In response to his fierce will, the bright light exploded into a pillar that rose up into the sky. After a moment, the pillar dissipated and revealed Alex.
His left hand that behind his back spun around his sword which emitted a reddish hue as sparks of fire crackled around it.
His right hand emitted a bright glow as in front of it hovering and spinning around in circles was a second sword.
This sword had a red blade with a silver-ish white edge and a red handle.
His appearance didn't change at all aside from the fact that Alex's body gave off a white aura around him with a yellow hue.
The CPUs looked at him with widened eyes after his transformation.
"W-What is that form?" Asked Black Sister?
"Honestly, I don't know what it's called. I wasn't told." Said Alex before naming it himself. "I'll call it, Master Form." He said as he stared down the Deity of Sin.
"Master Form? Do you know what that is?" Added White Sister Ram as she turned her head to look at Blanc.
"I'm certain none of us know what this power is, but it certainly looks powerful." Said Vert while looking at Alex with slight shock.
"Nepgear..."
"Eh?"
Upon hearing the young boy calling her name, Planeptune's CPU Candidate snapped out of her shock and looked at him.
"Hurry up and get them out of here already."
"But what about you?"
After hearing Purple Sister's question, Alex turned his head to look at her over his shoulder.
"I'll be fine. I'm here to kick ass, not to lose."
Planeptune's CPU Candidate looked at Alex for a moment or two while thinking what to do. At first she wasn't sure about following his plan because he'd end up having to deal with the Deity of Sin by himself, but after witnessing his overwhelming victory over the felons and this new form, Purple Sister felt a lot more confident about the young boy's chances.
She nodded in agreement with him and went back to help Vert get up.
"We'll be back soon! Please just try to hold on!" She said before leaving along with the other CPU Candidates, who helped their respective elder sisters get away.
Alex watched them get away for a moment before turning his head again to look at Arfoire.
"All right, now that that's out of the way...Time to deal with you."
BGM: A Fight To The Death
"That power…It won't change a thing...I will not lose…I will destroy everything..."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!"
A moment of silence ensued before both of them dashed forward at full speed and began fighting it out.
Their weapons clashed hundreds of times as Arfoire would spin her twinblade around to attack Alex with both red blades without stopping as he would constantly keep them at bay by parrying or blocking.
After a few more moments of attacking the same way, Arfoire decided to change her strategy and fly up into the air as she had her hand raised. Within her palm, there was a sphere of black energy forming on her palm.
"This will be it…!" She said before aiming at him with her palm and causing the black sphere to be shot towards Alex.
The young man wasn't even fazed as he grabbed the hovering sword and raised both swords at Arfoire.
"Firaga!" He yelled as both sword ejected massive and powerful fireballs as the attack flew and crashed against the dark sphere, causing both powers to clash and struggle for a bit before exploding in midair and producing a large cloud of smoke.
Among it, both fighters dashed forward into the darkness and clashed their weapons once more, creating a shock wave that dispersed the smoke away.
At that moment, another barrage of attacks began as both of them dashed and clashed against each other countless times. After a few moments, Alex's attacks were finally starting to hit the mark, but so were Arfoire's.
"Impossible...how can this be…!?" Said the bloodied Deity of Sin. "No...I refuse to accept this….I won't accept it...!"
She then dashed forward with her weapon fully charged by a dark aura. In response Alex coated both swords in flames as he dashed towards the Deity of Sin, fully intent on this being the final clash.
Both weapons, fully charged with the power of their wielders, clashed, creating a shock wave.
They struggled with all of their strength for a moment or two before Alex to catch Arfoire off guard.
"Fire!"
Instead of a fireball being shot from his swords, this time six large fireballs suddenly emerged and circled around Alex.
All six of the fireballs would hit Arfoire and burn her up.
"Burst!" Alex yelled as then, the six fireballs exploded causing a cloud of smoke to cover the area as the impact made Arfoire get ejected out of it.
When the Deity of Sin regained her balance and looked up, she suddenly saw two large massive flame wave slashes in an X shape split the cloud in half and come right at her but before Arfoire could do anything, she was hit.
"AAAAARRRRRGHHHH!"
Unable to withstand the pressure of Alex's last attack, the Deity of Sin got pushed all the way back as she was tripped and knocked down to the ground where she crashed like a meteorite as the slashes kept crushing her before destroying the ground and forming a large hole.
Unable to see if the Deity of Sin had been destroyed, Alex quickly approached the hole. He was beaten and bleeding from both the fight, but nonetheless it seemed as though he had won the fight.
BGM Ends Here
As if on cue, the boy reverted back to normal as Master Form went away along with the second sword.
The boy panted heavily and was about to turn and walk away until he heard something.
Something familiar.
The whistle.
The same whistle as the one from Planeptune.
Alex looked around and surely enough there he was.
The cloaked man stood at the crater where the Deity of Sin laid as he just stared at her, not even paying Alex any attention.
"To stand against an ancient, fallen CPU and win by yourself...I'm truly impressed dear boy. You are certainly one of a kind." He said with a calm tone.
Alex didn't say a thing as he simply kept looking at the cloaked figure.
"I thank you for doing your job. Now, it makes mine easier." Said the cloaked man as he pulled out two Sickles, one in each hand as it he struck down and slashed down at the Deity of Sin.
Arfoire gave out one final and weak cry before falling silent as the cloaked man simply chuckled.
"To think, the ASIC did all of this to revive their goddess, only for said goddess to not even last a day. How pitiful." He said before turning to seemingly face Alex. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Alex didn't answer his question as he continued to stare at the cloaked figure.
"What? Cat got your tongue? You look like you wanna take a shot at me. Go on. I ain't stopping you." He said.
The boy looked at his sword, uncertain if that was the best option, however when he looked up, he saw the cloaked figure already up in his face as he swing his Sickle, aiming at Alex's throat for the kill.
Alex jumped back at the Sickle managed graze the boy's forehead, leaving a cut.
Alex sat on the ground, panting heavily in a panicked state as blood slowly trickled down his face from the cut.
He didn't understand what this guy's deal was, but he just naturally gave off an intimidating and terrifying aura.
'W-Why the hell am I so scared of him!?' Thought Alex as the cloaked man simply laughed.
"Ouch. That was a close one. My apologies. I didn't mean to kill you right now. It isn't your time yet." Said the man as he turned around, walking away.
"T-Time? Are you, planning to kill me?" Asked Alex.
The cloaked figure stopped walking and stood silent for a while before answering.
"Death comes for everyone. Your time will come eventually. And, it'll be sooner than you realize. Till next time, Alex Mustang."
With that, the cloaked figure walked away, whistling that same song as it somehow echoed all around the Graveyard.
After a few moments of silence, the ground began to shake abruptly as it seemed like the Graveyard was reacting to the Arfoire's defeat.
Unfortunately, Alex couldn't move as he began to fully feel the extent of his wounds as his adrenaline had fully worn out.
'D-Dammit............not now. I need to, g-get back...................everyone's waiting..........f-for me.' Thought the young boy as he slowly forced himself back up to his feet.
The young boy then turned around and slowly walked towards the direction where Planeptune was.
With his profuse bleeding and exhaustion, every step felt heavier than the last one, and the numbness of his limbs only made it even worse.
Not able to walk any longer, the young boy fell down to the floor once again, but he then extended his arms and began dragging his body.
Alex refused to stop moving, he refused to give up. Even as his surroundings began to crumble down and the earth began to shatter, he would still keep moving.
He would return to the others, he would return to his home no matter what, even if he had to drag himself all the way back.
'Just a little more...Just a little more...I just need to keep moving...a little more!' Thought the young boy while leaving a trail of blood behind him.
"There he is! I found him!" Yelled a voice in the distance.
After hearing someone, Alex turned his head and saw Nepgear heading towards him back in her human form.
"Alex!" said the CPU with utter shock and widened eyes.
"Nepgear!"
After her, the other CPU Candidates ran towards them along with Vert, Blanc and Noire.
"Alex!" Said Uni and both twins in unison with shock equal to Nepgear.
"Damn it! This is why we told you not to fight her alone!" Added Noire with an a mixture of anger and worry.
Alex slowly looked at them before speaking.
"…I-I'm, sorry.............I just, had to do it alone."
"Everyone, we should hurry up." Said Planeptune's CPU Candidate while growing anxious at the sight of the ground a few feet from them cracking.
"Nepgear is right. It's probably just a matter of time before the entire graveyard sinks down to the bottom of the ocean and Alex here needs some serious medical assistance..." Said Vert while looking at the young boy before looking now at the other CPUs "All right, it seems we'll have to carry him if we wish to get him out of here alive."
"Seriously, you're such a troublesome kid sometimes" Said Lastation's CPU after sighing.
"Nepgear, you and Rom will have to use your healing skills while we carry him to keep his condition from getting any worse than this." Said Blanc.
"We'll do our best!" Said Nepgear after nodding.
"I won't let him die..." Added Rom with a determined look in her eyes. "Leave the healing to me...!"
"Well said...Now then. At the count of three."
The CPUs then turned Alex around and grabbed him carefully by the limbs. Noire and Blanc would lift his arms while Uni and Ram would handle the legs and Vert would handle the head and shoulders.
"One, two, three!" Said all the CPUs in unison while lifting the young boy off the ground.
The CPUs quickly ran away while carrying the young man and both Rom and Nepgear would try to heal them as best as they could. Slowly, he closed his eyes as his worn out body could handle no more.
[Meanwhile]
Outside the Graveyard, the sound of the crumbling ground and destruction in the distance caused Magic to wake up as she slowly opened her eyes and looked around her.
The leader of the ASIC saw she was moving, but she couldn't feel her legs moving. When looking down, she saw Underling was carrying her away from the graveyard.
"You?" She said weakly.
"Ah, Master Magic! You woke up!" Said Underling, who felt glad Magic didn't kick the bucket yet.
Turning her head around, Magic could see the graveyard crumbling down into the ocean. Seeing that scene gave her a sense of sadness and failure, but there was also something else within her mind.
If she was there right now, then that meant only one thing. Underling must have returned to the Graveyard and sneaked Magic out at some point during Alex's fight against Arfoire.
"Chu...This thing is really heavy-chu!" Said Warechu who was carrying Magic's scythe.
"Don't complain. at least we made it out alive." Replied the underling.
"You...Why did you help me?"
"Why? Well...I ain't really one for touchy crap or stuff like that, but I wouldn't just run away and leave you to die."
"Why?"
"Because….I think you're really badass, and I look up to you a lot." Admitted Underling. while blushing
Magic's eye widened for a moment. It seemed as thought her suspicions about the underling's feelings towards her were right after all, but she was more shocked at the fact that despite what Magic did to her, Underling still risked her life to save her.
"Young girl...what's your name?"
"Eh? Ah, it's Linda"
"I see…Thank you, Linda..."
The underling quickly turned her head to confirm if what she hear was not just an illusion, but after seeing Magic's expression, the underling knew it was real.
"W-Well, it's nothing really. I am your underling after all." She said while blushing with a smile.
While Linda carried her away from the graveyard, Magic began to understand a bit more why the other felons had developed different personalities.
'Emotions...Perhaps they aren't so bad after all…' Thought the woman while making a smile for the first time in her life.
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Chapter 47: Complete