Chapter 37: The False God: Part 2 of 2: The Selfish Angel and Battle with the False God of Rizel
Ladius got everything he needed to see this 'god' of Rizel. He promised Yayoi he will save her no matter the costs.
Renee was leaning on a doorway looking at Ladius and asked "Are you ready for this trip to the Rizel god's shrine?"
Ladius nodded and responded with "Of course. I made a promise to Yayoi that I will save her no matter what."
"I know you will. I have confidence in you. Besides, me and Ellis are your foster mothers." Renee smiled coyly.
Ladius smirked and said "Of course. I owe it to you two for raising me properly."
Just then, Ellis came into the room where Ladius is staying in with panic written all over her face. "Ladius! Renee! We got a problem!" She shouted.
"What is it?" Renee asked, alarmed by Ellis's sudden outburst.
"Luke is fighting with Vashtor. We have seen what Vashtor can do before we got here… But Luke is about to challenge him!" Ellis panicked.
"Oh hell…" Ladius moaned as he face palmed. "Let's… go before they kill each other…"
(With Vashtor)
Vashtor with his eyes closed was meditating, it was then, Luke and Tear walked up to him. "Hey! Mister 'Crimson Fang'!' Luke said in a mocking tone.
"Hmm?" Vashtor opened his eyes and glared at Luke.
"I heard you're the best swordsman this army has to offer… Well, get a load of this!" Luke grinned evilly as he unsheathed his sword and shouted "Fang Blade!" An energy slash hit a tree, cutting it in half.
"How's that?" Luke taunted with a way that bullies used.
Vashtor, however was unimpressed and told Luke stoically "You were fighting air. If it were a real enemy, that attack wouldn't destroy it in an instant."
"What the hell that's supposed to mean?!" Luke growled, an anger vein on his forehead.
"I can tell you have no experience in killing a human being. To me, you're just dead weight." Said Vashtor coldly.
"Dead weight?! I'll show you dead weight!" Luke snapped as he got out his sword and pointed it at Vashtor.
"Luke, stop it! There's people watching us." Tear tried to reason.
"Shut up! This is between me and this asshole!" Luke yelled as he charged at Vashtor, but the Crimson Fang disappeared in a flash. "W-What the fu-" Vashtor reappeared behind Luke and drop kicked him. Ladius, Ellis and Renee arrived just in time to see the problem already solved.
"You lack the skills of a true swordsman to defeat me. Come back when you're stronger if you have any hopes of defeating me." Vashtor mused coldly as he walked away in cold fashion.
Ladius turned to Luke and shouted at him "Luke, what the hell were you thinking?! Picking a fight with Vashtor is no excuse to show your skills!"
"H-He started it!" Luke tried to reason, but Ellis placed her hands on her hips and looked at Luke with an annoyed look.
"Vashtor is like family to us, even if he lost his memories. Still, to pick a fight with him… Shame on you, Luke…" Ellis closed her eyes and shook her head in disapproval.
"I have to agree with Ellis on this one, Luke. What you did was immature." Tear told him firmly.
"D-Damn it!" Luke said through gritted teeth.
Ladius sighed and told the arrogant noble "Look, the point is, you didn't get killed. Vashtor is no man to mess with. His strength is almost as high as my own."
"What do you mean by that?" Tear looked at Ladius suspiciously.
"It's best if we saved this conversation for another time." Renee sighed as she rubbed her temples.
And so, Ragian's Army began their trek to Alzai Fen. And already, Luke is complaining.
"This is taking forever… Can we forget about going to this god's place and get out of this hell-forsaken forest?" Luke moaned, it's starting to wear down on some of our heroes' patience.
"For the love of God, shut up!" Daxter snapped.
"How about you shut up, you… er, furry rat thing!" Luke snapped back with a vein popping in his forehead.
"For your information, noble boy, I'm a Precursor, one of the mighty creators of my universe!" Daxter shouted smugly.
"Dax, cool it…" Jak sighed as he shook his head in disapproval.
Winfield chuckled nervously and muttered "At this rate, we'll kill each other before we reach our destination…" Yayoi giggled.
"What's so funny, Yayoi?" Tear asked with a small smile.
"Your friends Mister Luke and Mister Daxter are funny." She closed her eyes and smiled.
"Uh… Yes. Luke can be… a bit funny and a bit annoying sometimes…" Tear commented as she looked away shyly.
"I wonder if an angel will fall from the sky. Oh, and she has to be arrogant and selfish and has a bottle of milk that spills all over her!" Neptune beamed.
"For some reason, this seems familiar to you." Noire commented snarky. Suddenly, they heard a scream, alarming the heroes.
"Wait a minute… this seems famialir somehow…" Yuri commented as he looked up. The heroes of Ragian's Army looked up to see perhaps a 17 year old girl falling from the sky.
She has ear length light blue hair and green eyes. She wore a uniform consisting of a white camisole with a skirt, polka-dots panties, and steel plate leggings. She also wears a steel gauntlet on her right arm and a long dueling glove on her left, other angels just wear two gloves. But the most notable features are her wings which are asymmetrically. She also has a red bracelet with a diamond embedded on it.
"Everyone, out of the way!" IF issued as everyone except Noire who was looking at the falling girl falling closer and closer until…
WHAM!
The girl crashed landed on Noire, spilling what looked like milk all over the two of them.
"Oooh. That's gotta hurt." Ratchet winced.
"Hmm, indeed…" Clank nodded as Ladius, Renee, Neptune and Ellis walked up to them.
"You okay there, Noire? I mean, I felt like I seen this before. But way to catch that girl by being a body pillow." Neptune commented.
"Shut… up…" Noire muffled from the ground as she pushed the girl off her and dusted herself. She looked at the milky fluids on her fingers and gave a disgusted look. "Gross…"
"Ugh…" The winged girl groaned as she got up and looked at her bottle. "Awwww…. Shit! This is like the third time I did this!" The girl looked at Noire and pointed her finger at her by shouting "Look what you did, you stupid monkey! Now I only have a quarter filled of holy milk left!"
"M-Monkey?! I'm no primate!" Noire snapped, closing her eyes, gritting her teeth and a anger vein popping in her forehead.
Reina, however recognized the winged girl. "N-Nanael? Is that you?" She gasped in awe
"Huh?" Nanael blinked as she sees Reina, Nowa and Ymir looking at her. She grimaced "Oh no… Not you three… First I'm stuck with a stupid bracelet that won't come off when I woke up in this world, and then I got chased by imps that can fly and forced me to crash land into where you idiots are standing…"
"Who are you supposed to be?!" Ellis fumed, placing her hands on her hips in fury.
"I'm the great angel, Nanael. Messenger of the heavens of my world. So bow down and give me some respect you monkeys!" Nanael blows a raspberry at Ellis.
Dyshana stepped forward and frowned. "You are no messenger of the heavens of your world, you are an outcast who is selfish and only wants to fulfil your greedy desires…" Said Dyshana stoically.
Nanael has an anger vein on her forehead and pointed her finger at the mysterious Messenger of the Gods by retorting with "What do you mean by that, huh?! I'll show you my power! Which one of you monkeys will face down moi?"
Winfield whistled nervously as he used his hand to push Ladius in front. "H-Hey! Winfield!" Ladius panicked as he glared at his friend.
"Show her what you're made of, Ladius!" Kohta cheered.
"Aha, a cute guy like you is gonna face me? Bring it then!" Nanael smirked as she made her Holy Blade appear and pointed it at Ladius.
Ladius sighed as he unsheathed his sword and got into a battle stance.
"Take this!" Nanael shouted as she telepathically moved her sword to strike at Ladius, but he vanished in a speed of light. "W-What the?!" Nanael has the anime white dotted eyes as Ladius reappeared behind her and slashed her across the back, causing her to fall down.
"Grrrr…." Nanael snarled as she stood up and glared at her new found enemy. "What the hell was that?! …You're no ordinary human, aren't you?" Nanael made a snarky remark. Ladius said nothing as he got into a defense position.
"What's Ladius-san doing? Why's he's in the defense position?" Tachibana blinked as she questions Ladius's battle strategies.
"He should go ahead and attack." Aria smugly commented.
"What, you're gonna stand there and do nothing? Heh, suit yourself! There's no way a stupid monkey such as yourself will beat an elite angel like me." Nanael flew up into the air and thrusts her foot down towards Ladius, shouting "Falling Star Kick!" Ladius however smirked and disappeared again which caught Nanael off guard. She realized she's falling down at a alarming rate and what's worse, she can't stop herself! "Augghhhhhhhhh! Crap, crap, crap, craaaaaaaaaappppp!" Nanael screamed as she crashed into the ground, causing a strong wind that everyone was forced to shield themselves from, when the wind died down, Ladius reappeared and sheathed his sword, Nanael has anime swirly eyes as she lay on the ground, exhausted of energy.
(10 minutes later)
Nanael was grumpily walking down the road. She is now part of Ragian's Army and she's not too happy about it one bit. Shizuka had to tend to her wounds, but Etna told her that the trinket Nanael is wearing will rapidly heal her wounds, but Shizuka, still being the school nurse of her world, still treated her wounds.
Eventually, our heroes arrived at the Aizai Fen. The gang looked at it in wonder.
"This place is scary…" Charlotte shivered, almost falling on IF which made her recoil.
Bart turned to Yayoi and asked "Have you been here before, Yayoi?"
Yayoi shook her head no and replied with "No. But this is where our god lives. I have never been in this place. But I want to go in there to see if my sacrifice would keep the Old Yamato Republic safe."
"Hmm… If what Dyshana said is true, then we got to see for ourselves if this god is really kind or not." Colette figured.
"Stay close, comrades and cut through any demons or undead that get in your way." Ladius advised.
"Just remember, you're replacing Leo as my slave." Aria frowned as she crossed her arms.
"You still going on about that?" Takashi muttered as he shook his head.
Ragian's Army pressed through. They encounter many imps and orcs that got in their way, but it was no problem for our heroes. They finally reached the shrine after about 9 minutes. Oh, there was a scene involving Neptune and Reina getting sick from eating a poisonous mushroom, so Shizuka had to tend to their status. Nanael commented that Reina ate a mushroom before back in her world and Jean was reminded of that, so he won't eat a poisonous mushroom in his entire life.
The party stood before an altar. Winfield turned to Yayoi and asked "So thi sis the abode of your guardian god?"
Yayoi nodded and responded with "That is what I have been taught, yes."
Dyshana walked up to the shrne and touched the base of it. She frowned and said stoically "As I suspected, there is no god here."
Etna tensed and muttered "The old hag is right. I don't sense a god here as well."
Ladius grabbed the hilt of his sword and demanded "What is the meaning of this?"
Dyshana turned to Borgnine and asked him "Borgnine, do you sense anything?"
Borgnine with his arms crossed and eyes closed muttered "Yes. I feel a corrupted, yet familiar spirit. One broken and twisted by darkness…"
"What the hell is that thing saying?" Luke asked in confusion.
Suddenly, they heard stomping and all eyes turned to see a giant mutanted shark like demon seen from the depths of hell stomping towards our heroes. His name is Quadwas.
"It has been a long time, brother. How long has it been since we last met?" Quadwas greeted with not the friendliest of tones.
"What the hell… He's a larva like Borgnine!" Yuri's eyes widen in shock.
"But he's tainted with evil…" Ellis quietly stated.
"Alice M.! Get behind us!" Rei issued, Alice M. who is scared nodded as she hid behind her foster family as Takashi and his friends got out their ranged weapons while Saya got out her katana.
Dyshana remained calm and told Yayoi "I do not know how you were told, but a lesser larva like this one could never hope to turn aside the river."
Yayoi covered her mouth in shock and stammered "Then, that means Yamato is…"
"Which means Yamato was not protected by him the whole time…." Clank frowned as he jumped into Ratchet's back and the Lombax got out his Devester and aimed it at Quadwas.
Quadwas laughed cruelly and mockingly stated "I let them believe what they wished to believe." Then he smugly added "Had I wanted to, I could have destroyed them, but then I would have had no one bring me food."
"You animal!" Chris gritted her teeth in fury as she and her fellow Symphongears transformed and got ready for battle.
Ladius frowned deeper and coldly said "Then… Yamato is a feeding ground…"
Quafwas narrowed his view on Yayoi and licked his lips. "The villagers are weak, and cannot slake my hunger, but you… You! You look powerful. I will enjoy this long-awaited feast!"
Borgnine stepped forward and narrowed his eyes fiercely at Quadwas. "You have become corrupted by darkness, foul beast! You have lost your pride and succumbed to greed!" Borgnine has extended his sharped nails and shouted in anger "I will destroy you utterly!" He lunged at Quadwas.
Borgnine got up and personal as he punched Quadwas in the face, knocking him back a bit. Snarly, Quadwas used his tentacle arms to lash at Borgnine, forcing him to block him which pushed him a bit.
"Renee! Reina, Nowa, Mai, Alice D, Yuri, Ed, Asuna, Kirito, Vashtor, Uncle Zerva! You're with me! Everyone else, provide fire!" Ladius ordered as got around Quadwas and slashed him in the back. Takashi's group provided gunfire to add in the damage while Tachibana and her friends used ranged attacks to hit Quadwas from afar.
"Die, mortals!" Quadwas shouted in fury as he slams his arms down and made a tidal wave appear and hurled it at the party. Tear stepped forward and sang as she held her wand at the tidal wave.
"There is no time for sing-the fuck?!" Tokai at first protested, but a barrier appeared in front of the wave and blocked it.
"Dragon Tail!" Reina slams her sword down and slashed Quadwas in the leg after the tidal wave died down. Quadwas lashed at her, hitting her and knocking her into a pillar.
"Reina!" Nowa gasped, before glaring at the larva and extended her staff, she leapt up, spins her staff around and slams it on Quadwas' head, forcing him to cover his bump.
"Azure Wolf Strke!" Yuri launched an energy slash at Quadwas before getting in front and slash him across the stomach, leaving a gash on its chest.
"You weaklings!" Quadwas growled as he sees Kirito and Asuna try to double team him, but he used his arm to knock them into some trees.
Alice D. charged at Quadwas, guns abalzing, but it barely left any scratches.
"Damn it, he's tough for a demon!" Ed gritted his teeth as he used his blade arm to impale Quadwas' leg. He got out of the way when Quadwas attempted to squash him. Mai made two clones of herself and charged at Quadwas, they leaped up and flew flaming fans at the larva, burning him a little.
Zerva leaped up and lashed at the stomach with his scythe while Vashtor used Double Edge on the legs, but the beast used some force to knock them away a bit.
Ladius gritted his teeth as he charged at Quadwas. Yayoi was standing on the sidelines still fraught with disbelief. Ellis ran up to her and shouted "Yayoi! Ladius needs your help!"
"…But I…" Yayoi looked down despondently.
Ellis placed her hand on Yayoi's shoulder and told her with a motherly voice "Listen… Ladius is fighting to save your life… He's also fighting to save every life in the universe. Renee, myself and our friends believed he is the one who will end Summerill and undo his evil. In fact, he is the universe's Messiah along with future Ragian heirs. Right now, he needs your help and you're the only one who can do it."
Yayoi fought about it for about 40 seconds, then with a determined look, she got out her wand and began chanting. A blue aura appeared around her.
"Silver Slash!"
"Rush Storm!"
Yayoi opened her eyes, pointed her wand at Quadwas and screamed out "Water Dragon!"
A icy pillar appeared below Quadwas. "W-What is the meaning of this?!" He gawked as he was incased in ice, just before Ladius and Renee's attacks hit him. The attacks connected. Nothing happedn for about a minute until the ice began to crack and crumble into many pieces, along with body parts of Quadwas, meaning the beast is dead.
Ladius sheathed his sword as the pieces of Quadwas fell behind him, making a cool anime victory.
To be continued…
Next chapter: The Ryulet: The Lord of Spirits and A Hope to Save Themselves
A/N: This… is perhaps my longest chapter ever. Anyway, I will try to focus on one character that needs screen time the most and improve on my writing skills. Next time, Arbol and Millia Maxwell will join our heroes, see you then.