Chapter 17- The Yellow King

November 3, 2056

So that weird clown avatar was one of the Seven Kings of Pure Color, the Yellow King, Yellow Radio? This was a messy situation to say the least. This was first time Marth even encountered the Yellow Legion, largely because their Territory was in the opposite side of Tokyo, more specifically the area from Ueno to Akihabara. How unusual to see them in Ikebukuro, and in such large numbers.

Barely even a few seconds have passed in the real world. That wasn't enough time to organize a party of this size and come here if the Yellow Legion had been monitoring them in the real world. That meant they had to have been monitoring someone else, and the only potential candidate was Cherry Rook himself. They knew this was his hunting spot and knew that Marth and the others would come here to eradicate him and the Armor of Catastrophe, so they set up an ambush. This whole thing was a trap.

"Bastard!" Yuniko howled suddenly.

She must have come to the same conclusion. She had her fists clenched, took a step forward, threw her head back, and roared out an accusation that sounded both childish and menacing, "You're behind this whole thing, Yellow Radio!"

However, despite all the rage she displayed, the slim figure of the Yellow King didn't even flinch. Strangely, he took his time to raise his bone-like arm. He then waved it broadly to the right and flipped his palm up.

"Well, well, when the little bugs fluttering in the sky comes crashing to earth, they brought a surprising guest. Hello, Red King."

His voice was definitely that of a boy, possibly in his mid-teens. It had a distortion effect to it, likely to help mask his identity, but that didn't seem to stop him from emanating his clown-like persona. Was it to get them to lower their guards? Doubtful, given how the Yellow Legion had them totally surrounded. It was probably just some form of roleplay.

"What are you talking about?" Scarlet Rain cried out. "You're the ones who attacked us!"

"My, my. You don't seem to understand why I'm here. I came all this way to have the Red Legion take responsibility for violating the nonaggression pact and attacking my precious subordinates, going so far as to hound them into total point loss. This duel avatar that's running around so violently is a threat to my Territory, right?"

The multiple layers of metal rings that comprised the horns of his hat wobbled lazily. Was he…smiling, or at least attempting to hide a smile? This was his first meeting with the Yellow King, but Marth already disliked him. He had the air of someone who used trickery and guile to get what he wants, stopping no matter who he hurts in the process.

Niko wasn't buying his weak excuses either given how enflamed she appeared. She jabbed her index finger towards the clown and shouted, "You're the one who made him like that in the first place! You secretly kept the Armor of Catastrophe for two and a half years before giving it to Cherry Rook. You tempted him to use it and violate the pact by going on a rampage all to lure me out!"

"That's quite the accusation you're making out. Too bad there's no proof of it. The Armor disappeared about two and a half years ago. It's quite possible that your subordinate could have just recreated it."

"Somehow I find that scenario very unlikely," Marth spoke up. He had his left hand on his waist, keeping his cold gaze fixed on the Yellow King. "How exactly would one be able to recreate an Enhanced Armament, especially one as twisted as the Armor of Catastrophe? That just doesn't sound possible."

The facemask of Yellow Radio locked eyes with Ashen Wolf. He then let out a cynical laugh. "My, my. You certainly have quite the attitude despite being a month old. Did you happen to pick that up from your treacherous mistress by any chance?"

Marth could feel the disgust coming out of Black Lotus. He didn't take too kindly to the insult either, but he stayed composed since a reaction was just what Radio wanted. Kuroba must have known too as she stayed in her current position as well. They weren't going to be baited in that easily.

"Regardless, I am here to enforce one of the sacred clauses of the nonaggression pact. If a member of a given Legion be pushed to the forced uninstallation of Brain Burst due to an attack that violates the pact, the aggrieved Legion may select one from the ranks of transgressor's Legion, consigning that person to the same fate. Basically, it's an eye for an eye, a rather uncivilized method of revenge."

Somehow Marth doubted Radio was complaining as much as he appeared about that rule. In fact, he already had an idea of where this was going. As if to confirm his suspicions, the Yellow King continued.

"Rules are rules. As a King, I cannot afford to ignore the pact, otherwise more insolent Linkers of a similar mindset might sprout up. Thus, I have had to trek all the way to Ikebukuro to find a member of the Red Legion and have them pay for their comrade's sins. What a cruel twist of fate that this member would be the head of the Red Legion herself, Scarlet Rain."

Yeah, right. Radio had about thirty minions surrounding the crater. This was probably the most a King's Legion could mobilize on a weekday afternoon. With numbers like this, their target couldn't be anything else except another King, the strongest type of prey in this world. Yellow Radio had predicted that Scarlet Rain would come here in the Unlimited Neutral Field, all to punish Cherry Rook with the Judgement Blow. He had found a legal loophole to hunt one of the five heads he needs to reach level 10. So there were other Kings besides Kuroba who wanted to reach the highest level after all.

The Yellow King had played a patient game by secretly keeping the Armor of Catastrophe after the fourth incident. He waited until just the right moment to slip into the Red Legion, also so that he could use the pact's rules to take out Yuniko. Sadly, there was no evidence for this. Even if he spoke out his thoughts, Radio could easily dismiss it as hearsay.

"I hate to say it," Kirito murmured, likely having the same thoughts as his partner. "But this guy outplayed us. Even if we get out of here, the other Kings aren't going to act because there's no proof."

"Yeah," Asuna agreed. "For the most part, his plan is flawless. There's not much even Yuniko can do in this situation."

Yuniko didn't say anything in response, but she still looked absolutely furious. Her clenched fists were shaking so violently. Finally after a few moments, her hands opened and fell to her sides. Somehow, she managed to speak in a controlled, level tone.

"Don't forget, Yellow Radio. The pact also says this: 'It is permitted to select any one person and exact vengeance, but this shall not be the case in the event that the Legion Master personally judges and sentences the offender to total point loss.' I'll judge Cherry Rook. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

"Not at all. Go right ahead!" Spreading his hands smoothly, the Yellow King said amusedly. "That is if you're capable. However, I've heard of a rather troublesome rumor. The other day, you made such an attempt, but you lost spectacularly. And to add insult to injury, you lost from a crude time-out. How embarrassing. If you want to challenge him again, by all means, be my guest. However, where could that Cherry so-and-so be?" He theatrically swiveled his head from side to side.

"Contrary to what you might think, we are rather busy, you know. You aren't seriously expecting us to wait here for days, hoping for the possibility that he'll show up, are you? If you can't punish him right now, then our only option will be to take you out instead."

"Grr," Yuniko grunted out, eyes narrowing.

So they accounted for the time discrepancy too. They knew that Niko was monitoring Cherry Rook's movements, waiting for the chance to strike, and accelerated into the Unlimited Neutral Field accordingly. Just a few minutes in the real world would equate to at worst, a day in this world. Yellow Radio was right. It was impossible to go after Cherry Rook right away.

Damn it all. The Yellow King had this perfectly set up. Now Ashen Wolf was strong for a typical Burst Linker, as were Graphite Edge, Purple Flare and Argent Flash, but even he didn't quite like these odds when one of their enemies was another King. If Radio managed to land a fatal blow on either Kuroba or Niko, they would be banished from the Accelerated World forever. Now Marth didn't really care much about Yuniko, but there was no way he was going to allow the Black King to lose Brain Burst. From what he's been told, when someone loses Brain Burst, they lose all memories that were associated with it. Any friends you made or encounters you had with Burst Linkers in the real world, they would be erased, just like that.

Given the memory situation for him and his Harbingers, there was no telling if they would be able to retain the memories of their past lives if they were to lose Brain Burst. It was because of this strange program that they were slowly getting them back in the first place. If they were to lose them now, they'd be back to square one and have to find another way since Brain Burst can only be installed once.

"We need to retreat," Marth said slowly. "It's too risky to engage him right now. He's got us completely pinned. We need to log out and regroup."

"We can't," Kuroba replied immediately. "Immediate log outs aren't possible in the Unlimited Neutral Field."

"She's right, Master. The only way to leave this place is go to one of the various exit points in the area. Suicide won't work because you'll just respawn in the same location you died in an hour. Of course, it would be different if someone in the real world were to remove your Neurolinker, but…"

Yeah, that wasn't likely to happen, even though there were other people in his apartment that weren't present in this world. Marth didn't even know if it was possible to mentally contact Cynthia while his consciousness was in this world. Sure, Sophia kind of did back when he fought Takumu, but that was through Lunara, which she has a connection with. Cynthia, on the other hand, had no such connection in this world.

Just for kicks, Marth decided to reach out to the dark sword spirit. "Sophia. Any chance you can get me and the others out of this situation?" He waited a few moments for an answer, but that familiar alluring voice did not reply. "Figured as much. She'd likely hear me if I had the real Lunaris. This knock-off makes it hard to connect with her." As another hail-Mary, he tried calling out to Cynthia telepathically, but got no response from her either. He glanced over at his sister, who simply shook her head, meaning that she had already tried reaching out to Yuna, but got the same result as him.

Fuko, Shino and Medusa weren't options either. Sure they were in the apartment as well, but without a way to contact them from this side, they would have no way of knowing of the danger the group was in.

"Out of morbid curiosity," Kisara muttered as she slowly reached for her rapier, "where's the nearest leave point?"

"Either in Ikebukuro Station or Sunshine City," Niko whispered back. "Neither of which we can get to quickly. Not to mention that we would have to fight our way out." Suddenly both her eyes glinted like rubies. "However, there is one miscalculation this asshole made."

"And that is?" Kirito asked softly.

"This is the amount of people he brought to take down me, a King. However, not only do we have another King present, but we've also got four abnormally strong Burst Linkers, one of which having fought me to a standstill."

Yuniko did make a good point. Marth even had the same thoughts, but it was Radio's color that made him reluctant to fight him and his Legion right now. Yellow on the color wheel was attributed to be inferior in direct combat, it excelled in midrange attacks, not to mention skilled at unpleasant and trickery attacks. That last part was what made Marth so wary of the Yellow King. He had no idea of what attacks Radio had, how he made use of his color attributes. It was quite possible that he had a few tricks up his sleeve that could easily move the board in his favor.

However, when it came to Yuniko and Kuroba, they covered each other's weaknesses perfectly. Scarlet Rain was an absolute monster when it comes to long-range attacks, while Kuroba excelled in close-range combat. Even when up against a fellow King and thirty other players, they should be able to win if they fight together. And that was before factoring in the Harbingers themselves (outside of Takumu).

Although, strangely enough, Kuroba has not even acknowledged the Yellow King, save for that one insult. Given her little scuffle with Niko when they first met, he had expected her to pull a similar maneuver with Radio here. Instead, she just stayed quiet for the most part and observed.

Turning abruptly, Marth saw the familiar jet-black avatar. Her sword hands were dangling by her sides, her head hanging. It can't be. Is she afraid? "Ku—"

Just as he was about to say her name out of instinct, Yellow Radio's voice rang out once more.

"As long as this Cherry-whatever doesn't show up, it seems the only possibility is to have you take responsibility, hmm, Red King? And that being the case…" A long finger from his leisurely raised arm aimed straight at the female avatar clad in black. "You wouldn't mind just sitting back and watching this wonderful carnival happen without interfering, right, Black King?"

No visible reaction came from the black-clad fairy. After a long five seconds, she finally lifted her face and pointed the sword of her right hand towards the Yellow King.

"You have got to joking, Radio." While the words she spoke were combative, they lacked their usual severity. It was more like she was talking to herself than her opponent. "Even you don't believe you can bring down two Kings with this strike force. If you think I'm just going to sit back and watch, you're horribly mistaken."

"Oh? So you'll fight after all? You'll turn that bloodstained sword of yours on me as well? How rude. And here I was trying to give you a front row seat to this wonderful show. But you'd rather go with the bad ending instead."

Yeah, he definitely had something up his sleeve. He was way too calm about this despite the enemy team having two Kings in their ranks. Just what was it though? Out of precaution, Marth drew his swords and got into a defensive stance.

In the meanwhile, the Yellow King let out a deep laugh. "It is true that I didn't factor you joining Scarlet Rain in the Unlimited Neutral Field. However, that is just a little wrinkle. My Legion, Cosmic Circus, will not have its fun interrupted like this. I was actually hoping to meet you like this again one day. I have this wonderful present I've been dying to give you!"

Radio materialized two glittering squares, one white and the other a deep red, from his storage and held them out like a performer. They looked like playing cards, though their patterns were hard to discern since they were so far away. He twirled them around so casually, but Marth and the others were stiff as boards, trying to figure out his play. Suddenly he took hold of the red card and pulled it back.

"Before we get into the main event," Radio called out with glee, "why don't we have a little warm-up? Your little lapdog will make the perfect candidate, Lotus!"

Those words finally got Kuroba to react in a resentful way as a murderous aura surrounded her. "Leave Wolf alone! He's got nothing to do with this."

"Oh, contraire, Black King. He's part of your little gang of misfits, isn't he? Plus he's got quite the bounty on his head since he has the nasty habit of constantly challenging high-level Burst Linkers. Besides, I've been wanting to use this card for a long time. What horrific secrets will it reveal about your pet?"

"What? Wait a minute. I recognize that item." She let out an audible gasp. "Marth, get out of here now! Don't let that card anywhere near you!"

He quickly tossed the red card down into the pit, straight towards the demon prince. It moved really fast and out of pure instinct, Marth quickly deflected it with Lunara, sending it flying high into the sky. However, as his weapon made contact with the item, he had this unpleasant feeling that something had peered into his mind.

Again, Kuroba was pleading for him to run away, but all it did was make Marth more confused. Just what about that item made her so afraid? Whatever it was, it couldn't be good to get that kind of reaction from her. Everyone just watched as the card spun in the air, reflecting the light escaping from the dark clouds above. Soon, countless horizontal lines raced through the sky, forming various 3D objects. The very first object to be completed was a person, a young man with shoulder-length raven black hair and bloodred eyes. Garbed in a battered and torn gray overcoat. Black blood poured from the open wounds on his arms and torso as he knelt on one knee. A familiar black and red sword grasped in his right hand.

"What the?" Yuniko said in disbelief, her eyes widening. "Is that…supposed to be you, Marth?"

Even Yellow Radio was bewildered at what he saw. The item he used was a special kind of replay card, a very expensive one. When interacted with an enemy Burst Linker, the card scans their subconscious before replaying any memories that were the most traumatic for them. Just who was this Ashen Wolf anyway?

"Don't watch this, Wolf!" Kuroba begged. "Get out of here while you still can."

Despite her desperate pleas, Marth stayed where he was. Even if he wanted to leave, to run away, he couldn't. His body was just frozen, his eyes glued to the recording. His hands were trembling. Most of his memories were still missing, but he knew what scene this was. He could never forget that room, that architecture. It was the top floor of the Axiom Tower. This was where the Harbingers fought against Quinella and her brainwashed Integrity Knights. This was where Eugeo…lost his life.

"No," Marth muttered in a quivering voice, unconsciously taking one step backward. "Not this. Please don't show me this."

But the replay did not stop. More 3D images appeared, most of which were humanoid. There were only a handful of Harbingers that were present in this scene. They were Kaito, Lucia, and Erika (Asuna) but they did not look well. All three of them were covered in terrible injuries, their clothes in tatters. Their breathing was ragged, and most of them didn't even have the strength to stay on their feet. Beside the holographic Zane was a female knight with golden blonde hair and was garbed in matching gold and blue armor. In her right hand was a golden longsword. The Osmanthus Blade, one of the strongest divine weapons in existence. That sword only responded to one person, one knight, which meant that was…

"Alice?" Kirito murmured, sounding just as shocked.

Indeed. That girl was indeed Alice Zuberg. The girl who was abducted from the village of Rulid when she was a just a child. The girl who was brainwashed into serving the corrupt Axiom Church and its pontifex as an Integrity Knight. The girl who was forced to fight against her friends, including Eugeo, who had become a swordsman to rescue her.

The next two 3D models to form were ones that made Marth flinch. The first was Quinella, the pontifex who was arrogant enough to call herself a goddess. He would always be able to recognize that long purple hair and flowing silk dress. She was hovering several feet in the air, looking like she was sitting in an invisible chair. Of course, she could pull off a feat like that. She was one of the best mages in the world after all. Below her bare feet was a large figure that could only be described as a being made of swords. Every part of its body was a blade, ranging from its arms, legs, even its ribs. At the center of its chest was a flash of purple light, the source being a small purple rectangular prism. A piety module, a special crystal that forced the Integrity Knights into obeying the treacherous pontifex.

Quinella sneered sinisterly as she looked down at the battered Harbingers. Their strength had been depleted from fighting the Integrity Knights, with the rest of the Harbingers stuck fighting the remainder of the order. This monster, the Sword Golem, was easily on par with an upper-class Lemure. They just didn't have enough strength to defeat it.

"Well, well," the pontifex said in a smug tone. "It looks like you children have reached your limit. There's no way you can turn this around, not while this entire room is cut off from the rest of the world. Your allies won't be able to save you."

Alice gritted her teeth tightly, her grip on her sword increasing out of frustration. "She's right," the Osmanthus Knight reluctantly admitted. "That monster is too strong for us to handle in our current condition. We can't win this."

Zane looked equally as frustrated as he glared daggers at the artificial beast. Despite only being nineteen years old, Alice was ranked as the third most powerful Integrity Knight of the Axiom Church. She has had her fair share of difficult battles while she (unwillingly) fought alongside the Darkfallen. If she believed that this battle was unwinnable, then there wasn't much the demon prince could do to turn the tables.

Quinella was tasked by Zeta to create powerful new soldiers for his army. The Integrity Knights were her first attempt, but she then decided to be more ambitious. She had the idea of creating a monster using the lifeforce of people, whether they be human, fairy or demon. About a hundred or so innocent people were sacrificed in her terrible experiments to create this prototype, the Sword Golem. It had no emotions, no real soul. It was just an empty husk that knew nothing but battle. Each blade composing its body was on par with a divine weapon, making them nearly impossible to break. Even the Lunaris couldn't break through. Things really were looking hopeless for the Harbingers.

"It's not over. We still have a chance to win."

Both Marth and Zane audibly gasped at the same time. They recognized that voice, as did the other Harbingers. A familiar young man with flaxen hair and gentle emerald eyes appeared before the kneeling demon prince. He was clad in aqua blue clothes. In his hands was a beautiful blue longsword that looked entirely made by ice. On its hilt was a blue rose with vines wrapped around the guard.

"Eugeo," Marth said in sorrow, his knees feeling weak.

Eugeo was one of his closest friends during the War of Light and Shadow. They actually knew each other prior to the conflict, as Altena would occasionally take him, Lucia and Kaito to Rulid Village to get away from the palace life, and from the demon siblings' father. Apparently even then, the Pride Lord distrusted her husband. Sometimes when they were in Rulid, Rias would visit them. One time Zane wanted to go play with his friends, he overheard the two demon lords talking in the kitchen. What the topic was, Marth couldn't remember, but according to Rias, they were discussing the possibility of them all relocating to Eternus. Altena wasn't happy in Arcadia, and even the children could tell that. Neither of her children were particularly well-liked there either.

It was an arranged marriage to King Lambert that forced Altena to move to the capital, away from her beloved homeland. Initially she tolerated for the sake of her children, but Lambert wasn't exactly known for being a good father, rarely spending even a few minutes with them. Eventually Altena reached the breaking point and decided that she would end her marriage to the king and take the siblings back to Obsidia. Apparently, the method they were going to use to annul the marriage was to use Rias's skill with mental magic to force Lambert to comply with the divorce. As the Lust Lord, such a thing was a simple task for her. They would then leave the capital, taking Kaito and his parents with them since they would be subject to retaliation from the king once he recovers. The same would be true for Eugeo and Alice.

Naturally the end result of this plan would have led to a war between Arcadia and Eternus, but neither demoness cared. Altena's weak-minded father would likely try to force her to return to avoid conflict, but she had already secured her ascension to the Eternian throne prior to the arranged marriage. She was planning on seizing the throne upon her return to Obsidia and using intimidation to get Lambert to back off as he lacked the military strength to defeat Eternus and their six demon lords. The plan would have likely worked, if Zeta hadn't launched his war campaign the following week after the Umbris family returned to Zophia, Arcadia's capital. That was one of Altena's biggest regrets, waiting so long before finally deciding to return home. Had she been in Obsidia at the start of the attack, Zarc's rebellion would have been crushed and her people would not be subjected to his tyranny. Not to mention, Alice would never have been abducted by the Axiom Church as she was taken during the attack on Zophia.

Then again, if Altena had found out that Lambert forced Zane into becoming the Wrath Lord prior to the war, she would have just killed him and taken them all to Eternus in an instant. That initial plan was her being compassionate, even if she didn't care for her husband.

Anyway, long tangent aside, Zane and Eugeo went way back and were some of the founding members of the original Harbingers. The flaxen-haired boy didn't fight with two swords, but he had some talent in the mystic arts and had a strong connection with the Blue Rose Sword. Zane always believed that Eugeo would eventually surpass him and Kaito in terms of swordsmanship, only for his bud to get snipped before that could happen.

Eugeo held the Blue Rose Sword out in front of him. Closing his eyes, he began muttering an incantation, the incantation of a familiar ritual. A blue magic circle appeared below his feet, his clothes and bangs ruffling in an invisible breeze.

No, not this. Marth knew what that ritual was, his eyes widening in horror. It was the same spell that Quinella used to create the swords that made up the Sword Golem. It basically fused people with inanimate objects, a process that could not be reversed. Eugeo happened to stumble upon her notes regarding the ritual, and apparently, memorized it for the purpose of using it as a last resort. Like now.

"Don't do it, Eugeo!" Zane cried out. He tried to get up to stop the azure-clad swordsman, but he ended up collapsing back down on the marble floor. He let out several coughs into his left palm, causing it to get splattered with black blood.

Alice hastily dropped the Osmanthus Blade, wrapped her left arm around the demon prince's shoulders to support his upper body, while gathering magical energy into her right hand. She brought her right hand towards her old friend, transferring its warm healing light to him, causing his injuries to start the process of closing. "Don't move too much, Zane," she said in worry. "You don't have enough mana to heal your wounds yourself. Any sudden moves might kill you while you're in this state."

"But Eugeo is…"

"No, Eugeo!" Kaito shouted, seeing what their friend was doing. Both Lucia and Erika begged him to stop as well, but all they could do was watch as the Blue Rose Sword was absorbed into Eugeo's body.

"Zane…look after Alice for me," he said slowly, glancing over at his leader with gentle look. "Protect her…in the way I couldn't."

"A-alright. I'll do everything in my power to keep Alice safe."

Eugeo gave him one last smile. "Thank you and goodbye… Release…Recollection…" With those last two words, the flaxen-haired boy was consumed with a blinding blue light that forced all present to shield their eyes. When the light eventually faded, Eugeo was nowhere to be seen. In his place was a large blue sword that hovered in the air.

The sword twirled, as though spun by an invisible force. It pointed the tip of its blade at the Sword Golem, seemingly challenging it to a battle. The monstrosity groaned in response before rushing at the blade. As the golem charged, azure wings sprouted from the blue sword. It shot towards its enemy at high-speed, repelling its right sword arm and sending the creature stumbling backward. Not losing its momentum, the empowered Blue Rose Sword circled around before rushing towards the Sword Golem again. Its target wasn't any of its limbs, or even its head. It was going after the piety module in its chest, the crystal that allowed the creature to move and maintain its shape. It managed to bypass both the golem's sword arms and struck into its chest. A load groan could be heard from the monster, as well as the sound of glass cracking. In an instant, the piety module shattered into pieces, as did the Sword Golem. Meanwhile the blue sword ended up crashing into the marble floor, leaving a rather nasty gash in its wake.

"No way," Lucia said in awe.

"He actually did it," Erika added, a smile gracing her face.

Zane looked relieved too. That damn abomination was finally destroyed. Now they could finally turn their sights onto the pontifex and bring her down. He looked ready to issue his next orders, but whatever he was going to say got caught in his throat as he watched the blue sword pull itself out of the floor. It wordlessly spun around, pointing straight at Quinella herself.

"Oh," she said calmly, an arrogant smirk gracing her face. "Do you really think you can challenge me, boy? Your arrogance will be your undoing." In her right hand appeared a large ornate silver sword. She pulled it back, readying an attack.

"No," Marth said in horror. "Not this. Don't make me see him die again!" His heartbeat was pounding against his chest as fear and dread overtook him. He no longer could maintain his grip on his dual swords, causing them to clatter to the ground beneath his feet.

The other Harbingers wanted to say something, to calm the demon prince down, especially the Black King. However, any attempts to do anything were stopped by their own paralysis. They couldn't stop watching the recording play out. They knew what was about to happen. The only one in their group who didn't understand what was going on was Yuniko.

The blue sword rushed at the pontifex, who fired a beam of black lightning from her sword in response. The lightning struck the tip of the blue sword, stopping its momentum. Much to Zane and Marth's horror, hairline fractures could be seen forming on the blade.

"No. Don't go alone." Both Marth and Zane stretched out their arms to the blue sword, but they were too far away to reach it. Instead, they could only watch as their friend somehow pushed through the black lightning, the damage they were taking increasing all the while.

Miraculously, the blue sword struck Quinella's weapon, the two pushing against each other with all their might. Soon fractures began appearing on the pontifex's sword, causing her to get visibly angered. After what felt like an eternity, the stalemate was broken as her weapon was then shattered into fragments. The blue sword wasn't so lucky either as it was snapped in half. However, as though to spite the self-proclaimed goddess, the top half of the fused sword was fired at the pontifex, cutting her right arm off by the shoulder.

The recording stopped there, as if to torment the demon prince even more by seeing the broken sword of his old friend.

"Nooo!" Marth howled in agony. He held his head in his hands, looking right at the ground. He didn't want to watch any more. He didn't want to hear any more. The pain and trauma he felt that day was rushing back all at once. It was quickly overwhelming him. His friends were trying to call out to him, but he couldn't hear their voices. The memories were swallowing him whole. "Eugeo. No. No."

Yellow Radio laughed in amusement, somehow finding Ashen Wolf's current funny. "Well, this was most unexpected," he said whimsically. "Seems like Ashen Wolf has quite the history. Want to hear the best part? Of course, you do! That's not only thing this card recorded. Let's see what else is on here."

Somehow Marth found himself looking at the recording again. He watched in horror as it showcased various other scenes where he lost people close to him. The first was his mother, Altena, who was slain by Zarc near the end of the War of Light and Shadow. Next was Yuuki getting run through by the False Demon King during the final battle of the Demon War thirty years ago, taking an attack that was meant for her beloved. But it was the final scene that truly broke the demon prince. It was the final battle he and the Harbingers had against Zeta, the God of Destruction. They were being overwhelmed by the dark god and were slowly losing. Marth then watched helplessly as Lucia shielded Zane from the god's sword with her own body, suffering a fatal wound in the process. The recording concluded right there.

"Ha-ha!" Yellow Radio continued. "I don't know who you are, Wolf, but it's clear you have a habit of losing people. How'd you like the trip down memory lane?"

Marth didn't answer. He couldn't. He couldn't find his voice. His breath was trembling.

"Radio!" Kuroba shouted in anger, jabbing her sword arm in his direction. "You had no right to torment my protégé with his past. You'll pay for this, I swear!"

"My, my. You sure have a fire in you now, Lotus. Looks like your little lapdog is having a panic attack and we both know what happens to those who can't handle their traumas in this world."

"No. Marth, you've got to calm down. Hurry!"

Slowly, the demon prince glanced over at the Black King. "K-Kuroba…I…I'm…"

No more words came out of his mouth. Suddenly his bloodred eyes went dim and his body crumpled to the floor of the crater with a dry crunching sound. The ashen avatar did not move again."

"No," Black Lotus said in dread. "Marth, no!"

To be continued


Well this is going well for the Black Legion. The battle hasn't even started and they're already down one fighter, and they might lose another really soon if Radio reveals his other card. I was actually going to do both in this chapter but this looked like a good stopping point. Anyway, see you guys next time!

Edit: Something I forgot to clarify. Marth and his friends are abnormal only in the skill department when it comes to their duel avatars. There's no traditional stat system in Brain Burst as far as I know. The reason why they have a high win count in the game is because they know how to fight better than the other players. That's another reason why Marth was hesitant to fight the Yellow Legion ambush team as their duel avatars do not accurately copy their strengths from their real bodies (at least not yet). Another thing worth mentioning is that Kisara was only able to lock Yuniko into a standstill during their duel was because they were in a Weathered stage, which allowed her to charge her special-attack gauge much quicker. She wouldn't have been able to unleash her Ultima spell if they were in a more durable stage and would have likely lost to the Red King.