The sound of rhythmic tapping encompassed the hole in the wall apartment that Faer had come to know as his home in over the last month. The tapping didn't stem from his feet but rather him throwing his knife into a wall handle side first.

He wasn't sure if it was helping his skill increase since he hadn't seen a notification for it but it definitely gave him something to do as he chewed through the dilemma that his life had become.

In some ways it felt like it was just going out of its way to become more complicated. Despite how simple everything up to this point had been. Go here, punch person x. Go there, study subject y. Now he was investigating some religious zealots who had given him the illusion of a straight fight.

Which to be honest it was a fight that he lost, and should have had him dead to rights if it weren't for his ability to get stronger in the face of trauma.

He couldn't and wouldn't rely on something so flimsy to kick in when he needed it to. Not if he was going to be going against people of "Shiki's" caliber it was a sure fire way to get himself killed.

At least without proper training and or studying his targets. "Know your target what lies beyond and in between don't fuck it up."

A lance of pain runs through his head for a brief moment before disappearing as soon as it appeared.

His knife slammed itself into the hardened drywall of his apartment blade first, completely sheathing itself into the wall.

…

The streets for as much of a boon as they had been to him getting stronger they hadn't really done much in terms of him creating conflict if the quest system he had unlocked was anything to go by.

Combat was a form of conflict but it seemed that he was being asked for more. Something with higher stakes and lasting consequences.

Again murder would be a great way to get something in the short term but, people move on and eventually forget about small tragedies so it needs to be bigger.

Walking to the knife he yanked it out inspecting the damage. He would need to get another soon, the blade was starting to chip.

The thoughts of casual murder reminded him of what the guy he had met said when he first started attending Gekkoukan. Maybe there was a bit more to that comment about polite conversation than he had previously thought.

Him being from the U.N. was probably true and he wasn't sure how exactly he was contracting with them when he wasn't really receiving any information on how they expected him to conduct himself and the situation at hand.

Regardless, with what little he knew of "his" past there was nothing he could say that wouldn't sound suspect to someone. He could almost imagine the looks of confusion he would receive by asking anyone about who the world thinks he is.

Besides, the "Shinto-Revivalist" sect that he had to follow up on was more pressing than trying to figure out what origins had been given to him. But it wasn't something he was equipped to handle yet.

So the only thing left to do was see what was going on with the elephant in the room.

Tartarus.

It was a place that he knew in passing but up until now Faer had never actually stepped into it. Neglectful in all honesty given that he was no closer to figuring out the actual root cause of everything that is happening by being on the streets.

Not to say it wasn't worth it, but it should've been evident that the giant skyscraper was obviously more important to figuring out the mystery to the Dark Hour than the nightly parades of the demons who more or less were goofing around when there weren't any humans around to slaughter.

So as the Dark Hour settled in Faer had gone to the location he was pretty sure the tower spawned from.

The school.

Idly, Faer was pretty sure there was a joke to be said about this being the location of the tower but he lost it every time he thought he had it.

Doesn't matter.

The lobby of the tower was imposing and almost biblical though in what way, the Contractor couldn't say, however unlike the first thing that slipped from his mind this sensation stayed with him as he entered through the giant stairs that served as the centerpiece of the lobby.

Something between the checkered tile design and marble pillars stuck out in a way that felt familiar but didn't register anything.

Now his thoughts were looping…

Ascending the royal blue carpeted stairs to the golden vault-like door Faer couldn't help but think that he should've come here earlier.

【Quest added: Ascension: The Dark Hour, if there is any root to figuring out what is happening the answer surely lies here. Time limit: 12/25】

【Reward:?】

【Quest added: Midnight strikes: Explore Tartarus and its Depths. 0/? Total Floors Explored, 0/? Bosses defeated】

【Reward: 50 stat points, ?】

Well that wasn't ominous.

Not really since he himself had made mention of the Dark Hour being a mystery but it told him that more than anything else that there was at least something to investigate.

How many other things did he miss by not checking out the impossibly sized tower.

No use in crying over spilt milk.

…

The sounds of the Contractor's footsteps echoed through the checker tiled hallway as the smell of iron hit the air.

As he peaked around corners the only thing he found were shadows that upon sensing his presence fled.

Which was… odd.

He hadn't seen that before.

"Oh, I haven't seen you before."

Turning on his foot easily Faer found himself face to face with one of those small fairy-like Demons clad in its typical blue leotard. Of course he did have his Evoker pointed at it.

"Aren't you a little hasty for breaking into someone else's house?"

"If the owner didn't want someone to investigate they shouldn't have left the door open and cleaned up the blood."

The words slipped out without much thought.

"Heheh. That's kinda funny. Well if I guess if we aren't going to start fighting here, I might as well tell you my name. Ehem, I'm Pixie, nice to meet you."

"Faer Jaecar."

"Oh I see, that explains everything. You must be doing some trial for adulthood. Don't see that too often these days."

What?

"Well, as a Faerie myself I suppose it's up to me to keep you from getting too lost."

Again what?

"Don't worry, Fae-Jae, I'll help you out." Pixie stated as if she was doing the young adult some sort of great favor by blessing him with her presence.

No matter how the boy tried to get the small woman to explain what she meant she was obtuse about her meaning and purposely vague.

Still as he walked through the first couple floors unmolested by the shadows and the demons had little to no interest in him, Faer couldn't help but wonder if something else was going on here.

Everything he had seen up to this point had hinted that most Demons were ready to fight and while the shadows weren't exactly intelligent, they too wouldn't run at the mere sight of him.

Yet, here everything either ignored him or ran, it even got to the point where he cornered a few Demons and stared at them hoping they would try to fight.

Nothing.

"Pixie, why is everything running away from me?"

"With the killing intent that you're leaking the better question is why you aren't attacking everything in sight." The pixie lambasted the Contractor.

But if he knew he wouldn't be asking

"Your aura is like someone killed your puppy dog in front of you."

Aura? Killing Intent? What was she on about now? Something else that she would just be purposely vague over?

"It's basically like this, you came here looking for a fight, right?"

That was… kinda right, more along the lines that he expected one and wasn't going to run if one was presented to him.

"Well, this is most of us can sense something like that and while most Demons are looking to fight to the death, those of us on the lower level aren't so keen on wanton violence, ya know? You'd probably steam roll your way through us without needing to try that hard. You do look pretty strong after all."

It did kinda make sense that Demons could sense that from the get go, but he wasn't too sure about being able to take them out easily. Magic was still an unknown he was leery of at this point, especially given his near lobotomy recently.

"If you really are that blood thirsty though, just wait until you reach the 10th floor or so. Most Demons by then won't have too many qualms with fighting by then."

"You mentioned something about Demons fighting to the death but what happens when you actually die?"

"Erm, that is a bit of a hard one to explain, but the easy way to say it is that we do and don't die even when we are killed but if you're worried about revenge or something, I wouldn't worry too much about it unless you're going against someone scary."

So demons were essentially immortal for the most part but even if they were killed it was unlikely to encounter the same one with how many exist. That honestly put into perspective how much of a losing battle humanity was in whenever the end times came knocking.

But more than that it was actually impressive that they've managed to stave off destruction against this opposition before.

Well, all this aside. Faer did come here looking for a fight. So would he cave into his baser instincts?

…

The answer was yes. He was just going to wait until he encountered something worthwhile as he ascended the tower.

It was only after getting to the ninth floor that anything had given him any opposition, paltry as it was.

The tenth empty oddly enough.

11 and 12, same as the first verse.

The thirteenth floor was something else entirely.

From the moment Faer stepped onto the 13th floor of the labyrinth he felt the uncanny pressure of what had to be murderous intent before the sound of rattling chains met his ears.

His knees smacked into the ground as he collapsed to all fours. With spots in his eyes the Contractor idly realized that the pressure alone had nearly incapacitated him.

How embarrassing.

It wasn't even aimed at him. Alongside him his new companion, Pixie had been easily pushed to her knees grounded and not doing much better by comparison.

This dragged Faer back to the moment of his first death. His birth in a way. The uselessness of determination against a superior foe.

The idea that he could be wiped out as an afterthought pissed Faer off something fierce. Realistically, he knew that there wouldn't be much he could do, but he still knew that if he remained where he was he would die.

If he did nothing he would die.

If he ran he would still probably die.

If he fought he would definitely die.

If he was Faer Jaecar he would die.

His name was synonymous with his own demise.

That was the reality of the situation.

Faer accepted that this would be it.

…

IF this was to be where died though, he would at least struggle.

【Quest added: Survive】

【Reward: life】

【Failure Conditions: SEES' Death, Your Death】

【Victory Conditions: Survive 5 minutes】

The screens flashed in front of Faer's eyes but in all honesty he didn't really care for it. The gamification of all this let the outmatched young man know that the odds were stacked against him.

But, at this point this is what every day of his life had been up to this point, what was this but another day in his life at this point.

And Ms. Kirijo and her people were here, well they understood the risks just as well as he did at this point.

He pushed even as his bones jittered from the unceasing pressure to his feet to where the sounds of rattling chains could be heard.

"Wait! That's a- you'll die if you try to fight it. If you can stand you should run away."

The words meant nothing. Or at least that's what he wanted to believe, his vision swam as he fought to get him balance.

"Support me if you want, or run. I hate running away so where I need to go is that way."

Shakily Faer walked through the twisting halls, his sight clearing up and getting out of tunnel vision as he came across dead UNDIT soldiers. Their bodies are near unrecognizable if not for the golden metal their armor was made from.

However they left their munitions behind and few melee weapons, but Faer wasn't going to walk into a fight with a new weapon that he never used before. Scrounging up what little ammo he could, the Contractor loaded the Bullpup that had seen surprisingly little use.

That would change in the next few minutes.

Given the sounds of combat that rang out in the distance Faer had reason to believe that if nothing else he could at least contribute if he didn't directly fight.

Closing in on the scene Faer could see that the enemy was like that one summon that blu- Minato had but it was worse. No that wasn't it. It was just unfocused as if it had committed to killing everything in front of it as if it was a matter of course.

A giant wielding two long-barrel revolvers that were closer to being the length and width of .50 cal machine barrels were the first thing to catch his eyes. Its face is shrouded in a blood-stained cloth sack, with only one white eye exposed, what it looked at Faer couldn't be sure as it erratically ducked and dived through the gunfire that the remaining UNDIT soldiers managed to lay down. The two long chains across its left and right shoulders reached out and bisecting a man that had been trying to sneak up on it with a greatsword.

Faer wasted no time casting Sukukaja, and selecting full automatic fire as the enemy (Demon? Shadow?) began to let off a miasma that reached out towards everyone on the field.

With jitters still in his legs, the young man throws himself back away from the miasma in a sharp jerky motion.

A rocket slammed into the giant exploding in a ball of fire that seemed to do little more than slightly scratch its already torn clothes, and as it turned towards the source a soldier, to retaliate it was bombarded by lightning, ice and fire from separate areas.

It seemed that they were either working with Demons or that whatever this thing was it wasn't liked by anyone

The magical bombardment was all for naught though as the floating giant lashed out with explosive gunfire that shook the air, as rounds impacted the floor leaving craters behind.

Faer couldn't tell if there had been anyone there as he wasn't paying attention but it genuinely wouldn't surprise him if whoever was there was reduced to a bloody smear.

"Cadenza!" Minato's voice rang out.

And as it did Faer felt his speed and reaction time double over what it was normally.

With the extra frame rate he could see that Mitsuru had arrived and it was a good thing for it as she kicked Junpei out the way of a massive ice construct that appeared too fast for Faer to see even now.

"Agilao!" the blunette called once more.

The fireball hit, and as if it was a signal to attack the remaining green and gold clad soldiers followed up with an attack that was similar to that flash mob from a few weeks ago.

Despite the flurry of movement, it only amounted to some of them being shredded as the Giant matched and surpassed their speeds.

Leaving many of the me-

"Mediarama." called a woman's voice. A quick glance revealed that it was not Mitsuru but an ash gray woman that wore a cloak and a pointed hat with a bill that resembled a four pointed star.

A rush of healing magic overcame everyone including those who had been nearly torn to shreds.

This woman was the only reason anyone was still alive right now, even with Minato providing support her magic was blatantly more potent.

The once crippled men moved with redoubled fervor as covering fire from Faer and the others allowed them to get out of the way of the Giant whose revolvers screamed Death.

Then the white glowing eye met hazel green.

Throwing himself to the side Faer is thrown even further away by a bolt of lightning that struck the area he was just in.

Though his flight had been impromptu his recovery had been graceful enough for the Contractor to lock back and let off a Salvo of gunfire as an arrow of all things followed up.

Neither projectile amounted to much.

Then from above another boy wearing the Gekkoukan uniform wielding a katana came down slashing.

"Argh take that-"

He was blasted through the stomach.

"Junpei!" A worried Yukari called out from somewhere.

"Cadenza!""Diarama!"

Again, a rush of healing energy washed over Faer with that same replenishment to his reaction time.

A gunshot rang out and something cold washed down his spine.

It didn't hit anything but everything was slower again.

Had this thing just nullf-

Another gunshot rang out from the improbably sized revolvers, this time electrifying the cloaked Giant in aura of power.

"Shit!" The heiress called out.

That couldn't be good, Faer switched his rifle out for his Evoker and pressed out 12 magical shots.

Each in a set of hammered pairs.

But with everything being so much slower the giant evaded without looking like it moved at all even with every shot being aimed at center mass. The only tell for his miss being the wall kicking up dust.

Another gun shot rang out from the revolvers putting dread into the Contractor as three pillars of light, one orange, one purple and one green shot off around it.

"Persona!"

From behind that one Junior- Yukari came a woman sitting on a bull's head who kicked up a gust around the floating giant.

While Faer was sure he didn't want to get caught in that it was a lost cause of the floating being.

Though while the storm razed it a UNDIT Soldier threw what looked to be some gems into the wind which turned it into a blistering conflagration that everyone had to look away from.

For a moment it was silent then, from within the smoke the sound of rattling chains remained and with it another gunshot barked through the smoke giving it a new trail to follow.

From the sky two purple swirling bolts of energy revolved around each other.

Just glancing at Faer knew that attack was death.

As fast as the severely outmatched Contractor could cast Sukukaja he grabbed the nearest thing to him and darted away.

He wasn't sure how but as his feet pounded against the floor with everything he managed to get himself and his unwilling tag along out of the blast zone.

As dust kicked up he noticed that the gray woman had got out of the blast zone enough to throw up a barrier which looked to be near shattered.

Minato had withstood the attack somehow, but it was clear there was going to be no more repeats.

Yukari and Junpei were knocked out cold given the rise and fall of their chests and only a few UNDIT Soldiers had survived, the rest gone with the dust.

Whatever that attack was, it wasn't something he could've hoped to survive.

"Fae-Jae! You're alive!"

"Pixie?"

"Uh-"

"Now is not a good time."

Letting go of… Mitsuru, whose composed face looked to be carved from marble, Faer locked back in on the Giant.

"Ms. Kirijo, any ideas?"

It was a valid point since she seemed to have this whole leader thing going on.

But, the girl only flicked a glance in his direction before looking towards her fallen teammates.

Right, her first priority had to be them and just like not too long ago she would have to rely on his help.

It was too bad that Faer wasn't so sure any of them would be walking away from this one. It was either nothing but luck they got this far or that giant was playing with its food.

The damn thing seemed to be reveling in the destruction so far given how it floated without care as nearly everyone that sought to challenge it had fallen.

Even the floating woman had been summarily laid out, conscious but barely holding on.

Well if this is the last verse of this song. He would at least go out swinging.

Alongside him the Contractor could see a similar resolve within the heiress.

It was funny, even though he hadn't gotten hit once during this slaughter he was less sure of his odds of survival.

Though that may be in part by the fact that he saw the aftermath of what those shots could do to a man.

Oh well.

"Sukukaja!"

Faer pushed his legs to the limit of what he could handle as he opened up with shots aimed at the barrels of the giant gun.

They plinked off uselessly.

Doesn't matter.

Ice shards crashed against them, still didn't matter.

Wind battered at the monster, it was still useless.

As the young man leaped towards his opponent's face intent on taking its eye if nothing else, as the young man ascended he realized; the heiress jumped with him her own rapier aimed at something he couldn't see.

Knife extended towards the glowing eye, his own were caught by a blue aura.

With his enhanced perception he could see Minato had stood back up hunched over and some with kind of card with spiderweb cracks floating in from of him before it shattered then-

The pavement beneath him exasperated his sore and tired body.

A groan escaped his lips before, "Finally awake are you?"

It was the Kirijo heiress.

"Ehem, yeah," opening his eyes Faer was met with the night sky and the courtyard of Gekkoukan High.

Easing himself up, the Contractor took note of everything around him, SEES with the exception of Akihiko looked like they had been put through the ringer.

The Heiress held her ribs gingerly while favoring one side. The hat wearing boy's stomach had a violent bruise covering the entirety of it. Yukari was nursing her shoulder while holding up Minato who looked like he had racoon eyes and a bloody nose.

While the Soldiers looked to all be in one piece. Somehow. Aside from their dead, which were being loaded up into an ambulance, several of which had pulled up just beyond the school's gates.

"What happened?"

The question hung in the air.

While he might've been going for a big damn hero moment he was sure that something like that could take a knife to the face everyday and be just fine.

Before the heiress could explain a familiar blue clad petite woman flew in front of his face.

"Well, you see Fae-Jae after, YHVH-lite summoned his stand and he was able to take out that meanie. But don't worry, you definitely looked cool until you had your thunder stolen from you."

Wait, why, no how was Pixie still here and, "Who? I didn't catch what you said there."

"YHVH, you know the big guy in the sky, "Oh look at me, I am the way and the truest truth."" The petite woman says with a fake wise man voice impression.

"Did you mean, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Because if so, that was easily the most butchered rendition of it I've heard of John 14:6. Barely recognizable." Mostly because it was the only version of it that Faer had ever heard, which did make him wonder how he knew it.

Also wasn't that the Son?

"But you did recognize it," came the all too smug reply from the petite woman.

"Odd explanation aside, your Pixie is mostly correct. After summoning that Persona from a few weeks back Arisato subjugated the Reaper we had encountered. Though being so close to the target of it's Killing Intent had rendered you unconscious after you managed to gouge out the Reaper's eye."

That was a lot to take in but at this point he was definitely ready to get some sleep. His eyes were shaking with fatigue and each breath was labored.

The one fucking time he decides to check out the tower is the one night where everything nearly goes to shit.

"Well, if there's nothing else I'd like to get some sleep before my Sunday is ruined."

Not bothering to wait the exhaust-

"Wait!" The heiress strains out and Faer meets her gaze with his and the normally taciturn woman blushes.

"Mr. Jae-car, the situation was precarious, had you not shown up when you did, I've no doubt that casualties would have been worse. I would not ask you to join SEES seeing that you have prior engagements but please consider strategizing with us later. Knowing how to work with us in official capacity would only benefit both of our endeavors. With you being a Demon Summoner it could only benefit you to have a more complete education on them."

It's honestly like this woman had no consideration for how tired he was. Asking, more even when he was beyond done with a situation.

Faer was just glad there weren't any lives on the line at the moment.

"... I'll get with you on the details, but in truth I have something I need to look into so I may not be around for sometime at the start of Monday."

"Very good then. I suppose we'll have to put a pin in this until you return," the heiress states with a small smile with the victory, wounds be damned.

This woman…

"Until then, good luck and rest well."

It wouldn't hurt to be polite.

"Of course, I wish the same for you and yours. So until then, Ms. Kirijo."

Finally turning away Faer gave a side glance to Pixie, who had settled on his shoulder.

She was going to be an obtuse problem all on her own wasn't she?

"Mitsuru, are you feeling alright? You didn't hit your head did you," Akihiko questioned as he left the premises.

If he wasn't being called he did not want to deal with it.

Somehow even if this was the one night he wasn't horrifically injured this night was arguably more tiring than anything he's dealt with up to this point.