Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit

"Looks like he's got his hands full," Muttered Celia quietly, as she peered out of an alley with Ravella.

"Yeah, they've got him outnumbered four to one...come on, let's go help him-...," Replied Ravella as she began to step out of the alley, before trailing off as Celia held up her arm to stop up.

"Wait, we can't just rush in blindly, that won't help matters...we need to come up with a game plan and decide who we should each take on. We'll let Raven handle the Captain...one of us will fight the other one with a Relic Armament, and the other will fight the remaining two. The one with the Relic Armament is the only one among them who's a target, by the way. Hm...okay, I'll let you decide who you want to fight," Responded Celia, as she glanced at Ravella.

"Huh? Uh, okay, let's see...alright, I'll take the two without Relic Armaments, then. Winning a two on one fight should be a good way to prove myself," Decided Ravella, after glancing at the Knights.

"I mean, you really don't need to prove anything to us, we already know that you're strong...but alright, if that's what you've decided, then let's go with it. Come on, let's do this."

The pair then shot out of the alley, before Ravella took aim and fired out a barrage of light arrows at the Knights as they surrounded Raven, forcing them to scatter before Celia picked up the pace and shot towards Drote, firing off a couple of explosions to force him further away from the other Knights.

Ravella then ran her Mana through her whip, extending it while swinging it out with immense force towards Kia, while simultaneously unleashing a rapid beam of light towards Cleaza.

Kia quickly ducked under the swing of the whip, as Cleaza blocked the light beam with the face of her blade, her feet skidding back a couple of meters as the force of the beam pushed her back upon impact.

"Now, [Light Cannon]!" Chanted Ravella as she fired out a massive beam of light towards the two of them, forcing them to away from the Captain as she then shot towards them as her beam petered out, having carved a wide, smoking trail along the ground.

Cleaza swung her blade across and fired out a slashing wave of sound towards Ravella, who dispersed the incoming attack by swinging her whip straight through it, before unleashing a barrage of light projectiles towards the Knights.

Cleaza quickly backed away and took on a defensive stance before deflecting as many of the projectiles as she could, grimacing as she failed to fully deflect a few of them, which grazed past her sides, drawing out trickles of blood, while Kia managed to block and deflect nearly all the projectiles shooting towards her, only one getting past her defenses and grazing the top of her right shoulder, a stifled hiss of pain ringing out.

Kia then shot towards Ravella as she retracted her whip, swerving across as several light arrows came shooting towards her, before she leapt forward as she closed in, her twin blades raised high.

"I'll slice and dice you into tiny little pieces! Take this!" She exclaimed as she swung her blades down at Ravella's shoulders, who swiftly sprang back and held up her right index finger as she narrowly evaded the slash of the blades, before unleashing a blinding flash of light from her fingertip and eliciting a sharp yell from Kia, "F-fuck! My eyes! D-damn you...I'll tear you apart!"

She began to back away, before Ravella quickly swung her whip across while extending it, a loud smack echoing out as it hit the side of Kia's neck before she could react fast enough, wrapping around her neck tightly.

She let out a slight choked gasp before a startled yelp rang out as Ravella gave the whip a sharp tug while simultaneously retracting it, pulling Kia in towards her rapidly as she formed a swirling sphere of light around her right fist.

As Kia closed in on her and she began to drive her fist forward, she quickly halted and sprang back as Cleaza raced across to her left and fired out a rapid sonic screech at her, narrowly evading it before extending her whip to loosen its grip around Kia's neck, before pulling it back and retracting it.

She then formed a light blade along her palm as Cleaza shot towards her and swung her sword across, Ravella quickly whipped her arm across, deflecting the incoming swing with her blade of light, before she flicked her wrist to crack her whip across at Cleaza's legs.

Cleaza quickly sprang back, wincing slightly as the tip of the whip slapped across her knees, inflicting a stinging pain across them right as Kia closed in on Ravella from ahead and slashed at her waist with one of her blades.

The tip of the blade cut through the fabric over that spot, grazing Ravella's skin before Kia swung her other blade up at Ravella's head, nicking her chin and drawing out a trickle of blood as a smirk spread out across Kia's lips, before her eyes widened in alarm as Ravella opened her mouth and fired out a sharp blast of light.

Kia quickly crossed her blades in front of herself defensively with a near-instant reaction speed, the blast slamming onto her blades and pushing her back a few paces, as Ravella backed away and got some distance, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling to compose herself, as the two Knights regrouped while eyeing her warily.

"These two are tougher than I thought...the Dual Blader is quick on her feet and her reaction time is incredible. She hasn't used any Magic though...maybe she can't? If she's a pure-blooded Commoner, then that might be the case...hm, or maybe she's a Detection Mage? That'd certainly explain her reaction speed. The Saber's tough too, and she's got Sound Magic...if she manages to land a hit with her Magic, it'll disorient me and leave me vulnerable. I can't let her attacks hit me," Ravella thought to herself cautiously.

Meanwhile, not too far away from that spot...

Celia shot towards Drote, who swung the spiked ball of his weapon across at her with a sharp flick of his wrist...she watched the sphere closely as it shot towards her, before swiftly unleashing a sharp jab with her right fist as it closed in on her, striking a spot between the spikes and knocking the sphere back with a sharp clang, before she fired off a rapid explosive spear at the Knight.

He quickly leapt back and whipped his weapon across, the projectile striking the spiked ball and exploding fiercely, the force of the explosion sending him flying back with a pained grimace.

His back slammed onto the ground and skidded back, before he quickly scrambled back onto his feet as a barrage of explosions came shooting towards him, narrowly evading them as they peppered the ground and erupted with immense force, bits of dirt flying out as clouds of dust rose up.

He then raced across to put a bit more distance between them, before coming to a halt and turning across with a seething look in his eyes.

"You damned Commoner...! Have a taste of the true power of my Relic Armament, Morningstar!" He exclaimed before swinging his weapon in her direction as the chain extended out while the spiked ball simultaneously expanded in size.

Celia rapidly charged up a large, explosive sphere, before firing it at the spiky sphere as it began to close in on her, a deafening explosion ringing out as her attack collided against the spiked ball, blasting it away as an intense shockwave erupted upon impact, clouds of dust bursting out around it.

She then quickly shot towards it, leaping forward and grabbing the chain right as Drote began to retract it, getting pulled in towards him before his eyes widened in alarm as she came shooting out of the dust clouds towards him.

He quickly stopped retracting the weapon, Celia immediately letting go of the chain and letting the momentum carry her forward, drawing back her right fist as a dark red glow emanated from inside her gauntlet around her fist, before she drove it forward with all her strength as she closed in on the Knight.

He quickly raised his left arm up defensively as he began to spring back, but he was too late to react, as her fist slammed onto the middle of his forearm before exploding with immense force, which was further magnified by the effect of the gauntlet, an excruciating yell of pain ringing out as she blasted his forearm right off, blood spraying out of the stump that was left around his elbow as he stumbled back in agony, his arm hitting the ground with a thud and skidding away.

Blood poured out and splattered across the dirt before the wound closed up as he healed himself, beads of sweat running down the sides of his face as he backed away and retracted his weapon, a look of fear in his eyes.

"I see, so you haven't mastered any Level 3 Spells, at least not any Healing ones...which means, you can't regrow your arm. Well, not that it matters, since you're about to die here anyway," Smirked Celia tauntingly, as his face turned pale.

"D-damn, you...," He uttered through gritted teeth, shrinking back as she stepped towards him...

Meanwhile, a short distance elsewhere...

Raven flew up as Fyre shot towards him and unleashed a rapid thrust of his spear, evading it before firing out his beams down at the Knight, who quickly sprang back and whipped his spear across, the blade deflecting the beams before they could hit him.

Raven then opened his mouth and fired out a thick cloud of mist at the Knight Captain, who responded by unleashing a scorching wave of flames, burning up the mist before it could reach him.

"Damn it...while heating my venom does make it more potent, that has a limit, too much heat and it'll completely evaporate," Raven thought to himself, before locking his gaze onto the Knight and firing out a pair of rapid beams towards him.

Fyre tilted his body across to evade the beams, and then swung his spear across as he coated the blade in flames, firing out a compressed, pressurized slashing wave of flames towards Raven, who weaved across the air to evade it.

"Hm? He dodged it? Hm, I see, I think I get it...while flames itself seem to have no effect on him, any attacks that have enough force to inflict physical damage can still hurt him. That last attack wouldn't have burned him, but its sheer speed and force might have done some damage, that's why he evaded it," Surmised Fyre, before unleashing a barrage of slashing waves of flames at Raven.

Raven evaded a few of them before firing off slashing waves of flames of his own, which shot forward and clashed against Fyre's attacks, canceling them out before shooting down towards the Knight, who quickly raced across to evade them.

Raven then fired out a massive wave of his purple flames from his mouth towards Fyre, who came to a halt as he realized he wouldn't be able to dodge it, before opening his mouth unleashing a scorching wave of flames of his own in response.

As the flames collided against each other, Fyre's eyes widened in alarm as his flames got pushed back by Raven's flames almost immediately upon impact, before he quickly unleashed compressed bursts of flames from the bottom of his feet to launch himself up into the air, zipping up and over Raven's wave of flames before he tensed up as Raven shot towards him with immense speed through the air as he began to plummet.

He quickly raised his right arm off to the side and fired off another compressed blast of flames, shooting himself off to his left but Raven was quick to adjust and change direction, a sharp crackle ringing out as he coated his entire body in lightning as he closed in on the Knight.

He swiftly veered down as Fyre swung his spear across at him, the blade whizzing past the top of Raven's head and severing a few strands of hair, before Raven drove his arm forward and slammed his palm onto his opponent's stomach, a stuttering cry of pain ringing out as he electrocuted Fyre upon impact and knocked the wind of out him, his entire body stiffening up right before he crashed onto the ground with a thud.

He then gritted his teeth and unleashed a searing shockwave of heat, the force of the attack pushing Raven back a few meters before he sharply spread out his wings to come to a halt, as Fyre shakily got back onto his feet, wincing slightly as twinges of pain erupted around his stomach from the spot Raven had struck.

"Seems I've got the upper hand now that it's one-on-one," Smirked Raven, in an attempt to provoke him.

"Don't get cocky, we're only just getting started here...underestimate me and you'll regret it," Replied Fyre, as he cracked his neck while thinking to himself, "He is pretty strong though, he's on the same level as us Captains, or at least close to it, so I shouldn't underestimate him either. No, he might be even stronger, considering the fact that he's obviously holding back, trying to avoid killing me...that said, I'm getting used to his speed and the timing of his attacks. I just need to hold out a little bit longer and I should be able to find an opening..."

Meanwhile, in the Capital...

"Are you sure we sent enough backup?" Inquired Siele uncertainly.

"Yes, I believe so...it's too risky to send too many of the Knights out, we don't want to leave every other location completely undefended, after all," Pointed out Jules, as she adjusted her armor.

"Fair enough...but is it really necessary for us to go? Why not send a different group of Knights?" He suggested in response.

"I'll admit, part of the reason why I want to go myself is because is because I want to play in part in putting a stop to The Irregulars. It doesn't feel right to blame those who failed to defeat them when I've barely done anything...the one time I did encounter them, I failed to defeat or capture even a single one of them," She replied with a grimace.

"I don't think it's fair to say that you've barely done anything...this latest countermeasure was your idea, after all. And it's not like you were alone when you encountered them, I was there too, along with Tilda and Jorel, so you're not solely to blame for that," He pointed out objectively.

The latest countermeasure against The Irregulars that the Knights had implemented was a simple one...every Knight outpost in every village, town and city had been calling the Knight's headquarters in the Capital at ten minute intervals.

And if any outpost failed to call within fifteen minutes of the previous call, the Knights at headquarters were to assume that The Irregulars had cut the phone lines and were attacking that location, and then send backup there.

As a result, backup had already been sent to Beryl Town and Carnelian Village, and Jules was preparing to head to Amethyst City herself along with her two First-Class Knights, Tilda and Jorel, while Siele would assume command in the Capital until they returned.

As Jules began heading for the door to meet with the other two and head out, the door suddenly swung open as a Knight burst into the room, a panicked look on her face...

"Commander! We've got an emergency!" She exclaimed urgently.

"What is it? Calm yourself and explain the situation clearly," Responded Jules, feeling a sense of dread.

"Y-yes, ma'am, I apologize...a lone figure had invaded the Capital, he's attacking everyone in sight," She replied with a grimace.

"What? Just one person?" Frowned Jules in bemusement.

"Yes, it's-...actually, I don't know if I'd call it a person. There was something about him that didn't seem human, but he doesn't look like an Animoid, Elf or Demon either. Whatever he is, he's already killed several people, including a number of Knights and many civilians...our attacks didn't work on him, they damaged him but he regenerates instantly!"

"Then, it isn't one of The Irregulars?" Chimed in Siele warily.

"Sorry, I don't know for sure, Vice-Commander, but I'd say that's unlikely...he doesn't match any of the sketches on the wanted posters."

"I think it's unlikely too...The Irregulars have always gone out of their way to avoid killing unnecessarily. If they'd changed that stance only as far as the Knights are concerned, that could be understandable, but I can't imagine that they would ever kill innocent civilians indiscriminately.

No, this doesn't fit the way they do things, which means it's something else entirely. Unfortunately, backup to Amethyst City is going to have to wait...I've got a bad feeling about this, and I'm not going to ignore it. Siele, rally the Knights and have them evacuate the civilians. As for you, take me to this mystery attacker," Instructed Jules, as she glanced at the Knight.

"Yes, Commander, right away. Follow me," She nodded, before heading out of the room as Jules followed after her.

"Huh? Hey, wait, sis, maybe we should think about this a bit more before-...aaand, she's gone. Guess I have no choice but to do as she asked," Sighed Siele, before making his way out of the room as well.

The Knight who'd reported the attack led Jules out of the building and through the city, and it wasn't long before the sounds of battle came into earshot.

Screams of pain and loud crashes rang out, along with a malicious cackling, right as a severely mutilated corpse of a Knight came flying over the buildings with streaks of blood spraying out, before plummeting down and crashing onto the ground in front of the Commander with a bloody splat. Jules stared at the corpse with a grimace, clenching her fists as a dark look appeared in her eyes...

"Whoever's behind this is going to pay, I swear it on my honor as the Commander of the Knights and a Princess of the Kingdom. Thank you for showing me the way, I'll take it from here. Go help with evacuating the civilians," She commanded the Knight, before sprinting towards an alley before the Knight could respond, racing through it and emerging out the other side, her eyes widening before a look of rage appeared on her face at the sight that met her.

Corpses were strewn all over the ground, puddles of blood splattered across the area as a dark mist blanketed the space, an ominous figure in the midst of it, the dark mist flowing out of him.

A bony body with pale, wrinkled skin, eyes that were fully black, and a wide, bloodlustful smile across his face...

He had cornered a young woman, a faint look in her eyes as she desperately tried to crawl away, stiffening as her back hit the wall of a building, leaving her with no more room to back away.

"N-no, please...!" She cried In terror, her entire body trembling in fear.

As he reached out towards her, Jules quickly drew out her sword, flames bursting out and wrapping around the blade as she shot forward at top speed.

The figure turned his gaze across as she closed in on him, before she swung her blade straight down, hitting the top of his left shoulder and vertically slicing through his arm with a searing sizzle.

The figure then drew back his right fist with a smirk, before Jules quickly drew back her sword and raised it up defensively on instinct, a loud clang echoing out as his fist slammed onto her blade and launched her back at a breakneck speed, sending her hurtling away.

She gritted her teeth before twisting her body across in midair and fired off pressurized jets of flames from the soles of her feet to regain a bit of balance and cancel out some of the momentum, before driving her blade into the ground to bring herself to a halt.

As she regained her bearings and lifted her head, her eyes widened in alarm as she met the figure's gaze from a few meters away, charging in towards her with alarming speed, before noticing that the deep slash she'd inflicted down his left arm had already healed.

She quickly tilted her head across as he drove his fist towards her face, narrowly evading it before an intense gust of wind erupted from his force of his punch, sending her stumbling across to the right before she unleashed a burst of flames from her sword, engulfing the figure and setting him ablaze, charring his body black.

She then stared in shock as he healed in the blink of an eye, the flames disappearing before she swung her blade up, firing out a slashing wave of flames, which struck the middle of his chest and scorched that spot, slicing into his body, before he instantly healed once again...

"Wh-what the...what the hell are you!?" She snapped, before grimacing as her vision blurred slightly.

"My, you're a strong one, aren't you...not that it makes any difference against me. And your flames are weaker than the flames of the little Homunculus who wandered into the ruins, you can't burn up my Miasma like he could...and thanks to your agitated, riled up state, it looks like it's already starting to affect you. Allow me to introduce myself, I am the Undead King. And I intend to destroy the Kingdom of Persona," He remarked with a malicious smirk.

"Homunculus? Ruins? Wait, don't tell me...is he why father forbade us from venturing further into the ruins after we reached the fortieth level? Hold on, but Aster Stark said that they took care of it when I asked...but this being clearly said 'ruins', so he must be what was down there that scared father so much. In which case, The Irregulars must not have realized that they failed to finish him off. And considering how strong they are, that doesn't bode well," Surmises Jules warily, before responding, "That's quite a bold claim...but do you really think you can do that all by yourself? Sure, you're powerful, but there's only so much you can do alone...I mean, you've experienced defeat, and quite recently at that, am I right?"

She instinctively flinched as the Undead King's expression darkened upon hearing that, a chill running down her spine before an unsettling smile spread out across his face...

"You're going to regret trying to provoke me...and just so you know, I'm not alone. Far from it, actually. You see, today's nothing more than a warmup, a prelude to what's to come...but alright, I suppose I can you a bit more of a taste of the hell I'll soon plunge this nation into! Now, [Summon Undead]!"

Jules' eyes widened in horror as several dozen undead creatures appeared behind the Undead King, the Miasma flowing around the area intensifying as he began howling with malicious, bone-chilling laughter, the Commander's blood running cold...