"Will you get off me!?" shrieked Aiko, "Stop clinging to me!"

Aiko was trying to kick away a black cat from her legs. It was Blake's cat form holding on for dear life.

"Nyooo!" cried Blake, "Milady! Please return me my love for nyou~!"

"Love!? What love!?" shouted Aiko, "I put up with going against you because I understood that we need Cavaron back, but why the hell do you love me!?"

"Nyour skills! Nyour smile! The way nyou went against me in the game! I loved it!"

"No! Forget about all those!"

"Nyever! I will burn the memory into my heart!"

Cavaron covered his face and sighed while Cyan had already gone back inside Hideki. Cavaron turned towards his fellow fragment holder to discuss.

"Now that we know the source of all this, any idea on what to do next?" he asked, "If this Alexander has the same fragment as I do, we will need your help to do anything."

Hideki turned his gaze towards Yggdrasil.

"Well, since it has been affirmed by another fragment..." said Yggdrasil, "I have no choice but to lift any and all restrictions placed upon by the other Masters with regards to a Science and Technology world. Though, I do wonder if we could assault Pamana Island with just this many people. I recall that Alexander and his children amount to at least 3000 individuals."

"Just 3000?" wondered Cavaron, "I find that to be an easier to manage number than going up against an entire nation's armed forces. Since the restrictions have been lifted, we could just deal with this swif— oh wait... they're still sleeping. Hasn't been a day since then... Blake!"

Cavaron called for Blake who had already tripped Aiko and was crawling towards her in his cat-form. When Cavaron saw this, he immediately willed the cat the come back.

"Nyoooo!!! Aiko-sama~!" cried Blake, "I want you! I need you!"

"Pervert!" shouted Aiko as she stood up.

"Thank nyou for the compliment!"

Aiko pulled out her handgun in response to Blake's... reaction... BANG!

Aiko fired off a shot, and the bullet went straight for Blake. Cavaron noticed the shot, and lifted Blake to have the cat receive it. The bullet hit Blake but did not penetrate. Instead, the bullet was burned up by Blake's flames.

"Myahh, stupid flames!" said Blake, "I would have her take responsibility for penetrating meow."

"Shut up, you damned cat." said Cavaron as he lifted up the cat by the collar, "Answer me, what can you grant upon being fragmented?"

Blake turned his feline eyes and locked gazes with Cavaron.

"Nyai can give them a portion of what you have." answered Blake, "Say, a portion of nyour abilities can be copied to give them a boost. Nyes, copied. Sort of like a buff that depends on the caster's stats. It won't disappear unless nyou state until when nyou'd like it removed. Others can't cancel the fragment unless the one cancelling it has an opposing fragment, mrow."

Cavaron turned to Hideki.

"You're going to be the vanguard." he said.

Hideki nodded then Cavaron returned his attention at the cat.

"Anyway, what would happen if two fragments of the same origin were to go up against one another?"

Blake crossed his paws like he was thinking.

"Mrow... Nyot sure, 'He' didn't say anything about it." he answered, "Either nyothing happens, or we cancel each other out."

"Guess we'll have to use our own abilities to support Hideki." commented Cavaron, "Hideki, think you could fragment Cyan to boost the others' abilities?"

Hideki closed his eyes momentarily. After a few seconds, he opened them.

"Cyan said she could." he answered, "But Blake has to recall his fragments first, otherwise the fragments would be erased."

Blake raised a paw towards Aimi, Aiko, and Maguro. Soon, a stream of flames left their bodies and went into Blake's paw. A long while later, another stream of flames came from nowhere and went into his paw, possibly from Daichi. Afterwards, water poured out of Hideki's body and enveloped Maguro, Aimi and Aomi, and the three midget Cavarons.

"Hey! What about me?" asked Aiko realizing that Cyan hadn't granted her a fragment.

Cavaron and the others looked at one another.

"Sorry, Aiko." apologized Maguro, "I think I know why. You're just an ordinary human that stumbled upon our kind. You will still have the ability to speak with us but, as for combat, we can't risk you to die because of our matters."

"What about Yggdrasil? How come he didn't get granted a fragment?"

"Because I am a Master, an observer, child." answered Yggdrasil, "Unless it is of grave need, I am not allowed to take part in such matters. Apart from apprehending Cavaron for earlier, I cannot do anything else."

"That is, until a Master gets summoned somewhere, only then can they act." added Cavaron, "Still, for Revas to be able to create such rules..."

" " Revas? " " wondered both Aimi and Aiko.

"The first Cipher." answered Yggdrasil, "The first Guardian of worlds, a master of all laws. Akin to the gods themselves, he is a demigod, so to speak. How he came to be is unknown, though."

"When I first met him, I was lost in Space." said Cavaron, "Then, Goldie-eye found me floating aimlessly. We hit off after that, with me being unfazed by his 'greatness', I treated him like an equal. Hmm, now that I think about it, he had this deep sadness in his eyes when we first met half a millennium ago..."

"Well, just think." said Maguro, "All that power with no one to spend time with. A life of loneliness lie before him. Does he like you, Cavaron?"

Cavaron blinked twice.

"I doubt he's gay." he answered, "Besides, as his friend, I can think of him the same way as he does with me."

"But restricting himself by merely being an observer..." wondered Maguro, "I wonder, is there a possibility that he is following someone of a higher power?"

"It is possible." answered Yggdrasil, "Even if a lot of lives become lost, he will just watch. I wonder what needs to be done for him to act?"

"Didn't he act once before?" asked Cavaron, "I heard rumors from the others about something that happened centuries ago."

Yggdrasil closed his eyes to recall any information regarding such a thing.

"Hrm, I seem to remember an incident when one of our kind was about to destroy the balance of a world." he answered, "The details were unclear but he was forced to act by calling down the heavens. I would love to see such an awesome display of pure power before I get killed."

"Calling down the heavens, huh?" said Cavaron, "I wouldn't be surprised if he did, he does have everything at his disposal."

The three Japanese, a kid, and the three midgets stood at one side. They were quietly watching the three old men talk about a person they had no idea about. Although, Aiko noticed something strange.

"Hey, Hideki." she called out, "Why aren't you there talking with them?"

"I'm only 323 years old." answered Hideki, "I'm the second youngest of our kind currently present here. The youngest is Ms. Aoyama there. I stopped aging by the time I was 23."

"I heard something from their conversation." added Aiko, "You can still get killed?"

"Senpai told me that they are not immortal." answered Aimi, "They only have eternal life due to their mana merging with their very essence, or that's how I understood it."

"So to speak, we are survivors." added Hideki, "I've seen many of our kind die early, and many more after having a taste of eternity. Others, unable to bear the passing of time, choose death to escape. Although, based on what the elders and seniors had taught me, this 'escape' is only possible to ordinary people. For the people who had been summoned, we will be forcefully reincarnated despite not having any sort of regret."

"Forcefully reincarnate?"

"Yeah. There is a being of a higher order that maintains a system that prevents us from diverging from our intended fate. A god, in other words, dictates whether we are to become free or not. Others have the freedom of death, while we have no freedom from this system... apart from having our very essence destroyed beyond recollection, but that would be an eternal damnation."

"And soon, that will happen to me." added Aimi, "I sort of had accepted it already... though, I do wish that there is some way to break away from it."

Aiko listened to Hideki and Aimi's explanations. The only ones without a care for discussion were Aomi and the three midget Cavarons that had gone to sleep.

"Still, the most that I could summon is probably Burkhard." said Cavaron, "All the rest had been depleted and are recuperating."

"Then we have to plan our approach carefully." said Maguro, "Although, for only 3000 people to fight back against a multitude of nations' militaries..."

"Why don't you rest first?" suggested Yggdrasil, "From what you've told me, it hasn't been a day since you've arrived here. With the swift passing of time in Hub Space, none of your contracts had had any rest. I will just drop Ms. Tanaka off at her base."

---

Eight hours later.

Cavaron and his companions, excluding Yggdrasil, Daichi and Aiko, were outside and stood in a circle.

"Well, you Terrans know how to get there." said Cavaron, "Lead the way."

"Not so fast." replied Hideki, "We will be taking the subterranean route. Since I am unfamiliar with the layout of the island, we might get ported in the middle of concrete instead."

"Hmm, good point. Then, is there a point close to the island where we could use as a launching pad? Unless, you expect everybody to run all the way there."

"We could go directly to a Philippine shoreline closest to the island."

"Let's do that."

"Then, we will go to the seaside municipality of Palanan, Isabela."

Hideki outstretched his palm, and mana began to concentrate at the center. He drew a large circle with it in midair and, once the ends had met, a portal appeared. Through the portal, a lush tropical forest could be seen.

"I once went to each country back then." said Hideki, "I especially liked regions yet to be thoroughly touched by mankind."

Hideki led the others through the portal and into the forest.

"This is a mountain forest within Palanan, the coast should be to our east."

"By the way, where did you get Cyan?" asked Cavaron.

"I didn't receive her here." answered Hideki, "There was a world where I nearly drowned to death decades ago. Senior got Blake when you got hit by a breath, right?"

"Does bestowal have something to do with near-death experiences, Blake?" asked Cavaron.

"Mrow, most of us do so." answered Blake from within Cavaron's thoughts, "Either you get to the edge, or we get to be born with you."

"Born?" wondered Cavaron.

"Nyeah, though nyai'm nyot sure how it happens."

Cavaron and his companions traversed the tropical forest and headed towards their intended destination to the east. However, once they had left the forest into a clearing, a fairly unexpected group of people met with them.

"Well, I hadn't expected them to have a base from what you've told me." commented Cavaron, "Shit. Hideki, vanguard! Aimi, support! Maguro, buff! Midgets, havoc!"

The earth beneath Hideki rose and propelled him forward like a wave. Bringing out his Riot Sword, he twirled it around like a polearm and cut apart a massive black cat. Aimi dashed to the side with her bow out, while Aomi assumed her beast form. Maguro had white arrays floating around him and magic circles shooting out to the others. Finally, the three midgets wreaked havoc by disrupting the battlefield with seemingly random but well-coordinated attacks.

Right before them was, unexpectedly, a naval port filled with the very same people and monsters they had fought against earlier. Dalaram's Children and a horde of black monsters.

"So much for a surprise attack." said Cavaron, "Now then, time to dance!"