* Thousand Foot Krutch - Lifeline *


    IMPORTANT AN: dashes (-) will be used like brackets for conversations of people that aren''t directly in the scene.


    ***


    "HOLY SH*T!" a feminine voice yelled after the loud explosion, "water dude is not kidding, huh? That shot would''ve easily taken down a skyscraper if aimed properly!"


    "Are you alright, my mistress?" a childish voice called while panting.


    "Ah Calcer," replied Raven, "thank you!"


    "Hehe, I knew you''re awesome, my mistress!" the red haired boy said with a wide smile.


    "What the heck?" Be couldn''t help but mutter to herself as she descended to the ground to catch her breath.


    "Oi, you good?" the crimson-purple haired girl descended next to her and extended her hand towards her and Sara.


    Feeling her energye back, Be couldn''t help but look at the girl in admiration while holding the now unconscious Sara in her arms.


    Not only did the young girl just save their lives, but also gave her some energy to make sure she can get to a safe ce.


    "My mistress is awesome, isn''t she?" the red haired boy said with such a cheerful tone that almost made Be think she was at a birthday party and not a half destroyed city.


    Dismissing the red haired demon, Raven pressed her earpiece gently as she had heard Cami say something on the other side.


    Her "friend" that was giving her information about monster locations was obviously Cami since she had ess to that information through the EDA.


    While Raven didn''t like the idea of being an EDA ranker, she appreciated the help, especially that she knew Mr. Hond knew of their small operation.


    "Cami, I hear you, what''s up?" Raven said while holding down on the earpiece.


    "R##EN TH### #ERE!" Cami''s voice wasgging much that Raven couldn''t hear them. Even though she knew this should never happen with the specific devices they used.


    "Cami I can''t hear you!"


    "MAYA!! THEY #### ##R MAYA! MANY OF ####!!!"


    Raven couldn''t hear much, but from Cami''s panicked tone and words it appeared as though Maya was in trouble.


    Widening her eyes in realization, her aura red so violently that the ground cracked instantly under her feet.


    Everyone on the battlefield could feel the majestic rage of the mysterious little girl, including the ck haired demon that Raven had instructed to go help with the big monster, and the two S rankers there.


    Be felt the golden aura attack her very soul as her knees buckled under her.


    Seeing that the girl was about to drop down unconscious, Raven retracted back her aura and instructed Calcer to take care of her.


    A split second was all that Raven needed to get back to her original mindset. She couldn''t just go and leave the city in ruins, so a quick idea came into her mind.


    Feeling his mistress''s will, the ck haired demon flickered from the battlefield and reappeared in front of Raven, kneeling down.


    Raven had her hand extended already touching his void ck hair.


    Activating her newly acquired Combination Skill "Mana Recharge", and controlling her mana properly, Raven began the naming process, which was simr to a contract in a way.


    "Demon," Raven said quickly yet with such grace and rage that it made her look like an experienced queen ordering her troops to battle, "I shall give you a name; from now on, and till the day you die, you shall be called Keith. Serve me and you shall receive my gratitude."


    Suddenly, a ck golden light enveloped the demon signalling the beginning of the naming procedure.


    However, unlike Calcer, Raven felt that something was holding down the process. A third party was trying to prevent the naming.


    (Into the Demon World side)


    - "Your highness, I thought you were interested in the girl. If I may ask, why are you trying to break the naming ritual?"


    "Kfufufufufu! It''s nothing much. If that girl is indeed the one we''re seeking, then this amount of interference should be negligible to her."


    Sitting on his throne, the young royal had a smile filled with extacy as he was testing the girl for the first time. -


    (Back to Raven)


    Feeling the barrier between her and the red haired demon, and understanding that someone was trying to forcefully eliminate the contract made Raven rage beyond description.


    "I DON''T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" She yelled angrily as her aura turned brilliant white immediately, lighting up the entire city.


    It was simr to the incident of the small sun, yet this time it wasn''t exactly an attack, but rather raw Radiance.


    The Radiance was a result of Raven''s second Magic Skill: Brilliant Primordial Radiance.


    The only reason she resorted to that was because she needed to finish this and reach Maya instantly.


    Needless to say, everyone including the monster and other rankers, even people from other cities could see what was happening since it was all being broadcasted.


    (Demon World)


    - "YOUR HIGHNESS! Are you alright?" the old butler suddenly shouted as his master had been thrown away from his throne and sent crashing against the floor.


    "Kfufufuf-*cough*" the young demon tried tough while standing up but to no avail, he could neitherugh nor stand properly.


    His little stunt to suppress the naming ritual had almost cost him his life.


    ''Sven though my soul is in extreme pain, my mind is finally at ease. We''ve finally found her, the seeker of truth.- the demon thought as he closed his eyes that were bleeding from the pressure in his head.


    ''I hope you forgive me, when we meet that is.''


    *sigh*


    (Back to the human ne)


    No one could tell for sure what has happened, but one thing that the S rankers, in particr, could feel was the presence of a new entity with enough power to either make them win or lose the war.


    A few seconds after the radiant light had faded away, everyone found themselves looking at a young man with an ancient royal garment of sorts.


    The garment itself was coal ck with mystic bright white patterns across, making it look more majestic.


    The man himself, unbeknownst to many that was a demon, had a medium length hair that was void ck with a couple of white strands running across.


    The white strands made him look young and wise at the same time while also emitting a mysterious powerful aura around him.


    "My mistress, you broke the seal..." Keith didn''t expect that a naming ritual would break the seal his old master had created.


    It wasn''t something harmful, but rather to prevent other demons from iming him their own.


    Looking around, he couldn''t see or feel his young mistress, but he knew what his mission was.


    Clenching his right gloved hand, he looked up the sky feeling better than ever before. He could feel the foreign yet friendly mana running through his body.


    "Thank you my mistress," he said sincerely still looking up in the sky, "I shall serve you with everything I have."


    ***


    * Maria''s mansion back in Torinto city *


    Cami and Joey were both standing in front of the rest of the group, spells and swords at the ready.


    Rain, Axane, and Maria were all surrounding Maya who was the center of attention. Kuru was in her arms ready to switch into his sword form when need arises.


    Currently, a group of flying white aliens were filling up the sky above them. They looked like angels in many aspects as their skin and feathery wings were sparkling white.


    However, Cami could tell that their aura wasn''t angelic at all. They''ve been in this position for the past few minutes but no party had attempted to make a move first.


    Many of the flying angels were looking at Maya in particr with a mix of hatred and envy, hence why Maria and the others chose to surround her.


    The tension was so thick in the air that it made it hard to breath. And to make matters worse, one of the ''angels'' decided tond in front of the group.


    Landing with with the grace of an owl, the ''angel'' looked Cami in the eyes as he could tell she was the strongest.


    "We havee to escort our queen back to our home." surprising everyone, he spoke with their ownnguage, rather than making some weird noise like monsters always do.


    "F*CK. OFF." Cami wasn''t ying this sort of game and she wasn''t handing anyone to a strange alien.


    "Through our studies, we have concluded that humans are more likely to obey if we''re polite," repeated the winged alien again, "please, let our queene back with us."


    Although he was speaking politely, his aura was anything but.


    "F.*.C.K. O.F.F." Cami repeated slowly for him to take a hint.


    "Apparently our calctions were not correct..." he said nkly, "a second resort would be violence, is that a stronger motivation for you to give us back our queen?"


    Maya who was listening this whole time was currently past her limits. "Did you not hear her you f*cking dipsh*t? She said F*CK OFF!"


    She knew Cami had already warned both of Jamie and Raven that they needed help, so they only needed to buy enough time for them to arrive.


    Maya wasn''t stupid and she knew that she in particr was the weakest and had no powers to fight with, but surrendering herself while Raven and Jaimie were only a few minutes away was beyond question.


    She would have failed her family and Raven in particr so many times.


    "My queen, we don''t understand why you''ve left us, but we have finally found you, pleasee back with us." the angel''s voice was almost too robotic for anyone to even consider alive.


    "Stop calling me your queen, I don''t even know you, d*ckhead!"


    "I understand that. It seems as though you''ve erased your own memories. We''ll fix that." The alien was done talking and started approaching the group.


    The rest of the winged aliens started to descend to the ground in a circr formation with the human group in the middle.


    "Please, your highness, we''ll fix that, we''ll fix you." He was getting closer to the group so Kuru turned into his sword form in Maya''s hands.


    Seeing the demonic ck sword in his queen''s hands, the angel made a disguted expression, as if about vomit. "So it''s true that you have betrayed us!"


    Saying that with the same robotic tone, the alien extended his ws as he charged at Maya who blocked with the sword.


    CLANK!! CHOP!


    The contact onlysted a few seconds as Kuru, in sword form, cut through the alien''s sharp w.


    "EEEEEKKKK!!" The collection of aliens screamed loudly deafening the group. Maya had blood running down her ears but she didn''t even think about letting go of the sword.


    Noticing that the alien was about to charge again, she readied Kuru and herself for a block. "I''m so sorry Kuru, I can''t wield your full power so I''m probably just hurting you..."


    WWHOOOOOOSHH!!!!!


    Blinking twice, Maya was sure she had shed at the alien-angel thing, but even after blinking a couple of times, she didn''t seem to find him around.


    "But what was noise I heard- COULD IT BE?" Looking around her, she found herself looking at her party members'' confused expressions and injured bodies as they''ve also had their small shes with the aliens.


    ''But where are they?'' everyone had the same thought.


    Looking up in the sky in search for them, everyone saw something falling down, or rather someone.


    """RAVEN!!!"""