Kevin and Peter rushed down the S-Wing Halls of the Virgo Department, both men dashing through adjacent halls before Peter cut around a corner to intercept Kevin's path. He teleported in front of Kevin with a twirling slash, but Kevin quickly blocked his slice, grunting heavily under the weight of Peter's strike.
Peter fell back on his attack, teleporting into a heavy kick against Kevin's stomach, the attack knocking him backwards down the hall. Peter charged after Kevin and leaped toward him for the finishing blow, but a burst of wind rushed down the narrow halls, blasting Peter into a wall and saving Kevin.
"You should focus more on me!" Flynn bellowed, slicing around in a circular motion toward Virgil.
Her Dragon Claymore cut through the walls around her like butter under a searing knife, her momentum of her slice breaking through Virgil's Wind Barrier and forcing Virgil to block her slice with his sword. Virgil grunted heavily as his guard was broken as well, the heavy force of Flynn's attack staggering him slightly.
The handle of Flynn's claymore extended, the edges of the steel blade becoming jagged edges, her weapon returning into its Dragon Spear Forme as she sliced upwards, releasing a cutting wave of draconic energy. Virgil grunted heavily as he was struck and pushed back by the moving slash projectile, the cutting wave shining bright before dissolving into energy particles.
Flynn panted softly and lowered her weapon, seeing flashes of light from the corner of her eye out the window. She turned to face the window, walking toward it and noticing it had started to rain. "Your Princess's Ballad is coming to an end...I can't believe she's still the same pretentious heifer since we were teens.."
Virgil stood back up onto his feet, fixing his slick back hair with his hands and scoffed lightly, his true colors beginning to seep from his noble act. "You're one to talk...the same woman who betrayed her own brother for an outsider. Or maybe...it's that you know as much as we do that Merin is correct?"
Flynn stared at Virgil from the reflection of the window, clenching her hands into fists before slowly turning around to face Virgil. She smirked at his accusations, her eyes becoming fierce as she began to chuckle softly. "Merin...I knew it.."
"It always comes back down to the root source...You all believe Merin is correct about Nox? Well, you're wrong. You're all wrong about Nox, and I will always be known to be the first to claim Nox as Lord!" Flynn declared, the skeleton waist cape around her waist glowing brightly and blooming into an feathery waist cape, similar to Sait's fluffy coat.
Peter stared at Flynn with slight awe, watching as her armor began to evolve with her ever, steady growing faith. He rose to his feet and smirked at Flynn, closing his eyes and letting out a soft exhale. "You know, I also doubted at one point, but after hanging with Nox personally, I can claim the same thing!"
Virgil glanced between Peter and Flynn, snickering lightly before bursting out into laughs. He held his stomach as he laughed at the two of them, shaking his head then took a deep breath and exhaled softly. "Ahh, I needed that laugh. Nox is Lord...could your Lord have our institution under Judgement ready for collapse?"
"How could Nox of a Desolate Kingdom be the promised Messiah we need to combat Terminus? The same Nox that's proven to be a Dark Lord? He's supposed to be the Son of Yuvah?" Virgil questioned, his doubt screaming loudly through the halls.
"Do you believe Ragnarok is a separate entity of Yuvah? Maybe you do taken you haven't completely read The Chronicles to know that August saved the Dark Lords from Chao's chains," Flynn educated, looking Virgil up and down then balled her fists tightly with contempt.
Virgil hummed at Flynn's counterpoints then summoned his harp, strumming a few notes with a calm expression. "Even if that's true, if Nox is the Son of God, where is his Sword of Spirits? He has Spirit Warp, Divine Discernment, and Origin Guidance, but not the main ability that solidifies his identity?"
"But, I think I know where the Sword of Spirits might lie...with a certain Squad Leader," Virgil spoke cryptically, his calm smirk becoming a wicked, deceiving grin.
Flynn grunted softly at Virgil's question, her mind tracking back to the encounter with Merin at Laneret's Lab at Imogen's Temple, the memory of Merin using the Sword of Spirits playing in her mind. She stared at Virgil with a critical eye, now seeing who Bethel's true royal guard was.
"What is he talking about?" Peter asked, looking over at Flynn for clarity.
The rain began to pour harder, the sound of the thunder booming loudly masking the sound of Rachael's Black Bomb exploding outside, shaking the floor the four of them stood upon. The floor beneath them began to crack, the foundation under them becoming unstable.
Soon, the floor crumbled from beneath them, sending them all falling onto the floor below, the second floor, a floor above the main hall. While Virgil, Peter, and Flynn used their abilities to land safely, Kevin was less fortunate, suffering a crash landing that rendered him out of the fight.
Virgil looked over at Flynn and Peter, watching them ready themselves once again then swapped his harp for a katana. "Your 'Lord' will fall, and his judgement will fail."
"Enough!" Flynn bellowed, propelling herself toward Virgil with a powerful thrust with her spear.
Virgil dodged her attack by propelling himself behind her, a flurry of wind slashes striking her body and sending her flying across the hall. He dashed toward Peter, throwing his sword toward him and propelling himself toward him.
Peter dodged his sword and charged toward Virgil, slicing in a circular motion, but Virgil slid beneath Peter and grabbed his sword from the wall then summoned wind swords around his body. He fired each own toward Peter at high speeds, each blade slashing through the walls to reach Peter.
"You better move!" Flynn yelled, skipping forward and launching her spear toward Virgil like a missile javalin.
Peter heard Flynn's warning, teleporting out of the way of the wind blades just as Flynn's spear roared through the air, her spear bursting with draconic energy as it screamed through the halls. Virgil summoned a wind shield in front of himself, blocking Flynn's Roaring Pulse and grunted heavily as he was being pushed backwards.
Flynn got down into a running start, red lightning sparking around her body and red draconic energy spiralling around her body as she charged up energy. Leaning forward, she launched herself forward, kicking the handle of her spear to add extra pressure against Virgil's guard.
Peter reappeared behind Flynn and sheathed his sword back onto his Polaris Rod then dashed forward, hopping forward and running along the wall toward Virgil with a rapid spinning kick. "You fight hard for a woman who'll never see you for who you are!"
Virgil grunted as he was forced to dodge Peter's attack, rolling to the side to avoid Flynn's spear as well. He rose to his feet, blocking Peter's punch and wrapped his arm around his for control. "You know nothing about me and Lady Bethel!"
"Yeah, but I know she truly only loves Nox!" Flynn yelled, dashing toward Virgil and dove toward him for a tackle.
Virgil grunted as Flynn grappled into him, forcing his katana out of his hand then groaned as Peter landed a liver shot within his struggle. Flynn let go of Virgil, dishing a flurry of blows and knocked him back with a kick, leaving him open to Peter's launching strike.
Peter grabbed Flynn's wrist, teleporting toward Virgil and throwing her toward him like a homing missiles. Virgil recovered in the air, noticing Flynn crashing down with a double knee drop toward him and used a burst of wind to boost himself forward, avoiding her attack.
Virgil landed onto his feet, rushing down the halls and panted heavily as he searched for the main hall where the source of the explosion came from. "Sephia and Rachael are there...with their help I can take these two down as well! They should've handled Moon-li and Eun-Song already like cake work."
Chester heard rushing steps approaching the main hall, looking over to his right and seeing Virgil approaching from the Upper E-Wing. "Oh? If it isn't the Lap Dog Harpist that sings like a canary around Bethel."
Virgil paused in his steps, turning to his left to see Chester leaned against the wall with his hood over his head, waving at him casually. He turned over toward the other side of the upper floor of the main hall, his heart nearly stopping at the sight of me causally leaning against the rails.
He hurried toward the rails, looking down at the first floor and noticing Sephia and Rachael still trying to catch Moon-li and Eun-Song. He watched as the two girls warped around, his mind not able to grasp the concept of how.
I got off the railing of the second floor and hummed softly, closing my eyes and turning away from the battle, warping Moon-li and Eun-Song to me. Both girls grunted heavily as they grabbed onto my arms, both of the panting with exhaustion.
"You could warp us this entire time and didn't..? Some Savior you are, ugh! I'm so tired of assholes like you!" Moon-li groaned, holding onto my arm with heavy gratitude despite her biting words.
"I'm with Pok here...why did you leave us down there for so long?" Eun-Song asked, holding my hand and panting softly to catch her breath, looking up at me with wonder.
"To answer Sephia's question about why I put you two in the V.J.I Council. The New Covenant is no longer upheld by the Old Laws that Moses wrote long ago. However, it's to also show that good fruits can grow even in chaos," I said, looking between the girls with a smile.
Chester tilted his head at my answer, not quite understanding my answer while the girls clearly understood. He watched as I quickly retreated with the girls, his curiosity for me growing to its peak. He disappeared down the E-Wing as well, a small smirk forming on his face.
Virgil hurried down to the first floor, looking around at the mass destruction caused to the Department. "How did it come to this? What the heck happened, they were two regular humans!"
"Ugh, I don't know okay? It's harder to catch two Warping Humans with seemingly infinite Mana! Look, I'm only an Adventurer Class Hero okay, my bag is limited. Literally! I'm a normal human too!" Rachael groaned, setting her bag down to place all her weapons back inside.
"It's the Zone. Each Zone now heavily hinders us and greatly boosts his allies. We now have to find a way to counter his abilities, or at least weaken this Zone," Sephia said, letting out a deep sigh and turned around to see a flash of light in the distance.
Her instincts forced her to dodge, her body moving before the sound of a gunshot echoed down the halls. Virgil used a burst of wind to push Rachael out of the way then dodged the bullet as well, leaping backwards for safety.
A line of ice travelled toward Virgil's feet, catching him and freezing his foot to the ground, leaving him open for an sneak attack from Seven. Seven launched Virgil away, leaving him open for Gideon to arrive behind Virgil and crushing him onto the ground with a mighty swing of his great sword.
Rachael gasped as she stood up quickly, noticing Eurydice slowly walking into the main halls, her gaze shifting between Sephia and Eurydice. "S-Sephia..."
Sephia stood up straight as she stared at Eurydice, her hands balling into fists with an excited smirk, a smile that could only be formed from seeing the person they love most. "Eurydice Amdahl...how long I've waited for your arrival. Do you like Bethel's gift for your great service?"
"Sephia Palmyna, my beautiful... gracious rival, how long have I waited to see your face again so I can blast off that smirk once and for all," Eurydice said, holstering her gun then threw off her long coat, revealing her Black Saint Robes and summoned her large scarlet folding fan, Requiem Dance in her hand.
Sephia readied her Angel Sword, Hallowed Dance, an angelic blue energy outlining her weapon and protected herself with her Angel Shield, Radiant Guard, eight blades of light protruding from the sides, her energy blades on stand by. "Wait no more...for you shall fall in the place you called home!"
Eurydice dashed toward Sephia at full speed, launching a flurry of graceful slices toward Sephia, but Sephia guarded each attack with her shield, parrying Eurydice off balance then countered with a Shield Smash against her stomach. Eurydice coughed lightly, groaning as she was blown away.
Eurydice recovered quickly in the air, her body becoming black smoke and teleporting above Sephia once again and came down with a spiralling slash. Sephia blocked her spiralling slash, grunting as Eurydice's attacks came down like a saw blade, eventually breaking her guard.
"I know you remember this one... Burst Art: Black Illusion Dance!" Eurydice laughed, using her Mana to form multiple illusion of herself around a staggered Sephia.
Eurydice began bombarding Sephia with an onslaught of attacks, teleporting in front of her and sending her flying backwards with a wide darkness horizontal slice. Sephia grunted as her back crashed against the wall, her body falling down onto one knee.
Eurydice walked toward Sephia, summoning a black throwing knife in her hand, staring down at her old childhood friend with a cold stare. "The last remaining in that war between our great houses and nations. Amdahl and Palmyra, two houses that didn't have to fall, but did due to your father's lust."
Sephia smirked at Eurydice's statements, looking up at her with a mad laugh. "My father's lust? It was your mother who decided to become the Whore of the Virgos! She broke the treaty messing around with my dumb father!"
Eurydice's anger flared over her, her body becoming hot with charged emotions overtaking her mind. She rose her arm to launch her throwing knife at Sephia, but Sephia shot one of her energy blades at Eurydice's legs from her Radiant Guard, the energy blade detonating into an explosion and blowing her away.
Sephia got up from the ground, launching herself toward Eurydice and manifested her wings for an extra boost. She flew over Eurydice, slashing down toward her, but Gideon intercepted with his great sword, clashing with Sephia and protecting his friend.
"You forget a main part of your story, Sephia. Your father was the perpetrator behind the fall of Amdahl and Palmyra. Amy, Aisha, Ni and Mina, all daughters of now either dead or infamous mother's because of your father! And one of them is my mother!" Gideon roared, swinging his great sword with enhanced Fury, aiming to slice Sephia in two.
Luckily, Sephia managed to raise her guard, blocking Gideon's surging strike and grunted as she was knocked backwards. She began to clash and match Gideon's power, parrying one of his attacks to dodge the next one and leaving himself open.
Rachael charged forward with her Mana Bracelets equipped on her wrists, striking Gideon with a palm strike against his chest and knocking him back a step. She gulped as she noticed Gideon recovering quickly from her attack, flinching as he slung his blade at her neck.
"Move out the way, you idiot!" Virgil called out, swooping down to save Rachael from immediate doom.
Gideon stopped his blade from hitting the ground, giving him enough time to raise his guard to block Sephia's attack. He grunted as he slid backwards, lowering his blade to rest from his Fury Outburst, red energy fading away from his body.
Sephia lowered her sword as well, her gaze shifting between Eurydice, Seven, and Gideon, noticing how tightly knit they were yet a bit distant. "So you three come from the same house or allied houses that also collapsed. Well...is this a small world.."
Seven pushed up his glasses and put away his high tech device then summoned two daggers into his hands, lightning energy surging around the blades. "I was very close with Eurydice's family, even promised to put my life on the line for her. Bethel was the same, but she's shown us her true colors. A Herisee.."
"Exactly! She had Seven and Eurydice betray me, and after everything I've done to build her reputation from the ground up. She's a Vexin, a Succubus in pure clothing.." Gideon added, readying his great sword, deep orange energy appearing and flowing around his body.
Sephia hummed at the two, looking back over at Rachael and Virgil, thinking about their own relationship and standing. "Sure, Lady Bethel is an ambitious woman, but she's the whole reason our houses got out of the hole we were in. You dare to throw that back into her face?"
"Right, she gave us a new home and a new start! She's the entire reason you three aren't dead yet!" Virgil said, getting up from the ground then grunted as Eurydice's Death Energy began to spread through the ruined main halls.
"She isn't the reason I'm still alive! I am Death! I am the reason I am alive! Through the power of The Father and Ragnarok, I am still alive! I don't need a two face, deranged whore to keep me afloat!" Eurydice declared, pushing her way through Seven and Gideon.
Sephia unleashed her Angelic Energy, her reverend white energy clashing with Eurydice's black and red mist, the collision generating shockwaves around the room. "You can keep holding onto that belief! Who do you think you are? A future Dark Lord? You're nothing but a Dancing Dark Miko!"
Eurydice growled lowly at Sephia's rotting words, her eyes flashing a crimson hue from both pure anger and distress. "I'm more than that! I've never fit in with you Virgos...or whatever you call yourself to be! You don't follow Imogen...you follow some other bitch dressed as her!"
Sephia felt her heart stop for a moment, Eurydice's energy overpowering hers and knocking her away with great force. She skidded backwards, looking up at Eurydice and noticed a single black wing spreading from the left side of Eurydice's back.
Eurydice opened her eyes slowly, exhaling softly and readied her fan, using it to slightly cover her face. Faint dark blue energy began to flow around her body, a single Death Monarch butterfly manifesting around her.
Seven grunted softly as he couldn't process Eurydice's energy anymore, noticing the faint dark blue energy around her body beginning to shift into different colors. "Is that...Rebirth Energy..?"
Sephia scoffed at Eurydice then dashed toward her, leaping forward with a angelic slice. "It doesn't matter what form you take, you'll always fall short of my mercy!"
Just as Sephia's slice began to land, Eurydice phased though Sephia's attack, her body becoming a black silhouette of energy and warping behind Sephia, grabbing the back of her royal coat and swinging her in front of her. She landed three consecutive slices upon Sephia, each slice staggering her at full force and leaving her vulnerable.
Eurydice released a powerful pulse of energy aroind her body, blasting Sephia away and warping after her into a spinning slice. The slash struck Sephia's midsection, sending her crashing through the walls and outside the building into the heavy rain.
"Spirit Warp..?! How—" Rachael began, looking around then paused as she noticed I had returned to the main hall.
"It's over now... Eurydice has chosen life," I said, leaning against the rails and looking down at the battle between the Old Squad IV and the real one.
Virgil stared up at me as well then took a frightened step backwards as I warped away from my position, his neck snapping every which way to find me. I warped behind him and snapped my fingers, my 13 butterflies swarming toward Virgil and striking his body like bullets.
I pivoted around with a powerful blow to Virgil's back, knocking him forward then launched one of my chains toward him, wrapping it around his legs then began to drag him along the floors. Releasing my hold upon him, Virgil groaned loudly as he crashed into a wall, the rubble falling atop of him.
Rachael flinched as I turned toward her and immediately rose her hands in submission, quickly making her retreat from me. "I surrender! I promise I won't make a fuss about anything!"
As she ran, Leona rushed around the corner, stopping her retreat and pouncing toward her with a powerful claw swipe and struck her down in one attack, holding back just enough to keep her alive. Leona turned toward Seven and Gideon, crouching down to pounce toward them as well.
"Hold on, Leona. It's alright, they're allies now," I said, reverting back to my normal form and looked back at Leona, slipping my hands into my pockets. "You should go rest now. Sephiroth will handle the Sagittarius Department tomorrow."
Gideon and Seven both held their breaths, watching as Leona slowly calmed down, the flames around her body tettering out. As she turned the corner to leave, the two exhaled heavily and took full acceptance of my mercy.
"Man, I didn't know how terrifying you can actually be. But you didn't kill them? Why? After all they did, and I'm sure you know everything they said," Gideon said, finally catching his breath and making his way toward me.
"Sure, it would be justified to simply kill them...but would it be fair? If I killed them of their crimes whether it be past, present, or future, I would have to kill you too because you're under the same boat," I said, turning away from Gideon then looked up at the demolished roof of the Virgo Department.
"I haven't forgotten about the bounty, the same bounty that you helped on expanding. The same bounty that's still active...all of you are liable for death. But, I've chosen to forgive you all for my Father above may forgive you when true Judgement arrives," I said, walking off to go outside where Eurydice and Sephia were.
Gideon and Seven watched as I walked off, taking my words into consideration then looked around their surroundings. Seven pat Gideon's shoulder then walked off, knowing they needed to do some serious self-reflection. Gideon soon followed behind, resting his great sword gently against his shoulder with a sigh.
Eurydice and Sephia continued their bittersweet dance under the rain, both of them swinging their weapons with all their might and strength. Clash after clash, neither woman gave up an inch of their offense, both of them trying to force the other on the back foot.
Eurydice parried Sephia's next slash, summoning a dagger beside her in the air and launched it at Sephia's chest for the killing blow. Suddenly, one of my butterflies landed on the dagger, causing it to become a light blue silhouette and warp over toward me.
Eurydice looked over at me with disbelief, gritting her teeth and throwing her fan at me with pained anger. "Why did you save her?! Why are you getting in the way?! I thought you don't interfere with our fights?!"
I looked down at Eurydice's dagger, inspecting its unique build and looked up at her. I made my way toward her then tossed her dagger back to her, standing in between her and Sephia. "You aren't angry at Sephia at all, not in the slightest bit. Sure, Sephia has fallen mentally, but think of what she's been through as well."
"Her father fell into the hands of Lust and broke a sacred bond, and he began to spread out like a plauge upon multiple women until he eventually died. You're truly angry at her father, but since he's dead...she's the easiest target to reach. Right?" I asked, looking over at Eurydice with a raised brow.
Eurydice's eye twitched with slight annoyance, her gaze lowering to Sephia who was still on the ground. She scoffed lightly and reverted to her normal form, her long coat appearing back onto her body. "Yeah, you might be right. But it doesn't mean she's safe from retribution. After everything she's done..."
"Everything I've done? Ha! While you were masquerading around like a damn puppet for Bethel, I was actually working hard on clearing my damn name from what my father caused! You only gave yourself a new insignia like a fool!" Sephia retorted, standing up quickly and grabbing her sword as Eurydice charged at her.
I stopped Eurydice from reaching Sephia to rip her tongue out, holding her back from her own demise and listened to the two bicker like twin sisters. "Enough. It's all in the past, so why not forgive her? Do you wish to die as well?"
"Die?" Eurydice asked, becoming still under my hold and looked over at me.
"If you were to die right here with unforgiveness in your heart, and rotting pain within your Spirit, you will surely die a second death you won't come back from. Just because it's justified, doesn't mean it's the right choice. She's hurting like you are, you can hear it...my butterflies can so why can't you?" I asked, holding Eurydice's arms gently and meeting her eyes.
Eurydice locked eyes with me for a moment, staying silent and averted her gaze toward my butterflies, noticing each one glowing a dark blue color as they fluttered around her and Sephia. She looked over at Sephia, taking a moment to truly think back on why they split and went down different paths.
"It's not as black and white as you think it is now... It's not a battle against flesh, but principalities. It's Spiritual Warfare and you're seeing it. Don't worry, I will handle the issues, all you have to do is lay it all on me..." I said, patting Eurydice's shoulder then turned to look at Sephia before walking off.
Sephia watched as I made my retreat for the night then looked over to Eurydice, noticing her staring deeply at the ground. She stepped forward to engage in reconciliation, but Eurydice took a step back and walked away with her head held low.
Sephia exhaled softly and looked up at the Virgo Department, watching as the final pieces of the top floors finally crumbled down, leaving only the first two floors in escapable condition. Just like that...the Virgos had fallen with only Squad IV remaining as the remnants of what used to be.