Chapter 14

Standing before the woman that had appeared, Vali held his right hand out in a chopping motion whilst the left remained in his pocket. From that hand, his Demonic Power began to circulate through it, covering it in a silverish aura before it became his Mana Sword, all the while his body became covered by his MSK whilst his silver, slitted eyes narrowed at his opponent. 'Hmph, looks like a tough one… guess the fact that this place chooses the most powerful warriors for specific people was right…' Vali thought to himself, hiding a small smirk beneath the shadows of his Trench Coat's hood.

But like all his fights taught him, it had been an important lesson to identify the features they possessed. To that end, Vali looked at his opponent whilst he identified the enemy's features. The first thing he noticed was that this person seemed to be a woman, a woman in her mid to late twenties if he were to guess. She seemed to sport a mob of black hair which flowed down her back and ended down to her kneecaps where they were tied together into tail-like tips with metallic bands. Her eyes glowed a brilliant violet, though to Vali they oddly reminded him of sapphire instead of violet, not to mention that they made him think of his own Demonic Power based on the sensations they invoked in him. It didn't help that she seemed to smirk smugly at his hands either as if she had noticed similarities between them.

As for her outfit, he first noticed the long, hooded coat that seemed several sizes too big for her, one that trailed behind her along the Arena floor. The coat looked to be worn over a dark-colored dress, a high-low one if Vali's extensive knowledge of female clothing (provided by the ZEALOUS girls whom he knew) was to be believed. The dress seemed to go quite high on the front, almost exposing the crotch area but just stopping above it whilst on her feet were a pair of black high heels which had straps keeping them attached to her feet. On her hands, were a pair of gloves.

'I remember hearing about her once… from one of the Students back in Gamicademi… Aurora I think her name was…'

'{It would seem that this is indeed her considering what we know of her appearance, however it doesn't seem like she has her full power, either. Best end this quickly, partner so we can move on. Its best not to give those observers too much too quickly}'

'Right, got it.'

Just as Vali finished that thought process with Albion, his ears twitched as he heard the sound of the ground beneath him starting to crack. His instincts screamed at him to move in the following seconds, and Vali did so by jumping upwards… allowing him to avoid a bunch of crimson-colored Spears which rose out from where he had once stood.

'Hm? These Spears....'

Whilst the silver haired Hybrid eyed them intently, Vali also noticed them split in two like they were cells doing mitosis, allowing them to double their number and rush down at him from above. However, Vali had a counter in mind as his sword arm became a blur of motion, expertly twisting and smacking away at the Spears which would have hit him otherwise, resulting in them being deflected to the ground away from him. 'Something is up with those Spears, I sense. There's a feeling of ana coming from them…' the boy thought warily… becoming right to be so when the following events happened.

The moment the Spears impaled the ground around him, they seemingly came to life by exploding into branch-like Tentacles, becoming glinting, needle-like lines which numbered over a thousand if he were to guess. Add in the fact that they came down on him from all directions, and Vali found himself in a bit of a pickle. 'Perhaps developing an AOE attack from my Mana Series would be a wise decision in the future…' Vali thought as he activated his Mana Zone (MZ) to gather the ambient Mana in his surroundings to form thousands of small MB's that fell onto the Tentacles from above like droplets of rainwater.

After they were dealt with and the smoke cleared, the two fighters once again locked their gazes.

If fighting had taught him anything then Vali would say that 'reading the enemy's movements' resembled a conversation of sorts. The quivering weapon tips, the eyes direction, feet positioning, every tiny detail had their own meaning with the ability to read and respond in accordance to those meaning-making up the essence of combat. The power to read the meaning of an opponent from their smallest actions and to provide a better response in kind, Vali saw these as the greatest concepts of battle.

The higher one's conversational strength was, the further they could read and respond, not to mention read their opponent's response and respond to that one in turn. One could say that this little loop could potentially be endless if skilled warriors did this all the time… but on the other hand, if there were a big enough difference then this conversation wouldn't take place. Higher conversational strength meant to evaluate the enemy's strength in such a short time as the brief moment he and Aurora locked gazes, not to mention this philosophy had helped him secure a rival in the Sword Saint Reinhard.

In the end, that brief eye-locking allowed Vali to predict the following moves as 9 Spears that had log-like widths burst out the ground, destroying the silence that they had built. Vali quickly acted by taking out his right hand and generated some MB's around it, then fired them at the Spears. However, that move turned out to be a tad too late since the Spears had already sprouted Tentacles that had launched towards him, destroying his MB's and forcing Vali to go onto the defensive.

Stabbing like spears, entangling like Strings and snapping like Jaws… that turned out to be this Aurora lady's fighting style, Vali summarized in his head. In addition, it seemed that she could freely manipulate them to torment her prey as if they were in a one-sided argument. However, thanks to sussing this out Vali found the optimal strategy for countering it: Since she generated Tentacles from those Spears, Vali decided to keep peppering them with showers of MB's via his Mana Zone, which had only grown in effectiveness thanks to him training it as much as he had since his fight with the former Princes. Heck, since these techniques came from his Demonic Power, he began to think about renaming them since his power wasn't Mana, so he didn't see the name 'Mana Series' as the right name for it anymore.

However, thanks to constantly dodging attacks, bombarding his opponent's Tentacles with his Mana Zone-aided MB's, Vali eventually found himself in front of his opponent and within striking range. This was something he had been waiting for… as well as the woman herself since she seemed to have formed some kind of Scythe to try and mow him down. However, Vali fired a couple Mana Rays through two fingers on his left hand at her wrists, causing her to hiss and reflexively drop the Scythe to the ground. After summoning his Divine Dividing, Vali then kicked her left shin backward to knock her into a kneeling position, this brief contact being enough for the Sacred Gear to activate and split her power in half, putting it into his own and refueling his Demonic Power reserves although he mentally savored the shocked expression she wore when feeling this happen.

When she looked up though, the woman before him noticed how Vali had already poised his MS for a reverse horizontal slash and smirked in acceptance for what was about to come. "You know… that fight may have been short, but I bet you found it fun. Me too… and it would have been better if BOTH of us could fight at full power…" he whispered in a low voice so only she could hear… before ruthlessly decapitating her like a butcher cutting his merchandise in his shop.

In the CPU's Venue…

"How is that possible?!" Noire exclaimed as she stood up from her seat, putting her hands on the railing as she observed the battle's conclusion. The blackette had expected this battle to be over with the witch's decisive victory since men usually aren't as powerful as women. That was just how it was… yet, the opposite turned out to be true with this guy having multiple Lost Items seemingly, a reportedly durable outfit and a series of Techniques which he developed himself that seemed damn BROKEN in terms of gameplay. What the hell was going on here?! That's what she had been asking herself since the battle's conclusion. "No one is able to even defeat her!"

Meanwhile, Vert didn't look nearly as uncomposed as she sipped some tea elegantly like he had anticipated this happening from the start. A low chuckle escaped her lips with a snort as well. "Heh, as expected of one of my Saints."

When she heard how casual the Leanbox CPU seemed to be over this issue, Noir gritted her teeth as she turned on her boots to look back at the tall blonde woman. "Vert this is serious, no male should be this powerful, especially Reinhard! This boy, Vali, should be a considered threat! This could mean that males are starting to get more powerful than women, that could ruin our society!"

"Times are changing Noire, we can't keep the society as it's always been forever. Just like animals over the course of centuries, it's bound to evolve down paths nobody's intended." Vert replied reasonably.

Though, Noire was far from done with this argument. "So you would let our hard work go down the drain, then?!" she exclaimed to her.

"Nothing lasts forever, Noire. As I said, it's bound to happen, a new age is starting to appear."

Growling at the fact that she wasn't getting through to Vert right now, Noire turned on her heeled boots and began striving towards the venue's entrance. "Like hell it is! We spent centuries making our society and you don't care about it?! Fine, I'll handle this myself then!" she declared.

Such a declaration did NOT sit well with the Leanbox CPU however, as she once more spoke but this time her voice felt more like a dagger made of cold ice. Killing Intent radiated from her as her words got shot out like they were bullets from a gatling gun. "Don't you dare Noire, he is MY Combat Saint and a resident of MY Nation. If you do ANYTHING to him or Reinhard, then war will happen between you and me. I'm pretty sure Vali would LOVE to fight in the frontlines. Are you going to do this again, like we did decades ago?"

"Shut it you lot! Let's calm down and NOT make any bad fucking stupid ass decisions!" Blanc, this time taking the spot for the voice of reason instead of Noire or Vert like it normally was in their antics, declared as she quickly tried to diffuse the situation. It wasn't often that it was THESE two who faced off against one another in a bout of ideals or over trivial matters, usually it was her and Vert with Neptune being the brat of the bunch. However, since there were civilians nearby she didn't want them to get caught in the crossfire, so she had to step in before things got too out of hand.

Even Neptune stepped in, surprisingly enough with a pretty fearful look on her face as she flailed her arms up and down fast enough to make them resemble blurs. "Yeah! I finally made an appearance after the authors didn't include me to this, but a war between two continents would not only result in plenty of bad ends, but also the loss of our share energy!"

"You two don't get it, those two will not only ruin our society that we built for centuries but also the danger of males having the same Mana potential as women!" Noire protested, knowing that there was a big risk for men to have such powers in their bodies.

Knowing that Vert was nearing the edge of just going 'fuck it' and go nuclear on their asses, something which was rare enough since she herself had that role, Blanc planted a hand on her face and sighed. "You're overthinking it too much, Noire. Kei! Take her somewhere where she can calm down, we don't want any casualties to happen."

The one which Blanc had yelled to, Kei, nodded her head in response. In terms of appearance, Kei looked to be a boy, when in reality she was of the opposite gender. She had short silver hair and cobalt blue eyes, wearing a black suit-like outfit with a blue tie and black shorts instead of pants. Her legwear consisted of below the knee black socks and black shoes with blue line designs and silver circles in the center. "Agreed, lady Blanc. Come on Lady Noire let's get you to your room."

"Ggggrrrrrhhhhh, Blanc even you should know that he's a danger to our society! He could even be a threat to OUR people!"

Trying her best to retain her temper as Noire yelled at her as well as the instinct to smack the other CPU upside the head with her hammer (she'd better be grateful since she did that for lesser crimes), Blanc still played the voice of reason role in her. "I already know about that Noire, but I am not paranoid as you are. I care deeply about my people, but I am not going to drag or take action towards those two. They have not proven themselves as a threat to Leanbox or other Nations, so unless they are then I will take action. But for now calm the fuck down and go to your room Noire, let your head cool a bit. You're overthinking too much."

"She is right lady Noire, you're overthinking too much, let's calm down and go to your room, maybe playing your favorite game would help.���

"....... fine, but mark my words: In the future they WILL be a threat to us Vert."

"... Then I'll deal with it when the time comes, Noire."

"THAT WAS AWESOME, VALI!"

Meanwhile, in the stands amidst the cheering crowds, things were hectic… but in a different way as Alpha hopped up and down on the spot. Her arms were raised as she repeatedly shook her hands as if she were rubbing against something, a massive and wide grin on her face.

Yet as Alpha hooted and howled for joy at Vali's victory alongside his MANY fans (both men AND women alike… take that in whatever context you wish), Angelica rubbed her sensitive ears in mild annoyance. "Seriously if you keep screaming, you'll make us deaf." she complained like a whining child.

Something which Alpha frowned at her friend for. "Hey at least you have to do something to show him support." She told her, prompting Angelica to aim a flat stare in return.

"That doesn't mean screaming Alpha."

Meanwhile, Olivia had another thought process in mind as she stared at the Arena… or to be more specific, the part where the woman had once stood before she'd faded away. "Still who was that woman that Vali faced?" she questioned in confusion, which made sense. Since well, she was a commoner and thus she didn't know a lot about certain things.

Fortunately for her, Emilia did as she cupped her chin in thought. "Hmmmmmmmm, I believe it was Aurora the witch of ruin."

"Witch of ruin? Why is she called like that?"

"There isn't much about her in the archives of the Academy, but when we found the lost items we also found ancient books detailing a bit about her. According to the legends, she plunged the world into chaos and destruction long ago, but there isn't much about her, even when I asked Luxon he doesn't know either." Emilia replied.

"I see, if Vali fights her with her full power...….. Who would be the victor?"

"........ I don't know Olivia, even with all that power and that lost item he has, I don't know if it would be enough to beat her."

"..... I see."

"As expected from Vali, nothing could beat him."

"...... especially if he IS a half-devil."

Within the crowds in another portion of the Stadium, several figures concealed in dark, hooded cloaks conversed with one another, having watched the battle themselves. The only reason why people haven't considered them as suspicious individuals well, was either because they were just too captivated by the performance Vali had shown to care… or because it was Gamindustri and anything weird could be seen as part of normal life here.

"Who cares about that, this is Delta's chance to get a rematch with him!"

One of the cloaked figures shuffled on the spot as if they were trying to restrain themselves from leaping forth into that Arena and getting a shot to fight the dark clothed boy, something which the figure's colleagues, the majority of them seeming to be female in gender due to their voices, didn't approve of. This got confirmed with another of the figures glanced over at the one who'd spoken previously and commented as dryly as she did. "..... you're using this as an excuse to spend more time with him, aren't you Delta?"

"I'm not!"

"..... your tail says otherwise."

True to the figure's words, behind the figure called Delta a long black Tail about the length of a longsword had begun swishing about to represent the feeling of excitement similar to a dog when it sees its owner for the first time in a long while. Much to the figure called Delta's dismay as she tried to conceal it with her cloak again, to little effect as she heatedly glared at the one who'd pointed it out. "Wha-hey! It's rude to look at other people's tails!"

"It's clearly wide open, idiot."

"Who's an idiot?! Delta knows that you are an idiot clumsy elf!"

"Clumsy?! Who is a clumsy one, dog!"

"I'm a wolf!"

"They are clearly the same species!"

As the two began to argue with one another, the third figure pinched the bridge of her nose with her right hand, showing a dark-colored glove and nothing else thanks to her cloak. "Urgh, shut up you two! If you don't, then we will be discovered!" she finally yelled at the other two cloaked figures when she couldn't take it anymore.

"... fine, but Delta can't help that she is sensing something is about to happen."

".... Maybe so, Delta."

"WHAT A SPECTACULAR EVENT IT WAS, AS EXPECTED FROM THE COMBAT SAINT AND THE UNBEATABLE PRINCE!"

"OH COME ONE, ANOTHER ONE?!"

"WHAT DO YOU EXPECT MAN, A DEFEAT?!"

"DAMMIT, LOSE FOR ONCE!"

"YOU ARE THE BEST, VALI!"

"COME HERE AND I'LL GIVE YOU A REWARD!"

"NO LET ME GIVE YOU A REWARD!"

"WHAT DO YOU SAY, BITCH!?"

"AND NOW-WHAT THE?!"

Before the announcer could say any more, something emerged onto the Arena that threw him for a loop alongside everyone else: a light, one which blinded the whole crowd including Vali, his group members, the hooded figures, and the CPUs. It only lasted a couple seconds before it died down though, and in front of them stood a magnificent looking door, with one side being a male angel and the other side a female angel. The doors began to open seconds later, with only the CPUs in their venu recognizing it.

"No nepping way!"

"This is!"

"The Sacramental grounds reacted?!"

"Reacted?" Kei blinked as she returned from bringing Noire to her room. However, upon doing so the blackette had since returned to the venue to see what was going on. She too became as stunned as her fellow CPUs whilst Kei questioned them about this strange event.

Noire nodded, taking the chance to explain the situation. "Yes, this is the only day in the century that the door may open. Depending on who tries to open them are three possibilities: the gate of the unwelcomed, the gate of the summoned, and the gate of accepted. There is no way to tell which is until one enters. This isn't good if things progress this way... We have to remove the barrier!"

"Alright….. WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Just as Blanc had tried to do what she had set out to do, a curse left her lips when she felt a stinging sensation on her hand, forcing her to yank it back after she'd tried to reach out towards the Barrier. Of course, this startled the other CPUs with Vert this time being the one to request answers. "What is it, Blanc?"

The brunette CPU turned towards them whilst showing her hand, the other CPUs going wide eyed at the sight of this lightning-like scorch mark running down the back of it. Even so, the CPU of Lowee gritted her teeth to bear the pain as she bit out the following words. "The fucking barrier's not responding! Some shithead's interfering with it!"

"Nep-wha?! Holy cybersticks! How the heck can that be a thing?!" Neptune shrieked in panic.

"I don't know! Something outside must be causing this! We gotta fucking take action now, before more shit goes down!"

Meanwhile, down in the Arena...

Vali stood with his hands pocketed in his coat, his eyes staring at the door when it opened whilst his coat tails fluttered in the breeze they generated. His eyes narrowed at the structure as a confused frown formed on his lips. "......huh never saw this door before."

"{Hmmmmmm me nether partner, when you made that comment to that spirit, it must've reacted.}"

Humming at Albion's words, the silver-haired male looked up towards the two angelic statues, all kinds of bad feelings swirling within his gut. "When a gate randomly appears like this… it's pretty much impossible NOT to be suspicious..."

"{it does partner, I'd advise to not go to it.}"

Oh yeah, he could agree with that. Vali shook his head as he turned to walk away from the gate, waving a hand dismissively behind him at it. "No need to worry there. I'm not like those idiotic, simplistic dumbasses who would blindly go for something unknown."

"{Indeed so-?! VALI, LOOK OUT!}"

"WHA?!" Time almost seemed to slow down for Vali as he slowly inclined his head backwards so he could glance behind him at the gate… which had slowly begun to open before him and start spewing out this thick, black miasma out into the Arena. However, that wasn't all, for from the black void inside came a whole FLURRY of black tentacles, all aimed towards his position. Seeing this, Vali cursed as he jumped upwards, dodging an incoming black tentacle, then formed an MS and slashed it before more began pouring out from the gate. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE THOSE THINGS?!"

"{I don't know but something clearly wants you to be at the gate!}"

"WELL IT CAN KISS MY ASS, I'M NOT GOING TO IT!"

"OH NO, VALI!"

The moment that they saw the Gate start opening up the way it did, immediately Alpha and the other girls all donned their Slime Suits (which were infused within their flesh like Vali's so they could be called on at will) in order to take immediate action. By this point, all of them had access to them thanks to Vali being able to access the resources needed to mass-produce them, resulting in them ALL being equipped with the protective garments.

Angelica growled under her breath, her inner berserker starting to come out as she gnashed her teeth. "COME ON YOU STUPID BARRIER, OPEN UP!" she bellowed, forming a sword from her Slime Suit in order to start hacking away at the Barrier. Her Slime Suit looked rather similar to Alpha's in regards to it covering everything below her neck, but instead of a waistcloth around saif body part her Slime Suit possessed a frilly skirt similar to those a ballet dancer would wear. Not to mention her suit's legwear looked like a mix of bodysuit and armored, spiky looking greeves which ended in sharp-looking heels.

"ARE THE CPUS EVEN DOING ANYTHING?!" Emilia cried as she too formed a sword from her suit, or rather she formed two Swords and gripped them firmly, quickly going into a flurry of slashes that would make a professional fencer green with envy. In regards to HER Slime Suit, hers looked similar to her usual dress-like outfit, only the motif was all black and the 'skirt' part was slightly longer. It didn't cover all her thighs though, revealing how the bodysuit beneath still covered her form alongside the extra layers of clothing. Her feet also ended in heels similar to Olivia's whilst her hands and forearms were covered by black, almost demonic-looking gauntlets.

Glancing over to them, Olivia shouted back to them as she summoned her own Sword from her Slime Suit and began her own rampage, although more swift and less powerful than the other girls. "I CAN SEE THEM TRYING TO DO SOMETHING, BUT SOMETHING'S HOLDING THEM BACK!" she bellowed, her Slime Suit taking on the form of a bodysuit like the others, only hers had stiletto-heeled boots with golden heels and her hands were normal gloves, similar to Alpha's.

Just as the girls were trying to get the barrier open, their eyes all widened with sheer horror when they saw Vali struggling to escape by hacking and slicing the tentacles from the Gate, as it continued to spew out more and more Tentacles from within the darkness. Things only got worse when one Tentacle caught his hand and made him nearly unbalanced.

"VALI!"

Luckily he activated his Lost item, his two Wings flaring outwards as he regained his balance and slashed the one holding onto his hand, before rapidly ascending upwards as the Tentacles gave chase.

Then, as if they came from out of nowhere, three figures appeared by the side of them as they tried to get the barrier open. Thanks to the fast motions, their hoods fell to allow Alpha and Emilia to recognize them.

"HUH? GAMMA, DELTA, EPSILON?!"

"NO TIME RIGHT NOW!"

"WHY CAN'T DELTA BREAK THIS DAMN BARRIER?!

"COME ON!"

Just as they continued, their horror only increased to downright terror when they saw a tentacle grab onto Vali's leg and YANK him down to the ground, electing a sharp gasp from him. As if sensing their opportunity, the other tentacles quickly converged on him like wolves pounding on a weakened sheep, grabbing onto various parts of his body before beginning the task of pulling him to the gate. It wasn't like he would make it easy for them though, as Vali gnashed his teeth whilst stabbing two MSs into the Arena floor, trying to make them makeshift clutches.

"NOOOOO VALI!"

The girls each cried out as they saw their man start losing ground despite him resisting with all his might. Yet they keep trying and, subconsciously due to their extreme stress and fear of losing Vali, Alpha, Epsilon, Delta and Gammas' bodies briefly flashed with silver energy, energy which ended up releasing a single HUGE burst of power forwards. As a result of it colliding with the barrier, it managed to tear a hole through it like a hole in a sheet of glass. None of the girls questioned this however, and quickly made use of the hole to jump inside. By the time that they did this, the two MSs gave out as Vali roared, getting dragged into the gate too and vanishing inside it.

"COME ON GIRLS, WE CAN'T LOSE VALI" Angelica called out as she, after jumping through the hole, rolled across the ground and got back up to her feet, breaking forth into a mad dash towards the slowly closing door.

A unanimous "RIGHT!" escaped the lips of the other girls as they too dashed forth after performing their own aerial flips, twists and spins to the hole. Right now none of them cared about subtlety anymore, nor did they care about who would be watching them, all they gave a damn about was the fact that their man had been kidnapped and they had to go help him out.

But…

What they did NOT anticipate…

Was for a pint-sized blur to suddenly shoot through the hole in the barrier and join them as they all jumped through the closing gate. "WAIT FOR NEP-NEP, I NEED TO BE A PART OF THIS AS THIS MY CHANCE TO SHINE!"

For a moment, the girls blinked in confusion at the unfamiliar voice, but didn't stop their running to find out the source. Following this, the gate closed behind the group of girls, halting any chance of further pursuit.

"GGGAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH UGH! OW, FUCK GAH OOF AHH OWW!"

Vali fell from the skies above, crashing through what he FELT was solid concrete until he finally landed on metallic ground front first. "Uggghhhhh...… damn CPU, why does this happen to me? Ugh." The boy groaned, his consciousness on the verge of fading into darkness.

'{I believe it's what we call devil's luck. Sometimes there is good, sometimes there is bad.}'

"..... I hate this luck so very damn much, to the point where I wish I weren't a devil. Ugh where the fuck am I?" The boy wondered as he forcefully kept himself from being knocked out, looking around to gauge his surroundings. It turned out that he DID crash through some kind of metallic roof like he had sensed when falling earlier… if anything the boy found himself being unnerved at the fact that he seemed to be in some kind of dungeon-like area. Not only that, but this place really creeped him out on an instinctual level, like this place had some kind of presence to it that just revolted him down to his bones.

Perhaps this was the Devils' hate for anything holy that Albion had once told him about regarding their dislike for light since it hurt them. If that was the case, then he did NOT want to be here any longer than necessary.

'{I am unsure. However, I do believe that wherever we are, it's inside that Gate. Best keep your guard up, Partner. No telling what there is in here.}'

"I see.... Alright lets-"

"Hi there, lad."

"?!"

He turned around and saw the same woman who he fought before in the arena, only she seemed to be in a… much more dire state than he remembered. She looked to be in chains that bound her arms and legs, restricting her movement till she would likely be summoned out into the world once again. However, Vali didn't think too much about that as he narrowed his eyes at her, forming dual MSs into existence.

Yet, even as she saw them and became aware of the fact that he could just end her right now, the woman didn't show any fear towards the prospect. In fact, she still had that smirk on her lips as she inclined her head slightly to the left. "Quite a nasty fall you had their lad." she remarked, glancing upwards at the ceiling of her little 'cell' where the boy had fallen down from.

Vali narrowed his eyes at this, raising his right MS and pointing it's tip towards her torso. If he got close enough, he would be able to jump forwards and run her through if her answers to his following questions didn't satisfy him. "..... are you the one who dragged me into the gate, woman?" he questioned slowly, his eyes regaining their silver tint as the seconds went by.

Tilting her head to the opposite side, the woman kept her smirk on as she responded. "Dragged you? No I can't even do anything right now due to these holding me. In fact, I would say that another was responsible for pulling you in." she explained, causing Vali to frown as he remembered the whole being overwhelmed by Tentacles thing.

The more that he thought about it, the more that he began to feel like this woman had been telling the truth, for those Tentacles had felt a lot different compared to the ones she had used. Whereas the womans' ones had resembled thorns and felt more like extensions of her own body, those ones resembled less like Tentacles and more like cable wires. "I see.... What is this place I've been dragged to?" Whilst he comprehended the situation, Vali then decided to ask this woman where he was, looking around from side to side since she seemed like someone who knew more about this place than he did.

"This is the Sanctuary, a memory jail. I am the link that connects this memory, think of me more like a ghost."

"I see, thanks for the answer woman I'll take my leave."

"Wait you insolent brat. I'm a fair maiden in distress. Would you mind rescuing me?"

For a moment, the silver-haired boy gave a deadpanned look towards her, as if he were questioning her mental competence or something as equally insulting. "...... why would I even do that when you seem to be imprisoned? I'm not like those idiots who would save a damsel in distress." he questioned her, causing the woman to roll her eyes at him.

"Oh my, what a rude boy you are, especially with that dark type of power." she stated knowingly, making Vali's eyes narrow at her.

The feeling that he had gotten from her from their fight had been more accurate than he'd realized, it seemed. "...Do you want me to cut that tongue of yours woman? Because I would gladly do so." he spat out.

However, the woman showed zero offence to this, and instead came up with a more optimal solution to this dilemma. "Why don't we make a deal, then? You free me from these restraints, and exchange I will guide you out of this sanctuary. Besides, since you have been asking me these questions, it makes me think you haven't been here before. Therefore, you would get lost in this memory forever without a guide to help you escape. What do you say?" she offered.

On his side of things, Vali scowled as he quickly made to refuse this deal, however he stopped at the last second. After all, the woman did indeed have a point, since he had only arrived here once and that was today, he didn't know the layout of this place. She seemed like she did so her helping him escape this place sounded like a good idea. "........ Fine, but if you even try to backstab me, then I will make sure your existence will be gone forever." he declared, getting an understanding nod from the woman.

With that said Vali then swung his right Mana Sword in a reverse upward manner, slicing through one restraint, then did the same for the other one with his left. He then sliced up the ones around her Legs, making them fall to the ground and allowing the woman to be free.

Once he freed her, the woman stretched her arms with a groan of satisfaction escaping her lipstick-covered lips. "Thanks for saving me. It's been around a thousand years since I tasted freedom." she told him in gratitude as she made to walk towards the door behind Vali.

Now THAT got his attention as he almost stepped back in surprise. "Wait, around a thousand years? Are you a CPU or something?" he questioned, finding himself mildly curious about this woman's identity.

However, it seemed as though he had guessed wrong since she gave him a confused look. "A CPU?..." she began, trailing off before a figurative lightbulb switched on in her head. "Oh, you mean the goddesses! No I am not a CPU, I'm far from it. Besides, my energy is too dark to be one. Think of me as an immortal, a pseudo-CPU." she replied, although the amount of vagueness and generalization wasn't something which the silver-haired male appreciated.

"........ I see. Weren't you let out for the goddess trial's?" Vali questioned as he saw the woman open the door by forming a Magic Circle over it and the sound of unlocking escaped it. The door then opened, allowing her and him to follow into the outside.

Before she did though, the woman turned her head a bit so she could look at him out the corner of her eye. "Yeah, that was the original plan. But it was fun, after all I didn't expect someone who would defeat me. Especially from someone who has such dark energy, almost the same as mine."

Vali rolled his eyes at that, as he dismissed his weapons at last before pocketing his hands inside his coat, one which had its multiple tails flutter from a small breeze blowing through the wilderness. "Uh huh. Then, what's keeping you here? if you're so powerful why did you not leave this place?" he asked, wondering why this woman had this much power, but didn't leave this place beforehand. Those with power could go wherever they wanted, that was something Vali believed in from growing up and seeing how female nobles acted.

However, the woman shook her head as the two walked closely, Vali by her right side. "I'm afraid it's not simple, the inside of the sanctuary is really complicated because there are plenty of places that don't allow magic. At the center of the sanctuary lies a core that sucks up magic, but if we break it we will be freed from this glorified prison." she explained.

'A place which absorbs Magic, huh…? That would be problematic for people of this world… but what of myself? Would my Demonic Power be affected too since it's not Magic…?' the boy wondered whilst cupping his chin with his thumb and index finger. 'Heck, even if it does get taken from me, I could just replenish my reserves with Divine Dividing, since I have quite the stamina reserves left from my previous battle with this woman.' Looking back up to the woman, Vali asked another question. "And how are we even going to find that place?"

This time however, the woman's tone brightened up, which told Vali all he needed to know even before the answer came. "You're in luck, I happen to know the route to the center. Come, follow me."

Not long into their walk, Vali and the woman finally came across something which caught the silver-haired male by surprise: a young girl, wearing a simple white dress which looked to be torn and dirty, curled up in the middle of a small plain. She looked to have curled into a fatal position, currently sobbing judging by the sounds that she had made and how Vali could see faint teardrops falling from her head's position down to the ground.

"What is this place?"

"The scenery of a memory. My memory."

"... is that you? Looks kinda pitiful."

"It is. My memory is incomplete."

Kneeling before the distraught-looking girl, the woman then raised a hand and slapped her, something which made Vali blink in surprise before angrily narrowing his eyes at her. "Hey. what the fuck are you doing woman?!"

"Look."

"What do you even mean lo-?!" Of course, Vali had made to yell at her some more, but when he looked at the girl again, his eyes widened slightly and his breath got caught in his throat when he saw not a single bruise on the girl. Instead, a crack appeared when she slapped her before everything shattered like broken glass, revealing that the scenery had changed into something of a medieval era which Vali had seen when he read and played games for his history project.

"Wha? What is even going on here?"

"It's the sanctuary, it constantly always tortures me by showing a distant memory of mine."

"... I see, and slapping the girl can help?"

"In order to continue its best to end this memory if we want to get out of here."

She picks a fallen sword and head towards the girl who was nearby, still in that same position. The more he saw this girl the way she was, and the more he realized that she was the younger version of the woman, something happened inside Vali that didn't happen often: he began to feel sorry for her. By no means was he saint, well not in the emotional sense, but the way she looked often reminded him of what Vali HIMSELF could have been like if he were raised by his father, according to what Albion had told him about said man.

Unaware of the boy's thoughts, the woman raised the sword preparing to execute her... However, just as she was about to kill her Vali saw something move from a nearby corpse, before realizing the truth. Quickly taking action, he made a lunge for her and grabbed her by wrapping an arm around her waist just in time for a corpse to swing at her. "Look carefully woman!"

"?!"

The move indeed caught the woman by surprise, but she couldn't stay that way for long. Once Vali saved her, she and him began to see multiple corpses rising up around them. Looked like they were all once soldiers due to most being covered in militia-like armour

"The corpse are-!?"

"Whats going on here, woman?!"

"It's the sanctuary. It's rejecting us, telling us not to proceed further."

"Then how should we get out of here?"

"There is one thing and you know what you do."

"What do yo...….. oh I see. I'll make this quick then."

Since he hadn't that much time, Vali took one of the swords from the ground and then sprinted toward the girl as he hacked and slashed away the corpses, before he managed to find an opening. Taking that opportunity, Vali threw the sword like a javelin, stabbing her in the chest. The girl then begins to crack like a glass before breaking up and destroying the place, though the silver haired boy frowned as he looked away from it. . "... Thank goodness that ended a lot faster than I expected."

Once the scenery began to clear up, they found themselves in front of a large gate which had some chains that were blocking the door. "Up ahead is the sanctuary's core room. There's something inside we need to destroy to leave here." The woman explained as she pointed towards the door.

Pocketing his hands into his Trench Coat, Vali hummed thoughtfully before glancing beside him at her. "What are you going to do when you're out?"

"I'm going off the grid, I think it would be nice. This place is a jail to continuously relive memories for eternity. This is too much for me..." the woman replied, softly trailing off with a sense of weariness entering her voice.

Something felt wrong to him about that statement, and it proved to be something which he couldn't ignore no matter how hard he tried. The way she said it with such resignation and detachment, it sounded to him like she had just given up on not just escaping but on life in general and just wanted to see an end to it all. Combined with what he had seen from those bits of memories, Vali felt inclined to believe that was indeed the case. "I see..." he muttered, trailing off afterwards in order to ponder this information.

'{That would be impossible for her, she will never be able to leave this place even if she isn't restrained anymore.}'

Just then, his thoughts got interrupted by Albion, who spoke with a tone almost just as grim as her tone had sounded in resignation, slightly worrying the half-Devil. 'Wha? What do you mean, isn't she alive?' the boy questioned his Sacred Gear's tenant.

'{Yes and no, she is alive but she isn't. What you see Vali is a living soul}'

Yet, the answer to that question only gave him more things to answer about, as souls were a bit of a new territory for him… for multiple reasons. 'A soul? How is that possible?' Vali questioned as he looked to the woman who had stepped on over to the doorway with some intent in mind, though he didn't know what that was yet.

'{Allow me to explain: there are two types of souls: living and dead. A dead soul is when a person is killed and is then taken to be judged, either to go to the afterlife or hell. A living soul is when someone is still alive but has a soul missing from its body. Even if she escapes, she is somehow bound to this place.}'

Albion explained this as the woman began to do something to the door, something which he couldn't see but Vali could tell it had to do with the locks themselves considering the cracks that had started to form on them. '....... then how will we ever get out of here? I need her to show me the exit or else I'll be stuck here.... Forever.' he questioned, not wanting to remain in here till the last of his days. That just sounded like torture, not to mention that who knows when this place will be opened again and he doubted that even if it did open he would have been able to escape as easily as he'd hope.

'{Let me think...… Ahhhh! I just got an idea.}'

However, hearing that his sole companion having an idea enter his brain filled Vali with a sense of eagerness, like the kind any human would have when being offered a way out of a seemingly hopeless situation. 'What is it Albion?' he asked.

'{Simple, you bind her to your soul so that she won't be bound to this place and she will tell you how to get out of here.}'

'..... I'm pretty sure that I don't know any soul binding magic, because there is no copy or any instructions on how to perform one. It was forbidden by the CPUs since it would have messed with the Share Energy they have.' Vali responded dryly. According to the rulebooks, practicing any magic to do with the soul had been considered a taboo practice, and he only had figured this out after stumbling across a book containing brief references to it during a time when he had been working on a homework assignment.

He'd never seen that book again afterward.

A derisive scoff escaped the Dragon within, almost like it were insulted.

'{Do you know who you're speaking to? Just because I have been bound to this Sacred Gear that does not mean I have centuries worth of knowledge.}'

'.... nevermind, do you know a spell that can help?' Looked like he would be using Soul-type Magic after all, then. It sounded like it was the only way for them to escape this place, not to mention that… well, if it would help that woman escape this place too then Vali wouldn't really mind. Not only was she strong, but since she'd reside within his soul he would be able to spar with her any time he wanted. A strong fighting partner with easy access to? Without any need for something pointless like social nonsense? Now THAT sounded like an appealing concept.

'{I do now this is a simple binding soul, but must be concentrated if you want the soul to be bind to you, if you lose your concentrate then the soul will be dispatched.}'

'.... alright teach me the spell.'

"I don't need to be rude but..... Why did you follow us lady Purple Heart? Couldn't you be with the other CPUs?"

Meanwhile, in another section of the Sanctuary several black-clothed figures wandered down a long corridor, one which looked like it belonged inside an ancient Medieval castle reminiscent of a time in Leanbox's past.

These figures turned out to be Angelica, Olivia, Alpha, Emilia, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon… although, out of the girls ONE of them stood out more than the rest due to being dressed mostly in purple and white.

"Why I finally made an appearance to the story after I didn't get the chance to even be in it! The authors could've had me included since I'm the main character of the franchise!" Proclaimed Neptune, the CPU of Planeptune, in response to Alpha's question, literally bouncing along the walkway without much care in the world with her hands tied behind her back like some kind of military general.

Seeing this, and knowing from experience with some of the… dumber of people, Alpha chose not to continue the conversation on her end. "Oooookkkaaayyyy."

As she said, on HER end, however since Neptune didn't take the hint, she just continued instead. "And also to see what's inside of the gate!" She explained while hopping up and down on the spot.

This time however, in order to help Alpha out Angelica stepped up to the challenge as she asked her. "Don't you know about the gate lady Purple Heart?"

Turning to look at the blonde Leanbox Noblewoman, Neptune shrugged her shoulders carelessly whilst replying. "The gate never appeared before during the trials, it was made by the previous CPU generation and I want to see what they left behind!" After saying this, she hopped into the air and thrusted her fist upwards… seemingly freezing in place like it were the end of some kind of movie where the heroes had just triumphed against the big bad enemy.

"...I see... (Whisper) is she eligible to even be a CPU?"

"(Whisper) I don't know Angelica, for all I know they were chosen to lead."

"....(Whisper) Delta thinks she has some screws loose."

"(Whisper) We all think the same thing Delta."

Several of the girls huddled up together and made whispering remarks about the Planeptune CPU, though seeing her in person it made them wonder how she had even became one in the first place. After all, when they thought of a CPU they thought of someone like Vert who took her work seriously and had a relationship with her people. THIS girl on the other hand… seemed more like the exact opposite.

Still, as if she hadn't heard those comments, Neptune turned towards Alpha and leaned in close, humming thoughtfully whilst cupping her chin like some kind of detective. "Hmmmmm… You know….. Your face looks kinda familiar, elf girl." she remarked, thoughtfully.

Although this did little to decrease the level of annoyance, surprise and confusion Alpha felt inside of her. Still, respectfully she formed and provided a response to the Planeptune CPU's statement. "Its Alpha Lady Purple heart, but what do you mean familiar?"

"Hmmmm… strange...I can't put a nep-finger on it… Maybe it's to do with the new Vtuber Game that's coming out shortly... or it could have something to do with that statue!"

They looked in front of them and became surprised that ahead of them, looked to be some kind of statue, just as Neptune had pointed out (rather literally at that). The statue looked to be a beautiful, gallant, almost divine even, figure of a woman warrior, clad in metallic ancient Leanbox-based armour with a large sword at hand. Not only that though, but her appearance strangely looked like almost an exact MIRROR IMAGE to Alpha.

Needless to say, the said Elf gaped at the sight.

"What the... Alpha your face it's the same as-!"

"Hers..."

A thoughtful look crossed onto Gamma's face as she stared at the statue's face. "Hmmmmmm… Ohhhh! I know who she is! She is Olivier, one of the heroes that killed Diabolos!"

"Olivier?..... Then why does her face look like mine, Lady Purple heart?"

"Hmmmmm…" Once again, Neptune began to think, scratching her head like a monkey until the answer came to her. "It's said she had a family of her own, but it wasn't confirmed back then. Sooooooo… it's either that you're her descendent or it's a coincidence."

"I.... see. This place is a mystery. I wish someone could help or reveal the truth of this place."

Perhaps she hadn't heard of something called 'plot convenience��� or 'careful what you wish for' but those words seemed to trigger something almost like an event in a video game. In one moment things had been silent, the next something happened. Winds started to blow as no one noticed at first, but the statue soon began glowing before it stopped. When they opened their eyes they immediately were at some kind of dungeon that had bars on the first and second floor.

"This is…"

"A jai-!"

Glancing around, Gamma took a look behind the bars. When she did, she soon wished she hadn't, her eyes shrinking to the size of dots as she became terrified of what she saw. In fact, it became difficult to stop herself from screaming in object terror.

"....Help...me..."

"...I'm...hungry..."

"...It...hurts..."

"It... hurts...so much..."

Children no younger than 8 or 9 years old lay on the ground in dirty-looking cells, clad in ragged clothing. Each of them looked less like people and more like skin and bones, with some looking like they had died of starvation already. Some even looked like they were already on the verge of decomposing.

"Wha-there are kids here!"

"What! Well don't just stand there let's help them!"

Immediately all of the members, including Neptune, tried to open or break the bars. However, something was not allowing them to use their magic. "It's no use something is interfering with our magic! I can't even use a single spell!"

"These bars are not even budging! Delta is not even making it not move!"

"Not even my sword is making one scratch of it!"

"Just, what is this place!?"

It was then the place started to crack before breaking up, showing another scenario, one in front of them was the person from the statue was taking out her sword preparing for something.

"Alpha, it's her…"

"What is this place showing us?"

For a moment, Angelica thought about this as she and the others watched the scene play out before them. Looked like some kind of battle was being waged between this woman along with a bunch of medieval warriors… fighting against something. She wasn't sure what yet. "..... I believe it's trying to show the truth about something we don't know..." she commented, though her tone indicated she wasn't completely sure about that.

Just then however, Gamma's eyes widened when she remembered something. "Wait a minute, if my memories were correct, wasn't Olivier a male?" she questioned, causing Beta to frown in confusion.

"I believe so..." the Novelist trailed off, before she formed a question of her own. "But if that's the case, then why is Olivier a female then? I mean, it's as if-"

"Someone altered history!"

After Olivia and Emilia exclaimed together, something clicked within the back of Neptune's mind and she made the 'oh, right!' face. She then bonked a fist onto her open palm whilst making her following exclamation. "Ohhhhh, now I remember! It was this time when Vert had asked the order to send their top soldiers to stop Diabolos that was causing terror to her land!"

"I see..." Alpha commented, frowning.

Then, the scene shifted once again, stopping seconds later to show another scene where a couple of people, some looking like researchers and some being cloaked were standing by a giant, demonic-looking arm. One which looked like it was still bleeding, considering the growing puddle of blood.

"That's-!"

"What is it Lady Purple Heart?"

"That's Diabolos arm!" Neptune proclaimed with surprised shock, pointing her arm at the large hand with eyes that looked like she had seen the slenderman.

"What?! If...If that's Diabolos arm, then what are they even doing to it?!" Angelica questioned in shock when she saw them seemingly trying to extract something from the arm itself.

Before any of the other girls could comment on those words, the girls all saw that the researchers began taking some kind of cell and blood and then the scenario changed as they were making pills out of it. "Those red pills! Those are the same ones that Vali gave me when he told me he got them from Zenon!" Gamma shouted as she recognized the Pills.

However, soon enough Beta soon began to comprehend the situation, which gradually became complete comprehension as the gears in her mind ran at 100 miles an hour. "...... of course, now I get it!"

"What is it Beta?"

Glancing over to the rest of the group, Beta frowned as she began to explain the situation taking place here. "Don't you see, guys? This group, like you said, belonged to a group which had strong connections to Diablo, they must've been the ones who altered and manipulated history so that they use this to gain more power! How else they became so powerful! THOSE PILLS WERE CREATED FROM DIABOLOS CELLS AND BLOODS!" she revealed to the rest of them…

Their response: "WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?! BUT THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

Neptune's response: "N-NANIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII?! NEPU!"

"BUT THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

"The truth is in FRONT of us, girls!"

Another thought crossed onto her mind, causing Olivia to gape as she became pale like a Ghost. "Then...… the demonic possession…" She began to say but couldn't finish it.

"Yes, the demonic possession that happened to us was because.... we are the descendents of the people who slaughtered Diabolos."

Alpha took all this time to process before going down to her knees.

"Alpha!"

All the others quickly gathered around her, fearing something bad had happened to her. Instead however, a bitter chuckle escaped the girl's lips as she began to speak. "All this time.... all this time, I've been wondering why is it that the demonic possession happened to me and others as well..... I've always wondered why I was cursed and now...… I find out that we are the descendants... of the people who killed diabolos. Life... is truly ironic don't you think?"

"It is truly ironic, descendent of Olivier."

"?!"

All of a sudden, a bunch of collective gasps escaped them as the girls jumped in slight fright. Alpha, being the most alert of the group sharply stood up as someone spoke to them from behind.