HOLY SHIT, It has been a while hasn't it? I apologize so much for my absence on updating this story, to make a stupidly long story short: I got into a problem with one of my classes, was preventing me from earning enough credit hours, and I had to pay out of pocket for more than SEVERAL ADDITIONAL THOUSAND THAN NECCESARY. This has truly been…
Pain.
AAAGGHHH-
Anyways, I have been keeping up with the comments and the story traffic, I am very surprised to see that we have hit more than 5 THOUSAND VIEWS HOLY FUCK and we still have high reader-traffic. I could not be prouder of this production of mine. To make it up to you all, I hope you all enjoy the continuation of possibly the biggest accidental cliffhanger I could have ever hoped to drop on you all. Thank you so much for reading!
I will try to respond the reviews I have missed in my year absence in the next chapter!
[Wilderness of Earth, Unknown Region, Surface above Devil's Chasm]
Floating above the snarling monster in armor, Black unconsciously held onto Esdeath tighter than before. He was ecstatic! Finally, a battle he could partake in once more! He had become incredibly bored of his training sessions. After all, he lacked a fair sparring partner as Esdeath was not in his range to hold back with. This however?
This would do quite nicely.
Looking down at Esdeath, as she was squeezed into his chest, Black gave her one final onceover before leaning to whisper into her ear.
"Tell me, have you ever flown before?"
Esdeath, blushing madly with confusion on her face, had no more preparation than that before Black released her to drop into the canopy of the forest below.
"OH YOU MOTHER-" Whatever Esdeath had to add onto that as she fell was cut out, however, as the armor-clad being suddenly appeared directly in front of Black with its fist buried firmly into his stomach.
"GAH-" Black reeled as the force of the blow removed all air from his lungs, the crazed attacker took this opportunity to coat his other arm in a blinding film of white light and drive his fist far into Black's face, sending the Saiyan God beyond the speed of sound as he crashed through the clearing that had hidden away the chasm from above.
The figure, seemingly unfocused, then began charging Ki into his eyes once more and fired several beams into the forest below, blowing away massive portions of the landscape that had once sat undisturbed.
Black, regaining his senses, was at a loss for words.
'This creature, it seems maddened, as if in a blinding rage… but why is that?'
He unfortunately did not have time to dwell on it as the screaming-star that was the raging giant came down violently upon where he had once laid. Black however took advantage of this. Using [Instant Transmission], Black teleported above the armored figure as its fists were clamped within glassed-stone of its own making. Rearing his leg as high as his form would allow him, Black gathered as much God Ki into his leg as possible. The air vibrated with feral rage and relentless condensing energy that superheated the atmosphere around it. A very apparent deep humming could be heard as bolts of plasma connected with anything unlucky enough to be kissed by its wrathful, apprehended bite. The entirety of the forest was bathed with an angry violet light and encampments that surrounded the outside of the biome several dozen kilometers away could only watch on in amazement and confusion. Those that witnessed the outskirts of this happening would later dub the scarred glass-epicenter: The Teardrop of God.
Then with a vicious snarl and a roar that echoed into the distance beyond… he brought it down…
"Feel the weight of your sins!"
["GOD CRUSHER"]
BLACKICE
[Wilderness of Earth, Unknown Region, Surface of Devil's Chasm]
"-FUCKER!" Esdeath quickly stabilized her fall, before crystallizing the ice beneath her slowly to begin breaking her descent so as to not rend her limbs from her body. Unfortunately, Esdeath had missed her opportunity as she was not high enough to caution injury for herself, so instead she chose to descend into the newly reopened pit once more to give herself more time to slow her fall.
"Well, I always have enjoyed taking the scenic route." To Esdeath's credit, there was plenty of scenery on her way down.
Of gore and sinew…
Esdeath let out a sigh in her descent. '… I miss my torture chambers...'
Eventually, Esdeath managed to slow her fall to a manageable speed before allowing a plate of ice to form directly beneath her feet. As her casual clothing frosted over, she began to think over the turn of events so far.
'A monster, not unlike Black, with God Ki?' Pulling her fingers up to cup her chin in thought, Esdeath stepped off of her platform as it finally touched the floor of the chasm.
'A monster…'
Esdeath, deep in thought, walked forward to observe the spire of bone and viscera.
'If I were to treat this man as nothing more than another monster… say, a danger beast…'
Esdeath took another step closer before coming to a stop. Now that she was this close, she noticed that there was a strange sound coming from within the twisted monument.
Baddump, Baddump, Baddump
'A common trait that the extremely powerful Danger Beasts all share… is the need to horde what is important to them… to keep their treasure safe…'
Baddump, Baddump, Baddump
'And in more cases in not, once their treasure is taken from them…'
Baddump, Baddump, Baddump
'They lose all sense of reason… so what would be the case if I took this?'
Esdeath coated her hand in ice, forming claws in a spear-tip at her fingers, then thrust into the bloody mess of organs and flesh. Reaching all the way to her elbow, she finally grasped something.
"What… the fuck?" Esdeath's skin crawled as it dawned on her what exactly the strange giant had been hording.
It was a still beating heart.
After pausing at the absurdity, Esdeath ripped the heart from the spire. Immediately upon retrieving the heart from its prison of gore she was blinded by a flash of light, seemingly coming from the heart itself. Just as Esdeath was about to throw the heart aside to regain her vision, she heard a familiar voice roar out as it echoed down into the chasm floor.
["GOD CRUSHER"]
Then, Esdeath saw black.
BLACKICE
[?]
When Esdeath awoke she was, for lack of better words, lost.
Looking around, she was surrounded by an endless lake, of which she was standing atop as if the water below was solid.
"What… is this place?"
"So it will be you."
Startled by an impossible collection of voices, Esdeath turned and shot herself backwards, reaching for a weapon that did not exist.
"Damnit!" Looking back to her front Esdeath finally registered who, or rather what, had addressed her.
Standing before her was a collection of rings that shifted around an invisible gravitational center.
"What do you mean? What are you?" Esdeath had demanded, yet the abnormal and bizarre thing before her did not, or rather possibly could not, respond as she wished.
"So it will be you."
"Answer me damn you! What are you, what am I doing here?" She was finally starting to lose it, this was it, felled by an illusion trap set by an unpredictable enemy. At least the warrior who had set it was strong enough to do battle with Black…
"A coronation, a crown for the Queen." Now however, the pain came. Screaming in anguish Esdeath was hit by the worst wave of pain that she had ever experienced in her life. If Hell could be translated to a feeling, this would be the best description she would be able to give.
That is, if she wasn't already unable to think as she struggled against the pain.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD, GET OUT!"
However, the voices only grew louder, and with them, the pain grew stronger.
"Slayer of Gods, Esdeath, Slayer of Lux: The God of Light, Esdeath, Harbinger of the Day, Esdeath, beseech, be full, be contempt, be ready, fill the conditions of your throne."
The strange rings, almost chanting her name in a devilish melody, cascaded her with every tone of every sound of every key. Infinity condensed into a stream of sensory information that was being pumped directly into one source.
"I SAID-"
"Awaken, Goddess of Light: Esdeath, and be full."
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
With a final push, the light went out, and the Dark settled in. Esdeath gasped for air as she held onto her head as the residual pain flickered away as quickly as it had come. Finally feeling her strength leave her, Esdeath finally slipped into unconsciousness, and with that, the Dark swallowed her whole.
BLACKICE
[Wilderness of Earth, Unknown Region, Forest of Devil's Chasm]
Looking down upon his handiwork, Black was unimpressed. For as much trouble as the strange being gave him, it was like it never even mattered. Reason being?
Reason being the strange giant was now reduced to nothingness, atomized the moment the axe kick had made contact. Of course, maybe he could have held back just a tad.
Black's face pulled flat into a blank stare.
Surrounding him was a 3km x 3km crater surrounded by an area of nothing but obsidian as the rock underneath the dirt had been melted and reformed under the pressure of the blow. Reaching the bottom of the crater, Black was met with remnants of the giant's armor. Picking it up and investigating the runic text of "album" written upon it, Black was able to deduce three things.
Firstly, the text had been written upon the armor by Ki, it was a telltale sign of Ki being used when you can feel remnants of the Ki upon the etching. Secondly, this shit was strong! Black attempted, unsuccessfully, to bend the scrap piece to no avail. And lastly:
Black whipped around to face the chasm he and Esdeath had just been in moments before, "What is that energy!?"
Lastly? He wasn't done yet.
Yet… this was different…
Black let down his stance, whatever this was, it wasn't the same monster as before. It felt bloodthirsty, sure, but for some reason it almost felt familiar.
Strangely familiar…
Then it hit him as the sky bloomed into a myriad of lights, and a figure descended into his sight.
Black knew immediately who it was, but couldn't form a thought in his head of how this was possible…
It was an impossibility, an anomaly, a conundrum that haunted him to his core.
The figure flipped her long, flowing, blue glowing hair from her face and looked upon Black with eyes that reflected everything of an overpowering want.
Her crystal eyes narrowed onto her prize and with a voice so silky that it would put caramel to shame, she spoke.
"There you are, my love, aren't you excited to see me?"
Black was floored, directly in front of him was none other than Esdeath… flying… pulsing with immense God Ki!
"E-Esdeath!? Wha- Why are you-" Black was cut off as Esdeath was suddenly in his face. She had placed a finger upon his lips and was wearing a blush so red that Black feared she would pop if it somehow got any worse.
"Shh, don't you understand? We are just alike now, akin to each other in dominion."
Taking a step back, Black was still struggling to form a proper thought, before he finally gathered enough intelligent thought to ask:
"…How?" At this, Esdeath floated right up to Black once more and placed a hand upon his chest.
"It doesn't matter, because now, I can finally do what I've wanted since the beginning." Esdeath looked upon Black with a smile too sweet to be natural.
"A-and that would be…?"
Instead of answering Black with words, Esdeath reached behind Black's head and pulled him directly into a searing kiss. Black's response to this? Well, his mind went blank.
'Kiss? Esdeath? What? God Ki? Esdeath? Love? Kiss?'
After what felt like an eternity, Esdeath finally relinquished her prize and looked directly into Black's eyes. Black, still without intelligent thought, stared blankly back.
"That, my love, is that you're now mine."
And with that, Black hit the ground. He was out cold.
Esdeath on the other hand…
BLACKICE
"Thank you."
'Huh?'
When Esdeath blinked next she then came to her senses, she could not believe what she had just done, she was mortified beyond her wildest dreams.
"D-d-did I just… no… NO… I DID NOT JUST-" Turning on a swivel, Esdeath clutched for her heart that was beating ferociously within its meaty cage.
"Ok, Esdeath, calm down, first thing's first…" Esdeath looked back over to take a glance at Black, then, looked down at her own hands.
"What was that?"
Esdeath was astounded, if not still incredibly embarrassed at what she had just done.
"Was that really me? That felt so surreal..." Esdeath by no means was under control when she had done what she had, but instead it all felt so… ok. She felt at peace when she was in the state she just was, and who was that? The voice after she returned to normal? 'Thank you?' Who was thanking her? For what?
It didn't make sense to Esdeath, none of it did.
Sighing in acceptance of whatever exactly had just happened, Esdeath turned back around to face Black's unconscious form once more. Walking over to rest beside him, Esdeath sat down and set his head upon her lap.
'Then there is this…'
Esdeath, for whatever reason she did what she had, had opened up and stated to Black about her feelings towards him. It was so bizarre, while she was in that state she felt as if the world had belonged to her. Yet, at the same time, her infatuation with Black was magnified several hundred times for one other fact. She felt that they were equals.
Resting against the warm glassy-surface of the area she had found Black, Esdeath closed her eyes in acceptance.
"Equals, huh?"
And with that, both Divines fell asleep together.
In the middle of a crater…
Made of glass…
Lost…
Oh well, Esdeath was sure they would be able to handle it.
[7 Hours Later, Wilderness of Earth, Unknown Region, Tent]
Groggily, Black began to wake from his short-circuit induced nap. Taking a second to observe his surroundings through the fog of sleep, he could make out that he was in a tent of some kind. Strange, he hadn't remembered pitching a tent, maybe Esdeath had made one while he was out?
That was when Black tried to move, only to be held down by a weight that was not his. At this, Black froze. Looking down, he noticed he had a very attached Esdeath to his side in the sleeping bag, feeling another passing-out coming, Black was unable to react accordingly.
Thankfully for Black, another person walked into the tent, unfortunately for the person who walked into the tent, they froze as an extended-Ki Blade manifested from Black's arm all the way to millimeters from the man's eyes.
"Explain." The man could tell, Black was not happy…
At all.
Shit
BLACKICE
[3 Days Later, Wilderness of Earth, Unknown Region, Night Raid Headquarters]
"This. Sucks." Tatsumi grumbled
WACK- "FUCK" He shot forward in a flinch as he was hit yet again from a direction he could not anticipate.
This was Tatsumi's training focus for the time being: awareness.
WACK- "FUCK"
Now, Mine would never let it slip that she enjoyed watching a half-naked Tatsumi train, never in a million lifetimes would that little secret leave her mouth.
WACK - "FUCK, SERIOUSLY, THIS SUCKS"
WACK - "OW, FUCK!"
But what she would make very known was that she quite enjoyed seeing him get his ass handed to him by Bulat when he didn't expect it.
WACK - "SERIOUSLY BRO, WHAT DID I DO TO YOU TO DESERVE THIS?"
Bulat however, was far more enthusiastic about the scenario.
"Work through the pain Tatsumi! You can do it! You'll be able to be just as strong as your BRO!"
WACK - "FUCK OFF"
Bulat only continued to laugh enthusiastically, preparing to hit Tatsumi once more with the wooden training staff.
"THAT'S THE SPIRIT TATSUMI, NOW GET READY, THIS ONE'S A DOOSY!"
"NO BRO WAIT NO FUCK WAIT-"
WACK- "FUUUUUCCCK"
Mine, all things considered, enjoyed the show.
Just then, the door to the outdoors training field opened up as Leone and Lubbock walked out onto the premises. Leone however, naturally, took the stride and made herself known.
"Yo Tatsumi, looking good!" Leonne let out a couple of overly exaggerated purrs just to mess with Tatsumi. This of course did mildly upset Mine.
"Oh, hey Leone!-" WACK - "FUCK!" Tatsumi was floored once more by a strike he did not pay attention to.
Mine felt a bit better then.
Lubbock however, felt for the poor guy. "Jeez Bulat, really playing Wack-Fuck with Tatsumi this early on? Give the guy a break…", Bulat just laughed some more and readied his training staff once more.
"I recall you thoroughly enjoyed Wack-Fuck Lubbock!" Leone snickered.
Lubbock however, was less than pleased, "Yeah yeah, I enjoyed it sooo much." He deadpanned.
Leone took this chance to step forward and cough into her fist to call everyone's attention, a rare sight as Leonne usually took things as casually as possible.
"Alright everyone, for the real reason I came down so early."
Lubbock cracked up at the phrasing.
"Lubbock, I will stab you-"
"Aw- killsport."
"-ANYWAY, the boss has called a meeting people! Meet up in the, er, meeting hall."
Lubbock walked behind Leone as they began their trek back up into the headquarters building.
"Nice closer Leonne."
"Lubbock, seriously, I will stab you."
[Meeting Hall, Night Raid Headquarters]
Najenda could not stop fidgeting. Every. Fucking. Time. That a new report came back, it was hundreds of times worse than the last.
Since Esdeath's death, she had received reports that Honest had appointed a new general into Esdeath's empty spot. Although reports of course funneled in that this was nothing more than a puppet entity that Honest would control through his shitty little amalgamations that he called 'plans'.
As the members of Night Raid all filed into the hall, Najenda met them with a foregone gaze that felt more at home on the sole survivor of a tragedy rather than a healthy woman in the prime of her life.
Or at least she thought so.
"Alright, we've received updates on rumors surrounding the Black situation."
Tatsumi stepped forward half an inch, confused.
"Uhm, rumors ma'am? I thought we only operated under factual information…", Najenda rested her hand across her face before cupping her forehead, seemingly in frustration.
"You would be correct for believing that Tatsumi, however, this is a very special case."
She then opened the parchment she was holding and tossed it down onto the table in front of them. Every Night Raid member froze on the spot, unable to believe what they were seeing.
'Have you seen this girl? Reward: 100,000,000'
In a black and white photo under the caption, a girl with light, flowing hair was being held into the arms of a strangely dressed man with even more bizarre hair. However, beside him holding onto his back was a woman that had her gaze ever so slightly tilted towards the camera.
Now, many with such an untrained eye would never be able to pinpoint exactly who that was, as the difference to her normal attire and atmosphere was so different it might as well be worlds apart. However, thanks to the rundown on Esdeath's appearance and eulogy, a reconstruction from the Revolutionary Army Intelligence Corp laid to its side, and a shivering Najenda to their rear, Night Raid knew in a heartbeat who it was. Below the poster was a note that in writing said: 'Esdeath Alive? Request further confirmation-'
BLACKICE
WOOOOO ITS HERE, I tried to make it a fair bit of content without stretching out an actual "battle", you'll have to wait til later for something like that, sorry!
Black is simply too strong! He is a literal God in a place where there is no precedent for himself. All things considered I believe a being like this should be allowed to roam free with their power, no sense in blocking that off. Not throwing shade on other authors here, but I feel like restraining the power of someone like Black is more of a cop out than anything, you never actually get the classic "Goku Black Feel" without a bit of mass destruction and unrelenting anger! For comparison, that would be like making a story about a soldier with a machine gun, but only limiting him to firing 3 bullets every magazine! NO THANK YOU.
But I promise you this much, his actual battles are gonna be nasty and insane!
Also, Im glad to be back! I am SO sorry again for missing ALMOST A YEAR OF UPLOADING, but I really was in a place where I had no choice but to toss myself into life to see if I couldn't fix my mistake.
For those new to this story, THANK YOU FOR READING, I hope you continue to tune back in to read more in the future, please consider commenting, following, and favoriting the story. It really warms my heart to see positive feedback even so long after I was gone.
If you have any questions or concerns about the story, please feel free to drop them to me or in the comments, I'll address each with every new chapter I drop.
AND FINALLY, AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL FOR READING, TIL NEXT TIME ON
BLACK ICE