Chapter 141 - Succession

If they thought that the fighting previously had been intense…

Well, the girls plus Guts would be in for a rude awakening.

Once Okada had spoken those words, he wasted no more time, quickly proceeding to do two things. He first leaned forwards whilst angling his sword so it pointed behind him, his eyes shining with controlled bloodlust. His whole aura swelled, as if he were unleashing another 'valve' to release more of his suppressed power, something that NONE of the girls wanted to think about (although they didn't want to think about him at all with what he had said and done during this battle). Okada then went about vanishing into a blur whilst making a sound equal to the size and volume to that of a sonic boom. Heck, IF would swear that she had saw the wave itself rippling from when the boom sounded, a pure demonstration of his speed which they had not even seen the full extent of…

Even now, it didn't seem like he was showing his full speed.

'Shit!'

Green Heart was the one who thought that as she raised Gungnir to block a strike against her chest from the front, as well as a quick barrage of swings from Okada's sword that followed. Stomach, torso, left breast, right breast, between the torso and stomach, abdomen, shoulders, biceps, forearms, back of the hands, all of these areas got targeted with a short timeframe of 1 second between them. Even then, Green Heart felt like this guy could go faster, though for the life of her she did NOT want him to. Not to mention that the way he grinned like a shark did little to settle her nerves… although, the anger in her prevented any form of fear from getting a hold of her being.

Rage fuelled her blows as she parried, vaulted, blocked and defended like her life depended on it (and in a way, it kind of did). When a thrust came towards her stomach, Green Heart twirled Gungnir and deflected it before performing several thrusts towards Okada's face, trying to impale his ugly mug. Unfortunately for her, each thrust missed thanks to him tilting his body to the side, going from one direction to another before twisting into a reverse slash that she blocked with Gungnir's shaft.

"Noire!"

"Got it!"

Almost like that time in Celestia, Green Heart used herself as a decoy for Black Heart to come flying in, twirling into an ELECTRO CHARGE enhanced slash with her Balmung. The Lastation CPU had forgone the idea of using her big attack right now in favour of just a straight up brawl, since large scale attacks didn't even seem to faze this guy. The moment that he saw her however, did Okada swiftly vanish from sight, leaving her swing to cut through nothing but air.

Once he reappeared behind them, Okada stood like he was sliding through a gap between a fence, narrowly avoiding a series of purple energy blades that flew right past him. He couldn't help but wolf whistle at that, chuckling as he raised his sword and brought it down, parrying the slash that Purple Heart attacked with. Soul Calibur grinded away against Okada's sword like an animal pushing the bars of it's cage, refusing to let it push it around just like how it's wielder didn't let Okada gain any ground from her. "You will PAY for your transgressions!" she yelled in furious anger, her eyes shining with her energy.

At this, Okada smirked whilst cocking an eyebrow at that statement. He didn't have any trouble holding that sword at bay, as he'd faced much stronger ones during his time. Stronger swords which he had overcome himself and had become all the stronger for it. "I supposed a night under the sheets is too much to ask for?" he retorted cockily, before jumping back to avoid a series of crystal Spikes that erupted from where he once stood. Not to mention how angrily red Purple Heart's face turned and how dark her eyes became "Guess so." He mused, sighing before shaking his head. "Shame, lady. You so need to take a chill pill, if ya don't how will anyone bed you?"

The man then whistled in surprise when he noticed the sword changed shape once more. This time however, instead of a close combat weapon, Purple Heart's sword changed into an M4 Carbine. It had the signature icy blue crystalline appearance of Soul Calibur's forms, with it's core embedded into a Scope as a reflection lense. Lifting the Rifle, Neptune quickly began unloading a series of sharp, blade-like rounds from Soul Calibur's barrel, resembling chain gun fire.

Nonetheless, Okada managed to slash each and every one of them without much difficulty, even mocking Purple Heart further by faking a yawn whilst his arm moved like a blur. "Wow, not much of a fan of me anymore? I'm hurt." He teased, only to sidestep when what looked like a beautiful, crystalline blue Halberd slammed into the space he once stood, narrowly missing his groin by an inch. It's blade was shaped like a 4-pronged trident, each blade as long as a butcher knife. "Okay, no need to-"

"CROSS COMBINATION!"

Purple Heart didn't let up, summoning her CPU sword (as well as its sheath) and entering a series of fierce and fast slashes with him. Okada had no trouble in parrying them, and when she made to knock him into the air the warrior simply jumped backwards, causing Purple Heart to sausage flip into the air and come down with an overhead slash to his head. He blocked it though, and raised a leg to roundhouse kick her in the stomach, causing her to gasp…

Whilst grasping the Halberd before she got sent flying backwards.

Not a second later though, did he meet two new challengers by the name of Black Heart who came from the left, and Guts who came from behind. The former struck first, unleashing her ZANDATSU to get a better chance of scoring a hit on him whilst also distracting him long enough for the latter to get his own shot in. Unfortunately for them, Okada simply weaved between them, their blades barely raised in time to block his slashes before he charged back at them with the determination to cut through their exposed rear guards.

Before he could get close enough though, instincts went off as Okada put his hand onto the ground and flipped into the air, vaulting himself over a stab from the side made by Green Heart (all the while leaving a few small slash wounds on her back for her troubles). Whilst airborne, Okada noticed the incoming edge of Dragonslayer made by Guts, so he twisted himself around the blade and landed opposite the Black Swordsman, who aimed his prosthetic hand at him.

Okada then dashed to the side, avoiding a hall of arrows fired when the hand deployed what looked to be a built-in crossbow, one which fired arrows at an im[pressive volley for Leanbox's technological standards. "Heh, you guys re full of interesting toys and gimmicks, aren't you?" he remarked with a chuckle, side flipping over a slash to his mid-section by Black Heart before slashing at her back. She managed to kick his sword away rom her though, as she had expected a pot shot like that to come from him.

Guts then took his cue alongside Purple Heart, who'd sheathed her CPU sword in favour for Soul Calibur. The two dashed side by side with each other, each of them carrying looks of bloody murder on their faces whilst they closed the distance between them and their enemy. Said enemy just grinned as he held his sword in his default one-handed stance, cocky confidence radiating from his form before the three engaged in a heated sword-fest.


On her side of the battle, Conversation scowled at the battle, a mix of different emotions.

'These lot have grown, grown more than I could have anticipated on my own…' she thought worriedly to herself.

Watching these girls now, it became clear to her that they had definitely transformed themselves from what they once were into strong warriors. Obviously with Okada not going all out they still had ways to go, as even with all those abilities in hand, against someone whom had a powerful specialty on his side it may as well have little effect. The closest to rivalling his strength, ironically, would have to be that Black Swordsman, Guts. The man who specialised in the way of the heavy sword from his upbringing and his nature as a big brute. If it were just him, then Okada would likely have much more trouble in this fight as Guts' swordplay would be leagues above the other women.

As for that brown-haired woman, whom had been staying out of the battle so far since it began this chapter, Conversation noticed how she had walled off the exit to this place with her Biomass, preventing her from escaping. An irritated, mocking snort escaped the dark purple haired woman's lips, and if her eyes could be seen then the irritation within them would be seen as clear as day.

'They think that something like THAT would hold ME?! Hah, maybe before I awoke HIM from his slumber, but that measly wall stands no chance against me now.'

The reason why she had been watching all this, while to see if she could get more of the Goddess's power for her goals, was also to gauge the strengths of her enemies. Especially Green Heart whom had been relying on that golden Spear from THAT era, not the DPU Era which had remnants of it scattered across Gamindustri in it's entirety, to keep her HDD form active. Although, how long would that last? Conversation would have shaken her head in derision if she weren't so focused on the battle.

Even with her dissatisfaction with their performance, as a warrior herself she had to admit that the potential these people showed definitely would be noteworthy of making them be noted as powerful foes for her to fight in the future. She wasn't meant to fight them right now though, only to observe and strategize. There were too many of them to kill right now, not to mention that it wouldn't be likely for her to get any powers today. HE had been the one to say that right to her face.

Anyone else would have met their end by her Glaive, but HE would be an exception…

Cause he utterly TERRIFIED her.

'If HE were to show up at any moment in this fight… I would almost feel sorry for these pathetic CPUs…'


Back to the battle…

'Tch, this guy's still holding back even after all this time…!' Green Heart scowled whilst twirling Gungnir and launching a side slash to her opponent's hip. However, he parried it, arched their weapons over his head and then thrusted them to the side. Green Heart used this momentum to her advantage however, and eagerly thrusted the rear end of her Spear into the man's gut. He blocked that too unfortunately, much to her swelling anger that rose and rose the more hits that failed to land their mark were exchanged between the two. Guts and Purple Heart were circling around to attack him from their flanks, something which she tried to keep him from noticing by constantly upping her attack. If she were in her human form, sweat would be flying from her form right now due to how much heat her body would be generating from all this motion.

Fighting against this guy proved to be way more challenging than the Greater Demon she had faced back at the Basilicom with her comrades had been, and this guy wasn't even as tall as that thing was, nor was he that destructive! Maybe he would be when he swung that blade, that ordinary looking blade that looked like it had seen many battles, but not the same way that thing did. Not to mention that he had more annoyance about him than anything she had to deal with before with his rude and perverted comments (she pretended not to notice how he would look at their asses and boobs during their clashes, even those times when he did it for longer than necessary just to rile them up, before getting away with it as he showed himself to be just that good).

When she got back home, she would be looking into EVERYTHING that involved these ancient warriors, as it became clear to her that she needed to do loads of research on these warriors.

However, for now Green Heart spun Gungnir like a wheel before tossing it forwards, sending it towards her opponent who batted it aside (turning herself back into her human form in the process). Since she hadn't really 'thrown' it in the way that the Spear's traits recognized, the traits of it not being able to be intercepted didn't actually activate. It was because she threw it in an unorthodox way that Gungnir's true power didn't manifest, but that was her planall along. Even with it's power partially activated, it would be enough for her to call it back to her hand.

Proven when, once she threw her hand sideways whilst dashing towards her opponent the Spear flashed back into her waiting hand, allowing her to retake HDD. The reason whys he had done this was simple, using HDD with Gungnir in hand took away its energy, and since she had flown ALL THE WAY to Halo Mountain, flew through the Dungeon itself and had engaged in a heated battle where she had used it's full power even once, that totalled to a LARGE energy deficit. Even now whilst she clashed with the man again, Green Heart could feel the Spear's power beginning to wane, something which resulted in a sight weight gradually growing within her chest and slowing her movements.

Something that Okada noticed, judging by how he tilted his head at her. "Oh? Looks like someone's been fighting on borrowed power, I see." He remarked, causing Green Heart to glare at him whilst he expertly deflected each bullet and arrow shot at him from multiple angles by Purple Heart and Guts, then parried a double slash made by IF before kicking her away. "Guess that Spear is just like your battery or something, since ya only used that big attack I found hard to avoid once."

'Tch, he's pretty much figured it out already then…' she thought to herself, grimacing. This was one of those moments where she REALLY wished she had her Goddess powers again, if she did have them then she wouldn't have to depend on Gungnir for the power to transform, and no offence to her human self, but Green Heart always got the feeling that this weapon liked her better when she was transformed… and not just because her assets got more pronounced, either.

Even so however, she could still get this done with. Soon enough, the Leanbox CPU had an idea based off what she had seen from the Basilicom, as she glanced over to Purple Heart. "Neptune, I need your assistance!" she yelled whilst Guts slammed into Okada and initiated a vicious slash fest with him, keeping him occupied whilst the purple haired CPU floated over to her.

"What is it, Vert? What do you need?" Purple Heart questioned, before she noticed the look that Green Heart sent her. Not to mention how she looked to be barely holding on at this point with the golden light from her Gungnir getting dimmer with each second. It didn't take her long to realize what the heck was happening, and an understanding look formed on her features. "Alright then, I'll do it." she told her, not even needing to ask to figure out her intentions as she held Soul Calibur out, pointing it's tip at her. "DEMONIC BLESSING!"

In the moment that Purple Heart yelled out the name of her Skill, a thin blue aura appeared around Green Heart, temporarily stabilizing the glow that Gungnir possessed. Not to mention that Green Heart's shoulders and chest relaxed by a significant margin, as if a weight had left them. "Thank you, Neptune, though I will be asking for Compa's assistance for this as well…" she stated, and as if by magic the Spirit girl floated down and landed beside her.

"You called, Lady Vert?"

"Please call me Vert, dear, and would you mind buffing me if only slightly? If I want to end this as quick as possible, I will need your assistance." She requested, getting a determined nod from Compa.

"Yessie! BARD OF OVERDRIVE!"

With that, BARD OF OVERDRIVE appeared over everyone allied with the CPUs within the vicinity. IF (whom had just retreated after losing both her arms to Odaka to save Guts' askin), Green Heart, Black Heart, Purple Heart and Guts each got bathed in a bright silvery white aura, and each of them soon felt their abilities get enhanced further. The Spirit saw how her friends got covered by the same aura she possessed something which made her beam before she looked worriedly at Green Heart. "But still, I hope you know what you're doing. I can fight, but I'm not good at swordplay just yet." she stated sheepishly. "Haven't mastered it yet, though Lucy Sensei is helping."

"Not to worry dear, I'm sure that this will work… unlike Noire's failed attack before."

"HEY! I HEARD THAT, VERT!" turning her head behind her to glare heatedly at the green haired woman, Black Heart yelled with a heated tone, before turning back to her foe and raising Balmung. She then took charge, bursting forth in a huge bout of speed as she, in the next second, clashed with Okada, giving Guts the chance to slash at his neck, for the enemy swordsman to duck underneath it then swing several times to counter Black Heart's Balmung. "Whatever you're doing, just hurry it up! ELECTRO CHARGE!"

Whilst those two distracted Okada and kept him from seeing Green Heart, Purple Heart and Compa resumed their positions whilst the Leanbox CPU began rearing Gungnir backwards. A brown blur passed her, which soon revealed herself to be an unarmoured IF whom had her arms shifted into dual whips whilst her Tendrils reared back for some lunging action. Pumping Biomass into her legs, the brunette quickly jumped into the air and launched her Tendrils from multiple angles which were left open for her by a combination of Guts and Purple Heart, Black Heart having fallen back.

Looking up, Okada quickly slashed about and deflected each Tendril, using the momentum to spin into a spinning upward whirlwind slash that launched him into the air towards her. IF however, didn't let him get too close as she sprouted her wings from her back and flapped them, launching her backwards before she jammed her Tendrils into the ground to pull her out the way of the incoming shockwave. She did NOT want to get hit by that, memories of those poor souls that were once Stefan's men flashing through her mind. Though she had no time to mourn since she was in active combat.

As he landed himself, Okada noticed that Green Heart looked to be gathering energy for a big attack, not to mention that she had several different auras around her. 'Huh… looks like that'll be her last one for the fight.' The man thought herself, before making a mad dash towards her with his sword poised to cut through her throat. Then probably everything else whilst he was at it like that one samurai who was regarded as a master swordsman, he remembered his name being something to do with atoms and the word Samurai was put in there.


However, before he could unleash that man's signature technique known as the atomic slash (basically dashing past the target whilst slashing over 100 times a second, a cinch for him), Okada sensed a large attack coming from the side, and quickly jumped back to avoid a small scale TWILIGHT WAVE, one that came from a panting Black Heart whom glared hatefully towards the swordsman, eyes narrowed whilst Purple Heart charged in with Soul Calibur morphing into another form.

'How many forms does that thing have?' he couldn't help but wonder as he readied his one-handed stance for battle. In this case, Purple Heart's Soul Calibur formed as a sword and shield form. The sword took the form of a sleek one-handed sword with two wings on either side of the base, built into a face-like structure. The blade itself curved inward towards the face's jawline at the base, but then it widened just after before curving down again into a sleek double-edged sword. Sort of gave it a V shape. The Shield formed as a shield with angelic wings on both sides, too.

The moment their blades collided, Okada unleashed the Atomic Slash on Purple Heart instead… only, she managed to block up to 80 slashes with her shield and sword combo. The rest she managed to dodge by jumping backwards, although about 5 long gashes adorned her body so she didn't completely avoid the technique. "#HUFF#, #HUFF#... Wow… did not… see that one… coming…" the CPU remarked beneath her breath. 'Not to mention I had to quickly activate KARMA REFLECTOR to stop all but those last 5 slashes, and even then it looks like he moved out of the way when they were reflected back at him with twice the damage…' she thought further, more than a little miffed at this guy.

A normal, if superhumanly skilled, man with a simple sword was making a mockery out of all of them with their varied arsenal of abilities. It felt more than a little demeaning and insulting, not to mention how she couldn't tap into Soul Calibur's Demonic side yet. 'Even so… I think I still have one Skill attack, one I intended to use against the Greater Demon. A skill which blew up an entire mountain when I first unleashed it.' she thought, furrowing her brows whilst she checked her power reserves. 'It'll be a close one, and afterwards I'll probably be unable to fight while maintaining this form, but I'll have to risk it.'

Meanwhile with Black Heart herself, she eyed Guts as he charged in and repeatedly clashed with Okada, IF soon following suit which lead to a freeway combo between them. 'IF senses the powers that are gathering: Vert's Gungnir, Neptune's Soul Calibur, and… my Balmung.' The Blackette CPU thought to herself, scowling. 'However, Balmung's TWILIGHT WAVE works by gathering Share Energy and storing it within the blade. I dot think I'll have enough time to make one strong enough to combine with the rest of theirs…' she thought further…

BA-BOOM!

…Until something 'pulsed' within her, and a strange pull began to tug at her heartstrings causing her to go wide eyed in surprise. Considering her Fafnir Armour gave her draconian eyes, it looked kind of… off, though she didn't notice nor care. 'What the?' she wondered, confusion filling her being when she kept on feeling the pulse inside of her. If one wanted to get an idea of what she was feeling, think of an irregular heartbeat, with one heartbeat not being their own. It felt… odd, to say the least, but that didn't mean she didn't like it. Black Heart only wanted to know what the heck it was first.

BA-BOOM!

BA-BOOM!

BA-BOOM!

BA-BOOM!

BA-BOOM!

The pulses gradually got faster and faster as the seconds went by, and as she looked towards the fight it seemed that (as she had expected) neither Guts nor IF could get any solid ground from this guy. If they didn't get anything done at this rate, then as things stood they would likely lose this battle and Conversation would be able to get away.

Gritting her teeth, Black Heart clenched her fists as a strong determination passed through her.

'Like HELL she is!'

No way would she let that witch get away with something like this! Not when she had humiliated all of them the way she did, nor would she get away with causing so many deaths with that stunt with the Basilicom! She may not have directly said anything, but the way she conducted herself showed her that she did, and THAT would be something every one of them could agree with. This woman seemed way too sketchy, nigh full-blown modern art with how she behaved. No way would she let this stand! That swordsman may be the one who killed Stefan and his men, but he was just following orders! This was battle too, so what he said wasn't even wrong, really! But she… if what their hunches said was true, then SHE had a hand in every disastrous even that had happened to all these innocent people thus far.

And THAT was unforgivable.

Black Heart knew these weren't her people, they weren't her citizens, nor did they worship her as their CPU. There should hardly be a reason why she would be this pissed off at this guy and that woman. Even so however, this entire situation reminded her WAY too damn much of what had happened at Lastation for her to NOT feel something. She may have stressed that a bit too much during her time here, but she couldn't help it, she kept getting reminded of that damned infected outbreak! It's like when people constantly remind you that you're a piece of shit and nobody cares about you, even though they do it so casually cause they think it doesn't effect you!

No, not this time. She wouldn't let them suffer like this any longer, even if they didn't necessarily believe in her. She didn't even try to deny it at this point, and if she were asked then she'd say it honestly! Black Heart, CPU of Lastation, would NOT let this injustice stand! NO! NEVER AGAIN!

SHE WOULD NEVER LET INJUSTICE GO UNPUNISHED EVER AGAIN!

SHINE!

Just then, out of the corner of her eyes, did Black Heart notice a faint golden shine. It came from the crater in which Stefan's remains (something she REALLY didn't want to think about since she'd go green if she did) were buried in by that swordsman. Glancing at the battle, then at her fellow attack chargers, the Lastation CPU saw nobody was eyeing her, and so she carefully floated over to his remains and leaned her neck forwards, allowing her to peer down the crater… and there she saw it: Ashbringer.

The sword that Stefan himself wielded up until his demise. It lay there, motionless, by the side of what remained of it's former master. The Sword looked to be a two-handed cleaver falchion, a bladed weapon that also had a striking resemblance to a Machete. The blade itself had this 'L' shaped guard above the segmented hilt, whilst the blade itself had various carvings engraved into the blade's flat sides. Near the tip though, was the glowing 'core' that housed holy energy. Energy that Black Heart could feel resonated greatly with her for some reason.

'I get the feeling that the Author somehow forgot to describe the blade when it first appeared…' she thought to herself, before groaning as she shook her head in derision. 'Great, now Im starting to think like Neptune…' Pushing those troubling thoughts aside for the time being, Black Heart lowered herself down the crater till she reached the bottom, where she kneeled beside the glowing sword.

Was it… calling her?

But, didn't this sword only let those whom were worthy hold that blade? That was what she assumed about it when she had asked Nico about it once during their talks about the Hellverse. According to him, the Ashbringer was a Holy Sword created long ago by the original Founder of the Spec Ops Program, in fact it was said that the sword was actually his main weapon for the duration of his lifetime. He'd even told her that the man's name, something Noire had been searching for, for a large amount of time, was Alexandros Mograine: whom had been one of the leaders of a group of warriors, the original Spec Ops Agents whom got coined with the name 'Silver Hand' whilst being the original wielder of the Ashbringer.

Back then, Mograine had envisioned a sword that would not lose to any other, one extremely effective against anything unholy such as Demonic or Undead-related magics, whilst also having a greater effect against monsters. He used a combination of Lowee Magic (taken from what had been 'borrowed' by the military families), Leanbox weapon crafting, Lastation Engineering and Planeptune Technology to create a sword that constantly generates a powerful holy energy. An energy that was born from the human's will to survive the toughest trials, to stand against the toughest odds. That blade literally had humanity's will to survive in it, something which Noire had no trouble believing. It was said that the process would have been easier had he used what faith that remained in the CPUs to make it, however to him it went against the Spec Op core Ideology: that they make their own paths regardless of the CPUs actions or not. It would only become Holy due to the changes it went through across the passage of time, not to mention the sheer reverence every Spec Ops Agent worth his salt had for the blade.

During the blade's development, it was imbued with not only the powers it now displayed, but also the very ESSENCE of the original Spec Ops Founder upon him finally entering his deathbed. Thus, it was partially sentient, enough to choose those of humanity whom are worthy enough to wield it. So far, it only chose those of the Ostermark Order as they embodied the very will to survive that Humanity possessed.

So… why was it calling HER? Why not someone HUMAN?

She wasn't a human, she was a Goddess: the very being whom the Spec Ops Founder had aspired not to follow. It shouldn't have been able to call her since she didn't have the same values as the members of the Ostermark Order. This blade literally, in essence, was the embodiment of the core beliefs of the Spec Ops Community, what the original Agents were meant to have been like back in their time. Unfortunately, the Spec Ops of today's society had barely ANY of the original willpower, determination and pride that they had in their prime, no longer were they any of that but a shadow of their former selves. Especially the ones who didn't get in out of their own merit and merely used their connections to bypass the entrance exams.

This, one could say that the Ostermark Order, they were the sole family whom upheld the original values that the first Spec Ops Agents had, thus they would be the ones that Ashbringer would call their wielders.

Therefore, why it was calling to her utterly baffled and confused the hell out of her.

Glancing over to Stefan's remains however, and her thoughts became silent once again. As if the moment she saw them, her brain just said, 'you know what, fuck it' and just let it all happen. Her breathing calmed down, and her body lost its tension, allowing the blade's allure to take hold. Black Heart's gaze hardened. She didn't know why the blade would be calling her, nor did she understand how it worked. However, if it could help her get enough power to store into Balmung to then use a powerful TWILIGHT WAVE, then who would she be to complain?

Plus, she would get to give this blade a chance to avenge it's fallen master. Noire may not know Stefan, but she DID know the Spec Ops Agents. She had looked into them, and as such she had spent time with them. There were indeed many whom failed to embody their core principals, many whom had forgotten what it truly meant to be a Spec Ops Agent: to survive and fight against all the odds, to survive them and live to tell the tale. That was what they should be, and whilst many didn't embody this like their ancestors, there were STILL a notable few, in Lastation, Planeptune AND Leanbox who DID. Leanbox may be a land of martial pride and honor, but that didn't mean that others from different lands weren't just as capable.

With that thought process, a small smirk formed on Black Heart's lips, her eyes shining with vengeful wrath as she reached for the blade's hilt, intending to pick it up. Just as her hand hovered over the hilt the blackette CPU gulped, a part of her wondering what kind of affects her next actions would cause. However, she pushed that part away from her for the time being whilst tightening her lips and other features, until she firmly grasp the sword's handle with the strength of a determined warrior. Once she grasped the handle, the sword seemed to 'light up' from her hand's presence, the symbols along it's blade proceeding to glow a similarly golden colour to the energy of it's core. Said core also sparking like crazy as if it were a console being activated after a long time of remaining silent. "Alright then, you. I don't know WHY you're calling me, but right now I'll just go with it. Let's go and avenge your master." She whispered to it, and the sword almost seemed to tremble in excitement. As if it understood what she really wanted from the blade, beneath everything else. Not a second later though, did she feel something like a warm light wash over her, and in that second, Black Heart felt it:

Ashbringer had chosen her as its next wielder…

Probably the first time that had happened in… well, ever.


In that moment, Okada's hairs stood on end when he felt something wash over him. Something which caused his eyes to widen slightly in surprise before he turned to the source with an arched brow. 'What the…?' he wondered, curiosity flowing through him like blood. Why the fuck did his body react this way? He knew down to the first glance at his body that he had been revived as an undead, and as an undead one would be vulnerable to divine-based attacks. Something which only those floating ladies possessed aside from Guts. Their weapons would be highly effective against undead, so if he got scratched by them it would be equal to a moderate-level injury.

Not to mention, that cute-looking white wearing girl who floated above them also had a divine tint to her energy, and it felt like an offshoot of the Share Energy that powered the CPUs themselves. However, Okada didn't know the extent of her powers since she had largely stayed out of the conflict, although she primarily felt like a support type of person, similar to those magic casters he had slaughtered that one time when Lowee decided to be all cocky and invade them… well, one of the many times they got cocky, just like the other three Nations. He hoped that there were also different forms of her powers, cause she just seemed like the type of chick he'd bang if she were a hooker.

The only other weapon in their arsenal that would have just as great a chance at damaging them seemed to be that sword that old geezer used. Apparently just looking at that sword sent icy cold chills of death down his undead body's spine, though he had no idea why. He'd been able to ignore it for a while though, simply because the difference in skill between them was just that great. Even Stefan seemed to be aware of this, especially with how he reacted to just hearing his name (it felt pretty good, hearing how he was remembered in such a way). If he had the same kind of skill that Okada did, then he would have been much more dangerous opponent to fight.

That would have been so much fun.

Though, it didn't actually mean they would defeat him, as he'd worked with similar conditions back when he was truly alive.

He wasn't the only one either, as Purple Heart and Green Heart also felt it, whilst IF's nerves shot into overdrive. Although the CPUs themselves didn't really have much of a negative reaction to this energy, heck it's nature seemed so similar to Share Energy, but not at the same time. It was like it was both holy in nature, but not exactly in the same way that Share Energy was. It actually felt similar to Compa's Spirit Mana, said girl having stayed afloat and away from the battle, though just as with the other girls she had been one step away from switching to Metatron and unleashing a heavy shower of light attacks from her Angel. The CPUs each responded with looks of supreme shock, confusion and worry as they looked around, trying to pinpoint the source whilst trying to keep up with their task of charging their attacks for their plan.

Finally, his eyes along with everyone else's, found themselves landing on the source: Black Heart herself.

The CPU floated in front of the crater, glaring heavily towards Stefan's murderer with fiery wrath in her draconian eyes. In one hand, she held Balmung which looked to be absorbing the energy that Ashbringer was radiating just from its aura alone. Not only that, but the energy filled the sword up much faster, and if her senses were right this energy felt way more compatible with boosting Balmung's potential power output than if she used her own Share Energy. Speaking of Ashbringer, the sword rested in her other hand, constantly pulsating with a golden holy aura, an aura that covered her entire body whilst mixing with the energy she naturally radiated, making this mix between silver and gold. Mix that with the bestial presence she radiated, and Black Heart looked like a cross between divinity and pure bestial prowess.

It helped that she had activated LIGHT DRIVE, discovering that Stefan's skills came from the blade itself, not his own. As a result, she had her body's speed and agility enhanced more than her other parameters, thus combined with her HDD… yeah, her body felt like it was on a heavy high right now.

Just what she would need to take this asshole down.

"Alright, let's get this over with, shall we?" Black Heart suggested, a slight coy smile forming on her lips whilst she flew forwards with Balmung being swung at his face. Okada blocked it easily enough, ignoring the instinctual fear his undead body expressed thanks to it being around that other sword. Speaking of said sword, it also came down on him from the opposite diagonal angle. Sidestepping that swing, Okada made to slash at her back…

"DIVINE SHIELD!"

With the activation of DIVINE SHIELD however, the attack got deflected by the barrier of golden energy, which allowed her to activate ZANDATASU to twirl around to swing at his head again. Okada however, jumped straight backwards to avoid it, whilst Black Heart glanced to her comrades. "You guys keep doing whatever it is you're doing, I'll help keep him distracted!" she bellowed… before she charged back into battle. Not to mention, was it just them, or did a silhouette of Stefan appear behind her when she did that?

Black Heart didn't bother with that though, as she jumped into a sausage spin whilst twisting into a double slash with Ashbringer, then Balmung. The first one Okada smirked as he leaned backwards to dodge, then he hopped over the second strike and delivered a split kick to her face, knocking Black Heart back as he landed and dashed towards her, intending to slam into her and knock her down.

Before that happened however, Black Heart managed to recover and throw out a DIVINE SHIELD, and Okada quickly responded by jumping over it, and by extension her. She made to slash hims head several times whilst he was in the air, but Okada either weaved around the strikes or parried them with his sword, landing behind her and making to slash at her neck.

Instincts screamed at him though, and the Swordsman jumped back to avoid the business end of Dragonslayer, and then he began parrying several strikes from IF's organic blades. The brunette then turned towards Black Heart, whom nodded in her direction whilst Guts narrowed his eyes at their opponent, making sure that he couldn't do anything.

"Wanna gut this guy with me?"

"Sure, lets go."

Then, the trio gave a loud, unified war cry, each of them coming in from different angles: Black Heart from the left, IF from the right and Guts from the front. All the while, the swordsman raised a brow at this development. "Coming at me in different angles to try and exploit any openings, huh? Well, I'll get behind that." Okada spoke before he laughed joyously as he held his sword in his stance while making the 'come' gesture. "Hahahahaha, alright then ladies, bring it!" he exclaimed.

Black Heart went first as she launched a dual swords combo much similar to Purple Heart's CROSS COMBINATION Skill, mixing up the slashes with either Ashbringer or Balmung. 'Wielding two swords like this...' the white haired woman thought, idly glancing to her blades whilst she slashed, before jumping into an overhead slam which Okada blocked, the ground beneath him cracking from the impact. 'It feels like i'm using two of my original CPU swords at the same time... the weight feels fairly balanced too...' she thought further as she narrowed her eyes at her opponent. "IF, go!"

"With pleasure!" the brunette exclaimed as she dashed beneath the Lastation CPU who used Okada's sword as a springboard to jump high into the air and away from him, all the while IF spun like a tornado and slammed her right blade into him... if it weren't for Okada's sword getting in the way that is. 'Geez, just what the heck is that thing made of?' she wondered, before she flipped sideways to avoid a particularly strong upward slash which sent one of those wind gusts, causing another fissure on the ground. Her arms then morphed into more forms, allowing her to swing her right one, which became her Axammer at her enemy's head whilst she flicked her left arm backwards when it formed her whip, allowing her to flick it upwards into a sweep towards Okada's legs.

Said man however, blocked the first swing, then he used the sole of his right leg's sandal to kick the Whip away from him, and once he did that the man slid his sword down and chopped through IF's arms, both of them that the same time... whilst also slicing through her torso, abdomen and severing her limbs. Gasps of pain escaped her as she fell to the ground, slamming into it with a heavy THUD. Okada twirled around though, previous experience showed him that those wounds would be easy for her to recover from... so he made to finish her off by stabbing her through the head.

Before his blade could pierce the back of her skull though, what remained of her back suddenly erupted into Tendrils, each one wrapping around his sword and tossing him away from her. 'Heh, I guess she can defend no matter which body part I cut. I guess i'll cut her into molecules next time then.' Okada thought, stabbing his sword into the ground to halt his movements. Only, when he did the man noticed a shadow looming over him and thus, promptly sidestepped a swing from Guts' dragonslayer. He didn't have much time to react, only a second or so before Guts erupted into a slashing fest towards him, swinging that large blade around like it was as light as a feather.

"Hoh, my you've got some arm strength, it seems. Though, I guess that;s to be expected from a guy with your build." Okada mused, thoughtfully. "Not to mention that Armour leaves little areas for me to get at your real body. However..." after he had deflected one of the many slashes aimed his path, Odaka quickly slid through Guts' defenses, shoulder bashing him and knocking him down. "Doesn't mean I have no options, a genius always has more than one trick!" he shouted, already making to finish him off with a clean beheading.

A second before that happened however, he retracted his blade in order to parry Ashbringer and Balmung. Sliding to a halt once more, Okada looked to see Black Heart glaring at him, causing the man to smile. "Why the long face, cutie? You're much hotter when you're grinning," he mused, chuckling at the slight falter that he saw when Black Heart angrily blushed at the comment.

"Shut up!" the white haired woman yelled as she glanced at Balmung's jewel. She could have been blinded by how much the jewel glowed though, that was just how much energy had been condensed with the blade, provided by Ashbringer which she had placed on her back so she had both hands on her original blade. Just as she made to unleash a TWILIGHT WAVE however...

Position... wrong...

'Huh?'

For a moment, Black Heart blinked when she heard a fairly deep, masculine voice echo from within the depths of her mind. 'What the? Who was...?' Black Heart began to think.

Position... wrong... must... change...

Once again, the white haired CPU heard the voice deep within her mind, only this time it sounded a bit clearer than before. It reminded her of a cage made from static, the voice gradually getting stronger by breaking through that static. Not to mention, when she DID hear the voice for the fifth time, her eyes widened all the more when a vision assaulted her mind...


A man, dressed like her with similar hair and style...

A woman, dressed in white and red Armour whilst holding a large sword...

The man holds his sword, one which looked disturbingly familiar, in front of him with his left hand beneath his right, pointing the blade up towards the heavens.

"Rise, my sword!"

The man speaks, much too similar to the voice in her mind.

Was that him?

His hands clutch around the hilt, and the blade is suddenly engulfed in a blue pillar of a mix between flames and pure energy, one that shot up into the heavens above and split the clouds.

The woman also mirrored his actions, and a RED light erupted from her sword.

Both swords, brilliant and pure, slammed down onto each other, and all went white.


Again, Black Heart blinked owlishly as she regained her mental clarity and returned to reality.

'What... the hell? What was that?'

Whilst wondering that, Black Heart's gaze fell upon Balmung, and upon doing so, she soon got treated to the sight of seeing it being held in the exact same position she had seen in her vision. How the heck was that a thing?

'No, don't think about that for now, Black Heart, cause right now you have an enemy to defeat! Balmung's been charged and readied, so if this position helps to even the odds...'

With that in mind, Black Heart's anger ebbed away from her, forming a sense of clarity which tempered and controlled the rage inside, giving it a purpose and changing it from a wild crimson flame to a calm blue one. Opening her eyes once more, the CPU of Lastation aimed a determined glare towards the other swordsman.

Now, or never...!

"I'm gonna enjoy this. Now... rise, my sword!"

Clutching the sword's hilt, Black Heart yelled that command out and hoped for the best. She put everything she had into the blade, hoping that it would respond...

and respond, it did.

FWOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!

In that instant, a HUGE torrent of multi colored energy erupted from the blade, a mix of blue and gold that constantly crackled with matching electricity as the torrent shot up into the heavens above. Beneath her feet, the ground cracked and a small crater formed from the rush and impact that the torrent created upon eruption. Not to mention, the faint sound of a dragon's roar sounded throughout the entire Dungeon... no, the entire CONTINENT.

'Whoa!' Black Heart shouted in her mind, almost losing her balance from the eruption of power that escaped from Balmung. She almost dropped the blade, just barely hanging on when that power exploded upwards. 'Geez, that voice wasn't kidding!' she screamed further whilst closing one eye and gritting her teeth. She'd even widened her stance so she could retain her balance, that was just how much she nearly fell from he eruption's impact. 'This... This is way more than what I usually bring out!'

"N-Noire!"

Eyes shooting open, Black Heart glanced to her rear flanks, noticing both Green Heart and Purple Heart staring at her with shock. The former had her Gungnir ready for throwing, whilst the latter looked to have gotten into a stance where her legs were bent and she was making to thrust her blade forwards. Not to mention the violent, savage and yet divine aura that coated the blade. Just by feeling their power, Black Heart felt like those weapons matched hers in terms of power output. Pushing those thoughts from her mind, Black Heart gave them a determined stare as she opened her mouth. "I'm alright! I'm ready to attack, how about you two?!" she yelled.

Her words served to snap them out of their stupors though, something which made them nod in response, confirming without words that they too were ready for the next attack.

"Compa! Could you let the others know too?!"

"Got it, Lady Noire! Iffy, Guts-Guts, hurry! Please move, we're ready!"

Upon Compa's yell, which was made on Black Heart's orders, both IF and Guts (who almost grimaced at the apparent Nickname that the Spirit Girl had given him), quickly looked to each other, nodded and broke away from the swordsman, somewhat catching Okada off guard. However, that didn't t remain so for long... as Okada noticed the three attacks ready to be aimed at him. His eyes widened in surprise at this, as he held his sword in a ready stance. "Whoa there, those are some pretty big attacks there!" he exclaimed... before a grin of bloodlust spread across his face whilst his other emotions vanished like they weren't even real. "Alrightie then, i'll take this bet! Now, HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOTS, LADIES!"

"Alright then! Come Soul Calibur! ARCHONIC CONVERGENCE!"

"Bring it! Balmung! TWILIGHT WAVE!"

"You'll regret those words! PIERCE HIM, GUNGNIR!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

In that moment, Black Heart brought down Balmung, Gungnir was thrown towards it's target and Soul Calibur released ARCHONIC CONVERGENCE, one of it's strongest attacks. It was basically a high-density laser beam, colored the same blue as her crystal powers, but with the power to pierce through an entire mountain (She knew this cause she'd checked on the tallest Mountain in Leanbox. Even today, nobody knew how a hole had suddenly appeared in their largest mountains out of nowhere). Even so, it could still be empowered further by Demonic Energy, but Share Energy wouldn't work. Likely because Share Energy was so different from Demonic Energy, so yeah.

But even so, it all ended up in an explosion that was so big, it took out the entire Dungeon. As in, everything that was once Halo Mountain vanished out of existence whilst the attacks collided with their target, reducing everything to a deep, wide crater. large enough that it could fit the entirety of the Dungeon within it's gaping maw. Fortunately, Isaac wouldn't be around the area as he had, once Compa had vanished, pulled out his Eject Button given to every Spec Ops Agent and had himself warp to the nearest village for treatment. As of that moment, only Compa, IF, the three CPUs and Guts remained of the original group. Smoke, heat and energy roared from within, and if any of them were normal humans their skin would have been melted off their bones from the amount of raw heat and energy emitted by the explosion.

"#PANT#... #PANT#... #PANT#..."

Heavy breathing sounds filled the air, as each of the three CPUs soon became visible thanks to the smoke quickly beginning to vanish. First, Purple Heart appeared, and she looked like she had seen better days. Exhaustion and fatigue raged within her body, forcing her to intake a huge amount of air into her windpipe to satisfy her aching lungs. Sweat rolled down her forehead like waterfalls, whilst if her suit were any normal suit it would have clung uncomfortably to her body from all the sticky sweat which her body would have been adorned in. She still hovered in the air though, still retaining enough energy to keep herself afloat whilst also remaining transformed. 'Looks like... I managed... to preserve some energy after all...' she thought to herself.

Next, Black Heart, and she looked similar to Purple Heart, but unlike her fellow CPU she looked to have fallen onto the ground whilst remaining on all fours. Balmung lay horizontally on the ground before her, sweat dripping from her head whilst he bangs clung to her from the dampness. Not to mention that Ashbringer on her back felt much heavier than normal, likely due to her lack of energy. Also unlike Purple Heart, Black Heart could no longer remain in human form, and thus promptly reverted back to Noire. "G-Geez... that was..." she tried to say, but soon the urge to regain lost air took over and stopped her attempts.

"I... I must agree... with you there, Noire..."

Glancing over to the source of that feminine mature vice, Noire noticed that Vert looked to be in the same position she was, with Gungnir at her side on the ground. Most of it's power looked to have been expended, leaving her in her human form. As Vert, the blonde woman was kneeling on one leg like the knights that guarded her Basilicom did when being summoned by Noblemen or herself. She had one hand on the ground whilst the other lay atop her knee, for support purposes. "We just... used three consecutive big attacks... in tandem with each other..." She explained, panting heavily whilst she surveyed their desolate surroundings. "Seeing all this destruction... it is to be expected... from such an outcome."

"Yeah, you said it."

"Although we were almost consumed by the blast as well. Thanks for the assist, Mrs IF."

"No prob."

Both IF and Guts walked over to them, the former having equipped her Armour whilst the latter had Dragonslayer leaning on his shoulder. Each CPU had varying relieved expressions once they noticed the two being alright, like several weights having been lifted from their shoulders. Not to mention how, when they sensed Spirit Mana, they each looked up to see Compa descending down to them with Metatron floating around her. A huge grin was on her face when she saw that the others looked marginally okay considering what had happened.

"Iffy! Nep-Nep! Lady Noire and Vert and Guts-Guts! You're all okay too!"

"We are fine, Compa. Tell us, how did you survive the ensuing explosion? Also, is miser Isaac ok?"

"He's fine, I noticed him use that eject button thing a lot of Agents from the Guild use, so he got a clean getaway. As for me, I just used Metatron's teleporting power to escape the attack. That attack by the way, looked REALLY strong!"

"Of course." Vert interjected into Purple Heart and Compa's simple conversation, all the while looking at the spot in the centre, which would be were the attacks had impacted. Her eyes narrowed as well when she managed to muster the strength to pick up the nearly powerless Gungnir and stand on her own two feet."It was the culmination of three of our strongest blows. Something like this, it is to be expected although I do not know if this would be comparable to what happened at the end of the Hellverse incident."

IF could only weakly chuckle, knowing EXACTLY what she was referring too. Those weapons combined destroyed an entire dungeon, which is a pretty amazing feet to begin with. But, that moment at the prime of the Hellverse incident didn't lose out to it in terms of sheer power and potential for destruction. "I'd drink to that, but there aren't any taverns near here."

Compa merely smiled weakly as she disengaged her transformation, reverting to her human outfit whilst she walked over to Noire, and offered a hand to help her stand. "Iffy sounds like she's done with everything..."

"I don't blame her..." A groan came from Noire who reluctantly accepted the offer, grasping onto Compa's hand and allowing her to help pull the CPU up to her feet. Normally she wouldn't accept such help, as it would be beneath her pride and stature as a Goddess, however A: she had very little energy left even as she picked up Balmung and dismissed it. And B: Compa was a being tat was on a similar level to the Goddesses, in addition to her being someone she could call tolerable, so it felt a little more bearable to let her help. "I'd like to retire back to my hotel room and sleep for a week."

Vert allowed a small chuckle to escape her lips at the other girls comments as she herself dismissed Gungnir. "Well, when we return, once we settle everyone's nerves as they will have likely heard the destruction from here, I will make it so we can rest easy. Especially with the defeat of that one pervert." she remarked, slightly narrowing her eyes at the end there.

Purple Heart nodded her head in agreement, not just with the thought of relaxing, but also with the comment about Okada as well. "I agree. As cocky as he was, it was his casual comments about us that rubbed myself the wrong way. This body can only handled by myself and my hubby after all..."

"SO! You're already taken huh? Well, far be it for me to try and take another man's girl, i'd say!"

...

...

...

...

...

...

Everyone became silent, tensing up like they had been frozen into a block of ice together when they heard a voice belonging to someone whom they had ASSUMED to be dead, ring through the atmosphere. The arrogant tone, the cockiness and the slightly perverse intent behind it... none of them could mistake that voice for anything else.

Looking to the centre of the crater, the smoke there got swiped away by Okada Izou himself... and he looked just as fine as he always did. Little to no injury, minus some areas of his clothes being scorched to nothingness, he looked like nothing had ever happened to him... kind of weird, considering he was an undead being right now. The man looked himself over whilst dusting off his clothes, picking up his sword which stood embedded into the ground beside him. "That was a pretty strong attack there ladies, and your friends did a good job of keeping me away from you so I couldn't stop them." he complimented, and at that point the cockiness he had previously shown them was nowhere to be heard within his voice. Like he had been genuinely impressed by their efforts. "I'll admit, if you were facing anyone else, that attack might have actually worked. After all, its not every day that an undead warrior experiences so much holy energy being aimed at him. Sadly for you all, it was me who was your opponent. Shame this isn't my original body though, cause if it was then I would have only needed to use about 50% of my power to take that strike instead of 55%."

"Oh stuff it, you." Conversation soon spoke, stepping towards the swordsman from behind whilst crossing her arms in front of her. Just like him, she too looked largely unaffected by that attack which destroyed this entire Dungeon. In fact, they had almost forgotten that she had even been here, since she remained quiet throughout this whole battle. "You should be grateful that he chose to bring you back at all, if he didn't think of where you'd be."

Okada merely chuckled to himself whilst grinning at the scolding tone that the woman carried in her voice. "Aw come on, lassie. Pretty sure I saw the look of amusement a few times during that battle, you LIKED watching me have fun with them you battle pervert you." he responded with a teasing grin, causing the woman to blanch at him.

"B-B-BATTLE PERVERT?!" She shrieked, almost like the sounds the Banshees Purple Heart, IF and Compa had encountered back in Planeptune made when enraged. However, before she could do anything she might regret like try to strangle the annoyance before her, Conversation calmed herself down with some breathing techniques, before she looked over to the rest of the Party and smirked. "Well, all things considered, think of this as a compliment, for to last as long as you have against this guy, you all should be proud." she stated. "And as such, I only feel it is right to reward you with a little something."

With those words, confusion spared within the Party as to the meaning of those words. Whilst Okada looked at her like he didn't expect her to say or do this, he remained quiet as the woman pulled that transforming cliche movie villains did when unveiling their true identity (something Purple Heart and the others would agree with him on should he have said anything)...

To reveal a familiar face to some of the girls.

"Hey! you're that woman from back then!" Purple Heart exclaimed, eyes wide with recognition once she saw her. Same witch outfit, same hat, same hair and old looking appearance... even though she looked to be in her 20's like Vert did...

On her end, the witch-like woman just smirked deviously, a black nailed hand on her hip. "Hah, Conversation is my fake form, you brat." she sneered at Planeptune's CPU.

'Huh? Did I hear this right...?' Noire thought to herself, narrowing her eyes in confusion whilst an equally confused Vert glanced over to Purple Heart, a slightly suspicious look forming in her eyes. "You... know who she is?" she asked carefully.

Her answer soon came, but from Compa instead of the target of her question, said girl nodding in response whilst actual anger rolled off her frame in waves. She remembered this person VERY well, thank you very much. "Yes. She's a bad person who made a Banshee Dungeon and killed lots of people." she explained, causing Noire and Vert to go wide eyed at the name of THAT particular Abnormal. They'd heard various rumors about those creatures, and none of them were good. If what Compa said had been true...

"Consider your beat-down a repayment from last time. It will NEVER happen again." the woman spoke darkly, summoning her Glaive once more. The three main girls each shuddered from repressed anger at the sight of this woman, a feat which became harder to achieve when she formed her weapon, too. Especially when they recalled what it had done, or almost done, to one of their own. Turning her eyes over to the glaring Vert however, the woman's smirk turned downright nasty. "Though it was quite amusing to see a powerless Goddess on life support flail herself about like that. You looked like a child throwing a temper tantrum."

She then chuckled as the woman's look grew ever fiercer at the demeaning insult. "Now then, let us finish this round off. Servant, if you would." The woman commanded, turning around whilst floating away from the scene to leave Okada alone to finish the job he had been summoned for. "I grow tired of looking at their pathetic selves, so do as you were summoned to do and finish them."

At this, Okada gave a nod, a disappointed sigh escaping his lips. "Wow, what a buzzkill. And I had been willing to go all out too. That fight was just too fun..." he mused to himself, before looking to the girls with a 'what can you do?' look on his face. "Whelp, looks like the lady's spoken. I'll make sure to end you all swiftly, cause you DID give me one hell of a good fight just now." he remarked, grinning slightly as he made to dash forwards.

Since the CPUs were unable to move or do much thanks to their weakened states, IF, Guts and Compa quickly got in his way. The first two stood in front of the three CPUs, with the former wielding an Axammer/shield combo with her Armour whilst the latter held Dragonslayer in a two-handed stance similar to the one Okada had mimicked this entire time. For the latter, she re-took her Astral Dress, summoned Metatron and took to the skies, glaring down at the swordsman with rebellion in their eyes.

Just by their stares alone, the man understood their intentions, causing him to smirk. "Well, i'll commend you for your loyalty at least. You all have some guts to stand up for your defeated comrades, though it won't change anything in the end. Your friends weren't able to damage me one bit on their own, what makes you all any different?"

"Well, we're still here, aren't we?" IF retorted with her signature snark, chuckling behind her Helmet. Nobody who knew her would expect her to leave this battle, and even if she wanted to she wouldn't. The reason: Her BOW instincts refused to let her leave this battle, instead they urged her to fight on. Her regeneration would help her stay alive a little, and she had about 60% of her original reserves left. If she hadn't assimilated so many beings in the Demonic Invasion, she most certainly would have died during this battle. "That has to count for something."

Guts snorted himself. "I'd never turn my back against an opponent." he stated and that would be the end of that with him. Nothing would convince him to lower his sword. The way of the sword was his life, there would be nothing that could change that. He would remain a warrior for all time.

Compa herself had a similar expression on her face as the Black Swordsman. "I'd never agree to something as mean as leaving my friends for dead!" she spat, aiming Metatron's pillars at her opponent and readying them for combat. This would not be easy, this was something she knew. She'd only stick to ranged support right now, as using Gabriel would likely have little effect on Okada even if she increased her allies' capabilities. Restricting him would do no good either, as Isaac's Stasis attempt showed her.

"Heh, well ain't that noble of you all? I guess this fight still has some fun for me yet, even if I have to kill ya. Oh well, let's-"

"OI! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM THEM!"

All of a sudden, everyone blinked when a loud, ferocious voice suddenly boomed across the area. "Huh? What was...?" Before Okada could finish, something bright and orange came crashing down into the centre of the crater, filling everything with orange. At the moment of impact, the roaring of something inhuman raged throughout the area, filling the air with an intense pressure that almost crushed everyone within it's vicinity alive. Not to mention the sheer level of Demonic Power being absolutely ENORMOUS, to the point of where it rivaled titanic proportions. Plus, it felt significantly... cleaner, if that was a way to describe it. It felt cleaner as in it's power felt much better in quality not just in quantity.

"What the... what the fuck is happening here...?"

Whilst Okada muttered that under his breath, the white haired witch quickly widened her eyes, recognition and shock filling her features as beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. It was all she could do to suppress the level of panic that coursed through her the SECOND that energy erupted into the atmosphere, not to mention the black and red flames that coursed over the entire crater which felt much more refined than what Maghda had once told her. 'No... this cannot be! HE is back?! HOW?!' She raged in her mind.


"Oh?"

The masculine figure (whom had retreated away from the Dungeon before the blast so he escaped it) mused to himself when he sensed a powerful surge of Demonic Power. He sat on the edge of the crater, facing the girls' rears. If he wanted he could have blown a few sharp spikes into their backs and ended it all, but instead he waited to see what would happen.

He certainly didn't feel disappointed.

"This power... its not the same as the one I kept sensing earlier. In fact, it seems that the previous one has flown elsewhere, leaving this one to come instead. Its strange though, for it seems to be much like a DPU... wait a minute, I know this energy signature... Its not something I couldn't recognize, it's Sparda's! But how?! How can... oh, I see. SO, it seems that HE has returned, alive and empowered in more ways than one. Sparda's Champion... the one who will inherit his power, and perhaps his bloodline in the future."


Back in the crater's center...

The flames began to subside whilst the energy vanished out of existence, leaving steam to rise from the source as brilliant, fiery wings emerged from within. They spread themselves out as if to say 'hey ya'll! I'm here!' whilst proudly displaying fiery embers that singed the ground around them. The intensity of those wings almost blew everyone back along with the brief gust of wind which followed their movements, especially the weakened CPUs. However, they didn't and because of their endurance, each of them got rewarded to the sight of someone hey had NEVER in their minds expected to see out here.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?! NICO?!"


Chapter end!

If anyone is upset at the cliffhangers coming left and right, I apologize. Its just how the story has been writing itself for me, but rest assured that I've been building up chapters so I can release them when its the right time.

In any case, this shows that to those who have the Fate Veteran skill, that i'm trying to portray Okada Izou as a cocky, arrogant yet honorable (sort of) warrior who loves too fight, has a perverted side like a lot of men did in his time, and isn't a complete asshole. After all, I have plans for this guy, and I hope you all appreciate just how much of a hardass he was for being able to bring the girls down to this state with only simple swordplay. SIMPLE SWORDPLAY everyone.

Hope to see you in the next chapter!

Peace out!