At the boarding house moments after Cipher realizes he’s surrounded by spirits of the dead. Some of them fly towards him, so he slashes at them. The spirits look as if they were cut as they split, but they then revert back to its original form. However he doesn't realize that some of them as have started to rise from the ground too. Before he realizes it, they grab onto his legs and then his arms.
Spirit1: Give it to us
They then begin to attempt to possess him.
Spirit2: YouR fleSh
Spirit3: Your BoNe
Spirit4: All Of IT, IT BELONGS TO ALL OF US!
All the spirits then begin to laugh as Cipher is being possessed. However Cipher then breaks free from them by forcing them out of his body as he then escapes outside, towards the backyard of the boarding house. The spirits soon follow after him.
Cipher: (I doubt these grenades will do anything to them too. Wish I had a sword or something that would give me a bit of distance from them.)
As the spirits moan Cipher attacks them, as he does a disturbing grin showing his teeth begins to form on his face. As he fights Vice watches over him as he stands on the roof of the boarding house.
Vice: Looks like he's finally giving in. That face is enough proof that he is enjoying this.
Vice is then suddenly attacked by being wrapped up by chains.
Mysterious man: I found thee, fallen one.
It was the mysterious metallic masked man that had attacked Vice, seemingly as he can manipulate chains. However Vice seemed to not care about his current condition.
Vice: Oh, it’s just you. What do you want; I’m busy at the moment.
Mysterious man: Fallen one what brings thou here, angels and demons are NOT allowed to wander among this world.
Vice: You know, for someone who’s been around for more than 100 years. I would expect you to know already.
Mysterious man: … Explain.
Vice: It’s started the day humanity was born. All that was missing to complete the process was a sacrifice to be made. That boy will do us the honor. *points to Cipher lost in fighting*
Mysterious man: If it is killed then it won’t.
Vice: True, but even if he dies by your hand another will take his place. Anyone can destroy the world, just takes the right mind set to do so. Besides, that partner of yours wouldn’t allow you to. She would say that same thing I just said. Now, kindly… PUT ME DOWN.
Mysterious man: No. *grinds him using his chains*
Vice: *appears behind him* That attack won’t touch an angel like me.
Mysterious man: …
Vice: You should come back to our side; you were born to lead the Morbid Hawks into battle. There’s no way Heaven would ever take you in, for what you’ve done to get your powers.
As he said that, the metallic masked man tries to again kill Vice, only to find out that he was no longer around him. He then turns towards Cipher as the moonlight touches the ground. He then sees something emerging from the ground.
Cipher: Now what?
Emerging from the ground are corpses of animals that were once pets to the orphans living in the building. They consist of dogs and birds, then one of the dogs charge at Cipher. He then cuts the head of the dog that charged at him. As it falls it gets back up, showing that its head is off but still moving.
Cipher: Aright then, I’ll just tear your body till it’s no longer moving!
As the corpses fight against him, Cipher begins to fight more viciously as the fight goes on. A bird then goes straight for one of his eyes causing him to evade it, only to then get tackled by one of the dog. The power from the tackle pushes him to the fence near him, breaking it. He glances at the dog that tackled him and sees its neck had been broken from the impact, only to see the dog‘s head dangling while it looks back at him with a smile and tongue out.
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Cipher: *grins*... Hehe.
He shouts as he continues to attack the dead attacking him. He rips the dogs in half with his claws and tears the birds apart as they fly down to attack. Finally completely lost in the heat of battle begins to laugh as he destroys the possessed bodies until their limbs and guts are everywhere.
Mysterious man: Growing accustom to this aren't thou, I have doubt that thou'st can continue these types of fights for much longer.
Cipher still lost in the heat of the battle jumps at the masked man and tries to attack him. But he is then stopped by the masked man’s chains as they grab his limbs, lifting him in the air.
Mysterious man: Deciding to lose thyself in order to achieve victory against the dead?
Cipher: ... Sorry, but just who the hell are you?
Nier: I am Nier Berzuets.
Cipher: Ah huh. So I'm just going to assume with how you look; you’re not from heaven are you?
Nier: Correct. Thou'st nerves calmed I assume.
As Nier puts Cipher back on the ground he notices the attacks end as they spirits linger around. Cipher sees them not attacking so he tries to catch his breath. He falls, lies on the grassy ground after the battle, laughing. However the evil spirits began to taunt him more.
Spirit1: You cannot run…
Spirit2: YoU belong to US!
Spirit3: HAHAHa! You are Ours!
The evil spirits vanish for the time being.
Nier: How long have thee engaged against the evil spirits?
Cipher: Not sure. Still, they'll be back soon... they also do.
Nier: Has the fallen one told thou the reason why the dead have been haunting thyself?
Cipher: Something about my soul attracting them towards me or something along those lines.
Nier: With this knowledge at hand, thou still choose to endanger the lives of people that cared for thee?
Cipher: I... Wait what’s it to you, aren’t you from hell? Shouldn’t you want me killing people like them sending them to Hell?
Nier: FOOL! It was wrong of me to think thou have someone with intelligence.
Hearing that, Cipher gets up irritated by Nier’s remark.
Cipher: Don’t push it weirdo. You caught me off guard last time but I’ll send you back to hell if you want.
Nier: Honestly, a boy such as thyself should show more respect towards the more experienced. So allow myself to discipline thou does need.
Suddenly Nier vanishes from where he was and then reappears as he lands a devastating punch onto Cipher stomach; breaking through his iron body armor. The impact causes Cipher to be launched backwards into the backyard of the boarding house.
Cipher: *cough out spit* (Fuck! That strength and speed!)
Nier: There is a large difference in combat experience between us. Don’t be foolish.
He sees that underneath the jet black covers, Nier is wearing some kind of armor that a knight would wear. The appearance of the steel armor looks burnt and worn out. Cipher then tries to focus and uses his teleport ability and tries to strike at Nier from behind.
Nier: … *attempts a backhand*
He misses as Cipher teleports again, this time attacking him from the front.
Nier: Thou'st nothing but a fool… *uses his other hand and deflects Cipher’s claw*
Cipher: What!
He's grabbed by the wrist and is tossed around until Cipher’s arm breaks.
Nier: Predictable. The attacks, their predictability can be realized just by a glance. The only reason thine remains is only because of the enemies are far weaker then thyself.
Unable to say anything, Nier begins to look down on Cipher even more.
Nier: Thou rely on thine dark powers far too much. If it wasn’t for my partner, I would have killed thee the moment we met.
Cipher: Partner? What are you talking about!?
Nier: My loyalty is neither towards Heaven nor Hell, least not worry about this for now.
Cipher: ... Okay.
Nier: Before I leave, word from the wise: Strategy, Technique, and Luck. These three may save thee if thou'st can learn how to use them in battle.
Cipher: Wait! I still got-
Nier then teleports away from the area, leaving Cipher full of questions.
Cipher: What the hell… Why can’t these bastards answer any of my questions! Just what the hell is happening?
He lays on the ground, motionless.
Cipher: Strategy, Technique, and Luck huh.
After his arm heals he realizes something that he never thought about until the fight he just endured.
Cipher: (Wait, I know I made to much noise during the night. But no one in this neighborhood called the police. Let alone get in my way.)
He then gets up and looks through the house’s window of the yard he was tackled into. He sees the same thing that was in the boarding house he once lived in. He sees an empty room with little to no furniture.
Cipher: No one? Is that the same for every other house?
He then checks the other houses and sees the same thing.
Cipher: Explains why no one called the cops. Also, explains why I never ran into anyone when I came here the first time. Why was this place abandoned?
Afterwards he goes back to the boarding house and into his room. He tries to take off the broken armor but is unable to as he collapses onto the ground. He closes his eyes and tries to sleeps, but opens his eyes to notice the spirits have returned.