Chapter 54 - Fights and Hidden Agendas
In one instant, they all reacted quickly, avoiding the initial attack the man launched as a large smokescreen was formed. They couldn't see what had attacked them, save for Nico who was gritting his teeth behind his helmet while jumping into the air. IF had done the same, along with Tekken while Neptune and Compa had jumped to the side. "Whoa, that was fast!"
"Quiet, Nep!" IF yelled as they all landed, herself Nico and Tekken further back while Neptune and Compa were on opposite sides. A flash of something moving caught her attention, and her instincts screamed at her to be ready. "He's coming!"
True to her word, the man suddenly jumped up into the air from the smoke, several appendages visible from behind him. They were darkened by the sunlight, so visibility was low. But that didn't stop the party from dodging those limbs as they tried to cleave their heads off.
By the time the man landed, the party had regathered together, and were facing off against him. This time, his appendages were clearly visible, but by no means were they not shocked by them. From the back of his waist were 4 long, black scaled Tentacle, each one pulsing with some form of inner greyish black light.
"Ooooooh, you dodged my first and second attempt. Not bad…" the man mused, his Tentacles swaying behind him in excitement as he gave a hungry gaze towards the group, more specifically towards Nico. It was like he was singling the male Spec Ops Agent out of all of them for a specific reason. He licked his lips, as if savouring something as he did so. "Though I guess it's to be expected for such a fine meal… least you'll be more entertaining than those other pansies."
Tekken blinked as the party registered those words. "Eh? Um, what do you mean by that?" she hesitantly asked the man, although she felt she wouldn't like the answer. "What do you mean by 'Pansies?'"
A chuckle escaped the man's lips as he raised his arms, gesturing to the Dungeon around them. "What, you think all this happened all willy nilly? Nope, those things were just my appetisers, and they weren't even that tasty, either. Think expired dog shit combined with garlic and cement."
Nico cringed at the thoughts, while everyone else tried not to lose the contents of their stomachs at what those words implied. 'Tch, I know that feeling, all too well… feels like tasting Compa's coking sometimes…' he thought to himself, clenching his fists around Harvester. This was EXACTLY what he had hoped to NOT have to deal with. At least, if it had then he could have done so when the girls weren't around. However, one had appeared when they were together, and despite their Party having... quite a few power-ups, he knew, he freaking KNEW, that they stood no chance against this being. Out of all of them, IF would last the longest thanks to her BOW side allowing her to adapt on the fly, but in the end she would likely fall all the same.
"Y-You… You mean you…" IF began to say, for the man to let out more hysterical laughter. He held his stomach while bowling over, heaving and gasping between laughs. His Tentacles reacted to his laughter, flickering wildly behind him. Some even chopped up dirt waves while others thwacked the empty space around him. The brunette gave an irritated glare towards the man, and made to morph her left blade into her 6 Tentacles. She then launched them towards him, only for the man to continue laughing as his own Tentacles smacked hers away with higher speeds than hers. "What?!"
Neptune jumped at the sight of the man's fast moving Tentacles, her eyes in a comically shocked expression. "Whoa, hold the Nep! Those things just went all 'nope!' on Iffy's Tentacles!"
"Quit stating the obvious, Nep!"
Soon, the man's laughter died down, his grip on his stomach lessening as he hung his arms from his side again. "Whew that was a loud one, haven; laughed like that before." he remarked thoughtfully, before he gave the girls a sinister smile. "Yeppers, I did! Those Necromorphs were foul and disgusting, but I chomped them all up! Heck, I ate so much I got dribble spilt on my clothes! How annoying is that having to change clothes out here?"
While green in the face, Neptune hummed in thought as she tried to keep the mental images out of her head. "W-Well… I guess I can see that. I-I mean, it would likely be a pain to change in the middle of a D-Dungeon…" she stammered, slightly. Although she was glad that's he had barely stammered at all, as she feared she'd be a stammering mess by now. So many horrors had come out of the woodworks today.
"Aw, thanks little purple…" The man cooed as he gushed over the girl, adopting the pose of a typical fangirl. The girls shuddered, even Nico ad the same reaction seeing this. Seeing that pose, along with a wink and the love heart that came from it, on a grown ass guy looked just so wrong, on so many levels. The group shuddered at the sight as the man dashed towards them, his eyes wide and his jaw open with drool dribbling from his jaw. "LEMME REPAY YOU BACK FOR IT IN FULL!"
His Tentacles lunged forwards like bullets, heading straight for Neptune with the intent to impale and destroy. However, she managed to get out the way in time by doing a barrel roll, the Tentacles slamming into the ground beside her as she got back to her feet. "Hahahaha! You're not so tough, those things are easy to dodge so all I have to do is-"
SQUELCH!
…
SQUELCH!
SQUELCH!
SQUELCH!
It happened instantly, shutting the girl up faster than Pudding ever could. Everyone gaped when they saw how the Tentacles moved through the ground and resurfaced behind her, spearing Neptune through the back and out the chest. They lifted her high into the air, almost 20 metres, with their master laughing like crazy all the while as her blood dripped down the appendages. "NEPTUNE/NEP-NEP/NEP!" they all cried in horror.
The man meanwhile, cackled like a schoolgirl while his Tentacles wrapped around their prey, who was still in shock over what happened. "Hehehehe, now then, let's have some fun little purple!" he bellowed, twisting his Tentacles so her head was facing the ground. He raised them a little higher, before slamming her repeatedly into the ground, each time resulting in an ever-expanding crater.
SLAM
SLAM
SLAM
SLAM
SLAM
SLAM
SLAM
Eventually, he ripped his Tentacles out of her and smacked her away with 2 of them, sending Neptune crashing into a wall.
That was enough to make the party jump into action after snapping out of their horrified shock. IF and Tekken rushed in and began engaging the man in combat, who kept them at bay with his Tentacles while Compa and Nico raced to their downed friend's side, and when they saw the state she was in, their horror was only amplified as the colour drained from their faces.
Her body was indented into the crater, her eyes wide and shaking as she struggled to breathe with the four holes in her chest. Her body had numerous cuts and blemishes on it, a mix of lethal and minor. All of them had the common factor of oozing blood out of them though, which was beginning to pool around her frame and stain her clothes red.
"Nep-Nep! Oh, goddess there's so much blood! You're gonna be okay, Nep-Nep! I'll heal you, right now! FIRST AID!" Compa called out as she kneeled beside her friend, putting her hands on the wound and beginning to use her healing Skill. The blood began to recede into Neptune's chest. However, with the rate the skill was working there wouldn't be enough time to save her, for she would die due to blood loss and lack of necessary organs.
'Her lungs and liver have been shredded! Her heart managed to survive, but barely!' Nico thought as he gazed at her form, checking the injuries as Compa pushed as much energy into the Skill as she could. Sweat formed in beads on their foreheads as they did their best for her. Since Compa specialised in healing Skills, Nico pulled out a bunch of Healing Pods from his Void Storage, quickly getting Neptune's mouth to open so he could shove their contents down her throat. However, with the holes in her chest she was quickly coughing and spluttering the liquid out before it could get a chance to repair her damaged body.
"This isn't enough!" Compa cried out as she noticed how slow the recovery was. With the way things were going, they wouldn't make it in time to save their leader. Heck, even the slight healing factor her being a Goddess gave her wasn't working fast enough, and if that was the case then things were seriously bad. "I'll have to risk it. COMPA'S EMERGENCY KIT!"
This Skill was a Skill she had acquired recently, a high-speed regeneration Skill that could heal even the deadliest of wounds. Life threatening injuries? No problem, this Skill could handle that and still have enough power to spare. Wounds like this should be a cinch for her. However, it leeched so much energy from her that with how much she had left with her reserves, she might just die instead. However, Neptune's life was on the line here, so she had to do the same for her. Her calling as a Nurse-In-Training demanded it.
Her hands began glowing with greater intensity, neither of them looking away as the blood receded faster, the sounds of flesh being torn resounding from her chest as Neptune's organs began to regenerate. Her heart regrew itself from the basest of Cells, with her lungs repairing the fractured holes caused by the Tentacle attack. Her body was working much quicker to heal itself now, and thus Nico's Healing Pods were finally beginning to help.
Just when things seemed to go better for them... the other side began to suffer.
A scream came from behind them, and Nico looked behind them since Compa was too busy healing their downed comrade, to see that it came from Tekken as she was sent flying from a Tentacle smack. IF gritted her teeth as she parried the man's other Tentacles with her blades, morphing them both into 6 Tentacles each so she had 12 to counter his 4 larger ones.
Turning back to the girl's body, Nico saw that her wounds were soon going to be healed, and turned to Compa. "Compa, that's enough, I'll take care of the rest from here! you just-" he began to say, only to find how his friend had her eyed closed as she fell to her side, her face pale and her breathing laboured. "Compa!"
'Tch, damnit!' he cursed as he lifted her head onto his lap while applying more healing items to the two. They wouldn't wake up for a while at least, that was something he could tell for certain. Their wounds may have been healed, but the strain their bodies had been under, healing items forcing them to adapt under pressure, was great. They would need their rest and right now that wasn't exactly a safe thing to do.
'AWWWWW WHAT'S THE MATTER, KING?! FEELING A LITTLE USELESS, ARE WE?!' The voice of IT laughed in his mind, making Nico grit his teeth. Hs didn't muster any response, knowing that the voice wasn't done yet. 'ITS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU KNOW, YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST TOLD THEM TO HEAD BACK AND LET YOU TAKE CARE OF THAT ASSHOLE, AT LEAST THEN THEY WOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN HURT THE WAY THEY DID. ITS YOUR OWN FAULT THAT THEY'RE LIKE THIS, SO WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR WOORTHLESS LIFE? LIKE I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE USE MY POWER? THE POWER YOU SHOULD BE USING?!'
Before Nico could respond, the male heard something crashing into the ground. Eyes wide in horror, Nico looked to see IF having been sent crashing into a wall. Fortunately, her BOW powers afforded her regeneration abilities as her wounds began to heal, but it didn't look like she would last much longer. "IF! You alright?!" he yelled in concern.
Weakly, IF nodded with a bitter chuckle, slowly dislodging herself free from the indentation she made on the wall. "Y-Yeah, I'm good." She replied, before she grimaced as she reformed her Tentacles into blades as the man already got onto the offensive, rushing towards her with his Tentacles lashing at her with high speed and velocity. "Bu-but it's not going to be that way for much longer! How's Nep, is she doing okay?!"
"Yeah! She's been stabilised thanks to COMPA'S EMERGENCY KIT, but its knocked her out as well. Unless Tekken is still with us, it's just you and me!"
The brunette looked to the martial artist, who was sprawled out onto the ground with swirling whirlpool marks for eyes. She shook her head in frustration, groaning loudly. "Well, that's not happening, so it's Just us two then! Damnit, if only Nep transformed when this battle began this would have not happened!"
Transforming… that also applied to him as well. He could have become Crimson Soul and blasted these enemies to pieces before the girls could have gotten hurt. His power was much greater in that form than his human form, he had to admit. Though, if he ever used IT in human form, then the power balance between the forms was equal. 'No way am I using IT though, I will not let the others figure out my secret! If I use IT then they'll get curious, and things will eventually fall apart.' He thought with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.
Still though, he had learned of their existence in Leanbox before, he was warned of them by his adoptive mother. He should have prepared for it, so why did this happen? How could this have happened? Before, Nico would have planned like crazy for this stuff. He would have left nothing to chance, he would have hunted this creature down and shown no mercy. Hell, back in Lastation that was just what he did. The moment he heard about Avenir, he had gone crazy with his investigation, leaving nothing unexplained before choosing the right course of action.
So... what changed? What caused him to be so lax in his hunting's?
'YOU STILL DON'T GET IT?! YOU'VE BECOME SOFT! YOU'VE BEEN SOFTENED, DULLED, BY THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE OTHERS, YOUR SO CALLED 'FRIENDS'! YOU RELY ON THEM MORE AND MORE EVERY DAY, AND THUS YOU END UP WEAKER AS A RESULT! PAH, WHAT A PATHETIC FARCE! YOU'VE ALLOWED YOURSELF TO DULL, YOUR CLAWS HAVE BEEN BLUNTED BY YOUR WORTHLESS FRIENDS! WHY REMAIN THIS INCOMPLETE EXISTENCE, FOR IT IS THE REASON WHY YOU HAVE BEEN WEAK!'
A growl tore from his throat as Nico tried to push IT's mental presence back, however the presence wouldn't be swayed. He could feel IT pushing through the suppressants from the Armour as well as the demonic energy. 'No, no that can't be true! Even if I'm with a party I still manage to stay as effective as ever! There's no way that I've grown weaker!' He roared back to IT, only to hear a derisive scoff in response.
Just before they could continue, a yell of warning came from IF as the male looked up, quickly rolling to the side to avoid a Tentacle slamming into him from overhead. The male rose to his feet only to cross his arms as the man appeared before him, kicking at his face. Fortunately, he had blocked in time, however Nico was sent flying across the platform, ending up right next to the bridge.
"Stay focused, Nico!"
"Yeah, tell me something I don't know, IF!"
The man laughed madly as he jumped towards them, launching his Tentacles in a ruthless volley. They came down upon the two like a thounsand dark whips, forcing Nico and IF to dodge them like their lives depended on it. IF flipped over a Tentacle and quickly slashed another, while Nico crossed his arms and blocked a strike to his face, this time keeping his balance and enduring the strike.
All the while the mocking taunts and laughter of IT ran through his mind.
"Too slow!" The man called out as he closed the distance, swiftly elbowing IF in the gut before she could react as his Tentacles knocked Nico away. He the gripped her head in one hand, before slamming it into the ground with the force of a Jet liner, making IF gasp and cough up a load of blood. He then rushed towards the bridge. Slamming IF's head into the railing before running across it, dragging her head through the bridge's railing before throwing her into the opposite wall.
Turing around, the man crossed his arms in front of him, with his Tentacles mirroring this action as Nico came in slashing with Harvester, repeating the action several timed before flipping into the air, coming in for a downward slash at the man's head. However, his strike was deflected by a Tentacle, and when Nico saw a Tentacle lunge towards him, he swiftly dodged it by tilting his body around, before grimacing when another slammed into his side, sending him bouncing across the ground.
While in mid bounce, the male righted himself and stabbed Harvester into the ground, slowing his movement to a stop. He then looked up to see a Tentacle, much larger than the ones that the man had used before, loom overhead for a smash. 'Tch, I won't be able to dodge this in time!' he cursed himself.
BOOM!
"AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Finally, that hindrance is gone! Now I can help myself to some…" the man exclaimed, before turning to the barely conscious IF, who was now sprawled across the ground clutching her head, which was already starting to regenerate. He began to lick his lips in a sinister, lustful and crazed manner. "… Delectable meat."
He twisted on his feet as his Tentacles returned to their default forms, hands in his pockets as he stepped towards her downed form. As a response, IF snakingly tried to get to her feet, but the constant damage to her head had left her disoriented and her nerve system shot. She couldn't move very well, and that was about to become a great hindrance to her. Reaching forth, the man grabbed her by the top of her head, lifting her off the ground.
2 Tentacles jammed into the ground, lifting both him and his prey into the air while the other 2 remained on standby. He held her close as she struggled to break free, though with her disorientation that was proven to be quite difficult. Seeing that his prey was sill struggling gave the man an idea, and his lips curved into a sick, demented smile as his stand-by Tentacles lunged forwards. A hellish mix of a shriek and scream blasted from IF's throat when she felt them slam into her Clitoris, multiple times even, with the force of several sledgehammers. Leaning forwards, the man took a whiff of her hair, around the area that was healing still. "Hmmmm, you smell… wonderful. I was right to save you for last… well then, bon Appetit!"
IF's eyes widened when she felt the man's tongue cress her head, to be more specific the injury that was regenerating. She winced as a sharp pain jolted down her spine from the contact, shivering in disgust. Though, that feeling was underwhelmed by the sheer terror that she felt inside. For so long during this journey, she had felt that she wouldn't fear anything anymore. It wasn't anything that didn't make sense, since she had seen dozen different grotesque, disgusting fuckers.
Now, she realised just how wrong she really was.
While she struggled to break free from the man's hold, down on the ground Nico was struggling to get to his feet. Most of his reserves had been depleted through these constant battles, and the fact that he had spammed DEMON OVERDRIVE didn't help. He had made sure to conserve energy, but still that last attack took a lot out of him. He didn't know if he had enough energy to transform, at this point.
'AND THERE YOU ARE, LIMITING YOURSELF. HOW PATHETIC, HOW FAR YOU HAVE FALLEN, KING. BECAUSE OF YOUR OVERRELIANCE ON YOUR FRIENDS, YOU HAVE BEEN SEVERELY DULLED, YOUR INSTINCTS BLUNTED, YOUR CLAWS RUSTED. WHEN WILL "YOU" RETURN, KING? THE "YOU" YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE? IT IS CLEAR THAT YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO RELY ON THAT PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A POWER, SO… NOW THERE IS ONLY ONE DOOR.'
'No… I refuse... I refuse to use IT! I won't! I won't I won't I won't!' Nico shook his head vehemently, trying to push those thoughts out of his mind, to try and figure a way out of this. Despite his best efforts however, the thoughts of IT weren't going away. They slowly, gradually began to dig into the male's mind, filling it with their presence like they had wills of their own. Gritting his teeth, Nico clutched the ground, Harvester teleporting into his Void Storage as he kneeled on the ground, head hanging low as he struggled to maintain control. That battle, was one he was gradually losing.
'Nico, this looks bad. There is only one way you can stop this! If you don't want THAT to be known, you must trust me!'
Nico heard Biko's voice penetrate through the thoughts of using IT like a blade through flesh. He noticed that the demonic personification sounded tense, urgent and nervous at the same time. It was the most emotion he had ever seen from him, but none of that mattered more than what he had just told him. A possible way out of a dangerous situation? Hell, to the yeah, he would take it! Consequences be damned! 'I TRUST YOU, Biko! Do what you must!'
'… Very well. Now then, entrust… your heart… to me.'
Those words, which sounded strangely ominous to the male, were the last thing he heard before a surge of fatigue hit, and darkness soon followed.
Just as the man was about to sink his fangs into the delicious treat he had ensnared within his claws, his instincts went haywire. His eyes widened and some of his skin lost its colour, or whatever colour remained. Something was wrong, something was VERY wrong. In his short hours of existence in this world, he never felt something so… dark, so evil it was onb borderline demonic levels. His Tentacles shuddered as if they were terrified of what was coming, and it took all his willpower to keep them in line.
When he felt a reasonable level of control over his Tentacles, the man looked behind him at the source of this sense of terror and unease. His face showed shock at what he saw, and from his shoulder, IF, who was barely able to see thanks to her current state saw it too. "N…Nico?"
She soon rectified the name of the person she saw in her mind, as it wasn't Nico that was kneeling right now, but Crimson Soul, his transformation having not been as flashy as before. Perhaps that was because he had a lower energy percentage than normal, since all CPUs and apparently DPUs had flashy transformations when they entered their true forms. However, there was something… different about this transformation. It felt… dark, scary, and above else, evil. It was unlike anything she had ever felt, when he had first used his DPU powers consciously against Noire when she was in her CPU form back in Lastation, Nico at least gave the feeling of a rampaging predatory, a silent rampaging predator. Now? He felt like a freaking demon… with intelligence.
Considering she had fought mindless demons before on this journey, that thought was a scary one.
"Young IF…" the brunette gasped when she heard Crimson Soul say her name. His lack of any familiarity in his tone worried her, although she hadn't the ability to respond right now. "If you do not wish to die today, then break free of his hold while you have the chance, and get your companions as far away from here as possible."
'H-Huh? what is he…?'
"You there… the one that calls himself a Cannibal…" Crimson Soul spoke as he lifted a finger and pointed it towards the man. His movement made many cracking sounds, like his limb was about to snap at any moment. The sounds sent chills up IF's spine, even though she knew that she should have gotten used to such grotesque sounds thanks to how her mutations activated. She doubted she could ever truly get used to them though, not with how she associated with them.
"Yeah, that's me, born Ghoul, proud Ghoul! What of it?!" The man, who called himself a Ghoul, yelled back in a crazed manner, trying to show none of his internal emotions with his usual maniacal grin. His black and red eyes zoned in on the transformed Nico who just, floated there, an ominous orangish red aura surrounding him as his head hung low. His head then lifted, more cracking sounds accompanying it, and they both were greeted to the sight of his closed eyes.
"You have made a grave error… and now you must PAY!"
His eyes quickly opened after his sentence, and at that moment the aura surrounding him EXPLODED, blowing away anything that got too close. In his haste to not share the same fate, the Ghoul covered his face with his arms and remaining Tentacles, dropping IF and letting her fall away from him.
The brunette managed to get a grip and land on her feet though, her injury having finished healing as she immediately adhered to Crimson Soul's warning. Something big was going to happen, and she could tell it wasn't going to be pretty. Yet, she didn't feel like leaving Nico alone with this thing was a good idea, those Tentacles of his could hit harder than anything she had endured before. She had almost blacked out when she suffered those hits to the clitoris, even with her regeneration kicking in. The Chrysalis Gene will likely have its work cut out for it, reinforcing the damaged cells with stronger ones.
Nevertheless, her instincts told her this fight would only escalate now that Nico had transformed... plus these kids were knocked out cold, so they'd be a hindrance right now.
With that in mind, she formed a decision. It wasn't easy, but she managed. On the battlefield, one had to make choices and live with the consequences. No matter the cost. She quickly formed her wings and Tentacles, before shooting the Tentacles outwards and making them grasp the unconscious forms of her comrades by their waists. She made sure that the Tentacles had a good hold on them, she didn't want to drop them mid-flight, even with how annoying Neptune could be. Quickly, IF spread her wings and took flight, moving out of the dungeon as fast as her wings could carry her.
Glancing behind her as she fled the area with her friends, IF muttered something under her breath. "Crimson Soul…. Nico… I hope you know what you're doing."
Back to the two men, the Ghoul stumbled backwards as he fell onto his backside, gobsmacked at the amount of power he was sensing from the male DPU. "No…. no, it can't be… what is this power, where is it coming from? Where-where-where?!" he shrieked with incoherent babbles mixed in, quickly getting onto his feet and setting his Tentacles to a defensive position.
Black blotches started to appear over the DPU's body, which was also starting to increase in bulk. Muscles were enlarged, bones were strengthened, and a twisted transformation was being applied to the body of Crimson Soul. Even Soul Edge was undergoing a transformation, being a part of Crimson Soul's being. Certain body parts began to rearrange themselves, while others changed completely.
The aura shadowed his form from view, leaving only his dual red eyes visible to the Ghoul who felt like he was being stared to his soul by a thousand hungry faceless creatures, eager to devour his entire essence. His eyes were the size of dots as he desperately tried to repress the trembling his body was doing, to no avail. It was impossible to keep calm when he saw the sigh before him, his lips quivering as he gripped his fists so hard that they bled. "Th-This isn't real, this can't be real… no, no-no-no! NO!"
At long last, the aura dissipated, revealing what lay hidden beneath its DARK embrace. It peeled away like a curtain, revealing a hulking armoured beast that once resembled Crimson Soul. Black replaced orangish-red, like an abyssal black. His form had expanded in muscle mass, a lipless mouth with long teeth shown in place of an empty mouth socket, and his eyes had become a beastly yellow. His hands no longer were normal hands, but a pair of giant claws that had palms which were functional mandibles. His wings, which were once that of a phoenix, now looked much larger and more like a fiery angel's, becoming a crimson red in colour with embers constantly falling from them. The feet were now more knight-like, being composed of boots rather than talon-clad feet. The Tail had changed to the shape of a human spine, with long talons protruding from both sides and ending like an arrowhead.
Despite this change, the mandibles didn't hinder any ability to sword-wield in the least. Speaking of swords, Soul Edge had changed from its previous form, and this one looked a whole new level of demonic. It was still a massive Greatsword, but it lacked any eyes, and had 2 edges with the middle being a row of long, pointed teeth. It had a semi-circular guard around the hilt that was shaped like a talon, with a shorter version opposite it.
In this form, Crimson Soul's eyes narrowed into a deadly glare, a bloodthirsty gleam shining from them as it let out a loud roar, releasing a shockwave that blew everything before It backwards. It was only thanks to his Tentacles that the Ghoul had managed to keep his footing since they had jammed half their bodies into the ground. "What the hell?!" he yelled in shock and horror. 'This shockwave… just by screaming it generates this much power?!'
One second Crimson Soul was bending his legs, prepping for a charge, the next he was right behind the shocked Ghoul, Soul Edge raised for a diagonal slash. The Ghoul instinctively ducked, pulling his Tentacles out and rolling away. The slash missed, but following its direction a massive fissure was formed, leaving a trail of smoke and debris in its wake. 'What the….?! Such strength! What is going on here?!'
The Ghoul had no time to ponder any of this as Crimson Soul let out a frenzied screech, spreading his large wings and taking off after him. The Ghoul curved his Tentacles in front of him, just barely blocking a slash that would have decapitated him, but instead it sliced through some rock formations behind him. 'The amount of strength this guy has is unreal…! But why did he not use this power earlier?!' The Ghoul, in a surprising show of intelligence, wondered to himself.
Hey, he was a psycho, not stupid, baka!
Still though, this wasn't the time for jokes as Crimson Soul was already on him with a tail slash that led to another swing from Soul Edge. He managed to deflect the first strike, but the second one he had to jump back, not trusting his Tentacles to be able to take any more hit from that monstrous blade as it crashed into the ground, making a loud and large explosion from the impact force.
'I… might be a little in over my head here!'
While the two beings fought each other in a battle to the death, a spectator watched the carnage take fold from atop a mountain, cloaked by shadows and concealing her energy so that nobody, especially not the beast that Crimson Soul had turned into, could detect its presence. The figure was the same one watching the party from earlier, and the figure did not like what was being shown.
"That form…! His powers have grown that much already…?!"
The figure released a Tsk, frustration evident as she watched the beast rampage against the Ghoul she had released into the world, like so many others before him. "This Rinkaku Ghoul may not be enough to defeat this monster…! This beast is more powerful than any normal monster, hell even Abnormals will have trouble beating it! From the looks of things, it is rampaging without any thought to its actions, meaning that it isn't being controlled by its user."
As she looked at the beast from her vantage point, the feminine figure hummed as she pushed her anxieties back and focused on evaluating the creature, which would prove to be a difficult obstacle to beat on her own. "There isn't a trace of demonic energy in its reserves… all of it has been added to Crimson Soul's physical strength, therefore altering his physical appearance as well as overwhelming his mind with bloodlust and rage. There was still so much of it left even after so much use of DEMON OVERDRIVE… and to think, he is still getting stronger, getting accustomed to the power his predecessor left behind… it goes to show just how powerful Sparda, the King and original DPU, was in his time."
With the power she was sensing and witnessing, the figure began to debate with herself, pondering on what her future for this being would be. "I shall not fight it myself. I… as much as I loathe admitting it, even with the powers of all four Goddesses, that beast will be able to beat me without breaking a sweat. By the time I got those powers, it shall have reached even greater heights than what I would… Neptune should be considered a secondary threat for the time being, at least until this beast is taken care of."
Indeed, Neptune may be a threat to her plans, an Amnesiac Goddess who had been gaining power and faith wherever she went, even if she didn't realise it, was a major threat to her. She had already lost to her group ponce before, but even then, it as only possible thanks to that brat DEATHSTROKE and his DPU powers. It should be worthwhile investing in ways to get rid of Nico once and for all.
She had some good ideas, one of them being the more short-term of the bunch, and it focused primarily on convincing the old man Yvoire in the Basilicom. She would have to have evidence of her claims against Neptune to prove them, but perhaps she could sway him further by bringing evidence of this boy's threat to Leanbox.
A dark grin spread its way onto her lips, as she pulled out a Camera from within the shadows that were her robes right now, before raising it to her eye ad taking some photos of the destruction being wrought upon the Dungeon. The way she took them painted Nico in a demeaning light, anybody would see that even that old fool Yvoire. Once he saw these, she as sur he would be happy to be a pawn in her schemes. She didn't need to worry about Neptune though, since she had already done her part there and sent a pawn their way, with explicit orders to be followed to the latter.
One she felt she had enough evidence for her next few claims, the figure placed her camera back within her robes before resuming her watching of the chaos. "Hmmm, as for the long-term ideas… it would be best to enact them right away. If I know DEATHSTROKE's reputation, and I do, this plan will not likely end in my favour. I will have to resort to going THERE, braving its obstacles, and head to HIM. HE can help with DEATHSTROKE while I deal with Neptune… hahahahahaha!"
If there was ever a time Biko felt regret, it would be now.
His worst fears had come true as he stood on top the stadium of Nico's inner world, which had gone through some radical changes since the transformation. Now, the skies were abyssal black, with many red stars shining brightly, complimenting the darkness, and the desert sands which were once barren and silent, now were filled with twisted looking demonic entities that were fighting each other. The sounds of screeches, shrieks etc rung through the area, filling his ears with noise that Biko didn't appreciate. One could even see trails of dust being kicked into the air by stampeding beasts as they struggled to overpower the others.
Hunt,
Kill,
Consume,
Evolve.
That was the creed these creatures had. The transformation into the current form Nico has now was driving them crazy, the bloodlust and rage influencing his mind doing the same to these creatures as well. Before, they had just slept, lying dormant until there came when the DPU could call on them for battle. However, this newest transformation had forcefully awoken them all in a fit of rage and bloodlust and a lack of higher brain functions, resulting in them killing each other.
It was a gamble, one that Biko had unfortunately lost. When he had suggested leaving things to him, he had hoped that the amount of energy would be enough for Nico to barely retain control of his mental faculties during this transformation. This form he was in took all his demonic energy and converted it into physical power, merging with every cell in his body. Unfortunately, that includes bloodlust as well, and with enough of it the bloodlust can overwhelm the mind and reduce it to that of a rampaging beast, like it did now. Worse, was the fact that despite all his training, Nico still hadn't been ready for this power yet, and thus was would be harmed both physically and mentally by this. The clincher was that he was only alive at this point because of IT right now.
Speaking of IT, a hysterical, mocking, demented hollow laughter echoed behind him as the white version of Nico manifested itself in the same manner it did previously. This time tough, he had a weapon on his back: an inverted colour version of Soul Edge, something that irked the man though he didn't show it. "LOOKS LIKE YOU FAILED IN THE END, OLD MAN, JUST LIKE I KNEW YOU WOULD. KEEPING HIM AT THAT PUNY LEVEL OF TRAINING WILL HAVE COSTED YOU DEARLY, I SAID…. AND NOW LOOK, I WAS RIGHT!" He mocked, his shark-like grin on his face. "YOU COULDN'T EVEN CONTROL THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY THAT FORM GAINS FROM THE CONVERSION! HOW WEAK MUST YOU REALY BE?!"
"you know I cannot do much when it comes to controlling Nico's powers. Only he can do that, I am merely a personification of it, I cannot control it." Biko responded calmly, keeping his stoic demeanour as he turned to the white Nico. "Besides, you aren't here just to mock me, I can sense you have a greater purpose."
The White Nico chuckled again, although this time I sounded more… genuine, and amused, as he spoke again. "I MUST ADMIT, I'M THANKFUL FOR THIS. THIS'LL JUST HASTEN MY USURPENNCE OVER YOU EVEN MORE. BUT FOR NOW, I THINK I'LL ENJOY SOME CARNAGE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The white Nico laughed like a madman, before jumping off the stadium into the conflict below.
While watching the chaos, Biko frowned his thoughts being only one: 'What will happen now?'
