ICSYL Scourge

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Arcadia erupted in a panic. Sirens went off, people scrambled to the shelters. Various SDF guards took control of the situation to the best of their abilities. Luckily Lucia's main focus was on getting the orb and Noe out, she didn't seem intent on anymore bloodshed. Yet..That didn't mean they would be spared today either. Other forces were at play now.

As if reacting to the orb and the power it was now emitting an evil entity began to make its way towards Arcadia, some of the guards noticed the barrier was beginning to weaken as the device was looking like something massive was attacking it. Finally, it revealed itself. Dark Bogan was alive! It made itself visible again, used its energy to enlarge its right claw to a freakishly large size along with making it a razor claw, easily slicing the barrier device.

An eleven female SDF guard cried out on the radio,"NO!!!! NO! NO! The barrier has been breached and a dark beast has appeared. A monster like one, is it the Dark Bogan the Field Marshall spoke of? It's real! It's not a fairy tale!! We need back-up!!!!!"

"Ahahaha, a woman! Always the most fun. Well let me reveal my secret. I am real, in the flesh...No fairies involved here..But I can certainly cut you into pretty little fairy sized PIECES!The guts,meat and everything else is the substitute for glitter!" He created two razor claws on both of his hands and ran at the guards, slicing them up much to his pleasure as they were helpless to stop or escape from him. He continued until there was only one guard left.

"Oh why...Why are you here? J-j-just stay away from me! I'll kill you!!" An SDF human archer fired off arrows at Dark Bogan to no avail.

"How cute! AHAHAH! For my own entertainment. This world is beautiful, so filled with despair,war, people killing one another, misery, death, betrayal. It's so much good stuff. My power is infinite in a world like this! I never want it to end, it'll be a real shame if you all kill each other before I have a chance to do so!!! So...How do you want to die, clean cuts,decapitation, ashes, reduced to nothing?!!!!!!!" Dark Bogan did not let him respond as he fired off a huge beam of dark energy that vaporized the archer easily.

With no more guards in his way, he ran towards the Weapon's Vault. The orb was drawing him there yet so was something else...He ignored any other guards or people he saw. He would get the orb first and then kill everyone in the city!

He then reached the opening Lucia created but was shocked to see Lucia was there. The two exchanged a glance.

"Ahahah! Oh isn't this just delectable! The malice gathering here and now you...Come to me, come closer!!! Do not fear me.. It won't hurt for long!! Perfect skin and a body like that, Like Lena's....Mmmm...You could be her...Before they sliced her open before my eyes...Oh how the world changed that day....But I like the way things are now....Oh yes....Now my dear! Be more than just a feast for my eyes!!!! All of my..Senses require something juicy mmmm!!" Dark Bogan tried to walk up towards Lucia with open arms, yet he still had his razor claws out as he licked his lips.

"Stay back, you filthy beast! I have no need to remember you any longer! BE GONE!!!" She held her hands up to the sky and created a large hammer of light energy that collided with Dark Bogan's skull violently, smashing and crushing his head before it detonated in an explosion of light energy. Once the explosion cleared, Dark Bogan remained, his head regenerated right before Lucia's eyes!

"Oh that REALLY hurts. Playing the role of a Goddess now...Ahaha. What does it make me if I fuck a Goddess? Ahahaha! You know it's much more rewarding to rape,slaughter and pillage from these people than it is to try to heal them! Their screams, their cries, their yelps and their last prayers are all the praise I need! I am helping the world along it's destined course, RUIN! Let me give you a taste of what this world has to offer!Black Acid Raaaain! Ahahah! First melt the clothes, THEN THE SWEET FEELING FLESH!" He spewed out a toxic cloud of dark energy that began to disperse acid rain down upon Lucia. Her barrier absorbed it all seemingly.

"Your actions are futile. My barrier cannot be destroyed by such attacks. I am truly a Goddess whether you accept it or not! You are not worth my attention. The Wind Beasts are more than enough for the likes of you!" She avoided the cloud and teleported a few meters away from Dark Bogan as she watched Sheena and Sienna flying in with the wind beast unit, making their way over the SDF base. However, Nacim raced past them but stopped near the vault as he saw both Lucia and Dark Bogan there.

"Nacim..A lie, a mask I can see through now. A facade that has been broken!!! You are not Nacim, you are Shine! You should have known to stay dead. If you do not surrender your life to me I will insure that lover of yours and your niece suffer. Prayers won't be enough to help you then. But..I believe in forgiveness. Return to the OOA, Shine! We could use you on our side and it is in the will of the Gods that the OOA will save this world!"

He laughed as he countered, "Lucia..I don't know your real name but anyone can see that creature is either a former lover or perhaps...A parent to you. Hanja did mention its daughters were not accounted for..Little Ann and the other one was too sickly but...I do wonder how they would react if they found out you were born from THIS monster, a Dark Beast. That would shake their beliefs. You can't be a pure genuine Goddess if you're the spawn of that monster! That is why you had them try to research the creature..To confirm whether it was your father or not...."

Lucia now seemed upset but laughed. "No one will believe you, you're a dead man!!!I tried to show you mercy and gave you a heroic death! This time I will finish the job myself!!! Goodbye King Shine, this time you will rest with your comrades, FOREVERMORE!" She attempted to lift her hands up to the sky again but found herself having to dodge a whip like projectile of dark energy from Dark Bogan.

"Don't you forget about me, beautiful! Come now, you're more fun to torture than a man like him! I can tell he loves this war too. Yesss...He enjoys the hunt, spilling of the blood, revenge!!! But you know...I think I want something more. I'll turn over a new leaf. Instead of just killing everything that moves this time and leveling the city to nothing, I'm going to see that beautiful orb and whoever touched it. Yesss...I want to enjoy this. I can have you later, my child...Mmmm, just remember.. They don't want a Goddess because they want a future for this world..They just lust after you! Such a tease...But me? I am honest. I kill what I want, eat what I want and FUCK what I want! This world is mine and not a damn one of you can stop me!"

He then ran towards the vault, ignoring Nacim and Lucia. Lucia then followed him but quickly used her energy to create a wall of light energy that blocked Nacim."It is hopeless for you. The orb will be mine and then by will of the Gods, I will strike you down for good! You should have begged for forgiveness, for I am a righteous Goddess!!!!"

"Never knew a Goddess so cowardly and foolish. If that thing eats you alive down there or if the orb drives you to madness, it's your own fault. I will be there laughing when your time comes. I rather that thing torture you than you escape this alive! You're a raving lunatic just like your father!" He then flew towards the base hoping to confront Sheena and Sienna and inform the others of the situation.

Inside the vault, Dark Bogan made his way to the orb. He then saw Noe and Arabella.

"Heheheh...Daughter number two. Ripe like a fruit off the tree...But I am not a patient man....Sometimes you have to RIP it off the tree and suck on the sweet juiced inside!!Ahahaha! Oh why aren't you talking back? C'mon, SCREAM FOR ME!!!CRY!! Let's keep it in the family my child, AAHAHHAHA! I'll always have a part of you until the end of the time!!!" He ran toward Arabella and began to sink his teeth into her right hand. He bit it clean off. He then dug his claws into Arabella's chest creating a large hole. Yet she was still alive.

Arabella signaled Noe to grab the orb desperately. She then managed to create a small burst of light energy around her, knocking Dark Bogan away from her. Lucia was approaching as well to help secure the orb. She did not seem to be losing any blood either, it was as if her body was nothing but a construct which explained why she could not talk.

"Awww. Just a doll, that is no fun! I want real pain and suffering, real blood and flesh mutilated! Now you... You're a reeaaaaal headcase ahahaha..I think I want you next, demon girl. You remember me. I tasted your blood. I want more this time...It was sweet. AHAAHHAH! Come on, let's play!!!Just you and me!!! I'll beat that ass in more ways than ONE and take your little toy for myself!" He yelled at Noe as he readied to attack her next.
 
Celcius felt the cart begin to jostle more as the sandy roads became well swept and more regular. Even the outskirts of the city looked much better than some of the places Celcius had ever been to, the stone buildings bleached white in the hot desert sun. She had only been to Arcadia once and couldn't remember much of it; in fact, she didn't remember much of that year asides from the fear of death and the sadness and sorrow of loss. The loss burned like an iron brand in her heart to this day, but she learned to control her grief, to use it and not to let it control her. She had spent three long years training day in and day out on how to control her magic, the light touches she had to make to turn a flurry into a full blizzard, and her emotions, left unchecked, would destroy her control. But she had worked hard to learn to control herself, to contain and direct her emotions so she wouldn't overextend her abilities. Though she had yet to master her abilities, her master had sent her on her way to learn what he could not teach her. Thus, she found herself in a city under attack. The first sign of danger came from the air itself. A slight change in the magic of the atmosphere hinted at a massive magical spell. Celcius donned a cloak and hopped out of the cart. The heat knocked her sideways, forcing her to reach out and grab the rail of the cart as she called to the caravan lead.

"Stop the caravan!" she yelled. Men pulled back on their reins and eyes turned to Celcius as she felt around her. Then the sky began to brighten very quickly.

Light coalesced into a stream of lightning that smashed into the center of the city. The ground rippled and quaked under the massive assault that violated it and Gillie held his sister as she began to scream in terror. Celcius ran to the caravan lead and hopped up.

"Hey!" she snapped her fingers in front at the leader. He blinked and looked down at her, his jaw slack and eyes wide in shock and disbelief. "Hey! You need to get them under control. Get this caravan off the main road. Get into a side street somewhere and stay out of sight. Find an inn or something. Stay there until it's over" she ordered him. He nodded, then roared out her orders back to the caravan as she took off towards the center of the town, freezing as much moisture onto herself as she could.

Of all the places to fight, she thought, a desert is the worst place for me to be in. She ran through the streets towards the source of the destruction, pushing past the crowds of people that began to rush away from the center of the city. Panic, it seemed to her, was the worst sort of reaction to have in this situation. Her natural agility, however, allowed Celcius to slip past the people with relative ease. The sound of blades and magic drew Celcius away from the city center towards what looked like an arena. Celcius saw soldiers with an unfamiliar uniform sprint towards the arena, Forbidden Beasts and Demons bearing a crest with an eagle on it. Definitely not SDF she thought and ran into the arena. As she ran, she focused on the frozen aura around her, the natural chill that her body exuded at all times and channeled it into her hands. As she did so, her hands dropped to subzero temperatures and began to radiate a faint, pale blue aura. Okay, let's do this.

Celcius rounded the corner into the arena center into a fight blazing with intense light. The Light Beasts kept healing and shielding their brethren and demon comrades at arms as a team of fighters beat them back. The situation looked grim, however, as she knew more demons and light beasts were on their way. Celcius ran towards the crowd of Light Beasts from behind and caught them by surprise. She stomped the ground just behind one of the priests and grabbed a second by the mouth, freezing it and blocking off its access to air. The first one stumbled back in surprise and landed right on Celcius' trap, freezing the beast instantly to the floor. The other beasts began to turn as Celcius pulled her fist back, then launched a ball of solid ice right into another Light Beast's head, knocking it out. The Priests charged at Celcius, but a flurry of snow covered the arena for a moment. It passed after a second and they were left staring at a blank space. Celcius had slipped past the Forbidden Beasts and stood in fighting position next to one of the fighters in the center with an eye patch and black hair.

"I am Celcius of Frejadon. I'm here to help. Who's in charge here?" she asked the Dark Beast as she threw another Frost Shot, knocking a Demon Paladin flat onto his back.
 
Noe struggled with her own body as she watched Dark Bogan mutilate Arabella, tearing off a hand and ripping a hole through her midsection, and yet there was no blood. He taunted the pair once more, and switched his target to Noe. Even with this threat, all she could focus on was the orb in front of her...

"It...it's mine...IT'S MINE IT'S MINE IT'S MINE!!!!" Noe screamed, her voice reverberating off the walls in the vault.

She leaped at the orb and it immediately flashed blood-red, letting loose a shockwave that knocked the mighty Dark Beast back into a wall. She landed on top of the orb and it began to meld with her skin, searing her flesh in the shape of the orb as it disappeared from site. In a matter of seconds, the only sign that the orb was still present was a steady glow from her stomach and the circular burn mark. She began giggling as she felt an odd source of strength, prompting her giggling to transform into mad laughter. Moments later, however, it turned once more into moaning first, then screaming as pain wracked her head. Visions came flooding into her brain rapidly. Visions of past wars, of men and monsters slaying and being slain in return. Strange water-like creatures attacking and shifting their forms for harm, betraying families and causing havoc, some kind of demon, horns clearly visible. And then, the slaughtering began. These horned people transformed into monstrous four-legged creatures and stampeded through the battlefields, goring soldier and innocents alike, showing mercy to nobody. Then there was the event that forced the world into its present state, massive explosions, and blood splattering all over it, quenching its thirst. But it wasn't done yet.... There was more death, SDF uniforms...bodies of those from various organizations, beaten bloody things...Only more death and destruction. Voices echoed through her head, each indistinguishable by itself. It was as if the voices of those slain in the past were whispering to her, haunting her like the phantoms they were.

"S....sh....get out....GET OUT, DAMN YOU!"

At her order, her body seemed to exert a heavy pressure around her. She began cackling again, witnessing this newfound strength of hers.
 
"I am. My name is Carla Sivon and Commander Nacim has left me in charge. Celcius our mission here is to rout the OOA forces and get to the weapon's vault until we receive any other orders if the situation changes..Something evil is at the vault...Clearing a path is priority number one!" She looked over in the vault's direction, sensing Dark Bogan. She dared not to utter his name, she hoped it wasn't him.

"Think the Gods would help your cause? You rabble are oh-so entertaining! What sort of holy books did you read? Fiction by Lucia?"

"Sinful infidel! You will pay for your insolence! I will pray for your soul in the next life!!!!" A paladin ran towards Lucette and swung his sword at her.

Lucette dodged the huge blade and laughed as she created her musket of light energy. She bludgeoned a paladin in the head with it before shooting him point blank with her charged shot, easily killing him. "One does not speak the name of the Gods in vain. Arlon and the others....They are sacred. It is no wonder they have forsaken your people. How sad. She waves her hands to the skies, heals a few people and they all obsess over her."

Before she could boast any further, she was barraged with beams of light from the light beasts. They did not hurt her but they forced her back, allowing the OOA to continue blocking the escape route. They then noticed the Wind Beasts passing over them now.

"Damn! They're wasting our time here!! The others might be strong but they need us to secure the orb!!! Everybody get ready and help any way you can, Carla you guys try to follow me!!! You, babe, cover me I'm gonna break a hole in their defenses and go for it! Blazing Meteo Impact!" He created a large fire axe and ran towards the OOA, getting grazed by beams of light. He charged up his energy, jumped up and hurled his axe into the head of an unlucky light beast, Duo then came down and released a minor explosion of fire energy around him. Despite this effort, it seemingly failed to kill anymore as the light beasts put up barriers that protected them.

Luckily for Duo, Carla was proving covering fire and Lowe tossed a large spire of earth energy. "As if you can do all that alone!!!I need to give that phantom hussy a piece of my mind too and then I'll roast that harpy too! I know she's here! So these fools need to get the HELL OUT OF THE WAY!!!" Ruby yelled angrily as she released a large snake like flame that made it's way towards the OOA forces. It forced them back and burned only three unlucky OOA troops. The flame then came back around and killed two more. During this time, Ruby and Duo made their way through the hole in the defensive line now.

"Damn babe you're scary, you really stepped it up. I love it! Now we have to go. I think they'll be fine and following right behind us."

Ruby cringed as she raged,"Now is not the time, Duo! If those idiots get the orb, it will be a disaster for everyone involved! Time and time again people think they can control the orb...They're all dead now. It controls you. Nothing good can come of it and wish I could destroy the god-damned thing myself!!! It has upset the balance of this world with how it accelerated technology development..and the invention of Aura weapons....What good is knowledge if it leads the world onto the path of extinction??" Duo shook is head, not having any words to make her feel better about it.

Carla led the others through the hole in the line as well but found themselves cut off from Duo and Ruby once the OOA forces regrouped.

"You will not escape! KILL THE DARK BEAST!!Sunder her evil flesh from her bones!!! In the name of Arlon, in the name oF LUCIA!!!!!!" One of the light beasts decreed, instructing the others to focus on Carla and they did, all of them trying to bombard her with beams, rays and various other projectiles of light energy. Lowe struggled to keep Carla defended with walls of earth.

"Any ideas on how to get through this one? They are intent on stalling us even if they can't kill us...I can't keep this up forever!" Lowe said as he turned to his comrades, hoping they had some idea.

Lucette created a prism barrier of light energy that absorbed the beams relatively well. "Yes. This is quite the ordeal. I do so believe there is one way we can win and maintain our elegance.. Ah yes."

*Meanwhile at the vault.*

"Ooooh, you little hoochie! I like it when they fight back a little but this isn't funny to me. Oh I'll take it ALL From you now!!! I'll RIP it right out of your body if I must!!!Ahahaha, always wanted to play DOCTOR!!!Open wide and scream..AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He lunged at Noe and made one of his claws change, it became like a buzz-saw shape. Before he could attack her, something burst out from underground and grabbed him!

It was...Another Arabella! What they had procured at the Ashland station must have been materials for making back-ups. The construct then clawed into Dark Bogan and tired to pull him under, he broke free only to see Lucia was now helping Noe escape. The other body with the hole in its chest then rammed straight at Dark Bogan, colliding with him. Dark Bogan then used his razor claws and sliced into the construct violently until Arabella abandoned it seeing how it was in pieces now. "Daddy's little girl is fucked into pieces so it's all you!! AHAHAHAH! Never found a cure for her!!!Always such a weak body, had to do this instead!!! You really are a failed Goddess. But you'd make a great Lena...Just like your mother...Skin so pure and soft...But when they killed her...All gone...You could take her place. Arabella tried to embrace me, what about you, Ann? Come to papa, give me the girl and we can be reunited in a most touching manner. I'll turn over a new leaf for you. AHAHAHAHAha! I just can't help myself, this war is what I wanted and more! So much to harvest...!"

"You are nothing but a ghost. Be gone, fade away! I have no further use for you. Kill all the SDF and civilians you want, it doesn't matter to me! I am a Goddess and my connection to you will never change that!! BE GONE FROM MY SIGHT!!!!" Lucia swung a whip of light energy but Dark Bogan dodged it. Arabella then tapped Lucia on the shoulder and thus she decided to run away with Noe and Arabella.

"The final orders I have for you two now are simple. Ruin the SDF base, destroy as much as you can!! The Wind Beasts are starting to attack it even now, join them!!! Then we will make our escape! Good work, Noe! Now get inside the base however you please, stealth or brute force I care not!!!" With that she led the two to the SDF base, taking a back-door route.

This route was more secure seemingly but Noe could easily get in being an SDF member. The SDF guards were of many different races. The generally wore medium armor that was of high quality. They were equipped with various weapons such as bows, some wielded elemental guns and some used bayonets. There were even spell-casters in the ranks making it rather versatile. The troops guarding the base in particular were rather strong and competent. Yet...Nothing could prepare them for what was happening now..

To worsen matters, Doctor Alicia was in the lab and rather unaware of what exactly was going on outside. Soon nowhere inside it would be safe, not the living quarters, the Professor's Lab, the medical facility and certainly not the armory. Even the railroad station built right on the base would soon be a target.

"Kinky just like your mother ahahah! Don't run from me...I'll find you. I can feel you...I made you, you know. You're not pure, all living things were born of sin. Of lust. Now since you're trying to elude me..Maybe I need something easier to kill. To wet my apatite. " He then saw a battle raging on near the SDF base, SDF troops fending off Wind Beasts.

The SDF members were equipped with bows and had a relatively easy time taking out Wind Beasts, shooting their wings directly causing them to fall to their doom. One SDF member cheered when he shot a Wind Beast down, "One bogey down!"

Dark Bogan crept up on the celebrating SDF member and ripped into his chest violently. "Ahahah! One bogey down guys, add it to my kill count! AHAHAHAH! Am I doing it right? Oh you guys!! But what is this? I think I see an old friend!" The SDF troops panicked and ran from Dark Bogan as he made his way towards Sheena and Sienna.

He saw Sheena trying to console Sienna as she was feeling guilty over killing an SDF trooper. "Auntie..I don't want to do this anymore! Why can't we give them the peace treaty now?"

"She is not in approval of it.. I am sorry Sienna...We have to fight like this...We have to trust in her....Now we have to move into the b-"

Dark Bogan jumped into the air and landed right on top of a low-flying Wind Beast, he then bashed her skull and forced her to plummet. Once she fell, he began shredding, spilling blood with each slash of his claws right in front of Sienna. "AHAHAHAHA!!! Poor broad didn't even have enough time to SCREAM for me! I wanted to have more fun while I gutted her but the fall reduced her brains to mush I think! Now, little girl..I thought we were over this. Your first kill..Your first time in war..Oh it is a beautiful thing. All of the red juices flowing and spilling onto your bare flesh...It is ecstasy. If you don't enjoy it, you're in denial. It's what we were born for. You're just like me on the inside, little girl. You don't want to die, you rather kill than be killed! You killed a man but you can't blame it on me this time! IT was all you!!! What makes your kills any different? Ahahaa! There isn't one!"

"T-t-t-his isn't happening! It's supposed to be dead, Auntie! H-h-hhow is it back??? Make it go away!!!" Sheena had covered Sienna's eyes but it was not enough, there was no way to eliminate the fear Dark Bogan put into people it terrorized.

"All Wind Beasts, stay high and away from the Dark Beast!! Cease the attack and!If possible, relay a message to Commander Nacim.. I think we need a temporarily truce. This menace needs to be put down..It lives only to kill and terrorize people! We can't let it survive!!!! It is an enemy to all nations! I do not know how it survived but it is clear we need to take it more seriously and we will!" She flew away from Dark Bogan with Sienna.

"Aahahha, still loves me like a favorite Uncle I see ahahha. Little ones are the best... A truce she says...After stealing the orb? You are a retard, a real bird-brain lady! Guess you can't have both beauty and brains, Ahahah! Oh this'll be great for a laugh!!! Don't you all see, this world is doomed! There's too much hatred for there to ever be peace! Peace on this world? Only once EVERYTHING is dead! Every last man, woman and child! A world of peace is a lifeless world! AHAHAH!Nothing left to fight, that is the only way this world can achieve peace!" He ranted and raved as he marched towards the SDF base, still interested in taking the orb.
 
Noe rushed the guards, not even bothering to yell an explanation, not that she was in the mental state to make much sense anyway. She made her way into the laboratory, her breaths echoing against the walls as she took on a ragged walking style as though she was seriously injured. She clutched her stomach, and set the bait. If Alicia thought she was injured, she's try to treat her wound. It would be too late by the time she noticed it was the effect of the stolen orb. A quick flick of the wrist allowed the energy to cut into her skin, letting a small stream of blood to run down her body.
 
When the Doctor saw Noe she was terrified, not of Noe but of her injuries. She immediately ceased her research relating to the Hymn sample to give Noe a check up.

"Oh gods no! What did this to you? Let me see...A cut done with energy?? What is going on? The OOA got close enough to cut you? Please, tell me more about this..."

She then began to feel a bit strange as she looked over at Noe and stared into her eyes but she thought nothing of it. She didn't know much about the orb, only stories of what it did from Professor Ruby. She trusted Noe, it was her and the SDF that saved her life after all.. She merely pressed up against her glasses and continued trying to help Noe, pulling out a med kit of sorts to stop the bleeding.
 
Once Alicia was under her nose, Noe saw her opportunity and took it.

"R...read all about it!!" She laughed as she gripped Alicia by the throat and applied pressure, making her best attempt at choking her victim. But no, she wanted something bloodier... She loosened her grip just enough as Alicia started to squirm, before Noe finally flung her into a wall with an audible bang resounding through the battlefield. Beakers, test tubes, and the like were caught in the crossfire, smashing into shards as Alicia's body collided with them. The guards would be coming at this rate...She ran to the entrance and broke the small keypad, temporarily disabling the door to buy herself some time. The doctor was trying to pull something from her coat, the same things she used to defend herself before!

Noe leaped at her like a beast on the hunt, grabbing her arm roughly and dragging her away from the wall. Alicia dropped the weapons as the pressure on her arm increased.

"Lose it lost it lost it lose it loseitloseitloseitall!!!!" She let out a shriek as she yanked the doctor's arm back, causing an audible snap and crack. Alicia's arm had been broken in one violent move, and immediately began feeling the effects. She had no choice but to scream out in pain. Noe smiled warmly as the doctor fell down on her stomach, clutching her arm as she tried crawling across the floor slowly. Noe stomped on her back to stop the half-assed escape while the black energy coated her nails, forming rather effective stabbing tools, which Alicia immediately felt digging into her back, stabbing and slashing one stroke at a time. Noe ceased the assault and turned her back to the good doctor, noticing the metal med-kit case lying on the tiled floor. She picked it up gingerly before turning back to her target. As if it had a will of its own, Noe's clothing began to retract, revealing the burns from the orb as well as her bare body. She kneeled down above the doctor, tenderly grabbing her hand and helping her to her knees, before embracing her, nipping her neck on the way to her feet. Alicia sat in disbelief as this occurred, a few tears streaming down her face. Noe's clothing reformed as she smiled once more.

"The nurse....is ready to see you!!!"

Her face contorted as she gripped the med-kit and smashed it into the side of the doctor's face, the impact audible and the small jet of crimson quite visible. Noe's features changed all the while, her eyes opening wide, her pupils seemingly dilated, and her smile transformed into a baring of her fangs. She repeated her last attack, swinging the medkit to the left and once more smashing it into the doctor's jaw. Her temp began to speed up, and her strikes began to spread out more, not particularly aimed. Every part of the woman was open for assault, and Noe took every opportunity with the medkit, the force from the attacks leaving dents in the casing. What was once a spotless metal casing was now dirtied with blood. The pristine floors housed splatters of crimson, with one concentrated pool under the barely conscious doctor, with Noe standing directly above her. It seemed that in the midst of the attack, some of the doctor's blood had stained her face, but it was nothing to mind.

"That was fun, wasn't it?...Wasn't it, Alicia? Fun? Fun? Fun?!"

The guards blasted through the disabled door, signalling Noe to get out. She threw the medkit to the floor and charged the door, the orb giving her enough power to smash through, burning a small portion of her once more. Where was her next plaything....? The rails? The railroad?

"More toys to play with?! Really?!!!" She giggled gleefully as she charged forward to the railroad, caught in her bloodlust.
 
Infiltration, it was an art made for few, especially in this day and age, but it was one such individual that made it into the vault. It was this person that wrecked Madesi's train of thought as she awoke from her day dreams. "What the hell is happening?" she asked aloud as she felt several energies starting to pick up. It was a mix of chaos and brutality, something that she had only felt during the war before. Getting up from her quarters in southern Arcadia she looked down the main street to see the SDF headquarters pretty much lit up in a maddening rush for control. There were even wind beasts about and Sheena leading them. "Damn it all." She bust out the front door and started racing to see what was happening and to make sure Edward wasn't involved yet.

The situation seemed to be getting worse, and on Edward's end that meant a lot. He had been assigned medical duties since their return and was now in the medical bay of the SDF headquarters. There were mutterings about the base as soldiers scrambled asking about what happened to the Weapons Vault. It was located in a section deep below, he had never been, but he had pinpointed its location to somewhere beneath the arena itself. The patients in the ward had been treated thoroughly so the dear doctor went ahead and peeked outside. There he encountered what looked to be the OOA's forces and Sheena and another girl quickly followed by Nacim who was having his own trouble escaping a light barrier. "I may be a demon who looks into dreams but the corporeal realm sometimes is rather offsetting! Just what is going on!?" Edward yelled to Sheena as she approached to be within earshot.

Madesi was now caught in a crowd of panic, screaming of the OOA and a dark beast roaming about left Madesi following the counter flow to people. This led her straight to the Arena of Arcadia. "Might as well see which match is up." Madesi said preparing herself as she entered. There in the middle of the arena, was nothing. They were running from nothing, that was until Madesi turned her head toward the sight of Lucia trying to be superior to another. "It is hopeless for you. The orb will be mine and then by will of the Gods, I will strike you down for good! You should have begged for forgiveness, for I am a righteous Goddess!!!!"
"Goddess…Goddess? You have no clue what a goddess is!" There was a bright burst of fire and, like the wind beasts; Madesi had extended her wings as well. These were made of fire, and the crackling was enough to inspire fear in those that did not have the demeanor to challenge her. "You will show me your true colors"

Abscus Liberation Federation Head Quarters, Kenelm

The head office was caught in a fluster of reports coming from the Shintaion front. Files and reports were going around trying to find the origin of their attacker back at the old ruins in the north of Shintaion. In addition to that new reports of OOA activity on the western shores gave everyone cause for concern. The Orbiting Celestial Eye they had from the war was feeding them information as they scrambled about. The only satellite left over from that age had a clean view over Arcadia as the activities went on. The top brass had gathered around President Alva's desk as they watched the scenario play out, including lead military scientist Aurora. "This will cost us a ton to clean up if the OOA doesn't finish the job. I want options, suggestions, only economical ones not stupid ones!" There was silence from his advisors and even from Aurora. After all, she might have been part of the military and done some dangerous missions but this was definitely suicide. There were more than three opposing forces in the middle of the situation and not one looked to be outweighing the other.
"Well sir, I think there is really only one course of action we can take."
"Tell me Killard, tell me what these guys don't already know." The dark haired man stood up, he straightened out his grey suit and stroked his beard methodically.
"Send in the Shadow Unit. If Lucia can't clean up her own mess they can keep it from getting out of control."
"It'll save from having thousands die to that creature they're fighting. And heck that is not much lost equipment. Alright, we'll give it a shot, but I want someone for public appeal, Aurora, get out there with them."
"Sir, in all due respect sir, my daughter-"
"She'll be guarded, now go!"
"Sir!" Aurora saluted and walked on out of the office preparing for travel.
 
"You think you can challenge me? You would make a fine jester but an angel you are not! I will strip you of your wings and banish you to where you belong!You are not worthy of my time!"Lucia slammed her staff onto the ground.

She created a circle around herself and released energy into the air. "Face it now, the judgement of the gods!!.They will purge your evil away! Feel the weight of your sins come crashing down upon you,Judgement Seeker!!" She released three large spheres of light energy that tried to seek out Madesi and fired off beams of pure light energy at her. They grew smaller as they fired but with three of them Lucette had an edge. She attempted to charge up another attack while the seekers went after Madesi.

The othes had to break through the OOA horde. There was no further time to waste. They saw Madesi confronting Lucia and wanted to help her yet now was not the time. They quickly spoke to one another and came up with a plan. Lowe, Carla and Lucette began to charge up their energy all at once.

First Lowe jumped into the air, slammed the ground and released the energy into the ground. It caused a series of earth walls to rise up and trap most of the OOA followers. Lucette then launched a beam into the sky that came divided into several smaller pillars of light energy that descended upon the OOA. Finally Carla released a series of dark energy grenades, tossing them into the trap Lowe had created!!! This time they were sure they had dealt with most of the OOA, they ran as the grenades went off creating a violent explosion.

"Now we will head to the vault. Stay safe....Something evil is in the air....That thing is back....Nacim must return soon..We will need everyone we can get. And Noe too, wherever she has gone." She said aloud to the others as she ordered them.

"Dark Bogan....Is there anyway to kill that thing for good? I can't believe it...If it's really back....How can we get rid of it this time?" Lowe said with immense worry.

"My my...It may be time for me to fulfill my purpose. As a light beast I will be the most effective. You, Carla and Celcius can cover me but I will be the one to take it vanquish it!" Lucette said confidently.

They began making their way to the vault but Duo and Ruby were still ahead of them. Ruby and Duo stopped at the SDF base and looked to see the giant hole in the ground, they saw the wind beasts near the base and the damage Noe had done to one of the doors. They ran into the SDF base quickly.

"Ruby..We're too late babe. Someone went on a rampage here.. .Just like with your father when he stole the orb, it drove him mad and he-"

"Don't say anymore! We have to make sure everyone is ok and try to find out who took the orb and stop them! Now move your ass, we're going in. Prepare for the worse...If our thief is still in the base...."

They made their way into the lab and found it in shambles. They saw how beaten Alicia was and how some guards were struggling to treat her. She barley survived the brutal assault from Noe. She seemed too weak to cry or to speak now. Ruby and Duo rushed to her side. She opened her eyes and stared at Ruby. "Uhhh...Noe...Noe....did this....she..has....that....orb.."Alicia said before she lost consciousness. The trauma was too great for her from both a mental and physical standpoint. The pain and the humiliation were so much to bear.

Ruby was enraged, she grabbed a backup disk of any saved research/designs they had and then spoke to Duo. "That scrawny little bitch is dead! That is it! We need to tell everyone in the SDF just what is going on here!!! She's a rat!There's two things I can't stand...people messing with my children and my students..She crossed the line!!!Duo, see if you can find the gloves, we need to kill her and retrieve the orb from her remains! First off you need to take her somewhere-Wait...Holy shit, what is that?"

Breaking through the walls with his claws, Dark Bogan emerged, finished with tormenting the Wind Beasts for now. "AHAHAHAHA! Oh wow...So she came through here..Good I'm hot on her trail...But you know what they say...the journey is as more important the destination..Oh look at her..So broken and beaten..so weak ahaha..So sweet like she couldn't anyone...I want to eat her RIGHT up." He looked at Alicia and licked his lips.

"RUN! It's..That monster dark beast! The one that destroyed Lydia and left the City of Warriors in ruin..Ruby, take Alicia and run! I'll handle this...Don't worry about me! You guys go with her too! I'll be fine!" Duo yelled. Ruby then made off with Alicia and the guards.

"DUO! Promise me..Promise me you'll stay alive! You're no fool but that thing is beyond us, you can't win!!!"

Duo nodded as he told Ruby,"I will Ruby..But what choice do I have? If this thing is allowed to do as it pleases it'll kill everyone..Our children, our friends and our comrades!!! Even If I can't kill it..we have to try! Now hurry!!! It's looking at you still!!!I'll be back babe, I promise!" Ruby listened and finally left the base although still hesitating.

"Oh another hero? You have some back-bone...I'll have to RIP it right out of you!!! Mmm...But your wife...OOoooh...Hot for teacher ahaha..Mind if I fuck her over before I kill you or would you prefer I remove all of your innards FIRST? I tell you, she is one mother I'd like to fucking tear apart! AHAHAH!I'd give her beautiful corpse a grade of A+! AHAHAH! But you? I think a D-, gutting men like pigs isn't as FUN as making women SQUEEL!" Dark Bogan fired off a several blasts of dark energy off at Duo. He struggled to dodge but did so. Sadly the lab was not so lucky as it went into further ruin.

Duo created two axes of fire energy and wielded one in each hand. He tossed one like a tomahawk into the creature's face and moved in with the other in hopes of decapitating Dark Bogan. He got in range and was able to slice Dark Bogan's head clean off. "For all of that talk you couldn't back it up! That was an easy promise to keep! Babe, I'm coming back to you any m-"

To Duo's horror, Dark Bogan's head regenerated before his very eyes, he backed away in horror. "No godamn way! That's not possible!!!What kind of freak are you? The stories said you were hard to kill but not....Able to do anything like that!!!"

"I don't die. Ahaha and you can thank the ALF for helping boost my power after I was unleashed! .Mmm, shall I call her babe and take your place? Maybe pretend to be you? Ahahah...A big stupid brute...Too weak to protect his wife and children! You're sacrificing yourself out of guilt, not out of genuine hope you can beat me! Ahaha, I know about the Crimsons and how your buddy Taiyo died because you were too weak!!! But don't feel bad, it was all in vain! He died for nothing and so will you! No one can change the course of the world, the path to extinction!! You traded in all your heroes for ghosts, just dead men and women you'll worship and never get over regretting! AHAHAH! How sad for you! Now say goodbye!!! Let me show you a REAL axe!I'll cut you into two pieces of fine red meat!!" Dark Bogan used his dark energy and created a truly massive one handed waraxe.

Before Dark Bogan could close in on Duo, Ruby pulled him out of the fight. "Babe....That was my battle to fight..Someone has to stall this thing!!! I'm the one with the best chance of beating it..and I can't let it live after how it mocked Taiyo's sacrifice!!!!I can-"

"The hell you will!!!You'll die if you keep at it!I'm not raising our kids alone, I'm not working on the world restoration project alone!!! We need you here alive and that is final!!! The SDF will handle the rest!! We need to tell the others about Noe and the orb, she needs to be put down, dead or alive!" Duo was not happy as he made his escape with Ruby. SDF guards moved in to confront Dark Bogan. He grinned at them.

"I want the girl, Noe or even the broken little doctor herself or even my own little girls, they need to be disciplined for how bad they were to dear old dad..But you can fulfill my lust as well...When will you people learn just to give up and DIE?! Accept your inevitable fate! FACELESS GRUNTS! More, more death, more blood, more misery! I just can't get enough of this!!! AHAHAHAH!" He sliced one unfortunate guard with his waraxe as the others screamed in terror but tried to fight him off.


*Outside of the base*

The train station was in fine working order and a supply train was coming all the way from Aysu. It was filled with essentials and a fresh train was making its way there now, containing weapons and other supplies the SDF depended on, some of which was flameable and some of which may have contained explosives. It was no longer as heavily guarded but still was protected. Noe could see the controls for the tracks in rather plain sight but they were being manned at the moment. The controls if- misused could cause the train to go off the tracks. Or she could even wait until it was stopped and destroy it with brute force perhaps. It was fair-game now with most of the attention on Dark Bogan and Lucia!

In addition Arabella was shadowing Noe the entire time, following her and killing any SDF guardsmen who attempted to chase her.

Lowe,Carla, Lucette and Celcius made it to the outside of the base. Duo and Ruby informed them of the situation. Lucette applied any and all healing techniques she had on Alicia before they escorted her to safety. "This is...A disaster. Dark Bogan, Noe betraying us and taking the orb, Sheena's Wind-Beasts and Lucia.....If one threat is left alone the others will persist....I believe we need to focus on Dark Bogan but...We can't let Noe escape...And Madesi..She can't beat Lucia alone...we need to help her..All of this happening at once. This is not an easy choice..I feel we must confront Dark Bogan first and stop him but if we could divide our forces somehow..So someone can find and capture Noe and deal with the other threats if possible...Duo, Ruby see if you can find Noe and inform everyone once you do, we have to confront Dark Bogan now..."

They then saw Sheena moving in but not in hostility, she answered Edward. "We...launched an attack on Arcadia.....But Dark Bogan has surfaced and he has slain some of my forces! I believe we need to call a truce, that thing is a threat to everyone. It needs to be stopped, it gets stronger and enjoys every kill it makes. They say in war there are no winners but this creature...It is using the war as a source of...food...to amuse itself..It's sickening! Put me into contact with whomever you can in charge! Nacim if possible.."

Nacim himself swooped on down near-by Edward and spoke to Sheena. "I approve of such a truce. But you will need the hand the orb back over to us. It is one factor that attracted that thing. It needs to be kept somewhere safe. Can you abide by these terms?"

"I....Do not know...We were not informed about the orb..We were just here to cover their escape, to attack the base and flee once they got out, nothing more... I cannot support Lady Lucia's madness but we have to do something about this now before it is too late.."

"I think we are in agreement for now then...What matters is taking out Dark Bogan. Otherwise he will just pick off any survivors of our battle"

Before anymore could be said, some SDF troops from Azull arrived, equipped with bow-guns for taking out Wind-Beasts. "Do not listen to her, it is a trap!!! The OOA knew the orb would attract the abomination! General Raoul orders we dispatch the Wind Beasts and capture or kill the Emerald Eagle herself!! Then we will deal with Dark Bogan without the threat of betrayal!"

These words shocked the others. Now they faced an ordeal, either they worked with Sheena but disobeyed Raoul or they faced fighting both Wind-Beasts and Dark Bogan at the same time. It was a troublesome scene now...
 
What was good plan turned into a choice of priorities. Nacim was their leader, or rather was at least someone they should respect. Siding with someone like Sheena would be traitorous to them, all the families they had lost to the OOA would be for not. It was time to make a move and Edward's pawn had just reached the other side. Quietly he spoke out in Nacim's mind as he transformed into his demonic form. "It would seem my contract is up Commander, I'll find Noe on my own time.' The demon of mental purgatory, the dear doctor, had fully transformed and began to speak to those that were criticizing Nacim's decision. "You are hesitant Nacim! I was wrong to think that I could break your devotion to the SDF so readily." Edward sent out a pulse of dark energy, tendrils followed and dug into the minds of each of the SDF soldiers that surrounded them. Each of them fell unconscious while sapping away Edwards demonic form. As he turned back he had only left the crucial units standing and stood face to face with his former Commander. "Been a good run, they'll be back up in a few minutes." Ed slashed his arm open letting some blood drip on the ground and brought the tip of Nacim's blade to the wound. "I just barely escaped, you have some fine men, don't lose them." With that he took off vanishing into what shadows that were around the base.



Don't be afraid Madesi, do not fear the flame. The dark is only cast off with purity of fire and replaced only by those brave enough to walk where it walks, and step on the flaming coals it leaves in its wake. Sister knew this long ago and you refused, with the help of that shadow that you do not give up. Let me end it all here, let me show you the path that stands before you by casting my flame forward, let me start by ending the fool's light in front of us.
Once more Feera, only once more.
A bright light lit up the darkness of her mind. The flaming wings had been struck by the light the three spheres were emitting. The wing had shattered but the former presence of Madesi was not phased. "Light is only a facet in which all things burn. Why not just use the source of your power? Why use an instrument proven to only guide the wicked?" She started to twirl about in the air as Lucia put forth more beams of energy. A practiced OOA mage would even fall before the blinding fury of such attacks. Lucky for Madesi she had this up her sleeve. "I am Feera, I cleanse the earth of the ungodly through the true force of evil's bane. I am fire incarnate!" She fired a blast of energy, a molting energy that would have the ground bubbling. Instead it was expended on eliminating one of the spheres. The light dispersed as Feera gathered in more energy, she was reckless with it. The next few shots of molting energy all missed their intended target, whether it was on purpose or not only Feera knew, but the collateral damage left sections of the Arena pooled with melted rock. "You would flee from my attacks!? Coward!"

Edward had reappeared in a distant sector of the city; it was his only ticket to escape. The train was coming and hopefully he'd vanish like all the other times. This time he had used up far too much energy to keep more men at bay. The sound of the train coming was all the reassurance he needed.

Aurora had not long to wait, Shintaion's Aracadia was on the western shore, merely a few minutes by aura jet. The Shadow Unit more than likely had already arrived before her. She was unsure of their means of travel but they seemed to always be there long before anyone could get to their destination. The base they had was located several miles north of Lydia, just on the coast. As she landed the ALF were quick to greet her with honors. "Commander where are my guests?"
"Here actually, and we aren't guests, you are." The sound of a gruff individual behind Aurora made himself present. "Go now Commander, you'll want to get our ride set up before we get testy." As she turned around she saw the exact person she didn't want to see.
"I see, so they sent you instead Cammak. Where is your leader?"
"Now, now darling, don't be so hasty. We know why you are here and that is to clean up after we're done. After all the ALF must have a presence here without letting the OOA know about our activities." The seedy man now straightened up, his full height was just a bit higher than Aurora's. "Besides it is good to look the mother every once in awhile." Quickly he was responded to with a loud pop. Her hand left a large red mark on his face and his dark eyes just stared back into hers. She could tell there was a small grin under the mask he wore. "Testy today. Well I'm sure the leader will enjoy that. Come we'll meet him outside Aracadia." He paused for a minute looking around. "As soon as we get some GOD DAMN TRANSPORT!"
 
Noe raced to the train station, arriving with enough time to plan ahead if she so chose. She didn't choose to do so at all. She could see and hear the train tracks rattling in the distance, signalling its arrival in a short period of time. She hummed and tapped her foot as though she was waiting to buy some candy, before leaping forward without warning. A pair of bladed grieves once more formed around her feet, heavily improved since the last time. The blades were thinner, but this allowed for more agile strikes. The blades also curved slightly, resembling the blade of an axe more than anything now. She found herself above the train as it sped forward, and she descended swiftly, slamming the blade into the top of the train. At first, it simply left a dent from the impact, but after about two seconds, an explosion left a scorching hole in the roof, blackening the pristine paint. The guards were quickly alerted and prepared themselves, as Noe waved some of the smoke away, smiling wide.

"Hiya!"

She waved to a guard before she appeared to flash behind him, poking his back. As he turned around, trembling, she delivered a straight kick to his throat, resulting in a rather drawn-out death, with him gurgling his own life-source before falling dead.

"Time to play?"



The guards backed up slowly, unsure of how to proceed. Finally, they steeled themselves. The first rushed mindlessly at her, and he was punished swiftly when she aimed a sweeping kick at his legs, which effectively robbed him of his lower extremities. He would bleed out... Noe took the counter-offensive and leaped at the wall, shoving off of it with great force, and landing behind another soldier, who was riddled with bullets from his teammates. She shoved him forward and leaped once more, jabbing one finger into each of his eyes, temporarily obscuring his vision. She grabbed hold of his neck from behind, much like a piggyback ride. She giggled as she let her body bend backwards. With her legs crossed, she took the place of scissor swords, slicing his head off. The three remaining soldiers opened fire, but it would prove difficult to get a lock on her as she darted around the room. More energy surrounded her nails and she aimed for another victim, jabbing his jugular with her nails, and yanking them out, providing another slice. Finally, several bullets seemed to connect with her body, as she stopped for a moment, seemingly stunned at the prospect of being hit. As she looked downwards, there was indeed some blood dripping from her midsection, but upon further inspection, the bullets were being forced out, the holes closing soon after. It still caused her pain, and so she moaned as the power of the orb forced her recovery. With a furious look, she jabbed a hand into her attacker's jaw, managing to stab through his skull. As she drew her hand back, she could feel the warm blood, and she covered her face with that hand, letting it smear off on her face as her hand traveled down. The final soldier did his best to run, but he was easily caught. Noe brought him to the ground and with another smile, she let the very tip of the blade pierce his heart.

"That was too quick! Too quick, nopenope!"

She made her way to the control center, now clear of playthings. She smashed the controls without worry, and simply smashed her way out of one of the many windows in the train, yelling out in glee.

"Kabooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And surely, in just a few moments, this prophecy would come to pass. She looked at her surroundings for another source of entertainment and instead, caught a glimpse of Edward, causing a flux of energy around Noe. She would make herself known...
 
"What are you getting at? You lack wit and sanity with such futile attacks. I can teleport, what good was that? The Gods must be smiling upon me once again...Delivering me such a fool! Allow me to show you..Photon Dirge!"

She released her stored up energy this time, holding her hands to the sky once again. Several bolts and flares of light energy began to rain down from the sky, mostly aimed at Madesi. She awaited to see whether she would hit her target or not. "Say what you will, Fire is nothing compared to my Divine Power of Light, the power of life itself! My body is that of a Goddess, my soul is pure and my heart is true! You are nothing but a demon! For light may burn but it burns away only evil, if your heart is just you are spared! You are not, therefore your predetermined fate is death!!!! I am both a giver and taker of life as a Goddess of Light!!!!"


*SDF Base*

Nacim was not happy about Edward leaving yet he could do little. At least Edward had helped him before leaving, the soldiers would have interfered no doubt and made it impossible to focus on Dark Bogan. Nacim though was beginning to doubt the SDF more than Edward might have realized. Raoul's actions as of late were unlike him and growing more bold by the day. Supporting gutting the world restoration project in favor of devastating aura weapons, having men spy on his unit, making and now this! Ordering him and his unit to kill the woman he loved.

The woman he was to wed one day. The only person standing in the way of the Wind Beasts becoming nothing more than Lucia's expendable slaves. He had done horrible things as Nacim but he could not take a life so important to him. He realized that perhaps they would never reunite but he at least wanted her to live on and guide his people.. That and now was not the time to fight her, they had Dark Bogan, a menace who never saw reason and delighted in every single life he took, in every drop of blood he spilled! He was not like the SDF, ALF or OOA. They took lives but not all of them had sadistic glee in doing so, none of them wanted this war to drag on for much longer than it already had.

"So be it. It is regrettable but I must do this...Without Edward. This truce is temporarily but...It is a big step." He thought to himself.


"Uh...Was it something I did in a past life?" Alicia mumbled in her unconsciousness as she was escorted to safety finally.


Dark Bogan emerged from the SDF base laughing and raving. "Ahahaha! So the harpy sunk her claws into you, but isn't the case? Men are always seduced by the sweet voice and scent of a woman. Why hell I'd kill my own brother with a pickaxe to get with a woman who has a body like Lena's! AHAHAHA! But you do realize...Raoul is gonna have you hanged for this and you, my daughter is gonna be sooooo pissed! You are disobeying orders! AHAHAH! Beat me or not, I'll still win! You two are doomed for teaming up like this!! I don't even have to kill you here for you to suffer! Hell, I bet you'd like it if I put you out of your misery! Am I right, Nacim o'l buddy old pal? Mr.Terror of the Skies? Oh but where's the little one, I had sooo much to show her! Everything will come undone on this day!!"

"It certainly has a mouth on it. But fear not!!! Follow my lead and we can slay this creature and put an end to it's reign of terror!" She charged up her energy and created a musket of light energy and unloaded several musket balls right into Dark Bogan's skull. She then put her musket on her back and used her light machine gun attack on Dark Bogan, shooting out bullets of light energy from both hands relentlessly attacking the creature. She then tossed a large sticky explosive onto Dark Bogan that quickly detonated in an explosion of light energy.

When the smoke cleared Dark Bogan's entire body was gone it seemed but then he regenerated. "AAHAHAHAH! Oh man, light beasts. Thinking just because you can destroy my body means you can kill me. Oh you have so much to learn but your time is up. I don't like stuck-up rich bitches like you! SCREAM FOR ME!!! He fired off a beam of dark energy too quickly for Lucette to defend herself, resulting in the beam searing Lucette's shoulder painfully.


"I will give you no such pleasure!You will not taint me or cause me fear, foul monster!" The others began to help Lucette in attacking Dark Bogan but found it was rather pointless. It was unbeatable this time and it would not retreat like last time.

"Is there no end to this battle? Nacim....Do you know of anyway to defeat this creature for good? You must have intelligence on it, share it with me if you can!" Sheena questioned.

Nacim shook his head and told Sheena, This creature is the father of Lucia and Arabella. It is said to have been born from the reigning king of the Underworld Jackal himself. Well normal Bogan that is.It was sealed away as they found no way to defeat it.In this case, trying to seal it away might work but it could escape or be released again. There is also little time to do a sealing ritual..and we lack anyone who knows how at the moment. It does appear it takes up energy to reform its body each time but it has gotten so strong now it...can regenerate almost endlessly.."


"Auntie no!!!! Let me help you!!! I-i-i won't lose you I'll protect you! I am sure Lady Lucia will come to our aide!! We just need to hold on! As long as we have hope we can overcome it!" Sienna came back to help Sheena.

Dark Bogan clapped and laughed as he saw Sienna. "You and your friends were just killing SDF troops moments ago!!!! You are the one who is mad. You can't see reality, little girl. There is no hope. You can't beat me...And you, you're gonna be a adorable little shish kabob!"

Shine and Sheena cried out in horror as they saw a rift opening in the sky near Sienna and out of it a dark javelin, it wold pierce right through her in seconds now! She was moving too slowly and too far away for them to catch in time! Dark Bogan had planned it the moment he saw her come into view! Wind Energy could work but to charge it would take too long..

With no time to spare, an OOA Wind-Beast pushed Sienna out of the way but was pierced by the javelin. He cried out, "Lady Lucia has forsaken us but you...Lady Sheena you will not..Please....Survive..Long live..Queen Sheena of the Wind Beasts!!!!! You and her...are the future of our people..." He then went limp but Sheena caught him before he could fall to the ground.

Sienna could only cry after seeing yet again, another person died to defend her. "No!NO! It wasn't supposed to be this way...I...I..prayed....Lucia did not give up on you guys, she's coming. Please have faith!!!"

"She is using you and your people to steal the orb, she doesn't care whether you live or die. Do not be so careless, this is a matter of life and death. People won't always be there to protect you." Carla said to Sienna bluntly, scaring her but speaking the truth.

Sheena did not deny Carla's words as she ordered her forces,"All Wind Beasts..Return to base!!! This orb is not worth your lives and we can do almost nothing more here..I will take full responsibility for whatever Lady Lucia wishes to do to us as punishment! Just leave now and escape with your lives!!! This orb is not worth losing you all over!!!"

The Wind-Beasts refused to retreat. "No! We will stand by you, Queen Sheena!!! We won't leave you to die!!! We're in this together!" Sheena sighed but was somewhat happy in one sense. Her comrades cared for her life just as she did for theirs.

"Awww, isn't that just sweet? AHAHAH! More food for me! Little girl just can't stop from getting her comrades killed and you fools just keep lining up to DIE!" Dark Bogan laughed out loud.

"This is....there is no glory in this fight...How cruel of the Gods to allow something like you to walk this earth...No, the gods don't allow it, you defy them!!!.I have no reason to hold back!!!!!" Lucette shouted as she did a different type of technique. It did not involve heavy-weaponry this was a more traditional technique. It created a circle of light around Dark Bogan and then created a series of chains that bound Dark Bogan and held him in place.

"Everyone! Think of something, it will not last forever! Make haste!!!!Ponder everything, anything you can do to end this creature or seal it! Or force it to retreat, anything!!" Lucette shouted.

Dark Bogan struggled to speak with the chains near his mouth as well but he succeeded,"You're into some kinky shit, ahahah...I'll do more than put you in chains once I'm free. I'll have you screaming in every language once I'm done with you!!! You guys are so predictable...But I am getting bored of you all. I think I need to kill new people, new blood ahahah..."

They all struggled to think of some way to kill the beast for good but tried. Yet time was ticking, soon it would be free. They had nothing, no way to end this fight. It would go on and on until they were all out of options.
 
In the three years living in Azul, Celcius had only heard rumors surrounding the dark terror that stood before her now. The Undefeatable One, the Beast from the Underworld, names of all sorts, but all the stories had two common unifying threads: he had some mysterious ability that granted him super regenerative abilities, to reform his body at will using an energy supply from within that would never dry up, even if one used an aura weapon to vaporize him and the entire countryside for miles around, much less the city he stood in. Second, none of the stories did justice to the sheer destruction he could cause. Celcius knew that he alone could have shredded her homeland's defenses in a matter of minutes simply stomping them all underfoot.

Celcius bore witness to the marvelous display of light weaponry ripping into Dark Bogan tearing large gaping holes she could see through. However, it went to no avail as his body simply regrew the cells, grotesque sinews patching across the holes and tissues slithering across the wound with the iron-like skin layering to close it up. He merely laughed. Celcius began to fear they may never kill him.

"Auntie no!!!! Let me help you!!! I-i-i won't lose you I'll protect you! I am sure Lady Lucia will come to our aide!! a young Wind Beast had returned to the scene. Why one so young, Celcius was sure she would look back and never understand. Dark Bogan had somehow aimed a spear of black energy right into the path of the child, knowing she would return. The spear seemed to shoot forward in mere inches as a fellow Wind Beast tackled the child out of the way, and it impaled him instead. His crumpled body as his queen lay him down dredged painful memories of her father back to mind, a spear through his chest as his blank eyes stared towards the castle, the army in chaos as her mother swept her away to flee. She had cried out for her father that day as the escorts dragged her away from the window towards safety. Though Celcius had never regretted running, she always wished she could have another minute with her father.

The cheers of soldiers snapped Celcius out of her memories as the Wind Soldiers shouted their devotion to the queen of the Wind Beasts. The queen sighed, her brow slightly creased in exasperation, but an upward twitch of her lip betrayed her happiness. Celcius admired her; few royal lines could muster undying devotion from their followers, even the benevolent ones. Her family had been lucky to enjoy that until her father had died. As Dark Bogan taunted his army of foes, chains of light ensnared him and he made a royal effort to continue his taunts as he struggled with the chains. This gave Celcius an idea. She closed her eyes, pushed all distracting thoughts away, and felt. She felt the little moisture in the air. She felt the beads of sweat on all the denizens around her. A well not far away could possibly help, but the water lay too deep for her to pull it up. She felt the water in the blood of the dead soldier. All the water sources she could feel, she absorbed them all, gathering it into a gaseous state around her for imminent use. And she'd need all of it.

"Hey, Light Beast," she shouted to Lucette. "I'll need some of the light beasts to shield my back. You need to hold him in place while everyone else needs to continue a constant bombardment on his body." She looked over at Nacim, "It looks like he's using his energy to perform some kind of cellular regrowth. If that's so, I can freeze the cells and fill in the holes with solid ice to prevent them from growing back. There isn't enough moisture in the air for me to freeze him solid though," Celcius told him.

Celcius concentrated on her hands again and they glowed blue. She looked at Nacim and nodded, signalling she was ready if he gave the order.
 
This was their chance to deal a hopefully fatal blow to Dark Bogan. "I will not waste this chance!!!" Sheena created a halberd of wind energy and lunged at Dark Bogan. She went so fast Dark Bogan saw multiple after-images of her, all of them piercing his skull with the halberd, she ended off her maneuver with a stab to Dark Bogan's chest.

Lowe charged up his earth energy and then slammed the ground, causing two walls to close in on Dark Bogan, moving to crush him between them. Dark Bogan was unable to avoid it and was completely crushed. Yet it was too soon for any celebration.

His voice called out, "You silly little bastards!!! No wonder the Gods left this world to crash and burn with the way you act! How am I the wicked one here? It's all of you against one of me. Not fair at ALL, didn't you good guys learn cheaters and evil-doers never live to tell? AHAHAH! I think it's time I collect on a debt....Idrissss....My pet!!!! Come to me my dear and we will let vengeance BURRRN...And take revenge on the living who did this to you!!!! One of your victims herself!!! Have you people even realized all of the good folks you killed? Ahahahah! You're not so different from me. Except I had fun and did it for fun. You did it as duty, so called duty, protecting my country. What a load of shit!!! Killing is killing no matter how you frame it, reducing men and women to meat is something you've done as well!"

Dark Bogan called upon Idris, a twisted ALF member who hated Aurora, neglected her own men and ultimately died in a fire of her own creation while fighting Noe. All she could do was manifest herself in spirit form, a large flame to prevent Dark Bogan from being frozen again. His body reformed and emerged away from the walls he had been crushed between.

Lowe was puzzled."How the hell is this even possible?? This monster has no end to its capabilities!!"

"Heheh well Lowe my boy it is quite simple..Yes....She gave her soul to me willingly, you see....Ahahha, so it's only natural I didn't let her just pass on when you killed her so brutally...I promised to grant her wish, we were bound together for a little bit after all ahahah..She wants a body, a fire beast's body....That beaten and half dead doctor girl might be the one!! Yes..you always wanted to be a fire beast..being stuck as a rotting human was torture from the Gods...Those sick bastards...Oh how satisfying it will be to undo all of their creations and watch the world scream collectively before me!"

Struggling but coming with an idea at last Lucette charged up her energy and quickly created a scroll that she attached onto the ground near Dark Bogan and Idris. It began to hit them with a constant current of light energy, paralyzing them.

"A binding scroll technique is all I have. I...am not an exorcist..These techniques have nearly all been lost to the pages of time I am afraid..Try and try again but it is for naught..We must attack the soul of the beast to vanquish it, the physical form will continue to regenerate as long as its soul is still there.....I do so believe we need a way to attack its spirit but....We lack the means to do so. I will restrain them for as long as I can!!! Fetch me someone who can seal this foul beast away, post haste!!!!If their plans succeed .I honestly am not sure that I could save the Doctor..." Lucette shouted as the situation got worse with Idris entering into the picture.


"Nice try but all you fools can do is delay the inevitable. Ahaha..You know Lucy, I think I'll get you first. I always was a firm believer of the old saying...A quote should be like a woman's skirt short enough to hold your attention but long enough to cover the subject ahahaha...No, my take on that is this...Meat should be like cutting into a rich woman's body, soft enough to enjoy the squishy sound but thick enough to have enough flesh to SAVOR! AHAHAHA!! Oh your dear old Dad must be rolling in his grave right now, Lucy. Another victim, another man betrayed his own country because he doubted the war! AHAHA! Let him be an example to the rest of you, learn to LOVE the war! Enjoy each kill, you're going to be at war for the rest of your miserable lives!"

Lucette ignored Dark Bogan's taunts to the best of her ability and instead focused and poured energy into the scroll, keeping it maintained but not allowing her to move at all.


"Hanja should be on his way. Sadly all we got were those fools from Raoul I do not know what is going on with the chain of command. It must be in complete chaos."


Before the situation could worsen, they saw another SDF unit marching towards them. This time they were led by Field Marshall Hanja. A Water Beast. He was master of warfare and of the blade who took part in the Dark Beast Wars. He was the son of Hideki and the father of Manami, the girl who would have lead the City of Warriors to a golden age. He was one of the older members of the military being in his late forties. His armor was akin to that of a samurai, specially crafted and had crests of the Sri family on it. He was a man who commanded respect and was one of the most well-loved members of the SDF to the public. Despite being a Warrior he continued to support ideas for a potential peace treaty.

He wanted Dark Bogan gone more than anyone else and thus Hanja had his men make the first move. "Deploy the prototype field now!!! The rest of you..Stay back!!!! Bogan...I WILL NOT LET YOU ESCAPE ME THIS TIME!" One of them deployed a device near Dark Bogan that created a small field that began to drain Dark Bogan's energy, it was enough to cause Idris to disappear, no longer strong enough to manifest physically. Hanja himself unsheathed a blade of highly pressured water energy. He then charged it with more of his energy and it began to emit an eerie red glow. He let out a war-cry as he went straight for Dark Bogan.

At first Dark Bogan's body seemed intact but in seconds he was sliced in half. Dark Bogan's disembodied voice called out, "Wel well. Mr.Shogun Hanjaaaa. Ahahha...I love this game of cat and mouse!!! Let me guess..you want revenge on me for killing your daughter who was sooooo great...Not strong enough of a warrior to survive that kind of fall! AAHHAH, I'd love to have given her a thicker skull but well...I broke her reaaal good. You're so desperate you'd use a little toy like that on little old me! It's flattering.. You're probably the only one here who can hurt me but it still isn't enough, Hanja!!!!! Ahahaha! Catch me if you can!! Kill me aaaal you want, do what you can it won't put daddy's little girl back together again!"

Dark Bogan's spirit broke free as Lucette's scroll wore out and reformed. He then released a mist of dark energy that covered his escape. Once it cleared out, he was gone.

"Marshall Hanja! Do we pursue?" "No I cannot let my anger blind me. It wants us to chase it after provoking me with such rancid words and haunting imagery. It plays these games to harvest the living. I will kill that abomination once and for all but only when we have the means. We lost too many already today. It wants us to be foolish...If only it never existed..So many would still be with us....Even my dear sister sister, Lena. This war is empty and pointless, the real threat is right before our eyes but we must repel any remaining attackers. There's no honor in hollow battles like this, in slaying men and women whom only mean to fight for their country." He looked at the Wind Beasts but did not order any of his men to attack, he was clearly aware of the truce or had seen them attacking Dark Bogan.

Sheena looked longingly at Nacim before she told him, "It..was an honor Nacim. I am glad you at least...Know what is most important...We will take our leave now." Sheena left with her unit flying away quickly knowing that although they made a truce, it was now over. Hanja's men respected the truce and did not pursue them.

Lucette let out a sigh of relief. "I grow weary of such battles. That monster of a dark beast was most repulsive. We are in your debt, Field Marshall Hanja!" Lucette saluted Hanja and so did the others.

"I am merely doing what is just, do not thank me or feel the need to owe me. Even if that was the case, your unit saved my father's life. For that I am grateful. His knowledge is what we need to guide us in times like this...I thank you SDF 4th Unit." Surprising the others, he gave them a bow humbly.

Hanja walked up to Nacim and said to him whispering, "Your actives as of late have been suspicious and I see you are missing Edward and Noe. We need to speak. I do apologize for those fools, they were misinformed or so Raoul told me, he claims he did not order them to attack the OOA. You may be deceiving us but Raoul worries me far more. He doesn't realize we want this war to end....I fear he wants to position himself to rule Arcadia after Zigus is gone. Yet..he has shown his true colors...Raoul is the furthest thing from Zigus's ideals...Perhaps he even intended harm to come to your unit on this day.Perhaps he tipped them off about the orb. We just need..Proof.." Nacim responded only with a nod.

He then took charge of the situation. "Secure Arcadia! Half of you spread out and find any survivors we can while securing the area. The orb may already be lost but search none the less for Noe! If Dark Bogan returns, sound the signal and do not engage, I repeat do not engage it! Rout any OOA forces you see, we have no truce with the ground troops! I will lead the combat force! SDF 4th unit, join us and help us force the OOA out!!"

The whole situation was painful for Hanja. It seemed he would have to confront his nieces, Lucia and Arabella. He hated Dark Bogan but he knew it was not entirely their fault they went down such a twisted path in their lives. He thought to himself, "Lena...Forgive me for what I am about to do..."

"Marshall Hanja... Leave Lucia to me...I've got an idea and energy to spare...Madesi has Lucia's attention so as long as you avoid alerting her would never suspect I would target her.." Hanja agreed with Carla's plan.

*Near the Arena*

While Carla sought out a good positon to fire upon Lucia the others moved towards the Arena and found OOA survivors and some dead, apparently killed by Dark Bogan on his way through. Despite what they had seen they were still willing to fight for Lucia. "The Gods are testing us on this day of reckoning for Arcadia, kill the SDF forces!!! They brought this creature into this world and the ALF gave it more strength, it was not by the hands of the righteous Gods that it was born!!!"

The forces were the same ones as before, Demon Paladins and Light Beasts. They were more tired out but still as insanely devoted as ever. They did not listen to Hanja's attempts to reason with them so he instead took the violent route. Hanja ran up to a Paladin and sliced his shield in half before stabbing the Paladin straight through the heart, easily piercing his armor. "Futile. I can derive no pleasure from this. Why will you not listen to reason instead? Does needless bloodshed grant you a place in the heavens in your beliefs?"

The light beasts near Hanja fell back briefly but spoke not a word to him in response. "SDF 4th unit, support Hanja and rout the OOA! Be careful of Dark Bogan and do not stray too far off."

The SDF began to deal with the remaining OOA forces while some searched for Noe. Sadly it seemed now it was just about too late to catch her. The shadow of Dark Bogan still loomed over them, even if they had fended it off for now, the creature made itself known. It was no longer afraid to reveal itself to the public. It knew there were very few ways any faction could defeat it for good.
 
The whistling was cut short, the train started to catch on fire. This all was terrible for Edward's plan, what that was he didn't know. He was meant to stay by Madesi but making for an exit at this time seemed right. The balance between the three forces that ruled the world needed to stay equal; and if Raoul were to have no opposition then the SDF would become far more aggressive and lose more men eventually losing their whole unit. It was a game of chess, three way chess, and each piece had to be played absolutely perfectly to avoid giving advantage to any one side. Yet, now there were new pieces on the board, Dark Bogan, the rise of the Hymns, and even his newest threat, Noe. He could feel her watching him as he tried to hide from the destruction. Edward's energy reserves were too low to fight off this girl even in her 'normal' state. Instead it was time to do something that went far beyond any kind of known logic, he was going to try and reason with insanity. "Noe, I see you have become very powerful, before my untimely death let's have a little chat."

There are those that would say fire symbolized rage, it symbolized hate, or it might have meant something maddening. While those people are correct, the vast majority had no idea what it meant to Feera, what it meant to Madesi, what it meant to anyone inside her. The flames culminated into a dome above her head, high intensity heat warped the light and the images behind it. The same would be said of the first bolt to hit that shield. The fires were so intense the light warped around her figure, light energy only made pot marks in the arena below. "Like a stone against water light merely is manipulated by the presence of heat. You are foolish to think nothing can manipulate light as I have. The gods above need not smile upon you, for I am smiling at thee." Her grin spread across her face as she prepared her blaze surrounding her into a highly concentrated core. The essence seemed to be highly pressurized gas, molten gas, plasma. "The only fool around here is…" a dramatic shock overtook her face, "Madesi!"
"That's enough Feera, we have reinforcement now." There was an internal power struggle. The plasma ball faded as Feera gripped her head. Madesi was coming back. The fire energy left over started spurting out, the flames coated parts of the arena as her wings started to shatter, all the while falling outside the arena. Madesi was back in control and had landed a few meters away from the rest of her unit.

"I'm actually interested Noe, I'm interested in your mind, your own world. I'm interested in what is going on up there and how it differs from those we consider normal. You, as anyone else, has a right to live the way you want but you live with others that cannot be forgotten. The sounds of this do not just pique my curiosity but also my love for the enigma of taste. You see, I am a specter, a demon born of Colt. But there is one thing that all of us creatures have in common, human, elf, demon, and forbidden beast alike, a hunger. We all seek to define the best wine and savor the richness of this world. You Noe, are very rich and yet I had not tasted a single portion of what you truly have to offer. In a sense, my last request is rather selfish, can a dead demon have but a taste of the golden mind?"

The trails in the desert of Arcadia were easily hidden by the wind whipping up the sands. The same wind also had made the dune behind which the rest of the Shadow Unit hid. Aurora could see them in the distance as Camack guided her to them. He had been quiet since they got into the wind swept environment, perhaps it was too much energy to act like a complete jack ass right now. None-the-less there was soon salvation and another witty remark as they got to his commander. "Alright captain, here is the 'princess' of Abscus herself, fresh from Kenelm." The sands had suddenly stopped their incessant beat against the two as Camack announced himself. The leader had been interested with the second one kneeling and concentrating. Camack seemed a bit disappointed by the neglect of his duty. "Tch, alright go ahead and do what you want, let me know if I have to start some shit."
"Thank you Camack, be ready." The commander responded, his voice deep and his nature calm. They spent their time looking at Arcadia, the chaos taking afoot there. "What do you hear?" He directed his question to the one kneeling.
"Strife, suffering, it is highly indiscernible with what is happening. But there are words repeating in the mix."
"And those are?"
"Dark Bogan, Lucia, Noe, Nacim, and as you expected captain, Orb. Should we go in?"
"No, not yet. You have done well Kono." The kneeling man lifted his hood up his head had been augmented with different devices from long ago. He nodded in acknowledgement and went to join Camack in the back. "When we had found him he was stirring up chaos in southern Abscus, he had rode a boat out from Azull. His mind is afflicted with Chronic Aural Deterioration Syndrome, from what I can guess he was one of the leading Magical Scientists back in the day, probably was a key developer of the Aural Missile." The still hooded figure turned to her, all that was seen was his mouth which seemed to bare two fangs.
"Trying to make me feel safe, vampire?"
"You know we are often misjudged as vampires, for our love of night and our fangs. But I can assure you that we are not one of the same. While vampires die in sunlight we do not. Eonycteris, we are but the dawn of the new day. And you mistake the same of my words, I merely answered that which I know you were curious about. Perhaps you could indulge me the same? How's Tonya?"
"Well if not for this I'd be seeing her show, it is hard on the girl not having her parents around."
"It is hard on all of us that this war we thought to be over ten years ago is still going. It might not be with dark beasts but they are dark hearted all the same. Do not fret General Aurora, I have a man on the inside on both sides. Here take this." He handed her a device, it seemed to be a small screen left over from the old age, then again Abscus never seemed to fail on getting old technologies working again. On the screen was a stage, grand and semi-domed. The orchestral pit was tuning their instruments and the people were all still talking amongst themselves. The shadowed leader put a phone to his ear outside his hood. "Everything good Nina?" Despite her being on the phone she could hear her through the device.
"Everything good here sir!"
"Good to hear. Now let's get to the mission General. We'll be surveying the situation from the train yard. While we were talking I took notice of a fire brewing there, and our informant is also there."
"Alright, let's go…and Atoshi…thanks."
 
"Hahaha! You truly are so delusional to think you are blessed? You are sadly mistaken. Poor and foolish creature.... I need not waste my full power on you just to prove a point. You are simply not worth it, I have already accomplished my goal here. Whether you have help now or not...TAKE THIS!!!" She held her hands to the sky once more and began to charge for one final attack hoping to kill Madesi while she was vulnerable.

Right in that moment, Lucia was so caught up trying to attack Madesi that she neglected to see a large beam of dark energy heading straight for her head. It ate through her barrier but was stopped at the last second when Arabella intercepted an attack that would have taken Lucia's head clean off!!! Instead it left Arabella with a huge hole in her chest but it was yet another construct of hers, she was fine and still moving!!!

"You wicked little harlot!!!!!You Dark Beasts are truly irredeemable savage monsters!!!To kill a deity is a sin!!! I only want to heal this world and bring it back to life! That is more noble than your goals!!!! You will not win this war and you do not have Arlon's favor! I am sacred, blessed and chosen by Arlon himself!!!!! Only I can turn this world into a paradise!!!! Does the Devil wish to face me or did the Gods neglect to give you courage?"

Suddenly Carla jumped down and ran towards Lucia, much to the shock of her comrades, her eye-patch was off once again. "I see the truth..You are naked before me.. Dark Bogan's daughter.. You are a false Goddess descended from an abomination. How do we know you're not just wearing someone else's skin? Lowe told me all about you....How he met you as a child before you became this Lucia character. I find it laughable how you dismiss my people yet you intend to work with them. You intend to sacrifice everyone in this world for your own sake?!"

Lucia slammed her staff onto the ground forcefully and then them took a swing at Carla, dissipating the illusion Carla had created."Such trickery is all you know? You will come to regret your words! You have no proof of any OOA alliance with Dark Beasts or any of the words you said! The sheer audacity....I speak to and for the Gods! Insisting I am a monster is the ultimate insult, I am pure of body and soul. I do not know this Lowe and never have!" She then noticed the SDF were about to surround her.

"Ann. Arabella...Surrender to me and you may be given a fair trial. I do not wish to harm you but you have committed grave crimes, even if you are my only nieces....Make your choice now!" Hanja drew his blade and moved towards Lucia.

"You are senile Hanja, the ones you seek no longer exist Sadly for you I have more than enough energy to escape this cesspool of a city!!! I have accomplished all of my desires. We need not meet again, heathens!!! Come Arabella!!" Arabella's construct latched onto Lucia and the two teleported outside of the city.

"The Wind Beasts..Where did they fly off to? I do not like this Arabella, when dolls grow their own desires and ambitions, their own love..They need only love me, not Sheena..I believe her time may soon be up....No one dares to challenge my god-given ruler-ship...Let us leave this place!!! Watch my back Arabella, we do want any undesirables following our footsteps.."
With that, Arabella and Lucia left the area, all of the OOA followers began to retreat as well. The SDF began to pick off those they could and captured a few as well as they began to secure the area.

Hanja let out a sigh of relief but he could not hide how this situation saddened him from the SDF. Hanja thought to himself, "...It has come to this.. I cannot hesitate next I see them, they are the enemy and they must die. I can only hope Lena would forgive me for spilling the blood of her children..."

An SDF messenger ran towards Hanja and whispered to him, "Field Marshall Hanja, the Aura bomb in the vault is also missing....The OOA could not have possibly taken something that large!!!"

More and more bad news, Hanja had to get things in order once again. "I want you all to secure Arcadia and help in the search for any survivors.. Nacim's unit..You will come with me personally and see if we can find Noe before it is too late...I fear she is already outside of the city but we have to be sure. Come with me! We can...Discuss any other matters while we run!"

The SDF began following Hanja as he led them to areas that were not secured hoping to find Noe.

Lucette nodded. "Forgive me for not noticing sooner that she would betray us. Rest assured, we'll deal with her. Traitors do so have a tendency to meet a violent and bloody end if they lack a noble cause.."

"Hanja..Noe isn't what concerns me most. Her betrayal was shocking but...You know a way to truly kill Dark Bogan?" Lowe asked.

Hanja was not happy to speak of it but responded,"Yes, if only the creature would stay long enough for me to face it. It grows stronger and harder to kill with each life it takes...My techniques are not easily taught and we lack ample time. If only the peace treaty could become a reality..Yet the hatred between the three warring factions is too great. Just what it wants. Free kills, we're doing it's work for it.. I wish I could tell you what exactly it is but even to me it is a mystery. A entity born from Bogan's despair and madness after how they slaughtered Lena in Lydia. Of how no matter what he did, he could never find a way to save Arabella's weak body and how they turned him away for being a Dark Beast when all he wanted was to cure her..To give her a normal life..."

He shook his head. "But the creature cares not about that or what it used to be. It isn't Bogan at all, it cannot be reasoned with and it exists only to cause suffering and death to all it crosses...It even attempts to seduce some with promises of sharing its power with them...Like this Idris, to make them into its slaves!!! The creature's body is just a vessel, it means nothing. You need to destroy the very soul of it or else it can regenerate its physical form with its neigh endless energy supply. It has taken so much from everyone...I know you wish to avenge your comrades Lowe but now is hardy the time. I cannot train you all with a war raging....Ideal conditions for Dark Bogan to terrorize the world but we cannot change that..."

Hanja's words did little to help Lowe. Carla comforted him as she put her eye-patch back on, looking less exhausted this time. "Lowe...Do not worry. We will vanquish it one day...We will have our vengeance..."

"Listen to her. You have your whole life ahead of you Lowe. Do not let your desire for revenge blind you to what is most important.." Nacim spoke as if speaking from experience.

"Now....No sign of her yet.. But do any of you about Edward? Why exactly did he leave?" Hanja asked the group.

"I am not too certain but Raoul's actions may have been a part of it...There is no excuse for what Raoul tried to do at a time like this. We need order, not more chaos and leaders having their own agendas He is no traitor is what I do know and we have no right to pursue him as the contract is now up. A shame but we must respect his choice."

"Oh my...This Raoul is most unprofessional brute from the sound of it.. Fear not I will not leave you. Just you must not let him control or order you around. Is he not under you in the chain of command, Field Marshall Hanja?"

"We will not become his servants! He will respect the chain of command or face the consequences, Zigus would never approve of the way Raoul has been acting as of late! He will be punished or stripped of his position for this! Those soldiers from Azull must have ordered around by him after I left, he took advantage of the situation. We had great defenses but...We were never prepared for this..Few even knew of the Vault's existence...This combined with the attack from Dark Bogan caused it to erupt into complete chaos and panic..With that orb in OOA hands, the situation could not get any worse. The SDF will have to change and adept after this, we have to recover from it somehow. And if that includes ridding ourselves of Raoul, I am all for it. He may have gone mad as if that creature influenced him or perhaps..he came into contact with the Orb..."

Nacim glanced over at Madesi and posed a question to her. "Madesi...What about you? Do you wish to stay with our unit as well?"

*Near the train station*

Duo and Ruby found the search for Noe hopeless as well. They had lost track of her. "Babe...I'm all outta breathe....I don't know what else we can do. We lost her....Can't see her, can't hear her and certainly lost her scent. We need...to think of something to find her.."

Ruby raged,"Listen you dumbass! We need to keep going!!! All of these Order of Aegle women are all the same!! You got Sheena the annoying preachy harpy, Lucia with her god complex and now Noe..Our plan for her is to beat the crazy out of her, ok? Make her regret thinking she could do that to a student of MINE! Then we'll take the orb! If we don't do this then who will, Duo? The SDF barley know about the orbs and maybe it is best Raoul doesn't find out about the other ones..Knowing him he'd try to use them in this godamn war! So you don't stop until I say so!!!! This orb is my responsibility..I can't let them have it!! I already failed once before...I can't live with anymore regrets, Duo! First not stopping father in time...and now this...With that orb...the amount of damage the OOA can do is infinite if they figure it out!"

"Babe...I know the burdens upon you are a lot..I won't give up easy but it isn't looking good..I think...We'll need to talk with the remaining Crimsons...We need a plan...If we can't reunite as an international coalition for good in this day and age, we can at least get some of them to join the SDF....We need to do something to prevent those orbs from being united...I know you never quite figured out what they do but seeing what these orbs do to people..It can't be good...But if we do find her..Do you think we can take her with just you and me? Your dad was no fighter but even he put up quite a battle...But this time..Noe is a fighter.." Duo composed himself as they made their way to the train tracks.

Ruby shouted,"I don't know! But is there any choice? If they're done they'll help us. It sounds like the fighting is over...But someone has to do something about this. She was already batshit insane before she got that orb. We don't want or need more victims! Even if we can't beat her, we can hope to knock her out and then attempt to extract the orb that way! We'll talk about the other Crimsons later, we need to do all we can to find her NOW!"

Little did they know..They were too little too late to catch the train Noe was on now.Despite all of what was going on, it was still moving!!! They were totally unaware of the carnage unfolding at this very moment.
 
Noe gave Edward the time to say his last words. As he spoke, she took the time to stretch, bending her leg back and prancing around in place with a bored look on her face. As he continued, she let out an audible yawn, finally grinning wickedly at his last request. She leaped straight at him with surprising force, knocking him down to the ground with ease. She crawled on top of him, her face peering down at his as she grinned.

"A piece... of this mind? Ahaha...Hahaha! Big grown man must be crazy! Or is it a game you're trying to play!? That's my job, you can't do that, never! Buuuuuuuuuut...."

She lifted her head and placed a finger on her chin, thinking for a moment before a rather sadistic look formed on her features.

"...I bet this will make her angry...So angry, she'll go crazy! Well, crazier! Is that possible?...Of course it's possible, haha! I'll give you a piece of heaven...before I send you to hell..."

She bent over again, to the point where her hair fell on Edward's face. Her nails began to elongate into deadly weapons, and she prepared to deliver the kiss, her bloodlust almost satisfied. Their lips nearly met before Noe seemed to have spasms as she yelled at invisible offenders.

"You will not....YOU WILL NOT HAVE THIS KISS!"

With the utmost speed, she locked lips with Edward, her eyes glossing over for a moment before she gripped her head and released him from the floor.

"I...I need to ....to go...where was I....Arabella....I need to....Arabella..."She stumbled off quickly, leaving Edward to himself. She had to meet up with Lucia and Arabella as soon as possible.
 
*Arcadia*

Before Hanja and the others could do too much else an SDF soldier ran towards them.

"F-f-field Marshall Hanja!! A train was attacked, it must have been Noe, the OOA or Dark Bogan!! It's horrible!!!"

"This day just keeps on getting more disastrous. Lead me the way. I know you all desire a rest but I may need your help. Follow me!"

Before any of them could get close to the train, Arabella sprung into action. One of her bodies was planted on the train, posing as a sleeping passenger. It came to life, ripped out a page out of a book and found Noe. It tapped her on the shoulder and signaled her to follow. It pointed to the page that it ripped with the words Serenda on it, that was their next destination and where Noe would finally begin to become part of the OOA!

*Serenda*

Serenda was once a very happy place similar to Lydia but less of a romantic destination. Yet people loved its tropical savanna climate and how close it was to Teros, allowing for a ferry to regularly take people from Serenda to Teros before the war took place.

It housed many a bustling casino, resorts, clubs and taverns Shintaion had to offer. Everyday was like a celebration to the fun-loving people of Serenda until the war ruined it all. There weren't many tourists at all in such troubled times and after the war it got even worse. Businesses closed down and locals left in droves, they just could not compete with places like Aysu that were just far more upscale and safe from bandit raids and monster attacks.

Yet now, they had something much worse, OOA occupation! Serenda fell almost overnight when the OOA descended upon it and it certainly did not help the leaders of the city were willing to surrender to Lucia and showed no desire to fight they were more concerned with saving their own hides and positions of power than the well-being of the people.



Lucia and Arabella arrived in Serenda, being somewhat stealthy as they made their way to a resort they had setup to shelter them for the night. They stopped only to identify themselves to an OOA guard whom bowed when he recognized Lucia.

As they passed through the city, they saw the fading neon signs and some of the closed casinos. They saw the beggars in the streets and OOA guards patrolling the city. It used to be a place of freedom where people could cut loose, now it was anything but. The people were forced to adopt religion, to worship Arlon and lesser gods as well. If you refused, you would be stoned to death in front of everyone, even if you were a rich gambling man or just a cute little showgirl, you were not given any chances. Obey and conform or die! The Book of Arlon spoke of how one was to try to share the world with other races and people and not force beliefs upon them....The OOA omitted or simply ignored passages such as those. Such morals would only get in the way of Lucia's goals after all.

"This place...It is so utterly revolting not even the SDF desired to have it under their control. They let them remain independent...Yet it will suit our needs for now..Hmph..So much sin..If only we could kill them all right now, Arabella...Those humans and elves....The most sinful of them all! Humans are the worse...But just as the Gods have a purpose for rats and insects, we can use them too..."

The two entered the resort and all of the resort staff bowed before Lucia except one brave and foolish human maid. She glared at Lucia as if opposing her.

"What insolence is this??? If you do not bow to me, I will have them strip you naked and stone you to death in front of everyone!!! You are not special, you must bow to me as well, human wench!!!!" Lucia angrily grinded her boots into the back of the poor maid who finally began to bow and whimpered weakly. That was all it took to remove to instill fear into her.

A man began to chuckle as he approached Lucia and Arabella. It the kingpin of Serenda himself, Liron Cairo! A thirty year old Water Beast whom went from being a petty marauder to a cut-throat mercenary whom took on mostly naval missions. He had little moral compass and focused on maximizing profit. Switching sides, leaving comrades to die and sometimes even abandoning a job if it went south. Despite his lack of bravery and honor, he was still quite skilled and sought out. He became world famous after Sho Natu recruited him and gave him an endorsement.

After becoming rich, he moved to Serenda and decided to "retire". He began to take control of the city after the war, essentially buying it from its former leaders whom were happy to part with it. At first he did not seem like a bad leader, just one who enjoyed the thrills of gambling, womanizing and had a bit of an ego. Yet once Lucia came into town, he let her do as she pleased and worshiped her pathetically in order to survive and maintain some degree of control over Serenda. Lucia recruited him into the OOA being impressed by how he kept the people under his control.

Once Lucia recruited Liron he took everything to the extreme, fair games of chance became games of life and death. Women would pledge themselves to Liron to be spared from OOA punishments, he soon had an encourage of women under his control. He owned the people of the city now and Lucia cared little about what atrocities he committed as long as he was loyal to her and the OOA. Sometimes he would even get away with breaking OOA code as long as Lucia wasn't there.

He looked almost like royalty. He wore a fancy red velvet cloak that had a few medals on it, he wore rings of all sorts on all his fingers, from gold to diamond he had it all! He even had a fang with a solid gold filling in his mouth! His women escorted him and rolled out a carpet for him and Lucia to walk on. His women were of many different races and appearances but the were all young, pretty and not particularly well-dressed compared to him.

"Hello hello the pleasure is all mine, I am blessed to see the Goddess Lucia and the little Angel Arabella! Your beauty is unending! I hope this fine establishment is to your liking!Any..Problems you need fixed? I hope these cuties are treating you properly!" He bowed for them and kissed Lucia's hand. The walls around them were littered with paintings and pictures of Lucia but there was one featuring Liron and Sho Natu.

Lucia complained, "This dirty cow had the nerve to refuse to bow to me. Discipline her as you see fit. Execution would be justified. Aside from that it has been fair. Be sure to welcome Noe and the Wind Beasts, the beasts will be here once they are out of uniform and Noe shall be guided soon after."

Liron kissed Lucia's ass as sincerely as possible, "Ah but of course! I always extend a warm welcome to pure maidens and followers of the Order!!! This Noe shall be taken care of! You truly are a Goddess..So kind and wise...Knowing when to punish the wicked yet knowing when to praise the righteous! For you I offer the greatest open-air spa, beds fit for more than a queen, more like a Goddess! And the sweetest fruit and fresh fish! It makes even those in Aysu jealous! The finest of wine and other spirits!! All of the treasures and baubles you could desire from all over the world on display or for your taking if you desire! A staff that will serve you every need because mortals must respect the power of the Gods always! Any other matters of business, O Great Goddess Lucia?"

Arabella handed a book to Liron. "Give this to Noe. The book of Aegle. She must begin her lessons soon. She is one of us now. The mission was quite a success...Also, I hear word there may be a traitor in our midst..I want you to find them and eliminate them. I must head back to Teros in the morning. Do not fail me Liron...And do not disturb me unless something requires my immediate attention..Even a Goddess needs rest if I am to bring miracles to this sad world. I will awaken and see you when it is time..."

"Sleep well then, O Goddess! My staff will obey your every word and if they don't...I'll play Harpoon Gun Roulett-I mean stone them up against the wall. Just humor my Goddess, humor!"

Lucia seemed unamused but did not read into it. She didn't really care what Liron did with the maid, she was weary. As much as she hated to admit it, Carla had almost killed her today! Only Arabella's intervention saved her.

Liron watched as Lucia and Arabella head to their room. He smirked as soon as the left and looked at the maid with a twisted smile on his face. "Now...Cows go to the slaughterhouse...But I'm a gentleman, I can give you a sporting chance. I don't think you've been milked for all you're worth. Now you can play Roulette with your life as the prize darling or you can pledge to serve me until you're not so pretty to look at anymore, what's it gonna be? Fold to me or Roll the Dice? I promise you..I won't mistreat you...All of these lovely young women are happy to serve me and you could be too. Show me your hand, sweetie! Let me help you up.."

The maid sighed as Liron helped her up and grinned. "That's a good girl. Just what I like. Obedience. You'll do well here now to learn you either do as you're told or die. This is my city, stay with me and I'll keep you warm, fed and happy..Clothed is another story. Oh just humor don't mind your pretty little head over it."

Serenda, a miserable place. Nothing more than a base for the OOA and a paradise for Liron now.
 
It was a surprise to Edward, it would've been to anyone. The kiss lasted for a brief second, yet her mind seemed to be in conflict with each other. Edward's tactic had oddly worked and he was left standing amidst a broken train and blazing station. What more could happen than that?
"Alright hands above your head, I'm no keeper of the peace so if you don't do it I will shoot." A woman's voice had crept out of hiding, her mind was somewhat shielded from his, but that was most likely due to her listening into his conversation with Noe. At the very least she had not tried to kill him so he was safe for now. He followed instructions and raised his hands.
"Might I ask who's capturing me today?"
"Stay put, mouth shut, you'll find out soon enough." She fiddled about with her equipment and had taken out a radio. She tried to get reception on it as the sandstorms seemed too much in the area. "Commander, commander! Damn this thing is useless here. Wait what?" It took Edward a moment to notice but there was a voice on the wind.
"You've done well, the commander and I are coming in very soon. Keep the prisoner, he may be of use to him, understood, Hishin?"
"Understood." They did not have long to wait, the fire had not even began to die down before Atoshi was there.

"That's good enough leave him to me now." Atoshi stepped forth from the tracks and Hishin put her gun down. Edward was now surrounded by the elite Shadow Unit and Aurora leading scientific advisor of the Abscus military.
"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were going to experiment on me."
"I guess it is a good thing you know better then. I knew the SDF were lacking forces but I did not think they willingly recruited mercenaries."
"All for the money am I right? Only color we are is green."
"Sometimes a wildcard is good, but you know the SDF does not have a chance in hell right? The warring powers have always been the ALF, the OOA, and Lavion's defenses. That group is nothing but disturbers of what little stability we have."
"That may be true but what is peace worth at the cost of eternal war? There are new pieces on the board extremely more hostile and volatile than what you think the SDF is. Either way my contract with them is up, so you can count me a free demon again. And if I recall correctly the Atoshi I knew never liked peace anyway."
"DO NOT, pin the beliefs of the Phoenix and Behemoth on me. They deserved what they got and here you are still avoiding the past."
"I'm not avoiding anything, merely atoning comrade." The conversation was cut short as they heard voices coming from outside, they were the first responders of the SDF.
"Take him back to Camak, Hishin. Aurora you will accompany me and Kono on diplomatic purposes, we're going to have a chat with Zigus."
 
Noe wandered into Serenda after a short journey, escaping the chaos she helped stir up at the SDF base. She had only ever heard tales about Serenda and it's lively atmosphere. In her mind, it was comparable to a fantasy land of sorts, a paradise for young children and adults alike. Of course, she'd never been there before now. She arrived to find the inhabitants slaving away under watchful eyes. Whatever tales she'd heard as a child no longer held true after the invasion. It was now a den of corruption ruled by whoever had the most money now. She wandered around the town, avoiding making eye contact with any of the citizens for their safety and hers. She had to make her way to the largest point in the city, that grand casino, and so she did.
 
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