The aftermath of the battle left much of the Church grounds in ruins. Slash marks, rubble, and an entire pathway of flattened trees in the back of the Church put into perspective just how devastating the fight was. At least, from what he could observe from the outside.
He hummed a tune as the grass crunched beneath the boots and some rubble was kicked aside. His hazel-gold eyes scanned the surrounding area until he found what he was looking for. Before him lay the bifurcated corpse of Mittelt. The blood had long since dried and her entrails spilled out, letting out a slightly putrid smell.
A wry smile beneath the mask on his face.
"You should have sent a stronger body, Alisa," he remarked. He knelt before the corpse and inspected it. His eyes narrowed. "So I wasn't wrong… that God was here. She almost ruined our project."
His words reached seemingly no one. At least, until the air behind him glitched. A holographic, almost featureless, mosaic figure of a young woman appeared behind him. The only features present on her face were her red eyes which occasionally glitched in and out of existence.
"Who? This vessel or that God?" Alisa asked.
"Both." The man dusted himself off and continued on into the Church.
"This body acted on her own. You know how my abilities work, Kurt. Each split has a degree of autonomy," Alisa retorted.
Kurt glanced over his shoulder. "That body should have known we were monitoring the Queen of Conquest's progress. Instead, it almost got her killed. Twice."
The holographic mosaic that was Alisa let out something akin to a scoff. "The Second never told me it was going to be the Red Dragon Emperor of all things."
Kurt said nothing as he entered the Church. "Mm? Someone's still here?"
Alisa peeked over Kurt's shoulder. Her glitching red eyes lit up quite literally. She flickered from her spot over to a corner of the church that was obscured by rubble. There, barely breathing and bleeding from her torso was someone she recognized.
"Oh…? Raynare is still alive?" Alisa said.
Kurt walked up to her and eyed the almost-dead fallen angel. "You're not seriously thinking of taking her in. We don't know what kind of diseases she has."
Alisa ignored his words and coughed into her hands. She said a few words before a cruel sneer twisted her almost featureless, digital face. "Raynare…"
"M- Mittelt…?" Raynare rasped.
"Aren't you satisfied with the others? Do you really need more people to take?" Kurt asked.
"You can call me sentimental, I guess. I already fed one of the fruits to that Priest using Mittelt. What's one more?" the apparition said. She produced a glowing red pyramid-shaped fruit in her hand. Turning back to Raynare, she gently opened the dying girl's mouth and slipped the fruit in.
"Eat."
Raynare could barely see what was going on. However, she could taste the almost tasteless fruit in her mouth. She chewed it up and swallowed weakly. Her eyes shot open and she screamed. Red lines traced themselves across her body, all converging at the center of her chest.
A symbol burned itself on there, resembling a handleless blade with a curved crossguard. Raynare continued to flail and scream. Her violet eyes took on a slightly red hue until eventually, they rolled into the back of her head as she fell unconscious.
Alisa hummed in approval. She snapped her fingers and a rift tore itself in the world. Translucent, glitching hands extended from the rift and gingerly picked up Raynare's unconscious form.
"I guess I need to make preparations to welcome a new guest," Kurt said, stroking his chin.
"If you could," Alisa said, standing up. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Kurt walking off. "Aren't we going to leave? We might get spotted by someone."
"The two devil peerages and Yaldabaoth's Contractor are non-factors. I'd be more worried about that Phenex here in town but in the end, he's just going to be an annoying obstacle," Kurt said as he inspected the grounds.
Alisa's form dissipated and reformed above him. "And what of the devil heiresses' older siblings?"
"If need be, I will eliminate the Maou Lucifer and Leviathan myself," Kurt said as he stopped on an almost dried pool of blood, intermixed with bits of skin and tissue. He knelt and took out a vial from one of his pockets. His finger glowed as he levitated the torn off flesh and directed it into the vial before closing it.
"Heh? I guess we're done here. The Queen of Conquest has awoken. I can leave a raven to monitor her from a distance," Alisa said. "And how are things in China? Did the Second ever get a Ki Elixir from the Sects?"
"One of the Sects acted out of line with one of her commands and now, there is a Sect War brewing. The First has been sent to eliminate the heads when the Fourth found out that the Seven Stars were heading over there," Kurt said.
"Eh? She sent the Fourth and not you, the Third?" Alisa teased.
"It doesn't matter anymore. The Second says she might have a better objective here in Japan. As long as we get what we need, then I don't mind if the First takes it. Besides, who better than the First," Kurt said.
Alisa tilted her head before nodding. "You're right."
"By the way, you're working with the Second for the next assignment," Kurt said.
"Ehh? She wants me to work with her?" Alisa asked. She followed Kurt's long strides out of the Church. "What do we even need from the Church? Shouldn't we be focusing our efforts on Yam?"
"Let the Fifth and Seventh take care of that. The Second needs you to infiltrate the Church to acquire data from a project they did in secrecy," Kurt said, manifesting a docket in his hands.
The hologram took the docket and read it. Her eyes widened. "Project Daybreak?"
Kurt nodded.
She sighed. The docket in her hands was swallowed by a red mist before vanishing. "Fine. I'll send Freed over."
Kurt nodded before swiping his hand. A rift formed in front of him and he left without saying another word.
Alisa stood in the Church alone for a few seconds before her glitching form faded away.
There were some jobs that she found annoying. Being a sell-sword and a member of the Seven Stars made it so that she had more free time that she'd like to admit. However, her skills never dulled and that often made jobs like this boring.
"Akane. You have 10 coming onto your left."
Akane opened her eyes. Her violet-red eyes glowed slightly. "Yayi, this is the last sect, right? I can't be late for my daughter's performance at her school." Akane flicked her odachi out of its sheathe.
Behind her, a shower of blood exploded into the air. A crimson rain splattered all over the stone and dirt, staining it red.
"H- How dare you! Do you not realize you are courting death!? We are a member of the Five Mountains Swords Alliance. How can mere outsiders defeat us—!" His words were cut off as a spear was thrust through his chest. He was lifted into the air and unceremoniously thrown to the side.
A girl dressed in a white martial arts dress wrapped in a gold and black cape. She wore black thigh-length shorts underneath as well as black boots. There was a glowing blue ring attached to the collar of her combat dress and on her hair were orange hair ties.
She twirled the spear and swiped the blood off with a flourish.
"Mmm. This is the last one. After that, I think we only have to find out what happened to the Mount Hua Sect," Yayi said.
Akane nodded and stepped over the corpse. "And the non-combatants?"
"Asleep. Bea's Miracles really work wonders when you need them to. It's a shame I can't use western magic all that well, ahaha!" Yayi laughed as she followed Akane.
"We should catch up to her before she—"
[Divide]
An explosion of blue light flashed in the distance. The entire mountain trembled violently as the clouds above swirled. Lightning, fire, and hail bombarded the sect's temple. The entire scene resembled something apocalyptic.
The two exchanged glances before taking off in the direction of the explosion.
Akane let out a nervous chuckle. "Qinglong isn't taking this too well, is she?"
"No. The other four aren't taking this too well either. The upper echelon of the Taoist Pantheon is in turmoil right now because of this. Lady Qinglong told me that if I hadn't offered for us to interfere, then Jingwei would have come down herself," Yayi said.
Akane pursed her lips. If Jingwei herself came down, then that meant that this was going to be a blood bath.
"And the Great God?" Akane thrust her sheathed odachi into an oncoming sect member. The crunch of bones echoed as the man flew into a tree, toppling it.
"Nuwa is… silent for now," Yayi replied. Her eyes glowed and she vanished from her spot. Up ahead, several martial artists were reduced to piles of meat, amidst a maelstrom of fire, wood, and lightning.
The pair burst through the final line of defense to see her engaging the upper echelon of the Sect.
A woman with white hair and red eyes zipped through, carving a path of blood and limbs. The shower of the crimson essence stained her cropped white, high-collared coat and black turtle-neck shirt. There was mud present on her white waist cape and form-fitting black pants.
The hilt of her unusually designed sword glowed. A blue gem nestled at the center of a cross-guard whose design resembled wings glowed brightly.
[Divide]
Her sword slashed through the blast of ki, absorbing it.
"H-How? A Sacred Gear—!" the man never got to say another word as Beatrix's Sacred Gear sliced through him.
The woman casually wiped the blood from her cheek without an ounce of emotion in her gaze. She swiped her blade, splattering the blood on the ground.
"You two are late," she said without turning around. Her tone was the epitome of utter calmness, unfazed that she had just slaughtered ten men in cold blood. "I've cornered the Patriarch."
"Eh? That fast. I told you to wait for us, Bea!" Yayi whined.
"You were too slow," Bea said, taking a step forward.
Akane shook her head and followed. "And Elders?"
"Dead. Most of them. I think one's coming up to your right," Bea said, unfazed by the amount of carnage that lay around her.
"You didn't have to point out the obvious, Bea," Akane said.
Behind her to her right as Bea had predicted, the last of the Sect Elders leapt into the air. His sword bore down on them and he twisted his body to slice Akane in half. However, before he could even get near her, his arms slid off his body and he fell to the ground.
"Ah… Ahhhh!" The man wailed.
"Shut up."
His head slid off his body and hit the ground with a wet slap.
"Akane, we needed him," Yayi sighed, kneeling before the headless corpse.
"No, we didn't. I've located the Patriarch. He's in that building," Bea said, jutting her thumb toward the entrance of a ruined temple.
Yayi nodded and stood. Her spear twirled in her hand. "Come on. Let's end this. I'm getting hungry. I heard this town is famous for their steamed buns," Yayi said, walking ahead of them.
"Idiot, you're always thinking about food," Bea said, following after her.
Akane walked past the two as they argued. Her footfalls echoed in the otherwise empty Sect Manor. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, looking for any sect members that had hidden in the main house.
"Do you think this Sect will finally tell us why they decided to start a rebellion?" Akane asked.
Yayi's eyebrows furrowed as she thought over Akane's question. After a few seconds, she shrugged. "Who knows? Sects have been at each other's throats since the ancient days. This could just be that on a larger scale."
"Still, something like this… seems engineered. It's like all of them are fighting for something," Bea said.
"Or over something," Akane mused.
The three arrived outside a pair of grand double doors. The doors were decorated with the design of an Eastern Dragon that clashed with a White Tiger. Akane placed her hand on the door and pushed it open.
An impossibly elderly man sat in the middle of the room. He calmly sipped tea as the three walked inside. After a few moments, the old man looked up and spoke. His eyes were filled with a burning fury that seemed to undermine all logic within him.
"So… the invaders have made it to my room. It seems that slaughtering my students and sons were not enough for you," the old man said, placing his cup down.
Yayi took a step forward. She lifted her spear and pointed it at the man. "I hope you won't give us the same trouble your sons and students did."
The old man narrowed his eyes as he gazed upon the spear. He took a deep breath and his body stiffened. His ki instinctively exploded outward, causing intense winds to tear through the room. "A Longinus. Two of them and…" his now golden eyes fell upon Akane. His eyes widened as he tried to use ki to sense her.
Yet, before him, there was only the silhouette of a woman swallowed by a deep and boundless nothing.
"Apex of Nothingness…," he whispered. He flipped the table and kicked it toward them at blinding speeds.
Akane narrowed her eyes. Her hand rested on the hilt of her odachi and in an instant, the table was sliced in half.
"W- What? NO! Damn it!" Yayi cursed as she charged forward, only to find that the Sect Patriarch had vanished. She slammed the butt of her Longinus on the ground, causing the temple to shake.
"It's fine," Akane said, stepping forward. "I love a good hunt anyway. I can bring him back in time so I can head back to Japan and watch Kouyou's live school performance." Her eyes shifted slightly over to one of the windows. She took a step toward it and vanished in a burst of speed.
"Eh? Akane? Wait! Don't just leave us!" Yayi yelled as Akane vanished before their very eyes.
Running from her was useless. Her senses had never lost track of her prey the moment she locked onto them. She calmly walked through the woods. She could hear the Patriarch's panicked footsteps ahead and smell the fear that permeated the bamboo forest.
His ragged breaths entered her ears, despite the distance. She kept walking calmly, knowing she would eventually catch him at a dead end. The barrier Yayi had placed around the entire estate was nigh-unbreakable and someone of this man's level was laughably below Yayi.
After a few more minutes of walking, Akane stepped through the bamboo onto a small clearing that led beyond the estate. The Elderly Patriarch stood with his hand against an invisible wall. He clenched his fists and turned around to face her.
"You—"
"Why?"
"What?" Akane's question caught him off-guard.
"Why instigate a war between the Sects? What are you after? I sincerely hope you give me an answer. Your counterparts in the other Sects learned the hard way on why they shouldn't have lied." Akane's violet-red eyes glowed. Pressure far stronger than anything the Sect Patriarch sensed fell on his shoulder. He was forced to the ground from the sheer intensity of Akane's Ki.
"I advise you not to lie. Unlike my colleagues, I don't have the best patience," Akane said. She pressed her boot against his hand. After a few moments, a sickening crack echoed through the forest.
The Patriarch howled in pain as he felt the bones in his hand being ground to fine powder.
"Well?" Akane asked, looking down at him.
"It… They told us to!" the Patriarch confessed.
Akane raised an eyebrow. "They…?"
"A woman. She… told us… to make Elixir!" the Patriarch said.
Akane narrowed her eyes. "Elixir? Ki Elixir? Are you insane? Ki Elixir requires the sacrifice of lives in order to make."
"Hehehe, you wouldn't understand… Elixir… is the way to overcoming the Gods! With it, we will break past the limits of a Heavenly Immortal and cross into the Void! Who cares for the insignificance of a few lives if one has the chance to attain life everlasting!" the Patriarch snarled, sending spit all over her boot.
"I see…"
"So you do? Then, let me go and we can harvest the Ki from my fallen sons and students to produce an Elixir—"
"Who."
"What?"
"Who was the woman that ordered you to make Elixir?" Akane asked.
The Patriarch shut his mouth. His lips thinned into a line as he scanned his surroundings with apparent fear in his eyes. "I can't…"
"Tell me or I'll begin cutting off your fingers one by one," Akane threatened.
The Patriarch closed his eyes tightly, shivering at the thought of experiencing torture at the hands of this woman. He opened his eyes and glared at her half-heartedly. "It was—"
Akane's eyes widened slightly. She took her foot off the Patriarch's hand and turned. She swung her sheathed odachi, deflecting several throwing knives. Her sharp gaze caught sight of her attacker.
Perched atop one of the bamboo stalks, a young woman studied her for a few seconds. Her facial features were hidden beneath a featureless black mask. Silver hair poked out from her black hood and her body was wrapped in a snug, form-fitting black and red battlesuit. A black cloak billowed around her. A sword was strapped to her waist.
"Hmm?" Akane raised an eyebrow. "You are—"
"First Praetor…," the Patriarch whispered.
"First Praetor?" Akane raised an eyebrow. However, her senses went on full alert. She swiped her sheathed odachi, deflecting another knife.
The masked, hooded woman jumped into the air. Her hands glowed as she produced knives from seemingly nowhere. She threw a swarm of them at Akane, who deflected them all with skillful ease.
The masked woman landed on the ground gracefully. She kicked off the ground. The sound of metal hitting wood echoed through the forest. Sparks flew as the blade of the woman's chokuto clashed with the scabbard of Akane's odachi.
She jumped back, gaining some distance from Akane before shooting forward.
Her relentless attacks came from all directions.
Akane calmly stood and parried each attack. Her eyes shifted and she thrust her sheathed blade, striking the masked woman in the head.
The woman slid back and dug her chokuto into the ground. Her mask cracked, causing a part to break off, revealing a red eye.
"Kurazakura-Ryu…," Akane muttered. "You can't possibly be—" She deflected another thrown knife. Her eyes narrowed. Her heel shifted and she was about to lunge when the masked woman threw a hail of knives at her.
She deflected the knives headed in her direction, however, she failed to account for one thing.
A knife flew past her, missing intentionally.
A thunk resounded in her ears, causing her ears.
"—!?"
Akane turned to see a knife embedded in the Patriarch's skull. Blood trickled down his head as he stared ahead. His eyes began to cloud over.
"You—! So from the start, you were never…" Akane turned on the balls of her feet. With dizzying speed, Akane drew her odachi from its scabbard.
The masked woman's eyes widened behind her mask. At the last moment, a hyper-dense red barrier of demonic energy formed around her, blocking a razor-sharp blast of wind. The demonic aura shattered and the woman staggered back. She straightened herself. A crack appeared in her mask. A piece of it fell off her face, revealing a red eye beneath her mask.
"Demonic power…," Akane muttered. "So you—"
"Akane!"
The masked woman turned to see Yayi and Beatrix running up toward them. She threw two knives at them, forcing them to dodge at the last second. She jumped into the air. A pair of bat-like wings spread from her back.
The masked woman said nothing as she held her arm out. Red light crackled in the air and formed into an array of swords behind her.
This power is like Shin's Covenant, Akane thought.
The masked woman snapped her fingers and the swords flew toward them.
Akane clicked her sword out of its sheath. In a flash, the swords were shattered to pieces.
She looked up and saw the woman retreating into a red rift in the air.
Akane let out a sigh of annoyance as she turned to face the dead Patriarch before her.
Yayi and Beatrix walked up to her. Yayi had a concerned look on her face when she saw the miffed look in Akane's otherwise calm eyes.
Beatrix glanced between the spot where the masked woman was and the Patriarch.
"We need to call the others," Akane said.
"This is the fourth one," Bea said, kneeling to inspect the Patriarch. "Albion, can you feel anything?"
The sword's gem pulsated and a gruff voice came from the blade at her hip.
[It's the same as the others and the one from four years ago. Though, I'm sure the Sword Saint can sense that easily.] Albion said.
"I'll call the others," Yayi said. She made a hand sign and closed her eyes.
Akane stared at the corpse that Bea was inspecting, her mind preoccupied with other matters. The silver-haired masked woman that had attacked them. Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought back on their movements. She prided herself in being able to instantly dismantle her opponent's fighting tactics and style, no matter how complex or powerful. And it was now that she cursed her ability to analyze her opponent's attacks.
"It… can't possibly be…"
"Akane."
Akane looked up and saw Bea and Yayi staring at her. Four other holographic figures had their gazes fixed on her with a mix of concern and curiosity.
The holographic figure of a blonde man looked Akane up and down, a sly smile dancing across his lips. "Did you finally lose it, Sword Saint?"
"I should be the one asking you that question, Caspian," Akane sighed as she turned to fully face the other six people in the clearing.
"I'd imagine that Cas has lost it. He is spending time in that bat-infested hole called Romania," another hologram—this time one of a dark-haired man dressed in a snappy black suit—snarked. His eyes were closed and his lips curved into a perpetual smile.
"K-Klein! Stop being mean to Cas! The Sage is really trying his best!" another hologram said. The hologram was of a blonde woman with red eyes and of short stature.
"Selene, you don't have to defend me from this brutish police officer. Rogues and Sages never get along, even in real life," Caspian said, raising his hands in slight exasperation.
"Now now, you two. Get along." A holographic figure of a woman with ash-blonde hair smiled, sending shivers down the spines of the other six.
"Err… Valkyria, we were just joking around," Klein said.
"Yeah, Celica, you know how Klein and I are," Caspian said.
"Ahem." Akane coughed into her hand.
The other six all turned to face her.
Akane stepped to the side, revealing the dead body of the Patriarch. The holographic figures of the other four all stared at the body, then turned to both Akane and Beatrix.
"What?" Bea asked.
"Yayi, did Bea go overboard again? I know she's a battle freak but we did need these people alive," Klein said.
"W- What!? Hey!" Bea protested, breaking her cool and collected facade.
"No, amazingly, all the ones we found like this weren't because of Bea," Yayi said, snickering into her hand.
Beatrix grumbled something about True Longinus users under her breath. She sent Klein and Yayi half-hearted glares. The Divine Dividing rattled on her hip, responding to its wielder's emotions.
"That's the fourth one. Of the Five Swords Mountain Alliance, this makes it the fourth. And the fifth family?" Caspian asked.
"The Fifth Sect," Yayi corrected. "They were fine. They were the only ones who split from the alliance."
"He told me why they started a revolt and began targeting smaller sects. Two sects were annihilated all in one night so they can make an Elixir," Akane said, stepping over the corpse and closer to the group.
"An Elixir?" Selena said, glancing over to Yayi.
"It's like a Philosopher's Stone. Both require the sacrifice of a massive amount of human lives to make… which is probably why they instigated the Sect Wars," Yayi said, disgust evident in her voice. "Did he say anything about them succeeding?"
"Judging by the fact that he was assassinated before my eyes and the other three Sect Leaders we found were like this, probably not," Akane said.
"Albion said that the energy radiating off the knife is faint but he's able to recognize it. The other sect leaders involved had the same faint energy tingling off it. And… it's the same energy from the Hungary Catastrophe," Bea added.
The group went silent.
"Wait— assassinated? You saw who did it?" Celica asked.
"A masked woman with silver hair," Akane said.
"Funny. I've been getting reports of the exact same woman around three notable figures," Klein said.
Akane turned to him. Her eyes narrowed. "Explain."
"Alisa Taylor, a famous half-Korean pop star. Kurt Blinken, the United States Secretary of State. And finally, the United States President, Jonathan Bison," Klein said.
Akane remained silent, pondering this information for a few seconds.
"No," Akane said. "She's more of an assassin. The Patriarch is clearly referring to someone else," she said.
Klein stroked his chin, deep in thought.
"In any case, it seems that her appearance is not a coincidence," Selena said. "The vampires who I have connections with also spotted her accompanying a white-haired woman. It seems like these people have sunk their claws just about everywhere."
"How about you, Celica? Anything up there?" Bea asked.
Celica paused for a few moments. "No. Nothing that I can note. However, I don't know if this is related but the Celtic Gods have been saying that something's been stalking Ireland for quite some time. The Great God over there has been on high alert."
"Well, whatever it is they wanted here, it's clear they never got it… or, these clans just couldn't produce one in time. Whatever it is, it's clear they didn't want it to get out," Beatrix said.
"Klein, can you monitor these… Praetors?" Akane asked.
"Praetors?" Klein raised an eyebrow.
"It's what the Patriarch called the masked woman before she killed him."
Klein nodded. "I'll have feelers extended to every realm and country while I'm out. Do you remember that we had a job in the Vatican, Bea?" he said.
Bea rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I didn't forget. This just took precedence. I'll be back by tonight after we clean this mess."
Klein nodded.
"Selena, Cas, keep an eye out while you two are in Romania," Akane said.
"Aw, you do care about me," Caspian said.
"W- We will!" Selena nodded.
"I'm going to head over to Tian. Nuwa's silence has been bothering me," Yayi said, clenching her fists tightly.
"What about you?" Bea asked, looking to Akane.
"I'm going to investigate for a little while and see if I can dig up anything on that thing Celica talked about. After that, I'm heading home. Vivi told me that Yaldabaoth showed up at the church in Kuoh," Akane said.
"The Goddess of Chaos? I didn't think she'd show up before Shin again after what happened four years ago," Celica said.
"I don't care. I'm going to look into the Ireland thing briefly before going home. The fact that Yaldabaoth showed up in Kuoh has me worried," Akane said.
"We'll keep an eye out on our ends," Caspian said.
Selena nodded vigorously.
Selene and Caspian's holograms vanished soon after.
"I'll inform my contacts to keep an eye out before meeting up with Bea in Vatican City," Klein said before his hologram dispersed.
"Akane, I'll keep an eye out on Ireland so just focus on finding out on your end. The fact that Yaldabaoth showed up in Kuoh and Albion saying that the energy is somehow connected to the Hungary Catastrophe, it might only be a matter of time before whatever happened there happens in Kuoh," Celica said.
Akane nodded.
Celica flashed her one last smile before her hologram vanished into thin air.
"So? Where to now?" Bea asked.
"Let's split up. I'm going with Yayi to Tian to see if I can't force anything out of Nuwa then I'm going to find the Old Man and Yoo Hee," Akane said.
"I'm going to head back to the Vatican. Let me know if anything comes up," Bea said before vanishing in a flash of white light and leaving Akane and Yayi alone.
"Let's go," Akane said, walking toward the exit of the ruined sect estate.
Yayi nodded and followed after her.