War Arc:
Chapter 60: The Throne at the Center of Infinity
Tatsuya Suou
Rainy – Night – 15/8/2011 – Old Apartment, Hirasaka, Sumaru City
(1 year before the prophecy)
It was nightfall. The dusk had long passed. Still, he sat by the window in his room with hollow eyes. Despite the exhaustion, he couldn't sleep or rest, or even attempt to lay on a pillow. Bandages were used for his injuries added with some wine that he brought from the store. Yet despite strength returning to him, his mind was as blank as a white sheet. It was half-past 11, the room was dark, but the street lamps in the distance shone some light for him, allowing him to examine the object in his hand; a watch that was long overdue its use, no matter how many times he repeatedly pressed the buttons on the side. The letter that he had read earlier, slightly crumpled by his grasp, was laid on the table. He laid aside the watch and took out his lighter, fidgeting it till time consumed him again. Suddenly, like a boiling rage, he punched the wall next to the window while suppressing the scream.
"What am I supposed to do?" Tatsuya finally let out his frustration, clenching his fist so hard his fingers pierced his palm, "What am I to do now, Jun?! I thought you could see the future, but what about now? Do you expect me to stay for one whole year, in the same city as my younger self? Maya is waiting for me! I can't stay here!" He added, "Or perhaps you know this? That's why you allow Naoya to go with me? What do you want me to do, Jun? I'm lost..."
He stood up but felt his legs cramped due to sitting for too long. He made his decision, believing it's for goodness sake. Baggageless with a small change of money, it's best to leave the city before anyone grew suspicious. He had no destination, but there was an idea to maybe go to another region, for now, seeing as he was too well known as a detective to blend with nearby cities. He had stalled for too long. He walked to the door and began locking it. At that moment, Takahisa Kandori crossed his mind. Curious, he went down the floor below and began knocking.
No answer at first, and no answer for the second, the third, and fourth time afterward. Kandori had probably left for the secret hideout of Juugo. The diary of Kandori lingered in his mind. He decided to use a small picklock and pricked open the door. The door was opened, and he searched around to see nothing left.
'I guess he took it with him...' He guessed. He felt a strong wind and he peeked at the window to see it slightly opened. The rain was getting heavier, with some of it caused a pool of water near the window. He wanted to wait until the rain died off, but it seemed this rain will continue all night and he thought it would be best to be off sooner. Then, something outside the window caught his eyes. Down on the street, he saw a running figure marking the muds on the concrete floor with shoeprints. The man was running with extreme haste, yet he seemed to clutch his head in pain. Then he disappeared out of vision, with the rooftop of the building next to him blocking the view. Curiosity seized him. He ran back to the upper floor to his room and checked for the presence. The figure was entering the apartment. His instinct told him that he might already know who that stranger was.
True to his instinct, He heard footsteps below him, and Tatsuya wasted no time to run back to Kandori's room, where the door was left opened and ajar. He saw the crouching Kandori's inside and saw that his head was bleeding terribly. A bag that he brought with him was torn by harsh grab, yet some equipment inside were intact such as torchlight, laser cutter, some ammo for handgun and grenades. Most of the fabrics on him were cut and torn. It seemed he had escaped from an assault, a terrible one, and he was forced back to his safe room.
"You're still alive. I'm surprised," Tatsuya said.
"And you're still here," Kandori said, believing his question was a sarcastic remark, "But that is not my concern. You see, I failed to infiltrate."
"I can see that, thank you. Was it Karu Juugo who found and beat you?"
"No..." Kandori said, glancing at the window, "Someone else, someone I have never seen before. Like a beast, he sniffed my scent. To think I would run in fear over the presence of that man. Yet, oddly..."
"Hmmm?"
"It's nothing," Kandori quickly dismissed his words, taking out a small book and handed it to Tatsuya, "We can't let them have this. This is the only way we have the advantage over Nyarlathotep and the Four Horsemen. Take it. I need to hide, probably leaving the town for a few days before trying again."
"Hold it! I can't take this. It wasn't for me," Tatsuya said. But Kandori pushed the book to his chest, with a few nerves visible in his forehead.
"Don't you understand how important this is? Have you not read it in the future?"
"There were other matters I need to attend to."
"Then you didn't play that tape, the Second Verse?"
He remembered those words near the end of the diary. He shook his head at Kandori. The man looked extremely disappointed.
"Then I won't say more, other than I would rather die to bring this to a safe place, where that mysterious man will never find it, than letting them take it," Kandori said, "Leave me. I'll be leaving the city soon. Don't need a farewell, wasting my time."
Tatsuya was pushed out of the room, forcing him back to his room. He pondered again what to do as he climbed the stairs. But when he entered his room, he found that his friend, Jun, was sitting on the tatami floor next to the table, reading the letter written by Naoya. So shocked was his reaction that he almost thought he was drunk.
"Oh, there you are, Tatsuya," Jun said with delight upon seeing him.
"Jun? No..." Tatsuya rubbed his eyes and clenched his face. Could this be Jun from 2011? Did he hear about Tatsuya's location from the receptionist? Or perhaps this was Jun from the future?
"I know you're confused right now, but it's me," Jun smiled, pressing a hand on his chest, "I'm the Jun from your timeline. I came here exactly ten minutes after you left for Xibalba with Naoya and Mia."
Speechless, hope began to fill Tatsuya's face, for it seemed his savior had arrived. But it faded, replaced with sadness. "Naoya's dead," Tatsuya said, "And he's not even the real Naoya."
"I know," Jun gave an instant answer. Tatsuya narrowed his eyes on him and observed closely.
"You knew?"
"Father Time told me about it."
"Then you knew about what happened to me, and Nyarlathotep, and about Mia?"
"Well..." Jun paused when he saw that Tatsuya was clenching both fists tightly, indicating that he was restraining his anger. Nodding was the best action for Jun at the moment. But that didn't seem to quench his anger.
"I used up your watch, arrived one year before the actual date," Tatsuya said, raising the watch and threw it on the ground, "I was stranded here, lost, and for what purpose?!"
"...Time traveling," Jun spoke as he stood up, but slower and he spoke with careful tone to not anger him further, "To travel through time is hard, even for the god of time. Philemon did it once to branch our world into two to erase Nyarlathotep's destruction, and that nearly crippled him. We created two worlds. That is forbidden. And now Azathoth is trying to bridge the two worlds. Besides, time travel is extremely energy-consuming, Tatsuya. We can't just travel and back like that. But now we have to."
"Have to?" Tatsuya growled in impatience, but curious, "What are you trying to say?"
"Mia Kaneda," Jun said after a deep breath, relieved that Tatsuya was much calmer now, "Mia Kaneda is one of the reasons Father Time made this time paradox, to ensure that this timeline remained in one place without branching further. I will tell you now the reason number one: Azathoth is the strongest shadow in ancient time. He is the 'father' and master of Nyarlathotep. He is the Archetype of Fear and the original Archetype of Destruction. He is Philemon's rival hundreds of years ago, while Philemon was young and in his prime. A war was waged against the Blind Idiot God in the event known as the Great War, where personas and shadows were divided into two. Philemon's force win and Azathoth was sealed within the dream prison of Celephais. But his power was mostly lost, while Azathoth's spawn, Nyarlathotep, grew stronger until he rivaled Philemon, starting the long feud between them. And now, that idiot god is returning..."
As he was busily motioning his hands for his explanation, Jun noticed that Tatsuya was listening, but not quite accepting the importance of that lore. His eyes were gazing elsewhere during the explanation. He continued.
"Anyway, do you seriously think Maya was strong enough as a 'sacrifice'? No, that's why we need you to take her to the Velvet Room and raised under Demon Painter, to strengthen her and made her stronger. Mia Kaneda was unique. She was from a human, and her consciousness needs to be stronger. Karu Juugo couldn't do that."
Tatsuya didn't nod, but he seemed to grasp most of it. He sat in front of Jun and allowed him to continue, but never broke eye contact. Jun decided to mimic his resting mode and began sitting as well.
"Now, we come to reason number two: Kandori's diary. The truth is, even Father Time didn't know much about the Second Verse that Kandori made. It seemed only Conquest and Kandori alone knew of this. The question is how and why were they the only two to know? Was there someone else who knows? We decided to protect the diary itself from being discovered. As you know in the future, the existence of the diary was almost discovered, but we can try to hide it for now. At this moment in time, we need your help to hide the diary in the past."
"But my brother said he found it in the aquarium in Koukai, and it was over 10 years ago."
Jun didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed the watch before he examined it closely Jun wasted no time to summon his persona, Kairos Chronos. With a touch, the god of time seemed to charge his power into the watch before he lent it back to Tatsuya.
"One more trip, to the past, and back again," Jun said, "Tell me, Tatsuya, how is it possible for Kandori to be in the past to hide it in the aquarium center?"
"He was sent," Tatsuya said, trying to remember Kandori's words from the book, "He said he was sent to the past by... Kazuma Kaneda, the Demon Painter?"
"He didn't say it was the demon painter, he said 'Kazuma Kaneda'. Right now, you're the one holding the watch, and I think it's best if only you and Kandori alone should travel to the past."
After a while, he began to understand Jun's word. "It was me," Tatsuya said, "I was the one who sent him to the past as Kazuma Kaneda."
From the side of the bed, Jun revealed a small bag with clothes and a mask, the same clothes that Kazuma Kaneda had on him when he first met him. But before Jun could speak further, Tatsuya raised a hand to stop him.
"Why couldn't Demon Painter himself go to the past and bring Kandori?"
"As I said, it's best if only-"
"That's not what I meant, Jun."
"...Alright," Jun said, "When you first met Kazuma Kaneda, did he told you something?"
He explored his mind for a while and recalled something about a painting of two figures, "He showed me a picture, a drawing."
"Then that is a task you must succeed, while you go to the past," Jun said, "Demon Painter from the future was the one told me about your choice of taking the painting."
"You mean even Father Time doesn't know why?"
"No, 'you' from the future, who had already returned to the past, warned Kazuma Kaneda to tell no one but made another copy of the drawing to remind you of the painting. Again, I don't know why."
Tatsuya was lost in confusion for a while before he again focused on Jun and asked, "Is there a third, or fourth reason?"
"The third and the last, which I will tell you once you're done with your errands in the past. Then, you must return here, to this specific place in time."
"Then we'll return to the future together?" Tatsuya said, but Jun shook his head, prompting him to ask again, "Why can't I just return to the present time with you?"
"I already told you, there's last reason. Don't worry, we make sure there's enough for us to return to our future again."
"That doesn't satisfy me. Tell me the last reason."
Jun, however, paused. It took a long while before he finally told him.
"The last reason is..."
Meanwhile, about 10 minutes later, Kandori was still in his room, although most of the stuff had been emptied. But when he was packing his bag and prepared to leave, he heard a knocking on the door.
"I don't want to see you again," Kandori scolded, assuming it to be Tatsuya. But the knocking didn't stop. He let out a big sigh and rushed to the door in anger, "I said I don't want-"
The person who appeared before him was a stranger, dressed in thick clothes with an odd mask covering his identity. He was wearing an emblem of Velvet Room on his left chest pocket. It was slightly dark, preventing him from examining him completely, but the aura of this man was strangely familiar.
"Greetings, Takahisa Kandori," He introduced himself with a crooked voice, "My name is Kazuma Kaneda, a Velvet Room's resident sent by Igor to assist you."
"I seek the council of the Room, but I never ask for assistance."
"I came because we knew the peril of your struggle. You wish to protect the book, as I was told?"
Kandori didn't answer at first.
"I have a method that will allow you to hide the diary for good, completely untraceable," He added, "But we must move tonight."
"...How?" Kandori asked.
Kazuma revealed a watch, the same one that he saw Tatsuya wore earlier, only with a slight change in color as though it was repainted. "To the past," Kazuma said, "If you put it in the past, your location is impossible to trace."
Kandori widened his eyes, "To when?"
"To the year 2001, the Koukai Ward was build for the first time during that period. You can try to ask for some mechanism that can hide the book."
"Oddly specific. Why does it have to be at Koukai Ward?"
"Because it's the new ward, and nobody would suspect an extra mechanism was being installed in the newly made ward."
"So I just go there, 'ask' someone or a constructor to put one anonymous object in their construction, then come back here?"
"Exactly."
Kandori seemed baffled and puzzled, "Were you asking me to put it in the past because of some event that happened in the future that you couldn't tell me?"
"Sharp as ever."
"Did Tatsuya told you that Chizuru will found it only in Koukai Ward?"
Kandori was not easy to fool. 'Kazuma Kaneda' knew this now. Almost everything he said was accurate except for Chizuru. But he hid it from him.
"Someone that you can trust will find it in Koukai Ward."
"I see..." Kandori narrowed his eyebrows, "So it was Tatsuya or Tatsuya's friends who found it."
He was correct again. As expected from the CEO of SEBEC company. Without the mask, Kandori would see him sweating slightly.
"Then, will you come?" Kazuma said.
"I have another hideout, where I keep my staches of gold. May I take some to the past?"
Afternoon - 30/11/2012(Friday) - Seven Sister High, Xibalba
(Present Time, Friday of War)
Mia looked to the sky, then around her, and anxiety grew much more than she had imagined. There was another altar there, like the one she saw in the church, next to a beacon of light at the center of the school. Acting as a beacon was small jewelry on top of some grotesque chair, craved with shapes of tentacles and mouths at all sides, painted in dark wood brown. Beneath the altar was a big circular disc made of metal, blocking the original entrance to the heart of Xibalba. The chair seemed so horrible to look at, that she couldn't imagine anyone sitting on it. Yet someone did, the corrupted Tatsuya walked slowly to the chair and sat on it, posing like a kingly figure, but not to Mia.
Karu Juugo glanced at his pocket watch and nodded to himself, "Three more minutes before the ceremony commenced. Now, Mia Kaneda, go rest your body at the altar."
"That's it?" Mia asked.
"Yes, that is it," Juugo answered. But then he made a sudden turn to the sky and observing something, "The White Rider..."
Before Mia could follow his gaze, something landed rashly on the ground not far from them, leaving a speck of dust around them. When the dust cleared up, she beheld a majestic figure of gold and white. White horse glimmering brightly and reflected hard shadows and the heavy sound of armor was heard. There she saw, for the first time, the White Rider of the prophecy, Atum the Great, the Conquest himself.
"You have no purpose here," Juugo immediately dismissed him upon his arrival, "Leave."
"Not by your command," Conquest responded with an even deeper tone, echoing the entire school with his commanding voice, "The 'vessel' and the 'sacrifice' is here, but where is the 'Sun'? His absence baffles me."
"It matters not, not anymore. The ceremony will commence as written."
"And of the Crawling Chaos?"
"Too minor for my attention at the moment."
"Minor? Be wary! Each time he vanishes, he will return with new tricks. Keep an eye on him, and I will keep an eye on the Daemon Sultan."
"I won't promise, but I will."
Then, they heard a roar from the above. The creature was getting impatient, its tentacles rambling till it crashed the skyscrapers. Again, Atum hurriedly released one more arrow at the creature. It finally quieted down, but Juugo seemed restless.
"2 more minutes. This is time-wasting. I say we start now."
"Wait, now?" Mia widened her eyes. Juugo came behind her and pushed her to the altar. She rested her body on the cold and hard surface, and when she looked up, she saw the colossal eldritch creature, to her left was the chair where corrupted Tatsuya sat, and to her right was Juugo and Conquest watching her attentively. Only now she began to feel her heart beating loudly, fear engulfed her so much that she trembled. She shut her eyes to suppress the horror, but the whisper from above became audible instead. This was real, the ceremony is commencing.
'It's alright, it's alright...' Mia chanted to herself, 'Don't be afraid. Tatsuya will protect the real me.'
But then, she heard a huge roar, followed by a loud sound of bell ringing. The colossal creature was descending on them with terrifying speed.
Tatsuya Suou
Sunny - Morning - ?/3/2001 - Koukai Ward, Sumaru City
(11 years earlier)
The Koukai Ward was in its starting period. It was an idea proposed by the government when the population of the city increased post 21st century. Though, the full details of the construction of the ward mattered little to Takahisa Kandori, who was donning his tie in classy attire in front of the window of a restaurant. Kazuma Kaneda was watching from the distance near the bus stop, waiting for him to cross by.
"Who's my pick?" Kandori asked when he saw him.
"The one who manages the aquarium," Kazuma said, "Please make him promise not to tell a soul."
"I manage my words," Kandori said confidently, "With a bit of wealth, anyone will listen."
"Then meet me at the front of the apartment by tonight at 7. If you're late, I'll consider that you're willing to stay here for good."
"Sure do."
Kandori left for the Koukai Ward, leaving Kazuma Kaneda all alone. He checked the watch, then hurriedly he went to the back street. After ensuring that nobody was on sight, he removed his disguise, revealing the sweating face of Tatsuya.
"It's 9 in the morning," Tatsuya muttered to himself, "What do I do until then?"
He hid away from the public and moved to wherever his feet might take them. Surely, even without looking ahead, it seemed both his feet and heart had chosen his destination. Today was, after all, a memorable day. He completely removed his disguise and was now clad in dark, casual suit, the best type of suit to blend with parents inside a school. He took a train to the school, for he knew his past self will return home early today. He reached his school by 9 and a half in the morning. Upon the sight of the title written on board at the school gate, Tatsuya smiled. It was written: "Graduation Ceremony XXth class".
From afar, he was able to see, not surprisingly, Lisa and Eikichi. He was confident that nobody would recognize him, but he took precautions and avoid their sight. From the corner of his eyes, he saw that they were taking pictures, and indeed, it was the same camera that was used to take that 'picture'.
"So young and innocent..." Tatsuya muttered, before, entering the gate, he finally saw that the younger version of himself was there, standing by the tree not far from the school building. Restless and distress was too visible on his face that he didn't bother to hide it. Tatsuya couldn't help chuckling at his past self. Jun came afterward from inside the school, where he pulled young Tatsuya's hand and led him towards the group of friends. He overheard Jun suggested a group photo, but she looked around for a bystander to take their photo until, for some reason, her eyes and Tatsuya's were locked.
"Hey, mister!"
Tatsuya tried to turn away, but Lisa had already run towards him with the camera, "Can you take our pictures? It's our memorable day, and we want some good memories."
Tatsuya looked upon her innocent face for a while. 'How did you turn out like that...?' He thought, remembering Lisa's curse on him in the future. He said nothing, but he reached for the camera, where Lisa quickly ran to her group. Lisa hung her arms around his younger self in the picture, which will trigger a consequence that he will slightly regret later. He took that very photo and handed it back to them. He remembered now, the man who helped to take that picture years ago was himself.
"What more did I miss?" He said as he ventured inside. Everyone was in the main hall, receiving their graduation, but there was another reason he was here. He went and searched for Jun's father, Akinari Kashihara.
"I asked my father. He said he sold it to a man during the graduation day. Why he brought it is not known, but from the looks of it..."
"I understand, Jun," Tatsuya mused, stopping at a hallway and observed the corner of the stairs to the second floor. Next to the stairs was Jun's father, not as wrinkled as he had known in the future, but his gentle smile remained the same, even after years of teaching. What happened afterward was something that he failed to see in his past. It was none other than Maya, dressed in a casual outfit that will mislead others into believing that she was an elder sister of a student here. She looked bright and happy as she greeted Akinari.
"Amano! Good to see you," Akinari laughed, "Looking for my son, or perhaps..."
"Oh, no! Don't misunderstand. I'm here for sightseeing, nothing else," Maya answered, "In fact, can you please don't tell anyone that I'm here?"
"Alright! It will be our little secret. Oh, want to try?" Akinari said, before exposing his canvas to her. Tatsuya, who was watching from afar, couldn't see clearly all the paintings, but he clearly saw Akinari handed some color pencils to Maya, but Maya quickly rejected it.
"It's alright. Besides, I'm not good at this."
"It doesn't matter if you're good or not. It's a fun social 'experiment."
"Social experiment?"
"I got this idea from a book I found when I was digging through the old storeroom, written by a professor named Karu Juu... Ah, I forgot. Anyway, the idea is: You draw what you want to express in the painting, but draw only half of what you want to draw. Another stranger will try to comprehend your message and finish the drawing for you. If it turns out good, then you have conveyed your feeling successfully to the right person!"
"Isn't that like matchmaking, then?"
"No, it's simply finding out who will successfully understand a message with mere drawing. That's all. If you refuse, maybe trying to comprehend the message left behind by other students instead?"
For a moment, Tatsuya thought he saw some sadness in Maya's eyes, as though she was recollecting some bitter memories. Then, she gripped the color pencils hard in her hand and nodded.
"I guess I could give it a shot. Give me a blank one."
Slowly, Maya first drew a doodle figure of a smiling female. Then, she drew a blue line, probably water, right on the level of doodle's waist. Then, she drew a long line of brown and shade it next to the water, where it roughly looked like a beach and the sea, and the female doodle was far from the shore. She drew a heart-shaped object in its left hand, submerging it into the water, but she quickly canceled this by drawing a red line over it. Finally, on the dots that represented the eyes, she drew a small tear shape. This image baffled Akinari, which he quickly asked.
"That's it?"
"Yes," Maya answered, handing back the color pencil to him, "Though I doubt anyone could comprehend this."
"Well, you never know. You sure you don't want to meet him, Katsuya's brother? I heard you were-"
"N-No," Maya cut off his words, "We're not friends or anything. It's a thing in the past. Anyway, I need to go. See you later, Kashihara-san."
She quickly rushed to the exit, leaving the stunned Akinari alone. Just then, the bell rang, signifying the end of the graduation ceremony. Students burst into the school building, where the lonely hallway was instantly filled with laughter and joy. They talked without caring for their loudness, as though all rules were voided on this special day. Some were tearing away their outer shirt and ties, girls were already applying make-up for the upcoming hangout. Parents were everywhere and conversing, comparing grades like a competition. It was unsurprisingly the most chaotic day in school, and they were all decided, just for a day, to forget about their future career and life.
Tatsuya pretended to move to the second floor, where students were fewer, but he quickly paused at the stairs and peeked down to where Jun's father was. Many students came and stopped in front of Akinari, but only a few of them wanted to try. Jun came at one point and embarrassingly tried to push his father away, but to no avail. It was not until 5 minutes later that Tatsuya finally saw his younger self stopping in front of the station, all sweating with a pale face.
"Tatsuya! Congratulations on your graduation," Akinari congratulated him, but his face changed when he examined Tatsuya's face, "What happened? Are you feeling well?"
"It's nothing. Just a slight fever," Young Tatsuya answered, at the same time wondered about the drawings and paintings beside him, "What are those?"
"Oh, you see..."
At this point, the crowd had grown so loud that Tatsuya couldn't hear their conversation. He was forced to return to the first floor and stood not far from them.
"Want to give it a try?" Akinari asked.
"No, it's alright," Young Tatsuya shook his head, "My headache is unbearable."
"Is that so? Ah! What about you, sir?"
He didn't realize that Akinari was talking to him at first.
"You mean me?" Tatsuya pointed at himself. He didn't realize he had stood too close and watching them. Akinari nodded.
"This isn't exclusive to students only. Adults are welcome to try."
"W-Well..." Tatsuya turned to his younger self, who was watching intensely at him. Perhaps he was able to sense that he was his future self? Tatsuya quickly answered, "I think this guy should do it. Young people can express it better. Besides, I think you have something you want to express."
"I don't feel that way," Young Tatsuya said, "I'm not interested in interpreting one either. And..."
Young Tatsuya at first showed disinterest, but when he caught a glimpse of the drawing made by Maya, his eyes widened a little. "Who drew that?"
"Oh? Are you interested in this one?" Akinari seemed overjoyed, where he quickly handed a few color pencils at him. "Give it a try."
"That... is an interesting message," He heard his younger self muttered, "Okay, I guess I give this one a try."
Tatsuya had now slowly started to remember the event that happened this day. He understood the painting when he saw it. In his eyes, the drawing was a scream for help. She was struggling, depicting her in the body of water. Yet despite the tears, she smiled, not because she wanted to, but because she had no choice. She had to let go of someone as shown with the red string of fate being cut. The message was in reality quite obvious, but the doodle certainly made it hard for outsiders to interpret.
His younger self realized this message. He felt the sadness surging within the paper. Thus, to finish the painting, he drew another doodle, representing himself, and connected the red line in the female's hand and linked it to the male. It seemed like a red string of fate. He drew a smile on the male's face. Then, he used some watercolor to paint the sea and the beach. He finally stopped in satisfaction. Akinari examined the 'finished' drawing and was satisfied.
"Not the best drawing," Akinari commented, "But drawing a red string of fate? Do you know this woman?"
"I..." Young Tatsuya paused, "I don't know. I just feel like I want to help her."
"Then do it," Tatsuya finally interjected and said to him, "Save her."
He remembered what happened next vividly. His younger self, as if unlocking some hidden memory, began to clench his head in pain before, in seconds, he fell on the floor. This was the time when Tatsuya realized he had to leave. But he grew worried and stood a further away from where he fell. Students began to crowd around the fallen young man. Eventually, he saw Lisa came and helped his younger self to the infirmary. Akinari seemed worried, but a few students assured him that the young man will be fine. After a while, the circle of the crowd dispersed again, leaving him with Jun's father.
"Is he going to be okay?" Tatsuya asked.
"I hope so. Did he remember something painful?" Akinari looked at the painting of Maya and Tatsuya.
"You mean?"
"Ah, it's nothing. Tatsuya simply had an odd case months ago. He lost part of his memory as if it was cut and removed. Despite graduating, he didn't remember much of his third year. His brother said he had an accident, but..." He turned into a whisper and leaned closer, "I don't think it's true..." Akinari backed away again, "Anyway, I didn't realize that this thing would make him faint. I guess the experiment did work?"
So it was that very thing that triggered his memory of Maya. Such a small, simple object, yet this painting could cause so much in the future like a butterfly effect.
"I know this sounds inappropriate after what happened a while ago," Tatsuya said, "But do you sell these things?"
Akinari narrowed his eyes in confusion and asked, "It's not for sale, but which one?"
"That very painting he painted just now. I, too, feel that I can understand it."
Akinari observed his face closely, and a look of realization appeared on him. "You... resembled that young man. Not literally, but... I guess you remind me of him."
Tatsuya thought his cover was blown. But instead, Akinari sighed and gave a small laugh and said, "Take it. I can see that you're honest."
Night - Apartment
By the time Kandori reached the front of the apartment, where Tatsuya stood waiting, it was already past dusk. Which was why it was hard to determine his expression in the dark. But he looked angry, satisfied, yet puzzled at the same time. Tatsuya didn't manage to ask before Kandori revealed the content of his interaction today.
"Did you know from the start that the supervisor behind one of the buildings in Koukai Ward is the same guy who beat me 'last night'?"
"What do you mean?"
"Ame Hitoshi, the guy who designed the aquarium, he is the one who helped me hid the box with my diary, though I didn't leak the content. Although the guy who attacked me was wearing a mask, I'm almost sure that he is the same person. No wonder he recognized me."
"Impossible!" Tatsuya expressed his shock, "The location of the diary was safeguarded for more than ten years. Why didn't they leak the meeting with you to Nyarlathotep or Juugo? They must have their suspicion, even without knowing the content."
"So this is all new to you. As for me, I considered many possibilities for the reason. Was he ordered by Karu Juugo to let you find it? For what reason?"
"Perhaps. Perhaps that he also wanted to keep it away from Nyarlathotep and Juugo as well and gave it to us."
"You look like you have one deduction already."
"I'm saying that... could he be a secret ally?"
The sudden mystery began to appear about Ame Hitoshi. They pondered for a while, and Tatsuya decided to hurry to his timeline.
"Let's go back to 2011," Tatsuya said.
"You mean I go back to 2011. You need to be at the ceremony, did you not?"
Tatsuya said nothing. From those words, it was clear enough that Kandori had long aware of his true identity. They gathered all their stuff and returned to the future.
Except for Tatsuya, as he didn't 'return'.
Afternoon - 30/11/2012(Friday) - Red Harbor, Sumaru City
(Present Time, Friday of War)
Matsuya looked over the sea, waiting for his father to return with his mother. There was so much he wanted to say to them, both to apologize and thank them for all that they have done for him. But the sky was so dimmed as though rain was closing in, glooming the sea with their quiet rain tears.
He turned around to see many people were evacuating, but Matsuya insisted on staying for his parents. In the end, aunt Miyashiro, a friend of his father, chose to accompany him, but for now, she had other things to attend to. The evacuation that consisted of many faces he didn't recognize, went down in silent without a single conversation. He could see that Takashi Kido and his family were ready to move as well. Then, unexpectedly, Takashi Kido ran towards him. Matsuya almost thought that he was seeking a fight.
"You're not leaving?" Takashi asked as he stopped in front of him, "Just come with us! There's a safe haven waiting for us."
Matsuya shook his head. "I need to stay for them," Matsuya said, "My parents promised me they return, so I want to be the first to welcome them back. It's the least I could do. You can go first, with your family. I'll be fine, I'm not alone."
Takashi seemed to look at him with a new light. Then, he began to laugh, a genuine laugh that Matsuya never saw before.
"I always thought you were just carrying the great name of Suou with you," Takashi confessed, "Turns out you living up to that name, the name of Suou. I was wrong."
"And you're still wrong. I'm not trying to live up to my dad's name. I'm living up to myself, Matsuya Suou. I mean, your dad is pretty cool too. You should be proud of him. Like many others, your dad saved a lot of people, just like my dad."
"...Wow," Takashi said in astonishment, "I don't say this to anyone, but that was a nice speech, Matsuya-kun. Next time, try to aim for the role of prince yourself."
He extended his hand to Matsuya. Although a bit shy, Matsuya took the hand and shook it. When Takashi disappeared with his family, Matsuya could feel himself blushing with overexcitement by his comment. Just then, Aunt Miyashiro came to him with a worried expression.
"What's wrong, aunt Miyashiro?" Matsuya asked as he ran to her. Her eyes seemed to be searching for someone.
"Matsuya-kun, have you seen Jun?" Shiori asked, "He said he had something to do at the end of the shore, but I couldn't find him."
Just as she said this, Matsuya saw uncle Jun came running from somewhere. However, his eyes weren't on them. Instead, he was focusing on something on the sea, waving and jumping joyfully to reveal himself. Matsuya and Shiori looked at Jun's line of vision, and mixed feelings began to emerge upon them.
It was a small, white boat, turning its direction towards the broken pier. No label or logo identified the rider. However, Jun seemed to wave his hand like an old friend, gesturing the boat to his direction.
"Over here! Over here!" Jun screamed.
"Who is that, Jun?" Shiori asked. But Jun turned to her with a huge grin.
"You know him too well," He answered.
Matsuya looked carefully at the boat. On top of it was a man, clad in a white suit. He was wearing sunglasses despite the dark weather. He saw Matsuya and smiled, and at that moment, Matsuya felt that he recognized that person. When the boat drew closer, Matsuya finally saw the man in the white suit in its fullness and screamed.
"EH?!"
Maya Amano
Afternoon - 30/11/2012(Friday) - South-east Haven, Xibalba
(Friday of War)
All the other ships had left long ago. Only one more ship was left, save for the last defense of the city, with Eikichi and Jun of the Xibalba as the commanders. All the remaining shadows in front of the haven had been exterminated, leaving them with nothing else but to evacuate at this moment. Maya could see from the far distance a bright beacon of light slowly glowing brighter, signifying the arrival of the red rider, War.
"Ma'am, we searched everywhere, but to no vail," Jun said, peering around at the outside, " Are you truly sure you had a friend still out there?"
Maya turned to Jun, who was patting her shoulder. She nodded with a heavy heart, for it seemed it took a miracle for Tatsuya to arrive here, even if he were to run.
"We can't save them now. Let's wait for our commander to come back, then we departed. We can't risk the lives of many others for one."
Maya at first hesitated. But despite the cruel reality, she knew she had to leave immediately. However, it was then that she heard a loud sound coming from the center of the city, followed by a huge roar, where she saw the colossal creature suddenly descended on the city with rapid speed. As they were waiting at the boarding stairs, they saw Eikichi running for the ship.
"Start the ship!" Eikichi screamed, "Start the ship now! The ceremony is starting!"
"Pilots, prepare to depart!" Jun shouted at the cockpit, "Eikichi, run!"
Eikichi ran as fast as he could, but the rumble from the outside formed a crack on the floor, and Eikichi couldn't run straight. His movement was too swayed and weak to reach in time. He eventually stumbled on the ground. She heard a snap sound from his ankle.
"Eikichi!" Scream Maya, "I need to help him quickly."
"Wait, stop!"
Maya ignored Jun's warning and began charging for the fallen Eikichi. At that moment, she heard the sound of crashing. At first, she assumed it was the sound debris falling, but when the second time it resounded, she realized it was the sound of building crashing. With a sudden sense of panic, Maya lifted Eikichi and ran towards the ship. But when they were a few steps away from the door, a ravine of the chasm was formed between them. Knowing that they lacked the time for delay, Maya pushed Eikichi through the gaping ravine, where he was caught safely by Jun. By that time, the ravine had grown so wide, that it was impossible for Maya to jump. Eikichi and Jun both stared in shock and fear.
"Ma'am, why did you save me, you idiot?!" Eikichi scolded, "Wait over there, I'll come and-"
"It's too late! The place is falling apart," Maya said, stepping backward as the last light from the outdoor blocked by the crashing debris, "I will stay for him, for my husband."
It was at that moment, Maya thought it was best to reveal her identity. She smiled, "If the 'me' from this 'side' could see you, she'll be proud."
Eikichi and Jun stood for a while as the exit door slowly closing upward. Then, perhaps Jun was the one who realized the truth, as he was the one who called out.
"Maya! Maya Amano-san! Do you want us to lose you again?"
"I won't die, I promised. Someone is waiting for me at home."
Eventually, there's no more light for them to see, but they could feel that Maya was smiling. The ship began to move. and it left the city for good.
As Maya was trapped, searching for light, she heard a powerful blast in the direction of upward. She looked up, but from out of nowhere, a small boulder hit her from the back, knocking her out.
Afternoon - Daemon Lap of Infinity
There was no more city, no more spaceship, no more structure or visible trace of civilization. Noises that could deafen a mass an hour ago turned to absolute silence. Only faintly the hungry roaring of a colossal could be heard. The clouds all around it, almost red as blood with a slight trace of sunlight glimmering in, was incredibly thick and suffocating. Weak gust carried dust in the circle of the creature, dust that could almost block the view of the window of the ship. The pilots were anxious with the lack of visual sight, but for now, Jun reassured them with praise and comfort for their contribution. He already contacted Yukino and Eriko on their ships.
"We're heading for the plain below. Ship #1, #4, and #6 had already descended the altitude," The voice of Yukino said, "Where were you? What took you so long to leave?"
"You're not going to believe me anyway," Jun answered in distress, "We already evacuated everyone, except for one. I hope she would wind up on some flying debris, but that would require a miracle."
"She? But I thought Lisa's passed away?"
"I'm not talking about Lisa," Jun answered, before his eyes locked on the outside with shock, "Yukino-san, I think you should look at this."
The mist was clearing up, where they beheld the most gruesome creature and perhaps the most massive thing they had ever seen. It had the size that prevented them from seeing both sides at once. From afar, it would appear like a black hole, but within miles distance, it appeared like a mass of tentacles wiggling together in a small pool of black ooze. Yet, if one dare enough to get closer, they would see mouths, eyes, and faces too terrible to describe that would make adults screamed in fear.
"Nobody's living through that for sure," Yukino said, "Jun, your ship steers too close to that thing. Back away."
"No, I'm looking around for someone. Leave without me."
Yukino said nothing more but began descending downward, leaving the sky they were locked with for years. There was a strange, but unsettling delight in seeing the view beyond the border of his city, something he had secretly thirst to experience, despite his undying love for his city. But he cursed himself for that way of thinking and forbid himself from distraction. Jun went to the coordinate where Maya was last seen, but there was only small debris, falling to the unseeable bottom.
"You don't suppose she managed to hop on that creature, are you?" Eikichi, who returned from the backseat, optimistically said to brighten the mood, but it appeared sarcastic when he heard it himself, "I'm sorry. I don't mean-"
"Quiet," Jun paused him, pointing to the point slightly above the creature, "Do you see that?"
Eikichi followed his trail of sight and saw a small figure sustaining itself on the air. He took a binocular and zoomed in, "The hell is that?! It looks like some kind of guy with white and gold armor, and... he had a horse?"
Jun and Eikichi turned to each other when they realized 'horse' was mentioned.
"The white rider."
"Why here?"
"Don't ask me, Eikichi. I'm as lost as you are- Oh! OOOOH! Eikichi, your binocular! Hurry!"
"Wait, don't pull!"
With the binocular still strapping to Eikichi's neck, Jun pulled it and zoomed on the small figure on the edge of the creature on the right side. The ship steered closer and they saw a woman lying unconscious on the dark muscular floor made of Daemon Sultan's tentacle. Jun immediately went to the pilot and instructed him to the unconscious woman. But the moment they went close, however, the colossal creature let out a huge roar on the side where they ship was, and the gust of wind emitted by the 'mouth' of Daemon Sultan prevented them from getting closer.
"We're losing control! We need to move!" The pilot warned.
"Wait, what about Maya?!" Eikichi objected.
"We'll get her later! LATER, I said!"
It was a lie. There's no way they could land on that creature. They even doubt if these ships could land on the surface of the earth. But they decided to be optimistic. The ship stabilized itself as it steered away, but Maya had started to regain her consciousness. She lifted her head but felt sudden dizziness and pain. The blood on her hand when she touched it confirmed her injuries.
"I'm alive? Who saves me?" Maya examined around. But when she saw the 'ground' she was sitting on, she let out a shriek and stood up. Confused and disturbed, she tried to remember everything again. "I'm on 'it', I'm on the Nuclear Chaos himself..."
"Indeed you are~!"
Maya turned to the voice and saw that it was the 'son' of Nuclear Chaos. Impersonating the young image of her husband, Nyarlathotep, as if emerging from thin air, began walking towards her.
"N-Nyarlathotep!" Maya took a battle stance.
"Not a single gratitude, after going through the hardship of saving you?" Nyarlathotep said, but with a small tone of sarcasm, "You should be thanking me! I wear the face of your husband so that you can see for yourself the face of a savior that you desire, someone you wanted your husband to be, but failed."
"You don't know him."
"Wrong, YOU don't know yourself. You hate what happened to you. You put a brave, caring smile in front of him, but beneath you..." Nyarlathotep suddenly changed his appearance to that of her, "You detested your pathetic husband! I know, WE know! You wanted to blame him for failing to save you! You wanted him to regret it! Because you believe that by remembering all those memories, every sacrifice that you did for him will be nulled! You wanted him to suffer the failure of saving the other you, Maya Amano!"
Nyarlathotep expected her to break down again to denial. But his prediction was wrong. Instead of dominated in mind, Maya began to narrow her eyes with sudden anger.
"Don't you dare use my face, or my husband's face, to speak that nonsense!" Maya shouted as she began to approach him, "The only thing I regret is not realizing his pain sooner. I'm not Maya Amano, but..."
Maya Suou
"...I'm Maya Suou!"
After reaching an arms distance, Maya surprised him with a huge slap to the cheek, canceling his 'Maya' appearance and reverting him to young Tatsuya. "He will not fail again," Maya added.
"...Pfff! Hahaha!" Nyarlathotep laughed as he scrubbed the cheek that Maya slap, "Did you not see the reason why I save you? I'm saving you for the last, silly! Witness! WITNESS! The rise of the Blind Idiot God at the center of infinity!"
Ring! Ring!
She heard a bell sound from nowhere. At the center of the creature, a huge mouth began to open. From inside it, a tall pillar with a huge gruesome throne emerged from below. Standing over the throne was the corrupted Tatsuya. In his arms was a lifeless body of Mia Kaneda. Behind the throne, a huge portal appeared with an arm reaching out and gripped the edge of the throne. Emerging from the black portal was a familiar creature. It was Yog-Sothoth, screaming to itself as it approached Corrupted Tatsuya and Mia.
"Azathoth is special," Nyarlathotep spoke, "Unlike other riders, he hungers for more than one vessel. Yog-Sothoth has always been the vessel of Azathoth, but now, Yog-Sothoth needs another one to materialize fully as a Horseman. Rejoice! Rejoice!"
As Nyarlathotep finished his sentence, the Lovecraftian god of time began to lift both Corrupted Tatsuya and Mia. He began to chant, and immediately Mia began to degrade into swamped of red butterflies. The swamp of butterflies was absorbed into the colossal creature, and soon the entire structure began to rumble. All colors faded to red, where it spread even to Yog-Sothoth and Corrupted Tatsuya. Then, he ate him with one gulp. Maya couldn't comprehend about the scenery that followed afterward, but soon, deep inside her, she felt Mia's dying breath before it faded into nothingness. The main body of the creature turned to rock, while at the center of the place, a massive red silhouette appeared from beneath. The 'flower' of the Celephais is dead. What remained unwithered was the fruit of chaos, the Nuclear Chaos. With a small burst of energy, the loud ringing sound out of nowhere signaled the arrival of the second Horseman.
[[[SECOND SEAL OPEN]]]
Azathoth /War
"Thou art I, I am thou... All came from fear, all return to fear... The sun could not reach me, for I have to swallow it... Now... The only thing remained... is destruction..."
Known as: Nuclear Chaos, Blind Idiot God, Daemon Sultan
Arcana: Fool
Archetype: Humanity's collective fear of the unknown, Destructive potential of humanity
Archetype Symbol: Red butterflies
Lovecraftian eldest of all Outer Gods and in Cthulhu mythology. The creator of all deities within his dream. He rules the realm outside the realm of space as the leader of Outer Gods with Nyarlathotep as his messenger, where he was lulled to sleep with endless music and drumbeats. It is said that if he awakes even for a moment, then everything will cease to exist, like waking up from a nightmare.
In the Seven Seal of God's prophecy, he was forced, unwillingly and unknowingly, for the role of War, the red rider of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Sitting on the giant throne over 50 meters tall was a humanoid figure in blood-red armor. The armor was designed with a lot of tentacles shapes and teeth that were difficult to describe. His helm was skull-shaped, where on top of it was a butterfly with 8 points of lights on its wings. He rested his arms on the throne, but he let out a huge growl and stood up, this time even taller. His black cape was finally visible with a symbol of butterflies. His mouth didn't roar, yet the growl could be felt from miles away.
Emerging at the front of the throne from the ground was another creature. It resembled Yog-Sothoth at first, but then it changed shape. It resembled a hound, but then it became a giant horse that appeared zombified and rotten. Its feet had far exceeded the mass of a mammoth, its neigh was like a thunderstorm, and its eyes were hollowed, yet on its front side was one huge yellowish eye. The red rider began to lift his legs over the horse, and he finally roared, earning his demanded freedom.
'We will never beat that thing...' That was on Maya's mind when she saw the full appearance of Azathoth in his humanoid form. But she tried to convince herself again, 'Not alone...' She clenched her chest, where suddenly a surge of chilling pain like a hundred shards of ice piercing her heart. 'Mia...'
Azathoth's withered colossal body, the original body beneath her feet, froze altogether, as though it remained dead for good. Nyarlathotep, who was still standing not far from her, began to laugh to himself. He was chanting something, but not audible. There was a long pause afterward, until...
"Finally, you're mine! Book of Azathoth!"
A huge red book with the design of octopus at the front cover, height and width over an arms size, emerged from the ground and floated in front of Nyarlathotep. Its page was still glowing when it landed on Nyarlathotep's palm. Like an excited child, the Crawling Chaos flipped open the pages, and his grin spread to his cheeks. "It's all here! Haha! The original! The prototype of Arcana tarot! Now, with the release of my master, its power is freed, along with mine!"
The Book of Azathoth glowed in red, engulfing Nyarlathotep in a powerful surge of energy. Still wearing the face of Tatsuya, his appearance changed. He was like her husband again in adult age, but his attire and dressing were otherworldly. He was wearing a full black suit, a black mask covering the left half of his face, a small ribbon tying his overgrown hair, a gold necklace, and a tattoo of hands covering his neck. His aura was different from previously. He was laughing, but this time quieter, older but never diminished in his evil.
"Behold, my 'truest' power!" Nyarlathotep spread open his arms with a clear voice. His voice is no longer crooked or twisted, "Ever since the sealing of Azathoth, a portion of my true power was sealed along with him, until now. Look, Maya, look! This is me in my 'purest' form! Ah, my mistake, it seemed you're in no mood for the introduction. The 'death' of Mia Kaneda affected you more than you know. However, seeing as I have no use for you, how about I make it quick with some of my simple spell?"
Nyarlathotep began flipping open the book and from it took out a big card with Tower Arcana on it, though the arts were more gruesome.
"This tarot, Maya, is the first Arcana Deck ever created. Azathoth made it with zero knowledge at first, simply by copying the Arcana Shadow spawned by Nyx, and from it came the Arcana deck that Philemon used in the Velvet Room and for himself. Philemon used it for some ridiculous justice, but he refused to accept that it all came from the creation of Azathoth himself. What did he do? He sealed the original away together with Azathoth, expecting it to never return. And now, prepared for it."
Nyarlathotep summoned a huge orb of darkness above him as the Tower Arcana card glowed in red.
"Azathoth Arcana: TOWER."
The orb began to have shapes and rose high above the air. From the orb, a huge tower-like structure appeared with its pointy pillar aiming for Maya. Maya knew immediately she was seconds away from death when the tower began to gain speed. She tried to move, but the absence of Mia took away all her negative emotions until she no longer felt the threat of danger. She couldn't move, she could merely stare at the building slowly crashing to her.
Then, she saw him.
"Suit Burst: Ace of Sword!"
Defending the attack from the tower, the man endured and summoned a strange form of fire. Nyarlathotep, who was shocked, back away and observed the new presence. Maya wiped her eyes clean and examined the stranger. The dimness of the afternoon sun was reflected from above, hiding his face in the shadow facing her. His suit was white, but there was a layer of thick suit beneath his shirt like a black vest. He was holding a long sword, with another hand reaching out for her.
"Maya, you're safe now. I'm here."
She recognized that voice. How could she not? Speechless and stunned, she took his solid hand and gripped it tight, pulling her up. There, she beheld the face of her husband, who she felt missing from her life for a long time. His face remained the same, yet she knew there was a different aura about him that made him older and more mature than the man she once knew.
"Tatsuya Suou..." Nyarlathotep called out, "You're alive, came from the past I assumed?"
"No," He said, "I'm no longer the man you knew, Nyarlathotep."
Tatsuya Suou
Afternoon - 30/11/2012(Friday) - Daemon Lap of Infinity
Tatsuya Suou stood tall in front of him, taller than he had ever done before. If Jun hadn't received him sooner, Maya would be dead, and a whole year of training would be wasted. He agreed to waste no more time and instead came for what he intended to do.
"...What happened to you, Tatsuya?" His wife, whom he had missed all these months, was finally in his grasp. He wanted their hands to remain glued, but circumstance forbade that at the moment. "Dear, what happened to you? Where's Toudou?"
"He's gone, a long time ago," Tatsuya answered, "The Naoya Toudou that you knew when the prophecy began is not the true Naoya. He's dead, failed to recover from Nyarlathotep's attack three years ago."
"Oh, dear..." Maya said, but not as grievous as he expected from her, "And you, you've... changed."
"Indeed, and here's the thing. I'm one year closer to your age now."
Maya failed to understand as expected. Nyarlathotep too was surprised. After all, where did he learn to use Minor Deck? But the truth, however, started from that night.
Rainy – Night – 15/8/2011 – Old Apartment, Hirasaka, Sumaru City
(1 year before the prophecy)
"The last reason is... we want you to be stronger," Jun revealed, "You are not even close to the power of Yu Narukami, or even Minato Arisato. You lack even the Wild Card, and you're stuck on one persona. You are currently the weakest of the Four Men of Prophecy, and yet you're going against an entire fleet of shadows, and impossible to face Azathoth. You are not versatile, compatible, and-"
"Stop. I get it. You don't need to be that specific" Tatsuya answered with annoyance, "And I assume you have a solution?"
"You need to train."
"Training? I got no time for that, Jun. Everyone's fighting back in the future while I'm stuck here."
"In the past."
He paused. Jun revealed a smile. He noticed that Tatsuya finally realized the true plan.
"I need to stay here," Tatsuya answered his own question, "So that one year from now, I will be stronger."
"You finally understand. They won't notice the missing you, but you will miss them because you can't get close to them."
There's nothing more to say.
Afternoon - 30/11/2012(Friday) - Daemon Lap of Infinity
"After that, I went to a city far to the east, training to use the Minor Deck under the tutorage of Father Time. I was not able to use the full potential of my small Wild Card power, but I mastered the Sun Arcana and the Sword of Minor Arcana. I can assure you, Nyarlathotep," Tatsuya turned to the Crawling Chaos, "I am stronger than you know."
Tatsuya lifted his hand, watched eagerly by Maya at his side. All of a sudden, the book of Azathoth move on his own and flipped open to the page of Sun Arcana. It removed itself from the book and went straight for Tatsuya's hand before Nyarlathotep could catch it.
"How?" Nyarlathotep asked with his eyes curved to rage, "The link between you and Azathoth should have been broken when the ceremony had ended."
"Not with Azathoth, but with my 'other self'. He gave me the power he received from Azathoth," Tatsuya gave a smirk, "Now, The Sun Arcana from the Book of Azathoth is now mine."
"Keep your card," Nyarlathotep replied with fading anger that was replaced with mockery, "I don't need the book to defeat you. Tarot Burst: King of Cup."
With the summoning of a huge figure holding a cup, it cast a huge flood of water towards Tatsuya and Maya.
"Tatsuya, we need to dodge!" Maya screamed, but Tatsuya didn't bulge.
"Perfect, I've been keeping my new persona for so long too..." Tatsuya faced against the flood of water and summoned, "Come forth, Nodens!"
Crash!
Nodens
"Thou art I, I am thou... I am an Elder God, opposing the Great Old and Outer Ones... A hunter of servants of the Old. I am Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss."
Known as: Lord of the Great Abyss, Nuada of the Silver Hand
Arcana: Sun
An Elder God from Cthulhu mythology, which himself based on Celtic myth. He is the hunter of Great Old One's servant and Nyarlathotep. Master of Nightgaunts, he rides in Chariot made of sea-shell pulled by a great beast. He is one of the few benevolent force in his mythology. Said to be the avatar of Savty'ya, the Forgotten One.
Nodens stood on a chariot and appeared in front of Tatsuya. He appeared old, but there was no hint of impotence. He wore a big brown robe, and in his right hand was a walking staff that extended to his knee. He was wearing a mask with numeral XIX on the forehead.
Nodens easily withstood the great flood and formed a wall of ice between him and the attack. Nyarlathotep, shocked but mostly impressed by the new persona, took a small step backward, but he was not retreating.
"Nodens? Of the Sun Arcana?"
"That's not all, I have the entire force of Elder Gods on my side!" Tatsuya declared, almost proudly he was seen as he exposed the Sun Arcana of Azathoth's book in the air, "Go, Nodens+Oryx=Fusion Spell: Pillar of Flame!"
Another figure appeared besides Nodens in the form of humanoid flame, and they both combined force to cast a powerful tornado of flames. The brightness was so great, that even Nyarlathotep shielded his eyes.
"Fine, you want to play dirty?" Nyarlathotep smirked, flipping open the book of Azathoth to let Moon Arcana escaped, "I'll play with you, then. Azathoth Arcana: Moon. Tsathoggua."
A giant replication of a red moon appeared in the sky, destroying any hint of daytime. A bloated creature with thick fur, invisible at first, appeared from thin air. He began to lurk toward the pillar of flame to extinguish it. It was proven failure at first, but the endless repetition finally destroyed the pillar.
"Try again, Tatsuya," Nyarlathotep taunted, "This time, you can go against my army."
Tatsuya Suou VS Prime Nyarlathotep
"Tsathoggua: Invisible Maha Bufudyne."
Tsathoggua turned invisible and hid from sight, leaving Tatsuya in search of the creature. Cautiously, he summoned another Elder gods.
"Oztalun: Seven Shield!" He pulled Maya closed and summoned a small group of light orbs around them. The orbs began to expand and formed seven layers of semi-sphere, glowing in redness, but seen through like glass. They stood back to back and searched around, until, from the east side, an icy explosive suddenly detonated, breaking one layer of the protecting shield. Tatsuya, finally located the emerging creature, aiming his sword at him.
"Apollo: Inferno blade!" With lighting speed, Tatsuya passed through the shield and summoned Apollo in instant. Apollo, in its new, more classy suit, formed a cleave with his palm and cut the creature vertically along with Tatsuya's flaming sword. It perished in one strike. "Maya!" Tatsuya screamed, "Don't leave the shield! Let it protected you!"
"While leaving you alone?!"
"Maya, trust me! Least you could do is heal me from the distant!"
"Done talking?" Nyarlathotep interrupted as he summoned another card from the book, "Azathoth Arcana: High Priestess. Yidhra."
"Ulthar+Apollo: Corpse Devourer!"
Nyarlathotep took out a High Priestess card and summoned a female figure with countless faces. Tatsuya, on the other hand, summoned Apollo and a deity with the appearance of a cat. Yidhra gave out a powerful shriek that weakened him, but Tatsuya's fusion spell managed to land an attack with its bone-eating flames. Yidhra was cremated to cinders, but the High Priestess Arcana continued to affect him. Tatsuya, however, wasted no time.
"Two of Sword!" Tatsuya summoned two flames with a sword's shape from thin air and stabbed both of his shoulders. It didn't harm him one bit. Instead, it seemed to resist the de-amplifying attack, although the resistance from the minor Arcana seemed to do little to help. It was at this moment that Maya decided to join in and summoned Artemis from afar to heal her husband. A big mistake, this action made Nyarlathotep increased his attack's speed, denied Tatsuya or Maya the time to recover their position strength.
"Xa'ligha." In a blink of an eye, Nyarlathotep lifted his leg and performed a sidekick at Maya's direction. Following the motion of the kick, a devastating sonic bomb was cast, with its range so massive, it left a wide mark at the land behind Maya, the equivalent of blasting away an entire house, taking away four layers of protective shields along with it. At that moment, Tatsuya, who was staring in shock, had finally started to realize the huge difference between their levels. 'He was still holding back...' Tatsuya thought.
Nyarlathotep smiled but lacked the snickering, which made it unsettling tenfold. He knew now that the Crawling Chaos was simply testing his strength. But...
"I'm not done yet!" Tatsuya screamed, "Knight of Sword!"
Maya Suou
Ten minutes later...
Still weakened from the loss of her 'depressed' self, along with the destroyed Oztalun's shield, Maya began walking towards her weakened husband. The might of Prime Nyarlathotep was severely underestimated. It's been not more than fifteen minutes since they had battled. However, Tatsuya seemed out of breath, while there's no even a trace of dirt on the Crawling Chaos's attire. Despite this, Nyarlathotep finally lost the luxury to smile, instead, he was rather anxious and distress.
"Better than I've expected," Nyarlathotep said with a mix of praise and envy, "If you had faced me ten years ago with your current strength, you could single-handedly defeated me. But it's an 'if', and the current me cannot be defeated, not even if you bring all your circles of friends against me. Besides- Oh, what do we have here?"
Maya lifted her husband's shoulder wiped away his sweat.
"Don't worry, I still got strength," Tatsuya comforted her.
"Not this one. We should retreat."
Then, they felt an impact on the ground. The horse of Azathoth had again took another step. Nyarlathotep took one look at the creature, but he was pleased. The towering creature was riding towards them.
"Looks like he notices you," Nyarlathotep regained his lost mood, "I'll spare the man of prophecy, but you, Maya... We don't need you anymore."
Maya was ready to dodge while dragging Tatsuya away when Nyarlathotep raised his arm towards them. But out of nowhere, a deafening scream was heard from the Azathoth's direction. When they focused their eyes and ears, they saw that it was not Azathoth who made the roar, but his horse. On the horse's front side, where the yellow eye was, Nyarlathotep zoomed his eyes and he immediately became enraged.
"You're not here to fight me, you're here to distract me," Nyarlathotep said, holding his rage. Maya was in total confusion when she saw the figure hanging close to the yellow eye was. She was unable to describe the figure, but Tatsuya's comment with a smile confirmed his identity.
"That's right, Nyarlathotep. You're just a distraction for Jun to take the eye from Azathoth. It's all part of the plan."
Another scream from the horse was heard, followed by a few quaking from the giant horse's footsteps. Jun seemly fell from the horse, but he quickly summoned Kairos Chronos and glided towards where Tatsuya and Maya was.
"Azathoth Arcana: Magician," Nyarlathotep, however, will not give them time for luxury.
"No! Jun, watch out!" Maya screamed, running toward Nyarlathotep, leaving Tatsuya behind.
But it was too late. A burst of shadowy hands emerged from the ground and grabbed Jun in mid-air. As Jun was locked in the hands of the Magician Arcana, flames began to appear and incinerated Jun. This, however, possed absolutely no thread to him. He seemly teleported away in instant and landed next to Maya and pushed her backward to Tatsuya.
"Do you have it?" Tatsuya asked immediately.
"Yes, the cure from the 'eye'," Jun revealed a small bottle of a potion filled with yellowish glowing liquid. Most of Jun's shirt was riped by the attack earlier. Tatsuya broke a smile and turned to Nyarlathotep with a victory snicker.
"I already got what I want," Tatsuya declared, flashing the bottle to Nyarlathotep, "The cure for Erio Kirishima, the 'eye' that Naoya Toudou requested. With this, his quest is completed."
It seemed victory was at hand, but they still failed to understand Nyarlathotep's power scaling. He didn't smile, but he was no longer anxious or hesitated. He began, "Your quest is far from complete, Tatsuya. Azathoth Arcana: Fool."
In a blink of an eye, Nyarlathotep disappeared from their view. Seconds later, the entire scene disappeared before their eyes. A cloud of smoke covered their vision. Tatsuya immediately reached for Maya to protect her. His eyes searched for Jun as well, but he was no longer there. He turned to Maya, "Do you see Jun-"
He widened his eyes when he realized that the hand that he grasped was not his wife, but the hands of a creature resembling Maya with yellow eyes, who was smiling satisfyingly upon the complete deception. The first thing in his mind was to part himself away from the fake Maya, but his reflex was not fast enough. The fake Maya immediately form a black blade in her right arm and aimed straight for Tatsuya's head. He barely dodged the attack when the blade nearly hewed his neck off, but a line of blood was still formed at the side of his neck.
"Nodens+Yaggdytha: Energy... Mist!" Tatsuya screamed while enduring the gust of pain around his neck. Nodens and a ball of cyan energy appeared side by side and began generating a powerful flashed, swallowing away the smoke around him, allowing him to see his other two companions. He saw Jun was fighting against no one, probably because of the effect of Fool Arcana being lifted off. He then saw Maya and was shocked to see only the true Nyarlathotep pinning her down and choking her on the floor. Furious, Tatsuya ran to where his wife was.
"Get away from her!" Tatsuya warned. Nyarlathotep smirked when he looked at him.
"Sure, take her!" Nyarlathotep immediately threw his wife straight back at him, "I already have what I want. Do you think I'm giving an illusion? No. Here's the fun part. Artemis. Chronos. Apollo."
All three persona was summoned in front of them, ready to follow his command. They attacked Tatsuya and his teams, all with the same move set and skills. 'It was a copy ability,' Tatsuya thought, 'A perfect copy. That's Arcana Fool's true power.' But while he lingered in thought, Nyarlathotep summoned a few more blast on his own and closing in.
"Jun! Even if we fight, we can't protect Maya! He's too strong!" Tatsuya said, "Open the portal! Send us back to Sumaru City!"
"Uh... No! Not now! My power's low!" Jun said, "We need to retreat!"
Tatsuya sounded the retreat call, and Maya was quick to flee with them. But where would they go? The entire landscape was a surface of Azathoth's dead body, while Azathoth himself was riding on his horse, not caring for everything smaller than his palm. Yet they ran, and they quickly exhausted themselves while Nyarlathotep was still chasing. Tatsuya and his team had wandered so far, they realized that they were extremely close to Azathoth's path.
"Jun, why can't you sent us back?" Maya asked.
"Traveling to this world takes a lot of power, do you understand?" Jun said, "I need to recharge myself."
"How long?" Tatsuya asked impatiently.
"Ten minutes-"
"We don't have ten minutes! Azathoth's going to crush us at this rate!"
"Guys, look out!"
They turned to where Azathoth was and saw that the red rider revealed a great sword from his hand and began holding it tightly.
Reality Butcher- Azathoth swung his massive sword vertically and instantly destroyed the landscape right in front of him. The reach of his sword was so great, it slammed to the ground, causing a powerful earthquake that rendered Tatsuya and his team to fall to the ground. Tatsuya and the rest barely dodged. "RUN!" That's all he could hear from his team. Azathoth roared, as though he was searching for something. Nyarlathotep eventually started to float and went to his ear to talk. Before they realized it, Nyarlathotep had stood on Azathoth's left shoulder. They couldn't see clearly from below on what expression Nyarlathotep had, but Azathoth was again coming for them.
"Jun! Is there no other way?" Maya said.
"Maya, again I said it, not possible."
While they were arguing about it, Tatsuya's mind crossed realms, as though a voice called out to him. He recognized the voice as he reassured him.
"One more portal for you. Now leave, and goodbye..."
Out of thin air, a white portal appeared before them. Surprised, the three of them backed away in wonder.
"Where does it came from?" Jun said.
"It's Philemon," Tatsuya answered, "I heard his voice just now. He's giving us a path."
"Even now, he never ceased to help us," Maya smiled, "Come on. Let's see our son again."
Tatsuya, pale at first, smiled. He still wondered the sudden farewell words spoken by Philemon. Though he eventually ignored it when he realized Azathoth was closing on them.
"Going somewhere?" Nyarlathotep smiled, before turning to Azathoth's ear, "Please kill the woman and the man in blue clothes. But spare the man of prophecy."
Azathoth complied and began lifting his massive sword again. Tatsuya shouted, "Now! Go!"
The three of them eventually left the city, perhaps not for the last time. Azathoth's Reality Butcher hit the ground, leaving nothing but dust. However, Nyarlathotep wasn't dismayed by this. He instead lost interest immediately and dropped down to the ground.
"Running away? Oh, don't worry!" Nyarlathotep smiled, "I got a place to visit too."
A/N: Sorry for the extremely late update for this chapter. This is not as long as I hope for, but the next one will be the final chapter of this long arc. Not sure where do I begin with this chapter, except that Tatsuya has returned with a new persona, an arsenal of it for him to use.
Please wait for the next chapter, which will be a while.