Chapter 46: I Am Become Death

*CLANG*

"Gaaahh!" Grunted an elf man after being pushed back by Beatrix.

"Dammit… After all of that… you still…" Arrinoth muttered as he slowly stood back up to face his opponent.

"There is something I must ask you." Beatrix said.

"What do you want?" He replied cynically.

"Have you seen an elf girl who looks like me?"

"You asked that last time we met! You still don't remember me, do you!? Grrr….!" Arrinoth exclaimed, all his training and the Artifacts he acquired from the Necromancer didn't give him enough edge against Beatrix, his sworn rival.

"Really? My apologies." Beatrix said as she bowed her head.

"GRRR! I'LL MAKE YOU REMEMBER, YOU ARROGANT BITCH!" Arrinoth shouted angrily as he prepared to charge forth before being interrupted by a rumble…

"Ughh…." Grunted Rose as she was forced into her knees with her rapier broken to pieces by her opponent's claws. Even Glen joining the fight didn't help much. The wolf beastkin they were fighting is just that strong.

"Now. Be a good girl and come with me, okay? Or I'm gonna have to hurt you a bit more." Adra, the wolf beastkin said with a nonchalant tone.

"Tell me…" Rose said in between gasps and heavy breaths.

"What have you done to my father!?" She shouted with hateful eyes.

"Hmm… I'm not supposed to say anything but since I'm feeling generous… Simply put, Lord Necromancer brainwashed the king."

"Necromancer…!?" Rose exclaimed.

"So that monster… is the one responsible!?" Glen shouted.

"You said too much, Adra." Said a demonic voice from a short masked figure who appeared behind the beastkin.

"Oops. You caught me, Acolyte. Hee hee hee." Adra laughed it off as if it was a joke.

"Not another word. You will finish your task and-" The Acolyte was interrupted by a rumble, followed by the sound of glass crashing and loud explosion that came after.

*BOOOOOOOM*

Out of nowhere a huge explosion occurred in the sky above the Midgar Royal Capital. Every single individual in the city witnessed the huge explosion in awe no matter who they are.

The explosion seemingly appeared out of a tear in space itself, shaking the whole city in the process.

People with keen eyes could discern a black robed figure being blown away by the explosion towards the mountains outside the capital. Alpha was one of them.

"Shadow…" She muttered while smiling as she watched the explosion in the sky. Her opponent, Gilfried, is doing the same, but with a different emotion.

"Lord Necromancer!" He shouted in disbelief.

The figure of Necromancer disappeared in the distance, presumably crashed on the mountains. Another black robed figure emerged from the huge hole in the sky and jumped to chase the Necromancer as the huge hole in the sky created by the explosion slowly closed itself.

"Heh. It looks like your master has been defeated as he was destined to be." Alpha said while smiling.

"This is not over yet!" Shouted Gilfried.

"How is it not over yet?" Alpha replied while smirking.

Her confident smile was broken the moment she saw green magic enveloping the whole mountain that the Necromancer was thrown into.

"No… that's…!?" Exclaimed Alpha in utter disbelief.

"That's how. Heh heh heh."

After I launched Megiddo and destroyed the sub-dimension, we both emerged in the real world. I jumped out of the sub-dimension's hole to chase after the Necromancer, who has been thrown into a mountain outside the capital by the explosion.

I floated in the air when I found him, lying in a crater under a pile of broken trees. I watched him, trying to find any sign of life in him whilst being wary of more traps. Knowing him, this could be a trap too.

And I was right as I detected four floating swords chasing after me.

"Heh. You said you wouldn't use them against a worthy foe. It seems you're out of options, Necromancer." I taunted him while smirking as I dodged and deflected the floating runed swords with my own sword.

The Necromancer still didn't move as I entertained myself with his swords. One of the swords unleashed fireball, another unleashed ice spears and the third, a lightning bolt. I dodged and deflected the spells but the fourth sword did something unexpected.

It casted a gravity spell on me, making my already exhausted body unable to move.

"Ughh… Using Megiddo took a toll on me. That's what I get for copying such a huge spell without mastering it properly I guess." I muttered as I fell to the ground, struggling to get up.

The four swords stabbed my torso from four directions. I had to move my vital organs away with magic to avoid having them being stabbed, though it took another toll on me.

With me trapped, the Necromancer rose back up slowly and… began copying my own technique in retaliation. His green magic envelops the whole mountain.

"Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, don't you agree? Nemesis?" He said as he poured his magic into the spell as I watched while grinning.

"I AM BECOME DEATH! THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS!"

Didn't expect him to quote the man himself! Holy shit!

The spell was complete and a huge nuclear level explosion destroyed the whole mountain we're in.

"Shadow!" Shouted Alpha as she witnessed a green explosion destroyed the mountain that Shadow and the Necromancer are in.

She would've been relieved and even appreciated the beauty of the explosion if it had her master's signature purple hue. But it was green, the color of the dreaded Necromancer's magic.

"Ha ha ha ha! As expected of my lord! Your lord Shadow is doomed!" Shouted Gilfried as he basked in his master's glorious power.

Ignoring him, Alpha jumped towards the direction of the explosion.

"Heh… It's about time we retreated as well." Said Gilfried as he too left the scene.

"Oh my. It seems that Lord Necromancer has won." Said Adra nonchalantly as if talking about the weather while looking at the mushroom cloud created by the explosion in the mountains outside the capital.

The wind and the shockwave from the explosion eventually reached the capital, causing various damages to the buildings and several fatalities.

"Let's retreat." The Acolyte said with barely disguised concern in her voice.

"What about Princess Rose?" Adra asked.

"We never actually promised to capture her for Perv Asshat so it's fine." The Acolyte said as she left the scene.

"Well, alright." Adra followed suit, leaving Rose and Glen in bewilderment.

"That explosion… it destroyed an entire mountain! What just… happened?" Rose asked.

"It's almost like the explosion that occurred in the middle of the capital during the night Princess Alexia escaped from Zenon. But that time the explosion had a purple hue and Princess Alexia confirmed it was done by Shadow." Glen answered.

"But that green magic…!" Rose exclaimed.

"It might've been Necromancer's doing this time. Haaah… What monsters…" Glen said tiredly.

"Sir Glen… I…"

"Don't worry. I'll vouch for your innocence. Let's get out of here." Glen said.

Ow ow ow. That hurt. Tanking that attack was difficult. If I didn't practice that barrier spell since our first encounter, I probably would've died from this. But it was worth watching that huge explosion up close. It was beautiful.

It blew me several kilometres away from the explosion and sent me crashing against another mountain though.

My nemesis… no… my best friend, the Necromancer. I welcome you to the Become the Nuke Club. I'd clap my hands if my entire body wasn't so tired and hurt.

"Ha ha ha. That was… awesome… Ha ha… Ow! Even laughing hurts!"

Seriously. I haven't had this much fun since… forever. That was such an epic boss fight!

Though… I suppose I should consider this my defeat? I mean, he did beat my ass… with my own technique no less.

I'll give this victory to you, my friend. I'll get you back soon.

"Shadow!" Ah. Alpha's here.

"Shadow! Are you alright!?" She shouted desperately with tears flowing on her cheeks.

"I've… never been…" better. I said weakly with a smile. My words seemed to have horrified her though… for some reason.

"Please… don't do things on your own! We are here for you!" She tearfully pleaded as she held my hand in hers. Is she angry because I had too much fun on my own? I understand. The Necromancer was your old playmate after all.

"I'm… Cough…" I tried to say some words of reassurance but failed and coughed out blood instead. Ow, my lungs! I need to fix the positions of my organs soon.

"Please hold still! I'll take you back to Alexandria!" She shouted as she began carrying me in a princess carry. Huh, I've been carried like this a lot lately. I know it's only been two times but that's a lot! But no matter. That's better than being carried like a sack of potatoes.

"Lord Shadow!"

"Boss man!"

Ah. Beta and Delta. Oh! Even Gamma's here. I'm glad you guys care about me but please stop crying so much. I'm not dying you know.

"Yeah I confirmed that Shadow is still alive. I caught his scent along with the scent of several Shadow Garden members on their retreat. From his scent, I detected that he was still breathing." Said Adra.

"And you didn't track them? We could've found their base!" I scolded him.

"Nu-uh! They know how to mask their scent to prevent detection. Their smell disappeared halfway."

"I see." I muttered while clenching my fist. He's untrustworthy but I have no way of confirming that theory.

"You sure we didn't need to retrieve Lord Necromancer?" Asked Adra.

"He has already returned before us. Now leave." I said to him.

"Alright, alright! I won't interrupt your alone time with him, Miss Acolyte." He said nonchalantly as he left the room. I should've known that a beastkin like him would notice my gender even if I tried to hide it. He must've noticed Claude's smell on me too.

No matter. If it means getting that bitch Carmilla or that vixen Yukime away from Claude, let him know.

I entered Claude's private room within the Necromancer's base. He has set up an automatic teleportation spell that activates when his life is in danger which would teleport him here and I need to be here to nurse him back to health.

I see him already disrobed and lying on his bed, unconscious, full of wounds and broken bones. The Tears of Diablos gave him regenerative powers but it was limited to how much magic power he has left. The fact that he couldn't heal himself means that his magic is exhausted after the battle. His condition is now far worse than back then.

The Tears of Diablos gave him great power but at the cost of his magic control, which made him expends more magical energy casting spells than he otherwise would have. He should've trained a bit more before facing Shadow once again but we had no choice back then. Shadow is that much of a menace.

It saddens me that I was unable to help him when he fought our mutual enemy Shadow. I was powerless. Still powerless.

I want more… I need more power… When I am strong enough… I shall present his head to you… my beloved Claude.

I walked to his side and moved my face closer to his.

"You don't have to do this alone, Claude. I want to help you." I whispered as I gave him a kiss on the lips.

"I shall kill him for you, Claude. I swear it. Hee hee hee…"

Author's Note:

Isn't it ironic that Claude doesn't want to deal with a yandere and yet he created a yandere with his carrot and stick method in training her?

And everyone considered Necromancer as the winner because he struck the last blow but looking at their conditions in the aftermath, you can see who really won even if barely so.

Also, I almost have the Necromancer name the technique "I am Oppenheimr" but then I remembered Oppenheimr have a quote that fits the Necromancer more.

TheVirtualPug: It's funny how Claude plays as the villain, yet actually seems to care about the people around him more than Cid (he's not really the hero, but a lot of the characters see him as such)

Answer: That's the idea. The parallel between them. Cid cares about people but not excessively whereas Claude cares a bit excessively and tries to deny it.

King0fP0wers: Ah, what a shame. I hoped he would take the Olivier... ghost? Clone? Whatevs for himself. Besides those knights and Sherry, Necro doesn't really have any special subordinates. Even fellow supervillain wannabe All For One knows how useful lots of loyal subordinates can be. Diablos is more like an alliance if anything. Well, I guess the Lawless City counts too.

Answer: Can't have Shadow and the Necromancer meet and fight each other in every arc. That's why he was absent in the Goddess Trial arc. Also, if it's about Olivier clone, he can recreate it since he already collected all necessary data from the Sanctuary but she will be just another mindless guardian, not part of his main force because all he had was data, not soul.

I've begun to introduce the Seven Wraiths, the Necromancer's version of the Seven Shades, in these last few chapters.

primenidus: Hey I get that reference

Answer: Good. :)

J-More: epic

Answer: Thanks.

Wholesome07: So what is the result of the battle?

Answer: Here it is.