Enter ExE
IV
Somewhere in Underworld
“Fuck!”
In a fit of rage, Ares backhanded the puppet that was tending to him, completely obliterating it.
“Bastard!” Ares clenched his fists. The wounds he had received from the fight with Azazel, he could easily brush it off. But it was not the injuries that angered him. It was the outcome.
Yes, he had won. Azazel, the first and the strongest fallen angel, the leader of Grigori, fell in the battle. But in the end, he had the last laugh.
It seemed Azazel knew that he was not going to win against Ares, so he switched his target. Instead of stopping Ares, Azazel focused on stopping their army. And he pulled it off brilliantly. All those area-based and wide-ranged attacks that Azazel threw out left and right during their fight, his real target was the Greek army. And self-destruction at the end of the battle, Ares hated to admit it but that one move shifted the tide of the war.
The explosion did not go off in front of Ares. No. When the Azazel self-destructed, his body was teleported right in the middle of their force. He learned from the report that another fallen angel sneaked inside their army and then activated the teleportation using a device… at the right place and at the right moment.
Azazel’s sacrifice had cost them one-third of their force. It not only stopped their army’s momentum but also gave the rest of the fallen angels more than enough time to retreat. And last he heard, they regrouped at their capital.
And Azazel executed his plan right under Ares’ nose.
Ares calmed his nerves when he noticed the white owl. The owl landed in front of him, and a second later, the shape changed to that of Athena. This was not her real body. It was a type of astral projection that she used to communicate covertly.
“What’s the news?” Ares grunted.
Athena looked around the room before frowning, “These healer-type puppets are very hard to create.”
“Focus on the war at hand, Athena.”
Athena narrowed her eyes, “Then treat it as a real war and stop wasting our resources, Ares. This is not a backyard simulation for you to practice your ego.”
Ares stood up, fists clenched as he felt the pent-up rage threatening to come out. For a few seconds, no one said anything. Finally, he backed down, “It was a miscalculation on my part. During our battle, that filthy crow tried to seal me. And he almost succeeded,” It was painful for him to admit it. But seeing the surprised look on Athena’s face was worth it, “So when he went for the suicide route, I thought his aim was to cripple me, so I defended myself.”
“His aim was to cripple our army. No,” Athena frowned, “It was to halt our movement in any way possible.”
“We are not stopping.”
Athena raised her head and met his unwavering gaze, “Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury to take any more risks…”
“Are you seriously thinking of retreating?!” Ares roared.
“Let me finish,” Athena replied calmly, which somewhat pacified him. She continued as the image of a city appeared beside her, “The Fallen had regrouped and fortified their capital.”
“One strike from my…”
“And then what?” Athena stopped him in his tracks, “What if they have other hidden weapons or artifacts? Listen to me. We can’t take any more risks. Remember why we started all this. What is our end goal.”
Ares growled as he started pacing.
“Ares.”
“I know Athena!” Ares gritted his teeth, “To reclaim the home that we had lost and the powers that had been stripped from us,” Ares took a long deep breath, “Has the tunnel been located?”
Athena waved her hand, and the image changed showing a different city, “Our reports were true. The tunnel is not inside the capital but in another city, Babel.”
“So, what will be our next move?”
“Order our men to retreat.”
Ares frowned, but then he understood Athena’s intention, “Everyone will think we are retreating because of the casualties on our side. And this will cover our tracks and buy us some time,” Ares paused as he recalled what he had read in a report just now, “What about other fronts? I heard that the Hero faction is having some trouble with the devils?”
Athena waved her hand once again, and the image was replaced with a video showing various locations, “The Hero faction was able to take over the Khaos Brigade, but some members of the Old Satan faction were able to escape.”
“Even with all the help we had given them, they still managed to come short,” Ares snorted.
“But they kept their end of the deal. They created some commotions inside the Devil’s territory. Chaotic enough for the devils to stay holed up inside their home for at least a week or two.”
“By then, it will be too late,” Ares looked away from the video and met Athena’s gaze. He knew both of them were dancing around the main point now. Still, it had to be addressed, “What about Ophis? And the Alliance?”
“Our scouts have reported that no movements were seen from the Alliance and Avalon Kingdom yet. As for Ophis,” Athena changed the content of the video once again. It showed various ruins this time, “There is no sign from her.”
Ares nodded. These were all good news.
Some time ago, his son, Cane, thoroughly investigated the Khaos Brigade. The report had stunned them. The organization was a haven for the criminals, the outcasts, and the strays. Basically, all the rejects of the supernatural world had gathered there, hoping to make a comeback.
The worst part was that there was no proper chain of command. Yes, Ophis was the one who created this organization but from the look of it, she had no intention of maintaining any form of order there. But in this chaos, they had seen an opportunity.
Athena had approached the Hero faction with a deal since they seemed the easiest group to manipulate. It was pretty simple. The Greek faction would support them in taking over the Khaos Brigade. The Hero faction did not lack at all in terms of power. After all, they had three of the four top Longinus. But they were in dire need of disposable manpower and an information network, which was what they had provided them. In return, the Hero faction was to help them take over the Underworld.
Well, it was what they had told them, but in truth, the Greek faction just wanted to use the Hero faction to draw the attention of the supernatural world; and to keep an eye on Ophis through them.
Finally, the Greek faction decided to strike after they found out that Ophis had no interest in Khaos Brigade anymore. After all, Rizevim, one of the powerhouses of her organization was killed and she still did not show up. As for the Alliance, they were busy with the tournament hosted in the academy.
This was the perfect time.
“I will order the retreat.”
Athena nodded at Ares’ response. Soon, her transparent form dispersed ending their discussion.
Ares wanted to leave to give the order but paused as he remembered about his ward. He immediately took out a custom-made phone and called him. Two rings later, the phone started projecting a live video.
When he first took in Gasper Vladi, he was an androgynous-looking little boy who was shy and a coward. The past Ares would have crushed him like a bug but the present him saw great potential in him. And he was not wrong.
Now, Gasper was twice as tall as he was before and had a muscular frame with unique-looking tattoos all over his body. These subtle tattoos would stand out when he would use his Longinus. But what stood out the most was the small second pair of eyes under his normal ones, which were closed most of the time.
“Master,” Gasper smiled, showing his sharp teeth. But in an instant, the smile disappeared, “Something’s wrong? You don’t look pleased.”
“The plan’s changed,” Ares grumbled, “What is the situation on your side?”
Gasper did not immediately reply. Ares could see that he was organizing his words. A few seconds later, he finally said, “We do not know where these dragons came from. I conducted the initial scouting by myself. Even from far, I could tell that they are strong.”
“Stronger than me?”
The answer came in the form of silence.
Ares growled, “Explain!”
“One of them was as strong as you, maybe stronger, but I could not tell because most of them had similar energy signatures,” Gasper paused for a second as if he tried to get the word right, “They all had the darkness attribute, but it felt different from mine.”
This news was very concerning, “They will be a problem.”
“In the future? For sure,” Gasper replied, “But now, they are actually helping us with their actions.”
Ares nodded, “So I heard. You are using their movements to cover your own.”
“Yes,” Gasper confirmed, “And I have also placed down multiple puppets and checkpoints for us to easily navigate around the chaos that these dragons are creating. Plus, I am making sure that the news of this new crisis is spreading like wildfire. This should cover up the situation in Underworld, at least for some time.”
“Excellent,” Ares smiled for the first time today, “What you have done so far should be good enough. Regroup and wait for now. In the meantime, keep an eye on these dragons from a safe distance.”
“What about the Vampire faction?”
The smile on Ares’ face vanished. He knew what Gasper was asking him, but as Athena said, they could not take a risk at this point. On the other hand, it was easy to see that Gasper was barely holding himself back.
Then it hit him. The solution was really simple.
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“Can you take over the Vampire faction within a night?”
The two minor cuts beneath Gasper’s eyes opened up, revealing the other pair of eyes.
“All I need is a couple of hours.”
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X
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Unknown location
Arjuna took some deep breaths to calm himself as he closed the report.
It was getting harder to keep his thoughts rational. Just now, the first plan that came to his mind was to sneak inside Cao Cao’s base. It was an extremely risky plan which might or might not provide him with the information he needed.
“I need to do better.”
The information he received just now was something he had expected. The tension inside the Khaos brigade had been increasing nonstop. The Old Satan faction and the Hero faction were vying for more power, and they were aiming for the throne. But no one was making the final move because of Ophis. Arjuna knew that all of them were finding the answer to a single question – Did Ophis take her hands off of Khaos Brigade?
It seemed the Hero faction was the first to find the answer.
Arjuna was surprised at how swift and efficient the Hero faction’s actions were. Within three days, Cao Cao had taken over Khaos Brigade by destroying the Old Satan faction and absorbing all the smaller groups. The Hero faction had struck all the major bases belonging to the Old Satan simultaneously. What he learned so far was that other than Shalba Beelzebub, the rest of the original Satan died in the attack.
But this confirmed one of the questions Arjuna had. Some external power was helping the Hero faction.
There was no denying that the overall fighting power of the Hero faction was relatively high. And then some exceptionally strong individuals fell under the ‘Super class’. But this was not enough.
What they lacked the most was information. And they did not have the manpower or experience to create an information network from scratch. In addition, the Hero faction had some internal issues as well. There were quite a few who followed Arjuna rather than Cao Cao. And the fact that George was given the position of ‘Sub-leader’ instead of him showed Cao Cao’s insecurities.
Despite all of these issues, Cao Cao had gone ahead and taken over Khaos Brigade, meaning he was sure of his victory even though… Arjuna looked at his side, where all his companions from the Hero faction were having a discussion amongst them.
“Cao Cao took over Khaos Brigade even though almost a third of the Hero faction’s members have deserted.”
Cao Cao was not the type to do things half-heartedly. Arjuna did not even want to think about Cao Cao’s plans for his companions. The only reason his companions were able to flee was because of Zhuge Liang. It was amazing how a girl young enough to be in middle school deciphered Cao Cao’s intention by observing the unnatural behaviors of his group and immediately took action.
Arjuna burned the report and approached his companions, all of whom immediately focused on him.
“Let us discuss our next course of action.”
Vali snorted, “What is there to discuss? We need to pay back our ex-leader for the stunts he pulled,” Then he pointed at Arjuna, “And you have some questions for him.”
Arjuna shook his head, “That is the end goal, Vali. We need to discuss how to get there,” He immediately raised his hand and stopped Vali from interrupting him, “Our team is strong enough to go toe-to-toe with them, but that is excluding the external help they are receiving.”
Zhuge hopped toward him and grabbed the edge of his cloth before facing Vali, “Arjuna-gege is right. First, we do not know who is assisting Cao Cao. Second, since his team had defeated the Old Satan faction, this means he may have new members that we do not know of. Lastly, Cao Cao may change the location of their main base.”
Arthur also stepped into the conversation, “In this case, I propose that we wait and assess the situation.”
Zhuge spoke before Arjuna could, “We should not go for the wait-and-see approach now. Even though there are uncertainties, there is a very high possibility that Cao Cao will take one of these two actions. Either he will wait and recuperate, or he will rush to reach his goal.”
“And his goal is…” Arthur asked.
In response, Zhuge shrugged, “Who knows? He said his goal was to create a supernatural faction for the humans, but we all know he is a lying piece of…”
“Zhuge,” Arjuna frowned.
“Sorry, Arjuna-gege,” Zhuge coughed, and the tips of her ears turned red.
Smiling, Arjuna patted Zhuge’s head, “So what do you suggest we do?”
Zhuge tilted her head to look at him and grinned widely, “Instead of going after them, we should make them come after us.”
Arjuna’s eyes widened. It was doable, “Of course. If done right, we can…”
He sharply turned his head to his left. He took half a step forward and shielded Zhuge with his body. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Vali and Arthur were also on guard. They even stood apart so that each of them could fight comfortably without hindering the others.
Finally, the uninvited guest came out from the forest.
He was a handsome man who looked like he was in his early thirties. He had spiky pitch-black hair and a lean build. His attire was semi-formal, black coat and pants with a light grey shirt underneath. What stood out the most was his unnatural red eyes and the immense dark energy that he possessed.
He stopped and raised both of his arms in a surrendering manner, his expression soft and laidback, “I come in peace.”
“Then please fuck off in peace.”
Arjuna frowned when he heard Vali’s reply but did not say anything. He wondered why all the adults around Zhuge kept forgetting that they had a young child with them.
Their uninvited guest leaned forward, just enough to be polite but not enough to be a bow, “My name is Solomon. I am the 14th Longinus.”
Now that got all of their attention.
Arjuna signaled his friends. They still had their guard up, but for now, he was willing to listen, “I did not know that the souls of a Longinus can roam freely.”
“Regulus Nemea and Canis Lykaon,” He countered back smoothly, “I know that you have a thousand and one questions; but I also know that you all are pressed for time, so why not ask the questions that really matter.”
“Which is?”
“My purpose?” He shrugged, “I am a Longinus of Dark attribute, the strongest one; in fact, enough to match the likes of Sirzechs. Because of it, I need a host who has a high aptitude for Divinity.”
Arjuna frowned. If he was this Longinus’ target, “Then why are you approaching me now?”
He smiled. Even though he was almost surrounded, even though he was against three people, it was as if he had the upper hand, not them, “I did not want to approach you now, but circumstances have forced me to.”
Arjuna frowned. He wanted to ask how the Longinus in front of him knew so much but stopped himself at the last moment. Since he could be wrong here, he decided to just ask, “Which circumstances are you referring to?”
“One you know of. Yes, I am talking about Cao Cao’s takeover of the Khaos Brigade. There is another one. The war between the Greek faction and Grigori that is happening right now in the Underworld.”
Arjuna was a second too late to stop Vali. He had already released his Longinus, which had the form of a pair of white dragon wings, and lunged at Solomon. But his fist stopped mere millimeters away from Solomon as if he had hit a barrier. A barrier that Arjuna was not able to detect.
Solomon glanced at Vali, “Please contact anyone from Grigori. This simple action should be enough to verify my information.”
Vali moved away from Solomon and immediately took out a communication device.
“Vali,” Arjuna got his friend’s attention, “If anything is amiss, let us know. We will accompany you.”
Vali nodded back stiffly before focusing on the device.
Arjuna turned to face Arthur, “Call back Le Fey and Bikou.”
With a quick nod, Arthur took a few steps back and took out his own communication device.
Solomon whistled, “You are quick to act.”
“If you are lying, we will just be wasting a few hours. But if your information is true…” Arjuna did not say anything other than glancing at Vali.
“Arjuna-gege, ask the million-dollar question already,” Zhuge tugged his cloth, “What does he want from us?”
Solomon laughed, “The little lady finally asked the question of the day. You are a smart one.”
Without even looking, Arjuna could tell that Zhuge was standing straighter, trying to look more dignified.
“What I want is to accompany you, Arjuna. To see if you are worthy of being my host,” Solomon raised his right arm, palm facing the sky, and pointed at Arjuna, “Quite a simple request, don’t you think?”
“Arjuna-gege is the best!”
Solomon smiled, “To you, yes. But I need to see it for myself, no?”
Arjuna frowned, “If your information is correct, then we shall see.”
Solomon glanced at Vali who looked back at them, his expression was stiff.
“It seems I am right.”
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X
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Dimensional Gap
“Can you not feel it?! Great Red, the watcher of the Dimensional Gap, has fallen! Slayed by our one and only God, Melvazoa!”
Shiva frowned but refrained from rising to the bait.
The moment he had laid his eyes on these mechanical beings, Shiva immediately knew that they were creatures of pure evil. He was sure Great Red understood their intention as well. But Naruto, bless his kind soul, was unable to gauge it completely. Shiva did not blame him. Naruto was but a child compared to them when it came to Godhood. Yes, his maturity and conviction were something that many Gods did not possess, but he still lacked experience when it came to using ‘Divinity’. His growth was astounding, but he needed more time.
It seemed Great Red shared his belief. Because when he found out that someone had slipped past them by opening a gate far away, Great Red asked Naruto to check it out. Shiva did not doubt that whoever Naruto’s enemy was, they would not be getting the upper hand on Naruto. Honestly, if Naruto were to fight seriously, the fight would be a short one.
As soon as Naruto tried to leave, their leader attacked him. Or he tried to. Great Red did not take it well. He warned them once, but they took the wrong option and attacked Great Red and Shiva.
In an instant, their army was reduced to just their leader and four elites. That was how powerful a Beast was. Yes, Shiva could have achieved the same feat. He could release the same amount of power, but the speed and the subtlety shown by Great Red… Shiva could not match that. The attack was so fast that no one was able to react. But the most frightening part was that there was no power build-up, no tension in their surroundings.
The attack came out of literally nowhere. And the result was just as terrifying… One moment, there was an army in front of them, and in the next, they vanished.
He, even their enemies, took some time to control their composure. After that, their leader introduced himself. He called himself Melvazoa, the one who ruled all the mechanical life forms in their world.
Shiva knew that their enemy was buying time. He was right. Out of nowhere, Melvazoa closed the gap between him and Great Red before disappearing with the Beast of Dreams.
As for Shiva, he was left with the rest.
Since Shiva did not know where Melvazoa disappeared to with Great Red, he decided to gather information from his enemies by dragging out the fight. After all, he did not wish to enter a universe of which he knew nothing about. Plus, there was a possibility that Great Red could be irritated because of the stunt pulled by their enemy. And he had no wish to face an angry Beast.
Naruto would have gone after Great Red, but he was also the only one who could pacify him.
Fortunately, his tactic worked. These elites were quite talkative.
These mechanical humanoids called themselves ‘Evie’, and their God, Melvazoa possessed the power to manipulate his existence and reality. And these ‘Evie’ had been at war with another species known as ‘Etoulde’ since ancient times.
Shiva’s judgment toward Evie as a whole solidified when he learned that they had successfully exterminated all other organic life in their world, leaving only the Evie and the Etoulde as the only surviving species. But for the last few centuries, the conflict between the two groups was at a stalemate.
“Still, to wipe out all organic life in a universe,” Shiva stopped.
“Yes, surrender your life to…”
“I have heard enough,” Shiva interrupted their monologue and relaxed his stance. He looked away from them, the fight, and toward where Naruto was supposed to be.
“You insolent fool!”
“Death be upon you!”
“You dare!”
“Filthy Fleshbag!”
Shiva turned to face them, who were rushing at him, and replied calmly, “You are all dead already. You just have not realized it yet.”
As if a spell had been broken, they all halted their advance.
Their shiny metal skin started to turn purple. Sparks could be seen from the gaps in their armor. Their movements which had been fluid up until now, became extremely jittery. Their weapons, which looked like they came from legends of the future, started to crack.
“Wha…”
“Destruction,” Shiva raised his hand, a crimson fire appeared on top of his palm, “Is not just about throwing attacks mindlessly that can destroy anything you want. That is nothing but a child’s tantrum. Those who truly control the Domain of Destruction use that power to preserve the natural balance,” The crimson flame became smaller and smaller until it was not visible anymore. But a minor distortion remained where the flame was.
Shiva looked at them, his gaze cold, “They use that power to eradicate diseases such as you that rot the Creation and trample on the Balance.”
His enemies tried to change their form, they even shed their skin and removed their armor… but nothing was working.
As his enemies’ bodies crumbled and disappeared, Shiva flew toward Naruto’s location. He did not believe what his enemy had claimed. Great Red was still alive. The God of Evie, Melvazoa was powerful but not to the point where he could defeat Great Red. But there was a chance that Great Red might have been injured if he fell for a trap. If so, then there was a high possibility that Great Red might destroy the entire ExE to take out Melvazoa and his followers.
After learning what Evie had done, Shiva had no love for them. But Etoulde was innocent. It would cause a tragedy if their species were caught in the crossfire.
Shiva knew he was strong enough to support Great Red, if he even needed any. But pacifying the Beast was where he would draw the line. That job was reserved solely for Naruto.
Also, his battle instincts had been on high alert the moment Great Red disappeared. It was not the enemies of ExE that he was wary of, but something unknown. The Dimensional Gap never responded to him or his powers. In fact, it did not respond to anyone other than Great Red. But even so, he traveled here long enough to see the subtle changes. There was no unseen pressure or shift in the surroundings, but the chaotic crimson colors that painted the Dimensional Gap… to Shiva, it was slightly duller now.
“Is it because Great Red entered ExE?”
Regardless, he needed to find Naruto first. After that, they would need to help Great Red… or Etoulde if his hunches were correct. He just hoped they were not too late.