Chapter <ⅩⅩ>

Over the mountains high, the valleys low, through villages homey and deserted alike, across the reed fields everlasting,

young Edmund traversed slowly getting firmly with his two feet, of loosened straw sandals did they soften his hardship walks. A boy of white hair, white as snow, and a frame slightly taller and skinnier than those of his age.

Alongside this young boy of twelve, guiding him across the vast lands marvelous and breathtaking, whereabouts of dread and soul drenching, young Tricia, a small girl of green long tidied hair of the same age as Edmund was, in silence did she accompany this young traveler, for she communes not with words but more of showing the boy the truest form of the lands that nurtures all light heart in its gentle floral embrace.

But who is this Edmund kid and Tricia girl all of a sudden, you ask.

Have we not too many characters enough, you ask?

“ It has been a long week since our unpleasant stay in New Birmingham.” this Edmund sighed, resting at the edge of the mountain, standing atop the ridge line overseeing the highs and lows of great Kingdeniom.

Tricia shook her head with a look of dismay.

“ You are right. We should not listen to those uncanny ruffian warlords like that in New Birmingham.”

young Edmund the boy agreed to his silent companion’s assessments

“ Yuidis be blessed that the Awesome Lord Toshiumi of Gold saved us in time.”

Tricia nodded with a smile of gratitude onto the Lord Toshiumi Al Seraphim that saved her and this Edmund from the dastardly ruffian warlord Wang Buo Jun back in chapter 2.

That’s right, for Edmund and Tricia were the same two younglings Toshiumi awesomely saved in his first appearance in this whole epic, and had long traveled across Kingdeniom, heading south out of the Vilencia borders towards the mainland capital Tron.

Back to his home.

Tricia pointed gracefully at the east below the foot of the mountain for Edmund to see, without her words but of action, and the force of Strike within all things life and lifeless, and more.

“ A village,” Edmund observed as he followed Tricia’s finger

“ Let us rest there for the night.”

They so did, but to their surprise, the villagers were almost packed and leaving the village behind on their cabs and carriages, in a hurry and a notion of panic in the air.

Edmund quickly went to an old couple sitting on an wooden cheap carriage pulled by a fat bull parked on a side and asked the reason for their hurrying flee.

“ Vilencia and Tron are at war, son !” the old man on the creaking carriage hollered in haste

“ We must leave and seek refuge within the Vilencian walls before Tron storms in! But alas !! My carriage is stuck in this puddle of mud and my Bull won’t pull !!!”

“ Meh.” the old couple’s bull of golden brown mane lazily mooed and sat there without budging a single muscle.

“ Oh, dear!” Edmund quickly put down his bags and walking staff, rolling his sleeves up as he came to the back of the carriage

“ Let us help !!”

With their eyes met and a nod of mutual understanding, Edmund and Tricia the two younglings both sprang to action, Edmund pushing the back of the carriage with the old man and his wife, while Tricia, coming to the indolent bull’s presence, caressed the large lousy animal’s head and leaned close, resting her forehead onto the Bull’s in silent converse.

“ Is she talking to our bull ?” the old lady asked in amazement.

“ No,” Edmund answered proudly

“ She is healing the Bull’s light heart.”

And before the old couple realized, the golden bull suddenly gave a heroic moo and stood up with its four skinny legs, hoisting its obsessed body up along with the carriage yolked on its back.

“ Heyah !!!!” the rejuvenated bovine chad cried with energized zeal and with one last heave pulled the mud-stuck carriage out to solid ground.

The old man and his wife cheered in delight and relief.

“ Young sir, young lady! We owe you our lives !!”

The old man thanked Edmund, shaking the boy's two hands, and quickly noticed blood flowing out of the boy’s palm.

“ Aiyah !! Quick! Take my handkerchief !” The old housewife ushered her handkerchief to Edmund who politely rejected the offer kindly.

“ It’s alright.”

Edmund thanked the old couple with a kind smile, as his wounded palm involuntarily glowed in silver light, a Rune formed on that bleeding cleft as the wound immediately sutured itself accordingly to the anatomic form and the wound was healed, not a drop of blood spilled in waste.

“ My word !” The old couple and the bull uttered in grand shock, not of Edmund’s self-healing wound, but of the silver blazing rune that shone in his palm.

T’was, an Exia Rune, of Silver.

“ ……Your Highness !”

The old man and his wife, alongside their chad bull all, knelt before this young Edmund,

No, this Edmund Keiken of Kingdeniom, crown prince to the silver throne, the royal son of Keiken, and brother of Isabel,

standing before them,

abashedly and quickly helped the old couple up in hurry.

“ Please, it’s no big deal !” Edmund begged them rise.

“ It is my duty, and I am obliged to help.”

“ But….Crown Prince, why are you here ?! In the middle of a coming warzone ?!” The chad Bull asked in worry.

“ Yeah! Come and escape with us to Vilencia !” The old lady suggested.

“ I….I am on a pilgrimage.” Edmund Keiken replied earnestly

“ With my companion Tricia my guide, who has guided many generations of Keiken before me. My apologies that I can’t join you, for I have a path I must tread, a world I must see with my own eyes. May your path be safe and prosperous.”

And reluctantly, the old couple and the bull went their separate ways, and Edmund Keiken and Tricia theirs.

Up another hill they climbed and over that hill they oversaw the Vilencain border, and the war before the Denteimong castle valley, mobile walkers burnt and broken, men either fled and dead, save for two last beings against each other in the middle of the battlefield, clashing with the utmost swordplay and tech power they could muster.

Tricia gasped, pointing to the sky as Edmund followed her gaze.

Lo!

The skies above the two battling kings, emblazoned by their Exian Runes of power drawing out and wide across to the horizons, of Red and Gold, so close to each other, like two sky-covering rune swords clashing in sheer fervor !!!!

“ It’s Awesome Lord Toshiumi !!! Fighting against King of Terminas Varche Scrirocco !!!!!”

Edmund Keiken uttered in shock, and so did Tricia a silent gasp of astonishment.

And even though they were eager to help,

none of them could,

for it is no more a battle of Exian Lords,

but a clash of the Gods !!!!

Toshiumi Al Seraphim, with his trusty saber of eternal flame Kouzuki, slashed a million slashes to the air none stop, but Varche, with all his fingers now becoming laser beam shooters parried all the slashes !!!! And Varche turned into a light saber cyclone spinning with a hundred light sabers in hand and knuckles and even one he bit between his jaws, but Toshiumi without any more flourishing gimmicks and tech, replied Varche’s Revenging scourge with nothing but more and more valorous saber slashes uncomprehensible to the eyes and undescribable in words and language.

Edmund Keiken and Tricia were both stunned by the clash of epicness.

“ ……did Lord Toshiumi just become his saber’s saber and cut Varche himself…..???” Edmund Keiken asked in sheer disbelief.

Tricia could but nod slowly in silent awe.

But Edmund and Tricia were not the only persons watching over the battle of the two Exian lords.

“ Good.”

Grand disciple Kaburagi Shisei of the Illuminatus League nodded on top of the Denteimong castle wall

“ Let dogs bite. Asuka Hikaru.”

“ Yes, League Master.” Asuka Hikaru approached the League spokesman with calm confidence, his ideals of making a new peace for Kingdeniom set to motion.

“ You did well in trapping the scum here.” Kaburagi Shisei praised the newly appointed prime minister without a sense of praise in his voice

“ I hereby appoint you a new mission. A plan, a scheme for you to fulfill in your home Tron.”

“ Tron….!” Asuka Hikaru breathed with a strong reminiscence of homecoming

“ How do I accomplish this scheme ?”

“ The King of the whole of Kingdeniom, Keiken King, Rune bearer of the Silver Exian Rune.

He has the Blue Exian Rune bearer with him. I need them to perish, and their passing shall also serve as a reward in your conquest, especially….the Old King’s passing.”

Asuka Hikaru was stunned by the League master’s words. But in a glad way.

Asuka had dreamed of true democracy, a society ruled by the people with their own supremacy, without the superpowers apprehending their free will.

A world without kings or lords, or notorious old men,

but the people !!

Asuka Hikaru smiled contently to the skies.

“ My dream…..is coming to shape.”

But behind Asuka’s joyous march onto the airship bound to Tron,

Yukari, saddened as ever, following behind this just man of bright beliefs she no longer remembers,

a man who she witnessed with her own eyes, has become a notorious warlord like his father in a horrible inescapable cycle of hate,

heading towards the Tron capital onto a path of bloodshed.

…

………..

Now residing in this Weiwu mansion of royalty, this humble establishment passed down through ages since the fourth Keiken that ruled over Kingdeniom, Tenmei Akiro our man had a decent breakfast in the royal dining hall, something he had not the time or leisure of having for quite a long time since.

“ This fried egg is exquisite, and the bacon is sublime.” Tenmei Akiro praised as he gobbled mouthful after mouthful of breakfast all to himself, gathered on a large platter of dining.

“ Indeed. Never had I thought a sandwich can make me aroused, and here we are.” Griffon nodded in approval as he stuffed one two three sandwiches into his mouth.

Nina was silent, for she was verily concentrated on the breakfast feast before her, sending each morsel into her mouth delicately and savoring each bite as much as she could.

“ The younglings have forgotten their manners.” Parusefor Master Striker Hassan Hellsing muttered as he savored the clam chowder with elegance, sniffing the rich fragrance of butter and clam within his bowl.

“ But I’ll give it a pass, for this breakfast is indeed sublime.”

“ Here, this pudding is for Kumabelle~ and this bacon is for you.”

Luca shared her breakfast with all her zombie dolls jumping up and down joyfully.

Princess Isabel, sitting next to Luca, also fed a cat zombie doll breakfast while it sat on her lap.

“ Princess Isabel, please don’t play with the food and that doll at the same time.” Nanali Hikaru, daughter of Prime Minister Lasvet Hikaru and older sister of Asuka Hikaru the royal tutor and the King’s close assistant admonished gently.

“ Ahh….speaking of the Prime minister…” Old Keiken King, sitting at the head of the long dining table sighed as he scratched his big bushy beard

“ Nanali, will you be as kind as to gather some information of the current situation of the North, regarding your father’s armies in Denteimong for me after breakfast ?”

Old King Keiken asked benignly.

“ Yes, certainly.” Nanali agreed and left the hall as soon as she finished her breakfast.

Keiken King looked at the fellowship before him, all in silence, with bandages mostly all over their wounds and casts upon their broken bones after the battle in Denteimong of yester eve.

The night before, Griffon and Nina were just planning to fight the Ark’arios in Denteimong castle, but witnessed the showcasing of indomitable powers incomprehensible to all coming out of that Spokesman that came out of the palanquin of the League, defeating Tenmei Akiro, Luka, Hassan Hellsing, and even the Ark’arios with but simple hand gestures.

And sneaking in while a red comet dropped down onto the unsurpassable league being, Griffon and Nina quickly took Tenmei and the others back to safety, and on a van Griffon stole drove all the way down south, and was led by a mysterious silver light that welcomed them to the opened gates of the royal Weiwu mansion.

And of what happened in Denteimong castle, most of the fellowship of Tenmei knew, of the gruesome passing of Notorious prime minister Lasvet Hikaru, of which Nanali the daughter of the Prime minister still is unaware.

“ She will soon find out.” Old Keiken King calmly told the others present in the dining hall

“ And I will tell her myself when she needs a deeper explanation. Excuse me, for I have some issues to attend.”

And the Old King Keiken king adjourned for his next meeting, leaving the hall after he gently spoke to his crown princess

“ Take care of the guests for me, would you, Isabel ?”

“ Yes, father !” young Isabel agreed with a smile, hugging a zombie doll happily in her arms.

And the old King left the hall.

Tenmei Akiro nodded slowly, eating the bacon in deep thought of what Keiken sought to let Nanali find out about her own father’s death.

“ Tell her what ?” Griffon asked Tenmei candidly, not getting what the old King was referring to.

“ Lasvet Hikaru is dead.” Luka replied, making sure Nanali is not in the hall anymore

“ I saw his son shoot him through the head with my own eyes.”

“ Wow. Good riddance !!” Griffon clapped aloud in cheer

“ A shame that it wasn’t me that did the killing……”

Griffon then fell silent, for all the others were eyeing him strangely, of him speaking brute-like remarks in the presence of the King of all of Kingdeniom.

“ Come on, that man shamed my mother !” Griffon whispered with grimace under his breath of a plot point we nearly forgot.

“ Everyone will certainly cheer at his funeral, right ?”

“ Lasvet is a vile man.” Hassan Hellsing, the Master Striker spoke sternly to Griffon

“ But even to our enemies, we must not insult their passing, for like all dwelling within this world of light heart connected through the Strike Force of blessed Herunia, we are all brothers and sisters, impacting each others’ lives in some way of the grand schemata of fate.”

Tenmei thought of the Master Striker’s words.

Lasvet was one of the outer forces that kick-started his life, by leading his armies against his surrogate father Tenmei Tarou’s village, thus changing fate into the course it is now, of the one in which he obtained the Blue Exia Rune from Tenmei Tarou.

Indeed, in a sense, Lasvet made him who he is now.

But something felt off about what he experienced back in Denteimong castle tower.

“ But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a douche.” Luka responded, swallowing her fruits and dessert.

“ Well, now that his son killed him, who’s going to be the next Prime Minister ?” Luka asked, inquiring the news.

“ Wait….” Tenmei blurted out as all eyes were on him as soon as he spoke.

“ …I thought I was the one that killed Lasvet…….”

Silence.

“ Well, good one, Tenmei !” Griffon patted our man Tenmei on the back

“ I knew saving you from the metro station in the first chapter would pay off !”

“ No no cat. I saw it, it’s his wimpy son that shot Lasvet.” Luka explained once more

“ You may have beaten the prime minister up, but the killing blow was the bullet through the head! I can confirm, with some brain stains left on my dolls…..”

“ Guys, I am trying to have breakfast here…..” Nina Zafield muttered as the others struggled to change the topic away from the details of Lasvet’s death to something else.

All of a sudden, Princess Isabel Keiken spoke

“ What happened to all your wounds ?” Isabel the young infant crown princess asked in wonder

“ Last night, you were all looking terrible, but now you are all alive and well! Do you people also heal like me? like In a second or two ??”

Tenmei and the others looked back at the princess, also in wonder.

“ No, we don’t heal in a second or two !” Luka was the first to jump in to explain

“ We people need something called surgery, and fortunately, my zombie dolls can perform surgery while I am in a coma.”

“ What ??” Tenmei uttered, to make sure he was hearing right.

“ What ???” Hassan Hellsing uttered as well, even the Parusedor Master Striker was as shocked as Tenmei

“ I thought it was the King’s medical team that saved us !”

“ No such medical team I am aware of.” Luka shrugged casually

“ Now, now, you may all thank me and my dolls here or later, you are welcome.” Luka smirked proudly at herself and her dolls, who all nodded with their arms curled around their fluffy chubby chests proudly at themselves.

“ Is it true ?” Tenmei and Hassan asked the suddenly silent Griffon and Nina, who were holding their pudding desserts but not consuming them at all.

“.......yes….” Nina whispered, their faces seemed like they had watched five gruesome films in a row together in one night

“ And it was beyond grotesque to behold……..”

“ And beyond unhygienic…..” Griffon added, feeling sick by just the thought of that night, when the zombie dolls were performing unbelievable surgery at the back of the van while he was driving them all to safety.

Tenmei and Hassan peered at their bandages and the sutures all over their chest and limbs underneath but dared not look further.

Luka was dismayed by the looks on their faces.

“ Hey, My dolls are skilled surgeons, mind you! They have been keeping me alive ever since, even after fighting that brat Lord Toshiumi himself !”

Luka explained proudly

“ But hey, this girl said she can heal in a second or two !! She is even more sus than I !” Luka pointed at the crown princess of the whole of Kingdeniom, trying to turn the attention off herself.

“ That’s probably because of the Silver Exia Rune, I guess.”

Griffon shrugged.

“ Yeah, I’ve read conspiracy articles that say that the royal family never truly dies and just turn back into a younger shape or form somehow.”

Nina pointed out.

“ It is once rumored by the Parusefor Masters close to the Prime Nero that they have heard of the Prime mumbling about someone called Kai being undead when the Prime Paruseforon himself was drunk on one rare occasion. “

Hassan Hellsing too explained what he heard.

“ When asked who this Kai was, the Prime refused to say any further. So we Master Strikers formed our own conspiracy in our conspiracy club that this Kai is the first Keiken King of his bloodline, and with the undying power of the Silver Exia Rune, remained as Keiken King all through the ages since.”

“ No way…..” Griffon uttered in disbelief

“ Master Strikers have a conspiracy club ?”

“ Is that what you care about ??” Tenmei dissed the Parusefor dropout.

“ We do. You wouldn’t know because you are not a Master Striker yet.” Hassan Hellsing replied smoothly with a stronger diss.

“ Ouch.” Griffon felt hurt by the truth that he is still, Not a Master Striker, yet.

“ That is not all true.”

Princess Isabel herself responded to the Master Striker conspiracy

“ Kai was the first of us, but he let himself reproduce inside his Silver Rune.”

“ What does that even mean ???” Luka asked, utterly disgusted by the notion of self-reproduction.

“ It is easy! We just grow out of the previous body.” Princess Isabel explained innocently.

Tenmei and mostly the others still were in the dark.

“ I see…..like a mushroom budding !” Hassan Hellsing seemed to have understood

“ Keeping the light heart and the genes from that light, and make another copy of that light heart code into another new body !!”

Isabel nodded cheerfully in agreement

“ Something like that !”

“ So you are Keiken. He is Keiken. All of you are Keiken.” Nina concluded out of all the information she got.

“ Yes !” Isabel nodded.

“ That is pretty deep, and very weird.” Nina concluded, eating her pudding in deep thought.

“ But, that means you don’t have any brothers and sisters, right ?” Tenmei Akiro asked curiously.

To their surprise, Isabel shook her head.

“ I have a brother! He is called Edmund, but he is on a pilgrimage with Auntie Tricia right now.”

Isabel replied candidly.

“ Well….mushrooms can sprout two at a time I guess…” Hassan Hellsing brooded, drawing the gene-calculating sequences on his palm in intensive thought.

“ I must share this new info with the others in the Master Striker Conspiracy club !”

After some time of dining and chatting, the time of breakfast had come to an end.

“ What now ?” Luka asked the others

“ Surely we have to do something, right ?”

At this, Tenmei Akiro cleared his throat to have a say

“ Guys, before this journey, I was a programmed homunculus assassin serving this League to hunt down Exia Rune-bearing Lords and assist them in their destruction of our knowing world.”

“ Yeah yeah, I know that already.” Luka waved him off.

“ Luka, I need to explain to the other guys, and probably the readers also that have already lost track and chose a random chapter just to hop in mid-way!”

Tenmei Akiro our considerate man explained quickly.

“ Oops, Sorry. Carry on.” Luka stepped aside and let Tenmei continue.

“ You are a Homunculus ?!?!”

Griffon uttered in sheer amazement and disbelief

“ Like that Varis ?!”

“ Yes, like THE Varis. Anyways !” Tenmei Akiro cleared his throat again

“ Anyhow, that homunculus assassin with the Ark’arios is not who I am, for over the course of this journey, of a start that left no past memories, I met many people, good and bad, and faced many tasks and obstacles, low key and life-threatening both. And from the people I encountered, either from my past or of the unexpected, they showed me not just the truths of themselves, but the truths of ourselves.

It is those same generous people that taught me, who I am is not about my birth and what I carry, it’s about what I choose to do that defines me.

And now, with my memories nearly fully regained, I can confidently say, that the truth of myself I found during this journey is a pleasant one, one that chooses a world where we can live in peace and harmony, without hurting each other. That is what I believe and want to fight for.

But sadly, that is not what my makers believe.

So our final goal is to stop this League, stop them from getting the Seed and all the Exia Runes, and defeat them in their own game. What say You ?!”

Lo, the fellowship looked at each other,

then back to Tenmei Akiro, with resolve and determination in their eyes.

“ You have my naginata lance !” Nina Zefield bravely joined in Tenmei’s rally.

“ You have my bow.” Hassan Hellsing the Parusefor Master Striker took out his Star bow and joined in.

“ You have me.” Luka answered sheepishly.

“ Hey, kids are watching!” Tenmei Akiro admonished.

“ Yeah, sure, I am in.” Luka rolled her eyes, raising a hand, with her dolls all rallying behind Tenmei Akiro.

And last but not least,

Griffon stood up, facing our Tenmei with much resolve.

“ Tenmei Akiro.”

Griffon spoke each word loud and clear

“ I have lied but not anymore, for I have wanted to kill you, ever since I know you carry the Ark’arios. But you too have shown me over the course of our journey, that you are who you are, not mad berserk killing machine of legends, but an awkward man that avoids crowds, a silent man when the surroundings are loud, and also, a man that is willing to help those in need anyhow.

You not only have my respects, but also my halberds, Tenmei Akiro !”

And Griffon reached out his hand !!!

Tenmei took that hand in his !!!!!

And they shook hands !!!!! Of grand friendship !!!!!!!

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Griffon looked at Tenmei’s firm shaking hand tightly grabbing him and felt that this was not just a common handshake!!!!!!

“ Are you invoking an oath of brotherhood ?!?!” Griffon asked heroically.

“ Don’t mind if I do !!!!” Tenmei Akiro hollered back energetically.

“ What am I watching right now ??” Luka asked, not believing what is transpiring before her eyes.

“ You are watching two men engaging in the hot burning oath of bro-hood !!!” Nina breathed excitedly, her eyes wide and fixed on the hot scene before her eyes.

“ This…I can down three bowls of rice with this !!!!!”

“ This big sister is scaring me.” young Princess Isabel quickly hid behind Luka and her zombie dolls.

And right then and there, Tenmei Akiro and Griffon the Parusefor dropout, made an oath of brotherhood, under the witness of Nina Zefield, Luka, Hassan Hellsing, and princess Isabel Keiken, awed by the chadness at work, to be each other’s sworn brother, in aid when whether’s in need, and in celebration when the grand task of life is accomplished.

“ Swell !”

Tenmei finally let go of the long brotherhood handshaking and let his arm rest for a while

“ Let’s do what King Keiken told us to do.”

“ And what’s that ?” Griffon, his sworn brother asked.

“ Meet with the Prime Paruseforon and Exia Rune bearer of the Purple Exia Rune, Nirvariel Nero !!!”

“ Oh no.”

Griffon gasped, verily appalled by the notion of meeting his fellow kin, whom he turned away from.

…

………..

Life seemed to slow down here on Aurora isle compared to the past days rushing from one island and location to another, running all sorts of errands and sidequests till now, waking up to stroll around the beach side after breakfast, relaxing for the time being for the short peace that was hard to come by these days.

Floating on the warm surface of the shallow sea did Miula Haru lay, slowly rocking up and down along the gentle waves, the blazing sun blinding her vision as she decided to close her eyes.

It is quite peaceful here, Haru thought to herself, her world swirling up and down slowly with the salty waters, peaceful indeed, not that she dislikes peace, but somewhere deep down an urge that keeps her from staying in one spot the whole day, a sense that encourages her to move on from feeling stale.

From boredom.

“ Ah.” Haru finally realized what the problem was as the waves pushed her onward toward shore.

“ I am bored here.”

Perhaps that’s the reason why she went for a swim without a second thought in her casual t-shirt and shorts.

To escape the restrained feeling she had back in the lab under the Freedom and Justice Memorial tower back then just a few days ago.

Maybe I need to find someone to talk to, Haru stated her thoughts to herself, which reminds her of Rang’s crew, the Axalara fellowship, a name she kept only to herself, a fellowship that consists of heroes Rang found along the way and dudes she met before finding Rang, of a Parusefor dude Griffon, who was pretty fishy all through the journey, and also the one that eventually got her out of the memorial tower lab, Nina Zefield of Isandor, and one specific Tenmei Akiro.

Of Griffon Haru tried to recall, his stupid comments and uncanny attitude towards Tenmei Akiro, certainly, he is not a bad person, nor a funny one. No offense, Griffon, who is a trained Parusefor, not the strongest but good enough, Haru supposed, she is not an expert on Parusefors.

And there was Nina from Isandor, someone Haru used to talk to sometimes, who was just slightly older than herself, giving out a senior of the same school club kind of vibe. But when Haru thought about it, Nina was nearly always eating something when Haru saw her, even in the middle of an intense fight, Nina still be munching a rice ball tucked in her chest armor somewhere.

Where were they now, Haru wondered.

And with that in mind, Haru swam back to shore, drying herself under the sun as she surfed the net on her U-phone for answers.

With the Twittie app that had Nina’s friend account stored, and Griffon’s too, and also

Tenmei Akiro.

Haru paused at the one name and swiped slowly to a halt in the middle of her screen.

Saltwater dew dropped down atop Tenmei’s T on her screen from her glistening wet blue hair which a towel lazily placed on top covering her body also with that one big towel.

Haru stared at the name for long in silence.

Surely Tenmei is alright, right?

She separated Tenmei from the Ark’arios the last time she remembered, and also saying those words to him…..

“…… For All I wanted….is for you to know that I believe in you…….I Believe you are More Than what they call you, You are more than just a host of the Ark’arios…..!!!!”

And Haru cringed, hard, burying her face deep in her bent-up thighs as she curled up into a ball of shame, hugging her knees tightly under that big towel, groaning in silent agony to herself.

“ What is she doing ?” Hidaka, one of The Golden Lord’s officers, a trusty warrior of the Golden Company tasked with guarding the Seed Haru for the time being asked his other colleague, Akiyama, also a trusty member of the Golden Company, standing guard behind a rock with officer Hidaka.

“ No idea, but if I have to guess, seems like she’s into some cringe.” Akiyama deducted through his spectacled sharp observing eyes, watching from behind a faraway rock from where Haru sat.

“ Seems like it.” Hidaka agreed with Akiyama’s assessments.

But there were Tron soldiers gathering around Helltron before she left with the Golden Company, Haru recalled, after recovering from the cringe.

Did they capture Tenmei? Have they gunned him down like how the notorious Prime minister guns down innocent civilians ?!

Is Tenmei dead ??

The notion of death, a force that could snatch anyone disregarding their status and character out of existence, made Haru sick and a sense of dread grew, like her stomach being flipped around inside out.

No, he is just fine, who is she kidding?

It’s Tenmei Akiro, the one dude that Rang admitted to having set up to kill many times and failed as many times throughout their journey. Tenmei Akiro always finds a way to survive even the most improbable circumstances, he won’t just die to some Tron soldiers………

………but that is when Tenmei had the Ark’arios within him.

Now without the Ark’arios, Tenmei is just like any normal light-hearted being, and it’s all because of her that Tenmei is separated from the Ark’arios…….

Did she, Miula Haru, just doom Tenmei Akiro’s life ???

If he is dead,

It’s because of her.

She had doomed the person that had saved her from Seed exploding several times,

saved her and the crew from Tron and Xin-an’s war,

saved her father and mother from the notorious Lasvet Hikaru.

To the one person that had done so much for her,

This is what she repays him ?!?!?!

Haru felt like she was about to Seed implode again and puke at the same time.

“ Haru…..?”

Haru looked up with a terrified jolt,

to see that it was gentle Mio Al Seraphim, the fair and ever bloom, wife of Toshiumi Al Seraphim the Awesome Lord of the Golden Exia Rune, her Ladyship of the Golden company herself, standing before her in yellow-hued kimono and new towels she has in her thin arms readied for Haru to dry.

“ Yoh, look !!! It’s her ladyship coming !!!” Hidaka hollered in a silent yelp to his partner.

“ Damn, Real sh-t !!” Akiyama quickly looked harder with his spectacled eyes from afar.

“ …..You alright ?” Mio asked tenderly, bending down to Haru’s level.

“ …….No………” Haru admitted candidly, her expression sick and weary as if she had seen a ghost, or probably made someone a ghost.

“ Is it the Seed? Is it imploding once again ?” Mio quickly helped dry Haru’s blue glistening curly hair with her new towels in hand

“ It’s alright, I’ll redirect it to the sea.”

“ No………..” Haru shook her head slowly, guilt feeling her voice

“ …..I think……I killed someone…..someone that has helped me a lot….like, a really really important person that I have accidentally hurt because I am such an idiot sandwich! And…..He’s probably dead by now……because of me…….”

Mio was silent at first, still processing the phrase idiot sandwich in her simple head.

“ Are you sure….?” Mio asked gently yet sternly,

to which Haru nodded, shaking all over, trying hard to hold back her tears of guilt.

“ …….Then we must give him a rightful funeral of respects.” Mio Al Seraphim concluded, taking Haru by the hand firmly, pulling the dumbfounded girl by the arm like a gentle yet adamant older sister.

“ A WHat ???” Haru thought she didn’t hear right.

“ Come, I know a spot where we can mourn.” And before Haru could explain further, Mio lead the distraught high school girl back up the island headquarters, and up the tallest mount of the isle behind the golden tiled palace above, the two golden clansmen following behind.

“ Did I just hear about a funeral ?” Hidaka Asked his colleague.

“ Probably for that dastardly Kaburagi villain.” Akiyama whispered back, hatred filling his voice the moment he uttered that name

“ Ten funeral parties per month for that vile vermin won’t even be enough !”

…

………..

“ Here we are.” Griffon pulled the brakes of the stolen van and waited for the others to get off.

Lo, as soon as Tenmei looked up, a tall wide slanting plateau stood large and boastful, blocking anything else in sight, an immovable mountain lifted up through sheer will before the freedom and justice memorial tower boulevard, the Tron headquarters of the Parusefors that invaded according to the alliance of Xin-an.

“ There was a war some days ago.” young princess Isabel Keiken, like a guide, showed the fellowship around the plateau outskirts

“ It was said that the son of the notorious prime minister Lasvet Hikaru died in battle, may his soul rest in peace.”

“ No. Asuka Hikaru did not die, but was trapped in the deserts of Shambara by the old Parusefor magics.”

Hassan Hellsing expressed the truth to them.

“ He found me, and we got out together. Anyways, who brought this sassy little princess with us ??”

The Parusefor Master Striker asked the others of the fellowship who all looked the other way.

“ I wanna be guide !! Let me guide you around Tron !” the tiny princess hollered, jumping up and down eager to guide.

“ Yeah…who here hasn’t stayed in Tron before please raise a hand…” Griffon roll called and among the fellowship of Tenmei, Griffon, Nina, Luka, Isabel, and Master Hassan,

only Hassan Hellsing and Nina raised their hand.

“ Does staying in Tron for high school vacation count? Then…” Nina put down her hand, and Hassan was the one remaining with a hand raised.

Princess Isabel stared at Griffon with puffed cheeks of dismay.

“ I was in Shambala for more than ten years, atoning for my sins of letting a child die under the Ark’arios’s wrath for my mercy. I don’t regret a second in that mind prison desert.”

Hassan Hellsing spake cooly and walked forth towards the plateau in quick double steps.

“ There is no need of sightseeing, for we have a mission, a grave one that needs quick success.”

the Parusefor Master Striker exclaimed to them all.

“ We Parusefors will not hesitate to start another war if there is either the need, or our Prime bades it.”

“ But, Master Hassan, I noticed something.” Nina Zefield spoke up with wonder.

“ Though they say the Parusefors invaded Tron and this part of the city a war zone, it seems nothing much has changed, and rather this part of the capital is more well governed than the other districts, don’t you think ?”

Tenmei looked around and surely the shops and stores were all open, and the food stalls smoked with the grilling of wholesome street food, not just that, but also the people of Tron, working as usual and traversing the streets at inconsistent speed, passing the large plateau like it was just another historic building by the side, not hindering any lives of the city.

“ That is because we Parusefors are civilized, and respect the commoners’ daily routines.” Master Striker Hassan explained cooly

“ We fight only against the enemy, not the innocent, unlike those notorious politicians you all know of.”

“ Hmm, fair point.” Tenmei nodded, agreeing with Master Hassan’s assessments.

“ But do not let your guards down, young ones! For this is a plateau scheme, a battle tactic used long ago to fend off aliens in the Elden times of the start of the age of Starchilds. All that is gathered here in this plateau are no lesser Master Strikers than I, and like me, they kill with a stare.

Fortunately, My kin knows me, so I’ll be the guide into the plateau. Remember, do not speak unless they ask you to. Now follow me.”

And vigilantly, the fellowship followed Hassan Hellsing’s lead and came to the entrance of the plateau, up a wide long slope before reaching a stone-pillared gate its highest rim touching the clouds and as hardened were the stone unbreakable even under flurries of lightening strikes.

The thick stone gates didn’t move when Hassan approached.

“ Should you knock ?” Luka asked at the back of the fellowship.

But without answer, Hassan blew a long echoing whistle with his hands to his lips, a thin hollow moan across the noon sky, vibrating lonesomely across the Tron capital streets.

And as soon as the whistle died, the stone gates opened.

And Lo,

Two Parusefor Masters stood before the opening gates intimidatingly staring back at Tenmei and his fellow companions.

“ …….. is this ?!?”

Asked the one Parusefor lady Master, a young woman wielding a greatsword, glistening the stars and cosmos within the grand blade, who seemed to recognize Hassan with just a glance of the wizened man’s aura.

This one and only Master Striker of saber, be Riella of the cosmos Sword.

And beside her stood, of course, Master Striker of Lance, Sven…of the lance.

“ I have a decent lance, and pretty good lance play skills.” Parusefor Master Striker Sven quickly clarified to the readers.

“ And I am Hassan Hellsing !! Master Striker of Archer, wielder of the Star Bow !!”

Hassan introduced himself aloud to the two Masters at the gate.

“ And We hereby seek the audience of the Prime !! Of urgent matters that concern the existing world’s fate !!!”

Loud murmurs within the plateau could be heard from outside the gates, repeating the name Hassan in shock and judgment.

Some Parusefor lookouts peered forth and saw someone else aside from Hassan Hellsing that caught their attention.

“ Hey !! It’s Griffon !!”

One of them Parusefors cried within the plateau loud to all.

“ No way! I thought he died !” Shouted back another.

“ Of shame, for being an Archdemon’s sidekick !” jeered many other younger Parusefor soldiers who all silenced abruptly with just one stare of Master Striker Riella’s sharp cosmos-reflecting eyes threateningly.

Far off within the plateau,

Marian Amastumina, the former crush of Griffon stood high above on a secret spot, looking down on our poor Griffon from afar.

Riella turned back to Hassan and the folks to continue.

“ My apologies, senior Master Hassan. Long have we heard of your plight.” Riella of the cosmos greatsword commented with a short nod of recognition

“ But….is that ?!?!”

Riella saw Tenmei Akiro standing behind Hassan and quickly raised her greatsword to combat stance, ready to strike a blow.

Luka leapt forth aggressively but Tenmei stopped her before the zombie dolls were unleashed onto the plateau.

And the Parusefor master Riella too was held back by Sven the lancer master to a halt.

“ Chill, Riella, do you sense it ?” Sven asked as Riella paused and breathed reluctantly, sensing the Strike force flowing around them within all things life and lifeless.

“......No.” Riella replied

“ But he must have hid the Demon somewhere !”

“ No, I do not !” Tenmei Akiro replied earnestly to the two masters

“ I am no longer a vessel of the Archdemon, but a rightful bearer of the Exia Rune !! Who seeks Your Prime to form an Alliance to smite the real evil !!”

“ RIGHTFUL BEARER IS IT ?!?!?!?!”

Everyone froze.

All the Parusefors, soldiers, and Master Strikers alike, froze.

Tenmei Akiro and his fellowship all froze.

Even the civilians passing by with their own lives, froze in sheer terror.

For up above the sky which darkened as he ascended,

Like a huge condor with pitch black cloaks widespread like wings swooping down with an earth-shaking crash before Tenmei Akiro, standing tall and menacing, emitting dark purple bursting aura all over his own presence,

The blazoned purple flame dancing atop where a head should have been,

now but two flaring red eyes within that purple prosperous flame as a head,

be the Prime Paruseforon of the Starchilds, first of the light children, bearer of the purple blazing Exian Rune of human possibilities and limits, Prime of all Parusefors and witness of the first stars align,

Nirvariel Nero, joins the fight.

Luka stepped back, for her instincts made her so, to survive.

Nina held her naginata lance up high, defending herself from this intimidating aura bursting out of this incomparable being just a few meters ahead.

Griffon, posing himself in front of Nina, shielding her with his twin halberds out raised, though shaking in fear, he still stood his ground.

Princess Isabel, with wide eyes of awe and recognition, like seeing a long-forgotten cartoon hero, gazed with silent excitement.

And before anyone dared move a muscle,

Hassan Hellsing dropped to his knees, kneeling with utmost resolve.

“ My Prime !!!!!” Hassan Hellsing cried with all his heart heroically

“ I have returned, after atoning for my sins !!”

Nirvariel Nero turned slightly away from the dumbstruck Tenmei and looked at the kneeling archer master in front of him.

“ The shackles that you alone chain yourself upon. ”

This Prime of all existing and preexisting Parusefors spake wisely.

Hassan left speechless !!!

" Your deeds I never blamed, for it is a course of Fate that held your arrow from killing your target.

The child that the Ark’arios Slaughtered, was also inescapable from the grasp of grave Fate. ”

“ NO !!!! " Tenmei Akiro disagreed !! Shouting against this holy Prime Paruseforon's assessments !!

" Youki didn't die because of Fate….I killed him…! I was weak, I can't control the Ark’arios then….. It’s.. It's….!!!!"

" It is Fate. ” Nirvariel Nero helped Tenmei Akiro finish.

“ And that is the path No Lord Can Escape From !!!!!"

And With an Air breaking punch, Tenmei Akiro was sent away in epic force, bashing through three skyscrapers at light speed before crashing onto hard cement several miles away.

All the others reacted a second street Tenmei Akiro was already gone.

“ You !!!" Luka was about to strike the Parusefor Prime, but Hassan Hellsing sprang up and stopped the girl in the nick of time.

“ Do not interfere !!!" Hassan Hellsing shouted, hot manly tears flowing down his dark hardened cheeks

“ Please… Let them speak…..”

Tenmei Akiro crawled up somewhere in the middle of the Tron capital streets, injured all over as he saw the light in his chest,

The Exian Rune burst bright Blue before his eyes.

And before his knees could hardly straighten up,

Nirvariel Nero Paruseforon Primus landed next to our poor man Tenmei and sent one more killing blow down the young man’s chin, face-planting Tenmei onto the cement roadside, making a crater that would leave its mark even after years as proof of history that Nero once punched Tenmei’s face onto this crater here.

What is going on ?!

Why is this beating ?!

What is he gonna do ?!?!?!

Tenmei’s mind swam as more and more life threatening punches landed down on his face every time he tried to stand, that finally, Tenmei mustered his strength after like the hundredth punch and pretended to rise slower, and Lo !!!

Tenmei predicted Nero’s punch, and caught it with his two bare hands !!!!

The Blue Exia Rune, bursting full bloom on his chest !!!!

“ Hoh.” Nirvariel Nero grunted, and backflipped kicked Tenmei, sending the man far away to oblivion.

That is what the Paruseforon Prime anticipated,

But NO!

Tenmei returned Nero’s backflip kick with his backflip kick !! And Both Kicks clashed !!!!

Tenmei ‘s leg broke !!!!!!

Tenmei Akiro screamed as he fell to the ground, holding his broken leg as light, blue light of the Exia Rune flickered madly over his chest as slowly, gradually,

the pain of the broken leg surely subsided and the broken leg turned itself back to place !!

Tenmei Akiro himself was shocked at what his legs could achieve.

“ You always thought your undying healing factors are the Ark’arios’ powers, don’t you ?”

Nirvariel Nero asked.

Tenmei Akiro didn’t reply with words, but with quick nods.

“ The Ark’arios never had healing powers that I know of. The only way it could not die, is to use a carrier of an Exia Rune to keep it alive, and accomplish its vile deeds.

You, are but that manufactured vessel, to carry a Rune that Elden Warriors, Elden Heroes die to bring shape!!! A Rune that only the worthiest of light hearts can inherit !!!!

Yet here you are !!!

With nothing but your healing and running for your life !! Even though that Keiken may call you a Lord, I Call You UNWORTHY !!!!!”

That one word,

Ringing endlessly in Tenmei’s head.

“ You pulled a better fight the last time we fought. That wasn’t you at all, but the Ark’arios fighting for your sake.”

Nero turned away, after showing Tenmei his true colors.

“ I refuse to join this alliance of fools. For a Lord that can’t defend even himself, is but a Rune hoarder, of the Exia that weighs more than his worth.”

And the Parusfor Prime flew back to his plateau,

Leaving battered Tenmei alone in the middle of the cracked cement streets.

…

………..

Some hours after the fellowship left the royal Weiwu mansion towards the Parudefor plateau,

a military jet landed at the clearing behind the royal grounds.

Asuka Hikaru had returned to Tron,

With Yukari reluctantly following this newly appointed Prime minister’s steps,

as the royal stewardess, Nanali, welcomed their arrival with a sunken heart.

“ Asuka….” Nanali spoke to her brother in a saddened tone

“ I have heard of what happened in Denteimong castle…..”

“ Then you know why I am here.”

Asuka Hikaru replied, without sentiment but with much resolve in his duty as a new peace bringer to the modern age.

And Lo, behind Asuka Hikaru and Yukari, came a group of white cloaked figures, led by none other than long-nosed Akahanon Zabi and his personal strategist Austria Van Hillingdale, joining Nanali with sinister intentions.

“ Long time no see, long time no see.” Akahanon Zabi bade in mockery courtesy, reaching for Nanali’s hand to kiss it, but Nanali refused.

“ Asuka, what is the meaning of this army you brought forth the lodgings of the Emperor? This is no trifling matter !!”

Nanali inquired with severe gravity, and Asuka was not at all perturbed by his sister’s questioning.

“ Father was not murdered, sister.” Asuka Hikaru replied, a response not of what Nanli just asked

“ He killed himself, by his own hand, his tyranny and dictatorship, that brought to his end. I am that hand, the hand that is here to punish those that play politics and disregard the lives of the greater mass.

Do you know, that Emperor Keiken permitted wars over the continent, to stabilize his rule ?! Billions, invested by the royal banks in military funding, bought all the Books of Mobile Walkers Father needed for his tyrannic supremacy !!!

Do you know, how deep and severe father’s generation, the old men has infected ours?

I have to act, as an inflammation, to set the old state ablaze, so we, the new generation…..

……can thrive.”

And Asuka Hikaru, with his men and the League’s men, pushed Nanali to a side, as they marched forth towards the Weiwu Mansion where old Keiken King resides, waiting in his office for them to come.

“ Release the Mark 2 asset !” Akahanon Zabi ushered the league members to bring out a large bus-sized iron crate, that opened and Lo !!!

Ark’arios, in a repaired, rebaked, rebooted, reconstructed Barmidis Armor walked out of the large iron crate, tall and menacing, huge and devastating, hulking and intimidating,

and also, controlled by the brains of the league, Austria Van Hillingdale himself, seated in a safe spot inside the military jet with league guards surrounding him.

“ Swell, Swell…” Akahanon Zabi polished his nose one more time

“ Getting two runes with one stone. Brilliant !!!”

…

……….

“ Well, maybe Master Hassan will convince the Prime to reconsider, now that he has joined the plateau side.” Griffon shrugged as the fellowship fetched the wounded Tenmei up where the Parusefor Prime left him and were heading back just now.

“ ….It doesn’t matter if he agrees or not.”

Tenmei replied, crestfallen

“ I am not strong enough to protect this Exia Rune myself. I am just a burden to this world.”

“ Hey ! Quit the lame talk and listen !!”

Luka slapped Tenmei’s face to turn his face towards her sitting at the back

“ You have the Rune because you already Are worthy !! Don’t listen to that fire head monster man! Listen to me !! You Are Worthy !!”

“ I never earned this Rune, Luka !!!” Tenmei Akiro yelled angrily back at Luka,

a yell that scared Luka back for a split moment.

“ I…..I have this Rune because I killed the man that had it. It was the League’s plan. I never earned this Rune…..I…..I am sorry.”

Tenmei apologized to Luka, who just nodded silently and slid back to his seat at the back.

But suddenly,

“ Isabel ?? What’s wrong ?!”

Nina asked as she noticed the young princess’s eyes stared wide at the void, her expression of dark premonitions, and her face as pale as snow.

“ It is time……..”

Isabel whimpered in terror and sadness all at once

“ I want to go back….but…but….!”

“ Yeah, that’s what I am doing right now, princess.” Griffon answered as he drove past a red light.

“ What is wrong, Princess Isabel ?! Tell us, please !” Nina begged but the princess broke to tears before she could make a coherent answer.

And the answer was right before their eyes.

“ Jives !!!” Griffon hollered with the van halting with an abrupt brake

“ The Weiwu mansion is burning !!!!!”

Tenmei looked up and indeed,

dark smoke snaking high into the darkening sky,

a blazing silhouette of what was a majestic establishment,

now enveloped in combusting flames that rages and danced as the structures began to crumble.

And with a quick door opening and blasting dash,

Tenmei Akiro sped forth into the burning manor, crashing into the flaming corridors and rushing his way up to old Keiken’s chambers.

But the old King wasn’t there, and Tenmei heard voices coming from the main hall and he rushed there secretly,

to see Old King Keiken surrounded by the Ark’arios Barmidis Mark 2, and the son of Lasvet Hikaru, holding a sword, a saber, Asuka's Hasebe nano blade !! at the old King’s neck !!

“ Do you deny the charges ?!” Tenmei heard this Asuka Hikaru shout in question

“ That you stood by and watch while you permit the continent in endless war and bloodshed, investing late prime minister Lasvet’s tyranny and political battles across the lands ?!?!?!”

“ I strongly suggest you let us do our job, Prime minister.” a different voice of an annoyed strategist-like person spoke from the upgraded Barmidis armor, now like metal restraints had covered chiefly all the parts of the Archdemon’s flesh, leaving just the demonic eyes scouring the burning hall.

“ NO !!!” Asuka Hiakru refused to step aside, still pointing his vibrating nano Hasebe blade at the old King that stared back benignly at the two manor-burners

“ He must answer for his crimes !!!”

“ This I’ll answer.” The old Keiken King smiled in answer

“ My jurisdiction over this country, over Kingdeniom is none of your business.”

“ IT IS !!!!!” Asuka Hikaru shouted furiously

“ It is Everyone’s lives you have ruined !!!! You and your generation !! It Is All Our Business to persecute you !!!!”

“ Then you have misunderstood the foundation of politics that keeps this country moving, young sir.”

and Keiken King began to explain politics in hard understanding speech which Asuka Hikaru listened tensely and Austria was forced to listen.

At this point, all of a sudden,

Tenmei heard a voice in his head.

“ …..Boy……You shouldn’t be here……”

Tenmei Akiro recognized that voice anywhere.

“ …….Ark’arios……?!?!”

“ Ahh….it seems our connection still is intact in some way….”

The Archdemon grunted in a tone between joy and sadness, as the demonic eyes revealed the Barmidis armor looking straight at Tenmei’s position behind a burning pillar.

“ Listen, boy…... I have no more control over this body, and my strength is doubled by the restraining armor they cast upon me. If you want to live and keep your Rune, you have to leave. I will not be able to spare thee this time.”

“ …..That doesn’t sound like the Archdemon I know.” Tenmei replied with a smile to the Ark’arios through the thin connection they still have between them

“ How about your promise? That promise you have been talking about all these years ?”

“ It will eventually be fulfilled…. now that the League has control over nearly every aspect of the grand picture.”

The Ark’arios replied candidly

“ But somehow…within the years I have spent inside you…….I feel sorry, for what I have done. I was but a ghost, feeling this world through your senses….with a bond that cannot be erased by any means, by any power.

You are a good man, boy. That Tenmei Tarou would definitely agree.”

Tenmei Akiro smiled at the mention of that name.

His father’s name.

“ He should have kept his Rune and fought for his village.” Tenmei Akiro spoke, tears coming to his eyes

“ Why would he give such a Power of tantamount worth to a homunculus kid that knows nothing of this world ?”

“......... Perhaps, he believes by doing so,

He can save more lives than just his village.

Mayhap, save the world, even.”

Thus spake the Ark’arios.

Austria observed the screen that was closely linked to the Arkarios’ vision, and realized the Archdemon was looking at a pillar nearby the main hall of the manor with utmost focus.

And with the sharp eyes of a strategist,

Austria saw a figure’s shadow cast underneath the pillar it stared upon.

Quickly, with his gut instinct, Austria aimed a beam canister on the Barmidis Ark’arios’ shoulder and fired at where Tenmei Akiro hid.

The pillar exploded to smithereens with a loud bang,

stopping the old King’s politics class on Asuka abruptly.

“ Intruder at two o’clock.” Austria reported and aimed the Ark’arios to engage

“ Fire missile on right arm.”

And the Ark’arios released a flurry of missiles out of its Barmidis right armored arm and the whole 5-meter radius of where the pillar once stood evaporated into flame and dust.

“ Where is he ?!” Austria asked the Ark’arios through his augmented connection to the ferocious archdemon.

“ No idea.” Ark’arios replied with a grunt.

And from behind the Ark’arios Tenmei leapt down from his new hideout and stabbed a long straight sword he found in the corridors deep into the gaps of the Barmidis back armor.

With quick controls of a pro gamer, Austria swung Tenmei off the Ark’arios’ back and as it turned, slammed a fist down on our man Tenmei, who blocked with that hardy straight sword, lying on the floor beneath his back.

Before Asuka Hikaru could react, the old Keiken King suddenly sprang to action, shooting out silver glistening tentacles out of his royal sleeved robes, silver grotesque tendrils as if made out of pure mercury swiping Asuka Hikaru off to the far end of the main hall.

Austria saw that and sneered like a pro-gamer meeting a challenging foe.

“ Shown your true colors know, Keiken King ??” And Austria made the Ark’arios let go of a bursting beam Patta sword out of the armored wrists and sliced the whole hall horizontally in half, as the old king bent his waist down backward, evading the cutting beam sword entirely before Austria’s eyes.

Austria made the Archdemon slam Tenmei to a further distance as he pressed forward at the old king, landing fist after fist at the same time letting go of all the projectile weaponry, but to the strategist’s unexpected shock,

the old King parried and deflected all the missiles and punches with his arms now turning into sheer mercury tentacles in dozens, he was defending at first and after all of the projectile weapons were released, began to strike back in offense !!

Austria bit his lips, for he was expecting the King of the whole of Kingdeniom and the Lord bearer of the undying Eternal Rune of SIlver to be the hardest to beat, but he too have made a plan to beat this king, like all video game bosses he beat in his past, he always has a plan.

But plans never exceed change !!!

And before Austria knew it, the whole fellowship !!!

Griffon, Nia, and Luka all showed up to the rescue, evading the Barmidis Ark’arios’ blows and striking the armor’s weak points with successive blows.

“ I’ll kill him now !!!” Asuka Hikaru rose up from the rubble with his Sword, his blade, his nano saber, the Hasebe Sword !!!!!

But What in the wacky name is a Hasebe Sword you ask ?!?! Lo, Hasebe is a swordplay, a Swordplay practiced by the nobles of the feudal age of Kingdeniom where nobles stand with their side facing the enemy and striking the enemy with countless speeding thrusts of the tip of the blade in a flurry more than a hundred times in three seconds !!!

One may block the first pierce, but none can defend the whole thrust !!

And Asuka Hikaru, having practiced this Hasebe Swordplay since his baby fingers are able to grip pacifiers, and with a customized blade of flexible nanoparticles designed and fashioned to perform the utmost Hasebe thrusting Swordplay, ready to thrust the old Keiken king now, no pun or innuendo intended, which he really should have five minutes ago !!!!!!!

Asuka Hikaru charged forth !!!!!

His Hasebe sword stance at the ready !!!!!!

And was addressed by Tenmei’s quick hard elbow strike through the nose !!!!!!!!!!

By Jove ! ! ! ! ! !

Knocking the new Prime minister Asuka Hikaru out cold !!!

Before any Hasebe Swordplay could be performed !!!!

What a shame！

“ Hmm, he looks familiar.” Tenmei thought to himself as he left Asuka there in the corner of the hall as he joined in on the fight against the one Ark’arios upgraded with his fellowship.

“ Guys, wait !! Who is protecting Isabel now that you are all here ?!?!”

Tenmei asked the others as they engaged in fierce battle together.

“ Nanali and My dolls have her !” Luka shouted in reply at the other end of the hall, as she dodged a laser beam shooting across just above her head.

“ Cool !” Tenmei shouted back as he parried a missile back

“ But how are you attacking now that your dolls aren’t here ?!?!”

“ With this !!” Luka shouted and with a snap of her finger,

the walls of one side of the manor crumbled and out came in a huge Mobile Giant, but not just any Mobile Walking giant,

It is the Thrond, the Iron Giant Rang chartered back in Helltron !!!!!

Now a huge zombie Mobile Walker under Luka’s command !!!!

And a huge fist it landed upon the Ark’arios’ armored face as it entered, slamming the Archdemon out of the main hall and crashing to the dining hall twenty walls away.

“ Bravo, Bravo.”

Keiken King admired the fellowship’s wholesome teamwork gladly.

“ But surely it is prime time to leave. After you, brave ladies.”

The Old King showed Nina and Luka out the burning doorframe as they quickly bounced on their stolen van, where Keiken king and princess Isabel reunite in a tight embrace as they rushed off onto the busy night streets, full of cars and busses, and

“ JIVES !!!!!” Griffon screamed as the Ark’arios Barmidis Mark 2 landed right in front of their van, crashing cars and busses out of its way as Griffon made an insane Z-turn and narrowly escaped the Archdemon’s armored claw bash.

“ Nice skills.” Nina admired of Griffon’s driving.

“ I can hire you as my chauffeur after this.”

“ Seriously, Nina, now is not a time for jokes…!!!” Griffon shouted stressfully, looked at the mirrors of the van to see where the Archdemon was charging at, and Lo the Ark’arios leapt forth in front of the van once again yet this time, Thrond the Zombie Mobile giant flew in with its power thrusters and slammed the armored demon out of the way before the van hit its feet.

“ I am not joking! I mean It !!!” Nina shouted back as they zigzagged from cars coming to their way and missiles raining all over the boulevards above.

…

………

Zabi leaned over to Austria’s screen as the strategist struggled and twisted in his virtual reality gear with much frustration and fervor, sweating all over, which is a rare scene coming from a gamer nerd of gaming caliber.

“ Are ya winning, son ?!” Akahanon Zabi jeered in question, pissing Austria even more

“ Don’t give up! The two Exia Runes are in plain sight !”

“ F-ck you, Zabi.” Austria hissed under his angered breath, lashing at Zabi with such gamer rage as he pressed onward with the Barmidis controls even harder.

…

……….

“ How was tonight, my sweet daughter ?” Old King Keiken asked Isabel with a cheerful smile.

“ ….Greatest night of my life……” Isabel replied, with tears in her eyes, hugging her emperor father tightly, unwilling to let go.

“ You still have many nights ahead of you, young one.” Keiken King patted Isabel’s head gently and smiled, his iconic benign smile at all present within the stolen van.

“ Your highness…..” Nanali whispered to the King hesitantly but old Keiken just smiled back in silence.

“ Alright, guess this has to end…..”

Austria panted, exhausted and angered by all the unexpected bullsh-t that came his way.

And typing in cheat codes into his controlling keyboard quickly ‘how do you turn this on’, Austria activated a dastardly cannon that emerged and built itself from the Barmidis armor upon the Ark’arios and with an unrelenting force that blew all that interfering zombie dolls and Thrond aside, Austria let go, of a beam energy ball stronger than Gouku, yes, I said it, a great energy blasting ball of sheer rage and force burst full out of the chest cannon of the Barmidis Ark’arios and chased the whole van in full speed, incinerating anything that it touches.

“ It’s gonna hit !!!!!” Griffon shouted.

And Tenmei Akiro stood up, opening the back of the van as he channeled his Blue Exian Force to fend off this energy ball of instant doom for his fellowship.

“ No.”

Tenmei felt a hand placed upon his shoulder that stopped his channeling in an instant with but one touch.

“ This ball of immense power can break your body and snatch your Rune. You are not ready for it.”

Spake Keiken King, coming to the back of the van.

“ I Am !!!” Tenmei Akiro cried out, reluctant to stand down

“ I am willing to stop this! And I can! For my friends….. !!!”

“ This is not the moment for you to prove anything, Tenmei !!”

Keiken King admonished sternly, a voice that could silence even a noisy crowd

“ Listen to me, Tenmei. You are way more important than you could imagine, and though you may think yourself unworthy, that only means the time for you to prove yourself hasn’t occurred yet! Believe me, I have it all well prepared.”

And with that said, Keiken King walked off the van with his good old feet, steadily strolling forth the devastating energy blast like meeting an old friend,

and Lo !!

As Tenmei and all the others including Griffon who’s driving, bore witness of how Keiken King the emperor, the Kingdeniom monarch, the trailblazer of his time,

embraced the coming ball of sheer hate in his widespread mercury tentacle arms, holding the blast inside of him whole as the impact glowed like a universe was born in that flash of blinding light.

Not a single innocent civilian was hurt by the explosion of that energy blast that could wipe out even the strongest superman out of existence, but they would never know,

for the explosion was small and silent,

engulfed in tendrils of mercury, the destructive force was compromised,

vanishing with the King that faded out of this reality plane.

…

……….

They stopped at a parking lot building far away on the outskirts of Tron, a safe place Nanali knew as it was part of Keiken King’s plan.

They rested, sitting back on their seats in deep silence.

“ I heard a phone buzzing.”

Luka exclaimed, breaking the short silence.

Griffon took out his and started surfing Metube.

“ Not mine.” Griffon answered wearily, after all that intense driving.

“ Not me.” Nina sighed, watching her phone blankly while thinking if she should call Uber Sheep for some food to be sent but afraid that it might blow their cover.

“ Not mine as well…”

Nanali checked her phone and sighed sadly that even if Asuka or Yukari had called she should not answer from now on, to keep princess Isabel safe.

Tenmei Akiro was silent at first, looking at the screen of his buzzing phone in hand with a surprised look on his face.

“ Be right back.” Tenmei Akiro quickly whispered, exiting the stolen van as he answered the call.

“ ……..Hello ?”

Tenmei Akiro spoke.

He heard a silent sharp gasp from the other side, and some muffled rustling that sounded like the wind, the night breeze blowing across the trees.

“ ……….. Hi….”

Tenmei listened to the soft, shy, awkward voice from the other side, that familiar voice once again after all those long days of hardship after departing abruptly during the Helltron strife.

A voice that eased the stress deep inside his insecure beating heart, without Tenmei himself realizing.

“ ….You okay ?”

Tenmei asked, after a short period of silence after that one word.

“......kinda.”

“ That’s good to hear.”

Tenmei chuckled, leaning onto one of the cement rectangular pillars of the abandoned parking building, overlooking the Tron city night scenery spreading out over the horizons underneath where he stood.

“ …and you ?”

Haru asked, her heart beating like a battle drum to her chest, her voice slightly shaking with each heartbeat.

Tenmei thought of a reply that could conclude his current situation but at the same time not sounding too dire.

“ Keiken King just died.”

“ WHAT ?!?!”

Haru gave out a short restrained shriek, and quickly lowered her voice, for Mio was still performing traditional funeral proceedings for a dead Tenmei in her hometown Kaminosato way.

“ Yeah, it’s complicated…..” Tenmei sighed

“ …..I shouldn’t be telling you this, right ?”

“ It’s okay.” Haru replied, thinking of a response

“ We are having a funeral anyways.”

“ What ?! For Who ?!”

Haru could feel the sheer worry just by Tenmei’s voice.

And all Tenmei got was a chuckle,

quiet soft laughter that seemed like music to him,

and Tenmei laughed with her, as naturally as it is.

“ ….I thought...I might never hear from you again.”

Haru said as she sat down on a small rock, overlooking the waves gently caressing the shores.

“ ……..Me too.”

Tenmei admitted as well.

“ I really thought I was gonna die back there……..”

Nothing but the rhythmic rustling sounds came from the other side.

“ Hello ?” Tenmei asked.

“ …..Are you still fighting…..?”

Haru asked after a longer pause of silence.

“ …..Yeah. Kinda.” Tenmei admitted, with a sigh, scratching his head

“ Things just…got complicated.”

“ Tell me.” Haru begged softly.

“ ....It’s really complicated.” Tenmei warned.

“ …Try me.” Haru whispered, already prepared to listen all night.

Tenmei took a deep breath

“ First off, I am a homunculus made by a League of villains.”

“ I know. Varis told me.”

“ Okay……and I have an Exia Rune……”

And slowly, word after word, that became sentence after sentence,

their conversation lasted long through the night,

listening to each other's voices and responding to each other’s silence,

encouraging each other, and also themselves.

“ And there is this creepy person that stayed in a palanquin almost all the time and when he appeared, he nearly killed all of us…”

“ Toshiumi can kill him. ”

“ Toshi who ?"

“ Never mind, carry on….”

.

.

.

“ But I don't know… Rang said it can be done, and with Varis' gauntlets…”

“ You should definitely try it, Miula !"

“ ….. Really…..?"

" It's what you always wanted, right? And it can also help save lives. Provided The Seed doesn't fall to the wrong hands again…”

“ Yeah…….. I'll think about that……”

.

.

.

“ So…. where are you now ?"

“ I can't tell you. ”

“ Oh, sorry…….”

“ No, no, it's because I don't know where either. Seems like a building full of parking lots. But we'll be moving pretty soon, I hope. ”

“ Yeah………”

“ Yeah…………”

And after hours of nonstop talking,

Both Tenmei and Haru fell silent once again,

Neither side knew how to end, nor did they want to end just that.

“ …Well, guess my story isn't that complicated after all. ”

Tenmei chuckled.

“ Mm-hmm…….”

Haru agreed, nodding slowly on the other side.

“.....Yeah. Take care, Miula….”

“ You too…Tenmei……………..Akiro ….”

Haru thought she didn’t say his name loud enough, but she was too conflicted to say it a second time.

“ Alright…. guess that's-”

“ Tenmei..!"

Tenmei Akiro paused his ending words quickly

“....... Yes ?"

“ ………… Let's catch up next time…...shall we………….?"

Tenmei Akiro looked forth at the night lights of far away Tron.

and Haru onto the gentle waves reaching to dark infinite.

“ Certainly. ”

Tenmei Akiro promised

“ Let's catch up anytime. ”

“ Okay………”

Haru smiled in relief, glad that she called

“ ……….Bye. ”

“ Bye…..”

And returned to the side of lives they had,

after a time that was never long enough for them.

“ Haru, the funeral is already over…”

Mio whispered sadly, realizing Haru was not attending halfway.

“ I...I am sorry, Mio….. had a call……. from a friend…….”

Haru apologized, as she realized Mio was staring at her attentively.

“..... What is it ?" Haru touched her face to see if it was something queer that Mio's watching.

“ Oh no no, it's fine, it's fine. ”

Mio chuckled as she ushered Haru back down the mountain

“ Must be a very close friend, wasn't it ?"

" No !..........Well…….Kinda….."

Haru stammered as she strolled down the winding mountain path, her thin lips curled slightly upwards along the way.

“ That must be the longest ass phone call if there ever is one. ”

Griffon remarked as the others nodded inside the van, watching as Tenmei just sat there at the edge of the parking lot building, staring far off to nothing in particular.

Luka silently nodded as well, a slight sadness in those eyes that gazed upon Tenmei’s back.

“ So…. Keiken King...he knew he was gonna die ?” Griffon asked, resting on the steering wheel tiredly.

“ Not exactly…” Nanali sighed and explained

“ It’s that…His Rune was never with him this whole time. It is in both Princess Isabel, and Prince Edmund’s safekeeping.”

And there, in both Isabel, and far away Edmund’s palms,

The Silver Exia Rune Blossomed, like tentacles of mercury sprouting with life.

[………to be continued]