Chapter 27

Vali side

"What the hell is with this place? why does it have so many secrets?" A frowning Vali muttered to himself, his form currently on top of his bed within Louis's research facility. He lay there with his hands behind his head while resting as he pondered about what had happened.

Back in that underground area, when they had been pulled into the Vestige alongside Krul, they saw a row of beds with people on it while the kid Nicola had been with the Hunter of all people (something which boggled him till this very moment) as they talked about something he has to do, something he wouldn't be able to go back to his sister's side when it happened. As one might have expected, it had been a bit shocking for them to see that the kid might have had some kind of relationship with the Hunter, the one who they (or rather Mia) had seen turn him into dust. Maybe it had something to do with something that had happened in the past that he either escaped from, and the Hunter did his namesake on the boy for abandoning his position.

Or... was it something else?

Whatever it was, there was only one thing for certain: if they meet again, he won't spare the Hunter for his sin of killing the kid. Tomorrow, Vali and the others would discuss why the Bloodspring had roots which led to the old city ruins and why it leads them there… he hoped that they would be finding answers soon enough, all these questions were starting to give him headaches.

Timeskip

"What exactly is going on? Why does every bloodvein we find lead to the old city ruins?"

"The key to finding the source is there. That's all I can say for certain."

The following morning, Louis, Yakumo, Vali and Krul stood around a wooden table with a map on it. One which looked to be quite detailed as it had various drawings and pictures on it which detailed the research that the black haired Revenant had been jotting down since what seemed to have been a while now. As of this moment, one could CLEARLY see something akin to various roots or Bloodsprings scattered across the city within the Red Mist, but there was one thing: they ALL lead back to the old city ruins, something which baffled the Revenants as well as the non Revenants.

Yakumo felt especially vindicated since he had helped Louis go out and find most of them, acting like both his bodyguard and his closest confidant. The man heaved a sigh as he raised a hand and used it to scratch the side of his head. "Great, we find one thing and it leads us to nowhere. We've been to the city and explored everywhere, Louis." he complained to the man.

"I know but there's something we missed-"

"Try here."

Before Louis could fully respond to his friend's words, their conversation got interrupted when each of them heard another voice break in. One which didn't belong to any of them, making them turn their heads to the voice's source. That voice soon turned out to have belonged to Mia herself, who they now saw had awakened. Currently she only wore her dress, arm and legwear and nothing else, showing off her petite frame though none of them stared like any pervert would. Each of the males had either bigger questions on their mind, respect for Mia's abilities as a Revenant or the manly instinct to know that staring inappropriately at her state of dress would NOT end well for them.

After getting up from her previous spot on a nearby couch, Mia walked on over to them, stopping beside Vali and Yakumo as she pointed down on the map… or to be more specific a certain spot on it. One which Vali and Kru recalled had been quite close to the lair of that butterfly Greater Lost, which they recalled had a statue shaped like the CPU of Lastation. "You know the statue of the goddess of the ruins? There's a mechanism inside of it."

Krul cupped her chin, pondering this information. She remembered back when she had been the queen of the Vampires, of how they would set up hidden mechanisms for traps within places they didn't want people to go snooping into, a similar concept could be applied here though the former Vampire Queen doubted the purpose would be the same. "I see. So that's our ticket." she mused to herself after a short moment of silent contemplation.

"Should've seen this coming." Vali muttered, shaking his head. He remembered how, in video games, there were always secret areas which they could find something that they had been looking for. Sometimes they could only be accessed at certain points in the game like some kind of gradual worldbuilding or when the plot deemed it necessary for them to be able to go to them, and since Gamindustri had many game-like qualities to it this made even more sense in his mind.

Still, none of this dissuaded a concerned Louis to start questioning Mia regarding her health as a revenant. "Are you even sure you should be up and about because you almost went into a Frenzy if I didn't have Blood Beads with me." he questioned worriedly.

However, Mia shook her head in assurance, allowing the following words to leave her lips. "It's alright, I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble. I'm fine thanks to you, I hope I'll get the chance to repay you."

Louis nodded. "The information is good enough." he stated with Vali and Krul nodding their heads in agreement.

Something which sent waves of relief through the girl that they could see as clear as day After a few seconds though, her expression shifted from relief to nervousness as she shuffled about on her spot, fidgeting nervously. "Ummm….. There's a favor I'd like to ask." She began to say, prompting the group to grow curious before she pointed down on a frozen area section of the map. One which Vali and Krul hadn't been to yet even as it had been jotted down on the map… although not by very much. Probably thanks to Louis and Yakumo. "I'd like you to tell me how to get there. Please it….. It's really important to me. I'll pay you back, I promise."

For a few seconds, Louis remained silent as he shifted his head so that he could look down at the map with a complicated expression on his face. "I'd love to tell you if….. I knew." He eventually replied.

A response which got swiftly followed by Yakumo nodding his head with his eyes showing equal amounts of concern. "I'm not sure of the path there myself. Other than that it's sealed off by miasma."

At this, Mia lowered her head in disappointment and guilt, putting a hand over her forearm as she glanced to the side. "I see….. Sorry I don't mean to make demands of you." she spoke with a downtrodden tone.

One which didn't sit well with the majority of them here, plus they could figure out why the girl wanted to go to that section of the area since, back in that vestige, there had been references to that area which im[lied that would have been where the answers to the mysteries surrounding her little brother were located. "It's not impossible though. We're able to pass through the miasma, thanks to our companion here." Louis then tried to say while glancing over at Krul.

Said former Vampire Queen simply huffed and crossed her arms, looking to the side while refusing to hold Mia's confused yet hopeful gaze. "Hmph."

"If you decide to stay with us, I'm sure we'll find the way to your snowy mountains."

"Of course, you would need to help us out with our objective first."

Both Yakumo and Vali stated these things to the new Revenant, whose eyes momentarily stayed wide with surprise at the offer. However, that only lasted a few seconds before she nodded her head in acceptance, a steely edge forming in them which reminded Vali of the first time they met when she had attacked them. Strong eyes… something which he massively preferred over the weak, wimpy ones. "I'm glad to do whatever you need me to do. As long as I end up reaching my destination."

"Then we have a deal. Good to have you along."

"You too."

Later

While everyone was preparing to go out again Vali went outside of the building, sitting on a ledge. He recalled how all of this talking and discussing made him think about one of the times when he had gone on a date with Gamma.

Flashback

It had been a rather nice sunny day, perfect for a date and since the others hadn't been available due to a collection of reasons, Vali had decided to take Gamma out on a date which the woman happily accepted, since she didn't have as much free time as the others and this had been a rare opportunity for her. Since she had coincidentally cleared her schedule for the next few days so going out with her boyfriend/savior sounded like a wonderful time to her.

Thus, Vali and Gamma currently sat over a ledge belonging to a giant cliff far away from civilisation, so they wouldn't be disturbed while seeing the sunset, a perfect way to end the date. Not to mention that classy dates weren't Vali's kind of thing and if she were honest, Gamma didn't mind going out in the wilderness on occasion herself. Not as much as Delta though, she absolutely LOVED going out into the wilderness, probably due to her status as a Beastman. Right now, the two wore their slime suits since they were the most practical when it came to going out like this due to their characteristics, though Vali had his hood and collar down to showcase his silver hair and blue eyes.

As they watched the sun slowly setting in the distance, creating this pink hue which dominated the skies above, Gamma then spoke about something which caught Vali's attention. "You know…. I haven't been of much use to you Vali." she said.

"Huh? What do you mean Gamma?" Vali questioned in confusion, turning to her. Even though this had been something he'd done several times now, dating hadn't really left the category of being 'new' to him just yet, though internally Vali honestly found himself dumbfounded at how slow he was regarding getting used to this sort of thing, since usually whenever he fought an enemy he adapted to their strategies pretty quickly. Dating however, not so much, especially with the array of quirks that his girls possessed…

He'd probably take much longer to get used to considering them his, though. ESPECIALLY the fact that he was theirs in return… not like he hated that, surprisingly.

Still, those thoughts got broken when Gamma elaborated on her statement, a sad and frustrated tone slowly seeping out of her words. "I can't always be with you, I'm not good with fighting, the only thing I could do is gather intelligence…" she began to say, listing off the various things which she couldn't do compared to the one thing which she WAS good at… each one devolving her confidence levels further and further. If there was one thing which bummed Gamma, it would be that she felt frustrated at herself for being a burden to her savior, her savior who returned her feelings and always stayed close to her when they were out on dates in case she fell. "I'm no use to you."

"That's not true Gamma, and you know it."

"Huh?"

"Look, I may be a battle maniac but I have to have some intelligence in order to discover my enemy but not their weakness since it would defeat my purpose of fighting. I mean what fun can taking it down be when you know their weaknesses?"

"(GIGGLE) true."

Seeing her giggle brought a smirk onto Vali's lips, and unlike usual it wasn't a vicious one but a genuine heartfelt one. "Yeah, but anyways. My point is when you gather information, you not only help me but others as well, so don't say that you're useless because without you around….. I'm not sure how far we can go when you provide where the ASIC base is." He told her.

"... And if I slip up? What then? It must be annoying, having to be with such a klutz like myself."

At this, Vali remembered how many times Gamma almost tripped today, which was more than 20 times… though to be fair, a lot of those times had been 'pranks' done by various guys who wanted to try and look up the skirt of her dress that she'd worn at the time, something which had ignited the protective draconic wrath inside of him at the time. Though seeing how depressed his girl was, Vali remembered something else that had been told to him. "My father once told me something. He said that when my mother felt down in the dumps, she would question him as well, wondering why he would go so far for her. It couldn't be just because he loved her, she felt. Do you know what he said?" Gamma shook her head, and this time his smirk turned into a soft, affectionate smile as he reached forwards and took one of her hands in his. "Simple: he said that when a man's spouse is falling, he picks her up no matter what and carries her on his shoulders if need be. If she falls over, he helps her get back to her feet and walks beside her."

Now THIS sent Gamma into a state of shock, as well as the intensity of Vali's gaze which he directed right into her own. Not once did he separate their gazes nor their hands, and that also had the effect of her trying to recall if he had ever let her hit the ground whenever she had tripped like the klutz he was, which had been never. He always managed to catch her and put her back on her own two feet without missing a beat, a revelation which speared her through the heart and made her feel all warm inside. "... thank you, Vali." She finally said as she aimed a bright smile at him, trying not to cry since she knew how Vali hated that kind of thing. Though considering how affectionate he could be and how he knew what words to say to get her smiling again, that task proved much more difficult than it should have been.

"Just remember Gamma, never say that you are useless, you hear? You and girls mean a lot to me, I'll never abandon you."

Flashback end

Vali remembered that Gamma had doubts about her abilities and 'usefulness' to him, as unlike Alpha and Delta, she wasn't that good with fighting and had more expertise on the intelligence side, but he reassured her she was not a burden to him. She thought she was useless but he reassured her despite not being in the frontline, she did more than enough by helping them gather information to know where they are going, or how they can find something they are looking for. Much like in video games.

As he was looking out towards the vast city and the red mist, he heard someone approaching as he looked back and saw Io walking to him as he stared.

Once she stopped beside him, Io began to speak. "It looks like everyone is preparing to go…. It seems….. More cheerful now. The atmosphere has brightened a lot since we first came here." she stated, sitting beside him.

Vali gazed at her for a moment, before looking back to the city. Sounded like Mia was getting ready to sortie with the rest of them then, which made him a little excited. After all, now he would get a chance to see how she fought on the front lines as well as how competent she was. "... maybe so, Io." he eventually said after a moment's worth of contemplation.

Another moment of silence passed, though this one had been on the comfortable side of things unlike what one would expect. Nothing lasts forever though, and the same could be applied here when Io broke this silence. "... you have the strength to overcome any obstacles in your path…. A curious individual indeed." she noted.

Obviously, this confused Vali as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "That's what people tell me every time when they see how a human could be this strong." He remarked, with a slightly bitter tone beneath it. This world he was in, Gamindustri, it seemed as though everyone in it kept getting baffled by how powerful he had become just from the training that he had done. At first it had amused him, but then it shifted into annoyance and then disappointment, the annoyance coming from the repetition aspect of it all while the disappointment factor came from something else: a sense of exasperation which came alongside the resignation of the fact that humans in this world had been raised under the assumption that they were generally weaker than the higher powers here. It grated against his nerves, but still there wasn;t much he could do against something so ingrained into their culture so, like a lot of things, he had to just bear with it.

A major annoyance for him.

"... Maybe…. There is something I want to ask."

However, those thoughts soon abruptly left his mind when he heard that Io had wanted to ask him something, so this time he fully turned his head to look at her with one knee raised up to his chest level with an arm's forearm balanced on top. "Oh, what is it you want to ask?" he questioned curiously.

"Recently, I have been puzzled… if it's possible, I want to join you….. Just like the others."

...Okay, what? Hearing this caused Vali to blink his eyes owlishly. Ever since he had appeared here and found this place with Io, the said girl had just been staying off to one side and never really seemed to do much. She only did the bare essentials like help out with chores around the hideout, eat drink or sleep and that had been pretty much it from her. "Hmmmmm…. Why do you ask that?" He questioned, wanting to know what was going through the enigmatic girl's mind.

Io took a moment to answer, and in that moment she had seemed to be gathering her thoughts together. Vali internally got reminded of Olivia and Emilia when he looked at her, since the two girls had similar personalities which came out in specific ways. Both of them had been rather shy and timid once the new status of their relationship got solidified, with Emilia evenn admitting that they hadn't ever expected him to get this far since in anime and manga, harem protags don't usually go out with their feelings the way they did. In all honesty, Vali believed the Harem Anime genre needed a SERIOUS redesign, since it didn't even TRY to showcase what a proper harem should be like, only showing it as some girls floating about a self insert character so whiny, desperate weebs could live out their fantasies of girls ever coming to like them. "Because I think a lot about how I would come with you and help make a difference…. But it cannot be. I am unable to fight, so I would only put you in danger."

INSTANTLY, Vali had an answer to this as he narrowed his eyes at her, part of his previous emotions coming back to him though he, instead of suppressing it, put it into his following words to add to the weight behind it. "Bullshit."

"Huh?"

"You think you would put me and the others in danger just because you can't fight? There are other ways to be useful, you just have to think and go where your heart goes." he told her seriously, glancing back at the city.

"I… see."

It didn't seem like Io understood properly, so Vali decided to try it from a different angle. He gave a small sigh as he glanced up towards the skies above, remembering times when he too saw people lamenting their lack of 'ability', as they called it. "Look, there is a difference between thinking and reacting. You would only think of something you're not good at just because you thought about how weak you are, but if you react instead of thinking, you would be surprised to see how strong or useful you can be."

"... thank you, Vali."

Fortunately for him, it seemed that Io had her mood uplifted by his words, and one glance from his eye into her own saw a fire being lit up inside of them. It may not have been the same kind as what he was used to, rather it looked more like a calm, coolish flame unlike the usual brilliantly roaring hot flames he saw in his companions, but the sight of it pleased him nonetheless. "You're welcome, just never think you're weak, not everyone is weak, they have strength inside of them." Vali got off the ledge as he walked to the rest of the group as they were prepared as Io watched him go, but if he were to have looked more accurately, then he would have noticed Krul by the entrance who had heard what Vali had said.

Lets just say it had a bit of an impact on her as she eyed the male's back while he went back inside. "... they have strength inside of them you say… I wonder what you mean by that Vali." Krul muttered under her breath, remaining in her hidden location for a time before she headed off back to where the rest of the group were located. Once they all regrouped, they began their preparations to find the source of the Blood Beads… and maybe the Lastation Mascot too.

Timeskip

Vali, Louis, Yakumo, Krul and Mia were at the park where the CPU goddess is as they looked for it around before Yakumo found it as it was below a ledge as they all went to it as they jumped down. They went to the statue as they looked at it before deciding what mechanism would work before Vali did the simplest thing ever.

He punched it.

They looked at Vali with a raised eyebrow as it was not working when it didn't show any mechanism working.

Vali was just about to leave before he and Krul sensed magic at the right when they looked at it, a ladder appeared. "Hah! I knew punching everything would work."

"Really? Hhhaaaa wouldn't expect that from a battle maniac." Krul said as she shook her head before they continued their journey.

Upon them approaching it, the Revenants climbed up the ladder as Vali and Krul jumped up since the height hadn't been something beyond their ability to scale. Though they DID feel like they were getting some envious stares for a moment but they ignored them as the group scaled the area in their own way. Once each of them had gotten atop the ladder's ledge and onto the platform, they saw a Bloodspring, walking on over to it as Krul did her thing. She began to drip blood on it before it was restored, Mia looking on in amazement at seeing the vampire queen restore something that should be impossible.

Louis went to the bloodspring as he kneels down before he drops a liquid on it before the bloodvein circles around it. "So, every blood spring we've found so far leads back to here..." he muttered in observation.

All the while, Vali crossed his arms under his chest as he eyed the researcher who remained kneeling over one of the bloody roots. "And that means?"

Standing up, the researcher Revenant glanced on over to him, looking at the half Devil through one of his red eyes. "We are close to the source, come on let's go." he called out, making a gesture with the same hand which held his Longsword. Louis then pointed said weapon at a nearby cave which would lead them to where the source of all these Bloodsprings were located, as they walked right into it.

They walked through the halls of the cave, looking around at the sights with Louis soon notifying them to keep their guard up. "We can't get too optimistic, but we're getting closer. This is all thanks to you two. I'm in your debt." he told the two outsiders.

The male outsider merely shrugged his shoulders. "Don't thank us yet Louis, we haven't finished our objective." Vali said as they walked to the cave as it took a while before they saw another ladder which they decided to climb on before they exit out the cave and saw something which took their breath away.

"What in the…."

"By the blood of my Ancestors!"

"Holy moly!"

"Wow!"

"What the hell?"

Each of them made their own responses, with even Vali and Krul being taken aback by the sight that lay before them. Before their very eyes, lay a magnificent building which could rival the most beautiful of all of Gamindustri's buildings, and even THAT felt like a massive understatement. Well, buildings could hardly be used to describe it since it looked more like a mix of several things: a building, a maze and a city all at once. The maze part came from how there looked to be countless walkways one would see in a european castle, some without any railings or prevention against falling off while others had stone walls alongside them. Whereas the city part came from the sheer size and number of cylindrical platforms connected to these walkways like it were trying to mimic a city… right above what looked to be a lake made from smoke, although it didn't seem like an actual lake but more of a smokescreen which made seeing the bottom all but impossible.

An impossibly beautiful yet dangerous sight.

"How is this possible? An entire city… hidden beneath our eyes!"

"What is this place… how did we not notice this?"

"In my family, we vampires have used hidden mechanisms to hide our important valuables in order to confuse our enemies before we surprise them."

Yakumo glanced over at Krul with an arched brow of curiosity. "Vampires, you say…?" he questioned.

Krul nodded, scowling as she remembered her theories. She would have rather liked to keep it a secret for a bit longer, but right now she felt like that wasn't a feasible idea anymore plus it seemed like the city before them had way too much importance to put too much stock in her words. "Yes, your kind seems to have some remarkable similarities to my own, which is what I'm here to find the reason for." she explained to him.

Somehow, Yakumo got the impression that there had been more to it than that, but he didn't want to press the matter for fear of her smashing his crotch in. He'd seen that she would do it from how some of the male Revenants acted around her, and even now couldn't help the phantom pains born from what he saw happen as a result. "Then… does this place have any connections to you?" he questioned.

Fortunately, the former Vampire Queen seemed to not want to try and do any physical harm to him at least, judging by the fact that she shook her head and continued talking instead of busting his balls. "I don't know, usually it would take many years to hide a town but a city like this…. It would take hundreds of years to hide this." she explained.

As he heard all of this, Vali hummed in thought and interest at some mention of her kind's culture. Krul never liked talking about her people very much, and for good reason he felt, so it always drew his attention whenever something got her reminiscing about them. Plus being their former monarch meant that she knew a LOT about Vampire culture, even if it had been many centuries since then. "I see….. Wait ahhhhh great."

Just as he had made to respond to her, something clicked in his mind before Vali released an audible groan as he palmed his face with his right hand. An act which caught Krul's attention when she glanced at him in confusion. "What is it Vali?" She asked him.

Dragging his hand down his face and then heaving a resigned sigh, Vali aimed a blank gaze towards his vampiric companion. "Krul, you said that vampires have a thing for puzzles right?" he questioned, though it also felt like a statement.

A statement which got her to arch her brow. "Yes what do yo-... oh, you've got to be kidding me." She began to question him, before her eyes widened in realization before she mimicked what he had done just before, with an even longer groan escaping her hand-covered face.

Vali nodded, confirming something both of them found tedious to their very cores. "Yup… we have to figure this WHOLE entire thing out if we want to find where the source is." He stated dryly.

"Oh… ah, perfect." This didn't come from Krul however, instead it came from Yakumo who overheard the whole thing and informed the others. As for the rest of the Revenants, they now knew what Vali meant: They LITERALLY have to go through an ENTIRE city just to look for the source of the Bloodsprings.

...

…

…

…

…

… in the words of a certain pineapple haired ninja: what a drag.

Nepgear point of view

Nepgear and the group have fortunately got a treasure gem, one of the rarest items with a rank of SS. But even if they found the gem, they NOW had to look for the Hematite, an ore. But luck was on their side. Gamma, the head of Shadow Garden's intelligence had not only been gathering info on monsters but also ores as well. Her company had been the least of the ASIC's suspicions because even they enjoyed their products, allowing them to operate relatively without much hindrance from them.

Even so, Alpha did NOT want to go another farming escapade anytime soon, since this one had taken them two days before they got info from Falcom. So, she had gotten an idea after some deliberation between the Shadow Garden Members: why not call her and ask her if they had any information on where the rare ore could be located, and fortunately lady luck had been on their side. This had been due to Gamma having told them that 60 years ago the Hematite was found by a cat monster which had a rare chance of dropping the ore, she'd even told them where such monsters currently resided, and thus the Party had swiftly departed for their destination.

In current times, the group were now at Septent resort, an area in Lastation which had been only for B rank adventurers.

Though despite their long ass journey to get here, one brunette Guild Agent didn't feel the need to complain in the slightest as she raised her arms and stretched them above her head. "Thank the CPUs that we actually found a lead thanks to Gamma, Alpha." She stated after ceasing the stretching with a relieved sigh escaping her lips.

Alpha smirked back at her, chuckling internally when she remembered how IF had reacted when they'd gotten the intel. She had thought she would have started floating with how much she swooned over the time they had saved. "No problem at all IF, it saves us the trouble of finding another rare item." she commented.

Even so, Nepgear still had to wonder about something. "Still, I wonder how it is that the Mitsugoshi trading intelligence couldn't be found out by ASIC?" she remarked, she had figured that ASIC would have had dominion over a large portion of businesses in the Nations thanks to being the ones in control instead of the CPUs and a majority holder of the World's Shares, thus they would have been easily able to investigate and uncover Mitsugoshi's true identity as Shadow Garden. The fact that they hadn't yet both surprised and impressed her regarding the company's ability.

Considering who the founder of Shadow Garden was however, maybe she shouldn't be so surprised.

Alexia however, rolled her eyes in amusement. "Simple, they love the taste of their product, I can even see chocolate on your face IF." she stated with a sly smirk towards the brunette, who conveniently had a bit of chocolate on the corner of her mouth.

"... shut up."

"But anyway let's go find this monster, we have to be careful the ASIC has got our eyes since Underling has been trying to kill us."

"Don't worry I'll protect you my wifey-GAAH!"

When RED had tried to go on her usual spree involving 'wifeys', Alpha cut her off when she slammed her closed right fist RIGHT onto the top of her head with a tick mark forming on her forehead. Throughout the entire journey here, RED had not stopped even ONCE when it came to trying to 'claim' Nepgear, having used a variety of methods which, under normal circumstances, would have gotten her put in prison. She'd used things like love potions, deception, pranks on the other girls to make sure they're alone, one could call her… a little obsessed, and the only reason why she hadn't been sent away had been due to her sheer effectiveness when taking out monsters. Her fighting skills gave them results, and as long as that remained the case they could… tolerate these antics of hers up till a certain point, with Alexia making it VERY clear what that point was and how far RED could go in the future. Should she exceed that threshold, well… lets just say Nepgear's growing inner devil would have a 'playmate' sort to say. "Shut up will you crazy girl." Alpha stated bluntly, narrowing her gaze in a manner.

RED however, still had a bit of defiance left in her as she pouted at Alpha while rubbing the top of her head with both hands, her head having a comically large bump on it. "Hey I'm not crazy! I'm just protecting my future wif-AAAHH!"

Another bonk happened, adding a sibling to the one atop her head whilst Alexia could only sigh in dismay at the little bundle of annoyance. Unbeknownst to her, these actions made the girls think of Vali for a moment before her words brought them back to reality. "... (SIGH) why did we even allow her to come with us in the first place?"

"It's because the more in our group we have, the more effective we can be against those ASIC bullies!" Compa cheerily proclaimed.

Alexia glanced at her, narrowing her eyes as she once again spoke with that blunt, dry tone of hers. "... we have the crimson knights which is already an army Compa."

"Oh….. but still-"

"Forget it, let's just focus on the objective."

Once this debate had been forcibly shut down, the party continued on, walking through the resort as they dealt with the monsters coming from left and right.

While this had been happening, throughout the battles they had with the monsters Alexia began to notice how much her power had grown over the last few years. It had increased at an astounding rate over those years of continuous training and sparring with an opponent way more advanced than many of her peers, which resulted in her skills and powers being so impressive that she now could match her older sister or maybe the magic reaper, Angelica's uncle. However, like Vali she too couldn't risk becoming too arrogant because she even saw Vali get beaten once while donning the balance breaker. Thus, she had to be careful not to abuse her power, especially since Tiamat had told her how her previous hosts had become arrogant over time once they achieved the Balance Breaker state. Their ultimate fates remained the same every time: death against the many enemies from Tiamat's original world, enemies which had powers on levels which could give the CPUs a run for their money: Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu, Zeus and other gods. Each of these beings as well as a few others could be on the same level as the CPUs or maybe even higher.

Anyway as they run through the monster area they cleared out some monsters like the fish zombie that looks like a giant skeleton fish, bashful a monsters that is like from a kid who is dressing like a ghost with blue color and many other monsters which Tiamat fells like she is losing her mind the more she resides in this dimension. (I mean come on! Is there a monster that looks like a magical fairy?!... don't tell me…) as such Tiamat kept quiet so that she won't lose her mind and process everything in this abnormal world.

As they walked, they saw some cat monsters which they didn't recognize at first, before IF recalled what they had been told by Alpha and Gamma. "A Tae Kwon cat!"

"A what now?"

"The cat monster we were told about, they must have the Hematite!"

Compa's eyes brightened when IF explained to them the situation, a spark of hope being lit up in her chest. All this wandering about had made her exhausted, so the thought of them being near the end of their goal REALLY resonated with her. "Oh! If we can take its Hematite, we'll be able to repay Kei for the information she told us! Lets go!" She proclaimed.

Just before they could advance on the Tae Kwon Cats however…

"Halt cretin! Drop the Hematite nice and slow!"

The sound of another voice boldly proclaiming to stop them rung out, accompanied by the sound of a gun clicking as it was aimed at them. It sounded like it had come from behind, so the Party glanced behind them towards the source.

With Nepgear being the one to vocalize their reactions into one word. "Huh?"

"Hmm? Ack! N-Nepgear?!

Turned out that person had been Uni, who stood at the same spot which the party themselves had used to with her gun being raised in a threatening posture. However, the moment that she had seen that it had been them, the black-haired CPU Candidate quickly faltered as she lowered her gun a bit.

Meanwhile, Nepgear beamed happily after being momentarily stunned by the appearance of her "Uni? Is that you?... wait are you looking for the Hematite too?" the Planeptune CPU Candidate questioned.

Though it turned out that Uni had been just as stunned and unprepared for this 'reunion' as Nepgear had felt with how she had stammered her response without much of her previous confidence, "W-well yeah, but what do you think you're doing here-omph!... I mean I'm sore-... ahhhh fuck, it I'm not mentally prepared for this." she finally relented with a swear, putting her hand on her forehead and shaking her head.

Compa meanwhile, narrowed her eyes as she pulled out a 'PG' sign from out of nowhere. "Swear!"

Something which Alexia promptly stabbed into with her Sacred Gear then tossed into the ocean next to them. When Compa made a pout in her direction, she just gave a groan behind the hand on her face. "Compa…. Shut up for once."

Back with the two CPU Candidates, Nepgear hopped up and down on her two feet in excitement which could be seen in her eyes. "I'm so happy to see that you're doing well. I am so sorry about last time, I didn't know what came over me. Did Miss Kei ask you for help too? Why don't we team up and beat the mean cat monsters together?" she offered, hoping to try and mend things with her.

Uni however, wasn't having any of it as she stammered back a reply. "D-don't get ahead of yourself! I…. I have something to say to you y'know. I'm only gonna say this once in your lifetime so pay attention."

Nepgear, like Uni, wasn't having it either it seemed, and the Party observing them SWORE they could see the shadows forming over her eyes as she CLEARLY tried to keep her happiness as true as possible. "Yippee! I'm so happy you're here! Now I know we'll get the Hematite without any trouble!"

"H-hey, I thought I said to not get ahead of yourself! Ugh Screw it! Y-you'll never get your precious hematite and live to tell the tale!"

"Huh? Why are you being a bully? Are you still mad at me? What did I ever do to you?"

"Shut up you dolt! I said you won't get it, so you won't get it! Ne-ahh!"

Finally, the glass shattered as Nepgear's face morphed into one of anger and frustration. Her emotions running wild once more, Nepgear transformed to her SDD Form once more, her Nodachi now pointed under Uni's chin towards the space where her vocal cords would be. "So….. you still have the weak arrogant attitude girl. I'll say THIS to YOU then, don't get in my way brat." she snarled like a feral animal, any traces of her previous emotions gone from her being.

Immediately, the rest of the Party became alert to the potential danger of Nepgear striking Uni down right at this moment, something which none of them wanted. They had to step in before the demonic edgy looking girl did something she'd regret later on. "Alright alright back it up Nepgear, let's not have the situation end up worse calm down." IF urged as one of the more reasonable members of the Party.

"...(SIGH) fine but if she-"

HHHHIIIIISSSSSSSSS

Unfortunately their luck went downhold because…. Well, the monsters commenced going on a rampage because of the essence of the deity of sin, one could tell this to be happening due to their glowing red eyes and purplish black skin tone.

Something which Alexia immediately alerted the party members about since they had still been focused on Uni. "Shit the monsters are going on a rampage!"

Fortunately, Nepgear had enough sense to recognize the bigger threat, as she glanced on over and surveyed the Monsters which began to slice apart everything around them. Seeing this, she instinctively recognized the danger here and promptly turned away, pulling her sword from Uni's neck. "Hold on! I'm on my way!"

"Wha-hey come back we're not done talking!"

"Shut it, girlie." Instantly after stating that to the dumbstruck Lastation CPU Candidate, Nepgear launched a back kick before Uni could react, her armored foot being planted RIGHT into her abdomen. Uni gasped with an 'eep!' escaping her lips as she got launched into the side of the platform, all the while Nepgear in her demonic state (all alongside not even LOOKING at her fellow CPU Candidate) went and dispatched the monsters with practiced ease.

It had been over in sheer seconds, something that IF noted about when they regrouped with the still transformed girl as a whistle escaped her lips. "Well…. That was easy, looks like your power is increasing, Nepgear." She commented, looking on with unease at Nepgear's form.

Said girl hummed in thought as she looked down at her unused hand, the one not holding her Nodachi which currently had monster innards over its edge. "Indeed so. Hmmm?" Before Nepgear could continue, curiosity erupted in her chest when she saw a light out the corner of her eye where Uni had once been, before she burst out the side of the platform she had formed an indentation of herself in.

Her Cannon manifested in her hands as Uni then looked at the demonic Nepgear in utter fury. "That's it! Let's have a duel! One on one you and me alone! If I win I get the Hematite!" she bellowed angrily, her power button symbols ablaze with a white glowing light.

A light which became contested with a sinister red light coming from Nepgear's own slitted variations. "... fine I accept." she stated ominously while proceeding to slowly float to a better position.

However, IF quickly tried to stop her by placing a hand on Nepgear's shoulder, trying not to get impaled by the sheer menacing aura she currently possessed. "Nepgear, no! This is going too far, if you fight her, you'll end up killing her!" she exclaimed, trying to reason with her like before and hoping it worked a second time. She knew those eyes, she'd seen those kinds of eyes on people who she had worked with before they went on bloodthirsty rampages throughout entire dungeons. The first time she had seen that sight, it had taken her a couple years to stop having nightmares.

Sadly for her, lady luck had decided to leave them for the time being since Nepgear simply shrugged her off and continued floating forwards, her blade glinting dangerously despite the dirty monster innards staining it. If anything, they just pronounced the red edge a bit more. "It's alright Alpha, I won't kill her… I'll just simply show her what happens if they get on my nerves." she stated dangerously, her hair shadowing her eyes.

IF did NOT like that, but she couldn't say more since Uni (in her moment of IDIOCY), chose this moment to but into the conversation while her angry face did not hide the confidence that what happened before wouldn't be repeated. "And this time I'll go full power to match you, so prepare yourself!"

"Is that so…?" Nepgear started to say…. Before much to everyone's shock, INSTEAD of striking hard and fast like one would have expected her to considering her superior speed compared to Uni's, she held her sword by the tip of its rear pommel end, and then stabbed it into the ground beside her.

Of course, Uni had been the one to break the silence that had formed first. "What the hell are you doing?! Dropping-" she began to say, only to gasp when suddenly Nepgear had closed the distance between them in an instant, faint sparks of black and silver lightning trailing behind her.

Their faces inches apart, Nepgear's hellish gaze bore down on Uni just like before, only this time hers looked more like two pits of burning pools of lava compared to before. "Just giving you a handicap." She stated simply… before grabbing Uni by the top of her head with her right hand and then SLAMMING her right down into the ground head first.

THUD!

"Gah!"

CRUNCH!

Not letting Uni recover, Nepgear kicked her in the face so hard that Uni got launched backwards in a flipping motion, blood splattering out from when the Lastation CPU Candidate coughed it out thanks to the hit. She hit the ground not too far from Nepgear, but like before the demonic girl grabbed her as her head bounced upwards from its collision with the ground, then held her up by her shoulders and proceeded to repeatedly knee her in the chest… as fast as lightning.

BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM!

"Your wounds won't heal like mine can."

With that simple statement, Nepgear tossed Uni to the side once more, the girl recovering mid throw and quickly rolling across the ground before using the momentum to return to her floating position. Fortunately, she landed next to her Cannon (which she had dropped when Nepgear had performed her first headslam) and, seeing Nepgear calmly striding across the air towards her like she was simply walking on a solid surface, Uni quickly acted. She grabbed onto the Cannon and began firing rounds at her, rounds which Nepgear either tilted her head from one side to the other to dodge, or batted them away like swatting some flies.

She truly didn't even register on the same level, it seemed.

This fact became all the more forward when, after closing the distance like before, Nepgear grabbed Uni's cannon by the tip of its barrel and YANKED it out of her grasp harshly. Holding it in both hands, Nepgear proceeded to lift it up… and then smash it into two pieces over her knee, tossing them aside before grabbing Uni by the neck again. "See that? That was hardy anything…"

BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM!

"... And thanks to you losing your main weapon, you can't fight back nor move very much now."

After grabbing her, Nepgear had proceeded to rapidly have her free hand meet up with Uni's face… with the force of a bullet train colliding with a hard surface at maximum speed. It'd been a miracle that Uni's skull hadn't shattered from all the punches launched at it at such high speeds too, yet she DID feel like she now had a bit of a concussion. Though, this soon changed ABRUPTLY when Nepgear slammed her right foot into her left kneecap, shattering it thanks to the force used.

Uni screamed out in pure AGONY at this, falling to the ground before her with Nepgear stomping onto her chest, before pinning her to the ground by pressing her tree on it and proceeding to beat the living daylight out of her face with BOTH her fists. The sounds of flesh meeting flesh filled the air during Nepgear's ruthless beatdown as this happened, with each fist striking with enough force to make the sounds echo throughout their surroundings… as well as make any monster within hearing distance want to NEVER come here ever again. Initially, Uni had tried to get Nepgear off her by grabbing at her, but as the fist barrage had gone on the strength in her arms had gradually started to diminish while her consciousness teetered on the edge of blacking out.

Yet, just before she could do so she would be forcefully brought back to the painful reality Nepgear's fists provided… with her gaze seeing only ONE thing other than her tormentors: two BURNING crimson colored eyes peering through the darkness created by crimson colored bangs, full of nothing but pure wrath and malice…

A sight which sent no small amount of chills down her spine.

"ENOUGH!" Alexia, seeing that things were getting out of hand (ESPECIALLY when she noticed the Tail beginning to extend itself like an actual Tentacle towards her embedded Nodachi, for reasons she would rather not want to think about), donned her Balance Breaker as she stopped Nepgear from almost killing the poor girl. She did so by speeding on over and grabbing one of her fists and pinning Nepgear's Tail under one of her armored feet, rendering it unable to bring the Nodachi into the situation. "You already won Nepgear, she's had enough!" she yelled at the transformed girl.

"..."

Upon receiving no answer from the Planeptune CPU Candidate, anger welled up inside of Alexia alongside a feeling of tension and dread at the thought of having to potentially fight her. She could do it sure, but she didn't know much of Nepgear's full capabilities in this form that she got from someone who CLEARLY outclassed her in terms of ability. Still, she bit her emotions back and kept a level head whilst speaking with restrained anger. "Calm down or else I'll resort to dramastic measures."

Nepgear was silent for a few seconds, seemingly unresponsive like before, but just as Alexia made to draw her Dragon Sword again, relief filled her when the demonic girl pulled her fists away, losing the tension in her arms. Thanks to this, Alexia cautiously stepped back to allow her to get to her feet and float away from the utterly WRECKED Uni, allowing the Party to see how the Lastation CPU Candidate looked. To say that she had been defeated in a one-ided beatdown would have been a MAJOR understatement.

While beaten up and turned back to normal, the damage she had sustained remained present. The girl's face looked to have become a bloody mess with the said red liquid covering a large portion of it, some areas looking like they implied that her skull had been cracked in a few places as well as showcased broken bones. Her nose looked like it had been bent in an unnatural angle as well as her jaw looked to be horrifically dislocated. One could only guess on how it remained attached to her body still at all.

Frantically, Compa quickly went on over to her side as she began to heal Uni.

Meanwhile, IF rounded upon the transformed girl with a look of fury in her eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you Nepgear?! I told you to back away or else you would end up killing her!" She bellowed.

In contrast, Nepgear looked rather indifferent as her Tail brought her Nodachi back to her, as well as cleaned it by scraping it against the ground to wipe the innards off. It tossed the weapon into the air above her as Nepgear held her hand out, catching the Nodachi by the hild. "She was getting on my nerves, IF. Bitching on as if she could do everything herself..." she responded uncaringly.

This callous attitude greatly shocked IF once more, as well as ignited the brunette's anger on a whole new level to the point where she tried to slap Nepgear. Only for the girl's Tail to catch the offending fist with the three 'fingers' on the end and hold it in place, the Tail's owner looking blankly into IF's furious eyes. "And that makes beating the crap out of her okay?! If she died, what would happen if Noire returned and found out you killed her?!"

"..."

Seeing that Nepgear didn't look like she got it, IF sighed as she pulled her hand back, knowing that this had to be addressed now. It had been something she'd noticed for a while now, but only when they came to Lastation had it become an issue of this magnitude. They needed to address and sort it out, for not just Nepgear's sake but for everyone around her. "...(SIGH) look, ever since you were saved by Vali injecting his Mana into you, it changed you into someone… someone else. Whenever you transform into… this, you become someone completely different. It was fine at first, but these times when you were almost mad you never resorted to outright violence, but after the first time when you got angry…. You've changed."

Now THIS ignited a flame of curiosity and confusion into Nepgear's eyes, as she tilted her head while staring into the brunette's gaze. Her Tail swayed lazily behind her while she made the following question known. "Why do you think I have changed? I'm still me."

"It's your personality."

"Alpha?"

Alpha, who had barged into the conversation between the two, did so while walking up to Nepgear without much fea in her strides. She had her arms crossed under her sizable bosom, her confidence likely due to the fact that she felt CERTAIN she would be able to hold her own against her in a fight. Coming from someone who constantly sparred with someone of Vali's calibre, one could see why she acted this way as her eyes ran their gaze up and down Nepgear's form. "Let me tell you this, when Vali was young, he had no control over his emotions. So much so that he almost killed students who were at the academy on multiple occasions, if he wasn't stopped by Reinhard everytime to remind him. Many of them are still in psych wards even today, with one who insulted Vali's family being a lost cause. Looking at you right now, I can see it: You're pretty much like Vali but younger Nepgear. if this continues, I fear that you won't have any control over your emotions and thus, do things MUCH worse than what we've seen so far."

Hearing this finally caused some of the old Nepgear to surface within her SDD Form, in the form of her looking down at her hands despite one holding her Nodachi. Her eyes swam with emotions compared to her singular hatred she'd shown previously, a pair of doorways that lead into the chaotic mess of thoughts which lay within her mind. "I…" She began to say, but she stopped thanks to being unable to form the words which could summarize how she felt at the moment.

This news… this news shocked her. It shocked her a lot.

After all, ever since she first awoke after the three year long coma she had, Nepgear had never felt so pathetic, so helpless and worst of all WEAK. She hadn't been able to do anything to stop ASIC from changing Eden into the Gamindustri Graveyard, so she had been looking for ANYTHING which she could have used as a source of power for her quest to get back at ASIC for what they have done. The Mascots seemed like a good option, like Histoire had said, but deep down she had feared that they wouldn't have been enough.

But then, she had gained her demonic SDD Form, the form which in her mind, changed EVERYTHING.

Changing everything which it did immediately. The moment she first had it, Nepgear hadn't been able to comprehend the amount of sheer POWER she had felt when activating it. Sure the form looked edgy as heck whenever she looked herself in any reflective surface like her sword, but that had only added to its appeal to her. She had seen a few examples of broody edgelords, and while they didn't appeal to her personality wise their wardrobes had been a different story, so she didn't mind her demonic form's looks too much. Plus, the edginess only made the power it wielded so much more significant in her mind, and thus with it she had finally felt like she had a better shot of getting back at ASIC.

However, she hadn't really thought about the possible (now confirmed) side effects that could have come with this form. It's like the old saying went: absolute power corrupts absolutely.

While she thought about all this, Alpha waited for a bit as Compa neared the final stages of her healing the unconscious Uni. After a short while though, she continued since she could sense that Nepgear had finally grasped the severity of her situation. "When Vali gets back, he will teach you how to control your emotions as he has had years of experience of controlling it….. Except during those times when they insult his mother. For now, it's probably best that you don't use that form unless you have to, at least until we can reunite with him. I'm not saying to never go into that form, since compared to it your HDD Form is much weaker in terms of battle ability. Plus it has the edge in the versatility department, and we still do not know its full limits. But only do so when a time that you need it more than anything else comes, because this personality change will end up causing us more problems than it solves them. This is not for me, it's for your own good Nepgear."

"... alright, I understand Alpha."

"Good, now let's go, we've got the items we need… and we'll have to explain to Kei why Uni is unconscious."