Chapter 209 - Calm before the Storm

You know the feeling of satisfaction that things were going so well for oneself yet there was still this immense eagerness to finally get everything that one wanted? That feeling of eager anticipation when a plan is just moments away from coming together, yet the frustration for not having gotten everything yet would be slowly killing oneself inside. It was the kind of feeling that one got moments before everything they had worked for, through all the struggles, sacrifices and mishaps, began bearing the fruits that one so desperately craved.

Yet, upon the glorious day when that sweet moment would finally arrive, one would discard any and all pretense and ravenously devour it's goodness like they were nothing but a wild beast. An example of this would be the moment when a predator finally catches their elusive prey after a prolonged time hunting them down, missing multiple opportunities due to accidents and screw-ups, leading to a lot of frustrating nights, yet all of it would have become a mere memory the moment the predator gorges themselves on the meat and spoils of their long anticipated victory.

THAT feeling was what coursed through one Count Mott at the moment, as he pulled his member out of his latest 'conquest' with a heavy sigh of relief escaping his mouth, feeling much of his stress having been dealt with in his most favourite past time.

As for the conquest, this time it wasn't one of the many female servants whom he had 'broken' into being his personal cum dumpsters and pleasure sluts, but a rather… new addition to his collection. One whom he had a more personal fondness for considering the work he had to do in order to 'acquire' her. The conquest this time was actually a young maiden, of at least 15 years of age (he wasn't completely sure, Mott didn't give enough of a damn at the time to check) with waist-length blue hair that had multiple 'stains' across it, broken-looking blue eyes that used tobe full of rebellious fire to them, until the Count had gotten through to her last night.

For the life of him, he couldn't recall what this thing's name had been, but Mott DID faintly recalled it having been a student at some prestigious academy for Nobles or something, but he didn't pay too much attention to that since well, with the position he had leveraged and the power he held, there were few people who could contest him. It was like he stood atop a tall peak looking down at some ants that were so far beneath him, that they didn't register as anything worth acknowledging. The BEST thing about this piece of ass had been it had a body that many men, old and young, wanted to ravish to their hearts content… himself included. It was just that Count Mott had just been the one to actually succeed.

Now, this conquest in particular, had a bit of history to it that even Count Mott acknowledged, and that spoke a lot considering how he didn't even regard those he dominated as his pleasure sacks as living beings. She had been the daughter of one of his rival Nobles who had been close to reaching a similar position to himself, something which Count Mott did NOT like whatsoever. Things had gotten progressively slower in the whole political world thanks to the ongoing war with Chaps and the Abnormals, hence Mott wanted to keep the amount of rivals he had for further power in the single digits.

Hence, he had worked tirelessly to not only slander and defame the noble and his entire family, not wanting any loose ends, but to also deal with those who had favoured him through bribery and some… more permanent methodologies for those who refused to had only been last night when he had managed to acquire this trophy after her father got axed off somewhere, her male siblings and relatives being dealt with in a similar manner, whilst the emails got sold off to his co-conspirators as a 'reward' for their loyalty.

Really, men were such simple creatures… made manipulating them by their base desires much easier.

'Still, aside from that…' Count Mott began in his mind as he rolled off his bed and began putting his robes back on, intending to leave the conquest on the bed covered in his essence for some servant to collect and deal with. Though considering how obedient the conquest had been and the lengths he'd gone to in order to obtain it, perhaps Mott would spend a similar amount of time pounding said pleasure sack into the bedsheets, it'd definitely entice and 'excite' the other sluts that he had at his disposal since they'd became attached to his mighty wood. 'Considering that things have been going well on THAT side of things over in that damn winter wasteland, perhaps the time is nearing for me to make my final move…'

As he left his bedroom for his study, his thoughts wandered over to the phenomenon which was causing quite a stir over in that other Nation: The Youma. Creatures which were bio-engineered from the many 'failures' of society, and by failures the man meant those who didn't submit to his whims like they should. By his reckoning, a lot of that cold Nation should have been eliminated by them since they mostly consisted of weak, pitiable 'mages' which were far too inferior to real physically dominant warriors, to the point where he could call them sticks instead of actual people and it would still be as accurate as a cowboy hitting a bullseye.

Unfortunately, the man knew that the first batch that had been sent over there would prove to be of little more use to his client than simple cannon fodder, as despite countless experiments those had been the only types that they had been capable of manufacturing in bulk, therefore they hard kept on supplying only the weaker ones to that Nation until some of the stronger ones could be tamed and then shipped on over.

That had been nearly a month ago already, so he found himself a little curious about how things were going over there… but not enough to the point where he could say that he 'cared'. All he truly cared about were either breaking the 'toys' which caught his eye, and his own ambitions to rise to the top.

'Thinking about it, now that the whole truce is going on the entire political landscape is just starting to settle down, with those pathetic old flesh bags slowly finding their positions in this new system…' Count Mott began to think as the gears in his mind started to turn, well oiled down thanks to the full night session that he had with his latest conquest. He then shook his head as if to chastise himself. 'No Mott, hold your horses, the time isn't right as of this moment. I must bide my time some more though, because from what I was told by that woman and… her company…' A brief shudder went down the Noble's spine when he thought about the… thing which accompanied a certain grey haired woman wearing a witch-like outfit. He didn't know a thing about him, but something in his gut told him that he shouldn't push his luck with him unlike any rabble he had grown used to dominating. Still, despite his nervous look, Mott still had a dark smirk on his lips as his eyes gleamed menacingly.

'...things will be getting REALLY interesting in the future…'


"Ugh…. ugh…"

"Oh, shut yer hole, ya weakling ass bitch. That was simply a breeze, no even LESS than such and you're starting to whine this early into the game? It's a miracle that this world even exists at all still in this era… damn those two and their accursed seal…"

Whilst she caught her breath and used her Glaive as a crutch for support, Arfoire would have raised her head to glare and yell obscenities at the one who had mocked her like that... had it been anyone else but one of the strongest DPUs in the DPU Era. Right now, Mundus sat with one foot over his thigh on top of a tall rock, looking at her with his piercing gaze like he was looking at a set of trash bags that had been ripped open to spill their contents onto the floor. It wasn't a look which Arfoire hadn't become used to, for ever since this had happened he had given her that look enough to where she had grown numb to it.

The two could hardly be considered anywhere in Gamindustri right now, something which the woman who had been the mastermind behind a LOT of crimes taking place in the world had been eerily made aware of. In fact, through her multiple centuries worth of living, Arfoire had NEVER seen a place like this, not even in the few books which she had regarding the DPUs. Right now, an unchanging night covered the abyss above that had been designated as a 'sky', whilst an endless white desert covers the ground. Surrounding them, one could see some tree-like objects, scattered throughout the whole landscape which looked larger than all four nations put together, though Arfoire had already learned that those tree-like objects were not plants, but rather quartz-like minerals.

Black and wite, yin and yang…

Arfoire started to see a pattern here, but she didn't dare voice her opinions for fear of retaliation. She had seen WAY too many of the victims that Mundus left in his wake to make THAT mistake… The guy had more fetishes or perhaps was an omnivore in every sense of the word, something which repulsed her to the core though she also kept that hidden.

What had they been doing that had resulted in her being this tired, one might ask? Simple, ever since the failed attack on the resistance base 1 month ago, Mundus and Arfoire had been locked in a RIGOROUS training routine, one which even describing it as rigorous or torturous felt like an understatement. The way it worked was that Mundus would spar with Arfoire to pretty much revitalize her entire fighting style since she, well, had none, having only relied on her copying ability far too much for Mundus' tastes. To him, if Arfoire were to fight someone who knew their way around that ability, she'd be screwed, and only he would have that from his servant. That had been what he had been using her for a lot of the time, anyways.

Apparently, the style he had been teaching her was actually a style based around a Spear style from a DPU he'd fought in the past, one who called himself the 'Heavenly Demon' for some strange reason, having taught her various martial arts moves, skills with a Polearm that were primarily made for a Spear but remodelled to fit her Glaive, and even something called a 'Cultivation Manual' which had the name of 'Tempered True Blossom' which had been a combination of two different cultivation methods, the 'Dark Flower' and the 'completed method of the tempered orthodox Ki' whatever this 'Ki' thing was.

By the time that he would almost win against her. Mundus would then vanish and Arfoire would be left alone. Initially she had thought that to be a form of respite for her to recover, but NOPE. She should have thought otherwise, as not a couple seconds later did she get surrounded by this place's residents: these strange creatures that had HOLES in their CHESTS and these huge, white masks that varied in appearance. Afterwards, Arfoire would have had to channel everything she could have learned through this sparring to fight them off, breaking her body down in the process. Then, when the woman had brutally killed them by chopping their heads off, the man would appear in her blind spot for a beheading. Almost died the first few times till she had gotten the message and had learned to dodge those surprise attacks.

FWOOSH-CLANG!

Instincts quickly alerted her, combined with the subtle changes in air pressure around her that she'd been able to learn how to feel, Arfoire reflexively stood up from her previous crouching position whilst raising her Glaive. Good thing she did too, cause she just barely managed to dodge a metallic spike from taking her eye out from behind if she hadn't reacted fast enough.

FWOOSH-FWOOSH-CLANG-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-CLANG-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-CLANG-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-CLANG-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-CLANG-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-CLANG-!

Multiple strikes got launched by the two of them with Arfoire chaining her attacks together in a seemingly flawless flow, constantly adjusting her grip on her Glaive right after one attack in order to launch another with the precision of someone used to fighting large armies on her lonesome, resulting in her strikes increasing in their speed, strength and reactivity. Yet, to her internal dismay, it all seemed to prove practically pointless in the face of Mundus and his almost transcendent levels of control over that spike. He wielded it like he were a master class samurai warrior wielding a Katana that they had fought against countless enemies with, resulting in none of her strikes breaking through his defences… worse still, was that Arfoire knew for a FACT that Mundus had been holding back just now. He could have killed her many times over in this exchange, but he chose not to for whatever reason.

"Hmph… so, you're finally starting to not suck to the point where I can stand looking at that shoddy stick swinging you call your fighting style…" Mundus commented, trailing off as he tossed the spike off into the distance casually, no longer seeing the point of using it any longer. Also, by into the distance… This meant he tossed it across hundreds of miles with no issue, which made Arfoire wonder if the brat who was with Neptune and the others, that red haired kid, could do the same if he didn't have those inhibitions restricting him. "About damn time, I was on the verge of losing my temper with that piss poor learning ability you have. If I left you like this, then your usefulness to me as a tool would be way too limited, nothing more than a pathetic bed warmer for the night…"

''Losing my temper' he says…' Arfoire remarked,mentally suppressing her urge to bristle at the man's callous regard for women. She then set about glancing behind her at several craters in the distance, about 100 miles off… craters which had been large and deep enough to swallow entire cities…

Yeah, she did NOT want to get on his bad side right now.

'And to think, this isn't even his full power… DPUs may have earned their reputation as being terrifying forces…'

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-!

Just as Mundus raised a hand to launch a sneak attack whilst Arfoire had looked like she had been distracted, a couple voices broke through the atmosphere that both of them recognized. Whilst Arfoires' eyes widened at the voices, Mundus hardly had any reaction at all as what looked like cracks in the air itself, blacker than night, started to grow out of seemingly nothing, spreading upwards and downwards. The more these cracks grew, the more the space at their centre of formation started to open up like a mouth being opened, revealing a black space behind it.

Two figures then jumped out from behind the Tear in space and time itself, landing in kneeling positions before mundus with their heads lowered in reverence,making fists with their right hands and holding them within the palm of their left ones at stomach level. With their getups, their demonic feeling energy, along with their rather otome game character-like appearances…

It turned out they were the same people whom Nico had encountered as Crimson Soul when he had helped his companions defeat the Yoma a month prior. The two DPUs known as Kafka and Jules: Mundus' two disciples.

"...You two…"

A low smirk then graced Mundus' features, much to Arfoire's surprise since she had very rarely seen him smirk like that. Well, except when he was surrounded by death that he had caused himself or when he played some of his 'games' with the recently deceased souls. "Looks like the 'brats' that have raised have been doing some growing up whilst I was away taking that power nap…" he remarked, looking through their energies and noting the differences that they possessed compared to the past. Uncaring for her thoughts on his mannerisms, Mundus crossed his arms under his chest, taking a few strides forwards which caused his coat to flutter at the bottom behind him.

Both males lowered their heads further, with Jules looking like he wanted to explode into cheer and merriment at the praise being offered to him by his teacher, whilst Kafka remained indifferent. One could say that the former was one of those 'notice me senpai' characters, the kind of person who would do anything for their senpai's approval, whereas the latter remained calm and indifferent on the outside… yet if one looked into his energy signature, they would be able to sense a great deal of respect within him, the respect any good student gave to their mentor.

"Really, you two grew up…"

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!

"?!"

"?!"

"...Into QUITE the rebellious teens, I'd say."

'THERE it is… there's the clincher…' Arfoire couldn't help but think to herself, sweat dropping at how, just at the top of a hat Mundus had went from kind and approving to just downright menacing in terms of aura… whilst still keeping that same smirk on his face. It looked much darker, sinister and more evil though… just like what she had been used to seeing from him all these training sessions. Moreover, Mundus' energy had erupted forth from him like a volcanic eruption, filling the entire atmosphere across the land with a heavy pressure that SLAMMED the two DPUs head first into the sandy plains with two craters large enough to bury their entire forms in being made from the impact.

"... Really… for the two of you to disobey my orders and EXPOSE yourselves to Sparda's weakass Champion like that… even when I told you NOT to do that… really, what ever happened to your memories? I guess all these millennia have made you forget, even if that should be impossible considering how the brain remembers everything. Still, you two must have forgotten how to FEAR the hands of death, haven't you?" Mundus mused with his smile getting wider and wider by the second, to the point where it would have split his face in half and revealed the sharp fangs that lay behind his lips. Not only that but his eyes glowed a brilliant purple colour, to the point where his eyes bore down upon his two Disciples Behind him, a faint silhouette began to manifest from his energy alone, something which may not have had a proper form to call it's own, but just it's sheer presence ALONE made Arfoire want to run to the darkest corners of the cosmos and pray for her soul that it never found her for eternity.

"O… O...Our apologies, Teacher! We were wrong! This Student humbly apologizes for his actions!"

"... ugggh…. Ohhhhh… yeah, that's the spot…"

"Apologize to Teacher RIGHT NOW otherwise I'll feed your balls to a chainsaw! 20 TIMES!"

Whilst the calmer of the two disciples, Kafka, apologized profusely to the point where he looked like he would form a small lake from all the sweat rolling off of him, the brasher of the two Disciples, Jules, looked like he were on cloud nine, prompting Kafka to quickly scowl at him and hiss out a threat to him to get him to comply. A threat he would GLADLY make a reality since he knew for a fact that his Teacher had a big thing for death, just like the three of them did. The thing was, under all that bravado and foolish brashness, his companion turned out to be a major masochist, getting off on the pain of being beaten especially if it were to reach the edge of death itself. Jules would just be brought to a near orgasm since his kinks revolved around his masochism. Guy even once let a monster violate him in the ass with some poison semen just to get himself on the verge of death as a way of coping without their teacher's 'discipline' he enjoyed so much back in their prime era.

"... Hmph." In an instant, Mundus huffed as he dispelled his aura and retracted his power into himself, giving his two disciples a chance to breathe again. Although he had already been aware of Jules little habits, he didn't really care as he turned his back to the two, glancing behind him at them through the corner of his eye. "If things were like they were back in our time, I'd have ripped out your souls and used them as my playthings for eternity. However, I'll overlook it this time though, since you DID do the other thing I wanted you to: help my little toy here with convincing that god of pencilneck frail sticks to take over most of Lowee with those other wimpy pencil necks. If anything though, Lowee should resemble a lot of what we once knew by now: a land filled with tiny little maggots that need to be mopped up… Has THAT scientist motherfucker started waking up yet?"

Kafka lowered his head in response after having gotten onto all fours, Jules still content to lay on the ground in peace with a blissful smile on his lips, drool escaping his mouth from the familiar sensations coursing through him that he hadn't felt in this way for millennia now. "He has already started moving, Teacher. Looks like the drastic shift in Lowee's life has finally stirred his consciousness enough for him to wake up. His situation as of present is similar to yours, however he seems to be taking a different approach to gaining himself a body." Kafka reported in reverence, his words quickly gaining Arfoire's interests even if she had to remain silent or risk facing the DPU's wrath, and Mundus would only stop him once she would be on the verge of death… if only so he could screw her body a few times whilst keeping her ON that edge. Bastard had some kinks after all... with necrophilia being one of them.

Hearing that caused a flash of irritation to go through the DPU of Death's eyes as he turned away from his Disciples and began walking back to Arfoire, intent on continuing the training with his Disciples forgotten for the time being. "Hmph, that lazy git." Mundus snarled whilst rolling his eyes. "I bet he just wants his 'perfect being' to be born already, just as he always did. Bastard probably would have woken up sooner than this, but he just wanted there to be a large quantity of life around him for his research for that goal, otherwise he'd not be arsed. Fuckhead's not a mad scientist for nothing. Anyways, it sounds like he's using that so- called 'Chaos God' and it's plans to his advantage, just like that thing had predicted. Damn thing reminds me way too much of these pathetic wimpy ass politicians for my liking." The man then arched a brow when he realized something, turning back to the two Disciples and glancing between them. A flash of confusion and annoyance passed through him as the DPU of Death flared his power slightly. "Okay, now I KNOW someone's been taking the piss out of me, that destiny fucker most likely. Where the hell is the third one? He was supposed to respond to his master's summons IMMEDIATELY." He questioned the two.

Just as Kafka made to respond, Jules suddenly lifted his head, his eyes shining with childish annoyance as he sat cross legged on the sandy dune, huffing indignantly. "Pfft, that guy? Dude's been doing his own thing, going from Planet to Planet and raining down meteors like it's going out of fashion. Calls himself the one winged Angel, too… He didn't respond immediately to our summons, but according to mister strong and silent over here," He then gestured to Kafka, who glared at him silently which Jules ignored. "Told him that 'Ouranos had reappeared', whatever that means."

Hearing this, a flash of realization and understanding passed through Mundus's eyes, after a moment of confusion and anger that one of his students from the DPU Era had dared disobey a summons to him. Afterwards, a dark chuckle of amusement escaped his lips as he spoke once more with a bit of mirth. "Ah, NOW I get it. He's still a bit butt hurt, even after all these millennia that his rival hasn't been around. No wonder he only answered when that was mentioned…" Mundus remarked, chuckling some more whilst shaking his head in slight exasperation. "Whelp, since he's coming here… and that other one's with that weakling Champion of Sparda's… oh, I can guess how big the bloodbath will be when he gets here…"

Some ominous chuckles escaped him, which reverberated across the entire sandy desert, sending dreading sensations through all that heard him.


Sometimes… sometimes he just couldn't believe the situations that he ended up in, even as he had experienced them first hand. If his past self were to look at him right now, he wondered what kind of face he would make, what kind of thoughts he'd have… heh, nah, he already knew.

'Tis a good day, don't you think…?'

One Nico, Spec Ops Agent and Ghoul/DPU Hybrid thought this to himself, a wry smirk behind his Mask which he had over his face whilst the roaring of his Motorcycle's Engine, the said vehicle's name being Cavalier, across a vast Plain whilst heading back to the Resistance HQ. His light blue eyes gleamed with a sense of sweet victory, a thrill that usually came with a successful outing and he would therefore be able to return to his companions with his head held high. The boy could feel the wind pressing itself against his face as he moved towards his destination, brushing through his hair and carrying along with it the usual biting Lowee cold climate.

Even with the Land as warped and corrupted as it were, Nico could still find some similarities to what it once was and enjoy them… for it helped him entertain the possibility of it reverting back to that glory, even if there would be scars left behind.

Speaking of scars, the redhead wasn't alone in his journey back home, as a whole battalion of Dwarves riding their Skimmers were riding behind him. Several of them were howling in victory, raising their various weapons to the heavens above as if they had gone through something that defied the will of the divine, which wasn't too off the mark considering, whilst some headbutted one another in merry cheer, others shaking their heads at those people's antics but with amused grins/smirks on their faces. Heck, there actually weren't just Dwarves amongst them right now, for there were also a few people with dark blue skin and elongated ears, wearing long clothing consisting of coats and baggy legwear with fur over the trims. Most of them were men, with a few females among them, and they looked to be more… reserved, yeah that felt apt to describe their moods, than the rowdy dwarves.

'It is a good day indeed, especially considering what we managed to accomplish,,,'

'BAH, IT'S NOTHING MAJOR, YOU TWO TWATS. IF WE CAN'T REEL IN THE BIG CATCHES EVEN AFTER A MONTH, THAT TO ME IS JUST PATHETIC.'

'We have to have the supplies and the numbers for what you want us to do, Byakko. A full scale assault on one of the Chaos bases here would incur too heavy a losses for us in our present state…'

His multiple personas had their OWN opinions on what he had just thought, with Biko his Demon Persona having agreed with him, the day being especially good due to the mission they had just succeeded in pulling off. Something Nico himself personally agreed with. The thing was, they had just attacked a pretty large convoy of Chaos troops which had been transporting supplies and intelligence to one of the many strongholds that they had erected across the Land of White Serenity, these things being the black 'stains' which the CPU, Blanc AKA Lady White Heart,had seen as that she wanted to wipe out as soon as possible so she could restore Lowee to its former glory. Things like attacking Convoys for weapons, armour, supplies and intel was something that him and his… group, one could say, held a bit of specialty towards considering how long they'd been going at it for. Though, perhaps in the future they could launch their own 'DIRECT' strikes against the enemy if they kept this pace up…

Something which his Ghoul Persona, Byakko, felt REALLY adamant about doing, which made sense considering that he represented Nico's own fighting instincts, and deep down the redhead admitted to sharing in his impatience. His Ghoul side wanted to have as much exercise as possible considering the unique circumstances that this land had been put under, circumstances which resulted in the Ghoul in him being able to be let loose much more often than ever before AND without fear of being discriminated against or being restrained too much by the main self. The redhead could understand a lot of his feelings, even if his Ghoul side refused to admit to having the capacity to feel emotions. Still, as much as he wanted to say that Biko was completely right, in the end Nico was a warrior, not to mention a powerful Demon God who could level multiple continents if he wanted to, but kept himself in check for his comrades. Still, he wasn't someone who felt particularly suited to planning and scheming, he'd rather leave that to the pencilneck politicians and Mages in this world whilst he himself just ripped and tore away at those who hindered him.

He'd say THIS world because of a few… instances, which had been happening more times than he'd like to count.

Now, lets have some context to this situation, shall we?

'Can't believe it's been a month since Neptune and the others had found the real Lady White Heart…'

Indeed, it HAD been a month since that fateful day, one month since things had changed quite abruptly from what the Party (especially Nico and the CPUs themselves) were used to.

For the redhead, the first thing that he did after nearly crushing the Party members in hugs (yeah he included Aiden and Ivan in that cause they were his bros, and Nico would make sure that they knew that), had been to talk to the CPU of Lowee herself. Of course, from the moment that she had met him the Lowee CPU had been QUITE cautious towards him with a vast amount of militia present whilst they had talked outside of her Basilicom. He understood why since the redhead HAD entered the scene in his DPU Form after all, and from what he had gathered the teen had believed that they had many bad experiences with his kind… not like that was anything new to him.

If anything, it likely was only due to the fact that Theta had vouched for him that they didn't try shooting him on the spot, not like that would have done anything to be frank.

Though, this DID lead to some interesting things regarding Nico and the Dwarves. After repelling the Tzeentch invasion for the CPU, things should have ended for them there. Nico had upheld his part of the bargain, keeping his word and helped get the Dwarves back onto their feet so they could prosper again. As such, Nico hadn't seen much need to stay with his new Dwarven companions any longer and had expected them to part ways afterwards.

But in the end the threat of Chaos still existed, not to mention there were other problems that now dominated Lowee currently. As such, even if they tried to rebuild their race things likely wouldn't go so well and they'd eventually get overrun and butchered. Therefore, it would be best for them to continue what they had been doing as an independent fighting force, something which the majority of the Dwarves had approved of once a survey had been sent out for them.

As such, Nico decided (after consulting the Party first and explaining the situation) to stay with the Dwarves for most of the Month, lending advice when they needed it but mostly wielding his sword/claws for them on the battlefield. He'd still visited his comrades as often as possible, since it had been weeks since he'd seen them and all and Nico wanted to hold them forever, but in the end a change had started to happen. The more battles that he helped them in, the greater the trust in him the Dwarves developed, which had already been significant enough thanks to spending time with then… until Nico found himself in a permanent leadership position after a bit of 'bait and switch by the Elder Dwarf, Lard.

Of COURSE Nico tried to refuse at first, but in the end his complaints fell into the void mostly due to the sheer FAITH that the Dwarves apparently had in him.

It helped that they had made a deal with Lady White Heart, one which as long as they helped disrupt Chaos operations across the Continent like raid their transport routes for supplies and stuff, then the Basilicom would give them information about where possible Slave Camps were located so they could liberate the Slaves within. That would in turn boost their fighting capacity as well as help them gain protection from the various forces contesting for dominion over Lowee.

Still, Nico had managed to get other stuff out of it since he had learned of the truth behind the whole Spec Ops situation that he'd been wondering about, and BOY was that a bit of an eye opener?

Apparently, thanks to Conversation (AKA Arfoire as he soon informed Blanc) pretty much subverting the whole political system using her influence, a whole hoard of monsters, Demons and Abnormals came en masse, slaughtering everything in sight. This included a major portion of militia, Adventurers, Guild Agents and Spec Ops Agents, chief among them being the majority of the higher ups… the higher ups who knew about his Ghoul Side and would have been his 'jailors' whilst he stayed in Lowee like there were Jailors for the other three nations.

That meant that only a small portion of Lowee's Spec Ops Force remained, and those were some of the strongest Agents that the Resistance had. Though what the redhead had taken from this was that, as of this war, Nico's 'shackles' would be non-existent, leaving him a free predator… one couldn't even BEGIN to imagine the level of glee he felt about that.

Heck, his Ghoul Side would rather die than admit it, but he had sneaked off to go do a bit of a tap dance routine whilst hooting for joy…

Not knowing that Nico had mentally recorded it for future blackmail…

"Yo, boss man!"

Briefly, Nico got pulled from his thoughts as he glanced behind him, seeing one of the Dwarven leaders slowly riding up to him. Like a lot of the dwarves, this guy held the height and girth of one of their species, yet his dark eyes held the wisdom and experience of a seasoned combat veteran. He wore simple blacksmithing clothes with shoulder pads, gauntlets, a chestplate and greaves over his body, yet his biggest features would be the large beard and moustache combo he sported, coloured an brownish colour just like his hair.. "Yes, Gimli? What is it?" The lad questioned, arching his uncovered brow.

Gimli, if one wanted to know about him, then just like the one who he's referenced to, he was one of the Dwarves whom he had helped back at that Camp before he'd destroyed those Tzeentch forces. He'd been a well-respected member of the community before everything went to shit, having chosen to serve as a symbol of morale for the others or rather an example of Dwarven pride that they could take solace in. After the liberation however, he'd become someone whom Nico could see had a GREAT knack for leadership, to the point where the sole Dwarven elder known as Lard had to appreciate his ability. He had been someone Nico often asked for advice on how they should act and operate even if the redhead had been assimilated into the Dwarven community.

"Hey there, Gimli, how's it going? Did you manage to one-up Legolas back there?" Nico asked with a slight smirk behind his Mask, his lone eye filled with amusement as he recalled how this Dwarf in particular had a BIT of a rivalry with one of the Ice Elves, a hunter by the name of Legolas. One which the prideful Elf reciprocated.

Gimli on the other hand, let out a sneer and a scoff at the same time. "Bwah, that long ears didn't even come close to my count, this time! Hahahahaha, when it comes to accuracy, guns reign supreme!" The Dwarf proclaimed, laughing afterwards.

If his Mask wasn't on, then Nico's grin would have resembled that of his said facewear as he spoke in a rather playful, teasing tone. "That's not what I heard from the boys back there. One of them said that he went and took down an entire Tower's worth of Youma."

THAT sunk the Dwarf's bravado down, as Gimli gave him a dry glare. "... that STILL only counts as one!"

"Heh. Well anyways, sounds like you two had a good game this time."

"Aye, some of the boys chose to make some bets on who would have the higher kill counts." The Dwarven man responded, chuckling in amusement whilst caressing the rear end of his gun which lay strapped to his back. His expression then shifted, turning from one of mirth to one of seriousness. "But in all seriousness, laddie. Some of the boys have been getting anxious, they wanna have a bigger fish to fry. With this haul we got, aye think it's nearing the time where we can invade one of the smaller strongholds. The bois and I agree that it's the case, too, and as such we have a list of possible options assembled." Gimli replied, glancing back and nodding towards several older Dwarves who nodded their heads in agreement.

Hearing this, Nico began to ponder it, whilst also reflecting on how much had changed with the Dwarves. Over the last month, Nico and the Dwarves had grown considerably in number, having reached about 400+ in strength. This was mostly due to having found and rescued various other Dwarven tribes who had been under similar slave-like circumstances for the Cult of Chaos. Knowing that they would crave vengeance, Nico ensured that after they had been rescued, each willing Dwarf had gotten the chance to join in the efforts to fight against the Tzeenthian forces, to which the Dwarves proved QUITE effective in.

This scenario had repeated itself quite a few times with not just their kind, but also a race of Elves which Nico had heard about, a nomadic race known as the Ice Elves which resided within Lowee. Apparently, they had managed to avoid the forces of Chaos thanks to them knowing quite a bit about the terrain and where the enemy would likely camp out at. Thanks to their innate ability to cloak themselves to essentially turn invisible to the naked eye, Ice Elves were considered as great hunters as well as effective combat scouts, so when they met with Nico one day whilst the redhead had been scouting an enemy convoy… Well, let's just say a bet got made. Whoever would raid the convoy for it's supplies would have the ability to rule over the other, to which at that point Nico, who had somehow found himself leading the Dwarves he had helped without realizing it, eventually managed to pull it off through some quick thinking and some tactics based off his existing knowledge about their ways.

Of course, the Ice Elves hadn't been too happy about that and had tried to skirt their way around the deal, but through a series of events that will be explored at a later date, they eventually joined Nico's growing group, which only continued to grow as more tribes of Abnormals joined up with him.

One might consider Nico the leader of a growing Mercenary group, one which he had given the name: Tekkadan.

"Hmmm… let me meet with the rest of the Elders and we'll discuss it further. This is only a small raiding party so we'll have to have a unanimous vote for such an outing." Nico replied, remembering how he'd tried to set up a system of management within the Merc Group. The way that they worked was that they had a chain of command for the entire MG, there was the Administration which consisted of Nico himself as the Leader, as well as the Eldest Members of each Tribe serving as a council of sorts. This was so that every Tribe that had joined the Tekkadan had someone who spoke for their interests, and so far it served to work well since everyone had a voice of which to speak, and it helped them make more of a unanimous choice on what to do. This had been something Nico had thought up to help compensate for his lacking in leadership, this way he would be able to know EXACTLY what his troops wanted and, if he detected anything amiss (which was quite simple considering that it was made mandatory that he would have his SHINGAN Ring active during meetings, combined with his negative emotion sensing), Nico would be able to know and act upon it.

One might consider it a bit intrusive but Nico believed that the only reason why people joined up with him and the Tekkaidan in the first place was for safety, since in the end despite their appearances being not too different from normal folk, they WERE Abnormals and HE was a Spec Ops Agent. Obviously there would still be some distrust from some of the members, something which Nico had been working on this last month.

Fortunately he had some competent people around to help him make these kinds of choices, like Lard for example, and one such method for mitigating this problem's consequences… was Socializing.

When not conducting raids on enemy encampments, not being constantly on the move throughout Lowee or even beyond, what kind of relaxing activities were there for the troops to use to wind down? As a merc group without a proper base to call their own, this problem got remedied by, well, having each member of the group have their own Bracer's like the ones which Nico possessed. Not only were they quite versatile in their functions, they also solved quite the few needs that the Tekkadan had. They had practical functions, as well as games, internet access, even chat rooms so none of them would get bored easily… when they weren't drinking and eaten like mad beasts.

Of course it wasn't perfect, but if there was anything he had learned, it was that nothing truly was.

'Yeah… we all have problems, nothing is ever truly perfect…' Nico thought as he and the raiding party neared the home of the Resistance HQ. 'But… it's how we handle these problems going forwards that defines us…'


Later, once Nico had returned to the Town, one which he recalled its name being ALPHADREAM when he'd first arrived there with the Dwarves as Crimson Soul, the redhead delivered the usual report to the Basilicom Staff before heading off on his way again.

'Looks like she's absent this time, too…' However, it would seem that something had begun growing as a problem, Nico had noticed as he thought this whilst pocketing his hands inside his Trench Coat, walking through the city streets with a single destination in mind.

It had started happening a while ago, but it seemed as though Lowee's CPU was wary of him or something, as since the whole alliance founding meeting Nico himself hadn't seen her whenever he'd come to deliver these reports. The only reason why this was the case that he could think of, turned out to be that she had reservations about trusting him due to him being a DPU, as his eyes had quickly detected multiple foreign energies within Blanc that… weren't her own.

Though the said teen soon shrugged it off, thinking that he would need more information about that problem before he could tackle it, so he made a mental note to launch an investigation about it if he got the chance.

Once he brought himself back into reality, Nico blinked with his uncovered eye when he found himself standing before his destination: a small Tavern-like building and one of the few which weren't shaped like a Mushroom in this Continent. It actually looked like one of those houses one would see in a small Lastation town, with an upside down V shaped roof, made with wood and stuff with a chimney near the back.

Upon seeing the name Of the Tavern on a sign hanging beside the door 'prancing pony' with a pony's head sticking it's tongue out with a rather dumb expression as a symbol, Nico could only sweat drop as he took his Mask off and put it back in his Void Storage. He even lowered his hood, adjusting his Collar afterwards and fixing his hairstyle. 'Figures HE would choose this spot for our little… reunion.' The teen thought in some amusement, before he opened the door and stepped inside.


After stepping inside and noting the atmosphere, a wave of nostalgia swept over him as Nico mentally chuckled, finding the strange sense of deja vu to be rather comforting. 'Heh, feels like old times already…' the redhead male thought, glancing throughout the Tavern as he noted how it looked. With rows of tables and stools, the whole place looked to be quite lively. People of all kinds of backgrounds, from adventurers, to Maids, men and women of all ages and with appearances could be seen throughout the Tavern. It's counter looked to be located on the right side of the entrance as one stepped inside, though Nico wasn't focused too much on that.

What DID grab his attention though…

Was the sight of a familiar Beanie-wearing man at one of the tables in the back of the room, sitting on one of the few sofa-like benches looking like he was partially through his drink. The man had seemingly removed his coat and neatly plopped it beside him to expose the military gear that he wore. The sight of which caused a slight grin to tug at the redhead's lips, although he suppressed it mostly since a devious idea befitting of his more demonic side came to mind.

'Heh, guess some things never change…'

"Yo, drinking your sorrows at being single or are you just happy to see me?" After walking up to the guy whilst making sure to conceal his presence, Nico suddenly spoke with a grin as he grasped the guy on his shoulder.

"?!"

Obviously, his plan worked well… a bit TOO well if one asked him, as in the following seconds the male had to grab the guy's right arm to stop him from drawing a pistol in this establishment. Not only that, but he had that trollish grin on his face as the man turned to look at him with startled, wide eyes like someone who had caught red handed during a criminal act. However, the moment that his eyes took in the sight of the one who had surprised him, a look of realization, then relief and finally playful anger passed through the man as he gave a loud exhale. "Geez louise, kid. Are you trying to give me a heart attack or something? You really outta consider wearing a fucking bell or something…" the man remarked, a little laugh escaping his lips as the tension left his body.

Something which Nico mirrored as he made an apologetic wave, although his eyes told a different story with a cheshire cat grin on his lips. "Think of it like old times, Theta. Though, it's me pranking you instead of the other way around." he remarked, walking across and taking his seat opposite the man known as Theta, the same man who had recruited Neptune and the others into the resistance's cause. The redhead then placed an elbow on the side of the table to rest his tilted head on a closed glove-covered fist whilst raising his left leg and placing his boot on his right thigh. "Been a while, by the way. Still hanging in there and fighting the good fight, I see…"

When he said this, Nico couldn't stop himself from smirking, in fact if he didn't try to somewhat keep his cool his smirk would have turned into a full-blown grin which likely would send people screaming for the hills. One might think that Nico had been acting out of character just now, but he'd have a response ready for those folks: It wasn't often that Nico found himself this happy to do something outside of training and fighting, but this had to be the exception for him as it had to do with reuniting with an old war comrade. It felt like he had become a chiseled war veteran and finally got to just chillax with his bros with whom he had forged bonds of comradeship through harsh battles and twisted trials.

The thing was though, that not too long ago Theta had sent him a message, asking if he was free soon so they could go drink whilst having a catch up, something which the lad felt very keen on doing. Theta was this kind of person who just just loved to hate, or was it the other way around? Anyways, Nico and him had their ideals clash back in the Coalition days, they each saw each other's worlds with their own eyes, but still they saw each other as respectable individuals, which could be considered rare given how many men in this world weren't the best of people. Hence why Nico had been rather excited to see this guy again and chat with him like old war buddies, plus he had heard how well he had treated his other comrades too, which was ANOTHER big plus in his books.

"Yeah, well I can't let an emo brat like you show me up, or else I wouldn't look that good in front of the ladies!" Theta replied cheerily, letting a laugh escape from his mouth. Not too long after Nico had sat down on getting himself comfortable, a waitress came over to take an order for the new guest. The woman wore an outfit similar to that one maid, Financier, only hers had white instead of red, and she looked to be as tall as Vert with dark hair tied back into a ponytail and matching eyes. As for an order, the redhead simply requested a drink of water, getting a nod in return from the woman before she left, though judging by the teasing grin on Theta's lips, Nico felt like he had stepped on a bit of a landmine somehow. "Speaking of ladies…"

Nico mentally rolled his eyes as well as physically, already knowing what the guy had in mind right now. Not even 2 minutes into the conversation and this topic had come up, though he couldn't really blame the guy since it DID represent a drastic shift in his perspective. "Oh boy, here we go…" the teenage boy remarked under his breath with a sigh, mentally preparing himself for what would be coming.

As if relishing in his trepidation, Theta's grin increased in proportions as he chugged a portion of his drink down. "Now who here among us has been acting like a horny dog recently?" He questioned rhetorically after exhaling once he finished partially drinking his drink. "Years ago, you said that you didn't want to involve your childhood friend in all this, but now you've got a whole freaking harem going on. One that seems quite nice and somewhat stable for the time being too." Taking a pause, Theta recalled what he had heard from Aiden and Ivan, before continuing. "Heard you even gave them a confession too, and managed to avoid getting beaten to a pulp. Not a bad job, even if i'm no harem man myself."

Nico mumbled something incoherent under his breath, but judging from the slightly flustered look on his face Theta didn't really need to hear it to know what the younger guy was feeling inside. "Well,... I'd be lying if I said it wasn't like that… though it's also something a bit more complex…" Nico replied as he gave a brief overview of the situation regarding him and the girls. "Took me a while to notice their feelings for me, as well as my own, but when it happened I felt like such an asshole for loving more than one girl." Nico admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, and with a bit of shame mixed in. "But, considering how much they've done for me, even unknowingly, I just couldn't find it in my heart to choose just one of them. Especially with just how great they all are as both individuals and in ideals."

"Well, the fact that you haven't been beaten to a pulp whilst losing those said friendships showed you did SOMETHING right, and that those girls really do like you." Theta remarked thoughtfully, the atmosphere turning somewhat serious and sombre whilst the man lost himself to his mental musings. It actually surprised him, usually guys who were caught two timing or even trying to form a harem… well, unless they had a lot of money and power, then it usually didn't end well. Examples he could think of regarding a successful harem were the various Nobles and the Spec Ops Agents, with the former being so that they could ensure their family lines and the latter due to their low life expectancy due to fighting on the front lines against so many dangerous opponents. "Well, I guess it would have helped that you didn't lead them on for too long, right?"

Nico nodded his head in response. "That would have been the most twisted thing to do in my eyes. Those girls have liked me for a long ass time, some longer than others. I HAD to take it seriously, and even if they didn't like me for long I still likely would have put it up as a top priority. If there's one thing I learned from my mom outside of combat techniques, then it'd be that girls are way more emotional than guys, therefore foolishly messing around with their feelings is an absolute dick move. Hence why I put a large portion of my thought process into confirming what I wanted to do in response…"

"Yet I heard you weren't getting into a proper relationship with any of them yet."

Nodding his head at Theta's words, Nico gazed downwards at the table, his eyes swimming with multiple different emotions which were too mixed together for Theta to properly identify. "Yeah… it's honestly amazing to me, how they could fall for someone as fucked in the head as myself, and I love them all for it… yet, that's also why I can't be with them at the moment. I kinda need to get myself sorted out so I can be the best boyfriend I can for them, especially if I want to try dating them all. It'd likely be a rough time dating them all, plus I think the way we developed our bonds was… different, from normal people." Wasn't that the truth? Nico believed that normally people talk to each other, become friends, go on dates and stuff before officially becoming couples. That is if they were romantically interested in the other, however in his case Nico recalled how he had hardly spent too much time with the girls outside of live combat. Sure there were dates here and there with a few of them, with some having already formed a solid bond through activities like games and such, but the most development between them had been in live combat.

If one were to ask him, then Nico would say that what they had… it was quite similar to soldiers and their close camaraderie. In the eyes of a soldier, there's nothing in the workforce a civilian enters that can be quantified with the bonding that occurs in the military. Soldiers put up with a lot of shit, from long hours, stressful working conditions, personal safety risk, separation from loved ones, amongst other risks. Though, because soldiers go through these things TOGETHER, they get through it and thanks to this, along with mutual self-sacrifice alongside teamwork and covering each other's backs result in strong camaraderie between them.

This was what Nico felt had happened with the Party members, even more so with Team RAIL who have been that way for years. Him and them, they had gone through countless battles together, having to trust each other to watch each other's backs. When one of them fell down, the others picked them back up, and like in the Hell verse incident, if one was in trouble then the others would do what they could to help.

That kind of comradeship, in his opinion at least, would showcase a lot of qualities about someone. If they can form such a strong bond of trust with another, then that just went to strongly imply how good they would be as a life partner, for life itself is one giant long battle. A battle one would inevitably lose due to the limitation of human lifespan, however with the best people by one's side, they can live through that battle as long as possible, leading to the most fulfilling of ends.

To him, it wasn't hard to imagine such feelings like love and adoration being able to form under such scenarios.

"Oh, and before you ask: it's not like they don't know where I stand with them, I told them all this myself. I made sure they knew the score, even gave them the chance to break it off with me and find someone who could be a better fit for them as a boyfriend. I didn't want them to be tied down whilst waiting for me, so I had wanted to give them an out…" Nico explained further as the waitress arrived at the Table with his Drink. She didn't look to have been paying attention to their conversation, which Nico felt relieved by since he only wanted to talk to those he was considered close to. Once she left though, the teen took a sip of his water to both relish in the cool feeling going down his throat, but also to quench his thirst before continuing. "But, in the end they still chose me… which only makes me love them more."

A low whistle escaped Theta's mouth as he listened to Nico's side of things. Although he had known the kid as an emotional wreck who kept everything inside, usually the guy side of things in harem situations were a bit more perverted, and whilst there wasn't anything unnatural about that since women can be perverted too, well… considering the kid's circumstances he had more than a few worries. "Heh, no judging here, kid. I'm no harem man myself, but it seems as though you took it seriously, gave it some good thought before making a good move on your own." he stated to summarize what he had just heard. 'At least those girls' feelings have reached and are returned, that's the main thing in any relationship…' Theta commented internally. "I'll just wish you luck from the sidelines, especially on sorting yourself out."

Whilst not really too bothered by Nico's love life, Theta DID agree with his opinion that having a case of bad mental health wouldn't be too good in a relationship. It could cause it to become toxic, dangerous and could potentially ruin both parties, one more so than another, hence why saving it for when he had improved his mind right now served to be a good course of action in Theta's mind.

"Thanks." Nico replied, nodding in acceptance whilst taking a sip from his drink. Although he didn't show it, the amount of gratitude he felt towards the older man right now wasn't small since this proved that he could be a responsible adult about these things. Looked like he could talk to someone else other than his mom about these things. 'Actually, I wonder how uncle Koro is doing these days. We haven't seen one another since i started this whole journey, maybe I should check up on him soon. Last I heard, he had started his dream job of teaching again…' Deciding to not put too much focus onto that for now since the readers might be sick of exposition at this point, Nico shook his head and decided to get this conversation off him for once. "Alright enough about MY love life, Theta." The boy began as he took a sip of his drink. "What about you? Got a lady in your life?"

In any other circumstance, Theta likely would have tried to make a joke relating to Nico's lack of drinking alcohol, but in favour of being a decent person since he knew about the kid's condition, Theta resisted the urge. "What, you wanna learn more about the world of adults, eh kid?" He questioned, chuckling when Nico aimed a dry look at him in response. "I'm kidding, i'm kidding…" The man mused, sweat dripping before he continued after clearing his throat. "Hmmm, well, if I said that there wasn't not only would I be a lying bitch, but a hypocrite who'd be shown up by a kid way younger than me."

THIS got Nico's attention immediately, as the teen leaned forward with his interest piqued. "Oh, really? Whose the one who caught your eye, dude?" he questioned, getting a roll of the eyes from the older man.

"Not telling, but let's just say I'm working on it… though she's kind of got her mind occupied with helping someone she cares for get through all this business." Theta answered, this time his tone gradually shifting into a more serious one as his eyes became distant, gazing down into his drink. "It's kinda rough on her, and also the reason why I'm still fighting the good fight… lass wants to help more, and is working her butt off to do so. Ain't got a reason to be sitting on my ass doing nothing, seeing that determination of hers."

'Hmmm… interesting, I wonder who this person could be…' Nico thought to himself when he heard Theta's explanation, although he didn't voice it out loud. Instead, he went with an alternate option. "Well, if you ask me I'd say she'd be lucky to have you Theta. If there's anything my experiences have taught me…" Taking a short moment to pause and collect his thoughts, Nico finally continued. "It's those who are truly capable of leading large forces like you, you guys do it so well cause you have a heart that's big enough to do so. Therefore, any girl who has your attention would feel like the most loved person in the world if you went on a date with her, cause if you could love other people at the same time, what about pouring that love onto one person specifically?'

Hearing this, Theta gave a sheepish smirk whilst rubbing the back of his head. "Geez kid, as corny as that was, it sounded like a genuine attempt at a compliment…" he remarked, ending with a grin before chuckling whilst shaking his head when Nico glared at him. "Just kidding, just kidding, but seriously thanks for the pep talk. Didn't expect you to give one to me… though I will correct you and say that you're part of that minority too, ya know."

"Huh? What are you talking about? I'm-"

Quickly, Nico's form tensed up as shock coursed through him thanks to Theta's words, especially since to him they may as well have been spoken in a foreign language duer to how out of place they seemed. Before the redhead could protest however, Theta silenced him by holding a hand up. "Now-now, hold your horses kid, I wasn't finished." He stated, before continuing. "You may THINK you can't love too many people, kid, but honestly you're just deluding yourself at this point. I can only think of one reason why you'd lead a bunch of Abnormals these days, and that's likely due to something you've seen on your end. If that's true, then that alone is proof enough that your heart's bigger than you think it is. The Harem you've got going is just secondary."

For a moment, Nico remained silent, utterly stunned by these words to the point of being rendered completely mute. What's more, Theta had said them with a straight face, no signs of bullshiting visible and Nico himself had good ways of telling when someone was lying. If anyone else like a stranger tried to say that stuff to him, Nico likely would have knocked their eyes out, but this was no stranger, so they literally left him without the ability to retort. It was almost like the man saw straight through him and his facade, especially since he pretty much hit the nail on the head there. The redhead tried multiple times to open his mouth and formulate a response, but nothing came out. Eventually, he just decided to glance to the side with an unsure look on his face. "Well… let's agree to disagree…" That felt like the only thing he could say to him on that matter, in the end, something which Theta noticed alongside the faint pink hue on his cheeks.

'Guess the kid's still got a lot to learn…' The man thought to himself. 'Oh well, in time he'll come around to the idea.' Deciding to change the subject, Theta went and started a different topic of conversation with the redhead, who gradually eased himself into it thanks to the conversation shifting away from his personal feelings.

From there on, the talking between the two males became much lighter, one filled with jokes, playful jabs at each other and reminiscing about old times. In essence, pretty much what two bros would do together if they went out for a drink at the pub, a slice of normalcy that neither got to relish very often so they milked it for all that it was worth. It helped that they would converse about things guys usually do and playfully jab at each other in jest, though the boys remained so engrossed within their conversation that they didn't notice various female eyes landing on their forms as several customers eyed the two handsome men.

No idea if Neptune would smack the author through the fourth wall, but bros before hoes could be applied here.

Though this didn't mean that the more serious topics didn't crop up every now and then, with Theta stating that they'd be quite busy since, apparently, Lady White Heart decided that they were going to deal with the infestation of Yoma by going for their source, although the details were still being worked on at the moment, Nico had to wonder about all that, but in the end he didn't think too much of it since he would likely be briefed on it by his superiors once the plan had been put into action. For once though, he actually looked forward to meeting some of the Agents stationed in this place. Considering the 'cleanup' that had happened here, only the top dogs of the Spec Ops Program's Lowee Branch, most likely the upper echelons in terms of sheer ability and the REAL scary badasses would be still alive. This would be quite the opportunity for him… especially considering one of his titles.

During the talking, the conversation eventually happened to shift towards how Theta had been doing since the Coalition stuff. Apparently, according to him what he had told the girls during their trip wasn't everything, as apparently everyone who had once been a part of the resistance and had survived that conflict had resigned, returning to their own families and lives. It was only him in that little home of his, though he kept it in perfect condition in memory of the memories they had there. Now, it served the purpose of being a base for the resistance's raiding operations as well as the lookout point within one of the few towns NOT taken over by Chaos yet: Easton Point. Those two words had brought back a TON of memories to the forefront of Nico's mind, waves of nostalgia as the two boys chatted till the tavern had to close for the night.

Though, that didn't stop them from parting ways with satisfied smiles on their faces.


Chapter end!

HELLO EVERYONE! I'm FINALLY back again after a long amount of inactivity! Sorry to those who loved my story about that, just been away writing for other fanfictions. Also this chap was harder to develop than normal, a small part of that being on how I should plan the next couple arcs. Unlike the Leanbox Arcs, I think I'll stick to only a couple arcs in the Lowee one so we can continue with the story. There's still a lot of content I want to add in though, as well as loose ends to tie up, so if chapters come out slowly that's one of the reasons why. Also there's the new side story featuring Tekken and what she's doing on her side of things, so if you haven't please give that one a read. I'd like to see what people think of it.

Also, I think I'll just do one arc at a time, cause in the end I have more stories to write and not as much time to write as I did in the past. So no dual arcs, sorry to anyone who wanted it. But, that's not to say the idea won't crop back in during future installments, since this series has WAY too much potential to just be limited to one rebirth adventure. Anyways, I hope you like the chapter, its mostly just some setup for the next part of the story, one which will be... quite interesting, lets say that.

Let me know what you think, and look forward to future uploads.

PEACE OUT!