Hero of Remnant: Veil of the Aether

by Aetherveil

Following after the events of the Volume 3 Arc, Dante, and his partner Inuba travel across Remnant to make their way to Haven, searching for clues that will lead them to the real mastermind behind the attack on Vale 6 months prior. They will meet allies, both old and new, and face challenging new enemies on their journey. Secrets will be revealed. Continuation of Hero of Remnant.

78. Chapter 78: Tundra of Undeath

I know you all must be sick as shit of my apologies, but sorry anyway.

After a long time, I finally got a job again and one I like. December was sort of a probing period and I officially got hired mid-January. Needless to say, I devoted an extreme amount of time to this new job to perform spectacularly and make good impressions.

However, with the winter season, I ended up getting sick. Twice, with now being the most recent and pretty much recovered as of writing this (thank you actually good medicine).

Now that things have calmed down a bit and there's less stress with personal obligations, I should be able to get these out quicker. I know made such promises before, but I'm seriously trying. Its like the World is trying to screw with me and get in my way.

In any case, I really am sorry for the very long time in between chapters. Here's an extra long chapter as compensation, along with some spicy wholesomeness (imo). Enjoy.

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Chapter 78: Tundra of Undeath

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- Nearly two years ago -

She was doing her absolute best to not breathe too heavily or let out a sound, keeping her lips pursed tightly all while she typed away. Anya had some reports to take care of and proposals to look over that were many in number. Aside from maintaining her life as an Honor Student and the President of the Student council, she also had her duties as a Dark Entity Queen. After overcoming so many barriers that seemed infinitely expansive, she arrived at the point where she wanted to be.

Peace talks with the Leader of the Human Realm.

A year or two ago, this would've been impossible given who was in charge then, but since it was Blanc Angelford… the dream finally seemed to become reality. However, it wasn't as simple as snapping one's fingers, much less the public accepting it outright. As such, Anya proposed they announce their presence to their World, and perform good deeds or solve supernatural cases.

And so, Anya traveled at night with Dante, sometimes halfway across the World, other times just within the Kingdom in different cities. It was a lot of fun solving cases and making the occasional pit stop to sightsee, try food or… be more intimate with one another away from the trials that currently governed their life.

In the end, their efforts paid off.

However, with their many successes, Anya's worries began piling up, along with more work and the stress that came with it. The only time when she was at peace, where it all melted away was when…

The girl stopped typing, squinting her eyes shut as she bit her lip to contain her voice, the tips of her fingers digging deeply into the desk that it began to creak under the strain of her hidden inhuman strength. Another jolt ran through her, threatening to break her silence. Instead of her voice leaking out, her flawless pale skin began to turn a tanned brown, her golden blonde hair becoming a shining white as her long, obsidian horns peeked out from the sides of her head. Her eyes were the last to change, pupils becoming like slits as her sclerae became a pitch black. Her irises became a crystalline white that currently shimmered with pink colors, faintly taking on heart-like shapes.

T-This behavior… is so shameful..! And yet… I was the one who..!

"President? Are you in right now?"

A voice and a knock at the door made Anya gasp as her eyes snapped to the door. Almost having jumped out of her seat, she slid further in towards the desk and quickly reverted back to her human form, arranging her hair neatly again as she cleared her throat.

"C-Come-"

She gasped before she could finish her sentence, then kicked the backspace of the desk, looking up at the door again.

"C-Come in..!" The girl weakly called out.

It was one of the class representatives from her grade. If Anya recalled correctly, this girl's class was a little behind on submitting their proposal for their class' activity during the Spring Festival.

But why now of all times..?!

The girl talked, and Anya did her best to keep a completely straight face, her lip quivering from the pleasant jolts running through her. It seemed as though her kick from before had no effect, or rather, it actually served to-

Another, stronger jolt almost made her break right there, but she kept strong, and continued listening. She struggled a bit to ask her questions and give her replies, but managed to do so nonetheless until an agreement was made and the class rep happily left the room, shutting the door behind her.

At that moment, Dante peeked his head out from under the desk, looking at the door before he sighed.

"I thought she'd never leave…"

"Y-You fool..!" Anya bonked the top of Dante's head with the bottom of her fist, breathing heavily now that they were alone again, "W-Why would you keep going if-?!"

"Cause it was more exciting, wasn't it? I mean, I was surprised a little when you suggested the idea, but not all that much considering your… appetite…"

"Don't you mean 'our' appetite? I seem to recall you having just as much trouble as I do when it comes to keeping our hands off each other."

"W-Well, yeah, but… I don't do anything you don't like. Do I..?" The young man meekly asked.

She mumbled silently, ready to flat out deny it to avoid her embarrassment at the idea. And yet… what was there to be embarrassed about? What was there to deny when it frankly was the truth? These feelings, these experiences… They were all new to her, and very much enjoyable considering this was the first time she ever felt so strongly about someone.

"I… While I may try to keep up my prim and proper exterior… I won't ever deny that our moments of intimacy are… fantastic and exhilarating. I love doing these things with you. Even if you are a cheeky rascal sometimes..!" She said, pinching Dante's cheeks, "And yes… While I am slightly embarrassed to say it out loud… it was… rather exciting… Just don't expect that sort of situation to be common from now on, understand? I… I don't think my heart can take it again…"

"You said that about the movie theater last weekend when it was just the two of us, and yet-"

Anya immediately covered Dante's mouth with her hand, fixing him a rather stern stare.

"Just stating the truth is all…" He said in a muffled voice.

Even after saying his piece, she still kept her hands on his mouth, which had still been slick with her wetness. The thought of it made her blush rather furiously, moreso because…

…

Dante reached up and moved her hands from his mouth, interlocking his fingers with hers as he rested his head on her lap, "So… Friday night's the big day, huh?"

"Y-Yes…" Anya said, gently squeezing his hands, "Just thinking about how we're only three days away is just… absolutely nerve wracking. To be truthful with you… I'm afraid."

"There's gonna be an attempted sabotage, no doubt. While public opinion has greatly been in your favor, I don't doubt there's still a bunch of people out there afraid of this whole thing." Dante logically explained, "But it doesn't matter one way or another. Your people are with you, the Prince is behind you, and most importantly… I'm gonna be right there with you. I will make your dream come true."

"And what of your dream? You still haven't…"

"Isn't it obvious by now what my dream is?"

She blinked at him in confusion briefly as he raised up his head and looked into her eyes.

"I wanna live the best and happiest life possible with you. For me… that's the only thing I want most. More than some life of glamour, riches, or fame."

There were no lies to be found in his eyes, no act to be performed on stage like he did with most. It was pure and honest truth. Knowing that only made her heart swell more fiercely with love as she leaned down to fervently kiss her wild yet noble devil. So much had changed from when they first met each other so long ago, and all for the better.

Yes… This too is what I desire most… Our peace and happiness…

She leaned back as she stopped kissing him, a thin string of drool between them breaking as she looked back to her desk. Anya sighed once she remembered she still had quite a few things left to do before she could call it a day, go home and… enjoy her time with her beloved.

"Well… seems like we have a dilemma…" Dante said, noticing her sudden frustration, "I would definitely like to go back to what I was doing, but... you still have some work left to do. If I keep going, you're definitely liable to get distracted."

"Oh?" Anya said, her gaze growing sharper as she locked eyes with the young man in a challenging manner, raising up his chin with her hand, "Is that what you believe?"

"It's what I know."

She smirked, humming in an amused tone as her hands moved to the back of his head in a caressing manner.

"Then by all means… try to prove your statement to be true."

"Your wish is my command, my Queen."

Somewhere deep down, she still felt a twinge of embarrassment and shame that ran through her, both at him calling her "his Queen" and the fact that she, as a Queen, was doing something like this. Even so… after many instances of intimacy between them, that embarrassment had steadily been chipped away. Now, in this very moment, her shame and embarrassment had completely melted away as her love for him completely flooded her heart and soul like magma, the girl's reason giving way to her desires.

Even with this in mind, this was still something of a challenge between the two of them. So she confidently forced his head back down beneath the desk and between her legs, setting herself back to work as she heard a pleased laugh before the pleasurable jolts began thundering throughout her body once more.

---

Inuba hung back behind Nira to protect the rear as they kept running through the corridors steadily winding upwards. Strangely enough, even after contact there weren't any enemies blocking their path. Faint explosions could be heard and felt behind them, making the kitsune want to turn back all the more.

"For a master of a supposed Domain, you'd think he'd try a little harder not to get distracted and let us slip away." Nira commented, keeping a quick but steady pace to prevent Solara from jostling in her arms.

"My brother's got a talent for antagonizing people he shouldn't..." Solara spoke up between deep breaths. "If that were me, I'd want to kill him too."

The noirette cracked a small smile, before focusing on the path ahead of them. "It's not me, but I already do if he's planning to fight that thing alone this whole time."

"The Lich understood that fighting us at the same time wouldn't be ideal. It was to his benefit to let us leave without issue."

"Yes, but now Ray has to deal with a Lich on his own without our help." Nira argued, still fixated on that particular part of the impromptu plan, "It's stalling. Not winning."

"Perhaps, but as he bluntly pointed out, we made a promise." Inuba said, "Not to mention… Us leaving means he's confident enough to retrieve you at a later date, Ms. Chroma."

"He made you promise, or did you do it of your own volition…?" The girl quietly asked, trying her best to keep up with the two as her strength slowly returned to her.

"Ma- I mean, Dante… has explained to me that Mr. Chroma is the type of individual that's… hard headed. Arguing would have been pointless."

"He's also rational." Solara stated calmly, "I don't think he would've told us all to leave if he didn't believe he couldn't at least buy us some time."

"You both don't get it." Nira countered, sliding to a slower sprint once they began encountering the first of many twisting ruins and pillars, "Ray's the kind of person who only functions on definitives. There aren't any 'maybe's in his world view. So if we offered to help, he'd only accept it on the condition of us doing exactly this, or he'd have gone in alone anyway."

Solara reluctantly nodded in agreement. "Sounds about right… for him."

"Then we get you topside and leave you with our friend, Rosswal." The kitsune, "Er… Forgive him in advance. He is what Dante calls… 'a sleazy player', or something along those lines…"

"Is that the 'vampire' Ray talked about?" Solara asked with a disgruntled look on her face.

"That's him. But you've met his type before." Nira added, giving Solara a roll of the eyes, "Big mouth. Thinks he's the primest meat on the market. Quick to inflate his ego. The only exception is that he has the actual means to do all of the above."

Solara's expression turned a little more sour, with the essence of a little disgust filtering into her eyes as she shook her head. "Just leave me defenseless…"

Nira smiled. "Sorry cupcake, that goes against Ray's orders."

"And you actually listen to what he tells you?" Solara asked with a little exasperation in her tone, fixing Nira with a look of pity.

"Depends on the situation and whether or not I agree. When he says duck, I duck." The noirette replied, offering a shrug as she ran, "When he says run. I run. When he says beg, I-"

"In any case…" Inuba interrupted hurriedly, "Rosswal may be a fool that tries to sell a top quality marriage proposal, but you can trust that he will ensure your safety entirely. He is, afterall, a 'gentleman'." The kitsune said, rolling her eyes briefly.

"I'm just quaking with excitement." Solara remarked with heavy sarcasm before turning to Nira with an inquisitive look in her eye. "We're going to have a 'talk' about that last part, though…"

Light began to emerge from further ahead, and quickly enough they were on the surface once again, stopping briefly amidst the army of decayed corpses and the biting wind.

In the distance were two young men, both having what was seemingly some sort of epic debate given how heated they were and how much they were gesturing with their hands. The vampire sat on the edge of a broken fountain calmly trying to rationalize his point, while the other young man stood resting his foot on the edge, one hand atop his knee while he waved the other around.

"You can't just dunk that shit in tea!" Dante cried out in outrage.

"Of course you can! It's totally doable!" Rosswal argued in response, "You just gotta be quick about it!"

"Problem is that both the chocolate and the biscuit crumble apart too quickly!"

"That's why you gotta be quick about it!"

"Right, because everyone can move at the speed of fucking bullets to put a fucking chocolate covered biscuit in their mouth! Totally reasonable!"

The kitsune sighed, crossing her arms, "Excuse me."

"They don't need to be damned superhumans to get a biscuit in their mouth, Dante! You literally have three seconds before it starts falling apart!"

Nira passed her gaze over the two bickering before rolling her eyes at Inuba, "A 'gentleman', you say..."

"Forgive me. He's been stabbed one too many times." The kitsune quickly replied before taking a deep breath, "EXCUSE ME!"

Both of the young men froze at the sound of Inuba's voice, and turned to see a very disappointed fox girl patiently tapping her shoulder, Solara's ears fluttering before folding back as she visibly recoiled from the yell, instinctively backing into Nira as she did so

"Ouch…"

Nira caught Solara before she could trip before patting the top of the girl's head, lightly brushing over her folded ears. "She just woke up."

"O-Oh… My apologies…" The fox girl cleared her throat before crossing her arms, "Now what in the world is going on here?!"

Dante fumbled over his words at the start, "I… Er… We…" He waved between himself and the vampire, "We finished cleaning up. I was asking about what new tea brands and biscuits or cookies they might have put out and then we got onto the topic of Oreo cookies and the 'Dunking Method', and its applications to other cookies and the like."

"We branched out from it working with milk to the potential aspects of tea dunking, and-"

"In short, a completely foolish conversation to be having ON A BATTLEFIELD." The kitsune raised her voice at the two, making them jump a little.

She felt a small tug at the back of her haori sleeve before a small voice started speaking to her. "Do you really have to keep shouting? They're right there… and I have the same number of ears as you do."

"I-I'm sorry… While entirely reliable, they both act like children sometimes…"

"Yeah, I know the feeling, just please be a little quieter." Solara asked gently, giving Inuba a softer gaze while letting go of the kitsune's sleeve and stepping back toward Nira again. "My head's sorta killing me as it is."

The devil pushed his foot off the edge and walked towards the girls, "So, you're the badass Chroma twin Ray mentioned, huh? Well, pleasure to meet you, despite the ass biting cold and… well… all the smelly corpses." He stretched a hand out to Solara.

Solara looked at his hand with a guarded gaze before hesitantly putting her hand out and taking it. "Oh good… someone's finally introduced themselves. I'm Solara, and I can't feel it right now."

The vampire took one look at Solara and shot forward in an instant, startling the girl, "Rosswal Belmont! Vampire King, currently single."

"Dude…" The devil interjected, "Seriously with this?"

Solara shot Rosswal a glare, giving him a once over with her scarlet eyes before silently drawing in a deep breath and turning to Nira.

"You're not seriously going to leave me with him, are you?"

"Look at it this way, if you get pissed off with what he's saying, you can stab the idiot as much as you want since he won't die." Dante explained before leaning forward to whisper to the girl, "Though frankly, the guy's kind of a freak, so he may end up liking that."

"I can hear you, you know?" The vampire said with a disappointed huff, crossing his arms.

"I gave my word to her brother before we started this that I'd protect her and leave him behind if necessary." Nira interjected, meeting Solara's gaze for a moment before turning it to the group, "So in all regards, I'm not leaving her side."

"Then I guess me and Inuba go down and meet the old ugly, considering I've got a bone to pick with him." Dante's eyes shot up in sudden realization of his words, "Aw fuck…"

"You owe me five hundred Lien now!" Ross called out.

"Point is that we're going down there. Any objections?" Dante asked.

His question was answered by a sudden rumbling inside that shook the walls of the Black Church and shattered some windows off in the distance.

"W-What was that?" Ray's sister asked hesitantly as she stepped back to Nira's side tightly.

Another, closer rumble emanated from the heart of the ruins, wisps of spent Dust energy filtering into the air for those that could sense it.

"Concussion Dust. One of Ray's specialties." Nira answered, pulling Solara close to her before knocking aside a loose stone propelled at them from the growing tremors.

Debris began to fall from the rafters of the old monastery, in addition to snow and icicles that pelted the areas near the walls.

"We need to leave this place…" Solara worriedly commented as she offered no resistance to being pulled away from the building. "Ray's got a firm grip on that stuff and I imagine by now he's very busy using it."

After she spoke, the group heard a rupture from the wall of one of the towers, carved stone bricks and tiles raining from the site of the explosion as three more very similar blasts shook the area and the air.

Just like before, Nira protected Solara from debris flying from the sources of those explosions. One such stone shattered the top of the fountain they stood next to after Nira knocked it aside with her forearm. Dante only kept his forearm raised in front of his head as the rubble shattered against his body, only to be soon pulled in towards Inuba to be trapped within a dome of her nine tails, which blazed with fire and erased the stone that came their way.

Rosswal took to standing as Dante did, only he shrouded himself with his half-cape, which flourished with thorny midnight blue Aura that protected his body from the debris, as if it were rain pattering against an umbrella.

"He's quite busy using it, yes. For somebody underground…" Nira said, agreeing with Solara's previous comment.

As debris showered the area around them, there was a brief period of quiet before one last massive blast shook the ground with its shockwave.

The top of the tower exploded outward, sending more chunks in an outwardly expanding radius, many of which disintegrating in the air.

It was loud enough to make Solara physically recoil and scramble to cover her feline ears as her hands shot to the top of her head.

Through the sound, a distinct, metallic ringing shook the area before a sword spun through the air and impaled the nearby fountain, skewering the ruined, decorative statue right through the chest.

The sword was red-hot, glowing from the center of the blade as it radiated extreme heat and vibrated unnaturally with the sheer energy it contained.

It was followed by a faint figure falling through the air, orienting themself to land on their feet on the rooftop just above the others on the ground, landing with a tidy roll and skidding to a stop right at the very edge.

Ray staggered as his feet hit the gutter, arms waving to regain his balance.

"Use your tail, dummy!" Nira called up, watching him flail.

Ray steadied himself and peered down as his tail started maneuvering to assist him, the boy offering a little two-finger salute to the noirette.

His eyes were illuminated with a pale-yellow hue, rolling at the noirette before flicking between each member of the group below him. After a moment, his head snapped ahead of him to something they couldn't see.

The boy muttered something under his breath before he vaulted down, his last position being stormed by a hail of blackened shards of ice, flecks of green embedded in the pieces that Ray was very keen to avoid.

The Faunus managed to escape unscathed, making his way down to the courtyard and immediately rushing straight for his misplaced sword.

"Anyone want to explain to me why the hell you're just standing around?" He asked as he ripped his weapon from the fountain's statue and turned the dial on it. "This isn't exactly a party, time to go!"

"Such a complainer…" Dante said, emerging from within the protective barrier of Inuba's tails.

As he stepped forward, he saw the Lich emerge from the dust and smoke, chasing after Ray as it took quick and deadly swipes at the Faunus.

Granted, Ray was much quicker than Dante gave him credit for, evading the strikes before weaving his way inside the Lich's guard and delivering a concussive punch to its chest that sent the creature careening through the double doors Dante and Rosswal entered earlier.

"Damn it, move!" The boy yelled as he cast a gaze behind him, pointing his hand toward the bridge that led out of the monastery.

"Alright, up and at 'em!" The young devil moved towards Nira to provide extra cover with his body, "He's more worried about you two than he is about saving his bacon. Get to the ship and stay there for a bit, yeah?"

"That was the plan." Nira affirmed, sweeping an arm beneath the cat girl still hiding against her side to pluck her off her feet. "Hold on tight, cupcake."

"My name's not… cupcake." The girl voiced with hesitation as she gave Nira an exasperated look.

"Inuba, stick with them."

"B-But…"

"I can take just about anything. Point is to make sure Solara's still alive at the end of this and not get hit by some stray crap."

"As unlikely as that will happen… I'll go with them nonetheless. Please be careful." She quickly kissed his cheek and patted his chest, following after the two girls.

"That reminds me…" Ray quickly spoke up as he lowered his sword and crossed over to Nira and his twin.

The boy took hold of Nira's collar before pulling her in and kissing her on the lips before breaking away with a wink. "A promise is a promise."

It took the noirette a second, blinking away her surprise before her eyes took in Ray's smug expression. "I still don't want you going off and trading lives, you know."

Rosswal whistled at the sight as Dante and Inuba wore rather shocked expressions on their faces.

Ray smiled a little more, briefly turning his attention to his shocked sister before his gaze fell back on Nira. "I wo-"

His own collar got snatched, Nira tugging him back in to return the kiss. But amidst the quick, shameless retaliation, a bright violet light suddenly engulfed the noirette's body. That wave of energy radiated through the girl and glowed brightest where her lips met with the Chroma's own.

As the kiss deepened, so did that energy. And as the light began to fade, Ray's Aura adopted that glow passing from Nira's body.

Ray took a deep breath once the kiss broke, taking a moment to lick his lips a little before he shot Nira a curious gaze. "New chapstick?"

Nira smiled, "Just for you. Use that energy wisely, it looked like you needed the boost."

"More than you know." The cat boy replied before taking a step back and looking toward the Black Church. "I have to take ugly for a walk in the snow now, you two be careful."

~What the fuck was that? A competition? A live recital of Fifty Shades?~

No, but… That was certainly cheeky in its own way…

~Seems like I have a point to prove. Let me show-~

No, absolutely not! Dante quickly slapped the side of his head, I let you out to do that, this turns into a freaky porno without a camera.

~So?~

So no one wins.

~Except me and you, of course.~

The devil shook his head, then watched as Nira, Solara and a rather flustered Inuba make for the ship through the snow.

"Yes… Kiss your loved ones goodbye…" The lich's voice emerged from within the building as it passed through the doorway, floating a foot off the ground, "This will be the last time you shall see them, after all."

Ray walked up beside Dante and bumped shoulders with him. "Don't mind him. I've been kicking his ass for the past twenty minutes and he's still convinced he's winning."

"Really? And here I thought you were just filing each other's nails and playing patty cake." The devil nodded towards the lightly injured frame of the Lich, "Regenerating?"

Ray nodded with a sigh. "Yep. That's his third left arm by now."

"Figured as much…" Dante exhaled sharply, tapping the butt of Sêrythîl on the ground before Navâra took her place.

"He seems vulnerable to heat though, take that as you will. The regeneration doesn't like that, looks like he's burning a lot of energy trying to keep it up." Ray added, fiddling with his sword a little before the blade was engulfed in flames.

"You're not doing too hot either…" The young devil pointed, "I'd say 'swap me in coach', but I figure you really just want to kill him yourself."

Ray nodded as he drew in a slow breath. "Nira didn't kiss me back just for fun, she's topped me up with my own energy. But I'm not stopping you from giving this bastard your own little smackdown. It's very cathartic."

"Too quickly do you both bask in your own arrogance. This shall be your undoing."

Ray held a hand up toward the lich while giving Dante a look. "See what I mean? He's so full of himself."

"Sure is."

The lich's flaming green orbs in its eye sockets narrowed in a disapproving manner, it's low toned growl sharing its discontent as its skeletal right hand steadily rose up. The boney, clawed fingers were ablaze with a pale blue flame, which then shot out to a titanic statue of an armored knight, the stone creaking and shifting slowly as the statue came to life, slowly walking off its pedestal, stone sword in hand.

Then the undead raised its left hand, green energy flourishing vibrantly before it spread out in a large, brief shockwave. The trio began to notice the various body parts of the corpses vibrate to life before crawling about towards the left side of the lich, the parts coalescing together into a large mass. Bones snapped back together, and flesh squelched noisily to form a larger, thicker carapace.

The shape was that of a massive serpent that began to coil around a broken stone pillar, hissing and flicking its arm-like forked tongue, eye sockets glowing with a similar green flame like that of its maker.

"As I said before. Your struggle is meaningless. Surrender your lives to me."

---

Inuba brought up the rear, but every tremor and powerful "boom" made her look back at the site of the battle, seeing rubble fly about along with flashes of various Auras and energy. From what she could sense, the lich had used its power to make a statue into a golem, and various corpses and their body parts to make another golem.

She would have called it an evened out fight, but considering the trio standing against the undead…

"They'll be fine." Nira's voice pulled her senses back in.

"N-No, it's not as if I'm not concerned… I mean, I am concerned, but…" The fox girl sighed, unsure of what else to say.

"Well, that kiss to his cheek back there said a lot." The noirette pointed out, the group of them coming to a sliding stop in the snow beside their airship, "In any case, we're here. What can you do to fortify the area?"

"I can erect a barrier that'll block out a great deal of energy. Kinetic, Aura based, Magic…" She threw out eight black talisman slips, which spread out in a wide circle to cover the entire area of the ship and where they stood, "We'll be safe in here from any outside influences."

"Ah, neat." The noirette nodded, looking around at the talismans floating into place before looking to the ship.

With it sitting out in this kind of weather, it wasn't exactly looking in top shape. In the amount of time they'd spent inside, large portions of the ship's metal hull were encased in ice, and a layer of snow was steadily growing on any surface the wind could push its reach to.

"I'm going to get this one inside and see if I can get some heat circulating, try to gradually melt the ice off." Nira said, turning her gaze down to Solara now.

The girl was given a small boost of Aura from her brother when she awoke, but in this kind of weather and temperature, that supply was going to quickly dwindle just keeping the cat girl's body from freezing solid.

"On second thought, why don't we just clear the storm?" Nira asked. "The Lich is the one controlling it, correct?"

"E-Er… He did erect the Storm Barrier, but… How exactly do you propose to dismantle it?"

Nira shrugged, clutching a shivering Solara closer to her chest, "Absorb it while he's not looking."

"Absorb it?"

Without further explanation, Nira crossed the distance in the snow between them and gently moved Solara from her arms to Inuba's.

"Keep her warm, okay?"

With a silent nod, she watched the noirette take a few steps away from them, distancing herself from both the ship and the two standing near it. As Nira's body became almost obscured by the rushing wind and snow, a surge of lime green light suddenly crackled in the air around her.

A vibrant, luminescent glow struck the ground in streams of bristling, almost physical light, streaks of energy erupting outward before bending back in. Snow and falling ice vaporized as Nira drew that power toward her rising hand, her web of Aura condensing into a singular, molten droplet of overly bright, unstable energy.

And it was with the formation of that small, volatile dot of light that the wind around the noirette suddenly changed. The tails of her coat lifted against the previous gales, shards of ice rising from the ground at her feet as the droplet of energy in the noirette's hand began to spin.

Rings of light suddenly generated around her, spinning with the droplet. Those rune-like rings widened, an increasing, crystalline ring filling the air before that condensed ball of energy rocketed itself out of Nira's palm and straight into the cloud coverage above.

The vibrations emanating from those spinning rings of energy stilled in the quick moments to follow, before fading entirely from the air.

"That should be enough." Nira commented, brushing her hands off as silence filled the area.

At least… until the sound of scorching heat rapidly melting ice exploded deep inside the clouds above.

Solara wiggled her way out of the pair of arms holding her, her bare feet burying themselves in the snow as she turned her fading red gaze skyward in fascination. "Where does my brother find you people?"

"On the side of the road." Nira replied, turning her gaze up as well to watch a glint of green light suddenly start to expand across the clouds, like lightning shattering across the underside of the cloud coverage.

"In a prison cell, unfortunately..." Inuba replied on behalf of Dante.

The cat Faunus turned her gaze back down to the pair of them with a skeptical expression. "Those are two very distinct scenarios."

"Oh, not me!" The fox girl clarified, "Apparently, there was a conspiracy to frame Dante, and in the time between the trial they met one another. After which, Dante concocted an escape plan purely on the basis he 'liked the cut of his jib', or something along those lines."

Nira turned to look at Inuba for a moment before cracking a slight grin, "You know, despite your overwhelming innocence and tendency to follow the rules, you strike me as the kind of person who'd enjoy being a little more wild."

"W-What?! N-No, not really..!"

"Wait. Why didn't you install heat recycling engines on this ship?" Solara questioned as she turned to the aircraft with an inquisitive look. "How are we supposed to leave?"

The girl was caught by a ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds as she spoke, her eyes glittered in the sunlight and her Aura felt like it took an immediate liking to the energy.

"Um… What did he say again… Oh yes!" The kitsune said as her ears perked up in remembrance, "Apparently there wasn't enough time to install them, and we needed to acquire a decent and fast ship quickly."

"I think there was also a miscommunication in there somewhere." Nira added.

Keeping her green gaze on the clouds, she watched her energy devour the storm like a volatile acid. With the wind dissipating and more and more of the sky creeping through the hole expanding above them, the noirette moved her attention to Solara and gave her a pat between the ears.

"Enjoying the sun?" she asked, albeit a little too knowingly.

The blonde nodded slowly as her eyes closed and her body relaxed in its posture. "It's a comfort I've taken for granted…"

Nira nodded, keeping her hand atop the cat girl's head as she turned her focus to Inuba now, "We can start getting the ship out of the ice now. It won't be long before the storm's gone for good."

"Certainly." Inuba said as she rested her hands against the ship, her palms glowing with white flame, "Though I'm of the mind that either you or I should go back down in twenty minutes to help them if the battle isn't over by then."

"Just pass me some fire Dust, I can do it." Solara stated calmly as her eyes opened again, their red coloration was beginning to fade into a light magenta.

"N-No, I can manage it. Really. It's of no issue. I was only suggesting we go help them if the struggle becomes a bit… extreme..."

Solara smiled before offering the girl a half-shrug. "I need the Dust to keep myself warm anyway, you might as well."

"We have time. I'll bear the brunt of the work, since you should be resting."

"There's some Dust on the ship you can take." Nira said, finally removing her hand from between Solara's ears, "And we'll keep an eye out in the meantime then. If they need help, I'm sure something dramatic will happen."

A shiver visibly ran down Solara's spine as she nodded at Nira. "That's good, but hurry up because I'm running out of fire here."

"You needn't worry. I'll produce more with my own Aura if you need warmth. Or better yet."

One of Inuba's nine tails expanded and stretched out, quickly wrapping around the cat Faunus' waist as pleasant warmth washed over the girl's body in relief.

The tension in Solara's smaller frame slowly vanished but the girl's face contorted into a frown as she glanced toward Inuba. "Okay yeah… this is nice, but I need the Dust to sustain the warmth if you go off and help the boys…So please defrost the ship quicker."

A set of warm hands gently pat the fur of Inuba's expanded tail, prodding it before threading curious fingers deep into the soft white layers, "In any other scenario, this would be exceptionally weird and unnerving."

Nira ducked down in the snow, poking at the underside of Inuba's curled tail now.

"Understandable, considering I'm not actually a Faunus by the definitions of this Wor-" Her eyes shot up briefly, "Realm."

Solara looked up at Inuba as one of her ears folded back against her head in curiosity. "So what are you then? Are you an alien? That seems a bit ridiculous."

"N-No, I am not an extraterrestrial life form… Although, we have met some previously..." She shrugged, soon shaking her head, "I am more or less what is considered a mystical entity."

"Technically, the term extraterrestrial is subjective, so to me that does make you an alien." Solara pointedly stated as she awkwardly petted the tail wrapped around her midriff.

That awkwardness quickly grew as she felt Nira start investigating the soft confinement the cat girl found herself in.

"Pretty amazing, actually. A fox's tail doesn't normally have this level of prehensile control."

"It's like a tentacle." Solara observed the fox girl shiver with a hum of amusement.

"I-It is magic. Plain and simple. I am simply extending and expanding what already is."

"Magic and simple are not words I would put in the same sentence." Solara replied as she tried to lower her arms in a graceful manner while trying to avoid the tail wrapped around her.

Nira prodded at Inuba's fur again before curiously humming, "Think Ray could borrow this… magic?"

"I-I don't think so… Er… Ms. Ezdeil?"

"Hm?"

"Do you wish to have your own tail to play with while I'm working?" The kitsine asked, another tail flicking softly in front of the noirette.

The offer perked Nira's head up, but the girl shook her head, "As nice as that sounds, I need to be ready for when my energy comes back down."

In the midst of all the talk about tails, both of them caught the flicking of a golden blonde one as Solara was looking increasingly more impatient with the process of melting the ship. "Please just give me some Dust, this can be done in half the time if you do."

"Very well then." The tail she offered Nira reached into the ship, quickly opening the case to pull out five, neatly cut Fire Dust crystals, the tail then quickly making its way over to the blonde girl, "Please don't strain yourself too much. Although your injuries have healed, your body is still weak after being captive for so long. And… I don't think your brother would be too keen on the idea of you working at the moment."

"Then he can just moan about it later because I'm older and can do what I want." The girl said with indignation before she collected all the crystals in cupped hands before closing her fingers around them and closing her eyes.

Inuba and Nira felt the heat emanating from the crystals soak into the Faunus' palms, then work its way through her arms before stopping at her chest, the girl haphazardly dropping the dead Dust crystals into the snow as she wormed her way out of the kitsune's tail.

The girl then placed her hands against the layer of ice coating the ship as the shade of her Aura went from that light magenta back to a fiery red.

"See, I think you went about this the wrong way, Kitsune." The girl started as she closed her eyes.

Red energy accumulated at the surface of her Aura, working its way back to Solara's hands and flowing into the tips of her fingers.

"You were trying to melt the ice from the outside, but what should do…"

Solara's energy worked its way from her fingertips and into the ice, visibly burrowing into it and making contact with the hull of the ship underneath. With a slow breath of hot air, it began to spread under the surface, illuminating the ice with that same vermillion hue as she built a delicate and precise frame over and around the aircraft.

Then after a moment of settling, that energy pulsed from the girl's body to the hardlight frame she created, instantly creating fault lines in the ice and forcing it to crack and slide right off of the ship.

"Is break it from the inside."

She stepped back as perfectly cut blocks of ice began sliding and falling away from the body of the ship in a mini avalanche, opening her red eyes and smiling with a hint of pride.

"It's almost impossible not to see how similar you and your brother actually are." Nira commented, making her way over now as well to observe the Chroma's handiwork.

"You say that, but he would've done exactly what Inuba just attempted." The faunus responded as she promptly made her way toward the door. "He has a much bigger capacity for Aura than I do, but he goes through it like it's water a lot of the time."

"I was heating the entirety of the ship without damaging it and with just as minimal usage of Aura, thank you very much." The fox girl replied, removing her hands from the hull of the ship, "Speaking of, the engines are now clear and operable."

Solara nodded in appreciation. "That's good, it'll make modifying them much easier without all that ice and snow in the way. Which I might do since my brother is occupied. That Dust wasn't just for warmth, I can burn it to reinforce my Aura too."

A tremor pulsed through the ground and through the air as the girls spotted brief, bursting torrents of midnight blue and platinum Aura, followed by flashes of red fire and columns of bluish ice. Stone and green flames collided with the respective energies, mostly falling short of the sheer power it was up against, but still keeping pace in the fight nonetheless.

In the same moment, Nira's dot of energy fell from the sky, larger and brighter than before. It was writhing in its own light after feeding off the storm, almost leaping out of the girl's hand before she closed her fingers around it.

While she reabsorbed the potent energy from the sky, her head snapped to the flashing of lights in the distance, eyes narrowing as she focused on one energy in particular..

Something was… off, about it.

Ray's energy output was steadily rising, and growing more and more unstable.

It wasn't just Ray's, either. The noirette's fingers tightened subconsciously around the orb of energy in her palm, noticing a second, more powerful energy beside the Chroma's.

It felt… Dark.

Not an evil kind of Dark, but… one that could overshadow all if the occasion rose, like a tsunami swallowing a city. It was a level of power she hadn't sensed before. The way it moved, breathed, and lashed out… she recognized the bearer of that energy.

It was Dante.

In all the times she's seen him fight during his time in Atlas while keeping tabs for Avery, he never once released his energy to this extent. And she was realizing exactly why.

His energy was… strange, almost otherworldly, like its power resided from somewhere she'd never experienced in all her travels and with all the people she met. But despite her curiosity and her many questions, something more pressing came to the forefront of her mind.

With one last crush of the corrosive energy in her grasp, a pulse of light traveled through her arm and she turned concerned eyes back to Inuba and Solara.

"Looks like the fighting just got serious." She turned her attention back to the monastery, refocusing on Ray's energy, "And not in the good way."

Solara's eyebrows furrowed as she glanced at Nira. "Don't wait around on my account, if you two have to go then leave, I can protect myself-"

A streak of green light enveloped the cat girl before she found herself standing inside the ship, her body suddenly shimmering with the same energy she saw glowing from Nira's hand.

"And I made a promise to protect you. But this can't be helped." Nira's voice came from beside her, the noirette's hands lightly touching her shoulders as the energy pouring out of them engulfed her, "Sit tight. I'll be back."

Removing her hands, Nira stepped away and toward the door.

"Since I can't be here, that'll at the very least keep you safe if you wanted to work on the ship." Green eyes turned back toward her, the noirette tossing a small smile over her shoulder.

Though, the kindness of the smile was obscured by whatever was suddenly weighing on Nira's mind.

"Food's in the back, fresh clothes are in the storage closet. Make yourself at home."

Solara sighed softly but nodded in the direction of the fighting. "Don't get yourself killed."

"It's not me you should be worried about." Nira replied with a dull nod, before stepping outside and finding Inuba, "I'm going to go help. You don't have to worry about Dante."

The kitsune sighed, "Frankly, I'll always have to worry about him with his rather ludicrous ideas… But thank you for the assurance." She politely bowed.

Nira returned the bow with a nod of her own, before in an almost whisper-quiet flurry of kicked up snow and wind, she was gone.

---

Dante took on the statue golem with almost relative ease. It's strikes, while accurate and very powerful, were still too slow to hit him, much less since he was wielding Navâra currently. The only issue was that while he gained in speed, his physical strikes were slightly weaker, but had the advantage of searing light on his Blade's edge that constantly chipped away at the faint barrier surrounding the statue.

For the most part, it had been chipped away across multiple sections of its massive body, evidenced by the fact it began to move even slower due to the damage. Taking the opportunity, the young devil darted between the golem's legs as it swung down on him, turning around to gracefully lash out at the back of its knees. One leg had been completely severed, while the other had been chipped away to make the stone giant fall backwards.

With a swift, singular motion, a faint flash of white light emerged from Navâra as Dante slashed behind him in an upwards motion through the neck of the giant, taking its head and the animated life it had.

Rosswal had a simple enough time with the titanic snake composed of corpses. Whenever his sword struck the body with deep cuts, it drained more of the blood that remained in them. His sword didn't simply drink deeply of the blood, but it coated itself in the blood of its victims, wherein the vampire used it to extend the range of his attacks.

Flourishes of crimson streaked with each swing of his sword, cutting deeper into the body and removing chunks from it. The snake meanwhile attempted a retreat to the shadows to attack the vampire.

"That won't do!"

Rosswal then brushed his right hand against the flat side of his sword, the blood condensing and changing color to match his midnight blue Aura. And then, with a swift vertical slash, the midnight blue Aura discharged from the sword in a jagged, arcing wave. The sound of the approaching wave was like that of a distorted whistle stuck between crackling, consuming torrents of glass, which perfectly bisected the massive corpse-snake in almost an instant.

Ray was in a battle of his own, fighting with elemental hardlight and quick, persistent strikes with his sword. His reflexes allowed him to basically dance around the Bishop's sword attacks, almost gliding across the snow and ice beneath their feet as he pummeled the Bishop with everything he had.

His proficiency for switching between elements quickly was probably one of his greatest skills in combat, scorching the air with searing Fire Dust then rapidly freezing it with Ice to create thermal shock was something that worked wonders for him.

He coupled that with electrocuting the Bishop to stun him and then rushing in to stab the creature in the knee, ripping his sword out with a slashing motion and bringing the Bishop down to the ground with a groan of pain before Ray torched him again.

The Lich tumbled in the snow briefly before managing to gain its footing, attempting to stand. It almost managed to do so as his creaking body echoed across the area, it's legs giving out as it was forced to kneel.

Ray glared at it as he panted for air, letting his shoulders slump as he dug the tip of his sword into the ground and leant on it for a moment. "You're getting slower… so much for you taking my soul or whatever the hell you said."

His sword let out a crackle of potent energy after he spoke, one that resonated in Ray's Aura as his eyes illuminated briefly.

It laughed with its sickly voice, "Ever the arrogant fool, Chroma… I still have much of my own strength to spare, while you…" It lifted its head up, "will only tire the further we continue..."

Ray hummed with an unamused intonation. "Your regeneration is weakening, your swings are getting sloppy and I've been watching you lose track of me several times. You're fooling no one."

"Is that so..?"

The lich's arm moved quickly as it swung its sword upwards from the snow, his weapon clashing with Ray's. Instead of pushing back, it used the clash as a distraction to let go of its sword and grab Ray's blade, using its other hand to violently palm strike the cat faunus in the face to launch him a considerable distance.

Instead of crashing into the ground, Ray had felt a hand on his back as he and Dante slid to a halt. The lich scoffed and made to grab the cat faunus' weapon with both hands to break it. Before it could do so, a flash of midnight blue cut through its forearm that held the sword. Rosswal leapt over the undead being, using his free right hand to snatch up the weapon between his fingers and fly all the way over to his allies, making a rather graceful landing.

The lich made to take a step forward, but stopped suddenly, looking to his severed hand on the ground as he picked it up. It then noticed the deep cut in its palm as it snapped its arm back into place, noticing a glowing white cut in its palm. It wasn't some sort of Holy power, otherwise his hand would have disintegrated. A careful glance between his hand and the sword the vampire held onto, and it let out a silent, wispy laugh as it shook its head.

"You good, ThunderCat? He bonked you in the nose pretty good." The devil asked.

Ray had a hand to his face as he tried to massage it before he blew out a puff of hot air and shook his head. "I'm f-fine… but I need that sword back."

"A please wouldn't kill you, would it?" Rosswal sighed as he tossed the weapon to the cat faunus, "It seems as though he's not keen on giving up… Honestly… what a pain…"

"He's a fanatic, Ross… Not surprising really, since Ogrânix has always been good at selling 'power' to idiots like him…" Dante immediately answered as he steadied Ray onto his feet.

Ray dusted himself off and straightened his posture as he clenched his sword in a vice-like grip. "If he's willing to turn himself into a monster in the pursuit of power, I'd agree that he's pretty fanatical."

"Well, not every human… er, humanoid can be strong and turn their nose up at such an offer. Especially since some people are weak, plain and simple." The vampire commented with a shrug, "It's just the base nature of most sentient beings."

Ray slung his sword up and over his shoulder to sheath it as he offered a half-shrug. "Not all of us."

"Indeed. Not all of you." Rosswal dipped the tip of his sword into the snow, quickly drawing his "self-proclaimed" handsome face, "Now that we're all here, I imagine we'll be 'heroically' charging that filth?"

"You and me are going in." Dante clarified, looking to Ray, "Gonna give us some support from afar, I'm guessing?"

Ray looked down at his hands, a haze of heat starting to distort the air above them as his eyes and Aura turned red again. "Better than getting too close again… He can't get to this sword while I'm at a distance."

The lich quietly laughed as it brought its arms across its body, then stretched them out, bursts of green flame emerging from its shoulder blades as two more arms sprouted from its back. It's body heavily creaked again as it raised both sets of arms into the air, it's arms, legs and body tightening up, as if it were condensing its body. A wispy exhale of relief, and the creature slouched down momentarily, steadily creaking back into place as its palms glowed with green fire.

Ice quickly formed into its palms, manifesting a spear, a small round shield, and two sets of swords, each weapon brimming with green energy deep inside.

"This guy…" Dante snickered as he looked over to Rosswal, "I guess he thinks he's General Grievous or something."

"Right?" The vampire offered in return with a faint laugh of his own.

Amidst their banter, the lich had suddenly been upon them, both devil and vampire raising up their weapons to block its attack and give Ray time to leap back further. The initial strike alone was surprising for the two, considering they had been budged a little.

Crazy bastard condensed whatever muscles he had..!

Dante clicked his tongue and immediately pushed back, both he and Rosswal engaging in a deadly dance of furious weaponry. The extra arms the lich had made countering and blocking easier, but it still had difficulty keeping up with their speed. Occasionally the duo would make some space, allowing a strong concussive blast or an explosive bolt of fire to pelt the undead from a distance.

It roared angrily, and within its exchanges with Rosswal and Dante, began throwing its ice spears at the cat faunus with startling speed, despite already facing two strong opponents. While it was harder for Ray to take his time and aim carefully, the vampire and devil still made it easier for him to breath and continue his assault from a distance.

Strangely, it wasn't being pushed back, and instead, kept advancing forward to Ray's position, as if the lich was making a desperate push to reach the cat faunus.

Ray pulled his hood up and covered his eyes with his goggles before raising his fists in a boxing position and setting them alight with orange flames. He was willing to meet it head on from the looks of things, and since he'd been fighting this creature for a while now, he didn't look like he had a modicum of fear in him.

It was almost eerie how driven it was to reach him.

Getting close enough, the lich abandoned its weapons and grabbed hold of the duo before tossing them away a great distance. It only had a few moments alone with Ray, so it had to make every second count as it set upon Ray with a furious roar. Even with four arms to its advantage, the cat faunus still weaved in between each swipe of its claws, and every punch it threw.

Each time, Ray landed one or two concise, accurate blows, either to its face or its chest, but never more than two hits. The lich was waiting for him to be greedy, to make a mistake and slip up, but the cat Faunus kept his focus, and eventually, landed a devastating strike to the right side temple, cracking open its bone as green fire leaked out.

With the undead heavily wounded, it staggered backwards a few paces, making to fall to its knees. Seizing the opportunity, Ray moved in quickly to land another punch, only to have his arm grabbed by one of the creature's back arms, another soon finding its way to his throat as it steadily raised him up into the air with its massive frame.

Then, the Bishop relentlessly began thrashing the cat faunus into the ground, pained cackles escaping its fiery green maw victoriously as it did so. Before it could continue, another flash of midnight blue streaked above, severing the lich's two back arms. When it looked off to the side, it immediately found the sole of Dante's shoe crash into its face, forcing it to let go of Ray as the Bishop let out staggered, pained breaths, falling into the snow on its knees a final time.

There was a moment of silence before a thunderous roaring flame burst from Ray's right hand and set upon turning the Lich into a crisp.

But there was a harrowing whistling slowly creeping up from behind Ray as he kept his Semblance's terrific power focused wholly on the Bishop.

The whistling was increasing in volume, particularly as Ray's eyes started brightening behind his goggles with an electric gold hue as the flames he shot out changed into massive streaks of lightning, setting the air ablaze with electrical discharge as he literally blew holes through the Bishop's body.

Despite the damage, it still laughed at him, it's voice having grown more silent from the intense beating Ray had given him.

Rosswal and Dante had approached quickly, remaining on guard despite the cat Faunus quite literally having his enemy by the balls.

"What the hell is that creepy bastard laughing about..?" The vampire asked.

"No idea… Maybe he's a freaky masochist like you?" Dante answered.

Ray's lightning intensified, even if it was to shut the thing up for good, but the more energy he seemed to draw from the vial stored in his sword, the more the mysterious whistling coming from the blade grew.

It eventually started sputtering and flashing with jolts of varying colors, shooting out randomly from behind Ray as his focus was still fixed on the Bishop with all the hatred he had for it.

Dante couldn't blame him, the creature had kidnapped his sister, possibly tortured or exploited her when it brought her to this dark place. And now it had the gall to try and kill Ray on top of that.

So no, Ray's anger here was perfectly justified in the devil's opinion.

But that didn't help the situation as the condition of Ray's sword and the energy it contained became dangerously unstable.

The boy eventually stopped electrocuting the Bishop, reaching a hand for his face to rip off his goggles and toss them to the side while his other hand reached for his weapon and drew it again, letting the tip drag in the snow as he slowly started taking steps toward the Lich.

The whistling by now had turned into a screeching as the sword vibrated at its blade and spat out bolts of elemental energy.

When he got closer to the Lich, the boy had to dodge a swipe from one of its scorched arms, cutting off the hand of the next one before Ray rammed his weapon straight into the Bishop's chest, driving the blade as deep as it would go as he leaned into it and came face to face with the creature.

"Goodbye."

Ray's finger curled around the trigger on the hilt of the sword and pulled it, but it backfired horribly as a streak of white-hot energy shot out of both ends.

Ray took a second to drive the weapon in just a little bit further before he let go of the blade and tried to make a break for it, yelling out to Dante and Rosswal as he did so.

"Run away!"

Before he could take another step forward to bolt, the cat faunus found himself forcibly yanked, looking back to see the Bishop's gangly hand tightly clutching his forearm. A freezing cold sensation swept across the faunus' arm as he soon found it encased in ice, bonded to his foe.

Ray fought against it as best he could, balling his other hand into a fist and punching the ice around him as hard as he could before he seemed to come to a realisation that he was doomed here.

The undead lich began to laugh once again, his voice growing louder with each laugh as the weapon in his chest glowed brighter.

Ray's eyes met the Bishop's in one last clash before Ray sighed with a shake of his head and adopted a calm expression. "I'm ready, how about you?"

The sickly grin on the Lich's black, skull-like face twisted into a larger smile when Dante appeared at Ray's side, grabbing the part of the ice where the Chroma's hand was encased. That sadistic look caught both Dante's and Ray's eye, and the moment the young devil cleaved his sword through the ice and severed the Lich's last arm to release the boy, the Lich brought the freshly cut limb down and struck the sword embedded in his chest.

The unstable, violent energy within shattered over the blade, enveloping the entire sword in light for a split second before the canister and weapon ripped itself apart.

Fragments of ice, stone, and Ray's sword erupted in an instantaneous, concussive shockwave. Dante was closest to the epicenter, having already thrown Ray a good deal forward, and found himself lifted off his feet from the impact of all the concussion Dust Ray had shoved into his weapon.

Electricity sparked and struck the ground as he flew forward, Dante attempting to use a spectral arm of Aura to grab hold of Ray and take the faunus with him, but was unable to grab a hold. Cursing, he was about to try again in what little time he had, only to watch a blur of black rush past him almost immediately towards the expanding explosion.

Time seemed to slow for a fraction of a second, a golden light engulfing the area, illuminating the Lich's final, satiated moments before his entire body exploded in an overwhelming web of lightning.

But the plasma-like heat radiating the area stopped in its tracks, tendrils of lightning pulsing and pushing against an invisible force moments before rushing back toward the blast's epicenter. The tendrils collapsed in on themselves, condensing into an unstable ball where the Lich's body once knelt.

And where that new light source floated, screeching and screaming for release as more and more lightning poured out of Ray's broken weapon, a set of lithe hands pushed back against the torrent of energy begging to expand.

Long, black hair whipped in the air from the shockwaves emitted from the contained explosion, coat tails threatening to tear apart as a small girl in black did her best to condense that energy further, but only succeeding on a miniscule margin.

"I can't hold it for long!" Nira yelled, green eyes shining with illuminated, vibrant irises as she turned back to Ray, then Dante.

A look of worry shrouded whatever leisure, relaxed expression she once wore when they first arrived on this glacier of ice, before her face and voice turned serious.

"Get everyone inside the ship, now!"

The young devil only gave a short nod as Ray leapt in front of him to quickly catch and redirect a bolt of lightning away.

"Better now than never!" The faunus yelled over the explosion before the boy turned tail and immediately started running.

He extended his hand to the faunus and grabbed hold of his forearm, the two vanishing forward in streaks of platinum Aura shortly after. The brief weightlessness the two felt was suddenly met by snowy ground once more as they stood a few meters away from the ship. Both looked back through the gap in the wall, watching the explosion steadily expand and engulf the ruins housing it, each inch closer fighting against whatever force Nira was using to contain it.

Ray looked around, getting his bearings before his eyes levelled on the ship and then switched to Dante. "Really? Couldn't have brought us just a little bit closer, no?"

"Bite me, I didn't think we'd need to make that fast of an escape."

Ice shattered and broke in chunks as an energized streak of plasma tore through the ice wall, the thickness of it barely enough to stop the lightning from piercing through. Its arrival marked a loud, screeching eruption from the epicenter of the blast, all the contained, rising energy suddenly releasing and expanding outward.

A hard, but small figure slammed into them, tumbling Dante and Ray through the snow before slamming against the interior metal wall of their ride.

"I said inside!" A strained, feminine voice yelled, Nira glaring at the two as she yanked the door shut with a set of lime green threads of light.

The hydraulic pistons in the door creaked for a moment before breaking, a pulse of green energy sealing the door shut a moment later before expanding to engulf the ship. The split second the shield completed, a golden glow illuminated the cockpit's windows before the entire ship rocked and slid on the ice.

Nira grunted in pain before pushing both of her hands against the floor of the ship, the golden energy flowing over her deployed shield going straight into her body. As soon as the connection was established, the ship rocked a second time, the energy flaring before turning to a scorching orange. Fire enveloped the ship, but any heat and flame that would've damaged the hull instead got funneled into the girl's small body, a potent stream of light traveling up her arms and vanishing beneath the fabric of her coat.

Another grunt, more painful than the last slipped through Nira's clenched teeth as that fiery energy flashed blue, then purple, then red, each sudden change in energy causing visible pain in the noirette's body as she actively absorbed each blast striking the ship's exterior hull.

Cracks of multicolored light began to spread over Nira's skin, starting at the hands she had firmly pressed against the floor of the ship. Each new energy she absorbed, a new crack of light began to spread, creeping further and further up her arms and beneath her sleeves.

Almost thirty seconds passed before the multi-energy bomb dissipated, the energy wracking the ship's walls dying down over the next few moments… before going deathly silent.

Ray scrambled to his feet to grab her before she could fall to the floor of the ship completely, essentially becoming a crutch for her as he lifted her up with her arm over his shoulders.

"Don't tell me you just absorbed all of that energy…" the boy muttered through his own panting to her as he took her hat off and tossed it to one of the seats nearby.

The cracks of light had nearly reached her eyes, creeping up from her neck and glowing from beneath her collar. But despite the appearance, and the numbness in her shaking hands, she gave a slight nod and smiled, "Most of it..."

Ray let out an apprehensive hum before hauling her over to the door and slamming his hand against the button to open it. "You need to get rid of it."

He waited until the door had cracked open enough to kick it open all the way with a little grunt and then escorted her outside. Everything around them was mostly obliterated, steam and the smell of saltwater filling the air as Ray looked around them silently.

The faunus took a moment to look back at Nira as his ears folded back against his head, "Where can you dump it?"

Nira's gaze slowly turned upward, before the girl's slender shoulders gave a struggling shrug, "I'll need somebody to catch me."

"Dante!" Ray yelled as he turned back toward the ship. "You need to throw her!"

"Yeah yeah..!" The devil hurriedly stumbled out of the ship, and onto the snow.

"I'll catch her, just get her up there." Ray said as he passed Nira to him with a nod.

"Alright, hold on tight."

The devil summoned Eclypse to his right hand, and took a deep breath.

Seeker, a little help if you don't mind…

His right arm had subtly undergone change beneath his coat, arm and fingers turning pitch black as scales covered the entirety of his arm and hand. Giving Eclypse a quick twirl, he looked up into the sky, reared back his arm as if to touch the ground with the blade's tip, then forcefully straight-tossed his weapon into the air, the sword disappearing almost immediately with a thunderous cracking noise that echoed throughout the sky.

After a few seconds of counting, both he and Nira vanished in streaks of platinum Aura, almost immediately appearing above the canopy of clouds. Quickly grabbing Eclypse, Dante then tossed up Nira high enough before he vanished yet again, appearing in the snow next to Ray as the devil kept his eyes in the sky.

A flash of light followed his return, erupting on the other side of the cloud coverage. Thunder-like shockwaves rolled through the sky before that distant multicolored light dissipated.

And with it, a small, black-clothed figure dropped through the clouds, trailing with a wisp of water vapor and smoke.

Ray moved quickly once he saw her, rushing to ensure he met Nira before the ground did as he cast a violet light up to catch the girl mid-fall, bringing it down slowly until she was in his arms again, held in a bridal carry.

He gave her a once over as he lifted her a little, turning around slowly and slowly pacing back toward the ship, the boy stopping for a moment with a sharp breath as his Aura, after so much punishment and usage, finally shimmered around him and dissipated.

"Looks like we're both out of juice now." The boy said softly to Nira as he glanced down at her slumped form. The cracks of light once running across her skin were replaced with red marks that bore the sign of burns from the energy.

The girl cracked her tired eyes open at him before closing them again, lolling her head against his chest, "Mhm…"

"Well damn…" Dante walked up, failing to hide his smile as he placed his hands on his hips, "And here I am without a bible or whatever to marry a couple. Again."

Nira nuzzled her way further into Ray's chest, mumbling something loud enough for the devil to hear, "I did say… that I was cuddly…"

Dante sputtered a little before he began laughing after hearing Nira's remark, Ray casting a gaze over to him as he reached the door of the ship, shaking his head with a roll of his eyes before stepping up inside and taking a seat.

---

Ray remained still on the seat as he held Nira, the girl having mostly passed out from taking the absolute brunt of the explosion from the catboy's sword.

He looked guilty about it, to say the least. Holding the girl in his lap and idly running his fingers through her hair after having taken off his backpack and laying it down beside him.

Solara was at the front of the ship, with the rest of the occupants at the back recuperating. Nobody seemed to pay much attention to her while she was doing something in the enclosed compartment between the cockpit and the rear bay.

"Well that went pretty smoothly…" Dante spoke, coat removed as Inuba laid her blazing white hands on his back.

"If by smoothly you mean almost being disintegrated by an intense chain reaction burst of elemental energy, then yes, I suppose it did go smoothly enough." The kitsune said with a quick quirk of her eyebrows and a tilt of her head, "While I am glad that both Chromas and Nira are safe, I'm afraid we've learned nothing else of Ogrânix other than he has some previous human collaborators…"

"That's… not entirely true." Ray quietly spoke up as he lifted his head and turned to face Dante and Inuba in his seat.

"How do you suppose? I mean, other than one of my arch enemies being like Krampus and handing out Dark Entity powers like candy, sure… But a location? Something to go by?" The young devil then shrugged slightly, "Not much of anything."

Ray smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "I know I look like just another hot headed idiot, but I promise I wouldn't have lasted this long out in the wild if I didn't have a knack for noticing the smaller details."

He took his right hand away from Nira's hair and reached into the pocket on his trousers, pulling out a scroll that had taken some damage to it. "I recorded some footage and images from the inside when I was fighting the Bishop. They're all on here."

Carefully, he tossed the broken scroll over to Dante and Inuba, its body warped and peeling away from the frame to reveal some of its internal components. "We just have to get them off of there."

"I can handle that, I guess." The white haired young man shrugged, "Frankly speaking, I'm not all too optimistic concerning who it is I'm up against. Or rather we, since… you know, he kinda wants to eliminate human life, so…"

He offered another shrug, only to have his arms forced down by Inuba as she continued treating him.

"Guess that makes me lucky, since I'm not human." Ray replied jokingly with another shrug of his own followed by the curling of his sleek tail up and around his waist.

"Possibly." Inuba sighed, "Unfortunately, you may be enslaved. Or rather, it's definitive."

"I was kidding. He's obviously a bad guy that does bad things." Ray replied pointedly. "But that's not a challenge that I can see myself being able to help you two with. Me and my sister might be part of an ancient family, but that's all there is to it."

"Hey, if you don't wanna give the sucker a kiss with your fist, that's fine. I'm not gonna force you or anything to fight. Some help, however much, would very well be appreciated, and of course, paid handsomely." The devil waved his hand, "Incentive, you know? Unless you're like me, and not a douche when it comes to money."

"It's not that… it's-"

Suddenly the door separating the rear bay from the forward compartment slid open and out stepped the other Chroma twin fixing her hair up in a neatly tied braided ponytail.

She'd gotten herself cleaned up and changed, which helped explain why she had taken so long, the girl having ditched the rags she was wearing previously and was now wearing a much more winter-appropriate outfit.

"Neither Ray nor I have an unwillingness to help you, is what he means to say." The girl stated in a clear and concise tone.

She definitely knew exactly what she wanted to say and how to best put it.

"Our issue is that we don't know what we're up against, how best to identify it, and consequently how to beat it." Solara continued, stepping over toward Dante and Inuba and placing a hand on her hip as she cocked it to the side. "You fill those three blanks and between us, we can figure something out."

"Alright, where to start…" Dante cleared his throat.

"Not right now. We have a ship that's once again freezing over and somebody is going to have to modify the engines." The girl quickly interrupted the devil, holding up her index finger to hush him before her head whipped around to look at the door and then her brother and Nira sat beside it.

"Since you two are out of commission…" She paused, turning back around to face Dante and Inuba again. "And you two are busy…"

Her attention then slowly fixed to Rosswal, giving him a deliberate once over before she turned her nose up at him a little while the unaware vampire was playing hackysack with a rock, "It looks like I'm in charge until then. Any objections?"

"Uh… " Dante raised up a hand, then quickly lowered it, "No, since I kinda don't want to piss you off…"

"Please be still."

"Sorry…" The young devil apologized to the kitsune.

Solara regarded Dante with a satisfied nod before turning to head toward the door and pausing right before Ray. "Tools?"

Ray looked up from Nira to face her before nodding toward his bag, the girl smiling a little, leaning over to pat him on the head between his folded cat ears then budging the door to the aircraft open with her shoulder, taking the bag with her as she left and shutting the door behind her.

Once the door sealed, a soft rustle came from Ray's lap as the girl in black using it as a pillow looked up at him, "I see she's the one with the balls between you two…"

Ray's eyes regarded her with a deadpan before he deliberately brushed some of Nira's hair in her face. "Go back to sleep, Nira."

The girl huffed those loose strands off her nose before closing her eyes again, legs curling up ever so slightly across the padded seats.

Inuba sighed as she leaned back a little, moving to sit in Dante's lap as he quirked his eyebrow at the action.

"Uh… Not that I don't like this, but-"

"I don't feel like losing is all." The kitsune firmly replied, letting her tails flow freely for the devil to rest his head in the bundle of fluff as he hugged her with a smirk.

"Right… I'll indulge you then."

"What is it that you're thinking?" She asked.

"How to get home quicker and worship you."

One of her tails quickly but softly "pomf'd" the side of his cheek.

"That this isn't over. With them I mean." He nodded his head towards Ray faintly, "Altered human? I doubt Ogrânix just… set up a Zoom meeting and handed some power to him."

"Then… is it possible a Lord is involved, and that this was just… to buy himself time?"

"I doubt he has any real use for either of them. So frankly, I'm of the opinion that someone lower on the food chain is playing shenanigans with us while moving up their own agenda." Dante sighed, "Maybe a coup for all we know."

"Surely not?"

"I mean, it's not outside the realm of possibility. Remember, some Dark Entities are backstabbers when not contractually involved. It wouldn't be odd for… whoever second fiddle is to come up with a scheme." The devil shrugged, "The Bishop mentioned something about an edifice, but…"

"Perhaps abducting Solara was this supposed individual's attempt to perform a similar maneuver as Ogrânix."

"Amp up their power, possibly 'dethrone' the King." Dante nodded, "Makes some sense. Then again, we won't know until we actually find them."

"And how do we go about that?"

"Well…"

Before he could say more, a burst of platinum Aura flickered behind him, where the devil then suddenly felt arms wrapping around him and a pair of large breasts press into the back of his head.

"It's simple. They have no choice but to confront you now." Eclypse, still garbed in her bits of armor and gauntlets, "You've annihilated their human collaborators, possibly even all of them. For the time being. It definitely won't go unnoticed."

Ray's ears unfolded at the new arrival, turning his head to look at her with a look of surprise as his eyes danced between her and Dante. "Okay… This is new."

"It's only natural that you haven't seen my kind. Or specifically, me. I am handmade, afterall." The platinum haired girl answered honestly.

Ray regarded her with an expression of guarded curiosity. "I see. So you're… what? An Aegis blade, I'm guessing?"

"Ho… He got it right in the first go. Rather impressive. Go ahead, praise me if you want."

"What do you want from me? A pat on the head?" Ray asked with a sardonic lilt in his voice.

"No, but you can offer me booze."

"Eclypse." Dante spoke up.

"And free passage to a lov-"

"No!" The devil firmly spoke up.

"Dante." Ray calmly raised his voice as he turned away from Eclypse. "Is your weapon trying to sleep with me in the five seconds I've known her?"

"You think too highly of yourself." The Blade immediately returned, waving her hand at Ray briefly as if she were shooing him away, "I meant us." She waved a hand over herself, her Wielder and Inuba.

"Oh my god…" Dante silently said, eyes glued to the floor.

"Besides, you're not man enough to handle me. Only he can do that, and satisfy me." The platinum haired girl said, pressing her cheek against the devil's.

"Strangle me please. Please. End the suffering." Dante pleaded with an equally ashamed Inuba.

Ray looked between Eclypse and Dante, then to Inuba before turning his attention back to Nira with a muted sigh. "I've not got the energy for this. Get a room."

A flash of white Aura appeared at Dante's left side, Navâra quickly forming in her human shape and grabbing her Wielders arm.

"How unfair, good Dante! You are to spoil me as well!" She proclaimed quickly, "I demand more of your time! If not, include me in the festivities as well!"

…

His eyes were closed, wishing at the moment that Death would be there to whisk him away for a time.

Soon after, a flash of deep crimson Aura crawled at his right side, Sêrythîl having taken to her human shape as well with her back leaned against his right arm.

"Seeing as we're sitting, I may as well stretch my legs and keep watch."

"That's fine…" The devil silently whispered with a strained voice.

A clanging could be heard on top of the ship as something was getting dislodged, not too long before a thruster fell from the ship, something briefly caught by Dante through the nearby window.

"I can't wait until she's finished with those engines." Ray uttered into the air as he took hold of Nira and pulled her into a more upright position.

The noirette's eyes peeked open as she was adjusted, but otherwise closed again once she was up and leaning into Ray's side, head on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry…"

"What are you sorry for?" Sêrythîl said, tugging the devil's ear, "You're surrounded by four beautiful women, a situation in which most men would never be fortunate to have such a thing happen."

Dante then looked up to Ray, lips slightly puckered.

"Don't look at me, you got yourself into this mess by pairing with one of them, let alone three." Ray said defensively as he held up a hand dismissively. "This is your problem, not mine. I get enough trouble from the women in my life without yours adding to the pile."

As if on cue, a bright red crowbar hooked against the inside of the door closest to Ray before they all heard a slight grunt as Solara pulled the broken door open and stepped inside.

The girl's red eyes glanced around the cabin, settling on Dante's three Aegis Blades for a second before regarding Dante himself. "I have good news and bad news."

The blonde girl didn't seem bothered by the women surrounding the devil, at least not on the outside.

"I'm assuming it's the engine that just fell off the ship?" Eclypse asked unperturbed.

Solara shook her head. "No, I kicked it off, it's fucked."

"Terrific…" Dante sighed, struggling to turn his head to look at Solara due Eclypse's firm hold, "Completely fucked, or fucked but still fixable?"

"Well…" Solara said with a huff. "The thruster gimbal is toast, there's coolant leaking into the fuel line and the fins are warped from the heat of that explosion. I can fix these things, but it's going to take longer than I had hoped. The other engines are miraculously fine, though."

"Wonderful!" The devil spoke in a happier tone.

"But…"

"Oh for-!" He exhaled sharply with pursed lips, "Ok? What is it?"

"I need materials. Metal, mostly." Solara calmly stated, still unphased by the sight before her and Dante's now growing frustration. "I have to rebuild the busted parts of the thruster."

"Uh… Metal, metal… Can't you handle that bit with your Semblance? Like building the framing, paneling, etc?"

"Do I look like a bottomless pit of Aura to you?" Solara asked rhetorically, fixing Dante with a slight scowl, "I need metal so I can shape it into these components."

"I uh… I guess I can head back into town and see what's leftover. Anything else?"

Solara's shoulders loosened up as she relaxed her posture. "Well, now that you mention it, I'd like a hot cappuccino with three sugars and a bag of sweet and sour chips."

"I'll get right on it, your Highness." The devil smirked.

His smile was brief, for in the next moment, he felt something deep within his mind.

A calling, almost yearning.

A scraping, whining noise like a knife being dragged through glass, faintly and softly pulsed through his head. Then again.

Feeling his sudden anxiety, the three Blades silently dematerialized, Inuba noticing the devil's discomfort as she moved to the other side of the seat to let him move out of the ship.

The noise continued in its faint pulses as he quickly looked behind the ship and up in the air, then focused his attention forward on the tundra as he felt it.

Something further ahead. Something… drawing him closer.

Solara watched him as he passed her, trying to find Inuba's gaze as one of her feline ears folded against her head. "I uh… didn't mean right this very second, Dante…"

He raised a hand, silently asking her to remain where she was as he stepped further away from the ship. Then, the pulses stopped.

Deeper within the tundra, he could hear the hollow clacking of glass, followed by a figure garbed in tattered black fabric to obscure their body.

It was her, that… thing that attacked him on the train and marked him, which tried to attack him once more with William in the Dust mines.

The figure stopped suddenly, not moving a single inch as Dante worked up the ability to muster some words.

"Solara… Stay in the ship and stick close to Ray and Nira."

As he said this, the figure outstretched a hand from beneath the fabric that looked to be made of glossy, black glass. Her fingertips glowed faintly deep within her crystalline fingers before she shot her hand out at Dante, and raised her hand up.

He felt a force rising up behind him, spinning around to see a thin sheen of black crystal cutting him off from the rest and spanning on for miles, surrounding both him and the maker in a sort of cube. Inuba pounded at the crystalline barrier with her fist, putting a great deal of force in her strikes to crack it, but only temporarily. Each time she made a crack, they immediately vanished.

Despite her cries, he couldn't hear her voice at all either, only the occasional "thud" whenever she made a crack in the barrier.

Then, the kitsune reached behind her to grab the black, cloth-wrapped sword, only to see Dante raise a hand to stop her, shaking his head steadily.

Now isn't the time for it.

That much she understood from their silent exchange just now. When she looked over his shoulder at the figure in the distance with concern, she was met with a thumbs up from the devil. She nodded, anxiously interlocking her fingers together as she took a few steps back, noticing Rosswal blinking next to her in a puff of midnight blue smoke. Obviously, she was lecturing him harshly given how he raised up his hands defensively.

Shaking his head, the young devil took a few steps forward to meet his challenger.

"I get the whole persistence thing, but you should damn well know when to take a hint." He pointed at her, "I'm usually mildly tolerant of stalking, but this is just starting to get really annoying."

The being still made no movements, only lowering its hand as Dante continued to approach her.

"You working with Ogrânix? Is that the whole grand scheme?" He asked with a shrug, "Blocking off my Dark Entity power, thinking I'd be powerless or some dumb shit like that? A very unwise miscalculation."

He noticed a faint twitch of her fingers when he spoke that shit's name. It was… curious to say the least.

"Are we gonna stand here all day? Or are we gonna end this silly dance at last?" He asked while swiping his hand outwards, summoning Eclypse.

~Master!~

Eclypse's sudden call drew the devil's attention behind him just in time to lash out, clashing with a massive, charred, bone-like greatsword that was black in color and wreathed in azure flame. The sheer weight of the weapon, as well as the power from the owner nearly overwhelmed him. Had he not put in extra strength to block the attack, he would have certainly been sent flying.

As the snow cloud around him melted away from the intense flame, Dante's eyes widened in horrific realization once he saw the flaming blue, black charred, bone armor.

"Belîa..?!"

As if on cue, she let out a loud yell that seemingly made the earth tremble from the immense pressure of her Aura and her voice, steadily overwhelming Dante as she did so. From behind, the figure had quickly flown over to their position, hand readied to strike down the young devil.

A flash of white Aura, and Navâra had materialized in her human shape, wielding herself in weapon form as she quickly slashed vertically from the ground up. Silvered steel brushed away black crystal in a masterful, graceful stroke, rainbow colored sparks flying past the two as the cloaked attacker was forced away.

Taking advantage of the situation, Dante found his strength once more and forced up the giant woman's sword, if only by a little amount. Directly from the push, he shot forward and slashed at her armored stomach, only managing a small cut in the bone-like plating before he kicked himself away from the blazing Knightess.

His feet slid against the snow faintly as Navâra joined his side, her golden blonde hair, her white clothing and stylish, silver armored boots glistening under the faint rays of light on the tundra. She truly looked absolutely spectacular.

"Now that we are able to fight side by side, my Wielder… It is time for Navâra, Empress of the glorious kingdom of Romantia, to take center stage!" The Blade said, her right hand resting above, her glorious bossom, "Fear not, good Dante! For now that I am here, the enemy will fall under the supremacy of my power and skill!"

Her haughty proclamation was heartfelt and of great comfort to him, making the devil smile faintly before he turned his attention back to the figure and the Embered Knightess. Looking at the blazing woman specifically, the azure flames coating her sword and bursting out of the gaps in her armor and helmet were blazing more furiously than ever.

"She's in her berserker state..!" Dante quietly noted, Navâra looking to him in a questioning manner, "The longer a fight gets drawn out, and the more pissed off she gets, the stronger she gets… However… Her sanity starts to take a dive fairly quickly when in full throttle… And from the looks of it… she's been like this for a while…"

"This beastly woman is an ally of yours, is she not? I assume our objective is to subdue her?" The Empress asked.

"Yeah… If you're up against her, I need you to hold back enough not to kill her." Dante apologized, knowing he was asking for a bit much given the situation, "Wearing her down is what we need to do. And then… we've gotta remove her helmet when we get the chance. That's the only way she'll go back to normal, since…"

A faint memory filled his head before he shook it off.

"Worry not, my Wielder! We shall dance the grand dance of battle, wherein I will establish my flourishing, dominant grace! She won't be able to so much as touch me!"

"Glad to hear it."

Readied, the duo charged forward, while the cloaked woman stretched out her hand, commanding the Knightess to dash forward with incredible speed despite her size. Given his own absurd strength, Dante met the giantess first head on, their swords clashing together to unleash a powerful shockwave that blew away the snow around them.

Keeping her locked briefly, Navâra used her incredible speed and agility to leap over the armored woman and landed two swift, graceful cuts on the shoulders. Her searing white Aura of light managed to make only light cuts, but it was enough for the Knightess to lose strength momentarily. Brushing aside her massive flaming sword, Dante dematerialized Eclypse and quite literally grabbed the bull by the horns, his gauntleted hand smoldering from the intense heat.

While not enough to melt his armor yet, he quickly fixed his grip and began to relentlessly bash the Embered Knightess in the face ten times with his knee. Each strike was like a bolt of lightning, an echoing "crack" following after each collision of knee and helmet. Navâra had not sat idle either, for after she landed and allowed her Wielder to get in his quick and brutal hits, she immediately slashed the back of the knees, yet again only making small cuts.

It was enough to weaken her opponent momentarily, for the devil had used the fall to toss Belîa's head into the ground first. Before he could land a punch, the giant woman's rather frightening speed had presented itself first hand as she grabbed Dante and tossed him away like a ball. Navâra went in once again to land another quick few cuts, but found herself blocking her opponent's strike instead, which in turn launched her a considerable distance backwards.

However, this was calculated on the Empress' part, for she realized in the first few moments of the fight that the Knightess' sole focus was on her Wielder. And so, Navâra twirled around to face the cloaked figure and swung down as she landed on the ground, barely missing her opponent's face. Giving it no time to recompose itself, the Blade immediately transitioned into the offensive, gracefully swinging her sword in flourishing, dazzling combinations, each swing seemingly never stopping and appearing to be a single continued strike as petals of light trailed each strike.

The Husk, as the Empress took to calling it due to its seemingly composed body of pure black crystal, spent most of its time dodging Navâra's shockingly fast slashes. It wasn't in a cavern like before, and it hadn't prepared any of its DarkLight Crystals. Instead, it opted to take Navâra head on with its bare hands, dodging and parrying the incoming strikes as if it's life depended on it.

With their fast and furious exchange, crystalline fist and glowing silvered steel collided together, the force sending both of them backwards a good few meters. The Husk looked to its hands and feet, noticing the searing, glowing cuts the Empress had made, who in turn let out a haughty, three tuned chuckle.

"I assumed from the beginning your crystalline body could reflect most, if not all, elements that it would come into contact with. However… could it entirely reflect the elements? Especially if a high concentration continuously worked away at it? I think not!"

She could damage her. That's all Navâra needed to know. However, mild irritation crossed her face when she saw the gashes she made mend themselves fairly quickly.

The Husk raised its renewed hand, brimming with blackened Aura and smashed it into the ground, unleashing a colossal, trailing wave of black, jagged crystal chunks. Without giving it much thought, Navâra's body quickly blazed with pure white Aura that traveled into her left hand and into her copied Sword Form, the weapon's continuously curved and jagged edge glowing a pure white. A single quick swing was followed by noise resembling a brief crack of lighting as a perfect, thin, arcing wave of White Aura soared across the tundra.

Arcing wave of Light and huge masses of black crystal met one another explosively, kicking up massive amounts of snow that blanketed the field to obscure the area entirely.

While steel and crystal clashed together in the distance, Dante and the berserk Embered Knightess continued their brutal back and forth brawl. Occasionally, the giantess landed a clean hit with her fist when her sword proved unable to scratch him with all his dodging, while Dante landed every strike with both fist and Blade.

She was certainly taking damage, and it was showing on her smoldering armor, but the giant woman pressed the attack as if unfazed. She was like Dante, where in this state she could barely feel any pain. Regardless of this fact, she couldn't heal nearly as quickly as the devil could, so if she took enough damage, she'd certainly fall at some point.

So he needed to up the frequency of attacks.

The young devil quickly swapped out Eclypse for Sêrythîl, and got in close as he twirled his weapon. With her, he was able to distract, counter, and land hits in almost the same instance of an attack or twirl. He always changed the angle after each rotation, making it exceedingly difficult for the Knightess to block his attacks in quick succession as he began shredding away at her armor more steadily.

Whenever she did try to swing at him with her massive flaming sword, the force and momentum of the twirling spear was enough to glance blows and immediately counter with a deep cut from the spearhead. Switching to Sêrythîl was the smarter move in the end, for one of her innate special abilities was to pierce through magical armor.

Exactly like the type Belîa wore.

It pained him to injure an old ally like this, but it couldn't be helped. She needed to be considerably weakened so that he could remove her helmet. While cruel to an extent, he knew her chances of dying from this were virtually nonexistent unless he specifically attacked vital organs. So he pressed his advantage with Sêrythîl until an opening presented itself.

After staggering backwards slightly from a particular powerful twirl, it was clear Belîa had been dazed. Thus, Dante harshly swung the butt of his spear underneath the chin of the giant woman's helmet, rocking her head back before he took a wide swing to her legs to knock her down.

Without second thoughts, the devil dematerialized Sêrythîl and leapt atop the Embered Knightess, grabbing hold of her horns as he strained himself to yank her helmet off. Not completely out of the fight yet, the woman raised up her large hands and had a firm hold on Dante's forearms as blue flames blazed brightly. Spectral, armored arms of platinum Aura just as big as the woman's arms formed near his shoulders and began to yank away at the helmet in place of his real hands.

His armor had begun to turn red hot, and from the immense pressure of Belîa's grip as well, began to crunch into his forearms as small bursts of blood sprayed out from the freshly made gaps. It felt uncomfortable, but it wasn't enough to deter him as he kept her arms locked in place, his flesh beginning to burn.

After what seemed like a fierce tug-of-war that lasted almost a minute, Dante finally achieved his end goal. The bone-like flaming helmet had been removed as waist length, light blonde, wild hair had flowed out. The intense red glow in her eyes steadily vanished, her maddening cries dying down simultaneously before she went limp.

A quick check indicated she had merely passed out, the intense stress and exhaustion finally hitting her in full force and knocking her out cold. A quick double pat on her large, armored shoulders and he ran off towards the area clouded in snow, hearing Navâra's battle cries amidst the clash of steel and crystal.

As Dante burst through the dust cloud of snow, he had seen the Empress had kept her word; through the whole altercation, she hadn't been so much as scratched, despite the onslaught of crystal waves and hail that made its way towards her. In true, graceful fashion befitting an Empress, she continuously danced across the tundra unimpeded without slowing down.

After dodging around a bladed pillar of black crystal, Navâra dashed in while bringing her sword across her body. Instead of slashing outwards like the Husk expected, the Empress had feinted the attack to allow Dante to move past her and strike in her stead. The crystalline attacker raised up her forearm and formed a wide panel sheet of black crystal to protect herself.

Both Blade and Wielder flawlessly attacked as one, as if they were dancing a freestyle mix of rumba and tango together. They kept up their tempo, weaving their attacks around each other and even making them flow together simultaneously, their pace uninterrupted. The Husk had no chance to use its abilities, for each time it attempted to create some distance, the duo were instantly upon it quicker than it could touch the ground again.

Defending with its unnaturally durable body was the best it could hope for.

Unfortunately, even this would prove useless against the onslaught of searing light and disintegrating platinum Aura. With many sections of its body heavily chipped away, particularly its arms, Navâra took her chance and cut off the Husk's right arm, making it stagger backwards as Dante landed a solid punch to its hooded face. A faint shattering noise could be heard as the figure had flown back into the snow a good distance, chips of diamond-like crystal flying from the initial impact.

Taking a quick and much deserved bow, Navâra raised her petite frame up and proudly placed her hands on her hips, eyes closed as she hummed twice expectantly. A quick chuckle, and the teen patted her head, the Empress seemingly exhilarated given the happy humming that followed. Extending her hand outwards, Dante reached out with his left hand and gently took hold of hers, Navâra's body turning into white Aura as she took on her weapon form.

Twirling her twice, the devil approached the Husk as it clambered onto its feet, its body cracked apart and very slowly building itself back together as it tried to flee. A platinum Aura Blade flew past its head, making it stop in its tracks.

"Seems like your gank attempt didn't work out so well, even with an Ace like Belîa up your sleeve. Go play a little more Phantom Souls first, then try again." The devil commented as he pointed his Blade at her, "Mind telling me what your game plan is before I take you out? 'Cause I really don't wanna run around like an asshole anymore searching for Ogrânix."

The Husk steadily stood up straight, it's body still cracked and leaking wisps of dim white Aura. It remained quiet, not taking so much as a breath despite the beating it just took. Then again, it probably couldn't feel any pain considering it's entire body was seemingly composed of black crystal.

A minute passed, and still no peep whatsoever.

"Well then…" Dante said, raising Navâra across his body as the Husk slowly raised up its head, "I guess this is goodbye then, ya weird-"

He froze.

…

…

It's face… It…

…

When his eyes drifted to its eyes, his entire body had seemingly been petrified as his eyes went wide, staring into the crystalline white irises that shimmered softly. His mouth was agape; no matter how hard he tried to force some words out, at that moment, it was utterly impossible to do so. So many words he wanted to speak but couldn't.

A name he couldn't bear to utter.

Despite the calls of his Blades deep within his mind, he could not hear them. He was so focused on the sight of its eyes and a certain idea, that he couldn't register the fact it raised its sharpened hand to pierce his chest with it.

Before it had the chance to do so, the barrier behind Dante had been punched through by a flash of lime green light. Nira had forced her way through and was immediately at the devil's side, fist raised and arm crackling with her Aura. The Husk, realizing it's life was in peril, raised up its other hand, forming another crystalline, translucent barrier, only to have it shattered completely and be sent flying from the incredible power of the noirette's blindingly fast punch.

It was as the being was sent flying that Dante had snapped back to reality, managing to see the Husk make impact further away in the tundra. His first instinct was to rush forward and go after it, but he noticed Nira wobbling and about to fall over, so instead, he caught her before she could fall. She pulled on his arm to grab his attention, her own hand still covered in red energy scars from before.

"Get it… together..."

"I know that..!" The devil said, looking up to see the Husk piecing itself back together.

There were plenty of questions the noirette wanted to ask. That much was clear given the stare she was giving him.

"Go."

"What..?"

"I'll be fine. Go after it."

He hesitated for a moment but steadily let go of Nira before he took a few steps forward and crouched low, both hands touching the ground as he took a sprinter position. His body had been entirely engulfed in pitch black Aura as his draconic armor formed entirely in but two seconds, his legs crackling with dark platinum Aura. With a loud "boom", he shot forward like a railgun munition, his feet gliding over the tundra as he approached the Husk with blinding speed.

The being was still quick enough to leap up high into the air as crystalline, demonic, black wings formed from its lower back just above its hips. Before it had the chance to fly away, Dante managed a tight grip on the Husk's forearm, stopping it momentarily as they locked eyes.

No matter how long he stared into its eyes, there were no lies he could tell himself to be convinced that what he was seeing wasn't real. That it was some cruel trick. In that agonizingly slow moment, the more he thought, the deeper his heart sank to the point it felt like it was absent from his body.

Everything from its abilities, to its shape, and even its eyes… they all resembled…

…

…

The moment came to an abrupt end as the Husk raised up its free hand and sliced through its captured arm at the bicep, where it then harshly kicked the devil in the face and sent him crashing back down to the earth. The whole time he kept his eyes on the being, his fall just as agonizingly slow as he watched it fly away.

Considering the height, the devil fell into the tundra with a harsh crash, chunks of stone and clouds of smoke flying from the impact zone. He just… sat on his back in the small crater perfectly still, not taking so much as a breath as his eyes remained glued to the sky, lost in thought.

Moments later, his armor came undone, exposing him to the cold. He then closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as the outside world seemingly ceased to exist. The only thing he could feel or hear was the now harsh beating of his heart, resounding in the darkness like a booming drum.

He couldn't calm himself down, so he opened his eyes and sat up straight, realizing he was holding on to the arm the Husk had chopped away to make its escape. Now that he focused his attention on it, he faintly sensed familiar traces within the crystalline limb.

If the previous facts didn't make the reality of his realization horrifyingly clear, what he saw next certainly did so.

Looking over the severed left arm, his eyes drifted down to its fingers, where he noticed a glint of light flash briefly from the fourth finger. He inhaled sharply as his eyes closed once more, shaking his head briefly before he focused his attention back on the finger.

It was a ring. THE ring.

The exact same ring he personally made so long ago for…

The Husk's arm began to crumble away like ash, pieces of it drifting into the air as he hurriedly hovered his hand beneath the fingers to catch the ring. He brought it up, gazing deeply at the ring as he looked over its features once more.

The entirety of the band was completely composed of white crystal that had a faint glow to it, and very subtly leaked white wisps of energy. The design of the band looked as though it were a branch with small petals lining the sides. Before the branches met in the center, they flared out into five smaller branches and joined together in the center, like a pair of hands interlocking with one another. At the center was a black diamond that had some translucency, where deep within the gem glowed faint traces of white energy.

Back then, it had a brighter glow…

…

…

He heard footsteps crunching in the snow, snapping him to attention from the rush of memories that filled his head. Instinctively, he clutched the ring tightly in his palm, hiding it away as he stood up to see Nira approaching him.

"Uh… It… It got away…"

"I saw." She sighed, "Are you alright?"

"It wasn't that big of a fall…"

"That's not what I meant."

The entire time he tried his best not to make eye contact with Nira, but her directness just then made it impossible not to meet her gaze that had subtle concern in it. For a few moments, they stood there in awkward silence, staring at one another until Dante flashed a faint smile and a chuckle.

"Don't know what else you could be talking about. Like I said, the fall wasn't that bad." He spoke in his usual cheerful tone, stepping out of the crater as he helped keep the girl steady on her feet, "I swear… These crazy kids and their shenanigans…"

He wasn't exactly subtle about brushing away the topic. He knew as much from the way she looked at him. It wasn't so much a secret or that he didn't have answers, it was just…

…

His thoughts were in great disarray, something he hadn't had happen for a good while now. If he was going to give an answer, much less to Nira, he wanted to at least be in a clearer state of mind with his thoughts organized enough to give clear answers. No lies or half truths.

Only pure and simple truth.

---

The tundra seemed infinitely expansive for the devil as he trudged through the snow lost in his thoughts, while Nira was comfortably cradled in his left arm like a cat.

While she was virtually weightless to him, the ring he clutched tightly in his right hand made its presence known with its heavy burden.

"That ring…" Nira murmured, eyes cracked open just enough to stare down at the object in Dante's free hand, "It's faint, but I feel your energy from it, and someone else's…"

"How do you know it's a ring? It could be a special tangerine or something for all you know."

"The way you're clasping your hand is making the energy it radiates wrap around itself, and I can tell it's in the shape of a ring." The girl said.

"Great… So you're like an airport X-Ray machine or something… What's next? Gonna tell me I have some weird carvings on my ribs like a certain pair of brothers?"

"Your ribs are weird, as is the rest of your skeleton." The noirette pointed out, sparing some of her strength to poke his chest, "Not everybody's bones radiate energy."

"Weird, huh?" He quirked his eyebrows up briefly, "You're gonna keep asking until I spill the beans, huh?"

The girl pursed her lips, retracting her hand back to the warmth of her coat, "Questions and secrets tend not to get along, so I won't ask if you aren't intending to tell."

He looked down at the girl, then sighed as he looked forward again, raising up his right hand and prompting Nira to extend her hand as he dropped the ring in her palm.

Her hand dropped slightly under the light weight of the object, but she brought it closer to herself to examine the details of it.

After a few moments, her brow furrowed, "Reminds me of an engagement ring."

"That's because it is. I made that… technically three years ago. Messed with the flow of time and rewinded three years into the past. Anyway…" He shook his head, "Jumped into Hell and other places to gather the materials to make it."

Nira delicately turned the ring between her fingers, catching the light of the tundra gleam over the intricate and foreign materials, "She must've been worth it, but… how did it end up here?"

"That's what I want to know. It was… lost with her. I thought it might've been the one she made for me, considering I gave mine to our Jolly Giant further ahead." Dante nodded his head towards the unconscious Belîa in the distance, "I don't know. I just… don't know."

"I suppose we should check to see if this Jolly Giant has a ring of her own, then." She reasoned, reaching up to hand the ring back to him.

"She'd sooner part with the heart in her chest if she lost it, since it's her only 'link' to her goose chase." The devil explained.

"Goose chase?"

The young man shook his head, remembering the argument he had with her two years, "Belîa… was under the belief that Satanya, owner of the ring and then soon to be engaged to the universe's number one jackass, was still alive. I said differently because… well… When someone you love basically fades away into white StarDust in the darkness of space as they die, you kinda have a difference of opinion as to them being alive or not."

A soft hand tapped the top of his head, giving it a rub for a moment before he watched Nira's arm return to her side.

"Why did she believe so strongly otherwise?"

"Well…" Dante paused in front of Belîa as he reached down with his right hand and grabbed the back of her armor's collar, dragging her along with them, "She said she 'felt' something unnatural. I felt nothing, and passed it off as latent energy from Anya's ring. After a really heated argument that ended with me getting plastered into the ground like a brick tossed in cement, I gave her the ring and she went off on her hunt for someone dead."

"You both could have reason enough to be right. If she felt so strongly that you're wrong, because something inside her was telling her there was a chance you were wrong, I can't fault her for pursuing it. For instance…" Nira glanced away from the giantess beneath her and tapped his chest, right above his heart, "What if you felt what she felt? That 'feeling' that this Satanya could've been alive, against all odds. Would you not tear planets apart looking for an answer?"

"I did." He solemnly said, "On the off chance you're some dormant God, Eldritch Being or Cosmic Entity, you ever hear of The Beyond?"

She looked at him with a brief hint of confusion, shaking her head.

"The final destination of all souls. Anything and everything that dies goes there in the end, either to live in their own 'personal paradise', to be slated for rebirth, or if you were a human or something along those lines, slated to be transfigured into an Angel. I kinda went on a rampage during a shitty war with Angles, broke in, took a look, and found absolutely no trace." He summarized the events briefly, "Then I got kicked to this rock with nothing to show for it."

"If what you say is true, wouldn't finding nothing at all be proof she never made it to The Beyond?" Nira replied, "Assuming you're right about it being the final destination for everything."

"I don't know the whole workings of… well, everything… but that's how it's supposed to be. So either something weird happened or…" He stopped speaking for a moment, a chilling thought suddenly worming its way into his mind, "Or she got pulled out before I got there."

"With all this talk of magic from wherever you're from, is that even possible?"

"Technically, yes. Problem is, only someone on the level of a God could do that. And while I was jacked temporarily like a bodybuilder on steroids, it takes a bit of toll on your Soul." He answered, "Seeing as not all Angels are goody-two-shoes, I find it hard to believe someone other than them did it. Either way, I'm pissed off. Using her image like that… Unforgivable…"

His platinum Aura flared up steadily, the energy unintentionally drawing into Nira's body as the girl shuddered, shimmering in the same platinum color.

She had a particularly cold and confused expression, with a momentary twinge across her shoulders and face as his powerful anger washed over her through his Aura.

"S-Sorry. Getting the hang of emotions again. I forget that kind of outwardly translates sometimes…" He apologized, noticing her brief discomfort.

"Don't worry about that." Nira pressed her hand against his body again and pushed the energy he released back into him, "I need to go through an acclimation phase with most energies. It was just weird… that it transferred so easily."

"Number one weirdo, remember?" He nodded to himself, "Wouldn't surprise me if we were best friends in a past life or something."

She smiled, but shook her head at the same time. "You're number two for me. Ray's energy is weirder."

"Heh. Yeah, definitely." The young devil smiled, noticing Inuba waiting for them in the distance.

His eyes glanced over towards Ray and Solara, quickly arguing over specifics.

"What are they on about now?" Dante asked Inuba.

"I'm afraid I was quite lost after the first few sentences…" The kitsune replied, "Are you alright?"

"Physically? Yeah. Mentally? Not really. But we'll talk about it later. Can you take care of Nira first?"

"S-Shouldn't I-?"

"Belîa will be fine. Don't worry." Dante said, letting go of the Embered Knightess as he passed Nira to Inuba, "Hot potato."

"Very well then… Ms. Ezdeil, let's see how well you acclimate to my energy."

"Don't be surprised if it takes a while." Nira replied, "But if it's anything like Dante's, I guess I'll be the one surprised."

With that bit of business taken care of, the young devil approached the ship once he saw the two bickering siblings cease their argument.

He was still a bit shaken, but he needed to maintain his composure.

"Hard at work or hardly working?" The young devil asked them.

"Hard at work." Ray quickly responded, top half partially obscured by the panels on the ship's ceiling while he worked up there. "Did you think I was going to stop and spectate? We have work to do."

Attached to his ankle was a fine red thread of energy, the other half leading into the cockpit. He noticed small, flashing pulses run through the thread and into Ray, tilting his head with interest.

Connector to share energy between them? Or just to juice him up? As he explained it, his capacity is higher. Maybe Solara's Aura regenerates quicker by comparison? I'll have to ask sometime.

"Well, you're definitely 'eyes on the prize' types if you didn't gawk even just a little." Dante replied, pinching his index finger and thumb together briefly, "So I'm guessing we still need metal?"

Ray lowered one of his arms into view to give Dante a thumbs up before it disappeared into the ceiling once more. "Wasn't worth watching, there's a ton of work that has to be done here since you didn't bring a ship with more suitable engines."

"Give me a break, will you? I didn't exactly have the time to go shopping at the supermarket for shiny new heaters."

Ray's sigh echoed through the ship before he finally poked his head out of the ceiling, holding onto something up there with his left hand as his eyes levelled on Dante. "I'm past the point of complaining, I'm just saying it how it is. Solara's handling the firmware at the front of the ship, I'm splicing into the electrical system to give us the power we'll need. This ship's a mess after that explosion."

"Right…" The young devil sighed.

He looked over his shoulder back towards the girls' position, eyes snapping to the awakened Belîa as she clutched her pained head. She looked around, completely confused with where she was until she saw Inuba. The fox girl was calming her down, answering the Knightess' questions as quickly as she could and as to the point as possible.

Then, she looked behind her, narrowing her eyes to see Dante in the distance casually waving at her.

She's not gonna try to kill me again, right?

Belîa sprang to her feet and quickly sprinted over in fashion Dante found rather intimidating as he took a step back.

Oh shit. She's gonna squash me.

He made to turn around and run for it, but was immediately captured by Belîa in a rather warm embrace of friendship. Normally, this would have been a touching moment for any spectators, but given the Embered Knightess' size and the way she hugged Dante, it looked more like a gleeful girl hugging her small, animal plushy.

Unexpected… Still…

"Ok…" Dante said, tapping his hand on Belîa's armor to tap out, "Ok She-Hulk… I missed you too…"

She then dropped him, suddenly remembering proper procedure and took a knee to bow to him in respectful reverence.

"I hope you don't expect that kind of reception from me." Ray commented from the side, his head switching between Dante and Belîa.

"If I got the hug of death, best believe you are too." He pointed to the cat faunus before he turned around to face his old ally, "What are you doing?"

"Seeing as you were my Lady's beloved, it's only natural I would heed proper etiquette. Also… despite past differences, you are still worthy of my respect." She answered, still bowing her head.

"Get up already, will you? You're embarrassing me in front of the Tech Wizard." The devil said.

"I'll heed some proper etiquette for you too, Dante." Ray said, raising his right hand and giving the devil a middle finger. "There you go, enjoy."

"Cheeky shit…" The young devil smirked, turning his head back to see Belîa towering over him entirely, "Sweet Christmas, I keep forgetting you're almost twice my height…"

"While your humor still lacks in quality, it is still pleasant to see you making attempts." Belîa nodded with a brief smile, "I only recently became aware of recent events and the… details of your departure. For what it is worth, I am sorry, Lord Dante."

"Don't be. And don't call me Lord. I'm not fancy enough for that." He pointed out, "Question is, how did you get here and why were you trying to shishkabob me specifically?"

"I…"

She hesitated, remembering their argument from long ago.

"Go on." The devil said.

"My trail… It led to this World. But after you destroyed all the passages, I was unable to enter. Therefore, I visited the King, and asked for passage here, along with the Scribe."

"Scribe? What Scr-?"

Dante paused for a moment, suddenly remembering who it was she meant.

"Oh shit…" He brought his hands up to his face, spreading them outwards towards his cheeks, "She's here too?!"

"We were separated upon arrival to this World. I wandered around this territory until I encountered…. whatever that grotesque creature was… I was entrapped, and afterwards… I awoke to see you here with Lady Kitsukami."

So she was specifically targeted. Maybe that's why they got split up.

Dante sighed, clenching his right hand tightly a few times before he looked up at Belîa, "As much as I wanna catch up, we can do that on the ride over. We've got some important things to talk about. And that includes the two of you!" He turned around towards the shipping to draw the twins' attention.

"What about us?" Ray asked in reply, his upper body once more hidden above.

"I'm not gonna be able to sit around with guys around a campfire, hold hands and cook s'mores forever. You guys need to lay low outside of Atlas and out of sight of these freaky shits, because I have a gut feeling this doesn't just end with the Bishop."

"You're right, I have to deal with the specialists they're gonna send my way once we make it back to Atlesian airspace." Ray said casually as he remained tinkering with the ship.

"Again, Ray?" Solara called out from the cockpit, finally making her way out into the back to see what was going on. "I thought you said they were fine with you after the last time! What's happened since then?!"

"Long story, I'll tell you later."

"So here's the plan." Dante clapped his hands together, "The two of you are gonna hide out in the mining town of Solidum. It's remote, and Atlas soldiers rarely patrol town since they're fenced in with hardlight and have remote turrets. Pretty safe, and the townspeople aren't too law abiding either, so the chances of them selling you out are minimal. Either way, we're getting you a remote cabin more removed from the town but still inside the fenced area."

"That's great, until you take into consideration they left a tracker on my now broken scroll that'll immediately light up on their system the moment I'm within range." Ray argued calmly. "But don't worry about that because I have it covered. I left it there deliberately."

"Right… which leaves who's gonna take care of you guys when I'm not around. That distinguishable honor will go to my friend and errant Knightess, Belîa."

"Pardon?!" The giant woman spoke up in surprise.

"Pass." Solara quickly piped up as she stepped past Dante and took a seat next to Nira with her legs crossed.

Nira seemed to quickly take to holding her since she was now the closest twin, possibly also feeding off of the blonde catgirl's Aura too.

"Listen, Nira and I can't sit with you guys all day, every day. We've got responsibilities as S-Class Huntsmen. Same goes for Inuba since she can't just suddenly go missing." Dante reasoned, "I know you two are a pair of badasses, but if you come across what I'm thinking is a Lord Class Dark Entity, it'll matter less how well you two work together as a pair. That's why I'm slipping you two an Ace under the table."

"We don't need your protection, much less protection from someone who just tried to kill you." Solara argued, crossing her arms now as well. "You seem to have this concept that we're poor, defenseless cats, when in reality we know so much more than you're giving us credit for."

"That's not what this is about." The devil firmly stood his ground, "The freak show circus we dealt with was something on the class of a Knight. A Lord isn't something you can just kill with conventional weaponry and pluck, because frankly, they ignore most logic and reason when it comes to their abilities. It's not a simple matter of competency and power."

"They're not going to pursue us, I promise you that now." Solara stated calmly, eyeing Dante with the same adamance he had. "They were trying to build something here, in a place that has now been thoroughly obliterated by my brother's literal superweapon. So you can try and brush us under the carpet all you want but the only thing that even remotely threatens us now, is Atlas."

"Atlas is a wet shit compared to these guys. If they went through the effort to get their hands on you to build something, they're not gonna give you up easily. Especially if you might become a key factor in a potential coupe." The devil pointed out, "Now, I made a promise to keep you alive by any and all means necessary. And I don't take half measures when it comes to someone's life. That's why I'm going to guarantee both of you live by the end of this."

Dante tapped the side of Belîa's chestplate, a hollow ringing noise sounding out as he then placed his hand on his hip.

"Belîa may be a Dark Entity, but she's a Knightess first and foremost. Her honor is untarnishable, and her will is unbreakable. That aside, she's a Lord Class herself, so your safety is one hundred percent guaranteed."

Solara rolled her eyes and shook her head as she wiggled out of Nira's grip and stood up again. "We won't need her."

The girl passed Dante again, giving him a deadpan expression as she made her way back to the front of the ship again, disappearing behind the sliding door.

"Young man… What is your name?" Belîa asked the cat faunus.

Ray seemed to have just finished his work on the electrical system as he ducked down and fit the ceiling panel back where it was supposed to go, hopping down off of the crate he was using to stand on to look at her. "Ray."

"While Lord Dante plays the part of a fool very well, he is anything but a fool. His reasoning is sound in that this will not be the last attempt to claim you and your sister. Your life and your power. I have my own journey to go on, but I will not hesitate to pause and take on the task of guaranteeing your lives, especially at the behest of Lord Dante." The Embered Knightess said, kneeling down to his level whilst bowing her head and resting her arm over her knee, "This is a trouble we have brought upon you, despite doing so indirectly. As such… it is our duty to safeguard the lives of those involved. Until this task has been completed, I swear on my honor as a Knight to protect your lives, and bring you no dishonor. I only ask that you not dismiss me for my heritage."

Ray looked at her carefully for a few moments, his crimson eyes switching between her own before he tilted his head to the side to get a look at Dante, who gave a rather pleading tilt of his head.

The boy then sighed, facing the Knightess again. "You do whatever you like if you feel like you're obligated to protect us. But Atlas is mine, do I make myself clear?"

"By your leave, Master Chroma. I will aid you with whatever endeavors you require of me."

"Just sit tight and be cool." Ray said quickly, before sparing a moment to gesture to Inuba, "But don't call me Master Chroma again. I've already given her this lecture, I don't want to do it again."

"Will Sir Chroma suffice then?" She asked.

"Ray." The Faunus said with a little assertion. "Just Ray. Any further questions and you can direct them at Inuba."

"Very well then."

"Great, now that we got that business sorted out… I'll go scavenge for some metal to rebuild the lost thruster." Dante said, looking to Belîa as he nodded towards the tundra they came from, "Seeing as they're in safe hands with Inuba and Nira, wanna come with? Seeing as we have time, I have a feeling there's a lot you want to talk about."

"Yes. There are… many things I wish to ask and share with you."

---

Silence.

Their walk was silent for the majority of the trek towards the direction of where the monastery was. Both of them wanted to start with something, but neither could find the right words to begin.

~You okay?~

Eclypse's question made him lift up his head.

More or less. I just… I don't know what the hell is going on now. That… That thing… It looked so much like her. Her face, her proportions, they were all an exact match.

~So?~

So… Either someone went to painstaking extents to precisely recreate her form to use it against me, or…

…

…

Eclypse sighed at her Master's hesitation, and so said what was on his mind instead.

~Or it's her. But you do know the chances of that being true are pretty slim, right?~

But it's not a zero percent chance. And with our experience, that means it's not impossible.

~Fine, but who else or what else could have pulled her out? Better yet, did she make it to The Beyond in the first place? Can the souls of Dark Entities even enter The Beyond?~

They can if they undergo Soul Destruction. However, they're an exclusion when it comes to any form of rebirth. When they go in, they're there forever unless someone or something pulls them out.

~You think she didn't make it then?~

I don't know, Eclypse. I just don't know.

…

…

No, that's a lie.

~A lie?~

I mean that it's a lie that I don't know if it's her.

Ever since he took the ring back from Nira, he could feel it's heavy burden weighing him down once more. Despite being in the right pocket of his pants, it felt as though his entire body was under some sort of strain, like he was trudging through waist deep water.

The ring… The fact that it's the exact same one he made, and in no way a fake, virtually confirmed the chilling idea that it was her.

How did he know for a fact this was true?

Because the ring disappeared with her the day she vanished with the stars. It didn't remain behind as she turned into brilliant star dust, and it didn't break apart. It vanished with her.

It's her.

~Then the puppy dog Knightess was right I guess.~

The question I have… is how? The 'why' is obvious. It's to mess with me, to fuck with my head since almost no other methods can wear me down mentally.

~Messing with you definitely might be the case, but think about it. She's a Queen Class. One of a kind. Bringing her back would be more than worth it. That aside… If you could break in, who's to say someone else can't?~

You think someone took after me and broke into The Beyond after I did?

~It's likely. The time between your exile and now is… I don't know, too long, I guess. So I think it must have been recent, like within the last few months.~

Makes sense in a way, but someone must have noticed something. They wouldn't just let something like that slide.

~Maybe things got tense out there and they're focused on other things?~

Could be…

~In any case, we've established she's the real one for two reasons. One, she seems to exclusively go after you, and only attacked Ciel and Dawn on the train once. Anyone else was just in the way. Two, it looks pretty much like her, curves and all. So then… What are we going to do about it? She's clearly an enemy now, controlled or otherwise.~

I don't know. I…

A thought suddenly came to him.

Did she look… I don't know, stable to you?

~Stable?~

Yeah… When I brought up Ogrânix, she started twitching. I…

His heart was pounding at the sudden idea in mind,

I think she's in there. Or at least a part of her.

He heard Eclypse sigh.

~Capturing her is gonna be a huge pain in the ass, you know? She might not be as powerful as she used to be, but she was still among the most powerful Mages out there. Not to mention, her swordsmanship was pretty top tier, and got even sharper because of all the time she spent with you and the adventures you went on occasionally.~

I know. I know it isn't gonna be easy. But… If there's a chance she's in there, then…

He let out a sharp breath, suddenly noticing Belîa was no longer walking next to him. Turning around, he saw her standing still a few feet away, eyes glued to the snow before she looked up at him and walked towards the devil.

"Cold feet?" He smirked.

She sighed at his rather ridiculous joke, reaching above her armored collar and underneath her armor's breastplate to forcefully rip off some sort of black string.

"Long have I been on my hunt, and now… I begin to reach the close."

She extended her hand, uncurling her fingers to show a ring resting in her palm. It was rather simple in design; the band was obsidian black, still maintaining its lustrous shine after all this time. Four compass point-like stars lined the band like a cross, each star four pointed and made of a brilliantly shining white diamond that still retained bright glows of white Aura.

Looking closer, the edges of the band were lined with etched patterns resembling Dante's torrents of Aura whenever he unleashed his Aura Wave attacks, his signature technique. Each wave was jagged, yet contained a smooth elegance in the waves.

Anya once told him it represented the "rough and wild" exterior he put up most of the time, but still showed his gentle, noble heart beneath it all.

The days after each received their rings were some of their happiest. And yet, carrying his ring with him after what happened burdened him with a great deal of pain that no bodily injury he ever received could be compared to.

It's why when Belîa asked for it to track the resonance between the two rings, he gave it to her without the slightest bit of hesitation, which was the cause for their fight that seemed like it was decades ago. Heated words and violent blows were exchanged between the two, which in the end required the two of them to be restrained before the Embered Knightess took her leave to begin her quest.

Since then, neither had seen the other until now.

"Besides the point… It is only natural that it should be returned to you, it's owner. Though… I seem to recall you saying 'it's just a useless piece of junk now'. Therefore… if you do not wish to take it back, then…"

Without a moment's hesitation, he snatched the ring from Belîa's palm, tossing it up quickly and catching it as he stared at it a few moments in his palm. It was almost eerie how it remained completely unchanged, not so much as having a scratch. Then again, knowing Belîa, she probably took extreme care of it.

"The day I left, the light in those shining diamonds were very faint. Then, one day a few months ago, they dimmed entirely for an hour." The giant woman explained.

That was when Scylix…

"I feared that the Immortal Black Devil had suddenly met his end, and rushed back home to Primordial to ascertain whether or not you had perished. Only, you weren't there." The girl said, crossing her arms, "I had learned of your war with Aultus, Great First of The Trinity, and your subsequent exile. Then, the ring regained its light once more. Although, it was now brighter than ever."

Now that I look at it, the light in the diamonds do seem a lot brighter than they used to be… Weird…

"After consulting the King of the Dark World, we ascertained that the resonance led to this world by the name of Remnant. I unfortunately couldn't freely travel until recently, hence why I am here now."

"After which, you got attacked and collared. Meaning no offense." The devil said.

"Yes. We were supposed to come together and find you, but… I was forcibly torn away. Now she's wandering the original destination, more than likely."

"Well, if it's her, she's bound to meet my little brother at some point down the line." Dante explained as he pocketed the ring, "She'll be fine. I think."

"B-Brother..? You have-?"

"Siblings? I know. A brother and two sisters. Damndest thing." The devil shook his head.

"W-Well… I must say… That's good! To have family, I mean."

"Yeah. It's been a wild ride having them along. Even got to see our mom again and everything."

"That's wonderful!" The Knightess said with glee in her tone.

He nodded silently before turning around to face Belîa, looking up at her.

"You think it's her? That thing that fled, I mean."

"Yes." She said as stepped closer to him, "From what I felt before I was entrapped, her… Aura was extremely similar, if not the exact same."

"Then I guess we're on the same page then." The devil sighed as he placed his hands on his hips, "Listen… I don't know if this is all connected to Ogrânix or not. But what I do know is that we can't resolve this on the get go like we usually did. Not while you're protecting the Chroma's, and not while I've got my current obligations."

"Then how are we supposed to resolve this? How are supposed to-?"

"We do what we've been doing and let her come to us. And by us, I mean me, since she seems to be solely fixated on cutting up my ass for Christmas Dinner instead of yours."

"Typical… Using yourself as bait…"

"Got a better idea?"

She growled silently, casting her gaze to the sighed before she sighed.

"No. But you shouldn't place all the burden on yourself like you normally do."

"Look, you're in no position to move about freely like me, and not just because you're guarding the Chromas. One, you're a Dark Entity, and people here aren't like ours back home. Prejudice and misplaced fears aside, you show up as an acquaintance of mine, and people are gonna start asking questions and casting doubt. Something we don't need right now."

"What have you involved yourself in..?" Belîa asked, concern clear in her tone.

"Short of it, this World's facing a crisis from an enemy that's… pretty fucked up. The monsters out there feed on negativity from all sources, and tensions are already high as is. Almost nowhere is safe." Dante summarized briefly, "We've got a crap ton of problems that need solving without causing more problems. Understand?"

"I… I understand." The Knightess said, narrowing her eyes.

"Don't worry. I'll give you a full rundown of events before I leave you with the Chromas. I'm just asking for your patience until then."

"No, I understand fully. There is a time and place for everything, after all." The Knightess sighed before looking out at the tundra, her eyes catching something in the distance, "It seems your luck still holds up fairly well."

Looking ahead, he saw it too.

Numerous shards and panels of metal had been scattered and buried in the snow, sticking out like jagged rocks. After taking measurements of the engine that hadn't been broken, he had a solid idea of how much metal he needed. Luckily, it was just enough. There was room for error, but not a whole lot.

Knowing the two Chroma siblings though, they wouldn't make mistakes.

Belîa moved forward and effortlessly ripped the largest panel out of the snow first, carrying it on the tips of her fingers like a large platter, as she piled on the rest.

"Er… Seeing as you possess mathematics far greater than my own, will this be enough?" She asked.

"It's enough." Dante smirked.

Belîa had never gone to school like he and Anya did, but she was homeschooled by Anya on the weekends. After her secret had been revealed, the devil himself even took occasion to help educate her on the weekends, focused more on modern society and the history of the World they lived in. It was a little difficult, since Belîa was more old fashioned, but she managed in the end,

Frankly, she was actually a pretty good student, it was just that she simply preferred her duties as the Embered Knightess over studying. In a way, they were remarkably similar in their regard. While never having any trouble with school, it was still very tedious for Dante. He much preferred the life he lived outside of school, simply because at times, it was more fun and interesting.

"Why are you staring at me?"

Belîa's voice snapped him back to attention as they began to walk back.

He smirked, "I was just remembering how shit you are at math."

The top of his head had been bonked with the bottom of the girl's gauntleted fist enough to make him stagger forward a little.

"To quote our Queen, 'Not everyone is capable of being hyper-intelligent goofballs like you', or something along those lines."

"Hey, I've been working hard, alright?"

"But of course." She smirked, making Dante shake his head, "It… It really is excellent to see again, and in good health no less."

"You too for that matter."

"I…" She paused briefly, gathering her courage, "I truly am sorry for how we-"

"Save it. I don't really give a crap."

The Knightess frowned at the remark.

"It's in the past, isn't it? And I wasn't exactly nice with my words either, so I was kind of asking for it." He continued, lacing his fingers behind his head as he walked on, "I'm not one to dwell on nonsense like that forever, so forget about it."

The giantess let out a relieved huff as she smiled, happy to be walking alongside her old comrade once more.

---

I won't waste any more of your guys' time this week with my weird-ass end notations (honestly, don't have the energy for it right now even after pretty much overcoming my sickness).

If you have questions, ask them anytime. I will try to answer them without spoiling anything.

Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Your support genuinely matters.

With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend, and remember... be kind and excellent to one another, stay safe, and stay healthy.