Even with the emperor of the Kaemerge killed… It seemed that there was little reprieve for those who came here. Though they had expected trouble, given that this was the enemy stronghold, it being to this extent was a different story. The apostles and the emperor himself were strong, that, they recognized. But as far as they knew, Ardam was fiction, just an idol they clung to. Even so, here he was, ready to strike them down if they weren't careful. Arctaius’ gaze moved from the massive being to Alarick, who soon did the same. He nodded at him, and Alarick nodded back in response. Soon, the two bent their knees, and burst forward, drawing Ardam’s gaze... Even without speech, they’d already managed to recognize each other's strategies. A result of their many battles alongside one another… Arctaius tightened his fist as he continued his advance.

“At this point, all we can do is Gauge his strength and create our tactics from there. Those objects he sent out, we've at the least, got that down…”

On the ground, Zhao glanced around at the rest of the group, and then, back toward Ardam.

“It’ll be better for us if we don’t clump together, I’d suggest teams of two so we can color each other's weaknesses.”

With his words, Kazimir soon began to levitate.

“Sounds good to me... Can’t have them doing all the work. Zhao, let’s get him.”

Zhao nodded before he began to float as well. The two flew into the fray shortly after, eager to get attacks of their own in. Bijan and Liang glanced at one another.

“Alright, let’s get this over with... It’s about time I get back to Cuifen.”

“Yeah, Let’s make sure that happens.”

The two soon jumped off as well, Valerie and Miyamoto glanced at one another, Valerie stepped forward as her eyes seemed to fill with determination.

“Let’s do this. For our families, and those who got pulled into this so-called god’s plots along the way... “

As Valerie spoke, she thought back to their companion that had since passed, Gihren… Even though it’d been months since then, the effects it had on the two were evident. She was certainly enraged by the fact that he died, as was Valerie. Trained together, lived together, and everything in between. Though they felt out of place within the Rentei HQ, they had each other, if nothing else. This said, the two should’ve been angry at Alarick, given he was the one that did the deed. Even so, as her anger simmered when she saw him, Ardam. That was the target of her anger. Even if she may have not met Gihren otherwise, the fact was that he likely would’ve lived a peaceful life if Ignatius did not spread this...Man, no, beast’s influence. She couldn’t be mad at them, they were like them, in a way. Soon, she snapped out of her stupor as she yelled.

“Right, Let’s make him pay!”

Valerie and Miyamoto soon shot up as well. Arctaius began his ascent toward Ardam’s head, drawing the Giant’s attention. As he continued his ascent, Ardam’s arm began a swift advance toward him, in his attempt to swat him like a fly. Arctaius, however, would not let that happen, he soon sped up, moving out of the hand’s path. Though the force of the strike would devastate the area in the hand’s path. As alarick flew around the body, he began to, at the least, look for any point where he could attack… Until Ardam attempted his attack, that was. Space seemed to begin to warp and wave beside him before a darkened portal appeared at his side. and above the man’s arm as well. Alarick soon slipped through, appearing on the Titan’s arm. As he stared down at the dark mass, he straightened his fingers once again.

“Devouring Void Blade!!!”

Soon, a black light coated Alarick’s hand, beginning to morph into what resembled a sword. He soon began to let out a resounding war cry, that echoed as he dashed around the arm, leaving cuts as he shifted around it, though Ardam took notice, he did nothing… As his arm soon fell clean off. As it hit the ground, kicking up a storm of dust. However, as the many pairs of eyes moved over to the arm, the effects of the fall were not their focus, they expected that with the arm’s size. Rather it was his casual expression, and the lack of any blood dripping from the arm. Here he was, losing a limb, and yet it looked to do nothing to him. Even with their tolerance to pain, they at the least reacted to losing a limb. Arctaius looked on in confusion for a moment, but he soon decided to ignore it. He soon resumed his charge. Something ardam took notice of, as he opted to swing his other arm at him, Arctaius’ eyes darted over. He soon stopped, before he began Zig-zagging through the sky. Ardam’s eyes continued to follow him, as he stopped, and made a dash for his head. He soon reeled his fist back and launched it as he got into his range, the Titan’s head soon lurched to the side, as he stumbled back, though it was slightly. However, his disposition ultimately remained unchanged, as he swiped Arctaius away, sending him bounding across the city. However, he wasn’t out of the battle with just that. He stopped and began bounding back toward him. Jirou watched as he did so, before he steeled forward as well, throwing his arms out.

“Gravity Well- Formula 500!!!”

Though he struggled against it, his body shook with the force that pressed onto his back, his legs gave out, as he was brought to his knees. The gravity was simply too much for him. Valerie and Miyamoto glanced at one another, as they saw it, an opportunity to turn the tables. They nodded at each other, as spheres of light began forming around Valerie. As she pointed forward, they flashed across the sky, until they were above the kneeling titan. They soon began to revolve above him... As Valerie's gaze went between the spheres and Ardam, she knew it was time. With the snap of her fingers, a volley of beams barreled toward her opponent. She smiled as she watched the volley fly toward him… Though she was not the only one to do so, as the darkness on Ardam’s face seemed to shift, a mouth soon appeared on the otherwise featureless face. All the while, Alarick continued to hack at the man with his void blade, while a storm of rubble came from Kazimir. All the while, bursts of plasma came from Arctaius’ hands, crashing into the titan time and time again. Though the damage was not deadly, it was visible, with chunks of the black mass seemingly chipping off, dissipating as it did so. However, a downright unsettling sight soon entered their sights. He cracked a grin.

“Useless… As if some mortals would have the power to defeat me! Begone!!”

With his words, black spheres soon broke off from his body, changing their shape into what resembled javelins, the same ones that pierced Augusto. Soon, they flashed forward toward the members of the group. Arctaius was the first to be reached, the object nearly thrust through his chest, had it not been for his quick action. Arctaius quickly dashed to his left, out of range of the 5 Javelins that came toward him. Though one of them managed to leave a small cut on his shoulder, leaking a trivial amount of blood. Alarick soon followed suit, jumping off of the arm, and jumping to his left, avoiding the projections as well. Jirou watched as the attack barrelled toward him. The fact that his attack had so little effect, it was frustrating, but in the end, not all that surprising to him.

“Tch… That’s how it is then.”

Soon, Jirou retracted his arms, as the gravity field over Ardam dissipated, lifting the weight on his shoulders. Soon after, he would dash away, avoiding Ardam’s counterattack attempt. The others soon dodged their respective clusters as well, except for one, Kazimir. Rather, the red glow around him began to grow wilder as the newly created rubble began to levitate, as they were lined in red light.

“I’ll increase the density and fling them at him, if nothing else, that’ll keep him busy for a bit!”

Soon, the debris began to group up. Forming not one, but three gigantic spheres forged of stone, that cast their shadows over the areas below them. Kazimir soon swung his arm, flinging the spheres at the titan. Who’s gaze flew toward the two pieces respectively. Black spheres soon split off from the body, as hundreds of dark rods soon flew at the forged spheres as they barreled toward him. Though it was slow, Rhuskov’s spheres began to break down, unable to withstand the fire. Regardless, he continued to send them toward him… However, even if it didn’t do any damage, it would help in the long term, give them ti-

The spheres were soon ripped apart, reduced into smaller pieces of debris than they’d been in beforehand. Courtesy of the black rods that flew out in droves, the endless swarm now looked to be in the thousands, at the least. Kazimir slowly lowered his hand as he watched this take place. As Arctaius watched this take place, he soon moved further back, landing on the earth below.

“Dammit… We’re still drained from our own respective fights…That makes this much harder.”

Soon, the other fighters came to regroup, landing around him, all the while, Ardam did nothing… After all, why would he worry about whatever plan they had in mind? He could simply kill them before they enacted it, couldn’t he? Zhao tightened the grip on the hilt of his blade, as he glanced around at his allies, bodies still covered with cuts and fresh bruises, while Ardam was the same as he’d been when he arrived.

“This isn’t working… we need a better strategy.”

The other Martial artist chimed in.

“He’s correct, Blindly attacking will get us nowhere…”

Arctaius began stroking the thin hairs on his chin.

“As large as he is, he clearly isn’t any slower, he’s proved that much…”

Jirou stepped forward, as his eyes moved across his opponent’s body.

“We could try baiting him, but even then, that working is iffy at best…”

Elsewhere, the Von Zaisen’s final heir tapped his foot in thought. There wasn’t anything he disagreed with their strategy, but, with this many unknowns, it was at best for them to keep it simple. He can fire projectiles, and his strength and speed were on another level. But… perhaps there was another angle they could go for.

“If we can’t destroy him outright, we can simply make his fighting less effective... We’ll take out those eyes of his, and keep him from seeing us.”

Arctaius removed his hand from his chin.

“I see where you’re coming from, even if he can still sense us, depending upon how good his sensory abilities are, he may not know our precise location… It’s possible.”

As they continued to speak, uninterrupted, the Titan continued to watch from above. He wasn’t worried about them defeating him but, he did find this to be boring. What was the point of keeping them alive, well, alive for now, if they’d just stand and talk all the time. Kazimir stepped in front of Alarick, looking down at him.

“But, we still have a- bit of a problem, how do we get into that range? I assume he’s not going to let us do so easily- especially with corde doing so earlier…”

The purple-haired girl by Kazimir’s side stood glancing around, looking to see if the one beyond them would try anything, the last thing they needed was to be caught off guard, and be turned into a donut like the emperor had, or, ripped apart like the city around them… It was then that she took notice of something in the distance, a black sphere once again, separating from Ardam’s body. She soon tightened her fists as she jumped away from the group.

“We’ll have to think of it as it goes along-- Here he comes again!!!”

Her warning resounding throughout their ears, the split in their attempt to avoid the assault… However, as the first wave was cleared, they began to set their plan in motion. As Arctaius fixed his gaze on Ardam’s head, he began a charge at the titan’s head, something the being took notice of. The rods soon began to fly at Arctaius once again. However, he was not so easily stopped, weaving around the clusters of rods as he made his way closer. However, he soon swung his remaining arm at the oncoming enemy. However, as Jirou thrust his palms forward, the arm soon stopped in place.

“Quite persistent, you lot… But I’m not complaining!”

Alarick and Zhao soon began to run up the remaining arms. With Miyamoto hanging back, a red void opened behind her, and out came a suit of Jet black armor. Grotesque, looking to be some sort of middle ground between Metallic, and organic. What was most noticeable, however, was the

downright gigantic blade he held on his shoulder.

“Hyperion… It looks like I’m gonna need your assistance again.”

“That so… Alright, I’ll help you out!”

The two went to assault Ardam as well, as the void began to close behind them. This did not surprise Ardam, nor phase him, but what did, was the one who’d fought his puppet before he broke out of that damned seal.

“The mortal who fought Ignatius, I’m sensing a build-up”

“Solis Impact!!!”

Arctaius was soon swallowed by a golden light that began to flood the space around him... Though as Ardam moved his arm, throwing the other fighters off, who soon moved away, as the arm threatened to swipe Arctaius away once again... Something the youth noticed. But, as the arm grew closer, he changed his direction, instead, going lower… It was then and only then, that Ardam realized his opponent’s true target. The first soon crashed into the chest, much of the core of the body vaporized within moments afterward. And even then.

“Is that it?”

Arctaius’ eyes widened with this statement. He’d just wiped out that much of his body, and THAT was what he had to say?! Just what was he? The eye’s on Ardam’s head soon widened, and the fighters were all thrown back, miles across at a time. Arctaius was no different, with more of the grounds around them ripped apart. The already devastated area had somehow gotten worse. Arctaius soon stopped himself midair, looking off at Ardam’s form in the distance. Without hesitation, he advanced, ready to rejoin the battle, his allies soon following suit. While Ardam, he simply stood there, speaking in a quiet tone, or, at the least, quiet for him.

“ I grow tired of these games…. I’d believed that this would be somewhat entertaining, but it seems that I was wrong!”

Arctaius’ short charge was soon cut off, as he was thrown back by yet another wave of force, soon sent barreling back into the rocky ridges of the gorge, cracking the rock as he made impact... He lay there for a few seconds before he decided to get up. Looking around a peculiar cave, filled with pieces of furniture. Or rather, the remains of it. A chair filled with debris, the remains of a candle that had since gone out, smashed shards of porcelain lining the walls. Though that did not interest him, rather, the battle that took place outside did.

“ This isn’t good, not in the very least… I’m still drained from that first attack I launched off… We aren’t making much progress… Dammit…”

“ If that’s the case… Perhaps I could be of some help…”

Arctaius’ eyes widened as his gaze shot around, his head following it, as he attempted to find the source.

“Who said that?!”

It was just then that a warped, nearly transparent figure appeared in front of the youth. A broad-shouldered man, a few inches taller than the one in front of him. His torso covered in scaled plates, with a red cloth draped around his legs. His head was visible, orange hair, and piercing yellow orbs, which began to focus upon Arctaius. But what was most noticeable, was the blade stamped onto the ground beside him, though, with its size, larger than his body, it was much closer to a hunk of metal, with a red cloth at the base of the hilt, that flowed with the warm desert winds, which hadn’t reached the chamber in centuries.

“That would be me… You may call me, Tiyamura…”