Within the many shelters scattered across Tsugashuan, the mortified expressions of civilians soon became more and more evident, as confused, and even fearful chatter begun. On the holographic display in front of them, the scene was clear. Even with the feed going down and up time and time again, as the Sigma Particle interference kept them from getting a good image. The text on the bottom screen told them all they needed to know. “His Excellency, Emperor Ignatius, Killed in battle.”. Their leader, one who was an inspiration to them all, his strength, his intelligence, and even so... There he was, face down in a crater, unmoving. One man in particular, with black hair, slammed his fist onto the wall.

“This… can't be.”

Another civilian, a white-haired woman, looked down as she paced around.

“His excellency… The herald of ardam's will, murdered by a child?!”

Another among them stood in the back with gritted teeth, opting to voice his discontent quietly.

“Danmit… Danmit!!!”!

Within another one of the shelters, the mood was about the same. Confusion and fear filled the room, not only the civilians but the armored soldiers that stood at the far end of the room. Their commander, marked by a cloth on his shoulder plate leaned against the wall. A deep gravelly voice resounding through the room.

“It simply can't be… The apostles, his Excellency.”

As the commander went silent, one of his subordinates approached him.

“What now? What are we supposed to do now?!”

One of those there watched as the confused chatter continued until he had enough. He put his visor up, looking up at his comrades, his yellow orbs looked to be filled with determination. He regained his composure, speaking firmly.

“We keep fighting, until the last man!!”

Another, this one with a womanly voice, slid in front of him, getting close to his face as she spoke, nearly yelling.

“Are you a fool?! With this much of our forces wiped out, and those damned nobles running off to the (Space) Colonies, what chance do we have?”

This apparently gained the attention of some of the civilians. But that was nothing compared to the turning visored covered heads, that went to face the two. The man spoke louder in response.

“We have nothing more to lose, what reason is there to surrender now?! Until we can't do so anymore, let's give them hell. Even with the odds against us, we still have the support of the great Lord Ardam, that is how we have survived for this long!!!”

This seemed to quell their fears, at least for now… As they began to straighten up their posture, to stop saying their cynical statements, instead, it became words of pride, words of determination. Apparently, the nameless soldier caused a resurgence among their forces, as they began to let out their war cry, at first. It was quiet, only let out by a single man, the commander.

“Gloriam Ardam!”

As they heard, more of the soldiers joined in.

“Gloriam Ardam!”

The effects of what was essentially a domino effect continued to spread, as more of the soldiers and even the civilians began to join in.

“ Gloriam Ardam! Gloriam Ardam! Gloriam ARDAM!!!”

The soldiers soon brandished their weapons, yelling as they began charging out of the blast doors. The sound of which echoed throughout the remains of the streets around them... Elsewhere, within Yamato’s Shima ward, there sat the Hoshi Family house. A modest one, with two floors. Though the house itself was nothing of importance, rather, those Inside were. A certain brown-haired girl, Asami Hoshi, watched the flickering feed of the battle that took place halfway across the world. Though, she was not the only one to do so. Beside her were the youth’s other friends. Akashi Ketamura sat beside Asami, a smile began to form on his face as he took notice of the fact… He’d won. Shinto Yoshida smiled as well, and, so did Yudei... As for Asami, well, she couldn’t stop the ends of her lips from lifting, as she began to smile as well.

“Taius… you're alive, you stopped him. I'm… so glad.”

Ketamura glanced over at Shinto and Yudei as he began speaking, his tone elated

“They really did do it… It looks like we won't have to worry about the Kaemerge coming back.”

“Indeed…”

As Shinto spoke, he pushed the glasses on his face up, with his middle and index fingers, as they glared in the light.

“Perhaps now, we shall be able to live our lives in quietude, Forevermore…”

Yudei glanced at him, unimpressed by his display.

“He's talking like that again…?”

Elsewhere, on the site of the battle, an orange light washed over the remains of the city, as the sky began to grow lighter with it. As Arctaius looked up into the sky, the glare from the rising sun filled them. Well...that was something he didn’t notice before. But then again, he wasn’t in a situation where he could just go check the time, it wasn’t as if it’d affect his battle either way... As his thoughts drifted to that, he landed on the ground above Augusto’s impact zone. Soon, his allies landed around him. His gaze fell upon all of them, as they did the same to him. However, he soon returned his gaze forward as he spoke.

“It's not over yet…”

Jirou stepped forward, cracking his knuckles.

“It's faint, but I can still Sense him.”

Alarick stepped forward, straightening his fingers as a black light surrounded his hand once again, taking the shape of a blade.

“Then he’s on his last legs. Let's land a finishing blow and be done with this…”

Arctaius clenched his fists.

“Right…”

The three prepared to take a plunge into the crater, but, soon, shooting out of the crater, was Augusto, landing across the road from them. However, he was silent, unlike last time… He simply thrust his hand into the air, the three looked on in confusion as bursts of plasma flew out of his hand. Three at a given time. He kept repeating this, over and over, but the bursts simply dissipated as they went into the air, there were no attacks on them… Elsewhere within Tsugashuan, a man in black robes, with A golden necklace around his neck, depicting an eye at the end, looked up into the blue sky, taking notice of the dissipating blue bursts. He looked up in surprise. Though it was not only him, two more, wearing similar outfits stood behind him.

“Wait, authorization to...But that could only be his excellency, and we just saw h-”

One of the others put his hand on his shoulder.

“Clearly if we saw his signal, he isn’t dead just yet... You know what to do, bombard the dimensional barrier.”

He turned on his heel, walking toward a red symbol on the ground, the very same from Augusto’s memory. They were soon joined by three more, who came from the deeper reaches of the building. They soon came to the symbol as well. As they all placed their hands upon it, a red light soon began to blind them. At the least, until the light around their palms grew stronger.

“Proceeding with bombardment, beginning field breaking process!”

Soon, the light around them began to intensify, as they grunted in their effort, trying to push past the resistance that was left in place. One, in particular, scrunched his face up, as a yellow glow that surrounded his hands began to grow around them.

“Come on, Come on…”

As they continued, the red light within began to grow brighter, and brighter. Until it eventually outshined the flow around their hands. A few moments after, the sound of shattering glass echoed through the room. Soon, the light seemingly grew to consume them, with the red light flying out of the windows, and spreading outward, to the point where it was visible across the city… Something which drew the three’s attention, and soon after, their allies. Alarick was the first to speak, however.

“What is this light?”

Jirou turned his gaze toward Augusto.

“Is he the source?”

All the while, Augusto stood in silence, with a smirk creeping its way onto his face.

“My Lord… I request that you come forth. To smite the heretics who dare to attempt an incursion on this holy Land. Come to us, Ardam!!!”

As the light began to dissipate elsewhere, their gazes once again fell back upon Ignatius as he spoke. His words were a surprise, no doubt. But as they saw it, it was likely just him making a desperate prayer, not anything to be worried about… As such, Alarick, Jirou, and Alarick glanced at one another, as they began their charge. At the least, until a booming voice came from behind him.

“ I accept your request, Selenium Ignatius…”

Just like that, an all too familiar eye opened behind Ignatius... An unexpected development, that made the three stop in their tracks.

Begin Ardam Theme-Genesis

As a red light began to swallow the area around the eye, the ground below them began to tremor. Buildings taken out by the tons of falling rock that came from the edges of the gorge, buildings pulverized under the falling rock. With anyone else unlucky enough to be there crushed all the same. However, the tremors did not stop there. In the Shima ward, though slightly, the ground trembled under them as well, with a few of the objects placed on the counters and tables began to fall. The earlier cheers were now silenced. In the bustling metropolis that was the West African Federation’s Yantza, they as well were silenced, as the ground under them trembled as well, even more so than in Tokyo. Much of the less sturdy buildings began to collapse on themselves. In Philadelphia, though much less destructive, it was noticeable by the civilians, and confused chatter began. In the Delmenford capital of Heinzburg, there was destruction like that of Yantza’s.

Rhuskov looked up at this with his jaw dropped.

“It just has to be something!!!”

“This power!!”

Zhao put his hand on his chin.

“This will be an issue indeed…. The injuries we already have from our battles, and it looks to me like we’ll have a new enemy.”

Liang sighed.

“How did we not tell that he was giving them a signal…”

A black mass soon began to coil around the eye, beginning to form a body behind it. The arms and legs alike resembled those of a bodybuilder. But, that wasn’t the most noticeable part. Rather, it was its size. To say the body was large was an understatement. Rather, it dwarfed even the tallest of the buildings that surrounded it… Or rather, used to. A single flash of red light flew out once again blinding those who bore witness. But, that was not all, along with the light, came a shockwave. The group members struggled to keep their footing, the sheer force of the shockwave nearly sending them barreling backward. Though they were able to keep themselves standing, the city around them wasn’t. The buildings were soon violently ripped out of the ground, collapsing into debris that flew through the air following this. With the top layer of the ground, Soil and roads alike torn off….As the light finally cleared, there it stood. A black humanoid mass, two eyes with slit pupils, and horns that extended out of his head. Once again, the booming voice spoke.

“It took millennia… but finally, the Divine ardam. Has returned to this world…”

Elsewhere, the color returned to the soldier’s faces. It became clear to them, their hopes were justified, just like that, there he stood, their one true lord, Ardam.

“It's as I said!! We have the blessing of Ardam himself!!!”

Another stepped forward, hugging him in her excitement.

“The emperor lives!!!”

Augusto stood in front of the one he’d called a god for decades now. His idol, his teacher, now it was time, he was finally by his side.

“Milord… I'd say it's time w-”

However, the man was cut off, as what looked to be a jet black Javelin came right through his chest. Landing in front of him, caked with blood, and muscle torn off from the gaping hole that now lies in his chest… And just like that, the looks of hope disappeared from the faces of the soldiers. Now replaced with disbelief. The soldier broke the hug, letting go of her comrade, as she pulled her visor up. Her violet orbs revealed to the world.

“...What?!”

Ardam looked down upon Augusto, as he struggled to keep himself standing. He looked back upon Ardam, his expression a confused one.

"I stated that I would cleanse humanity, did I not? Did you fool yourself into thinking it was any different for you, mortal? I would think one like yourself would've realized from the start... Though, in the end, that only worked to my advantage. You played the role of a puppet well... I congratulate you on that much."

But a few moments after, the man had finally lost to his injuries. His eyes grew empty, as his body fell limp on the ground. Even so, Ardam looked down upon him with not a bit of sympathy.

“Mortals… It is time for the earth to be cleansed…The crimes that you have committed, under the guise of my guidance, and those of your ancestors. For all these Millennia- I have watched humanity. Through my observation, the core thing that I have noticed- is that you lot have not changed... Humanity- it is a sinister race, one beyond salvation... It is for that reason- that you must all be destroyed!”

The being’s words brought out expressions of shock on the Kaemerge’s civilians and soldiers alike. The hopeful words and expressions, their cheers, their bravado. It had all disappeared but a few seconds after. Their expressions soon turned to mortification, as Black objects that split from his body soon went to pierce warships floating above the city, Kaemerge and Coalition Alike… The unnamed soldiers soon met their end as well, as one of the falling cruisers began to descend upon them. They looked up in fear as the massive hunk of steel began to fall upon them. As they glanced at each other, they soon began to dash away, attempting their escape. The very same soldier who had revived their hope had now begun speaking words in stark contrast to his earlier speech.

“It’s over... There’s no way we can get out of this.”

Alarick, though shaken by the being’s pure power, regained his composure. What would sitting here confused do for him? What would it do for any of them? He cracked his knuckles as he looked up at the new opponent.

“He’s going after the kaemerge as well.”

One of the two martial artists pushed his hair back on his face, as he flashed forward, grasping his Blade from the crater, as well as Zhao’s, he went back to them, throwing Zhao’s blade to him, which he soon caught.

“It looks like this god of theirs has shown his true colors… Hopefully, they aren’t blind enough to keep fighting for him after what they’ve just seen…”

Arctaius put his hand on his shoulder as he cracked his neck. Before he brought his arm back to his side.

“That’s their choice, not as if that affects us. We have our own problems to worry about. Something tells me he doesn't plan on letting us walk out of here.”

Miyamoto slid her fingerless gloves back onto her hand as she clenched her fists, putting her arms up in front of her.

“If that’s how it is, we can’t hold back against him… He’s too strong for something like that.”

Alarick glanced back at her as he chimed in.

“But at the same time, we need to conserve our power in case he has a trump card. Given how most of our battles go, we’d be best off assuming he does... We need to have some semblance of a strategy. We will be crushed otherwise.”

Orbs of light began to surround Valerie as she snapped.

“That ain’t gonna be easy. We don’t know his ability...Or rather, abilities.”

“We may have a bit of a better chance...I was able to absorb quite a bit of that one’s last resort attack… I feel much stronger, but I can’t guarantee that will win us this battle...”

As Ardam looked down onto the group, he spoke.

“But of course it isn’t…. A group of mortals stands no chance against the one true lord… Your futile resistance shall be crushed, and your lives ended… The amount of you does not matter… 1, or perhaps an entire army… It will make no difference whatsoever…”

His speech, he spoke with arrogance, perhaps he sounded dismissive, casual. Though his face was expressionless, his voice was not. Kazimir began to levitate above his allies, as his brown locks began to flow, with red light swirling around him once again.

“It just keeps getting worse, doesn't it…”

The black light that surrounded Alarick’s hand before Ardam’s appearance soon returned as he responded.

“It seems that we won’t catch a break anytime soon. So we may as well keep fighting…”

To Be Continued

Back within Asami’s apartment, the mood had not changed all that much from when Ardam first appeared… However, the screen did not display the battle, rather, only a few words, “フィードが失われました、再接続してください”( Feed Lost, Please Reconnect). Ketamura soon started tapping the device himself, trying to at the least find one of the channels that were airing the battle, but it became more and more apparent that his search was a fruitless one. As Shinto put his hand on his shoulder, the two exchanged glances… and just like that, he stopped searching. If it weren't bad enough already, now, they’d even lacked the ability to see how the battle progressed. Asami pressed her hand into her forehead.

“There’s no doubt… Once again, Taius has gotten himself into something. why can’t I be of any help… Finding protomis is rare nowadays… And I saw what happened to Tetsuya with that artificial Protomis… He could barely even maintain it… and even if it did work well, who knows where the ones who made it is... You’d better not forget what you promised, Taius.”