Soul Anomaly WN

[hyuugalegacy]

Here is chapter 18

Spoiler for Chapter 18:

Chapter 18A: Date With Anomaly And Slayer – Reminiscence (Perspective: Shiori)

That day was the first time I cried since my brother's death. Even though I promised myself I would be strong.

That day, the boy who I thought was nothing more than a narcissist, forced the tears out of my eyes along with my anger and frustration.

That day, I didn't realise the meaning of his actions, not until the boy's best friend explained it to me.

That day, I saw the boy in a whole new light, and a warm soft feeling grew within me.

I wake up on my bed, I guess I must have zoned out.

"Yuichi-kun..." I whisper the name of the boy from back then. "All right, I've decided."

I reach for my phone and dial a certain person's number.

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Chapter 18B: Date With Anomaly And Slayer – Yuichi Being Yuichi

It's the weekend, I'm currently making some updates to the Yuichi Shiro Fansite that I uploaded a month ago. I can remember the tears I shed as I proclaimed about how my beauty has now gone digital. I'm uploading new photos of my beautiful self so that girls all the way across the world can appreciate me. My beauty's way too strong to be restricted to the local district.

Whilst the uploads are going on in the background I check some of my fan's comments.

"Yuichi, would you please take this embarrassing site off the web? By Ren672." I read the comment out loud. Wow, he has the same name as my best friend. He must be jealous of my idol level popularity, I get a lot of comments like this. Whilst women fawn, men get jealous.

"I apologise Ren672, to girls I'm like a drug. Once you have one dose of Yuichi, you can't stop. You're addicted. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if women across the world go through withdrawal symptoms because of me." I reply, and send.

On to the next comment.

"Yuichi, you little shit you're f&%$£%$ pissing me off in ways words can't describe! By Alicia275." Woah, a pure hater, this man even has the nerve to use my fiancé's name.

How is it that I know it's a guy? The answer's simple. There's no way it could be a girl, no girl can resist my charm after all.

This guy's trying to inflict psychological damage on me. Well, I don't have to take any of it. "Delete."

Moving on to the final unread message.

"Onii-chan, please stop deluding yourself even further. By Yuna001." A comment that looks like it's by someone younger than me, they call me Onii-chan and they even have the same name as my little sister. I guess this girl is too young to understand the quality of my beauty. "Come back when you're older, Ojou-chan." I reply.

"Have you not figured it out, Master?" A voice addresses me from behind.

"Woah! Wolfy you scared me there." When did he get there? "But figured what out?" I ask.

"Look at the names on those comments and think, Master." Wolfy urges.

Hm, first there was Ren672, after that was Alicia275, then finally Yuna001. Wait, Ren, Alicia, Yuna, The names of my best friend, fiancé, and little sister. This can mean one thing, and only one thing.

"Wolfy, you don't mean..." I say with a trembling voice.

"It looks like you've realised, Master." Wolfy nods in satisfaction.

"All these comments are written by stalkers!?" I scream, this is bad. They've researched me so thoroughly that they know the names of the people who are closest to me. Being the idol that I am, stalkers are bound to appear, but I didn't think it would be at this level.

Wolfy stares on at me in wonder as I panic, but I have no time to pay it any heed.

"Because of my supreme beauty and popularity I've endangered my friends and family." I lament to myself "Anyway I need to contact everyone, they could be in danger." I reason with myself on whether to call the police but I decide against it after recalling the past trauma of being questioned by them before.

I quickly send private messages to each of my friends via 'Facetome' within a few minutes I get their replies.

I wipe the sweat from my forehead. "Phew, it was a false alarm." It turns out that the messages didn't come from stalkers, but the legit articles. I'm a bit annoyed about their comments, but the relief that my friends aren't in danger far outweighs my anger.

"Master, you truly are one of a kind." Wolfy compliments from out of the blue.

"Thank you, Wolfy. You're already starting to take after me." I reply. Wolfy wears a complicated expression after hearing it. I guess the happiness of being accepted by the person he respects most is too overbearing.

*Ring ring* - My phone goes off. I don't recognise the number.

"Hello, you've reached Yuichi Shiro, if you wish to make a love confession, please do so in person." I answer the phone in the way I answer every unknown call.

"Ha ha ha! I'll bear that in mind from now on, Yuichi-kun." A voice answers, it's one I recognise.

"Shiori-sempai, what's wrong? Calling me all of a sudden." I ask.

"My partner contacted me earlier saying she was going to search every square inch of the area. That girl has no sense of direction, but it's best to play it safe. So Yuichi-kun, in order to escape from her surveillance, I want you to hang around with me today. If you're with an expert tracker like me, she'll never find you." Shiori-sempai explains, I see.

"Sure thing." I don't have anything else on today.

"Great, then meet me in an hour out in front of the statue in the square, okay. See ya then." She hangs up.

"Wolfy, I'm going out for the day." I state.

"Master, wait just one moment." Wolfy pleads before running out the room, he comes back a minute later with something in his mouth, it's a whistle attached to a chain. I take it out of his mouth.

"If you blow on this whistle I'll come rushing to your side, Master, use it if something happens." He explains.

"Thank you, Wolfy, I'll be sure to do that." I put the whistle's chain around my neck and stroke Wolfy's head. "All right I'm off. I'll see you later."

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Chapter 18C: Date With Anomaly And Slayer – The Lost Girl (Perspective: Akane)

I'm walking through town. I needed some supplies so I went shopping. The numerous pedestrian footsteps drown the silence. Seeing the town's liveliness brings a smile to my face.

I suddenly notice a girl pacing aimlessly with a confused look on her face. She's around my age with tanned skin and short dark hair.

"Are you lost?" I ask. "I can give you directions if you like."

"Oh, thank you very much, I was really starting to get concerned." The girl replies politely, from her accent she's clearly a foreigner, but her words are fluent. The girl shows me a map and points at a location. "I want to get here." she states.

Wow, I don't know whether it's from wandering round lost, but she's a long way from her destination. I quickly point to where she is on the map as I describe how to get there.

"Thanks for your help, I truly appreciate it." She says as she begins to run off. But, wait.

"You're already going the wrong way!" I shout after her. The girl stops then walks back to me with a slight blush. "Come on, I'll walk you there." My instincts are telling me she won't be able to get there on her own.

"Uh ha ha ha, sorry for the trouble." The girl laughs at herself in embarrassment.

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Chapter 18D: Date With Anomaly And Slayer – Main Event

I'm waiting at the meeting point. Shiori-sempai hasn't turned up yet, I take a quick glance at my watch when I hear approaching footsteps.

"I'm sorry, did you wait long?" Shiori-sempai asks with a smile. She's wearing a beautiful white one piece dress that increases both her charm and maturity.

"About twenty five minutes I think." I reply honestly.

"Jeez, Yuichi-kun. You're supposed to say 'I only just got here'" Shiori-sempai cutely pouts. Sorry, I completely misread the situation, how rude of someone as noble and beautiful as myself.

"I only just got here myself." I correct myself.

"It's already too late for it now." She droops her shoulders.

"So, where do you want to go, Sempai?" I ask, if only to change the subject.

"To the movies, to an arcade, to a coffee shop, everywhere." She replies with a smile.

"Well, why don't we start with the arcade then?" I suggest, Sempai nods.

As we walk I feel something soft latch onto my hand. "Shiori-sempai?"

"It's crowded on the weekend. This way we won't be separated." She explains.

Thank you pedestrians. You've given me a legitimate excuse to hold Sempai's hand. I've wanted to do this with Alicia for so long with no such luck.

Wait, Alicia? Could this count as cheating? Nah, this is just a one off. Alicia will always be the love of my life. Yes, I'm definitely not cheating.

We arrive at the arcade and play a variety of different games, ranging from crane games, to shoot 'em ups, to racing. I often come here with Ren, so I'm pretty adapt at them.

"Oh, I lost again." Shiori-sempai says gloomily.

"My beautiful technique is unconquerable." I declare proudly.

"I'm starting to get a bit hungry." Shiori-sempai says, don't want to talk about your losing streak I see.

"Shall we go then?" I pay it no mind and just smile.

Barely a few steps outside the arcade and I feel a weird sensation, it's one I recognise. We're no longer inside of our own world. I look around, nothing but dark plains. As I thought, this is the same technique Alicia taught me so I don't involve bystanders when I fight Anomalies. It creates a disposable dimension to fight in that's separate from the living world. If I remember right its called...

"Reaper Technique: Coliseum." A monotonous voice states, almost as if it read my mind. I look to its owner.

Standing there is a man wearing a mask and a crimson robe. The robe has two unique designs on it. One is of several smaller crosses aligned together in a formation that forms a bigger cross. The other is of a blue flame pattern rising from the hem and the sleeves. But what shocks me is what he has attached to his waist.

"Muramasa-Masamune!" Shiori-sempai shouts. Yes, the same eerie black blade that Vincent wielded. So this is the guy who killed Vincent, well not that I care about that bastard.

"Just who the hell is he?" I ask.

"I don't know, but he's definitely a Human Anomaly, and a very powerful one at that." Shiori-sempai explains. He's a Human Anomaly? So he's just like me? "Even I, an expert in tracking people, couldn't sense him until now." Shiori-sempai adds.

The masked man focuses his red eyes on Shiori-sempai "I will have you hand over Voynich-Caduceus, Shiori Azusa." He declares. His emotionless voice causes sweat to run down my neck.

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Chapter 18E: Date With Anomaly And Slayer – Reacquaintance Of Reaper And Slayer (Perspective: Alicia)

I've already located my target. It's been eight years since I've seen her, but I recognise her right away. I didn't expect Mizuno-san to be with her though, judging by the way they're interacting, I'm guessing they've only just met. I'd have preferred not to get her involved, but I don't have the luxury of choice.

"Reaper Technique: Coliseum." When they enter a deserted area I activate my technique and send us all into a separate dimension.

"Wha!? What's going on!?" Mizuno-san's in deep shock, I'm sorry to get you involved in this.

My eyes finally meet with that girls, when they do, her expression instantly turns dark. Her immense hatred has only grown since that time. It's painful being looked upon by eyes filled with hatred.

"What's the meaning of appearing before me again, Alicia!?" She asks in a hostile voice.

"Wait, Pandemonium-san?" Mizuno-san looks alternatively between us with a confused face.

"That girl wields a Soul Slayer." I explain.

Mizuno-san's shock increases. She understands what this means. This woman is out to kill both Yuichi and Ren.

Mizuno-san quickly distances herself from her and stands behind me. Fortunately, she's not like Vincent who wouldn't bat an eye at killing an innocent bystander, her hatred lies solely with Anomalies and those related to them. This of course includes Reapers. Then again, her grudges started with me.

"I'll ask you again, what're you doing here?" She asks menacingly as she draws her Soul Slayer, Gungnir-Mjölnir. The static from the electricity running through it is clearly visible. I turn my eyes away from the Soul Slayer and on to its wielder.

I recall my previous thoughts from before, how can the problem be settled without running away or putting Yuichi in danger? The answer I came up with was simple.

"To eliminate the threat with my own hands." I reply in a way that answers both my question and the girl in front of me. I materialise my scythe and point the blade at my opponent. "It's been eight long years. So how about we get reacquainted, wielder of Gungnir-Mjölnir, Alma Ivana."

"Very well, Alicia," Alma points the spearhead side of her Soul Slayer at me, "Today will be the anniversary your accursed existence came to an end." The anger in her eyes and face grows even more menacing.

""HAAAAH!"" Our voice mix as we both charge head on. I won't let her lay a finger on Yuichi.

[hyuugalegacy]

Okay then here is chapter 19 and with some action at last.

Spoiler for Chapter 19:

Chapter 19A: United Front Against A Common Enemy – The Mysterious Masked Man

"Voynich-Caduceus, or your lives, which will it be?" The masked man's emotionless voice asks. He's more eerie than the sword on his waist.

"This guy's dangerous. Shiori-sempai, you can't let him have what he wants." I explain in a obvious voice.

"I know, Yuichi-kun," Shiori-sempai says with a smile before turning to the masked man with a serious face "My answer is obviously 'no'."

"Pride before life is something I cannot understand. Is this the difference between those with emotions, and those without them? Your decision is opposite to the logical one. So be it. the outcome will be the same regardless." The masked man explains in a matter of fact voice.

He's certain of victory. His emotionless voice is really getting under my skin.

This isn't an opponent I can take lightly, therefore. I take the whistle Wolfy gave me and blow into it, no sound comes out of it however, is it broken? Tch, we'll have to do this by ourselves.

"Shiori-sempai, I'll try and force an opening, when you see your chance, strike." I whisper my make shift battle plan, Sempai nods in agreement. As we're talking, the masked man creates several transparent spheres, each one has a small flame in the centre.

"Those orbs have a high density of fire and air compressed into them. In other words, they're explosive." Shiori-sempai explains, "To create so many mixed element orbs at once. Like I thought, this man is truly bad news."

"Don't worry, Sempai." If those orbs are explosive then there's an easy way to get around them. I run as fast as I can towards the masked man.

"Yuichi-kun!" Shiori-sempai calls out in concern.

"He won't be able to use them in close quarter combat!" I shout back.

"You're underestimating me." Says the masked man.

No, I'm not. I'm going to go all out from the word go.

"My soul is one that is of self confidence." I chant as I continue to charge towards the masked man. Several of the orbs fly towards me. "Beautiful, intelligent and kind. Absolute belief in myself and those that surround me."

*Boom!* - One of the orbs explodes, luckily I jumped to the side just in time. I continue to close the distance between us after regaining my footing.

"And a will that never dulls, bends or breaks." I finish my chant and create my silver sword.

Several more orbs fly towards me, I skilfully skid to the side anticipating an explosion. But that doesn't occur they just continue moving. Shit, they're not aiming for me.

"Sempai!" I scream to warn her.

The orbs quickly surround her and *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*.

"SHIORI-SEMPAI!" I shout into the smoke when something flies out.

"A Soul Anomaly?" I question. It looks like a huge eagle, and standing on its back, unharmed, is Shiori-sempai. Thank goodness.

"Concentrate on the enemy, Yuichi-kun, I can handle myself just fine." Sempai scolds.

I refocus on the masked man, who quickly creates more orbs and sends them at both me and Shiori-sempai. Shiori-sempai is flying in the sky and dodging the explosions, that from where I'm standing, look like fireworks. I also continue to avoid the explosions whilst edging closer towards him.

When he's finally in range. I swing my silver sword at him, I'll have your head on a platter.

He blocks my attack using Muramasa-Masamune's sheath. I quickly duck and avoid the sudden horizontal slash. "URGHH!" The masked man kicks me and forces me through the air. I manifest and throw several silver knives whilst in mid fall. The masked man arches his back and they all fly over him.

"Damn, I can't get a single hit in!" I painfully pull myself up. Shit! I'm surrounded by orbs. I don't have time to escape, I instinctively close my eyes.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* I hear the orbs explode, why am I unharmed? I slowly open my eyes to see a Soul Anomaly disintegrating into the atmosphere. The masked man is also preoccupied fighting against several lion type Soul Anomalies.

"Are you all right, Yuichi-kun!?" Sempai calls, I see, she summoned several Anomalies to shield me from the blast. I give Sempai a quick nod. As I return my eyes to the masked man I notice the final Soul Anomaly disintegrating in an explosion. The masked man sheaths Muramasa-Masamune. Wait a second.

"You didn't sever any souls. How can you sheath Muramasa-Masamune!?" I interrogate.

"Muramasa-Masamune's so called curse is closer to the Soul Slayer's will." The masked man answers whilst shrugging his shoulders.

"What're you saying?" Sempai asks.

"Muramasa-Masamune's wish is to sever souls, and if the wielder doesn't give it what it wants, it consumes their soul instead. However, I took a different approach. If the curse is its will, then I simply dominate it. Force it to submit to me, rather than the other way around." The masked man explains.

"You're making no sense!" I scream as I charge towards him with my sword. Several orbs fly towards me.

"Master, get back!" A voice I recognise shouts, I follow its advice and jump backwards.

*BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM* - Several fireballs shoot out and collide with the orbs, that explode on collision.

Suddenly a lightning bolt rains down on to the masked man, but he guards using Muramasa-Masamune. Then Alicia appears charges in from behind him. "Die!" She shouts whilst slashing her scythe towards the masked man's neck.

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Chapter 19B: United Front Against A Common Enemy – The Prodigy Appears (Perspective: Alicia)

"DIE!" I scream as I swing my scythe down on the masked man, who is still preoccupied from Gungnir-Mjölnir's lightning.

My scythe edges closer inch by inch towards the man's neck. It's over, there's no way he can avoid this.

*CHING!* What! My scythe is stopped dead by another scythe.

Standing there is a woman in her late teens with long cyan coloured hair, the fringe of which covers one of her eyes. She's wearing a dark robe with three embroideries, one is of an icicle pattern reaching up from her waist to her bust. The other two are the same cross shape pattern as the masked man, and are positioned on opposite sides just above the hem.

"It has been far too long, Alicia." Her voice greets coldly, I feel my face extort in anxiety. This girl is the prodigious Reaper who disappeared a few years back, the oldest daughter, and heir to the family of Thanatos.

"A Reaper!?" I hear Yuichi's voice from the sidelines. But this girl's no ordinary Reaper.

"What the hell are you doing here, Carrisa!?" I ask angrily, I never dreamed I would see her again in such a situation.

"Carrisa, if you wish to fight her, take it away from here." The masked man orders, as he continues to hold off Alma's lightning with Muramasa-Masamune.

"Understood." She agrees, as she grabs my wrist, "Connect." NO! She's forcefully teleporting us away from here. A bright light surrounds our bodies.

The next moment, I find myself in another part of the dimension, I can't see Yuichi and the others, only Carrisa is standing in front of me. She intends to fight me one on one.

"Why are you with that man, Carrisa?" I interrogate.

"A lot of things happened, but long story short, he defeated me in a game of chess when he originally died." Carrisa explains, "He's completely different from your boy who chose a luck based game and even cheated." What!? That man defeated a prodigy like Carrisa in a game of chess!?

"You abandoned the Underworld because of your loss!?"

"No, that man wanted me, so I became his." Carrisa admits without a hint of shame, to change her this much, just who is that man!? "Before I'm a Reaper, before I'm from Thanatos, before my loyalty to the Underworld, I'm that man's tool!" I can't believe the words I'm hearing. Is this really the same Carrisa I used to know?

Regardless, one thing is certain, she's an enemy.

"Which means I have no choice, let us battle, Carrisa Thanatos!" I point my scythe as I challenge the girl who I once admired.

"That's what I wanted to hear, Alicia. Show me your growth." She agrees as she spins her scythe in a circular motion.

I quickly create and shoot a fireball, Carrisa uses her scythe to slice it right down the centre and split it into two halves, that fly either side of her body, and off into the distance.

I quickly close the distance and swing my scythe horizontally. *Ching* Carrisa blocks with her own scythe.

*Ching! Ching!* We each wield our weapons, trying to get past the other's guard. Carrisa smiles as our blades fall into a deadlock, "You still have a lot to learn, Alicia."

"ARGGGHH!" I scream in agony as a jolt enters my body. "URGH!" Carrisa kicks me in the stomach, which sends me rolling backwards from the sheer force.

As I stagger to my feet I notice sparks of electricity running through Carrisa's scythe. "So that's where that shock came from. You ran your electricity through our scythes and into me." I analyse.

"Running your Reaper techniques through the air isn't always the most effective way, Alicia." She lectures with a smile, so rather than shooting it, she ran it through her weapon.

Which means even if I block her scythe, I'll still get electrocuted. I have to play this smartly. I charge at her again and swing my scythe, but before Carrisa can guard I shoot a water technique at her scythe. I'll have my water conduct her scythe's electricity and give her a shocking!

Carrisa nimbly dodges to the side, she read my attack.

"Nice idea, Alicia, but you'll have to try a bit better than that if you wish to hurt me." She mocks. I gnaw my teeth in frustration.

I throw my scythe into the air to free my hands, I then gather a ball of wind in one hand, and a fireball in the other. I throw the two elemental balls at Carrisa in a arc so that they will collide and combust when they reach her. However, Carrisa also gathers balls of fire and wind and throws them.

*BOOM BOOM!* Her fireball collides with my wind ball and her wind ball collides with my fireball. She neutralised my elemental combination before they could even reach her. She then charges straight at me. My scythe is still in the air, so I'm unarmed.

"You shouldn't have let go of your weapon, Alicia!" She shouts as she readies her scythe.

I quickly conjure another ball of wind and shoot it at her, she dodges it, but it did delay her.

As her scythe edges towards me, I grab my own falling scythe and swing it in one motion, *Ching!* parrying her attack, but "URGHH!" Another electric shock. Blood seeps out of my mouth. It's no good, she's too strong.

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Chapter 19C: United Front Against A Common Enemy – Versus The Masked Man

The masked man pushes the lightning bolt aside and then stares at the girl who was behind it, the weapon she's holding is the one Alicia talked about before, Gungnir-Mjölnir. He then turns to Wolfy, who is standing beside me, his fur is on end.

"Two Slayers, one Human Anomaly, and one mysterious Soul Anomaly. I believe it is time that I went all out." The masked man says to himself.

"Alma, how did you get here!?" Shiori-sempai asks.

"I followed, Alicia. She said she noticed Muramasa-Masamune in the distance, so we made a temporary ceasefire." She then turns towards me and Wolfy, her eyes are filled with killing intent "To be honest, I wish to extinguish you two right now. But I don't have time for that right now. So just this once, I'll work with you."

This girl's scary, in a way, probably more so than Vincent.

"Master, we need to keep our eyes in the game." Wolfy states.

"I wish I could, but I'm worried about Alicia, my instincts tell me she can't beat that other girl." I explain.

"All the more reason we defeat this guy now." Good call, Wolfy, as expected of my pet dog.

Wolfy suddenly launches a huge fireball. At the same time the girl known as Alma shoots a stream of electricity from her Soul Slayer. The masked man grabs the fireball with his bare hand and hurls it at the incoming electric attack. The two attacks cancel each other out.

Another lion Soul Anomaly attacks the masked man from behind, I create and launch several silver knives. The masked man quickly draws Muramasa-Masamune and swings the blade in a arc. A shock-wave deflects my silver knives and continues towards me.

"Urgh!" Despite diving to one side the edge of the shock-wave still caught my shoulder. Fresh blood flows out through my torn clothes.

At the same time, one of the masked man's orbs flies inside the lion's mouth and *BOOM!* Explodes. The lion's head is split in two, and comes clean off its body. The masked man once again sheaths Muramasa-Masamune.

"Logically speaking, no matter what, I will win. However, the longer the battle is drawn out, the higher the chance of uncertain variables appearing. Therefore." Most of the masked man's words make no sense to me. But the part about him winning regardless pisses me off.

I charge at him, I'm going to cleave his head off. The masked man doesn't move, he slowly closes his eyes.

"My soul is one that is of the unknown." Soul ID lyrics? His voice's tone hasn't changed, but his words makes me tremble in fear.

"Nothingness, empty and void." He continues.

"Wolfy this is going to get complicated, we'll handle him, go back up Alicia." I order. Wolfy quickly looks at me and nods before running off.

"I'm counting on you." I whisper to myself as I refocus on the masked man.

"Anger, love, happiness, fear and joy are mere words." Alma launches another lightning bolt. The masked man dodges effortlessly whilst still continuing his chant with his eyes closed.

"Take in pieces of others, and gain my illusionary completeness." A dark aura emanates from the masked man's body with his chant's closure.

From hearing his lyrics I start to understand his essence, but it's completely contradictory to how I thought Soul ID lyrics originally worked.

The first line 'His soul is of the unknown' means he doesn't understand himself. 'Nothingness, empty and void' he's like a hollow shell that has nothing within. 'Anger, love, happiness, fear and joy are mere words.' it means to him they bear no weight, they're words that have no emotion within them. 'Take in pieces of others, and gain illusionary completeness' This is the only line I don't understand.

The soul is the very nature of one's being, and yet his is 'unknown'. I remember an old saying 'people fear that of the unknown'. In that case, isn't this man's very existence an embodiment of fear?

Soul ID lyrics are meant to be the words used to acknowledge oneself to gain power. But he hasn't acknowledged himself, he doesn't understand himself at all. Putting aside that he's a Human Anomaly, it's like his very existence is a living contradiction.

"And now, I shall end this." The masked man declares, I quickly snap back to reality.

Alma launches another electric attack at the masked man. But in that instant, I suddenly feel a weird sensation, like my bearings have changed.

"ARGHHHHHHH!" I scream in agony, as I'm struck by Alma's attack.

"YUICHI-KUN!" Shiori-sempai shouts from atop of the eagle. Alma has a blank look, wondering what just happened.

I notice the masked man is standing where I previously was. Did he switch our positions? Some sort of teleportation? Is that his Soul Technique? Because it happened all of a sudden, I couldn't react quick enough to block the attack.

"LOOK OUT!" I shout to Alma. The masked man is standing where I previously was, in Alma's blind spot. Wind gathers around the masked man's hand and forms a blade that is several metres long. Reacting to my voice, Alma dodges the blade, that was inches from piercing her heart.

I punch my shaking legs to will them, that lightning really laid a number on me. Blood seeps out between my lips and some sort of blue steam is leaking out from my body. The masked man takes out some kind of vial,

"Your soul fragments may prove useful at a later date." He says as the blue steam is drawn into the vial, that he quickly seals. What's he planning on doing with that stuff!? Soul fragments?

"How dare you do that to Yuichi-kun!" Shiori-sempai shouts. Several Soul Anomalies suddenly appear, each one shoots out numerous fireballs.

The masked man creates more orbs, each one collides with a fireball, blocking every attack. Several more orbs fly at the Soul Anomalies and explode in their faces, disintegrating them.

Alma launches another lightning attack against the masked man. But he suddenly switches positions with Alma. Her attack hits nothing but air,

Wait, those are, "Get away from there!" I scream,

*BOOM BOOM!* The orbs that the masked man planted before switching their positions explode on Alma at point blank. Alma, who didn't even have time to scream, falls bloodily to the ground.

"ALMA!" Shiori-sempai shouts in horror from the horrific sight.

The masked man without letting up, suddenly creates a huge dark sphere.

That sphere isn't a Reaper technique. Does he have another Soul Technique other than teleporting? I was told each Human Anomaly only has one. What's going on here? And what's he planning on doing with that thing!?

As if to answer my question, the dark sphere expands to about three metres in diameter, the masked man then throws it into the air.

"WHA!? I'm being pulled in!" Shiori-sempai shouts in shock. That sphere have some sort of gravitational pull!

"NOOO!" Shiori-sempai falls off her eagle and is dragged into the dark sphere. The masked man releases several of his explosive orbs that like Shiori-sempai, are attracted into the centre of the dark sphere.

"Shit, from within he's going to!?" I quickly send as much of my silver into the sphere as I can, please make it in time.

*BOOOOOOM!* One huge explosion forcefully expands the sphere which dissipates. Shiori-sempai's limp body falls towards the ground head first. Ignoring the intensive pain coursing though my body, I dive with my arms stretched out, catching her. I cushion her fall with my body. Pulling this stunt should hurt badly, but I can't feel any more pain. I check Sempai's vitals. Good, she's alive, barely.

"You forced your silver into my gravity ball, and made her wear it like a suit of armour." The masked man analyses, "Well done keeping her alive."

"YOU! HOW COULD YO..." As I begin to release my frustrations, I notice a similar sensation as before, my body losing its bearings.

I quickly look around and see that we've switched positions again. He's holding Shiori-sempai in his arms. Not only that, he's left me with a deadly gift. I quickly manifest my silver as a suit of armour. *BOOM!* More of his orbs explode. My armour takes most of the shock, but I am still badly shaken. I fall to my knees, my legs have reached their limit. I stare powerlessly at the masked man, my vision distorts and blurs.

"Who are you? What are you after? Why can you use multiple Soul Techniques." I weakly ask.

The masked man takes Shiori-sempai's Soul Slayer and drops her unconscious body onto the floor, before turning to me. "Who I am is of no importance. I'm also unable to use multiple Soul Techniques, my ability is to imitate the Soul Techniques of others. Thanks to this, I have amassed a number of unique powers."

The power to use the power of others, so that's why.

"Theoretically speaking, during this battle, I also gained your ability of Silver Manifestation, there was just little reason for me to use it." The masked man explains in his usual tone "As for what I'm after. I want to find my emotions and become whole. Everything I do is to stimulate a way to draw out my own emotions. If I see something horrific will I be scared? if I find someone dear will I feel love? The current me that has only logic, cannot be called complete."

"Then why did you attack us?"

"I require Voynich-Caduceus for a future experiment that I believe will give me what I want. My work here is done, so I'll be taking me leave."

The masked man turns away and walks off, I can't stay awake any longer.

The floor cools my face as my mind falls into the depths of darkness.

XXXXXXX

Chapter 19D: United Front Against A Common Enemy – On Masters Orders (Perspective: Wolfy)

I run as fast as my legs can carry me. Master ordered me to assist Alicia-sama and I intend to do just that. My anxiety increases every second, please be safe.

I finally reach the two, Alicia-sama is on the floor, defeated. The other woman doesn't even have a scratch, was the difference in level this large? Master's intuition was right on the money.

"Farewell, Alicia." The woman says with a faint smile. Many dozens of flaming boulders begin to rain down towards her. I quickly shoot my fireballs and cover Alicia-sama with my body. The many fragments scratch my legs and body, but I won't let even a pebble hit my Master's fiancé.

"Wolfy!" Alicia-sama says in shock.

"Master ordered me to aid you. He was worried about you." I explain.

"Yuichi was?" Alicia-sama's face turns red. The two of you are truly meant for each other.

Someone else then suddenly walk onto the battlefield, it's the man wearing the mask, he's holding the staff Master's Sempai had, in his hand. The fact that he's here, did something happen to Master and the others!?

"Carrisa, we've achieved our objective, we're leaving." He orders.

"Understood." She nods then turns to us. "Pray that our paths don't cross again, Alicia." She smiles gently as her body slowly fades along with the masked man.

Alicia-sama forces herself to stand whilst using my body as support, "Let's get back to Yuichi." She says weakly.

XXXXXX

Chapter 19E: United Front Against A Common Enemy – Epilogue And The Girl Left Behind (Perspective: Akane)

I was left outside the dimension, Alicia-san said that it was too dangerous for me, so I had to wait here. I eventually notice several familiar faces.

But they're all heavily injured. I run to them as fast as I can "Yuichi, Shiori-sempai!" They're both unconscious and are being carried on the backs of Wolfy and the other slayer. Alicia-san is also walking unsteadily. "Are you all okay?" I ask.

"Well, we're all alive at least." Alicia-san answers with a frustrated voice.

"Shiori needs medical attention so I'll be withdrawing for now." You look as if you need it as well, "But mark my words, Alicia. I shall settle the score with all of you soon." She states before running off, she might have looked cool if she wasn't running in the opposite direction from the hospital.

"We should leave too." Alicia-san says in a quiet voice. Just what on earth happened inside there?

[hyuugalegacy]

And here is chapter 20 only one more till the end of the arc

Spoiler for Chapter 20:

Chapter 20A: Alicia and Alma's Past - Confrontation

A few days have passed since the battle with that masked man. My wounds for the most part are fully healed. There was something I wanted to hear from my fiancé, so I asked if I could come see her. She agreed without any problem, but she did seem somewhat depressed over the phone.

"So what is it that you wanted to talk about so badly?" She asks as I sit myself on her sofa and take the tea she offers me.

"That girl who has Gungnir-Mjölnir, you know her don't you, Alicia?" I cut straight to the point. "And not just her, that Reaper who was with that masked bastard."

"So it's about that? I figured as much." Alicia says with a sullen sigh. "All right Yuichi, I don't feel like talking for too long today, so which one do you want to hear about more? Alma or Carrisa?"

So she's only willing to tell me about one of them, I guess it's less about not wanting to talk, than it is being too painful for her to talk.

"Then tell me about Alma, the Reaper isn't the immediate threat right now. Plus, that Alma girl sent me this letter of challenge." I answer, the time stated is tonight, so I have very little time.

"You got one as well then?" Alicia responds. As well'? Meaning Alicia also got one. Does Alma plan on taking both of us on at once?

"Carrisa only fought against us because it turned out that way, but Alma bears a deep grudge." I supplement.

"Yeah, you're right. Alma hates Anomalies and Reapers with a passion." Alicia answers with a sad smile, I can tell this isn't going to be a pleasant story.

After a few moments of silence Alicia places her tea down onto the table, like she has made up her mind.

"Alma is a girl of Spanish descent, but I met her in Rome eight years ago. That day, I had an argument with my dad about something trivial. But I ran away from home in tears, and I found myself lost in the human world."

XXXXXXX

Chapter 20B: Alicia and Alma's Past – Flashback (Perspective: Alicia) (Eight Years Ago)

"Where am I?" I ask, but no one answers. Everyone just keeps moving, like I'm invisible.

My body's shaking, but I won't cry. I'm a big girl now, I won't cry.

"Mum, Dad, Lilicia." I walk aimlessly, as water drops from my eyes.

"Are you crying?" A girl's voice asks. I turn to look at her, she's about the same age as me and is wearing a mischievous smile.

"I'm not crying!" I shout back "I'm an adult, adults don't cry!"

"You so are!"

"Am NOT!" The water gathering in my eyes flows out even more as I scream at the girl.

The girl walks up to me and grabs my hand, "Lets go play." She says with an innocent smile.

"Huh?" Before I can say no, she leads and drags me off down the streets and to a park.

She forces me onto one side of a sea-saw and takes the other end herself. As I go up and down, the water in my eyes slowly starts to clear, and is replaced with a smile.

We continue to play together in the park until the sun goes down.

"Ah, it's getting dark." She says in a disappointed voice as she stares up into the night sky.

"Alma~~!" A voice calls. We both look on Running up to Alma is a girl about sixteen years old with tanned skin just like Almas and long dark hair that's tied back.

"Nee-sama!" Alma shouts back happily with a smile, but it quickly turns to a pout upon her eyes laying on someone else.

"We've been looking everywhere for you." Says a teenage boy running by the older girl's side. He has long crimson hair styled into dreadlocks and is dressed very roughly.

"Booo~~ Shuren isn't good enough to be Nee-sama's partner." Alma says with a defiant voice. But what does she mean 'partner'?

"You damn brat!" Shuren's face distorts in anger.

"ALMA! The fact of Shuren not being a suitable partner for me aside. I believe I taught you better than to insult people where it hurts." Alma's Nee-sama scolds.

"Uh, Nadia. You're not making me feel any better." Shuren says with an almost crying expression.

Seeing this scene I feel left out, I turn away as I prepare to walk out the park. But a familiar feeling enters my hand, and Alma drags me over.

"Nee-sama, Alicia's lost, can we take her home with us?" Alma asks pleadingly. What, am I suppose to be a stray dog!? I look onto the older girl who looks at me for a moment before saying.

"You're Alma's friend?" She asks, I give a light nod in response. "Then it's okay with me." She says decisively whilst giving me a thumbs up, she's really easy going.

"Taking a girl home you don't even know, you really are strange, Nadia." Shuren states with a sigh. "OWWW!" Alma kicks him in the shin.

"Alicia is my friend, butt out Shuren!" She says with an angry glare.

"You fucking brat! If you weren't Nadia's little sister then I would!" Shuren curses.

Alma's sister ignores them and turns to me.

"I'm Nadia Ivana, Alma's older sister. The guy over there with red hair is Shuren Azusa." She introduces with an innocent smile.

"I'm Alicia Pandemonium." I reply. Nadia-san's smile widens after my introduction.

"Then Alma, Alicia-chan, Let's go home." Nadia-san says as she takes our hands and leads us down the street.

"Your house is in the opposite direction, Nadia." Shuren says as he shakes his head from side to side.

"Ah, of course I knew that." She says as her face turns bright red. "I was just testing you, Shuren. Well done, you got an 'A plus'"

"Just testing me, of course." Shuren says sarcastically.

"Nee-sama complimented you, show some gratitude Shuren!" Alma shouts as she runs up to Shuren and...

"OWWWW!" Kicks him in the shin again.

"That does it!" Shuren chases after Alma, but he can't catch her. Watching him relentlessly chase after a girl half his size with little success only increases his pitifulness.

"Come on Alma knock it off, Shuren I'll cook us up a feast, so please calm down will you?" Nadia-san compromises, probably to save what little remained of Shuren's pride.

"Nadia's home made cooking?" Shuren says, his face is almost too happy. Is Nadia-san's cooking that good?

After making several more wrong turns, that Shuren pointed out. We finally arrived at a small but clean house.

"Here we are." Nadia-san says with a smile. "I think I've never made it back as quick as I have done today." Just how bad is her sense of direction?

"It means we're improving, Nee-sama." Alma says in a congratulating tone. Shuren wears a face that seems to be saying 'it's because I led you here'.

We enter the house together. The interior is clean as well, but the size is nowhere near the size of my house.

"Alma, you're both all sweaty, go take a bath with Alicia-chan. It's going to take a while to prepare dinner." Nadia-san suggests.

"Yes, Nee-sama." Alma agrees as she grabs my hand and leads me upstairs. Do these siblings have some fetish for dragging people about?

We both undress and enter the bath together, the warm water eases my tired body.

"Take that!" Alma screams as she splashes me.

"I'll get you for that!" I splash back.

We cheerfully continue to play in the bath, rather than cleansing ourselves. Eventually, I get out before Alma, and walk downstairs, I overhear a voice.

"Nadia, you know that Alicia girl isn't human right?" Shuren asks. Do they know my true identity?

I press my ear against the wall, trying to catch what they say.

"She's a being similar to that of a Human Anomaly, this is different from Ark's case. If you keep her here, she will attract Anomalies to herself that will place you and Alma in danger. You should get rid of her before that happens, Nadia." The only voice that's coming through the walls is Shurens. Nadia is remaining silent. 'Get rid of'? Are they planning on killing me!? My body tenses in fear, I want to go home.

"Why isn't Nee-sama saying anything back!?" An angry voice asks rhetorically, I turn to face its owner. Standing there, also listening in is Alma. "Alicia's my friend, get rid of her? I won't let them." Alma grabs my hand and we run out the house together.

The sky is pitch black and full of clouds, we continue running until we eventually find the park where the two of us played together.

We sit underneath the slide, the blistering cold air cuts through me like a knife.

"I can't believe them!? Even Nee-sama!" Alma screams out her feelings of anger. Her shoulders are shaking, I can't tell whether this is from anger or the cold.

"Alma..." I say as I place my hand on her.

"Alicia is my friend." Alma reconfirms, I nod back with a smile, that Alma returns.

It's at that moment, I feel something terrifying. Suddenly a black void appears and out walks a certain existence, that is...

"An Anomaly!" I shout, and it's not an ordinary one either. Looking at it's huge body that has body parts that don't match together, almost like several jigsaw puzzles have been mixed with each other and pieced together randomly. "A Chimera Anomaly?" A Soul Anomaly made up of several other Anomalies fused together. What is a monster that is rarer than rare even in the Underworld doing in the human world!? Alma shakes in fear, as she looks on in horror at the grotesque being that words cannot describe.

""""So...It was you who were calling me...Silver haired girl..."""" It says as it turns it's many heads and eyes towards me, all the heads speak creepily in sync. """"Your souls, are mine.""""

"It's after you?" Alma says in a horrified voice as she looks at me.

""""ITADAKIMASU!"""" The Chimera Anomaly screams as it opens it's many wide jaws.

"AHHHHHHH!" I scream in terror as I shield my eyes with my arms.

A flash of lightning lights up the night sky and suddenly hits the Chimera Anomaly's huge body """"GRAAAHHH!"""" It yelps painfully.

"Alma, Alicia-chan, are you okay?" Nadia-san's voice shouts out.

"Nee-sama!" Alma calls back as she sheds a magnitude of tears.

I then notice a golden weapon that has the head of a spear and a hammer on opposite ends.

Noticing my gaze, Nadia-san smiles. "This is Gungnir-Mjölnir, it's my Soul Slayer. Well, I guess you might not understand. Anyway, both of you get back, I'll handle this."

Obeying Nadia-san's orders Alma and I run away from the Chimera Anomaly and watch on from behind Nadia-san.

""""A Soul Slayer, such a problematic thing."""" The Chimera Anomaly states.

"It's my first time seeing a Anomaly capable of speaking." Nadia-san says as she spins her weapon around.

""""GRAHH!"""" Another lightning bolt strikes the Chimera Anomaly.

"You're one tough cookie." Nadia-san says as she grinds her teeth together.

""""I am made up of several million souls. It does not matter if you destroy one or two of them."""" The Chimera Anomaly replies confidently. Nadia-san's attacks, although they hurt it, they aren't causing it any major damage.

""""Now it's our turn!"""" The Chimera Anomaly announces.

Nadia-san tightens her grip on Gungnir-Mjölnir, bracing herself for an incoming attack. The Chimera Anomaly lunges forth using its tail that looks like a scorpions. Nadia-san quickly dodges to the side and it pierces the ground instead.

Just when I thought Nadia-san was safe, more scorpion tails start sprouting out of the first one, and even more came out of them, similar to a tree branch of scorpion tails.

"TCH!" Nadia-san grunts as she dodges the attacks with acrobatic movements. But the scorpion tails continue homing in on her with nimble movements.

Nadia-san spins her Soul Slayer around one hundred and eighty degrees to the spearhead. Lightning gathers around the spearhead and forms an extension to it. Creating a spearhead about five metres long made out of pure lightning.

""""GRAGHHH!"""" The Chimera growls in pain as Nadia-san severs its tails.

"Here I come," Nadia-san states as she runs towards the Chimera.

The Chimera Anomaly opens several of its mouths.

""""BRAHHH!"""" All the heads make a awful vomiting like sound as a immense number of creatures crawl out of its mouths. They all land and start slithering along the floor. Snakes? And there's got to be close to a thousand of them.

Nadia-san sweeps and cleaves up all the snakes within range of her lightning spear. The snakes when they get close enough pounce towards Nadia-san with unhinged jaws, trying to latch onto her neck, but none are able to do so. Just as I am able to feel that Nadia-san will be all right against the snakes...

"KYAAA!" I suddenly hear Alma's scream, I turn around to find that several snakes are attacking us instead. I was concentrating so much on Nadia-san's predicament I didn't pay any attention to any of my surroundings.

"ALMA! ALICIA-CHAN!" Nadia-san also noticing our danger is quick to react the spear's lightning blade disappears and she turns it round to the hammerhead segment, *BANG!* She slams it against the ground and lightning falls from the sky.

""""GRAHHH!"""" The snakes attacking us are instantly incinerated. We're safe, I relax my breathing from the relief, but then.

"GUHHH!" Nadia-san grunts. When I turn round I notice several threads wrapped around Nadia-san's limbs. And whilst she's unable to move. "ARGGGGHHHHH!" She screams as a snake bites her.

"NEE-SAMA!" Alma shouts in horror. I on the other hand cannot even open my mouth, the fear halts my voice.

As the snake falls off Nadia-san's arm, I notice something wrong with it. The upper half of her arm where she was bitten has petrified, it's turned to stone.

""""You let your guard down whilst you were protecting the brats."""" The Chimera mocks. """"You won't be able to fight the way you want in that state.""""

"Yeah, I Guess I can't beat you with ordinary moves." Nadia-san says with a face of regret as she looks at her petrified arm. She then turns to me and Alma, smiling as tears flow from her eyes. "Alma, grow up into the great woman that I wasn't able to, and tell Shuren...that I love him."

"Nee-sama? What are you saying?" Alma asks in a quivering voice.

""""Become part of me!"""" The Chimera Anomaly screams as it throws Nadia's body limply into the air via the threads, it then closes it's jaws around Nadia-san, swallowing her whole.

"NADIA-SAN!", "NEE-SAMA!" Alma and I scream at the scene.

Then, from within the Chimera Anomaly.

"BUT EVEN IN THIS STATE! I CAN STILL USE THIS! SOUL MARTYR!" Nadia-san's voice leaks out from within the Chimera. Several flashes of light shine through the gaps in the Chimera Anomaly's jaws.

""""DAMN! YOU!"""" The Anomaly curses as it spits out Nadia-san's limp unconscious body. """"You shattered your own soul into pieces and had them fuse with my own! You're planning on destroying me like a cancer!""""

*COUGH COUGH!* All the heads spit out immense amounts of black blood.

""""CURSE YOU!"""" It yells one more time before it disappears into a dark void, I can no longer feel it's presence.

"NEE-SAMA!" Alma tearfully runs and cradles her older sister's body. "Nee-sama, you defeated that huge monster, please open your eyes. I can't thank you if you're sleeping." Alma's shock causes her to defy reality. Tears flow down my cheeks as I watch Alma continuously try to wake up her sister in vain. I know, Nadia-san will never open her eyes again, I'm sure Alma also realises this.

"Alma..." I quietly call to my friend. As I try to place my hand on her shoulder Alma slaps it away and looks at me with anger filled eyes.

"That thing, was after you! How could you do this to us!? To Nee-sama!?" She screams at me, my body stiffens, her previously pure eyes are now nothing but a haven of anger.

"I'm...sorry..." My eyes tear, "I didn..."

"Nee-sama's DEAD! Do you think a sorry can undo what you've done!? GET LOST YOU MONSTER!" Alma shouts, as she picks up a stone and throws it at me.

It hits me in the face, blood flows from the cut. But I feel no physical pain, my heart hurts too much to care. The eyes Alma is looking at me with right now, I'll never forget them.

"I'm sorry..." I say one more time as I walk away in tears, rain droplets shower onto my skin and roll down my face, almost as if my own tears are not enough to convey my feelings.

I turn one last time towards Alma, who has returned to cradling Nadia-san's body in tears. I turn my back again and walk out the park.

Eventually Sebastian found me crying and took me back home to the Underworld.

XXXXXX

Chapter 20C: Alicia and Alma's Past – Yuichi's Unheard Promise

"And that's what happened." Alicia says in a voice that seems to be trying to keep her negative emotions in check. "In order to save us, Nadia-san used a technique that transmigrates her soul into an eternal conductor for Gungnir-Mjölnir's lightning and fused her soul fragments with the Chimera."

"Alicia, I maybe a bit late in saying this, but none of that was your fault." I say, trying to comfort my fiancé, even just a little.

"It doesn't change the result, Yuichi." She replies solemnly. Before putting on a strong front that is very transparent. "Anyway, Yuichi. This is my problem, I must clear up my own mess, so leave Alma to me, she means busin...URGH!"

"Forgive me." I apologise as I withdraw my fist that I used to knock out Alicia. I catch her body in my arms before she falls to the floor and carry her to her bed.

"Protecting the feelings of the bride, is the grooms job." I state as I pull the blanket over Alicia's body.

There's no way someone as beautiful as I would let you carry such a burden alone.

"I promise you, Alicia. I shall end this in a way so that everyone cries tears of happiness."

[hyuugalegacy]

And here is the final chapter of this arc

Spoiler for Chapter 21:

Chapter 21: Yuichi Vs Alma

The time for the duel is close, I slowly walk into the park that Alma designated as the venue. The park is vacant of people, apart from one, who is swinging gently back and forth on the swing. The challenge letter mentioned that there would be no interruptions, so I'm guessing she erected some sort of barrier to keep civilians away.

"Just you?" The tanned skin girl asks as she continues to swing back and forth on the swing.

"I'm not so cruel as to have my fiancé fight an old friend," I say with a bitter smile before changing the subject, "Is Shiori-sempai going to be okay?"

"Thanks to you, her life is not in danger. However, her injuries will take a long time to heal." Alma explains, "For saving my friend's life, you have my sincere gratitude, Yuichi Shiro." Alma jumps off of the swing and walks over to me, Gungnir-Mjölnir is in her hand. "However, this and that, are two very different matters. For as long as you exist, Anomalies will continue being drawn into the living world. I cannot allow any more tragedies to occur."

"Alicia told me what happened between the two of you." I admit, "Surely you must realise she didn't want that to happen any more than you did. Why must you treat her like this? Even I can tell that Alicia still considers you her friend. How can you continue to hate someone like that!?"

"When I was a child, I did indeed bear a grudge against Alicia. However, that has long since passed, what I hate now isn't Alicia, but her type of existence. Reapers create Human Anomalies, and throw them back into the living world. Reapers and Anomalies are the enemies of the church. At the end of the day, this is a war, we Slayers versus them. For as long as I hold this Gungnir-Mjölnir, I shall purify all impurities!" Alma explains.

"What a stupid reason." I state coldly as I manifest my silver sword. I had activated Silver Manifestation before entering the park. "I shall pull that stupid reason right from under you!"

Alma spins her Soul Slayer in a circle and points the hammer segment at me. "It's a shame, Yuichi Shiro. If you were a regular human, I feel we could've been friends." Alma states before charging towards me with her Soul Slayer, I can see the electricity discharging through it. I also run towards her, swiftly closing the distance between us.

Alma swings the hammer horizontally towards me. I swiftly jump back and avoid it. Alma, in mid swing with Gungnir-Mjölnir, spins her Soul Slayer around in her hand to the spear segment. Lightning quickly surrounds Gungnir-Mjölnir's spearhead, creating a extended spearhead made of lightning several metres long.

Crap! The hammer was just a feint. I quickly create a wall of silver to intercept the lightning spear.

*BZZTTT!* I see the intense lightning run through the silver wall. I'd have been in serious trouble if that lightning did hit me. Alma's Soul Slayer is truly scary. I breakdown and reshape the silver wall. I make the silver take the forms of several javelins.

"GOOO!" I scream as I launch the javelins at Alma, who simply swings her lightning spear. Suddenly my javelins are forced back and pierce the ground before disappearing.

"What the hell did she do just now!?" I ask myself, she never hit the javelins, nor was it a shock wave. Alma dashes towards me once more whilst I'm in a state of shock. "Damn! I have no time to think about this!" First things first, I need to counter her long reach.

I quickly manifest more silver and have it surround my sword. Now in my hands, is a silver sword that rivals the length of Alma's Gungnir-Mjölnir with the lightning spear included. Thanks to my Silver manifestation ability, I can manipulate the silver I create. By using this aspect, I take the weight off of the silver by levitating it slightly with my mind. I'm just going to use my hands to help direct the trajectory of my colossal silver blade.

"It's meaningless!" Alma states as she charges with her lightning spear, Gungnir-Mjölnir. I swing my huge silver sword down overhead, Alma positions her lightning spear ready to stop my attack. Just before my sword collides with her electricity, knowing full well she's planning on running the electricity through my silver sword into me, I have my silver sword shatter off at the hilt.

"WHAT!?" Alma shouts in shock. The silver heading towards her is no longer in contact with me, so running electricity through it will accomplish nothing. Plus, lightning isn't tangible, you won't be able to block my silver with it.

I quickly have the broken blade of silver that is falling towards Alma reshape itself just like the wall from before. She would just dodge the falling blade in its current state, so I need to manipulate this chance whilst her guard's down.

"Silver Rain!" I call out the attack name that I make up on the spot, as the huge shrapnel's of silver shoot down at Alma.

Alma jumps around acrobatically, dodging all of my random attacks at a hairs breathe. I quickly manipulate the hilt I'm still holding into the shape of a knife. I throw it at Alma, who is too busy dodging my 'Silver Rain' to notice.

"ARGHHHH!" She screams as my silver knife pierces through her unsuspecting arm. I must admit, that was a bit dirty of me, but she's not the kind of opponent I can take lightly.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!* My 'Silver Rain' continues raining down onto Alma. My view's obstructed by a huge cloud of dust covering the area from the many impacts with the ground. I hope Alma didn't die in that last attack. I look on in worry as the dust slowly clears, silently praying that Alma is safe.

*BOOOM*

"URGGHHHHHH!" I scream in agony and fall onto my knees. The sky just suddenly flashed, and the next thing I know, I'm in severe pain.

*Cough! Cough!* Blood and blue steam pour out of my mouth and body respectively. The dust clears in the distance revealing Alma with the hammer segment of her Soul Slayer wedged into the ground. Blood is pouring out of her arm where my knife stabbed her, and her clothes are ripped in several places. So, she called down a lightning bolt whilst she was dodging my Silver Rain. Both her skills and tenaciousness are impressive.

*Cough Cough!* Damn, of course. That lightning is a soul slaying technique, making it highly effective against me. I slowly struggle myself back onto my staggering feet as I wipe the blood from my mouth.

"You're a pretty tough guy aren't you?" Alma says in surprise.

"Right back at you." I answer defiantly.

"HM!" She grunts, "However, since my lightning hit you, I'm at the complete advantage." She proudly proclaims.

"Stop acting like you're fine, my last attack still left one hell of a mark on you!" I shout back.

Alma, ignores her wounded arm, and walks to a tree. She stabs the spear segment into it before turning back around to face me. What's she planning? "I wasn't referring to the damage aspect, although, even there, I think I'm still in the lead." She states. I hate to admit it, but she's right. Her attack is affecting me a lot worse than mine is against her.

"Tell me Yuichi Shiro, do you know about the poles on a magnet?" Alma randomly asks. Poles? Is she referring to the north and south poles? "My last attack with the Mjölnir part of my Soul Slayer did more than give your soul intensive damage through it's lightning. It gave your body a huge south pole charge." She states, "Now, if I were to give this tree a north pole charge with the Gungnir part of my Soul Slayer. What do you think would happen?" Alma asks, a smile leaking out onto her face.

Oh god, no! I recall back to my physics lessons, and the relationship between the north and south poles on a magnet.

"FUCK!" I scream, as Alma runs a current into the tree.

My body begins to be pulled forward like there's an invisible rope attached to my waist that is being pulled. I quickly manifest my silver and have it wrap around my ankles before anchoring the silver deep into the ground.

"URGHH!" The pulling force on my body is so painful it feels like I'm being ripped in two.

"The north and south poles are unable to be kept apart, Yuichi Shiro." Oh, please, don't tell me. "If you refuse to go to the tree, then the tree will..." The huge tree begins to uproot itself from the ground, freeing itself. "Go to you."

"CRAPPP!" I scream, as the huge bark of wood flies towards me at high velocity. I quickly unanchor myself from the ground, but keep the silver wrapped around my ankles. I manipulate the silver to levitate upwards along with me, dodging the high speed incoming tree.

"Shit! It's coming after me!" I did consider this happening, but it's scary to actually see. Hm. Wait, if this tree follows me, then...

I jump high into the air over Alma's head, placing her between me and the tree.

"Do you take for a fool!?" She asks coldly. Just as the tree is about to hit Alma she somersaults over it, spinning her Soul Slayer she swings the spear segment towards the tree, mid-jump. Almost like the tree was a golf ball being hit by a club.

"WHAT! Isn't it going faster than before!?" Just what on earth did she do?

I once again dodge the incoming tree.

"Don't you know, Yuichi Shiro? When the two same poles on a magnet touch, what happens?"

"They repel!" I reply back in realisation. This new information solves several mysteries. The reason my silver lances were deflected was because she gave them a pole charge, she then used the same pole to deflect them. The reason behind the tree speeding up is because she used the same pole with her Soul Slayer repelling it towards me, making there not one, but two forces acting on it.

Her Soul Slayer's ability is even more terrifying than I first thought. I dodge the tree for the umpteenth time.

"You're really annoying ME!" I scream as I manifest and manipulate my silver I send a innumerable amount of silver stakes into the bark of the tree. The silver conducts the lightning out of the tree, making it lose its magnetic charge and fall to the ground.

"Very clever," Alma praises, "However, if your silver conducts the charge in the tree..." Before Alma can finish all the silver within the tree flies towards me, the same pole charge running through them. However, this is my silver, not a tree. Before any of the silver can hit me, it dissipates.

"I created that silver, having it disappear is all too easy." I explain proudly.

"But your body still has a south pole charge." Alma states as she spins Gungnir-Mjölnir around in a circle. Swinging the Spear end in a arc, a stream of lightning discharges out of her Soul Slayer and heads towards me. Using the silver attached to my ankles to help speed me up, I dive to one side, dodging the lightning, but then...The lightning swiftly changes direction, I quickly figure out the reason, and create a wall of silver to protect myself from the lightning

*BRRR!* The sparks from the wall screech. I quickly have the wall disappear before it starts homing in on me from the pole charge in the lightning.

"So, you can have your lightning home in on me thanks to the south pole charge!?" I analyse.

"That's correct." Alma admits.

I quickly get onto my feet and hold out my hand, I create a ice ball and shoot it at Alma, who quickly dodges and swings her spear again, creating more lightning from the tip. "Distance combat isn't going to help me out against this girl." I say quietly to myself as I erect another silver wall to protect me from the lightning whilst continuing to run and close the distance. I create a silver sword in my hand in preparation to slash at Alma, who simply spins around her Soul Slayer to the hammer segment. Before I can get in striking distance she swings the hammer horizontally and my body is forced backwards by some invisible force.

"She repelled me by using the same pole." I analyse to myself. However, I've now confirmed my suspicions. Alma spins her Soul Slayer back to the spear segment and launches a stream of lightning. I jump into the air, the lightning follows, I create another silver wall to defend me and then have it disappear. Whilst in mid-air, I quickly create two blocks of ice at my feet, now I have some foot holes I can use. I kick off with all my remaining strength, the lightning strike I took before, and all the running around, is starting to take its toll on me. I need to finish this now!

Alma spins Gungnir-Mjölnir around to the hammer segment. Like before, she seems intent on repelling me. "DON'T YOU LEARN!? YOU CAN'T GET NEAR ME!" She shouts, her voice is full of exhaustion, the blood loss and constant manoeuvres must have tired her out as well. A drawn out battle isn't good for either of us.

Alma swings her hammer, I create a silver wall behind me to brace myself against the repulsion force.

"WHAT!?" Alma shouts in shock. The reason isn't because of the wall. A huge silver projectile is flying towards her at high speed. The same silver I kept using to guard from her lightning strikes.

"You didn't release your manifestation!?" Alma realises as my attack approaches. I noticed the weakness to her Soul Slayer. It truly is very similar to a magnet. When she repels attacks, she always uses the same end of her Soul Slayer she used to give it a pole charge. That's why every time she repelled me, she used the hammer end rather than the spear. The hammer segment has a south pole charge, meaning it will repel other things that have a south pole charge, in this case me. However, the silver walls I used to defend myself, were hit with lightning from the spear end, giving them a north pole charge. Because she's using the hammerhead to try and repel me, who is the same south pole. I released and recombined all the silver fragments that were stuck to my body due to the north pole charge they received. It is now being attracted to Alma's south pole side, the hammer end of her Soul Slayer. Her weakness is that she can only use one of her Soul Slayers poles at once.

Alma quickly turns Gungnir-Mjölnir around to the spearhead segment, she intends to reflect the silver back at me. However, you've now switched to the north pole side of your Soul Slayer, and considering I'm still south pole charged. I kick off the silver wall with all my might to increase the momentum and the pull of the attraction. As the silver mass I launched at Alma is pushed back at me, before it collides with me, this time, I truly do dissipate the silver. The silver that previously attached to my body still had soul destroying electricity running through it, due to my immense pain I barely noticed it though. But there's no point in causing myself needless harm.

"WHAT!" Alma shouts in shock as the silver she thought would most likely have finished me off disappears. I told you, having it disappear is all too easy.

The momentum of the attracting force plus my own pushing force makes me fly down like a bullet. Suddenly, just before I'm pulled into being impaled by the spearhead, I rotate my body at high speed with help from the silver on my ankles, narrowly missing the spear by inches. Before Alma can spin her Soul Slayer back around.

"KAPOWWW!" I shout as I swing my fist directly into her face using the attracting force as an additional power up. Aren't you honoured Alma? To 'attract' the one and only Yuichi Shiro.

"URGGGGGGHHHH~~~!" The huge sudden force smashes her body into the ground, and sends it skidding along the floor.

Alma attempts to try and get back up to her feet but, "URGH...My body...won't move." She states whilst gritting her teeth. Well, isn't that one of the most typical cliché lines?

I slowly walk over and pick up her fallen Soul Slayer from the ground.



"Finish me off." She says in resignation whilst closing her eyes.

Finish you? Quit joking around. I promised Alicia I'd finish this in a way that would make everyone happy.

"Before, you stated that the church is at war with the Reapers and Anomalies, right?" I ask in confirmation.

"What of it?" Alma asks weakly. I guess I'll take that as a confirmation.

"Alma Ivana! Today, as of this moment, you are hereby my prisoner of war! You have no right to refuse!" I proclaim.

This girl, ever since I met her, I've had my suspicions, and just before this fight, I was able to confirm them. Her hatred towards Reapers and Anomalies, I get the feeling it's more of an obligatory hatred with her being a Slayer. She said so herself, she had long since forgiven Alicia, she just hated her type of existence.

If her hatred is rooted in a 'obligation', I just have to remove the said 'obligation'.

"What!?" Alma questions with what little strength she has left.

I then recall something else she said, "For as long as I hold this Gungnir-Mjölnir I shall purify all impurities!"

"Until further notice, I'll be confiscating this." I declare as I wave her Soul Slayer around. I then walk over and place my hand on her neck, I believe this is the right pressure point. "For now, sleep." I order.

"Urgh!" With a good squeeze, Alma slowly closes her eyes.

"Jeez, whether it be you, or Alicia, you just can't be honest, can you?" I say to the unconscious girl as I take out my phone and call a certain someone. "Hello, Father. I was wondering if you could do me a big favour." I quickly give my request to my father-in-law and hang up.

"Well, no point staying here. I get the feeling I'm going to have a lot to answer for. Time to face the music." I say in half resignation as I gently pick Alma off the ground and place her carefully over my shoulder.

I clap my hands together as I chant, "Our destination is Alicia's human world residence, connect." A magic circle appears beneath my feet. This is one of the Reaper spells I've learned from Kuro-san's blueprints, it's really useful.

My mind starts to feel a familiar sensation, I slowly close my eyes to embrace the following loss of conscientiousness. This feeling confirms to me that the battle is indeed over.

[hyuugalegacy]

Well here is the beginning of the next arc.

Spoiler for Chapter 22:

Chapter 22: The Underworld T.C. Grand Prix Prelude

A few days have passed since my fight against Alma. My physical wounds have all been healed. Although the number of complaints Alicia had when she woke up after the climax was numerous. Luckily thanks to my secret weapon aka dogeza I was able to gain her forgiveness. I get the feeling she rather enjoyed looking down on me from above, I know that thanks to her short skirt I enjoyed looking from below.

Now Alicia, Wolfy, Alma and I have come down to the Underworld, Father asked me to participate in a special kind of race that happens in the Underworld once a year, as part of 'Team Pandemonium'.

"Are you excited, Yuichi-niisama?" Lilicia-chan asks, she also is participating with us.

"Yeah, you could say that," I pat Lilicia-chan's head, "I also cannot ignore a request from Father."

"Why did I have to come!?" Alma asks with a voice full of displeasure.

"You are our prisoner of war, you must be kept under surveillance, so we couldn't leave you behind," I explain, "Just sit back and watch my beautiful..."

"ARGGGHHH!" Alma suddenly screams as the collar we fastened onto her neck turns red.

Oh, whoops, I did it again. Alma's body stiffens to the point she can't move a single muscle.

"Why on earth did you make 'beautiful', a word you use on a daily basis, your keyword, Yuichi?" Alicia asks, "Ixion."

"Hahhh." Alma breathes a sigh of relief after Alicia says her personal keyword 'Ixion'. The collar returns to it's green colour. In order to prevent Alma from causing any unnecessary conflict with us, we forcefully attached a collar onto her neck that when certain individuals state their personal keyword's it turns itself on, and forces Alma into a state of paralysis, until another keyword is spoken to deactivate it. Unfortunately, I keep on activating it by accident. Truth be told me and Father-in-law had to settle for just the collar, we wanted to go for the complete bondage set, but we were out voted.

I created this scenario to try and make Alicia and Alma make up, but unfortunately there hasn't been much progress.

"For me, the word 'beautiful'..." I answer - "ARGGHH!" - "Is very easy to remember."

"You did it again, Master." Wolfy says with a sigh, "Shazam."

Alma again is free from the restraint. "Will YOU KNOCK IT OFF, YUICHI SHIRO!?" She screams as her fist rips through the air, oh crap. "URGGGHHH!" I lose my footing from the sudden attack and fall backwards, but not before trying to grab the nearest thing to try and self right myself.

"Kyaaa!" Lilicia-chan screams as my arm instinctively grabs her and we both fall down in a rough heap.

"Oww, oww. Sorry, are you okay, Lilicia-chan?" I ask as I turn to the girl under me.

Hm? What is this soft sensation?

"Nii...sama?" Lilicia-chan says with a weak voice, my hand, as you may have guessed, is on her chest. This feeling is sensational, I could never get tired of it.

"Lilicia-chan, can we stay like this for a while?" I ask.

Lilicia-chan's face turns red, "If...you...want..." She begins.

"GET OFF HER DAMN IT!"

"OWWWWWWW!" That hurt like hell, "Alicia! I don't have a foot fetish, so can you stop shoving yours into my face!?"

My face is my greatest pride and a treasure on the level of the crown jewels.

"Ha ha, you still have a long way too go, Yuichi-kun." A elegant voice says, we each turn to its owner.

"Father!" Alicia, Lilicia-chan, and I say in sync.

"Listen Yuichi-kun, you should have grabbed Alicia as well when you fell. The best defence is a strong offence, as soon as you have them both on the ground you just need to make them feel good, then any possible resistance they have will disappear like the wind. It is at that point that you..."

"FATHER!" Alicia disturbs Father-in-law's words of wisdom. But I think I get the gist of it.

"I'll make you proud, Father." I state with a thumbs up, which Father returns.

"What kind of Father encourages someone to molest his daughters?" Alma asks in disgust.

Hey, watch your mouth, he's the great Yuichi Shiro's role model.

"I'm someone who wants only the best for my daughters." Father answers in a isn't it obvious tone, "Anyway are you three ready? It's almost time."

We all nod with looks of determination.

"Watch over Alma, Wolfy." I instruct.

"Yes, Master." He instantly replies.

Good boy, I'll give you a scooby snack later.

"Show them the greatness of Pandemonium you three!" Father cheers. We all wave in response.

"Let's go you two." Alicia orders, as we walk to our ride.

After a few minutes we arrive in what looks like a maintenance area. My eyes are instantly drawn to the huge object in the centre, so that's a Tri-Capsule. The huge vehicle has three egg shaped parts to it, all of which are joint together and have the Pandemonium insignia painted on them. The bottom half of each capsule is metallic whilst the top half is transparent, but that material isn't glass. There are many ropes which look like safety measures in each capsule, but there aren't any seats inside. I did hear that you stand inside these vehicles. I guess they weren't aiming for comfort when they designed them.

"Everything is ready, Alicia-sama, Lilicia-sama, Yuichi-sama." A man who looks like an engineer says.

"Thanks for the hard work." Alicia replies. "Yuichi, you take that support." She orders whilst pointing at one of the capsules.

"All right, I'll let you have the glory of being the Linchpin." I say with a shrug.

"This is your first time, Nii-sama. Controlling the Tri-Capsule isn't that easy I'm afraid." Lilicia-chan explains as she walks through the transparent material and into the other support capsule. Alicia and I follow suit and enter our respective capsules. Several mechanics enter with me and place some sort of vest around me, and then they attach all the safety cables to the vest.

"Take this, Yuichi-sama." One of the mechanics hands me some sort of headset. I quickly put it on.

"Testing 1, 2 ,3." Alicia's voice comes through. "During the race we will be using these to keep in constant contact with each other. Check your mic's."

"Lilicia here, no problems."

"Yuichi, the greatest person in existence, likewise, no problems."

"Have a mechanic check your headset Yuichi, it's spewing lies." Alicia retorts.

"Come on now, Onee-sama." Lilicia-chan's angelic voice is music to my ears.

Suddenly, an image of a wild looking guy holding a microphone to his mouth appears in mid air, this is all due to Underworld technology, something I dub 'Air TV'.

"It's finally that time of year again folks! THE T.C. GRAND PRIX!" The wild looking MC announces.

"OHHHHHHHH!" Many cheers scream together.

"I 'the man who needs no introduction' shall be your master of ceremonies!" He continues, what kind of title is that?

CLAP CLAP CLAP! - A loud applause resounds.

"Now, for those who don't know the rules, allow me to explain." He says whilst pulling a holier than thou pose, I'll ignore it for now, I need to pay close attention to this part after all. "Each team has three members, one Linchpin and two Supports. During the race the two Supports are permitted to use any method of attack on opposing racers, whether this is reaper techniques or whatever, it's all allowed. If a Support takes so much damage then their capsule will be forcefully disconnected from the pivotal capsule, the Linchpin. As long as the Linchpin is safe the team is still in the race, but if the Linchpin takes enough damage the Tri-Capsule will cease to function and will be forcefully teleported out of the race. So protect your Linchpins for all you're worth Supports, if they go down, you're out. Oh, and one last thing, the Linchpins are forbidden from using any techniques, so they have to rely on their Supports for both offence and defence. Any attempt on the Linchpins part to use any techniques, is instant disqualification."

So basically put, if Alicia is defeated, we lose.

"Now let me introduce you to some of the notable teams," The image changes from the MC, to me, Alicia, and Lilicia-chan, "First off is Team Pandemonium made up of the two Pandemonium sisters and Alicia-sama's fiancé, Yuichi Shiro-san. The man who became a celebrity in just one visit to the Underworld! He even has his own cheering section in the crowd!" The MC announces.

What, really?

The image changes from us, to a large group of people, I can just make out the back profile of Kuro-san, the man who trained me, he is waving around a stick similar to a conductor at an orchestrator.

"YUICHI! YUICHI! OH! OH! OHHHH-!" The cheerleaders (which are all guys) scream together.

"Why do they have to thrust their pelvises back and forth together in sync with the 'Oh's?" Alicia asks through the headset.

"Apparently this cheer, the 'Yuichi Shout' was inspired by a comment made by Yuichi Shiro-san to change Elizabeth Cerberus-sama's 'Oh ho ho' to 'Oh oh ohhh-'" The MC explains, almost as if he heard Alicia's question.

Oh yeah, I did say that, didn't I?

"YUICHI! OH! YUICHI! OHHH!" The screams become disorientated.

Huh? That's!?

The cheerleaders pelvis thrusts are slightly delayed from left to right, this is!

"A Mexican wave version of the 'Yuichi Shout'!" I scream in shock. Kuro-san, to come up with, and direct such a complicated move so well, you are truly a frightening individual.

"The next is one of the crowd's favourites, the triplets of Team Thanatos." The image changes to three people who look identical to each other, "These three are the younger siblings of the genius Tri-Capsule Linchpin Carrisa Thanatos-sama who is, unfortunately, still missing." The MC announces, the truth about Carrisa is still being kept a secret from the general public. Only the three main families and Hades knows the truth about Carrisa and the masked man. "That is one hell of a huge legacy to live up to, Carrisa-sama won every race she participated in. But how will the siblings do in action! I look forward to it."

The three cyan haired triplets who look around the same age as Lilicia-chan, are each wearing determined expressions, such spirit, I get the feeling they are going to be difficult to deal with.

"And next is Team Cerberus!" The image changes to the profiles of a couple of familiar faces, wait is that just my imagination? "Made up of Elizabeth Cerberus-sama and her younger brother Reno-sama, as well as her fiancé, Ren Kirei-san!" The MC announces.

"What!? Ren's participating! He never told me this!" I shout at the top of my voice.

"He said he wanted to surprise you." Alicia explains, "He also said he won't go easy on you even if you are his best friend."

"So Ren too wants a piece of me as well? Well most people do." I smile in anticipation.

Bring it on Ren! I harden my resolve. Team Pandemonium will definitely be victorious!

[hyuugalegacy]

Well here is next chapter

Spoiler for Chapter 23:

Chapter 23: The Underworld T.C. Grand Prix Main Event

"We are moments away from the start folks, all the teams are lined up and ready to go!" The MC who refers to himself as 'the man who needs no introduction' shouts whilst holding his microphone so close to his mouth it looks like he is eating it.

We, the members of Team Pandemonium along with all the other participants are hovering several metres off the ground in two straight lines. I can see Ren in one of the Cerberus team's support capsules, I smile in determination as our eyes meet.

"..." There is no need for words, our eyes do all the talking.

(I never thought we would ever have to face each other like this, Ren.)

(Ohhh- Yuichi, I am no match for your strength, nor your beauty, please please, have mercy.)

"COME ON REN! EVEN THOUGH I DON'T DISAGREE WITH YOUR STATEMENT THAT IS JUST TOO PATHETIC!" I scream as our conversation with our eyes took a turn for the pitiful.

"Onee-sama, what is wrong with Yuichi-niisama?" Lilicia-chan's angelic voice asks through the headset.

"Nothing is, that random outburst maybe weird for regular people; but for Yuichi, it's the norm," Alicia explains, as expected of my fiancé, you know full well that my magnificent self has far surpassed the level of a regular person.

"Then, as I thought Yuichi-niisama is a truly amazing person," Lilicia-chan chimes happily, well said, I'll give you a 'Yuichi head pat' coupon after the race, Lilicia-chan.

"What am I going to do with the two of you?" Alicia asks as she droops her head from within her capsule. What's wrong, dear? I'll give you a 'Yuichi head pat' coupon as well, so don't feel down.

"And now, let me introduce you all to our guest commentator for this race," The man who needs no introduction's voice resounds throughout the entire area, "It's our headhoncho in person folks, HADES-SAMA!" The image instantly changes to the familiar figure of the flamboyant leader of the underworld.

"OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!" The entire area screams in applaud, I thought the sky was shaking for a second there.

"How goes it ya'll!? Doctor Des is here to rap ass and chew bubblegum; but I'm all out of gum," Hades pulls a very cool pose as his godly words exit his mouth, what a guy, no wonder he rules the underworld. "Now, I am a man of few words, so I'll keep this brief; participants, LOSE YOURSELVES!"

"OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Everyone including me screams in response.

"Thank you, Hades-sama," Man who needs no introduction nods in satisfaction, "All racers prepare to start, the race begins in T minus thirty seconds."

"Yuichi, don't say anything for a while, you'll bite your tongue," Alicia warns through the headset as she looks at me, I nod in confirmation.

Several hovering traffic light like things float around the area, currently only the first one of the four lights is on.

*beep, beep, BEEP!*

*VOOOOOOOMMMMM!* All the capsules including our own take off like rockets, the landscape quickly changes into a rocky ravine like terrain, we are just moving so fast we can't even see the stadium any more. Thankfully, the many cables are keeping me from being thrown around too much.

"AND THEY'RE OFF!" Man who needs no introduction proclaims, "Bringing up the front of the pack is Team Thanatos, they have always been known for their quick acceleration, but it's still early days."

Alicia skilfully navigates us either above or below the many rocky pillars that connect the two sides of the ravine together. Slowly, the heavy vibrations from the Tri-Capsule become thinner, until I can barely feel a thing. We, Team Pandemonium are somewhere in the centre off all the racers, so we've got some catching up to do.

"Yuichi, Lilicia, we're going on the offensive," Alicia announces, "Pivot round to the front, but don't block my view."

"Right!" We reply together, as we make our support capsules orbit round in front of Alicia.

"Yuichi-niisama, I'll handle the ones in the distance, you take the ones close by. This terrain is perfect for me," Lilicia-chan explains the battle plan with huge confidence.

"Can do," I reply fearlessly, but I still don't entirely know what she means. I quickly create and launch several ice balls, however the supports on the defending capsule quickly react and block my attack with their own.

"Reaper Technique: Rock Geyser." Lilicia-chan's voice comes through the headset, as I look on ahead I can see in the distance a huge flux of boulders are barraging the Tri-Capsules of some of our many opponents, is this Lilicia-chan's technique? It's really powerful, more than just a couple of our rivals were teleported out of the race in that one move. However, the one at the very front magnificently dodged the attack without a scratch.

"Team Pandemonium is on the attack! But as expected of Team Thanatos, they were able to dodge Lilicia-sama's attack like it was nothing!" Man who needs no introduction announces the play by play.

"Lilicia has always had an affinity for Earth based reaper techniques, but for her to conjure up one as big as that at her age is a remarkable feat. My homie Alexander must be as proud as can be," Hades supplements, yes Lilicia-chan is to become the mistress of this Yuichi Shiro, so this level of skill is only natural. You are our pride and joy, Lilicia-chan.

"Yuichi! They're attacking from the rear, leave the front to Lilicia and do something about them!" Alicia orders, breaking me free from my state of admiration.

"The incarnate of beauty is on it!" I scream back as I pivot to Alicia's rear.

Several fireballs are approaching fast.

"It's just like shooting clay pigeons," I said as I create several balls of ice, "PULL!" I shout as I shoot my ice balls at the incoming fireballs.

*BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM* Huge explosions engulf the sky like fireworks where my ice collides with their fire.

"As expected of my man, such an attack is worthless against him," Hades compliments, you really do understand me, don't you? Anyway, time for me to counter-attack.

"My soul is one that is of self confidence. Beautiful, intelligent and kind. Absolute belief in myself and those that surround me. And a will that never dulls, bends or breaks." I chant the lyrics of my soul's nature, playtime is over.

"Silver Manifestation!" I quickly create and manipulate my huge masses of silver into various shapes and forms.

"IT'S HERE FOLKS! THE RUMOURED SOUL TECHNIQUE OF YUICHI SHIRO!" Man who needs no introduction yells, he's really the excitable type isn't he? "THIS IS SOMETHING I HAVE BEEN HOPING TO SEE EVER SINCE I HEARD HE WAS GOING TO BE IN THE RACE. THE POWER OF THE HUMAN ANOMALY WHO IS TO BE MARRIED INTO THE PANDEMONIUM FAMILY!" Really? Then get your eyeful of my elegant power.

I quickly style several chunks of my silver into the shapes of a javelin, "Eat this." I launch the silver javelins at the many Tri-Capsules behind us, the supports try desperately to block my attacks, but it's meaningless, my silver pieces through the magical shields they erect like they're made of paper.

"It's no good! Yuichi Shiro-san's silver cannot be blocked. The only thing the supports can do to protect their linchpins is use themselves as shields," Man who needs no introduction declares, just as he said many supports resorted to sacrificing themselves to save the linchpins. Such determination, you may have been my enemies, but I, Yuichi Shiro, salute your resolution. I see off the supports who are being forcefully teleported out the race with eyes full of respect.

"Yuichi, get out of your happy mood, the hard part begins from now!" Alicia shouts.

"The racers are starting to move out of the ravine and into the magma cave. That place can really warm up some cold bodies." Hades announces, "I'm guessing this is where Team Cerberus will make their move."

The rocky terrain quickly changes into one of some kind of cavern with a huge sea of fire below us, streams of lava and molten rocks jump out of the fire sea like a snake after it's prey, Alicia dodges all the foreign objects with minimal movement, her concentration is second to none. Lilicia-chan and myself are constantly pivoting around the Linchpin yet not a single pebble or ember has scratched us. I quickly snap myself back out of my admiration towards my fiancé, there is something I don't get.

"Huh? Why would Cerberus attack now?" I ask.

"The last terrain was one best suited for Lilicia who specialises in Earth type Reaper Techniques, that's why we didn't see hide nor tail of them, because we had the advantage there." Alicia, despite being busy navigating the Tri-Capsule, explains.

"The Cerberus family are renown for their affinity for fire based reaper techniques, and in this terrain, their power can be brought out to the maximum." Lilicia-chan supplements.

Just a moment later, "WHAT THE!?" A huge pillar of fire engulfs several teams, whom are quickly teleported out of the race, thankfully the barriers around the capsules are exceedingly strong, so there is no threat of loss of life during the race.

I spot the likely culprits in the last attack, Ren, Elizabeth and the younger brother, I think they called him 'Reno' if memory serves. Their capsule starts to pick up speed and is gaining on us at a fast rate.

"JUST AS HADES-SAMA PREDICTED! TEAM CERBERUS IS ON THE ATTACK!" Man who needs no introduction yells out, I sure wish he would shut up already.

"Lilicia, Yuichi, never mind the front, just concentrate on Cerberus. I know it is asking a lot, but if possible try and keep Reno at bay!"

"Asking a lot?" I ask in confusion, why just that Reno boy?

"Yuichi, Elizabeth maybe an embarrassment to Cerberus; but Reno is anything but,"Alicia harshly explains, I can only remain silent from hearing this. Elizabeth is an embarrassment? You've really got a mean streak in you, Alicia.

I create more silver javelins and launch them at the capsules of Team Cerberus, however before they reach them, "Holy shit! Is this happening naturally!?" Several pillars of fire shoot out from below us, one of which engulfs my silver, I can tell there is no way my silver would get through that inferno. "Of course not! It's Reno's doing! Even if it's only within this terrain, his power level could very well be on par with Carrisa's." Alicia answers, what seriously!? He's that strong!? "Now, hang on tight and cut the needless banter!" Alicia orders as she navigates left and right to avoid the fire pillars that would otherwise be on a collision course with us.

"YUICHI-NIISAMA!" Lilicia-chan shouts. What the!? When did they get there! *Bang Bang Bang* "URGHHH!" Several small fireballs smash into my capsule, "Shield life down to fifty percent," A automated voice warns. I glare at the one behind the last attack, "Ren..." I create a huge quantity of small masses of silver and shoot them in retaliation at my best friend, I doubt Reno can conjure those fire pillars quickly enough to block this attack, Just when I thought I was on the verge of forcing Ren out the race, he pivots around the linchpin to the back, dodging my attack, before returning to his original position. "Tch, as expected of my best friend," I compliment, Ren isn't going to go down without a fight.

"Now isn't the time for that, Yuichi!" Alicia shouts, "Reno is up to something."

I redirect my attention back onto Elizabeth's younger sibling. A small fireball is forming in front of his outstretched hand. "That small thing is no need for conc..." I stop mid sentence, why? "Okay, I take it back, that thing could be problematic," I deduce, the small fireball had quickly expanded to about half the width of the cavern. "No amount of sun lotion will be able to turn the disintegration into a fashionable tan with that thing," I state.

"Spare me the jokes and brace yourselves," Alicia orders as she steers us towards the ceiling of the cavern, "I'm glad the sponsors set up barriers around the terrain, otherwise that fireball would destroy the entire cavern. Anyway, get ready! Reno maybe a powerful support, but the driver and linchpin of Team Cerberus is still Elizabeth!"

Before I can even ask what she is planning Reno shoots his huge fireball at us, is this the end!? "Hang on!" Alicia shouts as she quickly turns the Tri-Capsule down ninety degrees, the fireball misses us, but wait, if you do that we'll fly into the sea of lava! However, before I can voice my concern, she adjusts the direction of the capsule another ninety degrees so we are flying parallel with the sea of lava, but in the opposite direction to the finish line, this flying upside down is making me queasy. Next, Alicia turns us one hundred and eighty degrees so we are upright and heading in the right direction again. I then notice something else, we're directly underneath Team Cerberus.

"The weak point of the Tri-Capsule is the bottom! The supports can only rotate left and right they cannot defend directly below themselves. Quickly, attack Elizabeth and knock them out of the race!" Alicia orders.

"RIGHT!" Lilicia-chan and myself respond in sync as I shoot my silver and Lilicia-chan unleashes a barrage of rocks on the defenceless Cerberus Tri-Capsule.

With a huge flash of light, the three of them have been forfeited from the race. Nice try Ren, but I'm not ready to retire from my position of being the greatest guy who walked on planet earth just yet.

"UNBELIEVABLE! Team Pandemonium has defeated Team Cerberus in their forte territory! Alicia-sama's expert piloting saved the day in what looked like a hopeless situation," Man who needs no introduction announces in excitement. But yeah, no kidding, those sharp reflexes and quick wit, you're the only woman suitable to be called my bride, Alicia.

"But that Reno sure is strong." I remark as I rub my hand across my brow, that last manoeuvre really made me sweat with worry.

"Yes, but thankfully Tri-Capsule racing is a team sport. Elizabeth isn't able to bring out the most in him, the supports are limited by there Linchpins after all." Alicia explains happily, she must be pleased that she has got a legitimate reason to look down on Elizabeth, a girl's wraith is truly a bottomless pit.

"Lilicia-chan, is Elizabeth really as pathetic as Alicia makes her out to be?" I decide to ask a third party about something that has been bothering me for a while.

"No, Onee-sama just doesn't like her. But I think it is true that Reno-kun far surpasses his sister." Lilicia-chan answers honestly.

"I'm going to pick up the pace. There is still the Thanatos triplets." Alicia warns as we speed on through the cavern, at long last we finally manage to get out of that huge oven.

"Most of the teams have now left the Magma Cave. The next area is the last before the home spurt, the Lightning Desert, thunder constantly rains down in this barren area of the underworld. It will really leave a mark if one of dem bolts hits ya." Hades explains, "I wonder how many teams will even manage to make it to the finish line." Sounds like a really dangerous place.

A flash of light suddenly illuminates the area followed by a loud, *BRING!* A huge lightning bolt.

"Yuichi, this is our big chance, all the teams are being cautious due to the thunder. Create and maintain a wall of silver above us, that way we won't have to fear the random thunderbolts."

"To come up with such an idea, you really do know me inside and out don't you, Alicia?" I say in amazement.

"Don't be a fool! There is still lots I don't know!" Alicia retorts.

"In that case, ha ha, how about we get to know each other even better tonight then? My bed can easily support another person." I joke as I create a wall of silver to protect us from the lightning.

"It'll be your deathbed if you say any more bullshit!"

"Please forgive me," My body shrills up in fright, I think she's serious.

"I too...wish to know more...about Yuichi-niisama...on the...be...," Lilicia-chan states in a stuttering voice.

"Lilicia, don't even get me started," Alicia says calmly but I can feel the invisible pressure.

"Forgive me, Onee-sama." And so can Lilicia-chan it seems.

*BRING BRING BRING BRING!* The lightning echoes throughout the desert. Even with my silver shield protecting us, for some reason I still can't help but find this lightning scary.

XXXXXX

After a few minutes after we entered the Lightning Desert, we finally spotted our last big rival in this race, Team Thanatos.

The two supports pivot around to the back, acknowledging us as a threat. One of the supports starts to create several balls of wind, whilst the other creates several balls of fire. Wait, this is ringing some bells...Shit they're going to combine their elements like the masked man did! "Alicia they're going for the combustion!" I warn my fiancé. "I know that. Yuichi, you can remove the wall blocking the thunder now, our priority is to defeat the triplets!"

Doing as Alicia orders I remove the wall of silver I kept manifested to protect us from the lightning. The two Thanatos supports shoot out their respective elemental balls.

*BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM* Alicia quickly manoeuvres the Tri-Capsule in complicated yet calculated trajectories, dodging all the explosions created from the combination of fire and wind.

In response I create a huge ball of silver and Lilicia-chan creates several boulders "TAKE THIS!" I shout as we launch our techniques towards Team Thanatos' Tri-Capsule, however "Tch, they dodged them, and they made it look easy." I can't help but grunt in frustration, even though I half expected this outcome. "Yuichi-niisama, the second wave is coming." Just as Lilicia-chan said, the two supports fire their elemental balls. Huh, wait a second, the support who previously used balls of wind is now creating balls of water instead. "Fire and water? Have they given up on their combination attacks?" I ask in confusion. "No, they're going for..." Alicia begins, but the fire and water balls intersect before she can finish. "GUH! I can't see! Mist?" Is this their goal? They're trying to blind us!

"Get ready you two! There is only one reason why they wanted to obstruct our vision! We'll use this chance," Alicia warns, care to enlighten me regarding that one reason, I maybe a genius with an unparalleled level of beauty; but when it comes to Tri-Capsule racing I'm still a newbie.

We quickly escape the fog, well given the speed we're going at it's only to be expected, however. "Where did Team Thanatos go!?" I ask in shock.

"Is this the end of Team Pandemonium!? Team Thanatos have managed to blind spot them!" Man who needs no introduction's voice echoes louder in my ears than even the lightning. Blind spot? Underneath us!?

"Shit we're finished!" I scream in resignation.

"Not yet! Yuichi, Lilicia ready your attacks to shoot through the top of your capsules!" Alicia orders once again.

I can't say I understand what she is planning but Alicia has never let me down, so naturally I do as she orders, and then suddenly, falling into my view from the ceiling of my capsule is none other than the Tri-Capsule of Team Thanatos, the reason I can see something that should have been below us through the ceiling of my capsule? It's simple, Alicia suddenly rotated our capsule one hundred and eighty degrees, so that we are flying parallel with Team Thanatos whilst upside down. Meaning they are no longer in our blind spot.

Lilicia-chan and myself unleash our attacks quickly onto their exposed linchpin. And with another flash that is even brighter than the flashes from the lightning, Team Thanatos has been defeated!

"Amazing! Once again Team Pandemonium escaped from another seemingly hopeless situation. I think this race is now as good as over!" Man who needs no introduction announces.

XXXXXX

It was just as he said, with Team Cerberus and Thanatos out of the race, we breezed through the rest of it, and likewise took first place.

"The winners this year are Team Pandemonium!" Man who needs no introduction declares as Alicia, Lilicia-chan and myself wave on to the cheering crowd. We did it father-in-law.

"Yuichi! Yuichi! OH! OH! OHHHH-!" The Yuichi shout continues, I can only say I feel privileged that I have my very own special cheer. With this feeling of happiness and sense of achievement I can go home with my head held high.

The great Yuichi Shiro shines once again.

[hyuugalegacy]

And the next chapter

Spoiler for Chapter 24:

Chapter 24A: Event's After Party – Meet The Triplets

After our stunning victory which in no small part was thanks to me, well I guess it was mainly Alicia. We moved into a huge room filled with all kinds of food and tons of well dressed people conversing with each other, I too have changed into a fitting Tuxedo to increase my already high level of beauty. This is the second time I've been to a party in the Underworld, however this one is a lot more casual than the last.

"You look breathtaking, Yuichi-niisama," Lilicia-chan compliments, well that's a given though.

"Thanks, you too are even more beautiful than usual, Lilicia-chan," I say as I pat her adorable head, Lilicia-chan's face turns slightly red from our contact. She really is cute, her pure white one piece dress covers her down to her thighs and is decorated with an abundance of different coloured ribbons. "But boy am I glad that I'm such a great man, if I was anything less I would have taken you to my room no questions asked."

"Um, there is no need for you to actually be such a great man, Yuichi-niisama," Lilicia-chan exclaims as her face dyes an even greater red.

"Huh? Um, What?" I have no idea what she's saying, my genius still does have some difficulty deciphering a maidens heart. As my mind agonises on this matter, I catch a glimpse of another girl dressed in another one piece dress, although this one is more of a crimson colour and is full of thrills. Her beautiful silver hair is glossily flowing behind her. I can only swallow my breath at the wonderful sight in front of me, and remind myself of one of the many reasons I fell in love with this girl.

"I won't let you lay your hands on Lilicia, Yuichi," Alicia states as she walks up to us with a complexed expression on her face, which naturally snaps me out of my love struck daze. What's wrong my love? The great Yuichi Shiro would never leave behind his fiancé, if I did take Lilicia-chan, I'd be sure to take you at the exact same time. "Anyway these three wanted me to introduce you to them, Yuichi."

Three girls with cyan coloured hair and youthful faces line up in front of me, they are each wearing dresses that match their hair colours. Wait a second, these three? I thought they were boys at first, but in such clothes there is no way that can be true.

"They are all the daughters of Tartarus Thanatos-sama," Alicia explains, yes, these girls were our major competition during the race. "From left to right then, this is Rose," The triplet that is addressed gives a elegant curtsy "It's a pleasure to meet you, Yuichi-sama," she says in a soft yet clear voice. "Yes, same here," I respond with a polite bow. "This is Lily," Alicia continues. "Nya ha ha, you really beat us good before," She says with an amused smile. "It was a really close race," I respond. "And finally, this is Tsubaki," Alicia finishes. "HMPH! You just got lucky this time. And its not like I wanted to introduce myself to you or anything! But Rose insisted" She states as she folds her arms and turns her back on me. Oh great, don't tell me this girl is another Akane, one is bad enough.

"Don't be rude, Tsubaki," Rose chastises before turning back to me, "I apologise Yuichi-sama, she means no harm."

"Ha ha ha, a great man such as myself will never be daunted by something so trivial." I shrug off the earlier insult, if only for Rose's sake.

"Nya ha ha, Onii-chan is interesting," Lily says in a joyful voice as she rests her hands behind her head. I can tell I'll be able to get along with these two without a hitch, the problem is...

"He's just conceited." Tsubaki instantly knocks me down from my high.

"Yuichi-niisama is anything but, Tsubaki-chan," Lilicia-chan argues back, "I told you before how great he is."

"Yes, lately you never talk about anything else, Lilicia-chan," Tsubaki says with a crestfallen expression.

Alicia casually walks up to me and whispers, "Those two have been best friends for a long time,"

"I see. By the way, Alicia, if you whisper into my ear like that, then I can't help but being turned on." Oh crap, I accidentally voiced my thoughts out loud.

"YUICHI YOU DAMN FOOL!" Alicia screams, as her fist soars through the air, ARGH! Not the face. Recognising the incoming trajectory with my eyes I have my quick mind identify the threat.

Subject of threat: Alicia's fist.

Reason for threat: On collision course with my beautiful face.

Predicted level of loss and threat level: Damage to my beauty, Maximum.

Method of aversion: Run around like a headless chicken whilst screaming like a little girl.

I quickly put my aversion plan into action.

XXXXXXXX

Chapter 24B: Event's After Party – Be A Good Friend (Perspective Alma)

Why on earth do I have to be here!? I cannot stand crowds, so I'm standing in the corner of the party hall. Being the only regular human here, I cannot help but feel out of place.

"Why don't you go out and find yourself a man, Alma-chan?" A grand man I recognise approaches me with a wine glass in hand, its Alicia's father, Alexander Pandemonium. "Do you want to become another of Yuichi-kun's mistresses? I'm sure he would be happy to oblige, harems are every man's dream after all."

"Are you drunk?" I coldly ask.

"Drunk or sober, I am always the same," He replies, can I take that as a 'yes' then.

"KYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" A loud scream pierces deeply into my eardrums.

"What was that!?" I ask still in half shock from the sudden high pitched squeal.

"It sounds like someone screaming like a little girl whilst running around like a headless chicken." Alexander analyses, that was awfully descriptive, but whatever. I quickly decide it is best to put the scream from before to the back of my mind.

"What do you want from me?" I cut straight to the chase. The silly expression on the man's face changes it's tone to one much more serious.

"Alicia has always felt responsible for what happened on that day," He explains, "Happiness and sadness can very quickly change between one another at the same proportions. The amount of sadness Alicia held and still holds just goes to show how much happiness she had from being friends with you." Alexander moves to lean his body against the wall next to me, "As a father I truly want the best for my girls. Even if they themselves cannot see what is best for them. The reason I'm here is to ask you a favour."

"A favour?" I ask, intrigued what this upper class man could want with me.

"Alicia, very much earnestly wants to make up with you. Whilst asking you to forgive her is probably pushing it a little, but at the very least, I want you to listen to her till the very end. And if you can find it in yourself, I wish for you to support her like you did many years ago." Alexander explains. This is the first time I think I can see this man as a 'father'.

"I'll think about it," I give a curt reply.

"Yes, please do," He says with a smile as he moves away from the wall, "Oh yes, the spots to be one of Yuichi-kun's mistresses are quickly filling, you may want to act fast or you'll miss your chance."

"GO TO HELL!" I yell at the retarded Pandemonium family head.

XXXXXXX

Chapter 24C: Event's After Party – The Stain On Cerberus (Perspective Ren)

"KYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" A extremely high pitch squeal reverberates throughout the room.

"What the hell was that?" I ask, although for some reason I vaguely recall that voice.

"Who knows." Elizabeth answers with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Ah, Elizabeth, Ren-kun," A tall man who looks to be in his early forties calls out. He has long blond hair that is tied into a well kept ponytail, a grand face and an elegant beard.

"Father," Elizabeth greets with a bow and I follow suit, yes this man is none other than Elizabeth's Father, and my future Father-in-law, Philip Cerberus.

"I apologise for not being of any use during the race," I begin, but Father-in-law simply holds his hand out gesturing for me to stop.

"Don't worry about that, Ren-kun. Alexander's daughters are very talented as is his new son-in-law, I can see just why he boasted about him so much." Father-in-law reassures with a pleasant smile. "I actually wanted to talk to you both about a different matter. It's a little private so do you mind if we talk outside?"

Elizabeth and I give each other a quick look before nodding in response to Father-in-law. As we walk out the party venue I can't help but wonder just what it is he wants to talk about. The three of us happen upon a deserted park where we take up one of the many benches.

"What is it you wanted to talk about, Father?" Elizabeth asks with a serious face, she must be just as concerned as I am.

"I want to tell you that there has been a recent development regarding 'them'. The group whose very existence is a tarnish to the Cerberus name."

Elizabeth's eyes instantly sharpen upon hearing this, just who are they referring to?

"What have you learned about 'them', Father?" Elizabeth asks intrigued.

"Before, they concealed their actions, however their movements have been rather showy as of late. From this we have deduced that they are up to something, we're just not sure what," Father-in-law explains, "In addition, we now have a theory as to how they actually came to be."

"Really!?" Elizabeth exclaims in utter disbelief.

"Umm, I'm sorry to interrupt but just who are you referring to?" I ask, I don't want to be left on the sidelines of this conversation any longer.

"Oh, forgive us, Ren-kun," Father-in-law apologises, "Do you recall what the sacred duty of the Cerberus family is?"

"You mean to keep the souls that come to the Underworld within the Underworld." I respond.

"Yes, this has been the Cerberus family's duty for generations. However, a few souls of recently passing humans managed to bypass our security somehow and make it back into the living world. Normally the only way for a human soul to return to the living world is by defeating a reaper in a game." Father-in-law explains. Yes, this is how I won back my life as well as Yuichi. "However, before a Reaper could even make contact with any of them, these souls found their way back into the living world, and returned to their human bodies."

"Wait, if a human soul leaves it body and then returns then..." I begin.

"They become Human Anomalies," Elizabeth finishes with a angry expression clouding her face.

"Because all of these people who did this are gathering into one place, we concluded that becoming Human Anomalies was their very objective. The problem is how they did it," Father-in-law explains.

"How did they do it?" I ask, these people somehow managed to cheat death in a different way from Yuichi and myself. So many souls escaped the Underworld, so this is why their existence tarnishes the Cerberus family's name.

"Until recently we didn't have a clue. However, that all changed when Yuichi Shiro and Alicia Pandemonium confronted that masked man," Father-in-law announces. I heard about this guy from Yuichi, and how he easily overpowered him along with Alma-san and Shiori-sempai. "The problem lies in that man's accomplice."

The reaper who was with him?

"Carrisa!?" Elizabeth shouts in shock.

"Carrisa Thanatos would be easily capable of sneaking a few human souls out of the Underworld. Now that she has gone rogue we cannot help but suspect her."

"Then that Masked man is involved with the appearance of those 'Faux Human Anomalies!?'" Elizabeth concludes.

"Yes, we think that man is the mastermind behind the formation of those people. But to think that Carrisa could fall so low, Tartarus must be devastated." Father-in-law states solemnly. "Elizabeth, Ren-kun, we still do not know that groups ultimate objective, so be wary, all right."

"Understood." My fiancé and I respond in sync.

"Okay, just one last thing. Ren-kun, remember whether faux or otherwise, one anomaly naturally draws another, please always bear this in mind." Father-in-law says as he lifts himself up from the bench.

"I shall make every effort to bear this in mind," I reply.

"Good, now let's get back to that party and get ourselves pissed!" Father-in-law suddenly states in light tone, Elizabeth and I can only sigh at the quick change in attitude.

This world is just littered with 'anomalies' isn't it?

XXXXXXX

Chapter 24D: Event's After Party – Enigma (Perspective Currently Unknown)

"Our goal is fast approaching us, Stella. Make sure you and the others follow through on the plan."

"Understood, everything shall go according to your will."

"Good, this will be our last communication until the appointed time, show them our strength."

"Yes, those fools will soon witness the true power of the human anomalies of 'Enigma'."

[hyuugalegacy]

Well here is the next chapter then

Spoiler for Chapter 25:

Chapter 25A: Mission Possible – Prologue (Perspective: 00-Beautiful)

It happened as I was walking down the corridor. A male student, who was wearing a hoodie that was pulled low down over his face, places something into my pocket and moves his face closer to my ear and says.

"She sells sea turtles that are having sex by the sea shore," the password for that group. This means a new mission had come through. So without further delay I headed to a place void of any people aka, the men's bathroom.

I could feel my excitement from the feeling of heading on another perilous mission well up from inside of me.

XXXXXX

Chapter 25B: Mission Possible – Mission log (Perspective: 00-Beautiful)

Whilst sitting on the toilet seat, I take out the item that was placed into my pocket and turn it on.

A shadowy silhouette of a high school boy appears, his face is blurred by a mosaic. "Good morning agent 00 (Double 0) Beautiful. We have a huge task that should you choose to accept, will have a major impact on the entire school. According to our PAC's (Pornography appreciation club) intelligence, we have determined that today the first years will be having their measurements taken." What, seriously!? This is big news, "00-Beautiful, as you may have guessed, we wish for you to take pictures of the first year girls. Many men have already paid PAC in advance for photos of the bare skin of their idols, and it is your duty as our greatest PAC-Dude (Agent) to help us deliver the goods to their hands."

PAC-Leader pauses briefly as he takes a sip of what I think is Coke in a wine glass.

"We have determined that there will be many 'Ghosties' that will obstruct you in your mission, 00-Beautiful." The screen that was up until now showing PAC-Leader, switches to the view of a certain girl's profile. "Akane Mizuno, the former head of the disciplinary committee, who has now handed the seat back over Shiori Azusa, who has recently transferred back into our school. This 'Ghostie' is extremely dangerous, so avoid it with extreme caution." The screen switches to another woman. This one however despite her youthful appearance, isn't a student "Rina-chan-sensei, this one is a Ghostie of minimal threat with your abilities, 00-Beautiful, but just don't be careless." The screen switches back to PAC-Leader, "Now, due to help with an increase of the missions success rate you will be assigned to work with PAC-Dude 00-BFF. I have full confidence that the two of you shall deliver the dreams of the male student body," PAC-Leader salutes me, "God speed to you, 00-Beautiful. By the way, this message will..." Oh god, please don't tell me, I don't want my beautiful face to be burned to a crisp, "not self destruct, so please discard of it in your nearest courtesy bin. We of PAC are against littering after all." Thank goodness, my beauty has been spared.

XXXXXX

Chapter 25C: Mission Possible – Mission Plan (Perspective: 00-BFF)

A man who is wearing a mask with a male symbol on it approaches me. I myself am also wearing a mask, the two of us have overcome many trialling missions together, our success rate together still stands at one hundred percent.

"You're late, 00-Beautiful," I state to my partner.

"Forgive me, 00-BFF, I had to take the long way so that my beauty wouldn't draw any attention." With the mask or without, you're still the same, aren't you? "Anyway, enough with the pleasantries, how do you propose we handle this mission, 00-BFF?" 00-Beautiful asks in interest. I open up my laptop and run a certain program. A three dimensional plan of the school opens up. "The first year girls will be having their measurements taken here, on the second floor." The room in question turns red. "Obviously the curtains will be closed during the period of time when the girls will be topless. I assume that the two Ghosties will be patrolling the corridor just outside the room. Anyway, although it won't be easy, I do have a cunning plan." I can't help but let a smile slip as I speak.

"Do tell."

XXXXXX

Chapter 25D: Mission Possible – Mission Begin (Perspective: 00-Beautiful)

Classes are currently in session, luckily my class is in a break period, so no one will notice that I am not there. I run down the empty hallways whilst opening up all of the windows on route as well as a single door to a empty classroom, preparations complete. I put my back up against the corner and poke my beautiful head out. Just as 00-BFF predicted, the two Ghosties are patrolling the corridor.

It's time for me to pull my awesome decoy strategy then. I quickly get into a running position stance and "GOOO!" I shout as I run at the top speed my legs can go!

"OI! You stop!" Akane shouts as I run past her, "Sensei, I'm going to go after him, stay here."

Rina-chan gives a quick nod before, Akane Mizuno starts to tail me.

"Good, with this everything is going according to plan," we already knew that they wouldn't be stupid enough for them both to chase us, and the obvious one who would give chase was the one who was the greater athlete, Akane Mizuno.

I quickly turn a corner, this school building goes around in a square so if I continue on I would eventually return back to where I was previously.

"You can't escape me!" The demon's voice echoes throughout the hallway, oh just you watch me.

As I turn the second corner, during the brief moment Akane Mizuno loses sight of me, I jump out of one of the windows I opened previously. Clinging onto the window sill, I hear footsteps pass me by and then the shutting of a door. She fell for it, I quickly pull myself back up and run to the door that I previously opened that was now shut.

And with a satisfying click, I lock the door, with Akane Mizuno still in it. Pac-Dude one – Ghosties zero.

*BANG BANG! * - It's useless, I have no intention of opening it any time soon.

Now that the main problem is out of the way, time to deal with the second and last Ghostie.

Rina-chan is continuing to pace up and down the corridor without losing sight of the door that leads to where the first years are having their measurements taken. As soon as she turns her back on me I immediately jump out into action.

"Hmph, hmph!" Smothering her mouth so she doesn't draw any unwanted attention.

"There there, be a good girl now won't you?" I say as I run my beautiful fingers across her nape and onto her cheek then slowly down her neck. Rina-chan loses her ability to stand from my grand stimulation, that only one, so beautiful as I, could pull off.

"Hah hah hah," Rina-chan's breathing is a little out due to the pleasure. I take her into my arms and place her propped up against the wall; where, although her eyes are slightly vacant, her mouth is showing a true smile. "Rest now," I said as I place my palm against her cheek, Rina-chan places her hand on top of my own, as she slowly closes her eyes.

That deals with the second Ghostie.

"Good work, 00-Beautiful," The voice of my partner says through the earpiece I am wearing, "Move on to stage two."

"Roger," I reply as I open the door to the locker room that is void of anyone, I can hear the many voices of the energetic first years from the next door over. Don't take any of this personally dears, we men just wish to view your beauty.

I quickly set up many miniature camera's on the girl's lockers. To the naked eye no one would be able to tell what these things truly are. They are all wirelessly connected to 00-BFF's laptop. So we will get all their great data uploaded there live.

After finishing I close the door to the locker room and go back out into the corridor, but not before locking the door to the locker room. You have no idea just how hard it was to pillage the keys for this room and make a duplicate.

I then quickly run into the classroom next door, open the window and grab hold of the windowsill as I jump out. I quickly scale toward the window of the room where the first year girls are, although the curtains are closed the window is open, so like before I can hear the background chatting of girls comparing breast sizes etc. As soon as I am directly underneath the window.

"00-BFF, I'm in position, do it!" I order.

"Roger that," He replies, and then...

*BEEP BEEP BEEP * - The fire alarm goes off.

"Girls Girls!" The teacher shouts for order. "There should be no drill today, so this is legit. Go back and get changed and evacuate as soon as possible."

Good, they took the bait. The students and teachers quickly leave the examination room and go into the changing rooms.

"NOW!" I shout to myself as I jump up into the examination room and run straight for the door that leads to the changing room. Without further delay I put a key into the keyhole, and turn it.

With this the students are all locked inside the changing rooms with a load of miniature cameras secretly taking their photos.

"Mission accomplished, 00-Beautiful," 00-BFF says to me through the earpiece, "I've got lots of the data, let's hurry up and join the other students at the fire assembly point before they suspect anything."

"Roger that." I reply as I quickly turn back the way I came, ditch my disguise and rejoin the people of my class.

The next day PAC-Leader gave the both of us his congratulations. Some of the boys were a little disappointed that there was no data on neither Yuna nor Sakura. For reasons that will never reach the dawn of day that data was deleted. Why, you ask? Who knows.

XXXXXX

Chapter 25E: Mission Possible – Another Regular Day

"Yuichi, were you the one behind that peeping tom incident!? I went looking for you yesterday but you were no where to be found until after that fire drill!" My beautiful fiancé yells at me.

"Alicia, when girls would take off their clothes when I just ask them to, for what reason would I need to peep on them?" I ask, yeah no girl can resist me. I could make myself into a billionaire by starting my own host club, and I'm the only host there need be.

"So you're saying you had no part whatsoever!?" Alicia questions, her anger distorting her beautiful looks.

I stare Alicia straight into the eye and place my hand over my heart before reciting, "I swear by my almighty beautiful self, that I am telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Boy am I glad that my almighty beautiful self is very forgiving when it comes to white lies.

Alicia looks at me like she still doesn't believe me, but she shrugs her shoulders and walks off with a simple "Fine."

Another glorious day in the life of Yuichi Shiro.

XXXXX

Chapter 25F: Mission Possible – Wielders On The Move (Perspective Unknown)

"We're here huh, I still can't get used to travelling like that. I sure wish you could have made the ride more comfortable, Ley."

"It is how it is comma if you are just going to complain comma then next time I will have you walk period"

"Ley-chan is as harsh as ever."

"For what reason are your hands on my chest for question mark"

"Just skinship, Ley-chan.

"OWWWWW! You're cruel."

"Knock it off! We've got work to do."

"But seriously, to send all the remaining Soul Slayer Wielders. I wonder if that was the correct decision."

"That is just how dangerous the threat is period Vincent is dead comma Shiori has lost her soul slayer comma and Alma has been taken captive by a human anomaly within this very town period So the only remaining members comma are just us four period"

"With the threat as grave as it is, at the very least I don't want any more enemies to deal with if we can avoid it."

"So are we going to negotiate then question mark"

"Well now, I wonder if it will go that smoothly."

[hyuugalegacy]

And another

Spoiler for Chapter 26:

Chapter 26A: Prelude Of Things To Come – Father And Daughter (Perspective: Alicia)

"So that's how it is," My father said from the other end of the communication, his face is in a frown.

Apparently the church has arranged a meeting through my Father with Yuichi and all of us around him. I can't blame Father for being anxious, they are Yuichi and Ren's natural enemies after all. The chance of this being a trap is not small at the very least.

"I understand, don't worry, Father, we'll be careful. I don't think we need to be concerned about Yuichi any more, he's already stronger than me." I'm not just flattering, he has grown in leaps and bounds since he became a Human Anomaly.

"I still cannot help but worry about the two of you. If I could I would come down there myself, then they wouldn't dream of trying anything!" Father curses, although I'm really concerned that he really would actually come here if given half the chance, "Unfortunately I must accompany Hades-sama. Just be on your guard around them."

"Yes, Father." The communication ends.

"Haah! Just what could they want I wonder?" I ask myself rhetorically.

XXXXXXX

Chapter 26B: Prelude Of Things To Come – Beautiful Day Of A Beautiful Life

It a brand new day with a clear blue sky. Myself, Ren, Yuna and Sakura are walking to school. I could just sing at the beauty of the sky that is placed only second towards my own beauty.

"On the first day of Christmas, Alicia gave to me," I guess it is best to vocalise my good mood, with cheerful music, "Herself wearing nothing but whipped cream." Man, just the image of that could cure impotency stronger than any Viagra.

"I would NEVER DO THAT!" A voice responds to me from behind before I can turn around.

"OWWWWW!" A foot somehow collides with the back of my head and knocks me face first towards the gravel, I quickly guard my beautiful face with my arms, I can't let it get damaged. "Jesus Alicia, you have no idea just how dangerous that was!"

"Nowhere near as dangerous as your delusions!" She retorts.

"You were sort of asking for that, Yuichi," My best friend abandons me. What gives!? Does the bond of brotherhood via coke mean nothing to you!?

"um...sempai...I...can...do...it...if you want," Sakura says in a quiet voice.

"Huh? Do what?" I ask back, Sakura turns her beet red face a hundred and eighty degrees around whilst holding her hands to her cheeks. What gives?

"You still have no delicacy when it comes to girls, onii-chan," Yuna rebukes.

"How rude! I'm so delicate with girls that when I acquire panty shots of them, I hide all the images in a very secret directory on my computer; any other guy would try and sell them!" I retort back, hell no would I sell my collection. Their beauty is for my eyes only.

"Nice, Yuichi. I really got to hand it to your genius there," Thanks for the nice words Ren, although I have no idea what you're talking about.

"The minute I get home, I'm reformatting your computer," Yuna states with a look of disdain.

"SAY WHAT! You gotta be kidding me!?" Why would Yuna make such a threat? It's not like I've got any of her on it.

"You should keep things like that to yourself, Yuichi-kun." A red hair beauty says to me as she approaches with the help of crutches on either side of her.

"Good morning, Shiori-sempai." I greet my elder with utmost courtesy. After she lost her soul slayer she readmitted herself back into our school. The girl with tanned skin whose soul slayer I have given custody of to Alicia is walking by her side.

"Good morning, Alma," Alicia greets, she is trying hard to mend her broken relationship with her friend.

"Morning..." She replies whilst turning her head to the side, come on put in a bit of effort would you. For several moments there is an awkward silence between the two.

"Say Alicia-san, have you told Yuichi-kun yet?" Shiori-sempai at last breaks the awkwardness.

"Tell me what?" I ask, if you want to tell me your three sizes then I'm all ears.

"Onii-chan, can you stop thinking stupid things just for two minutes!" Yuna retorts to my thoughts as usual.

"No, not yet. Yuichi, Ren, a few people wish to speak with us after school so make sure you have time. I've already told Elizabeth."

"Who would want to see all of us? If it was just me I'd say it was a love confession, but now I'm just confused."

"All the remaining Soul Slayer Wielders have assembled in this town," Alma states, I can instantly feel a cold sweat trickle down my beautiful face, "However, the reason they gathered hasn't got anything to do with either you, nor Ren Kirei."

"Then why?" Ren asks the question before me.

"We'll find out later, just wait until then. But be on guard. To send this many wielders to one place until now has been unheard of. Something big must be happening." Alicia replies.

Just what could be so big that a huge force has started to close in. I've got a really bad feeling about this.

Oh well no point thinking about it, I guess I'll just continue my happy song. "On the fifth day of Christmas Alicia gave to me. FIVEEE-BLOWJ-

"URGGHHH!" A familiar feeling once again assaults my head.

XXXXXXX

Chapter 26C: Prelude Of Things To Come – Meeting Of The Three Gods (Perspective: Alexander)

Sitting at a round table are three individuals, Hades-sama, another man who appears to be in his mid twenties and one lady who looks like she hasn't escaped her teens. They are having a meeting that had been called together by the young man.

"Hades I want you to put a firmer lid on the system surrounding Human Anomalies." The youth with blond hair sitting opposite from Hades-sama states haughtily, "Your Human Anomalies are causing huge distortions in the living world. And for what? The sake of your personal whims!"

"The Underworld and the realm of the dead is my domain, Zeus." Hades-sama responds, his usual flamboyant behaviour is nowhere to be seen, "The distortions haven't reached a level where I need to take any action."

"The current system is fine, Zeus-niisama. And you already no full well that Hades-niisama won't listen to you. So why did you bother calling us? I wanted to go swimming with the dolphins today." The young woman said in a voice full of frustration as she stretches her limbs in annoyance.

"It is equally all of our duties to keep stability in all the realms, Hades, Poseidon." Zeus states.

"Zeus, your realm is the sky, Poseidon's is the sea, and mine is the Underworld. We have each agreed not to meddle in the affairs of one another. And Zeus when it comes to distortions in the living world, haven't you more than contributed towards them yourself?" Zeus begins to glare daggers at Hades-sama who seems to be enjoying the fact that he is putting Zeus in his place. "The one who provided humans with the weapons that causes the biggest distortions, the Soul Slayers, was none other than you after all, Zeus!"

Zeus grits his teeth at Hades-sama's accusations. Hades-sama simply gets up out of his seat and turns his back on Zeus like he has had enough. "Zeus, all your talk of stability is a lie. What you actually want is domination. Well, here is a friendly warning from me to you, the day you stick your nose out of place, will be the day you shall cease to be. Consider the fact that I am even warning you a sign of my love for you, dear brother."

Zeus' face turns completely stern at Hades-sama's threat his eyes are filled with malice. If the god of the sky and the Underworld were to battle the results can only be catastrophic.

"You've just been served, Zeus-niisama." Poseidon-sama jokes. Which warrants a harsh glare towards her, although she didn't seem to pay it any mind.

Hades-sama continues walking out the room, "Lets go Alexander." He addresses me, I quickly follow behind him.

"Well, that was a nice family reunion." Hades-sama says sarcastically after we left the meeting.

"Hades-sama, do you think that Zeus would really..." I begin.

"He has always been the ambitious type. The reason he gave humans soul slayers was probably because he thought I was trying to get the human world through the use of human anomalies. He doesn't realise that I am already satisfied with just the Underworld, he thinks that everyone is like him and wants to increase the boundary of their domains." Hades-sama sighs before continuing, "I wish he would retire and give the sky to his daughter already. All the domains would be a lot better off that way."

"The world is starting to evolve at a very quick rate." I say as I glance out the window, so much has happened recently.

"Yes, lets just make sure the evolution takes the form of something that would benefit us all."

[hyuugalegacy]

Here is the next one:

Spoiler for Chapter 27:

Chapter 27A: Enigma's Warning - In Trouble Again

Shortly after arriving at school I was swiftly called over to the Principal's office and so here I am, sitting cross legged, in front of the balding prick who calls himself the leader of this school.

"This is completely unacceptable, Shiro!" He begins, "I guess you think you were really funny leaving that note on my desk weren't you!?"

Let me rewind a bit. The other day I had a refreshingly beautiful idea of a prank that would add an additional feather to my hat. Hence, I left a note on the Principal's desk, advising him to ring back a certain number, and to ask for a 'Mr Jack Russell', the certain number in question was the number for a dog house. I guess the talk between them didn't go too well. He hasn't been this mad since those men in black came to question me at school about why I was looking up the ingredients for a bomb; as well as the reason that I proclaimed to be working for the CIA on my twitter.

"Okay sir, just calm down, just look at my beautiful face, and take deep breaths. Envision the youth I have, and what you have lost." I say as I try to calm the huge meatball down. You could create a swimming pool with the sweat he is perspiring, not that I would swim in it personally. The Principal's face suddenly turns a even deeper red, is he not taking his calcium?

"GET OUT SHIRO I'LL ANNOUNCE YOUR PUNISHMENT LATER!"

I quickly oblige the Principal who looks like he has been locked in a sauna for six years, and leave the office.

"Wow that was a very sticky situation." I remark to myself after I close the door.

"It's because you do things that pushes his buttons, Yuichi-kun," My approaching classmate, Ryu-san states.

"I just want to express myself, there was no need for him to get so pissy over a trivial joke. Although, how on earth did he know it was me to begin with?"

"Who knows, just try to keep yourself in check so I don't end up getting a headache myself, Yuichi-kun," Ryu-san says as he walks on ahead.

"Yeah, I got it." I can't cause any trouble when he asks as politely as that.

XXXXXXXXX

Chapter 27B: Enigma's Warning – The Cannibalistic Ripper Kiri Sasu (Perspective: Alicia)

Yuichi has been ordered to clean out the boys toilet as part of his punishment for his juvenile prank. Ren also got dragged along with him as Yuichi gave him the whole best friends suffer together speech. Shiori and Mizuno-san are watching over them to make sure they do it properly. The rest of us are quietly enjoying our lunch break on the roof of the school, there is no one else here but us, just the way I like it.

"Alicia! Why did your boar of a man have to drag Ren-sama into his nonsense!?" Elizabeth questions in a harsh tone, "I wanted Ren-sama to try my home made cooking."

Ren, Yuichi's friendship has just saved your life. Not even a anomaly would be able to survive that poison.

"You and Nii-san are getting along so well, sempai," Sakura says with a smile.

"Well Sakura-san, I must whip him into a gentleman worthy of one such as I, Elizabeth Cerberus, oh ho ho ho." Elizabeth haughtily replies.

"Alicia, is it common for reapers to laugh in such an annoying way?" Alma asks, lately for some reason she seems a lot more willing to talk with me, although it is still a little awkward.

"No, this girl is one of a kind," I reply with a shrug.

"Alic..." Elizabeth looks at me with anger written in her eyes, but she is cut off. A familiar sensation hits the combatants amongst us as we all get to our feet.

"Reaper technique: Coliseum." I analyse. The area quickly becomes void as we are thrown into another dimension.

"What...the?" Yuna looks around in confusion. Sakura cringes Elizabeth's sleeve, who places a arm around her.

"Well, well, well, well." A man approaches us from out of the shadows a unnerving smile is present on his face as his gaze wanders from each person within our group. "It looks like the two anomalies ain't here, huh?"

Is his goal Yuichi and Ren?

"You're a human anomaly? No, something about you is different."

"He's a faux human anomaly," Elizabeth states, "He must be one of the souls that was somehow able to come back to the living world."

"Enigma..." Alma says, her voice is full of anger, "Alicia give me my soul slayer!" Alma for some reason was very quick to be riled up.

"As expected of a Slayer, you know about us. Well then, allow me to introduce myself," The man in his mid twenties takes a deep bow, "My name is Kiri Sasu. And as you said, I'm part of Enigma."

"Kiri...Sasu...?" Sakura lets out a shocked face upon hearing the name. "I knew I recognised his face somewhere."

"What is it, Sakura?" Yuna asks her friend.

"You know how my dad is a policeman, right? Well two years ago there was a string of random serial killings over in the next prefecture. All the bodies were stabbed numerous times and the organs...were eaten..." Sakura explains, I've only recently come to the living world, so this is all new to me.

"The Cannibalistic Ripper." Yuna states in shock, "But wasn't he caught and executed!?" Then she immediately realises the truth, the man before us isn't a regular human so it does add up.

"I am honoured that you two pretty ladies know about me. Well I did all of that back when I was still human. I can still remember the feeling of blood dripping down my mouth as I bit into my victim's heart. The sheer fear in their eyes as all their hopes of survival slowly faded away. Their screams as my knife carved into their flesh! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Sakura and Yuna both take a huge step back from hearing the insane laugh that is so loud it could shatter the heavens. This man is more insane than Vincent.

"ALICIA!" Alma further urges. I quickly open up the dimensional space take out, and throw Gungnir-Mjölnir to her. I quickly materialise my own scythe as does Elizabeth.

"Sakura, Yuna, stay back." I order, realising the dilemma they are currently in, they quickly obey.

"Well, truth be told, I didn't come here to fight you lasses." He says with a shrug, "But I guess it can't be helped..."

*Bring! * - Alma slams the hammerhead of her soul slayer into the ground, and a huge lightning bolt rains down. However the sinister man named Kiri simply avoids it, then out of thin air several knives appear in his hand. I and Elizabeth charge towards him, ready to cleave him up with our scythes. But just before the blade can reach him he jumps back several steps.

"Here ya go." He says with a smile as he throws his knives at me. I quickly calculate the trajectory and swing my scythe in a arc to parry the attack. However, before my blade can hit them..."They vanished!?" But then "ARGGGHHH!" I quickly turned around to the screech. Several knives have wedged themselves into Elizabeth's arm and shoulder crimson blood trickles down from the open wounds "Elizabeth!" I shout in shock. Just what the hell happened.

"Elizabeth-san!" Yuna and Sakura begin to run towards her.

"STAY BACK!" Elizabeth shouts to the two bystanders as she forcefully pulls a knife out of her arm and drops it to the floor.

Yuna and Sakura gaze on with tears running down their faces. Even if it is just these two, we must keep them safe!

"Your fear, your screams, your shock. This is what I live for! HA HA HA HA!" The psychopath applauds with his arms wide open.

"DIE!" Alma shouts as lightning gathers around the spearhead of her soul slayer extending it's reach. Kiri dodges to the side as Alma swings down her spear in one wide but fast motion. Aiming to catch him off guard I quickly conjure up a ball of lightning and throw it at him. Kiri conjures up several more of his knives and throws them right through the lightning. "That won't work, lightning has no form a knife won't stop it!" I shout.

"Oh, I never intended to stop it," He says with a smile.

"URGHHHHHHH!"

"ARGGGGHHHHH!"

"GYAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"KYAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Kiri, Alma, Elizabeth and myself scream at the same time. Kiri had taken the brunt of my lightning ball. But what just happened? Why are we hurt as well!?

I gaze at where the shocking pain is coming from, several knives somehow found themselves lodged into me.

"Ga ha ha! I decided to conduct some of your electricity through my knives and into the three of you." He says with a smile on his face that is both a mixture of agony and pleasure.

"Damn it..." Alma falls onto her knees, then her side. A knife is lodged into her abdomen.

"ALMA!" I scream.

"For me...of the proud...Cerberus family..." Elizabeth falls face down onto the ground several knives are stuck into her back.

"Elizabeth!" I scream. Just how on Earth did he do that. There is no way he would have been able to hit Elizabeth's back from that angle. Just what kind of trick is he using!? How could he defeat all three of us just like that?

"It's over!" Kiri shouts as he throws another knife, it's heading straight for me, I can't move, the lightning has numbed my body. I can't defend myself.

"GUH!" A grunt escapes as I see a bloodied hand holding tight onto the blade of the knife. I stare up to my saviour, and as I suspected, it was Yuichi. His timing when it comes to heroics never ceases to amaze me.

"URGHHHH!" Kiri screams as a huge fireball smashes into his body. Standing there, with a look of pure anger engraved on his face, is Ren.

Kiri scrambles himself back onto his feet as his smile resurfaces onto his face.

"You have guts, I'll give you that." Ren says as he holds another ball of fire in his hand. "Neither I nor Yuichi take kindly to trash attacking our friends or family."

"Nii-san!" Sakura shouts in relief to the sight of her brother. The power he is emitting certainly makes one feel at ease. He has become strong in such a short time.

"Yuichi..." I let out, my voice is shaking, I can't help it.

"Are you okay?" He asks as he supports my body in his gentle arms, his voice however is ice cold, I can tell he is trying to keep his anger in check, I give him a faint nod, "Leave the rest to us. We'll make him regret this a million fold." Yuichi, you can really say some cool things from time to time. Is this why every passing day you become more endearing to me? As I am trying to understand my own emotions Yuichi lays me down before turning back to Kiri. Then almost as if they are creating a protective boundary, Yuichi and Ren stand in front of us. A flame in Ren's hand, a silver sword in Yuichi's.

"The ones who I wanted to see have finally appeared." He says with a look of satisfaction.

"Is that all you have to say?" Yuichi asks in his cold voice, "Silver Rain!" Millions of sharp silver fragments speed towards Kiri, who holds but a single knife. He gives a single horizontal slash into thin air, however all the silver falls down to the ground, like it lost it's momentum.

"Burn!" Ren throws his fireball at Kiri, who this time dodges the attack by diving to one side.

"Gah, taking you both on at the same time is going to be impossible I guess." Kiri curses as he wipes the blood away from his mouth.

"How difficult is it to deliver a simple message, Kiri?" A cold voice calls out from the shadows.

XXXXXXXX

Chapter 27C: Enigma's Warning – The Human Anomaly They Shouldn't Have Angered

Walking towards the git who attacked our friends is a young man with raven black hair who is dressed in simple dark sleeveless shirt and three quarter trousers. His glowing eyes look around in disinterest at the situation.

"Another one!?" I grunt, just great, one was bad enough.

"Why can't you do the most simplest of requests?" He asks, glaring down at the squatting form of the scum bag Ren and myself were going to wipe the floor with. "The Slayers have noticed thanks to your meaningless battle."

"My bad, Ark. In all the excitement I forgot." He says as he gets back onto his feet. "Yuichi Shiro, Ren Kirei. We of Enigma are going to wipe out the Slayers. If you are going to join up with our natural enemy, then we will not hold back. You have been warned."

"I pray you will make the correct choice." The other man named Ark states. "Connect!" Shit, they're going to escape. Ren throws his fireball and I charge forward. But it's too late, they're already gone.

"They attack us, they look down on us, then they flee from us. Those guys are such busy bodies." Ren remarks as the view slowly reverts itself back to the familiar view of the school roof.

"Enigma..." I coldly repeat the name as I walk back to the sides of my injured friends. "We'll worry about them later, Ren. Treating the girls has to come first." I explain, Ren gives a swift nod before running to Elizabeth, Sakura runs over to join him.

I take another look at the three girls who were injured in this battle as well as the scared faces of my sister and Sakura.

You'll pay for this dearly, Enigma. You've just made an enemy of one beautiful anomaly you shouldn't have.

[hyuugalegacy]

Here's chapter 28

Spoiler for Chapter 28:

Chapter 28A: Reconciliation – Flashback Of The Past (Perspective: Alma)

How did this happen? This assignment was meant to be a simple one. So how did we get into this mess?

"Gahhh!" A man with red dreadlocks yelps as a fist is pushed directly into his face.

"SHUREN!" I scream, I can't move my body. My voice is the only thing left in me that has any strength.

Before us is a girl who is no older than me with long dark hair, red eyes and is wearing a white one piece dress that reaches to her knees with matching boots that cover almost the rest of her legs.

"Hand over Voynich-Caduceus," She demands.

"Ha ha ha," Shuren is breathing heavily, I was careless and got myself hit with a surprise attack that has left me in a half paralysed state. Shuren has been doing his best to protect me whilst fighting this girl at the same time. "NEVER!" He screams as he rushes at the girl.

"SHUREN!" I scream once more, there is no way he can beat her alone. And yet he still charges at her from the front.

Several anomalies of varying appearances appear at the call of Shuren's soul slayer. They each attack the girl together.

However, "Worthless," she says as a huge flame pillar shoots out from her hand as if it has a life of it's own. All the anomalies are engulfed within it. Shuren has to dive to one side to avoid it himself.

"Shit!" He curses as he grinds his back teeth to try and put himself back onto his feet, "GUHHH!" In a flash, from within the smoke of the flames, the girl had rushed at Shuren and pinned him down to the ground via his neck.

"No," Using Gungnir-Mjölnir as a walking stick I force myself back up and slowly edge forward. I have already lost my sister to an anomaly, I refuse to lose Shuren as well.

"Gahhh!" Shuren looks at me as if to ask what am I doing. The girl too seems to notice me. Then suddenly, another anomaly appears, it looks like something akin to a two headed griffin. The griffin uses one of it's heads and grabs Shuren's soul slayer Voynich-Caduceus "What the!?" The girl exclaims as the griffin turns around and runs towards me. "Huh!? Hey what are you!?" The griffin uses it's other head and takes a firm hold of me as it begins to flap it's wings.

"Gah, you think I'll let you just escape!" The girl suddenly forces herself off of Shuren and redirects her attention to me. "URGH! Let go!" Shuren quickly grabs her wrist and holds her in place. I then realise what it is he intends to do as the griffin takes flight.

"NOOOOO SHUREN!" I squirm from within the griffin's mouth. The red headed youth simply smiles without saying a word.

"I said let go!" She exclaims as static flows through her fist, "URGHHHH!" She forces her fist right into the centre of Shuren's chest, blood gurgles out of his mouth and his body slowly falls limp onto the hard ground.

"No..." I cannot stop the heavy droplets of water from escaping my eyes, "NOOOOOO!" My scream echoes through the silent night as the griffin flies away further leaving behind the one who summoned it.

The next day the church retrieved the body of the man who was like a brother to me, and a lover to my deceased sister. I had lost another important person, to another anomaly. I was too helpless to do anything but watch.

Nor was I able to do anything for the girl who was Shuren's biological sister whom I had to personally break the bad news to. It may have been just a way for me to let it go, but I wanted her to blame me for what happened. But she never did, she didn't display any emotion whatsoever regarding her brothers death.

My life has only been one failure after another, yet I always continued to live. But why?

I cannot help but ponder this as my mind's conscience slowly fades.

"ARGGHH Hu hu hu," Where am I? A bed? It was just a dream then. A dream of something that happened just last year. I analyse as I wipe the cold sweat off my face.

"Are you awake, Alma?" I turn to the concerned voice, it's Alicia.

XXXXXXX

Chapter 28B: Reconciliation – Heart To Heart (Perspective: Alicia)

"How do you feel?" I ask, unlike me and Elizabeth who are reapers and thus have a quick recovery rate, Alma is a regular human even if she does wield a soul slayer.

After the battle we were taken to the infirmary, luckily the nurse wasn't in. Yuichi had proclaimed that if she was, that he was going try his hand at being a hypnotist.

The scary thing is, I can really see him doing something like that.

"It's nothing I can't put up with." She replies.

"I see..." I'm relieved to hear that

"..." An awkward silence. Come on Alicia just work up your courage and say what you have wanted to say since way back then. "Alma..." She turns to face me.

"I'm so truly sorry. About back then, I know words cannot make anything better but," I can't hold back my tears, "I never meant for that to happen. After all these years I know that whatever I may say will only come over as an excuse but. I truly do regret what I did."

"..." Another awkward silence Alma has kept her eyes closed throughout my confession, she finally opens them. "I know Alicia, I've known for a long time. You never wanted that to happen and it wasn't your fault that it happened."

"Eh?"

"When I first teamed up with Shiori she told me about a certain kouhai of hers whom was usually nothing but a narcissistic trouble maker that cheered her up in the most unorthodox way possible. He forced her into a situation where she vented all here negative feelings onto him." Alma explains, that kouhai, could it have been? "When I heard this, I knew that was what I did to you. I couldn't fully express my grief in sadness, so I lashed out at you in anger. Rather than offer each other a shoulder, I forced everything onto my friend." Tears flow down Alma's face, the girl who has had a serious expression since we met again is now crying her heart out. "The one who should be sorry...is me, Alicia."

I cannot believe the words I just heard. All of a sudden it just feels like a huge weight has been taken off of my shoulders. I know there is no longer any need to hold back, so I wrap my arms around my old friend and let my feelings take hold of me.

The guilt that has held me for the past seven years has finally withered away.

[hyuugalegacy]

Well finally time for a new chapter to be put out.

Spoiler for Chapter 29:

Chapter 29A: Meeting With The Remaining Wielders – Meeting Begins

A group of ten of us are sitting round a huge table, the four of us, myself, Ren, Alicia and Elizabeth on one side and the four remaining wielders on the opposite side. Alma and Shiori-sempai are sitting at the edge and Wolfy is standing on standby behind me. The atmosphere is a cold and serious, these people are our natural enemies after all.

In such a tense situation we cannot afford any slip ups.

"Say what is your name my cute little white haired kitten? Do you want some candy?" I ask the all important questions straight away. "GAHH!" I grunt, Alicia whom is sitting next to me pinches my leg.

The cute girl whom is clad in some kind of grey one piece swimsuit like costume just gives me a quick glance with her lilac coloured eyes. But before she can say anything a guy stands up and roughly grabs my collar, unhand me you vile brute.

"Oi you damn Anomaly! Who do you think you are, chatting up my Ley, HUH!?" The guy in question is someone in his mid twenties with long scruffy raven black hair, and crimson eyes. He has a single piercing in his left eyebrow and innumerable amounts in each of his ears. Accompany that along with his dark clothing that has a skull on it, his appearance is that of a stereotypical bad boy.

"Your Ley? You've gotta be twice her age. Are you some kind of lolicon?" I ask in a annoyed tone, hurry up and get your filthy mits off of me.

"I'M NOT A LOLICON I'M A PAE..."

"Be quiet, Jijitsu," Shiori-sempai interrupts whilst slamming the table. "Let him go!" Jijitsu reluctantly does as he is told and returns to his seat.

Was he about to say what I think he was? I stare in disgust.

"Yuichi, will you stop trying to pick a fight?" Alicia says with a glare, as I too, return to my seat. He started it, I only wanted to know that girl's name.

"Anyway, a bit of an unorthodox start, but shall we begin?" A man in his late teens early twenties who is dressed smartly in all white asks. His blond hair is neatly styled and combed to one side allowing his clear blue eyes to be the main emphasis on his face. A pretty boy who is probably three levels lower than myself, If I'm a ten then he is a seven.

"My name is Bosch Wolfgang," The pretty boy introduces himself, "I am the current wielder for the soul slayer Joyeuse-Longinus. I am also the one who has been put in charge of handling our current dilemma."

"I'm Jijitsu, the wielder of Fragarach-Kusanagi." The guy from earlier announces with a haughty tone. Oh, I so want to hurt this guy.

"I'm Antioch-Artemis' wielder, please call me Phoebe." A stylish woman with golden hair and hazel eyes introduces. She is definitely beautiful, but my instincts are telling me, I should stay clear of her.

"Ley comma just simply Ley period" The cute girl who caught my eye from the beginning says.

"Um, sorry?" Ren says, in a way that represents us all.

"Ley is a little special," Shiori-sempai explains.

"She has the habit of voicing out punctuation as she speaks." Alma further supplements, I see.

"In that case, I'm Yuichi Shiro, it's a pleasure to meet you Ley-chan colon close brackets." I imitate.

"They already know who you are from the data we sent, Yuichi-kun." Shiori-sempai explains.

"Now then, let us get down to business." The blond haired man named Bosch says with a clap of his hands, his eyes suddenly turn serious. "The four of us have been tasked with the elimination of a certain group that we have been keeping an eye on for a while now."

"Enigma?" Elizabeth asks, and Bosch nods.

"Being a member of the Cerberus family, I'm sure you must have at least heard about a group of souls that escaped from Purgatory and into the living world before the usual procedures took place, correct?" I remember Ren mentioning something along those lines before. Apparently their existence is the biggest stain on the Cerberus family.

"The faux human anomalies." Elizabeth says in solemn voice with a nod. Talking about something which is an embarrassment to her family can't be easy. Ren noticing his fiancé's mood takes her hand in his own, Elizabeth gives Ren a quick look before her frown changes to a small smile. Nice going Ren, you just raised a flag.

"Does the Cerberus family have any leads as to how this situation came about?" Bosch asks cold heartedly, can he not see the state of the girl in front of him.

"They believe that a stray reaper, who has aligned herself with a masked man, personally led the souls back into the living world." Ren answers on Elizabeth's behalf.

Alicia too is now beginning to wear a frown on her face. I heard that she used to genuinely admire Carrisa, so hearing about this can hardly be called pleasant.

"I see, so the stray from Thanatos was behind it." Bosch says to himself. "I had received a report regarding this masked man from Alma and Shiori. Am I right to presume that he is the mastermind behind the group known as Enigma?"

"You tell us," I reply, I'm getting fed up of him harassing my friends with all these questions. "We only know what we know, and all of this is a theory at best. We told you the conclusions we've come to. It's up to you if you follow our logic, or use your own."

"Yuichi..." I can just make out Alicia quietly whispering my name.

It's about high time this guy gets to the point of all this.

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Chapter 29B: Meeting With The Remaining Wielders – The Sister That Wasn't Present (Perspective: Yuna)

Onii-chan, Ren-sempai and their respective significant others have gone to meet with the soul slayer wielders. They told me and Sakura that it was too dangerous and so we couldn't attend, I hope everything goes okay. I couldn't help but feel worried. So I decided to wander through the town to help me get my mind off of things.

"Hey! What did you say, ya little punk!?" A low tone voice shouts, I instinctively turn to it's source.

Standing there is a group of three boys around middle school age surrounding another boy of about the same age. His appearance seems highly reminiscent of someone I know and see everyday.

"Like I said, the three of you could do with a face job. How else would you be able to even have the right to breath the same air as my wonderful, graceful self?" His personality also seems to match.

"Why you little!" One of three prepares to strike the boy. Oh jeez, I quickly run up and grab the younger lookalike "Huh, what?" He exclaims with a blank look on his face. "Come on, just run." I order as I drag the boy.

"WAIT!" The three goons are giving chase. With the boy in tow I quickly turn several corners and soon lose track of the pursuers.

I quickly try to catch my breath before I turn to look at the boy, whom doesn't look the least bit tired.

"What on earth were you doing?" I ask, "Why did you go and provoke them when you were outnumbered!?"

The boy just tilts his head slightly at my question, "I was just saying how it is." He replies in a voice that is full of certainty.

I don't think I'm going to get anything through to this brats skull.

"How on earth did you end up in such a situation in the first place?"

"I wanted someone to guide me through the town, so I offered to give those three such a privilege, but they threw it back in my face, the nerve of such people." Oh god, they're so much alike it's almost scary.

"Hmmm," The boy stares into my face.

"What is it?" I ask as I turn to the side, his glare is giving me the creeps.

"You seem to be a pedigree of almost my equal." He declares. What, am I dog or something? And what's with the 'almost', "Will you show me around town, miss..."

I get the feeling that if I refuse he'll just create a situation like just before, therefore do I even have a choice in the matter?

"Okay fine, the name's Yuna, Yuna Shiro. Just Yuna will be fine." I introduce myself, if only to stop him from calling me 'miss'.

The boy gives me an innocent nod along with a smile before he opens his mouth, "A pleasure for you to make my acquaintance, I'm sure," Really? I'm glad someone is. "I am Ichiyu, Ichiyu Weiss."

I can tell this boy is going to be nothing but trouble. I can only sigh in disbelief at my own misfortune.

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Chapter 29C: Meeting With The Remaining Wielders – Carrisa's Task (Perspective: Carrisa)

"I'll leave the retrieval of Gungnir-Mjölnir to you, Carrisa." My master says in his low emotionless voice. "Feel free to use our latest addition to assist you."

"Yes master, but if I may, if you wanted Gungnir-Mjölnir, why didn't you take it in the last confrontation?"

"Alma Ivana, I knew that if I left her be, she would challenge Yuichi Shiro," He explains, "Yuichi Shiro is a piece I'll need for the final project, should it come to it. However, he lacks battle experience, and in order to grow he needs strong opponents, so I gave him just that."

"I see." I reply, as expected of my master, he is able to predict as far ahead as that.

"What is about to occur will also give him the opportunity to battle even stronger foes." He continues, "In addition, unlike before, we now have a reason to bring Gungnir-Mjölnir into our possession."

"A reason?"

"Even if Soul Martyr shattered it into a million pieces, for as long as it still exists, then like a puzzle, piecing together and reanimating a soul, is not impossible." He declares.

So that's it, that's what my master is after.

"I shall be in contact soon." With these final words, he disappears from sight, almost like his very presence was nothing more than a mirage of my own thoughts.

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Chapter 29D: Meeting With The Remaining Wielders – The Meeting's Conclusion

Bosch breaths a quick sigh as he fixes his gaze onto Ren, and then moves it onto me.

"Yuichi Shiro, Ren Kirei, what I want to ask the two of you is this, what are you going to do?" Bosch states.

"What do you mean?" I ask back.

"We want to know if you are planning to align yourself with Enigma." Jijitsu says with a grunt.

"Are you kidding me?" I reply, "That scum attacked us, and you think I'll work with them!" I can't contain my anger. Like hell someone as great as I would ally with someone who hurt my fiancé and my friends.

"That goes double for me." Ren chimes in.

"I see, in that case, would you be willing to form an alliance with us?" Bosch asks.

Everyone on our side of the table cannot hide our shock from the sudden proposal.

"Oi Bosch! You can't be serious!?" Jijitsu exclaims.

"Jijitsu, our opponent this time is a dangerous one. We need all the allies we can get." Phoebe explains.

"I have no intention of working with this pathetic half wit!" Jijitsu states as he points at me.

"Be silent whelp!" A voice comes from behind me, it's Wolfy, "I've sat here quietly and listened to you, but your constant insults to my master, you're really pressing your luck."

"Thank you, Wolfy. But it's okay, I can handle this." Wolfy gives me a satisfying nod and returns to his former position. I return my eyes back to Bosch, "What is it that we have to gain from teaming up with you?" I ask. He can't seriously expect our support without giving us something back.

"For as long as you both use your powers justly, then the church shall offer you both a permanent amnesty effective immediately." Bosch states.

"Alicia, what's he talking about?" I whisper into my future bride's ear.

"He's saying, that if you agree, they will no longer hunt you or Ren." She whispers back.

"Can we trust your word on that?" I ask.

Bosch in turn gives me a sincere nod.

"My Father and Alexander-sama predicted that they would make such an offering. The Church has lost too many wielders by involving themselves with us." Elizabeth explains, "It's not so much as they won't attack us, as it is they don't have the personnel to spare to do so."

"Are you saying we should refuse, Elizabeth?" Ren asks, Elizabeth shakes her head.

"Bosch, was it? My Father and Alexander-sama also asked me to pass on a message to yourselves, should you come to us with such a promise," Elizabeth continues as her gaze sharpens onto Bosch, "Should you break your word, and so much as lay a finger on either Yuichi Shiro, or Ren-sama. Then we will use every resource that our two families have, to completely erase you all from existence."

Wow, seriously? That truly is some threat.

"I think that just about decides the matter," I say to Alicia, who gives me a forced smile and a sigh, before nodding her head. "What about you, Ren?" I ask.

"I'm marrying into the Cerberus family, hence I will personally clear up any stains to their name." Ren replies with a serious face and a nod. I'm embarrassed to admit, that even I, a guy, thought he looked really cool just then. Elizabeth is staring at Ren with her face completely dyed red, she's completely head over heels.

I turn back to Bosch and straighten my back to give my voice some power. "We accept your conditions." I state as I hold out a hand to the blond man in front of me, he takes it and gives it a firm shake.

With this our alliance has been finalised.

"Hmm, so our warning fell on deaf ears I take it." What the!? A girl is standing at the far end of the room, when did she get there!?

"YOU! YOU'RE!" Alma exclaims, her voice is full of absolute hatred, with Gungnir-Mjölnir in her hand, she charges at the mysterious girl, "I'LL BE TAKING SHUREN'S VENGENCE!" She screams as she swings down her soul slayer to the unmoving girl. The soul slayer goes right through her, but the girl's expression doesn't change and there is no blood or anything. "A ILLUSION!?" Alma curses.

"Alma, this girl, is she the one!?" Shiori-sempai also stands up and glares at the girl with hatred. "The one who murdered my brother!?" Say what!? This girl murdered Shiori-sempai's brother? My mind quickly floats back to that time last year, when Sempai lost a relative and closed her heart on her emotions, that relative, was it her brother? And this girl, she was the one who killed him?

"Gungnir-Mjölnir, how nostalgic." The girl says with a smile, "Anyway, my name is Stella, I guess you could say that I am the leader of Enigma. Oh, and as you just found out, this is but a hologram, you won't get anywhere by attacking it."

"Why are you here?" I ask.

"To put it simply, I'm here to declare war, on the Slayers who are our natural enemy, and you, their new found compatriots." She declares. "We'll show you the horrors that await all those who stand against us!" As the words escape from the girl named Stella's mouth. I can feel my mind feel woozy and disorientated.

A bright flash of light illuminates the entire room as well as the sky outside. I instinctively close my eyes to shield them as my conscience feels drowsy, and my mind blacks out.

[hyuugalegacy]

Here is chapter 30.

Spoiler for Chapter 30:

Chapter 30A: The Battle Begins

The first thing I see when I open my eyes is a purple sky. I am on top of what looks to be a skyscraper to some building. Both in front of me, and behind me is some kind of glass like thing blocking me.

"Yuichi-kun," A girl approaches me with supports from her crutches.

"Shiori-sempai, just what on earth is going on?"

"I'll explain that," The girl named Stella suddenly appears in front of us from the other side of the glass like substance.

"YOU!" I run towards the girl but "Urgh!" I can't get past this glass like thing.

*Bang Bang* - I punch the transparent like wall, but not even a scratch.

"It's pointless, those barriers are impenetrable," Stella says with a smile, "I transported you all to random locations, but it looks like the two of you got yourselves stuck somewhere between the six barriers."

"Six barriers?" Shiori-sempai asks.

"Well wait, I'm going to explain now." Stella states.

Suddenly a huge image of Stella appears into the sky.

"Good evening everyone. Now, before you all die, I figured it would only be polite to explain exactly what is happening." Stella says in a haughty tone as the huge image in the sky imitates the legit article in front of us. "You have all been sent into this replica of the very town you were in. In here we can each battle to our heart's content without any problems."

A list of names, including my own, appears in the sky in huge letters. "These are all the people whom have been sent into this dimension, including the members of Enigma," Stella explains, wait, what!? My eyes instantly notice some names I seriously did not want to see, please tell me I'm mistaken. I rub my eyes and hope I was wrong before, but they are still there in huge letters 'Yuna Shiro', 'Sakura Kirei' and 'Akane Mizuno', SHIT! "The filter that was in effect of who would be brought into this world is those who know about the existences of human anomalies, I guess this is what is known as knowing too much is bad for you." Stella says with a disgustingly refreshing smile on her face.

"However, be at ease," She says with a gentle tone in her voice, "I've ordered all the members of Enigma to kill everyone with extreme prejudice, so you won't be left out."

"STELLA!" I shout at the fucked up bitch in front of me. Yuna, Sakura and Akane can't fight, they're no threat to them, but she has no intention of cutting them any slack.

"Oh, if you scream my name with such enthusiasm you're going to make me blush, Yuichi Shiro." She says as she holds her cheeks in her hands, well that is the curse of me being such an irresistible guy, wait, now isn't the time. I can admire my beauty in the mirror to my heart's content later. "Let them out of this screwed up world!" I shout.

"No can do, that would ruin the game." She replies with a twitch of her finger. "Now then, although your defeat is already certain, I'll explain how you win out of curtsey. If you can defeat me, then you win, it's that simple. The dimension will crumble, and you will return back to the original world. However, you cannot just come and attack me so easily. Surrounding me are six impenetrable barriers, each one corresponds to a member of Enigma. So for each member defeated, one of the barriers surrounding me will disappear. I think you get the picture. Oh, but it appears that Yuichi Shiro and Shiori Azusa's appearance on the battlefield will be delayed." The image in the sky switches over to me and Shiori-sempai, "They are trapped between the barriers surrounding me." Stella shows another cutesy smile, "You may not have one of your strongest fighters, but, do your best." The image disappears.

"DAMN IT!" I scream, my friends are going to be hunted by Enigma, and I'm stuck here!

"Yuichi-kun," Shiori-sempai says in a slightly worried voice. I try to give her my best reassuring smile I can, given the circumstances.

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Chapter 30B: The Battle Begins (Perspective: Sakura)

What did that girl just say? They're going to attack everyone. Sempai is trapped, I'm on my own, what should I do? I can only recall the fear when we were attacked before by the Cannibalistic Ripper, and at that time I was with my sempai, but not this time.

My hands shake uncontrollably, I can't make them stop.

"Well well, what do we have here?" My mind instantly blanks as I hear a terrible voice address me. I slowly turn my head to see the man standing there is none other the guy who attacked us before, the Cannibalistic Ripper, Kiri Sasu, "I've forgotten what a frightened little girl's liver tastes like, help me remember. HA HA HA HA HA!"

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Chapter 30C: The Battle Begins (Perspective: Yuna)

Onii-chan, just hearing that my brother who is someone who always inspired confidence has been reduced to little more than a trapped animal, has only increased my anxiety. The room I am in looks like a classroom from my school.

I have only two options available to me at the moment. Either hide and hope those guys who are after us won't find me. Or try and explore the area and pray I run into one of my friends who can keep me safe.

"Say onee-chan we found one..." A young girl says, I instinctively turn to it's source. Standing there are two girls who look as if they have only just reached their teens. They look like twins, they have shoulder length hair that is black on one side and white on the other and is tied to the side. They are also wearing t-shirts and short skirts that are black on one side and white on the left. The colour scheme is inverted for the other sister as is the side that her hair is tied to.

The two whom are holding each others hands, slowly pace towards me with slow steps.

"It's a shame Ini-chan," The other girl says.

"Stella-neechan, told us to kill everyone who isn't part of Enigma." The younger girl continues.

It only sinks in when they said 'kill', I've gotta get away.

"Don't hate us for this, okay?"

"We promise to make this quick."

My feet instantly shoot for the door.

"Ah, she's running onee-chan, what do we do?" The younger twin asks.

"We chase, Ini-chan."

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Chapter 30D: The Battle Begins (Perspective: Akane)

Just how on earth did this happen? Why did this happen? I had heard that girl's explanation, but I just can't believe it. This can only be a bad dream, yes, this is a nightmare.

Hurry up and wake up Akane. My body shivers in terror as I try to pinch my cheek for the dull pain to only confirm to me that this is indeed reality.

"Your luck..." I quickly turn to a man who is edging towards me. He is dressed like something akin to a casino dealer with a five card hand depicting those required for a royal straight flush embroidered on his clothes. "Has run out." He coldly says as he adjusts his glasses onto his face.

Suddenly six huge dices appear, three either side of the man, they are hovering whilst jiggling about. Then another thing appears above his head, it looks like some kind of large roulette. "Your loss however, is my gain."

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Chapter 30E: The Battle Begins

Suddenly appearing in the sky is something I can only curse. A voice robotic like voice reverberates as a video appears overhead. "Sakura Kirei Vs Kiri Sasu!" I draw my attention to one of the videos which is depicting my cute kouhai running away from the man me and Ren failed to finish pounding before. "Damn it!", "Sakura-chan!" Myself and Shiori-sempai can only watch on in horror.

"Yuna Shiro Vs Gemini!" Oh no, another video depicts my younger sister running away from two young girls who are happily chasing after her whilst holding hands. "Shit!"

*Bang Bang Bang Bang! * - I repeatedly force my bleeding fist into the barrier. What kind of friend or brother am I if I can't help them during their time of peril!?

"I told you it's useless, didn't I? You're only going to hurt your fist." Stella coldly states.

"Let me out of here STELLA!" I scream in anger, even if you later fall in love me, I will never reciprocate a girl who tries to kill my friends!

Before I can voice my displeasure further, "Akane Mizuno Vs Slots!" Even Akane, how come all the non combatants ran into members of Enigma!? This isn't a joke I can even laugh about!

I can only watch from here as my friends run for their lives, these forcefields aren't going to let me out. Someone, anyone I can reward you with a date with yours truly, please save them.

"Yuichi-kun," Shiori-sempai calls out to me, whom has all but given up, "It's a long shot, but your technique, you decide the coordinates for the manifestation right? I'm sure someone will go to their aid, so buy them time."

Coordinates for manifestation? I see, it's going to take a lot of concentration on my part, but I'll definitely do it.

I turn my attention to the three videos, if this place is truly a replica of my town, then I know exactly where they are.

"My soul is one that is of self confidence."

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Chapter 30F: The Battle Begins (Perspective: Sakura)

"I can't huff...huff...go on..." I say to myself as my legs that feel like lead slowly step forward one step at a time.

"Your already done?" The Cannibalistic Ripper says as he approaches me whilst licking the blade of his knife.

Even though I know it's useless, as the Cannibalistic Ripper's knife goes towards me, I can only do one thing, "Sempai...Yuichi-Sempai!" As I scream as loud as I can, something I wasn't expecting suddenly happened.

"What the!?" Kiri shouts in astonishment, a huge quantity of silver had blocked his knife from getting to me.

The silver quickly changes it's shape and shoots lots of small fragments at the astonished ripper. Sempai's power, but how?

"He manifested his silver here, and is controlling it all the way from the barrier!?" He curses in shock as the silver cuts into his flesh.

"Sempai..." I wipe a tear from my eye in relief. Feeling Sempai's kindness through his silver gives my leg's their second burst. I get back onto my feet and run as fast I can. The hope and courage sempai is giving me, I won't waste a single drop of it.

"You won't escape!" He shouts as he throws his knives at me.

*Ching ching ching ching! * - The silver deflects many of the knives, but several have managed to bypass the silver. Sempai...

A huge fireball suddenly shoots forth and engulfs the remaining knives.

*Ching ching ching * - What the? Several knives I never noticed were deflected from my blind spot as well.

"You've truly angered me now," The back profile of a boy I see everyday gives me even more confidence than before.

"Nii-san..." I weakly call out.

"Attacking a defenceless girl comma I can't say it's a good hobby period" A young girl's voice chides as she seems to almost sprout out of the ground and walks to Nii-san's side. Just who is she?

"It looks like things have just gotten interesting. So now my opponents are the human anomaly who is marrying into the Cerberus family, Ren Kirei. And one of the churches' Slayers, the soul slayer that has gained it's own self conscience, Ley-Mistletoe." The Cannibalistic Ripper states with a wide smile that could almost split his face in half.

XXXXXXX

Chapter 30G: The Battle Begins (Perspective: Yuna)

I continue to run from the two girls as silver rains down on them, forcing them to constantly take evasive manoeuvres. I don't know how he is doing it, but this is definitely Onii-chan's doing.

"Onee-chan," The younger twin calls to her elder. The older twin holds her hands together in a certain stance. The younger twin places her feet on her hands, using it like a foothold.

"What on earth!?" I scream as the younger of the two flies over me and lands in front of me. The older twin threw her younger sister over and in front of me like some sort of circus acrobat.

"It's...", "...over." Like the twins they are, they finish each others sentences. They're right though, they've got me in a pincer.

Onii-chan's silver quickly tries to change its formation to deal with the new situation, But I can tell it won't make it in time.

The younger girl charges towards me as flames wrap around her right hand. But then, another metal appears in front of me and blocks the fire attack, it's not silver.

*Crash!* - A window to my side breaks, standing there on top of the broken glass is.

"Ichiyu?" I say in disbelief. He is wearing a huge sleeveless black coat that has several crucifixes forming the shape of a cross embroidered on the front.

"Carrisa-nee is going to really chide me for this, but personal business, before business business." Ichiyu says as he wears a confident smile, "Bronze Manifestation!"

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Chapter 30H: The Battle Begins (Perspective: Akane)

"It appears your luck still persists." The man says as he dodges several silver javelins that pierce the ground where he previously stood.

I return to running away from the menacing man who seems to love using the word 'luck'.

"Luck is what decides the fate for everything, those with the greater luck shall always stand on top." He claims as he gives chase whilst still avoiding the attacks. "Roulette!" The man shouts and the roulette that is hovering above his head starts spinning at a fast rate. "Dice!" One of the six dices decreases in size and shoots itself into the roulette as the roulette stops the dice reveals a value of four and has landed in a segment labelled 'Fire' on the roulette.

Suddenly, a huge fireball shoots out from the roulette towards me. The silver tries to block the attack, but it can't stop it. "No, Help...me..." I can only pray as the scorching ball approaches me.

*Boom!* - Another fireball of roughly the same size collides with the one shot from the roulette, and they cancel each other out.

"Master, despite being trapped, still gritted his teeth to protect Mizuno-sama," Several light soft steps enter my ears, and their owner stands between me and my pursuer, "As Master's pet, it is my duty to ensure his wish of her safety is granted. I'll be your opponent four eyes!" The one who came to my rescue is Yuichi's pet, Wolfy.

"Very well, dog. Lets see how your luck holds up against, Slots'," The man who just introduced himself as Slots challenges.

"Those who can only rely on luck, will always be doomed to fail," Wolfy returns the challenge.

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Chapter 30I: The Battle Begins

"Fight updates!" The robotic voice states, "Akane Mizuno and Wolfy Shiro Vs Slots! Yuna Shiro and Ichiyu Weiss Vs Gemini! Sakura Kirei, Ren Kirei and Ley Vs Kiri Sasu!"

Thank god, all the three who can't fight are now under the protection of someone who can. "But who is this Ichiyu Weiss?" He looks a bit like me, quite the handsome guy. Oh well, just please protect Yuna, your power looked similar to mine, so I'm sure you can.

"I've got to congratulate you for protecting your friends even though you are stuck here, Yuichi Shiro. It looks like the true battles are going to begin now." Stella says with a smile, I swear I'll wipe that grin off your face personally.

"Bosch, Jijitsu and Phoebe Vs Ark!" The voice announces.

"Why the hell are three of the wielders ganging up on a single one? Whilst my friends are fighting to protect those who don't have the power to protect themselves!?"

"Yuichi-kun..." Shiori-sempai says quietly.

"You should be thanking them, Yuichi Shiro," Stella says with an air of superiority, "Ark is the strongest fighter of Enigma, they'll need at least the three of them to even hope to survive, let alone win." What, seriously? Just how strong is that guy then!?

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Chapter 30J: The Battle Begins (Perspective: Elizabeth)

"Ren-sama!" I catch the announcement of him fighting that man, Kiri Sasu. I've got to go assist him. I humiliated myself last time, I must wash myself clean of this disgrace. Someone from the Cerberus family cannot allow herself to be seen in such a way by anyone, let alone her fiancé. And also, what if that Ley girl falls in love with Ren-sama? He's such a great man it's just possible.

"GRRR! This Elizabeth Cerberus will not allow any cheating, Ren-sama!"

"A maiden in love is truly frightening isn't it?" A girl in her mid teens jumps out in front of me. She has short dyed dark hair with heavy eye liner and make up on. She is wearing a long scarf that covers her neck and cascades down her back, her small dark shirt reveals her pierced belly and a pair of short shorts fastened with a belt reveals her long legs. "If I kill you, I'm sure Stella will show me her beautiful smile. Therefore, for this Cammy's sake, can you please die? I want Stella to praise me."

"I have no interest in your yuri fantasies, I will remove all those who stain my families name or get in the way of my love life." I declare as I point my scythe's blade at the Goth looking girl named Cammy.

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Chapter 30K: The Battle Begins (Perspective: Alma)

Where am I? I could have sworn I walked past that tree just a few minutes ago. Oh well, I can only march forward. I'm sure I'll get there eventually.

"Tracking you was really difficult, Alma Ivana." See, I've already found someone. I turn to the voice, wait you're. "By the time my location technique pinpoints you, you're already somewhere completely different. Even I couldn't see through your movement route."

"Carrisa Thanatos!" I point the spear segment of Gungnir-Mjölnir at the rogue reaper, whom is also one of the culprits for the birth of Enigma.

"It looks like Ichiyu has gone off to fulfil his own desire, I'll deal with him later," Carrisa says to herself before glaring at me, "By the orders of my master, I shall be taking custody of Gungnir-Mjölnir, hand it over, Alma Ivana!"

"Who are you to give me orders, you who abandoned your duties and obligations to help such a screwed up man!?" I scream back.

"And who are you to talk as if you know everything?" Carrisa's eyes glow a dangerous colour, "Very well, let's do this the hard way."

"Carrisa!" A voice shouts from behind her. Carrisa doesn't even bother to turn around.

"Alicia, I had hoped you would have been smarter than to confront me again directly." Carrisa reprimands in a cold voice.

"I cannot allow you to fall any lower, as both a old friend and as a rival, I will stop you, Carrisa!" Alicia shouts as she draws her scythe.

"Very well, I will fight you both at once. I'll show you the gap between us is even greater than that of the cosmos." Carrisa says as she gets into a stance with her scythe.

XXXXXXX

Chapter 30L: The Battle Begins

"Elizabeth Cerberus Vs Cammy Leon! Alicia Pandemonium and Alma Ivana Vs Carrisa Thanatos!" The voice states.

"Shit, Carrisa!" Even if Alicia and Alma double team her, can they win? All of you, be careful. If only I could get out there myself. Unfortunately, I'm not even able to maintain the long ranged control of my silver for long. And the fact I was having to do so for three different battles in three different locations was equally taxing on me. My legs soon give out from under me, I'm exhausted, the stress of my friends being in danger, the mind grinding task of using my silver in such a forced manner.

"Yuichi-kun," Shiori-sempai sits next to me, "You've done what you can, lets trust in everyone. If the barriers holding us here disappear, we'll be able to join the fray. So for now, whilst we can't do anything, rest. Yuichi-kun's power will definitely be needed again soon."

"You sure are hopeful aren't you? Let's see how things actually go shall we? I'm sure you'll soon see the situation for how hopeless for you it truly is." I really cannot stand this bitch, nor her gloating.

[hyuugalegacy]

Here's 31

Spoiler for Chapter 31:

Chapter 31: Versus Enigma I: Ren And Ley Versus Kiri Sasu (Perspective: Ren)

"A soul slayer with its own self conscience, what does he mean by that?" I ask the small stature girl standing next to me.

"Exactly as it sounds comma I myself am a soul slayer period" She replies without moving her eyes off of Kiri Sasu.

"Speaking of which, Kiri Sasu, I know that name somewhere." I agonise to myself.

"The Cannibalistic Ripper, Nii-san!" Sakura shouts from behind, I see that's where I know the name from. But for a guy like that to be in Enigma, they sure know how to pick their members.

"Are you done commercing? My knife is craving your blood!" Kiri says as he licks his blade, I'd laugh if he cut his own tongue doing that.

"Indeed comma let us start period" Ley-san says as a huge axe that is bigger than her materialises out of thin air.

"Holy!" I say as I take a step back while she effortlessly lunges the axe onto her shoulder, she quickly turns to me.

"Small girls wielding huge weapon comma isn't it moe question mark" She asks whilst giving me a peace sign.

"Uh sure," I'm not one to ask about moe stuff though I'm afraid, "Lets go!" I shout as I conjure and throw a fireball at Kiri.

"Finally. Time to cut you kittens up and eat your lungs!" Kiri screams as he dodges my flame.

"Slice in half period" Ley-san swings her colossal axe down, like with my fireball Kiri jumps away. He then quickly throws several of his knives at her.

"Oh no you don't!" I try to conjure up a fireball to repel the attack but, "GUHH!" I feel a swift pain in my arm, a knife is lodged in there.

How the hell did he do that!?

"NII-SAN!" Sakura shouts from behind, I can't let her worry about me. So I grab the knife and pull it right out.

I draw out my sword that my father-in-law gave me from my personal pocket dimension. As I draw it from its scabbard the blade instantly ignites itself on fire. This sword is a heirloom of the Cerberus family, the sword of flames, Hinoken.

"Now burn!" I shout as I swing my sword and release a wave of flames. Ley-san quickly jumps out of the way from the line of fire, whilst Kiri simply stares it down, he swings his knife in a horizontal motion and as he does my flame dissipates. How!? It wasn't a shockwave, nor did he hit my flame directly.

Ley-san lands next to me, "We need to figure out his ability comma otherwise he will always have the upper hand period" She's right, we have no way of countering the unknown.

Whilst we are thinking as such Kiri once again swipes his knife in a horizontal motion, and then.

"GAAAH!"

"KIHHH!"

Both Ley-san and I yelp as several cuts appear on our bodies with fresh blood pouring out of mine.

"He's not planning on giving us time to think," I state the obvious.

"No shit sherlock, you're my dinner after all," He replies as he licks his lips. How can anyone have a taste for human flesh?

"Lets keep up the offensive comma we need to find out his secret period" Ley-san explains, I give a swift nod before I brandish my sword and charge at him with Ley-san by my side. With a knife in both of his hands Kiri too runs at us with a look of glee plastered onto his face.

"HIYAHH!" I scream as I swing my sword in a horizontal motion and a line of flames shoots at Kiri who jumps over it.

"An opening period" Ley-san says as she jumps up with Kiri and attacks him in the air.

*Ching!* - Using both knives as a shield Kiri blocks Ley-san's axe.

However, "GUGHHH!" The impact of Ley-san's attack sent him hard into the earth and his knives shattered. "Well that certainly hurt," He says as he gets back onto his feet and flexes his neck to the side. Despite his words he looks pretty unfazed. "Time to get serious then." He states as he draws another knife to replace the two he just lost, just how many knives does this guy have?

Not planning on letting him have any chance to recover I attack with Hinoken, he blocks my long blade with his short one.

"Damn that's hot!" He exclaims as he continues to block my sword. However, has he forgotten?

"There are two of us period" Ley-san states as she charges at him, her axe dissipates and in it's place is a rapier type sword, she can do that?

As if to answer my internal question, "My existence itself is a soul slayer comma I can take whatever form I desire comma whether it's a human or a weapon period" I see, so that's how it is.

"I didn't forget you for even a second, Ley-Mistletoe." Kiri says as he draws another knife with his free hand and stabs it into thin air. It is then that I notice it, half of the blade has disappeared, and then.

"URGH" "GAHH" Ley-san and myself exclaim as I notice a lodge of metal that looks like a blade in my knee and Ley-san's arm, she drops her weapon from the sudden pain and clutches her arm as her sword disappears. Now I see, so that's how it is. As Kiri withdraws his hand that's holding the knife, the blades lodged into Ley-san and I also disappears and the knife in his hand takes it's full form.

Yes, now I know for certain, the reason for the attacks and the unusual phenomenon of him effortlessly dissipating my flame attack.

I jump back to create some distance, "Moving away from me won't save you from my knives infinite reach." Kiri states, that's true, but I've figured out the nature of your power.

"Ley-san! I know the trick he's using now!" I shout, Ley-san looks at me in astonishment.

"Hooh, do you now?" Kiri says mockingly.

"What is it question mark" Ley-san asks.

I let loose a confident smile as I declare, "To put it simply it's a spacial distortion! He can move things from one coordinate to another. However, that is not all, this power is one which has an entry point and an exit point. But this is where things get complicated."

"What do you mean question mark"

"He can create several exit points for a single entry point. Like just now, he attacked us both at the same time with a single knife by creating two exit points for the single entry point that he stabbed his knife through." I explain.

"I see comma that certainly explains everything period" Ley-san says with a nod of her head.

"You're pretty smart for figuring that all out from such little information, well done. You're absolutely correct." Kiri says as he claps his hands gently together his confident grin is still covering his face. "But at the end of the day what good has it done you? Can you overcome my ability by just knowing it's nature?" He's right, overcoming him is not going to be easy, and I can only think of beating him by using a surprise attack. But there is one thing I do know for sure, rather than quantity we should go for quality.

"Ley-san," I address my comrade as I approach her, "You said you can become a weapon right?"

"Yes, comma that is correct period"

I take a deep breath before I make my declaration, "For the sake of defeating this guy, please let me wield you!" I shout out, for some reason my face feels really hot asking her to let me use her. Ley-san's eyes shoot wide open and I notice a light tinge of red in her cheeks.

"If I let you comma can you win question mark" Ley-san asks.

"I can!" I declare with a swift firm nod.

"Then comma I'll accept period" Ley-san says as a slight smile forms from her lips as she takes my free hand that isn't wielding Hinoken. Ley-san's body glows a deep light as her body disappears and a elegant white sword appears in my hand that she previously held, I grasp it tightly.

"Light..." I say as I swing Ley-san.

"A girl's weight is a taboo topic period" Ley-san's voice resounds in my hand, "You're the first person in a long time I've let use me comma so make good on your declaration period also comma drop the 'san' comma just 'Ley' is fine period"

"Now this has got even more interesting, an anomaly wielding a soul slayer. But considering you now know the full nature of my power, I'm no longer going to restrain myself."

Kiri draws several knives and throws them randomly, and as I suspected they're all coming at me from several different directions. I jump whilst trying to make sure my movements can't be read to dodge the rain of knives.

*Ching ching ching!* - several noises resound as Ley-san, no Ley, changed her blades shape and stretched out behind me. I see, she is protecting my blind spot. "HINOKEN!" I scream as I swing my fire sword at Kiri, the stream of fire that is heading towards him however suddenly disappears.

"SHIT!" I scream as I swing Hinoken at the redirected stream of fire. His power also grants him a strong defence as well. I successfully block the flame with Hinoken but "GAAHH!" A sharp pain all over my shoulder, I tense my grip on Ley to make sure I don't drop her. The many blades disappear as Kiri pulls his single knife back with a sadistic smile.

"BLEED BLEED BLEED BLEED AND BLEED SOME MORE!" Kiri shouts as he randomly starts stabbing his knife into open space.

"Stab me into the ground period" Ley quickly orders, I do as I am told. Suddenly a gush of light surrounds my body the many knife attacks just bounce off of it. "I am capable of drawing power from the earth's ley lines comma although it is weaker in this created dimension period"

"Tch! you really are a pain!" Kiri stops his knife attack, realising it wasn't accomplishing anything. I then notice something hovering above his hand, it's a fragment of Ley's shield, wait a second, if it's over there, then that means. I see, so that's how it is.

I unearth Ley from the ground and the light disappears, I've got something I want to try.

"Ren Kirei" Ley says blankly.

"Just call me Ren, it's only fair." I state to the elegant blade in my hand.

With both Ley and Hinoken in my hands I charge at Kiri Sasu. "You don't learn do you? It's worthless!" He shouts as he stabs his knife into a open space. I notice the knife coming at me from my side, I quickly get out of it's reach. But before Kiri can withdraw it, I stab Hinoken through the hole in space that he created and "ARGGGHHHHH!" He screams in agony as my fire sword lodged into his hand, now burn! I ignite the flames of Hinoken and shoot them at Kiri who already has the blade lodged into his hand "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He yells even louder as his arm catches fire. Kiri quickly jumps backwards as I withdraw Hinoken.

"What did you do question mark"

"The distortion works both ways. I can force something into one of the exit points and it will come out of the entrance point. Not only that, but if there is something solid in the distortion, then he is unable to close the hole." I explain, the reason I didn't use Ley was because I was worried he might close the distortion with her inside of it, but it looks like it wouldn't have been an issue. "I just used Kiri's own power against him." I further supplement.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Kiri screams after he had finally doused the flame that had engulfed him. His arm is covered in blood and burns. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" He's completely turned psycho, not that he wasn't one already. Kiri's eyes grow a dangerous glint as he takes out a black blade knife that looks different from the ones he used before.

"I've already seen through your tricks, they'll no longer work against me!" I shout back.

"I'm through playing fair with you two Ren Kirei, Ley-Mistletoe! Say goodbye little girl, you can blame this scumbag for pissing me off!" He yells as he directs his attention away from me and to, wait, NO!

Sakura is standing there silently as Kiri's predator eyes look directly at her.

"Don't even think about it KIRI SASU!"

"URGGHHH!" I exclaim in pain as the knife lodges into my arm, I drop Hinoken on the ground due to the sudden attack, the flames that surround the blade dissipate.

"REN!" Ley calls out to me in a uncharacteristic scream.

"NII-SAN!" Sakura screams.

"Amateur, you let your focus drift the moment I threatened the little girl." Kiri says with a grin that seems sure of victory.

"Urgh!" I can't move my arm, what's going on!? I forcefully rip the sleeve off my shirt and gaze at my arm. A black like pattern is slowly spreading out of the wound he just inflicted.

"This knife is special," Kiri says with a grin, "It inflicts a paralysis curse on what it cuts, in this case, your arm. And guess what, as an added bonus the curse slowly spreads out to the rest of your body," Kiri's smile grows even thinner, "You're finished."

Not only can't I move my arm, it also feels heavier than lead. And soon it will come up and encompass my entire body. There is nothing else for it, it's rash, but I have no other choice. If Kiri thinks I'll give up so easily he is going to be disappointed.

"Sakura close your eyes, NOW!" I order, my little sister is surprised, but she quickly obeys, "I'm trusting in your sharpness Ley." I say as I grit my teeth.

"What are you..." Ley begins, but before she can finish I swing her in a wide angle, her target? My own arm!

"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I scream in agony as Ley's blade slices all the way through my flesh and bone with little resistance. Her elegant blade gets stained with blood, my blood. My cursed arm falls loosely onto the ground. If it is only going to be a hindrance then likewise I have no choice but to discard it. I was mentally prepared for anything before this fight started so this is nothing.

"You're insane!" Kiri shouts in surprise, no just logical, lose a arm or my entire body, the choice was obvious.

"You'll never be able to use that arm again period even though I'm letting you wield me comma I am still a soul slayer period you severed the spiritual connection of your arm away from your body period" Ley explains, I'll worry about that after this fight.

"ARGGHHH!" With what strength I have left I charge with Ley in my hand at the still astonished Kiri Sasu. I thrust, aiming for his neck. However, he regains his composure and tilts his neck to avoid my thrust, dodging it. But even so, I still continue forward and push the blade into the empty area past his neck.

"GAAAHHH!" I yelp again in agony, the black knife had been forced into my abdomen.

"It's over." Kiri Sasu says with a look of glee. I drop Ley onto the ground.

"Yes, it is," I reply, "For you." Using my now free hand, I forcefully grab his shoulder with all the strength I can muster.

"Rematerialise and finish him Ley!" I scream with all my might. The elegant blade is suddenly filled with light and transforms back into the form of a little girl, with a short sword in her hand.

"WHATTT!?" Kiri Sasu exclaims as he turns around to see Ley charging at him, "URGGHHH!" Ley lodges her blade directly into his heart. "Damn...it...to...think...I...would...lose..." Kiri says in a weak voice as his grip on the black knife slowly lightens, before letting go entirely. As Ley withdraws her blade from his chest, Kiri's body falls limply onto the ground.

The Cannibalistic Ripper is now no more, I'm sure the entire world will be better off this way.

"Kiri Sasu has been defeated!" The announcement confirmed.

And with that my body lost what strength was left in it.

"Ren!" Ley catches my falling body, she's dropped her habit of voicing out punctuation, I guess probably due to the sudden shock.

"NII-SAN!" Sakura who sees my pathetic state runs up to us with tears in her eyes.

"Excuse me Ren comma" Ley removes my shirt and stares at the curse that is spreading throughout my body. "Although it looks like it will take a while comma I think I can remove this curse period" Ley says as light gives out from her hand and the progress of the black pattern representing the curse halts. "I can't do anything for your arm comma" Ley has a sullen look on her usually emotionless face "But I swear on my pride as a soul slayer comma it won't take any more of you period so for now just rest period"

"But the others..." I begin whilst trying to force my body onto it's feet.

"Nii-san!" Sakura cuts me off

I then suddenly feel a thumping sensation to my neck, my conscience begins to get hazy. "I told you to rest period" These are the last words I heard before my eyelids can no longer hold themselves open and I embrace the slumber that my wounded body truly desires.

[hyuugalegacy]

Here is 32

Spoiler for Chapter 32:

Chapter 32A: Versus Enigma II: Wolfy VS Slots I (Perspective: Wolfy)

I am standing face to face with the man who calls himself Slots. The roulette above his head is spinning fast and is constantly alternating its direction between clockwise and anticlockwise.

"Roulette! Double dice!" Slots shouts as the roulette's spin accelerates and two of the dices shoot into it.

I of course am not going to just sit back and watch I lunge head on towards Slots as I shoot out several fireballs from my mouth. I won't let him decide this fights pace.

Slots makes a strange action, as he too runs towards me, even though this puts him on a collision course with my attack

As my fireballs fast approach the roulette stops, and the dices land on two separate sections. Unfortunately, I cannot see what they are labelled.

*Boom Boom Boom* – My fireballs smash into Slots. The area covers itself in smoke from the blast.

When I think that I have already won. Huh! What's this? My dog nose instantly picks up Slot's scent.

"Wolfy look out!" Mizuno-sama shouts from behind, I quickly turn around just as a huge bulk of ice is launched from the roulette above the unscathed Slot's.

"ARGGGGHHHH!" I manage to move just enough to prevent a critical hit from the last attack, but the shards of the ice that smashed into the ground heavily rip into my body and throw me back several metres. I am then finally able to get a good look at what the dice's landed on the roulette, one of them landed with a value of five onto a section labelled 'ice'. And the other with a value of three has landed on a section labelled 'barrier'. So that is what protected him from my flames.

But that manoeuvre was one serious gamble on Slot's part. If the roulette didn't give him the barrier he would have been crisped.

"Wait a second, am I jumping to conclusions!?" I ask myself out loud.

"What's wrong, Wolfy?" Mizuno-sama asks.

"I had presumed that the roulette's results were random, but maybe this guy can fix them. That is probably the reason he can run into a fireball with such confidence." I explain my theory, if that is the case this guy is going to be truly troublesome. He has so many different attacks labelled on that roulette and he is capable of using at least two simultaneously, I'm guessing from the fact that he has six dices hovering around, he can probably use all of them at once.

"I'm not fixing the result," Slot's shoots down my theory, "I merely have confidence in my luck. And because of that I'll tell you this. First the area where the dice falls decides the nature of my attack." He explains, well yeah that part was pretty obvious, "Secondly the number rolled decides the magnitude of the attack." I see, so the higher the number, the stronger the attack. "I am someone who entrusts myself entirely to my luck, I have no need to cheat!" He proclaims, seemingly offended.

"Hah, luck is just a by product. I'm going to win this fight due to my skills and abilities, not chance. The moment you got me as an opponent was the moment your luck truly did go bad!" I vent.

"My luck has never betrayed me, nor will it ever, I'm going to put you down mutt and have you acknowledge this!" He challenges back as his roulette once again picks up it rotation speed.

XXXXXXXX

Chapter 32B: Versus Enigma II: Slayers VS Ark I (Perspective: Bosch)

We've been battling this man for several minutes, but we cannot secure any attack on him. Even though he is standing in such a way that leaves him totally defenceless, his confidence is overwhelming.

"HAAAH!" I swing my Soul Slayer Joyeuse-Longinus at the dark haired man for the umpteenth time, Ark, who is standing silently before me still doesn't move from the spot. However before I commit myself on my attack I notice a huge chunk of debris heading straight towards me from my flank. I readjust my sword's trajectory to repel the attack.

*Crunch* – I break the debris apart.

"Get back Bosch!" Jijitsu shouts as he swings his sword from afar. As directed I jump back to get myself out of the line of fire of the wind blade Jijitsu just created.

Ark finally takes out one of his hands that was up until now in his pockets and points his arm straight out towards the incoming attack. Wind begins to circle around his arm, it is almost like a hurricane is twirling around with his arm as the epicentre. The hurricane that extends out of Ark's arm intercepts Jijitsu's wind blade and disperses like it is nothing. Ark then readjusts his arm's angle and thus the hurricane's trajectory and swings down with a vertical swing.

Jijitsu frantically dives to one side as the ground he formerly stood on gets heavily scraped by the numerous revolutions of the hurricane. However, this is our chance if I can predict how he would react then we've got him.

"NOW PHOEBE!" I shout the signal and a arrow shoots from seemingly out of nowhere, Phoebe isn't a close quarter combatant, so we had her hide and ordered her to attack from the shadows whilst Jijitsu and I distracted him. The arrow is heading directly for Ark, who in turn tries to counter by using his hurricane to deflect it, just as I thought he would.

"Oh no you don't!" I shout as I convert my soul slayer that is currently in the form of a sword into a spear. This is one of Joyeuse-Longinus' attributes, being able to change into one of these two forms. I quickly throw the spear into the hurricane. As it smashes into the hurricane the huge volumes of air instantly disperse. Good it worked. This is another function of my soul slayer, being able to dispel both soul and reaper techniques.

And the arrow that is still heading to Ark, who all of sudden can no longer protect himself, and thus...

"URGHHH!" It pierces right through the centre of his chest. And he falls down onto the ground heavily.

"We got him!" Jijitsu shouts. Yes, he was pierced right through the heart with a soul slayer, there is no way he could survive that attack.

Phoebe upon hearing this declaration leaves her hiding place and comes to join up with us.

"This guy was abnormally powerful," These are the first words that come out of Phoebe's mouth. She's right, the only reason we were able to win was because we triple teamed him and he didn't even appear to be taking us seriously. If he fought with all he had, I doubt we would still be standing.

"But really telekinesis, that power is so cliché." Jijitsu states, originality aside its a power that is hard to fight against.

"But this one guy required all three of us, it was a good decision on our part to have recruited the help of Yuichi Shiro. If we were to take on Enigma alone we definitely would not survive." I state.

"Don't worry, you're not going to survive regardless." A voice I didn't think I would hear again announces as we all turn around to the man we thought we fell, and yet he is rising to his feet, the arrow is still lodged inside of him "After all, I'm going to kill you all right here." He declares as the arrow starts to slide out of him, he must be using his telekinesis to pull it out, just watching this scene is really disturbing.

"I got your heart, how on earth can you still be alive!?" Phoebe asks the question that all of us wish to know.

"The main function of the heart is to pump and move blood around the human body. So the answer is simple, if I use my telekinesis to move the blood around in my body then I am perfectly capable of functioning without one." Ark explains as the arrow leaves his body and drops to the floor. Just how powerful is this guy? Using his powers to replace his own heart. "You said that telekinesis was cliché, did you not? I have no way of denying that claim. However, I seriously doubt you will find anyone who can use it to the same level as I can."

"You monster," I accuse, this human anomaly is stronger than anything I have ever faced before, I can't think of a better word to describe him than 'monster'.

"I originally thought that I could defeat you all without exerting much effort with my telekinesis. But it seems that option is no longer available. So now I'll go for something much larger. The basic concept of telekinesis is moving things with one's own mind. It may not sound like much, but if you think outside the box you can realise just how dangerous a power it truly is. For example, right now if I simply force a few certain movements on the tectonic plate margin I can do things like this!"

Tectonic plate margin!? Does that mean!? Before I can voice out my suspicions they are already answered.

"WHAAA!" We all shout as we lose our standing from the sudden movement of the ground. He's using his telekinesis to cause a huge earthquake.

"SHIT!" Jijitsu shouts as the buildings within this artificial world all topple towards us. I can't react quick enough. And so I can only instinctively move my arms to guard as the building debris assault's my body.

"URGHH!" I feel a heavy impact smack into my head, "Damn it..." I grunt weakly as my mind feels heavy and the blackness takes over.

XXXXXX

Chapter 32C: Versus Enigma II: Alicia And Alma VS Carrisa I (Perspective: Alicia)

Alma and I are standing at opposite ends with Carrisa between us. I ready my scythe as I prepare myself to defeat the person whom I used to admire.

"Eat this!" Alma shoots a stream of lightning towards Carrisa, seeing this as a sign I charge towards her as well.

Carrisa quickly slam the stick end of her scythe into the ground, and a chunk of the earth intercepts Alma's attack where she quickly turns her attention to me. I know full well from the last fight that Carrisa likes to run electricity through her scythe therefore I made sure to take appropriate counter measures.

*Ching! Ching!* - Our blades cross against each other several times. Carrisa is wielding her scythe with a single hand whilst cast various reaper techniques to distract Alma with the other, thus preventing any chance for another attack. This is just the tip of the iceberg to the power of the prodigious reaper of Thanatos. We're not going to be able to beat her if we don't work together.

As Carrisa shoots a fireball at Alma I counter by shooting a ball of ice at it, thus giving Alma a slight opportunity to attack. "Much appreciated," She says as she wastes no time in plunging the hammerhead of her soul slayer into the ground, and a bolt of lightning quickly forms in the sky.

"Not the most smartest of moves," Carrisa penalises, what the!? The ground that I'm standing on suddenly raises itself into the sky.

"NO ALICIA!" Alma shouts when she realises just what is happening.

*BRING!* - "ARGGGGGGGHHHHH!" I scream in pain as the lightning hits me. Carrisa had made a makeshift lightning rod with me on top of it.

Alma realising her mistake quickly jumps up to the raised ground and counteracts the lightning with her soul slayer before she grabs me under her arm and escapes. "Alicia, are you all right!?" My old friend asks with a face ridden with both worry and guilt. I give a weak nod as I use my scythe to get myself back up onto my feet. The lightning from Alma's soul slayer is truly powerful.

"YOU!" Alma turns herself to Carrisa as her face is filled with anger, "How dare you use my own attack in such a way!"

"There are no rules in a battle, only a victor and a loser. You were the one at fault for trying to use such a pathetic strategy against me." Carrisa just shrugs off and rebukes Alma's anger. Upon hearing this Alma's fury only increases.

"Alma, calm down! We have no chance against Carrisa if we fight without keeping our heads cool," I state as I grab my friend's wrist and pull her to me, "Besides lets make the most of it." I whisper into her ear.

Alma instantly realises what I am referring to and smiles back.

Once again I charge at Carrisa, this time Alma is with me. The lightning gathers around the spear segment of her soul slayer as we run at our adversary. Carrisa too charges at us with her scythe in the ready.

As we edge close enough and Carrisa begins to swing her scythe, I push my feet hard into the ground and jump directly over Carrisa as she tries to alter her attacks direction it is quickly blocked and stopped by Alma. When I land on the ground I quickly shoot out a bolt of lightning towards Carrisa who unlike with me is having to use both her hands to block Alma's weapon.

Realising the situation Carrisa quickly kicks Alma back and without a moments delay turns her body and avoids my attack. But then it carries on going towards Alma who using the hammer segment of her soul slayer swings at my lightning bolt like she was playing baseball. The current redirects the direction it came and...

"ARRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" Hits the unsuspecting Carrisa. The shock momentarily staggers her for a mere second before she regains her footing using her scythe as a temporary support.

"You two are quite the team," She applauds, "Thanks to that earlier attack Alicia got a Pole charge from Gungnir-Mjölnir which she incorporated into her own reaper technique to create a lightning bolt similar to that of the soul slayer that struck her and using that pole charged lightning bolt Alma Ivana redirected by using the same pole and repelling the lightning at me."

As expected of a genius, she figured out the nature of our attack so easily. I knew it wouldn't be enough for us to claim victory, Carrisa isn't as weak as that. However scoring a hit on her means a lot for the tide of this battle.

"You aid a man like that masked freak and you assisted him in creating these abominations that form Enigma, Carrisa just how far has your pride fallen?" I ask my former friend.

"Form Enigma? I see, well it's a natural conclusion to come up with, but never the less an incorrect one." Carrisa states.

"What do you mean!?" Alma asks with a voice filled with confusion.

"I am saying that neither myself, nor 'that man', have had any hand in either the creation or the formation of Enigma." Carrisa answers.

"What...you had nothing to do with it?" I ask.

"Don't be fooled Alicia, she's obviously lying!" Alma states.

"I'm already considered a traitor to the underworld, why would I lie about a trivial matter when I've already committed so many sins?" She's right, she has no reason to lie.

But in that case, just how did Enigma come to be?

[hyuugalegacy]

And C33

Spoiler for Chapter 33:

Chapter 33A: Versus Enigma III: Ichiyu Vs Gemini I (Perspective: Ichiyu)

"Ichiyu, you are..." Yuna begins as she stares at me in disbelief, well I guess I can't blame her.

Using my bronze I attack the younger twin that was trying to harm Yuna, she simply jumps back to avoid it however.

"Bronze Manifestation?", "And that appearance", "Is this just coincidence?" The two twins converse between themselves.

Well there is no point hiding how my wonderful existence came to be...

"I'm a human anomaly that was created using the soul fragments from Yuichi Shiro during his previous encounter with my master." I explain.

"Wait, what does that mean, Ichiyu?" Yuna asks.

"Even if you ask me, I can't describe it any simpler than that, long story short, I'm a clone." I state, are you satisfied now? I'm not the most willing when it comes to the roots of my existence.

"I see, so you never were a regular human either," The older twin notes, but 'either' what does she mean by that? Oh well, it doesn't matter. There is something else I wish to confirm that is more important.

"Do you two by any chance have some kind of personal grudge against Yuna?" I ask.

"No, we are simply following orders," One states before the other supplements, "Gemini's hatred is directed at only one person, and that person no longer exists."

"I see, in that case the reincarnation of wonderness, that is I, Ichiyu Weiss, shall stop you hence forth." I declare as I conjure up more of my bronze.

"Then this Gem shall overcome you." They're really pulling out all the stops here, "And this Ini will slaughter you."

""Death to all those not of Enigma!"" They say together.

The older twin, Gem has her hands get surrounded by a swirl of wind on one hand and water on the other. Whilst the younger twin, Ini has her other hand get surrounded by a swirl of electricity. Both girls having turned their hands into mediums for weapons, run at me together from both sides.

I quickly create two swords out of my bronze and prepare to intercept their attacks. But then I suddenly notice something happen, Gem all of a sudden is now standing where Yuna was, Yuna herself is wondering what just happened when she suddenly reappeared where Gem once was.

"Crap!" I shout as Gem tries to stab at me with her water blade, I quickly tilt my neck to avoid the sudden attack. She then tries to slash at me with her wind blade, I quickly duck low down and avoid the attack, "Woah, thanks for the view." I say as I catch a glimpse of the contents of my attacker's skirt.

"Pervert, how dare you to Onee-chan!" The younger twin, Ini says as she charges down at me from a low angle and swipes with both her blades. I jump up into the air to avoid the attack and create a chunk of bronze mid air, which I use as a foothold and propel myself away from the twins. I land between them and Yuna, good we've escaped the pincer. But there was something I really cannot let go.

"I'm not a pervert! I'm an explorer for all cute clothes bright and stripy. The fact that I took the liberty to look should in itself be an honour for you!" I defend, "My dream is to one day have a harem of cute girls all wearing striped panties! Think yourselves lucky that I'm now considering you two as prime candidates!"

The two twins stare at me in wonder for a few seconds before, "So cool..." Gem says with a slight blush, as the previously angry Ini nods also with a slight blush. My beauty is already working its magic.

"Ichiyu," Yuna calls from behind me, I quickly glance back, "Didn't what you just say just prove them right about you being a pervert?"

"No stallion such as I can be a pervert, my dear Yuna," I respond whilst activating my supreme technique 'Enticement Smile', this move grants me the power to enchant any girl, not that my looks don't already accomplish this. But you know what they say, you can never have too many good points.

"Oh really," She responds with a sigh of resignation, "By the way, you won't be able to enchant me with that so called "Enticement Smile", I've built up a strong immunity to such crap due to my home circumstances." Yuna states, wait did I ever tell her the name of this technique? Just how does she know about it? Is she a mind reader or something?

Oh well, never mind. I redirect my attention back to the two twins. Now its time to progress to stage two of my conquering plan. I straighten my back and heighten my voice, "Gem and Ini put yourselves as the ante! If I win this fight, I'll have you both become mine as girl two and three respectively for my yet to be established harem!" I declare my intention.

"You're the worst!" Yuna screams from behind me, no need to be jealous, I've forever reserved the spot of number one for you.

The two twins briefly stare at each other before they return my gaze. "That's fine,", "If you win that is." The two agree as they charge at me once again.

Then Ini suddenly disappears and Yuna is standing there blankly again. "Crap, again!" I quickly turn around to face Ini who is charging at me with her blades in the ready. I send several bronze bullets her way to counter her, but she just continues forward but then suddenly she disappears again, "SHIT! I can't stop my bronze in time!" I curse when I realise just what they've done.

"KYAAAAA!" I hear Yuna's scream as she covers her face as the bronze attacks her flesh.

"Yuna!" I scream back, shit I screwed up and hurt Yuna in the process. Luckily I notice the cuts are fairly minor, but how could someone as beautiful as me have made such a careless mistake. I know this Soul Technique and how it works only too well, it's one of my masters most favoured after all yet I still fell for it. So these two are where that power originated from.

Come on Ichiyu, you've got to get your wonderful head back into the game. Yuna is depending on me, so I can't screw this up. I run up to my injured friend, "Yuna are you all right!? I'm so sorr..." I begin, but Yuna suddenly transforms to Gem, but this time I didn't allow myself to be fooled, I swing my bronze sword at her. But I suddenly feel an odd sensation of my bearings changing, and my bronze sword hits nothing but air. Shit! Ini switched her position with me. Yuna is also standing where Gem used to be, "Crap that means!" I quickly turn around to as I suspected Gem was charging at me "This is really getting annoying!" I proclaim as I block Gem's water and wind blades with my own bronze swords. Curses, my situation is most dire. Gemini's technique allows them to switch their physical position with any other living matter, whilst at first glance it seems harmless enough. It is a technique that flips the advantage of using numbers into reverse, as it gives them more targets to switch with. Which means I need to decrease the numbers then their power will weaken exceptionally. Luckily thanks to my master I know about this technique quite thoroughly.

Using my strength I push back Gem's blades thus giving me a chance to catch her momentarily off guard. I swing my blade with the knowledge to stop in case she switches and as I predicted a quick flash and Gem disappears, I instinctively stop my blade figuring Yuna is about to appear. However, the one who appeared wasn't Yuna, it was Ini. "FUCK!" The older twin who was defenceless switched with the younger twin who was ready to attack. I quickly try to regain the speed of my slash which I had previously stopped but.

"URGGGGHHHH!" I grasp in pain

"Too slow," Ini states as she slashed at me with her own blades before I could hit her with my own.

I try to endure the pain as I continue on with my swipe. However, Ini disappears even quicker than she had arrived, and this time she truly did switch places with Yuna. I quickly stop my attack as Yuna closes her eyes in fear.

"Urgh! cough cough!" Blood escapes my lips as I drop down onto one of my knees.

"Ichiyu!" Yuna grabs hold of my falling body in a tight embrace. She truly is a kind girl, that is why I will definitely protect her. I grasp Yuna's shoulder to pull myself back onto my feet as I glare at my two formidable opponents and take a few deep breaths to increase the power in my voice.

"I'm definitely going to make you both mine!" I proudly declare, the two girls simply smile back, almost to say 'good luck with that'.

""Good luck with that."" They both vocalised my interpretation. I tighten my grip on my blades as I ready for the next assault.

XXXXXX

Chapter 33B: Versus Enigma III: Elizabeth Vs Cammy I (Perspective: Elizabeth)

I glare at the girl who introduced herself as Cammy. I quickly spin my scythe around and charge towards her. I don't have any time to waste.

I slash at her body but she simply ducks down onto all fours before jumping back.

"If you won't die obediently than I'll just do it the hard way, this is all for Stella's sake so nothing personal." Cammy says as she sticks out her tongue from her mouth

What the hell is she!? The length of her tongue is definitely not normal. Just as I try to comprehend just what is going on her body suddenly disappears.

"What the!? Where did she go!?" I ask myself out loud as I gaze around my surroundings. Trying to find her, but to no avail.

"URGHH!" I suddenly feel a tight grip wrapped around my neck, its strongly constricting me, but I can't see anything. Using my hand I can feel the invisible object that is strangling me. I quickly brandish my scythe and slash at it.

"Cough Cough!" The sudden restriction disappears and I gasp on the floor. "Just what the hell." The thing that I cut that was previously invisible is lying on the floor, it looks like.

"Ah you cut my tongue..." Cammy reappears behind me as I notice there is a segment of her long tongue missing. However it quickly grows back and retakes its original shape.

"Turning invisible and that long tongue, just what on earth are you!?" I question angrily.

"Who knows, this was just the power that was granted to me when I became a anomaly. I refer to this power as 'Chameleon' however, although there are some differences between my power and the name sake." Cammy explains.

But I've never heard of a power like this even for human anomalies. And fighting this kind of ability is going to be difficult to say the very least, she is able to mask her presence completely.

"But who cares about any of that, my only desire is to see Stella happy, and for that I need you to stop breathing." She states as she once again turns invisible.

"Curses!" I run around the battlefield aimlessly whilst I am unable to see Cammy. I need to think of a countermeasure for her ability. But until then I have to buy as much time as I can and prevent myself from becoming an easy target for that grotesque tongue of hers.

"AAAARRRGGGHHH!" I yelp as I fall to the ground after feeling a nasty scraping pain on my back. Cammy once again reappears.

"My tongue isn't the only thing I can fight with," She states as she licks my blood off of her hand.

"How dare you!" I yell as I swing my scythe at the girl who is still on all fours. However she jumps back out of reach of my scythe and disappears again whilst in mid-air.

"Your fate is to be a mere sacrifice for my happiness, just accept it." The selfish invisible goth declares.

"My fate is not for you to decide. And it sure is not going to be dictated in such a way! Do not underestimate the wraith of the Cerberus, Cammy!" I rebuke as I gather flames in my hand and charge to the position of where the voice just came from and smash the ground within that vicinity with my fire.

Cammy reappears again, "If you can't see me what is the point in attacking?" She asks, I simply smile back with confidence.

If I am to defeat her I first need to uncover her secrets, her power may seem strong but there will definitely be some flaw or weakness to exploit. Which has to bring me to my first question, if she is able to turn invisible, just why does she keep on letting herself reappear? Is it due to confidence? Or is it something else entirely different, I need to figure this out. I know with my mind I'll be able to find something I can use.

XXXXX

Chapter 33C: Versus Enigma III: Interlude (Perspective: None)

This is a story from a few years before Yuichi Shiro had heard the term 'Anomaly'. In a fairly quiet remote area their lived a ageing man, however he was much older than even what he looked, having lived for well over a century. He had a condition that forced his soul near to the surface of his body, as a result his soul although not totally exposed to the atmosphere had mutated from within its shell. This gave the man a very pale complexion with pure white hair and red eyes.

Due to his appearance and the nature of his existence the local people feared the old man who was all but isolated from society. He held one sincere desire, and that was to be accepted. In order to accomplish this he studied and researched science with all his might in the hopes that he would find a cure for his ailment. Days passed, months passed, years passed and yet he was still no closer to his goal.

His research had only further increased the fears of the local villagers ostracising him even further. It was at this point he realised just how lonely he truly felt and he decided that he would use some of the knowledge he had gained to free his slowly freezing heart.

His attempts were successful, through artificial means the man had created two lives. Beings that would be dubbed Homunculi. He had decided on creating two so that if anything ever happened to him they would not suffer the way he did, as they would still have each other. He gave the two Homunculi girls the names Gem and Ini.

For several months they lived in peace. The old man who the two girls affectionately called 'Grandpa' for the first time in a long time felt the warm happiness of what he long desired, a family.

However this was not to last.

"URGHHHHHH!" The old man yelped in pain as a eerie dark blade pierced through him.

"HA HA HA! Become food for my Muramasa-Masamune!" A sinister man screamed in glee as he pushed his sword in even further, "You may not be a human anomaly! So this maybe out of my jurisdiction! But your still a freak of nature! So disappear!"

""GRANDPA!"" His two creations and his beloved children screamed together.

The Old man gripped hold of the blade of the eerie Muramasa-Masamune as he gathered what remained of his strength. "Run...Gem...Ini...Run..."

"How wonderful! You freaks can pass on together!" He states as he withdraws his blade from the writhing man who still tried to hold onto it, but he was unable and the blood from his hands merely further decorated the dark blade. The old man fell weakly onto his knees as he held his chest whilst looking on in terror with his eyes filled with tears

"Die!" The sinister man shouted as he weaved his sword and shock waves shot forth directed at the man's children and his only true treasure.

""KYAAAAHHHHHH!"" They yelped together as they fell lifelessly onto the ground in a puddle of their own blood. The twins tightly embracing each other even after death.

"Nooo..." The old man let out weakly as tears scrolled down his pale face. "Gem...Ini..." The old man called his children's names weakly as he crawled along the floor to them.

His only remaining desire was to die with them, as a family. Therefore he continued to crawl towards them before his light of life would fade away. As his outstretched hand was but a metre away from his precious children.

"Just die already!" The sinister man grunted as he stabbed the old man through the heart, deny him of his last wish as his outstretched hand fell lifelessly onto the floor.

The sinister man simply left the trio there like road kill and walked off.

A bit later and a individual who was wearing a cloak to conceal his identity happened upon the scene.

"The old man's soul has been destroyed, but I can still use these girls." The person said as they approached the recently killed homuncli twins, Gem and Ini.

[hyuugalegacy]

Here is chapter 34.

Spoiler for Chapter 34:

Chapter 34A: The Shadow Of Enigma (Perspective: None)

The night was dark, the air was chilly, and the ground was waterlogged by the pelting rain that was still ongoing. Darkness blanketed the entire area that was littered with gravestones. There was however one figure in the otherwise deserted graveyard. The man who ended the life of Vincent Redfern, the man who single-handedly defeated both Yuichi Shiro and the wielders who assisted him. His red coat which had an embroidery of blue flames and several crucifixes forming the shape of a cross on it. A white mask with a red line pattern concealed his face and identity. Even as the rain pelted him relentlessly, he didn't move a muscle.

"CAW CAW CAW!" Crows could be heard from the distance, their screeches almost sounded like a scream of fear from the masked man's presence.

"Now would probably be the time," He said to himself emotionlessly.

Suddenly a huge inferno shot up from the ground and broke its way through the night sky, that was quickly illuminated from the sudden heat source. If one scrunched their eyes slightly, a humans silhouette could just be made out through the blazing pillar of flames.

The flames slowly died down and then ceased, leaving a huge crater in the ground. The darkness once again returned.

The masked man approached the second figure that had just appeared.

"As I deduced, you were behind it," The masked man said with his monotonous voice.

"I had a feeling that you would figure it out. However, I didn't think that you would come to meet me," The second figure stated in a rough voice without even turning around to look at the person he was addressing. "So why did a man from that family of darkness, come to see me?"

"I'm surprised, you know who I am," The masked man states.

"Your voice doesn't sound surprised to me," The second figure retorts back, "I'm also well aware that you lack in the emotions department. So I know you didn't come here to give me an earful about using Stella."

"As you said, I am unable to feel anything for her, or anyone or anything for that matter. Its for that reason that I refer to myself as being incomplete. Stella only has the same blood as my mother, who married into the family. She doesn't have a drop of the Origin's blood running through her veins," The masked man explained.

"Your desire for your emotions, are you trying to activate your stigma?" The second figure asked, "Do you think having such a thing will make you complete!?"

"The stigma is little more than a curse that runs in my families blood. I have no desire to draw out such a thing, the stigma is not the completeness that I desire," The masked man states.

"Then tell me, for what reason did you come to meet me!?" The second figure changed the subject back to the original topic.

"Something I desire is being kept where you intend to go," The masked man explained, "It would only be in our best interests if we work together for the time being."

"The place I'm going, just what could you want from for there?" The second figure interrogated.

"That is of little concern to you, it will just be suffice for you to know that it will in no way hinder your personal objective," The masked man replies, the second figure knows that he was not going to budge an inch on the matter.

"And what if I were to refuse?" The second figure asks.

"Do you believe you are in any position to? The man you seek is not a fool. He didn't fall for your plan when you sent Enigma to lure out and trap the wielders. He was merely playing along to lure you out of the shadows," The masked man states, "And secondly do you think you have any chance of defeating me. If you are not working with me, then I shall defeat you here as a potential obstacle to my plan."

"Hah, I know for a fact that you are unable to imitate my power. So what do I have to fear!?" The second figure retorts he had full confidence in his strength.

"Even if I cannot use yours, I can use Stella's," The masked man states, the second figure visibly cringes at this response.

XXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 34B: The Shadow Of Enigma (Perspective: Alma)

Alicia and I have finally scored a hit on Carrisa Thanatos. However she just said that she had nothing to do with the forming of Enigma. But if that is the case then just how and why did they?

"If you're not behind it, then who is, Carrisa?" Alicia asks in anger.

"Ha ha ha! HA HA HA HA HA!" Carrisa laughs out loud, I fail to see just what was so funny, "Alma Ivana, Alicia, tell me. The incident you were involved in eight years ago, that Chimera Anomaly, where did you think that came from?"

"What do you mean?" I ask as I recall that horrible memory.

"What would you say if I were to tell you it was born from the curiosity and science of the church? A man made Chimera Anomaly, that escaped the church and was drawn towards Alicia," Carrisa happily declares.

"Are you saying!" I begin, "NO! you must be lying! The church wishes for the destruction of all anomalies, why would they create one themselves!?"

"There is a dark side to every organisation that grows too big, Alma Ivana," Carrisa states, I cannot deny that claim. I figured the church probably has a few skeletons in its closet, but not to this extent.

"Regardless, that tragedy eight years ago has nothing to do with this!?" Alicia states, she probably wants to change the subject just as much as I do.

"But it has everything to do with it," Carrisa replies.

"What are you talking about!?" I demand a response, what has my sister got to do with this?

Carrisa glares at us as the cold words escape her lips, "Do you two think that you were the only ones who were shaken by that tragedy?" She asks, "Wasn't there one more individual who would be even more upset than you? And if that someone was to learn the truth wouldn't they only naturally want vengeance? And what if that someone could also theoretically turn people into Human Anomalies using the weapon he had at his disposal for many years? Would it be such a long stretch that he would do so? Are you starting to get the picture now?"

"No...it...can't...be..." I can feel my body shake at the revelation, but it can't be. There is only one person I can think of that matches that description, but it just can't be. It's impossible.

"Alma!" Alicia shouts as I feel a tug on my shoulder.

"How...can...it...?" I ask myself rhetorically.

XXXXXXXX

Chapter 34C: The Shadow Of Enigma (Perspective: None)

"Fine then, as you wish. For the time being lets join forces. I'm not so foolish as to make an enemy of the only man whose power could rival that of the three gods," The second figure states.

"A wise decision," The masked man says monotonously with a slight nod, "As to be expected of you, Voynich-Caduceus' former wielder and Enigma's shadow leader, Shuren Azusa."

*BOOM!* - A large lightning bolt flashed the sky and illuminated the dark figure of a rough looking man with crimson dreadlocks and dangerous hawk like eyes.

[hyuugalegacy]

Here is chapter 35

Spoiler for Chapter 35:

Chapter 35A: Versus Enigma IV: The Truth

"No...that can't be...true..." Shiori-sempai says as she falls to her knees. We are viewing all the fights from within the barriers. Therefore, we too heard the shocking revelation regarding Sempai's thought to be deceased brother.

Alicia had mentioned this Shuren-san when she told me about the time she first met Alma. He was the person who Shiori-sempai thought she lost last year. The person who I insulted, despite not knowing him, in order to bring out her tears.

I hold onto my Sempai's shaking shoulders. "Sempai, this theory is nothing more than something Carrisa sprouted, it can't be trusted." I comfort, Sempai looks at me with her tear stained red eyes.

"That wasn't a theory, it was the truth," Stella states from the other side of one of the barriers. "My battle with him a year ago was staged from the very beginning, it was all to put him under the church's radar. He was already a Human Anomaly by this time."

"What do you mean!?" I ask aggravated that what little hope we had was shot down all too soon.

"Shuren-sama wishes to avenge Nadia Ivana's death with his own hands. One of my abilities allows me to put people into a coma stasis like state, and whilst a person is under it, I share a neutral link with them. Shuren-sama has been leading Enigma through me for the past year. And when I transported you all into this world I removed the technique he was under, so now he can accomplish his ultimate goal." Stella smiles as she opens her arms wide open like she is praising a god, "Didn't you suspect the church of wrong doing from the very beginning, Shiori Azusa? Why was that?"

"Shuren-Niisama's notes, they mentioned...his suspicions regarding the...church," Sempai's replies whilst still shaking, not that I can blame her. She just learned that her brother is still alive. "Shuren-Niisama...is really...alive..."

"Correct, the reason those notes were left and he returned Voynich-Caduceus to the church was because he knew they would fall into your hands. He was planning on using you as a back door entrance into the church as a plan B should this plan have not been possible. That's why he sprouted the seeds of suspicion within you. It is also because of Shuren-sama's will that you are safely trapped within the barriers rather than out in the battlefield, in Yuichi Shiro's case it was just coincidence however."

"He was planning on using Shiori-sempai!?" I can't hold back my anger from hearing this. Sempai was always distraught because of his 'Death', and he was going to use her like a tool?

"In order to accomplish a goal sometimes compromises need to be made. However, on this occasion it didn't have to come to that. This world was created to trap the Slayers within it and prevent them from returning by using Ley-Mistletoe's ability to travel along the ley lines. Meaning, there is no one who can get in his way! Soon, neither the church, nor its Slayers, will be able to get in our way!" Stella's smile widens, "Then no human will be able to stand before an Anomaly! Our existence shall not be denied!"

XXXXXXX

Chapter 35B: Versus Enigma IV: Wolfy VS Slots II (Perspective: Wolfy)

"My luck shall destroy your lack of!" Slots shouts as two dices enter the roulette. They both land on the fire section with values of six each.

A huge inferno shoots out of the roulette straight at me and Mizuno-sama. I quickly grab her shirt and jump into the air with her. "Whaaaaa!" She screams as she looks down. The inferno leaks out several streams of fire, I quickly manoeuvre in midair so we both avoid them, the heat that they are giving off is extreme.

Before we land I ensure to force Mizuno-sama up into the air slightly to break her fall, I then charge at Slots.

"If multiple dices fall into the same area then the magnitude of the attack is the total value!?" I question as I unleash my own fire attack. Slots jumps back and avoids it as his roulette spins once again.

"That's right," He confirms, "The attacks magnitude isn't just limited to a value of six!"

"You really are fixing the results aren't you!" There is no way ones luck can be this good.

"Like I said before! I have no need to do such things, my luck never lets me down," He declares once again, "However every now and again luck does sometimes shine on my opponent as a weak passing breeze." The single dice that Slots threw into the roulette has a value of one and has landed in a section labelled curse. The roulette and Slots' dices all turn transparent. I'm confused, just what is going on?

"When the dice lands in the curse section all other results become invalid, and I am unable to use the roulette or dices for fifteen seconds multiplied by the total value rolled on the entire roulette," Slots explains as if he read my mind. Wait this means!

I quickly charge at Slots and have flames engulf my claws "URGHHH!" I slash at Slots who can only use his arms as shields and falls backwards onto the ground.

"You shouldn't have let that slip!" I state, just what kind of idiot reveals his own weakness.

"I told you," Slots states as he gets back onto his feet, "My luck decides my fate, I have no need for tricks and mysteries." The roulette and the dice reappears again, I guess his curse wore off, it was only a value of one after all. However, I now know exactly how to beat him, the answer lies in the curse of his roulette. But unlike him I won't just be relying on luck!

I shoot another fireball as I charge towards him again. Slots remains stationary as the two dices in the roulette reveal they landed on the sections labelled, 'Barrier' and 'Recover'. My fireball hits something like a forcefield and the cuts and burns I gave him before all quickly disappear.

"Tch, how annoying," I grunt at seeing his recovery, I on the other hand am reaching my limit. I've been shooting fireball after fireball consecutively, I won't be able to keep this up much longer.

"Luck decides everything, and mine is infinite!" He screams into the sky. I respond to this by blasting another fireball. His dice lands on 'Water', all right this is actually a chance.

The fireball and the water collide leaving only steam and mist in its wake. The visibility is reduced harshly however this is no big deal for me. My sense of smell was always better than my sight anyway.

I charge at the unsuspecting Slots from his blind spot and engulf my claws in flames "URGGHHH!" I slash at his back and force him back onto the ground and straddle him.

"URGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I continuously attack him with my claws ignoring the roulette.

"GAAAHHH!" A scorching heat assaults my body. But I hold my ground and continue attacking. This game of endurance, I wonder which of us will be the first to give out!?

"URRRGHHHH! GET OFF OF ME!" Slots screams as his face flares up, "ROULETTE! HEX DICE!" All six of the dices shoot into the roulette. This is the chance that I have been waiting for.

I shoot a small fireball at the dice entering the roulette and alter there trajectory slightly. "WHAT!" Slots is shocked by my action.

"Lets see if your luck really holds up then!" I state as all the dices land on different sections with ranging values. However the only one that matters to me is the one that fell into the section labelled 'curse'. That one dice totals up all the other dices values and nullifies the other effects.

"WHATTT! NO!" Slots screams in shock as his Roulette and dices disappear, this time however the value is a lot more than one.

"The more dices you throw into the roulette, the bigger the risk of a curse showing up! Now you're helpless!" I shout as I unleash all my remaining energy into a barrage of attacks with my fireballs and claws.

"UUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH! " All the while Slots screams in agony and frustration till the very moment he loses conscientiousness.

"One who relies on luck is the one who gets devoured by that same luck," I state as I move away from the unconscious bloody mess that is Slots. I made sure to avoid his vitals so he'll live but he won't be moving for a good long while. I suspect the fact that his luck betrayed him will leave quite the trauma.

"Slots has been defeated," A voice declares.

XXXXXX

Chapter 35C: Versus Enigma IV: Slayers Vs Ark II (Perspective: Jijitsu)

"Damn," I grunt while getting to my feet. Glancing around I notice that both Phoebe and Bosch are knocked out nearby.

I glare at the one responsible, the man known as Ark. "HOW DARE YOU!" I scream as I tighten my grip on my soul slayer.

"It looks like you managed to get out in one piece," He says as a bunch of rubble rises into the air and shoots towards me like a bullet. I quickly dive out of the way. But Ark moves with lightning speed and is suddenly standing right above me. The wind circles around his hand at tremendous speed once again. "URGGGHHH!" The very force of it forces me back and slams me into a large chunk of rubble. He's not even taking this fight seriously now, he's just toying with me.

"Curse you!" I scream again as I decide to use my soul slayers trump card, "AWAKEN!" Fragarach-Kusanagi disappears from my hand and a dark circle littered with foreign symbols appears on the ground. Dark miasma leaks out like a dense fog, and in its centre a huge eight headed hydra like creature emerges.

"One of Fragarach-Kusanagi's abilities, the power to summon and control the soul anomaly that was once sealed into that very weapon, Yamata-No-Orochi." It seems Ark already knew this function of my soul slayer.

"Attack, Yamata-No-Orochi!" Upon my command the many heads each spew out venom at Ark, who merely stands stationary as chunks of rubble block the attack.

Whilst still spewing its venom Yamata-No-Orochi swings its long tail at Ark trying to catch him off guard.

However Ark is still very much aware and a huge chunk of rubble crashes down onto Yamata-No-Orochi's tail and traps it under it, "KKKIIIIHHHHHHHH!" Yamata-No-Orochi hisses in pain. Whilst seven of its heads continue with the venom attack the final head attacks directly with its fangs.

With quick speed it bites right into Ark's shoulder who cringes slightly but is otherwise silent. A huge burst of wind destroys the attacking head, but its done its job. That bite injected Ark with its poison this battle will be over soon. I can't help but smile at my victory.

"That poison won't beat me," Ark's words instantly deny me, what is he talking about is he just bluffing!? "Poison flows through the body's blood stream, something that I am currently controlling with my telekinesis." Wait don't tell me!

A purple and red liquid seeps out of the bite wound and floats around in the air. "You ejected the poison out of your body using telekinesis!?" I scream in shock, just how overpowered is this guy!? He can use his power to replace his heart, extract poison, whilst still at the same time blocking numerous attacks from the many heads. Monster is too insignificant of a word to describe this man.

"I told you there is no one who can use their powers to the same level that I can," Ark states, "I suppose it's about time I put your overgrown reptile down."

The ground suddenly throbs, is he creating another earthquake? But no, the ground simply opens up underneath where Yamata-No-Orochi is, creating a huge crevice that the huge multi-headed snake falls into. The ground then quickly closes itself back up, "HHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIHHHHHHHHHH!" A loud screech shakes the air. He defeated Yamata-No-Orochi without even moving from that one spot!

With Yamata-No-Orochi defeated Fragarach-Kusanagi re-materialises into my hand. "Damn you to hell!" I shout as I release numerous wind waves. But he just strolls leisurely towards me as various chunks of rubble block my attacks.

When he walks within striking reach I give up on my wind strikes and try to slice his head off with all my might. However the attack is blocked by nothing but a piece of rubble that is not much bigger than a pebble. "What!" How can my attack be blocked by something so small.

"Do you know the reason why diamond is so hard it's practically indestructible?" Ark asks, almost as if he can read my thoughts through my expression, "It's because all the molecules are compressed to such a significant degree. So therefore if I use my telekinesis to compress the molecular structure of this small pebble, I can make it harder than diamond."

"WHAT! You can do something like that on the molecular level! Next you'll be telling me you can use your telekinesis to cure cancer!" I shout out in anger as I swing my sword randomly but the small stone moves to block my blade dead every time.

"I cannot use my telekinesis directly on another living organism excluding myself, so on anybody else it would be impossible. But if I were to catch it, then yes I can cure it using my telekinesis."

Damn this smart-arse has a reply to everything!

"But now its game over for you," Ark states as wind gathers around his hand again.

"Urghhhh!" I feel a sharp pain as blood pours onto the floor. My unsteady feet try to support my body weight, but they give out from the disorientation and I land face first into my own puddle of blood.

"Damn...it..." I curse as my eyes can no longer see the light and thus embrace the darkness.

[hyuugalegacy]

And chapter 36

Spoiler for Chapter 36:

Chapter 36A: Versus Enigma V: The Still Caged Beauty

"Ah, your pet is quite the strong one, Yuichi Shiro," Stella says as another one of the many barriers disappears. "To think that Slots was defeated by a mutt, ha ha. He must feel really pathetic, him and his so called absolute luck."

"You really are easy going," I reply, "Two of your comrades have been beat and your just laughing it off."

"Well, Slots aside, I despised Kiri. I can only be thankful that he is gone." Stella says with a smile. Although I am of the same opinion, one as beautiful as I cannot like her attitude to her former comrade.

Suddenly a red box with a huge exclamation mark appears in front of Stella, who looks at it seriously.

"Hmm- so some rats have broke in," She says returning her face into a smile.

"What are you saying!?" Shiori-sempai asks looking at Stella's confident smile.

"Just that things are heating up even more."

XXXXXXX

Chapter 36B: Versus Enigma V: The Power Of The Chameleon (Perspective: Elizabeth)

"Gaah!" I yelp as a sharp pain attacks my limbs. Cammy reappears in front of me, I quickly slice at her with my scythe, but as expected she dodges it and disappears again.

As I thought, even if it is only briefly, she has to reappear. That is my only chance, to attack when I can actually see her.

I run around the area in several different random patterns whilst keeping my eyes open to watch for any chance I can get to attack her. Cammy's chameleon like ability is quite the troublesome thing to fight, but it isn't almighty.

"It's useless," Her voice comes from behind me, I quickly turn around to see her expelling something from her mouth at me, I quickly dive out of the way of the green liquid. I notice that the liquid that shot past me had hit the building behind me, which is sizzling and corroding from the contact.

"Acid?" I ask, Cammy just smiles confidently as she gets back on all fours.

"Get hit by it and you'll have a lot more than minor burns," She says as her body regains its transparency, that quickly changes to invisibility.

I once again continue my run. However, I quickly feel another sharp pain that forces me back, "GAAAHH!" The force knocks my scythe out of my hand, I quickly try to scurry over to grab it, but when my hand is mere inches away, "Guhh!"

"Can't sever my tongue without that scythe, can you?" Cammy says with a confident smile, this girl is so uncouth. I feel her tongue tightening on my neck like a python as it lifts me off the ground. However, this is my chance, we're now connected. I grab her tongue with my hand and run electricity through it. How's that! Cammy's face grunts slightly as blood seeps out, but she doesn't scream or look like she is in pain, she barely even flinches.

The voltage I'm running through isn't something that can be shaken off! I can't hide my surprise, the heat from the electricity suddenly burns the scarf around Cammy's neck and it falls to the floor in cinders. What I see on her neck is numerous scars, the most prominent one being a red ring all the way around her neck, it looks almost like...

"Due to my family circumstances there was never any shortage of times I wished that my existence would end. Both my body and soul have been ravaged since the day I was born. As a result, I've gained a complete immunity to physical pain. Your little jolt is all but worthless against me." She states as her tongue tightens even more. In turn I increase the power of my lightning, this is the only thing I can do. She maybe immune to pain, but her body isn't immune to damage. Before she can break my neck I need to destroy her. Now, which one of us will give out first!

XXXXXXXX

Chapter 36C: Versus Enigma V: Turn The Tide With Bronze (Perspective: Ichiyu)

Both Gem and Ini are attacking me with their respective elemental blades. And all I can do is defend myself with my two bronze swords. Regardless of how beautiful I am, I won't last if this keeps up.

"Right there!" I shout as I swipe my one of my blades at Ini who was momentarily defenceless, however the girl quickly turns to being Yuna, I stop my attack and swing my sword in the direction Yuna previously was, knowing an attack is incoming.

"GUHH!" I block Ini's electric blade with my own bronze sword, but the electricity conducted through the metal and zapped me.

"I guess you weren't destined to have Gemini," Gem says as her wind blade slashes towards me whilst I'm still stunned. I conjure up a wall of bronze to block the attack and push Gem back, I then break the wall down to small shards and shoot them at her.

"Bronze Rain!" I shout out the attack name, this is an unwritten rule that all fighters follow, and I'm not one to break tradition.

Gem instantly switches places with Yuna and I once again have to stop my attack. However, this is all in my calculations. It's time I turn the tide of this battle in my favour. Whilst Yuna is away from the three of us I quickly conjure up another wall made of bronze that completely splits the corridor, in two and seals her from the view of the two siblings.

"Wait, Ichiyu-kun?" Yuna begins probably confused why I'm doing this. This is for both of our sakes. No offence, but you're kind of in the way.

"You know...", "How our ability works?" They ask.

"You can only switch places with a living being that is within your field of vision. So now you can no longer switch places with Yuna, which means I can attack you with everything I have!"

""How interesting!"" They say together.

"I shall have you both soon!" I scream my war cry.

Gem charges at me from the front and attacks me with her water blade, I ready my one of my own bronze swords to guard. However she quickly switches places with Ini and the water blade is switched for the electric one. I quickly change my guard into a evasive manoeuvre and dodge the electric blade, I'm not letting myself get shocked a second time. I then swipe at Ini with my sword without restraint, she can no longer switch with Yuna, so how are you going to deal with this?

I then notice a familiar sensation, one which I remember well. I quickly let go of one of my bronze swords. And as I thought, I switched places my bronze sword that was originally aiming for Ini, cuts only air. But the other bronze sword that I dropped is still where I previously stood. I quickly change and shoot the bronze on the unsuspecting Gem, "Kyaaa!" The bronze cuts through her flesh.

"Onee-chan!" Ini shouts in astonishment.

"I'm fine, Ini-chan," Gem says as blood flows down her arm, the face is important so I made sure to avoid it in my last attack. "You set a trap knowing one of us was going to switch places with you?" Gem asks.

"My body remembers the sensation of that ability. Without Yuna you can only switch places with either me or your sister. That last attack on Ini was to force you to switch places with me. Both of you have only been defending yourselves by using your soul technique. That power is indeed strong, but its power and efficiency is only at its best when there are multiple targets to use it with. The moment Yuna was out of the equation was the moment I had guaranteed my victory!" I explain as I conjure a second bronze sword to replace the one I dropped before.

"You truly are...", "something else." The sisters compliment as their smiles grow wider in anticipation, ""But Gemini hasn't lost yet!""

XXXXXXXXX

Chapter 36D: Versus Enigma V: Photon Options (Perspective: Alicia)

"Well, I suppose that is enough with the conspiracy theories," Carrisa swings her scythe horizontally in a threatening manner and her face turns serious, "You two have shown me quite the teamwork before. So now it's time I took this fight to the next level, Alicia, Alma Ivana. Let me show you why the Underworld considers me a genius!" Carrisa slashes her scythe into the ground and closes her eyes as she claps her hands together and quickly forms several unusual signs with them.

"Get ready, Alma. This technique is a very troublesome one," I state as I tighten my grip on my scythe and refocus my eyes on Carrisa.

"What is she going to do?" Alma asks anxiously, probably sensing the danger in my voice.

But before I can answer. Several thin streams of white light sprout out from Carrisa's back and wriggle around like an octopus' tentacles, each thin light tentacle has something that looks like an eyeball at the end, eyeballs that are all glaring at Alma and I ominously.

Carrisa slowly opens her own eyes and refocuses them on us, "Thanatos' Reaper Technique: Photon Options."


One of the eyes that is looking at me suddenly flashes, I instinctively duck down and a beam of white light shoots from the eye and scorches the ground just past me. Another eye quickly glows and I roll back to avoid another light beam and get myself back onto my feet.

"Just like I recall, you can create so many of them," I state, and Carrisa smiles back.

"What on earth are those things!?" Alma shouts in shock.

"Photon Options is a reaper technique that only the Thanatos family can use. Each one of those eyes as you just saw can shoot out those lasers, and not only that, they can also act as the users eyes." Several of the Photon Options are constantly glancing around the area, covering Carrisa's field of vision's blind spots. I quickly scan how many Photon Options Carrisa has deployed. "The Thanatos family often measure there family member's talent via how many Photon Options they can use at once, anyone who can use eight is regarded as special. And Carrisa has got ten, the same amount as Tartarus-sama." Carrisa is already her father's equal.

Several of Carrisa's Photon Options glow, Alma and I quickly move out of the way and the lasers released burn the surroundings.

"Tch! Eat this!" Alma shouts as she shoots a bolt of lightning from Gungnir-Mjölnir. One of the Photon Options shoots its own laser and the attacks dissipate each other. Several other of the Photon Options then return their attacks back onto us, we both quickly take evasive action.

"Damn it! Alicia, what can we do!? This technique is good for both offence and defence, and they strongly outnumber us," Alma growls in frustration.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out myself. I've never been on the receiving side of ten Photon Options. However, although there are some differences, their attacks obey the laws of light, they only travel in straight lines. Not only that, but there is also a minor delay before they can attack."

"What good does knowing that do you when I control ten of them, Alicia? I can defeat you with my sheer numbers." Carrisa states, and the tentacles extend and surround the two of us.

"This isn't good," I grunt, Carrisa is planning on attacking us from several different angles at once.

"Farewell, Alma Ivana, Alicia." All the Photon Options suddenly glow at once. There is no way we'll be able to dodge them all.

"Yui...chi..." I state weakly as my legs tremble from the attack I know is coming.

XXXXXXXX

Chapter 36E: Versus Enigma V: Yuichi's Oath Dilemma

"Shit, Alicia! Elizabeth!" I shout in shock as I glare at the visions of both Ren and my respective fiancés. They're in danger and I'm stuck here! What good does being beautiful do me if I'm stuck backstage as a spectator!? Put the spotlight back on me!

My Silver Manifestation has timed out. I need to re-chant the lyrics and regain my power, but I doubt I'll make it in time.

"My soul is one that is of self confidence," I begin, please let me make it in time.

Elizabeth, Alicia, if you both survive I swear I won't look at myself in the mirror for the next forty eight hours...No, I'm unable to keep that promise. Make it the next hour and a half. Well, even that is pushing it, but our girls are worth it. Just please be all right.

XXXXXXXX

Chapter 36F: Versus Enigma V: The Daughter Of Cerberus (Perspective: Elizabeth)

My lightning whilst still giving Cammy damage is not making her weaken her tongue's constriction on my neck. My powers are just about wasted. The tongue constricts further.

Ren-sama, our meeting was one that could not have been called pleasant. You deflowered my purity, however you accepted me immediately when I told you we had to marry. Many men have requested my hand over the years. Their motives were always clear, they wanted to get into the Cerberus family and were willing to use me as a tool to accomplish that. I've always despised them, the leeches who wished to gain fame and fortune what they deemed the easy way.

Finding someone who didn't just try to woo me for the sake of their personal greed was a dream within a dream. I was always the daughter of Cerberus, something I have felt both pride and loathing for being. But then I met you. You agreed to the marriage before you even knew of my background. Therefore, from the very start I realised, your goal wasn't Cerberus, it was me. How could I not feel something for someone as kind as you, Ren-sama?

The brief time between now and when I became your betrothed have been the best of my life. Thank you, I'm sorry...

A single tear escapes my closed eyes as I lose all hope I have of surviving.

Suddenly, I feel the solid feel of the ground again and I cough from the sudden feeling of the air entering my system. The tongue that was constricting me is lying lifelessly on the ground.

"Are you all right, Elizabeth-san?" A girl who is rubbing my back asks.

"You're..." I say as I face my rescuer.

"Leave this to us," Another girl's voice says from in front of me.

"You're here too...How?" I cannot hide my shock by the sudden reinforcements.

XXXXXXX

Chapter 36G: Versus Enigma V: The Different Forced Option (Perspective: Alicia)

Just as Carrisa is ready to shoot the beams of her Photon Options her face suddenly contorts, and all the Photon Options quickly move and change their directions away from Alma and I. Just what the hell happened?

Several beams of white, pink, and blue lights collide with each other behind Carrisa. The beams of light that collide with each other act like billiard balls and fly in random directions destroying everything in their paths.

"I wasn't expecting to see you two here," Carrisa states without turning around, but her Photon Options are all looking at our two saviours. But how on earth did those two get here?

"I'm afraid we cannot let you continue on any further," The elegant girl states with a cute curtsy, but her eyes look serious. I cannot believe these girls are here.

"Nya ha ha, we came to kick your butt into the next blue moon," The second girl states, for some reason that sounds a bit wrong though.

XXXXXXX

Chapter 36H: Versus Enigma V: The Reliable Reinforcements

"Thank goodness," These words let out all my feelings as I wipe my tears, "I guess my mirror is sealed for the next ninety minutes."

"So they were the intruders, how interesting," Stella states with an even grander smile that grows only even wider, "But Enigma will still win this game, no, we've already won."

"Fight updates!" The familiar robotic voice begins, "Carrisa Thanatos Versus Alma Ivana, Alicia Pandemonium, Rose Thanatos, and Lily Thanatos. Cammy Leon Versus Elizabeth Cerberus, Lilicia Pandemonium, and Tsubaki Thanatos!"

The three families' younger generation, have come to the rescue of the older.

[hyuugalegacy]

Here is chapter 37

Spoiler for Chapter 37:

Chapter 37A: Versus Enigma VI: The Unbeatable Duo (Perspective: Lilicia)

"I wasn't expecting to run into the younger brats of Pandemonium and Thanatos," The girl that I presume was the aforementioned Cammy-san says as she wipes blood off her lips.

"Did you think I would sit on the sidelines when Onee-sama and Yuichi-niisama were fighting for their lives?" I can't help but feel insulted, I won't forgive those who target the ones most precious to me, "You scum have done no less than three things that have upset me," I exclaim as I glare at the goth girl who has already got injuries all over her body.

"Three things?" Elizabeth-san asks from behind me.

"One, you brought so many people who are precious to me into this alternate dimension in the first place. Two, you nearly killed Elizabeth-san with your own hands." I take a deep breath before I recite the final and most important point, "Three, that announcement addressed me as Lilicia Pandemonium, instead of Lilicia Shiro!" I glare at the woman in front of me with one hundred percent of my hostility focused into my gaze. I can feel everyone else, both friend and foe, staring at me in wonder for some reason.

"Lilicia-chan, why on earth do you want to take up that pervert's name?" My best friend, Tsubaki-chan, asks in shock, "He has absolutely nothing good to him whatsoever." She chides.

"Indeed, I could understand if you wanted to take up the name Kirei, but why Shiro?" Elizabeth-san nods to herself, she really has grown fond of him, I never thought I'd see the day. Well, I think Ren-san is cool too, I can remember the time he became a human anomaly when he bravely faced danger. But he still isn't on the high level that is Yuichi-niisama.

"I cannot describe Yuichi-niisama's wonderfulness with words alone. His kindness, his radiance, and his gentleness are not things that can be taught." I explain, I liked him the first time I ever laid my eyes on him.

"Hahhh," Cammy-san sighs as she stares at me, "The first two things aside, will this make you feel better?" She clicks her fingers and then.

"Fight updates! Cammy Leon Versus Elizabeth Cerberus, Lilicia Shiro, and Tsubaki Thanatos!" The announcement corrects, much better, I nod my head in satisfaction.

"Well then, shall we get back to it?" Cammy-san asks as a confident smile returns to her face, "If I defeat all three of you, Stella will praise me even more!" She screams as her body vanishes.

"Tch, well I originally only came here because there was the chance Carrisa came, but there is no way I can let some fake anomaly walk all over someone from the three families, can I?" Tsubaki-chan says as she leaves Elizabeth-san's side and stands next to me, we're both holding our scythes in our hands.

"Be careful! That girl can shoot acid, mask her presence and many other things. But she can only hold the invisibility for so long before she reappears. You should..." Elizabeth-san begins to explain the characteristics of our faux anomaly opponent. Suddenly some kind of green projectile starts flying towards Tsubaki-chan and I, the speed is fast but hardly unavoidable. We both step one huge stride back and the green projectile hits the floor, that starts sizzling. I see, this is the acid Elizabeth-san was talking about. However, maybe due to the damage Elizabeth-san gave her earlier, but her attacks seem almost dull.

"If she can turn invisible, then we'll just have to make her visible, Tsubaki-chan," I state as I activate my specialised earth elemental reaper technique to gather parts of the ground and crumble them away into innumerable small, yet still visible deposits.

"Oh, I see," Tsubaki-chan says with a smile as she activates one of her wind elemental reaper techniques and lightly blows the small ground deposits through the air.

I then notice an unnatural movement of the deposits, they are heading straight for me at a high velocity. I quickly predict the trajectory and sidestep out the way before grabbing at the area that it just passed by, my hand feels a disgusting slimy object.

"Wha! WHAT!?" Cammy-san exclaims as her body regains its visibility. The object that I am holding is her extended tongue. Cammy tries to continuously pull it back but I just further secure my grip.

"You maybe able to turn invisible but you still disturb the surroundings with your movement," I explain.

"That dirt your blowing around!" She shouts in shock.

"We're using it to track your movements," Tsubaki-chan says with a smile.

"Together Tsubaki-chan and I are more than capable of dragging you out of the shadows, you've picked the wrong opponents," I state as I manipulate a pointy chunk of earth to extend out of the ground to try and pierce Cammy's body.

Cammy still unable to move due to me holding her tongue suddenly roughly closes her jaw shut and the tongue I'm holding suddenly feels loose and falls to the ground. Cammy, having severed her own tongue, quickly jumps out of the way of my earth spike as her body turns invisible again.

"I guess she still hasn't learned, Lilicia-chan," Tsubaki-chan states.

"Right, she hasn't learnt that there is no hiding place from us." I reply.

Several streams of acid is shot at us but we skilfully avoid them with minimal movement. A quick sudden movement of the deposits heading towards me, I block with my scythe as I notice a large stream near me and a smaller amount going for my body, from the recoil I can tell she just tried to attack me directly herself.

"Lilicia, Tsubaki!" Elizabeth-san calls out from behind as she tries to get to her feet.

"It's fine, just leave it to us," I state confidently, as I notice the deposits acting in a way that I recognise from earlier, she's using her tongue again and it's heading for Tsubaki-chan. Like before I intercepts with my hand grabbing hold of it. Cammy-san once again is trying to pull it free. I quickly loop my scythe around her tongue several times as I smold the tongue together using fire I've gathered in my palm. Fire elements are more the Cerberus family's speciality, but that doesn't mean that I can't use them. I then release my grip as Cammy-san's tongue withdraws to its owner with my scythe attached to it.

"Checkmate," I state coldly, I'm glad Yuichi-niisama isn't here right now. I wouldn't want him seeing me as being a violent girl.

"GAAAHHH!" My spinning scythe lodges itself into Cammy-san, "Ste...lla..." She mutters weakly as she falls on her side into a small puddle of blood. She's an anomaly, so this wouldn't be enough to kill her, but I wasn't after her life to begin with, just incapacitating her is more than enough.

"Cammy Leon has been defeated!" The announcement confirms our victory.

XXXXXXX

Chapter 37B: Versus Enigma VI: Carrisa's True Genius (Perspective: Alicia)

"Rose, Lily?" I address the two girls standing the other side of Carrisa.

"We have come to stop her from defiling our name any further," Rose states as her eyes fire up with determination, "Onee-sama, not only have you abandoned the Underworld, but you have degraded yourself and us by following a swine. I shall not let you trample on our pride any further."

"Rose, out of my sisterly love I'll let those insults to my master slide this once. My goal is only Gungnir-Mjölnir if you stay out of my way, I'll leave you be," Carrisa states as a hint of anger emits from her voice, most likely due to Rose insulting that masked man. "That goes for you two as well, Alicia, Lily. Cooperate and there will no longer be a need for this current conflict."

Alma stares at me as if she is asking what am I going to do, the answer is obvious though. "Do you really expect me to go along with your selfishness, Carrisa? I don't know what you are your so called master are after by collecting Gungnir-Mjölnir but I know nothing good will come of it. I'll fight you to the bitter end, Carrisa. As someone I used to look up to as my role model this is the best I can do for you. I won't let you drag yourself down any further."

"Nya ha ha, Onee-chan, is being really hated." Lily says playfully, she never takes anything seriously.

"And I likewise shall not hand you my soul slayer. This is a precious memento of my sister, you'll have to pull it out of my cold hands!" Alma screams, our views are united as we each glare at the former prodigy of the Thanatos family.

"Then negotiations are over, but you'll be the ones to regret my peaceful solution," Carrisa says with a sigh as she grips hold of her scythe even tighter. "I never wished to spill the blood of my family, but so be it."

Carrisa's ten Photon Options all concerntrate their attacks on her two younger siblings. As the white beams shoot out Lily and Rose's own Photon Options shoot out pink and blue lights respectively. Like before, the beams collide against each other and rebound in random directions.

"Alicia-san, we'll keep Onee-sama's Photon Options out of the picture so don't concern yourselves with them and attack her without reservation," Rose states pridefully.

Both Rose and Lily are using five Photon Options each allowing them to balance out against Carrisa's own ten.

"Right!" I shout as I nod towards Alma, who returns my gaze and then running alongside me towards Carrisa.

Carrisa brandishes her scythe and faces me and Alma whilst her ten Photon Options are facing and continuously shooting their beams at Rose and Lily. The three different colour lasers colliding and rebounding constantly, the bright colours giving off the impression of something akin to fireworks.

*Ching Ching!* - Alma and I swing our respective weapons at Carrisa who skilly deflects our attacks even though she is still preoccupied with her Photon Options.

I quickly gather and shoot a ball of lightning at her, Carrisa dodges to the side and charges at us again whilst brandishing her scythe.

"Alma, cover me for a moment!" I shout as a plan instantly comes to mind, Alma looks at me a bit confused but she doesn't refuse my order. Alma guards herself and me from Carrisa's scythe as I brandish my own, however my target is not Carrisa. I slice my scythe through several of the white tentacles that are basically the power lines connecting Carrisa to her Photon Options.

"What!?" Carrisa exclaims, when I cut the tentacles they shredded briefly but they quickly took their original forms. However, the delay I created by temporarily disabling the power lines stalled Carrisa's Photon Options for a fraction of a second. "URGH!" Without the fire power of the Photon Options I temporarily severed Lily and Rose were able to get a direct shot on Carrisa.

Carrisa quickly jumps to one side to regain her fighting posture as she ignores the blood flowing down her left shoulder.

"Tch, although she took several attacks from those Photon Options it only gave her a minor wound," Alma grunts.

"Like it or not, Carrisa was born to the Thanatos family. Although she isn't immune she does have some resistance to the attacks of the Photon Options," I explain.

"This is the second time you've managed to hurt me. I must say I wasn't expecting this kind of turn of events. But Rose, Lily, the power output of each of your Photon Options is very much sub par. If between the three of you, you cannot make up for my absence, then the current Thanatos has no future." Carrisa declares

"Nya ha ha, you're being a sore loser, onee-chan," Lily jokes without any hint of worry.

"That's right, even without you we can look after the future of Thanatos." Rose states with a voice mixed with pride and disdain.

"If you say that much, then I won't bring the topic up again, but you know that the power scales have tilted considerably. If those two are going to make their move, now would be the prime time." I can't help but feel a drop of sweat trickle down my neck as I hear Carrisa's eerie words. "But regardless, now is the time I should put you each in your place."

Several more streams of white light shoot forth out of Carrisa's back as the menacing eyes join to them. Carrisa created an additional four Photon Options.

"Fourteen..." I quietly whisper in shock from this sudden revelation. All four of us stare on in utter disbelief from Carrisa's demonstration of power. How could I have been so naïve, I thought Carrisa's maximum number of Photon Options was ten. Carrisa is her father's equal? No, hasn't she already completely surpassed him?

"Were you expecting my power growth to have been at a standstill when I left the Underworld?" She smiles confidently, far from being at a standstill its sky-rocketed. Her fourteen Photon Options each begin gathering power and they all turn their sights on Rose and Lily.

Once again the white, blue, and pink beams collide but this time there is more white beams than there are blue and pink combined. The extra white beams collide with other white beams that would otherwise be steered into hitting nothing, however the rebounds change the trajectory.

"KYAAAA!"

"NYAAAA!"

"Rose! Lily!" I shout as Carrisa's two younger sisters fall to the ground with their clothes soaked in their own blood. "How could you!? Your own little sisters, CARRISA!" I charge at her with my scythe as I shoot several streams of powerful lightning at her, my anger powering up my techniques. Alma too shoots her own electricity at Carrisa as her eyes grow even angrier than my own. However the Photon Options deflect every single attack we throw at her.

"I tried to negotiate," Carrisa states bitterly, "However my orders take priority to even my own flesh and blood!" She exclaims as her Photon Options direct their attention to Alma and I, "Now it's your turn." The white lights released balance off each other continuously like a pinball machine at a high speed my eyes cannot adjust to their movements.

"Gyaaah!"

"Urghhhh!"

Several of the white lights suddenly pierce through us in several places on our bodies. Then interior burning sensation of the Photon Option's lasers instantly knocks me to my knees, Alma falls face down on the ground, she was hit a lot harsher than I was.

"Guuuh!" I try to pull myself back onto my feet but my hands slip due to the pain and I fall back to the ground.

Carrisa casually grabs Gungnir-Mjölnir out of the pained Alma's hand. "With this my mission objective is complete," She nods to herself as she glances over her newly stolen soul slayer.

"Curse you..." I grunt weakly as the only weapon I can use against her is my glare.

"You truly have grown, Alicia," Carrisa smiles as she looks over at the wounds she has received. "The fact that you fought me four to one aside, that last tactic you used was really ingenious. I didn't expect that I would have to reveal one of my trump cards in this battle. Well, fortunately for all of you, I didn't have a need to play my last one." Carrisa's smile broadens even wider as a dark mist appears just above her hand. Within that mist is a large single, closed, green book. Wait that's...

"Carrisa...you can...?" I feel my body tremble from something other than the pain. I never imagined that she could even use that. Rose and Lily also begin shaking intensely as they lay their eyes on the ominous sight.

"Onee-sama...you..." Rose's voice stutters from the shock and fear

"Nya..." Even Lily who is always happy go lucky knows the true danger of what Carrisa is holding.

"Well that was just a demonstration to reward your achievements today, although the winner was set in stone from the beginning." The book and its dark mist soon dissipate into nothingness as Carrisa turns her back on us and walks off casually swinging Gungnir-Mjölnir back and forth.

I failed again...

From the very beginning, the illusion of us beating her, it was only to stay as an illusion.

"Damn it..." I exclaim in frustration as my will that forced my body to stay upright gives out and I lie face down on the cold floor whilst cursing my own weakness.

XXXXXXXX

Chapter 37C: Versus Enigma VI: A New Conflict Begins

That goth girl Cammy Leon has just been defeated and one of the barriers surrounding us disappears to show this.

"It looks like you Enigma punks aren't as powerful as you think you are! As soon as this barrier is gone I'm going to defeat you in the most beautiful way a man can!" I provoke whilst glaring at Stella, who is looking on at the screen at the defeated Cammy.

"Enigma is through," Shiori-sempai adds on, but Stella isn't listening to any of it.

"Cammy..." Stella's expression looks sad for a moment, but it instantly changes into one a lot more intense as she finally changes her line of sight back to us, "I never expected you vermin to harm my dear Cammy. It looks like you'll get your wish of a fight with me much sooner than you thought, Yuichi Shiro." Her expression turns ghastly even though she is now smiling again, just what does she mean.

Stella holds her arms horizontally outstretched to her sides as her eyes open so wide I wouldn't surprise me if her eyeballs fell out. Her smile is stretched and is as thin as fishing line. Everything about her just screams out to me insanity.

"My soul is one that is of a fleeting dream."

"False, delusional, and hallucinogenic."

"Imagination is my only escape from the harsh reality."

"And my beliefs will turn my illusions into my truth!"

Suddenly all the remaining barriers disappear, although one small one suddenly appears out of nowhere and traps Shiori-sempai.

"Shuren-sama doesn't wish for his sister to die, so I'll have you stay safe in there, Shiori Azusa," Stella states as her power emanates wildly and her cold gaze gives off the feeling of death. Shiori-sempai has lost her soul slayer so it's probably for the best that she is within that barrier.

A screen then appears in front of Stella, "Ark, retrieve Cammy, and Slots, and regroup with Gemini. Leave the remaining opponents to me and leave the dimension." Stella's voice radiates throughout the sky, she's giving orders of retreat to the guy who beat the three wielders without breaking a sweat. The screen disappears and Stella directs her attention onto me.

"I guess I'll deal with you before I clean up the trash who hurt my dear Cammy!" Stella says with her voice filled with hostility.

"Do you honestly think I'm going to let you anywhere near them? Sorry, but I've been frustrated ever since you started this demented game. So I hope your ready, the price of angering the beautiful is a dear one!" I declare my intention.

"My apologies, Yuichi Shiro. But I too am going to have to join this fight," A boy's voice says in a calm tone and before I even notice a blond haired boy, probably a bit younger than me, is standing by my side. Wait, I recognise him, although I have yet to have the chance to actually talk with him. "The number of complaints I have with this woman are far from few."

I smile in acknowledgement as I brandish my silver sword. "Don't slow me down," I order.

"Right back at ya!" He smiles confidently.

"I see, so your the reason those girls were able to force their way into this dimension. Very well, my anger has plenty to go around, you can die together!" Stella shouts confidently.

"Stella versus Yuichi Shiro and Reno Cerberus!" The announcement declares. I'm going to teach this girl a lesson she won't forget.