AN: Here is another chapter, my friends. Hope you guys enjoy it.

  Question of the Week:

  If you reincarnated in the Star Wars verse as a Force-sensitive with a reasonable to good amount of Midichlorians, in which era would you like to be reborn?

  Now, here is the chapter:

  ~Razen Antares Gremory~

  ?

  With the shock passing and blinking a few times, Antares started to rex slightly. Yes, the statue looked a lot like him, but there were quite a few differences. On the man's face, he could see a few different characteristics. His first clue was the jawline, and while his own jawline was more square and chiseled, the man’s looked to be a little more pointy, giving his face a more pretty-boy nobble look while Antares’ leaned more into the strong and masculine.

  The man’s physique was strong but very lean as if he was built more for agility and dexterity, while Antares’ own was more focused on endurance and strength, giving the Force user a look closer to a Space Marine while the man’s was closer to a more Tolkien Elvish one.

  Narrowing his eyes, he saw that the man appeared to be using a strange mix of a robe with light armor, basically just pauldrons, bracelets, upper breast, and shin guards made of metal, while the rest was of a thick and resistant fabric. Differently from the other three, his armor was regal and fancy, but not to the point of losing practicality, his shap but friendly gaze coupled with a smooth and long hair could steal almost any dy’s heart. He didn’t seem to be carrying any weapon, but his body was full of different jewels: a neckce, bracelets, rings, belts, and two earrings that seemed to shine with extraordinary power.

  But now that he was close enough, Antares could see that at the base of the statue, there was an engraving. Narrowing his eyes, Communication Talent came into py, and he started trying to decipher what was written on it when a familiar voice broke his train of thought.

  “So here you are, handsome,” spoke Midna with a curious tone. “Why did you stop to stare at a statue?”

  Antares looked at the imp from the corner of his eye. “I couldn’t help it. Look at him,” Antares pointed at the man with long hair.

  Midna looked at Antares' face and then at the statue and mumbled, shocked, “Huh…”

  “... Why is there a statue of your brother here, Antares?” asked Eu while approaching with slow steps, her gaze focused on the four statues.

  “I have no idea, Eu…” mumbled the Devil Heir while looking at the piece of art, still lost in thought.

  “Sirzechs Lucifer, right?” asked Neptune while eyeing the statue curiously.

  “Gremory.” Midna corrected almost automatically. “Sirzechs Gremory, The First Dreamer, The First Grand Arch-Guildmaster of The Adventurer’s Guild, The Strongest Dreamer, Hailed as The God of Destruction by all dreamers. A literal legend spoken in the same breath as Morpheus himself.” Midna took a deep breath before looking intently at Antares. “And are you saying to me he is your brother!?” the imp was almost shouting by now. “Why wouldn’t you mention something like that?”

  Antares felt the urge to bash his head against the statue; “Midna…” he started in a very calm tone; “I introduced myself as Razen Antares Gremory…” he pointed out in a deadpan.

  Midna froze for a second before she started massaging her temples; “Look, the guy was literally the first Dreamer, he cleared the tower more than 45 millennia ago. When he did it, this city was barely a shit-stained settlement that couldn’t even build a proper barn.” she then sighed loudly; “I imagined you were some kind of very distant retive, maybe even someone who adopted his name is homage… or whatever people do with orphans’ surnames.”

  Antares opened his mouth to speak but closed it soon after. “... I honestly don’t know what to say,” it was Antares’ turn to massage his temples before pointing out; “Besides, my brother isn’t 45.000 something years old, he is around 500, give or take a couple of decades… and I am now realizing that I’ve never asked him.” admitted the Devil feeling quite a little bit ashamed.

  “How can that be? Time on the tower does indeed pass differently than outside.” Midna’s tone of disbelief was quite clear. “But for the difference to be this massive… I never knew…”

  “It's 1 to 33,215 approximately,” concluded Antares after a few rough and quick mental calcutions. “One year outside is equal to 33,215 days inside the tower. Or one year outside is equal to 91 years inside the tower, approximately– of course, I am not a calcutor.”

  “I-... Does this mean the millennia I spent here were barely more than a decade outside?” Midna mumbled in shock; even her flying started to get wobbly for a moment. “How come I never knew about these rates?” she added, speechless. It’s not like Antares was the first person who knew someone who ‘cleared’ the tower in the past, so why didn’t she-

  Midna's inner panic was suddenly halted when she felt a big and warm hand pat her on the head. Her stone crown did make things quite a bit awkward, but the warmth spread by Antares made the imp feel like she was melting. It was rexing and amazing, one of the best head pats she received in her entire life.

  “Why don’t you tell me about the other three, Midna,” Suggested Antares with a smile that made the imp blush. “Maybe it will help you-”

  “Of course.” Midna quickly grasped at the suggestion, interrupting the redhead. She then pointed at the grimoire-wielding statue; “That one is Ajuka Astaroth, The Rune Master, The Grand Alchemist, The Arch Profession Master, and The first and only Grand-Arch Wizard, he was the one who spread the Human, Runic, and many other Magic system through The Tower, the metal obelisks he created 45 millennia ago to teach anyone who bothered to learn stand tall to this day; Wizards, Magicians, Sorcerers, and Magic Users of all species frequently come back to Morpheus’ Backyard just to study it.”

  “If it wasn’t for him, the normal humans who end up here would have a very bad time learning magic.” Midna cleared her throat. “And while there were some Tyrants who wanted to block the obelisks, the Cult of Morpheus did not allow it; they procimed it was a decree of their God, that the obelisks should be accessed by anyone who desired so.” Midna smiled. “So Ajuka also has two more titles known far and wide, The Father of Magic and the Patron of Knowledge.”

  Antares had to nod internally to himself; that fitted Ajuka’s personality to a T, although he was way more charitable than he remembered the green-haired scientist being. And there seemed to be no mention of his legendary Kankara Formu or of the sheer power he should possess. Antares shook his head internally. It seemed Ajuka used to be even more paranoid than he is today, which is completely understandable behavior considering his situation

  With a twirl in the air, Midna pointed at the only statue of a woman. “That is Sreafall Sitri, the Icy Beauty, the Queen of Frost, and Empress of the Battlefield. While Sirzechs was the leader and main damage dealer, Ajuka was the researcher and support, and Serafall was the General, who knows and controls the battlefield like no other. She is a legend not for her attack power—albeit that is still quite good—but because no one has the terrain advantage when she is present. Crowd control is her bread and butter, and the battlefield is the dough she shapes like a skilled cook.”

  “There isn’t much else about her besides the fact that she was a very strict, serious, and professional, the ideal commander in both personality and skill.” Midna nodded her head radiating appreciation, while Antares had to basically contain himself from shouting out loud and running around in panic.

  A serious Serafall? Is the world ending? Should he buy Exit Stage Left and dip as soon as possible? Is hiding in his Pocket Apartment until the crisis passes feasible? He kept telling himself –while maintaining an iron grip on his surging panic.

  “The st one is Falbium Gsya-Labos, The Moving Fortress, the Unbreakable Bulwark, the Aegis of Gummoreggunn, that’s the old name of a settlement on floor 99th, and the Arch-Titan of Defense. He was the shield and main frontline of the group –while Ajuka stayed behind everyone offering his support and damage from afar; Sirzechs and Serafall stayed in the middle—doing damage and crowd control respectively—they were all behind the great bulwark of Falbium, who halted and withstood even the mightiest of Bosses and monsters.” finished Midna proudly.

  ‘Huh, so even Falbium was here,’ Antares concluded inwardly, feeling slightly loopy with such a massive coincidence. ‘Albeit even in a pce like this, those four turned out to be impressive,’ he chuckled inwardly while his gaze drifted to the statue of his brother. ‘And even here, you are an overachiever.’ Antares closed his eyes. ‘Even here I am in your shadow…’

  Suddenly, Antares felt a slightly cold hand grab his own. Looking back, he saw Eu smiling while holding his left hand with earnest support. Before he could even comment, he felt a slightly warmer hand grab his right one. Surprised, Antares looked to the other side and saw a blushing Neptune, who instantly avoided his gaze.

  Chuckling, the Devil squeezed both hands back and smiled warmly at the two girls. Antares wanted to let out a boisterous, happy ugh—only such sweet girls could help him uplift his humor so much like this—his previous mencholic thoughts evaporated.

  “Do you know the other three?” asked the Imp curiously while eyeing Antares with narrowed eyes.

  “I do.” The Devil nodded; “They are the four leaders of Hell; Sirzechs is the Satan of Domestic Affairs –basically a Super Supreme Judge coupled with a few other functions put together, Serafall is the Satan of Foreign Affairs –she mostly deals with diplomacy and contact with other factions and pantheons, Ajuka, on the other hand, is the Satan of Research & Development –He is a scientist responsible for the biggest and brightest discoveries of the underworld.” Expined the Gremory heir joyfully.

  “And F-Falbium?” asked Pyra, not bothering to hide her curiosity

  “He became the Satan of Military Affairs –basically a General of the Armies, the Secretary of Defense and Chief Military Officer with a few more functions all combined into one.” Antares then made a weird face while he looked at Serafall’s statue; “Albeit now I find it kind of weird that Falbium was the one to become responsible for Military affairs…”

  “Yeah, Serafall the Cold taking care of Foreign Affairs sounds rough.” Added Midna, feeling a little speechless.

  “Well, to be honest –I don’t think you would believe this, but Serafall is…” Antares then went and expined about the current Serafall –he even picked up his phone and showed a few photos. By the end of everything, Midna had reached a catatonic state.

  “Our Idol, the Great General,” she mumbled, rocking back and forth in the air, “Reduced to a Magical Girl pervert obsessed with her little sister… God-” every Devil in the vicinity flinched –much to Pyra’s curiosity; “Why would you abandon us?”

  Massaging her temples in faint hope of making the headache go away, Neptune frowned. “You are aware we are Devils, right floaty?” she poked the catatonic Midna, making the imp flinch back and get out of her stupor.

  “Oh, sorry,” she sheepishly apologized. “Forgot you guys suffer when I mention Big G.” Midna shook her head and turned toward Antares. “Changing subjects a little –do you have your brother’s Legendary Destruction Magic?”

  “Nope,” Antares replied with an emphasis on the ‘p’.

  Midna visibly defted. “What a bummer,” she grumbled slightly. “People have been trying to replicate it for over 40 thousand millennia, but no one has ever come close to succeeding.”

  “Oh, that is because it’s not exactly Magic –it’s a Trait,” corrected Antares. “Traits are like Bloodline Abilities, so exactly replicating them is a nigh-impossible thing.”

  “Hmmm…” Midna hummed, finally understanding that little tidbit. “Do you know why that is? Magic is pretty flexible, after all…”

  “Sorry, but I am no scientist,” Antares shook his head; “All that I know is that Traits also have a Spiritual Component as well—that’s why Trait Mutation is a very rare thing—you would need to have changed Spiritually quite a lot for it to be even remotely possible.”

  “Huh, do you happen to have a–”

  “ARGHT!” Before Midna could continue speaking, a loud shout of pain echoed through the previously deserted pza. Almost on reflex, the entire group looked toward the source of the sound.

  Eight men dressed in smooth bck suits were kicking a downed figure. The men looked incredibly ordinary, the same appearance you would associate with a typical SHIELD agent –bck suit, white shirt, onyx tie, slicked-back hair, and polished leather shoes. Sadly, the agents' lookalikes weren’t doing any good work at the moment –as they were rhythmically kicking the downed figure while spouting profanities and demands.

  Part of Antares simply didn’t want to intervene in a situation he cked context about, but things looked really bad; it was almost like these men were on the verge of killing the poor figure.

  Sighing, Antares started walking towards the men –he knew a part of him wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he at least didn’t try.

  “Good evening, gentlemen,” Antares politely approached the group. “What seems to be the issue here?”

  “Fock off!” three of the suits shouted simultaneously with a thick Irish accent, while the others just looked at the new arrival angrily.

  “How uncivilized,” Antares commented with a roll of his eyes, purposely using an annoying tone of voice.

  “Do you want to die?” A particurly angry man gritted out, his scowl almost making him look like an asura.

  “Of course not,” Antares replied in a fake offended tone while putting his right hand on top of his chest. He then pointed at the downed figure –that now that he was closer, he could see him. “And I bet neither does he.”

  “You know what?” the angry man growled and clenched his fists, his ugly scowl turning outright murderous; “I am tired of you pompous fuckers!” Shouting, he exploded towards Antares with a punch. “DIE!”

  Chuckling inwardly at the slow-motion punch, the Devil simply stepped to the side and swiped at the man’s leg offhandedly, sending the poor hasty fool flying.

  Dodging another punch, Antares backhanded another foolish suited man—sending him flying, spitting blood and teeth—with an almost insulting disinterest.

  He turned towards the third one, who was already jumping towards him with a kick. Looking at the man basically flying in slow motion, Antares felt the need to roll his eyes. Stepping to the side, he punched the man’s knee, completely breaking it and sending him flying to the side.

  The Devil turned to the other side, ready to fight the other five, only to see Pyra finishing the st one with a punch to the esophagus, which made the timid girl flinch and jump away when the man fell.

  Antares briefly looked at Eu and Neptune –nodding when he saw they were completely intact and had defeated two goons each. Midna, on the other hand, was flying around and narrating the battle like some brainless football coach.

  Approaching the downed figure, Antares finally took a good look at him –it was a man, more accurately a teenage boy, he had glistering chocote-colored skin, short bck hair, and a very small and thin physique. Bck and brown bruises adorned his body, making the Devil wince in sympathy when he looked at him.

  Clear bck eyes looked at him –it was quite impressive that even in such a situation, the man didn’t seem to lose his will, his motivation.

  “Are you alright?” Asked Antares while offering the man his hand.

  The man coughed a few mouthfuls of blood and a few teeth before shakily getting up, all without touching Antares. “Kinda…” grumbled a rather deep voice for someone so young –Antares could also detect a very distinct Columbian accent on his tone.

  He looked at the group from the corner of his eyes; “You should all be running right now, the Fabuin family is not known for their mercy,” the man coughed; “Or being reasonable.”

  Antares smiled levelly. “Let me worry about that.” He then summoned a vial of phoenix tears from his Pocket Space. “Here, don’t move.”

  “Whaa-” Before the man could even react, Antares tilted the vial slightly, letting a single drop of the liquid fall on him.

  Like a miracle, all the man’s wounds disappeared instantly, his body returning to its tip-top condition.

  “What the f-”

  “Language.” Interrupted Midna with a teasing smirk while spping the man’s nearly bald head.

  The man tried to swat Midna away like an annoying mosquito, but the imp expertly avoided his deliberate slow swats. “Get here, you little-”.

  Eu cleared her throat, prompting the two to stop messing around and Midna to rest on top of Antares’ head.

  “Who are you people?” the man asked while recomposing himself.

  “I am Antares,” The Force user pointed at himself. The others quickly followed through with their own introductions.

  “Suppose I should introduce myself as well,” the man sighed. “I am Biscuit Oliva. Thanks for saving and healing me. I owe you guys a solid one.”

  Spoiler

  [colpse]Antares momentaneously froze, the man’s name kindling a few of his forgotten memories about a certain Grappler series.

  Shaking his head, the Devil smiled. “Don’t worry about it,” he dismissed Biscuit’s worries. “We helped you because we could, not for some debt or however.”

  “I insist.” Gritted Mr. Oliva, his accent growing thicker for a moment.

  “Well… if you insist, I won’t fight it,” the redhead conceded apologetically. “Do you need any more help?”

  “I really wanted to say no…” Biscuit started with clear self-loathing in his tone. “But it’s the lives of my party that are at risk here, so-” Biscuit then kneeled on the ground in a perfectly executed dogeza. “Please, benefactor, save my comrades!”

  Antares felt conflicted; the more ruthless part of him looked in contempt toward Biscuit for being weak, but the Devil knew that it was just his Pride talking. His Greed kept saying it was the perfect opportunity to extort Biscuit. His Lust wanted him to bend both Neptune and Eu over and satisfy his deepest darkest desires. His Wrath mingled with Pride, wanting Antares to get vengeance for the words the suited men said earlier. His Sloth demanded that he y on the ground and rested for a bit –he clearly deserved it. His Envy wanted him to go back and vandalize the statue of his brother and his friends.

  It would be so easy to let go and follow one of them –to get drunk on the brief power Sin would give him. ‘The easy way or the right way, huh…’ he thought inwardly in self-contempt. ‘And here I thought I was becoming more of a “monster”, heh.’

  Antares' gaze hardened. “Before we agree with anything, we must sign a contract.” Biscuit looked at Antares weirdly, but he had spent more than a year in the tower –he knew some magicians wouldn’t do anything without a geas, so he reluctantly nodded.

  The Devil smiled and waved his left hand –a smaller silver-white magic circle appeared and shined in a glistering light. After the light show, a paper-sized piece of parchment appeared in Antares’ left hand.

  The contract was straightforward: Antares would help Biscuit rescue his comrades, and in exchange, the Columbian man would owe Razen Antares Gremory a favor. Having signed a few of these himself, Biscuit bit the tip of his thumb until he drew a little bit of blood and pressed it at the base of the parchment, making it light up in the same glistering light as before.

  Feeling the sudden connection of an active contract, Antares nodded his head and pocketed the piece of paper.

  With a helpful smile, he signaled to Oliva, “Lead the way.”

  Biscuit dusted his rags and nodded. “Follow me. They aren’t far.” Then, the man exploded forward with a running speed that was quite impressive for a normal human.

  Antares briefly looked at the girls, and for a moment, a silent conversation occurred between them. “I will see you guys there?” They nodded, and the Devil Heir smiled before following Biscuit.

  While Biscuit was far from the absolute unit he would become in Baki, he was still a very fit and athletic young man, so the moment he looked back, he almost did a spit take and stumbled. Antares was there—just one or two steps behind him—walking so calmly as if he were taking a stroll in the park.

  Looking at Biscuit’s expression, the Devil chuckled. “You’re pretty slow,” Antares joked. Biscuit rolled his eyes but still increased his speed. The Devil followed without any trouble. By now they had already passed a couple of blocks, the rich neighborhood slowly getting left behind.

  Between huffing breaths, Biscuits, still filled with disbelief, asked, “How?”

  Antares smirked. “Technique and Strength,” he replied truthfully.

  “I… I’ve been training since 12,” the man said, shaking his head while avoiding an old dy walking her dog. “If it was that easy…”

  The Devil had to admit Biscuit was no liar –his Martial Talent had been pinging since he saw the younger man moving –whatever art he practiced, he did it until it was imprinted in his very muscles, which spoke of dedication and discipline that was impressive.

  Antares hummed before he scanned Biscuit with his senses. The running man briefly felt a chill go down his spine as if someone was opening him up with a scalpel.

  “Have you heard about Ki?” asked Antares, already knowing the answer.

  After taking a big gulp of air, Oliva simply answered, “No…”

  “Hmmm, you seem to have quite a good amount of it. And of a very high quality to boot.” pointed out the Devil while cupping his chin; “As soon as you can, try to search about it…” Antares smiled. “It will bring your Martial Arts to whole new heights.”

  “I-... thanks,” replied Oliva while jumping over a trashcan and then stopping. “It’s there,” the Columbian man pointed at an alleyway.

  “How original,” Antares shook his head and then looked at Biscuit. “After you.” At a distance –north of his back, Antares could hear the girls swiftly approaching.

  Biscuit shrugged and started to walk slowly inside the alley, his head going back and forth, analyzing his surroundings like a wary predator. “... so you are saying to me you are strong only because of some whisky-washy magical energy stuff?”

  Antares chuckled; “Not completely wrong, but not fully right either.” he briefly looked at a scared cat on the corner; “Still, I’m the first to admit I have very fortunate circumstances that allowed me to rise in strength quite fast.” conceded the Devil honestly; “But I still had to grind to near death, multiple times a day.”

  “You’re joking?” Biscuit asked, armed, his eyes still scanning the surroundings.

  “Nope.” Antares answered with a heavy emphasis on the ‘p’; “A friend of my brother taught me a Training Regimen that was outright supernatural.”

  “Does it involve Ki?” Probed Olivia while turning right on a following crossroad.

  “It certainly can if you are skilled enough,” Antares conceded. “But I’ve never tried it myself,” the Devil hummed and followed Biscuit through a few more intersections. “But the training is pretty simple in hindsight, technically something anyone can do.” Antares omitted the fact that it was made for supernatural beings with a Giant-like endurance and constitution in mind, so a normal human has no shot of surviving it.

  “If it's simple, could you teach it to me?” asked Oliva, making a very sour and strained face, the necessity for strength cshing against his pride, which formed quite an interesting contrast.

  “No offense Biscuit, but you can’t handle that thing without dying–” Oliva scowled at Antares' comment, his pride almost demanding he cshed against the Devil to show he was no weakling. But he had enough self-control to not do such a foolish thing, so he just lowered his head slightly and continued toward the Fabuin family hideout.

  “At least not yet.” Antares completed with a smirk when the Colombian man’s expression became completely bnk. “Surtr Training—that is the name of the training by the way—is something made exclusively to break you down and rebuild it stronger,” Antares sighed nostalgically; “You will literally run until your lungs colpse and your heart stops, lift weights until your bones crack and your joints snap, and bench press tons while your body self-destructs due to the massive weight it is supporting.”

  “That sounds just like a very creative way to commit suicide,” mumbled Olivia while he started to slow down, his steps more measured and careful.

  “And it is,” agreed Antares; “Because that’s the essence of Surtr Training, you must train always on the edge of Life and Death, delicately bancing your very existence on a knife’s edge, where a single slip will cost you your life.”

  “... sounds like crazy talk to me,” answered the future Baki character.

  Antares chuckled. “Everyone says that till they start seeing the results.” Antares said nostalgically; “Training on the knife’s edge like that gives you massive gains, it’s like your body is always excavating potential to try to survive, always. This makes you improve not only from the strain but the potential your body excavates as well.”

  “Doesn’t that have a limit or something?” pointed out the caramel-skinned man.

  “Limits are made to be broken, Oliva.” Antares' usual smile turned a tad bit ferocious. “To go further beyond, to do the impossible, break the unbreakable –that is the essence of Surtr Training.”

  “An impossible training that gives you equally impossible gains, huh…” mumbled Biscuit while close to stopping, his mind running.

  “Albeit… you don’t need to start going full throttle.” Antares smiled while approaching Biscuit. “You can begin it with an easier and more reduced version and slowly increase it as you get stronger.”

  “But you didn’t do that, did you?”

  “Nope. Went straight towards the standard intensity, and recently I’ve been thinking about adding a higher gravity to make things more interesting.”

  “That’s insane talk, red, insane talk.”

  Antares chuckled. “Oliva, you barely touched the tip of the iceberg that is the supernatural world. You saw nothing yet, trust me –things get way crazier.” The Devil then scratched his chin while looking at the dead end of the alleyway. “I will give you the reduced training instructions. Let’s see how far you can go.” Antares' smile then widened, almost splitting his face for a moment. “You seem to have great potential, so I will also give you another gift –take it as an incentive for you to grow, to improve.”

  “Why would you do that?” asked Oliva with a slightly suspicious frown.

  “So that you will owe me a couple more favors,” Antares answered with full sincerity.

  “That’s-”

  “Crazy talk?” Antares interrupted with a smirk.

  Oliva scoffed. “You got it, red.” he then half bowed, his tone humble and full of gratitude. “Thanks for everything, man. I owe you a lot…”

  Antares just smiled and gestured towards the dead end before him. Oliva nodded and started tapping the wall in a rhythmic and specific way.

  *Click*

  “This is the entrance to the Reverse City.” Oliva gestured towards the brick wall that started to move sideways showing a very dark staircase that descended downwards.

  The staircase was rather simple, made of small faded bricks and concrete, It was a rather sinister sight –if you couldn’t perfectly see in the dark, that is. Without hesitation, Biscuit descended the staircase. Antares followed soon after.

  “So… these Fabuin guys captured your comrades?” asked Antares while he looked around in wonder.

  “Yeah, we had been working for them to gather some money,” Oliva grimaced; “But we were apparently way too good at our job that they becamediscontent, and as their usual–pin some bullshit on us–wouldn’t fly because we are actually competent, they went straight to violence, so-”

  “Their patience ran out, and they became, let’s say –more direct?” suggested Antares, already knowing where this was going.

  Biscuit massaged his temples; “That’s the gist of it,” he sighed; “Usually it would be more difficult to get the drop on us –we’ve been working together for a year and our guide is quite helpful– but Karura fought Motto Motto over some nonsense, again, and they split up to cool off.” Antares could almost see the frustration in the man’s voice. “Fusui apparently managed to hook up with some Asn guy, so she ditched me a few minutes ter.” The Devil could almost hear Biscuit’s fist clenching at the reminder of his team’s slip-up. “Alone and with nothing else to do, I decided to go to the park and train for a bit.”

  Biscuit shook his head. “Pity that we can’t improve our physiques here; if we could I would…” The man sighed once more, and for a moment, only his and Antares' steps echoed in the rather long staircase. “After training for a bit, I took a bath and decided to treat myself to a nice meal, so I went to the fancier part of the city. After eating, those Fabuin bastards ambushed me, destroyed my only suit, and started to beat me up.” Biscuit scratched his neck. “And then you saved me –thanks again, by the way.”

  Antares hummed under his breath, his eyes looking further into the darkness. “How come you know they captured your teammates then?”

  Biscuit flinched. “They were rather vocal about it before beating me up…” he grumbled.

  “Hmmm…” Antares nodded.

  They walked for a few more minutes before Biscuit finally saw light –Antares always found such events funny. As a Devil, he saw no difference between the two points, but for a human such as Biscuit, it was the difference between night and day.

  It was a very low-lit street, different buildings carved in the stone itself adorning both sides of a narrow passageway, people using masks, covering their faces with hoods, or outright using magic to hide walked around back and forth, perusing suspicious wares from stalls or entering buildings to enjoy even more suspicious services. Antares could also see that everyone was armed with at least a bded weapon, and they all walked with suspicion and a certain tenseness in their gait.

  Seeing Oliva and Antares step down from the entrance, the majority of the people instantly smelled the trouble and took not even half a second to completely disappear from the street.

  Seeing the st scared fool enter a narrow alleyway with a hurried desperation, Antares raised an impressed eyebrow. “Those guys are pretty smart, huh…”

  Oliva chuckled; “They have to be in a pce like this,” walking forward and avoiding the angry gaze of the stall owners and many shopkeepers who suddenly lost their clientele, Oliva lowered his head apologetically; “To see someone come without a disguise here means we are either searching for trouble –which is true, or we are way too important and powerful, so they do not want to risk offending us.”

  “The shopkeeper seemed to be pretty pissed thought,” Antares pointed out.

  “You also would if all your clients suddenly ran off.”

  “Fair enough.” Antares shrugged.

  Biscuit guided him through a few more streets, the crowd dissipating and disappearing on their wake. Biscuit then turned left and stopped, and Antares briefly smiled when he heard Eu’s heels hitting concrete in the distance.

  “We are almost there, just one more corner, and we will reach the Fabuin headquarters.” Expined the Columbian man while warily looking around. “But I still gotta ask… why are your team coming ter? Would it be better for you all to come together?”

  “Well, if this was an ambush or some trap,” Antares gestured to the very suspicious pce, “They would have a way easier time ambushing my attackers instead.”

  “That’s actually pretty smart,” Oliva agreed, making a few mental notes for ter. “You are acting like some scout or bait.”

  “Precisely.”

  Turning another corner, the duo briefly stopped. Differently from the previous alleyway, this one was completely clean; the previous stalls or sellers had disappeared, the bubbling commerce that had died down with their presence –nowhere to be seen.

  Looking at the building at the end of the alleyway Antares narrowed his eyes, like most buildings underground it was engraved on stone, but differently from the others, it was way more detailed and eborated, showing a really expensive design with a distinct feeling of luxury exhaling from it –whoever carved this building, was a master with the chisel.

  “There it is,” Announced Biscuit with a hidden tone of anger and contempt. “The Fabuin family headquarters.” Antares just hummed in response while he spread his senses inside.

  As a High Css Devil, Antares isn’t worried about normal humans even posing a threat to him, but that still doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be cautious –people already tried to assassinate him because of his brother once, after all. ‘… and I still know way too little about this world –what if they have some sort of Unique Item of the Holy Attribute? Or perhaps something made of Holy Light? It will cost little of me to be cautious, but a lot if I am not.’ He pondered inwardly while spreading his senses through the building.

  Finding something strange in the building, Antares frowned. ‘Quite the weird arrangement of signatures,’ he grumbled to himself while analyzing it. ‘There are like four? no... Six signatures on a room at the top,’ Antares narrowed his eyes. ‘They seem to be huddled together? Difficult to tell exactly what is happening from here, but I guess the boss is there?’ he frowned awkwardly, his cking ability at sensing coming to the forefront –he couldn’t even detect precisely how strong they are.

  He then focused on the basement of the building, finding roughly forty or more mana signatures there. ‘Are those prisoners? they certainly look like so–’ Antares tried to sharpen his focus, pushing his senses to the max–to the point he started feeling a slight difference between the mana signatures of the basement dwellers, and the people on top; ‘Hoo, improving on real-time, nice!’ he fist bumped himself in his mind.

  “They’re on the first basement floor, I think?” added Antares while cupping his chin.

  “Are they alright?” asked a worried Oliva.

  Antares made a slightly strained face. “I can’t know from so far away, but their Mana is feeling kind of normal to me… so they should be alive and retively well?” He made a mental note to train his sensing abilities more; they were way too imprecise and unrefined for his tastes, and something was bound to pass under them someday –something that would cost him.

  “The ‘Retively’ there doesn’t inspire much confidence, my friend,” pointed out Oliva in good humor.

  “I know,” agreed Antares with a nod, “But my senses aren’t as sharp as I would like them to be, yet.”

  “Now, how do you pn on-” Oliva finally saw Antares was already walking towards the stone door, his eyes widening. “Wait, are you going to–”

  *Knock*

  *Knock*

  *Knock*

  Antares calmly knocked on the door, idly noticing that the Fabuin family didn’t seem to have guards outside, which was quite a weird thing for such an organization. Seeing that no one was answering, Antares knocked on the door once more.

  Antares heard a few hurried thumping steps echoing from the inside. A strong hand gripped the door handle and proceeded to open the door. “Oh, for God’s sake,” Antares flinched. “Who the heck is–” the voice stopped mid-opening and quickly closed the door back on the Devil’s face.

  Antares looked at Biscuit and raised his eyebrow; the caramel-skinned man—feeling equally confused—just shrugged his shoulders. Shrugging his shoulders back, Antares politely knocked on the door once more.

  He heard a muffled thumping sound of someone hitting their head on the door; “… could you two go away? Pretty please?” the muffled voice—now clear enough for Antares to perceive as masculine—answered with a very frustrated tone.

  “I am afraid that would be difficult, Mr.–”

  “Argento, Asn Argento.” The man replied, his tone growing calmer.

  Antares felt an itch at the back of his mind as if he should know this name, but no matter how much he tried, nothing came to mind. Ignoring his wiser mind for a moment, Antares continued; “You see Mr. Argento,” when he finally said it out loud, it finally dawned on him –That’s Asia’s surname, but he couldn’t exactly show such a reaction to a surname he just heard, so Antares quickly schooled his urge to shout before continuing; “my friend Biscuit here has been split from his comrades due to a series of very unfortunate circumstances.” Biscuit cleared his throat loudly. Antares just rolled his eyes and continued, “And he would like to know about, well, their whereabouts and wellbeing. Please.”

  “I-…”The man started, paused, and then sighed. “Couldn’t you give me like -30 minutes?”

  “I am afraid that wouldn’t be possible,” Antares swore he could hear the man whining behind the door; “You are inside the Fabuin Family headquarters, and while you have been perfectly polite for a gangster until now,” Antares did a step back and read the pque on top of the door; “I am afraid I can’t in good conscience let the comrades of my friend stay a prisoner in a pce called the ‘Cabaret Sve Casino - Fabuin Family Sponsored Club’.”

  Mentally, the Devil questioned the practicality of making your headquarters in a pce like this, but he quickly dispersed such distracting thoughts.

  “Knew I should’ve removed that pque,” the man behind the door grumbled in a defeated tone; “Look here dude,” the man took a deep breath, likely calming himself; “I am not one of them,” with the amount of disgust the man in those three words, Antares believed him.

  “But I–...”

  “Hooneeeeyyyyyyy!” a very whiny and cutesy female voice shouted from inside. “Why are you taking sooo looong?” The whining got harder.

  “We are waiting~”, echoed five more seductive female voices from the inside. “Karura!?” excimed Biscuit in surprise at recognizing one of the voices.

  “...Did I just hear Biscuit outside, Fusui?” the likely Karura asked, the sound a little muffled due to the distance and the door, but Antares' senses, while undeveloped in terms of skill, still had received quite an upgrade from learning a Ki Circution technique, so he could hear it reasonably well.

  “Do you really think it's him?” the likely Fusui scoffed. “They sent like… 12 people after him? he is dead by now.”

  “It wasn’t 12…” Karura argued back, “Goldie told us it was less than ten, maybe two more or two less… she wasn’t so sure.”

  “Still… For a dead Busicuit to appear here-”

  “I am not dead, you fucking horny bitch!” Shouted Biscuit from Antares' side.

  “Your mother is the fucking bitch, bastard,” replied Fusui, her voice turning into a screech.

  “My mother is happily married, you cheap who-”

  “Enough!” two voices firmly shouted, an angry womanly voice from inside while the other was Antares himself.

  “You know what, we can do it ter. I will put some proper clothes on.” Asn replied in a defeated tone of voice. In other to preserve his sanity, Antares decidedly ignored the coral of very disappointed ‘awwwns’ in the background –he could basically smell the Lust coming from inside the building at this point, after all.

  .

  .

  .

  AN:

  This chapter was very interesting to write. I had the opportunity to do a little more world building, tease a little bit about the 4 Satans’ story, show a little bit of the ‘underworld’ of The Tower, and introduce a few characters I like.

  I can’t say I am a major Baki fan, but the series definitely holds a special pce in my heart, and Biscuit is one of my favorite characters in that series. Of course, this biscuit isn’t the absolute unity we see in Baki, he is just a wee little d still getting his shit together, but he is still very impressive.

  Antares helping Oliva was more of a subtle thing. If you have been paying attention in these past chapters, Antares is still discovering a lot about his nature, sort of having a few stumbles with his own nature as an Evil species right now. It’s a small thing, really, but I can imagine anyone who suddenly changed species like he did would find a few bumps on the psychological side, at least. Like I said, nothing major, but it made him do something “good to see if he, himself, was still capable of such. Olivia was kinda of just the right person in the right pce.

  I tried making this struggle more subtle, something the reader would have to read between the lines to get. Hopefully, I succeeded.

  Well, about contracts. I really didn’t want to get into a long-winded expnation of Devil contracts(specifically the ones made by Antares in this case) at the moment, as I do not want to drag this on more than I should, so I kind of compared them to a Geas Contract we see in many fictional worlds and left it at that. I will hopefully address it in more detail at a ter date when contracts become more relevant in the story.

  Asia’s Counterpart in this AU is finally introduced, and we will also finally get a glimpse into other factions besides the Devils, Yakuza, and Youkai.

  Well, there is more that I want to say, but it would honestly be better if you read it yourselves ter. :)

  Answer:

  Well, I personally love the Clone Wars, and I feel the same about the KotOR timeline; it has so much potential and so many overpowered characters that I genuinely considered it. But in the end, I choose the Je'daii era, as I think it would be pretty cool to learn the ancient ways of the Force Users, maybe even travel through the multiverse ter if I am lucky.

  ~ClearSkySage