"That did not quite go as expected." Kurai mumbled, sitting on the rocky ground with his legs crossed.

"Yeah, even I didn't expect for something like that to happen." Fi shrugged, standing by a withered tree near him.

"Let me have your opinion as well, is he an ally or an enemy?" Kurai inquired.

"I don't know anymore, all I know is that he is at the very top currently." Fi answered in a whisper, her eyes looking at the ground.

"Well, I think it would be better to do this fast then." Kurai sighed as he got up. "I have wasted far too much time back there, the detour with Sapphire also costed me quite a while for little benefit."

"What do you plan to do now?" Fi inquired.

"Now that Kesshō is in a different world, she has lost the Greater Demon Lord title, and she has yet to gain the ability to travel between worlds," Kurai answered. "Now, she needs to regain that title and defeat a Guardian, which are not the hard parts, what comes after that is."

"You really plan to fight him?" Fi questioned.

"I have for a long time, as far as I know he is the one pulling the strings from behind the scenes. The Winter Wolf Elder by herself is incapable of doing this much. She might think she is cunning, but the most she can fool are little kids who have barely seen the world," Kurai sighed.

"She didn't receive his help though," Fi pointed out.

"He has no need for her, it just so happened that her plan aligned with his for the most part, the reason he let her be for so long. From what I can tell, the Elder did not plan to let even Sapphire leave, but he needs her alive for some purpose, and it's not possible for me to tell what that purpose might be just yet," Kurai replied.

"Fine, I can teleport you to the Greater Demon Lord's fortress, you will have to kill her yourself though, and break through the defenses of the fortress as well. I can only teleport you to the front gate because of all the defenses," Fi offered with a shrug.

"Why do you even know all of that?" Kurai questioned.

"I have been here before, a long time ago, but every Greater Demon Lord has always uses the same fortress in almost every world." Fi replied, looking up at the dark ash-filled sky.

"This world looks like a nightmare." Kurai sighed as he followed her eyes.

Darkness surrounded the entire world, barely much light making it through the dense layer of reddish-black clouds. The clouds covered the sky as far as the eye could see, the entire earth being a barren wasteland with barely any plants, not even dried or dead. Kesshō did not seem to like the surroundings, appearing to be on edge from the dreadful environment as she stood just a short distance from the two.

"Spirit Wolves are sensitive to emotions, from what I remember they could hear the voice of the world itself, and even know what condition a world is in with ease," Fi informed Kurai. "Her being on edge is not a good sign."

"Might have to save the world as well then," Kurai shrugged.

"It's beyond saving, I can tell as much, even she can, the best you can do now is avenge it," Fi sighed. "Well, be prepared to go now, you yourself said you are running late."

"See you soon then." Kurai waved as he walked to Kesshō.

The surrounding changed as soon as he reached Kesshō, the two of them now standing in front of a massive fortress made out of Blackstone and Darksteel. They stood some distance from the gate of the fortress, several dark figures visible on the top of the walls. It seemed to be obvious the two have been spotted already, most likely due to the spatial distortion, but they were yet to be attacked or spoken to.

"Kesshō, blow it away." Kurai ordered as he stepped back, giving her enough space to do her work.

Her four wings burst forth from her back, eight feathers breaking off of them. The feathers formed an octagon ahead of her in the air as she pointed her finger towards the fortress, a red magic circle forming with the feathers at its corners. Blue-pink lines glowed brightly on her body as she closed her mouth, travelling and converging at her neck before travelling to her jaws.

Opening her jaws Kesshō unleashed her Chaos Dragon Breath Attack, blasting through the magic circle in front of her, a funnel of sorts. As the breath attack passed through the magic circle it scattered into a barrage, each blast smaller than the original, but covering a wider area. The barrage shot up towards the sky before raining down at the fortress, reducing it to dust and rubble in seconds, leaving no life behind as the blue-pink flames burnt everything to nothingness.

Kesshō folded her wings with a sigh before dispersing the magic circle with a swing of her arm. A strong gust of wind blew her hair to the side as she turned to Kurai. Both her and Kurai looked towards the fortress before looking in the opposite direction as they heard a crash. A figure emerged from the cloud of dust blown by the crash, holding an air of authority as they walked.

A girl, on the taller side but shorter than Kurai, possessing white hair with red eyes. A crown of sorts sat on her head, mainly black in color with dark pink linings. She wore translucent, black, thigh-high leggings, a black cape slung behind her back, ending in a dark pink glow.

She wore an odd black-colored dress with silver designs, reaching till her thighs, the front side plain and showcasing a symbol of a spider, the back of a more feathery fashion. The chest area of the dress was white while the upper back was exposed, ending at her neck in a black spider web like design on the front, and a black spider on the back. The dress possessed no sleeves, and the girl seemed to be wearing gloves that reached halfway up her elbows.

She flicked her hand in front of her, a string extending from it and wrapping around Kesshō's neck. The girl pulled at the string, tightening it and threatening to cut through. Using her claws Kesshō cut the string off, seemingly unbothered by it throughout the interaction. After cutting the string she sat down on the ground, hugging her legs and burying her face in her arms as she crossed them.

"What are you doing?" Kurai inquired.

"Don't want to fight." Kesshō mumbled, shaking her head as she attempted to make herself comfortable.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"You are the one who destroyed my fortress, don't think I will let you off." The girl snarled as she flicked her hand upwards, several strings extending from it and slashing through the ground, blowing a cloud of dust.

"Kesshō, you know you will have to, and these aren't even good people," Kurai insisted.

"But I don't want to kill, and they are not skilled enough for a fun duel," Kesshō replied with a pout.

The girl fumed on the insult, closing her fist as she held it out in front of herself, many strings wrapping around Kesshō at the same moment. "You will pay," she snarled.

"Kesshō, end this quick, I will give you some chocolates as reward afterwards, and you don't have to fight in the next battle either," Kurai sighed.

The strings wrapping her burst into blue-pink flames before burning away entirely. Kesshō stood up and sighed, blue-pink flames blazing at the corners of her mouth. She extended one of her wings, plucking a feather from it before allowing the wing to retract. Holding it in front of her she flung it towards the girl with a sigh before turning to Kurai.

"Phoenixal Art: Piercing Burst." She mumbled as she walked towards Kurai, barely directing a glance at her opponent.

The feather pierced through the girl's stomach, a look of disbelief on her face just before the feather exploded behind her, igniting her in blue-pink flames. She fell to the ground as the flames engulfed her entire entire body, struggling on the ground for a few moments before burning away completely, leaving nothing behind.

"Now to the World Guardian so we can move on to our target quicker," Kurai sighed.

Kesshō nodded understandingly as she held her hand out in front of her, pointed towards the ground as she closed her eyes. A red magic circle appeared in the ground, emitting a blue glow in its surroundings. Kesshō stepped into the magic circle with a sigh, followed by Kurai. The two of them stood still, allowing the magic circle to do it's work and send them to the World Guardian.

---

"Fancy meeting you here," a familiar voice greeted.

"How did you even get here?" Kurai questioned with a sigh as he surveyed the surroundings.

The battlefield of the guardian appeared to be a barren rocky landscape, four cliffs of stone rising high above the ground at the four corners of the real space. On one of the cliffs stood Alan, Freya standing beside him. Another occupied by Kristine and Snow, the opposite cliff to them by Blaze and Thunder. Frost stood on the one directly Kurai and Kesshō, alongside Blaze and Fim.

On turning to Blaze, Kurai noticed a pair of ears out of the corner of his eyes, standing on the ground right behind him and Kesshō. The both of them turned and faced the girl, a mainly Blood Wolf-Phoenix hybrid, very similar to Kesshō in looks. The girl happened to be a bit taller than Kesshō, taller than even Sapphire, but still very short in general. She also possessed a stronger physique than both Sapphire and Kesshō, her arms being comparatively bigger than Kesshō and Sapphire's, indicating that her punches could do just as much as her kicks, unlike the other two.

"Right," Alan mumbled, "you haven't met her yet."

"I have I believe, I don't think she would remember though." Kurai replied with a smirk, showing no signs of wanting a fight.

"I expected you to be much more furious on seeing her," Alan sighed.

"I have no reason to be, she is not under my care and never has been, you are free to do as you will with that clone of the girl you have been using to satisfy your selfish desires." Kurai responded as he turned towards Alan, leaving Kesshō to keep her attention on the girl.

"You should have taken her under your care instead of the calamity you are raising," Alan replied. "I am sure she would have lived a much happier life than this, and this world would be far safer without that thing as well. While one of them couldn't happen, I am certain I will make the other happen."

"I would love to see you try," Kurai scoffed.

"It seems to me you both are forgetting in whose presence you stand." A voice announced from above everyone, drawing their attention to it.

The owner of the voice appeared to be a girl, possessing long white, reaching hair down to her knees, and bright blue eyes. A black tiara sat atop her head, outlined by gold with bright blue sapphires embedded in it, a blue cyan butterfly accessory in her hair right beside the tiara. Two gold earrings hung from her ears, ringing quietly as she turned her head slightly from side to side, the braid beside her right eye also swaying a bit, her right eye barely visible as a patch of hair covered it.

Her outfit consisted of a long white dress, a golden lining running from her waist to her stomach, diverging into a triangular chestplate above her torso. The long white sleeves of the dress showcased golden vine patterns, a flower right above her wrists, the center of the flower consisting of a sapphire. Three oval sapphires rested on the chestplate, hung from a necklace. A white cloak slung over her shoulders fluttered behind her in the wind as she descended. A pair of white shoes materialized under her feet as she reached the ground, Kurai failing to detect any trace of mana being used.

"Hello, miss, I believe you are the lord of this domain?" Kurai inquired with a greeting.

"Correct assumption," the girl replied.

"Might I ask your name?" Kurai questioned.

"Why the politeness? Were you not here to kill me?" The girl questioned with a scoff.

"Not necessarily, I did promise Kesshō she won't have to fight in the next battle, I intended to persuade you with a chat to grant her the ability," Kurai answered.

The girl looked at him for a few moments, turning her gaze to the ground a few moments later. "Niko." She mumbled as she glanced at the others.

"That's a nice name." Kurai complimented, tilting his head to the side as an arrow whizzed past it.

"Don't forget us, you might not be here to fight her but we are here to fight you," Alan announced.

"I don't believe our two companions are very eager for a battle." Kurai replied as he turned to Kesshō, bringing everyone else's attention to her as well.

She stood right in front of the other girl, both of them simply looking at eachother. The girl possessed all pink hair unlike Kesshō, both her eyes also being pink. Kesshō spread all four of her wings, the girl spreading her two bright pink phoenix wings right after. Kesshō raised her nine tails beside her, the girl raising seven similar tails.

"Crystal, we were not here for making new friends," Alan sighed.

Crystal looked at him as she tilted her head, seemingly not understanding what else they could have been there for.

"Lay your arms to rest, my domain is no battlefield for you fools," Niko commanded.

Raising her bow Freya shot an arrow at Niko, the arrow whizzing right past Niko's head. "Huh?" Freya gasped. "That should have been right through your head."

"I am not your ally, Celestial, if you value your mostly worthless existence then leave," Niko ordered.

"I did not expect such harsh words from a child that recently became a Guardian," Alan laughed. "Why are you so mad at us? Might it be due to your parents who forced you into this? Who sacrificed you to the past Guardian?"

"I am thankful to those fools if anything. The Guardian taught me much, he taught me that the only limits of a being are what they consider to be their limit," Niko snarled. "I am mad at you barbarians for killing that Guardian who devoted his life to me."

"He should've accepted the new rule. His god has been long dead, and the new god has his own atrocious vision he created that living calamity for. He should have accepted the offer of Celestia, the offer presented by the mortals who will have overturn the rule of these 'gods'." Alan announced, raising his sword in the air and preparing for battle.

"Your plans are far worse than I ever expected," Kurai sighed. "A new god has already been born, whether you accept her as a god or a living calamity is for you to decide, the taste of victory is a taste you will never experience on either path." Kurai declared as he unsheathed his katana.

Kesshō activated her Demonic Eye of Destruction, causing every opponent, except Alan, Freya, and Crystal, to step back and hesitate. Crystal stepped away from Kesshō, unsheathing her katana and preparing to engage. Kristine and Snow prepared their spells as Thunder and Flare prepared their arrows, the three from behind also preparing to charge in as they steeled their resolve.

The battle begun as Freya released her first arrow, aimed directly at Kurai. Kurai dodged to the side, the arrow changing its direction in the air and turning to him. As the arrow came close to nearly piercing his arm, Kesshō kicked it away, her scales resisting any damage the arrow could have dealt. Kurai charged forward towards Alan who dropped to the ground as Kesshō turned around and unsheathed her katana, parrying a vertical slash from Crystal.