Chapter 23

With their work in Planeptune pretty much accomplished, the Party stayed the night so they could rest up and take the journey tomorrow. During that time, a bit of a changeup had to occur due to there being various matters such as missions and stuff that required some of their members. As a result, the group now consisted of the following people: Vali, Krul, Nepgear, IF, Compa, Alpha, and Alexia. Whilst Rom and Ram had wanted to come with them on their journey, Vali wouldn't have it since he couldn't guarantee their safety… that, and they were too weak to be of much use at this time.

As such, by the time the next morning had come around, the Party had proceeded to head towards Lastation, travelling there by Luxon's Airship with an armed escort, due to there having been records of ASIC affiliated pirates and airships raiding transports carrying supplies to other Nations and disrupting trade routes. Though internally, Vali had at the time hoped that they would come, so they would be able to get some action in especially if they brought decently challenging monsters along for the ride, which they had sometimes done. Furthermore, Luxon had wondered what the use was in having 'a bunch of meat sacks and piles of junk' escorting them much to Nepgear's dismay, though she couldn't really refute her creation considering it's specs.

After a couple days' trip where no attacks had happened (much to Vali's dismay), they arrived at the Basilicom of their nation, landing on the landing pad as they walked through the halls of the building.

Whilst they walked, Nepgear looked around with awe and wonder. "Woooow… so this is the Lastation Basilicom…" she mumbled, struggling to contain her girlish excitement. "This is my first time, seeing it."

At this, Krul glanced behind her at the CPU Candidate with an arched brow. "Really? I would have assumed that as the next CPU you would have had ample visits to other Nations so you would know what to do to keep your alliances with them going." she questioned in confusion. Being a former member of royalty herself, Krul had done this sort of thing all the time before her ascension into the role of Queen, visiting foreign lands and getting to know various influential powers at the time. Ruling a kingdom was never an easy task, and a big part of that was maintaining relations both internally as WELL as externally.

Unfortunately, this didn't seem to have happened with Nepgear as she shook her head, a light but weak smile on her lips. "No… sis was adamant that I stay in Planeptune, so I spent most of my days there either gaming or tinkering away. She took care of the 'ruling a Nation' stuff herself, though that's only when Histoire forced her to work… sometimes, she'd leave everything to her so she could play games." she explained, a regretful look soon coming onto her features as memories of better times returned to her.

Krul did NOT like this however, proven by the way she narrowed her eyes at the girl, a sudden surge of hostility entering her eyes as Nepgear nearly squeaked at the sudden shift in her demeanor. "I see…" she muttered under her breath, scowling as she turned her head back so she faced her front and continued walking… although, there was a sense of weight increase as she walked on her heeled boots which did not imply much positivity.

Actions which left the CPU Candidate shuddering as she felt like she had done something horrible to her sister. "Um… I think I said something wrong to Krul. Did I say something wrong, IF?" Nepgear questioned, looking to her brunette friend worriedly.

Meanwhile, IF had more of a brain for this kind of thing, so she figured out what the former Vampire Queen had been ticked off by. "No worries, Gear, just a difference in opinion… though I hope she would at least wait till we stop ASIC before hammering a nail into Nep's noggin." she mused, causing Nepgear's stomach to churn worse than before.

Eventually, they reached what could be described as the main hallway where visitors could gather to pray before a statue of their CPU with a smaller one shaped like their Candidate beside her. Though, this didn't register in their vision for too long, since before the base of these two statues stood Kei, the oracle of Lastation. "Ahh, you've arrived at last."

Not one to be indirect, Vali made the following statement. "You know what we're here for don't you?" he said, getting straight to the point without any need for any BS.

Something which the Oracle looked to appreciate as she nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, I do, Historie told me you are here for the CPU candidate and the Mascot of this nation. Well, I have some good news and some bad news: good news is that I can help you with the CPU candidate, but the bad news is that I cannot help you locate the Mascot." she replied, frowning at the end.

Krul narrowed her eyes at this while at the back of the group, Alexia and Alpha formed worried frowns on their faces. "What do you mean?" the former Vampire Queen questioned lowly, a sense of killing intent starting to develop within her which the others began to feel. Odds were, that it came from a combination of this news as well as the previous revelations about Neptune's lazy work ethic.

"I mean it's almost impossible to even get this Nation's Mascot. Here, look at this." Kei said, before she snapped her fingers and a hologram appeared in front of them. Each of the party members looked at the hologram as it buzzed to life, allowing it to show… some kind of land that they weren't familiar with, thus prompting mass confusion throughout the Party. That is, until seconds later when that confusion became mixed with horror at the sight of… some sort of monster. One which they had NEVER seen before, as it jumped across the screen onto a piece of rock.

The monster itself looked to be as large as a truck, moving on all fours like a cat with white fur covering its claws and paws. Furthermore, it had various golden protrusions coming out of its back while its head sported a large, white furry mane as well as a matching moustache. Its eyes glowed a complete crimson red, whilst its head sported 4 horns amist what looked like… some kind of antler-like structure on top of it. Sort of like a mix between antlers and a crown, whilst it had a long, cat-like Tail protruding from the tailbone.

Needless to say, the Party had become stunned at the sight, with various reactions and comments leaving their mouths against their wills.

"Woah!"

"What the?!"

"Oh my CPU!"

"What is that thing?!"

Clicking her fingers again, Kei dismissed the hologram as she aimed a serious look at them. "This is the reason why it's almost impossible, these monsters have been propping up all over the place, and have been wreaking havoc wherever they went. Upon investigation which most of the Agents involved lost their lives in… various brutal ways, it was uncovered that these monsters were on the borderline of S-ranks, the same monsters you all fought in the dungeon." she explained grimly.

At this, Compa felt like she would faint soon while IF tried to protest about this situation, not believing what she was hearing. "But…. how is that possible? An S-rank is almost rare to find one!" Alpha and Alexia, the calmest of the girls while Vali and Krul merely widened their eyes slightly at the words said to them, frowned in worry about the possible implications of this information.

The Oracle nodded at this. "True….. Let me explain. About a few hundred years ago, my predecessor had kept a record on where the Mascot had been located, but then something happened in that time frame, From out of nowhere this strange red mist had appeared, covering a vast portion of Lastation territory. From there, powerful Monsters evolved from various other Monsters which took the lives of many who had been exploring that area. When the situation proved critical and it was guaranteed that the military would be unable to keep them contained within that specific area, Noire decided to do so herself. She used her powers and created a barrier that could hold the monsters as well as the red mist, so that they couldn't take over the Nation. That area also happened to include the Mascot's resting place, and any attempts to try to get in were stopped by Noire since she didn't want to risk the Monsters getting out. My guess is that something happened to the Mascot that caused its energy to make them evolve but in the record I found, she theorized that something in that area caused this to happen."

Hearing this caused IF to frown while Krul pondered on this information. From what Kei had said, she saw this situation as a multilayered circle: the barrier was the outermost layer keeping everything else contained. Then there were the monsters which may act as the next 'layer' and finally there was the Red Mist which may as well have been its own 'core' or something. Heck, she wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that the stuff had taken over everything within the Barrier. However, this didn't change the fact that the Mascot's last known location had been within this barrier, which meant that they would have to break through in order to retrieve it for their fight against ASIC. "I see….."

Looking at them all one by one, Kei looked like she was thinking deeply about something before she nodded to herself."Ordinarily, I wouldn't have agreed to let you anywhere near that Barrier, due to the cataclysmic damage those inside have already caused. However, given the situation that Histoire explained to me, it seems that I have no choice in the matter. If you want to get the Mascot then you'll have to go through these monsters as well as potentially the Red Mist, but even I know that handling them all will be no easy task. The monsters Evolved rapidly beforehand, so who knows how powerful they have become while being trapped in there."

Those words hung ominously through the air, letting the Party know just what kind of hell awaited them on the other side. After hearing Kei's words, Nepgear nodded her head in acknowledgment. "... Alright, I understand. Lets go Vali." she said, turning away to walk on towards the Basilicom's exit which was close to the main hall.

However, what Vali responded with changed her plans RADICALLY. "... you'll have to find the candidate yourself Nepgear me and Krul will handle this." he stated suddenly, catching EVERYONE off guard.

"What why?"

Turning to the shocked Nepgear, the silver-haired hybrid frowned at her. "Simple, you are not strong enough to deal with these monsters. Back at the Orcus Labyrinth, you struggled with these monsters that had been in A-rank, and though you were able to eventually get in a groove, there's a big difference between A and S ranked Monsters. Therefore, with many monsters that are a borderline of an S-rank in threat level, you won't survive. Thus, I'm not taking that chance."

"But…"

"Vali has a point, Gear."

"IF?"

"Look, these monsters should normally be a cake for you, but three years have passed and because of ASIC you're not in your full strength. You've surely been powered up by that edgy form of yours, but in comparison your HDD Form's lackluster in terms of power level. True goddess knows what will happen if we lose you and if we do….. Forget not being able to forgive ourselves, pretty much chaos would eventually come to everyone in Gamindustri."

"I… alright, but be safe you two."

Both of them nodded their heads in unison at this. "We will." Vali and Krul went outside as they followed them. Vali activated Divine dividing while Krul used her wealth of power to spawn out her wings which looked to be like bat wings.

Before they left however, they were stopped when Kei went to them, taking out what looked to be a Share crystal which she then gave to Vali. "This will allow you to enter the barrier that Noire conjured. You can enter and exit out of that forbidden place if it proves to be difficult for you. Good luck."

As she said that Vali ran to the edge, jumping off before diving downwards before flying to the forbidden place as Krul went up to the air before she sped through like a bullet as she followed after Vali. Back at the Basilicom the rest of the group looked at their retreating figures, whilst Nepgear once again bemoaned her own uselessness. "... if… only I was….. Strong enough." she muttered.

Alpha then stepped forwards and put a hand on her shoulder, getting the CPU Candidate's attention. "You will be Nepgear, it's just that Vali is worried about your chances of survival. Just remember you're not a burden to us."

"... Ok Alpha, let's go find the CPU Candidate."

Later

"Hmph you might prove a challenge for me."

SCHWING!

BOOM!

A loud roar came from what had once been a Crocodile-like monster with a turbine infused into its back that could discharge electricity, as Vali cut the monster's head off with a pair of MS strikes whilst Krul's right hook smashed into the monster's side, reducing it to mush.

Heaving afterwards, Vali and Krul looked towards one another, looking a little worse for wear since they had passed the barrier so they could still keep going. It had been about 40 minutes since they had arrived and had broken through the barrier, however things had quickly taken a turn for the mysterious from the moment they had gotten past it in a similar way to when they tried rescuing Nepgear back in the Gamindustri Graveyard. For one, when they had expected there to be red mist all over the place like what Kei had mentioned, instead there was only clear blue skies and lush green landscapes, although during their journey they had indeed discovered several settlements that looked to have been badly damaged to the point of becoming uninhabitable, all the while being partially reclaimed by Nature and the like. Not only that, but the existence of there being powerful monsters was definitely true, something which Vali and Krul had indeed discovered for themselves the hard way which meant that the Red Mist must have been real as well.

Speaking of the monsters, there had been LOTS of them as they got closer to their target destination, like they could hardly breathe before they were ambushed by Monsters which could do all kinds of wacky shit, for example some of them had become pack leaders of sorts, able to call and direct other monsters to them like they were commanders leading troops on the battlefield. It was ridiculous! The sooner they find the mascot the better they can leave and also find the reason how the monsters were evolving here.

"Just how the fuck can these monsters evolve to the borderline of an S-rank?" Vali mused through gritted teeth as, during that monologue that summarized their past actions pretty well if one asked him, they had fought off yet another pack of beasts with bone-like skulls and large bony Tails which they used as mallets, Vali having likened them to raptors due to how they fought and moved about. By far, they were the easiest creatures to fight, save for when they were in packs which proved annoying, but he preferred them compared to something like a mass of Tentacles which moved on two large feet or that annoying purplish yellow fox-like one with about 6 tails that kept launching energy blasts all over the place.

Beside him, Krul shook her head whilst he pursed her lips. "I don't have the answer for that Vali if I did I would tell you." she responded, knowing that her companion's frustrations mirrored her own. With all these monsters around, Krul feared the worst had happened to any human survivors who had been trapped in the Barrier, unable to get out in time. Oh right, nobody knew that yet, but the thing was while Kei did indeed say that Noire had erected this barrier to trap the monsters here and save the lives of her people, what Krul realized that Kei had neglected to mention was how there had still been people trapped in these monster infested lands, unable to escape from their homes thanks to the barrier and, even before then the military at the time wouldn't have been able to rescue. As such, they must have either lived a life separated from the rest of Gamindustri… or the worse fate got torn apart by these Monsters.

"I know...:" Vali muttered… though after a few seconds worth of pondering a slight grin started to spread across his lips, his eyes carrying a hungry glint in them as he looked to his companion. "I will say however, that I've been missing these kinds of monsters I could fight!" he proclaimed happily, causing Krul to stare at him blankly.

"... you are a battle maniac aren't you?"

"Damn proud of it."

"...Hhhaaaa, should've expected this when I saw that smile of yours."

"What you see is what you get with me." Vali stated, shrugging his shoulders before he looked to the side, though his head to turn slightly since the collar of his slime suit's coat had been in the way. "Huh we're here." Vali said, prompting Krul to look in his direction to indeed spot the red mist.

For a moment, the two stared at it, before Krul broke the silence between them as she summoned her Dragonslayer into her hand again (having stored it in a way similar to an inventory system) in readiness. "Looks like we have our Red Mist…" She mused, narrowing her eyes at it.

Vali borrowed his eyes while nodding in agreement, pocketing his hands inside his Slime Suit's coat. "Definitely, looks like we're finally going to get some answers… as well as probably more questions to ask too. Anyways, let's head on over." He stated, proceeding to walk off towards the Red Mist. However, not a few steps had been taken when Vali noticed that Krul wasn't moving when he didn't hear her boots, so he turned his head to look at her and noticed her staring intently at the Red Mist. "You coming?"

Those two words managed to snap Krul out of her musings as she blinked several times, seemingly having escaped some kind of trance before she looked forwards towards her companion. "Y-Yeah, I'm coming." she stated, though Vali narrowed his eyes slightly at the stutter she made. He didn't say anything about it as the two proceeded to walk on together towards the Red Mist in the distance. Inside his mind however…'Hmmmm, that look… something tells me that Krul might be aware of something, or at least suspicious of something.'

'I share that suspicion, Vali. The way she looked at that Red Mist was… concerning, that look somewhat resembled some kind of beast looking at a delicious source of meat or something like that. However, let us wait and see if we can gather any information before we question our companions.'

'Indeed…'

After a short while of walking, they both approached the outermost layer of the Red Mist, although upon doing so they QUICKLY looked on in absolute bewilderment at the sheer size of it. "Woah….. This Mist… it could cover a large city!" Vali exclaimed, being shocked and visibly showing it which didn't occur that often.

Meanwhile, Krul cupped her chin with her right hand while rubbing her index finger over the side of her jawline. "What could this Mist be hiding, I wonder?" she mused thoughtfully. It felt strange to her that this Mist would be so large, but then again the Red Mist had 'mystery' written all over it so perhaps this was something to be expected.

"That's what we are about to find out, come on hold your breath." Vali took a large breath as Krul did the same, before they both entered the Mist. Before long however, Krul began to sweat slightly as she begun to sense something… wrong, something VERY wrong within her. 'What the…?! What is this?! Why is…?!' she thought to herself before she quickly got out of the Mist and let out a loud gasp of oxygen.

Turning back when he heard her frantic boots slamming into the dirt, Vali saw this and quickly went to her side. She was panting like crazy. "(PANT)(PANT)(PANT)(PANT) that mist…" she tried to say between pants, shudders travelling down her spine.

What the heck? What was going on here? Vali had never seen Krul look this… shaken, for lack of a better word. Even when she had been negotiating with her freedom on the line once he had first encountered her, she had this sense of pride and self-confidence which befitted that of a ruler or someone used to being in control. However, this was the first time that he did NOT get that feeling from her, and that worried him. "What happened, Krul? Calm down!" he urged her, grasping her shoulders firmly and not letting go.

Still, she made it a point to not look at him and ignored the hands on her shoulders which had been made easier thanks to them being covered by gloves, meaning that there was less body heat meeting her skin. After a while, she felt her body begin to settle down to which she looked up at her companion with a look which pretty much screamed that this was not a good situation. "That Mist…. Something is definitely wrong with it. That Mist, being within it made my bloodlust skyrocket to levels higher than I've ever felt before, like it was trying to take my self control away. If… if I spend too long in there… I fear what would have happened to me as a result." she explained to him, still shuddering at an experience she would rather not repeat if she could help it. However, she likely would have to if she wanted to learn what had been going on here.

Something which Vali also knew as he gritted his teeth at this newly discovered information. "... Shit, that's not good." he mumbled before looking back towards the Mist. Entering it didn't really promote any negative effects on him, but it did to his companion and, from what she had told him, he guessed that this Mist had something to do with her Vampire nature. That opened the door to MANY possibilities in his head, possibilities which Krul also likely had begun to think about, however right now he needed to figure out a way to get inside without Krul losing control over herself. Looking at the Mist for a moment, an idea then came to him. "Then hold on to me, I'll go through the Mist fast!"

A squeak of surprise then escaped her when Krul felt Vali pick her up by her waist then pull her into an embrace, though she didn't hesitate to voice her concerns even as her hands rested over Vali's pecs (a part of her indeed acknowledging how refined they felt). "But I'll eventually lose myself to my bloodlust and kill you Vali!"

"What choice do we have Krul? We came all the way here, and I'm not going to allow you to come here for nothing. Now, hold on." Vali declared as he switched the positioning, resulting in him holding Krul in a piggyback before Vali looked at the Mist with a determined gaze. An idea then came to him again, and he quickly activated his Balance Breaker, coating himself in the Scale Mail as to protect himself from both the mist as WELL as possibly his companion, before breaking off into a flight through the Mist. On his back, Krul kept wrestling with her rapidly escalating bloodlust as she tried to not bite at Vali's neck, soon forgetting that he had become armored by his Balance Breaker. Inevitably, she somewhat remained aware of her 'fighting a losing battle' as they say, proof being how despite her best efforts she still opened her mouth and leaned towards the male's jugular.

Just as she was about to try and reach Vali's neck…

They burst out of the Mist, allowing her to regain control over herself and retract her Fangs. Meanwhile, Vali noticed that they had gotten through. "We're though now." he stated.

"... I see." Krul responded, internally stunned at the Armor that had formed over her companion although she didn't think too hard about it. Krul then got off Vali as she looked around at their surroundings. This resulted in her seeing that they seemed to be within… some kind of city.

However, instantly they could tell that it was nothing like the other settlements they had seen, with one example of this being the copious amounts of these large, black spike-like protrusions jutting out of several areas they could see. Heck, Vali instantly took to the skies so he could get a better view, and noticed how dozens of areas had been affected by these spikes which seemingly came out of the earth themselves. "This….. Is what the mist was hiding? A lost city?" the male wondered as he landed beside the former Vampire Queen again.

Said Vampire Queen furrowed her brows as she did the same gesture she had done before they'd gone into the Mist the first time. "Indeed…. Whatever it is, it must have the answers to why the monsters are evolving and why the mist appeared." she remarked, frowning as she drew her Dragonslayer from her back (she'd put it there before Vali grabbed her earlier)

"... Alright let's look around."

They walked through the destroyed city, witnessing all kinds of devastation and ruin. They looked around before they spotted a girl that was laying down on the ground which made them surprised as they jogged up to her. She had moonlight hair that looked to be almost the same color as Vali's, her attire consisting of a dark-black short hood cloak that goes over her neck and a scrappy cloth shoulder blade baring shirt, which is ripped up at the top revealing her large breasts. For her feet, her left leg is completely wrapped in bandages and her right is barefoot. Her face had these kinds of black marks on them.

As the two of them kneeled beside her, Vali pressed two armored fingers against the side of her neck to check for a pulse, finding that she looked to still be alive. "How can there still be people here in the red mist?" He wondered in shock.

Krul shook her head, just as shocked and confused as he was. "I don't know Vali, maybe she is one of those survivor generations." she mused, though Vali never gave her an answer to which the reason became why a moment later.

"Uhhhh." A low groan escaped the girl's lips as her eyes tightened, signs that she was coming to. She opened her eyes as she had enchanting yellow eyes. She saw two figures above her, one was a young-looking girl whilst the other… looked to be some kind of armored being, though that didn't change the fact that they were looking down at her. "Who… are you?"

Seeing that their companion was able to talk, Vali decided to get some answers to the questions that they both had. "You're awake I see, good now tell us what this city is." he stated, no it felt more like a demand.

Although the girl didn't seem to mind, no, it felt more like she didn't even realize that he was demanding something of her. Nonetheless, she answered anyways as she looked downwards. "I….. don't know….. I….. don't remember anything except for a few things like my name, which is Io." she replied.

Behind his Armor's helmet, Vali scowled at that. A possible lead, now gone and from something as common to the point where its seen as cliche as Amnesia. However, the way she looked to be dressed also implied that she wouldn't be lying since he doubted that many women would willingly dress the way she did. Thus, he instead decided to accept it for the time being, thus he then went and asked a different question. "I see….. What happened here?" he questioned, gesturing to the whole city around them.

Instead of answering him however, the girl looked like she would start spasming at any moment all of a sudden, painting irregularly. "I….. need blood… please… take me there." She requested in a slightly pleading tone to him, pointing to the side. When Vali and Krul looked to the direction she had pointed at, their gazes caught sight of a white crystal tree, prompting the pair to become confused for a moment. However, upon witnessing the state that the girl called Io was slowly regressing towards being reminiscent to what he had seen from Krul earlier, Vali eventually wrapped his arms around the girl's back and picked her up, carrying her like a princess before the trio walked across the deserted street to where the crystal tree was located.

Upon their approaching of it, Krul's eyes glistened as a bout of curiosity about the Tree swelled within her chest.'This tree…' she mumbled in her thoughts, her mouth slightly open as she gazed at it. She didn't understand it herself, but for some reason she just got this feeling towards it, like she should be aware of this tree's purpose or at least of the 'connection' she should have to it. As a result, she walked to the tree and reached out with her left hand, touching it's trunk. As she slid the hand down its trunk, Krul winced when she felt a sharp pain erupt from her hand as she took the appendage away. "Ugh, dammit…." she mumbled, noticing the faint trail of blood running down her hand, the hole closing quickly though the blood outside remained such. As she held her hand, one drop of her blood dripped down onto the tree's roots, before they saw plants starting to grow as pixies proceeded to come out. Before long, a large teardrop-shaped object that contained red liquid inside grew rapidly on the tree's branches, with more following suit.

Watching all this unfold, Vali gaped behind his Balance Breaker's helmet, disbelief flowing through him at the sight as well as confusion. "What….. The fuck? Krul did you do something?" he questioned once the spectacle looked like it had finished.

He wasn't the only one who had been stunned however, as Krul looked at her hand with stunned wonder as she struggled to process what had just happened. "No... I just approached the tree and got pricked by it. Then, when my blood dripped onto its roots, it activated it somehow."

"...I see…. Then this place must have some kind of connection to you, Krul."

"Maybe so Vali I-?! How can this be!"

Vali was confused at what Krul said as she was stunned before looking at what she was looking at. He soon became the same as his companion when he saw Io plucking one of the teardrops from the Tree's branches. She soon bit into it, moaning in pleasure as the liquid raced down her throat… However, before she had bitten into the teardrop, both of them had caught sight of something that had sent them into their shocked states: she revealed to have two long fangs in her mouth, the same kind that Krul possessed. "Vampires….. They still exist!"

"But….. how is that possible?! They were all destroyed by White heart! How!?"

"Maybe this is one of the reasons why the Mist appeared… it's because the Vampires were hiding from the CPUs."

Whilst the two of them conversed about this situation, one where every answer they got lead to more and more questions, a blissfully ignorant Io looked at them for a moment, before bowing down to them in a show of gratitude. "Thank you���.. For giving me the blood beads, if you hadn't I would've turned into a Lost."

Hearing this caused the two of them to break from their hushed discussion and turn to face the fellow silver haired person. Meanwhile, the half Devil arched a brow when he heard that unfamiliar term. "Huh, what do you mean by 'Lost'?"

Just before she could answer, two men wearing gas masks as well as very gothic outfits came on up to them, each of them carrying some… some kind of weapon with them. Well, these weapons looked like rifles, but not like any they had witnessed so far. "A new spring and a fresh source of labor. We really hit the jackpot!" The men were walking to them as they pointed their guns at them. "Come on. It's time for a bit of fun."

Vali arched a brow at one of them who had been trying to order them around. Did they not see the fact that he was an armored giant compared to them? Or were these Gas Masks just for show? "What makes you think I would follow you?" he questioned rhetorically, his voice deepened thanks to his Balance Breaker's helmet.

These words proved to irritate the man in question as he made to step on forwards with his rifle raised slightly. "Hey, keep that tongue to yourself or else I'll cut it off!" he bellowed, though instead of being threatened Vali just simply chuckled in haughty derision.

"Hehehe and people say that women were the assholes here."

"I said shut i-Gah!" Before the man could say anything else, Vali punched him right in the gas mask with his armored fist, knocking him away whilst Vali straightened himself up as his unfortunate victim crashed into a few walls.

The other man shakily pointed his gun at Vali. "St-stay back! I'm warning you!" he tried to say without stuttering to sound threatening like he and his buddies had been before.

However, judging by the way Vali nonchalantly began looking around, it didn't seem like his attempts were working. "It's not me who you should worry about." he stated, much to the trembling man's confusion.

"Huh-GAAAAAAAH!" Before long, the man cried out when he got punched by Krul, being knocked out as he flew a few feet away. Kind of like a certain trio who constantly try to catch a yellow lightning mouse.

After dealing with the garbage in their eyes, Krul dusted her hands away. A look of furious disappointment shone in her crimson orbs. "Hmph they weren't that strong at all, I expected some challenges from them." she spat.

Sentiments which Vali shared as he nodded his head, several clanking mechanical sounds coming from his Armor. "Maybe so."

"I see you handled the Revenants easily."

However, Io's return to them reminded the two of them that they had one additional member to their little group, which felt kind of bizarre since they'd spent so long as a duo until now… something they would have to get used to. "Revenants?" Vali questioned.

Io nodded. "Yes, Revenants, what those two were." She replied, gesturing to where the two men from earlier had last been seen. Upon viewing their still confused looks (although she could only sense it concerning Vali thanks to that Armor), Io proceeded to explain. "Revenants are immortal, vampiric creatures who were once human but were revived after death. The specifics aren't anything I can remember, but they're essentially Beings that won't die unless their heart is destroyed. I am also one such being." she explained, gesturing to herself.

"... so basically, we have an army of immortals that are hundreds of years old, correct?"

"... Yes."

Vali scoffed at this behind his Armor, crossing his arms under his chest whilst the Armor's Tail flicked about to reflect his agitation. "Perfect, just what we needed: an army of immortal soldiers running around here who are almost Vampires but not. Well… at least they aren't nazi Vampires, that would really suck."

"What confuses me is how the heck can these so-called Revenants have vampiric essence in them? Vampires were said to have been killed by White Heart multiple centuries ago..." Krul added with confusion and more than a little revulsion flowing through her veins. As a member of the Vampire race, seeing these cheap knockoffs of her kind more than unsettled her being.

Something which the others also noticed by looking at her face and seeing the way it twisted and contorted into different expressions. "True… Alright then, let's continue our search. Io, if you come with us then we will find more answers if your memories don't reveal themselves naturally." Vali stated as he turned around. Since Io didn't have much information to share with them aside from the Revenant stuff, they would have to continue exploring around this City so that they could possibly find information. Not to mention that since they had found her alongside those Revenants in gas masks, the possibility of them running into more survivors did indeed present itself within their minds, although neither Vali nor Krul believed that they would be friendly if this whole apocalyptic situation and the general feeling of destruction in this place was any indication.

"Ok."

With that said, the trio consisting of Vali, Krul and Io walked through the ruined city as they looked around.

While they did this, Krul kept pondering about how the Revenants could have Vampiric Essence flowing through them. Maybe it's made from a surviving vampire, or was it made from their corpse?

Whatever it was, Krul intended to find out.

As they walked, they eventually came across a hole that led to what looked like some sort of underground passageway. "... Well, we searched the surface for a while and got nothing, so maybe if we're gonna find answers then we need to descend deeper." the half Devil mused as mechanical clunking sounds emitted from his Balance Breaker.

"It is possible, Vali."

"Hmph, still this looks like a deep drop. Hold on, Io." As he said that, Io grabbed onto Vali by wrapping her arms around his neck from behind. For extra support, he even wrapped the Tail around her body to keep her close to him. All the while, the silver haired Hybrid jumped down into the hole to which Krul jumped down after them. They rapidly descended deeper to the underground for seemingly forever, until they finally landed on the ground with several loud THUDs accompanying them.

Once they had fully recovered from the recoil born from the landing and the dust had settled, the trio stood up with Io releasing her hold on Vali who responded in kind, allowing her to stand at his right flank as they looked up towards the hole they had fallen down, to which they saw that they fell pretty deep. "(WHISLTE) Damn we must've fall down pretty far haven't we?" Vali, mused in a slight impressed manner.

Krul nodded her head in agreement. "Indeed, Vali."

After noting this, the trio continued to walk through the destroyed ruins of the underground, with Vali up front and the girls flanking him. Since he was still in his Balance Breaker, they would be able to use him as a tank of sorts if they were to get ambushed. Eventually, they came across a crystal bush as Io said. "This is Mistle, they can help with clearing the air of the bloodlust-inducing miasma. It's the reason why the Revenants wear those masks."

Upon hearing this, Krul held her chin with her hand as she began to understand the phenomenon she had been experiencing since she'd come here better. "I see, so that's the reason why I feel bloodlust around me as if I'm breathing in it… and considering what I am, it's affecting me like any other Revenant but on a different scale…" she mused, though only Vali remained aware of what she meant by that.

"You sure you can handle it Krul?"

Upon hearing his question, the former Vampire Queen nodded her head, hands on her hips. "Yes, I have self control on me Vali, but if what she says is true then it would be effective for me to find a mask to cover my face then." she replied.

Nodding his head, Vali then turned to Io with another question in mind, one more to do with him than anything else. "Does it affect humans as well?" He queried.

However, Io shook her head with a lack of clarity, before she elaborated. "I am unsure, but since humans don't need blood to survive, then I would say they would be unaffected."

"Got it."

Vali and the others continued their path, though it wasn't long before they came to something else worthy of discussion: a dead humanoid beast. One which Io simply described with the following words: "A dead lost."

Lost? This was the second time that they had heard this word, but they hadn't a clue on what it actually referred to. Thus, Krul became the one to ask their resident Revenant the following question. "A what now?"

Io elaborated without hesitation, seemingly growing used to their presence over time. "Lost are Revenants who have turned into dark, malevolent monsters by succumbing to their blood lust and losing their humanity. In order to escape from the suffering of their never-ending thirst for blood, they forever wander the world in search of new blood." she explained, her tone laced with a sense of sadness and loneliness… mixed with a sense of resignation, since she believed that this may be her fate in the end.

Hearing this caused Vali and Krul to look at one another, frowns on their lips. The more they listened to Io explanations the more they began to wonder just how this situation came to be, though this didn't hinder the one fact that was the most prevalent to them. "... this is just getting more complicated. First Revenants, then these 'Mistles', and now these 'Lost'? This place definitely has some connection to the vampires." Vali stated.

"... I agree, if they are still alive that is." Krul whispered, looking downwards and clenching her fists.

Something which her companion noticed as he placed a hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention to him again. "We won't know for certain Krul. Let me tell you this: even if every vampire WAS said to have gone extinct back then, there's bound to have been some that had escaped." he told her, sure of his words. He didn't understand why he felt so certain of this, but he just did. His gut SCREAMED at him that this was the right assumption, so he decided to give it to Krul to give her something to latch onto.

The way she looked at him from that moment, it changed. Vali saw all kinds of emotions flash across her face, some of them being positive-based and others, well, they caused his suspicions about certain possibilities about the former Vampire Queen to increase. "... Maybe so, Vali."

Once this conversation ended, the trio continued on. They walked through the ruins before seeing a monster which is a lost eating on a dead body as Vali put his hand out and unleashed a flamethrower which the Lost got incinerated by before it could react in time.

Upon seeing this, Io looked at Vali with a gaze which looked quite similar to Olivia's whenever she saw something she wanted to study. "Impressive, is that your blood code?" she questioned him.

Though to her surprise and confusion, Vali shook his head. "No, and let's talk about this later you explained enough for today Io." he told her. Io had given them a lot of information which only seemed to spur more questions, though it was still a fact that she had done a lot so far. She deserved to take a break from that again.

"Hm." Io nodded as she followed Vali as they both continued their path.

They passed through a concrete bridge as a Lost was in front of them. However, that didn't remain the case for long since Vali used his MS to slice the Lost in half before they saw a chest as he went to it and opened it. Inside of it, lay some weapons like those strange guns they had from those two rude Revenants, though Vali and Krul had no use for them since they were confident with their own abilities.

Afterwards, they opened a nearby door and passed through it, opening another door with there being another Lost in front of them. Responding promptly, Vali just simply conjured his Hellwind, slicing the Lost apart, before it continued again as Vali looked at his arm. "I definitely need to train my abilities if I need to control my bloodline."

"Indeed Vali."

They walked through the halls before Io shouted out while looking upwards, pointing her index finger in the same direction.. "Look out above us!"

"Huh?" Vali looked and saw that a slime came down from the ceiling before it revealed as a slime but with a mouth and spikes from its body as Vali incinerated it with his flames. First the lost now slimes, this mist is definitely keeping secrets that its hiding. Vali saw a ladder which he simply flew up and Krul jumped as she was with Vali before Io joined them as she climbed the ladder. There in front of them was a Misltes but it had red aura from it as they watched it before Vali had an idea. "Hey, why not you use your blood to see if it works the same way as the tree we saw?"

"Hmmm….. I don't see why it shouldn't." Krul went to the Mistle as she gripped her hand enough to spill out blood as she dripped it to the Mistle, it glowed as it spews out pixies as it became purified. "This is getting weirder and weirder by each second."

After Krul said this, Vali hummed in agreement whilst he looked at the Mistle for a moment. Eventually shaking his head, the trio once again continued on their way, soon finding themselves in some sort of cavern-like area.

As they walked throughout it, something came up in the form of them spotting a man on the ground, looking like he wasn't doing too well. Caution filled them while Vali approached him slowly. "Hey, you okay?"

The very INSTANT that the man heard this, he quickly turned his head around to look at them, and upon doing so he showed how his eyes had turned complete red with no iris in sight like some anime characters did when angry, catching Vali by surprise before he attempted to attack him by lunging at the male. Vali responded quickly however, generating an MS to slice his head off.

Once the man's headless form fell to the ground, it slowly disintegrated into nothingness, much unlike the way that Monsters in Gamindustri did whenever they fell. However, the jump scare that had happened had left its mark, as even while covered by his Balance Breaker, Vali still felt his heart pounding within his chest like victims inside a horror movie. "The fuck just happened...?" he muttered under his breath.

Io however, heard him. "This is the result of someone who has succumbed to his bloodlust before turning to a Lost."

"I see, then there is no hope for them, then?"

Io shook her head, solemnly saying the following words. "Nothing could save them, only death is their salvation."

The way she said it also provided a haunting atmosphere around the trio, a new level of intensity soon draping itself over them. Vali was silent as he contemplated this, his expression remaining unseen before he continued onwards with the girls following suit.

He wasn't like those types of people who would save anyone they encountered at the risk of their own lives, for he knew for a FACT that not everyone could be saved.

He was DEFINITELY no hero of justice.

Following this harrowing revelation about the Lost and what all Revenants may end up succumbing to if they didn't sate their bloodlust, the trio walked on through the Caverns. there was some lost but Krul wanted some action as she refused to be on the sidelines all the damn time. As a result, she would quickly leap forwards during encounters and either crush them with her punches which blew them apart, thoroughly 'eradicating' them or slice them to bits with her Dragonslayer. One time, the trio had encountered one gigantic Lost that had been there, but it wasn't anything Krul couldn't handle, heck Vali even caught her muttering how 'HE had been much bigger' before she punched its head and turned it to paste.

Eventually, they saw a Mistle that looked to be dried up before Krul did the same thing she did previously, putting drops of her blood on it to watch it revitalize itself like a plant deprived of sunlight for so long, finally getting some. She felt the bloodlust was going away as well as Io (who she found a mask for herself). They went further down before spotting a man who is approximately in his early 20s. He had somewhat untamed black hair that covered the right side of his face and red eyes. He wore a necklace that loops through a wide metal-looking ring around his neck, a ring which formed as a black band with silver-colored edges. Outside of that, he also looked to be sharply dressed, like some kind of professional person like a businessman or a servant.

Hearing their footsteps, the man glanced behind him and noticed their approaching. Instead of attacking them however, like the trio had thought he would, they saw his eyes widen in brief surprise before a tender look formed in his gaze. Afterwards, he slowly made his way towards them, trying to not be as threatening as possible. "Are you a fellow explorer? Because that is quite nice armor you have there."

"What, you want it? Because you'll have to go through me then."

"No no I'm just complementing, it's just looks unique that I have never seen it before."

"Uh huh."

"Look I'm not those other Revenants that have likely stabbed you in the back, the Miasma and the lost here are enough trouble as it is. What do you say, would you mind working together until we're through here?"

"... fine but if you try anything, I'll let 'her' turn you to paste."

To show her strength she punched a wall beside her as it cracked all the way behind her before debris started to fall as the Revenant sweated profusely, the message clear. "GULP! S-sure!" he stammered, not wanting his head to end up like that wall, before he shook said bodypart and followed them along their trek through the Caverns. Surely enough, they encountered some Lost that the man dealt with, but he became surprised and impressed at Valis Ability and his MS, as well as Krul with her strength. He should have realized that the strength of hers had been vicious before with the wall, but only when she applied it against the Lost did it truly sink in.

Maybe these two had their own gifts, he wondered.

As such, they dealt with some Lost before they arrived at the crystal tree as they dropped down. They looked at the tree before Krul did the same as her blood drips as the tree was restored.

The Revenant was stunned at this as he looked at the tree and Krul. "This….. But how… could it be?"

Vali went to the tree as he got some of those tear drops that were growing before he threw it to Io and the Revenant. "Drink from these while you can or save it for later."

"I….. you just…. You know what, forget it we'll talk later."

As the Revenant said that they continued their path, one which the trio soon saw was travelling upwards instead of downwards.

Eventually they started climbing some stairs, but it wasn't long before Vali then grew frustrated with their lack of progress. "Ugh this is taking too long." Vali grabbed Io as she held on to him and Krul used her wealth of power to spawn out wings as the revenant looked in surprise.

"Huh, what the-"

"No time."

"What do you meeeeeeaaaaannn?!"

Krul grabbed the Revenant as they both fly through the ruins as they passed lost that was on their way before they managed to see the exit which they dropped Io and the Revenant who fell to his knees, gasping for air. "(PANTS)(PANTS) next time….. Warn someone before you do that!"

Vali rolled his eyes behind his helmet, strange that a lot of people kept telling him something similar. "Hmph, I seem to get that from a lot of people…" he muttered.

They ignored him as they went outside. Upon stepping foot onto the surface once more, their eyes narrowed when they saw Revenants that were disappearing , their bodies having signs that they had been mauled to death. The culprit looked to be in front of them, feasting on another dead body. The culprit in question looked to be a Revenant which had a horn on his head and, upon him sniffing out their scents and him glancing at them, they discovered that the eyes of his Gas Mask were red. Beside him, lay a giant Hammer of sorts similar to the one which White Heart wielded, though this one had a bulbous shape and had a predominantly black scheme to it like a lot of the weapons these Revenants apparently wielded.

Recognizing that a battle was imminent when the Revenant shakingly stood upright while grabbing and lifting his Hammer in one hand, the group got into their combat stances while Io went to the side, since she didn't have a weapon. Part of the main duo of Vali and Krul wondered if those weapons in those crates could have been useful for her, but then again they didn't know which weapon she preferred to use in battle since she had no memories, plus they had been enough to handle the Lost so it hadn't been worthwhile to invest in that. Vali then glanced at their newest Revenant member. "Once someone becomes a Lost, they can never be saved, correct?" he questioned.

In response, the man nodded as he held his Longsword tightly. "Yes, cast your doubts away for only death is their salvation."

RRRROOOOOAAAAARRRR!

The man before them roared as he charged, spinning around before raising and bringing his Hammer down on to them. Vali responded by flaring his wings and taking to the skies, MSs forming over both his arms while Krul jumped to the left with her Dragonslayer in hand and the stranger jumped to the right.

Once this had all happened in just a few short moments, the first one to make a counter move turned out to be the former Vampire Queen. With purpose, Krul jumped forwards first, swinging her blade in a wide arc aiming for the Lost Revenant's neck for a decapitation. However he managed to duck under her blow at the last second and raise a leg for a kick, though Krul pivoted her hips so her body was spun around and thus she avoided the kick before she raised her leg and kneed it in the inner thigh, causing the man to grunt in pain amidst his furious growling as he fell onto his side due to his balance being lost.

This provided Vali the opportunity to swoop down and thrust both MSs downwards towards the man's chest, one aiming for his heart and the other for his right lung. However, at the last moment the Revenant regained his awareness and quickly swung his Hammer in front of him, causing Vali to curse as he halted his attack and flew upwards again to avoid a second swing, landing on the ground a few feet away from him. The Revenant didn't stop there though, as he roared and jumped forwards from his previous position on the ground while raising his Hammer up and bringing it down on him again. Vali blocked it with a barrier however, quickly forming a couple MBs in his free hand to chuck at the man's face, detonating them. They had enough strength behind them to blow a man's head off, but it seemed that these Lost Revenants had more resilience to them than he had thought since he only got dazed by the act instead.

Fortunately, the stranger they had met in the cave saw fit to get in on the action at this point, quickly getting in close and launching several slashes at various vital areas, ending with a downward slice which SHOULD have sliced the Lost Revenant from the shoulder down to his hip, however at the last second he managed to angle himself so that only his arm got severed off, much to the stranger's frustration.

'This one's instincts are pretty good…' Vai thought to himself as he glanced at Krul who returned the gesture. After a split second of the two holding each other's gazes, the two nodded to one another before breaking into mad sprints at the same time. They aimed for a pincer assault from multiple angles, having only needed to look at one another to confirm this before taking action, showcasing the fruits of training, sparring and fighting together that they had done.

However, something about the Revenant before them caught Vali's attention. It made his eyes widen within his Balance Breaker and quickly halted his attack, though since he couldn't halt his flight quick enough Vali instead altered his trajectory so he could slide on over and grab onto Krul from behind her back. A surprised gasp escaped her when this happened as Vali promptly pulled them away and to the opposite side of their target, the silver haired male planting both feet into the ground and sliding along it till their movements halted.

Once they were completely still and Vali was able to let go of the former Vampire Queen, she quickly whirled on him with a look which DEMANDED an explanation. One which Vali responded to by pointing at the enemy with his right hand, prompting her to look… and finally see what he had seen alongside the stranger whose eyes had enlarged themselves.

GROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

FWOOOSH!

Head hanging low, the Lost Revenant soon sharply raised it to expose the bright crimson FLAMES that were his glowing red eyes. From beneath the Lost Revenant, a swirling vortex of what looked like black miasma began to rise from his feet, the Lost Revenant hunching over like something was trying to burst out of him. Seconds later, that something couldn't be contained anymore as a burst of what looked like black and red miasma EXPLODED out of him, shielding him from view from a brief moment. Brief being the right word to use because the miasma rapidly faded as soon as it had appeared, showcasing what looked to be something COMPLETELY different.

Gone was the humanoid Revenant from before, replacing him stood a tall, obese-looking monster with blackish purple colored skin, with Tendrils coming out the back of its head and a long scarf around its neck like the Revenant that it had once been. It still wore pants fortunately (though how those things hadn't been shredded to pieces remained a mystery), and it now carried an even larger version of the Hammer that it previous self had made, the miasma from earlier leaking out of it showing Vali and the others that had been what had turned the weapons that the Lost had wielded against them earlier into the states they had been in.

"Okay… that thing looks goddamn hideous." Krul stated dryly as Vali and her got into their stances… although the silver haired male cursed as she glanced in surprise when his Balance Breaker suddenly vanished, a wave of fatigue washing over them. "Vali?! Shit… looks like your timer's up, huh?"

Vali nodded. "Yeah, must have been using it for longer than I thought. Using it several times before coming to this City probably contributed to it as well…" the male replied, frowning as Divine Dividing manifested over his back as they quickly jumped to opposite sides again, the monster having charged at them while they had been talking. However, it had been much slower than earlier, probably due to its weight so they only had time for those short sentences before quickly avoiding that larger hammer. Immediately becoming aware of its greater strength and range, the two of them slid to a halt before dashing forwards, intending to strike at the creature's stubby legs to knock it off balance.

Unfortunately for them, the beast reacted first, swinging it's hammer horizontally from the right to the left, smacking Vali aside and then quickly repeating the gesture for Krul although she quickly planted herself onto the ground and spread herself like a starfish to avoid it. Then, when she saw the creature bringing its Hammer up for a third attack she quickly performed a wide swing with her Dragonslayer, slicing through the beast's right thigh.

A loud grunt escaped it when this happened as it once again fell down using one knee to keep itself from totally collapsing. However, that soon changed when Vali, having quickly recovered from his previous hit (although he had to admit there was quite the strength behind it), flew forth and sliced through the other knee with his MSs, then blew off one of its arms with a MR thrown behind him for good measure.

"You're through."

After it fell onto all fours and started trying to get up, the stranger's voice reached its near nonexistent ears…

SCHULUCK!

… before a long, black blade with a red edge pierced it through the back of its head and out of the mouth.

"...Hmph, damn kill stealer." Vali muttered as he saw this happen, but didn't voice his brief complaints as he started walking back to the stranger, internally wincing. Looked like that hit from its hammer did a lot more damage to him than he had initially expected. 'Running out of time for my Balance Breaker may have happened at a horrible time…' He thought, especially when the Revenant and Io noticed the lines he had on his face. At least he still wore his slime suit though, his coat would conceal the majority of his person from view.

Glancing back at the corpse of the Lost as it began to slowly disintegrate, the stranger heaved a sigh as he wiped some sweat off of his forehead. "That was tough, didn't expect the lost to evolve." he mused.

This quickly caught the attention of Vali and Krul as Io jogged up behind the former. "They….. Evolve?" said male questioned.

The stranger Revenant nodded. "Yes, it seems you are new here-hold on… why are you not wearing a mask?" he then asked, noticing that neither Vali nor Krul were wearing Masks this whole time. How the heck did he not notice before? Sure, the boy who had similar hair to the female behind him had his Armor on before, but for the girl… who smelled just like them but different somehow, she should have had one.

"Sometimes the-"

"-the duty of the Revenants."

They heard a voice that caught their attention. It was a red blood crystal at the floor where the disintegrating corpse was. Immediately, the stranger dismissed the strange abnormalities surrounding the two in favor of being cautious towards that crystal's presence. "A vertiage. Best stay away from these stones. Anyone who touches them is defiled, transformed into the lost. Don't listen to their whispers."

Krul didn't listen as she listened to the voice that was speaking as she walked on over to it, kneeling beside it. She then reached out and grabbed it, and the moment she did so her eyes began to glow.

"Oi Krul don't touch it!" Vali quickly yelled at her in an attempt to stop her, but just as with the stranger she didn't listen. Almost as if she were being possessed by something. She grabbed it and it let out a red aura which was going to her body.

"Let it go Krul!"

"Do what he says, it will swallow you up!"

Once again she didn't listen to the two men and it looked like the Vestige would overcome her. However, Krul was not the queen of vampires for nothing, proof of this when her wide eyes narrowed into a bestial glare that was aimed downwards towards it. Not a second later, she began to exert her will over it, dominating the red aura with her own as her eyes began to turn blue before it covered the area.