Chapter 27
March of the Sword Demon
Making my way to a nearby city in order to learn how much time I had until the Ascension Project was complete, I saw two orcs guarding the gates. One of them turned his attention to me, saying, "Do you have rocks in your eyes? The Sword Demon, that is you, cannot cross into the city.". "Like I care.", I said before unleashing a blast of dark magic from my right hand, killing the orcs. Walking through the hole created by the blast, I saw several frightened citizens running for their lives. "Weirdos.", I said before Gawain arrived in a burst of fire. "Why are you here, cousin?", I asked. "That's something I should be asking you. After Lady Mash stabbed you, we all expected you to die so Yuito could be crowned as Sovereign and help to save the world. On YHVH's order, my aunt and uncle disowned you whilst the people who gave birth to you abandoned you so that Yuito would receive their full support. It is Yuito's duty to pick up where you abandoned the world and save it; what you will do is best left to the imagination.", Gawain said. "You would betray me, your Sovereign?", I asked, incredulous. "You are not the Sovereign. Never were.", Tristan said as he walked out of a building. "He's right. At least Yuito did what he could to save the Sin Eaters as well, doing what you just couldn't be bothered to do.", Lancelot said. "I needed to destroy the Sin Eaters to prevent Aionios from being destroyed. To imply that those animals deserved to be shown humanity is foolish and presumptuous.", I said as I summoned Gram. "So you intend to fight and destroy the world?", Tristan asked. "I do.", I said, attacking. Drawing Galatine in response, Gawain then unleashed a giant burst of solar energy that I blocked before unleashing a furious onslaught of dark magic blasts. As Gawain tried to dodge, I then redirected the blasts so to hit the knight. Rushing at me, Lancelot unleashed various blasts of energy from Arondight that I destroyed with a blast of energy in the shape of one of the Black Beast's heads. "You're quite powerful, I admit. But will you be able to claim the Waxing Moon Vessel and prove that you are a worthy Sovereign?", Gilgamesh's voice asked. "I am infinitely worthier than that filthy usurper and always have been, Dad.", I said. "Don't you dare address me as that!", Gilgamesh's voice said angrily. "But still, Dad, the fact remains that I was foolish to refuse Alphen and Shionne's offer. A refusal I will rescind.", I said.
Suddenly, I found myself outside a strange temple. Entering, I then found myself facing a marble white altar. Standing in front of the altar were Alphen and Shionne. "So, you have decided on revenge and destruction rather than helping everyone. I hope you are proud of yourself.", Alphen said. "By the way, when can you crown me as Sovereign?", I asked. "I beg your pardon?", Shionne asked. "You know how unfaithful and disloyal Yuito is- we're talking about someone who refused to fight back against YHVH and chose to pass laws criminalising anti-YHVH resistance. In my opinion, Yuito is a filthy usurper who does not deserve to be Sovereign while I do.", I said. "But you refused to succeed me as Sovereign.", Alphen said. "Something I should never have done. You know Yuito will bring the Multiverse to ruin if you crown him. I will actually lead the Multiverse to glory and make it great again.", I said, gathering a sphere of darkness in my left hand. "No. Yuito will become Sovereign and our decision is final.", Alphen said. "You traitors.", I growled. "No, you're the traitor.", Shionne said. "I have the Ring of the Sovereign so I am the next Sovereign and my word is law.", I said. "A ring you stole.", Shionne said. "I did not steal the ring; Yuito nearly did. And he would have had I not reclaimed it.", I said, leaving the temple in a huff. Gripping Gram tight, I then angrily sped through a barrier of citizens, slashing through them without mercy. "Serves you right for not bowing to me.", I said.
Continuing on, I then found myself in a strange city. The city itself had a strong resemblance to San Francisco with a giant reddish-orange bridge that heavily resembled the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. In the sky was an orange blimp with the words "Got Ring?" on it and I saw an advert for something called Chaos Soda on a blue billboard. I also saw a building with a giant purple jester head on it. "Weird.", I thought. Walking forward, I then had another vision, this time of a hooded reaper fighting against a knight in blue armour who had a demonic right arm. As I looked at the blue knight, I had a feeling I knew it from somewhere. "Wait, is that…? No, it couldn't be.", I said as the vision faded. "You know what you have to do, don't you?", said a girl behind me. Turning around, I saw that she had short blonde hair with a hair tuft in the shape of a question mark and amber eyes and was wearing a buttoned up shirt with a buttoned up collar, a red tie and a black dress with blue high-heeled boots. "Who are you again?", I asked. "Figures you wouldn't remember me. It still is odd, though. Regardless, my name is Es, a Prime Field Interference Manifestation.", the girl said. "That some kind of robot girl?", I asked. "Yes, it is.", Es said. "Where are we, though?", I asked. "Well, we are in Central City, the capital of the United Federation. This specific district is known as Radical Highway.", Es said. "Why was I brought here?", I asked. "That's for me to know and you to find out.", Es said. Summoning a blue greatsword into her hand, Es's smile then grew manic as she then said, "Or maybe, you will find out right now!". Gripping Gram tight, I snarled as Es rushed at me, ready to fight.
Dodging Es's slash, I retaliated with a flurry of lightning-fast stabs that Es matched perfectly with her own slashes, the arcs of those slashes manifesting jagged crystals. Roaring, I unleashed a powerful blast of dark fire from my demonic left arm that Es dodged. Not to be outdone, I then unleashed a burst of dark energy in the shape of the Black Beast's head that caused Es's smile to grow even wider. "Yes, that's it! Unleash the power of the Azure Grimoire! Unleash the power of darkness! Unleash the power of destruction!", Es said as she was promptly covered in an aura of blue fire. Snarling and growling, I manifested a large array of demonic swords in front of me that I then fired at Es, with the blue fire around her incinerating the swords to a crisp. Undeterred, I rushed at her only for Es to rush away. "Catch me if you can~.", Es said as the city suddenly became very distorted. Dismissing Gram, I then ran at a very fast speed through the city as the metal and concrete that made it up turned into a twisted vortex. Running across a bridge of electronic billboards all advertising Chaos Soda, I then passed through a vortex of film posters advertising a film called Chao in Space only to find myself running across a "Got Ring" blimp, subsequently finding myself floating in the air. "You know what to do.", a strange voice said in my head. As I wondered the voice came from, I then saw a black dark red portal appear, revealing a black and dark purple starfish like being with six black tipped probes and a yellow eye in the centre. "Who are you?", I asked as a strange headache came over me. "My name is Black Doom, but you may also call me the Devil.", the starfish said with a strong Brooklyn accent.
As if to prove its point toward it being the Devil, the starfish then shifted into a black legless alien with three orange eyes, a set of spines on its scalp red wide horns and three fingered paws with red claws. It was wearing a dark brown robe with dark brown shoulder pads, a maroon scarf, golden chains and double black cord necklace with red, blue and purple ornaments on one side and golden and silver pendants on the other. "You possess the power of darkness so why are you not using it? Embrace the darkness and unleash your power!", Black Doom said before vanishing. Suddenly, a strange feeling came over me, causing me to scream as a pair of black and dark red tendril wings burst forth out of my back. Propelled forward by the wings, I then sped forth with even faster speed, the Negative Speed Force itself emanating from them. Flying through the distorted and chaotic vortex, I promptly caught up to Es as the city returned to normal. Landing on the ground, I then felt my wings disappear very suddenly, causing me to vomit. "Seems you still haven't properly acclimated to the power of darkness or the Azure Grimoire. Still, you'll do so in time.", Es said as she walked through a portal of blue fire, leaving behind a black and dark red gemstone in the shape of the starfish I encountered that promptly found its way inside me. Grunting in pain, I then found myself facing Garreg Mach Monastery. Walking inside, I saw a large hole in the ground where the reception should have been. "You realise it now, don't you? Your refusal to give in to the darkness and embrace your true nature is what caused Aionios to rapidly destabilise. As you can see, Garreg Mach in particular is beginning to fall apart and it was your refusal to properly inherit the Renas Alma that is causing the World to destroy itself.", Black Doom's voice said. "That's not-.", I said before Aoko's voice said, "Oh, but you know deep down that it's true. Even my mastery of the Fifth Magic is not enough to save Aionios in the long term. Please, just give in already.".
Suddenly finding myself in Ganath Haros, I walked through the Lavtu Marshlands noticing that the land looked strangely barren. "You see, YHVH siphoning away Aionios's astral energy that it needed to survive was largely your fault. When you refused to refuse Alphen as Sovereign, the astral energy that had been collected in the Crown Contest had nowhere to really go and as a result, YHVH ended up eating it all. Only, he didn't just eat all the astral energy collected through the Crown Contest; he also ate the astral energy that hadn't been collected too. Because of this, Aionios barely has any astral energy left to support life and it won't be long until all life is killed as a result. Because of your refusal, Aionios is dying. Because of you, all of reality is on a one-way ticket to complete and utter destruction.", Circe's voice said. "So, what say you, fake Sovereign? Will you atone and let Yuito take your place? Will you become Yuito's servant? Will you submit to YHVH and let him save the Multiverse by allowing him to return the energy he took?", Chrom's voice asked. "No. My Azure Grimoire can drain energy anyway so all I need to do is track that thing's corpse in reality down and take the astral energy it absorbed through Soul Eater. That way, I will finally become the Ruler of All Things. And then, all shall know me as the Sovereign.", I said. "That is impossible. YHVH needs the astral energy he absorbed to successfully revive himself and then fuse with Aionios, allowing him to safely disperse the astral energy he absorbed without threatening Aionios. To do so successfully, he will also need the power of the Waxing Moon Vessel so he doesn't accidentally explode Aionios but also needs your power to help activate it.", Haseo's voice said. "Now listen here. I am your Sovereign and you will obey me and no-one else. That is my divine right as the Ruler of All Things.", I said. Encountering a deafening silence, I shrugged and entered Pelegion.
The story continues in the next chapter.