"Hold on! I'm gonna land behind the tower! There is a gap in the trees!"

Hugo yelled out as the forest came into view, Altara and Konstantine holding onto their seats as Hugo hovered the ship over the plain of grass, before roughly touching the ship down.

"Let's go..we gotta see what is happening at the tower!" Hugo lowered the ramp and ran out with Konstantine and Altara, the three sprinting through the forest on their way to the Tower of Magik. They passed the Tower of Magik's graveyard which was situated in a small open area next to the tower hidden behind some trees before eventually reaching the tower.

What they saw was the Tower of Magik, however, the gold window that ran down it was heavily smashed, smoke coming out the middle of it. The entrance to the tower was also caved open.

"By the gods...we gotta get in there an help them!" Hugo started to run towards the entrance, Konstantine following. However, Altara shouted out to his former teacher. "HUGO! ABOVE YOU FROM THE WINDOW!!!"

Hugo stopped and looked up but was tackled by Konstantine which saved him from a strike that almost fell upon him. The two quickly stood up and looked at what almost fell on Hugo; Grimjack. The white-haired and red-eyed savage glaring at Hugo with a stare of death.

"Y-You?!" Hugo shouted out with confusion.

"As soon as I was told we were headed here I got a rush, do you want to know why? Because you're here..Hugo Blackblood. The bastard that ripped the victory from me in the Eradication Tournament."

"We?! You're with a group aren't you.."

Konstantine, in a blink of an eye, drew her revolver from her waist and fired a fire enchanted bullet straight at Grimjak's head. The fire around the revolver blazing as she did so. Grimjak instinctively dodged to the left as soon as Konstantine made the rapid movement towards her pistol, however, the bullet scratched his cheek and the fire from the bullet caused the wound to burn. He felt this and growled out, his body steaming a strong red as his nails and teeth became longer and sharper.

"Keep him away from you, he will mess you up with his claws.." Hugo mumbled as he ran over to Altara, Konstantine did the same.

"He's the one you fought in the tournament..why is he here?" Altara frowned at Grimjak who slowly started to walk towards the three.

"Part revenge part something else, either way, we've gotta get rid of him and whoever he is with! It won't take three of us, however...Altara.." Hugo looked at Altara. "Get into the tower and help those inside, Konstantine go with him...I'll take care of Grimjak."

Konstantine and Altara nodded as they ran into the destroyed entrance of the tower.

"Heh, at least you got honor. A good old rematch then?" Grimjak grinned. "You'll pay for what you did to me, bastard~"

Hugo took off his parka and threw it to the side, underneath it he was wearing a black vest, he stretched his muscular arms before standing straight. "Hm."

"Getting serious now? Fufu~" Grimjak's body continued to steam red as he used his magik to sharpen his nails and teeth further.

"You are nothing but a distraction to me, I gotta get rid of you quickly and help my friends inside of the tower!" Hugo started to walk towards Grimjak.

Grimjak's eyes narrowed as he stood his ground. "He hasn't summoned anything yet. Is he planning on getting a quick stab in with a dagger? No..he must have something else up his sleeve. His body isn't steaming magik so he isn't using all he has for one strike..unless.."

Grimjak's eyes widened as Hugo was in his face within a split second, his fist shining blue as a knuckleduster wrapped around it.

"..HE DOESN'T NEED ALL HIS POWER TO DEFEAT ME!"

"HYAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"

Hugo screamed out as he drove his right fist into Grimjak's face, the grass beneath their feet shaking upon impact. Hugo drove Grimjak into the floor which caused the ground to crack as Grimjak's face hit the ground.

...

Hugo stood straight as he stood over the knocked out Grimjak, the blue knuckleduster on his hand desummoning as the crystal particles from it passed through the air. Hugo looked down at Grimjak, his face was concussed and bloody. "If you survived that you're lucky. And if so, you better not come after me again. I'll make sure you won't see this world again if you do." Hugo picked up his black parka and put it back on, keeping it unzipped.

Hugo walked over Grimjak's body, before quickly running into the tower. Once inside he ran through the reception, noticing the Alter-Elf receptionist lying against the wall next to the elevator on the opposite side. "Shit!" Hugo ran to her and crouched down. "Who did this?! Are you alright!?"

The receptionist had a scar across her chest, blood pouring from it. "Altara..asked the same..go..upstairs to the.." the Alter-Elf woman coughed blood and weaky looked up at Hugo. "Altara's office..Kry Kenlok's old office..go..there.." the Alter-Elf then flopped to the side, dead. Hugo acted fast, closing her eyes and taking the elevator up to the top floor.

"This isn't Eternal Chrome's revenge or anything, this is something bigger. I gotta find Altara and Konstantine!"

Hugo's thoughts were interrupted as the elevator was forced to stop on the floor before the top one. Hugo grimaced as the elevator pinged and opened, Hugo walked out quickly.

"The assembly area.."

Hugo walked into a large room with two doors on each side. He stayed wary knowing that the elevator was manually stopped on this floor. "Whoever is in here come on out, I have no time for this bullshit!"

The door to the left opened up slowly as a figure walked out with brushed back brown hair, wearing a black tuxedo shirt which had a harness wrapped around it and a pair of black combat pants alongside some steel toe black boots. Their dark blue eyes locked onto Hugo as they spoke. He looked like he was in his early 20's.

"Remember me?"

Hugo squinted and got into a defensive stance. "I don't believe I do. Am I meant to?"

"Hm."

The young man's eyes suddenly beamed a strong orange as he started to walk to the side, eyes locked onto Hugo. Hugo stood back and frowned. "A Braveye?!"

"And a familiar one to you, yes? Six months ago this Braveye belonged to a man named Kodan who was tortured by you. His failures led to his death and from there his power was transferred to me. I am one of a few who still has their Braveye after the emperor's assassination...but who knows what has happened to them. You may refer to me as Kruger, a former member of the Kalamitus."

Hugo summoned his crystal blue battleaxe and held it in both hands. "So why are you here?! What made you and the rest of you attack the tower?!"

"The same reason I helped Emperor Nero. I wish to attain status and become the strongest I can. No matter what I will become the absolute best amongst my peers..and enemies. I don't care about morals, never have. In fact, I wish to ask you a question...did you kill Grimjak? He was with me until he went to check the entrance."

"Tsk. I don't know if I killed him or not. What matters is saving those alive in the tower..and killing the bastards that did it after that."

"Ah, I was hoping you had gotten rid of him. One less competition to become the absolute best."

Hugo ignored his attitude and kept questioning Kruger. "How many of you are there including you and Grimjak..." Hugo gripped his axe tighter.

"Hmm..six currently.." Kruger answered, "..now, we both know what we must do."

Hugo sighed, before slowly starting to walk to Kruger.

"Heh. The last person I fought who was associated with you was a sniper. What was his name...Radius? That coward ran away when he realized he was utterly fucked. Are you the same as him? A coward? If I was him I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing I was the result of many of my ally's deaths because I ran away instead of fighting. Even if he died by my hands I would have honored him more than a coward who runs away."

"Keh. Don't kid around..you wouldn't give a shit if your allies died or not! You said it yourself..you don't care about morals. You're a psychopath just like Nero was..and just like Nero..you're gonna end up on the ground without a pulse...understand?!" Hugo's body steamed blue as his body was swiftly wrapped in a set of blue, crystalized armor. His head wasn't protected however.

"And don't think for a second I don't know what your Braveye does. Thanks to that so-called coward that ran away I know all about it!"

"OHO YEAH? THEN LET'S GET TO IT!!!"

"CENTURION!!!"

Kruger's eyes blazed orange as 3 knights wrapped in black and red armor ran at Hugo, coming from the floor in front of Kruger. The knights were all heavily armored and wielding swords. "AIM AT HIS JOINTS! HIS ARMOR WILL HAVE GAPS THERE!" Kruger ordered at his knights. Hugo's eyes narrowed as he watched the first knight thrust it's blade at his knee. Hugo raised the leg it was aimed for and kicked the blade out of the knight's hand thanks to the sheer force and weight of Hugo's armor. He then swung his axe diagonally at the knight's head, slicing it in half. The knight fell over and vanished in black and red smoke.

The two knights that remained sprinted at Hugo who desummoned his axe and summoned two tomahawks in each hand. The first knight thrust its blade at Hugo's right shoulder and the other at Hugo's right knee. Hugo, in a split second, desummoned all his armor in every place but the places the knight's were aimed for. As soon as the knights hit their target's their blades snapped. Hugo then took this chance to decapitate both of the knights with his tomahawks, both of them falling to the floor and vanishing into black and red smoke.

Before Hugo could recover from his own swings Kruger was in Hugo's face with a silver switchblade, thrusting it swiftly at Hugo. Hugo had no choice but to summon magik armor around his neck, but before the armor could harden the blade went halfway through the armor and into Hugo's neck. Hugo growled and grabbed Kruger by the neck, running and slamming him into the closest wall of the assembly room. Kruger's back cracked but he still drove the switchblade into Hugo's neck further. Hugo coughed blood and kept a hold of Kruger's neck with one hand whilst grabbing his hand with the other, twisting Kruger's fingers back slowly. Kruger roared in pain and let go of the blade, before being thrown across the room by Hugo.

Hugo collapsed onto one knee and felt his neck bleeding, blood pouring onto the wooden floor. Kruger landed onto his broken back, growling and grimacing, blood and saliva leaking from the sides of his mouth.

"If..I'm gonna die by a psychopathic brat such as you...I better bring you with me.." Hugo slowly stood up, his neck still bleeding. He shuffled over to Kruger who was still lying on the floor struggling, summoning his blue crystal battleaxe once more. "..I'll be doing everyone in the world a favour.."

Kruger looked up at Hugo and growled, attempting to use Centurion to summon more knights but to no avail. The magik strain caused him to cough blood.

"You're injured badly..you can't use your Braveye. It's still magik and the laws of that still apply...your body is at it's limit." Hugo grunted out as he fell to one knee, using his axe to help him stay on one knee. "Shit.."

"Keh.." Kruger reached into his pocket and took out a gray potion, lying on his stomach and pouring it on his back and onto his broken fingers. "Ahh..ahh.."

Hugo frowned as he saw this, knowing it was a stolen healing potion from the tower.

"That's it...soak in..snap em' back into place.." Kruger whispered as he slowly stood back up. His fingers twisting and turning until they were back in their normal places.

"Wew! The potions you guys make here sure are good..maybe after we've got what we want here I'll take them all..sell them for a shit ton of kredits!" Kruger chuckled and looked at Hugo, who was still on one knee. "Now then..."

The door that Kruger came through suddenly opened, the two looking over at it. What stood there was Jolene, the white-haired and white-eyed Saint glaring at Kruger. Her body swiftly started to steam white. She was wearing a white trenchcoat.

"Get the fuck away from him, kid." She strictly ordered out, walking slowly towards Kruger, who faced her. "What's this then?" He chuckled out.

"Whatever you're gonna do Jolene, make it quick..I'm dying here." Hugo held his neck. "As in...very quick.."

Jolene kept walking towards Kruger, her hands glowing a blinding white as she did.

...