The Final Verdict IV (All Worlds United)

The stranger then dispersed the flaming aura revealing the vessel of a red-headed female underneath. The woman turned around to reveal her identity in that black, high-collared vest layered by a white trench coat with black pants to match and so on. Even with her new outfit, nothing could replace that confident expression on her face as her cobalt blue eyes were brimming with vitality. The girl's weapon shifted back into a longsword before she tucked it over her back.

"Raizo…" she gasped seeing the male before rushing towards him.

She instantly wrapped her arms around the male pulling the youth close to her person. Her heart swelled with joy upon feeling his warmth against her.

"I thought I lost you…" the girl muttered.

"Technically you did…just to the other side of the multiverse," he responded whilst wincing in pain.

"New outfit and you're using a sword now? It suits you…heh."

"Yeah, life kept throwing surprises at me after your dismissal. But uh…damn babe…I'm digging the shirtless look, but you're all banged up…"

"Yeah well…a lot has happened, and…I'm slowly healing."

"Not fast enough, lemme fix that for ya."

"Huh? Well…okay but-…mmph?!"

The male found his lips stolen by the girl as she lovingly layered hers above them. Towering above the male by about an inch or two, she gently lifted his chin with her left hand while she leaned forward more causing the knees of the younger male to waver slightly. Stomping her foot on the ground, a molten construct of earth appeared behind the Stormbringer. Instantly, the surface was super-cooled as Adena had pressed his back against it to enjoy the kiss.

Her tongue had slipped into the male's mouth wrestling with it in a soft tussle. As she stole his breath away from him, she continue push her body against his even more allowing him to feel the fullness of her ample breasts through her clothing. She tugged his left arm with her right hand and placed it on her curved rear wanting him to squeeze it to which he did. It was then that a warm embracing aura of flames wrapped around the former blood wolf. The former Jade Dragon Princess had used her power to heal the wounds all over the body of the Son of Mercer during that tender moment. Once his physical recovery was completed, Adena had reluctantly pulled away as strands of saliva broke between their mouths.

"There, that should take care of it," she spoke in a soft yet sultry tone.

"I…um…y-yeah…I…feel better," he blushed heavily unsure of what to think.

"Oh what's wrong? Are you feeling excited now? Now, now as much as I do feel inclined to having some intimate catching up to do, we have a war to win. Besides, we have a bit of an audience you know," she grinned.

"W-Well….that's….that's not…c-come on…" he muttered before folding his arms and looking away.

"There's that tsun expression I know and love," she chuckled.

"Stop hogging him to yourself," another voice had called out.

A strident blue streak of light came blitzing down to their location in that instant before revealing another female. She had on black and silver combat armor styled almost like a dress mixed with the upper half of a shrine maiden's outfit. With her long, flowing white hair, the rose-eyed female turned her attention immediately to the Stormbringer.

"V-Vesta-chan?" the male asked in surprise almost visualizing her as unrecognizable with her new look. However, the electricity that sparked in his chest instantly gave her identity away given their connection.

"Hey Raizo-san, I've missed you," she smiled slyly.

"U-Uh…what's with that smile?" he gulped nervously.

"Looks like you're almost completely out of juice. Allow me to give you a bit of a charge~"

"Huh…?"

Without any further notice, the Godspeed had sparks of white electricity spiraling around her body. She took advantage of the male's position against the makeshift wall by nudging Adena out of the way to steal a kiss of her own. The Rose-Eyed Stormbringer pressed her hands against the bare chest of the Red-Eyed Stormbringer as a surge of electrical current passed into him like a defibrillator. In that moment of transfer, she also leaned towards the male and pressed her lips over his to steal a passionate kiss.

Much like before, the male's mouth was invaded by the tongue of a new conqueror. As the passionate kiss ensued between the two, the carnal impulse that they shared tried to kick in. This was communicated further by the female as her hands instantly went down towards the nether region of her male counterpart whilst relinquishing a chuckle during their intense kiss.

"Really? No need to be a selfish bitch in front of me dammit. If I gotta control myself, you do too," Adena sighed whilst crossing her arms in annoyance.

Vesta broke the kiss after finishing her procedure.

"What? It's not my fault that someone's atomic structure was literally on the verge of breaking down and needed a little charge to get stabilized," Vesta smirked whilst backing away slowly.

"Yeah…you were literally trying to give the man a happy ending," the redhead countered.

"Says the one who was literally encouraging said man to cop a feel…"

"Coming from the one who already fucked him once before me…"

"Jeez you two are hella embarrassing, you know that right?" a fourth party echoed out before a cerulean aura spiraled down onto the ground like a tornado.

A female possessing vanilla skin and pinkish blonde hair, topaz colored eyes adorned in a white kosode with a frost blue haori over top came into view. Raizo stared at the female for a moment in an attempt to jog his memory over her identity. After a few seconds, he remembered she was the Princess of the Mercury Kingdom.

"I-Inari-san?" he tilted his head uncertain as to why she would be here.

"Yep," the girl nodded before placing her hands on her hips and walking over to the boy's location.

"Look at you staring all hard at me. I know, my curvy game is on point but don't think I'm gonna suck face with you too. Though if you say that's what you were hoping for, I might oblige your curiosity. I may not swing that way very much, but you're a little cute so I guess I could appease the idea for once."

"E-EH?! W-What the hell are you insinuating? Smartass princess…mou…" Raizo dived into a deep rant of embarrassment before turning to the side.

"Heh, I don't dislike that kind of attitude in a guy…maybe I should bully you a bit," Inari smirked devilishly.

"Oi Inari, what the hell? Now you're trying to steal from me too? I already called next on that ass, you know," Adena cut in unamused.

"Though we may argue about priorities, Addy has a point. Plus you're stealing from me too," Vesta said with a small pout.

"Hey, don't get mad at me because ya can't make your move. This funny haired tsundere does appear to be a prime cut. Then again, I could compromise. The royal chamber in my palace can accommodate the numbers as ya already know, Benihime~" the samurai warrior winked.

During their banter, shadows began moving across the ground before forming four giant blobs of miasmic clay. A few seconds passed before the Demon Gods that Adena had killed before respawned. This cut the playful atmosphere as their presences loomed over the group.

"Great, the annoying kind of enemies that don't know when to stay dead," the fire user sighed tiredly.

"That's because you didn't destroy them thoroughly enough," Vesta sighed before drawing Vajra from her sheath.

"Cleaning up Addy's mess, well that seems familiar," Inari chuckled.

"Hey, don't make that a joke dammit. Whatever, guess we'll just have to kill 'em so hard they die to death…" the red head retorted.

"I…got nothing at this point," Raizo spoke with an uninspired tone before flexing the muscles in his hands feeling like he would be able to support.

"Fiction no Me…" Kimiko's voice echoed in the air.

Before the Demon Gods even had a chance to brag about their return to life or lift a muscle to attack the quartet before them, their bodies were eliminated. However, it was not just mere destruction that was dealt to them. The power that was activated took the concept of their resurrection by the Arcana Grail and the regeneration procs granted from being within this space and was altered into nonexistence. That was the power of the Eye of Fiction possessed by incumbent Grand Ruler.

"They won't be a problem anymore," she stated simply whilst tucking her hands inside her jacket pockets.

"Aneki!" Adena shouted out in joy as she ran over to greet the woman.

"Kimi-neesan, it's good to see you again," Vesta smiled whilst walking over to the female.

"Yo Kimi-san, long time no see," Inari waved casually.

"Indeed, it's good to see you all as well," Kimiko nodded.

The four females shared a group hug whilst Raizo attempted to try and walk on his own two feet. The energizing sensation passed to him from the female Stormbringer gave him what he needed to stabilize him. However, he could still feel a bit of the fatigue from his earlier battles trying to bite at his stamina. He stumbled for a few steps to which he was met by someone grabbing onto his shoulder.

"You good lil' bro?" the voice of the Red-Eyed Hero rang in the younger male's ears.

"Aniki, heh…should've known you'd pull a clutch return," Raizo chuckled.

"Ah well, ya know me…fashionably late as always," he grinned.

"That's certainly one hell of an understatement," another voice called out walking around the man.

"Aka-sensei?!! You're here too!" the former blood wolf gasped in astonishment.

"Indeed, I see you've been through the ringer my student," the black-haired female observed by gazing over the battered youth.

"Yeah….things got considerably complicated."

"Oya, oya…kiddo, ya can't tell me that I take my eye off ya fer awhile and ya get roughed up eh?" the voice of the Pirate Queen filled the youth's ears creeping up beyond the man.

"Drake, good to see you again," Raizo chuckled.

A small nudging sensation prodded against the boy's back as a certain female in a gothic dress appeared wedging between the two brothers.

"Uaaah…"

"Fran, hey there," the Stormbringer called out in pleasant surprise.

"Uuhh…" she reached out placing a hand against the young man's chest passing a green bolt of electrical energy into him.

"You're hurt…" she said to him.

"It's nothing serious, honestly."

"Mean knight, give trouble?"

"Hmm? Mean knight?" the youth titled his head.

"She's talking about Mordred," Akaro clarified.

"Oh…no actually, she thought I was stealing her move using Crimson Thunder but…eh."

"Could smash head in…" Fran proposed through another gentle shock.

"Um…"

Raizo merely raised an eyebrow as he turned to his brother.

"I guess Fran still doesn't like Mordred after that Fuyuki showdown…"

"Their mana is rather low," Jalter interjected, thus interrupting the conversation.

"Goodness, it seems they'll need a little juice," the erotic voice of a smaller girl filled the air as she walked up to where Raizo and company were standing.

"Who the hell is this?" the Crimson Harbinger inquired bluntly.

"Ah…this is Shuten-douji. She uh….was sent to assassinate me and the gang by Goetia, but after some vigorous negotiations…she's on our side now," Akaro briefly explained.

"Yeah…you got the vigorous part right, dear," Akame sighed heavily.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you about it another time," the male figure coughed.

"Uh…huh…well then, allies are appearing everywhere it seems…" Raizo nodded slowly.

"You really do look like Akaro-sama minus the white streak of hair. It's a pleasure to meet you," the Oni female introduced.

"I'm Raizo Mercer, nice to meet you as well," the youth responded before catching something.

"That…formality towards my brother…"

"Would you like to know the details? Fufu…"

"I think I understand already," the male glanced at his brother with a suspicious glint in his eye.

"No comment," Akaro stated.

"That scent of yours…seems familiar. It seems you share a common trait with a certain cow that I know and loathe," Shuten expressed.

"Er…not sure if I should be offended or…"

"Worry not child, I bear no ill-will towards you. Though, I sense a certain person I would prefer not to meet is closer than I would like them to be."

Kimiko and the girls had strolled over in the meantime.

"Nice to see you brought reinforcements," the girl expressed.

"Heh, Team AKARA is back together again," Adena boasted proudly.

"Yeah…and right on time, as you can see…I'm not the only one having a rough time," Raizo pointed towards the large group in the distance.

"Wait…is that Meliodas and the Seven Deadly Sins?" Akaro called out.

"And other warriors from other universes…this is quite the development," Akame analyzed.

"Yeah, my trip through the multiverse has yielded some unexpected results. And…Mom is…" Raizo's voice trailed off in a saddened tone.

"Come, before the next round of battle begins," Kimiko suggested as the group made their way over.

A lot of sudden and unexplained circumstances had taken place before the eyes of the Sins, the Saiyans, the Devil Hunter, the Symphogears, and the other Heroic Spirits. The tremendous strength of the Demon Gods that had surpassed their expectations was just the tip of the iceberg. Seeing a crowd of enemies that had all but killed the mutual ally in the Stormbringer soundly defeated by a phantasm of fire was awe-inspiring and captivating. Then to see that person's face and how she shared familiarity with Raizo was unexpected as well…though not as much as the interaction that had ensued. Even though there was an obstruction preventing the sight of most of the details, the imaginations of some ran wild. This was particularly felt in the women whom had acquired a certain affinity for the boy.

"Someone's hands are on Senpai, this is bad civilization," Altera had commented.

"Hands off my Raizo-sama," Raikou uttered.

"Jealousy is beneath me, though I cannot say that I am not annoyed at the moment," Semiramis added on as well.

"So much for one-on-one studies," Merlin chuckled jokingly

"Tch…" Chris had gritted her teeth in irritation.

"Lucky…" Maria whispered with a slight tone of sadness.

"Desu…" Kirika added whilst patting the taller female on the back.

The guys in the crowd merely shrugged their shoulders as the remaining females only sighed in response.

Vesta's arrival followed by Inari's arrival further added to the astonishment of the group, but that subsided when the Demon Gods had respawned. Tension had returned for a fraction of a second before Kimiko decimated them.

"Who in the hell are these people?!" Vegeta gritted his teeth in exasperation.

"These people are really friggin' strong. Man, Raizo's got a lot of interesting allies," Goku commented.

Then the crowd had grown even more when the rest of the party arrived.

"They just keep coming," King commented.

"Oi look, Akaro and Akame are here," Meliodas pointed out.

"No way!" Diane shouted out in surprise.

"Akaro-senpai? H-He really is alive," Altera sighed in relief.

"Looks like the others are back with them as well," Scathach spoke up in reference to the other Heroic Spirits.

"It would appear their mana levels have increased as well," Artoria pointed out in observation.

"My, my, it would seem that a most bothersome pest has been brought about as well," Raikou said whilst a dark aura gathered around her.

"Raikou-san, what seems to be the matter?" Semiramis inquired.

A singular thought had run across some of the others wading in the background in regards to the Berserker's reaction:

How terrifying…

A few moments later, the two groups of heroes had come face to face with one another. For some, it was a long awaited reunion between old friends. Akaro and Akame meeting up with the Sins for the first time in what may have felt like forever could attest to this fact.

"Hard to believe you managed to meet my little brother," the Envoy chuckled.

"Yeah talk about sheer coincidences, but he definitely saved our asses when two of those Demon Gods appeared in our universe," Meliodas grinned whilst scratching his head.

"So that boy is your pupil, Akame-san?" Merlin inquired curiously.

"Yes, I've helped him refine his more…rambunctious style of combat over a certain period of time," the legendary assassin nodded.

"He is quite the specimen."

"Indeed, though I would advise against attempting anything illicit with him. He's spoken for. That and as his teacher, I would like to see him with a certain type."

"Oh come now, Akame. I'm not that bad, am I?" the wizard joked casually.

"Be honest with yourself, Merlin. Could you honestly say that you would pursue romance?"

"You have a point, Akame-san, though I suppose a tryst would be interesting from time to time."

"You couldn't handle it," Kimiko interjected plainly.

Meanwhile, for others it was a brand new experience that excited the senses seeing how strong these new allies were.

"So…you single-handedly just beat down those four guys without breaking a sweat? You're friggin' powerful! Man, where were opponents like you during the Tournament of Power?" Goku spoke in an excited tone.

"Er…tournament of what now?" Adena tilted her head.

"Kakarot is referring to a fighting contest between different universes in the multiverse we come from. It was a massive brawl between 80 fighters with 8 teams. The universe with the most fighters would win while all the others were eliminated," Vegeta explained.

"Yeah except the Omni-King basically wanted to test the worth of all those involved so pretty much everyone who got eliminated was brought back to life. Thanks to the grand prize with the Super Dragon Balls and all," Goku added.

"Interesting…well just being honest boys—if myself or anyone of us from Team AKARA was involved in that tournament, you guys would be space dust. Sorry~" Addy winked.

"You know…maybe I should have a tournament. If any of those damned suitors that the Council keeps picking for me can land a single hit on me, then I'll get married. Yeah…that way I'm still playing ball, but I get to lead my life as a bachelorette forever!" Inari randomly proposed.

"That's clever and all, but how the hell do you bring up your family business around people you've never met before?" the redhead sighed.

"Don't worry, a martial arts tournament is how I wound up with my wife actually. Chi Chi was a determined woman, even though I won that fight," Goku chuckled.

"Kakarot, you…you actually beat your wife?!" Vegeta shouted out.

"What Vegeta? I had no choice…it was a tournament and I had to advance to the finals."

"Your idiocy never ceases to amaze me," the Saiyan Prince sighed heavily.

"Seems like you boys have an interesting outlook on culture too," Addy nodded before gazing off in the distance spotting a certain gathering.

"Excuse me for a sec," the redhead dismissed herself.

"So…let me get this straight. You're Raizo-sensei's…female counterpart from an alternate universe? Like…you guys have the same upbringing and all except your biological parents are different and you tried to kill him at one point in time, but now you're allies? In addition, you…have a thing for him?" Chris summarized trying to get her facts straight from the conversation with Vesta.

"Yes that's right. Our connection is also complicated since it has to do with our abilities so I tend to just roll with it. It makes things more fun," the Rose-Eyed Stormbringer snickered a bit.

"Also, the redheaded woman over there is also romantically involved with Raizo?" Maria tilted her head as well.

"That's correct, yes along with the woman in the red jacket over there," the white-haired beauty nodded.

"It's a harem-desu!" Kirika called out plainly.

"Wow…I never thought Sensei had that kind of life style," Hibiki pondered.

"Pervert…" Shirabe judged harshly.

"That…has got to be a complicated situation in some way. How do you all even get along?" Tsubasa asked curiously.

"Easily actually, I mean Adena and I were also in a relationship together in the universe I came from. That chemistry technically carried over in some supernatural way."

"So…you all and Sensei…um…" Chris was prepared to ask but blushed heavily.

"Chris-san, you…you were going to ask about that?" Maria gasped with reddened cheeks.

"Hyaah…that's so wrong to think about-desu!" Kirika shouted in shock.

"You know…you three seem to be hiding something with your feelings as well. I'm beginning to wonder things," Vesta teased with a sly expression on her face.

Observing all of this, Raizo stood off to the side for a moment seeing how all of his friends and family had come together. Even with all of this darkness surrounding them, he felt a small moment of peace seeing these with whom he shared a connection with coming together. It was here that the Devil Hunter approached him.

"You know, it's amazing how having so many different bonds can bring people together. You've got one hell of a gift, kiddo," Dante complimented whilst folding his arms.

"If this was under better circumstances, I'd be inclined to agree. However, this is but a momentary reprieve of joy. It's only a small escape from the grim reality surrounding us," Raizo replied.

"That may be true, but even then…coming together from all walks of life and unifying against a single overwhelming force is when we are strongest."

"Yeah…a wise person once said that it's always in the darkest of nights that the light we are shines brightest."

"That person is speaking the truth, Raizo. This hell that we're in right now, it's about as dark as it's ever gonna get for any of us. Yet here we are able to come together like this and smile knowing that we have a war to win. No, it's because there is a war to win that we are able to smile. Even though many of us are strangers to each other, we know what we have to do. Believe it or not, you're the reason why we can be so firm in our purpose, kid."

"Heh, guess I didn't think of it that way, Dante."

Even with all of these good vibes going on, there was still room for a few interesting confrontations. All of these heroes coming together like this were awe-inspiring. However for the select few, it was the cause for the ignition of bitter rivalry or apprehensiveness.

"Heh, funny how we go from being enemies to now being allies," Mordred scoffed whilst looking at Fran.

"Uuuuh….still don't trust….you," she uttered.

"Hoo…so you can talk now eh? Ain't that somethin'."

"Mordred, you are letting that particular side show again. Are you going to forget your path of redemption?" Artoria scolded with a judging stare.

"Er…no, sorry Father."

"Do not apologize to me."

"Right," the Knight of Treachery nodded before turning towards the science experiment and bowing her head.

"For wronging you the way I did, I…I apologize. It was beneath my honor as a knight."

"Hmm…hmmph…fine…"

In the distance, the Dragon Witch strolled over towards Lucy's location coming face to face with the Holy Maiden.

"So we finally meet…Sister," Jalter said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes…it would seem so. Looking at you is like looking directly into the mirror and seeing the darkest impulses of myself in the flesh," Jeanne stated strongly.

"Yes, and seeing you is like seeing all of the good I once had within me made flesh thus possessing the ability to forgive. How interesting indeed."

"If you two are going to fight, then I would suggest you get away from my patient. Otherwise, kiss and make up or do whatever it takes to shut up so I can continue to concentrate," Nightingale uttered with an irritated tone of voice.

"The Wise Queen of Assyria and the Queen of the Land of Shadows, didn't expect ta see you two still lingerin' around here," Drake had expressed bluntly towards the two.

"The capacity to change is rather impressive, is it not? My stubbornness has subsided now that I understand what is at stake here," Scathach responded in a humble tone.

"Translation, she recognized where she stood when her ass was kicked. Honestly Scathach-san, why attempt to be so formal when you can just face the facts?" Semiramis said with brevity.

"This coming from the woman who was on my side?"

"Only because I was bored and wanted to see just how far your ambitions would reach, if we are speaking honestly that is."

"Says the woman charmed by Raizo-senpai," Altera said on the side.

"Oya? She's interested in the kiddo? I could see it. Heh, hey Semiramis, you were eyeing up Rai as a new throne to sit on eh?" Drake teased with a devious grin.

"H-How rude to make such accusations…surely you do not think of me…"

"I must attest, you have been relinquishing a certain look towards the boy. I wonder how you will fair now that-…"

"I'm here?" Adena finished whilst walking up to the group.

"Adena-san…it has been awhile," Scathach bowed her head out of respect.

"Bodysuit thot-chan, yeah…I remember blowing your ass up. So now you're on our team eh? That's cool. Anyways, so which one of ya bitches is trying to get cozy with my man? I got enough explosions to go around."

Altera and Semiramis nervously gulped.

"Relax; I know…he's sexy as hell. Though then again," she pondered whilst looking over the two women.

"I guess the bedroom is big enough for a party. I mean…I play both sides and I'd take care of you two real quickly."

"Oh my, damn girl you're kinky. I like that spunk!" Drake boasted happily.

"Oh hell yeah, I'm all about that spice game."

The light-heartedness continued, except for this particular group…where the animosity was real.

"It would appear that a bothersome pest has revealed itself on the battlefield. Quite the typical behavior of cockroaches, they scatter about even amongst the plains of devastation," Raikou declared in reference to the Oni female that was before her.

"It would also appear that the farmhands have lost control of their livestock. I seemed to have stumbled upon one of their prized cow," Shuten shot back with a disparaging look in her eyes.

"How amusing indeed, perhaps I should squash this insect while I have the chance."

"This one seems rather temperamental; I suppose it does need to be milked. Then again, a fat creature such as this would serve as excellent cuisine for a last meal."

As the pair of females continued to throw insults at one another, the intensity of their aura had grown around them.

"Akaro, you should probably get between them before it gets ugly," Akame suggested noticing the tension in the air.

"Yeah, I'll take care of this," he nodded.

Sensing the situation at hand, Raizo joined his older brother too.

"Whoa, whoa you two…calm down," the Envoy began.

"Oh Akaro-sama, you're right on time. This tall brute was just being so rude to this delicate me," the Oni responded.

"Raizo-sama, mou…won't you please help me get rid of the trash before the infectious odor consumes the air?" Raikou pleaded.

"Um…what's the deal with you two?" the boy tilted his head in confusion.

"Shuten and Raikou have a bit of a checkered history together when they were alive. Let's just say that one seduced a certain subordinate of the other and then it eventually led to someone assassinating the other," the older male attempted to explain.

"Right…well, try to get along you two…we've got a mutual enemy to face and all," the Stormbringer suggested.

During the brief five minute interlude that all of the heroes had to meet and greet each other, the time for the climax of the confrontation with the Demon King drew near. The entirety of the realm had shuddered with the density of his immense aura infecting every corner of the space with his will. Whirlwinds of darkness and chasms of negative energy had spiraled all over the landscape before more spawns of Demon God Pillars occurred. There weren't any more amalgamations being crafted or the presence of the four main gods that aided Goetia in the execution of this plan. Instead, there were just thousands of these beasts emitting gaseous clouds of miasma all over the place. Their crimson eyes of dubious hatred radiating flows of mana discharged laser-like beam attacks towards the heroes whilst pyroclastic flows of poison washed along the ground. The scene had truly become the epitome of Armageddon.

"They're stronger than before, that much is obvious," Raizo analyzed whilst feeling the power that emanated from them.

"Yeah, but we've seen worse in our time," Akaro assured standing beside his brother.

"It would seem the time has come for us to show Goetia who we are," Akame surmised.

"Heh, I'm getting all kinds of excited right now. Let's show 'em what a Team AKARA reunion looks like," Adena smirked with anticipation.

"Let's hope the others are paying attention, this won't take long," Kimiko spoke frankly.

"Hey, don't forget about us you know," Vesta said whilst stepping forward.

"Hmm…I wonder how that naming convention would work…A.K.I.R.A.V.A.? Team V.A.K.A.R.I.A.? This is hard…meh details," Inari shrugged off.

"Hey…what about us?" someone called out amidst the group causing the seven warriors to pause a moment.

"The Heroic Spirits left behind during your trip still don't have a lot of mana left. Plus with Mom out of commission, they are essentially sitting ducks if we put them in a protective arrangement. If Semiramis had her mana, she could use her Hanging Gardens of Babylon," Raizo explained.

"Well…if you gave her some mana, that wouldn't be a problem," the Envoy teased.

"Akaro…" Kimiko uttered before chopping the man on his head.

"Ow…come on, I was just jokin'."

"Big Bro, you tryin' to suggest somethin' lewd…" Adena raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"…Nii-chan is trying to pimp out my poor Raizo-san," Vesta sighed with disappointment.

"So like…you're saying this boy has some energy boosting spunk in his tanks? Interesting…" Inari pondered.

"My student is being considered for illicit activities…as his teacher, I must say I do not approve. Not until I instructed the potential partners for specific strategies on how to best utilize their private time," Akame inserted.

"E-Eh?! W-Where is this conversation even going? Hey, I'm not a bargaining chip you know…mou…at least try to consider my feelings on the matter," Raizo protested.

"Alright, alright fine. Well Drake has her mana going," Akaro expressed in a serious tone.

"Oh yeah…she has that fleet right?"

"Yep, so we'll get 'em on board the ship and let them cruise out from a safe distance and give them one heck of a show."

"Sounds good then."

"Good, now go give 'em the news, Raichu."

"Eh…why me? You're the leader of the group," Raizo tilted his head in confusion.

"True, but that group back there. They all rallied together to fight because of you. Your bonds with them brought them together. People from all walks of life across various worlds were able to stand and fight against threats they've never even fathomed because you were here," Akaro stated whilst patting the Stormbringer on his back.

"Remember what I told you before, Raizo. Believe…" Kimiko said with a slight nod.

"Right…"

The Crimson Harbinger approached the group of fighters to deliver the news. He felt a little nervous in taking on this kind of responsibility.

The last time I took a leadership position was basically the reason why this mess is happening as it is.

He pushed aside that thought as he stopped before the crowd of heroes. He wasn't sure about telling them to stand down, but…for their sake…he had to.

"Listen up; this fight has been giving us hell since we all came together. Now we're facing what very well may be the last fight. Nothing would make me happier than to have everyone here fighting together once more; however, that cannot be the case. What I'm saying is, I want you guys to entrust the rest of this fight to us," Raizo began.

Silence wafted over the group. Some of them wanted to speak up in protest, but the odds were overwhelming. As insulting as it could be to the pride within each warrior, logic had to beat out pride.

"The enemy has increased in strength and in number, but I'm not trying to say that you all can't fight. No, if I could have my way then I'd want each of you to be fighting alongside us in this last push. Alas, I don't want any of you throwing your lives away in a war that none of you asked to be a part of. Many of you have homes to get back to, people to reunite with, or places to protect, or even witness dawn over a new world. This conflict may rob you of the chance to do so. But I believe in all of you guys. You all would not hesitate at the opportunity to make a stand for the sake of all existence. Meeting each of you in your respective universes has made that apparent. I know that you guys would make that sacrifice, but all I ask is that you place your trust in us…in me."

"Without a doubt, Raizo-kun. We know you and the others got it from here," Meliodas grinned with the Sins nodding in agreement behind him.

"Normally I'd throw a fit and boast about Saiyan Pride, but this is battle that is beyond me for now. So I'll take a back seat, but you better not let me down Raizo," Vegeta cast a glare of iron will at the youth.

"Heh, what Vegeta is saying is that you got this. I'm banking on it too," Goku supported with the thumbs up.

"Give 'em Hell, kid. Simple as that," Dante nodded.

"You can do it, Raizo-sensei!" Chris cheered on.

"Show 'em the determination in your fists!" Hibiki cried out.

"And never let your blade waver," Tsubasa advised.

"Good luck, Sensei," Shirabe smiled gently.

"Desu!" Kirika cried out.

"We believe in you all," Maria spoke proudly.

"Win it for us all, Senpai," Altera supported.

"Become the beacon of hope we know you to be," Semiramis said with a warm smile.

"Heh, guess I can let ya have the glory this time guys," Mordred chuckled.

"You carry the honor of us all," Artoria approved.

"Show them what you're made of," Scathach said plainly while Fran, Jalter, Shuten, Raikou, and Nightingale merely yielding nods of approval as well.

"And be sure to come home safe and sound," Jeanne added.

"Thanks everyone, oh and Drake…Aniki said to use your Noble Phantasm to cart everyone to safety. But uh…take it easy on the wild turns, my Mom is gonna be on board," Raizo smiled.

"You got it!"

The Pirate Queen drew one of her flintlock pistols from her side and discharged a round into the air. In that moment, a massive crimson, black, and gold ship appeared. The legendary galleon vessel that was the Golden Hind was back in action ready to set sail thanks to the restored mana flow within her body.

"Your ride is here everyone. Now then prepare to sit back and enjoy the show," the Stormbringer said going to step away.

"Oh and by the way. Remember how you all were trying to have a discussion about the strongest and trying to measure who all would match against me and such? Well…out of the entire group over there, I'm the weakest."

Out of nowhere, a unified statement from the Saiyans, the Sins, and the Symphogears was expressed in one word:

"WHAAAAAAAT?!"

"Gowther, check their power levels," Merlin suggested.

"Got it," the puppet uttered.

The Goat's Sin of Lust scanned the Stormbringer and his family in the distance before giving approximate values.

"Let's see…Raizo-san's value is around the 1,000,000,000 range it would seem. Then the redheaded one has a level of 1 followed by 12 zeroes, the blonde has a level of 1.5 followed by 12 zeroes or so, the white-haired one has 1 followed by about the 303 zeroes, Akame has about 600 zeroes after 1, Akaro has too many to count, and…Kimi-san is a question mark."

"Power levels are bullshit," Vegeta uttered.

"That's over 9,000!" Goku yelled out.

"It would seem my strength is outclassed…very well, I shall admit defeat," Escanor sighed heavily.

"If Hawk-san was here, he would most certainly have a heart attack," Merlin chuckled.

"Alright ya scabrous lot, enough chatter and board the damn ship. Time to get outta here before shit starts hittin' the fan!" Drake yelled out.

The heroes followed her instructions and proceeded up the ramp to the deck of the Golden Hind. Nightingale and Jeanne carried Lucy on board as well before going down below deck to resume her treatment. After everyone had safely boarded, the Captain ran up last to take the helm of the ship before directing it to take off. Seeing the ship sail off into the distance, the Stormbringer rejoined the rest of Team AKARA.

"So you had to scare the shit out of them with the power level thing eh?" Akaro chuckled.

"Well, I told them before I wasn't as strong as they thought me to be," the youth shrugged.

"Yeah but you didn't have to terrify the level shit out of 'em," Adena expressed with a teasing tone of voice.

"Eh, they'll get over it," Akame chimed in.

"Not everyone is gifted with major swag, Benihime," Inari stated plainly.

"And not all men are created equal," Vesta surmised.

"Careful now, you don't want to trigger the snowflakes. Last thing we need is gender politics affecting the chapter," Kimiko retorted.

"Wait…that's a thing?" Akaro asked.

"Guys…focus," Raizo sighed.

"Right, right, so you feelin' up for this lil' bro?"

Taking a deep breath, the youth relaxed his muscles in his body. Feeling the strength of the electrical current flowing through him well up, the male had blinked one time before ascending into the Mastered Heart state.

"Yeah, just needed a second to adjust so I can keep up," he chuckled before drawing Vajra from its sheath.

In a brief passage of silence, the seven warriors had rushed forward into battle.

"All right Prometheus, let's turn every single one of these disgusting bastards to ash," Adena smirked as she rushed in.

Pulling the thick-bladed longsword from over her shoulder, the female dived in with her vermillion flames surging around her body. With a single swing, a crescent moon of molten energy was discharged thus severing at least 50 of the pillars at the root thus causing them to topple over like trees. In that next moment, the girl had balled up her fist and punched the ground below.

"World On Fire!" she cried out.

A burst of fire exploded around her before embers began to orbit her like electrons around atoms. In that instant, she took her weapon and infused her will into causing it to transform into a three-section staff. Reminiscent of the Staff of Sun Wukong that she wielded long ago, the girl began twirling the weapon around her body for a moment to get psyched up.

"Man I love this beauty."

The weapon's full name was: Flare of Uprising – Prometheus. Named after a legendary hero who rebelled against the gods and gave fire to mankind allowing progress and civilization to continue, it was a Primordial Armament forged by Alexis for the master martial artist. It was a conceptual weapon that allowed the flame to take on any form its master needs. The full capabilities of the weapon were not completely known to the female, however, she made use of it the best she could with the skill level she currently possessed.

"Now then…let's burn you all to ash."

The jacket over her shoulders had emanated an even greater concentration of flames infused with the aspect of divinity flowing in the veins of the female. The sheer intensity of these flames suggested that the woman had transformed, yet that was not the case at all. This was the effect of her second armament called the Cloak of Everblaze. Similar to Raizo's Janus Armor, the weapon was infused in the fibers of her jacket. It enhanced the vitality and strength of its user while also multiplying the efficacy and capabilities of her flames. In addition, these effects could amplify greatly in the presence of a star. Although the darkness of the realm had blanketed out that part, the inferno around the woman never waned.

In a single rush, the strident redhead had rushed forward. The flames around her body had spread out like an angel's wings as the female seemingly danced her way through the bumbling lumps of flesh that had collapsed all around her. As she twirled her staff around her, the embers had exploded the moment they made contact with the black flesh of the beast instantly rendering the helpless monsters to ash.

As Adena cleared the first pile, another batch of pillars came her way by sweeping along the ground threatening to bat the girl to the far side of the realm. However just as the group of 10 or so tendrils came towards her, a net of white electricity had halted the advance of the herd.

"Rain Unyielding!"

Thousands of needle-like bolts of lightning cascaded from the heavens before showering down upon the creatures and dispersing them into tiny particles. With an enthusiastic grin, Vesta descended from the skies right beside the redheaded girl.

"You know, I totally had that under control," Adena spoke with slight criticism.

"I know, but tentacles and a sexy woman is one fetish I'm not trying to advocate for today," Vesta shrugged.

"Come on now; don't tell me you're getting jealous over a bunch of squids."

"Nah, not even remotely, I just wanted to say hi."

"Sure ya did."

During their banter, more of the beasts with numerous eyeballs had spawned.

"Well then, why don't we show them what we're workin' with then, Madam Stormbringer?"

"Heh, they're not ready at all for this one."

The two females then rushed towards the enemies together in the shape of a double helix formation composed of fire and lightning. In that motion, Adena had rushed up the side of one of the colossal pillars on the left while Vesta mimicked the same action on the right. In unison, the two females had cartwheeled down the bodies of their respective foes thus splitting both enemies in half. Vermillion and white wheels of energy rolled along the ground like sawblades before plowing straight through the next targets on opposing sides. After rushing through the small group like two spinning tops bouncing off one another with each hit, the two came to a halt. Standing next to one another, the girls walked around from the group and bumped fists before the background exploded into a sea of flames and lightning.

It was here that more of them began to spawn.

"Gotta love the endless horde," Adena sighed.

"Yeah well, it's not like we're getting tired," Vesta pointed out.

"Coming through, ladies," another voice called out.

In an azure wave of motion, a sudden gust of wind had rushed past the two females as Inari elected to cut in on this side of the field. The swordswoman had gripped a hold of her serrated blade—known as Kusanagi—and cut through empty space. In an instant, thousands of tiny little vacuums had cut across the bodies of the pillars rising up before the women. In that next moment, the creatures were torn into hundreds of thousands of pieces.

"Who's next?"

"Show off," Adena teased.

"Coming from the girl who literally has a blanket of flames around her," Inari raised a cocky brow.

"Well, you're not wrong there," Vesta conceded.

"Yeah well, these flames don't know when to quit so try not to get caught up in the rush girls."

"Oi Benihime, you trying to throw down a challenge at me?"

"Maybe I am Princess, I'll take down more of these things before you can even blink."

"Heh, just like old times then? You're on."

"They don't call my Godspeed for nothing, I mean while y'all were having your little discussion…" Vesta pointed to another 20 pillars in the distance. The enemies were enveloped in a net of white lightning before it tinged with crimson energy thus dissolving their atomic structures.

"I got bored and dealt a little advancement."

Without much for words to pass between them, the trio of women burst forward into formation. Inari took the lead as she weaved her way through her foes swinging her sword in an expertly crafted display of elegance mixed with ferocity. She landed a singular cut on each enemy she struck before stopping her assault in a small clearing just about 50 feet behind the creatures of darkness. Spinning the blade around with her hand, she tucked it in the sheath slowly before the guard made a click sound against the black scabbard.

"Be gone," she uttered.

In that instant, the fabric of reality around the creatures cut by her blade began to crack like glass. The jagged edges within the empty space had spread further and further before it shattered. The area then opened up like a quantum singularity as the disturbance began to drag everything within the vortex. Like water flowing down the drain of a sink, the wounded spawns were sucked into another dimension outside of the current reality marble. Eventually, the space had folded in on itself like origami transforming into a massive, stagnant black ball imprisoning the beasts inside. A bout of silence washed over the area leading to a white flash of light that condensed the sphere into another alternate space.

"Collapsing Verdict," uttered the voice of Vesta before dropping down and cutting the dimensional anomaly in half thus causing it to disperse into tiny glass fragments.

Then more of the creatures elected to slither over for an attack.

"Sacred Meadow," Adena called out with a stomp of her foot.

In that moment, the ground underneath the advancing beasts was impaled by a series of flaming spears that transformed the monsters into burning cacti. As their flesh began to melt into dust, a wave of crimson energy had washed over them like a caustic miasma. The dense concentration of power had seemingly grown in size as it battered the beasts repeatedly. Like a tsunami erasing the coastline of an island nation, the destructive nature had escalated.

"Poisonous Wave," Akame uttered as the massive crescent barrage created by her will disintegrated her foes.

"Aka-nee, I totally had that," Adena complained with a smug look on her face.

"I know, but I was bored," the raven haired beauty responded casually.

"Oi, that's kill stealing…no fair," Inari spoke up whilst raising her eyebrow.

"Please, while you lot were having a lover's quarrel," she began as she pointed over her shoulder, "I slayed about a hundred or so with a single swing of my blade."

Behind the female was the sight of massive clusters of pillars melting into muck and ectoplasmic goo as they were devoured by the poison seeping from the legendary katana that the woman had always carried. As the trio of females watched this, they were speechless at the moment.

"Sometimes the best way to show off is to not show anything at all," Akame instructed.

"Yeah but…what's the point of not having a bang for your buck, Aka-nee?" Adena whined.

"Tch…I could've done that too…I just got caught up that's all," Vesta pouted.

"Yeah…so much for that Godspeed moniker, am I right? Anyways, that's still stylish as fuck in my eyes. Can respect most definitely," Inari nodded with approval.

"Oi…where's Aneki, Big Bro and Raizo?" Adena pointed out.

"I'm right here," Kimiko echoed before appearing behind the women with a deadpan expression on her face.

"Whoa…Aneki, where were you at?"

"Just wandering around watching you all have fun, don't mind me. Oh and…the brothers are over there," she pointed ahead causing the girls to turn.

Across the battlefield, the crimson brothers were tearing the battlefield up in their own unique way. Akaro and Raizo had fought together almost back to back the entire time. For them, it was like business as usual since the two had battled together for what felt like years at this point.

"It's like the Second Primordial War all over again eh?" Akaro smirked before smashing one of the pillars in one swing with his blade.

"Yeah guess so, but I can barely keep up as usual," Raizo chuckled in response before zig-zagging his way up the side of pillar and slicing it half.

The youth then rushed another beast behind that one impaling it with his blade; the resulting impact caused it to crash down like a tree. Dragging the blade behind him, Raizo ran along the surface then flew through the air before casting a net of lightning from his freehand to shock another group.

Akaro rushed in underneath and swung Svarog around in a circular motion causing the stunned group to collapsed. It was here that he snapped his fingers forcing their bodies to become encapsulated in a tornado of sand. A pillar of fire then washed over the funnel thus compressing the pillars into glass. With a single swing from his blade, Raizo shattered the glass into thousands upon thousands of pieces. However, the youth rushed in and began batting these shards like hail as they assailed the nearby cluster of enemies like bullets.

"Huh, well then…you seem to be keeping up just fine in my opinion," Akaro observed as the youth landed next to him.

"Barely, but I don't even feel like I'm at 100% right now. Ever since that fight against Gilgamesh…my body just feels at war with itself," Raizo flexed his palm with a dismal expression on his face.

"You won though, obviously. What exactly happened?"

"I don't know how to explain it really. He launched his Noble Phantasm at me…that Enuma Elish attack or whatever. And feeling like I needed a last ditch effort to survive, I used Morana and devoured the energy. When I did, something changed and…my body felt like it was taken somewhere else. It was like I was outside of reality and was looking down upon it as if I was reading pages in a book or something. Time didn't even exist in my mind and I had this rush of power within me almost like the time I fought Deus. It was just for a moment, but…I was completely outside of myself, like my soul escaped the limits of my body."

"Heh…so you've finally experienced it eh?" Akaro leaned his head back to stretch out his neck.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Raizo tilted his head with inquiry.

"It's the shift. In other words, a phenomenon that occurs when your body enters into a state of higher dimensions."

"Higher…dimensions?"

"It's a bit of a long story. When all of this is over, I'll explain it to ya. For now, looks like our friends are back for more. You sure you can handle it, Raichu?"

"Heh, come on now Aniki. I've got the sonic if you got the boom."

"Sounds good, but uh…lemme get dressed for the occasion," the Envoy smirked before enveloping his body in flames. In that moment, Akaro's body adapted the Redshift Zen form with the power of Agni's Radiance within him. As his hair shifted into a vermillion color, the bright crimson flames danced around his body like a whirlwind as Svarog resonated with the hot intensity of a thousand suns. Now the rampage of the brothers would begin

"Let's show 'em what we're made of," the Red-Eyed Hero suggested.

"Hell yeah," the Red-Eyed Stormbringer nodded in affirmation.

Dashing forward in perfect harmony, the red-eyed males attacked the demonic horde with their fury. In a fit of furious strikes that could only be seen as flashes of light, the brothers wildly stabbed their blades in the air thus penetrating the monsters and turning them into Swiss cheese. They pierced through the clustered formations as if they were basic obstacles that could be batted aside with ease. As they advanced, however, neither brother got ahead of the other demonstrating that perfect unison.

"Is that all you got?" Akaro taunted the enemy with a confident tone in his voice.

Switching up, the brothers tucked their blades away for a moment. Raizo discharged thousands of bolts of crimson electricity whilst Akaro unleashed a torrent of vermillion fire balls. The two different types of plasma energy had reduced these monsters to piles of ash before dissipating into nothingness. It was as if the pair was playing target practice thus racking up kills as if to beat a new high score. As more of the crowd fell, the brothers were back to back for another pause.

"Let's do it like this," Raizo declared whilst pulling his sword out once again enhancing it with indigo and crimson electricity.

"Cut 'em down to size," Akaro nodded as he brought out Svarog enraptured in red and black flames.

Together, the brothers had swung their blades in a unifying charge as they cleaved through the pillars creating an oceanic horizon of miasmic blood. The harmonious discharge of fire and electricity essentially illuminated the entire area of the battlefield heralding the demise of these beasts created by Goetia. They swept upon them like a plague as they had quite literally eviscerated the western half of the battlefield. But it wasn't over yet…no, for these two, there had to be the grand finale. As they finished brushing aside more of these beasts, the brothers stepped back for the coup de grace.

"Keep lining up," Akaro began.

"And we'll keep knocking you down," Raizo finished.

The brothers tossed their blades up in the air and stood back to back. As the weapons spun in the air helplessly, the two men had taken their hands and created a jaw shape with them whilst gathering their energy.

"Unyielding…" mouthed the Stormbringer.

"Finale!" echoed the Envoy of the Crimson Dragon.

They relinquished the force of energy as their powers combined blowing away the lingering remnants of the foes before them. As a massive crimson explosion engulfed the visage of the surrounding area, the two men lifted their arms and caught their blades before sheathing them respectively.

"Boom," the two brothers spoke in unison before bumping fists together while returning to their base states.

Meanwhile atop the Golden Hind, the warriors on deck were bearing witness to the spectacle of a massacre that was going on below. Captain Drake sailed the ship with Semiramis serving as her quartermaster. Altera was in the bird's nest serving as lookout while Jalter and Fran stood near the stern of the vessel. Nightingale, Jeanne, Scathach, Mordred, and Artoria were below deck with Lucy while Shuten and Raikou were standing at the bow of the ship. The other heroes from the different universes were scattered about the deck of the ship watching the battle from various positions. The prowess of the seven warriors had infinitely eclipsed the dreams of many of the warriors who were unfamiliar with the legend of Team AKARA.

"To think that such strong people existed in the cosmos, holy crap this is so exciting!" Goku enthusiastically called out.

"Only you would get excited over the sight of such monstrously strong individuals, Kakarot. If anything, I'm glad we're on the same side and not adversaries," Vegeta commented before looking over the side of the ship.

"Oh come on Vegeta, I know you're not trying to admit you're weak."

"Of course not you imbecile; I may have my pride, but even I am wise enough to acknowledge strength that outclasses my own when seen fit. Beerus doesn't even terrify me anymore compared to them."

"Yeah, if Lord Beerus was here to see this, he'd have a heart attack. Then again, he probably would've asked where these guys were when the Tournament of Power was going on."

The Sins were sharing a different tone in their discussion given their familiarity with half of the AKARA members.

"Man, what the hell kind of enemies do these guys fight to get so strong?" Ban sighed with an annoyed tone.

"Some of which eclipse our wildest dream. They're definitely as strong as ever…no, Akaro, Akame and Kimiko have definitely gotten stronger than before. The others are strong too, but I can't believe Raizo is the weakest of the group," Meliodas commented.

"Given the way he handled those two Demon Gods the first time we met him would definitely suggest otherwise. They are quite the intriguing bunch," Merlin analyzed.

"Well at least all of this should be over soon then," Diane acknowledge standing amongst the group in the size of a normal human girl. The wizard had shrunk her down just before they boarded the vessel.

"Indeed, then we can get back home and solve our own problems hopefully," King said while Gowther and Escanor were silent behind them.

"Right on, kiddo, you and that family of yours are something else," Dante muttered to himself whilst overhearing the conversations taking place.

The peace was then disturbed in that moment.

"Brace for impact! Enemies have taken note of our position!" Altera yelled down below.

"Everyone hold on, this might get a little rough!" Drake called out.

"Keep steering the ship, we'll take care of it," Hibiki called out before looking to her fellow comrades for a helping hand.

"Hey wait, that's not…" the former Queen of Assyria was about to say before the Symphogears jumped over the ship.

Armored up and ready to go, the girls were still able to access the Phonic Gain from earlier. As the six females glided down to the oncoming tentacle beasts, they were divided into two groups: Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Shirabe took the left flank whilst Chris, Maria, and Kirika took the right. As a result, they commenced their attack.

The pillars had lashed out at the girls for an attack, but they did not waver. Hibiki took point immediately by turning her right fist into a giant drill and thrusting forward in one ruthlessly powerful punch. The creatures that zipped around her were met by the blades of Tsubasa and Shirabe who supported their friend's charge. In this formation, they made it a point to blaze through as many of the enemies as quickly as possible in order to push them out of the way of the ship. This strategy was indeed paying off as the left flank had thinned quite significantly.

On the other side, it was much of the same. Chris used her Gatling guns to blast away her foes from a distance with her powerful arsenal. She released a heavy barrage of missiles that blasted away the pillars into chunks of meat. Behind the volleys of ammunition, Maria and Kirika had rushed in with their blades drawn. The former had taken her dagger and transformed it into a short sword whose blade extended into a whip. She wrapped the weapon around two of the beasts and sliced them to bits. Meanwhile, Kirika had slung her scythe's crescent blade like a boomerang as it hacked away at any other lingering targets. Eventually the right flank had cleared up as well. However, the girls had fallen into a trap.

Just as the two groups sought to reunite and head back to the ship, more of the pillars had spawned in the space thus isolating the groups from each other and blocking their path back to the ship. The groups were surrounded on all sides and had little choice but to fin for themselves.

"The girls are surrounded on all sides," Semiramis reported in whilst activating her runes for a magical defense.

"Dammit all," Drake gritted her teeth in response.

"I could go down there and use my Noble Phantasm," Jalter suggested.

"Uuaah…" Fran grunted in agreement.

It was then that a bright flash of light occurred thus rendering everyone blind for a brief moment.

As the atmosphere of imminent death was creeping in for the two groups of girls, the respective groups locked hands with one another thus thinking that this could be the end. However, if they were going down then they would make use of the Superb Song for a last stand.

"Pardon me ladies, you look like you could use a hand," Akaro's voice rang out as the pillars surrounding Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Shirabe all vanished in one fell swoop.

As the trio of women opened their eyes to see the muscular Envoy standing over them, something triggered inside each of them. The faces of the girls all became flushed with a reddish tone and their bodies felt warm and tingly inside. They felt this phenomenon in unison, but couldn't explain what just happened. Tsubasa had a feeling of what the sensation was being the eldest of the three. Shirabe was extremely anxious and looked to the side. As for Hibiki, she didn't understand what this feeling was. Granted she felt the warmth for someone she cared deeply for in her life, however it was not anything like this.

"W-Who…are you?" the girl had asked.

"You…look like Sensei…" Tsubasa confirmed.

"Jii…" the twin-tailed female stared silently.

"Ah yeah, Raizo's my little brother. Name's Akaro and uh…before y'all ruin that armor with whatever is going on inside ya, I'd suggest getting back to the ship," the male grinned cheekily.

"R-Right…" they said together in unison.

"Better yet…" the male said before opening his arms and grabbing up each of them. In a blink of an eye, he dropped them off on the deck of the ship and vanished without saying a single word.

The same situation had occurred for the other girls. Chris, Maria, and Kirika were about to unleash their final attack before Raizo came to their rescue.

"What did I teach you girls about letting your guard down?" he sighed softly as he banished the pillars away in one go.

Seeing his face, Chris, Maria, and even Kirika tensed up at the sight of him. They blushed heavily in unison upon seeing the male before them. The two older females had felt this sensation from the moment they met Raizo; however, for Kirika, it was a delayed action that didn't truly come to fruition until this battle and seemingly escalated over the brief period of time. As they observed the man for a moment, they were rendered speechless.

"Oh well, you don't have a thing to worry about. Let's get you girls back to the ship. No more reckless moves, okay? Leave that to me," he smirked.

Conducting a similar action, the male grabbed the girls and took them back to the ship before vanishing without a second thought.

The six females were all flabbergasted as to what just happened, each of their hearts thumping heavily inside their chests. Merely observing their presence back on the ship, the Heroic Spirits read the situation and knew exactly what was going on. The others were just trying to figure out what just happened with the vanishing and reappearing act.

In the meantime, Team AKARA had reunited back on the ground.

"Damn boys, that was hella entertaining," Adena nodded in approval whilst placing her hands on her hips.

"The brothers at work, always a fun time it seems," Inari commented with an impressed tone.

"Of course they do it with such style making it more of a performance than an actual battle," Vesta snickered.

"Indeed, but that's our men for you," Akame agreed.

"They aren't harem protagonists for nothing," Kimiko shrugged.

"Oi Kimi, I see you breaking the fourth wall again. We're in the middle of a crisis you know," Akaro retorted jokingly.

"Harem protagonist? I don't get it," Raizo tilted his head.

"Of course not, you're dense just like one," the Red-Eyed Killer eloquently expressed.

"M-Mou…Aka-sensei, it's not my fault. I don't understand these things…"

Adena and Vesta merely looked at one another before turning their attention to the youth and speaking in unison.

"You will soon enough."

"I sense a plot development, color me intrigued," Inari raised an eyebrow.

"Gonna have to special order a new bed, I can see it right now," the deadpan female noted.

"Well as much as this banter is proving to be quite the entertaining juncture, it would appear that those pesky little tentacle cretins are at it again. Aren't they just cute trying to surround us and all of that, thinking we can't escape and junk? Boy, it'd be a shame if a giant bolt of lightning came and said: Bye Felicia," Akaro folded his arms whilst observing the monsters taking up an ambushing formation.

"They really don't know when to quit," Raizo grunted in irritation as he sought to power up again.

Ironically at behest of the Red-Eyed Hero's words, a giant blue chasm of light had pierced through the alternate universe severed from reality. Defying all odds, this strange occurrence had eliminated the vast horde surrounding Team AKARA in an instant. Crashing to the ground behind the group, the silhouette of a single individual with long, jet-black hair and raven black eyes with glasses was spotted walking towards them. With sparks of cerulean electricity trickling off of his broad chest and shoulders, the individual wearing the black trench coat and red sash over his shoulders was a welcome face to the fray. In spite of the change in appearance, the Stormbringer instantly ascertained the identity of this man as he gradually walked towards him.

"Dad? Y-You're really here?" he questioned in a twist of astonishment and excitement.

"Indeed I am, it's been awhile hasn't it son?" Mercer responded before reaching out to pat the boy gently on his head.

"You look well, though it would appear that you've been going through quite the struggle," he observed seeing as his son's attire was in completely disarray.

"Yeah…that's definitely an understatement," the youth professed with a sigh.

"I can only begin to imagine. But don't lose heart; we're going to make it through this."

"Well, well, about time you showed up. I was beginning to wonder when your ass was gonna get a move on," Akaro called out as he and the others approached.

"I had other matters to attend to," Mercer responded.

Stepping away from his son for a moment, he and the Crimson Dragon shared a strong handshake.

"It seems like you had a makeover since we last saw each other."

"Same could be said of you, I didn't realize you had an affinity for tattoos," the King of Elysium remarked spotting the mark of the dragon going up Akaro's arm.

"Yeah well, things have changed quite a bit for me since my time away from home. Your kiddo over here had a little helping hand in that."

"Oh come on, Aniki…all I did was punch the ever living shit out of you…twice."

"Is that right, son? Well, he was long overdue for it."

"Hey…don't pull the like father like son card on me."

"Right, right…Akame, are you keeping this knucklehead out of trouble?" the man asked whilst turning his attention to the man's wife.

"I try but…250 years have passed since I last saw him and of course he manages to get himself in even deeper shit than usual. Seriously, I thought you kept an eye on the Throne of Heroes," she sighed.

"From time to time but history's greatest heroes always have a knack for having their fair share of personalities. Do I even want to know how many of them are involved this time around?"

"No…you can see for yourself at any time. They are currently up there on that ship in the sky. Along with other guests currently displaced from their homes thanks to Goetia."

"Duly noted."

"So…this man is the King of Elysium? Boy oh boy, my people would want to throw a parade and have some mad sacred festivals right now if they saw this…" Inari randomly commented.

"Ah, the Princess of Mercury, I've heard a great deal about you. Your people have a tendency to pray a lot for your marriage. There was even a festival yielding a certain request…"

"With all due respect Mercer-sama….can we uh…not bring that up right now? I know exactly what you're talking about and I'm not sure that topic should be…ya know…"

"Fair enough, we'll discuss it another time then."

"Yeah…thanks."

"Oh man…Inari, come on girl, don't do that to me," Adena whined.

"Addy, trust me…you don't wanna talk about it right now," Inari proposed.

"Let it go Addy, don't torment the poor girl," Vesta sighed.

Mercer merely yielded a small shrug before turning his attention to the redhead of the group.

"It's good to see you again, Adena. I see the armaments are working well for you," he complimented.

"Oh yeah, I love them both. It really does go well with my style. Tell Alexis thanks the next time you see her."

"I will, no doubt about that," he said.

"Vesta, you're vibrant as always. Has anything changed in…"

"No…that woman has only gotten worse. It would be safe to say that she is a lost cause. I'm sorry. I was hoping to save her from that fate," the Godspeed relinquished a solemn tone.

"She made her choice long ago. I only wish that I was wise enough to change her mind during that time," Mercer shook his head thinking of the biological mother of his son.

"Mercer, what's up with that cut on your cheek?" Kimiko pointed out spotting the scar that was obscured by the man's hair.

All eyes focused on his demeanor in that moment as he brushed aside those locks of hair exposing the wound.

"It's a long story. Let's just say that we have an even bigger issue on our hands outside of the Demon King. When this is over, I'll be sure to explain the situation to all of you. First off, where is Lucy?"

"Mom is…" Raizo bit his lip as he shot his gaze towards the ship above.

"I'll bring them down here," Akaro said whilst going to take off.

"No need, leave it to me. By my command as Grand Ruler, I instruct the Servant Rider—Francis Drake—to bring the Golden Hind and all those aboard down to my presence," Kimiko uttered as a golden light glimmered around her before the same energy flux engulfed the vessel in the sky.

In that moment, the sight of the red treasure galleon appeared to be getting closer and closer before ultimately halting just above the area. In that next instant, the eight individuals jumped aboard the ship thus surprising all of those present.

"Oya, oya, Kimi-nee, I know yer Grand Ruler and all but…damn a command seal? That's rough don't ya think?" the Pirate Queen called out.

"Meh, you'll get over it. I'll buy you a drink when this is over and we'll call it even," the woman responded.

"All is forgiven, I gladly accept," Drake saluted.

Without a moment's hesitation, Raizo and his father went below the deck of the ship to check on Lucy whilst the others mingled for a bit on deck giving the two men space. As they descended the levels of the ship, the red-eyed male led his father to the cabin where the blonde woman was surrounded by five Heroic Spirits.

"Raizo-kun, you're here…and M-Mercer-san?!" Jeanne gasped.

The other Heroic Spirits took notice as well having known about the individual. Their expressions of surprise halted their speech.

"How's my wife?" Mercer asked as he crouched down beside the woman in a coma.

"She's stable by appearance, but her mana levels are rather sporadic and difficult to read. We don't know whether she is failing in health or if she is doing perfectly fine. Though it would seem that she will not be waking up anytime soon," the Holy Maiden reported with a dismal tone.

"I see…when history is restored, then she'll be better off. All we can do is finish this battle with Goetia. I'm entrusting that task to you, son," the noble hero passed along.

"Yeah Dad, without a doubt…Goetia won't get away with this," the youth nodded.

"Good, I'm counting you. I'll be sitting this fight out. I want to stay by your mother's side and lend a hand to all of these heroes on this ship. I can sense the dwindling power levels of all those aboard. If the Demon King elected to focus his attacks on this vessel, everyone aboard will die."

"Right…"

"I'll go ahead and see you all off," Mercer decided as he and his son went back on deck.

As the two individuals reemerged, Team AKARA gathered up getting ready to take off to the final fight against the Demon King.

"I take it you're staying here, right?" Akaro asked already knowing what his longtime friend would do.

"Indeed. I'll keep an eye on things up here while you all finish that son of a bitch off. End this so that we can all go home," he suggested.

"You got it," the Envoy nodded as he and his team were about to take off.

"Oh and Raizo, your niece wanted me to pass this along to you," Mercer said as he pulled a black disk-like object out from his jacket and handed it over to the boy.

The moment the Stormbringer reached out for it, the device seemingly sprang to life and immediately latched onto the boy's bare chest.

"What the hell?!" he cried out.

In that instant, it buried itself beneath the surface of his skin thus disintegrating into an innumerable amount of nanomachines. These devices had penetrated Raizo's heart all at once before entering his bloodstream instantaneously spreading throughout his body like a viral infection. As if he was being prodded by thousands of needles simultaneously, the male began to cry out in pain. Everyone on deck had reacted going to help the kid, but Mercer just held up a hand to stave them off.

Within the mind of the Crimson Harbinger, an electronic, female voice rang out.

"Janus Armor – Bleeding Edge Variant [Online]

Analyzing genetic code of host…Raizo Mercer confirmed

Enhancing subject's vitals…

Adapting to subject's current power level…

Restructuring armor capacity…

All operations green lit…

Engaging…"

As soon as those words resonated, the youth felt the integrity of his entire being begin to change. The draining power levels that had left the Son of Mercer in a state of uncertainty had vanished. He felt his strength not only just return to him at 100% capacity, but to go even further beyond his current limits thus affecting the very basis of his current self. The augmentation of his body felt like he was currently empowered in his Mastered Heart of the Storm transformation; however, he was still in his base form. In that moment, the youth had a shroud of crimson and indigo energy spiral around his body before his appearance changed.

His body was now layered in armor once more, but it was different than before. Starting from the top, the male had on a head piece that was much like the original version of his armor. It covered the entirety of his skull and was more designed like an actual helmet as opposed to a mask connected to a base plate. The T-shape visor still cut across the face with a breathing filter in the front. Traces of crimson were patterned on the surface as well. The shoulders had gun metal steel plating along the shoulders down to the pectoralis major and trapezius areas. Small plates covered the deltoids on either side before leading into leather sleeves on either side with metal ringed gauntlets with sharp claw-like plating along the fingers.

Down the abdominal section was thicker leather that appeared intricately woven like chain mail; however it was immensely more flexible for the user to twist and move his torso. At the waist was a black and silver belt that had a singular wolf head in the middle, his two blades sheathed on either side. Draping from this belt were black, leather sashes split in four directions. Finally, he had similar leather material along his legs with gun metal plated greaves and steel-toed boots.

"Whoa…" Raizo gasped as he stared down at his hands through his visor.

"Janus Armor remodel complete…

This version of the armor now features the ability to disengage and re-engage select armor pieces at the will of the user. In addition, it can deploy tools needed for battle to aid in combat. Due to current circumstances, tutorial function will not run at this time."

"Damn, now that's some fancy armor ya got going on there," Akaro whistled with approval.

"Yeah, I'd love to play around in it, but I guess it's gonna get the full test right now," Raizo spoke with his voice coming through the helmet as clear as day.

In the distance, the pillars had risen again banding together to block the path to Goetia's throne. In a flash, the seven warriors descended from the ship for the final push.

"Our enemy is just beyond these bothersome spawns. We're going to destroy them for good," Kimi stated in a bold tone.

"So reduce these bastards to ash and wipe 'em from existence? That sounds about right to me," Adena responded with delight.

"Shall we make it a grand finale?" Vesta inquired.

"We'll just do whatever it takes. This son of a bitch has had his way with the world for long enough. His shit's beyond old," Akaro said nonchalantly.

"Once he's dealt with, we can restore history. That's what truly matters at this point. For Lucy's sake too," Akame tacked on.

"That and killing the same thing over and over is boring as hell. Seriously, I get we're trying to save all of existence and everything but damn…he could have made it more of a challenge," Inari exhaled in disappointment.

"Long as we bring him down, that's all that counts for me. Turning the multiverse into his personal game of chess, it's insulting," Raizo surmised.

"Then you know what to do, let's do it," Kimi said.

First to rush in was the Undying Inferno, Adena. She invoked her will into Prometheus and morphed the weapon into black and crimson steel pairs of gauntlets and greaves. With streams of vermillion flames flowing through the air, the star-like woman rushed forward before the group to force a path to throne. She drove her right fist forward approaching contact with the nearest pillar. The air around her had created clouds of steam as she incinerated the nigh-invisible molecules in the vicinity.

As her opening attack propelled forward, the surface of the closest pillar already began to melt before Adena made contact thus causing it to dissolve in rapid progression. In that moment, the girl had seemingly passed through her target leaving the pillar to be consumed by her flames as she continued her barrage into the thick of the crowd. She threw punch after punch essentially blowing aside any and all tentacle beasts impeding the path of her allies. Once into the thick of things, she punched the ground one time.

"Firestorm!"

A wave of fire washed out from her in a 360-degree range of motion as the heated torrents cascaded over the pillars one after the other. With each target came a foe reduced to ashes as previously declared by the woman in the epicenter. Due to the sheer mass of her foes, the wall of flames did not pass into the deeper concentration forming towards the throne so she merely cocked her head back.

"Let's see you handle this then," she uttered before spreading her arms.

Drawing on her aura, the flames around her body had twisted around her limbs before she clapped her hands once.

"Solar Flare!"

Upon screaming out these words, a180-degree tidal wave of her power was released.

"Hey save some for the rest of us, Benihime!" Inari called out dashing before the attack.

"Kusanagi Second Form: Amaterasu!" the Princess of Mercury cried out.

She used her blade to cut through the advancing flames thus absorbing them into her sword and turning the steel edge into a brilliant orange mimicking the appearance of the sun. From there, the girl used her superior speed to dash ahead.

"Stealing my fire now? Not cool, Inari!" Adena shouted out.

"You'll get over it love!" the swordswoman yelled back.

At that point, she had sliced her way through the pillars that were helpless before her. With the flaming blade, the girl had seemingly cut the air only once before her foes had fallen; however, this was not the case. The second form of her sword not only held manipulation over fire, but it also allowed her to cut through time and space to attack her enemies before they even had the chance to react. As a result, she cut one of the pillars as if she was merely swinging her blade through the air. In reality, the power of that strike had skipped through her enemies which resulted in them spontaneously combusting into flames.

Inari had then maneuvered her position forward in a flash. The girl had trained her heated blade at the next group of targets. She seemingly skipped through the air essentially disappearing from space for a moment. When she reappeared, she passed through another crowd of enemies flicking her blade out to her side before tucking it in its sheath again.

"Susanoo Formation - Begone Into Flame," she uttered.

Flashes of light leaked into space surrounding her targets before a whirlwind of crimson fury had seemingly appeared around them. A massive chasm of fire consumed the lot of them essentially devouring them inside a tornado of flames that exploded into light. With the phenomenon subsiding in an instant, the next two warriors rushed past.

"Nice touch Princess, now it's our turn," the voice of the Red-Eyed Hero rang out with his wife by his side.

Akaro and Akame were next to step up to the plate. They blasted forward into the crowd of pillars seamlessly. In unison with one another, the red-eyed couple had hacked apart their skyscraper-like enemies with ease. As they stepped forward whilst swinging their blades, it was almost as if the two were performing a ballroom dance tantamount to a glorious display of death. With each motion of the pair, another one of their enemies fell causing them to topple like dominoes. After about 50 or so were slain, their tempo had changed.

Black angel wings had sprouted from the back of the legendary assassin as her weapon glowed with a dark crimson aura. Akame had flown ahead of her husband with the mighty Murasame in her hand. She proceeded to glide over her enemies weaving between them like a bird through the forest. As she passed by the demon pillars, she hugged her wings close to her body before spinning through the open space like a drill. She snaked around the cluster with ease before rising above the crowd. Casting a judgmental gaze over the tentacle creatures, the feathers that had fallen off her body during her flight began to seemingly levitate in the air.

The woman held her blade over her head as the dark crimson enchantment from her blade was transmitted into the feathers. In that next moment, the leaf-like black objects had sharpened like daggers. With a single swing of her blade in a downward motion, the feathers had shot down the cluster like rain showering the Earth. The needle-like objects had passed through her targets inflicting them with the concept of death before their existence was banished into a black mist.

As the beasts dissolved in the deadly curse that graced them with calamitous ruin, the path before the Red-Eyed Hero was opened up. Cracking his neck, the Envoy could only leak a smile at the opportunity presented before him. The next batch of pillars was just ahead. Thousands of red eyes had glared at Akaro's location before the monsters began to move. Slinking along the ground like giant worms, the spawns of the Demon King had viewed the man as an urgent threat above all else.

"It's like y'all are just rushin' over for a big ol' hug. Well then, let's keep things simple then. I'm not even gonna waste any more time than I have to," the bold individual declared.

"Watch carefully now, this next trick will blow you away and I won't even have to use my sword."

The Crimson Dragon spun Svarog around in his hand, and then he stabbed it into the ground. Leaping on top of the pommel, the male balanced himself flawlessly. It was then that his hands began to generate black and crimson energy.

"Tei-re On," he spoke softly.

In his right hand, the body of a black longbow had appeared whilst his left hand held onto a copy of Murasame. Knocking the blade onto the bow and pulling back on the mystical drawstring, the man had infused his will into the blade as he took aim at the coming mob.

"Open up the door to the future, blast away the evil before my eyes. So as I pray, Miracle Seeker!"

In a silent release, the projectile was fired off without any further delay. The steel bolt had gained moment instantly surpassing light speed as it spiraled with a dense concentration of energy. It threatened to erase the concept of space all around it whilst hurtling towards the intended batch of targets. The Kamui-like ability turned casual feat for the newly empowered Hero had made contact with the pillars essentially eradicating their existence on impact. Relinquishing not even the slightest indication of sound, all that was evident was a short blink of red, white, and black column of light as the enemies were destroyed. The mob was trimmed down even more at this point.

"Told you, didn't even need to use Svarog," Akaro chuckled.

"Of course you would go for the flashiest display so far," Akame commented upon descending from the sky.

"Of course babe, you know me."

"Nice shot," the casual voice of Kimi complimented whilst appearing at the side of the male.

"Thanks, guess it's your turn now?" the male inquired.

"I could, but it would be too easy. I'm just proving a point to our gracious host. I'm leaving the finale to the twins," she motioned with her head thus pointing the opposite direction.

It was then that a streak of rose and crimson lightning had blasted past the pair.

"Knock 'em dead Stormbringers!" the supportive older brother called out.

The sky seemingly split down the middle as the trails of electrical light blitzed their way towards the final batch of demonic pillars. Vesta and Raizo were allotted the honor of ending this skirmish. The pair of Stormbringers did not have the opportunity of fighting alongside one another very often, so this was a rare chance to show off what the two users of Indra's Judgment could do together.

The lightning twins had diverged from the same path in two separate directions. It was here that the Stormbringers began their assault by orbiting the last cluster of foes. Lightning trails were left in their wake as they ran around the encroaching group of beasts. In a fraction of a second, the entire legion of tentacles was bound within a dome of electricity. At specific points were small spikes that protruded out of the dome like spines on sea urchin; these were lightning blades that knotted the net together.

Within this arena, the pillars were unable to escape. To make matters worse for the spawns, their ability to move was also stolen from them. As their creation held their targets dead to rights, the Stormbringers had stood together on top of the surface of the arc.

""Adamant Waltz – Dancing with Wolves,"" the pair had spoken in unison.

Their electrical auras had escalated in greater intensity around their bodies as the two armored individuals passed through the surface of the lightning dome. In that moment, they passed from point to point grasping the blades to attack their foes. Like watching a brilliant display of fireworks bombarding the skies, the duo cut across their foes leaving vibrant trails of light behind with each impact made against their enemies. The speedsters had hacked and slashed their way through the helpless mob repeatedly from every possible point weaved by their web. After what may have well been over one thousand strikes, the two individuals reappeared outside of the bounded field as lines of light were drawn all over the bodies of the demon spawns.

"May I?" Vesta asked politely.

"By all means," Raizo responded with a casual nod.

Five seconds had passed as the scattered particles of light seemingly sealed the demon pillars within an alternate complex dimensional space. After that brief interval passed, Vesta had raised her left hand before clenching it into a fist and bringing her arm down.

"World Eraser."

The tools of light created by the two Stormbringers were further charged by the Godspeed's energy. Upon her word, the entire reality that encapsulated their foes was erased in the blink of an eye.

Just as the path to Goetia's throne was seemingly clear, a geyser of dark energy erupted as the final obstacle began to form. Taking the shape of the amalgamation that the Symphogear users had fought before, the beast had seemingly escalated in size more than ten times the original whilst adapting a bright red and gold color scheme. In response to the beast's formation, the seven warriors had gathered together side by side once again.

"Well then, I guess Goetia has his own grand finale in store," Akaro pointed out with a curt nod.

"How repetitive of him to just send his beasts to do his dirty work," Akame criticized in a shrewd tone.

"Yo…sup with this thing stealing my color scheme? Not cool asshole," Adena shouted out in disapproval.

"Oh come on Benihime, maybe that Demon King is just jealous because your conditioner game is on point," Inari began to laugh.

"Stealing another's style is not funny. Even I might find this offensive," Vesta sighed whilst shaking her head.

"Coming from the woman who could easily be disregarded as the female version of Raizo," Inari retorted with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, we're two different people…besides, I'm not a tsundere. Hmph…"

"Yeah…okay…whatever justifies that freaky Stormbringer bond at night," the flame-user suddenly jested with a sly tone.

"These girls…goodness control your waifus, Raichu," the Envoy suggested.

"This is ironic coming from the man who literally had an orgy before you picked up your best friend and company," Akame quickly cut in.

"EH?! Whoa…Big Bro, you did what?" Adena gasped.

"Akaro-niichan…how lewd…" Vesta winced suspiciously.

"Damn…this fuckin' guy really gets it in, eh?" Inari sneered.

"Can we focus everyone?" Kimiko addressed the group with a slightly annoyed tone.

"I'll take this one alone," Raizo finally spoke up focusing on the giant monster during the entire banter.

"Oh? Is someone looking to show off and impress the ladies? I know you were digging my thigh game earlier, but going all macho isn't gonna help ya gain points with me," Inari teased.

"Hey, leave my man alone. He's entitled to show off every now and then," Adena said with an understanding tone.

"Raizo-san…this is supposed to be a team effort," Vesta raised a concerned brow.

"Hey, if my lil' bro says he's gonna take care of it then let him do it," Akaro shrugged.

"Indeed, I don't mind him taking the last one," the Red-Eyed Killer nodded approvingly.

"It's not about impressing you guys or showing off or anything like that. That beast just so happens to feel like the same energy wave that incinerated history…same color and all. If anything, I want to take it down for Mom," the male stated plainly.

Recalling the current state of the Primordial Goddess of Time, the members of the team sympathized with the youth. Kimiko had taken the opportunity to step forward and pat the male on the back.

"Don't miss," she said.

"Right, Onee-sama."