Euphoric Escape XI.

'The sound of the gion shoja temple bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the sala flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline. The proud do not endure, they are like a dream on a spring night; the mighty fall at last, they are as dust before the wind.'

Marching through these dark halls where night is regular of all inhabitants, each candle he passed seemed to magically light ablaze. The flickering flame barely illuminated the path ahead, but he knew the road. The whirring of walls' engraved machines familiar to elfen ears, pointed so sharp they bordered on being demonic, eventually, the marcher reached the end of his parade.

Stampeding through the darkness, at the end of the murk, he was met with a treasure: eternal light. Heaven's shine nearly banishing him, moments after, he stepped within. Daring to threaten his existence further just to plummet his destined enemies to bottomless chaos.

"Wh..." The long-haired prisoner sleepily moaned, "W-where am I..?"

"Ah, it's so nice to finally meet you. Ace told me so many stories about you! The infamous Requiem Judge, the only Requiem Incarnated Artifact in the New World. He called you, didn't he... while I was tearing him apart," Icarus's provocation wasn't met without rebellion.

Surrounding candles' flames dissipating immediately, spear-wielding guards outside turned their heads at the sudden sound of imminent rumbling. But while his subordinates worriedly cowered, the Jester endured. He inched closer to Alex's scarred face, one hand turning that tanned skull the teeniest smidge to the left. That surface-level gash signaled a body accustomed to battle, but even so, at the threat of awakened Requiem potential glaring into his lifeless eyes, he could only giggle.

"I bet that if you and I fought, you'd still be the one to win. The awakened potential of the Requiem bloodline, perpetuated only by those insolent Riveras," Icarus abruptly coughed into a fist, then revealed the bloody splatter covering his palm,

"Can't even mention the bastard's name without 'im tryin' to smite me in some way. Either way, that power you hold... to think it still exists even in this New World. And we can't even torture you because of that pesky Unlimited barrier of yours. But, I'm not going to fret over it. You were captured in a catatonic state and forcefully cloned, truth be told, it's a miracle you survived the process. I couldn't help but feel lucky regarding it. But now, we're faced with the problem of getting through that barrier to unleash that power," The Jester admitted, menacingly smirking evermore.

"Ain't that somethin'? To think I created a technique more powerful than even August's Shattered Limit. Heh, can't believe I was once considered 'below' him," Despite the unfortunate situation, Alex shared a laugh with himself, gaining an incoming fist smashing at that irritable barrier protecting the Judge.

The accumulated force upon crashing against the shield reflected onto his hand, causing it to burst from the wrist, bubbling flesh accompanying bloody droplets splashing to the floor. Regenerating the limb completely, the Jester's moan sent chills down Al's spine, converting it to a sinister giggle.

"The Requiem Reaper, eh? His ability to summon both Red and Green when using his son as a vessel, his multiple tendrils of light with dark and Shattered Limit. Only viable to be used during a specific time thanks to his soul utilizing forbidden Requiem techniques. You, on the other hand, are trapped and entrenched in enemy territory with no way to contact your allies. You have no other cards to play.

But I have plenty. Let's have fun dissecting you like a lab rat, eh? Alexander Amara..."

Beyond the scope of the endless sea, humans and demons thriving in cooperation frequented a faraway land. Ruling the outside world yonder the Capital's confining walls, named by their Founder to be titled none other than Retly. The realm of the spirit.

Meanwhile, back with the ignorant members of Riot participating in a gang war, Katie's feet stepped off the Hybrids' heads with scattered apologies. Soaring through the air with stretched legs and extended arms, before she even landed, she could spot that incoming slice, an angled spear attempting to slap her away from a destined descent. Just before it could swat her away, the Blade vanished from her grip, and with two hands, momentarily grabbed the lance in mid-air before leaping overhead and landing behind the attacker.

Surprised murmurs filled the Evolutionary archers, rendered mere bystanders after witnessing such a feat. But their dazzlement was their downfall, for while Katie stood crouched, her lengthened katana reappeared in her hand yet again. In the time it took for an eye to blink, the attackers fell into eternal slumbers. Effortlessly leaping from one rooftop to another, below her, the Hybrids raised their arms to block from the impending doom the arrows symbolized.

"We just have to hold out until Katie deals with them. After that, we should locate their base and simply kill them; much easier if we do it like that," Ace turned to his little sister.

June emerged from the Hotel's concealing darkness, her palms were instantly drawn to the pebble-covered concrete, from there, Convergence started to ping out a satisfying hum. The white-haired girl serving as the epicenter, a green barrier composed of what seemed like unpenetrable emerald energy guarding the safety of Riot's King, the Nest, and the surrounding crowd of Hybrids.

"HURRY UP, KAY!!!" June's muffled cry rang out to her cousin's ears.

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING!!" Katie loudly replied after having beheaded an archer wielding an antique dagger.

The rest of her body moved with her head, surveying the area. What she noticed most vividly were the surrounding apartment buildings housing the Evolutionary archers. Even with the risen shield, they continued to shoot, without care for their destroyer watching them... unaware of her plotting their eventual demise.

'Even at my top speed, I doubt I could take care of all three remaining buildings in less than ten minutes. By the time I'm done, the shield would have already fallen and we'd have some casualties on our hands...' She exhaled after her thought, 'I'd like to believe June's infusing all of her might keep that shield going, but even her full strength is incapable of shielding the closest ones to the barrier's edge guaranteed safety.'

"ACE! HELP JUNE MAINTAIN THE BARRIER!!" Katie cried out to her ginger cousin, head jerking at his name's mention.

"HUH?! BUT I CAN'T DO BARRIER TECH... niques..."

Suddenly, his mind flashed back to the earlier fight. Just an hour ago, he was suppressed, and someone else dominated the host of the body to take hold of infinite potential made incarnate. The power of domination in the palm of his hand, yet to be realized, but with the slightest trigger, and a clear goal in mind, even Katie stood shocked by what she saw. The bloody color from his hair and his left all but vanished, for what remained was Convergence in the socket, and snow atop his head.

Abruptly, June felt an invasion upon her bubble, the shape signature to a hand squeezing her skin. It was only natural to turn her head, to gaze upon the touch's source. And what more was she met with than the legendary sight of the Requiem Reaper, her father, gazing intently with that smug smirk staining his glossed lips?

"Y'know, you kinda look like Celine."

"H-Huh...?"

It was like a page ripped from a fairy tale. The way the shield so effortlessly shattered into faux shards of emerald glass, a roar of thunder resounding through the clouds, rumbling through the City's very foundation. The archers found themselves almost losing their balance, but continued, for their hate knew no bounds. Ready to envelop anything so they could rule over everything.

Whether or not the future of this New World relied on his strength, he intervened, gracing the Earth with his divine presence. The night had ended, the darkness subsided, and through Katie's peripheral, she swore she could make out the moon lowering, making way for the sun's rising. From beside June, she noted her father's vanishing, searching around, but she needn't analyze any further. Barging through the Hybrid crowd to see his daughter marveled by the sight on the Nest's summit, Azazel instantly appeared beside Katie.

Surely, more attacks would soon come, more arrows would pierce the air, but they never did. No one was excluded from the heavenly festival shrouding the abandoned Capital, all entranced from that confounding ray that was the gorgeous Reaper. With the flittering winds flowing his snowy locks through the summer's warmth, a grin puddled across his face at the sight of the rising sun.

The rebirthing of a paranormal entity existing beyond the scheme of the universe, bathing in the marveled stares their stunned faces so kindly gifted him. A character plucked from the pages of a legendary epic, a gorgeous Angel fell from the Heavens, no matter the myth they applied to this wondrous scene, their breaths went still. Enthralled by the sight of a prophet, their saint, designed the way saviors were destined to be. Just his spiritual presence, whether clothed or not, was enough to send the bystanders, whether it be Evolutionary or Hybrid, to their knees. The tiniest turning of his head at their bodies, whether direct or not, was the source of their submission.

But while the outsiders bent the knee at a godlike being incarnated into their cursed world, what about the others? The Ones of Inheritance: his daughter, his first cousin once removed. Neither given the time of day, except him. The Foolish Crow speechless at the man he named his brother posed so beautifully over that tiled rooftop...

'If it were anyone else, the fighting would've continued. More arrows would fly, more bodies would fall, but, it was him. At that moment, I remembered a dream. One so gorgeous, so fantastical that I swore I had seen the future; the next step of mankind's retaliation against the evil of the world. And now, that day had come.

When our Requiem savior arrived on that day, the wind whispered that the world had begun to change.'

Augustus Rivera.

To Be Continued.