Chapter 141: Metal Angels

Ramiel who saw the news, grasped Cindy's hand. "We're going to make a move." He looked at her with squinted eyes.

"What do you mean you're going to move?" Cindy was confused and he just looked at the sky when they exited the diner.

"Bahamut has forsaken Eos, Cindy. It's time for us to bolster our forces." He looked in a certain direction and that place was where Niflheim had their capital.

"I don't understand Ramiel..." Cindy started to get anxious because she was feeling something dangerous from him.

"It's simple, we attack the empire." He raised his hand and Bismarck uncloaked itself, appearing above Leide in which the whole region was covered by a shadow.

Her eyes almost popped out of her head and drones started dropping from Bismarck in order for the chefs to have something they'll use when they will attack.

"Come on, we have much to do." He guided the drones and started ordering them with his mind. And they continued the construction of the bat mobile.

While outside, the Machina drones were preparing something else. Much bigger, it had the shape of a person.

"Ramiel, talk to me... What is happening here?" Cindy couldn't quite understand and the chefs also stared at him with worry.

"Niflheim has used something dangerous against Lucis. Weapons of mass destruction you can say. So we can use it against them too." He nodded sagely and was satisfied by the progression of the drones.

Niflheim were creating their version of the diamond weapon. It was powered by magitek cores and their combination of the daemons with magitek.

It was much, much weaker than the real diamond weapon that could annihilate Insomnia like it was a turd on the road, but it was heavily destructive still.

"Attack... W-with that thing? And what is that? A ship? Who are you really?" Cindy had too many questions and too few answers.

"Well, you said to keep my secrets earlier. But I guess it's time to tell you? I'm Ramiel, my parents named me that as a guide of humanity. And I'll guide humanity here alright." He licked his lips and he wanted to pay Bahamut here a visit and have an enthusiastic walk.

"Ramiel, is that... Are you serious!?" Erina stared at the bare bones of the project he was creating right now.

"Is that a mecha!?" Erina's eyes shone and she was an avid reader of Eva, cross Ange, and Aldnoah zero. Not to mention the expansive universe of the mobile suits.

"Umu, you girls lack firepower. And we'll be having a counterattack." He gave the drones a stronger power source and the robots went even faster.

"Mechas!? And counterattack! We're going to war?" Ikumi gasped. "Hoh? Giant robots with giant lasers huh? Can't say that's not interesting." Rindou squinted her eyes and she could see the base being created in real time.

"So we're going to show your power Ramiel? My future husband should conquer the world right?" Alice smirked and her deviousness showed.

Cindy was shocked as mechs started to form at her very eyes. "Boy... Are you going to invade Niflheim?" Cid saw the advanced tech and he squinted his eyes.

"Yeah, honestly... Lucis must be so crap at their military affairs. They've received the favor of the astrals for 2000 years. But Niflheim conquered everything?" Ramiel shook his head in disappointment.

"And Regis is the 113th king? While their dynasty has only been 2 millennia... Then the average lifespan of a king is only to their teens? Makes sense, they must've died of incompetence." Ramiel squinted his eyes, square enix really rushed out this one.

"I guess he died of Regiside. Isn't that right?" Rindou had a huge grin on her face and Ramiel laughed at her pun.

"Yeah, yeah! I guess he didn't expect Niflheim's war crime... Guhahaha!" Ramiel high fived with Rindou and Cid looked at them exasperatedly.

"R-Ramiel... Rindou..." Cindy deadpanned at them and they coughed. "Ahem, yes we will attack at night. They won't see it coming." Ramiel smirked.

They hid the construction of the mechs and regieleki helped out with the huge amount of power they needed while Ramiel was briefing them on how to use the mechas.

Creating a deep dive neural interface. Basically a VR, he trained them in piloting them in order to cause maximum damage to the empire later.

And as expected, Rindou was a pyromaniac that liked to throw bombs and spells everywhere.

Erina was a methodical fighter that will dissect her enemies piece by piece. Analyzing you until you can't even touch her.

Ikumi thrived with precision and accuracy, having swords as her primary weapons. She really likes slicing things that feel like meat.

And Alice is the most dangerous of them all. She loved progression and technology. She read the manuals dutifully, learning, honing her understanding of her mech.

She was their ace pilot and most effective fighter. Alice was assigned as the commando while the others were working in a team.

Cindy was their strategist and she was responsible in watching over the battlefield while barking orders. Like an RTS, and her units were highly lethal mechas.

"What's gonna be your role Ramiel?" They asked him and he smirked. "I'll scare someone a bit." He took out a red materia and thought it would be appropriate for the original to meet the fake.

While they were strategizing and practicing, a group of e-boys arrived at hammerhead with the convertible, Regalia.

"Excuse me~ we need a mechanic." Prompto called for someone and Cindy couldn't exactly shoo them away, she was a mechanic at heart after all.

Though she clicked her tongue, because of course. Learning about machines of war was much more satisfying.

"Welcome to hammerhead, how can I help ya?" Cindy saw Regalia and thought it was a pretty car. Though Ramiel's bat mobile that got completed earlier was much sexier. (pic)

It was both aesthetic and functional. Packed to the brim with micromissiles, railguns, 0 friction liquid for pursuers, anti-air scatter shots, functional underwater percussion weapons, torpedoes, miniature guided missile systems, etc.

His new super car was also completely amphibious and can be airborne at the drop of a hat.

"Ahhh, h-hello. We got stranded earlier, the car just stalled suddenly." Prompto blushed like a high school boy upon seeing Cindy.

"Hoh, so that's your type eh?" Noctis elbowed the blonde. "Shhh! You're gonna blow my cover Noct!" Prompto shushed him and the boy band chuckled at the blonde who got starstruck.

"Let me see her here, this baby's just gonna need a few minutes with me. I'm pretty amazing after all." Cindy nodded confidently, especially with her new tool.

"Really? That's a lifesaver, thanks. We need to go to Altissia quickly." Ignis felt that something was wrong.

They didn't hear the news from the radio of their car because it died before they were able to hear it in the broadcast.

And even though Lucis is a magical city. They didn't have phones that have access to the internet.

"Hmm, so the boy band is here?" Ramiel checked them out. After their car gets repaired here in hammerhead, they'll go grave robbing next.

"Royal arms huh? Should I rob their graves first?" Ramiel was thinking about it. "Eh, their weapons are crap anyways. Point warping is really predictable and the only thing it's good for is to do fashionable backflips.

Cindy quickly serviced the Regalia and after topping up on some gas, the boy band were off on their merry way.

"Why didn't Regis just fly them to Altissia or something?" Ramiel was confused, because Noctis and friends were going to travel via a ferry.

Which is an extremely slow method of travel, it was so inefficient. "Probably one of the reasons why he died." He shrugged.

Lucis was losing like a bitch against Niflheim. It was understandable, but they had the assistance of the astrals.

And the scorned king of Lucis who has aids weren't really doing much to help the empire. Just give them some daemons from time to time.

"Regis must be senile or something, Lucis is protected by the kpop crystal of the astrals that powers up Lucis' shield and walls. They should have campaigned and conspired against Niflheim, but they just took it like a little bitch." Ramiel shook his head.

"A king that has given up." Ramiel was disappointed. Regis was only 50 years old, had possession of the ring of Lucii which held immense power.

Had the home advantage inside Lucis for the peace treaty. The empire's aggressive expansion was so predictable, it was practically confirmed that they would betray Lucis.

"But no, Regis and Lucis invested in the mighty warriors of kingsglaive. And they have the capabilities of SOLDIER 3rd class at best." Ramiel facepalmed.

Lucis' answer to the empire's magitek and use of daemons and monsters is a soldier program that's so ineffective, Ramiel's recruits in SOLDIER back in the past would be god like.

Their magic were much stronger, weapons more effective, more athletic, better combat power, etc.

And they bet the defense of the kingdom to the kingsglaive. Even one of the best of the soldier program uses a kukri to fight daemons for fuck's sake.

"And the chancellor just waltzed to Lucis and strongarmed them for Noctis to marry Lunafreya. Regis just let the empire walk all over Insomnia." He sighed and would at least show them how it's done.

"Military arms race is where it's at, fighting with kukris and swords when you lack the capability is just stupid. Bombs and massive bullets at enormous quantities is what wins wars." Ramiel squinted his eyes.

They should've at least used the kingsglaive as spec ops. Steal empire airships and mechs if they lack the resources to reverse engineer it and use it against them.

And once night fell, their weapons for the offensive were done.

"Hohoh~ Damn, those things are sexy." Rindou laid eyes on the mobile suits they were going to pilot.

The Nakiris were given high mobility, high offense mechs. Alice and Erina entered theirs and they settled in the cockpit.

"W-woah... Am I really going to use a mecha?" Erina had a huge grin on her face and she could imagine all the maneuvers she could make with it. (pic)

"Kukuku, so this empire's gotta learn to feel what being invaded is like?" Alice put her limbs inside the control panels and the neural links turned to life. The white mech's red eyes glowing and its weapons whirring. (pic)

"Gotta make them go boom!" Rindou ran to the cockpit of hers and it was a magic specialized suit that had a continuous Mako core powering it with nigh infinite mana. (pic)

"We've gotta give them the explosions of freedom right?" Ikumi wore her bikini with the flag of America. And her mech is armed to the teeth with rockets, high powered lasers, and its arms have hyper mobile joints to release gravity enhanced blunt damage with its heavy arms. (pic)

"Are we really going to attack the capital of Niflheim?" Cindy was anxious, Ramiel specifically gave her the role of being their commander in this operation.

"We go in, destroy their capital, retrieve the crystal of the astrals, profit." Ramiel smiled at her and Cindy sighed. "You know, this isn't that simple Ramiel." Cindy shook her head at his antics.

"Don't make this more complicated than it should be Cindy, we go in, we make everything explode!" Rindou understood the assignment and she was itching to cast some really destructive magic.

"I really like how you think Rindou, you should be more like her Cindy." Ramiel laughed and he teleported her into a cruiser from Bismarck. Using the main ship to invade them would be laughably easy after all, so he opted for a smaller one.

"Hmmm, your team needs a name. How about mobile suit squad Angelus?" Ramiel suggested to them and they thought it was pretty nice. His angels that would deliver calamity.

"Let's go! I can't wait!" Alice was itching to fly around with their tools of mass destruction and Cindy lead them to Gralea, the capital of the empire. Ramiel entered his brand new car and followed them, the engines roaring.

"ETA for our strike team is approximately 30 minutes, any further orders Ramiel?" Cindy asked. "Give em hell."

"Roger that! Woohoo!" Alice was doing barrel rolls in the sky and as their ace pilot, she was testing her hardware to the limit. Erina practiced alongside her as the two high mobility mechs.

"30 minutes, can't we go any faster? I wanna surprise them with my little friend." Ikumi's mech was opening and closing the hatches for the micro missile barrage and the lasers of her suit like the diamond weapon.

"Right? I wanna show them the art of an explosion." Rindou was pre preparing her spells and they were all ready to cause pandemonium with their weapons.

"Ladies, ladies, it's going to be a blast. Gralea won't be going anywhere, we'll raise it to the ground." Ramiel made them calm down and at their current location, they could see a bleak area with barracks all around it.

It was obviously militarized to the max. The empire's capital was mainly underground, because they need to avoid the daemons that are roaming around. And unlike Insomnia, they don't have a wall of magic in order to protect everyone.

Not like it had civilians anyways, it was just a large military base basically. And they spotted squad Angelus from far away.

"Fuck em up!" Ramiel yelled to their comms. Ikumi and Rindou flew higher to the skies for a vantage point and all the hatches in Ikumi's mech opened up.

Micro missiles poured out of the hatches like rain. It had a dimensional storage of ammunition that Ramiel installed into its frame and the missiles kept on coming like a heavy storm.

The capital saw it, but their daemons and monsters that manned the perimeters to protect it were sitting ducks to the barrage of rockets.

Ikumi's barrage carpet bombed the capital of Niflheim and all hell broke loose. All magitek airships were grounded immediately, unable to take to the skies before the rain or missiles fell down from the sky in a moment's notice.

Fires were lit and the barracks all around Gralea just exploded into smithereens. And the micro missiles of Ikumi's mech were bunker busters with delayed explosion mechanisms.

The relatively tiny rockets pierced through buildings, ships, tanks, monsters, even people. Then it exploded with a package that was at least as strong as a stick of C4.

"Oooh! That's a sweet attack Ikumi! Now, let's bring up the heat with another surprise attack shall we?" Rindou's mech started to whir and its eyes glowed brighter. The vents on its frame released Mako and mana, shaping its spell.

Magic circles appeared in the sky and like Bahamut prime, fireballs that left streaks of flames in the air began to fall unto the capital.

It was hell on earth, everything got lit ablaze. The fireballs exploded as high yield bombs upon impact. The ground was torn asunder, shaking the underground capital with an earthquake. Revealing its infrastructure that was hidden beneath.

The squad then dropped down to the entrance of the capital, slowly walking towards the fractured army of the empire. Fires raging behind them as the eyes of their mechs glowed with a cold light that made survivors shiver and freeze in terror.

With a symbol of an angel on their chests, a soldier's quivering eyes looked towards their name. "Ohhh? A survivor, that was pretty lucky of you~" Alice's singsong voice was heard by the soldier.

"P-please! Mercy!" The soldier kneeled and Alice nodded at him. "Of course~" She then pointed her armament right on him and the soldier's relieved smile suddenly vanished as her energy blaster vaporized him from the face of the planet.

"Rest in peace~" Alice's cheerful voice contrasted her actions and her mech's eyes glowed a brighter red as it went into overdrive.

"That Alice, she left without me." Erina pouted and her engines roared, with the Nakiris entering the underground capital, slicing or blasting anything in sight.

"No survivors girls, majority of these fucks are daemon clones anyway." Ramiel ordered as he got out of his car and looked at the carnage.

"Ahhh, this does put a smile on my face. I guess I've been a bit too nice lately? Maybe kingdom hearts and pokemon made me a bit soft? I forgot that humans are too greedy." Ramiel watched the capital burn and he put on some shades.

Ikumi's lasers that cleaved through daemons and magitek soldier daemons got vaporized by the bright lights of her energy weapons.

"Guhahaha! Magic is so cool!" Rindou fired fireballs and lightning like a maniac, she would be a great Sith that's for sure.

Ramiel looked towards a particular tower in the distance that was in total lockdown like a turtle shell with a barrier. "So they're using the crystal of Lucis to shield themselves? Let's see how long it lasts." He chuckled menacingly and smirked.

"You... Who are you?" A gruff man that had red-violet hair squinted his eyes and was vigilant against him.

"Ahhh, Ardyn Lucis Caelum. The chancellor of Niflheim, the enemy of your state. It's a pleasure to see you." Ramiel smiled at him and Ardyn froze in his place.

"How do you know my true name!?" His eyes turned black and the miasma of daemonic origin started to leak from his body.

He was supposed to be the first king of Lucis, and at the time. Eos was being plagued by a disease, the starscourge. It turned living beings into daemons, and Ardyn. With the blessing of the astrals, used his powers to absorb the darkness inside him.

But his brother usurped the throne and the gods abandoned him. Condemning him for his taint, deeming him unworthy to be king of Lucis.

"Kukuku~ what? Surprised?" Ramiel taunted him and Ardyn warped with his royal arms right at him, the bread and butter attack of the Lucian royalty.

"Predictable." Ramiel caught his ethereal weapon in the air and crushed it with his bare hands. Ardyn tried to use his miasma and starscourge to poison him, but it just got absorbed by Ramiel's body.

"Was that supposed to do something? Calm down man, I know you're supposed to be the bad guy and all. But that's because Bahamut made you do so, right?" Ramiel held him on his neck and Ardyn went wide eyed.

"How do you know about that!?" He was getting more agitated by the second, his memories from the past flooding him.

Bahamut's betrayal of him, Aera Nox Fleuret. His fiancee dying in the hands of his brother. Him walking up to the crystal to plead for help and confirm his pedigree as the king of Lucis.

But the crystal the astrals gifted to the kingdom rejected him and they were thrown away while he held his beloved's corpse.

"Wouldn't you like to know? How about we ask Bahamut ourselves?" Ramiel was here to give the douchebag a visit. And he teleported right into the tower where the crystal of the gods was held.

"Chancellor Izunia! What's going on!?" The emperor, in his advanced age. Tried to harness the powers of the crystal to be the world's immortal monarch.

And Ardyn who gave them the daemons in order to bolster their forces was in the hands of Ramiel that looked at him with contempt.

"You the emperor?" Ramiel asked and the old man nodded subconsciously. "I see." He snapped his fingers and the old man got ripped in half, his guts and organs falling from his two halves with a face of disbelief.

"Now, Ardyn... Let's set things straight shall we?" Ramiel touched the crystal and they suddenly entered an arena with a statue of Bahamut.

"Mortal, you dare enter this place!" A large armored being flew right in front of them and Bahamut pointed a sword at them, a hail of blades right behind the astral. (pic)

"Bahamut, well met." Ramiel gave a ridiculing snort at the astral who is the leader of the others. The astral glared at him and he took out a materia. "Bahamut, meet Bahamut prime and Bahamut Fury." Ramiel summoned the two Bahamuts. (pic)

A golden dragon appeared along with Bahamut fury and the two roared. "Your arrogance is not welcome here in this world, false god." Ramiel glared at Bahamut.

The leader of the astrals called upon his subordinates and four more appeared. The Archaean Titan, Ramuh the Fulgurian, Shiva the Glacian, and Leviathan the Hydraean. (pics)

"T-the gods have gathered." Ardyn uttered in fear and shock. Ramiel's wings appeared from his back and he flew right in front of Bahamut prime and Fury.

"So you resist? Then so be it." Ramiel raised his hand to the front and his summons flew to the skies with speeds that the astrals weren't able to see.

The summons started raining magic on the astrals and they quickly raised barriers. Shiva created a dome of ice and the area began to freeze over immediately. The titan punched the ground and walls of earth rose from the ground.

Ramuh raised his hands and a barrier of lightning coated the previous ones. Jets of water tried to shoot down the violent balls of fire that were about to rain on them, Leviathan created copies of itself made of water.

Bahamut flew to the skies and started an aerial battle with Ramiel's summons, using the blades in its arsenal to fight. Gigantic swords were being thrown around with reckless abandon. But the dragons' scales and armor were simply unbreachable, tanking everything without batting an eye.

"You four, let's make this simple yeah? Submit to me and you live, submit to that guy. Then it's just too bad." Ramiel gave the other astrals an ultimatum.

"You are not a mortal, are you?" Shiva with her clones flew around vigilantly and could feel danger rolling from him in waves.

"Hmm, I'm not even sure myself. But enough stalling, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Ramiel created a netherblade on his arm and the astrals felt the magic contained in it.

"We will not yield." Ramuh squinted his eyes and raised his staff, lightning striking it like a rod. Forming a bolt of lightning on it. "Ramuh! Stop!" Shiva tried to stop him, but the old man threw it at Ramiel and used his signature judgement bolt.

"Poor choice." Ramiel caught it immediately with his hands and his wings flapped. Quickly arriving at the ends of the skies, he spun and threw it right back at Ramuh.

The bolt of lightning seemed to teleport from the speed he threw it and it struck Ramuh on the chest. "Ramuh!" Shiva cried out as the old man got charred from the lightning bolt he created himself.

Falling down to the ground with a thud. Leviathan roared and fired super pressurized jets of water at him. Ramiel dodged with practiced ease and he pointed his finger right at them.

"Another bad choice? I thought you guys were supposed to be wise. But I guess the people gave you too much credit." A twinkling blue light fell from his finger and it slowly fell from the sky.

Ardyn's eyes almost popped from his sockets and he quickly ran away with his warps, using armiger. The kings of Lucii's special battle form where they use all the royal arms they collected. And he flew like a fly with as much speed as he could.

"Take cover!" Shiva cried out and she almost drained her power to create a small shield of magic and ice in front of her. The twinkling blue light then dropped to the ground and the dimension was bathed with light.

Azure flames of pure Mako disintegrated anything it hit. With the hydraean being the first victim of the brilliant flames.

The titan survived the attack just barely, but its earthen body was melting and it lost three limbs. Shiva kneeled on the ground and could only watch her brethren perish.

Shiva and the titan watched him float in the sky while he looked at them without remorse. And while Ramiel finished them off one by one, Bahamut was currently being held down by Bahamut fury's wing spikes.

Chained down with magic by the two dragons, Ramiel's summons attacked the draconian with savagery. Clawing and mauling the astral with their claws and tails.

"Fake, a disgrace to the dragons." Bahamut prime's baritone voice was heard in their minds and it bit off the draconian's arm. Bahamut fury willed its wing spikes to pierce the astral's other limbs and twisted it off of its body.

They then let Bahamut fall to the ground like a sack of potatoes. His armor shattered, the proud wings made of blades nowhere to be seen. Destroyed by the dragons that sneered right above.

"B-Bahamut... No way." Shiva looked at Ramiel who flew right at Bahamut and lifted him with his hand. Grasping his face and looking him in the eye.

"A fitting display for a fake dragon." Ramiel tossed Bahamut to the side and he looked at the terrified Shiva.

"Now, now, kneel and promise that you'll be good. And I won't send you to the lifestream, pretty easy right?" Ramiel smiled at her and she groveled to the ground.

"Why? Why are you doing this? Eos needs the astrals... To fend off the starscourge." Shiva do not know his motivation.

"You didn't know? Your dear old Bahamut didn't tell you?" Ramiel raised a brow and looked towards the pitiful form of the draconian that got a good thrashing from the dragons.

He raised his hand and pulled Bahamut to him. Ramiel then slammed his face to the dirt and stepped on his head. "Tell her. What did you do back in the past." He plunged his hand into Bahamut's head and infused him with corrosive mana.

The draconian started to scream bloody murder and refused to say his deal with Ardyn. "Tough nut to crack, let's see here." Ramiel pulled Ardyn to his hand and took out the starscourge that he absorbed that lead to his space aids.

Ramiel inserted it in to Bahamut's body and the draconian gasped in terror and fear. It was a dishonor so great, that the draconian started to plead.

"Mercy! Not the starscourge. I will tell Shiva! Please just stop it from corrupting me!" Bahamut begged. "Then talk." Ramiel gestured for him to speak and Shiva listened intently.

Meanwhile, Ardyn looked at his body with shock. He couldn't feel the starscourge on his body after all.

"Shiva, back in the past. 2000 years ago, Ardyn Lucis Caelum had been bestowed the power to absorb daemons and darkness inside him." Bahamut remembered the details.

"I destined him to be the evil of the world in order to let the last king of Lucis purge him and the starscourge together once and for all. Save Eos from the eternal darkness that it will experience once the daemons have overrun the planet." Bahamut thought it was still the right choice.

Ardyn gritted his teeth and could still remember being helpless. Bahamut didn't give him a choice, and he was given the destiny of being the one who will oppose Noctis.

"Aera... Aera died because of you!" Ardyn spit out with venom in his tongue. " Bahamut destined Noctis and most of humanity to die in order to clear out the starscourge that created demons. Which was supposed to be the job of the astrals in the first place.

They were the protectors of Eos, Bahamut was simply too prideful and thought themselves as gods that shouldn't really meddle on the affair of humans.

"But... So you're the reason that many humans have died to the daemons!? You told us that the starscourge cannot be purged by us! Ifrit got infected by it, and we can't fight because we will suffer the same fate!" Shiva's mind ran a mile a minute upon learning of this.

"The great war of old was caused by Ifrit... So it was supposed to be your job to clear it off of Eos..." Shiva bit her lip and lamented the loss of sanity of one of their brethren.

"Ifrit went mad, we suppressed the starscourge. And we needed to slumber for centuries in order to recover... But you did nothing for Eos." Shiva snarled towards Bahamut in contempt.

"You must understand, it was for the betterment of Eos. Upon its ashes and the sacrifice of the last king of Lucis. A new world shall prosper." Bahamut tried to get out of it with sophistry.

"Disgusting, you? A god? Do not make me laugh vermin." Ramiel chained Bahamut down with the lifestream and he opened a portal with Eos towards Bahamut's body.

The starscourge will notice Bahamut's helpless body and it will all go towards him. Contain the corruption and source of daemons for all eternity as the astral should. "You let it propagate when you could have eliminated it from the world. This shall be your judgement, astral. Eternal torment under infinite duress."

Ramiel bestowed his judgement and Eos will slowly recover from the disease that is the starscourge. And eternal darkness won't cover the sun for all of eternity.

"Oh great one... Thank you very much for this." Shiva groveled to the ground and put her forehead on the floor. Ardyn also followed suit and he started to cry, remembering Aera. His to be wife that was killed by his brother.

"Now, now, you're gonna make me blush Shiva." Ramiel lifted up her head with a hand on her chin. "Can I know your name?" She can't not know, he corrected the astral's mistakes.

"Ramiel, call me Ramiel. We'll meet again later, Gentiana." He flapped his wings and exited the dimension of the astrals, leaving a little gift for Ardyn.

"How does he know my other persona?" Shiva gasped and thought about it. The answer will most likely come from Lunafreya. As her human disguise is Lunafreya's servant.

"R-Ramiel... The great one who will purify this world..." Ardyn burned his name and appearance to his mind. He then felt a hand on his shoulder, a blonde woman's spirit appearing behind him.

"Ardyn, oh how pitiful you look right now... For centuries, you soldiered on." Aera's spirit that Ramiel pulled from the lifestream wanted to talk to him before she passes on fully.

"A-Aera..." Ardyn's hands trembled and he kneeled down, in disbelief at the sight in front of him. "My love, retribution has been given to you. Nothing makes me more happy than seeing your efforts finally getting the recognition it deserves."

"Aera, forgive me. Because of me, you died in our altercation for the throne." Ardyn was ashamed and felt that helping the people in purifying daemons led to their disaster.

She shook her head and put a hand on his cheek softly, smiling. She put her her forehead against his. "You were always generous, I'm happy to have been a part of your life. It was an honor to be together with you. The people's suffering were lifted by your actions."

"Do not yield Ardyn, correct your mistakes. It was of necessity, I understand. I will wait for you patiently." Aera started to disappear and he hurriedly tried to grab her ethereal body.

"No, Aera! Stay with me! I have so much more to talk to you about. Can't you stay!?" He desperately tried to keep her there. "Ardyn, it is goodbye for now. Remember, I am proud of you." Aera smiled at him one last time and disappeared completely as particles of Mako.

Shiva frowned upon seeing their interaction and looked towards the Archaean. "I guess it will only be the three of us now." She thought that it will only be a matter of time before Ifrit comes to his sense once the starscourge has been purged.

"We are sorry Ardyn Lucis Caelum." Shiva bowed at him in remorse for the sin of Bahamut and they left him to have some time to himself.

"Proud of me huh? Then I should keep you in being so." Ardyn wiped his tears and was determined to correct his and Bahamut's damage to the world.

__

Returning to Eos in Gralea, Ramiel saw Angelus fight against a diamond weapon that has been unleashed in a hurry by the empire.

"Yare, yare, humans do the darndest of things for their desires." He shook his head and thought that thing will definitely cause a lot of damage if it gets out of there.

While watching them fight, an airship arrived and somebody dropped down from it. Landing right beside him.

"It's dangerous here, what are you doing here?" She squinted her eyes at him and thought he was a civilian. A woman with silver hair appeared and prepared her magitek lance so she could sortie into battle. (pic)

"Ahhh, we raided the capital you see. Those are my girls over there, aren't they doing a good job?" Ramiel saw Ikumi slug the diamond weapon and a shock wave exploded from the blow.

Erina and Alice were flying around it skillfully, the former slicing it up with a sword and the latter firing blasts at its magitek cores in order to completely shut it down.

"What!?" The woman went wide eyed and she pointed her lance at him. "Don't fuck with me, who are you and what are you doing here?" She glared at him.

Ramiel disappeared from his place and disarmed her, locking her arms behind her and he made her kneel by kicking her on the back of the legs.

"Easy girl, you're getting a bit too feisty." Ramiel smirked at her and she was surprised. She was the greatest mercenary in all the lands. The people even called her the dragoon.

She knew she was outmatched and just stayed still, deciding to watch what the mech squad will do to the diamond weapon. She hated the empire's use of the empire anyways, and the weapon of destruction being taken care of is a good thing in her mind.

"Who are you anyways? Why did you invade Gralea?" She asked while staring at him carefully. "Me? I'm just a guy passing by, I just had a very enthusiastic walk you see. And we happened to dislike Niflheim's greed and lust for power."

Rindou casted a vicious thundaja spell on the diamond weapon and the ground shook from the destruction. The majority of the magitek cores on its body exploded into smithereens.

"Want a milkshake?" Ramiel took out some plastic chairs and offered her a strawberry milkshake. "A... Milkshake?" She was confused as hell and he put it on her hand and sat down on his offered chair.

"I... I'm Aranea, Aranea Highwind. Who are you people? And why did you just make a move now? If you didn't like the empire's land grabs, you should've done so a long time ago." Aranea was confused and she was still suspicious of their motives.

"Easy, we just arrived here. And we got the news that Lucis fell to the empire. The last bastion against their tyranny. So we strolled here and took care of them." Ramiel sipped on his milkshake and she was flabbergasted.

"Why should I believe that you won't do the same?" She furrowed her brows and saw the Angelus squad dismantle the diamond weapon with laughable ease. She reckoned that she could take care of it.

But the way they were toying with it, it was unlikely. "Hmm, that's a good suspicion. Well, the answer is. I have no interest in Eos, why? Because I have no use for it, I would rather play and have some fun." He shrugged.

"Is that so..." Aranea sipped on her milkshake and they watched Erina stab the center magitek core of the diamond weapon. Ikumi then unleashed a barrage of missiles on its body and it was ripped to pieces.

"How about you? Why are you here?" He asked back and she snorted. "I'm a part of the empire's army. I'm a commodore, but I guess that doesn't hold true now?" She looked at the razed capital.

"So, what are your plans next then?" He continued to break the ice and she thought about it. "I'm a mercenary for the most of my life. Guess I'll rally my men and continue with that business, there's tons of dangerous wildlife and daemons around to take care of." She shrugged.

"I see, then good luck with that. You'll be competing with them after all." He pointed at the squad and she winced. "Then how about we partner up? I think you and me can have a nice partnership. You're an insane bastard that razes capitals to the ground after all. I think we'll get along." She teased him.

"Hoh? I don't know, are you good enough?" Ramiel smirked at her and she snorted. "The best you'll ever see." She quickly maneuvered her lance and pointed it at his neck.

"Good enough." Ramiel snatched it from the tip and did the same to her, but much much faster. "Okay, showoff." She pouted at him and he laughed.

"What's your name?" She almost forgot about it. "Now that I'm your boss, how about you call me master Ramiel?" He snickered at her and she tried stabbing him with her lance.

"Crazy bastard, you'll have to beat me to the ground first." She hissed at him and Ramiel nodded. "You sure? I'll beat your ass you know? These hands are rated e for everyone." Ramiel polished his fists by breathing on it a bit and rubbing it on his clothes.

"Bring it on." She donned her helmet and attacked him with fast stabs. He dodged them easily and gave her a blow on her abdomen, making her freeze on the spot. Her whole body trembling in pain.

She then dropped down on the ground. Aranea couldn't breathe and she broke into a cold sweat, her body shutting off as her organs got damaged from the concussive force on her torso.

He raised her hands and put it above her head. Pinning her on the ground. "Checkmate, it seems you'll be calling me master now." He smirked at her and she glared at him.

"Let's get along well, my little servant." He smiled and Aranea grumbled.

"Oi! We killed it!" Alice waved at him and they saw in their optics that he was pinning down a woman.

Quickly exiting their cockpit, they hounded him immediately and thought he was seducing another woman besides Cindy.

"Hah, I guess there's still much more work to be done." Ramiel sighed and thought that emancipating the conquered territories with their group at the helm would be troublesome.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.