War.

Present-day.

Retly's demonic army swarmed the airspace above the Evolutionary Capital. Winged monsters with red eyes and fangs erupted bone-chilling roars throughout the air, sending the armed guards on the city streets to cowardly whimpers.

"DON'T FALTER!!!" A superior-rank guard cried to his subordinates.

Stationed behind a barrier, his rifle sat atop the barricade, shooting at the imminent demons soaring down the street. Thanks to his bravery, the other guards found the courage to fight alongside their superior. The riflemen fired bullets off into the air and both streets' ends until another sound halted them entirely. Their nerves abruptly froze, sending them into widened eyes as they gradually turned around.

Sat atop the rooftop behind them was none other than the demonic Samurai, Ryosuke Satoru. His unhinged jaw revealed an uncontrollable flame spiraling from his throat. The last thing any of the resilient guards glimpsed was the unforgettable sight of Hell lodged into the Samurai's esophagus. That was before they were entirely drenched in unwavering flames that disintegrated their flesh and skin. Ryosuke stood upright against the higher tiles, watching with uncaring eyes that reflected the madness he ensued.

"If only you creatures had never been born. That way, I could've spared you that unimaginable agony…" Satoru lamented with clasped hands and closed eyes.

Only after whispering his prayer did he turn around and leap away, searching for more unfortunate victims. While he did, he witnessed some Evolutionaries jumping across the rooftops. Some wield supernatural powers, others physically altered with Hybrid-animalistic features. An icy blast froze his brown cheek, his teeth momentarily gritting before he glared forward and mutilated their body; cleaving apart the culprit's torso.

Turning his katana, Ryosuke knelt next to his body, raising it by the collar while waving his blade around to any potential enemies.

"I'll kill every last one of you UNGRATEFUL LITTLE BRATS!!"

Ryosuke angrily yelled after raising his sword, steel igniting with the same unwavering hellfire he'd cursed his earlier victims with. Just seconds before lowering his sword and initiating the slash, his pupils shrunk, and his head immediately raised. Diving from the sky toward the Samurai, Jefferson's feet smashed against Satoru's chest, sending the apartment they were atop crumbling.

In the surrounding rubble, Darrell stripped the jacket covering his arms with one swift swipe. Cracking his knuckles, now clad in a black tank top, Jefferson inhaled sharply. A spontaneous black circle of light emitted from his sole, his eyes simultaneously shifting the same shade.

'Mimic: Black. Directional Copycat: Death's Source.'

Unraveling the copied black sword from an imaginary sheathe, Jefferson peered closer, gazing through the frontal smoke cloud hiding Ryosuke's recovering moments. Suddenly, he zipped right out and slashed at Jeff's face. With a well-timed block, the two blades collided and Darrell was left with one cheek scratch.

Jefferson abruptly disrupted their collision, kicking Satoru back into the smoke cloud. The Samurai flew back, flipping in mid-air and landing against an apartment wall. Darrell slashed the air, throwing a deathly projectile toward his swordsman opponent.

'Purge of Demons!'

Ryosuke's eyes widened. He flipped right over the incoming projectile and clashed with Jefferson again in mid-air. Or, so he hoped. His expectations were unfortunately squandered once his sword clanged against the ground, leaving the Samurai confused and paranoid. Upon raising to stand tall, he aimlessly searched around as two prohibiting ash clouds enclosed him from all possible angles.

'What the hell is this? Who the hell is this guy supposed to be… and how is he managing such a good chance against me? I should be winning!'

Ryosuke's fingers followed his katana's edged steel, igniting it with hellfire's unwavering blaze along with the sharpness.

'It doesn't matter. This will be over soon enough anyway!'

Satoru's sword ascended with his raised arm. Just as he was about to slam the blade against the ground and ignite the unblockable ring of fire, someone invaded the prohibiting black clouds. After following at the unmistakable sound of someone jumping through smoke, he spotted the merciless enemy headed this way. At speeds akin to light, invisible to the naked eye, Ryosuke had lost his arm. Jefferson, his sword still raised, flew past his enemy's front. Until he kicked the Samurai across the face upon turning.

The prohibiting smoke clouds dissipated. Ryosuke, defeated and bloody against the floor, was glared at from above by Jefferson's ruthless eyes. Jeff tied some bandages over his palm before tearing apart the excess strap and then walking over to Satoru's beaten body.

"Do you remember me?" Jefferson asked.

"I do. You were one of ANZEN's Agents before Riverton fell. I met you after that, too. When we went to recover the Artifacts from the Remnant World. How did… I ever beat you back then?" Ryosuke's reminiscing led him to cough up blood.

"Back then…?" Jeff looked to his palm. "Back then, I… I was searching for an excuse so I could die."

"So, you let me beat you?" He questioned through hazy vision.

"Something like that. But then I realized there are still some things worth living for. Some things… I didn't think still existed."

Ryosuke smirked. "Do you mind if I ask for you to listen to my final wish?" he asked the older man.

"I don't. Tell me, Mr. Satoru," Darrell kneeled beside his perishing body. "Tell me your last wish."

Ryosuke's eyes momentarily lingered. Temporarily staring into Jeff's anticipating soft eyes… his sight redirected to the baby-blue sky. From this angle, there wasn't any smoke. Just this limitless sky… full of unknowns.

"In this world, I was never really important. I came back to life multiple times for the sake of causing more death, not saving lives like I wished to. I don't know who I am anymore. Is 'Ryosuke Satoru' myself or just a name I associate with the person I am? It's irrelevant now, though. Because I'm already…"

Satoru's breath hitched. He stifled a sob, yet he couldn't stop the tears.

"The Jester and I were never close so I doubt he'll be saddened at my demise. I was always just a tool for others. But you're my executioner so please. Don't ignore who I am. Don't ignore who you are. Don't forget… who you are."

…

Ace and Alex ran from the apartment building they were staying at.

"What the hell's going on here?!" worriedly yelled the ginger, looking around at the unrecognizable warzone.

Alex sighed. "Looks like Retly countered sooner than we thought. To launch such a desperate move… undoubtedly, it must've been Icarus who orchestrated this," he deduced aloud.

"We don't even have time to consider a strategy…" Ace irritatedly grimaced.

Pointing his finger around like a pistol, multiple crimson lightning bolts discharged from his extremity's tip, piercing through bypassing demons' chests. Alex then waved his student away with an audible warning,

"Get back."

Ace stopped. He looked to Alex and then to the airspace. Descending from the blimp resting distantly aboveground, there was the Jester; uncaringly diving through any clouds without any parachute toward the concrete ground.

"He's coming for me and you," the Judge warned.

Ace huffed. "Yeah, so?! We can take 'im!" he objected.

"I'm sure we can. But there's something off about him. Chrollo's fast but he's definitely not fast enough to close such a far-between distance in such a short amount of time. He's most likely going to—" Alex couldn't even finish his sentence before he was interrupted.

A splash of lava emerged from a spontaneously-appearing hole in the ground, burning away everything surrounding Icarus's heart before he emerged from the magma a whole new creature. Fit with devil ears pointing out long black hair covering his monstrous features, Chrollo stared through lifeless black eyes once his demonic claws scratched against the street. Now hosting a gigantic humanoid monster from behind its face, the Jester roared to the clouds, akin to a monster awakening from the depths.

"Since when could he do that?" Ace's stunned face queried.

"Dunno. I'll take care of him. Try to regroup with any of the others while I fight, alright? When the time is right, we'll reconvene and make a plan," Alex patted his pupil on the shoulder, then walked past; down the street.

'You're the one who mindlessly orchestrated this attack… aren't you?'

The Judge cut his palm horizontally with a knife. The flying blood infected the air; carried away by the wind and then blown away once Al detonated himself. Exiting the smoke with one stomping foot crushing a parked car, his glowing-white humanoid Giant felt its starry hair sway.

"Let's end this bullshit already…" Alex irritatedly snarled from inside his Goliath.

While Alex prepared to fight against Icarus once again, Ace wandered the extents of the streets until he fought a worthy battle. Kicking an incoming demon away with one kick, he landed casually and ducked under another incoming winged monster's breakneck-quick cleave. Turning around, Eternal Sight immediately locked onto that winged beast, and with that, one black rope entangled the fleeing creature's ankle. Yanking it singularly, the demon slammed against the concrete road, procedurally bouncing against the road with unimaginable bone-breaking pressure. It all culminated in the enemy's face being smashed against Ace's obliterating fist, instantly sending the demonic corpse uncontrollably flinging down the street.

Rubbing his knuckles after initiating the punch, Wilder moaned. "Agh fuck, that stings…" he said.

"Hey! Ace! Over heeeereee!" A familiar feminine voice called to him.

The Scarlet King's head snapped toward the source. Both father and daughter, Azazel Karlo and Katie Moon landed from jumping right before Ace's boot-covered feet.

"You two really took your time gettin' here, huh?" Ace teased them both.

"Oh, shuddup!" Katie objected loudly, bending over to hold her knees and pant.

"My bad then. You okay, Kay?"

He stepped closer, grabbing her shoulder. She unexpectedly ran into him, hugging his neck and burying her face into his chest. His hands remained on her shoulder yet his expression changed to a curious one.

'Did something happen?' he asked himself.

"What's wrong?" Ace questioned her after hugging his cousin back, pulling her face from his chest.

"I'm just glad everyone's alright…" she tearfully confessed to her ginger-haired relative.

While Ace silently comforted Katie, her face now back in his chest, Azazel stepped closer from behind his daughter.

"We were still in the Tower when they invaded. Has anything happened yet?" The Detective questioned Ace.

"Well, the Jester came down from the blimp and transformed into one of those huge monsters like Alex can do, but this time as a demon. Al went to fight him. That's all I know," he informed his uncle.

Azazel examined the destruction engulfing the city; one hand on his chin. "I see. Not much has happened then. Have you tried scanning with your Eternal Sight for anything or anyone beyond this?" he asked.

"I did. There's some soldiers heading to the Tower. It's not really valuable but I spent some time tryin' to paint it so I'd rather it not get destroyed—"

"Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean 'not important'? Isn't Founder Rivers kept captive in the dungeon under there?" Azazel interrupted with a query.

"I keep forgetting we were technically enemies for a bit there. Anyway, when June broke the rest of us out, she also brought along Callum… cuz he was important for some reason," Ace replied.

At the mention of the Founder, Katie impulsively shivered. Ace's eyebrow raised at his relative's unexplained motions temporarily.

"Well, alright then. I think it's best if the three of us split up," The Detective's suggestion sent Katie to look at her father along with Ace, "We're capable and we can cover more ground that way. Once we find enough of the others, let's rendezvous with Alex." he said.

"That makes enough sense for now," whispered Ace.

"Alright then. I need to clear my mind anyway," Katie unsheathed her Blade and jumped onto a nearby rooftop.

"We'll see you in a bit, Ace!" Azazel waved his nephew goodbye from a different rooftop.

Then, the Source and the Crow ventured off to fight individual battles in the sudden war consuming the Evolutionary Capital.

'Soon, the whole city will collapse. If we're not too late, we can prevent the disastrous flames from spreading any further and hopefully stop the battle. Then again, that's just wishful thinking. At this point, I'm sure that the peace we've established, whether Retly destroys us here or not… will be destroyed for eternity. There will never be a time like the one before this war again…'

While silently lamenting the city's descent into madness, Ace sighed. Pushing up his shades to rub his scarlet pupils, one dramatic moan slipped from his glossy lips.

'Whatever. Now's not the time to think about such weary crap anyway. I should be focused on moving instead of wallowing—'

Ace's head and eyes simultaneously shifted. The signature white planetary patterns encircling his scarlet irises faded.

"Well, look at lucky 'ol me! A lonely Ace Wilder roaming around the streets of the warring Evolutionary Capital battlefield! It surely wouldn't be a bother if I fought him, right?"

A whiny feminine voice belonging to none other than Heidi Snow squeaked its way into the Scarlet King's sensitive ears, looking at Ace from above.

Removing the shades previously covering his retinas, he spoke.

"Sorry… but I'm busy right now."

Flaring the Red Defensive of Eternal Sight - Divergence, the Scarlet King designated his target mandatory extermination.

Trivia: Ace and June have the simple drawback of being unable to utilize Divergence and Convergence when their eyes are completely covered. This is a covenant. For an easy weakness, they gain immense power without realizing it already from the start.