The nine tails roared as it raised its right front paw before slamming it down towards Yuki who rolled out of the way before being crushed.

Jumping back to his feet, the swordsman rolled forwards, ducking as the fox slammed its left paw down, traveling underneath the monster with his katana held in a low arc before skidding to a halt, slicing upwards at the monsters outstretched paw, performing a second strike before the beast leaped from the ground, backflipping before slamming back on the ground.

Growling, the monster began to charge up another shot, ready to obliterate Yuki in one shot. The mud then shot up around the monster, coiling around the beasts legs as it held it in place as the orange glow grew more intense.

"All yours big guy!" Yuki yelled as Cliff charged past pulling back his right arm as he skidded to a halt below the monster's jaw, raising his bloodied left arm with his palm flat while coiling his legs.

The second he sprung from the ground, the ground cracked below as he threw his left fist into the monster's jaw. The fox's head jolted up from the impact, closing its mouth shut before it could release another energy shot. There was then a loud bang as the energy it stored exploded.

Cliff leaped back as the fox collapsed to the ground, smoke smoldering from its mouth. "Did I get it?"

As he approached, the fox sprung forwards, leaping over Cliff, lunging its paw at Yuki who stood behind.

"Oh SHI-?!" Yuki could only raise his arms as the fox's paw slammed into him, launching him a few miles back, slamming through one of the old ruin's before skidding to a halt.

"YUKI!!" Cliff called out, failing to notice the fox turning back around to face him, lunging its paw out. Before he realized what had happened, Cliff was grasped by the monstrous paw of the fox, hauled into the air before being slammed into the ground hard enough to shatter it.

Cliff coughed up blood as he was buried into the ground. The hit was hard enough for him to even feel the pain from his bones rattling. The fox released its grip, moving its hands overhead as it prepared to hammer down on Cliff.

C-Crap....Cliff groaned as he tried to push himself up. Despite the pain nullified, he couldn't find the strength to push himself up, having taken too much damage already. C-Come on.... Move.....!

Moments before the fox's next move, the king suddenly burst onto the scene, slamming head first into the fox, throwing it off balance. As the fox staggered, mud began to shoot from the ground, coiling around the legs, pinning down the nine fire-tipped tails.

Bush stood a mile away, gritting his teeth as he kept his hands pressed against the ground.

"B-Bush?" Cliff groaned as he forced himself out of the hole that he was in.

With a roar, the king lunged on top of the pinned fox, sinking its jaws into the monster's back. The fox howled as the jaws sunk in. the king wrestled with the meat, trying to tear out its flesh that was in its mouth as its claws dug in deep into the red hide.

"No... no no no!" Bush swore. He was using a considerable amount of mana just too keep the fox pinned, yet that was becoming undone fast due to the fox's strength. After barely thirty seconds, the tails broke free. The rest of the mud began to dissolve off the fox as it began to stand up with the king still looming over it. With its limbs now free, the fox griped a hold of the king's face. Desperately, the king tried to dig deeper into its prey as the fox began to push itself from the ground, standing on its hind legs. Grasping hold of the king by the head, the fox employed its unnatural strength, taking the massive behemoth off its back, allowing parts of its flesh to be torn off in the process, throwing it overhead, slamming its back onto the cold hard ground. With its hands still clenched around its head, the monster swung the monster by the neck, throwing it overhead until it came to a stop by the ruined foundations of one of the broken plateaus.

".... How strong is this thing?" Cliff said as the fox stood upright, glaring towards Bush.

With a low growl, it lowered its body, getting ready to pouch towards the two men. Blood then erupted from the left side of its neck, causing it to flinch. Turning its head, it saw the battered Yuki, holding his katana in front of him, breathing heavily. "I'm not dead yet..." He grunted holding out his katana.

Orange flames gathered in the mouth of the nine tails as it reared its head upwards, glaring at Yuki below it.

".... Oh shit!" Yuki swore as he bolted to his left moments before the monster fired. The small energy orb hit the ground where Yuki had stood, letting out a smaller explosion. Yuki was out of the blast area but was propelled forward by the sheer force of the blast. The man was sent flying until he came to a halt several feet away, smoldering from the attack.

"Yuki!"

"Blast! Mr Akoga!"

Deaf to the cries of his fellow companions, Yuki stabbed his blade into the ground, using it to prop himself up from the ground. "That... was way too close...."

He looked back at the fox, huffing, and puffing. The fox slammed its feet into the ground, growling as it eyed the wounded swordsman who shot the monster a snarky grin. "Sorry, you overgrown wheeze... But I'm not dying here....."

The fox let out a tremendous cry to the heavens and was about to charge forwards, when all of a sudden, it's feet began to levitate off the ground along with several rocks.

"What the?"

"I apologize for the delay, my friends!"

Yuki turned his head. There he saw Faust standing on an elevated patch of land with his hands slammed together, letting out a yellow aura emitting from his body. "The mother of nature, goddess of all that this land provides. Farther of the heavens that govern the laws of both time and space."

A few miles above, rocks and parts of the submerged ruins began to float upwards, slamming together to form an ever-growing sphere that began to ascend higher and higher.

"The moon and the earth, two heavenly bodies that are forever apart from earth other, separated for all eternity, destined to be apart forever."

The fox began to squirm around, failing its arms and tails out as it was pulled towards the ever-growing sphere above, letting out a roar of defiance, directed at the man it knew was responsible.

"No rejoice and be pulled back together in holy fire and devastation!"

The fox slammed against the surface of the newly formed sphere, pelted with rocks and debris until it was buried. The sphere of newly generated earth was now complete, hovering a few miles above the ground.

"Impressive...." Bush gawked, gazing up at the new celestial body.

".... That's the spell he used on Max back in the ruined city," Cliff said as he gazed upwards. He recalled something similar happening when he, Allisa, Melvin and the samiet trio fought against Shay and May. "Wait...." His eyes then widened. "DOESN'T THAT THING EXPLODE?!!"

"F-Fret not...." Faust said under what seemed like a massive strain, hands still slammed together. The object began to drift upwards into the blue sky. "I-It will be weaker.... But if I lift it high enough to detonate... it should minimize the damage...."

Fissures then began to form on the face of the sphere as it floated upwards. Faust's eye's widened with shock. "I-Impossible!!"

"What?" Yuki said as he pushed himself to his feet. "Did something go wrong?"

All of a sudden, the bottom of the sphere shattered. The nine tails burst from the sphere, digging its front paws into the newly gathered earth, red flames gathering in its mouth. It then a ball of energy that burrowed through the sphere, shooting from the top before exploding. The sphere then began to crumble and fall back down to the earth with the fox along with it.

"Wh-What the hell!?" Yuki exclaimed. Faust then collapsed to his knees, heavily panting as his energy was drained from him. "Hey hair dew, what the hell was that?"

"It... it stopped the spell...." Faust said weakly. "The fox overpowered it."

Gritting his teeth, Yuki glanced back to the pile of debris that had fallen from the giant sphere in time to see the fox bursting forth from the center. ".... This thing's gotta break the rules of nature or something." Yuki grunted as he held his katana out in front of him.

Bush meanwhile collapsed to his hands and knees, letting out deep breaths. "I-I must have used more mana then I thought...." He said, glancing up at the fox.

".... Bush," Cliff mouthed weakly as he sprawled out on the ground. The steam that was emanating from his body was beginning to subside. "Make sure.... You slug Max.... if we make it out..... alive..." With the steam ceasing, Cliff lost consciousness.

****

Nel raised her short blade, parrying a swift strike from the caged helmet, parrying the strike and allowing the figure to fall through. Turning sharply, Nel parried two strikes from the pyramid helmet, ducking under the third blow while cutting into the shades' belly, finishing with a kick. Gritting her teeth, she pivoted on her heels to face backward, leaning back as the beast helmet swung a cross-strike at Nel. Dropping on her back, Nel kicked out, hitting the beast helmet in the chest before rolling back to her hands.

The beast helmet skidded across the ground before lunging to the left in an unnatural manner as the human helmet and domed helmet charged forwards, zigzagging between each other as they approached. Activating her piercer eyes, Nel ducked and parried each one before noticing the caged helmet approaching from behind.

Gritting her teeth, Nel quickstepped, reappearing in the air as she backflipped over the caged helmet. Landing on the ground, she ducked as the T visor helmet swung its blades down in a vertical strike. Nel counter-attacked by stabbing the creature in the chest pivoting around the monster and blocked a downward strike from the hammerhead helmet with her dagger, and a horizontal strike with her short blade.

Using quickstep to escape again, Nel stood on guard as the seven helmeted humanoid creatures began to circle here, gliding across the ground as though they had no feet. Every action they made felt unnatural with their speeds so erratic and unpredictable that even her piercer eyes couldn't keep up with them. By her reckoning, in the short skirmish, she had stabbed all of them at least once, some which would be fate to normal humans. It further compounded that these creatures were not entirely human.

"I don't have time for this...." Nel growled to herself, glaring at the entrance to the ruin still blocked by green flames.

The cloaked figures resumed their charge. With her daggers raised, Nel blocked and parried each rushed strike, using her agility and acrobatics to dodge the incoming attacks.

The helmet figures swerved between each other, keeping up to Nel as she leaped and dodged across the battlefield, staying on the defensive, watching for openings in the monster's patterns, her golden eyes darting all across.

Ducking again to avoid losing her head by the T-visor helmet, Nel pivoted clockwise, stabbing the creature in the chest with her dagger. As expected, the monster didn't die, rather it twisted its hands to invert its blades to stab at Nel. Freeing her weapon, Nel twirled on the ground as the creature embedded its weapons into the grounds. Jumping forwards to avoid a back attack from the beast helmet, Nel used quickstep to propel herself forwards, reappearing to dropkick the pyramid helmet, backflipping as the figure toppled backward from the force of Nel's kick. As the assassin landed back on the ground, the figure had recovered, slithering across the ground like a snake with fragments of its cloak shedding before it got back to its feet.

Turning, Nel deflected an incoming strike from the incoming caged helmet, pivoting around her as the beast helmet leaped into the air with the pyramid helmet snaking across the ground, holding its two horrid blades to its side.

Before Nel could react, something struck the beast helmet in the helmet, knocking it off its momentum. Simultaneously, another projectile struck the pyramid helmet, which subsequently exploded. Brushing her surprise and bewilderment as to what saved her, Nel took immediate advantage. When the best helmet landed on the ground, Nel swiped her short blade through its neck, a blow that severed the head from the body, which quickly vanished in an inky blackness. As the pyramid helmet reeled from the explosion, the iron smoldering from the blast, Nel spun on her heel before lunging upwards a few meters in the air, bringing her short blade down on the neck of the pyramid helmet as the best helmet began to disintegrate.

The five remaining helmets stopped, slowly turning to the entrance of the plateau. There huddled in a group were Melvin, Rodger, Cerberus and the rest of the Samiet youths Nel recognized.

"... I think that got their attention," Redwol structured timidly, hugging his crystal ball.

"Alright you bastards!" Rodger said with his hammer on his shoulders, pointing to the helmet shades. "Ya got three minutes ta get lost before I lose my temper and kick ya out myself!"

"You mean before I kick them out myself." Steve declared arrogantly, twirling his blowgun in his right hand.

"Can you find a better time to do this?" Melvin ended up asking the two samiets with a dead fish expression.

The shades suddenly began to scutter and weave around before lunging towards the group with their unnatural speed.

"Wha! They're coming!" Dora pointed out. Melvin launched a fireball spell while Rodger created spikes in the path of the incoming creatures, while Steve and Fred backed them up with their weapons. However, each shot and attack missed as the shades simply swerved back, forwards, left and right with no rhythm or sense of coordination.

"Aim! They're getting close!!" Redwol called out, sounding panicked.

"They're too fast!" Melvin said as he launched wind blades towards the domed helmet, only for it to swerve downwards like a snake to avoid it, skidding across the ground, crossing the distance to the children with alarming speeds.

"You bastard!" Rodger swore as he slammed his hand to the ground, jutting out a spike directly in front of the hunched creature, only to watch it swerve out of the way and continue its path.

However, just as it turned around the spike, Nel suddenly appeared crouched at the creature's right, with the domed helmet flying off its shoulders.

"Nel!" Melvin cheered as Nel roundhouse kicked the spike, breaking off the tip. As it spun in the air, Nel turned on her heel before kicking the projectile to the left, sending it straight at the incoming hammerhead helmet, hitting the iron surface with a clang. Lowering to the ground, Nel stabbed the shade in the chest, released her dagger before slicing the head off.

"Miss Nel!" Dora said, grateful to the assassin.

"Look out!" Gura exclaimed, standing in front of Dora as the caged helmet charged towards the two, raising its blades.

Steve fired his blowgun, hitting the helmet in the center, staggering it. As it lurched backward, Nel suddenly appeared above it, stomping her boot in the center of the monster's face, forwards flipping over it, before bringing her boot down hard on the human iron mask, hitting with a loud thud that echoed through the battlefield.

Landing on the ground, Nel sidestepped as the T-visor helmet lunged forwards, allowing the monster's blades to strike its own comrade, the horrid weapons dug into the chest of the Human helmet. With it immobilized for that second, Nel took the head off the T-visor.

Freed the final shade lunged towards her, its blades held out low. With her golden eyes fixed on her target, Nel parried the incoming blow with her short blade. The human helmet began a myriad of strikes, which Nel blocked with only her short blade. The human helmet tried to follow up its strikes by holding its weapons horizontally, spinning clockwise towards its target. Nel spun on her left heart, bending her back so the blades could pass her by a narrow fraction, cutting off a tiny fraction of her bangs. Nel's feet then left the ground, spinning counter-clockwise before landing on the ground, holding a low stance as the human helmet charged forwards.

What happened was so fast that the onlookers had no idea what happened. It was as though a scene had been cut out almost instantly, Nel was standing upright, holding out her short blade while the human helmet had passed her by, holding out its blades.

None dared to breathe as the seconds ticked by. Nel was the first to move, lowering her arms. Then the head of the last shade fell backward, falling slowly to the ground as the body vanished into inky blackness. The helmet disintegrated before it could hit the ground.

Nel spun her blades before sheathing them, letting out a sigh.

"Nel!"

"Hey Nel! What's goin on?" Rodger and Melvin (along with the small Cerberus) ran up to the assassin.

"Nel! The nine tails is out!" Melvin said pointing to the battle unfolding in the center of town. "What happened?"

"And what the heck's this thing?!" Steve ended up blurting out. He and the other samiet children were pointing at the body of the giant beast that used to be one of the twin assassins. Nel was so captivated by the battle with the helmeted figures she had completely forgotten about it.

Nel glanced back to the entrance of the ruins. With the new opponents defeated, the green flames that had barred her were gone. They were a distraction..... but for who?

"Hold on," Melvin suddenly interrupted, looking around the dilapidated battlefield. "Where's Allisa and Kira? Weren't they-?"

Nel charged towards the entrance of the ruins before Melvin could finish.

"Wh-Nel?!" Melvin said as he and Cerberus ran after her.

"I'll explain on the way!" Nel said simply, not heading Melvin's calls to slow down, limping along due to the wounds that still hadn't healed.

With very little information of their own, the confused samiet youths followed behind into the mysterious ruin, unable to get even a straight answer from Nel, who kept pushing forwards despite the calls from her companions and the other samiets for her to stop and explain what had happened and who the seven figures were.

If they were so adamant of keeping people out, those seven would have jumped us right from the start. Nel evaluated, her thoughts trailing off more and more. If it were meant to keep me out..... or anyone entering after..... I hope I'm just overthinking this...

Death of the Nine Tails

"Oh no, Cliff!"

Yuki turned his head to see Bush rushing over to the passed-out Cliff. "You gotta be kidding me," Gritting his teeth he glanced back to the Fox as it freed itself from the debris left behind from Faust's spell. "..... Don't suppose you got any other tricks up your sleeve?"

He looked to Faust, who had collapsed down to one knee, panting heavily from exhaustion. "... My apologies," He said weakly. "Level 3 spells are quite taxful on the body,"

"Tch, mana seems more of a handicap the more I see it," Yuki held his katana at the ready, staring up at the fox with a small grin. Even he knew there was nothing to be happy about. Max was out of the picture, Cliff was down, the albeno behemoth hadn't gotten back up after being thrown aside like a rag doll, Faust was out of power and he had no idea about the others. It was just him and the mud manipulator Bush against a monster that was overpowering all of them with not even half its strength.

"... We better start clutching at miracles," Yuki grunted, as he held his blade out, just as the fox raised its head, growling at its pray.

BANG!

BOOM!

Unexpectedly, something slammed into the right side of the fox's face, exploding.

"What the?" Yuki lowered his blade.

The fox raised his head through the smoke, turning its head to the side.

"GOT PLENTY MORE YA BASTARD!!"

A familiar voice boomed in an artificially enhanced tone as more projectiles slammed into the fox, setting off various explosions, followed by a barrage of smaller projectiles.

"Wh-What in the blazes?!" Bush said covering his ears at the loud bangs, turning to see what was causing such devastation.

Yuki reared his head, squinting his eyes before they widened with surprise. "Wait.... Isn't that the thing the kid totaled a while back?"

Glancing up, Faust let out a smile. "I thought there were some that survived."

Stomping through the basin was a tall, bipedal monstrosity charged through the ancient rockwork, machine gun arms firing all they had with the chest cannon firing round after round at the fox, which relied from each explosion peppering its massive body, using its nine tails to shield itself. Inside was Shay at the helm of the machine's complex controls with May looking through a pair of binoculars, Van and Freya clutching to what limited space there was for dear life.

"One tough son of bitch." May commented. "Yo bro! Kick it inta high gear!"

"Got it!" Shay said with a grin as he pulled a leaver. Steam erupted from the rear of the war machine as the speed picked up.

"A-Are you sure you can work this monstrosity?!" Van shouted over the rattling of the guns.

"Had a bitta training with onna these babies!" Shay replied as he pushed the lever down again. "Weren't great at it, but all we need is ta support our bro's fighting that thing on foot!"

"WE GOT THIS BRO'S!!" May shouted through a speaker which was relayed vire a megaphone. "TASTE SOME’A CELTIC HOARDS REMAINING GRACEMARIA MAGITEK YA DAMN MONSTER!!"

The machine continued, all guns firing at the giant fox. Bush scampered out of the way as the machine charged past, ceasing fire before turning to its right, swinging the left arm out as it crashed into the fox. Hitting with the force of a wrecking ball. The fox's defense broke as its tails flew aside, leaving its main body exposed.

"It's open!" Freya called out.

"See how ya like it up close!" Shay said as he mashed his thumb on the left leaver. The machine guns fired at full force, peppering the red fur of the fox in a crescendo of gunfire. The fox reeled under the gunfire, ignoring it as much as it could while raising itself on its hind legs, letting out a roar as it raised its right paw.

"It's gonna hit us!" Van pointed out.

"Ha! Not yet!" May said as he reached down, slamming his hand into a large red button at the center console. The chest cannon fired at point blank range, hitting the fox's underbelly. With a defining explosion, the fox was forced to its back. The war machine slammed down on the fox's chest with one foot, aiming its two guns at the monster's face.

"Time ta finish ya off!" Shay said, unable to see the red flames brewing from the fox's mouth.

"Shay! May! Look out!" Faust called out, trying to warn them to no avail.

The fox spat out a ball of energy, which burrowed through the machine's right side, blasting away its right arm and a large chunk of the machine's body, continuing into the air before exploding.

"Wha-!" The passengers grasped hold of anything they could while the machine shook violently. "What happened?!" Van demanded while Shay wrestled with the controls, noticing the looseness in the right arm.

"S-Somethings wrong...." He growled as he flipped switches and pulled leavers. "Come on ya piece of-" The controls then burst and sparked as the machine began to topple down.

The fox then swung its right paw, grabbing a hold of the machine before throwing it down to the ground. The machine crashed to the ground with a violent thud. The impact threw out all four passengers of the metal monstrosity, toppling across the basin's rough ground.

"Ahh what the hell!" May groaned as he rubbed his bald head. "You bro, what did- YAHH!" He then toppled back to the ground. Shay, Van and Freya followed the man's gaze and saw the fox standing on the wreckage of the machine, fixing its murderous gaze on the four figures before it.

"Uh.... T-Time out," Shay said timidly.

The fox raised its body, red flames beginning to form at its mouth. Before it could, mud began to swarm over the fox, fastening over its feet. The flames from the fox's moth died out as it turned to see Bush a few feet away.

"Farther!"

"Bearded bro!!"

The fox leaned back, easily breaking free of the mud as it turned to face one of its occurrence nuisances. Roots suddenly burst from below the broken machine, coiling around the fox as it tried to pin it down.

"I've got it!" Van announced through gritted teeth. The fox began to rip and tear at the roots that coiled around it. More and more began to coil around the fox, trying to immobilize the monster, and the creature tore through them each time.

"Damn this creature..." Van growled as he poured more and more effort into stopping the creature.

"B-B-Bro that ain't working!!" Shay said pointing frantically at the monster.

As on cue, the fox lunged forwards, breaking free of its bindings as it sore over the four figures before crashing down on the ground, turning its body sharply as it growled menacingly at the four.

****

"MYOW, LOOKOUT BLOW!!" Meracle yelled in the air, approaching the southern wall waving her feet as the crowd of samiets who scattered as fast as they could.

Meracle landed on the ground with a thud, skidding on her feet before tripping, finishing the rest of the journey on her belly. "Mowww...." She groaned, pushing herself from the ground, gently rolling her passenger to her back. "We... we made it..." She said with a smile.

Leone didn't respond.

".... Leone?"

Meracle gently shook her old companions.

"H-Hey... we're here... We're safe..."

Now that she saw Leone properly, the older cait sith looked even worse than when she last saw her. Her belly was dyed in a thick coat of red, and her skin was incredibly pale.

"Leone...." Tears forming in her eyes, Meracle snapped her head up at the surrounding samiets. "Is there a doctor?! Or a wizard?!"

The samiets looked at each other, mumbling between each other with a grim expression and an air of reluctance, with some shouting, pointing her out as being in league with the 'evil humans' that had torn apart their peaceful town.

"You have to help her!" Meracle called out again. "Please! Someone with magic or-"

"Why should we help her?!" A loud outraged voice called out, silencing Meracle. Adem strove through the crowd, pointing at Leone, "I recognize her! She was with those humans who destroyed our village! Why should we risk our lives to help her?!"

A silence followed.

"Y-Yeah.... that is her!"

"She's with them! Why should we save her?"

"Let her die for all we care!"

Meracle stood back, glancing around as the angry voices gathered atop one another. Feeling more and more backed into a corner, the little cait sith. Even Welma and Junbi, standing a few miles away, couldn't find the will to step in.

"Please! She'll die if you don't help!!" Meracle cried again, even though the nose and outrage had only grown. "P-Please..... I-I know she's a horrible, slimy two-faced liar....." Meracle sobbed, her voice beginning to break. "B-But shes..... she's still my sister....

"You heard her! Get to work!"

Meracle's head snapped upwards. Elaina was walking towards her, arms crossed with her eyes focused on the village, immodestly silencing the discontent with one single command. "I've gotta give this thief of my mind after this, and I'd prefer she's somewhat alive to see what I'm going to do to her."

"M-Milady?"

"Wh-wait!" Outraged, Adem stood in Elaina's path. "That cait sith was with those humans that did all this! You expect us-"

"Perhaps I'm being too polite," Elaina silenced the man with a dangerous tone in her voice. "Heal her or I'll make sure you all wake up UNDERWATER!"

"Y-YES M'LADY!"

A wave of samiet's crowded around Leone, holding their hands over her which began to shine a gentle green glow. Meracle was pushed aside by the incoming healers. Standing up, she couldn't help but watch Leone, eyes still tearful. So absorbed in the sight, she failed to notice Elaina passing her by.

"Good job Meracle,"

The young cait sith's ears twitched. She glanced over too Elaina staring at her back as she walked over to an iron pole in the earth. "M-Milady....?"

Tears began to fall heavier, a mixture of sadness, concern, and also a sense of joy. Never in her life had she ever heard the words 'good job' to her, least of all her master.

"Everything's now in order," Elaina said, sliding a platinum ring of alien design onto her left ring finger. Wordlessly, she reached to the pole with her left hand, gently brushing her hands over the metal surface while closing her eyes.

In response, a yellow aura began to coat the surface; showing off an assortment of runes coated its surface. Scattered around the circumference of the village, the other planted poles responded to the one, giving off a yellow glow with the same runes etched into the surface.

All of a sudden, yellow beams shot from the surface of the poles, twenty-five in total, converging a few meters in the sky before they stopped. Yellow lines began etching from each beam, forming a giant circle, which became layered with other patterns and strange ruins, the center taking the shape of two circling comets that swirled around each other in an eternal dance.

In the basin, the fox let out a howl of pain as the light from the circle above began to grow more intense. A red mist began spewing from the fur of the monster, which howled and cried as though it were burning.

Those still conscious in the basin couldn't help but look up at the pattern in the sky, seeing the alien pattern that had taken up the skyline.

"Wh-What in blazes.....?" Faust muttered in astonishment, absorbed by the terrifying beauty of the sight.

"Guess this is the countermeasure the witch was talking about," Yuki said, standing at ease.

The light from the circle suddenly died out, vanishing as though it were never there. The poles set around the village began to lose their yellow glow, cracking before bursting apart.

The samiet's stood in stunned silence as the light began to die down. Meracle, taking the side of her master. ".... Is it over?" She said, wiping her eyes.

"Not yet," Elaina replied bluntly.

In the center of the village, the fox began to rear upwards, letting out a horrifying howl that echoed up into the sky above. Red mist spewed from its fur, its tails emitting smoke, yet the fox showed no signs of stopping.

"Ahhh! It's still alive!" Shay said as he, May, Van and Freya stood uneasily before it.

"Are you kidding...?" Yuki grunted in frustration, raising his katana. "Looks like we're not out of the woods yet."

"Appears so...." Faust said, forcing himself back to his feet.

Back at the plateau, Elaina raised her left hand. The strange ring began to glow an indigo color. "Looks like the countermeasure worked, the link between the command seal has been broken. All that's left is to finish this creature off." A small smile kept on her lips, knowing that Meracle was standing beside her. "Honestly.... I'm amazed you all have done this much and survived." Her hand began to move in a clockwise motion. "You've done more than enough. Leave the rest to me,"

When she finished her motion, a glowing circle appeared before her, no bigger than her hand. With her eyes closed, Elaina straightened her left hand, plunging it into the glowing center.

"The blessed realm of the gods, known to the select few, worthy chosen amongst us undeserving mortals. The goddess of death, the lord of time, and the being that rules over the heavens coalesce into one eternity, realm of the blessed and the faithful.

"I, thy humble servant beseech to the divinity. May thine prayers be heard and thine will be radiated through thy forbidden realm!"

The fox landed back on all fours, growling at the collection of small insects gathering in front of it. All of a sudden, a light began to shine down on the fox, so bright and radiant that the monster's bloodlust subsided, turning around to see a bright tear in the fabric of the word, god's rays radiating down on the creature.

"Th-The hell...?" Yuki shielded his eyes to the light, as did all those around him.

"Wh-What's going on?" Van ended up asking.

"I-I am uncertain...," Faust said, trying to stare at the bright light.

"Don't worry. That's nothing to be concerned about."

A new voice came from behind the group. Turning, they saw Cory and Pressa walking up to them, hands raised to block out the worst of the blinding light.

".... You two?" Yuki spoke.

"Good job keeping it in the village. Can tell just by looking at you it was a tough battle," Cory said with a smile. "Milady will take it from here."

Back at the village edge, the ring of light began to shine brightly. Meracle took a step back, raising her arms to shield herself from the rays that were emitting from the portal. Eliana remained undaunted by the lights rays.

"Heed me, oh divinity, beings of such unfathomable power! Grant thyn servant to thy realm! Embrace me in thy bosom! Bring me to:"

Elaina's eyes snapped open. "Nova Crystallis!"

As Elaina twisted her wrist within the light portal, a bell began to chime, echoing all around the village in a slow rhythm. After two chimes, the light above the fox began to react, shining even brighter than before. A large gold and ivory arm of mechanical nature and ancient in origin burst forth from the light. Before the fox could respond, the arm slammed into the fox, grasping its body before wrenching it from the ground. Both disappeared into the light, which suddenly vanished without a trace.

At the edge of the village, the circle where Elaina had inserted her hand into, grew into an oval-shaped portal of wavy light surface reminiscent of water.

"M-Milady?" Meracle gasped, unable to even comprehend what it was her mistress had ever done.

"You're friends are still out there. See if they're ok." Elaina began to walk into the portal, waving with her right hand before giving a short "I shouldn't be too long," before vanishing completely. The portal closed behind her, and Elaina and the fox were nowhere to be seen.

****

A myriad of colors, blue skies with crystal pillars hovering within the air suspended by an unseen force. Floating around were strange devices, no bigger than a ball, a single blue eye. Hovering around, leaving a small trail of blue vapor, they showered the crystal forest, shining blue light on the hovering bounty.

This dream world that man has been long locked out from, pristine in all its glory was interrupted.

The fox, thrown by an unknown force, slammed into four of the pillars on its decent, each hit breaking off shards of the crystal surface. It came to a stop on top of the square platform of one of the suspending crystals, hitting hard enough to leave skid marks as it ground to a halt.

The fox gazed up, growling at the only thing present in this world. Hovering on a large plateau of crystal cross-legged was a large colossus of a being. Seemingly mechanical of a long lost era, its plates made of white ivory with gold and black accessories adorned its crossed legs and six extending arms. On its body, a cloak of shimmering blue crystals, the head of a woman chiseled out of marble adorned with a five-pointed golden crown. On its chest, where its left breast should be on a normal human, bore a clockwork contraption with three faces wheeling around the cogs.

Elaina suddenly came into view, standing atop the crystal pillars, giving a satisfactory smug. "Welcome to Nova Cyristallis, beast of wrath."

The fox howled, glaring its hate-filled eyes at Elaina. It slammed its feet into the ground, charging up an energy ball.

"Consider yourself honored. I've let very few people into his realm of gods and miracles." The Arch Sage extended her arms outwards. Two white disks flew towards her, taking a position at her back, spreading out on her shoulder blades, hovering a few meters from her back. "Needless to say, no one has ever made it out alive."

The fox then fired its energy shot towards the crystal pillar where Elaina smugly looked down on the fox. The projectile hit the pillar and exploded with violent force, sending ripples through the mystic space. The pillar collapsed, the shards flying outwards, slamming into adjacent pillars. The Fox stood on all fours, watching the devastation unfold.

Suddenly, a portal opened, following a giant, mechanical hand which pounded the fox in the left side of its face. The fox skidded to the right, glancing up to see Elaina standing a few miles away at the edge of the crystal, seemingly untouched.

"The only reason why you're kind was sealed is simple," With a grin, Elaina brought her arms into her body before throwing them out, from the disks, a myriad of golden symbols, three on each side, burst from the side, taking the shape of wings. Elaina hovered into the sky, flashing a smug look at the fox, "They didn't have me with them."

The fox howled and charged towards Elaina, who raised her right hand and snapped her fingers. The fox was in the process of raising its paw when a barrage of white projectiles hit it in the chest forcing it backward.

Raising high into the sky, Elaina was surrounded by an arsenal of ivory weapons taking the shape of firearms. With a wave of her arms, the weapons began firing in unison, sending another barrage of projectiles at the fox, who raised its tails to protect it from the incoming storm, charging another energy ball at Elaina. As it approached, a golden circle appeared behind the arch sage who floated back into the surface. It's target gone, the ball continued on, hitting and destroying another pillar.

Elaina hovered out of another portal, directly in front of the fox while sweeping a kick. In response, a large leg appeared out of thin air, slamming into the fox's left side. Furious, the fox lunged towards Elaina swinging its claws at her, leaving marks in the crystal. Each swing, Elaina dodged by disintegrating into golden dusk, reforming a few feet away with a twirl, sending rays of sharpened light that struck the fox's fur, leaving bloody gashes in its wake.

Furious, the fox lunged again at Elaina with its jaws. Elaina vanished, rematerializing while spinning clockwise at the monster's left side, sending more blades into the monster's flank. The fox spun on its axis, trying to swipe at Elaina, who materialized through the attack, repapering at the monster's head, slicing her hands. Large light blades were created, slashing the monster's head. After two strikes, Elaina backflipped before throwing out a punch, which sends another giant fist at the creature's face, staggering it. While floating in the air, Elaina stomped her foot down, which in turn sent a giant foot crashing into the monster's back, burying it in the crystal.

Elaina floated upwards, twirling with her arms raised. Six portals emerged above the fox, followed by six giant mechanical hands hovering over the fox.

As the fox looked up, Eliana raised her hand high in the air and snapped her fingers. The hands clenched into fists and began pounding the fox with unparalleled speed and ferocity. The fox was forced further and further into the ground amidst the relentless barrage, the golden surface cracking, breaking and scattering. Fissures began spreading through the flat surface of the pillar, beginning to spill over down the length of the crystal shard. After a minute of solid pounding, Elaina lowered her hands, causing all but two of the hands to vanish. Within a widened crater, the fox lay hunkered down in the yellow surface. Weakly it pushed itself up, realizing the assault was over, yet failing to notice the two remaining hands joining together.

The two limbs hammered down into the fox's back, rocketing him through the crystal pillar. The object shattered as the Fox shot from the back, now falling down the impossibly long drop as the crystal forest began to become battered by the incoming shards.

"Tough little bastard, I'll give him that." Elaina glanced to the giant in the distance. Ever so slowly, the giant began to store, raising its six hands over its chest. A light began to form at the center, arches of energy emitting from silver slots in the giant's six hands.

With a smile, Elaina dived down into the shattered crystal, swerving and swooping under the debris as she pursued her prey.

"?!"

As she reached the end, Elaina dematerialized as an energy ball passed her by, hitting one of the falling shards. Still falling, the Fox launched out ball after ball of energy at the descending arch sage, each one missing through her various dodges, hitting the shards and pillars.

Swinging her hands out wide, a battlement of ivory weapons appeared at her side firing down on the falling monster. The beams of white intercepted the incoming energy balls, exploding on impact. The fox continued to fire, even as its red fur was struck by the incoming white rays which grew more and more intense until the fox sensed firing. Elaina continued her descent, swinging out her arms as more weapons emerged, joining the barrage that struck the fox, the monster becoming lost in a myriad of explosions before striking its back against one of the crystal pillars. The firing continued as the fox toppled down, the white beams beginning to miss their target, hitting the crystal pillar and blowing chunks into the surface eventually shielding the fox from view.

Elaina clicked her fingers, ceasing the barrage. "Time to pull out the big guns,"

Within the yellow dust cloud, the fox clung to the side of the pillar with its claws. The barrage had taken its toll, with parts of its fur now burnt and signed off, and even two of its tales had lost the busy red plume. With its claws digging desperately to keep itself from falling again, the fox let out a howl.

"Try all you want, you can't escape from this realm." Elaina hovered a few feet away, a large portal opening up beside her. From it, a large ivory cannon twice the size of Elaina began to emerge. Like the firearms, the cannon had a similar aesthetic of marble ivory and gold, with a silver barrel pointing directly at the struggling fox. With a smirk, Elainia threw her hand forwards. A golden glow began to shine from the interior of the barrel, aimed at the hapless fox. "So just hurry up and die already."

A powerful beam fired from the cannon, consuming the fox, penetrating four crystal pillars that began to fall apart as the beam died down.

From the blast, a trail of smoke falls from the center, crashing into another of the crystal pillars before landing on the top of another. Elaina emerged from a portal, landing on the crystal surface. Before her was the smoldering body of the fox. Now stripped of most of its fur, exposing the ghastly gashes on its body let out one last cry before lunging towards Elaina, throwing its right paw towards the arch sage.

The claw suddenly stopped short of Elaina, with one of the tips dangerously close to running through her head. All around the fox, a golden chain was clinging to its body, holding it in place. The monster struggled, putting as much of its strength into freeing itself.

"It's no use," Elaina said, turning her back on the monster. "If you were at full power, perhaps. Connected to the one with the command seal.... Probably a more decent battle."

In the distance, the giant had moved its hands wide. Before it was a long golden spear, with a strange coiled tip which stuck out at the point before bending to a fork shape. The giant gently grasped the spear with its first right hand, pulling it back while pointing the tip forwards, raising one of its left hands. Blue energy began forming between the two points, forming a small sphere in the center.

"But it's over now," Looking satisfied, Elaina vanished, leaving the fox chained to the surface of the pillar, unaware of what was happening.

With its aim set, the giant lunged the spear forwards, throwing it like a javelin in the direction of the fox. The golden spear swerved through the incoming debris, narrowly avoiding each pillar with its course set.

When the wounded fox finally caught on to what was happening, it was already too late.

****

The sin of wrath, a rage that cannot be quelled.

So full of bloodlust she was, standing amidst the bodies of the very men that defiled, ruined and betrayed her. She laughed, bathed in the blood. Her fingernails had grown, pointed like a fox's. her ears, now pointed and red, like a fox. Even under her robes, nine tails were beginning to flow out, foxes tails.

Amidst the burning buildings, the smell of wood and humans eviscerating, she let out a cry, a howl.

A howl that sounded like a fox.

****

It was instantaneous. The moment the spear hit, everything went white. A tremendous white sphere with a blue portal in the center began to expand out from the epicenter, consuming many of the crystal shards in its wake, completely shattering them on impact. Then, the sphere retracted in an instant, leaving no trace it was ever there. The fragmented crystal floated around the blue sky, ranging from large chunks to tiny sects of dust.

There was no trace of the nine tails. It had been utterly obliterated.

Elaina floated in the sky, folding her arms as she surveyed the devastation. "Now we're even, Yensin." She said with a huff. Kitsune was finally defeated. By her count two of the six emperors was defeated.

As she opened her eyes, her eyebrows narrowed. ".... Hold on," raising her hand, a golden telescope emerged in her hands. Bringing the sight to her eye, she spied something peculiar in the epicenter of the blast.

Hovering in the sky, the spot where the nine tails were located, was a swirling cloud of inky darkness, coalescing a strange and unnatural light. It remained suspended in the sky before letting out a bright glow, then the ink collapsed in on itself, causing it to vanish without a trace.

"..... What in the world?" Eliana lowered the telescope, looking uneasy at what she had seen. "Just when I thought I was beginning to understand what was going on..... Life certainly can be interesting when we don't want it to be."