Chapter 166: The Grand Spell

"Stop it! Onii-" The girl in blue shouts as she jumps to me. I reflexively stab her in response due to being distracted by my eldritch counterpart lurking beyond the torn veil in the sky… and a great uncomfortable feeling floods my entire body and mind as it happens.

"Onii… -chan…" She mutters weakly with tears on her eyes as she lost consciousness. I would've thought that she was calling out to her deceased brother when she said that… but she was looking at me the whole time when she said that. She was referring to me as her brother.

I didn't want to admit it… but she's most likely my little sister… whom I've lost the memory of.

"SCREEEEEECH!"

An alien screech proves that theory. Of course you would have the memory of her, Thanatos.

I did it. I've done it… I've crossed the line…

I've killed… my little sister…

I catch her body in my arms after I take my sword off her chest. I stare at her cold pale face with my hands shaking… ignoring the shouts and screeches around me as if they are muffled.

I stare at her… trying my best to remember her… Then it clicked in my mind… My sister used to like… no… love magical girls… especially a certain bad show called… The memories are starting to come back to me… although they are still blurry even now.

"Magical Maririn…-chan." I mutter the name of her beloved show quietly. Of course… She loved that show so much because of how much the main character resembled her, especially the name and having a brother complex and all… even though that anime was largely considered bad among magical girl fans back then.

I couldn't recognize her as my sister due to her hair being dyed blue, most likely due to being turned into an awakener. But her name… and her magical girl costume should've reminded me of her… why didn't it then?

How could I… forget what she loved? How did I… forget about her…?

Because I chose to… or because Thanatos took the memory of her from my soul the last time we fought each other? Or have I already lost it since I reincarnated as Claude Normann?

"SCREEEEEECH!"

A giant scythe going down to me snaps me out of my trance. I deploy a barrier to block the giant scythe. The impact causes a shockwave that blew away everyone else present.

I drop the body of my sister to the ground as I stare at my eldritch counterpart, who has decided to show himself in his all his grotesque glory, complete with that green ring of light around his "neck" as his giant skull-like head stares at me with glowing red eyes.

He screeches at me with hatred. I jump away as a giant skeletal hand drops from the sky to retrieve her.

Heh… Still can't let go of the old days, can you? Well… to be fair… Even I am feeling immense shock and sadness right now. But now is not the time for mourning. Now is the time to fight!

Come at me, my other self!

"MARI-CHAAAAAN!" I shout to the top of my lungs when that monster stabbed her. Shiina-chan follows suit. For some reason he held her in her arms afterwards.

I could've sworn that I heard her shouting Onii-chan before being stabbed. If that's the case… is he… her brother? I thought he's already dead. She said so herself… though now that I think of it… she was shifty when she said that… just like whenever she lies. I never thought much of it because I trust her with my life. But if she did lie…

Then… it all makes sense. That monster… the Occult Killer… is her brother. And she was hiding this secret from everyone… even from us. Though… I can understand why she did that. I would've done the same had I been in her shoes.

She spoke so fondly of him otherwise. She loved him. She missed him greatly and yet… when he finally returned… he killed her.

Unforgivable!

Just as I was about to charge forth to absolutely beat that motherfucker to submission before killing him, we hear an unholy screech from the sky, from where that dark portal thingy in the sky is located. Then a giant scythe falls from the sky, aiming for that motherfucker. Too bad that motherfucker blocks the scythe with a barrier. But the shockwave that comes from it blows us all away.

Then a monster with a giant skull and ring of light around its body emerges from the sky. The power level we're feeling from that creature is enormous. Even Godzilla, King Ghidorah and the Occult Killer's powers combined cannot match it.

The Occult Killer faces it alone. Good. I hope he dies from it… and I'll watch every second of it. I'll save my tears for when it is over.

Save… her…?

Huh?

Do you… want to save her…?

I hear an ominous male whisper. I look around but there's only ruins around me… Am I imagining things or is the whisper really in my head? Because it sounded so close.

"Who's that!? Show yourself!" I shout to the wind.

Do you want to save her? I hear a clearer reply and yet nobody's around me.

"Absolutely! I'll give my life for it!" I shout in reply to the whispers despite not knowing the source. I don't care whether that whisper is the voice of a god or a devil as long as Mari-chan is saved.

Yes… as long as she is saved… I don't care what happens to me. I'll die a thousand deaths if I have to!

"Aki-chan! There you are!" Shiina-chan's voice can be heard behind me but I didn't reply. I collapse instead.

Ah… I never thought that… my wish would be granted… So suddenly…

But… if it's for her… then I have no regrets.

Mari-chan… This life that you've saved… belongs to you. Now it's time I give it back to you.

Tetsuya. That's the name that the black haired girl referred to my master with before turning her hair blonde. My master responds by saying that it's no longer his name. What did he mean by that?

Also…

Onii-chan. That's the word that the blue haired girl uttered in her last moments. Lord Claude was affected by those words. I can see it from his reaction when he reflexively stabbed her with his sword.

The poor girl probably has/had a brother and she was calling out to him in her last moments. Despite that accident, Lord Claude still bravely fights the eldritch monster that appears through a tear in the sky.

That creature… from the reports I've read, Lord Claude referred to it as Thanatos and… it probably has a special connection to him considering it possesses similar magic signature to him… almost like the three headed dragon he created. Is this Thanatos creature one of his out of control creations? It seems so considering how eager Lord Claude is to fight it.

But the amount of magic I'm feeling from it… is terrifying... unlike anything I've ever sensed in my life… greatly exceeding even Lord Claude's monstrous power. It sends shivers down my spine just being in its presence. If Lord Claude isn't here, I would've given up on life and accept death entirely just seconds after laying my eyes on that thing.

Last time he was able to drive it away due to having his great enemy Shadow aiding him… but this time…

Please, Lord Claude. I understand your desire for more power... But you cannot protect your sister if you died. Not to mention that Lady Sherry… and I… will miss you greatly.

"Lady Tamamo!" I hear Lord Claude's native servant, Astaroth, calling out to me. His mask is off, showing his bewildered expression.

"What the hell is that thing!? Is that thing really… a god…!?" He asks a question I don't have the answer for, though he is somewhat excited when he said the word god.

"Even I don't have the answer. Our master is far more familiar with that creature than even me." I give my honest answer, which actually makes him even more excited for some reason.

"Amazing… To think that my lord is more knowledgeable than even a mythical being!" Ah, I almost forget that I am a mythical creature here. That's why he's so impressed.

"All I can say is that the creature he called Thanatos… most likely came from another world."

"Truly!? An outer god…? And my lord is challenging it to…?"

"To increase his own power most likely."

"Whoa… I have no words… my lord… is amazing!" He says as he watches Lord Claude and the eldritch creature's fierce battle with a mad grin. Looks like Gilfried has a competition in terms of fanaticism.

But I could care less about that right now. I'm feeling so powerless… Even if I join the fray, I will likely only get in his way.

Lord Claude. Is your love for your sister so strong… that you would challenge cosmic horrors in order to devour their powers so you could protect her?

But at what cost?

I failed again. Once again I've let someone under my command to die… right in front of my eyes no less.

After training her and spending time with her for so long… I've grown fond of Mari-chan… so much so that I think of her as an honorary member of Shadow Garden.

But Necromancer's reaction after stabbing her was… strange. It almost reminds me of that time he stopped himself from killing Delta… and even sparing the rest of the Seven Shades and took only me captive.

He wasn't boasting about his cruelty or basking in our anger and sadness… in fact his body language suggests that he was hurt by her death almost as much as we do. What's going on? What is his relationship with her?

But we all have little time to mourn as the creature he called Thanatos appears once again to challenge him in combat. The creature is still as strong as ever… in fact I have a feeling that the creature is far more dangerous now than it was before.

Without Shadow around to help him… he will probably perish… but who will stop that creature's rampage once Necromancer is killed? If the combined force of Shadow and Necromancer can't even kill it, what hope do we have without either of them?

This is frustrating… Once again there's nothing I can do but watch as the titanic battle unfolds.

Do you… want to save her?

I hear a mysterious and suspicious whisper in my mind. Where did it come from? Necromancer?

Do you… want to save her?

I choose not to reply but the same question kept getting repeated over and over again in my mind like a broken record.

Do you want to save her?

"Silence. Of course I do. But I'm not gonna trust a random disembodied voice like you." I give my reply, which seems to anger the voice considering it is now hissing like an inhuman creature.

Then your world is forfeit.

"What!?"

Just as I hear that ominous declaration, I see floating runes appear in the sky. One part of the runes seem to project an image… an image of the familiar clock tower in Midgar Royal Capital that Shadow likes to stand on as it gave him clear view of the entire city.

What does that mean…? What is going on!? I have a bad feeling about this!

Shadow…!

Hmm… An interesting spell array that he's casting in the middle of our battle. Looks like he has learned much from devouring a piece of my soul.

But what kind of spell is it? Even I have no clue. It's certainly not a spell I've designed myself. This creature is creating a new grand spell from scratch. Interesting.

My magic system and spells are developed by yours truly and works by telling the magic what to do in a similar way computer binaries work. Reading and translating the magic arrays is a hassle especially without interpreter spells, which is impossible to use on a spell being cast from scratch like this, but it is still possible for me, just takes a longer time, especially in the middle of a battle.

Still… my other self. You're so reckless. This is probably your first time constructing a spell from scratch and you're already choosing to cast a spell of such a grand magnitude? Without the aid of interpreter spells that help translate the magic arrays to human language? You might've done it in order to hide your intentions but I AM the creator of this magic system! I am far more proficient in it than a novice like you! What you're doing is merely delaying the inevitable! Not to mention there's no guarantee of your spell even working or being properly optimized because you've never tested it on a smaller scale!

*FWOOOM*

I dodge another laser beam from his skulls' eye sockets in my flight. You never learn do you? And here I thought the piece of my soul that you devoured would give you some semblance of intelligence. It would appear not—

"Agh!" The laser splits into several smaller beams behind me, catching me completely off guard and blowing a hole in my stomach. It seems that you've learned after all. Heh heh heh.

I quickly heal that wound before he could attack again.

I was about to retaliate but I was distracted by a projection… no… a thinly veiled portal showing Midgar clock tower on the other side… and his grand spell is heading towards that opening, trying to pry it open. What are you planning to do to MY world, you little shit? With such crude way of opening a portal, you'd break the fabric of space of both realms!

He shoots another laser beam but this time, instead of dodging, I deflect it by creating my own ring of light behind my back, though it is shaped more like a crescent moon instead of a full circle due to my lack of proficiency. But its force is still enough to blow away his laser beam.

Heh heh heh. You're not the only one who has learned something since our last encounter, Thanatos.

Though… I have to note that you're somehow holding back, Thanatos. Is the grand spell you're casting really that taxing? Even I could cast a grand spell from scratch without taxing myself that much!

I form my own grand spell and spreads a magic array into the air around us.

"Watch and learn, Thanatos." I say as I let the magic flow according to the instructions given by my magic array and execute the spell.

"Negative Field." I utter the name of the newly crafted spell to aid the spell casting and the spell shows it effect, generating a sphere-shaped field of rot magic that spreads around me, with Thanatos within its range. Not even his vaunted ring of light is capable of defending against my rot magic. Not even Shadow himself can do it. Thanatos' ring of light and body began disintegrating slowly while they are within the field.

I still couldn't shoot my rot magic as projectile without the aid of blood but, with large energy consumption, I've discovered that I can spread the rot magic to all directions around me, just like what I'm doing now. Of course I've experimented this beforehand and thus this spell is quite optimized and didn't consume that much energy. There is more room for improvements of course but for now this will do.

Now then. Shall I devour his soul now or…

Oh? Before his body disintegrates completely, Thanatos's eye sockets shines brighter for a second as he casts… a spell breaking spell, which disperses even my Negative Field. Good thinking. Being an unencrypted spell which was cast from scratch, it was far more vulnerable to spell breaker than normal spell despite being a grand spell. Shall I do the same to your grand spell you're currently casting?

No. Not yet. I want to see what you're cooking so I'll break it after I interpret it.

As I try to read it, Thanatos casts a rain of fireballs that rain down from the sky in order to distract me. With the size of the fireballs, I bet that each of them can at least destroy a city. From down here it looked like a meteor shower and will surely cause great amount of destruction like my Apocalypse did in the mountains of Oriana when it hits the ground.

I dodge the fireballs by flying around but it looks like it follows the same principle as my own barrage of fireballs that chases after the victim. I increase the force output of my own ring of light in order to deflect the barrage of fireballs chasing me. It's not that taxing thanks to my improved magic control and my current proficiency with the ring of light but the constant explosions around me is quite distracting. Despite not harming me, the fireballs served their purpose by distracting me from reading the spell array. How annoying.

"They say you should fight fire with fire… but I'd say fight fire with ice!" I declare as I disperse the ring of light and cast a blizzard around me which is so cold that it disperses the giant fireballs that comes in contact with it. With the distraction out of the way, I resume reading.

Let's see… this part of the spell array says "Heal" and "Life".

Before I can continue reading, I was interrupted by a skeletal hand which looks like it's flowing with electricity considering how it's covered by sparks of electricity. If I got caught by that, I'll be constantly electrocuted and paralyzed. Naturally I dodge that hand, and the hand that comes after and after that. I dodged multiple electrically charged skeletal hands whilst I continue reading the spell arrays.

This one says "Soul Taking". This array is quite contradictory in nature compared to the previous one but I can hazard a guess at what you're doing.

You failed to heal her dead body because she's already dead… and thus…

You're trying to bring her back to life, aren't you?

Interesting how you're trying to create a resurrection spell with the souls of others as fuel. Unfortunately for you, nothing you can do matters as I have captured her soul with my sword. Yes, the very sword that stabbed her was empowered to steal souls just like a certain rune blade carried by a certain Lich King. Hers was the first one it claimed. Heh.

Without taking her soul from my possession, you cannot revive her! No matter how many souls you take!

Wait… souls as fuel… the portal to Midgar… He can't be serious.

I was about to continue reading in order to confirm my suspicion but was hit by a gravity curse that pulls me down to the earth before I could do that.

I dispel the curse with a single swipe of my hand before I reach the ground. Afterwards I fly back up and open a portal to summon several skeletal dragons, which were remnants of my dragon hunting sessions that I did in order to find the perfect species to create Chimera Ghidorah, from my reserve troops to distract him while I try to continue reading.

The skeletal dragons launches their corrosive breaths, which somewhat damages Thanatos when they come in contact with his body, which is when Thanatos reactivates his ring of light, simultaneously blowing the skeletal dragons and their corrosive breaths away.

The skeletal dragons launches energy beams from their mouths in response, trying to breach the ring of light's defenses. Thanatos responds by shooting them down one by one with his eye laser beams.

In the meantime, I resume my reading.

"Let's see… Portal… Human Realm, most likely means Midgard, the realm of mankind form Norse Mythology, which in this case refers to my Midgar Kingdom… Soul Harvest… Global."

That crazy motherfucker! Are you crazy!? Are you trying to destroy all of Midgar… no… the entire other world… Charlotte included… just to revive Mari-chan!?

Oh wait… I'm not dealing with a sane version of myself. Of course he'd be that reckless. He's clinging to ever precious memory he's got because that's all he has, unlike me who has everything… almost everything.

And also… unlike me… he likely has little affection for Charlotte… not to mention taking away my sister could be considered a payback for taking away his. But hey! Mari-chan was my sister too!

Not to mention, no matter how many souls you use, you will never resurrect her fully! Not as long as her real soul is still in my hands! All you will do is create an empty soul bearing the memory she still has on her currently dead brain! Basically a cheap imitation! A clone! Or perhaps you didn't even care about that? I doubt you do.

"Ghidorah!" I call out to the strongest beast that I currently have available to aid me. I can see that he still hesitates to respond as he has long stopped his battle with Godzilla in order to watch my battle against Thanatos.

"Ghidorah! Get your ass out here before I snap your forked tail off and SHOVE THEM UP YOUR ASS!" I shout again, and this time he cringes and complies as he flies to my side while Godzilla decides to retreat.

"Get his attention while I break his spell!" I order the three headed beast, who obeys begrudgingly judging from the angry growls.

Chimera Ghidorah shoots three lightning beams out of his three mouths, which penetrates deeper than any skeletal dragons could with their own beams.

Thanatos occasionally shoots elemental spells and laser beams at him and the skeletal dragons but Chimera Ghidorah and several other skeletal dragons manage to either survive or dodge his attacks and continue their own assault.

While Chimera Ghidorah and the skeletal dragons are keeping my eldritch counterpart busy, I focus on my own spell breaking spell in order to break his grand spell.

It was going well… until I hit a block.

"Tch. An anti-spell breaker array, huh. You're certainly well prepared despite being deranged, my other self. But don't underestimate me. Anti-spell breakers can be broken with brute force… especially when it's unencrypted like this. I just need to literally brute force my way in." I say as I cast the spell breaker over and over, trying to overwhelm the anti-spell breaker array he placed upon his spell arrays.

In a short amount of time I was almost 50% done when I'm suddenly interrupted by a phantom stabbing me. The phantom is not a phantom soldier like the one conjured by the monk but genuine ghost, a spirit of the dead. This particular phantom looks like one of the warriors of Akihabara who wears cosplay-like outfits to battle. Looks like my eldritch counterpart has summoned his own minions using necromancy, manipulating the souls of the dead to do his bidding.

I point my palm on the phantom and activate my glove, which absorbs his soul and use it to immediately heal the spiritual wound he inflicted upon me when he stabbed me.

Several more phantoms, who used to be the defenders of Akihabara recently slain in battle, appear and surround me. If I defend myself, I have to use both hands which are currently maintaining my brute force spell breaker!

The phantoms didn't give me time to prepare myself as they immediately charge towards me.

"Defend me, my former sister." I summon a phantom of my own, which is the soul of Mari-chan, from the sword I used to stab her with.

She summons her wand and conjures a barrier around me, not letting the spirits pass through to harm me as I finish the spell breaking process, completely shattering the spell array he has painstakingly constructed.

"SCREEEEEEECHH!"

He screeches as his plans failed. No longer being bound by his own grand spell, he unleashes a great wave of pure magical energy, decimating the skeletal dragons around him instantly. The blast even shakes the already unstable space around us, cracking open several portals to several realms, including to Midgar.

Chimera Ghidorah survives the blast but chose to escape when a portal coincidentally opened near him. He has escaped to another realm that not even I know of. Perhaps there he shall fulfil his destiny of being a world destroyer. While I'd love to chase after him just to see his villainous handywork firsthand while he's free, there's a bigger concern around here.

First things first, I must close the portal to Midgar, which is done easily with Mari-chan protecting me as Thanatos wouldn't dare unleash anything big and deadly while she's around.

Great. That's done. Midgar and Charl are safe. But my eldritch counterpart isn't done yet… as he manipulates the distorted space around us to drag us into a pure white space… a sub-space… a sanctuary.

Mari-chan…

Both Mari and I hear a male voice… the voice I once had in my previous life… the voice of Miyazaki Tetsuya.

Onii… -chan…?

Mari-chan's soul responds as she faces a figure that stands in this pure white realm besides the two of us.

Said figure wears a grey hoodie, a jeans and a plastic skull mask. Yes… the appearance of the first Occult Killer.

Author's Note:

Claude and ghost Mari-chan has been dragged into Thanatos' Domain Expa—Reality Marb—Sanctuary whereas King Ghidorah has been unleashed into the universe, becoming the world destroyer he was meant to be.

How will this encounter end? Find out in the next episode of The Marble Expansion in Shadow!

johan uzumaki: saludos de paraguay

Answer: Hello from Germany!

TheVirtualPug: Thanatos is going to save the imouto! I believe!

Answer: Will he succeed though? Hee hee hee.

DerTrap: Okay now this an interesting cliffhanger.

Btw. If you don't mind here are some songs that I think could be used for future parts of this fanfiction, as I listen to these videos myself when I read chapters of this peak fanfiction:

Link: watch?vJMy13N_fFuc

Name: yeat - if we being real [reversed intro] (slowed 432hz reverb bass boosted)

Potential Use: Maybe for after Necromancer has fully absorbed Thanatos and achieves some kind of new form or transformation (maybe even paired with a narrator voice that glazes the shit out of him).

Link: watch?vO6xI1u30f_0

Name: Locust Plague - Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Original Soundtrack

Link: watch?v11DpW6C-9sQ

Name:『 The Prison Realm 』 Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 9 Cover - by James Liam Figueroa

Potential Use: For some kind of big plot twist/reveal from Necromancer, maybe for when his identity as Claude gets revealed or maybe when Alpha finally finds out that he is Mari's brother. Especially the part at 1:38.

Link: watch?v_ECbaBgr0Z4

Name: Geto Culling Game - JJKS2 EP23 OST Finale - Full Orchestra - 呪術廻戦 - by

Potential Use: Maybe for the end of the Japan Arc or any other Arc that has a bad ending for the heroes side, as they look at the aftermath of the Arc's finale, while Necromancer laughs, having the time of his life. Or an idea that I had for a long time. In which Necromancer takes over a new body, his "true and perfect" vessel... Alpha herself, as he thinks that she has just so much more potential compared to Claude. As he leaves inside his new vessel, giving a speech to the rest of the seven shades and any other "heroes" present, while the shades all scream at the top of their lungs with tears of despair and horror "Alpha-sama!", while Necromancer laughs maybe even with Alpha's voice.

Sorry if I annoy with my constant suggestions.

: )

Answer: Thanks for the song recommendations. I don't mind them and may take them into consideration. The bgm that I play when writing this chapter is watch?v=gq9v_qvk3xg Invade Spider ORT Second Theme from FGO.

For Claude's transformation scene of sorts, I already have a bgm in mind.