A/N: Welcome to another chapter of Shadows of Destruction. I'm going to be throwing another one or two chapters after this. Yes, yes I know I did say this would end in the last chapter but turns out this chapter was extremely long as there was many other events to happen before the particular I guess "Arc" ended. Well we get to see some very interesting things. If you guys want to find out what stick around! :D.

"Text" "Text" = Corrupted Ara(Temporary name)/ Blood Kain

"Text" = Character thoughts/Flashbacks in some cases

'Text' = Telepathy

Chapter 9: Moonlit Chaos Part 2

"T-tenth Dance: Iro-" Mira's attack was cut short as she was flung to the back causing her to impact the boundary of the field. "D-damn..." Mira stated as she coughed up blood. "Y-you truly are something" Mira then struggled to get up only to be pushed back down by Ara's heels.

"Any last words?"

"Don't let darkness consume you fox" came Add's voice stopping Ara in her tracks.

"Add" came the mixture of voices.

"Ara!" Aisha called out to her friend.

"Get away!" Mira yelled only to get pushed down again by Ara.

"Shut it...tch, that was close."

"Who are you?" Elesis asked Ara who simply smirked.

"I am one no one in particular."

"Why does this have Omega written all over it?" Add asked as he sweatdropped.

"It was his fault basically. I possessed this girl when she was trapped inside that sphere".

"Can you do us a favor and let her go?" Raven asked as he stepped forward. "At this point I'm pretty much sick and tired of watching my friends get possessed".

"Gotta agree" Elsword joined him. "Ara doesn't deserve to be possessed by the likes of you so please leave".

"Quite harsh. Did you all forget this woman trapped you all and dragged Ara to despair?" Ara then stepped harder on Mira causing the said woman to scream in pain. "By the way, where's my little prince charming?" Ara taunted.

"Wait, actually where is Kain?" Aisha asked and her gaze immediately shifted to Add who had broken them free.

"Hey don't look at me. Kain is trapped deeper in the labyrinth than we were" Add stated as he looked at Mira. "It would take a lot more mana than that I hold to free him".

"S-sorry about that..." Mira apologized and the others sighed. Ara pouted and then smirked.

"Aww too bad. Guess I'll play with you all while we wait" Ara sprinted forward at that moment. The other's braced for an attack however a bright light was what crashed in front of them causing Ara to jump back.

"Wha-!?" dust and rock burst into the air causing them to lose sight of what was happening. When the dust cleared, a figure clad in Armor similar to that of Chung stood before them.

"Ho?"

"Seems I made it in time" the figure stated and the others could simply stare in shock.

"You're!?" Chung began as he remembered the earlier sight. The Armor Clad figure turned to chung and disengaged her helmet allowing the others to see her face.

"Another parallel figure?" Add stated. "Next thing you know, all of the parallel version of us are going to show up alive and well".

"You know about me?" Erena asked(From this point she will be referred by this name to avoid confusion).

"More or less". Add then noticed that the girl's gaze was shifting from character to character until it landed on Elword. "If you're looking for Kain, he's not here".

"Where is he?". Add looked at Mira who had finally managed to stand up after finally being released by Ara.

"I know, I know. Time to bring the doggy back" and just like that the space not only returned to normal but also Kain, who had been gone for a while, finally appeared. He was on his knees and seemed unresponsive.

"Kain!" they all yelled in unison, minus Add and of course Ara who was not actually Ara at the moment. The said man didn't respond. However, before the other's even had a chance to react the white haired girl was already kneeling before the man.

"Fast..." Rena uttered in shock. Considering how heavy the cannon, which she was holding on her left hand, was it was a miracle she could carry it like nothing.

"Kain..." Erena called out his name but no movement. The man seemed broken, whatever he wished to see most likely didn't bring him happiness. It was likely he wished to see Eve and that was something Erena could bet her money on Eve being someone Kain would not like to come face to face with. Erena turned to Add, "His vitals?"

"Alive and kicking" Add stated as he sighed. Since when was he a doctor? More like since when did he simply accept people's request? Add scowled a bit, he was changing and he wasn't liking that at all.

"That's great and all...but shouldn't you be dead?" Chung could only bring himself to ask. What was before him was not something an ordinary human would ordinarily see on day to day basis. This person was him...a female version of him but him nonetheless. The girl smiled.

"I can explain later, but right now we need to help Elsword...we need to save Kain" the others nodded. Their conversation was cut short as a blast of dark energy.

"Hey you all seemed to have forgotten about me"

"We didn't, hold on there and I will deal with you in a second" Erena stated with a glare. Let's just say she saw an event between Ara and kain and she wasn't very pleased about it.

"Oh, high and mighty I see"

"You're one to talk" Erena countered.

"These two don't get along already..." Raven was the first to point it out.

"Can you two little kitties help the damn vampire, I know I said his vitals were stable but his heart rate just skyrocketed!" Add stated as he looked at the hologram on his hand, a nervous look on his face. He was seeing all of Kain's vitals via the device and as of now all the vitals were going nuts. "This guy has caused me nothing but trouble but we need to help him, he owes me an experiment".

"Mira, is there any way to fix this?"

"I have seen nothing like this before" Mira began as she got closer to Kain. "Those usually trapped tend to break free as soon as I take them out yet it seems he still trapped inside, his mind that is"

"So his body is here and his mind is inside the fake world?" Elsword asked.

"Yes, something is keeping it there", Elsword sighed. This was beginning to give him a headache and to a certain degree he was starting to understand Kain's pain. Everyone they met so far sent them to their 'dark place' as some would call it, and kain's life was filled with many of these dark places. He could only imagine the hell he was going through.

"Eve..." Erena stated as realization hit. "Mira, is it possible for a spirit attached to a certain person to enter you world?"

"Well yes."

"Tch hate to be ignored, I might as well tell you what is going on".

"Wait you know what's happening?" Aisha asked as she looked at her possessed friend.

"Of course I do, it's weird that you all didn't realize"

"Realize what?" Raven asked.

"That your little friend was being haunted by the spirit of his dead lover"

"Which one?" Add asked causing the others to glared at him. "Hey not trying to be rude here but he kinda has a lot of dead lovers..."

"The one referred to as Eve"

"But isn't the Nasod's queen soul fake?" Add asked.

"It is not" the Eve of their world began. "My soul was indeed created artificially but; however, it is as real as yours. Oberon himself proved that by becoming a demon".

"What does that mean?"

"It means you need a soul to become a demon, since a demon is simply a corrupted soul of a being. This means if Oberon was able to become a demon he would need a soul" Erena answered the question.

"How do we break him out?" Rena asked worried.

"I don't know" Mira answered in defeat.

"Well this is splendid" Add stated sarcastically.

"We need to find a way to break him out" Erena stated.

"Before that, aren't you going to tell them what you are little missy?"

"I said we would talk about it later!" Erena implanted the cannon on the floor causing a strong gust of wind to blow. "I am in the right mind to make you shut up right now, but I won't since you are possessing an innocent person".

"Is that your solemn reason?" Ara smirked. Erena's grip on the cannon tightened and everyone could see she was reaching her limit.

"Why you!?" Erena had it. Although she had no plans of hurting Ara, she definitely had plans to purify this demon. Erena rushed at Ara and swung her cannon but however it was stopped by none other than elsword who was flung backwards into a tree.

"Elsword!" Eve called out.

"I'm ok" said man said as he stood.

"Sorry I didn-" Erena tried to apologize but Elsword stopped her.

"First of all, ouch and secondly don't let her get to you" Elsword then stood up and dusted himself off. "We need to focus on Kain for now, we will worry about her after."

"Tch, you're no fun."

"Speaking of Kain, for someone so strong he sure seems to need crutches to stand on his two feet" Add stated only to receive a glare Erena.

"He doesn't need crutches..." Erena began. "Kain is trying to keep himself human or at least keep a human mentality, that is why he tries so hard. If he were to let himself go, there would be no need to help him".

"But the world on the other hand would be a different story"

"I see then" Add asked. "Well then, shall we pull him out?"

"I think it's about damn time" Elsword stated.

"Not under my watch" the voice caught them off guard and so did the attack.

"How?!" Erena asked as she looked at the figure. It was none other than the crazy knight from earlier.

"Well, well, well" Arthun began with a twisted smile. "Lookie here, if it ain't an ant hill".

"Arthun?" Elesis asked. "How did you get here?"

"Simply followed you all. But now then, time to exterminate the bugs". Arthun lunged forward, and the others prepared to defend. "Be destroyed, Izanagi's Reign!". The others braced for impact...

"Dodge it!" came Omega's voice.

"Leap away from it" came Oberon's warning this time. The other followed their instruction and leaped away from the attack. The devastation that followed was immense.

"Holy shit!" Add stated as he landed. This was a joke right? This power was ridiculous.

"If we blocked that we would've been dead!" Aisha stated.

"You should know better than to anger a military man! IGNITION CROW!" came the fiery attack from Raven. "Burn in hell!"

"Nope! Light step!" in a flash of an eye Arthun had dodged the attack. Was this really the person which Kain had easily beaten yesterday? "Weak".

"We're too late" Omega stated as Yuki set him down.

"Damn this is my fault" a hurt Oberon stated. He didn't see it coming. More like he doubts he was suppose to. From nowhere Arthun had attacked him and no matter how fast he was he couldn't dodge the attack.

~Flashback~

"Well then, she's on her way" Oberon stated to himself as he watched the trail of light which was left but Erena. "Now then, to follow Mr. Psycho..." but when Oberon turned to look the said man was gone. Oberon Immediately blocked an unexpected attack which came from behind him.

"Oh nice skills" Arthun stated as he flashed Oberon a smirk. Oberon moved back perching himself on top of another branch.

"Ok now this is bullshit" Oberon stated as summoned his tonfa blades. It hadn't even been a minute since the princess left and he already had been caught.

"Hey I already knew you were here. However, my instincts told me there was something I couldn't handle next to you".

'The princess?'

"Nothing personal, but Imma have to get rid of you". Arthun Immediately disappeared from sight.

"Son of a bi-" Oberon's sentence was literally cut short as he had to dodge the attack aimed at him. "For a knight you sure fight like EVERYONE else I know". Yes, Oberon could literally hear his reasoning calling him an idiot. Pissing this guy off was never a good idea but it was the best way to cloud his judgment.

"Huh?" Arthun scowled. "Well then, let's see if everyone you know can do this. Tenth Grasp: God Strike".

Light, that was honestly all Oberon could see. It was hot and searing almost and if Oberon had to guess he was pretty much dead. But however Oberon like Omega chose the cowardly route. Don't judge he honestly wasn't an honorable person to begin with so he didn't quite mind taking the cowardly route.

"Tch, he's gone" Arthun sighed. "That makes two that got away. This one seems to have gone the same route as the others" a smirk slowly crawled to Arthun's face. "This gives me choices. I can crush them all together or pick them up one by one. But the presence of that girl worries me".

"What is it that you desire then master?" A male voice emanated from the sword.

"We'll crush them until nothing's left" A twisted smile formed on Arthun's face as he now headed towards the location Erena and the others were.

"My goodness...liked it better when Kain going out of control and Ran was the only problem on my mind" Oberon stated as he leaned against a tree. "Need to make my way to the others...we can't let Kain fight him. This certainly is not going as the princess had in mind"

~Flashback End~

"Well I'm willing to make a deal with you all, hand me Kain and we don't have to fight" Arthun suggested.

"Well if it was anyone else I would have no issue doing so" Add stepped forward. "This bastard on the other hand" Add turned to Kain who still seemed unresponsive "I am not willing to turn over. I went through hell just to get his help, not gonna let him die."

"Very well then, YOU will die!" Arthun charged in only to be stopped by Elesis.

"Arthun stop this madness!"

"Shut it bitch!" Arthun stated as he pushed Elesis away. "I used to look up to you but seems you're nothing more than a demon lovin-" before he could finish the sentence he was sent flying by none other than Elsword.

"Don't talk to my sister like that you piece of shit". The others stood agape, Elsword never looked so pissed in his life. Elsword then turned to Kain, "We need a bit of help here, hurry up and wake up!".

"Y-you BASTARD!" Arthun stood up as he wiped the blood from his mouth. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Bring it on" Elsword stated as he brought out Conwell. "I will hold you off until Kain gets back, for as much as I hate to admit we need him to handle that sword of yours".

"Where am I? I can't see anything but endless darkness. It almost feels like I'm drowning in a pool of despair"

"A...Ar-Ara Wake up!" came a voice which she had familiarized herself with over the years. Eun looked over Ara as she held her in her hands. How in the world could she let this happen?

"Eun?" the girl asked as she slowly began to open her eyes.

"Thank goodness you're ok!" The fox stated as she embraced Ara.

"What happened?"

"You broke down when Mira told you she had eternally trapped the others. When you fell in a moment of weakness 'it' took over".

"Oh no! You don't mean?!" Ara clenched her teeth. This was bad, extremely bad. Ara herself did not know what had taken over her and now that it was free she could only foresee disaster in the forecast. "We need to stop her!"

"First off we need to break free from here" Eun stated as she brought Ara awareness of their current location. "As you can see we are trapped in the deepest depth of your mind. Not to mention she's keeping us in here using dark magic".

"So what now?.

"We retaliate".

"Exactly how do you suppose we do that?" Ara asked. She wasn't doubting Eun, no, no, no, she knew how cunning the fox was but she was questioning how they could break out of this mess without hurting herself.

"Someone once stated 'fight fire with fire' and turns out we have the perfect fire for this situation".

"And what would that be?"

"I'm impressed. You've grown a sharp tongue" Eun stated as she smiled and wagged her tails in excitement. Ara on the other hand groaned.

"I'm sorry, it's just I feel like I screwed up this time...".

"You didn't Ara. Trust me, I've seen someone screw up and it's not as simple as this".

"So what were you suggesting before I stopped you?"

"Kain's magic".

"W-wait Eun that's impossible!"

"It's not. Remember what Oberon stated a while back about the sealing process?" Ara turned crimson remembering how her first kiss was lost.

"Yes" Ara began. "If I remember correctly when I sealed Kain's power it got sealed within me" with those lines spoken by her, Ara finally understood where she was going with her plan. "I think I know what you are planning but...how exactly am I going to use his power?"

"No idea" Eun stated with a cat like smile making Ara facepalm. "But hey I at least have some suggestions".

"May I hear them?"

"Well think of how Kain would use his power"

"Eun...that doesn't help much. Kain uses his power for two reasons, one is to protect and the other is when he goes out of control".

"Point made" Eun sighed. "Going out of control is not an option since you technically are going out of control as we speak". Ara looked thinkative and finally an idea appeared.

"I think I might be able to draw power from Kain using our connection!" Ara stated as she beamed, her voice filled with happiness.

"Speak little goody-goody princess!"

"First don't call me that!" Ara stated as her cheeks burned. "Secondly we can draw power from Kain but we need to be close to him".

"Easier said than done" Eun sighed. "I can't even tell where we are in the physical world, but I can still feel a faint signal of Kain".

"That means we must be close to him, but just to make sure" Ara took a deep breath. "HEY YOU!" Ara called out, "SHOW YOURSELF!". Silence hung over the air for a few seconds and then the expected response came.

"Ho? Seems you're awake"

"What is going on? Why did you trap me?" Ara asked, although already knowing the answer.

"Well considering how you left yourself ripe for the taking I don't think you get to ask those questions".

"Alright, I admit defeat so please tell me what's going on". Eun was surprise, Ara was actually acting. She let desperation fill her voice, desperation Eun could clearly tell wasn't honestly there. "I Beg of you".

"Well since you were nice enough to beg I guess I can tell you" Ara inwardly smirked. She got what she wanted. "Currently a person who was originally from Kain's world is dealing with a pesky Knight. As for YOUR own knight, he's dealing with his dead lover".

"What do you mean?" Eun asked in Ara's stead.

"Well I think her name is Eve. She has your little knight trapped in his little head".

"So I assume you're with the others and Kain?" Ara asked as he clenched her fist.

"Yes...what exactly are you up to?"

"Nothing...but please...protect Kain"

"Tch...to think your emotions are actually making me want to. Fine I will, guess it's the least I can do. Afterall this body is mine now. So goodbye and sleep well you two" and with that the dark presence which followed the voice disappeared.

"Well, I must say she's quite the fool" Eun stated with a smirk.

"Alright Eun Shall we begin?" Eun nodded in response and Ara closed her eyes. In her mind she painted a picture.

A man atop a hill of corpses. Tears of blood coming from his eyes and screaming in hatred towards the heavens above. Yes what she imagined was Kain. It was a bloody sight as he seemed to be unconsciously drinking all the blood around him. They all flowed to him as if it was a river flowing into a lake and a shadow stood behind Kain it's dark figure smirking and laughing at the blood. The shadow turned to Ara and it's smirk grew.

"Do you seek power?"

"Why ask a question you know an answer to?" the figure laughed in response.

"Amusing, quite amusing indeed. My name is Claude B. Vladimir , he whose blood flows within Kain".

"Then are you the one who havocs when Kain loses control?"

"Goodness no" the figure focused it's gaze on her, it's slit eyes looking at her in amusement. "True the other 'Being' is indeed me but it's rather more of an reincarnation, incomplete however".

"Is that why he seeks destruction?"

"Yes. It was created because Kain refuses to give in to his own instinct" the figure sighed. "He fears that giving in will cause him to hurt others but struggling to stay human is what caused me to be reincarnated as I am".

"I see..." Ara sighed. "Will you please lend me your power?"

"Do you think you can handle it, little one?"

"I think it's better than letting this demon who possessed me run rampant"

"As you wish little one, but be warned. You may lose your humanity" the being spoke. His voice giving hints of what she could see as worry.

"At this point I won't be human anymore either way so I rather take chances with a power I know I might be able to handle" Ara stated and this time her voice filled with strength and confidence.

"Very well..." with those words spoken darkness devoured Ara soul(It was the only way she could classify the form she was in now). It was darkness at it's purest, dark, poisoning yet warm. If Ara had to guess she had the first taste of Kain's power, filled with evil from its origin and warmth from its current host: Kain.

Ara opened her eyes only to find her head laid atop of Eun's lap.

"Ara are you ok?" the nine tailed fox asked.

"I'm fine" the girl simply responded. She looked around and the first thing she noticed was that she could see clearly, clearer than before but she could also feel Eun's heartbeat which made her chuckle considering the fact that THIS was inside her head.

"Ara your eyes!". Eun was shocked to say the least. Ara's eyes looked like those of Kain. Red as blood and slit as well.

"I'm guessing it doesn't look as human as before"

"Do you feel ok?"

"Well I feel the same as always, except for the great eyesight and the boom in power".

"So think we can break free from here?" Eun asked as she smirk.

"Think so? I know so!" As she spoke those words a great deal of darkness bursted out of Ara and the scenery turned from dark to PITCH black.

"Sword Fall!" A rain of swords rained from sky and implanted themselves on the floor and the remaining ones headed towards Arthun who simply smirked at the attack.

"Enchant-Shield!" a white barrier appeared in front of Arthun.

"Now Raven do it!"

"Awakening! Revolver Cannon - OP Bomb!"

"Enchant-Shield lvl 2!". The first five shots hit the shield and the impact alone broke the shield. However, Arthun smirked in triumph as he viewed the attack as being over. But he didn't see it and that was what Raven pinned his hope on. The nasod core which floated around Raven Impacted him on the chest flinging him back causing him to impact the hard rock ground. "Gah!"

"Add, Eve you're up!"

"Combined attack! Dynamo Configuration - Giga Magnetron Stream!" and the beam attack came. Full power and uncontrollable causing the trees in it's path to be burned to nothing. When the attack seized they looked at the damage caused. A large amount of the forest was reduced to barren land and Omega starred with his mouth open. Zeron was most likely, no was GOING to kill him.

"Did we get him?" Add asked as he panted. Not only did that attack take a lot of energy but they had been fighting for a good amount of time.

"Nope...but must say A+ for effort" Arthun stated as he smirked from a high up branch.

"Son of a..." Elsword began. "Does this guy even die?"

"The day before I didn't have my TRUE sword with me, now that I do I AM UNSTOPPABLE! AHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!"

"What will you all do? You can barely even put a scratch on him"

"First off we can start by getting you out of my body!"

"W-what?!" Everything came to a halt. The fighting and even the swearing which had been going on for a while now. All eyes focused on Ara, as she seemed to be absorbing the darkness which had begun to emanate from Kain's body without anyone's notice. "You bitch! This is what you were doing?!"

"Yes and now I want you to sleep for a while!". The absorption continued and after what seemed one minute it stopped. Where Ara stood was now what almost seemed like a cocoon.

"One after the other, what the hell is happening now?!" Oberon asked as he looked at the cocoon. The others had to agree, this was chaos enough. The cocoon opened only to reveal Ara again. This time her hair was white again except for the few strips of red hair on her head and the few red spots on her tails. Her eyes remained closed and she stayed motionless.

"The hell is wrong with her?" Arthun asked as he looked in disgust. He paid no attention to her for the couple of hours since he was busy fighting and she was simply sitting on the background doing nothing.

Chung approached Ara since he witnessed no one was about to. He waved his hand in front of her face and called out to her.

"Hello...Ara, Eun, are you guys alright?". Then it happened. Ara finally opened her eyes revealing usual red eyes which caused relief to Chung since he it assured him it was Eun. She then proceeded to open her mouth revealing fangs which caused Chung to immediately back up. "She's become a vampire!"

"WHAT?!" the others asked in shock.

"Yep, I'm a foxy vampire!" beamed Eun causing the others to sweat drop.

"Eun is that you?" Elesis asked.

"Yep, well I think so" Eun stated as she took at her hands. "Wow Ara was right, the world does seem a lot clearer."

"Eun you've turned into a vampire!"

"Yeah, but it's temporary" the fox smiled.

"Temporary?" The others asked dumbfoundedly.

"Yes, Ara and I are simply borrowing Kain's power. Feels pretty weird".

"Well that's nice and good but can it help us against that sword of his?"

"Sword of who?" the others sighed.

"His sword" Add pointed to the person who Eun seemed to have not been paying attention to. Eun turned to look where Add pointed only to come face to face with Arthun.

"Hey aren't you the one who got his ass handed to him by Kain?". Arthun gritted his teeth and the others groaned.

"You must have a death wis-" Arthun began.

"Blood Stained - Heaven's Wrath!". The unexpected attack came. It was fast, extremely fast. The others could only see the after images of Eun as she rained the barrage of slashes which Arthun struggled to avoid. However, his effort proved to be for naught as many of those slashes made impact. Arthun barely managed to dodge the last attack which would've proved to be fatal.

"Impossible!" Arthun yelled as he fell to his knees.

"No, it's not impossible. This is our power mixed with Kain's and we can do anything as the situation stands". Eun then looked at her spear where some of Arthun's blood still remained. What she did next surprised many, she licked the blood off the spear.

"Eun what are you doing?!" Aisha asked in shock.

"Vampire are stronger if they feed" Eun stated as she chuckled. "Kinda makes me think I make a better vampire than Kain."

"Alright then you damn vampire! Party's over!" Arthun raised his blade. "Tenth Grasp: God Strike!"

"Not this time! Tainted Fang: Ouroboros's Bite!", this time Oberon attack. From a portal which had opened behind Oberon emerged an unbelievable amount of giant serpents. The serpent's charged at Arthun's attack at a steady stream and after a while what looked like snakes became a powerful green beam. After a while the attack overpowered that of Arthun blasting the man back. "Payback is a bitch as they say".

"Woah" Elsword stated.

"Who knew that snakes could turn into an Electric railgun" a smirk grew on Add's face making Oberon feel chills all over his body.

"Is he finally down?" Elsword asked. He was tired of this bullshit. From when he woke up to now they have been fighting and he needed a break right about now.

"Think so..." came Omega's response. He had been watching the whole situation unfold and he hoped that that this was the end of the whole thing. He could clearly see that the others couldn't handle another battle.

"Unlock all seals...activate Primal form. Activate Izanagi Mode!"

"Those don't sound like good words" Add stated as he gritted his teeth. The blade he knew nothing about but Izanagi...that was a total different story entirely.

"It's not, he's calling forth the power of Izanagi!" Erena stated as she took a step forward. "Eun I need your power for this as well".

"Dark and light huh?" Eun asked as she took a step forward.

"If so I'm in" Oberon joined in as well. "Nothing contains more darkness than we demons do".

"Mind if I also join? Can't let you guys have all the fun now can I?." came the voice which immediately made others turn to look. It was Kain, Chrono in hand with a smirk plastered on his face. "What? You guys look like you've seen a ghost".

"You bastard! I thought you were screwed there for a second!" Add yelled at the man. He was glad Kain was immortal or semi-immortal because he was going to have a blast killing him later for all the hell he put him through in one day.

"I'm fine and although I don't say this enough, sorry for worrying you".

"YES, YES THERE YOU ARE YOU FILTHY BASTARD!". Everyone turned once more to look at the threat ahead of them. Arthun was in a new armor. It was white as snow and had a japanese kimono style to it. On his hand he held a blade whose hilt was extremely long. "I'm going to tear you to pieces!". He lunged at Kain with the blade by it was easily stopped by Erena and Eun who seemed to think alike when it came to kain's safety. "Out of my way!"

"Not in a million years!". Moving at the speed of sound Oberon spartan kicked the said man back, however this time he remained on his feet. "Oh c'mon, at least look hurt!"

"How about you stop hiding behind the meatshields and take me on one on one!". Arthun's reasoning was clear. He was now certainly if not totally outmatched. Not only was there more people on Kain's side but they seemed to only be getting stronger and stronger as time passed. Any sane person on the face of the earth would rather take on a battle they knew they would win rather than one they knew they had no chance of winning.

"Hah like Kain's dumb enough to fall for tha-" Elsword found himself cut short as the thing he thought Kain would not say escape Kain's mouth.

"Alright"

"Are you freaking mad?!" Add began and Kain sighed as he knew he was in for a scolding by the Mastermind. "We've been fighting him for hours now and even with all this firepower, demonpower hell even holy powers(which Add had concluded Erena's power was) we can't seem to freaking defeat him and that dumb blade of his!".

"I'm afraid even he might be out of your league" Eve stated as she sighed at Kain.

"He can defeat him" Omega stated as he smirked at Kain and Kain responded in turn.

"He like always seems to have something up his sleeve" Raven stated as he leaned against tree.

"No, nothing of sorts. Let's just say I may be both happy and extremely pissed", Kain then turned to look at Add. "Add scan my body" Kain commanded and Add sighed.

"Looking for anything particular?"

"A chip of sorts". After a moment of silence came Add's response.

"You've mean like the one implanted on your neck?"

"So it truly was her".

"Kain what is going on, what exactly is in your neck?" Chung asked.

"If you asked me I say it's nasod technology and the thing seems pretty damn combined with his flesh".

"Eve, where did the Nasod King keep all prototypes?"

"In the lowest depths of the of the Altera core, but why?" Eve asked confused as to why he would ask that.

"I see, we're making a trip to Altera at one point or the other so there's nothing to worry about for now. But now let's focus on our little problem" Kain stated as he glared at the other man who stood across from him. "You seem to have gotten a powerup after the last time we met".

"Hmph, your lowly friends proved to be somewhat of a challenge".

At that Kain clenched his fist. He looked around his group of friends and although he was surprised to see two specific people he didn't let it show for his anger reached a boiling point when he noticed the state of his teammates. Add was in tatters. His white long coat dirtied and shredded. The way he held himself up Kain could tell that he had broken some of his ribs. The others weren't in much better shape either. Eve seemed exhausted and her bodysuit seemed damaged. Elsword like Add had some broken ribs, a broken arm and leg, it even amazed Kain that he was still standing. He looked at Elsword with half the mind to tell him he had enough but the said man glared at him making him push the idea out of his mind. Next was Aisha and Elesis who unfortunately got their arm broken by the bastard who kain was ready and willing to kill. Raven was in bad shape too but as a soldier he seemed to be taking it extremely well.

Then his eyes wandered to Ara and his heart turned to stone. It was like instinct, he could feel a presence, one similar to his. Ara had turned into a vampire and that was one thing Kain was certain of and one thing that he knew he was most likely to blame. He walked over to the girl shocked and tripping along the way. When he reached her he put a hand on her cheek speechless and in the brink of tears. Ara's hair turned back to normal but her eyes remained red proving to Kain that she was indeed a vampire. She then proceeded to put a hand on top of his.

"It's ok. There's no need to worry Kain" she stated with a soft smile. "It's temporary, so don't worry yourself too much".

"Why...why did you go this far?"

"Because I wanted to see you all again, I wanted to see you."

"Even so you didn't need t-" he found himself cut short when Ara's lips covered his. Everyone else in the El search Party couldn't help but smile. Oberon whistled and Erena took it into her hands to smack his head for his stupidity. After a few seconds she pulled away blushing and smiling.

"I am willing to go to any length for your sake and that of the others".

"Thank you" he stated as he smiled at her and turned away to face Arthun.

"Are you done yet?" Arthun asked, both impatient and annoyed.

"Yes, now then shall we put an end to this?"

"I concur".

With that the two clashed. It amazed Kain to no degree how strong this knight ,he nearly easily killed, had gotten over night. His speed was impressive, his armor tougher than anything he and Chrono had attempted to cut. Not to add that his ego had grown to an unbelievable level over a single night.

Arthun swung the sword at full strength causing rocks and the debris from the previous battle to scatter into the air. It's aim was Kain who easily vanished from where he stood only to appear behind Arthun, punching the said man causing him to hit the floor. As alway Arthun stood up, however this time pissed. The others could feel the tension rise. Kain wasn't even breaking a sweat and he was already overpowering Arthun easily.

"Eight Grasp: Blooming Sakuras!". Endless amount of trees began to rise from the ground turning the scenery pink.

"What?!" Raven asked a one of the peddles hit his cheeks cutting it as if it was blade.

"Crap these pedals are dangerous!" Yelled Elsword as he tried to avoid it. At the speed of light Erena moved. In both elegance and force she struck the ground with the cannon creating a force field larger than the Tactical Troopers Tactical field.

"Impenetrable Holy Fortress!". The field was large causing all the pedals to hit the field and scatter.

"Now that's a life saver" Aisha breathed in relief.

"Flame of Hades - Annihilation! Burn to nothingness!". Chrono was ablaze, black flames surrounded her and with extreme force Kain implanted her into the ground. What came next was just as the name implied, pure and utter annihilation. The trees burned in an instant and the black flames ate everything in it's path.

"So intense!" Elesis yelled as she covered her eyes from the bright light the black flames emitted at times.

"Zeron is going to murder me now...definitely and absolutely...no way I'm going to survive" Omega stated as he shook at the sheer destruction.

"Same here..." Mira stated. "Messing with this guy was not a good idea..."

"This is the man I tried to fight?" Add stated as he nervously smirked at the destruction. "He is something beyond the imagination of men, if I was ignorant I would go as far as to call him a god".

"Third Grasp: Light Arrow!". Arthun sprinted forward as a blur but he hit a wall which suddenly emerged out of nowhere.

"Gates of Hell..." The wall rose higher and higher.

"Aren't you full of tricks..." Arthun stated as he wiped the blood from his mouth. Arthun then made his way over the wall which had risen very high. "To think that yesterday wasn't actually just a fluke".

"Is that all you got?" Kain asked. His blood was boiling at this point. When was it? The last time he had such an intense fight. He couldn't remember even when he searched the deepest depths of his memory.

Arthun began to barrage Kain with slashes again, but the man dodged it with ease. Kain turned sidestepped to Arthun's side planting a kick to his rib cage. Arthun screamed in pain but as he was about to recover Kain lifted one of his feet.

"Almighty Punishment!" Darkness surrounded Kain's leg in the form of flames and Kain crashed the back of his leg to Arthun's head making the man hit face first into the ground at full force.

"Ohh, that one had to hurt" Aisha stated as she looked away from the gruesome attack.

"Well there goes his arrogant face" Add stated with a smile.

Arthun rose back to his feet again, this time barely managing to stand. However, he seemed to still be willing to fight as his aura intensified and his killing intent increased.

"Because of you filthy demons I lost my family!" Arthun stated as he swung at Kain. the sheer force of the blade cracking the ground. "Because of you demons I was left with nothing!" a sudden kick from Arthun flinged Kain back however he remained on his feet. "BECAUSE OF YOU I HAVE LOST MY ONLY MEANS TO EXACT REVENGE ON YOU ALL! DIE!".

Arthun charged again and swung the Totsuka only to be blocked by Chrono. The pressure alone forced Kain the dig his feet into the ground to stop himself from being crushed. Arthun then flung himself forward as he tried to punch Kain, but it was for not. Kain vanished again only to appear behind him. Kain grabbed Arthun in similar fashion to what he had done the day before.

"Put me down!"

"As you wish! Phantom Strike!" Kain's hand filled with darkness. At that moment the others had a glimpse of what Ara had seen. An evil which was calm and without ambitions. Kain struck Arthun's gut flinging him to the almost completely destroyed side of the forest.

"Well...I feel weak now" Elsword stated as he watched one man single handedly deal with their hour long problem.

The others watched as Kain walked over to Arthun who had been rendered completely immobile. Kain looked at Arthun with an almost predatory look for he was basically a predator at the moment. His instincts screamed for him to drain the said man dry of every little drop of blood for hurting his friends and his Ara. At that "Ara" part Kain could feel himself returning to normal and this caused him to sigh in relief. Arthun then began to try to rise up again.

"Please, stay down" Kain pleaded the man. He didn't want to kill, at least not when he thought it was extensive force.

"W-why...WHY WHY WHY?!" Arthun yelled as he fell back down. "WHY CAN'T I MOVE?!"

"Phantom Strike corrupts the victim's mana system and causes it to attack the victim's body. This can lead to effects from muscle convulsion and if I really wanted, death" Kain stated as he kneeled down before the man. "Please lay down your weapon, I don't want to kill you".

"The feeling is not mutual" Arthun stated as he glared at Kain. "I've defeated plenty of low ranking demons like you and even high class demons. Why is it that I can't defeat you?!"

"Because Kain is not a low class nor simply any high class demon" Oberon stated as he walked forward.

"'Demon King Candidate', that is why you can't defeat him" Omega stated as he too stepped forward.

"Demon King Candidate?" Chung asked.

"I've read about this before" Elesis stated as her look changed to one which was deadly serious. "If I remember correctly, once a demon bloodline leaves the demon King Throne, candidates rise to take that spot".

"Yes, these candidates would then rule unless challenged for the throne or killed but if none of the above happens the descendants would rule unless they face the same challenges their ancestors would've gone through" Omega added in.

"So you know huh?" Kain asked as he cringed at the thought. "Yes that is what I am. I am demon candidate which brought alive the blood of an ancient vampire".

"Dammit...dammit all" Arthun swore as he barely managed to raise his arm to the sky. "My pride and my honor shattered by a filthy demon, I RATHER DIE THAN LET IT END LIKE THIS!". Mustering all the strength he had left Arthun tried to grab his sword but was suddenly stopped when Raven punched him straight in the face knocking the said man unconscious. The boys smirked at Raven's action while the girl's looked at him in surprise.

"What? He talked too much" Raven stated as he fell to his knees.

"Raven!" Rena yelled as she rushed to the said man's side and began to heal his wounds using magic.

"Thanks"

"It's nothing, just don't exert yourself anymore" Rena stated with a sad look.

"Don't worry, I won't" Raven stated as he intertwined his hand with her's.

Eve glared at Elsword. When she scanned his body for any wounds not only was she surprised that he had broken ribs, but she was more surprised to find out he had broken his arms and legs.

"Give me one reason why I should not slap you as of now" Eve asked as she wrapped a bandage around Elsword's arm. Elsword simply smiled at her as he could see that she was worried.

"Because considering how my body is hanging by a thread, one of your mighty slaps might destroy me for good".

Eve couldn't help but smile at that. The boy was indeed an idiot but to her he was HER idiot, even though she had to consider the fact that there was another version of him running around and that version belonged to Ara. Eve then mused at the fact that Ara had to deal with Kain while she herself had to deal with the issue of a reckless red haired man.

"Elsword" Raven called out to his friend also snapping Eve out of her thoughts.

"What is it?" Elsword asked as he turned to look at his friend who was in a similar state to his.

"We've witnessed a lot things today and for some reason I feel that everything which we face from now on seem to be rather powerful and tedious" Raven then gave his friend a mirthless laugh. "I never thought I'd feel weak...well not since that day at Velder anyways".

"Same here"

"You two are not weak" came the voice from the person who they had trouble figuring out what to call.

"Hi there...umm Chung?" The girl sighed at the man and then proceeded to smile at him.

"You can call me Erena...Erena Seiker"

"Feels weird but there is another version of me running around so why the hell not" Elsword stated causing the girl to chuckle.

"As I was stating before, none of you are weak. Believe me when we were all dragged into this weird and side of the world we also felt weak, hopeless even" Erena began as she put down the branches from trees she had in her hands down and sat next to them. "I felt weak as well when it all began too, but overtime that feeling will turn to that of confidence and strength".

"I heard from Kain that it was bad when it began but that didn't paint quite a clear picture" Raven stated as he gazed at the girl. Erena sighed in response but however found it to be her duty to answer his questions. As Erena was about to talk she was suddenly cut off.

"'Hell on earth'" Oberon stated. "That's what that situation could be called" Oberon then sat down next to Elsword. "All the major cities were destroyed and the whole populace was annihilated. The five of us in this world are literally the sole survivors".

"I see..." Raven stated as he closed his eyes. "I'm guessing that 'illusion' was truly a remake of one of their battles".

"Let's leave it at that, the day is already depressing" Erena stated as she flashed them a gentle smile.

"Cute" the other boys, beside Chung and Kain(who had vanished with Ara), thought in unison gaining them a punch from the girls who noticed this.(A/N: Add included :)). However, as the others were handling their own situation, a little distance from them two lovers handled a situation they had at hand.

"Kain" Ara called out as she closed her eyes. Kain's lips met hers and a deep kiss ensued. But the kiss was not a normal one, for as it continued a dark miasma began to transfer from Ara back to Kain. Soon after the two broke apart. Kain looked at Ara's eyes and was relief to find out it had returned to it's original color.

"You've returned to normal" Kain stated as he smiled at her.

"Thanks to your help" Ara stated a she blushed. Kain's hand then made a way to Ara's, intertwining with her's. "Can we kiss again?" Ara asked as her heart beat increased. Kain's lips then moved next to her ear, whispering a few words which brought shivers down Ara's spine and escalating her heart beat.

"I will kiss you a billion times if I have to, so that no one else can steal my sweet princess from me" Kain then captured her lips and for some reason this kiss in particular caused Ara's body to heat up. It was intense and full of love. However, the kiss was short lived as a voice filled with anger thundered over the whole forest.

"KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAINNNNN!". Immediately Kain and Ara broke away from each other and when they looked to the skies they saw nothing more than a very pissed Zeron heading their way,

"Ah crap..." Kain stated as he began to sweat bullets. He was in for the talk of the century but as long as he had Ara and the others with him he felt like he could handle anything.

A/N: T_T I apologize guys. I did not TRULY finish the arc on these two chapters like I thought I would. The arc is indeed finished but the actual conclusion will be posted on the next chapter. But either way I hope you guys liked this chapter. On the next chapter we will finally find out what lies within the Lunar Castle while at the same time find out how Kain, Erena and Oberon will handle their meeting. Either way I hope you guys keep reading and see you all next time...but before I go. Here is the age of the characters, In this story at least.

Ara: 24

Kain: ?

Elsword: 20

Raven: 28

Eve: Uhm...she's an ancient nasod...I got nothing...

Rena: 26

Add: 23

Aisha: 21