Rock's arm trembled as he pulled Cloud close. His words had struck a nerve deep within her soul. *If it were me*, she thought, her mind awash with horror, *violated, defiled… could I face my lover? My kin?* Death, she realized, would feel like the only possible escape. Rock's voice was low, soothing. "Cry, Cloud. Let it out. He's… gone. His spirit wouldn't wish this torment upon you. Let him find peace."
Beside them, A-Dunce's fists clenched. White-hot rage, an unquenchable inferno, consumed him. Beggar, the gentle soul, driven to end his own life because of Lady Silversin's perversion! *Why? Why prey on beings of such inherent grace?* He surged to his feet, a monolith of barely contained fury. Rock lunged, grabbing his cloak. "A-Dunce! Where are you going?"
"Justice," A-Dunce hissed, the word a shard of ice. "For Brother Beggar." The dormant predator within him awoke, the bloodlust stoked by this fresh atrocity. He ripped free from Rock's grasp, turning back towards Mother City.
"HALT!" Cloud's command sliced through the air like a blade. She pushed herself from Rock's embrace. Tears tracked down her unnaturally pale face, enhancing her tragic beauty. Her voice wavered, yet held iron. "I've lost my love. Must I lose my brother too?"
A-Dunce's gaze was locked on Beggar's peaceful, death-smiling face. "Sister! Let me go! Can Brother Beggar's sacrifice stand unanswered? That monster's soul will appease his spirit! I *can* do this!" His words were raw conviction.
Cloud shook her head, pain etching deeper lines. "No! If victory was certain, you wouldn't have left her alive earlier! Your Hades Sword Sword is deadly, A-Dunce, but have you forgotten Darkness City? Their webs of deceit? How could your… straightforward heart navigate that? They're waiting, A-Dunce! A nest of vipers coiled to strike. Every time you plunged into that abyss for vengeance, my heart stopped. Success then doesn't guarantee it now! An army guards Mother City's walls! And even if you win… Beggar remains ash. No mountain of corpses brings back the fallen." Her plea was a mother's shield against her surrogate brother's consuming wrath.
"But Sister…" A-Dunce's protest was choked.
Rock stepped between them, his voice grim reason. "Hold, A-Dunce. Our brother's blood cries out – we *will* answer it. But first, tell us everything. What happened within those cursed walls?" Strategy, he offered, as an anchor against the tide of rage.
A-Dunce's fury cooled, replaced by a bleak exhaustion. He recounted his infiltration: the opulent horror of Lady Silversin's chamber, the grotesque collection, the agonizing rescue attempt, the devastating failure of his solidified Spirit Rockforce against her shield.
Rock inhaled sharply. "So many lives ruined… Yet your Spirit Rockforce couldn't breach her defenses. Cloud's right. They've painted a target on your back. We leave. Now."
A-Dunce's fist slammed into the earth. Dirt geysered, leaving a meter-wide crater. "So… it ends like this?" Despair warred with the unspent violence in his eyes.
Cloud's expression shifted, her grief finding a colder, more terrifying purpose. "Vengeance is secondary. Think of the others taken. If Beggar suffered this… then they…" Her voice cracked. "Our people are proud. Beggar won't be the last to choose oblivion over dishonor."
A cold dread settled over them. She was right. Salvation was measured in moments. "Rescue," Rock declared, his voice steely. "We save every soul we can, *first*. Once they are safe, we unleash the storm."
A-Dunce stood rigid, Beggar's still form burning into his soul. He looked at Cloud, her eyes raw with pleading. He gave a single, heavy nod. "We move."
Gently, Cloud settled Beggar's upper body on the ground. She turned to A-Dunce, tears renewed. "Brother… I ask one thing." Her grip on his hand was icy strength.
"Anything," A-Dunce vowed, the coldness in his voice momentarily thawed.
"Do as you did for Frostbone. Render his body to ash. Condense it. I… I will carve his likeness. He will remain with me." The finality in her tone was heartbreaking.
A silent affirmation passed between them. A-Dunce invoked the flame, consuming Beggar's earthly form. He pressed the coalesced ashes into Cloud's trembling hands.
Her fingers traced the orb. "We are together still, my Love. You will always be *my* pure Beggar." Rock felt an intruder on this sacred, unbearable grief. There were no words left.
Gathering the scorched remnants of their hope, the quartet moved. Their steps were heavy with sorrow, their next destination a pit of potential fresh horrors.
**A Time Skip – Four Months Later - A Spark of Radiance**
The Hall of Light at the Sacred Spire.
Pope Mystic stood sentinel, eyes fixed on the radiant figure hovering mid-air. One year. Three days ago, the blinding Angelic Radiance bathing Mystic Mystic Moon had finally begun to ebb. *The Baptism is concluding,* he understood. His granddaughter was reborn. The unprecedented duration promised potential beyond even his own. She might ascend to heights unseen since the legendary Divine Feather herself.
For three days, he hadn't moved.
Mystic Mystic Moon drifted downwards, the celestial light peeling back like petals. The divine avatar merged back into the ether. Her naked form glowed with potent inner light, golden sigils tracing the air around her. Six translucent wings of pure energy pulsed gently at her back. Pope Mystic's resonant chant soared, guiding her descent onto the Sacred Pentagram at the hall's heart. As the final verses echoed, the radiance imploded into her skin, leaving a serene, sacred clarity.
She opened her eyes.
Pope Mystic caught his breath. Her poise was transcendent. The faint smile curving her lips wasn't innocence, but the profound peace of divinity recognized. Her blue hair cascaded to the floor, her form mature, surpassing even her striking mother. A true Monk Priestess Ascendant.
"Mystic Mystic Moon…" he breathed, draping her in the ceremonial vestments of her station. He touched a finger to her forehead, invoking the Sacred Name. Golden light pulsed. "Duncee, Child of Light."
Blue eyes, impossibly clear, like the depths of a consecrated ocean lit from within by golden stars, focused on him. The year felt like a dream barely remembered. "Grandfather? What… occurred?" Her voice was calm, resonant.
"You were changed," the Pope Mystic answered, pride warming his aged gaze. "Embrace your gifts. The future awaits."
In the Quiet Chapel, later, Mystic Mystic Night and Nyssa embraced their daughter fiercely. Joy warred with unsettling disquiet. Mystic Mystic Moon accepted their embrace with tranquil grace, her responses measured, distant. The fiery, impulsive girl was gone. In her place stood a priestess of unnerving serenity, silent on her year's passage. Only the faint warmth in her gaze as it lingered on an angel statue hinted at the profound shift within.
**One Year Later - Shadows Gather to Hunt**
The heart of the Silent Guild, deep beneath the grime of Sunset Empire's underworld.
**SMACK!** Silencer, the former Vice, slammed against the cavern wall, coughing blood. Master's voice was liquid nitrogen. "I offered chances. One and a half years wasted! You are obsolete. Demoted to Deathdealer. **Disappear.**"
Silencer rose, wiping scarlet from his lip, eyes burning with festering venom. He vanished into the gloom.
Master seethed. *A-Dunce.* The boy-turned-reaper defied containment. Four strike teams, two including elite Shadowblades – all corpses. The boy mastered the Hades Sword Blade, his lethality rivaling the Grim Reaper himself. Worse, his hatred for the Guild dripped from every kill. Unbribable. Unmanageable. *So be it.* Possession of that blade was paramount. A new Reaper could be forged. *The current one must be unmade.*
"Attend me!" he snapped.
An assassin solidified from the shadows. "Mastermind?"
"Recall the Nine. From the abyss."
Moments later, nine figures materialized. The air hummed with sharpened violence. Master's scrutiny was a satisfied grimace. Seven years of relentless refinement in the deepest shadows. Potency redefined.
"Effective immediately, you rise. Become Shadowblades. Answer only to me." It was the Guild's pinnacle. "Seven years ago… the Grim Reaper. Your failure. His death elsewhere granted only partial solace. He spawned an heir. This… **Deathbringer.** He wields the Hades Sword. He shares his master's venom, amplifies it. Four attempts to claim or kill him… failed. Casualties: Seventeen Ghostwalkers. Eight Deathdealers. Two Shadowblades. He now stalks the Sunset Empire. *Your mission:* Find him. End him. Retrieve the Hades Sword Blade. Shadow-One leads. The Silencer, demoted, holds the intel dregs. Three months. Disappoint me… die." Blood Skeleton glowed in the Mastermind's eyes. "The hunt begins."
At the mention of *the Grim Reaper*, the nine figures became still as obsidian. Shadow-One inclined his head. "Understood, Mastermind." They dissolved into nothingness.
*Deathbringer…* Master smiled, a predator sensing wounded prey. *The hunters are set. Time to collect debts from the nobles who clamor.* His form melted deeper into the consuming darkness.
**The Huntress Returns**
***CHING!*** Hades Sword sidestepped her blade effortlessly, the wave of solidified Spirit Rockforce staggering her back. Hades Sword (Phoenixbane) stumbled, breath ragged. Fury and disbelief warred in her eyes. Over a year! Over a dozen strikes. The boy *grew* stronger. He felt like an immutable stone god. And yet… he never struck back. Just… pushed her away. Why did each encounter leave her colder, her resolve fraying? Today's perfect ambush… dissolved into impotence with one blow. *Fourth Uncle… why have you forsaken my vengeance? Why does the thought of killing him… now carry such discord?*
Rock, Mountain (Girln Li), and Cloud watched from nearby. Concern was gone, replaced by weary familiarity. They knew Hades Sword from the Gatherer guild. Her attempts were pitiful against A-Dunce. They knew why he held back. The ghost walking beside him.
"Girl," Cloud called, exhaustion heavy. "End this. You cannot win."
Hades Sword flared with fury. A sharp, frustrated cry tore from her, and she whirled, vanishing into the city's labyrinth. *Retreat. Training. Power. She'd return. She had to.* A year and a half adrift… it was time to go *home*.
As Hades Sword disappeared, a flicker of loss touched A-Dunce's frigid eyes. Eighteen months. His soul was stained burgundy. He'd lost count of the vermin he'd snuffed out. Especially the Silent Guild scouts – silenced without mercy. WatanaOwen's ledger filling page after bloody page. Fourteen souls snatched from vile collectors. Fourteen agonies witnessed. Fourteen suicides. Souls too pure for this soiled world. Nothing could stop the determined dead. Each self-sacrifice only packed more dry ice around A-Dunce's heart. His kills became crueler spectacles, the dripping crimson 'Reaper' signature a noble's worst nightmare. A price soared on his head. Only the notorious Lady Silversin had survived… scarred, broken, but alive. Fear stalked the halls of Sunset's power.
He'd grown monstrously strong, his Spirit Rockforce honed, absorbing fractions of the old master's power he carried. His core radiated cold power, his solidified Spirit Rockforce shimmering amber and sickly chartreuse. But progress had stalled months ago. A frustrating plateau. A wall before the true peak of power.
Mountain broke the silence. "A-Dunce. That huntress… she's a thorn. From the Gatherer filth who caged our kin! If not for them…"
A-Dunce sighed. "Mountain… I know. Her Guild are scum. But she… her face. It stirs no death wish. Only…" He trailed off.
"Capture her then!" Mountain pressed. "Rockforce intel on the other Elder Leafs! The Holy Evil!"
"Silence, Mountain!" Rock intervened, his voice like bedrock. "She's a blade, driven by loss. The Gatherers *sold* us. Their leaders crave coin. *She* is merely… a weapon. Driven."
A-Dunce shot Rock a grateful look. Harming that familiar, angry ghost… it was unthinkable. "Their whole Guild," A-Dunce murmured, the cold creeping back into his voice like glacial seep, "will know Reckoning." The vow settled over them, colder than the night. The path ahead remained paved in sorrow and vengeance, lit by the faint, desperate hope of finding the Holy Evil before despair claimed her too.