"Welcome back! How''d it go?" Solas asked after I re-entered the living room I left them in earlier.


    "Hard to say... It was an ''Archdemon'' who only said a few words and left. Apparently Eremnon''s eye can''t pierce Arcadia, so between that and the Demonic corruption everywhere, they decided to create a fortress nearby. Best case scenario is that they really are only here to figure out why they were unaware of Caedrus this entire time despite all the Demonic corruption, but I''ll be shocked if that''s all they really do."


    "There are no known records of such a Demon in the database nor any of your memories. Thus I must ask; Miss Reimia, I know you only just met it, but as a guess, how dangerous do you believe the Archdemon is? One to Ten." Shizue asked.


    She knows every single bit of information from my memories already? Either they watched far more than I had expected them to, or she knows everything from memories the moment she copies them. That''s a really convenient power if so... Not that it wasn''t already amazing as is.


    "If a Satyr is a six, then he''s probably a nine. But as you said, this is just a guess."


    Solas took a drink of his coffee and then smiled at me, "Speaking of Satyrs... We watched you battle with one. That was honestly wild... I''m pretty sure I would have lost that fight. With my suit I''d win of course, but you didn''t have one so as a one to one comparison, I''d have most likely lost."


    "I didn''t kill it though? That was Markus and the templars who obliterated it with Arkaios energy or whatever the fuck that was. A shame they''re aren''t any Warriors of Arkaios left here, they could''ve done the same thing to the Archdemon. He might not be a problem in the end but I can''t say I''m ecstatic about the existence of such a powerful Demon nesting next to Arcadia. Because if he does become a problem..." I sighed.


    Solas blinked at me in confusion for a moment as his sister chuckled. She then shook her head at him as he glanced over at her, "She thinks you''re talking about the Satyr she encountered on Urza." She tiled her head back to look at me behind the couch, "He''s talking about the one you killed underneath Xelba. And I thought that fight was beautiful too by the way. I was feeling quite shitty after all of your revelations, but that fight inspired me in a way I haven''t felt in a long time..."


    "Oh... Oh! You mean that fucker who ambushed me while I was tracking the Dwarves? I haven''t thought about that in ages... You guys really watched that? You went waaaay back in my memories then."


    It took me forever to heal after that battle, but that was probably the happiest time of my life? My unit took a vacation and we just sat around playing board games and cards for weeks. In hindsight I''m shocked that Viktor allowed that. He must''ve been really happy that I killed one of the Demons harassing him, and it was a Satyr too. Not just your run-of-the-mill Demon.


    Solas turned the TV and nearby console on, "As much as I''d love to continuing talking about that fight, I''ll leave it for another day. For now, just know that we watched almost all of your memories from the moment ''Viktor'' sacrificed you and your family. So we know that you''re looking into him, and if possible we''d like to help you too, but as it is I had never even heard the name until now." He brought up the directory and hovered over the name ''Yulong Napoleon'', "You mind if we head straight over to his place?"


    "By all means. The sooner we can plan out where to go from here, the better."


    Solas hit ''dial'' on the screen, and a few seconds later Yulong connected the line.


    "Shouldn''t you be plotting the downfall of your Clan right now?" He said, causing Solas to shake his head. "That was before, and it looks like you were right. We did end up losing the event it seems."


    "? Have you finally lost your mind like me? Your words don''t make any sense, fool."


    "We''ll explain soon, we''re heading over to your place right now. Whatever game you''re playing, pause it. We need to have a serious talk."


    "... A rarity in our friendship. You almost never come to me for help, so whatever it is must be worse than I imagine." He continued, "Fine, I''ll unlock the gate when you arrive."


    Solas closed the connection and stood up. Eve did the same as all of us followed Solas out of the Clan House.


    "Just out of curiosity, what benefits are there to a Clan House if you don''t have the emblem?"


    "Heh, very little, but our Father and I were positive we could get the emblem or die trying. It was a ride or die moment, but in the end he snuck out with his friends and did it without us. I suppose even he couldn''t bring himself to drag his kids off to a likely fatal mission."


    We turned into a nearby alley, making our way toward the elevators. People were finally out and about again. ''Demons'' was a word I heard quite often as we walked.


    "So that was your Father''s group who disappeared trying to get your emblem?"


    Solas nodded but said nothing.


    "It did give us access to all of the training facilities though." Eve said, "I could barely aim a gun when we first got here, but now I can pilot all of the mechs and use every gun proficiently in training. Except uh, I''ve barely been able to use them in real battles. Convoy missions have been it so far..."


    She wanted the emblem mission but Solas wouldn''t let her go, right? And now it sounds like he''s keeping her from most of the dangerous missions. He doesn''t want to lose her, but she doesn''t want her training to go to waste... That sounds like the gist of it.


    Yulong''s gate opened up as we were approaching it. As we passed through it he said ''Faster than usual. Another bad sign.'' over the intercom.


    Solas took us down the same hallway I went down in the past, ending in the same room as last time. He really just lives in this room huh? Such a massive home for these two groups of people, and they use almost none of it.


    We walked into his bedroom (?) and Yulong was on the couch playing video games as usual. "Well? Out with it." He glanced over at me, "... What a bizarre looking girl. She related to your emergency?"


    Solas sat on the other end of his couch, with Eve and I sitting on two of the recliners. While Shizue chose to stand in a position between Solas and Eve as per usual.


    "Yes, and she''s also why the Demons are here." Solas said.


    Yulong put the controller down between his legs and looked over at me, "You really know how to pique my interest... Well?"


    We proceeded to tell him everything that happened. Just like last time Yulong listened to it all with an emotionless face, but I knew from experience now that he was far from feeling nothing as his friend explained the invasion and time itself rewinding.


    "''Reimia'', may I see---Wait, no. Shizue, may I see the Abyss and the progress I made on those supposed murals and books?"


    "That''s for the best since it''ll only take a second or two." Solas said, motioning for Shizue to approach Yulong. She hurriedly walked over to Yulong and immediately pulled him into her soul realm. Literally three seconds later he opened his eyes and laughed in a way I hadn''t seen him do before. He actually seemed genuinely happy.


    "Is this good or bad? This is my first time seeing him laugh like this."


    Solas chuckled, "He gets like this when he''s overly excited, but I''m sure it''s a little weird looking considering his usual attitude."


    Yulong eventually stopped laughing and hung his head down. "... Three things." He continued, "I''m with Lord Arkaios on his suggestion that we should check out Fort Deus."


    "Fort Deus? Is that where everyone disappeared long ago? Strange name... Almost as weird as yours."


    "Number two." He ignored me and pointed at Solas, "Cancel that stupid bet of yours. We can''t be wasting time on that hunting event."


    "I can''t... I already used my keypass at the Lounge to confirm the bet."


    Yulong threw his arms up into the air and leaned back onto the couch, "Wonderful news, now we have to deal with that nonsense first."


    "Can we just ignore it?"


    "Depends." Solas sighed, "Do you think we''ll need power cores in the future? You can turn in the ''codes'' right now and you''ll be able to buy a hell of a lot of power cores in return, but if by some chance we need to use mechs and hundreds of power suits in the future, then you''re going to run out of them pretty quickly. However, if we have access to our Clan House... And speaking of which." He looked at Yulong who immediately picked up on what his friend was about to ask him.


    "Yes I know, I''ll stop selling mine and begin stockpiling them immediately. But even then, we really need both Clans workshops stockpiling them just in case. Understand, Rei?"


    "... Kind of? I''ll need to look into how many the average Clan House can put out in a day, and how many each mech needs to run for twenty-four hours, but I get what you''re trying to say. Except uh, there''s already a lot of Clan Houses fully operating? If things become dangerous here won''t they be stockpiling them as well?"


    Solas shook his head and laughed, "That''s probably wishful thinking. Most of them blow through their created cores doing pointless tours around the wastes or mock battles in the Arena."


    "Third." Yulong cut in, "I believe someone unlocked the core before your Uncle took that call."


    "Based on? I have my own thoughts on it too, but let''s hear your theory first."


    "For starters, I find it highly suspicious that Clan Uruguay sent out a massive force soon after you had revealed the puzzle required to unlock the core. And there''s another part about it that seems a little too coincidental."


    Yulong changed the TV image from the video game to a map of Caedrus. He then zoomed in on a specific area that I had seen before in the past.


    "Isn''t that where the ''God seventy-two percent'' note was...?"


    Yulong nodded, "Let me just fill this in real quick, and you''ll see where I''m going with this." He brought the index panel down and turned on ''Forts'', and the moment ''Fort Deus'' appeared on the map I had a pretty good idea of what had happened to its inhabitants.


    Within moments Yulong made my assumption seem all the more likely. He drew a red color around Fort Deus, and another red square about thirty-five miles to the northwest. "The red around Fort Deus is where your ''God seventy-two percent'' note was, and the square to the northwest is where Solas, Eve, and Shizue died."


    "How do you know that''s where they died though? I only heard about it on the audio broadcast while I was playing with the pinball machine at Bertram''s bar."


    "Oh, is that so?" Yulong smirked, "You must not have noticed, but I saw it clearly in your memory. The lady who runs that bar had turned off the radio broadcast when Bertram went outside. She must prefer video over audio as a medium, because she turned the TV on to the very same broadcast soon after that."


    Well, shit... I didn''t even notice her do that. I almost missed a crucial part of information because I was too absorbed in playing the pinball machine with Nia.


    "Is there really a God there...?" Eve said. No one responded to her, but I was finding it more than likely at this point. Or at the very least I was certain that there was a God there at some point.


    "What''s the plan---"


    "Four." Yulong said, cutting off Solas again, but in response he just shook his head and mumbled ''You said three jackass...''


    "Xerath in power armor." He said, but as we all waited for him to continue, he never did.


    "... And? You have some thoughts about that or are you asking us?"


    "Asking all of you, but especially you." He pointed at me.


    "Well, all I can say is that is the most confusing part of all. The fact that they even exist at all is already ludicrous by itself, and then you add that to the scene of them being in the bowels of Arcadia. If the core really was unlocked early, which means your sealed levels were too, they could have come out of there, but again, if it was unlocked early..."


    Solas scrunched his face up, "''Then why didn''t they appear earlier''? A good question, and the only way to answer it would be to unlock the core and go down there right now, but that''s way too dangerous considering what happened last time, and there''s no Arkaios to bail us out this time."


    "Wait!" Eve said, "Even if they were down there, then what about the machines?? Were they all waiting down there together as a group?"


    "Masters. Our types of enemies aside, I am greatly bothered by the lack of Arcadian defenses in her memory." Shizue said, causing both Solas and Yulong to groan.


    "That was number five... I wanted to bring it up last, because that part is worrying me the most." Yulong said.


    "It was the core, right? Someone must have turned them off there."


    "Or down below." Eve said, causing everyone to look at her. "W-What?"


    "That''s also a possibility... Too many damn possibilities, so I want to focus on what we can do, which is win your stupid gamble and check out that fort---Wait. Should I go to Fort Deus or the area these two died in? The problem is that they might have died before they reached their destination, and even if they did get to where they were going, I only have that giant red square to work with, which encompasses a giant fucking area."


    Solas tapped the chair arm while looking at the map, "Arcadia has sent people to Fort Deus multiple times in the past. With long range cameras we''ve watched them enter the fort, but they never come back out. I think it''s for the best that you don''t go there at all."


    "I disagree." Yulong said, "For all we know everything could tie back to whatever God is sleeping inside or beneath that Fort. But at the same time, it may not even be there anymore. The purge may have hit it as well."


    Solas shrugged, "And I disagree with that. We should win the tournament coming up, which by the way comes with a large stipend of cores and the Uruguay''s support to acquire my emblem. Not that I need help on that part anymore thanks to Rei, but the power cores part is great." He continued, "The real aim should be to equip ourselves in the best tech possible while hiring as many mercs as we can, and when we''re ready we''ll unlock the core. With enough strength and preparation we should be more than ready to battle what we saw in Rei''s memories. And that''s assuming they really did come from the sealed levels."


    "... While I do agree with you for the most part, I still believe she should go to Fort Deus. Her memories prove she''s more than capable of dealing with anything that happens. And in reality, she likely won''t have to deal with anything." Yulong said.


    "When is the machine hunting event again?"


    "Three weeks from now, and the event itself lasts a week. Honestly, I still have a hard time believing I''m going to lose..." Eve said.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "Hmm... That''s more than enough time to check out the fort and return."


    "So you''re going to take up Yulong''s suggestion?" Solas asked.


    "My old friends and Arkaios himself said I should look into it, so I planned on going from the start anyway. I understand why you''re worried Solas, but even without Arkaios'' saying I should go, I would still end up checking the place out. Odds are Yulong is right about the Uruguay seeing something in the core that lead to them sending out that expedition to a place near Fort Deus, so we''ll end up in that area at some point regardless. Which is yet another reason I want to make sure nothing is waiting for us at Fort Deus."


    "Heh, it''s your choice, and while I think you shouldn''t do it, I''m not vehemently opposed to the idea. Especially after you reminded me that Lord Arkaios himself told you to check it out."


    "And what about you? Any ideas as to why you lost?" I asked Eve. She sighed while leaning back into her chair, "Leon is good, but he''s not that good, so they must''ve cheated somehow. But the event is really simple and it''s recorded from many different angles. They have some Screamers captured that they drop in the safe zone, but even in the safe zone there is still machines here and there, and once a Screamer appears a lot more machines show up. Most likely from somewhere deep underground. In all simulations and outdoor hunts I''ve always been far more efficient than Leon... So yeah, his family is definitely cheating. Although I doubt that idiot is in on it."


    "Would he really not know?"


    Eve nodded, "You''ll understand when you meet him. He''s... Different."


    ''Different'', huh? His lackeys seemed like your average hoodlums, so I can''t say I was expecting much, but now I''m a little curious as to who Leon might be.


    I stood up, and immediately Eve jumped out of her seat as well. "You''re not leaving for the Fort already, are you?"


    "I was going to talk to my Uncle and Bertram first---Oh, and to have a quick chat with Luna through my niece. But past that; yes. I was planning on leaving today. All I need to do is grab some food for the journey and I''ll be ready to go."


    "I see... Well I hope you make it back in time. All those damn cameras but they still managed to cheat? So I was um, hoping you''d follow Leon. While invisible of course." Eve said.


    Ahh, so she wants me to make sure they aren''t cheating despite all the cameras around him? I was planning on doing that anyway.


    I looked at Solas and he nodded at me, "I was going to ask you the same thing, so if you are back in time, then please watch that little shit for me. He''s six foot and two inches tall, has short cropped blonde hair, and he uses a Tyranium suit that''s been dyed red. It''s the only one dyed red, so he''s easy to spot."


    "Reimia." Yulong said as he drew random lines on the map, trying to determine how Solas and Eve reached their death site in the past.


    "Yeah?"


    "What about the Tengu?"


    "The Tengu...? As in, should I reach out to him for help? The last I talked to him he was full on assaulting Viktor, which is music to my ears. And I really have no idea if he''d help us up here."


    He circled ''Route F'' on the map as the most likely route. It came directly from Fort Weiss (the one I met Maya at). "I''m just throwing his name out there as a possible ally in case things go terribly wrong here. I''ll leave it up to you to decide whether to reach out to him or not."


    In the worst case scenario it couldn''t hurt to ask, but I''ll need to repair the connection to him first, and I don''t even know if that''s possible. Hmm... I''ll try asking Luna when she''s done healing Nia.


    As I left the room I heard Solas and Yulong throwing out theories about what or who was attacking the previous occupants of Caedrus from the portal in the dark lands. It was a topic I was highly interested in, so I was looking forward to seeing what they came up with the next time I saw them.


    I walked through the hallway until I reached the main lounge area, but just before I opened the front door Shizue called out to me from behind, "Master Reimia."


    "Master??"


    "Yes, you saved Solas, Eve, and myself, while also sharing your knowledge with us based on... Quite frankly very little. I am still not sure why you chose us to seek out for aid instead of heading straight for Yulong or your Uncle, but that just makes me appreciate it all the more." She continued, "And while I''m happy to have got a chance to thank you, I really stopped you, because..." Her emotionless face shifted to that same longing face I saw back in my soul realm.


    I walked over to a nearby chair and sat down, which made her eyes go wide for a moment. "I didn''t mean to hold you up for very long... There''s no need for you to sit down."


    "It''s fine, Shizue. Come on, sit." I patted the couch arm to my right. She thought on it for a moment and then came over and sat down on the couch''s arm.


    "... I wasn''t telling you to literally sit on the arm. I meant the couch itself."


    "Is there a difference? I am sitting next to you either way." She said, causing me to chuckle.


    Thanks to the way she was sitting, her knees were nearly hitting my chin. That''s when I noticed the heat coming off of her.


    "I don''t get it, are you a Human with machine parts inserted into you, or are you a machine with an artificial soul? I''m assuming the second because of how weird your soul is, but you give off the exact same amount of heat as a Human would when I take into consideration your size, clothes, and this rooms temperature."


    She hummed after placing her pointer finger against her chin, "What to say, what not to say..."


    While she did that I looked at her outfit in full. There was no way to misidentify it, it was quite literally a maid outfit. I had only seen them on TV in fictional stories, so to see one in the flesh was so bizarre. Her skirt normally came down to her upper-thighs, but now that she was sitting down it was barely covering her knees. I was looking at her white stockings when suddenly her legs spread apart as she lifted her skirt up. It was so out of the blue and weird I quickly looked up at her face, which had a teasing grin plastered over it that went all the way up to her eyes.


    "Are you not pleased? You were staring so intensely... I thought you wanted to see what was inside, and I do owe you, so..."


    Ahh, so this is her personality... I knew someone like this back in Xelba. She was in another unit so I barely interacted with her, but I did see her tease other people in the same way.


    "Hmm, I suppose this is another way of finding out whether you''re Human or not, so I''ll take you up on your offer." I reached out with my right hand, but just before I put it between her thighs she snapped them shut and pushed her skirt back down.


    "A joke! It was a joke!!"


    This time I was the one smirking at her, and that''s when she realized I was messing around with her as well. She just shook her head and smiled while saying, "Not as gullible as Mistress Eve... Very disappointing."


    I leaned back into the chair and closed my eyes, waiting for her to answer my earlier question, and she did after a brief wait.


    "I''m Human in design, but no, I suppose I''m not what you''d call ''Human''. Everything is artificial, including my soul." She continued, "And no, I don''t know how I nor my soul were created. All I know is that my creators were wonderful people, which is what I wanted to talk to you about."


    She paused again, and I turned to look at her as I waited patiently for her to continue.


    "I... I dearly miss them. You''ve experienced a lot of loss. How do you get past it?"


    "... That''s the one question I''ve been avoiding this entire time. I wouldn''t say I''ve ''gotten past it''. It''s more like I''ve been forcing myself not to think about it. I''m just going to push forward, finish up this bizarre scenario, kill Viktor, and then go find my friends who did make it. Hopefully they''ve revived Shana by now, but who the hell knows how I''m going to find anyone in Gaia. If the rumors are true then it''s going to take me ages... Still though, time is not a huge issue for me, and with my invisibility I should be able to avoid anyone or anything that is preventing me from moving around in there."


    "Don''t think about it and just push on? Sounds difficult, but I''ll try..." Shizue said, looking down.


    "That''s what I do, I wasn''t saying you should do the same, and it helps if you have a goal like I do. What''s your goal?"


    "Keep my Masters alive?"


    "That''s not a goal, silly girl. You need something past that. Is there nowhere you want to go, or anything you want to do? Let''s say we''re successful in protecting this place, I know the siblings are probably going to stay here since they''ll have their Clan House operating and the main core itself will be unlocked, which I assume will add something useful to Arcadia, but what about you?"


    "......."


    She continued looking down for a bit before suddenly standing up and walking back toward Yulong''s bedroom. She stopped at the hallway and looked back, "I should get back. Thank you for talking with me, Reimia."


    I watched her disappear into the hallway, silently listening to the click clack of her fancy black shoes until the sound of a door opening and closing brought it to an end.


    That was too much for her at the moment it seems. But I''ve given her something to think about, so it''s a good first step.


    I stood up and left Yulong''s place; heading straight for the elevators.


    <hr>


    "There she is! What happened to you girl?!" Bertram yelled from the porch. I could see his shotgun in his hands, which was a rare sight.


    "Why do you have your gun out, old man?"


    "Demons god damnit! What if those fuckers came down here? The report said they left soon after entering the city, but fuck if I''m going to believe that nonsense." He cocked the shotgun and quickly looked to the left and right. "I need my suit. Why did I sell it to build this stupid ass bar? I must''ve been out of my mind when I made that decision."


    "Calm down Father... The Demons aren''t going to come here." I heard from next to Bertram. As I got closer to the bar I saw his daughter sitting in Uncle Irvine''s chair. Weirdly enough, I still don''t know what her name is.


    "Slow day?" I asked while climbing the steps. She merely nodded in response.


    "Everyone ran home to gear up! Fucking Demons, as if we don''t have enough problems..." Bertram said.


    "Did my Uncle return here? I assume not since I don''t see him, but just in case."


    Bertram shook his head, "No. Wasn''t he supposed to be with you?"


    "He was, but we split up a little while before the Demons appeared. At the time he was at Clan Uruguay''s home formalizing a bet with them."


    "Oh for the love of... What did the fucker bet on this time?"


    "Whether I''d be successful in acquiring both emblems."


    "That... That''s actually a great bet? He''s going to clean them out! I can''t believe that fool found the gall to rip off Clan Uruguay of all people, but hey, good for him!"


    I motioned toward the bar, "Nia playing in there?"


    "Asleep in her bed." Her mother said.


    So much for talking to Luna before I leave. Should I wait? I really want to get this over with though, and if anything goes wrong I might not make it back in time for the machine hunting event.


    I brought the console up on my arm and dialed my Uncle''s number. It rang a couple of times before he picked up.


    "You all set to go?" He said.


    "I am, but there''s been a slight change of plans. Can you come to the bar right now?"


    There was a slight pause before he said, "... I just formalized the bet, please tell me you didn''t change your mind."


    "I didn''t! I''m still getting the emblems, but there''s something else I need to talk to you about, and it can''t wait."


    "It''s that urgent? So it must be related to our new guests... Alright, I''m on my way. Be there soon." He said before closing the connection.


    "You know why those Demons are here or what?" Bertram asked.


    "Let''s head into the bar. No one is in there besides Nia, right?"


    "That''s right. Aint a soul besides hers in there. But alright, you got me curious yet again, girl."


    Bertram stood up and we both entered the bar. About fifteen minutes later my Uncle showed up, but we decided to eat before diving into the topic.


    After we were finished, I dragged them into my soul realm, where the two of them took the direness of the situation in stride. My Uncle was a little panicked at the part where he saw himself running into the bar as the Xerath attacked, but he quickly regained control of his emotions. Although it didn''t help when Bertram casually said ''Yep, we definitely died after she left.''


    They talked for a while and in the end they pretty much reached the same conclusions that Solas'' group had.


    <hr>


    "Solas was right, this is a bad idea." Uncle Irvine said as we exited the elevator. A large gust of cold air blew snow onto us while I looked out past the north gate.


    "I''ll find out soon enough whether this is a bad idea or not. But putting that aside, I see that our guests are quickly turning into neighbors."


    My Uncle looked to the north and sighed as he saw that the foundation for the Demon''s fortress was already well underway. "This place was already hellish enough, and now we''re going to have actual Demons walking around the continent. Plus, the feeling of that gaze hitting me from above is really fucking uncomfortable."


    We couldn''t actually see anything in the sky, but it was unmistakable that he was there. This was my third time experiencing it so by this point I was used to it, but it was still annoying to deal with. Especially since he had the ability to crush people anytime he wanted. Markus said there were probably limitations to it, but even if that were true, we''d still have to figure out what those limitations were. And I was pretty sure the God of Demons wasn''t going to run an experiment with us where we figure out how to avoid being crushed by him.


    We walked toward the west gate. Upon arrival I let the men scan my keypass after he told me again about the bet his friend had and just lost thanks to me showing up here. It feels so weird having the same conversations again... This should be the last one though.


    "Good luck, little cousin..."


    I turned and looked at my Uncle. He had been rather stoic after the revelations thanks to his life and long history of combat experience, but every now and then he looked miserable. Bertram yelled at him for it, but I understood it. He''s old, tired, and doesn''t want his remaining family to be killed.


    "I''ll be fine, Uncle Irvine! I''ve been through far worse than this."


    I wasn''t sure if that was fully true, but I did have a long harrowing life that he knew all about so all he could do was chuckle in response. I walked back a little and hugged him, which seemed to take him by surprise, but he hugged me back all the same.


    After seeing him off I left through the gate and activated my halo before flying into the sky. I had only been flying for a couple of minutes when I heard a loud boom behind me and to my right. Looking back there I could see Asmodeous and his two guards flying through the air toward me. They were moving fast, which was made all the more clear when I realized the boom from before was a sonic boom.


    I was fast, but that kind of speed was far beyond my capabilities, so I stopped moving and waited for them, which obviously didn''t take long.


    Asmodeous slowed down as he approached, but was unable to stop completely before reaching me. He ended up a few thousand yards ahead of me before flying back in my direction (at a much slower pace this time).


    He finally stopped in front of me. The flames of him and his guards were running hot. I gauged the area around him was probably around one hundred and fifty degrees Celsius, but it quickly dropped off. It was centering itself around him, which told me it was probably part of his aura, and this was only the passive temperature. I wasn''t all that keen on finding out how hot he got during combat.


    "YOU... FEMALE ASSASSIN. I SAW YOU IN THE MEMORIES OF MY UNDERLING ON VECA... WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"


    His underling... The one who fought with us outside the prison? I can''t think of any other living Demons who saw me, but putting that aside, I wonder if I can get him to go with me? If something really does go wrong, then who better to have for support?


    "There''s a fort far to the west of here along the coast. All of the people in it suddenly vanished one day for reasons unknown, but I found information that the previous occupants of this continent had a God residing there. Or at least we think they did. So I''m going there to check it out and see if this God really exists or had existed at some point. It might explain all of the Demonic corruption too."


    "........."


    The white in Asmodeous'' eyes disappeared as he tapped the armor on his thigh again. And just like last time, he went silent for about a minute before his eyes ''opened'' back up.


    "WE WERE TO LEAVE SOON TO TEST THESE ''MACHINES'', BUT WE CAN STILL DO THAT WHILE ACCOMPANYING YOU... SHOW US TO THIS ''GOD''." He turned around and glanced back at me over his shoulder, "I BELIEVE THIS WILL NOT BE A PROBLEM?"


    Not that I was going to say no anyway, but it''s obvious I don''t have that option regardless. Not unless I want to fight them right now, and I really don''t.


    "That''s fine, but I can''t fly the entire way there. The machines have a lot of anti-air defenses that start to appear after a certain point."


    "THAT WILL NOT BE AN ISSUE. ACCEPT MY AURA, AND WE WILL BLAZE PAST IT ALL."


    I flew up behind him and the guards, half-way accepting the red aura as it reached out toward me (no soul penetration, merely an aura around myself). Soon after that we all began flying forward, but it was at a super slow speed. However, little by little, our speed went up, and a few minutes later we were flying far faster than I was able to. Is this a form of constant acceleration? The speed at which we''re increasing is a static amount... Holy shit, I need to learn this in my soul realm. I could save so much time and even travel to the dead zone with this!


    The guards didn''t have wings. Instead, the same aura that was around me was also was surrounding them. From that I could only assume he was the reason they were able to fly, because I was currently using no mana to move forward. It was entirely done through him.


    <hr>


    Well, that''s it, but there aren''t any skeletons? If they died there should be frozen bodies or skeletons in the base, but I''m not seeing any signs of corpses. Just vehicles, boxes, and all sorts of other shit. Just no bodies.


    We were flying above Fort Deus at the moment. The entire flight only took about twenty minutes, and it was rather uneventful. By time we reached the high threat zone we were already moving far too fast for the anti-air machines to hit us. I was interested to see if we could dodge the ultra-fast air attack I saw in the dead zone, but now was not the time to test that.


    I removed Asmodeous aura from myself and began flying down toward the fort. On the way I began to feel odd, and by time I reached the courtyard I could tell that there was something very wrong. There was an oppressive aura over the entire place, and Asmodeous had obviously picked up on it as well. He landed behind me and both him and his guards looked to and fro, scanning the area for anything that would explain the aura we were feeling, but there was nothing.


    "THIS AURA... VERY FAMILIAR... DEMONIC IN NATURE, AND YET NOT DEMONIC?"


    I went to respond to him but I never got the words out, as the area around us suddenly changed. It wasn''t a gradual change either. We were in the Fort one moment, and the next we were in a completely different landscape. The rocks, gravel, sky... Everything was red. The only part of the environment that stood out was the ruined buildings all around us.


    "WHAT MANNER OF DEMONS ARE THESE...?"


    ... And that was the other thing surrounding us. There were Demons, and a lot of them. However, they were nothing like the Demons I had seen up until now, and apparently that was the same for Asmodeous. It''s one thing if I didn''t recognize them, but for an ''Archdemon'' to be confused by the sight of Demons was not something I ever expected to see.


    A pack of bipedal three-meter tall Demons stopped eating a dead boar to look back at us. They slowly stood up and took aim with the circular weapons grafted onto their arms where their hands should be. As a orange light appeared inside the weapons Asmodeous roared in anger. Fires began to blaze within and around him and his guards as he pointed at the pack of Demons.


    "YOU WOULD DARE ATTACK ME? ME?! ARE YOU---"


    Whatever he had to say was apparently of no interest to these Demons, as they opened fire on all four of us. But while these four would probably be dispatched with ease by Asmodeous, the problem was that the sounds of their energy weapons had resounded through the air, knocking whatever dormancy the Demons had been in out of them, as I could feel the ground begin to rumble.


    All around us I could see unknown Demons of varying types converging on our location, but despite the situation, my eyes still rested for a moment on the sole outlier in this Demonic hellscape. There was a machine in the distance. An abominably large machine. Far larger than even the Abyssal God who took over Termia. If anything, it was closer in size to Lord Terra''ka, and he was an Eldritch God that was close to becoming an Old God.


    Regardless, it was clear in that moment that the ''God'' really did exist, and it was apparently a machine. Furthermore, just like the machine I had fought near Inoue''s emblem, I could see eyes in multiple places appearing on it as it gazed upon us, the invaders of its realm.