The Battle Never Ends

by Arthain

The Tyrant had surpassed death once before. This time wouldn't have been any different save for the determination of one young man and his desire to protect all that he cared for. But what should have been the end instead became a new beginning. A beginning somewhere else. A beginning where Night Raid was still needed.

23. For Those Passed On

Author's Note: Placeholder to keep the chapter title properly aligned.

Chapter 21: For Those Passed On

Exhaustion weighed heavily upon Hikaru. Her legs were burned like they were on fire, the muscles pushed to their breaking point and then pushed even further beyond. Each step felt like she was trying to move a pair of boulders firmly rooted into the ground for centuries. They screamed at her in protest, demanding that she stop. She kept an impassive look on her face, showing none of the weakness she felt, as she forced one foot in front of the other. The only outward sign she allowed herself was the rivulets of sweat that ran down her face and back.

Weakness wasn't something Gregorious tolerated, and something Syura would try to exploit.

Her Sacred Gear took a huge toll on her, sapping her mental and physical stamina like nothing else could, and the game had gone on long. If it had gone on much longer, Hikaru wasn't certain she could have made it to the end.

She stopped beside a large, marble pillar, one of several that supported the high vaulted ceiling of the lobby, and leaned back against it. Gregorious liked to make a good first impression even if everyone's opinion of the man dropped the moment he opened his mouth. A pleasant sigh escaped her lips as the cold chill of the black marble pillar seeped through the back of her body suit. It was a nice, comforting feeling against her super heated skin. Even more than that, it was proof that it was finally over. That damnable Rating Game that seemed to go on forever was finally finished.

"I am quite pleased, yes, quite pleased indeed," Gregorious said, his voice vibrating with excitement. The twisted devil was standing in the center of the lobby, slowly turning in a circle to capture each of their gazes with his own. The man looked as exhausted as Hikaru felt, his once immaculate suit was torn and ripped in many places. Where it wasn't, it clung to his body, soaked with sweat. Like her, he didn't let the exhaustion show in his posture or his face. It wasn't just his voice that vibrated with excitement, the man himself seemed to vibrate. "Ruval Phenex proved to be as worthy an opponent as I had expected. His peerage was truly magnificent, but there can only be one victor and my peerage proved to be superior to his!"

"I suppose it wasn't so bad at the end there," Syura said. The scar-faced man was leaning against a pillar across the lobby like Hikaru. "I got a piece of that bishop near the end there. The other girls tapped out before I could take them." Hikaru didn't let her disgust show on her face. Of course that man would be satisfied with that. Clarine had suffered under Syura's… touch because she had no choice. If she had dropped the spell she had used to entrap Gregorious, the man would have hit Ruval with a powerful spell that would have ended the battle sooner than it did. "Pity she didn't come back after that I was looking forward to making her a necklace out of her own entrails." Syura let out an exaggerated sigh. "All that wasted preparation."

"Do not fret, there's plenty of women I can reward you with later," Gregorious said, waving away his last complaint.

"I prefer it when they struggle." He gave Hikaru a meaningful look.

"Any time you want me to hang you by your entrails, you're free to try," Hikaru threw back at him.

He looked away, scowling darkly.

Hikaru moved her arms to cover key parts of her body. Her gear had barely survived that battle, although that was partly her own fault for utilizing her Sacred Gear. Her metal breastplate was dented and gouged, biting uncomfortably into her skin. She wanted to take it off right then and there but was afraid of what she'd end up exposing to the perverted to Syura or Gregorious. The parts of her bodysuit that wasn't covered by the metal breastplate had seen far better days. There were cuts all over it, an indication of what probably laid beneath the breastplate, and an especially deep cut exposed more skin below her navel than she'd have preferred. The bottom half of her bodysuit had come very close to separating from the top.

"You'll have your women Syura, I won't have you touching my best piece and the MVP of that Rating Game."

Right, she had received that hadn't she? Her eyes flickered over to Kurenai. Gregorious' Queen was holding onto it for her. She'd been told it'd been all but assured once she got Syura's marker to the promotion point. Her efforts after that had only sealed it.

She had to admit, that was one thing she did like about Rating Games. Every time she received that reward it felt like her hard work and efforts were being recognized and rewarded, and not by someone like Gregorious Abaddon.

Kurenai gave her a little smile, she'd noticed the look. "This belongs to you," she said as she made her way over to Hikaru's side and handed the MVP reward to her. For this game it had turned out to be a ring with a fine chain wound through it. She could wear it around her neck or on her finger. It looked extravagant and expensive. "You can add it to your ever-increasing collection. It won't be long before you have more than Syura." Proof of her usefulness. Proof that she was better than Syura. She could feel his hatred from across the lobby without even looking as the medal was hung around her neck. Before she came around Syura had usually been the one to earn the MVP reward.

Losing to a woman probably stung his pride quite a bit.

"I won't keep you all very long tonight, that game went on overly long I think and you are all exhausted. You could all use a good night's sleep. Perhaps tomorrow I'll even have a little celebration for all of you. We have certainly earned it with our victory over Ruval Phenex." The man could be magnanimous, but only when everything went his way, such as it had today. That smile on his lips might even be genuine. He certainly sounded as if he was in a good enough mood to mean it. "After defeating someone like Ruval Phenex we are most certainly now within the top fifteen groups in the Underworld. Due to the excellent performance all around, I believe we may finally be able to challenge the best groups."

"Including your cousin," Kurenai added.

Gregorious shook his head. "Not so soon I think. I know that arrogant fool. He won't even give us a second glance until we break into the top ten and even then the coward will probably make some excuse citing family issues. We'll have to force his hand. There are others that will accept my challenges now. We'll increase our rank to the point where Bedeze isn't allowed to turn us down."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lilian let out a huge yawn, swaying. She stumbled and almost fell over. The little girl was falling asleep where she stood. That Sacred Gear of hers was powerful, but it was also mentally taxing.

"I think Lilian surprised Ruval several times," Hikaru said, speaking up on behalf of the little girl. She was hoping to bring Gregorious' attention back to the little girl and the promise he'd made with her. Considering the man's good mood, he just might keep it. The little girl deserved something, no matter how small it was.

The little girl jumped when Hikaru spoke her name and she gave her a startled look. The startled look became complete surprise when Gregorious laid a pair of gentle hands on her shoulders. "Ah, yes, Lilian, you certainly performed well this day. You kept Ruval busy in his base for over an hour causing all sorts of havoc on his plans."

"…just… doing as told…" Lilian whispered.

"And your loyalty is greatly appreciated, never think it's not," Gregorious said. The man was all smiles as his eyes ran up and down the little girls' body. The smile widened ever so slightly as it took on a lecherous quality. "I am a man of my word. From tonight until our next Rating Game, you're permitted to sleep alone. After that you and I…" his eyes fell to her chest and then her waist. The lecherous smile only grew. "Well, we can talk about that later. I'm certain you're tired. Please, don't wait on my accord. You have my permission to retire for the night."

Abject shock was the only word Hikaru could use to describe the look on the little girl's face. She had not expected Gregorious to remember his promise, let alone keep it. Gregorious, sensing her hesitation, stepped to the side and pushed her towards the enormous split staircase that wound its way up to the second and third floors.

Lilian took a single, cautious step, as if unsure if this was a trick. When no one moved to stop her it was followed by a less hesitant second, and then a third. By the time she took her fifth step she was all but running for the stairs, the prospect of a bed all to herself propelling her forward ever faster despite her exhausted state.

"That was strangely kind of you," Kurenai said, letting out a soft laugh as Lilian disappeared up the stairs and down one of the wings of the estate towards her room.

It had been uncharacteristically kind of Gregorious. Hikaru was happy for Lilian, but at the same time a little worried if this was the prelude to something else. Gregorious never treated anyone that well… at least not anyone that didn't go by the name of Serafall Leviathan. She was worried that Lilian had more in store for her in the future than just sharing Gregorious' bed.

Gregorious delicately arched an eyebrow at Kurenai. "Whatever do you mean, my dear? I am always kind to those that do good work for me." Only if he had something to gain. And he was an absolute tyrannical nightmare to those that aren't or even those that simply aren't useful enough. "Besides, she will need to catch up on sleep. I won't let her have much after the next Rating Game, not for a good long while."

"Ah, I see." Kurenai paused to toss a glance towards Lilian's bedroom before continuing. "She'll be number fifty-seven."

"Fifty-eight, actually," Gregorious said. He gave a little dismissive wave. "But that's neither here nor there." He turned slowly, addressing them all. "Like I said, I don't want to keep you all long. Good work all around, and if all continue to do good work there will be great rewards for all of you in the future. The rest of the night is yours. You're free to do what you will, within reason."

In other words, do whatever you want so long as it didn't bother Gregorious in any way. Most of them would probably just go to sleep. Everyone was too tired to do much of anything. Even the ever energetic Morrigan and rapacious Syura were probably headed for their beds.

Hikaru pushed off the pillar and started for the staircase much like everyone else. Her burning legs wanted nothing more than to rest and her bed sounded like the best place right then. Halfway there Kurenai stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Gregorious would like to speak with you in his bedchamber. Get cleaned up and meet him there."

A trickle of worry wormed its way through her mind. What did he want with her? Usually when someone was asked to his bed chamber at this time of night it was for an encounter of the sexual variety. She was unique in that she was the only one Gregorious hadn't forced. Had the man finally decided otherwise now? Worry blossomed inside her, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Hikaru steeled her features and marched on. There wasn't any point in arguing with Kurenai though, she was just passing the message along. In fact the woman herself hadn't waited for a reply and had already walked on.

She'd just have to clean herself up and see what Gregorious wanted. Perhaps it wasn't what she feared? He had to know that she wouldn't say yes to his advances, and after the performance she put on he wouldn't dare risk weakening her just for the sake of a pleasant night. Would he?

Maybe he thought this was good enough? Perhaps she'd been too effective and he felt she could still be a powerful tool even with her mind broken…

Worried thoughts plagued her mind as she made her way to her room, slower now. She wasn't quite as interested in returning as she'd once been.

~o~

There was a little hum on her lips as she stepped out of the bath and grabbed a soft blue towel from a nearby rack to dry off. It was a little tune her mother used to sing to her when she was younger. A tune from happier days before she was taken from her parents and forced to be his Rook. It was something that she just couldn't stop herself from doing whenever something good happened.

She didn't get a chance to hum often these days. It was getting harder to care. Harder, to even remember her mother's smiling face.

But tonight was a good night! Lilian quickly rubbed the towel through her hair and skipped out of the bathroom, pausing just long enough to grab a light chemise to throw on. She stopped inside her room. It was small, dirty, and smelled like someone she didn't want to think about right then.

The room's sole window was thrown open, allowing a breeze of fresh air to swirl inside, kicking up the curtains in a playful manner that she just watched for several minutes. A little chill ran down her spine as a particular cool breeze blew in, reminding her of where she was. She turned from the window and quickly busied herself in her room. Tidying up here, wiping down there, cleaning up the room until it almost shone.

With that done she turned and smiled at the bed. Finally! She went to work on the bed, gathering up all the sheets and pillow cases before dumping it all in the trash. Poking her head out into the hallway, she saw no one, and before anyone showed up she quickly went over to the linen room and grabbed a fresh set of everything.

It didn't take long to change her bed and soon she stood before a fresh smelling bed in a room that looked and felt a little like home once had. It didn't smell like that man. It smelled like lemons and flowers.

With her first smile in years Lilian let herself fall forward, flopping onto the bed with a gentle sigh. She wrapped her arms around her pillow and buried her face into it. The smell was more pronounced and it was wonderful.

She'd finally get to sleep all—

A massive thump rattled the door, causing her to jump in fright.

"…w-who is it?" Lilian asked nervously as she sat up in her bed. Her hands curled into fists as she pressed them against her chest.

His voice came through the door. "You wouldn't really go to sleep without me, would you?"

"…g-go away." No, this wasn't what she wanted. This wasn't what her master promised her. She did well, didn't she? Wasn't that enough?

Why?

The door was locked, but that didn't stop that man. A hissing, bubbling noise kicked up from the handle as acid burned its way through the lock. With a pop the lock on this side of the door fell to the floor. The door slowly opened revealing a large, fat man wearing a clown's makeup. There was a wide, sick grin on his face as he stared down at her.

His smile widened even further when he noticed the clean room. "How nice of you to have cleaned things up. It was getting a little dirty in here."

"…M-Master said I—"

"Gregorious said you could, not that you had to," Champ said as he stepped into the room. He held his hand up before him and a large ball of acid appeared. "You won't tell him that you don't want me here, will you? You certainly wouldn't want another bout of… indigestion, would you?" He held the ball of acid towards her for emphasis.

Lilian flinched in pain. She remembered that first time when he had forced that down her throat. She couldn't die… so she had simply writhed in agony as it worked its way through her body.

Champ hadn't cared, by the time she had finished passing it through, he'd already had his way with her, several times.

"…no…" Lilian whimpered.

Anything was better than being forced to eat that… anything.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as Champ reached out for her.

~o~

The silver moon that hung high in the night sky couldn't pierce thick canopy of leaves of the forest around Gregorious' estate, leaving the forest floor covered in a thick veil of darkness. A cool breeze blew in from somewhere, gently caressing Tatsumi's cheeks and rustling the leaves of the trees as it rushed past him. Beyond the rustling of leaves, the forest was silent. It was like it knew what was about to happen and was holding its breath in anticipation.

It certainly wasn't fear that kept it silent. There were numerous coerulis all about him, hiding in bushes, lounging across branches or peering down at them from the canopy above. The tips of their tendril like whiskers glowing softly with electricity.

"It's ready, Tatsumi."

He turned from the coerulis to the small, blonde-haired girl nearby, Ravel Phenex. She knelt upon the leafy floor, heedless to the dirt she was getting on her purple dress. Her focus upon the large runic construct before her was so complete she either didn't notice, or care, that the trees were alive with watching coerulis.

After everything Tatsumi had been told about the Phenex family and coerulis, he was surprised to see so many about. Perhaps their curiosity out-stripped their distaste of being around members of the Phenex family.

Tatsumi knelt down beside the girl, peering intently at the soft red light radiating from the magical construct. "You're certain this will work?" He knew little about what Ravel had built, only that it looked pretty.

"It should, or at least I've been told it should." So she didn't know much more than him, that probably wasn't good. Ravel held up a piece of parchment. The glow from the magical runes wasn't enough to illuminate the ink on it but from what he remembered it held detailed instructions on how to construct the very runic grid that Ravel had just finished. "We'll simply have to trust that the Satans have not led us astray."

"I have trust issues," Tatsumi muttered. There was no point complaining too much. Whether this worked or not, they were still going forward. Having it work though would greatly improve their ability to carry out this mission. "Akame, do you have the item?" Tatsumi asked, looking up from the magical circle to a dark shadow leaning against a tree.

The shadow broke away from the tree and Akame's features became visible as she entered the soft light of the runic grid. "I do, Tatsumi." She reached inside her collar and pulled out a pink brooch. She dropped it into the palm of his hand. "That was certainly useful getting into the estate earlier. It masked me from the wards… or rather it made the wards think that I was an authorized guest so they didn't activate."

That was the key element that mattered most. The fact that the ward felt whoever wore that brooch was allowed inside. It was something Serafall had given Akame.

"Let's hope it works," Tatsumi said as he handed the brooch over to Ravel. The girl quickly placed it upon an insignia set within several concentric circles of runes. It was one of several circular grids that wrapped around a much larger circle of runes. "Otherwise we're going to have the entire estate on us before we can reach the walls." He turned to Xenovia and gestured her over. "Let's not give Gregorious and his peerage any time to rest. Ruval and his peerage went through a great deal of hardship to wear them all out."

"I'll get it done!" Xenovia vowed, her face set and as hard as stone as she made her way into the center of the spell. "I respect Clarine for sacrificing herself for the greater good. I won't let that sacrifice be in vain!" She held her hand out and summoned Durandal to her grasp. Then without hesitation she slammed it down into the earth in the very center of the magical spell. "Let's show this man what Night Raid can do!"

"Yes!" Ravel hissed fiercely as she placed her palms on either side of the pink brooch. "The days when that man can get away with things like that is over!"

Demonic energy surged through Ravel's form, wrapping around her arms and spiraling its way down into the magical array. It brightened noticeably, so much so that Tatsumi shot a quick glance through the forest towards the estate, worried that the glow might be seen. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice. Tatsumi turned his attention back to the magical array as Ravel's power continued to flow into it. It flowed through the brooch, spiraled around Xenovia, and then a long tendril of magical energy shot out across the ground, snaking its way across the leaf covered forest floor towards the barrier ward that encompassed the estate.

While the plan was simple in concept, it was much more difficult to pull off in actuality. Ravel was going to disable the protective wards around the estate using Xenovia's Durandal to cut through them. And to ensure the wards believed that this was intended and not an attack, they were using the access granted by the pink brooch. Since Gregorious was absolutely obsessed with Serafall, the hope was that he'd granted her total access to her estate.

It was all theory as there was no way to test it before tonight, although Akame being able to reach Gregorious' inner most sanctum without raising an alarm did tilt things in their favor.

The barrier ward around the estate briefly shimmered into existence as the tendrils of magical energy reached it before unravelling, peeling back from the top, down to the grassy lawn. Tatsumi held his breath and waited, would there be an alarm? Did someone see the ward dissolve? He didn't see any activity, but he had to make sure.

He tapped on the ear piece he wore, a miniature headset that everyone in Night Raid wore to keep them all in contact with each other. "Najenda, are you there?" Tatsumi whispered.

"I am. Just saw the barrier come down." There was a pause. "No sign of any activity over here. I gather from the tone of your voice everything is quiet on that side?"

Tatsumi allowed a sigh of relief to escape his lips. Trust Najenda to know what he was contacting her for without needing to speak a word. "It is. Seems like the plan worked."

"Glad to hear." There was a brief pause. "These 'headsets' are interesting. I might need to bring a few with me when Akame and I return."

Tatsumi chuckled. That was also very much like Najenda, always looking for an advantage. "You'll need to bring with you a way to charge them. Unless you developed power plants since I was last there your world hadn't developed electricity."

"I'll think of something."

Tatsumi just smiled and slowly rose to his feet. "Akame, Bennia," Tatsumi whispered quietly. The two women in question stepped forward. Bennia had her reapers' mask drawn across her face, concealing everything but her eyes which, for a change, didn't have their usual sleepy look in them. "You have your targets, go."

The two girls nodded. "I won't fail," Akame said as she turned towards the estate. "This Gregorious Abaddon is just like Honest was back in our world. Someone like that deserves to die." Then she was gone, slipping into the shadows and disappearing towards the estate.

((You don't have to worry about me, Tatsumi)) Bennia said quietly. ((Just focus on Gregorious. I'll pick up any slack. I won't let anyone stop you from dealing the Retribution Gregorious Abaddon so rightly deserves.)) Then she too was gone, disappearing back into the shadows she'd stepped from.

He trusted those two more than anyone else.

"Will you two be fine here?" Tatsumi asked Ravel and Xenovia.

"Go, Tatsumi, we will take care of this," Xenovia vowed. "I'll keep Ravel safe if they find us."

"If they find us there's no point in keeping the ward down," Ravel added. She looked up at him and gave him a wide smile. "You can count on us in the mean time!"

"Thank you." He turned from the two girls and glanced around at the coerulis. "This may be asking a bit much but I'm going to be busy, watch over the two?"

He had no idea if they could understand him or if they could if they would even follow his request. They simply chittered amongst themselves for a bit before returning to their quiet vigil over area. Tatsumi didn't know what that meant but there wasn't any more time to sit around and wonder.

He left Ravel and Xenovia there and slipped into the surrounding forest as well, heading towards a place where he'd have a good vantage on Gregorious's bedroom. The moment that man let his guard down, Tatsumi would strike.

Tonight was the night Gregorious Abaddon would die.

~o~

Najenda padded softly through the dark forest surrounding Gregorious' estate, half her attention idly drifted back to her time leading Night Raid in her world. She had often been required to do this back then, to meet with this informant or that messenger from the Revolutionary army. Sometimes she even took part in the actual battles that played out.

She didn't do that so much anymore. Her face and name were well-known and well-respected. She walked openly now through the streets of the Capital, and that was only if she wasn't in a carriage surrounded by a large escort.

Oh how things have changed. Being out here brought back that familiar, comforting feeling of getting something accomplished. She had never liked being stuck behind a desk, but that was where she was required these days more often than not.

She'd never tell Tatsumi, but being here in this world with Akame and him, doing the same things they'd once done as part of Night Raid.

It felt like a vacation.

She pushed the nostalgic thoughts away as Mine came into sight. Najenda had tried to convince the girl to wear something darker, the bright pink dress stuck out like a sore thumb, but was just as stubborn as the Mine Najenda was familiar with. At least the accents on it were black. It helped, a little.

"Are you ready?" Najenda asked, her voice low and quiet. The forest was silent tonight and loud voices carried a long distance.

Mine just nodded, her attention focused through a small opening in the large bush she hid behind. Her gaze was on a lithe, female figure standing in lit window across the way. Jeina, one of Gregorious' pawns and one with the strongest defense after Lilian. It had been very tough for Ruval Phenex's peerage to crack her defenses during the Rating Game after she'd been promoted to Rook.

That water barrier of hers was automatic. It didn't require thought to control, which made it very problematic. Bennia and Akame couldn't guarantee they could kill her before she cried out in alarm.

Which was where Mine came in.

The Fallen Angel had a gold and black bracelet wrapped around her right wrist, a focusing gear that allowed her finer control over her spears of light. It had been a parting gift from Azazel before she'd officially left his side to join Night Raid. Mine was putting the bracelet to good use right now. Her pink divine energy swirled down her arm and into the bracelet where it was focused into a tight, compressed little ball of energy in the palm of her hand.

"I spoke with Tatsumi, the barrier is down, you're free to take out your target just we practiced," Najenda said as she knelt beside the Fallen Angel.

Mine was used to simply unleashing her power without a care, this mission would be good practice on the finer points of control. The bracelet helped, but there was still a ways to go. Wholesale destruction had its uses and its place, just not tonight.

"I'd much rather just blast the entire place to pieces," Mine muttered beneath her breath.

"We're trying to avoid collateral damage," Najenda reminded her, "we don't commit genocide, we make surgical strikes taking out only the key, corrupt elements in society. From Akame's recon earlier half of Gregorious' servants would gladly turn over a new leaf and the other half are probably just too scared to voice that opinion even when the man's not there."

"They're just devils." Mine let out a grumble then sighed. She became focused and her hand raised, pointing towards Jeina in the distance. Time seemed to slow for Najenda as the energy shifted and formed a miniature spear of broiling pink light. Impossibly the already silent forest stilled even more. Even the wind itself stopped.

It happened so fast Najenda would have missed it if she hadn't been watching for it. One moment the pink spear was in Mine's palm and the next Jeina's head ruptured, detonating with a brilliant pink light. The headless corpse dropped like a sack of potatoes. From the outside the only hint that anything had happened was the tiny circular hole punched through the glass.

"Nice shot."

"Of course, I never miss," Mine said proudly with a wide smile on her lips.

"Don't let over-confidence consume you, it'll cause you to make a mistake at the worst moment," Najenda chastised her. She stood and started towards their next spot to get vantage on their target. "Now, let's go, there's one more target on this side of the estate we need to take care of."

"What if they fail to take out their targets?" Mine asked as she followed.

"Then you create the largest spear you can and reduce the place to ash." They were 'trying' to avoid collateral damage, but sometimes it couldn't be avoided.

Mine let out a short laugh. "I'm not sure if I want them to succeed now or not."

Najenda just sighed. As much as some things were similar, it seems there were still a few differences.

~o~

She shivered again as she ducked through another marble archway. The further she got away from that fat clown the better. She felt sorry for little Lilian, sometimes, but it was better for all of them if she suffered instead.

No one had to know it was her idea to send Champ after Lilian to save her own hide. It was either her or that little girl and she was going to pick herself every time. They all would. She was only good for keeping that fat clown entertained anyways.

Right now she could use a drink to forget about those greasy, sweaty fingers, something from the master's special stock perhaps. She could always just blame it on someone else.

She froze the moment she stepped into the kitchen. Gin and Shadari had come here first, as they were won't to do after a Rating Game. Shadari was usually the one to feed an exhausted and almost comatose Gin. It seemed that while her Sacred Gear, the Juicer, could allow her to take any drug without the negative side effect, it didn't do anything about restoring the stamina that performing at such a high level demanded of her.

Shadari wasn't doing much feeding however, and Gin was even less responsive than usual. Having one's head separated from their shoulders tended to do that. Shadari, the emotionless, was even more emotionless than usual as she laid sprawled across the floor, her body covered in some sort of strange, alien language written in black writing.

They were both dead.

She whirled around to scream, shout for help, when an iron grip clamped over her mouth. In a single instant she was whipped about and slammed against the kitchen wall. A red-eyed woman with long, black hair in dark clothes stared at her with a blank, emotionless face.

"How unfortunate for you to stumble upon this before I finished cleaning it," the red-eyed woman said without a hint of remorse in her eyes. "Success of this mission is paramount and more important than your life."

Sharp pain scorched her mind as a long, slender blade was slid across her throat. She whipped and struggled, futility trying to throw the woman off. There was no escape. Those eyes promised only one thing.

Death.

~o~

Hikaru was nervous as she slowly made her way down the long hall towards Gregorious' room. The time spent taking washing the dirt and grim of the Rating Game from her body in the shower had done little to settle her nerves. Quiet the opposite. All manner of scenarios had plagued her mind, fueled by her imagination and the cruel acts she had personally seen Gregorious commit. At one point during the shower, she'd feared he had learned the truth behind her meeting Tatsumi and had wanted to take her for himself before Tatsumi could strike.

But if that had been the case he wouldn't have used Kurenai to ask her to meet him in his room. He would have confronted her directly.

Still, even if the worst probably wouldn't come to pass, even the best-case scenario had her worrying.

Those fears had stopped her from wearing the dresses she owned. Gregorious would expect her to arrive looking her best, he usually did when this sort of summons was issued. He'd get her in her regular clothes instead, the black bodysuit with its protective metal breastplate. They wouldn't do much to slow Gregorious if he forced himself on her, but it would send a statement from the very start.

Maybe he would take the hint?

Oh, who was she kidding? Tatsumi was more likely to come for her this night than Gregorious taking a hint. Even if he saw it he'd just ignore it.

A slight rumbling in the floor drew her attention just as a heavy thump reverberated through the door to her right. Glad for anything to pull her away from her thoughts and delay the inevitable just a little bit more, Hikaru made her way over.

Hikaru stopped at the large, heavy door and knocked twice. "Jeina, are you alright?" There was no response, just complete silence. Hikaru frowned, concerned. She didn't particularly like Jeina and she often ignored Hikaru entirely, so her silence wasn't uncommon.

However, Jeina was also very quick to speak up when someone knocked.

Something had probably happened. Hikaru didn't like Jeina enough to particularly care, she didn't much like anyone in this estate save for Lilian, it just gave her an excuse to delay the inevitable arrival at Gregorious' room. When it was obvious that no response was forth coming, Hikaru let out a sigh and continued on towards Gregorious' room.

At least Jeina had been good for a thirty second distraction.

She slowed as she neared Gregorious' room and glanced back the way she had come. Something had felt off ever since she left her room. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. Everything just felt too silent, too still. It'd taken her several minutes to make her way here from her room and she hadn't seen a single maid in all that time. It wasn't an impossible occurrence, just very unlikely.

Shaking her head slowly she turned back to the thick, ornate door that separated her from Gregorious. "Probably just me." She was probably just trying to find a reason to delay.

She wished there'd been more reasons to delay.

Hikaru took a deep breath, steeling her nerves as she reached his door. Gregorious wouldn't wait for her all night and it was better to come to him than make him come for her. As ready as she'd ever be she rapped her knuckles off the hard wood door.

"What is it?" Gregorious' angry muffled voice came in response.

"Kurenai mentioned you wished to see me?" Hikaru asked politely.

"Oh!" The note of anger was gone from his voice.

Hikaru could hear the faint creaking of the bed and a few moments the door opened to reveal a topless Kurenai. Her short dark hair was messy and sweat glistened on her face, tiny beads of sweat that rolled down her cheeks and neck to her chest. There were signs that she was using a breathing technique to control her breath.

"You've come, great," Kurenai said with a large smile on her lips. The woman stepped back and beckoned Hikaru to come inside. "Come on in and don't mind the mess. Beating Ruval Phenex has put my husband into an affectionate mood."

The stench of sweat and sex assaulted into Hikaru's nose as she stepped into the room. She refrained from wrinkling it in disgust. It was a pungent smell if ever there was one, and it didn't get any better thinking of who it belonged to. There were clothes scattered all over the room, too many for two individuals.

Hikaru found the owners of those other clothes laying naked atop the bed, breathing heavily in exhaustion. They were two of Gregorious' many wives. Hikaru had a vague recollection of them. She'd seen them about the estate from time to time but she'd never spoken with either of them and didn't have any names. He had far too many to remember them all. Hikaru doubted the man himself remembered all their names. He only cared about the size of the breasts and how loud they screamed his name as he plowed them.

The man himself, Gregorious Abaddon, was sitting on the edge of his large, four-posted bed. He had a black bath robe tied about him but he hadn't bothered to put his arms through the leaves, allowing the upper part of it to pool on the bed covers.

Gregorious' bare naked chest and all its hairy glory was not something Hikaru had any interest in seeing but at least he had bothered to cover a little. She'd been forced to see far worse in the past.

It wasn't difficult to keep her gaze on his eyes. There wasn't anything there she wanted to see. "You wished to speak with me?"

"I did, yes, thank you for coming. I know how exhausting your Scared Gear can be." Hikaru was instantly on alert. Something was wrong here. The man was almost being nice to her, and that easy-going smile couldn't be real. It didn't matter how great he was feeling from beating Ruval Phenex, this was completely contrary to everything she knew about the man and his personality. Gregorious slowly rose to his feet, that easy smile ever present on his lips. "Don't mind my wives. I was just so ecstatic from our victory I couldn't contain myself."

'Our' victory? It was never 'our' or 'us' with Gregorious. It was always 'my' victory. He'd spoken the same sort of words earlier in the lobby. Now Hikaru was really worried.

"It's not my place to mind what you and your wives do in private," Hikaru said, keeping her voice soft and quiet. She didn't want to make the man think she found anything wrong with this.

"True," Gregorious said slowly as circled her. She could feel his gaze scouring her body, undressing her with his eyes. "You don't need to wear your armor here. We've just won a great victory. You should relax and take it easy."

"I appreciate your concern, Gregorious, but I feel most comfortable dressed as I am," Hikaru said quietly. "Not everyone here is as generous and kind as you are."

"Ah, you mean Syura? Don't mind him. If he so much as touches you I'll have him turned inside out." He walked past her and stood by his bed once more. "I don't want to mince too many words when our breaths can be used for more enjoyable endeavours." He turned and gave her a wide smile. "I want you Hikaru. You've turned out to not only be a powerful asset, but a fine lady as well." His eyes dipped to her chest unashamedly.

"I'm sorry, Gregorious, but I'll have to decline," Hikaru said. She had a feeling it was something like this. It didn't do anything to ease the butterflies in her stomach. If anything it made it worse. Gregorious knew how she felt. He wouldn't have asked her unless he had a different angle to approach this from. "It's not you, I'm just not interested."

"I can make it worth your interest," Gregorious said. "I know you don't need anything luxurious, you're not fickle like most of these woman that throw themselves at me." He tossed a disdainful look back at the two exhausted women on the bed. "So instead I have something else to offer."

"What's that?" Hikaru asked cautiously. She kept a wary eye on Kurenai as the woman sidled up beside her.

Gregorious' smile was almost wide enough to split his face. "Lilian. I can keep Champ away from her indefinitely. Give her a room he can't force his way inside. Allow her the time to grow and develop into the woman she deserves to be. Give her the chance to develop just as I have given you, free of Champ's disgusting touch." He lowered himself back to the edge of the bed. "And I won't take her to my bed unless she herself desires it. I won't even force her to desire it. If you'll take her place, she'll spend the next several years living as she wants."

A surge of anger flared deep within her, burning away the nervousness from before. She couldn't stand this bastard. He was using Lilian against her. That smile, the gracious words and kind attitude. It truly was all just a façade. He was a monster through and through. All she had to say was yes and Lilian would get life she deserved. Which meant of course there was a reverse to it.

"And if I still say no?"

The smile never faltered as Gregorious followed through with the punch Hikaru knew was coming.

"There has always been a certain amount of… interest in Lilian from certain parts of society. The offers before were never worth really considering. With how brilliantly she performed during the battle against Ruval Phenex, that's already changed." Gregorious shrugged lightly. A reflection of how little he cared about anyone other than himself. "Champ isn't the only cruel, sadistic pedophile out there. I can use Lilian to make quite the fortune between Rating Games." He let out a light chuckle. "Unlike you, she doesn't need to be sound of mind to be of use to me."

Kurenai laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "My husband isn't that demanding. He might request your presence every night for the first little while, but after about a month or so he'll find another pretty woman to take to his bed and you'll find yourself sleeping alone more often than not. It'll be like nothing had ever happened." She squeezed gently. "A single month of pleasuring my husband for years of freedom for Lilian. Seems like a fair trade does it not?"

"I'll even step in and stop Champ from breaking my promise to Lilian," Gregorious added. "I know that man well enough that he thinks he can get away with raping her by forcing her to tell me everything is fine." He smiled again. "It's up to you whether I take that at face value."

Hikaru had to look away or else have her face betray her real feelings towards that man. He and Kurenai were utilizing some of the oldest tricks in the book, offering honey up to her if she said yes, and punishing her if she said no. Accept his demands, suffer under his touch for a month or two, and Lilian gets to live the next few years of her life without having to worry about being raped.

Provided Gregorious stayed true to his word after having his way with her. There was no way to tell if he would or not. What was certain, however, was that he would make Lilian suffer if she said no.

She had been so close to getting free without having to suffer that man's touch. Tatsumi had said he'd find some way of separating her from Gregorious before the end of summer. That wasn't even two months. A blink of an eye in the minds of most devils. If she hadn't met him, if she didn't know of his plans to come for her, she may very well have said yes.

Now she didn't know what to do.

"I…" she trailed off, unsure what to say. Gregorious was expecting an answer and if it wasn't favorable, Lilian was going to suffer. She walked over to one of the large arched windows overlooking his property. It was dark out there, but that darkness was nothing compared to what sat not five meters to her left. "When do you need an answer by?"

"Now, if you want me to stop Champ from taking what he wants from Lilian," Gregorious said. She could practically hear victory dripping from his words. He could sense her breaking. "Tomorrow morning if you don't want me to have her sold off by lunch."

He wasn't giving her any time to figure a way out of this. Not that there was one—

That train of thought came to a crashing halt as she noticed a pair of brilliant green eyes peering up at her from the edge of the forest. A pair of familiar coerulis were crouched low at his side, their long tendril like whiskers still. He noticed her gaze. His hand moved to the pommel of his sword and he smiled.

It was happening tonight?

Suddenly everything clicked. Ruval's sudden acceptance of Gregorious' request for a match. The rushed timing of the game, the odd rules, Sirzechs himself mediating the game. All of it. It was designed to watch, weaken and prepare Gregorious and his peerage for Tatsumi and his allies.

Just how high up did this rescue go? How many people were involved in ridding the world of Gregorious Abaddon?

None of that mattered though. Not right then. Gregorious Abaddon needed an answer and now that Hikaru knew Tatsumi was coming for her tonight, she had options. What mattered wasn't whether she said yes or no, but how, and in what way she could position Kurenai or Gregorious in front of the window to let Tatsumi get that single, perfect strike to take one of them down before the other realized what was going on.

She might be the proverbial damsel in distress in this situation, but that didn't mean she had to like it or couldn't take control of the variables that she could.

~o~

Bennia quickly flittered through the rooms of the estate, peering through the walls to make sure the other side was empty before rushing through it to the next. There was urgency in her actions, a need to be somewhere quickly.

Sakuri was dead, that had gone fine. The woman 'appeared' as if she was sleeping peacefully beneath the covers of her bed. It would take more than a cursory glance to believe anything was wrong with her or enough time to pass for her body to start rotting. Even then few would be able to identify the cause of death.

After all, killing a soul left the body unharmed. One would have to suspect a Grim Reaper from the start, and analyze the body soon enough after death to catch the fragments of the soul flittering away in pieces, to properly identify the cause of death.

That was part of her mission had gone fine. What hadn't gone fine was her inability to find Champ. The man hadn't been in his room or the kitchen. Gin and Shadari had been in there and Akame hadn't needed any help dispatching those two.

The girl was more death like than many Grim Reapers Bennia knew.

Champ was missing and that worried Bennia. If he was missing, then there was one very probable place for him to be and she didn't want to consider that.

She slid through the wall and into another bedroom. The woman sleeping in the bed below her never noticed Bennia as she silently floated up to the ceiling and poked her head through.

Her fears became reality the moment she laid eyes on that enormously fat man in clown makeup. Her target was focused on molesting someone in his grasp, his shoulders and arms moved furiously as his hands did… something to whoever it was he was holding. She couldn't see who it was around his enormous girth, only a pair of dainty little legs twitching and spasming between his thick trunks. All about his feet were torn, shredded remains of some sort of cloth. It was far too shredded to even guess at what it might have been.

"Ah, a delectable little angel like you! I'm the only one that has any right to touch you! I'm going to make sure you're so used and broken that the moment Gregorious tastes you he'll turn his nose up and throw you back at me!"

A weak, pitiful whimper curled its way around the large man.

That was all Bennia could take.

She popped through the floor in an instant and materialized behind the larger man. She grabbed his shoulder and flared her power. It rushed out of her with all the force of a tsunami. The darkness of death consumed her and spread across the breadth of the room, plunging the room into deep shadows that the light from the hallway seemed terrified to illuminate.

"What?!"

((Retribution comes for you,)) Bennia hissed as she dug her fingers into Champ's shoulder, piercing his soft, weak flesh and clamping around the bone. Champ had no time to react as Bennia hurled him across the room. He slammed into the wall with bone crunching force, cratering it beneath his massive girth. ((And she is pissed.))

She phased across the room, arriving at the downed man before her words reached his ears. Champ had just enough time to look up before Bennia ground her boot into his dick, pulverizing the offending appendage into a shower of bloody meat and fat.

"GAH! You bitch!" Champ roared as he whipped out a ball of flaming acid.

Bennia grabbed the orb of flaming acid in her small hand and crushed it like a grape. She waved her hand, scattered globs of acid and licks of flame about like it was little more than a nuisance before she grabbed his thick, meaty wrist and snapped it like a twig. His howl of pain was abruptly cut short when she ripped his larynx from his throat.

((Night Raid has ordered your death. How fitting that those orders coincide so well with my epithet.)) Her scythe came down and cleaved into the fat man, cleaving through his soul and sucking the life from his existence. ((Unfortunately for you, I'm more than your average, common Grim Reaper.)) She grabbed his soul as it seeped from his body. ((Death is too easy a release for you, I have different plans for you. I'm going to enjoy making you suffer your Retribution in full before I finally obliterate your disgusting soul.))

There were some men that deserved no mercy, no kindness and no second chances. Gregorious Abaddon was one. This disgusting piece of garbage was another. This was one soul that wasn't going to find rest in Hell. Whenever she couldn't play around and have fun with Tatsumi and everyone else, she'd bring it out to play.

A terrified hiccupping wheeze grabbed her attention.

((Ah, right, there was one other here)) Bennia said as she dramatically turned to stare down at Lilian. The little girl was curled up into a ball on her bed, tucked into the corner of the room and had pulled the sheets between the two of them. ((They say you can't be hurt by physical means and that you're nigh impervious to magic as well.)) She floated over to the bed, carrying with her the shroud of death and darkness. The little girl buried her face in her hands, her breath squeezing out of her lips in a scream she was too terrified to let out. ((How well do you think your Sacred Gear would work against a Reaper's curse?))

A trail of yellow liquid leaked out from between the girl's legs. She wouldn't even look at Bennia. She just huddled there in a tiny ball, quaking in sheer terror.

Bennia raised her fist and slammed it into the outside wall, blowing out the window and a sizeable portion of the wall itself. ((Unless you wish to find out, run! Run and keep running until your legs can no longer carry you and then run some more! For if you do not run I will be there!))

With a wail of despair Lilian tore off the bed and through the hole in the wall. Her scream intensified as she fell three stories and bounced off the grassy lawn, but she didn't stop running. She was off the ground in an instant, tearing across the yard as if chased by an unimaginable nightmare. Bennia kept watch until the little girl was gone, disappearing into the tree line.

Only then did she let the shadows and darkness fade away. ((Ugh… that was unpleasant. I really don't like doing that, especially to someone who doesn't deserve it.)) Bennia grumbled beneath her breath.

It had been necessary. It was something she had worked out with Najenda, Tatsumi and Serafall. Lilian was way beyond the point where kind words would get her moving. She was too beaten down, too broken. Only a fear greater than that of her fear of Gregorious Abaddon could get that girls' legs moving. So Bennia had become that fear. She was the only one that could to do it.

No one else could kill her, or even badly injure her, and Lilian knew that. Just like she instinctively knew that her Sacred Gear wouldn't protect her against a Reaper's Scythe.

((Everything better work out for that little girl or I'm going to have choice words with certain people.)) Bennia grumbled as she stepped out of the hole and took off into the darkness.

Her role this night was done. All she could do now is leave and trust everyone to complete their roles as well. In the mean time, she'd keep a watch over Lilian from on high. Just in case something went wrong.

~o~

Akame used the bedsheets to wipe the blood off Murasame before sheathing it. Behind her on the bed were two more corpses, Morrigan and the man she'd been spending the night with. Neither of them had noticed Akame before she struck.

It was better that way. She had nothing personal against either of them.

With Morrigan taken care of, her three targets were dealt with. She'd heard a detonation come from the room they'd identified as Suzuka's on her way here which meant Mine had taken care of her as well. If Bennia was even half as good as Tatsumi assured them she was, she should be nearly done as well.

Akame made for the door and paused, listening. A pair of muffled voices reached her ears.

"…left in such a hurry." It was a soft, female voice, one that held diffidence and respect towards whoever they were speaking to.

"I, for one, am glad he's gone. He doesn't seem to care that I am one of Gregorious' wives. I can't tell you the number of times that man has forced his unwanted attention upon myself. I've reported him to Gregorious but the wonderful man is so busy he just doesn't have time to deal with him."

"But why did he keep saying 'why is that bitch is still alive?' as he left?" the first voice asked.

"Does it matter why that brute, Syura, disappeared?"

"I guess… he seemed like he was panicking or something. I've never seen him so worked up before."

"Good, about time someone got that man worked…"

The voices became too distant to hear clearly but Akame had worked out the important part. Something had spooked Syura and the man had left. That would come back to haunt them in the future, just like it had in their world. There wasn't anything to do about it for now though. Perhaps she could have Serafall label him as a stray. That would set the Underworld against him.

She'd been told he hadn't made very many friends here due to his actions in the past Rating Games. Gregorious Abaddon was about the only one that tolerated him.

Akame touched the ear piece, she needed to let everyone know. "Targets eliminated. Overheard a conversation about Syura bolting. We spooked him," Akame whispered low and quiet into the microphone, just in case Bennia wasn't finished.

"Understood," Najenda's voice came back over the line. "Return to Mine and I, Akame, we saw you in the window dealing with Morrigan. We'll meet up with Ravel and Xenovia afterwards."

"Will do."

"Good work, Akame," Tatsumi's voice came over the line. "I saw Bennia fly after Lilian earlier. She's done as well. I have Hikaru and Kurenai in sight, Gregorious is most likely there as well. Even if he's not, Syura is gone so there's no way for him to easily escape. It's time for the final act to begin."

"Good luck," Akame whispered.

"Thanks."

~o~

Tatsumi lowered his hand, letting the line go dead. Syura may have escaped, but everything else had gone smoothly. Gregorious' peerage was really only secondary to Gregorious and Kurenai. Targets of opportunity. While Syura was definitely one of the better opportunities they wished to exploit, they had to remain focused.

Across the open lawn in a tall, arched window on the third floor of the estate was Hikaru, her back turned to him. She had seen him out here, saw her eyes widened with recognition. He'd returned a signal he hoped meant he was going to save her tonight. She hadn't made any sign that she'd understood. That meant she either didn't, and thought he was just there scouting, or she did, and was intelligent enough not to let it show to anyone inside. He really hoped it was the latter.

In the window Hikaru's head bowed a little, her eyes downcast. He could see her lips moving but couldn't make out what she was saying. A few moments later however she stepped back out of sight and Kurenai came to the window. The woman wasn't interested in anything outside, her focus was entirely on Hikaru. An easy-going gesture, a soft smile, a kind look in her eyes. She was obviously trying to sweet talk Hikaru into something.

Whatever the case may be, she was completely exposed, off-guard and just where Tatsumi needed her.

"If she does realize and has presented me with this opportunity… I'm not going to waste it," Tatsumi murmured as he slowly rose to his feet. He pulled the key to Incursio out, the focus point, and jammed it into the earth like he had so many times before. "Incursio!"

His blood boiled and surged as his body morphed bringing forth the flesh of the Tyrant once more. Bones hardened and realigned, muscles thickened and coursed with that familiar, overwhelming strength. Wings erupted from his back and the Shroud of Longinus he had brought with him transformed to create a matching pair just below the first. The key reformed into a long, harpoon shaped weapon designed to inflict maximum damage.

The transformation was nigh instantaneous. It was coming to him faster and faster each time.

"It's time to end this!" The two coerulis at his side quickly darted away, sensing it wasn't safe to rest near him any longer.

The forest floor cratered as he launched himself forward. The air screamed with his passage, shattering as he flashed across the yard faster than sound could travel. Even if Kurenai had turned around at that exact moment, Tatsumi would have been on her long before she realized there was anyone out there. Tatsumi barreled into that window with all the force of a freight train. A million tiny jagged fragments of shattered glass blasted inwards as Tatsumi bulldozed through the window. The frame, sill, and even part of the wall followed. Mortar, pestle, marble, and wood, all joined the glass in a storm of ruptured and ruined particles.

Kurenai didn't know what hit her. The storm of ruin was preceded by a wicked looking harpoon. It sheared through Kurenai's side and kept going, bisecting her across her mid section. Tatsumi palmed her head in his enormous, clawed hand has he thundered past, ripping Kurenai's upper half from her bottom. He slammed her upper body through the far wall, sending a cloud of dust and concrete billowing out into the hallway beyond.

Kurenai's scream was short lived as Tatsumi popped her head like a melon, sending fragments of bone and blood squirting from between his scaled fingers.

He was making sure she stayed dead.

"Kurenai!" Tatsumi turned to regard Gregorious Abaddon. The object of Tatsumi's hatred was on his feet, clothed in little more than a soft, black bath robe opened to the waist. There was a look of shock on his face as he stared crumpled, ruined form that had once been his wife. That shock quickly turned to outrage, his mouth curling up into an angry sneer as he glared at Tatsumi. "How dare you kill my wife! I don't know who you are but you're I'm going to make you regret this for the rest of your life as I flay the skin from your bones!"

Tatsumi chuckled, it was a low, guttural sound that he barely recognized. "You don't recognize me, Gregorious Abaddon?" He took a single step towards the man. The marble tile floor cracked beneath his weight. "It's only been three years since we last met. I've been told that's little more than the blink of an eye for someone like you." He flared his wings out behind him, brushing them against the ceiling. "It's been three years since I failed to stop you from raping and murdering my sister. I failed to save Mira. I won't fail to save Hikaru."

There was a gasp of surprise from the right. "Tatsumi-san?" There was a look of understanding in her eyes, but also confusion. She obviously did not expect this form he now had.

He tried to give her a smile, it probably came out pretty bad considering the rows of sharp, jagged teeth he now sported. "I told you before there was something inside me." He turned back to Gregorious. "I was wrong." He took another step forward and Gregorious instantly went on guard. "I am Nakimori Tatsumi. I am the Tyrant and I have come for your head, Gregorious Abaddon."

Tatsumi thundered across the room towards the man that had caused so much suffering. Now that he was finally here, now that he was finally face-to-face with the man that had started Tatsumi down this path.

He couldn't contain his rage. It surged through him like molten fire, scorching his veins. He needed to break Gregorious in ways that would make even devils shiver in fear.

"GREGORIOUS!" Tatsumi's roar shook the room as he lashed out at the arrogant devil with an enormous fist. He wasn't worth using Neuntote on. A large, black portal sprang into existence between the two of them. An Abaddon's 'hole' ability. Tatsumi knew all about it.

He also knew there was a limit to how much it could absorb before it crumpled. Ruval had revealed that amount in his Rating Game. That limit was even less now that the man was so exhausted.

It'd didn't even slow Tatsumi down. Sharp slivers of pain ran up his arm as Gregorious tried to reflect the power behind the strike but it simply wasn't enough. The hole collapsed as Tatsumi tore through it and hammered a massive fist into Gregorious' gut. The man doubled over as he was sent hurling over the bed and across the room to slam into the wall next to his personal bathroom.

The two women on the bed bolted for the door. Tatsumi didn't bother giving chase, they were inconsequential. He stomped through the bed, ripping it in two and throwing the two halves aside like they were nothing more than children's toys.

Gregorious hauled himself to his feet and threw his hands out before him. An enormous stream of lightning infused fire roared from his palms. The heat was so intense everything within five feet burst into flames.

It felt like a warm summer breeze to Tatsumi. Gregorious was no Phenex. He was never going to be able to generate fire hot enough for Tatsumi to ever notice. A thick, scale boot proved that to Gregorious. A cry of pain was ripped from that man's throat as he was sent hurling back into the wall again. This time it collapsed beneath the impact sending the man tumbling into the bathroom beyond in a shower of marble sheathing, mortar and pestle.

"You're weak," Tatsumi bit out viciously. Just breaking the man physically wasn't enough. Tatsumi wanted to break him mentally as well. Tear down everything he had built. Make him realize just how final this death of his would be. "You may have been a threat in peak condition, but Ruval Phenex has tired you out. You can barely utilize a tenth of your strength." His lips curled up into a violent smile. "Everything has gone just as I planned. You don't honestly think he accepted your challenge because you were worth his time, did you? And that victory you were so drunk on? Worthless. His goal wasn't to win, but to make you too weak to stop me from ripping your intestines out and hanging you with them! He threw the game because he knew you wouldn't live to see the morning come."

"Lies! It's all lies!" Gregorious roared as he leapt to his feet. He was tenacious if nothing else. The man hurled more lightning and fire at Tatsumi, using his hole ability to send it striking at Tatsumi from all directions. Tatsumi barely felt them and waltzed through the attacks without a care. That level was nothing to the Tyrant. He had already lived through and adapted to far worse. "He accepted the challenge because I was worthy! Because I have what it takes to beat my cousin! I won't let it all come to an end here! There are other's like Kurenai, I can replace her, I can replace all of them!" His gaze shot past Tatsumi to Hikaru behind. "Help me kill this man and I'll give you whatever you want! Everything!"

Hikaru slowly made her way across the room, walking past the shattered bed and flaming bits of furnishings to stop at his side. She gave Tatsumi a single, quick look, before turning a disdainful gaze down upon the man that had caused her so much suffering over the past three years. "There is only one thing I want." The room was consumed by a brilliant yellow light. A roar of thunder deafened Tatsumi and when it was all over, Gregorious was on the bathroom floor, screaming in pain as arcs of lightning ripped across his body. A crumbling hole hovering above the man showed that he had tried to stop Hikaru to little avail. She was on the other side of the bathroom, her back to them as she dropped out of her lightning form. "And that is to watch Tatsumi-san hang you by your entrails." She let out a long sigh of satisfaction. "You have no idea how long I've waited for someone to give you your comeuppance."

"Traitor! I AM YOUR KING!" Gregorious roared as in rage as he twisted on the floor and reached out towards Hikaru. A familiar pattern of runes appeared in the palm of his hand, one that Tatsumi instantly recognized. It was something he could never forget. It was the same thing he had done to Mira.

Not this time. Tatsumi wasn't going to take the chance that Serafall hadn't finished the ritual.

The wall proved no barrier as he smashed his way into the bathroom. His scaled boot came down on Gregorious' arm before he could complete the spell, pounding the tiny fleshy meat stick into the tile floor. Gregorious screamed in pain as Tatsumi felt his arm give way beneath his boot. Blood began to pool around his foot.

"What a wonderful sound," Hikaru said softly. "I've waited a long time to hear that as well."

"Glad to be of service," Tatsumi returned cheekily before he turned his attention down on the devil writing beneath him. "I'd like to correct you on something, Gregorious Abaddon. You're not a King." Gregorious twisted around to glare up at Tatsumi. There was a squelching sound as his right arm split apart where Tatsumi had crushed it. "Not anymore."

"No one can take my right as King!" Gregorious roared. "Especially not a worthless cur like yourself!"

"No one save for the Satan you swore yourself too," Tatsumi corrected him. Gregorious froze, his eyes going wide. "Serafall found your little shrine to her in the basement, along with your association with the Khaos Brigade, a known group of terrorists." He was trembling now. He knew where this was going. "It only takes two Satans to approve of your removal from the Rating Game system, and last I checked, all four of them had aligned against you. You're nothing now."

"Lies!" Gregorious grabbed his chest and focused on something distant. He went white as a sheet when he discovered the truth behind Tatsumi's words. "No… it has to be a lie!"

Tatsumi would never be able to describe to anyone after that point just how good it felt watching Gregorious come to that single, shocking realization that everything was over. That he would never achieve his dream. That he would never be able to prove that he was better than his cousin. People had often said that revenge never accomplished anything.

Sometimes they were wrong.

Watching Gregorious' face crumple in despair was the most delicious thing he had ever witnessed.

"It seems you're no longer my King," Hikaru said, sounding more than just a little pleased. She turned around and strode over to them. "So this isn't considered betraying you and going stray." She broke his nose with a single, well placed strike.

"And this is for Mira!" Tatsumi shouted as he hit Gregorious so hard he bounced off the floor. A second fist hammered him back into the tile floor, shattering the tiles to pieces. "I promised her two."

"And now it's time for Tatsumi-san to kill you," Hikaru added.

"Not quite," Tatsumi said. "Serafall suggested that I inflict Soul Crushing agony upon Gregorious Abaddon before I finally kill him." He gave Hikaru a smile, or at least as best a smile he could in draconic form. "Would you like to help?"

Hikaru closed her eyes and let out a long, luxurious sigh. "I think I would very much like to, Tatsumi-san. Soul Crushing agony sounds just about right for someone like him."

"No, no! SOMEONE HELP!" Gregorious shouted at the top of his lungs.

"No one is coming for you," Tatsumi said as he rammed his claws into the man's chest and lifted him into the air. "Syura has abandoned you, Lilian has fled and the rest of your peerage is dead. There's no one left here that will help you. No on left that can."

Gregorious Abaddon could only scream as the Retribution that he rightly had coming to him for centuries was finally paid in full.

~o~

An hour later found Tatsumi walking into the dark forest that surrounded Gregorious' estate with a soft smile on his face. Gregorious' death wouldn't bring Mira back, but all debts on that account had been settled. After so long, it was all finally over. That man wouldn't harm anyone ever again.

"How does it feel?" Tatsumi asked, casting a glance to the side at his old friend.

"Like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders," Hikaru said softly. "Knowing I don't have to fear waking up in the middle of the night to find him atop of me is a relief you can't begin to understand." She looked far better as well, less stressed and high strung as she walked beside him. She pulled along behind her a large suitcase filled with everything she cared to take from that place. Strangely enough, she kept all the MVP medals and trophies she'd earned.

Even if they had been earned under Gregorious Abaddon, they hadn't been rewarded by him, but by other, more respectable individuals who had found merit in her skill and ability. Hikaru always had been very competitive.

"You don't have to worry about that anymore," Tatsumi assured her. "Sona would gladly take you as her second Knight, and that's one thing you don't have to worry from her."

"I know," Hikaru said softly. "Gregorious often mentioned how the younger devils were too soft. Too much codling of flesh and blood he said. Rias Gremory, Sona Sitri and Seekvaira Agares were three names he constantly spouted off as examples."

Before either of them could continue the conversation they were swarmed on all sides by the coerulis. They darted this way and that between their legs, making movement difficult at best. Several leapt from the trees and landed on Hikaru, one claimed the top of her head, two more her shoulders. One even climbed atop of Tatsumi, that one he recognized as the coerulis that always seemed to find him and followed him while he was in the Underworld.

"I think they're happy to see us," Tatsumi remarked as he watched his feet cautiously so he didn't step on any stray whiskers or tails.

"They are very intelligent," Hikaru said as she petted the one on her head. There was a particularly fond smile on her lips as she did. "I wouldn't be surprised if they already know Gregorious is gone and I'm free."

"I'm not sure they'd all fit on my estate," Tatsumi said as he eyed them all. Hikaru gave him a startled look and then she started to laugh. It was the first laugh he'd heard from her in years. Even the coerulis seemed surprised. They all stopped to stare. "What did I say?"

"They're not pets, Tatsumi-san, they're my friends," Hikaru said softly between little fits of laughter. "I don't need to bring them with me. I can always visit them whenever I come to the Underworld."

That was still to be seen. She called them friends, they might think differently of her. He'd better think up ways of accommodating the whole lot of them, just in case. He did have a large property, but Tatsumi got the impression that these creatures liked to hunt. If he didn't want to see Kuoh City depopulated of dogs and cats within the first month, he'd have to figure something out.

"Anyways, you still up for being Sona's Knight?" Tatsumi asked. He didn't like the Rating Game with its current inception, but he knew well enough that if Sona didn't snap Hikaru up, someone else would. Better it be someone Tatsumi knew and trusted.

Hikaru was silent as she gave him a long look that seemed to drag on. Then she nodded. "I do, but it will depend on her response to a certain request of mine." She looked away and started forward, taking long deliberate strides. Tatsumi quickly caught up and took the lead again. The coerulis were nimble enough that he didn't have to worry about stepping on them after all. In fact they almost seemed to be making a game of it. "I watched that news conference you had with the Prime Minister of Japan." She paused. "I think just about everyone did. Gregorious scoffed at your dream. I think he's probably regretting that now."

"I don't think he's regretting much of anything anymore," Tatsumi pointed out.

"True. I don't believe I've ever seen someone so definitively dead as that." Gregorious truly was hanging by his entrails back at the estate, what was left of him anyways and it wasn't much. "Look at the two of us now, Tatsumi-san, I'm a devil who just killed her Master and needs to quickly find another or be hunted down and killed while you're the leader of Night Raid, a multi-national, multi-racial organization created to hunt down and kill anyone that would prey upon the weak." She gave him a warm smile. "Not even three and a half years ago our biggest concern was how we would beat the other at the Kendo Finals."

"Life certainly took a different turn for the both of us," Tatsumi agreed. "But there's no use complaining about it. There's no one who would listen, no one to care. We can only take what life has given us and make the best use of it that we can."

"Yes," Hikaru agreed. There was another short pause before she jumped to a completely different tangent. "Have you always been a dragon?"

Now it was Tatsumi's turn to laugh. "It's a long, complicated story," Tatsumi said lightly. Through the trees he saw the spot they were to gather. From the looks of it everyone was there save for Bennia. "I'll tell you about it when we're safe, and we have time."

"I'll hold you to that."

"I know you will," Tatsumi said and turned sideways, gesturing to his friends. "Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone, to the members of Night Raid. After that, we can get out of here."

She gave him a warm smile. "I would like that."

With a smile on his face, his sister avenged and his old friend back at his side, Tatsumi walked on into the beginning of a new chapter of his life.

x~X~x

In the dark forest some distance from Gregorious' estate a naked little girl panted heavily as she raced through the underbrush, heedless of the prickly bushes she rushed through or the branches that smacked off her small form. Her legs felt like they were on fire, as if molten lead had been poured inside them and her lungs burned with each gasping gulp of air. There was never enough air. Her lungs, her body, always demanded more than she could gasp.

But she didn't dare stop. She couldn't. Fear pushed her on. Terror the likes of which she had never felt before. She was scared that if she looked back she'd see death chasing after her, that wicked scythe searching for her soul. She hated her life, but she didn't want to die.

Why did this have to happen to her? She was supposed to be asleep, alone, without worry. She had worked hard. She had done everything that had been asked of her. Why her?

She tripped over a tree root she hadn't noticed in her panicked state and went tumbling to the ground. "No, no no no!" Lilian cried out as she scrambled back to her feet.

She never got there.

A pair of arms wrapped around her and yanked her backwards, pulling her back against a warm, soft embrace. "Found you!" a happy sing-song voice called out from just behind her. Lilian let out a wail of fear as she was swung back and forth by some monstrously powerful force.

"No!" Lilian wailed as she struggled against her impending death. "…no… noo! Please… no…." Death had found her. She was going to die.

The force didn't let her go, if anything it only held on more tightly.

Lilian wept. "…why me?..."

"Because I need a magical girl side-kick to combat that side-kick Gaby-tan just recently acquired!"

Lilian froze. What? Magical girl? She slowly turned her head and instead of that strange, deadly Reaper, she found herself staring into the smiling face of Serafall Leviathan. The Satan was dressed strangely as well. She was garbed in this odd pink outfit that seemed completely unbefitting of a Satan. There was even a pink staff topped with a yellow star sitting on the forest floor nearby.

"…magical girl?" Lilian was completely confused. "…Leviathan-sama?"

"No! I am the magical girl Levia-tan!" Serafall said cheerfully. She snuggled her face against Lilian's and hugged her tightly. "And I've found the perfect person to be my sidekick! Levia-tan's magical assistant Lily-tan!"

"…but…"

"No buts!" Serafall said as she her hands suddenly glowed. Lilian felt something shift inside her as the Rook piece surged and registered Serafall Leviathan as her new master, her new King.

The implication of that made her eyes go wide. One of the Satans, Serafall Leviathan herself, had just taken Lilian as her Rook. It was an honor that Devils competed for, fought for, and sacrificed everything for, and she was chosen just like that? Why?

"…why?"

Serafall gave her a queer look and for a brief moment Lilian feared she was to be discarded when Serafall just bonked her on the head. "Why? I told you silly! I need a magical assistant to combat Gaby-tans!"

"…I'm just…"

"I needed a Rook anyways," Serafall continued without seeming to hear her at all. "Sirzy-tan keeps teasing me about not having a full peerage. We'll show him though won't we! We'll drown him in enough magical girl energy he'll run screaming!"

Lilian didn't know what was going on anymore. She just let everything go and wept. "I just want to sleep…"

"Then sleep," Serafall said, her voice now warm and gentle. The energetic and craziness from before wasn't there anymore. Just remorse and sadness. "Sleep and when you wake up, I'll have a nice warm breakfast ready for you. My So-tan is a great cook, you'll see."

"…alone?"

Serafall's embrace became warm and motherly. "Yes, alone. Alone for however long you like. No man will ever force his way into your bed again, not so long as I still draw breath."

That was it. That was all Lilian could take. Her emotions erupted from within, overwhelming her completely as she broke down right there in Serafall's arms, weeping and sobbing until blissful slumber finally took her. Through it all Serafall simply held her, comforting her like her mother once did long ago.

---

Author's Note: Gregorious and his peerage, killed the Night Raid way!

We can now say that the singular, primary thread that drove this story from the very start, has been finally tied up. Gregorious was the individual that opened the door to the DxD storyline/world for Tatsumi and although now that door is closed, Tatsumi has both feet firmly planted within that world.

What adventures await Tatsumi in the world of DxD? Well… its up to you if he has any more. Read the note below.

Note on Ending the Story: I could probably end the story here, write up an epilogue that touches on all the little threads I'd started earlier, the villains that still exist, etc., etc., to give hints of how they'd play out or a miniature preview for the next story if I wish to pick this up again later. I've got another good 13 chapters already written that I'd love to post but… I worry about one thing far more than wasted words: Reader Fatigue.

I worry whether or not you still enjoy my story or if you are just reading it to see how it ends. I'd like to know, honestly. The feedback you give me in this chapter will determine if I go for another 20-30 chapters, or if I end it with the next.

If it continues, there will be a mix of unique scenarios alongside integration of the Highschool DxD story elements. These are the major arcs that I have planned and the order in which they appear: Young Devil Gathering - Sona vs Rias Rating Game - Athena's Mission (Unique Arc) - Loki Conflict. After that I'm not 100% sure but the story probably won't go much more beyond and the Kyoto Arc would be the very last DxD storyline plot I'd use before the end (if it even gets that far).

I'll leave whether that all happens up to you, the readers. Let me know what you think about the story so far in a review, and whether you think I should just wrap it up or keep going.