"This is how it works. There are a total of 5 'floors' for you two to challenge, each floor has its own unique characteristics and enemies inside and if you can finish the floor you will receive a reward equivalent to how well you went. The reward is determined by how many points you can get, and the points come from killing the enemies. But, the most important is that there is a Floor-Master, an ultimate challenge for you to face. If you two can beat this floor master you can obtain a special item or more points to buy more regular items, whatever you want really." Zelretch explained to both young men.

This was quite similar to most RPGs out there, the main difference being that it was a Zelretch's approved 'game' so it would never be THAT straightforward.

Nico, having returned to human form to maintain power till he had a chance to have some items, heard it all and nodded. This seems like it would be quite interesting. Maybe he could sharpen his abilities further there.

'Nico, ask about those rewards now.'Biko said.

'Why the hurry? We haven't even entered the floor yet and if we are too focused on the rewards we might face some problems later on.' Nico countered. He had already seen this sort of situations way too much, a rookie that was too excited about the reward and lost focus when he shouldn't have. And Nico was no rookie.

'Nico, this man can travel through parallel dimensions so maybe he has that pill we are looking for.'Biko said, earning a raised eyebrow from Nico. It was just then that Nico realized the truth of these words, maybe he could get the Rebirth Nirvana Pill here because goddess knows when he would get another chance elsewhere.

'Okay.' Nico answered to Biko before turning to Zelretch and saying.

"I get what you mean, but can we at least know what the different rewards are?" Nico asked, with which Castiel only shocks his head. Castiel was much more used to Zelretch's excessively large treasure collection so if he really could get anything in there he already knew that it would be quite valuable, so there would be no point in wanting to see it now. If anything for Castiel who doesn't have an exact objective right now it would simply be a waste of time, and so he simply sat on the floor and started meditating about the fight he just had to visualize how it could have gone differently.

"Okay, here is a list." Zelretch said as he took out a book with MANY pages.

Nico looked at this and could not help but think that this was just too much. It probably meant that most of this treasures were nothing that special. Well, he thought that until he opened the book.

The golden fleece - A healing item that can heal virtually every wound and is continuously active, it can also make plants grow faster and, if someone wears it, it heals any wound at incredibly high speeds;

Moku Moku no Mi - a special fruit that after eaten can turn the user's body into smoke. The user then can become nearly invulnerable to any attacks that don't carry heavy amounts of magic or special energy, while also allowing for the user to expand his body and fly by using its new power. A weakness is that the user cannot swim no matter what;

Cloak of Invisibility - a cloak that can turn the user invisible for all visual effects, no matter how good or mystical a vision may be there simply won't be a chance of seeing the user. However, it cannot hide smell or sound;

Bashosen - A fan that allows for the use of powerful attacks from all elements, the only real drawback is how it drains considerable energy from the user but the sheer fact that it grants high versatility and allows for using any element and attack instantly by simply waving the fan is more than compensation enough;

Legendary Hero's Sword - a legendary sword that continuously grows stronger by being fed materials and other swords. There is no absolute limit to how strong it can get and the only limitations are the necessity of having a strong enough body to support new forms for the sword (with more materials new forms are unlocked) and to have the right materials;

One Moon Divine Medicine - A pill that can elevate the amount of Ki of anyone by a large margin. It is to such a point that even someone who never trained can have more ki in their bodies than a genius that trained his whole life non-stop until he was over thirty. There are no big drawbacks except for the high amount of new energy that the one eating said pill must distribute and be ready for.

Kido Manual - A manual of how to use soul energy to attack with special spells that focus on direct physical combat. It has a total of 99 spells and can be learned with relative ease by anyone, it can be divided in Bakudou (defensive and sealing spells), Hado (offensive and destructive spells), and Kaido (healing spells).

The Midnight Lost Child (Reiji Maigo) - A sphere of pure energy that replenishes ones own energy reserves, but only if the reserves haven't been completely exhausted. Only works every midnight.

Shingan ( Mind's Eye) - A ring that allows its user to read as well as transmit thoughts to people nearby. Its user can choose whose thoughts to read, but not which thoughts to read.

Seimei Kikan - Tome - A technique which allows the user to control their hair and bodily functions. Something like this could be used in conjunction with his Kagune, especially its morphing ability. using it to make a numerous amount of thin Kagune strands to trap his enemies, then strike them down with the main Kagune or something else sounded too useful to ignore.

Nirvana rebirth pill - A pill that destroys the user's everything and then reconstructs them from the ground up. The destruction is absolute and is insanely strenuous to the intaker's body. The result, however, is that the user will undoubtedly grow physically and mentally stronger but wil also have greater potential and most abnormalities that work against the user's well being are undone and remade to work for the user instead of against him. It also raises the sensitivity of the one using it to make detecting, understanding, and using attacks that much smoother.

Horn of the Goblin General - it allows the one using it to summon an army of goblins to their command. This army will follow all orders and are organized and equipped with great weapons and excellent coordination to the point that all possible divisions and even strategists are present. In terms of power, they can possibly overthrow a weak nation by themselves and are capable and knowledgeable in all forms of warfare. Each individual goblin is also capable of growing stronger, the only drawback is the food to feed this army.

He could only imagine what his Desecration ability could do to improve these items further.

But, like Zelretch said, it all depends on what amount of points he got at the end. If he got the wrong amount, then he could end up with something unlike what he was aiming for, not something he liked to think about.

"Would we have a period of rest between trials? Or would we be taking them non stop?" Nico questioned. It would only make sense to ask that as simply having them compete nonstop without rest would, while increase their stamina, be a bit too un-beneficial for the beta testers in the long run. He could keep himself going with demonic power and his RC Cells, but they were practically at rock bottom for him at this point.

Perhaps he could take some healing Items from his Void Storage soon.

"Sure, you two have two weeks to complete as much of the five trials as you can. Please go right ahead and entertain me." Zelretch said, and just as he was about to teleport away.

"I have something to ask." Castiel said.

"Shoot." Zelretch answered, a smile on his face. He knew Castiel well enough to know that he would not simply let things like this.

"I want to know if it would be possible to get a few points before we begin. It is normal to have at least a few points before the first mission anyway so I think this should be alright, what do you say uncle Zelretch." Castiel said, earning a raised eyebrow from Nico and a surprised face from Zelretch.

"How could I have forgotten that?!" Zelretch said in mocking shock, which earned a roll eye from Castiel. "Sure, 1000 points each. But be careful with what you will buy since you might need this points later on. And here is the list of what you can buy with just points." Zelretch said as he gave the two young man a list.

The two started looking at it with rapt attention before each decided in what they would want.

"I want 1 vial of Phoenix tear (250 points, capable of healing flesh wounds), a spirit calming pill (500 points, capable of calming the spirit and revert the overheating of magic circuits and magic core), and three blood replenishing pills (50 points each, capable of replenishing the blood lost swiftly)." Castiel said, keeping the last 100 points for later use. From what he saw on this list there were a few must-have items here that he needed much more than new weapons or techniques.

"I'll have 3 blood refreshing pills (50 points each - 150 in total). Don't need much else since I have my own supplies." Nico stated, downing a Healing bottle which revitalized his injuries along with a Nep Bull EX, which fully restored both his SP and Demonic Power Reserves. Though, he didn't expect that last bit. 'Well, what do you know? Looks like it really does heal everything...'

their requested Items soon replaced the list they were holding in a bright flash, of which Nico and Castiel stored them away for later.

After the two made their purchases they looked forwards towards the oldest male in the area. Castiel was the one who asked what would be the first challenge.

"Simple, the first one is a challenge of the EARTH. You just have to go until the pyramid on the center of the desert and defeat the boss there, oh and do remember that special actions can give unique rewards." Zelretch explained, clearly enjoying all this way too much.

With that the two boys were directed to a portal, their first mission was about to start.


"Fuck, I have sand in places I didn't even know it was possible TO have." Castiel complained for the 100th time as he moved in the desert sands. If anything the two could only think that it was good that Castiel's rune-craft could produce water because they were walking for over two hours already and there still could not see themselves approaching the pyramid in the distance.

While Castiel was complaining like hell, Nico ignored it as he gauged their surroundings, making sure to not let anything escape his gaze. He couldn't sense anything nearby, at least nothing hostile, and with his Bracers Motion Tracker there wasn't any hostiles making their way to them. It wouldn't be good if they couldn't react to an enemy ambush, especially in a wide open space like this.

Up in the distance, the far, far distance, the two boys could vaguely make out the silhouette of a pyramid, as well as a bunch of green to signify the forest. Though, no matter how much they walked it just never seemed to get closer.

Raising his Bracer, Nico activated the Void Storage on mental command, quickly summoning a bottle of water. "Want some?" he questioned to his sole other companion so he would stop complaining.

Castiel looked at him weirdly, eyebrow arched. "Just what kind of stuff do you have in there? And thanks by the way." he replied, accepting the offered bottle and downing it in one gulp. He even refilled it with runecraft water so he could have some more later. Castiel was never really one to carry much with him as he usually would just take care of what he needed on the spot. In the worst case scenario, he would simply use his runecraft for water and he could last around 1 week without food and not affect his combat capacity by much thanks to his training in survival. Travel light and move fast when in a mission was his motto most of the time.

"You'd be surprised at how much I have to stock up." Nico replied dryly, before looking around the Desert. If they kept going like this they would waste too much time which could be better used in completing the five trials. They needed a better mode of transportation, Castiel probably wouldn't be able to fly thanks to the apparent restriction to flying that was placed here, they would have to pray for the restriction to flying be lifted while in a fight or it would complicate matters by quite a lot. It was while Nico was thinking in efficient ways to travel on this desert that the figurative light bulb erupted in his head as he palmed his left hand, a look of 'oh, right!' on his face. "Aha! I MIGHT have an idea." he stated, getting Castiel's attention.

"Yea?"

Without replying, Nico pulled out Harvester from his Void Storage, and used its power to summon one of his shadow monsters. The one he chose was that Wolf-like one, which appeared in front of them. This one however, was made without any battle capacity and the only skill it had was move through the sand and earth as fast as possible. Due to its giant weakness and incapacity of fighting the creature was even faster on the ground.

Nico never really had the need to summon one of them before, using Harvester's SHADOW PACK thanks to already having his bike, but considering how it did not work well on the sand and that flying was not really an option this worked well enough, plus he had felt the Devil Arm's desire to be useful in this situation. Not only that, but he was used to utilizing the whole amount of the creatures Harvester's SHADOW PACK ability granted, one of them barely even nicked his reserves.

"Okay, why the hell didn't you do this earlier?!" Castiel asked as he hopped onto the back of this creature, not at all disturbed by the other being capable of creating this beast. He already knew someone with a similar skill and at least Nico was better than the other person he knew, at least Castiel felt no need to try and kill Nico, something that the other person could brag to be on the 'to kill list'.

Nico bluntly responded while flipping onto its back, keeping his eyes forward, the wind ruffling his Trench Coats' sleeves as the creature launched itself from the ground at extreme speeds. "I was too busy hearing you complain while doing nothing. You really complain about things too much, maybe you should hear others more."

Castiel only responded with an eye roll, trying to keep it together and not explode at Nico for some words that at the moment were not the best for personal reasons. They then continued racing across the forest at top speed.


Approaching the forest at last, both boys looked up at the Pyramid.

"Whew, we're here at last..." Castiel remarked, sighing in relief when Nico made the creature slow down. Castiel raised an eyebrow and asked, even if already could imagine the reasoning. "Why are we stopping?"

"Simple, we don't want to alert the wildlife as much as possible. We need to understand our enemy before anything else." Nico said, and by then they already were close enough to the forest to go by walking.

"I see your point, and I do agree that it is important to try and not alert them that much, but I think this would be a waste of time." Castiel rebuked. "For Zelretch to put them here it means that they are strong and capable enough, they also are in a closed environment with no contact with whatever you or I am so we would be a completely different being in here. I don't know about your dimension, but on mine, there are places like this, separate spaces with no contact with any external life form and that live in harmony, however you can trust me in that they might have a balanced ecosystem right now but the moment we enter we are fucked. To live in the wild like this their noses and ears must be particularly good, maybe they can also sense ground vibrations so sneaking on them would be easier said than done."Castiel explained as he finished his analysis.

Nico hummed thoughtfully at those words, processing them in his mind before he decided to agree with the guy. It made sense, what he said, certain Abnormals back home have adapted to different environments. He had to say, he was impressed. He doesn't know anything about Castiel but from his battle powers and this analysis alone he could say that he would most likely be a Spec-Ops in his home dimension.


After that talk the two stayed close to the borders of the forest to set up camp. The two talked and agreed that entering like this would not be on their best interest, they had to first and foremost watch the ambient and try to identify the creatures that lived in there They had to understand what they would be facing and what they could do and what they could not do.

Right now, they stood within a small clearing, discussing on what to do next. Nico's Bracers didn't pick any hostiles up with their Motion Trackers, so that was a thing.

"We need to scout the forest, do you have any solution for that?" Nico asked after he released his Recon Drone from his Void Storage, but saw that said drone could not even take flight. This would be quite the headache for Nico since he did not want to waste energy on making shadow creatures that would most likely die before obtaining any useful information.

"Well, actually I do have something." Castiel said before activating a summoning circle to summon his familiar.

"Eevee!"A loud cry escaped the lips of one of his closest companions, who just appeared from the circle in response to his summons. Eevee was excited beyond belief to see Castiel again. The last time was too much of a scare for the young dog and it would rather never pass through that again.

Castiel could not help but release a few tears of joy from this affection he was receiving. After all that happened to him these last few days, just receiving some affection for being happy to see him meant a lot to the young heir.

Nico did not understand exactly what happened, but what he did get was that this was a moment for the two so he did not intervene or said anything.

"I am so happy to see you Eevee." Castiel said while hugging Eevee. After some time like that Castiel left the dog to go back to the ground before saying. "Eevee, can you go on mode Leafeon and see if you can communicate with those plants. We need to know what sort of enemies we will be facing in there."

"Eevee!" Eevee said happily before the green jewel on his neck shined. His normal features changed, with his fur receding almost completely, his ears and tail looking like big leaves, and leaves sprouting from his legs, chest, and one especially big on his forehead. "Leafeon." Leafeon said before walking to a tree and putting its head on the tree. An aura of nature passing through Leafeon to the tree.

Nico only looked at this without knowing what was happening. He had to ask later what that Eevee thing was all about, and if there was anywhere he could find one. If it truly could identify everything in a forest that easier than it would be invaluable to many of the guild agents and some spec-ops, he doesn't even WANT to know how many promising cadets died before they could reach their full potential due to not knowing what they would be facing.

After a while, Leafeon returned to the two and when Nico was imagining how exactly were they supposed to know what this little guy knew Leafeon changed forms again. The time, instead of returning to the base form he turned into its psychic form Espeon.

Nico had to admit that this one was a truly beautiful creature. He could even visualize Neptune hugging it while trying to force feed a pudding to it while Compa trying to stop her.

Well, those images just went until the moment that Espeon's eyes released a quick shine and a torrent of information entered the brains of both of them. It was not all that there was to the forest but at least they now knew at least some of the details like the geography and some of the animals they would find.

Though with what they learned, it didn't seem good.

"So... Looks like you were right, Emiya." Nico stated as he cupped his chin, frowning thoughtfully. "Looks like the wildlife are already aware of our presence." The reason he says this was because the information transferred to them by Eevee's Espeon form revealed to them that this place was full of various wild creatures, both every kind of animal one could think of in a forest and desert environment. Creatures that were dominated by this one other species. The information about that species was scarce, but they did get brief pieces of information about it. They were mostly small, were fast but not overly so, had great numbers, and were gross.

Not much to go on, but hey that was what recon was for.

"Yep." Castiel boasted proudly, before he became serious once more as he looked about this area. "We should turn this place into our camp for the night. It is a decent location, there's a freshwater stream 4 minutes walking distance to the east (they were in the southern sections of the forest according to Eevee). We can use that for supplies if we ever run low, there are ample vegetation and animals for food, so even if we stay here for a day or two we won't be without resources. I'll set up some bounded fields, they'll repel any lesser animals while informing us if there's anything truly threatening going our way. Plus, I don't know about you but I would rather rest for a while now, it is not like we are running out of time or anything."

Nico thought about it for a moment. While he wanted to get this over with, it would not happen if they didn't know what they were supposed to be doing. His gut instincts told him that they should get to the Pyramid though, since it was at the very center of this forest. In the end, he relented to Castiel's statements. "Affirmative. I shall set about setting up the camp equipment, I have some sets from when I go on longtime jobs for my work." Nico stated, getting a nod from the other super-powered teen as they each set off to commence their respective tasks.


That night, Nico and Castiel sat on two logs, perpendicular to each other while being around a large bonfire. The Bonfire was powered by Castiel's Runecraft, as while Nico's Hellfire (Castiel almost got accidentally singed when he tried to compare their flames for curiosity's sake, though Nico shared the blame due to being curious himself) offered more heat, it proved to be too powerful for the wood to handle, and thus the Runecraft fire was what they went with. Aside from that incident, there was little else to report on that front.

Nico had set up traps around the camp that would halt those that got past the Heroic Heir's Bounded Fields. Traps that he'd camouflaged by using the wilderness to his advantage while letting Castiel know where they were so he wouldn't fall into them. Though, he did say how he would be able to sense the traps having done training in creating and disarming them as a kid.

Right now, the two just stared at the burning wood that Nico carved from some trees with his Kagune, Castiel having Eevee sleeping on his lap in an adorable looking fashion. Nico himself had Rebellion resting on his lap while he thought deeply.

This didn't go unnoticed, however. "You thinking about what we're supposed to do here?" Castiel asked him, to which he got a silent nod in return. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'd say that Pyramid has something to do with it."

"Agreed, I thought so the moment I saw it. However, judging by what your friend said..." Nico replied, slightly nodding towards the sleeping Eevee who snored quietly. "It seems that we will encounter heavy resistance from the local wildlife."

Nodding as well, Castiel cupped his chin as he pondered this information. "Yeah, I can see that happening, we are a foreign animal intruding on this previously stable ecosystem after all. They will likely see us as a threat until we finish the trial. Still, if we want some form of an answer, maybe heading to that pyramid tomorrow would be our best bet. Perhaps we can gain some form of a clue there, uncle does love his phoetic justice and this over the top situation just screams that it is the next step."

That was just what Nico had been thinking. "Agreed. I can make sure we don't get ambushed by using my Holomap and Motion Trackers. In addition, it would be wise to consider moving stealthily through the trees, making fewer vibrations which will lessen the chance of us being discovered."

"What, like a ninja or something?" Castiel joked, smirking in amusement at the idea of doing ninja work as he honestl doubted he could do even half a decent job. Just the thought of the seemingly calm collected red haired teen before him doing that made his day.

Arching a brow, Nico nodded at him while he tried to figure out why Castiel said that the way he did. "You could say that." he remarked slowly and carefully. "However, if hostile contact proves unavoidable, some quick and silent killing techniques should be applied. I have my Rebellion, my Kagune and my Sword Techniques, what about you?"

"I've got some silent killing moves of my own." Castiel replied with confirmation, which ended the conversation for a while as the two stared down into the flames. Thoughts of what they planned for the following day filled their minds, occupying them for the longest time.

That is, until Castiel looked to Nico and examined his energy. He had noticed it before, how dark the energy was compared to Devil's magic. It was much darker, denser, and more potent, to the point where it even surpassed that of a Demon's. Call him crazy, but that kind of power wasn't that well known where he came from, so he wanted to know how the heck Nico got his hands on it.

"Say, dude. Quick question."

"Yeah?"

"Are you either a Devil or a Demon?"

Not expecting THAT question, Nico looked up at him in slight surprise and bafflement. A rather weird mix which formed on his features, before Nico composed himself and asked a question back. "That's... a rather strange thing to ask someone. The way you seem so nonchalant too... why is that?"

"Oh, its because where I come from we have all kinds of races, Devils, Demons, Yokai, Angels, Fallen Angels, Fishmen, Demi-Gods, etc. Yet you have energies in you that aren't quite like those, so I'm just curious." Castiel replied, though Nico detected a brief spike of anguish when he said the 'Angel' word. He resolved not to ask till much later though.

However, this information about his companion intrigued the Spec Ops Agent, if what he was saying was correct (and he could sense no negative emotions like deceit in his being which indicated that he was being truthful) then perhaps speaking to him about this would be okay. 'What do you think, Biko?'

'It would be an interesting change of pace. This one is not of our world, and judging by what we have seen he seems to be fairly open-minded. In addition, he is not of our world, thus our concerns needn't apply.' Biko replied, solidifying his decision.

'Very well, hope this doesn't come back to me...'

That was his thought before letting out a sigh. "Well, its a long story, but i'll summarize it for you." Nico began, Castiel shifting in his seat on the log so he was more comfortable. "I'm what is known as a DPU, a Demon Patron Unit. You could say I'm sort of a Demon God or a demonic deity, though I originally was human." he explained. "Before you ask, I'll say this: I was human once, but a while ago I came into contact with this crystal called a DPU Core, which entered my body and turned me into a DPU. Ever since, I've had to train in these new powers lest they take control and try to devour me till I'm nothing but a shadow of my former self."

"... Huh. Well, that explains that." the Heir responded after a moment of silence. "But are you sure? I mean, the gods in my world give off way more power than you do. I'd say you wouldn't even be counted as the lowest ranked deity if I used my world's measuring stick."

Nico responded without giving away what he felt at that statement while gazing into the flames, memories passing through his mind. "That would be accurate, as I am merely on the lowest end of the DPU Spectrum. Low-class DPUs like me still have the effect of destroying Continents though if push comes to shove, so do not think of me as weak. Low Class DPUs can barely be called such under normal ratings. Mid Class DPUs can destroy multiple continents with their powers, which is why they are called 'Multi-Continent' Class, and there are High Class DPUs, or as they liked calling themselves the Chaos Class. Basically their powers are so great that their actions have various impacts on reality and space itself. And above them is the Ultimate Class, which only four DPUs, the original four, have been able to access due to having gained the perfect understanding of 1 of the 4 Edicts of the universe."

"The four Edicts?"

"Hm, These are the four Primordial energies that embody the concepts of destruction, death, life and fate. Each of them give those that understand how they work the absolute control of each of those concepts. For example, those who go the path of the Edict of Destruction gain the ability to destroy anything they want, as in LITERALLY anything. They can manipulate destruction, delaying/hastening when destruction happens, speeding/slowing down destruction, determine what parts of anything should be destroyed. There is literally nothing they cannot destroy. The Edict of Life allows the user to manipulate the life of a living things, granting extra lives, change the lifespan, grant life to anything, resurrect/reincarnate dead, as well as complete control over it. On the opposite side of it is the Edict of death, which controls every aspect of Death you can imagine, death causes, the events leading to death, sensing when death is to take another victim, recreate causes for death, promote death in certain areas, this Edict is super dangerous in that it gives the users complete control over it. Not even gods can escape it. Lastly, is the Edict of fate, which gives the user the ability to create, control, manipulate whatever, the absolute control over someone's fate. Users are able to perceive, shape and manipulate destiny allowing them to affect reality in several ways both overt and hidden. They can tell ones fate, change fate, deny fate, they have complete control."

At the end of that lengthy explanation, Castiel didn't look too good. In fact, it would make sense to say that he was as pale as a ghost at the powers these Edicts possess. "Geez. These things sound dangerous... especially in the wrong hands."

Nico could only chuckle without mirth, his eyes darkening. "That's actually ironic of you to say, considering that my main enemy is the DPU of death himself, having been freed o run rampant across my dimension. Odds are I'll likely have to face the DPUs of Life and Fate as well, but that's a story for another now, we should get some rest, it won't be long before we head out, so let's take a short rest. Also, we have 2 weeks to complete these trials, and something tells me that they will vary in both time consumption and difficulty."

"Amen to that."


An hour later, Nico and Castiel woke up and quickly gathered their weapons. Nico didn't need any, but during their prep, Castiel made time for some quick grub before heading out (though he wished he could have some pudding right about now. He missed his beloved treat). They had to be prepared for any confrontations they might have with the inhabitants of this forest on their way to the Pyramid. There was no telling what they would find there, after all.

Also, Castiel had his first experience with Nico's hooded mask appearance where he lifted his Trench Coat's hood out of the compartment, put it over his head, then donned a Mask. The Mask covered the lower half of the human face. Being black in color with a leather-like feel to it. it had a lipless mouth which was frozen into a maniacal grin, befitting someone who had been to an insane asylum and back again. The Mask's eye-patch attachment was of the same material and covered the right eye, with a band that when it was on, it would be like it was part of the Mask. On the sides of the Mask where the Jaw would be, there were a pair of bolts, like the tops of screws.

His reaction: wow, a Jason wannabe.

They had decided to leave the came as it was since Castiel's Bounded Fields would keep away unwanted visitors, as well as Nico's traps. Also, it would be nice to have a place to fall back to where they WOULDN'T likely be swarmed by hostiles, take a breather, and discuss battle plans. Both of them agreed on that part, with Castiel reinforcing the Bounded Fields just in case, and with that, the two rushed off.

In current times, the two were jumping through the trees like the ninjas from Naruto, their forms blurry to the naked eye as they made their way to the Pyramid, with Nico at the front since he was using his Holomap to guide them. While they had a fairly good idea of the Forest's geometry thanks to Eevee (whom Castiel had decided to send back till he would need him again) it would be best if they had a more... physical source of information on where they needed to go. Good thing Nico had his Holomap, otherwise it would be a lot harder.

Well, there WAS the fact that the Pyramid was so large that it overlooked the entire forest, but meh that was just a thing.

While the two jumped through the trees, both teens kept their senses sharp and alert, in case they got ambushed by some ferocious predator. It wouldn't be good if something like that got the drops on them, especially when they weren't aware of the full powers these creatures possessed. It was like Castiel had told Nico before, these creatures have lived her in an undisturbed environment for a long time, and they were the foreign parties here. They would likely be targeted outright and if they knew Zelretch like they thought they did then those creatures would be super powerful... not to mention lethal to their health.

"Say, Emiya!" Nico began suddenly, getting the young Heir's attention.

"Yeah?"

"I have a question for you, since you asked me one yesterday."

"Alright, shoot."

"How long have you known that Zelretch guy for?"

Castiel honestly thought he was going to ask about his nature like he had done the previous night, but not this. Well, he felt glad t that since he didn't want to think about that can of worms right now. The wounds were still fresh after all, and Zelretch wasn't so sensitive a topic. "All my life. He's my godfather, though I call him Uncle. He does try to get me to call him 'my favorite person in the world Zelretch' but nope. Not in a million years." At that, Castiel couldn't help the fond smile that spread across his lips. Memories of his godfather flowed through his head (the ones that involved family bonding, not the tormen... I mean training that puts the rest of his teachers to shame). "Why do you ask?"

"Honestly, I'm trying to figure out why he would bring someone like me here." was what Nico replied with. One branch he landed on was too thin and broke under his weight, but the teen flipped into the air and then landed on another one like it didn't even matter. Though, both winced at the sharp sound the snapping made. "I can understand you, since you're his godson and all, but why did he bring me here? Not like I have much of a connection to the guy."

Castiel rolled his eyes at this information, though he didn't do it to be insulting. It was a legit question if one doesn't know how Zelretch operates, and even as his godson the young Heir sometimes didn't understand him. "Well, you could ask him when we finish these trials, then. Don't worry, he won't bite. But, a fair tip to you, I wouldn't bother asking. There is no point in trying to understand chaos, after all, chaos is just what it is." he joked at the end with a lopsided smirk.

'This guy reminds me a bit of Team RAIL's Lucy, Ivan and Aiden mashed together...' Nico thought to himself while taking his turn to roll his unmasked eye. Though, a similar smirk found its way onto his lips. He had actually thought about asking Castiel a different question about his true nature like he had done last night, but then he remembered the brief spikes of negative emotions when he listed them too, thus had changed his question. "Maybe. Let's just focus on the task at hand. I don't sense anything heading our way, Motion Trackers read no hostiles either, you?"

"Nothing's coming up on my radar. I get the impression that the forest isn't as 'alive' through the day as it is through the night."

"Well, let's trust your gut, in my experiences the gut is the best thing to listen to when in situations like this."

"Yeah, ain't that the truth."


It was honestly a miracle that they hadn't encountered anything, but that fact formed at the back of their minds as they finally reached the entrance to the Pyramid... which looked to be blocked off by some sort of magic-based barrier. It formed as a wall of pure goldish energy, with what Castiel recognized as Magic Circles scattered around larger version at the center. Though, he did find the symbol on the center of each of them to be fairly familiar.

"Hmmm... looks like we can't proceed without breaking this barrier...' Nico remarked thoughtfully as he cupped his chin under a leather gloved hand, eyeing the barrier intently.

"Seems so. Doesn't look like a normal barrier, either. Feels like a Bounded Field of some sort, though." Castiel added on, doing a similar pose. He looked across the barrier, before his eyes narrowed when he noticed something. "Hey, you see those? aren't they... symbols?"

Nico looked to where Castiel had gestured, and true enough there were some strange pictures designed into the barrier They were of various shapes and sizes, but to Nico... "This looks... almost like a language." he noted, thoughtfully as he proceeded to Scan them with his Bracers. "I'll see if I can decode it, but let's see if we have other ways just in case I can't."

While nodding to the red head's statement, the young Heir cast his eyes over the symbols, and for a moment he thought he felt something familiar about them. It wasn't till he leaned forward to get a better look that he realized why that was. "Hey, I know this language!" the teen exclaimed, getting a surprised look as well as one of intrigue from his companion. "It's ancient Egyptian, a language from my country. Though it's not used anymore by the masses, I still learned about it growing up as the Heir to the Tower."

"Can you read it?"

"My Ancient Egyptian isn't too bad, but I may be a bit rusty. Even so, I can try..." Castiel replied, he had long since studied virtually any language he could catch his hands on as a way to search old documents about any possible way to get stronger. The heir analyzing the symbols like a scholar would ancient artifacts. "Hmm... looks like in order to break this barrier, we must first find this thing called the 'Bracelet of Anubis'. Apparently, this thing is the key to this Pyramid, and is also the way to enter the 'Tomb of the Scorpion... King... Oh, ok seriously Uncle?"

"What is it?"

"Oh, its nothing..." Castiel replied, though Nico didn't look like he believed it. So, he decided to elaborate a bit. "Let's just say that Uncle Zelretch likes older movies way too damn much." With that though, Castiel shook his head before turning around to look upon the forest. "Anyways, we have our objective. In order to get in, ww have to locate this Bracelet of Anubis. According to those symbols, its located within the camp of the living dead which are said to be most active at night."

Looking down at his Bracer, Nico brought up the time and furrowed his brows in concern. "We don't have very long, then, cause the sun's going to show up in an hour. What's the play?"

"From what we know, we'll have to lure our prey from hiding. Odds are they're using the wilderness to their advantage since none of the plants had much clue about what these guys are. All they gave us was the geometric layout and the general appearance of the wildlife. I could search this forest with Magecraft, but it would take forever and Eevee would lose all his energy before we Even get a lick of information."

At this information, Nico cupped his chin some more, as an idea hit him seconds later. "I can do something about that." he said, drawing Castiel's attention as the young Heir turned to him. "I can summon some Shadow Monsters and have them head into the forest, cause a disturbance. Odds are, these creatures will want to know what the disturbance is, and for good measure I can summon multiple SHADOW PACKS with a few SHADOW SERPENTS among them. That way we cover more ground." He then raised his Bracer and activated the Holomap function. "I'll keep track of them with this. Once Harvester feels them get destroyed, we can get a better idea of where these 'undead' are located and we can press forward from there."

"Wait, I have a better idea." Castiel suddenly interjected before Nico could summon his Devil Arm. This prompted his companion to look back to him, the young Heir lowering his hand as he held the palm upwards. From there, the same magic circle Nico had seen before a certain summoning appeared, and in a flash, Eevee appeared. The little Familiar squealed in joy at seeing his master, who had a similar expression on his face.

That expression morphed into a serious one, and the Familiar instantly became aware that this was serious business. "Eevee, Flareon mode. Use your fire to burn this forest to the ground." he commanded, getting a nod from Eevee who flipped off his master and landed on the ground. A vortex of flames rose upwards from around its feet the moment it landed, and in moments, it faded away to reveal Eevee's Flereon form.

Quickly turning to the forest, Flereon reared its head back, took a deep breath before unleashing a torrent of orangish-red flames from its mouth, streaking through the forest and burning everything in sight. Flareon shifted his head about to get every bit of forest as it could, resulting in the forest before them becoming nothing but a sea of flame that would eventually consume the entire forest.

'Okay... that is impressive...' Nico thought to himself as he watched the flames. They seemed hotter than the flames Castiel had used on him during their sparring match, but nowhere near the levels Hellfire could reach. Still, they seemed hot enough to cause a forest fire which must be what Castiel was aiming for. Thus, he didn't need to ask what his end game was.

Glancing at his right hand, Nico brought it to his chest level and looked down at his palm. By his will, a ball of Hellfire appeared in all its orangish red splendor. The ball fluctuated wildly and chaotically, the male's will being what restrained its innermost violent nature. He kept it in check while he examined it, before he projected a question to his Demon Persona. 'Say, Biko, I probably shouldn't add this to the mix, should I?'

'I wouldn't call that a wise action, yes Nico. Those flames may not be at their strongest, but they will definitely devour everything they touch much faster than these flames could ever hope to. Thus, if they were released, they could destroy even what we need to acquire.'

'Right good call.' The teen thought back, clutching his fist and dispersing his Hellfire.


It didn't take long for things to... get maybe a LIIIIIITLE too out of hand though.

The reason why this was so?

Simple:

Because a whole HORDE of creatures poured out of the flames, burning and cawing as the flames licked away at their flesh making them look all the more sinister. This horde consisted of 40 giant centipedes. 60 large frogs with slitted eyes, 20 four-armed Gorillas, and 70 small creatures that looked like a mix between undead and Pygmies...

Undead Pygmyes...

...Gross.

Nico quickly face palmed at this revelation, biting back the urge to groan. 'I am strangely starting to feel the same way about Zelretch as Emiya over there.' he thought to himself in a mix of irritation and frustration.

Though it couldn't be helped now, especially since they had drawn a crowd. Looking into their ranks, both boys noticed that there were a bunch of larger undead pygmies, at least rivaling Castiel in height with long crooked swords. These versions hunched over, growling and snarling ferally while glaring at them with empty eye sockets. They didn't look at all bothered by the flames, either, in fact none of the undead mummies did. They just moved like they weren't being burned alive while the animals looked like they were about to keel over.

Within the group of larger Pygmies, there was one that was a full head taller than them, wearing primitive-looking Armour that shielded it from the flames while sporting an equally primitive-looking shield and sword combo. On its right arm, there lay something that made it stand out even more, however: a golden Bracelet with the statue of a Scorpion on it.

"Looks like we have our target..." Nico noted, gesturing to the armored Pygmy. He also deployed his Armour, clenching his fists and activating his Obliteron claws. He could feel his inner Ghoul stirring at the prospect of combat at last, and it was a good thing to since he planned on utilizing his Bikaku in this fight.

Castiel nodded in agreement, already drawing Hruting while Flareon returned to Eevee form and vanished once more. "You're right. Can you do something about these numbers? Thin the herd a little?"

Nico just smirked behind his helmet. "Oh yeah, I can do that. You take out the bodyguards then we take on the leader together?"

"Sure."

After this decision, both males smirked to each other, like fellow predators agreeing to work together on a single hunt, before they went their separate ways.


On Nico's end, the male proceeded to walk leisurely towards his opponents, his Helmet hiding the predatory look in his eyes as he felt the signature signs of a Kagune being readied within him. "Sorry boys... nah, not really." he stated darkly. The Kagune got released moments later as his Bikaku Kagune, but unlike before when he fought Castiel, Nico now had fur Tails of the same appearance as before swishing behind him, before pointing their tips towards his enemies.

See, while his Rinkaku specialized in silently killing his opponents, although it was no slouch in the pure combat department, his Bikaku could be counted as his mist destructive Kagune out of the three he had. Bikaku, Rinkaku, and Koukaku were his types, and each of them was super dangerous in their own ways. For example...

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!

In 4 consecutive swishes, all four Tails whipped through the air, their Talons detaching as they got launched like projectiles towards their targets. Each one generated a whistling sound as they broke through the air space between them and their targets, like the coming of aerial bombs. None of them could react in time to what came next, and THAT would be their undoing. Each target ended up exploding into a gory mess when they got hit, holes ripping through their bodies when they got in contact with the Talons like tissue paper as each Talon had the deadly striking power to destroy highways. In essence, they are an equivalent to a pile of jetliners crashing into someone full force.

Thing is, Nico's Bikaku, unlike his Rinkaku, specialized in widespread annihilation, way more so than his DPU Form's prehensile Tail. Its why he preferred the Bikaku to that form's Tail, for the Kagune version was much more versatile. For not only does it's speed rival his Rinkaku, but its space-striking abilities rival that of his sole other unseen Fang, his Koukaku. That means it has both these qualities intensified for its own purposes, a 'you may see them, but you cannot dodge them, you are too slow' kind of situation.

His Bikaku reared backward while there were crackling sounds originating from them, a sign that new Talons were being made from within them. While it wouldn't take long for them to reset (especially since he had been training his Bikaku to shorten the setting time), it didn't mean these babies lost any of their destructive power. Quite the opposite, in fact, they didn't lose anything at all.

Then, as if fate weren't done showing these Monsters just how fucked they were, Nico's Bikaku gained various cracks through them, before each Tail split into 6 longer, thinner versions of themselves with a single set of Talons ready to be launched, as well as single blade tips. This meant that now, Nico had TWENTY FOUR Bikaku Tails swishing behind him like wild vipers, slashing the air around him before they slammed into the ground and then pointed towards his enemies. Each Tail looked poised and ready to crack some heads...

Though that wouldn't be all it would be cracking, and not just cracking either.

These Tails would slash for greater striking power and accuracy as they would be able to cover more angles than their larger forms. Each one moves at super high speed, and every one of them can release their Talons with just as much speed. Arguably, in these forms the Talons were stronger and faster than when they were in their bigger forms. Furthermore, when they hit something, it doesn't matter what, these Tails' Talons detonate and explode, sending shrapnel made from these Talons into their surroundings that make smaller explosions. This ensures that their enemies may have dodged the initial attack (even with how hard that is) but they will still not escape unscathed.

While the Animals instinctively felt like they were in over their heads, Nico slowly walked forwards, his Bikaku rearing back...

Before, like the serpent that it was described as before, striking forth.


While Nico started to release hell (which was putting it lightly according to what he saw) upon most of the enemies Castiel gave a slight smile.

He admitted that he wasn't that proficient in battling large number of people at once, but practice leads to perfection and with this many facing him at once this would be quite the practice.

'Ok, let's test how ueful my curses can work now that I can put more power into them and don't have to fear accidentally killing someone I sort of shouldn't.' Was what Castiel thought as he connected himself to the source of evil energy on himself. The young Heir had to furrow his brows once he felt the feeling of his evil abilities washing over him like a waterfall. To him, it felt quite different than his angelic powers, those powers came from the magic core inside himself while the source of his Evil Powers felt like it had been scattered all over his soul, almost like broken pieces of glass. Odds were it was thanks to his so called 'mother' for sealing those powers away for so long instead of letting them develop.

This could be seen as one of his objectives for these Trials aside from getting stronger and diversifying his Skills, to try and make this evil source more unified and maybe a bit more powerful in magic energy generation since his angelic core did not give him any energy to use these powers. If one looked at it like weighing grams, then his angelic powers weighed far more than his Evil ones right now, to the point where it would be considered unfair.

"Betrayal; Rage; Hatred; Confusion." Castiel muttered under his breath, yet the words could be heard by every enemy within the vicinity (this effect only applied itself to the enemies since Nico as A: an ally, and B: he was currently slaughtering his foes like someone committing mass genocide) as he used these four curses at once. Individually they are not particularly powerful, but together their effect was truly devastating.

Case in point, how after he activated those curses those who could be seen as 'guards' before slowly turned to their Leader with vengeful eyes, and began attacking their leader out of their own 'free will'. It was even funny in a sadistic fashion, as Castiel did not need to raise a single finger and the number of guards and others around the leader fell just like that, slaughtered by their own kind as they too hurt and damaged their leader immensely.

Like a civilization 'rebelling' against a tyrant.

Seeing the results of his magic Castiel could not help but show a warm and peaceful smile. It was always great to see your enemies dying that easily while not even reaching you. In the end, Castiel might be a wonderful leader and someone that always strove to do his best for the Tower, but he still was more than ruthless enough to deal with any situation that presents itself. Case in point, his severed arm to trade it for the life of a subbordinate and how he decided to use a method now that many would see as underhanded.

He just cared for one thing in a battlefield, to reach the best results with minimal effort and sacrifice. Even his life was put on the balance during battle, anything was allowed in combat, as long as it didn't involve innocents.

When Nico saw this 'fight' between Castiel and the pygnies while glancing to his companion's side of the battle (while his Bikaku tore his opponents to shreds via Talons and sharp whipping motions) he could not help but shiver.

This was undoubtedly a good way to feel with this situation. What's more, part of him couldn't help but wonder what kind of catastrophic damage this ability could do to a large civilian population but imagining this happening to an army or a city was more than the agent would ever want to see.


After a while, the number of enemies dropped significantly, but those who were left were all wounded and weakened. Either by Castiel's curses or by Nico's Kagune, their foes had little chance of surviving. Not only had they been unable to display what they could do, but neither of the two intruders ion their home had any scratches on them. One because he had been causing them to fight each other in a rather brutal, sadistic and almost tyrant-like fashion, and the other because those long appendages spawning from him were too damn fast, struck so much space, and had deadly ranged Talons that tore through them without mercy.

It was then that the four curses started to stop their effect, Castiel couldn't activate them for long even if he wanted to thanks to the state of his Evil Powers, and so the infuriated monsters started running after him.

"Well, I guess it is time to show some actual work." Castiel said as he proceeded to cast various curses such as "Slow, weak, Nausea" which halted his opponents in their tracks and forced them to become vomiting messes. Castiel winced though when he saw hoe they literally vomited what looked like poo from their mouths.

Yuck.

Not wanting to waste this opportunity either, the Heir dashed forth and cut through one Pygmy's shoulder, lopping off its arm before he twirled around and slashed off its head. He then raised Hruting and brought the sword down on another's head, the blood that the blade drunk from those first two slashes amplifying its power enough to smash the second Pygmy Mummy's skull to bits. More blood got offered to the sword, and tit graciously accepted.

Kicking another Pygmy Mummy into the air and jumping after it to avoid two others lunching at him, Castiel slashed at it several times before twisting into a sausage spin and exiting into a Mana-empowered kick that slammed into the Pygmy Mummy's stomach, sending it crashing into the ground with enough force to make it go SPLAT.

Quickly following up his onslaught, Castiel landed on the ground and quickly started scribing Runes on the ground with his feet at high speed as he jumped back while also casting some of his witchcraft.

When the monsters got close enough it was already too late as the runes took effect and multiple roots emerged from the ground, almost like the forest itself was attacking the monsters.

They tried to evade as much as possible, but the number of roots was simply too large and as such the already small numbers dropped roots then began to tighten their grips on their prey, on accordance to Castiel's will which was signified by the clenching of his off hand into a fist. When he instantly applied a burst of strength to his fist a moment later, the roots jerked as well, ultimately crushing the organs of their prey while ripping them to pieces.

In the end only the leader had barely escaped, but it was not for long since it was then that the spell from Castiel was finished and the space around the leader was frozen. This resulted in its feet and legs up to its thighs being encased in a block of ice, much to its shock as it tried to stab away at the ice to set itself free. Shame that A: the sword it used was too primitive to break the Ice, and B...

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!

Nico wasn't that gentle to leave this sort of chance to go unattended.


Those swishes came from Nico's Bikaku, which had returned to its default four large Tails form. 3 of them had lunged at it, one slicing off its arm, another going for the opposite arm and taking the Bracelet for its master, while the third slashed its head off with a clean cut through the neck. Blood squirted out from these areas like waterfalls as the body slumped forwards, motionless and very much DEAD.

His Bikaku retracted to him, the Tail holding the Bracelet dropping said Item into Nico's waiting hand. Afterward, his Kagune vanished as did his Armour, exposing his hooded, masked form as he held the Bracelet. Looking over to the side, he saw his comrade walking up to him. "Looks like we were able to get the Bracelet this time... though I will admit, I feel kind of let down."

"Agreed, that was too easy..." Castiel remarked with suspicion. The teen held a hand out and Nico quickly understood that he wanted the bracelet, just for analyzing using structural grasping since he was not into Egyptian jewelry. So, the teen made to give it to him by placing it into the outstretched hand... when something happened.

"?!"

"?!"

Both boys gaped when the Bracelet started to vibrate in Nico's hand, almost like it was quivering before it unleashed a bright glow, blinding the two boys and forcing them to cover their eyes.

"What the heck?!"

"Ok, what the hell, Uncle?!"

By the time the light died down, the two boys uncovered their eyes and looked to where it had originated from. Neither of them were prepared to see what they did though: the Bracelet having attached to Nico's left arm over his Bracer, almost as if it had reshaped itself to fit on top of it. "What the...?"

"This is..." Nico began, eyes wide just like his comrade as he and Castiel gazed down at the Bracelet. What the heck had just happened? Why did it attach to his arm like that? Neither of them knew the answer to this, but there was one thing they could do to find out.

Looking over to the redhead, Castiel frowned in concern, pointing to the covered Bracer. "Dude, you think you could scan that? Cause I doubt you can activate your bracer with the way it's looking right now."

"You're right..." Nico replied as he tried to activate it via mental commands. Unfortunately, it didn't respond, almost like something was blocking the Void Module he had installed at Skies End from sending the necessary signals. Activating his right Bracer though, the teen quickly set to work scanning the Bracelet, his eye sharpened like a dagger. This shouldn't have happened, he should have been prepared for something like this. Objects of unknown origin were dangerous to be around, he should know since this lesson was why he had become a DPU in the first place.

Fortunately, the scanning didn't take as long as he thought that it would, and the results showed themselves on a holographic screen filled with writing across it. There was also a big image of the bracelet as well, constantly spinning about from every angle. "Hmm... peculiar." Nico stated as he read the information without missing any detail. Looking up and seeing Castiel's arched brow, he elaborated. "From what my Bracer scans tell me, this Bracelet isn't only a key to this Pyramid, but it has a special microchip inside it meant for downloading information. Which leads onto this next thing I have to do..."

In a few moments of tinkering with his right Bracer's interface, Nico found his Void Storage and sure enough, there was a special icon there that he hadn't seen before. "Aha!" he whispered under his breath with a triumphant glint in his eye. Pressing on the icon, his Bracer soon got a message saying that new information had bee downloaded, and when he pressed the okay next to the message, Everything switched to what looked like a holographic 3D image of the entire Pyramid. "Looks like this information is actually a map, and from what I can see this Bracelet seems to be the key to multiple devices inside it." manipulating the Holographic image, Nico and Castiel saw that the map also contained the whole internal layout of the place's interior. Meaning that they wouldn't begetting lost.

"Looks like we have the main level, an underground level, and then one big level that looks suspiciously like an ancient Egyptian Tomb entrance." Castiel remarked as he looked at the map. This Bracer Nico had looked like something Franky could find use in implementing into his machines, but he chose not to ask since it was already apparent that the guy was too professional to hand out secrets like that so easily. "When we get inside, we can go along this corridor to this big coliseum-like room, which leads to a shorter corridor that ends with a set of spiral stairs. That leads to a series of tunnels and rooms, before it ends up at the entrance to that tomb. Odds are, that's where we need to go."

Nico nodded in agreement, and with that, the two boys started making their way to the Pyramid.