Chapter 147: Doomsday Cult Headquarters

Astaroth returns to the Doomsday Cult headquarters accompanied by a robed figure wearing a skull mask, making him look similar to the members of the Doomsday Cult. Said figure is currently concealing his aura in order to lull the others into a false sense of security.

"Yo, Astaroth-sama! You're late!"

"Who's that guy? Newbie?"

"Doesn't matter! He dies along with you!"

He is greeted in the gate by other members of the Doomsday Cult… who are no longer loyal to him as they have been bought off by the investors.

"Heh heh heh." The mysterious figure merely chuckled.

"Huuuh? What the fuck are ya laughin' at, dumbass? Don't you know how fucked you are right now?" threatened one of the traitors as he behaved like a common thug.

"I simply find your lack of faith amusing." The mysterious masked figure remarked, quoting a certain space dark lord.

"What the fuck? This dumbass is actually mocking us? Ha ha ha! It seems that everyone who follows you are nothing but a bunch of halfwits after all, Astaroth-dono!" Laughed another traitor in amusement.

"No. You all are the fools." Replied Astaroth.

"What did you say?" Said the traitor, still smiling, assured of his victory.

"Because you've all defied the will of our god." Astaroth remarks, reminding them of the god that their cult worships.

"Ha ha ha! All that worshipping that serial killer is a bunch of bullshit! Bet he died a long time ago! And you both shall join him in hell! You guys! Attack!" Shouted the traitor as he orders his men to attack the two. Despite the order though, the men, so assured of their victory, opted to approach the pair slowly and leisurely.

"Here they come, my lord!"

"No need to lift a finger, Astaroth. Today, I need to personally remind them who is master."

"As you wish, my lord." Astaroth steps back as the masked figure stood in front and began releasing his dormant magical powers, which caused all the men to stop their advance in complete fear and bewilderment.

"Wh-What…? What is this…?" One of them mutters, unable to believe the amount of magic power he's currently feeling, which exceeds any monsters they have encountered so far.

"You see it now. You see how foolish you are for betraying our god. He has returned and he shall personally punish you for your blasphemous betrayal." Astaroth remarks.

"W-Wait! I surrender! I-" Not giving him the chance to talk and beg, the masked figure casts a spell that summons ice spears from the floor beneath every single traitor, impaling their bodies.

"Aghh… Have mercy…" Even with his body impaled, one of the traitors still tries to beg for mercy, which he shall not receive after having the audacity to deny the existence of his god.

"You shall serve me in death." The masked figure declares as he, with a wave of his hand, tears out the souls of every single traitor from their bodies and revives them with his necromancy before removing the ice spears that impaled them. Astaroth can only admire his lord's power with a grin as he watches the event unfold.

"Let's go, Astaroth."

"Yes, my lord."

The two of them walked further in, accompanied by the newly created undead servants, to the inner sanctum of the Doomsday Cult headquarters, where he sensed many other traitors lie in waiting.

When they reached the inner sanctum, they are greeted by many robed and masked figures, members of the Doomsday Cult. Behind them stood several men wearing suits who are still grinning and assured of their victory.

"Well well well. Lookie here, Astaroth-dono. It looks like you dispatched the-" One of the investors speaks… only to stop in his tracks as he noticed the undead walking with the two figures. The sight of men with holes in their chests which is still dripping with blood terrifies them. When they see the masked figure walking alongside Astaroth, all of their hearts are gripped by fear and despair as even the investors, who are not awakeners and thus shouldn't be able to sense magical powers, are able to sense the terrible power that the masked figure exudes, rendering them speechless.

As none of them dared to make a move or speak a word, Astaroth steps forward.

"Today is a glorious day! For our god… The Occult Killer…. has returned!" Astaroth declares, causing the members of the Doomsday Cult to whisper amongst each other.

"And yet… what does he see upon his return? Traitors and blasphemers." Astaroth continues.

"A-Astaroth-dono! Is he… really…?"

"If you are an awakener, you should be able to sense his divinity."

"Hiii….! I-I pledge my loyalty to—UAAAGHHH!" The man is interrupted by an ice spear that suddenly emerged from the floor, impaling him.

"Pledge loyalty? And here I thought you've already done that the moment you joined my cult. Why pledge loyalty now?" The masked figure says, expressing his disappointment towards his worshippers.

"N-No! We worship you and only you!"

"That's right! You are our god!"

"The inverstors… deceived us and led us astray! But now you've returned!"

"All hail Occult Killer-sama!"

Astaroth grins in satisfaction as he sees how all members of the Doomsday Cult bowed before their god and betraying the investors who bought them off.

"Good. Now that you understa-"

"No. This is not enough. Not enough at all." Their god, the Occult Killer, interrupts him as he expresses his dissatisfaction.

"Is something wrong, my lord?" Astaroth asks as he grew nervous.

"Most of these scum are not loyal even now. They happily betrayed me and switched back only when they see which one is the winning side."

"B-But, my lord! We have seen your powers! None of us will betray you ever again!"

"We swear!"

"Have mercy!"

"SILENCE!" Shouts the Occult Killer in a demonic and commanding voice. The entire great hall is silent as no one dares to make a noise.

Then they feel foreign magic enter their brains, filling them with more fear as they know instinctively who is responsible. They feel like their memories being probed by the foreign magic.

"I have no use for blasphemers and opportunists. I only need those who are truly faithful… and none of you fit the criteria. The punishment for your blasphemy… is death and damnation." The Occult Killer declares as he casts his ice spell, impaling every single Doomsday Cultists within the headquarters that he had judged to be unworthy. Then, with another wave of his hand, he reaps the souls of every single impaled person and revives them with his necromancy, letting them serve him loyally only in death.

"Amazing…" Astaroth whispers to himself as he witnessed his lord's judgement.

After releasing all the people he has just executed from the ice spears impaling their bodies, the Occult Killer walked towards the group of investors who stood in front of the altar whilst trembling. Some of them even soiled their pants.

"Hiiiee…! O-Occult Killer-sama! Please spare our lives!"

"W-We'll pay you whatever it takes!"

The investors, once again put in the position they were in back when they first encountered the Doomsday Cult, bows (in a perfectly practiced dogeza) and starts begging for their lives, offering their wealth as compensation as they did before to the leaders of the Doomsday Cult.

"No amount of money can save you." The Occult Killer remarks as he stood in front of the kneeling men.

"Why!? Without our money, you cannot wage war against the other factions!" One of them raises his head and glared at the Occult Killer in defiance.

"Because the only currency worth trading in the netherworld… are souls. And besides the ones you own, you have nothing else. You have nothing to pay me with. And thus, YOUR SOULS ARE MINE!" Declares the Occult Killer, quoting a certain soul stealing sorcerer, as he steals their souls and leave them as lifeless husks.

"Hmph. What low level corpses they left. Not even worth being turned into the lowest level zombies."

"My lord. I am in awe of your power. This Astaroth wishes to once again pledge my eternal loyalty to you. I swear to you that I shall serve you loyally to the death… and beyond!" Astaroth, the only one left alive in the great hall, kneels before his lord and made his declaration.

"Good. There are several men I spared from my wrath. They have been imprisoned downstairs by the traitors. Release them and have them pledge their loyalties to me here."

"It shall be done!" Astaroth says as he hastily heads towards the dungeon to free his fellow cultists who are still loyal to the old ways and refused to be bought by money, hence their imprisonment.

As he left, the Occult Killer walks towards the back of the altar and admires the decoration they made to the inner sanctum, which possesses western gothic architecture and features many skeleton and reaper-like motives, especially the huge statue of a winged grim reaper, which definitely depicts him.

"Hmm… They definitely got the skeleton and reaper aesthetics right."

The Occult Killer then summons his floating throne, which is made of bones, and sat on it as he waits for Astaroth to bring the rest of his loyal worshippers.

"Oh? What's this? Uninvited guests? Heh heh heh. Good."

"Onii-chan! Onii-chan! Look! I drew you and me!" I ran towards my beloved brother, showing him a drawing me of holding hands with him.

"That's a nice drawing, Mari!" My brother rewards me with a pat on my head, which I love very much.

"Hee hee hee! I love you, Onii-chan! One day, I'm going to marry you!"

"A ha ha ha! You're so silly, Mari!"

"I'm serious! I'm going to be the most beautifulest bride ever! You'll see!"

Convincing Kuzaya-kun to grant my selfish request wasn't easy… but I was able to do it.

My request is to infiltrate and scout the Doomsday Cult headquarters. Aki-chan and Shiina-chan accompanies me on Kuzaya-kun's orders. He was adamant at not letting me go alone into enemy territory.

Disguising as members of the Doomsday Cult wasn't as simple as simply wearing their signature hooded cloaks and masks. We have to bring some member cards (stolen from real members we recently defeated) which have been imprinted with our magical signature. With the help of an insider, we have been able to get our magical signature registered in their database, which would make their system recognize us as one of them and allow us entry through the front door if need be.

I have to admit… Kuzaya-kun is better prepared than I thought. To think he has prepared that much. Perhaps he predicted that I would make that request…

We entered the headquarters through underground tunnels and once we arrived at the dungeon, which is connected to the secret tunnels we entered from, we felt a huge magic power upstairs… power far greater than what we felt from the Original Knight. That means… he's here.

"M-Mari-chan... This is bad…! We have to get out of here!" Shiina-chan whispers.

"This is a bad idea, after all! Let's go before-"

"None of you will leave here alive." Aki-chan's words are interrupted by a familiar voice. The owner of said voice emerges from the dimly lit hallways. His tall hulking figure alone is recognizable. This time, he is unmasked, exposing half of his face which his covered in cybernetic enhancements. The red eye on the right side of his face, which is covered in metal, shines ominously as he stares at us with bloodlust in his eyes.

"Astaroth!" Aki-chan says his name as she and Shiina-chan prepared themselves for combat, brandishing their respective weapons, Aki-chan her mace and Shiina-chan her Chinese hook swords.

"How did you know we are here?" I asked him with a calm voice.

"Heh heh heh. Can you feel it, upstairs? His divine presense? He has come to deliver judgment upon this holy place, culling our numbers just moments before your arrival. I was assigned to release some of my imprisoned comrades but he… through divine words… spoke directly to my mind and informed me of your arrival." Astaroth says as his comrades emerges from behind him, encircling us before we can retreat to the tunnel we entered from. One of them even slashes the ceiling of the tunnel, causing it to collapse and cutting off our escape.

"Tch. We're surrounded!" Shiina-chan says.

"It's a trap! I told you, this is a bad idea, Mari-chan!"

"Aki-chan. Shiina-chan. I'm sorry I brought you both into this." I apologized to the both of them as I brandished my own weapon, a naginata.

"Meh. No worries, Mari-chan. I'll follow you to hell if I have to." Aki-chan declares.

"Me too! Me too!" Shiina-chan says with a gentle smile. Both of them didn't lose morale and faith in me despite being led into a death trap for my selfishness.

"Aki-chan… Shiina-chan…. Thank you."

I thanked them both before charging forward with our weapons in hand.

"Heh heh heh. From your weapons, I assume you're the magical girls from Akihabara. Let us see how magical you really are!" Astaroth taunts as he orders his subordinates to engage us in combat.

"Haaaaa!" I shout as went for a slash with my naginata. My opponent attempts to block but I feinted and maneouvers my weapon to stab his head instead, piercing through his skull easily. Others jump to attack me at once but with a swing of my naginata, I blew them all away.

*BOOM*

A sound of explosion. Aki-chan's mace caused an explosion as she smashed a man's skull with it.

"Uaaghh!" A man shouts as he is disarmed by Shiina-chan's hook swords and having his throat stabbed by a blade from her sword's pommel.

Unlike these cultists, who are merely super powered thugs, we have been trained in real martial arts and thus we are more skilled than they are on top of being more magically powerful, not to mention we have fought and killed plenty of them in the past.

"Heh heh heh. You girls are better than I thought. And here I thought this will become boring." Watching us winning against his subordinates, Astaroth merely grins fearlessly as he brandishes his own weapon, a pair of twin axes.

"I hope you girls can entertain me." Says Astaroth as he enters the fray. I block his twin axes with my naginata… and felt the pressure of his strength, which is comparable to Valefor, one of the Doomsday Cult leader I fought once before. The floor beneath me cracks as I withstood the heavy pressure of his strike.

"To think you could actually withstand my strike. You are indeed the one who defeated Valefor. Heh heh heh." He raises one of his axes and as I try to block it with my naginata, he kneed me in my stomach.

"But don't think I'm the same as these minions! I was a soldier! I have way more fighting experience than you girls!" He shouts as he kicks me away. Aki-chan and Shiina-chan caught me before I hit the wall.

"Mari-chan! He's strong! We have to work together!" Aki-chan says.

"I agree! We'll do "that"!"

"Understood!"

The three of us gathered our weapons together and infused them with our magic power, causing our weapons to shine brightly… so bright that it blinds the cultists, who shield their eyes with their hands.

"Now!" I shout as the three of us ran past them to climb the stairs to the ground floor.

"Heh. You think that's gonna work!?" Astaroth, who possess a mechanical eye in his right eye socket, wasn't blinded, allowing him to charge towards us, intending to strike us with both axes.

*CLANG*

Both his axes are blocked by Aki-chan and Shiina-chan's weapons.

"Run, Mari-chan! We'll hold him off!" Shiina-chan says.

"But…!"

"You came here for a purpose, right? Then go fulfill it! Go!" Aki-chan says, telling me to abandon them.

"You guys… better survive this, okay!?" I tearfully left them behind as I climb the stairs.

When I enter the hallways of the ground floor, I noticed how empty the place is. I thought I have to fight hordes of the cultists but it seems that luck is on my side… or maybe not.

Nonetheless… I head towards the inner sanctum, the great hall that the cultists used for their profane worship of that serial killer.

I know I should've avoided the greatest source of danger and headed towards the exit instead… but that's not what I came here for. I came here… to meet him face to face.

When I entered the inner sanctum, I was surprised to see that all members of the Doomsday Cult are gathered there. Except… all of them have holes in their torso. Despite such fatal wounds… all of them are still standing. They all stare at me with dead eyes… like corpses. Are they…. Zombies?

"Welcome… to my inner sanctum, faithless one." I hear a demonic voice greeted me. When I face the direction of the voice, I saw a figure wearing black robes and a skull mask sitting on a floating throne made of bones.

"The Occult Killer…!" I say as I glare at him with hatred in my eyes.

"Indeed. You must be one of the magical girls from Akihabara… and Nishino Akane's friend. Mari Blue, was it?"

"Indeed."

"I have to ask, out of curiosity. Why have you come here?"

"I've come… to kill you."

"Oh?"

"Because you killed my brother!"

Author's Note:

The Occult Killer has descended and asserted his Dominance in Shadow on the Doomsday Cult.

TheAbyssWatcher: Mari is definitely important to the plot. Is she Necro's sister? Could be Shad's, but I don't know if he has one in canon. So many Hidde Plots in Shadows...

Answer: So many Hidden Plots in Shadows that I'm excited to reveal.

Guest: Darn, TheAbyssWatcher beat me to the punch. I too was wondering if Mari is Tetsuya's sister, given her reaction to the Occult Killer's identity.

Answer: Maybe she is? Maybe she isn't. We shall see.

DerTrap: Let me guess, Mari is Tetsuya's/Necromancer's younger sister? Will he use her to further torture Akane? Will he maybe even corrupt her to the darkside, forcing Akane to engage her in a duel until death?

Answer: You will see what I have in store for them.

BetweenIandGirl: Cid old persona is... back?

Answer: STYLISH!

Guest: First Cid thought like a jealous girlfriend, and now Claude thought like a lonely girlfriend. They are basically Batman and Joker at this point lol.

Astraroth is in for a shock if he ever discovers that his god not only didn't kill the Balaclavas Berserker, but only started killing to "avenge" his "best friend".

Answer: Lmao yeah.

Oh he will be shocked indeed if he does find out.

borregodillon9: Love the plot

Answer: Thanks!