Chapter 180 - To the Northwest!
Pain…
The pain had been all it had felt for a time that it had lost count of how long, all it could recall had been this pain.
Pain from its many injuries…
Pain from being alone… without it's rightful, worthy master…
How long had it been? It didn't know anymore, nor could it recall the last time it had felt any solitude or safety from those who had ripped away at it's being.
All it could recall were the searing hot flames of agony that had tormented it for thousands of years, driving it into insanity countless times over without end.
The countless cruel jeers twisted mocking laughter as they ripped its lifeblood out of it time and time again, ignoring or (most of the time) taking unapologetically sadistic pleasure in its painful cries for them to stop…
Now, there was hardly anything left…
It had been reduced to a shadow of its former self, nothing remained of its past glory.
Not just that, but also taken… forcefully... violently… in every painful method possible…
If only… if only it's master were still around… then perhaps it… would never have gotten into this situation…
But was that just wishful thinking…?
it wasn't sure…
Of anything anymore.
Yet still, as it trudged along this cold, white plain in some vain attempt to find shelter, a small part of it clung to it…
Some vain hope that someone would be able to hear it… to give it the shelter and safety it so desperately craved…
At this point, it wouldn't care who found it as long as they gave it shelter and safety, even for a brief moment. Any anger born from what had once been its pride had long since burnt out, both by its weakness and the passage of time.
Perhaps…
Perhaps its end could finally mark the last stages of this thorn-covered torment… so it could finally… move on…
Oh, how unrealistic, it's wishful thinking that was…
The Gates to NINTENDO…
That had been the designated meeting spot for a group of Spec Ops Agents intending to depart on an Urgent Quest, one which would take them right into the jaws of hell itself… such had been the unified consensus which they had all agreed to.
Let's take a step back first, shall we? Before the meetup day, various preparations and research had to be conducted by all parties involved, with one issue that had quickly arisen in their minds being communication. To solve this, they had contacted one another to decide on the spot where they had grouped up, having been given each other's contact details by their superiors for the sake of cooperation. After a while of discussion in which, the gates had been decided as the meeting point for when they would depart, something which none of them had any objections to.
After this, was simply supplies gathering, resource management as well as research to be done on those involved with the Mission. To be more specific, their bios which were submitted to the Guild for evaluations and storage, bios which held info regarding their personalities, likes, dislikes, alongside their various abilities, skills, equipment, etc. All of it had been crucial data one would need for them to decide on how to better cooperate as a group, and as such, each of the Agents involved had the mind to research each other in-depth so they knew what to expect. Though, a problem with this was that, well… what's recorded in the Spec Ops Archives and what they are ACTUALLY like can differ in varying ways. Even worse, was that there had been cases of misinformation where someone in a position of power deliberately hides certain aspects of certain parts in bios, like a certain weapon or a skill. Such things were usually punished SEVERELY, like worse than the torture methods that Leanbox used to employ so long ago.
Still, those bios weren't something which didn't have ANY merit to them, since looking them over would give the Agents at least a rough idea as to how each other operated. What their views were, what methods they employed in battle, those kinds of statistics which would prove invaluable alone, but when combined with extra research through their associates and personal interaction? There could be no better way to understand someone. Ironically, this was something which White Heart/Blanc had been doing when she'd probed Nico's companions for information about him.
Therefore, the days that led to the departure day had consisted of these kinds of preparations…
Right now, Nico stood by the gates, leaning against the wall of a mushroom-shaped building near them with his arms crossed under his chest and his right boot pressed against the building's wall. His eyes remained closed at the moment, allowing a slight breeze to ruffle his uncovered crimson hair whilst he waited for his companions to arrive… and not the girls who he was used to, either. 'Looks like they might be running late… oh, wait no, it's not the meeting time yet.' The boy mused internally, briefly opening one eye to check the time on his right bracer to note how long left until the appointed meeting deadline. He'd made it a point to be punctual and arrive early, he didn't want to have the others be suspicious of him and, eventually, start snooping around his business.
'Speaking of the girls, did you read that message sent to you by Cecil?'
Biko's words snapped him out of those thoughts and made him focus on the alternate subject, though he could instinctively tell the Demon Persona's intent. 'Yeah, I did. Looks like she's doing well, joining IF in her patrols and learning under her. She says she's our joint pupil, mine and IF's, though I'd say she's more on the latter's at this rate.' he replied, thinking about how during a few breaks he took from his research and prep for this mission, Nico had joined IF and Cecil on their patrols a few times, giving the latter a few tips and tricks whilst IF helped correct the girl's form when she'd fought. Though, the best teacher for her would have to be the world itself if one were to ask him since only through experience could one truly refine themselves in the ways of the Spec Ops.
'I wouldn't say so, Nico. She believes that you're both her teachers, and you HAVE been that girl's idol for who knows how many years at this point, so in essence, you may have helped her become an Agent without even realizing it.'
Yeah, Nico didn't have much to say to refute that claim. 'True…' he reluctantly admitted, still somewhat amazed that he had encountered someone who idolized him the way she did at all.
"Yo, boss man!"
"We have arrived, sir. I assume that those… Agents, are aware of our being here?"
"We're here, young'un. Guess we're a bit early, eh?"
Just then, Nico's ears twitched when he heard the voices of two masculine Dwarves as well as one refined, Elvish voice near him. This wound up causing the redhead to look up to see two Dwarves and one Ice Elf, one Dwarf more elderly looking than the other, walking up to him with merry looks on their faces. Although deep behind their gazes, Nico could sense the concern and nervousness bubbling up inside. More so for one of them than the other, the two Dwarves being Gimli and Lard. As for the Ice Elf, he looked to be as tall as ert, maybe a head taller with leather hunting gear on his person, whilst sporting the traditional long elf ears and long, blonde hair that fell to his chest in length. Also, his skin color was as blue as the ocean, with glowing light blue hollow-looking eyes.
Nico looked at them with a small smile, stepping off the wall to walk up to them. "Good to see you three made it, Gimli, Lard, Legolas." Nico greeted with an approving nod. One which got returned by his subordinates who joined him back at the wall he had been waiting at previously. "Oh, and yeah they were informed. I made sure they all knew you three and the Tekkadan were with me, wouldn't want there to be any surprise conflicts this early into the mission, now would we?" the redhead answered…. Though in the next couple seconds he mentally cringed at the unintentional rhyming he just did. "Anyways, I assume the rest of the Tekkadan are ready to get moving?" he questioned them to take his mind off it.
The thing was since they would be departing on this mission into the northwestern region, one which the higher-ups had designated as the 'Ground Zero (GZ) Region', it had been decided that a scouting force from the Tekkadan would be sent out ahead of them to scout for any enemy ambushes. There had been some debate between the use of one large force or multiple smaller ones due to the ground that they would be able to cover, but in the end, a single small group had been formed as a compromise, one which can split itself further into smaller squads thanks to it mostly consisting of Dwarven riders who would have elf spotters a riding shotgun.
Lard, Legolas, and Gimli were the representatives of this group to the Spec Ops one, Lard being the one with a specialty in negotiation due to him being a Dwarven Elder, Gimli being the more warrior-like of the two (even though Dwarves weren't very capable in combat without their tools), and Legolas being the son of the Ice Elf chieftain made him a good rep for the elves too.
The Merc Group would handle the members, supplies, and munitions side of that group, whilst Nico would focus on this group although he would maintain contact with them through Urthemiel who would be their vanguard in case of any large-scale Chaos attacks. The Archdemon had grown to be QUITE the popular one amongst the Tekkadan forces, too, mostly with the Dwarven race due to the Primal flames that it used being quite good with helping them make their tools. The Elvish however didn't have an as high opinion on it mostly due to it resembling their enemies so much, but it wasn't like they disliked Urthemiel completely, since it had helped the group on more than enough occasions.
"By the way, you all know the scope of this situation with these guys, right? You memorized what I told you about their profiles?" Nico then questioned, frowning. The thing about these Agents was that they could be a bit temperamental when insulted or one says something they don't agree with. The one who was like this the least, or rather had the most patience, turned out to be Rory of all people whilst the worst turned out to be Katakuri who had a reputation of flipping out when someone mentions some specific things in front of him. Other than that though, he was as cold and calculating as a battle-hardened commander, one who had gone through countless battles for his comrades.
Each of the Abnormals nodded in response, their looks showing that they understood the situation. Originally Nico hadn't been too worried about the Dwarves since most of their prior perceptions and dignity had been broken by the Chaos forces that had enslaved them, resulting in them being quite open-minded in how to handle things like this since they had gone through hell already. But the Elves had been a different story, and whilst he wasn't trying to be biased against them or anything it was just that they had held out so far by evading the Chaos forces, and as such retained their strong sense of pride and superiority. Fortunately, however, Nico's previous beating of them in the betting stuff had humbled them to some degree, though the redhead hoped things wouldn't end up too chaotic in the following situation.
'... Looks like this situation is…'
'I know, Biko…'
Moments later, the time had finally come for the Agents to meet up, with each of them being punctual enough to arrive right on the dot-like they had been waiting in areas unseen. Although Nico knew from his senses that they had just traveled here in seconds, displaying varying degrees of speed though that wasn't something that remained prevalent inside his mind for very long. Why you might be thinking?
Whelp…
Perhaps the fact that the atmosphere around the gates could be summarized as like a bomb about to explode.
The tension in the air felt so thick that one could slice it up with a knife and serve it on a plate to hundreds of guests in a lavish mansion. Each of the various Spec Ops Agents stood around one another, with most of the attention directed towards Nico… or rather, the company the male had with him right now: the Abnormals. The various agents seemed to be trying to burn holes within their foreheads with their gazes alone, looking like they wanted the Abnormals to melt right then and there. If looks could kill, then that would have been what would have likely happened too, not to mention they had an aura of intensity about them, even the casually smiling Rory who smiled with her eyes closed… though the aura around her spoke a completely different tune. The rest of them had similar auras, but their expressions remained of either disinterest (Arima and Mihawk) or simply staring (Katakuri).
Despite all of this though, Legolas Gimli and Lard kept their gazes on them without flinching or looking away. Compared to the aggressive auras dominating the atmosphere, theirs were more subdued, yet firm and composed as they firmly stood against the attempts at oppression being launched against them. The thing was, none of them hadn't expected this turn of events considering how their kind and Spec Ops Agents were enemies, having fought one another for over 500 years now, so this kind of treatment had been something they'd expected from these guys. However, whilst they hadn't displayed any aggression yet, that would QUICKLY change if these guys launched any attacks on them or their leader. Not to mention that they had SOME pride left in them for their race and customs, something which they refused to lower in front of their potential enemies.
…
…
…
…
… Then, as if it had never happened in the first place the auras all retracted into their respective wielders as the Agents looked away from their gazes, much to the surprise that formed on the Abnormals' faces although they suppressed it seconds later. This resulted in them not noticing the slight glances of approval from Rory and Katakuri, though Arima and Mihawk remained expressionless.
Something which Nico understood the meaning of as he discreetly activated his SHINGAN ring to project his thoughts into the minds of his subordinates to explain to them the situation. 'Don't worry guys, this is normal…' he projected to them, quickly elaborating when they, even as they had grown used to this communication method, sent strange looks to him. 'The Spec Ops Agency respects power a whole hell lot, for it's a sign within our line of work that one will be both useful and competent. The strong are respected and the weak are not, it's as simple as that. What happened just now had been them just 'clarifying' you lot, and me as well.'
Internally after he told them this through the SHINGAN, Nico felt much of their negative emotions disperse as their eyes became filled with understanding and comprehension. Mentally, he also admitted to himself after his Satanic Treasure was deactivated that he had been a bit nervous at this stage since he didn't know if things would play out in worse mannerisms than this. 'ESPECIALLY that Katauri guy…' the teen internally mused, suppressing his instinctual desire to try and attack him to prove who the better apex predator was. The boy had gotten the feeling from the moment he first saw him, that he had found himself in the presence of someone similar to himself in terms of a beast-like nature, although Katakuri looked like he couldn't care less
Finally, Rory chirped happily as she held her seemingly signature weapon: her Halberd/Axe weapon which Nico had learned had been called 'Emroy'. "So then boys, how shall we proceed to get to the Northwestern Region?" Her question was accompanied by her putting the weapon's shaft on her right shoulder like she was holding a baseball bat… on one hand.
'Some strength…'
Whilst the redhead thought about this, Arima remained silent about it, as did Mihawk which showed they didn' really care. However, Katakuri was a different story as he held his arms over his chest. "If you all heeded your orders correctly, we all should have a similar method of transportation, am I right? We can use them to get to the Region quickly enough if we have all the supplies ready."
"Yes, I did."
Three responses came back from Mihawk and Arima, who had indeed received specialized transport for this mission, whilst Nico internally mused that he would be using Cavaliere for himself, whilst Lard would use his Skimmer and the other two (Legolas alongside Gimli) would share the latter's Skimmer like the detachment force. Rory hadn't answered, though she simply gave a nod to show that she understood and had indeed had the necessary items.
Proof of this came when she clicked her fingers and, from her Inventory, came a large motorcycle-like vehicle, one designed with her colors in mind. This led to the other Agents doing the same as Nico began to think whilst summoning his Cavaliere, Lard, and Gimli clicking their fingers. In the following seconds, several Skimmers rode like they were automated through the Gates, stopping by the two Dwarves who quickly mounted them, followed by Legolas hopping onto the Back of Gimli's one.
'Huh… those rides look like prototype models of those Vulture Bikes I tested back in Lastation. Wonder if… hmm… maybe they haven't had a chance to get the newest models due to this Barrier. It must have gotten erected before the newer models got released…' Whelp, whatever the case was, they had their transportation, so since time was of the essence each of the Agents kicked it into high gear. Their various vehicles roared to life as they shot out of the gates, and out into the Loweean Wilderness.
Following this, the group of Agents (plus 3 Abnormals) rode across Lowee towards the Ground Zero Region, a trip which they had theorized would take at least 4 days if they kept the pace that they had been going on their respective rides. Not only that but if they kept to the current planned route through the vast Lowee landscapes and avoided any ambushes which the detachment of Tekkadan forces had the task of spotting, then things would prove most ideal. If one were to look at them from a faraway perspective, then they would have looked like a bunch of black figures leaving behind a large cloud of uprooted snow in their wake, plus their formation had been as follows:
Nico in the center.
Gimli/Legola/Lard up front.
Rory to the left.
Mihawk to the right.
Katakuri behind Nico.
Arima behind Katakuri.
From a bird's eye view, their formation looked somewhat similar to a plus sign.
Although, even with the Abnormals acting as spotters and there being a scouting detachment going on, in some cases, they did still get attacked by hordes of Chaos Monsters as well as Youma, with the occasional Thousand Sons squad just to stir things up a little, though that had been what those on the sides were tasked with dealing with so Rory and Mihawk had dispatched those forces whenever they had come…. And Nico had to admit: he could see why they could be considered as top tier Spec Ops. On one hand, Mihawk deserved his codename considering how he showcased excellent eyesight, which had allowed him to perceive targets from great distances, and then with his massive black sword, he'd launch long-ranged slash attacks at them with almost inhuman precision, reducing the enemy to mere shredded remains before they could get even the tiniest bit of distance. Part of him wondered what it would have been like to spar with that guy and possibly learn from him, but even with his current skill in swordplay, Nico doubted that he would be a match for that guy… if they were talking about swordplay alone, that is. Every swing of that black blade left nothing but utter DEVASTATION in its wake… which amazed the redhead, considering that it had just been that, a simple large black sword.
At that point, he perfectly understood from his example, as well as Okada Izou and Castiel Emiya: that the sword was only one part of a warrior's arsenal. The performance of the user also mattered.
As for Rory… well, her title as part of the 'Reaper' obviously showed. Unlike Mihawk whose style consisted of swift, precise and technique-focused strikes, it would appear that she fought more like a Berserker. She would go about smacking away at the enemies that came at her with her Halberd Emroy, though she didn't seem to possess any ranged capabilities which didn't seem to hamper her since she just used her Axe like a boomerang and had the strength to throw it at great distances. Seemed like, as a secondary profession, she had quite a good set of hand to hand combat skills, making him wonder if he could sharpen his own through a spar with her or something in the future.
Two very different Agents… Agents way above him in rank…
Nico would be lying if he said he hadn't been a little envious of them, but he had enough satisfaction with his current power level.
By the time night had taken over the skies on the second day of their journey, the group had cleared about half of their journey to the Ground Zero, having stopped by a large, vast white snowy plain for rest.
Usually, this wouldn't have been a good camping spot since it had been a wide-open space, but there hadn't been any signs of enemy incursions or any forestry nearby so it didn't bode well for them to continue trying to find such things. Plus Nico had found a cave entrance in this plain for them to rest at, so that had been a factor to consider. Though, what he HADN'T said was that he had formed the Cave itself using his Kagune and Hellfire abilities, he didn't want them cluing in on his true power after all.
Therefore, as of right now Nico stood atop the Cave with his arms crossed under his chest, his Mask and hood up as he overlooked the caves' surroundings, his coat flapping in the light breeze. Mihawk, Arima, and Katakuri remained inside the cave, with the faint smell of food indicating that they had just eaten whilst the redhead had volunteered to keep watch. As for Gimli, Lard and Legolas, they had decided to go out and hunt for some prey for the morning breakfast tomorrow, believing that their rations should be best kept as more of a last resort than anything. He'd heard that Rory had gone out to try and see if there were any ambushes though, having vanished before anyone could stop her.
Thus, he found himself alone with his thoughts, something which he honestly didn't mind all that much.
'Nico, I've been meaning to tell you this for some time now, but it would seem that the Demon King Seed has started absorbing souls into itself in place of Soul Edge.'
Biko spoke to him within his mind, causing Nico to blink several times with his lone uncovered eye. 'Huh? Already?' the boy questioned, remembering one of the items that he'd gotten from Zelretch. He recalled that the Demon King Seed, a Seed that would turn the host into something called a 'Demon King' of sorts, would only 'hatch' within his being when it got two conditions cleared: one being that he needed to have it absorb 10,000 souls. 'Which ones, and when did it start?'
'It started shortly into your campaign with the Tekkadan during an adventure through one of the many Chaos Camps. This may be happening now because the first condition of being a leader for non-humans acts as a barrier of sorts for the second one, and since we've cleared that condition, the second one is now accessible for completion. Kind of like unlocking a new part of a quest in gaming terms. We started absorbing the Souls of Chaos followers during that battle, though you remained unaware of it at the time. I DID detect a bit of resistance during those times though, which I believed were the Chaos Gods trying to wrestle those Souls into their domains somehow, though they failed, in the end, thanks to the pull of the Seed being too powerful.'
Nico winced at that, grimacing as he pocketed his hands inside his coat. 'Sheesh, looks like those Gods will NOT have liked that one. Though considering that this is Tzeentch we're talking about, that God likely wouldn't lose his cool as Khorne would.' Throughout his many battles against Chaos, the redhead had noticed something about their soldiers. They may have pledged their Souls to that cause according to his research about them through the stolen books he'd taken, but they still HAD them inside of their bodies. It was just that, when they died they would just go to their revered Chaos Gods for whatever purpose, making them somewhat like 'containers' which, when they 'break' the Souls would be released and they'd go to wherever the Chaos Gods were.
Therefore, for someone like him to STEAL those Souls which had been pledged to them, it must have stung like a BITCH to their pride. Deities, from what he'd seen, had a lot of that with Noire and Blanc being good examples of this, though from what he had learned from the former Neptune had once the most arrogant personality out of all of them before her amnesia.
'Yeah. So far, I'd say the Seed has absorbed about 2500 Souls, meaning you're about a quarter of the way to hatching the Seed and becoming a 'Demon King' yourself. Also, you've been absorbing Youma Souls too, to which I made a bit of an… interesting discovery.'
'Oh? What did you find?'
'...It would seem that two souls are living in one individual Youma. Now before you say anything, usually every living being has one Soul under normal circumstances, those last two words being very important here. When I looked into it, I discovered that every time you killed a Youma and absorbed their souls, there were two that came from one being: one which seems pretty much human, and another smaller Soul like that of a bug or an insect. This does NOT give me many good theories about these guys' true identities…'
That did NOT sit well with Nico either, as his brain came to a similar conclusion to his alternate persona. If one could see his expression behind his mask, it'd be one that wouldn't be too unfitting on someone about to go commit mass genocide. 'Shit… if what we're thinking is true, then maybe Umbrella and Ganache are going to have rivals in Leanbox…' Nico ominously thought back to Biko, who hummed in acknowledgment on his side of the link.
'Indeed. Furthermore, the Seed seems to prefer human Souls, with Soul Edge taking the monstrous ones whilst the human ones went to the Seed whenever you absorbed Youma. Originally some monster ones were drawn in by the Seed, making me believe that it's an omnivore thing, but Soul Edge took them instead due to finding those souls more 'juicy'. Therefore any human souls will be going to the Demon King Seed within us. If you ask me, I believe that the two conditions are meant to 'modify' the body to become the ideal demon king, an absolute enemy to humanity whilst an ally to monsters since one is meant to raise one's relationships with non-human beings whilst the other is made specifically to destroy humans. Glad that none of the non-human souls went into the Demon King Seed, in that case.'
Yeah, that sounded like it made sense. Logically speaking, the more Nico thought about it, the more he realized just how 'anti-human' the Demon King Seed truly was, which to him only made sense since Demons are the natural enemies to humans. 'Then, I'll make sure to keep an eye on the two, make sure they KEEP absorbing the Souls they are meant to. There's plenty of Youma around, but even so, that still means 10,000 sacrifices needed to be made…' Nico thought, narrowing his eyes at the thought. It wasn't like he knew the moral implications of this since, well, he WAS sort of fighting against monsters that could be members of Blanc's Nation, and what if there was a possibility that they could have been saved? If his theory about them was true, then… but if his theory about the Youma's true identity was correct then there still wouldn't be any going back for those creatures. They'd already killed a BUNCH of Lowee's Citizenry, even if circumstances were surrounding their actions… That meant there would still be hell to pay.
Not too different from Nico himself, if he thought about it.
'True, but you're not worried too much about that, are you?'
'Hmph, it's like something I heard about one time, though I can't recall where: The only ones who can kill, are those who are prepared to BE killed.' Nico answered with resolve, his lone unmasked eye narrowing in determined resolve.
To that, Biko would have made a response, or perhaps Byakko who had been listening to the chat would have…
"Ara so looks like I've come across another night person." However, the sultry voice of the lone female member of this group rang out through the atmosphere, putting a halt to their conversation. Returning to reality, Nico glanced behind him to the source, seeing Rory Mercury walking up to him with her red boots leisurely trudging through the snow. She also held her Halberd Emroy over her shoulder baseball bat style, a coy smirk on her ruby red lips.
Meanwhile, Nico gave a curt nod, being somewhat reminded of Lucy when he saw that smile though, unlike her, this female practically radiated death, especially right now since he could smell a lot of blood from her. She may have looked clean, but thanks to his enhanced senses the redhead could still smell traces of it, which clued him into what she had been doing this whole time. "Encountered trouble while patrolling?" he questioned, looking back out across the landscape.
As such, the woman nodded as she shifted her Halber so it lay horizontally across the back of her shoulders, allowing her to hook her arms around it. "Somewhat, yes." She replied, not looking offended by his demeanor in the slightest. She stood beside him, overlooking the landscape although he could tell she wasn't doing it for the same reasons that he did. "Did run into a set of Chaos Warbands though, but those men weren't much of a threat to me. Caught them with their pants down, as they seemed to have been trying to summon a horde of Youma into the lands east of us. If I hadn't been there, I'm sure you can imagine the disruption to the mission we'd have."
"Yeah… makes one wonder what their own goals are." Nico remarked, getting Rory to glance at him which prompted the male to continue. "I read once that these guys pledge their Souls to their Gods for their ends, but these Chaos Gods are insanely fickle, more so than the CPUs by a WIDE margin. I heard that the chances of them being ascended into Demonhood due to their blessings is slim indeed, with the majority of followers either dying, becoming chaos spawn, or worse." The male internally scowled at the mention of chaos spawn though, remembering the times he'd seen them in action in the past. Nasty pieces of work, they were.
A thoughtful hum. "Maybe, but you forget: no matter what, religion itself isn't a sin, nor is the act of murder." She said, stabbing her Halberd into the ground beside her by the rear end.
"Murder not being sinful, eh?" Nico responded, idly glancing at her out the corner of his … that had been some interesting information, not to mention this sounded like it was connected to her ideals as a person, so Nico wanted a more thorough understanding so he had a better impression of her personality. "How'd you figure?"
Upon being asked that question, Rory leaned on the side of her Halberd, arms crossed under her chest. "Simple, the acts themselves aren't anything good or evil, they are simply that, actions. A means to survive, both in mind and in the body. What is truly important is the reason behind these actions. Lies and deceit taint the soul, you see."
"Huh… in other words, you see killing and religion as guns, not the operators…" Nico remarked thoughtfully as he started to get a better understanding of this person beside him. Rory Mercury had a bit of a… unpredictable reputation, which wasn't surprising since nearly every Spec Ops had such a reputation, it's what helped them be as effective as they were. In her case, she acted more on her whims even on job requests from important clients, having been known to cut some of them down right then and there without touching the rewards. Nobody had dared ask her why this was sometimes the case, they just feared her but hearing her words like he did Nico begin to understand her a bit better. It seemed to him like they had a few things in common there if he had interpreted her words right. "Sounds similar to what I've been believing recently."
"Oh?"
When Rory looked at him with mild curiosity, Nico looked down slightly as he began to speak. "Well, before I became the Leader of Tekkadan, I had… a rather biased view on monsters and Abnormals in General, seeing them as only mindless beasts that needed to be hunted down. To an extent, I still do believe this, but thanks to seeing some… things, and hearing some stuff that puts things into perspective, if there's more to a specific scenario will not swing my sword willy nilly. I'll swing my sword for my conclusions, essentially." he explained, remembering words told to him by several people, combined with things he'd seen. What Rory said sounded similar to his ideals, in that it didn't matter what one did or what one became, as long as they stayed true to who they were then they would live happily without regrets. The ultimate thing about life was that it was hard to stay true to oneself, but it was a task worth undertaking regardless.
Rory gave a sound that sounded like she understood his thought process, though Nico wouldn't be surprised if she did since, from the research he'd done on her, the redhead believed her to be quite good at reading people. Something which she proved in the following sentence that left her mouth. "Aaaaahhhhh, I see… I can see the similarities between our ideals, but know this: this blade may bathe in your blood too someday, should you lose sight of yourself," she warned him, to which Nico nodded his head with the right corner of his lips behind his mask twitching upwards.
"Right…"
The two continued to talk for a while after this whilst, while remaining silent, Mihawk, Katakuri, and the others listened in on their conversation, not giving their own opinions on things for the moment. They had more important matters to focus on, such as gathering their strength for the latter portion of their journey.
Once Rory had been satisfied with their conversation, she jumped off the Cave entrance, landed before it before breaking off into a mad dash, heading out on another Patrol. This left Nico alone on top of the Cave entrance, once again to which the male made to continue his night watch…
'Nico, I sense something. Something is heading our way.'
...That is, until Biko suddenly chimed in, and judging by his tone Nico found himself growing confused. For, whilst it sounded cautious, Biko also held a layer of confusion too, like he had no idea what to make of this scenario. 'Hm? You serious…?' Nico questioned as he closed his eyes, then expanded his senses using his various detection abilities. To his surprise, the boy's mind briefly brushed against a presence in the distance to the west, one which was NOT Rory's which made sense since she had gone to the east. 'What the hell…? This Presence, it's…'
'Yeah, it's weak. Very weak, to the point where I had to spend a moment verifying if I was even feeling anything at all. It's likely that, if we weren't on night watch duty, then we wouldn't have sensed its presence. Judging from my senses, I can tell it's heading toward us… but very, very slowly as if it's hardly moving at all. Slower than a turtle, even.'
His Demon Persona wasn't wrong in his assessment, as Nico had sensed the same thing he had, not to mention that he had concluded that this slow speed this presence had, implied that it wasn't at 100%. Yet, it was still coming in the direction of multiple Spec Ops Agents. 'Cavaliere, you stick to the Cave, make sure no hostile forces get past you.' After making sure that the observer spot remained filled by his Motorcycle, Nico summoned Soul Edge onto his back and had it take him into the skies before he shot off into the air to fly towards the direction he had sensed the presence. He even applied his Star God's Broken Shadow and Hidden Flowing Lightning Skills to increase his speed so he could get there faster.
As such, he cleared a good chunk of land in record time, about 200 meters in 2 minutes. Soon enough, the teen spotted something after he landed on the snow-covered ground, planting his boots first for a solid foundation before he halted all motion. He spotted it after looking up, and when he did, Nico saw it to be… a creature. One shaped like a lizard with its body being the size of an… an infant. It had four limbs attached to its body, with a long tail that had a spade-like tip, somewhat similar to a succubus portrayed in that one anime/manga about a female alien princess crashing into the bathroom of one unlucky high school boy trying to confess to his crush.
However, what caught his attention was how it seemed to be struggling to take even the slightest steps through the snow and he soon saw why. For across its entire body looked to be all sorts of different gash marks of varying depth, marks which had trails of blood that dripped down from its body onto the snow, staining it red. Worse still, was that when Nico glanced behind it he noticed a faint trail of blood-forming a line across the plain which clued him into how far this creature had traveled.
'Shit… this little guy must have been separated from its mother or something…' Nico thought as he picked the creature up in his arms gently, cradling it in a manner that helped him avoid aggravating the lizard's injuries whilst already sprouting a single Rinkaku Tentacle to inject his RC Cells into it and heal the wounds it had. Something which the black-scaled lizard didn't respond to much due to being so weak, tired, and low on energy, the male noticed. Fortunately for him, Nico had good knowledge of animal anatomy, and since he was repairing surface wounds there shouldn't be any adverse effects. 'Doesn't look like this thing has any Chaos taint flowing through it either, although it looks to be very malnourished…' Whatever had done this, Nico mentally wondered what they were like to have done something as cruel as to leave this poor thing alone in the cold, harsh Lowee climate.
'It's suspicious that something like this would have made it this far though. That trail of blood isn't a short one, though I can't see where it even began.'
'Definitely…' On that, Nico agreed as he pushed his concerns to the side, for the time being, favoring the action of looking to the trail of blood and trying to identify where it had begun. Unfortunately, like Biko, he couldn't see one, and it would seem like the scents around here were all over the place according to his attempts to sniff out anything. Still, the sight of that blood trail made him wonder how much blood this creature had lost, Nico internally mused about it whilst looking down at his cargo, his Rinkaku Tentacle hard at work with its current task. With what he could see of the trail, the amount of lost blood must have been staggering, which did explain how fatigued it looked, but how it still clung to life despite its injuries confused yet amazed him at the same time. "Still, what to do with him? Looks like he's indeed male, but I doubt that the others would be too fond of me taking care of an injured Abnormal while on the job." the redhead mused, imagining the reactions other Agents would have to an unknown Abnormal. That just SCREAMED bad on so many levels, since many examples of how bad things like that turned out could be referred to. "Hmmm… perhaps I could put him in my Void Storage so I can keep him in stasis till I can properly tend to his needs, that way nobody would be able to… huh?"
'Huh? What the-?!'
Whilst the male debated his next course of action, Nico's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the creature in his arms open it's previously closed eyes, exposing two large, orange beady eyes with no iris or pupil. The following instance was what stunned him though, for the Lizard started glowing with this bright crimson-colored light, one which quickly gained a blackish outline as the creature's form became a silhouette shaped like it's origins shape… then slowly slid through and into his chest, leaving nothing behind that could signify it's presence. Even the blood trail had pretty much sizzled up and vanished when Nico had glanced at it upon noticing it vanishing during the whole scene.
After a moment's worth of silence… 'Biko? What… just happened?'
'Hmmm… most bizarre, this case is. Nico, this creature, perhaps it's not so ordinary after all, for it seems to have manifested here in your Inner World. I can feel it sleeping in an isolated space here, rejuvenating itself. I can't tell if there are any adverse effects so far, but what it seems to be doing is using your Inner World to restore its life force.'
'... Then keep me informed of what happens with that thing, I want to know even the slightest changes to the situation.'
'Indeed.'
The following morning, Nico woke up after having taken a small nap, Mihawk having taken over his night watch duty not long after he had returned from his little venture. Fortunately, nobody had asked him where he'd gone since Nico hadn't taken long to get back plus nobody had attacked them whilst they'd been resting so that had been a relief.
Afterward, the male got up, did his morning routine, and was currently checking Cavaliere out, kneeling beside it as he made a show of checking it out to keep the other Agents from being suspicious about the Bike's true demonic nature. Internally, however, he wasn't focused on this possibility since he had another one on his list of priorities. 'How goes the lizard's state, Biko? Any changes I should know about?' he questioned.
'If I were to describe it, I would say that it's in critical condition at the moment, Nico. If it hadn't somehow entered our inner world when it had, I believed that it would have died within a few more minutes of exposure to Lowee's climate. Furthermore, I made some… concerning discoveries about it. Nothing that would threaten our safety, but rather the state of its soul...'
Nico did NOT like the way his Demon Persona trailed off there, for some reason he just got the chills whilst he made a show of pulling out some tools and beginning to work on his Motorcycle when Katakuri walked by, looking to have pulled out a doughnut from… somewhere. Nico didn't bother with that though, favoring getting to the bottom of Biko's unease. 'What is it, Biko? Is it bad…?'
'...Well, remember when you were hit by that soul attack, Nico? Think of how your soul had been left in… but then imagine it thousands of times worse, and you get what this little guy's been going through. I can hardly see as even an object at this point, it looks like its just one step away from shattering and collapsing into nothingness, in which case this little one would have just faded out of existence. Worse is, that it's body makes me think that this creature had been once a proud, powerful existence, but thanks to much of its soul seemingly being 'shaved off', you can't even call it a shadow of its former self…'
'...holy shit, what the hell had happened to this little one, then…?" Nico wondered, dropping his jaw open as he lost a portion of his skin color despite most of his face being covered by his Mask still. Unimaginable horror and pain rushed through him as he recalled how he had been in after barely evading that attack from Mundus, the Edict of Death he remembered the bastard calling it, but for Biko to say that this little thing's soul had been in an even WORSE state? Sheesh, he could only IMAGINE the torturous time it had to have gone through. 'It's still in critical condition, right? How long do you think it needs to stay in my inner world? Also, how the heck is it even possible for it to do that anyway? I thought that only I could enter my Inner World since its pretty much the core of my Soul…' the redhead questioned.
'Firstly, I have no idea how long it'll stay here, but I'll monitor it and provide you with information when I can. For your second question, I would say its because the creature somehow has… quite the connection to that DPU Core of yours, the thing which turned you so long ago. That connection acted like a pathway to your inner world, something which this guy used obviously.'
'Huh, got it…'
A while later, every one of them had finished their breakfast as brought to them by Rory, thanks to her having found some prey that, luckily, hadn't been tainted by Chaos too bad so they could be eaten safely. Right now, the group was currently performing last-minute tests on their vehicles, not wanting them to break down during their journey. The refueling had already been done beforehand by Katakuri whilst Mihawk had gone and slaughtered a horde of Youma and Chaos Monsters which had tried to attack them during this time.
Looking up from his work, Nico glanced at the rest of the Spec Ops Agents, his one eye's gaze firm and hard. "We're all set to head out?" he questioned, standing up.
A couple of seconds later, Katakuri stood up too with a much taller height compared to the redhead, his shadow almost covering his entire motorcycle. "Indeed. Ration supplies?" he questioned again, looking to Mihawk and Arima who glanced back at him and nodded in unison. Katakuri and Nico nodded their heads in response, knowing that confirmation meant that the guys' supplies hadn't dwindled to dangerous levels yet, which made sense considering each of them had tried to only pluck stuff out of their stashes as little as possible, relying on what they could find from the land itself… which was a dangerous idea, none of them weren't aware of this fact. Not to mention that, according to an off-handed remark by Rory, there may be a possibility that the closer they got to the source of the barrier, the more the land would be tainted by Chaos meaning that they would HAVE to expend their resources more.
"Alright boys, why don't we head out and finish this off? We don't exactly have the luxury of time, you know."
Everyone nodded their heads at Rory's suggestion, knowing it to be true as they began to mount their rides to head out. However, before they could leave, Mihawk looked to the direction they'd be traveling in and narrowed his hawk-like eyes. "Alert, something's coming this way," he told the others who quickly looked to where he had.
True to the man's words, up in the distance one could see a large cloud of vapor, likely generated in the wake of something moving at considerable speeds. Quickly, everyone assumed the worst and tensed up, ready to draw a weapon out at the slightest drop of killing intent. To do the opposite of this would only be considered foolish.
Though, when Nico found himself able to pick up the incoming energy signature, his lone eye briefly widened in recognition at the signature's familiarity, possessing an icy chill, not unlike that of a glacier. 'Heh, looks like this isn't going to lead to a fight…' Nico remarked mentally as he lowered his guard, drawing the attention of the other Agents by saying the following. "No worries guys, this one's not hostile."
Mihawk narrowed his eyes at him. "How can you tell?" he asked, but it sounded more like a demand than anything with the hard edge to his voice that he had.
"I recognize the user's energy signature. She's someone-"
"Ah, oh my! What an unexpected reunion! How long has it been since we last met, Raven?!"
"?"
Just as Nico went to make it clear that he knew who it was that was coming their way, Rory said something which caught Nico's attention. Furthermore, the presence stopped itself right before the black and red wearing gothic lolita Spec Ops Agent, revealing themselves to be a familiar-looking female Samurai-Esque Agent, riding atop a large similarly colored motorcycle. The female Agent current had her head covered by a black biker's helmet with a crimson visor, though she soon put her gloved hands on the sides of the said helmet to lift it off her head, revealing the familiar face of Raven, codename SAMURAI.
"...It has been quite some time indeed, Rory. Too long, if you asked me." the black-haired woman replied with a small smile, her black locks flowing down her back like they were a river as she shook her head, realigning her hair into its normal style. All the while the other blackette grinned as the two of them entered a conversation with one another, leaving the males of the group looking slightly lost and confused… save for Arima, who just looked on without any interest.
'Wait, since Raven's home originally was Lowee, and Rory's a nomadic individual who has a record stating that she stays primarily in said Nation… ah, now I see. That makes sense, it's only natural that they know one another…' Nico thought to himself as he soon comprehended the fact that these two knew one another which had been a fact that he'd been oblivious to for the duration of him knowing Raven. He never really asked her too much about her past, since Raven had made it clear that it had been a touchy subject, and what she HAD told him she'd done so of her own accord.
"Though, I will admit that it's a surprise to see you out here of all places," Rory stated, crossing her arms under her chest whilst holding her Halberd diagonally. "It may be a surprise sure, but gut instincts tell me there's more to it, isn't there, my dear? Would you be able to tell us why it is that you're out here in the first place?" Rory questioned as each of the Agents behind her tensed up, a serious tension overtaking the atmosphere. "Odds are, it's likely due to a quest or something, am I correct?"
Raven's gaze narrowed at them when Rory said this, her mildly pleasant demeanor now replaced by her usual stoic professionalism. She soon responded whilst not dismounting her Motorcycle, her tone grim and grave. "I assume then that would mean you all are here on a mission, too, for a group of Spec Ops Agents to be out here. Must be to do with the Northwestern region…" she mused, pretty much summarizing their intentions with them alone. "That works out for me. I came here from that same region, originally intending to inform the authorities of what's going on but you all will be better."
"What do you mean? Is there something going on over there?"
When Katakuri asked her this, Raven nodded as she proceeded to explain. According to her, her Team RAIL had been touring the Northwestern region when they'd heard rumors of a massive army of Youma being formed there, thus had wanted to confirm it for themselves before reporting in on it. Upon their arrival, however, it turned out to be WAY more true than they'd realized for, not even a day in, did they get besieged by a bunch of Youma without warning. A bunch with many Awakened types among them no less, which had immediately sparked concern in them, but more than that the Youma had formed a Blockade somehow around the place's borders, resulting in them being trapped inside. Therefore, Team RAIL had to go around the Region and destroy the camps that were the hotspots for Youma gatherings, hoping to thin their numbers enough so they could get through the Blockade.
Whilst they'd done so, however, they'd rescued civilians who had come from villages these Youma had destroyed, some of them informing Team RAIL of a possible lead on the Barrier's location… or rather, a rumor about it. According to the villagers, who had been headed to a city called 'RABONA', there existed someone who had been said to have witnessed the Barrier's erection themselves but had hidden there to avoid detection by interested parties. It had been a no brainer for the Spec Ops Agents that the 'interested parties' bit referred to those like Conversation or the enemy DPUs.
'Interesting… and I guess that because of Chaos tainting this land, Raven's ice powers are being affected in some way, which would explain why she sees the Blockade as something troublesome…' Nico thought to himself, mentally frowning at this information. Still, this did give them quite the lead to chase up, he figured since now they had a target to lead to check where they could look for the location where the Barrier had first been erected.
Similar thought processes passed through the Spec Ops Agents too, with Katakuri asking the following question. "Have you confirmed any of this?"
"When we arrived at RABONA, that's the first thing we did. We confirmed the existence of this person, and it turns out this person's a former Guild Agent who's hiding there. He wasn't too stoked about us though, didn't believe that some 'low level' Agents like us could handle going to that place, so he wasn't very forthcoming." Raven replied, and to that Nico mentally had to wonder just how the heck that guy hadn't found his balls dropped from his body with frostbite or something similar.
If there was one thing which Raven HATED more than men, it was being called incompetent. Especially by men, last time one had called her that… didn't turn out too well, let's just say that. Practically traumatized Aiden and Ivan badly when they'd accidentally done something similar once, to which they now avoided mentioning certain things like soap and cleanliness around her whenever possible. Nico of course believed that this came from her past which had a deep connection to incompetence, inferiority, and uselessness. Something which Nico had known based on what she had told him of.
"Infiltrating this region will require passing through this blockade." For once, Arima chose to speak up, having been deep in thought whilst looking completely nonchalant like nothing in this world mattered to him. From what he'd researched about him, Nico (and he bet that the other Agents felt similar judging from their personalities and his observations) that they were of a similar mindset. "Are there parts which are weaker than others?"
At this, Raven nodded. "Indeed, that's how I was able to break through, although my data may not be as reliable since the Youma around the Region's borders were shown to be… considerably intelligent. They were capable of speech, of comprehending battle tactics and the like, so they might have reshaped their formations." she explained, causing waves of surprise through the Agents.
"That would mean plenty of Awakened Youma are among them if they've become that intelligent," Mihawk stated, thoughtfully and he wasn't wrong since observations have shown that the level of intelligence varies depending on the Youma in question, but it's commonly seen that the Awakened ones were considerably more so than their basic counterparts. What had been said to them just now sounded like the Youma were being led by a plethora of Awakened ones, which would likely end up causing them no small amounts of annoyances.
'Yeah, and although I doubt that they've thought of it, there's also my Scouting forces. They likely won't be able to punch through that many Youma, but they MIGHT be able to determine where the 'weaker' spots are…' the redhead thought to himself, cupping his chin as he pondered on how to go about this issue. Gimli. Lard and Legolas hadn't returned yet due to him having told them to start scouting around their vicinity one more time in case of enemy ambushes, but perhaps he could get some counsel from them when they returned.
Still, considering that this lead was the best they had at the moment and that they were pressed for time alongside there was the confirmation of sorts from a professional, it would probably be best if they investigated it. Just had to think of how to get through this possible blockade scenario that Raven believed would happen as soon as they got to the borders, and then they'd have to make a beeline straight for RABONA.
"Interesting… now there's only one variable left to discuss."
"Hm?"
Raven, Nico, and the other Agents looked towards Rory as she proclaimed the aforementioned statement, the gothic Spec Ops Agent elaborating after a few seconds. "What, you boys all forgot? The Takkadan boys, they need to be made aware of the situation so they can form a response, do they not?"
Hearing this, each of the Agents all gained looks of realization as Raven's gaze fell onto the redhead."I see… you brought some backup?"
'Yeah, that gaze of hers isn't different from the norm, at least…' Nico thought to himself whilst repressing the chills he felt from the icy gaze that the samurai-Esque Agent sent him upon hearing that. She wasn't a big fan of Abnormals, and likely was one of the few who would have problems with working with them… especially given her circumstances alongside her being an Agent like himself. "Yeah, they're our recon force which we've been using in the spirit of cooperation between my Tekkadan and the Spec Ops Agents. Thing is, if this information about the possible Youma blockade is true then we'll need to figure out how they can advance too. This mission involves them as well, after all."
"I see…"
Meanwhile, as everyone lost themselves in the discussion revolving around the Abnormals that accompanied them, Arima stayed out of it as he looked behind him, or to be more precise at the direction that they had come from. To him, all this talk about the Abnormals being pushed through with them was only trivial compared to something which he had been pondering for some time now, something which he had begun to suspect shortly into their trip but hadn't informed the others due to lacking evidence. Having proof of one's claims went far in their line of work since it helped them make more accurate judgments, and if he were right then he needed to make the most effective judgment possible. It was something which had been hard to notice at first, but gradually Arima had started to see it, the Youma managed to repopulate quite fast from what they had observed, nobody could deny that. However, if they could populate so quickly, then why the fuck have they not overwhelmed them already? Sure there's him and the other top tier Agents, and now the CPUs were helping out, but… he wasn't sure, but his instincts kept telling him something wasn't right. That even though the Youma had great population ability, they SHOULD be much greater in number than this.
Therefore… why aren't they?
Not to mention this whole thing revolving around the barrier… Arima suspected that it wasn't meant to just keep people out...
So far though, to him, it would seem that on some level the other Agents had noticed something being amiss from what he had observed of their actions, though it seemed that they had other priorities that took greater precedence. Still, he hoped he was wrong...
Because for once, Arima didn't wish to be right.
Chapter end!
Hey guys, here's the end of my next OEG Chapter. So, to summarize whats happened, its that the Spec Ops Agents have begun to move out and are now heading to the northwestern region in order to deal with the Barrier covering Lowee, that way the CPUs can call in for reinforcements from their own Nations in order to lend Lowee a hand. However, along the way, its shown that the journey may not be so simple, especially with what Arima has noticed... we'll only see that in future chapters. More interestingly, its that Raven seems to have some qualms with Nico being the leader of Abnormals, it seems, though to be fair she's got reasons to be so, and it seems that Nico is aware somewhat of her backstory. Now, we're getting close to the main meat of this little arc, so close to the main climax as well as the buildup to the big boys that will be coming out to play. Hope you guys like it, let me know what you think and look forward to the next chap.
PEACE OUT!
