Inside the ballroom…
Marachii, Luca, and Saori sat at a table inside the ballroom, watching intensely as the Hunted Team and Team S faced off.
"Look! Look!" Saori pointed out. "It's Mr. Dachii and the others!"
"Well, that's a wrap," Luca shrugged.
"What?" Marachii asked.
"They're probably going to lose this," Luca pointed out. "No chemistry, no General, and you're facing our three strongest members? If they draw it out, it's a win at this point."
"You do have a point," Marachii remarked. "But I have to root for my brother! After all, a win would probably boost his mood!"
"Yeah. It probably would."
Atomu came over to them. "Ahh, there you are. Where's Hikari?"
"She's outside with her family!" Saori answered. "The mean guards wouldn't let her in!"
"I see. Wait here, I'll deal with them."
As he left, he looked back at the screen one more time. "Just so you know, I hope Dachii wins too. Maybe it'll humble my sister a bit."
"Ha," Luca laughed. "If only."
Meanwhile, inside the factory…
Nishiyama, Dachii, and Tetsuya stood firm as Aoki, Tsugumi, and Arata sized them up.
"Three on three," Yorimoto realized. "You guys should have this in the bag!"
"You're not helping, old man?" Arata questioned.
"Of course not. My magic doesn't help me in combat. But that doesn't mean it can't help you."
He held out his hand, and a blue glow coated his teammates. "Upgrade Magic, activated."
Arata flexed his muscles in awe. "Woah, I feel much better!"
Tsugumi stretched her arm. "So do I."
Aoki turned toward Yoritomo. "What did you just do?"
"A simple upgrade! Now all your physical and magical attributes have a boost as long as I'm near! Go ahead and capture that prey!"
"Perfect," Aoki replied, taking the cage from him. "I'm sorry, Dachii. But I want to win."
"Win then," he said, without any enthusiasm.
As Aoki moved forward, a voice suddenly appeared in his head, which sounded awfully like Morino.
"Come on, don't you want to put her in her place? Give her the rematch she deserves!"
BOOM.
She threw a red card at him, but he grabbed Tetsuya and Nishiyama and got out of the way.
"Nishiyama, can you paralyze one of them?" Tetsuya asked.
"I've already got Fujii under lock!" she stated, pointing to Fujii, who was in the back, waving on his team, unable to move.
"Get 'em, guys!" he called out.
"I can only paralyze him, and I can't lose focus!" she continued. "Or it won't work!"
"There aren't any other moves you've got?" Tetsuya asked. "Something we can use?"
"I don't know!" she admitted. "Maybe I can paralyze their attacks! Here, just stay behind me!"
She released Fujii, just as Arata aimed a shockwave at them. "Die, mortals!"
BOOM.
Nishiyama stuck her hands out and managed to stop it in its tracks. "Ha! It worked! I'm still as awesome as ever!"
Aoki jumped up and kicked her in the face, causing her to slide back into Dachii, who caught her. "Ow! You stupid inhuman piece of s—-!"
"BLINK!"
Aoki threw a white card at the three, but Dachii covered his eyes in time, allowing him to pull his team away from her blade strike.
"Dachii…" Tetsuya groaned. "Please tell me you're stronger than her now."
"Nope," Dachii said.
"Well, do you know how to beat her?"
"Nope."
Nishiyama, barely recovering her vision, clung to his arm. "We need your help to win, Dachii, whatever you try, we'll try too!"
"Uh, wait," Tetsuya interrupted. "Now ANYTHING is a stretch, but I'm sure we can think of a good plan—-!"
Dachii's mind was clouded from the noise, and while he was distracted, in his thoughts, Aoki threw the cage at him.
Meanwhile, in another part of the factory…
Kiyota landed on a bridge that was hanging over multiple furnaces. "Ow, my back…"
Akari gracefully dropped to the edge of the bridge. "Good, you're down. Now stay there until the game ends, for your own safety."
"Shut the hell up!"
He blasted her with a comet, but she easily destroyed it with a blast of her own. Kiyota quickly got to his feet, rushing at her as fast as he could.
"Scumbag—-!"
Akari backhanded him without even looking, causing him to fall to the floor again. "That's enough."
"I'll show you enough, you ugly princess reject! Look at you! You already look like you're on the verge of death, with your stupid face and all, so how about I make it reality? You look just like your sister did when she—-!"
In an instant, she was grabbing him by his neck, her eyes glowing white. "Stop. Talking."
"Stupid little girl," Kiyota mocked. "If you were actually as smart as you claim, I only brought you here to distract you."
"What?"
"Wait for it…"
BOOM.
The entire factory shook, and Kiyota began to laugh like a maniac. "Hahaha! HA, HA, HA!"
Akari immediately tossed him aside and rushed back as fast as she could to her teammates, jumping through the hole in the wall she made.
"Run, run, run, little girl," Kiyota taunted. "We're not losing this game."
Seconds ago…
Dachii watched as the cage began to surround him, and he became lost in his own mind again.
"Yay. We lost."
Suddenly, everything went dark, and a version of Morino appeared before him. "You're giving up? How weak can you be? After everything I've done for you? After all the stops I made to ensure you survive?"
"What? Morino?"
The Morino got up, his face inches from Dachii. He walked around him, a disapproving look on his face.
"The world is harsh, unforgiving, and cruel. Friends mock you, they humiliate you. Enemies try to capture you, to kill you, and your family is now broken because you wanted to see the world in a black and white lens. That's your problem. It's time to GROW UP."
Before Dachii could speak, the Morino returned to his chair. "Isn't the first time we've spoken, and it won't be the last. Handle your business, HUMAN. Or is that not what you are?"
That word seemed to suddenly jolt Dachii, and as soon as clarity returned to his vision, he aimed his hand at the cage about to trap him…
…and his hand turned into a black hole, destroying it instantly.
BOOM.
"EVENT HORIZON!"
The force knocked everyone back as the factory began to crumble. Everyone grabbed a piece of object to hold onto as Dachii's power started sucking in everything around him.
"Dachii!" Nishiyama called out.
"The cage! Aww, damn it, the cage!" Arata moaned.
"That's what you're worried about?" Tsugumi asked. "What about our friend?"
"Oh. Him too, I guess."
"Shit," Fujii thought. "Not again, not again!"
Yoritomo had to dodge a barrage of debris as he clung to a conveyor belt. "What's going on with him?"
Fujii prepared his katana. "Everyone, stay back!"
Akari burst into the room, nearly getting crushed by a large gas container. "Dachii! Hey! Please stop!"
The entire factory began to fall apart, and Dachii didn't seem to be paying attention, a determined look on his face. "I'm not losing this. I refuse."
Aoki used all her energy to summon a blue card in her hands, and then she threw it at Dachii, causing the entire remains of the factory to be engulfed in smoke.
Meanwhile, nearby…
A couple of blocks away, Noriko ran as fast as she could towards the evident destruction in the distance, nearly out of breath.
"Hang on, guys! I'm coming, I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm coming!"
She accidentally tripped over a curb, and once she got up, she noticed Toru standing over her, disappointed.
"What will I do with you, girl?"
"General Toru! I thought you were fighting General Shinjii!"
Toru picked her up. "I was. And then just like you and I, he noticed the destruction in the distance and headed there instead."
"Do you think that's Dachii?" she asked.
"Likely," Toru agreed. "He's most assuredly in a duel with Team S as we speak. We should hurry, lest we lose."
They both ran toward the wreckage, and they saw many other teams, including Himeka's, Nakada's, and Shinjii's, all heading toward the source as well.
Once the smoke cleared at the factory, everyone present saw Dachii, looking at his hands and shaking, almost unreadable.
"No…no…no…"
His power suddenly returned to normal. "It's been six months, why now? Why here?"
Nishiyama quickly got up and threw her arms around him. "Hey, are you alright?"
"Sorry, sorry. I'm fine."
"Should we end the game?" Nishiyama wondered.
"No, not when we're this close!" Tetsuya insisted. "We still have a chance!"
"Yeah!" Arata demanded. "Let's finish this!"
"Wait!" Yoritomo interrupted. "It might be dangerous!"
Arata charged right at Dachii, preparing to hit him with a shockwave. Dachii shook himself and prepared to counter his attack, but suddenly…
…something else came.
"What the—?"
Dachii got tackled to the ground by an unseen force, and when he got up, he was quickly surrounded by robed individuals who pinned him down.
"Destroyer…"
"What is that?" Tetsuya asked. "Is that part of the game?"
"No, of course not!" Yoritomo answered. "There's never been any outside forces!"
"Who the hell are they?" Arata questioned.
"Destroyer…!" the figures chanted, all leaping on Dachii and pulling him away.
"Don't worry about who they are!" Akari exclaimed. "Help him!"
She fired off an energy blast at the attackers, but they seemed to "shift" positions, and soon they were on top of a roof, where another robed individual was standing, Dachii in hand.
"Come with me, boy," the leader spoke. "Come to the Hallowed."
"The Hallowed?" Dachii inquired.
Fujii quickly appeared, attempting to slash the attackers, but they shifted positions again, now on top of another roof.
"Are they using magic?" Fujii thought. "These guys aren't part of the Order! Who are they?"
Aoki jumped on top of the roof, slicing a few in the neck before extending her hand out to Dachii. "Here, take my hand!"
"Aoki, these guys…just leave me…"
"Shut up and take my hand, damn it!"
The ones that got sliced in the neck got back up, all before they moved positions once more, now suddenly on the ground.
"Come on, Tetsuya!" Nishiyama called out. "This isn't a game anymore! They're tryna kidnap him!"
"Right, right!" he agreed.
They got up and ran after the men, but Tetsuya accidentally bumped into Tsugumi, causing them to both trip and fall.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" Tsugumi yelled. "I'm trying to save my friend!"
"He's my friend too, don't act all high and mighty!" Tetsuya clarified.
"Now is not the time, you two!" Nishiyama pleaded. "Look!"
One of the men clasped his hands together and started chanting something unrecognizable, which caused the ground to start to shake.
"Take us to the Hallowed Land," he declared.
Nishiyama used her magic to paralyze him, but the leader blasted her with an unknown form of magic, causing her to lose her breath.
"My lungs…" she coughed.
Akari jumped over everyone else and fired a powerful blast of energy into the crowd of cultists, causing them all to disperse and fall to the ground.
"Where's Dachii, where's Dachii?" she searched.
The leader of the cultists grabbed her shoulder just as she spun around to punch him, but as soon as he touched her, she felt her power leaving her.
"Powerful magic inside you…" he noted. "Must be of royal blood…"
With a bat of his hand, she was knocked back, and the ground beneath him opened, revealing a land deep below the surface.
"What is that?" Nishiyama exclaimed.
The cultists all jumped in one by one, and before Fujii could stop him, their leader jumped in as well, with Dachii in his hands.
And then the gate closed.
Moments after, Toru, Noriko, and the other Generals and their respective teams arrived at the scene.
"What happened?" Toru asked.
"Where's Dachii?" Nakada followed up.
"Did you catch him?" Himeka groaned. "Aww! I wanted to win!"
Fujii looked down beneath the ground. "We're in a world of trouble. Head back to the castle, immediately."
At the castle…
Marachii, Luca, Saori, and Hikari, who had arrived with her family, all ran up as Fujii and the others entered the Ballroom.
"Did you guys win?" Luca asked. "The feed cut out."
"Where's Dachii? Don't tell me he's still in a cage!" Marachii stated.
Fujii put a hand on his shoulder. "He's been taken."
"He WHAT?"
While Marachii stared at him in disbelief, the King, Queen, and Atomu approached.
"I don't see Dachii, is everything alright?" Queen Ayame worried.
"Mom…" Akari admitted. "Some cultists in robes took him."
"What?"
"Cultists?l Marachii repeated. "You have cults here that want my brother? For what?"
"We don't know…" Aoki sighed.
"Well, we gotta find him ASAP!"
"The boy is right," Queen Ayame said. "But we have no clue where to start!"
"I do!"
Everyone turned around to the entrance, where Ayana was standing.
"Lady Ayana?" Queen Ayame realized. "When did you get here?"
"Just now. And also, they've taken Dachii to the land below Voltiana. The Hallowed Land."
"What? How do you know that?" Fujii wondered.
"No matter how she knows, it's imperative we find him immediately. Are you able to show us how to get to this Hallowed Land?"
Ayana nodded.
"Well, in that case, General Fujii, take your team with her, and please recover Dachii, no matter the cost."
Fujii nodded. "Will do."
Ayana waved them over. "Come on, team! I'll show you how to hit the Hallow! But be warned…"
Her face got serious.
"…it's dark."
—-