Grimmora became nothing but a shell of its former self.

Perhaps it was the absence of someone out there watching and hoping for some order. Shi Hon could've been cited as an oddity, for that matter, as most demons would describe themselves as rather chaotic.

Then, one could consider there must've been some peace in that chaos. It first started with all the taller towers coming undone, transforming the general cave area into one massive battlefield.

Structures crafted into the sides of the walls became larger and cramped, serving as dull resting space, with others being repurposed into something resembling those old barracks of Osmania.

It was the Bakus and Belials out there, battling against the invisible tide. Rusty swords in hand, they kept clashing against each other, seemingly passing from a few words that they were constantly getting stronger.

Imps flew in to distract, while also serving as those who dropped various items into the game. Lisbeth summoned Mares to serve as the common enemy for a few, and a way for some of those smarter Belials to figure out a way to craft better armour, atop the Legion made out of her and Leiru, who constantly overwatched the preparations.

There was only one goal this time. To prepare, to make sure everything would see to the very end, whatever it was supposed to be.

Magic appeared in a few of those solemn soldiers. Humans seldom appeared as another reason for them to keep struggling, receiving scars that would prove their abilities.

Leiru only smiled in turn.

"Sir Leiru," Lisbeth muttered, standing behind the few stones that could've been considered his throne.

"Yes, Lisbeth."

"Our attempts at locating Aishao turned futile, once more." she bowed. "I'm sincerely sorry."

"No need to be. You see the bloody thing for yourself, don't you, dear demoness?" he reached his hand out, proudly presenting what was described.

It was then and there that the clangs of the weapons thrashes and alike came flying to the muffles that earlier invaded her mind. A few figures stuck out amongst others. Bunmo and Tabus wrecked the weaker with their weapons, while some sat in the back, simply observing.

"We don't need their kindness, I could say. All things in life go in certain, unpredictable ways. We have our army now."

"Isak isn't here. I can't find Leopold either." she shook her head.

"It doesn't matter, as I said."

"Yes, but-"

"Do you doubt it?" Leiru quickly turned, as Lisbeth took a nervous step back. "After all we've been through? After everything we already managed to accomplish without them back then?" he smiled. "Lisbeth, there's no need for cowardice anymore."

The demoness breathed out.

"No one will dare to stand in our way."

Down there, away from the battlefield, two figures rested. Rottwan overlooked everything that occurred with both hands crossed. A smile seldom appeared, with his eyes then drifting towards the older man, as if waiting for his response.

Axel, however, left much to chance, in a strange way. The hours sat here in silence from both ends seemed almost a mark in the idea of humanity invading the spaces that demons created.

One such occurred then, which made Rottwan breathe out and chuckle again.

"You see that, don't ya Axel?" he pointed.

The Wise slowly raised his head, as one eye focused on a silhouette bouncing through the crowds, slashing enemies with a murderous pupil tracing each move. One swing of the chain moved a good chunk away, before blood spilt and coated their already stained clothes.

"It's a human. One of those weaklings that Shi Hon saved."

"Weaklings wouldn't be the right word if he's killing your army." Axel nodded.

"Not killing. Just clearing the debris out of the way for those stronger demons to make their presence. It's like with Demonears, isn't it? The weaker ones get thrown into the tornadoes, spinning out of orbit and never coming back to face the idea again. Otherwise, left for slaughter, and those few stronger ones would end up like you. Weaponless, without a way to fight back."

Axel chuckled, shaking his head. "I'm glad that's what you see, then. You doubting all of my actions only proved that you haven't learned a thing in the last forty years."

"No, I know, Axel." Rottwan shook his head. "I'm just waiting for it to all pan out. I know you'll find a way to outsmart me once more, and third time's the charmer."

"The best course of action would be to kill me, but you're hesitating, for whatever reason. Did the Cruel Rottwan grow a spine there?" he laughed. "Doubt it. You'd die too if you tried."

Rottwan squinted his eyes.

"Even if my weapon's out there, stashed in whatever Bancho could hide before his death, its curse still rests and connects our soul. Just like in Ascord. It's like there's no way out of this conflict."

"I assure you, Axel. Once Leiru gets the ball rolling, you'll see who has the real strength there. Maybe we'll both die for the right thing on the battlefield. We're not friends, and we'll never be."

"I know." Axel shrugged. "Just thought it'd be easier to pass some time thinking about that. You're on the demon's side, and I've always stood by humans. I'm the Wise, after all, and we don't die without purpose."

"Heh." Rottwan shook his head. "Right on the Silver."

***

On another day when training occurred, Jyuzou and Rejire found themselves in the same forest as beforehand.

"Okay, so there's a few things I still don't get. How do Fishmen even become a thing in the first place?" Jyuzou asked, putting his hands out in the front while the Melodian followed with a strange expression. "I have one conclusion, and I learned the word breeding a few days back. Don't make me say it though, Rejire..."

"I wonder too, in all honesty." Rejire scratched his head. "Melodians are born from fishfolk parents, but heading into the origin would be a whole other can of worms that the world can't answer." he scratched his hands.

"I mean I read a lot of books about this world and there seems to be this gap where a lot of things appeared without an explanation."

"S-Same thing could be said about those dark deformities."

"Really?" Jyuzou turned, stopping, putting a finger next to his mouth.

"Just like Melodians. Appeared after the second war without much of an explanation. All we know is that they're never friendly, and seemingly respond to demon's calls."

"That puts some spikes and holes in my theory," Jyuzou uttered, as the two reached a clearing, with a few wolves howling. "You said that Sabeline is Zack's pet, eh?"

"Seems like it." Rejire brushed some sweat off his forehead.

"Then again-" Jyuzou took his spear out, as the mentioned wolf came flying from the right. One tap against the grass created a big enough gust to chuck it away. "That snish mix Kithanth trusted me enough to fly me back to Saphrith. Granted, It was maimed by the Devil's Leaf, but I doubt it takes any folk to that. Honestly, it didn't trust Morio even if he tried stepping in." he shook his head.

"Hey, maybe you're something special to them?"

"Oh, stop that." Jyuzou rolled his eyes. "You said it yourself. Zack's test is sending out Sabeline against all new Demonears. You had the same experience, didn't you?"

"Right. I-It was more of a scare than a direct attack, though." He scratched his hands.

"That wouldn't prove anything, then." Jyuzou rolled his eyes. "Shin, why can't all animals be as simple as fish?" he pointed to the lake, with his gaze slowly drifting up to Rejire. "You know what I mean!"

"A lot?" The Melodian crouched near the lake, putting his light blue hand right beneath the thin surface. A few birds flew away, then and there, leaving the two with some silence. "A simple fish, but with some story, that's for sure."

"R-Right." Jyuzou fixed his glasses. "I never got to ask why you became a Demonear."

"L-Let's just say, it's a story for later." Rejire stood up. "Why do you fight, for example?"

"A good part of that is to see things like these. Eleven-year-old me would have never even fathomed being in Malikan by his lonesome."

"I'm guessing there's more to it, of course."

"Y-Yes." Jyuzou glanced away.

"Don't blame the world for making itself complicated. It's all just... holes. One after another. Guess we should be thankful we didn't fall into too many."

"Man. You're contributing to the problem."

Rejire giggled before a growl echoed through the forest.

Jyuzou turned to the source of the sound with a gulp. The fishman took an instinctive step back, clenching his fist and furrowing one brow.

"Damn it," Rejire uttered. "Again?"

"Dark deformities are usually the persistent bunch." Jyuzou readied his spear, pointing forward.

"Y-Yeah. Thought this would be different, though." Rejire breathed out.

"What do you mean?" Jyuzou quickly turned. "You said-"

Out of the blue, the creature leapt above the trees, zooming in on Jyuzou. Rejire's eyes widened, with a scream following suit. Raising his hand, the mace spun around its axis, but the fire only graced its fur before disappearing.

The spear wasn't enough to hold it back either. The discs zoomed out, before flying off with their own winds and striking at the trees instead.

"J-Jyuzou!" Rejire screamed out, running, as Sabeline pinned Jyuzou to the ground, biting. The Morian's yells reverberated gruesomely, but there was something in the air that stopped Rejire from taking another step.

Eyes were shrunken, fists were clenched and sharper teeth were ground. There was almost a move, but in the end, he couldn't do much.

Something out there forced him to wonder for a little longer.

Wonder couldn't have been the right word.

Maybe it was pure fear.

The trees that surrounded them weren't oaks, but conifers and Jyuzou was nowhere near a lake of water.

Unsurely spinning the mace, Rejire gulped through a gasp, before one final, cut-off scream alerted him to move into battle again with a yell of his own.

However, courage was stopped, there and then.

Zack came flying out from the other end of the copse, with his triple-sword in hand. Raising the weapon, he smashed its dull bits into the deformity's stomach, forcing it up and away from Jyuzou's body.

In the span of another second, greenery connected from the surrounding trees and formed crosses on the tip of the blades. With another hit and a knee, Rejire watched in shock as some blood spilt, and Sabeline ran away with another howl.

The fishman breathed heavily, putting his hands up to his face. Then, though, through the shadows once cast, Jyuzou's body was revealed.

He came unscathed.

The bite marks ended near the grasses that surrounded him, and the only things that coated his body were dirt and a few bruises.

Zack's brow tilted, and the smile he usually bore was gone. One glance at Rejire, and the fishman trembled, standing in place.

"I'm s-sorry, Jyuzou."

The Morian shared a similar tone of those weary breaths, but in the end, fixed his glasses with a sigh. Zack reached his hand out, and the Morian took it, raising himself up.

"I'm a-alright, thank you," Jyuzou muttered, nodding.

"In a bit of shock, then." Zack continued. "Why did you hesitate? You know you wouldn't kill it easily." he turned to Rejire.

"I don't know." the fishman spoke through a gulp. "I'm sorry."

"High time you stop hanging around the other Demonears and put some work into your own game." Zack stuffed a couple of papers further into his pockets. "You, Winter. Take it easy for today, eh?" He put his hand on his shoulder.

Jyuzou nodded. "B-But don't blame Rejire, Sir."

"Hm?"

"He protected me from the danger back then."

"The danger," Zack repeated, glancing back at Rejire.

Well, he would have been, if the fishman hadn't already disappeared, with a few footsteps shuffling across the forests. Other Demonears came to observe, before Zack sighed out, pointing Jyuzou to the exit.

***

The halls were as quiet as ever, spare for a few of the Royals in the outer halls near the lower levels. From that point onwards, everything resembled the peace a lot strived for these days.

The King was sitting in his room, either sleeping it off or watching the rain through the windowsills while taking care of some of the work given by Xard. The mentioned right hand was all around the place, as per usual, and moving towards the common areas a few stairs away, Kania passed by the man.

"You're back." Xard stopped in his step, adjusting his glasses, putting one hand on the railing that separated the stairs down and those circular ones moving up.

"Yep. Plague as good as ever." he chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, blast it, Kania. The king's been worried sick." he sighed. "He kept dibs on the situation, but either way, it looked really bad back then. We didn't think you'd make it for a second."

"I know, been told the same thing all over again and that's it's a miracle my eye survived the strike," Kania added. "Worried though, is a little too much. I make it out of anything." He clicked his tongue.

Xard sighed. "Well, it'd at least be kind if you thanked Bartholomew and Patrick. I know you're not the best of friends, but they're the reason you're here." he pointed out. "I have a few more things to get to, so if you'll excuse me..."

Trying to slide right past the Haran, Kania raised his voice. "They're the reason why I got bloody in the first place."

Xard stopped for a second, without looking back.

"Ya didn't know the ebb to judge it."

"Fine, then. Do whatever fits you."

"Would've done it anyway." Kania adjusted his cast, before treading up the stairs.