier to take the hit. The others advanced to engage Vepar. As Hikaru came in for the attack, Vepar turned to her and spewed water. Hikaru tried to parry, but got hit too quickly and slammed against the base of a pressing machine. Takato cast a Fast Heal spell to instantly get Hikaru back into top fighting condition. She hurled Flame Arrows at Vepar, but the mermaid formed a wall of water with her hands to block them.
Hikaru grimaced at the failure of her previous attacks to do meaningful damage. "So, you don't like me getting in close," remarked Hikaru. She quickly closed and swung for Vepar, who quickly sidestepped the chop. She reared back and sprayed water which pushed Hikaru over and behind a conveyor machine.
Sinon resumed the offence by firing numerous bullets from the Firearm. They struck and staggered Vepar, but only a brief moment. She recovered, then took a deep breath in preparation to spew out water. Takato put a Barrier around Sinon, blunting the attack. Megumin created a Clinging Morass beneath Vepar. She tried to move, but found her fishy tail glued into place by its syrupy black strands. Before she could do anything else, Arpeggio and Guilmon struck her with Zweite Rock Shots and Pyro Spheres, sending her crashing through a conveyor machine into a heap on the ground.
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The Spade Mercenaries entered the front door of the palace, where they found themselves in the great lobby. It was a cavernous room supported by several pillars which flanked a red carpet which ran up to a pair of double doors at the opposite side. Like the exterior, the lobby was a room painted in the colour of gold to indicate the money and wealth Lucifuge had earned from issuing Macca at his mint. There was no one else in the room and no signs of activity.
The group passed through the next the set of doors and found that the red carpet continued to a single throne at the rear of the room. Standing in front of it was Lucifuge Rofocale himself, he who flees the light. He was Prime Minister of Hell, clad in robes of blue and a horned headdress. The bearded demon had purple skin and looked at an open book in his right hand, either a ledger or a book of dark magic. When the Spade Mercs approached him, Lucifuge slammed the book shut and turned to see them.
The Spade Mercs glared at him in response. "This ends now, Lucifuge! Stop killing the people of those worlds and taking their souls!" stated Midori.
"... And give us Lucifer!" demanded Abel.
Lucifuge let out a chuckle. "No way! With YHVH dead at the hands of Nanashi, Lord Lucifer won't have any opposition. This is the perfect opportunity to bring him back. He can spread the beauty of Chaos across existence and undo the tyranny of the false God," said Lucifuge.
"More like make a mess out of everything!" snarked Atsuro.
"YHVH and Lucifer are both responsible for devastation across the planes. With them incapacitated, humanity will be free to decide its fate," said Abel.
"If you intend to stop my master's revival, you leave me with no choice. I will fight back!" stated Lucifuge.
He expelled a powerful gust of wind at the group, blowing all of them down save Yuzu, who had absorbed the attack. She responded by casting a dia spell to shower them with healing power. The Spade Mercs released all of their demons. Lucifuge projected another gust of wind, blowing all of them back. He then hurled his book into the air, which started to fly around on with its own will. It sprayed at jet of fire at the group, forcing Tulzcha to move before the fire to take it, which he did by absorbing it.
Abel hopped back upright, then projected ice at Lucifuge. The blast was so strong, it was Lucifuge's turn to be blown back. He went through the throne behind and smashed it to scrap. The book turned to Abel and emitted lightning, preventing him from following up to guard against the attack. Hector jumped at the book and forced it shut with his hands, preventing it from firing any more spells at the Spade Mercs. Abel fired another icy blast, but Lucifuge blocked it with his left hand. He sent fire back with the other, forcing Abel to raise a violet barrier for protection.
Lucifuge created more books and sent them to attack the Spade Mercs. "We gotta get rid of those books!" cried Midori.
One of them unleashed ice upon Atsuro, blowing him down with its chill force and coating him with ice and snow. When he got up, he shook off the cold crust, then fired a beam at the book. It struck true and punctured a hole into it, causing the book to burn away in a brief flicker of flames. Another shot him in the back with lightning, but he absorbed the attack and got refreshed by it. He turned around and blasted that book as well. He saw an opportunity and took a shot at Lucifuge, blasting him to the ground.
Atsuro sent another shot when suddenly, a shirtless teenager with a tattooed body leapt in front. He took the blast for Lucifuge, blunting it and giving him time to recover. In retaliation, the young man spewed a blast of almighty energy from his mouth. Than one attack blasted everybody towards the back of the room. "Are you okay, Prime Minister?" asked the young man.
"Yes Demifiend. Did you retrieve our master yet?" asked Lucifuge as he took the Demifiend's side.
"Yeah. Beelzebub is returning to the Labyrinth with him now," replied the Demifiend.
Abel scowled at his two foes. "Damn you!" cried Abel, who then blasted the Demifiend with a beam of almighty energy.
Lucifuge ducked as the beam struck the Demifiend and smashed him through several walls until he landed far outside of the palace. "Did I hear that right?" asked Atsuro.
"Beelzebub has him?" asked Yuzu.
"I'm going for that bug. Take care of Lucifuge for me," said Abel, who teleported into the city outside.
He reappeared at the top of a skyscraper and scanned around for any sign of Beelzebub. He detected the demon flying due north of his location. He could see the fly-like Beelzebub carrying a giant golden crystal with an angel-like demon trapped inside as though he was an insect preserved in amber. That demon was Lucifer himself, still imprisoned by YHVH after their battle. Before Abel could pursue, he sensed danger, then sidestepped a beam of almighty energy before it sheared off a portion of his building.
The Demifiend had recovered and caught up to him. "You're a pest!" said Abel, casting a scowl at the Demifiend, who stood on the roof of an apartment below.
"So are you!" retorted the Demifiend, before taking a deep breath and expelling another almighty beam from his mouth.
Abel teleported behind the Demifiend while he was firing, then blasted him with an almighty beam of his own. The Demifiend got launched into the skyscraper, punching a hole into it which sheared off the rest of its top portion. It crashed to the ground with a deafening thud, leaving rubble strewn all over the street. The Demifiend continued to hurtle back and left a gaping hole as he went into and out the other side of a condominium tower.
Before the Demifiend hit the ground, he had recovered enough to release fire back the other way. It went into the apartment Abel was standing on and sheared off the top three floors. They gave out underfoot and took Abel down with them as they collapsed. The top floors crashed to the ground with a thud and left a pile of rubble with Abel buried underneath it. After a few moments, Abel reappeared outside in a flicker of blue light. His clothes and hair were mussed, but he was otherwise fine. He could not detect the Demifiend or Beelzebub anywhere in the Domain, a sure sign they had fled into the Expanse with Lucifer.
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The battle against Vepar continued as Sinon unloaded dozens of bullets against the demon. She blocked them with a barrier, then sent back a jet of water. It carried Sinon back and slammed her through a workbench and into the factory wall. "SINON!" cried Hikaru.
Vepar turned the water on Hikaru, who dove away to avoid being hit. She then directed the water to Takato, who stood his ground behind a Barrier. Vepar turned up the intensity until Takato got taken off his feet despite the Barrier protecting him. Guilmon spit a trio of Pyro Spheres at Vepar, who got staggered and her attack disrupted. She sprayed ice at Guilmon, who got hurled to the ground all covered in frost. Arpeggio cast a Dreifach Stone Gas spell upon her. The brown gas caused rock to form over her left side, spreading across the entire length of her arm.
While on the ground, Takato slashed the Digivolution Card into his Digivice. "Guilmon, Digivolve to… Growlmon!" announced Guilmon.
With newfound power, Growlmon spewed Pyro Blasts at Vepar. She used her rock-covered arm to block them, getting bowled over, but freeing her arm from the rocky coating in the process. She sprayed ice back at Growlmon, who got pushed into a factory wall, which crumbled under stress as he got pushed out the other side. Hikaru closed and made a downward chop, which Vepar sidestepped. With a blast of water, Vepar forced her back. Suddenly, Sinon shot her in the head from across the room with the Carcano, dazing her momentarily.
Megumin formed a Revelation Clinging Morass upon Vepar, trapping her with the thickest, stickiest tar she had ever made. She began her chant. "RUN!" cried Arpeggio.
The Vassal Heroes fled outside as quickly as they could, then Megumin unleashed the finishing spell. "Explosion!" announced Megumin.
A massive plume of flame arose from the factory in the wake of Megumin's signature spell. Nothing remained of the building or Vepar. Only a charred black crater stood where the mint used to be. "We did it guys!" said Arpeggio, pumping her fist into the air.
"Yeah!" said Hikaru, mirroring Arpeggio.
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Outside, Marbas rained fireballs upon the two teams. They quickly scattered to avoid being incinerated. Itsuki reached a safe distance away and began lobbing ice arrows back. They exploded in the air around Marbas in bursts of ice. After one coated Marbas in frost, he started to fly circles and loops to evade the others. Itsuki continued the onslaught, detonating more ice arrows all around the demon. When Marbas saw a lull, he sent a fireball at Itsuki.
Before the Bow Hero could nock his next arrow, he was forced to dive to safety. The fireball exploded behind him, but he was able to avoid serious harm. "This isn't getting us anywhere. We need to get him down from there," said Ren, watching Marbas shoot fireballs down at Lojir and Abazure.
"Do you have a plan? My attacks aren't cutting it," said Itsuki, who evaded another fireball.
"Yeah, I have an idea. Just keep him busy until I can follow through," said Ren.
When Itsuki got a safe distance from Marbas, he turned around and lobbed more ice arrows at the demon. The demon evaded them with swift loops, then positioned above to lob fireballs back. While he was distracted with Itsuki, Ren called his Graviton Sword. Notably, the weapon had a pitch black blade which seemed like it could absorb the onlooker. Ren activated its Gravity Sword skill, which caused a singularity to form at the tip of the blade. The inward force was so great that it broke Marbas out of a loop and dragged him towards it.
As he struggled to stay in the air, he hurled fireballs at Ren, who hopped from side to side to evade them. Despite his foe's attacks, Ren kept Marbas caught in this situation. Itsuki nocked an arrow and focused his aim at Marbas. Releasing his projectile, he struck true in the heart. Ice formed over the wound and spread around the demon's torso. Then, his wings got coated in ice. Rishia's Projectile came slicing in and bisected Marbas with a single hit.
It was an immediate death to the demon, who melted into a black haze which quickly vanished. Itsuki smiled as did the rest of his allies. "Good work!" remarked the young Bow Hero.
"Yeah! We did it!" cheered Rishia.
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The battle against Agares continued with the demon triggering a localized earthquake. The filorial kids attempted to maintain balance in the face of the rocking and shaking ground. Sakura put her foot down to steady herself, but the ground moved from under her and caused her to fall over. Yuki was the the next to fall, followed by Sadeena landing supine on the ground. Agares followed with the conjuration of a meteor shower upon the group. Dozens of rocks descended from above, forcing everyone to scatter to avoid being crushed.
Motoyasu retreated to the flanks of Agares, then unleashed the Ein Soph Aur. The beam struck true and carried Agares through a still standing section of wall. As he got up from among the rubble on the ground, Atla had rushed at him with a series of punches and kicks. Agares managed to block them, then tossed dirt into Atla's eyes. As she fumbled back blindly, the crocodile came from behind. It closed its jaws upon her, but she caught its upper jaw and held them apart through sheer Hakuko strength.
Fohl saw her predicament and his expression became a scowl directed at the crocodile. He leapt onto the beast's back and started to pummel it relentlessly. "Let my sister go!" cried Fohl.
He grabbed the crocodile's upper jaw and helped to hold it open, which allowed Atla to get out from between its jaws. "Thank you, brother!" said Atla.
The crocodile began to buck around randomly, trying to throw off Fohl from its back. After an abrupt upward motion, Fohl got tossed off and landed in the dirt. The crocodile saw Raphtalia and chomped down on her, but only destroyed an illusion, which flickered into nothingness. Suddenly, Raphtalia descended onto the crocodile's back and plunged her sword through its skin. Blood spurted out of the wound and the creature thrashed about in agony, trying to remove Raphtalia from its back.
After it successfully ejected Raphtalia, Sadeena cast a powerful Dreifach Thunderbolt spell at the crocodile. The lightning bolt struck Raphtalia'sstill impaled sword and got conducted into vital nerves and internal organs. The crocodile collapsed dead, smoking with an acrid scent. "Are you okay, Raphtalia?" asked Sadeena.
Raphtalia sat up and dusted herself off. "Other than that bump, I'll be fine. I can still fight," said Raphtalia.
Meanwhile, Agares hurled rocks at Motoyasu, Naofumi, and the rest of the group. Naofumi stood his ground to block the projectiles and keep his team safe. When Agares ran out of stamina, Motoyasu stepped out and fired Ein Soph Aur at him. Agares raised a barrier to take the hit safely. Filo joined in on the attack by firing Phasers while riding in the Vimana. Agares kept his shield up as he launched rocks back at her. They dented the chassis of the saucer and forced Filo to evade.
Keel got behind Agares and struck him with the Holy Power of the God Hand. Agares stumbled forward, then turned around and stomped the ground. The ensuing tremor took Keel's footing from under her and sent her harshly to the ground. Agares formed a rock overhead, then dropped it on her. She rolled away just in the nick of time, letting it smash the ground with a thud. Naofumi lashed the Diskarmor at Agares, who suddenly turned around to block it with his barrier.
Agares sent his rocks at him, but Naofumi kept the Shield raised to block and inched his way forward through the onslaught. Once close enough, Medusa's Hair snapped at the demon and sank their fangs into the demon's body. Poison streamed in and Agares became faint. He soon started to cough up blood from his mouth. He got out one last Terra spell which toppled Naofumi. Motoyasu, Keel, and Filo all blasted the demon with their attacks simultaneously, disintegrating him instantly.
"Master are you okay?" asked Filo as she descended on the ground and returned to child form.
She gave her master a hand in getting up. "Yeah. I'll be back to 100% after a healing potion," said Naofumi.
"Here!" said Raphtalia who came over and presented him with that potion to drink.
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Back inside the palace, the battle against Lucifuge continued. Lucifuge continued to create copies of his book and send them to fire at the Spade Mercs. Tulzcha leaned around a blast of ice from a book. He then torched his attacker with a jet of Verdigris Flame. Another book sprayed flame against Frosty, only to have the black snowman reflect it back with a red barrier. The book got set on fire and burnt to ash in but seconds. Yuzu unleashed lacerating blasts of wind at Lucifuge, but the demon simply reflected them back, only to have Yuzu absorb her own attack.
"Try to absorb this," said Yuzu, triggering an explosion of almighty energy upon him.
Lucifuge got hurled back by the violet blast, smashing his way through a wall into the neighbouring hallway. He got up after a brief struggle. "Take that!" said Lucifuge. He emitted a powerful wave of darkness at Yuzu. The Light Devourer attack sapped her strength while replenishing Lucifuge's as she recoiled from it.
"Yuzu, watch out behind you!" cried Midori, who spotted a book charge up electricity for an attack from behind Yuzu.
Yuzu suddenly dove prone to the ground. Instead of hitting her, the lightning sailed by overhead and struck Lucifuge! Stunned by convulsions, Lucifuge could not say or do anything except writhe uncontrollably. Midori incinerated him instantly, leaving nothing behind, not even ash. As soon as Lucifuge fell, all of his books lost their animating power. They tumbled to the ground immediately and burnt into nothingness via violet flames. Yuzu got up off the ground, all covered in dirt and hair mussed up, but still alive.
"We won!" said Midori, beaming with elation.
"We did! Yeah we did!" said Yuzu.
Abel returned to the palace via the hole in the wall he had blasted the Demifiend through. His robes were dirty and his hair mussed, but he seemed fine otherwise. "Were you able to stop him?" asked Atsuro.
Abel shook his head. "They both got away," replied Abel.
"That is bad. If they were able to retrieve Lucifer, they'll find another way to revive him!" said Midori.
"I know. Even if what they've done here isn't enough, they can continue operations in a new location. The Expanse is virtually limitless," said Abel.
The entire Domain started to rumble. The Spade Mercs looked around and saw the rubble tumble from above. "Now that Lucifuge is gone, this whole place will fall apart!" said Midori, glancing around at the incessant shaking.
Abel quickly extended his power around his body, causing the Domain's tremors to slow. "I've stabilized the Domain, but you have to hurry and get out of here!" warned Abel.
"What about you?" asked Yuzu.
"I'll be right after you shortly. Now, MOVE IT!" cried Abel.
The Spade Mercs minus Abel fled the palace, coming across all of their friends along the way. They gathered each group, from the Vassal Wielders to the Sword and Bow Heroes, and boarded Filo's Vimana. As the saucer flew by, she could see other groups like the Babelite army and Azulongmon's rebels scrambling to reach exit portals. The flying saucer itself had exited via a portal on the Domain's roof and reappeared in the Expanse outside Melro. Just then, the moon-sized mass of clouds vanished and Abel appeared on the top of the Vimana in a flicker of blue light.
"Abel!" said Filo in elation upon seeing him.
"Hey Filo! I hope I didn't give you and the others a scare?" asked Abel.
"No. We're glad you got out okay," replied Filo. "Let's head home!"
Filo brought the saucer into Melro through a fissure in the Expanse, back to Rurorona Village. An hour later, the various faction heads involved met for what would likely be the last time. "Good work everyone! This is our victory today!" said Melty.
Aultclay smiled. "Yes, it is. Thanks to you, Lucifuge is gone and hopefully, so are the Waves. Thank you all, heroes, Spade Mercs, and people of the other worlds. You've done my nation, nay, our world, a great favour," said Aultclay.
"Despite our victory, the demons still got away with Lucifer's crystal," said Abel. "They will move operations to another location, but at the very least, your world will be safe, as will the others involved in the Waves."
At that moment, the Cardinal Weapons flashed a message in a help window. "Look! Our travel restriction has been lifted," said Itsuki. "We can go to other worlds whenever we want. We could use the weapons to go home if we want, using the Dragon's Era weapons."
Naofumi beamed with elation. "This is great! I won't have to leave my friends behind after all. I can still be with them," Naofumi said.
"The only thing left now is clean up. The war with the demons left a lot stray monsters roaming the land. Even though the war is over, there's still much work to be done," said Hiru.
"The Spade Mercs will be staying a bit longer to assist with that," said Abel. "The Vassal Heroes, however, will have to return home to take care of things there. Let's see them off before we continue."
"Thank you guys!" said Hikaru. "It's been very tiring fighting all these monsters, but it was a great opportunity to meet new people and friends. Good luck everyone and stay safe!"
"I still have the Demon King to take care of back home. Wish me luck as I fight him," said Megumin.
"My sister will be so jealous at how good at magic I've gotten! I'm gonna rub in a bit when I get back," said Arpeggio with an impish smile.
"I would have died if I hadn't been brought here. Even though I had to fight to get my life back, I succeeded thanks to you all. My friends back home must be so worried about me. I need to let them know that I'm fine," said Sinon.
"Well Guilmon, it looks like we're off on one final adventure. We have to clean up the rest of the evil Digimon and monsters in the Digital World," said Takato.
Guilmon smiled. "I'll be right there beside you, Takato, as always," assured Guilmon.
The Vassal Heroes said their farewells to everyone else, including the members of the other heroes' parties. When they were done, they gathered at the square of Rurorona. "Good bye everyone!" said Hikaru, waving to their friends.
"Good bye you guys. You've been such great friends to us. Take care!" said Raphtalia, waving back.
"Good luck back home!" said Naofumi.
"Yeah, do your very best!" said Filo.
"Bye!" said Keel.
The Vassal Wielders raised their weapons to the sky. In columns of golden light, they were transported back to their home worlds. The Vassal Weapons left them and vanished, leaving behind the cores. The cores persisted for a few seconds before vanishing themselves, to await the arrival of the next generation of Vassal Wielders. The people of Melro and their allies all waved to the heroes of another world as they returned to their lives.
END OF CHAPTER