A/N: Sorry about that, I got lazy and had no motivation(until today!). I was playing idle games for 2 weeks(yeap, playing an IDLE game A u A)

(Kurama16): No problemo~ I'll try to update as fast as I can now that I've got a weee bit of motivation

(Dash24zappshift): why would I let Anju die ; w; that's just rood.

(Rena Bodewig): Thanks for reading my fanfic~ Actually, I'll be adding Rin and Hanayo(haven't even revealed all of the character's classes yet.) don't worry, they're all going to be together(I hope.) and for the next question, yeap~ Anju loves Umi all right but in this AU, she's more of a "if it means to let you go to make you happy, I'll do so." character.

Me and Tri were slacking together actually, I just slacked more than him(guhehe~)

Disclaimer: I do not own Love Live!

A few minutes ago

Anju POV

I closed my eyes. Umi approached me and asked me if I'll be alright. I nodded. I'm sure I'll win, the terrain is in my favor, after all. There's nothing to be worried about. After giving my last words before department, I waved to them with a smile.

I entered the portal, a portal that looks the same as other portals that I have entered. I have entered into portals endless times like this back when I was still an Empress of Darkness. It's pitiful, really. From an Empress of Darkness who used to rule numerous empires to a mere humanoid that I am now. I still bear my powers, maybe even greater than before, but the body I once had has been destroyed due to Umi; I'm grateful for what she did.

Present time

By the time the portal has transported me to my destination, my eyes began to survey my surrounding; like an eagle searching for its prey. Walking around for a few minutes, a dark castle stood before me. By the looks of it, it was made back in the Imperial Age. Its outer shell tells me that it'll break soon.

I entered the castle in high alert. I know I'm in a disadvantage. Getting teleported at the outside can mean instant death in a war. I Looked up and see the chandelier hanged motionlessly. Looking at my left, I see 3 doors. At my right, 1 door. I stroke my chin, thinking about which path should I take. After a couple of minutes, I decided to take the 1st door of the left path. I approached door and opened it. What I saw was total darkness.

Unlike Eri, I'm not afraid of the dark; I find it comfortable, to tell you the truth. Slithering to my beloved in the dark is exc- forget what I just said. I entered the dark room, cold wind slapped me right in the face. Could it be that this room leads to a hidden passage? Due to my curiosity, I walked even further. The deeper I went, the colder did the room get. Halfway, I saw small amounts of light reaching towards me; however, by the time I reached the end of the dark room, what welcomed me was no light but evil.

Who knew I would encounter such evil in all my life. Where I am now is a moonlit room keeping a dark rapier that continuously emits a humid, dark aura around it. It seems to be floating in mid air. Unknowingly, the mark in my shoulder reacted to it. My body reached out to the weapon, like a baby that's about to reach its first toy. Stop! I cried out to myself, but it was no use. My body didn't obey my orders. When my fingers were about to touch its handle, a huge boulder went straight to me and successfully knocked me back.

"Such things won't help you, you'll only lose your life if you do." a voice came out of the dark room to where I emerged from. I clutched into my waist in pain. The impact was powerful enough to snap my body back to its usual control.

I remained quiet and hid myself in the darkness. I know it was her, I can hear the screeching sound coming from her dragged weapon. "There's no use hiding, I can sense the demon inside you." I bit my tongue, letting out a "Tch" sound. I waited for her to emerge from the door before revealing my own self. What was on her shoulder was a huge bat covered in spikes. She looked like some kind of wannabe gangster but what made me think was her "perception".

"What made you say that I have a demon inside me...?" I questioned her. Her face showed no expression and answered back. She pointed at my shoulder.

"That mark says you're a ruler, and by the looks of it, a ruler of darkness. That enough explains that you have a demon inside you; however, it looks like its powers have been depleted tremendously due to the fact that it no longer has the power to hide itself from your body." she explained. I tilted my head in dismay, it was a mark of a ruler? I never knew if you ask me.

In an attempt of gaining more information. I asked her another question. "So you mean that every ruler has such a mark?"

She nodded. "Yes, but you're the first ruler I have seen to have it on appear on the shoulders. Most of the time, they appear on the feet. The higher the mark is on the body of the ruler, the stronger the power does the user hold; however, its been said that the limit of the mark is until the chin only, but no records have successfully proved such a theory so far. So you could say you'll be the strongest enemy I'll encounter so far in my journey."

I see... So it was no mere coincidence that this mark showed up on my shoulders huh. I thought to myself. By the time she finished answering my question, she unsheathed her weapon from her shoulder and pointed the large weapon at me. I naturally stanced myself, preparing for her first attack.

"Now come! I want to see the strength of a ruler at your level." she shouted. We glared into each others eyes, within hers was filled with the will to fight. Her goal is to beat me and win, but thinking back, she brought her previous enemies to a near death state; I get the feeling that she won't do the same to me. I pulled out my whip and engaged the first attack.

I pushed myself and charged towards her. In an instant, I was behind her. I was sure I caught her defenseless, but what I saw was her bat heading towards my face. I ducked for safety but the seemingly heavy bat turned its way towards me. I jumped away for safety. The bat landed on below her feet, creating cracks on the surface. Her strength was no joke at all. One hit from that deadly weapon can mean instant death. I have to take in extra precautions.

I checked my pockets if I still have more of Nozomi's potions, only three remained. I'm really sorry Nozomi, I think I took too much without your permission. With my attention caught by the potions, that Hitomi girl caught my back without me being able to detect her presence. She slammed my back with the bat without mercy. It was painful, the spikes pierced to my back, my body soon found itself flying towards a wall. I can feel my back bleeding, 6... no, 7 spikes probably stabbed me. Comparing this to the boulder is like comparing the pain between hot water and dry ice. It was just so painful. I stood up, still groaning in pain. I shouldn't make the same mistake again, such a weapon should be banned, seriously. Stupid Tsubasa.

"Is that all you've got? I was expecting more from a ruler like you." I know she was just provoking me. I clutched my whip tightly and surged some of my energy into it, my whip lit a dark red. I have to buy some time for my body to rejuvenate my injuries. My healing rate is better compared to a normal. Such an injury will only take 3 minutes for my body to heal from. I ran towards her, extended my whip and used it to reach towards Hitomi.

Obviously, she evaded it, but what she doesn't know is that I missed on purpose. While she was on air, I quickly pulled back my whip and grabbed her with it successfully. "Cra-" before she was able to finish what she was about to say, I pulled her down to the ground causing her to let out a bitter wail. Thankfully, the magic I implemented into my weapon made me bring her down without straining my body too much.

I gave her grounded body a look and in surprise, her body was barely scratched. "Your body's tougher than it looks." I said. Without longer than 5 seconds from landing from the ground, she was back to her normal stepping.

"Of course, I've dealt with countless battles and wars." she let out a smirk. I smirked in return, it seems that both of us have something in common. We love fighting, the adrenaline that fuels our bodies into greater drives. Most of the time, we let our weapon do the talking. That's what made us warriors. That's what made us prisoners of war.

I guess it was about time for both of us to get serious. With the injuries from my back now fully recovered, I embedded most of my magical energy to my weapon, causing it to burn dark red, literally. In turn, she too gathered her energy to her weapon, which made the spikes burn blue. This time, without warning, she pulled the first attack against me.

She swung her bat at a monstrous rate. I evaded each attack but not fully. The first swing grazed my arm, next was my waist and the last was my finger. I waved my whip vigorously, inflicting both injuries to her and the interior of the room; I may have forced in too much strength there, I should be careful not to destroy this room which might lead us both to our deaths. She charged once again and thrusts her bat towards me. I jumped on her weapon while avoiding the spikes and whipped her hands from above.

"Kuh, that hurts you know." she complained. I looked at her arms then noticed it tightening its grip from the bat. In an instant, I was thrown off from the bat. Next thing I knew, my face was kissing the ground. Darn, I was caught off guard. I pulled myself up and when I turned back, she was not there. Swiftly, I turned back and sees her about to pummel me with her huge bat.

"Take this!" in that moment, my vision started to darken. Time slowed itself as the weapon that's about to dig to my face slowed along with it. It was until the mark on my shoulder began to glow red. What's happening...? The bright red glow burst and the next thing I know was that I saw Hitomi's body far away from me, as if she was pushed back.

"No way..." she groaned. It was obvious that she's struggling when she was pulling herself back up. "your power should have already been depleted... Why did it still create that phenomenal burst!"

I tilted my head with a huge question mark above it. I don't understand what she's saying. Nonetheless, this battle is far from over, I'm sure of that. After giving her a few seconds to stand, it looks like she regained most of her composure. Readying myself in a defensive stance, she pushed her bat down to the ground which created fissures. Crap. I need to think of something fast! But what can save me from this harm? Suddenly, an idea popped out of my head. How stupid of me, I totally forgot about Nozomi's potions. I pulled out one of them and poured it on the ground before it collapsed.

I looked down, and all I see is never ending darkness. Even as someone as me who loves to stay in the dark wouldn't want to stay in such a place forever. Looking back to Hitomi, I noticed that her weapon's starting to break down. I rushed towards her and gave her legs a strong impact, causing her to go down to her knees. While savouring the pain, she looked at me with grimace.

"It's over for you, Hitomi. You should surrender while you still have your life with you." Is what I said, It's too bad that such a strong warrior is someone that I can never bring to my side with. After a few moments of waiting for her answer, she stood up and pointed her bat at me. I know she's stubborn, but really?

"I will never give up without banishing that demon out of your body..." her reply somewhat pisses me off. What demon is she exactly talking about? Such a thing does not exist in my body... Right now, that's what I'm sure. Looking through her eyes once more, there's still that will to fight burning inside of her. "I've made a promise to someone special... After all..."

A promise...? Her eyes now drooped by itself, as if looking back to the past. "What promise are you talking about...?" I asked. I know, it's bad to prey into someone's business, but right now, I feel that I have to know this so called promise.

"... I'll tell you if you can beat me." she held her weapon high and swings it towards me. "Take this!" once again, I blocked her attack. It looks like her strength has weakened as her swings felt a little lighter than it used to. Looking at her face just makes me take pity on her.

With all the remaining energy I could muster, I transferred every drop of it into my weapon and coiled her weapon with mine. In an instant, I pulled her weapon causing it to burst into tiny pieces. The look in her face was priceless; such despair.

"My..." she lost her footing as she tried to catch the falling bits. I looked down onto her, where did that will to fight go, I wonder..?

"It's over, you're no longer able to fight... Hitomi." I withdrew my weapon and walked away from her. As I left the room, I heard her wail, as if she had lost a dear friend.

After getting out of that cold dark room, I felt something different. Its painful. I clutched into my chest which was the source of pain. Was it regret? I'm not sure. I took in deep breaths and surprisingly, the pain was no longer there. That's right, this is just a fight that I must win no matter what. I pay no heed to the sacrifices that I must throw if it were to save them alone.

Moments after, a portal stood before me. Guess that means I win. I entered the portal and the next thing I know, found myself in captivated by the cheers of everyone. Some looked happy, some looked surprised. Overall, the pleasure of achievement was great.

I saw Tsubasa jumping down from her cloud chair above and landed right before me. She pointed her scepter below my chin like a microphone. "Congratulations, Anju! You can't believe how loud the cheers were with that spectacular fight! I guess you'll be fighting with me next!" she winked at me. I smiled in return. "is there something that you would like to tell your friends and probably fans?"

I nodded. "Thanks for watching me fight until the end guys~ I'll make sure that I'll give this troublesome Tsubasa a heck of a fight~"

She sheepishly laughed. "who are you calling troublesome~ Anyways!" she jumped back to her seat. "With that, the challenger, Anju will be-" Tsubasa's announcement was interrupted by a sudden earthquake. I turned to my attention to Umi and the others. Nico was shaking while hugging... Maki. While Umi looks like she was telling them to evacuate to the arena. I ran to them and did the same.

"Anju! Can you carry Kotori to somewhere safe?" she pointed out. "she passed out earlier before the earthquake." I nodded. I carried Kotori's unconscious body and ran outside as fast as I can before putting her down inside one of the houses in which I found safe and empty. She was quite light, just like a bird. I ran back to the others once again and panicked as I see the statues on top of the stadium falling down. Without a second to spare, I ran towards them and shouted. "Umi, Nico, Maki! Get out of there as fast as you can!"

"Huh?" Umi, who was clueless tilted her head in confusion. There was no time to explain. There was no time at all. The statue is about to land on them, I don't think I'll be able to save them; but I have to try! I lunged myself towards them and successfully pushed them away from danger. Unfortunately, my leg was impaled by the statue's crown. I let out a cry of pain.

"Anju, are you all right!?" Umi asked with tears falling down from her face. She cares for me, that makes me happy. I nodded with a smile.

"Nico, Maki! Help me out here!" Umi ran behind me and tried to pull the statue as hard as she could.

Narrator POV

"Just run... I don't want you guys to be in danger..." Anju muttered. Her hands quivered as the pain seeps into her body even further.

Just run... Please... She added in her thoughts. Umi, who was supposedly behind her walked toward Anju's front and slapped her.

"Like hell I will!" Umi scowled. Tears flew from her cheeks as her hand collides with Anju's face. "As if I could leave someone as close to you behind! I don't want to lose you or even anyone in this journey!" She plummeted her hands down to the ground. "I don't want to experience the same pain I had felt before ever again! I don't want to disappoint my Dad or even anyone... So please..." at that time, her emotions exploded, causing tears to drip directly off her eyelids. "So please... Let me be greedy for once..."

"Umi..." Anju felt bad about her careless words, she knew that it would inflict Umi if one of them had to fall to make it out alive. A life spared at a cost of a friend is too painful to live with. "All right, Do as you please, Umi." she smiled. She reached at the bluenette's face with her free hand and wiped the tears off her face. "Now don't cry, okay? You'll ruin your beautiful face."

Umi nodded. The bluenette ran back and once again tried to pull off the statue that disabled the auburnette.

Thud

"Does it hurt Anju!?" she shouted from the back.

"No... I'm fine." Anju answered.

"O-okay..."

Thud

"Kuh..."

"S-sorry about that..."

"I-It's okay... It's nothing compared to the fights I've been put through."

The bluenette sighed. "Even so, I don't want to put you in danger."

"That's what I should be saying." Anju retorted. Suddenly, she felt the pain intensify.

"Ow ow ow ow! All right all right, I get it."

Umi huffed with pride. "Good. Now leave this to us." Umi turned back, staring at the two who looked like they were flirting at this horrible situation. "Nico, Maki! Stop flirting and help me here!"

"Wah! S-sorry about that!" Nico ran as fast as she could and gave the bluenette a helping hand.

Maki soon followed. "H-Hey, wait for me, Nico-chan!"

"All right. One, Two, Pull!" the three attempted to pull the huge statue with all there might and failed. "O-one more... Pull!" once again, they failed.

"T-this statue's too heavy!" Nico complained.

"Yeah... We need more people." Umi said.

"Heyyyyyy! What are you guys doing there!?" Tsubasa shouted. She hovered towards them and landed on the ground safely. "You guys should run as fast as you ca- Anju!?" her eyes widened, seeing the winner in stuck.

"Hey, Tsubasa, help us out pulling this statue away from Anju." Umi asked.

"Aha... Those types of statues can only be pulled out with magic you know." Tsubasa said, laughing sheepishly.

"No way..." Umi fell to the ground, quivering.

"Nobody here can use magic..." Nico sighed.

"What should we do..." Maki said.

Tsubasa gave the three a deadpan look. "Seriously...?"

The three gave her a 'what' look. "Seriously!? I can use magic! M-a-g-i-c!"

"Ah... I totally forgot about that." Umi stood up and held onto Tsubasa's hands. "Help us, Tsubasa! Please!"

"Seriously... Of course I'll help, besides, we need all the help we need right now."

Umi tilted her head. "Help? Is there something wrong?"

Tsubasa nodded. "Actually..."

"Uhmm... Tsubasa... Before explaining, can you please get this statue off of me first...?" Anju asked with a grimace look on her face which nobody saw.

"A-ah... Sorry about that." she pulled out her scepter from her back and waved it in a circular motion while chanting a spell. Light dispersed around the statue and disappeared. "There... Sorry that I can't patch those wounds of yours, Anju, I don't know a spell of restoration, you see."

"It's fine, my body heals faster than a normal human." the auburnette stood up and stretched. "See? I'm perfectly fine~"

"That's amazing Anju! Are you like a superhuman or something!?" Nico's eyes widened in fascination.

Anju giggled. "That's a s-e-c-r-e-t~" Nico pouted which then caused Maki in reflex to hug the cute pouter.

"Maki-channnnn! Anju's being mean to meeeee!" Nico complained. Maki hugged the girl tighter.

"There there~ Maki's got you." Maki said while patting Nico. Anju winked at her, causing Maki to smile. Thanks Anju.

Tsubasa, who has been deadpan staring at the two lovebirds the whole time let out a cough, grabbing the attention of the others. "...Anyways... The field that Anju and Hitomi used is actually one of the deceased great demon lord's personal castles 500 feet below this very arena, and the source of the strong earthquake just now came from that very place."

"Speaking of Hitomi... What happened to her after Anju won?" Umi asked.

Tsubasa pulled out a device out of her pocket. "I found this device which an orange haired sorceress dropped next town. You know, when I went away for a few minutes for the festival?" everyone nodded in response. "I have yet to give it back but it turns out that this device detects the presence of magic; you could say it's a tracking device for magic. So earlier, It let out this fierce 'nyan' sound while the earthquake took place. I took it out and it showed a huge dot below us."

Anju folded her arms, not convinced by Tsubasa's explanation. "But that doesn't explain to what happened to Hitom-" before she was able to finish her sentence, Tsubasa interrupted her

"Let me finish." Anju sighed. "I sent three of my workers there when you returned back, and it turns out that Hitomi was no longer there."

"Huh? What do you mean Hitomi's no longer there?" Anju asked.

"That's the problem. What's more, I lost contact of those workers when I tried to bring them back." Tsubasa further explained.

With all of the chaos that's happening in this world, such a thing is bound to happen. Umi walked towards Tsubasa and looked at the device. "Erm... Why's there a dark dot...?"

"Huh?" Tsubasa looked at the device, her eyes widened in shock. "Everyone, Run!" Everyone did what Tsubasa commanded. By the time they ran to the center of the arena, another earthquake was bestowed upon them. "T-this is much stronger than before! What's happening!?"

"I don't know!" Anju answered. Everyone lost their footing as the magnitude grew. Suddenly, a huge dark bolt shot out off the ground to where they were previously on. The unknown object soon crashed back to the ground that dispersed a medium sized sand cloud which blocked their vision.

As the began to disappear, a human like structure began to form. It was girl whose aura was furiously calling out death. She wields a thin sword that emitted the same wavelength of the said aura. "I won't let you go with that demon inside you..." the girl said. her voice was static, one could not determine if she was a human or not.

Anju slowly opened her eyes and immediately widened as she sees the girl's structure completely. "Hitomi!?" it was Hitomi, but at the same time not. Her skin has turned dark purple, eyes as red as a red moon. A horn was present, something that the Hitomi of the past did not have. "No... What have you done to Hitomi!?"

". . . . . ."

"No you're no-"

"Wait, Anju. She's the source of the earthquakes." Tsubasa interrupted. Looking back at the device, the dot is where the current Hitomi is standing. "She's no longer the Hitomi you've fought, we have no choice but to kill her."

"But!"

"She had a promise... Right? That promise was to exterminate all the evil in this world, but right now, one of the things that's creating havoc and immense evil is her. If we stop her, she'll be happy, right?" without a moment to spare, Tsubasa began to cast a spell. "Now do me a favor, hold her off for a while, we need to finish this quick or else the whole world will be in danger."

She looked at her comrades who were ready to fight, not a single drop of fear dwelled in their eyes. She turned to Tsubasa once again and nodded. "All right, let's go!"

Meanwhile

"Huh...? Where am I?" Kotori, who passed out earlier finally woke up. She shook her head repeatedly which placed her in a complete wake state. She surveyed her surroundings which was foreign to her.

"Oh yeah... I hit myself on the head when that earthquake came ehehehe~" she pulled herself up from where she lay and went outside to check on what was going on. Nobody was outside. As she looked up, she muttered. "... A red moon is coming..." images began to appear in her mind. Without hesitation, she ran as fast as she could to where Honoka, Eli and Nozomi were. "I must... Warn them!"

Anju: So, Kuu... I know that you've been lazy recently, but can you please write your fics regularly~?

Kuu: Sure Sure~ If I have the motivation that is~

Anju: *smiles then takes out whip*

Kuu: Eeek! SOMEONE HELP ME OM- *gets whipped* MAKI HEL-

Maki: Serves you right, you lazy bum.

Kuu: NOOOOO I SWEAR I'LL BE WRITING MORE OF YOU AND NICO DOING YOUR PRIVATE BUSINESSES !

Maki: Fueh!? N-No! Don't! (n-not that I mind though)

Kuu: ACK *gets whipped more* HELP ME Dx