Slay the Schemer

Year 1025, 31st of December

Time: 2:00 P.M.

"You haven't been my mother for many years…. I don't know who you are."

Those were just some of the words overheard by Orion as he stood just outside Hestia's tent while Raizo and the other—now former—generals of the Sapphire Phoenix had with the woman in charge. As the group exited, the grimacing male continued to keep himself hidden whilst listening to the white-haired woman's nigh-inaudible sobbing seeping out from within the confines of the structure. Though surprising as the event may be, the chaotic anarchist seemed mostly undisturbed by what just transpired.

"Talk about some savage shit, even I didn't expect that one. You're one unpredictable guy when ya wanna be, little Arashi," Orion quietly commented to himself.

"Still, hard to believe everyone is going their separate ways. Meh, I guess fun doesn't always last forever. Perhaps I should try to find somethin' entertaining to do now," the man sighed nonchalantly. Orion was never one for sentimentality. He was the type that went with the flow of things for better or worse. He never really cared about the future nor did he hold attachments to the past. All that mattered to him was the present and what he could find to keep himself entertained on a regular basis.

After a few moments of daydreaming, Orion started towards the general direction he figured the quartet of individuals would head given the fact that their business had concluded. Upon discovering the location of Genesis and Zephyria, who were walking back through the encampment after bidding Raizo and Adena farewell, Orion approached them casually playing dumb to what all transpired.

"Yo," the midnight-haired man spoke indifferently catching the pair's attention.

"Oho, look who decides to show his shady self? Where the hell have you been, Orion?" asked Zephy as she folded her arms taking a condescending pose. Genesis was intrigued as well but he merely stood beside the dark-skinned female curious to hear what the fellow had to say.

"Ah well you know me, I was around just doing what I do best," he shrugged uncaringly.

"Care to be specific on that?" Genesis inquired suspiciously narrowing his eyes towards the mystery of the man's meaning.

"Oh come on guys, I was bored so I decided to have a little fun with Hyperion and all that. Nothing to worry about, am I right? Unless something bad happened while I was away," he chuckled trying to act oblivious to what he already was aware of.

"Damn man, you always decide to miss out on the important shit. It's definitely a bad habit of yours that I won't miss," Zephy sighed while shaking her head, "But to make a long story short, Genesis and I are leaving the Sapphire Phoenix."

A short pause occurred as Orion played the role of being astonished at what he just heard. He never doubted the sincerity of their words especially when he was eavesdropping on the conversation that took place a while ago but hearing it to be true was something else.

"Before you say anything, this decision wasn't something we made lightly. However, given the way recent events have unfolded. Zephyria and I believe we are making the right choice. In fact, if it was not for Adena being the first to hand in her resignation, we would probably be mulling over it still," Genesis explained.

"Heh, is that so? So the loud firecracker decided to drop out as well? I mean I figured it was gonna happen sooner or later but you guys dropping too is a bit of a surprise," Orion responded absent-mindedly.

"Indeed," Genesis nodded.

"Did Raizo come too?" the rift user inquired though he already knew the answer.

"Ah yeah, he was here too. He basically severed his ties with Hestia as well so you probably won't be seeing him around either," Zephy replied.

"Damn, everyone is bailing out eh? Well shit, I never thought the band would break up without giving one last performance heh-heh."

Orion shook his head then slipped his hands in his pockets casting a distant gaze up into the gray skies above. He took a moment to process the information in his head before addressing the pair again.

"Ah well, no need to deal the remorse and such. We all have our own paths to follow in life so. All I can say is good luck to the both of ya. Also, give my regards to the sparky one and the hothead," the male spoke dismissively.

"Wait Orion, what do you plan to do now?" Genesis questioned with intrigue. The wielder of Shiva's Maelstrom merely brought his hand to his chin thinking about it.

"No clue honestly; I'll probably hang around here with Hestia, see what she does before I do anything rash. I don't really have any intention of rallying my clan again or anything; this world has no room for mercenaries anyways. Who knows? I might just sell my services to another country or just use my powers to explore the universe! Then again, that Neveir crew seems to have an interesting party going on in the works so I may stick around to see that shit go down. Meh, details."

The pair of warriors looked at one another before shrugging their shoulders unsure of how to react.

"Well whatever you decide, I hope you find what you want out of life," Genesis spoke patting the male on the shoulder before walking off.

"Good luck to you, Orion," Zephy added before going off on her own.

Orion watched as both walked away before he started back towards the direction he came from before. He had no idea what he was going to do but he could feel the boredom coming along. Thinking over everything that he now knows about the current state of affairs, he still felt himself bewildered over one thing:

I will never come to understand the bonds of 'family', but then again…it's not like I ever had one to begin with…Besides, I always had a knack for a self-destructive personality.

MANY YEARS AGO…

In a remote corner of the lands that was annexed by the Empire lied a settlement that had been isolated in the grassy plains nearing the border of the Alexandrian Desert. It was in this wide open area that one of the five clans composed of the Conclave—the Order of the White Tigers—called home.

Loud, obnoxious, rowdy, and tactless were just some of the kinder words used to describe this clan for they were more notoriously regarded as the most brutal and savage band of individuals that graced the face of the Earth. Unlike the knights of the Amethyst Lotus, the nomadic monks of the Iron Monkey, the martial artists of the Jade Dragons, or the assassins of the Blood Wolves, the various men and women that led the life of membership in the White Tiger were nothing more than savage, cutthroat mercenaries whom cared little for concepts such as honor, duty or glory. All they desired was to live however they chose to holding only one philosophy as their true creed: Take what you kill with no remorse for the dead.

As every scumbag among this bunch would have it, they practiced that creed like it was a religion which gave them the infamous reputation they had. They were so looked down upon that not even other clans within the Conclave wanted to deal with them. In fact, the Amethyst Lotus found itself clashing with the bandits on many occasions whenever it came to jobs that those of the White Tiger would take or if they went raiding for the hell of it. As for the other orders, they elected not to deal with them as much as possible; though the Iron Monkey also found conflict with the group during the periods in which they migrated over the border between the Alexandrian Desert and the lands of the Empire. Fighting was just something that was second nature when dealing with them though one person was rather unique in nature.

This person came in the form of a boy named Orion Nebulous. He was the only son born to Titus Nebulous—the big boss of the White Tigers—and his wife, Elena. Titus was akin to a ruthless serial killer. Regardless of being in his forties, he would still fight like he had the strength and energy of his youth mixed with the experience of age. He took command of the order when he was only 18 years old when he grew tired of the way his predecessor led and killed him before everyone on that man's birthday. There was times when he was challenged during his days of command—around 10 to be exact—and each time he emerged on top amassing much fame. As for Elena, she was known to be a strong warrior as well using both her physical strength as well as her charm as a woman to get what she wanted. When both of them came together as a couple, they took the White Tigers to new heights of riches and plunder.

Being their child, much was expected of Orion even from his own parents. The environment he grew up in was to make him the best; a mix of the strength of his father and the cunning of his mother but that wasn't exactly the case. Orion was trained like many other kids within this clan. They were taken out into the wilderness to hunt, taught how to survive on their own, forced to fight with each other in order to gain combat experience, and other lessons deemed as necessity to become savage warriors like the generations before them. The young boy caught onto many of these teachings with ease often praised by his parents for his performance when he was younger but as he grew more towards adolescence developing his own personality, things changed.

If words could describe the youth when he was around 7 years of age, one word that could be instantly applied to his character was curious as well as clever. He had an innate sense for studying the world around him observing the laws of nature as it unfolded before him. One example would be when he found himself watching ants battling a group of locusts in the fields one day. Even though the difference in size between the two insect species was clear, the ants held their ground and won. Why? It was because they used their environment, their numbers, and their ability to work together as cohesive units. The locusts could easily devour the ants one by one, using their foot size to crush their opponents bodies, but the ants were able to climb on top of one another and use the blades of grass as bridges to jump off of and land on their opponents causing them to topple over and provide food for the rest of the colony. This gave the youth an understanding that strength and size didn't matter to an enemy that knew how to make use of tactics and wisdom. As a result, Orion began to teach himself how to take advantage of his opponent by using his head while his enemies would resort to fighting with their hearts.

His number one weapon at this point was his words. The young child created for himself a 'silver tongue' that was capable of using logic to confuse his opponent before manipulating them to his will of sorts. When pressured to train with his peers, he simply dismissed the notion by simply saying: "What's the point of fighting an opponent who uses brute strength only to tire out before the fight gets interesting?" Of course, this led him to getting into more fights with his fellows but he only proved to be right when he would just make use of deceiving footwork to catch his enemies off guard before promptly putting them on their asses.

Though disobedience did not go without consequence in his family and as such, his father would beat him with his fists until his body was bruised or his bones were fractured. His mother would force him to starve by only giving him contaminated scraps from meals or tossing his food in piles of manure telling him to eat it like the untrained dog he was. He struggled through these times but he always had a way to survive by saving his own game scored from hunting in a secret storage and tending to his own wounds as best he could. However, his torment only continued from there.

His resourcefulness, albeit rather admirable, eventually led him to be locked in a box in the winter months with no food or water for two to three days. Even more, his parents decided to try and scar him even more by forcing him to watch as they had sex in order to "conceive a better heir." As the abuse intensified over the years, it wasn't until 6 years had passed before Orion felt himself truly snap.

In the midst of a cruel wintry night when he was 13 or 14 years old, Orion was forced to hunt a danger beast that was scaring away the various hunting game in the area as a sort of punishment as well as a rite of passage. He found himself staring at the starry sky hopelessly wishing he could reach out and touch the burning balls of gas spread across the blanket that was the sky wishing to explore the heavens. Suddenly, a bright streak of blue and orange blazed through the heavens in the form of a shooting star. Knowing the general custom of such an event, the youth found himself closing his eyes saying a prayer.

"If power is so important in this goddamn world, give me the power to make my enemies suffer and let me have the fun I've been longing for…"

As he opened his eyes, the most impossible sight one could ever expect in this situation had occurred; the shooting star changed direction and was barreling down towards his location. Quickly the male ducked away from the area in which the star made an impact a mere hundred feet or so away. Possessed by that inquisitive nature, he just had to check it out. Amidst the fiery crater, the male jumped down to see a black meteor with a dark blue oozing liquid coming from it like blood. Out of nowhere, a voice called out to him.

[If you long for the power you seek, consume me and I shall set you free…]

Freedom? That was something that the boy was not expecting to hear. He became so numb to his abuse that he failed to comprehend the fact that he was shackled by his environment. The oppression that hampered his growth did not allow him to be truly free, but instead become a slave to a tired tradition of a bunch of radical idiots. Orion's desire that he suppressed become something that was corrupted by his parents. Having intrigue and manipulating human nature wasn't good enough for him, he wanted something more...calamitous. Why not tear down the boundaries of the falsified veil of normality and create some chaos? Besides, the promise of power was something that definitely hooked his interest.

Feeling like he had nothing to lose, Orion cupped the mysterious sludge that oozed from the meteorite and began to ingest it. One would think that the material would be incredibly hot and dangerous to touch let alone consume but it wasn't. As a matter of fact, the substance had been surprisingly cool to the touch like a thicker form of water; as for the taste, well it was almost akin to a citric flavor with a dusty aftertaste. Upon ingestion, Orion felt a weird burning sensation well up from the pit of his gut and spread throughout his body like roots from the stump of a tree. Then he felt the heat intensify like a fire gathering to his right shoulder. A bright blue trail of light appeared and designed a pattern in the shape of a waxing crescent moon at a 45-degree angle with 5 claw-like feathers stacking around it from the bottom going up to the top.

[Behold my power, to create and destroy at your own will; to manipulate the powers of the cosmos that are unknown to man. Embrace the godhood that I shall bestow upon you and let our fates become one. Listen to my name and know the source of the power now within you for I am Shiva, the God of Destruction.]

And at this moment, Orion became the bearer of a power he would come to identify as Shiva's Maelstrom. Hearing all of the words that the mysterious, rustic voice spoke into his mind did not exactly have him impressed. Holding the power of a god sounded way too lofty for his tastes, all he cared about was the benefits that came with it and what he could do to live a life of his dreams…or something to that effect. However, now possessing some new abilities that he had no practice with meant that he had to take some time to actually train and discover who he had become. As a result, the enigmatic teenager elected not to return home for quite some time.

Alone, Orion Nebulous survived in the wilderness teaching himself the basics of his newfound power as well as developing his body to use it effectively. He occasionally conversed with Shiva from time to time throughout his time alone. Despite of how crazy it sounded, it was the only real activity that kept him from going completely wild with his supernatural abilities. Learning how to create constructs of his own volition, warping matter into different states, destroying atoms, among other abilities he found himself discovering with each passing moment definitely stimulated his imagination. He took a few jobs for the Capital from time to time when he traveled around the land visiting some local commerce centers and trading outposts which helped him in developing his skills even more over the course of the time he spent away from home but he still had business to take care of. After a little over a year and becoming satisfied with how far he's come, he had to return home.

Being written off as dead, Titus and Elena continued on with their lives leading the White Tigers. They kept their revelry and unruly behavior going although any other ordinary parents would be mourning over the perceived loss of their child. To them, the missing boy did not matter. He was a replaceable specimen that had no place among the clan or being disobedient and weak. If he couldn't even come back from killing a danger beast than there was no hope for him among the clan so who could afford to honestly care? However, they severely underestimated the boy. They should have figured out something was going to go awry when that shooting star passed over the lands; they should have investigated but that's what happens when all one does is indulge in drunken foolishness and desires of the body, it dulls the instincts.

Coming home during a night of usual intoxicated debauchery among the Order of the White Tigers, the prodigal son made his return. His appearance had been nearly unrecognizable as his hair draped over his eyes and his physique became more refined and toned. Even though he was only 14 years old at the time, the aura that revolved around Orion was that of a hardened man driven by an indescribable lust for disaster. Disrupting the typical festivities, a few people watched him nonchalantly walk among them unsure of his identity. Some were too drunk to care while others actually tried to punk him by walking up on him trying to intimidate him. However, the bearer of Shiva did not waver at all.

Within his bloody, bearskin and hunter's clothing keeping him warm during the oncoming return of yet another hard winter, Orion merely kept silent as he stared up at the individuals trying to surround him. The stench of sweat and alcohol filled his nostrils emanating from the grizzly men standing before him. Their bulging muscles and hardened physiques would make any person with little to no training quiver in fear but for the teen, they were nothing.

"Be gone," he stated simply but the men before him, as well as those who watched the exchange, merely laughed at his command.

"Haha, kid who the fuck are ya? Thinkin' yer some badass just because ya got blood on these shaggy rags?"

"Yeah, ya have any idea who ya fuckin' with 'round these parts?"

"Looks like ya need a lesson, lil' bitch!"

Such were the words of the men surrounding him along with other colorful statements by the crowd watching the exchange. Orion couldn't help but to crack a smile and begin to laugh. The cackling action delved to a level of one who was completely insane causing a deafening silence to wash over those before him. Taking a moment to breathe, the male just shook his head.

"Well, I knew my homecoming was gonna be an entertainin' one. Fuck it, why don't you guys do me a favor and just die?!" the boy declared. Before the men could even react, their existences just vanished into dust without leaving any blood behind.

A resonating wave of anger and terror erupted from the crowds as the drunken behavior soon turned to panic and alertness as the savages moved to protect each other from the coming threat. This only made the youth even more amused. He couldn't wait to see what they would throw at him but the sudden disruption of peace soon brought the attention of the people he was originally after: his father and mother.

"The fuck is goin' on around here? Y'all should never be so loud to the point where it interrupts me from bustin' a nut!" boasted Titus in an upset manner. Elena merely held a look of dissatisfaction while following behind her man.

"Blame this bastard over here!" one man called out pointing to Orion. As the eyes of his parents turned to the youth while they approached, the male felt his heart beat heavily with anticipation.

"Who the fuck is this soon-to-be dead asshole?" Titus asked in anger.

"Oh come on Pops, you really don't recognize me?" Orion countered before moving his bangs away from his face revealing his deadened, navy blue eyes.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it dear old dad? It's your son, Orion. I've finally decided to come home."

Mumbles passed among the crowd mostly due to the surprise that the male was alive coupled with the fact that he randomly elected to return among them. What did the boy want after being gone for so long? Why would he return knowing he was shamed? It didn't make sense at all.

"So the failure returns, and here I was busy on making your replacement. So, what the hell do you want?" Titus rudely inquired numb to the fact that his only son was still alive.

"Ugh, even looking at him is enough to make me sick. Hard to believe I gave birth to such a waste," Elena responded.

"I don't want a goddamn thing from deadbeats like you. Actually…I do want something. And rather than go through some long-winded speech about what I've gone through for the past…year or whatever, I'm just gonna keep it simple. Would you both do me a favor and die in the most horrible way I can think of? That'd be great!" Orion requested without stumbling over his words.

Silence ensued once again over the words that were just released into the atmosphere before a roar of laughter consumed it. Was this kid actually serious right now? Did he seriously just tell the most dangerous people in the clan to die horribly? Sure savagery was to be commended in this clan but mouthing off to the leader and his wife was just courting death. But they failed to realize that Orion was being totally serious right now; so serious that the youth did not even change his expression of quiet fury.

"Oh, were you actually being serious right now? Because last I checked, you were the most pathetic thing to ever grace my presence," Titus continued with his insults.

"Kinda funny because if I'm your son then aren't I a reflection of you? I mean, a child only reflects the behaviors of their parents so being a failure must run in the family," the youth swiftly countered.

"You always did have a serious issue of controlling that mouth of yours…"

"Yeah well, at least I know how to use my brain."

"Looks like you managed to grow a pair during your time away. Care to show me what you've learned then? Maybe you'll actually overthrow me."

In that moment the crowd began to stomp the ground in anticipation. Titus threw down the gauntlet for a challenge with his son having the opportunity to accept. As per tradition and with their creed, if Orion were to win in this fight he would take his father's place and lead their clan. It was a golden opportunity that not many could speak of being handed especially with the gap in time that has passed since the last person attempted to fight the mighty leader. It was a perfect chance but the boy didn't care.

"Such traditions are trivial to me Pops; I mean while I do want to kill you, doing it your way is just plain boring. I don't give a damn about becoming the leader of this rundown crock pot of bullshit that's basically assisted in my torment for the past 6 years. No, I just want to see you and the bitch behind ya suffer. Fuck the rest. So we're gonna do this my way if ya don't mind. Well…why am I even sounding like I'm giving you a choice? I mean…you don't even have one to begin with."

Halting the moment for another vulgar retort to escape the man's lips, Orion immediately arrived before his parent's eyes within a mere blink. Before anyone had any time to even remotely react, the male just snapped his fingers causing two cross-shaped constructs to appear behind the man and the woman. He punched his father in the gut shattering his ribs with ease which showed as the man began to bleed profusely from his mouth. With a smooth backhand, Titus went flying into the construct as his arms and legs were bound in a T-shape.

Elena could only watch in horror before her son popped up in front of her as well. No one dared to move given the abnormal nature of the events unfolding before them, plus they had no clue what the youth was capable of at this point. The boy's mother tried to slap her son but he merely grabbed her wrist and snapped it before backhanding her across the face. Nearly losing her conscious from the impact, the woman was stunned which allowed her son to take the opportunity to have her bound in the same position as her husband. Helpless, the two dangled on their respective crosses before their fellow clansmen.

"Heh, I try not to be the sentimental type but man I can't help but see the irony right now. Look at you both, my dear ol' mom and dad shackled and in agony like they treated their son for years. The very same person you beat on, humiliated, and treated as nothing but trash is the person who is about to make you writhe in pain. How does it feel to know that fate has turned its back on you? How does it feel to go from the role of being the oppressors to being the oppressed?" ranted the boy pacing back and forth between the adults as they groaned from the rigorous wounds that were inflicted upon them.

"You son…of…a…" Titus coughed out meekly over his own blood.

"DO NOT SPEAK!" Orion shouted before snapping his fingers once more. Suddenly protrusions instantly extended out from the crosses piercing the wrists and the heels of the victims. As a result, their screams echoed throughout the whole encampment. As the other White Tigers watched in horror, they were petrified by the gruesome display to speak of protest.

"Never again, you've uttered your last words. All I want to hear are your cries of sorrow and agony. Your screams will give me the peace I've longed for. I want you to experience every ounce of torment you've dealt upon me a thousand times over. Not just out of revenge or some fundamental petty grudge or anything like but just because I want you to. Yeah, to the average person, I'm fuckin' insane right now but what is the definition of insanity? You see, shit like that is what really makes life fun for me. This clan did have the right idea of challenging the societal norm but really, you just didn't take it far enough. But enough about my ideals, why don't we make this even more fun?

Did you know that there are seven layers of skin on the human body? It's the largest organ that a human being possesses and is the first natural defense against infection. But have you ever wondered what lies beneath the skin? I know I have! So why don't you both satisfy my curiosity for me? Allow me to test my new powers against you by peeling away every skin cell slowly but surely off your body like…so!"

Once more the boy snapped his fingers and as he did so, small blue flames appeared on the surface of his parents' bodies. Ever so carefully, the aura-like flames dragged along their bodies burning away the layers of flesh that formed the outer shell of their vessels. Their shrieks of terror resonated harmoniously like ghosts howling from a haunted graveyard. The only sound that tried to drown them out was Orion's insidious laughter rejoicing in the torture that he was putting his parents through.

"I WONDER IF YOU'LL DIE FROM BEING SKINNED ALIVE OR BLEED OUT FROM BEING CRUCIFIED?!" he yelled out joyously but upon close examination, slight trails of tears flowed from the corners of his eyes down his face. Was it sadness that he felt in the deep recesses of his mind or was it the last bit of humanity he had left dying as a result of his heinous actions? It was unknown.

After about five minutes or so, the noises had been completely drowned out and the husks of flayed meat bone were left upon the crosses. Orion observed their now silent forms merely chuckling inaudibly to those behind him. With this action, he set himself free just like he wanted but now he felt empty just in the slightest fashion inside.

"Farewell you rotten pieces of shit, I hope the both of you find solace in Hell," he said before snapping his fingers once more erasing the crucifixes and bodies before him. Turning back towards the rest of his clansmen, Orion now found himself with a new responsibility.

"I guess I'm the leader of you sons of bitches now. I hope none of you have any objections," he smirked but not a single voice could be heard.

"Good, well I suppose you all can carry on doing whatever the hell you fuckers would normally do until I find some way to make use of ya. Enjoy the rest of your evening, I'm out this bitch for the night," he spoke.

After that, time seemed to pass by as usual. Orion led his clan when he needed to, fought whom he wanted to, and caused trouble where he felt like doing so. He let the White Tigers roam around through the land occasionally terrorizing local villages going up and down across the lands of the Empire, fight with the Amethyst Lotus for the hell of it, or he led them into the desert to bully the tribesmen and nomads in that land.

At some point during his raids when he was about 15 or 16, he heard about the Blood Wolves and how they were slaughtered. Wanting to see how things would pan out, he kept his people settled in their lands for a time until Hestia showed up. After that, things fell into place leading to the Sapphire Phoenix and his power growing to new heights.

PRESENT DAY…

"Man I hate reminiscing about that bullshit," Orion sighed to himself as the past flooded his mind for a brief period. As the man maneuvered his way through the encampment back to his own tent, he heard the voice of an old, familiar entity.

[Orion…], spoke the rustic voice of Shiva.

"Well look who decided to speak up after how many years? I thought you just faded away for the longest of times now," the man cheekily replied.

[I haven't really had a reason to speak to you before now. Regardless of the wars involving the Pandora Conflict and the Second Primordial War, it was none of my concern. However, the state of affairs has called for some drastic measures.]

"Oh, is that right?"

[Yes, it would seem that the plan my brothers and sisters came up with a long time ago has been forced to a halt.]

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you and the powers of Lady Hestia, Genesis, Zephy, Addy, and Raizo are all related and what not. No wonder why I got so uneasy about this situation with the Phoenix crew…"

[Indeed…the actions of the vessel of Indra along with the other vessels have driven Hestia into an abysmal state that's going to make it difficult for Durga.]

"Ah well, you have Raizo to thank for that. Honestly, if you guys want to succeed with whatever it was you all wanted to do, you're gonna have to let me get rid of the kid somehow."

[I'm inclined to agree. Though I respect my brother greatly, Indra has failed in his ability to control the Son of Mercer. I know my sister will be able to handle Hestia but perhaps it is time we get rid of Raizo…]

"Well looks like I'll have to do something about that. Why don't we take a little trip?"

Time: 9:00 P.M.

Across the ocean in some unknown area was a land located outside the reaches of the Empire known as Wakoku. The people in the settlement were all preparing for the New Year as various villages had innumerable forms of festivities to celebrate the oncoming year of 1026. The people were all happy and cheerful despite of the times in which war was rampant throughout the known world. For a single night, none of this mattered so long as the people could all celebrate this joyous time with their loved ones. Unknown to them, despair in the form of one man was standing high atop the lone mountain overlooking the entire island with a devious smile upon his face.

"Now then…let's experiment shall we?" Orion spoke aloud.

Using this land, he wanted to experiment with one of his abilities that allowed him to tear rifts in space that could drag targets into another dimension. Since he has not really experimented with it much on a larger scale, he wanted to make sure that he would be able to at least tear open a space suitable to make this land vanish. If this succeeded then all he had to do was figure out a way to lead the Crimson Harbinger into a suitable trap.

Killing the Stormbringer was something he knew he couldn't achieve alone. He would have to deal with Adena, Vesta and Akame, plus he wasn't sure if the rest of Team AKARA would rally upon the murder of one of their own. Now that would be an ending that no rational villain would want, especially when they have a greater agenda for themselves.

"Even if that were to happen to me, at least I'm content with the fun I've had so far in my life so death doesn't scare me in the slightest. But I just need to get the kid outta my hair for a little while. That way the other Deva gods along with Shiva should be able to rally by the time they get Raizo back. I'll still have to do something about Vesta though…maybe I can make use of Hyperion," he thought quietly to himself.

As his midnight hues glanced over the region, the man took a deep breath. Pulling his hands from his pocket, he cracked his knuckles and stretched his arms out. A massive white portal tore in the night sky above the location and began to pull the island covered with the various villages into it. The only thing that didn't go was the mountain that Orion was standing upon. The wormhole in itself had power that could be scaled at the manipulator's will but the man only wanted to see if he had the capability to use it, to begin with. As the thousands of individuals that occupied this settlement along with the land itself inevitably vanished in that instant cutting their celebrations short, the insane former mercenary was satisfied with his results.

"Well, that just put an end to any shitty stories that might come from this side of the world. Now what I got in store is gonna be one hell of a way to kick off the year 1026."