A/N: Whew, this is the fastest I've managed to update my story. Since Zed's arc takes 3 whole chapters, I wrote all 3 chapters as fast and properly as I could before I start college. Reviews, Follows and Favorites are appreciated as always!

On the night before Zed had made his attack on the Puerum Magi, the swordsman rested and prepared his skills in the shelter of Phantom's abandoned opera-house located near the Mitakihara Cemetery. Zed meditated in the upper floors, quietly sitting in the dusty, broken remains of the long-forgotten place as the screaming of the Warlock Hunters being tortured by Clyde down below echoed through the halls and corridors. Cobwebs covered the ceilings, the floorboards creaked with every step and the wallpaper hanging on the walls were torn apart. Zed's Zankantou leaned on the rotting walls as he heard footsteps approaching the door.

Zed opened his eyes under his mask and saw the physical manifestation of Lord Phantom's mind phase through the door. The black, flaming living silhouette, passed through the solid door like a ghost and entered the room with his red eyes glowing faintly. The swordsman rose up and knelt down in respect of his master and leader, "Lord Phantom, have you need of me?"

"I do. Clyde is busy interrogating the Hunters, Ares is guarding the entrance, and I've been carrying questions that I need answering from you, Zed," Phantom stated in a soft voice, the ghostly manifestation of the Warlock leader's mind moving towards the swordsman and passing by him. Behind Zed was a dusty bookcase that Phantom pulled out a book from to brows through as Zed kept quiet until Phantom had finished talking, "I've come to ask you this: Where are the others as we speak? Glasieren; Krieg; Jack; Lucio Simplicio; Hanzo. I assume some of my best warriors are at least still hiding in this world? Or have my expectations been too high?"

"I assure you that they are on their way, my Lord," Zed respectively answered, "Although we have scattered far and wide, some of us held out for your return. Not all of us perished to the Warlock Hunters' campaign to wipe us out. I had sworn an oath that I would vanquish all evil from this world as a warrior of justice, so that you may attain what was rightfully yours and remake this world into a better place," standing up, Zed brought a closed hand to his chest and bowed down to the flaming silhouette that had his back facing him, "The Puerum Magi shall learn that they are just children playing heroes in a changing world. That we... are the ultimate life-forms."

Putting back the book on the shelf and turning back to Zed, Phantom waved a disappointed finger and the cloaked swordsman reacted with confusion. Phantom's tone was strict, "Note this, Zed: Although your strength is beginning to be restored back to its full power by the blood of Sanbey, do not let your arrogance blind you. Your Oracle mask is one of the strongest I have yet to see, and I would be disappointed to see it wasted so carelessly from being blinded by pride. You were always like this. Your arrogance was what forced me to put Ares' soul into the suit of armor he now possesses. Do not forget that."

Zed cackled and waved a dismissive hand, "Arrogance? Lord Phantom, the eyes of Zed see everything," he boasted as he raised his chin, " Pardon my rudeness, but I have no weaknesses. Tomorrow, I shall show you my true worth."

"Hmph. Indeed you will," Phantom chuckled, walking his way back to the door. Stopping before the doorway, Phantom turned around and said, "Do not worry, Zed. You will certainly be useful in helping me restore my body," eyeing Zed's mask intently, Phantom phased through the door and left without another word.

The bug-shaped pieces of wood were lined up on the table as Mamoru slowly channeled his Control magic into the tips of his fingers. 40 tiny surveillance bugs lined in a 10 by 4 column, he rubbed his shimmering hands together and carefully moved them over the rows of inert woodcraft, scattering his Control magic into them in the form of dust-like substance. The tiny, hand-crafted pieces of wood then quivered as they came to life, the Control magic filling the small wooden replicas with conscious and movement. Their articulate wings twitched and the small cameras attached to their wooden carapace switched on when Tateyama hit a button on his computer. Sanbey jumped when all of them started vibrating their wings at a speed suitable for flight.

Tateyema linked the cameras with his computer and gave a thumbs up, "Ready."

Opening the wide window behind the couch, Mamoru saw the sky turning cloudy as all the bugs started to take flight with their articulate wings. Hovering in the air, their vibrating wings made a loud buzzing sound as they waited for the Puerum Magi leader's order. Sitting back on the couch, Mamoru folded his legs and commanded his puppets, "Patrol the city and keep and eye out for the Warlocks 24/7. Follow Kaname Madoka's activities and watch over her to ensure her safety. Go."

At his command, the bugs flew out of the window as a swarm of living puppets and then dispersed into open city as Sanbey and Tateyama looked on. They were like a black cloud before dispersing into different directions. Once they were out of view, Mamoru shut the windows again and continued with more pressing matters, "Sanbey, where are Takuya and Hideki?" he looked at the striped Familiar beside him.

"I can detect them heading up to the Warlock's position. They are closing on him fast," Sanbey's tone sounded slightly concerned, "But, Zed will not be defeated so easily."

"Do you know him?" Tateyama inquired, not looking away from his computer.

"I do," Sanbey affirmed, sounding like he was remembering a bad memory, "'Zed, the Oracle', a powerful sword-wielder, demolitions expert and a mass manipulator. He is a dangerous Warlock that has slaughtered many all in the name of his so-called 'justice'. After finding out the Warlocks still lived, I suspected that he was still alive. He is implacable as he is arrogant."

"Do you know anything we can use to beat him?" Mamoru questioned, sitting down with a hand on his chin.

"Maybe. Zed's power is to predict the future movements of his enemies. He uses it to act accordingly and kill his opponents appropriately without getting a single scratch."

"But there's one problem," Tateyama interjected as he closed his laptop and placed it back in his bag. Zipping it up, he sat back on the couch and took off his earpiece for a second, "Just now, Hideki told me that he managed to damage Zed. Zed didn't see him attacking or coming at him from behind. If Zed can predict the future, how did he not expect Hideki to attack?"

Tateyama's quick observation made Mamoru contemplated to himself for a moment, "A weakness..." he muttered to himself as he leaned back on the couch and had a look of realization. Standing back up, he started to pack up all the stuff on the table into the bags, "Tateyama, help me with this. We're leaving this location to regroup with the others. Sanbey, I think I have a plan. Call Hideki and Takuya to-"

Gunshots echoed and thundered from the hallway, accompanied by the strong sensation of Obscurum energy nearby. Multiple signals, they could read, as they all crept to the door and materialized their Soul Keys into their hands. Opening a small gap between the door and the doorway, Mamoru peeked into the corridor and saw that the club workers he had hypnotized to guard the doors lied dead on the ground, shot dead by security personnel. There were a group of those security guards outside as they broke through the doors of the club and marched over the bodies of the dead workers. All of them radiated Obscurum energy from their bodies as they were armed with shotguns, pistols, and walked in a slow uniform stride as their skin was pale as white with vacant expressions on their faces.

"Oh, bloody Hell. 14 men outside, all armed," Mamoru stated, quietly closing the door and looking at Sanbey at his feet, "A work of Zed, I presume?"

"Indeed. Zed has the ability to possess corpses by giving them his blood. The corpses gain high strength, regeneration, but are slow, inept and die in an instant if their heads are destroyed. They are similar to the ones I have made you fight in your training."

Tateyama and Mamoru looked at each other and they both nodded before Mamoru stabbed his Soul Key into his Gem. Mamoru's puppeteer gloves, the artificial third arm attached around his abdomen with a circular abdomen strap, along with his buckler shield and ornate axe formed around him as Tateyama followed his action. The pauldron on Tateyama's left shoulder formed with the three circular hover discs attached to it, the foot spikes on the back of his beet hissed steam and the giant lance and shield that his enhanced strength allowed him to carry materialized into his hands. Mamoru gripped the doorknob and gave his orders calmly, "Tateyama, I need you to to create a moving phalanx formation with your shields. Their guns are still dangerous, so lure their fire as we approach and I'll attack once we get close. Sanbey, stay inside and hide. We'll take care of this."

Following his orders, Tateyama deployed the three circular discs from his pauldron and the tiny pieces of metal grew into discus-shaped shields as they floated in the air under his command. Sanbey hid behind the couch and watched the boys get into formation.

The possessed guards marched towards the end of the hallway to find their Recicio-emitting targets. Like dogs following its target by scent, they had tracked the Recicio readings to here and killed the workers standing in their way along with anything else that had tried to interfere with their mission. They carried pistols and shotguns looted from the security office which had all of its staff members possessed by Zed and reloaded their weapons on their slow walk across the hallway. Nothing but malice could be felt from the aura they emitted.

The pair of doors where the Recicio energy radiated from suddenly exploded open as a lance tip shot out from the room and skewered 7 of the dead guards in the heads at once like a harpoon. Those nearby had their limbs ripped off from the pressure wave, but they did not register the pain from their missing limbs and instead open fired at the end of the hall with their guns in a mad frenzy. They emptied their clips, they screeched inhuman wails, and bullet casings fell to the ground as rounds bounced off a giant shield and three smaller ones that floated in the air that locked together to form a moving shield wall.

The constant shotgun fire beat down hard on Tateyama's giant shield, but the spikes protruding from the back of his feet gave him a stable grip on the floor as he stomped forward, trying to fight the force of the multiple guns firing at him. Since Tateyama's Defense magic only worked if he was immobile, he could not activate it in a situation like this even if he wanted to. Behind him, Mamoru stood back and held his buckler shield in front to deflect any stray bullet that ricochet towards him. Axe ready in hand, Mamoru shouted as bullets whizzed through the air, "10 meters! Get in closer!"

The floating shields' surface chipped away from the shotgun shells pounding on them. The possessed guards barrage was relentless.

"7 meters!" a round managed to slip pass a gap in the slowly-collapsing shield wall and grazed Mamoru by the cheek. He wiped away the blood and the cut slowly regenerated from his healing factor, "4 meters!"

Already close to a point the bullets reflected back at some of the possessed guards, Tateyama dug his door-sized shield into the floor and knelt down, "Now!"

Using him as a springboard, Mamoru then jumped over the shield formation and threw his buckler shield at the possessed guards. The shield caved in the throat of a guard before it ricochet off its neck and bounced off between a few of the gun-wielding guards like a deadly, precision-guided boomerang. Mamoru fired his strings at a shotgun-wielding guard and controlled it to blast into its own allies as Mamoru landed on the grounded to chop of the legs of the guard closest to him. Blood sprayed on the decorated walls and polished furniture as Mamoru skillfully cut apart the living corpses were slow to react at a fast-moving target with a close-combat weapon. It was too easy. Beheading his 6th kill, Mamoru retracted the strings from the guard he was controlling and split it in two by the waist once he was done using it.

He heard two shotguns reloading behind him and Mamoru reacted quickly. Picking up his shield from the floor, Mamoru took the brunt of 2 focused shotgun blasts with both hands wielding the shield and dug is feet into the ground to absorb the impact. Grinning smugly, he used his third arm around his waist to fling his axe at his attackers and cleaved one of their heads off their shoulders while Mamoru ran up to the other one, leap into the air and kicked the gun out of its hands before bashing apart the guard's skull with his shield's blunt edge. Brain matter splattered onto his clothes as Tateyama retrieved the tip of lance and impaled the last possessed guard in the face. A click spun the lance tip like a power drill and tore apart the living corpse's head. Though the fight was bloody and the smell was unbearable, their training had gotten them used to the sight and smell of blood as they called back their weapons to catch their breath.

"That should be the last of them," Mamoru said as he rested on one knee and wiped the blood off his face. He clicked on his earpiece and called the other two, "Hideki, Takuya, listen here: I have plan we can use against Zed."

Chasing Zed to the higher levels of the skyscraper, Takuya and Hideki used their grappling hooks and flight packs to climb up and ascend the shut-down elevator shaft while hearing the plan Mamoru gave them over the comm. Hidei's flight pack flared at full power and Takuya held onto his grappling hook tight. They made sure to look out for any elevator above them that was going to come crashing down on them, "You sure this is going to work?" Hideki questioned, a finger on his earpiece, "If it doesn't, we don't have any other way to beat him."

"It's worth trying," Takuya insisted, putting on his aviator goggles and fixing his high-peak cap, "We're the only ones that can beat him."

"We'll be heading down to your location to regroup with you. Good luck, and stay alive," Mamoru said over the comm before turning it off.

Finally, they reached the floor Zed was on and Takuya stood beside the doors as Hideki pried them open with his bare hands. Opening them wide, Takuya jumped in first, bow ready, followed by Hideki who materialized his buster blade into his hands and stood behind the crouching archer. The floor was dark, the place looking like it was recently being renovated. Smelly paint cans, wooden boards and power tools littered the place, but Zed's presence was definitely close, even when they could not see him in the wide open space in front of them. Looking out the boarded windows which the weather shutters oddly did not cover up like the rest of the building, Hideki saw the rain-clouds shrouding the skies and heard the faint thunder rumbling in the distance. There goes a possible plan of using the sunlight to flush him out, Hideki thought.

The two walked over smelly puddles of spilled paint and cement, pieces of bricks and paper sheets shuffling underneath their feet. It was quiet, but Takuya and Hideki kept their guard up.

Then, a faint laughter echoed through the place. They couldn't tell where it was coming from as it sounded from all directions, but it was Zed's, as the Warlock to mock them, "Your persistence amuses me, Puerum Magi. Despite being weak and inferior to us Warlocks, you fight for the humans with sincerity and tenacity like blind lap dogs. You do not give up, even when Death looms over you with his scythe around your necks," there was the sound of clattering metal in the corner, which Takuya aimed his bow at reflexively, "You all are nothing but mere obstacles to Lord Phantom. Just a thorn on our side. And I will take pleasure in solving this issue."

"Then come out here and fight!" Hideki demanded, "We will beat you, and we'll die trying if we have to!"

Takuya scanned the darkness, his bow ready to shoot at anything that pops up to attack. He could hear Zed scraping his sword on metal to unease them, but Hideki found it more irritating than creepy.

"Your will to protect Humanity is childish. Human beings are flawed, filled with despair, and are killing themselves off slowly. The Puella Magi are just slaves and pawns, blindly fighting creatures that they call 'Witches' just because they made a deal with their manipulative friends. Do not deny it. The Warlocks are the next step in evolution and Lord Phantom shall lead us all into a glorious world without war and strife! You Puerum Magi would be the same, if you did not allow yourselves to be blinded by your ties and attachments to Humanity and morality. Pathetic."

"Cut the bullshit and show yourself!" Hideki exclaimed, standing back-to-back with Takuya in the center of the room. He readied his short buster blade, already getting tired of Zed's rambling as rain could be heard falling outside the building. The place would have stayed completely dark if not for the flashes of lightning shining through the boarded-up windows and momentarily lighting the room at random moments. They heard nothing more from Zed except one sentence.

"Your wish shall spell in your death."

Hideki felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand as he heard the sound of a blade sweeping across the air from above. Instinctively, Hideki pushed Takuya away from him and held his blade above like a shield to block the descending glowing steel of Zed's Zankantou. Recicio and Obscurum energies clashed and a loud thunder-like rumble echoed through the room as Hideki was brought to one knee from the Zed's strength. His powers still on cool-down after its last activation just now, Zed's blade slowly pushed Hideki back.

"Hideki!" Takuya fired his bow at Zed and the swordsman leap back, deflecting the arrows with smooth cuts and swipes. Landing in front of the windows, a flash of lightning shone on Zed's mask and the two saw that one side had completely burned away from Hideki's previous attack. Only one side remained unharmed with only one eye glowing with Zed's oracle powers.

"You will pay for these scars with your lives!" Zed declared with a clenched fist before lashing at the boys with his Zankantou. Hideki abandoned his buster blade and opted to use his wrist-blades to intercept the deadly strikes as fast as he could. Ducking under a swipe, Hideki dashed behind Zed with his flight pack and sliced the swordsman in the back. It left a glowing scar where he had struck and greatly angered the Warlock, "Pest!" Zed swung his blade at the Magi behind, but an arrow struck Zed in the shoulder and gave Hideki time to back off as Zed pulled the energy arrow with his bare hand. With one eye gone, Zed now had a blind-spot on his right side which the boys exploited.

The fight went on and Zed growled in anger as the two sped around him, attacking in his blind-spots with quick shots and stabs while also disorienting and confusing him with their rapid movements. The two danced around Zed as his mad swings at Hideki kept being parried by Takuya's arrows. Hideki flew around in his flight pack and Takuya used his magnetic boots to scale the walls and ceilings. They attacked with the hit-and-run tactics Mamoru gave them, using all the skills they had received from training and putting them to good use. With each arrow and stab that left glowing scars on Zed's armor, each blade swing from the Warlock became more crude than graceful as he demanded them to hold still.

Hideki dropped behind Zed and grazed his abdomen with his blades when Zed dodged to the side. The swordsman turning around with an angry roar to strike back, Hideki grabbed a nearby paint bucket and flung it at him. Zed cut the bucket apart and the paint sprayed onto his mask as he bellowed in frustration. The paint covered his eyes, blinding him and leaving him open to be struck in the chest by several of Takuya's arrows as Hideki jumped back and taunted, "What's the matter, can't predict our moves if you can't see us?!"

"I've had enough of you two!" Zed wiped the paint from his mask and pointed the tip of his blade at the ceiling. Dark energies bursting and surrounding his entire body like a black flame, Zed charged his blade with Obscurum energy and a growing black sphere swirled around the tip of his blade. The purple Obscurum energy crackled through the blade's steel like lightning and the black sphere at the tip of the blade began to pulse violently like a bomb, "Kokujin Ogi: Mugen!"

Hideki and Takuya regrouped and the fragile speedster summoned his buster blade once again to plant it into the ground as a make-shift shield. Widening his feet apart to prepare for whatever Zed was doing, Takuya channeled his Restoration magic into the blade to keep it from shatterin. They held their breath as Zed struck the floor with his blade and the dark sphere pulsing at the tip erupted like a powerful bomb. The two held their ground behind the giant blade and fought the force of the blast, their eardrums threatening to burst, but the shock-wave blew them off their feet and threw them into the air as the floor crumbled below them. They fell to the floor beneath them and landed on the pilling rubble as smoke and ash shrouded their vision.

Hideki winced, climbing out from the heavy bricks and concrete with a cracked visor as he clutched his abdomen in pain, "Takuya-!" he coughed, "Where are you?!" he tried to see through the smoke and pick up any signs of his friend with his visors' heads-up display. As the ashes slowly settled, he saw the brunette coughing heavily underneath some rubble. His legs were trapped underneath rocks that had fallen on him and a pipe had punctured him through his right shoulder. He couldn't move anything except for one arm. Grunting from the pain, Hideki got up and sprinted over to him, coughing as ash filled his lungs, "Takuya!"

"B-Behind you!"

He turned his back and Zed's fist came out of the smoke to strike him in the face. Breaking apart his visor like fragile glass, Zed extended his thumb and gouged out Hideki's left eye before the boy flew back from the blow. He tumbled on the broken pieces of glass and crashed into a piles of bricks as Zed came out of the smoke, cackling like a madman. Bits of his visor piercing his skin, Hideki gripped his bleeding eye socket and screamed in pain, blood pouring down his face and through his hands.

"An eye for an eye!" Zed laughed, the unharmed left eye of his mask glowing with powerful red flames to signify that his Oracle powers were now at full power. Sheathing his blade, Zed cracked his knuckles and approached the bleeding Puerum Magi, "For desecrating my face, your death shall be slow, Magi!" he pounced on the boy and slammed his elbow into his face, driving Hideki's head into the wall behind him. Hideki couldn't even fight back as Zed then grabbed him by the neck and savagely battered him in the face over and over with his fist, to the point Hideki could feel his body going numb and unresponsive from each blow, "Learn your lesson! You Puerum Magi are just filth standing in Lord Phantom's path to ascension!" each punch spilled blood onto the floor, made sickening crunches and broke the Puerum Magi as Zed held nothing of his anger back. Holding the limp boy up by the neck, Zed stared into his eyes, "How does it feel to die?!"

Hideki's face was bruised and cut. His nose and jaw were broken. Blood trailed down the side of his face and he couldn't even feel his muscles. But in a moment of spite, a cocky smirk grew on his battered face, "I-I've been... through... worse..."

Zed's nerve snapped at his quip and the Warlock continued beating on the boy without any mercy as his friend watched on in horror. Takuya's bow arm was pinned underneath the rocks, but his grappling hook arm was fine. He couldn't watch anymore. Watching Hideki dying in front of him like this lit a rare emotion of anger in his heart. Raising his arm, Takuya aimed his spear-tipped grappling hook at the Warlock and carefully placed his target.

He fired, the spear-tip shot forward and Zed grunted as the blade pierced through his chest. Zed hissed in pain and looked down to see the hook that was lodged in his body. Grabbing it and snapping it apart, Zed dropped Hideki to the floor, turned to the archer behind him and took out a grenade from his armor's pockets. Similar to the one he attacked Takuya with earlier, he lit the fuse with a flicker of Obscurum energy from his finger-tips and stated with a tone of finality, "You'll die first, archer."

Grimacing, Takuya struggled to pull his legs from underneath the rubble, but they were simply too heavy to push off with one arm. Each time he struggled caused pain in his punctured shoulder and Takuya began to panic. He heard the sound of the burning fuse becoming louder and the brunette tried harder to pull his legs out of the debris . Hideki, lying on the ground and coughing out blood, rolled onto one side and saw Zed approaching his friend with a grenade, "No..." his eyes widened, his voice breaking.

The Warlock tossed the grenade and it slowly rolled up to the pinned archer.

"Takuya!"

"Perish," Zed muttered as the grenade detonated and the force of the explosion pushed Hideki away while also piercing his ears with a ringing noise. Glass shards flew and embedded themselves in his unarmored lower legs and abdomen. Following the explosion was a silence, and Hideki coughed out the blood in his throat as he saw the cloud of smoke in front of him wither away. When the dust settled, his arms began to tremble. His throat closed tight and his hands clenched into fist when he saw that the grenade's explosion had left nothing but a mere smoking crater in the floor. Takuya's aviator goggles lied cracked and broken beside Hideki's arms and he held it to his chest as he felt hot tears fill up his eyes, "That's one down," Zed turned to the remaining Magi in the room and unsheathed his nodachi blade, "3 more to go."

"You... You bastard!" Hideki's enraged voice echoed through the room. He felt anger boil his blood as adrenaline flowed through his veins. He could not feel the pain in aching in his head, he could not feel the large amounts of blood seeping from his body or the pieces of glass stabbing into his skin. All he could feel was pure anger as he rose up to avenge his friend. His Strength Amplification magic was still cooling down, but Hideki sprung his wrist-blades outwards anyway to fight as tears streamed from his eyes, "I'll fucking kill you!"

"Hmph. Compassion. Pathetic," Zed dashed towards him and swung his Zankantou downwards on Hideki. The boy crossed his wrist-blades over his head and caught the long nodachi blade as their blades fiercely locked together. The Warlock laughed, pushing his blade downwards as Hideki did not even have enough strength left in his body to withstand the Warlock's power for long. Recicio and Obscurum energy sparks flying everywhere around them while lightning flashed and crackled outside, the dark steel blade closed in on Hideki, nearing his bruised face and breaking through the wrist-blades' guard. Hideki felt his strength slowly faded away from fatigue. His arms and legs turned numb. But with tears running down his cheeks, Hideki did not want to simply give up. He couldn't lose here. He made a promise to protect the city. He couldn't sit by and let Zed live on any longer.

His breathing turned hoarse and Zed finally broke the blade lock. Hideki fell back on the rubble, panting for air as his Strength magic needed just a bit more time to cool-down.

Zed smiled underneath his mask and raised his Zankantou in the air, gathering the black sphere around the tip of his blade once more to finish off Hideki with his strongest attack. Finally gaining the upper hand, Zed cackled as the black sphere pulsed above his head, "Your friend shall have company within the afterlife! Die, Puerum Magi!"

An energy arrow flew through the air and severed one of Zed's hands by the joints. The black sphere faded away as Zed's energy transfer was abruptly interrupted. His severed hand falling to the floor, it burned up from the Recicio energy and crumbled into ashes.

"W-What?!" Zed gasped.

"Takuya?!"

Behind Zed, the brunette struggled to stand as he held his bow up with a trembling, bruised arm. The leather of his outfit was torn apart, blood trailed from the side of his head and Takuya looked like he was about to collapse. But the archer stood tall as he then pulled back his bow string once more and unleashed a non-stop barrage of arrows that stabbed into Zed's armor from behind. The Warlock howled in pain, mouthing in disbelief that Takuya had not died to his grenade. Hideki gasped for air, unable to believe it as Takuya stood alive as the archer shouted at him, "H-Hideki! Go! Finish him! I'll give you time for your powers to recharge!"

Getting up on one knee, he spat out blood and heard his A.I module report, "10 seconds until cool-down..."

Zed's body burned from the projectiles stabbing into his back, the arrow-shaped energies cutting him apart and leaving glowing slash marks around his body as Zed's Zankantou dropped to the ground. Clutching his stomach, Zed felt his body burning up from the Recicio coursing through his body, but the Warlock refused to go down, "I will not...!"

"5 seconds..."

Takuya pulled back his bowstring non-stop, his muscles pumping battery acid and burning from exhaustion as he did his best to slow down Zed.

"2 seconds..."

"I will not die like this!" Zed picked up his blade with his remaining hand and swung it at Hideki in a fit of blind rage. Suddenly, Hideki halted the blade mid-swing by grabbing the sides of the nodachi with both hands covered in fiery Recicio, and with a loud battle-cry, the Puerum Magi shattered the blade into a hundred pieces of black steel as he crushed the weapon between his hands and sent shards flying everywhere. It was in that moment where his precious Zankantou shattered, that Zed's pride and mind began to also break apart, "M-My Zankantou! Impossible! This cannot be-!"

Hideki's fist struck him in the mask with the force of a railway train and the Puerum Magi promptly repaid the Warlock with the same brutal beating Zed gave him as Hideki pummeled the Warlock over and over with his fists at the speed of sound. He poured all of his hatred for the Warlocks into each and every blow, breaking every single bone in Zed's body, shattering all of his armor and making sure Zed remembered the day he lost to a Puerum Magi. Pumping back his arm and curling his fingers hard into a fist, the last punch Hideki threw sent Zed flying back and the dying Warlock skid to a stop in front of the boarded-up windows. During the fighting, the rain had stopped, and so the sunlight streamed through the gaps between the wood. Zed's shivering body slowly disintegrated from the Recicio that traveled through his body and fear was heavily apparent in his now quivering voice.

"How? H-How?! I... I am Z-Zed the Oracle!" the Warlock screeched in pain and denial, the Recicio energy in him slowly burning his body away into ashes in the wind, "I am Zed...! I am... Zed!"

"Because you're an overconfident fool, Warlock," a familiar smug voice answered, and that voice came from the upper floors where Mamoru, Tateyama and Sanbey descended from. Running towards their injured friends, Mamoru picked up Takuya in both of his arms as Tateyama and Sanbey knelt beside the injured, panting Hideki who's powers were still active, "You've underestimated us. With our powers combined, we saw through your powers easily and figured out a tactic. Although you can predict the future, the fact that you need to see your targets to do so was an easy enough weakness to work around," he looked at Takuya in his arms and whispered to him, "Takuya, are you alright?"

"H-Heh, I'm fine," Takuya gave a cheeky smile and winced.

As Tateyama grabbed one of Hideki's arms and put it around his shoulders, Sanbey looked at the dying Warlock and said, "This is the power of a Puerum Magi, Zed. Although you Warlocks are immortal, you are all just as flawed as the humans you claim to be superior to. But unlike them, you do not carry a soul. Not anymore. You all are just demons that refuse to die out in a world that does not need you."

"I am Zed...! I cannot die like this...!" the Warlock repeated it like a mantra. Standing up, his face burned away with his body as he began to broke apart. Obscurum energy poured from his wounds and all of his life energy began to bleed away as cracks erupted around his body. With one last howl of pain, the upper half of the Warlock's body spontaneously exploded into bits and pieces and his legs dropped to the floor as Obscurum energy billowed from his remains like smoke from a fire. His foot twitched erratically, but the boys knew that Zed was finally dead.

Tateyama and Sanbey let out sighs of reliefs. Mamoru merely shared a small chuckle with Takuya. Hideki, still panting on the floor, just let out one small quip, "There's one more reason why you lost, Zed. One simple, goddamn reason," he coughed as Tateyama helped him up to his feet, "You pissed me off."

It was finally over. But then, just as the boys were about to leave, Zed's remains crackled with Obscurum energy as they all gasped in shock. Slowly, Zed's remains began to pull themselves together, bits of meat and entrails crudely piecing back together to form a body that didn't even regenerate all of its wounds. Torn flesh barely stuck back together, pieces of meat dangling from his body, Zed's corpse limply rose back on its feet as it disturbingly twitched at random. Zed's hannya mask was the only thing that regenerated perfectly back together, and subsequently, a voice that did not belong to Zed spoke through, "Such a pity that Zed failed me," the voice chuckled in an eerie, calm tone with a hint of dry wit, "He was always one of my best warriors. Sadly, his arrogance and stupidity killed him in the end. Didn't even see it coming. How ironic."

Tateyama materialized his giant shield and lance, stepping in front of the other boys with his shield raised protectively in front of them.

"Oh, feisty," 'Zed' laughed, "Do not be alarmed. I can't do anything with this dead body. But allow me to introduce myself, young Puerum Magi: I am Phantom."

Mamoru scowled as he shot a glare at the possessed corpse, muttering, "The leader of the Warlocks."

"I am impressed you managed to kill Zed. But-" Phantom chuckled, "Your victory is hollow. Zed is just the first of many that will hunt you down no matter where you go. He was just a pawn you've removed from the chess table. Disposable and expendable."

"Then we'll fight as long we live!" Hideki snarled at the Warlock leader, before holding a hand to his mouth and coughing out blood.

"That's not the point, child. You four are just delusional children who exchanged their souls for a simple wish," Phantom waved Zed's bloody arm that had its hand severed by Takuya and pointed the bleeding stump at all of them, "You want to protect the world, but you don't want to see it change or be claimed by its rightful successors. You are all just puppets, dancing in a theater as I watch. No matter how many Warlocks you kill, it only serves my goal. Kill them all, and surely enough, I will be the one that gets the chance to finish you all of myself. No matter what you do, you all will be the ones that fall in the end," Phantom's chuckled to himself again, and his laughter grew, and grew until the boys had enough of his talking.

With a confirming nod from Mamoru, Tateyama aimed his lance at the possessed corpse and fired the tip of his lance at it.

The lance tip impaled the possessed remains of Zed in the chest and sent him crashing through the boarded windows behind him. Phantom's mocking laughter continued to echo loudly as Zed's remains crumbled into ashes from the exposure to sunlight. Phantom's laughter soon faded away with Zed's cracking body, with all but Zed's undamaged mask burning away as ash in the wind before the mask fell to the city below. Sunlight streaming through the broken windows and shining on the boys, the boys took the moment to catch their breath.

Sighing, Mamoru knelt down and ran a hand through Takuya's hair as he smiled. Hideki winced as Tateyama got him to his feet and Sanbey watched as the boys finally got their chance to rest, "Good work. All of you," Sanbey congratulated them, "Although many innocents were caught in the crossfire... you all have beaten your first Warlock. I am proud of you."

They all shared a smile as moments later, the police had arrived on the floor and brought the boys downstairs for medical aid. As they all were treated in the ambulances parked at the foot of the building, night finally came to be and the boys celebrated their victory.

An hour after the death of Zed and being patched up by the paramedics, the Puerum Magi had gone to a nearby bathhouse to relax and regain their energy from what will be the first of many battles against the Warlocks. Half an hour from dinner, the misty bathhouse was empty of all but the boys that were enjoying themselves in the bath as Mamoru had reserved the entire place before they arrived. On the ceiling, a large window gave the boys a clear view of the starry skies as they bathed in the relaxing hot water, their soaps and towels sitting in baskets nearby.

Takuya felt the hot water soak him to the bone as his wounds healed underneath compression wraps on his arms, shoulder, forehead and legs, "Oh, this feels goooooood," he let out a long, contented sigh with a big smile.

Hideki leaned on the bath's railings and let the water do its job as he placed a towel on his head. After Takuya had been patched up by the medics, the brunette used his Restoration magic on Hideki to heal all of his wounds. Although he still felt a bit of a headache, it was better than spending a night covered in wraps and bandages. Beside the blue-haired boy, Tateyama was up to his chin in water while Mamoru relaxed beside the bandaged brunette, "How are your wounds, Takuya?" Mamoru asked, "Feeling better after a soak in the water?"

"I'm a'OK!" Takuya chirped, flashing a thumbs up.

Swimming by with a doggy-paddle, Sanbey added, "His wounds should heal by tomorrow morning. Although he cannot use his own magic on himself, a Puerum Magi's healing factor can heal most wounds in half a day."

Hideki rolled his shoulders and groaned, "But, man, was Zed a pain in the ass. Would've been a goner if Takuya wasn't such a tough pup. Couldn't stand hearing his talking, either. Bastard just kept on rambling."

"You still defeated him, though," Sanbey said as he leap out of the hot bath and onto the railing. He shook his body to get the water out of his fur, "You all played a significant role in defeating him today, so it's best to relax in the meantime."

Mamoru's smug grin appeared and Tateyama momentarily smiled for a bit. Takuya continued to soak in the water and Hideki huffed, "It's over. For now, at least. Before the next one comes along, let's take the time to relax and get some rest. It's a Sunday tomorrow, anyway."

Tateyama nodded.

"Agreed," Mamoru concurred.

"Things are gonna get really busy, huh?" said Takuya.

"It will," Sanbey answered his rhetorical question, straddling on the bath railing and stretching his hind and forelegs like a cat, "But, I do think some recreational activities are good for the mind and body. It's not a bad thing to hang out with your friends naked once in a while, don't you all agree?" his innocent question had varied reactions from the boys.

"I do!" Takuya raised a bandaged arm, then winced when it ached in pain.

"You know, Sanbey," Hideki cleared this throat, "You could have worded that a bit differently."

Tateyama looked away completely flustered and quiet as Mamoru scratched his reddish cheeks. Sanbey looked among them, wondering about the odd responses he was receiving from asking a simple question, "Did I say something wrong?"

A loud stomach growl then came from Tateyama, making all the boys look at him as the white-haired boy bluntly asked, "Can we eat dinner now?"

After their relaxation in the bathhouse, the boys took a few minutes to walk to a nearby restaurant by the name of 'Kaizen's' not far from where they were. Mamoru had his Uncle Joseph book a private table at this place earlier when he met up with Minami for a drink and the restaurant was at least three floors high and narrow when they arrived. Although they were just standing at the entrance in some new clothes they had changed into, they could already smell the food from the outside.

"Really, where do you get the cash for this?" Hideki remarked before they went in.

Inside, a waiter had recognized the green-haired boy and lead the group to a room on the upper floors. It was a private room, 8 meters in length and width with a rectangular table and cushions sitting on a tatami floor. They sat on the comfy cushions and the waiter poured them their tea while they all read the menu for what to eat. It was thick menu with all sorts of stuff in it to order. In the corner, they had placed Takuya's groceries, Tateyama's cake boxes and laptop bag, and all their schoolbags into one pile.

Takuya and Tateyama's mouths were watering and Hideki wondered how one dish alone was pricey. Sanbey sitting on his shoulders, Mamoru said with a grin, "Eat whatever you want, for the bill is covered. We all have earned a big feast today after not only completing our training, but defeating a Warlock," holding up a hot cup of tea, he sipped it and made a contented smile from its taste.

Tateyama took out a pen and a piece of paper and Takuya asked him what he was doing while he began to write some stuff down on it, "Making a list," he replied, picking out what he wanted from the menu and writing it all down on his paper note. Mamoru made a comment if he should have taken back his words when Takuya took out a piece of paper as well and happily did the same.

Around half an hour later, the long table meant for 6 people barely lacked any space as hundreds of dishes and meal sets took up any space there was before on the table. Mamoru had to order an extra table if more kept on coming. Meanwhile, Tateyama and Takuya scarfed down on their meals as Hideki looked on and ate slowly to savor the taste. Sanbey had his own plate on the table and the Familiar pretty much ate whatever that was on his platter.

Sipping his tea and relishing every bite of his meal, Mamoru smiled at the thought of managing to set up this dinner without any problems. When he had to monitor his friends as they fought Zed, he felt a sort of worry and fear as he called them through their earpieces. Earlier, he had a small feeling that there would have been two empty seats in this room. As Mamoru pondered about this, he leaned his elbows on the table and began to think. But Hideki saw his melancholic expression and nudged him in the arm, "You alright?"

"O-Oh, yes. I'm quite fine," Mamoru shook his head and took a bite out of his katsudon in front of him. Wiping his mouth with a tissue, he placed the tissue aside and sighed, looking down on as he continued, "I was just thinking about earlier. When you and Takuya fought Zed, I was... worried, that you two wouldn't have made it out. I was becoming worried as Tateyama and I went to regroup with you. I almost thought I was too late there."

"Hey, we're here and alive, alright?" Hideki patted him on the back, "I'm a tough sunuvabitch, so I won't go down easily. Besides, I got people I just can't leave behind if I end up dying. What would you guys be without me?" he shot a cocky smile and made Mamoru chuckle, "There we go! It's not like you to act like this. Come on, cheer up."

"I suppose so. We've been through a lot. All of us," Mamoru took up the teapot and poured some more into his cup. He wrapped his hands around it for warmth and took in a deep breath, "I just can never let go of my fear of losing any of you. So, promise me that if you're in trouble and are in need of help, run, and don't charge back in without a plan or assistance. If you and Takuya are in trouble, Tateyama and I are coming in to help. Armor or no armor. Alright?"

"Alright. I promise," Hideki answered, raising his cup.

"Thank you."

Finishing his 8th dish, Tateyama took a few minutes to digest his food and wash it all down with some cola as Takuya did the same. Sanbey was nibbling on an entire fish when Mamoru suddenly stood up with his glass in hand, "Everyone, I would like to say something. Something important," he looked around, and with everyone's attention on him, Mamoru closed his eyes for a moment and continued, "Today, we have defeated our first Warlock. Together. I do not know when they will strike again, nor if it will be when we are alone and separated. But - No matter what - promise me that even in the most dire situation... Hope, and never give up. Fight will all your might and cunning, to defeat your enemies," his voice turned slightly low, "Homura... She gave her life to save ours'. We made a promise to her that we will be strong, for her sake and this city's. It's because of her and Sanbey that we are here right now, fighting to continue her legacy. I know that she is long gone... but we must never forget her sacrifice."

Raising his glass, Mamoru looked up with stern eyes and announced, "I hereby declare, that with our weapons in hand, as long as we draw breath, we will never give up and always strive for a better future. And with this oath, I deem us... the 'Protector Servorum', guardians against the Warlocks and protectors against those they will not hesitate to take away from us. We are the servants of Homura's legacy, and her will personified."

The boys raised their glasses in unison.

"To Homura."

"To Homura," they all repeated.

Downing the contents of their cups, Mamoru sat back down and placed his glass on the table. He kept his stern look before it turned into a sincere expression, "Now, enjoy your meal. Let's not dwell too long on the past and look forward to our future. It's what she would have wanted."

As the boys continued with their celebratory dinner, Mamoru lied down on the tatami mat floor and quietly sighed to himself. Closing his eyes, he wondered what was going to happen from now on, and at the same time, readied for all the ordeals that will happen in the future. This could be the last dinner that would be shared between the four of them, and if it was, he was going to at least make it memorable.