Chapter 79 - Hellverse (At last!)
The cold, wet Leanbox wind pressed against her face, her twin braids fluttering behind her as she flew through the air towards her destination. Purple Heart ignored the winds and kept her eyes focused on where the woman could sense a large abundance of demonic energies gathering. At first, she had been a little sceptical at the possibility of demons attacking. She hadn't been there when the 'Demon Prince' as her Hubby had called that thing went down, but she trusted that her Hubby hadn't been lying to her. After all, he didn't have that vibe to him, and if he was to hide something it was usually for good reason. Like that time when he didn't tell them about how he'd been investigating Avenir and thus alerted Lastation's defence forces. He'd kept that under wraps thanks to A: being in close contact to Avenir, and B: They would be caught in the crossfire. He wanted to be absolutely prepared for the upcoming battles so that, even if they were caught in a trap (which they had been) they would still have ways of stopping their plans.
It had only been a quarter of the flight trip that she began sensing demonic energies in the distance, which made her realise that Nico had been dead on about his predictions. As she got closer and closer, though the distance between them still remained vast, Purple Heart slowly felt more and more worry seep into her being. The reason? The closer she got, the more energies she began to feel, energies that belonged to individual demons. It gradually became more and more ominous for her and she feared they would be fighting alone against an entire freaking ARMY of Demons.
If that was indeed the case, then that Demon Prince definitely fit its name…
Though, she guessed that they weren't technically alone, and by that she meant the two of them: herself, and the passenger she was carrying. Looking down, Purple Heart eyed her passenger who was looking ahead with just as much worry as she was, though she wasn't hiding it as well as the CPU had been able to. "Don't worry Compa." She spoke softly, getting the Nurse-In-Training to look up at her. This allowed her to see the supportive smile the Planeptune CPU had on her lips. Her eyes shone with confidence and determination, born solely from one thing. "We can do this. We fought the Bloodletters back there, remember? It'll just be a larger version of that."
"How can you be so sure, Nep-Nep?" Compa questioned worriedly. She turned her head and looked into the distance. She may not be able to sense demonic power like Purple Heart or Nico could, but even she began to get this deep unsettling feeling at the pit of her stomach. It felt honestly like she was walking into a den filled with hungry lions, and she was to be the large sack of meat that they craved. She could remember how it felt fighting those Demons back in that horrible place, some of them had commented about how they would skewer her insides with their tongues or do other nasty, heinous things to her. At the time, she had only been moderately worried since her friend was keeping them off her back, but this time their numbers would likely be greater than before, which meant that Purple Heart might not be able to protect her as well. "I mean, judging from how Ni-Ni sounded there will be tons more ahead, compared to what we saw last time. How do you think you'll be able to handle that many?"
A small chuckle escaped the woman's lips, much to Compa's disbelief. Did she not understand how bad their situation was? Did she not realise that they could seriously get a bad end this time? They'd been through so many near-death experiences, so did they make her immune to fearing death anymore? She didn't voice her inner thoughts though as she waited Purple Heart's reply.
Said reply came seconds later. "You're right, Compa." She began, surprising the young woman as they slowed down slightly. The Nurse-In-Training didn't notice it at first, but her eyes quickly glanced at the arms holding her securely in place. It was faint, but there was in fact some trembling going on. Purple Heart kept it together than she did, but even she held the same nervousness that Compa felt, she realised. It made her feel a little pang of guilt for not seeing it sooner. "I myself, am not as sure about our chances. We're facing an army of beings that make what we've fought so far, monsters, Abnormals, Ganache, BOW's, even other CPUs look like chumps in comparison. These guys would be the textbook definition of monsters if they hadn't already been classified as something else. To be honest, they're probably the stuff of my nightmares."
Purple Heart released a breath, one that contained a slight sense of shakiness to it. She couldn't help the feelings stirring within her gut, feelings that she let Compa know of intentionally. She didn't need to keep these from her friend, since they both were feeling the same way right now. "But, I'm still going to do my damned hardest to make sure this enemy is vanquished. They cannot be allowed to harm any innocent lives in this Nation, or any Nation. If they appeared in any Nation other than my own, I would go there to fight them. They wouldn't get a chance to come to Planeptune under my watch." She explained, her eyes hardening at the end. Determination replaced her nervousness, pushing it far from her mind as her limbs stilled.
She truly meant that as well. Even if the other CPUs hated her for one reason or another, she would still do all she could to aid them in killing off these Demons. Those creatures showed her in their battles, that they did not care one bit for the purity of life, they only cared about causing untold chaos and destruction, leaving ruin and devastation in their wake. She would not allow any of them to cause more tragedy in this world, not by a long shot. Her human self would agree, in her own way at least. She may not show it, but when it counted she would be there to help. She helped by being the comic relief character, and she helped by being the Warrior Queen she truly was. That was her full character in a nutshell.
"Do you remember what my human self said to you back in the Monster Cave? Way back when?" the CPU questioned, looking down at her friend. She may be her love rival for Nico's heart, but they were also friends, and friends help each other out more than anything. Just from looking at her, Purple Heart could sense that she needed the support, and she would gladly be that support. When she was sure that Compa was paying attention to her, the CPU continued. "I seem to recall it was something along the lines of 'When you're being bullied by somebody you don't say 'why me?' instead you say, 'try me'!'"
The Nurse-In-Trainings' eyes widened in shock, memories flashing through her mind when her friend did say those words. She remembered them well, they had been along the same kind of words that Nico would have said to her, in order to calm her down in a scary situation. That was how they had succeeded so well in keeping her level-headed back then. Hearing them again, just served to show that they still had that kind of magic. Only, the difference compared to back then was that it was the perky Neptune that said them. The cute, lovable preteen amnesiac with a penchant for adventure and desires to be a hero. To help others in need and be an adventurer, a thrill-seeker. Someone who would keep cool by making jokes and fourth-wall breaking memes.
Now, it was the Goddess of an entire nation, a warrior queen who fought alongside their troops on the front lines. The difference was as clear as day. One of them held a much greater impact than the other. Not saying that one is weak, oh no, that was not the case at all. It was merely a comparison of charisma that the warrior queen excelled at more so than the bubbly preteen. The result, nonetheless though, was a calming sigh from the Nurse-In-Training, as she lost the tension building up within her. As she did so, Compa gradually felt better about their chances, like they actually would survive this upcoming battle. She still felt her nervousness and anxieties, the same ones she had expressed to Nico back on their date (she still blushed at the memory) but they were in much lesser quantity at the moment. Something Compa knew she desperately needed.
Her mind, after thinking about Nico, went to the item that he had brought her. From the moment that they had left, Compa had been feeling… strange. It wasn't really a bad strange, more like a feeling of comradeship, of trust and devotion, to this strange item. She got the feeling that she was meant to have that item, and it reciprocated the feelings. A two way street. Part of her got worried over these new feelings, feelings that she had only gotten when she received this new, strange item. However, the item itself quickly assured her of those worries by pumping its energy through her Inventory and into her system. She had no idea how that was even possible for it though, it was like it could transcend between dimensions and infuse the energies into those it favours. Compa had the feeling she could do anything with that item by her side, something that the young girl took great pleasure in. She would need it for the battle ahead.
On Purple Heart's side, after she assured Compa they would be alright, the CPU furrowed her brows as she glanced down towards her chest area. The same area where she felt that strange item that Nico had given her. Not long after she transformed into her HDD form, Purple Heart had felt how it had burrowed itself deep within her system and begun doing… something. Injecting something, absorbing something, she didn't know. It had felt like both of those, honestly, and it sure as hell didn't tickle. She'd managed to school herself during that moment of pain, pain that made her think of being burned alive, doused with water, then being set alight once more. It was like two forces were struggling within her, struggling for supremacy. Had that been what Noire had gone through when she fled them after being hit from Nico's DPU powers?
That question had been answered with a no about an hour after she and Compa began their flight, when the thing inside of her simply… settled down, as if it were slowly being tamed by her own energies. Energies that began to assimilate the something into her being. Changing it, rewriting it into something else. What that was, she didn't know. And she sure as hell wanted to know what Nico had given her. She could feel its presence insider her being, quite well in fact. This was mostly due to the fact that its energy was the complete opposite of hers, and every time she brushed against it, she would feel like she was drinking a bottle of bleach. Not a nice feeling.
While painful at first, the conversion process seemed to gradually become less so as time went on, and Purple Heart slowly found herself eager to see the results of this little fusion. This fusion of demonic and divine energy. It was a gift from her hubby after all, and that was something she cherished, more so than one would expect. Perhaps that was why her body hadn't tried to expel the foreign item from her during the assimilation, it knew that this energy was not inserted into her with malice-based intent. Such an unconscious desire… She didn't know why, but Purple Heart knew that when the process was complete, something that hasn't been seen before would happen. She could feel it deep within her gut.
It was with these thoughts, that the two ladies pondered while they flew to their destination.
Finding the Dungeon had never felt so good in Nico's opinion.
Tracking the trail of negative emotions that Biko had provided him was not easy, not only was the trail as faint as all hell, but he had many 'pit-stops' along the way. Pit stops that were basically ambushes composed of warbands filled with Chaos God Worshippers. These worshippers worshipped Khorne, though, none of the other Chaos Gods, which told the male that Khorne's sub-religion was based primarily in Leanbox. If that was indeed the case, then the other Religions would be based in other Nations, which didn't bode well for the CPUs.
If only he could have flown here, then Nico wouldn't have had to deal with all those pesky followers on his way here. However, the fact that they could probably sense demonic energies from a distance was too big a risk for them to take. They had no idea what these Chaos worshippers in Overlord Momus' cult were capable of. Not to mention, his only source of flight capacity was actually his DPU form, Crimson Soul, and he was unable to access that form thanks to what happened with Berserker Mode.
One good thing though as that he was able to get used to using his Demon Skills once again. It felt SO goddamn brilliant to finally unleash his DEMONIC OVERDRIVE skill once again, not to mention the rest of them. it felt like he had finally regained something he had lost for a long time, after years of searching for it, and man did it feel excellent to use them again. You know that sensation you get as a kid, when you get to do something after so long of being forbidden to by your parents? Yeah, that was the comparison Nico made to it. He'd mainly used them on either Abnormals or the stronger of the Khorne worshippers, while normal monsters had to deal with his Plasma-based arsenal as well as his normal Skills.
As for those unknown new abilities Biko had mentioned to him, Nico had decided to stick with the ones he did know for the time being, at least until he fully recovered his powers and could access DDD once more. Both Biko and him had agreed that would be necessary in order to properly ensure his recovery, as they didn't have any information on these Skills, thus the effects they'd have on his recovering demonic energy reserves were largely unknown. Too risky, in their eyes.
Of course, during the entire journey his thoughts would wander back to Neptune and Compa.
It had NOT been easy, not at all, to send them to that battlefield. It had felt like his gut was tearing itself apart as he saw them leave, possibly to die there, but he had no other option. There was time to consider, as well as the fact that there was a heavy risk on both routes. If they chose one, they would doom the other. Choose the many, and IF's life could be in peril. Something Nico refused to allow. But on the other hand, choose IF, and many innocent lives would be ended without mercy. That also was unallowable in Nico's mind, something his demon persona agreed with. Nobody deserved to die by the hands of ANY Demonic entity, for when they die it wouldn't mean their souls go to the afterlife, no, their souls would be devoured by the demons as well.
Then there were the items that he'd given the girls. Biko had assured him repeatedly that things would turn out alright, in his own unique way of course. That guy didn't do emotions, sort of similar to how his DPU Self was like. But, the fact that he bothered to try was what counted, and that was also more successful in calming his nerves than someone who understood emotion. He didn't know why, but that wasn't stopping him from soaking it up.
Now though, after all that bullshit with the followers and Abnormals, Nico had finally found the entrance to the Hellverse Dungeon. The Dungeon apparently looked like one large, ruined Manor house. It had the same design as the older versions of Leanbox buildings, but looked to have been abandoned for some time. The manor consisted of a large gate, with a courtyard that separated it and the entrance inside the Manor. In front of the courtyard, was a large gate.
The gate stood proudly, intimidatingly, in front of this long, arching stone bridge, a bridge that went across this deep ravine. He couldn't even see the bottom thanks to there being next to no light down there. Aside from that, the gate had these two statues of armoured Knights with longswords impaled on the stone beneath them, with their hands balanced on their pommels. The stone bridge had these large statues of winged lions lined along both sides. Though, holes in the bridge were visible, holes that looked to be the result of something smashing into them.
Kneeling behind one of the bridge's stone walls, Nico eyed the Manor with a wary eye. His senses and instincts told him there was something VERY wrong about that place, like it just oozed evil intent like those Demons. His senses could detect traces of demonic enemies within that place, but other than that he had nothing. Not a good sign in his books. Turning back, the male sat down on th ground, leaning back against his hiding spot before he looked up to the skies above. At first, before he got here they were all cloudless and clear blue, but now… Now they had become covered with grey storm clouds, thunder rumbling across them. He could sometimes make out vague bolts of lightning.
'Hey Biko… you get anything else?' the male questioned, frowning as he closed his eyes. His Armour was on, which meant a light metallic banging sound happened when his head hit the stone. His lone eye was closed as he projected those thoughts to his demon persona. 'Cause I got a REALLY bad feeling about this place.'
'That feeling would be right.' Biko responded. A low hum followed this as Nico heard his contemplative noises. 'From what I can tell, this Manor is home to a LOT of demonic beings, as well as their worshippers. I foresee that this will be one tough battle, but I can also sense there to be wards in the area, preventing my senses from digging deeper.'
'Wards? What are those?'
'You know those Magic Circles that you employ in Skills? Wards are basically that, however demonic Wards are quite versatile. Depending on how they're drawn, they can have a variety of functions, like keeping energies contained, restricting movement, reinforcement, teleportation, etc. I am detecting Wards across the entire Manor's walls, and they seem to be preventing me from using my senses to see what's inside. If you want my opinion, I'd say there are going to be more inside, plus wherever IF is being held.'
These Wards… they sounded quite interesting. Not to mention useful. If what Biko was telling him was true, then they'd be another means of security for their hotels and places of interest. Maybe he could look into that sometime, but for now he had to focus on getting inside that place. Good thing he could use his Demon Skills and Devil Arms again, now he had more of an arsenal to kick demonic booty with. 'Got it, I'll keep an eye out… maybe multiple, with a Recon Drone or some shit… Anyways, what's the status with my DPU Form? How long will it be before I can use it again?'
'From what I can tell, not long. That stay in that Demon Prince's realm has boosted it significantly, more so than that stay in the Mines. This is likely due to it having a higher quality and quantity concentration of Demonic Energy, so I'll predict that by the time this is over, we will have access to DDD once again.'
'Alright, got it, I'm heading inside.'
With that done, Nico slowly stood up and twisted on his heels, heavy clanking sounds accompanying him as he trudged along the stone bridge towards the Gate. His eye shone with determination while thoughts of the brunette filled his mind. Nico clenched his armoured fists as his eye shifted slowly to a mix of determination and anger. 'Hold on, IF, I'm coming…'
Deep within the Hellverse Dungeon, IF rattled against her restraints, groaning in irritation at them. She had been trying to get them loose enough to break them, but she hadn't had much luck. 'Geez, what the heck are these things made of?' she wondered, grimacing. She tried some more, but she got the same results, so she soon stopped her attempts. She'd been doing this ever since she first regained consciousness.
There was little light save for the torches. Torches that hadn't been lit until they had brief visits from several robed people that IF had assumed were Cultists for the Overlord Momus religion. Though, something was off about them, something had been very, VERY wrong with them. She didn't know what it was exactly, but their pointy hoods had covered their faces in darkness, save for these glowing crimson eyes. She could also make out this hollow red glow from their mouths when they snarled at her, like an animal. Those were what she didn't like, not that there was anything she DID like about them. Those were just more… noticeable things that she disliked.
Looking up at her, Stefan eyed the restraints that bound her, his eyes weary yet focused. It was a bit of an odd mix, one only made possible thanks to being trapped down here for god knows how long. "I'm afraid those restraints won't be coming off. While you were out, I watched as they seemed to do something to those restraints, I think it was applying a Ward of some kind. Don't ask me what they are, because I only overheard them mention it in passing. But from what I could hear, this Ward apparently strengthens the restraints with the infernal energy Demons possess."
"Well… that sucks." IF muttered under her breath, releasing a resigned sigh as she slumped against the wall. Seriously, her arms had begun to go numb from being held in this position for so long. She hoped she could get some feeling back into them soon enough, she didn't fancy walking about armless for the rest of her life. "I bet Nico would be able to destroy these damn things…"
Overhearing what she muttered under her breath, the Ostermark Captain's brows perked in interest. "Nico? By any chance, is this Nico character DEATHSTROKE? The sole male of your apparent party?" he queried, getting a surprised look from the brunette.
After a second or two. She warily nodded, wondering what he was so curious about. She soon got her answer as a look of understanding crossed onto her features. "Ah, I see. Well, if he's in your party I don't doubt that he's already on his way here. That Agent has a penchant for finding places like these." He remarked, thoughtfully as he looked up at the ceiling. His eyes held this dazed look to them that the brunette attributed to reminiscing past memories.
"You seem to know a bit about him, huh? I guess its to be expected with his reputation, but…"
"Oh, don't misunderstand, I don't know him PERSONALLY, but I have heard of him. In fact, the boy likely doesn't realise just how popular he has become, even before the recent BOW attack on Lastation." Stefan told her, getting a raised brow from her. There was silence between the two for a moment as the man wet his lips with his tongue, using saliva as a substitute for liquids to keep them from hurting like the rest of his body.
Afterwards, he decided to elaborate on what he meant, it had been a long time since he had the pleasure of a conversation partner. Almost too long in fact. Being in this hellhole made him miss the little things, but he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. "DEATHSTROKE may not be as well-known to the public, but he is WELL known by those of a higher authority. Practically every politician connected to the higher ups in the Basilicom and the Guild is aware of his existence. Each of them pay a substantial amount of attention too his movements, to his actions, like watching an animal for wen it finally breaks under the pressure. Kind of weird, isn't it?"
IF nodded, frowning in thought as she glanced at the ground beneath her. "Yeah… weird…" she muttered, her eyes becoming glazed as she lost herself in thought. That definitely sounded more than a little odd. Weird didn't eve do it justice. She had figured that there was extreme secrecy from Nico about his past, but his present was being constantly monitored? She wasn't sure what to think of that at first, but the more she thought about it, the more she began to think back…
She remembered when they first met, how he helped her with those stupid idiots who wanted a quickie while she was overstressed from her recent Quest. She hadn't noticed at the time, but as she thought back to it some of the surveillance systems, and more than a few staff members, had been eyeing him. These gazes didn't have much to go off of, and they were mixed in with the looks of adoration of him, so they would likely have remained unseen unless one actively looked for them. IF hadn't noticed then, but these looks… she didn't know why, but she got a bad feeling about them.
The brunette remembered several other times when they would appear throughout their journey. In Lastation, when the big freak-out happened more than a few eyes were drawn to him. She didn't think much of it at the time, since she had understood the shock of what happened. However, now that she was thinking back with a different perspective, some didn't look as shocked as the others. Some even looked… unsurprised, like they had expected something like this to happen eventually. Heck, even Chian felt like she knew something about him that the Party didn't, something that rung more than a few alarm bells in hr mind.
Heck, this became even worse back in Leanbox. The most prominent example was, again, within the Basilicom when they first encountered Yvoire, and all the times after. Hell, this could be considered one big mess in and of itself considering what he had wanted her to do. The others probably didn't notice, but IF did. the way that Yvoire and Nico interacted seemed civil on the surface, but underneath that was practically a swamp of hatred, disgust and discrimination. The subtle glares in each other's direction were a big hint to this, but at the time she had been focusing on other matters, so she hadn't paid it much attention. Then there was some of the other workers whom, unbeknownst to Neptune and Compa, full on GLARED at the male in sheer hatred and disgust, for the male to glare back with just as much ferocity that it caused them to stumble. It reminded her of how the Guild used to be treated the same way in the past.
In all those times, they had been showing intense hatred or wariness towards him, but like Stefan had said, they WERE paying attention to him regardless of how they were doing it. Suddenly things didn't seem so clear anymore, the mysterious haze around Nico's backstory becoming thicker and thicker with each revelation. When she had gone to research Ghouls and their biology, she had NEVER expected things to turn out this fucked up. Every answer she gained only lead to more questions, questions that lead to more like a repeated cycle until it formed this complex web of facts around Nico.
Speaking of her research, while she had so many questions around the guy's past, IF did have to admit that what she did know provided some possible answers. For one, Nico's reactions to the thoughts of Ghouls back in West Wind Valley, they indictaed a deep connection to them, probably like kinship. Then reason she thought this was due to his behaviour being similar to Ghouls.
They were brutal in battle, so was he.
They didn't like eating large-scale human meals so did he.
She didn't know about the Kagune thing, though, but if Nico DID have a Kagune, then that would make him…
"Say, you seem to have a… deep interest, in young DEATHSTROKE." Stefan noted, and IF soon looked up towards him after snapping back into reality. Seriously, she had been doing that a lot lately. She could only hope that she didn't do that on a battlefield or things would REALLY have to change. Nevertheless, she looked towards the Ostermark Captain, who was regarding her with a thoughtful look. In the next second, her gut felt like it was twisting when she saw how his lips curved upwards into this smirk. It was a mix of knowing and amusement, with a hint of teasing. "Do you by any chance have a interest in him… in a romantic sense? Like, dating, sex, marriage the like?"
POOF!
The Moment that those words left Stefan's lips, IF let loose a heavy scowl of primal anger at him. Her eyes shined with his infuriated she was, although Stefan didn't feel very threatened. Her face had turned cherry red though, which sorta lowered the feeling of fear that her glare was trying to get across. She made to deny that claim that she liked someone, but all that came out was as follows. "Heck no… no way… ugh shut up!" In the end, she just gave in, grumbling under her breath.
At the sight, Stefan openly laughed, not even minding how much IF was glaring heatedly at him. In his eyes, this was just too good for him, it had been so long since he'd seen someone get that flustered over the possibility of a relationship. Plus, he had the impression that IF largely remained serious about everything through their short interactions. With few exceptions, though, and that was what he had been trying to bring out of her. To help her focus her mind on something other than her current situation. When one person is your only form of conversation in the middle of so much madness and insanity, you tend to try to talk to them as much as you could, learning much about them just to make sure you don't lose your mind.
Once she regained her composure, the brunette huffed as she looked to the side, refusing to look at the man anymore. "Why the hell would you ask something like that? Especially now of all times?" she questioned in annoyance. The earlier embarrassment brushed against her defences, but her pride refused to allow her to think more on it. She was a mercenary, damnit, she didn't have time to worry about this shit.
But, she did remember how Vert had asked her about the same topic. A topic that had been bothering her immensely ever since she heard it. Her mind had been replaying her interactions with the male Spec Ops Agent like they were on loop or something, and through each repeat, she did notice that she began behaving… oddly, when she recalled them. This sense of disappointment, of regretful longing, this desire to have something… more.
How long had it been since she felt this way?
Faint images appeared in her mind, images of the past that she had not been thinking about for quite some time. She saw a white haze, with a black masculine figure in the centre offering his hand to her.
The brunette shook those memories out of her mind for now. No point in thinking about the past, at this point she needed to focus on something else. She knew though, judging by the look on Stefan's face that he would be pressing her to admit the truth. Through their short time of knowing each other (though she didn't know exactly how long they had been here for, and he had probably been here longer than her) she had found that he had a stubborn streak that contested well with a certain purple haired idiot she knew.
So, she tried to think of something that would persuade him to drop this conversation and focus on another topic. "Even if I WERE to like him…" she began, and deep down she felt like her heart was twisting in on itself when she said those words. As if she was a complete idiot for saying them. "Nico already as several Goddesses, a Nurse-In-Training, and several other Agents after him." she stated, hopefully that would persuade him to drop the subject.
Usually, men frown upon those that get a bunch of girls interested in them. Not out of disgust, normally. Most of the time though, it was mainly focused on jealousy, with a few exceptions like those who were happily married and faithful to their partners. While she had seen many of the former, a few of the latter were also included in her experiences. Hopefully, this was one of the latter ones and would drop the subject or risk saying something degrading that would piss her off.
… Wait, what?
Unfortunately for her, it soon became apparent that Stefan had a DIFFERENT reaction to what the brunette woman had been expecting. The man winced, his eyes shining with… pity? "Ouch, those poor girls. They have their work cut out for them." he remarked, shaking his head in exasperation. The restraints holding him captive clinked in response to his bodily movements, creating sounds in the otherwise empty dungeon cell that soon became silent once again.
Now THIS got her attention, her eyes sharpening like blades as she regarded the man opposite her with a new level of attention, compared to their previous talks. "For someone who claims to not know Nico personally, you sure seem to show otherwise." She remarked curiously, but also with a hint of suspicion. She didn't know how this guy thought he knew her comrade, but he clearly knew more than he let on. Just how much did people observe this guy, anyways? Like a bunch of hawks eyeing potential prey or something? IF quickly found she did not like that thought… at all.
Stefan shrugged his shoulders, or at least he tried to. His current condition had hampered this action for him, somewhat, resulting in more clinking. By the Goddess he hated these infernal chains. Once he got out of here, he'd be doing his damned best to make those assholes pay with blood. "Like I said, many influential people keep watchful eyes on him, and that includes his interactions with others. It takes a LOT to get through those barriers he puts up around his heart, and from what I can tell from your story it seems you girls have only breached one of them. You have a fair way's to go before you can take a shot at his heart, the kid's one of the more wary of others amongst his peers."
Instead of feeling discouraged by that, which IF figured that she would have, she could only feel a sense of determination. She had been under the assumption that Neptune, Compa, Vert and the others whom wanted Nico had gone way too far with him for her to catch up now. But, to hear that they barely scratched the surface of his barriers? That thought brought both comfort and concern out of her. "Well, I guess then, if I liked him, I'd have a fair shot then, huh?" she remarked with heavy sarcasm, though she sounded like she was hiding something underneath it… and she was.
It didn't seem to matter too much to Stefan though, if his knowing looks were any indication.
Before they could continue their conversation, the sounds of wooden creaking resonated from behind IF's cell. She quickly realised what this meant, sometimes she would get 'visits' from those Overlord Worshippers and boy did she NOT appreciate those. All they usually did was stand by her cell, same with Stefan's and stare at her like a bunch of freaking creeps. It didn't help that sometimes they would whisper amongst themselves, faint crimson glows coming from their lips. Sometimes, she swore she heard the name 'Magda' for some reason, but she never asked after that one time. When she had asked, they had practically snarled in her direction, making her blood run cold as they looked like they were restraining themselves from ripping her apart limb from limb.
Though, at the mention of Magda, Stefan did scowl with more anger than a bloodthirsty Abnormal. No joke.
Following the creaking sounds, came those of leather footwear tapping against hard metal. That meant they would be getting visitors soon. IF quickly checked her Biomass reserves. She had been careful in replenishing it, doing so little by little. While it replenished on its own, likely through adaptation and evolution via the C Gene, it still remained inferior to assimilating Biomass from other beings. Survival of the fittest never ceased applying itself to these situations she found herself in, ever since hooking up with this Party. She could feel that a small amount of her power, barely a 10th of what she was used to working with, but that would be enough. It had to.
Soon enough, the woman noticed several men in dark robes with those pointy hats coming down the corridor to their Cell. Their eyes glowed a menacing red, oddly reminding her of Nico's eyes when the male was in DPU Form. A sense of anger at the worshippers rose within her at the thought, though she didn't fully understand why. No matter, she would have to focus on the task at hand. Plan in mind, IF wordlessly sent a look Stefan's way, a look that sent her intentions though her gaze alone. It was something that only skilled warriors or those who were skilled in their fields could do, so Stefan naturally understood and nodded back to her.
Just after that, the Worshippers finally arrive at the gate to her cell. One of them muttered something under his breath that IF overheard with her BOW hearing. Although, hearing it didn't make it any less confusing to her. It sounded like a chant of sorts, a runic chant if she wasn't mistaken. It was a Lowee-based practice, she knew because she'd looked into it once after seeing it performed on a mission, but this… this felt different somehow, it honestly felt like an increasingly more demonized version of the craft. Not sure how she would feel about something like that.
The lock came undone, and the worshippers sauntered into the room, forcing IF to hold back her urge to tear those assholes into shredded ribbons. There would be a time for that, this she swore. When they were inside, one of then grabbed her by the shoulder while the others muttered chants to undo the restraints on her legs, but not her hands. "Come with us prisoner, its your time to be offered as a sacrifice to the Gods." The one grabbing her sneered, roughly pulling her to her feet. She identified this one as a male at least.
Instincts told her that it was time however, and a small smirk formed on her lips. "Oh, I don't think so, fucker." She stated, kicking the worshipper in the balls. The man squealed in pain, alerting his friends to the situation. Before they could do anything however, and before Stefan could freak out over IF's, in his mind foolishly stupid plan, the brunette commenced her plan.
Her chest erupted in a single, organic spike made from her own flesh. One that impaled her assaulter.
With a grin she put all her pent up frustration and sinister malice into, IF commenced the cell absorption process. The man let out even higher pitched screams, sounding almost like dozens of screaming civilians at once as his body was literally engulfed in hot fire born from the conversion process her BOW powers applied to his being. This lasted only a second before the body was pulled right into her spike, leaving nothing left of the Worshipper behind.
Power flowed through her, making IF moan in bliss as she effortlessly pulled her hands free from their restraints, ripping them in half. She then grinned towards the others, opening her eyes while her arms began to tremble violently, mutating intro her blades. "Well then boys," she began, licking her lips in fierce hunger. From her feet, IF separated some of her Biomass and had it form a wall over the Cell, though a transparent piece was created for Stefan. She wanted him to see this, what she truly was. It would be better for him to know now rather than later. "Let's commence the payback, shall we?"
Chapter end!
Whelp, IF's free and those guys are as dead as humanly possible. Neptune and Compa are going off to engage the Demon horde the Demon Prince told them about, and Nico has found the place where the brunette is being held. What kind of horrors will there be in store for him when he gets inside? What will IF do when she see's Nico having already arrived to lend her his aid? Also, what is with the items that Compa and Neptune received? All in due time, readers.
Also, I've been thinking and people will likely get lost with all the stuff that is going on. I'm thinking about making segments within the AN's I've been posting about different lores I've made, as well as character Bios that I'll try to keep as fresh as possible.
This one will be the mutated IF's Bio, so I hope you like it.
IF - Mutated
NAME – IF
AGE – late teens
RACE – Human (Formerly)
BOW (Current)
GENDER – Female
OVERVIEW – IF is a Guild Agent who encounters Neptune and her party when the Monster Cave Dungeon is the victim of a Banshee Infestation. She then is recruited by Neptune and Nico, whom she had encountered previously. During the fight against an empowered Ganache, IF is infected with the C Virus, forcing Nico to save her life by infecting her with another strain of the C Virus, enhanced by his own Demonic Energy, turning her into a BOW with full control over her mental faculties.
HISTORY – Born from a one-night stand between her father, a Mercenary, and her mother, a fashion designer, IF spent her childhood wandering from place to place. Her father had taken her under his wing and started training her once she was old enough to fight. He taught her many Skills a Mercenary would need, such as combat, survival in the wilds, etc. When she was 8, her father was killed while on a Mission, which led her to follow in her father's footsteps and become a Mercenary.
MUTATION – IF's mutation is one that varies, she can control her body down to the cellular level, allowing her to make weapons out of her body parts, form new appendages as well as change her appearance to better bland into her surroundings. She can also morph into her 'true form' which allows her to use the Virus's full unrestrained power. Nico has correctly told her that her powers are aided by what he calls the 'C Gene' which promotes the growth of stronger cells and killing off the weaker ones, a 'survival of the fittest' mentality.
Tentacles - A set of insectoid Tentacles, their thickness rivalling that of an average bodybuilder. They numbered at 6, and had sharp glowing orange tips. Each one protruded from her shoulder, having replaced her entire arm up to the shoulder socket.
Blades – when her blade mutation is applied, IF has only one half of her arm that was still human, the inner half of the arm. The outer half, plus the hand, is completely changed, becoming a mass of crimson flesh and bone armour, shaped like a ribcage that was a full forearm longer than her true arm. Its shape resembled an overly muscular limb, with the point after the hand being where he limb shifted its shape to a broadsword-like shape. It had a single metallic edge from the point where her hand used to be to the tip, the edge straight for the most part till it curved into a diagonal tip.
Claws – A set of metallic claws that grow around her wrist and form 3 10-inch-long fingers.
Axammer – An arm that looked normal down to the elbow, save for several Tendrils made from flesh wrapping around it and going into the shoulder. Below that though, was a long, large organic shaft, as large as a bodybuilder's arm. At the tip, there was a large Axe blade, about 8 feet long and 6 feet wide. The blade was double tipped with a large crescent edge, a single notch next to the bottom tip. That same tip of the Shaft had a large shell-like structure, meant for bashing and crushing.
Armour – IF can form an armour that covers her entire body in black armour, with many fractions. It enhances her physical abilities further than her BOW traits could alone, and she can have it cannibalize her body to enhance her movements further.
Wings - 4 dark green reptilian wings made from her flesh, the lower ones being shorter than the upper ones.
Physical enhancements – Because of her transformation, IF's physical abilities have been augmented to superhuman levels, allowing her to go toe to toe with enemies that the Goddesses would normally have trouble with. Her strength is great enough to hold a CPU's weapon, which is bound to one by their soul thus making it near impossible for ordinary people to wield it. Her speed is great enough for her to run 20 laps around large cities ad only get slightly winded afterwards. Her agility was enhanced to where she could dodge bullets at point blank range, while her instincts and other senses were sharpened to an animalistic degree, allowing her to perceive things that normally she wouldn't. In addition, IF's body reproduced its cells much faster than an ordinary person, giving her a moderate healing factor that can restore limbs but not her brain, if the brain is damaged, it takes longer to heal.
Cell Absorption – IF's regeneration can be strengthened if she uses her powers to absorb any living creature, and if she doesn't need to heal then she can store the cells inside her for later use. This ability is useful for her as it can hasten her injuries healing, including her brain's. It happens by contacting the organism she wishes to absorb, then burns them to liquefy their cells like the C Virus when it encases someone in a chrysalis. These cells are then absorbed into her body for her to use.
