[Some Moments Earlier]

Lady Saya had teleported us to the Castle grounds of Kyuu Seishin. It had the strongest barrier in the entire nation, plus was close enough that she didn't have to use up all her energy, allowing her to go back to rescue the rest of the civilians who had gotten hurt.

"How much longer do you think it'll take?" I whispered to Anis. I didn't want to directly ask either Takeshi or Kohri for fear of breaking their concentration.

Takeshi chuckled and raised the shield over his head. "It is done! Though, it seems that I lack the energy to take it to Tetsu. Think that you can do me the favor?"

Anis nodded and walked over to take Agnes from him. For some reason she hadn't fought despite being one of the Seven Hill Knights. I took it that she felt comfortable with Queen Saya and Tatsu were there to give us a hand. She would step in as a card of last resort.

Suddenly, a shock-wave echoed throughout the palace grounds.

"What was that?" Kohri asked as he laid in the ground, exhausted.

I rushed over to one of the windows in the old fashioned wooden castle. It had come from the direction of the arena. Another round of intense rain fell over the barrier followed by strong heat. It was as if the two beasts were at war with one another.

"What's going on over there?" I asked.

Takeshi closed his eyes. "Let's see if the five weapons can tell me." He chuckled. "It seems that Tetsu tricked those dumb ancient monsters into renewing their rivalry." He opened his eyes. "No..."

"W-what happened?" I asked, turning around.

He opened his eyes which were glowing in the colors of the rainbow. "Hideo... just shot Tetsu..."

"No," Anis said, taking a step back. She lowered her eyes to the shield. The green color of its core was dimming.

"What?" I snapped. My angel tool began to heat up once more just like how it had during my battle with Satoru. "Why would he? I know that Hideo isn't fond of Tetsu, but..."

"Tetsu shielded Serra, but he would've been next anyway. Satoru is threatening to kill Dan if Hideo doesn't kill Tetsu and the others."

"What? Satoru is here with Dan?"

He shook his head. "No, they're in the abyss. Satoru who was detained by Mr. Obi while we were in Wynaga appears to have escaped and returned back home. Isemori... was the rescue botched?"

"Isemori?" Anis asked.

"He's one of my companions. I guess one could say 'servant'. Either way, I had tasked Omatsu and him to rescue and bring back Kiara and Dan. I gifted each one with a talisman with enough energy to power the teleportation stones too... But was it not enough? Or did Satoru intercept them before they could even get that far?"

"B-but Tetsu is alright, r-right?" Anis asked.

"Yes, thankfully he has Ximena and Nori alongside him to heal him."

"Huh? Is his wound not healing on its own?"

"No, without Agnes close by, his wounds no longer heal on their own. When Tetsu was born, I had put his core into that green capsule. Theoretically, he shouldn't die as long as his core remains in tact, but it appears that's not the case."

I snatched Agnes from Tetsuya's mother and made a run for it. I needed to get Agnes back to him as soon as possible. Even with Nori and Ximena around to heal his wound, I couldn't help but shake off the feeling that he would be in need of Agnes soon. The shield was a part of him after all.

I looked down at it as I descended the stairs. This had supposedly been the weapon that was used to knock me over... Feeling it within my hands gave me an idea. While, I was unable to make out the exact dimensions of the shield my attack used, there were markings left behind on the walls.

Though, it was possible the walls were fixed by now. I wouldn't know as I had avoided that room since then. But even if that was so, pictures were taken of the crime scene. Agnes could be used to compare it to those markings and see if they're an exact match. It would be a start to proving Tetsu's innocence!

Though there was an issue, the shield used was its heart-shaped form. Tetsu would need to transform Agnes back into that form. Then there was also the fact that the shield had been tampered with since then, and by his dad too. My father was sure to say such proof was meaningless given that.

"Rosa, are you okay?" Anis asked, causing me to jump several steps amid mid run. Thankfully, I had enough grace to prevent myself from falling down.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare ya," she said, not hiding her accent. "It's just that ya face just now was filled with concern. Ya have a bad feelin' too, right? About Tetsu."

I nodded. "Yeah... I do." I placed a hand over my heart. "I am not that worried about the bullet wound as Ximena and Nori are healing him, but what if something happens? Like they get separated from him or worse? Tetsu himself would be vulnerable. He has a history of getting injured a lot in his battles."

"That's true," Anis said, nodding.

I sighed as we continued to run. I really needed to focus on getting this to Tetsu. I needed to assure he survived first, or else he won't even get an opportunity to prove his innocence.

https://youtu.be/yoCDlOLN9Y8

*Tetsuya*

['Present']

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked Lei whom I was carrying on my back again. His breathing had started to become wheezy since the battle with Hideo.

"It must be his asthma! Quick, Yen, his medicine!" Kun yelled as we continued walking down the long corridor. Some of the others such as Ryonoko, Setsuko, Hyosetsu, and Eiichi had raced on ahead of us. I would've too, but if there was another cave in, I would be the best one to help those who are slower.

Yen put her hand into her pocket and gasped. She searched her other jean pocket but there was nothing there but some sticks of gum. "No! I-I must've dropped it!"

"I'll go back and get it!" Nyima said. She stopped and began to run back in the direction we had come from.

"Hey, wait!" I yelled. Suddenly, the sound of metal collapsing filled the hall. It had come from the direction we had come from!"

"Hey, little one, don't wander off that way. It's too dangerous," a familiar voice called out. "As for you, Tetsu, catch!"

I held out my hand and caught an inhaler. I quickly applied it to Lei's mouth. "Hold on kid."

The little girl grinned at Serra. "Thanks, Papa!"

Serrano chuckled. "Uh, I'm not your pa. He's my doppelganger, though."

Nyima ran back to us. "Pa must still be with Ma then! Hope that they're fine."

We decided not to waste anymore time and rushed into the center of the stadium. Hundreds of mages laid dead or at least near death on the floor. While over a dozen more along with my fellow knights continued to battle Takon and Aster.

"Takon, come on, we got to leave," Aster pleaded as she used her bare hand to halt a jab from Eiichi's Carlos."

"You go on ahead, I'll gather the energy we came here for. By doing so, we'll be able to avoid the Sacred Crystal going haywire this often," the male Ruler said as he slammed a purple haired man to the ground.

"Damn," the purple-haired man screamed as he tried to stand up. He sort of resembled Saya. The man glanced back at us. "What are you kids doing here? Get out!"

"We came to help you, Dad!" Zyuuni yelled as he summoned his scythe.

Eri looked back at his friend and grinned. "About time. We have been waiting for you."

"Everyone, get out of here!" Maki yelled as he rose from the floor. His left arm was drenched in blood. Aside from him were Akane, Feng, the blue-haired girl's dad, and others I didn't know.

"Mama, Papa!" yelled the blue-haired. Her sea blue eyes were focused on the red-haired woman charging toward Takon.

Takon caught her fist in his hand and slammed his elbow against her arm, causing her to scream.

"Momma!" the girl yelled, eyes wide.

Her father rushed to us and deflected a blast Takon aimed at us with one of his own. "Nyima, what are you doing here? You were supposed to escape! You're too important to lose here. Not only for your Mama and me but the world."

Nyima sniffed. "I wanted to help."

He patted her head. "You can help by staying hidden at some place safe. Now please go."

"I'll take the kids out of here," Serrano said. "Besides, my powers haven't entirely returned, so not sure how much of a help I can be."

"Sounds good to me," I said.

"All of you should leave. I take over from here," a voice called out from above. Flying in the air was a man dressed in a white kimono. He had long silver hair that reached to his lower back. His eyes were light blue like ice. Something about him reminded me of someone, but I couldn't figure who it was.

Along with him were Takuya and Zafir, but there was no sign of the girls. I liked to assume that they dropped them off at some place safe. Or perhaps they were sealing the portal in the ruins.

"The Erebus has been taken care of," he said to a dark skinned woman.

"That's good. So, where did you leave Iah?" she asked as she gathered energy in the palm of her hands to fire off an attack at Takon and Aster.

He gasped. "Iah? I thought that he ran off with the others!"

"You mean he's not with you?" she snapped, firing off her beam at Takon as he dashed at her.

The abysmal ruler grunted as he the beam of water ripped through his arm.

"Papa! Mama!" a blond haired six-year-old cried out as he emerged from underneath some seats. "I'm here!"

The man rushed over to his son and hugged him. "Iah! What are you doing here? We told you to run with the others!"

"I wanted to watch. Besides, I'm immortal," the kid said, grinning.

Immortal?

"You do know that Huangdi Immortality ability of yours has limits," his dad said, sighing. "Now, take to the skies and flee from here."

Is he like us abysmals? Or could he be an abysmal too?

The boy pouted. "Al...alright! But it'll take awhile to transform!" A blond haired, light blue-eyed young man with large golden wings landed next to him and picked him up. "Hey, where are you taking me? Uncle!"

"Hold on, Prince Iah," the young man said, heading straight toward us. He put Iah down next to a white-haired woman who was with Maki. "Bai, take Iah here to safety," he said before turning his attention to the abyssmals.

"Okay, but take care please take care! Huang!" the white-haired woman yelled as the guy once more took to the air.

Huang's cool blue eyes scanned the area. "Are there anymore people who stayed back or were left behind?"

"Only her," she responded, nudging a pink haired girl forward.

"Mom and Dad," the girl said, staring at two of the mages attacking the ring leaders of all of this.

"Don't worry," the blond boy said. "Daddy and Mommy will stop the bad guy!"

"No, my mama will!" the blue haired friend of Lei said.

"Stop arguing!" Huang yelled, shutting the three up.

The white haired woman sighed. "Hey. They're only kids. No need to scream at them."

Huang sighed and glanced at the ground. "You know, you shouldn't even be here."

"I'm not fighting," she responded.

"Hey!" Hyosetsu yelled as he dodged a downward swing from Takon. "Are you going to help, flee, or are you just going to stay here and fight among ourselves as the world comes to an end?"

"The world's coming to an end?" Adela said, startled. She gasped and took a step back. "No... the prophecy..."

What Prophecy? Is it the same one that Kuroshi mentioned before?

"Yuko knows," Yuko said as if reading my mind. Her entire being trembled. "Perhaps this is the end." Her eyes darted toward the sky. "Will Goddess show herself?"

The one who predates the creators of the various realms? Why would she be showing up to this but not the other deities? Was she more useful than our realm's god?

Suddenly the stadium was covered in brilliant light. Aster was sent flying to the ground by a beam of silver light.

"Is it over?" Nyima asked, looking around.

"I think it is," Iah said, grinning.

Though they had spoken too soon as Aster stood up. She closed her eyes and began to fade into darkness. "Takon, I'll be waiting for you along with the Pillars. Don't delay."

"I won't. After all, I got something important."

Eri spun around and saw a brown haired kid with blue eyes being pulled away by Takon. "He's coming with us," the male ruler said, causing everyone to halt their attacks on him.

"Tsk. Seems that Reno and Satoru aren't the only ones willing to use kids as hostages!

"Hikaru!" Yen yelled. She jumped and went in for a kick but the attack was blocked by Takon.

Eri ran up to her and grabbed her.

The male Ruler snickered. "You're pretty brave for a little girl," he said, grinning at Yen. He raised a hand in the air that sent all of us in the vicinity flying out of the stadium. We caught ourselves in midair but it wasn't over yet. Takon formed a black sphere in his hands and chuckled. "Be gone!"

Iah's father dashed in front of us as a shadow flew overhead and landed next to him. The former casted a quick barrier around us but I knew right away that it wouldn't be enough to sustain the impact from Takon's blow.

I held out a hand and prepared to draw the darkness toward me like how I had done in my first battle against Satoru. Though back then I had Agnes with me. I could only hope that the boost the mana crystals I had absorbed gave me had strengthened my body enough to weaken the blow enough to save those around me. If I was lucky, perhaps I could even deflect it back to him like how I had done against Satoru.

Huang grabbed Bai and shielded her with his own body. I did the same with Yuko, embracing her with my free arm and wings.

"Masteeerrr!" Yuko screamed as the stadium was shredded into pieces and we were sent flying.

I winced from the pain. The darkness was stronger than even I had imagined. Not everyone was going to make it. I yelled out as the power coursed through my hand and up my arm. I felt as if my body was on the brink of disintegrating at any moment.

It's chaos... the realm of magic is in chaos. Hurry up and fix my shield, shitty Dad, before we all die!

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^_^ Thoughts/theories as to how Tetsu and co. will deal with Takon?**