{|} Chapter 9: Reaping Liberation {|}

{|} A-Part {|}

Dark fire began pouring out of the Charisma Choker which then began to quickly cover the very much terrified and freaked out Cecily in what appeared to be flaming silk, almost like it was a cocoon of some sort. Off to the side, Aqua and Chris pick themselves up off the ground enough to look at her as her face is enveloped by the flaming webbing, making Aqua say-

"Ah, my darling faithful Cecily. Eris, what is this? What's happening to her?"

"Damn it, I was really careless here. I should have seen that weird dark pulse of power coming from the choker for what it truly was, but I didn't despite having felt similar power to it before. The power up the choker had added to it, there's no question about it now. It was... a seed of Entropy!"

Kazuma finally comes back to the moment, having been momentarily stunned by what had just happened. He then quickly gets back onto his feet, his eyes locked onto the pulsing flaming cocoon that was now covering Cecily, his eyes narrow at what he was not only seeing but feeling from it too.

'That... that's the same as what I felt back then. When me and Anna went to Iris's home timeline and when we finally encountered the corrupted Aqua, this is the same thing. That Cecily girl... she's going to become...'

Kazuma grits his teeth, his fist shaking from the sudden rage surging through him before he throws both hid hands up and out before himself. He then shouts out-

"No, I won't let this go any farther... INFERNO!"

Kazuma then fires off a massive blast of intermediate level fire magic at the cocoon, the cool night air heating up to intense levels, forcing Chris to step back to avoid being burned from being close to the now ablaze cocoon. But Kazuma wasn't down yet.

"LIGHTNING!"

Chris now finds herself having to cover her eyes in order to avoid being blinded as Aqua quickly goes to hide behind her, shrieking aloud from the fear she was clearly feeling. The massive explosive sound the rings out from Kazuma's second attack was almost enough to drown out Aqua's cries.

Kazuma, now huffing and puffing as he had used up most of his mana to perform those attacks, struggles to maintain a standing position as he waits for the smoke surrounding the dark fire cocoon to disperse so he could better see if he had actually ended it already or if...

"Kazuma, it's not over yet."

Shouted Chris, who's superior senses could detect the dark entity within the cocoon. Kazuma growls, then responds by saying-

"Then can someone offer me a little more mana to work with. Hate to say it boss, but I more or less used most of my mana to fire off those two overcharged attacks I just did."

"We'll be right over. Come on Aqua, time to earn our keep on this one."

"Huh, what are you... ah, hey, hold on a second, Eris. What's this all about?"

Chris quickly grabs Aqua's hand and begins to forcefully drag her along towards Kazuma. Chris was already willing to allow Kazuma to take all of her mana if it will help him. However, her current status wouldn't offer much to him; she already knew that.

But Aqua, on the other hand, who's mana had a bit more anima that mortal mana to it, to say nothing of having a crap ton more of it available to her, perhaps even a nigh-infinite amount given she was still in a semi-divine state, would make her a far more helpful battery for Kazuma to rely on.

They run closer and just as they almost reach Kazuma, a loud cracking sound brings them to a stop, all three of them looking back towards the smoke, which is quickly blasted away, revealing the dark flame cocoon which was cracking... cracking... crack...

The cocoon explodes, revealing the figure of Cecily that had been hidden within. Except, it wasn't quite her anymore, if looks were anything to go by.

Her skin was now a powdery white color, her hair having turned from blonde to jet black in color. Her eyes now glowed with a haunting violet flame, and her Axis priestess attire had been replaced with an almost doll like dress. In fact, there was something about her now that seemed to scream doll, perhaps even a puppet or marionette like creature.

Perhaps this was because she seemed to have glowing violet-colored stings dangling from across her whole body, especially from her fingertips.

Aqua blinks several times from the state her darling faithful was currently in before finally saying-

"Cecily... Cecily, is that you?"

"Cecily? Yes, that was my name... once. But now, I think... I'll be... Liberation instead!"

As Cecily... no, Liberation spoke, her voice seemed to shift from Cecily's original voice and a new, much higher pitch tone. She then swings her arms upwards and out, sending the strings dangling from her fingertip flying all over in a rather strange and creepy way.

Chris narrows her eyes before looking at Kazuma and shouts out-

"No choice. We all need to attack her together, try to take her out while she's still in this weakened transformed state."

"Agreed. Should I take the lead or you, boss?"

"Hold on, are you two really going to..."

"Denied!"

said Liberation suddenly, making her fingers twitch. Immediately, Kazuma, Chris, and Aqua find themselves being lifted into the air by some unseen force. When they try to move, try to escape, they find their limps no longer responding to their mental commands and it only takes a moment to realize why this was happening.

"The strings... she's using them to capture us and keep us all bound up."

"Damn, one of us should have guessed that's what they would be used for."

"Wait, what are you two talking about. What's happening. Cecily, why are you..."

"Not... (Liberation clears her throat, then continues) I'm not Cecily anymore, Lady Aqua. I told you already... I am Liberation!"

It seemed Liberation had made a slight change to her voice, making it that some words would sound like they were being spoken by Cecily's old voice while others would be spoken by Liberation herself. Clearly, it was a sign that her transformation wasn't finished though the part of her that was Liberation was clearly the one in charge mentally at the moment.

Liberation then cocks her head to the side as she looks at Aqua in confusion.

"Curious, why am I able to keep you all trapped in my strings, lady Aqua? Shouldn't you be able to free yourself easily from them, avoid being caught in them to begin with. I can understand that dark goddess and her champion being so weak that they could be captured, but you...? Are you really MY goddess Aqua, lady Aqua?"

"Oh, here we go again..."

grumbled Chris as Liberation moves closer to Aqua, giving her a more focused look over. Off to the side, Kazuma watches as he brainstorms on what he could do in order to get them all out of this. Unfortunately, he only had one sure fire idea, but it was something he wasn't happy about.

'Damn it, looks like I have no choice. I'd rather not go use THAT power here and now, especially when there's still so much about the power I don't yet know or understand. And then there's what the aspect of Entropy I have inside me said before... now's not the time to worry about it. I'm going to need to Lich Reap on that idiot's ass!'

As Kazuma begins to call upon his stored arcana, Liberation finishes looking the now nervous, to the point of sweating, Aqua. She then sends Aqua a hard stare as she says-

"You really aren't my beloved lady Aqua are you, fake. You're clearly another agent of the dark goddess Eris, here to confuse me and lead me astray."

"Say what? Cecily, what are you... how could you even say such a-aaaaAAAAHHHHHH!"

Aqua begins to scream as Cecily begins to use her strings connected to Aqua's body to twist and contort the one-time goddess of waters body in a horrible way. Her upper torso was being forced to turn right, her lower half an equal opposite direction. The same was the case with her arms and hands, her legs and feet, and even her neck.

It was almost enough to snap her in half in multiple spots on her body, but not enough to actually kill. Perhaps the real Cecily was doing just enough to keep Liberation from going all the way here, or perhaps Liberation was just wanting to torture Aqua a little before killing her.

"Stop Cecily, don't you realize what you're..."

Chris doesn't finish as she herself gets the same treatment from Liberation, having her body twisted in every way possible to the point of nearly being snapped in half at several points of her body. As the two currently mortal goddess' scream in pain from the torture, Liberation cracks a smile at their suffering as she prepares to end them both together.

However, a sudden rush of dark energy draws her attention from them over to Kazuma.

"That's enough, Cecily... or Liberation, whatever you want to call yourself. If you want to attack and hurt them, you'll have to deal with me first."

"Very well then, HERETIC!"

Immediately, the twisting Chris and Aqua were suffering come to an end as Liberation turns her full attention onto Kazuma, now doing to him what she was doing to the two goddesses earlier. As they try to recover, Liberation glides over to Kazuma who was surprisingly doing a better job than they were at keeping himself from being twisted too much.

"Curious, you are far better at resisting my power than they are. But that won't be enough to save you. Do you have any last words... before we say our goodbyes to one another?"

Kazuma looks at her, a grin on his face as he was now ready to go and only needed to say-

"Sure, I have something I'd like to say. Lich..."

Kazuma didn't get to finish as his whole body convulses; blood spurts out from his mouth and nose before he goes fully limp. Liberation then sends him an innocent smile as she says-

"Sorry, but if I'm being completely honest with you...I really don't care to hear those final words!"

"KAZUMA! You... damn you, what did you do to him?"

screamed Chris, making Liberation look back at her and Aqua.

"It's simple, really. I just used my strings to shred his evil filled heart into many-many pieces. And now... where were we..."

Liberation then continued her horrid torture of Chris and Aqua, making them both scream out in pain as their bodies are once again twisted in various ways, almost to the point of breaking. Unlike before however, Liberation isn't just content with twisting their surface level bodies, but also their bones and internal organs too. They were tortured but Liberation made certain to not kill them; not yet anyways.

After a few minutes of this, Liberation let's up on the torture; looking at them with the sickest of smiles as they pant, whimper, sweat, and cry. Aqua tries to reach out to Liberation, hoping to reach the Cecily within to stop doing this, but her pleas fall onto death ears.

"Do you see it, fake Aqua? Do you understand now? It is clear to all that you can't be the goddess Aqua because unlike you, she would never be so easily tortured by one such as I nor would she ever beg for mercy!"

"Cecily... please stop... don't do this."

"It's no use, Aqua. She's been buried too deep inside the entity now before us. If we're going to get out of this, we can only rely on ourselves..."

"Like that's going to happen. Now, my dear and precious fakes... SCREAM for me just a little longer; then I'll allow you to finally DIE!"

Liberation then resumes her torture, ushering in new levels of pain and screaming from the two currently mortal goddess'. So focused was Liberation on what she found to be pleasurable, and the two goddesses were lost in the pain they were being made to suffer, that none of them could sense what was happening behind them: happening within the corpse of Kazuma.

At least that was the case until the sudden dark voice arose alongside a powerful pulse of raw power.

"STOPPPPP!"

The voice that came within the wave of dark power hadn't been one spoken aloud, but a powerful, forceful presence that filled their minds. This makes Liberation stop her torture as even she felt her body shiver from the force behind what she had felt.

So distracted was Liberation that her full hold on the two mortal goddesses let's up, making them drop onto the ground. Aqua immediately goes into a fetal position, shaking like crazy as she cries and wishes she had some booze with her to make it all better. Chris, on the other hand, managed to fight back against the pain and discomfort she was feeling to look at the source of the unleashed power; her eyes going wide at the sight of Kazuma now.

Liberation looks back at Kazuma as well, seeing he was now standing again; perhaps even floating as a ghostly aura shimmers around his body. Liberation scowls first, then smiles before saying-

"I could have sworn I killed you just a moment ago, heretic. No matter as I'll gladly kill you again and again and again, as many times as needed until you stay dead!"

Liberation then throws her hands out before herself, the strings at the ends of her fingers begin to dance around, indicating they were doing their job. Kazuma's arms and legs are jerked up before beginning to twist around and around like a corkscrew. Despite this, the neutral expression on Kazuma's face didn't change as the glowing light in his eyes only grew brighter and brighter.

Liberation's expression switches from one of enjoyment to one of confusion do to Kazuma's expression. The fact he didn't appear to be suffering any didn't make sense to her. She cocks her head to the side before deciding to approach him, to continue torturing him with her own hands.

"Stop, don't..."

said Chris, her voice weak and laced with pains. Liberation doesn't stop walking towards Kazuma but does glance back at Chris for just a second before returning her gaze onto Kazuma. In Liberation's mind, Chris was trying to get her to stop hurting Kazuma, which only made her want to do it even more.

Little did she know the true meaning behind Chris's words. But she would...

Liberation reaches Kazuma and takes a moment to study him before placing her hand against his chest.

"Strange, I sense no heartbeat coming from within... How are you still with us?"

"Lich..."

Once again, Liberation cocks her head to the side in confusion. What did it mean, what she had just heard? Had she really just heard that word said by this corpse? No, it had to have been her imagination. She then goes to lift Kazuma's head up, wanting to say one final thing to him as she looks into his lifeless eyes, only to finally notice the strange light coming from them.

"What is this? Some kind of last resort power you hero types always have. That is so cliché, you know. Don't think some cheap ass pull power-up will save you. Not from someone like..."

Liberation finishes tilting his head upwards so she could look into his dead eyes as she spoke and because of this, she wasn't ready for what was about to happen...

The dark, ghostly light in Kazuma's eyes flare outward, momentarily blinding Liberation due to her close proximity to him. She recovers quickly then growls out aloud as she goes to yanks his eyes out now using her strings.

"Now that was a cheap trick, heretic. Now, I will take your eyes like I took your...what's going on? Why can't I..."

It was true. Liberation suddenly couldn't move anymore. She couldn't even manipulate her strings with her mind. All she could do was stand there, unmoving, as the corpse of Satou Kazuma begins to smile; a big, terrible smile as more words emerge from him.

"... REAPPPP!"

And with that, the ghostly aura surrounding him explodes outwards, sending Liberation flying back through the air and into making a bone breaking landing. With her body now damaged, Liberation is forced to use her puppeteering power on herself to get herself back onto her feet, looking at the fury of dark power that had enveloped Kazuma's body as if it was a maelstrom of destruction.

Aqua, finally feeling the power Kazuma was producing, snaps out of her crying and looks up at what was going on before asking-

"What's happening now? Please, no more hurting..."

Chris narrows her eyes, not really sure how she was supposed to be feeling now, given the situation. But she did know one thing.

"We aren't the one who are going to be hurting now, Aqua. No... it's Liberation's turn to hurt!"

{|} B-Part {|}

The spiraling maelstrom that had erupted around Kazuma finally begins to die down, allowing the three girls the chance to finally see what had happened to him. His head, along with any exposed flesh on Kazuma's body was now gone, replaced by bone glowing with a pale ghostly green coloring. He eye sockets in the skull had a pulsing pale blue light with a deeper red pupil in the center. And the clothing Kazuma had been wearing had been partially ripped and torn, showing even more ghostly bone hidden within.

"Ah, what the... Eris, what is that thing? Did the NEET actually turn into a Lich. How did that happen?"

Chris doesn't respond to Aqua's questions. Instead, her thoughts were focused solely on Kazuma.

'Kazuma, your Lich Reap... it's converted even more of your body into being like an actual Lich form. But that isn't the worse thing happening. I don't know if Aqua can sense it yet, but I can... because I felt it from the source when I talked to it before, after the incident with the Labyrinth. I can feel it growing stronger within you... the power of Entropy!'

By now, the maelstrom had subsided and the Lich Reap just stood there, almost waiting for something. By now, the Apathy that had hit Liberation was starting to wear off, allowing her some degree of control beyond self-manipulation through her strings. She then sneers at the Lich Reap, saying-

"This is unexpected, this... whatever it is I am seeing from you now. But if you think this is going to give you the win here, then I'll..."

Liberation doesn't finish as Lich Reap raises his arms up before it, pressing the palms together via the wrist before a powerful blast of water comes blasting outwards. The force actually causes Liberation to stumble backwards, but not cause her to fall back onto her butt. After several moments, the onslaught of Create Water comes to an end.

Once again, Liberation found herself confused by this unexpected action, looking at Lich Reap again and asks-

"And you did that why? Is that your way of saying you think I needed to take a bath? What, do I stink to you because if I'm being honest, AND I'M ALWAYS HONEST, you are the one who truly stinks he..."

Her voice comes to a dead stop as she just stands there for a second, before falling down onto her knees, hands cupping her mouth as her cheeks puff outwards. It only takes a second before she begins to vomit out a terrible amount... of blood. On top of that, large boils begin to form onto her skin that quickly burst only to reform and burst again and again.

"(tries to avoid retching) Ugh, what... what's happening now?"

Once again, Chris ignores Aqua's question though she does say aloud what her thoughts were thinking.

"That was... combining Create Water with Hex. I didn't even know that was possible."

Once she had finished puking up a great deal of her blood and guts, by tapping into her still active healing powers, Liberation manages to turn her head up towards Lich Reap, her eyes filled with furious rage as she tries to stand. Lich Reap, his hands still connected, then begins to unleash a blast of Freeze at her, turning the ground beneath Liberation's body into ice which also entraps her into place while covering her in some of the ice too.

"Do you really think this is going to..."

Once again, her body begins to feel strange. But it wasn't another wave of sickness like before, but instead a wave of dizziness as her vision begins to fade. It takes her a second before she realizes what was happening to her now. Her strength was being drained away somehow by this... this thing.

"Now he's using a combination of Freeze and Drain Touch. Seriously, how are you..."

"ERIS, STOP IGNORING ME!"

cries Aqua as she grabs onto Chris, shaking her wildly.

Liberation was also wondering about that. How was it possible that this... this thing was stealing mana from her without touching her? Her eyes then drift down, allowing her to find the answer. It was the ice. To be more exact, there was a perfect, unbroken trail of ice leading from her all the way up to the Lich Reap's legs, thus making a perfect conduit for it to be leeching away her power into itself.

"So that's it, now I understand. You are not all that strong, are you. Your strength comes from stealing the strength of others from them. Now that I know this, I can..."

she says as she uses her strings to shatter the ice keeping her pinned to the ground, liberating herself as it were. She goes to stand while considering her options on how to counter this creature, but finds her thoughts frozen with his next action.

Lich Reap suddenly grips his upper left arm, just above the elbow, and with a mighty pull, rips said left arm clear off, making Liberation, as well as Chris and Aqua, begin to really freak out with their eyes wide and mouths hanging open.

Lich Reap clutch's the now separated left hand and arm in its right tightly, causing an intense ghostly glow to envelop it before it is consumed in fire that last only a few seconds before fading, revealing that the appendage had been turned into a massive scythe of bone. Lich Reap then makes a grunt like sound, causing a new left arm and hand to suddenly form before using it to join the right in taking hold of the new bone scythe to better handle it.

Lich Reap then unleashes an ear-splitting shriek before lunging at Liberation; it's intentions very clear.

Liberation, now beginning to panic, quickly turns to run as the reality of her situation was now obvious to her. There was no way, in either heaven or hell, that she was going to win this fight. This Lich Reap creature was just that much stronger than she was.

And he was faster than her too as he was on top of her before she could take her fifth step. It was only some very lucky footwork on Liberation's part, and maybe a rock causing her to trip up and fall onto the ground, that saved her from being sliced in half when Lich Reap came in swinging.

While it's first attack had missed due to pure luck, Lich Reap was quick to recover as he quickly turns, already positioned to go again. In desperation, Liberation throws a hand up and out, trying to use her strings to forcefully take the scythe from out of Lich Reap's hands. All she manages to do though is create a momentary stall for her to get back onto her feet.

Liberation goes to run again but doesn't. She knows running wasn't going to work here for her. No, she needed to force him to stop just long enough for her to go on the attack herself. She was confident her attack strategy would work so long as she stopped it just long enough.

It only takes a second for Lich Reap to free its scythe from the strings that had forced it to stop, once more moving towards Liberation, who enacts her plan. As the scythe is sent swinging forward, Chris suddenly finds herself being forced forward and forced to become a shield for Liberation.

"No, Eris..."

cried Aqua, knowing there was nothing she could do because of how quickly that had happened. She closes her eyes, not wanting to see her fellow goddess get impaled by the transformed NEET monster. Chris herself also closes her eyes while mentally hoping Kazuma doesn't ever come to hate himself for this.

But the hit doesn't happen as the scythe comes to a stop just before it could penetrate Chris' body.

"(laughing) What's wrong, beast. Don't want to hurt your master here?"

"Kazuma, don't worry about me. Do whatever you have to do and end this. Please, Kazuma..."

"Eris, what are you... Don't do it NEET... I mean, Kazuma. If you kill her, then you'll..."

Lich Reap just stands there, its glowing eyes looking right into Chris' own. Liberation can't help but smirk as she goes to enact her plan. She will put everything she has into stringing up the Lich Reap's skull and rip it off its body. Surely that will be its end if she does that. She goes to make the motions with her hands...

Lich Reap suddenly tosses his scythe high into the air, once again catching everyone off guard. While they at first let their eyes follow the scythe's flight upwards, they quickly correct themselves, returning their focus onto Lich Reap only to find its right arm now shimmer with ghostly light.

It then brings its even more transparent now right arm back before shoving it clear through Chris' chest. Chris shuts her eyes hard on reflex, expecting the feeling of intense pain to be rushing through her, but there was no pain. Only a strange kind of comforting cold as she looks down to see the arm passing into her with his upper arm sticking out. It was then she understood what was happening.

'This is... Specter!'

Behind her, Liberation was also caught unaware as she feels the hand of the Lich Reap passing into her as well. But unlike Chris, she could feel its touch gripping her very heart, making her look past Chris with a face filled with horror at the Lich Reap, the evilest of grins on its face before the next part happened.

Liberation lets out a blood curdling scream as her insides are zap with pure electrical power. Her body convulses violently from the shock; spasm and jerking every which way while she begins to stumble backwards though still remaining on her feet.

Chris turns back, fully understanding what Kazuma had done now. He used Specter to bypass hurting her so he could deliver a Shock Palm directly into Liberation's insides; somehow doing all that without making Chris herself suffer the same attack. Just how far could his Lich powers be taken was her thought now.

She doesn't get to think about it for long as Lich Reap releases his assault upon Liberation and quickly retracts his arm from out of Chris' body, then gently pushes her out of the way while catching his scythe as it falls, then he charges to the still standing and alive somehow Liberation, rams into her, and sends her flying into a tree. Before she could even register the impact upon her body, her whole being jerks as Lich Reap had thrown his scythe like a javelin, impaling her to keep her pinned to the tree.

Liberation screams out in pain. Aqua also screams out, though from the terror she was feeling, as she quickly tries to hide herself as a just in case it decided to come after her next. Lich Reap just growls before beginning its walk towards the now trapped Liberation, only to stop when Chris takes hold of his hand, making him look back at her.

"That's enough, Kazuma. It's over now. All we need to do now is..."

"Nooooo, it's not over. Not yet. There is still one matter left do deal with!"

he said, the first time he had talked sense transforming this night. He then pulls his hand free from Chris as he walks over to Liberation who was struggling, rather weakly, to free herself. Feeling Lich Reap upon her, she looks at him with the most hateful of scowls.

"You... DAMN YOU, monster. Do you have any idea who you're messing with? Know that I..."

"SHUT UP!"

said Lich Reap, quickly covering her mouth with his left hand while using the right to break the curved blade of the scythe off its handle, then seemingly fusing it to his wrist. He then says, his voice ominously cold-

"You get one chance. Take the choker off now... or I WILL DO IT FOR YOU!"

"You dare threaten me, Liberation. Just you wait, hell spawn. Once I'm free of this, I will find everyone you love, and I will make them all suffer my..."

She doesn't get to finish as with a quick and simple motion, Lich Reap decapitates Liberation at her neck, along with her the tree she had been pinned too. As he now lifeless head rolls onto the ground, he watches it for just a moment before turning his attention back to her body.

He then reaches out and grabs hold of the Charisma Choker and pulls it free from her neck stump. Gripping the choker in his hand, he once again looks to Liberation's body, watching as it begins to turn back to being Cecily, clothes and all. Satisfied, Lich Reap frees her body from being pinned to the tree before dropping it down onto the ground, then it begins to walk away.

"Ah, my darling faith... I mean Cecily. Hold on; I'll fix you right up."

says Aqua, having found the courage to look at what was happening again. Upon seeing Cecily decapitated form being dropped onto the ground, her instincts kicked in, making her go running to do a quick repair and revival of her. Aqua hadn't forgotten what Cecily had done... no, what Liberation had done to them. But Cecily the person was still one of hers and thus, she couldn't just ignore her current state of being, not when she had the power to do something about it.

Chris watches Aqua run over to Cecily, grabbing her head and bringing it to her body which she begins to heal. Chris was tempted to tell Aqua to just let her be, that this was actually a kinder fate for her than the one awaiting her once she was revived. She doesn't though; instead walking over to Lich Reap who had finally come to a stop and was looking towards the sky.

"I'm sorry, Kazuma. Sorry I allowed things to go this far. I swear I'll never let the likes of this ever happen again. Now, I need you to give me the choker so I can..."

"NO!"

Chris blinks in surprise at Kazuma's refusal to give the choker to her. Lich Reap turns his head downwards to look at the choker, then to her as he adds-

"This thing... this DAMN thing should never have existed. Nowhere within creation is there a place for something like this. I'm going to do what all those lazy gods and goddess' have failed to do since the beginning. I am going to... END THIS!"

Before Chris can react, he throws the Charisma Choker with all his might into the air, sending it flying higher and higher. Chris watches it soar, then she feels the buildup of power coming from Lich Reap. She looks at him, seeing the ball of energy building before the index and middle fingers of his right hand which he points up into the air, aimed right at the still airborne choker.

"CERO!"

he shouts out, his voice filled with rage as the beam of furious arcana is unleashed skyward. Chris follows the beam, seeing it make contact with the choker, which at first appears to be attempting to fight back, to resist being destroyed. But in the end, the choker was no match for the Cero as it begins to crack and break, finally disintegrating into dust, then atoms, and finally into nothing at all.

Chris lets out a sigh, both of relief and a little nervousness. Hopefully, there won't be any trouble from the higher-ups later over this matter.

'At least the dangers the choker can bring about has finally been ended. Now, how to go about getting Kazuma...'

A sudden sound of pain from Lich Reap gets Chris to look at him, seeing he was holding his head with both hands, his body waving back and forth. From her perspective, it looked like he was suffering from some kind of intense pain, and it was all centered in his head.

"Kazuma, what... what's happening to you. Please tell me... Kazuma."

Lich Reap continues to jerk back and forth for a few moments more till he finally stops dead and stands tall, the glow of his eyes having become somehow different. There was something in there, something that wasn't Kazuma.

"There, I've finished getting the most serious elements of the damage you suffered healed. There's still a bunch of work I need to do to get you one hundred percent again but before I get around to doing that, I should revive you and get your soul back down here before Eris' assistant goes and does something crazy... like sending you off into the afterlife."

said Aqua, getting Chris to look at her. She goes to say something, but a sudden deep growl from Lich Reap draws her attention to him. It only takes a moment for Chris to realize what was about to happen. Lich Reap was going to attack Aqua now, possibly kill her too.

Lich Reap indeed goes to move towards Aqua but is stopped by Chris who jumps in the way. She then hugs herself against Lich Reap, holding on as tightly as she could. Aqua, sensing this, turns her head and begins to shake as she sees what was happening.

Lich Reap's power was flaring up like an intense fire and Chris was right in the center of it, burn marks beginning to appear on her skin. Lich Reap roars out in defiance as it tries to break free of her hold, but Chris refuses to let up as she continues holding firm despite being burned from the contact.

"Kazuma, please Kazuma. Take back control, please. I know you can do it, Kazuma. I know you can do it... because I'm here with you."

"Eris..."

said Aqua, her vision showing her something strange. While she could see the sight of Eris hugging herself against the NEET Lich and being burned as a result, she could also see an image of a great, unending cliff stretched out before her. She could see Kazuma falling over this cliff and Eris rushing forward, throwing herself forward as she stretches her arms out as far as possible.

Kazuma falls and falls and falls, then is caught by Eris who had almost gone over herself. She holds tight and begins to pull him back up. Back in reality, the Lich Reap lets out one final defiant roar before its strength seems to fail it as it collapses into Chris' embrace; the flames coming from it now appearing to consume the lich and from them appears the battered and burned body of Satou Kazuma.

Chris, her own strength nearly gone, collapses onto her knees but she manages to keep a firm hold on Kazuma, cradling his limp form close to her body. Despite looking like she was in a bad way herself, Chris still smiled a most beautiful smile as her tired, yet sparkling eyes look down at Kazuma's face.

"It's over... we're all safe now, Kazuma. You, me, everyone... we're all safe!"

Aqua just looks on at the two of them and for the first time in her life, she had a very specific thought.

'Eris, you really are... an amazing goddess. Compared to you, I'm... I know I'm truly just a...'

{|} C-Part {|}

Back at the new mansion, all persons present were breathing heavily. Well, Megumin wasn't if only because she hadn't done much except stand off to the side barking orders. Really, given her lack of magical power at the moment and the fact she didn't have a weapon on her, what else could she do but that.

(C) "Lia, why... do really need to do this?"

"That depends on you all. If you continue to go after Kazuma, then we'll have to fight each other."

(Y) "I don't understand. Why are you three protecting that heretic?"

(E) "I can't believe you're asking that question. Isn't Kazuma supposed to be your friend, your leader?"

(A) "Like... what's her name is saying. Surely you four have to feel that all that you're doing here is wrong."

(D) "What we're doing is...?"

(M) "Wait, I think I can remember... weren't we talking earlier about the possibility that we were being manipulated by Cecily?"

Megumin's words makes the other three look at once another in a questioning fashion. One by one, the light of realization begins to come over them with Yunyun saying-

"Did we... did we screw up again?"

(C) "Dammit, how many times must we..."

(L) "So, are you three starting to realize the truth now? If so, then how about we stop fighting each other and start fighting back against the real enemy."

The four girls look at each other again and nod. They go to walk over to join Lia, Erika, and Anna, they sudden collapse to their knees while holding their heads with their hands. They jerk this way and that as the other three girls run over to them, in the hopes of trying to help them. But it was no use as they appeared to continue to suffer for a few moments more before their eyes roll into the back of their sockets and they all fall onto the ground, unconcious.

As Lia and Erika look them over, Anna turns her attention back to the large opening in the mansion walls as she says to herself-

"Please, tell me what just happened is a good thing here, big bro!"

(outside of Axel)

Aqua takes a moment to catch her breath before giving Cecily a little look over. She had finished reattaching Cecily's head to her body and had closed the hole made in her chest when she had been pinned to the tree. Her soul had been returned to her body and she was alive again, but her healing wasn't quite done yet.

'If Cecily were to wake up now, she'd more or less be fine though she would be feeling some pain still, to say nothing of a crap ton of discomfort. Better do a little extra with her before that hap...'

Aqua can't help but look over at Eris, seeing her fellow goddess still sitting on the ground and still cradling the unconscious Kazuma in her arms. The two of them were still looking in a bad way, burned up and breathing out ragged breathes. Clearly, Eris' human form didn't have access to any healing spells which made sense, seeing as she clearly hadn't chosen to work any priestess class down here.

Aqua sighs before getting up and begins to walk over to those two. In the past, Aqua wouldn't have hesitated to make them wait till she was done seeing to the care of any of her darling faithful. But now, after all that had happened and been revealed, she decided that it was time to start thinking, and acting, differently. Besides, it wasn't like Cecily was going to be waking up anytime soon anyways.

Once she had reached them, Aqua begins using her best healing spell on them both, making Chris snap out of whatever thoughts she was having and look up at her superior.

"Aqua..."

"You know, this would go a lot quicker if you had specked into a priestess role down here, Eris. If you had, then I wouldn't need to waste my precious time doing this right now!"

Aqua wasn't really serious though. Instead, she was just trying to be funny, and she wanted to give off the impression to Chris that she was still her, even after all that had happened. Chris just smiles before saying-

"Yeah, I know. I chose to play the role of a thief because it seemed like it would be a fun thing to do and all. Also, me and the thief class... we kind of go together when you think about it, given my status as lady luck. Still, sorry for putting you out like this."

"(sigh) I'm... I'm sorry too. Sorry that you and this guy here had to go through what you did because one of mine got a little carried away with what they felt was their duty to do. I'm sorry I haven't been a better role model for them. I'll... try to do better in the future... though it's me we're talking about here so don't get your hopes up."

"I have faith in you, Aqua. Despite some of your... past actions, you have always done the right thing in the end. Well, you've sort of done the right thing in the end. ("Hey, I take offense to the 'sort of' bit!") Just know if you need any help with anything, I'll be there to assist. After all, that's what we sister goddesses are there for, right."

Aqua just looks at her for a second, then smiles before nodding happily. She hopes Eris knew what she was saying because Aqua had every intention on putting her to the test there once things have settled down. Aqua then looks at Kazuma before asking-

"What about the NE-Kazuma? Will he be alright?"

"I... I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. Your healing magic may be able to fix his body, but his mind and heart... that's going to take so much more than what magic alone can fix, even the magic of a god. But no matter what, I won't let him slip away. No matter the dangers or the risk, I will always be there to pull him back from the brink should he need it. I refuse to ever let him go."

"Even if you have all of creation working against him?"

"Even then, I will still choose him and stand by his side until the very end. And I know I'm not the only one who would tell you that."

Aqua looks at Chris, stunned by the strength of the conviction in her words. It was then that Aqua found herself asking-

"Eris, are you... are you actually in love with..."

"So, the battle has ended, has it. Exactly how I knew it would end too."

Both girls jump before turning back to see a new figured had arrived on the scene, standing over the unconscious body of Cecily. The figure, having pale colored skin and creepy eyes, kneels down and places his hand upon the Axis priestess, making Aqua take up a battle stance as she says-

"Hey, what are you doing to my darling faithful. If you try anything funny with her, I'll..."

"Calm yourself, goddess of water. I was only wanting to see the aftereffects of my little power booster on her. (the figure stands tall and looks at them) When I used a Seed of Entropy to power up the Charisma Choker, I knew this outcome was likely going to happen. Probably should have warned her to not remove the choker till after the Eris Festival came to an end, less something bad were to happen. Oh well, no matter. Things were more fun this way."

"Hold on, are you saying that... you damn jerk. What did you do to my darling faithful and to the Divine Relic she had with her."

"Nothing really. I just gave her the means to realize her goals; all in the name of you of course, lady Aqua. I confess I had my own reasons for doing it, but we'll get to that shortly."

As Aqua fumed, her fist clenched like she would charge this guy and attack him, Chris took a moment to study him before her eyes narrowed and she asked-

"You, who are you?"

"Ah, where are my manners? I know who you all are, but you don't know me. My name is Rubrikt, lady Eris. I believe you have been looking for me."

"Yes, I have indeed. I have a lot of questions for you, Rubrikt, and I hope you're up for answering them because I won't take a no as an answer."

"I believe I have time to answer SOME questions this night, but my time is rather precious so let's not waste a second with getting started. Please, ask away."

Chris stares at him before placing Kazuma carefully onto the ground so she could stand. While the arrival of Rubrikt had interrupted Aqua when it came to finishing the healing on her and Kazuma, Chris was feeling better now. Well enough at least to join Aqua in attacking this guy as needed.

"Eris, wait. Do you know this guy? If so, tell me what's going on..."

"Later, Aqua. OK Rubrikt, my first question is what exactly you enabled Cecily to do here in Axel. My second is why did you do it?"

Rubrikt nods before reached up with one hand to scratch his chin as he responds.

"As I'm sure you've figured out by now, I used one of my Seed of Entropy's to power up her magic choker, to make it possible for her to make anyone she encountered do as she wanted. Of course, she was dumb enough to think she was liberating people instead of brainwashing, but you already know that."

"Why did I do this, enable her like I did? It's all rather simple, really. I wanted to give our sleeping friend there another little test. To help push him closer into becoming a full Entropy entity. I was so close to seeing that wish realized. If only you hadn't done what you did just a few minutes ago, goddess Eris; reach out and grab his hand to pull him back from the brink... of well, no matter. He's already at the edge now. All he needs is just one more Lich Reap, one more push to see it potentially happen again."

"LIKE HELL I'LL EVER LET THAT HAPPEN!"

screams out Chris with such fury that it makes Aqua wince while looking at her junior with a little fear. She makes a mental note to never ever piss Eris off in the future if that would be her response. After taking a moment to calm herself, Chris asks-

"Why... why are you doing this to him. To Kazuma!"

"Hm, why indeed. To answer that question, I must first explain a few things about myself. You see, I am what you would call an academic A scholar, really. I seek knowledge and a complete understanding on ALL things. I want to know; I NEED to know. To that end, I go around from place to place, timeline to timeline, reality to reality; all for the sake of expanding my knowledge."

"During my travels, I encountered a timeline in another reality that had reached the end of its existence and thus was being consumed by entropy. I managed to somehow take possession of a piece of that for future study and experimentation. Then, after reaching this reality, I happened across a certain timeline where I found a most curious creature; a girl who had something special about her, far different than any other version of her I had encountered within other timelines within this particular reality. Because of this, I decided to make her the latest subject in my entropy fusion experiments."

Both Aqua and Chris' faces became one of horror at the idea of what he meant and Aqua even asks-

"What did you do?"

"What any person like me would do, I made use of her. She wasn't the first, mind you. I have made use of others in the past, both before and after her, in my entropy fusion experiments. She was the first to actually survive and become something more, something greater. This made me feel confident that the project could bare much fruit, but only so long as I found the RIGHT candidates to work with. Sadly, I have had nothing but failures since Entropy was born. There was that Aqua girl from that one timeline: the one who became a Corruption. But she ended up being too lazy to be of any use to me and my research and was also defeated by that boy resting behind you two."

"Hey, what did you say about me being a Corruption? Those are fighting words if you ask..."

"Aqua, not now. I have an idea as to what you're talking about. Kazuma told me about how he and Anna went off to another timeline. Never mind that for now. How does this all connect to Kazuma."

"Ah yes, Kazuma there. Truly, he is one of a kind. In all honesty, he was never intended to become a research subject within my experiments but imagine my surprise when his first encounter with an aspect of Entropy, here in this timeline to gather information for its main body, had an encounter with Satou Kazuma down in some old crypt. Since Entropy has this kind of hard-on for all Kazuma's, it tried to capture him... tried until a certain goddess forced out her divine power to save him from being taken."

Chris remembers that incident well, that little quest they had gone on which ended seeing them get the mansion as their home here in Axel.

"So you're telling me that wasn't something you planned, Rubrikt."

"Of course it wasn't planned, goddess Eris. My being here in this timeline is for a different reason than seeing that happen, though I confess I did several other entropy fusion tests early on. The last one, I believe, saw a vessel attacking some girl who had been sent here to this world. I think her Divine Relic was some kind of barrier creating musical instrument..."

'He must be talking about Lia and how she lost her old party and developed amnesia.'

"Well, that ended up achieving nothing. Back to Kazuma. He was quite the find. In all honesty, what happened to him that day shouldn't have led to his current status. But there is just something about that lich seed within him that merged with a fragment of the Entropy he encountered that day that made them become one. Who could have imagined it, a complete and unintended accident would end up becoming a perfect vessel to make an Entropy with. Hm, stranger things have happened, I guess."

"Eris, what's he saying? I don't understand any of this."

"Later, I promise, Aqua. So, Kazuma wasn't intended to become what he is but here we are now. What are your intentions with him now, Rubrikt."

"It's rather quite simple, really. Once I became aware of him and learned of his potential, I knew I needed to test him. His little trip down into Hell, his adventures in that alternate timeline, and even this little festival of yours; all tests meant to push him and see how far he could go. I have to say, he has exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds. And now that he's just a little push away from becoming a perfect Entropy, I'll finally be able to answer the question that has been driving me mad for eons."

"And that would be?" (x2)

"Do you really have to ask? Fine, I'll tell you. What would happen if a perfect Entropy engaged in battle with another perfect Entropy? Just imagine it; the utter chaos and destruction such a battle would bring. What knowledge could be learned from the conflict and the aftermath. As an academic, a scholar, I must make this happen and have my questions and curiosities answered."

"(stunned) You... you can't be serious."

"To do something like that... do you have any idea how many lives could be lost from such a thing?"

"More than you can imagine. In fact, I can see WHOLE timelines being erased from existence. Perhaps this whole reality of timelines will be nuked into nothingness. No matter, I will still do it so I can have my answers. For me, there is no sacrifice to great here to achieve that which I desire."

Neither Aqua nor Chris could believe what they were hearing. This man, Rubrikt, there was no doubt he was the greatest of dangers and needed to be stopped. Rubrikt then looks to the sky while saying-

"I confess I'm unsure if a battle between them will even happen though, given how perfect Entropy number one has such a desire to capture this Kazuma. Perhaps she wants to have her equal at her side or perhaps... no, that can't be the reason. Anyways, going back to Cecily. I gave her the power of an Entropy to create a possible test for Kazuma here. However, instead of putting the seed within her body, I instead placed it within the Charisma Choker. Doing it this way would ensure the seed would only have a short life expectancy to it as it needs a living host to thrive. I set it up to activate should she try to take the choker off early. If Cecily had only kept the choker on till after midnight of the final day of the festival, the seed would have died, and all this trouble avoided. I guess what I'm saying is thank you for getting her to take it off early, thus allowing Liberation to be born to fulfill her role in this."

"Arghhhhh, you sonuva... I'm going to..."

screams Aqua, lunging at Rubrikt with a powered God Blow. Rubrikt smirks as he easily sidesteps her attack, then is forced to back away with an almost graceful dance as Chris tries to attack him as well. This goes on for a few minutes before Rubrikt becomes bored and easily unleashes a powerful gale that sends them back towards Kazuma's unconscious body.

As the two goddess's pick themselves up, Rubrikt sighs before looking at a pocket watch he was holding.

"Seems our time is up. Sorry, but I really must be on my way now. I'm a very busy man; I'm sure you both can understand that."

The two girls pick themselves up, both looking furious as they glare at him.

"What makes you think we're just going to..."

"Ah right, before I go. There's something I need to tell you, Eris."

"... And that would be?"

"I've become aware that you have become aware of the sudden decrease in the world's mana levels. I'm also aware that you've been trying to find the source of the drain."

"Yes, I have... wait, are you saying that you're the cause, Rubrikt?"

"Huh, the world's mana is... what's he talking about, Eris?"

"In a way, I am. To be more exact, I know where it's all being absorbed. I wasn't the one responsible for it, but I decided to let it continue to its current status. Care to take a guess as to why."

"Damn you..."

said Chris, making Rubrikt smile.

"Bet you want to know the answer, don't you. Very well, then how about we play a game. Simply make your way to a specific location of my choosing and you will find a clue, a riddle to be exact. If you can solve the riddle, you will find the source of the mana drain... and you will find ME there too. I will then explain everything we didn't talk about this night, and I'll even fight you, scholar vs goddess. What do you say, want to play my game."

"How about you just tell me the where and we can cut to the chase, Rubrikt."

"Now where's the fun in that, goddess. Actually, I don't think I'll give you a choice. I think you WILL play my game, like it or not. Anyways, here's the location of the riddle for you. All you need to do is head to home sweet home. Within those old walls will be a chest, all bright and shiny, with the clue awaiting you therein."

"Wait, did he actually manage to hide it within your throne, Eris? How did he do..."

"No, I think he's talking about it being somewhere inside Kazuma's mansion. That makes it easy to find then..."

"Actually, you are both wrong. You'll understand what my words meant here in just a few more moments. Now, as one final kindness, allow me to help you make your trip just a little bit quicker!"

"Huh, what trip?"

asked Aqua as Rubrikt snaps his fingers. Immediately, a portal of swirling light opens behind them, the air quickly being sucked in. Chris and Aqua both grab onto the ground, sinking their fingernails into the earth to try to keep from being sucked in.

"That's not going to work, you know. Also, did you forget about your friend there?"

Chris's eyes go wide from the realization as she looks back to see Kazuma's unconscious form being sucked into the portal. Without any fear or doubt, she releases her hold on the ground and allows herself to be sucked into the portal as well. Aqua tries to maintain her hold but the ground beneath her give's way, joining her as she goes flying into the portal which quickly closes behind her.

Rubrikt stands there for a few moments more, then looks back to confirm that Cecily hadn't been sucked in either as he still had one final task for her to perform for him, regardless of if she wanted too or not. He then looks up at the sky once more and says quietly to himself-

"We'll have our proper introduction with one another here soon, Satou Kazuma. Until then, continue exceeding my expectations for you!"

{|} Epilogue {|}

"These poor people... just what exactly happened here?"

After having contacted the others, [Complex] Iris had decided to spend her time doing some exploring of the surrounding areas as she awaited their arrival and as a result, she had stumbled upon a small village. While not nearly as destroyed as many of the others she had observed far off in the distance, this place had clearly seen better days.

She had just entered a small home and found the bone remains of what may have been the family that lived here. It was clear from what she could tell that they had died long ago and that their deaths had been quick, or at least she hoped it had been a quick death. Question now for her was the same as everywhere else she had seen; just what exactly happened here in this timeline?

A sudden whirring sound draws her attention to outside the building. Looks like she was finally getting some company. She stands and walks outside, just in time to see [Ego] Aqua, [Passion] Darkness, and [Shy] Yunyun came walking out of the portal. The portal then closes as they approach Iris, who asks-

"Was [Glutton] Komekko too busy watching center obscene stuff to be bothered to join you all... AGAIN!"

Aqua shakes her head, then says-

"I'm having her hang back for now. Assuming this timeline we're in now really is the home timeline of Entropy, then we have to be ready for the possibility that our exit and return to that other timeline could be delayed. Should that happen, then we'll need Komekko there to assist [?] Eris with pulling our Megumin out from being hidden away within the soul of the Kazuma we've been observing."

"... How's he been doing?"

Before Aqua could answer, Yunyun cuts in to answer for her.

"Well, the Eris Festival is currently going on and he appears to be having fun with the others while searching for that timelines version of Cecily. I really wish we could step in and help him out with that, especially seeing that Cecily has a mind manipulation Divine Relic in her possession."

Aqua nods, then says-

"Agreed, though I'm sure they'll be fine. Worst case scenario, we'll do our thing in secret to help him out if the need is there once we get back. Now, what have you learned, Iris."

(AN: The events of this epilogue takes places during the second day of the Eris Festival, when Kazuma and the girls were off on their little bug hunt for the guild.)

"Alright... actually, there's something I want to show you all, so I'll talk as we walk."

Iris then turns and begins to lead them through the ruined village, heading towards a hill that had a large tower positioned on it. As they go, Darkness looks around the village, frowning at the destruction before asking-

"Iris, did you remember to send out a Daten to gather as much information from the World Memory as possible for us to work with?"

"Yeah, right after I contacted you all. I'm hoping it won't take too long for it to return so we can learn just what exactly happened here. So far, all I can say is that this world had a heavy mid-evil vibe, what with the style of the clothes and the architecture. That said, there is one thing that doesn't make any sense to me."

(Y) "What would that be?"

"You'll see soon enough."

They continued up to the tower and after making sure the structure was safe, they carefully make their way up to the top, allowing them to see what it was Iris was talking about. Aqua, Darkness, and Yunyun just look on as their eyes gaze out into the ocean, seeing the massive metal structure rising out of the waves.

(I) "So... anyone have any ideas what THAT's supposed to be."

(Y) "What even is that supposed to be?"

(D) "Some kind of fortress that sank into the sea?"

"That's a spaceship... or at least the remains of one."

Everyone looks at Aqua, waiting for her to elaborate. Aqua then looks at them and says-

"Clearly, aliens paid this world here a little visit... well, I say aliens but from how the ship remains appear to look, I would have to say these aliens were in fact space traveling humans. Guess that would explain all the damage and destruction we've seen. Makes me really wonder what could have led to all this that remains."

When the three girls still looked confused, Aqua becomes annoyed and says-

"What, don't tell me I need to explain the idea of science fiction to you all? Are you really telling me that none of you have ever checked out a timeline where things being all sci-fi is the norm?"

"NO! (x3)

"Really, you guys haven't? Huh, I guess it's only been me then. I wonder if Komekko... never mind that. I'll explain it in more detail later once we're done here and get back home. Now Iris, about your belief that this is Entropy's home timeline."

"Well, first is the sky. In case you all haven't taken notice of it yet, the sky definitely gives off Entropy vibes. And if that wasn't enough, there's also THAT way off in the distance."

Iris then points then in the direction in question. Sure enough, though it clearly was quite far off, they could see the spiraling maelstrom far off in the distance. A never-ending storm that had all the hallmarks of Entropy written all over it.

(Y) "So, what do we do now?"

(A) "May be a little risky on our part, but let's head to that place; see what we can learn."

(D) "Is that really a good idea, Aqua?"

"No, not really. But a chance like this may never come again. Also, I don't think Entropy's here at the moment. If she was, I'm sure she would have made her presence known by now so this may be our best chance at learning her secrets, maybe even find a way to end her once and for all."

Well nervous and a little uncertain about this, the three girls nod before they begin their descent from the tower. Their travel to the likely home of Entropy had begun and who knows what would happen on their trip there. But if luck was on their side, maybe they could make it there without incident.

And once there, they could finally learn some deeper truths about Entropy and why it's doing what it does.

{|} Arc 12: complete... {|}

AN: Normally, this would be the point where I would reveal the next arc title and give you a little synopsis of it, but before that, let's have a quick talk about a few things. I know last chapter, I said this chapter would be shorter in length with only an A-Part, a B-Part, and the Epilogue. As I'm sure you noticed, that wasn't the case at all as there ended up being a C-Part and the chapter was longer overall. Goes to show I really need to stop being so long winded when it comes to my writing, huh. I really need to work on that as I'm sure it can be annoying to some, if not all.

Next, we learned a lot this chapter about Rubrikt and his plans. While I like to think, and hope, that I was clear on a lot of things, I can't help but worry that I may have failed giving a proper explanation to some things, either about Rubrikt or maybe details relating to Cecily, Liberation, and how all that happened. If there's any confusion there for any of you, please let me know via reviews or PM's and I'll take time in future chapters to add further elaboration to help you all understand better.

Speaking of Cecily, she isn't dead yet. She's alive, not fully healed, but she is alive thanks to Aqua. Because of this, she will be showing up in our next arc. What will her role be, you may be asking. Well, it could be a big role or a small one. She may decide to make a run for it or perhaps she'll actually man (or woman) up and accept punishment for her actions. Either way, we'll find out her ultimate fate in the next arc. OK, now we can talk about what's to come.

So, how many arcs are left, you may be asking. Well, I can say to you all now that we have 4 arcs left, including arc 13, giving us a total of 16 arcs in all for this series. Our next arc will have two narrative's we'll be following here. The first will focus on Kazuma, Chris, and Aqua as they try to reach the location Rubrikt told them to go too, all the while trying to survive in a place without any magic to rely on. The second will focus on Megumin, Yunyun, Darkness, and Cielo as they are led deep beneath Axel by Serena under the assumption they are going to save Kazuma from an on the run Cecily; not knowing what her true attentions for them actually is.

How will these two stories play out and how will Cecily, Lia, Erika, and Anna play into all this and what will the ultimate aftermath of Cecily's actions during the Eris Festival actually be. Find out here in Arc 13: Of Memories and Vengeance. This arc is expected to begin in the latter half of September or the first week of October at the latest. Till then, anticipate what's to come.