Dantega:Volume 4

• 

  Chapter 02

• 

  Chapter 07

• 

  Chapter 12

Chapter 32: Pursuit on the Water

(PART 1)

"Wow take a look at this place!" Strauphius says loudly while wearing a childlike face.

All of them have their eyes widened and glued to the scenery, it is the color of the emerald blue ocean as far as the eye can see. Little islands tatter the area like lily pads in a large pond and looking closely they see signs of human life. They have found themselves in a bustling as a port town.

They had just exited the first Gate of Purgatory and entered a large port-city much to the akin of a carribean paradise’ people are running all about and numerous boats of every size are being unloaded and restocked. The sound of pelicans and waves crashing correlate with the smell of seafood that reaches their noses.

"This is a huge difference from just a few minutes ago." said Napoleon as his eyes scour the crystal clear waters surrounding the hundreds of docks harboring large wooden ships.

Strauphius runs onto one of the docks and jumps in the air when he shouts, "Look at the size of this boat!!! It's Huge!"

Daey walks alongside him and marvels at it as well; large ships are common back on Earth, but she’s never seen a ship look like this before.

She wonders just how in the world they are able to keep track of all of the ropes used to set sail intertwining with each other like a spider web.

Trojia giggles a little and turns around to see the area in which they had just come, to her surprise she finds that there is no sign of the massive and beautifully designed Purgatory Gate that they had just passed through. Instead there is nothing, it is like they had just walked through the bushes of the tropical hill that rests there.

She grabs onto Ubica's sleeve and asks, "Um, where's the Gate?"

Ubica raises an eyebrow and is genuinely confused when he answers, "I have no clue."

"Each Gate leads to a random place on the next level, I've heard stories where people who were able to pass through one of the Gates ended up stranded on a desolate island, alone on top of a mountain range, or like us, in the middle of a city." added Messor.

Ubica scratches his head and says, "Well it looks like we lucked out then"

Daey happened to overhear what Messor said and responded, "So that means that Niera and the others could be on the opposite side of this level..."

She looks disappointed as she stares down to the ground.

"I thought that we were going to catch up to them."

Sensing her disappointment, he puts her hand on her shoulder and says, "We'll see them soon."

Paying no mind to the atmosphere, Tsubiri butts in, "I don’t know about you guys, but the smell of the food is driving me mad! Let's eat!"

Without even asking the others, she grabs Ubica's hand and yanks him away from the group.

Ubica has shown himself to be completely helpless to Tsubiri's demands so all he can do is mutter "Waaah!?" as he gets dragged into town.

Messor's jaw clenches up as she tries to force a smile onto her face. "Shall we follow them?"

Napoleon turns to her and replies, "First thing's first, you seem to know a good amount about this place... I would like to know how we go about finding the second Gate."

"I couldn't tell you where it will be if that is what you are hoping for, the Gate's from here on out don't have a set location, they can change at any random time of the year."

Napoleon frowns at this disposition, "How troublesome, we were lucky to find Aria and Strauphius, even more so because they happened to have a map. If it's true that the Gate's location changes throughout time then we really need to make finding this one quickly our top priority."

Messor shrugs her shoulders, "I agree with that, I guess we'll just need to get lucky again."

---

Tsubiri takes a deep breath through her nose to smell the aroma of food and exhales loudly in pleasure.

"I think the delicious smell is coming from this place!"

The building that they are outside of is somewhat rundown due to the constant barrage of salt filled air coming from the sea, but that's not a good enough excuse to explain why this building is in such bad shape, the others around this port city look just fine in comparison.

Ubica stares at the sign above the door that reads 'SCALLYWAG'S' discouragingly, he then shifts his gaze just a few buildings down and sees a great looking restaurant where soothing gentle music is being played for the patrons sitting on the outside patio.

"Hey Tsubiri, that place looks way better."

Tsubiri doesn't even look to where he is pointing when she replies, "No way, we're going here."

"Ugh."

Still holding his hand she drags him into the sling door that is reminiscent of an old western entrance to a saloon; as soon as they enter, the loud noises of rowdy drunken blowhards laughing and loud ear torturing music is heard.

Ubica glares at all of them dejectedly and they all stare back at him like, 'Who the hell is this guy?'

The occupants of this place are all chiseled and big men, some have beards down to their belly buttons and some have scars on their face. In the corner of the room there even sits a burly looking man with a peg leg.

Tsubiri pays no mind to these threatening looking men and drags him straight to the bar table, they sit down on the stools and she looks over to her side to see a massive and scary looking black man wearing an eye-patch munching on some fish and chips.

She looks at his meal and he becomes very annoyed by the sudden appearance of the girl.

Ubica turns blue with fright but stays silent so he doesn't make a scene.

But he doesn't need to worry about that, because Tsubiri makes one big enough for the both of them when she yells to the bartender, "This is what I've been smelling! I would like two orders of what this guy has and two beers!"

The bartender is cleaning a glass with a rag and he glares at her.

Agitated by this, she snaps her fingers and sharply says, "Make it snappy."

The bartender sighs, he puts his glass down and bends over to grab some wooden mugs, he then flips the nozzle of a large wooden keg and fills the mugs with some ridiculously dark beer.

"Here, your food's comin' soon."

She smiles and cutely says her thanks to him, he clicks his tongue and gets back to cleaning the glass.

Ubica didn't like how that entire interaction between them went and is extremely uncomfortable.

"Do we really need to eat here? We're sticking out pretty bad thanks to your big mouth."

"Shut up, you should know that nobody can get in the way of this hungry girl. Once my mind is set on what food I want I'll get it to my belly no matter what."

Ubica releases a sigh of resignation and says, "You really are a piece of work."

"Heeee heee heee, I am meee~."

Ubica grabs his mug of beer, he looks at it like it is something out of a horror film and asks, "You don't actually expect me to drink this stuff do you?"

Tsubiri grabs her mug and chugs a good portion of it, she lets out an obnoxious exhale after her drink and replies, "Of course I do, I'm paying for it."

"That's not the point, this looks like motor oil and I'm sure it tastes like it too."

"Oh stop being a baby and just drink it, you'll never know how it tastes until you try."

He again sighs and puts the mug to his mouth, he shuts his eyes and thinks to himself, (Bottom's up!)

He downs as much as he can until he starts to feel like he is choking on something thick. He slams the mug down and starts coughing, he isn't used to drinking anymore and to start off the day with a beer that tastes like carbonated coffee doesn't help his cause.

"Hahahhaaha what a bitch."

"Hey! I'm not a bitch!"

"Hehehe well you drink like one."

"No I don't! I just hate dark beer!"

"What kind of man can't drink dark beer?"

She nudges at the massive black guy next to her and asks, "Right?"

The black man slowly turns his head to Ubica and sternly says, "Bitch."

"Wha!? Why are you agreeing with her!?"

The black man faintly smiles and lifts his own mug, he easily chugs the entire cup and signals the bartender for more.

He didn't say a word, but his actions hit Ubica like an arrow in the chest.

“Fine then! I’ll show you both what I’m capable of. I’ll have you know that back in the day I could outdrink anyone!"

He then takes his mug, pours the dark beer into his mouth and begins drinking.

The black man and Tsubiri stare at him with the look of someone betting on a horse race while they wait to see if he can finish it.

Ubica is so determined to plug it down that he tries to ignore the bloated feeling forming in his stomach.

But it seems that he can't avoid it any longer, the foam of the beer that's causing him to be bloated comes rushing up through his throat and it all comes right back out into the cup.

He coughs wildly and his eyes spin as the foam comes firing out of his mouth and nose like a volcano eruption and sprays in many different directions.

This is a sign of someone that really can't hold down his liquor, and to put it in the words of Tsubiri's standards, a bitch.

Tsubiri and the black man lean away from the mess he's making and laugh loudly, the black man's laugh is so loud that it makes the entirety of the rowdy bar stop and watch in surprise.

"Hahahahahah holy crap Ubica that was so pathetic!" Tsubiri says while slapping her knee.

Ubica glares at her while throwing up foam and attempts to say shut up but it comes out sounding gurgled, and that only added fuel to the fire.

The black man stands up with a big smile on his face and says, "I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard."

He turns to all of the men in the bar and raises his mug and says loudly,

"Everyone, give these two a round of cheers for making me laugh."

Every last man in the bar stands up and smiles, they hold their mugs up and say "CHEERS!!" and then immediately start drinking in their rowdy nature once more.

The black man holds his huge hand out and says, "My name is Henri Ceasar. Also known as Captain Black Ceasar."

Tsubiri smiles and shakes his hand. "Tsubiri, I have a last name but I don't know it."

"Interesting enough."

The captain holds his hand out again and this time Ubica shakes it.

"My name is Ubica... uh, I don't have a last name either."

Caesar smiles and says, "If you'd like I can make one for you, it can be about your drinking skills."

"Then please don't!"

Caesar’s demeanor, which started out cold and intimidating has switched to jolliness.

"Buahahaha you two are quite the characters, where did you guys come from?"

Ubica doesn't know how to answer that, he can't just tell him who they are and where they came from because it could sound like they are crazy. He stalls for a moment trying to find something to say when Tsubiri blurts out,

"We just came from the first level of Purgatory!"

As soon as she said that, the loud music came to a screeching halt and all the men once again became dead silent.

Caesar looks at her in shock and asks, "Come again..?"

Ubica has a bad feeling and stands to his feet; Tsubiri instantly feels awkward when she senses the glares of all the men but she still finds the courage to repeat herself.

"W-We just came from the first level of Purgatory."

Captain Black Caesar takes a step back and looks at her square in the eye. "Are you telling the truth?"

"I don't have a reason to lie."

"Then answer me this, do you know of Earth?"

Ubica takes a step in front of Tsubiri and answers his question for her. "That's where we're from."

Caesar smiles and says, "That's where we're all from... and that is where we are going."

"So you are aware... do you have an idea of where the Gate is?"

Ernest laughs smugly and pulls a rolled up piece of paper out of his coat pocket, he unrolls it and it looks like a map.

"No pirate doesn't know where he is going."

Ubica looks at the map with eyes widened in disbelief, he looks around the room and back and asks, "Who are you guys?"

All the men in the room stand up and smile proudly.

Captain Black Caesar puts his hands on his side and declares, "We are all pirates who know of the real world and sail on a ship called 'The Black Dandelion'."

Ubica and Tsubiri look at each other in amazement that there are this many people all in one group who know of Earth; this is when it hits them, these men have a map to the second Gate.

Ubica's hand slowly reaches to the hilt of his sword as he contemplates attacking them and stealing the map, he has no intentions to kill any of them, but he knows that if he flips his sword over he can at least incapacitate them.

This seems ruthless and mean but importance lies primarily in getting the rest back home so they can stop the war and save the world.

Caesar doesn't notice Ubica's subtle switch to attack mode and asks him, "Since you two were able to pass the first Gate, that means you were able to defeat a Gatekeeper... you guys have strange abilities right?"

Tsubiri answers this question simply and follows it with one of her own, "Yes... do you?"

Caesar’s demeanor turns a little guilt stricken when he replies, "Sadly enough, I'm the only one... This has been our demise every time we set sail for the Gate, there are dozens of other ships that attempt to pass the Gate, and it has become a large competition between the underground pirate crews so we all battle to get there first. Our problem is that all the other crews have those strange powers whilst our crew is filled with ordinary men."

"Why can't they learn? I thought that it comes natural once they become 'aware'." asked Tsubiri.

"Well that happened for me, but the others haven't been able to attain them so we are desperately trying to find someone who can teach us."

Ubica and Tsubiri again stare at each other and their faces light up.

Tsubiri smiles and remembers how she got the powers she now has, with a body language full of confidence she states, "Well it looks like you found them!"

Caesar takes a deep breath and quickly asks, "Really!?"

Answering the glares of he and the rest of the men she says,, "Yes really, I can go get her right now!"

The men all cheer loudly in happiness and drink merrily, but that happy atmosphere is cut short by Ubica's serious voice.

"That gift can be arranged... for a price."

The captain and the men glare at him in a way that makes Tsubiri so awkward it makes her cringe slightly.

"What is it that you want, boy?"

Ubica smiles and blows air out of his nose at his question, being called boy is something new to him.

Ignoring that, he shoots Caesar a steely glare and answers, "In return for teaching you guys, you have to let me and my comrades on your ship to accompany you on your journey to the Gate."

This request is actually something he doesn't expect them to go for; in his mind, since they are pirates they would rather kidnap them and force Ubica and the rest to give them the ability.

Caesar glares at the faces of all his men, they look like they have no doubts in their minds so the answer becomes obvious.

He holds his hand out and says, " Deal."

It seems that they want to avoid any unnecessary conflict with people who have enough power to pass the first Gate. So this couldn’t have been a more fortuitous happenstance for them.

The two shake hands and sign an invisible contract, and with that simple action another adventure awaits them.

---

"Wow I can't believe that just happened." said Tsubiri while eating her meal out of a to go box.

Ubica nudges her shoulder and says, "Don't talk with your mouth full, it's gross."

"Oh shut up."

"But I agree, things have all the sudden turned out great for us."

"So long as Messor has the ability to help them, we’ll be out on to the next level in no time."

Walking towards the two and weaving their way through the bustling city is Messor and the rest.

"Speak of the devil." said Tsubiri.

Prompting Ubica to flinch at how close that statement actually compares to her.

"So there you are, you shouldn't run off without telling us where you are going Ubica." said Messor in subtle anger.

"Me? How is this my fault!?"

Messor smiles at him and he can feel her anger when she says, "You know exactly why."

Ubica is at a loss for words and he knows from past experience to just agree with her.

He drops his head down and says, "Sorry..."

Not wanting to engage in any more pleasantries, Tsubiri gets straight to the point.

"Hey Messor, we have a favor to ask."

Messor tilts her head questioningly.

"We have found a way to the second Gate."

All of them jolt in shock at her declaration, but Messor seems wary when she asks, "Where do I come in?"

This is when Ubica steps in front of Tsubiri and states, "There is a group of pirates we just met who are 'aware'. And they have a map to the Gate and a ship to get there, the problem is that they don't hold any of the abilities that go along with it. So I made them an offer..."

Messor chuckles and says, "You want me to give them powers in exchange for a free ride to the Gate."

"That's right... will you do it?"

Napoleon chimes in to encourage Messor. "Here’s that luck you were talking about earlier."

Messor shows no change in expression when she answers, "That would be the case... If I was obliged to agree to such a thing."

The group all take a collective gasp.

"You're saying no?" Ubica inquires.

She walks to Ubica and puts her finger on his chest.

"Come with me."

Ubica turns his gaze to the rest of the group who are awaiting her answer anxiously, he knows that the reason behind her words can't be said around the others so he figures that only he can convince her otherwise.

"Okay..."

---

After the two leave the group, they walk in silence as Ubica wonders what is going on in her head.

They reach a small portion of a sandy beach that is slightly excluded from the rest of the town. There is a little bench resting in the sand that is used for a viewpoint and the two take a seat and sit in silence for a few moments until Messor speaks.

"I bet you are wondering why I haven’t readily agreed to your plan?"

"I had thought you wanted to get back to Earth? This should be a no brainer."

Messor chuckles and responds, "That's where you are mistaken, I don't get why you think that I want to go back to Earth."

"Huh?"

"Think about it Ubica, I have no goals or aspirations on Earth, as far as I'm concerned I have all of eternity to spend here if I damn well please."

"There is a war going on right now, we have to get back in enough time to stop it."

Messor crosses her legs on the bench and says, "That's got nothing to do with me."

"Then why did you even come along in the first place?"

Messor’s eyebrow twitches and she sends him a knife-like side glance.

"Why do you think?"

Ubica looks bewildered, he doesn’t understand why she is acting this way.

Messor looks at him with eyes that are steadily becoming more and more frustrated. "I told you that we have enemies that need to be defeated in order for us to live on. What good does going back to Earth do for us against them?”

Ubica stands to his feet as if to give his words more impact. "It’s not just about us!"

Messor is taken aback by this and stares at him in surprise.

“These are our friends, and we have a duty to do the right thing and get them home!”

"Friends?"

Her surprised face sinks into a frown, it seems that her temper has risen with each word he has said so far and what just came out of his mouth put her over the edge.

She stands to her feet and shouts, "Fuck being friends! I'm not here to be their friend, I’m here to help you!”

“That’s what this is!”

“No it’s not!” Messor shouts with her fists clenched. “This is actually just you treating me like an expendable resource for someone else’s benefit. Helping you? Don’t insult me.”

As if realizing he had not taken her feelings into consideration, he takes uncertain steps away from her and loosens the tension in his body.

“You’re right, I’m sorry… I’ve made an unfair assumption.”

“As much as Dantega binds us together, what we are now is keeping our desires apart. In the past I would have unquestioningly followed whatever it was you desired, but now, I have desires of my own.”

“I understand…”

He feels very guilty.

He has always taken her support for granted, as the False Prophet he had only ever lived an existence where her help was expected. He’s ashamed that even now after all this time he has found himself unconsciously presumptive of her.

Messor sits back down on the bench and stares at the sea, she turns her head away and purses her lips. It takes a few moments to gather herself before letting shoulders relax.

“My greatest desire is to help you, it’s to keep you safe from our enemies by keeping you strong. It’s to remain by your side like I’ve always been. But if I help you and the humans return to Earth, I don’t feel like my desires will be fulfilled.”

“Messor…”

"Say I help your friends get out of here… What will you do once back on Earth?"

"...?"

"Do you intend to live happily ever after with one of them? Do you intend to play the role of vigilante and police the world through the shadows? Or do you intend to disappear again and leave everyone behind? Just like you did with me."

Ubica thinks about her questions and comes to a sudden realization.

"I haven't even thought that far yet."

Messor is completely disappointed in his answer, she expected something far more specific and is frustrated at how indecisive he has become.

"But I have a desire of my own that is driving me forward towards that unpredictable future…” Ubica started, “That is my desire to do good. And right now my only way of doing that is to get them home.”

“And what of me? What do you expect of me when all of this is over?”

“What I expect of you…” he looks her in the eye when he says, “I expect you to do whatever it is that you want, Messor.”

“Well I just told you what I want, the real question is, will you still accept it?”

“Like I said, I owe you for all that lost time. If following me down this new path makes you happy, then I won’t stop you.”

"Then I’ll join you on that path… I’ll help your humans. My one and only condition is that you let me remain by your side until you come to realize that you can’t live without me."

Ubica holds out his hand for a shake and says, "Then we're back to being partners once again?"

Messor smiles happily and slaps his hand away, she puts her face into his chest and hugs him tightly.

"Hmph, don't be stupid. We've never stopped being partners."

"You're right... thank you."

---

Under the shining sun and bright blue sky of the next day, the entire group are sailing the deep blue sea on a massive black wood ship along with about fifty pirates. The pirates are working hard to set the sails by pulling and maneuvering tons of rope. On the large white sails is the emblem of a black flower, a dandelion to be exact, one that fits the name of the ship led by the Captain whose nickname is Black Caesar.

The Captain's name needs no questioning as to why it is so, the answer lies in his appearance.

He stands at least 6 and a half feet tall and his body stature is large with muscle; but what fits the most is his dark skin color, his pirate name has been Black Caesar for as long as he's been pirating.

He is standing at the helm of the large ship with a happy smile on his face because he knows that new abilities will be bestowed upon his crew members, this is thanks to the happenstance of meeting an odd couple at their most frequented bar in their home port city.

One of oddballs from that group is standing next to him with an excited look on her face.

"Woaaah!! This is the first time I've ever been on a boat before! This is awesome!" Tsubiri shouts.

Caesar laughs loudly and says, "It sure looks like you have gotten your sea legs quickly, I can't say as much for your friends though."

Looking down on the deck they can see Strauphius, who was once so amazed at the size of certain ships at port now blowing chunks over the side of the ship.

Napoleon is fast asleep leaning up against a crate with his arms folded.

Daey is struggling to stand up due to the constant swaying of the ship.

Trojia is grabbing onto a pole and asking if the ship was going to sink or not to anyone who will listen.

Messor is more toward the front of the ship by her lonesome and looking very miserable being on the water for some reason.

Ubica on the other hand has a big smile on his face and is helping out others with manual labor and enjoying every second of it. Caesar watches Ubica work and says, "Your boyfriend is doing just fine though."

This causes Tsubiri's face to turn bright red.

"B-Boyfriend huh? Uwahh hearing that is more embarrassing than I thought it’d be."

"Yeah, Ubica is his name right? I can see it in him, he truly is someone special. The entire crew like him already and he seems to enjoy helping others."

He slaps her on the back and laughs.

"You'd better hang on to that guy."

Tsubiri puckers up awkwardly and back at the happy face of Ubica.

(Hang on to him huh?) she thinks to herself.

And then the image of him and Messor holding each other pops into her mind. She never got a proper explanation for that night and couldn't help but wonder what is continuing to go on between them two.

With these thoughts flowing through her head she starts to feel uneasy when she softly says,

"I'll do my best."

---

Now with the sun set and the stars shining, there are very few people on the deck of the ship. Many of them are in the barracks sleeping and some are still lazily working inside.

A pirate on guard duty sits high above in the crow's nest but is passed out due to the long day.

But there is one person who doesn't ever seem to sleep who is sitting on the very tip of the bow and enjoying the cool ocean breeze flowing through his silver hair.

Zoning out on the numerous sensations he feels, he doesn't notice the presence of Tsubiri behind him, she walks up the stairs that lead to the bow and taps him on the shoulder.

This surprises Ubica and he jolts, causing him to almost topple over the side of the boat.

"Ooowaaah!?"

Tsubiri grabs him to hold him up, and he also keeps himself from falling by wedging his legs on the rail, but that doesn't keep him from awkwardly hanging over the side.

“How is it possible that someone as strong as you can spook so easily??” Tsubiri said while keeping her firm grip on his arm.

“Anyone would be spooked by a sudden sneak attack from a ninja! I couldn't even hear you coming!”

“You think of me as an assassin now??”

She lifts him up and due to his body weight he flings over the rail and plows into her, causing them both to fall hard on the wooden floorboards.

"Owww!" Tsubiri groans as she rubs the back of her head.

She opens her eyes and notices that she is in the shadow of something that the three moons are shining over.

It is Ubica, he is casting over her, holding himself up with his arms.

But he is not moving, he is just staring at her with his bright green eyes. He has a straight face and this causes her to become nervous.

"Umm..."

Ubica hangs his head down and his hair cascades over his eyes, a smile surfaces on his face and he begins to laugh.

"And here I thought I was the clumsy one of the group."

He slides off of her and lies on his back to look up at the stars.

Tsubiri can sense that this is about to turn into one of their playful arguments, normally she wouldn’t mind that since she enjoys their banter, but this time is different.

The words that Caesar spoke to her earlier have been ringing in her head all day and the reason why she even came out this late to talk to him was to get something off her chest.

She suddenly jumps on top of him and his body immediately tenses up in surprise.

"H-Hey what are you doing?"

Tsubiri gently puts her finger on his lips and says, "Shut up."

He can tell she is serious so he doesn't mutter a word.

She takes advantage of his silence and begins to speak.

"You know... since I've met you, I've almost died twice."

Ubica guiltily averts his gaze.

"I know what you are thinking, but that's not where I'm going with this.” Tsubiri says, forcing him to look back up to her. “What I'm trying to tell you is that in what I thought were my last moments... I was only thinking about you... No one else, it was only you."

“Eh?”

"You are the most important person in the world to me, Ubica."

A strange feeling in Ubica's chest begins to rise that warms his body up and makes him feel as light as a feather, it’s as though he has a beating heart that’s pounding so hard he thinks it’s making an audible noise outside his body.

It’s a unique sensation that he is certain he has never felt before now, and it makes him speechless.

His silent reaction to her declaration in turn makes Tsubiri feel insecure.

“Y’know, that was a very hard thing for me to say.” Tsubiri smiles awkwardly, her face getting more red by the second. “So a word or two in reply would do wonders for my poor little heart that’s really having a rough go of it right now.”

Ubica stays silent for a moment and then lifts his hand, he presses it against her face and softly caresses her cheek.

As forward as she’s trying to be, his sudden touch feels like someone had pressed a warm cloth to her face after night in a snowstorm. She can feel herself melting in against his hand.

"I think my heart might be feeling the same way..."

This is the closest thing to him admitting that he accepts her feelings without actually saying it, and Tsubiri's heart skips a beat.

She holds his hand that is on her face and moves her head closer to his.

With their noses touching she shuts her eyes and readies to do something that she has been longing to do for a while now, and Ubica is not about to deny her advance.

The two slowly inch closer to each other until the warmth of their breath beat across their faces.

But sadly, before they can reach the desired point of contact they are interrupted.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!!

An explosion rips into the water just a few feet away from the ship and sends it rocking violently, water splashes extremely high and sprays all over both of them.

They both jolt to their feet and quickly try to find the source of the blast.

They look to the area from which the explosion came, and out in the dark ocean the moonlight shines over the white sails of a different ship with an emblem of a sword on it.

The ship is proudly displaying a black flag.

It's a pirate ship.

The man in the crow's nest wakes up and through his binoculars he sees men on the other ship's deck preparing to fire another cannon.

With all the energy in his half asleep body he shouts,

"IT'S AN AMBUSH!!!"

As soon as he says this, dozens of pirates begin to run from the inside of the ship and on to the deck to prepare for battle; Caesar follows calmly out of the Captain's room and starts ordering people around.

Napoleon rushes off his hammock and out in the open with a demeanor ready for battle with the rest of the group following closely behind.

As if the attack from the enemy isn't even happening Tsubiri shouts, "You've got to be kidding me! We were just about to get to the good part!"

Ubica gently moves her away from him and pulls out his sword, he jumps off the steps and starts walking on the deck.

Through the commotion of all the crew members rushing about, he turns to her and smiles,

"Rain check?"

A blue light twirls around Tsubiri's body, she is revving up her electricity, ready to defend the boat along with Ubica and the others.

Whatever danger she had felt upon the sudden attack is quickly replaced by excitement at his proposition.

With a reciprocated smile, she looks to him and says,

"Deal."

(PART 2)

The blue haired man named Leviathan has just finished a conversation with the man who bears a striking resemblance to Damien.

He folds his arms and smiles before making his way toward the exit of the dark room.

"Well then Satan, it looks like you have everything on your end of the spectrum handled with no problems..."

Satan cracks his neck and says, "Of course I do, I'm not like my son."

Leviathan turns his head as though he had forgotten why he came in the first place.

"Oh that reminds me, I wanted to tell you something."

"Go ahead."

"Ubica and Rage have reached the second level of Purgatory."

Satan frowns for a moment and replies, "Those two absolutely must not make it back to Earth, especially Ubica."

"I would’ve thought that Rage would be a bigger threat to your plans, after all you’re able to gather the souls of the dead unimpeded with him gone."

“You’re not wrong. But Ubica is getting stronger by the minute. I don’t know how or why, but it’s like he’s getting closer to his original strength.” "Dantega… such an imposing force it continues to be."

Satan stays quiet for a moment before saying, "Listen Leviathan, I want you to go to Purgatory to kill him. Do you think you can handle that?"

Leviathan is the second in command in the Hierarchy of Hell, the fact that Satan himself has become worried enough about the situation to send him there speaks for itself.

Leviathan opens the door to the room and gets ready to exit when he says, "With the way Ubica is now, there is no way I can lose... especially not in the second level of Purgatory."

"Then go there immediately, let's finally destroy the uncontrollable Dantega."

---

Caesar calmly walks down the steps that lead from the Captain's room down to the deck, he passes through the bulk of men rushing around gathering supplies for the upcoming battle and reaches the edge of the deck.

Out in the distance he sees the opposing pirate ship's men preparing multiple cannons for a second volley.

He puts one foot on top of the railing and glares at them with his one uncovered eye.

He smiles confidently and lifts his black eye-patch off his face and reveals a swirling blue eye that contrasts his other eye significantly.

The opposing pirate ship is now so close that the voices of the crew men are heard yelling that they are ready to fire.

Caesar’s bright blue eye starts to shine brightly and the light swirls in front of his face.

The men manning the cannons shout "FIRE!!" and send three large steel balls zooming toward the Black Dandelion at intense speeds.

"Redirect..." Caesar says unhurriedly.

The flying cannonballs suddenly snap sideways and fly off away from the Dandelion at a sharp 90 degree angle.

Once the danger of being attacked from afar is gone, he turns to the rest of the men and shouts, "Pull closer to them! We will take the battle to their ship!"

The ship's distance between each other narrows and rope with hooks at the end are thrown to latch on to each deck’ with this, the battle reaches a new phase.

Throwing their ladders from the railing of one ship to the other, both sides start rushing across these crude bridges and onto each other's decks. Almost immediately it starts to become very difficult to distinguish between friend and foe.

It would seem that Napoleon has no problems with this however, as he slashes people with his La'Juutian sword, he is easily defeating the enemies with no concern of being injured himself.

His reputation as an unstoppable force of a soldier in hand to hand combat is finally showing now that he fights against regular humans with no outstanding powers to speak of.

Another man with a reputation as someone unstoppable is Ubica, he is someone who could destroy the entire ship with a flick of wrist but instead he is just standing there. The only time he moves is when someone comes to attack him, he'll defend himself by turning his sword around and knocking them out of the way.

Caesar notices this and yells at him, "Hey! That isn't doing anything you know!?"

Ubica ignores the sharp glare of the Captain as another man comes up for an attack.

While defending himself he replies, "Well what am I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to kill them you dumbass!"

"I’d rather not."

A couple of Caesar’s men are slain by the opposing pirates and this throws him into a rage.

"Are you blind!? These men are trying to kill you! These men are killing our comrades!"

Ubica clenches his fists and turns to see how Tsubiri is looking at him, but she is occupied with fighting at the moment and using her lightning strikes to dispose of her attackers.

Now that he thinks about it, these men really are trying to kill them, they are trying to kill Tsubiri and he is watching it firsthand. If he isn't careful, sooner or later Trojia and Daey will be attacked and they will either have to kill or be killed.

That is, unless he does something about it.

None of his friends would need to dirty their hands with this violence if he can help them avoid it.

With this resolve in his chest, he gives Caesar a look of agreement.

He runs to the edge of the ship and holds out his sword.

With a simple swing he can blast the opposition into oblivion, but he is hesitating.

When he escaped from the eternal lake of fire, he had for this is because he vowed to himself that he'd never kill another human being again. He knows that he must do what he can to protect the others but that doesn't help quell the expectation of his imminent guilt.

During this brief moment of hesitation, an unexpected voice from the water is heard so loud and deep that it causes some men to be overrun with the feeling of nausea and immediately incapacitates them..

"I see the rumors about you are true, Ubica. How disappointing.."

Ubica's face turns blue with fright, he instantly recognizes the voice coming from the water.

The ocean rises underneath the enemy ship and bulges tens of stories upwards; Caesar’s crewmembers stare in shock at the sight and even the Captain himself has his mouth agape.

The men from the opposing ship all scream, some of Caesar’s men are on that ship as well and they too can be heard shouting.

The voice of the ocean is once again heard saying, "If there were any remnants of the old you, this would have already been done."

The water holding up the ship wraps around it and in turn makes a sonic boom so bright it shines the night sky so much that it looks like it has suddenly become day.

The sonic boom is so loud that it takes a few moments before the actual noise rings through the ears of all the rest.

The ship is blown into nothingness and only fragments of the ship drop from the sky and look like hundreds of shooting stars until they turn to dust and gently fall into the ocean and land atop the heads of the remaining men.

Messor finally leaves from the barracks and walks onto the deck, she sees the giant form of water still there.

"I thought I had heard 'his' voice." she said with scowl.

The water bulge slowly shrinks and the silhouette of what looks to be a serpent is swimming around in a circle as a blue light pulsates from within the water.

Out of the top of the bulge comes a dragon's head, peering at them with its bright red eyes.

The serpent looks up to the sky and opens its mouth, revealing its massive teeth, and out of its mouth a man rises up toward the stars.

He has dark blue hair and bright blue eyes.

Ubica takes an uncertain step back and his breathing becomes shoddy when he mutters the name of the man.

"Leviathan..."

"It’s been far too long since I’ve last seen you.” Leviathan smiles and says, “To think that I watched over you from within the ocean for all that time only for you to eventually shrink away from violence like this.”

Ubica clicks his tongue and looks towards Trojia, Tsubiri and Daey, who are glaring at him in confusion.

With Leviathan’s sudden appearance, the three of them have no chance of survival unless he does something. But there is one problem, his legs won't move, there is something about Leviathan's presence that makes him utterly immobile.

Leviathan notices this and mocks him.

"What's wrong? Is that fear I'm sensing?"

"...."

"You must know that you don’t have a chance of defeating me then.”

Messor frowns and walks to the edge of the ship, she looks up to Leviathan and says, "You say that with such confidence now, how pathetic you are."

Leviathan looks down on her and smiles, "You defend him with such valor Messor. Some things never change, you’ll forever be the whore of the Antichrist."

"Shut up!!" Ubica shouts, a green light surfaces around him and his power can be felt all throughout the ship.

"But you Ubica, you’ve changed completely. You used to be so calm and collected, now you’re this emotional over a little insult to your woman?”

Ubica responds by swinging his sword and sending a green flash of energy hurling towards Leviathan's neck; this is an attack that is supposed to slice an enemy in two but when it makes contact with the demon it merely passes right through like a rock being thrown into water.

The unscathed Leviathan begins to walk down the steps of water that are forming one by one before his feet and says, "This is useless, stop being a spineless coward and actually attack me."

Ubica rushes forward and lunges his sword into Leviathan's stomach, but once again his attack fails and both Ubica and the sword pass through the demon.

“!?”

Leviathan continues to walk down the water steps toward the ship when with a flick of his finger, a stream of water is spit out of the dragon's mouth and wraps around Ubica's leg. It whips violently and Ubica is flung into the sea with so much force that his wake caused the entire ship to rock back and forth so hard that it felt like it'd capsize.

The faces of Tsubiri, Daey, and Trojia all drop simultaneously and they all shout his name at the same time.

Messor simply clenches her fist, it's almost as though she could feel the impact herself.

Leviathan reaches the deck and pays no mind to the scared glares of the pirates as he walks past them, he calmly reaches the bow of the ship and takes a seat on the furthest railing.

He then sighs and waits for something to happen and becomes frustrated when things begin to take too long.

"While we wait for Ubica to come back from about a mile deep in the ocean, why don't we have a little chat, Messor?"

Messor grits her teeth and feigns confidence when she smiles, "I'll let you do the talking."

“Very well then, I guess what I want to know is… What are you doing here?”

“Shouldn’t that be obvious? It’s not like I’d be anywhere else.”

“Ah, I misphrased my question. What I meant was, how are you here?”

“So you don’t know... “

“I can venture to guess how, but I don’t yet understand why.”

“Then you can keep guessing, there’s no rush.”

Leviathan rests one leg atop the other and shuts his eyes. "If this is what I think it is, I don't think you are going to like the consequences of your actions."

Messor takes her hat off and runs her fingers through her hair when she says, “I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. Consequences? When this is over, you’ll be the ones suffering consequences.”

“Hmm…” Leviathan blows air out of his nose and smiles, “Well this is all just too interesting. I believe I have just stumbled upon a conspiracy.”

"Since you don’t know what’s going on, tell me what you intend to do here."

"That's simple,” Leviathan quickly replies, “I’m here to kill Ubica."

With these words, Messor's eyes widen and she begins to show signs that she is actually going to fight.

Leviathan looks a little amused at her demeanor when he says, "But just because I say that, doesn't mean I'm actually going to do it."

"...?"

"Don't look at me like that, all I'm saying is that although I can kill him, it doesn't necessarily mean I will. At least not now anyways."

Messor scowls and begins to breath hard, her white gold eyes glow bright and her body tenses up.

"Then what are you going to do?"

Leviathan raises his finger and answers, "I'm going to test him… Depending on his results, I will choose a side between Damien and his Father.”

He stands to his feet and walks to the very tip of the bow, the serpent makes its way to him and opens its massive mouth.

“This conspiracy, all it takes is one good look at you to see what’s happening there. I agree with both the father and the son that Dantega cannot be left alone, but I’ll decide which way is better suited to deal with Ubica before I throw my hat into their ring.”

With his back turned to the rest he finishes.

"When Ubica comes back, I want you to tell him that as his brother of the sea, I will always be in pursuit of him, no matter how hard he tries to escape."

Leviathan walks into the serpent's mouth and disappears when it shuts, the dragon-like creature dives back into the sea and vanishes into the dark water.

Messor takes a sigh of relief and turns to the rest of the remaining people, some of the enemy pirates are still on the ship but all thoughts of attacking each other have ceased because of the incredible happening they had just witnessed.

Trojia takes a step back and leans against the wall of the staircase that leads to the Captain's room, she can't believe the strength of Leviathan and how easily he had defeated Ubica.

Tsubiri and Daey have different thoughts going through their heads.

Although Daey is speechless, Tsubiri finds enough strength to inquire, "What in the world were you guys just talking about..?"

Messor shows a face of displeasure when she answers, "Listen girl, there are a few things that you need to know, and many things that you don't. If Ubica hasn't told you anything, you aren't going to hear it from me."

Once Messor finishes this sentence, another explosion in the form of a splash is heard.

BOOOSHH!!

Coming out the white wash is Ubica flying upwards at a fast speed.

He lands on the ship deck and wears a face full of frightening anger as he catches his breath, there are veins all over his face and body from the compressed air bubbles in his bloodstream caused by the intense speed he came rushing out of the water with.

A normal man would have exploded from such a drastic change in pressure, but as Leviathan said, Ubica came from the sea, and as a being that holds such other worldly abilities like Ubica, water pressure isn't much of a factor unless at its utmost extremes.

With his bloodshot and enraged eyes he scours around the ship and shouts, "Where is he!?!?"

Messor walks up to him to see if he is okay and says, "He's gone."

Ubica falls to the ground and lays on his side, the impact of Leviathan throwing him into the water has broken many of his bones and he is just about at his limit when it comes to mobility.

It's only now that Messor finally looks worried, there is no reason to be strong and confident anymore now that the enemy is gone.

"Where are you hurt?" she asks, angst evident in her tone.

Ubica is having trouble speaking and he barely answers, "Everywhere..."

"Now's not the time to be cute, Ubica, you really need help here."

The veins in his face start to fade and but the awful pain still lingers, he slowly turns his head to see if Tsubiri, Trojia, and Daey are alright and sees a sight that he has been afraid of from the very beginning.

They look frightened..

Trojia comes rushing to his aid but both Tsubiri and Daey stand there as if something is holding him back.

(I’m glad they’re okay, but I wonder what Leviathan has told them?)

He thinks to himself as he watches them take cautious steps backwards away from him.

(I knew my secrets would catch up to me eventually… but I wanted to be the one to tell them.)

With these thoughts in mind, Ubica loses consciousness and lays limp on the wooden ship deck.

---

"I heard from a little bird that you were sent to Purgatory by my father." said Damien, his usual smile has failed to surface his face when he asked this.

Leviathan shrugs his shoulders, "Birds sure fly fast nowadays."

Damien sends him a sharp glare and asks, "Did you harm him?"

"Only about as much as his ego could take. But physically he'll be just fine."

"My father isn't going to be too happy about that."

"I'm not too worried about the big guy, I'll just avoid him until the next time I go. He is always cooped up in his room playing his game of Chess with the Earth so it'll be easy to do."

"The only thing he cares about is being worshiped by the people of Earth... his obsessive nature will be the death of him.”

Leviathan walks towards a large lake that shines off the orange tinted dark sky that casts over what looks to be a barren wasteland.

With his back turned he said, "Like father like son."

Damien tries to hide a frown with a faint smile and replies, "Dantega is worth my obsession... humans are not."

Leviathan takes a step into the water and horrifyingly gurgled screams come from it, if one looks closely enough they can see an endless amount of people being whipped around in a ferocious and never ending whirlpool.

This is his world, water and anguish awaits those who committed his Original Sin throughout time and a never ending drowning is cast upon them. Once their lungs shrivel to nothing, they quickly regenerate and suffer the same feeling all over again.

This punishment will last for all eternity.

This terrible pain is only the beginning, this whirlpool is the home of hundreds of Leviathan's demons who swim in the water and personally torture and devour the helpless people whenever they so please.

Leviathan's form starts to disappear in the horrid water until the only thing left peering out into the open is his head and shoulders.

He turns to glare at Damien and shows neither a smile of confidence nor a frown of bitterness when he says, "You and I both know it’s more than just Dantega."

"Oh?"

"Perhaps the others can't see it, but it's obvious to me that you don’t makes decisions based on simple ambition like your Father. I don’t quite know why you’ve begun to walk down the path you’re on yet, but I have a nagging feeling you’re doing this for something silly."

Damien keeps his confident smile and asks, "Do you want me to tell you?"

"Not at all, you’d be lying to me."

Leviathan lowers his head, the bangs of his dark blue hair cascading over his bright eyes creates an intimidating shadow over his face.

"I hate to admit it but, I'm more like your father. My desires are simple most of the time. The difference between him and I is that I’m willing to make compromises for to attain them.”

"What are you trying to say?"

"Whatever it is you’re trying to do, I believe I can accomplish what I want through you."

“Is that so?”

"Yes, because of that I'm going to go along with your plan for a little while. If I can get closer to fulfilling my simple desires, I will be at your service. But if I find what I want to be unattainable, I will stay by Satan's side and kill Ubica off with my own two hands.”

Damien smiles and his red eyes glow. "That's a wise decision Leviathan, I think you'll find that being on my side is far more opportune than sticking with my father. Once Dantega is in our hands, the entire universe will be ours."

Leviathan smiles and sinks into the water, leaving one final statement, "Don’t insult me with a grandiose promise you have no intention of achieving, I know that the control of the universe isn't what you want... there's something different about your goals, and I'm interested in seeing what it is."

"You'll find out soon enough."

---

Ubica's eyes slowly open and he finds himself looking up at the wooden walls of a pirate ship. The sun shines on his face and he looks out of the window and sees the endless blue of the ocean, the gentle row of the ship makes this rock hard bed a lot more comfortable to him.

But his comfort is broken when a weight is suddenly felt on his chest, the bed springs bounce up and down and in his sleepy daze he doesn’t quite realize what is happening.

"How long did you intend to sleep so lazily??"

Tsubiri's voice rings in his ears.

She is on top of him and bouncing in order to wake him up.

"W-What is this!?"

Tsubiri grabs the pillow, pulls it from under his head and hits him in the face with it, sending feathers flying everywhere.

"How come whenever you seem to go to sleep you end up passed out for two days!?"

Being hit repeatedly in the face by the pillow, Ubica begins to understand what is going on.

"Is this a proper way to treat an injured sailor!?"

"You're not injured unless I say so!"

"That doesn't make any sense!!"

The two wrestle around and even more feathers are tossed up into the sunlit room, making the scene look all the more hectic.

The door to the room quickly opens and Daey comes rushing in.

"I heard Ubica's voice, is he alr----"

Her words of concern are cut short by the sight of Tsubiri postured up on top of him in a dangerous looking position.

She immediately sends him a dejected glare.

"D-Daey?" Ubica says with a nervous smile.

Daey lets out a sigh and begins to walk towards him.

With each one of her steps, the wooden floor seems to ominously crack and this adds to the tension pulling towards his apparent doom.

"Now now, calm down Daey this isn't what it looks like."

She doesn't reply and he begins to panic.

“I swear it's all her fault!!!"

Tsubiri hits him again with the last remaining bit of the pillow and shouts, "My fault!?"

Daey puts her hand in between them and stops Tsubiri's second assault. She looks down on Ubica and sits on the bed.

The two stare at each other for a moment until Daey leans over and wraps her arms around him, giving him a tight hug.

Thrown off by this unexpected reaction he asks, "And what is this wonderful hug for?"

"I’ve been worried about you.”

Ubica bites his lip and holds back a smile, the thought of the other night when he was defeated by Leviathan rolls through his head and this fills him with doubt.

"But... the last time I saw you, you both looked so afraid of me, didn't that man reveal some awful things about me?"

Tsubiri, who had been quiet for this touching moment responds, "We'd never be afraid 'of' you, we were afraid 'for' you... you were hurt so badly, I didn't know what to do."

Daey adds, "And we don't care about anything you've done in the past. The most important thing is that the you I'm holding right now is safe and well."

"You guys..." Ubica hides his face in Daey's shoulder, he is fighting back tears of gratitude and doesn't want them to see it if one were to slip.

"Thank you..."

This tender and sweet moment is broken by Tsubiri punching him in the stomach quite hard.

“Gbhh!?”

He gasps for air and looks at them both quizzically when Daey grabs his shoulders and holds him down.

Tsubiri smiles menacingly and says, "But don't think our relief means we’ll let you off easy this time, you have some serious explaining to do."

"That's right.” Daey adds, “It’s time you open up to all of us about yourself. We won't let you go until you confess."

Surprised, but also impressed by their sneak attack on him, Ubica understands that holding things back is no longer an option. Ever since he has met these two, he has been steadily opening up bit by bit, especially to Daey, and never once have they indicated rejection.

He truly understands now that keeping the details about himself that constantly put his friend’s lives in danger hidden is both selfish and abhorrent behavior.

If these things are to continue to happen, and they will continue to support him despite it, he knows that it’s only fair that they know why.

“Okay…” Ubica says, a sigh of resignation exits out of his mouth. “Where should I start?”

The door suddenly flings open and makes a loud crashing noise, interrupting them.

The large frame of Caesar is standing at the doorway with a couple underlings behind him.

He is frowning and looks incredibly serious when he says,

"I hate to break up the mood but..." he points his big index finger and Ubica and finishes, "I want you off my ship."

(PART 3)

“What do you mean by that!?” shouts Daey.

Caesar shoots them a cold glare and replies, “I meant what I said, I want him off my ship.”

“That's ridiculous! Where do you expect him to go!?”

“I don't care, I've prepared a life boat with a few days worth of supplies on it.”

The fact that they have already gotten everything ready for him to leave so quickly after he had just woken up has gotten Tsubiri and Daey extremely angry.

Tsubiri is about to speak up when her shoulder is gently grabbed by Ubica.

“It's alright.”

He walks his bandaged body past the two and grabs his shirt that is hanging off the desk by one of the windows, he then grabs a couple of accessories as if packing for a trip.

“You can't be serious...” Tsubiri says in disbelief.

Ubica's facial expression doesn't change when he replies, “I understand why he'd want me out of here, if I was in his position I'd do the same.”

Caesar smiles and says, “I'm glad that you are so reasonable, personally I like you, but I like my men a whole lot more. I can't put them in danger by keeping you around, if you attract another monster like that I doubt we'd survive next time.”

Ubica chuckles and grabs his last accessory, his sword.

He holds it over his shoulder and the reasonable tone he once held turns authoritative.

“I'll leave with no problems, but there will be conditions.”

Caesar’s eyebrow twitches.

“And that is?”

“All of my comrades stay, and you give me a copy of that map leading to the Gate.”

The captain glares at him momentarily before a shrug of his shoulders lightens the mood. “Fine, I don't have any problems with your friends anyway. I'll have one of my men make a copy immediately.”

“Good, thanks.”

Despite the desperate glares of Tsubiri and Daey beating him in the back, he calmly walks out of the room, but not before leaving Caesar and his men with some parting words.

“Listen close, I'll be at the Gate before you guys will, and if I find even a scratch on one of my comrades... I'll kill every last one of you.”

This causes a cold sweat to fall from their temples in fear, after witnessing the power of the enemy's attack on Ubica last night, they can't help but feel that he has an incomprehensible power himself since he was able to survive being slammed into the ocean at such an incredible speed.

The three men stand in silence as he walks out of sight, only to turn and see a sight just as frightening, the hate filled frowns of two teenage girls.

Tsubiri walks out of the room and scoffs at Caesar.

Following behind is Daey, who through gritted teeth says, “You people are cowards.”

Caear and the men simultaneously sigh and with his big black hand he rubs his head in relief.

He looks at his two underlings and says, “I think that went well.”

---

Ubica takes a deep breath while he's walking up the stairs that lead to the deck.

“It's gotten a lot harder to act like a tough guy to people nowadays. At least with my threat I'd doubt that any of these crew members will try anything funny.”

He opens the door and prepares himself for a good scolding by his comrades because of what's about to happen.

---

“What!?!?” Trojia exclaims when Ubica tells her of the situation that has just unfolded.

Ubica smiles and says, “Come on it's not that bad, I'll be seeing you guys soon.”

“That's stupid! How can you just go out on your own like that, what if that guy from the other night comes back and attacks us while you're gone?”

“That won't happen, he only has a track on my location, he'll follow me and abandon you guys.”

“That's even worse! You'll be all alone when he does.”

“It's what I have to do to keep you guys safe, you gotta trust me on this one... I'll be fine.”

Trojia frowns and bites her lip, with her head lowered she says under her breath, “You sound like my father...”

Ubica’s actions harken her back to the long periods of time Zurvick has been out of her life. Every instance when he left to go to battle or some kind of political excursion he'd always pat her on the head and say something to the same effect. Of course he came back each time, but the length between returns was far too long for her liking, and this is the same kind of situation. As much as she believes in him, she struggles to accept his upcoming absence. All she can do is bite her lip and look away.

Messor stands on the deck waiting for her chance to speak.

She walks up to Ubica and looks him square in the eye and declares, “I'm coming with you.”

“No you can't, you have to stay behind and help the Captain's men with their powers. Plus the ship needs someone strong to protect them just in case something happens.”

Her eyebrows steepen and she clicks her tongue.

“Help these pieces of shit? Those pitiful ants are lucky I don't kill the whole lot of them for this.”

Her words are sharp and ruthless, what's most terrifying about it is that she is completely serious.

But Ubica has a feeling that she would do no such thing and he smiles at her reaction.

“I'm counting on you Messor...”

“What makes you so confident that I’ll help them?”

“If you really want to join me on my path, you’ll keep your end of the bargain. You’ve never been one to half ask anything before, I don’t see why you’d start now.”

Messor turns sharply and the breeze of her silky white hair is felt on his face.

“Hmph! How cunning of you to wrap this situation up to me like that, do what you want.”

She walks into the door that leads to the barracks and disappears out of sight.

Ubica takes a sigh of relief and thinks that she must be trying really hard to hold herself back against the crew members of the Dandelion. If she had any ounce of her former self still left, the men would most definitely be dead by now.

He hopped onto the wooden single sail lifeboat and cut the rope to drop him into the water; as soon as he landed in the ocean the current started to drift him away.

Looking back towards the ship, he notices Caesar looking down to him.

He throws something down into the boat and says, “That's the map...”

Ubica gives him a look full of skepticism and he replies to it.

“Don't look at me like that, the thing's legit.”

From behind Caesar come the faces of the others wanting to wish him good luck and say goodbye.

He begins to drift further away from the ship and he shouts out to them,

“The next time we meet, we’ll be one step closer to home! Thank you all, I’ll see you soon!”

“Have a safe trip, Ubica!” Struaphius shouts back while waving.

Napoleon smiles and gives him a friendly salute.

Daey looks worried, but she finds it in her to send him off with a smile.

Tsubiri, confident that they’ll be reunited but saddened by not knowing exactly when, shouts out, “When I see you next I’ll be way stronger! I’ll protect you!”

Trojia’s face is red and she’s shrunken within herself as if she wants to let something out. Her sense of urgency seeing him get farther and farther away fills her with anxiety as her face becomes unnaturally warm.

“Ubica! I---!”

She stops herself mid sentence and again shrinks back, this time hiding her head on the railing of the ship.

“Ughhh.” she groans, letting herself sink into the wood. “I couldn’t do it.”

Daey pats her on the shoulder and says, “I don’t want to step on your feelings while they're at a low, but I commend you for holding yourself back. I don’t think right now would have been the best time for that.”

Trojia didn’t give it much thought before when her emotions were clouding her judgment, but now all of the sudden she remembers that everyone was standing right next to her as she struggled to shout out some very embarrassing words.

“Kkkkaahhh!”

Trojia squirms as the shivering sensation of shame starts from her feet and makes its way up to her head like an electrical current.

“There there.” Daey said with a maternal smile while continuing to pat Trojia’s back, “You’ll have better luck next time.”

---

It has been three full days and now the fourth night has fallen on Ubica who is alone on a boat in the middle of the ocean.

His sail is not set but the small wooden life boat is moving around quickly as if there was some kind of motor on it.

That motor is Ubica's hand, he has it rested in the water and a green light surfaces around it making the sea have an odd colored glow in the propelling boat's wake.

He hasn't just been sitting around in the boat trying to find land, if he really wanted to he'd be there by now, but he has been using every moment possible to train himself under the sea. Various exercises have left him physically exhausted.

“This is a perfect opportunity to train myself in the sea so I can stand a chance against Leviathan. Plus this allows me to protect the rest simultaneously, this actually ended up working out pretty well.”

He sighs at his own optimism and takes his hand out of the water. He has yet to sleep so he decides that this night is as good as any because the temperate weather is perfect for it.

"But still..."

He lays on his back and gazes into the stars and the three moons of the sky.

"I didn't think I'd be this lonely."

With this peaceful image of his friends who are now very far away engraved in his mind, he shuts his eyes and falls asleep.

---

“Hey... are you dead?”

This voice of a girl is ringing through Ubica's dream, he subconsciously feels that there is someone standing over him and slowly opens his eyes.

The heat of the high noon sun beats on his face and blurs his vision, but when the sun is blocked and the shadow of a person is cast on him, he can see the person very clearly.

It is a girl, she looks to be in her late teens and has amber colored hair and azure eyes, she is undeniably pretty and she gives off a sense of freedom by the clothes and the hair style she is wearing. A yet loose black tank top over her body and under that some very small jean shorts, her hair is oddly tied upwards but it fits her face and slim body type perfectly.

After glaring at her for a few short seconds his face turns bright red, not because of the good looks of this stranger who has just appeared before him, but because he just happened to shift his eyes from her face down to her visible chest.

The way she is leaning over atop him has caused her small shirt to hang down so he caught a clear glance.

It would seem that she is so used to dressing so freely that she didn’t even notice that he had seen down her shirt.

“Umm, and you are?” Ubica asks as he backs away from her, causing the boat to rock a little in the shallow water.

The girl tilts her head and replies, “I should be the one asking that, are you a pirate? Ooh lemme guess a shipwreck right! How long have you been out on the ocean in this life boat!?”

Being pummeled by questions, Ubica takes a deep breath and answers them all one by one.

“No. Kind of, and I don't know. It depends on how long I've been asleep for, but if I were to guess it'd be around five days.”

“Five days!?” she shouts in surprise.

She immediately grabs his arms and begins to check him in a few spots as if expecting to see something wrong with him.

“You must be in terrible shape! My brother is a doctor in town so you should come with me, he can make sure you're okay.”

Ubica nervously smiles and says, “No that's not necessary...”

“Nonsense! If what you said is true there is no way that there isn't anything wrong with you.”

He sighs at her persistence and looks around the area to scope where he is; he finds that he’s currently in a lagoon with crystal clear emerald water. His lifeboat has floated all the way to land, a large island to be exact, and this particular one is surrounded by large granite cliffs.

Many differently colored houses and buildings are built on top of these cliffs and stretch into the island. On the shore, in the middle of the lagoon are wooden steps that scale a small cliff leading up into a bustling city.

The girl puts one hand on her thigh and then points at him with the other, with a serious face she declares, “My name is Amber Lockeford, and you're coming with me!”

“As much as I appreciate the offer, I’m going to have to refuse.”

Before he knows it, he finds himself reluctantly following this girl around the city.

There are a lot of people doing daily activities so he comes to the conclusion that this city must stretch a long way into the island. This place has the feeling and look of a coastal city in Italy, all the different colored buildings stand out in contrast to the surroundings, but compliment each other very nicely.

“Hey, Ubica right? Stop zoning out we're here.”

Looking up he sees a two story building that has some weird writing on it, but he assumes that it has something to do with signifying that it is a doctor's residence.

“Is this where you live?” he asks.

"No, my brother lives here by himself, I still live with my parents.”

“Ohh...”

“Come in.”

Ubica stops at the door and glares at her discouragingly.

She raises her index finger to this look and says, “Just go in, you'll never know how it'll end up.”

“How in the world did I end up in this situation!?” Ubica asks with a bitter look on his face when he finds himself sitting on a dinner table with six people he doesn't know.

"Buaahahaha! Because our family never turns down anyone in need!” says the burly amber bearded father named Albert as he slaps Ubica really hard on the back.

Ubica sighs and says under his breath, “But I already told you guys that I'm fine..”

“Although I must say, you are in surprisingly good health after I took a look at you, what did you do to stay in such good shape? Amber said you didn't have much food on board when the two of you docked the boat.” asks the doctor Nicklaus, who is also the brother of Amber.

He is the oldest child but looks like a complete outsider compared to his father and the rest. He seems to be very frail and he wears glasses that add to this meek look of his.

There is one person at the table that obviously has Albert's genes, her name is Allison and she is a woman in her late twenties with two little ten year old twins who sit one a piece at each side of her.

“Now that I think of it... you haven't touched any of the food!!”

Ubica leans back in his chair and raises his hands, “Well you see I'm not hun--”

“Is my cooking not good enough!?” the elder sister exclaims.

“N-No that's not it at all.”

Amber's mother Melissa chimes in with a patronizing smile, “Oh no, that's never good when a mother can't cook.”

Allison takes a deep breath in shock, she looks at her two twins, one a girl and one a boy and asks, “Alice, Jeremy! Is my cooking good!?”

The two twins stare at her dejectedly and without much conviction they uncomfortably answer simultaneously.

“S-Sure...”

“Whaaaaa!? That was a terrible reply!”

She grabs the two kids heads under her each of her large arms and begins to strangle them, it would seem that they are used to it but from an onlookers prospective it really looks like child abuse.

“Waaaah! Your food is great! I swear I swear!!” the little boy named Jeremy yells frantically.

“I don't believe you, you little brat!!!”

Albert just sits back and laughs obnoxiously loud as he watches this scene that would certainly warrant a visit from child protective services.

Amber takes a sigh of exasperation and looks to Ubica, who seems to feel a little guilty because the two kid's torture is a direct result of him not eating.

She senses this and says, “Sorry, my family is a little crazy.”

“No it's nothing, to be honest my group isn't much different.”

Melissa overhears this through the noise and asks, “Now that you mention it, what brings you here anyway?”

With this question, all the noise suddenly halts and the awkward atmosphere hits Ubica really hard.

He tries to scramble and find something to say, “Well due to some circumstances I had to leave the ship that I was on and I just drifted here while I was asleep.”

“No no, that's not what I meant..” she reveals a lecherous smile and finishes, “Could it be my little Amber made a move on you?”

“Haaah?” Ubica groans as he tilts his head in confusion.

Amber's shoulders jump and her face turns red.

“Mom! What are you talking about!?”

“I'm just saying that it's not too often that a boy this cute falls on your lap like that. You never struck me as the type to bring someone to meet the family so soon after you first met. Oh-ho my daughter is finally growing up!”

“D-Don't just jump to conclusions like that! I would never------”

Amber is interrupted by the sharp voice of her elder sister saying, “Yeah that would be ridiculous considering the fact that Amber gets so nervous she can barely talk to the guy she likes, there's no way that she'd hit on a random fellow.”

Ubica has no clue what is going on but he is growing increasingly more awkward with each passing second.

Nicklaus tilts his glasses up and agrees, “True.”

Ubica's uneasiness reaches a level he’s not familiar with, and it’s making him physically ill, his stomach is actually grumbling because of it.

This is certainly not something he should be hearing from people he had just met, and by the look of it, Amber is about to blow steam out of her ears.

Ubica attempts to save her from this cruel and unusual punishment from her family and stands to his feet.

“Thank you very much for the meal, but I really must be goi---”

His speech is halted by the sound of the front door being knocked behind him, the house is fairly big but one could see the entrance from the dining room.

“Oh he's here!” Albert says in excitement, he walks over to the door and opens it.

There in the doorway stands a shining man with blonde hair and light brown eyes. He looks to be in his early twenties and emits a radiance to him that feels more like he belongs to some kind of royal family.

“Tuscany, it's great to see ya! Come on in I'll set up a seat for you.”

The man named Tuscany smiles politely and says, “Thank you.”

The two walk up to the table and both him and Ubica lock eyes for a moment, Tuscany gives him an odd look before turning back to the others.

“Who's this?” he asks.

“He's a drifter that Amber picked up out of the ocean.” Melissa answers in a carefree fashion.

“M-Mom that makes it sound bad...” Amber shyly says.

Tuscany glances at her and reveals an accepting smile, “I'm sure you had your reasons.”

He takes a seat and a heavy feeling reaches Ubica's body which makes him really feel like he needs to leave, but to be polite he decides to stick around until he finds the socially acceptable moment to make a friendly exit.

Things quiet down and the introduction process finally begins.

Ubica looks at the new guest and politely says, “My name's Ubica, nice to meet you.”

“Tuscany Reinhart, it's my pleasure.”

The two force a fake smile at each other and sit in silence for a few moments, when out of the blue Albert looks at Amber and blatantly asks, “So... Have you kissed yet?”

“WHAT!?!?” Amber shouts.

Tuscany puts his hand over his mouth and slightly coughs, obviously flustered.

Albert gets right into their business and yells, “Ahhh! How can I have another grandson if you guys can't even get to first base!!?”

Amber hides her face in embarrassment on the table as Albert waits for an answer that will never come.

Ubica is so embarrassed for her that internally he’s screeching in pain and writhing on the ground.

The awkwardness has hit an all time high.

He has no clue why he'd say something like that to his own daughter, but Niklaus nudges on Ubica’s sleeve and begins to explain.

“In case you're wondering, Tuscany and my sister are engaged. Please excuse my father's rude behavior, he's not used to guests so he treats these kinds of situations like there is nobody there.”

“O-Oh I see..”

Ubica looks to Tuscany and Amber, with a smile he says, “Congratulations on your engagement.”

Tuscany proudly says his thanks while Amber seems shyly nods.

The dinner seemed to last forever but it's finally finished, and along with it the last vestiges of Ubica's patience; he hasn't wanted to leave a room so badly in his entire life. It's not like they are bad people, but meeting people for the first time and spending a good amount of time immersed in their daily lives is usually a little too much to handle for even the most socially adept person.

“Thanks for inviting me to your home, it was a pleasure.” Ubica says kindly, trying to be as gracious as possible.

Tuscany had already left earlier due to some appointment, so the family members all say their goodbyes and Ubica hurriedly walks to the door.

But before he can leave, he is halted by the soft voice of Amber asking, “Wait, where are you going to stay?”

“Hmmm, I haven't thought that far yet, but I'll figure it out.”

They all look at him in concern, which catches him off guard.

Albert takes a step forward and says, “Well if you don't find somewhere to say, feel free to come here, the door will be open for you.”

This makes Ubica somewhat happy, not because he knows he has somewhere to go but rather the fact that there really are kind people who would do such a thing as let a stranger in need into their home.

“I guess what you said was true, the Lockeford family always helps someone in need. Thank you, but I've already imposed enough on you guys.”

“Buaaahahaha of course! Remember, the offer still stands Ubica.”

Ubica walks out the door and onto the road, he turns around and smiles, “I'll keep that in mind. Goodbye everyone!”

---

“Huuaaahhh finally out of there.” Ubica sighs, letting out the built up social anxiety that once seemed to seek his destruction.

He walks down the steps that lead to the lagoon his boat is docked in, once at his boat he finds that nothing has been stolen out of it so he is quite relieved.

This lagoon is fairly secluded compared to others around the island, so one would really have to look hard to spot it and ransack it. But just in case, he had hid it behind some rocks and out of sight from anyone who just so happened to come down for a swim or some sightseeing. So he’s happy nothing went wrong while he was away.

He gets ready to jump in the boat when he happens to look out into the ocean, thinking about it, he finds that this is an ideal place for his training. This lagoon is just enough out of the way from the town where he can get away with whatever he wants without notice, and the numerous islands out in the distance are good spots to swim to for fishing, so food would come easy if he ever got hungry.

The most important part of this is that the crystal clear water of this lagoon seems to be warm even at night, it's something that is desperately needed. If something happened where Ubica was tossed overboard and the water was freezing he would literally die in an instant.

“Alright, I can stay here for a couple days.” he says as he puffs out his chest in determination.

“You can stay at my place you know?” said Amber, who is sitting on the stairs leading up to town.

“Whoah what are you doing here!? Scared the crap out of me.”

“I came to find you before you left, I wanted to give you water.”

“Ooh thanks, I forgot to get some while I was in town.”

Amber walks down the stairs and walks into the water, splashing her legs around she says, “You are a strange guy, why wouldn't you accept help when it's offered to you like that?”

“Some people just don't like to impose, you know.”

“Hmmm, sometimes I think it's more rude to deny help than it is to accept it.”

Ubica never thought of it that way so he puts his hands together and says, “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you if that’s the case.”

“It's not offensive, it just gets me fired up.”

“Eh?”

“I'm not gonna leave you alone as long as you stay in this lagoon.”

“Why would you wanna do that?”

“To make sure you're okay you idiot!”

“Hey you didn't have to insult me.”

“Of course I do! You seem like one of those dense guys who have to get insulted before he realizes that he's wrong.”

What she says hits him like an arrow in the chest, he can't think of how many times he's been called dense or an idiot by certain members of his group.

This gets him a little riled up and he forgets that he is talking to someone he had just met when he says, “Well not everyone can be as composed as your fiance after all.”

Amber instantly becomes flushed and frowns at his words, she doesn't speak but gives him a look that shows how much displeasure that caused.

“Uhh, sorry about that, that was uncalled for..”

“It's fine, but you're right... You aren't like him at all, he's well spoken, polite, smart and proper. He's every girl's dream guy.”

Ubica tries not to take offense by that and takes it with a grain of salt, he sighs and pulls his shirt off to get ready to go into the water.

He walks past her and smiles when he says, “Then it looks like you got yourself a keeper.”

“Hey... do you have a girlfriend?”

“I don’t.”

“Then is there anyone you like?”

“I’m not quite sure about that yet actually... Wait, where did these questions come from!?”

“Y-You see, I just wanted to get some advice, I'm too embarrassed to talk about it with my family so I was hoping you'd know something about what I'm going through.”

“Aren't things going well for you right now?”

“I guess you can say that, I mean... I've had a huge crush on him in secret since I was little but I never had the courage to talk to him even once, but around three months ago he came up to me and asked me to marry him.”

“Wow, that's random.”

“I know right!? But I had to say yes, I was so happy that I thought I'd die.”

“Then what's the problem?”

“Since then.. I still don't really have the courage to talk to him, I always get so nervous that everything I say is really short and pointless. I can't even imagine touching him in any way, so I don't get why he'd still want to marry me when I have so little to offer.”

Ubica laughs a little, for one, he has no clue why she is confessing this to him like he is one of her girlfriends, and the other is because of how innocent her problems are. She lives in a world completely different from him, and he even finds himself envying her because of it.

He jumps into the water to get used to the temperature and then back out, with his hair hanging over his eyes he says, “I hate to say it but you are barking up the wrong tree by asking me that, I have no clue what those feelings are like... but.”

He shakes his head to get the water off of his hair and smiles at her.

“You are a beautiful person inside and out. If you can find confidence in knowing that, it might give you the courage to accomplish what you want to do.”

Amber gives him a slight smile and slightly blushes at that statement, she looks away for a moment then looks back, and to her surprise she finds that Ubica is gone.

Out in the distance he pops up and says, “Now go home! It's getting late!”

She huffs air out of her nose and walks away, heading up the stairs she stops and thinks about what he had just said, her body warms up and she says to herself,

“...I'm beautiful huh?”

---

It's been four days since Ubica drifted into this somewhat secluded lagoon, and the training he has put himself through has been vigorous and difficult. Such things like lifting the heaviest of boulders from the ocean floor and staying underwater for hours on end holding his breath are a daily occurrence. The gist of what he is trying to do is become completely adapted to moving and fighting in the water, he knows that the chances of fighting Leviathan under water is very high so he must be as natural as can be when the time comes.

As of now he is laying on the sand under a makeshift umbrella made out of his shirt and a blanket that came with the lifeboat.

But he is not alone.

Every day, a certain girl he met always meets him in the morning, afternoon, and even the evenings.

“So are you ready to stay at our house yet?” Amber asks as she stands over him with her hands on her hips.

“You've been asking me this everyday and my answer never changes, so give it up already.”

“Not a chance, the Lockefords never give up on someone in need!”

“Do I look needy to you!?”

“Yeah you do, where in the world do you shower!? And what do you eat and drink!?”

“There's a big city just on top of that hill. Everything I need is up there, I'm just not sleeping with a roof over my head.”

“You do everything else in town but you can't come stay with us, you make no sense.”

“I'll tell you what Amber, the next time it rains I'll come to your house.”

Looking up, one can see that there isn't a single cloud in sight and it is obvious that unless a freak occurrence happens there is no chance that it'll rain anytime soon.

“Ahh geez you are so stubborn! Fine, I'm coming back tonight to take you back.”

“I’ll be seeing you tonight then.”

Amber tut-tuts and stomps off, this has become a recurring theme so the two have been spending a lot of time together.

For the most part they get along really well, and when he is not getting pestered to go to her house they have very normal conversations that any pair of friends would.

Ubica lays in the sun and decides to shut his eyes and take a nap, he hasn't slept much but this is as good a time as any to do so.

Once he doses off, Amber comes rushing back and says, “I forgot my---eh?”

She hasn't seen him sleeping yet so she starts to tip toe around him to pick up her purse that she placed right beside him earlier. Trying to be extremely quiet she stubs her toe into a rock and loses her balance.

With a rather loud “Kyahh!” she falls straight on top of Ubica.

“Ahh Ubica I'm sorry I...”

To her utter shock she finds that he is still sleeping like a log, she definitely fell straight on him and her full weight is still pressing against him. She has to double take when she finally realizes this, and the feeling in her finger tips that rest on his bare chest reaches her body, the feeling of her legs intertwined with his makes her hips jolt.

She immediately jumps off of him, grabs her purse and stands to her feet, she looks down on him and her face gets really red.

(What in the world was that??) she thinks to herself.

She puts her hand on her chest and feels her heart beating quickly.

(I-I'm sure it's nothing.)

The truth is that it is something, though it is not much, she has finally realized that Ubica is a guy, and an attractive one at that.

Before that moment, she hadn't given him much thought.

She forcefully throws the image of Tuscany into her head and this calms her down, with that she smiles as if nothing happened and heads into the city.

---

Amber is on her way from her house to the lagoon where Ubica is staying, the sun is almost down and because of some sporadic cloud coverage that finally showed up, the sunset is a brilliant display of both warm and cool colors.

She normally comes to visit him after the sun has already set but this time decided to come early since she was already out and about. She gets down to the beach and sees that Ubica is nowhere in sight.

{Huh? Where is he?)

She looks around the area and still has no luck, she assumes he is swimming so she looks out to the ocean to check if she can see his wake. But something catches her eye that makes her heart skip a beat, it is Ubica, but he is not swimming, rather he is standing with his back turned to her on the slightly breaking water.

She can only stand there in disbelief as she watches this scene, and it's only going to get more foreign for her because Ubica gently sinks into the water and disappears.

“Wait wait wait wait, what in the world did I just see?” she asks herself in denial.

She waits for Ubica to come up out of the water but after a few minutes she becomes worried.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, there’s no way he can't hold his breath for that long!”

She unhesitatingly rushes into the water and dives in.

Swimming as fast as possible to the location where she thinks he is, she finds that things under water are getting hard to see now that the sun is going down.

(Damn it where is he!?)

It begins to look hopeless when she runs out of breath and breaks to the surface to breathe, she takes one giant inhale and swims back down, and when she does it's like she has just swam into a different world.

There is a bright green light that shines so bright that it looks like everything under water is actually out in the plain day, the fish that are swimming look like they are floating in the air and all the other sea life seems surreal.

In the middle of this gorgeous scene is a boy with his eyes closed standing impossibly on the ocean floor, and the light seems to emit from him as if he is some kind of deity.

Amber is in awe at this sight, she is experiencing the very definition of an out of body experience. She wants to get close to this light so she moves towards it, this is so entrancing that she forgot she was under water and tries to take a breath. It seems that the gulp of saltwater put her back to her senses however, she realizes that she had just swallowed a mouthful of sea water and immediately is under threat of drowning.

Desperately swimming up to the surface, it becomes obvious that she will not make it to the surface in time, that is until she feels her body become weightless and is sent upwards at a tremendous speed.

This is a similar feeling to what she had earlier under water, but this is on a different level then something that should belong in the realm of reality. Amber opens her eyes and is staring up at Ubica as the setting sun shines over his outstanding figure and the thousands of droplets of water. Under his feet is a stream of water that he is balancing on and the orange tint of the setting sun shines through it making it look like he is standing on a beam of light.

At this very moment she is a part of something right out of a fantasy novel, in the arms of this incredible person suspended in air as everything around them slows down.

After a few moments that felt long and drawn out to her, she unconsciously spoke his name,

“Ubica...”

The water that once surrounded him in mid air falls and splashes back into the ocean.

He falls along with it and looks at her in confusion.

She gives him a shocked frown and musters up the courage to ask,

“...What are you?”

---

“I wonder how he's doing?” Tsubiri asks Daey, who is standing right next to her looking at the sunset.

“Who knows... I hope he’s looking after himself.” Daey replies.

Tsubiri sighs and says, “Nine days... That's a long time for any one of us to be separated, it feels like it's been forever since he left.”

“Yeah, it doesn't help that I feel really uneasy about all this with him not around.”

“Like how?”

Daey is wearing her hair wavy down so she is twirling it with her finger unconsciously in deep thought.

“I just have a feeling that by simply being away from Ubica, it doesn't make us any more safe from those monsters. Every night I feel like something terrible getting closer to us.”

“Uhhh, that's a creepy thought you got going there.”

“I know, I can’t help it.”

Tsubiri again sighs and this time even louder, “It’s a good thing you’re not a psychic."

Something out in the distance catches her eye and she squints to get a better sight of it.

“Hmm? Hey look at that... Is that a boat?”

Daey peers out towards the ocean’s horio and replies,, “Yeah.. I think it is.”

“You don't think it could be...” Tsubiri says as hope fills her eyes.

Daey starts to become excited as well when she tries to clarify, “It’s definitely the same kind of boat.”

“I gotta go tell somebody! I'll be right back.”

Tsubiri runs down into the barracks below the deck to tell Strauphius, Messor, Napoleon and Trojia.

Looking on as the little boat out in the distance gets closer, the figure of a single man can be seen.

It’s a small boat occupied by one person in the middle of the ocean, and she can’t help but feel that it must be Ubica.

By now the ship's men have all caught wind of the boat and Caesar comes to the railing to greet the incoming vessel. He is really hoping that it isn't Ubica, but due to a past experience where his life was saved by a passing fishing vessel after losing his ship in a storm, it’s part of his ship’s moral code to pick up anyone who is stranded in a lifeboat.

So he stands out there waiting to take him in as he orders a few men to bring some food and water for whoever this may be.

Getting closer, they see a man who seems to be bundled up in some sort of red cloak.

Daey narrows her focus on the man’s face as he gets closer, and is suddenly struck with a sickening feeling in her stomach.

She immediately goes pale.

“That's not Ubica...”

She cautiously turns to Caesar and gives him an intense glare when she says, “You absolutely must not let that boat anywhere near this ship.”

“What’re you yapping about? There's no way I'm gonna leave someone stranded in the middle of the ocean by himself.” He then turns and shouts to one of his men, “Throw down the anchor!”

Naturally, the man obliges.

They are now completely stopped here, and they will be taking this drifter onboard no matter how much she protests.

Daey is obviously not thrilled.

In fact, she is devastated.

She turns away from the railing and runs through the door that connects to the stairs leading down to the barracks, she slams the door behind her and sees that the rest of the group are all heading up the stairs courtesy of Tsubiri's high hopes.

“Don't go out there!!” Daey shouts.

The rest all look at her confusedly.

“Why not?” Napoleon asks.

“You just have to believe me, we have to find somewhere to hide!”

Judging by how frantic she is, the rest feel very uneasy about this, and this makes Napoleon want to investigate all the more.

He walks past her and says, “I’ll need a little more of an explanation than that.”

He opens the door and despite Daey's pleas to keep him there, he walks on to the deck.

He gets to the railing and joins a group of about twenty or so men who are greeting this incoming boat; he has to shove a couple of them out of the way to get a good look and as soon as he does, his eyes widen and a cold sweat falls down his temple.

He quickly ducks and literally crawls in an army style back to the barrack door.

He enters the stairway and leans up against the wall, breathing hard and attempting to slow his spiked heart rate.

The rest look at him anxiously.

“This is bad..”

---

“That doesn't answer my question at all, there's no way I'd accept you saying, 'It's better that you don't know’.” Amber says.

Ubica shrugs his shoulders and says, “I know it’s hard to believe me, but it’s definitely for the best.”

“This is stupid, how is it a bad thing that you can do those things? I don't see why you can't explain it to me.”

Ubica stays silent and looks away, he's not good at saying no, but it’s much easier not saying anything at all. No matter how angry she’d be at him, he knows that they’re only a short time away from parting, there is no point in putting her in danger by revealing any more about himself than she already knows.

“So you're just going to stay quiet... I see.” she huffs air out of her nose and walks off.

Halfway up the stairs she turns back to him and says, “I told you everything about me, the least you can do is return the favor.”

Ubica fights back his guilt by rationalizing that she is only reacting as anyone would upon seeing such nonhuman abilities. Of course she’d be interested in how and why after experiencing the supernatural.

Watching her silently head back into town, he comes to realize that this is likely the last time he’ll ever see her, he'd be really surprised if she'd want to see him before tomorrow ends, so he'll probably be long gone before they even get a chance to have a proper goodbye.

But before Amber reaches the top of the hill she turns again and says one last thing.

“Don't forget to come over to my house if it starts to rain.”

This surprises him, she can still invite him over after seeing those freakish abilities of his. It would seem that there really are people who will accept someone like him unconditionally.

Nonetheless, he still has no intention of going over there.

He smiles at her kindness and says under his breath, “You’re a good person, that’s why this will be our goodbye.”

As soon as he says this, he feels a breath over his shoulder into his ear saying,

“Too late, Ubica.”

He quickly turns around and a dreaded sight beholds him, it is the very man that he is training to fight against, the second in command to the Hierarchy.

“Leviathan!?”

“Come now, don't look so surprised. I'd hope you weren't foolish enough to think that I wouldn't find you eventually.”

Ubica dashes for his sword and pulls it out to slash him with it.

Completely unphased by Ubica’s threatening move, Leviathan smiles and says, “Take it easy, just because I came here doesn't mean I want to fight you.”

“Why else would you be here?”

“Oh? I seem to have gotten you quite rattled. This is good, I need you to become that way lest this whole thing be pointless.”

“...?”

“If you truly want to know what I'm doing here, I'll happily tell you if you’d lend me your ear.”

“...Go on then.”

“I’ve done a lot of thinking about you over the years you see, there was a time where I nurtured and loved you, a time where I hated you. But the one constant is that I’ve always been envious of you. It’s because of that, I'm here---- no... because of that I exist to send you into despair.”

Ubica takes a step back and wonders what he meant by that.

But Leviathan takes a step towards him and continues, “Without despair, you can’t be the person that I love and hate and envy all at the same time. All you are now is frustrating to me, and it’s filled me with a desire to have you back to the way I’m most comfortable with.”

Ubica takes another step back and Leviathan in turn takes another step forward.

“But there is something fun about bringing you back, it’s as though my nurturing love for you has returned to how it was while you were growing from within the ocean. It’s an emotional state I had thought I’d never experience again.”

Closing the distance between the two, each step Leviathan takes becomes more imposing.

“Over the last week I’ve contemplated how I can nurture you back into my most hated foe... If there is one thing I've noticed about you, the new you, is that you get along with people quite well.”

“....”

Ubica’s silence conveys how threatened he is by what Leviathan had just said.

“In the time it took you to start caring for people other than yourself, it has since become your greatest weakness.”

Ubica frowns and finally takes a step forward in defiance of his intimidation. “I would argue that those feelings have made me strong.”

“Then will you put it to the test?”

“What..?”

“I'm interested to see if this truly is a strength of yours. I wonder how you will react when you find out that these feelings you cling to amount to nothing when precious lives are on the line.”

Leviathan spreads his arms and declares, “I predict that you will fall into despair, you will become angry, you will become consumed with a hatred for your own weakness. You will naturally return to what instinctually comes easiest to you.”

Ubica grits his teeth and hesitatingly says, “I will not...”

“Then I will give you an ultimatum.” Leviathan says as he walks closer to him and looks him square in the eye. “You cherish the life of that girl and her family right? Well... I'm going to kill them.”

Ubica grips his sword with all of his might and yells, “I won’t let you!!”

"I thought you'd say as much, which is why I must ask... Would you be so committed to protecting that family if it costs your comrade's lives?”

“...?”

Ubica stares at him with so much intensity it's as if the ocean behind Leviathan will boil from his glare.

“Soon enough, there will be someone commencing an attack on that ship carrying your friends, and without you there they have no chance of surviving it.”

“N-No way... How?”

“A mishap on your part Ubica, have you forgotten that I come from the ocean? Anything on or in that water is in my realm, I'll always have a track on them, even if you're not there as my beacon.”

“You bastard!!!” Ubica shouts as he swings his sword into the sand, the result of that frustrated action is an explosion of fine sand particles plumbing into the sky and glistening in the orange twilight of the sunset.

Leviathan smiles at his anger and says, “Calm down, you can still save them, if you left now I won't stop you.”

He shifts his eyes toward the town and sharply says, “But the moment you leave, I will make my way into town and slaughter that family.”

Ubica takes sharp breaths at the conundrum that has been thrust upon him, it's as if he doesn't want to take on the responsibility of choosing a proper solution.

“So now you must pick, this weakness of yours will cost one of these sides their lives. However… there is one way you can save them both..”

Ubica looks at him as if begging for the answer.

“Let your true self consume you, let Dantega take over... If you do that, you could possibly kill me and make it to the ship in time to defeat the man I sent there.”

“I-I can't do that...”

“You have to, you have no other choice, you are fighting a losing battle otherwise.”

“No!”

“I see you do not like to be the one being tempted, perhaps I should tell you who your friends are up against? It may help coerce you into making a hopeless decision one way or the other.”

To add to the tension of the conversation, thick clouds form overhead and the sound of a light thunder can be heard.

Ubica is absolutely dreading finding out who it is, because depending on who, he knows that there will be no mercy shown.

Rain begins to pour onto them, the water seems to fall away from Leviathan but drenches Ubica as if nature is rubbing salt in his wounds. Leviathan laughs a little and says,

“The man is...”

---

“Okay is someone going to tell me what’s going on?” Trojia asked in frustration about being cooped up in the stairwell.

Daey shushes her and gives her a look screaming at her to stay quiet.

She then gestures to the little circle window of the barrack doors and gestures outside, signaling them to take a look for themselves.

Messor has been quiet because she can't sense what they are so afraid of, and personally she is not too worried because if it was Leviathan or any other of the 7 Demons from the Hierarchy, she would have felt it.

She, along with Trojia and Strauphius take a look through the window and simultaneously take deep breaths of shock when they see who the man is.

He is wearing a dark red cloak, he has light brown hair and blue eyes, in his hand he is tossing a little marble while wearing a big smile on his face.

He is none other than the man who split the group up into two by creating a crater that was almost the size of the entire first level of Purgatory itself.

He is the man who destroyed Aria and Strauphius' house and also the man who brutally murdered Daey's bodyguard Rudo.

He is the traitorous Angel who created the eternal abyss for Ubica and Messor to burn in for all eternity.

This man introduces himself to Caesar and the crew by saying,

“Thanks fer havin' me on board. I've been dyin' to find this ship... The name's Abaddon.”

Pursuit on the Water: (END)

Chapter 35: One Step Behind

(PART 1)

“Did you really have to be so violent?” Aria asked with a dejected look on her face.

This question is directed toward Rage, who is at the helm of a large wooden ship.

And he is steering this ship away from a port as fast as the sails can take it.

Arrows are flying all about and landing on the deck, bullets are ripping through the sails and peppering the side of the ship.

They are under attack.

Aria ducking for cover each time she hears and feels the whiz of a bullet or arrow pass by her, but Rage stands fearlessly as one flies just over his head and lands on a barrel.

“I'm sure you can tell, these aren't the kind of people who would just agree to give me their ship.”

“Yeah but I'm sure there was something we could have done to make things go smoother. It's like the whole city is attacking us!”

Just a few moments earlier, Rage ran into a group of pirates and commandeered their ship; of course they did not take his demand very seriously so he was forced to steal it from them. As a result, the entire port city that is apparently run by pirates has joined together in attacking the ship to put a stop to this theft.

Once the barrage of arrows halts and they are out the range of gunfire, the group begins to relax.

Niera comes out of a barrel she was hiding in and shoddily looks around.

“Is it over?”

“Yeah you can come out now.” Aria answers.

From a few other hiding places comes Sora and Cyrus, Phoenix is sitting down on the bow of the boat with arms casually folded against his chest as if he was there the entire time.

“Where's Xavier?” Aria asks, she scours the entire deck of the ship but he is nowhere to be found.

“Wasn't he with you?” Cyrus asks while pulling one of the arrows out of the deck and looking at its tip.

“He was following me up until we ran onto the ship.”

Sora walks up to her and looks as straight faced as ever, but one can see the faint glint of concern in her eyes.

“...Captured..?”

Before Aria can contemplate the answer to that, the sound of a cannonball flying is heard overhead, followed by a loud boom from the gunpowder.

The ball rips through one of the sails and they all hit the deck.

“They're aiming for the beam holding the sails so we can't move!” Cyrus shouts.

He knows that if one of the cannonballs connects with its intended target, everyone is in danger of being crushed by the heavy beam.

Looking toward the direction of the sound they can see a ship moving toward them at a fast speed, Rage is unworried that the pirates are firing to sink them because they would want their stolen property back with the least amount of damage as possible.

Because of this fact, he calmly lets the enemy ship approach; but his calm is shaken by the sight of someone familiar on the deck of the opposing ship. Xavier is being held by a few men and has obviously been beaten a little.

“Shit.” Rage hisses, he leaves the helm and walks up to the railing, awaiting the ship to get close enough to board them.

The opposing pirate ship is only a few dozen yards away and one of the men who looks like an authoritative figure takes a step forward and shouts, “You fuckers have a lot of nerve trying to steal a pirate's ship! If you want to get this brat back to you with all of his limbs intact, I recommend surrendering immediately!”

“That idiotic kid, how could he have been captured so easily?” Rage mutters to himself.

Aria runs up to the railing and shouts back, “Let him go!”

The pirate smiles and pulls a knife up to Xavier's neck. “You heard the conditions, hurry up and oblige or I'll cut this kid's throat.”

Aria turns to Rage and intently orders, “I need you to distract them.”

“I don't like to be ordered around.”

She slams her new and stolen broadsword into the deck and yells, “I don't care what you like! I made a promise that I'd protect him, and in order for me to do that you have to distract them!”

Rage is taken aback by this sudden surge in emotion, so instead of fighting her any further he decides to let her have her way. He raises his scythe and the black cloud comes rushing out and settles itself between the two ships like a thick fog.

Aria says her thanks and quickly jumps over the railing and into the ocean.

Sora sees this and quickly follows, but before she could jump in she is halted by the voice of Rage saying, “Let her handle this, if you try to help her you'd only get in the way.”

“...But...”

“This is her resolve, and because it involves that promise this has become her battle alone. If it wasn't, I'd have already destroyed that ship myself.”

Sora turns away and anxiously waits for the cloud to clear so she can get a good look at what will happen.

On the other ship, the pirates are all scattering around in reaction to the appearance of this mysterious black cloud.

“This has got to be some kind of trick! Everyone get your cannons ready to fire it into the ship!” the pirate holding Xavier captive shouts.

“But if we do that we take the risk of sinking it!” another man responds.

“I don't care, it's better than having them steal it from us. We can always get another one, the pride we'd lose is far more than the value of a ship.”

The pirate puts the knife closer to the young Prince's neck and says, “It looks like your comrades are attempting to flee, you're being abandoned. If you aren’t that important to them then I have no use for you.”

The pirate readys to slit his throat but he feels a sharp pressure up against his back, through his peripheral vision he sees a girl with apple colored hair holding a large sword.

“If you move an inch I'll lop off your head. Let him go.” Aria demands.

The pirate stays calm and nonchalantly lets Xavier go, the prince backs away in fear but since his hands are tied and his mouth his gagged he just prostrates on the floor and watches.

“You have a lot of guts to come here girl... You do realize that you're surrounded right?”

With her eyes, Aria scours the ship deck and sees over thirty men with their swords and guns ready, glaring at her just waiting for a chance to strike.

She arrogantly laughs and says, “This ship will sink long before any one of you could touch me.”

“How's that?”

“Turn and look at me.” she orders.

The pirate shrugs his shoulders and turns to her, only to be hit in the face by a swift left hook.

The pirate falls on his back and the rest of the crew quickly rush at her with killing intent.

Some fire pop shots at the two but none of them hit, their adrenaline filled haste affected their accuracy.

Aria dashes to Xavier and grabs him.

“Hold your breath Xavier!”

With him in tow she jumps off the ship into the black cloud and takes the thirty foot drop to the water just before the swords of the pirates reach them. On her way down she points her hand toward the ship and snaps her finger, the immediate aftermath is an intense heat felt against their skin accompanied by a loud

BOOOOOOOOM!!!

The two fall into the sea and the light from the explosion can even be seen from under the water. Flaming debris continuously lands in the ocean so the two cannot surface until the danger level drops, and Aria desperately tries to keep them away from the threatening onslaught landing just feet above their heads.

If that wasn't enough already, looking into Xavier's eyes it becomes obvious that he didn't take a deep enough breath, so after a minute he is struggling and is in serious need of air.

Aria has no choice but to bring him to the surface despite the danger overhead; the two break into water and take big breaths that are immediately polluted with smoke from the flaming debris surrounding them.

Aria removes the gag cloth from his mouth so he can breath better, while huffing and puffing herself she asks, “You okay!?”

Xavier doesn't respond but instead looks at her with a blue face full of shock, she ignores this look and shifts her gaze upwards to see if anything is coming their way.

Much to her expectations a large and inflamed wooden plank is hurling towards their heads, moving in the water is too time consuming so avoiding this plank is seemingly impossible.

Aria moves fast on her feet and grabs Xavier's shoulders, she pulls herself up on him and with her two feet pushes off his chest and sends him away from her and her away from him.

The fiery plank lands heavily in the vacant water in between them with a violent splash.

They had both narrowly avoided death in that instant and Aria takes a sigh in relief.

Xavier's hands are still tied and he is fruitlessly trying to stay afloat, there is panic written on his face until Aria swims to him and grabs him once more.

Toting his full weight in the water she swims for the hijacked ship where her comrades are, by now the black cloud is gone and the only smoke is the dark gray plume coming from the fire on the sinking ship.

The pirates who are still able to move are jumping into the water to escape being dragged down with it, but the pirate that was punched by Aria is still on the deck and is holding onto a rope to keep his footing on the tilted boat.

He has pure anger in his eyes as he looks to the few men still on board, “FIRE THE CANNONS! IF WE GO DOWN THEY'RE COMING WITH US!!”

The men barely cling onto the starboard cannons as the ship is getting swallowed by the ocean rapidly, there are only four cannons left operable but with these all firing at the same time at such a close range, the hijacked ship has no chance to stay afloat.

“FIRE!!”

The four men are all ready to pull the rope that fires the cannon, but in that very instant the gunpowder reserve at bottom of the boat ignites and the resulting explosion causes the entire right side of the ship to tilt downwards.

The starboard flank of the ship holding the cannons are tilted in a way to where they are pointing directly at the floating Xavier and Aria.

The men were in the middle of firing when this happened so they didn't really have time to react, so four cannonballs were sent zooming at the two defenseless teenagers.

This moment in time is moving incredibly slow as Aria awaits the worst possible outcome.

(What can I do?) she thinks to herself. (What can I do!?)

Without even flinching, she throws her sword up, but it would seem this does nothing because the cannonballs zoom by and a thunderous explosion rips through the ocean water, sending a massive splash into the air.

“ARIA!!”

The rest of the group stares in angst as the pirate ship sinks quickly in the background, every second that passes adds to the tension.

Aria and Xavier still have yet to surface and the chances of that ever happening seems slim after such a blast.

When all hope seems lost, the apple red hair of Aria breaks the surface and they all take a collective sigh of relief.

Soon after Xavier comes up gasping for air and Cyrus throws down a lifesaver and pulls them in.

Once aboard, Rage sets sail and they all exit the scene, leaving the few remaining pirates behind in the water.

Xavier is leaning up against a crate and is breathing rather hard, they all leave him because of how distraught he looks so the attention is placed on Aria.

“How did you survive that!?” Niera asks.

“Honestly... I don't really know.” replies the rattled Aria. She recollects the images of the event and says, “As a last ditch effort I threw my sword and turned it into a bomb to deflect the cannonballs, but I've never been able to control the intensity of my explosions before... We should have been caught in the blast.”

“Well I'm glad it didn't, I was so worried.”

“Hehehe I'm sorry about that.”

Sora comes up and stares at her uncomfortably, after a few moments she bows and says, “...Thank you...”

Aria awkwardly laughs and scratches her head.

“It was nothing..”

“...No...”

Sora then hugs her tightly, though she can't express her feelings through speech or even facial expressions, she still thinks just like a regular person would and the emotion of gratitude and relief are best represented through physical contact.

Aria can feel it, Sora is grateful that she had saved Xavier's life and she is also relieved and happy that Aria survived through such a scary ordeal. Rage walks by and breaks the atmosphere of this touching moment between friends, just his presence is enough to do so.

But much to Aria's surprise he looks at her and says, “Good work.”

Before she can reply he continues, “But if you really want to accomplish Luke's wish, you need to talk to the brat and make him understand why people needed to die to ensure his survival.”

“Um.. I don't think I know how to do that.”

“Just put things into perspective, it's as simple as that.”

Aria smiles and nudges at his shoulder, “Oh? Is the ever so cold Rage giving me advice?”

Rage scoffs at her and turns away.

“Take it however you want.” he says, and then walks off annoyed.

Aria reveals a face full of determination and confidently says, “Alright, I know what I need to do."

---

Beelzebub walks along a river in Hell.

Of course there is water in such a rotten place, much to the contrary of modern belief, Hell is not a world of just fire and brimstone. Hell is more like a place where one always feels like the sky is about to fall in on them. The sky is gray and clouded, and it truly feels like there is nothing above the low hanging blanket of moist air.

Underneath this enclosed veil, everywhere one looks there is death.

In that slow moving river he is looking at, numerous bloody severed heads bobble like apples in a barrel.

The whereabouts of their bodies is unknown, it is likely that they were eaten by a demon and the bits and pieces that remained were casually tossed aside. These people aren't dead though, they will soon wake up in a designated spot where slaughtered humans are to be reborn. Most end up suffering the same fate over and over again, and their consistent demises bring power to the demons inflicting this upon them.

“It looks like Cerberus is enjoying itself today.” says a younger looking man who is accompanying Beelzebub on this leisurely walk.

“Well that's what happens when we let it run free in Hell, it has an insatiable appetite.”

The man with red hair and shining emerald eyes scratches his head and says, “Yeah, at least it's only once every few hundred years we take it away from guarding the entrance to the fourth circle of Hell. I wouldn't be able to deal with the mess it makes every day otherwise.”

Beelzebub puts his hand on his chin. “Now that you mention it... It is rare to have Cerberus away from its duty, it would be convenient if we put it to good use.”

“...?”

“That thing can smell out anything from any kind of distance.”

The red haired man puts his hand in the blood stained water and asks, “What are you getting at?”

“I'm saying that we should use Cerberus to take out Rage and those humans.”

“Hmmm, I don't think Cerberus would be enough, it'd just lose control and go on a rampage. With its mindset like that Rage would easily be able to kill it.”

“That would be the case if it were to be sent there alone.”

The man pulls a mangled head out of the water and tosses it away like it was a piece of trash.

“Sounds like you are implying something.”

“I am, I'd doubt that Rage could handle both Cerberus, and the one Demon who can control it.”

“Oh? Now what you're saying sounds intriguing, but is that kind of thing really alright?”

“I don't see why not, Leviathan has been in and out of Purgatory the past few days, and it looks like even Abaddon was sent there to confront Ubica.”

The red haired man clicks his tongue and makes a face like he had just eaten something too sour.

“Abaddon that shit bag, I can't believe he took out Belphegor. Now it looks like he intends to ride that wave right into our ranks.”

Beelzebub leans up against a blackened tree and folds his arms. “That's beside the point… What do you think about going?”

“You want me to go huh?”

“Seems to me that everyone else has been enjoying themselves over there.”

The red haired man smiles confidently as he turns to his demon counterpart.

“If you put it that way, I’m sure Cerberus and I will get a kick out of it… Let’s see if Rage can handle true Wrath.”

---

“Get your head out of your ass Xavier!” shouts Aria, agitated by the sight of the young Prince in front of her.

Xavier is leaning up against a rock with a blank look on his face, he hasn't said anything since the beginning of the day when he was captured and held hostage by pirates.

The group has sailed for hours and finally reached a large island, Rage decided to spend the night here because they needed to restock on fresh water. The pirates who formerly owned this ship have plenty of food but not much water, most of the barrels on the boat are filled with rum.

Niera is sitting next to the two around the campfire and innocently cringes at Aria's tone. “D-Don't be so harsh on him, he's in shock.”

“Pshhh shock, what a load of garbage.” She grabs Xavier's collar and forces him to look at her in the eye when she asks, “What are you so shocked about? What part of that whole incident possibly could’ve had such an affect on you?”

Niera is a little uneasy about how roughly she is handling this but she knows she has no right to judge whatever is going on between them.

However, she still tries to defend him by saying, “He was afraid.”

Aria frowns and her eyes are filled with even more intensity.

“Everyone gets afraid, but what is fear really? It's a selfish reaction to situations that can do that person harm. When someone is afraid the only thing they care about are themselves, I know this because I used to be the same way. But now when I fear, it's for my friends, and even for this spoiled brat.”

“Aria...”

“Listen to me Xavier, it's time for you to change, if you can't do it for yourself then do it for your brother. He believed in you and asked me to help you become the person that he always knew you could be.”

A little light appears in Xavier's eyes and he meekly replies, “Luke did?”

“That's right, that was his final wish, to see you grow up. I'm not your mother so I won't always protect you like earlier today, but I'm your friend and I'm here to help you.”

Xavier slightly blushes and looks away, he thinks about her words for a few moments and mutters something he most likely has never said until this moment.

“Thank you...”

She smacks him on the back really hard and smiles when she says, “No problem!”

Now that Xavier has a little more energy, he joins the rest of the group in conversations of leisure around the campfire; they begin to drink the pirate's rum and share laughs and talk as if nothing life threatening had happened earlier in the day.

As the night drags on like this and they become fairly drunk, Xavier stands to his feet and interrupts,

“Hey guys.”

It grabs the attention of the rest, even Rage who is sitting by himself beside a tree gives the young Prince a moment of his time.

Xavier takes a deep breath and reveals a look of determination, he then bows to all of them and says, “I'm sorry! All of you have done so much for me since this whole thing happened, and I have always felt entitled to it. But now that my brother is gone I have come to realize how much danger we actually are facing here, and how much help is needed in order for us to survive this mess.”

Xavier is talking in a completely different manner than his usual crude tone.

It's as though his usual spoiled self is completely gone as he continues,

“Please continue to help me, and I promise I will become stronger so I can help all of you... Thank you very much!”

Rage huffs air out of his nose and says, “Didn’t think I’d ever see the day.”

Cyrus smiles, “Glad to have you aboard Prince Xavier.”

“Good job.” Phoenix said with a proud smile.

Niera chuckles gratefully, she never thought in her wildest dreams she'd see Xavier bow like that, and even give a touching speech nonetheless.

“I wish everyone else was here to see this, I'm sure Tsubiri would be floored.”

Sora glares at him blankly but puts all her heart into these two words, “...Thank you...”

She is truly happy that Xavier is in the process of growing up, even though it is most likely a result of her failing to protect Luke. As guilty as she feels about it she knows that to make amends for that failure, ensuring that they all get back home is what Luke would have wanted her to focus on.

Aria stands to her feet and walks over to him, she lifts his bowing head and looks at him tenderly, this causes him to blush and he gets an odd feeling in his chest. But that feeling is quickly dissolved when Aria wraps her arm around his neck in a choke hold and begins to squeeze.

“Hahaha congrats Xavier! I was wondering when you'd come around!”

“Aaaaggghhhh I can't breathe!!”

“Real men don't need to breathe!”

“Whaaa!? That makes no sense!!”

This is her rough and drunken way of showing her happiness, she keeps teasing him as if they have been friends forever and by the looks of it, it would seem that will certainly be the case going forward.

---

Damien is in a massive white room with a checkered white and black floor, and puddled on this floor is the distinct color of a red liquid.

He walks in the blood and takes a look around at the carnage, in the middle of this large blood puddle lies the demon who goes by the name of Belphegor.

His stomach still has a massive hole that was inflicted by Rage's scythe and now he is missing an arm and a huge chunk of his leg.

His skin is tinted in the same color as the white room due to the massive amount of blood loss.

“So you actually lost... that is disappointing to some extent.” Damien says without a shred of care in his voice.

Belphegor lays limp but is somehow still alive, he slowly turns his head to him and replies, “Did you honestly expect anything different? You tossed me into a one sided battle because you knew exactly how it'd end up.”

Damien faintly smiles and says, “Well, you’re not wrong.”

“So why did you want to get rid of me?”

“I am in the process of starting something, and I need people who will look forward and progress along with me. Demons of the old age like you that cling to my father would only get in the way of my plans.”

Belphegor stares at him through his blank blue eyes and attempts to laugh, “Hehaha... I think I see where this is going, I can guarantee it isn't going to work.”

“Even on death’s door, you still refuse to see the end of an era. I almost pity you.””

“Hmmm, pity from the brat of the old man eh? Don't make me laugh, you are nothing but a mutt of a human.”

Damien actually frowns at those words.

Belphegor knows that he has gotten under the skin of the son of Satan and continues to insult him.

“Is that why you are doing all this? Hahahahaha have you really been holding a grudge all this time because your father made you kill her? Could you really be that pathetic!?”

Damien grits his teeth and the frown on his face becomes steeper, and Belphegor doesn't stop his verbal assault.

“Pity me? Can you really so shamelessly look at my mangled form and say you pity me while harboring such intentions?? Pity me!? Pity me you say!?”

By now, Belphegor’s demeanor has morphed into hysteria.

“Pity me!? Pity your fucking self you worthless------------”

Belphegor's speech is interrupted by his head literally exploding.

Damien's eyes shine bright red and the light seemingly consumes his body as he shows a twisted face full of anger.

This was definitely overkill but Damien feels that it wasn't enough to suppress his rage, he takes a deep breath to calm his emotions and turns around.

He slowly regains his composure and clicks his tongue.

“If only it were that simple.”

---

The red haired man is walking on an island.

It is dark outside but the light from the moons and the stars shine brightly over him.

But something is odd about this, his shadow is entirely too large for the man's figure, it is more or less freakishly disfigured to be exact. His shadow has three massive heads and the body of some kind of large dog, what is even stranger is that the shadow begins to speak,

“Amon... they're not on this island.”

The red haired man who was addressed as Amon replies, “I know, you told me already.”

The shadow's voice changes from that of the deep tone of a man to one of a woman.

“Then why do you insist on walking when there is nothing here?”

“We don't get too many chances to venture onto the same path as living humans, so I want to take advantage of this situation. Relax Cerberus, you already have a fixed scent on Rage stored in your memory banks from long ago. That scent will never leave you so we don't have to worry about losing track of them.”

The shadow's voice again changes, this time to the higher pitched tone of a child, a pitch ambiguous enough that one could not tell if it belongs to a young girl or a young boy.

“That's not the point, I'm becoming impatient and hungry. I need to eat!”

Amon laughs and stops walking, “You should show a little more trust in me, there is a reason why I'm here.”

He points out in the distance towards the lights of a fairly large city and says, “Thousands of people probably live in this town, you said you were hungry right?”

The three voices of the shadow all speak simultaneously,

“YES!!”

“Well then...”

Amon turns towards his shadow and bites his thumb, causing it to bleed.

He sticks it into the ground and his hand disappears into the dark of the shadow.

Six red lights shine from the darkness and Amon pulls his arm out as if he has used his thumb as bait and pulled a fish out of water.

Out of the ground comes a massive beast three times the size of an elephant; it has black hair, three heads and has the body of a dog. Its six red eyes shine menacingly as its sharp teeth stained in yellow and brown chatter against each other.

This is the beast called Cerberus, for thousands of years it has been the guardian to the fourth level of Hell and has devoured countless souls.

Amon smiles as he turns back to the city, with his back turned to the beast he speaks as if he is giving an order.

“Let's show them what 'Wrath' is...”

The two rush towards the city and in an instant, the ear shattering sound of horror reverberates through the night as the two go on a killing spree.

The destinies for every person in the city has been decided by one of the 7 Demons of Hell and his beast.

In Amon's mind, this is only a precursor to what will happen to Rage and the rest of the group accompanying him.

This evil, and an immanent bloody battle, is only one step behind.

(PART 2)

Bodies, thousands of bodies litter a fairly large city and blood flows down the street like a red river.

Every last occupant of this city has been slaughtered by two demons of Hell.

A three headed dog named Cerberus and a red haired man named Amon.

None of the humans had a fighting chance in this matter, they were either devoured by the dog or brutally slaughtered by the hand of the man.

“Well that was fun.. It's been a while since I've been able to take out some pent up frustration on humans.” Amon said while nonchalantly wiping the blood off his face.

“That was a good meal, but...” the man voice of Cerberus says.

Amon pats its side and finishes his sentence, “You want more.”

“Yes.”

“Well then, I wouldn't be a good master if I didn't give my pet what it wants.”

The woman voice of Cerberus angrily replies, “I am not your pet.”

Amon shrugs his shoulders. “That might be the case, but I am the only one you listen to. In turn I'd think that makes you my pet.”

“It's those damn eyes of yours, without those you have nothing over me.” the child voice hisses.

“Hahahaha well my eyes are part of my body, and I don't expect them to leave me anytime soon. But lets not sit here and argue about something like who's in charge of who, what do you say we go meet with the Angel of Death?”

“Will I be able to eat more?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then I'll lead the way.”

---

The group has gotten back on the ship and begin sailing away from the island they were on, it's a perfect sunny day and the gentle breeze sends them eastward. But this doesn't mean they are heading in the right direction, in fact they are sailing completely blind. As far as they know, they are heading in the opposite direction of where they need to be, and this makes them uneasy.

Rage is walking along the deck impatiently as these thoughts run through his head, he can feel the presence of the Gate but it is so faint that he can't be certain.

Phoenix sees him pacing back and forth and asks, “Are you stressed?”

Rage turns to the smiling Phoenix and answers, “I guess you can say that, I can't get a lock on the direction of the Gate.”

“Well that's troublesome.”

Rage clicks his tongue, “Do you know something I don't?”

“Haha, you've asked me this once before so I'll give you the same answer. Perhaps I do, perhaps I don't.”

Rage becomes annoyed at Phoenix's mocking tone when he speaks to him, he can't stand how calm the priest is considering his actual identity. It's as though he doesn't care what happens back on Earth and is only thinking of himself.

Rage takes a deep breath to calm himself down and orders, “Then tell me what you do know.”

Phoenix leans against the ledge of the boat and looks out to the sea. “To be perfectly honest, I don't know much about Purgatory, I've never been here before this. But what I can tell you is that there are a lot of people on this level who know of me and know of Earth.”

“What do you mean?”

“During the Apocalypse I was able to see the souls of the true believers, without that it would have been impossible to distinguish who I was to kill. Those believers were sent to Heaven in the Rapture or they were put in as soldiers of my army. The one's who weren't, well, they weren't.”

Rage still looks at him with a quizzical face so Phoenix continues.

“My point is, I can see the souls of the people around here who know of me, which means...”

“They are 'aware'.”

“That's right, if they are 'aware' that means that they know of the Gates.”

The two stare at each other in silence until Phoenix smiles and lifts his index finger.

“Wanna know a little secret?”

Rage again clicks his tongue at Phoenix's demeaning question but he really wants to know, so instead of giving him sass he goes along with it.

“What is it?”

“The pirates that we stole this ship from, I could see it in their souls that they all knew of me, which means that they all knew of the Gate. I couldn't help but think that there are a lot of pirates here, and where there are pirates there are treasures. I remember that pirates from way back when were infatuated with mystical treasures, and the one that comes to mind when thinking of similarities between those treasures and the prizes of the Gates, is the fountain of youth.”

Rage is not interested in stories of the past but he lets Phoenix continue.

“Wouldn't the thought of going through the Gate and coming back to Earth to obtain immortality be considered as some kind of fountain of youth?”

At this point Rage finally gets it, he understands where he is going and excitement begins to brew in his eyes.

Phoenix sees this and gives him a suggestion, “I recommend that we search the ship head to toe to find any kind of hint of where the Gate is. Who knows, we might get lucky and find a map.”

Rage immediately orders everyone to extensively search the ship and bring any kind of paper they can find. Phoenix sits on the ledge of the boat with a smile on his face but doesn't bother to help at all, he probably thinks that he has done enough already.

After searching the ship for an hour the group has come up with nothing, Rage is frustrated at this result and decides to take one last look in the Captain's room. There are a lot of treasures and other items scattered about but every piece of paper he finds has nothing to do with a map. Most of them are just grants and contracts stolen from military or government ships.

Though, for the most part there aren't many countries known in Purgatory. But that doesn't exclude the fact that there aren't small factions of people slowly developing their own nations.

The selection process in which people are sent to Purgatory is completely random, some levels have a higher population than the others. This one seems to have more people occupying it than the first level and there is no doubt that one of the final three will have even more than this one. As a result of such a dense population, it's only natural that countries will be formed.

Rage is about to give up and declare this search as a lost cause until he happens to catch a glance at a small treasure chest laying under the Captain's desk.

It has a lock on it but Rage easily opens the chest by flicking the iron lock with his finger.

Inside the chest is some expensive looking jewelry and a diamond covered dagger, this in and of itself seems to be a coveted fortune but it's what lies under these items is what gets Rage's attention.

It's a piece of paper that's rolled up like a scroll.

He takes it out and tosses the rest of the treasure aside like it was unwanted trash and quickly unfolds it.

Looking closely, it actually is a map, and a relatively new one at that, and on the most southeastern corner of this map is an x. Under that x there is a large word written in bold letters stating, 'GATE'.

Rage has to double take to make sure his eyes aren't fooling him. Then something odd happens, a smile surfaces on his face and he begins to laugh rather loudly, “Hahahahaha are you kidding me?”

He gets up out of the Captain's chair and heads out to the deck, there he finds Phoenix standing there with a smile that exudes the feeling of the priest saying, 'I told you so.'

Rage huffs air out of his nose and admits, “You were right. With good weather we'll be at the Gate in two weeks.”

---

“You know what, I'm seriously starting to doubt your nose Cerberus.” Amon says with a sour look on his face.

He is sitting alone on a boat drifting in the ocean. The sun is behind him and his shadow is cast over the bow, the freakishly large shadow is walking along the water and looks as though it is pulling the boat through the sea.

“My nose is never wrong.” the man voice of Cerberus responds in annoyance.

Amon picks at his ear and says, “But it's almost been two weeks since we left that city, I'm tired of being cooped up in this stupid boat.”

The shadow's six eyes glow red and the woman's voice rings, “You don't have the right to complain, this is much more difficult on me because I haven't eaten in so long.”

“Then wouldn't you want to get there faster if that's the case?”

“We'd be there already if the scent wasn't moving away from us.”

Amon sighs and leans back on one of the wooden seats in the boat. “I see, they're on a ship as well... We'll just have to wait for them to land somewhere, I wonder if it'll be at the second Gate?”

“None the less, we are closing in on them. I move much faster than their ship so we're only one step behind.”

“Alright then, I'm going to take a nap... Wake me up when we get there.”

Cerberus stops its walking and the child's voice speaks, “Is that wise? How are you so certain that I won't devour you in your sleep?”

Amon lays on his back and smiles, “Because I sleep with my eyes open.”

The three heads all give a “Che..” sound in anger.

Apparently Amon holds a power in his eyes that renders Cerberus absolutely defenseless. None of the Demons of Hell consider each other a comrade, if one doesn't like another Demon they would not hesitate to slaughter him. The same goes for the 7 Demons of the Hierarchy. As seen with Abaddon and Belphegor, they all have their own goals and want to rise the ranks to gain even more power, and if accomplishing that means killing one of their 'comrades' to do so, then so be it.

Amon laughs for a few moments and then falls asleep, just like he said, his eyes remain open, leaving Cerberus to lead the ship across the ocean in pursuit of Rage and the rest of the group.

---

“We made it..” Rage says as he looks out a couple miles ahead at a large island.

Things have moved very quickly and rather painless at that. This island that is about twenty minutes away carries the x that marks the spot of the Gate; excitement builds in the hearts of the group as they see their destination move closer and closer with each gust of wind.

“Time sure flies when you know where you are going.” Aria said in amazement of how things turned out.

“Yeah it went a lot smoother than the first level.” Cyrus agrees with a nod of his head.

Niera is standing next to Sora with a look of skepticism.

This catches the eye of Aria so she asks, “What's wrong?”

Niera thinks for a few moments and then replies, “Doesn't this seem too easy? I feel like there is something out there that should be stopping us...”

“Quite the optimist you are.” Xavier quips.

It's not as though Niera has a pessimistic personality, it's just that this is truly a felling she feels in her chest. Even she can't explain it clearly, but she understands that it's something that needed to be said to at least put them on alert.

“I really feel uneasy about this...”

“What good is worrying going to do? All we have to think about is how to handle the Gatekeeper.” Aria said confidently while flexing the non apparent muscles of her arms.

Niera shows a saddened expression at the fact that no one is taking her seriously, she sighs and walks away without putting up any more of a fight. She reaches the stern of the ship and stares out to the sea, none of them seem to understand why she is feeling this way and neither does she. She rests her head in her arms and shuts her eyes, but the moment she does, a light flashes in her head and a scene zooms into her vision like a fast forwarded black and white movie.

Watching this scene unfold renders her body unmovable, it's as though a jolt of lighting has stiffened her body like a rock. Once this movie like phenomenon ends she drops to the ground and gasps for air, a cold sweat falls from her temple and she covers her mouth to keep herself from throwing up.

(What in the world was that!?) she thinks to herself nervously.

She turns to take a look at the rest to see if anyone has seen what had just happened when she is hit with the sudden urge to rush to their side. Without thinking she runs as fast as she can and the voice from her heart seems to exit her mouth with the as loud as she can when she shouts, “We need to turn this ship 90 degrees to the left immediately!”

The rest of the group stare at her in surprise and have no clue what to think about this, the look in her eyes exudes seriousness and this catches them even more off guard. They hesitate and Niera once again moves her legs unconsciously, and in an instant she is at the helm of the ship turning the wheel as hard as she can.

Before anyone can ask her what she is doing,

BAAAAAAAANNNNGGG!!!

A loud noise slings to the right of the ship and into the water where the ship once floated; and the water from the explosion rocks the ship back and forth in its wake.

Rage looks towards the source of the attack and sees yet another ship with its cannons ready.

“Where did they come from!?” Rage asks himself aloud.

Niera runs off the helm and down the stairs that leads to the deck, she jumps onto Aria and pulls her to the ground. As soon as she does this another bang from a cannon is fired and the ball hits the sails of the ship and snaps a rope that holds an iron lift.

The iron lift snaps forward and narrowly swings over Niera and Aria's head and crashes into the railing of the ship, it was going at such a speed it created a three foot wide hole in the two foot thick wood.

If Niera hadn't pulled Aria down there is no doubt she'd be decapitated right now.

That fact didn't get by the girl who was just saved.

A few moments later the barrage of cannon fire halts and they can now assess the damage.

Aria gets to a kneeling position and looks at Niera with a pale face and shoddily asks, “H-How?”

Niera responds with a confused tone in her voice as well, “I could see it, I could see what was going to happen... It felt so real that my instincts took over and desperately tried to prevent it.”

Rage jumps in and grabs her by the arm and lifts her head up to his level. “You're telling me you could see the future?”

“Y-Yeah, and there is still more.”

“What do you mean more?”

Niera winces at the slight pain in her arm and with her free hand she points to the open sea behind Rage, he drops her to the ground and turns. What he sees surprises him, dozens of ships sailing toward them.

Rage then turns his back to those encroaching to see if their ship is surrounded; and just as he thought, they are.

Dozens of ships are out to the other side of them as well, but something feels off, they can't all be targeting their particular vessel, but watching them close in from each side adds to his anxiety. Rage rushes to the bow of the ship and raises his scythe to defend the ship from the incoming barrage of cannonballs, the black smoke begins to surround the ship but it's not near quick enough to cover it all in time.

Seemingly every ship in the bay of this large island fires simultaneously, all they can do is prostrate on the ground while they await the blasts.

A split second after the cannon fire, the expected jolt of the impact doesn't come, instead that ear shattering noise is heard from all around them. A couple ships from each side of them begin to smoke and then light on fire.

(They're firing at each other??) Rage thinks to himself as he watches more cannonballs being fired into the mass of ships.

Niera follows Rage onto the bow and says, “I saw that too, all of these ships are fighting each other. But we're not out of the clearing just yet, soon they will see us as an enemy and fire on us as well.”

Phoenix is leaning on a crate a few feet away from them and chimes in unworried, “All of those people are fighting for the treasure of eternal life. They are fighting to be the first to the Gate.”

Rage clicks his tongue and once again grabs Niera's arm, it's not like he is trying to hurt her but it's more like he is trying implant a sense of urgency.

“Can you use your new ability to find us a way through the cannon fire? We need to get on the island as quickly as possible.”

“Ability?”

“That's right, you have one now, so put it to good use.”

“U-Umm... I'll try.”

Not expecting it to work, Niera closes her eyes and the same feeling she had before arrives in her chest and the future scene flashes through her head. Without realizing what she is even saying she begins to shout orders only an experienced seaman would understand.

“Move four knots toward the northeast side of the island at a 50 degree angle.”

Rage runs to the helm and begins steering, turning the boat at that angle would slow down the ship to an almost standstill. But Rage follows her instructions and as soon as he does, a cannonball rips through the water where the stern of the boat was before they made that awkward 50 degree turn.

“Now set the sails at max speed and once we go a hundred meters make a sharp turn to the brunt of the ships on our starboard.”

Rage doesn't ask any questions and moves to her command, once again they narrowly avoid being fired on and sunk. Splashes of white wash pour onto the ship and soak them as Rage keeps following directions blindly and the scene becomes hectic. Smoke, saltwater, and fire reach the noses of the group and different colored lights flash before their eyes as the pandemonium unfolds all around them. They are in the middle of being attacked and are also in the crossfire of dozens of other ships attacking each other. But somehow they have yet to be hit, Niera's directions are loud and clear and Rage can hear her tiny voice through the ear ringing noise of weapons.

The boat goes through a big plume of smoke and once out, the sun is seen.

They have somehow sailed right through the middle of the battlefield without so much as a scratch on the ship, leaving the sounds of war behind they prepare to dock on the white beach of the island.

They all take a collective sigh of relief when they finally stop on land.

Aria runs up to Niera to praise her, “That was amazing Niera! You were so cool!!”

Niera tries to be humble but she herself knows just how incredible that whole thing was, she accepts her compliments and smiles happily.

Even Rage wants to praise her but instead he takes a deep breath and faintly smiles, what she did most definitely saved the lives of the rest because he wouldn't have been able to help in that situation. Being a couple miles from shore he couldn't use his cloud to carry them off because their souls would be sucked dry by being on it for too long. All he can do is be grateful at the timing of her gaining this convenient ability.

Phoenix still sits on the crate in the same position he was in before, only this time he is soaking wet from the white wash. He chuckles and says, “We just keep getting luckier don't we? I wonder what would have happened if she didn't stumble upon that power?”

Now that Rage thinks about it, Phoenix would have certainly been able to maneuver the ship through the battlefield with his flame cloth. He wonders why he didn't even lift a finger to help and becomes annoyed, he clicks his tongue and walks off, leaving Phoenix there to laugh to himself.

Once off the helm of the wheel and down on the deck, he snatches back his role as leader and says, “Everyone grab their bags and whatever you feel is needed, we got to get off this ship and head to the Gate immediately.”

Everyone scatters to go grab their supplies when

BOOOOOOM!!!

BOOOOOOM!!!

BOOOOOOM!!!

Three separate blasts hit the right side of the ship and sharp pieces of wood and orange flame fly upwards through the deck. Neira is knocked back into a pile of rope and Aria, along with Cyrus, are blown completely off the ship and onto the beach.

Xavier happened to be behind the sail pole at the moment of the explosions so the shrapnel from it hit that instead of his face, all he felt was the heat and the shock-wave that knocked him on his back. The meter thick sail pole was ripped apart and it starts falling downwards right on top of him, he scrambles to his feet to avoid it but it's obvious he won't make it in time.

The thirty foot tall pole falls but is blown far away into the water at the last moment by a moving red flame.

Phoenix is standing just to the left of him holding a massive fire ball. He wears a smile as he says in a joking manner, “I recommend we abort ship.”

The two run off the burning ship and onto land.

Rage looks toward the source of the explosions and sees a docked ship out in the distance with three smoking cannons on its side. Looking behind him as well, he sees even more docked ships with people rushing out of them and into the jungle of the island. This really gives off the feeling of a great race and any final pop shot on a docked ship is just another way to insure victory.

Feeling that the ship will collapse at any moment, he runs to the aid of Niera who is tangled in the rope and takes his scythe and rips the rope with his blade. He picks Niera up and gets ready to take her overboard when she begins to mumble in an apparent shock.

“I-I was careless...” Niera says, feeling as though she should have predicted this.

“Now's not the time to worry about that!” Rage replies.

The two ready to jump when they hear a faint voice saying, “...Help...”

This stops their movement in their tracks, who they see at the source of this frail voice is Sora. She is in a pile of broken wood and pinned so deep that she can barely be seen, there's no doubt the two never would have noticed her if she didn't say anything.

The two rush to her aid and pull her out only to find that there is an immense amount of blood on her, this sight almost causes Niera to faint.

Sora's stomach has a good sized shard of wood protruding from it, though she can't show pain in her facial expressions it is obvious that this has got to be excruciating. Rage clicks his tongue and unhesitatingly grabs the shard of wood and pulls it out, the blood squirts from her stomach and splashes on Niera's horrified face.

Left speechless and in shock, Niera just stands there as Rage helps Sora to her feet. The ship is going to capsize any moment and if they are caught in this mass of burning wood when it does, the chances of survival are very low.

“Follow me!” Rage shouts.

But when he gets no response from Niera he takes her hand and lifts Sora over his shoulder. As soon as he does this the stern of the ship collapses and in a domino effect, the middle of it does as well. The bow in which they stand is next to fall but Rage jumps off of it with the two girls in tow just in time before the ship quite literally dissolves into the ocean.

They land on the beach but are not out of dangers way just yet, the sound of bullets passing overhead rip their eardrums. On both sides of them are people running toward the jungle and firing their rifles and handguns at each other, and Rage and the two are caught in the middle once again.

It's not as though the guns all the pirates have are technologically advanced, if one were to give an estimate on them it'd be weaponry from around the late 18th century. Even though these guns aren't as dangerous as ones of a later date, one hit from these rounded bullets could result in a lost limb.

Rage knows the dangers of being fired at so instead of trying to find the others, he takes the two girls and runs to the cover of the jungle.

“Damn it, this is ridiculous.” he hisses in anger.

He's seen things similar to this in the past but not something at this grand of a level, there might be close to a thousand people on this island all trying to kill each other to get the Gate first. With the sun setting and the jungle of the island becoming darker, he knows that finding the others will be extremely difficult. To add to that disposition is the fact that there will be hundreds of people with guns all trying to kill them if they get a chance.

Rage clicks his tongue, he could probably kill every person on the island if he wanted to but having Niera and Sora with him is inconvenient, plus he can't afford to catch the others in his own attack.

He glances at Niera who looks pale with fright and she stares at Sora while muttering, "It's all my fault.. It's all my fault."

That's when he remembers that Sora is injured as well, he feels her blood roll down his shoulder and he sets her on her back, her face is even more pale because of the blood loss. This is not good, if she doesn't get help soon she will bleed out and die within hours, and even if she lasts longer than that there's a high chance she'll get an infection in this moist jungle.

Sora stares blankly at Rage while sweat rolls profusely down her face, she opens her mouth and says the exact thought that is rolling through Rage's head,

“...Not...Good...”

---

Night has fallen over the small boat that is being pulled by the shadow of Cerberus, Amon is standing and looking out in the distance at an island. Flashes and gunshots are seen and heard in the dark of the island and Amon can't help but be a little surprised.

“Whoa whoa, what's going on over there?”

“It looks like some kind of battle, I can smell the gunpowder and blood.” replies Cerberus.

“Hmmm, that's interesting enough, there's gotta be a good amount of people there. We just might have a little more fun than we thought.”

“As long as I get to eat.”

Amon chuckles a little and can't wait to land, but in the little boat's way are two ships that are firing cannonballs at each other. The light of the blasts shine the night sky and the two ships are engulfed in smoke.

“Take a look at that, they sure are going at it... Should I do something about it?”

The male voice of Cerberus voices his displeasure, “Don't waste our time, I'm hungry.”

Amon laughs, “Stop being such a needy bitch, this will only take a second.”

“Che.”

The boat heads straight towards the two ships, Amon holds his hand out and points in their direction. The air surrounding the front of his hand begins to become distorted and it's as though the dimension in front of him begins to swirl like the milky way. The transparent swirl grows larger and larger until it covers a hundred meters high and wide over the water.

With a simple push motion of his hand, the swirling dimension makes a loud noise like a giant balloon popping and zooms forward. The hundred by hundred meter object moving at such a speed leaves a massive wake behind it, it's as though the ocean itself is spitting in two.

The swirling dimension hits the two ships and the whole mass of the objects swirl and shatter, an intense wind noise is heard as the ship's shapes distort. After swirling for an instant, the swirling stops and the dimension explodes without a hint of a blast.

Debris scatters hundreds of meters away and splash into the water, an eerie silence falls over the once noisy battlefield and there is no doubt that everyone on those ships are dead. It's as though the form of the ships and the people in it had one of their three dimensions taken from them and the forms they take on as a result are mangled and destroyed remnants of what they once were.

“Was that really worth it?” asks the child voice of Cerberus.

Amon cracks his neck and simply answers, “Of course.”

Without explaining why he enjoyed it so much, the two of them sail to the beach of the island, once landed Amon pulls Cerberus out of his shadow and the two enter the jungle. Walking in the dark they hear the sound of voices from all around dictating what battle strategies to use and where certain enemies are.

The large mass of Cerberus causes it to struggle to move through such a dense jungle, it clicks its tongue in frustration when a root tangles with its paw.

Amon notices its troubles and starts to laugh, “Damn you're clumsy, I hope you don't get stuck, you'd be like one of those woolly mammoths that wandered into tar pits.”

“Don't compare me to an extinct animal, this is nothing.”

“Haha whatever you say.”

BAANGG!!

A gunshot rattles the area and a bullet zooms towards Amon's face, he hasn't even turned to look but before the bullet can reach, it flies into a swirling dimension surrounding his head. The iron ball turns into an odd shape and drops harmlessly to the ground,

Amon finally turns and sees two pirates standing beside a tree with a shocked expression on their faces.

“Hey now, don't you think it's kind of rude to shoot someone in the back?”

The two men can't believe what they had just seen, but without hesitation they attempt to reload their mussel shot rifles.

Amon picks his ear and waits impatiently, after what he feels like is a long time he addresses the men, “Take a look in front of you.”

The man on the right gets done reloading his gun and raises his head to fire, that is when he sees the odd looking transparent swirl floating a couple inches from his face. The swirl makes contact with his nose and the next thing he comprehends is the feeling of every bone in his body turning into gelatin.

His whole mass swirls disgustingly and the sound of this would make the most hardened man want to throw up. The man's body swirls into a churning ball and then explodes, sending blood flying all over the area and onto the other pirate.

The other pirate soils himself and takes a couple wary steps back, he then turns and screams as he runs away as fast as his legs can move.

“Cerberus.”

“Yes?”

“I think there are a lot of people like them on this island, what do you think about killing everyone we see on our way to Rage?”

“I'd like that.”

“Then go eat.”

Cerberus moves its legs and rips through the jungle effortlessly, it quickly catches up with the fleeing man and his final death scream rings through the trees before he is devoured.

Amon walks slowly to the site and catches the middle head of Cerberus chewing on the torso of the man, without thinking much about it he asks, “So how far are we away from Rage anyway? There will probably be a lot of people in between us and them if we are a couple kilometers apart.”

“I can still smell him...” the younger voice says, “They are only a kilometer and a half away.”

Amon is happy because they will be able to kill a good amount of people between now and then, he is about to say something but the woman's voice of Cerberus interrupts.

“Hmm? I smell something different about him...”

“What do you mean?”

The man's voice adds, “I smell the blood of a woman on Rage.”

“Do you think one of his comrades is injured?”

“I cannot say for certain, but the woman smells delicious! I must have her...”

Amon chuckles and repeats what he said just a few moments earlier,

“Then go eat..”

(PART 3)

“Damn, we've been separated.” Cyrus quietly voices his displeasure whilst hiding in a bush in the middle of the jungle alongside Aria.

Due to their docked ship being attacked, the seven of them were forced to run off in three different directions.

“What should we do?” asks Aria.

Cyrus ponders for a couple moments and answers, “We should look for them, we have no clue where we are going otherwise.”

“This is bad, it’s so dark here that we could get lost pretty easily.”

Cyrus knows that is the case but they really don't have a choice; he can hear the voices of the other pirates and their footsteps seem to get closer to their position. If they stay much longer there is a high chance of a confrontation, so in order to avoid that they begin to move in a random direction.

Shuffling through the darkness, Aria twitches her eyebrow as if something has come to her mind.

“Hey I got an idea!”

“What is it?”

Aria grabs a melon like fruit from a tree and holds it in her hand, she walks until she finds an opening in the tree line and tosses it up.

BAAAAANGGG!!

The fruit explodes in a bright red light and shines much like a flare would.

“This should get their attention, they'll know it's us if they see it.”

Cyrus looks at her dejectedly and thinks that this is a terrible plan, there is a slim chance that Rage and the others were able to see it above the treeline. To make matters worse, it would more than likely bring unwanted attention to them, in his heart he really wishes that the pirates aren't foolish enough to move towards an explosion.

And sure enough, they are.

A silhouette of a group of six people are seen running towards them through the jungle.

Hissing at his predicament, Cyrus pulls out his thin long-sword and awaits the attack.

Once the pirates get there, they don't even say a word before they start attacking.

Two men with sabers rush at him and he ducks under one attack and blocks the other with his sword.

“Aria! You need to do something about the others, I can't handle all of them!”

“Okay!”

She picks up a couple sticks off the ground and holds them out; the other four pirates stare at her quizzically and then burst into laughter. Their reaction is due to the fact that they all have guns, late 18th century handguns to be exact, they point it at her and simultaneously pull the trigger.

The three iron balls zoom towards her face, she drops the stick and as it falls it blows up directly towards the four men and sends both the bullets and their bodies flying violently through the jungle.

“I knew it! I can control it now!!” Aria says excitedly.

She can now maneuver the size and angle of her explosions, with an ability like this she is virtually unstoppable.

The two men who are clashing with Cyrus stare at her in shock, and in that moment of distraction they are cut down by the sword of the Eiyalazonian guard.

“I think it's best we get moving, we either have to hope we bump into them or we need to find somewhere safe to stay for the night.”

“Ahhh man fine, let's just hope we don't run into more of these guys on the way. It's a killing spree out here.”

“Just like them, we need to do whatever it takes to survive and reach the Gate.”

---

“Wow Phoenix you're amazing!” Xavier exclaims in awe.

He has been watching Phoenix easily defeat a countless number of gun bearing pirates.

To Xavier, Phoenix is just his religious adviser and a normal priest, the fact that he can do all of these incredible things still hasn't hit home with him yet.

“No need for flattery.”

“But really, how long have you been able to do these things?”

Phoenix slightly laughs and puts his hand on his chin in wonder, “Hmmm, it's been a while.”

“Oh come on, be more specific.” the young Prince urges.

Answering with complete honesty, Phoenix replies, “Over a thousand years.”

The young Prince is gravely disappointed, and one can see it on his face. “I’m being serious, I’d really like to know.”

Phoenix can only laugh at this, he has just told the truth.

He has been able to fight with the weight of his words since the Apocalypse a thousand years earlier, his ability to control flame has come during that time frame as well when he was given the power by a certain Angel.

Xavier has no idea who Phoenix really is.

“Well then, we ought to get going so more people don't come.” Phoenix changes the subject while walking away from the scene of his triumph.

“Where are we going?”

“To the Gate, obviously.”

“But doesn't Rage have the map? How can we get there if we don't know where it is?”

Phoenix keeps walking. “Don't worry about that, I know exactly where it is.”

Surprised, Xavier wants to ask how but Phoenix answers his question before he could finish.

“The person guarding it is someone I know very well. So I'd like to meet him before everyone else. In a way, he’s guiding me to him.”

The way he explains this makes it sound like he was expecting this situation to unfold right from the beginning. But this feeling flies over the head of Xavier, who just agrees with him and readily follows the Priest into the darkness of the jungle.

---

Rage is carrying an injured Sora while walking alongside a distraught Niera.

The three walk in silence and only the shoddy breathing of the injured guard is heard. Each breath causes Niera's anxiety to rise tenfold, she feels that this is all her fault because she didn't predict this outcome.

The amount of guilt she is putting on herself is causing her to melt down mentally.

“I've managed to slow down the bleeding a little, but you're still not out of the clearing yet. We need to get to Phoenix, I know he can't heal the way he used to but there is certainly something he could do.”

Rage said that and quickly realizes he is more than likely talking to himself, Sora wouldn't respond with more than one word even if she could and Niera is so deep in her own thoughts that she can't speak.

He doesn't need them to respond really, he just wanted to tell them what the plan was.

Whether it puts them at ease or on edge is up to their perspective, in this situation the chances are it's the latter of the two. Finding Phoenix in the dark of this large jungle island is like finding a needle in a haystack, adding to the low odds is the fact that they are on a strict time limit due to Sora's health.

Rage tut tuts and continues walking through the jungle until he hears the horrified screams of what seems to be hundreds of men. This sound catches him off guard cause he wasn't expecting it one bit, other than the occasional battle cry followed by a gunshot there hasn't been anything sounding quite like this. This is the kind of sound only a demon could create, and he immediately gets a sickening feeling in his stomach.

“What in the world is going on over there?”

The screams continue and Rage is overcome with curiosity, he lets Sora to the ground and leans her up against the tree.

He then turns to Niera and says, “You two need to stay here for a moment, keep an eye on Sora while I'm gone.”

Niera doesn't respond but he knows she had heard him so he leaves the two behind.

Walking toward the source of the gurgled screams he becomes a little nervous. He doesn't know why, he knows that some of these pirates should have abilities because they are 'aware', it's just that he knows none of them would be strong enough that they would emit such an overbearing sensation of death.

He reaches a clearing in the jungle and sees a sight straight out of Hell, body parts scatter the grassy clearing, so much so that he can't distinguish just how many people they belong to.

In the middle of this carnage is a beast, it is a massive black dog with three heads, and it is covered with the blood of humans as it sloppily tears apart its victims and eats them as though they were a snack.

Rage knows exactly who this monster is, its name is Cerberus and for thousands of years it has been the guardian of the 4th Gate of Hell. This is a ferocious beast that will not hesitate to devour anything in its path, and this beast turns one of its heads toward Rage and looks him square in the eye.

This is the perfect signal to flee.

Rage quickly turns around to run and Cerberus gives chase without a moment's hesitation.

Rage reaches Sora and picks her up over his shoulder, he holds his scythe out and it stands on its own.

He then grabs Niera's arm and shouts, “Hang on to me with all you have!!!”

Without an explanation, Niera is confused as to why he is doing this but seeing the urgency in his face she obliges without question.

A black cloud rises from under Rage's scythe and it spreads to below his feet, they begin to float in the air and once at a certain height, he feels that this is about all the time he has before he has to flee before it’s too late.

Turns out that this gut feeling is spot on because behind him the sound of trees falling violently moves closer and closer, and then out of the brush comes Cerberus with its mouths wide open for attack.

The cloud they are standing on narrowly avoids a fatal bite and zooms through the jungle at a ridiculous speed.

If Niera of Sora were standing on the cloud with their own feet there is no doubt they'd be thrown off and seriously injured. Thanks to Rage's body being one with the cloud he can stay balanced atop such an object and hold on to them to keep them safe.

Even moving at such a speed, they are barely avoiding being devoured by Cerberus who is crashing through trees and overhanging branches as if they were twigs. This monster that looks so clumsy and big is moving with such agility it's frightening, just one miscalculation in the trees for Rage on his cloud and the three will be doomed.

This chase is as loud and hectic as can be and the pirates who happen to be walking by are caught in their path and trampled by Cerberus or crushed by the trees and debris it sends flying with each step.

The speeds in which the two are moving cause the sight of Rage on his cloud to feel like a blur, and Cerberus following it is like a giant black ball rolling downhill.

“What is that thing!?” Niera asks while looking back at this fast moving beast giving chase to them.

“Its name is Cerberus, it's a demon from Hell.” Rage calmly replies as if this anomalous monster is a normal occurrence.

“Then what is it doing here!?”

“I don't know, I haven't seen that thing for years. And I've never seen it outside of Hell before.”

Niera shuts her eyes in fear and throws her head into his shoulder; Sora is just glaring at it giving chase with no expression change as usual. However, it's not as though she isn't afraid, she is absolutely terrified about being eaten alive by such a beast, she can't help but think that all hope is lost for her.

Especially when she hears one of the voices of Cerberus speak excitedly, “The woman on Rage's shoulder! It's you! The delicious smelling blood from earlier is coming from you!”

“Shit!” Rage hisses.

Cerberus is blinded by the thirst for Sora's blood, which means it has lost control of itself and will stop at nothing to eat her.

“Is that thing targeting Sora!?” Niera asks as if Sora wasn't right there to hear such a frightening possibility.

“It looks like it, once that monster finds a target it wants it loses all control of itself.”

Niera keeps pounding Rage with questions, but each one is progressively more panicked.

“So how do we make it stop!?”

He hates to say this but he answers truthfully, “We can't... there is no way it will change its mindset on Sora.”

“No way...”

The two stay in silence and Sora's feeling of uneasiness grows, she has become a burden and there is nothing she can do about it. But these thoughts are quickly interrupted by an unknown voice speaking from up ahead.

“That is, unless I do something about it.”

Sora is unable to turn around due to her position on Rage's shoulder which is causing her to look straight into the teeth of Cerberus.

For an odd reason this person's voice was spoken with such confidence that it actually gave her some kind of hope, but she finds that feeling is all for naught when Rage says the voice's name in shock,

“Amon!?”

The red haired man standing in front of them has a swirling vortex of distortion in front of him and Rage is about to make a head on collision with it. He quickly halts his cloud but it is too late, the momentum in which they were moving makes stopping before making contact with this distortion impossible. So as a last ditch effort he spreads his black cloud in front of them so it is that which makes contact first, and as a result the cloud distorts and explodes sending the three of them flying off in three different directions.

Rage lands into a pile of closely grown trees and tears them apart upon impact because he was the one who took the brunt of the initial attack.

Coughing up a little blood he grits his teeth while scouring the area to find that Niera and Sora aren't anywhere near him; he immediately gets the feeling that one of them will die unless he reaches them soon.

He uses his scythe to help himself stand to his feet and begins to run, that is until he is hit from behind by a swirling vortex of distortion and is sent flying in a twirling motion face first into a thick tree.

“Where do you think you're going? It’s been a long time since we last had a chat, how about we catch up?”

Rage wipes the dripping blood falling from his forehead and over his eyes before glaring at the demon in front of him.

Amon, the 4h ranked Demon of the Hierarchy and the one who represents the sin of 'Wrath' is walking towards him.

Rage understands how bad of a situation he and the others are in, so much so that barring a miracle, he feels there is no way all of them will survive this battle.

---

Niera happened to land in a creek and has no apparent injuries, she has completely lucked out, especially when she looks to the left and right of her and sees jagged rocks and sharp poisonous looking plants she could have landed on instead. Once out of the water she looks around for any sign of Rage and Sora, and when she doesn't see them anywhere she starts to think that they are seriously injured or may have even been killed.

This makes her increasingly nervous so she starts to shout their names.

She gets no reply.

She keeps calling and calling and still no answer, she begins to panic before remembering that she could perhaps just predict where they are. Having been filled with hope, she attempts to use her new found ability and shuts her eyes to await a vision.

At first she is very confident that this will work, but when nothing happens for a few seconds, her heart starts to beat wildly in angst. Then, to her worst fears, before she even got an image in her head the voices of a few men are heard coming closer.

“This way! I heard a woman’s voice over here I swear!”

“There really wouldn't be a woman alone on this island would there??”

“Shouldn't be, but I swear I heard it. If there is, just think about how great that'd be on a lawless island like this, she'd be fair game.”

Niera's shoulders jump, and she shoddily backs into a tree in a stiff shock.

Perhaps the worst possible outcome has fallen upon her, she is powerless and alone in a dark forest with blood thirsty pirates closing in on her position. She puts her hands over her ears and drops to a squatting position, begging to herself,

“S-Somebody... please help.”

---

Landing extremely hard on the ground, Sora's wound reopens and she again begins to bleed profusely, still trying to catch air in her lungs she slowly opens her fuzzy eyes.

She finds herself in an open field tattered with rocks, when she attempts to get to her feet she is stunned with a pain in her stomach so bad she drops straight back to the ground.

Moving her head from side to side she tries to see if Rage or Niera are around, the royal guard finds that there is no one in sight and this makes her wonder just how far she flew away from her original position.

While thinking things like this, she feels a warm breeze of air flow over her head from behind her; she finds this odd and doesn't think much of it until she feels it again, this time accompanied by a deep sounding grunt.

This sound causes her face to turn blue because she recognizes the tone of this grunt, looking back as far as she can from her body's position on the ground, she sees what she feels to be her certain death staring at her square in the face.

Cerberus is standing over her chomping at the bit for the taste of her blood.

Sora is completely defenseless.

Barring the miracle that Rage was reluctantly wishing for, she will be devoured in mere moments.

---

“Jeez this is getting really repetitive, every few minutes we run into pirates and have to fight them. We're seriously not making any progress towards finding the others.” said an annoyed Aria.

“I don't want to say this is hopeless, but this is definitely close to impossible.” Cyrus replied.

“When you say it like that, it sounds like you’re saying it’s hopeless!”

“Well I'm not much of an optimist.”

“Doesn't mean you have to be so negative, we'll find them. It's just a matter of time.”

“I sure hope so...”

The way Cyrus said that signified just how worried he actually is, he is separated from the one person he is supposed to be protecting and has no clue whether she is safe or not. All he can do is walk blindly in the jungle and hope they stumble onto the others.

After walking for a few minutes the hope they were so desperately clasping to become non-existent and they really feel like this is completely pointless, frustration begins to take root deep within their chests as each step feels more useless than the last.

That is until they spot a few pirates running past them saying, “We're almost there!”

Cyrus and Aria hide behind a tree and watch them run rather fast down a small hill and disappear into the jungle.

“Where do you think they're going? It looks like it's pretty urgent.” Aria asks while thinking to herself.

The two of them ponder this for a moment and then they both jump to the same conclusion and simultaneously say,

“The Gate!?”

Thinking about it, everyone on this island is searching for the Gate so it's only logical that they'd assume that these certain pirates rushing to a specific location would have found it.

“Let's follow them!” Cyrus shouts as he takes off down the hill in pursuit.

The two chase after them, but quickly lose sight of the three men in the dense jungle.

Feeling as though they had lost them for good, they are relieved to once again get a grasp on their position when they clearly hear the pirate’s voices just out in the distance.

“Hey hey well look what we have here, I knew this is what we'd find.”

“Hahaha damn how lucky are we?”

Aria and Cyrus sneak around toward the voices without making much of a noise at all, from what the pirates are talking about they truly think that they have stumbled upon the second Gate.

Once they get closer they find that not to be the case, the three men are crowded around someone who is leaning against a tree.

“Why don't you come with us for a bit?”

One of the men asked while pulling out his gun and pointing it at the person.

Cyrus and Aria can't see who they are crowded around because the men’s bodies are blocking their view. Not knowing and not really caring what goes on between pirates, the two prepare to leave when the voice of the person surrounded is heard saying,

“I-I don't want to...”

They instantly recognize this girl's voice and it causes their hearts to skip a beat.

“Niera!?” The two shout loudly

This gets the pirates attention.

The three men move away to look and the view of Niera crouched up against a tree can be seen, her face is full of fear and this throws Cyrus into a rage. Seeing the person his job is to protect looking so frightened has gotten his blood boiling, he knows exactly what those pirates were going to do to her if he hadn't been there at that exact moment.

He rushes the men and they look at him like he's crazy, they have pistols and rifles and he has a mere sword. Knowing that Cyrus is at a distinct disadvantage, Aria decides to do something.

She picks up a rock off the ground and shouts, “Cyrus close your eyes!”

Not needing an explanation, Cyrus continues his run and shuts his eyes; right after he does, a flash bomb explodes and makes vision for the three men impossible.

Not having a clue what is going on the three men randomly fire their weapons, one of the bullets grazes Cyrus' shoulder but that doesn't stop him. He opens his eyes and can see just fine.

His targets are still stunned and are only a couple feet away from him, with a simple slash of his sword the three of them are slain and Niera is safe.

“Are you okay Princess!?”

Trying to hold her tears back, Niera faintly smiles and replies, “You guys found me... thank goodness.”

Aria comes rushing up to her, she is very happy that her friend is okay but there are still others she is worried about.

So instead of beating around the bush she asks, “Where is everyone else?? Is Sora okay?”

The tears Niera was holding back come streaming out of her eyes, her voice cracks when she tries to explain, “Sora is... Sora is hurt... she really needs help.”

“What!? Where is she?”

“I-I don't know...”

Aria frowns and shouts, “Damn it!”

She then picks Niera up to her feet and yells,

“We shouldn't be waiting around here then! Let's go find her!”

---

Xavier and Phoenix Navara are walking through the jungle without much action at all, in fact, there hasn't been a single encounter with anyone thus far. The gunshots and screams that were heard earlier are now so distant it's as though there is no danger at all in this walk.

They enter a clearing and reach an environment that looks completely different from what they have been experiencing this whole time. It is a sheer limestone cliff about 50 meters high, and coming from the top of that cliff is a beautiful plunge waterfall that falls all the way to a large waking pond. In the middle of this small lake there are stone steps that lead all the way into the middle of the waterfall, and looking closely one can see that there are two large pillars that are made up of diamonds.

“What is this place Phoenix?”

Phoenix walks up to the lake, turns around and replies, “It's the Second Purgatory Gate.”

“Eh?? This is really it!?”

“Yes.”

“Incredible, what do we do now? We're going to wait for the others right?”

“I don't know about that, I'm sure they'll find their way here eventually... It's just a matter of whether we cross and end up somewhere random or not. If it's a set spot then there is no point in waiting.”

“But don't you think that's a little unfair? I mean, we all went through the same troubles to get here, leaving them behind just feels... off.”

Phoenix ignores the prince and walks onto the water towards the steps, reaching the first step he senses that something is odd about this Gate.

He walks on the first step and realizes something,

“He's not here...”

Before Xavier could ask what he means, Phoenix says,

“The Gatekeeper is not here, we have a free ticket to pass through this Gate.”

Seeing the disappointed look on Phoenix's face, Xavier can't help but ask, “Then why don't you look happy about it?”

Phoenix sighs and answers, “The Gatekeeper... I could feel him from the moment we stepped foot on this island, he's a friend of mine who I haven't seen for many years. And I was really hoping to see him.”

---

“Man you are really out of shape, Rage, I don't remember you being so weak.” said Amon mockingly as he stands over a downed Rage.

Rage is coughing up blood and looks really beat up, he is breathing hard as he attempts to stand.

“You know I am not defeated just yet.”

“What makes you think I know that? Are you holding back on me for some reason? Come on now that's just being stupid, if you're worried about collateral damage I recommend you forget it.”

Amon is dead on in this assessment, Rage is worried about dragging Niera and Sora into one of his attacks. He doesn't know how close they are or even if they are safe for that matter but he thinks it'll be too risky to lay out a full scale attack with that possibility still out there.

Amon laughs a little and points his index finger up. “I'm sure they are both dead by now, with a hungry Cerberus searching for them there is nowhere to run. It's impossible to escape that monster's nose.”

Rage grits his teeth and shoddily stands to his feet, what Amon says is true, and now that he thinks about it Cerberus was in a frenzy trying to eat Sora. There is no doubt that she is its first target; all he can do is hope for the best and try to end this battle as soon as possible. Even though he says this to himself, he truly doesn't feel that there is any way to reach a successful outcome.

Amon is not an enemy that can just be blown over, and Cerberus is a beast that no regular human has a fighting chance against.

Rage scowls at this disposition and decides to try to attack with all his might anyhow, the black cloud surrounds his scythe and he points it at Amon. With that, he rushes towards his enemy to start this full fledged battle to the death.

---

Cerberus is breathing impatiently over Sora, it's like the beast is deciding which head it wants to chew her with.

Sora is looking up at it and is waiting for the moment where she is taken away by one of its mouths, this anxiety is truly heart wrenching and if she could she'd be crying right about now.

While waiting for such a moment, in a perfect cliché, her life flashes before her eyes.

She remembers everything that has made a lasting impression on her...

It all started on her seventh birthday when her parents sent her off to a school that specifically trains children to become military men and women. Which is somewhat odd because her parents weren't involved with the military in any way, her father was an architect and her mom a school teacher. It's not as though Sora should have been considered a problem child, her only fault was that she had a lot of energy and was always hyper, so normal schooling never suited her.

Even her mother couldn't quite get a handle on her.

So with two other children needed to be raised, Sora's parents sent her off to the academy in hopes she'd come back a mature and prestigious person prepared for a lucrative career within La’Juune’s militarized society.

When Sora entered the academy she had no friends, that is until she was moved into the barracks and met a roommate who slept on the upper bunk above her. She was a black girl and her name was Olga Avandale.

They immediately hit it off because they both had a loud and energetic type of personality.

Throughout the two years of knowing each other their bonds grew deeper, and eventually, Sora was introduced to another friend, his name was Haas Avandale and he was the older brother of Olga.

The three of them were inseparable, until another two years later on the day the capital city of La'Juune was invaded by Troy and Eiyalazo.

The three were no older than twelve when this happened, but due to the dire situation, everyone in the military schools no matter what age were called to arms.

Sora, Haas, and Olga, were ordered to fight head on with hardened military men.

Every child aged from seven to fourteen was fighting for their lives and their country in a battle that would go down in modern history as the biggest and most crucial of all time.

Naturally, most of these students were easily killed and did little to no damage to the opposing armies, but some thrived and showed skills that even they didn't know they had.

Three of those amazing children were best friends, they were better than half of the veteran La'Juutian soldiers on the front line. They were able to deal far more damage to the invading forces because they were so small they could fly under the radar and take out opposing soldiers from behind enemy lines.

The battle raged on like this until the La'Juutian army was pushed back into the city, once there the remaining soldiers along with the three friends prepared to defend the city walls with all they had. That is when the news of their Commanding General's death reached them, panic ensued throughout the final line of defense, and dismay began spreading like wildfire.

The young Olga joins in this panic as she says, “Now we have no chance to win! I-I got to go find my parents!”

Sora is also worried about her parents but she feels that the best way to protect them is to keep the armies of Troy and Eiyalazo from entering the city. She bites her lip and tries to remain resolute when she replies, “We need to stay here, our parents will be fine.”

Olga looks at her dejectedly and turns to Haas. “What about you Haas!? Aren't you worried? We are just kids, I don't want to die here before I get a chance to live my life!”

Haas shows the same reaction as Sora and pretty much says the same thing, “Mom and Dad would want us to fight for La'Juune, that's why they sent us to the academy in the first place... I can't disgrace them by leaving now.”

Olga frowns and vehemently disagrees with them, in a situation like this her instincts take over and her legs move themselves.

This time they are not moving along with her two best friends, but rather, they are moving away from them and the front line.

“Olga!!”

The two prepare to talk her into staying but they are interrupted by the sound of hundreds of men shouting,

“RAISE SHIELDS!!!”

Haas and Sora turn around and look up to the sky to see thousands of arrows falling toward them.

The first wave of the attack starts with taking out as many soldiers as possible with an aerial strike. It is a textbook invasion process that is followed by catapult mortar strikes to weaken the wall, and then a full frontal rush at the damaged wall to break through and enter the city.

A couple La'Juutian soldiers push Haas and Sora to the ground and cover them with large shields, these shields are normally only enough to cover one person, but since their size they were easily protected.

The sound of the arrows hitting the shields and the stone of the walls hurt their ears, but the fear of this situation is directed toward the area in which Olga went running.

She had no chance of escaping the arrows and within an instant there are three arrows protruding from her neck, stomach and leg.

Sora is forced to watch the blood of her best friend spill and Haas is forced to watch his only little sister die a horrible death.

Soon after this, Napoleon takes control of the La'Juutian army and reorganizes strategic defensive positions, and the Capital city, along with the entire country is saved from destruction.

The two live through the battle but at a terrible cost, not only did Haas lose his sister, his parents died fighting as volunteers on the front-line. Sora lost one of her brothers and her father lost an arm.

This battle changed the two forever and the happiness of the past seemed to fade away, the two graduated from the academy at fourteen and immediately after, they joined the upscale and secretive Dravic branch of the military.

The Dravic branch specializes in creating robotic-like soldiers.

Haas and Sora were no exception, they graduated that phase of their lives at eighteen and their lives as youths were officially over.

The two rarely saw each other again and even when they did, they were physically unable to speak anything significant to one another.

Now, at 21 years of age, Sora is reminiscing about that tragic past as death grows ever closer to her; she finally realizes that she regrets how things went in her life and would do anything now to change it. She regrets how once she got out of the academy all relations with her family were pretty much dropped, and once out of the Dravic branch it was like they were complete strangers.

She wonders what her family is doing now and what they truly think of her.

Are they disappointed in the way she turned out?

She wouldn't have any idea because she hasn't talked to them since she was accepted as a royal guard immediately after completing her training in the Dravic branch.

She hopes that they are all well and wonders if her remaining brother has married the girl he was dating before she left, or if her parents still live in the family home she remembers spending her early years in.

These are things she'll never know and it finally begins to show on her face, her eyebrows move closer together and her nose flares a little. Her eyes start to water and tears fall down her face, she reveals a look that she hasn't shown since Olga died, and she cries and weeps as she looks up at Cerberus.

Cerberus seems to enjoy this and the child's voice speaks to her, “Hahaha your emotions will make you taste better! Cry for me more! Cry!!”

Sora's tears still fall even though Cerberus is cheering it on, all the emotion she has shut away for so long is finally being released and the burden of regret she carried finally breaks through the robotic expression that was implanted into her by years of severe training.

Through her cracked voice she speaks in a tone that doesn't even hint at how much she trained to eliminate her emotions.

“I don't...”

“Are you going to beg me for your life!?” the male voice of Cerberus asks in absolute enjoyment.

Sora knows she is about to die, but she wants to show herself she can say that she wants to live with the voice she hid away for so long.

At the top of her lungs she screams,

“I don't want to die!!!!”

Her words are like a signal for Cerberus to attack, and its middle head violently drops to eat her alive.

Sora slams her eyes shut.

BAATHUUUNNKK!!!!

She hasn't felt any pain yet and it makes her think that she has died so quickly that the pain never got a chance to settle in.

Something is odd about this though, she doesn't feel any different from before and her mind begins to wonder just what is going on.

She opens her eyes and looks up, only to see the night sky through the canopy of trees.

The area where Cerberus once occupied is empty and it causes her to become very confused.

She looks around but can only see a limited amount around her because of her injury, the pain from her stomach is still there so she knows she is somehow alive.

“What's going on?” she asks herself, fully not expecting an answer.

But sure enough, one came...

“It looked like you were caught in quite the pinch there, I'm glad I could help.”

Sora shifts her eyes towards the source of the voice and sees a man shining in a golden light. He has longish blond hair and teal eyes. This man really gives off a vibe of immense grace, his white outfit looks like an angel's robe.

To her, this man has to be an angel.

And to prove that assumption correct, he walks to Sora and leans down.

He takes one glance at the wound on her stomach and smiles, he then takes his hand and rests it on the wound.

All of the sudden the pain dissipates and the hole in her abdomen heals back into the form of her smooth fair skin.

The energy lost flows back into her and she is able to stand once more, she gets up quickly and looks the man in the eye. She then notices that he isn't looking at her, instead his attention is on something from behind.

She turns as well and sees Cerberus struggling to get up, blood flows from the middle head's mouth and this time one could tell that it isn't the blood of someone else.

The beast reaches its feet and with its six eyes it glares at its attacker.

“You... who the fuck are you!?”

The man smiles and ignores his question by saying, “I knew I sensed a Demon," the man then sighs. "It seems you aren't the only one either.”

The man's face turns serious and he starts to walk toward Cerberus.

Sora is drawn to his aura and can't help but ask the same question the Demon had just asked a moment earlier,

“Who are you..?” The man turns around and smiles in reply, “My name's Michael.”

Cerberus' hair rises up and all three heads gnarl their teeth, the man's voice rises loudly when it inquires,

“The Archangel Michael!?”

The man named Michael frowns at the beast and simply answers,

“I am.”

One Step Behind: (END)

Chapter 38: 666 The Mark of the Beast

(PART 1)

Messor is watching Abaddon socialize with the men on Caesar’s ship.

Her eyes shine bright gold and a disgusted frown that doesn't match her usual demeanor resides on her face.

The reason for this, is that the person who helped create the abyss of eternal hell-fire for her and Ubica to burn in is right in front of her.

“You guys stay here...” Messor demands through her teeth.

The others try to plead her into staying but she has already opened the door and walked out onto the deck.

She shoves through a couple of men to get closer to Abaddon, and when she gets a proper sight of him, she raises her index finger.

A little black ball of energy floats above her finger until it takes the form of what looks to be a black monarch butterfly.

She gently pushes it off and it flies directly toward him.

The little black butterfly lands on his chest, and as soon as he notices it, he is propelled backwards at such a speed he viciously flies through the thick oak guard of the ship and is sent skidding across the water hundreds of meters away.

It all happened so fast that it took the crew a couple seconds to process what had just occurred.

They turn to Messor and glare at her in shock.

Napoleon comes rushing out of the barrack room to see exactly what is going on. He had heard the noise and immediately ran to the deck, and after seeing the destruction firsthand, he'd have to be dumb not to know what happened.

“What are you doing!?” Napoleon yells toward the back of who he thinks to be a Harvest God.

She doesn't turn when she replies in a mumble, “I'm going to kill him...”

Caesar is angered about the sudden attack on a helpless man, he grabs her shoulder to turn her towards him so he can give her a scolding.

However, when he pulled on her with all of his might, she didn't even budge, it is like she is a solid pillar of stone that has been planted in the ground.

Messor moves her eyes to him and gives him a look of murder.

A cold feeling rushes down his spine and causes his knees to instantly quiver like a scared child.

The captain doesn't even say a word and backs off.

“That guy is a monster! We need to come up with a strategy to somehow defeat him, we can't just attack him head on!” Napoleon tries to urge her back into the barracks.

“I know exactly who he is... “ she says as she takes off her trucker's cap and lets her silky white hair flow in the wind.

She then takes off her button up plaid shirt and tosses it aside as well.

Shedding these extra layers of clothing gives her body room to reveal her true self.

Messor shines in a gold light, and that light moves from around her body and forms into a mass above her head, and that mass of light in turn forms into a brilliant halo. From the white of her half bare back comes two white wings that shine in a gold tint, each of them are six feet long, giving her a twelve foot wingspan.

“What?” Napoleon mutters in surprise.

What he is seeing is an image that belongs in the color pages of the Bible, in front of him stands the perfect image of an Angel.

Messor flaps her wings and flies fifty meters up in one flap, the air pushed into the floor of the ship is so strong it blows a few men off their feet. Floating in the sky, she looks down on her target like a bird of prey.

Coming out of the water and standing on his feet on the ocean surface is Abaddon.

Surprisingly, he has a wide grin on his face, and without batting an eye he speaks, “Well well, if it ain't the whore of the Antichrist! Damien did mention to me that you were here in Purgatory, I shoulda known you'd go rushing to Ubica.”

Even though the distance between them is rather far, Messor heard his words perfectly, that accent of his is unmistakable. Just hearing it causes her to grit her teeth in anger.

Without an ounce of hesitation she waves her white wings in his direction and hundreds of black butterflies come from the wind it created.

The butterflies zoom at the speed of sound and land in the water all around Abaddon, every last one of those butterflies explode violently and send multiple plumes of water stretching hundreds of meters into the sky.

The blasts are so intense and so loud that the crew on the deck of the ship are put in a hazy state where all they hear is an intense ringing noise in their ears much like someone is blowing a high pitched whistle right in front of their face. The hundreds of blasts seemingly block out the sunlight and replace it with the white of the water. An occurrence this outstanding is so surreal that they literally think they might have died.

In actuality, this is the power of the False Prophet, the one person who could stand beside the Antichrist and share in his strength.

Messor smiles devilishly, “I've wanted to kill you for a long time now... this is revenge for creating that wretched abyss. If it wasn't for what you did, Ubica and I would still be living the way we once were!”

As if responding to her words, a fierce wind brews from the center of the explosions and each blast that had sent the water upwards into the sky begins twirling in the form of numerous tornadoes.

The swirling masses of water rush toward Messor and the ship, and out of the center of that tornado comes Abaddon with two swirling forms of water under his feet propelling him into the air.

“Ha! How cute of ya to hold a grudge, too bad that without the Antichrist yer nothing!”

Abaddon keeps his laugh as loud as possible while he takes a marble out of the pouch he holds on his waist. He flicks it from his hand and the marble flies faster than a bullet towards the face of Messor, but this isn't just any kind of attack, the marble has a bright orange light trailing behind as though it were a comet.

“!!”

The destructive power in this attack is felt in the trembling air, Messor knows that she will likely be blown into oblivion along with the ship once his attack hits.

But not having time to counter attack, she covers herself with her wings and hopes to somehow get out of this without losing all of her limbs.

Abaddon uses the destruction point of any object, living or not, to manipulate it into doing what he wants.

He can literally control the flow of normality in an object or person and bend it in any direction.

With this ability he can turn water into a tornado, fire into a solid mass, and a marble into a projectile with as much destructive force as a comet falling from space.

If any of those don't happen to work, all he'd need to do is touch a person and reverse their bloodstream or expand their organs to turn them into a ball of flesh.

This is why he was able to rise the ranks from a disgraced Angel of Heaven all the way to the top 7 Demons of the Hierarchy. Other demons don't like his personality or his past, but it is more than likely they are intimidated by this seemingly unstoppable ability.

The marble is only a few feet away from tearing both Messor and the ship apart when it is suddenly intercepted and sent flying off in a random direction before exploding out in the distance over the ocean.

“What!?” Abaddon shouts as the momentum of the tornadoes under his feet behind him send him zooming uncontrollably towards Messor's direction.

Then, through the white wash of the ocean he feels a hand grip his face and the next thing he knows he is blown through the tornadoes and skipped across the ocean at an incredible speed.

Messor still had her wings shut so she couldn't see what had just happened, but all the danger that she had just felt from Abaddon's looming attack disappeared in a flash.

She realizes that she has just been saved, but who could possibly be strong enough to have saved her from a situation like that?

Upon moving her wings, she catches sight of him.

The man's sudden appearance puts her into a slight state of shock.

“Damien..?”

The confident grin that normally resides on Damien's face is not there, he exudes such an air of seriousness that it makes Messor's body feel like it weighs a ton.

“I can't have you being killed just yet Messor... don't let your foolish attempt at payback cost you your life.”

“Why are you here?” Messor asks hoarsely.

“You don't actually expect an explanation do you?”

“I'd like to know if it somehow involves me. I still haven't done anything contrary to our deal that would bring about a reason for you to show up.”

Damien begins to float down toward the ship as he says, “I know you haven't.”

That's all he needed to say in order to show her that he isn't here to harm her in any way.

As far as she knows, it is his time to personally kill off the rest of the humans, and she has no intentions of stopping him if that turns out to be the case.

On his way down from the sky, he is pelted by the frightened glares of the crewmen.

He gets ready to land when the voice of Abaddon is heard just to the right of him.

“What the fuck was that for!?”

The demon has reappeared winded and soaked in water, his shoulders rising with each heavy breath. However, he is uninjured despite the sudden and vicious attack.

Damien's eyebrows twitch at Abaddon's tone. “If I recall correctly, I believe that Leviathan told you not to touch the False Prophet.”

Abaddon shrugs his shoulders as if he doesn't care, “Tch, she attacked me first. Nonetheless, she's still alive ain't she? At least lemme finish my job in killing those humans, I haven't even started havin' fun yet.”

“There's been a change of plan.”

“Hah?”

“None of those humans will be dying today... so I'll need you to head back to Hell until further notice.”

Abaddon frowns and voices his displeasure, “Fuck that! I already got screwed outta havin' fun last time when Beelzebub got in my way!”

Damien takes his index finger, points it to the sky and replies, “Tell me something Abaddon... when I gave you a seat in the Hierarchy, what was the one condition?”

Abaddon clicks his tongue and looks away, signifying that he knows exactly what it is.

Damien smiles and then points that finger at his underling before saying, "Obey me.”

Out of nowhere, Abaddon is engulfed in a dark red flame and disappears into the sky.

This is apparently some kind of transportation spell that sent Abaddon straight back to Hell.

Now having no one between him and the ship, Damien floats down to the deck and scours the faces of the people with his eyes.

“Oh? I recognize you.” he said when he spotted Napoleon glaring at him with a face full of caution.

“Y-You...“

Napoleon pulls out his sword and readies his mind to attempt to defend his comrades and the crewmen.

Finding this all too funny, Damien decides to get straight down to business.

“Don't be wreckless, I'm not here to kill anybody. If you decide to come at me, you’re as good as dead.”

This threat hits Napoleon like a fast moving car crash, he had just seen Damien repel the ferocious attack of Abaddon like it was nothing. No matter what kind of ability he possesses now, Damien would be able to kill him as easily as stepping on an ant.

Seeing that he isn't going to do anything, Damien shifts his attention to the door to the hallway that leads down to the barracks.

His red eyes glow and he says, “My real target is in there.”

In a flash, the entire hallway is blown into pieces and are sent flying off in the distance, if one blinked, they would've missed the entirety of what just happened.

Standing where the hallway once was is Trojia, Strauphius, Daey, and Tsubiri.

They each look at him in shock and wonder why he is here instead of Abaddon.

“Who is this guy??” asked Strauphius.

He has yet to see Damien in person so as far as he knows, the man standing before him could potentially be an ally.

But that is so far from the truth it's comical, the person on the ship deck is the puppet master behind every single event that has plagued the group thus far.

Damien walks towards the four and Strauphius can feel the fear emanating from the girls behind him, his natural instinct is to protect them so he gets into a guarding posture.

"Don't take another step.” he orders.

But Damien doesn't stop, instead he keeps walking and points his index finger upwards.

“You're in the way.”

He simply motions his finger to the left and Strauphius is sent screaming across the wooden deck and into the ledge. He was moving at such a speed his body almost plowed right through it, he’d be lucky if a bone hasn't been broken in that impact.

The three girls don't even have a chance to look his way to see if he is alright because Damien is right in front of them, staring at them with those frightening red eyes.

Because the three of them are standing on the stairs that lead down to the barracks, they are looking up at him, which adds to the tension of this situation. It's as though they are small animals that have been cornered by a large predator.

Damien leans down to their level and speaks, “Would you ladies like to know why I'm here?”

Before he can continue speaking, Messor lands to the side of him and says, “I'd like to know the same thing.”

Damien ignores her presence and speaks as though she wasn't there at all.

“What if I told you that Ubica has abandoned you so he could protect a family he has met on the way to the Gate?”

“Abandoned?"

“I'm telling you that Leviathan gave Ubica an ultimatum earlier... he knew that Abaddon was coming here to attack the ship, but chose to stay on the island that family lives on instead of returning to help you.”

Messor frowns, “Let me guess, if he left, Leviathan was going to kill them?”

“He had to choose between the lives of you and the others or the lives of that family. He had to decide which was more important to him. And he isn't here right now is he?”

“There has to be more of a reason behind it than that. I'm not stupid enough to believe that it's that simple.” Tsubiri said, confident in her declaration.

“How loyal you all are to the image of him you’ve created...”

Damien takes something out of his pocket and holds it in the palm of his hand. It looks like it is a red diamond and it spirals in his hand as if there is some kind of magnetic force moving it clockwise.

“I would like to give one of you a gift... the problem is, I don't know which one of you three I should give it to.”

Even though he says he plans on giving them a gift, the statement came across like an executioner’s final words to someone he’s about to behead with an axe.

Damien moves his frightening red eyes to the right and begins to speak to Daey, “You seem to be a dear friend of his, I’m certain if you had grown to hate him, he’d be devastated. However, I think you are too kind to be capable of harboring a resentment strong enough to give you the strength needed.”

“ W-What are you talking about?” warily asked Daey in response.

Damien ignores her words and then addresses Tsubiri. “I think you’d be able to compartmentalize your way into forgiving him. You'd be more of a trigger if you were to just die.”

Tsubiri wears confusion all over her face, she also wonders just what in the world he is talking about. But hearing him say that she'd be better off dead is enough to throw a heavy weight of fear into her chest.

Not to be left out, Trojia takes the next glare from Damien. As if stumbling upon a great treasure, his eyes seem to glisten when he addresses her.

“But you… If you are anything like your mother, your feelings would change upon seeing the truth. You’d reject the cruel world he created and come to reject him. As the first person he’s ever protected, he wouldn’t be able to handle your hate.”

By now, the three of them know that he is talking about Ubica, they just don't know how he knows all these things about them.

Trojia can't help but want to ask that very question, but when Damien looks to Messor and then back to her, she gets her answer.

“A spy?” Trojia asked, her eyes widened by the revelation.

Messor shrugs her shoulders, “I wouldn't go so far as to say that, I'm merely working to make Ubica happy. I'll never do anything that doesn't benefit him.”

“How can you say that working with Damien is benefiting Ubica!? Just who are you anyway!?” Trojia inquires.

“You'll know soon enough.” Damien says, interrupting her interrogation.

Damien then takes the hand opposite of the one holding the diamond and grabs her by the neck, he pulls her from the stairs leading down to the barracks to his level on the deck.

“Trojia!!”

Both Tsubiri and Daey shout and they each head up the stairs to attempt to retrieve her, but before they can get any closer they are stopped by the wings of Messor.

“Don't be stupid, if you try to stop him you'll just be killed”

“B-But!”

“He's not going to hurt her, you heard him right? He isn't here to kill anybody.”

The only thing the two of them can do is watch in horror as he holds her up above his head as if he is hoisting a prized trophy. None of the crew members interfere either because they are either in a state of shock due to the pressure of his presence, or they were told not to move by Napoleon, who is also standing there watching.

While holding Trojia up by the throat he looks her square in the eye as he says, “It’s always been thought that you can’t see into the past. But I can assure you that it’s more than possible, in fact, the past is constantly flowing unseen around us in the form of never ending energy. At certain points, the energy of the past radiates stronger than others and lingers behind forever like an unforeseen ghost trapped in the modern world. I’ve been able to gather the remnants of that energy and encapsulate it into this little diamond you see here.”

He tosses the black diamond from his palm up in the air and points his index finger up, the diamond falls on his finger tip and swirls just above it.

“I am going to give the energy of a long forgotten part of the world to you. This gift will allow you to see the truth for the first time in your life, and you will harness it into a strength unparalleled amongst the humans unfortunate enough to continue living in ignorance of it. You’ll choose to use this strength accordingly I’m sure.”

With the index finger holding the diamond, he thrusts it into her mouth and sticks it as far down her throat as possible.

Trojia can feel the warmth of his finger with her tongue and she can't help but feel violated to a certain extent.

However, the feeling of being violated is overrun by the sharp feeling of pain falling from the back of her throat all the way to her chest. It's as though her heart is about to explode as each beat is more forceful than the last.

The pain keeps getting more and more intense until...

There's nothing.

Trojia blacks out and falls limp in Damien's hands, he tosses her on the ground and addresses the crew like nothing has happened.

“Well then, I shall be on my way.”

He takes a step off the ledge of the ship and levitates in the air, he bursts into dark red flames like Abaddon did and disappears into the sky.

The crew and the rest all take a collective sigh in relief before rushing to Trojia's aid.

Napoleon is the first to get there and he immediately checks her pulse. From his point of view, it looked like she was being strangled and may need some form of resuscitation to at least get air through her potentially blocked airways.

But to his relief he finds that she is breathing fine and the rest of her vitals are in check.

"What did he do to her!?” Daey shouts while running up the stairs to her side.

Napoleon has no clue how to answer that but tries anyways, “She's passed out, I don't quite know what happened but it looks like she'll be fine.”

Daey shifts her attention to Straphius and finds that there are a few crewmen including Caesar tending to him.

After that, she turns to Messor, whose wings and halo are now gone.

“Just who's side are you on anyhow? Why didn't you even try to stop him? How are you so familiar with those guys from Hell??”

Messor folds her arms and replies, “Having every question answered doesn't help when you're not supposed to know... That girl on the other hand, is going to wake up with a head so full of answers she might fall into insanity.”

---

“What is happening?” Trojia asks upon finding herself floating weightlessly in a black world that holds no light nor sound.

Her cognitive ability had dropped considerably to the level of someone half asleep. She could not think logically and even her five senses and sensation of gravity are blurred in this dark space.

After several seconds, her mind rapidly cleared. It is now that she realized the ambiguous information coming from her five senses was not mistaken after all, she really can’t see her hands, nor her body. The sensation missing out on what she normally feels when she’s conscious makes her doubt she’s even existing physically.

Able to speak even without a mouth physically present, she starts yelling out the names of the others that she was just with a few moments ago.

When the only response is her own echo, she becomes even more frightened.

That is, until she hears a familiar voice saying,

“So you finally reveal yourself.”

“Ubica!?”

There is no doubt in her head that the voice that had just spoken is his, her field of vision turns to its source and a flash of light hits her from within the darkness. It was so bright that it took a moment for her vision to adjust, it's almost as though her entire being is a camera lens that was fully zoomed in and had been panned back out too quickly.

But once out of this disorientated plane of being, what comes into focus is the sight of a man walking alone down a long stretch of paved road leading towards a massive futuristic cityscape.

Looking closely, she finds that the man is Ubica; he’s wearing an odd wooden mask that covers half of his face with three horns on it and his visible eye's sclera is as black as night with a black line seemingly falling down his cheek. He is wearing a black robe that sways in the wind with each step, and a dark aura spews from his back like ash from a burnt tree after a strong gust of wind.

This person is nothing like the Ubica Trojia knows, she almost didn't recognize him even after analyzing him from head to toe.

She unintentionally follows him toward the city until out in the distance on the bare road in which he walks comes a little girl.

The girl is dressed in tattered brown clothes and looks to be a homeless child of around eight or nine years old.

The two of them are on a collision course and eventually stop just feet away from each other.

Ubica takes his mask off and drops it into a puddle of darkness that suddenly appears behind him, then from out of that circular puddle of darkness, his sword rises into his hand.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he points it at the little girl's neck.

Trojia is shocked that he'd even wield his weapon towards an innocent girl like this and her heart pounds when he gives off the feeling that he actually intends to kill her.

“Ubica don't!” she shouts.

But both he and the girl don't hear her, she is a phantom onlooker as she waits in fear for the worst.

“Why now of all times?” Ubica asks.

The little girl closes her eyes and above the top of her head a bright gold halo forms, she reopens her eyes and they go from a depressing and weak black to a bright gold.

She folds her arms in a combative manner and replies, “This is the moment where you and your Prophet fool the world into making an enemy out of me. I wouldn’t want to miss this.”

“And you have no intention of stopping me?”

“It’s not my job to interfere with what’s to come.”

“And here I thought I was supposed to be the heartless one between us.”

The girl smiles and shrugs her little shoulders.

This prompts Ubica to say, “In a way, I pity them. But at the same time there is some comedy in it, so many of them put their faith in someone that cares so little about their suffering.”

“Should they put their faith in you instead?”

“I'm not that selfish. I won’t punish them because they don't worship me, I will punish them because I can.”

“You're wrong, Ubica, you are punishing them because I wish it so.”

“You’re saying that this is all part of your plan then is it?”

“Not entirely, you yourself exist outside of my wishes. I simply have to constantly adjust to your actions.”

The two of them give off similar airs, this mysterious young girl is glowing with a glorious confidence that shines brightly in a warm light.

Whilst Ubica's darkness leaves a trail of devastation behind him, this darkness gives him the same kind of confidence as the girl.

“Your wishes must be to watch the world crumble. If it wasn’t, you’d be here to stop me instead of bearing witness to destruction.”

The girl gestures to him to pass her as she takes a step aside.

“It’s much more than that.”

Ubica smiles as if he has just realized something.

“Then for now, I will do it on your behalf.”

The girl faintly laughs and the halo on the top of her head spins.

“It’s what you exist for, my child. You’ll never be thanked for it.”

The girl’s eyes turn back to black and the halo above her head fades away, the girl looks like she is almost in a trance and ignores Ubica as she turns and walks back toward the large city.

On her way she raises her arms and drops to her knees in the middle of the bare road.

She points her hands to the sky as if trying to grab the light and yells, “I'm free! Oh God, you’re real. Thank you! Thank you!”

The girl weeps and lets her weak body rest on the asphalt. But it would seem that all the pain of her miserable existence brought upon her by the civil war in her country had been lifted.

Ubica takes a look at the rejoicing girl and frowns as he says to himself, “So this is my desired action to bring upon the correct end.”

The sword that he once held toward the neck of the girl is now pointed at the center of the city.

Trojia is watching this whole thing unfold and almost has no clue what that conversation meant and who in the world Ubica was talking to.

The thing she understands for certain is the evil shining in Ubica's eyes at this very moment as he points his sword at the city. It is just like when he fought Nero a couple months back, the stunning lack of empathy seemingly oozes from his aura.

She wants to stop him somehow, but no matter what she says her words won't reach him. She begins to get a sickening feeling in her chest as she almost knows what is about to happen.

“...Please don't do this Ubica.” she begs to herself as the only one that can hear this plea.

The edges of Ubica's lips rise to form a thin crescent moon like smile as he says,

“Let the journey to your end begin here.”

He turns his wrist and the sharp end of the blade turns up toward the sky.

It is that simple motion which signals an attack so loud that it takes a couple seconds for it to ring.

A massive shock resonates from within the city and a blast of intense heat rushes outwards in a giant circle. The city skyline disintegrates and sends millions of shards of glass and debris blowing into the air as if it was a water balloon popping. The buildings then split in half and break apart on their way to the ground.

And then...

BBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!

A light that shines brighter than a thousand suns turns everything visible into a hot white, the noise is so loud that it could destroy the eardrums if a person was within a hundred miles of the explosion.

The light and noise spreads towards Ubica and the girl, and it hits the little child first.

She looks toward Ubica and smiles as contentedly; and an instant after, the heat along with the shock-wave disintegrates her to dust.

The trail of destruction hits Ubica but flows around him as if it was afraid of touching him.

This is the power of Ubica, this is the power of Dantega, this is the power of evil.

Nothing and no one can stop him.

Millions of men, women, and children are all decimated with a flick of his wrist.

By simply imposing his will, they died in one instant.

But why is this? Why did he kill all these people?

Trojia has stumbled upon the beginning of Man’s third world war.

Now every moment she'll spend is watching this massive conflict unfold alongside the presence of Ubica the Antichrist.

Without knowing what kind of geopolitical situation that the world was already entrenched in before she reached this point, the coming week is spent watching Ubica’s daily actions begin to answer it all in explicit detail.

The country he had inflicted that original atrocity on is China, the city is Beijing.

By this point this massive nation has been in a civil war between anti-government rebels and party loyalists. In the streets at that very moment a year’s long battle was being fought between the two forces.

Drawn to a costly stalemate for the last few years, it was only recently that the rebels began growing in numbers to an extent that the Chinese government could no longer contain the movement.

The rebels of China have been led by a mysterious woman with silky white hair and white golden eyes named Messor; and ever since her appearance two years prior, the tides of war have turned in their favor, and the revolution has almost been grasped by the time of this attack.

What the destruction of Beijing did was effectively destroy the government, and deal a tremendous blow on the fighting power of the rebels, completely destabilizing the entire country.

In the coming weeks after the massacre, Messor seizes control and announces China as a new nation. In this new nation, she spends her days indoctrinating the people in this secular ideology, and blames the warring religious states for the attack on Beijing. It was easy for her to convince them since both sides were indiscriminately attacked by an outside force. She simply took advantage of the unifying power of a mutual foe.

The next biggest nation of the United States was currently in the throes of civil war as well, and Trojia is currently watching how every second of it unfolds in the months she’s spent following Ubica.

The structure of the American civil war is different from the one in China. The calamity here is structured by many different warring factions, each one with separate political ideals.

Dozens of different idealogical militant groups have been fighting for what they believe to be the true path forward, and with a population so large and so diverse, the fighting only intensified as the factions gained more and more members. The stunning amount of available arms to the citizens has even made constant martial law almost unattainable outside of the large cities. Wide open swaths of open land are controlled by the factions and used as home bases. Ubica had gained control of a faction, secular in its foundation, and had been warring on multiple fronts starting from the south west coast of the continent and working its way inland. Gathering land, resources and troops along the way, it steadily rose into the most formidable of the warring American states. One so large that it has finally been at the cusp of overtaking the powerful Military Government set in place in the north east since the civil wars began.

But simply taking over as ruler of this one group isn’t enough to unite the people against a common enemy.

A war so complicated must end in an equally simple way.

And this means inflicting a blow on everyone involved, except a certain group of people to be used as a sacrifice towards a future unification. New York city had become a bastion of social democracy and an anti war bubble filled with members of opposing warring states that fled the war. From anti-government Libertarians to Communists, to those who were not involved in the conflict in any way and just wanted to live a life separated from the fighting, the now tens of millions of people there have been able to live side by side in relative tranquility.

In order to do this however, they have banned refugees from the religious states of the south and midwest, and kept the entire city as a secular mini nation within the bigger nation, and have been left alone by the Military so long as they pose no threat to their war effort.

But this bastion of peace is set to be destroyed just like Beijing was.

Trojia had spent this particular day watching Ubica and Messor finally reunite from opposite sides of the world.

What was once an intricate jumble of fighting, the web of violence has broken down into a few sticky lines where Ubica and Messor have come together in an alliance to make an enemy out of a certain group of people.

In a large room with a stunning view of bright skyscrapers outside of the windowed walls, Ubica and Messor stand shoulder to shoulder looking out into the distance.

Messor is dressed beautifully in a white dress and Ubica is dressed sharply in a black suit.

“I had thought spending three years away from you would have been easier to handle.” Messor said, expressing her relief. “I’m glad that particular part of our plan is finally over.”

“Taking over a country of a billion people was easier than being separated from me?”

“Very much so. Can you confidently say you weren’t feeling the same way?”

Ubica doesn’t react with a facial expression, but blows air out of his nose as if puffing in agreement.

“I’ll admit that going so long without your touch was difficult. Especially on the long nights I fought as a simple human alongside war weary men.”

Ubica puts his hand on Messor’s shoulder, and with a flick of his wrist, Messor’s dress falls to her ankles. With her naked body glistening in the lights of the cityscape outside their window, she looks like a magical being one could only dream about in a fairytale.

Messor smiles, showing no sign of bashfulness upon Ubica’s glare.

“So today we should celebrate the years spent apart, and today we'll celebrate what’s to come tomorrow.”

She runs her fingers through his hair and kisses him before replying, “Then make this one special.”

Trojia is forced to watch a scene that hurts as much as the many atrocities she’s watched him commit. Not being able to escape the sight or the sounds of the two of them together creates a pressure inside of her that she can’t possibly relieve herself from.

Her only solace comes when Ubica is sleeping, and after what felt like many hours, the world she can feel and see goes black until this monster she has been forced to watch take over the world awakens.

The morning sun brightens the large bedroom of this highrise condo they’re in, and the light entering windows gleams on the two beauties as he gets out from underneath the covers. He then gets to his feet and leaves Messor naked and sleeping on the bed without much regard to how his stirring might awaken her.

Today is their biggest day, yet he casually prepares for it as though it were any other.

Upon leaving the building and getting into the street, he can see everywhere around him billboards with Messor’s likeness, and electronic news bulletins talking about the new alliance formed between the new country of China and Ubica’s faction in the United States. The city streets are abuzz with so much excitement that the people rushing about don’t even notice the object of their attention is standing amongst him.

Ubica smiles, not offended by his anonymity.

“You’ve done well, Messor. Now it’s my turn.”

As soon as he said that, he vanished.

Appearing suddenly in New York City, Ubica makes his way towards the mass of people and modern buildings before him.

After killing the hundred armed guards protecting the entrance to the city by simply walking near them, Ubica passes their corpses and stands on the Brooklyn bridge looking upon the giant city.

Trojia watches this and is almost immune to the shock of his disregard for human life. She has been stuck watching him for a year by this point, and has seen him commit countless atrocities since thrust into the world she had no idea existed before this.

This time however, there is no mysterious person here to greet Ubica.

He stands alone, confronted by no one and with no reason to hesitate in wiping millions of people off the face of the earth.

He holds his sword out, and without so much as a second thought, the simple turn of his wrist creates a wall of white so bright it seems as though reality ceased to exist for an instant.

Once the mind numbing blankness regains its shape, an explosion so loud ensues that Trojia would be surprised if not every last person on the continent could hear it.

It is exactly like Beijing.

Millions of people, dead in an instant.

The destabilizing effect of this attack will allow Ubica’s clout amongst the people to rise exponentially, especially when he gives them something to blame this on.

But this is more than just wrapping his fingers around the last bastion of the world functioning independent of him.

If he is to fight against Heaven, the power of man is not enough.

When the massive blast finally ends and the mushroom shaped cloud above the once vibrant city begins to fade away and the aftermath is seen. There is a massive crater that looks as though a huge asteroid has hit there, and the dust and debris ominously looms over the top of it.

Ubica takes a bite out of his finger and draws blood, he takes his thumb and wipes the blood from the hilt all the way to the tip of his sword. After that he draws it back and swings his sword toward the crater, this sends a red gust of wind that pierces through the dust like a knife through butter.

Once the light flies over the crater, Ubica puts his sword back in his scabbard and holds his arms out, he smiles and raises his voice.

“It’s time for you all to live once more.”

His voice is used like a trigger, and reacting to that pull of the trigger comes a large hand from the crater.

It rises up and reveals its disgusting figure.

A bloodied red demon the size of the skyscrapers that were just destroyed comes walking out of the crater, its freakishly deformed yellow eyes scour the area until they land on the Antichrist.

It opens its mouth and its jaw drops to its chest, then from the back of its throat come thousands of demons, flying, falling, climbing down as if being poured from a milk carton.

From behind the massive demon, the silhouettes of many others begin to appear, and from the edge of the crater, hundreds of more demons climb from the rubble of the city.

The numbers grow by the thousands with each passing second and after a minute or so it becomes obvious that an army has appeared before him.

Although the demons carry many different forms, some being human, some being a sort of chimera, they all have one thing in common.

666 the Mark of the Beast.

Somewhere on their bodies is the mark proving their loyalty to the strongest being.

They are part of his fighting force and are the chosen ones to fight the army of Heaven alongside him.

In their own way they all bow to their leader to show solidarity to his cause.

Ubica gestures to them and speaks in a tone of address like a natural born leader, “You have all been punished by the rules of God long enough, if what you want is to destroy the person that made you suffer, then follow me.”

He turns around and the wooden mask appears in his hand before putting it back on his face.

Each stride he takes on what's left of the bridge in which he walks on gives off the feeling of absolute strength; the army of millions follow this strength and look forward to the upcoming battle.

People will believe anything under the threat of annihilation from an overwhelming power, they will commit themselves against any foe if their existential preservation is at stake. So after blaming God and his followers for this massive attack while simultaneously continuing to put people through the peril of living under this threat, getting what remains of humanity outside of his control to flock to his side will be easy.

Soon, most of the world will bear the Mark of the Beast.

The smile brimming with confidence in this fact is evident on his face.

Under his breath, Ubica mutters, “Oh God... let’s see if this is what you really want.”

Trojia watches him lead his army towards the next massacre. Even now, she can't believe that the person she cares about so much was at one point capable of killing millions of people and turning them against one another; her mind is in genuine turmoil as the sight of the person she is looking at now completely replaced the Ubica she thought she knew.

“I can’t handle this anymore...”

If Trojia had hands, she would most certainly be wringing her hair in despair right now.

“How could I have so easily turned a blind eye to what everyone was telling me?”

Trojia knows that this is only the beginning of his sins, his evil will shine even more brightly onto the world in the many months to come and she will be forced to watch every detail unfold.

She now sees what Ubica has felt so guilty about all this time, she sees why he is so desperate to try and do good as a way to repent for what he’s done. She can finally see why he’d starve himself of genuine happiness.

It is because he doesn’t deserve it.

Although she at first told him that what matters is the person he is now and the good he has been trying to do, she finds herself rejecting that statement and the naivety of those words wholeheartedly.

Stuck in this bodiless nightmare she has found herself in, and after already bearing witness to his existence for this last year, she has been forced into a maturity influenced by all that she has experienced alongside him.

“How could I have let myself ignore the lives of all these people before me?”

All of the warning signs were there, but what she was being warned about was as unfathomable to the human mind to truly grasp as a billion light years of distance.

It’s only now she can grasp the truth of Ubica.

It’s only now that she has the ammunition needed to hate him.

---

The current Ubica is standing in the rain at the doorstep of a certain girl who has been pestering him to come to her house for days now. And due to certain circumstances he has brought the girl and her family into a dangerous situation in which their lives are in peril depending on what his next actions are.

After thinking about what Leviathan said, he has come to the decision that abandoning the helpless girl and her family to protect his able comrades is the wrong thing to do.

He knocks three times on the door and the sound of footsteps rushing from the inside reaches his ears along with the falling rain.

The door opens and Amber's relief filled face is the first thing he notices.

“I was hoping you weren't going to be stubborn once it started raining. Come in so you can dry off.”

Ubica shows her a strained smile and his eyes are filled with a certain look of despair that only a keen eye would be able to catch. Amber is one of those people able to see that there is something hidden behind a smile.

“What's wrong?” she asks.

He would like to tell her, but he fears that she'd begin to panic and inquire as to why this is happening.

With these thoughts in mind he holds back his explanation and passively replies, “It's nothing.”

She raises her eyebrow, “It doesn't look like nothing, you look afraid.”

Ubica hides his eyes under his wet silver hair and leans his shoulder against the door.

What she said is spot on, he is afraid that his comrades could be getting slaughtered at this very moment and this is weighing on his conscience like an anvil. What's even worse is that he can't lift a finger to stop it. If he does, the girl standing in front of him and her happy life will come to a horrible end.

All of this because of what he's done in the past.

No matter what he does he can never escape it, instead he'll just bring this burden onto everyone he meets and cares about until they break under its weight.

He was foolish to think that he'd be rid of it so easily, and this is resulting in the hopeless desperation that Leviathan is pushing him towards.

He clenches his fist and squeezes his jaw tightly as he realizes that this is all going exactly how Leviathan wants it to go.

With that in mind there is only one thing he can do.

“You're right, I am afraid.” he says as he takes his first step into Amber's house since the awkward dinner. “But I'm going to do the best I can to fight it.”

(PART 2)

“You know... when I invited you to stay at our house, I didn't mean I wanted you to follow me around everywhere! You haven't left me alone at all the past couple days!” Amber shouted while nudging the person to her right.

Her and Ubica are walking along the roads of the seaside city in which Amber lives; it is early morning and they are both heading to do some shopping at the local market for breakfast.

After the small typhoon that had just ended the night before, the morning is a little brisk but the air is clean and the sun is out making this a very pleasant start to the day.

“Who says I'm following you?”

“Hah? Common sense says so! When I woke up you were waiting for me! Are you some kind of stalker!?”

Since Leviathan's warning, Ubica has been keeping a close eye on her, for the most part he hasn't left her side whether she has noticed it or not. Though this fits the description of a stalker perfectly, the only reason he is doing this is to protect her from danger.

But still, hearing her say that makes his shoulders jolt.

“Stalker!?”

“Oooaaah! Oh no! I invited a stalker into my house! What should I do? Call the police? Somebody help me!!”

The two are causing a scene and the concerned glares from the citizens of the seaside city pelt them like a group of people throwing rocks.

It would seem that only Ubica feels this pressure and he frantically tries to cool the situation.

“S-Shut up Amber! You’re going to get me killed!” he yelps as he nudges her back.

The eyes of the onlookers set on fire at the sight of him doing this, so instead of cooling the situation he threw gasoline on the open flame. Flushed in frustration at how this whole thing unfolded he shrinks into himself.

“Hahahaha if you don't shape up you're gonna be in serious trouble! Stalker!”

Ubica puffs and looks away with a scowl, he sharply blows air out of his nose and walks the opposite way of her.

“Fine! If you're going to pick on me then I'm just gonna go back to the lagoon!”

“Oh come on.” Amber said with a sigh, her tone implying that he's being a baby.

She waits for him to stop and come back to her but he keeps walking away into the crowd.

(He can't be serious right?) she thinks to herself when he almost walks out of sight.

Thinking back on what she had just done, perhaps her little joke has offended him. (I don't want him to leave...) she thinks as she starts to walk toward him through the crowd. (Not over something as stupid as that!)

Her walk turns into a jog to catch up to him.

“Ubica wait!”

Ubica stops walking and she quickly latches onto his arm so he doesn't leave again.

“I'm sorry about that... don't be mad, okay? I was only kidding..”

"..."

Ubica drops his head and hides his eyes under his silver hair, he doesn't reply and stays silent.

“Ubica?” Amber asks, wanting some kind of a reply.

After a couple more seconds of silence she seriously thinks he might be very angry at her, she stutters a little as she tries to find words to make him forgive her when...

“Pffft...”

A puff of air escapes from Ubica's lips and is quickly followed by a laugh.

“Haha I couldn’t hold it in anymore.”

“Wha?” Amber mutters in surprise.

“I’m surprised you fell for that honestly, did you think I was actually mad at you?”

Amber's face turns bright red as the embarrassment of looking like an idiot and being laughed at for it hits her.

“Y-You... I was seriously trying to be considerate just now you jerk!”

“I know, that's what makes it even more funny.”

She puffs her cheeks out and frowns. “Fine, I'm not gonna give you any more credit than you deserve, you got me.”

He smiles widely and gives off a haughty air when he says, “There's a certain girl I know who always picks on me, so I've learned how to get sweet revenge from past experience with her."

As soon as he said that, he thought of that certain girl and his expression turned solemn. He doesn't even know if that girl is alright or not and the brief moment where his thoughts on this subject wavered ended abruptly upon mentioning her.

“You’re actually really bad at jokes.” Amber says with a straight face, “Of course I'd fall for it if you play it off like that... I was really worried.”

“Worried?”

“You know, I actually like having you around. If you left me for teasing you I'd be sad.”

Ubica looks at her with skepticism glowing in his eyes.

Amber sees this and answers, “I'm serious, mornings have been a lot more fun since you started accompanying me. My dad is too lazy to wake up with me and my mom only does housework. My brother is always cooped up in his office and my sister takes care of the kids. It's nice to have someone to talk to.”

“Oh...” He scratches his head. “Well why doesn't your fiance join you?”

“Hah!?” she groans.

“No?”

“No way! I couldn't do that, I can barely even mutter a word to him. I wouldn't dream of spending all morning fumbling for things to say, it'd be so embarrassing!”

“Well you have to learn to talk to him sooner or later.”

Amber puffs her cheeks out and blushes, just thinking of that gives her the feeling of butterflies in her stomach.

“Uuuuu~”

“It can’t be that bad, how is he so much different from me?”

“Because I'm not getting married to you duh!”

“Then it should be more difficult talking to me since I'm pretty much a stranger.”

“No it's not! You are way easier to talk to!”

“Why?”

“Because you're----”

Amber stops herself midway, she was about to blurt some dangerous words out without thinking.

“Because I'm what?” Ubica asks with a sigh assuming that she stopped herself from calling him an idiot or something to that affect.

Amber's face again turns bright red, she knows what she was just about to say and upon realizing the feelings behind it, her heart beats wildly.

“Eh-uh...”

Squirming awkwardly as she tries to find the right words to say, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a piece of paper.

She slams it against Ubica's chest along with some money and shouts, “I forgot something back at home! Do the rest of the shopping and I'll meet you back there!”

Without giving him a chance to speak, she runs off into the morning crowd and disappears, leaving him confused.

He opens the folded paper and sees that it is a shopping list filled with the desired items and the prices of them hand written on the side.

Ubica sighs and asks himself, “What was the point in even coming to stop me if she was just going to leave anyways? And why do I have to do all the shopping!?”

---

Amber swerves her way through people as if she had stolen something, not paying attention to where she is going.

In her mind, she repeats the dangerous words she almost carelessly let slip.

(It's because he's better?)

“It can't be..” she says to herself while breathing hard due to her sprint. “Do I like him more?”

Once brought out into the forefront of her mind, she starts realizing the pattern her feelings are laying out inside of her like a breadcrumb trail leading her out of a dark forest. This prompts her to question if she had ever truly had a relationship with Tuscany any deeper than a physical attraction.

The answer that immediately presented itself shocks her.

She shuts her eyes and shakes her head trying to shoo that thought away when...

THUNK!

Amber runs head on into someone and falls on her butt.

She looks to find out who it was so she can apologize and sees a tall man with bright blue eyes and dark blue hair still standing but with a spilled drink on his white coat.

Amber quickly jumps to her feet and bows, “I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention.”

The man smiles tenderly and replies, “No problem, these things tend to happen every once in a while.”

“U-Um, you just bought that drink right?” she asks while pointing at a food stand directly behind him that sells cold drinks. “Let me reimburse you.”

“Oh no you don't have to worry about that.” he replies politely.

“No way! I'd feel terrible if I didn't! Come with me.”

Amber leads the blue haired man back to the food stand and walks to the clerk. “We need a refill on the drink this man here just bought.”

The clerk recognizes the man and pours it into a disposable cup, he holds it out and tells her what the price of the drink is.

Amber smiles and pulls out her wallet from her back pocket, she opens it up so she can pay him when,

“Eh..?”

The money she had in her wallet is gone.

“Crap! I gave all of my money to that idiot!”

The blue haired man chuckles, he can sense her embarrassment.

“Allow me to cover it.” The man pays the clerk and turns to Amber to ask, “Would you like anything?”

“N-No thank you! It's impossible for me to have you pay for me after this mess!”

“Alright then.” he turns to the clerk and asks, “Could I just get her a cup of water?”

The blue haired man gives her the water and says, “Drink up, you must be thirsty after all that running.”

Amber sighs and obliges, she downs the water and softly says, “Thank you.”

The man smiles, “Well it was nice to meet your acquaintance, please be a little more careful on your way.” He then turns and walks off.

“W-Wait!” Amber yells, causing him to stop and turn around. “What's your name?”

The man again smiles and answers,

“Leviathan.”

---

Another year has passed for Trojia, and today she is watching yet another scene of horror as Ubica and Messor watch hundreds of thousands of desperate humans being led towards an army of demons to get branded with the Mark of the Beast.

They all wait in line in somewhat of a hectic manner and the screams of pain from the ones having red hot iron in the shape of 666 pressed against their forehead or hand is heard.

The people in line are being forced into order by demons, anyone who tries to escape is killed on the spot and the ones who refuse to be branded are tortured and killed as well. This way even the ones who have second thoughts about this would choose to be loyal to the Antichrist in fear of the most horrid kinds of death.

“Those humans... It's a lose-lose situation for them.” said Ubica, looking down on the people through a window of an office room in a factory building they are all in.

Messor latches on to his arm and puts her head on his shoulder. “Any human that believes in God not taken away in the Rapture will have to suffer through 'God's Anger' during the Apocalypse. His standards are far too difficult for a normal person, only the truest followers of his teachings were accepted into Heaven without having to die miserably here on Earth. They were the true losers of this war from day one.”

“And the one's actually saved in the rapture were so few it's comical. I guess there aren't too many devout followers left in this day and age filled with so much sin.”

“This scene of desperation...” Messor says looking at the hundreds of thousands of people getting branded. “In a way, it's beautiful isn't it?”

“It's about as pure of a scene one can witness.” Ubica quickly replies, his eyes never wavering from the scene in front of him. “They are like moths flying instinctively into fire, what we give them is what they hope to be salvation, and instinctively they’ll do whatever it takes to grasp at the chance without giving a second thought to whether they’ll actually be saved.”

“And this is happening all over the world as we speak. God is punishing everyone worse than we are, forcing people into choosing to join our side is more his doing than ours.”

“It certainly makes one wonder about his intentions for doing such a thing. I expect 2/3 of the Earth's population will join me in time to survive through 'God's Anger'.”

“I think we could both guess why.”

Ubica smiles and takes her hand, the two walk toward the exit when he replies,

“Then let’s play our part.”

---

The current Ubica is wearing a frustrated face as he finally gets back to Amber's house while holding multiple shopping bags filled with food items. He has been juggling them all by himself and is displeased at the fact that she wasn't there to help.

He knocks on the door with his foot and is surprised when the door opens by itself.

“Huh?” Ubica walks in and instantly gets a bad feeling as he walks through the hallway and is greeted by nothing but silence.

But after a few moments, Amber's voice is heard talking like music to his ears.

He sighs before loudly saying, “You know you left the door open.”

He turns the corner and sees Amber in the living room talking to somebody, but the view of the person she is talking to is blocked by one of the many shopping bags he's holding.

“Ah, Ubica.” Amber says as she gets off the stool that rests by the bar area connected to the kitchen. “I want you to meet somebody, let me help you with that.”

She lightens Ubica's load by taking a few of the shopping bags from him.

As soon as she does this, his vision is no longer blocked and he sees a man with bright blue eyes and dark blue hair sitting on the stool as if he belongs there.

Ubica's body jolts and he almost drops the shopping bags in shock.

“This is Leviathan, I ran into him on the way back home earlier and spilled a drink on him.” Amber says with her back turned, “When I tried to pay him back I found out I gave you all the money so I figured the least I could do was invite him back for breakfast. We've been waiting for you to come so I can start cooking.”

Ubica tries to remain calm and keep himself from attacking Leviathan right on the spot.

He puts the rest of the bags on the kitchen counter and avoids eye contact with him.

“I-Is that so..?”

“So this is Ubica huh? This girl seems to think the world of you, it's nice to meet you.” Leviathan said with a smile that just eats at Ubica's soul.

Ubica holds back a disgusted frown and doesn't reply.

“H-Hey don't say something so embarrassing!” Amber shouts bashfully.

“It's true isn't it? Since we got here he's the only person you've been talking about.” Leviathan gently said, revealing a tender, non threatening face.

“Uuaah!? That's not true at all!”

Ubica, paying no mind to what he is saying, glares at the demon, trying his best to find the ulterior motive behind that fake smile.

Is this some kind of test?

Is he trying to see if Ubica can hold his composure under such threatening circumstances?

Not knowing for sure, he tries his best to avoid confrontation.

“So Amber, where are your parents?”

“My mom and dad left me a note saying they're going on a date and won't be back till later. Really, those two are still just like little kids.”

“So it was just you two until I got here?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Whoa where did that come from!?”

Ubica fails in his desperate attempt to keep his composure and takes his anger out on the girl who's so kind it's dangerous.

“How can you just let a stranger into your house like this? Do you have any idea what could have happened if I hadn't come when I did?”

“Don't treat me like a child, I know what I am doing!”

“You obviously don't, you are too damn oblivious and you make decisions way too fast. If you actually think about what you do before doing it, this kind of thing would never happen!”

“So you're saying I shouldn't have brought you over either then!?”

When she said that, Ubica grits his teeth and holds back.

Little does she know, her kindness of taking care of Ubica has brought a potential disaster upon herself.

She shouldn't have ever given Ubica more than a few words, if she hadn't she and her family would be safe, and she would not have the 2nd ranking member of Hell's Hierarchy sitting in her living room.

“I think I should take my leave.” Leviathan said as he stood to his feet. “I don't want to cause any problems between you two..”

He starts walking towards the door and Amber tries to keep him in by saying, “No it's not like that, you really don’t need to go.”

Leviathan halts for a moment and then he feels the heavy words from Ubica beat on him.

“Get out.”

Leviathan smiles and walks to the door, bumping shoulders with Ubica on the way.

He pauses again and whispers into his ear, “Meet me at the lagoon at sundown. Tonight's the night we end this Ubica, I'm looking forward to seeing if you can pass this test.”

“I said get out!” Ubica shouts angrily.

He obliges and opens the door to leave, but not before he leaves Amber with some parting words.

“You really are kind, Amber.”

With his back turned to them, he purposely says under his breath so only Ubica can hear,

“Even I can’t help but be impressed at how you are able to attract the kindest among us… It’s truly such a shame.”

The door shuts and Ubica and Amber are left in an awkward silence.

Realizing what had just happened Amber shouts, “What was that all about!?”

She is genuinely angry at Ubica for what he had just done, she almost can't believe that someone could be so rude to a guest.

Ubica walks toward Amber with a straight face, for some reason this face of his causes Amber to instinctively back up when he gets closer and she keeps stepping backwards until her back hits the wall.

“W-What are you doing?” she asks nervously.

Ubica doesn't answer and holds out both of his hands.

Amber shuts her eyes and feels the sensation of his two open palms clasping onto her shoulders, she opens up her eyes and sees Ubica worriedly glaring at her.

His touch sends shockwaves of energy through her body, and she can feel herself lose the sensation of every other part of her body except where his hands are making contact with her.

After a short moment, he lets go of her.

The warmth of his touch left her shoulders and is now heating up her face and her ears.

Ubica lets out a sigh as though he had just released a pressure valve stuck inside him, and his breath hits her forehead like a gentle breeze. The room is so silent that she is positive he can hear her heart beating through her chest.

“I'm sorry for my outburst Amber... I just want to make sure you're alright.”

Even in her flustered state, she can tell he is again hiding something from her.

(Making sure I’m alright is one thing, but why would he show me that kind of face if it was only that?)

Amber is confused by his actions and has no clue what to even think about all this.

“I-It's fine.” she replied softly as she looked to the floor.

“Listen... I have something I need to tell you…”

This prompts Amber to look up at him, expecting an answer to whatever it is he’s keeping from her that’s making him act this way.

“I----”

Knock! Knock! Knock!

This sound comes from the door and interrupts him, thinking that it could be Leviathan again, Ubica frowns and goes to the door, leaving a flustered Amber behind.

(What was he going to tell me?) Amber thinks as she watches his back.

Ubica opens the door abruptly and greets the person standing on the stoop with an unintentional frown.

The person receiving that look is none other than Amber's future husband Tuscany.

The young bachelor jolts back at Ubica’s unexpected presence but remains polite when he asks, “Excuse me?”

“Ah, my apologies if I had startled you.” Ubica says as he leads him in.

Tuscany reaches the living room and finds a flustered and silent Amber leaning against the wall, her appearance immediately draws his suspicion.

“Am I interrupting something?”

“No not at all.” Ubica replies, “I was just leaving actually. I helped Amber in her shopping this morning so she could make you food if you happened to come over, although I don't know what half the things she bought were, I'm sure it'll taste great.”

It's obvious that Ubica put on a fake smile and made up that story for her sake, she could see that from a mile away.

But Tuscany seemed to not notice and turned to her. “Is that so? Well then I'm looking forward to it.”

Amber smiles at him and shifts her gaze back toward Ubica's direction, only to see that he has already left the house.

Now alone with her fiance, she finds it difficult to conjure up a topic to talk about, so instead of speaking she just pours him a drink and hands it to him.

“Thanks.” he said gratefully.

Amber zones out on him while he drinks, causing him to blush when he feels the heat of her glare.

“Um, you’ll stare a hole in me if you look any longer.” he said bashfully.

Amber's intense glare doesn't leave him, but the only thing running through her mind is the leftover feeling of Ubica's hands on her shoulders, and the look of that worried face of his while he was doing so.

She takes a deep breath and puts her hand on her chest, her voice becomes very soft when she says,

“This isn't right...”

---

Trojia has been stuck watching the build up to the day of the Apocalypse for three very long years.

It’s been such a trial for her to witness that she has felt like she has aged three lifetimes.

She can almost imagine her non-existent body being shriveled and weak if it were to suddenly appear.

The weight of the world she has found herself in is that heavy.

The trauma of her experience has been that destructive.

And it’s not over.

She finds herself looking down upon an army that's so massive it literally covers the Earth's ground as far as the eye can see in every direction. Standing opposite of this army that numbers in the billions, is the benevolent army of Heaven which pales in comparison in sheer numbers but glows with the confidence that there is no way they'd lose.

The two massive forces stare down at each other on the grounds of the Valley of Harmagiddo in the desert of Jerusalem.

The sky is a dark crimson red and wreaks of sulfur and blood due to the ravaging of 'God's Anger'. The aftermath of this ruthless destruction still falls in the form of comets dropping from the dark sky in brilliant flashes of light. The sound of explosions reverberates from all around and aftershocks from the recent earthquakes still shake the ground in which they stand.

This is without a doubt the darkest moment this world has ever seen, led into its deepest depths by none other than Ubica the Antichrist.

“Look at how they have been fooled into radiating such arrogance.” Ubica says as he stands at the helm of the billions strong army. “Can they really not see what is about to happen?”

He frowns and turns to a demon standing behind him to his left with three heads; one head being a human, the other a cat, and the last one is a toad. His body resembles a human, with thick brown hair all over but he has a long slimy tail that looks like it belongs to a tadpole sliding across the ground collecting dirt.

Quite a disgusting figure to say the least.

“Bael, take your legions and head behind the mountain range a couple miles away.” Ubica points out some rock mountains out into the desert when he says that. “You may be able to incapacitate a sizable portion of Heaven’s army if you attack their flanks at the moment of our initial advance.”

The disfigured demon replies, “I'm called 'King' Bael in the third circle of east Hell you know.”

Ubica looks at him dejectedly with the one eye that isn't behind that odd mask. “Do you actually think that I'd ever address you with any added honorifics? Why would I do that if I can easily kill you and take the 66 legions you’ve spent your entire life collecting?”

It would seem that Ubica is genuinely angry at that little comment, this moment is so tense that even the slightest thing can send him over the edge. Bael, who is a respected figure as a King of Hell is very proud of his lineage. He, along with 71 other Counts, Dukes, Marquis, Presidents, Princes, and Kings of Hell are proud leaders with hundreds of legions of demons under their control.

Though their titles are grand, their ranks in the Hierarchy are still nowhere near the top 7 Demons of the Hierarchy.

So to Ubica, who is commanding even the highest ranked demons in the Hierarchy, calling him anything more than what's needed is felt as an insult. In his mind the demon standing before him is lucky that he even knows his name.

Apparently Bael doesn't feel that way and voices his discontent, “It isn't a matter of strength here, it's a matter of respect. You are nothing more than a few years old, the fact that I am serving under you as your elder should be enough for me to earn that right to be addressed by my title.”

Ubica grits his teeth and takes a deep breath, having this stubborn demon argue with him over something so petty in such a dire situation like the battle of Armageddon is really testing his impatient nature.

“Let me ask you something.” Ubica says as he looks into the human eyes of Bael. “Do you know why I wear this mask of mine?”

“..?”

Ubica puts his hand on his mask. “I use it to block off some of my power from harming my own 'comrades' and the weak humans that follow me.”

He takes the mask off and glares at him with both of his menacing eyes.

The Mark of the Beast on the hand of Bael begins to burn and the demon writhes in pain as the horrid sensation spreads throughout his body.

“Arrrrggghh!!” he groans.

“Do you feel it?” Ubica asks as though mocking him. “The difference between you and I?”

Bael's hand bubbles like boiling water until it literally explodes up his forearm like a building being demolished by dynamite and leaves him with a nub of an arm just below his shoulder.

“AAAHHGGH!!!”

“Without my mark, you are nothing… So do you still wish for me to call you king?”

Bael falls to the floor and squirms as his body feels like it is being eaten out from his insides, he screams with all three heads which is making the noise stomach churning.

Ubica turns to his right and sees a demon in the form of a pale old man that is riding a large crocodile three times as large as any on Earth and is holding a hawk in his hand.

“Agares, kill this thing and I will give you control of everything he owns.”

“Yes sir.”

The old man maneuvers his crocodile to Bael and lets the reptile, along with the hawk feast on his body, a bloody mess occurs and the old man thinly smiles as he watches.

Agares, is a Duke and also resides in the eastern zone of Hell, he is being served by 31 legions himself and did not hesitate to slaughter a higher ranking demon in order to gain more power.

This is the relentlessness of Hell and its demons, there is no honor code, not even for the ones at the very top. These demons are always waging a constant war with each other to gain more power and souls and will stop at nothing to obtain it.

All of these ruthless monsters bear the Mark of the Beast, and are standing ready to fight for one man.

That one man sends orders to the many others and the final preparations for the ultimate battle are complete, it is now time to begin the bloodbath. Ubica throws his mask to the ground and shatters it under his foot, he no longer needs to hold back, his one and only job is to unleash his full power on the allies of Heaven.

His lips faintly rise as the excitement of the moment brews hotly in his body. He pulls out his red diamond katana from its sheath and points it at his opposite standing to his front a few hundred meters away.

His legs move forward slowly in a walk, and the walk turns into a jog, and that jog turns into a run, and that run turns into a fast moving sprint towards his enemies.

This signals the billions behind him to move and the hundreds of millions in front of him to move as well.

Both sides move on Ubica's whim, on a collision course with each other upon his actions.

This battle, this war, begins and will end depending on what he does.

Only one person can stand at the threshold of an event on such a scale, and that person is closely watched through the horrified eyes of a certain princess.

---

Tucany and Amber stand in silence, he stares at her with an expression on his face that looks to plead for something. And when he tries to speak, Amber quickly looks away to the ground.

Some words have been said, and both of them are troubled by it.

Tuscany bites his lip and turns to the door, he slams it angrily behind him and the ringing aftermath of the sudden bang rings in Amber's ears.

She wipes her eyes and takes a deep breath, when she does this, her vision becomes slightly blurred and all the sudden her head feels heavy.

“Hmm this is weird, it's still early but I feel so drowsy...”

She wobbles a little as she takes a couple steps and holds her temple to keep herself balanced.

“I guess I'll take a nap until he comes back.”

She slowly heads up the stairs to her room and flops on her bed, the words of Ubica still ring in her head from earlier.

(You are too damn oblivious and you make decisions way too fast, if you actually think about what you do before doing it this kind of thing would never happen!)

From there her thoughts mold into her marriage agreement with Tuscany, perhaps what he said is true and has been applied to what she has done with both he and Ubica so far.

Hiding her face in her pillow she asks herself,

“This is the correct decision... right?”

---

The sun has almost completely set and the current Ubica is standing on the white sand of the lagoon in wait for the demon who has been tormenting him since he got to this island.

The intense glare on his face that is pointed at the sun dyed sea finally catches sight of something.

Out of the water comes a white and blue serpent, and out of its mouth comes Leviathan.

He walks down the steps of water forming under his feet until he reaches land.

“I'm glad you made it.” said Leviathan with a confident smile.

Ubica pulls out his red diamond sword and moves into a battle stance. “Like I’d miss this chance to kill you. You said it yourself, this is the end right?”

“Did I say that?”

“Che... I'm tired of all these stupid games you like to play. It’s time for you and I to settle this.”

Leviathan shrugs his shoulders in a way that is almost meant to insult his conversation partner. “If this were the past, I'd take that threat very seriously. But sadly, I don't feel you'd stand a chance against me right now.”

“You think that, but I've been preparing for this day. I'm a lot stronger now than the last time you faced me.”

“Why don't we test that out?”

“Fine then!”

Ubica prepares to charge when he is stopped by the voice of Leviathan, “But not like that.”

“...?”

“You were right, I did say that today we will end this... But I did not mean the battle between you and I.”

“What are you talking about?”

“This little life you've temporarily formed here. It's time I take it from you.” Leviathan holds his hand out and a ball of water the size of a basketball forms above his palm. “Have a look.”

Ubica follows his gesture and looks into the ball that now shows a perfect screen of the amber haired young woman that Ubica has gotten close with over the past couple weeks.

“!?”

Reading Ubica's expression, Leviathan answers, “Earlier today, while you were careless enough to separate from her, I treated that nice girl to a glass of water.”

The smile on his face grows as the look of despair on Ubica steadily rises as well.

“You know that 70% of the human body is made up of water right?”

“You didn't...”

“As you already understand, I can manipulate water. So if water is used to move the muscles and make the organs function properly, I'd hold complete control of that human life in my hands.”

Ubica's breathing becomes sharp as he watches through the ball of water and sees the girl get up from her bed half asleep and exit her room.

“N-No.”

“You see Ubica, by meeting me here you fell directly into my trap.”

Leviathan moves the ball closer to Ubica as if to rub it in his face.

Through the ball the sight of Amber's parents come into view sitting at the dinner table.

“With you here, and me to stop you, who's going to be at that house to stop her from committing the unthinkable?”

---

“What in the world is going on?” Amber asks herself as she walks into the kitchen without any control over her body.

She almost thinks this is a dream but it feels far too real to pass it off as something like that, she can feel everything that is happening to her.

Her hands move against her will and she reaches for a wooden knife holder on the kitchen counter. The wooden knife holder holds five knives ranging from small to large, the knife on the far left is the largest and she grabs that one to pull it out to the open. The knife is ten inches long and is extremely sharp due to its use to cut through the hard scales and bones of large fish caught out at sea.

Seeing that this surreal moment is actually happening, Amber begins to speak through her dry throat,

“M-Mom... Dad...”

She hides the large blade behind her back and walks out into the dining room adjacent to the living room, at the dinner table sits her parents Albert and Melissa.

They each smile at her while Melissa says, “Oh my look who decided to wake up, you've been asleep since we got back.”

“Perfect timing!” Albert says loudly, “I brought home some great leftovers from this fancy restaurant I took your mother to earlier for dinner.”

“You'll really like it.” says the mom gently, “Have a seat.”

Amber walks toward them with the rigidity of a robot with a few screws loose in the joints, and the look on her face signifies the battle against her body that she is losing.

“Mom~”

Her voice is becoming harder to push out from the back of her throat.

“Dad~”

She takes another step toward them and now she is only a couple feet away from Albert.

He looks up at her and asks, “What's wrong? Are you feeling lonely without your new snuggle bunny!?”

Albert makes a joke out of it like he always does as he wraps his arms around his body and wiggles around in a ridiculous way.

“Oh my don't say something like that, it'll embarrass her.” Melissa said with a smile that shows that she had found what he said to be humorous.

Amber doesn't find his jab at her funny at all, in fact, she didn't even realize what he even said as she has been focusing on trying to hold her own body back.

When all attempts fail, she realizes that what is about to happen is going to result in tragedy without her being able to do anything to stop it.

“Mom... Dad...” she says as her eyes start to water.

Her parents look at her quizzically as she raises the hand holding the large machete-like knife above her head in preparation for a downward strike.

Before the inevitable swing she shouts with all her strength,

“RUUUUUNNNN!!”

(PART 3)

The battle of Armageddon has been underway for hours now, ignoring the din of horror surrounding the Earth’s surface like a blanket of writhing insects, Trojia has her eyes solely on Ubica.

Ubica has killed so many people she has lost the ability to think of the lives he’s taken as anything more than a statistic.

Ubica is such a force that he is killing off Heavenly Beings without even clashing swords with them, it's as though his mere presence is enough to kill them in bulk. He viciously strikes down thousands of enemies at a time before they could even realize he was there.

This overbearing strength of his is what he is made of.

This is the closest thing to an absolute being of pure energy there has ever been.

The world crumbles under his force.

All of his attacks are manifested forms of energy from the evil of every human that has ever lived stored in Dantega.

If anything, this is evidence of man’s ugliness enacting its sweet revenge on those responsible for creating it.

To get a proper grasp on this battle, one must know who the ones fighting are.

On the side of Hell, are demons fighting alongside humans that have allied with Ubica.

And on the side of Heaven, are humans that God allowed to join him, along with past humans who died and are now fighting alongside the light. Lastly, there are Heavenly Beings.

There is a difference between past humans, Heavenly Beings, and Angels though.

To put it simply, Heavenly Beings are in direct contrast to Hell's Demons.

They hold many different forms of many different animals but are all a hybrid between humans, almost as if they were the first prototypes of man that were determined to be flawed and eventually paved the way for the final design. A horse with a man's body, a man whose arms are the wings of a dove or a man with a lamb's head, these are the types of beings that are the equivalent to Heaven as Demons are to Hell.

Just because the beings of such immense strength are fighting, it doesn't mean that the living humans hold no threat. They all have modern weapons such as guns and bombs, and in the sky are fighter jets, drones, helicopters and bombers the best human technology can offer. Trojia had no clue what these things in the air were when she was first thrust into this dark world, but now she can discern which killing machine is which by hearing the sound of their exhaust as they fly overhead.

The destruction the thousands of airplanes caused on the ground is something she could never have imagined in what she now considers her past life, the lights and sounds of the blasts followed by the concussions they cause are deafening.

The poor people below are being blown to nothing by ATGM missiles or brutally shot full of holes by 50 caliber bullets.

On any battlefield that uses modern technology to fight, the sounds are as horrific and frightening as war can get, but when the numbers of people fighting are in the billions it turns into a scene in which the world has never seen.

This is violence on a scale never thought possible.

Ubica leaves his army behind and runs through the crowd of ruin as he makes his way into the center of Heaven's Army, with simple swings of his sword his enemies turn to ash.

He's walking like a fire burning everything that is in his way until he reaches an area similar to the eye of a hurricane.

He is standing on bare land surrounded by a sea of white, the white being all of Heaven's Army, it is as though they all have spread out specifically for this moment. And it becomes obvious that this is the case once Ubica looks a few hundred meters in front of him and sees the sight of his opposite and 144,000 Angels standing atop of Mt. Zion.

The time for small fries is over, Ubica's battle now rests solely with the Son of God and his Angels, and this brings a wicked smile upon his face. These Angels are the people who never swayed away from the shepherd's path, the most righteous of man that avoided the temptations of evil.

In other words, these are the so-called perfect beings.

Not every person who dies and goes to Heaven becomes an Angel, people like Saints and Biblical figures like Moses and Solomon have transcended their human forms into a higher being. The story’s of these people are etched in the books of the past, their physical being has returned out into the light of day once more.

Amongst those Angels, are the ones that hold the title of Arch.

Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.

The three strongest Angels fly above in the sky triumphantly as they stare down on the Antichrist.

Gabriel, is the angel that blew a trumpet blast that initiated the end of time and the general resurrection at the Last Judgment. He is the Angel who's job as the messenger to man succeeded in changing the world in many ways, and as an Archangel his words are absolute.

The wind of the sky blows his light blue hair and his white robe sways in unison as he blows his trumpet once more. He then preached to all who live on the Earth, and to every nation and in every tongue, every man on the planet hears his voice as he says loudly,

“Fear God, and give him glory. Because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens and the Earth, the sea and the springs of waters.”

Ubica scowls at Gabriel's voice, he speaks as though this is the moment of their victory.

After Gabriel's words, the voice of another Archangel is heard, this one has long flowing black hair and bright turquoise eyes who goes by the name of Raphael.

He spreads his arms and declares, “Fallen is the False Prophet! She who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”

But what does Raphael mean when he says she has fallen?

The answer comes when a light shines from under Raphael's feet and the limp figure of a girl is seen floating from the mass of Angels up towards him. It is Messor, Ubica can't tell if she is alive or not and watches in anger as Raphael cradles her limp body in his arms.

Ubica grits his teeth and a darkness spews from all around him.

“..."

His legs begin shaking as his hate causes his vision to become blurry at the mere sight of his Idol in that Archangel's arms.

But before he moves those legs to attack, Micheal finally speaks, both to Ubica and to everyone else in the world.

“Anyone who worshiped the Beast and his Idol, and received the Mark on his forehead or his hand... Will also drink the wine of the 'Wrath of God', which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his 'Anger'. And he will also be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the Holy Angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”

Micheal stops and looks to Jesus, he then points out in the distance at a massive crater in which a certain Angel named Abbadon created at the beginning of the battle.

Micheal holds a spear in his hand in which its blade is in the form of a cross about a meter high and a half meter across with a red ribbon tied across the middle of it.

He points his spear out at the crater and sends a flame that lights up the already crimson sky in its direction. The flame enters the crater and expands violently as if the air in the abyss was combustible, the fire burns so hot that the heat is felt on Ubica's face from almost a mile away.

“And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.” Micheal continues, “They have no rest, day or night, this is the punishment of those who received the Mark of his name.”

“That's enough.” Ubica says as he swings his sword, he stabs it into the ground and addresses all who stand before him. “We've all had enough of your so called punishments. Your unjust God has fooled you all into arrogance, your judgements on my followers will now be returned to you tenfold."

The Angels look at him with pity in their eyes as if he is some kind of cornered animal bearing its fangs, feigning strength to keep itself from being devoured.

These looks cause Ubica to smile, excited to see the moment they realize just who is the one truly in charge here.

“You're looking at me all wrong. There's no fear in your eyes.”

He slams his hand down on the but end of his sword that sticks into the ground, and in an instant the sky is blotted out and the entirety of Mt. Zion is engulfed in a pitch black sphere.

The light that shined from the Angels is no more, they are all stuck in an individual state of isolation.

The only thing they can see are themselves, all others have disappeared from sight.

Just like how Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael addressed everyone in the world with their voices, Ubica does the same to everyone in this large sphere that spreads miles wide.

“You are all so arrogant because your God has never shown you true darkness, he has sheltered you from it so you could never find out how fearsome it really is. I can't help but wonder how he expects you to fight the darkness if you have never witnessed it with your own eyes... I'll be the one to show it to you in his place."

---

Back in the second level of Purgatory, on a certain island, in a certain port city home, there is the sound of meat being cleaved violently.

That sickening thick noise could be heard in every room, in every corner of the house, behind every door, and the sound came from within the dining room. There in the room that is supposed to hold happy moments between a family, lies the source of the noise. It is a certain girl swinging a foot long blade downwards in a stabbing motion repeatedly. With each swing, blood sprays into the air sending the red fluid onto the wall as if using it as a canvas for creating a horrid painting.

The artist behind this is Amber, and the ink used at this moment is her mother. Her father Albert is already slumped over dead on the dinner table with a slit throat.

Amber is crying as she keeps stabbing into the lifeless body of her mother, she wants to close her eyes to not look at this terrible sight, but just like how she can't control her body, her eyelids refuse to shut as well.

But she can still control her mouth, it moves as her voice lets out a ghastly scream of agony.

“UUUAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!”

The point of begging herself to stop has long since passed, no matter how many times she pleaded to her body it never listened, her merciless assault on the parents who gave her life relentlessly continued.

After one final strike, her body finally stops.

With eyes glued open she finally gets a good look at what she's done, Melissa almost has her head decapitated as most of Amber's attacks were focused on the head area. It is so bad that she cannot even recognize that the dead woman under her feet is actually her mother.

“T-This can't be happening...” Amber mutters, wet all over with the blood of her parents. “THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!!”

Then, her body begins to move by itself once again, this time toward the exit, the machete-like blade still in her hand as she exits her house. Walking along the streets of the city at night she seemingly goes unnoticed.

It is an exceptionally dark night because the usual three moons that shine brightly in the sky aren't apparent. Even with three moons it seems that Purgatory has its own lunar activity, this one in particular being its version of a new moon.

This is somewhat fortunate for her, because if someone got a good look at her they'd certainly call the authorities due to all the blood on her clothes and face.

She has been walking in a zombie-like motion for a few minutes when she reaches a building that she recognizes, it is a small medical clinic that doubles as a house.

It is her brother Nicklaus' home.

Amber walks up the stairs of the stoop and knocks on his door rather loudly, she knows exactly what is going to happen once that door opens. The pressure in the hand holding the knife tightens and begins to shake in angst for the upcoming attack.

“No...”

She pleas as tears flow from her eyes and mix with the blood on her cheeks.

Amber happens to glance at the window to the right of the door and sees Nicklaus walking from the innards of his home towards her. He looks through the window from inside to see his sister covered in blood knocking on his door, suspecting the worst, his face turns frantic as he hurriedly opens his door.

Sensing the moment speed up in almost a blur, her blade is thrust forward in perfect unison with the opening of the door.

Amber's agony is heard through her throat as she yells,

“NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

---

“You... horrible bastard.” Ubica says as he drops to his knees.

He had just witnessed Amber commit the murder of her parents because of Leviathan's manipulation of the water in her body. This is sending him into a blurring state of many different emotions.

Anger at Leviathan for doing such a thing.

Sadness at the fact that Amber's parents had to be killed by their own daughter in cold blood.

But one that is steadily sending him into despair is the guilt of it all.

It is his fault that Amber has to experience the emptiness of taking a life, especially the lives of her loved ones in such a gruesome way. If it wasn't for his carelessness, this would never have happened, he could have protected her and her family at all costs if he had just used his head.

And thinking back even further than that, he is overwhelmed with guilt because if it wasn't for him developing a relationship with her in the first place, this whole situation would never have unfolded.

When Ubica is overwhelmed with negative feelings, he instinctively uses a defense mechanism that discards anything that hurts him by replacing it with the darkness.

The pain of regret in his chest goes away when he is consumed by this evil and he knows it.

However...

He's fighting it, it isn't too late for him to fight it with all he has and try to save her.

Ubica stands to his feet and rushes toward the city as fast as his legs can move.

Leviathan takes pleasure in such a pitiful effort and says, “I won't let you do that.”

He molds into a mass of water and shoots at the speed of sound right in front of Ubica, he forms back into his normal self and stands as a blockade to Ubica's advancement.

“Get out of the way!” Ubica shouts.

He pulls out his sword and swings it violently at Leviathan with enough force to rip anything in half.

The Demon of Envy holds his hand out and smiles, as soon as Ubica's blade touches his hand, all of the force that went along with its movement halts abruptly.

This should be impossible, a flesh and bone hand stopping a fast moving razor sharp sword should never occur, but much to Ubica's dismay it has been done.

“!?”

Not even having a moment to configure what had just transpired, Ubica is sent flying backwards in an immense shock-wave. He skims across the beach sand and like a rock being skipped he takes a few bone breaking bounces on the ocean surface before sinking into it with a giant splash.

Hitting water at such a speed is the equivalent of hitting asphalt and no doubt it certainly felt like it as well, to get out of this collision without major injury would be a minor miracle.

“Think about this, Ubica.” Leviathan says as Ubica struggles to get out of the water and stand atop of it. “Do you honestly think you can save her?”

While coughing and pulling his dislocated shoulder back into place he replies, “Of course I do!”

“Why is that? What makes you think that girl isn't beyond saving? She has just murdered her parents and is in the process of slaughtering her brother as well. After this, she wouldn't even want to be saved.”

“It's not her fault! It's yours!”

“You're right about her not being at fault, but you're wrong about placing the blame on me.”

Ubica knows where he is going with this, it only clarifies the feelings of guilt already spreading in his body like a poison.

“Shut up!!”

“So you understand? If you'd have just left that girl alone, where do you think she'd be in her life right now?”

She'd be happy...

“I said shut up!!”

“Do you understand that the person you are now is better off being alone? Unless you are strong enough to protect the people who are unfortunate enough to meet you, being alone is the only way to keep them safe. That, or...”

Leviathan again sends his form into water and in an instant he reforms right behind Ubica.

He whispers in his ear, finishing off his statement,

“Become stronger.”

Ubica twists his body and swings his sword wildly, completely missing his target. But frustration overwhelms him and he continues to swing in a blind rage. Leviathan takes effortless steps backwards and from side to side, speaking while avoiding Ubica's wide array of attacks.

“You said you've been training to be able to defeat me... But what I noticed is that no matter how strong you think you are, if I impose certain circumstances that send you into despair, the weak side of you shows its desperation and throws all strength gained out the window. You are at a stalemate with your own body.”

“What weak side are you talking about!?” Ubica inquired, a hint of desperation evident in his tone of voice.

“You know what I'm saying, don't play the fool now. It's your desire to reciprocate the kindness of others. This is sending your comrades on a fast track towards death, everyone you know and care about will die unless you change the way you are.”

“That's ridiculous!”

“Is it really? Look at what's happening before your very eyes, that girl is picking off her own family one by one because of how you so easily accepted her kindness. You’re like a damn child.”

“..!!”

“You told me a couple of days ago that the person you are now is much stronger than the you of the past. Well I'm doing this to test that claim.”

Ubica is trying everything he can to even lay a scratch on Leviathan as they speak, but no matter what attack he uses, Leviathan comes out unscathed. His attacks become more desperate as Leviathan continues to speak.

“I recall a time in the past where you saved the life of Messor, your Idol, but you did it out of hate!”

Ubica remembers this as well, sadly though, that was a situation that has brought him nothing but pain ever since. He can't conjure up strength from such an accomplishment because the strength he used then is the opposite of what he is trying to use now.

“You see Ubica!” Leviathan says as he reveals an unusual frown. “I have given you a test! To see whether or not your words are true, and you’ve failed!!”

Leviathan avoids another one of Ubica's attacks and leaps backwards, he lifts his leg up and says,

“As punishment!”

He then slams his foot into the ocean and a solid wall of water rises ten meters high and ten meters wide.

“I'll force you to watch how your weakness affects those around you!!”

On that wall is the projection of Amber reaching yet another house, she opens the door and her elder sister Alison happens to be the first person she sees. Alison gasps in horror at the bloodied state Amber is in and rushes to her aid.

But while doing so, she is met face first with the now dull dagger being thrust forward by Amber.

The blade enters Alison's eye socket and exits out the back of her head, blood sprays as the force of the attack is like a sledgehammer to a watermelon. Because of Leviathan's water controlling her body, she is likely twenty times as strong as any human could be.

Amber is in such a state of shock that her brain has pretty much shut down, she can't even mutter any words as her body pulls the blade out of her sister's skull by ruthlessly stomping down on her face to use as leverage.

She then proceeds to walk up a flight of stairs.

Once on the second story she turns to the first door on the right and opens it.

In the room are two twins at the age of ten, one a boy named Jeremy, the other a girl named Alice playing happily with toys and teasing each other in the process.

Amber holds her knife out and the attention of the two twins finally shifts in her direction.

What comes next are two innocent looks of horror followed by two high pitch screams...

---

The Archangel Raphael is holding an unconscious Messor in his arms, just a few moments ago he was holding her like a prized trophy to show the world that the Antichrist's Idol has fallen.

But now he holds her close to his body as if protecting himself from something.

“Do you know what you are holding, Raphael?”

The unmistakable voice of Ubica rings in his ears but no matter where he looks, he can't find him in the pitch black darkness. He stays silent and keeps his guard up wearily.

Out of the three Archangels, Raphael is known for his silent nature. Throughout history he has been regarded as a great healer of man, oration was never something he participated in. This has caused him to be almost robotic in his role as a servant of God.

“I see you aren't much of a talker.” Ubica says when he doesn't get a reply, “I'll do the talking then. I'd like to tell you a little about myself.”

"...”

“As you know, I am the embodiment of all the sins of man throughout time. But even I find myself more inclined to act upon certain traits of that.”

Ubica's voice starts to surround Raphael and seemingly hits every corner of his brain as the embodiment of evil continues.

“I am very greedy. And what you are holding is something that I own.”

This is only natural, greed is a human emotion that is felt without even realizing it. Raphael assumed that Ubica's greed would be inflicted a great wound upon abducting Messor.

“But.” Ubica added, “She’s not only a prized possession of mine.”

“...?”

Raphael is a little confused as to where he is going with this, but lets him speak instead of interrupting.

“If a person had all of his possessions and titles stolen... Other than his body, what would remain of him?”

Suddenly, Raphael is struck with a dull yet numb feeling in his upper arms.

He looks down and sees an odd black wire of darkness constricting them like a snake. It squeezes harder and he loses all feeling in the hands planted on Messor's back.

Looking down at the state of his arms, it takes him a moment to realize that there is a presence breathing sharply against the back of his neck.

He knows this presence, the Antichrist is right behind him and with his arms bound and his hands on Messor, he is defenseless.

Ubica grabs onto each of Raphael's wings with both hands.

With a face contorted with anger he says,

“What you are holding is my pride.”

He pulls on Raphael's wings and the tendons and joints connecting them to his body begin to rip apart with each ounce of pressure on them.

Raphael grunts in pain and decides to abandon his grasp on Messor. He tosses her aside and notices that the binding feeling from the string of darkness dissipates as well.

Free to use his hands to pry Ubica's grip from his wings, he moves his arms that are now feeling incredibly light towards his back when...

Something is odd.

His arms are too light, it's a feeling of weightlessness that cannot be described unless...

He looks down in confusion and his face writhes in horror as the answer becomes evident.

His arms below his triceps are gone, cut so cleanly he doesn't even feel the pain.

“WHAT!?!?”

“So this is what it took for you to speak.” Ubica said upon hearing the angel's voice for the first time.

Instead of behind him, his voice comes from directly in front of Raphael, he looks toward the source and sees Ubica holding Messor in his arms as if this is what was happening the entire time.

“H-How!?” Raphael queries in shock.

“Look around you.” Ubica replies as he moves one of his hands free and grabs the lower arms of Raphael still clinching to Messor's back. “This is me... this is the darkness that your God has neglected to show you, in here, your benevolent light won't shine.”

He tosses Raphael's arms into the air and they are instantly engulfed in a black flame and disintegrated.

Watching his limbs burn into nothing sends his body into incredible pain, Raphael grunts as the horrid feeling sends shock-waves of misery down every inch of his body.

“Ahh that's right.” Ubica smiles. “This would be your first time experiencing pain, it must be so much worse than you would have ever imagined it'd be.”

“Grrraahhhhhh!!!!? Why is this happening!?”

“Such confusion, I'm sure this isn't how you thought this would end up.”

By now blood is streaming like a fountain out of the perfectly cut veins that still think they need to send blood to the hands.

“Your belief in God's promises has brought this pain upon you. He has lied to you all, forsaken you all. And now I have found myself responsible for acting upon his negligence."

With his free hand, he points his index finger at Raphael's severed arms and the blood squirting from them forms into a little river and flows towards Ubica's fingertip. At the tip of Ubica's finger, a little ball of what looks to be black water forms, and when Raphael's blood and his finger tip make contact at its point, the blood becomes black as well.

The black water-like liquid from Ubica's finger tip flows upstream in Raphael's blood and slowly takes it over, it reaches the wide open insides of the angel's arms and shoots in as if being injected by a giant syringe.

“AAAAAGGHGGHHHHHUURRRAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!!”

Raphael screams in agony as every vein has its blood turned black with the power of Dantega, a benevolent being such as an Archangel being violated by such darkness is more painful than the worst torture.

Ubica is taking pleasure in this sight, to him, this is what the angel deserves for attempting to steal away his most prized possession, this is retribution for the angel's attempt to harm his pride.

His presence grows ever more sinister as his eyebrows steepen into a hate-filled frown while holding Messor tightly.

“Take a good look at me, Angel of God. You’re finally able to see the truth.”

---

“Where is he!?” Gabriel shouts in confusion as he scours around the darkness for the Antichrist.

The Archangel's question is answered by the voice of Ubica, “Is that the depth of camaraderie toward your fellow Angels? I think you should be more worried about them than me.”

With eyes still wary of Ubica's presence, Gabriel answers, “The fact that I'm more worried about where you are, shows how much I trust my comrades.”

“Your trusted comrades are taking on a hideous form at the moment. I can assure you they're all being killed while you search for me here.”

“I would be considered foolish if I actually believed you.” Gabriel replies sharply.

“You think so?”

Ubica appears in front of Gabriel and snaps his finger.

Gabriel instantly moves on guard and backs off a little to be safe.

“No need to be so cautious.” Ubica says as the darkness around him begins to brighten and what lies behind him can be seen. “Take a look, Gabriel."

A bright flash of white temporarily blinds Gabriel and whilst in this state of immobility, he feels the gentle touch of something soft brush up against his face. A similar feeling follows but this time it is felt on his shoulder, and then that feeling multiplies by the hundreds and the tickles cascade all over his body.

“What is this?” he asks himself as he grabs whatever it is that is touching him.

Even without being able to see, he instantly recognizes what it is he's holding. Not caring about the sting still present in his eyes, he forcefully opens them anyway, and through a blurry haze he finds that what he's holding is something white with red stains all over it.

It is a bloodied feather...

Falling all around him as if raining from the sky are bloodied feathers.

“Don't let simple feathers distract you from the bigger picture... Look behind me.”

Shifting his gaze to the area behind Ubica, he sees a sight that he struggles to articulate in his mind.

Thousands upon thousands of dead bodies stacked on top of each other.

The bodies packed so close together it's as though it is a mountain of flesh climbing hundreds of feet high.

The dead bodies are all people that Gabriel knows very well, they are his Angel comrades that were supposed to valiantly join the battle of Armageddon and put a stop to the Antichrist's reign of terror.

Yet here they are, lying dead and wingless in a pile like trash waiting to be burned.

“!?!?”

Gabriel is speechless and in shock, seeing something that was previously so far from his mind has a paralytic effect on his body.

“One by one, right under your nose, a charnel house of Angels was made.”

Gabriel still looks at him quizzically and Ubica answers, “You want to know how? It's happening all around you as we speak.”

Ubica points towards an Angel holding his head and screaming in agony as foam comes gushing out of his mouth. There is nothing anywhere near him, but it seems that something is attacking him, the way he writhes makes it look as though he's gone mad. The white foam spewing from his mouth becomes red with blood and his whole body turns limp.

He floats motionlessly until his wings twitch unnaturally and move as if they are being pulled by something.

The skin of his back stretches until it can no longer withstand the pressure and his wings rip off. Right after that, his body is discarded and joins in the construction of the mountain of Angel corpses.

The wings that once graced his back float for a moment until they are enveloped by a black circle and sucked into it, disappearing from sight.

“Wha..?” Gabriel mutters.

“Everyone experiences darkness differently, it's a curious thing being killed by it... As for the wings that you saw disappear, I'm saving those for a very special occasion."

Ubica rushes Gabriel and swings at him with his sword.

"For that, I'll need your wings as well."

Although the attack surprised the Archangel, he still had time to parry and block Ubica's attack with a shield of water he formed in front of him.

“Ah, water.” Ubica says as he sheaths his sword. He then spreads his arms and two balls of black liquid form around his hands. “You know, I was born from the deepest darkest depths of the sea. Water is the perfect container for evil, just as it is the perfect container for good. What do you say we find out which current is strong enough to devour the other?"

The water grows into large spheres around his hands when he finishes,

"You, the water that gives life... Or me, the water that takes it away.”

---

The Archangel Michael is breathing hard and has been avoiding numerous attacks from beams of green light coming from the darkness all around him.

“This isn't going to work, Antichrist! Show yourself!” he demands.

“I'm sorry to have bored you with this game of cat and mouse, you see, I just needed to keep you occupied as I set the stage for a special occasion.” Ubica replies as he reveals himself in front of Michael.

“Special ocassion?”

“That's right.”

Michael frowns, he wanted more of an explanation than that.

But after forming his own answers in his head he says,

“If you even lay a finger on any of them, I'll turn you to ashes.”

Ubica leans his head back and smirks, “If a only a finger's touch will burn me, I shiver to think of what you'll do when you find out they're all already dead.”

“What?”

“There is good news however, there are a couple I left alive specifically for you.”

Michael swings his spear and grits his teeth. “Lies, you are nothing but a scheming liar.”

Ubica shrugs his shoulders, “It's true that lying is one of my better traits. But I am just as much of a liar as I am honest."

Ubica spreads his arms and out of the darkness behind them come two women that are bound and seemingly unconscious. Their whole bodies are wrapped in a barbed wire of darkness that is ripping their skin apart causing blood to stain their white gowns and white wings. Both women are strikingly beautiful, one with blonde hair and the other is a brunette, the fair skin that isn't stained with blood lights the darkness around them.

These two women aren't just any average Angels, these two are the main companions of Michael and very powerful Patron Saints in their own right.

The blonde woman goes by the name of Catherine and the brunette woman is known as Margaret.

Throughout time these two have been at each side of the strongest Archangel, it is even said that the two of them share a romantic relationship with Michael, so Ubica has decided to see for himself if that is true.

Michael's face drops in shock when he sees his two closest companions in such a state, this look of his is proof enough that the rumors were true.

Ubica laughs softly and backs away from the two captive Angels, disappearing into the darkness.

His voice still echoes from all around Michael as he says, “Is it really such a surprise that I'd target them? The relationship between you three hasn't ever been a secret.”

Ignoring Ubica's provocation, Michael demands, “Let them go!”

“I will let only one of them go, your job now is to choose which one.”

“...?”

“I'm telling you that you can't have both, only one of the two will survive your decision.”

“That's ridiculous! Your fight is with me! Just leave them out of this!”

Ubica's chuckle echoes all around the darkness as he says, “My fight is with God and everyone affiliated with him, you three are no different to me than he is. But here I am giving you an opportunity to pick the person most valuable to you to live through my battle with God."

Michael, who is usually so calm and collected, is losing his cool with each breath.

Squeezing the handle of his spear with all his might he replies, “I can't do that, I love them both the same. I'll never choose one over the other.”

"An angel with multiple lovers, even God allows those closest to him to indulge in bodily desires.” Ubica said mockingly.

“In Heaven there are no boundaries when it comes to love, that is the gift he has given us.”

“A gift you say? Given your circumstances now, this gift seems an awful lot like a burden.”

Michael becomes disgusted and it is written all over his face when he says, “I don't want to hear that from someone who doesn't even know what love is. If you did you'd be able to see why I can't choose between the two people I care about most.”

Ubica's voice halts for a few moments, and an eerie silence falls upon them until Ubica's voice resounds louder than before.

“The Archangel, the one that defeated Satan is admitting he can't even make a simple choice? Will you really concede defeat to me so easily?”

Michael swings his spear and thrusts the cross shaped blade under his arm as if trying to attack something behind him. And when a 'thunk' sound followed by the noise of a liquid spilling from a container, it becomes obvious that he had hit something.

“Love will never be defeated by evil. I used it during the war in Heaven to defeat Satan, and I'll use it again to defeat a weaker being such as yourself.”

As soon as Michael stops speaking, Ubica appears behind him with blood flowing from his mouth.

Michael had somehow found out that Ubica was behind him and sent the holy tip of his spear directly into the gut of the Antichrist.

Ubica looks shocked as the blade of the spear goes from his stomach above his naval all the way through his torso and out of his back.

“How?” Ubica asks meekly.

Michael is about to explain how it was he defeated the Antichrist so easily but he is interrupted by the sharp laugh of Ubica.

As if he feels nothing, he takes a slight breath in and says,

"I'm kidding."

“Huh?”

“Did you think you've won? Like I’d ever be defeated by something as weak as love.”

Ubica vanishes from the tip of Michael's spear and leaves him wondering just where he went. He looks back toward Margaret and Catherine and sees two Ubica's directly behind the two.

“An illusion??”

Both Ubica's speak in unison, “This is no simple trick, Michael.”

All throughout the darkness, dozens of forms of Ubica appear, all wearing a wide grin. As his numbers grow he speaks through all of their mouths and the multiple voices beat at Michael's ears.

“I am everywhere Michael, I watch everything, I am everything. You cannot escape me, and due to your inability to make a decision, neither will your precious lovers.”

The barbed wire of darkness that wraps Margaret and Catherine constrict and their bones crack, their delicate bodies are slowly ripped to shreds as the barbs sink into their flesh.

“STOP IT!!”

“It's far too late for that, in the end you did make a decision. You chose death for them both.”

The two Ubica's snap their fingers and both Margaret and Catherine are ripped into little pieces. Their body parts fall into the darkness and are engulfed in pitch black.

The two women that Michael has been sharing his love with for so many years have been murdered right before his eyes and he couldn't do anything about it.

He was helpless.

But why is that?

It wasn't supposed to be that way, it was said that the Angels will come out of this unscathed as the Antichrist was easily defeated.

Yet here, right in front of him, two of the strongest Angels were torn apart right before his eyes, and as the strongest Angel in Heaven, he didn't even come close to stopping it.

Was this the arrogance on his part?

Or was this a simple underestimation?

No matter what it was, the fact is that they are dead, and the person who committed this heinous act is standing in front of him smiling as though he had just won a sports competition.

The only thought now rolling through his head, is how much he wants to burn that wicked smile into nothing. His vision goes blurry and he only focuses his eyes on the two Ubica's that slaughtered his lovers with a snap of a finger.

With a roar befitting of a cry, the spear in his right hand bursts into an intense flame.

“OOOOOAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

He swings his flame spear and sends a towering wall of inferno directly towards his targets.

This is the fire of the Archangel, this is a fire that will never wither nor fade until his target is reduced to ashes. His flames are the absolute purest of any kind and are supposed to be used as the final resting place for the Antichrist in the eternal lake.

However, the purity of this fire is replaced by the newly formed hate brewing in his soul, the malice filled attack no longer has any benevolent meaning behind it.

It is only there to destroy, to burn, to kill.

The great wall of flame hits the two Ubicas and they are instantly torched, but through the inferno Ubica is still seen smiling menacingly.

He laughs and says his final words, “You have just proved a very important truth to me... even the most righteous Angel can act malevolently."

The flames become so bright that only the silhouettes of the two Ubicas can be seen, and the two silhouettes let out a ghastly scream.

But these are not the screams of a man, rather, they are two obvious screams of women burning to death painfully.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

“UUUUWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”

Even despite the blood curdling screams, Ubica's voice is hear clear in Michael's head when he says,

"Look closely Archangel, look very close and see the results of your very first act of malevolence.”

The darkness suddenly disappears as quickly as it formed, and Ubica is standing without a scratch on him atop a mountain of dead bodies on the battlefield.

Michael happens to catch sight of this and wonders in shock just what in the world he is burning, he quickly turns his head to the two people he thought was Ubica and finds something that turns him bug eyed in horror.

The two people being burnt to death in Michael's hate-filled attack are his two lovers, Margaret and Catherine.

Their flesh is literally being cooked, their once beautiful hair begins to char and their eyes start melting in the intense heat. They continue their screams and beg for Michael to stop his assault but this is the flame that won't ever stop burning until his target is turned to ash.

There is nothing he can do to save them.

“You weren't wrong about my use of illusions.” Ubica says, standing triumphantly while looking down on his foe.

He then says something that was mentioned in an earlier conversation with the Archangel.

“I told you that I am just as honest as I am a liar.”

Ubica had lied to Michael about the use of illusions from the very beginning. Because Ubica used illusions in his darkness, he made it seem as though Margaret and Catherine were killed by his two clones. When in actuality he was never really there to begin with, his two clones were just images of himself painted on the two Angels.

This was all a part of his sick plan to trick Michael into killing the two most important people in his life if he was unable to choose between the two.

A ruthless tactic to say the least, especially considering that Ubica is strong enough to kill them all off with his own hands, this was just for the fun of tormenting them before they died.

“NOOOOOOO!!!” Michael shouts, but it is far too late.

Both Margaret and Catherine have already breathed their last breaths, the only thing left now is to watch the dust of their former bodies blow away in the wind.

Michael falls to the Earth's ground and sits on his knees as the ashes of his lovers slowly fade away.

Ubica jumps off the mountain of dead Angels and lands in front of Michael, who in his shocked state doesn't even look his way.

Ubica pulls out his sword and holds it to Michael's vulnerable neck.

“It's a shame really, your destruction is caused by God's lies as well."

Ubica raises his sword and readies to lop off Michael's head when...

“Uaaaaaaahhhh!!!!”

A scream is heard behind him, he glances over and notices that the voice belongs to Phoenix, who is currently on his knees covering his face with his hands.

“Not even the Messiah could handle the truth.” Ubica says.

He turns back to inflict the final blow on Michael but is shocked to find that he is gone. In that moment of distraction, Michael had slipped away from right under Ubica's nose.

He clicks his tongue in annoyance and says, “Prolonging the inevitable like a coward would. We will be meeting again soon enough Michael."

Ubica turns around and walks toward Phoenix Navara.

---

After Ubica gives Phoenix his 'offer of nothing', he is attacked from behind the mountain of wings he created by ripping them off from the Angel's backs.

He turns around to the source of the attack and sees that there are eight people looking up at him from the ground.

Eight people he knows all too well.

The group consists of Belphegor.

An older looking Mammon.

Asmodeus, the woman Demon that represents the Original Sin of Lust.

Amon, Beelzebub, Leviathan, and Satan.

Joining the fearsome 7 Demons of Hell to their front is none other than Damien.

“Well if it isn’t the perfidious eyes of Damien and the Seven Demons of Hell.”

He stays silent for a few seconds, and then a green and black glow starts to shine around him.

With a smile, he says under his breath, “An unforeseen detour?”

Looking up to the polluted sky above him, he speaks as though he is addressing someone when he finishes,

“Maybe you aren’t so weak after all…”

The eight Demons all disperse and a battle commences as they all simultaneously attack Ubica. Narrowly avoiding multiple attacks of insurmountable strength he somehow manages to build up a laugh.

“I didn't guess that I would find myself surprised by this turn of events. I had thought we had come to an agreement.”

Satan frowns and speaks to him while they fight, “Did you really think that we wouldn’t know that you planned on betraying us from the start?”

“No, I’m just surprised that you ever thought of us as comrades. I can’t betray what’s beneath me, I can’t betray an ally I’ve never needed.”

Satan becomes angry and charges Ubica, he holds a long sword and thrusts in toward Ubica's stomach.

Ubica easily brushes the attack to the side with his katana and sends a fierce kick directly onto Satan's face, sending him flying off at an incredible speed.

Whilst flying back, Satan does some kind of hand signal and shouts, “DO IT NOW!!!”

Damien appears behind Ubica and with an open palm strikes him on the back, Ubica loses his breath momentarily and attempts to turn to strike back when...

“!?”

He can't move, his body is frozen, he scours the area with his eyes and sees the other 6 Demons, including Satan, floating around him in a perfect circle whilst holding different hand gestures. A bright purple light shines under his feet and Damien backs away from it, soon after he also joins the others in a distinct hand gesture.

The purple light turns into a hundred meter wide pentagram seal with an outstanding number of connecting lines, the outskirts spin clockwise while the innards of the seal swirl counterclockwise. The intricate circle that binds Ubica is standing still.

Ubica knows what this is and is instantly angered, “Too weak to kill me, you’re going to try and seal me instead? It's not going to work, doing this also seals your movements, none of you can attack me in this situation.”

This is a special seal that uses all the power of the casters, the fact that it has taken all eight of the most powerful Demons that have ever lived to simply stall Ubica's movements shows how strong he is.

“You are right about us not being able to move.” Damien says with a confident smile, “But it doesn't mean that we aren't able to move you.”

The seal under Ubica's feet moves and with it so does all the others, they all float over the death-filled battlefield until it halts atop the eternal lake of hell-fire created by both Abaddon and the Archangel Michael.

The seal lowers and it becomes obvious what Damien and the other Demons intend to do.

His paralyzed body is to be dropped into a place where there is no escape.

“Ah, I see.” Ubica says, gritting his teeth. “So this is how the prophecy is fulfilled in the end.”

Damien laughs as he says, “I’m speaking for myself when I say this, but I knew our role with you was never considered equal in your mind. So I began creating this seal before you were even born in preparation for this moment.”

"That doesn’t shock me.” Ubica replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Enough talking.” Satan demands, “Let's get this over with, it is finally time to destroy Dantega.”

Satan then looks down to the edge of the crater that the seal is dropping towards and sees Abaddon standing at the edge.

“Abaddon, the key holder to the endless pit and our new ally, it’s time to lock this wretched man away forever.”

Abaddon smiles and replies, “Ts'all ready for ya boss.”

Ubica scowls and looks all of them in the eyes one by one.

This glare alone is enough to trigger the flight or fight instincts of the most powerful demons before him.

Before he is dropped into the fire, he ominously declares,

“I'm going to be back... and my return will be the harbinger of death to you all.”

Confident in their victory, they smile as though they have calmed their intimidation of him with the thought of knowing that there is no longer a threat.

Ubica reveals the same kind of condescending smile and speaks once more.

“Everyone who bears my mark will not serve under anyone but me. If they are dumb enough to choose to follow you in my absence, my mark will stop their hearts as punishment for betrayal. They won’t be free from me until this battle is long over.”

Shocked by this sudden revelation, Satan is taken aback with anger.

“You see…” Ubica says, managing a cheeky smile even as the heat from the pit is felt below his feet. “Even the strongest have to account for the potential actions of the weak. So enjoy your miserable defeat Satan... There will be many more to come.”

“Drop him in!!” Satan shouts.

The seal shrinks and is now only seen under Ubica's feet, it lowers slowly as Ubica looks up at them all as though accepting his fate.

On his way down he hears a familiar voice call his name, he shifts his gaze in that direction and finds Messor staring at him with her bright white gold eyes.

Despite his situation, he finds her presence comforting.

He doesn't say a word, he just stares at his Idol while his descent continues.

This is the moment the two are separated forever, yet proper words of parting are not said.

He smiles at her as though the pain of the flames that begin to engulf him are not felt charring his skin.

It only takes a moment, and then he is gone.

The eternal lake begins to close up rapidly as Abaddon turns a gold key he holds in his hand.

Inch by inch Ubica is moving away from her, and not knowing what to do she glares at the great betrayers of her master.

Soon after they all disperse to go fight the rest of the battle, even Abaddon leaves her alone after he puts his key into his pocket.

The lake has shrunk to such a size it couldn't even be called a small pool, and once this closes all the way, it will truly be over.

She will never see him again.

“Like I’ll sit here and let you burn alone.” Messor hisses, building her resolve.

She takes a step toward the flame and says gently,

“If you burn, I burn, Ubica.”

With one final step, she falls into the lake just in time before it closes up for good.

The hate and evil that is Ubica, is once and for all confined in a place where he can no longer harm anyone.

With that, the world can at long last, be at peace...

---

The current Ubica lays motionless on the beach sand as Leviathan stands over him.

The two have been fighting for a while now and the winner is obvious, Ubica was once again easily defeated by his fellow Demon of the sea.

“Stand up Ubica, the exciting part is just about to begin.”

“.....”

Ubica doesn't move nor say a word.

Leviathan sighs and picks him up out of the sand by pulling the back of his collar, he tries to set him back onto his feet but Ubica's legs go limp and he drops right back to the ground.

“Is this all you have?” Leviathan asks in a way that seems bitter and disappointed.

He hasn't used much effort at all in his fight, and yet here lies Ubica, the one person most feared in all of existence collapsed on this sandy beach in such a pathetic manner.

“Fine then, if I can't talk you into standing, maybe 'she' can.”

“U-Ubica...”

A frail voice of a girl is heard behind him and Ubica instantly opens his eyes and attempts to stand, but he can only manage to sit up. He looks towards the stairs leading to town and discovers Amber walking toward him with a look of despair on her face.

The blood that she was once soaked with has been crudely cleaned from her face despite her clothes still stained in red; it would seem that Leviathan has cleaned her up specifically for this moment.

“Amber...” Ubica says in a broken tone.

He had just watched her kill her ten year old niece and nephew, the last of her family with a dull machete-like knife, he can't imagine how she is feeling at this moment in time. He can only look at her pitifully as his empathy takes on a fraction of the pain she must be suffering through.

“I've done something terrible, Ubica... I've done something terrible.” she said as tears flowed from her eyes.

“No, it wasn't you!”

“With my own hands... Mom, dad, Nicklaus, Allison and the twins... I killed them all.”

Ubica shakily gets to his feet and walks to her slowly, and when he gets within arms length she shouts,

“Get away from me!!”

“??”

“I don't want to hurt you too! Please, you need to get away!”

Ubica halts but doesn't move back, and Amber swings her dagger at his face as a result.

He barely avoids it in time and some of his silver hair is cut off in the process of dodging it, her calculated swings continue as Ubica maneuvers his body to keep himself from getting cut.

“Leviathan!” Ubica shouts, avoiding slash after slash. “Just leave her alone!”

“No no, this is far too amusing.” Leviathan replies, watching the scene with a triumphant smile befitting of someone watching a movie they’ve accurately predicted the ending of. “Why don't you stop her yourself?”

“How!?” he queries as Amber's blade skims across his cheek, causing him to bleed.

“Well that’s simple, you just need to kill her.”

This situation is also predictable in Ubica's mind, there is no way that Leviathan would just let her go after all this. The goal is and has always been to send Ubica into despair, by using a tactic as brutal as forcing him to kill his own friend, this can easily be attained.

“Don't look so disgusted, Ubica, you have done something similar to this in the past haven't you?”

He is right, as the Antichrist he has thrown the weight of such an unreasonable ultimatum on a certain Archangel; it is only natural that what goes around comes around. Although killing off someone that he has only known for a couple of weeks isn't near as harsh as murdering two lovers blindly, this is still something he cannot choose to do no matter what.

“What is he talking about Ubica!? Just who are you guys anyways!?” Amber asks as she swings the blade that is already soaked with the blood of her family.

“He is a bad man.” Leviathan answers, “The kind of person that walks like a fire burning everything in its way. You ended up caught in its path.”

“Don't listen to him Amber! This bastard is the one controlling your body right now, he poisoned you when you two met earlier!”

Even though Ubica can’t help but agree, he still found it within himself to protest.

“So that's why you were so angry at me for bringing him in..?”

“That's right, although this never would have happened if I weren't around, at least let me explain all this once it's over.”

He tries to reassure her, to keep her fighting spirit alive, but Amber is too far away from ever being saved, and they both know it.

“There's no need... I don't want to live after this. How can I move along with any kind of normal life after all this!?”

Just as Leviathan predicted, she wouldn't want to carry on after witnessing and committing such atrocities.

“Don't talk like that!”

“Shut up Ubica!” Amber yells as tears fly from her eyes with each swing of her blade. “Please just kill me... I know you are strong enough to do it, I've seen it firsthand. Just do me this one favor.”

“I will not! This is what he wants, we can work through this if we fight it!”

Leviathan chuckles as he watches the two argue over Amber's life; although this isn't quite what he wanted, to him this certainly makes for a good show. “You have to kill her.” Leviathan interrupts. “If you choose not to, I'll make sure she goes on a killing spree the likes this island has never seen. I wonder how long it would take for them to put a stop to her mayhem? My water blesses her with inhuman strength after all, she could hold out for weeks. Or perhaps I'll take away her strength at the last minute instead, I'm sure the angry villagers will torture her and display her mangled body in the city streets.”

As if realizing his powerlessness will only worsen this already terrible result, he begins feeling trapped. There’s no escaping this snowball he’s put himself and Amber in, the hill is just too steep.

“Do it Ubica! I don't want to hurt anymore people! Please!!” Amber begs as the thought of Leviathan's prediction runs through her head.

This is a dead end, Ubica has nowhere left to turn as his back is pinned between one unreasonable situation and another. The question now is what is truly best for Amber?

Is it really okay to selfishly keep her alive and let her bear the pain of killing her whole family in cold blood?

Is it possible that killing her because of Leviathan's temptations is the correct choice?

Just what is he supposed to do?

He avoids one final attack and grabs onto Amber's arms, he presses them against her body and squeezes her as tight as possible, keeping her from being able to move.

In this position he speaks intently into her ear, “I won’t hurt you...”

He pushes her to the ground and turns to address Leviathan, “This is the only way to stop this. The only person I have to kill is you.”

“Oh? And how do you intend to do that?” Leviathan asks smugly.

“Dantega.”

“!?”

“That's right, all the training I've been doing has specifically been directed towards being able to control the power of Dantega to a certain extent.”

“Control Dantega?”

“This is what you wanted right? This is the corner you've backed me into! All I need to do is kill you and help Amber shoulder the burden of what has happened here tonight! My friends have helped me cope with everything I've done, I know I can help her through this as well!”

Ubica holds his hand out and his sword flies right into his palm from the beach sand, with his left hand he presses it against his chest and a thick black smoke forms around it and grows all over his body.

Leviathan can sense the strength growing within him, it is something he hasn't felt in a long time. But something is off, it still isn't the same as before, because Ubica is still the same frail person he has been since escaping the eternal lake.

Leviathan sighs at this and speaks, “That's not what I wanted, I'd hoped for you to resort to letting Dantega control you, not the other way around. This is disappointing, this is not the way I wanted to go about this, but I guess in the end it'll still have the same result.”

He moves his eyes from Ubica and looks towards Amber who is right behind him.

Ubica catches that and what follows immediately after is a 'thud' sound and a groan.

He abandons all thoughts of attacking Leviathan and turns around quickly.

Amber is on her knees with her hands on the hilt of the dagger impaling her stomach.

Leviathan has controlled the water in her body and forced her to stab herself.

Her blood falls onto the ground rapidly and the puddle that would normally form at her feet soaks into the sand adding intensity to the scene.

“Amber!!” Ubica shouts as he rushes to her aid and stops her from keeling over.

He holds her in his arms as her blood stains his white shirt, the warmth from it makes his body hot with angst as he watches the skin of her face grow extremely pale. He doesn't know what to do nor how to treat her, the only thing he could possibly think of is pulling the knife out of her and applying pressure to the wound.

When he attempts to do this he is stopped by the gentle yet shaking hand of Amber, she looks up at him and smiles as blood drips from the edges of her mouth.

“Don't bother...”

It would seem she now has control of her body since she was able to touch him.

“It's all over now...”

“No, I can do something! There's definitely something I can do!” he speaks frantically as he looks around desperately trying to find something that can help her.

“There's nothing.” Leviathan says, “I made sure of it.”

“Shut up!!”

“Come now don't be rude, this is all your fault after all. You could have stopped this, if only you had changed. This unfortunate fate will continue to be cast on all the people around you unless you forfeit your need for the kindness of others.”

His words hit Ubica hard as he zones out on Amber's broken body.

Through a cracked voice he mutters,

“Change..?”

“You must change Ubica, look at what has happened here. That girl, and her whole family are gone. If you truly had the strength that you spoke of they would still be alive. So let go of that weakness! Save the people you care about! Change who you are!”

Ubica's face is clouded with distraught, it's as though he is in the process of giving up.

Although he likes who he is now, the lives of the people he cares about most are far more important.

If he has the ability to protect them, and he doesn't use that ability because of some selfish desire, wouldn't that make him the worst kind of person?

With thoughts like these running through his head, Amber's hand is felt on the side of his face, he doesn't notice the blood transferred from her palm to his cheek when he looks down and sees her glaring up at him.

She uses the last of her energy to tell him the words he needs to hear in order to break him out of his broken mindset.

“Don't you dare change...”

Even though her life is fading fast, she still found it necessary to tell him her thoughts on what Leviathan said.

Looking back, she had never met anyone like him, he was easy to talk to, he made her laugh, she genuinely enjoyed every moment spent with him. If the person that made her so happy would give in and become someone he isn't, it would just make the tragic events of the night all the more sad.

Through her fleeting breath, she reiterates her statement,

“Don't... Ever... Change...”

With a long exhale, Amber loses the shine in her eyes and stares lifelessly up at Ubica.

This poor girl, who has suffered horribly for no reason other than the fact that she was in the way, is dead.

He loses himself in her lifeless eyes as his body goes stiff with disbelief, the world around him has come to a halt and this moment in time is all that he cares about.

Leviathan laughs slightly, “What a shame. I bet you want to kill me right now don't you?”

Just hearing Leviathan's voice, releases a trigger inside of Ubica, his head begins to ring as an odd pulsating noise similar to a heartbeat pounds in his chest. Each pump is pouring hate into every part of his body, the white of his eyes begin to grow black and the ground below him starts to shake.

“Now this is more of what I wanted.”

Ubica doesn't answer, he just shoots a glare that is filled with the overwhelming feeling of hate. It is apparent that Ubica is losing himself to Dantega but is doing whatever he can to stop it, on his neck the curse mark from Beelzebub is sending sharp pains coursing through every part of his body and is making his fight all the more difficult.

“This is what Dantega does, as its container you can never escape it. Any negative emotions or pains that you feel are fuel for Dantega's fire, it feeds off your hate and pain and you feed off its evil. It is a non stop cycle that can never be avoided, as long as you carry disdain inside of you, you will never escape it!”

This throws Ubica into twice as much anger, so much so that Leviathan feels it beating on his temples.

But this doesn't stop him from pressing forward, “But it is not enough! Like a fruit you are not ripe enough yet. What can I possibly do now to send you into the deepest depths of despair? Now that I have ensured that everything you built up slowly crumbled down around your feet, what is left for me to take from you?”

Leviathan raises his arms and from the ocean behind him comes his massive blue sea serpent. “Having said that, the one thing in this situation that will throw you over the edge... is for me to take away your revenge!! The dragon's mouth opens wide and Leviathan hops in, as it flees back into the ocean, Leviathan lets out a laugh of victory. “Hahahahaha so let Dantega relieve its thirst for revenge on your own body. And once you do, you will be just like the person you were in the past. Except now, you and your power will finally be tamed.”

The mouth of the serpent closes and disappears into the dark of the sea, Leviathan is gone, and he took Ubica's revenge with him.

Paying the price for it is Ubica himself, his body writhes in pain as the thought of giving in to the desire to not care clouds whatever minute amount of judgment he has left.

His arms shake and Amber's limp frame convulses with them as he lets out a scream of anger,

“UUURRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

He drops his head and stays silent, the sounds of the waves breaking signals the calm after the storm that had just occurred. It's an eerie silence that stings because even after all of this, the world still moves on as though nothing had happened.

The silence of the night is broken by the frightened voice of a man at the bottom of the stairs that lead back up to the city.

“I-It was you..!”

Moving his head slowly to see who is speaking to him, his eyes finally land on Tuscany, Amber's fiance.

Tuscany walks shakily toward the two, “I knew it... I had an argument with Amber back at her house and left.” Tears begin to fall down his face as he continues. “But I came back to make up and I found her parents there. Fearing the worst, I went to Nicklaus' house, and he was dead! After that I went to Alison's place, and found her along with her two kids murdered as well!!!”

Tuscany had just happened to walk down the stairs of the lagoon in perfect time to misunderstand what had actually happened. All he knows is that in front of him is Ubica holding the dead body of who is supposed to be his future wife with a dagger sticking out of her stomach.

Ubica just stares at him blankly in a state of incoherence; his eyes still have traces of black in them as his fight for control still continues. This is a volatile time for him, his mind is blank with the desire to release his hate on someone, at this point anyone would do.

“I knew it! The only person who could have done such a thing is you! How could you!? Even Amber... How could you do this to her??“

Tuscany falls to his knees and weeps as he sends blame toward the innocent Ubica.

“You took everything away from me. Earlier today she called off our marriage, she said that her feelings had changed. Even though she wouldn't tell me why or how, I knew it was you! She left me because of you! Do you know how long I've waited to be with her!? Since we were kids I always tried to act like the cool guy just for her, just so she'd notice me. I tried so hard and I was so happy when it finally worked out...But you took her from me!!!”

By now, Tuscany is in such a state of anguish the words he had spoken were slightly slurred, he wobbly stands to his feet and pulls a small pocket knife out of his pocket.

He grunts like a madman and rushes at Ubica while shouting, “I'LL KILL YOU!!!”

Ubica doesn't even bother to move, with Amber still in his arms he holds his position as Tuscany lunges the knife at him.

However, before the knife can reach him, Tuscany hits some kind of barrier around Ubica's body. Tuscany's movement grinds to a halt and the blade in his hand shatters, the wave of energy that had broken the metal weapon to pieces slide up his arm, and in turn breaks his bones in a few different directions. Tuscany instantly passes out from shock and is sent flying away into the sandy side of the cliff.

Ubica gently lets go of Amber and walks toward the grounded Tuscany, each step of his seemingly shakes the ground below him. The killing intent spewing from him is enough to blot out the shine from the stars above him; it is becoming increasingly obvious what he intends to do to Tuscany as he holds his hand out to touch the floored man.

One simple touch is enough to rip Tuscany to shreds, and such a cruel fate is only a few inches away as Ubica's fingertip gets closer. The unconscious man before him is the perfect person to release a fraction of the pain and anger being spread through his body by the power of Dantega. Like an addict, he feels that just one will suffice. All it will take is just one person and he'll be relieved.

But Ubica stops, he retreats his hand and walks silently toward the ocean, this is such a struggle for him to do as his body twitches unnaturally as he tries to fight his urge to kill.

With his body half in the ocean, the water suddenly splits and gives him space as if opening a passageway for him to walk. His head slowly turns back so the sight of the injured Tuscany and the dead Amber reaches his eyes. It seems as though he is holding back tears as he looks at the scene of his regret.

“Don't ever change huh..?” he says to himself. He turns back towards the wall of the ocean and once again speaks in a saddened voice, “... I don’t think it’s going to work.”

The wall of water closes in on him and the dark of the ocean engulfs his presence, he finally departs the island, leaving a trail of tragedy in his wake.

---

Trojia opens her eyes and finds herself on a bed being pounded by the sun shining through a window to the left of her. The brightness stings her eyes momentarily and she slowly recollects where she is when she glances down to her hand and it's actually visible.

She is back on the boat, and in one of the rooms in the barracks for that matter.

Her terrible nightmare is now over and what's left is to re acquaint herself with the sensation of having a body once more. Seeing her own hands for the first time in 3 years almost induced her to vomit.

After a few moments spent shaking off the many sensations of general feeling, she manages to sit her stiff body up and notices a certain girl sitting on a chair staring out the window at the foot of her bed.

The sunlight reflects off her white hair and sends her skin into even more of a gorgeous tint than usual, it's as though she is looking at a doll with glowing gold eyes that are there to captivate people.

This is a girl that she has gotten to know quite well without even speaking so much as a word to her. This astonishingly beautiful person sitting just a few feet away from her is none other than the False Prophet Messor.

“Oh, you're finally awake?” Messor asks as she feels Trojia's glare beat on her cheek.

Trojia rubs her eyes and asks softly, “How long was I out for?”

“It's been a couple days. That Captain said we're only one day away from the second Gate.”

The young Princess's expression almost looks displeased.

“I see...”

She then takes a deep breath and asks, “Has he come back?”

“You mean Ubica? No... There's been no sign of him.”

“I see.” she says again.

The two sit in an ominous silence until Messor speaks, “Don't you want to ask me something else?”

Trojia's shoulders twitch and her gaze shifts away to the wooden wall of the room.

“Are you expecting me to ask you something?”

“Well I wouldn’t say expecting so much as I’m interested...” Messor replies, “You saw everything right?"

"I did."

"Don't you want to know more about it? Or hear my side of the story?”

“I'd have to be stupid to ask you anything more about your relationship with Ubica. What I saw was more than enough.”

Messor chuckles a little, “I'm glad you understand, if you have nothing more to say to me, I'll be the one to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

The slight smile Messor had fades away and a serious face takes its place when she asks, “Now after seeing all of Ubica's past... What do you think of him?”

Trojia is somewhat surprised at this sudden question, it takes her a few seconds to even think of how to answer it, and in that time frame all of the horrific images that she existed within, rush into her mind play before her eyes like a projection screen.

She starts crying and throws her wet face into her palms.

“H-He's...”

Trojia struggles to speak as the only sound escaping her mouth is that of a sharp moan that goes along with crying uncontrollably. The image of the kind and smiling Ubica is overrun by the images of his atrocities as the Antichrist. The Ubica she thought she knew has long since faded into the deepest corner of her mind where it can no longer be seen.

With these emotions running through her head, she answers with words she had never thought she'd say...

“He's awful.”

666 The Mark of the Beast: (END)

Chapter 41: An Angel's Revenge

(PART 1)

“The Archangel!? What the fuck are you doing here!?" shouts the male voice of Cerberus. The blood from its middle mouth falls to the island floor as it grits its teeth in both shock and pain.

"I'm here for a few reasons actually, none of which you need to know of." replied Michael sharply.

He then turns to Sora and holds his hand out to lift her off the ground, she naturally obliges and stands to her feet.

Sora glares at him in awe as his aura sends a warmth through her body the likes she has never felt before. It's as though she is staring into the eyes of salvation itself.

She ignores the presence of Cerberus, the beast she was once so frightened of and says, "T-Thank you for saving me..."

Michael smiles and shifts his eyes back to the demon. "It was my pleasure, by helping you I'm killing two birds with one stone."

Cerberus hears this and the woman's voice inquires, "Did you actually come from Heaven just to stop me??"

"Don't be stupid, I wouldn't waste my breath on a mutt of the netherworld like you. If I had any intentions of that sort I'd most certainly be after the demon you are accompanying at the moment."

"Amon?"

"Yes, there's no way I'd miss a presence like him, but I can sense that our resident angel of death is occupied with him right now... I'm here because I have a much bigger fish to fry, one that makes you two look worthless in comparison."

"Is that so?" The woman's voice asks, the voice of the child quickly follows, "Then allow me to take a momentary leave.."

Cerberus then turns and retreats into the jungle.

For reasons unbeknownst to both Michael and Sora, the threat of the dog demon is over.

"That damn mutt, it isn't going to just leave like that for no reason." Michael says as the spear in his hand burns brightly and then disappears into thin air. He then turns to Sora, "It's planning something, and I'm sure that it won’t rest until it tastes your blood... Come with me."

Michael starts walking in the opposite direction in which Cerberus went, leaving Sora behind.

He's obviously expecting her to follow him, and considering the situation she was just in it'd be foolish not to do so.

“W-Wait!”

She quickly chases after him and walks alongside the last remaining Angel of God.

---

"Did you feel that?" Amon asks, halting his attack on Rage.

Rage doesn't pause though, instead he uses this as an opportunity to gain the upper hand on the situation. He rushes Amon and swings his scythe horizontally in the direction of Amon's neck.

The demon narrowly avoids it by forming a ball of distortion in front of his face, causing the scythe to veer off course.

"Hey now, I'm being serious."

"So am I!"

Rage yells as he sends another swing of his scythe in the demon's direction.

Amon easily parries the attack and sighs when he says, "Your earnestness gets you in trouble sometimes you know that? There's a reason why you were never able to retrieve Ubica's soul, your judgment is clouded far too easily to notice the little obscurities that go along with a battle."

"Shut it!"

"I'm just trying to help you out, I would like to sway you from your worst instincts so you can actually fight me on even ground. I mean really, this is just boring."

When Amon speaks of Rage’s instincts, he is referring to Rage's nature of being the Angel of Death. His natural instinct is to retrieve the souls of the departed without so much as a second thought; with such a strong base of action, it is very difficult to diverge such feelings onto anything else that goes on around him. It isn't as though he is physically unable to sense something odd in the process of a battle, after all, he was able to save the lives of his human comrades on more than one occasion. It is just that this force drives him to subconsciously attack his enemy in the best possible manner in order for him to retrieve his or her soul.

However, this hyper focused state of mind is causing him to turn a blind eye to something very important.

Amon on the other hand, notices quickly and slips out of the way as fast as possible.

Rage, not understanding quite what his sudden retreat meant, is met with a gold blast of heat and energy directly onto his side, he is then sent flying with it at an incredible speed through the thick trees of the jungle.

It takes a good twenty collisions through those trees before he even begins to slow down, the cracking noises echo in the darkness as each impact seems louder than the last.

Amon keeps backtracking while laughing at the same time. "Hahaha if only you listened to me, I tried to warn you.”

As soon as he finished saying that, another one of those golden beams was sent in Amon's direction, except since he saw it coming, he was able to avoid being hit.

The beam misses and zooms through the jungle, but surprisingly, no damage was dealt to the trees and surrounding shrubbery.

"Don't be so impatient." Amon then cracks his neck and in a manner similar to that of someone quite annoyed before he says, "Michael."

"It's been quite a long time since I've seen either of you. Over a thousand years right? Hmph, how about that." said Michael as he reveals himself from behind a batch of thickly leafed trees.

Following closely behind him is Sora, she is wearing a surprised face and queries, "Why did you attack Rage?? He's on our side!"

"Oh, I apologize, attacking him just came naturally to me, I didn’t even think about it."

Amon laughs momentarily before saying, "This is all too interesting. So much so that it has got me thinking... Just what the fuck is the last Angel of God doing in a place like this?"

"You don't think I'm here to stop you?" Michael replied sarcastically.

"That presumption would lower my intelligence points. Thinking that is more on Cerberus' level.”

"Then how about you take a guess?"

"Oho I love playing games... If I were to guess it'd be..."

Amon doesn't finish, instead he immediately attacks Michael, he moves so fast that the Angel didn't have much time to react.

Amon opens his palm and a ball of distortion forms; he slams his palm into Michael's gut and sends him flying into the jungle similar to the way Rage was.

"Like I have the patience to be playing a stupid game right now!!" Amon shouts furiously.

He walks rather fast toward Michael, who is now tangled in the branches of a low tree; his spear was knocked out of his grip in the attack and is lying in front of him just out of reach. He has truly become defenseless.

With each step, Amon creates more swirling vortexes of distortion, while doing so he says, "It's not as though I feel you are important enough to interrogate by torture. It's just my natural reaction to want to inflict bodily harm upon Angels. Not too dissimilar to how you dealt with Rage, it makes sense to you right?"

A wide grin forms on Amon's face, out of the crescent moon shaped hole in his face, a maddening laugh filled with pleasure comes. "Did you know that I consider myself somewhat of an artist?"

Michael glares at him quizzically.

"I've always had a passion for artwork where the paint seemingly melts down the canvas. It's something that I like so much that when I kill people I try my damnedest to make it as similar as possible."

Even though the 7 Demons of Hierarchy usually seem so much more composed when compared to a standard hell dwelling demon, all of them have their own psychotic quirks. Usually that quirk is centered around the Original Sin they represent, but something even more cynical molds into their bodies and causes them to teeter over the edge occasionally.

These quirks that they gradually succumb to more often than not results in the death or torture of someone else, it is something they have gotten so used to they hardly even notice that they're doing it.

In this case, Amon intends to distort Michael’s body into a swirling form of liquid and use it to make one of his own forms of abstract artwork.

Just the thought of doing that to an Archangel brings Amon a great deal of pleasure.

Michael smiles, seeing the face that Amon is showing him and understanding the psychosis behind it, he finds himself amused.

"It’s funny, seeing you now is like looking at a reflection in the mirror..." Ignoring the obvious danger in front of him, Michael shrugs his shoulders. "Tell me, what do you see staring back at you?"

"..?"

Amon’s sick smile shrinks and is replaced by a look of confusion.

But before Amon could get a chance to speak, Michael shifts his gaze toward Sora, who at this moment is only a few yards behind the back of Amon with weapon in tow. The look of determination on her face signifies her intent to attack Amon on his blindside in order to save Michael. This new face is a far cry from the one that was twisted in despair when Cerberus was on the verge of devouring her.

A mere human attempting to interfere in a battle of such fearsome participants borders on the edge of insanity, but she couldn't convince herself to sit idly by while the man who saved her life just minutes earlier is in danger.

"Do me a favor Sora." Michael says, ignoring the presence of Amon. "Can you take about twenty steps to your left?"

"W-What?"

"Don't ask questions, just do it."

Though Sora doesn't understand the reasoning behind this, she does it anyway.

Discouraged at the fact that she is now farther away from Amon than before; she begins to think that Michael really might be slain without her being able to do anything about it.

Amon also doesn't get it, but in all truth he doesn't care. He didn't even notice that Sora was sneaking up behind him because of just how small her presence is, he is about as threatened by her as someone would be to an ant crawling up one's leg.

He sighs and turns back to Michael; he lifts his hands and readies to send the swirling vortexes of distortion down when he is once again interrupted by the words of Michael.

"Seeing myself in you, feeling and thinking the way you do..." Michael smiles and gives Amon a short moment to ponder this statement before saying,. "You have all become so predictable."

As soon as the air of those words exit his mouth...

CCCCRRRAAAAAAAASSSHHHH!!!!

Cerberus comes storming out of the thick of the jungle at full speed in Sora's direction; pulling leaves, branches, and even whole trees with it.

This happened so fast that Sora had no time to react to it, and even if she did her legs wouldn't move fast enough to avoid being snatched by one of Cerberus' three sets of jaws.

This was its plan all along, it knew that Michael was going to confront Amon at some point, all it needed to do was lay in wait for the exact moment where the two were occupied with each other and stealthily move in for the kill.

Michael begins to laugh loudly, his eyes shine and in the brief moment that Amon is distracted with Cerberus, the spear that was just out of reach stands itself up in between the Angel and Demon.

In a flash, the spear is engulfed in a bright white light and grows brighter as Michael laughs; its size doubles, then triples, and multiplies further on until it stands like a solid wall some 10 meters high and 10 meters wide.

"!!??"

Amon tries to flee but before he could even move an inch...

VVVVVVVVOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!

The blazing hot white light shoots forward faster than the speed of sound and completely engulfs Amon. The light zooms in a straight line directly past the spot in which the demon once stood, and in that straight line, at this very moment, is a certain three headed dog demon.

This strange hot white light carries no noise, rather a distinct base sound that pounds on the innards of one's ears. This sound is much more akin to being in a small room and having a large speaker to one's head while a bass guitar hits a constant note that never stops. Then multiply that feeling by a thousand and this would be it.

The light crashes into Cerberus and its skin is immediately peeled off by the force, its flesh literally dissolves off its bones and the liquid in its eyes boil and melt away. Cerberus didn't even have time to scream before the white light completely engulfed it and its silhouette disappeared within the light. Sora watched as much as she could of this until the brightness caused her to instinctively slam her eyes shut and turn away. If she had stared any longer, her eyes would have suffered the same consequences of staring into the sun for an exceeded amount of time, she most certainly would have gone blind. There is something odd about this assault, though she doesn't know exactly how close she actually is to the initial attack, she knows that she should be close enough to be affected by it. But if she had her eyes shut the entire time and never saw the light, she would almost have no clue that there has actually been a devastatingly strong attack in the first place.

She can't feel the heat of the light that shined brighter than the sun nor can she feel any energy permeating from it, she can only feel the base beating on her ears. A normal person might only think that this was an earthquake because of how the ground is shaking. But for some reason, this feeling makes her feel safe and secure; it has taken away all sense of danger that has been beating on her since arriving on this island.

The base noise eases up until it finally comes to a stop, all feelings of angst quickly disperse and an overwhelming sensation of tranquility fills the air.

Sora slowly opens her eyes and tries to look around the now quiet area, she blinks repeatedly as to shake away her momentary blindness caused by the light. The darkness eventually comes to blurry vision and her sight begins to focus in on her surroundings.

She finds that the entirety of the jungle, barring the area Cerberus ran out of, is relatively unscathed. Which is surprising figuring the destruction that light caused to the dog demon was so great. To have the flimsy in comparison shrubbery still be standing is quite the shock.

Sora takes a huge sigh of relief and stands to her feet; she readies to turn her head in order to look in Michael’s direction when the sense of peace and security is shattered by a warm and putrid smelling breath beating on the back of her neck.

She quizzically turns around to see Cerberus standing there, but this time it has an even more gruesome appearance than ever before.

The fur, skin, and all the muscles and tendons that connect to the bones are now gone, stripped away as if it had just made a trip to the butchery. Cerberus’ eyes and ears are melted away, and its bones shine white as if all fluid has been sucked out. Its bones are like a cage for all of its now visible organs, each breath it takes its lungs expand and retract and can be seen as plain as day. Every time its heart beats, the blood that is supposed to flow to the muscles slides off its bones and falls to the ground.

“I... can still... smell her...” came the raspy voice of the child. “She’s here, I know it!” shouts the man.

Cerberus moves its heads all over and the sound of bones rubbing against bone is heard, something like this shouldn’t be possible but it would seem there is enough strength left in this powerful demon’s body to instinctively move itself.

The three heads point in Sora’s direction and the woman's voice shouts, “THERE!!”

“No way...” Sora said to herself, her voice full of fear.

Realistically, all she needs to do is get up and run as fast as she can, chances are Cerberus would not be able to catch her in its horrific condition. But she is so stiff in shock that she can’t even budge, her legs will not move.

Cerberus inches closer to her and her shoulders jump, her teeth chatter together and she begins to mutter, “Save me...”

She turns to where Michael was tangled in those branches and to her absolute horror she finds that he is no longer there.

(Where did he go?) she thinks to herself.

Chances are, he left soon after the blast assuming that the job had been done or there was another enemy he needed to attend to. Either way or for whatever reason, Sora is once again in a situation that will lead to her death without the assistance of someone. Unfortunately for her, this time no one will come, with Rage likely injured off in the jungle somewhere and with Michael’s sudden and mysterious departure, she is alone.

“Someone save me...”

“Huuaahahahaha.” The child laughs, “Even if I die, I won’t go without tasting your blood!”

“Someone!!” Sora yells, throwing her eyes in every direction desperately trying to find salvation that won’t come.

“IT’S TIME TO EAT!!” The three voices of Cerberus yell as all three heads lunge down at Sora.

“SAVE ME!!!” Sora shouts at the top of her lungs with her eyes forced shut.

She takes a deep breath and awaits her doom but is shocked to find that nothing has happened. She keeps her eyes shut until a couple seconds pass with no change; this gives her no choice but to look.

What she sees is the back of a man, he is clad in hooded black coat standing between her and the dog demon, holding Cerberus’ nose on the middle head with the palm of his hand.

Her natural reaction is to think that it is Rage, but when she sees that he isn’t holding a scythe, she knows that it isn't him.

Even though Cerberus’ eyes melted away, one could still sense the surprise on its face.

“I know this scent, you are the Anti-----“

GGGAAAASSSSHHHHH!

Before Cerberus could even finish its question, its bones crack and break into thousands of pieces as though it was a glass window that just had a rock thrown through it. Its organs expand violently and explode in a dazzling flash of red, sending the broken pieces of bone along with it flying into the green of the jungle.

The entirety of Cerberus was literally blown to oblivion in just a flash.

Sora is left speechless, she was once again saved at the nick of time by yet another strange man, and this time there is no way that ferocious beast will come back.

She takes a huge breath and falls to her knees, this was truly a miracle and she has no clue how to fathom her luck or thank the person who saved her.

“That was the first time I’ve ever heard your voice.” The man in the black hooded coat said with his back still turned to her.

“Huh?” Sora mumbles, she recognizes this voice.

The man turns around and holds his hand out to help her back to her feet.

“It’s been a while, Sora.”

With his facial features clearly seen, Sora’s eyes widen and her jaw drops.

“Ubica!?”

---

“Holy crap did you see that crazy light!?” Aria shouts to Niera and Cyrus.

“W-What do you think it was?” asked Niera nervously.

Aria quickly replies, “Who cares, let's go!”

Cyrus frowns and steps in front of Niera. “Don’t be ridiculous, we can’t just go rushing into an area like that, it is way too dangerous.”

“Oh come on!” Aria begins to drool, “I gotta see! I gotta see it, that explosion was incredible!”

“U-Um Aria... could it be that you are getting turned on by this?” Niera asks while peeking behind Cyrus’ shoulder.

Aria smiles wide and lifts her new sword up over her shoulder. “Of course I am, I love explosions! Besides, one of our friends might need our help over there, we can’t just wait around.”

Cyrus takes a sigh of resignation and says, “I guess you’re right.”

Aria giggles and immediately runs toward the direction of the light.

“I’m glad you can finally see things my way ya old coot!”

“It’s not that I agree with the explosion part!”

“Yeah yeah!” she turns and sticks her tongue out at him before running towards the light.

“And I’m not old! I’m only 23!”

Niera begins to chase after Aria and back trots so she can face Cyrus when she says, “No offense but you do act a lot older than your age you know?”

“What?? Not you too!”

“Hehe come on let’s go!”

She leaves him behind as well, he scratches his head and asks himself, “Just where the hell did that scene come from?”

Without giving any more thought, he quickly chases after the two girls in order to find out the cause of the light.

---

“Wow that light was incredible!” Xavier exclaims in awe, he is still looking up in the night sky as the remnants of that light linger.

“It sure was.” replied Phoenix as nonchalantly as possible.

“Hey shouldn’t we head down there to take a look?”

The two of them are at the Gate already, so going back would mean they abandon their position at the helm of the next level.

Even though Phoenix had already said that he has no intentions of waiting for the others, Xavier is still surprised when he answers,

“No need.”

“B-But—“

“The source of that light is already here.” Phoenix interrupts and looks down on the other side of the lake.

Standing there is none other than Michael, fresh off his battle with Amon and Cerberus.

He walks atop the water rather slowly toward Phoenix and Xavier.

“Who is that guy?” Xavier asks, worried that he might be an enemy.

Ignoring the Prince, Phoenix walks off the steps and back onto the water; the two walk toward each other in silence until they are within an arm’s length. The two share an intense eye to eye stare until a slight smile surfaces on their faces. These smiles are followed by a pleasant handshake between good friends.

“You answered my call.” said Phoenix.

“Of course, I didn’t waste a second when you revealed yourself to me. I give you my humble thanks.”

“Come now, you don’t have to be so formal, we’re not in Heaven anymore.”

“I must disagree, whenever the Messiah graces me with his presence I must take this moment as though it was a miracle bestowed unto me by God himself.”

Upon hearing Michael say that, the smile on Phoenix’s face twitches awkwardly for a split second and reverts back.

“God huh?” he said in a breathy voice quietly.

“Excuse me my Lord?”

“It’s nothing... Anyways, might I ask what exactly the Archangel is doing here as a Gatekeeper in Purgatory? ”

As soon as he asked this, the atmosphere around the Archangel dropped and a heavy seriousness settled into his eyes. “I must ask you to forgive my silence on that matter, I’d be too ashamed to tell you.”

Phoenix raises an eyebrow, “Is that so? Then answer me this, were you sent here because God wanted you to, or are you doing this on your own accord?”

Michael keeps a straight face when he responds, “God was kind enough to let me go on this endeavor upon my request. Though to be honest, I would have gone without his permission.”

“Oh? It’s that important to you huh?”

“Yes messiah, more than you’ll ever know.”

Michael takes a sharp breath after saying that, only then noticing that his formal way of addressing Phoenix has slipped unintentionally. He glares at Phoenix to see if he noticed, but Phoenix glosses over it.

“And why wasn’t I notified of such a thing? I assume this was pretty recent.”

“I apologize, but I requested this to be kept a secret. No one knows that I’ve been working this position for the past couple months.”

“Hmmm. So you knew that I was here in Purgatory...”

“No my Lord, I am currently fighting back my shock that my Lord Jesus Christ has been put in this situation.”

“Then you now know that the original 'plan' for me back on Earth has gone awry. I needed to improvise, so I’ve come up with a new one since being here. For me to complete my new plan, my comrades and I need to get through the Gate. I’m sure you can make an exception for me?”

“I’m sorry to hear that the world must suffer a little longer due to your absence. God must be disappointed as well.” Michael bows and finishes, “I trust in your holiness, I believe that by you getting back to Earth, peace will come to the Heavens and all the lands below. If I can assist you in any way it would be an honor.”

Phoenix lowers his head slightly and a thin grin gently meets his lips, “Peace to the Heavens and all the lands below huh? Sure, if that’s what you wanna call it.”

“Hmm?”

“I want you to tell me...” Phoenix raises his head and his voice along with it, “Why are you here?”

Judging by his tone of voice and the overall look on his face, it is obvious that this is a stern command and not a friendly request. But despite that, this is still an order that Michael is trying his best to avoid answering.

"...."

He stays bowing and doesn’t speak, somehow hoping that Phoenix will perhaps give up on this inquiry.

But that is not going to happen, a frown surfaces on Phoenix’s face when an answer still doesn’t come, he takes a deep breath and gets ready to speak when from up above an unfamiliar voice is heard.

“He’s here to kill Ubica, you damn idiot.”

Michael and Phoenix both look up simultaneously.

Standing atop a flat rectangle of distortion is none other than Amon.

“!?”

“I thought I---!”

Amon lifts up his index finger and shakes it from side to side like a parent would to a child. “You didn’t actually think that you defeated me did you? Geez, I get no respect.”

“Then how?”

“Think about it, light is the easiest form of anything to distort because it has no mass. I’ll admit that attack was something else, but that attack is probably the worst possible weapon to use against me.”

“....”

“You certainly did a number on Cerberus though I’ll tell you what.”

“Then it looks like I still have some work to do.” Michael readies his spear and prepares to jump up to Amon.

But before he could he is halted by Phoenix asking,

“Is what he said true?”

Michael turns back to him and shows him a look of shame before shifting his gaze to the ground and answering.

“...It is.”

“For revenge?”

“That’s right.”

Amon starts laughing and clapping his hands from above, “Hahaha bravissimo! This is amazing, is the Archangel still mad that he burnt his two little girlfriends to a crisp because of Ubica?”

“Shut your fucking mouth.” Michael hisses.

“Woah such foul language coming from the last remaining Angel. I’ve learned so much about you today, I’ll have some good stories to tell to the others. Such things like how the man who once defeated Satan now thirsts for revenge against the Antichrist. And let’s not forget the most important thing the two of you have revealed to me...”

Amon takes his index finger once more and points it directly at Phoenix.

“!!!”

“That’s right! I came here just at the right time to find out that this priest is actually the Son of God! Hahaha I just might be promoted for this.”

“I won’t let you escape!” shouts Michael.

“Oh yes you will, do you wanna know why? Because a certain somebody has just showed up on this small island.”

“What?”

“A certain someone who is at the center of every action Heaven and Hell makes.”

“I-It can't be, I couldn't sense Dantega at all...”

“Well you sure are in for a surprise, this someone now lives his pathetic life swallowed by the guilt of what he did to all of you, so much so that he’s forsaken the one thing that gave him life. But I wonder what would happen if he was thrown into just one more life or death battle with an Archangel? Not only that, but 'the' last Angel! This couldn’t have worked out any better!”

“WHERE IS HE!?” Michael yells, a bright light surrounds him and the water of the lake begins to boil under his feet.

“Hahaha I can see it now! I can see the Wrath in your eyes! You asked me what I saw staring back at me... It's been my own reflection this entire time."

Amon starts laughing and sinks into his rectangle of distortion, the rectangle shrinks into nothing and the entire presence of the 4th ranked Demon of the Hierarchy is finally gone.

But now there is a new dark presence that has taken form on this island, and it goes by the name of Michael.

He doesn’t turn to Phoenix but speaks, “Do you know why I gave you my flame?”

“I never gave it thought.”

“Because that flame is the power that was used to burn Catherine and Margaret into dust. How could I wield such a thing after I used it for that? I thought that by giving it to you, the fire would become pure once again.”

“So what is your new power for then?”

“For a thousand years I’ve developed this light specifically to destroy that wretched darkness of Ubica’s. Every day since the Apocalypse, every breath I’ve taken since then, was to give me the strength to drown that darkness in light and avenge their deaths.”

“....”

Phoenix stays silent and glares at Michael’s back without much emotion worn on his face.

“So don’t try to stop me.”

This time it is Michael’s turn to make an order, the manners and formalities he had are blown away by the mere thought of the Antichrist.

Phoenix takes a quick inhale and responds, “I won’t.”

Without another word, Michael dashes off in a flash of white light, leaving Phoenix alone standing atop the water of the lake.

Phoenix clenches his fist momentarily and then releases them. His lips mold into a slight smile when he begins to speak to himself, “I won’t stop you Michael... but I'm sure Ubica will put an end to your revenge one way or another.”

He then sighs and looks up to the sky.

“Why would God let Michael come here specifically for something as dark as revenge? God should know how badly this situation could turn out...”

He turns back toward the steps and starts his walk to the confused Xavier. Because of the sound of the waterfall, the prince was too far away to get a proper grasp on what they were talking about. He was only able to pick up bits and pieces of their conversation and from what he heard he was unable to make anything out of it.

Phoenix has his eyes on the ground in front of him as he takes his steps, with his thoughts running rampant, an ugly frown forms from his eyebrows and the corners of his lips sink down to his chin.

He again clenches his fists and grits his teeth.

“Just what are you scheming, God?”

(PART 2)

“I can’t believe it, is it really you?” Sora asked with eyes wide open.

“Who else would I be?”

“I’m just so surprised, I haven’t seen you in such a long time and now you’re suddenly here. Have the others arrived safely?”

Ubica reveals a strained smile and replies, “We were separated a little over a week ago... I was hoping that they’d already be here by now.”

Sora finally takes his hand and is lifted up to her feet, her body still feels light with the feeling of relief. She was never this afraid to die in the past, she would fearlessly fight anyone if it meant protecting the Prince; but being eaten alive by a Demon frightened her to her core, it takes her a few more seconds to compose herself.

“What happened?” she asks.

Ubica purses his lips and looks down to the ground, answering such a simple question is proving to be very difficult. As far as he knows they could all be dead, a vision of all of them dead with Abaddon triumphantly standing over them laughing flashes in his head, he slams his eyes shut and tries to shake it off.

“The boat we were on… The Captain wanted me off his ship after a demon attacked us out in the open sea. We made a deal that he would continue to take them here if I left the ship.”

“Well that doesn’t sound too bad, you looked so troubled when you said that.”

“I could never be so sure about anything, there’s no telling what kind of danger they’ve been in since I left. But I have to trust in them, and believe that they’ll arrive here safely.”

“Sounds like there’s no choice but to do just that then, right?”

Hearing words of comfort from Sora of all people gives him a sense of reassurance for whatever reason. It’s not like he thinks she knows any more about the situation than he does, but he finds her voice to be quite soothing.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Get away from Sora you bastard!!” shouts a voice from within the jungle.

“Eh?”

Ubica turns around to see its source but is met with a fruit hitting him square in the face.

Of course this would normally mean nothing but a bump on the head, but in this situation the fruit has the explosive power of a hand grenade.

BOOOOOM!

The blast hits Ubica dead on and he disappears in the smoke.

“Sora! Are you alright!?” shouts Aria as she rushes to Sora’s aid.

Sora is blue with shock; she can’t believe that Aria just blew Ubica up without even giving him a chance to reveal himself.

“W-W-What did you do!?”

Aria grabs her shoulders and smiles as though she had just finished up with her life's greatest accomplishment, “I saved you, what do you think?”

Aria remains happy and carefree until she feels an angered glare beating on the side of her face, she can’t help but glance over and sees a face through the smoke of the aftermath of the explosion she caused.

“If you don’t mind me asking... who is this girl that just threw a bomb at my face!!?” Ubica asks in a raspy voice while cracking his knuckles in a threatening manner.

“Uwaaah!? He’s a lot stronger of an enemy than I expected! Stay back Sora, I’ll handle this!”

Because Ubica’s face is covered in dark dirt and ash, Aria doesn’t recognize him at all. And because Ubica never got a chance to properly meet Aria in the past, he doesn’t recognize her either.

Sensing that this could turn out extremely bad, Sora jumps in between them and shouts, “Stop it you two!”

They both look at her and simultaneously shout,

“Why!?”

Even though Sora has retained her ability to talk, she is still not quick enough on her feet to explain before the two go at each other’s throats.

But thankfully for her, Niera jumps in latches onto Ubica’s arm.

“Ubica!”

“Huh?” Aria halts.

“Wha?”

Ubica stops as well to look down on just who’s grabbing his arm.

Niera’s smile instantly breaks the conflict that has just been narrowly avoided.

“I’m so happy you’re alright.”

He’s surprised that she realized it was him so quickly, it’s been a while since they last saw each other and when they were together they weren't as close as he was to some of the others.

“Wait a second, this guy is Ubica?” Aria asked.

“Can’t you tell?” Niera asks as if stating the obvious.

Aria takes her sleeve and rubs it rather hard across his face, removing the dirt.

“Ooaah, it is you!”

Ubica frowns at how rough she was wiping the dust off his face when he says, “Now that we went through all this effort to reveal my identity, can someone tell me who this person is??”

“I’m Aria, I’m happy to know I made an impression on you the one time we met..” she replies sarcastically.

“I’m pretty sure I was unconscious for that.”

“Strauphius is my identical twin, you really don’t at least recognize me through him?”

Even though Ubica has never seen her in person, he does actually know her name, and also the fact that she’s Strauphius’ sister.

“Speaking of Strauphius,” Aria continues, “Where is he? Shouldn’t he be with you?”

Ubica doesn’t want to bring up the bad news without being consciously delicate with his words, he pauses for a moment as he contemplates where to start. He also wonders if he should tell her that the last he saw of Strauphius, he had been thrown up against the railing of the ship and injured.

This delay gives ample time for Cyrus to join in the conversation from behind, “I’d like to know where Princess Daey is as well.”

“Woah you sure came out of nowhere!” Aria explaims in surprise.

“This isn’t a good time for jokes; I need to know where the Princess is.”

Ubica sighs and decides to tell them everything that happened when a familiar scythe bearing man who looks awfully beaten up shoddily walks up to them.

“Ah it’s Rage.” Niera points out.

With a glare expressing a lack of emotion about their long awaited reunion, he walks right in the center of everyone before looking Ubica in the eyes to say,

“I’d like to hear about what happened as well.”

---

Phoenix walks up the stairs that lead to the Gate through the waterfall.

He doesn’t speak to Xavier about the conversation he just had with Michael and it prompts the young Prince to ask,

“Who was that guy?”

“The Gatekeeper.” Phoenix sternly replies.

“Wha!? He’s not going to try and stop us?”

“Not this time.”

“Then what do we do?”

Phoenix twitches his eyebrow in annoyance before smoothly replying, “We go through the Gate.”

“But what about the others? What if that Gatekeeper goes and attacks them? Shouldn’t we-----“

“Shut up!”

Like a child shouted down by their parents, Xavier immediately tenses up.

“You ask too many questions. The Gatekeeper isn’t going to lay a finger on any of our comrades; they will meet us on the third level of Purgatory in a few short minutes. If you want to go back to them then be my guest, I’m going through to the other side. The last thing I want to do is be here for ‘his’ death.”

Xavier doesn’t know what exactly Phoenix meant when he said all that, but one thing is for sure, he won’t be asking any more questions in order to find out. Fearing the vulnerability he’d face if Phoenix left him behind, he comes to the conclusion that he’d best keep his mouth shut and follow the priest. The two silently walk under the waterfall and through the shine of the second Purgatory Gate, leaving the others to catch up.

---

“How could you be so damn careless?” Rage hisses.

Ubica, who found a rock to sit on, tries his best not to express the shame he’s feeling.

He had just told them all about what happened in the past couple weeks, from start to finish. About how they came across the Black Dandelion, how he was kicked off the ship due to Leviathan’s attack, how he stumbled upon the island, and how everyone he became acquainted with on that island met a grizzly fate.

Though the sympathy felt upon hearing the tragic story of Amber and her family is certainly there, the bulk of the hurt that came along with the terrifying truth is due to the fate of their family members and friends.

As far as Ubica knows, the ship was under siege by Abaddon, which means there is a very good chance none of them are going to make it to this island. Aria is sick to her stomach thinking about Strauphius being in such danger.

Niera and Cyrus are as well, they know how easy it would be for someone like Abaddon to capsize the ship, if they were simply left stranded in the ocean they would never survive.

“Oh my god...” Aria says loathsomely, “This is a disaster.”

“Don’t say that Aria.” Sora urges, “You have to believe that they are alright.”

Aria throws her hands in her face and replies, “How? How can I believe something like that!?”

"...."

Sora replies with a befuddled silence.

Niera and Cyrus are feeling the same anxieties, they are finding it very difficult to believe that all of them could possibly be safe.

“I have a friend that we met up with back in the first level.” Ubica declares, perhaps feeling appreciative of Sora’s earlier optimism. “She has given all of them the power that comes along with being ‘aware'. With Messor at their side, it’s not too far-fetched to think they have actually won that fight and are on their way here as we speak. At least, that thought has kept me going.”

His words actually do help ease the feeling of despair filling their chests, if only slightly. They take cautious sighs of relief and breathe in what little hope that fact has to offer.

Rage on the other hand had to double take and repeat what Ubica just said back in head, with a threatening step forward he asks, “This friend of yours... Did you just say it was Messor?”

Ubica’s shoulders jumped for a split second when he realized he so casually dropped her name in front of Rage of all people.

“Yeah, she managed to find me.”

Rage’s face contorts in shock and then his eyebrows steepen to form an angered frown. He charges Ubica and grabs his collar, lifting him up off the ground.

“Have you gone mad!? How could you have brought that girl anywhere near them!?”

“You’re overreacting.” Ubica struggles to say due to being slightly choked, “She’s here to help us, I trust her.”

Rage shakes Ubica and shouts, “She’s here to help you! She couldn’t care less about the others!”

“Keeping them alive is helping me, and she knows that.”

“This is ridiculous! She’s definitely scheming something, how did she even escape the pit after you left her behind!?”

“Watch what you say about her in front of me.” Ubica sharply replies.

He didn’t need to raise his voice in order for those threatening words to strike Rage with the force of an attack. He lets Ubica to the ground and backs off, all the while gritting his teeth in anger.

“She’s changed, just like I have. I trust her with my life and the lives of the rest of us. They’ll be here soon, I’ll promise you that right now.” Ubica says, fixing his collar in the process.

The rest of them don’t even bother to ask just who this girl they are talking about is, judging by how fierce the atmosphere is around the subject they feel it’s best to stay out of it. Ubica and Rage glaring at each other like that is sending an electric wave of threatening energy onto each of them.

“Come on guys, the two of you arguing over what’s already done won’t help to solve anything.” Sora interjects, breaking the tense atmosphere.

“She’s right! Let’s get back on the topic of the situation we're in now.” Aria yells, coming to Sora’s aid and changing the topic. “Was it you who made that huge white explosion, Ubica?”

“Me? No, I came here thinking that it might’ve been Rage somehow.” he replies as he shifts his gaze back to Rage.

“It wasn’t me.” Rage replies with a shrug of his shoulders.

“It was ‘him’.” Sora claims.

“Him as in who?”

Sora takes her finger and points in the direction behind Ubica and the rest; they all turn their heads and see the culprit behind that massive light.

“Him as in me.” Michael says with a slight frown on his face.

“!?” Ubica’s face drops in shock and he is immediately frozen stiff in disbelief.

“Before any of you ask me any questions, allow me to tell you all that I am the Gatekeeper of the 2nd Level of Purgatory. If you wish to pass, you’ll need my permission.”

Rage scowls and squeezes the hilt of his scythe. “So we are forced to battle with someone like the Archangel in order to pass… what kind of sick trial is this?”

Michael holds out his hand as if telling Rage to take it easy as he says, “You and your friends are allowed to pass. The other two men in your group are awaiting your arrival on the other side.”

“??”

“The Gate is behind me, walk in that direction for about a mile and you’ll arrive there. Now go.”

“Isn’t that great!?” Sora asks, beaming with a bright smile.

Niera and Cyrus are relieved as well. Aria too for that matter, because at the last battle with a Gatekeeper Luke was killed, if another one of them were to die she wouldn’t know how to handle it.

“Hmph, then I’ll take your word for it. I won’t even bother to ask how you ended up as a Gatekeeper in the first place.” Rage says, he turns to the others and finishes, “Let’s go.”

Michael walks in front of Rage and points out his finger. “Not all of you are allowed to pass.”

“What do you mean?”

“He's talking about me.” Ubica says, causing the rest to turn back to him.

He is standing farther away from the group than before as if he was expecting this to happen all along.

“That’s right; the rest of you can go join the other two.”

“B-But.”

“Don’t worry about me. I need to wait for others to show up anyways.” Ubica said with a strained smile.

“Let it be.” Rage said as he began walking in the direction Michael pointed.

This prompts the rest to hesitatingly follow.

Once far away from twe they left behind, Sora can’t help but ask, “Why wouldn’t Michael let Ubica pass?”

Rage takes a shallow breath and answers, “Because Michael intends to kill him.”

---

Aboard the Black Dandelion, Caesar is looking through a pair of binoculars out on a distant island, a few miles back he had noticed a huge flash of white light, and as if using it as a beacon he followed towards its source. Cross Checking the map with the direction he’s leading the ship to, he finds that the island in which the light came from is the x that marks the spot.

The island is where the 2nd Purgatory Gate is located.

“Wow we got here much faster than I thought!” he says with his face still buried in the map.

“We must have got caught in a heavy ocean current that sped up our destination by a day or so.” Napoleon said after overhearing Caesar’s explanation.

Earlier that morning, it was estimated that the ship wouldn’t get to the island until late the next day.

With his binoculars, Caesar looks around the shores of the island, all over are already docked ships, some destroyed and some intact ships clearly showing signs of a recent battle. But what is quite interesting is that there aren't any people near or around the beach.

“Something big just went down here. There should still be enemies within the island in search of the Gate. They’ll do whatever it takes to get there first.”

“I’m sure we can handle fighting regular humans, it’s the Gatekeeper we need to worry about.” Napoleon said as he examined his sword’s edges, checking its sharpness.

“The humans on this island are all ‘aware’, they haven’t been regular humans for quite some time. There’s a high possibility that they have extraordinary powers.”

Napoleon smiles in confidence, “We don’t have to worry about that now do we?”

Caesar matches his smile, “That’s right, that Messor girl truly came through with her word.”

Napoleon puts his sword back in his sheath and walks towards the barracks. “I’m going to inform the others that we’ll be arriving shortly.”

“Sure thing.”

As Napoleon opens the door to the stairs leading down from the deck to the innards of the ship, he thinks to himself,

(I sure hope you are there by now… Ubica.)

---

“Long time no see.” Ubica says, breaking the silence of his and Michael’s glare.

“It hasn’t been that long really... I’ve seen your image every day for the past thousand years.”

“I see...”

Ubica takes another good look at Michael, he sees that his knees are shaking in apprehension and that he’s clasping onto his spear so tight his knuckles are as white as his clothes.

This is a man who’s desperately holding himself back from immediately attacking; this is a man who wants Ubica dead at all costs.

Sensing this, Ubica unsheathes his sword and holds it to his side; a bitter look is written across his face as he knows that avoiding conflict is going to be impossible.

“Before we do this...”

“???”

A sight Michael thought he’d never see, Ubica is bowing his head to him.

“I’m sorry for what I’ve done.”

“...You’re apologizing?”

“I know my apology means nothing to you, and I know an apology isn’t enough to right the wrongs of the past. But I truly feel guilty for what I’ve done, I’d do anything to make things right.”

Michael takes a step back in amazement; the person he has been visualizing in his head all these years would never do something as weak as saying sorry. It’s almost beyond belief that those words can even exit his mouth.

Michael mutters the first words his instincts brought to mind.

“Prove it.”

“What?”

“Prove to me that you’re actually sorry. Repent for what you’ve done.”

“How do you want me to do that?”

“Kill yourself. Right here on the spot, slit your own throat. Fall on your sword. Light yourself on fire! If you die right in front of my eyes, perhaps then I can believe you’re actually sorry!

Michael’s face contorted in anger as he said that. The memories of what Ubica has done have shattered any possibility of accepting an apology.

Ubica takes a deep breath and lifts from his bowing position. He looks Michael square in the eyes as a soft breeze weaves its way through the jungle and gently beats on the side of his face; adding a serenity to the moment.

“I can’t do that.”

“Hehh!?” Michael moans as he twists his neck to the side in a disgusted manner. “Then have you reneged your pathetic excuse of an apology?”

“I haven’t, I truly meant what I said.”

“Then why won’t you die!?”

“Because...”

Flashes of the human world at war, of Satan’s army rising once again, of Damien and the others having free reign on the world while waging their own war on Heaven shows itself in his head. The all too familiar images of destruction another war like that would cause to beat on him. He cannot let something like that happen again, in his mind, preventing such a thing from happening is entirely up to him.

Following visions of that grim future are the faces of his friends, his comrades that have been traveling with him the past couple months. Napoleon, Strauphius, Messor, Daey, Trojia and Tsubiri. The memories he’s shared with them pass through his head like scenes from a film.

“I have a reason to live.”

“Hahaha.” Michael laughs, “You? A reason to live? To me, you only have a reason to die!”

Michael charges Ubica with revenge shining in his eyes; the unavoidable second battle between the Antichrist and the Archangel begins with a bright flash of light and a loud bang.

---

Rage and the others all walk up the stairs to the Gate, with thoughts still on the well being of Ubica and the rest, nothing is spoken between them. There’s a feeling of emptiness that has come with leaving behind a friend to fight for his life alone, and it is exemplified with knowing that their particular group might be the only ones to make it to the next level.

Each step they take, these troubling emotions grow, it gets to the point where they begin trying to find justification to not go through with leaving them all behind. The humid air of the waterfall in which they are about to walk under is seemingly attempting to push them back. The loud crashing of the water is like a wall of sound not permitting entry.

But Rage presses on, half of his body is under the water when he looks back to see the others hesitatingly moving forward. It becomes obvious to him what it is they truly want to do.

Rage sighs, even if it’s obvious to him what they want, it doesn’t change what needs to be done.

“Ubica won’t lose, and the others will come. Once we reach the other side, we’ll wait as long as it takes for them to catch up.”

Niera’s face lights up at the thought of being reunited with her sister.

“Really!?”

Rage doesn’t respond with words but nods his head.

It would seem that hearing something even slightly optimistic from Rage was enough to lighten up their spirits to the point where they can move forward.

“If Negative Sensei himself thinks they’ll be alright, then it must be true.” Aria says as she pats him rather hard on the back and walks under the waterfall and through to the other side.

Niera quickly follows Aria and says, “Thank you Rage, I mean it!”

Cyrus scratches his head and takes his own steps towards another new world. “You sure have a way with words. I need to learn a thing or two from you.”

The last one on this side of Purgatory with Rage is Sora, she now has a voice to speak with but chooses not to say anything as she walks through the Gate. Instead she just smiles gratefully at the fact she is somehow still alive. With an almost childlike skip, she makes her triumphant exit from all dangers she had made it through.

Now alone, Rage looks out into the distance and sees yet another bright flash of light from within the jungle. The battle between Ubica and Michael is underway and it’s undoubtedly going to be difficult for Ubica, both mentally and physically. Though it is sad to see the Archangel deteriorate into what he is now, he knows that no matter what the circumstances are, it is clear who the good guy is in this battle.

He faintly smiles and turns away from the flashing lights while saying under his breath,

“I’m rooting for you, Ubica.”

---

“This is odd...” Caesar says as he scours through the jungle of the island, “There should be hundreds of people here, yet we haven’t seen anyone.”

Following Caesar is Napoleon and the others, along with all thirty of his crew members. Having this many people walking through the jungle is bound to attract attention, but oddly enough there hasn’t been a single encounter.

“Considering the fact that there are dozens of ships docked on the shore it’s almost a freak occurrence that no other pirate has been spotted.” Napoleon said, rubbing his chin in wonder.

“Do you think they’ve already passed through the Gate?”

“I think that’s pretty unlikely, there’s a better chance they’ve all been wiped out by the Gatekeeper.”

“Whaaaaaaaa!”

A man suddenly shouts, shifting everyone’s attention on him.

“It’s a body!” he says as he lifts his foot and finds that he had just stepped on a severed head.

“Kya!” Daey squeals, to her right a couple more mutilated bodies lay tangled in a bush.

“What’s going on here!?”

Looking closely around the area, dozens of body parts are seen throughout the darkness of the jungle. As gastly of a sight anyone could imagine, Napoleon and Messor calmly analyze the situation.

“Do you think it was the Gatekeeper?” Napoleon asks Messor, who is now standing beside him and looking down on a mangled corpse.

“I can’t say for sure. But it looks like they’ve been chewed on by some kind of animal.”

“But what though?”

“Hmmm.”

Messor racks her brain at what possibly could have done this, she would be most surprised if there were an actual animal living here naturally on Purgatory. Because of that, she finds her thoughts immediately land on what could be brought here from Hell.

“It can’t be... Cerberus?”

“Guys, this one is all swirled up.” A pirate a couple yards away states.

Messor walks over to the body and finds it in almost a liquidized state, now there is no doubt in her mind what happened here.

“Tch... Amon brought it here.”

She turns to all of them and warns, “Be on the lookout, there’s a good chance that we may come in contact with a very powerful demon.”

Even though the pirates have no clue what a demon would look like if they were to see one, they find it hard to discredit that statement due to the happenings on the ship with Leviathan a few nights earlier. Not to mention the carnage they’ve found themselves walking through here in the jungle. Before anyone could respond to that terrifying thought, they are interrupted by the feeling of the ground shaking.

Thrown completely off balance by the tremor, some fall to the bloody jungle floor and can’t get back up.

The shaking continues for another couple seconds before it suddenly stops; what comes next is an eerie silence.

And then...

BBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A huge explosion rips through the jungle and the night sky shines in both green and white.

Messor’s eyes open wide as she instantly recognizes this power.

“It’s Ubica!”

She immediately rushes toward the explosion and weaves her way through the shrubbery of the jungle, leaving everyone else behind without so much as a second thought.

A bright smile forms on Tsubiri’s face as she says, “Ubica’s here!?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, she runs after Messor. She is quickly followed by Daey.

Caesar and his men want no part in going anywhere near that explosion, but when Napoleon and Strauphius both rush towards it without saying a word, he and the crew reluctantly follow.

The only one not rushing into danger is Trojia, who is idly walking with a nervous face and shaking shoulders.

There was once a time where she’d be the first to rush to him in a situation like this, but that time belongs in a past life she has long forgotten. Now she wouldn’t know how to face him even if she wanted to.

Almost in spite of herself, her body moves towards the great uncertainty she feels compelled to move toward.

---

The Antichrist and the Archangel once again battle to the death, but this time on different grounds.

The Archangel is fighting for revenge, no longer bound by the benevolence of the Heaven from which he came.

The Antichrist is fighting for his friends, and to protect those in danger on Earth, no longer bound by the malevolence of his birth.

The two fight with such an intensity to them it’s as if the world has focused itself around the two.

This battle, this hate, has seemingly caused the world of Purgatory to seize its movement as a whole.

“Tell me Antichrist, do you wish to kill me!?” Michael asks as he takes a colossal slash of his spear towards Ubica’s neck.

Ubica blocks it with his red diamond katana but the force knocks him back into a batch of trees.

“I don’t want to, but I will if I have to!”

Michael swings his spear and a line of light spreads horizontally from left to right. Ubica ducks under it and the force of that attack is felt on the back of his neck, the light rips into the jungle behind and a loud wind noise is heard rattling the trees.

“You’d apologize to me in one breath, and threaten to kill me in the other. What trash you really are!”

By now Michael’s face and demeanor are so filled with hate it’s disturbing to look at. A sad sight considering what he once was.

If not careful, Ubica could find him pitiful.

This is a dangerous way to see the foe in front of him, by pitying him, it deflects blame from the culprit that brought such a person to life. The truth of the matter is that Ubica should only see his own guilt in Michael.

The shadow of a man Michael has become is the direct result of Ubica's evil; just one of many men taken down by it.

The Archangel is no exception.

“You’re right; I’m the worst kind of person.”

Ubica maneuvers under one of Michael’s flashes of light and gets within arm’s length of him; he slams his left palm into the Angel’s chest and shouts,

“Pulsus!”

Michael is sent flying violently as if being hit by a tremendous weight.

This is one of Ubica’s special attacks, he moves his arms as fast as he can, and whatever air his hands cause to move in that motion, forms tenfold into his palms. After storing the energy of that air, he is able to push it out in an intense forward force; the air is so strong that it is more similar to a train hitting someone at full speed.

“My very existence is enough to bring ruin to everyone around me, and I lack the strength to do anything about it… But damn it, I’m doing the best I can!!”

This is his resolve.

He certainly doesn’t have the ability to create an equitable world around him, that’s been painfully evident by the tragic ending of his most recent relationship with Amber and her family. But that doesn’t change the fact that giving up on it would make vain the sacrifices of those that guided him on that path.

Amber’s dying wish was for him not to change, giving up now would be tantamount to throwing that away.

“So stand up Michael! I’ll defeat you!” he declares as he points his sword in the direction in which the Angel was sent flying. “Once you’re gone, I’ll apologize to you again by continuing on the path towards doing good!”

Awaiting Michael’s return, he notices a small flash of light from the darkness of the trees. The light only glitters for a moment when it disappears back into the dark.

Thinking nothing of it, he readies to rush into the jungle after him but is quickly halted by a dull feeling in his stomach. This sensation is quickly followed by a sharp pain and the feeling of liquid running down from his chest to his legs.

The tip of a cross shaped blade of a spear has penetrated his body, and the man holding that weapon is Michael, in a crouching position below him.

Squinting his eyes and gritting his teeth in pain, Ubica asks, “How?”

“Are you surprised? I have the power to freely move through light, I can get from point A to point B faster than anyone.”

Travelling as fast as the speed of light is something that should be physically impossible. Even if the laws of physics didn't exist and it were actually possible, the human body would literally fall apart by moving at such a speed. But after a thousand years of nonstop training, Michael has turned himself to become one with light, thus making it his most powerful weapon.

Michael pulls his spear out of Ubica’s solar plexus and kicks him to the ground; he stands over Ubica and points his spear down at him, signifying a position of victory.

“My oh my how the roles have changed. All of that delusional nonsense you were just spouting, the the truth is, the best you can do is be pitiful to me. That’s not good enough of an apology! ”

Ubica takes his free hand and puts it on his chest and over his wound, a black smoke rises and molds around his hand as his body is rejuvenated with a new found determination.

“Pity me all you want, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to defeat you here.”

“Tch.”

Michael clicks his tongue and another bright light forms, this time around his spear and his whole body, he is preparing the attack he used to rip the flesh clean off Cerberus.

The black smoke engulfs Ubica in a similar fashion and it becomes apparent that these two attacks signify the light vs. darkness that was spoken of. The two forces are about to collide when some voices are heard out in the distant jungle.

Ubica and Michael halt and they move away from each other.

Michael’s glow fades and a bitter expression forms on his face when he says, “Damn it... there are still people here.”

He scowls at Ubica and then turns and walks away, causing Ubica to wonder just where in the world he is going.

Sensing this, Michael states, “I made a deal with God that I’d fulfill my job as a Gatekeeper. As much as I hate to stop this battle, protecting the Gate is my number one priority.”

In a quick flash, Michael vanishes and retreats back to the Gate.

This could either be considered good luck or misfortune, there is a possibility that Ubica could’ve been defeated in that attack; but at the same time it could’ve gone the other way.

With the adrenaline of the battle wearing off after the Angel’s sudden departure, Ubica can really feel the pain of the wound in his chest.

“Shit.” he says in annoyance as he staggers up to his feet. “I hope this doesn’t take too long to heal.”

He buttons up his coat to keep things such as dirt from entering the wound as the black smoke of Dantega begins slowly repairing damaged tissue.

Contemplating how he is to fight against Michael’s power, his thought process is broken when he hears a gentle voice calling his name from behind him, a voice that instantly saps the feeling of pain that’s currently plaguing him.

“...Ubica.”

He quizzically turns around and sees a sight that makes him drop his sword in disbelief; Messor is standing there holding her hands over her mouth in joy.

He doesn’t say a word, the look in his eyes does all the speaking for him, she’s alive and well and he is overrun with the feeling of relief.

He slowly walks to her and she walks to him, this will undoubtedly result in an emotional embrace.

That is, until Ubica is decked by a girl with magenta hair shouting,

“Ubica!!!”

“Oooaaaahhh!!?”

Being leveled flat on his back so suddenly knocked the wind out of him, while struggling to catch his breath, he locked eyes with the person who attempted to tackle him.

“Tsubiri..?”

She is sitting on his lap and looking down on him with a huge smile on her face, he instantly sits up and gives her a big hug.

“You’re okay! Hahaha you’re okay!!”

A vein bulges on Messor's forehead as she attempts to ignore their happy reunion, they’re almost too happy to see each other as he lifts her up and they begin dancing around ridiculously.

“Oh how I’ve missed your stupid face Ubica!” she says as they dance.

“I could say the same for you!”

They both share a laugh as they insult each other and it makes one wonder just what kind of relationship they actually have.

This is quickly interrupted by Daey dashing in between them to break it up.

“Okay you two can stop this shameless display of affection now, some of us would like to enjoy being reunited as well!”

“Whooah, it’s Daey too!”

His excitement quickly shifts in her direction, he grabs Daey from under her arms and throws her into the air.

“Kyyaaah!?”

He catches her and starts laughing, “I’m so happy to see you!”

“Welcome back, I’m glad to see you’re alright.” she replied with a warm smile.

“Geez, he looks a little too excited just seeing the girls. He didn’t even notice that we’ve been standing here this whole time!” Strauphius said with a sigh of exasperation.

Standing quietly next to him is Napoleon.

“Hey guys how’s it going?” Ubica asks without much care in his voice.

“What the hell kind of greeting is that!?”

“Hahahaha I’m just kidding.”

Napoleon chuckles slightly and gives Ubica a firm handshake. “It’s good to see you.”

“Likewise... so where’s Trojia?”

Before Napoleon can answer, a small voice is heard from farther back in the group of pirates.

“I’m right here.”

“Trojia! Huaaah what a relief, all of you guys made it here safely.”

Ubica walks up to her and puts his hand out to pat her on the shoulder, but to his surprise she flinches and backs off quickly.

“Huh?”

“I hate to interrupt this warm reunion but we’d like to get to the Gate already.” Caesar chimes in, his words expressing his obvious annoyance.

“R-Right.” Ubica says, still a little confused at Trojia’s defensive reaction. “There’s a lot for me to explain to you about the Gatekeeper, before that though, is it true that Abaddon had come to your ship while I was away?”

After getting the rundown about the happenings on the ship, Ubica explains the situation at hand with Michael.

To be perfectly honest, despite the relief of hearing about how they survived their dangerous encounter with Abaddon, he doesn’t know how to think about what happened aboard the Dandelion. He has found himself most worried about why exactly Damien showed up, and what he did to Trojia.

While all of them walk towards the inevitable battle with Michael, he pulls Trojia aside and asks, “Are you really okay?”

Trojia doesn’t even turn her head to acknowledge him when she coldly replies, “I’m fine.”

“U-Um...”

He doesn’t know how he is supposed to respond to her curt answer, and while thinking of something, she speeds up her walking and leaves him behind.

(Something is definitely off with her...) he thinks to himself.

Immediately after thinking that, a wave of physical discomfort hits him, the pain of his chest wound pounds on his body like a jolt of lightning. In his happiness, he had forgotten how weak his body is and how bad of a spot he’s in. He can hardly breathe.

“Hnnggh!” he groans, the sound of his blood falling to the ground in a stream beats his ears.

His legs buckle momentarily and he falls to his knees. Quickly rising back to his feet so no one notices, the realization hits him when he says under his breath,

“Damn it… this wound is going to be a big problem."

(PART 3)

“What is this place?” Niera asks as she looks around in awe.

She, along with the others have found themselves standing on a narrow stone bridge floating impossibly in what seems to be a starry sky. There is no ground below them, but rather, the many different colors of what space looks like through infrared. A 360 degree view of such a sight is astonishing.

Their voices echo as they all question themselves in the same manner.

“This is the pathway to the other side.” said Phoenix, standing farther up on the bridge alongside Xavier.

“I’m glad to see that you waited for us.” Rage says sarcastically.

As if choosing not to notice, Phoenix replies, “We would’ve left you long ago if it wasn’t for that." He then points towards the end of the mysterious bridge. There is a large door that blends in with the surrounding area so well it’s almost difficult to distinguish. “Take a look above it.”

Resting a few feet atop the door is an old looking clock that has its hour hand resting on the 11 and its minute hand around the 1; signifying that it is 11:05. With each second, the old clock tick-tocks as any other would, but that clicking sound is intensified by the odd echo that this strange place holds.

“What’s that for?”

“When we got here it was 10:47 and this room was filled with the light blue of the daylight. We were going to go through when all the sudden I had a feeling that the time on that clock meant something.”

“Like what?”

“Once the hour turned to 11, the scenery around this odd place changed to the night sky you see now.”

Rage taps his scythe in the ground and matches the sound of the clock’s ticking as he wonders aloud, “Could that be important in regards to the other side?”

“I think it does.” Phoenix answers as he heads to the door and looks closer at that clock. “Remember learning about how the location of the Gates are supposed to change after the first level? I’m willing to bet that each hour that clock turns, walking through this door will send you to a different location on the 3rd level.”

“That’d mean that it’s a crapshoot on where we end up.” Cyrus added.

“Exactly, we could end up in the middle of a desert or on an ice continent if we’re not lucky.”

The thought of walking into an overly exposed environment and making an attempt to blindly escape is discomforting to say the least. For example, if they end up somewhere on top of a mountain range with nothing to survive on and no villages around, it’d be impossible to escape that circumstance without having a couple lives lost in the process.

“B-But it is possible it could turn out in our favor too.” Sora says, without much conviction in her tone.

“I guess you can look at it that way, but it’d be a damn shame if we end up months away from the 3rd Gate.”

They all stand in silence and contemplate their situation when Rage once again taps his scythe on the ground, but this time it is loud enough to break their train of thought. “If that is the case, I think it is best that we wait for the others. We can’t afford to be split up on two different sides of the world once we all get there.”

“We also can’t afford to be sitting here for days, we’re on a bridge in the middle of nowhere.” Phoenix protests.

“As I’m sure you know, Ubica is on the island we just left.”

“And your point is?”

“If he’s there, the others aren’t far behind.”

Cyrus folds his arms and opines, “I hate to be a pessimist, but you heard the story that Ubica told us. We can’t even say for sure that Princess Daey and the rest are alive, there's no telling how long we'll wait here until we are forced to give up hope on them even coming at all.”

Rage understands where he’s coming from, even he himself is curious as to why he is so certain that they’re alive and well. But nonetheless, his instincts are telling him to wait it out.

“Listen, we won’t be waiting near that long. I’ll give them enough time to join us within the hour, if they don’t show, we’ll move along to the other side.”

“That seems like an awfully short time frame.” said Aria, reiterating the other's thoughts that the odds of that actually happening are slim to none.

“She’s right.” Phoenix says, “Do you honestly think that Ubica can defeat Michael and bring the others here in less than an hour?”

Knowing full well how preposterous his proposal actually is, Rage speaks with absolute certainty.

“They’ll be here.”

---

“We’re here!” Caesar says excitedly as he looks down on his map.

All the years of searching for the Gate have finally paid off. He and his men immediately start celebrating as they gaze upon the lake and the large set of stairs that lead up and through the waterfall. The crew can barely contain themselves; one man pops open a celebratory bottle of champagne and begins to spray it all over. Another man happens to be carrying a fiddle and decides to play a tune and sing; some men begin dancing and singing along with him. Even Caesar is having trouble holding himself back as an uncontrollable smile forms widely upon his face.

Ubica, who’s skin tone is growing ever more pale stares at them dejectedly, they may all be enjoying this moment, but he knows of the foreboding nature of the immediate future. They have no idea that at any moment, their dreams will be dashed by the Gatekeeper.

He calmly levels his breathing and thinks to himself, (Now where is he hiding?)

His green eyes scour the area around the waterfall in order to spot him, but nothing catches his sight.

“Hey Ubica... you said the Gatekeeper was Michael, right?” Messor asks, breaking Ubica’s concentration.

“Yeah that’s right.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“What do you mean?”

“The chances are, you’ll have to kill him in order for us to pass. Are you okay with doing something like that to an Angel?”

“I don’t have much of a choice.”

Messor smiles, what she is seeing out of him is the resolve that he has been lacking up to this point. She was always worried where his priorities were, and this at least gives her a hint as to where protecting the lot of them is. Just a few weeks earlier he most likely would have tried to avoid killing him, and somehow do it while keeping the rest safe in the process.

“You’ll be able to defeat him again I’m sure… But this time I’m going to help you.”

Ubica reveals a strained smile, “Thank you, I-----“

Something interrupts him; a little white light flashes in front of Messor’s chest and Ubica instantly knows what it is.

Michael appears out of that light directly in front of Messor, he arrives so quickly that she doesn’t even have the faintest idea that he’s there.

“Look out!!”

Ubica shouts as he dashes in front of her as quickly as he can, and is met with a fist moving at the speed of light directly into chest.

Michael’s punch lands right at the center of his wound, the pressure of that punch sends so much air through his wound that it rushes through his body and escapes out of his back, causing a wind that’s carrying a large amount of his blood to blow out onto Messor’s face.

The blood sprayed out of him like a whale blowing water through its air hole while coming to the ocean’s surface to breathe. A red mist is sent about the jungle, giving the already wet air an eerie humidity.

Ubica crumbles to the ground in a heap, the hit was so hard it made breathing impossible, all he can do is writhe in pain as he helplessly looks up at Michael.

“Well look here, the Idolatress has returned from the pit as well.”

Messor is still in shock, having Ubica’s blood spray on her like that has her frozen.

Ubica shakily reaches out his hand, attempting anything he can in order to make Michael stop.

The Archangel points his spear at Messor’s face, and from the tip a light forms. “One would call this killing two nasty birds with one stone, wouldn’t you say?”

The light grows and grows until it is shot in a beam, the light screams towards Messor’s face when its brightness knocks her back to her senses. She forms a little black butterfly in front of her nose and the two power sources collide.

BAAAAANGGG!!

Michael’s light destroys the butterfly, but it gives Messor just enough time to get out of the way and avoid being hit.

Unfortunately, the crew members behind her weren’t so lucky as to see what exactly was happening.

The man playing the fiddle is obliterated and the other man spraying the champagne bottle is ripped to pieces. About five others share the same fate.

Once the smoke clears, panic strikes them as they all run away in different directions; Caesar on the other hand is motionless in shock. The whole thing just happened in less than a second, in the last blink of an eye he and his men were celebrating, now, they are running for their lives from a man who has literally appeared out of nowhere.

A few of the crew run and swim across the shallow lake and toward the stairs leading through the waterfall, even in their panic they know that being safe is only a few steps away through the Gate.

Michael’s teal eyes shift to them and he clicks his tongue in annoyance, he disappears in a flash of light and reappears an instant later directly in front of the men, impeding their path. He mercilessly swings his spear and cuts one man in half, the other two men once again try to flee but with one more swing, a flash of light envelopes them and they disintegrate.

Michael continues to go about his killing spree on all of the men running around the lake. He is hurriedly doing so as well, he wants to get this over with so he can enjoy the moment he finally destroys Ubica. But in his mind, his duty comes first, he must protect the Gate, not even one soul can go through without his permission.

“Is that the same Michael from before!?” Messor shouts in disbelief.

“N-No...” Ubica struggles to say as he shoddily stands to his feet, Messor quickly rushes to him and helps him up. “He’s no longer an Angel. His soul has been destroyed by the darkness I’ve planted there.”

“..?”

“That is why I must kill him... It’s my responsibility.”

He takes Messor’s shoulders and gently pushes her away from him. “Go and get the others, when you have an opening, I need you to take them through the Gate.”

“I’m not going to leave you behind again! Especially not in this state!”

Ubica’s injury is extremely bad; it’s a minor miracle that he’s still even breathing, the hole in his chest and back is bigger than a baseball, and there's a good chance that that size of a chunk is missing from one of his lungs.

“You have to, with his ability to move through light there’s no way I can protect everyone. You have to get them to the other side.”

Messor grits her teeth and looks away, she reluctantly replies, “Fine.”

“It’s a little too late for that Ubica.”

Ubica turns to see Michael, holding two frightened girls under his arms.

“Tsubiri! Daey!”

Michael laughs as Ubcia’s face contorts with fear. “Hahahahaha! While I was killing off those weaklings, I took a good look at my surroundings and noticed the faces of these two girls... They were looking at your blood with such horror in their eyes that I instantly knew.”

“L-Let them go.” Ubica demands through his shaking mouth.

Standing behind Michael and staring in surprise is Napoleon and Strauphius, just a moment earlier they were guarding both Tsubiri and Daey. They have no clue how they ended up under his arms, even Strauphius, whose specialty is extremely fast movement couldn’t even fathom the speed of Michael.

“They love you. And judging by the look in your eyes, it’s reciprocated.” Michael says, the smile leaving his face, replaced by a bitter frown.

An eerie silence falls upon his and Ubica’s glare; he squeezes harder on Tsubiri and Daey’s necks, causing them to choke when he asks,

“Tell me Ubica... which one do you love more?”

---

11:23 is what the clock indicates above the door connected to the strange stone bridge in the middle of nowhere. Almost twenty minutes have passed, and nothing has changed from before. The only occurrence is that the stars and what seem to be the galaxies that surround them swirl and change color from green to red, blue to gold, purple to yellow and so on. This certainly helps the time fly by, but nonetheless the silence is borderline maddening, adding to the every growing feeling of disbelief brewing in their chests.

“Only thirty seven minutes huh? What do you think the chances of them actually coming are?" Aria asks Cyrus, who is leaning up against the railing of the bridge and looking out at the amazing scenery.

“One in a million.”

“That low huh?”

“Well yeah, think about it.”

Aria throws her head into her arms as she leans on the railing as well, “Hmmm I guess so... It sure would be great if they came.”

“Yeah, it sure would.”

---

“Y-You’re telling me to choose?” Ubica says as his eyes grow larger with each breath.

“Doesn’t this situation seem familiar to you!?”

He’s right, this is the exact situation the two of them had in the past, except this time the roles are reversed. If the outcome has any similarities to what it was then, it would mean that Tsubiri and Daey will die a horrible death.

“Don’t do this Michael! They have nothing to do with this!”

Ubica’s yelling causes blood to squirt out of his stomach. He falls to one knee in pain when he feels his blood exit his body.

“If they have anything to do with you, then they have everything to do with this! It’s only fair, right!? An eye for an eye, right!?”

The features of Michael’s face contrive into that of a monster.

“You’re wrong! They’re innocent!”

“So were Catherine and Margaret!!!”

Looking from a safe distance away is Trojia, she has seen this scene before. She recognized Michael the moment she laid eyes on him and knows just how much suffering Ubica has put him through. Though she is terribly worried about the well-being of Tsubiri and Daey, she can understand where he’s coming from. He was forced into killing his two lovers in a gruesome way with his own attack, how else would one expect him to feel?

To her, she agrees with his inability to forgive Ubica. She had witnessed it firsthand and knows an atrocity like that cannot simply be overlooked through the passing of time or because of Ubica’s current nature. The 3 years worth of images that Trojia had to endure have tainted him forever, so much so she can’t even mutter a word, even when her friend’s lives are in danger.

Ubica knows this as well, in fact, he’s been punishing himself over it ever since he escaped the pit. He understands that he doesn't deserve any form of forgiveness, but that doesn’t stop him from forming a deep frown and retorting,

“No, they weren’t.”

“What?”

Everything grows silent, Trojia is in disbelief at his words, and Michael’s face twists in a weird way.

“They weren’t innocent.” Ubica says, “They were my enemies in a war. The means weren’t justified, but the ends were.”

Tsubiri and Daey are clueless as to what he is saying, even being held hostage their focus is solely on his words.

“Every Angel, every being from Heaven was my enemy in that war. None of you were any different from the other. Anyone who stood on that battlefield was there to fight, they were there knowing that there was a chance they might die.”

“You bastard!! How can you so shamelessly say something like that!? Michael shouts, putting more pressure onto the necks of the two girls with his trembling hands.

“Because I’m right! And you know it. Using those two to fulfill your spite for me is wrong, you’re nothing but a spineless coward! They are mere humans put in an awful situation by Damien who are just trying to get back home. There are people back on Earth who love them and are awaiting their return that have nothing to do with the two of us. If you can so ruthlessly crush that innocence, then you are doing the Devil’s work with your own two hands!”

Michael’s eyes have shrunken to such a size that only the white of his eyes can be seen; there is a fire burning in his chest as his mind churns uncontrollably.

“Tell me Michael! Are you truly willing to sink even lower than me for the sake of revenge!?”

Michael takes long and deep breaths as Ubica’s question pounds in between his ears.

Has the Archangel really become someone who’ll kill off two girls just to get back at him? Will it really bring him that much pleasure?

The answer becomes clear as the feeling of a tooth cracking under the weight of him gritting his teeth in anger hits him. He takes another long inhale and exhales harshly, he shoots Ubica a cold glare and says expressionlessly,

“I said pick one.”

---

Rage and the others are still waiting on the strange bridge that connects the second and third levels of Purgatory. The ticking of the clock echoes and it’s time shows 11:40, only 20 more minutes remain until their departure.

Steadily becoming more impatient in the silence, Rage walks over to Phoenix and makes conversation, “To think that Michael has become a revenge thirsty man... It’s a shame.”

Phoenix likely knows all too much of the feeling of pity for him, the two have been good friends for thousands of years. Before Phoenix’s time, Michael was at the right seat of God in the early days, he had even been the one to banish Satan to Hell.

Phoenix already bears the pain of witnessing every Angel being slaughtered before his eyes by Ubica, to have the last remaining Angel lose his soul to hate is extremely disturbing to him.

“It is. I never thought he’d be the one to let evil consume him.”

“You didn’t try to stop him?”

“No, just because I am who I am, doesn’t mean I'm obliged to make decisions on how my underlings live their lives. Besides, if he was really to be kept from falling from grace and becoming evil, God would’ve stopped him before he could even get a chance.”

“You mean---“

“He’s not evil!” Sora yells, her voice echoes inside the strange world they’re in. Not allowing Rage to finish, she presses on, “There’s no way that man is evil... He saved me twice, even though he didn’t know that I was with you guys, he still saved my life while assuming I was attempting to pass through the Gate at some point. For all he knew, I was with the pirates.”

“I can’t explain why he did that for you, but you saw the look in his eyes, he’s gone. He’ll do anything to settle his score with Ubica, even if it means forsaking himself.” Phoenix said, looking displeased at his own words.

“You’re wrong. There’s good in him, I know it.”

---

“I said pick one damn it!” Michael shouts.

“I can’t do that.” Ubica replies, “Please, they need to get back to Earth safely; a countless number of lives are at stake.”

“I don’t care! Just do it!”

At this point, it becomes obvious that there will be no changing Michael’s mind with words. If Ubica actually picks which girl it is he loves, he’ll kill her without a moment’s hesitation. There is now only one option, and that is to pry them loose from his arms.

He desperately wants to avoid doing something that can put them in harm’s way, so he gives him one last answer.

“No.”

“Tch.” Michael clicks his tongue, he releases his hold on Daey and Tsubiri and tosses them to the ground. “All I wanted was for you to pick one... I never said I’d do anything to them if you did.”

“...What?”

Ubica is standing there in shock, watching as Napoleon and Strauphius rush up and take Tsubiri and Daey away from Michael.

Was he not going to harm them all along? Or was this some kind of test?

“Hahahahahaha.” Michael starts laughing, “My oh my how the roles have changed.”

This might be the third time he’s said this, but what he said does hold true. Almost everything that has happened so far has been a repeat of what happened during the battle of Armageddon.

“It has changed in so many ways, except for one little thing.” He points his finger out at Ubica and says, “I’m not you... Nor will I ever be you. Although I’m running low on the good in me, I need to keep you lower than me where you belong.”

Michael turns away from Ubica and addresses the rest, “You are all travelling back to Earth in order to stop a war, correct?”

Napoleon doesn’t know how he has obtained that information but replies, “That’s correct.”

“Then go.”

They pause momentarily and don’t move a step.

The Angel shrugs his shoulders and says, “You can stay here if you’d like. Just so you know, whoever doesn’t pass through that Gate and decides to help Ubica in any way will be considered an enemy. Which means I’ll kill you without a second thought.”

“T-Thank you Michael...”

“I don’t want your damn thanks, Antichrist.” Michael spat. “If you want to thank someone, thank the Messiah.”

“The Messiah?”

“Oh? You never knew huh? Not that it matters now anyways, you’ll never know.”

Caesar and the few remaining men left in his crew don’t ask any questions, they immediately rush through the water and up the stairs.

Once at the waterfall, he turns and shouts, “I wish you luck Ubica! But we must be going, I can’t risk losing all of my men trying to help you.”

Ubica smiles and waves, “That’s fine. Thanks for fulfilling your promise by bringing all of my friends here unharmed.”

Caesar gives him a passing salute, and along with the 3 remaining men, dashes through the waterfall and through the Gate.

---

The door from the second level of Purgatory suddenly opens, and four people enter in a bright flash of light. The light is blocking the view for Rage and the others so their hopes rise in the thought that the people they are expecting will be the ones making their way in.

But when the light fades, they are met by a large black man and a few rough looking men, dashing their hopes instantly.

“Who are you?” Caesar asks in surprise, “And what the hell is up with this place?”

Rage thinks that these men must be some pirates that were lucky enough to get through the Gate during the confusion of the battle between Ubica and Michael. So he doesn’t pay them much mind when he points behind him and says, “The next level is through that door.”

Ernest and his men smile and rush to the other side of the bridge. “Thanks pal! I don’t know what you’re waiting for, but we’re outta here.”

Rage turns away in annoyance and sends them off with the sound of a clicking tongue.

And just like that, Cesar and his men finally reach the next level, after trying for so many years and coming up short, the feeling is bliss when they walk through the door and disappear in another light.

“Wait a second, doesn’t that guy’s description seem familiar?” asks Aria as she tilts her head in wonder.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m recalling the story Ubica told us about how the others were on some ship... And that the ship’s captain was a big black guy with an eyepatch.”

“That could’ve been him!” Cyrus exclaims.

“If that’s the case, then the others must be here as well.” Rage said calmly, deliberately choosing not to match the excitement of the others.

He takes a gander at the clock above the door and sees the time 11:49.

“Just a little while longer...”

---

“You heard him guys, get going.” Ubica says, his knees are still shaking from the wound in his stomach.

“There’s no way I’m leaving you here like this.” Messor replies.

There is a seriousness in her voice that can’t be tempted nor swayed. She has every intention of fighting to the death alongside him right here and now.

Ubica smiles gently and walks to her, “Listen, the best way for you to help me is to take care of the others once you all get to the other side.”

“Stop it with this nonsense already! I’m tired of doing things for them! It’s time for me to fight with you!”

“Don’t be a child, Messor.” He takes his shaky hands and rests them on her shoulders, “I know what it is that you really want, but I can’t promise that to you until they’re all safe and returned home. This is the only way to ensure that result, in this world I can only rely on you. It’s always been that way.”

“....”

He moves his face closer to her so he can whisper in her ear, “So please Messor, it will all be okay in the end if we keep walking down this path.”

Messor blushes, those tender words of his felt honest, and it has swayed her into agreeing with his resolve.

“Okay… I’ll trust you on this. When the time comes you’ll give me what I want?”

“I promise I will.”

Kissing him on his cheek, she takes her steps away from him. But not before leaving him with some lingering black monarch butterflies that begin fluttering around his wound.

“This will help replenish what you’ve lost. Use it to kill this Archangel bastard.”

Feeling an immediate form of rejuvenation, Ubica smiles and says, “Thank you, Messor, for everything.”

She walks to Napoleon’s side and the two make their way up the stairs to the Gate.

Napoleon, looking down on Ubica from atop the stairs, faintly smiles and simply says, “Win.”

Ubica holds his thumb out and smiles as he watches the two go through the second Gate.

Now next up is Daey, who’s showing a face that is obviously reluctant to leave.

“I really feel like I should stay.”

A bold statement coming from her, even though Messor has given her some kind of ability, she certainly realizes that it is no match for Michael.

“Don’t worry, I’ll meet you on the other side.”

“I have this terrible feeling that even if you make it there, I still won’t see you for a long time. Ubica, I really think I should stay, I think we all should.”

Ubica glances over to Strauphius and gives him a head movement.

Struaphius scratches his head and says, “Yeah yeah I gotcha.”

Even with the injuries he sustained from Damien on the ship a couple days back, he quickly uses his intense speed and grabs Daey, and before she knew it, she was being pulled under the waterfall.

“Let me go!”

“I’m sorry Daey, but your sister and the others are waiting to meet you. Go and be with them, and I’ll be with all of you again soon.”

“You better make it soon, Ubica! We all have to make it home together.”

Strauphius pulls her deeper into the waterfall, even he doesn't want to leave without saying his peace, so he shows Ubica a dumb smile and says, “You’re a lucky guy, Ubica, don’t go tossing this affection away by losing this fight.”

Ubica smiles in reply as the two go into the Gate.

Shifting his attention to the last two still present, Tsubiri and Trojia, the expression on his face communicates to them his desire to follow the rest.

“You don’t need to tell me twice.” Tsubiri says bitterly as she walks up the stairs.

Trojia doesn’t say a word as she silently follows.

“Wow Tsubiri, you’re awfully tame right now.” Ubica says, cracking a little smile.

“I know when and when not to be. There’s no choice in this situation right?”

“...Yeah.”

“Yup yup, noooo choice at all.” She said as she reached the waterfall and walked through.

The last one is Trojia, she hasn’t said more than a few cold words to Ubica since their reunion but now her heart yearns to speak the words that continue to build in her chest. She looks down to Ubica, and tears begin forming in her eyes. This is it, this is what she wanted to say to Ubica since she reached the island.

The words struggle to come out, but when they do, she says,

“Goodbye, Ubica...”

She doesn’t give him a chance to say anything back as she rushes through the waterfall.

Even Ubica felt that this goodbye wasn’t the kind that expresses the desire or belief that they will be seeing each other again, It was more of a farewell to someone that will never return.

Ubica doesn’t fully get it, but Trojia does, she knows exactly what her words meant.

This goodbye was directed at the feelings she once had for him. This is goodbye to all the happy moments they’ve shared together, this is goodbye to the feeling of warmth and security she always had when she was with him. This is goodbye to the smiles they were so easy to join in together.

From the bottom of her heart, this is simply, the most sincere goodbye to her love for him.

“Now that they’re all gone, what do you say that we finish what we started?” Michael said, stretching his neck as though he were bored witnessing such tender acts of friendship.

Ubica picks his sword off the ground and swings it in front of him, “Let’s do this.”

---

“Oh my goodness you all really made it!!!” Aria shouts as she runs up to her brother and gives him a giant hug.

Daey and Niera do the same; the reunion is officially underway.

The only one not seeming to care about the reunion is Trojia, she was the last in and is wiping the remnants of her tears off her cheeks.

Rage notices this and asks her, “So where’s Ubica?”

She knows that he is fighting Michael at the moment, but for some reason those words won’t exit her mouth, she fears that if they knew, they’d likely want to wait. She stays silent and drops her head slightly.

Rage looks back at the clock and sees that it is 11:58.

“There’s not much time left if we all want to end up in the same spot on the next level. Is Ubica going to make it or what?”

“He’s battling Michael as we speak.” Napoleon says.

For some odd reason Rage is relieved to hear Napoleon’s voice after all this time apart. He sighs and replies, “If that's the case we might as well wait for this part of the world to pass us by. I’m sure he’ll be here within the next hour.”

“No.” Trojia mutters.

Rage shifts his glare to Trojia, who is standing there as if she has something to say.

“We need to leave him behind...” she says, her voice growing more resolute with each word, “He told us that we should move forward without him, so we should do just that.”

"We also don't truly know what happens when that clock reaches 12." added Phoenix. "For all we know, we could get stuck in here permanently if we miss our window. I gambled on my passage by waiting for you all to arrive, I'd rather not risk it again while Ubica settles the score with Michael."

Still a little hesitant, he looks to Messor, who is standing by the the entranceway underneath the clock with her arms folded as if resigning herself to whatever they decide on. She knows full well what Ubica wants in this situation, and truly believes that whatever choice they make will lead her to him in the end.

Seeing that Messor has no intention of inserting her opinion on the matter was all the convincing Rage needed; though he doesn't understand Trojia's sudden willingness to leave Ubica in a dangerous situation, he does understand Phoenix's reasoning for doing so.

He turns and addresses everyone, “Alright! We need to get through that door before the hour changes. Hurry!”

All of them rush through the door just in the nick of time, as soon as the door shuts in their wake, a bell rings and the starry scenery turns into a sky of dusk, a beautiful sunset through immense clouds has taken the place of the stars.

With them gone, the clock noise keeps ticking and the odd echo still arrives after each second.

But another noise is adding to the rhythm of the ticking clock.

It is the sound of footsteps.

Someone has decided to gamble on their future by waiting for the clock to strike 12.

---

CRASHHHH!

Ubica slams into a thick tree and the impact splinters it violently.

Michael travels through his light and ends up directly in front of him.

He swings his spear and Ubica ducks as fast as he can, narrowly avoiding the same damage the tree took when it is split in two like a piece of paper. Ubica slides out to the left and jumps onto the lake, he slams his free hand down and a huge snake-like form of water forms right beside him and zooms its way at Michael.

Michael jumps out of the way but when the water crashes onto the ground it reforms and chases after him.

Ubica is controlling the way the water moves with his mind alone, and when he sees that his attacks aren’t keeping up with the Angel, he twists his hand and the water breaks apart.

Now separated, they freeze over and turn into razor sharp icicles moving twice as fast toward Michael’s direction.

It would seem he is a little worried about this and swings his spear in a 360 degree turn, destroying the ice and sending shards flying everywhere.

(Why didn’t he use his light?)

Ubica asks himself as he takes this opportunity to rush him and take a slice with his sword.

With a little direction change in Michael’s center of gravity, he ends up face to face with Ubica; from in front of him, a light forms and shoots out in a tremendous blast. Ubica forms a shield of darkness in front of him but the impact of the two forces still results in Michael’s win.

Ubica is pushed to the side and skips onto the water before catching his footing. He looks up quickly and notices that the light that Michael attacked him with is still moving in the same straight line in which it was sent. But what really catches his eye is the fact that when the light plows into the trees of the jungle, nothing is damaged.

“!?”

Not giving him much time to even think, Michael forms right beside him and sends a hard elbow directly at Ubica’s face, the impact of which pushes him about ten meters away along the lake’s surface.

“I’m too fast for you to hold your own against me, Ubica. My light is impossible to outrun.”

Ubica stands back up atop the water and wipes the blood from his mouth with his sleeve. “I know, but I don’t think that your light is all you make it out to be.”

“.....”

“If it was, you’d use it constantly. Every attack and defense would be with it. But from what I can see, it only has its certain functions.”

"....."

"I'm right aren't I? You can only use your light on living things."

“Hmmm, an interesting deduction, Antichrist. Let’s see what you think when I do this!”

Michael swipes the water with the tip of his spear and sends a torrent of water splashing all around, from behind that, three bright lights form and rise up above it in a triangular position. The three light’s shine and glow, reflecting off the water when all of the sudden Ubica feels as though he is surrounded by stars.

“This will throw away that theory of yours.” Michael snaps his finger.

Hundreds of light beams zoom at Ubica from every direction; there is no avoiding an impact. He can’t jump because there are beams coming down on him, he can’t go side to side either, and he can’t dive into the water because light is exemplified through shallow water.

“Shit!”

All he can do is brace himself and hope that beams don’t skewer every last inch of his body, he guards himself and slams his eyes shut when...

“NNNNGGGGUUUAAHHHHHH!?!?”

Michael is heard screaming and the beams of light halt and drop back into the lake in the form of helpless water droplets.

When all is said and done, Michael is floating face first on the lake’s surface, his body smoldering in an odd smoke.

“Huh?” Ubica asks himself.

And then, the voice of a girl is heard from the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the Gate.

“I remember reading somewhere that the strength of electricity multiplies in water.”

Standing there, with a helpful smile on her face is Tsubiri.

It takes a moment for Ubica to even process what has just happened.

“Tsubiri!? Why are you still here!?”

She doesn’t answer the question directly, but instead takes a seat on one of the steps and says, “Promises work both ways right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You promised me that you’d stay by my side, remember? Well you can’t do that if I’m not with you.”

“You idiot! Do you have any idea what you’ve just done!? When he gets up he’s going to try to kill you! I wanted you all to leave so I could keep you safe!”

“I know.” she quickly replies, “But you should know by now that I’m willing to take that risk.”

“Damn it Tsubiri, this wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“You don’t have to be the cool guy all the time, Ubica. Especially not with me because I already see you for the dork you really are.”

“Now’s not the time for jokes!”

“Hmmm I suppose now isn't the time for jokes, but it sure is a good time to run away, right?”

“..?”

“Since the beginning you were in no condition to fight. You would’ve died I’m sure of it. If I knew all this and still left you alone, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

She’s right, Ubica was more or less on the verge of death before the battle with Michael even started. He doubted his chances of actually winning without giving himself time to heal, moving around was only going to make the wound worse.

“Tsubiri...”

“Now come get me already! I can’t swim!”

Ubica starts walking to her, “Like I’d fall for that again.”

Ubica walks atop the water, in order to get to her he has to walk right past the downed Michael, however, before he could his leg is grabbed violently.

“!?”

Michael is glaring up at him with red eyes and a frown. “That girl is no longer innocent.”

The Angel makes his way up, using Ubica as a boost to pull himself to his feet but Ubica won’t let it happen. With his free foot he viciously kicks Michael in the side, making him lose his grip and sending him flying across the lake.

Now the sense of urgency kicks in, in his condition there is no way he can protect Tsubiri and defeat Michael at the same time. He runs to the bottom of the stairs, takes Tsubiri into his arms and runs off as fast as he can.

From behind him he can hear the raspy and angered voice of Michael shouting,

“I’ll find you, I swear to God himself! The moment you shine a light, I’ll be there to kill you both!!”

Hearing that as they make their way through the darkness of the jungle makes their spines tingle.

Although Ubica is used to it, Tsubiri is quite frightened, “That guy... he really hates you.”

“He does.”

“What did you do to him?”

“Something awful.”

She stays silent for a moment, then looks him square in the face when she says, “Will you tell me?”

Ubica doesn’t answer, instead his eyes are focused on the path through the jungle in which he’s running. It’s as though he didn’t want her to ask and now is trying to avoid answering by staying silent. Normally he can get away with a polite refusal, but judging by the hot feeling of her glare beating on the side of his face, and the situation they’ve found themselves in, there’s no avoiding it.

Without shifting his glare from the jungle he answers, “If you’re really prepared to know what I am, then fine, I’ll tell you everything.”

Tsubiri’s eyebrows steepen in determination, “I’m prepared.”

---

“O-Oh my goodness that’s quite the story.” Tsubiri says in disbelief upon hearing Ubica’s past.

He went into every detail, from the moment he was born all the way through to his rule over the world, and his role in the Battle of Armageddon. He’s revealed it all, including his relationship with Messor, and he explained the reason why Michael hates him so much.

The two have found a shelter in a conveniently found cave a couple miles away from the Gate. It really couldn’t have worked out any better because the cave already has leaves padding the hard rock ground and a used fire pit inside. It would seem that this cave has been used by somebody a few years back; it is likely that some pirates camped here in search of the Gate when it was located on this island the last time before being changed to a different location.

A spot of luck to say the least, the cave is so deep that they can light a fire to keep warm and not have to worry about its light reaching Michael.

Ubica is flat on his back while Tsubiri is sitting beside him, leaning up against the side of the cave.

She has given him first aid with medicinal plants from around the jungle, she happened to know of some due to her training as a royal guard. To cover the wound, she ripped Ubica’s coat and wrapped it around his torso tightly.

Along with Messor’s butterflies, he’s on the fast track to healing up as good as new.

“Are you happy now that you know?” Ubica asks, revealing a weak strained smile, “I can only imagine what you think of me after hearing that.”

Tsubiri stays silent for a moment, she still can’t fathom that Ubica was such an awful person in the past. She had certainly entertained the thought that he’s done something wrong by how all the enemies thus far treated him. She knew for sure that there was something, just not on a scale that large.

For a girl who has never really been out of the Castle grounds of La’Juune before being sent here to Purgatory, hearing of worlds beyond her reach being ruled and destroyed by the evil hand of Ubica is too hard to comprehend properly.

Nonetheless, she dispels those thoughts by shaking her head and answering, “I am happy... and I don’t think of you any differently.”

“You don't? How?”

“Listen Ubica, when was the last time you were that person? Truly, how long ago was it that you were actually the Antichrist?”

“...Over a thousand years.” Ubica answers, confused as to where she is going with this.

“Then tell me, who have you been since you got back to Earth? More importantly, who have you been since the two of us met?”

This question hits his chest so hard that his body jolts, he has no clue how to answer that. But he feels that the answer means something, he just can’t put it in words.

Tsubiri smiles and puts her hand on his shoulder, “You’re Ubica.”

A small breath of air escapes Ubica’s mouth.

“You’re not anything other than who you are. You are clumsy, dense, occasionally idiotic, but you are a good person Ubica. And think about it, if we do the math you’ve actually been good for a lot longer than you’ve been bad.” Passing that last bit off as somewhat of a lighthearted joke, she then looks to him tenderly before finishing. “I refuse to hold what you’re made of against you, especially since you’re doing the best you can now. I guess what I’m trying to say is... I'm glad that you are you.”

These are the words he’s wanted to hear for a long time now; this is what he has yearned to be looked upon as. She looks at him in a way that can’t see his evil, she looks at him as the person he truly is, not as the person he was. With those beautiful gold eyes of hers, she looks at the person who is obviously standing in front of her giving it his all.

Ubica throws his forearm over his eyes and desperately tries to fight back a smile. This strong feeling surging in his chest is giving him strength, and the person who placed that strong feeling in his heart is Tsubiri.

With his eyes still covered, his cheeks glow red when he says, “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, as long as it’s not something perverted.”

“It’s not gonna be perverted you idiot, don’t ruin the mood!”

“Hahaha I’m kidding, relax. What is it?”

Ubica takes a deep breath and turns his head away from her and softly says, “When a ‘person’ truly enjoys being around ‘someone’. And that ‘person’ is genuinely happy every time he sees that ‘someone’. And when that ‘someone’ always makes that 'person' laugh and have fun no matter what. And when the ‘person’ thinks that ‘someone’ is very beautiful… what do you suppose that means?”

“Umm... You lost me Ubica. Too many someones and persons.”

“Ugh, and you say I’m dense.”

“Well speak in a less confusing way and I can answer your damn question!”

“Just try to answer it the way I told you okay!? I don’t know any other way to explain it without embarrassing myself even more than I am now.”

Tsubiri scratches her head and rethinks what he said, “Hmmm, I think it means that the ‘person’ is in love with that ‘someone’.”

“Is love really something as simple as that?” Ubica asks softly.

“I believe so.” Tsubiri answers, not entirely sure of it herself.

Ubica’s shoulders scrunch up as he continues to block his eyes with his forearm, his whole demeanor shrinks slightly when he says in his softest voice,

“Then I think I’m in love with you.”

“What? I couldn't hear you.” she replies, putting her hand over her ear in order to hear better.

“I said I love you.“ he repeated himself in an even softer voice than before.

Tsubiri only caught the ‘I said I’ part of it. She frowns and pulls on his shoulder to make him face her.

“Look at me and speak up if you want me to hear you!”

Ubica quickly twists his body in frustration and reveals a bright red face when he shouts,

“I said I love you!”

“Whhhuuuaaaa!?!?” Tsubiri squeels as she jumps back against the cave wall in shock. “Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-You wha!?”

Her face is also shining red.

The two share an awkward silence as they both look away from each other like little school children after a valentine’s day gift exchange.

Tsubiri finally musters up the courage to speak but the only thing that comes out of her mouth is,

“I-I-Ieeeiiiiiiiiiyaaaaaa!?!?”

Ubica can’t help but be confused by her reply until a distinct sound hits his ears.

SPLASH!!!

“Hahh?”

Ubica looks to where Tsubiri once was and sees that she is no longer there, it’s like she had vanished into thin air.

“Ubica!!!”

Hearing her shout, he instantly becomes worried and quickly stands to his feet, grabbing his sword in the process.

“Are you okay!?”

“I’m down here!”

“Huh?”

Looking closely, the spot where Tsubiri once stood has been capsized; she had fallen through a sinkhole on the cave’s floor.

“You gotta come see this! Hurry up!”

Ubica, still a little frazzled, unhesitatingly jumps through the hole before looking through it. The next thing he knew, he’s under water. He feels the soft hands of Tsubiri pull him up and the first thing that hits him is the brilliant color of blue.

The two have found themselves in a solutional cavern; the water shines an amazing blue and mirrors the image of the limestone and dolomite rock surroundings. Up above, the three moons shine brightly down through a hole on the surface likely caused by a quake of some sort. There are what seems to be some kind of crystal lodged in the rock walls and the moonlight hitting those adds different colors such as green, red, yellow, purple and many more to the sensation of the cavern.

The water they are in is fairly warm because whatever warm air the sun gives to the innards of the cave gets trapped inside. This dream-like place would be a speleologist’s paradise.

“Wow this place is amazing!”

“I know right! It’s so pretty!”

They both exclaim, then the two accidentally bump shoulders and they both instantly realize what kind of situation they’re in. They are alone in this romantic setting so soon after one had just confessed to the other.

Despite the sudden realization of the moment, Tsubiri couldn’t be any happier, in fact, neither could Ubica. The two look into each other’s eyes as they float in the still water, the many colored lights help add beauty to them as they continue to stare in a gentle silence.

Tsubiri grabs Ubica’s hands underneath the crystal clear water, gets close enough to him where their bodies are touching and says,

“Say it one more time.”

When she asks this, for some odd reason Ubica finds it extremely easy to answer.

After a short pause he smiles and says,

“...I love you.”

Tsubiri tears up, she tries to hold it back but when she blinks they come sliding down her cheeks.

“What’s wrong?” Ubica asks.

“I can’t believe it... I’m so happy right now I could die.”

“What a time to use that figure of speech considering our situation.” Ubica replies.

“What a time to be dense and not let that slide.”

“Hehe, sorry sorry.”

“Just shut up for a second...”

Tsubiri presses her index finger on his lips and looks at him sensually.

She moves her face forward and kisses him.

Ubica wraps his arms around her waist and lifts her to his level. She throws her arms over his shoulders and they continue on.

“So this is what it feels like to really kiss someone.” she said with flushed cheeks.

“Was this your first kiss?”

“Well no not exactly...”

“Oh..." Ubica says awkwardly as he shifts his gaze. "Well who was it with?”

“It was with you obviously.”

“Wait a second, I don’t remember that!”

Tsubiri looks up in wonder, “Oh yeah, you were pretty much asleep.”

She is referring to the time in the tundra where she kissed Ubica, but he had unfortunately fallen unconscious just seconds before due to the cold.

“I knew it! You have been doing weird things to me in my sleep!”

“Wha? N-No there’s an explanation for that one I swear!”

Ignoring her, Ubica presses on, “Now that I think about it, there was that one time during the harvest festival when I woke up to you on my lap!”

“That’s explainable too!!!”

“Uaaaahhh I’m not listening!”

“Nooooooo you have to let me try to tell you what happened!!”

“Ngyyaahhh that hurts! Pulling my hair isn’t going to make me want to listen!”

Somehow, someway, the romance of the moment is shattered and results in the two yapping at each other like they always do.

Or perhaps the romance is still moving along just as it should, the way these two interact is the reason why they love each other. So perhaps this is the proper ending to a beautiful scene.

---

The next morning, Ubica is healed and back to full strength. He and Tsubiri reach the Gate to confront Michael once more; and sure enough, the Archangel is standing right there under the light of the morning sun.

“After some thinking, I realized that looking for you was pointless... I knew you’d have to come back to the Gate eventually.” Michael said, admitting that his thought process was a little sloppy due to his anger the night before.

Ubica and Tsubiri look at each other share a smile.

She takes a few steps to the right and lightning bolts form all around her.

Michael frowns upon looking at that, reminded that it was she who electrocuted him so badly it allowed an injured Ubica to escape.

He pulls his spear out of a light and postures himself in a battle stance. “I’ll be sure to kill you for interfering with my revenge.”

Ubica pulls his sword out, the same smile still on his face. “Not a chance, you won’t even get to touch her.”

“You stand in front of me with a new face, Ubica. It’s as though the guilt that you said you felt has gone.”

“No, it’s still there, and it always will be. But I won’t let it get in the way of my future.”

“So you’re willing to take the life of the last Angel. You do realize that means you’d have killed all of us if you were to succeed right?”

“That’s correct, if I must, I will kill you. But the only Angel I'll kill is you, and that is because I must take responsibility for the Antichrist’s role in turning you into the man you are now. I at least owe you that much.”

He talks as though the Ubica now is a completely different person than the Antichrist.

In many ways, that is the truth.

The two share memories and experiences, but they are not the same.

Both would be disgusted with each other if they were to meet.

The past doesn't define the present character of a man, no matter how ugly it was.

“Hmph! Then come! Try and take my life, Antichrist!”

Ubica charges at him atop the lake which now shines in sunlight.

He lets out a battle cry as he shouts, “I am only what I am right in front of you. I am Ubica!”

The two collide in the middle of the lake and a great explosion rings.

A light brighter than the sun blots out the sky, and once this white noise ends, the aftermath will surely reveal the victor.

An Angel's Revenge: (END)