"ALRIGHT!" Serenity beamed as she clambered out of her cabin and took a pair of binoculars, holding them up to her face and pointed her eyes to the island. True enough, she could see the whirling storm of ice and frosted air facing off against hordes of uncountable blades. It would appear that both Celestine and Emi Aidou were now evenly matched. "Kick that crazy bitch's ass!" Serenity shouted.


"Whoa!" Henry and Ganju blinked as the felt the rumbling of the battle above. "Was that Emi?"

"Seems she finally activated Blood Drive." Ganju nodded. "She always struggled with it during training."

"Seems all the girl needed was something to piss her off real good." Serenity said in their ears. "Cold rage is often scarier than one that's so explosive."

"I know that feeling all too well…" Henry nodded, having borne the brunt of her tantrums due to interrupted sleep.

"Brat, that's just her kidding around." Serenity said, almost gleefully. "This one feels way deeper than before. Just be sure that the next time you make her mad, she isn't holding Diamond Edge. I guarantee you that you'll likely stay an ice sculpture forever. Now then, don't you two numbskulls have a laboratory to blow up? Shut the hell up and get going!"

"Yeah. We are almost there." Ganju said as he raised his axe against three Wretchlings that now charged at him. The red crystals appeared again, cleanly bashing their heads off in a single swing. Now he stared at the Nightfiend that led the small pack, noticing its gaping mouth glowing. Ganju slammed the axe down, dragging it across the floor and upheaving the ground in front of him, rocks forming a shield against the blast of fire.

The rocks crumbled, and now Henry dashed through them, Mirage flashing as he swung, cutting through the Nightfiend's throat. The phantom blade followed up, slicing through even deeper, followed by a second one that cleanly decapitated the beast, its body falling to the ground, twitching.

"Well, at least Nightfiends don't appear to be a threat to us for now." Ganju nodded. "But let's not let down our guard. If Emi is dealing with that Celestine, then I'm certain our two friends will be coming for us too."

"Well, let us just hope we can get our task done before that ever happens."


"HRRAAAAAAARGH!" Sergei roared as he smashed his hammer downward on a trio of vampire warriors who challenged him, splitting their bodies apart. Beside him Hugo struck through a few Wretchlings, fluidly twirling his lance to strike at different opponents coming at him.

"Mon amie, conserve your strength." Hugo warned. "I'm certain we will soon encounter our friends from the Alaska laboratory."

"Gragh!" Sergei grumbled. "So annoying! I'd rather crush everything!"

"Yes yes, I understand." Hugo sighed, rubbing his temple. "Just be patient. I'm sure things will work out eventually."

Sergei huffed. "So where is this laboratory?"

"Perhaps deeper." Hugo answered. "Only one way to find out." The Executor now ventured toward a door at the end of the room. Before he knew it however, the door swung open to reveal Ganju and Henry. The two vampires stopped short the minute they saw the Executors, who reacted similarly.

"Gah, crap…" Ganju sighed as he hefted his axe.

"Well, well." Hugo twirled his lance. "Une telle fortune. Seems we needn't search much longer."

"Yes!" Sergei growled with glee. "Finally, my prey is here!"

"Seems it will have to be the showdown we've been expecting." Henry breathed as he raised his swords. "Don't get careless Ganju."

"Like I have a choice in that." Ganju breathed as he raised the axe. "I promised Gabriella I'd marry her after this…"

"Wait, what?" Henry blinked. "Dude, that is a hell of a death flag!"

"Can't believe you actually believe that crap." Ganju sighed. "You are waaaay too superstitious about these things!"

"You should take more care before you say them!" Henry argued back. "You can't promise everything you know!?"

"Well, I just did!" Ganju retorted. "I promised her, she promised me, okay?"

"Then that goes double!" Henry yelled back. "What on earth were you both thinking!?"

"Hey, we just decided we didn't want any more regre-". Ganju barely finished before Sergei and Hugo rushed at them, weapons raised with murder in their eyes. The two Executors struck as one, blowing away the ground around the impact site of their weapons.

Then, just as Hugo was about to recover, he felt something at the side of his head. Instantly he drew his head back, as the red blade crossed his field of view. Simultaneously, Sergei appeared to be smacked backward away from their targets. Hugo instinctively jumped back, raising his spear. Then, a stinging sensation appeared on his cheek, along with something warm. Touching it, he looked to see his fingers covered in blood, now feeling a gash that stretched from his jaw to just below his right eye.

"Incroyable." Hugo remarked as the two vampire knights emerged, seemingly unscathed.

"Word of warning, underestimate us at your own peril." Ganju grunted as he hefted his axe.

"We aren't the same as we were back then." Henry nodded as he raised his katanas for the fight.

Sergei growled as he stood up and joined Hugo. "So Hugo, it seems we will have fight after all."

"Indeed." Hugo nodded. "I wonder if it means we will need to go all out this time."

"Hehehe…" Sergei grinned. "Good… Too long since I had a good fight."

Ganju and Henry watched as the two Executors raised their weapons, readying themselves.

"Well, still think I wasn't right about those death flags?" Henry asked.

"Guess we will soon find out." Ganju replied as their battle began.


Shinji huffed as he decapitated another Wretchling, before swiftly moving to strike at a Brute the followed up behind it. With a quick throw, he embedded the sickle into the Brute's eye. The Brute roared in anger as Shinji sent multiple shocks right through its head, all the while executing a pivoting swing on the Brute.

The creature flailed as Shinji launched himself off, twirling the weighted chain at the end as he dived at a group of Helsing troops. As he landed, he slammed the chain down. A burst of electricity exploded from the impact and shocked the Helsing troops into submission.

Shinji breathed as he twirled, slicing the Brute's neck open. The Paragon beast gurgled as it struggled to stand, only to slump over lifelessly. Ever since he broke away from Emi to support other troops all around, it has been one chaotic fight after another.

He was honestly worried for a while when the Third Executor attacked Emi, but watched in awe as Emi successfully activated Blood Drive. He could see now that the two appeared evenly matched, with Emi launching salvo after salvo of frozen attacks at the Executor. While he had the urge to help, he wasn't sure if he could survive the freezing temperatures around Emi. There was after all a warning from Serenity that if things went as intended, it was quite likely that Emi could freeze someone to death just by being near them. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't.

Thus, he believed he was better off doing other things, such as thinning out the opposing forces. He had already gone through plenty of Paragon beasts and a few straggling troops from Helsing. Whilst the queen and Grandmaster Ren had the ship on siege, he was more than certain many troops had made it off, especially the Executors.

Shinji wondered exactly what an Executor was like. So far, amongst his friends he was the one who hadn't directly encountered any of them. Whilst he could count his luck that he hadn't faced any directly, it also meant he was completely inexperienced to what they could do. He wondered exactly how he would face one when the moment presented itself.

Guttural roars broke him out of his mental monologue. He turned and saw a trio of Brutes bearing down on him, with a few Darkcallers above and another winged monster with four arms; a Nightfiend.

Quickly, he slit open his palm with the sickle, allowing blood to flow. Gripping the chain with all his might, he allowed the blood to flow down to the iron weight at the end, feeling it coagulate in the process as electricity conducted its way through it. Quickly, he swung the chain in arcs before him, the coagulating blood launching off the weight like electrified bloody slugs that smashed through the Paragon beasts unfortunate enough to charge at him.

The Nightfiend now roared, diving at him with razor sharp claws. Shinji quickly leapt backwards, simultaneously swinging the sickle upward and slashing the Nightfiend's jaw. The beast growled as bony blades emerged from its arms, wielding them like wrist blades against him. Shinji was forced to stay quick on his feet as he dodged the monster's quad blades whilst trying to find an opening for a counter-attack.

The beast swiped from his left, forcing him to flip over it. As he did, he torqued his body and let loose Scarlet Rend, allowing the sickle and chain to spread out wildly as he spun. The weight now smashed through one of the blades, continuing to strike the Nightfiend in its head while the sickle now sliced through another hand, leaving a severed stump.

Shinji landed, gathering the weapon close to him as he braced for the Nightfiend's next assault. The creature roared and charged him again. Just as it was about to reach him however, a black flash darted past, and instantly the Nightfiend was bisected into two.

Shinji blinked amidst the shower of the Paragon beast's blood. He now looked to the figure that had just arrived; the interrupter of his fight. He appeared old, with the graying hair. However, Shinji knew he was strong, the size of the scythe a testament to that. From his briefings with Rodin, he knew exactly who this was.

"Hagan…" He breathed. "The Second Executor."

"Yes, you definitely should know me by now, considering Rodin is quite a close ally to you all." Hagan nodded as he turned to face the Vampire Knight. "And you are Shinji Shiki, one of the closest vampires to the Kuran prince. I suppose I couldn't ask for a better opponent at this time."

Shinji kept his distance, alert for the slightest movement. Out of all the Executors to meet, he just had to meet the second strongest. Besides his own replacement, the top two Executors were the main ones that Rodin had very little information about since they rarely took to the battlefield. All he could say about Hagan was that he was their best strategist, and that the last time he fought it was against over fifty vampires. That battle had ended within seconds.

"I was trying to imagine what it would take to get you to come out." Shinji said. "If you have taken to the field, I assume it means Helsing has committed everything to this?"

"All our main enemies are gathered here." Hagan nodded. "It is fitting that we also give our all."

Shinji now glanced quickly to the warship that was being ripped apart by Queen Ai and Grandmaster Ren. He turned back to Hagan, but saw there was no need. It seemed the elderly man didn't intend to catch him by surprise any further. "And you are willing to sacrifice that vessel? I'm certain it would have done more against us if you didn't let our queen and grandmaster go wild upon it."

"Oh, it has done enough." Hagan nodded as he pulled out a strange device from his pocket. Without a word, his thumb pressed down on the red button on it.

Wait, it can't be!? Shinji turned to see the ship now erupt into a massive fireball, cinders and debris raining down upon the surrounding vessels as the sky lit with the full force of the explosion.

"A shame." Hagan noted. "I did like the room they made for me aboard that ship."

Shinji stayed silent, his fingers gripping the chains harder till they began to shudder. After a deep breath, he finally spoke. "I know it sounds completely pointless, but I just want to ask, why do what you do? Why do these terrible things? Why sacrifice and murder innocent people?"

"Murderers?" Hagan frowned. "That is how you see us hmmm? Tell me, how are we murderers when we kill monsters and animals?"

"What?" Shinji replied, sharply turning to Hagan.

"How many vampires we have killed doesn't compare to the number of humans your kind has murdered over the course of history." Hagan replied. "We are simply doing what should have been done ages ago; to see your kind extinct once and for all."

"So is that why you kill those whose hands are clean of human blood?" Shinji growled. "Back in Roseland, you even targeted civilians, innocent people! Even humans who sided with them weren't spared!"

"There are no innocents among your kind." Hagan replied coldly. "And humans who side with you betray their very right to exist in the world. No vampire can be allowed to live, and neither can their allies."

Shinji breathed, focussing himself. "Who was it then?" The young knight now asked the Executor. "Who did my kind kill amongst your family that made you like this?

"My siblings." Hagan replied coldly. "I remember how the vampires appeared to savour their deaths, like wolves after a hunt. I decided then that I would be the one to hunt your kind to extinction, see if you knew what it was like to be the prey instead." He then raised the scythe, the eerie red eye gazing at Shinji. "And with this power, it shall be done."

Shinji chuckled, shaking his head.

"Thus becoming what you despised…" Shinji answered, causing Hagan to stop in his tracks.

"Maybe you wanted justice at first." Shinji said. "But then, you lost sight of that, replacing it with revenge and hatred." Hagan didn't move, so Shinji merely continued. "It began the minute you decided it was fine to spill the blood of innocent people. It began the minute you went from killing just vampires to killing humans who sided with them too."

"Say what you will Hagan, but you are nothing but a murderer." Shinji continued as he readied his weapons. "You say we are monsters and animals, but you are far lower than that. I wonder what your siblings would think, seeing you this way now."

Faster than he could blink, the Executor rushed at Shinji, who barely raised his weapon in time to defend himself. The scythe vibrated heavily against the chain, sending painful shivers down Shinji's fingers as he leapt away, loosening the lock and disengaging. The scythe sliced through the earth, carving a huge gouge into the ground.

"I grow tired of hearing you speak." Hagan raised his scythe as a cold glare crossed his face. "I will see to it that your death will not be a pleasant one."


Within gigantic vats, various Paragon monsters twitched and writhed as they were hoisted onto various machines, being transported away to different rooms. Some were being released, snarling as the liquid was drained out and now being sent toward the battlefield above.

Romanoff huffed as he ran back and forth, overseeing the evacuation of the different beasts. With the assault taking place, Lord Mortis had commanded him to extricate with various Paragon creatures to their backup labs to ensure their production could continue. Silently, he cursed at the immense amount of paperwork he had to do. He was mainly an overseer, not someone who could handle physical exertion for an extended time. Even less so was being a fighter

"How long is this supposed to even take…" Romanoff grumbled as he watched the next batch be offloaded. "And when in blazes am I to evacuate? The castle has already been breached and everything is just going so slow!"

Behind, his Death Bringer guards simply stayed silent as he and the various staff ran about in their work. Romanoff sighed internally, wishing that the guards meant to protect him would actually work toward making him feel safe. Not just stand there like statues.

BOOM!

The sudden sound made everyone stop and turn their heads up. It seemed even the Death Bringer guards seemed to have snapped out of their silent trance and readied their weapons.

BOOM! BANG BOOM!

It appeared the sound was coming from somewhere nearby. Instantly, Death Bringer guards rushed to the entrance to the labs, weapons ready to confront any intrude that would come.

"Dammit all." Romanoff sniffled, grabbing his handkerchief. "Hurry up already! The guards will buy us as much time as possible, but we must evacuate Lord Kraven's specimens immediately! Forget tallying them, just take a few different types and get them loaded!"

Suddenly, a massive explosion tore through the roof of the room. Everyone turned upward to see rubble now crash around, smashing various tanks and crushing their contents. Even some vampires were not spared, being flattened by huge slabs of concrete and metal that descended upon them.

"What the devil!?" Romanoff exclaimed as he ran out to view the carnage. Immediately, a powerful burst of energy exploded from inside the dust cloud, burning through the unfortunate vampires unlucky enough to be caught in its path. He watched as a person burst from the dust, holding two katanas that glimmered red. Pursuing him was a man with a morbid looking spear and black markings along his face and neck. Every thrust of the spear was accompanied by blasts of energy that destroyed everything around.

Then something caused the floors to crack and buckle apart. Two more figures now jumped out, one with a giant axe and another with a hammer that pulsed with a sinister looking eye.

"Don't just stand there!" Romanoff roared to the Death Bringer guards. "Do something!" At once, the guards ran off to handle the commotion. Romanoff frantically rushed around, aiming to complete his work as a war broke through the labs.


Shinji felt another gash on his leg. He gritted his teeth in pain as he flung his sickle toward the elderly Executor. Hagan merely pulled his scythe back, the sickle glancing harmlessly off the tang. However, Shinji immediately swung the chain at him, the force of his blow knocking Hagan away; the shockwave kicking up dirt.

Hagan spun away from the blow, quickly shifting his grip and allowing the scythe to extend toward Shinji. Shinji immediately torqued, barely avoiding the Bloodbane weapon.

"Impressive." Hagan nodded. "You have good reflexes and instincts, not to mention your combat prowess is incredibly polished. I daresay you are the strongest one besides the Pureblood whelp."

"Someone has to watch his back." Shinji huffed, ignoring the various wounds across his body that refused to heal.

"Indeed." Hagan nodded as he hefted the scythe again in a single hand. "However, I fear that won't be enough to save you today." The Executor now closed his eyes, though his fingers tightened around his weapon. Upon the tang, a red eye now opened upon and dozens of black tendrils snaked out from around it, travelling to Hagan's hand and stabbing into the flesh.

Instantly, the scythe morphed, the blade now turning from smooth to serrated, as if it was now adorned with fangs. The large eye pulsed and widened, growing fiercer and more sinister while two curved spines grew out upwards from the tang. The handle now pulsed red as it appeared to lengthen, curved spikes now protruding from the base. Hagan himself also changed, black lines now crossing the facial features, with some black now appearing on his greying hairs.

Shinji watched as his Blood Drive transformation was complete. Hagan stood menacingly, the unnaturally large scythe firm in his grip as he readied the blade for combat. "Guess this is when you pull out the stops eh?"

"Consider this my way of saying that I intend for you to die here." Hagan said. "Now then vampire, I wonder what will be your last thought when you die."

With that, Hagan attacked once more. This time however, Shinji was not prepared for the speed and power by which he struck. He barely had time to react before the scythe blade crashed down upon him.


Ganju huffed, hefting the axe in his hand. Thanks to its powers, he was capable of holding Sergei off for longer. But even he knew there was a limit to what it could do. He had one trump card, and he needed time to use it.

He looked around, noticing the various lab equipment all over. This, he reasoned, was their primary target. However, right now Sergei was a more dangerous enemy. He would have to focus on fighting the Executor first before completing his mission.

The Executor stepped out, grinning in anticipation. Sergei in his Blood Drive was already dangerous enough, but he never would have expected the level of endurance from him. It was likely he could have gone fighting for years and not break a sweat.

"Come now vampire! Do not disappoint me!" Sergei now lifted the hammer, and instantly the rubble all around started to float toward the hammer.

That again! Ganju sprinted to his feet just as Sergei started to swing the hammer. As he pivoted toward Ganju's direction, the rubble floating around the hammer's head careened toward him, the projectiles now smashing apart anything they hit. He had already heard tales of Sergei's weapon from Serenity, utilising gravity pulses to use the rubble from Sergei's melee as projectiles weapons. While it was scarcely a way to kill vampires, the speed they came out was more than enough to grievously injure even a Pureblood.

A gust of air now blasted through the room, threatening to send him to his feet. Ganju turned to see Hugo and Henry duelling. With every thrust of his lance, the Executor turned the very air into a weapon, gusts of wind slicing through even metal and concrete. Thankfully, Henry was able to parry the blows, but even Ganju could see how it was taxing him.

"Come my friend." Hugo spoke over the clamour. "I hope you will give me a fight I won't soon forget." Henry said nothing back, instead redoubling his attacks. Hugo merely sighed and parried them, as if losing interest before launching quick slashes in succession, pushing Henry away and drawing blood.

"I hope you can do more." Hugo remarked. "Seeing those new weapons, Sergei and I hoped that you'd put up a better fight. Now I am not so sure."

"Give us five minutes." Ganju huffed. "We'll show you something then."

"Sadly, I have no intention of letting you have an advantage over us." Hugo replied. "We intend to succeed today, considering the last two times victory eluded us."

"Hah, then don't complain that we aren't putting up a fight." Henry smirked. "It's a waste of all our time."

Hugo glared. "Very well, it seems I ought to do my utmost to kill you now."

"You weren't before Hugo?" Sergei bellowed. "How shameful."

"Silence mon amie." Hugo snapped. "My weapon hungers, and I have decided to make the one in glasses its next meal."

"You really had to egg him on, didn't you?" Ganju sighed.

"Hey, you were probably thinking the same thing." Henry said as he readied his swords again. "Any way we can give ourselves some breathing room?"

"Ourselves, not quite." Ganju said. "I have an idea, but you are going to have to be quick about it."

"Wait, what are you planning? Don't tell me you're going to tank them both?" Henry blinked. "You've seen how tough they are."

"I know." Ganju nodded. "But we don't have much of a choice."

"If you two are done talking, we have a fight to finish." Hugo said as he twirled his weapon. Sergei merely grinned as he stalked forward, the hammer loose in his grip.

"Too bad." Ganju said. "It's not going to be a fight anymore. Soon, it's going to be a mosh pit."

The two Executors cocked their heads in confusion, wondering what he meant. Soon enough though, the answer was clear.

A loud roar reverberated through the lab. The Executors now looked as a number of Paragon beasts and Death Bringer troops converged on them all, rifles flaring whilst Wretchlings and Brutes stormed their way past into melee.

As the Executors responded, Ganju braced his hands on the axe, the weapon now cutting his hand and causing his blood to coat the axe head. Once the weapon was coated, he struck the ground, the blood now crystalising around Henry.

"Hey! The hell are you doing?" Henry yelled.

"Giving you an opening!" Ganju gritted his teeth as he cleaved apart a Wretchling that attacked from behind. "Now hurry up, or this time you'll be really scraping me off the floor!"

That irresponsible meathead! Henry growled as the crystals grew and encased him. He seriously wants to tank all that! Henry immediately stopped, realising that the only way for him to survive was for his attempt at Blood Drive to succeed.

Pinning all this on me, you imbecile! Henry gritted his teeth and braced his swords, remembering his training with Rodin. It took a while, but he managed to understand the sensation that was necessary to know it was working.

Slowly, he poured his power into the weapon, feeling the blades thrum and vibrate with power. He grunted as he slowly fuelled it more and more, the strain now causing a burning sensation to fill his body.


"Woah what?" Serenity blinked as she monitored the screens. "I'm getting a reaction from Mirage?" Then, an instant later, another reading caught her eye. "Holy shit, that fast already? What the hell are these kids made of?"


Indeed, it was chaos as Ganju predicted. With all the Paragon monsters running around and Death Bringer vampires all around, it couldn't have been anything less. As soon as he had trapped Henry inside the amplified stones, he had to immediately respond to a bunch of Wretchlings charging at him.

Even after he had dealt with them, the Nightfiend had already reached him, spurting acid from its mouth. He dodged in the nick of time, the blood upon the axe hardening into crystals with which he bludgeoned the monster's head, cracking its skull.

Yet, it was not just the Paragon beasts he had to worry about. Glancing to the side, he saw the two Executors slaughtering the horde around them. A second Nightfiend lumbered up to them, firing a shockwave from its maw and blasting all of them across the room. Ganju braced himself as he crashed to the floor, Wretchlings and Brutes now pouncing on him.

Ganju rolled away, breaking into a run and escaping the beasts, smashing away the arm of a Brute that tried to cut him off. As he did so, he noticed now pieces of the lab itself being pulled away. Instantly, he erected a wall of scarlet stones just as Sergei flung at high speed an entire salvo of detritus at him. He watched as the Paragon monsters were pulverised, feeling the strain of both his own barrier and the one on Henry. However, it was not enough to handle Hugo himself, who bypassed his defences and send a blade of air his way.

"Grrrgh!" Ganju grunted in pain as blood splattered on the floor. Hugo now chased after him, impaling his shoulder. Ganju cried out once more as he felt the corrosion of his body from the lance, the Bloodbane weapon eating into his flesh.

"Too bad." Hugo said as he impaled the young vampire into the floor. "It would appear that I must steal a bit of Sergei's target. After all, duty calls."

"Enough Hugo!" Sergei bellowed. "Death blow shall be mine! I fought him first!"

"Oui oui." Hugo nodded as he removed the spear, Ganju's blood now spurting out of his corroding wound. "Be my guest. Though honestly, I fear it will not be much of a fight from now on."

Ganju chuckled as he got up weakly. "Oh, trust me you guys will get a fight. Just not from me."

The two Executors frowned at him quizzically as he continued. "Gotta say, he may be a little on the delicate side of things. But that guy is smart, smart enough to be the second of us to pull off that nifty little trick."

As soon as he said this, the scarlet crystals he had erected exploded, startling the two Executors. They looked back, their eyes widening at what they saw.

Henry now stood, the two katanas glowing scarlet. His blue hair he red lines cross-crossing in irregular patterns, extending even onto his clothes and face, seemingly connected to his eyes. But the one thing that was definitely odd was how he seemed to shimmer, like flickering lights, or like haze.

Henry breathed as he took a stance, the two katanas ready to strike.

"So what!?" Sergei roared. "Your transformation means nothing!" He ran at Henry, hammer raised for a blow. Just as he was about to reach him however, Henry's form started to shimmer even more vigorously before vanishing before Sergei's eyes. His hammer slammed on the floor, cratering it as he looked up in confusion.

Then, a long gash appeared on Sergei's back, sending him to his knees. Hugo blinked as he suddenly noticed Henry coming at him from the side. He raised his spear, the wind ready to launch. Henry however shimmered again, and this time the vampire knight's form split into two. Befuddled by the change, Hugo attempted to attack both, but Henry was quicker, both images of him slicing at the Executor and leaving wounds in his hands.

Hugo blinked in bewilderment as he watched his wounds heal, noticing also how slow Sergei was to recover.

"Well, I have to admit that is pretty something. Serenity does amazing work." Henry remarked.

"Heh, told you the gamble would work." Ganju grinned. "Think you can handle them?"

Henry raised his swords again. "Just look after yourself. I got this."


Hagan frowned. The minute he felt the scythe crash down upon the vampire knight, he noticed something was amiss. He should have felt next to no resistance from the blow, yet he now realized the scythe was stuck.

Then, a strange smell filled the air. Hagan backed away immediately upon recognising the danger, managing to create distance as blood red electricity exploded upwards into the air. As he landed, he noticed that there were now a few burns upon his arms, while a trickle of blood ran down his face.

Looking up, he saw Shinji standing tall, his hair standing up like spikes as red electricity crackled around him, like spurting blood, even snaking across the red marks adorning his body. He began to spin the weight at the end, which was now a spiked section as the jagged sickle blade hung low.

"Sorry Hagan." Shinji answered. "But I don't intend to die today."


Author's Note:

Hi all. It has been a long hiatus, I admit. The last couple of months had needed me to really do some self-reflection on many things, such as my current career and aspirations. Such a trying time for me necessitated me putting my own mental health and wellbeing first before others, and sadly that came at the cost of writing time.

I still intend to aim to finish this story by the end of the year, or early next year depending on my scheduling. However, with all my newer responsibilities and some personal commitments, I can't always promise that chapters will come regularly.

At least for now, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter, and hope to see you soon!

Jdbl00d