Author's Note: …I think I may finish this in the next five chapters. I know that will make a few of you sad, but I've been working on this fic for almost half a year now and would like to move on to something else. So here we go, the begging of the end of the story.

The Story So Far: Parents and the like have been rescued, but now we must kick the ass of the evil Blake so we can all go home and sleep peacefully.

Hidden

By: Bar-Ohki

Chapter 41: Blake of the Underground

After a quick rendez-vous with Malhavoc, the party moved further into the tunnel. They walked for a good bit of time before they arrived at a large, black wall.

"He's on the other side." Shin remarked, squinting because the magic was so bright.

"The barrier's about to go…." Zork remarked, having paid especially good attention to the barrier's status this entire time.

"How do you suppose we get past the wall?" Yukimitsu asked.

"With a lock pick." Kali answered as she walked up to the wall and shined her little light on a small hole in the side of the otherwise flat wall. She handed Malhavoc a long, shiny bit of metal and Malhavoc simply set his ear to the wall, shut his eyes and started picking the lock. Within a few moments there was a loud 'cal-lack' and the wall began to fall down.

"There you go." Malhavoc smirked. Now that the wall was down there was a small room, lit in a sickly green light. In the center of the room was Blake, looking very much like a mummified corpse. No hair, all wrinkled skin and bones, and sunk eyes.

"Ew!" Mamori gasped, he smelled like a corpse too.

"…Some Necromancers choose to kill themselves to strengthen their powers," Zork explained, "he's one of them."

"Here goes nothing…." Hiruma muttered and pointed Akumetsu at Blake and moved to pull the trigger when the entire mountain shuddered once and Shin watched all the magic collapse. Blake's eyes opened and all the magic began to flow into him.

"Down!" Malhavoc yelled as he flung himself to the floor, the others followed, barely managing to avoid Blake's initial gush of offensive magic.

"...This is what they send to kill me?" Blake asked, his voice raspy and airy. "You think the Elders would show a little more spine…."

"Fuck you." Hiruma aimed Akumetsu again and pulled the trigger. Unfortunately there was a lot of magic in the air between Hiruma and Blake, so all the shot did was make a minor magic vaccum and that was quickly filled.

"What an adorable little artificat you managed to pick-" Blake was completely distracted by no longer having a head. Kali had moved across the room and cut Blake's head off when he was not paying attention. Kali jumped back and away immediately, knowing that was only a minor issue. Malhavoc lept to his feet and readied Escarlaje while Kali ran behind him.

"Ah, assassins." Blake sighed, as if he was remembering some plesant memory. "They are always so clever."

"You used holy-enchantments, right?" Malhavoc asked as the others slowly made their way to their feet.

"Of course." Kali assured Malhavoc.

"All faith starts in death," Blake began as his body moved and picked up his head, "that is why I am a holy being."

Kali threw her katars at Blake, stabbing them into his body with small 'squish' noises. Blake didn't seem to care, or even notice.

"What the hell?" Juumonji muttered.

"Does this guy have a weakeness?" Monta muttered.

"It'd be magical," Malhavoc warned the others, "because you can't kill a body that's already dead."

"I can't see it…" Shin muttered, having been looking.

"Like he'd show us." Hiruma growled.

"I think I'll take you first." Blake pointed a finger at Hiruma and the magic swarmed around him for a moment, then there was a loud snap. Blake feel backwards, his lower body rotting away.

"Huh?" Kuroki blinked.

"What'd you do!?" Juumonji demanded.

"Fucking nothing." Hiruma admitted.

"So this is his final retribution, hmm?" Blake asked from his position against the wall. "To send in his brother and his protogee?"

"Shut it." Malhavoc's hand flashed and seven darts embedded themselves into Blake.

"Poisoning my magic?" Blake asked. "You are a clever one."

"Youngling, we need to damage magically and periminately," Malhavoc told Hiruma, "we are the only two with weapons capable of doing so, any thoughts?"

"I shoot him point blank." Hiruma answered.

"You have ten moments." Malhavoc pulled Escarlaje up into an arc and a small, but pointed red flash came out of it. Hiruma knew well enough and rushed forward, putting the gun right against Blake's forehead and firing.

There was a large exposion and those who did not hide behind shields were blown into the walls. Blake's body was still there, relatively unharmed as the only damage was a little black burnt spot had appeared in the middle of his forehead.

"The easiest way to defeat a chanel weapon is to over fill it." Blake laughed. "I'd be amazed if it still exi-"

Hiruma simply stood up, Akumetsu in his hand and unharmed. The air around Hiruma had gotten rather chilled. Hiruma himself seemed to have only taken minor damage from the explosion.

"Fucking shrimp packs more punch than you." Hiruma snorted, rolling his shoulders.

"You absorbed it, not a bad move." Blake observed. "But it won't be enough to stop me from doing this."

Suddenly Kali let out a screech and started to attack Hiruma with her bare hands. One punch in the vitals had Hiruma on the ground, caughing.

"An assassin of Rune, well trained and experienced…." Blake muttered. "Such a good minion."

"Oh shit…." Musashi muttered, realizing that every one of them could easily become Blake's next minions.

"Radnog!" Zork cired, write fire leaping into existence around him.

"An incubus?" Blake blinked once before the fire was upon him. It didn't burn his body, rather it burned some corpse Blake had summoned to protect himself. "What makes you think you could possibly beat me?"

"Musadex!" Mamori cried and Blake found what was left of his body breaking and exploding a lot.

"Annoying." Blake remarked. He set his eyes on her when Malhavoc did something distacting.

"Gihel-ooh!" Malhavoc cried, making a large pile of muscas suddenly appear around Blake.

"Why's he moving so slow?" Sena asked from his place behind Juumonji's shield.

"The barrier isn't down completely," Zork explained, "it's just in tatters."

"Do you have a better idea elf?" Hiruma asked Malhavoc.

"…Try focusing your power into your weapon and say 'tinaot'." Malhavoc suggested.

Not knowing what else to do, Hiruma obliged Malhavoc's whim. A purple bullet shot out of Akumetsu, touching the mucas and freezing it instantly. It also sucked in a great deal of the magic from the air into it.

"That should buy me time to deal with Kali!" Malhavoc cried as he attacked the other assassin. Kali whipped around and kicked at Malhavoc, trying to keep him as far from her as he could. During that fight Mamori collapsed.

"Mamori!" Togano gasped.

"She used an Old Word…." Zork muttered. "That was beyond her power and is paying for it."

"Is there anything we can do?" Takami asked.

"Get her out of here." Zork advised.

"…Okay." Sakuraba nodded and he and Takami carried Mamori out of the room.

"He's breaking it…." Shin muttered, still watching Blake.

"Drink!" Malhavoc snapped loudly, pouring a bit of Kali's own poison into her mouth. She let out a shriek and fell backwards in clear agony.

"What if we took that stuff in advance?" Yukimitsu asked as the thought struck him.

"I won't recommend it for the Sensitives…." Malhavoc threw the bottle to Monta, who caught it with ease. "But the rest of you should."

And Blake broke free.

"This is tiresome." Blake yawned and the ground rose up around him, then fell away, revealing a youthful looking man with red hair, black eyes and pointy ears. He was clothed in a green tunic and brown britches.

"Rebirthed your body, ne?" Malhavoc muttered, not really approving of the gesture.

"I had almost forgotten how to unwind my teacher's magic," Blake appologised with his smooth voice, "but I had you to remind me how it worked…."

"Teacher?" Monta and Musashi shared a confused look.

"…It's a real pitty I had such a good teacher." Blake went on. "Because he taught me everything he knew without a care."

"Not everything, Blake, never everything." Zeke remarked from behind them. He was leaning heavily on the side of the tunnel and panting.

"So you have come then?" Blake asked.

"Only to chase you into Death should that be needed." Zeke smiled and sunk to the floor, his body weak.

"Trying to hold these tatters to my body?" Blake laughed.

"I am no fool." Zeke said once, then shut his eyes and appeared to fall asleep.

"Oh fuck you." Hiruma muttered then shot the air around Blake several times, removing more and more of the man's magic from the air. Blake's eyes widened slightly and he frowned. He turned to manipulate Kali, only to realize she was no longer under his control.

"I see why that poison was made…." Blake observed then tried to posses Musashi. The kicker simply feel to one knee, looking like he was in some pain, but not intolerable amounts like Kali was. Hiruma kept on firing at the air, getting more and more exhausted as he continued.

"Let me know when you see a crack." Malhavoc asked Shin as he waited with Escarlaje at the ready.

"You don't have enough power to stop me." Blake observed as he continued to put the non-magical members of the Devil Bats into states of pain.

"What makes you say that?" Hiruma grinned like a maniac and started eating Blake's magic to restore his own.

"You-!" Blake gasped, completely startled by this.

"Badkeb!" Zork cried, sending a large green ball of magic at Blake. The Necromancer didn't have time to dodge or shield and found his body quickly growing older and more frail. His magic seemed to leak out of his body quicker when it got older.

"Sifmia." Blake remarked and three zombees came out of the ground and attacked Zork. The young incubus was fairly fast, but not enough to keep all three of them completely back. Juumonji, despite his pain, abandoned his shield and started to join in on the zombie fight. Kuroki and Togano did the same thing.

Zork fell back against another wall, panting from exhaustion and the wounds he got from the Zombies.

"Now to deal-" Blake was cut off when Hiruma shot the wall behind Blake, which still had a lot of free magic in it from the wards that had recently been standing, and it exploded. Half of Blake's arm had been caught up in the blast, disiniagrating it thoroughly.

"Clever." Blake only hissed, his eyes glowing red.

_=_=_=_=_=_

Here it is, the start of the final fight. I blame school for the lateness of this update and please review!