Mature Content Warning: There is a bit of ero at the end... just a little bit... so, nudity, and adult sexual shenaningans.

Author's Note: This chapter is all about Scott and Pirouette. If you don't care for P-chan, skip it... there is one more chapter in this episode, and then the final episode of the RRL version of volume II will begin. :)

Chapter 30: The Ebony Devourer

He did not understand it. There had been no recriminations. There had been no hateful cursing of his name by anyone who he cared about. The knowledge he possessed had been accepted and any hurt they had from it had been bottled up apparently. At least that was what it seemed like when he was around. The worst part about it was the fact that several of his friends had tried to make him feel better about the situation.

Scott sighed softly as the sun began to set in the west. He had spent all of the previous night talking. He had spent all of the following day explaining what he was talking about. Nothing made sense. They all insisted he stay on as leader. How could they ask that of him after what he had kept from them?

The guilt inside him had been largely alleviated after bearing his soul, but he still felt like he had done them wrong.

Something changed in the atmosphere. The crickets had been chirping noisily for some time now, but suddenly they stopped. The quiet caught Scott's attention and he began to scan his surroundings.

He was surprised to discover that Pirouette was standing on a tree limb directly opposite of him. She stood with perfect poise and balance despite the fact that she had one hand behind her back. She was wearing an outfit that was very familiar. It was one he had never seen her wear outside of the anime she had been part of back home. She stared at him hard, even in the failing light he could clearly see that she possessed red rimmed eyes that were fighting back tears.

Several quiet moments passed before the first cricket dared to chirp again. After this climatic moment Pirouette spoke. "How... How could you..?"

Scott shook his head. "How could I what P-chan? Hold out on you...? Keep to myself knowledge of your life that only you should possess? Refuse to hurt you by dredging up old and incredibly painful memories?"

She glowered at him darkly. "No! How could you ...?" she began again, but found herself unable to say the words that she needed to say.

The man from another world gazed upon a dark elf from yet another world. He saw her begin to tremble. She was struggling hard not to simply break down right here and this set off warning bells in his mind. Something was seriously upsetting her and it had little to do with his knowledge of Eldane, his sad little attempt to recreate a parody of Record of Lodoss War.

"P-chan..." he began. When her head snapped up the anger had fled. Her expression had become one of pain and worry.

Scott was at a loss for a moment then as the moment passed he asked her, "Can you forgive me for not noticing it sooner?"

She blinked and turned her face to the side so she did not have to look at him. "Notice... what?"

Scott smiled at her gently. "You know... I don't know what really happened where you are from but... I never thought of the Tardot or you as evil despite the type casting..." he decided to say as a way of changing the subject.

She widened her eyes at the welcome change of subject then asked, "You didn't? Why not? We were trying to conquer and subjugate an entire continent. Most people thought we were scum even before that."

Her interdimensional former minion shook his head. "No one on Tardot was scum unless they chose to be. Even the goblins had a right to live better than they did."

"Goblins... A right to live better?" she asked bemusedly. Would they even have known how to do more than live in caves and hunt oversized rats?

Scott nodded at her. "Yes, goblins, dark elves, trolls, even ugly old human beings with their big asses and short ears deserved better than to be stuck on that doubly cursed rock."

She blinked at him. He actually sounded like he meant that. It reminded her so much of... But he was gone, centuries of time and an entire universe separated them.

"You're so strange... in my younger days I would think you were a fool."

"The younger Pirouette would have been right."

She smiled tentatively. She had tried her best to move past all of the pain in her old life, but she knew she had not really. She had just locked it away inside her and now it came out. It was so strange hearing someone that knew something of her people and the war they started who did not think them murdering monsters.

"Hmm... perhaps she would. Still, I... I came out here..."

Scott wondered which direction this conversation would go. Would she profess her undying dark elven sexy love for him? Yeah right, she was not into him like that and he knew it. Would she ask about what he thought of her? Would she ask if there was any way to have saved Vashra?

She bit her bottom lip. Scott considered her standing there both nobly and timidly. She had gone through a great deal since her days during the war of heroes.

"Scott... I... Do you think that we were wrong? You could see everything in your story right? Do you... Was the emperor and Vashra wrong for trying to unite Eldane?"

For some reason he suspected that was not what she really wanted to ask him but he decided to answer it anyway. "Honestly?"

She nodded slowly.

"What Gloss asked emperor Belte to do was not wrong or right. She wanted Eldane to be united under one strong rule so all the warring would stop. I can't condone his methods and would have thoroughly opposed the war, but I can understand the purpose and agree with the concept of a unified Eldane."

She took all that in and tried to reconcile it with what she recalled. It seemed he had a good idea overall of what happened and it did mollify her slightly to know that at least it was not all for naught if people could understand why they had tried to conquer Eldane Island.

"You know, besides Vagtard and to some clueless extent Klara there really were no true villains in that war. It was simply opposing ideologies and survival instincts."

"Is that so?" asked the dark elf thoughtfully from her tree. She was not so sure of that. Sometimes she looked back on her earlier life and wondered what it was all for. Then of course, it would always come back to one man. A man she had loyally served for centuries with little hope of his salvation.

Scott allowed one of his legs to dangle over the edge of his tree limb while the other stretched along its length. He had no fear of falling. Even if he snapped his neck he doubted that he would die from it. He was beginning to wonder if he could die at all. The sheer amount of near death experiences and hospital stays had made him begin to wonder what it would take to actually kill him.

The two were quiet for a time as night birds and crickets sang. It was nice to know that at least some normal animals survived the unholy onslaught of monsters and demi-humans in the wilderness that had destroyed the natural ecosystem. Of course, for all he knew those might be alien crickets from an alternate dimension. There seemed to be a great deal of that going on.

"Scott..."

The man glanced over at his friend and smiled. "Yes, P-chan?"

The dark elf grew quiet for a brief moment and glanced down at the ground. She seemed to be thinking deeply about something. After a short time passed, she looked back up again. "How bad is it...? This Dark Empire that you mentioned?"

The man from another world shook his head. "Bad Pirouette. You know how I said that I can see the reasoning for the Tardot invasion of Eldane even if I couldn't agree with it?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"That was because it was people warring over the same cause viewed through different philosophies. The Dark Empire... It's different. It doesn't want to rule."

She gazed at him pointedly for a moment and then steeled herself. "What does it want then?"

Scott looked up at her with a world weary expression, "The complete and total destruction of all life. The Empire is nothing but a bunch of puppets being controlled by an evil existence that wants to suck the entire planet dry of its life force, then move on to another and repeat its vampiric assault on all life. It is hatred, envy, and chaos with no purpose other than destruction."

"Could it really do that...? Destroy all life?"

Scott nodded slowly. "Yes, it nearly did so once before. If the story is even remotely true then nearly all of the sentient life and much of the animal life force on the planet was absorbed into it and the bodies of the fallen became its soldier fiends. They wait now, trapped in their dark prison... But, if they gather enough energy they will break free and rampage across the planet. Though that's my interpretation..."

Pirouette bit her lip softly then turned to look at the full moon. It was the second of the three nights that the moon would be full this month.

As she gazed at the moon she thought about her past and her future. She knew Scott would be a central figure in the battles to come, but he was not quite strong enough. He was powerful, but he was a weak link in the power chain compared to his harem. There was something she could offer him, but she could not make herself give it up to him until she had heard the full truth.

"So... Dark elf of my dreams... What's with the adventuring garb? You planning on waging a war or just trying to make my eyes bug out of my head?" he asked her in a soft masculine voice.

She fought back a blush and started picking at her outfit. She'd never been so self-conscious of it before. "What, this old thing?"

Scott barked out a sudden laughter that caught her off guard. Soon they were both giggling.

As the laughter started to die down she said, "I thought it appropriate since I am coming with you from now on."

The man quirked an eyebrow at her. "Not that I would dislike your company P-chan, but what about the institute?"

She shook her head sending her platinum blond hair waving back and forth. "Already handled. I'm coming."

"What if I wanted to keep you safe and said no?" he asked her lightly.

She snorted at him. "Maybe you'd have to beat me to make me stay behind?"

"Maybe you'd like that too much?"

She blinked then smirked at him, "Now why would I enjoy such a thing?"

The man smirked at her in kind, "You may be a natural blond... But your roots are showing P-chan."

Her eyebrows arched lightly at the mention of her roots and her smirk deepened to a predatory gleam. "How much do you know about my roots, mere human that you are?"

Scott chuckled at her softly. "Sticks and stones may break your bones, but whips and chains excite you?"

She choked a little then released a surprised giggle at him. He was such a goof ball unlike Vashra. Pirouette thought over the fact that she kept comparing Scott to her late beloved king and paramour. While there were definite similarities they were not the same sort of people at all.

Vashra only laughed when he was fighting. Most of the time he scowled, and he seemed quite dour. The black knight of Tardot had a certain air of danger about him that mixed well with his aura of command.

Scott... was currently sitting in the branches of a tree while looking at her with a goofy expression and making weird motorboat noises. He laughed a lot whenever he did not try to take the burden of the world on his shoulders. He was reasonably decent with a sword, but Vashra would have carved him up readily. The only thing they seemed to share was her interest in them... and a desire to soldier on and conquer their foes for the sake of a better life.

She knew that if he was to fulfill what she suspected to be his ultimate destiny as a world saving hero he would need proper equipment. She had gone home via Alanera and retrieved a special item for the man who had so neatly ensnared her in his web. It was something incredibly precious to her despite its hateful nature. It once served the man she loved... and despite her inability to reconcile those feelings she knew deep down that tonight it would once again serve such a man.

"Scott... I... I didn't just come out here to chat about the old times that you weren't a part of..."

The tree limb perched man blinked and then asked, "Yes Pirouette? Why else did you come?"

The dark elf sighed and removed her hand from behind her back. Clenched in her fist was a sword.

It took Scott a moment to recognize exactly what he was seeing, but when he did his eyes slowly widened to the point of bugging out. "P-chan, that... That's not...?"

"So, you recognize it then? I thought that you might."

"The crusher of souls... The accursed sword, Ebony Devourer. How do you have it? I thought... I mean, shouldn't it have been buried with Vashra?"

She glared at him hatefully for a moment then her expression softened and she replied to him, "I... could not allow some grave robber to steal this sword. No one would have bothered it for decades, perhaps a century or two, but eventually someone would have come for it. There is always someone who thinks that they deserve its power."

Scott gazed at the cursed blade and shuddered softly. That thing... It was only safe to carry it while it was sheathed. Once someone actually draws it forth from it’s sheathe the blade would try to devour their soul.

"That blade... It... That's Vashra's blade Pirouette. I can't... It wouldn't be right..."

"I don't know if you ever heard it in your stories. Once on the voyage to Geminalia Vashra told me that even though it was an evil blade he would keep it. He needed its power to defend what he loved..."

"Vashra... I never really knew him, but from what I could see... He was a brave and honorable man..." replied Scott as he saw the obvious pain on the face of his friend. Even the darkness could not hide such agony with the full moon shining.

"So are you. You also have people who you love and need to protect..."

Scott nodded softly. Then while gazing into her eyes from across the gap between the tree limbs he said, "Yes Pirouette. There are people I do love and need to protect."

She closed her eyes gently for a moment as a slow smile spread on her lips. He had made his point quite well.

"There is a problem though... It is not called the accursed sword for nothing. That thing... It is powerful. It took Vashra months to master it. We might not have that much time..."

The dark elf nodded. "You need a proper weapon. Your magic seems to be growing stronger. The sword you currently wield won't hold up much longer. It grows dull and weak because your mystical power is too much for it."

"Yes, it will probably break on me one day soon." admitted Scott slowly. He knew the sword could be a major help but it was such a longshot that he could even control it.

"There is also the fact that the demon king who bonded with the sword is greatly weakened now. It has not fed on a destroyed soul in nearly four hundred years."

Scott thought about that seriously for a moment. From what he could recall, the thoughts on what the Ebony Devourer actually did varied. Some believed it simply destroyed a soul and was singularly powerful. Other people thought that when it destroyed a sword it took some of the fallen opponent's life force to strengthen itself. There were several other theories. From what Pirouette was saying it sounded like this particular version of the blade might work like the second concept espoused.

The man gazed intently at his first long term friend in this world and nodded slowly. "If you wish to entrust me with the legacy of that sword I will accept it and the consequences of my choice."

She nodded back to him seriously then moved forward and hopped across the branches. Pirouette then held the sword out to him.

Scott reached up to take the sheathe of the greatsword. "Thank you for trusting me with this...”

She nodded at him as a few previously unshed tears began to slide down her cheeks. She had finally given up the last tangible item of her love for Vashra.

Scott held the blade sheathe tight in his hand. He gazed up at the friend who had decided to entrust her heart to him. The fact that this blade was in his hand spoke more of her feelings than anything else. This blade had belonged to the man that she loved, and it had been the only way to set his soul free of the dark god that possessed him. She had pierced him with it, ending his hellish nightmare existence.

"So... draw forth your mighty blade hero." said Pirouette through her tears.

Scott smiled at her but did not grasp the hilt. "Not in this tree and not with you so close. This thing might have enough presence of mind to try and make me kill you if you're within striking distance."

She blinked then nodded slowly at him. This was true. The dark elf jumped down from the tree branch and moved a short distance away to give Scott room. She wanted to be there when he drew the blade for the first time.

Scott followed suit soon after. He landed quite a bit heavier than the lithe elf, but he was not injured in any way.

The man took a deep breath then stared down at the sword sheathed in his hand. He gazed at the blade known as Ebony Devourer. He considered its lines, its curves, and its history. Scott took in the sight of a sheathed sword that had slain both a demon king and a god.

He took another deep breath and steeled himself for the shock to come. He knew that the moment he touched the handle of this blade he would be locked in a spiritual struggle with the sword's demonic spirit. He would have to move with purpose and decisiveness when he took control of the blade.

Scott flexed his hand, wiggled his fingers, then with another deep breath he grasped firmly the handle of the blade and drew it out in one swift motion with a roar that would have intimidated most anything.

His primal scream echoed into the night but no further screams occurred. The man stood there with the blade fully drawn in a manner akin to a statue as he breathed in and out slowly.

There were many things he had thought he would feel upon drawing this accursed blade. The absolute absence of anything at all was not one of those suspected feelings.

He blinked stupidly for a moment then raised the sword up to eye level and stared at it with a frown. Following this he proceeded to shake the indomitable blade of utter destruction and soul crushing force. It showed no sign of being concerned by that.

Pirouette gazed upon him with concern as he shook the sword violently. 'He must be struggling with the demon of the blade... such conviction!'

Finally, in annoyance at the lack of inner conflict, he stared at the blade and thought, 'What's wrong with you?'

A soft and strangely feminine whispered through his mind. Scott thought that he had imagined it for a moment, but then it came again softly in a simplistic child-like voice, 'Hungry...'

The sword that had slain a demon and then a god was not exactly producing an overwhelming force right now. Scott blinked at the sword as he considered what it was talking about.

'Blood... and souls...' expressed the sad and incredibly lonely sounding feminine voice.

The man shuddered at the disconcerting disparity between the desire for blood and the voice that spoke of that desire. Apparently this version of the Ebony Devourer really was a vampiric sword that drew on the life force of those it slew.

'Hello.' thought Scott loudly while looking at the blade. It took a moment but a very weak 'Hi...' echoed back. Somehow it managed to sound shy and afraid despite being a thing of evil.

The man from another world held a sword from yet another world in his hands and despite the evil twisted nature of the thing he could not help but feel somewhat sorry for its current state.

He could not resist asking it something, though. 'Sword... I thought you were a demon blade... what happened?'

The world was silent for a moment as even the crickets stopped chirping briefly. Then finally the blade answered, 'I was hungry, so very hungry... Now, I am hungry and lonely...'

He remembered some of the lore. The blade had not truly become tainted till it absorbed the soul of the demon king that was slain by it. However, it was a magical sword even before that. He was probably wrong but it sounded like the sword was claiming that it had finished digesting the soul of that demon king over the last few centuries and it was lonely and starving.

Scott continued gazed down at the sword and asked, 'Will you accept me as your master without conflict?'

A short time passed and the blade answered, 'Will you feed me... and keep me company?'

Scott answered the sword without pause 'If I can choose the opponents, the blood and souls you wish to devour, as well as allow me total and complete dominion over you, then yes.. I will feed you and keep you company.'

'I am yours master...' responded the sweet child-like voice of the blade in a tone that disturbed the man greatly. It had subtle undertones that made him quite uncomfortable.

Scott spoke aloud to the blade to seal the deal, "You are mine."

Pirouette arched an eyebrow at the strange admission then blinked as Scott sheathed the sword and smiled at her tiredly. "That was interesting."

The dark elf nodded. It certainly had been.

"Is there anything else you want to do, or can we call it a night P-chan. I'm a little tired."

She flushed at his question then shook her head. "I... Just, let's just go to bed."

Scott gasped at her in faux-shock. "Why P-chan, how very forward of you!"

Normally she would snort at him or scoff but tonight seeing him hold that sword she could only look at him and shake her head. "I don't care if it is..."

The man blinked. He had just been playing with her, but she was acting strangely serious. Things got even more confusing when she slid her hand to the left side of her white, extremely low cut, outfit and pushed one side open before shrugging her shoulder out of it. Soon the other shoulder followed and then the one piece ensemble slid to the ground. She stood there before him in all of her naked glory.

The moonlight shone brightly against her copper-toned flesh. It accentuated her every curve as she opened her eyes once more. She had closed them while she undressed. She stood there and smiled timidly at the man she had grown so fond of in such a short time.

Scott was not sure what to say about this turn of events. This was no time for words anyway. He placed the sword to the ground and slipped off his own clothing. He did not manage it with remotely similar amounts of grace, but once it was done he moved swiftly across the gap between them and stood in front of her as the moon shined down upon them.

Lips moved forward tenderly until they met each other. Hands found secret places to hold and caress. In the hearts of a man from another world and a dark elf a new bond was forming that had nothing to do with genetics.

“P-chan.” whispered Scott, before sliding his hands down to gently cup her soft, supple, ass. She leaned into him gently and kissed him sweetly on the lips.

They stayed that way for quite some time, exploring each other’s body through hands and mouth. Pleasant moans escaped from excited lips.

Experimentally, Scott slapped Pirouette gently on the ass and she gasped a little before pressing against him tightly. She whimpered softly, but said nothing.

Scott quirked his left eyebrow then a slow, feral grin crossed his lips. “You’ve been a bad girl, P-chan.”

“Hmm?” she asked in mild confusion.

He took her by the shoulders and turned her around before pressing her authoritatively against the trunk of a nearby tree. “You have spent months teasing me with your beautiful body...”

“Have I?” she asked, barely able to say the words. She pressed against the tree and instinctively lifted her hips upward.

Scott slapped her across the ass with the flat of his hand and she yelped excitedly. “Naughty.”

He slapped her ass again, “Girl.”

Pirouette closed her eyes and bit her lower lip. Scott continued to slap her on the ass while telling her that she was a very bad girl. By the time he was done, her ass was bright red, and her lonely pussy had begun to drip with unexpressed need.

“I’ve been so bad...” whispered Pirouette.

Her longed for lover stopped slapping her pert posterior then slipped his fingers down to caress her dripping slit. He leaned forward and whispered into her ear. “You’ve also been a good girl, haven’t you?”

“No... I’ve been bad.” she said.

“Hmm, really? Has my cute little P-chan been too bad, for me to give her soft kisses?”

She shook her head gently, but did not speak. Scott slipped down and pressed his lips against her pussy. His tongue slid out then caressed her in a slow, deliberate manner. She gasped loudly and pressed back against him.

“No, no... Only good girls get more than one kiss...”

“I’ll be good...”

“Is that true?”

She nodded quickly. It had been quite a long time since anyone had kissed that particular part of her anatomy. Far too long, actually...

Scott reached his arms between her thighs then lifted her up into the air after standing. She gripped the tree tightly then began to pant loudly when she felt Scott’s tongue begin to massage her beautiful pussy in a slow, casual, way.

The thoroughly aroused dark elf clutched at the tree and tried to catch her breath. It felt so nice, too nice.

Her lover stepped back several times, forcing her to release the tree. She dropped with a yelp, but he held onto her body and she did not fall to the ground. Instead she came face to face with his other mighty sword that was forged legend.

Scott’s eyes widened when he felt her lips wrap around his manly girth. Expertly, she cupped his testicles, and suckled his manhood. Her head began to slide back and forth while her tongue caressed the tip of his cock.

He pressed her back against the tree. They stayed there for quite some time pleasuring each other with their mouths while the gentle moonlight beamed down upon them through the branches.

They had many adventures that evening as their bodies intertwined. Their riotous love-making caused small animals to flee in terror and many became terrified that they would be crushed by the writhing rhythmic motions of their bodies.

They totally did it in the butt, too. Scott knocked it around a bit and P-chan was all, “Oh yes.” It was totally hot, but no one wants to hear about that, right?

Troll author is a troll!

Muahahahahaahahh!