Chapter 106 - Skies End to Death Parade

Eyes widened behind his helmet as Nico jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding an energy slash that would have sliced him in half, armour be damned. It had been made from highly concentrated Demonic Power after all, Nico noted as he landed on the Main Deck, flipping backwards and planting both feet onto the railing. There had been little doubt in his mind that attack just now would have caused some major damage. Whilst his regeneration would have taken care of it, Nico would rather not have something like that weighing him down in the middle of battle.

SCHWING!

With a single motion, Nico drew his most powerful Devil Arm from its resting place on his back. There was more than a little amount of pleasure coursing through their link thanks to Nico finally drawing on its power, another sign being how violent PREDATOR was being upon self-activation. The male could also sense the blades eagerness rushing through both itself and their link, with an undertone of caution which made Nico's eyes narrow sharply. If Soul Edge was being cautious like this, it meant their opponent wasn't someone who he should underestimate. Though, what was new at this point? The teen had Soul Edge out in his right hand, held to the side which let its eye narrow in on the cause, while behind him, Urthemiel flew downwards diagonally, shooting upwards to attack the supporting Zeppelins.

Turned out they were more like bugs than they thought, huh?

Nevertheless, Nico pulled his attention back to the cause of the sudden surprise attack, his eyes twinkling with suspicion and caution behind his armoured Helmet. He had a flash of indignation and annoyance building in his chest for the interruption, he wanted their blood goddamnit! You do NOT mess with a monster's food and expect to live to tell the tale! Not only that, but just by being near this new arrival, the two surviving Crewmen began to gain an increasingly wicked feeling to them. The dark something inside of them was beginning to stir, drawn by this thing's presence.

'Nico, be careful… I sense an incredibly strong Demonic Energy signature from this person.'

'Don't have to tell me that, Biko. I sense it too, plus Soul Edge is hiding its caution well but its nothing I can't detect.'

This 'Thing', apparently, had the appearance of a grown ass man, wearing a hooded cloak that covered some leather-looking armour, built mostly for mobility and flexibility. It didn't have too much protection, unlike the larger Armour Nico wore, but the male didn't doubt that it adhered to its function well. To Nico however, the cloak didn't hide as much as it would to a normal person, Nico could see there was a mix of human and robotic features about this person. Whoever he was, he wasn't completely human, plus he had powerful Demonic Energy readings. In fact now that he thought about it, these readings matched that of the Demonic Power cores coursing through these Zeppelins.

This person must be the source of it all, in other words the leader, the one that was on the broadcast earlier.

"So… looks like you are the one whose been giving my men a hard time…" The man spoke, his voice strained and seemingly a mix of human and machine. The human aspect seemed dominant, but there were more than a few robotic undertones. This person seemed like an unholy mix between man and machine, not something that Nico had much experience with. If someone like Ivan saw this, he'd be cringing as all hell. "If I hadn't seen your power in person, I would not have anticipated a child like yourself to be capable of such feats."

'This guy… he's been watching me?' Nico wondered, thanking his Helmet for hiding his surprised expression. With it on, he felt much more liberal to showcase such emotions. Since he had been so focused on the battle with the Crewmen, or rather the one-sided massacre, Nico hadn't noticed much else. Biko probably did though, Soul Edge too, they were just as observant as he was after all, both being parts of him.

Feelings of confirmation from both parties only confirmed his mental theory.

Deciding to push aside the disturbing thoughts of having a human/robot stalker, Nico shook his head and refocused on the task at hand. This was good, he had questions for this asshole if he was who he thought he was. "…Flattering." Nico stated with heavy sarcasm, eyes narrowing into slits behind his helmet while his body radiated heat not unbecoming of his Hellfire. It wouldn't be a surprise if it suddenly burst into existence around him at this point. "Lemme guess, you're the leader of these merry band of misfits?"

The man/machine/ thing (?) before him gave a chuckle, and with the way his voice was it didn't give his nerve any indication to settle down. In fact, he swore he felt a few chills crawling up his spine like children trying to climb up their parents' backs. "You will not stop me from getting what I want, but I will humour you. You need not give me your name, however mine is Logan Scandalous." The man introduced himself, lowering his head slightly in a mocking mimic of a bow. "Captain of the Merc Raiders."

"Pleasure." Nico stated curtly, though if they saw his eyes they would have seen the absolute opposite of such. "I know you'll probably refuse anyways, but I'll give you one chance to leave this place with what remains of your pathetic crew. Its obvious at this point that your men won't last much longer the way things are going." He stated, gesturing with his free hand backwards to Urthemiel. Said Archdemon finally managed to destroy one of the Zeppelins by feinting them, tricking them into Warping into a stream of Primal Fire.

It may be personal bias, but Nico knew there were countless people out there who didn't give a damn about their subordinates, as long as it satisfied their own personal gains, they would be willing to throw countless subordinates out of the frying pan and into the fire, as the expression went. He'd seen it before whenever Leanbox or Lowee contracted him to deal with any pesky Bandit Tribes causing any issues. The Merc Raiders were one such group, though thanks to their elusive nature nobody knew where their main camp was. At least now he might get some idea so he could inform the authorities.

Turns out his Bias would be proven right, for the man before him just simply shook his head, chuckling all the more while snorting into his right gloved hand. "You would be right in assuming that would be pointless and ignored. I have finally found the object of my vengeance after so many decades, nothing will stop me from finally ending that useless fool Rinjiin's life." He sneered, his robotic eye shifting under the hood, Nico noted. He also noted how little a reaction there was to the man's words by his remaining Crewmen. Either they were just too angry to care or something else was at work here…

He was willing to bet it was the latter.

'So, he's got a mix between a human and a robot for a face, huh…? Something big must have went down.' The teen thought to himself, getting agreeing hums from Biko. His inner beast whined at not being used for this battle, but Nico had to focus on what was happening right this moment. Honestly, while part of him bristled in anger at the callous disregard for life, Nico had seen so much of it in the world that he had just come to expect it. People needlessly threw others' lives away for their own gain, just look at Ganache with what he did to Lastation, and in some ways, he was no different. Still, at least in his case it was justified by how horrific his enemies were, leading to their brutal deaths by his hand. Still, this man seemed hungry for revenge something fierce if the tones used were any indication, and judging from what Rinjiin had told him, Nico put some of the pieces together in his mind. "Vengeance? Does this have to do with the Dragonators by chance?"

"Hahahaha, looks like you're a sharp one." The man sneered, slightly laughing at the question. Either for how stupid it sounded, or how little Nico knew of the man's backstory would be anyone's guess at this point. The teen started to get the impression this guy had parted ways with sanity a whole hell long ago. "You could say that's what it is, me and him were once fellow comrades in the Dragonators, until he betrayed me and left me with this ugly state my body's in." he stated. "Not going to play the stereotypical villain role and give a long, exaggerated backstory."

That was something that gave the teen more relief than he had expected, sort of surprising him. Good god those kinds of speeches got old real fast. It was one of those tropes that seemed to prevail in any kind of adventure-based Manga. "Well, I'll be sure to ask him… once I'm done tearing you into ribbons for what you're doing here." He stated darkly, readying Soul Edge as he activated its BLOOD RAGE ability. originally, he hadn;t the chance of using this ability, due to how difficult Soul Edge was to control in human form. The natural handling of the blade didn't pass over from his DPU form, which was part of why he had trained with it after the Hellverse Arc. Now, he had access to its abilities, albeit they were weaker in potency than they would be in its true form.

Still, Soul Edge would be a terrible demonic weapon, terrible for his enemies that is.

In the next few seconds, the teen could feel that the ability had worked, just by witnessing how the man exploded into maniacal laughter like some kind of maniac. He held his head in his hands while rearing it backwards, laughing up to Celestia above. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! OH YEA, THIS IS JUST RICH!" He exclaimed, lowering his hands from his head as he hung his head downwards, drawing his Knives from his thighs before he leaned forwards. "I ALWAYS WANTED TO KILL AN HONEST TO GOODNESS SPEC OPS!" his words were mixed, yet sorta drowned out by his maniacal laughter as the effects took hold.

Nico readied himself, getting into his battle stance. It looked like things would be over quickly with BLOOD RAGE active…

Or so he thought.

'Wh-What the?!' he thought, eyes widening in shock behind his helmet. If he was unarmoured and his helmet wasn't covering his head, his mouth would have dropped open. In an instant, the man had closed the distance between them with his right Knife slashing towards his neck. By instinct, Nico adjusted himself so that the attack would only graze his cheek, and that proved to be life saving seconds later. The reason? The blade seemingly passed through the armour like a hot knife through butter and cut right through his left cheek. 'Holy shit…!'

'This may be on of those 'two-faced' kinds of people, Nico. Even so, the amount o madness this mortal is releasing is worrying.'

'You're telling me, and here I thought that white me was bonkers!'

"HAHAHAHA!" The man laughed, sensing the confusion from the teen at the situation he had found himself in. "YOU SURPRISED?! THAT LITTLE TRICK YOUR SWORD DOES IS PRACTICALLY USELESS ON SOMEONE WHOSE ALREADY KICKED THE SANITY BUCKET A LONG TIME AGO, BITCH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He explained, laughing his ass off like a hyena. All the while, the two Crewmen seemed to be slowly moving around the two battling men, surrounding them.

Whatever that was about would have to wait, Nico noted as he reacted to Logan's assault.

Spinning around, the male slashed at the man's back, only for the man to suddenly vanish in a red flash and appear at his right flank. Nico reflexively raised Soul Edge and angled the blade downwards in front of said flank, blocking a strike to his neck again. Nico then swung upwards in a circular motion, taking the knife with it and ending with a diagonal slash across Logan's chest. Raising a leg, Nico lashed out with a split kick to his jaw, sending Logan backwards a couple steps while he had Soul Edge activate its SCORCHING AURA (Another ability he regained through training).

The blade instantly reacted to its masters' wishes, bathing itself within a crimson glow that mixed in with the miasma surrounding its blade. This resulted in the monstrous blade looking like one of the evilest blades to ever taint Gamindustri with its existence, its lone eye shining so brightly that Nico would have questioned how it hadn't been burned from its own light. SCORCHING AURA took place, Nico felt it as Logan's form seemed to move increasingly sluggishly. Though, judging by his expression, it didn't seem like he noticed, nor did he care.

'Tch, I see… this guy must have lost it a long time ago, or maybe he has always been like this. There are those that are just born tortured, after all…' the teen thought to himself as he bathed his Devil Arm in Hellfire, unleashing a wave of it at his opponent. However, Logan just vanished in that red flash, something Nico realized was Warping, before the male raised his sword to block an overhead kick from above. He gritted his teeth from the blow's strength, there was way more to it than just human strength. 'Then there's the fact my Soul Edge's BLOOD RAGE ability just brought that insanity out into the open. He must have been like a wolf in sheep's clothing, hiding his true nature behind a Mask of cold malice.'

Raising Soul Edge after that thought, Nico channelled its power and brought it down, releasing a mighty shockwave that blew Logan backwards, the man righting himself in mid-air and slamming his feet into the wooden Deck, using his Knives to slow his motions to a halt before he threw them with great reflexes at Nico's eye lenses. Soul Edge shined as it used Telekinesis to halt the projectiles in mid-air, just an inch away from Nico's face, but then the male sensed Killing Intent behind him, and quickly twisted around to swing a reverse diagonal upward swing at the source.

CLANG!

Two weapons met, their wielders Nico and Logan becoming deadlocked together. Nico growled like an animal behind his helmet, his eyes gaining a slight red shine behind their lenses while he let out a bestial roar, pushing Logan back and finally getting a glimpse of the weapon he now used instead of those Knives (which were now embedded in his hips by the way, though he didn't look like he even cared).

Logan wielded what looked like a sword, one that looked to have been drawn from that sheath holster on his chest given te vacancy there which wasn't there before. The design looked loosely like something based off a Talwar, now that Nico could see it. The blade itself had this purple glow to it, a space in-between the latter half of its blade, a dark purple cup guard with a black handle. It looked to be about 3' foot 3 in length, too. The dark purple glow that it sported felt intensely demonic in origin, and it caused Nico to be on guard while holding a rattling Soul Edge defensively.

Power rolled from both blades in waves, filling the air with their presence and making it so that only those two were regarded in the fabric of existence. To them, it was only them and nothing else, an immense standoff taking place between the swords and their wielders. Both of them gave each other looks, one cold as steel with his scowl hidden by his helmet, while the other was a mix of insanity and twisted glee, accompanied by a savage smile, slightly impaired by the robotic half of his face.

'Nico, I've got some information. Its urgent. I can sense massive amounts of Demonic Power within this mortal. No, I don't think calling him a Mortal is an apt description anymore, no mere mortal can handle such a large amount of Demonic Power in their coils.'

'You kidding me?!' Nico shouted back, before he did a double take, and his panic calmed down somewhat. 'Well, that actually doesn't surprise me that much, now that I think about it. I mean, when you look at him, there's something off about him. It's so obvious even a blind bat would notice. This guy's totally two faced and insane, traits that can be associated with demons.'

There was no more time for thought, as Logan already Warped the distance between them with a slash to his face. Nico didn't want to have a repeat of what happened before, that sword looked like it knew how to pass through his Armour like the Knives did. He could sense the same thing from them that he did on those Knives when he controlled them with Soul Edge, reinforcing his decision. Thus, Nico blocked it with Soul Edge, Warping out the way of another strike, Nico appeared above his foe and brought Soul Edge down on his head.

Seconds before the metallic edge met the man's flesh, he Warped out the way just like Nico had done, appearing behind him with a reverse horizontal slash to the back of his neck. Nico ducked under it though, jabbing Soul Edge's pommel into the man's stomach to knock him back before swinging Soul Edge like a baseball bat towards his chest. Unfortunately, Logan recovered enough to Warp out the way to a space 20 metres way from them, though Nico Warped to his position a nanosecond later with another slash, leading to a vicious blade dance between them.

SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!

They went, circling each other and refusing to back down. Ground was neither lost nor gained between them as they struck with high speeds. Soul Edge's power rose more and more through each swing, the sheer strength the blade possessed creating shockwaves that rippled through the air during each collision. Yet the man didn't back down nor did he get blown away.

Another Warping attempt came from him, and this time Nico suffered a slash to his right bicep, along with a slash to his left thigh and left armpit. Nico cursed at this, wondering what the hell was up with those weapons Logan used. Turning to face him, Nico opened his Obliteron Cannons and unleashed a volley of Hellfire blasts, forcing Logan backwards before he Warped right back within Nico's space. The teen quickly Warped as well, the two Warping and clashing across the Zeppelin's Main Deck.

Down below, Rinjiin worked tirelessly to finish off the repairs to his Dragon Vessel. Sparks flew as the man, eyes covered by goggles, made work on the lower sections. His mouth was set in a firm line, the man's heart pounding rapidly as the weight of the situation laid itself over his shoulders. Tensity could be seen rolling from him in waves, fuelling him to work even harder and faster.

His best friend Teo lay beside him, its eyes calm yet deadly as it offered help whenever it could, usually by heating up the metals with its fire breath, so that he could get the repairs done faster. The Abnormal could feel Rinjiin's concern and stress over the situation as its own, their bond had bee tat strong after all. They had been together for a long time, so something like this would be expected. Even I it was an Abnormal, it was still an animal in the end.

Meanwhile, Rinjiin mentally wished these Repairs could be done faster. It wouldn't be long now, just a few more areas to do and then he would be back to fighting strength. Rinjiin hadn't been involved in direct combat without his Dragon Vessel for a long time, so he felt like he would be quite rusty compared to his days as a Spec Ops Agent. His battle senses would have been dulled due to not being constantly on the battlefield unlike his brethren but even so, he refused to let Nico fight on like this by himself. Even with that strange beast aiding him, Nico probably wouldn't last very long against the man known as Logan, not with what he was now.

A fierce scowl formed on his lips as he thought about the man known as Logan, one of the most hated people in his past. The two used to be real close, almost like brothers in the past. But, that was before something happened and the man began to change, not so noticeably at first though. Eventually though, it became VERY noticeable to him and the rest of their little group, resulting in great tension between them.

Then, came that one fatal mission…

Shaking his head, Rinjiin forcefully pushed those thoughts to the back of his head as he looked upwards to the Zeppelins. Well, only 2 of them were left, one of them being destroyed by that beast which now had its attention on the other one. Hopefully, he would be able to get up there soon, cause he hated being useless in situations like this. He owed Helen much after what she did for him, so he'd be damned if he didn't at least TRY to help her adoptive son.

'Just hang in there, Nico…! I'll be joining you, soon…!'

Back on the Lead Zeppelin's Main Deck…

'I'm not getting anywhere with this, I need to get some distance…' Nico thought to himself, before he Warped right on top of the Zeppelin's Balloon. He also suppressed his Demonic powers, up to his very presence while kneeling on one leg, Soul Edge strapped to his back. The teen gripped his chest area with his right gauntlet, feeling his heart pounding away within.

Sheesh, this guy was no joke. There were those weapons that had the properties of passing through his demonic Armour, and then there was how two-faced he was. Nico had honestly been expecting someone who was cold, calculating and deadly efficient on the battlefield when he heard that broadcast before the battle began, but instead he got… this. Someone who had little to no sanity, and weapons that could pass through demonic defences like they were magic mimes.

Only thing that would make it worse was if that guy had some other trick up his sleeve…

'I just jinxed myself again, didn't I?' Nico thought, mentally groaning as he remembered what Biko had told him. Chances were, this guy wasn't showing all of his cards just like Nico had been. He wasn't too winded tough, even after slaughtering all those Crewmen and using so much of his power. In fact, he felt like he could go for quite a while longer, a major blessing in a situation like this.

His mind then wandered onto that demonic power he could sense from Logan, something that set off alarm bells inside his mind. Was he fighting someone from the Chaos religion? Was he facing off against someone on a similar level to Maghda? Back there he just KNEW she wasn't showcasing her full power, and thanks to the situation there neither did he. Whether or not she knew of his DPU Form remained to be seen, but Nico hoped that wasn't the case. That form WAS one of his major trump cards after all.

Just then, the teen sensed a presence nearby, one that radiated malice and bloodlust so inhuman that he nearly shuddered. Though, he had no time to ponder on what the fuck that was, and in any case he already knew the answer to THAT question. Nico's eyes widened she quickly rolled out the way of an unseen energy attack, one that burst through the balloon which regenerated soon after. When he got back up, the teen had Soul Edge drawn once more so that he could defend himself against any further attackers.

Attackers that came in the form of Logan and his two Crewmen, somehow having Warped onto the top of the Zeppelin's Balloon with their Leader. Said Leader had this crooked smile on what remained of his mouth while he leaned is head sideways, pronouncing how deranged he was becoming. The two men stayed behind their leader, leaning forwards slightly.

Wait… there was something different about them, Nico noticed, something that made his eyes narrow behind his Helmet. Was it just him, or did they look… bigger? Bulkier even? Not only that, but now he noticed them lacking irises and pupils leaving their eyes completely white. Their hands randomly twitched, and when they did they di so in a rather frantic manner, various unnatural growls escaping their lips. 'Nope, its not just me…' he thought after pinching his thigh to see if he was hallucinating. 'What the hell…? They weren't like that just a few seconds ago, or maybe they changed wardrobes when I was focusing on this asshole…'

Next thing he knew, alarm bells began ringing in his mind when he sensed something else. Something that he should have noticed a while ago had he not been o distracted with the previous battling. Sweat formed on his forehead as Nico gritted his teeth, the answer coming to his mind all too quickly and he didn't like it one bit. 'Oh shit, is that… is that thing I sensed earlier waking up?' he wondered, a pit of apprehension forming in his stomach.

"Tell me, boy…" the man spoke, cackling like a maniac with his fingertips over his lips, eyes shining crimson not unlike a Demon's. The man looked back at him with a sinister gaze while his two lackeys stomped forwards. Nico didn't not notice the way their feet seemed to cause indentations within the Balloon itself either. He eyed them warily, his instincts screaming at him to not take any of them as lightly as he had done to the other Crewmen before. Soul Edge rattled away like crazy within his grasp PREDATOR flaring wildly and violently at the prospect of combat against powerful opponents. His gaze ten fell back onto the man as Logan managed to cease his maniacal giggling. Seriously dude, get help that stuff was freaky. "Have you heard of te saying 'birds of a feather flock together?"

"Yeah… what of it?"

"Oh, I think its best if my boys SHOW you."

That… That seemed like some form of signal to the other two, Nico rationalized as he held Soul Edge in front of him, its lone eye narrowing at its prey. Said prey, the two men, stomped forth once more as, much to Nico's shock, they began to unleash a rather potent amount of Demonic Power.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

It was like an explosion, rocketing everything that was material and immaterial alike. A Crimson aura of power roared into existence as it freed itself from their bodies, erupting like two twin volcanos while long trails rushed through the air and into the atmosphere around them. Nico had to use his sword to protect his eyes against the winds that were kicked up from the energy release. His teeth clenched as his senses detected that same sensation from before, only now… it was active. VERY active. 'I see… so this was somehow demonic power… so does that mean…?!'

Slightly lowering Soul Edge (once he realized that his Helmet could and would protect him from the winds, whoops), Nico looked to the two sources of this Demonic Power. His senses detected that it was spreading through their bodies, but there was something else… something that soon made itself clear when he saw the two men undergo a rather… drastic and violent transformation.

CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE!

The left one's body began to bulk even more than it had before, his hands holding onto his face like he was trying to peel something off. His mouth hung open in silent screams, drool dripping down his chin while his teeth began sharpening and elongating into fangs. Hell, Nico even saw wounds beginning to form within the mouth, indicating a rather painful element to this transformation. Just then, the man's skin began splitting apart with disturbing tearing sounds, like a doll being shredded to pieces in a shredder, exposing crimson flesh underneath. Incidentally, it looked like he was shedding his skin, his mortal coil to be more precise.

From the back of his head the skin seemed to… stretch outwards, elongating into spike-like protrusions with even more disturbing sounds, his mouth doing something similar but ending up like a bird's beak. His hands lengthened their fingers, their nails darkening to an abyssal black and elongating into claws. From his back, two bulges began to show, like something was trying to break out from within. In the next second, that something got revealed when the skin broke apart in a crimson, gory and bloody explosion, splattering across the balloon behind him. The new appendages flared behind him, showered with blood from their formation, revealing themselves to be the wings of a crow, black with strands of blood between their feathers. Looked large enough to support flight, too.

Crimson orange flames erupted around his form and formed clothes, armour and weapons. They formed Japanese style sandals, silver shin guards, baggy silver pants with crimson belts, shoulder pads on the shoulders with a furry piece hanging over them and around the neck, silver forearm guards and a black headpiece consisting of a strap and a black circular piece on the centre of the forehead. The weapon took the form of a double ended Staff, one end being that of a spiky Baton while the other, the rear end, having spikes curving downwards.

The other man ended up in a similar form but with a dark blue skin tone. Had a similar weapon, too.

Both of them glared at Nico with fierce killing intent shining in their eyes, though. They each had their own auras radiating them like cloaks, cloaks of nothing but malice and bloodlust. Their wings were angled so that, at the slightest sign of conflict, they would be able to take flight instantly, or at least move at high enough speeds. That was what he took from their body language, at least. What was more worrisome to the male however, was that Nico could hardly sense any feeling of intelligence from these creatures, none at all. It was like their brains had shut down entirely, leaving them nothing but walking corpses. Not something he liked to think about, considering his past experiences with walking corpses.

Even so, Soul Edge felt like it would be throbbing if it were in a humanoid form. PREDATOR looked like it was getting a goddamn workout with how much miasma was covering the blade right now. Glad to know that it still wanted to rip these foes apart, though that was to be expected from a demonic blade such as this. Judging by the lack of intelligence he could sense from these two, Nico doubted BLOOD RAGE would be very effective on them, since they would lack the higher brain functions anyways. Perhaps he could rely on SCORCHING AURA, but something made Nico doubt that.

Perhaps relying on Soul Edge's Shapeshifting abilities would be his best option here…

A boisterous, mad cackle drew Nico's attention to Logan, who was holding his gut while bowing forwards slightly. "HAHAHAHAHAHA, OH THAT LOOK ON YOUR FACE! ITS JUST PRICELESS!" he bellowed in between his laughs. He kept this up for a few more seconds, before he clicked his fingers and the two creatures lunged forth at Nico. They flew through the air on their own crow Wings, closing the distance between them and Nico near instantly.

'Oh shit!' Nico cursed, shifting Soul Edge into its sword and shield combo form. He Quickly raised the shield and deflected the first blow from the blue creature, kicking it away while using the momentum to spin and slash at the red creature's staff. Their weapons grinded away against each other as if they were having a tug of war, sparks constantly flying from them until Nico infused Soul Edge with Hellfire to knock his opponent back. He then sent several long waves of Hellfire against them, before unleashing his PHANTOM BLADES Skill.

The red creature managed to smack away the Hellfire strikes with its Staff, but it didn't react in time to the PHANTOM BLADES. Thus, it got impaled in the chest multiple times over, as well as the legs and shoulders. The red creature scowled and growled in annoyance, not pain, as its body forcefully PUSHED the blades out of it. The moment they were out their target, the blades vanished out of existence, allowing its Demonic Power to close the wounds shut.

'Well, looks like these guys have the demonic regeneration part covered…' the teen couldn't help but comment sarcastically to himself. He then shifted Soul Edge into its Beyblade form, infusing it with Hellfire again so that it looked like a flaming disk of pure deadliness. He then twirled a full 360 degrees and hurled it towards his opponent, whom reacted swiftly by jumping into the air to avoid it.

His senses screamed at him to dodge, and Nico did so by rolling sideways, avoiding the blur creature when it came down for an overhead stab which would have busted his skull in. The teen rolled back onto his feet, sliding across the Zeppelin's Balloon before he called Soul Edge back to him. It shot towards him like a spinning torpedo from behind his foes, cutting through their sides to temporarily stun them before latching onto his hand and shifting into Cleaver form.

Holding it like a certain Cyborg Ninja did his sword in a certain franchise, Nico dashed forwards and met the blue creature in combat, ducking under a reverse thrust before sidestepping an overhead slam. He then swung upwards, hitting it in the stomach and, with the force used propelled hm into the air. Nico then unleashed an ATOMIC INFERNO on his ass, before twisting into a kick to launch a PHANTOM WAVE towards his red skinned counterpart. Said counterpart had just gotten to his feet, so Nico wanted to keep him down, so he could focus on the blue one.

Once these events passed, Soul Edge reformed into dual swords form as Nico cross blocked a smash to the face, pushing the weapon upward so he could dash past the blue creature, several slashes adorning its form from how fast his weapons moved in that brief instance. Nico knew that they wouldn't keep it down for long, so he quickly twisted around and launched a couple FIRE BLAST Skill attacks at its back, one from each sword. Both hit it in the back, extending to the Wings too since they hit their bases. The result: the blue creature stumbled forwards, several stomping sounds accompanying their movements. It looked like its wings had been damaged too, residue Hellfire flames trailing upwards from them.

Nico then crossed both swords while raising them above and behind his head. He then slashed downwards like an X, unleashing two ATOMIC INFERNO Skill attacks so that meant he launched 60 fiery rays upon his enemies. The blue creature turned to strike with its staff, but then its red counterpart jumped in front and raised a hand, a magic circle appearing in front of them and taking the attack. it shattered right after though, but at leas it managed to stop his two Skill attacks from connecting.

'Tch, so they can use barriers huh?' Nico thought to himself, mentally making note of that as he made Soul Edge turn into its Bow form. The male quickly took aim, diagonally tilting the weapon before pulling back the intestine-string and letting the formed arrow fly. It flew right into the red one's right eye, and because of the distance between them it managed to pierce right through into the brain. Though instead of just dying right then and there, the creature growled and roared, setting the arrow on fire and burning it out of existence. The hole reformed into its right eye, regenerating the damage as well. 'Seriously…? A strike to the head… Then again, it probably shouldn't be surprising at this point.'

'This just proves to me that they're demons, somehow. Demon Regeneration allows for some very potent regeneration, just like that other side you have. Possessing both allows you to be nigh immortal body wise. Still, these injuries seemed to have drained a significant portion of their energy. It probably won't be long before we can injure them, and they won't be able to heal'

In that case, it would probably be best to destroy this damn fucking Zeppelin then. It wouldn't be like he'd be losing his answers, as long as he let that Logan guy live long enough to make him spill the beans. He probably wouldn't comply, but something told him that Teo and Rinjiin would have some form of… means, to get him to squeal.

Yet, before he could give this Zeppelin a taste of Soul Edge's power, the power that destroyed an entire Dungeon even in its weakened state, the sounds of footsteps got his attention. Nico gave a 'tch' when he caught sight of Logan heading his way, just seconds before he launched a sneaky snap kick to his side, sending Nico flying away. While his armour managed to negate some of the blow, the force behind it surpassed Nico's expectations and thus, he felt a sharp pain from where he got hit. Though, he ignored it easily.

Thus, Nico flipped in mid-air, spinning like a sausage until he landed in a crouch, denting the balloon beneath him

Once he halted, Nico stood up with Soul Edge shifting back into its default form to see Logan grinning smugly at him. "It appears you have noticed the stark differences between these two and the rest of my men." He commented, of which Nico rolled his eyes as he sensed some monologue coming. 'Stereotypical villain antics aside, maybe could get some answers as to what the hell is going on here. I can guess that these guys somehow became Demons, the fact they have a human form hints at this. Judging by what this guy said and what I've seen, I guess that he did something to turn them into Demons, though the 'what' in that eludes me.'

"You could call it an 'Ascension Ceremony." Logan stated, bringing Nico out of his musings. "Think, a ritual that involves infusing the partaker with the soul of a demon and gallons of Demonic Power. In the end, it is supposed to turn them into Demons, though they retain a human form to blend in. along with increased abilities, they gain the ability to take on a more demonic form that is are superior to their human one. Those Northmen that woman commands went through something similar, but they didn't get the benefits that MY men did. They only got the physical ability buffs and the madness, mine got OH so much more."

Okay, this guy definitely had an ego with how arrogant he sounded just then. But, what he said caused Nico to throw that aside as he pondered what he meant. So, Maghda had used some sort of ritual to create the Northmen? Hmmm, well Biko did say that those guys got tainted by that power, gaining extra buffs but losing intelligence as a consequence. He never said how that happened, so this must be it. Also went to show how the Fragmented Memories didn't have everything, again. This guy in addition just implied that he had a connection to the leader of that Coven, too, which only incensed Nico even more to take him down. Any ally of hers needed to be dealt with before they could cause more damage.

He got the feeling this guy wasn't telling him everything about this 'Ascension Ceremony', but he wouldn't press. Not when they had a fight going. "They aren't the only ones however, as you will soon see." Logan sneered, closing his eyes. No sooner had he done that, an eruption of energy released itself from him, like those two Demons. When he opened them however, everything got covered in darkness.


Down with the Dragon Vessel, Rinjiin just finished the last of his repairs, he'd only have to reboot the systems from inside the cockpit, which was located within the head and could only be accessed by the 'Imaginary Bellybutton' that Nico had once coined it as. To had stuck to blocking the cave entrance by sitting sideways in front of it, though one could tell by its snarling visage that it only felt tense as the battles above raged on.

Just as he plopped down to the ground from the Tail segment, a great chill rose up his spine, and an overwhelming sense of fear swirled within his gut. Teo noticed too, especially from the low growl that escaped its lion snout.

"What in the world...?"

Rinjiin muttered this with surprised eyes, before he looked up to the battles in the skies. The moment he saw that darkness get released, Rinjiin feared the worst for the crimson haired Spec Ops Agent.

"I must hurry, something tells me the kid will need some assistance soon enough...!"


Back with the said Spec Ops Agent, Nico had covered himself in a cocoon of Hellfire, the flames not allowing the darkness released from Logan's transformation anywhere near their wielder. The teen himself kept the flames going till his senses told him the darkness had subsided, which allowed him to disperse the flames with a single hand swipe. This allowed him to see his surroundings once again and not feel like his eye sockets were being singed by how close his Hellfire flames had been to his person.

Looking around, the teen noticed that the Zeppelin had remained mostly undamaged from the transformation. While he couldn't see it in its entirety, the fact that it was still afloat spoke enough to him. Maybe he should check it out from other angles to make sure, but for now he'll stick with this assumption. In the distance, Nico could see Urthemiel spearing the other supporting Zeppelin with dozens of fiery Javelins, then breathing Primal Fire onto it. Looked like it was almost done with its prey, then, he figured he could count on it for support soon then.

When he looked to where Logan once stood, Nico suddenly felt very relieved at that aforementioned fact.

The reason why? Simple, because in place of Logan, stood a 20 feet tall being that barely resembled the shape of a man. Nico couldn't see much of its form due to the mix of pure orange flames radiating from it as well as the shadows that cloaked its form, but he could still make out that muscular humanoid body structure, accompanied by a long Tail, two MASSIVE Bat wings that reached up to 20 feet in wingspan each, and two curved horns coming out its head that pointed forwards. Two glowing orangish yellow eyes, similar to miniature fiery infernos, narrowed their gaze down at the sole puny male. A matching hollow mouth could be seen beneath the eyes, plums of flames occasionally escaping into the air from its depths.

Its wings gave a few jittery movements as the creature raised its arms up and then rolled them experimentally, flames exploding forth from them as well as its shoulders and the back ones matching the activity. It almost looked like the flames coated those areas like Armour. From its right arm, the flames spiralled together and solidified into this solidified magma-like substance, one shaped like a Bastard sword with a fiery backedge, and a main edge shaped like shark teeth. An orange core could be seen at the base of the blade, burning just as bright if not brighter than the solidified magma. It gripped the sword effortlessly as the demonic form of Logan gave a mighty roar. One that shook everything around him, the Zeppelin, the oxygen in the air, even the less alive things like the clouds and stuff trembled at the roar, that was just how powerful it was.

He hadn't even fought it yet, and already Nico didn't like this form. Logan had taken a form that projected an aura of pure fear and terror, an aura that, as seconds went by, began digging through his mental defences towards his heart, to try and paralyze him via those said emotions. Luckily for him, he had two forms of defence against such adversaries: his Devil Arms which used their combined power (though something felt off about Alastor for some reason) to keep the aura from getting to him, and then there was that Bone. It was almost like a Devil Arm, since it was trying to devour the attempts to get into him.

"Ahhhhhhhhh...! It feels GOOD to be in THIS form... I almost FORGOT how GRAND it FELT..." the demonic Logan spoke, his voice sounding suspiciously similar to that Demon Prince a while back. He seemingly glanced down at his body when saying this, and hinted to Nico that Logan hadn't turned into... this... for a long time. This implied he had been this way for a while, and from what he could guess, that while was definitely a long time, perhaps before Nico even found out about the existence of Demons. The demonic Logan then focused his gaze back from his own body down to the smaller male, a derisive chuckle escaping his hollow maw. "Now then... HOW shall I deal with YOU... perhaps a MEAL is in ORDER! I have NOT yet FED in quite some TIME!"

FFFFFFFWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

Nico had only one millisecond to react, and he did by jumping backwards. Good thing he did, cause the instant after Logan said that he had unleashed a fierce inferno-like Firestream from his mouth. Those flames almost seemed to moan and groan like tormented victims that were previously burned to a crisp, not something he wanted to experience for himself thank you muchly.

Stopping just at the balloon's tip, Nico looked up and raised Soul Edge, blocking an overhead slash that would have cleaved him in two. 'Damn, for such a big beast, Logan moved almost like a Tempest of Flames just now...' he thought to himself, refusing to look at the weapon grinding against Soul Edge thanks to its brightness. Hell, he bet that Soul Edge was having a field day since its PREDATOR ability seemed to be like a hyper fan girl on a sugar rush, in terms of activity and power boosting that is. He could also feel the secondary power PREDATOR had, as the Demonic Blade tried to eat away at the demon energy within the fiery blade grinding on it like two lovers having intercourse.

Aside from that, this creature's power was not just for show, and DEFINITELY greater than Logan's human form. This strength, according to his estimates, would probably be able to shatter mountains with ease, or similar type of constructs. Anything less would be a pathetic farce to this strength, Nico noted, which was probably why Logan hadn't changed into this form till now. He may be insane, but Nico never noted that he was an idiot. The insane people often get the tendency to be underestimated, but Nico would not make that mistake.

Even if one was an idiot, they could still be a deadly threat to those around them.

Eventually, Nico drew on as much power Soul Edge provided as he could in this situation, and pushed the demonic Logan backwards. Though, Nico had to unleash a wave of Hellfire to halt the approaching Red and Blue Demons. The latter then flew into the air for that same overhead stabbing attack that it did to him before, but Nico just unleashed a PHANTOM WAVE into its chest, sending it flying backwards towards its master. Nico then dealt with the other one by unleashing DEMON SAW, swiping the creature off the side of the Zeppelin.

Unleashing an ATOMIC INFERNO, Nico forced his opponents backwards, allowing him to step away from the edge of the Zeppelin's Balloon, though he didn't stop repeatedly using the Skill to gain more ground. By the time he had made it a quarter across the Zeppelin's Balloon, the demonic Logan had enough of being hit by flames, and unleashed a large heat wave in all directions. It hit both Nico, and his two minions, blowing them off the Zeppelin.

Part of him wanted to summon his Ember again, but another part won out...

'Soul Edge! Reaper Mode!'

At this, the male had to curse as he shifted Soul Edge into its REAPER MODE, flaring his wings to halt his trajectory. Power roared forth from this form as Nico unleashed about 8 ATOMIC INFERNO Skill attacks at once, unleashing 180 homing rays on the three demons. The attack had come from each one of his clawed digits, hence why he had been able to launch so many. Of course, none of them wished to experience that pelting again, thus they destroyed them with large bursts of demonic power.

"GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOW, my MINIONS! Feast on his FLESH! Devour his SOUL!" Logan called out, raising his sword and slashing downwards to the side. From that slash, what looked like a pure orange vortex came out. What that was, Nico had no idea, but something told him he was about to find out. Turned out those instincts, like most times, were dead on the mark like a cowboy scoring a head shot while reason? From that Vortex, out came a rather sizable cloud of what seemed to be hundreds of small, flying crimson gargoyle like creatures. easily numbering at 200 by the time the vortex closed.

'Uhhhh, Biko? Any idea on what they are?'

'Your guess is as good as mine, unfortunately none of the Fragmented Memories have anything of use on these creatures yet.'

'Shit... and what's worse is that it looks like things are getting out of hand here...' Nico thought to himself as he readied his Reaper Mode against the incoming tide. These gargoyle-like creatures eyed him like a sack of meat, unrestrained primal fury in their shrieks and caws while some even flexed their appendages threateningly. Each one rivaled a human in height, something telling him that wasn't just a coincidence. He tried not to think on that right now, since he needed to figure out a plan of attack.

There was too many foes to risk using any of the abilities Soul Edge possessed, PREDATOR would be the best option since it kept boosting Soul Edge's power by the amount of bloodlust it radiated from how many strong enemies there were. essentially, it was a power multiplier depending on how many and how strong there were opponents, something ideal for his situation.

However, the other abilities would be next to useless, as Shape-shifting would require him to exit REAPER MODE, and THAT was not something he was willing to partake in. Moreover, the amount of enemies here would make it so that his other abilities wouldn't be as effective as they would be when facing a single enemy. He could just rely on his Skills, Demon Skills (that reminds him he hadn't gone DEMON OVERDRIVE for a while), and perhaps his Armour reliant Skills. That also reminded him that he may have to rename those Skills in the future, since Plasma and Hellfire have fused into Obliteron.

Perhaps he could use some of his Devil Arms via Soul Edge's Telekinesis, since his hands weren't too capable of holding them in REAPER MODE. Though, almost immediately after that a wave of refusal shook his soul though his links to said sentient weapons. Almost enough to make him drop his guard out in the real world.

Right, these things don't like being controlled by anything other than him, not even a sword formed from his soul.

Got it.

Note to self: Investigate the relationship his Devil Arms have with each other and Soul Edge. There has to be records of people with multiple Devil Arms somewhere in those Fragmented Memories.

'I will find the time to look into it, Nico. But for now, I would suggest you transform. On their own, these demons wouldn't be too difficult to deal with. Hard yes, but not something you couldn't handle. Heck, not even Logan's power is enough to rival that of Soul Edge even in this form. However, with the numbers and circumstances present, It would be best to forgo control for the time being and 'unleash hell' as one Terran from your StarCraft game seems to like saying.'

At the beginning, Nico opened his mouth to refute that idea, but then he closed it before those words came out. After all, Biko had a good point, these enemies were too numerous and circumstances weren't in his favour. Aerial battles weren't his forte when in human form due to lack of training and actual experience. The only thing that had helped him back in the fight with Maghda had been adrenaline and the desire to make her pay for what she had done to Tekken... plus the urge to ensure his comrades would leave that incident alive.

Though, most of his problems got fixed in his DPU Form. That form was geared towards combat after all, just look at the things it has accomplished when he used it.

In addition, Nico felt that these surroundings were actually quite ideal for his situation. For one, he was in a large, open space with practically nothing that could be destroyed by accident. Save for that island down there, but that wouldn't be much of a problem since he wouldn't be aiming down there. Why would he need to worry about control in this situation? Also, he had things that he DID want to destroy, something Soul Edge would happily oblige for its master. Then, there was how none of his comrades were here, Rinjiin and Urthemiel being far enough away that he didn't have to worry about getting any collateral damage. Honestly, this was probably the best likely scenario for his DPU Form to return.

All these thoughts made him decide his next course of action.

"Alright then, lets do this. I'll have to accept that I'll need to transform more in these battles if I wanna regain control over my other side." Nico mused under his breath quickly closing his eyes and activating DDD. The male got engulfed in the signature fiery cocoon, swirling just as violent as ever before it dispersed to reveal his DPU Form. the DPU Crimson Soul in his full glory, as well as Soul Edge in its True Form.

In this form, the male looked down to the weapon, feeling the full, unrestrained power the weapon had roaring within it. In comparison, if the power it wielded in its weakened form was like an inferno, the power it wielded in its True Form would be like those black holes seen at the centres of Galaxies. Black Holes of THAT scale if nobody knew, had the ability to suck in entire planets before devouring them. Infernos just burn a large area.

See the difference?

Makes sense that he isn't able to fully control its power, huh?

Clutching Soul Edge's hilt, Crimson Soul looked back to the Demons approaching him, eager to feast on his soul. Well, by Demons he meant those Gargoyle-looking mother fuckers, but he sensed that the others weren't far behind. Data constantly streamed into his mind, drawn in by the constant use of the AKUMA NO ME. It was permanently activated in this form after all. Hell, he could barely see the weapons hilt, and the blade itself was practically hidden by the thick miasma born from PREDATOR. It was like holding a weapon containing thousands upon thousands of maniacal voices, all laughing out of sync to drive the wielder mad.

The madness and bloodlust Soul Edge had in this form couldn't be compared to that of its weakened state.

Still though, wiping out these pests would be a simple affair.

All Crimson Soul needed was one swing.

As the Demonic Gargoyles shrieked and cawed while they advanced, some snapping at each other, Crimson Soul gazed at them emptily. His eyes remained blank, no signs of fear or dread in them as he raised Soul Edge for a horizontal swing. The power within the blade began to gather and condense, heat radiating of it like a furnace core. The blade practically trembled in his grasp, eager to release the built-up power it had gathered. Finally, just when they were within striking distance...

"Begone."

Crimson Soul Swung.

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

In one motion, one single side swinging motion, Soul Edge erupted with power and Hellfire, resulting in a COLOSSAL sized black and red fiery wave that was over a couple hundred feet tall and wide. The wave quickly consumed all 200 Demons in one swift movement, incinerating them with extreme prejudice. They didn't even get a chance to scream, that was how fast they were burned to nothingness. Didn't help that they had been so close to Crimson Soul, either, something that he intended to happen so he could get them all. The wave eve extended further, reaching across the entire space and nearly touching the other three Demons that hadn't attacked yet if it didn't disperse milliseconds before it could touch them.

They were about 120 meters away, too...

Not even a PIECE of its power had been used, either, just a simple swing.

'This sword... it is indeed a broken weapon as my human self would say...' Crimson Soul thought, his eyes slightly wider than normal to express how surprised he was. If HE was showing emotion, then that meant the said emotion had existed in great enough quantities to do so. Not an easy feet, either. Looking down at the blade in his grasp, Crimson Soul felt that swing, and instantly he knew without a DOUBT, that it contained only 30% of its full might. Even in this form, it seemed that he was trying to hold this power at bay. Years of trying to hide his true strength would do that to a person, he rationalized.

'It would seem that the enemy has been caught off guard by Soul Edge's power, also.'

That particular notification from Biko made Crimson Soul look up towards Logan and those two Demon warriors he had beside his imposing form. Though, with the opened maw and the wider-than-normal eyes, the DPU realized that his opponent literally got gobsmacked with that demonstration of power. The same could be said for his minions, though it had been much easier to tell since they weren't bathed in shadow.

Soon, Logan regained his composure first, shaking his head and then looking back to Crimson Soul's form. "I see... I thought I sensed DEMON POWER in you when we FOUGHT... So, it is TRUE... you POSSESS the SAME power as I..." Logan remarked, holding his sword in a ready stance. After that display, he wouldn't be taking any chanced for sneak attacks.

Crimson Soul's eyes narrowed sharply at that, the irises hardening into stone with the glare he aimed at the Demon. "You dare compare yourself and I? Utterly unforgivable." he stated, calmly. One could say his fury burned through his words like ice melting away, as Soul Edge seemed to roar with its power. It hungered for more conflict, more souls to devour as that one swing had allowed it to devour 200 Demon Souls at once. It wanted more, more power, more Souls, more CARNAGE. He would give it that soon enough. "I will make you regret those words, when I feed your soul to my blade."

Those comments made the Demon laugh maniacally, its laughter echoing across the airspace between them. To the onlooker's view, it looked like two colossal forces were about to collide, affecting their surroundings down to the sub atomic level... they wouldn't be that far off, actually. "Not if I FEED your SOUL to my BELLY first, WEAKLING!" Logan proclaimed, before he gestured to his minions. "BUT, lets SEE how you FARE against my CROW TENGU!"

'My human self would go on about this being another classic villain trope, but I shall refrain from such matters...' Crimson Soul thought, readying Soul Edge by holding it in one hand in front of him, angling the blade so its tip faced diagonally upwards. Its power violently swirled around it while the sword prepared for its next battle. ZZ"Those two shall be the next meal for my S-"

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!


Before he could finish, Crimson Soul sensed an incoming presence. A presence that announced itself with a wild, furious roar that shook the foundations of reality. Literally, it shook everything around them without mercy. When it stopped, Crimson Soul shifted his gaze to the source, finding it to be the Archdemon Urthemiel, and it was speardiving towards Logan from above roaring a mighty battle cry that rivalled the Demon's other one from earlier. It must have finished its previous foes off and devoured their Souls, Crimson Soul rationalized, as the Archdemon quickly gained its new foe's attention by latching onto them from behind, claws swiping away like rabid psychopaths on mad frenzies.

Obviously, Logan didn't take too kindly to this, not with the growl that escaped him as he glared up towards it. "ARGH! You damn BRAT! Let GO of ME this INSTANT!" Logan bellowed as he struggled against the Archdemon, trying to grab onto it with his bare clawed hands. He had discarded his fiery sword in a whirlwind of Hellfire to do so, but Urthemiel kept angling itself away from its grasp while repeatedly clawing at his fiery back. It then jumped off him, breathing a Primal Firestream down onto Logan, causing him to scream in pain as the primordial flames burned away at his being. He could feel his powers rush to engage the flames, both externally and internally.

After all, those flames were some of the most deadly flames in all of creation.

Both demonic being soon spiralled upwards while glaring heatedly, each intending to rip the other apart. Logan would try to lunge occasionally, but Urthemiel would dodge him and strike with either its claws or Tail. One lunge was different though, as Urthemiel quickly flapped its wings to ascend above the demonic being it faced, tilting so that it was upside down and yet facing Logan's damaged back, unleashing a Primal Fireball onto his damaged back.

"ARGH! You...!"


While those two fought like wild beasts ravaging their prey to pieces, these two Crow Tengu, as Logan had called them, raced towards Crimson Soul with the intent to tear him a new one in the place of their master. However, in comparison to their master, these two were like bugs to the DPU. With one swing of his demonic sword, he unleashed an energy wave that knocked both of them backwards, having gotten the info on their attack strategies by Soul Edge's AKUMA NO ME. The DPU then dashed forth while they had been dazed by his quicker attack, AKUMA NO ME advising him to target the Blue Tengu first.

Upon reaching striking range, Crimson Soul charged Soul Edge's power and hit his opponent with a baseball swing, knocking it higher into the air. The DPU then Warped to the space above it, bringing Soul Edge down on it and then Warping away. The Blue Tengu (he decided to call it BT for short... pretty sure that's the name of some brand, but whatevs) managed to recover by spreading its wings to halt its movement, before looking too see a FIRE BLAST already sent towards it. It barely reacted in time to block the attack, but its guard got broken to allow Crimson Soul to Warp in front of it and throw a devastating kick to its solar plexus, forcing it to end forward with a loud gasp escaping its beak.

Crimson Soul spun into a reverse backhand, sending the BT across the battlefield, closer to the two battling Demons actually. Before he could strike more, Crimson Soul got information from the AKUMA NO ME and strafed backwards, avoiding a swing from the Red Tengu (for this one, he'll call it RT... why does he get the feeling he's referencing a company with similar initials?) as it saved its companion from his wrath.

Once again, Soul Edge gathered its power as its wielder raised it to the skies, generating enough to form an ATOMIC INFERNO when swung. In its true form, Soul Edge unleashed much more potent attacks, it was practically impossible to compare. That word had been used a few times to describe the difference in power between this form and the others, but it was still nonetheless true. Once the attack got launched, the 30 homing rays looked more like streaks of pure light than fire as they danced through the air, heating up the atmosphere with their presence alone while chasing down the two Tengu Demons.

The said demons quickly flying about in erratic flight patterns while the homing rays gave chase...

It looked like a series of fireworks going off.

'This looks remarkably the nights on the fourth of July...' Crimson Soul thought as his sword's AKUMA NO ME told him to go after the RT in 4 seconds. The male did so, rearing himself back before his fiery wings erupted, roaring like thrusters as they propelled him forwards. The flames converged around him, encasing his form in its embrace to make him look more like a humanoid meteor, one that decisively struck the RT in the side. Both fighters spiralled together like a spinning top, both flaring their wings to try and gain some form of balance.

In the end, the two halted all movement with Crimson Soul revealed to be on top, his wings spread apart and flapping wildly with his legs digging into the RT's stomach. Literally, his feet up to his ankles were submerged beneath its flesh, demonic blood squirting in quick bursts from the wounds while the RT tried its best to keep afloat, ignoring the pain his stomach was in. It clawed, bit and swung its weapon at him in an attempt to get him off, however wit Soul Edge's Telekinesis, Crimson Soul rendered it absolutely defenseless... by controlling its entire body.

Once more showcasing its superiority.

He could even feel the mad cackling within the blade at the futile attempts to resist its grip.

Channeling his power, Crimson Soul's body pulsated with it as he focused the energy into his wings. Their forms, once that happened, began to spiral inwards to follow the direction the energies were gathering. He could feel the battling against Soul Edge's grip become increasingly desperate when the RT saw this, but the Demonic Sword had a firm hold on it. This Telekinesis may have near absolute control over anything it touches, but Nico had long since is covered that it had a range. A range limited to its surroundings. For example, he would not be able to move a mountain from another side of the continent.

Still, that wasn't something he concerned himself with as he finally released the energy in his wings as a massive heat wave, one that incinerated the RT with zero mercy.

Turned out that its companion didn't like that either as it screeched and cawed in absolute fury. It then dashed towards him at high speeds, swooping down to strike with a swing to his head. Crimson Soul however, blocked it with Soul Edge's tip, swinging down and sending the BT back, flipping through the air until it could right itself. The DPU quickly had his sword activate SCORCHING AURA, infesting the BT with its power to decrease the creature's attack strength. He also applied BLOOD RAGE to his opponent.

His efforts bore fruit, for the moment those abilities were activated, a faint aura washed over the Demonic being, making it stumble slightly while its eyes lost any and all traces of intelligence under the effects of SCORCHING AURA and BLOOD RAGE. The BT growled and snarled, furiously beating its wings as it sailed towards him with the intent to tear him a new one. However, Crimson Soul easily deflected the incoming barrage of attacks from its Staff with Soul Edge, the lack of higher brain functions making it easier to predict for his AKUMA NO ME.

After re-angling a stab that would have pierced his head over said body part, Crimson Soul twirled into a slash that sliced through the BT's side, making the creature hiss at the Demonic Power put into the blow as well as Soul Edge's natural cutting ability. Not done yet, the DPU twisted around and repeatedly thrusted his sword into the creature's back, flapping his wings downwards to mimic jumping before he transitioned into a constant forward flip. This made him look like some sort of saw-blade. The continuous slashes that followed, tore through the BT's hide with ease, tearing through flesh and bone like nothing was even there before Crimson Soul slammed his weapon down into the BT's shoulder. This resulted in the blade easily tearing the shoulder off the creature's body, taking its weapon arm along with it.

"SCHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

A bone-chilling screech tore through the battlefield as the BT screamed in agony, clutching its profusely bleeding socket. The pain burned through it like the flames that the demonic beings commanded. Though, it didn't have to worry about that for long, as Crimson Soul quickly summoned Hellfire from his off hand, forging an arm that lunged towards it and grabbed onto its neck, holding it in place for Crimson Soul to burst forth in a quick explosion of speed, thrusting Soul Edge right through its chest. The creature squealed even more, feeling the fiery blade burning its inside the moment that its tip embedded itself into its flesh, the pain increasing tenfold by the time half the blade was passing through it.

In the next instance, its body erupted into flames, flames that quickly got absorbed into the blade as Soul Edge's SOUL EATER ability activated, allowing it to devour and absorb the BT's Soul. Adding it to the many that it had absorbed.

There, it was done... the battle was over. Well, this one at the least.

Looking over to where his Archdemon was, Crimson Soul stared blankly as he saw, across 200 meters flying distance, Urthemiel jump backwards from his former perch on Logan's' shoulders when the Demon erupted into Hellfire. It breathed more Primal Fire on him, but the Demon managed to dodge in time by dropping lower and out of its trajectory. It looked like things were getting heated over there, he should probably join in. He didn't want to lose his Archdemon after all.

'Before you go over there, why not use the monsters inside of this Inner World? I believe you know this, but DPUs have the innate ability to spawn monsters and demons from their energy. You have only used this ability once to create the Archdemon Urthemiel, however it is possible for you to create more monsters for your own needs.'

Crimson Soul furrowed his brows in immediate displeasure at that. He didn't believe that would be a good idea, both in this form and his human form. They were used to killing Abnormals, Demons and other monsters, so to willingly create one from his own powers felt like he would be betraying everything he stood for as a warrior as well as a Spec Ops Agent. 'I am unsure as to how wise that move would likely be, Biko.' he told him. 'Remember, I fight monsters every day, neither my current self nor my human self would agree to a notion which makes me like those I kill.'

'Be that as it may, with the way things are going, I fear that we may have to use this ability regardless. You and I have been sensing demonic energy readings throughout Leanbox, I can tell you know this. Readings that keep on growing as the days pass. It won't be long before the Demons outnumber the humans in this Nation, thus an army of monsters may be beneficial to keeping humanity alive. You could think of it like Rinjiin and his Abnormal family. He learned to tame and raise the dragon Abnormals in that cave, tossing aside his instincts as a Spec Ops Agent. If he can do it, then we can to.'

Biko once again made solid points, and honestly sometimes Crimson Soul felt vexed by that. His Demon Persona and him had been sensing demonic energy readings throughout the Nation, that was true. It had started when they just started their journey to Skies End on the non-Desecrated Ember. It had only been made more apparent when they ran into that demon horde which he had tested the Liberator and Oppressor on, a fact that he hadn't been truly focused on since he wanted to get to Skies End as soon as possible. Biko was right again, about the Demons potentially outnumbering the humans here in Leanbox, if their destructive tendencies were anything to go by, then these creatures would be worse than Abnormals, and worse still the Guild would likely just peg them as extremely powerful Abnormals before sending good Agents to the slaughter. Spec Ops Agents are strong, true, but Demons are not something that they will have experience in.

He could only imagine the ensuing bloodbath...

Before Crimson Soul could do anything more, be it think or act, the male heard the sounds of wing beats nearby, wing beats that he recognized as not his own. 'What? Could it be...? Looks like it is, he seems to have completed his repairs.' the DPU thought to himself. His eyes focused in towards the island, from which a familiar large crimson dragon suddenly shot into the airspace thy all occupied with a loud roar and a fierce flamethrower, signalling its presence to the fighting Demons.

Said Demons paused their combat to look at the new arrival...

Only for a fireball to his Logan in the face and stagger him.

"GAH! WHAT?!"


Inside the Cockpit, Rinjiin stood behind the two empty sockets with two levers on either side of him, both hanging from the top of the ceiling. He gripped them tightly, the feeling of being a dragon himself filling his being like it did whenever he piloted his Vessel, as he glared towards the demonic Logan. 'Sorry old friend, but I'm not letting you go like I did last time!' he thought to himself, pulling down on the handles.


Outside, the dragon vessel dove forth into the battle, firing Fireballs towards Logan like pepper spray. The Demon quickly covered his face, and while his physiology made it so that the regular fire that the vessel used remained meaningless, it still kept him from moving so the Archdemon used this opportunity to latch onto his front with a loud roar, wing-beats wildly occurring between the two deities.

While those two tussled, the dragon vessel dove down beneath them, arching back upwards as it headed for is target, the Zeppelin. When he glanced towards this target, Logan's eyes widened in shock and horror as he realized what he planned to do. "NO!" He roared, making to fly on over there but Urthemiel and some FIRE BLASTS from Crimson Soul kept him occupied.

Thus, Rinjiin's Dragon Ship spiraled upwards like a bullet as it pierced through the Zeppelin, tearing it in half.

'His ship must have detected the source of that Zeppelin's demonic powers, for him to have stabbed right through it the way he did.'

'Perhaps so, I no longer feel any sort of power running through that vessel.' Crimson Soul thought to himself, watching as the two separate halves of the Zeppelin began to fall down towards the Island. Since those pieces were no longer powered by demonic energy now, it would stand to assume that Rinjiin, who was right now trying to guide the pieces so they could crash onto the Island and not into the depths below, that they could possibly salvage some parts from it for their own use. It was how Rinjiin got the parts he had to repair his vessel with, after all. taking the wreckage of other vessels and stripping them of their parts. He then turned his attention to Logan, intending to finish the fool off while getting some answers. #

Imagine his surprise however, when he saw that just as Logan blew Urthemiel away with a headwind born from one large flap from his wings, Teo suddenly charged in from behind, roaring furiously.

"AGH!"

Logan cried out in surprise when he got blindsided by the Abnormal. Teo growled and snarled, viciously tearing away at its prey by raking its claws along its person, biting and tearing off chunks of flesh while embers constantly escaped its form. Those embers constantly gathered together and detonated around the demonic Logan, causing him to cry out in pain. Though, the Abnormal ignored his cries in favor of ripping its prey to pieces for daring to attack its home and its charge. The flames and shadows making up his form whipped away at the Abnormal, trying to get it away from him, but to no avail. Teostra were Abnormals who specialized in making explosions with the embers they radiated, using their horns and tusks as mediums. Thus, it was only natural that they get fire resistance through evolution.

While he tried to get the Abnormal off him, Logan gasped again when he felt Urthemiel pounce onto his back, gripping his shoulders and hips with its claws while raking and clawing away at him, working in tandem with the Teostra in utterly wrecking Logan's day. The two dragon-based creatures, despite not knowing a single thing about one another, both allied with each other to tear apart the greater threat to them right now. At this point, Logan had to contend with three threats, the two dragons attacking him right now, and Crimson Soul who took the opportunity to create various ATOMIC INFERNO attacks when he could.

Eventually, his temper finally exploded.

"ENOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!"

With a loud war cry, Logan released a large burst of demonic power, finally sending the two dragons off him. He quickly sent several Hellfire fireballs towards Teo, knocking the creature back further while grabbing Urthemiel by the neck and slamming it into the Teostra, sending the two dragons spinning across the battlefield. Loud yelps escaped both of them from this treatment, but before the Demon could finish them off, Crimson Soul charged in with a Hellfire covered Soul Edge, his body overcome with the fiery aura of DEMON OVERDRIVE while he swung in a reverse horizontal slashing motion. Logan responded by creating an energy barrier in front of him, blocking the slash but getting sent flying backwards as a result.

While Logan was temporarily dealt with, Crimson Soul lowered his sword as he glanced behind him at the two beasts, his eyes communicating his desires without him even speaking. They both saw those eyes, and after a moment staring into them, the dragons nodded and backed off. The male didn't want them to get in the way of this fight anymore, he would take care of Logan himself. For Urthemiel, it would obey its master without hesitation, while Teo decided that protecting its charge was more important as it flew down to where Rinjiin was. It would protect him against any dangers that may come while he worked, such as other Abnormals or any stray attacks that came from the ensuing fight.

Turning back to his opponent, Crimson Soul leveled Soul Edge against him while the blade thrummed with power due to PREDATOR. AKUMA NO ME had remained silent, meaning that the Demon didn't plan on attacking just yet. "It is time we settle this, you and me, Demon." he stated blankly, his eyes unflinching while he regarded the demonic Logan without revealing anything. His guard remained up, his instincts poised to react at any signs of attack. Thoughts of what Biko had told him lingered in his mind, but he pushed them aside for the time being. He had to concentrate on this battle.

Once he spent enough energy to recover his wounds, Logan formed his Bastard Sword once more and glowered towards Crimson Soul. His eyes blazed with infernal fire, vapor escaping his maw while embers rolled from his form like a cloak. In his current form, Crimson Soul could hardly feel any of the dread and terror that he had felt when he was in his human form. His DPU Form's natural aura just kept everything harmful out of his system, he didn't even need his Devil Arms or the Bone's protection when he was like this.

So... DPUs have strong mental resistances, huh?

"Yesssssssss... It is TIME...!"

Both beings floated opposite each other, the only sound exchanged between them being the beating of their Wings, embers rolling off Crimson Souls being the sole difference. It was as if all other sound had stopped to take a moment to watch this impending final battle, eager to see the outcome. Like people watching a race in the coliseum while taking bets on who would win. Neither force broke eye contact, staring into each others' eyes with infernal intensity. They even began to gradually circle each other, shadows, flames and embers trailing behind them.

...

...

...

...

...

...

SNAP!

In one quick motion, Crimson Soul darted forwards, Warping right in front of him with a diagonal swing to the Demon's chest. His sword carved through the Demon's hide, and he Warped out the way a second afterwards to appear behind it.

Logan growled at that, feeling his energy being pumped towards his chest to deal with the wound. He turned around and swung his sword, sending an arc of Hellfire the DPU's way. Said DPU quickly Warped out the way, only to barely reform his wings into two large arms to catch an overhead sword swing to his head.

"HAH! You are PREDICTABLE! I have SEEN your WARP patterns, BOY! Your SOUL is MIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNEEEE!" Logan proclaimed, and with a burst of strength pushed his sword down to send Crimson Soul spiraling downwards. Raising his sword, Logan swung downwards in his direction to send another Hellfire blast his way.

Soul Edge thrummed as its wielder quickly morphed his wings into... a set of propellers, propellers which used their flaming blades to rotate at high speeds to create a draft. It resulted in a lift strong enough to halt his movements, and allowed the DPU to swing Soul Edge. The swing released a Hellfire blast of equal size, shape and intensity, as it soared towards the other blast for the inevitable collision.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!


Rinjiin just got the remains of the wreckage down to the island safely, with Teo acting as his watchdog in case any annoying Abnormals showed up, when the explosion from the battles above reached his ears.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

... He felt so glad that he wasn't part of that...

'Still, there should be something I can do for the kid... I'll head back when I'm done here, then i'll wait for an opening.'


Back to the battle, both demonic entities tore through the explosions' remnants and slammed their blades together. This slam caused a shockwave to be released from the point of impact, one which ripped through the air like it was being raked by a thousand tiny yet deadly sharp claws. The two broke their clash seconds later though, repeatedly swinging at each other despite their size difference.

SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, CLANG!

They went, dashing around each other in wild, erratic patterns yet never losing or gaining any ground. If one were to look at this battle from an outside perspective, they would see them as a ball rolling about through the airspace.

Crimson Soul thrusted Soul Edge when he saw an opening, pushing through Logan's defenses and stabbing his left bicep. The Demon let out a "GAH!" while the blade's edge set his arm's insides alight with its infernal energy, before he through the arm aside and opted for a punch with his weapon arm. Crimson Soul Warped out the way though, appearing behind him with his Soul Edge overcome with Hellfire. "DEMON SAW!"

He swung his sword downwards, but Logan managed to raise his own weapon to block it by angling it across his back. The resulting shockwave exceeded the ones caused by their previous clashes by far, forcing the two to break it off and strafe backwards till they were about 60 meters from each other.

Neither of them remained idle though, Crimson Soul raising his sword which began to ooze Hellfire trails. Each trail gathered at the blade's tip forming the FIRE SCORCHER that he had used against the Killachine back at Lastation. The heat from the growing attack burned through the air around him, stopping any and all cold from reaching it while gas could be seen rising off it... then being burned to nothingness as well. NOTHING escaped the grasp of his Hellfire...

A similar thing happening with the Demon's attack too.

Both of them had Hellfire-based fireballs/meteors above their swords, sustained by the energy being channeled through them like the swords were mediums. To Crimson Soul however, he got a strange feeling of de ja vu from this situation. Holding his weapon like this, staring down an opponent he refused to lose to, showing his resolve to kill this opponent...

Oh wait, it felt like that time when he learned resolve from his mother...

Shit...

Shit, SHIT!

This bastard was going to PAY for tarnishing that memory of his!

'This anger... I see, so if I feel something string enough, then even this me can feel emotional attachment...' the DPU thought to himself pondering these implications. The few times he had transformed, Crimson Soul always found that he had a little... less emotion than his human self. Little less restraint too, more bloodlust and more desire to fight. It was rare that he transformed in the first place however,, so he never really got the chance to experiment with this form in the real world. Thee only reason he knew so much about it was due to his training inside his Inner World.

Breaking out of his thoughts, Crimson Soul glared at his enemy, before hurling the FIRE SCORCHER towards it RIGHT when the Demon hurled his own fireball...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Once again, another explosion happened between them, blocking each other's view. The heat from both attacks combined together and expanded outwards, all but evaporating every oxygen and hydrogen molecule in the entire airspace.

Within the fire, the familiar silhouette of Logan was the only warning given before the Demon dove through, swinging his sword instinctively... only to hit air. There was no sign of Crimson Soul anywhere... not something that the Demon expected as he constantly flapped his wings while frantically scouring the airspace for the DPU. "What?! WHERE are YOU, Coward?! SHOW yourself! Lemme DEVOUR you!" he bellowed into the surroundings, only to get silence. He didn't believe that the boy was dead yet, he could still sense his power nearby...

Wait...

He looked down, and saw a faint glow deep beneath the depths. A furious snarl escaped the Demon's lips before it dove down after his opponent, looking like a fiery Phoenix descending upon the mortal plane of existence.


Crimson Soul dove beneath the clouds. The ones which were beneath the island itself. He wanted to see what was down here anyways, so this was a perfect opportunity. He'd even used the explosion as coverage to go full throttle down beneath those clouds, travelling at his maximum speed of mach 1. It honestly surprised him how fast he could travel in this form, but right now he had other matters to attend to.

He'd taken a big risk, doing this, and he knew it. The risk was that if Logan didn't hate him enough, then he would remember what he was originally going to do here and go after Rinjiin. With the way the guy was right now, though he didn't find it particularly easy to call him as such, Crimson Soul had little doubt that Rinjiin would't last a second against him. He banked on the fact that Logan wanted him dead, more than his grudge against Rinjiin... not something that could be seen as logical but then again, since when were Demons logical?

The moment he dove under these clouds, Crimson Soul came face to face with what lay beneath the clouds... and what a sight it was.

Beneath the clouds, it was nothing but ash, embers, volcanic rock and lava as far as the eye could see, There were tall stone pillars and sharp spires all over the place. Cracks ran along the ground like they were remnants of an earthquake, with constant rumblings reminiscent of aftershocks being heard throughout the land. The climate felt arid as all fuck, and if Crimson Soul was in human form then he would have felt this climate much more than what he currently did. DPUs weren't really affected by climate changes, Biko had told him that once. It helped them fight within any environment, without worry.

Flying through these 'Wastelands' as he now dubbed them, Crimson Soul sensed Logan's power nearing him. It must mean that he had caught on to his location, quite quicker than he had expected. His eyes flashed briefly, before he flapped his wings and floored it, pumping energy into his wings so he could fly faster and shooting through the air.


After a while of flying, Crimson Soul finally found an optimal space for him to finally finish Logan off for good. It was about as wide as football stadiums lines up like a square. It would be the perfect place to finally end this farce and take Logan down for good, hopefully before getting some answers to his questions from him. But, the DPU didn't mind that as much, as long as he got to kick that fucker's ass.

Guess it was like Neptune's HDD, even transformed, Crimson Soul still has some of his human side's traits.

Flying across the future battlefield, Crimson Soul flared his wings and halted his motions when he was at the center, hovering there before he descended downwards with his wings spread outwards for increased surface area, stopping right above the ground. His wings then shifted, curling inwards while he hovered there, slowly turning around in the direction he could sense Logan;s demonic power coming his way. Ironically, that was exactly behind him at 6 o'clock.

If he was in human form, he would have smirked at the plan having worked. Looked like this guy was too obsessed with killing him rather than his original target. Even now, in the distance Crimson Soul could make out the telltale signs of Logan's demon form approaching at high speeds, evident by the trail of darkness and flames that 'trailed' behind him. Ugh, his human self's tendency to unintentionally make bad puns rubbed off on him at this moment in time. He would have to fix that habit sometime, but on the list of priorities that tidbit ranked near the bottom.

In other words, not very important at all.

A faint orange flash was Crimson Soul's only warning, something he only caught at the last second... along with the large fiery axe thrown his way. The transformed teen had caught the axe with one of his wings, which had been morphed into one of those catching gloves innkeepers in baseball matches used. Heh, if this was an official match, then the batter (himself) would be out. Good thing this wasn't an official match then... Maybe he should think about looking into some sporting events, maybe Tekken might like to see those if she gets better.

Tossing the Axe away and morphing his Wings back to normal, Crimson Soul saw the weapon dissipate into nothingness as the Demonic, imposing form of Logan arrived at the battlefield, halting about 20 meters away from him. His wings spread outwards just like how his had done, darkness and embers radiating from their frame as he slowly descended to a similar level to his adversary. The way that his body radiated darkness and flames seemingly fit in with their new surroundings almost eerily well. The dark, crimson clouds, the glowing orange lava trails scattered throughout the wastelands, the volcanic rock formations, it just screamed 'a Demon's home' here.

"YOU... have been a... THORN... in my SIDE... for FAR... too LONG...!" The demonic Logan spoke between heavy pants. One could tell that he had been winded by their battle, or rather a combination of their battle and flying about so much. His energy reserves weren't as great as they were before, Crimson Soul noted, meaning that the end was finally nigh. Though, he knew they had to finish this quickly, for his reserves weren't all that great either. "I... challenge YOU, boy, to a DEATH PARADE!"

The moment those words left the Demon's mouth, the entire area seemed to tremble, whether it was from the power his voice commanded or whether it was something else, wouldn't be figured out for some time. Crimson Soul raised a brow at the Demon's words., slightly lowering his Soul Edge but keeping it in a defensive posture in case any funny business was pulled. What the hell did the Demon just say? What the hell was a Death Parade? Well, he should probably find out what that is before this went forwards. "What is this Death Parade you speak of, Demon?"

While he spoke, the DPU had to note the strange... abnormality in the air. There was a strange yet not so strange heat overtaking the atmosphere, taking the place of the heat from this goddamn wasteland. Logan balled over in laughter, briefly unable to speak thanks to this til he recovered enough to respond to him. "You FOOL! It is a one-on-one DUEL! A duel with NO outside INTERFERENCE!" he explained, forming a bastard sword and pointing it at him. "It is a SACRED art, a DPU tradition! You have NO right to REFUSE!"

Now THIS got his attention, his interest piqued like when an animal looks towards the distance when it senses something amiss. A DPU tradition, huh? While he normally wouldn't be one for tradition (then again, no Spec Ops Agent was, just look at their beliefs) but these Death Parades seem quite interesting. They consisted of pure combat, something that adhered to his true nature, so why wouldn't he be interested? Still, Crimson Soul didn't forget what his purpose was for coming down here, if he were to refuse this then not only would he be mocking a tradition that he honestly found somewhat appealing, but he would also likely run the possibility of Rinjiin suffering Logan's wrath. He didn't know the guy and perhaps he may still have a little bias even in this form, but even so Crimson Soul didn't like to entertain the thought of that scenario occurring. "This death parade sounds intriguing... I accept."

No sooner had he said those words, did Crimson Soul finally get an answer as to what that strange yet familiar heat in the air was, as a large circle of Hellfire suddenly roared to life around them. By large, he meant that it was about 20 meters large and a similar diameter. Orangish red Hellfire roared to life around them, blocking out any visuals of the surroundings outside the ring. Crimson Soul also noted some rather... eloquent carvings embedded within the ring itself, in a language that he assumed was that of the DPU. Though, much to his surprise it seemed like he could read this language. A language he had no recollection of even learning about, much less knowing.

Was that due to him being in DPU Form? Could that be it?

In any case, he hadn't the time to worry about that. For now, he had to concentrate on the task at hand, and what was that you ask? Well, quickly channeling Soul Edge's power to block a swing to his face was the answer. Crimson Soul narrowed his eyes as their two swords trembled against each other. The male had to pump his sword full of power while also channeling its own to keep the enemy sword at bay. Was it just him, or had this Demon been holding back this entire time?

Eventually, the two broke it off, and they quickly entered a furious bout of slashes that seemed impossible to track even for enhanced eyes. Their weapon arms were like invisible weapons all on their own, neither of them backing down in this duel to the death. Crimson Soul sidestepped an overhead slam and swung Soul Edge to the creatures chest, enlarging it with Hellfire. Logan stepped back to dodge it, then came in with a wide slash that Crimson Soul side flipped over, twirling into a reverse horizontal slash that was blocked by the fiery bastard sword.

Utilizing the close distance between them Crimson Soul unleashed a FIRE BLAST, having decided to try something new out by reinforcing it with BLOOD RAGE and SCORCHING AURA. The attack hit, and the DPU could sense the other Skills taking hold little by little. He'd have to file that use for later then, Skills being combined like that would be quite useful. Especially in taking down larger and stronger opponents in the future.

Another plan of attack came to mind as Crimson Soul morphed his wings into two large fiery hands, catching the other Demon's bastard sword by slamming their palms together on either side of it. He then used Hellfire to conjure an arm from the space beside him, then another opposite it, and had them both rain down a furious barrage of punches on the Demon's face. They were so fast that it looked like there were many of them descending upon it to unleash their wrath.

If his human form was dominant right now, Crimson Soul wouldn't doubt that he would be going 'ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA!' right about now.

Finally, he had both arms perform the 'Double Palm' martial arts move, sending Logan flying across the battlefield. Logan recovered in miod air however, flipping backwards to re-align himself before looking to where Crimson Soul was... only to see him already on him with a swing to his right shoulder. This made the Demon gasp, furious burning pain erupting from that body part as he was sent crashing to the ground below.

The DPU then took advantage of the number of limbs that he sported, by swishing his Tail (not an appendage he used often, he should probably look into changing that) in Logan's direction. From the Tail' form, came a dozen long, sharp Talons that soared through the air and impaled the demon in its off-hand arm, which it had used to block the Talons from hitting anywhere vital.

Using this as an opportunity, Crimson Soul swung Soul Edge in a reverse upward slash, knocking his opponent into the air before he jumped upwards to their level and once again flip sawed into him, Soul Edge cutting deep into the Demon's hide. A loud roar escaped Logan's lips at this, one that forced the DPU backwards and away from him so Logan could land on the ground in a crouch position.

Logan then raised a fist, engulfed it in Hellfire, and finally smashed it into the ground. A loud yell accompanied this action as he pumped demonic energy into the ground for his next move. This resulted in a trail of fiery explosions that occurred in front of him, racing through the ground towards the still falling Crimson Soul.

Said DPU however, managed to place his hand onto the ground and used it to push himself back into the air, flipping away from the explosions and landing on a fiery platform he erected under his feet. Soul Edge trembled in his grasp, telling him to use it now, so he did what it wanted and used it to form another ATOMIC INFERNO which the male launched at his opponent.

Each Trail came at Logan from different directions compared to each other, resulting in Logan showing surprisingly high agility as he twirled around and used every appendage he could, his wings, tail, sword, arms etc, to slice or smash these Trails before they could hit their intended targets. He missed one or two however, but the majority were destroyed before they could even hit him.

This nearly resulted in him missing his opponent speeding through the air towards him however, Soul Edge thrumming with volatile power which he condensed as much as he could into a wide horizontal swing. Logan sensed the amount of power building up in that blade, and it was almost enough to scare him. Almost. So, he swung his bastard sword in from the opposite direction. Their blades met once again, causing a shockwave that destroyed the ground around them, making a rather deep and wide crater for the two to float over.

"UGH... It stings like a BITCH to admit this... BUT... you do appear SKILLED... boy!" Logan growled under his breath, staring down at the smaller warrior before him with the fiery pits he had for eyes. Their swords trembled as they constantly fed them power, trying to one up each other but remaining in a stalemate.

Crimson Soul stared unflinchingly into those eyes, searching through them almost, as he registered those words. It definitely sounded like begrudging respect there, and to admit that in the heat of battle... there was no way this guy would admit to this otherwise. "If that is so, then why do you not come at me with your full strength?" he asked, and Logan's eyes briefly swayed to show how surprised he'd been temporarily.

That surprise soon turned to dark amusement when he gave a sinister, echoing chuckle that would make seasoned war veterans run for the hills. "So... you NOTICED...!"

The DPU nodded, honestly the way Logan said that almost insulted him, it was like he thought he was hiding it well when in reality Crimson Soul had seen it since this battle of theirs started, though he only focused on it when this Death Parade of theirs began. "You would be foolish to think I did not. I am no fool, Demon. You haven't been going all out since this battle began, you have more power to show than this. Bring it out, let us fight like it will be the last fight in the universe." That was when his lips finally curled upwards into a smirk bridled with bloodlust, the smirk of a warrior who enjoyed the thrill of conflict while his eyes shone with a light that they hadn't had before. "After all, a fight like that is well worth it, don't you agree?"

A loud laughter escaped the Demon in response, as Logan and Crimson Soul broke off to have about 10 meters distance from each other. Both of them had their swords facing one another, though it merely felt like a small precaution at this point. "Yes... YES, YES, YES! A BATTLE TO END ALL BATTLES! A BATTLE FOR THE AGES! YES, THAT WILL SURELY BE A FIGHT TO REMEMBER! COME, BOY! LET US DANCE THE DANCE OF DEATH TILL JUDGEMENT DAY AND TRUMPET SOUND!" Something told the DPU that he was now forgetting targeting Rinjiin in favor of killing him, but he didn't mind that.

Bending over, Logan groaned and grunted, the sounds of flesh being torn and burned echoing through the atmosphere as the darkness he emitted converged around him. It even took over the fiery sections of his body, something that showed just how thick that darkness really was. As it did so, it looked like his form began to shrink, shrink till it was about a head taller than Crimson Soul's form.

In moments, the darkness vanished, allowing Crimson Soul to see what Logan looked like now.

Standing, or rather floating, before him, was what looked like a Knight of darkness. The Knight had sleek, black Armour with crimson red highlights. The helmet had the shape of a samurai with two holes to expose crimson flame-like eyes. Atop those holes, were the beginnings of long, thin spikes that curved upwards. Smaller ones protruded from the Armour above where the cheeks would be. There was an opening in the helmet that should have exposed the mouth and the center of the face, but it only exposed nothing but shadow save for those eyes. The torso Armour had spires protruding upwards from the breasts, as well as the shoulders, with the rest of the Armour bare of them. The rest of the Armour gave him a sleek, knight-like appearance along with the black cape that sported a red interior flowing behind him. In his hands, were two Hellfire-made Scimitar swords, each of them as long as a human arm.

Crimson Soul reached out with his senses, and to his satisfaction he could sense that THIS form had the rest of that power he had sensed hidden away unleashed. This was his final form, the apex of his power. This would be the form he would die in, the form that will be the hardest to defeat. This form may lack the size and intimidating factor that his previous form possessed, but the speed, finesse and fluidity this form would likely possess should surpass that one. Unlike that form, in which its power felt chaotic, wild and uncontrollable, this form's power felt calm, controlled and rational. Without a doubt, it would be much stronger than his previous form.

No words were said, there were none to be said. Their swords would do the speaking for them. It was at that moment, that the two blasted towards each other, ready for the final battle at last.


Chapter end.

For those who don't get it, I chose Logan's first form to be the Balrog from Lord Of The Rings, and then the Dark Blade Monster card from Yu i Oh as his second form. Hopefully you all are enjoying this fic and the elements i'm weaving together. If you could comment in the reviews, i'd deeply appreciate it.

Well then, peace out! :)