Chapter 20

Once Vali had been taken to his room for some much-needed rest after the whole thing involving Nepgear, everyone else retreated to their Guest Rooms too. They ALL had some level of exhaustion from those said events, and thus they felt like some rest before their next course of action was necessary.

Two such girls, IF and Compa, shared a Guest room with the two of them to get changed for bed. Even though it was about mid to late afternoon right now, the events of today had been quite taxing on them, more so than what they were used to for a while now which was why they were turning in early.

Whilst she changed into her PJ's which consisted of a yellow shirt with pants that sported white frills around the trims, all along with some polka dots, Compa looked over to her friend who'd taken off her coat in relief. "Thank the CPUs that Vali managed to save Ge-Ge." she remarked, beaming happily. The amount of relief she felt about how Vali had managed to save Nepgear's life when the moment counted, it hadn't been small, plus she hadn't known what she could have done to help on her end either.

After she took off her coat and hung it on a nearby wrack, IF began to change her shorts for a pair of blue PJ bottoms similar to Compa's. Although hers lacked the frills and polka dots, not to mention fitted her form instead of the baggy ones Compa sported. "Yup he did Compa if he hadn't done something….. We would've lost her." she remarked, her tone dropping into a stern, serious one compared to the relieved tone she had sported initially. Her eyes narrowed as all sorts of possibilities filled her mind, possibilities revolving around what COULD have happened if Vali hadn't done what he had.

"... you know, is it true that… those kinds of people exist that experimented on Ge-Ge?"

However, her thoughts soon shifted into concern when IF heard Compa's next question, one which turned the atmosphere into one of tension, and uncertainty. "... Yes Compa, the worst of the worst. I've had my fair share on what Vali said." IF explained, frowning as she too recalled some of the… bloodier things which she had seen in her time in the office. The way Vali had mentioned about how people were… she believed he had seen similar shit himself, and likely a lot of it for him to come to that conclusion. For someone as young as him to have become aware of the world's ugly reality, it really left a sour taste in her mouth.

Yet, even as her friend told her this, Compa didn't let up, her confusion and frustration building up inside of her as she finally put on her PJ top, frowning as her hair shadowed her eyes. "But… My father said that the world was a happy place for anyone. If that's indeed so, then why are there people like that?"

"... My guess is that your father wanted to keep you innocent to the ways of the real world, Compa. He probably didn't want you knowing about the real truth behind it. He likely wanted you to be happy as long as you don't know the real side of the world. Not sure myself, but I would guess that from what you told me about him." IF replied, remembering how even in childhood Compa had only spoken glorious things about her father, really demonstrating how much she idolized him. So, in IF's mind, she couldn't help but wince in sympathy for her friend whose happy world had just gotten burned into nothingness like a veil hiding an ugly beast.

"Iffy…. Does anyone deserve a second chance?"

"...I don't know, Compa….. Some people do deserve it or…. Some don't deserve it for what horrible things they have done."

"..."

"Look Compa I know this is hard for you to hear, but what Vali said to you wasn't wrong… someday will come when you will HAVE to kill someone in order to protect your friends… or your family. There are people out there who are true monsters in every sense of the word, people who won't hesitate to burn children alive or even throw living animals into incinerators. If not him, then believe me, I've seen some of the worst first hand, like one who tried to use women and children to create a human centipede… don't ask, you don't want to know the details. You saw what they did to Nepgear too, Compa. Those people… there's a LOT more of them around than you might think."

Compa stayed silent as her hair still covered her eyes, though IF could see that tears were slowly coming out as she went to her side and put her hand on Compa's shoulder. "Compa… you have to face reality someday, it's unfortunately a fact that not everyone is a good person(especially like those noble boys) and the world is not a happy place. Remember that."

Timeskip

"Master, wake up."

"Ugh….. Luxon?... Why did you wake me up at… 7:16….? It's too goddamn fucking early."

"I know Master, but there is something you need to know."

"What…. Did the candidate finally wake up?"

"No it's the Egg that you brought aboard 3 years ago."

"What about it… that egg is not hatched yet."

"Negative, it's about to hatch right now."

"I see… wake me up unt-... WAIT, ITS HATCHING NOW?! Wait, isn't the Egg at the Island?"

"Ah, I had brought it with me when I saw a crack in the Egg. I presumed that it was somehow defective, but when I detected heat signatures in the egg… it is in hatching mode and right now it's about to get out of its shell."

"Aaahhhh shit, why does it have to be this early? Luxon, guide me to where the Egg is!"

"Acknowledged, master."

With that said, Vali shot out of his bed, doing so by throwing the covers off his legs and tossing said limbs over to the side, as he then formed his slime suit. Once the Slime Suit was formed, he then walked throughout the Ship's corridors to where Luxon had put the egg in the ship. As he passed through some doors, he wound up stopping by one door where Luxon had said the egg was here. He opened the door and saw that the egg WAS hatching as it had multiple cracks in the shell.

The seconds passed, and as Vali stepped closer to have a closer look at it, the Egg exploded.

BOOM!

"GGAAAHHH!"

A loud shout escaped his lips as Vali covered his face, shielding it from the shells that had scattered across his direction. Seconds passed, and when the chaos died down a bit, Vali lowered his arms to get a clear view on what creature had hatched. To his eyes, it looked like it had some kind of mechanics on two large wings that almost looked almost like those of Divine Dividing, its head too and the chest lets not forget about its legs and tail. There were multiple blue gems across its body. It definitely looked like a dragon, to be honest, but more kinda…

"{A western dragon are what we call these kinds of Dragons.}"

….eehhh something like that. Whilst Vali looked at the recently born dragon-like being, it looked around it's surroundings before seeing Vali. The moment that it did so, it attempted to stand up on its four legs and go to him before falling down. Though this didn't stop it from trying again to walk, and it's small face had morphed into a struggling one… something which oddly struck a chord within the silver-haired Hybrid.. "Huh… thats kinda cute. Wonder what it's trying to do?" he muttered, kneeling on one leg as the creature struggled with all it's might to get to him.

"{Hmmmmm…. From my experience, it must've known that you are the parent when you found the egg long time ago.}"

"I see." Vali responded, nodding his head in understanding. After slowly crawling towards the dragon, he then put a hand in front of him so that the Dragon could sniff it. When it did, a couple seconds passed before digging its head into his palm, allowing Vali to pet it affectionately. A small smile crept onto his lips as this happened, liking the texture of the baby dragon's head. He and then dragon looked each other in the eyes, staring for what almost felt like an eternity before the door opened. Walking through the door, was Alpha, Delta, and IF who all came inside the room.

"Vali we heard an explosion inside the ship what ha-" Alpha began to say, before she stopped as Vali then stood up and turned to the girls. He held the baby dragon within his arms like he was holding a baby, as the girls became GLUED to it's form.

"Its…"

"So…"

"CUUUUUUUUUTE!"

The girls all IMMEDIATELY gushed over the dragon like fangirls. Each of them had stars glistening throughout their eyes, to the point where they resembled galaxies. Heck, when she soon joined the girls, Mina also became stunned on what the creature truly was. "Where did you get this cute dragon Vali?" Alpha asked.

When she did so, Vali smirked to himself. "Remember the time when we were adventuring with Emilia, Alpha?" he replied with a question of his own. Though he figured that his simple question would jog her memory of several specific events, something he believed would happen since he knew well how intelligent Alpha was.

His faith wasn't misplaced, as seconds later the boy saw her eyes widen in comprehension and understanding."... wait, does that mean the egg finally hatched?"

"Yeah, it did." Vali replied, nodding his head. He then glanced down at the Dragon as it had fallen asleep, a light yawn escaping it's lips. Regardless, Vali definitely could say that the choice of bringing it in was worth it. "Finally, after three years, the egg finally hatched and this little one came out of it."

"Ahhhh it looks so cute!"

Whilst the girls gushed over it some more, Mina stared at the sleeping baby dragon for a moment, finding familiarity in it for some reason. However, the woman's brain clicked when she soon figured out what the creature was, her eyes widening in shock at the revelation. "Is that…. Is that what I think it is?!" she exclaimed.

Glancing over to her, IF frowned at the older woman. "Huh, you know what this dragon is Oracle?"

The said Oracle nodded, a stark smile of excitement forming on her lips as she responded whilst trying not to gush like the rest of them… though, if she did, it wouldn't be for the same reasons completely. "Yes, why it's the legendary Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon!"

Hearing that, Vali arched a brow at her excitement, confusion evident in him about why that name seemed so significant. "A….. Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon? Elaborate." he questioned, though it sounded more like a demand. Seemed like this guy had some history to it, though he would admit to liking the whole name it had going on for its race.

Though, considering the nature of his find, Mina felt more than happy enough to explain to him JUST how lucky Vali had truly been to find one. "This little guy's quite special, for multiple reasons. One, he's of the 'Blue Eyes' lineage, which is a rare bloodline for Dragons in of itself. Not only that, but he's a variant of that bloodline, the Chaotic blue eyes' variant which is even rarer, and usually only comes around when a Blue Eyes White Dragon faces immense stress during its birthing period which isn't that often to begin with. As a result, it's power's practically limitless in terms of it's potential which is stimulated whenever it is in combat. One of the best examples I can use to describe it would be the Tyrant Beast, a being which could adapt to almost any environment. The ability to evolve and develop enormous potential is greater with this kind of Dragon than normal Blue Eyes White Dragons."

"Hmmmm… interesting…" Vali mumbled, looking back down towards the Dragon in his arms who slept silently, unaware of the situation going on around it since it felt safe within the arms of its parent.

'{Now that she mentions it, upon analyzing its energy… yes, I can see it. This Dragon, partner, he does indeed have the potential to become something like this world's version of a Heavenly Dragon, maybe even more. He would be a big player in my universe for sure… didn't expect to encounter something like this here. Not to mention that it seems quite attached to you Vali, so you've essentially gained a powerful ally for future events.}'

Albion's words reverberated throughout his mind, causing Vali's eyes to shrink slightly in surprise, as well as slight amazement. Before he had a smirk and it became a full bloom smile. "Hehehehehe, looks like I just struck gold!" Vali held the dragon on both of his hands as he held to his face as the dragon woke up. "You and I will get along very well, I shall name you….. Uhhhhhh is it a female or a male because I'm not sure."

At this, Mina looked the dragon over. "Let me check… ah, it's a male."

"Ok as I was saying your name shall be Raziel!" The dragon blew out some blue fire while happily accepting its name as Vali looked on proudly at it.

Later, once everyone had returned to their rooms Vali chose to go to the Medical wing, choosing the room where Nepgear had been staying in. Once inside, he had sat on a chair by the room's waiting area, Luxon having informed him that his creator would be waking up soon due to her brain activity showing signs of increasing activity. As for his new draconian companion, he had given Raziel to Alpha to have her babysit him until the time came when the dragon got a bit older.

Now that there weren't any distractions, Albion decided to take this time to speak with Vali

'{Alright since we're alone, how about we discuss something that happened during the rescue op: what was the energy that was unleashed?}'

Hearing this, Vali's eyes narrowed as a grim frown formed on his lips. Thinking back, as much as that strange black power had been an asset to helping him get out of that situation alive, he had next to zero clues on what it really was, nor where it came from. It definitely didn't feel like HIS power though, more like something else, not to mention it had none of the feelings that his Demonic Power had. So, he found himself to be at just as much a loss as his heavenly dragon partner. "... I… actually don't… know, Albion. It honestly just happened, don't know how or why. Not only that, but how the hell can I even activate it?"

'{Hmmmmm, since its deep inside of you that was unleashed why not try again?}'

"...Alright, let me see."

Vali closed his eyes as he began to look inside himself, trying to find the energy that he had when fighting against the judge. At first, he could feel his own energy but that wasn't the only energy he could sense. Aside from his Demonic Power, Vali could sense something else... something dark, empty, and cold that made him shiver all over. For some reason, when he sensed it Vali got the image of a skeleton clad in a black cloak, holding a large scythe prepping to swing at his head.

However, this didn't stop him as Vali still tried to bring it out as he began to sense it coming out of his body. To him, it felt like some sort of skin layer was peeling itself away from him, though it didn't cause any discomfort to him. In fact, it felt more like the power was specifically trying NOT to cause him any kind of lasting discomfort, something which he found peculiar. When he opened his eyes he looked left and right trying to see if it had any effect but it didn't, instead he felt something behind him that caused him to be wary before looking back as he became surprised at what he was seeing…. His own shadow…. Became like an abyss of darkness.

"What… is this….?" The boy wondered in stunned awe, as well as confusion about the situation at hand here. Many questions flowed through his mind, questions spawned thanks to feeling this foreign energy.

'{hmmmmm it appears that when you brought out the other energy, it must be…. A somewhat shadow element-related kind of power}'

"A… shadow element type?... isn't it the same as darkness?"

'{Yes and no, allow me to explain. Darkness allows users to manipulate and control Darkness for various effects. This Magic however, has a form that can be used for destroying objects, blocking enemies' attacks and picking up objects while shadows allows the user to bend their own shadow for various purposes, such as offense and defense, allowing the user a great deal of flexibility. A skilled user can merge with their shadow and the shadows of others. Some say that gods or magicians use shadow magic to allows the user to extract the shadow of the dead and resurrect them with a forbidden type of magic.}'

"Huh…. This could be useful. Though, I can guarantee that if those CPUs found out about it they'd think it similar to Necromancy. Still, I'm gonna practice this type of magic, later."

'{Indeed so partner.}'

"Master, my creator is awakening now."

"Finally."

Vali got up as he went inside of the medical facility as he saw the candidate's eyes begin to flutter before, closing tighter whilst trembling for a bit before opening fully. Then, she began to get up from her bed, ending up in a sitting position as she gave a loud yawn whilst stretching her arms above her head. Afterward, she lowered her arms as she looked left and right to see where she was, her pinkish-purple hair fluttering from her head motions whilst confusion gradually filled her lilac-colored eyes. All before noticing a boy that was approaching her, causing the girl to gulp in nervousness. "Where… am I?" Still, her desire to know what happened to her overcame her shyness as she asked him whilst trying not to stutter.

Something which Vali had noticed as he pocketed his hands inside his Slime Suit as he gave her a response/ "You're at my medical facility, where my lost item and Lowee's Oracle healed you." he explained simply.

"Lost….. Item… wait… is that you?"

"Indeed so creator, it has been a while I have been given a name Luxon by my finder."

Nepgear's eyes widened when the floating Droid known as Luxon entered the room, planting itself atop Vali's shoulder whilst it's single-lens focused on the stunned CPU Candidate. "Ah, it's really you! It is good to see you again, Luxon. I'm sorry I didn't manage to spend some time with you, I was so busy with my older sister that I didn't arrive there on time."

"It's alright creator, it wasn't your fault. Those ASIC fuckbois caught us by surprise, so I became the only one who managed to escape with the ship and the accessories. I isolated myself within a piece of distorted space so my enemies wouldn't find me whilst trying to carry out repairs. Though, to my dismay I wouldn't be able to leave the pace right away. This is due to the space being tightly 'locked up' preventing me from escaping, whilst also I could only repair so much without a 'master' to permit the full auto restore functions, which is the master here who found me."

"I see… thank you for finding Luxon, Mister."

"It's fine. Do you want to have Luxon back, CPU candidate?"

"... No it's fine." Nepgear replied, shaking her head. "You managed to find him fair and square so you can have him. Plus I can tell he's been doing just fine under your care, which makes me happy as his creator."

"... Alright, anyway what was the last thing you remember when Eden was destroyed three years ago."

"I… wait three years?! That's how long I was sleeping for?! H-How?!"

"... I suppose you won't like this but you were at the Gamindustri Graveyard, its what Eden is called now. For three years they were experimenting with your body on how they can use Share Energy."

Nepgear then put her arms around her as she shivered. "Did-did they… did they succeed...?" She questioned, her lower lip trembling.

"No they didn't, but do you sense something messing around your body?"

Nepgear then sensed herself as she felt her energy, and that should have been all she'd feel. However, to Nepgear's shock and building horror, another one inside of her which made her start to panic. "Wha-what did they do to me?!" she exclaimed in fright as she held her stomach whilst shaking uncontrollably.

"...(SIGH) they injected diabolos cells and blood in your body so that they could produce more Soldiers that could, theoretically, handle your power and diabolos power. During your treatment by Luxon after we rescued you, these things almost killed you when they reached towards your core, but fortunately I managed to stop it using my Mana, destroying the cells that were entering your core." Vali explained, and despite himself seeing the way she looked right now somewhat reminded him of the times when he'd find one of the girls in his harem shaking like leaves from some kind of nightmare during their childhood. He would always comfort them whenever they asked it of him, and for some reason he found himself wanting to do the same for her too. Fortunately for him, he held this urge in since Vali doubted that would do anything positive.

Unaware of this, Nepgear eventually calmed down after comprehending where this unknown energy inside of her had come from. After taking a few breaths to calm her pounding heart, she then faced Vali with a thankful smile on her lips. "I see…. Thank you for that, I really mean it."

Again, Vali found himself caught by surprise at the genuine gratitude this girl had, once more splitting herself apart from the women Vali had been used to dealing with. "... your welcome. Anyways since you're awake, we can now head back to Planetupe, where the Oracle Histoire has some intel on how we can make you and the candidates stronger so that we can finally destroy the barrier and destroy them once and for all." he explained, remembering a transmission which Luxon had sent him during his walk to Raziel's Egg form. Apparently, in order to maximize the CPU Candidate's effectiveness, Histoire had begun investigating a way to improve their abilities in battle, something which had only recently born fruit.

"Wait, barrier?"

"... since you've been asleep for three years, I'll explain. Those guys over at ASIC and the Cult of Diabolos, they created a barrier that is almost impossible to destroy surrounding the Gamindustri Graveyard. According to Histoire, the only way to destroy it is the power of the Share Energy, which means we need you and the other CPU candidates to help in destroying it."

"I see….. alright I'll help you Mister….."

"Call me Vali, not mister."

"Ok Vali, I'll help you to stop them from ruining Gamindustri and save my sister!"

After hearing her proclamation, although Vali could still sense some persisting conflict in her tone, the boy nodded his head in acceptance regardless. He wouldn't be surprised if what had happened to her had resulted in some powerful Trauma that she had to get rid of, though that would be for another time. "Alright but first get something to eat, I'm sure that three years without eating has taken a toll with you."

RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!

Nepgear then blushed in red as she put her hand on her stomach as she was hungry.

Vali just sighed. "(SIGH) here take this." Vali then put his hand into his inventory, soon bringing out a bag that had contained leftover food from the restaurant that they had before getting it. He then gave it to Nepgear as she took a hold of it before Luxon with his robot arm brought a table for her to eat. "Once you're done eating, head to the training facility in order for you to get in shape if you want to stop the people who made Gamindustri Graveyard."

"... I will, Vali."

"Good, I'll leave you alone for now, I'll check up with you later."

Vali then left the medical facility leaving Nepgear alone with Luxon.

Timeskip 2 days

"We have arrived in Basilicon Planeptune, Master and Creator."

Upon hearing Luxon informing them that the Airship had reached it's destination, Vali gave a confirmation back to the robot, "Good, alright that's enough Nepgear we're here." He spoke, then turned his gaze towards the CPU Candidate in question, who had been busy recovering from her most recent training session. Part of him did wonder how people had gotten used to an Airship as big as this one appearing out of nowhere, since seconds had passed and no sign of enemy aircraft had been detected, but then he realized this was the Nation ruled by that bratty CPU Neptune. So, his doubts got cleared up there.

"#Huff…..#huff… finally… hold on a second Vali and…. I'll be there."

Seeking the girl on her hands and knees whilst struggling to recover from this particularly gruelling training session, the silver haired Hybrid took out something from his inventory, something which Nepgear hadn't seen due to being preoccupied. "Take your time, Nepgear."

Vali threw a water bottle to Nepgear as she caught it and drank it, prompting him to reflect on what had been happening with her for the last 2 days of their trip back to Planeptune. So far, she seemed to be improving very well, but her combat skills… left much to be desired, likely due to not having been fighting for the last 3 years. All she had been doing was just swinging her sword with Share Energy imbued into it, which might have given Vali a challenge… provided that she trained her skills and technique a bit. Vali did train her in order to be strong enough so that they could have the power to destroy the barrier, and so far things were progressing smoothly. Despite his initial fears, it seemed that the girl did indeed earnestly want to save her sister, and though he could still see those signs of trauma, they weren't related to getting stronger at least.

Once the two of them were ready to go, Vali walked off the ship via it's lowered gate-like entrance, with Nepgear catching up with him. This also wound up including the rest of the group that was with him, including his harem, Alexia, the CPU Candidates of Lowee and Mina herself. The last few had agreed to come since Rom and Ram wanted to rescue their sibling just as much as Nepgear did, and their childish pride wouldn't allow them to stand the thought of Nepgear doing what they couldn't.

Eventually, they reached the throne room where Historie is. She looks at them and sees Nepgear as she sighs in relief. "Thank the Goddess you're okay Nepgear, I'm sorry we didn't be there for you in the last three years."

Nepgear smiled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. "Its alright Historie, I understand why it took so long." she replied, the sense of guilt and shame for worrying the Oracle evident in her tone.

Histoire nodded her head, her eyes showing that despite her worry and relief that she was ok, she understood how the CPU Candidate felt. "Indeed….." She began, trailing off before turning her head to Vali's direction. "Vali you have my deepest gratitude for not only saving Nepgear but also bringing the CPU candidates of Lowee." she said, lowering her head in gratitude as well as noticing the twins.

"I only did it because we need them to destroy the damn barrier. Once we get the candidate of Lasation, is it possible for them to destroy the fucking barrier?"

"Bad word!"

"F-foul language."

'Great… now there is double the trouble.'

Whilst Vali lamented the whole cursing censorship launched at him from Compa and Rom now, Histoire nodded and ignored the urge to stop him herself since there were more important matters to address. "Hmmmmmm, we might due to your organization destroying the ASIC and the cult but from the powers these organizations have…. We might have to delay it for a bit."

Now THIS didn't bode well for the rest of the group, especially how furious IF had been whilst Compa looked like the life had been drained out of her. "A bit?! We spent three years going left and right, trying to gather as much Share Energy as possible so that the Candidates would be able to destroy it and now you say we have to wait for a bit?!"

"Is-is there any possible way to get stronger?"

"Hmmmm….. In that case, it looks like there may no longer be any other option than them…" Histoire muttered under her breath, the confusion of the onlookers quickly becoming evident. Thus, she elaborated with a worried frown on her lips. "Normally, I would not suggest this, but….we may have to request assistance from the Mascots that reside in each nation."

"... are you fucking with us Oracle, Mascots? What good will that do, cheer us up?!"

"No, not those kinds of Mascots, Vali. They are born from the ancient goddess, given the task of overseeing the balance and order of our world in a passive manner. That is to say, they preside over the nation to ensure prosperity and remain neutral to all else."

"If they are supposed to be 'neutral' to stuff that goes on, then how will they help us then, Oracle?"

"When needed, they will stand by the CPUs and rid the world of evil's influence."

"I see….. Then how should we find them Oracle? because if they could help us, then we can finally then this war."

"I have been keeping tracks on this nation's Mascot, but before you could go there, is Nepgear able to use her HDD form?"

"HDD form?"

"HDD, or Hard Drive Divinity, is an ability used by the goddesses of Gamindustri which allows them to transform and access their full power. There are some noticeable differences between the goddesses and their respective human forms, though what specifically varies for each goddess. Besides the obvious visual change, these may include personality changes."

When she heard that part of the conversation between Vali and Histoire, with the others having just patiently watched, Alpha's eyes widened when she realized something. "Wait, I remember when Lady Purple Heart tried to transform in the Sanctuary, is that it?" she questioned, stepping up to the Oracle.

Said woman nodded her head in confirmation. "Yes, in order to use the full power of the CPUs, they must use their HDD forms. So Nepgear, have you been able to use it?" she questioned, turning to the CPU Candidate.

"Let me see… activate HDD form…. Nnnggghhh,"

Nepgear closed her eyes as she tried to activate her HDD form while the other girls were anxious to see if she could transform it. On his side of things, Vali wanted to see what the Oracle said if the Goddess can transform to their true form….. Then he might try and have a spar with her if they are strong to some gods like in his home universe.

'{Some gods use their divine form or aura that makes them powerful since from either birth or from the constant training of the years they have done.}'

'... in that case let's see how powerful they are because I'm anxious for a good fight.'

'(SIGH) you and your battle maniac tendencies will someday influence others… and not in a good way'

'What can I say Aurora, I LOVE a good fight.'

As Vali had the conversation with his tenants, Nepgear continued to try and access her HDD, and at first it seemed to be working. This had been shown when her body started to glow in a manner akin to what Neptune's had back in the Sanctuary, according to Alpha and those who had been trapped with her there. However, this was when something… weird happened. Ss soon as Nepgear could feel like transforming….. Suddenly, an image of a giant demon entered her mind's vision, one which she couldn't describe in terms of appearance. That Demon slowly reached out with one of its appendages, trying to reach her, causing her to stop her transformation and scream.

"KYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Nepgear screamed as she stopped her transformation and fell down to the ground, clutching the sides of her head in an attempt to try and force that image to the back of her mind. Meanwhile, the others were in shock as they quickly ran towards her, crowding around the young girl to see how her eyes were brimming with unshed tears. "I…. I can't do it! I'm too scared to use it! Those people… whatever they did… it….."

She couldn't continue however, too terrified and fearful to even speak anymore. Something which Mina understood the most since she had seen Rom and Ram have nightmares in the past, and this adopted a more motherly tone as she gently rubbed the poor girl's back soothingly. "Calm down Nepgear, it's alright..." she whispered into her ear gently, amongst other words of comfort to try and ease her up.

'{It is as I feared.}'

'What is it Albion, is it my energy that is blocking her ability?!'

'{No I can sense that she was close to transforming while your energy was not stopping it. However, there's a problem: as you managed to notice earlier, the defeat and years of experimentation have taken a toll for her, resulting….. A trauma engraved into her mind.}'

"... Fuck, I feared this might have happened." Vali muttered under his breath as he joined the rest of them, having stayed back.

Though this didn't mean that Alpha didn't hear him, causing her to look at him whilst the others tended to the distraught Planeptune CPU Candidate. "What is it Vali?" she questioned.

"Take a guess, when she was defeated and experimented it not only caused her to be weak but also it engraved her mind….."

Whilst Vali trailed off, it didn't take long for the blonde Elf girl to quickly realize the truth about what had happened if the expression on her face was any indication. "... A trauma!"

Vali nodded, grimacing in frustration with this scenario. He'd seen signs of it being there before, but briefly, so he had already gotten an idea of this being a thing so he wasn't as frustrated as he could have been. Still, the situation now looked to be quite bad. "Indeed, in order for her to get stronger, she must overcome this trauma. If she can't do that, then things will be even harder for us since she can't use her true form."

"I'm…. I'm sorry I can't be of help, Vali!"

As she got helped up by IF and Compa, Nepgear's depressed state didn't stop her from apologizing to the silver-haired Hybrid, who just couldn't find it in him to be truly mad at her. Her demeanor, her personality from what he'd heard and seen… it reminded him of how soft his mother was, and SHE was still in a coma the last he heard. Still, the difference between her and Nepgear was that she HAD to get through this otherwise a LOT more people may end up dying at the hands of the enemy. "... its alright Nepgear for now there are other ways to get stronger without your HDD Form. Since I injected my Variant Mana into your body in my attempt to heal you, I'll train you on how to use it for the time being. But, when the time comes you HAVE to overcome your trauma if you want to get stronger and save your sister."

"... Alright I understand Vali but….. Are you sure about this? You can go and get the Mascots power." Yet, even as she understood the silver-haired boy's words, Nepgear still couldn't help but question him. She knew for a FACT that if someone like him could go into the Gamindustri Graveyard, wreck a lot of people there, as well as had the reputation that he had according to what she had heard from several of his companions, then couldn't he have gotten the Mascots in her stead? Wasn't he capable of that already?

However, Vali already knew what she was thinking even before Nepgear had finished speaking. "Didn't you hear what the oracle said? They would only help the CPUs which, aside from your sisters, are you and the other candidates. As such, you and the others are our salvation, Nepgear. Just…... remember the fate of Gamindustri is in your hands and the other candidates as well. Here's some advice actually, my teacher in swordsmanship Zangetsu taught me this: In clear waters are murky, fortune favors the fish who swim upstream. Take that as you will." he told her, remembering the multitude of things which Zangetsu had taught him, most of them sporting the theme of resolve and determination for those were the biggest things one needed in battle.

"... I understand. When will we get started?"

"Now… where is the training facility?" Turning towards Histoire, Vali asked her for directions to the nearest training facility. They would have a LOT of work to do, as from what his senses told him it would seem that Nepgear may be in a similar situation to Alpha and the other Half-Devils, in terms of having multiple energy sources to use in battle from now on.

Histoire, knowing that Vali would need good equipment for what he had in store, pointed to a door nearby. "Just go by that hall and turn left, there is a room where Neptune would use in case she didn't get the latest game or system." she explained, mentally grimacing when she remembered a few times where those instances had happened… let it be said that even Neptune could have a temper when things didn't go her way. Any child would, actually...

"Good. Alright, come with me, Nepgear. It's time we shape your body into good use." Vali told her.

However, the way he said it could have been phrased better, as Nepgear's face went cherry red, her mind going in a… bit of a different direction. "G-g-g-g-god use?! I'm not ready yet!" she proclaimed, red-faced.

"Wha? What are you talking about? I meant to increase your stamina in order to get used to endurance, in case you take some damage."

"Oh…. I get it, sorry that I misunderstood."

"Uh huh... alright, let's go."

"Okay, Vali!"

As the group watched Vali and Npgear heading off to go to the training facility, Delta had a thought enter her mind, prompting her to speak about it. "You know….. Delta won't mind doing it with Vali. Maybe even add Nepgear into the mix."

""DELTAAAAAAAAAA!""

BONK!

"Fweeeeeeeeeh!"

"No snacks for you for a week, Delta!"

"Noooooooooooooo! Alpha, please! Not my snaaaaaaaacks!"

Timeskip one week

For a week Vali had trained Nepgear how to use… his demonic power. He wasn't sure if she did turn into a half Devil like Alpha and the others though, until one day when he had asked her to imagine bringing out her wings just out of curiosity. When she (out of confusion) did try this, there were no devil wings behind her, causing Vali to sigh in relief and leave Nepgear even more confused. He was relieved that she isn't a half-devil but was confused that if she has demonic energy, then how was she not one?

A while later, Albion had answered that she could have wound up as something like a Magician. Back in his world, Magicians could make pacts with Devils for various purposes, which sounded interesting to Vali as he still had doubts about whether he should go to his homeworld or stay away from that cursed place. In his eyes, it sounded way worse than Gamindustri (for someone to find a place with such sexism against men to be a BETTER home, that said a lot). But, was it worth going there….?

He still didn't know.

Anyways, putting this aside Vali had made sure to teach Nepgear some of his Mana Series, as during his training Albion had noted the possibility of Alpha and those who'd become Half-Devils being able to use his techniques too since their Demonic Power sources were similar to his own. He'd decided to test that theory out with Nepgear, and the results were that she definitely could. In time, perhaps she could use all of them, but right now she could only use about 2: the Mana Sword and the Mana Ray.

Whilst this had been going on, Vali had noticed that her Share Energy was amplifying her demonic power(Not that she knew of it), potentially making her an extreme powerhouse if she trained hard enough. Maybe in a few years or months, Vali might get a decent challenge other than Reinhard, something which he greatly looked forward to since more good opponents meant more fights, something that a battle maniac like him treasured.

Eventually, though, the time came to finally get the Mascot, though Nepgear still didn't have access to her HDD Form. Still, she made up for this weakness with her MS as Emilia, Olivia, and Delta stood in front of Vali. They'd arrived in Planeptune from their own tasks, and as such, they had wanted to join Vali for this retrieval mission. Something which he wanted extra clarification for as he stood before them in his Slime Suit, eyes narrowed behind his Domino Mask. "... you sure about this?" he questioned seriously, hands pocketed inside his coat.

Emilia nodded her head in resolution, each of the girls having equipped their Slime Suits as well. "Yes, we haven't gone with you, and you went with the others last time, so it's only fair that we go with you this time, Vali." She then looked towards Delta. "... And well, Delta insisted she come along cause she didn't get enough action."

"... true. Alright everyone, this is not going to be an easy mission. We are about to enter… a forbidden dungeon." Vali told them, getting stunned gasps from the rest of the girls.

The first to respond was Olivia, and she did NOT sound too happy about the prospects. "A forbidden D-Dungeon!? Vali, those things are forbidden for a reason!"

Vali nodded his head at this in understanding. Initially, Vali had only heard rumors about them, these Dungeons which had been so dangerous to those who went inside that they had been deemed 'classified' their existence and locations being hidden from the public by those with authority. Initially they had been regarded as a myth by many, even Vali himself since he couldn't find much about them to his dismay since they sounded like BRILLIANT places to train. However, for the first time he had found concrete evidence of their existence thanks to Histoire, who had told him about their locations since, according to her calculations, they would be the likely locations for each Mascot. Apparently, when he had asked her about them, Histoire had explained how since she was the 'Tomb of Gamindustri' which had all the world's history documented inside, Histoire knew MUCH more about them than any other being alive.

Of course, when he'd asked her if she had known of a way to defeat ASIC and if so why she only waited till now to reveal it, Histoire explained that her ability to retrieve the information was limited, to the point where it would take her either 3 seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks even months to get something accurate. Not very applicable for real life scenarios, Vali had realized, so he had stopped pestering her about them...

Though, what Histoire DID say, was that the Mascots wouldn't be obtained so easily, something which Vali ACTUALLY looked forward to. He looked forward to it very, VERY much. "I know Olivia, but this is just a cover-up story that the Oracle made up in order to protect the Mascots. Though I'm not sure what kind of dangers there are, our job is to get the Planeptune Mascot to help the Candidates so we can finally end this war."

For a while, Olivia still seemed somewhat nervous and anxious, but Vali didn't blame her. Plus, she eventually nodded to give her consent, since she didn't trust her voice at this moment. "O-okay, Vali."

"Alright everyone's set?"

Emilia nodded, beaming whilst giving a thumbs up. "Yes, I am!"

"I-I'm ready Vali!"

Delta's opinion came next after Olivia's, and she sounded like the most excitable out of all of them. He understood why, given her love of hunting. "Delta wants some action, now!"

Finally, they all turned to their left, seeing Nepgear entering the room. Instead of her training attire, she wore her normal sailor dress, stockings and various accessories, though the way her eyes shone in determination showcased her desire to join them enough. "I-if this is the only way to get stronger…... then I'm ready!"

"Good, because once we enter the dungeon, we do not go back….. alright, let's go!"

Later

"We're here."

After leaving the city (Luxon assuring them that he would be able to protect it with his resources should anything happen), the Party walked into Virtua Forest which wasn't too far off from the city. The Party consisted of the following people: Vali, Nepgear, IF, Compa, Delta, Emilia, and Olivia.

Once there, they had gone through a whole load of fighting all sorts of monsters, the Party finally stopped by a massive cave entrance, one that could fit a truck in it. It had been quite the large one, yet even so because of how it had blended within nature itself, it had still made tracking it down rather difficult, something which had annoyed the Party for multiple reasons.

But, upon looking at it themselves, the girls and Vali could easily tell just how dangerous this place truly was, the whole atmosphere it gave off had been much unlike any other Dungeon in the entirety of Gamindustri.

"So… this is it…" Nepgear muttered as she looked up at the entrance, looking like she wanted to quiver like a leaf but kept her composure for the sake of the Party. In her mind, she didn't have room to be afraid considering her precious situation, so she had to put up a brave front so nobody got worried about her, the weakest link among them.

Emilia nodded her head in agreement, clutching a hand over her chest in trepidation. "Yeah… the Great Orcus Labyrinth… that's the name this Dungeon has according to Histoire…" she remarked, remembering the briefing that Vali had given to them about the information regarding this Dungeon that had been provided by Histoire herself.

According to her, there were about 4 of them, but originally there had actually been 7 of them, with these Dungeons being so complex in structure that they were designated as 'Labyrinths' rather than simple Dungeons. Apparently during a time of war, 3 of the Labyrinths had been destroyed by warring forces who had been vying for the secrets that they had held, resulting in the number of them there were today.

Another difference between these and common dungeons was that each Labyrinth had their own 'trials' or tests, meant to analyze a specific aspect of a person or people. For what purpose this served, Histoire hadn't known and would have taken 3 months to find the answer, however she could say that it was to help prepare those who entered for some sort of task, not much more than that. If anyone completed it but failed to clear the trial, then it would judge them as unworthy and literally 'eject' them right out of it.

Furthermore, being able to enter these Labyrinths wasn't an easy task either, though this difficulty can't be compared to the Labyrinths themselves, since some had been recorded to only be accessible if one has cleared a different Labyrinth first or had cleared a previous trial first, such as a massive blizzard or a hurricane.

In this case, the Great Orcus Labyrinth was the one which they were accessing, and it was considered the 'easiest' one to access too since it required zero conditions for one to go inside. Not much else could be gleaned about it though, as trying for Histoire would have wasted too much time for their situation.

Looking at the entrance right now, everyone ESPECIALLY Delta, who was growling like a dog would in warning, could tell that this place REALLY lived up to its reputation.

'Looks like this Dungeon's living up to its reputation of being 'forbidden' so far…' Vali couldn't help but think with a pleased smirk, his eyes shimmering with excitement at the thought of what lay inside.

Though, what he also found himself focusing on, was something behind the entrance, or rather something slightly further in but not enough to be considered truly 'inside' the Labyrinth: an aura that made the girls shiver in fear, one which had Vali narrow his eyes. The teen sensed something… something in front of the cave, and he wasn't sure if it was friendly.

Odds were, that anything in this forest could be counted as non-friendly.

"Alright, come out! We know you're there!" The boy declared, frowning as he formed a MS over his right hand. This prompted the others into action, and thus they quickly pulled out their own weapons too, with Olivia's Bow being formed from silver Demonic Power whilst Nepgear's Mana Sword differed from Vali's in terms of shape. His looked more like a silver Katana, whilst hers looked more like a silver Claymore which had a large base that gradually slimmed downwards along the blade and narrowed into a V shaped tip.

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!

Turned out that they were right to have deployed their weapons, because from within the Labyrinth entrance a hailstorm of bullets suddenly shot out, Olivia quickly responding to this by forming a protective barrier around them, stopping the bullets from landing their marks. In the following second, the girl gave a slight grunt of exertion whilst holding her hand out, allowing the Barrier to fire a multitude of 'beams' of Silver Demonic Power into the entrance towards the hidden attacker.

PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW!

The sounds of rushing energy beams filled the air as the attacker got forced to head out of the entrance in order to escape the barrage, having not thought of going deeper inside due to that involving running with their back turned which they felt would have been a worse idea to employ. As such, the person quickly jumped out of the entrance, almost flying above them whilst aiming the weapon that they had fired at the Party previously: an assault rifle.

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!

Once again the person fired more rounds down at them, though they failed to penetrate through Olivia's defence. Eventually, the attacker landed behind them in a crouching position, standing up and twirling around, revealing that they had another weapon in hand which they used to block the followup strike of Delta as well as Emilia. The weapon: some sort of Baton, a rather futuristic-looking one now that they got a closer look at it. The Baton's form closely resembled collapsible police batons, with the handle being rectangular shaped to better fit one's grip, whilst sporting a glowing line of bright blue energy that ran across it. The base of the handle as well as the top and bottom were a dark grey color, with the sides being a lighter color. The grip was also decorated with two small red lines, on opposite ends. The main Baton was a matte grey colour, with a lighter grey stripe running across the bottom and sides. The tip of the baton was colored an orange one.

As for the wielder themselves, it turned out that they were a girl, one of similar age to Nepgear and the others. The most notable things about her were the green hair, pale as heck skin… and right now she had an absolutely livid look on her face. "What the heck's up with you lot!? Attacking me out of nowhere like that, you wanna kill me?!"

Vali in response, rolled his eyes in annoyance as his two companions jumped back, avoiding the Baton which had started glowing with blue energy. "That's rich, coming from the one who fired first." he shot back. "Let me guess, you're here for the Mascot and are working for ASIC. Right?" he questioned boredly, though in reality he had figured this to be the case through process of elimination. Since the Mascots weren't publicly known, then only those who knew about them would have a reason to seek them out, him and his party being an example. ASIC would also have known of this due to them being a criminal organisation with power and influence, so they could have easily learned of the Mascots' existence, hence how he came to this conclusion.

"Hah, you got that right! I'm a member of ASIC's proud frontline infantry, and don't you forget it!"

"Oh, so an Underling then, got it."

"Wha?!"

When the girl, who he would now call Underling since he held no respect for ASIC and would take any chance he could to get under their members' skins, heard Vali's words her face turned red with anger as she pointed her Baton at him. To his intrigue, the weapon then became engulfed with what looked like data streams like the ones you'd see in a virtual world, until they retreated into the hilt to leave the Baton transformed into something else: a handgun, one that was primarily matte grey in colour, with the same handle design as the baton form acting as the hand grip. Though it had a dark grey indentation. The top of the blaster had accents in orange and red, as well as a line of bright blue energy running across the sides. The bottom half had one small red accent interestingly enough, the blaster looked to be missing several features found on regular guns; no magazine, magazine release, muzzle, or safety on the blaster form. Instead, it possessed a cylinder that pointed directly towards a gap between the top and bottom halves of the blaster's main body. The tip of the blaster was painted orange.

'Isn't that…?' Vali began to think as he began darting around the battlefield, using his agility and reflexes to avoid the blue energy laserbeams fired from it. All the while, the other girls also started calling this person Underling like he had just done, much to the greenhead's chagrin. 'Ah yeah… I do remember somewhat of a time when some piece of technology meant for the Planeptune police force got stolen. I think it was about 2 years ago now, they apparently called it an X-Baton or something…'

Meanwhile, Underling growled as she chose her next target, knowing from these brief exchanges that these guys were no joke. If their outfits weren't enough to demonstrate that they meant business, she had heard how there were a group of individuals who had been considered a major thorn in ASIC's side for the last 3 years. These guys, more so than the other thorns known as the Crimson Knights that originated from Leanbox. In the end, she chose the silver haired half-elf Emilia as her next target, considering her to be one of the weaker ones.

Thus, she returned her X-Baton to its default Baton Form before jumping forwards, slamming into Emilia with an overhead swing. However, the girl pumped her Mana into her sword, forming an icy cold layer of vapour over it that she quickly used to block the strike, holding it above her head horizontally. The moment their blades connected, a cold chill ran down Underling's spine as a shrill gasped escaped her lips, prompting her to quickly separate from her. "Wha-What the hell?!" she exclaimed, rubbing her weapon arm to get rid of the biting cold. "What was…?!"

"Surprised…?" Emilia questioned with a blissfully innocent smile, though for some reason it gave Underling even more chills since it held no warmth behind it. The chill across her sword, it spread all across it and even formed a smokey aura of vapour around it as she strode forwards, angling her blade downwards in front of her. "Let's just say frostbite's the least of your concerns right now…" she stated, performing a wheel-like motion with her blade to swing it from back to front across the ground. This action caused the tip of her blade to arc across the ground beside her, and when it slashed upwards it released a wave of frost which formed a trail of large, Ice-made spikes rising upwards, a trail which lunged forth towards her opponent.

'... Interesting… looks like Emilia's been doing some extra work without me…' Vali thought with his curiosity piqued as he quickly jumped forwards with Nepgear and swung their MSs together in a flurry of different arcs. This wound up forcing frantic grunts out of her lips, as well as forcing Underling onto the defensive as she had to keep her eyes open against their barrage. Eventually, Underling managed to force them back by switching her X-Baton to it's Blaster Form and open fire on them.

'{I do remember her being proficient in some Ice Magic back when we were in the Academy... they did call her the Ice Princess back then… guess she's decided to do what you once did and incorporate her Ice Magic into her swordplay.}'

Whilst Albion said this, Emilia pointed her sword to the heavens and poured Mana out of it gathering it into one point and forming a large block of Ice. She then swung her sword downward and launched it towards Underling who rolled out of the way at the last second since the projectile had been so fast. Although, this turned out to put the green haired girl RIGHT into Delta's line of fire with the said Beastman grinning like a feral beast whilst she raised her sword up high and then brought it down, forcing Underling to raise her X-Baton in Baton Form to block it. Though, at the last second, the whole thing transformed once again, becoming a new form which blocked the sword much easier despite the crater that formed beneath them.

The newest form turned out to be a large, greatsword-like weapon, one which had the same handle design as the Baton form, but the line of blue energy is again replaced by a dark grey indentation that didn't glow. The Blade was decorated with five groups of four dark grey lines across each end, as well as several bolts throughout the blade, including one extremely large bolt at the very base. The blade also had a long line of blue energy running across the sides, much like the other forms. One end of the tip had an orange stripe painted on. The whole blade crackled with blue energy which accompanied it in its defense of it's wielder against the large broadsword Delta wielded.

"Hehehehehehe, Delta sees hunting as the BEST… aside from one day pounding Vali."

"You're a weirdo, ya know that right?!"

As the two battled it out in a duel of strength, Olivia aimed her Bow at the downed Underling, yelling out a "Delta, take cover!" before she fired a single large Arrow towards them. Delta's dog ears twitched when she heard this, as she jumped away at the last second and Underling found herself forced into getting back to her feet and swinging the large sword at the same time, ending up clashing with the arrow's tip. As she did so, Underling gritted her teeth at the force of the blow, being sent sliding across the battlefield as she tried to outmatch the Arrow's strength with her own.

Sensing bloodlust aimed at her from above, Underling looked up and gasped when she saw Vali there, his Sacred Gear out for all to see as he pointed his free hand at her, having already prepared a Mana Ray for her. 'Fuck!' The greenhead shouted mentally as she quickly angled her sword so that the Arrow would be deflected to her side instead and hopped upwards, allowing the propelling force from the Arrow's explosion to propel her outside of the launched Mana Ray's flight path.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

When the Arrow detonated like it did, the eruption turned out to be MUCH more powerful than she had anticipated, resulting in Underling not only escaping Vali's MR, but also being sent flying further across the battlefield and into a large tree, electing a sharp gasp from her as she felt her breath leave her lungs. She then fell forwards onto her hands and knees, dazed for a couple seconds before she cleared her head by shaking it and getting back onto her own two feet. Though, she did stumble a bit whilst doing so. "Damnit… these broads and that fuckboi up there aren't playing around…" she muttered under her breath, trying to quench the fear inside of her that gradually built itself up thanks to feeling the ominous pressure born from Vali's Demonic Power. She stabbed her sword into the ground before her for support as she looked upwards at her opponents, two of which were already charging at her whilst Olivia prepared to fire another Arrow.

Quickly shifting her X-Baton into Blaster Form, Underling raised it up and shot the ground in front of the two attackers Delta and Emilia, then rolled to the side to avoid an overhead smash from Vali who had descended down towards her, as well as jumped further back to avoid the kick which he launched afterwards. 'This is bad… fuck, looks like I have little choice in the matter…' she thought as she righted herself in the air and slid along the ground to a halt. 'Haven't had much training in it yet, but I guess now's as good a time as any!'

Knowing that she didn't have much time before the enemy was going to continue their offensive since she could see the frenzied Beastman prepping to charge, Underling reached into her Inventory and pulled something out of it, something which turned out to be some kind of metallic-looking bag-shaped device. She then quickly put onto her arm and, as if sensing this, the device split into multiple parts. It latched onto her forearm and formed a triangular pyramid-like shape, a bright blue sphere present in the centre.

Thus, as Delta burst forth with her eve-present bloodthirsty grin, her sword poised for a reverse horizontal slash, Underling…

Grinned right back.

"Heh, suck THIS!"

Once she bellowed that, Underling threw the arm which had the device, her left arm, forwards. Upon this happening a bright flash came from it, as well as a brief form of light… a light which began taking physical shape in front of her. First, came a hand, one which grabbed onto Delta by her neck to elect a surprised gasp from her at the strength behind it, before the hand threw her to the side in the path of Olivia which forced her to stop the Arrow she had been about to launch. "D-Delta!"

Her cry got followed by the light forming the rest of its shape, which hovered in front of Underling protectively as it finished taking on physical form… and when it did, everyone became stunned by what they saw.

"What the…?!"

"Eh?!"

Sounds and reactions like that summarized the states of Vali and his party pretty well, as the fighting briefly halted. There, floating in front of Underling like the CPUs would, looked to be some kind of humanoid only did it look like a humanoid being, with royal blue textured skin and very light grey armour with navy accenting lines on the arms, chest, face, shoulders and legs, but it also formed arms shaped like, as well as function as, swords. The armour looked to be branded with "ASIC" on the chest piece, back of the neck, right arm, and left leg, "DIABOLOS" on the upper right chest, left arm, and right leg, and "SV-05" on the chest, inside of the knee, upper arm, left shoulder, and neck. There were also four large pointed loops, one on each shoulder, one on the upper back and one coming back off the face, which seem to be purely aesthetic. To add to the sharp design of the Armour, the tops of the lower leg armour appeared sharp. In the chest plate, there was a triangular cavity for a bright blue core, one which had the same colour as the glowing collar around its neck, a chain connecting it to the device Underling sported whilst its eyes glowed a bright blue. The Armour on its face came to just above the eyes, mostly obscuring them.

"Heh, surprised? Well, have some MORE surprises! Sword Legion, go!" Underling ordered, quickly throwing her arm out and ordering the newly christened 'Sword Legion' to strike at Olivia. The creature did as instructed, shooting across the battlefield before smacking right into her, causing the girl to gasp in shock at the blunt force it's kick gave her as she got sent flying into a tree. The moment she collided with it, the force of the blow knocked her unconscious, her body sliding down to the ground motionless.

"OLIVIA!"

Emilia cried out her friend's name as Delta bared her fangs, fury erupting within her eyes behind her Domino mask as she charged forth against the newly summoned creature. The Sword Legion, seeing her, growled like the beast it was as it flew forwards, clashing with the Beastman and trading a bunch of blows with her.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

They went, and whilst that happened Emilia rushed towards Underling with her sword already mostly enveloped in frost. She intended to stab it into her and then use her Mana to freeze her from the inside out, although Underling blocked that with her X-Baton in Baton Form, then launched a series of roundhouse kicks which ended with the last one striking Emilia in the side of the head, knocking her down in a daze.

Just before she could finish her off, Underling glanced to the side and saw Nepgear already jumping at her with a MS over her right hand, so she switched her X-Baton into Sword Form and blocked it, making a tugging motion with her left arm. This wound up teleporting the Sword Legion back to her, much to Nepgear's shock as, with a single mental command, Underling had it circle around her with the chain connecting Underling to the Sword Legion wrapping around her. When it did so, several offshoots shot out of it, impaling the ground around her as the chain successfully bound Nepgear in one place, restraining her whilst the Sword Legion returned to her side, the Chain connecting them splitting forth from the restraints. "Heh, you just sit tight, ya brat. I'll deal with you later." Underling sneered, driving a fist into Nepgear's face for good measure as she turned to fight against Vali, who had launched a bunch of MBs down at her from above.

Again…

It was happening again…

As she got punched hard enough for her to black out, Nepgear saw black dots spread across her vision as the realm of unconsciousness beckoned her to join it in eternal silence. Yet, she didn't focus on that right now, nope, what she tried her best to focus on was how Vali and Emilia, who had just gotten up, continued clashing against Underling with her Sword Legion who also contended with the berserker known as Delta. Though it was 3V2 right now, it actually looked more like an even fight than anything with the enemy utilizing that Chain of theirs to their advantage and managing to successfully restrain the beast known as Delta after a couple exchanges, leaving the fight a 2V2.

Why?

Why was she always so weak?

So pathetic?

So fragile?

When she was born from the power of Share Energy, she had been named nepgear by Histoire, similar to Neptune's name. She had always been a shy person with moments of maturity, which made her a potential target for her sister's many enemies, therefore they had to shelter her, keep her away from the public to make sure she would be safe. Her sister had allowed her to go outside for a bit, on occasion, but there were a lot of rules and regulations imposed on her because of her station, something she had no control over due to being born into the role. Understandably, she sometimes felt a bit lonely, didn't have that many friends, and didn't meet with her sisters and the other candidates. In fact, until she met with IF and Compa, she may as well have been a loner in every sense of the word.

Though, after meeting those two, for the first time ever Nepgear had tasted true happiness, the fortune of being able to spend some time with someone, and to experience what the outside world truly was.

During those times, she had heard rumors that someone had found a lost item that is a huge ship with functioning robots that look just like her designs and realized that someone had found her lost item. She had initially wanted to meet with the person who found it, and give them a similar item to her lost item. But then, when she had heard who found it, she'd found that it was Vali Fou bartford, the Unbeatable Prince of Gamicademi, as well as Leanbox's Combat Saint. She had been initially surprised that a male had been the one who had found Luxon, not to mention one with such a powerful position in the political landscape. As such, her own shyness amongst various other factors resulted in Nepgear not being able to get the chance to meet with him. One such factor was because he lived in Vert's Nation of Leanbox…. And the other was that she feared what it would be like to talk to a boy for the first time. She hadn't done so before, having only talked to girls her whole life, so it had been a rather daunting prospect. She had heard how boys were different from girls in a multitude of ways too, so that didn't help too much.

When the goddess festival came, she took this chance to enjoy it and, as much as she felt afraid to, find Vali.

But... apparently, a disaster happened.

Destruction, chaos, death, and despair had occurred all around her when the ASIC attacked Eden, killing many humans and transforming it into the Gamindustri Graveyard that it's known as today. It made her become horrified at what happened around her, whilst IF had tried to escape with her, getting out this place while leaving her sister and the others try to deal with the ASIC. but apparently she got knocked out and separated from IF the last time she saw her when she tried to go after her.

Ever since then it had been a blur of darkness for her, and by the time she woke up Nepgear had found that she had been in a deep sleep for over 3 years, unable to do anything until one day, she had awoken and seen the person who awakened her.

Vali Fou Bartford.

She felt grateful for Vali, for he had been the one who rescued her and saved her life as well as helped wake her up from her coma. To the point that she joined with him on a journey to get the Mascots' power, in order to be powerful enough to destroy the barrier that surrounded Eden, stopping ASIC once and for all.

Now, she was weak, couldn't do anything at all to help them, she can't be of any use to the person who saved her. Maybe….. It's better to not be a burden to anyone, her sister, her friends and….. Vali…...

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

No, she can't give up yet.

She still wanted to repay Vali.

She wanted to not be a burden!

She wants to become powerful to not let anyone take advantage of her!

SHE WILL NOT STOP UNTIL ALL OF THOSE ASIC BASTARDS ARE HAVE GONE TO HELL!

In that moment she felt something inside of her was restrained until it broke and filled her with energy that she never felt before, but now its not the time, for she has to deal with underling.

(Play Hellsing Ultimate Soundtrack -Zakuro)

BA-BUMP!

A strong heartbeat sound burst forth from within Nepgear's ribcage, one which could be both heard AND felt throughout the battlefield, causing all conscious competitors to halt themselves to look in her direction.

"The fuck was that?" Underling wondered, eyebrows arched. 'And why the fuck do I hear boss music right now?' Not only that, but she could also hear the whistling sounds of winds blowing through the area, all heading inwards towards the restrained Nepgear.

A restrained Nepgear… whose body had started to crackle with black electricity with a silver outline. Her hair softly fluttered in the generated breeze whilst her head hung low, letting her bangs cloak her eyes in darkness. Furthermore, her mouth hung open, allowing her teeth to bear their fangs out towards the world. The girl began to inhale and exhale slowly and heavily, like she was straining herself even when under extreme exhaustion... though, judging by the abnormal electricity flowing around her body that would likely not be the case here. Not to mention the ominous presence that saturated the atmosphere at the moment, and kept on growing and growing as the seconds ticked by.

'{Hmmmm… so, this is how its going to be…}'

Vali, up in the air, heard Ablion's voice and made to question him about what was going on. 'Albion… is this supposed to be what I think it is…?'

'{Seems this is why her training with your power was proving so slow, its being brought out in this manner instead, a manner her body is used to. Just watch.}'

After Albion's words, the electricity coursed along her restraints, which began to crack in multiple different places… until finally they shattered into tiny like glass shards. They fell to the ground, disintegrating into nothing as Nepgear stumbled forwards, her arms hanging in front of her as she made her way towards Underling, who stepped back a few times with a look of confused fear in her eyes. "What, you want to go?! Fine then, Sword Legion! Teach this dumb broad here a lesson!" Underling proclaimed as the creature lunged forth towards Nepgear, intending to swing it's right blade to decapitate her.

However…

SMACK!

The second before it could hit, Nepgear's right arm shot up and caught it in it's grasp, holding it firmly in place by gipping it's armour with no signs of letting go, no matter how hard the creature tried to pull free. Nepgear then lifted it into the air with one hand, strands of silver Lightning flowing forth along that arm before she tossed the creature aside.

Finally, after this happened Nepgear took a deep breath, then reared her head backwards and let out a HUGE scream towards the heavens…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Which got followed by a pillar of black light with a silver outline similar to when a certain blonde ninja went over 4 tails of his tenant's power. Everyone who was still conscious got blown backwards from the shockwave that the pillar generated, and when the pillar died down… someone floated within the generated dust cloud, covered in a silver aura. Though when the smoke finally subsided completely, Negear floated like she was in CPU form… but that was the only comparison that one could make about her right now.

She currently stood with a figure that rivalled Vert's in terms of shape and proportions… save for her chest area that seemed only slightly bigger than her normal form. Her hair had turned from lilac to a crimson colour, similar to that of blood as it fell down to her waist. Her eyes had became a matching red too, with pure white power button symbols for her pupils. Her body became covered in this black, one piece suit that covered her form from the year down, with holes over the inner thighs to expose the black tights she wore underneath. Furthermore, the knees and forearms looked like they were about to break apart considering the orange lines going through them resembling volcanic rock about to split apart. A crimson coloured, tattered scarf was wrapped around her neck to the point where the lower portion of her face had been covered. Whereas around her waist was a long cloth that hung downwards similar to the one Alpha wore as part of her Slime Suit, with it splitting into two tails with a crimson interior, a series of crimson belts circling around the coat. Furthermore, from the base of her spine protruded a long Tail-like appendage about the same length of her height, shaped like one of the Tentacles back in the Gamindustri Graveyard, ending in a couple wires reminiscent of fingers. In addition, four large wings shaped like those of a Devil's, yet made from crimson coloured energy came out of her back whilst several pieces of plate-like armour floated over her shoulders, waist and ankles whilst two horns that looked similar to her wings protruded from the sides of her head. As for her weapon, in her right hand she held a large black and red nodachi, with the blade itself being crimson but with a black edge to it, as well as a similar cracked pattern that her forearms and knees had, but black instead of red. (AN: Think of Dark Knight Elesis from Elsword but with crimson energy wings, horns, A Tail like MGR: Revengeance's Bladewolf's and knight like armour pieces floating in similar places to those a CPU has when in HDD Form.)

All in all, she looked MENACING.

"What… the hell…?" Even as the entire Party stared at her, those who had been unconscious being forced back into the land of the awake thanks to the power rolling off Nepgear's form in waves, Underling could only mutter those words in shock and light fear, the now crimson redhead CPU Candidate's eyes bearing down on her like they were trying to look through her soul. Underling was NOT a fan of this feeling, as she quickly summoned and had her Sword Legion float beside her for any quick defence should a sneak attack be launched at her.

Meanwhile, Nepgear looked towards Vali and the others, each of them jumping slightly at the… intensity, behind her gaze save for the stunned Vali. "Everyone…" She spoke, her voice soft and yet very… mesmerizing, sort of like a siren trying to drag sailors to the depths where their doom awaited them. "Thanks for doing so well up till this point… but now, please let me face her alone."

"Eh?! Nepgear, what are you thinking?! Why don't we just-"

"Wait, let her do what she wants for now."

"?! Vali?! Why would you-"

Glancing below him towards Emilia and Olivia, the boy began to explain his point whilst Nepgear floated before a stunned Underling, looking both edgy and menacing at the same time. "Think of it like this, we need to have a good idea of the CPU Candidate's abilities in this new form she's obtained, don't we? Also, in this state I doubt she would let us try and help anyways." It wasn't like he couldn't just barge in himself if things went too sour for them, but Vali wanted to know how his power had affected Nepgear, both physically and mentally. When he didn't hear any objections after a few seconds, Vali looked to the redhead before them. "Alright Nepgear, the court's yours. You screw up, we're jumping in though, remember that."

Without giving a verbal response, Nepgear gave a sharp nod as she held her sword at the ready in both hands, getting into a stance similar to that of a certain cyborg ninja who had a thing for feeding off cyborg innards. 'Alright, fool. Have at you!" she declared, unfurling her demonic energy wings and flapping them once, propelling her forwards.

The moment she did so…

BZZZZZZT-BANG!

… Her form instantly became enveloped by black lightning with a silver outline, turning her into a literal lightning bolt that quickly sped her up, closing the distance between them in less than a second. Underling gasped, clearly caught off guard by this, although this got followed by a grunt of pain when Nepgear slammed a foot into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her whilst making her bend over. As for her summon, the Sword Legion, it quickly launched a helicopter slash at her with the intent of bisecting Nepgear in half only for the girl to coat her sword in black and silver lightning, then swing it upward to generate a large wave of it that rose up into the air, taking the creature with it. Nepgear's eyes then flashed and a bolt of Lightning struck down from the heavens above to smite the thing, causing it to howl in intense agony with all the electrical energy coursing through it.

Twirling around, Nepgear brought her Lightning covered sword down onto Underling, who quickly raised her own X-Baton in Sword Form to block it…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Only for an explosion of lightning to conceal them from view.

'{Interesting…}'

Whilst the onlookers watched in stunned amazement as Nepgear began employing various lightning attacks in her fight against Underling, who used her Sword Legion to tank some of the blows whilst she tried to get in close only to get her ass handed to her by the CPU Candidae, Vali glanced at his wings when he heard Albion's sole comment on the issue. His brain then clicked when he realized what the dragon had been so intrigued by. 'Let me guess, this is some kind of lightning magic...?'

'{Sort of, yes. I believe this has spawned from the Demonic Power you yourself are capable of, Vali. Remember how you were able to create elemental magic from it when you were a kid? Well, it looks like young Nepgear is doing the same, but she is creating Lightning Magic. Seems like that's her preferred element, which considering how its been said that she's a bit of a techno geek makes a lot of sense. She seems to primarily be using it to enhance her movements and attacks however, which shows me that she has some ways to go if she wants to apply it in more versatile ways.}'

'I see…'

Back with Nepgear and Underling, The two of them traded multiple blows with their respective swords a few times, before breaking apart as the latter tried to guide her Sword Legion around the former, obviously wanting to do the same to her as she had done to Delta. However, the CPU Candidate didn't fall for that as she instead flapped her wings once, generating a gust of wind which blew her upwards. She unfurled those wings seconds later when she had cleared about 60 feet, then looked down at her opponent.

Said opponent growled under her breath as she glared upwards. "Grrr! Get back down here and fight me fair and square, you coward!" Underling raged, pointing her sword upwards at Nepgear, whose eyes narrowed at her.

"And waste my advantage? I think not." The flying girl retorted, her body crackling with dangerous Lightning that she directed into her outstretched Wings Her eyes bore down into Underling's, sporting nothing but disgust and contempt for her as she flapped those wings of hers. This resulted in a series of continuous lightning strikes to hit the ground in front of her, only for Nepgear to mentally direct them over to Underling's position even as the girl tried to dart around the battlefield to dodge them.

Eventually, they closed in on her, and…

BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-!

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

… Utterly electrocuted her, to which Nepgear clicked her free hand's fingers and dispersed the lightning, leaving a defeated Underling to fall onto all fours, her Sword Legion dispersed and retracted into the device on her arm. Yet, in spite of this, the girl looked upwards as Nepgear hovered before her, cloaked in her Lightning which danced across her form whilst her sword shimmered menacingly. "#Huff…#huff….. how are you this strong? You were supposed to be weak without most of the Share energy?"

"And why would I give an answer to an enemy, an underling like you? Now surrender or else I will be forced to kill you."

"Never… not the likes as you!" Underling shouted. pulling out a dark ball before throwing it to the ground. The moment that she did so, a bright light began to blind the group temporarily, and by that in reality it persisted for about 6 seconds before it vanished. When the group lowered their arms, they saw no sign of their enemy, meaning that Underling had escaped.

Seeing this, Vali cursed. "Dammit she escaped, next time we make sure she doesn't escape." he muttered under his breath, getting an agreeing nod from Emilia.

"Indeed Vali."

Meanwhile Compa and IF, who hadn't really participated in the battle due to being knocked out early on, rejoined the group with the former looking Nepgear's form up and down. One could easily tell her discomfort at the sight of it. "But, how did you get that form of yours, Ge-Ge? It looks….. Edgy. Very edgy."

Remaining silent, Nepgear looked down at her hands, the sword she wielded, and then the rest of her body as she turned around to look at her various body parts.

Stepping forwards to get everyone's attention, doing the throat-clearing thing to help that out, Vali provided the answers. "It would be…. the side effect of my Variant mana, you see when she was close to dying by the cells, I didn't have any other choice but to put some of my mana into her resulting not only her recovery but also this. I didn't think that it would result in her gaining a second transformation other than her HDD Form." By that last bit, Vali meant that he could sense the Demonic Power flowing through Nepgear at this moment more than the Share Energy, although it was still there. This led him to conclude with Albion that this transformation was powered by her Demonic Power, whilst the other got powered by her Share Energy, meaning she had two transformations instead of one.

"... it's alright Vali you did what you had to do, anyway let's go to the dungeon before it's too late. If underling was here, then its likely that ASIC must've discovered the Mascots." Nepgear advised, pointing her occasionally crackling sword towards the cave.

"... shit, your right. Let's go!"