Chapter 05:The Unknown man

"You have potential..but..

You're nowhere near to become a vessel…".

.

.

.

Previously after V and the group figured out the city's darkest secret, V and Eve went out to get their mind refreshed, Not expecting the man who's all behind this had come to seek out V, continuing with their meeting….

Both parties stared back at each other, one with malicious intent and one with pure hatred and rage. But what the Unknown man had planned to do next was not expected from V,

The unknown man-"Say~ You Look like you're about to pop a nerve~"

V-"Oh don't you worry… I'll pop that head of yours in a minute.."

The unknown man-"Woah woah woah pal! I'm just here to have a chat~ There is nothing wrong with that is there?~"

V-"What even is there to talk about!"

Eve amongst the crowd yells for V, As she spots V with the man from the stage she warns V, not to do anything rash, But before she or V can do anything the Unknown man makes the first move...

The Unknown man-"Ah~ sucks to be interrupted by your female friend right there~...."

"Should I just get rid of her?~"

*The unknown man charges up an attack*

V-"YOU FUCKING BASTAR-"

Even within the crowd, V couldn't do anything..but that didn't stop the man from his attack. The unknown man launches a heavy attack on V, V rushes to Eve to protect her and just by the nick of time V manages to Cover Eve from the blast radius of the unknown man's attack.

V successfully was able to save Eve from major damage but the people surrounding him…Did not survive...

V-"..A…are..you ..ok?.."

Eve -"Yeah I'm fin-"

Eve's eyes widen as she sees V's back and half of his face melted, after seeing such a horrid scene of V, Eve screams in concern.

Eve-"HEY! STICK WITH ME BUD! CAN YOU HEAR ME??...V!"

V-"...what's going on…my head is ringing like hell…..everything's blurry.."

The unknown man-"*whistles*, thought you'd both be dead by now…guess you guys are a tough bunch huh?"

Eve-"V!... HANG IN THERE!"

The unknown man-"There's no point miss girly~ he'll be dead by no time ~...Actually…I guess I should do my cleanup properly…"

*The man charged up another attack insinuating their death*

The Unknown man-"THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO NAUGHTY KIDS WHO DON'T MIND THEIR OWN BUSINESS~!"

*The man smiles at their demise*

Just then V's GIft activate,

"AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MESS WITH THE WRONG GUYS"

V puts his hand on the floor resulting in it turning into the same dark substance Eve had seen in their first encounter. The unknown man becomes aware of V's gluttonous attack.

The unknown man-"..huh~...you're alive huh…well well..what do we have here~"

Eve and the man both see V's injuries heal right before them and his half-melted face regenerating as they speak.

V-"Listen here you little shit…I'm going to put an end to you whether you like it or not.."

The Unknown man-"Fascinating…your level of regeneration isn't normal as someone using a normal Gift…say…"

"Are You a human?~"

.

.

V-"...Beats me…what's it to you?.."

The Unknown man-"Hm~...maybe instead of killing I'll just capture you alive..maybe use you as a sacrifice for my experiments..maybe I'd put good use to that vigor~..what do you say? Sounds like a good deal no?~"

V-"...You-"

*Eve interrupts V*

Eve-"HOW ABOUT YOU TAKE YOUR DEAL AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!"

The unknown man-"Tch. well, aren't you a feisty one lil missy-"

The unknown man lands another attack but both Eve and V can dodge it, V dashes over towards the man, and the man launches a high speed long ranged attack, Eve manages to dodge but V is not able to dodge it on time so instead on pure instinct he put his hand thus a melting dark substance came out of his hands and quickly devoured the attack.

Watching this the unknown man became more intrigued by V.

The Unknown man: "I'm getting more and more intrigued by your strange set of powers…say how did you obtain that Gift?"

V-"...Gift….what's it to you?"

The Unknown man-"You see I specialize in working with Gifts…and by far I'm tingling to take away those powers from you~"

Eve-"If ya get distracted you'll get your ass handed to you!"

*Eve shoots a set of arrows which the Unknown man easily dodges*

Eve-"Tch-"

Suddenly a Man comes behind The Unknown man and informs him that he has to leave the scene. Feeling Displeased the Unknown man clicks his tongue but before he leaves he makes sure he will finish his task…

The Unknown man-"Tis a shame I can't play with you any longer…but rest assured I will be back~"

The Man left the scene, V looked around to see the damage the man had done. V and Eve regrouped and went around to look for people in need of help.

Eve-" OI! THERE'S SOMEONE STUCK HERE I NEED YOUR HELP!"

V-"YEAH I'M COMING OVER RIGHT NOW"

*V rushes over to Eve*

Eve-"ok on the count of 3 we lift ok? One, two, three-"

V lifts the big chunk of rubble all by himself.

Eve-"I'm not even surprised anymore…hey mister are you ok?"

Pedestrian-"Why I'm completely fine, what are you children doing here, this is no place to play?"

Eve-"We're just looking out for people…trying to minimize the casualties"

Pedestrian-" casualties?..what casualties?"

Eve-"Ah..look around sir Everything is a mess, we're looking out for people who are potentially hurt"

Pedestrian-"Looking out for people..what do u mean..Everything looks fine…"We"..are fine"

Eve-"Sir what ar-"

V stops Eve and tells the pedestrian to leave the area as soon as possible, V notices something very strange about their surroundings...

V-"Eve…somethings not right, I've been hearing things from the crowd. their walking as if they didn't witness anything....just look around..look at that guy's eyes…"

Eve-"...What are you implying?"

V-"...His eyes…it's as if they're empty…nothing feels right,,even the soil here,,,"

"It reeks of human blood"

.

.

.

V and Eve left the area and went back to report about the incident. From the looks of things, they're starting to piece together about the cult and the man behind all of this. V and Eve both meet with The man(Kevin) to further discuss what happened and their opinions on what to do.

The man(Kevin)-"This is becoming quite the predicament…The people acting like nothing happened is much more bizarre than anything else.."

V-"That man said he wanted to use me for one of his experiments…not sure what he meant but we can presume he's the mastermind in this cult-like organization"

The man(Kevin)-"Hmm…considering what happened today we need to cover more ground..rat them out if we need to"

V-"Yeah that's the plan for now…"

The man(Kevin)-" You kids go rest, you've endured enough"

V and Eve left the meeting with haziness in their hearts…the event that had occurred today left them pondering what to do onwards…And at the center of all this, is what the Unknown man had planned for V and his group...would not leave a slight mark..

Just when they left the meeting right then and then... They didn't expect to get a visitor…

"Did you miss me~?"

.

Yes..just then, The Unknown man had already laid out his first move.

The Unknown man had ripped apart the inn and then and there, looked down on V and the others as if he was looking at a pile of bugs in the dirt. The man looks around as if he's searching for something..and that something turns out to be V.

The Unknown man-"Found you~...Time to do some tests on that strange body of yours...Don't mind if I take your friend Kay Missy?`"

The Unknown man knocks out V resulting in him losing his consciousness, Tendrils-like aura comes out of the back of the man, securing V and taking off. Eve tries her best to stop the man but ultimately fails to do so.

Eve-

"V! WAIT FOR ME! I'LL FIND YOU! HANG ON…!"

.

.

A few hours later…after the incident, V had found himself in quite the predicament. And yet it was as if he was absent in the room he was placed in.

V-"...W…where am i…"

V opened his eyes to see he was in a different plane of existence, a place he had never been to before, sitting on a chair…shackled..with his feet covered in lukewarm water.

A plane of existence never to be seen before.

V-"What is this place…it..feels so calm…so warm.."

V was so comfortable he could fall asleep at any moment. But just then, what happened in the inn had just flashed before his eyes, reminding him of what sort of situation he was in.

V-"I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!"

As V chants to get out, he tries his best to get up but is unable to do so due to the shackles around his hands, feet, and neck. Just then One of V's close acquaintances comes to meet him.

"Yo kid! Seems like you're doing quite well these days"

The very entity that gave V his Powers.

V-"IS THAT-...VERGO?!"

Vergo-"You don't need to yell, I can hear you just fine"

A subliminal space where only V and Vergo stand-alone, V was puzzled as to why Vergo would show up at a time like this...

V-"What is going on here?..and why am I able to see you now?"

Vergo-"Hmm…well due to some unforeseen circumstances..you're temporarily stuck here..this subliminal space created by me"

V-"Haa…."

Vergo-"Why're you looking at me like that huh??"

V-"No..don't get me wrong but... I thought you'd be more of a rowdy type..you creating a place this peaceful and beautiful is kinda…unnerving"

Vergo-"HEY WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?? JUDGY MUCH??"

V-"Ah- sorry bout' that"

Some time had passed after their "meeting"

V-"OK..on a serious note why am I here?"

Vergo-"Yeah I figured you'd say that…it is a shame but…

You'll have to die here."

The sudden news left V baffled,...

V-"What do you mean by that?..."

Vergo-"It's just how it sounds kid….you'll have to die here"

V-"BUT FOR WHAT REASON?!"

Vergo-"....We have roamed around all of the realms…searching for the most suitable host to fulfill our task... Some have gotten close while others died in vain..as pitiful as they were the most important thing to learn from that is that it was a huge waste of time…all these times we have been roaming around searching for some sort of entertainment…and yet..the fates were the same for all of them..By far out of all of them..V...

You are the most unsuitable host yet"

V-"...your point?...we had a deal.. I'll find your books and in return..you'll…you'll…"

At that moment, it was as if a rush of adrenaline came to V's head, V had suddenly realized that he had no benefit from the deal they had set on. The only reason why they had a deal was to prevent V from dying...

Vergo-"Fulfill our deal and we'll fulfill any desire you may have…but it seems like you don't have any sort of desires.."

V-"Desires…"

"What does it mean to desire?"

.

.

.

Vergo-"Well if you think about it, it's a plus point for us cuz you'll only be our pawn…something about that sounds so hilarious.."

V-"Then why do I have to"

Vergo-"I mean it's pretty obvious once you think about…Do I have to remind you of what I said just now?"

V-"What…"

Vergo-"You're incompatible with us because you're weak"

V-"..."

Vergo-"Out of all the hosts we've had so far you're by far the weakest to control your Gift "

"In a world where the survival of the fittest resides, you'd be dead last…instead of wasting our time we thought it'd be best to get rid of you…permanently.."

Survival of the fittest..yes that is how the world operates..where the weak get slaughtered, raped, discriminated and abandoned…A world where the strong thrive and the weak suffer because of it.

"I have to die..because I'm the weak?...what's with that..huh…All this time… I thought maybe..maybe for some reason I've been spared from death from that day...but it all resulted in this…no matter how long you thrive at some point you meet the same end as everyone..only death awaits you at the very end…and yet somehow I'm fine with that…somehow I feel as if... I don't have a purpose...

If the world doesn't need me then.."

Just then, before V could finish his thoughts...He reminded himself..all the things he had gone through..the people he connected with..people whom he wanted to protect..at that moment he realized he didn't need a profound reason to live or to thrive upon..all he needed to do now…

-Was to live in the present..and Do what he needs to do-

V-"OI…Vergo…you told me I didn't have any desires for you to respond to, didn't you...how I was the weakest link.."

Vergo-"Ho…Ain't that a nice tone on your voice.., sounds like you ain't the dumb-witted kid we'd thought of.."

V-"Now you listen to me…What I want right now…"

"Is the strength to protect them.."

Vergo smirks at V after hearing his response.

Vergo-"Well ain't that a noble desire…makes me sick down to my core...Protect them?...someone as weak as you?"

V-"That does not matter… I'll just have to do whatever it takes to do so"

Vergo-"Hahaha…Sure why not... I'll give you power..but yeah it does hinder my original plan of getting rid of you…How about this..we'll have a deal"

V-"What…What do you want.."

Vergo-"Not much..unlike you humans, we do not have an obsession about possessions..well except for the books.."

V-"Fine.. I'll listen to your deal.."

Vergo-"Oh don't worry you don't have any saying in this"

Just as Vergo finishes his sentence, He charges an immensely dense and powerful shot, resembling a black orb. Vergo shoots it at V, with the intent to kill. V just barely dodges the attack but the orb expanded resulting in the surrounding area getting sucked in almost like a black hole, amidst the process V loses his left arm.

Vergo-"Ho…you were able to evade that..well as impressive as it is…you still lost an arm"

V-"kirk…ack…haa.."

Vergo-"Stop struggling like a worm and die"

Vergo then lashes out multiple attacks on V, Even after receiving such a heavy blow V is managing to evade the attacks of Vergo…But if it continues like this..V will not survive…

V-*If this goes on I won't be….I need to find a way out…I need to find a way…to beat him*

V jumps and makes some distance between him and Vergo, but that doesn't change V's fate.

Vergo-"..Sink.."

V becomes aware of what Vergo said and starts to fall into the body of water underneath his feet. V gets fully submerged, black tendrils and hands try to hold down V but he manages to release himself and jumps out of the water. Desperate for air, Vergo shows no intent of letting V off the hook. Just then Vergo put his hand In Front of him, V thinking it was another long-ranged attack stepped back more but just then.

"..Rise.."

.

.

Just as Vergo finishes his chant, A swarm of Undead starts to rise from the huge body of water underneath their feet. The Massive army of Undead starts to charge at V with bloodlust.

*V-"I'm reaching my limit…i've lost too much blood…I can't keep running away I gotta attack...If I don't change then...How am I supposed to keep them safe!"*

And such, With great determination, V starts to fight the army of the Undead. With Quick Maneuvering and punches with such weight even after losing an arm V shows no signs of slowing down, V closes the distance with Vergo. Vergo, seeing the brute strength of V is left impressed.

*Vergo-"Such strength ....It might resemble a Giant's Strength…For a human his level of strength and stamina…is it not Normal at all..if it were someone else he would've easily overwhelmed them.."

But..

As V closes the distance within them V charges up with a punch with all of his might…As he gets ready to punch just then Vergo Decides to do the same.

Vergo-"SINCE PUNCHING IS ALL YOUR GOOD AT…!"

V-"HAAAAAAAAA!"

And..as their fist connects…V loses…

Vergo-"...What a waste of time.."

V chokes out blood as he looks to see he has no arms. Vergo looks at V from the corner of his eyes..seeing such a pitiful display.

V is in shock, feeling utter defeat.. and yet some part of him doesn't let his sense of justice fade away.

V-"N-...Not …yet..E-even..if my limbs…a..are torn apart…i'll..still fight…"

"I'LL STILL FIGHT!!"

Vergo-"....Man..you're cringe.."

Vergo snaps his fingers and thus stops the time within the subliminal space. Leaving V, Immobilized...

Vergo-"As much of a waste of time that fight was... I'll at least give you a painless death..consider this as mercy.."

As Vergo reaches for V's head, only for a moment, V Flinches and at that moment Vergo gets startled for a bit.

Vergo-"Well…That was uncalled for…am I imagining things or did he move a bit?.. Hmm..In this place my words are absolute...There is no way for you to."

Just as of that moment. V started to Flinch more and more...Trying to stand on his feet. Vergo was astonished to see a mare Human go against him in his domain.

Vergo-"Well…Color me surprised…That's not possible for a human to do…But thinking about it..that abundant amount of strength is also not normal…all that and you're still too weak to handle your Gift..Well...Let's get this over with before something unwanted happens.."

With the intent of Finishing V off, Vergo puts his hand on V's head…

But what happened after that...

.

Was something Vergo had never expected...

.

.

"What…What are you.."

As Vergo comes in contact with V, Vergo Lets out an expression Filled with Pure despair...

"What…are these…memories…

YOU…JUST WHAT….HOW DO YOU EXIST…"

.

.

.

"Haha…HAHAHHAHA"

With this new set of knowledge and the gut-wrenching disparity, he felt from the boy...Vergo grins uncontrollably and laughs at the situation.

"On second thought.. I'll let you live..this..THIS SHOULD BE INTERESTING

HAHAHHAHHAHAHH"

"As Pitiful as you are I've never seen something like this…You..YES, YOU!! YOU WILL BE THE ONE TO FOREVER CHANGE THE WORLD AND ALL THE 5 REALMS...YOU BOY! WILL THE PINNACLE OF THEIR DEMISE ... .YOU WILL BE THE FOREVER CURSE THAT WAS LEFT IN THIS WORLD…HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

As Vergo Laughs hysterically, outside things take a different turn.

After capturing V, The Unknown Man gets restless about his upcoming experiments on V.

Cultist-"The preparation is done my Liege...You may see the test subject in about 5 minutes"

The Unknown man-"Hehehe Good good.. I've been aching to open him up..and take what he has…This one... This one just might have what I've been looking for… I've waited for this moment for so long…make sure nothing gets in my way.. okay ~? "

Cultist-"Y-yes my Liege.."

The Unknown man enters the Room Where V resides. Impatient, the Unknown man cannot hide his excitement. The Unknown man walks up to his table and picks up a rather weird tool, emitting some form of dark aura. He walks Up to V, But as soon as he touches V, He gets overwhelmed by something. something so devious and frightening. The Unknown man takes a step back and ponders in a cold sweat.

The Unknown man-"...what..was that…me..ME..in cold sweat…DON'T FOOL WITH ME, BOY ....I KNOW YOU'RE AWAKE!"

The man grabs V by the neck and threatens V if he does not wake up to witness what is to happen to him.

The Unknown man-"Say…why not wake up now…it's no fun dissecting an unconscious patient…"

V does not respond to any of his words.

The Unknown man-"Tch-"

Just then, an alarm went off, alarming The Unknown man and the whole place. One of the Cultists comes into the room, warning the Unknown man.

Cultist-"SIR! OUR SECURITIES HAVE BEEN BREACHED BY AN UNKNOWN INTERFERENCE!"

The Unknown man, with a cold expression on his face, slowly looked at the Cultist.

The Unknown man-"Say…who gave you permission to set foot into this room?..."

The room went silent and the atmosphere changed. The Cultist broke down in a cold sweat. The Cultist, bowed down before his Liege, in hopes for forgiveness.

Cultist-"S-Sir..i..was..just here to..inform you..Please forgive me for my insolence…"

The Unknown man-"Shushhh…It's Fine…I'm not mad at you, A master should always show kindness to his fellow subordinates~...Cmon now, alarm the others.Go~"

Cultist-"...Y-You're words are my command sire.."

But..As soon as the Cultist turns his back on his master…That would be his last breath. As the Unknown man rips his heart out from the back

.

The Unknown man-"There~ That should be enough to cover for your mistakes..you can sleep tight now~"

Cultist-"...M-...My..Liege…W-..why.."

The Unknown man looks down at his body with an expressionless face

The Unknown Man-"Bunch of worthless maggots…Alarm everyone…Whatever the issue may be I'll be back my little test subject~..so wait here like a good boy okay ~?"

While all this is happening, let's rewind a bit…

After The Unknown Man took V as a hostage, even after the damage the Unknown Man had done there were no fatalities. The man(Kevin), Eve, and the others regrouped and quickly strategized what to do now. Their biggest obstacle is V's current location.

But soon after one of the man(Kevin)'s subordinates reported on a rather weird sighting far into the outskirts of the city. It was a long shot but Ultimately The group decided to go after this lead.

Sometime after…

Eve-"From the looks of things this is probably their base…We don't have much time left to waste"

The man(Kevin)-"Eve..refrain yourself from doing anything rash..Security here is tight..we gotta make a plan before we do anything else."

Eve-"Tch-...Wait for me V..we'll save you.."

Their Group strategizes a plan to rescue V, But soon they realize all their plans would go in vain. They get spotted by one of the watchtowers. Leading no choice but to directly attack The man(Kevin) in the vanguard. And Thus the fight begins.

Now back to the present, The Unknown Man remains By V, talking about the things he wants to do with the Gift V possesses.

The Unknown man-"Y'know Kid… I've never met someone like you before…so mysterious..so curious as to where all that Vergo comes from…And how you healed your wounds..that wasn't normal..not even a greater potion can restore limbs.…maybe just so with you…I can finally…I CAN FINALLY-"

But he gets Rudely interrupted again by the man(Kevin).

The man(Kevin)-"Has anyone told you, you sound creepy?"

The Unknown man-"Well~ no..you're the first..and last…"

The man(Kevin)-"Yeah…we'll see about that"

They both take on an attack position. But the Unknown Man had the advantage, The Unknown Man leaped through with a heavy strike, The man(Kevin) was able to tank the attack but the floor under them broke, thus continuing their fight.

The Unknown man remarks on the endurance of the man(Kevin).

The unknown man-"Even after all that you're still standing…for a normal human your endurance is quite high.."

The man(Kevin)-"Heh! Is that supposed to be a compliment?!"

The unknown man-"I'll allow you to think like that.."

The man(Kevin)-"Man…if that's the case I'd be happier if it were a cute girl saying that~"

Ticking the Unknown man for the last time, The man(Kevin), making the first move, strikes with his big cleaver but the Unknown man uses a barrier which makes the man(Kevin) Immobile for a split second, The Unknown man Punched The man (Kevin) right in the gut. The man(Kevin) spat out blood but despite that, the Unknown man kicked the man (Kevin) right at the chin thus making him stutter. Despite all of that the man(Kevin) grits his teeth, hitting the unknown man's face. The Unknown man, filled with rage started to chant in a language that was unheard of.at point-blank range, the Unknown man shot an arrow made out of Blue fire. The man got blown away, leaving with severe burns. The man(Kevin) gasps for air as he sees his hands are burned…lying down as if he's ready for what is about to come.

The Unknown man had enough of Kevin. The Unknown man slowly walked up to Kevin. Looking down upon him...

The Unknown man-"Looks like this is all you're capable of…quite pitiful if I do say so myself"

The man(Kevin)-"...H-heh…Piss off.."

The Unknown man-"Suit yourself~"

The Unknown man charges up his attack to finish the man(Kevin), Just Right then an arrow, heading directly at the Unknown man's head, interrupts him. He turns around and sees Eve from the far left, pointing her bow at him.

The Unknown man gets more and more agitated.

The Unknown man-"Tch-...All of you insects…getting in my way…"

The Unknown man charges up a highly concentrated ball of energy, An attack so powerful and demeaning, it could easily erase anyone here, just right above them, It was to signify he had enough of this nuisance…

"-Just die how you're supposed to"

Just as the unknown man finished his chant, he got punched right in the side of his face, the force made the ground crumble and the unknown man fell to a lower ground.

The unknown man was confused and was gasping for air.

The unknown man cast a healing chant, healing his left cheek and lower jaw which was severed cleanly. The Unknown man looked around to see who had hit him, there he looked up while on his knees.

He looked up at the big crater as only one man was standing, looking down into his eyes…with a cold expression…

The Unknown man-"Hahaha!... Took you long enough brat.."

V-"Yeah…This time…You're not going to get away from me .."

The Unknown man, healed, stood up with a grin on his face. He looked up to V again.

The Unknown man-"Now then should we re-introduce ourselves again…I'm Azazel.."

"....I'm..V.. and…"

"I'm the End of you!.."

____________Chapter End._______________

Character Analysis-

The Unknown man(Azazel)-

Date of Birth-N/A

Age-N/A

Weight-N/A

Height-N/A

Likes-"Gifts", Chocolate

Dislikes-Incompetence, Loud noises

History-So far the History of the man is unknown and may be revealed in the future, For now, All we can know is he specializes in manipulating Gifts and takes them away for his benefit.

In This chapter, we learn about V's regeneration ability. He can regain back limbs from thin air. More uses of this ability will be disclosed in later chapters.

End-