Chapter 9: THE MASKED ONE.

"Now!" Aqua shouted as he launched sharp shards of ice towards Mitsuki. Mitsuki held the wooden sword he had on one hand and put the other hand in a prayer pose. His eyes glowed more intensely as he ducked, dashed and cut through the shards, trying to get nearer to Aqua.

[New skill unlocked: Restraint]

[Skill is effective against wide attacks]

"Restraint!" He shouted as he dashed around Aqua who was now holding a sword in hand. The shards slowed in speed as a faint green aura covered the area. Mitsuki swung his sword fast, which Aqua flanked, swinging his sword right towards Mitsuki's neck. Mitsuki halted his movements as he went down , leaning backward, avoiding the attack. As the sword was swung, the whole area behind was sliced and diced , forming cracks.

Valeria, Poki, Miyuki and Cupid were at a high place, looking at the fight.

"Aqua means business, huh." Cupid said.

"I suppose," Miyuki said as she observed the fight.

"You three are surprisingly fine with all this. You, the sister and you two, his precious girls." Cupid said.

"W-well, You are training us too and he is okay with it and we also get hurt a bit," Valeria said as she stretched herself a bit. The three were a bit sore after training with Cupid. Contrary to what they previously thought, Cupid was powerful and had great knowledge in weapons and control of energy. In the week that had elapsed, their levels had increased by more than ten levels and their control in mana and cursed energy for Poki and Valeria was now at a very high level.

Back in the fight, Aqua now got into the offensive.

"Now, defend!" He said as he dashed towards Mitsuki. Mitsuki too, had grown and had unlocked several skills. His physique was now even crazier.

[Skill Dragon's will is active.]

[Edit is active]

The ground started shaking violently as golden beams started falling from the sky in thousands.

"Edit: Inversed"

Suddenly, the beams started appearing from below and Aqua's movements started faltering.

"This kid inverted everything, even my movements, mana circulation, spell formations, everything.. Quite interesting!" He thought as he sped all around in a speed Mitsuki could comprehend, punching him straight in the back. He appeared in front of Mitsuki and kicked him in the guts, sending him flying in the air.

"This isn't enough Mitsuki? Are you underestimating me? I told you to make me use 20% of my energy!" Aqua said, jumping up. He did a flip mid air, kicking Mitsuki right at the solar plexus with the heel of his foot, sending him rushing down and crashing onto the ground with intense force.

"Use your Divine pact abilities even though it will drain you!!" Aqua said.

As Mitsuki progressed with Aqua's hellish training in the days before, his levels increased quite a bit and his body had grown stronger. Because of the constant draining of energy, his core and power vessel had strongly increased. After the first training with the Cerebus, he had unlocked a single Divine Pact Skill but now, he had unlocked two additional ones. Following his instincts, Mitsuki had never used the Divine Pact skills, fearing that there might be mass destruction, but Aqua was now leaving him no choice.

"I will have to use the most powerful so far!" He thought as a shockwave of energy burst from his body.

"Crap, what the hell is that kid trying to do here!" Cupid said as he made a multilayer barrier, covering the three girls.

"Eat this Aqua!"

[Divine Pact ability, Finite's Sigil, is active.]

Suddenly, just before anything happened, everything froze, including Aqua and Mitsuki. They heard echoes of footsteps as Realos appeared, walking towards them.

"Were you trying to demolish Aqua's Mansion? Jeez...."

Realos' eyes glowed a dark orange as he touched Aqua and Mitsuki. Mitsuki suddenly felt his aura diminish, so did Aqua's.

"He nullified our skills... Quite easily in fact.." Mitsuki thought as everything unfroze. Cupid appeared next to Aqua and the three bowed to Realos.

"What brings you here, Realos?" Aqua asked.

"I have very serious news, let us go to your meeting hall, the whole Celestior is coming. Mitsuki, Cupid and the three girls are to join the meeting too. It is a matter of utmost urgency." Realos said with a serious tone.

"Yes sir," Aqua said as he bowed down.

"This looks like something serious." Mitsuki thought as they followed Aqua to the meeting hall. It was a large room furnished with blue, white and golden furniture. At the center was a large round table with the divine pact insignia on it. As the the six sat down on the chairs, Realos' eyes started glowing.

"All of the Celestior is to appear here." He said and almost immediately, eight more gods appeared on their seats.

"That skill.. Was it edit? He truly is the first ranked god in Celestior." Mitsuki thought as he looked at the girls beside him. Miyuki and Poki seemed somehow fine, but it was the first time for Valeria in front of such power, so she was struggling.

"Give me your hand." Mitsuki told her telepathically. As she did so, the nausea and heaviness she was feeling disappeared.

"I now hope you are all ready to listen to why I have all summoned you here." Realos said. "First of all, as you can see, Grim has been recreated, but not fully yet, what you see here is just a spiritual projection of his soul."

"For you to even project my soul here, it means whatever we are about to talk about is very serious, right?" Grim asked.

"Yes."

"If I may interrupt," Mitsuki said, "Does this have anything with why the god Dimaz is not here?"

Everyone, aside from Miyuki nd Realos reacted, now noticing that Dimaz was actually not there.

"Yes, it is, and this news might affect you, Aqua, so be ready." Realos said.

"Mitsuki, Lord Aqua has tensed up, I have never seen him like this before." Valeria whispered to Mitsuki.

"W- what has happened to Lord Dimaz, Realos?" Aqua asked, his eyes narrowing down.

"Allon attacked." Realos said. The other gods gasped in shock and so did Poki and Valeria.

"Allon did what!" Aqua muttered as his veins bulged on his hands. His full aura now covered his Mansion.

"Calm down, Aqua, Dimaz is alive." Realos said.

"Then-"

Realos shook his head as he looked at him.

"Wait, was that their plan all along?" Nozark asked.

"I know Mitsuki and Miyuki are lost right now, let us first explain it to them." Grim said as he looked at Aqua.

Aqua looked angry and sad, as he had already figured the plan that Allon had. He stood up and walked out slowly and nobody stopped him.

"Was lord Dimaz close with Lord Aqua? Poki asked.

"Allow me to explain," Grim said. "You see, Aqua is an ascended. You do know what that means, right?"

"An ascended..." Valeria muttered, surprised by the news.

"Care to explain, Valeria?" Mitsuki asked. Valeria hesitated, looking at the gods.

"Just be casual with us, after all, you're the chosen one's girlfriend," Cupid said in a serious tone.

"An ascended is a mortal chosen one who grows in power and becomes a god." She said.

"So.. Following this, it means that Aqua was Dimaz's chosen one?" Miyuki asked.

"Precisely. Aqua was human, a long time ago, in this world. Dimaz saw the potential he had just when he was ten years old. Aqua was an orphan, he had no parents and was living in the lower houses of a town called Brook Village, so he was raised by Dimaz." Verethragna said.

"So.. Dimaz is his father figure.." Mitsuki said, feeling a bit sad, as he knew the feeling of losing one very well.

"Yes. Allon, is a demon, and not just one, but the second most powerful demon general. His power is one to fear, he is the only lower entity known to have a skill from the forbidden series. Aside from him, the only others who can use the forbidden series are Aurendor and Lucifer, the great entity of evil in this universe."

Mitsuki's eyes widened.

"The forbidden series.. Where have I heard that before..." He thought.

"So, which Part of the series can he use?" Mitsuki asked.

" He ca only use one: Will snatcher. This enables him to control anyone he wants. It is so powerful that only I, Dimaz and Aurendor can fight it off," Realos said.

"Dimaz has a divine skill called Void, it enabled him to be immune to any control ability, even the one Allon has..." Grim said.

"I see.. Dimaz seems like a very caring god, after all, he took care of Aqua, a human orphan. Allon took that to his advantage and attacked his realm, hurting the people inside. Since Dimaz knew he was weaker than Allon, he decided to surrender, just as Allon wanted, in order to save his people. Dimaz deactivated the skill and allowed Allon to take over, right?" Mitsuki asked as he clenched his fists.

"Yes, that is correct. Despite that, Dimaz managed to send me a message, telling me everything." Realos said. All of them paid attention, curious to know what Allon was planning.

"Allon plans on using him to attack the Summoned." Realos said. They all gasped and looked at Mitsuki, who was in shock.

"The Summoned are in the Kingdom o Lugunica for now, but they are being trained , so they leave the capital occasionally." Jupiter said.

"They are actually planning for a long lesson field trip, this may be when it may happen.." Luminous said.

"So, they plan to attack them to prevent trouble in the future, once they grow strong enough, huh.." Mitsuki muttered as he stood up, his eyes now glowing. He looked at Realos and bowed down.

" Lord Realos, let me handle this." he said.

"Are you out of your mind Mitsuki?? Lord Dimaz is far more powerful, and now he is being controlled! You stand no chance!" Poki said, clinging onto Mitsuki.

"I know that damn well, but those Summoned.. I have built up valuable memories with some of them," He replied.

"Emilia is there," Miyuki said. Poki and Valeria had already heard about her from Miyuki, about the girl who saved Mitsuki from despair and always stood by his side. Poki let go of Mitsuki, not saying a word.

" Due to the additional effects of his skill Void, his abilities have been locked and his power has been reduced a bit. Allon can only use his skills through Dimaz, so he is somehow weaker." Realos said.

"Besides, there is no one else we can send." Grim commented.

"But, all in all, it will be a very difficult fight for Mitsuki." Cupid said. "Even though Dimaz is weaker, Mitsuki is still weak."

"Yes.. But, we can't go ourselves, plus, no one among the summoned is even above level 80! All we can do is give Mitsuki all the support." Amaterasu said.

"Then, if that is the case, allow me to go, no, allow the two of us to go." Poki said, pointing at Valeria as she stood up. The gods all laughed a bit, not in any satirical way, but in a happy manner.

"That was my plan anyway, Poki Itsuo and Valeria Legion, are to go. You, Miyuki, will remain here, there's is something you need to do for us," Realos said. Mitsuki smiled t the two.

"If you two want to, I won't decline anything.. If you will excuse me.." He said as he headed out.

"Where are you going?" Miyuki asked.

"To talk to someone."

Aqua was outside the mansion, above a high mountain. His realm was big, so it also had mountains, forests and spirits that he allowed to live in there. He watched some spirits from a distance as they were playing on water, looking joyful.

"What is this, I have never seen you so troubled," A tiger like spirit said as it appeared next to Aqua.

"It has been a while, Aquourus, spirit of water." Aqua said. "Dimaz.. he has..." Aqua couldn't say the next set of words as a painful lump blocked his throat.

"I see, that's bad... This is why I sensed the Celestior gods in your mansion."

"I don't know what to do... I.."

"I wouldn't worry much if I were you, Aqua." Mitsuki said as he suddenly appeared behind the two, startling Aquourus.

"I see, they told you everything, didn't they?" Aqua asked, not facing Mitsuki.

"Yes, they did."

"What the hell should I do.. Lord Dimaz... I want to save him as he did to be back then.. But, what can I do? Aquourus, tell me... Mitsuki, tell me, what the hell should I do?" Aqua asked as his voice faltered. Aquourus looked down, staying quiet.

"Then leave everything to me, Aqua," Mitsuki said. "That feeling that you have right now, I know it damn well. You are one good god, you know that? You are an ascended, the only one so far I guess, from human to a god, yet you do not boast of the amount of hard work you did, the struggles you faced.. You have trained me well so far and we have grown fond of each other, so I will help you with this saga.."

"I appreciate that, Mitsuki, but, you are too weak to do so, you will get hurt and you might lose." Aqua said, trying to control his voice.

"But, it is better off to try to do something than to watch. Allon is going to use him to do things Dimaz could never think of doing, something you would never want to see your father figure do.. I do promise this- no, I swear it on this Divine Pact, I, Mitsuki Ichiro, shall bring Dimaz back here, even if I am to crawl while I do so, even if I am about to die or collapse, I shall not do so until I bring him back here!" Mitsuki said.

Aqua could no longer control his tears as they streamed down his face.

"Jeez, you bastard," Aqua said as he stood up and wiped his tears. He turned back and looked at Mitsuki.

"If you insist on doing so, I cannot say no." Aqua said as he patted Mitsuki.

"Let us go back to the mansion, the rest are waiting. And.." Aqua said as he focused all his power on his right fist.

"I hope you shall keep quiet about this, RIGHT?"

"Y-Yes!" Mitsuki said.

Aquourus approached the two.

"I see you have quite the good student, Aqua.. Mitsuki Ichiro.. You do seem to contain some good powers." Aquourus said.

"Yes, after all, he is the chosen one of Aurendor."

"Oh? Interesting indeed. I am now quite interested with you, human, the same way I was with Aqua." Aquourus said.

"You are the one who gave Aqua his name, right?" Mitsuki asked.

"Yes, indeed. I am the one who found him and saw the potential in him and led him to Dimaz, the only god I used to trust a long ago. As now, you have shown a good spirit, I shall make a contract with you, human. I shall help to return Dimaz here." Aquourus said as a blue crest appeared around the spirit and Mitsuki.

[Aquourus, the Great spirit of the elements, is forming a contract with you.]

Mitsuki smiled.

"Then, I shall do my very best to fulfil my promise," Mitsuki said as the spirit form Aquourus had broke into glass like shards that gave off a blue glow, causing the entire sky to glow a faint blue.

The doors of the meeting hall opened and in came Aqua and Mitsuki, with looks of determination and resolve.

"Looks like everything has been solved, and it also seems like Mitsuki now has Aquourus." Realos said. Jupiter's hands started glowing as a staff appeared in front of him. He double tapped it on the ground and the scenery started changing.

"Valeria, we are entering Avalon, prepare yourself," Poki said as they appeared right in front of Aurendor's Throne.

"I see, you truly want to go and fight, Mitsuki." Aurendor said as two people with wings appeared next to Aurendor, with items on their hands. They all bowed down as the two approached them.

"We, the Divine spirits of creation and supremacy, Gabriel and Raphael, shall give you, Mitsuki, chosen one of Aurendor, divine gifts that have been graced to you by Aurendor, along with our blessings." They said simultaneously as they placed the gifts down.

[Divine cloak]

[Divine sword; Oryon]

[The ring of spirits]

[The Architect of realms.]

[Divine mask; Gizmo]

As Mitsuki stared at the items in shock, the cloak floated up as the Celestior stood and stretched their hands, touching it.

"Mitsuki, these items do not mean you will instantly win, they resonate with your power, but, I can see your resolve. Come back to us alive, together with Dimaz. Same goes to you girls."

A system display suddenly appeared in front of Valeria, slightly startling her.

[You have been granted the system.]

[You have received Divine power from the Supreme One.]

Poki and Miyuki also saw the message as weapons appeared in front of them.

[You have acquired a legendary grade weapon.]

[Miyuki Ichiro, you have acquired the Ikutachi, the sacred blade of life.]

[Poki Itsuo, you have acquired Ame no Nuhoko, the legendary spear of infinite affinities.]

[Valeria Legion, you have acquired Kogarasu Maru, the legendary sword of order.]

The divine cloak glowed as the gods blessed it.

"Mitsuki, we are rooting for you," Nozark said as the cloak moved by itself towards Mitsuki. It suddenly turned into smoke and materialized itself on Mitsuki's body. It was a pure white cloak with a gold lining all around it. The insignia of Celestior, an angel like figure with six wings holding a great sword, appeared on its back. At the front, was Aqua's insignia. Mitsuki picked up the Oryon and examined it. The sheath had the image of two angels with dark wings, kneeling while facing each other. As he unsheathed it, he was awestruck by the crimson red lining all around the edges of the sword. The blade itself was made of a golden-ish material as it gleamed, reflecting the golden hue of Avalon. A dark orb, the architect of realms, seemed to fuse with the sword, making the sword to glow more as a purple hue passed through the sword into Mitsuki's Arm. Lastly, Mitsuki picked up the mask. It was black with some white markings on it.

"Use it to hide your identity, or do you want the summoned to see you?" Aurendor asked. Mitsuki placed it of his face, covering it.

"No, I don't want them to see me, not yet..." he said.

"Now, we will first wait to see where the summoned are going to go, then we shall progress from there. Let us return to the mansion." Aqua said. The girls along with Mitsuki bowed down at Aurendor.

"We shall treasure these gifts and we swear to do all our best to be worthy of these weapons!" They all said.

"Good, I look forward to your success, Mitsuki." Aurendor said as they disappeared.

KINGDOM OF LUGUNICA

"Speak Marcus, what is it that you wanted to say?" King Azrael said.

"Yes my king. I noticed that something was off in the Cerebus mountains during our first practical training six days ago. I went to inspect today in the morning as I went out with them." Marcus said.

"And?"

"I climbed the mountains and reached the top. The first thing I noticed was odd was that the eruptions were more intense than usual and, the whole place had been destroyed completely." Marcus said as he used magic to make a burnt head to appear.

"This is what remains of the boss of the Sulphur Cerebus."

The King and his officials were shocked.

"Have you found out the cause?"

"Yes, I saw Lord Aqua's insignia in my head after that, I suppose it may have something to do with his subordinate, or some kind of training."

"If you saw his insignia, it means that he himself sent you the message, then there is nothing to worry about, my king." The Bishop said.

"I see, but as a precaution, we shall avoid going there, understood?" The king said.

"Yes, my King. Since today also marks the first week of the training, I plan to do their training on the furthest parts of the Kingdom." Marcus said.

"I see, It is impressive that Mark and Emilia are already past level 70 and the weakest summoned is at level 30, so I shall trust you. To which area do you want to go to?"

"The southern parts, my King."

"Hmm, So you are going to camp in Brook village, the holy land blessed by Lord Aqua?" The Bishop asked.

"Yes,"

"Very well, I shall send notice to the elders. Make sure you first pay your respects to the Lord Aqua as you leave," King Azrael said.

"Yes, my King. I shall start to make arrangements immediately."

Back in Aqua's mansion, Aqua was listening to what was being said in the castle of the kingdom of Lugunica. He smiled as he looked up.

"So, war will break out on where I met you, Lord Dimaz?" Aqua muttered.

"Well, where are you guys going?" Miyuki asked.

"Brook village." Aqua said. "They are going to Brook Village, the southernmost part of Lugunica." Aqua turned to look at Mitsuki, Poki and Valeria.

"Are you ready?"

The two girls nodded as they looked at Mitsuki. Mitsuki looked at the mask on his hand and looked at the girls. He put on the mask and looked straight at Aqua, full with resolve.

"We are ready, Aqua."

"The mask does really fit you well. You have this lingering coolness around you," Valeria said.

"I agree," Aqua said as he placed his hands on Mitsuki's shoulders. "I hope you truly are ready, masked one."

Mitsuki giggled a bit.

"Of course I am, I shall ensure nothing happens to the village, or Dimaz's soul, I promise."