"I- I don't understand," Yuiitsu struggled to get the words out. "What are you even saying?"

For a moment, Saito's expression shifted to one of pity, but it vanished quickly. He paced back and forth. "Do you know what happens to a virtued person when their soul is fully corrupted? Your own soul has been undergoing said corruption since birth, so I'm afraid you're about to find out very soon. It's a wonder you held out for so long.

But not to worry, your life and actions up till now haven't been entirely meaningless. Your corruption and subsequent death will be a stepping stone in the story of those two boys. Albeit a small one, but one nonetheless. Speaking of, it should be starting any second now..."

A sharp pain in his head caused Yuiitsu to drop to his knees. He cried out as he gripped his head tightly in both arms. He was splitting apart, and this time he couldn't hold himself together.

Saito came to a halt. "I probably shouldn't have told you any of that, but you are about to die anyway. So I'm afraid this is where I must take my leave; I have interfered directly far more than enough."

Yuiitsu lifted his head slightly and stretched a shaking arm towards the man. "Wait! You can't... can't just leave. I've gone through... so much."

But the man had already disappeared. The shoji swung open, and one of the replicants rushed in.

"What's happening? What should I do?" He asked, his voice a bit frantic, as he dropped down to his knees to aid Yuiitsu.

Yuiitsu wanted to tell him to get away, but the words that came out were barely intelligible. Even the words being spoken to him were slowly beginning to blend into each other. He gazed up at the other him. A mirror image... a superior one.

What a joke, being blessed with the power to create versions of himself without all the defects. To constantly be reminded of a body... a life he would never have.

He'd been fighting it for so long. Fighting to live. Why had he bothered? He felt a wide smile growing on his face. He couldn't believe it had taken him so long to realize that nothing really mattered.

The sounds of his own cackling filled his ears. His mind was slipping, and this time he wouldn't stop it.

×

Levi and Aldrich rushed through the building in search of the princess. Levi had heard something going on. Something that didn't sound good. They found the princess also running towards the source of disturbance.

"What's going on?" Aldrich asked as they caught up to her.

Veliona quickened her pace. "No clue."

Once there, they exchanged a small look before Aldrich pulled back the paper door. On the floor of the room, Yuiitsu writhed, but something wasn't right with him.

Veliona backed up in disgust. "Is that... Yuiitsu?"

Aldrich looked closer; it did have the face of the man who had brought them here. But he no longer looked human. From his body, additional arms, legs, and even faces had begun to grow. The faces were all twisted into a look of pure agony.

"His virtue," Levi thought aloud. "It's going haywire."

Aldrich gripped his sword. "Princess, you should find somewhere safe."

Veliona looked aghast. "Don't tell me you're actually planning on fighting that."

"Well, we can't just leave him here... like this. We couldn't help him, so it's the least I can do."

Suddenly, the unfocused eyes of the creature all locked onto them at once. It let out a pained cacophony of screams. Aldrich flinched slightly.

"You should go with her, Levi." Aldrich added.

Levi shook his head and stepped forward. "I may not be as strong as Abaddon, but I can still fight."

Aldrich didn't show it, but he was relieved. He really didn't want to have to face whatever Yuiitsu had turned into alone. Veliona looked like she wanted to say something but then decided against it and hurried away.

Almost immediately, the creature lunged forward. Levi ducked to the side, and Aldrich brought his sword up in defense. The creature's multiple hands grasped wildly as it pushed back against his blade.

A heavy punch from the side caused the creature to tumble to the side. The punch came from Levi. Aldrich straightened his grip on his sword again as the creature got back to its feet slowly. It began to twitch, and they watched as it split into two of itself.

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"Of course it can multiply," Aldrich sighed.

Both creatures hurtled toward them. One at Levi while the other grappled Aldrich and propelled them through the paper door and into the next room. Aldrich rolled for a little before stopping himself and getting back to his feet.

So it planned to separate them. It was a good strategy, he had to admit. It'd be easier to pick them off one on one. Aldrich charged forward sword first. He brought the sword down, taking off two of its arms. But the cuts closed quickly, and then even more arms sprouted from its body.

Aldrich backed up slowly. "Okay, this might be harder than I thought."

×

Levi struggled to hold back the arms of the creature on top of him. A part of Jim had thought that maybe putting himself in harm's way would wake Abaddon up, but still nothing. He'd have to fight by himself then, he decided.

He brought his legs up and slammed them into the creature's torso, launching it up and off him. He vaulted back to his feet and dusted himself off. He brought his fists forward and got into a fighting stance. The creature was already back on its feet.

A split second later, it was right in front of him again. It let out a flurry of attacks with all its hands, but Levi was fast enough to dodge them all. He retaliated with a direct punch to its, well, one of its faces. It stumbled backwards.

It looked like his punches were doing some damage. He could win this, by himself. He decided to go on the offense. He ran straight at it but ducked and slid at the last second, catching it off guard. Then he grabbed its feet and, using all his strength, flung it across the room.

It crashed into the wall and into another room. A few seconds later, the creature stepped back through the hole. But in each of its arms, it held a katana, like the one Van Salvatorre had borrowed. He must've thrown it into a weapons' room.

He took a few steps back. Maybe he should meet back up with Aldrich after all, he said to himself as he turned and ran. The creature followed; he could hear the sound of the blades cutting through the air behind him.

As the creature leapt at him, swords first, something appeared next to him. It was some kind of hole, as if space had been cut through. Wherever it led, it was probably better than facing an opponent with those many swords bare-handed. So he dived into it at the last second, the swords narrowly missing him.

×

He came out in another room, still in the same building. Veliona stood there with a grin on her face; in her left hand was the dagger Yuiitsu had taken days ago.

"Found my dagger," she said. Then she cut open another rift. Aldrich came through that one, landing face-first on the ground. He stood up quickly.

"I thought you were going to find somewhere safe," Aldrich asked, addressing the princess.

Veliona flipped the dagger in her hand. "I can take care of myself. Besides, it's smarter to fight together."

"Fine," Aldrich conceded. He didn't have much of a choice anyway. "Also, my sword isn't working on it."

"That's because you're not virtued," a voice came from behind them. It was Van Salvatorre. "Regular humans can't hurt vices. Except, with special weapons, like the princess' dagger."

"And just where were you all this time?" Veliona berated.

"I had to speak with an old friend," Van Salvatorre replied. He reached into his coat. "And you're in luck, because they asked me to give you this."

He proceeded to toss something at Aldrich. Aldrich had to drop his sword to the ground to catch it with both hands. It was some kind of medallion with a templar cross inscribed on it.

Aldrich stared at it, confused. "What even is this?"

The sounds of the creatures tearing through the walls in their direction grew louder. They would be there any second.

"A blessed relic, and a special one at that," Van Salvatorre answered. "He didn't exactly explain to me how it works, so uh, use your imagination."

The creatures burst into the room. But now there were three of them, they had split again. Van Salvatorre unsheathed his katana as he walked in front of them. "I'll take care of the first two. You three handle the last. And try not to die, would you?"