Chapter 12- Scarlet Aftermath

November 1, 2056

Marth forcefully dragged "Tomoko" out of the bathroom before tossing her to the floor. In hindsight, this might not have been a good idea on his part since she was a little girl, but the demon prince was too bitter to care. A Burst Linker, a king player in fact, had violated the privacy of him and his sister and intruded upon their home. There was also the matter of the Red King challenging Kisara to a duel, which he himself only saw the beginning of before quickly logging out to snatch Tomoko's Neurolinker to end the duel.

This act wasn't out of fear that his sister would lose to Scarlet Rain. Okay, it was partially out of that since like Ashen Wolf, Purple Flare didn't fully reflect Kisara's abilities in the real world. However, even with this handicap, Kisara would still be able to put up a decent fight against a king.

"Ow!" Tomoko cried out in pain as she hit the floor. "What the hell's your problem, boy?! Don't you know who I am? Do you want to die next?!"

It would seem that her polite baby sister persona was just a façade. Now that her cover was blown, she had now revealed her true personality, which was her being very rude to her peers. If she was trying to intimidate him, then she was barking up the wrong tree. If anything she should be afraid of him, which seemed to be the case as she suddenly flinched from the cold glare Marth gave her.

"Put your clothes back on, then get out," he said venomously. "I don't want to see your face here again."

Tomoko clenched her teeth tightly, her pride as a king not allowing her to be intimidated by the demon prince. Bracing herself, she quickly stood up, keeping a close grip on her towel. "Or what? In case you've forgotten, your mother gave me permission to stay here. You don't have the authority to evict me."

"Oh really?" Marth replied, not missing a beat. "Well in case you didn't get the memo, you're only here because you lied about your identity as a cousin Kisara and I don't have. Our mother is aware of your little lie too, and she explicitly gave me permission to do with you as I see fit."

"Wh-what?"

"Now then, get dressed, then leave! I won't ask again."

"Hey, wait a…"

"Either get changed now or I'm throwing you out in just that towel in three seconds!?" Marth bellowed in fury, losing any sense of patience with the younger girl. "One…two…"

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" Tomoko said hastily, hurrying into Kisara's room and closed the door. After about a minute or so, she came out in the outfit she wore earlier and had a bag slung over her shoulder. She looked clearly unsettled by the situation, but Marth didn't really care.

"Hey, can I ask that I meet with your guardian?" she suddenly requested. "Here in the real world, I mean?"

He simply scoffed in response. Was this what she was after? Was she trying to track down Kuroba, the Black King? Not to mention that she wanted the meeting to be in person, which is a serious taboo in Brain Burst since it risked having your identity exposed and being constantly harassed by accelerating addicts who would do anything to get more burst points.

"And why should I have you meet with my guardian?" Marth questioned in suspicion. "You're not in a position to be making demands."

"Look, it's important. If you don't…I'll…crush you in a duel."

"That'll be hard to do without your Neurolinker." As if to taunt her, the demon prince also raised the hand that still held the red device.

"In that case, I'll expose your identity to my legion and have them constantly harassing you until you lose all your points."

"Then I'll just expose your identity to the Acceleration World. I'm sure 'Tomoko Saito' isn't your real name, but I bet I can find it by browsing through your Neurolinker. I'm sure you'd be a much more lucrative target than me if both our identities were exposed."

This girl seemed to be a complete novice when it comes to making demands. Rias had taught him that in order for most demands to be successful, you had to be in a position of power, when the other party is at a disadvantage. Of course morals could also play a factor on the demand's success, but that depended on the demand itself and the beliefs of the other party.

Whatever this girl wanted to talk about with Kuroba, it was obvious that it involved Brain Burst, a topic that Marth couldn't care less for. To him, the mysterious program was just a means to the end, its only purpose being to help him to recover his lost memories. Sure, he was curious on who its creators were and what Brain Burst's purpose was, but he wouldn't lose any sleep over it suddenly disappearing.

He was about to tell the Red King to leave again, only for a certain voice to interrupt him.

"Brother, wait." Kisara emerged from the bathroom, thankfully in a set of clothes. Her brilliant white hair was still damp and needed to be brushed. She likely had hurried to get dressed since she knew what her elder sibling would do with the red-haired girl. "Maybe we should do what she says."

Marth, naturally, eyed his younger sibling with mild skepticism. "Why should we, Kisara? She violated our privacy and lied about who she was. We don't owe her anything."

"True, but she clearly put herself at great risk to the home of an enemy Legion. I'm not saying that she deserves our help for whatever issue she has, but we should at least hear her out. We'll decide what to do after we know what's going on. Besides, it's almost dark. We can't send a little girl to the streets at this hour."

As much as he disliked it, the fencer made a good point. There was no harm in simply hearing the Red King's story on why she resorted to such a dangerous method to meet Kuroba. Perhaps Tomoko wanted Marth and Kisara to transfer over to Prominence due to their unique aviation ability, which would never succeed for obvious reasons. Still, even that possibility didn't feel right. He was missing something. Ah, screw it. He'll play along for now.

"Very well," he said reluctantly before returning Tomoko's Neurolinker to her. "Be grateful for my sister's kindness. I'll allow you to stay here and arrange a meeting with my guardian, one in the real world. But you need to obey a few ground rules. First, stay out of my room. Second, no challenging me or Kisara unless we give our express consent. If you break any of those rules, then your butt's out of here. Am I clear?" To emphasize his point, he gave the red head his signature cold glare, which made her visibly flinch.

"Y-yeah. I can do that. I guess I should also tell you my real name then, since my cover's blown. My name is Yuniko Kozuki."

Marth didn't say anything as he went over into the living room and crashed on the couch. Kisara wasn't surprised by this. She was well aware the demon prince acted this way to anyone he didn't trust. Still, she was glad that she managed to convince him to hear Yuniko out. There had to be a reason she was hear, right? Maybe she was a little naïve after all.

"My, my. It seems things have gotten interesting while I was away," a new voice spoke up, sounding somewhat mischievous.

The whitette turned to her left and her eyes lit up with joy. Standing by the front door was a beautiful woman with long black hair that was as black as night with strands of white and raven-black eyes that were behind a pair of white framed glasses. She was wearing a long-sleeved black turtleneck shirt, blue jeans, and brown leather boots. She looked to be in her late twenties, but she had the air of someone much older. In her hand was a plastic bag of fast food.

"Sister!" Kisara exclaimed with a big smile as she ran over and wrapped her arms around the older woman, who effortlessly caught her with her other arm.

Medusa simply chuckled at the demoness's antics. "You haven't changed at all, little sister. I hope you and Marth have been on your best behavior while I was away." Both girls just laughed while Yuniko looked hopelessly confused as to who the new arrival was. The Red King did conclude that this family was weird as the tension from before had all but evaporated when this mysterious woman arrived. Even Marth was acting nicer, though only to his supposed older sister.


November 2, 2056

The first thing he did when he arrived to school that morning, Marth made his way to the cafeteria, hoping to find a certain someone. Sure enough, right in the back of the student lounge was a familiar black-clad silhouette that seemed to radiate in the afternoon sunlight. He actually felt his heart accelerate for a brief second from the sight but quickly recollected himself.

Kuroba looked deeply engrossed in a book she was reading, and judging from the title, it was about his guild, the Harbingers. She didn't even seem to notice him approaching.

"Good morning, Marth."

Or maybe she did notice. Honestly she could be so hard to read sometimes. Even with only a month of training from Scathach, Kuroba has proven to be his equal in combat. Maybe it was because of her years fighting in Brain Burst, or maybe her experiences as Celine were simply engraved in her muscle memory. Heck, she was really coming along with her projection magic, with her making some rather decent copies of the Black Lily Sword, the divine sword that Celine had wielded during the War of Light and Shadow. According to legend, the Black Lily Sword was originally a black flower that sprouted from the site of a terrible battle. Supposedly, Mitra sent Celine to collect the flower and turned it into a weapon for the crown princess to wield. The razor-thin sword was the embodiment of absolute severance, cutting through pretty much anything it struck. Too bad no one knew where the real sword was. Thankfully, though, Rias had someone she trusted to investigate the locations for the divine weapons Kuroba and the others used in their previous lives.

"Hey, Kuroba. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

"Not at all. Besides, I like waiting for you. It makes our time together even more special."

Marth let out a groan. Ever since she got out of the hospital, Kuroba had been acting strange towards the demon prince, well, stranger than usual. She always seemed to romanticize things about him and gave little concern over his personal space, especially whenever Fuko was around. It honestly made him feel uncomfortable and he had no idea why she was acting like this. Come to think of it, Fuko has been doing the same thing as well, almost like she was trying to get a rise out of the Black King. Maybe he was just overthinking things.

"I see you're reading about our old guild," he commented. "Any particular reason why?"

"Well, I was always a fan of the Darkness Duo and their guild. Heck, even when I was a kid, I found myself particularly drawn to the Dark Swordsman, to you. I guess my soul knew the Dark Swordsman was you even though my mind didn't. Anyway, I was reading it to see if it'll stir up any more memories, but no such luck."

There wasn't anyone else in the lounge, so neither of them had to worry about being overheard. Although, just to be safe, Marth sent a small electric bolt to temporarily disable the security camera overlooking them. It should return to normal after about ten minutes or so. "If it was that easy, I would have had my memories back long ago."

Kuroba simply giggled at that. "True, but it didn't hurt to try. By the way, there's something I've been wondering. You're going by 'Marth', which was your avatar name thirty years ago. Why hasn't anyone connected the dots as to your identity as the Dark Swordsman."

The demon prince grimaced at the mention of his former nickname. Slowly, he pushed those feelings to the side. The Dark Swordsman was dead, having perished along with Zarc. Sadly, he did know that this topic would be brought up by the Black King eventually. Thankfully, he had enough of his memories to give her a proper answer.

"The reason people haven't realized my former identity is because I had a different legal name back then. Thirty years ago, Kisara and I were adopted by a Japanese couple and they had our names changed for certain…reasons." Parts of his memories of the event were still fuzzy. He could just barely make out his former mother's face if he closed his eyes. "My adopted name back then was Shun Koujiro, while Kisara went by Ruri Koujiro. When in public, those were the names we went by, but when we were alone, we were Marth and Kisara."

"Koujiro? That name sounds familiar. Putting that aside, so you and your sister just used your old names for your avatars?"

"Yep. The virtual world was the only place where we could be ourselves without much worry, although I don't fully remember why we were so secretive with our identities that we had to change our names."

"I see. I'm sure you'll remember the reason eventually," Kuroba replied thoughtfully, her eyes filled with sympathy before becoming more serious. "Anyway, what did you want to talk about?"

Remembering why he was here, he began to explain the situation as he took a seat next to his guardian. He didn't leave any detail out, especially the part where Kisara fought the Red King to a standstill. To no surprise, Kuroba looked ready to explode with anger but managed to keep herself in check to not cause a scene. She really was more graceful and elegant than him. It must stem from her fairy lineage.

"Well…I am glad that you and Kisara were able to see through her ruse. Guess that's the benefit of having to look over your shoulder constantly for potential attacks from the Darkfallen. But still, it's strange to hear that a King would do a social engineering attack. And you said Kisara fought her on equal terms?"

"More or less. I think what helped was that they were fighting on a Weathered stage, allowing Kisara to fill up her special-attack gauge faster than normal. If they had battled on a more durable stage, she might have had a harder time, plus that standstill only happened after Kisara unleashed her Ultima spell, which is meant to be used as a last resort."

"I see. Still it's no small feat to measure up to the power of a King player. You should feel very proud of your sister. It's not every day that one fights against a King."

Marth simply chuckled in response, a small smile gracing his lips. "I'll pass that on to her. So what should we do?"

Kuroba paused to think for a few moments, slowly drinking a cup of tea as she did so. She looked a bit hesitant, most likely because of her past experience with the previous Red King, Red Rider. Such a reaction was understandable. Even though she never talked about it, it was clear that what happened still affected her, how her desperation to learn the secrets of Brain Burst caused her to behead the first Red King in a cowardly attack. Alas, there is no way to turn back time to undo past mistakes. All they can do is keep moving forward.

"We should discuss with the others before we proceed further," the Black King said finally. "Let's have everyone meet up at Dicey's after school."

"Sounds like a plan." Marth turned to leave before suddenly looking at the fairy princess from over his shoulder. "Don't let the past hold you back. You chose this path, right?"

Kuroba looked a little surprised by the remark before cracking a faint smile. "Yes, I did choose this path. On that day I declared that every Burst Linker was to be my enemy. I shouldn't be reacting so immaturely."

"Just the way you're reacting proves that you're a good person. If you didn't question what you did to Red Rider, I probably wouldn't be talking to you right now."

"That's surprising coming from you, Marth. I know that you saved Fuko from a human trafficking ring and that you killed every one of their members. You even burned down the warehouse just to destroy any evidence of your involvement."

The demon prince let out a light chuckle. "You've got a point there. I too have blood on my hands. However, I don't regret the lives that I've taken. I'll keep walking down this path, even if it leads to my own destruction."

"That's a little morbid, even for you. Killing people really doesn't bother you?"

"As long as Kisara is safe, my kill count doesn't matter to me. If my actions make me a monster, then so be it."

Kuroba could tell that the boy she loved was telling the truth. She knew that the demon prince was the type of person to strike down anyone he saw as an enemy, especially if he deemed them a threat towards his sister. When it comes to the safety of his friends, Kisara had the highest priority. Strangely enough, this revelation didn't really bother her all that much. Sure, she was a little jealous that Marth had more favoritism towards Kisara, but it also felt oddly comforting seeing the closeness between the two siblings. Even she could tell that even if the entire world went against the duo, they would continue to stand by each other.

"If only I had the same relationship with my family," she thought in longing.

She quickly dismissed the thought before it brought back those pained emotions. They had made their choice two years ago and have made no effort to reconcile. They had essentially chosen to abandon her the moment that incident happened, condemning her to be alone. But she wasn't alone anymore. After being tragically separated seven millennia ago, she was finally reunited with the boy she loved. Granted he was oblivious to her affection and most of their memories were still missing, but they had a second chance in this new era.

Of course, winning Marth's heart won't be easy as Fuko was vying for him too. It would seem that Sky Raker would be following the footsteps of her predecessor, Edna, where she would leave her old master behind in favor of following the demon prince, who she had feelings for. It turns out that the Ashen Wolf player retained his previous life's ability to draw allies from the most unlikely of places. That was fine. It's one of the qualities Kuroba liked about him.

Checking the clock in her peripheral vision, she saw that homeroom was about to start. Time sure does seem to fly by. She finished off the rest of her drink before silently following Marth out of the cafeteria and to their shared homeroom class. Along the way, she noticed that many of the students were staring at them and whispering.

"Why's Kuroyukihime hanging around that freak, Marth?" one student murmured under their breath, which Kuroba overheard thanks to her heightened hearing (which she learned how to do thanks to Scathach).

"I heard that he was seen at the red light district a few weeks ago."

"I heard the same thing. I'm not surprised by this. That freak would fit right at home in that place, what with all the drug dealing and night clubs. Do you think Marth's trying to drag Kuroyukihime there to do indecent things to her? He might be planning to sell her off to a gang or something."

"He could be," a female student said. "Someone needs to warn her about him before he sinks his claws into her. I'd hate to see our student vice president get tainted by him."

As expected, Marth didn't react at all to the backtalk happening around him. He had pretty become immune to their remarks, a trait that developed from years of verbal abuse. It just wasn't fair that it was just him and Kisara who have to endure it. Sure, Kazuto, Asuna and Shino got some backlash for their friendship with the demons, but it was to a lesser extent that the siblings received.

Then there was Kuroba herself. She also had an inhuman presence, yet she never received any degrading remarks from her fellow students. It certainly couldn't be from her beauty. Both Marth and Kisara both had appearances that made them great eye candy, but they still receive ridicule. Perhaps it was because Kuroba's fairy presence was more graceful and elegant than the siblings' demon presence, which was much more menacing than most fairies could ever muster.

Still, despite their harsh words, Kuroba wondered if there was some truth to them. The boy she loved still wasn't very open to her, but she knew that he wasn't the type of person to trick girls into doing unsavory things. Heck, he had saved Fuko precisely so that she could avoid such a fate two years ago. However, there was no denying that Marth held quite a few secrets close to his chest. This isn't even the first time she had heard the rumor of him hanging around the red light district.

If she remembered right, the first appearance of that rumor started right before summer break. Apparently one of the Umesato students had seen Marth exiting a train that had led to the district. Curiously, the school never did an investigation on the matter, although that might have been Rias using her mental powers to keep them back. Regardless of what happened, Marth was already eighteen at that time, a legal adult, so there shouldn't be that much of an issue with him hanging around an adult area. Although, Kuroba couldn't deny that she was rather curious as what Marth was supposedly doing there. However, she also knew that he wasn't likely to tell if she asked him. While she may have his trust, he still wanted some privacy with his life.

And that was perfectly fine for Kuroba. She'll let the boy she loves reveal more of himself at his own pace, rather than try to force his hand and drive him further away.


Kuroba and the rest of Nega Nebulus all managed to meet up at Dicey's with no issue. Thankfully the rustic café was very quiet as it tends to see more activity at night. Although, to ensure their privacy, Andrew put a sign on the door saying that it was temporarily closed for a private party. While the older man did not have Brain Burst, he was aware of the program thanks to Marth and the others, as the demon prince said they shouldn't keep it from each other, which Kuroba found herself agreeing to.

Andrew wasn't the type to betray their trust, plus his knowledge of it gave them a perfect hideout in the real world. Just one word and he'll temporarily close up shop so the group can hold a meeting. Although, out of consideration for his business, everyone would make sure to order something so he could get some money to keep the café open.

Right now, the axe-user was behind the counter, cleaning up some mugs while his wife was in the kitchen, preparing everyone's meals. Meanwhile the teenagers were all gathered around the table, but Kuroba made sure she got a seat directly beside Marth. Frustratingly though, Fuko made sure to sit on his other side, likely hoping to seduce him since they were competing for his affection. The demon prince had just finished explaining what had happened the previous day.

"I see," Takumu said slowly as he processed the information. "Trouble always seems to find you, huh Master?"

The male brunette was now wearing a pair of glasses with rectangular frames. Wearing glasses was nothing more than an accessory nowadays since the Neurolinker had powerful vision compensation built into it. But Takumu's glasses were no accessory. He was actually near-sighted, a consequence from studying too much with paper media and panel terminals, but he had chosen not to use his Neurolinker to correct his vision anymore. The Neurolinker's vision correction only showed the user virtual images generated by the CPU. By rejecting this function and wearing real glasses, Takumu has chosen to see the world his own eyes. There was something poetic about it.

Kuroba was impressed with how much the Cyan Pile player had changed over the last month. His obsession with Brain Burst had nearly dissolved and he was no longer using it to win kendo matches, which had caused his point shortage in the first place. He endured Scathach's training without complaint, perhaps having accepted it as punishment for his sins. Naturally, this didn't mean that Marth has forgiven him for abusing Kisara's trust. Heck, the whitette didn't fully trust her new servant very much either, for very understandable reasons. Taku was still a long way from the prince even considering to even release him from his service.

Marth let out a tired groan. "For the last time, Takumu, you don't have to call me 'Master'. You may be my pawn, but I do allow some casual behavior between us."

Unsurprisingly, Takumu just shook his head. "I'm sorry, but it's just more comfortable for me to address you that way. You, and Lady Kisara."

The demon prince simply sighed in defeat, clearly seeing that the brunette was set in his ways. "Alright. Do what you want. Anyway, what are your thoughts, everyone?"

"Well, it's certainly impressive that the Red King managed to track down where you and Kisara live," Asuna commented. "It's even cooler that Kisara managed to fight her to a standstill."

The demon princess simply smirked mischievously before leaning very close to the brunette. "Why thank you for the compliment, Asuna. Maybe we should take this to another room to discuss it further?"

Given her observations on Kisara, it was clear for Kuroba that the whitette was more into girls than guys. She doesn't flirt shamelessly, especially towards a girl she knows is dating someone else, but she liked to do it just to see their reactions. And given how red Asuna's face got from that last comment, Kuroba could see why.

"Wh-what are you implying with that, Kisara?!" the chestnut-haired girl stuttered out, desperately trying (and failing) to stay calm.

Shino soon smirked as well. "Maybe I should join you two for that discussion. It might be fun."

Naturally, that only made Asuna's face get redder. It was almost like steam was coming out from her ears. It was quite a humorous sight. For some reason, Shino loved playing into Kisara's flirtations, although neither party went far with it since they were just doing it for fun. However, Kuroba felt there was something between the fencer and archer that neither of them noticed.

"Not you too, Sinon!" the chestnut-haired fencer moaned in complaint.

Everyone else simply laughed at her distraught. Even Marth cracked some semblance of a smile. Soon Andrew's wife, Sumire, emerged from the kitchen with a tray of food and distributed it all among the group. No one ordered anything too heavy since it was the middle of the afternoon. They all continued their talk as they began eating.

"Anyway," Kazuto spoke up, wanting to get back on topic. "We don't have enough information to discern what the Red King wants to talk about with Kuroba. However, I think we have enough to guess her intentions if her cover hadn't been blown."

"Which is?" Shino questioned.

"She probably intended to stay with Marth and Kisara for a few days, hoping that they'd get attached to her as the 'baby sister'. She might have said 'Um, I'm a Burst Linker, but because I'm a kid, everyone else bullies me and steals my burst points. Can you two please join my Legion and protect me!'"

Suddenly the demon siblings burst out in a shared laughter, catching everyone's attention.

"Oh please," Kisara said in between giggles. "Only a naïve child would fall for that trick. I may be nicer than Marth, but even I'm not that generous. At most, I'd coach her how to be a better fighter, not transfer to another Legion to protect a girl I don't even know."

"And I would have just kicked her out," Marth added. "I see no benefit in helping her."

Fuko then smiled dangerously. She suddenly wrapped her arms around Marth's left arm, making sure that her breasts were firmly pressed against him. "Well then. I'm glad that I was the exception to the cold-hearted demon prince's neutral tendencies."

Surprisingly, the male demon looked visibly uncomfortable with brunette fairy's actions. Kuroba could swear that she could see faint traces of red on his cheeks, and it infuriated her that she wasn't the one who caused it.

"Th-that was different," Marth replied, trying to stay composed. "You were kidnapped by human traffickers. Scarlet Rain's excuse would have been regular bullies, plus I would be able to tell that she was lying."

The Sky Raker player still maintained her mischievous smile. "Maybe, but it's still the thought that counts. Come to think of it…"

"O-kay!" Kuroba suddenly said, louder than she intended. "Can we please get back on topic?" Fuko looked a little disappointed that she was interrupted, even more so when Marth asked that she let go of his arm, which she reluctantly obeyed. "Thank you. Anyway, we've pretty much established that neither Marth or Kisara have the mentality to help Scarlet Rain with her 'request'. Given that they've lived their lives with targets on their backs, they would never so easily believe the words of a stranger."

"A good thing too," Takumu added. "If they had believed the lie and joined the Red Legion, the Red King would have threatened them to stay with the Judgement Blow, a skill that all Legion Masters possess."

"Judgement Blow?" Kisara said slowly. "Isn't that the skill that eliminates all of a Burst Linker's burst points so long as they're in the same Legion as the master?"

"Correct. The validity for the attack is the period of Legion membership and one month after leaving the Legion. Even if you and Master only left Nega Nebulus and joined the Red Legion for a short time, it would give Scarlet Rain the power of life and death over Purple Flare and Ashen Wolf."

Marth simply scoffed as he leaned onto the table. "Hmph. That may work for a regular human, but we demons have ways of getting what we want. I could easily have Mom erase the Red King's memories of me and Kisara or just simply threaten her into submission. She already fears me, so I can easily 'convince' her to leave us alone."

Well that was pretty blunt. Even after a month, Kuroba wasn't used to how direct the boy she loved can be. Still, he was correct. As a demon and the adopted son of the Lust Lord, Marth did have a few options to avoid the life of being threatened into remaining within an enemy Legion. Still, there was something about this that disturbed the Black King. She had to voice it. It left her too disturbed to not say something.

"But why would she go to such lengths to get the aid of Marth and Kisara? Sure, they're the only ones with the ability to fly in Brain Burst, but that suicide show would still be a huge gamble because she wouldn't know their mentality in the real world. Which means…"

Kazuto quickly caught on to her implications and nodded in agreement. "That she wants them to do something for her just once, using the Judgement Blow to have her way to ensure their cooperation. I get the feeling that this 'something' is what she wants to discuss with you, Kuroba. Since her cover was blown, she has to ask more directly."

"I'm getting that impression too," Kisara voiced. "After my duel with her, she asked for a meeting with our Legion Master in the real world. That tells me that her intention isn't hostile. Plus I don't think she would go to these lengths if she didn't have a good reason."

"Indeed," the Black King replied solemnly. "Where is the Red King now?"

"She's at our apartment," Marth said off-handedly. "Medusa and Yuna are keeping an eye on her. So far she hasn't caused any problems."

"Okay. Then we'll all meet up at your apartment then. We'll hear her out there."

She half-expected the demon prince to put up a fight at the suggestion, but instead he merely shrugged it off. "That's fine with me. What do you think, Kisara?"

"I have no objections. Our apartment has enchantments to ward off intruders and eavesdroppers. It's a fine place to hold a meeting without revealing our favorite hideout."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Andrew said half-seriously, a slight grin plastered over his face. "There are plenty of places fancier than this one."

Everyone simply laughed at that. "Don't say that, Agil," Asuna said sincerely. "We love Dicey's. There's a reason why we keep coming here after all."

"Yeah," Kazuto agreed. "This place brings back some nostalgia from Aincrad. I still prefer this café over your shop in Algade."

Marth simply shook his head at that. "You say that now, Kazuto, but Agil was willing to let us stay there for free after our Dual Blades skill got leaked after our fight with Gleam Eyes. We owe him a lot for that."

"Glad someone appreciates my generosity," the axe-user added, his voice filled with pride. "Anyway, I think I'll leave this all to you guys. I'm not gonna be much help since I don't have Brain Burst myself."

"Good luck out there, Nega Nebulus," Sumire said with a warm smile. "If you need a place to hold your meetings, our doors are always open."

Kuroba and the others gave their thanks before finishing the rest of their food. Once they were done, they said their farewells to the couple and exited the café, heading straight for the apartment complex that the Umbris siblings were living in. As they walked, the fairy princess couldn't help but give a few passing looks over at the siblings.

"Just what is it that this Yuniko wants with them? The bad feeling in my stomach hasn't gone away at all. It almost reminds me of when that thing was still around. It couldn't be, could it?"

Either way, she would get the answer to her question soon. Not to mention that the time to confront her past transgression towards Red Rider was drawing closer, and not the way she would have expected.

To be continued


Okay, this did not go as I initially planned. I had hoped to get the meeting between Nega Nebulus and Yuniko in this chapter but other elements I added in this chapter put that on the back burner. Eh, I don't think it's that big a deal. I just save it for the next chapter, plus the new tidbits I added in this chapter helps foreshadow certain events to come. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. See you guys next time!