People thought that climbing the ladder was easy. There was no way forward but up when you hit rock bottom, right? Surely, things would get better once they've become worse.

I already experienced how that was bullshit.

Things will get better? My wife and daughter aren't coming back. How could it 'get better' for me? Those are simply words said to those who still have a life they'd look forward to. 

Eating, socialising, bathing… The list of things a person had to do to live simply gets boring the more this list goes on. Nothing could make a person more bothered than this. It's not like we bathe for enjoyment.

No… Entertainment was the only thing that could keep my soul alive at this point. I just want to enjoy the world as it is. Make myself glow from the satisfaction of enjoyment.

It's why I destroyed this little city.

My memory of that day was still clear. The time I finally laid eyes on the 'disaster' that so many feared. It was a breathtaking spectacle that made even my motionless heart twinge.

A chill ran down my already cold back.

All it took was a syringe of concentrated Death Force into a certain vessel for that disaster. I'd been awaiting the day the vessel was mentally unstable enough to be possessed by the disaster sealed within her.

This was the start of the most worthwhile experience I got to see. Total destruction.

If only that little brat didn't get in my way…

…..

….

…

..

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Talegrimm opened his eyes and felt that there was something amiss. There was someone who had broken the outer wall, entered the inner parameter, and intruded into her home.

They must have balls of steel to do so.

…Or none at all. Was what she thought when she finally caught the intruder red-handed. 

A bit of distance from the mansion was a girl holding her new 'daughter' on her shoulder while being protected by a robot mech. The floating knight was pretty sturdy and strong.

It had a lot of heat type weaponry from lasers to flamethrowers. Pretty good choice against the undead, and really potent against the wolves she had created. Their bullets were bouncing off the spherical shield it emitted.

Regardless, they still became surrounded.

When the creator of the SWAT wolves, the man possessing an elf, Talegrimm, had arrived… he'd showed why Necromancers didn't have the best reputation in every city.

With just a wave of his hand, those fallen wolves were reformed into 'Burning Agony Skeleton Soldiers'. A type of Undead with flame abilities and resistance to flames.

Since you couldn't burn fire, the bear knight's weapons became obsolete. More and more skeletons were created by Talegrimm to encircle the escapees. Leading to this scene.

There were some burn injuries on Betty's face and Rin was unconscious on her back. Their plight wasn't good. This situation was a stalemate until Beary Kuma was broken.

"Kidnapping shouldn't be allowed, right? I'll kill you fast if you just return my daughter." It was hardly a smile on Talegrimm's face. This intruder had just taken someone he loved.

Beary Kuma needed time to recharge his assault systems. There was a laser she could use if she gave it enough time to charge. All she had to do was keep this 'woman' talking.

"You call her a daughter, but you both aren't blood-related." Betty dug deep into whatever she could get her hands on. It was obvious this was the case, but she wasn't expecting any big response or affirmation of guilt.

After all, she was simply talking about how they were both entities possessing others. It was impossible for the elf Talegrimm possessed and human girl Rin possessed to be of the same bloodline. That was all to this.

But the reaction Talegrimm had was decisive.

"She part of my 'found family'. As in: I found her first, so get your hands off!" Talegrimm was grinding her teeth before sending flames their way. Burning the air around them.

Betty wasn't fireproof or able to ignore the intense heat. She was becoming more thirsty as time went on. Being dehydrated from the desert-like heat that was baring down on her.

"You don't even know what family is. You call her 'family', but you've hurt her more than anyone else. Let go… Just let me take her to a better place." Betty tried to reason with her.

"Better place, you say? You mean the Magia Tribe?" These words struck the girl's soul. A wide-eyed look was the response to Talegrimm's quick grasp of the situation.

"…How do you know that?" There was a dark look in Betty's eyes. Her mask was broken.

"I wonder how that bastard of the Harmonic Theory would deal with you when he gets here. You're from a 'terrorist organisation', after all~ A better place than this." Talegrimm continued to taunt the girl about her backing.

The mysterious Magia Tribe was an anti-undead organisation on par with the Harmonic Theory. Except their methods of fighting included using equally 'dead' machines to do the heavy-lifting in battles.

"We are not terrorists…!" Betty scoffed at such obvious provocations done towards her.

"Or so you say, but anything the Harmonic Theory does is painted as your organisation's fault. That's what you get for being a gathering of freaks and outcasts. You have nerve calling that a 'better place'." Talegrimm was the one that was becoming more agressive with time. She opened her arms.

"You think I can't tell what you're planning? I say let 'er rip! Show me your power!" There was a crazy look on the blonde elf's face while provoking the girl. Confident in her actions.

Betty raised Beary Kuma's arm and pointed the muzzle at her enemy. A concentrated flame erupted from the mech's body and shot out of the arm. Becoming a beam of inferno.

"Come and get it!" Talegrimm roared as an explosion of energy erupted from his body. A white radiance bleached his body white, and a familiar new form was created from that power. A transformation Betty had seen.

As the flames were extinguished, Betty's eyes dilated when she saw the new form taken by the enemy. This wasn't some simple gimmick, this was the acclimation of powers.

A form symbolising the amalgamation of all that made a person who they were. Which was… No, which SHOULD have been a technology specific to the Harmonic Theory of New Faustus. Celest Vegabond's new toy.

But how could she use it without a Medallion?

"Surprised? It should REAAALY make you want to join 'us'. Too bad, isn't it?" Talegrimm walked out of the blaze and smoke with a new appearance. His hair dyed completely white and clothes having gained the same bleaching. With eyes taking on a blue hue.

There was this change of atmosphere around him, as if he'd become the imperial arbiter of death. The one who commands and is privileged by the existence of the Undead.

"Not bad. Not 'too bad' at all." Betty spoke in disgust. Feeling like she was seeing the antithesis to life. There was this feeling of incongruity growing the more she faced it.

The face of her demise…

She didn't know whether to be impressed or angry. The enemy had taken initiative, and she didn't have any new form to transform into in response. If Betty did have that, she wouldn't have waited this long to unveil it.

Beary Kuma's assault systems were down again. The enemy took this opportunity to rebuild the hundreds of Undead surrounding them anew. Creating a mould for something much greater than simple fiery skeletons.

"Look and see my eminence! Bow before my majesty!" Talegrimm didn't even hide his vanity. Willing the bones together and fusing them into a skeletal creature larger than life.

 

A shadow started to loom over Betty. 

She tried to move back before the formation was complete… but it was useless. Beary Kuma raised his arms to block the strike of the giant skeletal pyre. The heat searing the ground and melting nearby building to mush.

The barrier Beary Kuma created was immediately shattered. Struck by the falling meteoric strike that couldn't be stopped with such flimsy defences. It ripped through everything like a hot knife through butter.

All until it struck the knightly guardian mech.

"Hmmm?" Talegrimm looked amazed that the lethal attack he threw to kill both Betty and his daughter was blocked. It shouldn't have been possible, but the mechine protecting them was extremely sturdy.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL HER TOO?!" A voice void of composure screamed from beneath the rubble. Betty managed to shield Rin with her body, but the blast was too much.

Nearly burning a hole through her back.

"Why do you care? She's my possession you stole. If I have to break my things so you don't get them… then so be it." Talegrimm calmly raised the giant skeleton's flaming arm once more. Putting her back into destroying the mechanised guardian protecting the girls.

BOOM!

She struck Beary Kuma once more, but this time the flaming fist dropping down on them made less damage. The shielding system the robot bear completely gave up spherical length so that it could focus in one direction.

Talegrimm didn't continue using the same move. He grasped the arms of Beary Kuma and held the sturdy machine within the giant skeleton's grasp. The defensive capabilities of this man-made mech was extraordinary.

"What secrets are you hiding?" There was no way this stupid-looking bear was of normal quality. The lack of damage wouldn't make sense even if you created it with the toughest materials in the entirety of the Earthland Domain. There was only one explanation for this, but it wouldn't make sense if he's right.

The giant skeleton tugged on the arms of Beart Kuma. Yanking and pulling the machine limbs with the might of a monstrosity as large as several buildings. Finally, the crackling sound of machine parts breaking was heard.

"Beary!" Betty screamed in horror as her guardian's arms were ripped off. Looking above to see the giant flaming skeleton playfully wagging them in front of her. 

The necromancer taunted and humiliated her closest buddy. Her bear was the only knight who could protect her from bad things. She felt cold and alone when seeing it fall down.

Striking the floor and stopping its movements from that moment forth. It became as still as a dead body. The circuitry where the arms were yanked off making disorganised volt noises.

Electrical energy discharged randomly from each wire. Making it hard to get close.

"You want to know something good before you die?" Talegrimm readied his last meteoric strike, then continued: "I was the one who awakened the disaster within Bella Smith."

When those words ended, Talegrimm made a cheeky expression at the darkening face of his opponent. He was feeling so ecstatic to end the life of his opponent at such a point.

The second before the impact felt like it would last forever. Betty was in pain, and she couldn't see any way to block without Beary Kuma. Without someone to protect her.

'Have you always felt this way too?' She tussled the hair of the girl she'd laid down in her arms. Knowing that her circumstances were likely to be lonelier than her own.

Being a lone merc without any comrades made Betty long for trust and companionship from others. She wanted to be loved. To be protected the same way 'normal girls' were.

Maybe she wasn't alone. Rin likely felt the same from having a 'mother' like this. A clear psychopath who wouldn't hesitate to burn and crush her daughter to death for fun.

To think this would be her end…

She closed her eyes and awaited the inevitable. Hearing the thunderous sound of an impact that curled her up. Making her body uncontrollably tighten the muscles around her. It took only a second to realise one thing.

They didn't get hit.

If they didn't get hit, then that meant something got in the way. Betty quickly opened her eyes to see what happened. The scene before her was really one-of-a-kind.

In front of her was a brown-haired Gunner uppercutting with a firearm in her hand. One hell of a colossus mechanised fist came out of a portal in front of her to meet the skeleton.

Completely overpowering the giant flaming monstrosity. Giving Betty enough time to recall the armless Beary Kuma along with the severed arms. Putting them in a storage feature on the back of the floating guardian.

"Thank you." She really meant this. Betty had almost seen the light and went straight to heaven at this point. Anyone who brought her back from that might as well be her bestie.

She only had endless gratitude in her heart towards the gyaru gal that saved them. Both her and Rin. There was also a bit of guilt from having to leave it entirely in the girl's hand.

"What did you say?" A voice different from the gal in front of her resounded softly, but the sheer willpower and Mana behind that voice made it sound louder than it actually was.

There was uncontrollable emotions in those flickering electric eyes. Though smaller than the giant flaming skeleton, the fury within her heart was so potent that unlocked something.

A silverish light started to cover her eyes.

'This is why I hate talking too much.' Betty thought while glancing at Talegrimm with pity.

The person who had been used to destroy the city. The one who had suffered the most from Talegrimm's little meddling. The one who had a disaster sealed within her body.

That person had overheard him admitting to having caused all this chaos and destruction in the city. When Bella finally met the person she had been vowing to kill for a while, her brain turned off every empathetic nerve in her body. Making her devoid of any sympathy for the person she would be murdering to death.

Yup… Murdering her enemy to death real good. Possibly even EXTREME murdering her enemy death. Whichever one meant she would think less about the process to result.

She flipped her Spectre Medallion and spoke:

"Bring peace and prosperity— 'Angel With Kind Eyes'!" When she spoke those words in a strong tone, the Stigmata Gifts on her arms slipped off. Purple streaks of lightning and lights from the heavens covered her body. 

She transformed, and the silverish glow in her eyes moved deep within her pupils. Her heart was set on completely destroying her enemy regardless of what condition she was in.

It was complete erasure of Talegrimm or herself. She couldn't live if she was alive.

Talegrimm gulped.

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[Transformation Gallery]

—Talegrimm (Transformed)

—Bella Smith (Spectre Transformation)