Personal Memorandum: Entry #23

It's been weeks after the last incident now, and it seems like all the girls are happy and continuing their usual routines. Yuu and Arata seem to show not even the slightest bit of their other selves, so they are the least of my concern as of now, and I have been devoting more of my time to the other girls. Kagari has been showing signs of much improvement, seeming to have completely forgotten the incident already. Either that or she is hiding her feelings about what happened to me. I do worry about Yomi though; it seems she is deliberately trying to force herself not to think of the past events. However, I feel that this might cause even more stress for her. And finally… Mato Kuroi… I still keep a watchful eye on her, even to this day, more than any of the other girls. If she ever… loses control like that again… I fear that we might not be able to stop it next time. On a brighter note, she does seem to have gotten over the incident, and resumed her usual carefree personality. Mato doesn't seem to show any external symptoms, not as of yet. But just how much is she hiding underneath… just how close is she to hitting another breaking point. And… as for me… well it seems with all this monitoring, I haven't been very honest to myself. Perhaps the one that I should fear the most is myself. Nonetheless, it seems mostly everything has gone back to normal. The girls are back to their normal lives, and far away from that other world. We can only hope that another incident doesn't happen again anytime soon, if ever.

Irino, Saya – October 9th

Arthur Auguste Angel (Paladin) – Report to the Vatican

Knights of the True Cross – Angelic Legion

October 12th

It is not my usual manner to respond to a report so quickly, but after reading Upper First Class Shura Kirigakure's report, I believe that I must put forth my opinion on the matter. And I shall be blunt about this. Rin Okumura should be executed immediately. There should not be any delay, nor any objections to the matter. However, obviously it takes more than just my opinion to reach a consensus on the decision. How the Vatican has managed to postpone Rin Okumura's execution twice already is blasphemy. I do not care what Shura thinks of the demon, nor what he contributed to the Impure King case. All that matters is that Rin Okumura is dangerous, and he is a threat that even he himself, cannot control. It will only be some time before he loses control once again, and wreaks havoc on True Cross, and perhaps even the rest of the world. Heed my warning when I say this, he is a ticking time bomb that can go off at any time, in even the slightest bit of stressful situations. And when he does go off, well, I fear that no one will be able to stop him, not Shura Kirigakure, not Mephisto Pheles, not the Vatican, and not even me, the Paladin.

End of Message

ACT: FOUR

SCENE: ONE

The setting is a dark, empty void. Nothing exists here, it is merely a black, hollow space. There is no time present, nor anything that will give any indication of where this place is. Only that it exists somewhere, and that is the setting of our story. Suddenly a three-legged stool appears somewhere in the middle of the empty void. And moments later, a man in a white suit and top hat sits cross-legged on the stool. There is no indication of where he came from, or how he got there, only that these two objects suddenly appeared and now exist. Another few moments later, a spotlight shines down on the man sitting on the stool. The light doesn't appear to come from any light source, only that it illuminates the man in a perfect cone of light. The man now appears to be grinning, stroking his chin. Finally, he opens his mouth and begins to speak.

MEPHISTO: Now… how should I start this… Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your- Mmm… no… that won't do, too formal, I'm not rallying troops now am I? How about… To be, or not to be, that is the- ugh, I shouldn't even have attempted that one, this isn't about a moral decision. Hmm… let's try… To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus- No, no, no! Ah, this is harder than I thought, how about one last try… 'Tis torture, and not mercy, heaven is here- oh, forget it! Why don't I just do things my own way? Very well, once again, I find myself talking to an audience I cannot see, hear, or even know of their presence. But why do I speak to a seemingly empty void? Perhaps… it's because I want someone to listen, I hope that they too will witness the events. What events you might ask? Oh ho ho! Haven't you all been paying attention? It is time, I have waited long enough to witness this moment. After millennia of wandering the distance between Gehenna, and Assiah, I thought that nothing left in the world can interest me. But then… I met her… Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, that of the Elder Blood, the Lady of Space and Time. For a while… I thought that I, Samael, being the Demon King of Space and Time, would have seen all there is to be seen in this world. And I have… I have seen all there is to see… in THIS world… Now that I have met someone from an entirely new world, and have seen the possibilities of all these different planes of inter-dimensionary existence… perhaps there is still much that is left to be conquered. Perhaps… this can interest me once more… excite me! But this is not my story, nor my lovely Cirilla's… no, it is the story of two… two who each possess the power to change their worlds for better or worse. Now… under normal circumstances… these two should never have met, each should have walked their own parallel paths, never crossing, never colliding with one another. But it appears a mysterious force, one that even I cannot fully comprehend, has managed to cross over their burdens. And how will they interact? What will be their reactions when they learn of one another's identity? Only time will tell. And thus, is why I am finally intrigued. Oh yes! Finally, there is a reason for the culmination of all my plans and actions! A show, made just for me… to relieve me from my endless boredom… or perhaps there is a greater plan ahead. Perhaps… something so important… that even my existence will be effected. Well, without further ado… the stage is set! Lights! Camera! Action! Eins! Zwei! Drei!

SCENE: TWO

Rin is frantically running towards the greenhouse, hoping to get there in time before Shiemi gets hurt. After seeing the explosion at the house, his worries sink in even deeper. Even Yukio, who is desperately trying to follow Rin, cannot keep up with his brother. As Rin reaches the front door of the greenhouse, he kicks down the door without even thinking and rushes in. He is greeted by a cloud of smoke erupting from within, blocking his vision entirely. Rin tries to navigate forward, while covering his eyes from the smoke and reaching out, trying to grasp at anything in front of him.

RIN: (Yelling through the smoke) Shiemi! Shiemi, where are you!?

SHIEMI: (Faintly) *cough* *cough* I'm here!

Rin runs towards the direction of Shiemi's voice, and into the inner corridor of the house. Here, most of the smoke has subsided, and Rin could finally see what has happened. He is surprised to see Black Rock Shooter collapsed on the floor, looking like she has sustained several injuries, and her sword and weapons scattered across the floor. Above Shooter, Igniculus stands tall, reloading his crossbow, looking ready to deliver the final blow. Yomi and Shiemi are crouching against a wall, looking desperately and hopelessly ahead, not know what to do. Suddenly, Shiemi notices Rin, and immediately cries out.

SHIEMI: Rin! You have to help her!

RIN: (Frozen in shock) W-What's going on here!?

YOMI: He's going to kill her! Do something!

RIN: (Hesitant to draw his sword) I-I… I don't know if I can-

IGNICULUS: (Alerted to Rin's presence) Well… if it isn't the other heir. You saved me the convenience of seeking you out myself. However, this meant that Incensia did not do her part.

RIN: Argh! Damn it! You again! What do you want with us!?

IGNICULUS: I have to isolate and secure the targets before the One arrives, which should be momentarily. And that does not give me much time left. But you can relax… I do not aim to kill you two… yet… just merely cripple you until you cannot escape.

RIN: (Stumbling in fear) W-What!?

IGNICULUS: Now, Rin Okumura. If you wait quietly while I finish my work here, unlike this one, I promise I won't have to inflict as much pain to calm you down.

SHOOTER: (Weakly) D-Don't… let him… hurt them-

IGNICULUS: (Kicking Shooter on the floor) Quiet.

SHIEMI: Rin! Please! You have to save her!

RIN: (Struggling to make a decision) Ah! Damn it! Fine!

Rin draws his sword, and instantly gets enveloped in a bright blue flame. His ears become pointier, his teeth get sharper, and even his tail comes out now as he adopts his semi-demon form. Power flows through Rin now as the blue flame covers him. Rin charges towards Igniculus, trying to slash him with his sword, but Igniculus is too quick, dodging every attack with ease. Rin then shoots a bolt of flame towards Igniculus, but he is able to dodge yet again. Getting frustrated, Rin rushes in with his sword, trying desperately to land a hit. Just as Rin gets too close, Igniculus grabs Rin by the throat, and smashes him to the ground. Rin struggles to break free, but Igniculus' grip is too strong.

RIN: (Choking and gasping for air) Argh! I-I… I can't… brea-

IGNICULUS: (Tightening his grip) You should have known better than to oppose me boy. You, a mere half demon who cannot even muster up the full potential of your flame. Seeing how weak you are, let me make the decision to just kill you right here and now. You do not even deserve the honor of being part of-

Suddenly, a loud ringing sound interrupts Igniculus. Igniculus loosens his grip and drops Rin to the floor. He peers at the sky out of the hole in the ceiling of the greenhouse. A magic seal made of a bright light, with strange symbols etched on it appears in the sky. A crack then emerges from the middle of the magic circle, and as it spreads open, a spiraling blue light can be seen from within. As the crack grows larger, it feeds on the magic seal, drawing the light from it until it finally grows large enough to resemble a portal.

IGNICULUS: It seems I have run out of time. Nonetheless, my work here is done. Both of the heirs are secured.

From the portal emerges a large figure, covered in dark robes, descending to the ground. He seems to be very old, apparent by his wrinkled skin and his long white beard. He also resembles royalty of some kind, decorated in gold accessories, and wearing a rusted gold crown on his head. An ominous and dominant pressure emanates from this being as he descends to right above the ceiling of the greenhouse. He continues to levitate over the house, and peers inside through the hole in a cold stare. Immediately, Igniculus changes his attitude and gets on one knee and bows.

IGNICULUS: (Obediently) My lord, Excandescius. I have gathered them for you, the heirs of the flame.

EXCANDESCIUS: (With no emotion) Your mission was not only to secure them, but also to assess their abilities.

IGNICULUS: (Getting up) Indeed I have. The human, Mato Kuroi, she is the one lying before you. While she does not seem to have full control of her powers yet, she seems to have potential for the flame, as well as a calm demeanor in handling certain situations. I judge that she can learn as time goes on, and may be suited to join us.

EXCANDESCIUS: And the other?

IGNICULUS: (Pointing to Rin) The half-demon here, Rin Okumura is the one kneeling and gasping for breath. He is worthless, too hasty and careless in his approach, and seems to lack potential for the flame. He is not worth enough to join our ranks. I judge that we should just kill him, so he does not get in our way.

EXCANDESCIUS: And you have not yet done so because?

IGNICULUS: (Bowing) My apologies, my lord, I was about to, before-

RIN: (Struggling to get up) Ugh! W-What is going on here…? W-Who are y-you!?

IGNICULUS: (Kneeing Rin in the gut) Quiet you fool! Do not dare to speak to the king without permission!

RIN: (Crying in pain and stumbling to the floor) Argh!

EXCANDESCIUS: (Peering down at Rin) Wait. Perhaps the boy may have more potential than you have realized. He does still have vigor in him, does he not?

RIN: (Trying to get on his feet, and confronting Excandescius) You! I don't know who you are! But I've had enough of these secrets and mysteries here! Just tell me who you are!

IGNICULUS: (Ready to strike Rin again) You imbecile! I said quiet-

EXCANDESCIUS: (Interrupting Igniculus) Igniculus.

IGNICULUS: (Suddenly quiet) Yes my lord. I understand.

Igniculus then steps back away from Rin, and stands patiently by the wall. Black Rock Shooter still lies in the center of the room, reeling in pain, and unable to get up. Yomi and Shiemi are crouching against the wall, full of fear as they watch the events unfold. Rin struggles to get to his feet, and as he does, he stares Excandescius straight in the eyes. As this confrontation continues, Excandescius descends further towards the greenhouse, until he and Rin and mere feet apart.

EXCANDESCIUS: Do you wish to know who I am? Our purpose here in your world?

RIN: (Impatient) Just spill it out already!

EXCANDESCIUS: Very well then. And perhaps you may regret your insolent words after you have learned of my identity. I am Excandescius, the Emperor of the Empire of Ardoris. Our Empire is from a different world than yours.

RIN: Huh?

EXCANDESCIUS: Long ago, the Empire of Ardoris flourished. Back in our golden age, our magisters have mastered the art of the Blue Flame. With that power, we were able to power our cities, machines and contraptions, all of our tools were energized by the flame. Our citizens were at peace, our army was unstoppable. We conquered vast spans of other empires, as our military might was strengthened by the flame. After a while, the entire world was ours, all united under one empire, Ardoris. As our scholars came to discover more and more about the flame, our empire continued to rely on it heavily. Soon, all resources and institutions were devoted to learning more about the flame, new ways we could master it, to continue to draw from its power.

RIN: What does that have to do with me?

EXCANDESCIUS: Well, not too long after, we started seeing accidents, mishaps that caused entire cities to turn to ash. Our prophets warned us of such catastrophes, interpreting the cause as our overdependence on the flame, and our ever growing greed to completely master its power. Soon, one city crumbled after the other, all burned to mere ashes.

RIN: It still doesn't clear anything up! Why are you here!?

EXCANDESCIUS: It was soon after, that our entire civilization crumbled, and vanished overnight. On the last night that our Empire reigned, the vast extents of our cities were all scorched in a bright blue flame, a flame that reached all the way to the sky. As the sun rose the next day, it illuminated an empire of ashes, nothing was left standing.

RIN: So why are you here now? Why didn't you vanish along with your empire?

EXCANDESCIUS: A few of us in Ardoris were born with the flame, meaning we were heirs. The flame felt natural to us, and we were able to grasp it since our births. Only the royalty, the royal blood in Ardoris had this gift, and only those with the purest and strongest bond to the flame, can be in the lineage to be the Emperor. Everyone else not of the royal blood line perished with the fire.

RIN: So? Why not?

EXCANDESCIUS: Because those of the purest blood, the royal blood in Ardoris are also embedded with a curse. Those with a full allegiance to the flame, we can only be killed by another who wields the blue flame. So as Ardoris crumbled before our eyes, a few who the flame spared were left to wander the deserts of ashes, with no home, and no hope.

RIN: (Pointing to Igniculus) So… your entire Empire was destroyed… and you were one of the survivors… what about him? What does he want with us?

EXCANDESCIUS: While we might have been spared from death by the flame that night, it was still able to cause us pain, hurt us, and burn us. The night of our collapse, my pupil Igniculus had helped cover me, until I could escape. But it was at the expense of his own body, which is why you see him covered in bandages.

IGNICULUS: (Silent) …

RIN: So, it still doesn't tell me… why you are here… and what you want with us.

EXCANDESCIUS: I said that a few of us survived. Those that did, they eventually joined me, as I hoped to rebuild our empire from the ashes that our feet lie on. The very last project that our magisters conducted research on, was a contraption that used the power of the flame to travel through time and space. Since the entire world had been ours already, we wanted to extend further, conquer other worlds that lay beyond. However, they never completed it. But one of the survivors had safeguarded it from the flame that night, giving his body to secure the device. And to our surprise, the machine worked. It did not activate entirely to plan however, we were not able to travel anywhere we wanted to, as the device would only allow us to seek out other sources of the flame.

RIN: So…

EXCANDESCIUS: Therefore, we were able to seek out other heirs, like yourself. Eventually, we stumbled upon other worlds that were also devoured by the flame and we recruited those we thought honorable, those that can help us rebuild our empire. Much like Incensia. Those who have the potential of the blue flame, and a purpose to forever safeguard the flame from doing any more harm, and devouring any other worlds.

RIN: Which leads you to…

EXCANDESCIUS: Exactly. Now, I will ask you only one question. As I have asked all others that I deem worthy. While Igniculus had deemed you worthless, perhaps you may possess something more. Especially for a demon with such notoriety. Now, will you join us, and help rebuild the Empire of Ardoris?

RIN: T-This is crazy! You can't just go to other people's worlds, their homes, and just force them! Maybe our world won't end up like yours! Do you realize you are disrupting other people's lives!? I-I can't even begin to-

EXCANDESCIUS: (Ascending away) I have heard enough. Igniculus, you know what to do. Motivate the boy as you see fit, he does have a human side after all. Then secure the other heir.

IGNICULUS: (Taking a few steps forward) Yes my lord. I understand. Indeed he is a foolish human, and I will find a way to convince him, and if he still resists, I will kill him with my own hands.

EXCANDESCIUS: (Creating another magic seal in the sky) There will be no delays this time Igniculus. I expect to see results soon.

As Excandescius ascends back towards the sky, the magic seal he created once again opens up a portal. He disappears within as the portal closes; leave no trace of his presence behind. Rin, who is still shocked from what happened, and unsure of what to do next, picks his sword up off the floor, and stares at Igniculus.

RIN: So it's just me and you again.

IGNICULUS: Foolish boy, you could have joined us. Helped us regain the glory of our Empire.

RIN: I have a hard time comprehending what he said. Something just doesn't sound right, with the flame burning everything to the ground like that. Why would you want to rebuild something that failed the first time? Doesn't it seem strange? Haven't you had enough of the flame yet? Anyway, sorry to decline your offer. But I feel like staying here… with my friends… and my brother.

IGNICULUS: Very well…

RIN: So you will leave us all alone now?

IGNICULUS: No. Quite the contrary. Instead, I will force you to join. The humans that we have encountered… always seemed to have a certain weakness… for a companion of theirs.

RIN: (Angry) Don't you dare-

IGNICULUS: And if you still refuse after I kill everyone you care about, then I will just have to kill you with my own hands. Now let us see…

RIN: (Charging towards Igniculus) Argh! Don't you dare hurt any of them!

IGNICULUS: (Easily countering Rin and throwing him to the floor) Once again, you act so reckless. I do not understand what my lord sees in you. Nonetheless, I must obey his orders. Why don't we start with that human hiding behind the door?

Igniculus walks over to Shiemi and Yomi, while Rin lies defeated on the floor. He tries to reach out but Igniculus just kicks him back. Shiemi tries to run but Igniculus grabs her by the throat and holds her up.

IGNICULUS: (Choking Shiemi)Is this enough? Must I kill her? Or shall I slowly make her suffer?

SHIEMI: (Gasping for breath) Ahh… I-I… c-can't…

YOMI: (Watching hopelessly) S-Stop! Please! Let her go!

RIN: (Struggling to get up) D-Don't! Just stop it! Don't hurt her!

SHIEMI: (Gasping painfully) R-Rin… H-Help…

Rin barely manages to get up on his two feet, and then charges at Igniculus with every last bit of energy he has left. Igniculus once again just pushes Rin to the side and he falls over. As Rin lies hopelessly on the floor, watching Shiemi dying at the hands of Igniculus, he notices his sword on the floor next to him. He is barely able to reach for it, and grips it tightly.

RIN: (Weakly) P-Please… I need it… I need… your power!

IGNICULUS: Give up boy! It is over! Succumb to the might of our Empire! To the great Ardoris!

RIN: Give me… give me my flame! Kurikara!

Suddenly, a bright flash of light emits from Rin's sword, and the sword's power starts flowing into Rin. As Rin absorbs the blade's energy, he starts to stand up. But the being that is standing now is no longer Rin. Instead, he had turned into his demon counterpart. Rin has now grown pointier ears, sharper teeth, and his tail has now been fully revealed, with a blazing blue flame emitting from his entire body. Rin's pupils have now turned entirely white, and the only expression he has on his face is one of pure fury.

IGNICULUS: I-Impossible! Is this the power of the son of-

DEMON RIN: (Tackles Igniculus through the wall of the greenhouse) ARGHHHHHHH!

As Demon Rin tackles Igniculus to the floor, he pounds him into the ground with his fists over and over again. Igniculus tries to fight back, but he is no match for the Demon. As Igniculus gets pummeled into a bloody mess by an uncontrollable Rin, Shiemi and Yomi are frozen in terror, horrified by what they are seeing.

SHIEMI: (Gasping for air) *cough* Oh no… *pant* I-It's my fault…

YOMI: (Rushing besides Shiemi to help her) A-Are you okay? We need to get you some help! W-What is that anyway…? H-He turned into… a monster…

SHIEMI: (Getting up) *pant* I-It's not his fault… I forced him… We have to get out! Or else!

YOMI: W-What do you mean?

SHIEMI: (Looking for an exit) R-Rin! He can't control himself when he's like this! We need to get as far away as possible!

YOMI: H-Huh? W-Wait! Is he going to attack us too!? But-

SHIEMI: There's no time! We need to hurry!

YOMI: (Pointing to Shooter, who is still lying on the floor) B-But! Mato, she's still-

SHIEMI: (Rushing over to Shooter) Ah! She's still here! C'mon, we have to carry her out!

YOMI: (Hurrying to Shooter's side) R-Right!

SHOOTER: (Barely conscious) …

YOMI: Mato! Let's go, we need to get out of here!

SHOOTER: (Weakly) G-Go… Don't… don't worry about me…

YOMI: Huh? Are you crazy!?

SHOOTER: (Barely able to sit up) Just leave me… here…

Demon Rin attacks Igniculus, until he is lying motionless on the floor, in a bloody heap. The demon then turns around, and focuses his attention on the three girls. He charges toward them, but Yomi manages to push Shiemi out of the way and gets hit herself.

YOMI: (Getting tackled into the wall) Ahhh!

SHOOTER: (Watching helplessly) YOMI!

DEMON RIN: (About to crush Yomi) RAAAAAAAAAAWR!

SHOOTER: NOOOOOO!

A flash of purple light releases from Shooter, and moments later, she is surrounded by a dark aura. As the shades of black and purple surround her, she begins to transform into a darker, more vile form. Her clothes change into having more armor, and her gloves turn into black steel gauntlets with sharp claws. Her sword changes into a cannon with a lance protruding from the top, and the blue flame in her left eye has now been replaced by a bright purple flame.

INSANE SHOOTER: (Emotionless) …

DEMON RIN: (Breathing heavily) *huff* … *huff*

Demon Rin leaves Yomi alone, and turns his attention towards Insane Shooter. He leaps up and tries to pounce on her, but she swings her lance and knocks him to the floor. Demon Rin then grabs his sword off the floor and swings it at Insane Shooter. A loud ringing sound echoes throughout the entire house as their blades clash. For a moment, both are equal in strength and resolve, neither giving an inch with their weapons at hand. Insane Shooter then catches Demon Rin off-guard by shooting off the edge of her cannon-lance, and impales the Demon to the wall. The blade pieces Rin by the neck, but he manages to rip it off and falls to the floor. In an instant, the gash on his neck has healed and he charges towards Shooter. She kicks Rin to the side and once again fires another bolt towards him. This time, Demon Rin dodges and latches on to the blade, swinging the chain and recoiling Shooter into the wall. The demon then takes this time to charge up a pillar of flame, and hurls it towards Shooter. Seeing how wide the blue flame reaches and knowing she cannot dodge in time, Insane Shooter summons her own flame from her left eye and shields herself. The collision between the blue and purple flames spiral out of control, and soon the entire greenhouse is covered in a dark blue flame. In the center of the ruins, is Demon Rin, roaring and standing his ground, and Insane Shooter, standing still with a blank and careless expression.

INSANE SHOOTER: (With an empty look on her face) …

DEMON RIN: (Growling) RAAAAAAWWWWWRRR! GGGAAAAAWWWWWW!

SCENE: THREE

Just as the explosion occurs at the greenhouse, Rin, who was already slightly ahead of Yukio quickly runs forward. In a matter of seconds, Rin has completely outrun Yukio, and continues to speed forward. Yukio, having trailed far behind Rin, gives up trying to catch up, and slows his pace down. He knows he can't match Rin's speed, and instead, hopelessly watches as Rin makes it to the door and kicks it down. Yukio stops to take a breather, and hopes Rin doesn't get into too much trouble without him being along. He then starts running towards the greenhouse again once he caught his breath, but suddenly stops when he sees a bright blue flash emit from the sky. He then sees a series of symbols made of light shine down from the dark cloudy sky, and in seconds, a crack in the sky appears. Yukio, having seen nothing like this in his life before, is frozen in shock, watching as someone emerges from the portal, and descends toward the house. Knowing that matters have gotten much more complicated now, he starts sprinting full speed ahead. Just as he reaches the entrance, another large explosion erupts and the greenhouse bursts into blue flames. Yukio then sees two figures dash out of the greenhouse ceiling and towards the forest. One was emitting blue flames throughout its body, and the other one had purple flames surrounding it. Knowing that the worst possible scenario he imagined had occurred, he runs through the burning entrance and charges into the house. As he makes his way in, he sees Shiemi injured but is helping Yomi to her feet. Yukio quickly grabs Shiemi and pulls her away, and then draws his gun towards Yomi.

YUKIO: (With his gun pointed straight towards Yomi) Enough! What have you done!?

YOMI: (Weakly trying to stand up) W-What are you t-talking about? W-We need to get help now!

YUKIO: You're not going anywhere! Not until you give me some answers! Why did you come here!? What did you bring into our world!?

SHIEMI: (Grabbing Yukio's arm) S-Stop it Yuki! It's not her fault! She's a victim in this too-

YUKIO: (Pushing Shiemi back) That's it! No more! Shiemi, get out of here now! Go and find some help! Alert the True Cross upper branches! This place isn't safe for you, I'll handle her!

SHIEMI: S-She's not-

YUKIO: Just go!

SHIEMI: (Standing still, not know what to do) I-I… I can't…

YOMI: It's okay Shiemi.

SHIEMI: W-What!?

YOMI: Just go. Get help. I can take care of myself.

SHIEMI: B-But Yuki… h-he's-

YOMI: It's alright… he's not going to listen no matter how hard you try. Just get to a safe place and find help.

SHIEMI: W-What about yourself?

YOMI: Don't worry about me. I'm stronger than I look.

SHIEMI: (Thinking for a moment, then running outside) F-Fine… I'll get help soon!

YOMI: (Talking to herself) G-Good luck… Shiemi… hurry…

YUKIO: I don't know why you did that, but perhaps you wanted to spare her. In that case I-

YOMI: (Interrupting him) It's not that! Maybe you can't see it, and we haven't met for long, but Shiemi is my friend too!

YUKIO: I don't know what you're talking about, but you've bought enough trouble to our world. You know what… I've done enough questioning. It's time to do my job as an exorcist. I'll deal with Rin later, I'm not strong enough to handle him in the state he is in now.

YOMI: Why can't you just listen!? You've been at my throat since the second I was dropped into this world!

YUKIO: It's too late. I can't have you making excuses anymore. Anyway, you're the biggest threat here. I'm going to have to ask you to stand down so I can bring you into headquarters, they'll force some answers out of you.

YOMI: W-What!? Are you out of your mind!? This isn't the time! We have to stop Mato! B-Before she-

YUKIO: (Readying his gun) You have three seconds. Stand down or I'll have to take action.

YOMI: Ugh! Not this again!

YUKIO: One.

YOMI: (Pulling her hair) I've had enough of this!

YUKIO: Two.

YOMI: Why does this keep happening!?

YUKIO: Three.

YOMI: (Screaming) I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!

An intense green light emanates from Yomi, and all of a sudden, black shades start covering her. Yukio stares aghast, in fear that he might've taken the situation too lightly. The black shades then shatter, and moments later, a girl walks forward, with a long black dress, metal horns protruding from the sides of her head, and holding a large scythe in her steel claws for hands. Dead Master lunges forward without giving Yukio any time to speak and react. He barely manages to dodge her attack, and tries to shoot her back. She blocks the bullets with the scythe and steps back.

YUKIO: (Horrified) Just… w-what are you!?

DEAD MASTER: (Silent) …

Yukio takes this time to load explosive rounds into his pistol, and fires at Dead Master. She blocks it again with her scythe but the bullets explode on impact and knock her back. Having stumbled backwards, Dead Master then hits her scythe on the floor, and summons two large skulls flying towards Yukio. Yukio tries to escape, but the skulls seem to follow him around the burning house. Dead Master takes this time to charge towards Yukio and swings right at him. He manages to avoid the attack once again, but the skulls crash behind him and he gets knocked across the room. He tries shooting the skulls, but is only able to stun them for a few seconds before they come charging back. He loads incendiary bullets into his gun, and shoots the skulls, lighting them up on fire. Yukio, then runs as the skulls follow him, slowly burning away into ashes. Dead Master leaps toward Yukio, and once again swipes at him with her Scythe. This time, he isn't able to dodge completely, and is wounded with a huge gash on his arm. Yukio falls backwards as he holds his profusely bleeding wound in pain.

YUKIO: (In massive pain) Ahhhh! Damn it! Gaaah!

DEAD MASTER: (Walking towards him) …

YUKIO: I-Is this it… A-Are you going to kill me now!?

DEAD MASTER: (Holds up her scythe) …

YUKIO: (Closing his eyes) Tch! Damn!

SCENE: FOUR

Demon Rin and Insane Shooter have now taken their rampant brawl into the forest, lighting the surrounding trees on fire as they clash within. The forest burns with a trail of blue and purple fire, following the two as they go further inwards. Their movements have now become faster with a larger open space, Demon Rin now pouncing on Shooter every opening he gets. Insane Shooter has to swing her lance to knock him away, firing from her cannon to keep him back.

DEMON RIN: (Roaring loudly) GRRAAAWWWRRR!

INSANE SHOOTER: (With a slightly pitying look on her face) …

The Demon charges at her again and again, trying to claw at her every time he gets close, but Shooter keeps hitting him back. After sending him propelling into the trees, Insane Shooter mounts an offensive of her own. She loosens the chain of cannon-lance, and swings it at Rin, tangling and capturing him in the chains. Demon Rin's roars echoes through the forest as he struggles to break free. Shooter then pulls the chain back in reverse, pulling him towards her with the cannon, and then lunges forward with the blade in her other hand and tries to decapitate Rin. Rin manages to break free just as the blade reaches his neck, and it slices halfway through, spurting blood everywhere as the Demon falls to the floor. Insane Shooter then retracts her chain, and begins to head back, but Rin had already fully recovered and grabs on to the chain. This time, he pulls Shooter towards him and tries to claw at her. She ejects the chain just as he reaches her, and kicks him back.

INSANE SHOOTER: (Silent) …

DEMON RIN: (Growling and drooling from his mouth) *huff* *huff* … RRRRRAAAWWWRRR!

Saya and Shura now arrive at the scene, having followed the trail of flames leading to the two beasts fighting. They both stare in horror as Demon Rin and Insane Shooter stand, illuminating the dark, devastated forest with their blue and purple flames.

SAYA: (Shaking) T-To think… that they would cause this much carnage…

SHURA: (Watching in dismay) It's frightening… but we need to step them now. Before Rin gets any stronger.

SAYA: Huh? W-What do you mean?

SHURA: In this form… the Koma Sword… it will continue feeding Rin its energy through the Gehenna gate. That means as time passes, as long as the sword is drawn, Rin will get stronger and stronger… until he turns into a full demon. Then… he might end up killing your friend… and maybe… even destroy Assiah in his wake.

SAYA: (Trembling in fear) T-The same…

SHURA: What?

SAYA: The same goes for Mato… in this form, it takes a while for the evil inside her to flow out. At first, while she might seem strong already, she takes on a more careless approach… but as time passes… the evil will start to seep out, and…

SHURA: She'll get stronger as well…

SAYA: Exactly.

SHURA: We need to do something now!

SAYA: There's no way we can stop them!

SHURA: You said you've had an incident like this in the past in your world. How did you stop her then?

SAYA: I-It's… it's complicated…

SHURA: Just tell me!

SAYA: She… Mato… or rather Black Rock Shooter… her true, pure-self pulled away from the evil, and defeated this evil version herself.

SHURA: So… let me get this straight… she managed to solve the problem herself?

SAYA: Y-Yes… but we can't wait for that, we don't even know if it will happen again! This time she could be different… unstoppable… What about the boy? How did you manage to deal with him?

SHURA: (Fake laughing) Ha ha ha… well… every time that he's gone out of control, Mephisto always deals with him.

SAYA: (Tilting her head) Who?

SHURA: (Shaking her head) Don't worry about him, he's just some weirdo. Anyway, I haven't seen him around at all, so we can't rely on him now. Plus… usually he stops Rin early on… he's expressed concern to me before… that if Rin ever spends too much time in his demon form…

SAYA: Yes?

SHURA: Then… Mephisto said that even he might not be able to stop him at that point…

SAYA: (Looking down) Then I guess we have no choice…

SHURA: (Stepping forward) Alright, here's the plan, you've dealt with the girl before, so she's your job, same for me and Rin. Don't tackle them head on, they'll be occupied with each other, so attack them with they're distracted. And if anything happens… just run.

SAYA: Right… but how do we actually stop them?

SHURA: Well… I've thought of that and… well, we need to stop both of them at once, we can't leave one left standing, because then they'll be impossible to stop. So, what we need to do is wait for both of them to sustain heavy damage first.

SAYA: And?

SHURA: When Rin sustains damage in his demon form, after a while he'll stop and stay still to recover. This is our chance, we'll try to sheath the Koma Sword in his hand and try to cut away his power source from the gate of Gehenna. What about the girl?

SAYA: Well… Mato can't really be stopped by any physical means… but if we can get through to her, maybe we can trigger the auto-defense mechanism once again.

SHURA: How do we do that?

SAYA: Usually, she takes time to recover too when she withstands a lot of pain and wounds. I can take this time to try and speak to her, calm her down, see if I can reach the Mato inside.

SHURA: Alright then, we've got no time to waste!

SAYA: (Transforming in a flash of red light into Black Gold Saw) Right! Let's go and finish this!

SHURA: (Drawing her blade from her chest) Devour the eight princesses, slay the serpent!

SCENE: FIVE

Incensia suddenly pauses as she hears the loud explosion at the greenhouse. The three boys, Suguro, Konekomaru, and Shima are also frozen in shock. No one makes a sound, until moments later, when a magic circle appears in the sky, and a hole seems to have opened up above. Suguro stares horrifyingly, watching far away as a figure emerges from the portal and descends to the house.

SUGURO: (Watching in bewilderment) W-What is that? What's going on? I've never seen anything like that before in my entire life!

KONEKOMARU: (Worried) A magic seal that big… it almost covers the entire sky here! Whatever caused it must be really strong!

INCENSIA: (Turning to the boys) It is of no doubt, the One's strength is incomparable.

SUGURO: Y-You know what's going on?

SHIMA: (Itching to run away) Bon… C'mon now… I think this is way beyond our level… let's just go…

SUGURO: (Adamant) No! I need to know more!

INCENSIA: It is the coming of our lord, Excandescius. He commands us all, and it seems that he has been fed up with our failures.

KONEKOMARU: W-What is he gonna do? He is going to hurt Rin?

INCENSIA: He will try to persuade him to join us, if the boy refuses, then he will be sentenced to death.

SHIMA: (Scratching his head) Hey… isn't Rin already sentenced for an execution by the Vatican… why don't we just leave him be…

SUGURO: (Angrily) How can you say such a thing at this time!?

SHIMA: H-Hey… Just a joke… No need to get so riled up…

KONEKOMARU: It's no time for jokes right now Shima… Bon, we have to help Rin!

SUGURO: I know that!

INCENSIA: You wouldn't stand a chance. You barely survived a minute against me. In addition, you do not even have the power to kill him, much less hurt him.

KONEKOMARU: What do you mean by that?

INCENSIA: Excandescius … and Igniculus… they are of the royal bloodline of Ardoris, that means they can only be killed by the power of the blue flame, nothing else can end their life.

SUGURO: (Surprised) Huh? That means Rin is the only one-

INCENSIA: (Interrupting him) Hmph. The boy wouldn't stand a chance.

KONEKOMARU: But you also have the flame!

INCENSIA: ...

KONEKOMARU: (Pleadingly) You can help us! You can help us save Rin!

INCENSIA: What makes you think that I would betray my lord to save that brat?

KONEKOMARU: Before… you hesitated when you were fighting us. You didn't really want to kill us… just scare us away.

INCENSIA: …

KONEKOMARU: You said it before, that you and your ally, Igniculus are different. And that all you want is to protect our world from what Rin is capable of.

INCENSIA: And that is exactly why I should allow the boy to fall into their hands.

KONEKOMARU: (Louder and more confidence is flowing through his words) No! Don't you realize it! Rin is part of our world too! He too is innocent! It's not his fault that he ended up with the flame! I can see that you don't want the flame either! Rin is just like you, he wants to use his flame for good! Why can't you see that!?

INCENSIA: (Silent) …

SUGURO: He's right. Rin never wanted the flame; in fact he treats it as a curse. But he wants to use it… for something good… something decent… something that he can use to help the world.

SHIMA: Y-Yeah… W-What they said! I might not know much… but if there's one thing I know… is that Rin's a pretty cool dude. And he'll never hurt anyone that's innocent!

KONEKOMARU: If you let him fall into the wrong hands… an endless cycle of torment will await Rin… He'll have to do the same job you have now, finding people with the flame and ruining their lives… and I know you don't like what you're doing either.

INCENSIA: …

KONEKOMARU: And if he doesn't join… that's even worse… another innocent person that dies by the flame… and all of us, who will try to save Rin will die with him!

INCENSIA: …

KONEKOMARU: And the world, will lose another bright soul… a soul lit with a blue flame that can be used for good!

INCENSIA: Enough! Now listen to me-

KONEKOMARU: (Interrupting her) No! You listen to me! When the Blue Night happened… all of our family… our friends… most of the monks at the temple were killed by the blue flame. Those that survived… swore that we will forever curse the blue flame and anyone who wields it… But, after meeting Rin… I… I broke that promise. I couldn't hate Rin… because it wasn't his fault that the Blue Night happened! Just like how it's not his fault that your world was destroyed!

INCENSIA: Is it… my fault? Indeed I have destroyed my own world… but that was an accident… I could not suppress my own power, I lost control. How are you so sure the boy will not do the same? That one day he too will succumb to his own flame.

KONEKOMARU: Because I know Rin! And no matter how lost he might be… he will always crawl himself back out! He'll find a way! And your world… was unfortunate… but you can't use that as a reason to justify taking Rin's life!

INCENSIA: …

SUGURO: I've never heard Koneko so passionate about something before. Take his words… all of ours… help us. Help Rin. Help our world. This world needs Rin… we don't know how much yet, or for what… but he's on the side of good… and this world desperately needs someone like him… someone who can protect it.

KONEKOMARU: Bon's right! He's already saved us many times, we would've been dead for sure from the Impure King if it wasn't for him! Many more would've died too that night, possibly the entire Kyoto! You have to understand! He's here to make the world a better place! You could've done the same if- … no … I meant that you can do the same now! If you help us save him!

INCENSIA: … Is the boy… that important to you? To this world?

SUGURO: Yes… we need him. We all need him. The forces of evil are strong this world… a world parallel to Gehenna… it will only fall further in its grasp without Rin… Then the whole world will truly burn in blue flames…

INCENSIA: Very well… leave here now. I will take care of this.

KONEKOMARU: W-What? We can't just-

INCENSIA: You have my word. You have opened my eyes… perhaps I was wrong about the boy. Now go!

SUGURO: We can't just-!

SHIMA: Bon! C'mon now! Let's just go!

INCENSIA: Trust me! I will save him. Perhaps there is more to Rin Okumura that I had originally saw.

SUGURO: Gah…

KONEKOMARU: C'mon Bon! Let's go!

SUGURO: W-What? We're leaving it all up to her? How can we trust-

KONEKOMARU: (Calmly) I believe in her. Just like how I believe in Rin.

SUGURO: (Speechless) … Oh.

KONEKOMARU: (Turning away) Now let's go! Let's get back to True Cross and get some help!

SUGURO: (Following Konekomaru) R-Right! Let's go!

SHIMA: (Following them) Sheesh! Finally!

SUGURO: (Turning back one last time) I believe in you too. And… thank you.

INCENSIA: (Nodding her head) …I will… try my best.

SCENE: SIX

Incensia rushes over to burning greenhouse, the ceiling had already completely collapsed, and the rest of the house looked to fall apart soon. She saw that the door had already been kicked open, and enters. No one seems to be present as she navigates through the scorching rubble of the house. Suddenly, a hand reaches out of a hole in the floor and grabs her foot. Incensia kicks the hand off her and steps back. She then peaks into the hole, and sees her injured ally Igniculus. He is a bloody mess, as she helps him out of the hole, and onto his feet. His clothes are ripped, his body scratched up, and some of his bandages are starting to fall off, exposing the bloody scared tissue underneath. He struggles to stand up by himself, before falling on all fours again.

INCENSIA: (Offering him her hand) What happened? Where is the boy?

IGNICULUS: (Pushing her hand away) Gone. He used it… the true power of the flame… just as you feared. Where were you? When our lord arrived?

INCENSIA: I was… occupied with something else.

IGNICULUS: That is no excuse. Our lord will not tolerate such failures.

INCENSIA: I understan-

IGNICULUS: (Interrupting her) No, I am afraid you do not understand how dire the circumstances are. Because of your failure, this world is at stake, it too will be destroyed like yours.

INCENSIA: It isn't like you care in the least, nor does our lord. All Excandescius wants is a new heir, another addition to his growing army. And all you want, is to kill all potential candidates, so you remain closes to our lord's side. When you came to my world, after it was destroyed and I was the sole survivor, you urged Excandescius not to take me in, saying I was impure, and lacked control of the flame. Now you do the same for the boy, so no one will take your place.

IGNICULUS: (Starting to get angry) What prompts you to make such ridiculous accusations? Have you forgotten the reason why we came to this world?

INCENSIA: No, I have not, which is exactly why I must find the boy and make sure he lives.

IGNICULUS: (Furious) Foolishness! That demon will end up wrecking this entire world if he lives.

INCENSIA: No… Remember when we first arrived at here at Assiah… our scouts indicated that this and another world was aligned.

IGNICULUS: Yes, it was aligned with the world known as Gehenna.

INCENSIA: They said there was a source of Blue Flame in Gehenna, but it was far too strong for us to get close. And that the source was much more… evil in nature.

IGNICULUS: That is right. There was no way our device would let us make a portal to Gehenna, we had to settle for the source of Blue Flame in this world instead. A far weaker one.

INCENSIA: Yes… But… That flame in Gehenna… is balanced out by the boys flame here in Assiah.

IGNICULUS: What do you mean?

INCENSIA: It means that… if the boy is gone, the flame from Gehenna will wind up conquering this world as well, because there will be nothing left to stop it, to keep it at bay from devouring both worlds! These two worlds are aligned, the threat of Gehenna is always present, unless Rin Okumura is there to stop it. To hold it off, so the world can continue to thrive.

IGNICULUS: I do not care if this world gets annihilated, all we came here for is the heir.

INCENSIA: Well, then that reveals your true colors. Those bandages can't cover up the truth. You never wanted to save this world, unlike I, who wishes that the Blue Flame will never hurt another person ever again.

IGNICULUS: Say what you want, but he cannot be stopped. He has grown far too strong. Nor can you stop our lord.

INCENSIA: Have you forgotten that I have the power of the flame as well, I too can kill him if I wish.

IGNICULUS: You cannot, you will not be able to even scratch him. It seems you underestimate our lord's strength.

INCENSIA: And it seems you underestimate mine.

IGNICULUS: And what if you do? What if you kill him? You will be lost, have nowhere to go. Nothing left to fight for. You will be just like when we found you… hopeless… and full of despair.

INCENSIA: (Walking away) That much is true… but I felt just as lost joining you… I lost my home a long time ago… and I want to make sure no one else will ever feel the same as I did.

IGNICULUS: You fool! Haven't you forgotten he could lose control of his power!? Like he does now!?

INCENSIA: (Walking out) I have not forgotten. But I believe… that he can learn to control it… that he will find his true self amidst the chaos… something that I hope to achieve some day…

IGNICULUS: (Talking to himself) Foolish… but it does not matter… no one can stop him now… not even himself.

SCENE: SEVEN

Ciri steps through the opening of a portal and lands onto the grounds of a forest. Just as the portal is about to close, a dog jumps out of the portal and lands right behind her. The little, furry dog then starts running around Ciri, trying to get her attention.

CIRI: (Startled) Oh my! A puppy? It's so cute! How did you end up following me? Are you a traveler yourself?

DOG MEPHISTO: (Speaking as a dog) It's only me, Mephisto. Just an ability of mine to transform into another species.

CIRI: (Speechless) …

DOG MEPHISTO: Dog caught your tongue? What's the matter darling?

CIRI: W-Why would you feel the need to transform? And follow me here?

DOG MEPHISTO: It seems that this world is currently going through a bit of trouble now as I had hoped- I mean feared.

CIRI: What?

DOG MEPHISTO: Can't you feel it too? The moment you stepped through the portal and into Assiah?

CIRI: (Silent for a moment) … Something's here… Something very strong… no… two beings…

DOG MEPHISTO: That's right.

CIRI: I-It's been a while since I've sensed such a force… we need to hurry… I think something horrible is happening!

DOG MEPHISTO: (Crawling forward) Alright then! Let's go Cirilla! I'll lead the way, I own this entire forest anyway.

CIRI: Are you…

DOG MEPHISTO: (Stopping) Yes darling?

CIRI: Are you going to stay like that the entire time?

DOG MEPHISTO: Well… I would prefer to.

CIRI: …

DOG MEPHISTO: Yes?

CIRI: (Starts walking forward) Forget it…

The two travel through the forest, with a tiny, furry dog version of Mephisto leading Ciri through. They walk for a little while before encountering a girl with blonde hair, running to get to town. Shiemi sees the dog then stops, trying to remember where she might've seen this particular species of dog before. She then sees Ciri following behind, and waves. Ciri notices Shiemi, and immediately rushes to her, taking Shiemi in her arms.

CIRI: (Hugging Ciri) Oh dear! Are you alright?

SHIEMI: (Squeezed out of breath) Oopf! I-I'm okay… sorta… wow you're really strong!

CIRI: (Releasing Shiemi) Oops! Sorry about that! Are you sure you're okay? You seem hurt. What happened? Why are you running through the forest alone?

SHIEMI: (Very worried) I-It's a long story… But you have to help them! Rin… and Mato… they're out of control… Rin has become a demon again… and Mato… she… I don't know but she's different too… her other self or something.

CIRI: *sigh* That really doesn't sound good. I guess they were the two forces I felt earlier.

SHIEMI: Yomi too… and Yuki… I think he might hurt her, you have to hurry to the greenhouse! I'll take you there!

CIRI: No. It's far too dangerous! You have to go get help! Far away from those two that are fighting. Heal yourself first. I will handle it.

SHIEMI: B-But! You don't know the way to the greenhouse.

DOG MEPHISTO: Don't worry. I will take her.

SHIEMI: (Astonished) W-What? A-A talking p-puppy?

DOG MEPHISTO: It's me…

SHIEMI: Who?

DOG MEPHISTO: You only happen to see my face everywhere around the school you know.

SHIEMI: Um…? Huh?

DOG MEPHISTO: The man that happens to own the entire school you attend darling.

SHIEMI: P-Principle Faust?

DOG MEPHISTO: (Flabbergasted) That's right! Wow, that would took you a while… I might have to reassess the average IQ of my students after this…

SHIEMI: (Suddenly remembering) O-Oh! I remember now! You came as a dog before in one of our missions too!

DOG MEPHISTO: That's right. Now you go on back to the city and alert the True Cross officials. Tell them exactly what happened. Me and Cirilla here will handle the rest.

SHIEMI: Cirilla?

CIRI: He means me. Um… maybe you should get a little rest when you've alerted them. I think you're just a bit tired right now.

SHIEMI: O-Okay… But you have to promise me you'll save Rin and Mato!

CIRI: I promise.

SHIEMI: (Hurrying away) Alright! I'll get help soon!

CIRI: (Talking to herself) Good luck…

DOG MEPHISTO: She's going to need it…Oh my… How did she get into the school anyway…

CIRI: (Walking away) C'mon, lead the way. There's no time to lose.

SCENE: EIGHT

Ciri runs to the burning greenhouse, with Dog Mephisto on her shoulder. He half barks, half speaks and points towards the direction they need to go with his little paws. As they approach the house, they see it burning with a bright blue flame. The ceiling had already collapsed, and smoke rises from the top of the house. The front door had been knocked open, but the flame from within blocks the entrance. Ciri stops, and ponders for a moment, during which Dog Mephisto licks Ciri's cheek.

CIRI: (Brushing his tongue away) Hey, stop doing that!

DOG MEPHISTO: (Continuing licking her cheek) *lick* *lick* Hmmm… you have a particular scent on you… *lick* it's not from this world… *lick* *lick* some kind of special herbal ingredient.

CIRI: (Grabbing Dog Mephisto's head) Hey. Enough. And it wouldn't be weird that I happen to catch some scent you've never smelled before, I have traveled far and wide to different dimensions that you probably couldn't even dream of.

DOG MEPHISTO: I don't know Cirilla, I think there's much more to me than you realize.

CIRI: Right… why did you crawl up onto my shoulder anyway?

DOG MEPHISTO: I felt lazy… didn't want to walk, might as well have someone carry me.

CIRI: …

DOG MEPHISTO: You would've done the same if you could turn into… a cat or something?

CIRI: Why would you presume a cat?

DOG MEPHISTO: No particular reason.

CIRI: Ugh. Forget this. C'mon, were wasting time here. They are nowhere to be found. No one could have survived in that burning rubble. They are long gone, probably taken their fight elsewhere.

DOG MEPHISTO: (Sniffing the air) Hmmm... *sniff* *sniff* not them. But Yukio is here. Along with someone else.

CIRI: Who?

DOG MEPHISTO: (Jumping off her shoulders) Just follow me. They're inside.

CIRI: (Following Dog Mephisto) H-Hey! Wait up!

Dog Mephisto runs up to the entrance, and twirls around. In an instant, and a puff a smoke, he resumes his human-like form. He gives Ciri a smirk, before blowing the flame away from the entrance way with his umbrella. Mephisto then walks into the house, navigating his way by sniffing his surroundings, with Ciri following behind him. When he walks to what used to be the living room area, he sees Dead Master walking towards Yukio, raising her scythe high in the air.

DEAD MASTER: (Walking towards him) …

YUKIO: I-Is this it… A-Are you going to kill me now!?

DEAD MASTER: (Holds up her scythe) …

YUKIO: (Closing his eyes) Tch! Damn!

Yukio throws a flashbang into the air, and shoots it with his pistol. It explodes and a bright flash radiates across the room. Dead Master is blinded from the sudden flash of light and stumbles backwards. Yukio takes this distraction, and rolls away, loading shock rounds into his pistol and fires at Dead Master. The bullets hit her directly, and she gets stunned and falls to the ground. Yukio tries standing up again, but his wounds get the better of him and once again he falls to his knees. Dead Master recovers and once again lunges at Yukio, who tries to reach for another grenade, but realizes he is out of ammo. Just as her Scythe is about to cut him, Ciri reaches out and grabs the blade of the scythe with her bare hands. She was able to hold the blade perfectly between two fingers as not to get cut, and then pushes Dead Master back.

CIRI: (Drawing her sword from her back) Why did you just stand here and do nothing?

MEPHISTO: (Leaning against the wall and folding his arms) I want to watch… see what will happen next.

CIRI: Tch…

MEPHISTO: He would've survived. I'm sure of it.

CIRI: Anyway… this girl… is she?

DEAD MASTER: (Charging at Ciri) …

CIRI: (Deflecting the scythe with her sword) Ah! Hey! Who are you?

DEAD MASTER: (Trying to slash at Ciri) …

CIRI: (Deflecting it once again) Not much of a talker now are we?

Dead Master gets annoyed, and continues trying to rapidly slash away at Ciri with all her might. Ciri is able to deflect her attack easily and effortlessly with one arm. Seeing as how her attacks weren't working, Dead Master leaps back, and then summons two giant floating skulls plunging towards Ciri. Ciri closes her eyes, and in a blink of green light, she disappears and reappears behind the skulls, cutting both in half. As the skulls shatter into pieces, Dead Master once again charges towards Ciri. Finally getting impatient now, Ciri puts both hands on her blade, and swings upward, knocking the scythe out of Dead Master's hands. Ciri then swings around, and kicks Dead Master into the wall. Determined to put this to an end, Ciri walks over to the body that had been smashed into the wall. But to her surprise, it was no longer the person she had been fighting just moments ago. On the cracked wall lie Yomi, with her head down and breathing heavily, looking like she sustained cuts and bruises all over her body. Ciri rushes over to Yomi, and kneels besides her, and takes Yomi into her arms. She checks Yomi to see if she has any fatal injuries, and then lifts the wounded girl into her arms.

CIRI: Oh dear… I had a feeling it was you… but I didn't trust my instincts…

YOMI: (Feebly) Ah… M-Mato…

CIRI: Huh? What did you say dear?

YOMI: S-She… you have to help her… Mato…

CIRI: Your friend? We can't worry about that right now. We need to get you some help first.

YOMI: (Weakly) N-No… you have to help her now… if not… she will get too strong… and out of control…

MEPHISTO: (Serious) She's right. We need to move now.

CIRI: But! She's injured! It can become fatal if she doesn't get medical attention!

MEPHISTO: (Pointing to Yukio) That's why we have him. Yukio. You're training to become a doctor, are you not?

YUKIO: (Kneeling on the floor, tending to his own wounds) M-Me!? You can't be serious! There's no way I'm going to help-

MEPHISTO: (Very serious) It's an order Yukio. Take this girl away from here, and get her some medical assistance.

YUKIO: (Reluctantly) Ack! Damn! …Fine… but do you know who she is!?

MEPHISTO: Yes. And that's exactly why you must do your job.

CIRI: (Placing Yomi into Yukio's arms) Please. Take care of her. She's been through enough. I'm counting on you to keep her safe, so I can bring her back to her world.

YUKIO: Ugh… I-I… I'll do it… I'll nurse her back to health.

MEPHISTO: (Putting his hand on Yukio's shoulder) She's in your hands now. Make sure she's safe. No matter what.

YUKIO: Yeah…

CIRI: (Brushing Yomi's hair from her face) Hey… are you alright?

YOMI: (Barely able to speak) Ah… P-Please… Help save… Mato…

CIRI: Don't worry yourself too much. Get some rest. I promise I'll bring her back in one piece. Then I'll bring you two back to your world.

YUKIO: Alright, we have to go now. Before this entire place burns down. I'll take her through the woods to the city, it's the shortest route, and we can avoid anyone else that might be a threat on the main roads.

CIRI: (Talking to Yukio) Um... Thank you for this, I know it isn't easy, but you're doing the right thing.

YUKIO: (Walking away) I sure hope so. I really do.

MEPHISTO: (Turning away) Well, the boy's gone, and we should get going too. Hmm? Ciri? What's the matter? Why did you stop?

CIRI: There's someone… someone else is here…

MEPHISTO: (Intrigued) Hmm? … Oh my… you're right… I'm surprised you can sense him. His presence was so light. He's… on the verge of death… but for some reason he can't die… yet.

CIRI: (Walks over to a hole on the floor) …

MEPHISTO: (Walks over and peers down the hole) Ugh. I think I'm going to puke. What an utterly disgusting bloody mess. But somehow he still manages to hang on to life. But not by his own will.

CIRI: It's no use. We can't help him now. Let's go.

IGNICULUS: (Weakly) W-Wait…

MEPHISTO: Hmm? I think he said something? Ciri? You're not going to help him?

CIRI: (Walking away) No. I can sense it in him. Evil. Hate. Fear. There's no use, we won't be able to put him out of his misery, and helping him will only worsen the situation. Just leave him there.

MEPHISTO: Oh my. That was unexpected.

IGNICULUS: You…

MEPHISTO: Hmm? Did you say something?

IGNICULUS: You are all… going to die.

MEPHISTO: (Walking away) Heh Heh Heh… so you say… so you say.

SCENE: NINE

Ciri and Mephisto hurry through the forest, following a trail of blue and purple flame along the way. As they move deeper and deeper in, the see many trees demolished and burning. A trail of ruin and ashes leads towards the center of the forest. As they get closer, they hear roaring, and the sound of loud explosions and clashing of steel. Ciri runs forward, but suddenly stops when she notices two figures hunched down on the ground. She rushes over and sees two women, both with red hair and badly injured. They seem to be tending to their own wounds, while watching the devastating fight above.

CIRI: (Approaching the two women) A-Are you two alright?

SHURA: (Trying to stop the bleeding from a gash in her arm) Ah… damn that hurts…

SAYA: (Tending to a wound on her leg) H-Hey! Shura! Someone's here!

SHURA: Huh? W-Who? Who are you?

CIRI: (Kneeling down to check on their injuries) I was going to ask you the same question. Oh dear, you two need some medical atten-

MEPHISTO: (Waltzing in and interrupting Ciri) Ah! Shura! There you are! I was looking all over for you.

SHURA: (Furious) L-Looking for me! Where the hell were you!?

MEPHISTO: That's exactly where I was. In Gehenna. Anyway… Oooo… Why didn't you introduce me to your new friend?

SHURA: W-What?

MEPHISTO: (Kneeling down and touching Saya's cheek) My… I've never seen you before. I would've noticed such an elegant face.

SAYA: (Blushing) H-Huh?

MEPHISTO: Ah… your cheeks are getting red. It matches your hair… and your eyes… ah… those eyes… such power lies underneath.

SHURA: (Kicking Mephisto away) Ugh! You creep! Are you ever serious!? There's no time for this nonsense right now!

CIRI: (Shaking her head) She's right… can you just cut it out for once?

MEPHISTO: (Getting off the floor, and shaking the dirt off) Heh… well then, Upper First Class Exorcist Kirigakure, why don't you brief us on the current situation?

SHURA: W-We tried everything… calming them down… speaking to them… trying to grab the Koma Sword… they're too strong! We barely got out alive! And you certainly were no help!

SAYA: And… they'll continue to get stronger every passing second!

MEPHISTO: Well well well… then this should be fun!

CIRI: This isn't a game you know! There's no second chances!

MEPHISTO: But it is a play is it not?

CIRI: What?

MEPHISTO: Forget it Cirilla. Don't hurt your head thinking about it.

CIRI: Hey! Was that an attack on my intelligence!? I'll have you know-

SHURA: (Interrupting her) Don't.

CIRI: What? Don't what?

SHURA: Don't argue with him. He'll continue doing this, dragging you in, and the conversation with him will go nowhere. It always happens, it makes him happy thinking he can outwit someone.

CIRI: I see… then perhaps ignoring him will be the best.

MEPHISTO: Oh… Shura… why did you have to go and spoil the fun?

SAYA: Um… I'd hate to interrupt, but we have to do something immediately! Mato… and the boy… if they continue like this, they will garner up enough energy to destroy this world!

CIRI: (Drawing her sword from her back) Then let's move!

SHURA: You're going to fight them alone?

CIRI: Well, if Mephisto here doesn't help me, then I guess I will.

SHURA: You won't stand a chance! The only way you might be able to do something is if they are both preoccupied with each other. And you will need to defeat both of them at once. If even one is left standing… there will be no way to stop them, they won't have a distraction and will attack anything that is standing!

CIRI: (Looking up at the fight) … Maybe you are right… I can't fight both at once…

MEPHISTO: (Opening his umbrella) Alright ladies, enough chit chat, let's get this over with!

CIRI: I'm ready when you are.

MEPHISTO: Very well… Eins, Zwei, Drei!

Mephisto leaps up into the air, and flies towards the fight with his umbrella. Ciri follows, dashing forward in a wave of green light.

SHURA: And off… they go…

SAYA: So that was… Mephisto right? The only person that you said had a chance at stopping the boy?

SHURA: Yes… sadly… but yes… the only person who might stand a chance against Rin right now… but even then, that's not saying much.

SAYA: Do you think… they can do it?

SHURA: I don't know… I really don't know. But let's hope so. For the sake of this world.

SCENE: TEN

Demon Rin and Insane Shooter continue fighting, ravaging the entire forest as they collide with one another. At this point, the fight has gotten much more intense, both are moving much quicker, and their attacks are dealt with far more ferocity than when they started. Demon Rin's appearance has now changed from when he first appeared. As the fight went on, he started to develop into a more beastly, monstrous form. His ears has grown pointier, his teeth sharper, and his eyes have turned into an entirely white shade. His hands now resemble claws, the end of his tail glows a bright blue flame, and he is enveloped in a blue flaming aura. He holds his sword, Kurikara in one hand, with the sword's energy now feeding into him. The flame from the steel blade is now flowing into Rin's demonic form. Insane Shooter has also undergone a transformation as the fight went on. The purple flame lighting from her left eye has grown much larger, and leaves a spiraling trail, following her as she leaps and dashes around. Her armor and weapons also became sharper, and the spikes protruding from her cannon-lance have grown out, making the weapon look much more menacing. A dark purple aura of flames now completely shrouds Insane Shooter, amplifying her attacks. But most noticeable is Insane Shooter's change in attitude. Where at first, she fought with a careless, blank attitude; her face has now soured into a very vile, pitying look. A look of scorn and hatred emanates from within, and fuels her power. Whereas Demon Rin receives his power from Kurikara, Insane Shooter receives hers from the foul, sinful nature of her heart.

DEMON RIN: (Roaring vehemently) GWWWWWAAAAAHHHHHHH!

INSANE SHOOTER: (Silent with a vengeful look on her face) …

Demon Rin rushes towards Insane Shooter, swiping at her with his claws, and trying to slash her with Kurikara. She evades, and impales him with the cannon-lance, shooting him across the forest. As Rin gets launched away, he pulls the chain from the cannon, and recoils back towards Shooter. As the two charge head on, they swing their blades, and a heavy clash of steel rings throughout the forest. Both are knocked back by the impact. Demon Rin lunges forward once again, but from out of nowhere, Mephisto jumps out, and summons a rubber fist from his umbrella and knocks Demon Rin back. He then draws a circle, and summons a giant anvil from the sky, which crushes Rin, pinning him to the floor.

MEPHISTO: There we go… just stay right there…

DEMON RIN: (Struggling to get the heavy steel anvil off him) YYYRRRAAAAAWWWRRR!

Insane Shooter comes from behind, and swings at Mephisto. Ciri appears in a flash of green light, and parries the attack with her sword. She then teleports behind Shooter, and knocks her down with the hilt of her blade.

CIRI: Why didn't you wait for me! You could've been killed!

MEPHISTO: Relax… I knew you were right behind me.

CIRI: *sigh* This is no time for arguing. They're coming back, watch out!

Ciri narrowly dodges a piercing strike from Shooter, and swings forward with her own blade. The two continue to clash swords, while Demon Rin tackles Mephisto. Rin happened to tackle a rubber dummy Mephisto instead, and the real one leaps behind Rin and tries to grab his tail. Rin spins around, and thrusts his sword into Mephisto. This time, it turned out to be a dummy Mephisto made of straws, as the real one jumps back, and wags his finger at Demon Rin.

MEPHISTO: No no no! That's not how you do it. I always told you, not to be so hasty-

DEMON RIN: (Hurling a tree towards Mephisto) GGGRRRRAAAWWWRRRR!

MEPHISTO: (Narrowly dodging) Whoa! That one was close! No dummy that time. Cirilla? How are you doing over there darling?

CIRI: (Clashing blades with Insane Shooter) Ah! Eck! I'm- Ah! I'm managing! Hah! Worry about yourself!

MEPHISTO: Worry? About what?

DEMON RIN: (Vaulting full speed towards Mephisto) RRRAAAWWWRRRR!

MEPHISTO: (Barely being able to duck) Oh! That…

Ciri swipes at Shooter, but Shooter manages to step back. She then steadies the cannon-lance and shoots the edge of it towards Ciri.

CIRI: (Narrowly evading) Whoa! I did not expect that!

MEPHISTO: (Evading Rin's projectiles while talking) Hmm? Didn't expect what?

CIRI: That the weapon would shoot the edge off with a chain!

MEPHISTO: Well, then you're not going to expect this either.

CIRI: Huh?

Shooter uses the reverse mechanism of the cannon-lance and pulls the chain back, with the edge diving straight towards Ciri's back. In a split second, Ciri blinks away in a flash, just as the edge was about to pierce through her. She reappears to the side, but Shooter swings the chain so that it catches Ciri's leg.

CIRI: (Getting pulled towards Shooter) Ahh!

MEPHISTO: See. What did I say? Should've payed atten-

Demon Rin springs towards Mephisto, and plummets him into the ground. He tries to stab Mephisto with the Kurikara, but Mephisto barely manages to escape in a puff of smoke.

MEPHISTO: (Reappearing at a distance) Eh… the boy caught me off guard…

Insane Shooter continues to drag Ciri across the forest floor, with Ciri desperately trying to free her foot from the chain. Shooter then swoops forward, and swings her blade in her other hand at Ciri. Ciri frees herself at the last second, and once again vanishes in a blink of green light.

CIRI: (Reappearing next to Mephisto) I think… we need to change our approach.

MEPHISTO: How so?

CIRI: We can't fight them head on. We might be able to match them in strength, but we won't in stamina. They seem to never let up, always recovering no matter how many cuts, slashes, incisions, or whatever is inflicted upon them.

MEPHISTO: Cut the boy's arm off.

CIRI: What?

MEPHISTO: Just do it.

CIRI: W-Why?

MEPHISTO: I just wanted to test something.

CIRI: Ugh. Fine.

Mephisto keeps Shooter busy as Ciri teleports behind Rin and tries to cut down on him. Rin deflects the attack with Kurikara, and tries to bite Ciri, who narrowly leans her head back to avoid it. She then swings towards Rin again but this time he bites down on her blade. She struggles to free the blade, while Rin tries clawing at her body. Unable to free the blade from his teeth, Ciri forces the blade down, and cuts off Rin's lower jaw. She then spins around and swings the blade upwards, cutting through Rin's left arm and shoulder.

CIRI: (Jumping back) T-There! Happy now? Ugh… there's blood all over me.

MEPHISTO: Cut off a little more than I asked for right there… didn't have to sever the entire upper left portion of his body off…

CIRI: (Handing Mephisto her sword) Ummm… Would you like to try?

MEPHISTO: No thank you. I don't like sharp things.

CIRI: Right…

MEPHISTO: (Pointing at Rin) Look.

CIRI: What? He's regenerating. We already knew that.

MEPHISTO: But it's much quicker than I had anticipated. Now do the same for the girl. Uh… make it more interesting this time… cut off a leg.

CIRI: No. No way. They're not animals!

MEPHISTO: Just do it! Also, this time, try cutting off only the leg, not any other body part.

CIRI: Argh! I can't stand you.

MEPHISTO: Also, make sure you don't cut the head off.

CIRI: Because it will kill them on the spot?

MEPHISTO: Maybe, maybe not? Anyway, just do it. Or do I have to ask nicely? Very well then. Cirilla dear, will you please cut off her leg for me?

CIRI: This is… really… wrong…

Ciri teleports forward, first parrying Insane Shooter's blade, then swinging and knocking her cannon-lance away. She then swings downward, and severs Shooter's right leg off. Shooter falls to the ground, without any expression of pain, and just waits. Moments later, her right leg has completely regenerated, and she once again resumes her rampage.

MEPHISTO: (Knocking back Shooter) Hmm. At least you made the right cut this time.

CIRI: (Kicking back Rin) Okay… is that it? Or should I cut your leg off next? How about an arm? Or maybe your head so I can stop listening to you? Or do you want me to cut something else off you? Something a little closer to…

MEPHISTO: (Dodging Shooter's blade) Hey there now! I didn't know you thought of me in that way Cirilla!

CIRI: (Evading a fireball from Rin) Just stop… anyway, did I prove all that I needed?

MEPHISTO: Yes. Did you see how fast they regenerated? Mere seconds. It means two things. One, the longer this goes on, the better their regenerative capacities grow. And two, every time they get injured, they grow stronger when they recover.

CIRI: Meaning that since they've been fighting for so long…

MEPHISTO: That's right. They've grown much stronger than if they were alone. Shura and Saya had it wrong the entire time. Them keeping each other preoccupied only makes it more difficult for us. And with both their regeneration rates so high, they are practically equal in strength. And will continue growing stronger. But it also tells us another thing.

CIRI: That we've been fighting them wrong this entire time.

MEPHISTO: That's also right. Every cut, every boxing glove, or anvil, will just end up making them stronger the next time they attack. In fact, they both have been growing stronger exponentially.

CIRI: So what do we do?

MEPHISTO: Hmm…

DEMON RIN: (Charging towards Ciri) GGRRRAAAWWWRRRR!)

INSANE SHOOTER: (Plunging at Mephisto) …

Ciri now tries to evade Rin's attack only, not cutting him with the blade at all. Anytime Rin gets too close, she kicks him back, and then teleports away. Mephisto does the same, summoning dummies and disappearing to try to avoid her without any direct contact.

MEPHISTO: Whatever happens, we need to get them out of here. Once they get far too strong, they will end up destroying this entire forest. And then my school along with it… my beautiful True Cross Academy… that costed so much to build…

CIRI: (Starting to lose her breath) *huff* *huff* THAT'S what your worried about? Really now?

MEPHISTO: Yes, we need to take the fight somewhere else, lead them away from the city.

Demon Rin and Insane Shooter attack again, charging at Ciri and Mephisto at full speed. In one full motion, Ciri cuts both their heads clean off, and the bodies of Rin and Shooter disintegrate into flames. Slowly, the heads being to regenerate from the neck down, as Mephisto starts clapping his hands.

MEPHISTO (Clapping) Oh my! Wonderful! I can't believe you actually did that! Did you know? That it wouldn't kill them?

CIRI: No… but I had to do something, and I knew you wouldn't make a move, so I made a guess. And it turned out right, in that it didn't kill them. But it also turned out wrong, in that our last resort has gone to waste.

MEPHISTO: That's right, our last resort is gone.

CIRI: Wait… there's something else…

MEPHISTO: Hmm?

CIRI: There's a path here.

MEPHISTO: A path?

CIRI: A pathway to another dimension, it's faint, but I can open it up if I tried. I need some time though. To focus on it.

MEPHISTO: You mean… you want to transport them to another dimension? Why not just send them to Gehenna?

CIRI: I can't. I told you before, something is blocking me here. I can't open up portals like I used to, something is interfering with my power, it's not letting me travel anywhere I want.

MEPHISTO: But you can still use your power?

CIRI: A small amount of it, only to cut into this pathway that is already open. It seems someone came into this world relatively recently, and left a mark here. I can open it up, but I don't know where it will lead.

MEPHISTO: Hmm… interesting… very well, I will buy you enough time to open it. But one question first.

CIRI: Yes?

MEPHISTO: Why are you so eager to drop them into another world? They could kill each other or themselves once they've been thrown in. Or even worse, thrown into a world densely packed with innocent civilians.

CIRI: First of all, I'm not "eager" about it. I merely want to finish this, before it gets out of hand. Secondly, when I use this power, I can catch a glimpse of the other world, and sense any souls in it. A very, very faint sense. But I can see, that where ever this portal leads, it's an empty world. A hollow place, with only miles and miles of ashes. I don't know where it is, but there's no one there.

MEPHISTO: How will we get them back?

CIRI: I'll wait a while, and try to reopen it. Find this particular pathway again, and do the same. Do you think… it will work?

MEPHISTO: I don't know… maybe once Rin is at a distance from Gehenna, the gate will close, and stop feeding energy into him. And the girl… maybe she will have enough time to calm down. It's worth a shot. Go, being your process, I will keep them at bay.

CIRI: Alright… good luck…

Ciri closes her eyes, and a green aura emanates from her body. She stands still and tries to focus on opening a portal in front of her.

CIRI: Give me a minute, it's here, I can feel it.

MEPHISTO: Very well!

Demon Rin and Insane Shooter charge towards Ciri, but Mephisto summons rockets from his umbella and fires it at them. He turn proceeds to lure them away from Ciri, but has a hard time evading their attacks. He is constantly trying to dodge, but he is outnumbered, and can't keep track of both of them. Just as Demon Rin is about to deal a fatal blow to Mephisto, Ciri cuts through an empty space with her blade, and a crack opens up. For a moment, everything is still, both Demon Rin and Insane Shooter stop moving, and stare at the portal. Mephisto takes this chance to leap away to safety.

MEPHISTO: Alright, now for the hard part.

CIRI: That seemed plenty difficult for me. But regardless, let's finish this. I'll take the boy, and you the girl, we will need to throw them in at the same time, and the portal isn't going to wait for us.

MEPHISTO: Well said… by the way, grab the boy by the tail before throwing him in, it'll make it much easier for you.

CIRI: The tail?

MEPHISTO: A demon's weakness is its tail, once exposed, it is an easy target.

CIRI: Why didn't you tell me this sooner?

MEPHISTO: Didn't think it was important.

CIRI: … Anyway… where's your tail then?

MEPHISTO: We'll save that story for another time.

CIRI: Right…

MEPHISTO: Remember, when you grab it, it won't be enough to entirely put him down, but it'll buy you a few moments where he is defenseless.

CIRI: And you… find a body part also for the girl.

MEPHISTO: I'm afraid there's not much in body parts for her I want to grab.

CIRI: Excuse me?

MEPHISTO: Forget it.

CIRI: Please tell me that wasn't a joke aimed at her breast size.

MEPHISTO: No, it wasn't.

CIRI: *phew* Thank god.

MEPHISTO: It was a joke aimed at her lack of one.

CIRI: Ugh. You men… are despicable.

MEPHISTO: Oh, is that so? Well, I'll have you know-

CIRI: (Interrupting him) Okay, no more. Let's just get this over with, grab the girl… by the hair or something…

MEPHISTO: Eh… was hoping for something more… but that'll do.

Ciri teleports behind Rin, and reaches for his tail. He quickly turns and swings Kurikara, to which Ciri blocks with her own sword, Jaskółka. They continue clashing blades, until Ciri makes a perfect parry and knocks Rin back, allowing her to teleport behind him and grab his tail.

DEMON RIN: (Roaring in pain) EEEEEEERRRRRAAAWWRRRR!

CIRI: (Struggling to hold the tail and keep Rin from breaking free) I-I! I got it! Ahh! How about you!?

Mephisto is still trying to snatch Insane Shooter's long pigtail but she moves away just in time and swings her cannon-lance to keep him at bay. Unable to get in close with his short umbrella, Mephisto transforms into his dog form in a puff of smoke. Dog Mephisto runs under the cannon-lance, catching Shooter by surprise. He then runs between her legs behind her, and transforms back to his human-like form. He reaches for Shooter's hair and clutches it tightly.

MEPHISTO: (Trying to keep his grasp on her hair) When you're ready! Say the word!

CIRI: (Struggling to hold on to his tail) Alright! Now!

Both Ciri and Mephisto swing with all their might, and hurl Demon Rin and Insane Shooter spiraling into the portal. Rin and Shooter struggle to get out, clawing at the ground, but the portal's pull is too strong. Within seconds, the gateway pulls them inward, and they get devoured into the depths of the portal. Ciri slashes at the opening, and the entrance closes, without a trace of ever being there.

CIRI: I-Is that it? Is it over?

MEPHISTO: Let's hope they can't break its pull… and suddenly come back.

CIRI: No… I will have to fetch them… when… hopefully they have returned to their normal forms. There's no telling what will happen there, they might end up fighting for eternity. In which case I have broken my promise to that girl.

MEPHISTO: Don't sweat it; at least you've managed to save this world. You can't fix everything.

CIRI: But… was there more we could have done?

MEPHISTO: (Back to his usual carefree self) Well now! It's time for a celebration now that we're done! How about a high-five, or better yet, a hug? Maybe a kiss?

CIRI: (Annoyed) You never do let up do you? In that case-

A loud ring echoes through the devastated grounds of the forest, and a magic circle with strange symbols appears in the sky. Another portal opens, this time emitting a bright blue light. A figure descends from the portal, downwards towards Ciri and Mephisto. He is a very old man, but is covered in a dark robe, has gold accessories strapped around him, and a rusted gold crown on his head. He descends while sitting on a floating gold throne, etched with symbols all over. He stops just above Ciri and Mephisto, and glares down at them with an intense stare.

CIRI: You are?

EXCANDESCIUS: I am Excandescius, Emperor of Ardoris. I see that both of you have made quite your mark, sealing both the heirs of the flame away. But unlike them, you do not possess the trait that I seek, so I have no use for neither of you.

MEPHISTO: Hmmm? Just who are you…

CIRI: How did you do that? How did you manage to open up a crack in space like that?

EXCANDESCIUS: Oh, I have my methods. I might not be of the Elder Blood like you, Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon.

CIRI: W-What!? How!?

EXCANDESCIUS: Or a demon of space and time like yourself, Samael.

MEPHISTO: (Serious) Interesting…

EXCANDESCIUS: Cirilla… it will only be a matter of time… before you fall into Eredin's hands… and serve only as a puppet for the destruction of your own world.

CIRI: Tch!

EXCANDESCIUS: And you Samael…

MEPHISTO: Yes? Any kind words for me?

EXCANDESCIUS: You might think you can deceive both sides… both good and evil… but be warned… both turn their swords against you. You are not the predator here… but the prey for both sides.

MEPHISTO: (Serious) Hmpf!

EXCANDESCIUS: All will fall according to plan… this is just a minor setback.

CIRI: As long as I am here in this world, you will not succeed.

MEPHISTO: Indeed, the two are already far beyond your reach. There is nothing you can do now.

EXCANDESCIUS: Is that what you truly believe?

MEPHISTO: Yes… the fact that you haven't made your move yet… leads me to believe so.

CIRI: I can feel it; you too cannot be killed by normal means. Just like that man we left in the burning house. Maybe that is why you try to eliminate the other wielders of the flame… so nothing left in this world can take your life.

EXCANDESCIUS: (Ascending) I will take my leave now… but mark my words… this is not over yet… as long as the two heirs are alive… they are within my grasp…

Excandescius ascends back towards the magic circle, staring at the two on the ground the entire time. As he gets higher up, he disappears into the portal. The circle then vanishes, and all that is left of the sky are the dark clouds covering it.

CIRI: Well… now what?

MEPHISTO: Now… we wait… we wait for those two… both Rin and Mato.

CIRI: You have hope in them? You think they can make it back?

MEPHISTO: No. But I have no choice. The world now… lies in their hands… both of their hands.