Chapter 11- The Red King

November 1, 2056

It's been about a month since Ashen Wolf made his debut in the Accelerated World, when it was revealed that he possessed the aviation ability. Kuroba Yukiko, otherwise known as the treacherous Black King, Black Lotus, has made her return as well, reforming her Legion, Nega Nebulus. The once stagnant Accelerated World was alight with excitement as many Burst Linkers eagerly awaited what will happen between the Black Legion and the remaining Six Kings of Pure Color.

Right now, Marth Umbris was standing on the roof of Umesato High School, staring at the sky while leaning against the grated fence. Technically he should be in class right now since it was the middle of the school day, but he didn't feel like going. Besides, he could just copy his notes from Kazuto if he needed to. Anyway, Ashen Wolf had managed to reach level 4 quickly, though in no small part to him challenging as many Burst Linkers as possible while moving about the city. His win-streak was near perfect, making him quite the lucrative target in the Accelerated World. Both Kuroba and Fuko had warned him of the dangers of doing such hardcore grinding for burst points, as it would cause him to lose sight of the real world due to the addiction of accelerating. After all, not even the reborn princess of the fairies was immune to it, and it caused her to make many mistakes in the past. Also, to increase the Black Legion's numbers, both he and Kazuto took Kisara and Asuna respectively as their proteges. They too have managed to level up fairly quickly. In fact, they were both close to reaching level 4.

Anyway, back to Kuroba and Fuko. While Marth might not fully show it, he was grateful that they were both looking out for him like that. However, their concern was unwarranted. He refused to lose himself in the Accelerated World. He couldn't, otherwise he couldn't keep the oath he swore to keep no matter what.

"I thought I'd find you here."

Marth lowered his gaze and saw a familiar face approach him. It was Kisara.

"Shouldn't you be in class right now?" the demon prince questioned, sounding half-serious.

"I could say the same to you. I know that you have a bad reputation here in school, but that doesn't give you an excuse to skip class. This could hurt your future."

"That only applies if I gave a damn what people think about me. Besides, Sister, you know that I have no intention of going to college. Once you graduate, we'll be moving to Eternus. If these eight years have proven anything, it's that we don't belong here."

Kisara let out a deep breath, her gaze lowering in sadness. "As much as I'd want to disagree with you, Brother, you're right. Our classmates may not know the truth about us, but they can tell we're not normal. They fear us because of that. They don't understand why we're here, nor do they want to. But we can't blame them for that fear. Demons and humans haven't lived together for thousands of years."

"I'm not blaming them for fearing us. They have every right to be afraid. I'm just disappointed that barely any of them are willing to push past that fear. Instead they try to act like they're superior to us. It seems like the human spirit I once admired has dwindled over the last several millennia."

In fact, there was one human that immediately came to mind when he said that last sentence, one that he had only recently remembered. A human that had fought by his side during the War of Light and Shadow. It wasn't Kaito or Erika (Asuna's reincarnation) he was thinking of though, but it still brought some sadness to the demon's heart when he remembered hearing that person's fate from Rias.

If he closed his eyes, he could still picture their short flaxen-blonde hair and green eyes, their light blue coat, and of course, the icy blue sword with a blue rose sprouting from the hilt. That friend knew the risks of being a Harbinger, of fighting in the war, but he didn't care. All that mattered to him was helping his two best friends and reuniting with the golden-haired girl that was taken from his village during the early days of the war.

"Eugeo," Marth muttered under his breath as he let the grief take over.

As if sensing his sadness, the whitette pulled him into a comforting hug, gently rubbing circles in his back with her right hand. He soon found himself returning the gesture. "You mustn't blame yourself for what happened, Brother," Kisara said soothingly, her words almost sounding like honey. "Most of our memories are still missing, but I know that Eugeo was proud to fight by your side. It was thanks to his sacrifice that we were able to defeat that witch, Quinella."

"Maybe, but I had promised him I would make sure he would return to his village with Alice. Instead, I ended up burying him alongside others I've lost, including you."

"And now we're back together after seven millennia. I'm sure that if we reincarnated, then Eugeo would have too. We just need to find him again."

Somehow, Marth doubted that, but he chose not to say anything. He could vaguely recall the technique the Azure Swordsman performed in order to retaliate against the treacherous pontifex, a technique that had serious repercussions, especially on the soul. Contrary to what one might think, reincarnation was not a guarantee. Only a select few individuals were granted that privilege. No one was sure what the criteria for it was, or who bestowed it, but one thing that was clear was that the soul must remain intact for reincarnation to be possible. If your soul is destroyed, then there was no next life for you. You would simply cease to exist.

"Sorry, Eugeo. I may have failed you, but if Alice has reincarnated, I swear that I'll find her. I'll do everything in my power to protect her with the time I've got left. I owe you at least that much."

Eventually the two siblings separated. "By the way, have you heard from Cynthia lately? I would have expected her to be back by now?" Kisara questioned.

Marth cracked a light smile, as if to reassure her. "She's fine. Her last message said she was in Celestine, otherwise known as north Eternus. Apparently Viceroy Darian Mograine isn't liking the recent movements of his southern counterpart, so he's been preparing his forces in kind. Cynthia also suspects that Darian may know that we've reincarnated if his interactions with his advisors are to be believed."

The female swordsman's eyes widened in disbelief before she cracked a light smile. "That's great. From what Mom told us, Darian is a supporter of the Umbris family. We have another ally for our upcoming war with the Darkfallen."

"That we do. We may have to pay him a visit sometime so we can start preparing. Now if we could just find Balduq, then we'd be largely set."

"We'll find it eventually. You constructed that castle with your own hands, you infused it with power. No one can hide Balduq from you, not forever. Once we get a lead on its location, we'll take back what is rightfully yours, Brother."

"Indeed."


The rest of the school day went by relatively quickly for the demon prince. He and Kisara soon arrived back in their apartment, though curiously Yuna wasn't by the door to greet them. Rias wasn't there either, but that was to be expected since she had informed the siblings that she would be on a business trip for the next three days. Even though they were both old enough to look after themselves relatively well, the Crimson Sorceress still contacted Medusa and asked her to come over and watch them as a precaution.

Neither sibling minded the adult supervision from the minor goddess, in fact they were actually quite close with her. Like the Umbris family, Medusa was also created from Sinestra's blood, but she managed to obtain true divinity, though that partially came from some rather tragic circumstances. Despite that, she was the closest they had to blood family. She should be arriving soon.

"Welcome home, Brother, Sister."

Marth and Kisara were just removing their shoes when they were greeted by the voice. They immediately went on guard. Despite not seeing their older sister in four months, they knew for a fact that that voice wasn't hers. It was way too young, too innocent.

"Who's there?!" the demon lord demanded, preparing to materialize Lunara had his sister not stopped him by grabbing his hand and shook her head, silently telling him to wait.

Then they saw her. Emerging from the kitchen was a young girl, no older than ten years old. She was on the skinny side and wore a white blouse and navy skirt, possibly a uniform for some elementary school. She also wore some suspenders and a pink apron. Her hair was a bright red and held in pigtails on both sides of her face. Her eyes were a red-tinged green and her face was covered in freckles.

It was Kisara who spoke next, which was probably for the best because if she wasn't there to restrain her brother, he might have forced the young girl out. "Who are you?" she asked politely, though her eyes remained filled with skepticism. "Why are you in our home?"

"I'm your cousin, Tomoko Saito," the girl said innocently enough. "My parents had a sudden business trip so they decided to send me to your place for the next few days, with your mother's approval of course. I hope you don't mind the inconvenience."

If Marth wasn't suspicious of the girl before, he sure as heck was now. In order to prevent infighting over the Eternian throne, the Umbris family maintained a strict one-child rule so that there would only be a sole heir. The only one to break that rule was Altena, but she only did that since she had gotten into an arranged marriage with the King of Arcadia, so she had two children so one could inherit the Eternian throne. Naturally, this all meant that he didn't have any cousins.

If this girl was a Darkfallen demon, then she had just said the dumbest lie to the siblings, who could easily debunk her claims. Still, she did say that Rias approved of her stay here. Wanting to be sure, Marth checked his messages and sure enough, there was a note sent to him by his adoptive mother. The Demon Lord of Lust kept her message brief, saying that while she allowed Tomoko Saito into their home, it was up to the siblings' discretion on what to do with her since she also knew the story was a lie. However, she did also add that she didn't sense anything from the girl that would prove threatening to them, but to be careful nonetheless.

"I…see," Kisara finally replied, keeping a tight hold on her brother's hand. She knew that her beloved sibling isn't cold-hearted enough to brazenly attack a young girl like Tomoko, but she saw no harm in keeping him in check, just in case. She was the only one who could keep his anger in check, especially whenever that power overtakes him. "I'm Kisara Umbris. This is my older brother, Marth. It's nice to meet you."

Marth, naturally, said nothing as he continued to stare down at the young girl, but that didn't seem to deter her given her positive attitude.

"It's nice to meet you both too," Tomoko said cheerfully. "I hope you two are hungry. I'm baking some cookies. They should be ready any minute."

She then darted back into the kitchen, leaving the siblings alone in the hallway.

"Well, Brother?" Kisara muttered quietly, careful not to be overheard by their surprise guest. "What do you think?"

"She's not a demon, I can say that much for sure," he replied softly, finally breaking his silence. "Not even a demon lord can mask their presence while staying visible. Could be some girl trying to freeload off us."

"Maybe, or maybe not. What should we do?"

"You handle her any way you wish. We both know if we left this to me, I'd throw her butt out on the street. Let me know when you find out why she's here."

Kisara nodded in acknowledgement before she watched her brother march on over to his room, school bag over his shoulder, and closed his bedroom door. Inwardly, she was relieved he let her handle this. A situation like this would a require a more…subtle solution.

Strolling on over into the dining room, she gently set her bag on the table before continuing on into the kitchen, where she found Tomoko keeping an eye on the oven, waiting for the timer to go off. The demoness could indeed smell the scent of freshly baked cookies coming from the appliance. Surprisingly enough, Yuna was also in the kitchen, albeit in her doll form, sitting on the counter. That must be why the familiar didn't greet her and Marth when they arrived. She was trying to maintain her cover.

"Are you okay, Yuna?" Kisara questioned in concern, using a basic telepathy spell to communicate with her familiar.

"Hanging in there," the doll responded, though she sounded exhausted. "Forgive me if I sound rude, my lady, but who is this girl and why is she here?!"

"I'll explain later. Has she done anything of note while she was here?"

"No. She suddenly showed up here about an hour ago. I just barely managed to switch to my doll form before she saw me. I wanted to warn you, but she never lets me leave her sight and I'm still not skilled enough for long range telepathic communication. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Yuna. It took Cynthia a full year to get a handle of that spell when Marth resurrected her. I'm sure you'll be able to pull it off eventually."

It was faint, very easy to miss, but Kisara caught a glimpse of the white-haired doll cracking a slight smile and her eyes seemed to light up in gratitude. "Thank you, Lady Kisara."

"Hey, big sister, is this your doll?" Tomoko suddenly asked, bringing the demoness back to reality.

"Y-yes, she is. Her name is Yuna. She's been by my side for as long as I can remember. I consider her one of my closest friends."

"Cool. She's really pretty, almost as pretty as you. Where did you get her? I'd love to have a doll like her."

While Kisara was flattered by the compliment, she also knew that last sentence would be impossible to grant. Yuna is a doll from another time, a civilization that was long gone. It would be impossible to find a doll quite like her in this current era. Naturally, she couldn't tell Tomoko that.

"She was a gift from my mother. She was bought in an antique shop, but she never told me the name of the shop. Sorry I couldn't be of more help." It was a partial lie, but it was decent enough as Tomoko didn't press further, but she did ask if it was okay for her to play with Yuna during her stay here. Honestly, Kisara was a little hesitant to give her consent since she still didn't know what Tomoko's intentions here were, but she trusted that if the red head tried anything funny, Yuna would be able to defend herself.

Soon the cookies were done baking, so Tomoko pulled them out of the oven, and after waiting for them to cool off, moved them to a plate before they all went into dining room and sat at the table. After getting confirmation from her familiar that treats were not poisonous, Kisara helped herself to one. Interestingly enough, she rather liked them, way better than anything Marth could make, but that didn't say much given how much kitchens hate his guts. Instead a better comparison would be Asuna. While the demoness felt that Asuna was still the better cook, Tomoko was a close second. Heck, the whitette was already on her fourth cookie.

"Um, I'm sorry for the kitchen without asking," the young girl said nervously. "I just figured you and Big Brother would be hungry when you got back."

She gave the younger girl a gentle smile, but still kept her guard up. "Don't worry about it," she said dismissively. "What grade are you in?"

"Oh, I'm in fifth grade. What about you, Sister?"

"I'm in my second year of high school while Marth is in his third. If all goes well, he should be graduating next year."

"That's cool! Has he decided on which college he'll be going to?"

Well that put Kisara in bit of a pickle. It was in neither of the siblings' plans to go to college after they graduated from high school. The other Harbingers knew this as well so they planned accordingly. Initially the plan was to relocate to Eternus once they all graduated, but mystery of Brain Burst made things more complicated, as it seemed to be the key to recovering their lost memories.

Then there was the matter of them still needing to locate a few more members of the Harbingers. Thankfully when it came to that issue, Andrew did say he had a lead on the location of a certain Salamander and was planning to make contact soon. They just needed to hear back for confirmation.

"He…hasn't decided yet," Kisara lied, trying to maintain her poker face.

Tomoko seemed surprised by that, but didn't question it, likely because of her young age. The conversation after that went rather decently. However, Kisara soon noticed something odd about the red head, or rather, what was missing.

"Tomoko, do you not have a Neurolinker?" she questioned, noticing the absence of the device from the girl's neck.

"U-um. No I don't. My parents won't let me have one because they think it's too dangerous. Sorry."

That did make sense. There were parents that won't give their kids Neurolinkers while they were in middle school since the global net was a cesspool of criminal activities. Even with parental controls, it was impossible to completely block off harmful content from kids.

Instead they passed the time talking to each other. Marth didn't come out of his room though, not even under the bribery of Tomoko's delicious cookies. Honestly, her big brother never failed to amuse her.


With the sounds of bubbles sizzling in the water, Kisara sank deeper into the bathtub, her beautiful long white hair partially covering her moderate-sized breasts.

She always loved bubble baths, especially as a child. As if knowing this, Rias had chosen an apartment that had a large bathroom, as well as a decent-sized tub, so the young demon could easily submerge herself in it. Her throat felt a little sore from all the talking she did, having gone nonstop for two hours.

She had gotten a message from her elder sister, telling her and Marth that she would be running a bit late, but that she would be getting them all some takeout for dinner. Kisara did wonder how Medusa would react to Tomoko's presence, but it would seem that the minor goddess also trusted her judgement that the young girl wasn't a threat.

"Still, why is she here, passing herself off as a cousin I don't even have?" she wondered to herself. "She seems nice, but there's something off about her. I'm missing something, but what?"

"Big siiister!"

A singsong voice caught her ears, causing her to sit up as she saw the bathroom door open. She knew it couldn't be Marth, he wasn't the type to peek on a girl bathing. Instead it was Tomoko, wrapped in nothing but a pink towel, a bashful face plastered on her face.

"Can I help you, Tomoko?"

"Hey, sister, would it be okay if I joined you?"

Naturally if it was Marth in this situation, he would kick her out right away, for very obvious reasons. However, since she and Tomoko were both girls, she didn't see the harm in it. Although, to be honest, if she wanted anyone to join her, she'd rather it be Yuna. The doll familiar had done it before past (in her human form). Heck, she had even bathed a few times with Cynthia whenever the spider familiar was around, who had deemed the demoness as one of the few people allowed to touch her body. For reasons Kisara didn't quite understand, she felt more delight being around girls than boys. This might stem from her negative experiences with boys, save for Marth, Kazuto and Andrew, or it could be something else.

Pulling her legs closer to her chest to make some room, Kisara said, "Sure. I don't mind."

Tomoko smiled at that and began to approach the tub. As she was preparing to remove her towel, the demoness noticed something odd. Right at the back of the red head's neck was a thin tan line. It was unnoticeable before since it was previously covered up by her clothing, but now, with only a towel on, it was in plain sight. It was the tan line of a Neurolinker, a device that Tomoko claimed she didn't have.

"Gotcha," Kisara thought smugly before saying, "Well, well, well. I didn't expect this to happen."

The younger girl looked noticeably puzzled. "What are you talking about, Sister?"

"You're a Burst Linker, aren't you?"

For a brief moment, the girl was overcome with surprise, her right eye suddenly twitching. Rather impressively, she quickly managed to collect herself and cocked her head before saying in an innocent voice, "Ber…link? What are you talking about?"

Whoever this girl really was, she really underestimated Kisara. In fact, she had a hunch Marth figured their "cousin" was actually a Burst Linker, like them. No wonder he was so uninterested with interacting with her.

Hugging her legs close while resting her left cheek on her knees, Kisara looked rather seductive, especially with that smug grin on her face, though that was only to get a rise out of the younger girl, and given the bright red blush on Tomoko's cheeks, it was clearly working. Marth was right, messing with humans is fun.

"You're gonna make me spell it out for you? Very well then. First off, the tan lines on your neck. That can only happen when you wear a Neurolinker constantly, years even. I've got one myself. Second, Marth and I don't have any cousins, much less one of them named Tomoko Saito. Honestly, when it comes to lies, you're a total amateur. Next time when you want to lie about being someone's family member, make sure they actually have extended family."

Tomoko was visibly grimaced, her naïve mask falling apart at the seams. Just a little more and Kisara will have her right where she wants her.

"Are you a new Burst Linker or something? As I said, this whole story you spun of being my cousin, it reeks of amateur work. I must commend you at least for tracking down our home. But if you were here looking for some easy victories to score burst points, you couldn't have chosen worst opponents than me and my brother."

That seemed to do it as Tomoko completely dropped the innocent girl act and glared at the demoness, who looked completely unfazed by the sudden change. "What did you just say, bitch?!"

"My, my. Have I touched a nerve?"

"That's it! I, Scarlet Rain, am gonna make you pay for that insult. I'm getting my Neurolinker!"

Tomoko, or whatever her real name is, stormed out of the bathroom, not noticing that her last statement left the demoness puzzled. Scarlet Rain. That name sounded familiar. Come to think of it, wasn't there a Burst Linker with that name in the Red Legion, Prominence?

Yeah, she remembered now. About a week after the Cyan Pile incident, Marth had done some digging into the other Kings of Pure Color. The original Red King and leader of Prominence was Red Rider, but he lost Brain Burst forever thanks to Kuroba beheading him and the strict rules regarding battles between level 9 Burst Linkers. If she remembered right then the current Red King was Scarlet…Rain.

"Oh, crap," Kisara cursed aloud. She just pissed off one of the top players in Brain Burst. She was about to notify her brother about Tomoko's true identity, but before she could, the second Red King slammed into the bathroom door, looking just as pissed as ever but with the addition of a red Neurolinker.

"Burst Link!" Tomoko cried out, her voice full of fury. With the sound of those words, Kisara soon found herself dragged out of the real world.


The demoness soon found herself to no longer be in her bathroom. She was now in an expansive flat space with no walls in sight, only steel pillars that held up the stone ceiling. It looked like a building still under construction. Thankfully she was no longer naked as her appearance had changed into that of her duel avatar, Purple Flare.

Fitting for the name, she was dressed in a purple battledress with crimson accents that exposed her metallic legs. She had heeled boots, a purple faceplate with bloodred lenses for eyes, as well as long light purple hair. Strapped to her waist was a purple rapier.

Quickly collecting herself, she narrowed her eyes at the girl standing a few meters from her, all while keeping a close grip on her rapier. The girl was small, incased in scarlet, semitransparent armor, with dark gray and ruby highlights. She had an android-like head with antennas shaped like bundles of bound hair and pigtails. She also had a face mask with two red lenses for eyes. Also, strapped to her waist was a small toy handgun

Honestly, just from appearance wise, Kisara felt a little underwhelmed. Was this little girl really the Red King, one of the few Burst Linkers to actually reach level 9? However, she knew better than to lower her guard. Small size or not, Scarlet Rain was still a king. That meant that she will be one of the hardest opponents Purple Flare has ever faced before.

Curiously, Ashen Wolf was nowhere to be found. Naturally he wouldn't be able to help his younger sibling unless they switched to a battle royale mode, but he should at least be here in the Gallery since Purple Flare is on his watch list.

"He must have taken his Neurolinker off. Oh well. I'll manage without him. I can't rely on my brother's protection forever after all."

Right as she drew her sword, the space around Scarlet Rain began to warp. Four rough blocks that glittered a deep crimson appeared from thin air, quickly covering the smaller girl's arms and legs. Armor plates soon followed, rolling up from the sides before completely concealing her.

"Whoa," Kisara said in awe as she watched more crimson armor spawn in, making it several times bigger than her.

Aside from more metal plating, several heavy and enormous hexagonal pillars, as well as cylinders converged together. The crimson structure nearly reached the ceiling with how big it was. If there was one word to describe it, it would be a fort, mostly because of the gun barrels on either side of the structure. Right in the center of the structure was a pair of two red eyes.

As soon as the word "Fight" appeared in its usual flaming font, Kisara immediately planned her course for action. Given that the enemy's affiliation was long-range red, it would be dangerous to fight this strange fortress from a distance. It wouldn't be surprising if it was packing multiple types of long-range attacks, especially from those gun batteries on its two sides. If she tried fighting from a distance herself, it will only ensure her defeat. That left only one possibility. Attacking up close, however, given how quickly the fortress assembled, it was possible that her opponent could easily dissemble it too.

"You're not running?" Scarlet Rain spoke up. "You've got guts."

Kisara simply chuckled as she got into a fighting position. "So this is what the Red King looks like?" she commented. "You might actually give me a challenge."

"Oh, please," her opponent scoffed as she aimed her main weapon at Purple Flare. "I'm going to put you in your place, bitch!"

"Come now, 'little sister'. That's no way to call your elder sibling. Looks like I need to teach you some manners."

"Shut up and die already!"

A purple laser shot out of the barrel aimed at Kisara, but she was already on the move, making a dash around the fortress. Shockingly, Scarlet Rain could turn her gun barrels rather quickly to pursue the fencer, however she just couldn't keep up with Purple Flare's speed.

Soon the enemy's back came into view. As Kisara predicted, there wasn't any weaponry on the rear, just radiation fins and thrusters. She quickly scanned for any opening in the armor and…wait thrusters?

Almost immediately afterwards, the four black jet nozzles began shooting intense crimson flames. Kisara let out a pained grunt as the flames engulfed her body, very slowly whittling down her health. Despite the situation, however, she didn't even slightly panic.

She created a purple magic circle in her left hand and parted it to the side, causing the flames to sail harmlessly past her.

"Sorry, Tomoko, or whatever your name is, but using fire on me is pointless," Kisara said calmly.

Now undeterred by the flames, Kisara pressed on and unleashed the rapier skill, Quadruple Pain, cutting through a joint in the rear armor.

"That won't work!" Scarlet Rain bellowed, almost sounding gleeful.

A barrage of countless missiles shot out from the front of the duel avatar, sailing in every direction possible. In the blink of an eye, the concrete ceiling and floor, as well as the steel pillars, were all engulfed in a red explosion. Kisara maintained her level head as she easily evaded a missile that aimed for her head, having it strike the floor where she was instead.

Debris was falling from everywhere, so she was constantly on the move. This all but confirmed to her that this was a Weathered stage, which is known to break easily. Given that they were on the twenty-third floor, if the rubble consumed her, it would probably take out all of her HP. Seeing that this was a good opportunity to charge her special-attack gauge, she began shattering the chunks of concrete with her rapier. Soon she managed to reach about 30 percent.

"It's time." Just like Ashen Wolf, Purple Flare also had the ability to fly. She concentrated her power into her back, causing two pairs of purple translucent wings to sprout from there. Not losing her momentum, she kicked off the ground and began to soar.

The apartment complex was a total mess, all thanks to the Red King's missile barrage. That last attack had to be to charge up her special-attack gauge, because now it was completely full. Well two can play at that game.

With a snap of her fingers, Kisara created several small purple magic circles in front of her. This was a basic fire spell called Flare Bolt, but if used properly, it can prove to be pretty destructive in this setting. With a wave of her hand, she fired the flame projectiles, damaging the apartment building even further. At the end of it all, her special-attack gauge now sat at 75 percent. That should be good enough.

Soon, Kisara had to shield her eyes as rays of red light shone through the rubble below her.

"Heat Blast Saturation!"

A loud thunderous sound pierced the air, ringing in Kisara's eardrums as she watched a line of red fire break through the ruins, heading straight for the sky. Thankfully, she was able to evade the enormous beam with only minor damage on her left leg. Still, she grimaced as she felt a sizzling pain from her new injury.

She then watched in shock as the beam continued onward to the east, easily blowing away the top half of the Shinjuku government office. Incredible. So this was the power of a king player. It would seem that they were nearly at the level of power of a demon lord. Normally one would be scared of this revelation, but Kisara merely smiled in anticipation.

She may not be a demon lord like her brother and foster mother, but that didn't mean she was a pushover. She has spent the last six years enduring intense training from the Witch of Dun Scaith, all to help protect the brother she held so dear in her heart. If Scarlet Rain was packing this much power, then it was time for Kisara to get serious.

As expected, the Red King emerged from the rubble with not a scratch in her armor. The thrusters on her back and undercarriage were glittering with the embers of flames while white smoke trailed from the slits of the gun of her left arm.

"So the rumors are true. You can fly as well, Purple Flare," Scarlet Rain spoke up in excitement. "This is something I always wanted to do. To fire a bunch of antiaircraft missiles like you see in sci-fi movies or mecha anime."

Kisara simply chuckled in amusement. "As if that will be enough to defeat me. Do your worst, Red King!"

"You asked for it! Hailstorm Domination!"

Three kinds of gunfire ignited from the scarlet fortress. The first was a barrage of small missiles, while the next two were from the machine guns unloading in sync.

This will be tricky. Even Marth would have trouble evading this many projectiles at once, and he actually specialized in aerial combat due to his wind affinity. As for Kisara, her affinity was fire, but her speed was near equal to her older brother.

Immediately Kisara went on the evasive, putting most of her concentration into flying, while the rest went into prepping her counterattack. Her dodges weren't always perfect since there were way too many projectiles to evade, but she did manage to minimize the damage to herself. Interestingly, and this probably surprised Scarlet Rain, Kisara was not trying to close the distance between them. This was a risky move on the demoness's part, but her instincts told that charging straight at the Red King would be a bad idea. Instead, all Kisara did was maintain the distance between them, doing her best to evade the never-ending barrage of projectiles flying at her.

Muttering under her breath, she began chanting the incantation for her strongest long range attack. Omega Ragnarok, one of the six Ultima spells, its attribute naturally being fire. Naturally this was the strongest fire spell in existence and its incantation can't be skipped no matter how skilled the caster was. Not to mention, one slip of the tongue can cause the spell to backfire and damage the user instead. Because of this, Kisara preferred to stay still when preparing this spell so she could put all her effort into the incantation, however, due to the Red King's constant attacks, that would only lead to certain defeat. She had to take the risk if she wanted to end this duel.

"Besides, my brother wouldn't let this stop him from casting his Ultima spell. As the little sister of the Demon Lord of Wrath, I won't let this stop me!"

Kisara soared high into the air, still evading most of Scarlet Rain's missiles and lasers. Her preparations were almost complete, just a few more words left. As she said the final words, her eyes glowed with crimson light.

"My path is set. My flame burns all. If the world stands against me, then I'll scorch it all with my power. The end is now."

Right in the cloud line, the demoness stretched out her hand up, creating a massive purple magic circle a few meters above her. Slowly descending was a colossal mass of molten purple fire. For the first time since the duel began, Kisara could sense shock from the Red King as the latter had suddenly halted her assault.

"W-what the hell kind of attack is that?!" Scarlet Rain cried out.

"Ready yourself, Red King! This is my full power. Omega Ragnarok!" The demoness firmly made a fist with her outstretched hand, causing the mass of fire to explode into countless miniature versions of itself, with them all raining down on the duel field below. There was no set target for it. The Ultima Spell simply destroyed everything within its attack radius.

"Tch! I'm not going down that easily!"

Once again, Scarlet Rain resumed her constant barrage, her ammunition meeting the rain of fire blow for blow (at least in regard to the area around her). Kisara recoiled a bit due to the strain of unleashing such a powerful spell, yet she kept pouring her strength into it. The victor will be decided on whose special-attack gauge depleted first. That was the clear result of this clash. But who would be declared the winner? Will it be the Red King, one of the top players of Brain Burst, or the second princess of the demon race?

So far neither side was backing down. Given how much destruction they were causing, thus replenishing their special-attack gauges, it would seem that the battle won't end until time ran out. But then something unexpected happened.

Without any warning, the entire duel field started glitching out, though the one who looked the worse for wear was Scarlet Rain herself. Her entire duel avatar was becoming pixilated. Duel avatars aren't supposed to do that!? What is going on here?

"What the hell? What's going on?!" Scarlet Rain cried out, also sounding confused and worried over what was happening to her.

And then, the entire duel field crashed.


Kisara found herself back in the bathtub of her apartment. Confused as to what happened, she rose up from the tub to look around, the soapy water sliding off her body. She quickly located Tomoko at the bathroom entrance, but the little girl was no longer alone. In her surprise, the demoness had forgotten that she was still in the nude, but thankfully her hair was still covering parts of her chest.

Standing right by the door was a familiar black-haired young man with bloodred eyes that were ice-cold. He had one hand in a tight grip on the red head's shoulder while his other hand held a red Neurolinker. It all clicked in her head in an instant.

"Brother?" Kisara questioned in surprise. She then realized her own nudity and quickly grabbed her towel to cover herself. Thankfully, her brother's attention was focused on the younger girl, rather than the whitette.

"Well, well, well," the Demon Lord of Wrath mused while maintaining a rigid expression. "Look what we have here. The Red King herself."

Something told Kisara that their problems with this girl were just beginning.

To be continued


Alright, the Chrome Disaster arc has finally begun. Were any of you guys surprised to see that Kisara was the main focus of this chapter? I figured she would be a better fit to fight Scarlet Rain in this context, plus this gave me the opportunity to show off her own abilities. Anyway, looks like the Red King's in trouble now. I wonder what will happen next. See you guys next time!