Chapter 177 Tzeentchian Invasion

…Holy shit.

Those words best summarized the thoughts and feelings she had at the moment…

And possibly the other two residents of her Nation Theta and Financier, too. The two of them stood by her side, looking just as stunned, dumbfounded, etc at the scenery in front of them. Theta himself still occasionally gave orders through his Walkie-Talkie to his men so the evacuation of the civilians away from the combat zone went alright… although he still looked as affected as the rest of the trio. Financier however looked to be the most affected of them all, even more so than Blanc herself since she looked to have lost the majority of her skin colour whilst her jaw hung open, and her eyes shrunk to the size of dots. She looked like she would let out a high pitched screem at the chaos unfolding before her… had it not been for how Theta managed to grasp her hand in one of his own, giving her a clutch to latch onto like a lifeline.

Aside from THAT little titbit of 'interesting data', lets focus on what was happening that threw the trio off so much, shall we? The sounds of carnage filled the air as they dominated the entire city of which the Resistance, founded by the TRUE Lowee CPU, resided within as well as protected. They rung with such loud volume, intensity and effect that they could theoretically be seen and felt across the majority of the surrounding areas up to a multi-hundred-mile radius… such had been the predictions one CPU had came to whilst witnessing the… spectacle, occurring before her. With the smoke generated from the newly made explosions mixing in with that of the already existing smoke trails, it made identifying what was going on slightly more difficult…

Yet she managed to do so.

Very, VERY clearly.

(Play Yakuza 0 – Pledge of the Demon (With Audio Pitch down))

Deep within the ensuing carnage, Neptune dashed forwards and diagonally cut down one Yoma from it's right shoulder to its left hip, then followed through with a beheading horizontal slash the next second. The young maiden did this with the Armblades of her Armour that she had equipped seconds into the battle, all whilst conjuring some Panels on her left and right sides to block a set of incoming Tendril-esque Fingers from two more Yoma. An aerial one flew overhead, but she didn't bother with that one, instead she simpl stomped on the ground beneath her hard enough to create two upward rising 'planks', launching the two Yoma into the air and electing several panicked screeches from them. Sensing several of their comrades coming at her from all sides, Neptune simply flipped upwards into the air after channelling energy into her legs, causing the 6 Yoma to miss their mark, allowing her to reach her two previous prey and bisect them with two blur-like slashes.

She then kicked them down towards the Yoma at the ground, who proceeded to jump to the sides and try to attack her from there, something which she had predicted they would. Neptune smugly grinned behind her Helmet, her eyes gaining the glow from those of her Devil Trigger as she generated some Energy Blades around her, Blades which she launched and saw slice through each finger down their middles. After firing some extre Energy Blades upon their conjuration to impale the Yoma below, Neptune fell and landed on the ground, allowing her feet to move the way she intended and implemented the TRACKLESS STEP… combined with the STAR GOD'S BROKEN SHADOW skill.

One skill erased her presence by deeming it 'unthreatening' to the other's subconscious, and the other increased her speed briefly so she could mane an afterimage…

Yeah, quite a 'unique' Skill set, one she had thoughts about combining the principles of to create a Skill which had the best of both worlds.

Returning to the present, Neptune dashed forwards and proceeded to cut her opponents down with fluid precision, making her think to herself. 'Since these dumb mobs are so weak compared to me, it'd be best to save my strength for the big boss of this arc… shame that its been so long now, I wonder how many are still reading this…?' the young maiden wondered, all before sausage flipping over a Yoma's back and slicing its head off from behind, then crossing her Armblades in front of her to block a punch aimed her way. Several Yoma leapt at her to try and strike from above whilst she was distracted, but Neptune simply launched a barrage of Energy Blades from the space around her to deal with them. Her Energy Blades shredded through them like paper mache, several bodyparts flowing over her companion IF.

Said brunette simply turned herself into a damn near unstoppable shredding machine, having taken to her Armour Form whilst her two arms had both morphed into her Tentacles, allowing her Tendrils to come out her back and spew acid balls onto the battlefield. Her opponents usually turned out to be the whole of the aerial forces, whilst her Tentacles took care of the ground forces. During the battle, she stomped on the ground after slicing several Yoma to Pieces and melting their remains with Acid from her Tendrils, her firsty action allowing her to detach some of her Biomass to form a ZEN SHIYA around her, letting her know the positions of both her allies as well as her enemies whenever they stepped onto it.

'These guys… as simple-minded as they are, its their numbers that are their sole advantage.' She thought whilst cutting down a couple Yoma who tried rushing at her from the front, her Tendrils then wrapping around and ripping apart 2 flying Yoma who tried to attack from aboce using the ground forces as a distraction. 'At least Team RAIL is focusing on the Killachine and eeping it off our backs, we can take out the Yoma with time since we don't have to worry about that thing…' she thought again, glancing over to the battling Spec Ops Agents and the large robot a fair distance from them. Not too long into the battle had Raven exacted a strategy that separated the Killchine from the sizable Yoma horde, allowing them to 'get their revenge' in peace as they called it.

SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!

SQUELCH-SQUELCH-SQUELCH!

"?!"

Just then, something changed for her, as IF's eyes widened when she felt several of her right arm's Tentacles suddenly get severed at the same time. Accompanying their destruction turned out to be this cold, empty feeling which she had long since gotten used to, however the sheer 'suddenness' of the attack had been what had started the BOW.

'…Okay, WHAT the HECK?!'

Whilst she thought that, IF quickly looked towards the attacker's position as told to her by her ZEN SHIYA, since it had moved far too fast for it to properly detect in time. The attacker, which had come in from her right flank, slid to a halt in front of her, twisting around so they could see one another, and the moment they did they quickly proceeded to identify one another. To IF's shock, the creature that attacked her stood a full 3 meters in height, looking pretty humanoid and muscular in appearance, with a wolf-shaped snout and mane accompanying it. There were some wickedly sharp claws on its hands too, the evidence of this being the multiple severed Tentacles grasped by it's blod-covered right claw, whilst it possessed two eerily silver coloured eyes that bore into its prey with almost toxic levels of bloodlust radiating from its frame.

Another interesting factor to note was the way that it seemed to inspire both fear AND respect from the Yoma surrounding it, as evident by how the surrounding Yoma stopped trying to attack her and focused on the rest of her comrades instead.

'This guy…!' IF thought but couldn't finish, the reason being when it dropped her Tentacles to the ground below it, said appendages then disintegrating into nothingness due to there being insufficient Biomass to maintain it… plus she hadn't the chance to modify the blood in time so she couldn't control it like she would have tried to. it then blurred forwards at a rate of speed which IF quickly morped her right arm's remaining Tentacles into her Shield to block an incoming strike. 'Ugh… this strength…! This one isn't like the others, is he…?!'

Quickly, IF thrusted her Shield upwards, throwing the Wolf-like Yoma's arms up with it before her left Arm's Tentacles all morphed back into one of IF's blades, which she then used for a thrust towards the Yoma's chest. Unfortunately at the last second, the creature's form disintegrated like sand being blown away by the wind, making her realize what had happened in a millisecond. 'An afterimage!' she screamed in her mind, her ZEN SHIYA screeching in her head as it died. Glancing to the source of the problem, she noticed how the Yoma had slammed all of its currently hyperextended claws into the ground, impaling the ZEN SHIYA in multiple spots. 'It noticed my ZEN SHIYA… Yeah, that clinches it, this thing is DEFINITELY not like the others.'

Several flying Yoma flew overhead, before they got shot down ny multiple rays of Light. The source, Compa's Angel METATRON whose Pillars kept aiming at the Aerial Yoma which flocked around her, resulting in many flashes dominating the airspace. Compa kept METATRON on auto pilot as she had GABRIEL finish up its healing fo Blanc down beneath her, her fingers wildly moving across the second Angel's light-made keyboard as fast as the Abnormal currently battling her brunette friend. 'Kill-heal-kill-heal-kill-heal-kill-heal-kill-heal-kill-heal-kill-heal-kill-heal-kill-heal-kill-heal-kill-heal-kill-heal…' She chanted inside her mind, hatred and the desire to achieve her task's completion completely dominating her thought process. Her eyes shone with these thoughts and desires, her white pupils shininglike two small stars to perfectly express the feelings coursing through her veins at the moment.

She didn't consider much of anything else.

Not how Neptune seemed to be wrecking utter havoc without actually using a lot of her powers.

Not how IF seemed to be having trouble with her newest opponent.

Not even the battle between Team RAIL and the Killachine or the battle between the two CPUs against the Fake White Heart whom had tried to get away only for those two to quickly catch up to her in their HDD Forms.

Nope, all she considered priority were the two previously stated objectives: Heal Blanc and make these meanies who separated her from her Ni-Ni pay… with BLOOD!

Glancing down when she got a notification from GABRIEL, Compa noticed how Blanc's injuries looked to be pretty much cured now, something which elected a sigh of relief from her as she let go of her bloodlust albeit temporarily. "Looks like you're all fine now, Lady Blanc!" she called down to the brunette CPU, who looked up at her as ifjust now remembering her presence. Part of her couldn't help but giggle at how cute she looked right now, but a sympathetic side of her reasoned that Blanc's demeanor could be understood, since seeing… what she had seen the Party do just now would be pretty mind blowing. "Wanna join in on the battle?"

"The hell you spouting about this 'Want to' crap?! For the record, I MUST join!" Blanc declared after regaining her mental faculties and assuming her HDD Form. By the time that the light from her transformation faded, a CPU about to go on a frenzy took the newly healed brunette's place, her body pulsating with Share Energy whilst her form hunched over, ready to pounce like a predator after cornering its prey. Her hair had created shadows over her face's upper half, concealing it in darkess save for a single, glowing crimson eye when she had said all this, followed up by a furious growl that ripped through her throat with a gluttoral undertone. "That stuck-up bitch… she's all but BEGGING for my Axe up her ass for what she's doing to my people!"

"Then be my guest."

Once she heard that, like a rabid beast finally released from its cage White Heart was off, shooting up and over the battlefield to where she had sensed her fellow CPUs fighting Conversation. She had done so far too fast to be perceived by the normal human eye, and if she wasn't mistaken then Compa felt willing to bet that she had only ignored the massive Yoma horde since she herself and her fellow comrades were enough to keep them at bay for the meantime… fine by her. She had a LOT of emotions left to vent on these Ni-Ni stealers anyways.

"Now then…" Compa whispered under her breath as METATRON's pillars returned to their default circular formation around her. Now that she didn't have to split her focus between healing and providing aerial coverage for the rest of the Party, she could now COMPLETELY vent her emotions on those who dared try to take away what was hers. With this in mind, Compa let out a small, sickly sweet closed eye smile with shadow darkening the upper portion of her face as METATRON's pillars started spinning around her, telltale signs of light particles being gathered clearly visible. "Let this wounded maiden's heart… ROAR! SUN BARRAGE!"

At once, the collected light particles got unleashed as a Light energy blast barrage, one aimed throughout the skies at the remnants of the aerial Yoma.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM- BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM- BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-

Light filled the skies whilst the sweet sounds of tortured, agonized howls mixed with the sizzling sounds of charred skin which had a matching scent fill the air. Although, with her current mental state and the fact that she had long since gotten used to this smell from the countless battles she had fought against the many Demonic hoards, Compa didn't feel anything like revulsion or disgust like she had originally upon her starting out as a Spirit. Instead, her gaze remained cold and indifferent, applying GABRIEL's BARD OF OVERDRIVE on herself (making sure to adjust the volume so only she heard it, lest she empower her foes by mistake) to enhance her METATRON's firepower. 'I'll make all these meanies suffer my wrath… they will have the saying 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' engraved right on their very souls as they pass into the afterlife…!' she screamed inside her mind as she watched countless charred Yoma corpses fall from the skies onto the battlefield below.

"?!"

All of a sudden, when she made to launch another offensive against the enemy, this time the enemy below, Compa briefly caught a glimpse of something moving towards her at high speeds, to which she responded quickly by blocking it with some of METATRON's Pillars. This allowed her to get a good look at the objecs in question, and the moment she did so her right brow arched in confused curiosity. "Tendrils…?" she muttered, as they indeed turned out to be Tendrils… or rather, Tendrils made from BONE FRAGMENTS, not something which IF would have used although if her assessment of her friend's powers were accurate she could have, but she pushed that thought aside in favour of looking to the source.

That source… turned out to be a Yoma, one MUCH larger than the regular kind, about 4 meters tall if she were to guess. Whilst mostly humanoid in shape, it seemed to have bone-made armour fragments made across its body, with what looked like a similar looking Tail protruding out from the base of its spinal colum like it were simply an offshoot from it or something. Furthermore, it possessed long arms and reverse jointed legs, meaning that it likely had both long reac as well as jumping ability, according to her own previous experiences with enemies that had similar characteristics.

'So, this one's not like the others, then…' Yet, the Spirit girl remained unfazed as her Pillars all circled around her, pointing their tips at the enemy who recalled its Tendrils and performed similar actions. 'Reminds me of the one fighting against Iffy for some reason… well, no matter, if it wants to die quicker, I'll HAPPILY oblige!' she screamed through her mind as she launched her next attack, the monster before her snickering as it responded in kind.

Some of those attacks ended up being deflected over to Green and Black Heart's position on the battlefield, way behind the enemy lines as they focused on keeping the fake White Heart contained within a small space, located not too far from one of the four Gates into Lowee. The two of them did this through the following strategy: the former keeping to the rear side, launching ranged attacks in order to stop the enemy from fleeing through the Southern Gate… a Gate lacking much security detail though neither didn't know why if the various blood stains had any indication. As for the latter, she would focus on hit and run tactics, her INSANE physical strength combined with the CPU Sword she currently used, made it so that each swing of her blade made escaping her practically impossible. Thus, their opponent looked to be boxed in…

And it didn't seem like she had any Eject Buttons either, a plus for them.

Nice.

"Wish you had some of those Eject Buttons right now, don't you?" Black Heart sneered with a smug smirk, bringing her sword down and launching a wave of Light from it in Conversation's direction. Said faker, having long since realized that completely dodging those attacks would be impossible with how fast they tended to be, decided to put up a Panel in front of her in an attempt to block it. Although when the attack hit, it sent her sliding across the air (since they each were floating like the CPUs that they were) whilst she got forced to deflect it upwards, sensing that she couldn't block it completely with her strength.

She would have retorted in that she would never stoop as low as to rely on something so inferior to her existence, had it not been for Vert launching a SHYLET SPEAR strike from above, multiple long Spears manifesting from conjured Magic Circles up there which then shot straight down towards her position. Although she managed to dodge this strike, she had to pull off a series of flips, twists and spins in order to avoid similar Spears from all directions in a continuous assault. After a couple minutes, the offensive stopped, and when Conversation made to gloat once more, a green Wind Blast slammed into her face, sending her flying once again. The Cause, Green Heart whom had swung her Spear horizontally at her, grinned with matching smugness to her fellow CPU. "My, no matter how 'inferior' something may seem, one should never overlook a potential asset on the field. That's like the basics of the basics in any situation, not just videogames."

"Grrr…!"

Fury roared within her chest as Conversation threw her large Axe forth in a horizontal motion, resulting in the weapon spinning like a wheel as it flew towards Green Heart, her lesson learnt that Black Heart could evade pretty much anything she could throw at her with her high speeds. As Green Heart deflected it with a reverse swing whilst making to use the momentum to launch a wind blade back at her through her use of WIND RELEASE: WIND WAVES, like she'd done previously, suddenly Conversation appeared beneath her in a burst of speed. Her eyes widened as the smaller female simply twisted a full 360 degrees into a full back kick into her gut, sending Green Heart sliding backwards from the force of the blow.

After she picked her Axe back up and parried several slashes made by Black Heart, Conversation back flipped into an upside down 360 degree spinning slash, one which Black Heart dodged via her QUICKSILVER, summoned her Samsara Arms then threw both forward for a double whammy, something which Conversation responded to by jamming her Axe into the ground between them and using the force to lift her body up into a handstand. As a result, she successfully evaded both strikes, then proceeded to drop down with one hand still on her Axe's Shaft into a kick towards Black Heart's face, which she dodged by strafing away.

"WIND RELEASE: WIND CUTTER!"

Sensing several Wind Blades being launched in her direction, Conversation promptly spun her Axe in front of her like helicopter blades, the attacks detonating harmlessly against her makeshift barrier… although Green Heart simply used this as a distraction for her next attack as she jumped high into the air, looming over the enemy. Intaking some air, Green Heart fired off a WIND RELEASE: VACUUM SPHERE attack at her from above, something which Conversation barely raised a Panel to block in time knowing how deadly those Spheres had been from the initial stages of their battle.

This gave Black Heart her opportunity as well, as she came in with her CPU Sword gripped in both hands behind her for a right to left upward swing. The whole blade pulsated with this fierce, tyrannical aura too like that of a howling wolf, as she quickly closed the distance between them with her speed, then swung upwards for a SKY WOLF SLASH. The strike, as tyrannical as the heavens themselves, slammed into Conversation before she could properly defend herself with full force, its blunt and oppressive might electing a loud howl of agony to escape the fake White Heart's lips as she got sent flying upwards. Fortunately, Black Heart had managed to regulate the power from the strike so that it didn't destroy their surrounding areas, in exchange for the strike not being used to its full potential.

Not a problem for the next strike though, since the target was about 300 meters above the City.

A grin not unbefitting of the dragon whose powers were part of her, spread across her lips as the CPU of Lastation took to the skies, quickly surpassing the surprised Green Heart's altitude before stopping right beside her foe, her Sword already prepped for a second blow.

"Wha-?!"

"Heh, thought it was over, did you?! Well, PSYKE!"

SLAM!

"Guh!"

Instantly before she ended her sentence, Black Heart slammed her sword into the fake White Heart's back in an overhead smash, nearly losing herself in the satisfaction of hearing bones crack and shatter under her swing's force. The Tyrannical power of the Heavy Sword, she could use it to quite a high degree with her CPU one, since it had the attributes of such a weapon, but the best weapon to use the Sword Skills from the WOLF GOD SIRIOUS Tome would be actual ones, like Dragon Fault. Still, it felt WAY better than it should have to smack this bitch around some… yeah, perhaps Noire shared one common trait with the Dragon race in various cultural representations:

That they can hold grudges.

Meanwhile, Conversation SMASHED into the ground with tremendous force, enough to create a huge ass crater that was big enough to fit a multi-story house in. She recovered quickly though, groans escaping her as her Axe fell to her side from above, as she slowly got to her feet and picked it up in her right hand, slowly lifting herself into a hovering position once again. At this time, both Black Heart and Green Heart were already shooting down with their own attacks ready, the former going for a VIBRATION ATTACK, and the latter using WIND RELEASE: VACUUM BLADE on her Spear to increase its range alongside its striking power. Lifting her head up when her instincts told her danger had been coming, Conversation perceived these attacks and quickly made to erect another Panel to dodge…

SLAM!

"GAH!"

(OST end)

…Only for an Axe much like the one she currently held to slam into her side, its blade smashing into her left ribcage with full, unrestrained force. Blood exploded forth from Conversation's mouth thanks to the sneak attack, one which sent her tumbling across the battlefield with the Axe falling from its previous spot to the ground below.

"My, looks like someone was impatient."

"Tch, how annoying, nearly hitting us when we're trying to help here…!"

The irritated voice belonging to Black Heart, as well as the slightly amused and mildly condescending voice of Green Heart, barely managed to register within Conversation's ears whilst this happened, as she instead prioritized halting her mobility again. By the time she rolled to a stop, Conversation looked to the source, finding it to be a furious looking, heavily panting White Heart… the REAL White Heart to be more precise. She had remained in a stance which looked like she'd concluded a horizontal swing, her single glowing red eye looking as menacing as ever, hell it looked much like the eyes of someone who had just crawled out the depths of the underworld, eager to drag unsuspecting victims back with it into the infernal abyss, a feeling matched by the ferocious crimson aura her body gave off.

"Shut it, asshats! This is something I gotta do for Lowee anyways, this bitch has this coming to her!" White Heart, after hearing those words directed at her, took a moment to pant from her move just now before yelling that out with multiple tick marks on her forehead. Whilst part of her wanted to drive her Axe down their throats, something which had been a common norm back up in Celestia, the bigger priority she had was to teach this CPU wannabe what happened when one both tricked her as well as pissed her off 100%. Its… never a happy time for those on the receiving end. Not to mention that part of her had noticed the… unusual abilities that the two had displayed, which made her wonder just how twisted that bratty Planeptune CPU's entire Party was to have such… colourful characters gathered together. "In any case, hey slutface! Yeah, I'm talking 'bout your wrinkly old ass, where the hell are those bozos you keep around as bodyguards, huh?! What, those shit heads realize finally that its stupid to follow your worthless self or some shit?!"

"?"

"?"

As much as the crude language spewing forth from White Heart's mouth irked the two CPUs in their own ways, both had to admit that the moment they heard about these two 'bozos' they began to wonder about what she had been talking about. It had been confirmed that White Heart had a previous encounter with Conversation, or rather Arfoire as they themselves had learned back on Halo Mountain, so maybe she had been exposed to some people other than those Thousand Sons soldiers back in that fake capital city? As such, each of them turned towards the downed Conversation with narrowed eyes, their weapons poised to strike at even the slightest hint of aggression.

Although instead of attacking them like many Abnormals did, the fake White Heart rolled her eyes in mockery at her. "You haven't changed, have you, faker?" she sneered back, her body trembling as she held firm against the likely waves of pain ransacking her body at the moment. It didn't take a genius to consider her to be nearly at her limit with the amount of damage she had taken, plus White Heart's sneak attack hadn't really helped things on her end. "But to answer your question, they're busy doing… some other business, which I'm sure you'll be finding out REAL soon…"

At first, each of the three CPUs frowned on what the fake White Heart had meant by that, but then…

"LADY BLANC, LADY BLANC!"

A startled cry escaped a certain man's lips, causing the said CPU to nearly trip over from the sheer volume. Quickly turning to the source, she found it to be Theta, whom had somehow sneaked by the whole Yoma massacre occurring behind them curtesy of the… guests, from the other Nations. "What is it, ass?! You DO realize I'm kinda busy pounding this bitch's ass here, right?!" she yelled back, several tick marks on her forehead as she raged against the man who'd caught her off guard with his shouting.

"…She might want to work on her wording in the future…"

"Let her be, Noire, let her be…"

"BAD NEWS LADY BLANC!" Theta shouted back, looking uncharacteristically HORRIFIED, like he had just stumbled into the underground city of Cthulhu or something as equally nightmarish as that. Seeing the sheer, absolute and unrelenting panic written over his face so clearly that it reminded her of crystal, Blanc's anger got abated slightly since whatever spooked the guy this bad MUST be bad news. Bad news which, sadly got confirmed a moment later. "GOT A CALL FROM ONE OF MY BOYS, THERE'S A MASSIVE FUCKING TSUNAMI OF BEASTS HEADED STRAIGHT FOR THE EAST ENTRANCE! OH, AND JJUST TO MAKE THINGS ALL NICE AND DANDY, ITS BEING LED BY A FREAKING GREATER DEMON!" He bellowed…

And the instant he did, White Heart froze, her already pale skin going almost deathly so as the colour drained itself out of her. "Wh… Wha?!" she gasped, her brain doing multiple double takes as she tried to process what she had heard to fail multiple times. That is, until the situation truly dawned on her and a BUNCH of horrific revelations dawned on her. "How did… of all the…?!" Those words brought her earlier desires of wrath to a grinding halt as dread seeped in instead. As much as she would have wanted to, this City wasn't NEARLY as protected as she would have liked it to be, and the eastern entrance turned out to be the one that was the least guarded. With the amount of forces she had at her disposal, she had to organize it to where the Guards switched posts by the day, meaning that only three entrances would be properly defended with a single 'back door' mostly left unguarded. It wasn't something she liked, but simply put she didn't have enough manpower to completely fortify the city. Of course, there had been a time where she did have enough, but that time had long since passed, and thanks to some… events, that had happened, her forces could hardly hold a small village for a few days much less permanently regain a foothold in Lowee.

Upon hearing these words, Black Heart quickly shot forth into the skies to get a better vantage point so she could scope out the eastern sections, and true enough in the distance she could see a huge cloud of smoke and dust, looking like it was gradually getting bigger too. That only meant one thing, a MASSIVE Army must be coming soon, and it would likely trample over this entire city… whilst she couldn't get a good read on how many forces there were, if she were to guess then above the 400's would be an accurate assumption based off the smoke cloud's size. Furthermore, she could feel the sensations that she had once felt fighting that Khornate Greater Demon, meaning that Theta's claim of there being a Tzeentch one coming this way were also true, as if things weren't bad enough already… plus, glancing down at the battling Yoma, it seemed as though some 'particular' ones have emerged, and were slowing the girls down enough to give the rest more of a fighting chance. Heck, proof of this was seen when Neptune activated her Devil Trigger to try and gorge herself on their blood, only for an enemy shaped like a giant flying insect with many bladed arms, also with no visible eyes to blindside her and tie her down on that side of the battlefield.

There was a stark difference compared to back then though, and that had been the particularly large presence of magical energy in the air, AKA Mana… but twisted, distorted and WRONG, unnaturally so, It felt sickening, ugly and tainted all at once, resulting in the sensation of their guts twisting in on themselves in displeasure. Whilst the Khornate Greater Demon made the feel like they were going to go mad with bloodlust at any moment, then just sensing the energy from THIS Greater Demon felt like it was enough to make their sanity tart stripping itself from their persons.

"Ufufufufufu…"

A low chuckle escaped Conversation's lips, drawing attention to herself once more as she aimed a smug, victorious grin. "Hear that? This first attack was nothing but a diversion, the REAL threat's just on your very doorstep… the eastern one, to be more precise." She declared, smirking deviously as her power button symbols flashed menacingly. "These imps were just the scout force. the rest were simply lagging behind waiting for the precise moment to pounce. And you know the clincher? This Greater Demon's been EAGER to teach you a certain lesson: what happens when you royally piss one off. Took a bit longer than expected, but hey what can you do?"

Seeing her chance, the fake White Heart quickly took to the skies, and flew off into the distance opposite the incoming Army, with the real White Heart too distracted by this new threat against them to really notice or care at this point. The Lowee CPU wasn't the only one who had lowered the fake on her list of priorities either, since Black Heart and Green Heart grimaced together as their senses identified the incoming presence belonging to the Greater Demon, memories of their last encounter with one back in the Gala returning to the forefront of their minds. Back then, even when working together they had only managed to succeed in weakening the Demon, yet still nearly got their asses handed to them before Lucy had transformed into her Goddess Form then finished it off. They could still remember the feelings they had experienced when being trapped in that dimension alongside it, battling for their souls against an evil they had no clue as to the depths of.

If a Greater Demon of Khorne had been THAT bad for them way back when… just what about this Tzeentch one?

"Tch… that bitch, well… I guess there's nothing else to it, then." Blanc declared after she managed to regain the use of her voice, though her state still couldn't be said to be bac to normal. Her fists still wildly trembled no matter how much she tried to keep them steady, and it took a lot of her willpower to keep her teeth from chattering away despite having grown used to Lowee's eternally cold climate. Just from those words uttered by that fake, she had a pretty good idea of who it was that led this attack, and she did NOT want to face that guy again… she barely managed to escape with her life last time, albeit she managed to get her powers copied by her enemy, one of the most humiliating experiences that she had endured to date. "You lot gotta… no, honestly that shit won't convince you, will it?" she began to say, intending to try and persuade the CPUs beside her to gather their comrades to get out of the City and leave her to deal with this new threat, however the images of this first attack on the City along with what she saw the NON CPUs battle abilities put a stop to that notion… she wouldn't admit it, but perhaps that beating she got from Neptune played a part too.

A snort escaped Black Heart's lips as she figured out the other CPU's thought process with just a blink… although in that blink she had temporarily unleashed the power of her DRAGONS EYES in order to see things from the objective perspective of the past. "You can say that again…" she stated as Green Heart clutched her Spear, facing the Army with a look which can only be described as eager anticipation. "We've fought a Greater Demon before, and lost, so we have some scores to settle there. We'll not be losing here, otherwise how can we get our payback later?" she asked, although it sounded more like a rhetorical question.

Nodding her head in agreement, Green Heart spoke whilst pointing her Spear at the Eastern Gate. "Indeed, our friends can handle themselves here, whilst in the meantime we shall go and… greet our new guests ourselves. Preferably with our weapons slashing off their throats."

White Heart glanced over to her, a brow raised at the… vicious sounding ways of greeting. "Geez bitch, you getting crazy much?" she questioned, not really expecting an answer but getting one anyways.

"Why, its not me that's crazy, its this whole world…Oh?"

"Eh? What is it… ah?!"

(Play You're Going Down by Sick Puppies)

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNG!

Whilst Green Heart had made to respond to her fellow CPU, she suddenly stopped when something managed to get on her sensory radar, located right behind the Demonic Power within the approaching army. It wasn't idle, in fact it felt to be moving at ERY high speeds, rapidly approaching where they were currently positioned. She couldn't tell what it was at first save for that it felt much larger than that of the Greater Demon's, but then she smirked when she realized the source of the signature. A smirk which got mirrored by Black Heart when she too managed to figure it out herself.

Only one of them understandably remained out of the loop revolving around this whole new sense of 'ah, now things are looking up' aura the two CPUs got going on. One confused White Heart who gave them a confused, frustrated and angry glare. "What the hell you two?! What's gotten so far up your ass that you got this freaking mood change?" she questioned heatedly, not getting why they suddenly became so calm… that is, until she sensed a MAJOR Demonic Power behind the first one. When she did so, White Heart almost dropped her Axe in horror, already imagining the worst-case scenario for her. "Shit… is it really a stronger enemy than that fucker…?!'

"No need to worry, Blanc…"

"?"

"What Vert says, this energy signature… me and the others know it, and since HE is rapidly approaching then I say we can leave things on that end to him."


Over at the approaching Army…

"HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE… YESSSSS… finally, FINALLY, it ALL comes DOWN to THIS…"

The one who spoke, the demon which stood at the back of its army, stopped moving as it observed its forces charging ahead, eagerly awaiting the chance to gnaw into flesh, bone, or whatever stood in their path of conquest. The force consisted of the 'Horrors', their forms concealed by the ever-shifting colour of their Mana whilst they dashed and scrambled across the battlefield like one big mass of different colours towards their targets. They'd got a battalion of 'Flamers' following at their heels, some even mixing in with their demonic brethren as they advanced towards the Goal their Master had set for them.

Flamers could be considered amongst the strangest and disturbing of all Tzeentch's daemons, and their absurd physiologies usually prove more than most mortals can stand. The body of a Flamer consisted of a headless conical torso, with two long arms, both terminating with fingerless stumps that were adorned with razor-sharp teeth and flickering tongues, and continuously belching acrid and sulphuric smoke.

Finally, there was their aerial support, although with their lack of forces present the Greater Demon had considered not bringing any at all, but in the end chose caution over pride. Last time it chose pride it had lost the majority of its human slaves to the enemy, even if it managed to succeed in its goal of assisting HER in obtaining that brat's powers. Its aerial support took the form of Tzeentch's beloved 'Screamers' which were often referred to as Magical Manta Rays. How these Demons remained aloft baffled the puny humans minds', alongside their ability to navigate planetary atmospheres as with the void of space with equal ease and speed. As they flew, the Screamers left behind trails of multi-coloured sparks, all while they emitted their piercing, high-frequency whines that gives them their name.

Yet these frail beings proved themselves as nothing more than useful 'pawns' for its game, and that was no joke.

Especially for a creature of its calibur, a Lord of Change.

Sorcery, deception and knowledge are particular delights for Tzeentch. His Greater Daemons, the Lords of Change, embody of all of these, being the chief agents of the Architect of Fate and the most powerful of his Demonic minions.

Like itself, a Lord of Change's appearance was seen as bewildering as it was terrifying - an ever-changing, multi-hued form that defied all mortal reasoning or logic. The most consistent description of their forms would be that they took the form of immense bird-like Demons with shimmering skin, wicked curved beaks and multi-coloured, spectrum-shattering wings. Those who gaze upon these twisted prisms of pure magic begin to feel their sanity shred and reason slip away. However, their most haunting features were their eyes. Within their infinite depths lies the paradoxical wisdom of Tzeentch, and none can withstand the sustained scrutiny of a Lord of Change's gaze without losing their sanity. It is said that when a Lord of Change looks upon a man, that man's soul is opened like a book, revealing his hopes and dreams, as well as the truth of his ultimate failure or success.

A bit of gloating, but nonetheless a true fact, for in its eyes all mortals were mere books, eager to be looked into to please it and to let it manipulate them to its whims. This recent incursion, though, had some… different stakes to it, stakes which the Greater Demon of Tzeentch had been looking forward to clearing for some time now.

"FOOLISH Goddess… TO think, SHE would DARE hide HERSELF and these FRAIL snacks WITHIN a BARRIER as MEDIOCRE as THIS… thinking THIS would KEEP them SAFE from ME… It MAY have WORKED for those MINDLESS 'Abnormals' THESE Mortals CALL them… HOWEVER, it is NOT enough to WARD off a BEING such as I!"

With the amount of time it had spent searching for the last few strongholds of this meagre resistance, the Lord of Change didn't admit it due to demonic pride, but whoever specialized in Magic on their side must have had some blessing on them, to be able to hide from its gaze for so long. Of course, it would have found them eventually, Greater Demons like itself can exist for millennia, so the can learn the art of patience… something which all grand schemes require, a fact any Lord of Change would be a bumbling idiot not to have learned since the moment they were brought into being by their revered master. However, thanks to that little piece of 'baggage' THAT guy had allowed to work with him, a hole had been punctured in the Barrier set up around the City, allowing it to track its location. And what's more, was that she had done so by going through their least guarded entrance, pretty much paving the way for the main force it possessed.

For a non-worshipper of Chaos, that female did a somewhat adequate job.

Now, all it had to do was watch from the rear, like all great schemers did, as its forces tore away at the city by its foundations, bringing the Goddess to it, so it could 'finish what it had started way back when'.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNG!

… Well, that was what was SUPPOSED to happen.

"?!"

The Lord of Change squawked like the bird that it was when all of a sudden, a soaring streak made from black flames with a red outline raced through the air above its head, slamming straight into the aerial force ahead. The scorching heat nearly incinerated the feathers it had up there, not to mention it seemed to melt the snow beneath the Lord of Change into its liquid water form, leaving a trail of water in its wake that quickly made it lose its balance, resulting in it falling onto its back with a loud CRASH sound resonating afterwards. Not only this, but the streak literally FLEW through the entire army, using the immense heat it generated to literally INCINERATE the majority of it, from what it managed to see whilst scrambling back to its bird-like talons. The sharp, loud cries of agony that got released from the Demons that burned to nothing ness filled its ears, as well as anyone within a hundred meters of the destruction, almost like the herald of a massive heat stroke that would incinerate the last of one's water supply.

If that wasn't enough, then several dozen signatures appeared on the Greater Demon's radar, making it quickly expand its senses with Mana in order to trace their positions. Once it was back on its feet that is. It didn't take it long to pinpoint where they were located either, as they soon made themselves known by rapidly speeding across the plains outside the City from both the North and Southern flanks... two groups in a V like formation. Its Mana sensing told it that they weren't very powerful beings in terms of Mana capacity, but their high speeds proved significantly alarming for the Greater Demon.

Only when they came close enough for its demonic vision to identify them, did it manage to witness the cause for their high speeds...

Motorcycles, as the Mortals referred to the as, large, bulky Motorcycles with their pilots being... DWARVES?!

'WHAT?! These DWARVES... they WERE supposed to be SLAVES in the MINES... why ARE they FREE?!'

Thoughts like this flew through the Lord of Change's mind as it witnessed these two groups of Dwarves riding atop their Motorcycles rapidly closing in on the remnants of the enemy. At first, it believed them to be fools for doing so without weapons, as even if they were drastically weakened, they were STILL Demons of immense power in terms of this rock's scaling. However, that soon changed when the Lord of Changed spied something else on their persons too, which became much easier to identify when they pulled them from their hips and howled out a unified war cry.

Large, bulky looking Guns.

'GUNS?! These LOWLIFES managed to ACCESS guns...?! THEY do NOT look NEARLY as ADVANCED as the GUNS that I am USED to, WHICH means THEY were developed with PRACTICALITY in mind, RECENTLY too. In THAT case... I should BLAST them before THEY destroy MY army!'

Many experiences worked with it as the Lord of Change quickly began to chant under an ancient language, its two bare clawed hands crackling dangerously with violent magical energies as it prepared to incinerate each of the Groups. The Lord of Change had zero doubts that its attack would miss, as it would aim where they were going instead of the Dwarves themselves, for that had been the key to catching moving targets as it had discovered back in the past. Furthermore, it looked like the Dwarves weren't expecting an attack by it for some reason, as they didn't even bother to pay it any heed, something which caused a surge of anger to rise up within the Greater Demon's torso.

'MORTAL filth... LET my MAGIC cleanse YOU of YOUR sins!'

With that, it aimed both hands at the two Groups, the violent energies increasing in their ferocity, a sign that its attack would momentarily launch itself at its targets and incinerate the Dwarves with extreme prejudice. Just as it finished chanting in the ancient language, the Greater Demon made to fire its attack off...

Well, it WOULD have, if it weren't for the COLLOSSAL blade of pure fire that vertically split it in half at the last second.

Poor bastard didn't get much of a chance to scream.

(Ost end)


'It is fortunate that we managed to get here on time...'

'FOR SURE, THAT FUCKER LOOKED LIKE IT WAS GONNA PULL SOME BULLSHIT MAGIC ON OUR ASSES!'

'Of course it would, its a Greater Demon of Tzeentch, it has to have specialty in Magic, one of the most annoying things to fight. Too bad that its own arrogance blinded it to myself as it chose the Dwarves over me...'

'Weird, considering we were the ones who dealt with the army's majority...'

If there were several things he had learned about Demons in all his battles with them, then it was that they either thought differently to normal people or they were just fucked in the head... maybe both.

One Crimson Soul floated directly above the demonic Army that he had mostly wiped out, overlooking the incoming slaughter as the Dwarves, riding on their Gear, managed to engage the enemy without fear of being attacked by Magic just as he had promised them they would before all this started. His form was clad in an oppressive, domineering crimson aura, his eyes sporting a dull crimson shine to them as he beheld the frenzied states that the remaining Demons went into as he transmitted his next orders to the leaders of both groups, telling them to keep their distance and peck them off one by one. Chip them away as it were, something which got acknowledged by the two Leaders as they circled around the remaining Demons, firing upon them with extreme Prejudice. Some of them managed to fire off flames of twisted Mana or blasts of magical energy, but they got fired either madly or too wildly to have been any threat, plus with the Motorcycles providing high mobility, there wasn't much danger of them being attacked there, especially since he had dealt with the majority of the enemy army's organisation.

With the progress that the Dwarves were making, and the Greater Demon threat terminated before it could become a problem through the use of a massive fiery blade made from his Hellfire, Crimson Soul thought back to how things had turned out this way.

The past three weeks had been... well, lets say interesting, for lack of a better word.

In the beginning, the Dwarves practically went through a drastic transformation overnight after that meal, becoming slightly taller, bulkier and wider too. It had seemed as though none of them suffered from any backlash from eating in their malnourished state, so that had been dandy, though this didn't stop them from comprehending the situation's severity. With them barely having any resources available to them, they had to make do with the cards they had been dealt, which seemed like the reason why each of them didn't have much issue having Crimson Soul around to keep enemies off their backs whilst they got their act together. Sure, some had protested against the idea, but instead of favouring their original traditions of staying isolated like the male had thought initially, it had been more due to a sense of distrust than anything, which could be considered understandable given their prior slave situation. In the end though, that distrust quickly vanished after a quick few battles that Crimson Soul had with passing Abnormals which had been drawn to them by the smell of food and blood.

Once the initial distrust got patched up, things had gone underway quite smoothly. Turned out that the Dwarves still had some members capable of organising and structuring things, hence they quickly proceeded to gather what resources they could from the mines, intending to use it all to build weapons, fortify the Mine into a defensive base, and generally make sure they could have an actual home over their heads so they didn't get their backsides screwed. It helped that, after the carnage, Crimson Soul in his human form had found and helped pass out what armour and weapons that remained unused to them, though out of wanting to never see them again they each got smelted into metal they could use for other purposes. That had been where his weapon blueprints came in.

Turned out, they were a bit too sophisticated for the Dwarves to completely replicate with their current resources and manpower, so the blueprints weren't of too much use, however it did give them some ideas on how to make their own primal forms of firearms based off those designs. Therefore, whilst they didn't have light firing weapons just yet, it would only be a matter of time till they did, and BOY would that be fun. Still, the fact that Crimson Soul had been able to contribute to their development at all REALLY boosted his popularity with the Dwarven people, especially when Leo and Mark the two children whom he'd saved, vouched for him. Perhaps it helped that he had Lard the Elder's vote too, cause before long, Crimson Soul had found himself assimilated into their group as one of their own.

One thing that DID pique their interest though, was Cavaliere, Crimson Soul's demonic Skimmer. The interest came when he had first shown Leo and Mark how he usually travelled around aside from walking, and the moment they saw the mechanical construct their Dwarven engineering instincts had almost taken them over and made them try to dismantle it. Fortunately for them though, he'd managed to stop that with Lard's help, instead compromising with allowing them to look it over to see how it worked. One thing led to another, and eventually the Dwarves had managed to create prototypes of their OWN Skimmers. Whilst they lacked proper transformation abilities, it was only a matter of time till they managed to mass produce their own Skimmers based off Cavaliere's design, something which the DPU had felt both impressed and concerned about.

Weeks passed, and he'd managed to form somewhat of a close brotherhood with most of the Dwarves, learning of their history, culture and dreams for the future. He had become ESPECIALLY popular with the more warrior like Dwarves who liked to fight, despite them not being the best fighters physically, what with his tales of various battles he'd been in. They'd liked the ones where he fought against Demons and their ilk in particular, but in essence, things like this had happened until one day when he had gotten wind from one of the suspiciously few attempts to reclaim the Mines by the Thousand Sons that there was going to be an attack on a City, one quite far from the Dwarven home base which was supposedly where the 'fake White Heart' had resided. That had been a major alarm in his mind, as it hadn't taken much to clue him in on that likely being where he could find his comrades waiting for him.

Hence, his decision to rush back here...

Though, he hadn't counted on the Dwarves to come with him.

According to them, repaying debts was a major show of loyalty in their culture, they were pretty big on the stuff which the DPU could understand and relate to, given his own code of principals. Hence, for everything that he had done to help them get back on their feet, they had been more than willing to follow him into this battle, listening to whatever orders he gave out using his SHINGAN. At first he had been reluctant, considering he didn't see himself as a proper leader type, but in the end had relented before their resolve to pay him back... though this didn't mean they went at this blind, for they'd debated on various battle tactics during the long drive up here whilst avoiding large clusters of Abnormals. Tactics had been thrown out, tossed aside, considered, and eventually the following strategy had been confirmed.

Crimson Soul would lead the charge and deal with the majority of the troublesome commander-type enemies, as well as their Leader, whilst they would perform hit and run tactics to wear down and eventually defeat the rest. It had worked well.,, more so than he had expected, though that had likely been helped largely by the element of surprise they'd had since the Lord of Change made the mistake of focusing on his demonic signature to notice the Dwarves circling around it to what remained of its army.

He had no doubts that he could have eliminated them all himself, but hey this was about repaying debts and learning to work with others.

'Still, as much as this battle went well, it feels... sort of anti climactic, even if the war isn't over yet.' Crimson Soul thought as the last few remnants of the Demons tried to break through their encirclement to try and escape, only to be mercilessly gunned down by the Motorcycle mounted Dwarves. 'It feels like I've robbed someone of an epic final battle or something along those lines.'

'Think of it like this then, Crimson Soul. The best way to win a battle is to not have to fight at all. When two sides face off, the one with the drive to strike first usually wins, either that or they have the smarts to avoid the battle entirely. This tactic worked so well not just because of the element of surprise, but also because we specialized in high speed and attack power, so with the enemy caught off guard by us, their defeat only became inevitable.'

Biko's words made the DPU hum in understanding, concluding his own thoughts on what had happened to him in these last few weeks. Of course, he knew that things had been to his advantage, but he still felt this way regardless. In any case, as he glanced towards the city itself, Crimson Soul frowned as he surveyed its damaged state. 'Looks like we couldn't prevent all the destruction, though...' he thought, glancing over everything before his gaze landed upon the Basilicom... or to be more specific, the area where he could sense his Comrades' energy signatures. 'I can sense the others close by, feels like they could use some assistance to finish their prey off... seems that Team RAIL's got things under control, since that Killachine looks to be on its last legs, the others... I'll see to them myself once things have been cleared up here.' he thought, before looking upwards towards the clouds and narrowing his eyes.

"You can come out now, observers. I'm aware of your presence here since before the battle began." he stated coldly, holding Soul Edge in his right armoured hand at the ready. Heck, the sword itself seemed to rattle within his grasp, as it if were holding back the urge to fly right out of it's owner's hand to smite something.

Something which came in the form of a chuckle a few seconds later. "You noticed."

After that was said, several figures descended down from their hiding place in the clouds, eyeing Crimson Soul just as he eyed them, the trio giving off the sensation of alpha predators about to duke it out for their territory. The first of the two descending figures turned out to be a male, one who looked to have reached 20 although Crimson Soul knew for a FACT that DPUs had eternal youth on their side. The man had black, frizzy looking hair with crimson coloured eyes, his facial features that of an otome game character... just like Crimson Soul and Mundus, now that he thought about it. He wore a crimson colour around his neck, with a matching dark crimson coloured tie and white dress shirt over his torso. He wore that under a long, black Trench Coat that split into V below the waist to let his black pants and dress shoes be seen, along with the multiple belts wrapped around his left thigh. There was a matching bet wrapped around his waist, whilst the coat itself had ornaments that resembled a military garb, with there being black fingerless gloves on his hands. For weapons, there didn't seem to be any on his person, although Crimson Soul held caution against him anyways.

"Damn finally if ya ask me. Seriously, do ya have to have like a banner waving over yer head saying 'I'm here, ambush me if you like!' or something? No wonder you're so easy to track..." As for the second character, he too looked to be male around a similar age, only he had his own characteristics that the DPU noted. For one, he had silvery white coloured hair, and sky blue eyes. His features also resembled an otome game male character, which sparked an idea inside Crimson Soul's mind although he kept from focusing on it for now. For clothes, he wore a black jacket similar in design to the first one's trench coat, with a white shirt underneath. The former was left open and the latter barely concealed the six to eight pack abs that the male possessed, showcasing intense training and experience. Whilst he wore a black choker around his neck, around his waist was a silver coloured belt, holding in place a pair of black pants and dress shoes, although unlike the first male he didn't have the same two belts. Like his partner, he too didn't seem to possess any physical weapons on his person, but looks could be deceiving so Crimson Soul kept his guard up.

As he observed these two males, Crimson Soul noted the first thing that came to mind, the one thing he had noticed before anything else about these two. "You're both DPUs... there's a powerful Demonic Energy within you..." he muttered, but the two revealed DPUs still heard him.

The white haired man rolled his eyes with a scoff escaping his lips in a mocking manner. "Well, DUH, who else would we have been? So, this is the guy that teach was going on about huh? Meeting you face to face... I'm hard pressed to see why he acknowledges your existence so." He stated, crossing his arms over his chest whilst giving the other DPU a lookover with his gaze. Just this proved to enhance the thick tension surrounding the trio, making it so whoever remained foolish enough to get close enough to them would become oppressed by their combined auras.

"... And you two don't look all that impressive either, if anything if I look like a maggot to you two, then you look even worse in my eyes." Crimson Soul replied coolly, not at all affected by their previous demeanours. Not only that, but to add further salt to injury, he turned his back to them and gestured to it with his free hand. "Tell you what, since you were so adamant about me being careless before, why not try impaling me here, see where that gets you? Mind you this is only a one time thing, so don't expect more freebies after this."

"Wha?! Yooouuu…!"

"Calm yourself Jules."

Just as the white haired male gaped, then growled angrily with narrowed eyes, about to launch a strike with his right hand, an arm shot forth in front of him, halting his progress. The cause, his partner, gave him that statement whilst carrying on when the partner, Jules, made to say something in response. "He was obviously baiting you. The way he gripped his sword was one indicator, but you forget, he's in his true form at the moment so his Wings will be able to protect him from your attacks. #SIGH# even after the DPU Era ended, you haven't gotten over your urge to fight whenever someone tries to annoy you." he explained, whilst internally noting how, in addition to these, there was the fact that his energy felt like it would erupt at any moment, implying that he had multiple different attacks ready to be launched at the same time. Thus, if Jules had went in for the kill like that then things might have ended up getting dicey, not like he would have cared but it would have been more troublesome if he were to have died.

"Well, what do you expect, killing's in our blood, ya'know!"

Whilst the two had this discussion, Crimson Soul began to analyse his potential opponents, cause if not now, then perhaps in the future they would certainly meet on the battlefield. Of this, he felt certain. 'Hmmm... from the looks of it, these two share common traits in DPUs that I've observed both from the memories of the DPU Era, along with what I saw from Mundus. That guy who stopped that Jules character seems to be the cold, calculating type, odds are he's used to a more refined battle style. If I were to guess, he'll be the more tactical one should we fight, although I have nothing on what his abilities might be...' he thought, before switching over to the white haired Jules. 'This other character feels.. a lot more primitive, simplistic, yet with a trace of madness to him. Sort of like Sparda back then... only with a more psychotic nature which resembles some of the fillers I've caught in the past. Both of them seem to be just as much trouble as the other though, since they feel just as powerful as myself just from their energy standpoint. However, what they have over me is likely experience and knowledge... hold on, they said Teacher just now... the 'end of the DPU Era'... and that their Teacher knows me... wait, don't tell me...' A sudden thought process struck him, and his eyes narrowed even further as his grip on Soul Edge tightened. "You two... are you saying that you're..."

With a pause, the black haired male glanced back at Crimson Soul with his own gaze locked firmly into a blank one, yet with an underlying sharpness that eerily resembled a twisted blade. "Your suspicions... are correct. I am not normally so forthcoming, but take this as a reward for showing some level of promise at least: I am Kafka, and along with Jules we are Disciples of the DPU of Death, Mundus." he stated, flaring his power for a moment. This came in the form of a brief aura of dark blue energy overtaking his body, until it passed in the next second... although in that one instance, Crimson Soul identified him as multi-continent class... just like him. Which likely meant this guy's partner was of the same level. "However, we have no intent to fight here, for doing so would be too bothersome. For now, be happy in the knowledge that you've won this battle, but take heed: the battle may be over, but the WAR has just begun."

After that bit of warning, both DPUs then unleashed their auras, dark blue for Kafka and sickly yellow for Jules, before the two of them took off to leave the town, and by extension the people, alone.

...

...

...

...

...

...

"...They're gone. Well, that's a relief."

Crimson Soul spoke this after a moment of silence, his brain running hundreds of miles an hour as he processed these revelations and what they could mean for their future.

'Perhaps it would be wise to save these thoughts for later, when you have several maidens and bros that require your attention.'

But upon Biko's prodding, Crimson Soul snapped out of those thoughts and soon turned to fly deeper into the City...

Before returning so he could tell the Dwarves to follow him inside so they could talk with the Lowee CPU.


Chapter end!

Here you go guys, the last chapter of this part of the Lowee Arc. Now, whilst I haven't included a few things like the canon series where Blanc accepts their help, the reunion between Nico and the others, I feel that there's enough content here to make this a satisfying chapter regardless. Still though, I feel that if I still went with what I originally intended, then this could have been a bit better. But to be honest, I haven't much experience writing siege battles at all, so I doubt I could have pulled that off... plus, its been a while since OEG was updated, and I wanted to conclude this Arc as soon as possible. Furthermore, the reunion scene would have gotten repetitive at this point sine I've done them multiple times before. When I return to this story for the next Arc, I think I'll do a timeskip showing different POV's detailing the aftermath of this little invasion.

Another thing, its come to my attention that a lot of the arcs in this story could be seen as filler, especially the ones which focus on character development like the Hellverse, and even the Gala Arc since that one focused on multiple characters developing their powers further. However, if anyone has ideas on how these arcs could be turned from filler arcs to actual main ones then be my guest and leave comments. I have a few ideas on how to make them more relevant to the main story, so they're not just forgotten. I'll accept any idea suggestions, except the elimination of filler arcs in their entirety cause, lets face it, OEG is a HEAVILY lore-based story, with massive worldbuilding and foreshadowing for future sequels. Therefore, the filler arcs have purpose to them even if they remain as such, so they're going to be a reoccurring thing. Also, to anyone who suggests following the canon of the Lowee arc ion rebirth 1, that's going to be impossible for several reasons: One, storywise, the entire Nation's mostly isolated by the Barrier keeping them inside, so attempts to get out into other Nations will be hazardous at best (you all saw what had happened when the Party had tried getting in). Two, the canon story has been altered so heavily by my writing that its more feasible to develop my own original storyline to carry the plot forwards.

One Idea I'm thinking of, is splitting the groups into multiple smaller ones and have small arcs dedicated to them overcoming various trials across Lowee. With the foundations built in previous chapters, there's all sorts of potential routes that could be explored, like going to ruins to find hope-seeking survivors, or trying to find out the enemy's plans by raiding convoys. Heck, even some Abnormal Slaying could help, or perhaps showcasing how Nico commands the Dwarves as their temporary 'leader' at least in his eyes. Another is likely a 'joint arc' exploring the Yoma side of things and where they came from, which would become a Claymore themed arc (great manga by the way, recommend it highly just for its monster designs alone) whereas the other arc which would take place at the same time, would be a scouting based one where the participants would encounter some... quite ominous opposition that's been growing in the shadows, opposition that has a HUGE part to play in Tzeentch's overall scheme.

There's just SO much I can go with from here, that I'm having trouble confirming, but in the meantime I think I'll stop here and work a bit on other fanfics I have planned. At least here you guys can speculate, theorize and comment about what could happen. Heck, if anyone wants, I could open a discord server where you all ca discuss ideas on how it could proceed.

Anyways, I think that's all for now, hope you like the chap and see you all in the next arc.

Peace Out!


EDIT: Made the Discord, and the link is now on my Profile if anyone wants to sign up