Katherine stepped onto the sandy shores barefoot, the and sinking into her toes as the bottom of her jeans dragged along. It had been months sinced she had been back to the town, she wondered wat it was that she had missed out on. Stopping just before the waters edge she drew in a heavy sigh as she inhaled the crispy salty air at the same time, it was a breath of relief to be in a place she felt at peace. Long curls billowed around her shoulders in the daft breeze that surrounded her from the waves crashing in the distance, it was a sound she longed to hear as she just stood there like a statue admiring the beauty of the neverending beauty of the blue ocean.

Kaien: *finally the nekojins hearing slowly returned, his hearing was slowly bombarded by an onslaught of sounds, but the one he searched for, the very one he hoped he would hear first was gone. But how? And why? His mind paced through many thoughts as he slowly begins to feel Sams presence in another location. He felt she was pain, perhaps the shockwvaes blasted her into something, whatever the source or cause he needed to follow her, thus with a loud sonicboom Kaien was off*

The deed was done. Nihilus' attack was thwarted, for the most part. Kain looked upon his tattered clothing with blind eyes just as he received the message from his beloved. After such a feat that cheated the Fates, Kain barely had enough energy to hold himself in the air, much less teleport to another location.

Helicopters were approaching quickly, chopping the air as they headed towards the shoreline with haste to see just what took place. The electricity was out due the the EMP effects from the oblivious nuclear blasts. Kain had to leave. He sensed Samantha had been moved as well as the dark presence of Domitrix. It would seem that Domitrix will know about the Inner Circle, the Creed's innermost workings. So secretive, that not even Nihilus would ever be able to find it. It was there he will rendevous with his beloved. But one task remained. He had not noticed if Domitrix had removed the documents from the condo. So there was need to check. With some of the mana he had left, Kain's form slowly vanished into the night sky, leaving no suspects for the helicopters to find.

Feeling herself being lifted, eyelids flutter open briefly, coal black hues seeing just shadows, she tries to lift her head before it falls against Domitrix's shoulder, silver hair matted by her own blood. "Kain...Inner Circle" where all the words she managed to expell before eyelids again fall closed while unconsciousness claims her.

Whence hovering form reached shore, sphere dispersed into nothingess, rendering the demon incapable of floatation ability, and dropping onyx heels into the sand. Right along the ends of the tide. His crimson pulse of ocule shot over to the limpless form about the ground. Narrowed optics spun in revolution as pace did not hesitate to commence towards the femme. A right hand with bent elbow rest upon the hilt of the chaotic Murasame. Obsidian cloak still rustling in the breeze. Third party forces were sure to come soon. They had to move.

The rain would hit her form and his own. Stoic expression gazing down at her body. She was hurt, and it appeared intermediately, but she was very much alive. The demon knelt down with a forearm above his higher knee, the trim of the enchanted mythic compressing the darkness, complimenting the emptiness from the void in his visage.

His study traced the number of wounds upon her frame. She was breathing, for the most part. Only acknowledged unconsciousness due to the sudden blow to the rear of her skull. Thankfully, it put her to an attentively asleep state. Crimsons slowly glanced around for the other two that were caught in the fray. This rain didn't give up, although it was nearing its final chapters.

Slowly, the digits of onyx gauntlet proceeded to slide behind the fae's neckline, and the other arm pressing her senseless legs together to cup the area behind her knees upon the hellforge of his forearm. When he managed to find a decent leverage on her body, the Empyreal stood. Sounds of helicopter gyros were breaking the silence of the distance. A soft, invisible mask of icy sheltering hid the two's temperatures from possible surveillance of orbitting satelites.

With Samantha unresponsive and in need of care, hopefully one that Kain could offer, narrowing gaze still journeyed for a sight of him. Though no sound of a voice was heard.

Samantha remained slumped where she had landed, blood continuing to trickle from her ears and nose due to the force of the blast. Blood flowing heavily from a gash on the back of her head caused my a deep laceration she had received when she struck her head. Rain fell upon her almost motionless form, only her chest rising and falling with her steady although shallow breath.

Unfortunately, a vibrant stab at the face of the opposition, the demon's onslaught sphere did not break in the midst of the oddly shaped hellfire orb, nor the break in this nuclear combustion that the humans would currently label their 'strongest weapon'. Instead, only force of four gritting fangs provoked this Empyreal to give even further chase. But the trace of energy was all gone. Not a single path or hint anymore. The battleship wasn't the headquarters anymore, this detail was given away. It didn't bring them closer to their objective of finding the Herald's true operational root, but it definitely rested the shoulders of this focus from the fleet.

Still, with gripping onyx gauntlet around handles of massacreous Shinto daikatana, the forbidden one remained hovering above eventually calming water's surface, in the confines centered within the projection of his vorpal sphere.

"Coward..." murmured emotionless maw, creating a nice gentle coating of crystal fog that dispersed into the humidity of the atmosphere. Rubies still scanned the ocean, but alas there was still no sign, nothing vital, nothing physical. No energy trail. Only the soundless flutter of obsidian hooded robes concealing his visage, as his form turned about, softly resheathing the hellforged blades, and propelling his heavily armored floating bodice back to the shoreline slowly.

It was disappointment, these humans and their 'props'. The duels of old were indeed all history with the colonization of the Western movements. Failure and a mayhap death in losing the battle might have felt a better result than the one that just occurred. The antimagnetic push of his encircling elemental wall pressed down the water's mantle as he travelled back to the beachfront, mildly upset expression brandished upon indifferent demeanor.

Like a bat out of hell, wings spread out just a little like a diving hawk, Kain's enraged figure tears through the skies, fiery red eyes allowing him to see past his blindness as he streaked back towards the Lonely Shores.

He was pissed. Angry. Enraged. Everything nice about him was not present. The only thing that existed was reserved for his beloved, whom he was worried about. He felt her presence, but her thoughts were silent. She may be unconscious. She would be ok. She was tough and could handle her own. He wanted to help her, but he knew she would tell him to deal with Nihilus. Which was what he was going to do.

Flying in to the shores, the mushroom clouds pluming the skies had merged into just a few clouds, the radiation was starting to take over. Kain had an idea. A brilliant idea.

To everyone, the mushroom clouds grew larger and larger. But after a minute or so, to everyone's dismay, they seemed to slow their growth, then stop completely, halting as if something stopped them from even moving. What madness was this? But it was even more confusing when everyone would see the clouds slowly beginning to shrink, as if someone hit rewind on a video. The clouds moved in reverse, dwindling down, gaining speed back to the epicenter of the very explosions from whence they came. But not everything seemed to move back into their positions. Those that had been affected by the blasts remained as they were. Only the holocaust was reversed. Smoke turned back into fire, fire began to shrink back into the missile casings which the fragments had begun to piece back together. Everything had been undone.

The 5,000 missiles floated in the air harmlessly until a red streak flew by them, and then they all suddenly disappeared, one by one.

What happened to the missiles?

Only time would tell...

Kaien: *although only a fraction of a second was allowed for the sounds of the explosions to enter their ears, its more then enough cause temperary deafness for the nekojin. He could of closed his eyes to shield them from damage from the intense bright light, but he needed to focus, needed the calirifying visual evidence that his sheild was holding, that he didn't risk his life for a friend only to die with him. A long stream of green greyish radiation smoke evloped the sky where the warheards exploded, if veiwed from space one would almost say it was a scar upon the earth that floated within the sky, the shockwave clearing out the rain clouds revealing the first glimpses of the emerging sun. The sea below had caved in due the shockwave but quickly recovered. After a few moments pause following the explosion Kaien both temporarily deaf and blind lowered his hands and with them the shield. His eyes ached with unbelieveable pain as his ears rang*

"KAIN!" Samantha screamed again, her voice now filled with sorrow and fear before the blast wave reached her and sent her hurdling backwards into the side of their own home. The back of her head striking the wall, creating a hole from the force while leaving blood trickling from her ear's and nose, leaving her unconscious, slumped on the ground leaning against the condo.

"Fuck..." was all that Kain managed to utter just before Kaien appeared before him and tried to shield him from the thousands of nuclear explosions that would have obliterated the both of them. However, Kain wasn't shielded much by Kaien's mana shield. The blastwave pushed Kain back at blinding speeds, a trail of smoke layed out the trajectory of his flight through the air. He heard his beloved call out to him, and sorrow began to flood his heart. She wouldn't be able to help him, but only the blastwave affected him. The heat... well... Kain controlled the fire element, so all the heat generated by the nuclear explosions were absorbed.

Kain flew well out of the Cimmerian, seemingly headed to the ruined city of Placar.

Samantha quickly brought her arm up over her eyes while turning her head, shielding herself from the light while almost instantanously running down the beach in the direction of Kain, his well being her only concern at the moment. Damp sand flung from the soles of her boots as she dashed forward, her own safety not even an issue to her at the moment, only her love. "KAIN!" She called out as loud as she could so her voice would be heard over all else.

*to the Herald Lord, both attacks moved in slow motion, when in reality all transpired within a fraction of a second. The large sphere of Hellfire as well as the vigilant charge from Dom both hit their marks, Nihilus shielded himself from the flames just before Doms blades struck him, the submarine itself survives the hellfire orb seemingly as Nihilus falls to his back hitting the deck of the submarine at which instant both disperse into thick white steam. This steam continued to spread across the pelted surface of the sea for nearly as far as the eye can see. Upon its fading a fleet of nearly 1000s of submarines awaits them both, including a clone of Nihilus on the deck for each vessel, standing now within a black cloak obscuring the sight of his limbs while only the faint red glow of his eyes could be seen from beneath his large hood. Extending his left hand from behind his cloak out into the rain he made a fist, and with the extension of his pointer finger the 5 missiles barely half a second from detonation were telekenitically thrown at Kain with three times the speed of the hellfire ball, making for a cloud of nearly 5000+ warheads tearing through the air, and with there trajectory, should Kain dodge and leave them to head on their course, each would land just short of the very shores that Kain now called home, but even so, this is well within the blast radius for even one warhead, knowing this the Nihilus' then vanished taking the gargantuan fleet of the cloned death machine with them. Back on shore however Kaien had been deciding between aiding Kain and Dom against Nihilus or hunting down Lumiya, but upon sensing the worry from Sam his decision is made. As he begin to take flight into the dark rainy skies a horrifying sound strikes his ears just barely, and on instinct, with no more that a few fractions of a second left Kaien pushed his body into the thresholds of supersonic speed and teleported just in front of Kain, then moving his arms at supersonic speeds thanks to his mana which now caused his body glow with a blue hue, he trusted his arms out towards the in coming missiles creating a mana shield just beyond his finger tips that surrounded both he and Kain just in time to avoid taking any damage from the blasts other than the deafening sounds of the detonating warheads and the blinding light of the explosions*

In was in a motion without hesitation. The sand twister was not of wind in its own elemental capital, it was the force derived from the demon's bodice, focus and unrivaled power. When it began to take shape, it was that of a sphere. Visible and vorpal in its ever-revolving construct. It cocooned the Empyreal, lifting him slightly upwards into a hovering state.

With full attention to his occurred surroundings, rich ruby optics still managed lock upon very distant figure of Herald now. Not time's grace during the next coarse of action shot Domitrix into the shores of the ocean, as a 'demon dash' technique combined with that of the 'onslaught sphere' played out a direct dive towards the distancing submarine. The velocity of the approach parted and upheavaled the waters into grand waves that disturbed the walls of the estelle of separating path.

Both sister massacres were drawn and at the ready, one at each of his sides behind the grasp of uopenable, tightened onyx gauntlet digits. His orb of a shield was divine. It shined a bright fulminant tint similar to lightning, both white and cyan hues of particle stems. The ridges that bordered the sphere were of the darker shades, and as it made its way into the epicenter, the brightest of colors swarmed about the demon's hellish platemail armoring.

In such a sin of a shot, that violated any earthly rule of physics ever given or to have come close of discovery, Domitrix aimed strictly for the enlargening figure of Nihilus. He cared not for the blast from Kain to interfere, nor the ticking of the nuclear missles that were once positioned inside. He just wanted to ensure the death of the being. Only in death would the rest of the cult fall apart, picked off one by one. And survival... survival wasn't a concern of his betwixt the trade offs of mediocre attacks.

All he wished was to reach the Herald's head, even in the very emphasis of nuclear explosion. His eyes wished to stare into the male's own as his life slipped from his fingers. He wanted to see him die, by all means necessary. And so parted the waters, the once more restless onslaught from Devilin Domitrix Exodus.

Samantha stood in the distance watching her beloved do what he must. Fear gripped her that Kain wouldn't be able to control his powers and he would do harm to himself, a fear that lived with her every second of every day. With concerned eye he watched the rift grow and seemingly swallow the missles.

Unsure if they were still in danger she wanted to go to her love, but she would be of no help and would only serve as a distraction. Standing silent she suddenly hears the telepathic meassage that was cast to all beings in the area. A slew of profanities exited from her mouth as she turned just in time too the roof of their home tore off. Standing, dripping wet in the rain, her damp clothes clinging tightly to her form, amethyst hues give way to hues the color of coal.

Lightning streaked across the sky, casting about its luminescence across the weathered clouds. In the instant the flash subsided, Kain appeared in the skies, his clothing flapping with the strong winds blowing wildly. He spotted 5 objects rapidly approaching, it was the missiles.

Casting several hand configurations, chanting incantations, he then thrust his hands forward, and just before him, the largest rift he had ever created began to grow outwards in the night sky. Lightning struck once more and the rain pummeled his form. The rift began to grow ever larger, Kain's chanting filling the churning sky as the storm seemed to grow ever more angry. Rain falling down as if the world was flooding.

The missiles drew near, but Kain remained vigilant and continued to call forth his abilities to make the rift grow even larger. Soon, one by one, the missiles flew into the rift, and vanished once they entered. Kain immeditely closed the rift, sealing the fates of the missiles within. But the real question was where?

Little did Nihilus know, was that the missiles now sat in the missile compartment bay, the rocket fuel having been completely removed from all of them, and the timer still ticking within.

With a laugh, Kain began to summon the fires of hell between the palms of his hands, the orb growing in size. Kain shunted so much power, it began to scare even him, but much was needed to perform his task. Once the orb grew to as much power as Kain dared to give it, a firm double handed throw gave release the the fireball, hurdling at 10x the speed of sound towards the submarine's hull. The impact would surely destroy most of the hull, and sink the submarine to the depths of the ocean from which it is now located. Kain watched his grand majestic attack unfold before him, and awaited the outcome of Nihilus' demise.

Nihilus: *with haste the Herald Lord grabbed hold of the submarines hull, in an instant the entire ship, crew and all, was teleported further out to sea, out of reach as the slash wave passed by, the large sand tornado would now have to work its way past deep water to reach them. Nihilus was no coward, but he could not afford to lose the submarine to a skirmish. Shortly after the teleport sirens began to sound from the ship. Signifying the launch preparations where complete, they soon silenced and the following sound was that of the first of five missiles launching, the large warhead slowly propelled its way out of the ships hull through its opening, a large cloud of smoke trailing behind it as the wmd zoomed into the air, straight up heading for low orbit. The intense heat given off from thrust left Nihilus dry as a bone. The smoke having spread, nearly cloaking the submarine* Checkmate

The demon would offer no blessed notion of a reply. He knew of his mission, he knew all the information needed, and all the methods allocated. The listings were certain, as were the voices of the Fates to the deity. Morbid expression if anyone were to feel such grace in identifying demeanor behind occult hood's trimline, played masterpiece upon his face. With an indifferent curl of lips corner downward, his focus did not stray from the fixation of optic unto Herald god.

Without, however, having unsheathed the deathly ploy of twin sister Shinto daikatana from homebound scabbard, although doubtless grip was very well present. Faithlessness in the oncoming answer to his sudden arrival pulsed forth a force through the sands. Such tempest and quake shattered forward, depleting the shore of its tide, exiling it back into the ocean. A concentrative appeal that braced the sea level of that given location higher, shuffling the naval fleet slightly as the increase in water level ensued. Somewhat as if lifting the bottom of the ship into a harlmess altar.

The force sent however, invisible to the distracted eye, but vibrant in ghostly shockwaves, was sent to collide with such an attempt. And now without necessary focus of opposition, for he needed to derail the oncoming counter, the Lord of Shadows arced forward in release of the twin sisters. Their pranic wave would soar towards the fleet, in the art of an arc, searing the sands in their diagonal stead, and leaving portions of the water parted, emitting only steam from the attack. The one attack directed towards Nihilus now.

Behind the Empyreal, a few logs flew about, and distant palm trees lifted from their rooting, all while the tempest performed left a dance of sand whirling cautiously around Domitrix, as if already in process of creating another step in this restless onslaught.

Nihilus: *recieveing the telepathic message from Lumiya, he sees an opportunity to deal a swift and decisive blow to the land. One that will leave it scared for many years to come. But before he can act a navy man rushes to his side*

NM: Safeties have suddenly gone offline my lord.

Nihilus: *he stood with his arms at his sides, the rain dripping from both his long sleek black hair and attire, closing his eyes he delved deep into the universal sea that connects all things, living and non-living. Its here that he finds the culprit to this endeavor, and here that he finds a grand opponent. With little more than a logical thought a decision is made and he sends a reply message to Lumiya, which simply was: 'Survive'* Activate emergency procedure for nuclear missile release. Luanch 8 through 12. We may be dead in the water but at least we're not without our firepower. Now get below and hunker down. I'll submerge the ship afterwards. *The Navyman nodded nervously and entered the submairne, locking the hatch behind him as Nihilus open his eyes slowly, revealing the blood covered pupils he so deserved for the countless lives manipulated, tortured, murdered, and destoryed diliberately at his hands. A new enemy has risen to oppose him, and soon it, like the one who had slain him before, will learn that he is far from a push over* We'll play this game of chess, even long after the feilds of war have been scared beyond all recognition and utterly erased from the face of the earth, leaving an empty whole in the solar system. The moon the only nod to what once was, and what darkness that has come to spread throughout the universe. Let's begin. *with a series of invisiable hand signs the very water that submarine lay in began to bubble, until without warning a forest of water dragons, made from the seas water itself hurled its way towards Dom, there yellow sharp eyes locked upon his form*

In soon, by the grace of full moon's embrace upon misty clouds above, would land the crash of digging onyx greaves into sand. Only to come to a stand, obsidian robes rustling wildly with the explosion of arrival. 'It was from here', clarified the narrowing crimsons of thoughtful cinnabar ocules. They pulsed in their casings, revealing the art behind a savage, macabre intent.

As bodice of hellish pauldroned platemail straightened into soft rise, the shimmer of lackluster eyes captivating the ambient, searching. They sought for 'him'. Belittled by the absence of secrecy, the cult leader turned maniac that all of these pawned remnants worshipped must have known as much of Domitrix as the demon did of him. He took rewarding praise at the top of his listings. It wasn't to be the simplest of murders, for he knew of his potency, but it was a journey that the Devil in him has savored for much a long time.

With sierra silver tresses blowing in the breeze that trickled the northern shore, retina would catch glimpse of darkened figure at shore's edge. Long midnight hair would reflect from the silhouette of the moonlight, bouncing from the waters before him. They were each other's prey, and if the heavens so wished it, for the eternity of their battle over the planet.

With both plated gauntlet's digits in grip of handle facing the guard of their blades this time, a soft click would ring an echo throughout the radius of proximity.

The safeties had been disabled, and the legendary Shinto daikatanas, screaming psychotically for their anxious judgement.

Lumiya: *the sole apprentice of an age old enemy to royals long past had finally pin pointed the origin of the artifacts she sensed, a soft grin began to creep upon her lips as she made one final leap resulting in her landing just inches from the front door but as she did so did Kaien*

Lumiya: *her steps deliberate and forceful, a testement to her enormous physical strength in their own right as the sand grains shattered against the weight and force beneath her feet, passing the first house as she walked along trying to pinpoint the origin of the powerful artifacts she sensed. As she drew near the signal changed in its nature, from that of a calm warm fuzziness to that of something wild and yet tamed. Intrigued her steps quicked to leaps, as she raced past house after house, condo after condo, her dark cloak fluttering in the air as she moved*

Kaien: *following closely behind yet out of sight, the nekojin, tries to telepathically warn Sam of Lumiya, although unsure if she is hostile or not, he felt being too careful here wouldn't hurt*

Lumiya: Understood master. *the moment she spoke she felt the presence of 2 relics nearby, further down the beach somewhere, telepathically she relays this info to Nihilus before performing a gargantuan leap to shore nearby, landing with a hard thud, her black robes slowly falling to her body as the rain pummeled her. Upon rising from her kneeled position, she could see a row of several beach houses* One of these holds those artifacts. *she said softly to herself while she marched in the wet sand towards the first of the houses*

Meanwhile the nekojin, Kaien follows suit closely behind.

*As the figure watched over the beach his long slick black hair became glued to his back as the rain continued to fall from the overcast above, his crimson eyes scanning like a bird of prey watching for its next meal, another figure approaches from behind, dressed in dark robes, reaching the shoulder of the previous figure, bowing as his right arm crosses his waist, revealing hideous metal nails painfully grafted to his flesh* What is your will?

Nihilus: This is your first true test. The enemy is here, but you must show no allegiance to me unless I tell you otherwise. You will set forth and find the artifact located in this region. Use whatever means you deem appropriate, even if it means challenging me to prove your alliance. Now go. And remember the Void is always present.

*the calm dented surface of the sea slowly began to swell up as a large black figure surfaced, parting the water as its hulking black form stood out like a mechcanical instrument of death from the sea, large panels on its backside sliding open, allowing steam to stedily rise as a figure steps forth from the vessels large towering center. An unfamiliar face with a familiar aura.

As the rain beat upon his slim form it served the lands before him his mind fast at work.