Before starting, there is a list of things that have to be explained before this Chapter starts: The world of Tsugaru Amuro is in the center of a Multiverse that contains all other fictional works (for example: Higurashi, Overlord, Megaman, etc). Watching over this Multiverse is the Sentinel, an entity that was created to ensure the Worlds' fates. Below the Sentinel, are the Watchers, that will be explained later, but have a similar function.
It's also important to explain that Gods are classified in different types (from major to lower class): Absolutius, Primum, Titan, Olimpus and Normal (just referred to as Deus).
~~~~X~~~~
In the same moment he came to his senses, his memories came back. He knew everything about his previous life, and he remembered that something was bound to happen now that he regained the power of a God.
However, the current situation didn't allow him to think too much about it. Amuro felt like time was stopped. He saw Mion's stoic expression as she stood in front of everyone to receive the bullet.
Takano, on the other hand, had a maniac's face as she pulled the trigger.
"I hate this" He hought. "I'm not used to this state... and I cannot use this body to the fullest for that reason. The only way to stop it, is like that..." He said as he sprinted godspeed towards Mion.
The bullet was flying at the same speed as he was moving. In his previous form, he would've feared not being able to get there in time, but there was no more doubt in his heart.
He grabbed Mion by the shoulders in the last possible moment and gently pushed her out of the way. He didn't have time to calculate the bullet's direction in order to evade it, so he blindly accepted his destiny as the lead object pierced his heart.
No one noticed that he had moved. Everything happened too fast for a common human's eyes. When they heard the sound of the gun firing, everyone just hoped that Takano failed and that Mion would be alright in the end, knowing that this was an unlikely event. However, they were all surprised to see that the body that fell to the ground was not hers, but Amuro's.
"No... No way..." Takano muttered and turned into a state of shock.
"Huh? A-Amuro?! Wha-What did you do?!" Mion snapped as she noticed that she was alright and that her loved one was on the ground.
"I'm sorry Mion... It seems that... I won't be able to keep my promise... Haha..." He was speaking with difficulty.
"But Amuro, I don't understand! You were possessed by that Demon a second ago!" She kneeled and hugged him.
"I managed to convince him... Well, that's not entirely precise... We came to an agreement and are now a complete entity... I'm Apothéose"
"But you're a God, aren't you? Your eyes shine with that rune, you won't die of this, will you? haha... hahahaha... RIGHT?!" Anxiety was getting the best of her.
"I guess both abilities are inside of me now... If I consumed human flesh... I would heal back wouldn't I?"
"Okay! Don't worry! I'll just kill Takano and..." She had a vicious smile as she was willing to kill for him.
"No, Mion. Let me die. I don't want to hurt anyone else. Please, I don't want you to... Stain your precious hands with blood" He said as he thought: "If I die... This world will be safe"
"No! I won't let you perish! Are you mad?!"
"Please Mion... I don't have time... To explain... But... I'm not the Amuro you knew anymore... I'm not Psychan or Voracité..."
"But you love me, don't you?!" Her tears crashed around him.
He touched her hair and pulled her against him to kiss her one last time. As everyone saw this, they all started crying after witnessing such a scene.
"I can't deny that... Mion... I love you... So much..." He wanted to behold her beauty one last time.
"I love you too Amuro! And you will survive! Then we will go around the world together!"
He spat blood. "Sorry... My heart..." He couldn't finish the sentence before spitting more blood. He was dying.
"No... No! No! No! Amuro...!" She crumbled as she touched his face.
"Just... Remember..." He made an effort to put his lips on her ear and whisper:
"And so with every beginning..." He took a deep breath. "There... Is always... An end...ing..."
He layed down on the ground and closed his eyes as he smiled and touched Mion's green hair for the last time.
"Amuro?" She shoved him. "Amuro?!" She tried again, a little harder. "No... No... AMURO!" She cried like never before.
"Amuro-kun..." Rena muttered.
"Amuro-k... No... Amuro-senpai!" Keiichi changed the way to address him after considering that he was someone worthy of that respect and much more.
"Amuro-kun..." Shion cried and held Satoko as the two started crying.
"I failed you..." Satoshi said bitterly as he blamed himself for Amuro's death.
"Amuro-kun..." Rika said to herself and for Hanyuu to listen. "My words cannot describe my gratitude for saving us... We will never forget you!" She cried as well.
They all suffered together after witnessing their friend's death. Only Rika had a clearer idea of what Amuro had just done for them, but the rest felt equally sad for losing him.
Rika considered him a hero.
Satoko and Rena thought of him as a dear friend.
Shion and Satoshi considered him their saviour and felt indebted to him.
Keiichi felt that Amuro had been his best male friend and regretted not having talked to him more often.
And Mion... Mion couldn't grasp the idea of living without him. She understood everything he had explained her, but even so, her heart couldn't withstand the idea of not having him around. She felt an unbearable sorrow, as well as a tremendous rage.
"You BITCH!" She grabbed Takano, who was in shock.
Mion shoved her over and over, but the woman didn't seem to respond. "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO SHOOT!? WHY COULDN'T YOU GIVE UP!? WHY! WHY! WHY?!"
"I... Eh..." Takano couldn't say anything other than incoherent noises.
"FUCK! I WOULD KILL YOU! I... Would... Fucking destroy you if it wasn't for him..." She started crying as she remembered. "He was so good... That he even forgave scum like you..." She didn't know if she was feeling disgusted or sad, but she let go of the woman.
"Mion..." Keiichi came close to her and hugged her.
Everyone else did the same and they all showed her their support.
After a while of crying together though, Mion noticed something strange in Amuro's body.
"What is..." She came closer and saw a sharp piece of metal with the Dingir rune on top of his body. It looked like it was formed by the trail of blood. She noticed what that was.
"...That must be the physical fragment of his Scythe" Rika said her thoughts.
"Is that the source of his powers?" Mion asked her.
"I believe it is. But I don't think the God of Death could revive people though..."
"I know..." Mion replied disappointed, but got an idea. "Hey everyone. Thank you all for your support. I won't lie... I don't think I'll ever get over this... But just for now... Can you all leave me alone for a moment?" She faked a happy face.
"Okay Onee..." Shion replied as she indicated everyone to walk away.
Satoshi grabbed Takano and took her as well to tie her up somewhere else.
"Thank you..."
When everyone was out of her sight, she decided to carry out her plan.
"I'm sorry Amuro" She said as she grabbed the piece of the Scythe and started cutting her wrist.
Blood started flowing through her arm. She put the shard back inside his body and did her best effort for the blood to fall inside his mouth. She was squishing her arm with all her strength with her only thought being the possibility of bringing him back.
Meanwhile, the rest had just tied Takano to a tree so she couldn't escapes and were sitting besides some trees in the mountain. Everything seemed overall normal, but Keiichi felt strange.
"Hey, I think I'm gonna check up on Mion. I feel kinda uneasy leaving her alone after all that happened..."
"But Keiichi..." Rena started but was interrupted.
"No, it's okay. Yell if something happens" Shion had the same feeling.
"Alright"
Mion was starting to lose consciousness as the last drops of blood fell.
"Maybe it was all for nothing. At least if I die we'll be together in the afterlife..." She kissed him in the mouth.
As she did, Amuro's eyes opened again. He realised that he was alive again and that Mion was kissing him. He grabbed her head and gave her a kiss of his own. Something was weird though. The only thing he could taste, was blood.
He let go of her. "Mion? What...?"
"Now I understand the meaning of You Can't Win... Sorry, I love you... Amuro..." She fell to the ground after saying those words.
"Mion! What the hell?!" He noticed that their clothes were stained with blood and saw her bleeding wrist. He held her body in the air and tried to awaken her. "No... No no no no no no no no! Mion! You can't do this to me... You can't!" He started crying as he felt that her body became colder.
Keiichi arrived just in time to see that.
"Ah!!! What... What is the meaning of this?!" Keiichi yelled louder than ever before.
"She... She took her own life... To save mine..." Amuro muttered, answering Keiichi.
"No way..." Keiichi replied.
"Why?! Why couldn't you let me die!? Goddammit!"
Everyone came as fast as they could to see what had happened, but no one was expecting things to end that way.
"It can't be!" Shion put her hand in her mouth not to scream.
"That fool" Rika muttered as she noticed how things have turned out. "She remembered what he had told her about his healing ability through human blood and flesh" She thought.
"Why... Mii-chan?" Rena asked with hollow eyes.
As Amuro held her inanimate body, only a phrase appeared in his head.
"YOU CAN'T WIN"
As this repeated over and over inside his mind, he couldn't help but to yell out of pure frustration, anger, sorrow and all these feelings that were rising inside of him.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
As he screamed, his emotions were so out of control that his Mana started running wild as well. A heavy storm started raging and a tremor shook their feet. This was the power of a God.
The rest of the people there were afraid and couldn't explain what was happening.
After yelling for 14 seconds straight, he hugged the body of his loved one as the rain poured down on them.
The tremor stopped, which made everyone realise what the cause of such a strange phenomena was. Almost everyone was oblivious as to why Amuro was alive and Mion was dead now, but they didn't seem to question anything that was happening at the moment.
Amuro created a glass casket and carried her corpse towards it while singing:
"You fell apart... Before my very eyes...
And now you're gone... Forever...
A broken heart... From broken promises...
And now you're gone... Forever..."
As he put the corpse inside the casket, he looked at the sad faces of all his friends. They didn't think for one second that he had done anything to Mion and they knew that none of this was his fault as well, but he felt guilty anyway.
"I'm sorry, everyone. I failed to protect you all, and unfortunately, I failed to protect the one I cherished most..."
"What happened?" Satoko sadly asked.
"I don't know for sure, but I think she cut her wrist to give me blood. She knew that blood and flesh could restore my health, and she sacrificed herself for me to live..."
Everyone was silent. They could feel the pain and sadness that was hiding behind his calm words. Seeing Mion dead only added up to that equation. They thought that this couldn't have been sadder.
Amuro made a move with his hand and the rain stopped.
"I know it's sudden, and I know your pain better than anyone else... But I need you all to hear me out and take action. Because the worst part of all... Is that my death would ensure this world's safety... Now that I am alive, I've put you all in danger"
"What do you mean?" Rika asked him.
"Now that I've regained my knowledge, I remember why I had to leave this world in the first place... You see, a God so powerful like I am is considered a threat to the Multiverse we live in. Since I don't belong here, a Watcher will come to erase me"
"A... Watcher...?" Keiichi muttered.
"Right, you don't know what that is. A Watcher is a being created during times of the Deus Absolutius: The God that rules above all" He said, but remembered that there was one entity that did not follow that rule.
"So, it's like a fragment of that absolute God?"
"Not exactly. They were created by the Sentinel, a similar being that was durectly created by that God. I think there are four Watchers in total. That absolute God does not exist anymore though. He was divided into two, an absolute Evil God and an absolute Good one. In my World, there is a war between these two supreme beings, and humans are in the middle to choose who do they fight for"
"What are these beings able to do?" Satoshi asked a bit scared.
"They are monsters in terms of power. No one in their right mind would dare to defy them... But it seems that Tsugaru Amuro was a lunatic..." He smiled as he remembered what his past self had done. "He decided to use a forbidden spell called Dasein. That spell saved him from death and divided his self along with the fragments of the Scythe. Those fragments are scattered across Worlds they never should have touched, but that's the current situation. They are safe though, since their existence is not powerful enough for the Watchers to sense, but that's not my case anymore"
"What can we do?" Keiichi asked.
"You just wait here. Once that thing arrives I'll take it somewhere safe for me to fight it. It would be dangerous to do it here, but don't worry, I'll make sure you are unharmed"
"Why are we in danger though?" Rika had that doubt.
"Because of my influence on you, you managed to save this world a lot sooner than how destiny had written. For that reason, the Watcher will possibly devastate this world to recreate it to its original form"
"And all we have achieved so far..."
"Will come to nothing. Well, to be honest with you, without Mion here, a part of me wants to destroy this World. However, even if she's gone, you don't deserve going through all that pain again either. She wouldn't have wanted that..."
Everyone looked to the ground in sadness.
"After I'm done, I promise I'll give you a proper burial, Mion" He put his hand in the casket where she slept.
"Is there really nothing you can do?!" Shion asked him a bit desperate.
"I am a God of Darkness. The power to heal, and of course, to revive belongs to the realm of Light. All I could do is bring her soul back to the realm of the living, but she would be just a ghost, which I believe is worse than death..."
"There is a way though" A new voice unheard by everyone in the place said.
"Who is it?!" Keiichi was a bit hostile in his tone.
"My, how rude... My name is Frederica Bernkastel, also known as the Witch of Miracles" She looked a lot like Rika, but was an adult and wore a long black and white dress.
"Miracles... Can you bring my sister back to life?" Shion asked her.
"Of course, but before doing that, I want to make sure that this world doesn't revert back to its original state. It would be very troublesome for me as well..." The Witch replied.
Everyone's mood changed to one of hope and expectation.
"Bernkastel... I remember that name, but I don't know exactly what you're capable of. You seem to be more skilled with magic than I am, so if you can bring her back, please do. I beg you" Amuro told her seriously.
"Hahaha. A God asking a Witch for help? This becomes more interesting every second"
"What brought you to this World?" Rika asked her.
"Curiosity. I tend to observe this World sometimes. You could call it... A hobby of mine. I had grown tired of it though, because I could predict every outcome. That was, until he arrived..." She looked at Amuro.
"To think that a Witch was observing us without me noticing... Amusing"
"I am also really impressed by you, and I'm eager to see you in action. You may think of this girl's revival as your reward for defeating that thing" She pointed at a multi colored shooting star that was falling towards them.
"It's here..." Amuro said.
The Earth shaked as the being approached them. The sky seemed to be sliced by his aura alone, as the black clouds were cut by sun rays that seemed to cross due to the Watcher's violent arrival.
"Bernkastel, create a protective field or something. I don't want them to take any damage"
"I'm on it, Amuro-sama" She teased him.
"Tsk... Anyways, wish me luck!" He smiled at them as he braced for impact.
"Erase him Amuro-kun!" Satoko said.
"You can do it Amuro-senpai!" Keiichi told him.
"Don't you dare die Amuro-kun" Rika ordered him.
"We believe in you..." Shion expressed her and Satoshi's feelings.
"Do it for Mii-chan!" Rena knew that phrase would give him strength.
"Thank you! We'll show that thing the power of Love and Friendship!"
The shooting star crashed into the ground and left a giant hole.
A humanoid multi-colored being without a face was standing in the middle of the crater.
"I've found you, Thanatos!" He was referring to Amuro. His voice was of an adult man and resonated like it had echo.
"The Watcher I presume... Have you come to erase me?"
"Yes, along with this twisted world. You tainted the perfect formula that had to be followed and that is an unforgivable sin"
"Yeah, whatever. I don't want that to happen, so I guess I have no other choice but to erase you"
"Miserable. I, Alustrium, will make you regret such defiant words"
"Let's see what you can do"
「Lex」The Watcher created golden spears and directed them at Amuro. He managed to evade them though and even got closer to his rival.
"I have to touch him to teleport him. If this goes on a little longer, Hinamizawa will be obliterated" He thought. "Lesser Death's Scythe!" He summoned a copy of the original Scythe, just to use it as a melee weapon. It didn't have any special powers, but it was a useful weapon in any case.
"Even if it was the real thing I wouldn't be worried. Any being lower than a Primum Deus means nothing for those of our kind"
"Oh, just you wait... You will beg that you fought with a Primordial God after facing me, or well, maybe not since you won't exist anymore"
"Insolent!" He dematerialized in his spot and rematerialized right in front of Amuro. He was going to hit him, but Amuro was waiting for this chance.
He impulsed himself with the Scythe and leaped over Alustrium. He hit his luminous back with the palm of his hand and said: 「Weltseele」
"No!" Alustrium's body started to disassemble.
"Wow, you are really tough. The slow pace at which your body is being transferred to my alternate dimension is proof of this"
"To think that such a low class God could even touch me..."
Alustrium created a giant rainbow blade with a golden handle. They started clashing in the crater and as they did they exchanged a few words.
"You like to babble about your status and all, don't you?" Amuro asked him.
"I'm just giving you an idea of the large difference between us"
"Really? Because if you think about it, Deus Absolutius doesn't even exist anymore. The Multiverse is no longer ruled by him, and thus your status means nothing"
"Blasphemy. As long as reality exists, he exists as well, and as long as he exists, he is the only unquestionable ruler that stands above all: Humans, Demons, Angels, Gods, Watchers... All existence!" As he pronounced these words he seemed to gain strength.
"Oh... But is that so?" Amuro decided to say a truth that would piss him off.
"Huh?"
"Because, I know of a being that stands even higher than any Deus in the whole Multiverse"
"Blasphemy!" He clashed his blade against Amuro's Scythe.
"He's the one and only being who doesn't follow that golden rule of yours" They clashed even more fiercely.
"Don't you dare say his name!"
"After all, he's the one that created Dasein. He's the one that decided to defy you all, through a plan that was made eons before your God even existed!"
"Shut up! It's taboo!" Alustrium knew it was true.
"And now I know, that just pronouncing his name brings a terrible headache to your kind... Because you know that he's the true one that stands above all!"
Alustrium's body was almost completely gone by this point.
"Don't! Say it!" His floating hands (because he didn't have arms anymore) swung the blade towards him, with no results.
"The Seventh Fragment: Evhron!"
"Damn you for eternity!" Alustrium disappeared completely, but he had only been transported somewhere else.
"Now... It's time for the real fight to start" Amuro created a portal and transported himself into Weltseele, a dimension he ruled.
"Eh! They disappeared!" Keiichi said.
"What's going on?" Rena asked.
"I guess I'll have to do something for us to see the fight" Frederica created a mirror-like screen that showed Amuro's Dimension. This was possible thanks to another mirror that was formed in Weltseele.
The place had orange skies, pieces of crystals and carbon floating around, and between these two elements, two small planets were formed.
Inside was Alustrium, already trying to break through the dimension's border.
"How can you create a dimension that even I have trouble escaping?"
"It's pretty simple really. This place exists with the purpose of imprisoning souls. Any kind of soul, be it demonic, angelic or even godly, can be trapped in this dimension. I wouldn't say it is impossible to escape, but it's pretty hard at least"
"No matter. I will erase you, and then I'll escape this place"
"Good luck, cause now I won't restrain myself anymore...「Aphasia」" Amuro created a giant ball of dark purple energy.
"What?" Alustrium was impreesed by the God's power, but decided to clash with the attack to prove his superiority. Wrong choice.
As he touched the ball, he started disintegrating, so he let go.
"What is this? Such a low-level God shouldn't have this much power!" He regenerated his limbs, but was enraged.
"I believe that this is the reason my past self used the spell in the first place. Dasein gave each of us a set of new powers Tsugaru Amuro didn't have! Now I am powerful enough to destroy even a Watcher!" He charged against Alustrium, but he foresaw his movement.
"「Oorth Cloud」" A sphere of stelar dust protected him and harmed Amuro. "Playtime's over, I have no choice but to use my special ability"
"I had forgotten about the abilities the Sentinel gave you. I believe Dyson will be a better rival, though"
"Don't you dare say his name so casually. He was the first to be created, and with the sole purpose of keeping the Multiverse in balance and that everything followed a linear destiny"
"Then I guess he'll have to come here and fight me after I finish with you"
"Don't make me laugh, Master Dyson has been dormant for ages and left us in charge of the Multiverse's Destiny. He wouldn't wake up over such a trivial matter"
"I won't leave him a chance then" He hit Alustrium with all his might and threw him in one of the planets. The barrier he had created wasn't unbreakable, but it wasn't easy to break either.
"Fool, the Oorth Cloud will protect me against any of your attacks"
"I'm gonna try something then... 「Chaos: Insurrection」" The giant red dragon was summoned.
"No way..." The Watcher stood in awe.
"And I'm not done... 「Illusion: Maeva」" The rainbow shooting star started falling.
"No... Even so it won't be enough. Two separate attacks can't break this barrier"
"Separate?" He smirked.
Alustrium was silent.
The shooting star fell in front of the dragon, who devoured it. After that, the red dragon started spitting a raibow beam engulfed by a black aura.
"Way to go Amuro!" His friends cheered from Hinamizawa.
Alustrium used his energy to feed his barrier, but it was futile. The black aura became a black hole and started absorbing the Oorth Cloud.
"What are you?! This power is not the power of a normal God... This magnitude belongs to a Primum Deus..."
"It's all thanks to this new power... the true power of the fragment of Apothéose, is becoming a God among Gods..."
"And that's why its very existence is blasphemous!" Alustrium became enraged and shot a beam of Light and Dark.
Amuro was a bit tired due to the excessive amount of Mana he had used to erase the Oorth Cloud. Even for a God, it was too much. He couldn't completely deflect the attack.
Alustrium had used this as a distraction though. He dematerialized and rematerialized behind him and stabbed Amuro with a crystal in the back.
"Argh..." He fell to one of the planet's surface.
"I would kill you on the spot, but after everything you've done, there is a much better punishment for your sins 「Crucifix」"
"No!" Everyone screamed back in the Earth.
A golden cross rose from the ground and chained Amuro to it.
"Damn it..." He muttered as he tried to escape, to no avail.
"「Pax」" He summoned a golden whip and started hitting him over and over.
"I... Won't... Scream..." Amuro didn't want to give him that pleasure.
"You will defy me until the end, won't you? Or possibly you are numbed by that wound already?" Alustrium healed the stabwound just to keep hitting him.
"Fu...Fu...Fu..." He mocked him.
"Hmm... This is not working, is it?" Alustrium said to himself. "I guess I'll have to do something else to make you suffer"
"What are you...?"
"I think that a certain girl's soul doesn't belong in Heaven does it? Maybe I should throw her into Hell and put a seal preventing her to escape..."
"You wouldn't..."
"No... If he does that, the chances of bringing the girl back to Earth 0... Which means... That I won't be able to use my magic to revive her" Bernkastel said to everyone.
"No... Onee!" Shion cried.
Alustrium summoned his blade once again and prepared to make a special attack.
He made a giant cut that seemed to shatter reality itself.
"Of course, a dimensional cut is enough to escape this place... How foolish of me... Well, it's time I make my leave then"
"No! Leave her out of this!" Amuro shouted.
"Your reaction only makes me want to do it more. Time for your Divine Punishment" Alustrium disappeared and left him alone, crucified in Weltseele.
"NO!!!! FUCK!" He cursed as the Watcher left to trap Mion's soul. "All I wanted was for her to live on... All I wished for was her happiness... And now it's all gone... Because of my weakness"
He remembered how happy she was with him on Earth, and thought how much suffering she'd go through death in contrast with her life.
Alustrium had already chained Mion's Soul and went back to Weltseele just to make Amuro suffer.
"That is..." Satoko muttered.
"No way!" Keiichi yelled.
Everyone could see the picture as well. Mion seemed to have a yellow aura around her and had a golden chain that was controlled by the Watcher. Amuro was crying at her disgraceful sight.
"Mion... I'm so sorry... I was so weak..." He weeped.
"Amuro... Don't blame yourself. No matter what happens... I'll always love you!" Her spirit told him.
"Mion!"
Alustrium left a seal on her and created a Dark portal that was engulfing her into the depths of Hell.
Amuro was silent and had lost all hope.
"Isn't it sad that the just have to pay for the sinners' wrongs?" Alustrium spoke.
Amuro didn't reply anything, he just looked at the spot were she had disappeared with hollow eyes.
"Anyway, I think you still haven't suffered enough for your crimes... So I'll proceed to erase this World"
"Shut up..." Amuro muttered.
"Huh?"
"I ordered you to shut up!"
"Well I..."
"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOU! I FUCKING HATE YOU! I WILL ERASE YOU! YOU ARE DEAD TO ME!" Amuro broke the chains that tied him to the cross and summoned the Lesser Scythe.
"What?!" The Watcher didn't expect that.
Amuro embedded the Scythe in Darkness and started slicing Alustrium. Slicing and dicing the shiny figure seemed to weaken him, but he was nowhere near dead.
"If only I had all the powers of Thanatos!" He thought.
Alustrium reformed and attacked back. Amuro wasn't taking any damage though, as a Dark Aura seemed to protect him from Alustrium's attacks.
"Amuro-kun..." Rena muttered as she saw his enraged eyes.
"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! DIE!" Amuro kept attacking relentlessly.
The Watcher's pieces seemed to merge and reassemble again after being chopped up, but the God of Death didn't give up.
「Trayus」, 「Catharsis」, 「Celestial」... He kept using more and more Mana, but he didn't care.
Alustrium's body got decimated over and over again, but it didn't seem to die. The barrage of attacks absorbed Bernkastel's magic, so the people on Earth weren't able to see the fight anymore.
"What happened?" Satoshi asked.
"It seems that something interfered with my field of magic and the mirror broke. We can only hope for the best..." Frederica replied.
"Please, Amuro..." Rika prayed.
In Weltseele, the battle was coming to an end.
"It's useless! You can't kill me. You are not complete, Thanatos. You don't have the power to kill a being like me"
"JUST DIE!" He blasted a beam of pure Darkness and obliterated him once again.
This time, Alustrium decided to end it all.
"I'm tired of this! I'll erase you once and for all!" Alustrium charged an attack.
"DIE!" Amuro threw his Scythe and it sliced the being in half, but this didn't stop him.
"Enough you two!" It was Amuro's voice, but it wasn't Apothéose.
"That voice... Evhron!" Apothéose said.
"Evhron?!" Alustrium repeated. "No! I will destroy you two, you don't deserve to exist!"
"Evhron" He used his special ability of the same name. The flow of Time stopped. "*sigh* Too bad that without my fragment awakened, all I can do is stop Time. If I could make it go back, I swear I'd help you brother... Well, you can't hear me like this, can you?"
He walked towards the suspended Alustrium then. "You fulfilled your duty through all these eras... But now it's time for you Watchers to disappear 「Morte Ætérna」" He put a Dark seal on Alustrium's head and walked away.
"Evhron" He snapped his fingers and Time moved again.
"No... What the..." Alustrium muttered as his body dissolved into the void of nothingness.
"Goodbye, Alustrium. You learned too late that Death is in fact a Primum Deus" Evhron told him, implying with his tone that he didn't hate the Watchers, but that their time had come to an end.
"Evhron, how could you...?" Apothéose asked him.
"I felt your presence and decided to come. I knew that a Watcher would go after you, as well as that you weren't ready to face them"
"What is the ability of your fragment?"
"Evhron manipulates Time. I haven't been able to awaken the fragment though, so my ability has been reduced to stopping Time only"
"I see..." He replied disappointed.
"Did something happen? By your expression I can tell that someone died"
"It was Mion... And not only that, but Alustrium imprisoned her in Hell!" Apothéose was upset again.
"Damn it. As much as I care for Mion, I don't think I can help you with that..." Evhron replied.
"Why?! You have all the powers of Thanatos right?!"
"But Hell is gigantic. I can't feel her presence, and it wasn't I who killed her, so I'm not connected in any way to her death. Why are you so upset anyway?"
"I... I love her, Evhron"
"I see..." His tone changed to an understanding one. "Maybe there's someone else that's able to help" He knew about Frederica.
"Right! There's a Witch back on Earth. Let's go!" He opened a portal and the two entered.
As they got back into Earth, everyone was expecting to see Amuro back, but they were taking by surprise.
"Yeah! Amuro-senpai is-" Keiichi stopped when he noticed the difference.
"There's... Two of them?!" Shion said.
"Ahahahahaha... I guess I should introduce myself: I'm the 7th Fragment, Evhron" He looked just like Apothéose, but looked a bit older and was a tiny bit taller. His hair was a tad darker and looked wilder as well.
"In theory, there are 6 fragments if you don't count Apothéose as double" Apothéose explained.
"So, you're like, the same person?" Satoko asked, not making any sense of it.
"In a way. Our age is not the same, and neither are our souls though. In the end, each fragment is a different individual, despite our common origin" Evhron clarified.
"Where did you come from?" Apothéose asked him.
"My case is quite special. I was born in ancient Britannia, where I was supposed to awaken the fragment and lived a normal life until my late teens. However, after regaining my memories, I've been reluctant to unlock my true potential before erasing the Watchers and Dyson. I don't want the other fragments to be erased, so I left that World in standby" Evhron replied.
"I see" Apothéose understood, but the others didn't fully get what he was saying.
"Well, now to the important stuff... Bernkastel, is there a way to recover a soul from Hell in these conditions?" Evhron asked her.
"I see what you're thinking. If her Soul was released, I'd be able to bring the girl back to life, but my magical powers are not strong enough to break the seal that Watcher casted upon her" She was a bit disappointed in herself. "However, Amuro could be able to do something with that..."
"I have to enter Hell. I'm sure that if I'm close enough, I'll be able to find her and break the seal. But then again, how will I get close to her in the first place?" Amuro bitterly said.
"Souls tend to be attached to the place they used to live in. If there is an entrance to the Underworld here, her soul should be close by" Evhron helped his other self.
"Is there such a place in Hinamizawa?" Amuro asked the rest of his friends.
"There is a pit near an abandoned quarry... The place has a smell of rotten eggs and a very dark aura around it" Rika remembered.
"Oh, you mean Yagouchi?" Satoko remembered as well.
"I wanted to explore it so badly! But Rika didn't let me..." Keiichi said disappointed.
"And none of us will enter. I will guide Amuro to the quarry, but mortals like us should stay away" Rika said.
"Well, I guess I'm gonna wait for your safe return. After all, I don't think you need my help anymore" Evhron told Amuro.
"Do I have to...?"
"You know how it is, Apothéose"
"I understand"
"Let's go, Amuro" Rika told him.
"Yeah. I don't want her to suffer another second" Apothéose replied.
"You can do it, Amuro-kun!" Rena cheered for him.
"I know you can bring Onee back" Shion added.
"Don't worry, I'll save Mion. I promise" Amuro had never been so sure of a promise. "Meanwhile, you guys take Takano to the Irie Institution. I bet that she has contracted L5 by now"
"Okay" Keiichi and Satoshi replied.
"The rest, just wait here with Bernkastel. We'll be back in a while"
"Alright, good luck" The girls said.
By now, the skies had become clear and a beautiful orange sunset was in sight as Amuro and Rika walked through the woods towards Yagouchi.
"Do you know the stories of the quarry?" Rika asked him.
"I remembered them after you mentioned this place. I wouldn't have got the idea of coming here if it wasn't for you. Thanks a lot, Rika-chan" He smiled at the girl.
"Hanyuu reminded me of it"
"Oh, right! Now I'm able to see her" Amuro remembered.
"Really?" They were both surprised.
"Be careful Amuro-kun. Even being you, Hell is a dangerous place" Hanyuu warned him.
"I would never dare to go to the quarry even" Rika confessed.
"Don't worry Rika-chan. Ogres and Demons are nothing compared to a God. I'm more worried about Mion..." His expression changed to a sad one.
"Mion's spirit is very powerful. I'm sure that she wouldn't allow those evil beings to torture her without a fight" Rika tried to comfort him.
"That's true, at least"
They got to the last spot before entering the quarry.
"We'll wait for you here. I wish you the best of luck Amuro-kun ~nipah!~" Rika greeted him.
"For us this is a point of no return, so I wish you have a good trip as well" Hanyuu told him. "Also, that necklace has high spiritual power. I believe it will be the key to finding the one you love"
"Thanks Hanyuu-chan, I'm ready. I hope I don't take too long"
"Even if it turns dark we'll stay, Amuro-kun" Rika said determined to help him.
"Thanks, see ya!" He gave them his last smile before entering the forbidden area.
He felt a strong pressence of Dark energy. For him, the God of Death, this was actually pleasent and empowering, but for another being, this would certainly be a terrible feeling.
He saw a man wearing construction clothes and approached him.
"Would you be so kind of guiding me to the pit?"
"Go away, you brat!"
Amuro released his Dark aura to show the being who he was.
"Oh, forgive me! I couldn't distinguish you from a mortal. This pressure... Who are you my lord?" The entity bowed before him in shame.
"I am Thanatos, God of Death. I will forgive you as long as you carry out my task"
"Of course. Follow me, Thanatos-sama"
The worker guided him through the quarry. The smell of sulfur increased as they approached the well.
"Here it is. I am a lesser-Demon in charge of bringing damnation to the mortals who approach this place. I have never had such a formidable being in my presence, please excuse me for my rudeness"
"I see. Let's make a deal then. You shall not damn any more mortals. Also, from now on, I want you to serve under the rule of the Sonozaki family. They're... Aquaintances of mine"
"Understood, my lord. I will do anything you desire without question"
"Well, it's time I enter the realm of the cursed and damned then. I thank you for your help"
"I'm not worthy"
Amuro jumped into the pit. As he fell he could see the bottom of it, but when he was supposed to land on it, he passed right through and continued his free fall towards Inferno.
"I am not afraid..." He whispered to himself as he saw the red rocky floor at the end of the fall.
As he fell into the Dark realm, Demons and Ogres started swarming around him. A flying lesser-Demon attempted to attack him, so he decided to use his Godly form.
Amuro summoned his Dark Armor, the lesser-Death's Scythe and he extended his five pairs of pitch black wings.
"Disperse creatures of Inferno!" He ordered them.
"This presence... It's Death!" They recognised him as the incarnation of Death itself.
"Asking for the mortal soul of a girl would be ambiguous" He thought. "Disappear from my sight!"
"Y-Yes my lord!" They complied.
Once he was alone he grabbed the green stone in his necklace and embedded it with Mana.
"Please, tell me where Mion is" He told the stone.
The stone shined with a green light and floated towards her location. Amuro flew and followed it.
Luckily, the first circle of Hell wasn't a place of torment, but more like Purgatory. All he had in his mind was Mion at the moment. He yearned for her safety and just the sight of her would heal his soul.
The rock guided him through the Demon realm for a while, until Amuro saw a suspicious group of Demons.
"What are ya doin' here? Go to the line to be punished!" One said to a soul.
"I don't belong here! Leave me alone!" A girl's voice replied.
"Mion..." Amuro said to himself.
"You're quite cocky for being a sinful brat!" Another Demon replied.
Amuro flew to the center and confirmed that they were bothering his loved one.
"Low scum... BEGONE!" He erased them instantly and descended to grab her.
"Who is...? Amuro?!" She hadn't recognised him due to his looks.
"Let's go home" He kissed her.
"But... That luminous thing sealed my soul here..." She sadly replied.
"Then I'll break that seal. 「Incurso」" The seal Alustrium had left in her body dissolved.
"Amuro..." She cried.
"No need of saying thank you, Mion. it was my fault in the first place" He carried her bride-style towards the pit.
"That's not true... I was foolish for not respecting your wish in the first place"
"It doesn't matter anymore" He said to comfort her and flew upwards through the pit to exit Hell.
Mion had the fear that she wouldn't be able to pass through the portal and get out of the Demon realm, but as Amuro held her in his arms, the two went through the portal.
After returning to the surface, Amuro noticed that it was twilight. Rika and Hanyuu were waiting for him in the same spot she had left them.
"I'm back" He happily told them as he landed on the ground.
"I knew you could make it- ...You have wings?" Rika asked amazed.
"Oh, these... Hahaha, yeah, they are part of the God form. Since I have the powers of Apothéose I can do this. I think there's no need for this anymore, though" He went back to his normal state.
"Eh? Who are you?" Mion asked Hanyuu, who could be seen by her because she was a spirit.
"That, Mion, is none other than Oyashiro-sama" Amuro replied.
"No way... She's way too cute!" Mion had another idea in her head of how Oyashiro-sama looked.
"~Hauauau~ T-Thank you" Hanyuu blushed.
"Now, let's go back to Bernkastel" Amuro lead them.
The two spirits walked along Amuro and Rika as the sky grew darker. The rest of their friends wouldn't be immediately happy, since they weren't able to see ghosts and similars.
"Why are you able to touch me when I'm not able to touch you?" Mion asked Amuro on their way back.
"Spirits are rarely able to interact with the living, so I guess it's not rare that you cannot interact with me on your own. On the other hand, I am a God that has to be able to manipulate souls, so it's only natural that I can do that and much more"
"I see" She sadly replied.
"Don't worry. In a while you'll come back to life" He kissed and embraced her.
"I can't wait..."
A couple minutes later, they were back at the mountain where everyone was waiting.
"Amuro-kun! Rika-chan!" Everyone exclaimed. Evhron, Satoshi and Keiichi were back as well.
"We're back, everyone!" Amuro replied with a smile.
"*yawn* I was getting bored here..." Bernkastel told them.
"Don't lie Bernkastel. You were eager for their arrival, just like everyone else" Evhron told her.
"Liar..." She blushed.
"Well, I went to Hell and back and brought Mion's soul back to Earth. I leave the rest to you" Alothéose said to the Witch.
"Alright. Everyone, gather in a circle around the girl" She ordered.
"Yes" Nobody complained.
Bernkastel removed the corpse from the casket. The others held each other's hands as the Witch did her magic.
"Remember the form you once had..." She told Mion's body.
As soon as she did this, a yellow glow seemed to heal all of the body's wounds. At the same time, Mion's spirit closed her eyes and returned to her physical body.
Everyone was looking in disbelief as her body glowed in the middle of the night. In only a day, they had witnessed a tremendous amount of supernatural events, but despite it, everyone was amazed with every new event, and this one in particular was the most important.
As the glow faded out, Mion felt like she was waking up from a long nap, as she slowly opened her eyes and recovered her human sensations.
"I feel, like I had the weirdest of dreams..." She told her friends.
"Mii-chan!" Rena said in relief and went straight to hug her.
"Onee!" Shion did the same, while tears were running down her cheeks.
"Thank god..." Keiichi sighed.
"I'm glad..." Satoshi muttered and cried a bit as well.
"Mion-san is back!" Satoko yelled happily.
After everyone greeted her, Apothéose got near her and hugged her again.
"Welcome back Mion"
"Amuro..." She had never been so happy to have him by her side.
They shared a long kiss, despite being surrounded. Love was stronger than embarassment.
After they finished their kiss however, it was time to accept a bitter truth.
"I hope you're very happy Mion, but I think it's time for me to leave this World" Amuro told her.
Mion's happy expression twisted into despair in the fraction of a second.
~~~~X~~~~
"I'm sorry to leave you like this guys, but the plot's value is too high to compromise, and I must admit that I enjoy doing this as well, hahahahaha. See ya next chapter!" Evhron.