Silence, that was the only thing that abounded in the subway base of DEM Industries.

In the middle of a bridge connecting the elevator to all the subway facilities, two men in very similar suits were looking at each other. Neither of them made a sound, they simply watched each other.

One of them, the one on the right, let out a heavy sigh. Having his former best friend in front of him, the person with whom he had spent the most difficult times of his life. He was somewhat nostalgic.

—It has been a while since the last time, hasn't it, Elliot?

The other man, now known as Elliot, did not change his expression as he listened to him. He no longer considered him someone close to him in his life, but an enemy he had to eliminate in order to accomplish the goal he so longed for.

—I'm glad you're in one piece, Ike. I must admit you were always good at magic, but leaving that aside, I suppose you must know by now why I decided to come on my own.

—Exactly, my dear friend, Elliot. It's no surprise that you managed to get into my facility. I always knew that at some point you would come on your own, although I figured you would first send Karen with the goal of having her get the Sephira crystal from one of the spirits.

—I would never do something so foolish, Ike. Don't you remember that I'm always one step ahead of your entire organization, or have you forgotten your failure to save Hermit from Artemisia?

The silver-haired man smiled confidently. Nothing Elliot said would affect him, for him, the things that happened in the past were necessary to get to the present they all know.

—I accept that I had an oversight at the time, but thanks to that I was able to save the rest of the spirits, it was a necessary sacrifice to prevent you from fulfilling your goal of creating an ideal world, Elliot.

—Always so stubborn, Ike. You can never understand that what I intend to do will help everyone, both humans and spirits, I will create a utopia strong enough that no one will be able to break it.

He expressed with neutrality in his voice. Having a "Normal" conversation with his old friend was pleasant, even if he didn't agree with him, he could talk calmly without the need to worry about a surprise attack.

—Elliot, even if it were possible to carry out your wish, it can never be completely fulfilled. There will always be people who seek to rebel against what is established, the only thing you will cause by creating that world, is a much bigger war than the one humanity already had in the past.

Elliot was annoyed by the comment, although he felt comfortable talking to him, he could not stand listening to the same monologue every time they met.

—That's enough, Ike. I won't have the same conversation twice, I'll get my wish, no matter if you and Ellen must die along the way.

—Ahh... I guess this was always meant to be, Elliot. Or maybe, I could have been in your shoes, but if that were the case, I assure you I would have a far more macabre wish than yours. Since you never fully got to know me, old friend.

[BROOOOOM]

From the elevator that was located behind the man's back, two very particular young girls landed; a girl of 14 years old, loose crimson hair and with two horns protruding from her head that had a black ribbon tied on each one, she was also wearing a majestic pink kimono combined with a yellow yukata, the name of that girl was Itsuka Kotori.

The boy who accompanied her was her older brother, Itsuka Shido. At first glance he looked like an ordinary teenager; short blue hair, golden eyes, a coat and under it a rather formal clothing. The only thing that made him stand out was the fact that he held a strange sword in one of his hands.

—Are you all right, Westcott-san!

Asked the boy, concerned about the state of his superior. Kotori and Shido knew him since they were little, Westcott was quite an important person in their lives.

—So they came, I guess Marina's calculations were correct after all, I'll need the help of you two, Itsuka brothers.

Shido nodded his head and then changed his expression to a completely serious one.

—Understood! The three of us will fight together!

—Do you really need our help? You seemed to have the situation under control.

After being quiet for quite a while, Kotori asked sarcastically. Keeping her full spirit form caused her personality to alter, normally she would address him with respect, but spending more than an hour in that mode, she found it impossible to treat him as she normally did.

—So these two are the famous Itsuka brothers, personally I expected more from them, at first glance they look like two teenagers with no combat experience.

Elliot let them know what he thought of them with a calm tone. Since Karen mentioned them, his intrigue to know how they were in person increased with each passing day, but having them face to face, he was disappointed.

—If that is the best defense DEM Industries has, it won't be a problem to carry out my objective.

He took out of one of his suit pockets, a small key ring that held a card with several specifications, which were unable to be read at the distance they were at.

Westcott frowned in surprise. What Elliot had in one of his hands was a completely modified CR unit, in his opinion much more efficient than Ellen's.

—Surprising... you managed to create a CR unit that is uniquely suited for your use, in the end you didn't turn out to be as predictable as I thought, Elliot. But unfortunately for you, we were already prepared for a situation like this.

Shido understood what he was referring to, held his sword tightly and stood in front of Westcott. On the other hand, Kotori raised her arm forward and made a huge halberd of an intense reddish color appear, and then stood at Shido's side.

—Are you ready to finish him off, Shido?

—I always am, Kotori! Let's show him what we're capable of!

Seeing that the brothers were acting as planned, Westcott raised one of his hands, causing a small violet sphere to begin to materialize on the palm of his hand.

—You're not the only one with surprises, Elliot

Witnessing the death of everyone in their village changed the way they saw the world for a group of kids: Elliot Woodman, Isaac Ray Peram Westcott, Ellen Mira Mathers and Karen Nora Mathers.

The four of them watched as the humans burned their town, as they took the lives of every person they knew; mother, father, aunts, uncles, grandparents, children, nothing was left of that tragedy except for them, who managed to escape before the whole conflict erupted.

At that moment and because of the anger they felt towards those people, they vowed to take revenge on the humans who destroyed their home.

Time passed, and the four were separated because different families took care of each one. That's how things stayed, until one day; Westcott contacted Elliot and told him that he would support him with the inheritance that his deceased adoptive parents left him, and also proposed him to study occultism and magic for the next 10 years, to which Elliot ended up accepting.

Over the years they discovered the whereabouts of Ellen and Karen, to whom they told their motivations and what they planned to do, ending up joining the team.

After a long period of time and dedication, they managed to obtain the "Spiritual Formula" necessary to elaborate the ritual they longed for, they were finally going to be able to bring a creature strong enough to fulfill their wish.

The result of the ritual was successful, but it came at a high price in human lives; however, none of them cared, the only thing they were looking for was to fulfill their goal that had cost them so much time.

The summoned entity turned out to be a girl with gray eyes and long hair of the same shade, and she was completely naked. The group stared at her for a few moments, unfortunately, the girl ignored them and disappeared from the place in just seconds.

Once they were alone, Elliot stood in front of them and began to explain what he wanted to achieve with the help of the girl's powers they had just invoked.

Westcott and Ellen were surprised to hear him, they had never heard him speak in such a strange way. His plan was to create a world full of peace, one in which humans and wizards would live in peace in order to prevent something similar to what happened years ago to his people from happening again.

Westcott disagreed and tried to talk some sense into him. In the past he thought similarly; however, thanks to his adoptive parents, and some psychological help, he managed to realize that his thinking was wrong.

Creating a world without humans would result in nonsense, after all, problems and disagreements between people cannot be avoided, as they are a thing that humans are born with.

Elliot was annoyed after hearing his friend's answer, he imagined they would work together until the end, but it turned out that was not the case. Westcott thought very differently from his past self, he had left that grudge for humanity and turned it into a bitter memory of his past.

Not being satisfied with his friend's decision, Elliot decided to leave DEM Industries, a company that the four of them founded some years ago with the purpose of doing what they thought was right.

Karen decided to join him in that thought, to her, it also seemed a quite logical solution. She said goodbye for the last time to her sister, Ellen, and then left with Elliot.

In that instant and without meaning to, Westcott and Elliot created an enmity that would last through time, one that would mark them forever, or should we call it...

A Lasting Enmity