Disclaimer: Black Clover is owned by Yūki Tabata, Studio Pierrot, and Shonen Jump.
Saga 24: Ode to What Could Have Been
Quatre Refugee-State, Noble Realm, Clover Kingdom, Midnight
"... I can't sleep."
Yuno laid on his cot next to the other orphans from Hage. He tried to close his eyes, but it felt as it if his eyelids were being pried open by an invisible force.
And no, Deirdre stopped doing that since last month.
"... God, fucking, dammit," he grimaced as his mind and body were now trapped in a purgatorial in-between state of being awake and asleep.
"... Yuno?" his Sylph companion then hovered over where he'd laid. "... Are you alright? You look like as if you're sleeping on a bed of ants."
He gulps at the thought before coming to what he wants to say, albeit with great uncertainty. "... There's something in my head. Like... some sort of brain-bug that's bothering me."
"Since when did that start happening?" asked the Fae.
"... Since every time Saiga ambushed in in random places all over the refugee state for our 'training matches'?" deadpanned Yuno. "... Yeah. The old coot's taunting is actually bothering me. Like, why did my parents and their people deserve to die? Why are the people related to the past I don't even remember so hated by the rest of Spade Kingdom? And why did the Fae go extinct?"
He then rolled to his side while trying to organize his thoughts. "... So many 'whys' and not enough avenues to answer them all," grumbled the youth before his mind wandered to that one dark corner of his mind that he'd tried to deny for the past several months. "... Save for one."
The Sylph's eyes then widened in shock. "... Surely you don't mean to!"
Yuno then reached underneath his cot to pull out a fully-packed bag of supplies that would fit in with that of a wanderer's travel kit from it. "... I honestly don't know why I'm even thinking about doing this in the first place," he pointed out. "But there's something that's from my very being..." he shared, the almost-primal instinct propelling him to do that thing that he didn't want to do but feels like he had no choice in the matter, "... it's telling me... to go and find the answers myself, even if it means abandoning everything that matters to me right now, telling me that it's better to die trying to seek for this truth than... well, keep living in ignorance."
Deirdre sighs in resignation before giving a small smile. "... Well, I'm literally bound to you," she pointed out, "so if you're going to seek out answers... then I might as well try and make lemonade out of this proverbial lemon."
Coming to a unanimous decision, the pair then leave their shelter with the packed bag slung around the boy's back. With one final look back at the orphans that he was raised alongside with Asta before the latter's departure, Yuno, with Sylph in tow, head outside without looking back twice.
Walking across the near-deserted streets of Clover Kingdom's once Capital City of Quatre, Yuno only spotted a few Thaumaturges in their patrols, not bothering to acknowledge his blatant violation of the curfew that was set in place.
But when one of the patrolmen (Cole from the Blue Rose Knights) spotted him, he tried to step in, only for the armored hand of the Thaumaturge to stop him in his tracks.
"Let him walk," said the armored man.
"But he's breaking curfew!" hissed Cole.
"Look at the boy's eyes," replied the Thaumaturge.
From afar, the Blue Rose Knight saw Yuno's eyes having a distinct kind of fire lit inside his irises. It was indescribable, almost nonsensical, of how driven Yuno was as he took each step towards the former capital's front gates.
"See that?" spoke the Thaumaturge, to which Cole wordlessly nodded. "That's the kind of eyes that would make an Ulsterian's hairs stand on their end."
Upon reaching the gates guarded by a pair of Thaumaturges, Yuno looks towards them, meeting his eyes with their own hidden behind their visored helmets.
"Don't keep him waiting," spoke one Thaumaturge.
"High Inquisitor Saiga is waiting for you beyond this point," said the other. "Would you like to proceed?"
Yuno nods, the look of no regrets left behind being made evident for the two guards.
The gates were then lifted open by the pair until coming to complete halt. "Then meet your destiny with pride, Yuno of House Grinberryall."
The name "Grinberryall" was not uttered with contempt. Rather, it was spoken with a dignity that acknowledges Yuno's newly-kindled resolve.
Upon stepping outside and spotting the old Demon Slayer sitting besides a dying campfire and knocking back a bottle of liquor, the gates behind Yuno descend back down until shutting him out of the safe refuge completely.
Not even once, daring to even think about looking back, Yuno then walks towards the flame where the old man was waiting.
"... Thou art finally arrived?" spoke Saiga, before chugging his bottle once again.
Yuno speaks naught a word, letting his own presence speak for him.
The High Inquisitor smirked before he stood up, his being towering over the boy like a mountain, the wizened Demon Slayer's very shadow completely eclipsing both Yuno and Deirdre.
"Thy shall begin thou art's evaluation," spoke the High Inquisitor as the glints of his twin warpicks were seen emerging from beneath his cloak. "Do thy a favor, and thou art naught die posthaste."
Yuno drew his [Gram] without a word, ready to topple him over in order to get some fucking answers.
The sun peeks over the horizon as their duel commenced.
Abandoned Mine Tunnels, Heart Kingdom, Dawn
"... Okay, status report," Yami spoke as he gathered the remaining Magic Knights (that were currently awake). "... Be honest, how are our optics looking?"
"Worse off than before," Gaja remarked, still holding onto his stomach wound. "Only half of our shelters managed to hold up against the Demon invasion long enough to keep our people alive. We're the only ones left."
"Silver lining, Caligula's forces have now completely retreated from this Kingdom," said Mosin as her fingers were being sewn back on by her own [Glepnhir]'s wires. "... So despite everything, I think we're in the clear for now. That is, if there isn't another Demon attack coming, in which case, I hope that I can reattach all of my fingers on time..."
"Which then brings us to the current elephant in the room," Jack then glared at the traumatized-looking Charmy, who after being reported of what happened to her, just knelt in place in utter repentance. "... A literal God came knocking into our doors and nearly fucked everyone over."
"... I didn't know!" she sobbed slightly at his withering statement. "I swear! I really didn't know!"
"Short-stack has a point," Meroleona sighed out, now partially-awake after being struck by the verdant lightning and being covered head to toe in bandages. "... There were so many unknowns happening all at once while we already had our plates full of our own shit. Even I didn't expect a third-party ambush happening on both sides of the conflict."
"I've returned," Lolopechka announced as she returned with Scheherazade. "Undine's healing those who are still found alive and my people, or whoever's left, are relatively unharmed enough to not require my direct aid."
"And speak of the devil..." Jack then looked towards the young Queen, "... that little stunt you pulled with that oversized fido? Not bad having it eat up the bombardment."
"... Actually, Captain," Scheherazade remarked, "... we were just as clueless as you are on what happened at the tail end of the prior altercation."
"I kinda had a faint inkling that the wolf god would've eaten that lightning... but to turn all of it into pastry dessert before slurping it down like pasta? I honestly didn't see it coming," she confessed much to everyone's amazement, "like, at all."
Everyone sans the two monarchs then sigh in exhaustion. "... So we all didn't get fried out of sheer luck," Jack scoffed before looking back at Charmy. "... Gonna be real, I have no fucking clue on what to do with you."
"I saw a glimpse of her powers," Gaja stated. "If we can tame it properly, then it'll serve as a huge boon for us in the foreseeable future."
"But even I don't know what it can do!" Charmy pointed out. "... It saw you all guys as food... how can I trust it to fight alongside you when it thinks like that?!"
"... I think I have a solution," proposed Lolopechka, "mainly, [Archive]."
"Last I heard, it didn't go well," Yami pointed out. "Didn't Undine almost turn into a surf and turf because of that wolf?"
"Well, that was only due to a lack of context," the young queen pointed out. "Now that I actually know what I'm looking for, the search for her powers' origins should proceed a bit smoother than last time," she reassured. "I'm not saying that it'll be a cakewalk, but we're less likely to end up as some vagrant God's dinner if we know what it's talking about."
Scheherazade then looks towards Meroleona before placing her hand onto her knee. The latter accepts the former's sentiment and compassion. "... I told those idiots to not get themselves killed..." she snarled, doing her best to hide her grief. "... Guess I'm making good on my promise of killing one of them twice."
"I saw it," said the Queen of Dama. "Even if such arts are lost to me, all I know is that what the fiend did to your brothers' bodies is pure evil."
"I share your pain of having to see your beloved family become evil's facade," Mosin pointed out. "... Rest assured, I will lay my life down if it means giving you enough time to avenge them."
'You better," the lioness remarked.
Jack then looked at Gaja before looking down at his wound. "Shit bro, shouldn't you get that looked at?" he pointed out. "Also, shouldn't you like already be passed out from that much of a blood loss?"
"Oh, no need to worry," the last Spirit Guardian reassured. "I'm using my own [Lightning Magic] to keep my brain in a state of overclock so that I don't pass out from the pain and die. Milady has the others to look out for, after all-" he then began to sway. "... It appears that I've reached my limit," Gaja plainly remarked as he fell to his knees. "... Someone please heal me."
Upon him faceplanting in front of everyone, Lolopechka belts out a panicked scream before rolling him back face up and healing him with her [Water Magic]. Her journey back into the [Archive] will have to be postponed until all of their afterparty affairs are sorted out.
Quatre Refugee-State, Noble Realm, Clover Kingdom, Dawn
It just came over her, but Sister Lily woke up for no apparent reason.
Usually, when a normal person suddenly finds themselves roused from their slumber abruptly, it is usually due to overconsumption of alcohol or caffeine or from an itch that flares up once in a while. Sister Lily did not have a problem with the latter, and as for the former, despite being able to drink like any red-blooded Spade Kingdom inhabitant (even going as far to drink enough to make some Thaumaturges to jokingly claim that she might have some Ulsterian blood in her), she herself wasn't enough of an addict to warrant such issue.
Rather, there's something bothering inside her mind that had roused her from her sleep. A feeling unlike that of a mother sensing a child having gone elsewhere.
She quietly gets up and heads into where the kids were at in her night dress, and spots one of the cots being empty.
"... Yuno," she gasped before taking off running into the streets.
Taking the back alleys of the former capital, she evades the patrolmen and makes her way towards where Yuno's mana was coming from.
Like many, those with strong enough mana can exude a large enough of a presence to be felt from a fair distance. Being his caretaker for a good part of a decade or so allowed her to pick up a trail of remnant mana of the general direction of where Yuno had gone.
But just as she was closing in onto his signal, Sister Lily then bumps into someone, causing her to fall back onto her butt.
"Ow... sorry," she apologized before spotting a Black Bulls robe draped around a girl's shoulder. "... You're one of Yuno's friends... Grey, right?"
"Uh... yes," she sheepishly replied as the Magic Knight helped her back up. "Kind of in a middle of a night shift... was about to head back before running into you."
The two women then look around before sensing two powerful presences clashing against each other just outside of the city limits.
"... That's Yuno," gulped Grey. "... And I think every single Magic Knight in patrol are gonna beeline towards the city gates."
"I'm coming regardless," Sister Lily remarked as she walked past the Black Bull. "If you're his friend, be there for him. Worry about getting in trouble later."
Grey blinks for a few moments before following after her semi-reluctantly. As the two ran, they found numerous Magic Knights from Purple Orcas and Blue Rose Knights all gathered before the front gates.
"What's a civilian doing here?!" a Purple Orca cried out.
"Let me through!" Sister Lily begged as she tried to shove through the crowd. "Yuno's out there!"
"Ma'am, please calm down!" another Purple Orca stated as he held her back. "If it's a family member, then we'll do everything in our power to help him-"
"What is going on here?" spoke a gruff but gentlemanly voice, revealing himself to be Kaiser Granvorka, the Captain of the Purple Orcas upon their second reorganization. "And ma'am, please, leave this to us Magic Knights. We cannot afford you to get hurt in the crossfire."
"Apparently, the guy fighting High Inquisitor Saiga is related to her," spoke one Purple Orca. "Speaking of the latter, according to his subordinates, he's the one to instigate the conflict, and they're just letting it happen as some sort of 'destiny'."
The gentleman Captain sighs in frustration. "Him again?" sighed Kaiser. "The man better ought to act his age, I swear..."
He then looks at Sister Lily and Grey, with the latter at her Black Bulls robe. "... Normally, I'd try and convince you again to fall back on the account that you're a civilian," he stated before letting out another sigh, "but given that I myself can... relate to being worried about family, blood be damned... very well," he relented, "but stay behind me if you wish to guarantee your safety."
The Captain then escorts Lily and Grey through the crowd of Magic Knights. "Let us through!" he ordered as he then opened his grimoire before a vortex of wind began to surround the three of them. "[Vortex Magic: Canopy Gale]."
From above, a protective veil of spiraling wind was formed around them.
"This should keep us safe from any stray shrapnel," Kaiser reassured before turning to his men. "Alert the others if the situation grows dire. Now, open the gates!"
The gates then open, revealing Yuno and Saiga fighting against each other with their respective Relic weapons creating sparks from each collision made, blasting small chunks of land out of the ground with each blow struck, and their rampant mana flaring like a pair of suns each time the two of them exerted out more of their innate powers.
"YUNO!" Sister Lily cried out, catching his attention.
"SISTER?!" he cried out in surprise before noticing that there was an audience watching their duel.
"CAUGHT THOU SLEEPING!" Saiga then raised both of his raven-headed warpicks over his head before slamming them down at once atop where Yuno was, the latter now being oppressed by both weapons pressed against [Gram].
As Yuno struggled beneath the crushing weight, he spotted the High Inquisitor raising his foot off of the ground before its shadow can be imposed onto his face, he quickly slips out of the deadlock before delivering a weighty strike to his sole feet touching the ground in an attempt to trip him over.
The blade then makes contact with the one leg, only for it to stop dead in its tracks before Yuno himself was sent kicked across the air by the foot in the air punting him like a ball. "GOOD BUT GOOD FOR NAUGHT!"
Yuno sputters and gags as he lands onto the ground before rolling before Kaiser's feet. "... Hey," he greeted the three of them. "... I'll explain later. Assuming if I don't die, that is."
"Why are you now picking a fight with our ally of all times?" Kaiser asked as Yuno picked himself back up.
"Answers," he replied as he brandished his [Gram]. "... Call it a stupid sense of pride... but I can't live with myself if I don't know what is really going on with me or why my family that was in the Spade Kingdom had to die!" Yuno then leapt back into Saiga's range before he was then knocked back to where he'd jumped from, his feet sliding back a few inches before where Kaiser stood. "And besides... can you really... really call him an ally... when he keeps secrets from us after they've came into our lives... without our consent?!"
"The boy speaks the truth," Saiga agreed. "It was rather... disconcerting of how ye Clover Kingdom folk accepted us as allies when they rarely chose to acknowledge us beyond our own... well, profession. Tis a shame, when all the drinks shared and all the times we helped you... and naught but talking about us behind thou art backs and seeing thy as nothing more than conveniences at best of times... I am aware that... politics are about benefits and liabilities. But the Demons and Devils alike will tear apart those frayed bonds and send us both into disarray."
"... So you're saying that... Grey gulped before she continued speaking, "... we're not really friends when we're just... conventional allies?"
"If thou art wish to survive the denizens of Hell, then thou art bonds must be forged in smoldering iron!" spoke the High Inquisitor. "Mere politics won't be enough to make us last! Writ can easily burn and torn like all parchment!"
Yuno then looked back at the audience before facing Saiga, the former's faces being of facades of civility being chipped away into genuine doubt. "... So you were planning this all along?!" he remarked in shock. "I was just a pretense to bring in an audience?!"
"Thou speak as if thy were one of thy politicians," grimaced the old Demon Slayer. "Thy only show thou art that they wish to survive, then thou art better mean it."
His jewel eye then begins to glow as with his twin warpicks began to creak like rusted iron hinges.
"... Now, boy-no, Yuno, of House Grinberryall," spoke the High Inquisitor, not a single hint of contempt coming from the mention of Yuno's family. "Thou seeks the truth of what happened... art thou prepared... to face the consequences?!"
Yuno braces himself for the inevitable. "I ran away once," he stated, remembering the times where he'd got nothing but hurt for trying to make himself feel better from the lies that he was doing for Asta. "I'm sick of running away from the truth. The whole world will hate me for who I am?! Fine! I'll make them answer why!"
Saiga then lets out a booming cackle akin to thunder as the raven heads of his dual warpicks cawed like their visages. "THEN COME HITHER!" he declared with his Relics coming to life. "TAKE THY WRATH BY THEE BALLS!"
The shadow behind the High Inquisitor then turns lupine as his twin warpicks then flew out of his hands, the weapons transforming into a pair of winged humanoid ravens made of pure bronze and gilded with brass. Yuno and Deirdre waste no time repelling the two creatures of metal with their [Wind Magic], but as it had may repelled them, it did naught to so much as damage them.
"[Projection Invocation Magic: True Release]," declared the High Inquisitor. "Bear witness to the true forms of thy Relics, [Hugin] and [Munin]!"
The two ravenoids then flew towards Yuno in another fly-by attack. Grey then decides to user her own [Transformation Magic] onto the two constructs to turn them into something harmless, only for her spell to be rebounded and turn Kaiser's [Canopy Gale] into a barrier of dry leaves. In between the dual-pronged assaults, Saiga himself lunged toward Yuno, smashing his bare fists into earth between them, the ground breaking apart into chunks without the High Inquisitor applying [Mana Skin], demonstrating his raw physical strength before everyone.
"What the-I DIDN'T MEAN TO!" Grey defended herself.
Saiga roared with laughter as Yuno and his Sylph companion fended off the three-pronged assault from Saiga and his twin raven humanoids. "Lass, do thou are know what thy names, [Hugin] and [Munin] mean?" he asked the Black Bull while delivering another punch followed up with a stomp aimed at Yuno's head, to which she couldn't reply on the account of not having an answer. "Allow thy to enlighten ye all; they mean 'thought' and 'memory' respectively. As long thy can think, thy [Projection Magic] cannot be altered by outside means, and as long as thy can remember what was created, thy can naught forget tis own handiwork. In other words, thy [Projection Magic] is immutable! Thy powers art of a God's!"
"A God's?" Kaiser leered at his statement while Yuno kicked off [Munin] before dodging [Hugin]'s dive-bombing rake and blocking Saiga's dropkick with the width of his sword. "Confident in your own strength, aren't you?"
"Thou art claim that thy exaggerate?" asked the old Demon Slayer as Yuno successfully repels the twin ravenoids along with their master through a combination of [Towering Tornado] with [Sylph's Breath], causing Saiga to hold onto his pointed hat lest it got blown off of his head during the blowback. "Well, if ye of little faith insists..." he grumbled before turning his full attention back towards Yuno, who still kept a reserved combat stance, bracing himself for the High Inquisitor's next move. "... Thou art naught mind if thy... say, stop holding back?" he asked. "As perchance, of thou art ready to truly die?"
"Rhetorical question of the century," deadpanned Yuno, decompressing himself slightly to better pace himself in the long run. "Since when were you not trying to kill me every time you ambushed me and Deirdre?"
Saiga gaffs in response. "Fair enough."
Snapping his fingers, the humanoid forms of [Hugin] and [Munin] return to their armament forms that were then gripped around his hands. Raising both of them over his head, Saiga then slams both of them down into the earth, burrowing their beaks into the ground before circling around from where they laid, carving out a perfect circle drawn around where he'd stood.
"... Yuno," spoke the Sylph as she shuddered all of the sudden, "... it might be too late to tell you this, but while you were fighting him, I think I saw the old man's shadow turn into that of a wolf's."
Yuno blinked stupidly before he, Deirdre, and everyone else standing in front of Saiga were then blown off of their feet from the sheer force of the High Inquisitor's mana simply flaring outwards. Not even Kaiser's [Vortex Magic] could null the oncoming force, immediately dissipating upon being struck by this encroaching presence hidden within the old man's very shadow.
"... Took you long enough," a deep voice growled from behind Saiga. "But must I make myself known to mere sheep?"
"Let them," Saiga replied as if he were speaking to an old friend. "... It hast been over a good century since thou art had made thyself known."
Saiga's own shadow then rose up from behind him, revealing itself to be a gigantic humanoid black-furred wolf dressed immaculately in its dull-violet suit vest over its white dress shirt buttoned up to his neck propped up with a bright red bowtie, the upper ensemble neatly tucked away in the hem of his velvet-violet suit pants with a leather belt buckled with an emblem depicting two wolves made of pearl and onyx circling around each other. And on its beastly visage, a single monocle was placed before where his right eye was at, and held in its hand was a jet-black lacquered cane with a brass tip and a pommel resembling a human skull with a pair of diamonds embedded in its eye sockets.
"Wha-wha-wha-wha-" Grey's teeth chattered at the sheer fear that eclipsed her very heart upon seeing this gaudy-looking wolf appear before them like a nightmare come to life, evidenced by Sister Lily practically fainting at the monster's presence alone.
"WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL IS THAT MONSTROSITY?!" Kaiser exclaimed on the behalf of everyone present.
Saiga then flashes a wicked grin through his beard. "... Ye stand before a God," he declared. "But I think thy friend should speak better for himself than yours truly, no?"
Deirdre felt her heart beat against her chest, begging to be let out of her body, as if her own body was scared to suffer whatever that thing towering before them was about to do.
"... So that's the cause of your woes, isn't it?" the wolf then leaned its head towards Yuno, taking a sniff at him while adjusting his monocle to get a better look at the boy. "Very well. I shall humor you."
Both Saiga and the wolf raise their hands into the air, forming a giant white magic circle onto the very skies above. "Let's take this affair elsewhere..." spoke the wizened High Inquisitor.
"... So that we don't disturb the neighbors."
The entirety of the front gate and the people gathered then all vanish into an engulfing flash of blinding light.
Northwestern Mimo Amazon, Heart Kingdom Territory, Dawn
"Remind me, doc," Angra spoke as her back vents continued to hiss through her gel orb that she was in while the rest of the group walked, "but what is stopping me and Mainyu from turning that witch bitch into a bag of fertilizer?"
"Practical reasons," Sally replied as she hopped off of a tree's root. "One, you'll likely explode if you use your [Hellfire Magic] as of now. Two, hostages are important when they're alive, whether to use them as bargaining chips or as human shields. And three, do you have any idea how rare witches are in the scientific community?! I just struck gold when I bagged her over that [Spatial Magic] user!"
"Speaking of..." spoke Mainyu as he looked towards Valtos, who was still unconscious after being found beaten to an inch of his life, "... think he's gonna wake up anytime soon?"
"He's hurt real bad, but not badly enough to warrant a medically-induced coma," the scientist replied. "Also, how's our resident mortician doing with his new body?"
Rades, now inhabiting Leopold's body, grumbled in discomfort. "Really, really, really weird," he replied. "I mean, I should be happy that I'm alive, but why the actual hell am I in his body?!" he exclaimed. "I know it happened once with me and Sally and Valtos, but I never expected to be brought back as an actual zombie myself!"
Meanwhile, Morris and Mammon were pondering the same thing before coming to the same conclusion. "... Say, Mr. Spirito," the monster asked, "can you lend me your grimoire?"
The necromancer then hands him his current grimoire, no longer being a one-pager, but now a fully-fledged grimoire thick as a well-bred noble's. Reading through the contents, Morris was able to make out Rades' [Soul Corpse Magic] spells written alongside with Leopold's [Fire Magic] spells. Weirder still, there were now entirely new spells that were either a built-in combination spells of the two different attributes or entirely unknown spells that seemingly belonged to someone else entirely.
Wait, spoke Mammon from his thoughts, inspect those new spells a bit closer. I think there's similarities between its texts and that of those of [Soul Corpse Magic] spells.
Referencing back to the first page before leafing back to the entirely new content, Morris then finds the similarities between the two, with the new spells almost being similar in wording in its incantations while being different enough to be from an entirely different attribute.
As he finished his investigation, Morris then shuts the grimoire before handing it back to its owner. "... Rades, one last question before I give you my answer," he stated. "... Does your mana feel weird in any way? Like something new... you know, 'grew' out of it like if your body suddenly grew a third arm out of where your butthole is at?"
Rades then feels himself before giving his answer. "... Yeah," he nodded. "... That's exactly how I feel."
"Okay, gonna come out and say it," Mammon interjected. "Rades, your magical attribute itself had mutated into something else different."
"WHAT?!" both Rades and Sally exclaimed.
"And that's when I take a nap," Angra rolled her eyes before shutting them tight.
"THAT IS BIG! LIKE 'DISCOVERING A NEW SPECIES OF MAGICAL BEASTS'-BIG!" Sally pointed out before grabbing the necromancer by his shoulder and shaking him wildly. "RADES! YOU JUST MADE HISTORY!"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'MUTATED'?!" Rades pointed out as he dragged himself out of Sally's grasp. "DOES THAT MEAN I CAN'T USE [SOUL CORPSE MAGIC] EVER AGAIN]?!"
"No you dingus, you can still use em. Just under a different label," Mammon pointed out before the two finally calmed down. "Ahem, Morris, if you may."
"Thank you," the mad scientist of the Diamond Kingdom bowed before he began. "As you already know, Rades' initial magic was [Soul Corpse Magic], but during certain stressors, such as near-death experiences, emotional awakenings, cognitive breakdowns, et cetera, magical attributes can sometimes evolve by adding an affix like [True-] and so on and so forth. However, this is the first in recorded history where a person, or in this case, a revenant's magic has evolved not by addition, but by subtraction."
Rades then ponders before connecting the dots enough to get what's what. "... So my [Soul Corpse Magic] is now just [Corpse Magic]?"
"Nope," Morris rebuked. "It's now [Soul Magic]."
Sally lets out a gasp before turning towards Rades. "... You know how rare that magic is?!" she remarked as her neck and head craned into Rades until she was now practically straddling atop of the necromancer. "It's estimated that the odds of a person getting that attribute, noble or commoner be damned, is literally 132,345,243,234 out of 1! Rades, you just upset the odds into your favor! Now scientists all over the world will be tearing their collective hairs out trying to recalculate the odds now that you're here!"
Rades, uninterested in how his magic is, turned towards the Devil for more answers. "So what can I do with it? Do I just rip souls out of people's bodies?"
"That's the thing," Morris remarked. "Your magic is so rare that not even I can comprehend its full potential, and that's not even taking into account how you ended up right as you are, which, despite my prior sounding off of all the possible factors, I forgot to add an addendum of taking what I just theorized with a hefty grain of salt. For now, we'll have to wing it the next time when we inevitably run into our next aggressor."
"For now, rejoice!" Mammon spoke. "And be sure to keep your wits about you. Our enemies may be wounded and beaten down, but they still have yet to proven to be a non-factor to our survival. Dear old Tesla can attest to that-oh wait, he's dead. Twice over to boot."
"Way to bring the mood down, asshole," Mainyu flipped the bird at his contemporary in response.
The group then resume their trek through the jungle, the foliage being both freshly burnt and recently sprouted.
"... You know, I just noticed," Sally remarked. "The way you held yourself back there... almost sounded like if you were a real scientist."
Morris growled at her subvert insult. "... I'll take that as a compliment."
Unknown Location
"Not again..." Yuno groaned as he rubbed his eyes before witnessing his new surroundings.
This place as a whole resembled a coliseum made of marble and gold. Erected over the surrounding bleachers were statues of armored women with winged helmets armed with spears and round shields, all twelve of them surrounding all directions. The skies above their heads were bright blue, with only a few clouds floating above but the air itself felt stagnant.
"... Deirdre?" he asked his Sylph companion, "... are we in a state like Captain Dorothy's [Dream Magic] or did we just get abducted to somewhere else in the world?"
"Yuno!" he then turns around, only to find Sister Lily and the others at the bleachers. "Thank goodness you're alright!"
"Everyone, remain vigilant!" ordered Kaiser before he faced Yuno. "Young man, that goes double for you!"
He nods before turning back, only to find Saiga and his black wolf companion standing at a prior-empty spot of the arena. "... So, where are we?"
"My favorite spell that use recreationally," the old High Inquisitor answered. "[True Projection Creation Magic: Arena of the Gods, Valhalla]!"
"Wait a minute!" Grey cried out. "I know that [Projection Magic] can create things... but all this?!" she waved her hands around their surroundings. "This is all beyond the pale, even for an exceptionally powerful mage-oh fuck."
Saiga and the wolf grins at the Black Bull's realization, much to the dread of everyone present.
"... So your claims to be a 'God' is no exaggeration," Kaiser grimly remarked. "... Or rather, that beast currently accompanying you."
"Allow me to formally introduce myself," the wolf bowed before raising his head back up. "Throughout my existence, many mortals revered and feared me under many titles. The Beast of Greed. Sun-Stealer. Raider of the Lost Horde. The Great Plunderer. The Despot of Absolute Taxation. And above all else, The Dwarven Totem God of Ambition!"
Saiga chuckles to himself while the wolf god went over his resume. "Feeling nostalgic, aren't ye, me old friend?"
"Dwarven?!" Sister Lily exclaimed. "But they only exist in fairy tales!"
"Guess not," whimpered Grey. "... Then again, we thought the same about Demons until they literally came knocking at our doors before kicking it down."
"... Deirdre?" Yuno asked. "... You know what he's talking about?!"
"I DON'T KNOW!" she exclaimed back in confusion and fear at the sight of this monstrous god before them. "ALL I KNOW IS THAT THIS GUY'S REAL BAD NEWS!"
The wolf god chuckles at their collective befuddlement and dread before continuing. "I am Greed. I am Need. And above all else, I am the Seed," he declared before all. "Prostrate yourselves before yours truly. You mortals are now in the presence of Freki! Offer up all of your valuables! Including your lives!"
"We're not taking any lives sans the boy's," Saiga pointed out.
"Sorry," the wolf god sheepishly apologized. "Force of habit."
"Regardless..." Saiga then released his [Hugin] and [Mugin] Relics back to their autonomous forms, "... boy. Don't die on us."
As Saiga and his two Relics broke into a charge towards Yuno, Freki then waved its cane across the air, summoning projections resembling the same women statues placed around the arena.
"[True Projection Creation Magic]," Freki then pointed his cane towards Yuno, causing the women warriors to fly towards him with their spears pointed forwards, "[Valkyria Chronicles]!"
"YUNO!" the Sylph cried out before she and Yuno then blasted a combination blast of [Spirit's Breath] and [Towering Tornado] together.
Saiga then kills the wind blast by clapping his hands together, the sonorous shockwave petering out the winds and allowing both of his Relics and the Valkyrias to attack Yuno all at once.
Yuno and Deirdre then immediately go into their [Spirit Dive] form to take evasive actions before separating [Gram] into its components to cover more ground of attack. With [Sting], he parries one Valkyria's lance jab before parrying another swipe from [Hugin] with him directing [Strike] into ramming its arrowhead-like blade into the Relic's beaked helm. Meanwhile, [Cut] and [Crush] engaged the Valkyrias whereas [Grind], with its sawtoothed edge, tried to saw off one of [Munin]'s wings, the aforementioned bird-man trying to pry it off of itself.
Through the chaos, Saiga then jumps into Yuno's line of sight before grabbing him by the hem of his pants and pulling him back down to the ground. Before he can hit the floor, Yuno and Deirdre's [Wind Magic] prevent him from turning into a grease spot on the pavement before dodging out of the High Inquisitor's mighty stomp from above that crated its landing zone upon impact.
"Improved your timing with non-verbal casting, impressive," complimented Saiga as Freki then raised its cane over its head, the upper pommel gathering tremendous power into itself. "But surely, thou art doesn't think that it'll be enough to survive thou art's journey towards the truth the way thou art now?"
Before Yuno can answer, he then flies out of the way of the wolf god's downwards strike with his cane, emitting an explosion of lightning upon impact. "... Your greed for answers..." said the god before sniffing at his direction, "... it's there, but it's too tepid. BOY! DO YOU WISH TO LANGUISH IN SELF-DOUBT FOREVER?!"
Yuno growls in response. "HELL NO!" he barked out. "I CAME THIS FAR! I AM NOT RUNNING ANYMORE!"
"BOY, THOU ART HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED!" Saiga pointed out as he ran over towards Yuno to deliver another dropkick, only Yuno to dodge out of the way, until he was nailed from behind by another projection Saiga himself.
As Yuno's face of planted into the ground, Freki then pins him down with the tip of his cane, pressing itself against the boy's back.
"Yuno!" Sister Lily then ran out of her bleachers, only for an invisible barrier to block her way into the actual arena itself, preventing her from jumping in.
"You merely say that you want to know the truth," surmised the wolf god. "So why aren't your actions reflecting that?!"
"SHUT UP! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HIM?!" protested Deirdre. "OF COURSE WE WANT TO KNOW! IT'S YOUR GUYS' FAULT FOR GATEKEEPING!"
"Lass, thy am the least of thou art's problems on your possible journey," Saiga replied. "Thy speaks the truth when literally the whole of the realm despises you and your kin. If thou art cannot handle me at my strongest, then what chance does thou art have?"
"And it's not just one battle, but a sequence of battles are waiting for you in your journey towards the truth," Freki remarked as he ground his cane into the boy's back, causing him to scream in agony even more. "The way you are now... what hopes do you have of even surviving said journey?!"
"... Shut... up," growled Yuno. "... Are you saying... that I have to... sink lower? TO YOUR LEVEL?!"
"If thou art can, do it," Saiga bluntly remarked. "... Fight us... as if thou art going to kill us."
Yuno belts out a scream of defiance as the Valkyries and the Relics surrounded where he was pinned down, much to the High Inquisitor's disappointment.
"... Pity," Saiga heaves out a bitter sigh before turning back at the boy. "Kill him."
All of the Valkyries then raise their spears towards Yuno's head.
"NO!" screamed Sister Lily. "YUNO!"
But as the lances descended towards Yuno, a burst of gale then quickly stirred itself up into a veritable storm. The winds scattered the Valkyries and the Relics back, the latter pair now clanging back to their wielder in their armament forms. Freki then tried to press even harder, only for his cane to be knocked out of his grasp before being blown back himself, forcing him to balance himself lest he fell onto his back.
Now surrounded by fallen Valkyries and the discarded cane, Yuno emerges from where he'd laid prior, his eyes now glowing with a new, awakened power.
"... I hate this," Yuno spoke. "I really, really hate this."
"Hate what, my boy?" Saiga smirked, now impressed at his newfound powers. "If anything, thou art should be proud-"
"I HATE IT!" Yuno barked out, the roar of his voice expelling another strong burst of gale from his surroundings. "This ugly feeling... the power drawn from rage and resentment... this feeling... almost like a Demon... IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?! YOU WANT ME TO BECOME A DEMON LIKE THIS?!"
"Save your sentiments for someone who gives a shit, boy," Freki snarled. "I invest in future stocks, so make your future one that's worth investing in!"
The wolf god then moves to Saiga's side before hoisting the latter upon his shoulder. "So, do we push the boy and his Fae a little harder?"
"No," Freki snarled, both in excitement of appraising the duo properly and seething rage of having himself be overwhelmed in short notice. "BREAK THEM IN TWO!"
The wolf god along with his High Inquisitor companion then began forming their magic circle over their heads as Yuno tried to keep himself together from this newfound power that had laid dormant within himself.
Yuno, Deirdre spoke from within, ... we have to do this. We have to ride out this storm that we found in ourselves.
Seriously?! Yuno thought back. ... What if we lose ourselves in the process? he pointed out. This rage... it's suffocating, like if it's a monster trying to devour me whole!
It's not just our rage Yuno, she replied. It's also my family's, my people's... even your family's and their people's collective anguish! the Sylph revealed. Either we answer them... or we join them!
"Yuno..." Sister Lily whispered in worry.
"It's like... his own magic..." Grey commented, "... is like going haywire!"
"The state of a mage's attribute is dependent on their very quintessence," Kaiser pointed out. "I figured out Saiga's gambit. He eggs on the young man to get angrier and tempestuous so that his own [Wind Magic] can grow... breaking him down psychologically... first gradually through those ambushes that he considers 'training'... and now this very moment."
Sister Lily then looks at him with shock upon realizing what the Captain meant. "... Our presence."
"Specifically you, Sister," Kaiser pointed out. "Having you as one of the witnesses... the emotional trigger for the boy's growth... to have you feed your anguish into his gentle heart... Saiga's planned this moment out step by step. All he had to do was wait for Yuno to get impatient enough to take his 'request' and let the pieces fall where they may."
Grey then looked back toward Yuno, a storm now gathered around himself as Saiga and Freki gathered their own power with their own magic circle. "... Yuno's a fundamentally kind person. Someone who will fight for good and weak," she remarked while she reflected on her own experiences of dealing with her sole stepsister that served as a remnant of her past that was her own personal hell, "... now he has to go through the same thing like I have."
"Indeed," nodded Kaiser. "Saiga's plan was to make Yuno confront his own Demons birthed from himself and no one else."
Inside the storm, Yuno saw ghosts of his long-lost past swirling before him and Deirdre.
AVENGE US, they moaned. OUR KILLER IS IN FRONT OF US.
"... No," Yuno defied their pleas. "... Killing him won't bring you guys back. All it'll do is turn me into another killer."
DO NOT DEFY YOUR DESTINY, the phantoms roared. METE OUT JUSTICE UPON OUR OWN INJUSTICE.
"Then ask me," Yuno growled, "what is this 'justice'? Is it killing those who have wronged you? Is it getting back at those who've done evil to you? Is it about feeling good killing scumbags like him and being okay with it?!"
The ghosts fell silent. Deirdre then listened.
"For me, 'justice' is one thing," Yuno declared. "It's finding the truth. No matter what, I refuse to become another killer who kills for the sake of killing! I'll kill when it's only necessary! I'll kill not for the sake of others, but to stop those that refuse to quit in their drunken rage! I accept that you've all been done wrong and I know naught of what or why... but that doesn't mean that I'll lionize your hatred of your enemies for the sake of feeling good about myself!"
The winds around him grew stronger, but unlike last time, the winds began to feel natural for both Yuno and Deirdre, no longer feeling oppressive but something akin to being a part of himself, like the air he'd breathed in.
"Even if the whole world is made to be my enemy... even if the truth is the worst thing I've ever seen in my entire life and breaks me..." declared Yuno as he and Deirdre began to harmonize together like never before. "... I'll run towards it. I'LL FIND THE DAMN TRUTH EVEN IF IT KILLS ME! THAT IS MY DEFINITION OF JUSTICE!"
"Yuno..." Lily clutched her hands together in prayer.
Saiga looks at the boy nostalgically. "... Thou art a complete and utter fool," he commented with mirth, "... can't stay mad at him."
The phantoms are gone, the Sylph pointed out. Now's our chance Yuno! I don't know what happened, but now I feel closer than to you ever before! she pointed out. It's not just love and infatuation! It's genuine understanding! I get it now! Yuno! I'll join you on your search for the truth! That'll be my redemption for the Fae race!
Yuno smiles. "Thanks Deirdre," he nodded as he felt his souls touch the Sylph's own. "Time to fly."
The storm then erupts into its apex, with Yuno and Deirdre's souls coming together into a new being entirely.
"... Not bad for a bunch of mortal twerps," sneered Freki as the magic circle completed in its gathering of power.
"Thy still think they art to be tested," Saiga declared. "Shall we?"
Freki grins as their magic circle then unleashes a giant projection of a scaly and noxious-smelling black serpent creature, its lips and gaps between its scales dripping with pitch-black ooze and mire that melted upon whatever it came in contact with. Both its eyes were nailed shut, rendering the serpent blind, or would it if its flickering tongue didn't allow it to smell its surroundings flawlessly.
"Normally, [Projection Magic] alone wouldn't be able to create life itself..." commented Saiga.
"BUT WITH MY GODLY [CREATION MAGIC] HOLDING DOMAIN OVER ALL MAGIC, NOTHING IS EVER OUT OF OUR REACH!" Freki declared boastfully. "WORLDS, LIFE, THOUGHTS, DRIVES, DESIRES! ANYTHING WITHIN MY IMAGINATION, I CAN EASILY CREATE!"
"NOW BEHOLD OUR POWER!" the pair of High Inquisitor and bestial god spoke in unison. "[TRUE PROJECTION CREATION MAGIC: WORLD END WYRM, NÍÕHÕGGR]!"
The terrible monster then slithered towards the storm, but just before it can snap its poisonous fangs of the boy, it was then cut across its width, deboned in an instant as its upper and lower halves plopped down instantly like a pair of fish fillets.
From the storm emerged a cherubic being that was neither Yuno or Deirdre. It was featureless, its white body of pure magic looking at itself, with the only color being spotted around its body was a simply scarf that was auburn in color and in its sway, a trail of autumn leaves were spotted falling behind. Floating around it was Yuno's [Gram], but its fused blades now extended outwards from their base, creating a longer blade held together by mana itself.
"[Soul Fusion] complete," spoke the being in a voice akin to both Yuno's and Deirdre's. "I am Tiger Lily, the Fae's Totem God of Freedom."
The newly-awakened God then faced towards Sister Lily and others. "Do not worry," the being reassured. "They are well."
"Tiger Lily-no, FORSETI!" the bestial god roared as it slammed the tip of its cane. "DISAPPEARING ON ME SINCE ARMAGEDDON ONLY TO SHOW UP NOW?! THE NERVE OF YOU!"
"I have nothing to say to you," dismissed Tiger Lily as it pointed [Gram] towards them. "You must now answer for the boy and the princess' resolve, as per your request."
Freki smirks. "VERY WELL!" he declared more magic circle are then summoned from above as various monsters like the hideous-looking Trolls wielding giant clubs, giant cat creatures with church bells hanging from their collars, more Valkyries now in the flesh and riding flaming steeds, and leading the charge was a hellish-looking horse with eight legs as its blood-red eyes bulged in its state of perpetual rage, snorting and bucking violently. "WITNESS MY [WILD HUNT]! TRAMPLE UPON FORSETI'S BONES!"
The creatures then all charge at the cherubic god all at once. Tiger Lily the flashes into the mob before hitching a ride upon the eight-legged horse monster and pulling on its manes like a bridle.
The horse monster violently resisted, slamming itself against the barriers set between it and the bleachers as it tried to throw the enemy god off of its back, not bothered by it trampling over its own allies during its struggle.
Saiga and Freki join the fight, the latter throwing the former as it summoned a rain of legendary swords like [Dainsleif] and [Tyrfing], all of the falling blades each engraved with their own arrays of soul-killing curses while Saiga clashed his [Hugin] and [Munin] against the god's [Gram].
"OHOHOHOHOHOHO! SUCH PROWESS!" giggled the old man as the rain of cursed swords all struck the horse monster and the surrounding Trolls and Valkyries, killing them all several times over as its rider dismounted mid-fight before resuming. "SUCH IS THE VIM AND VIGOR OF YOUTH! THY NEVER DOUBTED THOU ART EVEN FOR A SECOND!"
Freki then summons a giant hammer made of thunder before striking it down upon Tiger Lily, only for it to dissipate from where it was as the hammer exploded upon making contact with the ground. The wolf god then looks around from all directions for the Fae god before it reappeared in front of the wolf's face, tickling its snout with its scarf and causing him to sneeze out a hurricane, blowing back Saiga with the exhaled gale and allowing Tiger Lily to gather it into another storm to feed itself with more power.
As Saiga ran back to collect his hat, a certain thunder of memory flashed before his eyes as the two gods resumed their fight in the arena of the gods.
"Fengr," spoke a Dwarf as he handed the boy a wooden paddle. "Go kill some rats that are eating our flour."
"Fengr," the first name that he was born with. Son of a Jotun slave and the Pope of the mighty Theocracy of Nidavellir himself, the boy's life in the Citadel was nothing more than chasing out rats.
He was merely one out of countless children that the Pope had sired. Some as heirs, some as sacrifices to the twin gods, Freki and Geri, and some to be sold off as slaves. Out the slaves, he was one of the lucky few that was able to stay, and not even as a bedwarmer.
The life of a mere rat-catcher. "Fengr the Rat-Catcher," thus was his name and profession. It surprisingly rolled off the tongue.
"Fengr," spoke one of the Dwarf Soldiers, "you can kill right?"
The boy nods before he was then handed a spear and breastplate.
"Then suit up," he gruffly spoke. "You're being transferred to the Frontier Penal Battalion under his holiness' orders. Training starts tomorrow morning."
And thus, at the age of twelve, the boy began his training with the other young slaves gathered throughout the theocratic empire. Regimented drills, indoctrination, more drills, more indoctrination, and more back-breaking training regiments that weeded the weak out from the strong.
Every single day, entire cartloads of dead bodies were wheeled out of the camp and fed to the wild dogs. Fengr simply kept to himself as the days passed by until only a dozen of his fellow slaves were left.
At the age of eighteen, thoroughly trained and indoctrinated, the "Dirty Dozen" as they were called, were then sent out on their first mission. Suppress a group of bandits raiding nearby border settlements and secure an additional route for the Theocracy's tributes.
Fengr then led the other eleven to their first of many battles.
One bandit group after another fell before their hands. Through his leadership and combat prowess, the former rat catcher and his eleven others were then called back to the Citadel to receive their honors.
Fengr's name was then legally changed to "Wotan," a great honor to have their own name changed by his eminence himself. The other eleven received their own name changes into more dignified iterations of their slave names.
For instance, the "Fetcher" has now become "Leader."
And thus began Wotan's rise to glory as a hero of the borderlands, expanding the empire's borders with every mile taken, every prisoner made a slave, and every bounty robbed, a king's sum the twelve were allowed to keep as compensation for their invaluable services.
Eventually, the inevitable war against Sephira's Nation of Da'at came. With the two borders of different superpowers now touching one another, war was declared and Wotan led his brothers into the fires of war, expecting to come out unscathed with his tactics and bravery.
The war then turned into slaughter as the forces of Hell broke through every rank and file throughout the battlefield. The leader helplessly watched his brothers die, their corpses violated and paraded like dolls at the hands of these monsters.
Wotan loses himself to his own rage, going literally blind as all he relied on were his ears and nose to determine how much blood of the unclean was spilled by his hands. As soon as he woke up with his back laid against a rock, he found himself blind one eye, his chest sporting numerous holes big enough for mice to fit through, his neck broken to the point where he can't feel his own wounds, his mouth full of bloody raw meat that weren't his, and both of his legs now missing, leaving behind only a pair of bleeding stumps.
Wotan was no longer worthy of his name. He failed to lead his brothers through this hell on earth. His wounded heart then broke, welcoming death with absolute despair at this moment.
Until, that is, until he saw a maiden cloaked in white wading through the field of corpses.
Without saying a word, the woman then forcefully fed the wounded man a vial of golden liquid that tasted like piss, or maybe it was actually piss. Regardless, after ingesting it, all of his wounds were then healed right before his eyes, including the one that went missing mid-battle.
Wotan reached out towards the maiden, but she simply chuckled before placing her index finger before her lips.
"We will meet again," she spoke to the fallen leader. "When you're a little older and wiser that is."
And thus, both Da'at and Nidavellir fell. Its people either slain in droves or left in disarray from the ensuing chaos. Wotan could return to the fallen Theocracy, but he chose not to.
Instead, the now freed slave went on a journey to seek the truth of existence. His journey to reunite with the woman in white continued as he wandered from place to place. His trek never stopped even as he found love and raised children of his own. His adventure resumed even after his love and their children left the world.
Even as his beard grew long and grey, Wotan never stopped. He trudged, as his legs and bones failed him through advancing age. Many sought the old man for his wisdom, asking him questions of what life's purpose is.
"The answer is to find the one truth."
Wotan then later became known as "Wotan the Wise."
One day, upon passing a settlement near a river, its inhabitants came under attack by terrible fiend: Loki, the Delusional.
The two then matched wits for nine days and nine nights, every second passed pushing one another to their absolute mental limits until the fiend fled before he could.
As thanks, the people then gifted the old man with a new walking staff, an old spear of fine make.
Before he could leave the settlement, the old Wotan finds the woman in white as the water-fetcher.
Upon seeing the old, wizened fool, she smiled. "Older and wiser," she smiled, looking unchanged from the day they've first met. "Come to my house at the edge of town tonight. I owe that much."
The two then fucked nonstop like rabbits for several days straight. Their nonstop fucking left at least a quarter of the settlement in shambles, with the following morning leaving Wotan naked outside in the middle of the ruins.
Wotan, despite his body not looking any younger, now felt back in his prime. However, he felt his left eye feel like a polished gem, no longer white and looking blood and ruby-like. Oh, and the woman in white stole his new walking staff and has left the settlement with a note written on a rock reading the following:
"Catch me if you can, graybeard."
And thus, he then dedicated his life in pursuit of that woman. But as centuries passed, his eye later being discovered to be the vessel of one of the twin wolf gods somewhere down the line, he kept up his relentless chase to the enigmatic woman in white.
Eventually, he took up the alias Hárbarðr, after his now-signature beard.
During his pursuit which took him up to the Northwestern Regions and through the Valley of White Shadows and Death, he then runs into Nagant Ivanov I. On a whim, he joins his newly-founded Order of the Spade Cross under the name Saiga Popov, Nagant's second in command and the name of the man who'd given him his wide-brimmed pointed hat.
The rest you can say, was history.
Upon Picking Up his Hat...
"Thy am getting too wizened for this..." he chuckled to himself as he saw his younger self in Yuno and Deirdre. "... All thee more reason to push him until he breaks."
Tiger Lily and Freki exchanged a storm of blows against each other, with the larger wolf god soaking up more blows compared to his Fae rival dodging every last one coming from him.
As everyone in the bleachers watched with their eyes completely glued to the spectacle before them, everyone present felt the awesome force of power crashing against them like waves upon a rocky shoreline.
"... I feel as if we should all be fainting right now," Kaiser remarked.
"But it feels like... something else is calming us down," Grey pointed out. "Something... warm and reassuring... like... like-"
"Like a mother's embrace," Sister Lily spoke, knowing this feeling to be similar to how she feels when reading a bedtime story to the Orphanage kids before bed. "... Yuno," she then spotted Tiger Lily fending off Freki's dreadful might with its finesse alone, looking a great hero just like the First Wizard King from the book itself. "You can do this," she gulped before cheering for him. "GO GET EM YUNO! KICK HIS MONGREL ASS!"
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME, YOU LITTLE BITCH-" Freki was then knocked back upon a slash across his suit vest, ruining it and exposing his hairy chest to the world. "SON OF A-YOU OWE ME A NEW SUIT!"
"Make a spare later, Freki," said Tiger Lily before blasting a [Spirit's Breath] followed up with a giant version of [Swift White Hawk] to tackle the beast towards Saiga's direction. "Yuno, Princess Deirdre. Let's finish this. I'll lend you my power."
The god then dissipates, with Yuno and Deirdre now in their full [Spirit Dive] form taking his place.
"Petering out so soon?" Saiga taunted.
"Nope," Yuno smiled confidently, now once more clear of all doubt like the infinite sky. "I'm just getting started."
The two sides then make their final assaults towards each other.
"COME FREKI!" Saiga roared with all of his might, [Hugin] and [Munin] in hand. "LET US SHOW WHAT CENTURIES OF FIGHTING CAN DEMONSTRATE!"
"LET'S PUT THEM ALL IN THEIR PLACE, AS TRIBUTES BEFORE MY POWER!" roared Freki as he then slammed his cane into the ground, turning the whole floor into lava before pointing the tip towards the sky, making it rain literal icebergs from above, with several of them crashing into the barriers hanging above the bleachers of the arena. "[PROJECTION CREATION MAGIC: SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, MUSPELHEIM AND NIFLHEIM]!"
"Let's kick his ass, Yuno!" Deirdre confidently declared as she and her partner flew towards the deluge of ice.
"Hell yeah!" Yuno's [Gram] then extended outwards into a longer blade as another sword of wind was then formed in his other hand as his right foot than flicked out a switchblade from its toetips. "[Wind Spirit Magic: Spirit of Zephyr]!"
With two swords of wind in his hands, the icebergs from the skies were then diced into tiny ice cubes that each could fit into a cup of water. An iceberg in the shape of a Dragon's mouth then descended towards Yuno, to which he then kicked his foot blade through the ice's maw, cutting it in two and letting him pass through between the halves. Unamused, Freki then conjurers up fiery serpents from the lava to chase after Yuno and Deirdre as Saiga then sends his [Hugin] and [Munin] in their autonomous forms to supplement the next oncoming attack.
"Six o'clock!" warned the Sylph.
"Already on it!" Yuno then breaks apart his [Gram] into its five blades-form as his sword of wind then transformed into a recurve bow nocked with several wind arrows. "[Wind Spirit Magic: Spirit of Euros]!"
The wind arrows fired from the conjured bow all strike the burning serpents into their mouths before exploding into ashes. From above, both ravens divebombed towards Yuno from above, but the bow in his hands then transformed into a giant kite shield that blocked both of the raven's taloned kicks.
"[Wind Spirit Magic: Spirit of Notos]!" he declared as the shield then sucking in air from its surface. "GET BLOWN AWAY, YOU BIRDBRAINS!"
The shield then blasts out a retaliatory tempest of wind the knocked both of them off-kilter, trying to regain their balance mid-air until [Munin] was struck by all five blades of [Gram] from all sides, severing off one of its wings and chipping away at its beaked helm before it plummeted towards the lava.
[Hugin] tries to rescue his twin, but Yuno had already intercepted his flightpath from behind as his shield then turned into a halberd.
"[Wind Spirit Magic]," Yuno declared as he slammed the polearm's head into the Relic's winged back and knocking him toward where his brother is falling into, "[Sprit of Boreas]!"
Both [Hugin] and [Munin] fall and melt into their swim into [Muspelheim]. The audience goes wild at Yuno's performance prevailing over Saiga and Freki's own.
"HELL YEAH!" Sister Lily cheered as she grabbed both Grey and Kaiser by their necks with their elbows.
"Ack, Sister!" gagged Grey.
"Please... curb your enthusiasm..." begged Kaiser as he was being choked.
"DON'T CELEBRATE JUST YET, BOY!" Saiga's voice boomed as he then raised both of his hands into the air. "FREKI! DON'T YOU DARE HOLD BACK ON THIS ONE!"
"THIS NEXT ATTACK..." growled the wolf god as he poured his very being into this next creation, "... SHALL DESTROY ALL OF VALHALLA!"
From the skies above, the clouds gathered around into a funnel before a giant spearhead roughly a size of Clover Kingdom's Royal Palace emerged from the eye.
"... What a sore loser," Yuno deadpanned as he turned to Deirdre, who was slightly winded as he was now. "... Up for one more push?"
"... Come on," she smirked in response. "You know me."
The two them tap into the last of their powers to meet this next incoming attack. Whatever happened next, the two will have no regrets left behind.
"PREPARE THYSELF!" roared Saiga, in a feeling in his heart that was a fusion of both rage and hope. "FOR OBLIVION!"
"[TRUE PROJECTION CREATION MAGIC]!" both Freki and Saiga swung their hands down to signal the mighty spear to fall from its heavenly refuge and towards the earth below. "[KILLSHOT LANCE OF DESTINY, GUNGNIR]!"
"GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU GOT YUNO!" screamed Deirdre as she poured her powers into her partner's next attack.
"With pleasure," he coolly answered as he then combined all four of his recent [Wind Spirit Magic] spells into one.
The sword and shield transformed into a pair of bulky arms. The bow then transformed into a pair of birdlike wings. The halberd then transformed into that of an eagle's head. And at the center of it all was none other than Tiger Lily itself, keeping it all together into a solid humanoid form.
"Do it," the Fae Totem God of Freedom ordered.
Yuno and Deirdre then both let out a yell as they then lifted their hands towards the sky where the lance fell from. "[TRUE WIND SPIRIT MAGIC]!"
"[KEEPER OF THE FOUR WINDS]!" declared Deirdre as the construct's hands catches the spearhead.
"[AEOLUS]!" said Tiger Lily as all three of them began pushing back [Gungnir] back to the heavens where it fell from.
The two sides gave neither side an inch, with the giant spear refusing to stop its descent whereas Yuno, Deirdre, and Tiger Lily refused to let that thing fall even an inch closer to the ground.
Saiga smiles at the boy's genuine resolve. "... Art thy going soft?" he asked himself before sighing in acceptance. "... Perhaps."
[Aeolus] then rises further up towards the sky as it and Tiger Lily push [Gungnir] back to the sky and having it disappear into the clouds, never to return again.
"... I lost," Saiga smiled. "Freki, the boy's greedy enough to conquer hate."
The wolf god nods before disappearing back into Saiga's shadows in concession. Upon his surrender, [Arena of the Gods, Valhalla] begins to collapse like a waking dream.
"Don't worry," Saiga reassured as he then stepped into the lava, dipping out his foot along with the intact [Hugin] and [Munin]. "With thy loss, everything will go back to normal."
"You have a lot to answer for, High Inquisitor," Kaiser sternly warned. "The Wizard King will not be quiet about this little stunt of yours."
"Oh fret not," he shrugged. "Thy suppose he's already waiting outside."
The flash of light then takes over the whole created world as everyone returned back to the real world.
... Which then they were all then surrounded by the Blue Rose Knights and Julius Novachrono himself, looking beyond displeased at Saiga specifically.
"... You went too far this time," Julius remarked. "What did I just say?"
"Bah, blame thy if thou insists," Saiga scoffed. "Apologizes art unnecessary."
"And besides," Freki then peeks out from Saiga's shadow, his eyes shining through the black and glaring towards Julius' eyes, causing everyone nearby to brace themselves instinctively, "your little [Time Magic] can't do shit to us. Go ahead, try and age us a million years and see if either of us gains an additional wrinkle on our brows."
The Wizard King sighs before turning towards Yuno, who is now sitting on the dirt with a clear look in his eyes. "... Are you sure about your decision?" he asked. "And yes, I figured out Saiga's plan from the get-go. I'd assumed that you'd be smart enough to not actually go through with it and not have it be an issue."
"Just consider me your quality assurance guy," Yuno remarked as he took off his Black Bulls robe. "And just in case that no one else gets the wrong idea of an invasion... I'd like to request for an extended leave."
Rather than explode into anger, Julius smiles at Yuno, noticing that he'd matured even more than ever before, taking his Magic Knight Robe as aa sign of goodwill. "... Very well," he nodded. "With the powers vested unto me as the Wizard King, I hereby declare Yuno of Hage Village no longer part of the Clover Kingdom's orders of Magic Knights effectively immediately. My last order for you as a person is that you come back home alive and are not to come back until you find your truth behind... well everything about you that Avalon refuses to share about."
"Thank you," he bowed before turning to Grey. "... So, can you watch the kids while I'm gone?" he asked. "Tell them I'll be back soon."
"Uh, yeah, sure," Grey gulped before nodding. "... I think the Black Bulls will ensure their safety. Yeah, we will."
"Thanks," Yuno nodded as he then went to retrieve his bag. As soon as he slung the sack around his back, he then finds a broom lying on a patch of grass off the road that he can use and checks it to make sure that it flies properly.
The broom floats in place, allowing him to jump onto its handle before taking off.
"Well, I'm off," Yuno spoke as he rose further up into the air. "I'll try not to get blasted out of the sky when I get to Ulster."
"Thou best leave the broom behind as soon as thou reach thee border," Saiga pointed out. "[Wyverns] are the least of ye worries."
"Just watch your back unless you end up as someone's shit, boy," Freki sneered half-jokingly. "I actually like you enough to not pray for your demise."
Yuno then flies off towards the sunrise, disappearing into the light as he began his journey towards his truth.
"... Wait a minute," Sister Lily remarked. "He forgot to eat his breakfast!"
"Oh right!" Saiga exclaimed before pulling out a basket of bread, cheese wedges, and boiled eggs from his cloak. "You mind taking this to him, would you?"
"Thank you," she remarked as she received the food basket before grabbing a nearby broom and taking off. "I'm off!"
Sister Lily then follows after Yuno while everyone else returned to their refugee camp to begin their daily routine. Only Saiga, Kaiser, Grey, and Julius watched her fly towards the sunrise.
"... She's not coming back, isn't she?" Grey pointed out.
"The young lady proved herself to be quite stubborn as she is faithful," Kaiser vouched in reluctance. "I doubt we'd be able to make her come back unless the Wizard King himself dragged her back home in chains."
Julius then looks at Saiga with a disapproving look before spotting an empty pot and ball of crumpled-up wax paper hidden behind the bushes near the city's walls. "You also planned this, didn't you?"
"Was thee brooms that thy placed around here beforehand and the fact that thy snuck in the Order of the Spade Cross's rosary in thee basket giveth away?" Saiga smirked. "Every journey needs a witness, and thy trust thee lass to see it through."
"She'll die," Julius growled.
"Then the boy better protect her with his life long enough for her to grow strong enough to let her fend for herself," the High Inquisitor scoffed dismissively. "Let her play her part in this world, beyond that of a woman who was his light."
Julius then leaves in disgust at the fact that Saiga had a point, from the perspective of the High Inquisitor's skewed standards of morality and fate. "... I'll see you after the second bell. Surely you won't leave me hanging?"
"Fear not," Saiga reassured as he then sat down to watch the sun rise.
From behind, an old man in rags walks up towards him. The High Inquisitor sniffs the air and picks up on the man's scent from behind.
"... Been there sulking all along?" Saiga spoke to the old man. "Guess the Order missed one more during the mop-up fifteen years ago."
The old man then sits next to the High Inquisitor. "... I remember that night too well," he stated. "Weren't for the villagers finding me, I would've been dog food."
Saiga chortles before pulling out another bottle of vodka from his cloak. "You didn't," he smirked as he pulled the cork out before taking a swig. "So tell me, do thou art despise me for what the Order had done?"
The old man heaves out a bitter sigh. "Do you?"
"Of course not!" Saiga remarked. "Regret doesn't do anything but bring pain. Thy lives according to thy own will, and no one else's. Thy simply thought the boy and his matron figure to do the same."
"You're incorrigible," the old man snapped.
"Tis but ancient history," Saiga remarked dismissively before handing his half-finished bottle to the old man. "Fancy a drink?"
"It's early in the morning," he pointed out. "I'm not getting fucked up this early."
"More for thee then," the High Inquisitor then finishes the bottle before shattering it against his head. "... Curious, but what art thou's name?"
The man grimaces at his kingdom's destroyer and the way he smiled at him. Simply treating the deaths of thousands like a bug crushed under his foot. Regardless, should he take this man's words for its worth, then it's made evident that he's painfully ignorant to this presumed "bigger picture."
... It did nothing to cool his resentment that he felt towards the old High Inquisitor. "... My friends here call me Ralph," he answered bitterly. "Does the name Ralph Niaflem sound familiar to you?"
"Hm," shrugs the High Inquisitor, "... actually, no."
The first bell then rings throughout the morning skies as Saiga and Ralph finally share a drink together under the rising sun.
Eastern Wildlands, Ulster Territory, Spade Kingdom, Morning
"Hey Hamelin," a woman's voice spoke as she walked across a prairie field littered with freshly-killed corpses of numerous bandits and other vagrants that attacked her and her associate prior. "... You ever get the feeling that one day, just... one day, that something interesting will ever happen?"
The bard in black strummed his lute while adjusting its strings. "... What brought that on, Medb?" Hamelin replied before he strum another tune. "An inspiration coming your way?"
"No no, it nothing like that," Medb brushed him off before she kicked one dead body across the glade while fiddling with her flaming-reddish hair. "Rather, just something that will... you know, not bore me?"
"You mean like that giant forest that's blocking our way back west?" the bard pointed towards the thicket of trees the size of small mountains spotted behind them.
Medb shrugs as she then retrieved her bloodstained white cloak before draping it over her two-piece clothing made from fur and hide of numerous Wilderbeasts that she'd killed with her bare hands prior. "... Eh, I'm sure it won't be going away anytime soon," she remarked casually. "Come on, help me look for my [Bag of Holding]."
"The very reason why a horde of over fifty ne'er-do-wells attacked us in our sleep the night before?" chuckled Hamelin as he poked at one of the corpses of a bandit with his walking staff. "... Actually, I should compose a song about this. I shall call it... 'The Midnight Danse Macabre Over the Big Bag'!"
"Screw you," Medb flipped him off with her blood-soaked hands as she resumed the search without his help while the latter mentally composed a new number for himself.
"... Wow," Corrin commented as she and the other two in the backrooms of destiny where they've watched from. "... Apparently, one god wasn't enough."
"The likelihood of running into a total of three..." wondered Brigid. "... Now I wonder what our odds would be like."
"I'm just more upset at the fact that Saiga of all people duped us," Ogmios commented, throwing his own bucket of popcorn into the air, scattering its contents all over. "... Then again, it's impossible to get a clear read on that guy. Even for me."
"I'm more shocked that Yuno of all people is hosting a god inside of him," Corrin pointed out. "Seriously, that guy gets all the good shit!"
"It's not the boy who holds Tiger Lily," Brigid remarked. "It's the Fae that's accompanying him."
"Schematics!" Corrin retorted. "... So wait, are both Geri and Charmy, and Freki and Saiga... related? I mean, both of them are Dwarven Totem Gods, look like wolves, and the only difference between them are manners, dress, and fur color!"
"... If genealogy is indeed a factor for one to be hosting magical gods, then I do not want to explore that possible family tree," deadpanned the [Memory Magic] user. "... Then again, both may carry the same Dwarven ancestor... Gonna have to get back on that."
Corrin then sighs before slumping onto her seat. "... Is that Sister gonna be okay?"
"Normally, I'd bet that she'd die the first five minutes in Ulster," Brigid replied. "But... there's something inside her that I can't... make out."
"What do you mean?" Corrin asked.
"I'll be blunt, her potential for magical growth is rivaling that of Yuno's," Ogmios revealed his observations. "... I mean, it took a god for her to finally keel, but Saiga's isn't exactly a pushover either. For fuck's sake, Kaiser bent a knee first before she did when Freki came out."
"My guess is that she's not aware of her gifts nor she had an incentive to act upon them," Brigid pointed out. "Needless to say? Ulster might be beneficial for her."
Corrin grumbles to herself before recalling the two scenes from Heart Kingdom's aftermath. "... Should we be worried?"
"Which side? The Magic Knights and their friends who survived or the Illuminati bumblefucks unknowingly walking into a Demon's Den?" Ogmios snarked, much to Corrin's consternation. "And no, I consider the twins their own threat to not warrant mentioning them."
"Why do I even bother asking...?" grumbled the ex-Golden Deer.
Brigid then sighs as the image of the antler-helmed knight shone before them. "... Well, guess it's our turn in the Angolmois."
Ogmios gets out of his seat before helping Corrin back up. "... Save the stories that we've watched after we come out of our destiny alive."
"Yeah," Corrin nodded. "... Would be super-awkward if I do so during a fight."
The three were then engulfed into a blinding curtain of light as they've woken up back to the real world.
... And the three of them now found themselves completely surrounded and separated from the others in a middle of an endless sea of trees the size of castle towers.
"... Fuck me."
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: The gods coming out of the woodwork are a sign of shit about to hit the fan. And both the shit and the fan in the metaphor are roughly the size of astral bodies.
So, Yuno VS Saiga. The fight itself is basically a giant ass "beef gate" for Yuno to see if he's strong enough to survive his journey back to the Spade Kingdom. It's not enough to break the former's body, so Saiga opted to break his spirit first by having Sister Lily watch him get his ass kicked.
But fortunately for everyone, Yuno matured spiritually at a faster rate than initially anticipated. He's already lost Asta, went through his own angst arc throughout Book 1, helped Deirdre to confront her forgotten past, and even fought off Astarte to solidify their resolve. Saiga's constant ambushes only served to build up his character even more while prodding him enough to finally take that big step towards his "truth."
Nevertheless, Julius wasn't pleased at the way Saiga dragged everyone else into his mess, even though it was part of his plan to motivate Yuno to get stronger in both mind and body.
Speaking of Saiga, yeah, he's basically Odin. Thematically speaking, his Relics being twin warpicks named after the god's twin ravens combined with his wizard like appearance (Odin did the "Wizard Classic" trope first before Merlin; he was the first Gandalf the Grey), and with Geri's introduction in the previous arc, of course his twin Freki has to show up eventually. More information about his mythological motifs are listed in the "References" section below.
As for Saiga's... bizarre methodologies, its his major case of "Blue-and-Orange Morality" that utterly baffles the conventional mind. For Avalon, they FUCKING hate realpolitik and politicians as a whole. Their leaders are determined who is willing to run into the fire and lead their men through hell and back the longest and hardest, their allies are forged through shared bloodshed and booze, and treaties are something that can easily be rendered null and void just by taking the paper and setting it on fire, and the reason that they've not done so is that Saiga prefers to stir the pot rather than kick it over. That and well, despite his hatred of politicians, he doesn't have an irrational hatred for all of them, as evidenced by him listening to Julius on the virtue that he's the kind of leader that Avalon and probably the rest of Spade Kingdom would respect (foreshadowing?), and why Dagda didn't give two shits when Lugh sent him to the hospital with his one punch back in Book 1.
Essentially, Saiga's my take on the "Übermensch" trope. He only respects people who are living by their own rules and encourages others to do the same. He has nothing but contempt to those who coddle and placate at the cost of honesty.
Speaking of them... yeah. Group's split up by the time they reached their point of destiny.
Next part, I'm not gonna bother keeping the number of parts short. It's gonna be huge. For now, consider this chapter a palate cleanser for what's about to come next.
References:
- This Chapter is named after Pär Hagström's song, "Ode to What Could Have Been."
- Gaja's blasé reaction to his own sudden loss of consciousness from his sustained wounds is inspired by the cold open scene from Brooklyn 99's Season 3 Episode 1, "New Captain."
- The [True Release] forms of Saiga's Relics, [Hugin] and [Munin] are based off the Valkyries from God of War (PS4) and Ravenoid from Bakugan Battle Brawlers.
- [Arena of the Gods-Valhalla] is named after the Nordic afterlife where the most badass of badasses go when they die in battle worthy of their badassery.
- Freki is named after the same Nordic wolf of Odin, whose name is based off the Proto-Germanic word "frekaz," meaning "greedy." His design of being well-dressed compared to his twin, Geri (nothing but a fur vest making him look like a mountain werewolf bandit from the mountains), is based off Roquefort's mecha-werewolf form from Hi-Fi Rush. The cane and coloration of his suit ensemble is based of JP's from Street Fighter 6.
- [Valkyria Chronicles] is named after the strategy-RPG franchise of the same name and references the Nordic Valkyries.
- [World End Wyrm, Nìõhõggr] is based off the Norse Serpent monster that resides underneath the roots of Yggdrasil and chewing on its roots.
- The revealed Fae race's patron god, Tiger Lily, is named after the Native American girl from Peter Pan. The name that Freki give to it, Forseti, is the name of the Nordic God of Justice and Reconciliation, and the name itself meaning "President" or "the presiding one" in Old Norse.
- [Wild Hunt] is a popular North European mythological phenomenon where various gods and creatures of lore go on a rampage and destroy everything that they pass over. The creatures in said hunt in his chapter include Trolls (based off God of War PS4 versions), Yule Cats (Icelandic Christmas folklore; they take Christmas super-seriously), Valkyries (borrowing elements from Shin Megami Tensei: Soul Hacker's Valkyrie Demons, particularly the horses), and Sleipnir, Odin's eight legged horse/nephew from Loki's side of the family, considered the greatest horse of all.
- The Theocracy of Nidavellir is named after the Norse Realm of Dwarves. Aesthetics-wise, they're based off the Assyrian Empire and other pre-AD Middle Eastern Empires centered around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, along with Erebor, the Kingdom under the Mountain from Tolkien's The Hobbit, with its subsequent collapse mirroring Smaug's takeover.
- Sephira's Nation of Da'at is named after the main branch of the Tree of Life, Sefirot, where all ten branches met. Basically the Tree of Life's trunk.
- Saiga's list of his past names/titles (Fengr the Rat-Catcher, Wotan the Wise, Hárbarðr the Wizened) are all of the Norse God Odin's alternative names/titles that each mean something in Norse. "Fengr" means "fetcher" or "catcher," Wotan (or in a non-anglicanized "Vodin") means "Leader" or "War Leader," and Hárbarðr means "grey beard."
- [Song of Ice and Fire, Muspelheim and Niflheim] is named after George R.R. Martin's fantasy novel series (better known as "Game of Thrones") and after the realm of fire and ice giants from Norse Mythology.
- [Killshot Lance of Destiny, Gungnir] is named after Odin's spear that always returns to him when thrown, Gungnir. It's casting is based off of Enkidu's Noble Phantasm animation from Fate/Grand Order.
- [Keeper of the Four Winds, Aeolus] is named after the Greek Wind God who'd kept the four winds (Zephyrs, Notos, Euros, and Boreas) in the caves located in the mystical island of Aeolia. His most notable feat is when he'd lent a bag of wind to Odysseus in case where he needs the wind to push his sails for his boat during his journey. Design-wise, I based it off Yozakura's Ultimate Ninpo: [Shin Namu Amida] from Senran Kagura: Estival Versus.
- Medb is named after the Queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle who instigated a war between numerous clans for the sake of owning a golden cow. Design-wise, I had her physical appearance be based off the female protagonist/Gudako from Fate/Grand Order outfit be based off Professor Sada from Pokemon Scarlet. And her [Bag of Holding] is an essential item in Dungeons & Dragons that allows the character to carry up to 500 pounds worth of inventory in a compact package.
- Hamelin is based off the Pied Piper of Hamelin of Germanic Folklore, who used his music to lure the rats out the village they were infesting and made them march into a running river where they all presumably drowned to their deaths, but got stiffed by the villagers, so he repaid them by hypnotizing all of the village children with his music and had them all jump off to their deaths, or drowned, or kidnapped. Either way, the whole village was left childless. Design-wise, Testament's incarnation from Guilty Gear Strive came to mind.
Hypothetical Voice Actors:
- Freki: Fumihiko Tachiki (JPN), D.C. Douglas (ENG)
- Medb: Akira Sekine (JPN), Brittney Lauda (ENG)
- Hamelin: Eishin Fudemura (JPN), Brandon Winckler (ENG)
And as usual, please leave a comment or a review, for I'd love to know what my readers think!