Disclaimer: Black Clover is owned by Yūki Tabata, Studio Pierrot, and Shonen Jump.
Saga 10: Screaming for Vengeance Part 5
Terra Cotta Dormitory, Residential District #2, Libratium, Spade Kingdom, Night
"... What do you mean, talk?" said Krieger, blinking in confusion, "if there's something wrong, we can talk in the morning-"
"Mr. Krieger, you said that Dune has been leaving for work early for the past two days," Fana pointed out, her voice calm and monotone to a nigh-sterile tone, "but when I arrived at the D&HSD today, the Department Head confirmed that he didn't show up for those said two days. Care to explain the contradiction?"
"... You know that it's normal for people in Libratium to have multiple jobs, right?" Krieger dodged her question, "I mean, Dune told me that he was going to take another job at the Lunar Milk Emporium to keep himself afloat-"
"The papers," Fana countered, "the papers on the subject of the Twelve Tyrants were proven to be enough to fund the department that he was working at enough to keep it afloat," she pointed out, remembering the insides of the building/repurposed evil-looking castle looking cleaner than it was before when she came by today, "and I knew Dune, and he doesn't seem to be like the one to be that desperate for money, let alone desperate enough to seek out a second job."
"What makes you think that you know Dune more than I do?" he asked back, trying to derail the conversation elsewhere, "you were only here for about a month or two. I knew him for at least 5 years! He's practically my second son!"
Fana knew that Krieger was dodging the question. For all his claim of treating his tenants as if they were his own family, something felt off about his words. Mainly, he's being more emotive than usual when Fana herself vaguely recalls that he was acting even more emotionless than Mars after his emotions were surpassed with magical rhinestones that were embedded into his forehead.
He was hiding something. She know that Krieger's hiding something about Dune. Fana will get to the bottom of this mystery.
"... It's getting late," Krieger remarked, "shouldn't you go to bed?"
"No Mr. Krieger, I have to know," Fana retorted, "where is Dune?"
"None of your business," Krieger spoke, pressing her words off of him, "go to bed, now."
"Why should she?" another voice called out from behind Kreiger, revealing Mariella leaning against the entrance of the mess hall, "after all, he's our senior Necromancer, and he's disappeared for the past two days," she pointed out, "care to explain?"
"I... you... how did you..." Krieger stammered at the surprise of her sneaking up at him without as so much as creaking the floorboards, "... so quiet..."
"Ex-Krypteia," answered Mariella, "they send me to break into people's homes and come out before the morning after."
"... I-I see," Krieger stuttered for a moment upon her mentioning being part of the very same demons of his past coming back to his life, ... great, now I have to kill her too.
Thankfully, unlike two nights ago, Kreiger was able to secure a vial of [Cockatrice] venom and apply it onto his hidden dagger for tonight in case of emergency. This time, he won't mess it up because of unforeseen circumstances.
"Mr. Krieger, I've been spending most of my time in-between classes at the D&HSD and every day prior to two days, I've seen Dune literally sleeping in his own office surrounded by his papers," explained Mariella, "and all of the sudden, he disappears as soon as his papers are published and our department finally receives funding after a long time in the red," she points out the discrepancy of his claim, "so Mr. Krieger, where is Dune?"
"... He told me on that night that he realized that turning in papers alone won't be enough to keep the department afloat long-term," he lied, "so I suggested him taking a part-time job to help fund his future projects."
"Which job specifically?" asked Fana.
"Lunar Milk Emporium," Krieger gave a faux-answer, "he's taking the same route as Lotus."
"The early morning-route?" Mariella asked, "and not others?"
"I'm pretty sure that he sleeps during breaks," Krieger pointed out a plausible lie, "after all, I set a curfew here for a reason," he decided to insert a piece of irrelevant truth into his lie, "sleep helps with getting through the day."
That last line sort of began ringing a bell for the two girls. Come to think of it, why were they sleeping so soundly right after every night of dinner was over? And why were they all turkey aside from the meat being a surplus and cheap?
"Mr. Krieger," Fana spoke, realizing that he knew where Dune is at, "during his... part-time jobs, where does he take his breaks?"
"Oh, haven't you heard?" he replied, "a lot students tend to hang out at the fountains and parks when they're not working for some downtime."
"One problem," Fana pointed out Krieger's conflicting claim, "you do realize that this whole week is workshop openings, right?"
"The crowd size gathered there makes the idea of sleep there impossible!" Mariella pointed her finger at Krieger, "Mr. Krieger, if what you said is claim to be the truth, then your statement is contradictory to reality!"
Krieger takes a step back, realizing that he got his dates mixed up from being too busy from upholding the lie.
"So if Dune isn't around the parks or fountains at the school when he's taking a nap..." pondered Fana as she tried to figure out where Dune could be at, "... where could he be? You're the one claiming that you know where he is, so spill it!"
Suddenly, the doors at the reception hall open with a ring. Coming was Dune, wearing the uniform of the Lunar Milk Emporium where Krieger was claiming where Dune was working at part-time.
"There's Dune, happy?" Krieger pointed towards the copy that was made by Loki and order to patrol the streets in case of having to elude the others further (but completely lacking in sapience due to it lacking a soul, making it no more than an autonomous meat doll), gonna have to thank him later for the timing-
But before Dune can come into the mess hall and respond to Krieger's mental command to kill the two girls on the spot to not leave any witnesses, a giant dark-gray blade burst out of Dune's chest, spraying out blood from the exit wound and onto everyone else's faces. The blade then closes in onto itself before it retracted back where it came from, only this time the inner edge of the blade was now pushing itself against Dune's face before his whole upper torso was split open in two with the sounds of bones crunching and flesh ripping apart.
Behind the slain Dune was Dune. The real Dune, with a bandaged chest, a shadowy Wadjet slithering on his cheek snarling with a grimace and a menacing-looking two-handed scythe that looks as if it were made of human bone, its shaft handle resembling a human spine and the scythe blade adopting a skull with a gaping jaw that made it look as if the blade was coming out of its mouth.
"Dune?!" Fana exclaimed.
"Hey," he heaved out, "sorry if I was late. Got held up."
"Held up on what, exactly?" Krieger nervously remarked as he mentally communicated with his Demon, Loki, we have a situation. Come down here now! He then faced Dune, who looks as if he survived his assassination attempt despite the dagger itself being poisoned. "Where were you this whole time?" he asked with nervousness hidden beneath his veneer of of worry, "you're later than usual."
"I don't know," Duhat replied with hostility bubbling underneath his nonplussed facade, "why don't you tell us?"
"Honey, what's going on?" Iris's voice rang out from upstairs as Loki disguised as Lotus led everyone else downstairs and into the mess hall.
First, she screams at the dead body splayed before her. Then, she screams again upon seeing two Dunes, with one having already murdered the other.
"What's going on here?!" Dominante cried out.
"That's what we like to know!" Mariella replied.
Loki, what the hell?! Kreiger telepathically communicated with the fake Lotus facade bringing literally everyone present in the dorm with him, why did you bring everyone downstairs?!
Thought it be fun, he snarked, gotta be sure to have some fun to buy more time.
Krieger instinctively snarls as everyone turns on the lights, revealing everyone from the dorms to have come downstairs, with the exceptions of Fanzell, Akane and Mari, all three of them, according to them, were "working late".
"Dad..." yawned Klein as he looked around confusion, "... what's going on?"
"Hey Dune," spoke Violet as she saw his bandaged chest, "whoa, what's with the war wound?"
"Got stabbed," he replied.
"By who?" asked Peony.
"Ask him," the Demonologist pointed towards Krieger. Now normally, he can accuse Krieger and finish him off right there, but Dune's job was far from simple.
He needs to buy time for the others to get here. And while at it, he needs to figure out the identity of who was the one wearing Lotus' face.
12 Hours Prior...
"Okay, so with Clover Kingdom helping us out, we can be sure that we got the whole region on lockdown, right?" Duhat pointed out.
"Still, we only know one half of the real threat," Makarov remarked before he handed him a small wiretap device, "that's where you come in."
"What?" he looked at the idea, "you're saying that I should just go in there and tell everyone 'hey, I'm alive this whole after I got stabbed and dumped into the ocean'?!"
Makarov then shows an image from the Projection Orb and showing a soulless copy of "Dune" himself aimlessly walking around the streets, with a crudely-painted snake meant to stand in as Wadjet on the nigh-literal meat doll's face.
"... Okay," Duhat smacked his lips in disbelief, "I was kidding when I said there might be a copy of me running around, but man, that's just lazy."
"I am honestly offended," Wadjet remarked, "for one, I am not that flat-looking!"
"So, what do you have in mind, Makarov?" Duhat asked.
"I assume due to its lack of soul, it's made to be a literal meat puppet, a mere distraction, per say," the Vice-Inquisitor remarked, "one of our constituents have relayed a message with that she's planning to send her own canary into the den of the beast tonight. Your job is to ensure said canary doesn't die."
Duhat gulps in anticipation. "You think that bastard Krieger might kill that person if given the chance?" he asked before correcting himself, "oh who am I kidding, of course he will!"
Makarov then smiles at the Demonologist before drawing his [Chernobog] from his sheath. "Then perhaps I should test you first so that you can protect said tribute," he remarked, "so, your [Judgement Anubis]?"
Duhat then projects his ashen khopesh in his hand as the two of them went outside.
"Now, picture it," Makarov ordered, "a weapon that is suited for war."
Back to the Present...
Now, all Duhat had to do is make sure that no one else dies tonight. At least until the others can close in on him without alerting either Krieger and the false Lotus while identifying who the latter really is. Underneath his bandages (and over his healed stab wound) was a wiretap bug, a covert remote-listening device that allows him to act as another group's extra pair of ears to have a live feed over the situation.
In his hands (Duhat's not dismissing it due to him being inside the hornet's nest) was his evolved version of [Judgement Anubis], that he'd labeled [Requiem Anubis], combining aspects of his previous spells like his [Apophis Exhaust]'s destructive output, [Geb Replica]'s flexibility, and aped Makarov's [Chernobog]'s appearance.
With one potential murder weapon out of his hands, now it's his job is to ensure that he keeps an eye on both the fake Lotus and Krieger.
"So... Krieger," Dominante spoke, "... you know who stabbed him?"
"I mean, why would anyone stab him?" he replied, now playing dumb, "the MASS system pretty much invalidates all mortal deaths! Even if I were to stab him, his condition would've been notified to me! And I have no papers that came two days ago!"
"Really Krieger?" Duhat rolled his eyes, not even bothering to correct him, "you're saying that you stabbed me but we can't prove it because I have no alibi that I got stabbed publicly."
"Exactly!" Krieger pointed out, "you're all wasting your time. Go to bed, now-"
"Ah ah ah, not so fast," said Duhat, stopping him right there, "I do in fact, have an alibi."
He snaps his fingers, and from Fana's own shadow, a tall, slightly-menacing looking young man looking like in his late-20s rose up in full view. Fana herself was scrambling back at the surprise of someone being inside her shadow his whole time, while everyone else recoiled back for the same reason.
"I swear to god..." Nacht grumbled, "first Luciel and now you? The whole department is nothing but slave drivers..."
"Feel my pain, junior," smirked Duhat.
"Who's this man?!" Krieger asked furiously.
"A new hire," Duhat answered, "who also happens to be a former-Clover Kingdom's Black Ops operative."
"Black Ops?!" exclaimed Loki!Lotus, "here of all places?!"
"Now now, I'm merely a messenger," Nacht calmed everyone down before he took out a Projection Orb from his cloak, "and also my Demonologist's alibi, in a manner of speaking."
He looked at Fana, the latter backing away from him.
"Don't worry," he reassured her, "I'm not allowed to hurt you, just like how you're not allowed to sleep."
"... I, what?!" Fana exclaimed before she knew what he implied, "... oh goddammit."
6 Hours Ago...
"You sure giving her a subliminal [Command Magic] to root out Krieger is the greatest of ideas?" Nacht pointed out to his technically-superior, "without her consent to boot?"
"There's an old saying," Luciel replied, "to fool the enemy, you must first fool your friends," she pointed out as a silver-spider-like Demon rappelled down from the ceiling with her web, "Jezebel's web isn't the kind that is stationary. Rather, it spreads far and wide through others. Her [Command Magic] doesn't always have to be overt."
"You know, for a head of a department that's barely getting by, you sure as hell have a career as a spymaster," Nacht pointed out.
"I was," she answered as her left eye gleamed red all of the sudden, putting Nacht's own soul under lock as she gave him his next command, "[with that said, please keep an eye out Fana and reveal yourself if either Duhat calls for you or if Fana's in danger]."
The command was then burned into Nacht's mind in an instant. "... Fine," he grumbled as his body began to move in instinct while subconsciously eyeing towards Fana's shadow cast behind her, "... you bitch."
"Love you too, Nacht," Luciel flipped him off as he left.
Back to the Present (Again)...
"She can be..." sighed Nacht as he set the Projection Orb down onto the mess hall table, "... persuasive."
The crystal ball then plays his recording of a surveillance footage that was recorded two days prior, revealing that Lotus carried out a body stuffed into a burlap sack before cutting to another footage that revealed him throwing the bagged body over the cliffside next an ocean.
"... Wait," Iris looked at Lotus, "YOU STABBED DUNE?!"
"We're not done yet," Nacht pointed out, "he's not the only one who got stabbed in the same room."
Nacht then plays another footage, this time, playing the last week's recorded footage (courtesy of the Thaumaturges), now showing an employee from the Lunar Milk Emporium carting out a statue with a burlap slapped over it, as if it didn't want the others to know what it looks like. The scene the cuts to another, now with the same cliffside next to the ocean, with the milkman throwing the whole wheelbarrow over the edge before making a hasty retreat.
"By the way," the man then looked towards Iris, "are you indeed, Lotus Whomalt's wife?"
"Uh... yes," she answered, "... why?"
Nacht sighs as he then takes out a broken-off stone head of a man screaming, said man being none other than Lotus himself. Iris screams in terror at the sight of her husband's head being shown before her and then she looks back at her husband, now more confused than ever.
"... What's going on?!" she screeched, looking back and forth between Lotus and his stone head, "why is that statue... the same as... Lotus?!"
Duhat lets out a deep sigh before he spoke. "... Mrs. Whomalt, I need you to do me a favor," he asked, "ask one question, one personal question, to your husband, right now."
It wasn't enough to tell Iris that her husband standing before her right now was a fake wearing the real deal's face. Rather, she needs to confirm it for herself, not only to accept the horrid truth, but also to test the mystery Demon's intellect and thoroughness of his disguise.
"... Lotus," asked Iris, reluctant that whatever may come next may be nothing but horror waiting for not only her, but for her whole family, "... when did we first meet?"
"14 years ago?" he answered without thinking and using Violet/the eldest daughter's age as a reference.
No. That was the wrong answer.
"... It was 16 years ago," Iris then scrambled away from this "Lotus" getting the first they met wrong, "... you're... YOU'RE NOT LOTUS!"
"Lotus" then lets out a disappointed groan as he ran his hand down across his face, and upon his hand passing chin, his lips creased to a perfect, pitch-black crescent-shape in place of a normal, human smile.
"You got me."
"Lotus'" arms then extends outwards like hoses, grabbing all three of the Whomalt children and unsheathing Krieger's dagger hidden inside of his clothes before pointing its poisoned blade towards them in a matter of milliseconds.
Meanwhile, Klein himself was standing there, completely frozen in fear, whereas Krieger just watched.
"NO!" Iris cried out in anguish as she reached for them, only for the dagger to gently caress the eldest daughter's cheek without breaking through her skin.
"Ah ah ah, not so fast," the fake Lotus echoed Duhat's words from before, "don't even try anything unless you want to end up both as a widow and childless, Iris," the disguised Demon threatened before he eyed towards Fana, Mariella, Duhat and Nacht, "you four seem like the smartest people in the room, getting this far into the mystery before you pushed my hand," he complimented in a slimy manner, "so, how about we play a game? You four figure out my partner's motive on why he went on a stabbing spree inside this little cabin of horrors, and I might let these rugrats go."
"And what's stopping us from simply killing you now?" asked Nacht as the disguised Demon then nodded down. The (off the record) Vice-Captain then looks down, only to find a stone that looked liked a bundle of cut grass.
Nacht then notices that his nape felt... looser all of of the sudden. He then brushes his hand across the back of his head, only find that his ponytail had been cut off of his head before he could even notice. And somehow, the cut hair turned to stone, which thankfully, didn't spread to the rest of his hair.
"Fun fact: this dagger's loaded with about a liter of [Cockatrice] venom," the fake Lotus remarked with a sneer, "one small cut through any organic skin, and volia, one instant 1/1-scale statue of a human being that was recently stabbed. And the best part: there's no cure for it," he pointed out, "bottom line, this is all a game for me and I'm the one writing the rules here, not any of you fucks. Basically, play or I'm gonna turn this whole dormitory into a wax museum morgue before you schmucks can even think about tryin' to jump me all at once," he then looked towards Duhat and Nacht, "oh and you two, no helping. You're gonna have to play on their level unless you want me to kill yer asses along everyone else in less than a second. I want to be entertained, not bored and cut right to the ending. Because then we would have no payoff."
The four then reluctantly began their investigation under the threat of death, even with Nacht biting his own tongue at the thought being forced to play the game that a denizen of Hell that he swore to overcome, he was no Inquisitor that would let innocents die to kill one Demon.
"Okay, first of all, Krieger seemed to lose some composure when I mentioned that I was ex-Krypteia," Mariella pointed out, with Krieger himself instinctively grabbing his arm while grimacing, "... come to think of it, why did he target Lotus specifically?"
"Perhaps it may be a trigger word for him," Nacht suggested, "come to think of it, I did hear rumors that the Diamond Kingdom prior to its... termination had an active secret police force that... silenced all dissenters or anyone that the current king didn't like," he explained, "... Lotus... being killed... wait a minute, my files didn't reveal anything about him being-"
Fana then looks towards Iris, her expression drowned in worry and fear. "... Mrs. Whomalt, I have to ask, what was Lotus' actual job back at the Diamond Kingdom?"
"... He was a general," Iris murmured, "... yes, a general of the Diamond Kingdom Military-"
"The real answer, ma'am," Nacht pressed, "what was his real job?"
"Alright! Fine! He was a Krypteia agent!" screamed Iris, with anguish tearing her voice apart as if she were drinking acid, "... the officials from the king came by our house on that day 10 years ago, citing that my husband 'proved himself worthy' before leaving... I think the king was keeping tabs on us to ensure that he remains loyal to the kingdom... or else we will die."
"Lucky you," deadpanned Krieger, "I had a family."
Iris connects the two and two together. "... Oh my god..." she gasped in horror, "you were one of the dissidents?"
"Getting warmer," Krieger answered.
"That's one mystery solved!" Loki confirmed, "come on, people! Pick up the pace!"
"So wait, let's say that Krieger and Klein were indeed survivors of the Diamond Kingdom's purges," Duhat pointed out, "... but given that Krieger said that Iris' statement is that she was 'getting warmer', he's implying that he's someone... important of notice."
"Any clues what the proof might be?" asked Mariella, "so far, all I know about Krieger is that he was someone important in the Diamond Kingdom enough to warrent the king's... lopsided judgement, that he and his son Klein were here together for about at least a decade, and that Smurf is one of the few successfully-synthesized [Siths] in all of Libratium's history..."
"Not to mention, that he mentioned that he 'had' a family," Duhat pointed out, stuck in speaking in half-truths unless the hostage situation goes south, "... connecting that with the Krypteia's involvement that Lotus was allegedly spearheading..."
Fana then takes a closer look towards Smurf trembling behind Klein's foot, literally shrunken in fear at the Demon standing before it. "... Hey, Klein," she spoke out, "... you mind handing Smurf to me? I need to get a closer look."
Klein looked at the fake Lotus with apprehension. "Eh, go ahead," the fake remarked, "I may write the rules and conditions, but I sure as hell don't break em. That just kills the fun."
Klein then picks up the little clay doll into his hands before walking towards Fana and past the disguised Demon.
Fana then switches over to Elf!Fana for a covert consultation, controlling her eyes in place of the human half's and began looking into the tiny clay doll's very being.
Anything? Human!Fana asked.
Yeah, Elf!Fana answered, I never bothered looking at it deeper until now. But is it just me, or has Smurf been really close to [Salamander] while we weren't looking?
Yeah, agreed the human half, I also didn't think further than "aww, they're so cute together"-kind of thought. You know, I thought that Smurf was just some house pet at first...
... So why does Smurf, despite being weaker than [Salamander] by a huge margin, give off the same kind of elemental mana as our Fire Spirit? the elven half pointed out.
Spirits usually give off mana different from other living beings, Human!Fana recalled a certain Black Bull who contracted with the Wind Spirit during their Dungeon ambush led by Astaroth, recalling that amidst the vantablack of [Anti-Magic], the mana coming from [Sylph] having a distinct feeling that made her felt free to [Salamander]'s smoldering stoicism like a focused flame, this little guy... he almost feels like... life. Like life growing from the... earth... oh fuck me sideways!
"Is Smurf an Earth Spirit?!" Fana blurted out loud, with now everyone looking at Krieger of how the actual fuck did he get his hands on an Elemental Spirit and pass it off as a harmless pet [Sith] this whole time.
"... Yes," answered Krieger, taking everyone aback in surprise, "... [Gnome, the Earth Spirit] is Smurf."
"But how did you get your hands on [Gnome]?!" Mariella exclaimed, "you do realize that no one can just walk by an Earth Spirit and keep it as a pet like some sort of stray dog or a cat, right?"
"... Wait," Nacht remarked, "... come to think of it, weren't there pagan religious orders that worshipped the Elemental Spirits a long time ago?" he pointed out, "I think Heart Kingdom still worships [Undine, the Water Spirit] as a deity and the Heart Kingdom itself is a pseudo-theocracy with a matriarchal leadership, and there was a report of the Fire Temple at Ultime Volcano that was raided by the Diamond Kingdom 20 years back, with [Salamander, the Fire Spirit] disappearing, all of its acolytes being found dead inside the temple grounds and and the Head Vestal going MIA afterwards."
Huh, that explains why I found [Salamander] wounded on the side of the road, Elf!Fana remarked.
"What does that have to do with the case right now?!" Dominante commented, "it's not like Krieger was an Earth Temple Acolyte or anything!"
Everyone then immediately goes quiet at that accidental blurb.
"Huh," the fake Lotus shrugged, "credit to the peanut gallery. And I didn't exact made a rule that audience participation isn't allowed," he pointed out his own rules that he'd established, "... you know what, I'll let you have a freebie," he spoke to Dominante, "but only one. From now, only those four are allowed to speak. And for every nosy fuck that speaks that aren't part of the group, one of these kids is gonna turn into a corpse! Except for you kids of course. Feel free to scream and piss yourselves if you want. That's your job."
Peony then spits into the fake Lotus' eye. "Drop dead, you fake."
"Ohohoho!" the faux-Lotus chuckled, sounding almost impressed, "I like a girl with some vigor! You know what, I'll kill you last because you're my favorite, just like the real ol' dearest daddy considered you his favorite. Or at least, I think so. Never talked to the guy."
Dominante, Iris and Klein all cover their mouths to prevent themselves from speaking and getting one of them killed. With that, four continue their investigation into Krieger's past and motive.
"Okay, that all but confirms that Krieger used to be part of the Earth Temple," Nacht remarked, "and that his trigger word being 'Krypteia'..." he then turned his head towards Mariella, "... you there, ex-assassin," he spoke, "tell me, are you aware of any past missions that the Krypteia has taken?"
"If you're talking about the Earth Temple, then no," she shook her head, "I only got pushed into service 7 years ago. All and all, the Krypteia only have one rule: which is 'no snitching to outsiders'."
"Okay, that then pushes the timetable to more than 7 years," Duhat pointed out, "and if we take into account of Lotus' age and Klein not being aware of... well, anything revealed as of now, and that the Diamond Kingdom already raided the Fire Temple 20 years ago...!"
Fana then faced Nacht. "Nacht," she asked, "where is the Earth Temple?"
Nacht was then about to answer, only to realize that he might've stumbled onto something that he didn't know until he'd connected all the dots right now. "... Right below Sparta, the capital of the Diamond Kingdom," he answered before he then looked towards Krieger, "which means the Krieger...!"
"Yes," he snarled, "... I am the last living Earth Temple Acolyte," the man revealed his true identity, "my real name is Atlas, and Klein is the son of my sister-in-law, Rhea," the man revealed his true name behind "Krieger", "the king desired to turn [Gnome] into a weapon of war, but we rejected that proposal, with the Earth Spirit being an object of sacred importance and not a weapon that can be commanded into murder. We paid for our faith with our very lives, the tunnels filled to the brim with suffocating smoke with all the exits sealed off... Rhea gave up her life to save me and Klein as I took him and [Gnome] out of the Kingdom..." his eyes trembled in a cesspool of negative emotions surging from his blackened heart, "... 10 years. I spent 10, fucking years reliving the shit that happened on that day! The screams, the air turning unbreathable, and the people that were in my community and family... I saw and heard all of them die slowly and painfully in the darkness... then you all came back... literally, knocking at my front door," he pointed towards Iris, "... so tell me, wife of 'Hell Lotus', how does it feel that your family was able to prosper at the deaths of others?! How does it feel for divine retribution to strike down upon your remaining kin as justice is served?! How does it feel to know that the man who shared the bed with you for the whole past week and a half was my Demon?!"
"I'm more surprised on how you could live with yourself right now," Duhat snarled at Atlas, "I had nothing to do with your vengeance, so why did you stab me two nights ago?!"
"OH LIKE YOU'RE THE ONE TO FUCKING TALK!" Atlas exclaimed back as he then took out a leather booklet from his apron, "I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN KEEPING TABS ON ME EVER SINCE I GAVE YOU THE KEYS TO YOUR ROOM! HOW UNGRATEFUL CAN YOU BE WHEN I CONSIDERED YOU MY SECOND SON?! I TRUSTED YOU WITH KLEIN FOR 5 YEARS!"
"Uh... dude," Duhat remarked as he pointed toward the book that Atlas was holding, "that's just my journal. A regular journal of my occasional entries."
"LIES!" he roared back as he opened the pages, revealing pages of unknown letters written like sentences, "ALL OF THESE ARE ENCRYPTED LETTERING! YOU KNEW WHAT I WAS UP TO!"
"... Uh, that's my native language," Duhat pointed out, "I'm from Dama, we actually have our own writing system there, and my parents were scribes who taught me how to read and write the language before we all had to leave our nation for a reason that I was too young to remember. You want me to read the entries for you to show how wrong you are?"
Duhat then snatches the book out of Atlas' hands and begins to read off of a random entry from his journal.
"Day 868," he began, with the false Lotus peering into Duhat's mind to see if he wasn't bullshitting, "I've been here for over two years now and so far, I have begun to accustom myself to Libratium's hectic lifestyle," he read, "for a while since I moved into Terra Cotta Dormitory, I was the only one living inside Krieger's dormitory along with him and his son Klein. I don't feel lonely, but at the same time, I wish the building could have more occupants in this building just so that the silence doesn't kill my soul through dry rot of isolation. Hopefully, I don't die before I am able to turn in my very first research proposal of this nation's rich history of the dark arts."
Duhat then kept reading to the next random entry.
"Day 1035," he continued, "finally, we have new applicants for the Terra Cotta Dormitory, and our new tenants are the ones that I've met several times at campus. Their names are Akane and Mari Mitsurugi, and they're twins from a nation called 'Hanafuda'. I'd love to know more about them and their culture someday, given that they were here longer than me and I heard rumors of them personally meeting our head premier, Charlemagne when they first arrived here before the event known as the 'Great Liberation'. But alas, today was a bizarre day for myself as well. For one, I accidentally wrote my original name from Dama before correcting it. I mean, sure, 'Dune Pyrite' is my current name that I've adopted when I've arrived to my home away from my birth home, but while I'm proud of the name 'Duhat Zastava' that my mother and father had given to me pre-Anglicization, I don't think the world is ready yet to accept me by my first given name. I already wrote the name 'Dune Pyrite' when I first arrived here, so might as well own it."
"Your real name is Duhat?" Mariella pointed out.
"According to him, it means 'intelligent' or 'sensible' in his Daman tongue," Nacht explained, "... those qualities I respect in a fellow man."
With the knowledge of Dune's real out and about, Duhat then flips the pages of his journal to more of his recent entries.
"Days 1874-1943," he read, "oh sweet Allah, what the actual fuck. I was chased to hell and back all because of a hyper-violent Inquisitor who had both the strength and the intellect of a rampaging bull to the point where I initially mistaken him for a [Minotaur] wearing a human hide. Then said Inquisitor proved me wrong by ripping a [Minotaur], in half, vertically, by his horns. All because and I quote, 'got in the way'. The next month and a half, or three months (I have no friggin' clue since I was running and not much else), I finally reached Libratium with the help some people from the Diamond Kingdom. I then learned of their circumstances and led them here into the very same dormitory that took me in when I was sleeping from place to place in my beginning years. Surely, Mr. Krieger would be kind enough to lend a hand to allow them to make a fresh start here like I did."
Duhat then shuts the book with an audible slam from the pages clapping together shut as Atlas stood there, his mouth completely agape in shock at the reveal of him getting played by none other than himself, all because of his own revenge-induced paranoia affecting his better judgement.
"... You wanna talk about trust, Atlas?" said Duhat, "these people trusted you. I trusted you. We all trusted you. And you betrayed that trust because of your old demons from your past coming back and wearing your corpse like a Sunday best," he remarked, fury and sadness alike edging his disbelief, "... I could understand why you had to kill Lotus or his family, but if you're willing to side with a illegal Demon and go far as to try and kill someone else who doesn't deserve your wrath... then what's stopping you?! What's stopping you from simply killing everyone in this fucking building if it means you finally can have your peace of mind?! Killing Lotus wasn't enough?! You had to bed trick his wife too?! How low are you willing to sink if it means fulfilling your revenge?!"
Atlas doesn't emote at Duhat's pleas. "... When you hold the whole world is placed onto your back, such sacrifices are minuscule in the grand scheme of things."
"Way to save face after you played yourself buddy!" the fake Lotus pointed out as he let the three girls go, all of them running back to their mother in relative safety, "anyhoo, congrats solving all of the mysteries that are with my buddy's past!"
"And besides," Duhat bitterly remarked, "... how was I supposed to keep tabs on you when your plans started ever since you got the ball rolling only since last week?"
Everyone's eyes widened shock at that revelation. A conspiracy that stretched back all the way a decade prior was being claimed to be spur-of-the moment.
"... Well then," smirked Atlas, "where's your proof?"
"Right here," another voice came from the kitchen next to the mess hall, revealing none other then Akane herself holding a jar labeled "Tranquilizer Supplement", "Krieger, or should I say, Atlas, I've seen you put this shit inside our dinners every night right after our constituents found what was left of Lotus' petrified body at the bottom of the ocean."
"You... how did..." Atlas stuttered yet again at someone sneaking in beneath his notice yet again, "... agai-HOW?!"
"Ki," she replied bluntly, "quieted my heartbeat to the point where I can actively erase my presence and mana signature at will. The darkness also helped," she Akane then kicks up her dirty bare foot onto the countertop, "and I was barefoot too. Makes less noise."
"So you heard everything?" Nacht remarked, kind of displeased at himself for not noticing her beforehand, and Akane's face reminding him of his so-called Captain, which bothered him even more, "... surely, the jar of heavily-regulated poison isn't a plant, isn't it?"
"I am currently wearing gloves," she replied as Akane set the jar of tranquilizer powder down, "and FTR, I work for the government, and yes, we keep track of who buys what, including from off-the-record channels, which happens to be my job."
Fana then feels a tap on her shoulder, turning head around to reveal Mari standing behind her and before Nacht without either of them noticing that she was there. Mari then hands Fana a slip of paper to her, which was a check of Krieger's purchase of the substance dating back two weeks ago.
"And the only reason why none of you are asleep right now is that I replaced the tranquilizers with my own protein powder," revealed Mari, "and for ane-sama, the tranquilizer never worked to begin with. She poisons herself daily as part of her morning training."
Everyone looked at Akane (even the faux-Lotus and Atlas) with genuine concern on their faces.
"... Don't try this at home kids," Akane remarked, "speaking of home, Atlas, last of the Earth Temple Acolytes, we have this whole place surrounded."
From the windows, numerous searchlights shone into the mess hall as the streets outside were then surrounded by numerous Dragoons and Chevaliers alike, including Fanzell himself.
"HONEY! PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!" Dominante screeched as she covered Klein's eyes while Iris covered her three girls' eyes with her hands.
"Sorry, Order policy," he sheepishly apologized while being seen in nude by his own wife in public, "... I get paid a fortune to be naked."
"We seen you completely bare naked in motive, Krieger!" Roland yelled through his bullhorn, "surrender or take your chances against all of us!"
"Lotus" then beings chuckling to himself. The chuckle the gradually escalates into laughter before rose into a mad howling of euphoric mania, echoing throughout the whole mess hall as one of his arms stretched towards Duhat's bandaged chest and rips out the wiretap device that was taped over his healed wound.
"Oh this is just brilliant," the fake Lotus chuckled as he spoke directly into the remote listening device, "you know, I know what you're all thinking, 'why are we bringing forth a small nation's worth of military just to subdue a rouge Contractor and his Demon'?" he then looks outside with an amused smirk, "I'll tell you all why: you don't know my name, but you all sure as hell know me."
He then takes out his bronze lantern before tapping his finger onto it, causing it to glow a incandescent blue flame to light up inside.
"People called me by many names throughout my 666 years in this world," he gloated, "they called me 'Jester Twilight', the 'Soul-Slaver', the 'Wind Thief', the 'Lamplighter', the 'Trickster', the 'Artist of Anguish', the 'Jackanape', 'Wotan's Bane', the 'Laughing Rabbit', the 'Heretic God of the Wild', and of course, the 'Milkman'."
That last one completely froze everyone's nerves. The Demon disguised as Lotus was the milkman that came by Terra Cotta Dormitory this whole time. Even Akane and Mari were taken aback by this, implying that neither of them saw that coming.
"... Oh, now it makes sense," Duhat remarked, "... why Lunar Milk Emporium 'hired' Lotus. All the money that he was earning was going to his pockets rather than Atlas'."
"But why bother with such pleasantries, you may be wondering?" he remarked, continuing his conversation, "simple really, I'm... a little starved for ideas. Idea of how I can... go on with my own life. Ideas that my fellows damned at the pitch-black anus below cannot even fathom because, well... being made of evil does that to a being, sterility. My least favorite kind of boredom. I can only perform and deal with the same kind of shit over and over before I get bored. So after Hell went to further shit during the coup, I managed to escape, and sought new opportunities to... express myself. Because deep down, I'm not a Demon nor just some rando, soulless embodiment of creation's sins like my other fellow Devils."
A Devil. Unlike a Demon, a Devil has no human template that it formed to create its existence. Rather, it was a pseudo-conceptual organism that is made purely of sin and evil that somehow managed to function as an individual lifeforms. Unlike Demons, Devils are born strong, but they're unable to get any stronger due to their static nature, allowing Demons to be more adaptable and be able to compromise their own fundamental vices to better increase their chances of survival. Here however, if the thing wearing Lotus' face was to be believed, this Devil was telling the truth. He was a Devil that is exhibiting a desire to grow.
... Code Red, Nacht telepathically communicated to Makarov stationed at the alleyways outside, Code Red. It's a fully-fledged Devil that somehow showing abnormal rates of adaptability.
"Deep down, I'm a showman at my nonexistent heart of blackest hearts," spoke the faux-Lotus as he fiddled with his lantern hung by his finger, "I desire to entertain, to awe, to catch the eyes of others and see me for what I really am, not what I am born as. But, since we've wasted enough time with this filler..." he smirked a wicked grin that was unfitting of the face of the man he's wearing, "... then allow me to finally, introduce myself."
"Lotus" blinks. The second he opens his eyes, the whites turn pitch-black and the irises blood-red.
The next words that were heard by the whole operation shook all those who listened to their very core.
I
AM
LOKI
Geatland Hills, Ulster Territory, Spade Kingdom, Midnight
"... Loki?" shuddered Scathach as she then pulled out a tome thicker than her whole body from her own shadow upon hearing the name "Loki" through the hijacked wiretap device that Makarov had set up.
She then fervently flipped through the pages of her Demonic Compendium, a record for all spotted Demons and Devils alike, intricately updated by herself with every waking moment so to not only improve upon her creation of artificial Demons like the [Succubi], but also to provide information that may be in risk of being lost in translation throughout the generations.
The rouge witch then continued to flip through the literal stack of pages until her eye spots a name that was similar to Loki's.
"Loptr," she then saw a page depicting a giant rabbit-like demon with a pair of deer antlers coming out between its lopped ears, "a Devil that is chaos incarnate, seeks to entertain and assert itself through its powers of being able to control souls and the laws of humanity. Threat assessment: RUN AWAY. This Devil is like fire. It has no one form and will adapt faster than it can be slain. It doesn't seek to destroy everything in sight, but should you lose sight of it, then it has already escaped," her eyes then scroll down to the subtitles beneath the image, each title being based off of a feat that it has performed. "'Jester Twilight': for first being spotted as a silhouette before the moon. 'Soul-Slaver': known to take souls that of the recently-departed or lingering those near others under its captivity. 'Wind Thief': stole the scroll containing the [Sylph, the Wind Spirit] leaving it to be lost forever. 'Lamplighter': for setting all the magic lamps in a developing city and turning all of them into incendiary explosive devices that killed thousands and burned the whole city to the ground. 'Trickster': known for its way of words and mastering the art of talking to either buy time or decrease a person's sense of security before snatching what it valuable to them beneath their notice. 'Artist of Anguish': painted the walls of Avalon with the bodies of both the living and the undead alike. 'Jackanape': for it's confirmed appearance being based off of a hybrid of a a cony and a deer. 'Wotan's Bane': for defeating Wotan the Wise in a duel and claiming one of its eyes as a trophy. 'Laughing Rabbit':the first time someone had heard its voice, that being akin to a perpetual laughter that is about to explode. 'Heretic God of the Wild': formed a cult of sacrificial priests before disappearing along with said cult..."
The list went on and on, with each more understated title along with their associated feat before coming across "Loki" as one of its titles.
"Loki," she read, "... the sneaky bastard. Do not trust your sense when dealing with his set magic. If you think that you've disarmed the spell, you're wrong, no questions asked."
It all made sense now. This Devil was old. Old and experienced. Old and experienced enough that it's set spells cannot be disabled. Meaning that Makarov's efforts were all in vain.
"ALL OF YOU! GET OUT OF THERE-"
Terra Cotta Dormitory, Residential District #2, Libratium, Spade Kingdom, Midnight
"TOO LATE!"
The whole room then turns into a clay-like substance that trapped all of their feet into the floor as they all began sinking into the ground along with the rest of the dorm building. Everyone, except for Krieger and the children, the latter group all being caught in a separate molds of clay that they were all bundled up together into a one giant ball of sticky earth that buried each of them up to their necks.
"VIOLET! PEONY! DAISY!" screamed Iris as she kept sinking to the earth, the others unable to escape as well as them simply touching the earth will cause them to stick onto its like glue before it sunk down with them.
"Now, for tonight's opening act..!" Loki declared as it facade of Lotus then slowly warped into a bestial-like state, melding between that of a giant rabbit and a humanoid deer before shifting back into a flimsy imitation of a human being, the cycle repeating itself ad infinitum as if even the Devil's own bodily composition doesn't know which should it take, "... an escape trick!"
"Goodbye, all of you," said Atlas as they all sunk further into the earth, "from now on, I am your enemy."
The whole building then collapses into itself as the sinkhole widened to swallow in other surrounding buildings. The rain of snapping timber and rubber rained upon their heads as everyone inside drowned like ants in an anteater pit.
FANA! Elf!Fana cried out as darkness itself began to suffocate them alive, WE NEED TO GO AFTER THEM!
Easier said than done! Human!Fana remarked as she tried to struggle, but the ground itself compacting her into a perfect mold that didn't even give any of them so much as an inch of a wiggling room, I CAN'T EVEN MOVE A MUSCLE! WE'RE ALL COMPLETELY BURIED ALIVE!
As everyone buried beneath the earth struggled, Elf!Fana came up with an idea.
Fana, I think it's time, she remarked, time for the [Fire Necromancy Spell].
Wait, how is that supposed to help?! the human half replied, it's not like being sent to another room is going to help... or anything...
... Yeah, she remarked with a smirk, just think being buried alive as being sent to the world's smallest and most uncomfortable room.
Fana nods, now realizing that she needs to now think like a fire.
Like fire, it cannot be touched, but cannot breach solid objects of high heat resistance. However, Necromancy is memory itself. The memory itself doesn't have to burn.
[Fire] doesn't always have to burn. Or at the very least, burn away the things that she doesn't want burnt.
Slowly, the vision of the fiery replica of the lab was formed. The vivid it became inside her head, the more of the compact space began to burn away without having herself be torched. Fana was creating space through [Fire].
Alright, Elf!Fana remarked with a confident grin, LET ER' RIP!
Fana then lets out a scream as the darkness and confinement burned away from her, freeing not only her, but everyone else that was buried underground with her. The spell then appeared before her eyes, the unintelligible words now making sense to her as the spell's name revealed itself before Fana's eyes.
"[Fire Necromancy Magic: Memento Mori - Hestia]!"
They all now found themselves inside a room made of fire, the brick-wall layers being simulated by Fana's own magic.
"Fana?!" Iris remarked before running up to her and giving her a huge hug, "you saved us!"
"And not a moment too soon," Mari remarked, "I thought I had to separate my own soul from my body to call for help."
"[Fire Magic] being used like [Spatial Magic]?" Nacht looked around his new surroundings, noticing that they were feeling warm, but not to the point where they're being burnt, but rather, akin to standing near a warm campfire, "... now, I've seen it all."
"Thank me later!" Fana replied as she then began controlling the room itself, slowly moving the mobile space up. Outside where the whole dormitory was buried under the hole, a giant cube of fire erupted from below, causing Fanzell to fall onto his butt in surprise.
"... You're..." he sobbed in relief, "YOU'RE ALL ALIVE!"
"Well duh, you big crybaby!" Dominante cried out as Mariella tried to avert her eyes from looking at Fanzell standing naked among a crowd of nudists led by Roland, "... also, you and I are gonna have a long talk about your new job as soon as this all over, mister."
From around the sinkhole, the Thaumaturges scrambled back up to their feet while the Vice-Inquisitor himself managed to be dug out by Bizon thanks to the latter's freak strength.
"I just got the message," Makarov cried out from the other side of the hole, "bastard tricked us into thinking that we were in the clear. Apologizes."
"They're getting away!" Fana exclaimed as she shakily kept the mobile room of fire bricks afloat, "Loki and Atlas got the kids hostage! We're going after them!"
"Then what are you waiting for?!" Roland cried out, with Dominante and Iris averting their eyes at the nude Paladin after seeing them long enough, "go!"
Fana then takes the fire room into the air as they all soared above Libratium, spotting the whole city from above.
"Where are they?!" Dominante exclaimed as she frantically looked around the city from above, "come on, he can't have gone far!"
"Normally, I would object to such naive sentiment," Nacht pointed out, "but given that it describes itself as a 'showman', I doubt that it has any plans to leave here without 'entertaining' himself."
"That doesn't sound like a tactically smart move," pointed out Mariella.
"Thankfully, Devils, while more stronger than Demons, they're twice as dumb," Duhat stated, "still though, don't confuse idiocy for weakness, since they have more then enough power to compensate, and our only out is that it might pull its punches for 'dramatics'."
"I see them!" Iris pointed towards the tallest spire of Magia Academia, standing atop the point being none other than Loki, now in his compromised hybrid of being a humanoid-like Devil with black-furred rabbit-like hind legs and a pair of deer antlers sprouting out between its lop ears. Next to him was Atlas, now standing atop of the floating ball of earth holding the children hostage, looking at them with dead eyes devoid of any passion or vigor and replaced with pure apathy and discontent.
"Eh, expected you to get out, but not this quick," Loki complimented Fana, "good. Can't afford to keep the audience waiting," he then lightly rapped his knuckle against the ball of earth holding the kids hostage, "front row seating is the 'splash zone', so keep that in mind."
Before anyone can speak out, Loki then lights his lantern again, the blue flames inside the bronze casing roaring and screaming out voices from within.
... Oh my god, whimpered Elf!Fana, he's got actual souls inside of that thing!
"Now, ladies and gentlemen..." announced Loki as he took a grand bow in the applause of anguished screams of torture and torment of the trapped departed, "... OUR HEADLINERS!"
Next to the Devil appeared three rectangular boxes that spun around its vertical axises midair before they came to a stop. All three boxes then open up, revealing the souls inside.
"No way," gasped Fana as she saw who was inside the first box, tears of joy, despair and horror streaming from her eyes, "... Mars?"
I can't believe it... Elf!Fana grimaced in utter disbelief at what she also saw, ... Licht? How?! HOW DID HE GET HIS HANDS ON YOU?!
"Why..." sobbed Iris as she saw her husband inside the third box, "... why... HAVEN'T YOU MADE HIM SUFFER LONG ENOUGH?!"
"Dad!" Peony cried out towards his soul, "DAD! HELP US!"
"He can't hear you," Atlas revealed coldly, "none of them can."
"So with that said..." Loki then closes the three boxes with the snap of his fingers, transforming his lantern into a top hat as he put it between his antlers and then brandishing a three-pronged candlestick as it then morphed into an ornate, silver wand, "... TIME FOR THE MAIN EVENT!"
Loki then takes off his hat before tapping the rim with his wand. Out of the hole came out numerous swords that flew around them before every last one embedded themselves into the boxes with the three souls inside of them, causing everyone to recoil in shock. The boxes then open up to reveal that all three of them disappeared inside, with only the blades coming from outside being present.
"Oh my, where have they gone?" Loki then tapped the rim of his hat with his three times, "wait for it. I know just where they are! Abrakadabra Presto!"
A pillar of black flames erupt from the Devil's hat, from within came out three monsters of great power.
One was Mars, now clad in a bestial armor resembling a leonine and lupine hybrid, with massive claws of deep-purple crystal in lieu of his arms, his legs being replaced with that of a beast's hind legs also made from the same purple crystals, a tail with a spiked crystal ball at its tip for a tail, and crowned over his head was a giant helmet resembling that of a lion's with spines acting as its manes.
The other was Licht, who didn't change much aside from the fact that his entire left half of his body was replaced with that of a dark-skinned and raven-haired copy, right down the left side of his ropes being cut off and replaced with a skintight half-spandex whose sleeves were cut off at his thigh and bicep respectively, and his eyes was turned into that of a Devil's black-and-red coloration.
The final monster was an absolutely-titanic serpentine beast with Lotus' perpetually-screaming face as a pair of deer antlers erupted from his bleeding scalp, around its serpentine body being stubby, three-fingered arms numbering four in total, with one carrying a massive saw-toothed sword that was longer than its entire body in length, the other claw carrying a humble gourd of spirit and wine by its string wrapped around its hourglass circumference, another holding a scroll rolled up in its claws, and the final claw carrying a howitzer-sized wheellock pistol.
"What have you done to them?!" Fana screamed in fury at their distorted forms that their souls have been forced into.
"Well for one, they were improperly dressed for this occasion," Loki replied, "so, I gave them all of them upgrades. Meet [Fenrir, the Devourer], [Hel, the Paradox], and [Jormungandr, the Infinite]!" he introduced his enslaved minions, "using the various souls that I've collected for the past 666 years, including one certain Wizard King bearing the Alpha Rune from the year 1000, I gave them more stronger, better versions of their magics and physical prowess, turning them from above-average casters to three titans of terror!"
Elf!Fana recoils in shock at his implication. ... You were there... unable to contain her rage any longer and manifests into a [Galatea] to directly confront the killer. "YOU WERE THERE!" she screamed out, "YOU WERE THE ONE WHO CAUSED THE MASSACRE!"
"Which one?" deadpanned Loki, "ah forget it, we've wasted enough time. SIC EM BOYS!"
The three beasts then all come towards [Hestia] all at once with overwhelming force.
"[Diamond Creation Magic: Ares Javelin]," Fenrir then turns his arms into a pair of jousting lances that spun around like drills before they were shot out as hypersonic projectiles towards the flaming box.
"[Blacklight Magic: Infernal Blade Rain of Penance]," Hel then summoned a deluge of blades made of made of vantablack light from above before they all fell towards their heads.
"... [Storm Magic]..." Jormungandr's voice echoed throughout the air, sounds of pain and agony reverberating throughout the sky with each word spoke as thunder and wind, "... [Breaking Skies]!" a crack-sound rang out, followed up by a rain of thunder and rain that struck indiscriminately throughout the whole city-state.
All three attacks break apart [Hestia] separating all of them through numerous parts of Libratium before they can even react.
"MOM!" Violet cried out, "YOU MONSTER!"
"Now what?" asked Atlas, ignoring the eldest daughter's indignations, "surely, they must be dead by now-"
"Who's dead exactly?" Fana called out, now riding atop the winged [Salamander]'s back, her skin and clothes a tad burnt and torn from the lighting and projectiles, with her elf counterpart manifested fully as a 1/1 scale replica of [Fana]'s body.
"... Hm, I see," Lokin then looked at the small bundles of flame that were scattered throughout the city, "you broke off pieces of [Hestia] to allow the others to escape."
"Oh cut the crap, I knew that you were low-balling back there," Fana pointed out, "... I'm playing your game, Loki. You want fun? I'll give you some!"
"... You sure?" the Devil pointed out as he looked at Fenrir, "don't wanna fight your boyfriend instead?"
"No," she answered firmly, "I got beef with you instead. For taking him into your grasp right before my eyes!"
"What a waste of a perfectly good plot..." sighed Loki in absolute disappointment, "... alright Fenrir, go after the two Demonologists. Jormungandr, get rid of the two Easterners. Hel, waste the ex-Krypteia."
"I'll go after the wench and the three brats' mothers," Atlas remarked as he then floated down towards the Commerce District while riding atop the floating ball of compacted earth, "I might as well wipe out the entire bloodline myself, starting with the bitch."
As soon as the other four disperse throughout Libratium, leaving Loki to confront the two Fanas and [Salamander].
"Come to think of it, you two look prime heroine material," the Devil pointed out as he looked through them with a finger frame over his eye, "... yes, the perfect leading ladies! Perhaps tonight's feature won't be a wash after all!"
"I am going to beat the answers out of you with my own two hands, Loki!" snarled Elf!Fana through her [Galatea], "you'll pay for what you've done to all of us!"
"If that's the case..." smirked Loki, "... by all means come and get it," he taunted as he turned his wand into a flaming sword, "you now face Loki, the sin of [Desperation]!"
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Told you this arc was gonna get stupidly long.
Well, now with the cat finally out of the bag, the fights can now get underway and everyone is gonna converge towards the epicenter of chaos. I swear, I am not making this long on purpose. In fact, conceptually, my original draft was going to be longer than this and I had to scrap a few dozen ideas and even change a couple more just to make sense of the clusterfuck I have written myself into.
Anyway, this chapter was a bit hard to write due to the fact that I had to incorporate elements of Ace Attorney into the reveal scene, with so much situational irony and heartbreak that goes into every mystery game that I've watched let's plays of and oh boy, there's a reason why I don't play these kinds of games, and that's because if I wanna read, I'd rather read text without the incorporated drama.
So many references, so many introductions, so much setup that my head feels like it's gonna fucking explode at any moment, and all because of Vanguard ZERO season is wrapping up and I rather finish it on a high note.
Anyway, yeah, Krieger/Atlas played himself twice. The first thinking that Duhat/Dune was the ones keeping tabs on him as he thought what the journal was, only to reveal that Akane was the one keeping an eye on his purchases this whole time and being revealed that she was immune to the tranquilizer's effects this whole time and no one noticed her because she went all ninja on everyone.
Fundamentally speaking, the whole murder conspiracy was sloppy and stupid, due to it how it doesn't take into account for outsiders looking in, his own partner's sordid history that painted a massive target on their heads, and Krieger/Atlas' own paranoia making him act rashly being the self-sabotaging factor. The only reason why it lasted this long (two weeks in-story time) because Loki's own reputation as someone you shouldn't trust your own senses while around him is what kept them afloat, but even then, he only sunk the ship because he felt like making a huge stink about it.
More about everything in the next chapter.
References:
- Duhat's [Requiem Anubis] is based off of Death's Scythe from Dante's Inferno Video Game.
- Loki/fake Lotus' insistence on the four sleuths (Fana, Mariella, Duhat/Dune and Nacht) solving the mystery of Krieger's motive while holding Violet, Peony and Daisy hostage is thematically based off of "Farewell, My Turnabout" from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All, with the hostage-taker and enabler roles of Shelly de Killer and Matt Engarde respectively being held by said-hostage taker.
- Peony's spit to faux-Lotus/Loki's eye is based of a small scene in Berserk where Guts spits into The Viscount's face, right down to taking it as a compliment.
- Krieger's real name Atlas, is based off the Titan from Greek Mythology that held up the whole world on its back as penance.
- Atlas/Krieger's little meltdown on Duhat/Dune is based off Celeste Ludenberg/Taeko Yasuhiro's Chapter 3 breakdown from Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.
- Loki's reveal scene is loosely based off of the scene where Goro Akechi's reveal as the Black Mask from Persona 5. Hell, Black Mask's Persona in question is Loki. His old name Loptr is based off an extremely-obscure Nordic God whose only importance is that he animated the first humans that walked on Midgard... and that's it. Oddly enough, this parallels to the fake Dune's nominal role before getting offed by the real Duhat personally.
- Fana's [Fire Necromancy Magic] spell, [Memento Mori - Hestia], is named after the Greek virgin goddess of the hearth and overseer of all ritualistic sacrifices. Being that the spell summons a literal room of fire that acts as a pseudo-[Spatial Magic] spell, the whole "hearth" metaphor is made literal, as the spell itself can be interpreted as a mobile hearth made of flames that can be used anywhere and is roughly the size of a large house, making it work like a pseudo-Bounded Field from Fate/Stay Night.
- Loki's Devil form is a hybrid design between Best Friend from Persona Q and Mad Rabbit Alice from Persona 5 Strikers, with more "stage magician" elements incorporated from the former than the latter's "playboy bunny" aesthetic. Also, the overall animal motif is that of the cryptid Jackalope, the rabbit being an allusion to the whole "stage magician" theme while the deer's antlers is a reference to the mythological Loki sometimes being depicted (and later debunked) with an antlered helm.
- Loki's summoning of his personal creations is partially based off the scene from Naruto where Orochimaru reanimates the first two Hokages Hashirama and Tobirama to fight the Third Hokage, Sarutobi. Also, the boxes containing the souls is a reference to Yu-Gi-Oh's "Mystic Box" spell card (rest in peace Kazuki Takahashi) and his lantern (later top hat) that contains souls of the dead and damned is based off Kollector's lamp from Mortal Kombat 11.
- [Fenrir, the Devour] is based off Gregar Beast Out Form from Megaman Battle Network 6: Cybeast Gregar with the more overtly-bestial elements having elements of the overall design being inspired by Sho Minamoto's Leo Cantus form from The World Ends With You.
- [Hel, the Paradox] is based off Smite's iteration of Hel, the Goddess of the Underworld's duality motif, along with Patry's Dark Elf form from the canon Black Clover manga and anime making up one half of Hel's face. Also the contrast between robes and skintight spandex is a subtle reference to Baron Ashura from Maginzer Z.
- [Jormungandr, the Infinite] is a composite design between Old Dragons of the Tree's "Beast with a Human Face"-element with the size and scope of the Divine/Sakura Dragon from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Also its weapons are eastern versions of Yaldabaoth's weapons from Persona 5, with the sword being a shichishitō (the same kind of sword that the Divine/Sakura Dragon uses in the game), the book being a scroll, the bell being a sake gourd, and the golden Deagle being a 15th Century Wheellock Pistol (used Tenkai's weapon from Yakuza/Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! as a reference).
And as usual, please leave a comment or a review, for I'd love to know what my readers think!