Disclaimer: I do not own Star Ocean 3.

Chapter 11: A Day's rest in Aquios

"She'll be all right now…" The doctor told the group in Clair's room in Aquios, as she completed her prolonged healing treatment on Clair. "Just give her a little time to rest, and you can be on your way again tomorrow morning."

"Thank you doctor!" Farleen said in gratitude. "You're certainly the best doc here in Aquios!"

"Thank you, I'm certainly flattered, although I don't think I did that much here" The doctor replied humbly, "Why don't you all just relax for a while as well, out in the city? Lady Clair will need to rest alone for a while…"

"Sure thing." Lancar answered, as he started walking out of the room "Let's step out."

The group exited out the main gates of the Castle, out to the City of Aquios – A beautiful, sunny, gleaming with sacred aura as it always has been. It was mid afternoon, and people were busy with their days' activities out on the main street.

"I'm glad we got here just in time!" Farleen said, turning to Albel, her smile quickly turning upside down. "Now, HOW did she get hurt? You were supposed to protect her! I knew you couldn't be trusted!"

"…" Albel stayed quiet without replying to what Farleen was yelling at him.

"Hey now, it's only natural that people get hurt in the battlefield" Lancar told Farleen, trying to calm her down. "I'm sure they ran into a really tough monster, if it was strong enough to hurt Clair like that. Don't be too tough on the guy."

"He's right!" Roger agreed. "I'm sure Albel didn't just sit back and let her get hurt like that… look at his armour…he got hurt too! I'm sure it was just a tough monster…"

"Errr… I guess." Farleen answered, turning her head away from Albel with a frown.

As the party continued walking down the streets of Aquios, a loud been could be heard from Lancar's pockets. "BEEP… Lancar… do you read me…"

"Huh?" Lancar reacted. "Must be the communicator, hold up for a second, guys." Lancar stopped as he reached into his pocket to take out his communicator.

"Lancar Douglas, Federation Personnel ID #22764, over. Do you read?" Lancar spoke.

"Hey Lancar… this is Cliff… how's everything going along?" Cliff asked Lancar over the Communicator.

"How ya doing Captain? Yeah, everything is going according to plan." Lancar told Cliff, "We're just resting in Aquios for now. We'll be heading off to the last place pretty soon, and after that, we should be able to enter the Daemoneum right away."

"Really? That's excellent. I'm glad the things are going smoothly… because it looks like you guys will have to reach that Demon Place as soon as possible." Cliff told Lancar.

"Things are getting worse out there, huh?" Lancar asked in serious, concerned voice.

"Yeah… unfortunately the numbers of demons out there have really increased since the last time I talked to ya." Cliff said. "There have been new reports of Demons arising elsewhere in the universe. New sightings have been confirmed at Fargett, Rondo Lukia and Hyda… and the situation in other planets are getting worse. Sorry you tell you this, but Klaus IV has been ordered to be evacuated completely… there's way too many of them there…"

"WHAT? But!" Lancar yelled with a really serious, concerned look on his face.

"Don't worry. Your wife and daughter are safe! They've been evacuated to Klaus III already, in Mirage's care, so they should be fine." Cliff assured him. "They're in good hands, so just concentrate on your mission."

"Phew… good to hear that, Captain." Lancar sighed in relief. "By the way, any new information on where Maria might be?"

"Actually, we just received this new information couple hours ago… she's apparently been sighted in Planet Edifice." Cliff answered.

"Edifice? That's another Underdeveloped Planet… Wonder why she is there… breaking Federation Law like that…" Lancar commented. "Is this true?"

"We're on our way there to find her right now." Cliff replied. "Hopefully we won't be too late, and find her. Anyways, don't worry about her… we got that covered. Just focus on your mission! That's the most important one!"

"Yes, Chief." Lancar replied back. "Take care, and don't worry about us, we'll be alright."

"Wish I had been there to help ya guys out, but I can't just abandon my post in situations like this… sorry about that. Anyways, I'll contact you again if anything happens. See you later." Cliff said, signing out.

"Same here. Take care." Lancar replied, communication over and out.

"…They're increasing, huh?" Albel asked.

"Yeah, so let's end this thing as quickly as possible." Lancar replied, determined.

"But for now, we can't really do much until Lady Clair recovers fully…" Farleen said, running up ahead. "So let's just take things easy for now… We're gonna need to relax a little bit if we're gonna enter that Cave of Greeton place tomorrow!"

As Farleen and the group walked up ahead, she met up with a merchant walking ahead selling various accessories and charms. Fascinated by his inventory, she ran upto him, with rest of the group following behind her.

"Wow! Look at all these things! They're soooo pretty!" Farleen commented. "Is that… Palmira's wishing charm? Oh my!"

"Sure is! The rarest of the rare… Palmira's wishing charm… made 100 from Palmira flowers straight out of Mountain of Gods!" The merchant answered her question proudly. "You're not going to find these anywhere else these days! So how about it, Miss?"

"Wow!… Maybe I can get this for Lady Clair! I know she's always wanted one… but these are soooo rare to find… how much is it?" Farleen asked the Merchant.

"Well this is really a rare item, but I'll sell it you for cheap, Miss!" The merchant said. "23,000 fol!"

"WHAAAAT? I don't have that kind of money…" Farleen hung her head despair. "All I got is around 2000 fol… do you guys have any money you can lend me?" She asked looking at Lancar and Roger.

"Sorry, Farleen… I don't carry any currency from this Planet…" Lancar said, with a shrug.

"I have… umm… 71 fol… if that helps… sorry… but that's all I have!" Roger said, gathering up coins from his pocket.

"Awwww…. I really wanted to get this for Lady Clair! She would have loved this… it's so rare too… but oh well…" Farleen said as she walked away in disappointment.

"…" Albel went along without saying a word, in some sort of thought.


"Ah…. Where is this?" Clair asked in a daze, getting up from her bed. "Where am I?"

As she got up, the door opened as Farleen entered the room.

"Lady Clair!" Farleen said, rushing over to Clair's side. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm… fine Farleen, thank you… where are we?" Clair asked, still little drowsy.

"We're in Aquios… we came here so that we can heal you up!" Farleen said. "You were hurt pretty badly in Aquatic Gardens of Surferio…"

"Oh… that's right…" Clair replied, as she recalled what happened. "…Is everybody all right? How's Albel?"

"Everybody is fine… and Mr. Big jerk is fine and dandy, too" Farleen answered with little displeasure, still pissed off at Albel. "We'll rest up tonight, and head to Greeton tomorrow morning! That is if you're feeling alright…?"

"Yes I'll be fine… we'll leave tomorrow." Clair told Farleen.

"Yes ma'am! Um… wait a minute… Lady Clair, what's that?" Farleen asked she looked towards what was on top of the mini cupboard that was beside the bed. It was a Charm, made entirely of Palmira flowers.

"This is… Palmira's Wishing Charm?" Clair asked, surprised. "Why is this here? Farleen, did you buy this? You didn't need to…"

"No! It wasn't me… I mean, I was going to buy it for you because I know how much you love them, but then, it was so expensive so I couldn't…" Farleen replied, also in surprise.

"Who…" Clair pondered as she held the wishing charm in her hand.


"It's good to see that you've recovered, Clair. How are you feeling?" Queen of Aquaria asked Clair, in the throne room to have audience with the queen.

"I've recovered fully. Thank you for your concern, your majesty." Clair replied, as she bowed. "Now that everybody is rested up, we shall resume our mission."

"Yes, Clair." The Queen replied. "We have received the authorization from the Greeton's government, so you will have access to the Cave of Greeton. Normally, they would have not co-operated with any nations in Continent of Gaitt or grant anybody access to their land… but they also realize the danger and the urgency of the current situation."

"Make your way over to the East side of Peterny, towards the sealed gate. You have been granted the permission to enter the Port of Peterny. Take the ferry across the ocean so that you can reach the continent of Greeton." Lasselle told Clair.

"Yes, Magistrate Lasselle. We will make our way at once, your Majesty." Clair said while bowing to both the Queen and Lasselle.

"Yes… I wish you good luck, Clair." The Queen said.

Clair exited the Castle, and walked towards the exit of the City where Albel, Lancar, Farleen and Roger were waiting. Everybody was rested, all ready to go.

"…I see that you have recovered." Albel said to Clair.

"Yes, I'm fully recovered, and ready to go." Clair replied. "Is everybody ready?"

"Ready to go as always." Lancar answered.

"Let's go!" Farleen replied excitedly.

"Let's go kick some demon butt!" Roger said with enthusiasm, raising his fist in the air.

"We end this now." Albel said. "Let's move out!"

The group all walked along the moonlit bridge, towards Irisa Fields. As they were walking, Clair walked near Albel with Palmira's Wishing Charm in her hand, about to ask him something.

"Albel… I have a question… Did you…" Clair asked, only to hesistate in continuing.

"…Um… never mind." She stopped, turning her head away.

"Hmph. You look so nervous." Albel said. "Don't tell me you're already afraid of the last battle before you're even there? How cowardly… remember, there is no stopping now… the only way to go is forward. Got that?"

"… Yes. You're right. Got it." Clair replied as she gave a slight smile. The group continued on along Irisa fields, towards Peterny to go to Greeton for the fourth and final relic.


Chapter 12: Greeton

"So we go east from here, huh?" Lancar asked, as the group made their way towards the Eastern section of Peterny.

"Yes, we exit east from here, to reach the Port of Peterny." Clair replied as she walked towards the guards guarding the gate to the port. "This Port is usually only accessible to Special Kingdom Agents and spies. I've been here only once, myself."

As Clair and the rest walked towards the gate, the guards greeted the group. "Welcome, Lady Clair! The preparations are ready. Please, this way." The guard said as the doors to the Port was opened. It was a very small, run down port, with only couple ships. This place indeed only existed for undercover purposes.

"We should be arriving in City of Greeton in approximately 2 hours." The Guard said, as everybody stepped inside the ferry. "We'll let you know when we are near, so please rest in the cabin for now and enjoy yourselves."

The party went inside the Cabin, and everybody made their own preparations. Clair started cooking up some food for the party, while Farleen helped her prepare them. Albel took out some smithing tools, tempering his sword so that it would be razor-sharp for the upcoming battles. Lancar took out his quad scanner and opened the Elicoor II database as he started reading up on things about history and technology of Greeton.

"So… Greeton is supposed to be an Technological Superpower on this planet, huh?" Lancar asked. "This should be interesting to see… to see how advanced the technology on this planet can actually be."

"Yes, they're supposed to have far superior technology compared to any other nations on this land." Clair replied as she stirred the fried rice that was cooking up on her frying pan. "Greeton invaded our continent many years ago with their army of mechanical soldiers, but their invasion failed when the great heroine Sirvia I unleashed the power of Sacred Orb on them. Ever since then, they have been secluded, closing off all contacts with other nations. It should be interesting to see how much more their technology have developed since…"

"I've been there only once on a spying mission." Farleen said, as she cracked an egg onto the frying pan. "They had so many things that I'd never seen before… I couldn't recognize most of the things they were using at all!"

"Ah… I see…" Lancar replied. "Still, I'm sure they wouldn't be anything groundbreaking that I've never seen before… but I guess we're just going to have to wait and see."

"Hmph. It doesn't matter what they have." Albel replied, chiseling his katana's edge against a brick of steel. "I've seen the most advanced technology that the universe had to offer two years ago… and even then, it was nothing special, I still beat all of them. This time won't be any different."

"Ah, don't worry about anything like that, guys!" Roger said cheerfully, as he took out a harmonica. "Now, how about some music to get our spirits up? We Menodix are great with musical stuff, you know. Everybody relax and let the rhythm take you away!"

Roger started playing his harmonica, playing a loud, beautiful melody throughout the ferry and the ocean. Menodix truly did have a great talent in music.

"Gahhh…STOP THAT LOUD ANNOYING RACKET, FOOL!" Albel yelled, extremely annoyed.

"Ugh… yeah… please Roger… it's not like we don't like your music or anything, it's great! But sometimes a little peace and quiet is good too, you know…" Lancar said, also little annoyed from the sudden loud racket.

"Pshhh… gee… it's SOOO great to be appreciated!" Roger yelled back sarcastically.

"Hahaha… you guys don't have to be so mean…" Clair laughed as she served her newly made dish onto the plates for everybody to eat. A nervous vibe that would usually be expected to be felt around a group venturing towards a Demon Universe was definitely non-existent, as they neared the Port at the City of Greeton.


"Welcome, Gaittians" A Rock-like being greeted the group as they stepped out of the Ferry. "We have been expecting you. Please come this way to have an audience with his majesty."

"Whoa… what the… they're… ROCKS?" Lancar asked in surprise.

"Shhh…" Farleen answered, putting her index finger to her mouth to tell Lancar to keep it down. "They're called Rockfolk. They originally descended from rocks, but are extremely intelligent."

"I see…" Lancar replied quietly, quite astonished, as they walked towards the City of Greeton.

City of Greeton was a large city with numerous building-like structures rising high above to the sky, that it looked somewhat like a modern-day city on Earth. It was definitely head and shoulders above any technology that Aquaria or Airyglyph had to offer. The group walked along, mesmerized by the contents of the city.

"Wow… damn… this is beyond anything that I could have ever imagined!" Lancar commented, impressed with what he saw. "The technology level here is easily from 300-400 SD at least! Wouldn't have thought anything like this would exist on this planet."

"Do not underestimate our level of science and knowledge, visitor from outer space." One Rockfolk guide told Lancar.

"HUH? How did you know I'm from outer space?" Lancar asked in surprise.

"We know much more than you people think we know. Judging by the green lines around your neck, you are a Klausian, correct?" The Rockfolk guide asked.

"How did you know that?" Lancar asked, even more astonished than before.

"Contrary to what you think, outsider, we have succeeded in reaching the outskirts of the galaxy long time ago" The guide explained. "Our technology is not far behind those of the Federation, young man. However, it is our belief that science should not be exploited, and that it should not be used for purposes of aggression and expansion, as it will only inevitably result in misfortune. We learned of this fact many years ago after the Aquor/Greeton war."

"…You have a very valid point." Lancar commented, as the party reached the building in which the King resides.

"Step on the transporter." The Guide told the group. "It will take you directly to his majesty's audience chamber."

Everybody stepped into the transporter, and with a blue flash, they transported directly into the audience room.

"Welcome, Agents of Gaitt and the Federation," The King of Greeton spoke in front of the group. "I've heard about the details, and have decided that this is indeed a very urgent situation. So I hereby grant you the access to the Cave of Greeton. However, there is another reason why I called you here."

"Thank you, your highness." Clair said with a bow. "But there is something else your highness would like to speak to us about?"

"Indeed," The King replied. "I summoned you here to warn you about the dangers that lie ahead in the Cave of Greeton."

"We have already been through many places already that is supposedly dangerous" Albel replied little cockily. "You don't need to worry about our safety, nothing on this planet poses any sort of problems for us."

"You are mistaken, Glyphian." The King replied as he began explaining. "Our ancestors hid away the relic of the Demons many years ago in the Cave of Greeton, assuming that it was never to be accessible again. The cave is filled with many top-class defense mechanisms and traps that would be overwhelming and dangerous even to warriors such as yourselves."

"Traps? Defense Mechanisms?" Roger asked. "Well… can't you just turn them off, your highness?"

"That is not possible." The King said. "The mechanisms were enabled out of our control many years ago, and unfortunately it is irreversible. Therefore, if you are to make your way through this dangerous cave, you must take extreme caution."

"Thank you, your highness," Lancar replied. "We'll make sure to take the uttermost caution, and succeed in this mission."

"Good luck to you all." The King said, as he motioned towards to his servants to give a scroll to Albel.

"What's this?" Albel asked.

"This is a map of Cave of Greeton. It may not be 100 percent complete, but it is better than nothing. Let it be of some use to you." The King said. "Our guides will now lead you to a transporter room, which will take you to the entrance of Cave. Once again, best of luck to you."

"Thank you kindly, your highness." Clair bowed as the group stepped out of the room. They walked down to the transporter room, transporting directly to the entrance of Cave of Greeton.


Chapter 13: Cave of Greeton and the final relic

"Whoa! Look at this place…" Lancar commented as he looked around the surroundings of the Cave of Greeton. It was a dark, brownish cave just like how any ordinary cave would be, but installed with fluorescent lights – as well as many camera-like structures and guns on the walls.

"Alright… watch yourselves, don't any of you die before we get the Daemoneum." Albel said as he walked towards the group. "According to the map, we head straight then right from here… we're running to dodge all the blasts from their guns. LET'S MOVE!"

At his command, Lancar, Clair, Roger, and Farleen, along with Albel, all started dashing towards the fork ahead. The guns on the walls reacted to their movement and fired at them with pulse blasts, but did not succeed in hitting any of the 5 warriors who were running at superhuman speed.

"We turn right from here!" Albel yelled, as everybody took a right from the fork. However, in front of them were 4 mechanical robots, each armed with plasma rifles.

"Time to slice and dice some metal scraps," Albel said as he reached back for his refined Crimson Scourge Katana. "GET OUT OF OUR WAY, SCUMS!"

As Albel dashed towards the Robots, it fired numerous pulse blasts at incredible speed. Albel stopped dashing briefly, raised his palm towards the robot and yelled "AURA WALL!", creating a red shield of aura. The plasma blasts all deflected off the Aura Wall as Albel quickly dashed out of the harm's way. He jumped towards the monster with his katana swung back, as he charged it with immense amounts of electric energy. "LIGHTING BLADE!" Albel yelled as his Katana struck through the Metal surface of the robot, the electricity short-circuiting its internal hardware and blowing it up into smithereens.

Meanwhile, Clair pointed her index finger towards her forehead, as she began her spellcasting. After a few seconds of casting, she yelled "ANTI!" as the protective energy covered over all of the heroes. "Everybody will be safe for now… now let's attack!" Clair yelled out as she casted another spell, which was learned from her father. "SEA GATE!" A heraldic shark appeared along with blast of water, which soaked the robot from its head to toe and short-circuited it.

Lancar dashed towards the third Robot soldier as Clair's Anti magic deflected all the pulse shots that were shot at him. "ELECTRIC FISTS!" He yelled as Lancar threw three Hooks charged with power of electricity towards the Robot. The punches punctured through the robot's metal covering, dropping it like a piece of scrap metal.

"Alright, Roger! Let's get the last one!" Farleen yelled as she began her spellcasting. In a few seconds, she pointed her staff towards the final robot and yelled "THUNDER FLARE!" A ball of thunder appeared around the robot, stunning it with tremendous amount of shock. "Here I go!" Roger yelled as he whipped his Axe at the head of the robot. The Axe blast decapitated the robot, as it body fell down on the floor.

"That's all of them…" Albel commented. However, as soon as he said that, he saw about 20 other Mechanical soldiers walking towards the group "Or is it…" Albel commented, taking his word back.

"That's way too many!" Roger said. "We have to fight them ALL?"

"I'll get rid of them all at ONCE!" Farleen yelled. "Protect me, and you won't be sorry!"

The group fended off the attacks from the robots while Farleen began her spellcasting. After about a minute, she had finished her casting. "MOVE OUT!" She yelled.

"THUNDERSTORM!" Farleen yelled as Dark Clouds appeared over the crowd of robots. With a loud rumble of thunder, flash of rain poured down onto the robots, while the thunderbolts also struck at them. With that, the group of 20 robots went down in a heap of smoke in an instant.

"Good job Farleen!" Clair credited Farleen, "You're just getting better and better!"

"Heh… thank…you… Lady Clair…" Farleen responded while huffing, tired out from the spell.

"Alright!" Albel yelled. "Now to the left! Keep moving!"

The group eventually made their way towards the inner sections of the Cave. On the way, more robots and guns did pose some trouble, but were eventually destroyed by the heroes. Any wounds suffered by the party were taken care of by Clair's Healing spell. Eventually, they arrived at the marked spot on the map, which was a dead end.

"This is a dead end…" Albel commented. "What the hell is this… there is absolutely nothing here! Did that fool just lead us to some sort of a trap?"

"Well, he did say the map is not 100 accurate…" Lancar said. "Perhaps we need to look around more… Let's try exploring some other places."

"Hmph…" Albel grunted as he turned back, stepping towards the main road. However, as he walked forward, he stepped on small rock on the floor. It clicked down like a switch, and the entire floor just gave way and fell apart.

"AHHHHHH!" Everybody yelled as they fell down towards the deep inner spaces of the cave. After a few minutes, they all gathered themselves, recovering from the painful fall they just took.

"Bah… what was that…" Albel said as he struggled to get himself up. However, as he looked up, he saw an altar from the distance – carrying the glowing red triangular relic. They have finally found the final relic.

"That's the last one!" Albel yelled as he walked towards the altar to collect the relic. The others also walked towards the altar, realizing that they were minutes away from entering the Daemoneum.

However, as Albel inched close to the Altar, he was interrupted by a voice from above.

"Intruders from Aquor…" the voice echoed throughout the cave. "Leave our sacred treasure alone… or else you shall be punished…"

"Heh, you think we've come this far just to go back empty handed and listen to your crap?" Albel yelled back. "Show yourself so I can shut that mouth of yours!"

"Aquorians… must… DIE!" The voice said as a Mechanical being with 5 Snake-like heads descended down from above. "I, the Snake of Valeria, will now rid you and your Kingdom from this world. Begone!" Valeria yelled as his Snake-like heads shot towards the heroes. Everybody dove back just in time, but the impact the shooting heads made with the ground knocked everybody back to the wall.

"Gahh!" Albel yelled, as him and rest of the group dashed towards Valeria. However, as they were trying to get to close range to fight, it's head swept everybody away once again, too quick for anybody to get through. Everybody attempted to attack it using their long range moves, but it was ineffective or simply didn't do enough damage.

"Shit…" Albel cursed.

As the fighters gathered for their breath, Valeria gathered for its own maneuver. The snakeheads went into the ground, and out of nowhere, they shot out of the surface in front of the fighters. Albel, Lancar, and Clair all barely dodged the attack just in time, but Roger and Farleen were not as lucky – they were caught in the vicious thrust of the snakes and were sent crashing into the ceiling, dropping to the ground.

"AHHHHH…" Both yelled in pain as they crashed down from the ceiling, then passed out.

"Farleen! Roger!" Clair yelled out in concern, rushing to their side.

"Gahhh… damn snake…" Albel cursed as he got ready for something little more drastic. "Alright… listen you two. We can't get through this thing's body without taking care of these heads first. I'm going to take care of it… the two of you hit the body at the moment I do, got that?"

"Um… alright…" Lancar responded as he got ready.

"I'm ready!" Clair said, getting ready for another battle skill.

As the two got ready to strike at Valeria at the moment's notice, Albel charged his hands up for one of his own skill. He charged it with Qigong energy, but this time he added something else extra… this was a technique he learned while training with Crosell; as the power of the dragon spirits red aura gathered up in palm of his hands, he shot the aura up to the air then pointed towards the enemy.

"DRAGON ROAR!" Albel yelled, as Spirits of 5 Dragon heads emerged out of the energy ball and homed in towards each of Valeria's snakeheads. "GAAAHHHH!" The aura of the dragons burned each of the snakeheads, making each cry out in extreme pain.

At that precise moment, Lancar dashed towards the main body of the monster. He stood in front of the body, posing like as if there was a punching bag right in front of him. He yelled "FISTS OF FURY!" as he hammered its midsection away with countless rapid punches, as if he was attacking with hundred fists at the same time.

With Valeria locked down helplessly by Albel and Lancar, it was up to Clair to deal the finishing blow. Clair jumped high in the air, gathering herself into a ball of fire. She dove down at Valeria with both of her daggers crossed in an X shape, surrounded by massive fire energy. "SPICULE!" She yelled as her eventual impact burned down the main body of Valeria, leaving it in handful of ash.

"We got the bastard!" Albel yelled in triumph.

"We did it!" Lancar yelled, as Clair rushed back to Roger and Farleen's side. She began her spellcasting, and yelled "RESTORATION!" as the holy aura recovered their wounds and woke them up from their unconscious state.

"Wha… what happened?" Roger asked.

"Where… is the monster?" Farleen asked as well.

"It's over guys, don't worry." Clair said with a smile.

"It's not over yet." Albel remained adamant. "We have one more place to go."

"That's right." Lancar agreed as Albel began walking towards the Altar. He picked up the final Red Relic, and took out the other three from his pocket.

"Here it goes." Albel said, as he put the four relics together. With a flash of bright, reddish light, the four relics reacted to one another, merging into one single pyramid-shaped block. The pyramid block then shot out a powerful energy into the thin air, creating a dark, circular portal into the Daemoneum.

"No turning back now. Let's end it here." Albel said, as everybody jumped into the portal, into another dimension.


Chapter 14: To Another Space - Daemoneum

Through the black hole, the group arrived in Daemoneum greeted by thunder and lightning. It was just a Large-Sized Continent floating around in middle of space, with many stars scattered across the dark sky.

"WHAT THE…" Lancar yelled out in surprise. "This… is Daemoneum?" he asked in disbelief as a loud noise of thunder interrupted the end of his sentence.

"This isn't anything like I would believed it would be…" Clair admitted. "I figured it would be a fiery place, full of devils and demons…"

"Well… that prediction was way off…" Roger said as he looked around the Daemoneum in amazement.

"It might not be the way we thought it would be… but it sure is just as scary… AHH!" Farleen reacted as she bolt of lightning and loud thunder made her yell out in fear.

"What do you think, Albel?" Clair asked Albel, as the portal energy gathered back into her hand into a Red pyramid block.

"... This… is… Daemoneum?" Albel asked, his face pale white and cold sweat dropping down the side of his face. Frozen and mortified, he started getting distorted flashbacks.

'You've now signed your soul… ther… is no…back… out. Get… the… orb in the new… worl... DA…DAD! AHHHH! If you want… to liv… retri… orb'

"AAHHH!" Albel yelled, as his memory was glitching out, torturing him from inside out.

"Albel! Are you alright?" Clair asked, rushing to Albel's side as he was on his knees from his mental breakdown. "What's wrong? Speak to me!"

"Gah… I'm… fine… come on, we gotta move…" Albel said, as he got up and walked up the road of the Daemoneum.

"…" Clair watched in silence with look of concern on her face. The party walked behind Albel's lead, through one of the many paths on the continent.

"You know… for a place called the Daemoneum, how come I don't see any demons?" Lancar wondered. "I thought this place would be more… hostile and dangerous, maybe?"

"Something seems strange…" Farleen commented.

"Wh…. What the hell is that thing?" Albel cried out, looking up in the sky ahead.

What Albel saw was a large, green, tower-like structure far up ahead.

"A Building, in a place like this?" Lancar wondered. "Is that… their home base?"

"That's the only explanation…" Albel said, his mind still giving minor memory flashes. "Gah… whatever, that has to be it! Let's go in there, slaughter the damn demons and get the hell out of this place!"

Suddenly, a chilling air surrounded the heroes as a voice came out from nowhere.

"Hmm… it is exactly as I thought. The reckless mortals are back." The voice said.

"…That voice!" Albel yelled, as he seemed to be recognizing the voice.

"Ah, that's right, I remember you. I believe I ran into your lowly presence in a dungeon some time ago" The voice said, as a man materialized in front of the heroes from thin air. "Allow me to introduce myself again… my name is Romero, King of the Dead, servant of the gods. I must admit, it is pretty surprising that lowly mortals such as yourselves have somehow reached this place. This is the first time it's happened in almost over 700 years"

"Ack! It's YOU, scum!" Albel yelled as he reached back for his katana. "Planning to run away again, fool? I won't let you go so easily this time!"

"Heh. How amusing. You mortals do not realize how futile your efforts in reaching our dimension is…" Romero continued. "I admire your courage for getting this far… but this is far as you go, weak mortals. Your destiny is towards destruction, and there is no changing your fate. Our plan is almost complete… and there is no way we will let you enter the Time and Space Lab."

"Time… and Space… Lab?" Lancar asked.

"That will be enough talking for today. It's time to eliminate you mortals … thinking back, another one of your kind tried to oppose me a while back. A red-haired women… too bad she didn't make for any sort of challenge for me. She wouldn't happen to be your comrade now, is she?"

"Ne…NEL!" Clair screamed in surprise. "How dare you capture her! Where is she? WHERE IS SHE?" she yelled at Romero, demanding an answer.

"Heh. Since you asked so kindly, I shall tell you. She's held in the Time and Space Lab as we speak. I must admit, you mortals do make for very interesting test subjects. Just like that other Blue-haired boy… who possessed quite an astonishing power from what I hear." Romero sneered, with an evil grin.

"FAYT!" Lancar yelled as he got ready for battle. "You release him and Nel, now!"

"Unfortunately, I can't do that, my apologies." Romero said as he rose high over the ground, as the demon sword Levantine appeared in his hands. "What I CAN do, however, is to end your pathetic lives right here, mortals. Time for your souls to burn in eternal flames!"

As soon as Romero finished his sentence, he took a gigantic swipe with his Levantine across the battlefield. The swipe created a humongous explosion on the ground, knocking everybody back like little insects.

"Gah… GAAAHHH!" Albel yelled as he got up and charged at Romero. "DIE, SCUM! DOUBLE SLASH!"

Albel's powerful Katana strikes swung up and down across Romero's body. However, even though they were supposed to make a precise hit, the swings didn't hit anything at all; as if he just swung at thin air.

"How pathetic." Romero said, amused by Albel's ineffectiveness. "Like I have said, your efforts are futile. You mortals cannot harm somebody such as myself."

"We'll see about that!" Lancar yelled as he charged at Romero in a blinding flash. "FIERY TACKLE!"

Lancar dove right onto the body of Romero shoulder first expecting a hard impact. However, all he did was pass right through him, as if he wasn't even there. "WHAT THE HELL?" Lancar cursed, surprised at what just happened.

"HURRICANE AXE!" Roger screamed as he threw both sets of his Axe at Romero in a whirling hurricane. However, once again, the attack went right through him.

"Wha… what's going on?" Roger asked in bewilderment.

"FLYING GUILLOTINE!" Clair yelled, as she threw her daggers together at Romero like a chainsaw. The attack flew into Romero, spun around countless times, while not doing even the slightest of scratches to him.

"Im…impossible…" Clair said, flabbergasted.

"Let's see if he can avoid a Runology spell!" Farleen yelled as she charged up her spell.

"This should be interesting…" Romero said, confident and ready to take it head on.

"Take this! EXPLOSION!" Farleen yelled as the ground where Romero stood exploded in one gigantic ball of flame. The devastation of the explosion rocked throughout the Daemonium, as nothing seemed to be standing behind the cloud of smoke.

"I got it!" Farleen yelled in excitement.

"Heh… sorry for disappointing you." Romero said as he emerged out of the exploded grounds without even a scratch. "One spectacular spell however… I must admit."

"Wha… h…how?" Farleen asked, her voice trembling in fear.

"Enough playing with you mortals. It's time to end your lives right here!" Romero said, as he held up his Levantine as a powerful dark aura gathered around him. "DIMENSION…DOOR!" He yelled as he disappeared into thin air, appearing in front of everybody at the exact same time the split second later, to deal a devastating blow of void energy to everybody with a single swipe of his sword.

"AAHHHHHH!" Everybody yelled in pain as the energy downed everybody without much effort, unable to get up at all. Romero had beaten them with one single attack.

"Ga…gahh… why… why can't we… hurt… him…?" Albel asked in despair, on the brink of passing out.

"Oh my… I'm quite astonished at these new powers, myself." Romero commented. "So he wasn't lying… this is the real thing. He indeed is a god."

"Wha…what… wh… who?" Clair pondered, as she reached in for something in her pocket.

"I have become just too powerful for any of you mortals to pose any kind of threat." Romero said, getting ready to attack again. "Sorry for being too hard on you, but now it is time for you to be eliminated. Begone to eternal darkness!" He yelled as he charged up for another attack.

"No…!" Clair yelled faintly as she took out the red pyramid block. The black portal opened, and the entire party disappeared into thin air, missing the devastation of Romero's attack by a millisecond. However, from the impact of the attack, the portal closed itself prematurely and the red block was left behind in the Daemoneum.

"What? Damn… I missed them." Romero said in disappointment as he walked up to the block, picking it up.

Suddenly, another voice was heard out of thin air, behind where Romero was standing.

"Very disappointing, Romero. Even against the lowly mortals, you couldn't finish the job." The voice taunted at him.

"Heh… no need to worry about those mortals, Saphiro." Romero claimed. "You saw what happened here just now… even if they were to enter again… and I assure you that they won't…" He said as he shattered the Pyramid block into pieces in his hands.

"…No mortals, even the strongest of their kind, can hurt us anymore." Romero continued. "He have indeed granted us with godlike powers."

"It seems so…" Saphiro agreed, as he appeared in front of Romero. He had long white hair, with a pair of black wings on his back, and dressed in a black robe.

"Let's continue our plan, then." Romero said, as he glided towards the entrance of the Time and Space Lab. "It's just a matter of time before the mortal world becomes ours."

"Yes, indeed." Saphiro said. "But I have one concern… that boy… something tells me I've seen him from somewhere before…"

"You must be kidding me… he posed no threat at all." Romero said. "Besides, who knows where in the universe they might be at now. Even if they make their way back here somehow, they stand no chance."

"Heh. You are right indeed, my friend." Saphiro agreed, as he disappeared and appeared ahead at the entrance of the lab. "Let us continue on, then."