Disclaimer: Black Clover is owned by Yūki Tabata, Studio Pierrot, and Shonen Jump.
Saga 14: You've Got Another Thing Comin'
(Ruined) Governmental Building, Central District, Libratium, Spade Kingdom, Afternoon
So, let me get this straight, Julius spoke through the Projection Orb placed in the middle of the meeting table, this whole diplomatic incident turned into a Devil hunt that then quickly escalated into a full-blown war that destroyed about 45% of an entire sovereign city-state, and the one who instigated that whole mess happened to be the very last living Earth Temple Acolyte that survived a Diamond Kingdom's purge 10 years ago and by sheer happenstance, ended up running into the very general who spearheaded said purge into the same building, and the following act of vengeance spiraled out of control because of his illegally Contracted Devil decided that it wasn't flashy or dramatic enough, summoning a giant flying serpent who could control the weather, a half-Dark, half-Light elf who can use a fusion of contrasting magics that has the power of the former with the speed of a latter, and a diamond wolf monster who just happened to be entire magical weapon battery on legs, all three of which being successfully neutralized by our haphazard joint forces?
Nozel nodded, trying to maintain his composure at the utter absurdity that he was forced to recite down to the very last word.
Not only that, but said Earth Temple Acolyte ended up transforming himself into a mobile Dungeon/giant golem monster that began raining hail and magma from the skies above before finally taking him down, said the Wizard King as he tried not to choke on his own words, with him admittedly both fascinated and exhausted from listening to his Magic Knights' ordeal that came something out of an old epic, the whole chaos then finally ended with the Devil himself summoning a fire giant upon being bested by the one who was chosen by the long-lost [Salamander, the Fire Spirit], which ended up crushing him underfoot by sheer accident before it just disappeared into thin air on its own, thus finally ending the conflict, Julius then lets out a deep sigh to finally catch his breath, am I missing anything?
Nozel shook his head, confirming that the entire summary of what happened just last night was all true. "That was just the synopsis," he pointed out, "good news, Clover Kingdom not only has Ulster's support, but also that of Libratium's as well. They are in the amidst of choosing their envoys/champions as we speak, with the Black Bull overseeing the process and ordered to report back as soon as they're done choosing."
About the latter nation-state, said the Wizard King, you sure that they're sustainable given that well... you know, he pointed towards the ruins outside of the half-shattered windows dotted throughout the meeting room, they've been wrecked to shit? No offense.
"None taken," shurgged Charlemagne, who himself was currently having an open-heart self-surgery in the middle of his meeting room to replace his burnt-out valve augmentations in his right heart while several IV bags of painkillers and nutrients were being flowed into his arm, using a mirror to have the insides of his body reflected back at him during the procedure, "we can rebuild, even the wrecked AEON system that was destroyed from the inside," he answered confidently, "and besides, the Dragons are more than willing to help out with the restoration, given that well, they live here, and we the people are just living on leased land."
William, whose face was completely covered in bandages, mumbled something into Shiren's ear to transliterate.
"My Captain asks that why are the Dragons helping out with the clean up when they're known to have a non-interference clause?" he pointed out, remembering Agi and his words proxy by Dagda.
"Only when combative matters are involved, they stay out, telling us to 'fight our own battles', but some are willing to help, albeit in their human forms to minimize as much damage as possible," said the Premier, "also, no, that means that the Dragons aren't going help us fight against the rising Demon and Devil rates, but they're more than willing to act as 'consultants' and nothing more. That and well, ignoring the power and size, the Dragons are not so different from us. Not all of them are sticklers to their own rules, but they're pretty chill, except for their grandmother, but that's besides the point."
How nice of them, deadpanned Agatha the Witch Queen, typical Dragons, with their world-ending powers thinking that they're better than everyone else... okay, they are, by all realistic parameters, but I still don't have to like it.
"Wait, you met a Dragon before?" asked Nozel, admittedly curious.
Once. And that's all I will say of that matter, she answered before falling silent.
And given that you mentioned "leased land", pointed out Damnatio, I take it that the title of "Premier" is only ceremonial.
"No, it's legit," Charlemagne remarked, "the Dragons have no desire to rule or govern our affairs. At best, they prefer to teach us their ways and arcane arts, and at worst, they see us nothing more than fleas that are beneath their notice."
"That aside..." Nozel sighs before continuing with the report. "... our damages, for a lack of a better term... was surprisingly minimal," he stated, even surprising himself by saying that, "none of our own Magic Knights were killed during active combat, miraculously enough," he remarked, "and the only injuries on our side were William having his face burnt off by the aforementioned fire giant destroyed what was left of Magia Academia by its residual heat alone, with the doctors saying that he should be fine by the end of today, Dorothy has returned to her semi-comatose state after overusing her [Dream Magic] last night and Salim is going through a severe PTSD episode as we speak," the Silver Eagle Captain pointed out, "overall, the civilian casualties are confirmed at 4,500 lives lost, with 12,000 injured. The latter of which are having their limbs and heads reattached by this nation state's emergency supply of MASS packs that was kept in a secure bunker underneath this building, but the former died either being eaten alive before digestion, their bodies being lost in the chaos, or completely burnt to ashes, which while this nation-state can remedy, the facility that held the 'treatment' was destroyed during combat, at which, is according to our Libratium sources providing said information."
Julius stared through the orb in shocked silence before speaking once again. ... Are you all okay? asked the Wizard King with genuine concern in his voice, because I'm honestly worried about all of your collective mental health right now.
"I got used to it," Nozel answered, "others are coping. Some better than others."
Hardly, Damnatio deadpanned, I already knew that the Spade Kingdom were full of lunatics, but to brush off such catastrophe like a scraped knee despite the losses is beyond normal human comprehension.
"We been through worse," answered Charlemagne as he adjusted his mirror before him, "try being born and raised in the sewers before leading a revolution to hang all the tyrannical rulers that made our lives hell 10-15 years prior," he mentioned as he double-checked his own heart, "misery builds character, or to the ones that are still alive."
William then mumbles something into Shiren's ear before the latter spoke for him. "My Captain states that any Magic Knight worth its salt are stronger than whatever can be thrown at them," spoke Shiren, "it's our job to fight in dangerous circumstances, so that the others back home don't."
There's an old saying for that, Agatha remarked with a smirk, ... "semper fidelis", meaning "always faithful". Crude, but noble. I find you tolerable more than the rest, boy.
The Golden Dawn Magic Knight nods silently before the doors in the meeting room burst open.
"I'm back," announced Jericho as he came in, "the new allied nations of ours has now finally chosen their champions and like to introduce themselves to our higher-ups."
Let them in, Julius ordered, to which the Black Bull gestured the two to come in.
One was a wild-looking man with a handsome, if rugged face with a flowing auburn mane draping from this scalp that reached all the way down to his thighs and an admittedly-well-kept and groomed beard fashioned after a beast's jaw. His bare chest was covered in various blue and red tribal tattoos that all combined into a pattern that resembled a pack of wolves and dogs, while his black-furred pants lined with a strips of scales wrapped around his waist like several belts were accented with numerous cords of chains that wrapped around his legs and all the way to his shackles that were wrapped around his ankles and bare feet. Cradled around his arms behind his back was a squirming and writhing, blood-red shaft that was covered in spikes, making it less of a conventional spear and more of a spike-covered worm or serpent with a larger, more deadly looking barb for a head.
The other herself to be a petite woman with short-cut sky-blue hair held back by a bandana strap that acted as her headband that looked in her mid-teens, but despite her short stature that held a presence of knowledge and wisdom comparable to sages with the drive and energy of a young student that is eager to learn. Under her short white military coat was an orange and black spandex that reached all the way down to her thighs that was then followed up by her knees covered in armored kneepads and a pair of military-issued marching boots with thick black leather construction strapped with tough-looking brass buckles over her feet.
"Ello' governor," greeted the wild man, "me name's Cú Chulainn," he introduced himself, "son of Fergus, trained by Scathach and proven by Cath Palug. A pleasure to work with ye lot."
Where were you during the conflict? asked Damnatio, a fight-happy man like you shouldn't have missed a literal war, given that your people are bloodthirsty savages that fight for fun.
"According to him, he was away on a 10-month hunting prowl with a couple of his friends going after a [Barghast] Elderbeast and said hunting trip was over at around the same time the war had ended," Jericho explained on Cú's behalf, "he only came here upon seeing smoke."
"Not happy about dat, by de way," Cú growled before hissing a sigh, "still tho, can't win em all, I guess. Or at least, until ye beat em at least once."
And the other, spoke Agatha, who is she?
"Ensign Mudo reporting for duty!" she saluted, she spoke with a face and bearing of that of a professional soldier, "I look forward working with our new allies, sir!"
"At ease, coffee guy," Charlemagne raised his hand before going back to his self-surgery, for which Nozel promptly ignored the grotesque sight of a human's inner workings, "and how was your first time fighting outside your FAMAS last night? Given that you basically dropped a piano on top of a winged lion's head from the second floor?"
"Honestly, I rather stick to my strengths, sir," answered Mudo, "Drill Sargent Eiha told me to step up after he and I along with the others fought off the skeletons at breaching through the air vents last night. He told me that I'm ready, and that the workings of the TALOS and FAMAS units are to be left by the others."
"And my PROTEA?" asked the Premier, "how bad are the damages?"
"It took a very bad beating when we found it inside the hole that it had crash-landed into with about all of its controls burnt out, especially the coffee tablets that I had provided melting in-between the pedal hinges," she answered while giving a disapproving stare at the Premier's reckless usage of those pick-me-ups, "... give or take, it should take about 2-3 months before PROTEA can fly again."
"Noted Ensign," said Charlemagne as he twisted the last valve onto his right heart before checking that his valves are screwed in tight to ensure that they don't fall off, "also, sorry about the spill, but I happened to be fighting a giant earth monster who happened to pack a seriously mean right hook," he apologized as he spotted a loose nut at one of his valves before tightening it pack in with a small wrench, "take care of yourself when you get to Clover Kingdom and get along with its inhabitants, understood?"
"Yes sir!" she saluted.
"Also, I'd like to report that Bizon and a division of his Thaumaturges are planning to link up with Saiga's forces stationed at the Clover Kingdom and Makarov has requested additional supplies for a potential Demon warfare front. Both will head to Clover Kingdom as soon as they're ready," informed Jericho, "however Libratium can't send anymore than a single FAMAS pilot due to their home front being short-staffed and Ulster because... well, Ulster. They eat a lot."
Noted. I'll tell Saiga that he's going to have company, Julius acknowledged, anything else?
Nozel then sets down aa huge stack of papers onto the table in front of him. "Normally, I'd request a [Spatial Magic] back home, but considering that we're literally in another continent, with a third of the whole landmass being a giant Grand Magic Zone filled to the brim with dangerous Wilderbeasts and Elderbeasts that have been mutated by the excess mana for generations, I get the feeling that we're going to have to take the scenic route to deliver the full report, just not to overwork Cob like the rest of us."
Cautious, remarked Damnatio, how admirable.
The boy speaks the truth, Agatha pointed out, Ulster's a wild card geographics-wise, so taking care not to go for the suspiciously easy route is prudent.
Normally, I'm a gambling man, Julius said before correcting himself, but given that after everything you and the others have gone through, burdening you with more trouble seems like a bad idea, he pointed out, take care that you and the others along with our allies return home safely, you hear?
"Understood," bowed Nozel.
And for you, Sir Charlemagne, spoke Julius to the Premier who just finished stitching back up his open chest, I take it that we're allies now?
"We'll get the paperwork organized," said the young Premier, "after everything is sorted out, we'll have to hold a summit officiating a united front."
We can get started here on our end, Damnatio suggested, I look forward to our mutually beneficial relationship, for however long it may last.
Do not disappoint us, Premier, spoke the Witch Queen, everyone has a lot riding on this cooperation.
"Who do ye think yer talkin' to?" Cú remarked, "I'd be dead before I fail!"
"I'll do my best, for Libratium and its people!" saluted Mudo.
There you have it, Julius acknowledged as he gave the Magic Knight's salute, everyone, I wish you all the best of luck.
"Likewise," Charlemagne salutes back as the Projection Orb turns itself off while he ripped off the IV tubes that were linked to the painkillers after finishing his self-surgery, "meeting's adjourned. Everyone, prepare yourselves as long as you need to. Journey back home is always a sordid affair."
"You don't say," Nozel then walks out of the meeting room, followed up with Shiren and William and Jericho, Cú and Mudo heading out of the ruined building.
Outside, they were all greeted with a wake after the tide of chaos that occurred since last night. Libratium, as of now, can only be described as a mess. Wrecked. buildings, torched timber, melted mason, ruined roads, bent infrastructure, a literal natural disaster came through this place and fucked it over, not twice, not thrice, but five times, in a span of hours.
"... I'm getting a headache for just looking at this eyesore," Nozel growled.
"Last night was basically a 10 year-long war compacted into a single event," Shiren noted, "I think anyone would like to be spared from this horrid sight."
"Even for Spade Kingdom standards, this shit is overkill," Mudo commented as she walked ahead, "I mean, sure, if things aren't exploding or dying violently somewhere around here at least once a day, then there's something wrong going on in the Spade Kingdom. But still."
"And I feking missed all of dat," growled Cú, "bloody ell'."
"Oi bossman!" an Ulsterian male elf with a greatbow called out, "we finished tannin' de hide and made a mead tent outside. Wanna see it?"
Cú then ponders before whispering into Nozel's ear. "Think I could gift me kill to the Wizard King?" he suggested, "I wanna see if I could start me relationship on de right foote!"
"Surprise me," Nozel rolled his eyes as he was then led to where the [Barghast] was at.
Outside of the city-state's walls, the group sees a massive skinned pelt of a whole black-furred bear roughly large enough to act as a giant tarp for the Ulsterians' mead tent. Under the skinned pelt the size of a ship's sail were a hodgepodge of Ulsterians that made up Cú's hunting party, composing of various elves, dwarves, Jotuns, [Centaurs], [Werewolves] and other colorful characters of species, gender and nationality, all gathered together to celebrate the missed battle's victory with horns of frothy mead and plates of grilled meat.
"... I doubt that the whole pelt will fit the floor of his living room," sighed the Silver Eagle Captain before then he was offered a horn full of frothy ale.
"Ye sure?" Cú remarked as he drank from his own horn, "fur feels like clouds."
"Question," Shiren asked, "just how... powerful was that creature to make it last several months to hunt it down?"
"Really strong," Cú answered before he took another horn, "dat thin' can turn itself into a massive black fog and set yer insides on fire and make ye explode. Lost over half me guys before I took it down with me shovin' [Gae Bolg] up it's buttocks after it tried to eat me boyos' scraps while it wasn't lookin'," the wild huntsman then sniffs his arm before pulling his arm away from his face, "... swear the smell's gone though."
"And with that, I've stopped giving a fuck," Nozel then takes the horn offered to him before drowning himself with the ale before downing another.
"We'll worry about transport and gift-giving later," Mudo stated, "come on! I wanna show you my mech!"
"... 'Mech'?" Nozel tilted his head in confusion over that unheard term.
"It's portmanteau for 'mechanized charger'," she explained as she led the group back into the ruined Libratium, "it was first used as a force multiplier for those born with high magic but with weak bodies. Think of it as a suit of armor that you can ride inside like an animal," she continued to lecture while they waded through the streets as the other Dragons cleaned up the mess while the laborers began repairing the wrecked buildings and infrastructures with their "mechs", "after all, magic may be everything, but a little innovation can make it become much more!"
"Eh, I'm neutral," Cú remarked with a huff as they walked under a Dragon's tail that swept across the air, "I mean, it's better than letting magic alone doin' all the fightin' for ye, or better dan the feking Zogratis clansmen that let de others do de fightin' for em. Poor bastards. Tried to make it quick to end der sufferin'."
Nozel clicked his tongue in annoyance as they made their way into a small, reinforced garage below a ruined apartment complex. "And here we are," Mudo stated as she presented a kneeling mech colored in dark-indigo, "my personal FAMAS unit that I've customized!"
"What does 'FAMAS' stand for?" asked Jericho.
"Full-Armor Mobile Assault Suit," she answered, "unlike the TALOS, which stands for 'Technical All-Limit Operational System', FAMAS are more combat-oriented to the latter's general purpose-oriented," explained Mudo as she then went through the garage, cluttering through numerous schematics and blueprints scattered all over the floor, "this baby right here is customized to my preferences! As a result, I've dubbed it [DMN-03 MC Shadow Gear]! Or 'Deployment Model Number Three Mudo Custom Shadow Gear'."
"What's with this city-state and its use of acronyms?" Nozel facepalmed, "are there any more that we have to know about?"
"Eh, two more," Mudo then pulls a cord to light up a lantern to reveal a pair of objects covered in tarps. She then strips them off, revealing a pair of auxiliary pieces that looked as if they were compatible with the Shadow Gear, with one being a pair of sharp black and red wings with a pair of large verniers on universally-articulated joins below, while the other was an array of thick, olive-green armor strips that overlaid each on top of each other, with each armor piece having an open barrel at its tip.
"Armor on top of armor," Shiren commented as he observed the contraptions laid before them, "how... practical."
"A bare-bones FAMAS can last long, but I like having more flexibility," Mudo explained, "so, after completing about 2,000 hours of test piloting and another 1,500 hours of independent mech engineering course before graduating with honors, I was allowed to take my own FAMAS back home and converted this whole unused basement into a mini-hangar for myself for at-home work," said the pilot, "first, I gutted the limiters inside my FAMAS to make it perform at a higher optimization while modifying its mana engine to be more fuel-efficient while not compromising its overall output. Then, I then installed a modular hard points all over its chassis, so that I can equip it with specialized equipment or weapons for every given mission. After that, I was then officially allowed to rename my FAMAS unit. Behold, my baby, the [DMN-03 MC Shadow Gear]!"
"Shadow Gear," Shiren blinked before looking at the kneeling giant armor, "... less of a mouthful."
"By specialized equipment, do you mean ones like those?" Nozel pointed towards the messy rack of blank-steel weapons that ranged from conventional weapons like giant swords and spears to esoteric ones like mounted drill-claw and a set of triple-barreled mana cannons, and even to more experimental-looking ones like a bracelet-like device with a glowing gem on top of it.
"Baby steps," Mudo explained, "small arms first, and after gaining enough experience along watching and taking notes of Premier Charlemagne's past battles, I then decided to take my customization to another whole level," she beamed as the excitement in her eyes began to well up like a certain Wizard King's that the Magic Knights were familiar with, "enter, [JET Option] and [TROY Option]," she then formally introduced the two auxiliary armors, "[JET Option], or 'Jet Equip Tech' Option, allows the Shadow Gear to get a boost in speed and offensive capabilities, and theoretically, it should be able to achieve flight."
"Explains the wings and verniers," Jericho looked at the contraption, "Spade Kingdom's already trying to revolutionize flight while we're stuck with brooms and carpets for flight. [Camelot Mk.I] was just the beginning."
"Eh, bet I can jump higher," Cú ribbed.
"Knowing how your dad swings a swords the size of a grimoire tower with the ease of a feather held by a child, I hold no arguments against your outlandish claim," deadpanned Jericho.
Nozel meanwhile, was bashing his head against a wooden post in frustration as Mudo continued on with her explanation. "And the other one is the [TROY Option]! Or 'Tactical Reactive Operative Yoke' Option. This one adds additional armor to my Shadow Gear while doubling as remote multi-ranged offensive options," she beamed, "each piece of armor can be purged and recalled at my whim and can take a full brunt of a 703 mph head-on collision against a mountainside without so much as a scratch!" Mudo gleefully giggled, "I absolutely spared no expenses from the funding I was given for my R&D for my children! And TROY is easily the most advanced piece of magical technology I have ever created!"
"That sounds impressive and all, Miss Mudo," Shiren spoke, "but I have to ask one thing."
"Sure," she replied as the giddy Ensign caressed both JET and TROY, "ask away."
The Golden Dawn Magic Knight clears his throat before asking the following: "How are you supposed to move all of these pieces of equipment out of the hangar all at once in the first place?"
The following question then killed every last joy inside Mudo's heart before she started crying.
"... You really didn't think this through, did you?" Nozel groaned.
"I DIDN'T KNOW THAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO BRING IT OUT THAT FAR!" she sobbed in embarrassment of her oversight, "I JUST ASSUMED THAT EVERYTHING WOULD WORK OUT ON ITS OWN!"
"Ye know, I can carry some of it out," Cú suggested, "... but I might end up breaking some. At least de ones with de movin' parts."
"She got caught up in her own tech's hype that she forgot to figure it out how to get it out in the first place..." Jericho remarked in utter disbelief, "... then again, I suppose this was meant to be something akin to a school project rather than an actual weapon of war..."
"I can take the Shadow Gear out by itself..." sobbed Mudo, "... but I've been so busy lately that I forgot about making a transport unit for everything else!" she then continued sobbing in embarrassment while rolling on the floor and throwing a tantrum, "I'm such an idiot! An idiot! An idiot-"
Outside, a horn sound was heard being blown, causing the others inside the makeshift hangar to come outside and find a large metal crate with two pairs of wheels outside of the ruined apartment complex.
"What the hell is that?" asked Jericho, "some kind of self-moving carriage-oh who am I kidding, of course it is!"
"You bet your biscuits, skid mark," spoke the drive before revealing himself to Eiha, whom Mudo immediately recognized and saluted, while the rest of the Magic Knights and even Cú recoiled slightly at the man's ominous aura akin to that of the Devil, but somehow darker and more primal than that of the human sin incarnate themselves, "at ease, Ensign."
"Yes sir," she then placed her arms behind her hips.
"Now then, since you've been voted to go out, kick ass and take names, I figured that you might need a way to get your Shadow Gear to, you know, move around from place to place while being able to work on it anywhere you'd like," Eiha then tosses something towards Mudo, the latter catching it before revealing itself to be a set of keys while the former pointed his thumb towards the metal crate-carriage behind himself, "that thing's all yours. Your own personal mobile hangar."
"Sir, you really mean it?!" Mudo spoke as she tried to hide her excitement.
"Well, that thing's still a prototype, so we don't actually have a designation number for it yet," said the menacing man, "that and well, this was supposed to be your graduation gift after you scored top marks on your courses with the FAMAS, but since you've been so busy since then, I didn't have time to you know, actually call you to give this to you."
Mudo's face turns red in embarrassment at missing such a crucial little detail.
"Was she really that busy to receive a gift?" asked Nozel.
"Trust me, I tried calling her myself several times in a row for the past half a month," Eiha pointed out, "unlike say, Agi's department, her department that she works at tends to have its lines completely full. Even tried talking to her in person, but she just passes by me with an obsessed glare in her eyes. I even thought about turning into a Dragon to catch her attention-"
"OKAY! I GET IT! Geez..." Mudo then coiled up into a ball to hide herself from the embarrassment, "... kinda my fault that I caught up in my own hype."
"She's a bit of a workaholic, and most likely to get tunnel visioned when it involves her 'baby'," Eiha spoke to Nozel, "do take care of her and make sure that she doesn't miss any of her meals, kay?"
"The Shadow Gear," Nozel remarked as he promptly ignored the Dragon's words, "how do we get it out?"
"... I'll get it," Mudo then goes back inside before igniting the engines of her custom FAMAS. Upon being fully activated, the humanoid mech suit walks out of its garage and into the mobile hangar as it opened up its rear entrance, allowing the giant armor to come crouched in before it knelt down and deactivated itself.
Eiha meanwhile, comes out with both the JET and the TROY hoisted over his shoulders before going inside the metal box to load the two auxiliary units inside. Cú himself began loading the FAMAS-specialist weapons into the trailer following the intimidating man before coming back out, dusting his hands all the while.
"There we go, all nice and tucked in," Eiha stated as he stepped of the carriage outside before morphing into a giant bipedal Dragon with turquoise and onyx-colored scales tinted with gold accents and white-furred collar that glowed with a dark-blue hue emitted from below and the tip of its tail being a cluster of sharp and jagged quartz crystals. Its coat then transformed into a brilliant-red cape that flowed from its back, altogether looking more akin to a Dragon knight rather than the image of a "Dark Dragon" that the Magic Knights had initially anticipated. "I'm gonna go help out the others clean up," spoke the Dark Dragon, "Grandma's gonna get super-pissed if I don't show up..."
The Dragon then unfurled its two pairs of flaming feathered wings from behind his cape before taking off into the air, leaving behind a trail of warm air it made its way towards where his kin were seemingly at.
"... So, I have to ask," said Nozel as everyone else looked up in sheer awe, "what rank is your... superior officer?"
"At best, Captain, although he holds much sway as a Major or even a Colonel due to well... him being a Dark Dragon," answered Mudo, "but he insisted on taking the test like everyone else, saying that he's better at fighting than leading."
"Ah," replied the Silver Eagles Captain, "... also, why did the Premier called you a 'coffee guy' when you're clearly a woman?"
"When I first joined working for the government, a lot people mistaken me for a young male, and I was the gal fetching them coffee while I was still a novice," answered the Ensign, "... I hit puberty only a year ago, but the nickname still stuck."
"You lot make the Black Bulls look normal in comparison," deadpanned Nozel, now officially surrendering all sense of disbelief he had left in him, "and I might be low-balling."
Mudo then looks towards Jericho, noting that he has a black bull iconography on his Magic Knight robes.
"Trust me, we're an eccentric bunch," Jericho shrugged as everyone then got on the carriage's sides and back before Mudo drove off in it.
Hell, Qliphoth
"... Alright, before we begin," spoke Satan as everyone else in the meeting of the Demons of the Eleven (really ten) Elusive Evils, "... I want to point out, that I am not, MAD," he grunted, to which no one (except Belphagor, who is fast asleep) bought the Dragon Demon's claim, "just, disappointed."
No one dared to answer, to which Satan then just cuts the pretense of being calm forces everyone to begin talking by using his [Inverse Magic] to turn their "silence" into "speech" to make them force to speak on his command.
"So please," asked the Supreme Demon of [Wrath], "kindly, EXPLAIN."
"Well for starters, another one of my Stigmatas ended up being used by some schmuck," spoke Beelzebub, "I lost [Gourmand] the first time, and now, another aspect of my [Gluttony], [Vicariousness], has been burned out by some hands of some idiot who didn't even know how to use its power."
"Even worse, more fraud contracts by the hands of those who escaped Hell are being used more often, the most recent of our escapees being the Sisters of Fury who were supposed to be working at the [Third Layer, Greed]," said Ishtar while she reviewed her notes, "our second-strongest has now lost 50% power in a span of a 30-day period, and it's because of someone has been neglecting her duties."
Everyone then looks at the cowering Lucifuge. "... What?"
"Explain yourself," requested Satan, "just what were you doing when you were supposed to be keeping an eye out on Hell's workings both in and out during contractual transitions?"
"I... uh... I uh..." she mumbled incoherently, unable to even speak out a single word, her mind, despite being under the yoke of Satan's [Inverse Magic], couldn't literally come up with a single word to say of what happened to her.
In fact, the only thing she could remember was "wingthing", but nothing after. There was a gaping hole inside her memories, which she cannot even describe as anything but bizarre. In fact, she can't even remember anything, which scared her even more.
"I'm waiting..." growled Satan.
"I... I... uh..." she continued to jitter, "... I've got nothing."
"Well, nice knowing ya," Asmodeus faux-saluted the rodent Demon before the latter was then snatched from her seat and began to be stretched out from all side by Satan like a strand of melted rubber or caramel.
"Really now?" snarled the Dragon as he pulled and stretched out Lucifuge from all sides with all six of his arms clawing and groping her out like a rolled-out ball of dough, "and what is this 'NOTHING' that you are GOING ON about?"
Lucifuge's fear peaks as her incoherent stuttering turns into dry squeals and heaves, trying in vain to beg for mercy as her now-gelatinous body was being stretched in all directions while she herself wasn't able to feel anything but pleasure. An outwards sensation of physical torture turning pleasurable, a contrast that her own [Paranoia] was scream, raving and howling that it was simply wrong, the psychological friction caused between her mind and body was torment enough for her to start cracking.
"I... I dunno!" she moaned out as her body stretched out wide and flat like a fluttering cloth, "... I saw a wingthing... snatching souls from the fire pits of the Sixth Layer of [Heresy]!"
"And you didn't tell us that SOONER because?" Satan asked as he then began tossing and spinning her into the air like a pizza dough.
"... It was... after me..." moaned Lucifuge, "... I tired using my... [Discernment Magic] on it... but it just... ignored it before coming after me..." she explained, trying her best not to lose face before Satan lest she lost everything else in a loop by his horrific magic, "... I saw him... but he didn't exist in this world... like some sort of... DEMON GHOST-"
Satan then immediately coils and wrings Lucifuge into a very long and hair-thin pole upon hearing something monumentally stupid with his [Inverse Magic], turning her "wideness" into "narrowness".
"Any confirmations of this 'WINGTHING' aside from this sorry failure of an existence?" asked Satan, to which the other Demons looked at each other nervously to see if any of them could answer, "come now, I'M WAITING."
Ishtar lets out a sigh before she began speaking. "If Lucifuge's claims were to be true, then it will be a catch-22," she pointed out, "either her claims are true and that this 'wingthing' soaring above our heads but we aren't able to see it or the existence of this aberration is completely false, which only brings up more questions, even if we completely disregard Lucifuge's borderline-nonsensical [Paranoia]."
"So either way, we're stuck in a rut on where the missing condemned souls have gone to," Yetzer pointed out, "can't start blaming the shits downstairs because there's too many to distinguish who done what."
"Our only reference points are those looked up to what's left of the old guard," Adrammelech theorized, "I get that some people love the past, but losers have no rights to outshine us, let alone me."
"To be fair, they do have balls to escape Hell during Satan's purge after the first Armageddon," chuckled Ereshkigal, "... such false valor being lionized... it's almost fitting to have the young look towards the old..."
"I can only recall around two or three that might've ran for the hills," Naamah pointed out, "first is Zagred, but he's been caught by Satan around 500 years ago after that botched, premature Armageddon because Devils and Demons be what they do best: wrecking shit for the hell of it."
"Clearly, he failed, because he's now boss' stress ball alongside with the likes of Luciferio and Megicula," Beelzebub replied, "come to think of it, wasn't Loki part of the old guard?"
"You assume correctly," Satan answered as he then threw a stone towards Belphagor, waking him up.
"Bah! I'm up, I'M UP!" he yelped in surprise as he looked around in confusion, "... what happened?"
"Uhh... you might wanna look down," said Beelzebub.
The Demon of [Sloth] then looks down at the rock thrown at him, and notices something rather peculiar about it. Mainly, that it's pattern resembled that of a Devil's face. It then lazily picked up the rock and began inspecting it, noticing the creases and bumps feeling too smooth to have come from hell. Suddenly, the positions of the crease s and bumps started to make sense, albeit if one inverted their logic and began seeing this stone as a puzzle that was meant to be solved only in the wrong way.
The bottoms felt like arms in the place of legs, the legs were in the place of the head, the tail and head were in the places where arms were supposed to go. It then didn't take a genius of figuring out what, or rather, who the rock was.
It was Loki, contorted, petrified and shrunken by Satan's [Inverse Magic] and its most unholiest of nonexistent mercies, unable to die, but unable to live either. It's freedom of expression taken away and replaced with perpetual, unending pain. It's body, twisted into a shape that cannot be described anywhere near as "conventional", but instead, it's "fluidity" being reversed into "stasis", making it stuck into what it considered it the least desirable under its sense of aesthetics.
A plain, unremarkable rock. A mere pebble bearing his screaming face. An inglorious existence to a Devil wishing for more. A detail that wasn't missed by even the most lackadaisical Demon as it then looked back at Satan, sitting on his throne before him, all six of its blazing eyes silently glaring straight at him.
"That will be one of you, if you all don't get your acts together," he bluntly stated, "so here's my ultimatum: either quell this little situation that is putting all of us in the red whether subduing all dissent within our ranks or start cleaning up the mess that was left behind by your lack of optimal performance, OR I CAN EASILY DISPOSE OF ALL OF YOU HERE, OVER AND OVER AND OVER, DENYING YOUR PITIFUL KINDS THE SWEET RELEASE OF DEATH AS I AM KNOWN FOR MY ETERNAL PUNISHMENTS TO WHOM I METE AS EASY AS BREATHING, UNTIL YOU COMPLY."
There was no such thing as a "no" to Satan's ultimatum. It was either "do it" or "get tortured until you start doing it".
"THE OLD GUARD MAY BE GONE, BUT THEIR STENCHES STILL LINGER," Satan snarled, his infernal rage that he held in for the duration of the meeting now bubbling and blasting out of his facade, "FIRST ZAGRED, AND NOW LOKI. IF YOU FIND AS SO MUCH AS THE LOWLIEST [STYGIAN] SPEAK FO THEIR NAMES, BRING THAT FUCKER TO ME, AND I WILL 'REEDUCATE' THAT FUCK UNTIL THOSE NAMES ARE WIPED FROM THE VERY THOUGHTS OF THAT PISSANT'S NONEXISTENT BRAIN," spoke the Demon of [Wrath], the cracks between its scales now glowing blazing-orange as if he were a walking furnace or a sentient volcano that is about to blow its top, "THERE'S THAT FOR MOTIVATION, SO MAKE SURE THAT NO ONE SPEAKS OF THEM, EVER AGAIN. LET NO DEMON OR DEVIL STEP OUT OF LINE AND NO MORE ROUGE CONTRACTS UNTIL I GIVE THE FINAL SAY. FAILURE WILL RESULT IN MY 'REEDUCATION', UNDERSTOOD?!"
"Vetting is my job, sir," Ishtar acknowledged, "they will be done with due diligence."
"Sucking boss's dick, as usual," sneered Asmodeus, "I respect that."
"More work or more pain?" whined Belphagor, "... I don't see a difference between those two... but okay, only because I don't want to suffer."
"Rest assured, no slander but mine will be spoken," Yetzer swore as he picked up the now-flaccid and flat Lucifuge, whose bodily constitution was now that of a large sheet of wet paper, "leave the ghost-chasing to someone who doesn't need eyes to see."
"Naamah and I will start working my sister's debt-slaves even harder," Ereshkigal smirked, "the carrot hasn't worked. I suppose now it's high time I brought out the stick."
"Like I'd let some winged bastard outshine me," Adrammelech growled, "soon as you find that 'wingthing', I'm callin' first blood."
"Damned if my Stigmatas are being used this poorly," Beelzebub spat to the side, "next time a piece of me gets dragged out, I'm eating the fuck for wasting my time. Memories and love were good palate cleansers, but I need something meatier. I get small-served, I'm taking my complaints to the chef!"
Satan then stood up from his throne as he then strode towards the center of the meeting area, the hellish heat radiating from his body starting to melt the brimstone below his feet into mud and sludge.
"... Dismissed."
With one final word from the Demon of [Wrath], Qilphoth, once again, was now left barren, leaving only Satan to his seat, with wingthing watching from above, none the wiser.
[Inverse Magic], even when fully active, wasn't able to pick up this abomination's presence as it flew back down deeper into Hell to collect more souls for its sack.
Outside Libratium, Spade Kingdom, Evening
Anything? asked Licht as both Fanas tried to find where Raia's soul had gone after being absorbed to create [Surtr, the Destroyer].
"Nothing so far," Fana answered as she kept the flame in her hand lit, flickering and shifting into different souls as she meandered about the outskirts of the city-state to find the lost soul, "... you sure you saw him go that way?"
Positive, Lumiere nodded, souls from different species tend to have different... shall we say, "feelings", he remarked, and if what Loki had said about Raia was true, then a half-elf, half-Devil would have a very unique aura.
Still can't believe that he had a Devil for a dad... Elf!Fana sighed in partial regret, ... guess having a Devil for a dad really sucked, for everyone involved.
Understatement of the century, Licht remarked, still, I don't regret adopting him into the village on that day, said the elf chieftain, although if the rest of the village knew, I'd get the feeling that we would've destroyed ourselves before the humans and the other denizens of Hell could do so.
You'd really think so? Lumiere asked, never took elves being the worldly sort.
At the end of the day, we're just as susceptible to vices as humans and everyone else, Licht sighed, maybe that's what it means to have a soul. To both do good and do evil as easily as we breathe.
Sounds a bit like Loki, snorted Elf!Fana, ... how ironic. He wanted a soul for himself but in truth, he had it all along, albeit twisted and black like the rest of his kin.
"I think I know what it means to be soulless," Fana pointed out as she recalled her past as Morris's lab rat after her supposed "death", "... it means that you've given up living and simply waiting to die."
Speaking of which, Mars then appeared next to her with the others, my head that you've kept... uh, you just gonna leave it buried?
"I need to move on," answered Fana, "... that and well, keeping your severed head inside a crystal? ... Not my smartest choice. Also, I wasn't in the right state of mind back then."
Fair enough, spoke the ghost as they all continued their search for Raia.
As the search continues all the way towards where the scent of salt was noticed, Fana runs into Mariella, looking out towards the sunset with a forlorn expression.
"Hey," Fana greeted.
"... Oh, hey," Mariella greeted back, noticing the ghosts floating around Fana, "... your company?"
"By yourself?" asked Fana.
"Not really," three Demons then appear from her right eye, manifesting themselves out in the open, "... and before you ask, it turns out that my prior victims aren't going to forgive me, so they sicced these three at me to torment me for the rest of my life."
"My name is Megaera," spoke the first.
"I AM ALECTO!" roared the second.
"... Tisiphone," murmured the third.
"So you became a Contractor... because of your Necromancy going horribly wrong?" Fana pointed out, admittedly confused as what she was seeing right now.
"Exactly," Mariella confirmed, "a massive baiting that I fell for like a chump."
Well, for denizens of Hell, they seem... civil enough, groaned Lumiere.
"Lightbearer," Megaera spoke to the First Wizard King, "... I sense regret."
That'd be my fault, Licht raised his hand, although to be honest, someone else was tricked into turning me into a giant Demon that began wrecking havoc, so... yeah, he smacked his lips, ... it wasn't a good day for a wedding. That's for sure.
"I SMELL BLOOD!" howled Alecto, "KINSLAYING! PREJUDICE! WHO MUST I MAKE TO SUFFER FOR THEIR ACTIONS?!"
I'm pretty sure that they're too dead to make suffer, Elf!Fana pointed out, ... like 500 years too late.
"... Doesn't matter..." mumbled Tisiphone, "... murder is murder... death must be paid... in full..."
Did I mention that I'm glad that I'm already dead right now? Mars pointed out, ... I get the feeling that those three might do just more than talk, just saying.
"Sorry, the three Sisters of Fury are the 'judge, jury and executioner'-type," Mariella apologized, "silver lining, I've gotten stronger."
"That's good and all," spoke Fana, "... you mind giving me a hand? I need to find someone's soul. A half-Devil, half-elf's."
"Such scent would be noticeable," Megaera pointed out, "very well. Another task."
The two girls then take out their sensors and catalyst spells to pick up any wandering souls. As they walked about and back towards where the civilians and the injured were being temporarily situated at, they run into a Golden Dawn Magic Knight with his entire head bandaged accompanied by others of same and differing cloaks.
"Fancy meeting... you again," William spoke through his bandages, "... don't worry. Doctor said I can talk now before my bandages come off tonight."
"I take it that you're the one whose been bonded with [Salamander]?" asked Shiren, to which Fana nodded, "I see. Then I must thank you for your contributions to last night's battle."
"Damn straight," Ezel then manifested before everyone in a burst of flames before giving away to his humanoid form, "I'm proud of both of em."
"I see," Nozel remarked while completely missing out on the fact that Fana had two souls inside her and thought that he was remarking towards Mariella.
"What's with those things in your hands?" asked Nebra, "going to practice some spells?"
"No, we're trying to find a certain soul meandering about," Fana remarked as the flame in her hand flickered, "we're looking for someone named Raia."
"Wait a minute," David remarked, "... I think I heard of that name before?"
"Another one of your rumor mills?" deadpanned Letoile.
"Before the Eye of the Midnight Sun allegedly went kaput, heard one of the higher-ups, the Third Eye, was named Raia," he pointed out, "... but that was before they disappeared before they allegedly turned into the Illuminati, but that's all rumors."
"Well," sighed William, "... you're only half right."
Don't tell me..." Elf!Fana remarked.
We have to come clean sooner than later, said Patry, ... our cause was a lie from the start. The least we can do is apologize now rather than make it awkward.
Fana sighs as she then summons her [Galatea] with her elven counterpart's soul inside of it while William then summons Patry though his [Sylvan Seedling], physically manifesting both elves into the real world.
"Explain," Nozel spoke.
"I have two souls in my body, one of whom being a vengeful elf child who ended up finding a terrorist group, the Eye of the Midnight Sun," explained William, much to the shock of his own subordinates, "I only joined back when I was a kid so I can get back at my father who'd thrown me and my mother out into the streets after an affair, but by the time I realized what I was doing, I kinda fell in too deep and had to resort to living a double life and clone bodies."
"Same for me too," Elf!Fana raised her hand, "I only woke up after he found her nigh-dead body in a ditch. We just... ended up together out of sheer happenstance," she pointed out, "... thankfully, we didn't run into our own corpse just yet, so we're fine."
"What do you mean by that?" Shiren asked.
"Don't ask," Fana replied so that bringing up the [Curse of Apocrypha] doesn't make the conversation any more headache-inducing as it already is.
"Wait, I found a match!" Mariella exclaimed as her ice mirror began to glow, "secure it!"
"Secured," Megaera then catches the stray soul before placing it inside of then mirror, revealing Raia's face cast on the surface.
"Raia!" Patry spoke into the mirror, "it's me! Patry!"
... Oh, he spoke, ... it's been a while, hasn't it? asked Raia with a dry smirk, also, have to ask, are you guys real, or is it another hallucination cooked up by Loki?
"No, he's dead now," Fana reassured, "you're free from him. We just want to talk."
About what? he replied.
Everything, Licht spoke towards Raia while manifesting inside Fana's flames, it's time to tell everyone the truth.
You go first, both of you, Raia stated, because my story only makes sense with context.
The two elves then begin explaining everything, the origin of the Eye of the Midnight Sun, the truth behind the Demon attack that occurred at Clover Kingdom 500 years ago, the shock of the First Wizard King appearing before them, and how all of that tragedy and chaos that shaped the Kingdom that they were born and raised in was caused and spurred by multiple Devils and Demons, whom each with their own objectives, attacked the Elf Village either through direct (Loki and the fake Raia) or indirect (Zagred and his noble human pawns) means, with the end result being a legacy of lies and hatred.
Honestly, we got fucked over tenfold from behind, forward. I think you humans call it a... "gang-bang"? Licht pointed out, regardless, at this point, playing the blame game is accomplishing nothing.
My only regret is that I didn't stop their manipulation sooner, Lumiere stated, my father was only human... but to see my own kin be all beguiled by dreams of power... it's painful to bear witness to them being devoured by their own hubris... he then forlornly looks at Nebra and to a lesser extent, Nozel's eyes, seeing the same cold, detached look that he'd witnessed by the hands of the nobles who'd stolen his [Swallowtail] and used it for evil, ... and to see their descendants souls be poisoned by the same venom to this day.
"... I think I'm starting to see a lot of parallels between that and last night," Nozel groaned out as his head was on the verge of exploding out of sheer aneurysm, "so much death and destruction... one being the very bedrock that our world was unjustly built upon, while the other tried to undo everything that was built up through a single night..."
"Did you spot any one of the monsters who've done such thing?" asked William, "you were there, right? Surely you should've at least ran into one of them!"
Lumiere nods before showing his wound on his back and his hollowed-out heart. Its hand drove through me, he stated, while it wore the face of my beloved whom he'd murdered and used this whole tragedy to lure me out.
Thankfully, my wife's soul was fortunate enough to escape the aftermath, said Licht, ... Tetia's too pure for this world. I however, stayed behind to make sure the others weren't taken from that monster.
I couldn't even sense him... Lumiere recalled Lucifer's hand digging into his heart while using Secre's body to mock him, ... or rather, as soon as I turned back, it was like I was staring into an empty abyss. ... Where all mana just went inside and... died. I would've joined everyone if it weren't for my [Alpha Rune] that noted my reincarnation of Sephira protecting me from damnation, but even then, I was forced to watch everything that I had dream and built towards be perverted by the tainted hands of those who consigned with the Devil's deal.
"... I'm sorry," Nozel bowed his head, "but we can't do anything for it now. All we can do is use what powers we have now to do some good for this world."
I know, Lumiere answered, it doesn't hurt any less though.
"Now we know," said Jericho as he walked into the conversation, "all that I hated, that I sought to overturn, it makes too much sense now," he acknowledged, "... I think I know what to do now. And the first thing I can do is to not blame the past but work towards a brighter future for us all."
The First Wizard King nods in approval. Remember and live with the following, he spoke, faith, hope, and love. All three shall bring forth good luck.
The Magic Knights all salute to their founder before his fiery effigy was then transformed into that of Licht's.
I'm sorry that everything now has to be in your hands, Licht bowed his head to Fana and William, you're the only ones we can trust to make this all right.
She'll be fine, Mars spoke as the flames then shapeshifted into him, Fana's strong. They're all strong. They can handle it just fine.
"Raia," Patry spoke to the ice mirror, "... while we were gone... on that day when the [Gravito Rock Zone] was attacked by the Fallen Angels," he asked as the boy's voice shook in anticipation, "... did Vetto's soul make it out?"
Raia shakes his head. I'm sorry, he apologized, I saw his soul be dragged into the fire pits...
"... Oh my god..." Patry fell to his knees in utter horror, "... Vetto... no!" tears of sap fell from his face at the thought of his friend being lost forever to the clutches of Hell and its denizens,, "... why? ... Why do these things keep happening to us?!"
"... I'm so sorry," Willam apologizes, "but this isn't your fault. It's that damn Fallen Angel's ill that done so."
Even to this day, our mistakes still linger and haunt us all, Lumiere remarked, ... you said Fallen Angel, right?
Yeah, Raia nodded.
Was his presence felt like staring into a deep black hole? he asked.
Black as void, said the half-elf, half-Devil ghost, it was like emptiness itself, devouring all light of mana into itself and everything... dying.
Lumiere then looks at Licht with a look of realization as he connected the dots. It was him, he pointed out, Lucifer came back to finish the job.
Clearly, he sucked at it, deadpanned Licht, given that there are still survivors.
For Elf!Fana and Patry, just hearing that once wasn't enough now lit their souls ablaze. They need not say anything, for the undying fire in their eyes was more then enough.
"... You know, I thought we could just let those Demons and Devils fight amongst themselves while we watch..." David pointed out as his eyes narrowed, "... but since we're nothing but cattle to them... yeah. Enough is enough, I suppose."
"And just when I thought I thought there couldn't be any uglier things in this imperfect world..." spat Kirsch, "... indebted by those monsters without thy consent? Never! I shall aid you my strength, so we may take back our dignity with the utmost beautiful kind of vengeance!"
"Didn't need any reason to stop," Jericho grinned as he balled his hand into a fist, "there won't be a future to work towards if we sit by and do nothing."
"Consider all your crimes against our Kingdom to be pardoned," Shiren spoke to the boy inhabiting his Captain's [Sylvan Seedling] spell, his brow now creasing to a noticeable furrow of subdued rage and indignation, "now we know who our real, remaining culprit is, that Demon will pay back in full. I swear it."
"... I'll fight too," Salim spoke up with a gulp, a small wick of courage lighting amidst his storm of uncertainty and fear, "... maybe running with the good guys rather than by myself might be better for me in the long run."
"It's the right direction to take," Letoile nodded firmly, "the Hellspawn had their fun. It is high time to put that madness to a close."
"I care not for what we nobles have come from, let alone by the acts of the Devil," scoffed Nebra, "... but, yes. I hate being indebted to those that look down on us. My pride will not allow this slight to go unanswered, let alone for 500 years!"
"Agreed," Nozel glared, "there can only be one hawk in the skies that we currently rule. And I will not allow it to be tarnished by their filthy darkness."
"There you have it," William spoke, "now we know everything that we need to do, the next course of action is to redeem ourselves for our ancestors' sins," he declared, "the Devil will no longer hold any sway over us. A new dawn will only rise if we uphold the coming sun ourselves, however long it may take."
The First Wizard King smiles in approval. Perhaps the sins of the past can be atoned.
It may be too late for us, Licht nodded, but at the very least, our failed mission is now in good hands.
I don't deserve to go to Heaven for what have bore witness to... Raia wept as the mirror began to crack, ... but I won't stop believing. Believing in a future better than today.
The flames in Fana's hands begins to flicker, with Mars showing up in the waving pyre. It's time.
"For what?" asked Fana.
Both the ice mirror and the torch effigies shatter and peter out respectively as the souls now depart to the greater beyond.
It's time to go, Lumiere spoke to his Magic Knights as he began breaking apart into particles of light, your resolve has brought me peace.
The battle up ahead will be the most arduous that you've ever faced, warned Licht as his image began to granulate like dust, brace yourselves, for I believe in you all.
Do not let them win, begged Raia as his soul began to fade and dissipate from existence, the forces of Hell only need to win once in order for this world to be destroyed beyond recognition.
Good luck, saluted the disappearing Lumiere as the rest of the Magic Knights did the same in turn, I believe in you all.
Don't let our story end at the hands of the denizens of Hell, Licht remarked as Patry and Elf!Fana nodded firmly while the latter two held back their tears as he disappeared into dust.
I'm sorry that I couldn't be there for you all, Raia tearfully smiled as he faded away completely, I'm grateful... that I had friends like you.
Only Mars then stood before Fana. The soul gives the girl a final kiss to their lips, touching, but unfelt. So cold, yet so close to the heart that Fana's eyes began watering.
Take care, okay? Mars nodded as he began floating away, prompting Fana to chase after the ascending spirit with a rush of emotions that came flooding back towards her very heart.
"MARS! NO! WAIT! PLEASE!" she broke down as she ran towards him, "DON'T GO! PLEASE! I CAN'T BEAR THIS! NOT WITHOUT YOU! PLEASE! NOT LIKE THIS!" she begged tearfully before tripping and falling face-first to the dirt, "... not like this..." she sniffed, "... not like this..."
Fana, thus spoke Mars as his soul faded into the setting sun, ... you're strong, stronger than me. And what I love the most about you, he confessed as the sun dipped into the horizon, be strong for me, okay? I love you... to the bitter end.
The moment Fana looked back up, Mars has disappeared with the horizon. Unable to bear with the anguish, Fana's wail had welched out of her vert gut in a primal feeling of loss and sadness, the little girl inside of her finally losing Mars for good.
Mariella then drapes her cloak over the crying girl's back before embracing her. "I'm sorry," she sniffed as Fana wept, "... he's in a better place now. So don't let it end in tears!" sobbed the ex-assassin, "... loss hurts, no matter how it ends."
Fana's tears didn't stop, but her heart stood firm. No matter what, she will be strong, as a final promise from Mars. "... I love you too... Mars."
The two are then left alone to cry together, with Elf!Fana and Patry hugging it out for the final time before returning to their hosts. As they separated, a gust of wind blew between where they walked. Unbeknownst to any of them watched Roland. He'd listened to every last word as he looked at his own reflection cast from his [Durandal] while he adjusted his hair to stand straight.
"Healing's a bitch to deal with," he muttered as he sheathed his sword back into his scabbard as he walked away elsewhere, "but hurting is only the first part of healing."
Back near where the civilians were temporarily encamped at, the Magic Knights dispersed to their own parts to settle in for the day while the two Captains and one Golden Dawn Magic Knight walked together between the rows of tents.
"So," William spoke to his other soul, "how are you feeling now?"
I feel, a lot calmer, said the boy, now that I know who I should be really be fighting against.
"It helps to know your enemy," William sighed in relief.
"To think, I would've had to put you down if it weren't for me hearing that bombshell," Nozel snarked, "then again, I might be deserving of being put down by the hands of our founder in hindsight. The Devil does best at pitting the unwitting against another."
"Sir," Shiren spoke, "perhaps it's time to take off the bandages."
"Help me out, would you my good man?" requested William.
The two Golden Dawn Magic Knights then began unraveling the bandages around his head.
"By the way," said Nozel, "what was the doctor treating you for?"
"Oh, the usual, regrowing my facial tissues and muscles, replaced a few of my teeth and they were even nice enough to treat my [Port Wine Curse]," he answered as the bandages came to reveal his fully-healed lips, "according to them, that curse I had to live with for most of my life is basically the common cold here. Vaccines included."
"I'd hate to be Yami right now," Nozel deadpanned, "I'd imagine that he'd have a word or a two with you upon seeing your fully-recovered face if it weren't for the fact that he's at the Heart Kingdom right now.
"Well, look upon it and weep," chuckled William as his bandages came off, "wow, the top half of my face feels no longer like leather! So this is what a breeze feels like against the whole face and not just half of it!"
"Uh... William?" Nozel asked as he and Shiren stared at his now-clear face.
"What is it, my good man?" he replied with a teasing smile, "is my face so awe-inspiring that you cannot help but gawk?"
"Sir," Shiren remarked as he held up a handheld mirror towards his Captain's face, "please do not freak out."
William's face, by all stands, was angelic. A young man whose beauty is no longer marred by the [Port Wine Curse] that had earn him nothing but scorn to those who had seen his face ever since he was a child. But alas, there was still a reason why he needed to keep wearing his mask.
A black "IX" was found stamped onto the skin of his forehead, completely irremovable no matter how hard William rubbed against it, akin to something like a tattoo. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"
Near and away from the three were a pair of eyes, looking at them before disappearing into the darkness of the night, unable to be seen both physically and spiritually by anyone.
(Ruined) D&HSD, Campus District #4, Libratium, Spade Kingdom, Night
In the semi-ruined castle building of the Demonology & Heretical Studies Department, in a candlelit room were Ducat, Nacht, Luciel, Makarov and Bizon, with a Projection Orb depicting Patrem Inquisitor Tokarev in the middle of the meeting table while the Demons and Devils of the Contractors sat at the side, with Gimodelo, Slotos, Plumede and Walgner sleeping atop of Jezebel's silvery exoskeleton while Wadjet slithered across the walls and acting as an ambient shadow for the whole room in the name of "atmosphere".
... Well, that escalated rather quickly as it ended, deadpanned Tokarev, so, any bodies? Or anything that were left behind after the carnage?
"We found traces of Loki's MNA which matched with the corpses of the monsters he'd unleashed sir," answered Makarov, "however, that just brings up another question regarding the nature of his spells."
I'm listening, Tokarev nodded.
"For one, we might think that the souls weren't used as fuel but rather as templates," Luciel begun to explain, "specifically, their 'consciousness'."
"They're weren't always acting as mindless monsters that simply wrecked havoc blindly," Duhat pointed out, "from personal experience, they exhibited signs of being fully-sapient living beings. Being able to think, improvise, and plan their attacks, while possessing varying degrees of self-awareness, ranging from doubt, fear and even pain and rage."
So you're saying that those monsters were not merely "copies" as you initially proposed, but as legitimate living being who have a semblance of free will? said the Patrem Inquisitor.
"But that doesn't explain Surtr," Bizon remarked, "I mean, the fire giant seemed like the opposite, yet it was made from a soul that was near Heracles this whole time while none of us noticed it until it was shown to us."
"That, I can probably explain," Luciel then slams down a heavy, reinforced container made of Orichalcum and Adamantium, "I took the liberty of analyzing this so-called 'soul' and oh boy, was I an idiot thinking that it worked like any other soul."
"Explain," Makarov ordered.
"For one, this 'soul' doesn't have a discernible 'consciousness'," she explained, "ergo, it's less of a 'soul' and more of an 'unstable source of energy', the latter claimed being derived from the fact that this thing is in state of a perpetual NUCLEAR FUSION."
"Wait a minute," Nacht blinked in disbelief, "NUCLEAR?! As in, A PROPOSED THEORY OF GENERATING INFINITE MANA USING [FIRE MAGIC] AS A BASIS?!"
"Don't worry, radiation is kept contained inside of this baby, although it's half-life is in around 200 years, so don't expect it to remain stable," Luciel remarked, "also yes, me and the others who retrieved said 'soul' did get decontaminated, so don't get your panties in a twist."
"That explains why Surtr collapsed upon itself in less than a few seconds," Duaht sighed out, "not only it doesn't have a brain, but its power was too much to keep itself contained within a physical vessel."
"Which begs the question," Makarov pointed out, "how is it even possible for a soul to not have a consciousness?!" he exclaimed, "I mean the only way that seems likely is that someone is so dumb that they don't realized that they... are already dead."
The Vice-Inquisitor then looks at his subordinate.
"Bizon, you said that thing came near Heracles, right?"
"Uh, yes sir," he nodded, "why?"
"I checked his soul a month or two back, and I found a curse placed onto him," Makarov explained, "specifically, it's related to his amnesia: the [Curse of Ignorance]."
Everyone in the room goes pie-eyed at the revelation.
"... You mean to say that a curse that makes people stupider then they usually are is responsible for creating that powder cake?!" Nacht pointed out.
So stupid in fact that those cursed can shrug off physical death if kept in the dark about it, Tokarev pointed out, I'll forward this information to Merlin and see if we could ID the Demon or Devil behind it. Until then, I'll keep everyone posted. This shit has just gone even more convoluted with the Demons and Devils stepping on each other's toes.
"Well, that's one mystery down," Luciel semi-sarcasticaally remarked, "so that leaves Klein."
"You mean the copied kid from an infant's corpse found 10 years ago?" Bizon parroted.
"I saw him today with Fanzell and Dominante," Duhat pointed out, "... he wasn't taking that fact very well. I'm honestly, a little... more like really worried about him."
"The fact remains that he didn't disappear after Loki ate shit means that the soul he copied from was genuine, in both mind and soul," Makarov noted, "but how can an infant have a fully-developed consciousness shortly after its death?"
"I think..." Nacht rubbed his chin to propose a theory through his own achieve forbidden knowledge that his family had back home, "... I think he used [Reincarnation Magic]."
Someone in the room chokes on its own spit upon such blasphemy being spoken out loud.
"You know that shit's forbidden in Necromancy, right?!" Luciel pointed out as she cleared her throat.
"But not to a Devil, whom nothing is sacred but evil itself," snarled Bizon, "svoloch' must've used it as a bargaining chip to sway Atlas to its whims, for whatever ends that happened."
"So Klein in all respects, is a revenant zombie," Duhat stated, "a revenant zombie that grew and gained memories of its own life that he's living out in the place of the deceased original's... or as a way for the deceased original to live vicariously through the copy's."
"Either way, there's a reason why [Reincarnation Magic] is taboo!" Luciel ranted, "shit like that happens if you let things happen with souls willy-nilly! Not to mention all of the ethical dilemmas of whether to kill the copy or let it live. We're basically being forced to tell a literal child with emotions and feelings to whether wants to live a lie or die in order to uphold the law of life and death!"
"So wait, does that mean his magic is?!" Bizon remarked.
"Initially, I assumed [Copy Magic], given that he'd used it during that fight where he tossed the Diamond Kingdom's ruler's [Chaos Magic], but upon hearing the processes of how he controls souls before turning them into monsters..." Nacht then began connecting the dots between the theorized use of [Reincarnation Magic] to "create" Klein, the manipulation of souls, and his specific adherence of using [Copy Magic] as akin to a cover for his possible real magic, and all of the Devil's creations being living creatures rather than magical constructs, including the bones of the skeleton clowns being actual human bones and not bone-like materials, "... no way."
"What do you mean 'no way'?" asked Duhat.
"... I think might have [Life Magic]," said the Clover Kingdom Contractor, "he flat out has the ability to create life! The [Copy Magic] that he'd used in proxy of that imprisoned elf was simply used to replicate the captured souls so he would have a steady supply of building materials to create his horde of circus freaks!"
And what of the [Reincarnation Magic]? said Tokarev.
"He probably used [Reincarnation Magic] as both a spell and a method," Nacht theorized, "the spell is used to allow a dead infant to grow up in a different body in another life, while the method is utilized to turn countless souls, both copies and the genuine articles alike into abominations, which might as well be taking a page from the magical school of [Transmutation]!"
"... Forget using [Reincarnation Magic] being taboo," Luciel shook her head in disgust, "THAT BASTARD BLASPHEMED THE VERY FUNDAMENTALS OF ALL CONVENTIONAL MAGIC ITSELF BY CONTROLLING AND CREATING LIFE!"
The whole room goes silent once again in utter disbelief and irony a Devil desiring a soul having the powers to create new life out of old.
"And Atlas didn't even care..." snarled Duhat, his hand balling into a white-knuckled fist, "... he never cared at all. About the lives he'd taken and ruined, or even seeing Klein as his sole family, but only as a 'son' that he can never have."
May Sephira have mercy on his pitch-black soul, prayed Tokarev, for we of the sinful have none for our traitorous brethren. Látom.
"Speaking of whom..." Makarov groaned, "... his Stigmata."
Duhat then plants Atlas' dagger into the table's surface.
"Uh, that's a knife," Bizon pointed out.
Duhat then fiddles with a ring around where the dagger's hilt and grip met until a *click* sound was heard. He then unsheathes something from the dagger blade and hilt itself, revealing a pitch-black Stigmata held up by the "dagger's" grip akin to a semi-ornate stake.
"... Crafty bastard," Nacht growled.
"Well, that explains how he slipped it through customs," Luciel observed the blade, "he passed it off as a personal Relic."
"Wait, I heard from others that [Gnome, the Earth Spirit] got stabbed with this thing," Bizon remarked, "... is he alive?"
"Miraculously, Roland's sword healed him from the brink of death, albeit, it's at its most basic form and it will take some time recovering it back to its full power, not that there wasn't much to begin with," Duhat stated, "still can't believe the power of familial love was able to purify a cursed Relic back to its original form."
"Hopefully, Roland will use [Durandal] over his habit of using a bludgeon," shrugged Luciel, "still though, [Gnome] being alive is good and all, given that the Elemental Spirits, there's only one incarnation for each element."
"Wait, they're that rare?" Duhat pointed out, "I mean, I heard the Heart Kingdom's Queen having [Undine, the Water Spirit] with her, but I didn't know that they don't have any replacements when they bite it!"
"Either they're too strong to even be considered being capable of dying, or that they used to have replacements," Makarov pointed out, "come to think of it, didn't the name [Sylph, the Wind Spirit] get passed down from fae to fae?"
"Did, as in past tense," Luciel pointed out, "they went extinct, remember?"
"And suddenly, the creation of all those [Chimeras] and [Siths] start making sense again," Nacht rolled his eyes, "I get trying to preserve an endangered speices is a noble goal, but playing god?! How hypocritical can you guys get?!"
"We're not necessarily playing god, but more along the lines of restoring an unjustly killed sapient race," said Duhat, "they also got screwed over by a Demon, but their's was called Behemoth."
One after another... groaned Tokarev, ... look, can you guys hand the Stigmata over to Makarov so he can bring it here to Avalon so that we can dispose of it before it falls into the wrong hands?
"Sadly sir, I'm afraid we're going to have to go on foot, given that [Camelot Mk.I] got totaled during the battle," said the Vice-Inquisitor as he took the dagger with him, "and regarding the supplies and the additional men to be sent to the Clover Kingdom for a united front?"
Meet them up at Ulster, southeast of Geatland Hills, he stated, I'd recommend you leave tomorrow morning if you wish to meet them up on time.
"Da," saluted Bizon, "I shall be accompanied by the others who will also embark on their leave. Everything will be on schedule and no interferences shall encumber us towards our way to the rendezvous point."
"It would be a lot easier if Fergus can use his [Love Magic] and rainbow you guys back to Geatland Hills, but given that he needs to fuck a lot of women and some men to recharge his 'love sausage'," shuddered Luciel as she remembered the size of the chieftain's member, "... yeah, he's gonna be stuck here for a while. Thank god Astolfo's volunteering and not me."
Dismissed, Tokarev remarked as the Projection Orb turns itself off, allowing the others to leave the room.
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: An epilogue before I take a break from writing this fic due to school coming up, and burnout being a bitch to handle.
So as an epilogue chapter for the longest arc I've ever written, this chapter/Saga is meant to tie up a lot of loose ends but it inevitably leaves as much questions as there are answers. So with that said, let's break this down piece by piece:
Julius's received the report of the battle and oh boy, he was just as confused as everyone else and worried about the mental health of his Magic Knights Silver lining, not only they proved themselves to Ulster by holding their own in the battle against the chaos before them, but also Libratium, despite being wrecked to shit, are still willing to help out by sending their promising pilots to the united front. Every Magic Knight is now used to the Spade Kingdom's brand of madness, and the fact that everyone is becoming more open-minded is a good in of itself. They may have not shined compared to those who brought down the finishing blows upon Loki's monsters, but soon enough, they will show their teeth eventually, and be able to fend off the dangers of the Spade Kingdom with more ease.
Hell's in hotter water than usual, due to Satan being a shittier boss to work under than he usually is, but to be fair, running Hell is like herding cats blindfolded, and expecting to turn an anarchic state into an iron-fisted dictatorship isn't going to be easy. Hell in its innate nature is chaotic, and while Satan can make examples of what happens to dissidents like Loki and the rest of the old guard, it won't matter much in the long run. Hell is on shifting sands now, and that will only fuel the Supreme Demon's [Wrath] even more as he pushes his toadies to do all the work. And Beelzebub's "asteroids monster" status is going to be important once all the four mini-Stigmatas are brought back together. One is in Saiga's hands, another (unused one) is in Zenon (and the Zogratis triplets's) hands, and the third being in Makarov. All that is left is the fourth.
Fana now has to see losing her boyfriend/emotional attachment again, for the third time. Loss is never easy, especially if one's life was the only reason why you held on in the first place. This is the moment where her training wheels come off, and now Fana has to officially move on by herself, except not really. She's now fully reborn, with a new family and new close friends that will accept her, which will be very important when Klein has to learn how to deal with his little paradoxical existence of as a fake and a reincarnation. Also, the Magic Knights now learn of the truth behind their Kingdom's legacy by none other than the First Wizard King himself. Everything is connected Lucifer, from him instigating the fake Raia to take the [Bloodstone] to turn Licht into a Demon, to killing Secre and using her body and the ensuing carnage to lure Lumiere out in the open to kill him (the statue on top of the Demon skull will be explained much later), to indirectly attacking the hidden elf village before directly attacking its reincarnated survivors 500 years later, Lucifer's been playing 4D Chess and came out on top in that three-way "gang-bang", and no, he's not out of the game even though he's by all definitions, dead. Regardless, now the Magic Knights truly know who their real enemy is, and with that context filled in, they're going to fight like demons. Oh, and William is now revealed to be an Agarthan descendent bearing "IX" on his forehead, implied to have been hidden behind his [Port Wine Curse]. Only "I", "II", "V", "VIII", "X", "XI" and "XII" remain as "III" (Agatha the Witch Queen), "VI" (Julius the Wizard King) and numbers "IV" and "VII" (Morris's parents) are confirmed.
Speaking of context, the meeting between the Contractors of the D&HSD and the Inquisitors of the Order of the Spade Cross is there to fill in the gaps in Loki and Atlas's motives and ambiguous spells, and both are chocked full of painful irony after irony. A Devil that wished to live with a soul that he can call his own had the power to create life, a bitter irony that is reminiscent of Tantalus from Greek Mythology. While Atlas wanted to truly avenge the Earth Temple Acolytes that he considered his family, even though at best, the relationship was vicarious at best, and he was living a lie as much as the name "Krieger" was a lie. No wonder why Beelzebub was left dissatisfied, the "love" that he'd sacrificed as part of the deal never went through, and all he was left as was a half-impotent monster with none of [Vicariousness]'s powers going directly to Atlas, and the only reason why he was so hard to kill was that he was using [Gnome] as a battery, which was then rendered null upon [Durandal] freeing him. Also, Loki's final gambit failed due to a factor that no one saw coming: a soul without a consciousness, on top of being powerful enough to send off Geiger counters. The Demon of [Ignorance] has bumbled his way into the chaos using Heracles as a carrier, similar to how one might pass over radiation to another, only said "radiation" stuck like glue onto Heracles until it was forcibly plucked by Loki.
Speaking of which, Heracles hasn't been seen. That is important.
With that, I am putting this fic on hiatus. See you at December.
References:
- This Saga's title is named after the Judas Priest song with the same name.
- Cú Chulainn is based off the mythological figure of Ulster Cycle, and his design is a combination of Zaki from Live A Live and Smite's take on Cú Chulainn himself. Also, the design of his [Gae Bolg] is based off Cú Chulainn Alter's [Gae Bolg], which was more truer to the text in design of the original mythological description of being a 'barbed spear'. Also, I had Guilty Gear's character's and their penchant for "too many belts" in mind when designing his pants, specifically, Sol Badguy's (the guy has 20) and Baiken's (eyepatch) excess belts in their post-Xrd redesigns.
- Mudo's design is another Fairy Tail tribute, this time, being the Levi McGarden-stand in, with her named after a dark-elemental insta-kill spell from the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. Her outfit is partially based off the Striker's outfit from DFO Duel and Kallen Kōzuki's flight suit from Code Geass. Also, her custom FAMAS (Full-Armor Mobile Assault Suit), the [DMN-03 MC Shadow Gear] is named after the same-named team from Fairy Tail, with designs based off the Vincent Ward used by Rolo from Code Geass R2. The accompanying and complementary [JET (Jet Equip Tech) Option] and [TROY (Total Reactionary Operative Yoke) Option] are based off the [AQM/E-X01 Alie Striker Pack] from Gundam SEED and the [GN-010 Gundam Zabanya "Final Mission"] from Gundam 00 The Movie: A Wakening of Trailblazer respectively, and are named after Levi's Shadow Gear teammates, Jet and Droy.
- Eiha's Dragon form is based off of Cardfight! Vanguard's [Revenger, Raging Form Dragon].
- Loki's fate at the hands of Satan's [Inverse Magic] is based off that of Kars' and Angelo's fates from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency and Diamond is Unbreakable respectively, with his petrified-but-still conscious-form being a composite pose of Kars' pose and Angelo's "face". Also, I kinda had the final fate of the Gold-Toothed Doctor from Fullmetal Alchemist in mind as well.
- The "IX" found on William's forehead is a reference to the Nine Worlds of Yggdrasil from Norse Mythology, an allusion to William's [World Tree Magic] being translated in the manga as "Yggdrasil Magic" at one point.
- Atlas' hidden Stigmata placement inside of his own dagger is conceptually inspired by Rasputin's hidden opium needle in his crucifix in The King's Man movie.
Hypothetical Voice Actors:
- Cú Chulainn: Kazuya Nakai (JPN), Marc Diraison (ENG)
- Mudo: Miyuki Sawashiro (JPN) Jennie Kwan (ENG)