As Alex extended his hand out to the young Yae, naturally she didn't know who he was so she would've been hesitant to accept his hand, but she just couldn't shake off the feeling of hope that she got from Alex.

"A-Are you sure, you can free me?" She asked hesitantly.

"I make no promises, but I damn will sure will give it my all." He said firmly.

With that, Yae grabbed Alex's hand as the boy carried her on his back and began to make a rush to the Sakura Gate exit, only for the sky to darken to an ominous red color as he noticed the Priest slowly stand up, hand covering his face as a dark aura surrounded him.

"Well shoot. Figures that a punch wouldn't knock you down for the count." Said Alex.

The priest began to speak, however instead of his normal voice, it was now the fiend's voice that was coming from him.

"Sakura.........time and time again I kept us alive, all the while creating this dream world just for you. All I ask of you, is that you stay, WITH ME!" The priest let out a blood curling scream as suddenly a large fire pillar bursted out from the ground and surrounded him as the sudden blast caught Alex off guard.

The boy was pushed back a bit as he firmly held onto Yae making sure he didn't let go of her.

Once the flames subsided, Alex looked on in shock, as now standing where the Priest once stood, was an extremely large, multi tailed white fox with red accents over its fur

The giant fox let out a loud howl into the sky, before immediately focusing its attention back to Alex and Yae, quickly charging up and releasing a large fireball from its mouth.

"O-Oh shit!" Said Alex as he moved out of the way as best he could.

"What the hell are you!? You certainly ain't no damn priest!" Said the boy.

The large fox simply snarled at them before beginning to speak, much to Alex's surprise.

"I go by many names. In this form, I'm referred to as the fox demon, Hellmaru, however, my true identity is the Herrscher of Corruption!" Shouted the fox beast.

"H-Herrscher!?" Said the boy.

He was already in deep trouble having to deal with a giant beast, but now knowing that said beast was also a Herrscher made his job ten times harder than what it already was.

"Sakura, you thankless lowlife! You're no different than those humans you profess to hate! You repaid my trust, with BETRAYAL! You spit on my love, all for this dark haired outsider shit! You tried to kill me twice! I shall grant your death wish! I won't have you betray me again!"

The time for talk was imma over as Alex informed Yae to hang on tight before he sprinted away as fast as he could, all the while being chased by Hellmaru, the Herrscher of Corruption as the fox beast kept shouting out fireballs at an endless pace, never give the boy a chase to calm down and keeping him extremely attentive.

Eventually, Alex noticed the Sakura Gate exit and informed Yae about it.

"Don't worry Yae we're almost there!" He said.

Unfortunately, this was all intentional on Hellmaru's part as it raised its front two legs, and slammed them hard onto the ground, creating an extremely large shockwave that knocked Alex and Yae to the ground, as Hellmaru jumped up and over them, now standing between the two and the gate exit.

"Shit. Knew it was too good to be true." Said Alex as he struggled to get to a knee, being tired from all the running.

"All this time, I've never had a single problem with keeping control of Sakura fate. I've come too far to gain full possession of her body! AND I'M NOT GONNA LET A BRATTY HALF PINT FROM YOU, TAKE IT ALL AWAY FROM ME!" Shouted Hellmaru, as it began charging up a fireball again, this one taking a much longer time to charge.

Alex knew he was way too tired to move themselves out of the way, so he instead turned around and hugged Yae, making sure he took most of the impact and shielded Yae.

Hellmaru finished charging up and let the fireball rip, as it shot out and immediately went straight towards the two.

The bright light and sounds of the flames drew closer and closer, Alex simply closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

In the next second, the sound of the fireball was then countered the sudden sound of a sword swing, as the fireball ended up being deflected and dispersing elsewhere.

Alex opened his eyes, shocked to see they were perfectly fine.

When he turned back around, he saw as to why, as Mei had arrived just on time.

"Thank goodness I finally found you Alex." Said Mei.

"M-Mei! Oh thank goodness you have no idea how glad I am to see a familiar face right now! Normally I'd question how or why you're here but as you can clearly see, we got bigger issues to deal with." Said the boy.

Mei nodded as she firmly held her sword, keeping attention on Hellmaru.

"Well well, seems like one more victim as offered themselves up to join in. Regardless, you won't change a single thing here! You'll all join me in this endless world!" Shouted the fox.

"Alex, stay back and protect the girl. I'll handle the beast." Said Mei.

Alex who was still exhausted nodded as he inched back, still keeping the unconscious Yae safe as Mei began to battle against Hellmaru, dodging and deflecting any fireballs it sent at her.

As the fight progressed, something became apparent to Mei.

Whenever her sword connected with Hellmaru's body, there was no give, no cut being formed.

Once the sword came into contact with the fox's body, all momentum of the swing immediately stopped.

Mei jumped up high, hoping that a falling downward slash would generate enough momentum to finally cut the the beast's tough skin.

When it came into contact with a raised paw, once again all momentum was stopped as the blade failed to do anything.

"W-Why won't it cut through?" Asked Mei, before being caught of guard as Hellmaru roared right in her face, using its paw to knock her back while also inflicting a cut on her arm with its claws.

Mei got knocked back and was exhausted after all the failed slashes as she only managed to get onto one knee, using her sword to support her as she panted heavily.

"T-This Honkai Beast............it's, immune to my attacks." She said between breathes.

"I'm no mere beast foolish human! I'm the Honkak Incarnate! I rule this Stigma Space! This body is mine to take! Know that I'm the destroyer of humanity! Your attacks will never lay a scratch on me!" Shouted Hellmaru, attempting to push Mei back once more.

The girl however held her sword up to block it, and much to Hellmaru's surprise, Mei was somehow able to find some strength as she decently held her ground against the giant beast.

"G-Getting rid of me won't be as easy as you think, fiend!" She said between pants, but now with a confident smile.

Hellmaru however wasn't fazed by this as it retorted back.

"Get rid of you? Why would I bother to do that? You're nothing more than a roadblock in my way. I simply have to devour the other two's souls to make this body mine!" Shouted the fox.

That's was when Mei realized that the Herrscher Infection that had spread throughout Alex's body in the real world was because Hellmaru was trying to fully possess it as its vessel.

"A-Alex! You need to run now!" Shouted Mei who turned her attention towards the boy.

Alex though didn't listen, as he immediately noticed Mei's grave mistake.

"M-Mei don't turn your back on the ene-!" He was saying but it was too late.

Mei had left her back fully exposed to harsh and deep slash from Hellmaru's large and sharp claws.

As Mei slowly fell to the ground from the impact, the golden pendant that was around her neck, which she had gotten from the white haired girl, had come off from the attack as it was sent into the air.

The girl finally fell to the ground, no longer in any condition to fight as Hellmaru basked in its inevitable victory.

"All that for naught. I win!" It said, beginning to charge up another fireball aimed directly at Alex and Yae.

"M-Mei! Shit. Dammit!" Was all Alex could say as he held Yae close and closed his eyes, once again ready for the worst.

Hellmaru let the fireball lose, once again immediately rocketing towards Alex and Yae.

Then, the noise of the fireball colliding with something was heard, however Alex didn't feel anything, so he opened his eyes to see what had happened.

The cross, the golden pendant that had been sent into the air, came down in front of Alex right when the fireball came at them, as the pendant had emitted a barrier, protecting the two.

Alex and Mei looked on in shock of what the pendant just did, while Hellmaru growled, being in complete shock.

"No that's impossible! How can SHE, of all people be here again!? I killed her in the previous world! UGH! You will NOT ruin my plans again! Not while I'm this close to claiming their souls and body! Why!? Why must YOU still keep fighting me after 500 years!? The vile humans you fight to protect, are foup ingrates that executed you for protecting them from me! You should hate them! HATE THEM!" Shouted Hellmaru.

Within the barrier, Alex turned to see that Yae had not only woken up, but now she was back to her normal adult self.

"Y-Yae you're bac-."

Alex stooped himself from speaking as he noticed Yae examining the gold pendant in her hands, tears falling down her face.

"Y-You, actually stayed here. You, came to save me again." Said Yae.

A tear fell onto the pendant, as it began to emit a very bright shine, causing Alex to cover his eyes from blindness.

When he uncovered them, he found himself in a bright white void.

"Christ almighty just where the hell am I now?" He asked, kinda getting fed up with all that has been happening recently.

"Finally, we meet at last." Said a voice.

Alex looked around for a bit, before he eventually found the source of the voice.

It was a girl.

"Uh, hi? Who are you?" Asked Alex.

"I'm Kallen. Kallen Kaslana."

Chapter 7: Complete