Chapter 9
Heart of an Avenger
As I walked through the portal, I found myself in the inner sanctum of a desert ruin. The air felt quite cool and part of the inner sanctum had been reclaimed by the sands. In the middle was a figure who looked like a crystalline version of Shadow. The body itself was composed of a black and purple body with a white mark on the forehead; meanwhile, the eyes were composed of red scleras and green eyes with slitted pupils. The quills were also bushy and ended in white tips. Oddly, the figure also appeared to not have a mouth. "I've been waiting for you, Jack Sebastian Arnold.", the figure said with a prominent nasal rasp. "I'm sorry, do I know you?", I asked. "Oh, you don't know me, but I know you. But enough of that. My name, since you have appear to have forgotten, is Mephiles the Dark.", the figure said, covered in a nauseously bright aura. "Well then, Mephiles, prepare to fall by my blade!", I said, summoning Gram. "That's it! That's the spirit!", Mephiles said as he rushed at me, launching a flurry of attacks that I dodged, retaliating with my own furious flurry of attacks that matched Mephiles blow for blow. "You'll need much more than the Doom Blast if you're going to defeat me.", Mephiles said as he unleashed a potent well of darkness that covered the floor in Corruption. Wary, I dodged a razor sharp spear of light that Mephiles fired from his hand before unleashing a razor sharp beam of darkness from Gram in response. "This is just sad.", Mephiles said. "That makes two of us.", I said as an acute blast of red electricity burst forth from my body. "Why are you so hesitant to use your Doom Powers, son?", Ragna's voice suddenly said. "Huh? Dad?", I asked, confused. "He's right, nephew. You're hesitating. Don't.", Noel's voice said. "Aunt Noel? No, it must be an illusion.", I said. "What's an illusion? Your own family talking to you?", Mephiles said as he unleashed a beam of light that I just managed to dodge. "I get it. Your absorption of the Waxing Moon Vessel is preventing you from taking full enjoyment of your Doom Powers. Because you absorbed something so corruptive, you're afraid of what might happen if you just so happen to lose control. You know I'm right.", Musashi's voice said. "If that's the case, then this might finally make you realise what to do!", Mephiles said before summoning a katana and stabbing me with it, causing me to puke out a suspicious black and dark red substance.
"Bastard, what are you doing?", I gasped as Mephiles drove the katana he summoned deeper into my chest. "Oh, nothing special. Just removing the Waxing Moon Vessel from your body!", Mephiles said as the katana's blade glowed a sinister blue light. "Huh?", I thought as the Waxing Moon Vessel suddenly burst out of my body before landing on the claw. Suddenly, I felt myself be consumed by a strange burst of rage causing a storm of red electricity to surround my body. Dismissing the katana, Mephiles then summoned what looked to be Dante's greatsword and then stabbed me with it. "And now, for your Black Arm DNA to fuse with your therion DNA!", Mephiles cried as a very strange feeling came over me, prompting the Waxing Moon Vessel to vanish before my eyes. Covered in a black dark red tornado, I screamed as Mephiles yanked out the greatsword. "Embrace it, my son! Embrace your power!", Velvet's voice said. As my vision grew redder and redder, it then suddenly returned to normal as the tornado dispersed, revealing my Doom Surf mount. "Yes! Yes! Yes! You've awakened!", Mephiles cried out in joy as I towards him, transforming into the Doom Morph to easily swim through the Corruption and do so. Grabbing onto a purple sphere, I dodged one of his beams of light, promptly swimming through the air as though it was Corruption. As Mephiles retreated to another part of the sanctum flooded with water, he taunted out, "Ooh, what are you gonna do now?". "This.", I growled as I returned to my normal form and summoned the Doom Surf, firing off Doom Spears to counter Mephiles's own attacks. Dismissing the Doom Surf as I returned to solid ground, I then unleashed a furious assault that Mephiles could barely keep up with, me interweaving the Doom Blast's attacks in with my normal sword swings and stabs. "This is what power feels like! Remember it!", Naoto's voice said as I screamed in rage, dismissing Gram in favour of a dark red version of the Void Sword from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. "There's no way. I can't believe this!", Mephiles said. "Well believe it.", I said, using the sword to generate a dark blizzard that froze not only the water but also Mephiles's body. "So what do you call this power?", Mephiles asked. "I call it the Doom Sword. Unimaginative, I know, but it's what I came up with.", I said before unleashing a furious onslaught that Mephiles managed to match.
Frustrated, I dismissed the Doom Sword before summoning a pair of fiery orange gauntlets covering even my demonic left arm only for the gauntlets to turn a sinister dark gold instead. Empowered by a violent surge of hatred and rage, I then unleashed a furious onslaught that burned away the frozen water, evaporating it outright and creating a furious storm of fire that Mephiles could barely contain. "And what is this power?", he asked. "I call it the Doom Claws.", I snarled before dismissing them and summoning a black and dark red whip that eviscerated Mephiles's defences. "And this is the Doom Whip.", I growled before unleashing an even angrier attack. Roaring, I then summoned a black and dark red scythe and unleashed a dark red storm of energy from it that caused Mephiles to laugh. "Yes! That's it! Awaken as the Sovereign and the Demon King of Time! Embrace your destiny!", he cried in joy as I grew even angrier. "This is the Doom Scythe.", I snarled before unleashing a black and dark gold aura that distorted time around me. "DIE!", I screamed before rushing at Mephiles, only to find myself in front of Chaos Island's structure in White Space, my rage and Doom Scythe having mysteriously vanished. "Huh?", I thought as I found a strange belt around my waist. "What? What? What?", I asked as I noticed a black and dark red gear in my hand. Walking over to the Sealing Device near Chaos Island's structure and watched as the device hatched, unleashing a black mist that caused my eyes to briefly flash red. Suddenly, a pair of fleshy black wings with red tips grew out of my back and caused me to float above the ground before launching into outright flight. "Now you have permanent access to the Doom Wing.", Fafnir's voice said. Returning to the ground, I dismissed the Doom Wing before seeing Mephiles again. "You again.", I growled. "So this is White Space, huh? I guess the Corruption I spread wasn't enough to completely defile it.", Mephiles said. "Wait, you spread the Corruption?", I asked. "Yeah, I did. Anyway, to celebrate your becoming complete with your Doom Powers fully unlocked, I have something important to tell you. It concerns the Waxing Moon Vessel and the accompanying Waxing Moon Ritual.", Mephiles said. "OK.", I said, suspicious.
Walking over to the Sealing Device, Mephiles said, "When Aionios formed, it wasn't originally a threat to the Multiverse. It was, however, a threat to itself. You see, Aionios was formed as a fusion of two worlds: Alrest and the Bionis. Both worlds were incompatible with each other and as such attempted to destroy the world through Annihilation Events, themselves signposted blatantly by black fog. Anyway, during the war between Keves and Agnus, YHVH cast a spell on Aionios that caused it to absorb several other worlds with no rhyme or even reason. The spell was designed to absorb as many worlds as possible without checking to see if any of the worlds were actually temporally or spatially compatible with each other, causing the Annihilation Events to become more frequent and much more destructive, with Aionios's World having to work overtime to clean up the distortion. Incidentally, by World, I mean the rules of reality needed for a planet to function properly. In order to stop the distortion from destroying the Multiverse, the onmyoji Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro devised a variant of the Waxing Moon Ritual called the Aionios Waxing Moon Ritual with the purpose being to pit 13 Servants against each other to generate enough energy to destroy Aionios and YHVH with it. The energy would go into the Waxing Moon Vessel and empower the victor with the power to destroy Aionios and rouse them into being more willing to do so, unless the person in question already had the goal of destroying YHVH anyway, in which case the Waxing Moon Vessel would only empower them. The Aionios Waxing Moon Ritual needs all 13 Servants summoned – Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, Berserker, Ruler, Avenger, Moon Cancer, Alter Ego, Foreigner and Pretender – to fight in order to generate the energy needed.". "And what does this have to do with me?", I asked. "Well, when the ritual began, only 12 Servants were summoned - Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, Berserker, Ruler, Moon Cancer, Alter Ego, Foreigner and Pretender. No Avenger was summoned in the initial Chain Summon until you were summoned and granted the power of the Avenger class. Not only due to the lack of an Avenger-class Servant but it also being the class best suited to you, not just because of your temper but also your hatred for YHVH and the Chosen and subsequent quest for revenge being actually very justified.", Mephiles replied. "How can revenge ever be justified?", I asked. "Anyway, the initial plan was for you to destroy YHVH either through winning the Ritual or destroying Aionios anyway through your lust for revenge being too hard for you to control, ensuring that you would succumb to it eventually. However, your refusal to succeed Alphen as the Sovereign and subsequent refusal to give in to the darkness and embrace your true nature ended up sending our plans off kilter. If you had just given in to the darkness and embraced your true nature right from the start, you would have already been crowned as the Sovereign and the Demon King of Time already.", Mephiles said. "You mentioned me becoming the Demon King of Time. Anyway, what's the deal with that?", I asked. "It's related to the belt around your waist. That is the Ziku-Driver used by a certain Sougo Tokiwa during his time as Kamen Rider Zi-O, with it allowing him to access the powers of previous Kamen Riders before him. He gave the Ziku-Driver to me and gave me a strict order to give it to you, with you inheriting his powers as the Demon King of Time. To be honest, I don't know if he was either 18 or 68 when he gave it to me though I'm going more toward 68.", Mephiles said.
After a brief silence, I asked, "Does Yuito know about the power of the Demon King of Time?", I asked. "No, not yet. Besides, Yuito was never intended to become the Sovereign so he wasn't told about it. At least, I don't think he was. Besides, Sougo only ever told me about the prophecy of the Demon King of Time and told me to tell you after your Doom Powers were fully unlocked.", Mephiles replied. "Why after?", I asked. "Well, Sougo feared you might not be able to control the power of the Demon King of Time – Kamen Rider Ohma Zi-O – if your Doom Powers weren't fully unlocked. Besides, the power of Ohma Zi-O involves using the powers of all previous Heisei Kamen Riders and the host must be strong enough to control them. It's a basic security measure.", Mephiles said before suddenly vanishing. Feeling that something strange was happening, I walked over to the gap I saw and summoned my Doom Wings, using them to fly over the gap and to Radical Highway's structure which, Reader, was strangely already fully coloured in. Dismissing my Doom Wings, I walked inside the structure, finding myself back in Radical Highway. Strangely, the area was completely empty- no Black Arms, no robots, nothing at all. Running forward, I noticed that the city was also seeming completely normal though there was a strange feeling in the back of my mind that I couldn't shake. "Weird.", I thought, noticing a strange blimp that looked faded and pale. "Shouldn't it be orange?", I thought as I looked at the rest of the city. Suddenly, Black Doom appeared in front of me. "Why am I not surprised at this point?", I asked. "Touche. But you know, your powers being fully unlocked don't mean you automatically know how to control them. Thankfully, that's why I'm here~.", Black Doom said before disappearing, causing the city to become distorted and the night sky to turn an ominous red. Summoning my Doom Wings, I flew forward through the distortions whilst noticing the unmistakably red form of the Blood Moon through the clouds. As strange black snakes rose out of the ground, I fired off volleys of Doom Spears skewering them. Landing on solid ground, I then dismissed my Doom Wings as the distortion faded, causing the night sky and the city to return to normal. Running forward, I then found myself back in White Space.
Wondering why Radical Highway's structure was fully coloured in from the start, I then saw that I was back by Space Colony ARK's structure. "Huh?", I thought only for the strange black moon I saw to then hurtle toward the ground, causing the ground to collapse. Walking toward the crater, I then felt a strange surge of black and dark red energy to burst forth from my body. As I screamed in rage, I noticed that the energy heavily resembled my cyber corruption that I had obtained from the Titans. Unleashing a strong burst of anger, I forced the energy to disperse before panting profusely. Looking down into the crater, I saw that the moon was actually the Black Comet shapeshifted to look like a moon. "Huh. Wondered how I missed that.", I said before jumping down into the comet, finding myself in the Black Comet's innards. Running forward, I saw the innards warp and twist, morphing into the 6 areas that I had explored – the industrial space station of the Space Colony ARK, the desert canyon railway of Rail Canyon, the ruined castle of Kingdom Valley, the war torn streets of Sunset Heights, the volcanic pathways of Chaos Island and the urban skyscrapers of Radical Highway. Noticing an assortment of purple spheres in the air, I transformed into the Doom Morph and grabbed onto them, skilfully using my tentacles to reach sphere after sphere. Returning to my normal form, I manifested the manta ray mount of Doom Surf and used it to surf down pathways of water before dismissing it as I returned to solid ground. Running forward, I fired a volley of Doom Spears that disabled and electrified a burly looking alien with black skin and red splotches before unleashing a furious onslaught and launching it into the air with a Doom Blast before using a Doom Spear to anchor myself to it, killing it. Summoning my Doom Wings, I then flew forward before landing on a solid yet narrow pathway leading to the inner sanctum of the Black Comet.
Running to the inner sanctum, I noticed that it was strangely empty. "Where are you, Black Doom?", I asked. "Oh, you've finally come! But you're unfortunately too late. You see, because of you taking your sweet time to awaken and reach the Black Comet, I've already begun to fuse the Doom Zone with White Space. Soon, all of Aionios will become one with the Doom Zone and Yuito will become the Sovereign.", Black Doom's voice said. "What do you mean?", I asked before I found myself back in White Space, now with the Black Comet in the sky. I then watched as the comet launched several black and dark tendrils that burrowed their way into the white ground, causing the sky to turn an ominous red. Suddenly, Black Doom then warped into existence. "Isn't it beautiful?", he asked as White Space warped and twisted, with many of Radical Highway's structures manifesting in White Space. Then, a strange earthquake sounded. "What was that?", I asked. "Oh, that's maybe just the White Space starting to destabilise. But I guess I'll be able to get a good fight against you before the space collapses.", Black Doom said. "Challenge accepted.", I said, firing up dark red Tao mandalas and preparing to fight. Rushing at the alien warlord, I flew forward with my Doom Wings, firing a volley of Doom Spears to counter the attacks that Black Doom himself manifested to harass me. "My, aren't you aggressive?", Black Doom playfully asked as I then unleashed a violent flurry of dark projectiles including one in the shape of one of the Black Beast's heads. As the Tao mandalas disappeared, I then fired several dark magic projectiles fused with those of the Doom Spears, the projectiles making short work of Black Doom's defences. Suddenly, a strange sense of anger came over me causing the White Space to start crumbling and dissolving. Flying at Black Doom, I felt my Doom Wings mysteriously disappear, with a black sphere of energy forming around him. As the structures leading to Space Colony ARK, Rail Canyon, Kingdom Valley, Sunset Heights, Chaos Island and Radical Highway disappeared, I formed a sphere of black and dark cyber energy around myself, the two spheres around us colliding and distorting the area around us. "DIE!", I roared as Black Doom laughed maniacally. "Yes, you're the rightful Sovereign and the one true Demon King of Time, alright.", Black Doom said as the two spheres around us promptly exploded, causing the White Space to crumble and collapse. Covered in the explosion, I used the power of the Negative Speed Force in a futile attempt to outlast it, the explosion promptly knocking me unconscious and sending me to an unknown place.
The story continues in the next chapter.