The sound of a cellphone rang throughout a royal bedroom, the cute jingle intermingling with the sounds of passion beneath the sheets. A woman reached out from under the covers, grabbing the phone and placing her other hand upon her lover's chest, halting the session of love making.
She answered the call, clearing her throat and sniffled lightly. "Hello?"
"Dahlia, I've been trying to call you for the past 30 minutes. Where are you?" Leonidas asked, his tone sounding exasperated, sounds of passing wreckage playing in the background.
The man atop of Dahlia rose his brow, his silver hair falling over his face as he smirked, immediately recognizing the voice. "Ahh, is that Mr. Pride on the line?"
Dahlia giggled softly at the man's question, nodding eagerly then sat up on the bed, fixing her hair as she held the phone between her ear and shoulder. "Sorry for missing your call, Leo~ Me and Merin were just... talking about some plans for the future. What do you need?"
"The Virgo Department has fallen and the House of Amdahl has joined Nox's side. He's targeting the Sagittarius Department next. V.J.I only has three days left, and I need Heroes here. Now," Leonidas answered, his tone becoming more commanding and stern.
"Nox? Ahh, that false prince is still alive? I thought you would've killed him by now. You're saying that's his doing at the institution? I thought it was...her..." Dahlia shuddered, getting out of bed to begin dressing herself.
"Floria is here as well, and there's no way I can combat her even with Affinity Advantage. It seems that we might've underestimated Nox, and if he succeeds here, he will be going to St. Goken and we'll be in danger," Leonidas said, letting out a soft sigh with slight frustration.
"Ugh, don't worry, honey. I'm sure my sister Delilah is in town, and I can send her there to distract Nox or something. Remember, the Virgos are under my control and if Bethel failed to contain him, we'll go harder," Dahlia responded, turning over to Merin and looking him up and down.
"And I'll send some members of Squad VII to deal with the others. St. Meishi is still under our control even if you lose control over the institution. The Temples still stand and we can regroup there," Dahlia added, a sly smirk forming on her face.
Merin chuckled softly and leaned back against the headboard of the bed, resting his hands behind his head. "I'll allow it, just be sure to keep Nox alive. Should they manage to capture him, bring him to me. I want to personally send him to have a reunion with Zachary."
"Understood, my love~" Dahlia giggled, hurrying out of the room to continue talking with Leonidas about their various plans.
Merin turned to face forward, taking a deep breath and exhaled softly, his mind pouring with questions about my true power. He closed his eyes and began to meditate upon his questions, wondering if I had managed to awaken any more of my true latent abilities.
Dahlia leaned against the pulpit as she continued to talk with Leonidas, humming softly at all of his inquiries about who she would send. "I told you, my sister Delilah, Reid, and maybe someone to deal with Chester's traitorous act. It's simple, plus, no one on his side can deal with Delilah..~"
Leonidas sighed with a light groan, deciding to take Dahlia's word and inhaled deeply. "Alright, I'll be expecting them to be here by tonight. Also, the people you sent to help Bethel, easily countered by the House of Amdahl. Try harder next time."
Dahlia was about to reply but heard the clicking sound of Leonidas hanging up, causing her to immediately hold the phone in front of her to look at the screen. "Aah...that prick. Ugh, no matter. He's still the strongest in St. Meishi, whatever he says goes..~"
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〘Day 5 - Begin!〙
〘Event: Loyalty Test!〙
〘Event Description: Warning! Warning! A Stray Succubus Girl has escaped into the Campus! All Heroes beware of her charm and her Love Whiplash!〙
〘Event Location: Sagittarius Campus〙
"Listen, Scarlet. You must also become strong to defend yourself, so today I'll be training you to fight. Got it?" I asked, rubbing her hair gently with a warm smile.
Scarlet nodded with excitement, looking up at me with bright eyes and a determined gleam within her eyes. "Okay, Papa!~ I'm...uh...r-ready!"
I chuckled softly at her then stood up from the ground, looking around my surroundings upon the rooftop of the Sagittarius Department, noticing multiple archers standing around us with their bows ready. "It seems you all anticipated my arrival here, but having that forethought in your mind means nothing."
The archer with the golden ornate bow scoffed lightly at me, the large eagle hovering behind him locking onto me with his wings outstretched in a showcase of strength. "Nox, it's time your reign of terror ends here! Lord Reinhart has this entire Department on lockdown, including your Constructor."
"Then...I'll just free him. Besides, Clive and his Orc army can handle themselves. I'm your target right? So focus on me," I said, slipping my hands into my pockets and gestured for Scarlet to attack.
Scarlet immediately took aim at the archer to the left of her, her mind swapping to her monster mentality and awakening her ability, white energy surging around her body. She generated an orb of blood in front of her, launching a blood bullet at the archer and striking her through her chest, killing her upon impact.
"E-Ethel!" The archer next to the fallen Ethel yelled, turning his attention over to my daughter and took aim at her.
As soon as he released his arrow, the arrow immediately dispersed into tiny magic particles before even reaching Scarlet. Slowly, black and purple smoke began to appear in front of Scarlet, the smoke taking shape into a majestic dark mare, her mane and tail formed from purple energy.
〘Monster: Shadowmare〙
〘Index No.: 140〙
〘Ranking: 4 Star〙
〘Ability: Fearing Neigh〙
〘Ability Desc.: Inflicts Panic into all enemies with a chilling neigh, and can Petrify a target. All enemies induced with Panic or Petrify are at risk of instant death upon a second neigh.〙
"Aah, I forgot to tell everyone...I visited Naju before coming here. I knew Reinhart would prepare, so I also prepared myself," I said, snapping my fingers and summoning forth hordes of Monsters upon the rooftop.
I picked Scarlet up, placing her upon the back of my Shadowmare, the energy upon the mare's back latching onto Scarlet to keep her secure. "Since we are in the last three days... Judgement is finally here and I am no longer sitting idly by and watching injustice. Just as I promised...the Departments will be destroyed."
"For what? Who do you think you are? God? Who gave you the right to condemn us?" The golden archer asked, keeping his ornate bow aimed at me.
"Ocean Garrison, son of Flint Garrison who is also an advisor of the Sagittarius Kingdom. You recently harassed a girl here named Hannah because she wouldn't date you. Sent her to the infirmary...what gave you the right to put her in harm's way because you can't handle rejection?" I asked, turning around to face Ocean, my eyes gleaming a golden light.
"All of you...have no right to question me or what thy Father has planned for you all. However, you do know what Ragnarok has planned.." I said, summoning my Hateful Thorns, the black thorned chains emerging from my back and readying themselves to strike like wise serpents.
"Fire!" Ocean commanded, unleashing a volley of arrows toward me and Scarlet with ferocious intent.
Multiple arrows began flying toward us from various directions, but my Imps flew out as sacrifices, each one, as 1 Star Monsters, taking the blow for me and my daughter, their bodies becoming Souls and flying toward me and entering into my body. With each Soul entering into my body, I began to grow stronger bit by bit, my body glowing with red energy.
Ocean grunted softly and looked over at his ally beside him, nodding toward him. The man with earthly green hair nodded back, turning his attention toward me then dashed toward me at high speeds, shooting multiple arrows toward me.
"Papa!" Scarlet called out, steering my Shadowmare toward the arrows with urgency.
My Shadowmare leaped forward with a stomp, causing pillars of darkness to erupt from the roof grounds, the pillars blocking the arrows and absorbing them completely. My Shadowmare pivoted quickly, striking the man with two back kicks, using the third to launch him backwards.
Ocean caught the man before he could fall of the rooftop and tossed him back onto the roof, lunging toward my Shadowmare with a swing of his bow. The Shadowmare stomped on the ground and let out a sharp, chilling neigh, purple mist secreting from her body.
Ocean grunted as his heart thumped hard against his chest, his body immediately breaking into cold sweats as his eyes became stuck upon my Shadowmare. He landed upon the ground, his body trembling before the presence of my mare.
I walked forward while Ocean was still in a state of frozen panic, scoffing lightly at him and gripping his coat and pushed him toward the edge of the roof. "Just know I'm still showing you mercy as we speak...what you did to Hannah last night...your mother should've swallowed you..."
Ocean grit his teeth with anger from my words, letting out a yell as he pushed me off him then rushed forward with a wild punch. I phased through his attack then countered with a knee strike to his gut, causing him to hunch over with his hands clutching his stomach.
I grabbed the hood of Ocean's jacket, tossing him across the roof then warped toward him with a knee drop to his back, his pained groan echoing throughout the rooftop. Once archer shot an arrow at me, but my chain deflected it back to him, the arrow piercing his right shoulder and throwing him off the roof, but one of my Harpies caught him before he could hit the ground, sparing his life.
I flipped Ocean onto his back, gripping his hair and pinning him down onto the ground with one of the tips of my chain pointed at his neck. "Should I kill you here, that would make me the monster right? Should I take your life here, the scarlet blood all over this rooftop, I would be the villain..."
"You have no remorse in your heart...No sympathy! Even as I sit here condemning you, my heart grieves for Ethel and my Imps who were killed right here! Have you no heart for your comrades, or does your Loyalties truly lie with a false image of righteousness?!" I yelled, bringing the blade of my chain at Ocean's neck.
Ocean grunted loudly and tried to push me away as my blade neared closer to his neck, his body even too afraid to gulp due to the tiny chance his skin get pierced. "P-Prince Nox, have mercy...I beg!"
I stared deeply into Ocean's petrified eyes, my eyes glowing brightly with a mix of grief and condemn. I let Ocean go then walked off toward the rooftop entrance, snapping my fingers before I entered inside, the door ominously closing behind me.
My Shadowmare stared ominously at Ocean, lowering her posture as if she were getting ready to neigh for a second time, but ended up warping away, sparing the remaining archers from the chance of death. Ocean and the others released the breaths they've been holding for seemingly forever, each of them taking a moment to reprieve.
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Reinhart sat in the Sagittarius Department Head Office, watching over the security footage from the roof and exhaled deeply, turning off his monitor and turning over to Grisha, Eden, and Sully. "He managed to beat Ocean and Lario with ease. I don't know where he's getting this power from, but we have to stop his progress at all costs."
"We could defeat the monster in the Iron Maiden. Sephiroth is still weak to the Fire Affinity despite having control over the four elements. It should hinder Nox's progress a bit," Grisha suggested, looking up from her phone at Reinhart with a raised brow.
"It won't work...she can just switch to her Fire Affinity and change her weaknesses. She's Floria's perfect monster, Nature's Wrath. We should be lucky the Tree of Life isn't here or else we'd be in more danger," Eden said, looking down at The Chronicles in her hands.
"Either way, we have to stop Nox. We only have two days left after today. It's either we kill him now and end this tyranny...or we die trying," Reinhart said, leaning forward with his elbows against the surface of his desk and his hands interlocked over his mouth. "Our first target to defeat should be Clive...we have the Department on lock down so his death should be simple."
The three girls all nodded at his order with Sully being the last to nod, her head hanging the lowest. With that, the three left the Sagittarius Office on their march toward Clive and his Workshop on the bottom floor of the department.
Anna walked down the halls of the Sagittarius Department with Chester and Queen following behind her, the three of them heading toward Clive's workshop to set him free from Squad XII's hold. Once they reached the Sagittarius Main Hall, West and Tang approached them and stopping their progression.
"Rabbits, you've all survived thus long...but now the games are coming to an end. Since Bethel failed her mission, we answer to Reinhart now and he asked us to now kill the Council," West said, looking down at his red Desert Eagle in his hand.
Chester glanced down at the gun in West's hand, his gaze lifting up to meet Queen's gaze. Queen looked at Chester as well, both of them having the same memory of Neverland playing in their minds. The two looked back at West and Tang, Queen taking a deep breath and exhaling and wiping her hands on her jeans.
"So...I guess you both are just lap dogs for Royal Scum. Man, how far you both have fallen. First targeting Moon-li and Eun-Song then it was Steven and Angelyce. Don't you get the feeling that these royals are just using you?" Chester asked, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.
West fired a bullet into the air, the gunshot echoing throughout the halls, the surrounding students screaming out and scattering away from the main halls. He lowered his gun, smirking at Chester and sighed. "You have a big mouth on you... I think it's time we killed the cat.."
West fired a bullet at Chester, but a ripple in the air stopped the bullet's momentum, a shimmer of multicolored light flashing in front of Chester. Tang noticed the light as well, his gaze shifting over to Queen and goosebumps forming upon the back of his neck.
"Ms. Anna, you go on ahead and find Clive. Chester and I will handle these thugs," Queen said, looking over at Anna with a nod and a smile.
Anna's gaze shifted between Chester and Queen before finally giving Queen a nod back, her gaze shifting toward West and Tang before calmly walking off with her clipboard in hand. "You two better not die."
"Don't worry, Anna. We've got this," Chester chuckled, giving her a wave then turned his gaze back to West and Tang, yellow eyes gleaming from his shadow.
West chuckled at the duo's confidence, cocking back the hammer of his gun and took aim once again. "A power couple indeed, so it's only fair I send you both to Heaven together!"
As West rapidly fired bullets at the two, both of them dodged the volley of shots and charged toward both men respectively. Chester took his hands out of his pockets, slugging dirt into West's eyes and temporarily blinding him then tackled him onto the ground.
Tang rushed to help West, but Queen charged forward with a leaping crescent kick, forcing Tang to dodge her attack. Queen began to rush Tang with a flurry of attacks, forcing him onto the back foot until landing a disorienting right hook to his jaw and knocking him to the ground with a sweep kick.
"This...bastard..!" West grunted with frustration, trying to wrestle his gun back into his control then shot up with a roar, smashing his skull into Chester's face.
Chester grunted as he fell off West, holding his face in pain as he tried to rise back to his feet. West got onto his feet quickly, kicking Chester's stomach and stomping on his body with pure anger, yelling curses at him repeatedly while Chester held up his guard.
Tang managed to wrestle Queen onto the ground, gripping her neck with both hands in attempt to squeeze the life out of her body. He stared deeply into Queen's eyes with the excitement to take her life, only to see a smirk on Queen's face out of spite.
"This bitch...you're crazy," Tang scoffed, beginning to choke her even harder and grit his teeth as he applied more pressure.
Queen gripped his wrists and continued to grin, her eyes beginning to glow as she awakened her abilities. "I...am..."
Chester chuckled as West continued to stomp on his body, his shadow morphing into the shape of his Cheshire Cat, his yellow eyes shining even brighter. "You fool...you lost the moment we arrived!"
Suddenly, Chester's shadow manifested into his Cheshire Cat, the cat letting out a loud roar that rumbled the entire department. West groaned as he was blown away by the shockwave of the Cheshire Cat's roar, his back crashing into a statue and destroying it.
Tang looked over at West in shock, his moment of distraction allowing Queen enough time to fully awaken her abilities, the space around her and Tang distorting and swapping their positions to reverse the roles.
"Do you understand who you're up against..? My boyfriend is the Cheshire Cat...and I am the Queen of all Suits hence why my name is Queen.." Queen said, holding her hands around Tang's neck with a dark grin.
Tang grunted heavily as he looked up at Queen with disbelief in his eyes, gripping her wrists tightly as he began to struggle beneath her. The Spade Symbol formed on Queen's hand, amplifying her strength and allowing her to continue overpowering Tang.
Tang kicked Queen off him using most of his strength, slowly picking himself up from the ground with light coughs and rubbed his neck gently. He looked at Queen, his eye twitching with frustration and his goosebumps growing even more all over his body.
Queen taunted Tang with a smirk, kipping up onto her feet and got into her stance. "What? I've got you nervous now? You stand no chance against me..."
"We'll see about that!" Tang roared, charging toward Queen with a furious haymaker.
Queen leaned back to evade his strike, countering with a pulse strike against his stomach, following it with a launching him into the air with a high kick. The space around her began to distort once more, displacing Tang back into his original position for Queen's focused strike against his chest.
Tang groaned as he crashed into a wall behind him, leaving behind a hole inside it, the rubble crumbling onto his body. Queen lowered her arm, looking over at Chester and West, noticing their battle was also one-sided.
"Tch, this is who Reinhart wanted to send? You'd think they'd be more of a hassle for what they're worth," Chester said, checking West's pulse and exhaling softly as he was still alive. He stood up onto his feet and turned toward Queen, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Well, shall we?"
Queen giggled softly at Chester and nodded, the two preparing to make their way to the Workshop until a loud explosion sounded behind them. The two turned around, noticing a man wearing ornate white cloth with cross accessories ordaining his attire.
He carried two silver cross necklaces in his hands, the chains of the necklaces wrapped around his hand. He pushed up his glasses and smirked at the two, humming with curiosity. "Mr. Katt and Ms. Ace. You two have become quite the problem...even after you told Merin you'd keep quiet and here you are betraying him."
"Ah...Mr. Duran," Queen said, her skin beginning to crawl from the amount of Spirit Energy Duran possessed around him.
"Hmph, so finally a teacher comes out to stop us? And about Merin, you can tell him I'm done playing his games. Now I know why he won't ever face Nox directly, he's scared of him. He's afraid of what Nox is now truly capable of. I'm sure he's been keeping watch of the news," Chester said, tilting his head slightly as he faced Duran.
Duran chuckled lightly, lowering his head and closing his eyes coolly. "As Lord Reinhart is informed, this Department is on lockdown so all who aren't allied with us are to be eliminated. You were once close allies with me and Reinhart, but I guess that's all over."
"Yeah...I got all the information I need. You're no longer of service to me, I know what path to follow. Life," Chester said, his pupils shifting into a catlike shape.
"No, the path you chose was Death. Death be it to all traitors...I'm sure you've heard that one before," Duran smirked, noticing a shift in Chester and Queen's demeanors.
"Mad Hatter..." Queen said softly, looking over to Chester with bewilderment. "How does he know about Neverland..?"
"I don't know...we haven't said anything about it until now. So that means he must've known us before this...or maybe he's from Neverland himself. I think," Chester said, taking his hands out of his pockets and summoning his Cheshire Cat once again.
"'I think,' he says... during a critical moment," Queen sighed, getting into her stance to face off against Duran.
Duran made his way fully into the main hall, standing before the two with a smile and readied himself for a battle as well. The stage was now set for the beginning of the end for the Sagittarius Department, everyone allied with Reinhart only hanging on by a thread against my Council.