Chapter 169: Japan's Last Stand

The blood red sky reached Messiah, informing the residents of the last settlement of Japan that the promised doom has come, bringing with it panic and despair.

The higher ups of Messiah kept the information about the fall of other settlements a secret from the general populace in order to prevent panic but someone leaked the information and now all the citizens are panicking, making efforts to guide them to the emergency shelters becoming more difficult as many of them would disobey orders from the Messiah knights by protesting, being belligerent and even refusing to move altogether. The knights, with superior physical capabilities, were able to move them away by force, though it took time, precious time that could've been used to prepare for the coming battle.

Regardless, they were able to muster up their forces in time before the enemy army emerged from the fog that conceals the surroundings right when the blood red sky started appearing.

The sight of the enemy army didn't help matters at all. The knights of Messiah were informed of the composition of the enemy army that invaded Akihabara, but to see it for themselves…

Surrounding the entire settlement are seas of undead forces, occasionally accompanied by monsters, all of them the size of apex beasts, with Doomsday Cultists riding on monsters each acting as field commanders for about 10000 undead soldiers.

Messiah has bolstered its forces by recruiting survivors from other fallen factions, not just from Akihabara alliance, leading to them having many colorful fighters at their disposal.

Besides the knights of Messiah and of other fallen factions are the power rangers and their zords, kamen riders and their motorcycles, occultist factions and their familiars… and even some fighters dressed as Ultraman, using technology stolen from the Land of Light, who stood in defense of the doomed settlement. Even Godzilla's roars can already be heard in the distance, signalling how ready he is to fight.

Despite that, Alpha estimated that the forces of Messiah still falls short compared to the Akihabara alliance, especially considering the friction between the remnants of the Akihabara alliance and the Messiah faction, which was caused by Messiah's betrayal during the battle of Akihabara.

"Perhaps this is where I shall finally die…" Alpha whispers quietly as she stands at the walls overlooking the enemy army. Her slime sword in hand, ready to lay down her life to resist her greatest nightmare until the end. The only thing she fears is the possibility of being enslaved by his vile death magic and being turned against her comrades at Shadow Garden and… against her beloved master, hence she developed a technique specifically to prevent that.

"Alpha-sensei." A familiar voice calls out to her from behind. She looks back to see a blonde figure wearing a familiar face. Said figure's blonde appearance earned some gasps from other defenders as they've heard the rumors of her true identity.

"Akane." Alpha calls her by name, not by the moniker that the other defenders refer to her as.

"We're going to die this time, aren't we?" Akane says, having absolutely no faith in the defenses that her foolish brother and father devised.

"Indeed." Alpha replies, having no intention to lie, especially when the situation is obvious. Hearing such words caused the morale among the troops to drop significantly.

"I see… I apologize for what my foolish brother did back in Akihabara. If it weren't for him sabotaging our efforts, we could've… Mari-chan wouldn't…" Akane says as she bows down to Alpha, her voice falters as tears falls down her cheeks.

"You don't have to apologize on behalf of someone else. And you don't have to apologize to me either." Alpha replies as she pats the crying girl's back.

"What can we do…?" Akane says in between sobs.

"There's nothing we can do but fight. Not even surrender is an option when facing a monster of his caliber."

"Right…" Akane wipes her tears and stands straight. And with a determined face she says "I'm ready to die. For Mari-chan."

"Good. Let us fight to the death." Alpha says as she turns to face the enemy army beyond the walls once again. Seeing the determination of the two women made the other defenders steel their resolve and prepare themselves to face death.

"Man. The situation is worse than back in Akihabara, huh? At least back then we had better defenses." The voice of an old man wearing samurai armor can be heard alongside his heavy steps and the clanking of his armor.

"Ha! Today is the day we're gonna fight to the death! At long last! The final bastion of humanity! The final battle!" Shouts another old man wearing Buddhist robes as the sound of his shakujō staff can be heard alongside his steps.

"Goro-sensei. Aragaki-sensei. How's Shiina-chan and Aki-chan doing?" Akane asks the two elderly warriors about the condition of her two friends and comrades, who still remained in the shelter as one of them is still unconscious and the other has lost her will to fight.

"Nothing new. Aki-kun is still unconscious and Shiina-kun won't be available for the foreseeable future." Aragaki, their teacher in the mystic arts, replies with a sigh.

"Man. At such a time, I really wish Tetsuya-kun is still here with us. At least I would've liked to fight and die alongside a pupil of mine." Goro remarks about his long lost pupil.

"Tetsuya?" Alpha says the name questioningly as this is not the first time she heard the name.

"Ah. He was once my pupil. A brilliant student… but very introverted. If he were here, I have no doubt that he would've been an invaluable-"

"But you called the Occult Killer by that name, didn't you, Akane?" Alpha asks as she turns to Akane, who can only sigh.

"Yes. Alpha-sensei. I believe that Tetsuya-kun is the Occult Killer." Unable to keep this a secret anymore, Akane confesses, shocking both old men who know him well.

"What!? That's preposterous! Why would you think that!?" Goro shouts in disbelief.

"I don't think it. I know it. I've figured out his identity since before this entire disaster happened. I've known that he was the serial killer who killed people and drew ritual circles and satanic symbols with blood." Her words shock everyone, especially Alpha, who finds that description awfully familiar.

"So the same moniker isn't a coincidence…?" Alpha whispers to herself as one of the mysteries that plagued her since her arrival in this world has been solved.

"How did you find out?" Goro, still in disbelief, presses on.

"I… kind of stalked him back then. I tracked his activity through police records and found that the general location he went to matches the location of murders he committed."

"Why…? Why did he…? He…" Goro mutters in disbelief, unable to connect the image of his beloved pupil with that of their current greatest enemy.

"I… regret not stopping him back then… I was… too cowardly… I couldn't do anything… or tell anyone… not when he threatened me… saying that I'm next." Akane continues while trembling. The memories that traumatized her the most resurfaces.

"There's nothing you can do about it, Akane-kun. You were not an awakener back then, just an ordinary girl. It's not your fault." Aragaki says as he pats Akane's shoulder comfortingly.

"Heh. If my pupil has truly become the Occult Killer… then as his sensei I have to kick his ass… especially after he killed..." Goro declares angrily, though he cannot finish his sentence.

"Haaah… that boy. Using all that he has learned not for the betterment of humanity and of himself but to… I can only pray that he would be able to reincarnate as a better person after committing so many sin… though I'd say he would end up in Naraka after all that he has done." Aragaki remarks with a sigh.

Alpha heard and processed all the information in her head, leading her to conclude that her greatest enemy originated from this world, which is why he decided to return here, to finish the job he started before moving on to the next target.

"They're coming!" Goro says as he detects movements from the enemy army, breaking them off their thoughts and leading them to focus on the battle.

The enemy's frontlines, which consisted of hordes of undead and a single apex beast on each row, marches towards the walls.

"Shoot the apex beasts down before they reach the walls!" Shouts Alpha as she knows this tactic as it has been used before.

The defenders on the walls tried their best to shoot them down but to no avail. The weapons that Messiah hastily prepared using Akihabara's technology are much less effective than the ones developed by Akihabara and there are much less spellcasters now than back then.

"Tch! Jump away from the walls!" Alpha shouts as she and the others jump out of the walls before the apex beasts inevitably reaches the walls, self destructing in order the destroy it. Not all defenders on the walls were able to escape and they became engulfed by the inevitable destruction.

Great explosions destroyed the walls entirely, unlike back in Akihabara where they only had multiple breaches. This time, Messiah is completely defenseless.

From the smoke where the walls once stood, the hordes of undead emerge and start attacking anything that lives and moves. The defenders, with their formation already broken along with the walls, can barely muster up a resistance and immediately fall prey to the undead horde, joining them in death.

The defenders wearing Ultraman suits immediately gigantified themselves and used their superior size to crush the hordes of undead underneath their feet, but even they are immediately overwhelmed when the apex beasts, who match their size, joined the fray.

The battle just started and yet the situation is already dire.

"Fuck! I told those fools at the top that the enemy would destroy the walls easily so we should've at least done something new! Like putting some landmines outside the walls or something! But of course those old men did nothing but sit on their asses worrying more about their foolish politics than to properly prepare for battle because they thought the Anti Zombie Field Artifact that they stole from Akihabara would be enough! In fact, they haven't even activated it yet! I bet there's some internal conflict back in the headquarters! Just fucking great!" Curses Goro in frustration as he brandishes his nodachi, preparing to fight to the death.

"They just didn't want to survive is all!" Aragaki says in equal amount of frustration as he summons his phantom soldiers and stands beside his old friend.

"For Hakuro." Both of them say the name of their deceased friend as they charge towards the hordes of undead.

This is… severely disappointing. They had the longest amount of preparation time and even managed to gather survivors of other factions that I gracefully allowed to live. I even started the battle by sending them something easy to repel, namely using the same strategy as the one I used in Akihabara. They could've prevented it by using landmines or by developing stronger weapons to snipe the suicide bomber monsters. But alas… they never learn.

"Occult Killer! It's time to meet your end!" I hear the familiar voice of the red ranger through a speaker installed on his zord, which managed to bypass my army due to their flight function. I merely take a glance at them while sitting casually on my throne.

"Combine our zords!" He shouts again as the three zords that he and his two ranger comrades piloted starts transforming mechanically and combines into one.

"Behold! The Evil Slayer Megazord!" The three of them shouts as their new megazord appears.

"Now! Destroy him! Evil Slayer Cannon!" The megazord's chest opens, revealing a cannon which is connected to their energy cores, intending to shoot the energy directly at me.

If I was in the mood, I would've gigantified myself or some random monster and engage them in battle but since I'm not, I'll just snap my fingers to activate a secret function I installed on their magic core.

"Fire!" They shout… but their megazord didn't fire. Instead, the energy contained within the core overloads and explodes in the sky like fireworks, taking the pilots with it.

"A fitting end for traitors." Astaroth remarks as he stands by my side.

"Go and play with them or kill them all. I don't care anymore."

"Very well, my lord."

Astaroth left after mounting his monstrous ride, eager to kill people.

"Not going to join the battle yourself, my lord?" Yukime asks as she walks to my side.

"No. I'm no longer in the mood now that these fools can barely muster up a proper defense."

"Is that so? But one of our scouts just reported that we received a message from one of the executives at Messiah who wants to speak with you privately. Will you be attending this yourself or…"

"Must be someone who wants to betray Messiah in order to beg for my mercy. That explains why they haven't used the Artifact that they stole from Akihabara. As if betraying Messiah is what I want them to do. Fools. But very well. Since I'm bored, I shall attend this personally." I say as I stand up from my floating throne to go there personally.

"Have fun, my lord~." Yukime says. Her mood improved after I recovered and has now returned to her usual flirty self.

I ignore her last words as I fly to the sky. My destination, the Messiah Headquarters, which used to be Nishino University.

*CLANG*

As I fly though, my head is hit by… a metal bar that fell straight to my head. It doesn't hurt that much but… it's strange.

"What the fuck…" I look around confusedly as there's no way a metal bar could randomly spawn out of nowhere this high up in the sky… or maybe it was one of the debris that was sent high in the air by the explosions? Whatever. I have no time for that. I should continue flying towards Nishino University.

Oh? I see a battle unfolding. I suppose I can watch this before moving on to the next.

Hack and slash. Hack and slash. I slice through every single zombie that comes my way mercilessly regardless of the face they wore, be it men, women or children. I've slain real living people with these bloody hands after all. After my brother revealed that truth to me, I began seeing blood staining my hands… and the stain won't wash away no matter how much I bathe… no matter how many times I wash my hands.

Now everyone already know who I am and my brother stopped bothering me at long last. In a way, this feels liberating.

With this power… I still couldn't do anything against Tetsuya-kun. Well… even Alpha-sensei and her comrades were unable to do anything against him. He's just that monstrous. I should've stopped him back then. I should've… even if I have to kill him…

"Yo! Good to see you again, Nishino Akane… or to be more precise… the Original Knight!" I hear Astaroth's voice taunting me from above the beast he rides. He's unmasked, allowing me to see the metal plate covering half his face and the shining red orb serving as his right eye, and no longer wearing the hooded cloak, just a black military uniform, perhaps as a reminder of his past in the military. This is just another lesser nightmare that I have to face.

"Who would've thought that you would become one of us? The world is indeed strange, huh?"

"I am not one of you."

"No. You're one of us. A cold blooded murderer with body count that probably exceeds even mine. Even I haven't destroyed an entire settlement on my own, you know? In fact, I'd say you're even more monstrous than I am!"

I say nothing… as I cannot retort to that. He's right… I am a monster.

*CLANG*

The sound of a metal bar falling down on the ground… But we both ignore it as we focus our attention at each other.

"Got no retort to say? Cat got your tongue?" He taunts again. I respond by instantly decapitating the beast he's riding.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" He shouts excitedly as he brandishes his twin axes and jumps forward to strike me.

I block one of the axes with my red katana, only for him to use the other axe to strike me. I catch the axe with my bare hands, surprising myself and even him.

"What…?"

I can only grin as I allow myself to be taken over by bloodlust and the feeling of power, becoming a true monster.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA!" I laugh like a crazy person as I charge towards him, delivering several slashes that he can barely parry, landing a few slashes on him.

"Urgh… No… I won't… lose again…!" He starts getting desperate as he pours more magic into his weapon and strikes again, breaking my katana upon contact.

"Ha ha ha! Now you're defenseless!" He laughs as he charges again with both axes ready to strike.

"Am I?" I say as I unleash my magic powers, causing a shockwave that stops him in the middle of his charge.

"What the…?" he mutters as he starts taking a few steps back in fear. This is… intoxicating… I can't stop…

"Hee hee hee." I giggle ominously as I approach him slowly, picking up the metal bar on the ground to replace my weapon.

"Styli…" He mutters something… but I can barely tell what he's saying.

"You… monster…!" You've said it before and yet you're only realizing it now? Too late, fool.

"Tch! I won't end up the same as I did before! I'm strong now! I shall—Uaghhh!" I hit him with the metal bar in the middle of his speech.

"HYAAAAAAGHH!" He shouts as he charges again in desperation. I knock both his weapons away with a single swipe, causing him to fall on the ground. To prevent him from escaping, I hit his leg, breaking the bones within.

"UAAAAGHHH!" He screams just like he did back then. Ahh… the memories…

His face looks so scared. I know this face… it's the face that he made when Minoru-kun beat him up. Such memories… comforts me.

"Hee hee hee." I giggle again as I hit him repeatedly with the metal bar, beating him into a bloody pulp.

"Ughh… Aghh…" After my beating, he lays there on the ground, beaten and bloody, almost like back when Minoru-kun beat him up.

It's only after I've finished that I realized that the metal bar I'm holding in my hand… is a crowbar.

"Minoru-kun…" tears fall on my cheeks as I return to my senses. I hug the crowbar as if it's a precious treasure. Even now… he's still watching over me… Minoru-kun… Can I still be a hero… even though I am a monster…?

Aghh… A complete and utter failure… I'm so weak… absolutely weak that even that little girl could beat me. Me… who have fought in wars long before she picked up a sword for the first time! This pain… this fear… this disappointment… I feel like I did back then… when I was beaten by the Stylish Bandit Slayer. She even beat me using his weapon… the crowbar… how poetic.

*Tap tap tap*

I hear the sound of footsteps… and said footsteps is not approaching me but is walking away from me instead. Am I… such a trash that I'm not even worthy of being disposed of?

Ah… I can sense a mighty presense… my lord… The Occult Killer descends from the sky like the god that he is. In front of this divine being, who have defeated an outer god, I muster up my courage and strength to speak.

"My lord… I'm so sorry…" I beg for mercy. He didn't reply as he summons a sword out of his pocket dimension, no doubt to finish me off and let me join his undead army.

"My lord… Can you… grant me my last… request…?"

"Let's hear it." He gracefully answers.

"What… is your name…?" I ask him a simple question which is significant to me. Me and my fallen comrades abandoned our old names when we formed the Doomsday Cult and took the names of demons in order to forsake not just our previous identities but also our humanities. I know his name is Tetsuya, as that girl called him that back in Akihabara… But I want to know… his new divine name.

"My name… is…" He says as he removes his skull mask, allowing me to see his divine visage for the first time and the last time…

"Claude Normann." He says with the face of a white haired young man with European features and shining red eyes. Even his name sounds western.

*Stab*

Ahh… I can feel his sword stabbing me… and draining me of whatever energy I have left.

At least… I now know his new divine name…

But… why did he take a human name and not a demonic one like we did?

No matter…. All hail the Occult Killer…

All hail… Claude Normann…

The underground shelter rumbles as the ground shakes from an explosion occurring above, bringing more panic to the citizens of Messiah who are hiding there. The door to the shelter is locked but they have heard news that even the walls of Akihabara were breached easily, which didn't reassure them at all. They have little doubt that the enemy could easily breach the reinforced metal door even if it was made of etherite.

Hiding alongside the citizen of Messiah is Shiina, who's no longer wearing the magical girl outfit and instead wearing a casual clothes as she has lost her will to fight now that both her friends are incapacitated, with Aki still unconscious and Mari nowhere to be found, likely dead, though she refused to believe that is the case.

She stayed beside her unconscious friend at all times, barely leaving her side and even sleeping in the same room by merely laying her head on Aki's bed instead of sleeping in her own bed.

Suddenly she is shaken out of her sleep, not from the rumbles from above the shelter but from… movements from Aki herself.

"Aki… -chan…?" She raises her head to see that her friend has woken up and is currently crying… mourning the loss of a precious friend.

"Aki-chan! Thank goodness! You're alright!" Shiina immediately goes to hug her crying friend.

"Shiina-chan… She… She's… dead…"

"Mari-chan is not dead! I'm sure of it!"

"She's dead… Why did she have to… do that…? Why…?" Aki cries more and more and Shiina is unable to comfort her with words and can only hug her friend.

"Why did she… have to sacrifice her life for me…?"

Author's Note:

Time to finally wrap up the Japan Arc. The next chapter will be the last one for Japan Arc, and then we'll return to Midgar.

Guest: So, the Miyazaki patriarch is planning to use Mari as a hostage against her brother huh? He's going to be really surprised when Necromancer kills her without hesitation.

"I get to kill her again? It must be my birthday!"

Answer: In the next chapter, his fate will be decided.

DerTrap: I once commented how Necromancer reminds me of Sukuna. Well I will update that, because at this point, at least for me he is like a mix of Mahito(with his soul shenanigans), Kenjaku (highly intelligent magician, with countless different techniques, who has a plan for basically everything) and again Sukuna (the big boss, who horrifies others with his mere presence and aura, who is also the strongest being in the story, together with someone else, Gojo in Sukuna's case and Shadow in Necromancer's case).

Answer: To think my Necromancer would be compared to multiple jjk antagonists. When I have time, I will watch the show.