Jouney Into Cocytus I

"Oft hope is born when all is forlorn." - J.R.R. Tolkien.

Year: 4250 A.D. 13th of October

Time: 15:45 PM

Location: Outskirts of Fuyuki City

Solomon was no more. The man who became one with the Demon King had returned to nothingness. Everything that he represented, his legacy as a heroic spirit and the Grand Caster, was abolished from within the Throne of Heroes. In the end, his soul was bound in an eternal cycle of pain and death by Akasha's human self. Be that as it may, the greatest victory came with a huge cost.

By her lonesome, Kimiko Hanate had to wander through the scattered verdant hills. In the distance, the lights of civilization illuminated the night sky alongside the endless stars. Fuyuki, once a lifeless ruin in a dystopian world was now a futuristic metropolis at the height of its development.

Sitting upon the grassy knoll atop one of the green slopes, Kimiko crossed her legs in a meditative stance and gazed upon the airways where automated flying vehicles crossed the skies at incredible speeds. Despite being a deity, she could not help but be amazed by the ingenuity and versatility of human technology.

Relinquishing a heavy sigh, the girl brought her eyes down to her own two hands. Even now they trembled. The feeling of Solomon's fresh blood and guts remained ever since that day when she lost control. His painful howls, the sound of his bones snapping apart, and the silent plea for mercy before death were still freshly lingering in her mind.

"What am…"

For a moment she threatened to be lost in the abyss of regret, but that feeling of downfall was snapped as soon as she felt a chilling breeze pass through the open field.

"Your guard is down," the familiar yet stoic and stern voice of an old friend reached Kimiko in her time of solitude.

Kimi sported a meek smile as she turned to face the looming figure.

"Sorry Akame, after being one with Akasha for so long…going back to being the same old me is kind of… jarring."

Her voice did not echo with the same confidence she had as the Grand Ruler. For once in a lifetime, Akame could see the scared little girl she took under her wing all of those centuries ago.

"You're afraid of letting the darkness in your heart take over your reasoning again, aren't you?" the older assassin reasoned.

"I...I don't know who to trust anymore. Akasha let Raizo die, and then I… let that ugly side of me come out. It felt so good too...killing that bastard over and over again."

Crossing her arms, Akame nodded her head as if assimilating that information.

"Maybe that was the point?" she concluded.

Kimiko could only muster the will to express confusion over her assertion.

"Huh?"

"Ever since awakening as Akasha, you have relied on that power to triumph. But now things are different."

"What do you mean?"

"If Raizo's death was a required outcome to reach a certain destiny, then you being alone and facing the darkness that lingers is also a necessary evil."

"Then…"

Cutting her off, Akame continued to speak her mind:

"All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king."

"Akame…" Kimiko mumbled under her breath before closing her eyelids and taking a long, deep breath.

"I get it," she spoke before alas, standing up on her own two feet.

"If I want to make things right, I first have to deal with my own problems."

Akame silently nodded in approval as the two turned their gaze to the brilliant city ahead.

"We couldn't fix all the destruction Goetia caused, but at least the Holy Grail revived this world. Now it's up to us to make it all worth the sacrifice," the Red-Eyed Killer remarked in a reminiscing tone, "Kimiko Hanate, my first student, it's time to make our comeback."

*****

The landscape of Fuyuki, once ruined and desolate, became revitalized into a paradise of neon lights and densely packed streets. The same cyberpunk aesthetic from the old world remained as evidenced by the humongous, interconnected skyscrapers and apartment complexes. Hover cars buzzed overhead and along the ground as countless numbers of human beings wandered through the streets. It was almost as if the catastrophe that extinguished humanity had never happened in the first place.

Amidst the crowds of the bustling city stood a pair of rather unique individuals. The first was Akaro, who now sported a light brown trench coat over his white shirt and dark jeans to fit the modern world around him. Moreover, he also elected to use glasses. It wasn't because of any issues with his vision, but more so to better fit the part of a young man wandering the streets.

"Y-You look so cute with glasses on, Senpai!" the one accompanying Akaro spoke enthusiastically.

Constantly grabbing onto Akaro's left arm, Hibiki accompanied the Envoy in his journey across the urban jungle. This time the Symphogear user wore a yellow and orange blouse with orange stripes on her short sleeves. Due to the rainy weather and cold temperature she also sported the dark jacket Akaro used to wear and dark jeans to match.

"If I didn't know about you and Kohinata-san, I'd almost say you fancy me," Akaro cut in with an unforeseen, precise strike as the two crossed a busy street only to arrive at a lonesome parking lot located in the corners of a residential district.

The neon lights of the holographic billboards above reflected upon the puddles of water that formed due to the passing downpour. However distracting as that may have been, the Envoy merely kept an eye out for his companion to witness her reaction.

"Wha-What?! No, no… it's not like that! I've never even had a boyfriend, and Miku and I are just best friends!" she quickly stumbled upon every sentence she could use to hide her feelings. That said, her reddened face exposed her true intentions.

The two then came to a halt in front of a futuristic vehicle. Its glossy white painting and black hood alongside the comfy leather seats on the inside gave it the vibe of a small spaceship; however, it was a car. With a mere snap of his fingers, Akaro caused its automated doors to rise in a diagonally upward angle.

"Come on, it'll be a bit of a long trip so we better get going," Akaro calmly remarked before taking the driver's seat. Likewise, Hibiki sat beside him in the passenger's seat.

"Um...how does this thing work? It doesn't have a steering wheel," the young girl inquired curiously.

"It doesn't need one," Akaro revealed before placing his hand on a built-in scanner located where the steering wheel would normally be. Soon afterward a blue holographic display lit up the car's front glass in order to show a blue 3-D map and a menu prompt to select and confirm the destination.

Upon confirming the destination as Mifune City, the futuristic vehicle began to float just above the ground as if negating gravity before its wheels were bent and collected into its underbelly. The machine then quickly accelerated in an upward motion till it joined the other automated vehicles in the Fuyuki Airway.

"Change into rest mode," Akaro spoke in a commanding tone.

Almost in that same second the driver and passenger seat extended and rearranged themselves so that they would be located alongside the interior of the car similarly to the inside of a limousine. Furthermore, the back seats moved to the center of the vehicle before bending back and joining together forming a comfy bed.

"Arrival in 9 hours. Please enjoy your stay," a smooth feminine voice belonging to the onboard Artificial Intelligence informed the two.

"A...b-be-bed?!" Hibiki stumbled on her words even more.

"Relax, this ain't a booty call (yet). You can have the bed. I don't need to sleep," Akaro remarked whilst chuckling a bit. He would then nonchalantly reach under the bed where a special compartment containing expensive bottles of wine was stashed.

"Want some?" he questioned while serving up two glasses of that refined wine.

A million thoughts raced through Tachibana's mind. However, the most prominent was the idea that this could be a way to get closer to the man that made her heart skip a beat.

"But...I'm still not of drinking age," her better judgment jumped in.

"Relax, Bikky. You're in an alternate universe, light years away from home. I'm sure a little wine won't get you in trouble—if it does you can just blame it on me."

Hearing those words got Hibiki to loosen up her tense shoulders. Regardless, her heartbeat still refused to calm down. With a curt nod, she accepted the glass into her hands. Taking a sip of the bright wine, she immediately felt the higher acidity of the drink making her mouth water.

"Cheers," Akaro spoke, amused by the girl's reddened face and strong reactions to the taste.

The two then proceeded to gulp down the remainder of the wine before moving on to another bottle. The second wine they shared had buttery characteristics. It possessed a cream-like texture that hit the middle of the tongue almost like oil but with a smooth finish. By the end of this little venture, Hibiki was laying on her back and enjoying the bed while a silly, drunk smile crossed her lips.

Laughing it up a bit, Akaro was still completely sober but nonetheless found himself amused by the girl's innocence.

"Well to be fair, you lasted a lot longer than Tsubasa."

Amid a storm of hiccups, Hibiki began to drunkenly sing:

"PiErcE thRoUgh! G-beAt!"

"This will be a long trip, won't it?"

Just as he indicated, for the next hour the Red-Eyed Hero was blessed with the singing of a drunken Symphogear accompanied by the gentle trickling of raindrops falling on top of the vehicle. Strangely, it turned out to be quite relaxing. That said, whenever Akaro closed his eyes flashes of recent events came back to haunt him.

The memory of Goetia robbing his brother of the humane kindness bestowed upon a peaceful last breath, the memory of that ghastly green flame being hurled at the fallen youth—seldom had the knight escaped the abyss of his failure before they inundated his mind and cascaded the waters of guilt down his body.

Collecting his remembrance into a deep sigh, the Envoy of the Crimson Luster condensed his ruined heart into the act of pressing his nails against his palms.

"It's been a month but...we'll find you, brother. That's a promise," he pledged in his mind.

"Akaro-senpai! Punch through that sad face and come here!" Hibiki gushed drunkenly as she turned on her side only to repeatedly tap the empty side of the bed in an inviting manner.

Upon being snapped back to reality, Akaro had to force himself to blink a few times in order to process that invitation.

"Oh? Look at you making booty calls," he made light of the situation.

Hibiki, feeling wholeheartedly courageous due to the effect of alcohol, did not a waste second responding to his remarks. Instead the drunken songstress grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him onto the bed. Quickly, Akaro found himself pulled him into a trap. Hibiki had him back against the comfy mattress with one of her thighs over his midriff. Her arm wrapped over his chest as if she was trying to cuddle him like a teddy bear.

His mood was revived by the warmth of the girl, causing him to almost subconsciously allow himself to smile.

"Even drunk you still try to cheer me up… you are something else y'know that?"

To his surprise an answer never came. Hibiki was already soundly asleep, however, she never let go of him.

"Well since you want to hug me so tightly, who am I to refuse?" Akaro thought only to alas close his eyes and submerge himself into the ephemeral domain of dreams.

*****

Year: 4250 A.D. 14th of October

Time: 00:30 AM

A soft bump welcomed the flying vehicle as it graciously descended onto the dark streets of Mifune. A slight less welcoming and vibrant than the neon-metropolis of Fuyuki, this strange new environment felt straight out of a supernatural or noir novel. As the automated car doors began to ever so slowly slide upwards, the cold wind and raindrops jolted Akaro and Hibiki into a sudden state of consciousness.

The girl was the first to wake up; her immediate reaction was to jump up when she found herself cuddling the muscular male. Her rosy cheeks gave away everything going on in her mind as she went on to rapidly scramble her way out of the car. Akaro meanwhile took a moment to stretch his arms and legs.

"Here already huh?" he analyzed whilst getting up on his feet and stepping out of the vehicle.

Up ahead stood what appeared to be a haunted building that looked to have been abandoned halfway through construction. Notably a bounded field surrounded it from all sides making it undetectable to ordinary citizens.

As Akaro and Hibiki journeyed into the old structure, they found that the first floor was composed of mostly old furniture, dust, and ruins. The second and third floors were almost entirely filled with old artifacts, human-sized dolls, and books along a set of various shelves. However, the duo ignored those. Instead, they entered an office in the fourth floor.

The office was a cluttered mess. After going down a small set of stairs one could see bookshelves full of all kinds of literature covering the walls. Moreover a black leather couch and a table with notes on top of it stood at the heart of the room. Behind it was a writing desk full of piled up documents. Three rectangular windows could be seen in the wall just behind the desk, the moonlight of the outside world illuminating the lonesome female working in this office.

Locking her ruby gaze upon the duo, Scathach welcomed them, "Welcome to Garan no Dou, Akaro-kun and Hibiki-san. You two are late."

Taking a seat on the couch after Akaro pointed her to it; Hibiki puffed her cheeks in annoyance. She knew this was a serious meeting, but she did not like to be treated like a child.

Approaching Scathach's desk, Akaro took a moment to observe the female's new attire—a dark formal suit and skirt with leggings and high heels. She appeared to be a businesswoman, the mighty spear-wielding heroic spirit now fully settled in the modern world. Scathach, smart and cunning as she was, did of course notice his gaze.

"I know you like what you see, but try not to be so impolite with those eyes of yours, boy," she casually remarked.

Crossing his arms, Akaro shot her back with a smile.

"You know the last warmonger who tried to hit on me ended up broken," he joked.

Taking his challenge, she returned his smile with a confident grin, "I can handle you."

The tension between the two began to escalate. Who knows what would've occurred in that situation had the office doors not shot open unveiling the arrival of Adena, Altera, and the holy maiden—Jeanne D'Arc. Addy wore a white t-shirt and jeans, her long, brunette hair kept in a ponytail. In the meantime, Altera and Jeanne wore yellow raincoats to conceal their servant attire.

"Akaro…" Jeanne muttered under her breath as her eyes glistened with joy. Almost immediately she rushed over to the Red-Eyed Hero embracing him in a tight hug.

"Missed me have ya?" he spoke before returning her affection. Altera gave him a friendly nod at him from afar causing him to reciprocate the motion.

"I take it all the reports are ready," Scathach interjected bringing everyone's attention back to the meeting at hand.

Taking a deep breath, Akaro stretched his arms before starting the conversation.

"Fuyuki is as calm as it gets. No signs of any kind of extraordinary events. The Grail really brought the world back together, but only the 'ordinary world' it seems."

"Mifune is much the same, Senpai. With the exception of the heroic spirits and the Symphogear wielders who chose to stay, we're in a magicless world," Altera concurred.

"Very well," Scathach acknowledged the information being delivered with a quick nod.

"What about you, Adena? Report."

Adena merely shot Scathach an annoyed glare in response.

"Lucy is stabilizing but… well--she's still in a coma," she reluctantly spoke amid looks of concern being tossed her way.

Placing a friendly hand on her shoulder, Akaro gave his best friend a concerned look, "You're on edge, Addy. You should go upstairs, take in some fresh air."

"Whatever," she spoke dismissively as she pushed his hand aside and elected to walk out of the office.

"Anyway…" Scathach brought everyone's attention back to herself, "You're all dismissed for the night except you, Akaro. Mercer called a little while back; he needs to have a word with you."

"Great," he sighed, "Can I at least use my powers now? Pretty sure no one is around this late to catch a glimpse of it. Not to mention traveling around on foot or in a car is just too slow."

"Very well, but just make sure to be subtle. We're part of an ordinary world now, and as such we ought to preserve the current view of reality held by its denizens," Scathach elaborated.

"Alright."

Akaro walked over to Hibiki. Reaching down to her with one hand, he helped her get back up on her feet. Likewise Altera and Jeanne came over to check on them. Chit-chat was kept short as the party only shared a few words before Akaro and Hibiki made their way outside of the building. As soon as the two stepped onto the sidewalk, the Red-Eyed Hero nonchalantly put his arm around Hibiki's shoulders.

"Ak-Akaro-senpai?" the girl jumped up in surprise.

"Relax, it'll only take a second," he calmly remarked. A dark purple outline had begun to surround their bodies. In the very next instant, the duo was enveloped in a bright flash of light.

When Hibiki's consciousness returned she found herself beside Akaro in a different location. Now they were inside a hospital room with greyed out white walls, old furniture and medical equipment alongside a lonesome bed where Lucy currently slept. Mercer stood by her bedside with a sorrowful look on his face.

"You called?" Akaro casually introduced his presence. Out of respect for the other two, Hibiki stepped back and leaned her back against a wall to let them have a conversation.

"I did…" the King of Elysium sighed, "Akame has been tirelessly searching all realms, likewise Jibril is keeping watch over the Crossroads; as you suspected Raizo's soul has not been found."

A father who lost his son and his wife in the same day—Akaro could tell Mercer was not well. From his disheveled hair to the worm out clothes, it was clear he had been working nonstop to fix the mess left behind by the Demon Gods.

"Dude…you need to chill out for a moment or you're gonna end up going nuts over this situation," Akaro tried to sound friendly, but one could tell he was legitimately worried over his friend's state of mind.

"Akaro, you've been a father before so you must understand… I won't stop until I know Raizo is safe and Indra is dead—no matter what it takes."

Akaro sighed deeply, "Yeah okay Mister John Wick. So why did you call me here anyway?"

"A silent alarm was triggered in Elysium. I have my hands full searching for Raizo and taking care of Lucy. So, I need you to go deal with whoever is causing trouble," the God Hunter explained.

"I'll do it," Akaro gave a quick response, "But seriously take a minute to fix yourself… you smell like you haven't showered in weeks."

"Akaro…fine. Just don't disappear on me too, we have lost enough people."

"Me? Please—when have I ever lost a fight?"

"Rias for starters…twice actually," Mercer put it bluntly.

"Oh shut it."

Without another word, the two friends shared a bit of laughter before Akaro turned around and walked over to his ever so silent companion.

"You're smiling, Hibiki," Akaro noted.

The girl giggled, "It's just that you two get along really well."

"Suppose so. After all, I've known that guy for as long as I can remember. Anyway, this one might be a dangerous trip so I think you should go meet up with Tsubasa and the others. They should be looking after Vesta just next door."

"Okay… just be careful, alright?" the normally cheerful girl gave Akaro a worried hug. Even now, one could tell she felt a great deal of pain over the loss of her sensei.

"I'll be fine, and when I come back; I promise I'll find him," the Envoy spoke reassuringly before patting Hibiki's head.

In a flash of crimson light, the Envoy changed out of his civilian clothing returning to his usual battle gear.

"Here, Senpai."

Hibiki handed him his jacket back. Grabbing onto it, Akaro smiled.

In another burst of radiance, Akaro departed from this world.

*****

Now standing on what could be described as platinum coated streets, Akaro looked around himself as if trying to analyze his surroundings. He saw large skyscrapers and some buildings, all made of an untainted, otherworldly golden material. That said, the damage done by Erebus and Nix was still there as many of the towering structures found themselves set amidst a backdrop of rubble and streets stained by the blood of both enemies and allies alike.

"In the end even Heaven is not safe from the evils of this world," Akaro pondered. However, that melancholic thought would not last for long.

"This presence…" the Red Knight felt a familiar murderous intent quickly approaching his location.

Falling like a comet onto the desolate streets of Elysium, a mysterious warrior emerged from a flash of translucent electrical energy. He possessed long, jet black hair with white bangs on the front draping over his concealed face. Much of its length was kept in a ponytail. The man also appeared to be in peak physical condition as his slim but defined build fit the bill of someone who's agile yet strong. Furthermore, he wore a hooded white cloak over his shoulders and light, white metal armor plates over his frame. A strange ornamented mask with demonic red eyes covered his face giving the individual a fearsome presence.

"We meet again, brother," the masked assassin spoke in a tone full of disdain. Akaro meanwhile could only take a step back in disbelief.

"Raizo…" he stated the boy's name in disbelief. For a moment there was hope in the Envoy's expression, but that did not last.

"Been a while eh, kid?" Akaro sighed and closed his eyes. He could tell this man wasn't his brother.

"The consequences of one's actions can go farther than you think, Akaro. You knew that all of this would happen, that I would remain stuck with this guilty crown while the other me lived on. You could've stopped me, but you didn't. It's quite clear to me now that my pain is on your hands; it is all your fault…" the Masked Stormbringer broke the few seconds worth of silence between the two; his voice was muffled and warped into a bizarre, almost demonic tone by the mask.

"So it really is "that" version of you…" the older brother concluded in a dead tone.

There are two sides to every story, and this was the moment where the other half came to prominence.

*****

He who dared to challenge fate was but a puppet of the very destiny he sought to escape from. November 7th... the now distant past where the deceased Raizo Arashi elected to run from the destiny of bloodshed that awaited him.

Back then Raizo was in his 'Heart of the Storm' state. By his lonesome the male readied himself to venture through time and space in hopes of stopping what he believed was the cause of all the problems in the world he resided in. However, before the youth could build up enough speed to cross the fourth dimension, a sudden burst of purple light blinded him.

From within the mysterious light, a crack-shaped hole was created in the fabric of space-time. Without warning, something akin to a bolt of lightning came through. To the boy's surprise, this energy came directly at him; however, instead of being absorbed it instantly derailed him off his course and sent him flying back across the ground.

Caught off-guard, the youth drew the blade of Vajra ready to fight as he saw a blur of purple light come to a halt right above him. The mysterious specter then began to shed its light only to ultimately reveal its face to the boy. Much to Raizo's surprise, the visage he saw was not an enemy. Rather, it was himself.

"Wh…who the hell are you and why do you look like me?!" the distraught Stormbringer yelled at the figure in front of him.

"Well…I'm you. I'm the version of you that exists after you're about to do what we both know you're going to do. Basically, I'm the one born of our mental breaking point, our Shatterpoint," the new presence explained.

"So you're from the future…or the future past?"

"Yeah it's confusing so for redundancy's sake Raizo, just call me Raizen."

Letting down his guard, Raizo stood up slowly to hear what his future self had to say. To show his lack of hostility, Raizen powered down from the Heart of the Storm mode revealing the same heterochromia hairstyle and red eyes. Raizo did the same.

"So…why are you here?" the youth asked.

"Simply put: To stop you from changing the past. What happens as a result is something that you won't like, and well… it honestly does more harm than good."

"And I'm supposed to believe you?"

"Well, I honestly wouldn't expect that of myself. So the best way to explain is to simply show you," Raizen remarked before reaching out for Raizo. He placed his hand over the pained child's head and began to apply a form of shock therapy.

"I honestly have no clue if this is going to work, but given our unique complexes of developing nigh-unexplainable abilities then maybe it will," the former crown prince stated.

As the electricity flowed into Raizo's mind, so did the memories of Raizen thus allowing the Stormbringer to see everything that occurred in the Shatterpoint World Line. From the facts that were recorded in the Imperial Records all the way to the position of royalty. Every single waking moment that Raizen had witnessed upon going back in time and executing Aquilo was being shared with his counterpart.

Along with these memories, Raizo began to feel the very same guilt that Raizen carried as well as the pain from the reality of what occurred.

This…this can't be…

"Do you see now?" Raizen asked as he let go of Raizo's mind.

Tears had streamed down the face of the broken prince as he didn't want to see that pain reciprocated again. Little did he know that the 'transference' that occurred already began to tear an even bigger hole inside Raizo's heart.

"As much as you're feeling lost right now, going back to change things won't make it any better. In fact, this air of quiet is probably the best thing for this world. You saw what happened as a result of our mother ruling. There is just too much pain and suffering. Currently, there is only the twilight of change sweeping across the land. So what would be the point in going back to alter the past? The world that is born of that action is much worse than the present we have—not only for the people but for us in the long run."

"So… you're saying that I should…"

"Leave things as they are. Even though you feel like a puppet, you'll only wind up feeling much worse if you go through with it. So please, for both of our sakes—don't create Shatterpoint."

It was a tough thing to ask from the boy who felt like nothing more than human waste, but after seeing all that happened in that alternate reality… what choice did he have?

"I understand…"

"That's good..." Raizen nodded as his body began to gradually fade into particles of golden light. Since Raizo wasn't going back to the past then that means his existence would fade away… or so he thought.

"From one Stormbringer to another, try to live your life with no regrets…" Raizen uttered before disappearing altogether into a small vortex of golden radiance.

"Alas, I return to nothingness."

A swift end—to be erased from this world by the rules of time itself—that is what "Raizen" desperately longed for in his final moments. Another Stormbringer, a better version of who he once was, would rise from the abyss and traverse a better path. Yet despite that, his wish would only be half-fulfilled.

"Open your eyes once more, Prince of Ulrick." a voice echoed in his mind.

"Ugh!"

His eyes shot open only to be welcomed by a ravaged wasteland. Alone he stood amidst a sea of broken corpses and blood that extended for kilometers in any given direction. The mangled remains of the Phantom Siege decorated the former battlefield, blood and entrails turned the green meadows red with the liquids of human remains and scattered limbs. Mass graves were arranged like a collage of a mosaic painting. The stench of death corroded the air leaving "Raizen" speechless.

"It didn't work? Why…" the youth mumbled before dropping to his knees. Nevertheless, his pain had not yet reached its peak.

There, lying amid a crater that extended for extended for miles, he saw a lifeless armor—Grand Chariot—with the red paste of muscle, bone, and flesh that once components its user escaping it. Moreover, the corpse of Akame's younger sister, Kurome, lied on her back with a metallic spear composed wires shot clean through her heart. Similarly, the crown prince identified the upper half of his friend, Rabac, lying on the top of a hill with his lifeless eyes looking down on the prince.

"Hurts doesn't it?" a calm and collected feminine voice reached out to the broken man. He immediately stood back up on his feet and turned to see whoever had come for him. To his surprise, he saw a violet-eyed woman in a lavender dress.

"You're… Sheele, right?" he asked in a distraught tone. Nevertheless, she merely elected to throw something back at him.

"I refuse to let my life end by the hands of a man with no sense of duty or honor," she spoke in a dead tone, "Those were the words of a man ready to kill his own father in the name of a false queen."

"I…" the helpless male could not muster a response.

"Stand among the ashes of a million dead souls and ask the ghosts if honor matters. The silence is your answer."

Opening the two-ends of her oversized scissor-like Teigu, Sheele placed the inner blades around the boy's neck without said youth's interference. In his current state of mind, the thought of getting decapitated and dying by the hands of that woman seemed almost…appropriate.

"Kill… me," he echoed his final wish in the form of a mumble. However, to his dismay, that one wish would not come to be.

"No matter how many good deeds you perform, your past sins cannot be erased. But at least...I'll make your pain go away," Sheele declared right as she prepared to deliver a swift end the boy's life.

"Prince Raizo!"

Descending from the heavens like a meteor, Raizo's armored bodyguard drove his weapon downward onto Sheele's Extase. The large scissor instantly snapped into two independent blades due to the sheer force.

The Incursio user—Bulat—followed up on his initially overwhelming offense by redirecting his large weapon into a crescent motion. However, Sheele responded by quickly parrying the spear-like head of Bulat's weapon as she jumped away from harm.

Bulat landed safely in front of the crown prince and without hesitation prepared to continue his battle against the last remaining member of the Phantom Siege. However, he wasn't alone this time. Almost as soon he appeared another three individuals landed to his right; these were three of Hestia's retainers: Adena, Esdese, and Genesis.

"You witch! What did you bastards do to the moon?! Why is the world disappearing?!" the fiery redhead exclaimed in a burst of anger.

"The moon?"

Raizo looked up in response to that question. His gaze was welcomed by a shattered moon, broken into innumerable pieces. The memory of giant moon shards crash-landing against the Earth raced back to him. He recalled how Sigma City, formerly the Imperial Capital, was set ablaze and reduced to ruins.

"Your guess is as good as mine. Regardless, what matters now is… taking as many of you down with me as I can," Sheele proclaimed with all of her resolve whilst readying her broken Teigu—now functioning as dual blades instead of a large scissor. In response, the deadly ice queen felt necessary to speak her mind.

"Fool! The weak are destined to lie beneath the boots of the strong. One million souls left this warzone, their hopes merely a spark to be snuffed out by our strength. Knowing that… what can you do? You're alone and hopeless; your efforts are useless."

"Useless…" Sheele's mind fixated on that word. For a moment her subconscious escaped into memories of days of yore.

*****

In that memory, Sheele sat atop a verdant hill overlooking a cliffside leading up to the ocean. Next to the dangerous locale, Raiden and Chelsea stood in wait of the arrival of their guests. Another five minutes would pass before their appearance.

Leading the arriving duo was a woman with long jet-black hair. Under her left eye, she had a birthmark. Her fingernails were long and also lacquered in purple. In addition, she wore a purple free-flowing dress with a black and white plaid belt. To her left stood a purple-eyed maid with long grape-colored hair, which was tied into two ponytails. Nevertheless, the most notable feature about her was undoubtedly the fact she had four arms.

"It's been a long time hasn't it? Merraid Oarburgh," Raiden remarked in a welcoming tone.

"Please address her as Madam Merraid," the maid immediately corrected.

"You haven't changed at all, Cassandra…" Chelsea broke her silence.

Though calm, dealing with these people made old memories resurface. Much like the Blood Wolves, the Oarburgh were a deadly assassination group known to be involved in many assassinations throughout history. However, they were more akin to mercenaries given their tendency to work for the highest bidder.

"You were once a part of our family. Do you regret leaving, Chelsea?" Merraid spoke in a low, seductive tone akin to that of an ASMR voice.

"Heh… I'm not gonna stand by you when all you do is molest pretty girls and work for who can pay the most."

"Yet here you two are in hopes of acquiring my services, no?" Mera inquired whilst giving way to an ominous smile.

"That's right…" Raiden interrupted before Chelsea could respond.

"In about a month, our forces will converge on Sigma and we'll need all the help we can get. Not to mention your abilities could prove to be invaluable in dismantling the enemy forces from the inside out," he further elaborated.

"To work with a failed king and a disgusting man such as yourself… needless to say the price will be exorbitant."

"Name it then."

"We'll take five hundred thousand pieces of untainted gold up front. After we're done, quadruple that. Also, I'll personally be taking whatever pretty girls you have to offer… starting with Chelsea over there."

"Go to hell!" Chelsea immediately let her thoughts be known. However, Raiden's reaction was much more subdued.

"Very well," he complied as he let out a dissatisfied sigh.

"We can cover the initial payment...and if we win you can have your way with whoever you want and take as much as you need," he concluded.

"Commander?!" Chelsea gasped in discontentment. Raiden could only muster an uncaring silence as his response.

"We do what we must in times of crisis," he gave his ultimatum.

"..."

For a moment no words were spoken, but it wouldn't be long before the mad leader of the Oarburgh clan relinquished a terrifying string of broken, harsh laughter.

"You submissive failure! HaHAhahahaHAHA to think you'd actually agree?"

The air suddenly grew heavy as all eyes fell upon Mera.

"Unlucky you… Hestia has offered me over fifty times what you have. All I have to do is… end the Phantom Siege."

Raising her right hand up, Merraid snapped her fingers. Within seconds a swarm of wrigglers flew from within their master's shadow. 'Wrigglers' was the term used to describe the insect Danger Beasts passed down as weapons through the generations of Oarburgh's leaders. These insects mobilized around Raiden and Chelsea in an omnidirectional formation—no doubt, a fatal tactic. Nevertheless, the leader of the Phantom Siege wouldn't go down that easily.

"Sheele!" he called out to his ace in the hole.

This was her time to shine. Sheele immediately leaped into action from atop the hill that concealed her. With her giant scissor in hand and an awful lot of improvised posing, she proclaimed her Teigu's name in order to activate its Trump card:

"Extase!"

A blinding flash of pure white light engulfed the dark night sky temporarily blocking Mera's ability to keep track of Raiden. In the meantime, the old assassin ran toward Merraid's location with Gungnir in hand.

"It's over!" he proclaimed. However, things would not go as planned.

The maid, Cassandra, anticipated this trap. Utilizing her four wheel-like weapons called the Mountain Chakram, she launched all of them at the same time just as Sheele activated her Trump card. These projectiles converged on the purple-eyed assassin forcing her to try her best to parry. Nonetheless, Merraid's retainer was successful in knocking Sheele out of the sky just as Raiden prepared to thrust his lance through Oarburgh's skull.

As the light of Extase faded, Merraid stepped back delivered an arcing kick in order to Gungnir sending it flying away.

While that occurred Sheele landed on her feet in an awkward angle. The abruptness of the descent combined with Extase's weight caused her to be forced down on her knees. To make matters worse, her glasses fell down on the ground.

"Goddammit, Sheele! You're useless!" Raiden shouted whilst the female hopelessly searched for her broken glasses.

Aware that her prey had nowhere else to run, Mera merely laughed before once more ordering her swarm of flesh-devouring insects to consume the former Blood Wolf King and his assistant.

"This is checkmate, Raiden."

Three seconds, that's how much time Raiden had to come up with a countermeasure to the Danger Beast swarm about to consume him and Chelsea. Without hesitation, the man reached for the gun attached to a holster on his right side. It was no ordinary gun. Instead, he had armed himself with a flare gun.

A second to his death remained before he pulled the trigger. In that moment, a black flare was shot into the skies creating a trail of dark smoke. A smile could be seen stamped across Raiden's face in that last instance of time.

"Eviscerate them all."

"Begone!" Mera screamed as the swarm seemingly consumed her two targets. Only after a few seconds would her mind take notice of the streak of black smoke crossing the sky.

"A black flare?"

Merraid's brain finally linked one and two together. Unbeknownst to her, however, it was already too late.

"Cassandra, RUN!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as she turned to face her maid.

What welcomed her gaze instead was a disemboweled corpse deprived of its head. Moreover, the swarm that attacked Raiden and Chelsea suddenly fell dead mere inches away from them.

"CASSANDRA!" her fear escaped once more.

Standing over the pool of flesh, intestines, and other such organs was a lonesome red-eyed girl with long, raven black hair. In her right hand, she held her victim's decapitated head whilst watching it intently.

"After the head has been chopped off they're all able to hear, at least for a moment, the sound of their own blood gushing from their neck. That is the best pleasure to end all pleasure bestowed upon my targets."

Akame—the Black Death— was Phantom Siege's Shinigami and Raiden's ultimate weapon. Relinquishing nothing but an emotionless expression, the girl tossed the dead maid's head over the cliff and into the ocean.

"Lost New Year… you're the one behind that horrible massacre. You MONSTER! YOU KILLED MY PRECIOUS SPIES AND TURNED THEM INTO HORRIFIC SCARECROWS!"

Mera tried to hide her fear, but the fact she didn't wear any undergarments at the moment did not help hide the fact that she was pissing herself.

"What's wrong, Oarburgh? Scared? Irritated by how weak you are?" Akame spook in a humorous tone, her expression contorted into a wide smile.

"Please...LET ME GO!!!" she begged as she slowly backed away.

Unbeknownst to her, an Iron Maiden had been spawned into existence by the will of the Black Death. No less could be expected from the incarnation of the Red-Eyed Killer who could bend reality on a whim.

Akame stood still to give Mera hope that she could escape. Nevertheless, that feeling of relief quickly evaporated when her exposed back hit against the insides of the Iron Maiden which oddly enough lacked iron spikes in its interior.

"What…"

There was no time to react, the death trap's doors closed upon Akame's weak victim.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! JUST LET ME OUT OF HERE! Wait a minute...ah...AH! AHHHHHH!!!"

Within the Iron Maiden, Merraid felt her blood boil till it became as sharp as a blade.

"LeT Me- GO!" her never-ending screams escaped in those final moments.

"What are you even talking about? You're already dead."

In the wake of Black Death's words, all the blood in Mera's body shot out in the form of trillions upon trillions of small blades impaling her from the inside out. A sea of blood gushed out from within the Iron Maiden as every facade of the woman's body was penetrated and disfigured into nothing but piles of human remains.

"You feel the last bit of breath leaving their body as it is dismantled… you feel their gaze looking into your eyes as life fades away. In this situation...I am Death itself!"

Snapping her fingers Akame commanded the Iron Maiden to fall upon the ocean where the remains of Merraid Oarburgh would become shark food.

"Good work, Akame. Help Sheele up, we're going back to camp," Raiden ordered without much fanfare as he trailed off. Chelsea on the other hand elected to stay a little longer.

"You're so strong, Akame. Could you please teach us how to even do a fraction of the things you do?" she cut to the chase.

"Yes please!" Sheele enthusiastically interjected into the conversation as she got up with Akame's help.

"I've never been able to do anything right. People would always make mean comments about me like maybe I was crazy or something. So, please… I want to be like you, Akame-chan."

Her words were genuine. She desired power for the sake of the group, not herself. As she put an arm over Sheele's shoulder to help her walk, Akame couldn't help but chuckle in bemusement.

"Why not? You two are practically useless by yourselves as you are now."

"We only have a month and some change, how far can you get us?" Chelsea wondered as she followed the two back to camp.

"You'll see…" Akame left the two in suspense.

*****

"Useless… no… you're wrong, Esdese. As long as the heart of rebellion still beats inside my chest, the creed of the Phantom Siege—my family, will guide my blades to victory."

Valiant words were not something one expected out of Sheele. Regardless, when faced with certain death her unbreakable resolve shined through the overwhelming darkness.

"You might be comparable to Bulat, but you're not even on my level… so how do you expect to best the prince and the princess or even Genesis? You can't win," the ice queen reinforced her beliefs.

Sheele, however, ignored her words completely. Instead, she assumed a battle-ready stance.

"Kamui…" she whispered.

"Kamui?!" the crowd reacted in unison.

"Death's Executioner: Extase!"

The light once unleashed as a blinding burst now began to flow across Sheele's dual blades and around her entire body. Her glasses disintegrated into particles of light thus revealing a pair of bright silver irises with dark pupils.

"That won't be enough!" Bulat affirmed as he jumped into action. The fearless Incursio user darted towards Sheele, all the while thrusting his lance forward in an effort to impale her.

"Bulat wait!" the Crown Prince called to his bodyguard, even reaching out with his hand. Unfortunately, fate had already been decided as in a flash of white radiance Sheele reappeared behind Bulat.

"Prince… Raizo…" Bulat's last words could be heard whilst his head slowly rolled over his shoulders.

An air of dread came over the remaining quartet as they watched Bulat collapse. However, there was no time to mourn. In another burst of blinding radiance, the last hope of the Phantom Siege reappeared in front of the giant knight—Genesis.

In that small instant of time, Sheele brought one of her blades in an arcing motion to take yet another head.

"All I have to do is morph my body into an intangible shadow and then you're done for," Genesis thought to himself whilst readying himself to deliver a devastating counter.

"I'm sorry… I must kill you," Sheele spoke in a whisper. When her blade made contact with Genesis' neck an unexpected truth was revealed to the giant.

"Ugh!"

It was too late for him. The photons contained within Extase's radiant light severed the dark shadows that composed Genesis' neck. As a result, a swift execution was on display.

"Impossible… how could I—"

The dark knight who ended hundreds of thousands of lives alas felt death's cold embrace as his head hit the ground, his giant body collapsing soon after.

"Why… why didn't he regenerate?!" Adena inquired in a burst of anger.

"He won't… those whose lives are severed by Extase's light cannot return to this world. This is my pledge as an executioner," Sheele spoke in an emotionless tone while turning her gaze toward the remaining trio.

"This war is over and there is no victor. I am merely here… to kill you," she remarked before pointing one of her blades toward the prince

Raizo...Raizen...whoever he was now—he had no words that could express how tantalizing Sheele's unwavering resolve was.

"Very well… I accept your challenge," he remarked in a seldom moment of admiration. That light…could he ever hope to match it?

"Conqueror's Crusade!"

Raizo's eyes once more became enveloped in the demonic yellow glow of his corrupt form. Likewise, his hair turned completely silver.

"Heart of the Storm!" he further added to his already transformed state. This time the dark purple aura of his 'Heart' state was layered over his body and the 10 Edicts under his command.

"Face me, Executioner! Face the Conqueror of the Storm!" he proclaimed as he darted towards Sheele alongside Adena and Esdese.

"Embrace death…" Sheele retorted whilst also rushing toward her targets.

Who would win… the last hope of the Phantom Siege or the remnants of a dead empire? This question is one that would never be answered.

"The four of you will do just fine…" a voice echoed within their minds as time seemingly came to a halt. From within a portal of crimson energy, the one responsible emerged.

Akame appeared, but not the one Sheele remembered. The person she saw was more elegantly dressed. She wore a gorgeous white dress as her red eyes shined with exuberant confidence. Moreover, her hair was longer and more elegant. Within her portal, another realm could be seen containing its own version of the Earth and the Moon.

"Akame-sensei…?" Sheele mumbled.

"Aka-nee?" Raizo echoed a similar sentiment.

"Wrong, my children. I am Arayashiki. From now on, the four of you shall become my warriors," she proclaimed as the helpless four began to float in a state of stasis only to then be sucked into the portal behind the deity.

The world they left behind was now a mess of fire and ruin. The greatness of Sigma City had been erased by the Counter Force, and an endless abyss remained in its absence. The sky, broken like glass, began to give way to the nothingness of a universe now devoid of galaxies, stars, planets, or even the mere idea of space-time. Shatterpoint could no longer be and thus its last monolith—the Earth—was about to collapse under its own weight.

"Why did...things turn out like this?" Raizo voiced his discontentment as he bore witness to the Ulrick Empire being devoured by a dark, lifeless void.

*****

"Akaro who would've thought in the end you would become my enemy? You abandoned me and even Arayashiki… but unlike you, she gave me a purpose."

"Oh c'mon… how could I've predicted that Arayashiki would go nuts and use you as one of her servants? You can't blame me for this."

"Blame doesn't matter now, does it? The future, the present, the past… it will all come to an end. The Counter Force will be destroyed and Elysium will go down with it," Raizo remarked as the red eyes of his mask began to glow.

"...You know I can't let you do that," the Red-Eyed Hero spoke as he shot a glare back at the Masked Stormbringer.

"Then stop me, brother…if you can. Edict, come forth! Fragarach!"

With those words stated, a ray of radiance emerged from Raizo's right hand. This light began to grow out and form the shape of a sword which the Stormbringer gripped. As the luminescence faded, the blade materialized into reality revealing its approximate 5 foot by 6-inch dimensions. The translucent white and solid blue blade glimmered with its mysterious luster.

"What do you think, brother? For once I have weapons that you can't render useless or simply copy. This is just a taste of the mysterious power bestowed upon me, the Advent of the Conqueror!" he spoke confidently, almost as if to challenge his older brother into taking him seriously.

"Mysterious? Pfft—I dunno about that one, just watch this neat little trick. Trace Oververse: Fragarach!" Akaro calmly remarked as he reached out with his right hand.

A radiance similar to the one emitted from Raizo's right hand began to shine in front of Akaro's open palm, and just like before the same complex blade materialized for its user. Gripping it, the Red Knight held the blade up as if to show how trivial summoning such an artifact was before letting it vanish back into nonexistence.

"See? Not that mysterious now is it, princess?"

"Just… how?" Raizo inquired with a stuck up expression hidden beneath his mask. Akaro on the other hand merely watched with the same classic picture perfect white smile he was known for stamped across his lips.

"What's wrong? Did you really believe something as simple as your family's projection magic would work against me of all people?"

"Projection magic?" the masked male continued with the stream of questions.

"From birth, those of the Mercer bloodline have an immense potential when it comes to giving form to that which they envision; that's projection in a nutshell. Unsurprisingly the son of the God Hunter is not an exception to that ol'family talent. Quite the shocker, I know. This latent potential has always been innately coded, programmed, and hardwired into your DNA, a fact that undoubtedly affected everything down to your fighting style," the older brother explained thoroughly.

"Think about it...electrical blades, constructs of varying complexities, even with just Indra's Judgment you've always been quite creative when it came to your arsenal. Without said teigu, something must've changed; thus causing your inherited talent to appear."

"That still doesn't explain how you're able to use Advent of the Conqueror now does it?" Raizo followed up with another snarky observation.

"Would ya stop with that ridiculously made up fancy name? Did Adena come up with that? That girl sometimes," Akaro spoke with quite the unenthusiastic tone while remaining focused on the Masked Stormbringer.

"Anyway if you must know—a long time ago, I fought a bunch of Primordial Gods in some grand ol' war or whatever where I may or may not have decapitated some guy named Gil. In the end of it all…two out of the three Primordial Essences I got originally belonged to members of the Mercer family."

"Aha… so you're nothing more than a cheap thief who gained power that never really belonged to you. How fitting," Raizo remarked mockingly.

"Bitch please, it's not like I even need my Primordial powers to beat your ass, kid."

"We'll see about that! Prepare yourself—Guh!"

Interrupted in the middle of his sentence, blood burst out from the crown prince's concealed mouth. Having reappeared in front of the Masked Stormbringer, the older brother swiftly delivered a blow to his opponent's gut using only his right elbow. The upper part of Raizo's body was propelled forward on impact as his stomach and legs were pushed back by the force exerted upon them. To follow this up, the Red Knight immediately brought his fist upwards at an extraordinarily fast speed upper cutting his foe into the air.

"Nothing quite like an elbow to the stomach eh?" the Red-Eyed Hero remarked before bringing his hands together in a claw shape. Yellowish orange energy began to gather only to then, in a matter of seconds, become powerful enough to be released with its full might.

"Try not to swallow it all at once, princess. Tiro Finale!"

Thrusting the energy he had gathered between his palms forward, Akaro unleashed his devastating trump card. It was a powerful beam of energy capable of eviscerating any and all in its wake, always leaving behind little more than subatomic dust.

Stabilizing himself midair, Raizo utilized the abilities of his very own Fragarach. A massive gust of wind brushed against the boy's body and sustained him in the air granting him flight; his rapid ascent towards the heavens had ended just in time for him to switch out his current blade for yet another one of his various Edicts.

"Edict, come forth! Durandal!" he proclaimed as a two-handed buster class sword materialized in his possession. He clearly intended on deflecting Akaro's continuous beam of energy, but as Raizo would soon find out...that was a mistake.

"Let me show you more of your family's magical abilities that you have yet to fully comprehend kiddo…Time Hack: Triple Accel," the Red Knight spoke before vanishing from Raizo's perception in what felt like a billionth of an attosecond.

All the boy could do was attempt to desperately turn himself in a 360-degree angle whilst midair. However, even with his best efforts, Akaro instantly appeared behind the boy and grabbed him by his mask only to then end up descending onto the oncoming wave of energy known as the Tiro Finale. Like two comets clashing together, Raizo felt his back being hit by the energy of Akaro's first attack while he was forced down to the ground at speeds that dwarfed light itself.

The resulting effect turned into a large explosion that brought an end to all nearby buildings and skyscrapers, vaporizing them in all but a single instant of time. By the end of it, the once masked boy had his face revealed; his veil had been shattered into a million pieces. With his back against the heart of a medium-sized crater, Raizo remained there with a pained expression while his brother loomed over him.

"Why are you looking up at me with those sad eyes while down on the ground like that? This isn't a date princess, c'mon get up! You can do better than that," Akaro mockingly spoke before walking out of the crater he had formed during this little scuffle.

Something was off. Unlike many times in the past, the Crimson Knight didn't smile or even took what he was doing lightly. He still pulled his punches and restrained himself from going all out, but it was very clear that this battle wasn't a joke to him.

"Tell me, Raizo… why join Arayashiki's side?" Akaro inquired as he looked over his shoulder in order to see the defeated Stormbringer rising up to his feet.

"Because why not? It's not like I actually had a choice! Plus joining someone who was also abandoned by you under the pretense of her existence being an illusion from a False World Line sounded like a decent way to get on your nerves," he laughed.

Akaro clenched his fists.

"You and Akame—or Arayashiki as she calls herself now—both of you were supposed to disappear with the Shatterpoint reality. Instead she chose to become a time remnant from a world that ultimately never existed; an illusion created by the selfishness of one man who once had a bad day. Don't get me wrong, I truly want to love her; however, Arayashiki is not the same Akame I know. As long as she continues to stand against all that I fought for and hurts those I care about, I cannot ever truly accept her nor save her from this mad crusade she embarked on," the knight concluded as a deafening silence took over.

"Then…" Raizo mumbled under his breath as he walked out of the crater, "You will die here… Edict, come forth! Ame-no-Habakiri!"

Just like before a weapon was conjured under Raizo's possession. This time it was a Totsuka-no-Tsurugi ("Sword of Length of Ten Fists") whose elongated blade was lightning blue and its handle black as the night sky. In addition a white gauntlet similar to the Janus Armor in its resting state seemed to appear amid a small burst of electrical energy.

"Ame-no-Habakiri huh? I can smell the irony…" Akaro jested.

Raizo did not care enough to play along. Darting towards his nemesis, the Shatterpoint counterpart focused the crimson variant of his electricity onto the length of his blade creating an even deadlier tool.

"Awaken Amonkira!" Raizo shouted during his dash. The gauntlet he wore immediately warped into what appeared to be liquid metal and enveloped his body before hardening into the shape of a white and black armor with various layers of plaiting and a hooded vest over it.

Alas, a dark purple aura similar to that of the Heart of the Storm burst from the armor as the assassin brought his blade down upon his brother in a downwards motion. That one swing warped reality itself and became a billion attacks coming from every conceivable point in time. This took the form of an endless maze of crimson lasers coming right at Akaro. However, the Red-Eyed Hero did not seem impressed.

"I don't even need to move to deflect this one."

As per his boastful statement, he didn't. While each individual beam of energy hit the surface of his body, they dissipated into nothingness as if stopped by an invisible force. No matter how many strikes Raizo were to swiftly delivered, the Envoy merely needed to stand still.

Gritting his teeth in anger, Raizo stepped back.

"Tch...there's no other way! Unlock: Cosmic Absolution!" he shouted.

In a blinding flash of light, Akaro suddenly found himself standing amidst a complex multiversal space composed of endless blades. Each weapon was an Edict or legendary blade on its own right according to the little information the Knight could gather.

"Ride into battle, Beast of Conquest: Oracion!" Raizo's voice echoed through the reality marble as he rode into the scene atop a black horse with white fur, a skeletal frame, and a huge curved horn sticking out of its head.

Each one of the seemingly endless blades then converged around the mythical beast and the horseman commanding it, thus creating a huge, funneling wave of electrical death. Amid that display of overwhelming power, Raizo shouted:

"CONQUEROR OF THE STORM – STRIKE OF ABSOLUTION!"

The infinite tsunami of blades was absorbed into the Ame-no-Habakiri making its luster enough to light up the 11-Dimensional multiverse created by its user. Without delay, Raizo rushed towards the Envoy ready to stab him through the heart with that ultimate attack.

For once since the beginning of this encounter, Akaro took his opponent completely seriously as a courtesy.

"If you're gonna give it your all to try to kill me… then allow me to answer your challenge with my very best!" he shouted.

The Envoy's hot blade, Svarog, materialized under his possession as a crimson luster began to radiate around him. The Knight held the weapon out to the side and channeled the density of his energy to his blade. His cosmic aura funneled into the crimson edge of the sword as he chanted:

"Not the victorious Hunter,

Nor the renowned Red-Eyed Killer.

More than anything, just a restless soul.

Once the tool of one seeking to rule,

A weapon meant for end times.

Yet what I sought was no such thing.

What I sought was the freedom of choice,

To break from the father's rule and ascend beyond destiny,

To become human.

Heir to nothing, a Limit-Breaker with no power of his own.

I have abandoned a thousand blades,

Left behind a legacy of crimson

This is the life I've chosen.

This is the fate my desires created.

My whole life was for the sake of others.

Awaken! O' Great Creator of Akashic Death,

Svarog; this blade is the heart of my soul!

You, the mistake I must destroy, withstand its weight!

Take it all…my anger, my hate, my sorrow, my regrets, and all that I am!"

"It's too late for you!" Raizo screamed as he thrust his empowered blade forward in hopes of piercing through his brother before he could counter attack.

"Guren Ryū no Issen!"

Akaro made his swing. The thrusting motion of Raizo's attack met with a wide but precise slash coming from left to right. Ame-no-Habakiri's glowing blade broke into a billion pieces as it was batted away from Raizo's hands. Likewise, the Horseman of Conquest was eaten alive by a cataclysmic tidal wave of crimson energy unleashed from Svarog.

"RAHHHHHHHH! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" he howled in anger and pain as he and his mount vanished from sight; the reality he created then shattered like glass.

Akaro stood victorious on the grounds of Elysium as Raizo fell to his knees just a short distance away from him.

"I see… so that armor lets you temporarily shift into the astral realm when you're about to die. And you even knew I'd hold back my attack from completely erasing you anyway did you not? Not bad for a bootleg version of my brother," Akaro spoke in a way that praised and mocked the defeated Stormbringer before swinging his blade again—this time specifically aiming to break Raizo's helmet.

Raizo shook in fear when his facemask broke apart revealing the demonic yellow eyes and black pupils he had gained upon combining Heart of the Storm with Conqueror's Crusade. A solitary stream of blood ran down his forehead and the bridge of his nose.

"You won't… kill me. You don't have the balls to do it," the Stormbringer spoke in last-ditch attempt to hurt Akaro.

"You're not my brother," he put it bluntly before attempting to drive Svarog through Raizo's heart. However, that motion was stopped when he found himself frozen mid-movement. A pinkish-red outline surrounded his body.

"I told you not to face him directly," the voice of Arayashiki echoed into Raizo's ears as the deity herself unexpectedly appeared between the two brothers.

"Sorry… I couldn't miss the chance to test my skills against his," Raizo calmly stated, struggling to get back up.

"You have a mission, Horseman of Conquest. Go to your original self… and erase his soul. Then you will be the only Stormbringer," Arayashiki ordered nonchalantly.

"Yes ma'am…" Raizo smirked before disappearing in a flash of light.

"Now you on the other hand…" Arayashiki floated over to Akaro facing him eye to eye.

"I'll show you a world the Goddess-Above-All would never give you."

"What are you talking abo—"

Without giving him the benefit of talking, the goddess sized his lips for herself.