The Twilight of Death Verse

Glaring at Caine, Cyrrus Crystl moves away from G who is about to fight against Voix in his full form. Caine then leaves his father’s side to take on Crystl in a death match. Noiricca and his stuffed panda, Night Terror, get inside the castle of Caine. Reaching the throne room, the innocent nurse decides to walk towards the throne and sit on it. However, she is blocked by three of Caine’s Ten Crusaders.

“Who said you could sit on our king’s throne?”

“Yeah, only the son of god can sit on the throne!”

“We haven’t seen you around, are you delicious?”

“Lava,” Apathetic, Noiricca brings out her Injection Blade and literally injects something into the floor, “Eruption.” The entire castle explodes and crumbles into the ground in burning red flames leaving a lake of fire.

“What the fuck have you created?” Voix feels it. The attack alone can be felt throughout Death Verse.

“I created,” G gently smiles like it is nothing, “the greatest nightmare~”

Seeing his castle crumble down and feeling the earth shaking, Caine pours his wrath onto Crystl who seems to be prepared to leave no trace of him behind.

“You destroyed my castle!” Caine’s huge fists turn into steel as he fires at Crystl a flurry of punches. “You will pay for destroying my castle!”

Full on hatred mode, Crystl easily avoids the attacks thrown at him, “Just shut up and fight me, gorilla!”

Emerging from the lake of fire, Noiricca and Night Terror, the stuffed toy turned monster, march toward the army of cannibals. “I was meaning to sit on that chair…”

Chapter 3: CRYSTL VERSUS CAINE

Crystl wipes a few drops of his blood off his mouth. Apparently, Caine is able to give him a good punch on the face.

“You may have underestimated me when we first fought,” Caine swings his swords like a master swordsman. “Who knew that your Master Condy was this skilled in swordsmanship?”

“That was Crystl’s master. I am Cyrrus Crystl,” he turned his arms and legs into blades. “Let me show you a true swords master.”

“After you,” Caine braces for impact as he charges at him again at full speed.

They clash blades against each other with Crystl gaining the most hits because of his nimbleness and small body stature. However, even if Caine is hit, his huge and tough body withstands the harsh slashes from his attacker. And then, out of nowhere, Caine delivers another massive fist to Crystl’s chest throwing him off into the distance.

Landing on his feet, Crystl notices some dents on his arm when he blocked Caine’s attack, “I must say that you’ve gained a lot of weight. Binge eating lately perhaps?”

“Yeah, who knew that cannibals have gifts like we do?” Caine grins, “I might’ve eaten enjoyed a variety of them when they entered my stomach.”

“Yeah, who knew that you would sink lower to the level of a germ… a cannibal germ…?” Crystl mocks him. “Your mother taught that you could still be saved that was why she ordered us not to kill you.”

“I don’t need her protection,” Caine approaches Crystl.

“I know that,” he fully repairs his dented arm. “What you need is a coffin and a funeral service. I will not bring back to your mommy alive.”

“Yeah fuck you Crystl!”

“I’m Cyrrus Crystl, bitch!”

Meanwhile, G notices that his finger has blood on it. “We’ve been fighting for a while now and you’ve only managed to wound my pinky finger. Are you sure you’re at full strength?”

“You still have time to spout your nonsense when you haven’t even landed a single hit on me,” Voix boastfully dusts off some dirt on his shoulders. “Now you should be afraid of me…”

“Wait a minute, I finally found out why it is like this,” G heals his wound. “This actually an ingrown… I nail-bite sometimes. It only means one thing, you can’t even put dirt to me as I did to you.”

“I’LL KILL YOU, XEEL!”

“Yeah,” G licks his lips. “After you~”

A couple of explosions on one side, and a couple on the other side, Crystl feels the need to reevaluate the situation because it seems like the monster Caine is actually super-powered. The cannibal god gained a lot of skills from eating cannibals. Technically, it seemed like they are mostly equal in power as of the moment.

“…and when I eat you,” Caine swings his massive fists at Crystl who seems to be able to dodge it, “you’ll be together with your master Condy in my belly!”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening,” Crystl turns his leg into a gigantic pillar and hits Caine in the head.

The force of Crystl’s kick sends Caine backwards. However, using his feet to cause friction to prevent him from being pushed further, Caine grows a pair of wings and zooms towards Crystl. He then grew horns in an attempt to gore him just like a bull or a rhino does to its victim. However, very agile, Crystl moves out of the way. Unfortunately, the force created by Caine’s acceleration causes Crystl to get caught up in the airstream receiving some damage and is thrown off balance.

With a massive stomp, Caine hits a sudden stop and then turning his right arm into that of a massive baseball bat-like weapon made of wood and swings it hard hitting Crystl in the back. The force generated by that impact created a sonic boom as Crystl crashes into a nearby mountain destroying it in the process. Buried by debris, Crystl remains there to think of his next move. Clearly, Caine has the advantage because of his experience, skills, and evolution due to his cannibalism.

“Have you decided to tuck your tail in between your legs?” Caine taunts him. “Is this your limit, Crystl?!”

“I don’t have to answer,” Crystl thinks. “I kind of want to use the eternal weapon but it feels like I’m going to cheat if I do that…”

Caine calls out one more time, “If you don’t want me to obliterate that mountain-”

“Here goes,” Crystl finally makes a decision to come out. “The way you are now, you are using others’ powers just to beat me like this. So if I have to fight you, I’ll need an equalizer… or better yet, something better.”

“Are you saying that you have not yet shown your true power?!”

“Trinity-X-Calibur,” Crystl invokes the name of the eternal weapon. “It’s not fair that you have to rely on the powers of the others to fight me this is why I’m going to borrow the power from this weapon. I hope this is nothing personal…”

“Are you fucking with me?!” Caine backs off, “You are basically the one who is cheating!”

“Just as I suspected,” Crystl examines the eternal weapon, “this sword is way stronger than one of us. I also don’t see the point in using a weapon since I am a weapon myself. That said, I’m not going to use this on you… this is just me telling you that I am way stronger than this sword.”

“Your arrogance will be your end, you bastard,” Caine waits for him to take the eternal weapon away.

“I’m telling you the facts,” Crystl recalls the eternal weapon back. “I will show you my true power... the power that broke through your father’s attempts into brainwashing me.”

“What are you saying?!”

“When I overpowered you before,” Crystl makes him recollect the expedition, “after I awakened this power, your father thought of you as useless because I easily defeated you and he actually abandoned you. He abandoned you and tried to brainwash me to replace you.”

“You’re lying!”

“If I’m lying, how come your dear old dad got that slowly healing wound?” Crystl reveals to him everything. “A Supreme Being can heal any wound he receives, right? Unfortunately, it does not apply to wounds acquired from breaking the Rules of the Supreme Beings.”

“Father told me that he erased your memories as punishment for what you did to me!”

“I don’t recall being punished,” he replied. “I recalled waking up in a wonderful room with the princess watching over me and your father making sure that his attempt worked. Of course, it failed, I broke his attack with only my memories getting erased.”

“That’s not true,” Caine grips his own head. “You are lying!”

“I wonder if the brainwashing worked,” Crystl slowly breaks him from the inside by telling him the truth. “I could’ve become the next Voix… instead of you. Your father will do everything for power and you, me, and everyone else who believed in him is just a pawn to his schemes. Trust me because he did the same to me.”

Meanwhile, at the boundary between the fourth and fifth layer, the reapers are overwhelmed to see a sea of cannibals from the fifth layer marching towards the fourth layer where they are.

“This would be the best time to give a heartwarming speech,” Afel puts his hand on Princess Darling’s shoulder. “All of the reapers feel great anxiety by just looking at the army of cannibals.”

“I am overwhelmed myself,” the princess feels her heart beating fast. “I haven’t seen anything like this my entire life…”

“You have already,” Afel reminds her of her race. “You are gods of death. One way or another, you’ve seen wars happen in the mortal worlds as you collect their souls, right? A princess had to go out in the field sometimes…”

“Yes I did see wars, but this is different,” Princess Darling looks at her own race behind her. “I’m going to see them die in front of me… my own race.”

“Then don’t you ever let that happen,” Tydon moves to the front. “Tell them to survive, give them hope, and don’t let them see you lose hope.”

“You’ve got me by your side, beshie~,” Jet (the gay best friend of the princess FYI) empowers her. “Three god slayers in the front lines and the eight knights protecting the inner layers, what could go wrong!”

“Not to mention these sleep beings willing to help us,” Livanne glances at her with an unyielding smile. “The criminals are also willing to defend their homes.”

“What are you waiting for, princess,” Etherio summons his undead stallion and rides it. “Do you still want to hear the words from the eight knights?”

“I can’t fight your majesty, but I will be your second brain,” Index disappears and creates a link for the three slayers and the eight knights. “Now, have you gained confidence? Let me link you to all the minds of all of your allies.”

“I can’t believe that sleep beings as scary as you are can act like this,” Princess Darling faces her people. “FELLOW CITIZENS OF DEATH VERSE, REAPERS AND CRIMINALS ALIKE, THIS IS MY FIRST TIME DOING THIS BUT I NEED YOU TO FIGHT FOR OUR UNIVERSE. IT MAY BE SCARY, I KNOW… I’M SCARED TOO, BUT WE CAN’T LET THEM WIN EITHER. IT IS SELFISH ENOUGH FOR ME TO ASK THIS BUT… I HAVE TO. LIVE AND DIE FOR OUR UNIVERSE! RAISE YOUR CHINS, DON’T FEAR BECAUSE WHETHER WE WIN OR LOSE, WE’LL DO IT TOGETHER!”

A loud roar echoes throughout the fourth layer, third layer, second layer, first layer, and the Death Kingdom. Even though it was naively done by the princess, her words emanated within the hearts of the reapers and the criminals. They felt the anxiety of the princess, anxiety that they all felt. They saw the princess in a new light… at their own level. She may be the princess, but she is still one of them… she is still a part of Death Verse. The reapers and the criminals march to face the cannibals in an epic battle of… shit, I don’t know… bad versus evil… or something along those lines?

“Your speech was much more impressive, your highness,” Index compliments her. “G’s speeches sucked…”

“Thanks for the confidence boost,” Princess Darling anxiously takes deep breaths.

“Now then, let us put your focus back to the war,” Index grins. “It’s game time~”

With all remaining cannibal soldiers surrounding Noiricca decimated or worse eaten by Night Terror, a mysterious figure appears from the thick smoke.

“Bravo,” Huryken Sabeastin claps as he approaches Noiricca and Night Terror. This time, it seems like he has been cannibalizing himself because of his monstrous appearance. “You have completely destroyed the castle that houses the universe’s core. Amazing isn’t it, the heart of this universe that only the Supreme Beings can control. It will bear witness to your death at my hands.”

He blows off the fire with his newfound power and reveals to her the spherical jewel-like orb attached to the edge of the ninth layer, the ground they are standing in.

Noiricca just stares at the core giving zero fucks about it and instead asks, “the fire… why did you put it out?”

“Huh,” Sabeastin gets annoyed. “I’m not sure if I heard you right. But I haven’t introduced myself yet, I am the butler of Lord Voix who specializes in plants-”

“I don’t care,” Noiricca heartlessly brings out her Injection Blade and swings it at Sabeastin without warning. “I was somehow enjoying the fire.”

Sabeastin crashes through the ragged rubbles and ends up in a standing wall of the castle that once stood. However, he immediately gets back up and charges towards Noiricca. Night Terror just eats the carcasses of the dead cannibals.

“You do not observe any form of etiquette,” Sabeastin impales Noiricca with his roots… but she evades. “Have you no shame, have you no decency?!”

“I do know that,” she sighs. “However in battles like this, shame and decency are not important. The only thing important right now is a way to end this…”

“This will end with your death!” he strikes again, this time, with thorny vine whips… but she still avoids the attack.

“It ends with yours.” Noiricca injects the ground underneath Sabeastin, “Toxin Burst…”

“Be reasonable and stop attacking me,” Crystl dodges more of Caine’s flurry of attacks. “Your attacks are out of sync!”

“I DON’T BELIEVE YOU!”

“I didn’t ask you to believe me!” Crystl turns his left arm into a hydraulic pressing pillar to pin the prince on the ground. “I asked you to trust me!”

The prince stops struggling to break free, “…”

“Let’s go ask your father,” Crystl releases him from being pinned. “But I am warning you, if you throw away my kindness, I’ll use Trinity-X-Calibur to finish you off.”

“I GOT IT,” Caine gets back up, “LET’S ASK HIM…”

“You know I hated you for everything that had happened to me,” Crystl points to Caine the area where G and Voix are fighting, “but I realized that you were being manipulated.”

“YOUR CLAIMS REMAINS TO BE SEEN,” he turns to where the two Supreme Beings are.

“Your father won’t be hiding things anymore,” Crystl prepares to fly off, “he’s got all of his powers back.”

“Is mother still alive?”

“You should thank G. He prevented her from dying while extracting Voix’s other half. In truth, your mother requested me to keep you alive that’s why I did not bother to use the eternal weapon on you. Your mother loves you, prince. You should be aware of that despite your shortcomings.”

“I’ll take that in mind…”