The Faithless and the Fateless

"Faith is to believe without seeing, to know without understanding and to trust without condition. To have faith is to believe in something even when one's knowledge and understanding fails them, and their mind tell them to disbelieve."

- Zandik Florentine

Lay Minister of Spirit Faith's Domain, Itole

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

As the final preparations of Miyazono Ryuuichi's ascension are underway, it began to take a toll on the world and mankind. With New Tokyo as its centerpoint, human sanity, order and life itself are currently being drained from all across the world for the sole purpose of nourishing the World Seed.

Across whole nations, seas and continents, every figment of life has disappeared. Every standing tree and blade of grass became withered, every beast and fowl lay lifeless on the ground with eyes clouded with blood... and worse of all are humans, unable to comprehend the horrors happening around them and their ears filled with the malevolent whisperings of Tainted Spirits, performed all kids of acts of savagery, culminating to mass sacrifices of their own blood, flesh and life, all for the sake of appeasing the figure that haunted their clouded minds.

Inch by inch, this influence encroached across the earth, filling it with pestilence, destruction and horrors beyond human comprehension...

Without a doubt, it truly is the end of the world...

"...And because of that, we will fight."

But there are still those who aren't willing to give up.

"For one last time..."

"Right. For one last hope."

And for them, this is their one last chance to hopefully snatch the future that they desire to have, even if it may seem so impossible.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"...I see. If that is truly how this will go, then as your superior and blood relative, I will respect your choice."

"Thank you, auntie."

At the guestroom lent to them, Kirin and Kaede talked about the latter's decision about what she wanted to do in this final battle. To say that Kirin was surprised and conflicted with her niece's decision would be putting it lightly.

"You say that this is all because you wanted to atone for your mistake and take it to the grave... but I feel like you also wish to escape the consequences of it."

"I won't deny that... Somehow, it feels like my mistake of believing that I can still bring William back to our side, despite everyone's utter hatred of him would warrant the consequences that you just mentioned, and choosing to have this final battle of ours as my life's last fight would be nothing more than an attempt to escape it... But..."

"But what?"

"...In a way, I think that my death would also resolve it once and for all. My infatuation with William caused all of this, and even now, my heart still yearns for him despite everything that happened... Which is why before I can make another mistake and cause Lucas to make one too, I wish to end this borrowed life here and now."

Kirin, finally hearing that from her own niece's mouth, understood the resolution it took to not only think of it but decide that as her choice of fate... and so, she approached Kaede and gave her an embrace and an errand.

"...If Akari lives and I meet her again, I will give her your last words... If not, tell her on the other side that I am proud to have her as my sister and I will search for all of you again in the next life."

"...I will. Again, thank you very much for indulging my selfish wish, auntie."

Meanwhile at the manor's backyard, Renjiro and Mana was having their last sparring session to prepare for their final fight. After they were finished, the two sat facing each other while Renjiro was covered by a green-hued aura.

"Sensei... what is—"

"I'm using my powers as the Vessel of Knowledge to open all of your power's potential as well as negating all of its drawbacks. Excluding Ephraim, there are only four Psychics here to defend this mansion. For Lucas and Kai, they're likely still in a fight out there and I don't think Akari-san would abandon Kabuki-cho estate and Oyabun-sama. We're all that stands between a potential attack here and the Miyazonos getting all that they need to start their plans unhindered."

"For Kaede-sensei, you already told me that she declined having this done and Kirin-sensei is already the Vessel of Justice... what would I gain from this, then? Can I be a Vessel too?"

"Sorry kid, can't do. Only Spirits can choose who will be their Vessels and even my case was already a bit of cheating the system. While I cannot make you a Vessel, I can at least give you enough power to stand against and have a chance against one."

After saying that, Renjiro's aura began to dim as it went to the tips of his left hand's fingers where it took the form of a small ball of light. As it reflected at Mana's eyes, it looked like a small star that's burning brightly and strongly.

"...With this, your powers would grow in multitudes and you can fight alongside us. But just like I said, this is all your potential and power. You will not become any stronger after this no matter what you do." Renjiro spoke slowly, trying to warn Mana against having any further expectations. "I know that one of your motivations in doing this is to make the Miyazonos pay for killing your parents, but let me tell you this straight. Even after receiving this, you cannot enact your revenge and live to tell the tale. They are simply far too strong now for you to do it. Knowing that, will you still take it?"

Mana, understanding what her teacher meant by saying all of those things, looked at the ball of light and took it from his fingers, and spoke words the astonished even Renjiro.

"When all of this started, I already knew that I have no chance at all to make them pay for this... but I will still take this power. If I cannot personally enact my revenge, then I will give it my all to protect the person who has a chance against them."

"Mana-chan... Heh! You're right. You've really grown a lot, my dear student. Now then, stare into the fire and let it flow into you."

After taking the ball of light, Mana followed her teacher's instructions and the ball dissipated into her body, making it faintly glow with a reddish-sheen. In an instant, she felt the fire burning inside of her break the bounds of its normal strength and begin blazing uncontrollably.

"...How do you feel, Mana? Is it too much for you?"

"N-no... felt just a bit hotter, I guess. I can feel it inside of me... this fire, this blazing fire inside me is roaring for a good fight!"

"Good! Then let's test it out, Mana. On your feet!"

While the two returned to sparring, the old hangar building beside Professor Mizuki Takeshi became the base of operations and armory of the disavowed S.S.S members.

Provided high-powered weapons and equipment by the mansion's owner, they began to prepare to defend the place against a potential attack by the enemy. Leading them was no other than their former Director and now, just their dear friend Yuri.

"The perimeter is just as usual. We'll transmit communications on the usual radio frequency and we'll set up defense lines just like how we did it at our subway bases before."

"Roger!"

"While we don't have heavy machineguns, we have man-portables and enough ammunition to go around. Set them up and instruct anyone who will handle them to not let them go no matter what it takes."

"Understood!"

"Listen everyone! We messed up last time and we'll never have a chance like this to ever redeem ourselves! I know you think that the world is ending and we have no hope left, but just like the battles that we fought before, we will emerge victorious even if it's the last thing we'll do!"

With a rousing war cry, Yuri raised the morale of his friends and made them forget for even just a moment the helplessness that they were under all this time. With a shout, all of them went to work building up their defenses and ensuring a chance for their victory no matter how small it may seem.

"Yuri. A moment of your time, please?"

After her rousing speech and the others went to their stations, a voice called Yuri's attention and she turned to see Masami alongside the three other members of her band.

"You see, I know this isn't the right time, but the girls and I still stand on our agreement back then... No guns for us, those just ain't our thing."

"Masami... I know that already. I won't force you guys to go against your principles even when things are this desperate. You can stay back and let us handle this."

"Oh-hoho! We didn't mean it like that, Yuri-san. "Stay back and let us handle this", my ass. While we're strictly non-combatants, it's not like we're honorary S.S.S members or something. We have our own ways of helping out, y'know?" From the side, Hisako, the band's vice-leader, poked out her head and told Yuri their plan. "It might not be New Tokyo Astrodome or the Seaside Grand Arena, but given that this is the only sane part of the world left, we can't pass up the chance to give the last ever concert that this world would ever have."

Hisako's words surprised even Yuri. But looking at the confident faces of Masami, and even the drummer and bass guitarist Shiori and Miyuki, it seemed to her that they were dead serious to do this no matter what it takes.

"Don't leave me out now, you guys." Adding to the band, a young woman bound to a wheelchair approached them and they instantly recognized her to be Hinata's wife, Yui. "If the band is giving their last performance, I want to be in there too."

"Hey pipsqueak, we talked about this before. You substituted for Masami whenever she lost her voice, but this isn't the case now. Besides, and I'm really sorry for using this now, but your condition isn't helping your case and I don't want Hinata-kun on my neck if something ever happens to you."

"...I understand your misgivings, Hisako-senpai... But things have changed now." Yui replied and shocking everyone who saw it, locked the wheels of her wheelchair and stood up for the first time in years.

"W-What the—?! When did you—?!!"

"I asked for a bit of help from that guy from the Sumeragi group. He said he can use his powers to return my ability to stand and walk, so I took it to be of use somehow. With this, are you still against me rejoining the band, Hisako-senpai?" Yui faced the vice-leader of the band and after scratching her head in annoyance, gave her reply to Yui.

"Tch! Go grab me some cold beer and a pack of chips, then get to tuning your guitar. We'll get some practice done before the actual performance."

"Roger that, Senpai!"

As Yui jogged towards the mansion, the three other members of the band looked at Hisako intently with smug expressions on their faces as if annoying her. It was Masami who spoke up and teased her, causing her to roar in annoyance.

"Hey, hey... Look at our supposedly-straightlaced and serious Hisako, being all good and soft for Yui-chan. Geez, and I was starting to think that only your alcoholism was growing, and you surprise us with your maturity too."

"ARGH!!! Get off my case, dammit!"

With the band's request now cleared, Yuri looked around and saw that things are going good for now. Still, she didn't want to think that it would keep up like this forever.

After assigning the remaining tasks at hand to her subordinates, she went inside the mansion and to the room where the still-unconscious Ephraim is being kept. There, she encountered Hannah who was watching over the two unconscious people whose hands are clasped together tightly.

"...You're here."

"I just wanted to check up on him... after all, he's the guy that we're doing all of this for. Defending him will be everyone's priority."

"Yeah... and if necessary, it would take our life."

"That's... a possible part of it, I guess."

While Hannah and Yuri are watching over Ephraim, the latter found a perfect chance to ask the former about what is really happening between Ephraim and the other girl beside him.

"...I don't know the specifics of it either since Imamura-san can barely explain it to us, but I guess you can say that both of them are inside each other's head right now and are trying to find each other and a way out together. Kuya said to not worry so I'm doing my best not to... but right now, it seems like I may have to begin worrying if he doesn't wake up soon."

"Rai-kun did a lot of wild stuff in his life. Both before and after he got here. If anyone can confidently say to his fellows to "not worry", it would be him."

"Heh! Our dad said the same before he got his life taken here just before my brother's arrival. I wish it's not the case, but he's slowly taking on that side of dad ever since he got here."

"If that's how you see it, I guess..."

A short period of silence followed, broken only by the arrival of a third person who said something that bothered the other two.

"You know, there's a superstition that says that people shouldn't watch over someone sleeping because it may end up taking their life. Knowing that, would you still keep watching?"

"Maya-san... That's not something good to say, you know?"

"Heh! Just telling you what I know, no harm intended... But you have to admit young sister, your brother sure has a knack getting himself constantly in trouble."

"That... I guess I can't deny that." Hannah approached her brother and gently ran her hand through his hair. She seemed worried about how long he has been unconscious but she simply sighed her worries out. "Wake up already, dummy. Everyone is waiting for you to finally wake up and get us out of this mess."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

At the Kabuki-cho estate of the Sumeragi syndicate, no one in the decimated organization's forces remained standing after their master extracted all of their strength in order to return in to the body of her Vessel.

Either piled atop each other or strewn across the courtyard, the powers that the members were given before by Sumeragi Nichirin, or to be more exact, Spirit Faith, are now being extracted no different from someone making use of batteries that they recharged in preparation for a situation like this.

In one of corner of the courtyard, a woman is sitting by a wall, barely conscious and writhing in agony as her powers are being taken by the very person that she swore her allegiance to before.

"What is this...? What on earth is this...? What are these images and voices that are flooding my head?"

Inside the minds of all the Sumeragi members, images beyond human comprehension and voices that constantly forced them to sing praises continued to assail them, increasing the pain they are feeling whenever they deny these commands.

Some members, unable to take the agony, mumbled whatever the voices ordered them to speak, and while it did alleviate their pain, it also meant that the alongside the powers that they borrowed from their master, they are now also giving up their life force, essentially killing them.

"What the hell...? Oyabun-sama, what is the meaning of this? Why are you... why are you taking back our powers and even forcing us to give up our lives?"

These thoughts swirled in Akari's mind. It astounded her that the master they were wholeheartedly serving is now using them as if they are nothing more than disposable batteries for her own means.

"I don't understand... why... why are you doing this to us?!"

This is when Akari finally realized the truth behind the Sumeragi group's very existence. They weren't meant to act as their master's faction, in the first place, they were all just a means for her own end... and with that, came a sense of disposability that all of them, regardless of rank or status, possessed.

"Then that means... we are just pawns? ...You didn't even have any plan for us beyond subjecting us to this kind of end?"

The doubts that began to creep in her mind attracted beings that thirsted for such things. Slowly, they crept around her, whispering temptations to her ears to abandon her cause and seek revenge against the being that betrayed her and her comrades.

"iT's nOt yOuR fAuLt, hUmAn..."

"sHe bEtRaYeD yOu aNd yOuR pEoPlE fIrSt..."

"aBaNdOn hEr jUsT aS sHe aBaNdOnEd yOu..."

These temptations continued to ring in her ears, but she resisted them even throught the utter agony of having her powers slowly being taken from her and the thoughts of being betrayed.

"...Be silent. I might be betrayed, but I am not a betrayer myself... I will endure to the end, even if it means pain and suffering."

Akari held her bown tightly and used it alongside the wall she is leaning on to get back on her feet and walk out to the open courtyard where her remaining comrades are also in agony and some are nearing death.

"If we cannot expect truth and loyalty to the person... then let's give our faith to the principles that it represents!"

Akari raised her bow and fired an arrow upwards that bursted into a cloud that made it rain within the area. That rain, filled with the last figments of her Astra energy, fell on the others and broke Faith's hold on them, ridding them of the flashing images and deafening voices that kept on demanding for their life force.

"With this... there is a chance to end it in our terms..." After muttering those words, she fell on her knees and was saved from falling down to the ground completely by a subordinate who caught her.

"A-Akari-sama!"

"Ghh! She's exhausted her Astra energy! Can anyone spare her some to save her life?!"

After one of them offered to give her some of his' own even to the detriment of his own health, Akari regained consciousness and saw herself surrounded by a dozen of her comrades that had smiles on their faces as soon as they saw that she was alive.

"Thank goodness you made it, Akari-sama! We almost thought that it was the end for all of us!"

"Right... but we still have something to do..." Akari replied, not caring much about her exhaustion as she stood up and looked at the gate behind them that now emanated a strange aura. "The gate to the inner sanctum is fluctuating with Astra energy... this can only mean one thing."

"W-What is it, Akari-sama?"

"...Enka, Mira! Show yourselves!"

Akari's shout echoed in front of the gate, but the two people that she called out did not reply or even appear.

"Enka! Mira! Explain all of this! What is Oyabun-sama doing?! Why is she retaking our powers and demanding us to give up our life force!?"

Instead of appearing in their physical bodies, Akari's question was answered by the two through a telephatic link that went straight to her and the other's minds.

"Spirit Faith is simply taking back what is due to her. As members of this creed, we are all bound to her and we will give to her what she demands for the sake of her own agendas."

"So shut your mouth and obey. Give up what she demands and don't expect anything from her. In the end, her will is our will and her goal is our goal, plain and simple."

Just as the twin said those words, all 12 of the people that were left standing alongside Akari fell to the ground.

"What the—!? Hey! Hey, what happened to you—"

What she saw on their faces horrified her. Their eyeballs became devoid of their irises and the skin and flesh around their eyes took on a burnt texture as if they stared at something extremely bright. And from their nostrils and mouth came out smoke as if they were burnt from inside.

To anyone, it may seem like a Psychic attack. However, Akari recognized those fatal injuries to have come from a very particular kind of attack... after all, as one of the Sumeragi group's chief researchers, it was intimately intwined in many of her studies.

"You... don't tell me that you even took their souls..."

"...And what if we did, pawn? As we said before, she will take whatever she wants to take from all of you."

"...And you can do nothing about it, because you have neither the power nor the authority to do so."

Akari audibly gasped from that answer that genuinely shocked her. She already knew that they are adamant about taking everything from the members of the Sumeragi group, what shocked her instead was the realization that all of the things they have been doing to resist the Miyazonos has been nothing more than parroting their enemy's true nature.

In the end, both the Miyazonos and Sumeragis are cut from the same cruel and megalomanic belief that any sacrifice in justified if it means that the one leading them can get to their goals unhindered.

With that realization, Akari finally made her decision to go against everything that she believed in about the Sumeragi group and its leader.

"If that is so... then I reject it."

""...You what...?""

"If you're telling me that all of us are nothing more than pawns who has to give up everything to her in order for her to fulfill her goals, then I reject it. I reject the very idea of belonging and giving up everything to her."

Akari took the arm band on her right arm and right in front of the glowing gates to the inner sanctum, ripped it apart to symbolize her resistance against the cruelty that she and her fellows has been subjected.

"Faith is earned by inspiration and true belief. You cannot buy it from someone nor force it to someone, it has to be planted and grow within you as you journey through life. Faith is vision to the blind, hearing to the deaf and wisdom to the dumb... and it will never demand sacrifice, obedience comes from faith and growth comes from willingness."

Akari declared with all her heart and voice one thing that Spirit Faith has forgetten in her very long yet failed attempt to resist the Taint in her very being.

"Willingness without faith is dead, and faith without willingness is a farce."

At that very moment, a certain voice came to Akari's ears. A voice that sounded like gently-flowing springwater, exuding serenity and kindness.

"It has been eons since I last heard those words... I don't know if "he" guided you to that statement, but hearing all of that let me come out of my half-corrupted self's control."

"W-Who are—?"

"Fear not. I am Spirit Faith... or perhaps, a figment of her that has become dormant after her Tainted sense of self grew to corrupt our body and principles."

Akari, after hearing those words, realized that she really is speaking to the very same beings that her sister and Ephraim became possessed with.

"What are you... doing here? I thought you're supposed to be fighting in there against one of the Miyazonos' Replicant heirs."

"As I said, I am nothing more than a figment of her once uncorrupted self. The reason why I can act outside the will of my Vessel's body is because I cannot control it anymore... but you, you gave me another chance to act according to my original Principles and plans."

Suddenly, Akari began to feel like some kind of extraordinary power is flowing within her. When she looked down on her body, she was surprised to see herself wearing a pure white robe and her Augmenter bow changed into a more ornate form gilded with gold and aquamarine gems.

"What are all these?! When did this—!?"

"With this, you are now a Vessel of Faith... or to be more exact, a True Vessel of Faith. Not like that one who has perverted my Principles in the name of eradicating the ones that she has a grudge with."

Akari looked up and was surprised to see the astral form of Spirit Faith that is similar-looking but definitely has a more clean and gentle look to Oyabun Sumeragi Nichirin.

"What now then? If what I'm sensing that's happening inside the Inner Sanctum is right, Oyabun-sama will be defeated and the Miyazonos will have their last requirement to pull off their Deification plan. And while I can sense nearly inexhautible power within my body right now, I still don't think I'd have a chance against them."

"Fear not. I already know of an answer to that."

"And that is?"

"You're not the only one who is left to fight and decide how all of this would go. Come to this place that I'm about to show in your mind and wait there until they arrive."

"They? Who is this "they"?"

"Who else? Other Vessels like you who are about to arrive there soon. Help is on the way."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

At Justice's Domain in Caelestia, the handover of the Authority and Principles that she received from, and now gave back to Law, ended as Spirit Justice sat down on her throne and watched as Law absorbs the Authority of Justness into himself.

"With that, is our agreement fulfilled?"

"...Yes. You've done well to hold on for this long. You may rest now, my friend."

Hearing that, Justice looked at Law straightly and asked him a question that always bothered her.

"Eons ago, whenever we met, we fought to settle our differences in interpreting the Principles that we were born with. As the Spirits of law and justice, we are bound to always be at each other's path, trying to find the right and optimal way to perform our duties and fulfill our reason to exist... Back then, all of our battles are not only to prove our might but that we are also right."

"...Something that I do remember, yes. Why are you saying all of this now?"

"Nothing important, really... I was just wondering about how things changed after you and Love met. When you approached me back then, I thought that you wanted to settle our feud once and for all, only for you to tell me that you wanted me to help in protecting and guiding the humans within your shared protection."

"Oh... that, huh? I guess my answer for that is that in the end, I realized what it was that we were missing all this time in our feuds. The reason why we always end up beating up each other but ultimately not resolving anything was because in the first place, we never thought about the ones who lives the Principles that we are fighting over."

Hearing those words, Justice finally realized what it was that both of them mistook all this time.

"So that was it, huh... In the end, the answer to our feud was that we have never thought about how humans perceived the rules that they are bound with and what "justice" meant to them."

"Right... I only understood it myself when it was already too late. More than the piercing gaze of justice or the harrowing rule of law, there is the power of human will and resolve that no one can stand against... for better or for worse."

"...Right, for better and for worse."

For a moment, silence abounded between the two until Law finally absorbed the Authority into himself, and turned to leave Justice in her Domain. Knowing her temperament as a proud Celestial Spirit, Law knew that it would be for the better to let her come to terms with her impending death all alone and honorably.

"I'll be missing you, dear friend."

"...Likewise. Until next time, dear friend."

After Law left her domain, Justice looked down on her hand that is slowly turning into fine dust. Around her, her domain has lost its gentle light, signifying the coming demise of its owner. And yet, Justice had neither any fear or regret on her expression...

"For the sake of our task, for the sake of our Principles' fulfillment, and the end of our promises... even my very life is but a just exchange."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

At the outskirts of Old Tokyo, an enormous army made up of Malignances, Seed Psychics and brainwashed cybersoldiers are marching towards the place that they were told to attack for the sake of catching those that are still struggling against their dominance.

Leading them was no other that Miyazono Keiji. Riding at the shoulder of a giant humanoid-shaped tree monster that he made through his newfound power after possessing Imamura Kai's real body, his maniacal laughter echoed, showing off his excitement to fight that he can barely contain.

"HYAHAHAHAHA—!!! Come, my pawns! We will finally eradicate those pests that are still struggling beneath our feet! Let's show them our unbridled power!!!"

The numbers of this army, enough to make the ground beneath them to shake at each of their steps, is incredibly lopsided against the defenders of the manor that doesn't even number in the three-digits, but as a show of force and to ensure their victory, he didn't consider it as any kind of excessiveness.

In his eyes, this battle has already been won before it was fought, and for anyone who has enough intelligence to analyze the situation as well as a realistic view on these things, the outcome will really be in the Miyazono's favor.

"Hrm? What the... Why are those freaks stopping their march?"

However, his confident train of thought was cut off when he noticed that the Malignances marching in front of their force suddenly stopped, putting a pause on their advance.

"You imbeciles! Who told you to stop moving?! Get going already or else I would—"

Before Keiji can finish his words, he sensed something amiss and realized that the Malignances did not just stop moving forward... instead, they have completely stopped moving altogether. That is to say, they are all already dead and frozen stiff right at where they are standing.

"What the hell... How could this have happened—!"

At the next moment, an enormous wave of power struck Keiji, strong and dense enough to freeze him in place and make him sweat out of nervousness. No... it wasn't just that which made him instinctively become filled with fear...

"—!!!"

He recognized that power and presence... it was something that has struck fear in him more than once before.

"How...? Himari said that she already handled him... how... HOW?!?!?!"

Remembering the only person who has inflicted enough fear into him who isn't even afraid of death, Keiji took a step back and began to ponder his escape, only to stop when he realized what his subconscious almost made him do.

"No... Not this time. We're on the verge of winning, I'm not gonna back out and look like a coward here!"

With a shout, Keiji steeled himself to face off against the man who is the primary danger to their objectives.

"YOUR LIFE WILL BE MINE, CHRONIA!!!"