Vinter had punished the demigod for the transgression but he just received some news that was concerning. The souls of Raven's parents were not listed. Which was a concerning issue.
"Megrez... The souls that are unaccounted for..." Vinter's words had Megrez feeling uneasy, as they saw the names on it.
"Corbin Ashenworth, Henrietta Lucis Ashenworth, Marlow Blanche and Keandra Martis Blanche... They're... In a causality. Fated to be the heads of fallen families all the time. Fated to lose their children whom they had named after their actual children. The cycle has repeated to the point they've lost... Their own sanity." Vinter pressed the brdige of his nose. He needed to make this causality a priority for Raven.
"It was before my ascension as the God of souls, I.." A hand raised to stop the timid God of Souls from saying anything further.
"It's not your fault, Megrez. This... This was because that damned bastard wanted to torture Raven as much as he could. Even in death, he still would find ways to torment Raven." Vinter spoke with a sigh. His thoughts were trying to figure out if it was necessary to tell Raven. The answer was in the affirmative. Raven must know but only after this battle has ended.
Raven was smoking a cigarette as he stood on the deck of the Fair Winds. Watching how the Latelican army and Hunters were helpless against the superior firepower that had been demonstrated. Missiles that came parading from above. Burst missiles that turned the ground into craters. Artillery leaving shockwaves that caused the Hunters to slowly lose their ground and sanity. An overwhelming force just turned them into nothing but corpses. Raven just kept watch from the deck as the capital was in sight. Fighter planes flew right at him where Raven just held the Thousand Eyes, drawing it out as the planes were slashed in half.
"Fair Winds, Trinity, Utopia, Little Wing. Ready hyper neutron cannons. Bring some chairs out here." A squad of exoskeleton soldiers brought chairs for Raven and his siblings, Zephyr brought some food on a tray along with some shades.
"What's a neutron cannon?"
"It's a nuke. Minus the radiation. But it's bright as hell though. So put your shades on." Putting it on as Zephyr served them drinks. Champaign poured into the glass along with plates of fresh sushi.
"Hyper Neutron Cannon charging at 80...90....100. Heading into second charge." Breaking chopsticks, Raven picked up a cucumber roll. Taking a nice bite as he heard the cannon go into the third charge. Calm before the storm. Aquila took a sip as Dolores offered him a piece of sashimi.
"Hyper Neutron Cannons at maximum output!"
"Stay in your seats. Fire away." The cannons unleashed a single ray of energy as Raven put a cigar to his lip. The bright ray of energy struck the capital. Where it formed a pillar of light as Raven felt the heat emitted from the pillar burned his cigar to complete ash. The pillar of light dissipated, where all they could see was nothing but flat lands. A small barrier where Sartina and the Latelican Royal family could only see what has occurred. Nothing was left, not the castle. Not the building and nobody. It was as if the place never existed.
"Huican, Mundus, Bellmont. It'll be up to you from now on." Raven said as the three Sovereigns made their appearance known, diving straight into the Latelican Royal Family, the wrath of the Three Sovereigns brought them into another dimension. One where they will slowly suffer from all the deaths that had been done.
"Sichidle, Arcian. The child's education will be your responsibility. I should've done that earlier."
"Why didn't you?" Dolores asked.
"Squashing an ant feels a lot better when you make it realize it could fight back. It would cling onto hope and when you crush that hope. They'll be nothing. I wanted them to feel what it means to be in the pressence of giants. Now they learned their lesson. So will the other guilds. With this show of force, it will make them realize that Black Wings are not the same as before. This is a boring endeavor. I expected more, I expected a longer battle but they lost it the moment their Sovereigns did not swear allegiance to them. A Demi God is powerful but if the Demi God planned it properly, it wouldn't have ended like this. Now the Latelican Royal family is dead and it can return to the boy who shall be a prince." Raven said as he took off his shades.
"Bring out the remaining Seven Hells members." Jasmine was brought out along with her family members. Her eyes were pleading but Raven didn't bother with it.
"Kill the family members first, then execute the rest. I want their bodies thrown off the ship. They're useful as fertilizer anyway. Circle of life. Give back to the land and the land will heal." Raven said as his men did as what they were instructed. Just kicking off bodies from the ship, the Hunters were powerless as they watched their families die before them. Then being thrown off the space ship, piling the bodies as the earth would swallow the bodies whole.
"That much is respect I can give. I'm not very fond of people putting bodies in a pile. I mean if you kill and leave piles of bodies that's fine, but if you have time to clean up. You should clean up." As one by one, the corpses were thrown off for the earth as nourishment. Raven had done what he had set out to do. A wrong has been corrected and the world who just watched could only maintain their silence.
Arcian and Sichilde will remain here with the other three ships. To help rebuild a new city and new infrastructure whereas Fair Winds will bring Raven and the others back. Latelica's capital was no more and the three Sovereigns had appeared. Becoming the ones to acknowledge the right people. During the flight back, Raven was seated alone in his room. Sipping on his coffee.
Vinter has a message for you.
"Your parents and your In-Laws are alive. But the causality that they are in is constantly shifting and you have not done enough Causalities to free them. That meddlesome god had plenty of things to try and destroy your life. Even now, he still has quite the grip on you. You'll need to complete several more Causalities before you can gain access. Which also means you need to gather the fragments of your Personas. You no longer need Shards but instead, you will be finding the Traces of the Persona. You don't need much of them.'
He spat out his coffee. Coughing madly as he smacked his chest a few times. Reading the message. Not once. Not twice. But a few hundred times. Word. For word. Ensuring that he understood what he read.
"They're..... Alive?"
Some Causalities will require both you and your siblings to dive into them.
You will always take a new Causality.
Your siblings will take one from your cleared Causalities and Personas.
The reason being... The Causality where your parents are? The Karma system and the like have been disabled. So you need to be at your best before you attempt it.
The Causality will keep shifting constantly as time goes on. It would be unwise for you to enter as you are because you may end up dying. Dying in that causality locks you out and your parents will have to suffer for longer.
Gaining new Causalities strengthens you.
You will be limited in more ways than one.
Several Causalities have opened up for you and your siblings.
Your siblings will be entering Causalities that have different set of rules.
Some can bring allies, some are not.
The new Causalities may also take over the timeline of a previous cleared Causality. Therefore defaulting to the Persona who was involved if they have not died or disappeared.
One causality that has opened up is The Convict King.
For your siblings... It will be another Causality. Maybe Vanguard Operator or another one depending on what opens up.
They are being informed.
On cue, the other four came storming into Raven's room. The door broke and they all rolled onto his bed.
"Is it... True?"
"If Vinter says it, then it's true. Now we just have to deal with the rest of what's to come. Which means thing's are going to be difficult. Let's just get back to Euphemia first. We'll figure things out slowly. Now get out of my room!" The four of them were launched out, followed by them seeing Raven shake a spraycan. Spraying a foam that slowly turned into a door.
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"He must be having a hard time."
"Can you blame him? He got a second chance and now mom and dad are right in front of us but he's more pissed cause he can't just rush in." Stervy said as they headed elsewhere.
"Morgan."
"Yes, Chancellor?"
"Tell my family that I won't be here because I need to do something. Tell the others to teach at the academy as usual. Then deliver my words to the academy." Raven prepared a letter where Morgan read it.
"You're essentially saying that any mistakes from now on is considered a declaration of war and that you're not someone who cares about killing civilians for your objective... Is this... Wise?"
"Wise or not, that's not an issue. This is reality. Tell Corona and Yennifer to handle training in my stead. There's something else that needs my attention right now."
"As you command, Chancellor." Two screens popped up.
You earned Severed Knot Persona.
S-Tier Persona
A lone sailor who had hunted the horrors of the deep.
A man of the sea, the one who has hunted the creatures of the oceans.
Uses a harpoon, a knife, speargun, even large nets to hunt down foes.
Skill List
A man of the Sea When fighting in the ocean, can hold your breath longer and you can steal oxygen of your foes. Lifeline Ropes that you personally create or knots made will not be easily severed. It will take a sharp blade that can cut through a boulder to sever it. Lone Sailor Fighting alone increases combat sense and movement speed Master Harpooner A harpoon fashioned with a unique Moontear Ore, sharpness guaranteed and its efficiency is potent. Your skills with spear weapons will increase but its perfection will be seen with a harpoon. The techniques will carry over to your other skills.
Causality name : Terraverona.
Persona Required : White Tiger Captain + Boss of Rose Garden + Abyss Gaze + Scorpio + Chief of Durandal + Severed Knot.
Persona Name : The Convict King.
This Causality is S Tier. Karma system can only be used to purchase skills. AURA + MANA SKILLS will activate when requirements are met.
Due to Nexus.
"Nexus?"
Nexus are your rivals in other worlds or the people whom you’ve slain. Only notable Nexus. They are your nemesis, your antagonis. Your antihesis. Your background is an orphan who was picked up. You are a Convict. A human who has been augmented to fight monsters called Heralds. Your weapon is called a Gaoler.
"Isn't that the origin of the word 'Jailer' comes from?"
Yes. That is the origin of the word.
Raven found a pauldron attached to his right shoulder, a sinister sensation lurking within. It was piercing directly into his skin, tendrils spreading about into his veins. His skin turned charcoal for a brief moment, a sharp sensation. He didn’t flinch, his eyes glued to his arm to see the effects.
In terms of weapons however… It was odd. The weapons he was seeing through flashing images showed them to be odd in the sense that it was jigsawed together for use. A melee weapon, a firearm and a shield. Gaolers were similar to trick weapons but rather than being a weapon that changes its form and utility, this was more of… Components that deployed itself. The melee component was the primary, the firearm and shield would freely shift accordingly. Questions arose in his mind as to how all of this works. For a longsword, the shield and firearm would be attached to some portion of the blade without being an obstruction. Though, Raven understood that it was the world’s sense.
Gaolers were always in sets of 3. A melee. A firearm and a shield. Different sizes, different types. Mishmashed together to suit the Convict in question. The weapons were slightly larger than what he was used to. If one were to compare it, most of the blades felt like he was holding claymores and greatswords but the weight wasn’t an issue.It was light and his clothes were shifting to form what was necessary. Wearing a simple coat with a pair of pants that fitted his body perfectly. It felt reassuring to have this sensation. Closing his eyes.
The memories came in, Raven Ashenworth, Convict of Odyn. Convict was the term given for people who could use these weapons. Gaolers were specifically referring to the weapon.. Despite their name, it wasn’t anything that would tie them down in any sort of physical sense. Rather it was a pauldron. A pauldron that would be linked into them, the pauldrons were the link between a Gaoler and a Convict.
Heralds were the threat in this world. Monsters of bizarre shapes and sizes, beasts that were horrifying for they may have human faces and the like. From large alligators with weird machinery to living machinery such as helicopters and tanks that had some sort of human face on it.The science? Raven didn’t bother getting to know that part. What was unique to Convicts were the pauldrons breaking open into tendrils, tearing through Heralds to gain materials to strengthen the Gaolers.
A classic tale of man versus beast, but with weapons engineered against the Heralds. Though what was important, was to note that stronger heralds were called Corrupted Heralds which posed a great threat. Mainly because it could make the pauldrons of the Convicts be damaged and cause their powers to go out of control when hit. Convicts that fail for this matter will be eaten and strengthening Corrupted Heralds into something else. A Seraph. The strongest form of Heralds.
“Hey rookie, quit being all starry eyed.” Raven glanced at his Gaoler, it was a Chain Scythe. The chain part referred to when the blade would extend when needed, the scythe? Well it’s got a serrated edge rather than the usual sharpened edge. It was meant to leave as much injury on a foe if it couldn't kill.
“Sorry.” Raven’s Gaoler followed his intent, shifting to the sniper cannon mode as he prepared himself.
“Greta. We’ve got 25 Heralds just staring at us. Anything bigger coming in?” The team leader, Cassius spoke, wielding his long grind blade. Glancing at the small herd of 25 beast like Heralds that had a human skull on their chests. A pair of reverse jointed legs, gaping mouths with teeth that could make even the devil shy. Chomping away at corpses of nearby humans.
“Hunter One. We’ve confirmed 3 mid sized Heralds are coming in.”Cassius smoked his cigarette then glancing at Raven who readied the sniper cannon.
"Rookie. Take out the 25 of them, let us handle the big three. Let's go Hunters!" Taking aim as he took a deep breath, Scorpio's precision was playing into it. Firing a shot that caused his feet to skid, a singular bullet that caused the Herald to be torn in two. Firing a few more shots as the ejected 10 round magazine flew above his head. Grabbing another from his left thigh, slamming it straight into the breech. The bolt pushing the bullet into the chamber, he took aim again. Now they were making their way to him. Switching from sniper cannon to chain scythe, Raven waited for them to get close. Pressing a button on his staff as the scythe had darted around. Lacerating the skins of the oncoming Heralds. Biding his time. Weaving through the attacks as the chains rattled about. Wrapping the Heralds together. Held in place by the metal chains, which gave Raven a chance to switch back to his sniper cannon, blasting away a few shots. Quickly destroying the rest of the Heralds.
His pauldron activated, opening up into tendrils that pierced into the remains of the dead Heralds. Spitting out a set of bullets that would fit the cannon.
"Remember, your pauldrons can craft special bullets from the corpses of the Heralds. Those bullets can give an advantage but it's not a perfect tool all the time." Those words were uttered as Raven turned to the mid sized Heralds that were facing his team. The three Heralds were four legs, prancing around like a fox. Yet its body was that of a large tiger that is equivalent to 3 sedans in length and size.
"I've got ice bullets. I'll take the firebreathing type."
"Ease up, Rook! You're not ready for these fights yet!"
"Trust me captain."
"Fine." Firing the shots at the fire breathing type as it growled at him, giving chase as Raven began to move about. The Herald swiped its claws at Raven as his Gaoler switched back to being a scythe. Following a technique he knew for quite some time, fleeting footsteps. Dodging the assault by a hair's breadth as he waited for the right moment to strike. Swiping the eye as the Herald took a step back, groaning in pain. Sliding beneath as Raven pressed the button to release the scythe head. He was going to wrap it up in a little bow, the flames emitted from the Herald was going to weaken him a bit but that's not going to be an issue. Tapping the button as the scythe went on a frenzy, lacerating the Herald's body as it began to prattle about from the injuries. Lashing out in pain as the mouth opened. That was Raven's cue, slamming a new magazine as he shoved the barrel right into the Herald's mouth.
Their eyes met as Raven pulled the trigger, killing the Herald as his pauldron opened up, swallowing the downed Herald to create new bullets for him. Taking shots again.
"Hunter Five, has taken down Mid-Sized Herald!"
"Greta, I need a firing point, give me somewhere near to an ice Herald."
"30 meters to your right. It's a hill that will give you a good firing spot! You have the vantage over it!" Raven went to that direction, quickly taking aim as he fired off a few shots. The flame bullets striking the limbs of the Herald. Keeping it pinned down with the flaming bullets. Burning through its thick hide and fur as Cassius took a chance with his grind sword and hacked through its flesh. Killing one. Followed by a hammer that struck the Herald's head, causing its face to blow up.
"Hunter One, Two and Five has taken down Mid-Sized Herald! One left!" "With that chance Raven leaped down to get more bullets for his weapon, then going after the last Mid-Sized Herald. The other four got into close range. Within their blades reach as Raven would keep it bothered with his gunfire.
"The last Herald's down! Mission complete, Hunters!"
"Not bad Rook. You got guts coming up with that kind of plan but still reckless. Then again, you took on a mid-sized by yourself. Seems like you grew out of your shell. Anyway, drinks on me after we finish paperwork later, yeah?" Cassius ruffled Raven's hair, a friendly captain. Now that's a nice change of pace.
"Hunter Five, seems like you've improved a bit. Hope our future operations can be this easy! Choppers are on the way." So this was the world of Convict King. A member of Hunters, a Convict of Odyn. Raven needed to think about how he felt. He was going to approach this like Abyss Gaze. He's just a Convict, he hunts Heralds. No more. No less.