〈Zaria…little Zaria…〉
〈How broken you are…no…that won't do.〉
〈Awaken, child. Awaken, and show the strength that slumbers deep within you…〉
Nakashibetsu, Japan—
Emerald floated above the waves as he watched Behemoth collide with Omariro and his beasts. The three beasts generated a wave of energy that exploded outward, coating the area in dark clouds.
Behemoth formed a wave of mountains that separated the two sides, draining the water from Emerald's area. As he landed, he noticed something was off.
"Those kids have disappeared," Emerald remarked. "Did the waves sweep them away?"
The loud sounds of rumbles and banging could be heard from the mountain range behind him, and he used an arm to grab onto the top. "It's best I help Behemoth. Nyugawa is the real problem here."
Emerald reached out, pulling himself up.
"We're not done here."
WHOOSH.
With a slash, Emerald's arm and two of his legs got sliced off, and he fell back to the ground. Recovering quickly, he turned around, where a girl holding two katanas was standing, facing away.
"You?" Emerald questioned. "How are you still standing? And what happened to your spear?"
Zaria turned around, her eyes glowing a dark gray color.
〈Changing Loadout to: * Yami Gorikenjo*〉
Emerald watched as she gripped her swords, dark energy erupting off her. He lifted his eyebrow, taking note of her. "A Loadout. I see. Well, it holds no importance to me—-"
Without a single word, Zaria closed the distance between the two, aiming both her blades for Emerald's neck. The slime ducked under her swords, but she followed up by kicking one straight into his head.
"Faster," he noted. "Much faster."
Emerald delivered a barrage of punches toward Zaria's face, but the girl deflected each of them with a single blade. Zaria spun around and tried to take off Emerald's head, but the slime knocked the katana out of her hand.
Zaria backflipped and caught it, kicking the other katana into Emerald's chest, but he shattered it in two. She instantly formed another.
"She's not talking anymore," Emerald noted. "But I can still see the rage behind those eyes."
He chuckled. "Reminds me of my sister."
Zaria rushed at him, swinging her blade fast enough to cause a ripple through the air. Emerald evaded it and delivered a punch to her gut, sending her crashing into the mountains behind them.
Zaria stabbed her blade into the ground and supported herself, growling at Emerald. The slime quickly enlarged his arms, attempting to crush Zaria, but she stabbed her blades into the mountain and used them to flip away from the attack.
Emerald watched as she somersaulted over him, rushing over and directly engaging him. Zaria jabbed her blade forward, and Emerald shifted his body to form a hole in his chest, allowing the blade to pass straight through.
With a burst of speed, Emerald threw a right hook at Zaria's face.
"Yami Gorikenjo--Gōgai no Haihīru."
BOOM.
Zaria intercepted Emerald's punch with her foot, and when Emerald realized what his fist was stuck on, he noticed a gray high heel on her foot.
"What…?"
Zaria pulled her foot back and kicked Emerald in the face with such force that the slime's head completely blew off. Another high heel formed on her opposite foot while Emerald regrew his head.
"A skill that boosts her kicking power," Emerald remarked, taking in Zaria's now taller height. "But I never would've expected heels as a weapon."
Zaria's uniform shifted into a black-ish gray variant as Zaria jumped into the air, delivering a spinning kick to Emerald's jaw, which he blocked at the last second.
Emerald wrapped his arm around Zaria and slammed her into the ground repeatedly, right before she cut herself free using her blades.
"Hmm. You've gotten stronger, I'll admit. Let's see how long you last against true Munjinsha power. Unfortunately, Rui never got to show this against that ice woman."
Emerald brought his hands together, and a wave of green energy burst from his body, pushing Zaria back. "You will now see what destroyed your Master's former home."
The slime's body hardened, shifting into a crystalline emerald-like substance.
"Mujinsha no Jutsu: Suigyoku Hada."
A helmet and chestplate formed over his body as an emerald green mace formed in his hand. The moment Zaria blinked, he was gone. A whistle of air danced in her ear, and she whirled around to find Emerald, who batted her aside with his mace.
"You'll pay for your sins," she hissed. "I'll cut you down myself."
Zaria covered her mouth.
"No," she thought. "Don't talk like a Herald. Focus, Z. Focus."
Emerald slammed his mace on the ground, and emerald spikes rose from the soil, nearly impaling Zaria. The latter tried cutting them into pieces, but the gems withstood her blows.
Emerald got into a running stance, moving at a speed Zaria could barely keep up with. He brought his mace down, but Zaria used a high heel to stop it, using her other foot to deliver an upward kick to Emerald's jaw.
The slime merely laughed, headbutting her. Zaria rolled away, raising her blades.
"Z! You're up?"
Nonoka rushed over to Zaria's side, taking notice of her new appearance. "Err…when'd you pull that out?"
"No time for that. Help me beat this thing."
"Right," Nonoka agreed. "Stay still, I'll try another buff."
The moment Nonoka extended her hand, Emerald appeared in between them, sending them both flying in opposite directions. Nonoka landed hard on the ground, dislocating her shoulder. "Shit, that stings…"
Emerald took a step forward, but he suddenly paused.
"Tenkai-geri!"
He looked up, where Zaria was spinning in a cartwheel, bringing both heels right toward his head. Emerald extended an arm and pulled himself out of the way just as Zaria impaled herself into the ground, cracking it.
"Whoa," Nonoka commented. "Nice heels, Zaria."
Zaria pulled herself out of the ground, helping Nonoka up as the latter cracked her shoulder. "Seems he's not gonna let us off easy."
"No way in hell," Zaria replied, raising a sword. "So we beat the shit out of him."
She charged forward as Nonoka raised her good arm. "Jugen-Sōunsha: Noroi no Sukiru Kyōka!"
〈200% Buff to *All* Party Members.〉
"Great," Emerald sighed. "That bitch'll be a pain."
An emerald shield formed on his forearm as he blocked Zaria's blades, but this time they cut a small piece of his shield off. Emerald waved his arm, forcing Zaria back. The two sized each other up, right before Zaria turned and delivered a back kick to Emerald's knee.
"Hmph!"
Emerald extended his legs, towering over Zaria. Multiple arms sprouted from his back as he punched at her again and again, and she could only block for so long before one connected with her stomach.
Zaria fell backwards as Nonoka caught her. "You alright?"
"Peachy. Still in a shit ton of pain."
Sōshin zoomed into the fray, with Rika and Rei on his back. "No need to worry, friends! We've arrived!"
"Seems backup's here as well," Nonoka chuckled. "Took you long enough."
Rika immediately caught sight of Emerald's new form. "Ahem, uh, am I seeing things? What the heck did he do to himself?"
"Magic," Zaria explained. "Weird, cursed, dangerous magic."
Emerald banged his mace on his shield. "You've got talent. But none of you are anywhere near your Master. Do you really think you can win this without him?"
Zaria looked at her blade before cutting through the air. "Even if we don't, by the time he gets to you, you'll be a heap of shit on the ground."
Nonoka nodded. "You messed with the wrong Division."
"Did I? Okay. Show me."
Faster than the eye could see, Emerald rushed towards Zaria, his mace swinging towards her side. Sōshin quickly sprinted over to the fray, touching the mace.
"Jugen-Sōunsha: Jiritsu Sharyō Henkei!"
Emerald's mace formed a pair of wheels and a thruster, and with a flick of Sōshin's wrist, the mace flew back and struck its owner in the face.
"Good stuff, Sōshin!"
Zaria took advantage and sliced Emerald's head, but the blade only cut through ever so slightly. Emerald shattered his mace and formed a new one, narrowly missing Zaria as she evaded his attack.
Rei formed her moon crests, cutting two chunks of mountain off the mountain range behind them, which came toppling toward Emerald. Emerald threw his shield at the rubble, reducing them to mere pebbles.
Without missing a beat, a slinky arm wrapped around Rei, pulling her forward. "Hmm. I knew you were strange. Tell me, what is your name?"
Rei tried to wiggle out of his grasp. "It's Rei! Rei Hayama! Now let me and my friends go!"
She put her hand on his face, blasting him with a large beam of moonlight that heavily cracked his helmet. He released her, a look of amusement on his face.
"Ah. That old man's a secret keeper, isn't he? No matter. How a taste of destruction!"
Emerald tossed his mace into the air, and it grew to triple its size, slamming down at the ground with enough power to cause earthquakes. "The moon girl dies first!"
Before the maze could crush Rei, Sōshin grabbed her and pulled her to safety. "Friend Rei, do you know the slime?"
Rei shook her head. "Not at all! The way he's staring at me is scary!"
The mace spiraled toward the two again, but Zaria used her heel to kick it off course. On the other side, Nonoka was still holding her shoulder as Rika came over.
"Nonoka! What happened?"
"Just my shoulder. That slime's not as weak as he looks."
"Here. Let me help!"
Emerald quickly grabbed Rika by her neck. "No. There will be none of that, healer."
Nonoka tugged at his arm. "Put her down!"
Zaria tried to cut off his arm, but he elbowed her in the face. Rika quickly brought her hands together. "Jugen-Kaiseisha: Chiyu no Shirushi!"
〈Sigil Created: Life Steal.〉
Rika crushed it, and a beam connected to Emerald, causing part of his armor to disappear as he dropped the girl. "My strength…you've sapped it away?"
Rika rubbed her throat. "Sure did, asshole!"
Sōshin whipped Zaria toward Emerald, and she slashed off a piece of his chestplate, cutting into his skin beneath. Emerald felt the wound, which healed almost instantly.
"You were right, Z," Nonoka admitted. "That nerd probably would have some answer by now. Too bad we don't have Shino here."
Emerald grabbed his mace, turning towards the kids with a cold look. "I'm done playing with you all now. I require my sister. Whoever brings her to me shall have their life spared."
A voice echoed through Emerald's head.
〈Remember…keep the girl…〉
Emerald held his head. "Right. The girl. Don't worry. She won't be much of a hassle."
Zaria moved in a blur, attempting to cut Emerald's neck from behind, but he merely stopped her with one hand. "As I said."
Zaria followed up by bringing her leg down hard on Emerald's head, enough to further damage his helmet. He spun around and grabbed her by the neck, tossing her into both Nonoka and Rika.
"Pathetic."
Sōshin zipped around his vision, lunging for Emerald, but the slime stepped back, kicking the boy back towards Rika.
"Little bro!" she worried. "Are you okay?"
Sōshin slowly got up. "I'm okay, Big Sis!"
Emerald looked at the two of them. "Ah? A sibling bond? How heartwarming. Deliver my sister, and only the moon girl and that buffer must die."
Rika stepped forward. "No! You're not hurting them, and no way is Emeru going with you! She's my Master's companion, not yours!"
Emerald grabbed Rika's arm as the latter tried to punch him. "You misunderstand, girl. I am one of the governors of the dungeons. If I so claim that my sister is to come back with me, that is so. The Mujinsha have, and always will, control fate. That is the job the Endless assigned to us, and she is to become the next Mujinsha."
He began to squeeze Rika's arm, causing her to collapse to one knee as Sōshin tried to break his grip. "Do you understand?"
"No…I don't…"
Emerald smacked her in the face, knocking her to the ground. "Fine then. It seems humans cannot learn their lessons through reason. It must be beaten into them."
As he stepped forward, a voice interrupted him. "Brother! Stop! Please!"
Emerald turned around, and he saw Gakuto, holding Emeru in his hands.
"…Sister?"
——