Chapter 55: An Unsuspecting Rumor..!

(A year and nine months later, Kazuya and Lotus sparred in a rematch but was stronger and faster than before. Lotus smiling at the progress Kazuya has made so far. As Kazuya's lightning began to extend and crawl up his body which he then began to warp through space but circling Lotus at insane speeds. Lotus closed his eyes and emptied his mind in which Kazuya which came at Lotus with his fist clutched tightly for a gut punch but Lotus then rose his leg in the air and stomped to the ground where his fist was but Kazuya then appeared in the air and launched a quick lightning bolt at Lotus in which exploded him and the surrounding grasslands. As the dirt fell back to the ground, Kazuya looked and saw Lotus holding the lightning bolt with his fingertips and surprised him entirely.)

"Kazuya: How... HOW...?!"
"Lotus: Throughout all this time, I've been training too."
"Kazuya: Lotus, how strong are you really..?"
"Lotus: As I've told you before, I've only been using six percent of my true physical strength against you throughout the whole training."
"Kazuya: WAIT, SIX PERCENT?!??! YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOU'RE FAR STRONGER THAN GAITO AND SAWANO IN GENERAL?!"
"Lotus: I don't want to spill rumors but if I went all out according to Gaito, there's an unfortunate possibility that I can defeat Zeus, Hades and Poseidon if those three were in their prime ages. That IS if the fight was a hand to hand bout."
(Kazuya was then terrified at the thought of him going all out.)
"Kazuya, I believe you're ready. I've taught you everything I could. Its time for you to go out there and prove to me all that training wasn't wasted."
"Kazuya: I won't fail you ol- Master... Lotus."
(Lotus smiled and patted his head as he then went to his room then Kazuya left his dojo with a smile on his face and then teleported to Olympus. In front of the academy as classes was not starting yet.)
"I wonder how Shibuto and Hinami are.."
"Shibuto: Kazuya?"
(He turned around and saw Shibuto with Hinami as they all smiled.)

"Hinami: KAZUYAAAA!!!!!"
(She hugged him with tears.)
"Kazuya: H-Hinami..?"
"Hinami: I was so worried for you... you idiot..!"
(He smiled and pat her head.)
"Kazuya: I'm sorry for running off."
"Shibuto: It seems you're feeling much better."
"Kazuya: I sure am! Where did you guys go to train?"
"Hinami: I was training with Apollo and Sawano. After a year, I finally feel stronger!"
"Shibuto: Me and Sumizaki was training together until we ran into-"
"???: Ran into me in The Void Realm."
(Onara then walked up to them which Shibuto was a bit embarrassed as Onara pat his head.)
"Shibuto: Yup.. she was our teacher.."
"Kazuya: You guys trained with Gods while I was training with Lotus."
"Hinami: You and Lotus?!"
"Kazuya: Yeah..."
"Onara: Lotus huh? Ohh! I remember him, he was the assassin who was going after Amber Hunt! Which reminds me, how did that turn out?"
(Kazuya then chuckled a little nervously.)

"Kazuya: Well... Lotus gave Amber a whole week to run away, Lotus found her in twenty seconds and ruined every last gun of hers. She's nowhere skilled in close-range combat so Lotus.... may or may not have taken her in for training."
"Onara: Hm... I don't trust that..."
"Kazuya: I don't either, hopefully nothing happens."
(Choryrth was then walking to the academy which he saw Kazuya, Shibuto, Hinami and Onara together which gave him a smile.)
"Choryrth: Hey!"
"Kazuya: Choryrth, hey!
(He waved at him as Choryrth hid the worried look on his face.)
"Choryrth: Hey! Welcome back guys! Greetings Lady Shiori!"
"Onara: Hello!"
"Hinami: Choryrth, are you feeling well?"
"Choryrth: Y-yes! What makes you say that?"
"Shibuto: She's sensing tension in your soul. I can sense it too, what's the issue Choryrth?"
"Choryrth: Well.. N-nothing I mean-"
(He sighed and gave up as he was then about to tell them.)

"Okay fine.. follow me to the office real quick. Onara, you might wanna come too."
(A while later, they all was in the office as Choryrth sat down with an uncomfortable look on his face which made the four of them curious.)
"Kazuya: Okay, Choryrth. What's going on?"
"Choryrth: There has been some strange commotion happening on Earth lately. I have a bad feeling a powerful group has banded together."
"Hinami: Really?!"
"Shibuto: How can you tell?"
"Choryrth: I just... sense it..."
"Onara: Earth has been giving away uncanny elemental power sources lately. Although, anything involving Earth isn't really my business, why not send the Elemental High Commission on the case?"
"Choryrth: That is off the table. Knowing Sawano is the God of Hell and new leader of the Elemental High Commission, the rest below him are powerful but not strong enough to handle the current rumor."
"Kazuya: Rumor?"
"Choryrth: According to what I picked up on Earth, former executive of The Order Of Encursed Elements, Freeze is still alive."
(Onara was surprised to hear.)
"Kazuya: Who-
"Onara: You kids wasn't around that time, but I was. Freeze is an ice elemental, he far surpasses Noah's skills. He was able to freeze Sawano's flames despite how powerful his heat was."
(The three of them was worried.)

"Choryrth: It seems you still remember, Onara."
"Onara: Of course, I was there when we went to war with the order anyway."
"Hinami: So what are we going to do?"
"Choryrth: I'm going to contact the Elemental Divisions on Earth across the world and see what they say on the situation. If there's any updates, I will inform you four. For now, we have to keep this a private conversation. No one outside this room can know."
(They all understood by nodding in agreement.)
"Very well. You're all dismissed."
(The four of them left the room but was curious about the rumor.)
"Kazuya: So this guy named Freeze was able to ice Sawano's flames?"
"Onara: Yes."
"Hinami: And he was alive the entire time knowing how long ago it was?"
"Onara: Yes."
"Shibuto: I'm not too familiar about The Order Of Encursed Elements. But I've heard about it."
"Onara: Then I guess we got to go to the archives."
"All Three: Archives?"
(Onara then leads the three towards Olympus's Archives, they'd stop at two massive doors which was protected by two guardians.)

"Guardian: Halt! State yourself!"
"Onara: Onara Shiori, Goddess of Void."
(They both nodded and opened the doors for her, the massive office of archives surprised Kazuya, Hinami and Shibuto.)
"Kazuya: What....?"
"Onara: All of the archives are in here. Every single disaster, throne change, etcetera, etcetera."
"Shibuto: So where is the archive we're looking for?"
(Onara then sends a lance out to find the archive. The lance returned a few seconds later as they then sat down at a table and read the whole Order Of Encursed Elements archive.)
"Kazuya: Wait.. Kirby and Radella Magachi..? Those two are Sawano's parents?"
"Shibuto: I'm more curious about this Vexx fellow. You actually killed him?"
"Onara: One slash was all it took and his body exploded in a black hole."
"Hinami: This Hellcat lady was quite the enemy: "For every life she losses, her speed, strength and senses increases at an alarming rate."
"Onara: Now you three know about these guys. Freeze is right here as well."
"Kazuya: Hmm.. "A negative twelve threat whom creates impenetrable ice as his element. Freeze was the third strongest out of the Order Of Encursed Elements for said element." Sounds like a dangerous guy."
"Onara: He was strong before, but we don't know how strong he could be right now. His threat level is undecided."
"Hinami: Hmm.. What's that?"
(One of the archive staff was delivering the new written chapters to place in the storage. Onara then stopped one of them after seeing a suspicious file.)

"Onara: Mind if I see this?"
(She grabbed the file and started to read it but was anxious about what it was saying. After finishing it, she placed the file back into the cart and looked down, her face clouded with annoyance but looked at the three of them.)
"Shibuto: Onara..?"
"Onara: We're going back to the academy. Let me keep this file for a while."
"Staff: Oh of course! Just make sure to return it!"
(As Onara then transported herself, Kazuya, Shibuto and Hinami back to the academy, they walked in Choryrth's office again this time running into Sawano and a few other gods, employees and fighters in the room whom was told about the situation.)
"Onara: What's going on here?"
"Choryrth: I've told them about the situation as of late. I've had to call them into my office for this now recent and urgent matter."
"Onara: Which is..?"
(Sawano stepped up and straightened his tie as he took a deep breath.)
"Sawano: Everyone in this room right now has just detected a major power source in one place coming from Earth."
"Ares: So we all was urgently called in by Choryrth to discuss the issue."
"Kazuya: Is it coming from Freeze?"
"Sawano: Freeze? Wait a minute, the rumor remains true?"
"Choryrth: Unfortunately yes... Freeze from the Encursed Elements is still alive to this day."
(The others was surprised, especially Sawano.)

"Sawano: No... He's.. still alive...??"
"Chimon: Hold on! We've placed an end to those guys years ago!"
"Konnor: Chimon, knowing that. We cannot leave out the fact that Velriot, Scarlett and Chloe are the surviving members of the Order of Encursed Elements as well. They could be prime suspects regarding this issue."
"Sawano: That's impossible! Velriot gave up on that stuff and she's even dating Noah, she's living a normal human life!"

"Nightwave: I do not mean to offend you Sawano. But what you see on the outside, does not mean you're able to see her intentions on the inside. Trust is something you should earn, Velriot competing in the Intercontinental Elemental Tournament was one thing. But you should never turn your guard down against a former enemy. No matter how they act."

"Konnor: Unfortunately, he's right. Knowing what Velriot's capable of, she could possibly be the mastermind behind this."
"Sawano: You're kidding me.. Why don't we go ask Velriot herself?"
"Crystalline: The question is where is she?"
"Sawano: I can ask Noah, he's the only one who's around her."
"Onara: Actually, I can just take us to her."
"Sawano: And just barge in? It wouldn't hurt to use manners once in a while."
"Onara: But it kills more time than just sitting here waiting for someone to pick up a phone!"
"Choryrth: Calm down! Listen. I've spoken to a few other directors at their elemental divisions. Unfortunately, they've all gotten the same news and was given even far graver news. Their top fighters left the workplace and left their countries."
(They all looked puzzled as Shibuto was putting together the pieces.)
"Shibuto: I believe I figured out what's going on!"
(As Shibuto spoke up, everyone in the room then gave Shibuto their attention as he explained the pieces of information detail by detail.)

"If Freeze remained alive all this time, one of the survivors of the Encursed Elements somehow protected him throughout the years and kept him laying low and from drawing any attention. Over the years, he was strong but now his threat level is unknown after given so much time to train. I've done some snooping in Gaito's files and figured out the missing pieces of this puzzle. Choryrth, you've said that the top fighters from certain countries left theirs?"

"Choryrth: Yes. Wh-What are you getting at?"
"Shibuto: I want you to recite the countries that was given the news."
"Choryrth: Uhh... Russia, Germany and the United States...?"
"Shibuto: Think about it. Trample Horn, Sybille Schmidt AND Freedom Knight. These three symbols of their country. Gone. For what reason exactly?"
"Sawano: My best bet would be about the tournament."
"Onara: The tournament? What about it?"
"Konnor: Gaito was the most popular star throughout the whole event, based on his unmatchable power, speed, sword skill and everything else he uses in a fight triggered them."
"Crystalline: If they left because of Gaito, why?"
"Goxius: Because they plan to start a revolution."
(They all saw Goxius appear in the conversation after forming his physical form from the tiniest grain of sand.)

"Choryrth: A revolution?"
"Goxius: I cannot explain much due to time violations but all I can say is Gaito and I knows what's going to happen in the future. You all must be prepared, because the power source is coming from this location."
(Goxius then revealed the location at the abandoned Order Of Encursed Elements hideout which Sawano was more surprised than everyone at the location.)
"Sawano: No... NO..! NO..! NO...!"
(He slammed his fist through the table in anger.)
"Goxius: Sawano. You're the only one who's familiar with this location more than anyone. You know what we have to do."
"Sawano: I know... I'll find Velriot.. Then if its true, we'll have to put her down..."

(Everyone nodded in agreement Sawano continued to stare at the location. Meanwhile back at the government laboratory, blood was splattered everywhere as there was piles of bloody, dismembered and deceased bodies. As one of the lab workers was hiding in fear, lights was blinkering on and off as he then hid underneath a desk, calling Japan's Prime Minister Baisho.)

"Baisho(Phone): This is a PRIVATE number! Who is this?"
"Scientist #3: Uhh.. Mr. Prime Minister, Baisho..? Uhh... T-There's been an urgent situation in the laboratory and we need military assistance!!!"
"Baisho: Well don't hide it from me, spit it out! What's the issue?"
(Growling was heard where the scientist was sitting as a fast moving shadow appeared on the walls which then terrified him as he ran away from the shadow, sweating and panting in fear.)
"Scientist #3: ITS THE.. THE KAGE! CERRZAR, HE'S-"
(Baisho then heard agonizing screams followed with the sounds of clawing, splattering, crunching and thuds on the ground. Baisho then hung up the phone and sat back down in his chair, looking outside of Tokyo.)
"Baisho: This is bad... Cerrzar's escaped his containment cell.. I need to alert Sawano, FAST!"
(Moments later, Sawano was filing paperwork in the Elemental High Commission's office as he then received the urgent call from Baisho and answered.)
"Sawano(Phone): Hello?"
(After being told what happened, he then nodded and listened to the important details from Baisho about Cerrzar's escape. He then hung up as the call ended and wrote down a new file which described Cerrzar and his threat level.)
"Sawano: Whatever's going on, its something big..."