Break Your Conflict (Shatterpoint Paradox Part 7)

Year 1025, 12th of November

Time: 5 P.M.

The day of reckoning had finally come for the known world as the civil war that affected the Ulrick Empire reached its climax when the army of Phantom Siege was at its gates. Approximately one million soldiers under the command of the former king, Raiden Ikazuchi-Arashi, bore down on the nation's capital of Sigma City. Composed of people from many diverse backgrounds and practices that dared to dissent against the tyrannical nature of the Empress, this horde of rebel soldiers sought to see the kingdom burn much like its predecessor years ago.

After a mere three days of marching, the grand alliance had stood before the imposing kingdom ready to break down the walls once and for all for the sake of justice and freedom for the people. Though the old Revolutionary Army may be a thing of the past, their hope for a brighter day and to see smiles restored to the innocent had burned on within the hearts of these brave souls; however, that could not be visibly said or expressed due to the faces of the masses. From auras of anger to yearns of vengeance, the soldiers were ready to give it their all just to make Hestia pay for everything she's done but it would not be easy.

The gates that surrounded the city were heavily fortified and reinforced with various obstructions such as steel barricades and barbed wire throughout the fields covering the entrances. In addition, the ramparts above the gates held stationary cannons and other formations of artillery ready to blast away any who got too close. However, this was not the worst of the rebels' problems. Along the side that had faced the enemy were 10,000 of the best knights that belonged to one of the Conclave's most notorious clans for siege warfare—the Order of the Amethyst Lotus. These units were decorated in various shapes of black and purple armor that promoted both durability to protect the wearers and maneuverability to allow for fluid movement. With that, they formed a phalanx that sought to stop the enemy cold if the obstacles as well as the artillery did nothing to prevent the enemy's advance; however, need for their activity would be unlikely.

Standing at the head of the formation in the field just ahead of the metallic structures were three individuals. The first was the man that took command of the dark knights at his back sporting a similar armor that appeared more like leather than anything. On his back was his trademark demonic-looking blade, the Chaos Reaver. The blade with its imposing size and ominous look had not been used in a very long time and he felt like it was ready for battle. Feeling its warmth, he could almost feel the nostalgia of when he earned it around the age of 15 or so when he fought off the savage Order of the White Tiger to protect his clan but he couldn't revel in the past right now. With his iconic violet-colored hair that draped past his shoulders as well as deep, entrancing royal purple eyes, the 27 year old giant standing 7-feet tall stood firm with his arms folded gauging the movements of the enemy. Next to him was a man of considerably shorter stature but still tall in his own right as he donned the iconic silver armor that was his teigu of Incursio. Charged with the job of protecting the Crown Prince, Bulat had the red, bell-shaped spear—Neuntote—in hand ready for battle. Lastly, the youth that was beside his trusted guard in previous mention—Raizo Arashi—stood resolute as well as his dark, crimson irises carefully scanned the enemy on the horizon.

The foreboding breeze brushed through the heterochromia combination of black and white that was the young royal's hair. For this battle he had been draped in familiar vestments belonging to his days as being a member of the Blood Wolves. Wearing a white shirt protected by a black chest plate, the youth had a black haori that draped well past his knees with lining laced in a bright red color. On his back had been a white wolf head while he sported black pants protected by identical leg armor that matched his chest area. Unlike the two parties before, he had not been visibly carrying any weapons but it was foolish to assume that he was unarmed. First off, he had his martial arts and other combat training that he received as a Blood Wolf. Secondly, the times he trained with those close to him in the other World Line had still remained ingratiated in his mind. Lastly, his newfound ability would allow him to call a weapon anytime he needed one but for now he wanted to wait and see what would happen next.

The sun had been careening in the sky giving way to inviting the coming night but the air was filled with killing intent and blood lust. There was no way that the enemy would come this far only to hold off the first attack until dawn. No, this was a war that would be waged in one night just like the records hold with the fall of the previous empire. Though calling it a war would invite the concept of it being a fair fight. Given the circumstances, it was far from it. A million soldiers against the beasts of the Ulrick Empire were just sending lambs to slaughter. The kingdom had better resources and was better fortified for such an oncoming assault, plus they had immensely powerful teigu users for officers. As the trio sat on the front lines, any who dared march east or west to invade would have to deal with either Esdeath or Adena—both being teigu users fit for dealing with numbers. It was just a safe bet for the fools to try and move for a full-throttle assault.

On the other side of the battlefield, Raiden sat atop a black stallion waiting to give the order to attack. His closest retainers were with him as well as each had their own teigu ready for battle. Sheele wielded the giant-scissor teigu, Extase while Wave donned a black armor similar to Incursio known as Grand Chariot. Kurome wielded Yatsufusa, Lubbock had Crossed Tail, and Najenda had a rifle that was identified as Pumpkin. Chelsea wasn't a fighter so she sought to stay back and pass information from Raiden to all the troops in case communications somehow became impossible. As the red-cloaked male overlooked everyone, each of them gave him a curt nod or smile as they had become firm in their resolution. He then began to assess how his army was organized and what he would do in moving them.

The first battalion was the vanguard and they were comprised of 100,000 men wearing light armor. They carried a variety of weapons such as swords, spears, and shields. The second division that supported them was about 50,000 archers and other forms of artillery such as rifles. The center was composed of 250,000 men with about 10,000 of those actually having heavy armor and heavier weaponry. Another division of troops numbered 300,000 and was divided in half between the left and right flanks. They had some siege equipment like battering lambs and siege towers to get up and over the walls when it was time. The last unit that remained was close to about 300,000 and sat in the rearguard as reinforcements. These numbers made up the sum of Phantom Siege.

With a small yet grim smile, Raiden had risen his hand up above his head ready to give his first order. He wanted to know firsthand what his forces were up against in terms of the might of the enemy. The only way to gauge that was to prepare a sacrifice. Though he would hope that his allies would not die in vain, he knew that many of these brave souls would not be making it home to sing the songs of victory; such were the costs of war.

"First division forward charge! Second division, move out to support! Give the enemy hell!" he shouted out. As a single, the first horns of battle were sounded out as the first offerings of 150,000 souls were sent forth to the gates of Hell.

"OOHHHH!!!!!!" a unanimous cry resounded as they charged forth. The foot soldiers gave all their might in their run as they went to cross the seemingly distant battlefield with full compliments. Cries of determination echoed all around as the thundering footsteps made by the units echoed loudly in the evening atmosphere.

A little less than a quarter mile away, the trio of individuals stood ready for battle though Genesis seemed rather unimpressed by what was coming his way. He turned his sight towards the light of the weaning sun. There was about anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour left of daylight on this day. Though he wasn't particularly disturbed by this fact, he wanted the sun to hurry up and disappear so he could have some proper fun without any cause of concern or delay.

"Your Highness, you may have the honor of dealing with the first wave," he spoke suddenly in a soothing tone as if this war was nothing more than an unamusing game. Raizo turned his attention to the giant knight tilting his head in confusion.

"You sure about that?" he asked just to make sure. After all, Genesis personally requested to deal with the enemy and even though the young prince requested to take the field as well, he didn't want to steal the glory from the man. Despite feeling this way, the dark knight could only smile.

"I'm quite sure. In fact, you can explore your abilities as much as you want. To my recollection, I heard that you seemingly forgot about what you can do so why not take the chance? The sun will disappear in about an hour so how about using that time to fight to your heart's content? I'm sure Bulat can back you up if needed."

"Well if you insist," the boy sighs feeling a slight air of disappointment. Raizo knew that he would have to fight but in a way, he didn't want to have to deal with the thought of killing more people. He had the obligation of doing so due to his title yet as a person who wanted to think of himself as someone more than just a murderer, he didn't want to deal with slaughtering people who really didn't deserve it. To distract himself, he focused on the aspect of Advent of the Conqueror; this was still very much a mystery to him so there was no telling what all he could do. Adena told him briefly about being able to summon different weapons that all held unique properties about them as well as different abilities to evoke one's will over others but he didn't know what to do. At this moment right now, fighting these individuals would become his training. Seeing the massive horde charging forward gave him a flashback to the time he took on that legion of soldiers by himself as well as all of those demonic danger beasts in the Nightmare Forest. Too bad I'm not as fast as before though but since I'm being given an hour, maybe this will be a blessing in disguise. I only have to deal with fighting for just a limited amount of time.

"Don't worry; it's only 150,000 for the first wave. You got this," Genesis said to him. Before asking how he even knew that, the knight pointed upward at a flock of black ravens circling around the battlefield. Taking a second to think about the significance of them, the boy came to the conclusion that they must have been created from Genesis' teigu. Familiars, if he recalled correctly, allowed Genesis to see things that others couldn't from the average perception of the human mind. Although Raizo had figured the numbers of the first charging group to be that high, the tall warrior was already a step ahead by having the exact troop count to size.

"Edict: Kusanagi," Raizo called as the generation of the singular serrated-edge katana came to his hands. It felt good to have a sword in the hand but also weird at the same time to have only one. Surely he could draw two at the same time, right? The moment the very thought entered his mind, Kusanagi returned to the ghost storage state and a vision came to Raizo's mind. Walking forward a bit, the boy held two hands out to his sides as a new edict came to his lips.

"Tizona y Colada," he uttered. Suddenly his left hand swirled with a red aura while the right swirled with a blue one. It was then that two golden-handled weapons appeared in his hands whose blades were about four feet in length. The left was red while the right was blue and both had the same unique curvature like a scimitar. Tethered by an invisible chain, these blades were actually considered one edict. As the prince glanced over the luster of weapons, he could not help but feel a nostalgia tied back to his own twin swords that Assana forged for him from the old world line. It seems that in a way, that bond carried over and lived on in these two weapons right now. Speaking of Assana, he had just realized that he did not run into her at all during these events. Surely that wasn't right. She should have had some sort of high religious position or have been an advisor. The youth turned to the giant once more.

"Genesis, before I set off to battle there is something I wish to ask you," Raizo called out.

"Yes Your Highness?"

"Where is Assana?" he asked without any roundabout way of saying it. Genesis then tilted his head raising an eyebrow.

"Who is that?"

Hearing that response, Raizo's heart sunk in his chest. Even though it wasn't in the forefront of his mind at the time, he had hoped that the girl would have been here when he altered his past. After all, that was the most damaging thing he recalled from that gruesome night…that night she died in his arms. But hearing those words from Genesis only caused Raizo to regret his decision even more of creating this alternate reality but he couldn't deal with this right now.

"It's…no one…" he replied but then he thought about someone else that he forgot about.

"What about Yuki?"

"Ah, the bowswoman? She was executed for treason due to being caught selling information to the enemy," Genesis answered swiftly.

"I see…" Raizo spoke dismissively before taking off to the field. Yuki could easily be removed from his mind since she did betray him. Hearing about her betrayal here could hardly come as surprise. But her cousin was an entirely different story. With his dual blades in hand, he could only carry the memory of Assana in his heart. Feeling ready for battle, the boy ran out ready to meet the enemy head on. Though he felt that the young man could handle himself, Bulat still followed behind him to fulfill his role.

The massive number of enemies barreled forward like a plague swallowing up the leg with each rushing foot that stepped forward. Soon the clash would come between the two forces but there was something that they did not count on when having to deal with the prince as their first opponent. The burning auras of the twin blades that Raizo held escalated soon creating a blinding beam of light before the first wave. Not only did this slow down the advance of the front line but the enemy who was caught looking at it soon found themselves paralyzed with fear.

"M…m…monster!!!!" a few soldiers cried out seeing the red and blue lights transform into demons and rushing toward them but this was all in their head. The edict of Tizona y Colada had a unique passive ability for hypnosis and illusions. They could worm into the minds of any who dared stare at the malevolent aura and materialize demons that appeared to be after the victim. Of course this only affected Raizo's enemies as the effects only afflicted those perceived as the enemy by the boy. The strange phenomena only slowed the advance of the units even more as some tried to run back while others staggered and fell to the ground flailing in despair. Because of the disarray, squad leaders and other high ranking officers in the division could not get their allies together.

"Form the line! It's only two people! CHARGE DAMN YOU!" one man yelled out at his allies grabbing someone and shaking them repeatedly but it was too late. Some got to the point of panic were they began swinging their blades around wildly injuring their fellow man. Others tried clawing their eyes out…literally to get rid of the horrific sights they held. It was in this moment that opportunity revealed itself.

Raizo mercilessly began hacking away at those before him feeling like he was diving into a bit of his old self that was nothing but a ruthless killer. This feeling tore away even more at his heart. He didn't understand this pain at the moment but with each life he took, a growing hole of despair opened inside him even more. This wasn't what he wanted. This bloodshed…why did it have to come to this? What purpose was there in fighting right? Yet still as if being propelled by hands not his own, he kept advancing.

He easily cleaved his way through the ranks of disoriented soldiers cutting down any and all in his path at first by the tens ten slowly by the hundreds. Within the course of five minutes, he had at least dealt with a thousand people single-handedly by just hacking his blades through whatever flesh got in his way. He took advantage of the fact that his enemy was attacking themselves as well as the confusion caused by the frontlines of this charge. Bulat brought up the rear taking out any who tried to flank the youth as well as clean up any stragglers that tried to fight against the youth.

Blood and entrails sprayed the ground soon turning the green meadows red with the liquids of human remains and scattered limbs. Soldiers fell one after another as lives were taken almost within seconds after each other. Soon the two men found themselves surrounded by individuals that were saner of mind and tried to fight using ambush tactics and superior numbers but that would not matter. As the fools tried to enclose on them both, Bulat and Raizo fought with even pace working on taking down any who dared raised a weapon, whether sword, bow or gun. The man protected by Incursio spun the Neuntote spear effortlessly fending off any attacks thrown his way while at the same time cleaving anyone else. Raizo capitalized on the full potential of the edict's chain tossing his blades around like he used to a long time ago making use of the effective range.

More soldiers fell to the pair as the casualty rate soon climbed to five thousand after a good ten additional minutes of fighting. However, with each life he claimed he felt yet another scar inflicted on his soul. His sins were growing once more. Had he been like his old self, this wouldn't matter but this version that represented his current self was different. He hated this. Had he possessed the abilities of Indra's Judgment, this fight would be over and the sting of death would not burn so much. But this seething bout of sorrow only continued to grow as he felt time pass by the sun casually dropping off the horizon. When would this end?

"Your Highness!" Bulat called out. Raizo doubled back in his position to be standing back to back with the armored male.

"What is it Bulat?" Raizo answered taking a moment to catch his breath.

"If you feel like things are going too slow, why not use that one blade in your possession that could level a mountain or something? I think it was called Calad-something or another," the man suggested. Tilting his head incredulously unsure what to make out of that statement, Raizo's mind envisioned the blade.

"Heh, so that's it…" he pondered as his mind became clear. He killed a few more people with his current arms then let them go so they could return to their invisible vault. Currently unarmed, the soldiers tried to close in on him. About 50 or so men tried to hold Bulat's attention thus leaving Raizo completely helpless but that wasn't the case.

"HOLD!" the boy shouted. It was then that those around him became unable to move from the booming voice. This was not by coincidence either for it was an underlying ability that had become a part of his Conqueror skills. To instill one's own will and completely overrule the actions of the enemy by placing significant power behind a commanding tone was something known as the Voice of Amonkira. Seeing his foes frozen in place, he couldn't help but be astonished taking the opportunity to push over some of the off-balanced individuals and what not but he couldn't afford to squander this chance.

"Caladbolg!" he shouted as a new edict began to form. A sky blue blade came forth with a unique take on a serrated edge about 4 feet long or so. It had golden adornments scattered up and down its length and at the tip of its handle was a red ribbon. The weapon could be wielded by one or two hands dependent upon the wielder. Grasping it with one hand, Raizo could feel the power to manipulate the earth as well as its gravity a bit. That power just surged within the boy's body giving him a feeling that he never really experienced before from the uniqueness of this ability. With his enemies still paralyzed around him, he took one look back.

"Bulat, jump now!"

Taking the advice of the boy, the armored male did just that jumping about 300 feet into the air in an instant. The reason why Raizo told the man this was because he didn't want the man to get caught up in what he was about to do. The sun was just about gone so there wasn't much time to dilly-dally with the remaining 140,000 or more soldiers (including the artillery units). Taking the blade, the prince stabbed the blade into the ground causing the surface of the earth to shake. A miniature quake occurred which caused his foes to shiver and stumble around as a result. In that very next instant, pillars began to rise like stalagmites from the ground as one after another the vanguard of Phantom Siege was disemboweled by the earth. Impaled straight through with no hopes of survival, the remaining 140,000 or so foes that comprised the vanguard were all effectively wiped out in one gruesome blow.

Bulat landed on the ground beside the youth as crimson pools of water flowed from the stone spikes and dripped slowly onto the death bed of those that had fallen before. The stench was gut-wrenching but the sight to the remaining enemy was a clear message that this battlefield was going to be the place where all their dreams would come to die. There is no hope, no peace, or justice. This land was a mass grave waiting for more victims to add to the body count. And as the sun had finally disappeared from the skies, their nightmare was only beginning.

Standing back up off of the ground, Raizo pulled his blade from the soil before letting it go so it could disappear. With his foes finished, his job was done at this point in time. Not wanting to get too much blood all over him, he retreated from his location briskly with a jog then once free of the spike field; he leisurely walked back towards Genesis' location. Bulat soon joined his side slightly covered in blood as well.

"Finally, it's over," spoke the boy with a voice with regret. He had just ended this fight like that. If only he knew he could do that beforehand then perhaps he could have just taken his enemy out swiftly. However, the feeling of taking those lives would still weigh on his conscious. Would he ever truly escape this life of bloodshed?

"Indeed, killing is never easy but sometimes you just have to get your hands dirty for the sake of what you're fighting for," the experienced guard spoke with some fatigue in his voice.

"Do you have any misgivings over this conflict?"

"Of course not Your Highness. It's just tragic that we've come to this point. I figured we'd be done with war at least when it comes to civil matters once the new regime took over but turn out that it was only a matter of time. There's no telling what would come after this but…"

"But?"

"When this is all over, what will Her Majesty do next? Can we really fight another conflict with some other nation when we have been torn apart by something so small?"

"That's a good question Bulat…even I don't know what will happen next. For now, all we can do is focus on the task at hand before dealing with anything else."

As the conversation came to an end, the two males rejoined Genesis near the barricades blocking the gates. The skies had begun sinking into the blue of the coming night as the light of the moon soon began to peek above the tree tops. With this, the dark knight was fully prepared to move into action as it was finally his turn to take to the field.

"My Lord, I suggest you stay back here from now on. I'm not going to hold anything back now that my time has come. Know that this war will be over tonight just like how the previous empire fell in a matter of hours all those years ago," Genesis explained as he began marching forward.

"You're free to do whatever you see fit but just do me one favor," the boy called out.

"Yes?"

"Be sure to leave the former king to me."

Responding only with a bow of reverence, the giant resumed his advance towards the enemy focusing on the targets that currently stood confused on the far side of the battlefield. About 850,000 men now remained that sided with Phantom Siege. Seeing their vanguard force wiped out so quickly caused an uproar among the ranks which was expected given the spectacle that was put on display only minutes ago. They felt like lambs trying to fight against monsters. How could individuals of so few hold so much power to take out so many? It was nearly unheard of but considering they only made it to this point due to the efforts of the Black Death, it only made sense that the likes of the Ulrick Empire held people of similar caliber. Now they were faced with someone else who seemed to gliding listlessly through the night but they didn't know what to do about this one since they had no idea what this foe could do.

Genesis scanned his targets straight ahead and from the air using his raven familiars. He was waiting to see if the 250,000 in the center ranks would mark or the 300,000 that was divided between the left and right flanks would come forward but no one moved. Were they petrified by fear or were they waiting for orders? Either way the man found himself getting frustrated by the second. He wanted them to recklessly charge so he could put his full arsenal to the test but it seemed like he would have to do some encouraging of his how.

"So be it," he uttered as he stretched his arms forward. It was then that darkness began to take shape around him as the most ominous of completely blacked out auras enveloped his body. Oozing off of him, the shadows fell to the ground and quickly crossed the terrain of the battlefield without any delay. Thanks to the growing cover of the night sky, his shadows could hardly be seen. Even with the rising of the moon, only the most perceptive of soldiers would be able to see what was coming but it seemed like no one could understand what was about to happen.

The shadows raced forward splitting off to the left and right ranks of the military formation. Those that stood in the front lines of those battalions only saw the man standing there looking like he was in some sort of prayer but little did they know that he was not praying at all. Instead, he was preparing what would be the instruments of their demise. All was quiet as the calm winds of the night blew over the battlefield eerily. That deafening silence would soon turn to screams of agony.

"Hands of Chaos," Genesis spoke unleashing a technique in which limbs composed from concentrated umbrakinetic constructs materialized from the shadows. With their claw-like hands, they began grabbing individuals from the left and right sides of the military force crushing them in the air and tossing them like ragdolls. The limbs multiplied in number from a few hundred to a few thousand as they swept after their targets like a disease. Wrought with panic and fear, the soldiers tried to swing their weapons or shoot at the oncoming phantom arms but that did nothing to stop them. One after the other, the formations of the units gradually eroded as they were taken advantage of by the dark tentacles. Blood flowed in various forms of spray as a myriad of human entrails and other body parts were flung about.

"Truly pathetic," chastised the knight as he watched from afar what his ghost limbs did to the enemy. The manipulation of shadows and other forms of umbrakinesis was just a taste of what he could do with his teigu, Kali's Retribution. The reason he wanted to wait until night hours to fight was because his power was always at its peak. In fact, during the night he was virtually unstoppable. During the day he could still fight but not to a degree in which he personally favored. For now he stood there resolute waiting for his arms to finish tearing the enemy to pieces. With their left and right divisions gone, the remaining force would have to fight him head on which would be considerably more interesting in his mind.

The hour was ticking towards 8 P.M. The phantom limbs had been thoroughly tearing apart their respective targets for nearly an hour now but for some reason, the center masses did not charge. In fact, they didn't move. This confused Genesis to a small degree. Why would they let their allies die? Did they watch how their allies were failing in dealing with his technique? If that's the case, did they not want to expend the effort? If that was what was really happening then Raiden was truly ready to sacrifice anyone he needed to in order to carry out a plan of sorts. The dark knight was unsure whether to commend the former king or chastise his stupidity. Either way, the loss of what should now be 450,000 soldiers had to sting the man's pride in some way. After all, that was almost half of his forces gone in two hours.

The screams of the victims to the Hands of Chaos soon died down and the constructs soon slinked back into the darkness from whence they came. Mass graves of humans were laid out eloquently as so many lives had gruesomely been stricken from this world. Arranged like a collage or some sort of mosaic painting, the moonlight captured the shine of iron and steel that was covered by pools of red all about the field. The stench of death further corroded the air as a result causing the morale of the Phantom Siege soldiers to plummet even more.

"If you aren't going to come to me, then allow me to personally say hello," Genesis spoke as he seemingly glided across the great distance between himself and the enemy within a mere second. All that could be visibly seen was a blur of darkness as the air seemed to warp as a result. When he next appeared, he was floating about the center arrangement of soldiers that dared to hold the line.

"250,000 more victims I see, how long until one of you try to pose at least some sort of legitimate challenge to me?" he spoke with an irritated tone. The soldiers tried started to clamor in hysteria starting to run the other way. Genesis sighed heavily when he saw his former associate, Raiden, sitting atop of his horse surrounded by individuals that didn't appear like ordinary soldiers beside him. The dusk-haired man smirked before speaking.

"You really are a failure as a leader but sadly it is not my place to kill you. Before you get caught up in the mess that's about to unfold, I suggest you ride off to meet your son on the battlefield. After all, wouldn't you rather he be your opponent as opposed to me?" boasted the knight as he floated just above his foes.

"Tch…damn you Genesis, you truly have no mercy do you?" the man with the crimson cloak uttered in disgust.

"Not when I'm under orders to thoroughly eradicate the enemy no. But you should take my advice and head the other way. Look at it this way, if you're going to lose this war then you might as well take the opportunity the woman you've come to disdain am I not correct? So what better way to do so by targeting her child? Though I doubt you will win," Genesis responded before he began to laugh.

"General…if you wish to settle this by fighting your son then we should be fine," Chelsea spoke to reassure the man. Genesis looked to her and saw that she was unarmed yet she stood with the enemy. This disturbed the man in a way.

"Girl, if you have no weapon then remove yourself from the battle. I do not believe in fighting unarmed opponents," the imposing figure spoke but Chelsea only looked back and shook her head.

"I can't just abandon my comrades."

"You're abandoning them by forsaking their focus in battle with your carelessness of being unarmed."

It was then that Najenda reached for the girl.

"You have to at least live on and tell our story Chelsea. Go ahead and take as many as you can and retreat. This is our fight now," the former commander of the Revolutionary Army spoke with firm determination. Knowing that she could not be disobedient after hearing that, the woman adjusted on her horse and took off in the opposite direction away from the battle. Seeing her take off, Raiden took a breath before turning to the rest of his confidants. Sheele moved on top of her horse to his side.

"Sir, I request to accompany you so that the enemy doesn't ambush you while you fight your son," she spoke meekly. Raiden couldn't help but smile at her clumsy honesty reaching up and patting her on the head.

"I'd be honored," he said before turning up towards the looming shadow above, "That's fine right?"

"Indeed. She can go with you. After all, I doubt Bulat will sit by watching a father and son fight to the death."

Nodding in gratitude, the pair took off galloping on their horses towards the enemy in the distance as Genesis now had four elite officers stand before him. The enemy appeared to be in full retreat before but seeing their commanders step up causing quite a significant amount of them to form up ready to fight alongside their superiors.

"Oh? So you all find your courage when your officers step up? That's rather funny," he spoke before lifting his hand up in the air. He scanned around to ensure the unarmed girl from before had been gone as part of his honor as a knight did forbid him from the killing of an unarmed opponent. Seeing her nowhere among the newly reformed center regiment, he was resolved in doing what he was about to do.

"Now I hope you four will do me a favor and just stand still so that you don't get hit by this. I just want to ensure that we don't have any interruptions whatsoever," he stated before charging up more concentrated darkness in his palm. The power of umbrakinetic energy soon reformed itself in a burning white ball of power surrounded by a black aura.

"Shadow Blitz," he muttered before that energy grew larger and larger then began to discharge into smaller orbs flying like a spray and raining down upon the soldiers. These particles had been reduced to the size of golf balls as they were launched at the humans. Each golf ball with its smallest amount of potential energy had enough power at that point to engulf a city block. Right now, this power was either hitting the men dead on or hitting the ground around the soldiers with the resulting force still being transferred into where they stood on. Regardless, the energy as a result caused some poor souls to spontaneously explode into little giblets of meat while others were completely erased from where they stood. Over the course of yet another twenty minutes or more, another significant portion of Phantom Siege had been eradicated. Since Genesis has stepped up to the plate to fight, the 850,000 soldiers had been greatly reduced down to 300,000 souls that composed the rearguard.

"My god…what kind of monster is this man?" asked Wave while being cloaked in the armor of Grand Chariot. He along with Lubbock, Kurome and Najenda stood before this titan waiting for an opportunity to make their attack but given the circumstances…how could they? This man took down 550,000 soldiers over the course of around 90 minutes. This was not a war by any means necessary, it was complete genocide. The souls who died would never live, laugh, or love again in this lifetime and it was all thanks to the idea of fighting a war which would guarantee freedom. The only freedom here was granted by a swift death assuming it was painless.

"Alright then," Genesis began by landing on the ground before the four horse riding officers, "Now that the extras are out the way, why not get this under way? It's painfully obvious that you're all teigu users so why don't you all try to come at me at once? If you're able to wound me, I'll let the last 300,000 of your men live."

"You're a truly sick individual," Lubbock criticized as he pulled metallic wire from behind himself.

"Sick? I'm under orders to kill you all and leave no survivors. Honestly, you should think of it a privilege that such courtesies are being afforded to you."

"So you're saying that because you're willing to let what remains of us live, the 700,000 men and women who fought and died on this battlefield in such horrific fashions are supposed to be written off as mercy?" Wave questioned in a tone of anger.

"Stop being such children. This is war. You dared to stand up against us as an empire and we are simply showing you the result of your folly. If you wish to blame anyone, then blame yourselves. You could have easily forsaken the thoughts of a foolish war but you got cocky because of the efforts of one party. Let me clue you in on something, if this person called the Black Death never would have bothered with you all then you all would have died out a long time ago. Stop trying to be relevant in the final act. This world has no place for minor characters."

With that, Genesis reached for the massive blade on his back and gripped the hilt. He casually drew the weapon from his back and brought it before him effortless holding the demonic armament with one hand shutting down any further interest in the need to carry on a conversation with his opponents. He readied himself in an appropriate battle stance inviting his foes to do the same. Obliging the man, Wave, Kurome, Lubbock, and Najenda all stood before him ready with their respective weapons ready to put this fight to bed once and for all.

Wave and Kurome were the first to take action as the armor user and swordsman charged at the giant from the left and right sides respectively. It was a decent strategy to capitalize on the strengths of each fighter being the melee types but it was one that wouldn't work all that well. Wave comes in first throwing a left hook at Genesis' form. Given the difference in height, the blow would reach trying to hit the man's ribs. The youth gathered enough power in his fist to topple a 10-story building with ease. Kurome charged in with her Yatsufusa blade swinging with enough pressure to easily cut through the side of a hill. These two strikes came in on opposite sides of Genesis at the same time but when they landed, a stunning revelation was made.

"Wh…what the hell?" Wave stammered. His fist went straight down the body of his opponent like nothing was there as did Kurome's sword swing. The two passed over one another as Genesis yielded a disinterested smile.

"Good attempt but that didn't even tickle," Genesis sighed merely walking forward like nothing happened. Gathering themselves, Wave and Kurome reformed themselves and readied themselves for another attack this time rushing at the giant with all they had. Lubbock got involved this time as well forming various projectiles composed of the steel wire from Crossed Tail. He waited for a chance to launch the projectiles in between the melee exchange that occurred in front of him. Meanwhile, Najenda was getting a bit of distance so that she could make maximum efficacy with Pumpkin.

Wave and Kurome began relentlessly attack Genesis' form by throwing punches and kicks as well as slashing with a sword at him. This hardly did anything but cause the giant to yawn as he didn't really have to dodge since the attacks phased through his form. However, just to humor them he actually maneuvered with his blade occasionally blocking some of the oncoming attacks and swinging the weapon to fend them off. When his head was turned, Lubbock launched his projectiles faster than the speed of sound but the hands that came before and slaughtered the garrisons before caught the devices and immediately flung them back at the owner.

"Shit…" the male said using his wire to slow the advance of the daggers. As he did this, he found himself going all out with his wire using as much as he could to generate a spear. With it in hand, he went to ready himself for another attack. Najenda began charging up Pumpkin with all her might putting as much as her feelings as she could into the device since this was indeed a desperate situation. Lubbock tried not to give any indication to her coming assault so that the attack would take the opposing force by surprise.

Wave backed off then took off jumping high into the air for a finishing blow. Kurome dropped back as well to give room for the coming assault. Genesis now stood surrounded on four sides. Najenda was ahead of him, Lubbock being to his far left, Kurome to his right and finally, Wave was above. It was then that the onslaught began.

"Fly!" Lubbock shouted throwing the spear with all his might at his target. Kurome charged in with all of her speed with her blade and Wave dropped in from above.

"Grand Fall!" the male shouted loudly.

"Still useless," Genesis sighed. The spear bore down on his location but he merely stepped out of the way as the item went through the shadows. The projectile instead hit Kurome piercing her through her heart instantly killing the female. As for Wave, he was caught in the air by one of the Hands of Chaos before he could even. The limb then slammed him into the ground with enough force to break the planet in half. This same force was applied again as the phantom limb slammed Wave in the ground over and over again at least five times essentially crushing the entire skeletal frame of the male even with his armor on. When let go, the paste of the male oozed out of the black armor as the lifeless female was impaled right next to him.

"Catch," Genesis stated tossing his Chaos Reaver blade like a tomahawk right into the green haired male cleaving him in half. As death welcomed yet another victim, the last look the male had was spent looking at the white haired beauty as if confessing his love in one last glimpse of life into this world. The despair of seeing her comrades having their lives stripped away so viciously caused the woman to snap as she pulled the trigger firing Pumpkin unleashing a blast that would claim a small mountain with ease. In return, Genesis merely brought his hands together in a horizontal jaw shape released a radiance of dark green and black.

"Fulmination Phantasm," he stated returning fire a blast to counter the opposing force. The two concentrations of plasma didn't even clash as Genesis' attack had enough power to claim the life of a star. He instantly wiped away the existence of the female as well as the remaining 300,000 soldiers. After three hours or so, the entirety of the Phantom Siege army was reduced to 3: Chelsea, who presumably escaped, and Sheele and Raiden, who were currently confronting Raizo and Bulat.

"Well that was rather dull but at least I got a suitable workout," Genesis said in a sigh looking over the dead that remained sprawled out in various locations on this battlefield. The moon had been relatively high in the sky now and its luminous light highlighted the death that spread throughout this area. The man faded into the shadows and disappeared into the night heading back to the gates.

Meanwhile across the field, Raiden had come face to face with the crown prince. With Gungnir in hand he was ready for once final confrontation with his past and that was the child that he could only address as son in name only. Bulat and Sheele stood by their respective parties eyeing each other like they were going to duel as well. The winds picked up as these individuals came to terms with their fate.

"Father…" Raizo spoke in a soft tone.

"We both know that we are not blood related. Or was that something else your mother didn't tell you?" Raiden spoke in a condescending tone.

"It doesn't matter if you are not my blood-related father. You are the man I identified as such. Even now you're still the same prideful person."

"And you are still naïve if you think words will deter me from what I must do."

"You know that it didn't have to be this way, right?"

"Maybe, maybe not but either way, I have to settle this."

"I know, even though I wish it didn't have to come to this."

"There are some things you just can't change."

A silence came over Raizo upon hearing those words. His father was right on that as he is starting to see now more than ever but he couldn't let these thoughts weigh his blade now. It was truly time to finish it.

"Kusanagi…" Raizo stated with a hint of sadness as the blade came forth into his hands. He readied himself for battle steeling himself with the resolve necessary for what would come next. It was something that he didn't want to do though but what choice did he have? This was the result of fate…no it wasn't fate that held the power here. This was the end result he would have to come to terms with thanks to this new world line and it was brought by his own deeds.