Chapter 29
Back at the hallway, Chrono continued battling the many demon cells that were still attacking him. Chrono stabbed one demon cell in the face with the blade sword as it screamed and howled in agony while blood was dripping from both its face and mouth. After that, Chrono promptly jumped back down onto the ground and pulled out one gun from the weapon backpack. He then fired directly at the injured demon with a loud bang which caused the demon cell to explode in a cloud of smoke. Chrono managed to get himself away from the explosion and began to pant heavily as he was beginning to feel somewhat tired from all the fighting and the bloody wound that he got on his stomach didn't help. "I can't use my powers. Otherwise, Rosette's life will be in danger." Chrono said to himself while still panting heavily. While looking towards the outside of the hallway and to his horrifying surprise, Chrono saw an enormous demon cell in front of him. It was at least a hundred times his size along with many other much smaller demon cells. "Rosette, I definitely will find my way back to your side!" Chrono said to himself in a weak voice as the wound on his stomach was awfully painful. After a few moments of going through the pain, Chrono then let go of his wound and with a huge roar, flew quickly towards the gigantic demon cell with his blade sword. He was determined to finish it off once and for all. Meanwhile, Rosette and Joshua left the room and were walking their way across the hallway. Rosette's arm was wrapped around Joshua's shoulder while she was breathing heavily. "Are you okay Rosette?" Joshua asked concerned. "I am! I was just catching my breath. My whole body seemed to suddenly lose all its energy." Rosette explained to Joshua while taking her arm off from his shoulder and he looked at her with an unconvinced look. "I'm fine, really I am! It's nothing at all!" Rosette tried to assure Joshua that nothing was wrong with her and she then looked away from him. "Chrono, you idiot. You don't have to hold back so much." Rosette cringingly thought to herself as she had a feeling that Chrono's battles with the demon cells had something to do with her exhaustion. "Are you really okay?" Joshua doubtingly asked Rosette. "I said I'm fine. Don't worry about me so much! But your head on the other hand is worthy of a worry." Rosette reassured him as she pointed out that his head was still recovering from the bleeding as Joshua's black tie was tied around his bloody head. "I'm fine. I can't hear those bothersome noises anymore!" Joshua assured Rosette. "That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about your injury as well as your body." Rosette answered. "I still feel terrible, but I know that there are people who are suffering a hundred times more than me, so I can bear it!" Joshua said in a somewhat weak voice as he was holding onto his head and the two siblings then began to start walking again. "Somehow, that statement feels backwards." Rosette commented. "That's because we're already adults. I think it's because of this as well as the fact that our dream has come true! It surrounds us here. The Astral Line!" Joshua stated out of excitement while looking at Rosette as she looked at him confused. "Oh, the Astral Line, that's right!" Rosette said in a reminded tone. "In the future once this is all over, let's all go to the Astral Line together!" Joshua decided excitedly. "It won't be so easy to accomplish that wish. Won't there be some sort of consequence?" Rosette asked herself in a cringing tone. "Oh yeah, that's right, we need to tell Chrono!" Joshua chuckled as he was amused by Rosette's reaction. "Eden is up ahead, and the Apostles along with the Holy Woman should be there. I would think that Chrono would be nearby. Let's hurry!" Joshua said decisively which Rosette agreed on as she smiled in approval. She closed her eyes and they continued walking their way across the open hallway. "Our dream has finally come true! Yes, that's right! I'm so happy! Chrono, I want to tell you so badly about my current feelings." Rosette happily thought to herself while thinking about Chrono and she opened her eyes. Just then, the two siblings stopped walking as they saw Chrono sitting on the ground which was in the shape of a dome. He was badly injured, with his right arm severed. Beside him was the huge demon cell that he just fought with who was also badly wounded. Both Rosette and Joshua were shocked at what they saw in front of them that they couldn't even say a word while the demon cell had then begun to roar loudly. "Chrono!" Both of the siblings shouted out at once towards him. "We need to quickly help him! Or else who knows what will become of him." Rosette urgently said. "Watch out!" Joshua alarmed her as he could see that Rosette's body was about to fall down from the edge of the long, walking metal planks. Rosette screamed for her life as she fell off the edge. Joshua straightened out his hand and an energy beam was then emitted from his body and onto Rosette which stopped her from falling as she continued to go down by floating. Once Rosette had safely reached the bottom of the ground, the energy beam disappeared and she looked over at Joshua's direction. He now had to deal with the demon cells coming towards him and he promptly summoned his wings as he was preparing himself to attack. Rosette stood up from the ground and with a loud voice, yelled out "Joshua!" "You go first! I can still handle something this small! However, Chrono's situation is more dire! Hurry! I'll catch up soon enough!" Joshua told Rosette while he started emitting some powerful energy from his left hand at the demon cells. Rosette was at first hesitant to do what Joshua told her but after a few moments, she then turned around and started running towards Chrono's direction. "Alright, but hurry and catch up!" Rosette yelled out to Joshua as she continued dashing her way towards Chrono. In the meantime, Chrono was still sitting on the ground while having an angry look on his face since he thought that he had lost Rosette. "Chrono!" Rosette shouted out his name while she was shooting at the surrounding demon cells as they were howling loudly. Rosette's calling brought Chrono's attention. He stood up from the ground and saw her shooting at the demon cells as he shouted out "Rosette!" While seeing Rosette running towards him, Chrono started flying towards Rosette as fast as he could. He was still gravely injured and some blood was coming out from his body. Rosette continued running towards him in full speed until Chrono had finally reached her. The two looked at each other with a satisfied grin on their faces. Chrono then reached out his left arm and began to embrace Rosette. "I'm so happy that you are alright, Rosette!" Chrono said gratefully while looking at her with tears of joy. "Oh my, what happened to you? You're again covered in injuries. Geeze, I can't ever leave your side for one minute." Rosette exasperatedly commented. "What's that suppose to mean?" Chrono defensively asked. "I'm just kidding!" Rosette chuckled out of amusement at Chrono's reaction. Once she stopped chuckling, Rosette then with a tender voice said "It's usually so embarrassing. I'm always saying very awkward things. I feel like I still have so many things I want to say. So many things I want to do. I feel that there's still one more thing I need to do." Rosette then lifted up her arms as Chrono then saw both of his horns in her hands and said in disbelief "I can't believe it. You've succeeded in taking the horns off of Joshua's head?" Rosette didn't answer as she then slowly placed the two horns onto Chrono's head and while doing so, Rosette gave him a kiss which took him by surprise. "In the future, there shouldn't be any more problems, even if I am not by your side." Rosette said in a tone filled with optimism and she then let go of Chrono's horns. "Rosette." Chrono said her name as he was speechless on what to say to her. "Anyways, we should get going. The sooner we get a move on, the better!" Rosette commanded. "Right, first we have to meet up with Joshua and help him defeat those demon cells. After that, we'll continue on with finding the rest of the Apostles, Maria and to put a stop to Aion's plan to recreate the world through an apocalypse!" Chrono decisively said. "Alright then, let's get going!" Rosette said but just then, more demon cells had shown up and surrounded them, much to their surprise. "Great! More demon cells? They just don't know when to quit, do they?" Rosette asked in a slightly irritated voice as she then promptly pulled out both of her guns and directed them at the demon cells. "It appears that there are still more of them than anticipated. In that case, we don't have any other choice but to deal with them." Chrono commented. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's take them on already!" Rosette impatiently said and began to fire her guns intensely at the demon cells while Chrono had straightened out both his arms and a glowing energy began to emerge from his body.
Meanwhile, Joshua turned around as soon as he heard gun shots coming from the demon cells direction which were just behind him and with a puzzled look said "Rosette." Just then, while seeing the demon cells surrounding the two, an electric charge began to appear around the demon cell. As it became brighter, the electric energy had significantly weakened the demon cells to the point that they were repelled and flying away from them. Joshua tried to use his arms to shield himself from the strong steam caused by the energy, as the demon cells continued to fly away. After the incredibly strong electrical energy had succeeded in repelling the demon cells away, Rosette looked at Chrono with an astounded look and said in a surprised tone "Amazing, you actually repelled those demon cells with your powers single-handedly!" Chrono turned towards Rosette and with an exhausted tone said "Yeah, I'm already exhausted because of using them all at once." While panting heavily, Chrono then suddenly began to cough out blood and a huge amount of blood had also burst out from his back as he then started yelling in pain. "Oh no, Chrono!" Rosette said in a shocked tone as she was seeing the blood. "Rosette! Chrono! Are you alright?" Joshua worriedly asked as he was dashing his way towards them while Chrono was panting heavily with Rosette by his side. Joshua all of a sudden stopped running and saw that Chrono's wounds were still quite huge from the battle that he just fought. "Rosette." Joshua said her name once he caught up to her. Rosette heard her younger brother as she then turned around and faced him. "Joshua, you managed to catch up to us! Thank God!" Rosette said in deep relief. "I can see that you are alright, but what about Chrono?" Joshua curiously asked. "It appears that Chrono has been badly wounded from the fights with the demon cells and that large electrical energy that he just emitted had made him exhausted." Rosette started explaining as Joshua had a small frown on his face. "But don't worry. Chrono will be okay! Demons can heal their own injuries, so there's nothing to worry about!" Rosette assuredly stated which helped put Joshua somewhat at ease. Just then, Chrono lifted his head up, looked at the two siblings and with a slightly tired tone, asked "So, since Joshua has finally recovered back to his original self, I guess it's safe to assume we can continue on from here, right?" "That's right!" Rosette confirmed. "If you don't mind me asking Chrono, what is that thing around Rosette's neck?" Joshua curiously asked while walking towards Chrono and placing his hand on his left shoulder. "Do you mean the seal watch?" Chrono asked, pretending not to know what Joshua was asking. "Yes, considering that it is a seal watch, why does Rosette carry that thing on her neck?" Joshua asked again. Chrono tried to tell him but couldn't bring himself to do so, fearing Joshua's reactions towards him if he told him about the conditions of their contract. After hesitating for a while on whether to explain to Joshua the terms of the contract between him and Rosette or not, he then slowly began to explain in a clear voice "The seal watch that you see on Rosette's neck contains her life force. This is all part of the contract. Every time I transform into my demon form and every time I use my powers, Rosette's life gets considerably shortened in the process. Considering, that I have transformed several times already and the fact that I have used my powers as well, Rosette's life I'm afraid will soon come to an end." Such a revelation shocked and angered Joshua so much that he then punched Chrono aggressively in the face. "Chrono." Rosette yelled out his name in a shocked tone as she couldn't believe that Joshua would resort to violence on Chrono. "What are you talking about? Why? Why did you form such a contract with my sister? How dare you put her through such a horrible situation." Joshua angrily and bitterly said while he continued to punch Chrono's face. "Joshua, stop!" Rosette loudly pleaded as she tried to get Joshua's attention, but to no avail. Once he was done punching Chrono out of deep anger, Joshua then knelt down in front of him and with an extremely sad, broken tone said "You monster. Because of you, Rosette will die! And for that I can never forgive you!" As Joshua began to cry, Rosette walked towards him and once she got close to them she then placed her hand on his shoulder. "Joshua." Rosette said his name softly. "What is it?" Joshua asked while still sobbing. "About the contract between me and Chrono, I was the one who begged him to form it with me." Rosette revealed to him as Joshua then turned his head around and saw her with tears still in his eyes. "You mean you actually told him to form the contract with you, knowing full well that you will eventually die?" Joshua asked in a confused tone as he got up. "Yes Joshua. That is what I am saying." Rosette confirmed. "But why? Why did you want to go through with this?" Joshua perplexedly asked. "So I could get you back Joshua!" Rosette revealed in a gentle, soft tone. Joshua, who was overwhelmed with sentimental feelings, gave his older sister a huge hug. Chrono looked at the two siblings with a relieved smile on his face as he was happy to see that the two siblings had finally reunited. Just then, Rosette saw an electrical warp image of Aion right in front of them. He appeared from a screen in the shape of a pentagon. Joshua then turned and saw the exact same thing Rosette was seeing and they both had a surprised look on their faces. "Chrono, look!" Joshua said to him and Chrono turned himself around and with a surprised look said "Aion!" The trio didn't expect that Aion of all people would show up through a communicating screen image. "I'm almost there! I'm only one step shy of reaching her. This means that the Grand Apocalypse shall soon take full effect!" Aion revealed triumphantly as he extended out both of his arms and Maria appeared beside him. "Maria." Rosette shouted out her name. "As you all know already, Maria is the final key in my plan for bringing the Grand Apocalypse into motion which would also bring the rebirth of the world! My, what a useful gem she is, isn't she?" Aion reminded them as he then began to stroke Maria's bare shoulders. Maria however didn't respond. "You won't get away with this Aion! We will get Maria back one way or another!" Rosette said to Aion in a strong, determined tone as Aion stopped touching Maria's body. "I already have in my hand part of what I need. Even though I'm not able to easily maneuver it, these chains however still have their uses." Aion explained as he then promptly pulled out his sword. "Watch Chrono! This is the first true step to gaining freedom!" Aion said in a victorious tone as he swished the sword around. At the same time, a series of explosions took place outside in the sky as the demon cells forcibly exploded. "What's happening? A bunch of demon cells are self exploding?" One of the male pilots confusedly asked as he was just witnessing the explosions. "That's strange. There isn't any smoke coming from the explosions." The pilot commented suspiciously as he didn't see any smoke whatsoever. Just then, a gust of corrosive wind had reached the pilot and started to corrode the man's body. The pilot looked at his hands and with a terrified look, began to scream in horror seeing what was happening to his body. The body corrosion had grown so rapidly to the point that it had reached the poor pilot's face in no time. "Aaaaahhhh!" The man screamed in horror as the corrosion was eating his body up. "Has number twelve evacuated the air space?" Sister Kate curiously asked. "Number six, number twenty and number nine. Please respond!" Sister Anna tried to contact the rest of the pilots but failed since they were having their bodies eaten by the corrosion that had been inflicted on them from the outside. "I'm being eaten! Help me!" One pilot screamed for its dear life while its body was being corroded. "Oh my, is it that the demons are eroding?" Father Remington alarmingly asked himself in horror. "Could it be that the apocalypse is starting?" Storm Valerie asked the minister as he was walking towards him. "Considering what's happening right now, it sure looks like it. At this rate, it could really mean the end of humanity as we know it." Father Remington stated in a worried tone. "The end of Pandemonium and the Grand Apocalypse means the rebirth of this world. You of all people should understand that Chrono!" Aion patronizingly reminded him. "As for you Joshua, Chrono is not the one you should be angry at! Everyone knew full well that this is how things would eventually end up. The fact that your beloved sister pushed herself too hard so she could use her life to get you back is costing her dearly as her life keeps getting shorter and shorter." Aion said to Joshua in an all knowing tone while Joshua looked at him angrily. "Rosette and Magdalene were exactly the same Chrono. You ended up repeating the same destiny twice. Shouldn't this make it all clear to you? This is not your world!" Aion stated to Chrono who was thinking deeply of all the people he knew. "A little bird that can't fly isn't just tragic, it is downright pitiful!" Aion said in a disgusted tone as he was indirectly criticizing Chrono's weakness. "Return to us Chrono! If you do so, you can be a contributing part of the Grand Apocalypse that will make way for the birth of the new world!" Aion charismatically tempted Chrono, hoping that his temptation tactics will get him back onto his side. Chrono gritted his teeth heavily as he then got up from the ground and with a dead serious tone, said "Aion, don't always be standing on some high place looking down at humanity. Because you are always standing in such a place, you're unable to tell apart that every person has a different name, face, and warmth. Even if they don't have wings, it doesn't matter. Once in a while, you should walk on the earth with your own two feet and see for yourself! This is my response!"
Aion had an unamused look on his face as Chrono touched his right horn which began to activate and a large whirlpool like wind surrounded him. Chrono started to scream heavily as he was re-chaining himself which caused the severed right arm to become a muscular, crystallized arm with huge sharp claws like that of wolves. "You fool! If you re-chain yourself, you'll become just like them!" Aion said in shocking disbelief as he knew that Chrono would eventually become like the subservient demons of Pandemonium. Both Rosette and Joshua looked at the wind with a worried look on their faces while Rosette suddenly started to feel slightly weak as her body forcibly leaned onto Joshua. "Are you okay Rosette?" Joshua curiously asked. "I'm fine! It's just that Chrono is using so much of his power all at once. Whatever happens, I do hope it is worth it!" Rosette said in a worried tone as she was not sure on what would happen next. Meanwhile, Chrono's arm was just in the process of completing its formation while he still continued screaming heavily. After his arm had completely regenerated itself, the wind surrounding Chrono had disappeared and while holding his left arm, he said with a determined and somewhat angry tone "It doesn't matter what I become. I want everything to be settled here!" Once Chrono had straightened his arm out towards the screen, he then dead seriously announced "I will be there shortly to settle things with you Aion!" Aion was not amused with Chrono's rejection and the screen suddenly turned off. "That idiot! Does he really think that he can put an end to my goal on starting the Grand Apocalypse? He sure is delusional." Aion harshly commented while he turned around and walked his way. "What makes you so sure that Chrono won't interfere with your plans? After all, he is a powerful demon that should not be underestimated!" Maria pointed out to Aion while indirectly questioning his over confidence as Aion turned around and looked at her. "What are you talking about? You're not saying that Chrono will defeat me by any chance, are you?" Aion suspiciously asked. "I'm just saying that over confidence can be your downfall. That's what I am saying." Maria answered sternly. "It will make no difference of how powerful Chrono is. Since he dares to interfere with my plans, I'll just take care of him accordingly!" Aion said overconfidently as he then once again walked away from the screen while Maria had a worried look on her face. "Joshua, Rosette, I'm leaving the rest to you two." Chrono said to the siblings. "Wait! Are you planning on leaving us here?" Joshua asked in a surprised tone since he couldn't believe with what he just heard Chrono say. "Why shouldn't I? After all, I'm only a monster! I really don't qualify to exist with other people!" Chrono said in a tone that was serious and emotional as he turned around and started to walk away from the two siblings. "The only thing that monsters can do is destroy!" Chrono said to the two as he continued walking away. "Chrono. Just why must you do this alone?" Rosette asked herself confused since Chrono's sudden decision had surprised her. Just then, a huge white wing has caught the trio's attention as Chrono all of a sudden stopped walking. "What's that? Is that who I think it is?" Rosette asked in a surprised tone while at the same time guessing who was coming. Much to their surprise, it was Azmaria who appeared right before them. "Azmaria!" The three shouted out her name. "It's been a while, Rosette, Chrono!" Azmaria happily commented. "I see. I'm glad that you are alright Azmaria! So, what did you come here for?" Rosette asked while she was happy to see Azmaria unharmed. "I'm here to direct you and Chrono to Pandemonium's Imperial Palace! After that, I shall direct Joshua to Eden. There's still a chance that we can prevent the Grand Apocalypse from reaching its fullest scale!" Azmaria explained. "How are we going to do that? The apocalypse has already slowly started to take root." Rosette skeptically stated. "But that doesn't mean we can't stop it from going even further! Hurry and follow me, time is of the essence!" Azmaria explained as she then commanded the trio to follow her and began to fly straight ahead with the rest of the three running after her. In the meantime, Aion opened a large door and walked into what appeared to be a huge room where Pandemonium was present along with several dead demon cells on the ground. Maria followed Aion and looked around the room with a slightly disturbed look on her face since she had a feeling what will happen next. "This place was formerly the imperial palace. While Pandemonium was asleep, the senior guard was busy here maintaining order with the imperial army protecting her." Aion explained to Maria while they were both walking towards the stairs to the altar. "However, today none of them are here. Only she remains." Aion finished explaining as he then turned around, facing Maria. "Once I've liberated Pandemonium, she shall then take possession of your body. This means that the Grand Apocalypse shall take full effect and the rebirth of the world shall take place!" Aion said victoriously while walking towards Maria and he then placed his hand on her upper chest, which made her feel extremely uncomfortable. "Don't you feel honored to be such a contributing part in my quest for freedom Maria?" Aion asked flirtatiously. Maria then suddenly raised her arm up and just when she was about to slap Aion in the face, he quickly grabbed her wrist but since her Stigmata was not concealed it started to burn his hand. Aion however promptly moved his hand away from the Stigmata mark as he began to slightly yell out in pain while smoke was coming out of his hand. After Aion tended to his hand, he then looked at Maria with a serious glance and said in a slightly irritated tone "I can see that your Stigmata is quite the repellent Maria." He stated while Maria looked at him with disgust. "But no matter, you stay here while I go to the altar and liberate Pandemonium!" Aion instructed Maria and he walked forward onto the stairs. Once he reached the altar, he looked at Pandemonium's hybrid like body. Her upper body was that of an armless naked young woman with thick crystalline shaped wings and two horns on her head. Her lower body however was much fuller looking and it very much looked like that of a bird's body with bird like legs along with a long set of thick crystalline shaped feather wings. With a gravely serious tone, Aion said "I'm going to liberate you from your duties Pandemonium!" Aion continued gazing at Pandemonium with a dead serious, almost angry look.