Third Trial Finale

It didn't take long for the two teenagers to finish up their talk, as they still had stuff they had to do. Both of them turned on their heels and, side by side, walked to the entrance to the fire trial's final area.

Nico had a BUCKET-LOAD of new information to process about many different matters, matters he had never given much thought about. Mostly because he hadn't known they were even possible. If this information was truly accurate... then perhaps he had to do some exploring when he got back to Gamindustri. There were multiple pieces of evidence that stated that the DPU era still had secrets that were left buried beneath the sands of time, secrets that could be unearthed and used to better him and the Party against their enemies. He could imagine some of these techniques being added to the girls' arsenals, especially sword skills for Neptune and Noire, Spear skills for Vert, medical items for Compa, even a few that could help IF develop her own skill base (although hers were more viral and she was already well on her way down that path). These Bloodlines seemed extremely interesting to the male, especially these flames of the Golden Crow which seemed to be the strongest flames in terms of destruction. If he would have the chance, then Nico would ask for them not just to grow stronger, but to also satisfy the cravings for safety that his Demonic Powers felt whenever he thought about those Vermilion Bird flames. They craved safety, and since he cared for his weapons more than anyone did for them, he'd settle their fears. If he had something to defend against them, then they wouldn't react the same way as before.

On the other side, Castiel couldn't help the beaming grin on his face, clutching his hands into fists in satisfaction with the two new Bloodlines he obtained. The blonde Heir didn't think that he would get something as grand as those when coming here, even with all the countless treasures that his Godfather Zelretch had gathered over the many years he had been alive. Castiel would have thought he'd gain some other bloodline, though he wouldn't be complaining one bit. Nope, no sir! Images of Kokabiel now seemed to be a distant memory to him, as if he were to fight him again with these powers, it would be MUCH easier than before. He even wondered if he could perhaps find some Divine Blood from the other two Guardian Divine Beasts, the Azure Dragon and the Gembu (also known as the Black Tortoise), as he had heard once that combining those four could result in something amazing as those four had a capacity to, if activated together, enhance each other to many times over. Kind of like a cycle of power, where the power kept going between the four bloodlines and getting stronger each time it made a full trip, that kind of thing.

There might even be a unique power, who knows. According to Castiel's knowledge the last person to obtain the four bloodlines was Qin Shi Huang

However, neither of those things was important right now. What was important was that they finish this damn mission already and go to the next one. That was something both males could agree on, as they had already spent way too long here and there wasn't much more time before the 14 days were up. Once those 14 days were done, then they would have to leave altogether.


Entering the last trial they found nothing in specific that could help them see what exactly they should do. All they saw was a desolate land with fire pits all around and a gigantic volcano in the middle of it. And by gigantic it means humongous so. The thing was easily 700 meters tall and with a radius reaching many kilometers too. The heat and smoke that it released were enough to make even Nico and Castiel think it unbearable, almost as if the air itself was magma due to the heat.

"Damn, that is one big volcano." Castiel commented as he saw the mountain in front of him, looking about to survey their surroundings. It was much bigger than any volcano he has ever seen and even as a mountain there were few he has ever seen that were bigger than this one. The heat in this place also had an impressive level to it, and if he hadn't gained as much fire resistance as he had before, then Castiel would have felt WAY more effected from it than normal.

He soon got an agreeing nod from his redhead companion, whom looked to the surroundings in a critical manner, eyes scanning every detail for any sign of what they needed to do. In addition to that, in his mind he also noted that the extreme fire resistance he had gained through his own methods worked fairly well in this molten place. If he hadn't had it though, Nico doubted his Hellfire training would have afforded him the same level of resistance. No, he was SURE that it wouldn't. Much to his frustration however, he couldn't sense anything indicating what to do for this trial. "Yeah, but what is it we should even do here?" Nico wondered out loud, sort of expecting an answer to his question from Amon or some other entity.

Well, he got his answer quickly enough as the mountain trembled as from it a ginormous turtle appeared. One big enough to have that entire mountain on its back. The thing was probably the biggest creature that either male had ever seen, and if not the biggest it was definitely right up there.

"Damn, to think it would be a Mount Turtle would be the challenge. This will be difficult alright." Castiel remarked, eyes wide and his breath catching in his throat. Not to mention that this time he decided not to wait until Nico asked before he explained about it. "This thing there is a living mountain so to say. It is incredibly resistant to impact and has a disgustingly strong vitality. But, the most troublesome thing is that it can shoot missiles made out of magma weighing over 1 ton of pure molten rock at speeds almost the speed of sound. Not only that but it also can use its own body to attack as its weight is simply too much and any of its movements carry an immense moment. To be totally fair this one is much worse than Gaoh to face and as bad, if not worse, that the Invite Death."

'... I see. This foe does seem like a powerful opponent. Size, range and firepower all in one deadly package. Good thing then that I have Ouranos with me, not to mention the Star God's Broken Shadow and the Great Way of the Buddha, otherwise this may end up being a difficult fight for me... not sure about Castiel though, he seems to have confidence in his power however.' the male thought. Gripping his fists, the male held his right hand out to summon that mentioned Archdevil Arm. It was finally time to bring it out, he'd been searching for something else to test it on, and this bad boy seemed like a perfect candidate.

Instantly, Lightning erupted from his hand. Dark violet Lightning surged forth and took the shape of a weapon, before it soon turned into a physical weapon for the teen to wield. The weapon in question, took the form of a large Broadsword. From tip to handle, the weapon was approximately five to six feet long, with a single-edged large blade approximately one foot wide. The blade had a lighter color on the bladed edge, while the rest of the blade remained a deep, dark gray, and the hand guard appeared to be bolted or riveted into place. From the Guard, about 4 demonic looking wings sprouted, easily being the length of a human hand each, on both sides of the guard making 8 wings in total. At the guard's centre, was a sing crimson jewel, sporting a slitted iris that looked like it was LOOKING directly at the one who wielded it. In addition, the blade itself was covered in this thick, dark violet mist, many small trails of said mist rising into the atmosphere whilst the blade itself constantly sparked and crackled with matching colored lightning.

'Ouranos... been a while, old comrade...' the male thought to his Archdevil arm before he lowered the blade and looked towards the enemy... Which had already noticed them and was making to open fire. 'Oh, shit!' The teen scowled in his mind as he quickly began sensing a huge buildup of flames from within the creature's maw. That only became possible thanks to his fiery upgrades from the Crimson Fatalis he'd devoured, his heat sensing and Hellfire manipulation seemed to have grown quite steadily. He'd measure its growth after this trial in the Inner World, as he'd been more focused on the other things he'd trained in.

Thrumming with power, Nico glanced to Castiel to see that he had begun flaring his dual nature wings (honestly, if his Ouranos was in it's Alastor form, then it would be more disturbed by the 'black' wings). Looked like the guy had his own plan in mind, so Nico decided to keep his focus on his side. "Alright then, if that's the case then lets go for its underside. I can get some Warping done, and my Lightning attacks will be enhanced thanks to Ouranos. Speed won't be a problem for me, what about you?"

The blonde Heir swiftly drew out Clarent, holding it in his right hand as he got ready for the attack. The timing had to be just perfect for him to get out of the way, and once he did, he could start his own counter. "I'll dodge it then go for its head. Nico, you go and take out those fins, try and slow it down. That'll give me more time to pummel the Mount Turtle's face in." he replied, getting a nod from the redhead male.

"Alright, i'll take the left you take the right." That would be all the two males could talk about, for the Mount Turtle already begun firing a single blast of molten rock from is open maw and extended neck. Nico reacted swiftly, gripping Ouranos as he Warped out of the way whilst Castiel flapped his wings at the last second, easily twisting around the attack that had came at them at the speed of sound.


On Castiel's side...

Shoot! That was the sole word that echoed through Castiel's head as he flared his wings and dodged the shot from the Mount Turtle. Just in the nick of time, too, as if he had been a second later then he would have been smashed into by that thing. Odds were it wouldn't have hurt as much with his resistance to fire, but it would have still hurt like a freaking BITCH!

After he avoided the attack, Castiel flapped his wings several times before he looked towards its head, narrowing his eyes as an idea struck him. The White Tiger Bloodline would increase his physical power in every manner possible, but like all new things, he had to break it in first. When he had used it on Nico earlier, Castiel should have broken through his defenses, or rather they shouldn't have had time to react at all. That only meant he needed to refine his control over the Bloodlines he now had.

'Whelp, no better time than now!'

With that in mind, Castiel decided on his plan of attack as he broke into a high-speed flight path towards the creature. With what he had in mind, Castiel planned on making a curving arc since the space between them was filled with magma pits, and thus Castiel didn't want them anywhere near him regardless of his fire resistance. The Mount Turtle eyed him, its eyes shining with both pride and arrogance, arrogance in the belief that he would not be able to damage him one bit thanks to its size, pride and magnitude.

Therefore, it opened its mouth once more, firing off one blast of magma at him after another.

'Heh, cute...'

Though, Castiel merely thought that this looked cute as he swerved out the way of each missile, all the while avoiding the Lava pits which resulted in him pulling off some... interesting aerial manoeuvres. Loop de loops, circles, figure eights, you name the aerial manoeuvre, and Castiel had to do it in order to not get hit by the Magma. One of his arms did get singed a few times though, but luck would be on his side since the amount of magma he received would be fairly small in quantity, therefore he would merely shake it off to continue his flight. Not to mention the brilliant radiance of Castiel's wings served to burn away the magma which landed on them too, something which he found himself fortunate for.

PULSE!

The White Tiger Bloodline pulsed within him as it activated upon his will. In response to this, the young Heir clenched his fists as he dashed towards the creature with immense speed, speed that made him look like a blur in it's eyes. The Mount Turtle, caught by surprise at this sudden development, quickly reared its head back to try and launch another magma blast, only it would soon learn the error of such an action.

For Castiel...

Merely appeared beneath it's head and delivered a straight uppercut, then flew up above it and then dove down whilst spinning his body like a bey-blade to slam his feet into the top of its head. The creature howled into the atmosphere as the force of the impact sent it slamming into the ground, creating tremors which spread across the entire land.


On Nico's side...

'Looks like Emiya wasn't joking... that guy never does though.' Nico thought to himself after using Kinetic Energy to improve his speed and dodge the attack coming at him. Just like what happened with Castiel, he had avoided it by a hair's length, he practically felt the heat from it when the projectile passed him.

Afterwards, the male set himself off for quickly Warping across the land whilst avoiding the fire pits, they'd only be an annoyance to him as he was right now but it would be better to save time.

All the while, he kept an eye on his companion for these Trials, watching as he blurred and moved about to avoid the magma blasts whilst getting closer and closer to the Mount Turtle. The male had to admit, he couldn;t help but be impressed with his mobility skills in the air. If he were to think on it, then perhaps this could mark the first time that he had gotten to see Castiel fly in the air during a combat situation, since their trials have been separate until now.

The male soon found himself behind one of the creature's massive fins. One of Ouranos' Boons, Amplification, activated when the Archdevil Arm began crackling with violet Lightning, intensifying its own power. Lucky for him this Boon worked on its own Lightning, since he had decided against learning other elements until he had at least mastered his Hellfire, and even then that would only come after he had increased his martial prowess.

The Fin he had appeared behind, the male noticed it beginning to move backwards so he ascended upwards, having formed wings from his invisible Rinkaku to fly above it... and then he swung the blade down to release a wave of Lightning, one that slammed into the Turtle's fin with massive force. The following shockwaves would be enough to blow away anything that wasn't nailed down save for the Turtle, Nico and Castiel. Normally he would have held back an Archdevil Arm's power, as its powers would be on the same class as his own thanks to them being attached to his soul, but right now he didn't want to waste any time. He wanted this thing dead and he would make sure that happened. Electric jolts coursed through the damn thing which caused it to howl in pain whilst it attempted to shoulder bash the male.

'No you don't!'

However, Nico REFUSED to be caught with his pants down and Warped out of the way, Warpspeed another one of Ouranos' Boons having activated the moment that he wished it. This allowed Nico to extend his Warping distance before he reappeared behind it... then looked up to see how the volcano on it's back began to rumble and tremble. His eyes widened when he realized what would happen next. 'Oh shit...'

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Countless explosions roared like masses of lions roaring in savage union, as the whole shell released over thousands of large explosions. From those explosions, came showers upon showers of molten rock projectiles came down upon him. Instincts took over as Nico donned his Armour, then proceeded to Warp to the ground and smash his fist into it, creating a crater the size of a person which he then dove in. Once he landed in it, Nico retracted his Rinkaku wings in order to raise his right hand, shooting a constant stream of Hellfire to form a 'wall' over the Crater, sealing himself inside as the molten rock projectiles fell around him.

Good thing that he also left a little 'gift' for the Mount Turtle before he had made his little safe haven.


Outside, the Mount Turtle stopped it's barrage when it noticed that one of its prey had vanished. brows twitching became its response as anger surged through it. Fury coursed though its veins at the one that put a shock to its system earlier, only for the creature to suddenly become aware of the other human that dared challenge its might. Turning its head around, the Mount Turtle noticed Castiel coming at him at high speeds, wings curled in so he looked more like a hawk than a human.

The Mount Turtle roared as it made to charge at him, intending to bash into Castiel and turn him into paste... though the Heir anticipated such a thing. 'Alright, here goes nothing. I showed it off a bit earlier, but I need to get the hang of activating these Bloodlines, not to mention that the Vermilion bird flames still haven't fully integrated within me yet.' Castiel thought as he quickly activated the White Tiger Bloodline. As a result, Castiel literally vanished from view as his speed exploded.

Well, he did reappear when he hit head on the turtle's shell/rock, and by 'head on', it means that he hit it with his head directly.

'Ouch! Note to self, master these bloodlines and fuse with them properly. My control with them is about as bad as it can go, if I try to put any power into it I just explode in speed and physical power but I have no control of how much it will grow and how it will be. I will use it only as last resort or when I can manage if I screw up.'

After making this decision, Castiel took notice of where he ended up. He was above the creature's head, and as he realized that a wicked smile spread on his face, the type of smile that no angel should have. Though, then again it wasn't like Castiel was an ordinary angel or even half-angel anyway so he'd be safe... probably. "Heh, I guess lady luck is finally on my side." he spoke darkly, a wicked chuckle escaping his lips. As he said that and did the following action, the creature that was big enough to see the two teens as nothing more than bugs felt a deep chill run down its back. Not something that should be possible thanks to the volcano on its back but yeah. Especially when the creature saw the swords Clarent and Hrunting in Castiel's hands shine on a dangerous light. " You know Mr Mount Turtle, I heard that your meat needs to be cut thinly to be any good as it is quite hard. Good thing for me, I have just the tools for that."

HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH

Castiel jumped at the beast's extended neck and started hacking with both swords in a mad rush. Both blades swung themselves around in a mad rush not unlike that of a frenzied animal, even the afterimages were hard to see as he moved so fast that they basically disappeared from any normal person's eyes. Plus, with the smile on his lips turning into a full on savage grin, Castiel looked less like an angel and more like a demon as he tore into the back of the Mount Turtle's neck.

Definitely got a reaction out of the towering beast, that much would be certain. In seconds after the attacks began, the Mount Turtle started yelling and howling in pain as it happened. It hurt more than anything it felt during its life, it felt while shaking it's head around wildly, trying to shake the Heir off his perch. However, Castiel managed to root himself in place and keep his balance by adjusting his wings, flapping them occasionally when he needed to. No matter how hard it tried the Mount Turtle remained unable to shake the DAMN BUG off its head.

That pissed it off more than anything else it had witnessed in its long life.

"GGGRRRRRRRRRRR!" The turtle snarled as it did the one thing its instincts were telling it to do in this situation: It shrank its head and retraced its head inside the shell.

"Woops!" Castiel exclaimed as he saw the beast re-enter its shell and he lose his place to stand. He could only look as the only thing visible now was the eyes glaring at him from inside the shell. Red blood and angry eyes, that were quickly replaced by a lava missile that came so fast that Castiel could not evade at all. He managed to put his Wings in front of himself and activate the power of his name, but even so, he was launched one kilometer away before he managed to stop due to using some Mana bursts.

"Well, at least now it can't move." Castiel commented, but a second later he regretted saying those words with every fiber of his being, as flames started leaving out of the holes where the members were, and with the fire it started spinning in place at increasingly high speeds while covered in flames.

It was like it itself turned into a gigantic meteor, and one that probably could destroy a whole nation or small continent if hit directly.

And the worse part? It started spinning so fast that it managed to launch itself towards Castiel.

"Oh fuck this shit! CASTIEL!" He again activated the power of his name while putting his wings in front of himself. Thus, it resulted in the Mount Turtle slamming into this defensive measure with the impact force expected of a creature it's size, making Castiel grit his teeth and sweat profusely as he tried to restrain the beast from breaking through. Wasn't easy though, as the continuous force for the rotating Mount Turtle constantly strove to tear down the walls that were Casiel's Wings. However, even like this, there were still some flames that managed to bypass his defenses by going through any little gap there still was.

In the end, his defenses would still not be all too perfect, since his eight wings could not fully and perfectly protect him. It would be like not having all the pieces of a shield, incomplete and unable to cover all areas. It would only be possible to call it perfect after he reached 12 wings, when he was on Leader-class.

Fortunately for Castiel though, a certain someone managed to intervene, someone who appeared behind him and tapped his shoulder. "Need a hand?" Nico's voice came through to Castiel as he grasped him by the shoulder, activated Warpspeed and Warped out of the creature's movement pattern.

They reappeared right where Nico had made the crater, but more importantly they appeared somewhere where Castiel didn't have to endure such a straining prospect as blocking that Mount Turtle's attack. The teenage Heir almost immediately heaved a heavy sigh of relief, the sudden lack of exertion being further pronounced by the lowering of his mismatched wings. "Man... that definitely is one thing to cross of my 'to do' list..." Castiel commented, before getting his breathing back in order and glancing to his companion who floated beside him with his invisible Wings. "Thanks."

"No prob." Was Nico's response.

Both males then looked towards their enemy, seeing how it had stopped rotating like a Beyblade and was now bringing its limbs out of its Shell, facing them with a fierce and angry glare that it aimed towards Nico this time. The one who stopped it from crushing one of the bugs that dared to take out its neck. Neither of them looked repentant for their misdeeds either, which ticked it off all the more.

"Now that we have his attention, lets focus on dishing damage to it." Castiel stated as they witnessed the massive creature charge at them once more. "Gimme something that can keep it busy, and i'll go for the head again this time. Once it retreats inside its shell, grab me and do that Warping thing to keep us out of the way till it comes out."

"Alright, but there's no need."

Huh? Castiel blinked when he heard Nico say that, and thus promptly looked to him with a raised brow. "And WHY is that, Nico?" He questioned, for the redhead male to point Ouranos upwards. Both Castiel and the Mount Turtle looked up, and what they saw...

Were 9 large Spheres of HIGHLY condensed, utterly focused dark violet Lightning. Each of them would be the size of tall buildings, yet none of them made so much as a sound as they floated up high in the air above the battleground. Upon using his senses, Castiel picked up QUITE a lot of power condensed within them, and if he were to compare them it would be like full-sized Tailed Beast Bombs from Naruto.

"I made them whilst Warping towards the Fins, and they would have hit it when I went under, but the Beyblade thing happened." Nico explained simply, before bringing Ouranos down in a slashing motion.

In that moment, the Spheres descended upon the now stunned Mount Turtle, slamming down on it with such force that the entire creature's form got concealed by a dark violet explosion. The shrieks that followed? They sounded more like the squeals of a girl as it raised its head reflexively, HUGE amounts of Lightning coursing through it and shocking pretty much every part of its internal structure. According to their eyes, it looked like a mountain sized nuclear explosion.

"Hopefully this does some damage to it... Not sure if its got any resistance to Lightning, but that much Lightning should REALLY have hurt it." Nico stated as he held Ouranos in front of him, just in case that there would be something coming at them from within the explosion. He didn't know if Castiel's information missed anything, so he'd go for a cautious approach.

"Heh, not bad. It isn't quite how I would do it as lightning is not that effective against fire and rock creatures and it needs much more energy to reach the same results, but if you can use your energy like this and still not feel too strained then I think it is fine." Castiel pointed out, making Nico twitch an eyebrow.

In Nico's world, and especially in his line of work, all that mattered was killing the enemy as swiftly as possible so studying and learning things that were not directly practical was not the norm. In general it was the best approach since there was simply too many enemies in Nico's world and there isn't time to think too much about stuff.

However, this was not the time to think so much. The turtle might have stopped but it was still very much alive in there.

Nico was about to go and face it, but before he could Castiel interrupted him, having stepped in front of him whilst speaking. "Wait, let me handle this." He spoke, Nico mentally frowning as he stood back, strapping Ouranos to his back whilst avoiding his wings. As Castiel said that, he put Hruting away as he put both hands on Clarent. Putting the sword above his head he started charging up. A ray of energy of the holy attribute emerged from the blade, reaching an terrifying level that even Nico felt could threaten his life.

However, even that was not all as Castiel's right arm lit up with light as Argetlan activated as well, and together with the star energy from it, the energy over the sword exploded to a whole new level. As he watched this, Nico found himself certain that even with his DPU's biology that was pretty resistant in its own right, if he was to be hit by this, he would be vaporized. Mentally, he vowed to become powerful enough to take this kind of attack and still at least fight beyond it.

"Now, enjoy the true power of the light! CLARENT!" As Castiel yelled the last part he descended his sword, the energy enough to terrify most beings.

As the giant turtle saw that blade falling it too was terrified, but as it was thinking if it should try to defend by returning to its shell a sudden change happened to it and its eyes got very empty before it ran away underground.

It was an unsightly escape, and even part of its flesh was burned by the light but the creature was unaffected as it simply continued to run. The mountain on its back and the shell stayed behind as it was attacked by the light blade from Castiel were mostly crushed as if they were an egg against a rock.

But, as the dust settled down it was possible to see that not everything was over. In the middle of it all the rubble that once was the volcano there was a temple made out of pure Sun Crystal and Scarlet Nova Gold, a material even rarer than Sun Crystals. The temple had strange runes etched all over it and this was what made the light be unable to damage the temple in the slightest.

As Nico saw the destruction and was still feeling the power of light that was so different than the one he saw in Compa, and the holiness that was so different from any of the goddesses in his world, his senses informed him that the light before him... was the most pure and refined energy he had ever felt. As in, it felt purer than those from his own world almost as if this was how those powers were supposed to be, though Castiel showed no happiness from his achievement.

"Tch, and I wanted to kill the turtle. I guess this might be dangerous later on." He made this proposition mostly to himself. He was worried because for each trial a creature of considerable power was escaping whenever it was close to dying, if it was a normal place Castiel could understand but this was a 'game' so everything had some degree of purpose.

He wasn't the only one who had noticed this, as Nico had also noticed by evidence of how he had narrowed his eyes as where he had seen the Turtle escape from. 'Leaving its shell like that... Something isn't right here, I just can't put my finger on it.' He thought to himself. Just before the Turtle left, Nico couldn't tell what it was but... something about it had changed. Something big, and also something that his gut told him he SHOULD be aware of. It nagged at him in an irritating manner, nearly making him grimace to himself.

'Nico, I noticed too.'

'HAH, YOU THINK THAT YOU'RE THE ONLY OBSERVANT ASS HERE?! WE NOTICED TOO, YA DUMB IDIOT KING!'

The voices of his alternate aspects filled his mind, prompting the male to wonder if they had noticed anything he hadn't. Just by looking at Castiel, Nico knew that he had not any voices or other beings in his head that could be of any use to him, not like Nico himself. Therefore, a difference between them would be that Nico would have aspects f himself which could notice something else about the situation other aspects might miss. 'Alright then, can you tell me if you guys know anything? Just before the Mount Turtle vanished, I sensed something. I don't know what it was, but it definitely felt major.'

'Indeed it is, just before it left, I could no longer sense any of its blood-lust. As in, it LITERALLY had its blood-lust wiped out by something, similar to an overwrite or a hacking attempt. Quite similar to your hacking skills back during the Racoon City incident or in the second trial. It is very strange... not to mention concerning, one can't simply just FORGET its bloodlust. There's also the way its eyes became so empty at that last moment before Emiya's attack hit, that has to be a clue... Then there's how it ran away like the Gaoh did on the first trial, and the Invite Death on the second one according to Emiya... hmmm, perhaps there could be a link there? Maybe you could ask him, this HAS to have a meaning behind it.'

'HEH, I DUNNO ABOUT YOU PLEBS, BUT ITS SO LIKE THE LAWS OF THE JUNGLE! THE FEELING I GOT BEFORE THAT FUCKING LARD JUST COCKED US BY LEAVING LIKE THAT WAS SIMILAR TO AN ALPHA PREDATOR ORDERING THE SUBSERVIENT BEASTS TO DO ITS BIDDING! THINK OF IT LIKE... UHHHH, WHAT WAS IT, AGAIN...? DAMN, SO NOT GOOD AT THINKING HERE... OH! YEAH, A HIVEMIND, KINDA LIKE ANTS!'

'Ants actually don't have a Hivemind like in the movies, they in fact...'

'Biko, you do realize this guy would have a fit if you try to correct him, you're logic and he's instinct after all. Anyways, from what IT says, i'm interpreting it as he believes something exorcised its will over the creature, applying the logic of jungle rules. If that's the case, we may be facing something that is way stronger than what these beasts can dish out... Honestly, I both want to fight that creature and yet stay the hell away from it until I have enough power to fight it. You guys think we should share our collective thoughts with our companion here?'

'Probably/MEH, HE'S SHITTY, BUT WHATEVER DO WHAT YOU WANT, KING.'

"Emiya..."

"Hm?"

"This Mount Turtle... Do you think it, the Invite Death and the Gaoh are connected somehow? Its odd that they keep running away before we can kill them, and I keep getting the suspicion that something bigger is here. Just before the Mount Turtle left, I detected absolutely ZERO negative emotions in it, as in they simply VANISHED. That's not normal no matter how you put it, you don't just LOSE emotions like that. It reminds me of a hacking situation, honestly. With how its eyes became so empty just before your attack hit... I get the feeling that this is similar to a Hivemind-like situation. Of course, this is just guesswork, but yeah."

"I don't know about that. I am not so sure of how a Hivemind would work but as far as I know this must not be quite it. I would say possibly some sort of parasite to control their movements or something different altogether. None of those creatures were quite at their full potential, almost as if all of them was relatively young so it is possible that they are all related somehow. Another thing I noticed is that there are clear signs of life and struggle here even before we started attacking, so maybe they were all feeding. Perhaps there is something else we are missing entirely, but that doesn't matter." Castiel analyzed.

"Huh? Shouldn't it be important?" Nico asked, not knowing what exactly Castiel meant by those words.

"Simple, this whole world is a game so in the end, we will be either seeing them again or something similar. In other words, everything we need to do is get strong enough to kill whatever is going to show up later. Slaughter whatever is in our way, simple right?" Castiel answered making Nico sweat drop.

"Are you sure you are an angel?" Nico asked because he never heard of angels being anywhere near as bloodthirsty as Castiel was showing himself.

"I am, but I also have part of all the evils in the world sealed within me so I am not your typical angel.

"Then again, would you rather I be a goodie two shoes that admonishes you for every little thing? That is for saints and shit, I am me." Castiel answered with an unquestionable confidence oozing out of him, making Nico again have that same feeling he had before. The feeling of Castiel being someone born to take the lead and be a leader.

Well, not like he would lose anyway. Castiel might be a born leader but Nico was a born fighter, that is all there was to it.


As this little discussion ended the two teens decided to move in and go to that temple that could most likely be the objective of this whole trial.

Entering it the two got impressed by the engravings in here. Everywhere was packed full of runes that gave of an artistic sense to the place while also making it many times harder to destroy. Nico only admired it for its beauty that was almost unheard off in the whole of Gamindustri, he himself have never seen a temple or structure more pleasing than this one he was standing in now, but Castiel was trying to decipher and understand the runes here.

It was the difference between the two, Nico was still too dependent on memories of others and knowledge he obtained by his DPU shard, sort of like someone who has received a cellphone with Google on it many information was easy to find and even easier to absorb. Castiel, on the other hand, had no such thing until much recently, and even so, he put more emphasis in learning things himself and to learn more about many areas of knowledge instead of a lot of only a single are. Castiel was like the student who had buried his head on the books to learn everything he could.

This made him proficient in many things and make him more able to take advantage of many things in comparison to Nico's situation. Kind of like how someone innocent may see a diamond as nothing more than a pretty rock while an expert will see its true worth.

Well, to be fair Nico's world was mostly centered in demons, so him knowing more of that area wasn't that bad of a deal anyway.

'How fascinating... this place... I've never seen anything like it...' Nico thought to himself as he observed everything around him. His head swerved about, sometimes making him twirl a full circled to look at everything that was within their surroundings. Just by looking at those runs, Nico could tell. There would be no way that he could understand these runes, not by a long shot since he had nothing in regards to Ward craft training. Perhaps he could ask MAGES for advice in that are at some point in the future, especially if he were to head into battle with the Chaos God of sorcery Tzeentch. Even so, the sheer beauty of this place, something which he likely wouldn't have appreciated as much as he did now if it weren't for these trials, astounded him. Was this what it felt like to enter Celestia? A land practically designated as a divine realm?

Looking over to his companion, Nico made to ask him what the hell these runes meant, but his mouth closed up just as soon as he saw him. The reason? Castiel looked to be studying those runes with the posture of a scholar, something he had come to know from his companion since he explained more than a few thousand different matters to him regarding things he'd never seen before. He constantly mumbled under his breath, and even with his enhanced hearing Nico dared not try to understand the babble that escaped his mouth. Like he had said before, the redhead had no experience in this 'magecraft' thing or the DPUs apparent variant known as Wardcraft.

Therefore, he'd leave the guy alone whilst he worked.

In the meantime, perhaps he could theorize with Biko on how to advance through the stages of the two tomes he had.


'Nico... something is wrong, very wrong here.'

As the two boys made their way through the temple, Bikos' voice suddenly reverberated through his mind. The redhead male heard him, but he made no outward expression to indicate he did as he and Castiel wandered through the many corridors. Each corridor they passed through looked mostly the same in terms of looks, stone walls, ceiling and floors, with lines of torches illuminating their path. It gave off this spooky, ominous atmosphere, though if he were honest, Nico felt like it was trying way too hard to be scary and tense. Though, perhaps that was something to do with how he had seen such places several times in the past, not to mention scarier ones so he wasn't affected too much.

Glancing over to his companion, Nico felt like he was on a similar wavelength... No wait, perhaps Castiel didn't even care or was just ignoring the atmosphere, cause he looked like he was having WAY too much happiness with the amount of excitement he saw. The dude was positively GLOWING with how eagerness to continue this trial, and judging by his expression Nico guessed that he was wondering what kind of final boss they would likely be facing. If he were frank, Nico felt curious about it as well, though Biko's interjection had paused his thought process. 'You thinking something's up too?'

'Indeed. The heat here feels... different. Not like anything harmful, but the deeper we go, the more I get the feeling that something has been 'fanning the flames'. Its like something is trying to burn us alive before we even get a chance to approach the final area.'

Now THAT aught his attention as he reached out with his senses. True to Biko's words, Nico soon found himself getting a similar feeling as hey walked through the tunnels. Not once did he feel like they were walking in circles, either due to this very same feeling. The male got the impression that they were supposed to follow the torches on the walls because, whenever they got to a corner they would sway in a certain direction. Given how Castiel had been so far, Nico felt like he had a similar suspicion deep down... either that, or he just wanted to get this trial over and done with.

Perhaps both.

'Alright, I'll keep an eye out. For now, keep a watchful eye out. If you see anything amiss in our surroundings, let me know right away so I can address it.'

'Very well.'


Finally, the two boys came to the very centre of the Temple which had been in the Turtle's shell. The moment the two males entered it, they saw themselves entering what looked to be this large, square shaped room. The room looked to be made from the same materials as the rest of the Temple, the boys noticed while looking around. In addition, there were these runic sigils across each and every one of the walls, including the floor as well. Each Sigil looked to have been drawn in this thick, crimson color, but the moment Nico stepped inside the room he knew, he just KNEW what that color really was. 'Blood... this is blood...' the redhead thought, his eyes narrowing as he felt his Ghoul Side start to get a bit more... active, at the sweet smell of blood which whiffed into his nostrils. It didn't matter to him if it were dried or not, just the very presence of blood seemed to be enough to set his inner beast off.

"Huh, now this is interesting..." Castiel remarked as he looked around while being careful not to step on the sigils on the ground. He knew what these were, since his sensei Caster had taught him about them when he was a kid. She had been VERY thorough on that subject, not leaving a single detail out since the topic of discussion... wasn't something Castiel or ANYONE who had a decent personality would EVER want to attempt. "These Sigils... they remind me of the ones that were used in the past to summon or trap demonic beings..." he remarked further, kneeling into a frog-like posture to examine the sigils further. Across the room, he noticed Nico looking at a set of sigils on the walls, causing him to sigh in his direction. "You thinking something there?" he asked, frowning. He got the correct assumption that this guy didn't know how to read things like this, but even so... Since he was a Demon God or something, these Sigils should provoke an instinctual response.

Judging by his shoulders tensing the way they did, Castiel assumed he had been right, only to be confirmed a second later. "Can't read this, but I've seen sigils like this used for summoning rituals before back in my world. So, there's no need for me to understand them." Nico replied, before turning to the centre of the room. His gaze focused there, and when Castiel looked there too he noticed a rather... complex looking summoning circle. "I don't like this. Something tells me that this place is NOT meant for those who don't have a death wish."

"Yeah, but this place is the place where the last part of the trial's located. I figured that out by reading the runes on our way here." Castiel sharply replied, sighing as he approached the summoning circle. As he looked it over, the young Heir took a look at it, his brain quickly kicking it back into gear as he figured out its workings. It took a few moments, before he soon opened his mouth. "Looks like we need an offering, a blood offering to activate the circle. Or rather, we BOTH need to make one to fully activate it." He explained, already making to cut his hand by summoning Clarent.

Nico made to question if whether or not this was a good idea, due to past experience with stuff like this, but then he shut his mouth at the last second. He quickly forced his mind to look over the facts, and soon enough he found that there was little else that he could do in this matter. This was where the flames had lead them so far, not to mention that the source of the feeling Biko had gotten. If anything, this place would be where he'd finally get some damned answers to his questions, honestly not something he could say happened often... aside from his conversations with Biko, but that was beside the point. In the end, he decided to wordlessly not and go along with it. Even with his instincts screaming at him that he should turn the fuck away from this, he wouldn't be a wuss and hide. Not like he was afraid of losing a little bit of blood either, he'd suffered worse.

With that nod, Nico walked up to Castiel (making sure to not touch the sigils), all the while summoning Rebellion into his hand and using it to cut his own hand. Nodding at Castiel who nodded in return, the two held their arms out and let two trails of blood fall down onto the summoning circle.

That was when everything began.

...

...

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

For a moment, nothing had happened. Well, nothing except the Summoning Circle starting to glow this ominous, dull red. That glow also gradually took over the rest of the sigils in the room, filling the entire place with its presence. Though, both males only had one moment to take a step backwards, their eyes widening in startled shock when they saw the entire thing ERUPT into a swirling hot supernova of flames. The flames roared into existence, taking over the space where the Summoning Circle had been as they swayed from side to side in their infernal splendor.

"Okay... did NOT see that coming."

"Doubt that anybody could have seen this coming Emiya."

Both boys got into their ready stances, ready for whatever would be coming their way. Even with their complete fire resistance, both boys could still feel like they could have combusted at any moment. Just went to show how hot these flames seemed to be, heck some of the stone around the room itself looked to be freaking MELTING from the heat, steam rising into the air from some places. Nico himself held his Rebellion while, under Biko's advisement, summoned Ouranos onto his back. Just so that he could use the Archdevil Arm's various Boons whilst he could use a different weapon. In addition, Nico released his Bikaku whilst deploying his Armour, every fiber of his being told him to be massively prepared for whatever would be coming out from that thing. On the other hand, Castiel held Clarent out and summoned his Golden Foundation Armour too, holding Clarent in both hands whilst he pumped himself up with various Blessings, such as Speed, strength, agility, defense, evasiveness among others.

After a couple seconds of this infernal head, both boys began noticing something beginning to emerge from within the flames in the form of a black figure. The figure itself looked more like the slit of a demon's eye at first, however it soon took on a more humanoid shape afterwards. Both males kept their swords up regardless though, ready for whatever it was they were about to face.

Soon enough, the figure granted them their unspoken wish of coming out to face them, throwing an arm-like appendage across its form to disperse its flames. Much to Nico and Castiel's surprise, they saw their opponent being a humanoid being made from both flesh and flame. The being's lower half looked like a human's, with baggy pants covering them to the feet. There seemed to be a tail coming out the tailbone though. The being's upper body looked to be that of a muscular bodybuilder's, with fiery markings over its torso. The creature's arms looked similar as well, with his wrists looking like they were made from flames themselves. In addition, flames covered the back of its head as if to mimic a lion's mane of fire. On top of his head, there was an elongated bone mask, complete with two curved horns pointing upwards. The being floated above the ground, surrounded by flames which almost looked like they were levitating it with just their heat.

Like a game, it also had a name floating above it: Ifrit, the flame demon.

'Be wary, Nico. Although we have absolute fire resistance, this battle will not be an easy one.'

'HAH, RIP THAT THING'S INNARDS OUT, KING!'

With the aspects of his mind in agreement, Nico mentally nodded as he held Rebellion in a ready stance, the clinking of his Armour feeling more than a little comforting right now. Still, the heat emitting from this guy felt immense, sort of like a mini sun. If he hadn't got the resistance to flames he had now, Nico had no doubt that its aura would have incinerated him by itself.

Castiel on his end, felt very much the same way, although beneath his golden Helmet, one would feel... more than a little disturbed by the slight bloodthirsty smile spreading across his lips. 'Heh, with all the resistance I have, this guy will be a cinch. Still, better not get ahead of myself. Learn the opponents abilities and then make a plan of attack'. he thought. "Nico, you and I will focus on learning its move set, if it has boss spawning abilities use those Tails or those invisible Tentacles of yours to take them out swiftly before they cause problems."

"Got it."

Holding a single hand out, the beast before them created a single, golfball-sized flame on top of its clawed finger. That ball soon flew off its finger, splitting into three and forming these large, gargoyle-like dragons with their maws spewing these constant flames. The sight of them made exasperated sighs escape the boys lips as they each quickly began to descend upon them at various angles.

However, Nico promptly reacted faster than any of them, giving them a 'tut' as he flicked his head upwards. "Tch!"

CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE!

Instantly afterwards, his Bikaku Kagune reacted. Like a series of wasps going on a wild frenzy, several Tails flicked their forms with super sharp precision towards the Dragons, 2 for each one. It wasn't even a second before they then promptly released their Talons, and it soon became all the dragons could do to dodge them by sharply strafing sideways in quick bursts of speed. Surprised then furious roars escaped them when this happened, as the Dragons all encircled around Nico and made to charge up fire blasts.

Big mistake on their parts.

BIKI-BKI-BIKI-BIKI-BKI-BIKI-BIKI-BKI-BIKI-BIKI-BKI-BIKI!

However, Nico had expected this. He knew that his initial attack would more than likely fail, since there would be a 40% chance of the attacks missing according to what he could sense from these creatures. They weren't weaklings, if he were to guess then Nico would say they would attribute between A and S Rank Abnormals back in his world. Thus, Nico had his Bikaku split into many thinner Tails, each loaded with their own rows of Talons ready to fire. None of the Dragons noticed till the last second, and by then it would already have been too late for them since they A: had nearly charged up their shots, and B: Nico's Bikaku had already finished its morphing. With a smile that fit more on a serial killer on his lips, Nico unleashed the Talons everywhere across the room.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

'Whoa, shit! Castiel thought quickly erecting a barrier around him using Magecraft to repel the Talons. However, the barrier only held up by the skin of is teeth if it were to have any, and he had put more than 40% of his Mana into that barrier. He even noticed how each Talon made these large holes through the entire Temple, showcasing how destructive they really were. 'Holy... those Talons are dangerous, not only did they take a lot more than I expected to repel them. but I get the feeling that if there were more of them that hit my barrier, I wouldn't have been able to emerge unscathed.' the heir couldn't help but get the feeling that, whilst his skill set was a great counter to Nico's Ghoul side, it did NOT mean that it no longer had any bite to it. It was like playing a game about catching and having monsters fight one another in a separate world (he remembered it being called Digimon, similar to Pokemon), even if one had a type advantage, it didn't necessarily mean the battle was just about over. A big advantage sure. but definitely not a game, set, and match type of deal.

Still, what he had done just now DID just shred through the Dragons with unmatched ferocity, turning them into nothing but Swiss cheese. On top of that, Nico even launched several Hellfire fireballs, burning their remains into nothingness before he looked to the final boss. "Alright Emiya, you go on the offensive and i'll provide ranged support?" he suggested, holding Rebellion defensively whilst Ifrit regarded him with narrowed eyes and a bestial glare. He didn't even need to sense its emotions to know it wanted to gut him on its claws for that last stunt. On a side note, it appeared t have used its flames to burn his Talons before they could reach it. Smart.

"Yeah, you stick with those Tail and Tentacle things, I'll stick to its front." Castiel replied, already dashing toward the beast with Clarent in hand. He also unfurled his wings and took flight towards his opponent, closing the distance between them in a couple seconds. In those seconds, the flame demon had unleashed flames onto its hands, enveloping them in them before it clashed with his Clarent.

Both of them gritted their teeth whilst they grinded against each other, sparks and fiery wisps flying from their point of collision. 'Tch, from afar those flames had been intense, but up close like this feels even worse!' the blonde heir thought as he pushed himself forwards, finally succeeding in forcing the Flame Spirit backwards. He then charged forwards and aimed a diagonal slash across its chest, capitalizing on its lost balance. However, the creature managed to use its flames to [propel itself up and above him in order to avoid it, twisting in the air to aim its right knee at his back.

However, it soon had to cross its arms in front of its chest to block a large Bikaku Tail when it lunged at him, sending it flying in a spiraling motion towards the ground. Just before it hit though, it managed to soot streams of flames from its hands towards the ground, breaking its fall and allowing it to lad on the ground in a crouching position. It then jumped to the side to avoid several Tails that emerged from the ground to impale it, then it felt something smack it right in the chest several times over.

A bestial snarl of confusion erupted from its maw, only for Castiel to close the distance against it once again, intending to quickly finish it off by slicing its head off with a horizontal slice. Behind his Helmet though, Castiel noticed how its 'mane' began to get all erratic and volatile, a sole indicator of what would be happening next. Just before it happened, Castiel quickly flapped his wings and flew backwards in a quick burst of speed. Just barely did it in time too, since the next second was occupied by a huge ball of flame that erupted from the mane itself, covering everything around Ifrit in a 20 meter radius. Since the whole room would be about 40 meters wide, over half the space got taken.

'Okay, that is going to be annoying.' Castiel thought, narrowing his eyes behind his helmet. He didn't do it for long, but out of instinct he had activated his White Tiger Bloodline to boost his speed, not caring about limitations at that moment. It was one of those moments where instinct overwritten all reason, something that he honestly disliked but at least he was alive right now. Once he unfurled his wings, stopping his motion abruptly and ending up beside Nico as the two stared at the scorching hot flames.

"This guy's going to be one huge pain in the ass..."

"You're telling me." Nico remarked, clenching his fist as he formed a Hellfire fireball around his hand. He then thrusted forwards and hurled the fireball forth. When it hit the flames spiraling around their opponent however, the Hellfire just got disintegrated like it was no big deal, much to Nico's surprise. "Tch, damn..." he muttered beneath his Helmet.

'That won't work, only your Hellfire's true form has a chance to pierce through that barrier.'

'NOW THAT'S FUCKING ANNOYING, IF YOUR HELLFIRE IS THAT SUCKY AGAINST HIM, YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT THOSE TALONS! YOUR GHOUL SIDE WON'T BE OF MUCH USE EITHER!'

'Well, that certainly blows...' The redhead male thought to himself. The fact that he would have to transform in order to deal with those flames in front of him did NOT sit well with him. He only used that form when absolutely necessary, but if he had no other option, then... hang on. Just as he made to mentally prepare himself to transform and use his true Hellfire to break through the barrier, Nico's eyes widened when a thought occurred to him. 'Wait a minute... yeah, that could work!' he thought in realization. "Hey, Emiya?"

"Yeah?"

"This barrier must take a lot of energy to maintain, so its likely it will come down soon. You think that, the moment this barrier falls down, you could hit it with that curse you used to keep that first final boss we fought back in the first trial to keep it in place? I'll hit it with a special ability of my own that will seal off its movements. With its strength, it'll break free after about 5 seconds, but that should be enough for us to land two strong solid blows onto its body."

For a moment, Castiel thought about it, before nodding his head in agreement. "You mean the Binding Resentment Chains right? Yeah, I can do that. It'l take some time, but I'll manage. Afterwards i'll focus on charging Clarent, you do your thing and i'll finish it off with a holy attack. I just wanna get out of this damned place already." he replied, sighing in dismay. He had been holding it back for a very long goddamned time, but he was slowly getting sick of being in here. He hoped that the'd be able to get out soon, if he wanted to save his sanity.

With their plan in mind, Nico and Castiel then looked towards the barrier, determination radiating from their forms. Determination to get this trial over with already, that is. Pretty soon afterwards, the duo of males saw the flame barrier begin to destabilize, Something which they took as a sign that they needed to get their asses into gear as Castiel readied his Curse whilst Nico did the same for his own Skill.

By the time the flames completely vanished to reveal the unharmed Ifrit, both boys were ready for him. First thing's first, Nico acted by charging in, closing the distance. Pretty soon he raised Rebellion, which looked to be thrumming with Demonic Power, as he brrought it down on his opponent. Said enemy raised its forearm to block it, its legs shaking from the strong impact that it had before it had to use its forearms to block the following onslaught.

SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!

Nico's Rebellion tore through the air like a wild beast as he engaged the fire being in a high-speed slash fest, circling around his foe like a lion and, unbeknownst to the being, slowly guide him towards his companion's position. He didn't give it a single moment to strike back, and whenever he began to notice the demon being about to use its flames again, he would distract it with a Hellfire attack to the face or a Bikaku slash to his shoulders, stopping the attempt. Behind it, Nico quickly sensed that his companion had already moved from the target zone, and once his senses told him the prey was in place, a smirk formed on his lips beneath the helmet as Nico jumped back, confusing it. Then, its confusion turned to realization as Castiel quickly unleashed his Curse.

"Binding Resentment Chains!" he bellowed, a magic circle appearing beneath it and forming chain-like markings over its form. They soon vanished though, much to its confusion before it made to snort in a smug manner, thinking that their so-called 'plan' had failed. It then made to charge at Nico, intending to cleave his head off for the 'slights' he had made against its pride, slights it would make sure to make him pay DEARLY for... when it instantly found itself back where it started.

A look that could be best described as 'WTF?' appeared on its face, only for a flash to temporarily blind its vision for a second. When it vanished, it opened its eyes an saw Nico right in front of it, placing his hand on its chest before he vanished just as it released flames onto his position. "Sorry buddy, but not sorry. CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS!" Nico yelled, and in that moment another magic circle appeared beneath it. The Demon looked down in startled surprise, wondering what would be happening next when, from the Magic Circle, came chains of a similar purple color... but more physical as they swiftly span around it to restrain its movements to nothing, binding its arms to its sides, pretty much covering everything save for its head with Chains. Fury, raw and primal exploded from within it, as the Demon roared and howled whilst making to break free of its restraints. These chains felt weak, WEAK and pitiful, so it would be able to escape from them easily.

That is... what it THOUGHT would happen, but...

"Emiya, now!"

"Don't have to tell me twice! CLARENT!"

A surge of holy energy got detected behind it, and try as it might the fire Demon couldn't turn its head fully to see what was going on. Even so though, it managed to turn just enough to see a large, golden light appear behind it, radiating a magnificence which made every fiber of its being just SCREAM at it to not let that light touch it no matter what.

Shame though, that it couldn't have reacted in time for as the light fell down upon it... thus, the Demon's dying screams echoed throughout the entire Temple.