You were a devil and it was time to earn your first paycheck.
And that means doing contracts, completing them, and returning to hope for a minimal power up as is basically the low-class work and who are the most affected. Sure it helps devils meet with humans and socialize with other species without the 'Hunga Bunga badly came and is trying to corrupt X-kun' that many tried to do when services were offered. In this new generation, we give humans ropes to hang themselves with and think in the long run as our diet of souls was fucking stupid on the long run as the clientele disappears very fast, human souls weren't even that important just a way to screw with Heaven.
Screwing contractors now was bad business and gives fewer potential customers as rumors follow up.
And so, the contracts for High Class are only things that they can accomplish, things that are on their capabilities, things that are compatible with their personalities, things that devils like you would do as it cost absolutely nothing but a meager amount of time… the perfect form of relaxation or mitigate the sheer boredom of many parts of the aristocracy as the contracts could match personal hobbies.
Sadly, this isn't a perfect system and it also depends on luck.
Length of it, your client alongside their personality and their desires, the manners and forms that could be accomplished with what you had… all different variables. You have heard that some wishes were stupid hard to accomplish like that guy that Sirzechs meet a few centuries ago that wanted to fuck a redhead.
Your brother ended up fitting the sexual desires of the said contractor.
Noodle incidents like that existed, and so you made sure to have a free time to do this rite of passage to truly be a devil, tell your parents about your marriage, negotiate with the Phenex, party hard with Riser as he became your brother-in-law as you almost took your first taste of the Fourth Flavor… something that nobody left you to do because the side effects.
Nobody in your peerage with the exception of Miyu could taste it for obvious reasons and being a sweetheart Miyu didn't taste the fourth flavor if the rest of her family couldn't.
So-chan on other hand didn't have those restrictions and won the big prize when her legs turned into her True Form instead of getting horny as you hoped and Fi-chan was too scared of the Fourth Flavor to taste its dark powers to try to get a power up like So-chan and to be fair with her, that Clara and Maria were chanting 'one of us, one of us, one of us' probably was part of why Fi-chan didn't try to play roulette Russian of silliness.
…You will have to talk with So-chan about many things including your marriage with Ravel, it hurt her, she understands but not as well as you the type of place where the both of you were born, as you were playing the game in a long run to raise your pillar and also keeping your allies in a good position.
Marriage is a weapon, not an act of love in the hands of the aristocracy.
Be by formalizing alliances or stealing talents, it was an action that you decided would affect multiple fronts as the bond that Gremory shared with Phenex from the generation of your father needed to be formalized. Blah blah blah Filial piety. Blah blah blah Your own connections in the market. Blah blah blah Maria promise you something with her mouth with Ravel. Blah blah blah something-something about eugenics.
In the end, it simply didn't matter anymore you saw potential in Ravel as your official Lady Gremory and everything that comes from this choice is something that you will own.
Including your jealous childhood friend.
…
Especially your jealous childhood friend, if So-chan forgets that she is yours only because you had a fiancée she better be preparing herself for the remedial lessons. The rest of your peerage will follow, Zest, Jack, and Nezuko… they need to understand, love isn't a title of Lady or something said by a third party, they are yours and you are theirs your feelings aren't going to change easily.
What do you have to do to put your point across their minds? Get one of them pregnant first, or something as ridiculous to make it clear enough as irrefutable proof of your feelings? The former takes hundreds of years for Lilith sake!
And so with a sight you entered into the summoning matrix and dismissed yourself from Underworld.
"I ask of you." You declared with your eyes closed, your intuition telling you that your contractor was looking at you. To make things clear you didn't lower your guard, the power of your flames and strength of your flesh was already heating and is prepared to strike at anyone at a moment of notice. "Are you my contr-ugh!?" And still fucked up.
But you got hit by a spell that was robing your conscience!
As darkness filled your mind, the only question that you had was… how did… was your… magic resistance… broke…?
You awakened with a massive headache, your wings already were spread completely and there was a very strong rope around your torso immobilizing you… Shit, you got caught in the act of mysterious devil and ended up caught by someone in your first contract.
The feeling on your butt did tell you that you were inside a building now.
[No flaws found in the Body. Flame flow is stable. Zero Residual effects]
A hostage situation? Were you going to be used as a bargaining chip? Too many variables and unknowns to truly understand the situation.
"Who are?" A feminine voice, who you were 70% sure that it belongs to your contractor, asked.
Keep your eyes closed Kane, she doesn't know that you are awakened and ready to act.
"I know that you have recovered conscience." Still closing your eyes, you aren't going to talk and give this advantage. "So be it." She put her hand on your mouth and closed your nose too for the sake of depriving you of air.
Don't worry Kane, you have been in many situations where you lacked oxygen to break like that time that Zest passed out while in the top and her breast landed on your face or when Sera-nee moved in her sleep years ago and you ended with your head in the middle of her thighs.
You stubbornly refused to break the charade and keep holding your breath, a few minutes later she disengages and you called victory. Truly nobody can win against you!
At least that was what you were thinking until you heard a 'Hyaaa!' and feel two feet impacting your face. The shock made you open your eyes instead of the impact, and for the very first time in your life, you saw the panties of a magical girl in such a violent manner!
As your head clashed with the ground you saw for the first time your contractor.
She was beautiful, in ways that you couldn't describe, this young girl in her early-mid teens was just someone that took your breath away as she glared at you with her green eyes, a long hair like a cascade of gold that you wanted to feel in your hands, a slender figure that displays elegance. A treasure, there weren't other ways to describe her, she was just unique without you understanding how it was.
Not even your intuition had an answer, it was something that you just knew.
And her outfit? Kane jr was awake and ready the moment that you notice that she was wearing a top-tier magical girl outfit that even Sera-nee would have difficulties pulling out so perfectly! That pantyhose and her legs were something to die for! Knee socks are amazing why didn't you discover this before?! This was just top-tier culture that you had missed!
"Willing to talk now?" Her tone of voice made you have a full body shiver from the top of your head to the tip of your tail, without doubt, this was a moment that needs all the skills of negotiation and seduction that you had!
…Wait a second.
"Since when did I have a tail out?" You couldn't help but ask as you finally noticed that you weren't trapped by a rope or chains but by your newly found extremity.
Crimson and burning up leather-like scales greet you, the bone tip that was glaring at you.
And you don't fucking know or understand how it was moving, the flow of your flames could go through this
"Now, tell me what you are?" The spell was aimed at you, it was scarousing like Penthesilea just with magic. "I made sure of revealing your true appearance but It seems that you are quite resistant to my spells."
"…I am not supposed to have a Tail, the True Form is bringing my soul outside after months if not years of self-discovering and using raw power to make it possible." Words came out of your mouth and flowed through "To make clear I am not human, my species may look humanoid but is only because generations of shapeshifting to keep on the human baseline but nobody is born knowing their true appearance."
…Okay, did she make you drink a truth serum?
"Why did you come here specifically for me." Her eyes narrowed, was she inexperienced in interrogation, it feels like she was seducing you instead of intimidating you.
"I just came to complete the contract, is a rite of passage and I wanted to accomplish it because is my duty." It was basically what you had planned for today. "But my plans had changed already." 'Had' was the important word.
"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow.
"I just want you to be mine." You didn't need to be affected by something like magic to admit this.
"I see, you wanted to…" You didn't bother to truly the words of the teenager who had a pretty active imagination, the maniacal plots of a Saturday anime where the villain didn't even try to seduce the magical girl to their side just some betrayal and anguish bullshitery for the lulkz that didn't make sense.
"That is retarded." You interrupted her, your mind couldn't believe the plot was so short-sighted and stupid. Sure there were points worth of your attention but all of it was a mess that was at the level of the Old Satan faction.
"Eh?" The blond magical girl was in her zone and didn't expected to be interrupted.
"Why I would do something as stupid as that? I am Greedy, I want much more than a tool or doll to play with until it's broken, I have a lifespan that extends for multiple millennia but wasting it is against my nature that it drives me mad seeing that kind of waste." Seriously if someone would waste their lives being dicks for the sake of being dicks you would just kill them and do a favor to the world.
[Gaia would like that]
Ignoring your intuition acting weird.
"And finally if someone doesn't do things by their own free will then never will be capable showing their true worth." The mind control part was the most stupid part.
That impairment was one of the worst things, you regularly fell in love again with your peerage and were reminded of so many of the reasons why you were the luckiest man in Underworld when they just talked with you, the feelings and emotions that changed every day made every little thing worth so much.
"I want to see how you look like when you are smiling, I want to hear your voice, I want to know how you crafted these spells…" And you keep talking about the things that you wanted from her.
She began to lift an eyebrow as you keep admitting everything that you wanted to do, including simple things like a simple date or doing some fun things like sharing candy to silly things like trying to exchange hair treatments… in your defense, you really liked that hair of hers and yours was just glorious.
She then lowered her guard.
[Go for the final blow!]
"And I want to see your panties." You shamelessly admitted, making her go all red.
She dropkicked you again, then began to kick your down as she tried to call herself from her sheer embarrassment.
"I must modify this circle if you can still lie about your intentions." Her breathing was heavy and having a blush from her emotional exhaustion made her better than when she had that poker face… you want to tease her even more!
"Have you seen yourself in a mirror you are so incredibly attractive that no man alive would resist that charm of yours." You seriously need to show her a mirror; she was looking priceless like this. "You have a quite cute expression when you are blushing."
"Why don't you shut up already?!" She shouted and feel your tail reacting at her voice.
You barely had time to react before your own tail moved and in that instant, you freed yourself from the bind. Only to be bitch slapped by the length! WHY HAVE YOU BETRAYED ME!?
[Too good taste in women]
…You could hardly blame your tail for thinking with his metaphorical dick when there was a magical girl in middle.
And so you fought against your biggest enemy until now.
Yourself!
There were many forms of describing the epic battle that began as you began to fight against the supreme danger noodle of fire and death, but much to his eternal hatred the appendage was winning. Time continued even if you fought with all your skill and drive so when you feel a group running to the position where you were then without doubt you said the magic words that would turn this situation aroun.
"Help! My Tail has too good taste on women!" You wouldn't refuse the power of 5 vs 1!
The group was composed of a midget in pink, a werewolf who was white for some reason (Most have black fur unless something weird is involved to the best of your knowledge), a child who probably was the sage in an RPG, and the edgy black knight who just watched the situation didn't match their expectative and then slowly looked at your contractor trying to figure out what was happening.
"Why? Why did you say that?" Your contractor covered her face with her hands as she tried to cover herself.
"You are absolutely stunning and beautiful I don't blame my tail for choosing you over me!" You admitted it without an ounce of shame.
You weren't a blushing virgin like in your first year in Babyls and still, your self-control broke once you saw her. The betrayal of your tail was something imminent, it was the same greedy part of yourself and that part was honest about making your contractor their first priority and that means protection from a devil who pretty much wants her.
Never trust anyone, not even yourself.
"Pfffahahahahah." The sage just laughed until he fell to his knees and began to hit the ground with his arms and legs in the sheer hilarity. "Only you! Only you managed to cause this!" He managed to get out while dying from hilarity.
You had the feeling that the both of you will get along.
"Tonelico the impossible happened your wife's power has grown!" The pink… person? (You aren't sure their biological age) shouted pointing to your contractor Tonelico… that was such a nice name.
"Totorot!" T-The gap! That blush and pout!
Your tail used that moment of distraction to slap you.
"…I will be outside if you need me." The Werewolf decided, smart as many doggos together he just decided to get away from the madness.
"Elttil help your master do self-mutilation!" You commanded your familiar as he jumped out of your hat to become a weapon.
Or that were the orders of the mimic.
The tail tip pointed to Elttil and then towards the black knight, the mimic turned into a snake moved away around the amused knight then turned into a bird and flew towards the shoulders to check the helm by turning a part of one of the wings into a magnifying glass to see deeper before nodding a few times.
"Oh, such an interesting creature." The Black Knight just laughed.
Naturally, the battle escalated until you got the brilliant idea of freezing yourself from toe to neck! Magic Resistance could block your brilliant idea when you were using your experience at weaving curses into your own self for training to avoid it… It was honestly a quite nice feeling being trapped inside a block of cursed ice, as an air conditioner put at max potency in a hot day.
Then again extreme environments didn't really make you uncomfortable thanks to consuming Ladon's heart.
"I ask of you." Tonelico started to speak as she used her staff to conjure a new spell pointing at you… wait is that the same one that you used to freeze yourself? "What are you and your intentions?"
"My name is Kane Gremory, a greedy devil and descendant of the original Gremory and you pretty much summoned me to make your wish come true."
And that was how you joined into a journey to save the world alongside getting a taste of multiverse, if you hadn't met Miyu it would be a surprise but it isn't one now
"And seduce you in the process." You added with a grind in the face.
That meeting was a few weeks ago, you weren't capable of returning to Underworld since your summoning. Your Intuition made sure that you knew that time moves differently here, but how much was the difference? You keep worrying about your peerage, about your friends, about your sisters, about even Bova in your moment of weakness.
Recently you had begun to write up a journal about your experiences in Britain, to make sure that you didn't forget anything important.
You immediately moved your hand to slap away an attack from your blind point, that tail was really trying to take ownership over your body and trying to incite your wings into rebellions, at some points you of this travel you have baptized it as Dominico Chavez and other random dictators every week.
Having your own tail as your greatest and most mortal enemy has given you lots of information about the capabilities of your new appendage.
It was a very long tail. The space between the scales was pure muscle, muscles that were completely tensed and worked spring, thousands of different ones that were pushed to the extreme to store kinetic energy for a fast deployment. Thousands of different triggers, moving into completely different directions through controlled use of the explosive aspect of your flames. It could and would kill anyone that didn't react fast enough to sudden changes of movement.
The crimson scales were your flames moving through keeping a constant source of Harmony, while the muscles had Purification coursing through them to refine the flexibility and make the massive amount of stress accumulated on every movement turn into more strength.
A biological system to make sure that your body didn't combust no matter how much heat it packets as the tip is the escape route. A weapon and safety measure for your strong flame attacks like the Burst Stream.
…Purification, a trick that you found in your flames out of sheer need.
"Kane move your ass and cook something I am hungry!" Grirm was a dick, that was all the important stuff about him and why the both of you were friends. "You can do your edgy monologues and write poetry for Tonelico after lunch!"
"Suck my dick and cook your own food Grirm." You flick a bird at the blue bastard.
He responded with a double bird, shit you can't win against that while keeping your tail from hitting you.
"What is now?" It was basically your job, you will not deny that by a fair amount you were weak as shit in comparison to the rest because you still haven't matured enough.
But you are a hell of a cook, with a more refined taste than the shit that all of them have been eating until now. You could swear to Satan that since you began to cook Tonelico's heart was slowly defrosted and you abused your experiences as butler to make sure that food was good if not decent by cheating with all the tricks in your arsenal.
Joining permanently to a hero party as you try to complete the wish that Tonelico hasn't told you since the first day and at this point, you were still trying to coerce the information out of her through the almighty powers of your charisma, blatant bribery, and cooking to satisfy the beast that was her stomach.
She was still smart enough to clean her own clothes with magic.
You would have stolen a pair of panties if you had a chance.
"We are going to eat Basilisk, so is your problem." Apparently, Grirm was capable of being patient enough for you to finish your monologue, and someday you will figure out how he can read your minc. "Today we will eat that bastard that gave us trouble yesterday before going back to the town."
Poison for lunch? That was your favorite! Tonelico must be finally beginning to trust you to cook something that dangerous to them without your abilities.
Or was spiteful because the lizard vomited on her when Wryneck's took a bite of its testicles, her magic protected her from the gastric acids and spit but not the smell and so you had to set in fire her clothes three times before she stopped of having that dead look in her eyes.
She only consumed two plates of food that night.
You still didn't get the issue, then again your nose worked differently and bad smells didn't bother you as you began to work on the carcass, parts of it were putrid and decomposed from poison bags imploding internally.
You restored those parts by squishing your flames into refining a transparent one instead of orange, the Purification effect was controlled but was tiring you to focus on keeping the flavor by controlling the second property of your flames as Elttil in the form of a chainsaw helped you to make the pieces of meat for lunch.
Keeping control over Purification was hard, way harder than Harmony.
A whole hour and some mental fatigue later you managed to prepare the whole basilisk with the preferences of your friends.
"You are late." The werewolf said as he began to eat his part.
"Not everyone enjoys it raw and rare as you do." You feel quite proud that Ector was using culinary terms now.
"Yup, don't insult who prepares food." Totorot chastised before taking a bite of her dish. "Aahh if only you could be a bride Kane." Should you feel insulted or grateful?
Grirm and Tonelico were distracted doing an anime fight over the best parts, it was fun to see the normally stoic blonde trying to keep her manners while attacking Grirm when he tries to take an additional bit from her plate and the cooked Basilisk.
It was nice, moments like these were reminding you of home as you cleaned Elttil with your flames.
"I didn't see you eating." Your contractor narrowed her eyes as she noticed that.
"I have for later." You preferred when it had poison and could wait a few hours, the Basilisk would be fermented then and the toxins would give a great feeling on your tongue.
"If I am going to be poisoned I will take you down with me." Tonelico then forced some of the meat from her plate into your mouth.
…That was an indirect kiss, a high-class technique that combines the lingering taste of her lips and the one of the food to maximize the impact.
"T-To-Tonelico! That was so bold! I didn't think you were capable!" Totorot was surprised like you were.
The shock was shared with the rest of the party except for Grirm who gave a slow clap.
"My respects, I didn't believe you capable but you have done it." You can't take this feeling of victory from me Grirm.
"W-what? Don't misunderstand it I just want to make sure that if he tried something he suffers too." Tonelico tried to deny it.
…You can eat poison, she knows that and you told her yesterday when you all fought the lizard that was a danger to the Fae of the most recent village that you all visited.
So you smiled, Tonelico was Tsun Tsun was just too good for your soul.
Then you got hit by the reality of the situation, the true aftermath of this adventure, and killed your good mood as the party was returned to a certain village in the forest, the place where the quest of hunting the basilisk began.
"Why you come back!? You were supposed to be dead now!" The soon-to-be corpse shouted.
Those were the words that you all heard at the moment of your return, not a warm welcome or a simple thanks. The only thing that the group found was hate, repulsion, disdain and so many other negative emotions from a prank gone wrong.
Their words, their actions, their emotions, and their manner of acting, all of it make you sick and angry.
The face of the Fae that threw the first stone was having its body broken and burned when your tail reached it, the world feels far more fragile and it was terrifying to them when your aura was unleashed, Tonelico said that it feels freeing as she couldn't feel the weight of her duty now it was when it truly was understood the cruel task that was given to her.
As you moved to be at the side of a distressed Tonelico.
"...Why this always happens?" Tonelico whispered as she didn't even see your behavior, her mind was just fragile at the moment.
[She hasn't surrendered, it's impossible to change them but she needs to continue.]
"You deserved to be happy." You told her and gave her a side hug as you began to move her away from this pit of sin.
Your burning tail moved after throwing a corpse away, a Fae through itself smart but died without your acknowledgment and the rest of your friends were already prepared for the fight.
If they wanted a fight, the Fae found it.
But it didn't turn into that, they were cowards that only used words, a bunch of a filthy liars and trickster powerless when their magic and tricks failed them. You mutilated the liars that tried to lower the guard and the look of surprise and disdain showed the group the reason for it.
"You knew?" Tonelico asked you when you were far away from the village.
"They planned to feed us to the basilisk, we were basically going to be its meal and then it would attack another village." You told them everything that you discovered. "That is why I suggested going from another route to avoid the ambush of the big lizard and get to it when lowered its guard."
"So what reason of why you didn't tell us?" Ector didn't judge, that was something that you like from the knight as he endured and keep cold logic no matter the situation.
"My intuition told me that you wouldn't believe me and stop me from punching that smug face." You were honest and avoided lying when you could, your Lust and Greed didn't blind you from the trust issues. "Tonelico, I like you but I am not blind to know to you will do it either way or ignore my warning by thinking that I am lying."
Kane Gremory always is and always will be someone that knows when planning around the stupidity and moronic actions of the Famiglia. Being the boss comes with that as you had learned that being smart and being capable of doing something stupid aren't things that can be separated.
Example of someone that can be brilliant and a second later do something that makes others think about mental retardation?
Yourself.
"For someone in love, you truly understand when put your feet and hold ground." Wryneck commented taking a deep breath to calm himself. "Is one of the most important lessons."
[Translation: Wryneck was a simp and suffered for it]
"True love needs time, is a feeling that news to grow and being nurtured otherwise is pure sexual in nature." That is one of the most important differences, you could like easily but loving is hard and needed time.
"…You sound rather knowledgeable about it." Totorot looked you up and up… By Satan she was short.
"I do." That is one of the things that you feel truly proud. "In fact I even got a cute little fiancée that I going to marry in a few years too."
"...what?" Tonelico voice was a bit weird, for a second your intuition gave you're the mental image of So-chan in one of her adorable moods.
Totorot just clapped happily, already planning to make a dress.
"Kane, you have a fiancée and are trying to court the boss?" Grirm looked weirded out, oh? Was he one of those weird species that follow monogamy?
You never understood that, baby devils like your sisters needed lots of attention and even your mothers needed help of Sirzechs' peerage to take care of them.
"Devils culture allow polygamy, why are you so surprised I mentioned it before when we drank?" You were sure that you boasted a lot about your life in Underworld.
"I through that you were drunk!" Ector shouted and appropriate reaction for someone that hasn't gotten laid in centuries at your game.
"I was honest about that." You were very honest unless you were talking with someone that you hated or didn't give a shit about.
"So all the girls that you mentioned are real?" Wryneck had an open mouth.
"Every single one of them." You were quite proud of your peerage-harem.
"Like that Wendigo that is living the good live?" Grirm remembers Nezuko?
"Nezuko, she really loves when I feed her fingers of the devils that mess with my territory." Her manners of eating traumatized the servants even if she now uses fork and knives.
"Succubus that you didn't allowed to feed on others?" Ector was a man of refined tastes.
"Shelia taught me all sort of stuff about pleasing a woman." There wasn't doubts that sex was amazing and almost everything was learned from her.
"I have to admit it, all your past conquests are rather impressive and understand why you seem to be attracted to the little missy." Grirm words had a bare minimum amount of respect.
"W-What are you all saying?" Tonelico snapped from her moody status!
"You are very dangerous/terrifying/abrassive." Grirm, Wryneck and Ector said simultaneously.
With your mind eye you could see many imaginary arrows piercing Tonelico's self-stem and pride as woman. Was that bad? It was very appealing in your opinion.
Totorot just floated and a hand on the shoulder of Tonelico.
"Take your chances when you can." Totorot was merciless and delivered the final blow. "If any of his past relations shows something then is that even you have a chance!"
"Past? We are together in a big chaotic mess that we call Famiglia, Devils are polygamist." You needed to remind them that? That was one of the reasons why your faction is master race above the black and white dove people.
The three male members of the group, looked you with pity instead of respect as Riser. You could feel the sheer sympathy behind their gazes, they didn't have nothing negative feeling like greed or envy for the live that you had just looking at you like 'Oh that poor fool'.
"…How the hell are you sane?" Wryneck asked and that was a very fair question.
Your love life was very chaotic.
"With a very good schedule. I wouldn't be capable of balancing my time with Jack, Nezuko, Maria, Zest, Miyu…" You began to mention your girls but sadly didn't reached half before being interrupted.
Tonelico ended slapping you into the ground.
"Hmpt." There wasn't doubts about it!
You made her jealous Tonelico likes you back!
"I wish you luck in your next life." Grirm barely contained his laugh as he did a few funeral rites.
Grirm will be laughing now but at least you had the balls to court the best girl of all Britain!
Weeks turned into months, and your contract hasn't been complete. At least a half year passed since your summoning and without fault every single day you asked your intuition about every member of your famiglia as the worry that you feel didn't stop of growing, the greedy and egoistic love that you had didn't change it was something that made you realize how utterly screwed was anyone that you fell in love with.
They will never will make you lose that feeling.
You were just too greedy for it, but simultaneously found that you were too emotional and incapable of holding back your negative emotions too.
Your tail burned and cremated, your hands already melting the bone, and your burning wings were crushing bodies but the burning pit of your sheer hatred didn't reduced or grew. The emotion still continued and you couldn't see yourself being capable of stop hating Fae now, no after all the truths that you had learned and the fate of the being that choose to save them.
Dead and fire spread through the room as you began to stab with your fingers on the walls and spread it through the castle until you knew that it would collapse soon.
"You are a crazy bastard." Grirm smirked with his battle hungry expression as he stood still in the back of his spear fighting against a soon to be corpse.
You could admit that deciding that the two going on an assault against a whole castle of Fae wasn't one of your best idea after killing a few villages around and giving them time to prepare themselves but it ended just making things easier as the Fae didn't understand the concept of cooperation.
You turned your head and noticed that Grirm already finished his side.
Arms crossed the warrior used his own weight to drive the spear deeper into the body of the clan leader with a little jump once he realized that the fae still moved. Posing like a showoff, as expected of a demigod of war, once he regained that part of him there wasn't a way that Grirm wouldn't improve massively as a murder blender.
"Keep doing it dirty bitch." You didn't like the tone of your friend.
"What are you?" You looked at Grirm weirdly.
"I like to talk dirty when someone is sucking my dick!" You can't fucking say anything nice about the blue bastard not even inside your mind.
"Pfff, I truly fell in that one!" You laughed as the Purification of your transparent flames hit the leader of one of the Fae clans.
You honestly didn't know who was, everyone was the same type of idiot in the end just that this particular bitch had every single member of her tribe being genocided in her arrogance through her lies, it didn't much to calm your own wrath at the Sin of these bastards as they lived and enjoying the sheer pleasure of spitting everything that one of the last survivors of this world did for them.
The average Fae were worse and lesser than animals in your opinion, so many of them don't have basic survival or even appropriate use of wisdom. Your forefathers had a similar type of existence but only similar as they managed to become capable of following and unite for the sake of their power and ambitions but Fae failed at even doing that!
They didn't need a leader! They needed an owner that was capable of making these animals follow them out of fear.
That is what you decided to do taming them all like you would do to animal by permanently killing who refuse it, be personality, sin or memories they wouldn't ever come back as the true end through the Purification was something that can't be taken back, because the thing that every single being shared is the fear of dying.
Fear, true fear of reprisals. A fear so deep that it becomes an instinct. A terror that is deep in their bones. A nightmare that becomes a shadow in their back.
As you got out of the castle with Grirm, a few of your enemies were still living in agony, but they would die eventually going to the next generation as Fae didn't truly died unless you made sure of that.
You didn't expect find the rest of your friends out and just waiting in the big gates of the collapsing castle… they didn't really look bothered even when Tonelico put the most fake expression of pain by gripping her chest with a hand to fake pain.
"Oh no we came too late, everyone important is dead and we couldn't help anyone." Tonelico dramatically declared, you had to admit that her acting skills were very good.
You wouldn't be capable of say something like that about a Fae of this zone without vomiting.
"I am still alive!" A fae shout trying to make its injuries seem worse to get sympathy.
"Everyone important is dead!" Tonelico shouted way harder than necessary to make clear her point.
By Satan, you loved this woman.
It took time but it was nice that she finally began to open, the sweet girl, the snarky girl, the bright girl, the proud girl, the willful girl, the determined girl, the unparalleled genius girl with the weight of the world in her shoulders.
She was finally smiling and having fun.
When they were together everything else didn't matter because the bonds made already were so strong that the world weight was something that they could handle.
Traveling, having adventures, tasting nice food made with weird ingredients, a roaring rampage of revenge or two as the Fae fucked with one of the party, then return to the camp to just talk about anything that we wanted and finally just relax as we could in this difficult task.
Lots of tears but also lots of laughs, even now you didn't know how this would truly end.
But you wanted to give your best each day.
Sometimes you only managed to get time for yourself in middle of night watches, it was always you who did it because sleeping wasn't something that you truly enjoyed, it feels sad and regretful to dream about Underworld those times that you didn't saw the orangenette who was having her own fights now.
You didn't like to dream about what you had been separated from, it was just too painful and took a lot of effort of keeping yourself from crying now those nights that you had to sleep. Being melancholic wasn't your form of living and you had more than enough will to endure, you were a King and a devil time wasn't an issue so mentally you knew that a single year
But reality was just too different, you were unprepared for this and your longevity didn't change much, maybe you were just too young for a devil or just too soft for your own good as you aren't used to this and causing you distress.
Just feeling the bonds helped, it did a lot more THAN you could hope they still were there instead of being cut while you were in Britain, just indulge into feeling them to make the time pass. You were a Greed Devil, always wanting more but you genuinely appreciated what you had, that was the problem that many devils of Greed as they are idiots and forget what was the first treasures that they have collected being hoarders who focus on accumulation instead of what they had to enjoy.
Had was the important word but you still had everything but were separated from your treasures.
A blessing and a curse, that was what separation, you understood so much more the meaning of your strongest technique Ladon's End since you were summoned.
You ended up hitting your own cheeks a few times to awaken, by Satan there was something in the air that was turning you into an emo bitch?
"What the hell is wrong with me?" You groaned and let out a growl, Beowulf was right once you get laid lacking it gives side effects of having to deal with emotional crap and getting a stick in the ass.
"Grirm is right about your bad habit of living in your own head." Tonelico commented at your back, if anyone asks you didn't scream like a little girl, and Tonelico's words can't be trusted as she was biased.
Naturally, your self-control was amazing and you couldn't be taken by surprise.
"I miss my home." You confessed to her, you knew that hiding anything emotional would just damage relationships and you absolutely didn't say it to avoid her laughing at you. "The purple sky, the different seasons, my parents, my siblings, and my famiglia."
You took a deep breath, was already night? You are too distracted while indulging in your connection to your peerage.
"Tonelico would you join my peerage?" A question that you had to keep repeating so many times and always she was silent about it. "Or at least tell me what was your wish?"
There was silence for a moment and just sit down with you… this was going to be one of those heart-to-heart conversations?
[Yup]
"I wanted to finally have someone that acknowledge what I tried to do." …A wish like that.
"Someone who acknowledges you? That isn't a wish that I can accomplish." You admitted, that was absolutely impossible for you.
"Why? Is the only thing that I want." The shake in her shoulders was something that hurts and so put her head into your lap ignoring that cute 'eep' and smiled to her.
"Why? You are already unequal and irreplaceable; I just can't understand how anyone can't see it when is so obvious." To you Tonelico was just so amazing, so fun to have around, a precious gem that shines so much that couldn't be ignored. "But what I can do about it is declare into this world that with me at your side there isn't a way that we would lose." You knew that.
In the end, the Fae were animals that didn't see the value of Tonelico like a bunch of pigs who would understand the value of gold, diamonds or masterpiece. They just didn't want to truly see or understand how stupid lucky and blessed they were.
At least until you came, you had killed a lot of them and taught Tonelico some life lessons.
"Just trust me Tonelico, maybe we will not find this from the Fae but I will make sure that we will find a friend that truly acknowledge everything that you have done." Not only that, you want her to trust them to as she deserves be capable of sharing her burdens.
You couldn't complete this wish because otherwise you would already be on Underworld, you just didn't count in this contract.
And she cutely just hides her face using your lap, the little red in the ears still showed how she feels.
"And until the moment happens, I will not let you be betrayed, I will burn your worries, I will burn your injuries, I will burn those damn fae... just don't even surrender on yourself, and until the end, I will be with you." You promised her.
"I don't want to trust those words." Tonelico was like that, she needed proof instead of mere promises. "I know that you always keep something in your chest." She moved her head from your lap to look you with a half glare.
"Heh, good on not trusting simple words, and wanting to know what is hidden beneath honestly." That was something that you appreciated from her, she wanted to have a meaningful relationship that was real. "I just find you really cute and want you to be mine, I don't care much more than just making this cute girl in front of me be mine."
"You are just being a sycophant." You stopped of caressing her hair. "I didn't tell you to stop." You smiled and keep spoiling your cute fairy, she still doesn't show her sincerity her cuteness continues.
"Justice, honor, good, evil, what happens on the future or even how many enemies I end making here… I sincerely don't care about any of that if it didn't involve you." You still continuing saying the truth, in the end you are just here because your egoist desire of being with her. "I am devil after all, your own devil in the shoulder."
"…" She tried to open her mouth but no words go out.
Is was so cute that she was so red to respond after that, a tradition that you two shared since some months ago. Just being together and talk until Tonelico falls sleep as you keep guard in the camp, using the excuse of watching you in case you tried to do something evil or weird while the rest was resting.
She just likes this, sleeping in your lap and awake with loving smile, try to dishing you only to fail as her body language and actions shows that she wanted to be spoiled, to heard you repeat the same words of love that knows that are real and sincere… she just wanted to feel loved like this.
Every day just a little more, that was just how you could describe the love that the two of you shared and how much she shared with you.
She was cynical, and closed off as a result of the persecution she faced, in moments of weakness she even admitted that she feels like a witch pretending to be a savior that never cared about anyone else all along.
She is being silly and fatalistic, Tonelico was noble and pure-intentioned despite thinking otherwise you knew that it was the truth.
You would still love her either way.
That was how you were, a truly accepting Sky where your Elements could have a place to belong and didn't care how twisted, horrible or dangerous they could be to you it was just a piece of your World that you always will want to have at your side.
When the morning comes, things will continue as usual as she gives her all with a smile trying her best to keep it as she fights with tooth and nails to save Britain and that was fine with you.
"We need to talk." Wryneck?
"Wryneck?" Okay brain, get back to work.
"I know what you will do and I want to stop you." You already began to hate this conversation, is this the season of 'Get Kane's head out of his ass by drama?'. "Come, we need to talk in private."
"So be it." You replied and mentally prepare to kick ass and then heal furry ass with your flames.
What else could be expected having to kick the ass of one of your few friends in this shitty place called Britain that was how it supposed to be in many plots, the Fae lie say some stupid shit turn each other against their friends and with the power of friendship bonds was something that they liked to use and always failed.
You didn't expect to drink a few barrels of booze with a werewolf who was pretty much tearing up as he had a big jar of beer in his hand.
"I want you to live here, to never return to Underworld, and always fight together as I couldn't imagine an adventure so fun without having you around." Wryneck was just too observant, most of the time a silent shadow…
But also a loyal friend.
"But that isn't going to happen." He admitted with a sad smile. "Do us a favor and don't die or forget about everything… the lives that you changed, the battles lived, the friends made or the sheer rage..."
"Against Fae because fuck them." You interrupted the werewolf.
You two shared a look.
"Fuck them all." You both repeated.
Wryneck smiled and both shared a laugh at that, many memories like this repeated in your mind. Many tales, many words exchanged, laughs through a painful journey that began to turn fun and interesting as you all began to turn the tables in the unfair tale by knowing the truths and context to truly change what would happen.
After some time, Totorot joined and began to pour herself some beer and drink like a sailor.
"Thank you." The pink Fae said with a red face, she had just drank her personal weight on alcohol and still was ready for more.
"For the beer or the Fourth Flavor, the alcohol belongs Wryneck." You replied credit must be given as the Werewolf did know his booze.
"You have been making her happy, a devil is a truly strange species that doesn't make sense." Hypocrite fairy. "Lie, cheat, brutal, self-serving, egoist, greedy, and so many other words that I am too drunk to say while being obsessed with husbandos!"
Wryneck snickered at the last point, yeah laugh you sappy werewolf it's hard to find things in common with Totorot and you mistook her obsession with brides as something similar to what Maria's would talk about and absolutely nobody let the thing rest!
"Buuuuut! Tonelico is happy!" She exclaimed happily. "I have hope, finally will design a bride dress for her!"
…What the freaking…
"I made many of them, look at them! I got so many!" She threw at you some designs and you couldn't help but imagine them on the body of…
Wait, no! Focus Kane! You can contract Totorot's services later. Stop thinking on your harem, these outfits on them and the wedding nights.
"Are you high?" You managed to say it without changing tone or getting a boner.
"A little! I saved some of the good stuff for my personal pleasure and eat it all before coming!" She admitted with a grin on her face. "My friend who doesn't have any bride charm will get married someday!"
Ah, she still didn't know that you will return underworld eventually.
"And I will manage to make multiple wedding dresses for her sister brides too!" Totorot declared while doing a fist up and eyes with fire on them.
Your eyes widened.
"You will come back, we all live long and if a solution doesn't exist we just have to create it by our own effort." The Fairy Knight words were honest and sincere to the point that she was willing to move past temporal sadness.
"She learned that from you." Ector commented and… how the hell he did appear without being noticed? Is his aura of non-importance that strong to rival Bova's?
"Things are different from almost a year ago." Grirm's voice carried on the wind "You changed and we changed, some more than another." Now where was the fucker?
[Close to the trees, trying to look cool]
Grirm was drinking too a few meters away and greeted with a bird, you responded with flickering one as the rest of your friends flickered the double amount as they didn't have to stop a tail from making a mess.
"The others already say all the sappy and emotional stuff." The demigod or nascent deity just didn't care about those things. "Just remember give me a fist bump when you go back to your little place in hell."
Ah, you didn't notice how well they all could notice and understand you as well as you understood them. This wasn't an attempt to berate you or keep you around, this wasn't something caused by a lack of trust or doubting of you… they were just putting trust into each other and you too were part of it.
This was just a way to say goodbye before this adventure ended.
…You are lucky for having find friends like these.
Maybe you should have to expect things to end way harder than they should, since when do you have an easy way of living? Every single year of your life since you had done Walpurgis there has been a life or death battle! Where was your pattern recognition? You always ended in a fight beyond your league with zero genuine possibilities of getting the victory.
Mid-class, High Class, Near Ultimate class, and now a fucking Satan class threat!
"Kane stop bitching and prepare!" Grirm shouted at you and you wanted to punch the bastard more than anything.
"I am going to be a fucking arrow, you dick!" If you weren't bound into a giant spear that was going to be used as an arrow!
Fucking tail! It believes that you will pussy out in this plan of yours!
"So much time without using it that you can't recognize how it looks!" He laughed like a mad man and was as tempting as following it.
Your blood was boiling in presence of a dragon to hunt, and your mouth was moving and twisting into expressions of mad glee no matter how dangerous and insane this idea was as your nature was to hunt dragons and everything else was secondary.
Conceptual Calamity? You had been on an Evil Dragon Raid before. Suicide attempt of this land? Didn't surprise you by meeting the locals. The appearance of a nightmarish creature? You will call Vortigern a too used condom from now onwards.
Because you were a Dragon Slayer and you made yourself into a weapon for the elimination of beings like the Worm of the Abyss.
You needed to be focused, many forbidden spells were turned into runic inscriptions until your body was notable older and Tonelico hit you for casting those spells and being a hypocrite she was holding back that thing to give you this chance, something way worse while Wryneck, Ector and Totorot destroyed the army.
It wasn't a fight now as you could feel how fast the number of enemies was diminishing, just a slaughter for your friends were strong and became even stronger through this year, they trust you if you claim to give them victory.
Your wings were out and ready, Hard Sky flame will cause immediate changes on trajectory by use of your thrusters.
"Prepared to do the biggest unfair bullshit ever made?"
"With two eyes? Please even with a single one I wouldn't never fail." Your best friend boasted and laughing. "If that place wasn't destroyed and broken already I assure you that you will be feasting with the gods after this!"
"Wait what?" What the hell is he talking about.
"Too much talking!" Why were you friends again?
The runes around the spear solidified, a crimson sheen now adorning the night sky, scaled up several fold from its normal size. You didn't care to find how they worked or what effects it has when Grirm began to lift the giant weapon with a single arm and aim, multiple invisible magic circles forming in the process as you used Harmony to add more stability.
The power of Divine upon your flesh, it gave everything to form this union of spear and body as your wings adjusted themselves, this was the final stage of a spell craft so weird and absurd that was a mockery to the reality and represented in your Sky as a giant Tree connecting the different realms of Swamp and Mountain.
You will never admit how utterly gay this feels. You needed to a big titty Forest girlfriend to replace this bond when you had a chance.
[Just think on Tonelico thighs, pantyhose, legs and a blush in her face... you remember why you are going to pull stupid shit today.]
Mental preparations are done and you summoned your crimson shield out preparing to take
You looked up, unafraid as Grirm watched the flying calamity gather power. It was clear it thought this spell wasn't a threat, perhaps unknowing of what it does, but the absolute amount of power it radiated probably causes them to worry if your Harmony didn't keep the different destructive natures from going crazy.
"For the tits of my waifu!" Both of you screamed your battle shout as the metaphorical dice were cast.
The spear moved, faster than one would perceive. An Orange, White, and Crimson line ascended to the sky, jutting out in directions and moving in ways that should be impossible under the laws of the world and reality.
Your body/Spear and bugs collided with as the army was turn into ashes after you passed through them all. There was no epic stalemate, no fighting between powers, a Crimson Devil/Spear moved without any obstacle, the night sky becoming serene once again as the Clouds Biblical plagues dispersed.
The blazing trail that followed was the only way that your presence could be noticed. The speed was just too great even your Intuition could help you keep the control.
As you separated from the world you were a Shooting Star in the blackened sky covered in bugs, dragons with bug like traits or bugs that mutated by draconic energy, it didn't matter more than it was the reason of why you all needed to pull this.
A suicide attempt made by the World and calamity can't be stopped by normal means, it needed something that has a weight, a meaning bigger than it was, a recreation that goes beyond the myth and turn into the weight of something that the whole planet acknowledges as the death and devastation of life so it didn't attempt to stop them.
A metaphysical weight that can't be denied, the weight of what was your title in the supernatural world.
A Meteor that devastates life on the planet.
[No oxygen]
A Meteor that came out of the Terrestrial Atmosphere.
[So dark and cold, fire feels like liquid in how dense it turned]
A Meteor that was going to get a second drive off at full speed as it turned back to the world.
[Ignition prepared and ice was taken into the spear]
A Meteor that is going to impact into the ugly maw of the dragon so big and powerful that was turned into an aiming mark.
[Goodbye motherfucker]
The Shield that you took from Bradamante took the light and darkness that was formed, the sheer heat that was going to consume you into ashes was used to give more power as you began to descend.
"Grirm we are a pair of crazy bastards!" You declared as you impacted.
A last explosion of pure white burning fire and black cold blizzard hit into your eyes as you were send away hundreds of meters as your tail was deep into the flesh of Vortigern giving traction to not send away further and if it gave a dragon an ugly scar in the process then double win.
Your hands and feet joined the tail to stop the momentum.
Half of its face was destroyed, at least 25% of the composition of its body was damaged, for the first time since it came into existence the dragon was hurt in a way that couldn't be denied or stopped. The spear that took so much time into making was destroyed, already vaporized and giving everything to cause a devastation condensed on a single point.
You rise up and began to run through the body of Vortigern tearing through everything as your Dragon Slaying weapon was being prepared as your goal was now just reach the weak point, everything until now was so you could reach this moment and gain the right to slay Vorntigern here and now.
The destruction was your nature as a Bael and treasure seeker of a Gremory called you as you were reaching the reverse dragon of Vortigern, the insects and plague died and fused into Vortigern flesh as the attempts to stop you, with property Harmony enfused your nature as Dragon Slayer not letting it separate parts of itself to avoid your attack.
It was checkmate.
[Your love was no more, not even a body was left after the revenge of the dragon.]
Your weapon was ready, you could feel the weight of the curse, the attack could be unleashed, your Intuition told you that it would kill Vortigern and your duty would be fulfilled, you would consume its flesh and have a claim of the heart, a treasure that was worth more than Ladon's, so valuable that you wanted it so much that your very blood of Gremory and Greed was just salivating at the moment.
Save her.
And you threw it away, your duty, your nature, your bloodlust, everything that made you a dragon slayer or devil of Greed.
You have to protect her.
Tonelico was in danger.
She was going to take the last breath of the dragon.
There weren't any other choices just a single one.
Hundreds of different possibilities moved as you forced your Intuition to search for a way save her no matter what you had to do.
For a second you didn't have Willpower or were alive.
Your flames flickered in a way that left you powerless and then returning to your peak.
The next moment of conscience you were cold and dying.
You were alive.
You were dead.
You were hot.
You were cold.
You feel nothing.
You feel void.
You shifted between zero and zenith.
Your mind was moving around unknowns and fears just to try to pull this bet.
You jumped out and meet face to face to the creature, the calamity chosen to end this world.
You saw the mouth that was a portal to the abyss. Hundreds of eyes, hundreds of mouths, hundreds of wings, hundreds of life forms that made a core and the Heart where all its power resides.
[You never will have another chance to claim it]
'I will not have another chance of seeing her smile if I take it'
You had to protect her.
Seconds feel like hours, the breath weapon of the dragon was being prepared, mana was taken from the entire continent of Britain the formation of a twisted parody of the spirit bomb began to accumulate from the sins, mana and hatred of this world towards its habitants.
You already teleported to the side Tonelico by using the connection you with her.
"Kane?" You didn't saw her face but your tail moves her to your back.
The second that she noticed the buildup of power from the dragon she realized everything and tried to send you away, to save you, using everything in her power make you run from words of beg to curses at how egoist you were acting to even try to break the contract by saying that her wish was completed… she wanted to keep you from sacrifice your life for her.
She was wrong.
This wasn't self-sacrifice.
Your intent was to live through it.
The onslaught of the breath attack was death incarnation, and you can't be capable of fucking rest in peace if she was hurt!
Karma was just a bitch.
Skin layers lost, muscles torn, bones melted… that was how your body was now. The Purification aspect of your flames was working on healing as fast as possible. You survived, the damage was absorbed until the point that wasn't capable of killing you immediately and that was enough to make this a success.
A new research avenue for when you meet Acchan again.
You almost vomited from the sick sensation of having dragon-like power coursing inside you as it's burned up to recharge your emphy reserse as much as possible.
You can't use Ladon End now.
The opportunity was lost.
To save Tonelico, you dammed the world.
[There is still a chance.]
Chance of success?
[0.1%]
You are overqualified.
"We need to reach the pit, is the only chance!" You shouted at your love, thanks to every Egyptian God Card she was safe and healthy.
She understood immediately and summoned the child of Elttil to ride as you weren't in a state to fly, when the flying worm realizes that you both were alive it would pursue and ignore the others as this was turned into something personal instead of duty.
Rocinante the love child of Ector and Elttil was fast, and as much as you don't understand how they managed to conceive there wasn't doubt that it was the fastest horse with the greatest battle since ever. As with minimal input, the shared ride of you and Tonelico began to gallop through everything that Vortigern used to attack them.
Mountains were used as stairs, flying monsters stepped into and used to move through the air using every single one of them as rungs, any frontal resistance was just crushed by the powerful steps or jumped around with a 360.
You will never ask your Intuition for the answer to how Rocinante came to existence but you appreciated him as Tonelico and you were working on healing your body while Rocinante fought.
You knew that you all were reaching into the pit, as you feel what was in the bottom of it.
[Corpse has multitudes of curses. Accumulating for thousands and thousands of years. Destruction of the planet should it awaken is imminent. The 0.1% chance of victory. Revival of Hope.]
"Throw me into the pit." You declared as you began to circulate. "Trust me! We can win just stall the bug with our friends!" Because those morons still followed the dragon to save the three of you.
"I trust you Kane." And with a spell, you were teleported away from the horse to the middle of the pit.
More than being surprised by her magic you just dive-bombed into the deeps as the goal of this bet showed himself.
The crimson shield in your arm began to react to the darkness and curses of the pit as you began to be hit by the accumulation of sins and residual emotions of the Fae that the corpse was still accumulating even now.
[Sink your growing fangs into the light of the future!]
The chant of your shield began to form in reaction to the God's corpse that once tried to save everyone before it was ultimately poisoned by those very same abominations that it tried to protect.
[Devour the darkness of the past filled with despair!]
You rejected this twisted tale, you were a villain but respect the will of the Hero that was still fighting, still trying to save them all as the death itself was just so damn infuriating where was his own self-worth!
[Burst with ambition!]
Nobody exists just for others! They need their own reason to live!
"Cernunnos!" You impacted into the big head, your Flames of Purification hit the self-sacrificing moron to awake him.
"Be greedy, be hungry, be egoist, be spiteful, be hateful, be unwilling to bend." You hit him, again and again, every time injecting more and more of your feeling and flames at his flesh. "This negative feeling is proof of those that haven't surrendered."
He wasn't completely dead, the fucking idiot just thinks that is better this way and you have to show him a better way as your shield took the darkness into the flames.
You took into yourself more of the curses, your flames Harmonized with them, and you understood more and more about the desire of Cernunnos to neversurrender when the world ended. To keep taking the deserved punishment because he couldn't allow this world ends no matter how painful it was, no matter if he couldn't rest.
You didn't purify yourself, you didn't let the fucking fae consume you, you didn't let any remains beat you as you forced more power into Purification.
"But more than anything you have to live and make sure that your own happiness matters!" You will not let this to continue as your flames were stopping of burning. "Live and be capable of laughing, live and have friends, live and enjoy yourself, live and make sure that the world continues moving." Everything done today was taking a toll on your mind, body, and soul.
You will not give up. Foolish as this is, you want him to live because you couldn't be capable of rest in peace if Tonelico, Grirm, Ector, Totorot, and Wryneck are still fighting. You wanted this big guy to fight too
Why do you fight?
"More than my life. I am way more fearful that all my friends dying after putting their trust in me!" You admitted that you didn't care if the voice was just your tired mind, this hope was just what you need. "Please, Cernunnos. I want to be greedy and egoist, so… help me save the world again!"
The shield stopped taking everything into itself, cracks formed into your arm as the fuel was injected into your reserve, your wing thrusters exploded with power as transparent flames through the darkness and shadows of the pit were erased by the small torches, and your tail connections shine like stardust the sheer heat didn't consume or melted your stomach as the injection came from the super-heated tip into the corpse.
One, two, three… twenty seconds passed but nothing came. You snuffed a roar as you began to another recharge, you didn't care about anything else than doing this inverse Jebus thing that you took from angelic fanfiction.
A loud rumbling inside the Pit was heard before the land started shaking stopping you completely, the shaking was so strong that you had to use your tail to get support in one of the horns of Cernunnos to not fail off.
Then you noticed them.
Flames, the transparent flames of Purification moving through the body of the God like a cataclysm, cracks continuously were forming through the sea curses that covered the body and from there flames were coming not only your Orange and Transparent ones but also Red-ish Brown and Grey-purplish ones.
A giant, round, and furry creature with horns popped out of the Pit, and at the top is where you still were.
Ignoring the laws of how big things are slower than the smallest insects this God rises from the deeps of the earth faster than a mecha in an anime. You wanted to laugh at how ridiculously small things looked from this height.
Even Vortigern looked like a mosquito now… shit you were too far.
You are so tiny and kind, you really wanted to help.
"Don't make mistakes I am just too greedy to let you keep all that! Big Guy I wanted to save you, I wanted to save my friends, I wanted to save Britain for Tonelico." It was just about things that you wanted to do. Never about what others need from you.
Then we are friends?
"You bet it fluffy, lets's save the world." You accepted it and pointed at the biggest bitch of this world.
Cernunnos moved, you didn't blind but there wasn't a world-shaking in his steps. He moved and you didn't feel or noticed, the World was encroaching the distance was a choice for Cernunnos as just a single step was enough to cross through every distance on this plane for the giant God just could do what it desired without anyone being capable of stopping this Titan amount the Deities.
The flames that you gave him, weren't needed just an extra amount of power that was excess.
He didn't need it.
But Cernunnos showed you the peak that you should aim to reach.
You barely saw him fight… no, Cernunnos didn't need to fight now, he was just showing you now the strength and might of the Will that goes beyond the grasp of Death itself.
The army that was formed was crushed by the strength of gravity increasing on so many folds that the world just stopped moving as the entire magnetic field was focused on just a single part of it. It was strong, so strong that time itself was distorted, you saw what would happen in thousands of years when just an instant passed out of it.
The flying Calamity wasn't one, it became part of the world as the Petrication consumed its body when the existence of this dragon Harmonized with the world. The ugliest of all statues just fell to the ground and fractured into thousands of pieces, there wasn't any single gram of life as it was already part of everything and in comparison, Vortigern existence ended by being eaten by the world that it tried to consume.
The corrupted air was cleaned, poison, sins, corruption, damage, old injuries, even beyond the lands of Britainn the Purification reached as nothing could stop this choice. The power that could be used to heal or kill was used to give a second chance to everyone, a chance to be better, and a chance to make sure that the choices of others never happened.
The kindness of the Nature God spread through the land, his feeling his emotions, and his Will was so strong that by asking the reality fell to its knees and obeyed. He was the one, he was who decided to throw away the rulebook and make this world understand it.
Cernunnos change the world.
And you laughed so hard that you fell from his body.
You managed to change your clothes, the injuries were just a scratch in comparison to what they were thanks to Cernunnos's sheer strength healing you out of pure presence. Fluffy just took what was your Pillar trait and made it his own but you couldn't really feel bad about it when this guy was just so damn nice and even gave you a boon and favor!
"You are cursed." Tonelico told you.
You checked yourself, yes you were but the sheer amount wasn't really affecting you. The origin from the sins was something that devils bathe into, the grudges were balanced by your Harmony, the feelings from the Fae that became recorded into the curses feared Purification and finally, your magical resistance took care of the rest to protect yourself from the mosquito size attacks that continued trying to consume you.
So you flexed your Harmony to grasp every one of them, grip them from the metaphorical throat, and then forced them into your hand. Purification came soon after the individuality of the sets, the differences were just being eliminated one by one, and the personalities and desires that were so different became a singularity.
Harmony and Purification worked to form the accumulation into a semi-physical sphere of everything that was wrong in Britain.
And then you eat it.
"Why this doesn't surprise me." Tonelico deadpanned.
"Is a rare opportunity to consume a rare treat." You could also keep them around to learn even more but Tonelico was going to hit you in the back of the head for doing something stupid.
You saw the land of Britain healing for the first time in so many years, and through it all Tonelico accompanied you, beautiful flowers growing to every single extent of Britain, it was such thing that pictures or words wouldn't give true justice to what you were watching.
Cernunnos you are the best wingman!
"It's truly over?" There was just something in her voice but...
You looked at the sky, it was truly blue so different from before and so peaceful it was so different from the one in Britain almost a year ago and the one where you were born.
But you can't say that you couldn't enjoy watching it now.
"Yeah, I think that the adventure finally came to an end." You smiled at this end, it was a mess and much more harder than it should be because Vortigern couldn't accept its death. "Fluffy can you take us where are the adorable bastards of our friends?"
"Kane!" Why is she…? Ah, she doesn't know how cool is Cernunnos.
The world just moved once more and the four idiots were moved towards you all, too much thinking was needed to understand how Fluffy can do that and you are just too tired, stunned by bullshit, and just too high in the 'Hail, Satan we survived this apocalypse'. It was much better if you just don't care about what happens in the surroundings of almighty fluffiness so he could finally rest.
And that you did, a bro fist with Grirm as you just talked on manly things like food, weapons, and women. Just bro stuff as Fluffy brought the things of their camp too, so everyone could get shitfaced and just relax as with Cernunnos around things were safe enough to just rest, and you were 79% sure that your best friend left a magical tattoo somewhere in your body when you were sleeping before this battle.
Elttil was celebrating with Ector and Rocinante, and the less you knew about it the better for your mental heal. You hope that you aren't bringing a pregnant familiar back to the underworld, Rocinante can live in Britain as he was just too important for Tonelico and gives you nightmares about his conception.
Wryneck was having a religious experience that was just him gapping at Fluffy as his brain blue screened and then trying to communicate and ask questions to his God… sadly Fluffy has a speech problem and was feeling incredibly awkward and flustered at this sort of attention.
Totorot and Tonelico were doing girl stuff and you decided to just allow them to do their stuff.
You had some panties to steal.
It wasn't until the night that you made your attempt to complete one of the things that you added to your list of things to do before getting into the headship. Once that happens your free time will be a thing of the past and if you didn't take this set of panties now who knew when you will get another chance of getting a treasure like this.
A national treasure that only the greatest Wisemen and Wisewomen with the greatest minds only could appreciate like Sera-nee.
"Tail use Coil attack!" A voice ordered and your Tail once again betrayed you and began to hit you.
"How?" You had to ask, your plans were perfect!
"I know you Kane, I know that you wouldn't resist a fresh taken Panties." The ufufufufu of Tonelico laughing at you didn't distract you from the truly important stuff.
Is she?
[No]
Damn it! A pantiless Tonelico that was still using pantyhose was a sexy image.
"You really loved me." Tonelico began to say with a short laugh at her own foolishness. "I suppose that it was obvious I only refused to accept it."
"I do love you." You said with a smile as you finally managed to make your tail uncoil. "I am a lot like the Fae, I will never be a human, I will never be satisfied by what others consider enough, I will never change because I am ambitious like that."
You rise to your feet and just enjoyed a hug with her, this may be your last chance as the contract was completed. It feels so fitting that the person that truly acknowledged her was a God, as she was just that amazing.
"I always will be loving you. Forever and ever, because that is how I am." You were a greedy man, and your feelings will be like this. "Nobody can take anybody's place, there isn't a person in this… on every world that could take your place in my heart, it doesn't matter if they were based on you or have the same face."
You made a correction because of the parallel worlds, who knows if you could fall in love with another like her.
"I just know that I will love you more than everyone else Tonelico." You just wanted to tell her this, she will always be the best in your heart amount everyone that was like her.
"That is how you are, a stupid, selfish, suicidal, inconsiderate, cruel, ruthless, shameless, massive ego, superiority and inferiority complex, pervert, airhead…" She said hitting you like an arrow in the dick.
As she continued you feel more and more hits into self-stem, Tonelico was just too merciless sometimes and you love it when that was aimed at you.
"And still you managed to steal my heart." And then she stole a kiss from you.
"Kane I love you!"
You just were too stunned as you finally returned to Underworld.
She looked at the place where Kane disappeared, she truly was an idiot to just wait until the last moment. Truly was a pity that she realized when it truly was too late
"I am going to find him again." She promised to herself.
"You will be a beautiful bride." Totorot supported her.
"Dibs on being the best man!" It was obvious that Grirm would just destroy the ambient, she wanted to mourn her missed chances Root damn it!
"Fuck off Grirm I claim that." Wryneck just drop-kicked the sage and claimed the place for himself.
"Is obvious that I am the most responsible for that duty." Ector just joined the brawl like a madman using violence to get the place too with Rocinante help as the horse was doing a full nelson on Grirm.
Once she saw Cernunnos trying to join the competition to have the best man place in her supposed wedding was when she finally lost it and began to laugh at how ridiculous was this situation with a God putting a finger over your friends.
She laughed, as the tears came from her face.
When your eyes adjusted again is when you noticed that nothing in the room that you used changed after a year. Possibilities passed through your mind for reasons to this, there was even traces of dust to show how much time passed.
Was it even real that year?
The sky was similar to the one that you remembered, but you feel nostalgia and pain.
No… Everything that you feel and the experiences were real because this love that you feel was one that was so sincere and strong that it couldn't be an illusion born of your imagination so your will was forced into this world.
A flame, so transparent so strong, and refined born from the experiences to kill, to save, to fight, to change the script.
The power of Purification.
You didn't hold back anymore and just began to let your feelings as this sadness was just too strong to endure.
"Are you crying?" It almost feels too fitting that you were found so shortly after your return but Luck wasn't something that belonged to only you.
"Hey, dad have you failed on piecing someone?" You said, it was hard to admit, it was hard to say words now as your father embrace you.
A tear-stained face, you still tried to smile with it but failed as you could only grieve at how things ended being happy of having loved so much and sad that she isn't here now without a way to meet again, until you were out of them your tears will keep going and then it would be time to be moving forward.
You still had many things that you wanted to do.
You will meet Tonelico again, you didn't know what you wanted to truly do but just want to see her again.
You will laugh with Grirm at the stupid crap that passed through the shared brain cell of the two and then share the same punishment as it comes to bite you both.
You will trick Wryneck into eating your special candy and party like crazy before he recovers and tries to kick your ass before he admits that it was fun.
You will talk to Ector and let him borrow your familiar as both of them try to make crimes that will make others just move away slowly with awkward smiles.
You will ask Totorot for the most beautiful bride outfits that she could design and convince her to give you a suit that fits you.
You will smile when the time comes but not now.
Tears are handy for washing away troubling and sad feelings, you learned that there are things so sad, they can never be washed away by tears, and people who are truly strong laugh when they want to cry. They endure all of the pain and sorrow while laughing with everybody else… And so you will cry, in the embrace of your father now because when you meet her again you don't want to cry.
You will be crying now because you will not have a chance tomorrow, today… you just don't want to be strong and just be the child who misses his friends.
Note: I declare Moritarum, don't vote until Tomorrow after I awake. You all were absurdly lucky got so much shit and way better than expected on the background rolls. So choke on your rewards, and go on civil war.
Trait Gained:
Purification Lv 3: To be added when I have inspiration.
The Calamity Beyond Sky: You took the choice of adding to yourself the Weight of a Catastrophe to kill an enemy that couldn't be killed by any means on the planet. And so you took the History of World Ending Calamity to get the requirements to kill without the Laws of the World stopping you, as you were beyond them for an instant your namesake became the truth. The Meteor that Ended all the Life on Earth... that is the Catastrophe that you now symbolized. If is alive, if it exist, if they walked or fly on the planet... nothing of that matters because you are just the end of all that without matter if they couldn't die by normal means as you aren't normal by any means now.
Cernunnos's Boon:
To Truly Breath Alongside the World: A second ago you were calm, a second ago everything was silent, a second ago you were thinking that only Muspelheim was where you could truly communicate with... you were ignorant of how the world truly worked. In their most passive state, it was being too loud and everyone could hear and feel how it connects with every living being... it's only that they get used to those sounds and tells that it ended up becoming white noise. But now you were reminded by Cernunnos that every world was alive and living is always a dance of two.
Tengan: A Mystic Eye ability that permits the resolution of the desired result as "inevitable," by way of committing the entirety of the user's existence to the act of achieving the outcome. Cernunnos saw the invisible connection of Luck and Hyper Intuition, his boon allowed you to define an event that you want to succeed and triggers all possible methods and means available in the surroundings for the elaboration of the most succeful result toward a particularly positive outcome by canceling the concept of failure or improving odds of a Lucky Critical result.
Trait Advanced:
Adept Cursemeister Master Cursemeister: You are a fucking monster, reach this level at your age? Hell, you should consume more souls! Okay... maybe not, but three different aspects of the curses baby! Self, Forbidden, and Enhancing, for the trinity of Training/Fighting/Equipment. Even better you can make sex toys with Ettil too! What? You need all the help that you could get Shelia is insatiable and you can't be a true Evil Lord without having bondage that drains the energy of Magical Girls!
Harmony lv2 Harmony Lv 3: You began to notice that Harmony can go outside the confines of your flesh. The energy of others can be Harmonized, the effects of the surroundings can be affected, there are many pieces that can work together in ways that you didn't even imagine, and if you used your power correctly maybe there is a way so you don't get Vortigern'ed... heh.
Shapeshift Tyrant Wings/Tail: Another step, another weapon to use, another form of your true self has been manifested into the world, an overly complicate extremity that is long, flexible, and very tough so could function as a whip and a spear without problems and still work as a cooling system so you don't cremate yourself by accident, apparently it also posses ganglions small brains in every part of it so even if its torn apart it could still move for a while and connect itself back to your body.
