"I get it that you don't trust my father and hence not me, but please, just this once," Zyuuni pleaded with the snake-like woman. Staring her in the eyes.

"It's fine," a child's voice called out. Floating toward us was Eien, followed closely behind by his older brother.

"Prince Eien," all of the guards said in unison. "You mustn't get too close to these foreigners."

Eien shrugged and got closer despite their warnings. "I said that it's fine." He turned to face them. "I know these people. Well, at least some of them."

"Which ones do you know?" the snake woman asked.

"The younger first branch girl, the tall and muscular brown haired guy, and the two ice angel brothers. As well as the brown haired girl with the hazel eyes. Not sure as to who the older first branch girl with the green hair is nor who the guy with white hair is."

"This is Amira. Yuko's cousin."

"Ohhh," Eien said. "Then they can come too." He glanced at Ryonoko. "I guess that he and the guy on the head of the ice dragon are the only ones that I truly don't know or know someone who does."

"You know me," Zyuuni said. "He's my cousin!"

Eien looked away. "Uncle Maki doesn't like you so..."

"Ryonoko!" a woman yelled. Cutting through the air on yellow wings was a pink haired woman. She tackled the prince out of the dragon.

"Mom," Ryonoko said, trying to push her away as they floated in the air. "Let me go!"

"If I do that then you'll go splat. You know how you can't fly."

The prince gazed at the stadium several tens of feet below. "You got a point. Though I can use my powers to land safely."

"Your majesty," Rosalba said, bowing down.

My group members, Zyuuni, the Zettai brothers, I, and even Hyosetsu did the same. Only ones not bowing were Amira and the doctor.

Queen Saya gave Amira a look that seemed to question as to why she wasn't bowing down.

"I see that you brought your friend. Why haven't you responded to my calls for the past few weeks?"

Ryonoko looked down. "First, can we get down from here?" She nodded and warped us away, leaving the guards shocked.

"That was cool!" Eien said as he glanced around the park where Saya had warped us to.

"We better return back," Boukyaku said. "We're going to miss the rest of our aunt's match. Not to mention that us vanishing might cause a panic, they'll think that you kidnapped us."

"Oh don't worry. They seemed too shocked by all of this," Saya said, chuckling. "They must still be wondering what just happened."

Eien snickered. "True. Dad included." The two raced off on their own.

"There's something that I need to tell you," Ryonoko said, his blue eyes directed at the verdant grass.

"You sound concerned. Did something happen?" his mother asked.

My team, Hyosetsu, Zyuuni, and the doctor all started on our way to the stadium. Preferring not to be here for when Saya received the news that her son had eloped with his childhood friend and was about to have a kid.

"Uh, you see..."

"We're married and going to have a kid," Amira blurted out before we could get to a safe distance. That was, if there even was a safe distance we could get to.

I glanced back and watched as our queen's expression became difficult to determine.

"I see," she said, stoic. She straightened her back and turned around. "I didn't think that you were the kind of man to impregnate a girl before marriage."

"It wasn't like that!" Ryonoko yelled. "Anyway, there's something more important which I got to tell you! It's about—"

"What could be more important than you eloping?" The queen shook her head. "I'm disappointed in you."

I grabbed Yuko's hand and raced downhill.

"Where do you think that you're going?" Saya asked. "You knew about this, didn't you? You are angels and therefore my subjects. Yet you didn't inform me about any of this. And you Zyuuni? I'm disappointed in you!"

Zyuuni shook his head in disbelief. "Aunt. I didn't know!"

"We barely found out ourselves," Kohri said, trying his best to smile.

"That's the truth," Ryonoko explained. "I barely met these guys on the way here."

Saya glanced down at his torn clothes and worked her way up to his ashen face. Her blue eyes darted over to us. "You all look as if you came from a volcano."

"That's another story for a later time," I said with a nervous smile. "Can we go now?"

She nodded. "Yes. Sorry for falsely accusing you."

Great! Our clan's chief could learn a thing or two from his master.

We darted off, not wanting to deal with anymore family drama. But as we did, we spotted a man with long, spiky blue hair. Dye his hair blond and he would've looked like an older version of the prince.

The doctor glared at the man as he passed us. "Tatsu Sumeragi, Dragon Emperor," he whispered under his breath.

"That's Tatsu?" I asked, staring back at the casually dressed man.

"Yeah," Zyuuni responded with a grin. "That's Ryonoko's father. I think that Ryonoko is safe, for now. Well then, let's head back to the stadium! We got more matches to see! You also got to tell me why you look the way you do."

I sighed. "Alright."

Heavens, I just wanted to lay down and sleep like I used to in my previous summers. Only a few weeks had passed since I had taken up Agnes. Wonder if everything was going well back home. My ma and Tere probably had returned to the farm by now. The two were hardy but the work we left behind wasn't meant for two. Hopefully, Takuya was with them. Sadly I never got the chance to send any of them a letter telling them where I would be. Or even about my situation concerning the law...

"Tetsuya!" I heard familiar voices yell. I looked down the hill and my fellow knights, Serrano, Nori, and Ximena make their way toward us. Surprisingly, alongside them were also my family (minus my dad who was still on top of the doctor's dragon), Zafir, and Akari.

I ran over my ma and hugged her tightly. "Ma! It's been so long!"

Ma ran her hand through my wavy hair. "You've changed. I heard what happened from Osamu. Serrano and Ximena here though explained it some more. You're helping Osamu still in order to prove your innocence, aren't you?"

I lowered my gaze and nodded.

"So that's the familiar feeling Nori felt, Tetsuya's family," Setsuko said, whistling. "Kid sure has some range to his detection abilities."

Nori chuckled.

So they weren't together all this time?

Nori turned to look at Yuko. "Yuko! Nori found some clues about his family! Sir Serra and Master Ximena promised to take Nori up north to look for them!"

Yuko hugged him back. "Yuko is so glad to hear that!"

"Yuko is cold," Nori said, eyes wide.

Yuko let go of him and nodded. "Yuko was scared in that land. She thought that she was going to die!"

"Die?" Mother said, her face growing pale.

"Did something happen?" Serrano asked, raising an eyebrow. "Also, where's uncle? Didn't you leave with him?"

Mother's violet eyes darted around until she saw my father on top of the dragon. "Tekeshi..."

I glanced back at Ryonoko as he tried to tell his mother something, but kept being cut off. Seems that I got some confessing of my own to do. "He means dad."

Mother's avoided looking at me in the eye. "Your dad.. So you know the truth now."

"What truth?" I said, inching closer. My voice grew louder and aggressive. "So I wasn't wrong to assume that you knew that he was alive all this time? That you lied to us! Especially me!"

"Calm down," Teresa said, grabbing a hold of my left arm.

I took a deep breath. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Did Takuya and Teresa also know? Was I the only one led to believe that my father had died? Though, thinking about it, perhaps it was for the best.

"Why are you even here?" I asked, looking away.

"My wife invited them," Tatsu said, descending from the hill. "Well, actually, only Akari. But she did allow her to bring some friends with her."

"Except for Zafir, he just forced himself into our group," Akari said, glaring at the blue-haired knight.

Zafir glared at her. "I'm Saya's relative too you know. That gives me more of a right than your friend and his family. Besides, King Osamu wanted me to come here. He traced the weapons back to here."

I stared at my broken shield. So there was a tracking device within it. Why wasn't I surprised? Though, I understood the practical use for it, considering that we nearly got lost in the Abyss.

"Mom! Listen!" Ryonoko yelled, snapping me out of my thoughts. All of us glanced up at the Queen and her son. "There's something coming here! It isn't safe."

Tatsu gasped and turned around to look at his son. "What's coming?" he asked.

"Someone managed to tame Leviathan. That demon and the dragon that kill my grandparents are both coming here!"

"Leviathan?" Eiichi asked, taking a step back. "One of the Seven Arch Demons?"

The Dragon Emperor lowered his head. "My parents..." His expression was similar to that that Serrano had when he saw my armor. Seemed that everyone had things about their past that they prefered to guard.

"Who is this person who tamed them?" Saya asked, worry evident in her face.

"Reginald," someone else responded.

My ma gasped. "Did you just say 'Reginald'?"

"You know him?" I asked.

"Of course she does," a familiar voice called out. Making his way toward us was Roa, accompanied by Etsuo, Reno, and Man-kin.

https://youtu.be/hkw1NG4CQ_I

Etsuo suddenly let out a yelp. A bullet of wind had penetrated his right arm, splatting the grass with blackish-red blood. We all turned to look at Hideo who was pointing Donato at the abyssmals and his cousin.

"Tsk, I missed. I was aiming for his core," Hideo said as he charged another shot. "Now, bring Dan and Kiara here right this instant or I won't miss this next time!"

Roa scoffed as he calmly stepped toward him. "You seem to have become braver. Or perhaps it's simply because you've lost your precious little brother, again! This time along with your precious sister. But don't be worried, those two are safe. What you should be worried about though is your life!" he yelled as he formed a blade of made out of blue lightning in his hands. He moved rapidly and was about to strike down Hideo in front of us if not for Carlos being swung down in front of his blade's path.

"You better thank me, Hide," Eiichi said, grinning.

Hideo stepped back. He seemed fearful but at same time he also didn't look as if he was about to back down. He was ready to fight back this time.

"Move out of the way, pervert!" Roa said as sparks crackled between their weapons.

"It has been a long time since we last saw each other, yet you decide to greet us like this? Wow, aren't you something, spy!"

Roa jumped back and let out his ebony wings and took to the air.

"Hey, don't run away now like, again! I need you to tell us who this 'Reginald' is!" Eiichi yelled as he followed.

"It'll be best that my Ma explain it. Zafir and anyone with the ability to create bindings, apprehend the enemy!" I yelled.

Zafir didn't hesitate to act, surrounding our enemies with chains. The prince of Mizu no Kin quickly detained all but Roa within the chains. Eiichi however continued to pursue his fellow lightning user.

"Not again!" Man-kin yelled. He glared at Zafir who wasn't even touching the chains.

Zafir grinned. "Don't think your little gravity trick will work on me again."

Reno and Etsuo grumbled. "These chains, they won't melt!" Reno shouted.

"Their melting point is twice that of rock. So just boost your heat a 'little' more," Zafir said, grinning.

Reno grumbled. "I will!"

I chuckled nervously. Was telling him really a good idea?

I turned to look at Ma.

Ma's lip quivered. "Well, for starters, Reginald is your..."

"My dad," Kuroshi said as he jumped off of the doctor's dragon. He limped forward, barely able to stand.

So that's why that man looked so much like him and me. Reginald is my... grandfather. Wait, if he was my grandfather then he had to be the one Roa and Etsuo had called 'the strongest in the universes besides the gods'...

"He should be heading here right now though one of Xeleria's gates," Kuroshi continued. He's surely after your lives and third ancient beast, the Ziz."

Mother ran over and helped him stand. "Tekeshi," she said.

Kuroshi smiled. Not a cynical, nor smug, nor false smile. But a warm and loving one. "Anis. Long time no see, my dear wife."

"You should rest. Look at the state that you're in."

Kuroshi's eyes grew pale as he leaned his entire weight against her, unable to maintain his footing. "Run. Before he comes."

Suddenly the heavens above grew dark as a spiral of pitch black clouds formed over the sun. Red and white lightning lighted up the darkness as the sun was blacked out by something else.

"Another strange eclipse?" Kohri asked, staring at the sky.

"What's going on?" Zyuuni asked, shaking his head. "This sensation. This is... real darkness." He summoned his scythe and shifted into a fighting position. "This 'Reginald' seems to have arrived."

Saya and Tatsu stared at the sky as giant blue sea serpent with a gaping mouth descended. On top of its head was the man from before.

"Greetings from the Abyss!" the man shouted, raising his hands into the air. Accompanying him were Leviathan and Behemoth.

"Seems that there's no fleeing," Ryonoko said, grunting. He raised his swords.

"Seems like it," his father said, keeping a calm face. "Get as far as you can from here. Amira, Saya."

The two shook their heads. "I might be pregnant, but I can still fight alongside brother and you!" Queen Saya said.

Seems that Ryonoko fell for someone like his mother. Not that I didn't do the same too...

"Same here!" Akari said.

Wait, Saya and her are pregnant too? Seems that there will be another baby boom among those of the Amadeus very soon...

Zafir sighed. "Tere, Takuya, could you protect her for me?" he asked as he took a step forward.

"You don't even need to ask," Takuya said, grinning as he shielded Akari. 

"Fine, but stick to using your bow and arrow," Tatsu said, finally responding to his wife's earlier remark. He didn't deter his eyes from Reginald, as if preparing for his next move in a game of chess.

"Roa, Etsuo, Man-kin, come here!" Reginald said, grinning.

"Yes, grandfather!" a flying Roa yelled. He pushed Eiichi away, flinging him toward the ground. Eiichi though managed to catch himself in mid air

My dark haired cousin grabbed the chains holding Man-kin, Etuso, and Reno even as Zafir tried to keep him from doing so. Reginald took a hold of the chain from him and snapped it without seeming to even apply any pressure on it.

Meanwhile, figures appeared on top of Leviathan. Both of them were naked except for a shroud of darkness. One of them I recognized as Takon, one of the four Rulers of Abyss.

Takon glanced down at us, a stoic look as always. The mysterious woman on the other hand walked over to my grandfather and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's begin the real games, Regi," she said, grinning.

Reginald smile warmly as he continued to keep his eyes on us.

"Tsk, they managed to get away. So, who is that babe with him?" asked Eiichi, staring at the red-haired woman.

"Aster, my step-mother," Kuroshi responded weakly. "She's the strongest of the four rulers."

"I see," Tatsu said, eyeing our opponents opponents. "This is bad."

Aster and Takon jumped out of the dragon and vanished like ninjas. As did Etsuo, Roa, Man-kin, and Reno.

"Where are the bad guys going?" Nori asked.

"They're not here to fight you," Reginald said, as darkness enveloped him. "The three of us are your main opponents!"

Then why did those two appear? What could they possibly want?

Suddenly the entire earth shook violently.

"What's going on?" I asked as we were thrown to the ground.

"What's that?" Hideo asked, pointing toward a black pillar in the distance. "It's coming from the direction of the ruins we arrived in."

"That's an Erebus," Kuroshi explained. He's calling forth lesser Being of the Abyss."

"This is bad," Zafir said. "Let's go and take care of those lesser ones!"

"Wait, the five shall stay here," Kuroshi said, glancing at Reginald. Blood dripped from my father's mouth. "Tetsuya. Kohri and I are going to upgrade your weapon." He stared at Rosalba. "You have it, don't you?"

Rosalba gasped. "How did you..."

He stared at the ground. "My body might've been knocked out, but I was still with you in spirit. Literally."

Suddenly darkness covered the land itself as several blobs began to rain down from the sky and covered nearly every inch. Screams filled the air as the entire city found itself in chaos. It likely wasn't any better in the parts closer to the ruins.

"They're fast!" Hyosetsu said, slashing one.

"They're moving quicker than expected," Kuroshi said, grimacing.
Pa must be giving them some of his powers. Fight with all that you got or be prepared to die!"

"Come on, Tere, Akari!" Takuya yelled as he charged at the shadows. "Let's mow down these shadows before they mow us down!"

"Right!" Teresa yelled, following after him.

Akari grinned. "Leave the shadow smiting to the light user!" She transformed the silver pendant on her neck into a small white knife and gathered light on its tip.

Zafir walked over to them and impaled several the creatures with his chains. "Sorry, but I don't plan to take a backseat in this war."

Akari chuckled. "Thought that you would say that. But we'll see who takes down the most!"

Takuya meanwhile guarded her back as she charged at the enemy.

Brother... that kid is Zafir's, isn't it? Yet you're still willing to protect her with your life...

"Wind!" I heard a young boy yell. I turned and saw Lei running toward us while Akari, Zafir, and my siblings flew westward. Along with Lei were his siblings, Yen and Kun. For some reason the blobs were drawing closer to them.

"I told you not to wonder off again!" Yen yelled, cutting down a blob with a blade of wind.

"Relax, we just got to wait until Eri reaches us," Kun said. He patted Lei's head. "Don't worry, little brother. We're here!"

"Why... are they after me?" he asked as he looked back with worry.

I removed Agnes and threw it to Kuroshi and quickly drew my sword. "Tenebrae Slash!" I yelled, cutting several of the creatures in one swing. The ground soon became littered with shattered cores.

"Ah! It's you again!" Lei said, beaming.

"You three should get as far away from here as possible!" I yelled.

"That necklace," Saya said, mouth wide. "Why do you have it?"

I stared at the fish shaped necklace. Why did everyone seem curious about it?

"Saya!" Tatsu yelled, slashing blob with his draconic blue claws. The now defeated creature had managed to get dangerously closer to his wife. "Pay attention or retreat!"

Saya nodded. "Sorry." She pulled off a silver cross necklace and transformed it into a bow similar to father's. Except that hers was silver and gold. Raising it into the air she shot a radiant arrow at Reginald.

My grandfather jumped into the air and gathered the blobs into his arm until they formed a giant lance.

"Get away!" Father screamed.

Queen Saya held out her hands, forming a barrier of light. My grandfather unleashed the lance, sending it miles and miles away. Soon a massive wave of reddish shadows echoed throughout the land, killing everything it touched. Luckily there weren't people other than us around to be killed by it, just grass and trees.

"Woah," Lei said, backing away. His eyes and those of his siblings started to water. "Get us out of here!"

"We're going to die!" Yen yelled, shaking her head.

"No. We can't die here!" Kun said.

I gripped the handle of my sword tightly. "Stay close to Queen Saya. She'll protect you," I said, trying to sound calm as I stepped out of the barrier. It truly seemed as if the end was near. I turned toward Kuroshi. Rosalba, Nori, and Ximena were healing him while Kohri summoned the necessary material for Agnes' upgrade. "Once you're feeling up to the task, hurry up and upgrade Agnes while we still have a fighting chance!"

Eiichi scoffed as he twirled Carlos in his hands. "You make it sound as if your weapon is our only hope. Sorry, but I still don't plan to allow myself to be protected by the likes of you."

"Nor do I," Hyosetsu said as he swung Baldo forward, freezing a square mile of shadows with one swing.

"Same!" Hideo yelled as he shot indiscriminately at the shadows. "I'll mow every single one of these down myself if that's what it takes to beat back the darkness and save Kiara and Dan! Etsuo and his allies will pay for taking them away!"

"Etsuo isn't as bad as you think," Serrano said, touching his shoulder.

Hideo slapped his hand away. "He isn't? He took my siblings away from me! Maybe you can't imagine how that feels as you don't have any siblings! And don't think I'm too dumb to not realize your connection to that guy! The peasant here isn't your only scummy cousin!"

Serrano froze in place. I felt something snap in me, looking at those shattered eyes of his as if he were reliving a horrible nightmare.

"Hideo, shut up," I said as darkness, my darkness, danced around me. Hideo... he had dared to utter those words to Serra who had lost Conrad years ago to illness. If it weren't because we were surrounded by shadows, I would have punched the kid so hard that he would be sent flying over the horizon! "You don't know what you're talking about. Besides, now isn't the time to fight among ourselves!"

Setsuko stepped ahead of us. "Tetsu is right, we must stay united or else this will be our grave..." She glanced back at Serrano and gave him a reassuring smile as if telling him to not worry about Hideo's words.

I smiled at Serra. "Come on, Serra! It isn't like you to allow a few words to get you down. Now, stick close to me and take care of the weaker fries. I'll guard you in my own way, just like when we were kids!"

Some of the light in Serra's eyes returned. Suddenly, the darkness lurched at him but they were rapidly destroyed with a swing of his Aventine. "Sorry, Tetsu. But I too don't wish to be protected."

I chuckled. "Right, you did say that you wanted to fight alongside me. So, how about we finally do so rather than fighting one another? Serra."

Serrano scoffed as he walked over to me and held out his fist to me. I smiled and bumped it.

"Let's go, Knights of Kuroriku!" the two of us yelled in unison even though we weren't even in our own universe, far less so our own nation. We both turned our eyes and weapons toward Reginald. Our grandfather though simply smiled, not a wicked smile, but a warm one.

What were his intentions?

**Solar Note: Thanks for reading :). Don't forget to vote if you enjoyed this chapter (and vote any any of the previous chapters if you haven't already done so)! I hope to update tomorrow and on New Years Eve too!**