Serra and I served as the vanguard of our small but 'elite' group. We rushed at the shadows and mowed them down as they twisted and turned like chaotic waves. But soon another wave of creatures came at us and pushed my cousin and me back, threatening to swallow us whole.

I swung my brand new weapon through the blackish waters, cutting us a path in the dark sea.

"Hurry!" I yelled, rushing on ahead.

I turned around and saw as the Dragon Emperor rushed at Reginald at the speed of sound. "Draconic Claw!" the Tatsu screamed. The land dragon shielded Reginald with the sturdy hide of its arm. With one swing of its tail, it sent the Dragon Emperor flying and crashing not too far from us.

"Tatsu!" Saya screamed as she leaned forward. She shook her head and closed her eyes. "Get up, now! You can't fall after just one hit!"

Ryonoko's dad stood up a massive crater which covered most of the ruins of the park that was once here.

"Of course not," he said as he wiped blood from his lips. He grinned and summoned a giant sword similar to his son's. The only difference was that his was midnight-blue.

Tatsu raised his sword at the sky. Massive amounts of ki danced around him. He flashed his opponent a grin and said, "I was merely warming up!"

"I told you to take things seriously!" Father yelled. He shifted his gaze to Rosalba and Kohri "Rosa, hand over the item I mentioned. The rest of you, continue to destroy any blobs that might approach."

Rosalba handed him a red sphere.

"Where's my dad?" Zyuuni asked, glancing toward the stadium.

"Probably back at the stadium," Saya said as she made her way to us. She created a wall of light around the walls of the cut dark sea, preventing it from crashing around us.

"Daisuke will be fine," Saya said, reinforcing her barrier. She stared at her husband. "He has your mother by his side just like Tatsu has me by his."

The mage prince sighed, looking at his aunt with a glimmer of hope. "Hopefully." He raised his scythe. "Ryonoko let's destroy these things!"

The Celestial Prince grinned and charged his swords with electricity. "You got it, Zyu!"

Suddenly multiple wave rippled across the shadowy sea, causing the thing to ripple uncontrollably.

Father focused all of his attention on the shield. With one swipe of his hand he removed the green sphere in the center and had it open up like some kind of capsule. Within was a strange, glittering matrix. At its center was a crystal. Father closed his eyes and levitated the dragon orb above the sphere. The orb slowly shrunk little by little.

"Cool," Lei said, snapping out of the fear he was in. For some reason I got the impression that the child was easily distracted.

"This is weapon synthesis," Kohri said, awestruck.

"Is this kind of style rare?" I asked, attentively gazing at the wood within the shield. It was still moving as if alive, taking in some of the brilliant particles emitting from Saya's barrier. That explained its ability to absorb and retain energy such as what Rosa had given me during our second battle against Satoru. Apart from the life force that the princess had given me, I could also feel my own, but it wasn't in the wood. Instead, the life energy came from the core.

"It's not a rare art in this world," Saya responded for Kohri. She held out her hand and destroyed the entire sea of shadows with thorns of heavenly light which emanate from her barrier. As soon as she did, her son and nephew ran out of the barrier and toward the stadium.

Suddenly, a giant shock-wave shook the land and people spilled out of the stadium screaming in horror even as the buildings around them threatened to collapse. Whatever had happened within must've frightened them more than the shadows or the quake.

Saya took care of the remaining shadows in the vicinity, allowing us to run over to help the assistants. However, Yuko and I stayed back to watch over Lei and his siblings. Though it wasn't like I could get very far. I was warned that being too far from Agnes could result in my death. That might've explained why I could feel my life-force within the shield itself.

"Woah," Lei and his siblings said, gazing at the light.

"You really are angels!" the cheerful boy said, jumping up and down. A chuckle escaped his tiny mouth. "Kun, Yen. We got nothing to worry about."

I nodded and smiled a little. "Yeah."

"You foolish mortals," Leviathan yelled as it opened its mouth. Gazing at it gave the same sensation as peering into the depths of the abyss. It was as if the creature was endless.

It swatted the Dragon Emperor as the latter's claws cut through the former's sapphire scales.

"Who are you calling mortal?" Saya asked, launching a barrage of arrows from the radiant barrier. The beast flew around, dodging the arrows with grace despite being as gigantic as it was.

Reginald meanwhile continued to rise into the air and watched us carefully.

Tatsu slowed his descent down and went after Behemoth by swinging his claws at it. The emperor unleashed a mighty roar, sending both beasts flying miles away. He held his hands out. Green and light blue energy gathered in his right and left hands respectively. One them was embedded with wooden ki while the other contained water and ice ki. With a single tap of his hands, both spheres of energy went sent flying at the beasts.

Behemoth jumped in front of the wooden ki, shielding Leviathan. Though it wasn't the best idea as a series of vines clasped a hold of the land dragon. "Gahh!" the titan of a dragon shrieked, causing the earth to tremble once more.

Tatsu chuckled. A chuckle that seemed to contain cynicism similar to that which I had gained following the accusation. Nay, it was a cynicism which I still held to some degree.

"Did you expect for me to be like my parents?" Tatsu asked, giving it a cocky grin. "Well, you were mistaken, big league!"

The Behemoth's fiery eyes widened before it broke out into sinister laughter. "You're the child of those two. You're here to get revenge for them?"

He snapped his fingers, tightening the vines. The beast roared in pain as the vines started to leech off some of its energy. Its battle with Ryonoko must've weakened it somewhat as it didn't seem nearly as strong as when we had met. But, then again, it was up against one of the strongest people in the realm of Dragons. Nay, more accurately, one of the strongest in the entire known multi-verse. One such as him didn't become and remain Emperor simply by staying seated on his throne.

"It can talk? Why didn't it do so before?" Ryonoko said, gasping.

"Isn't that somewhat common?" I asked.

He laughed. "Well, about half of dragons can talk. Since it didn't say a thing other than roar, I thought that its language skills only consisted of grunts and such."

Leviathan swooped down with huge mouth wide open, ready to swallow the Dragon Emperor whole. Tatsu calmly dodged it, causing the beast to plow into the ground. Instantly the dragon formed a tunnel underfoot.

"The beast of the sea is hiding in the land?" Tatsu said, chuckling. He raised both fists and punched the ground with both at once, causing the young tunnel to collapse in an instant.

Leviathan emerged from the ground and launched lasers of concentrated water at him. The Dragon Emperor moved to the right slightly, easily missing the badly aimed lasers.

"Did the dust affect your eyesight or something? Or perhaps you should consider getting yourself a checkup. Though I'm not sure if there's any health insurance that covers glasses that big."

This guy sure is cocky. Thankfully he has the power to back it up. Unlike someone I know... Wait, dust? Maybe if we blind it...

I glanced over at Hideo who seemed have calmed down. "Hey, Hideo. Over here!" I yelled.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

I sighed. Maybe he isn't calm. "I have an idea," I said.

"Tatsu!" Saya yelled as she reinforced her barrier. I looked back at the leviathan and realized that the lasers of water were heading straight at us. As soon as they hit, the entire thing started to dissolve. Saya grimaced and fell to one knee.

"Damn! Get out of here!" Tatsu screamed, diverting his attention away from the beasts.

"I... can't leave you alone!" she yelled.

The Leviathan chuckled as it coiled its long tail around the inattentive emperor.

"You were sssaying?" the beast said in a serpent-like voice. Its sapphire tail constricted around the man, shattering the dragon scales throughout his body. Something about the way it coiled its tail around its opponent and taunted them reminded me of Satoru.

"Father!" Ryonoko yelled as he stopped helping people. Though the crowd had started to become anxious anew with the weakening barrier of light. He stared at us as Saya struggled to reform the barrier. "Mother, flee! We'll help dad out!"

The Heavenly Queen grimaced. "Al...right." She raised her hands into the air and covered the civilians and herself in radiant light.

"Woah!" Lei said, stepping closer toward Ryonoko as he sent a round of lightning raining down on Leviathan. "Soo cool!"

"Brother!" Yen yelled, running after him. She glanced back at the circle of light. "They're leaving!"

Lei gasped and glanced back at us. "Huh?"

"Hurry up!" Kun yelled, grabbing the arms of both.

I shook my head and grabbed a hold of him. Yuko followed even as Saya and the others who remained within the light vanished. I would've preferred that she had gone with the queen. Yuko had barely recovered.

"You three!" I yelled as I created a trail of earthen defenses around all three.

"No!" Yen screamed as another wave of shadows appeared. I sheathed my sword and raised my hands into the air. They had long been my only weapon.

Only weapon?

The words of King Osamu echoed in my head. He had told us not to abandon our weapon or we would die and I was already quite a distance from Agnes.

Was he lying? Or will I truly...

"Masteeerrr!" Yuko yelled. I turned as she cut down several blobs using her small knife all in the span of seconds. She certainly had grown stronger following her leveling up.

"Tetsuya!" Setsuko said, jumping in the air as she pummeled a purple blob with her meteor hammer. "Follow me!"

Lei screamed as the shadows gathered around him and his siblings. "Get away!" the kid screamed at the top of his lungs. Suddenly, a brilliant light was emitted from his fish-shaped necklace. Arrows of wind punctured the cloud of shadows instantly.

"Incredible," I said as Yuko and Setsuko guarded my back.

"I was right," Setsuko said as Serrano and the others rushed over to us.

"What was that?" Eiichi asked.

"That child somehow managed to awaken that thing."

Lei stumbled back, yet the grip on his bow remained firm. "I feel dizzy."

"Gotcha," Kun and Yen said, supporting their younger brother. At least I assumed that he was the youngest as the way they protected him was similar to how Takuya and Teresa did when I was his age. When I was his age... that felt like a lifetime ago.

I walked over and lifted Lei unto my back. "Hold on kiddo and keep that weapon close. You might need it one day."

He nodded slightly.

"That weapon..." Reginald said as he drew closer.

"It mussst be the emblem of the Chossssen of Light," Leviathan said. It had crawled over to us without us even noticed.

I jumped back. How had something that big managed to sneak in on us? But to make matters worse, the Dragon Emperor and Ryonoko were nowhere in sight. Had it killed them?

"Hand it over and we might just ssspare you."

I looked it straight in the eyes. "As if!" I ran as far and as fast from it as I could.

I formed a sphere of darkness in my hand and tossed it at one of its eyes. It struck the eye but it didn't scream out in pain like expected. Instead the thing bounced off its eyelid and exploded a few feet behind us.

"The thing is too strong!" Tatsu yelled from above as he hit the thing's head. "No wonder even Renata, the Angel of Wood had a hard time dealing with it. We have to focus our forces on defeating the leader."

I glanced at the sky and noticed that Reginald still had his eyes on Lei. In his chest was a red necklace just like his.

Hideo raised his sniper gun into the air and took a shot at his water beast's eye. This time the beast roared as black water spilled out of its eye. Tatsu was flung into the air as the beast threw its head back but Setsuko caught him.

"You should rest, emperor," she said. She stared at his fractured scales. They were healing slowly, but not fast enough.

"Yeah!" Hideo cheered as he jumped up and down like a rabbit. "Finally this weapon does something right!"

The beast roared, causing rain clouds to appear. "Those weapons you hold. Where did you get them?"

"My father made them!" I yelled over the downpour. Its mouth, it was as if the sea itself was contained within its body. Luckily, the rains didn't last long, though they lasted enough to flood the entire park.

Leviathan turned and slashed the vines around Behemoth. Why just now? Had it planned to leave it in such a state and get the glory all for itself? Leviathan was the demon of envy, so I wouldn't put it past it.

Wait a moment! That might just be it!

"Damn it!" I yelled, lowering my head. "No... Now that Behemoth is free we're all doomed! He will certainly do what Leviathan couldn't." I raised my head and spun around. "Everyone! Run for your lives! it's better to retreat now and live to fight another day!"

"What in the world are you saying?" Hyosetsu asked, raising an eyebrow.

I grumbled. "I said to run!"

Hyosetsu eyes widened. "What did you just say, peasant?" he asked.

"Fine, suit yourself!" I said, gripping tightly unto Lei and running down hill.

Behemoth chuckled and opened its mouth, unleashing a massive fireball which evaporated the water. Leviathan appeared in front of us... and shielded us from the fire with it's claws!

"They're mine!" Leviathan roared.

Behemoth glared at it. "No they're not! I have a score to settle with my realm's monarchy. So move out of the way or I'll roast you!"

The sea serpent chuckled. "Assss if!" Its tail gasped Behemoth's massive body. " Besidess, I too have a grudge to sssettle here." Snake like fangs appeared on the water beast's mouth as it bite into the land dragon's neck.

"Gahhh!" the earth beast roared in pain as it trashed back and forth, causing the earth to come alive once more.

Setsuko, Serrano, and Yuko laid a hand on the ground, stabilizing it somewhat.

"Not bad, cousin. Your taunting finally worked outside of the game world."

I grinned. "Well, it's what they get for continuing to get in our way."

"That was really something," Setsuko said as we ran toward the stadium. She giggled. "Had no idea that you were such a good actor. Though it makes me doubt your honesty even more."

I sighed. "It's fine if you don't believe me. I still plan to clear my name once this whole thing is over."

"Hip-hip hooray, but we still got to deal with..." Hyosetsu gasped. "Where did their Master go? Did he just abandon them to fight with each other?"

"He's likely regrouping with his allies," Serrano said. "I hope that Magus Maximus Daisuke is holding up well."

*Dan*

[Meanwhile, in the depths of the Abyss]

I opened my eyes and saw that I was swinging over a dark tar-like pit. The only thing holding me up being one of Satoru's tails.

"W-where am I?" I cried out.

"You're in a place where few will find you," Satoru said, grinning as he kept his distance from the pit. "This is where you'll meet your end." He chuckled. "You know, I came up with a better idea. I'll go ahead and spare your brother for you!"

I smiled a bit. "R-really?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I mean, you already lost someone. It would be awful to lose another person so soon. BUT, he'll have to kill the others for me if he wishes to see you alive!"

I gasped. "NO!" I yelled. "Y-you can't do that! D-don't make my brother a murderer!"

Satoru's grin grew wider. "Sorry, but it's either that or your death."

"K-kill me then!" I yelled, closing my eyes.

"Hmm? Seriously? Isemori sacrificed his life in order to save yours, yet you'll so easily throw it away? My, my, what a cold-hearted person you are," he said as he circled around the pit. "And here I thought that you were nice, alas, it seems you're like all others, pretending to be nice. Just like Etsuo. I mean, if it weren't for him you wouldn't be on the brink of death and your sister wouldn't be in a coma. You should hate him with everything you got."

"E-Etsuo isn't like that. S-sure he has some b-blame, but..."

Satoru shrugged as he came to a stop and raised a crystal. "Well, we'll see what he has to say in due time."

"H-hey... Y-you are the one who hurt Isemori's sister, aren't you?"

He chuckled. "Did you hear that from that wimp? Well, since you're most likely going to be dying soon, it'll be best to tell you that yes, I did. That Dine along with Etsuo were corrupting Roa with their silly ideals. I wanted to get rid of both of them, so I drew them toward the forest. I stopped Roa from going deeper and continued to lead the two into this very pit. Dine ended up falling into it, but Etsuo managed to get out."

My eyes widened. So Dine was his sister... but how could it be that Dine is still around?

"I don't know how she survived, though," he said as if he had read my mind. "But no matter, she doesn't even seem to recall who she is. In fact, she was but a faithful beast to me when I saw her again. Of course, at the time I had no idea that it was Dine... well that part of her was in said beast as it was actually a fusion of several shadow blobs from the shadows of this pit."

Flames wrapped around me. "H-how can you talk about it so nonchalantly?"

Satoru began to swing me. "Easy there, heat up too much and I'll drop you right now."

"I-I rather be dropped!" I yelled. "I don't want to be your pawn! I was already used as bait several times, and I won't be again! I'm... I'm not some toy."

Satoru chuckled and turned away. "So you say..."

"Dan..." a voice called out in my head. It was Isemori's! "I failed to bring you back to your family, but I will use what little strength I have to free you. I... won't let you be a pawn any longer. Just stay calm and wait."

A-am I imagining things?

Isemori chuckled. "I'm... using my remaining essence to communicate with you. It's actually one of the special techniques of blobs who've developed a sense of self. But by using this technique, I will soon vanish from the memories of everyone. It will be as if I never existed."

"What?" I yelled.

"Hmm?" Satoru said, glancing over.

"N-nothing... I'm..." Tears stained my face. Why... why did everyone have to sacrifice themselves for me? It was bad enough that Isemori had given up his life, but to sacrifice people's memories of him...

Isemori chuckled. "Don't cry. I have another technique. Even though you might forget me, I will always be with you. It might not be fulfilling my mission exactly, but it's good enough. Now, relax."

H-how? You're...

I felt something warm wrap around me, like the tail of a big cat. "I already said not to worry. I decided to do this even as we were fleeing. I knew as soon as I saw those fox tails surround me, that I couldn't get away. Surely Dine had felt the same way when she was lead to this very spot. But this isn't only where you and I will meet our end. Rather, it'll also be where he who hurt my sister and so many others will meet his! After all, the pawn can evolve into a queen or any other piece."

Q-queen?

"Ha, I guess that term doesn't fit either of us considering that we're boys, but you know what I mean."

I grinned as I recalled my various matches of chess against my Pa. Yeah, I do. But, while the queen may be the most powerful, I rather become the knight.

Isemori chuckled. A knight, eh? Yes, these pawns shall play the role of knights in this game of chess.  

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter :3. This marks the last update of 2018 (though I bet for most of you it's already 2019 xD)! Theories as to what the future will bring for Tetsu and co.?**