Chapter 27: Sower of Discord
"Aurora."
"Look at him, Hylos," she began. "Argus is fighting all of them at once. It won't be long before a Wretch gets through his wall of fire. We need to decrease the number of enemies to that side while we wait."
"Affirmative. One of my men will inquire Estes," the centaur replies. He watches the scene from the wall. The sky was littered with fiery prominences and dark blasts of energy directed towards Argus. Even with Zhask, Vexana, Alice, Helcurt and the Dark Lord working together, they had a difficult time trying to injure the angel, much less kill him.
"I once warned Estes… that Alucard will fight the Dark Lord early, and that someone will come and save him," the Queen of Ice narrates. "I knew at some point that it would be Argus, but I didn't expect-"
"That the situation would arise like this? It's alright, Aurora, most of us are shaken," Hylos says. "This is what Argus wants. We should let him have it, even if it would cost his life."
"But we need to help him there!"
"We can't," a voice responds.
Hylos and Aurora turn around to see Uranus and Kaja hovering to them.
"Kaja is right, we can't," Uranus supported. "Are you seeing what's unfolding? By the time we enter the field, we can get killed in an instant, whether it be through enemy fire or friendly fire. Even I won't be durable enough to survive the clash. Sure, you can disable the demons breaching through, Aurora, but if you try and make a boulder of ice that you can hurl at the Dark Lord, no doubt, it will just melt and evaporate."
"You can't be so sure," Aurora rejects.
Kaja lands and steps forward. "Aurora, just trust us. I know you want to help…" He sighs, turning his back towards her and the centaur. "Uranus and I… we've seen Argus fight up close. He could kill a thousand demons in a minute, and he was a newly appointed commander back then. It's when there were more adversaries that allied the Dark Lord. The rampage was overwhelming, even for us back then. Argus could carve through hordes in an instant, and that's without the blade he is using now."
Aurora stopped in her tracks and began to think deeply. "Oh…"
"He is one of the strongest to ever exist in Gaius," the bronze guardian adds. "Now let me ask you this question: If Argus is already delivering a punishment to them out there, then how about Lunox? Only a few really get to live to tell the tale, Aurora. And with all due respect, the spectacle that you're witnessing right now? That is power, in its purest form, and I don't think that's even half of what we must conceive."
Meanwhile…
"Zhask, concentrate!" Vexana scolds, unleashing projectiles of green energy towards Argus. "We need to put him down!"
"I am trying, but he is too fast!" the alien commander exclaims. "How is he dodging my projectiles?!"
Argus dives down and slashes sideward, using the momentum to spin like a top as his feet hit the ground. Alice yelps as she almost gets caught by the attack, a cauterized gash appearing on her arm. She winces and steps back, but Argus immediately stops spinning and throws his claw, catching Alice by the leg. He yanks himself upward and detaches, gaining altitude and slams the butt of his sword to Alice's skull, sending her crashing to the soft grass. However, the tips of the grass seem to dig to her skin, causing dozens of small cuts to appear on her shoulders and her back.
"AH! The leaves… they're like cacti! Don't trip!" she warns. "You bastard… YOU WON'T GET AWAY!"
Vexana uses her dark energy to animate large, skeletal hands. She lifts them up and prepares them so that she can swat Argus down. The angel flies around, dodging the Dark Lord's black swords and axes. The Necromancer sees the opening and claps with her large hands, crushing Argus between them. Suddenly, Argus slices through them in a split second, breaking free. His wings extend as he charges down towards Vexana, grabbing her by the face. Argus flies about a few feet above the ground and slams her to the ground, the dirt and grass scattering everywhere. Vexana lets out muffled screams, trying to scratch at Argus' arm with her hands, but Argus slowly lifts upward and drives her to the earth even deeper, the bladed grass nearly severing her leg. The seraphim pulls her up and lands, sliding on the ground with ease, and rotates, throwing Vexana towards the Dark Lord. The black knight telekinetically catches her in mid-air and puts her to the ground, right-side up. Vexana immediately falls to her knees, coughing up loam and blood. Multiple leaves of grass were embedded on her skin, and a large cut was on her left leg.
"Ugh… that menace…"
"Back off!" the Dark Lord commands her. "I will deal with him myself." He raises his metal hands, creating even more blades from the void, but as soon as he turns his head, Argus was already charging with insane speed, raising his sword to stab the Dark Lord. The spirit quickly casts a barrier with his hands in time, but the kinetic force of the charge sends them zooming around the field. The Dark Lord forcefully pushes back in order to escape the push. Before he could even start preparing more weapons, Argus was already curving his trajectory like a fireball.
The angel comes in contact with the Dark Lord, and the black spirit blocks Argus' sword with the palms of his hands. However, it was evident that he was struggling to push it back.
"This is madness, Andras!" Argus began, pushing his sword even harder. "This isn't glory… you're rasing Gaius apart!"
Andras unleashes a blast to Argus, throwing the angel off. "What I bring is not destruction, seraphim! I bring a new era, one of fulfillment!"
"Even with the knowledge of your brothers, you remain thoughtless. This isn't what she wants. This is not balance!" Argus runs, using his wings to achieve flight. Helcurt suddenly sprints from the side, leaping towards Argus and hoping to knock him down. The angel suddenly stops in his tracks, digging his feet to the ground. He corkscrews into the air from the sudden stop as Helcurt nears. Argus slashes downward with his sword as he lands back on his feet to sidestep, missing a gigantic dark blade from Andras by mere inches. Helcurt rolls to the dirt, screeching in pain as a huge gash appears on his back with second-degree burns covering it.
"A-A-A-Alice! W-We c-c-cannot… f-face him!"
Argus flies up again, another huge sword trailing him from behind. The Dark Lord rises to the air and guides the swords around as they chase Argus. The angel rockets upward for a few seconds before slowly falling back down in a 90 degree angle, maneuvering perfectly around the huge blades. Argus dives directly towards the Dark Lord and slices the air, throwing a huge wave of fire at the spirit. Andras blocks the flame with his aura, but Argus zooms as the wave comes in contact, preventing Andras to react properly. The angel tackles the Dark Lord and they fall to the ground, rolling. Argus balls up and skids far, easily gaining back his footing. Andras gets up and winces from the pain, some of the leaves of grass puncturing the armor. The Dark Lord grunts, expelling the dirt off.
"That does it… I need to kill you now, traitor!"
Zhask runs up to the Dark Lord as Argus begins to charge again. The alien summons a Dominator spawn in front of them, shooting a purple laser to the angel. Argus' aura diminishes the laser, but he stops in his tracks as Zhask forces the spawn to grow larger, further maximizing the output of the beam. The flames around Argus begin to intensify, but Zhask summons more spawns one by one, pushing Argus back due to the force. The Dominators grew larger, and now, five of them were concentrating their fire towards the seraphim. The Dark Lord clenches his fists and lets out a beam of void energy to Argus, and the angel curves his wings forward to block them.
"No matter the outcome, you and your friends will never win, Argus!" Zhask yells, summoning two more spawns. "In fact, you cannot! You and that boy can go to hell!"
Suddenly, Argus' aura glows even bright and hotter, somewhat overpowering the combined lasers. Vexana steps up and summons more specters and Ghouls, tens and hundreds of them running towards him with their weapons raised. Alice jumps high and throws a blood orb to tackle Argus down. The angel growls in rage and yells, the aura shadowing the beams. A bright explosion occurs from within him, the flames bursting outward as high as twenty meters to the sky like an atom bomb before dissipating. Zhask, Vexana and Andras gets flown backward to their butts, the former two suffering from the spiny leaves of grass. Alice received the worst, as she teleported to her orb as soon as the field erupted. She was lying down whimpering, around fifty meters away from the epicenter with third-degree burns on her face and arms. Her face was deformed and her wing was slightly tattered.
Argus slashes into the air and draws his blade, Caelesti Igni, black scorch marks extending forth to the ground around him. He turns his eyes to the wall. Some of the demons were already stacking on top of their own bodies to extinguish the flame and pass through. The angel grimaces and sets his eyes to his enemies, already trying to stand up.
"You know many things about me, Zhask, many but one… IT'S THAT I NEVER QUIT, AND I WILL NEVER BACK DOWN!"
Meanwhile…
"Does she ring a bell to you, bro? Maybe she's someone you met before?"
"Sorry for the inconvenience. We will explain everything to you for the time being."
Alucard tries to flutter his eyes open, but they remained shut. He felt unfamiliar forces acting on him, as if he was falling… or floating, or levitating? He didn't know. What he knew was that he's not unconscious, and that his feet are not on the ground.
"The problem was never just the time."
"We only took of this worldwide phenomenon a few months ago."
"Disassemble the carapace?"
"All of what happens, happens for a proper reason, Demon Hunter."
"I am sorry if we have to keep secrets from you."
"Estes, we need to tell him now."
"Right now, your friends will need you, most especially him."
"Hello?! Anyone? Somebody!" Alucard calls out, trying to shout, but he felt as if his cries were muffled. He tries to internalize. "Wait… my arm… I thought I lost it!"
"The Dark Lord knows it's not yet the time."
"I thought you wouldn't comprehend."
"I thought I'd owe you one."
"So, what's all the commotion about again?"
"You need to fend for yourself, Alucard! Attend to your friends!"
"Now that you're awake, the first thing you say to me is, 'Are you alright?' NO, I AM NOT, ALUCARD! ARE YOU THAT SELFLESS?!"
"You are destined for more, my child. Don't let my suffering be for naught."
"Take it from someone merely half a man, yet full of heart… Someone willing to die alongside his friends."
"Chou! Yinsen! Ruby! Lolita!" Alucard shouts, frantically trying to find someone. "Saber! Estes?! Help! I can't move! I don't know where I am! Augh… my head hurts…"
He clutches his head and curls in a fetal position, trying to stop the voices from ringing in his mind.
"If you think things are as planned out as they are supposed to be in here, you're wrong."
"That cannot happen. They are preoccupied to other matters."
"WATCH YOURSELF, ALUCARD!"
"What's important is that we prepare, and-"
"I know what you did. That was in total control."
"What are you doing standing there? Kill something!"
"The Land of Dawn may have had years of preparation, but we? We had millennia to spare. That alone proves our superiority!"
"SHOW ME!"
"Wait, who is this 'Lunox' character?"
"She's all around us, watching us quietly, acting as the balance."
"No, shut up! Why am I hearing all of you?! Where am I?! I need to wake up!" Alucard slams his fists to his head. "Wake up! Alucard, c'mon, wake up, goddamnit!"
"You look like someone who has seen a ghost."
"She's out cold. Don't wake her up."
"Only the inevitable."
"There will still be light beyond the endless darkness, hero. What matters is that you find it in yourself, for it's what makes us strong… Hope."
"Consider this our thank you… For reminding us what's worth the most."
"Alucard!"
"You will fall into shambles!"
"Not your fault, okay? Never your fault."
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING! GET OUT OF HERE!"
"ALUCARD!"
"End of the line, Alucard!"
"Alu, wake up!"
"Wake up!"
"WAKE UP, ALUCARD!"
"Alucard… R-Run…"
"THEY WILL NOT DIE IN VAIN!"
"WAKE UP!"
"COME ON!" Alucard shouts, flailing his arms around. "WHY WON'T YOU OPEN YOUR EYES?!"
"Alucard… listen to me, just this once!"
"Alu, I'm right here. I'm right here."
"Get up, Child of the Fall."
"Wake up!"
"ALU! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"
"Wake up."
Alucard finally opens his eyes wide and clear. His vision was blurry for the first few seconds, forcing him to squint. As he rubbed his eyes, he finally gets a clean view of where he really was.
"What… on… earth…"
He was in space. Well, not necessarily space. All around him, humongous lines of white cosmic dust covered his whole field of view. More and more dots of white and pale yellow peppered and spread around like table salt. The whole landscape was mainly a dark, blue-green color with a rich, grunge texture, as if Alucard was floating on a messy painting. That is, if a painting had 3D, no… 4D effects. For Alucard, everything felt surreal.
"W-Where am I?" Alucard mutters. He touches his face. He still looked the same, but his clothes and skin were absurdly clean and neat. There was no more extreme growth of spikes and scales on the right half of his body. There was no blood on his clothes or on his skin. The hunter looked around, trying to maneuver around in a gyroscopic fashion. He notices that his greatsword was missing. It's as if he is floating on water, but he wasn't sinking, nor rising. He was staying put.
"What… What is this place? Is someone else here?"
"Yes."
Alucard suddenly jerked his body in surprise, looking around frantically. A familiar person was floating directly on his line of sight, a few meters away. It didn't take long for Alucard to know who it was as he notices the black patch on her blond hair, as well as her sharply curved, featherless wings, nearly reaching her feet. Her right wing contained a moderately sized sphere of purple energy, swirling with intensity. Her left wing, however, was white instead of pitch black, and it held a small orb of yellow energy, and it seemed to fade and blink every few seconds.
"Don't worry, Alucard. I won't hurt you. You're safe here."
"Lunox…" he began, stammering. "I… I don't understand, what is this place?"
The Twilight Goddess smiled at him, slowly extending her arms outward to the sides. "Oh, all of this? This, Alucard, is a concept… a dream. An idea, both beautiful and destructive, melancholic, full of shattered beliefs, overshadowed by gloom and despair. This is where I reside now. This… is my dream world, and Gaius will suffer this grim fate if the Dark Lord wins."
"W-What? No… that can't be…"
"This is what happens to your world if we fail to stop him, Alucard. That's why I'm here to guide you before you fight against him. And we should hurry, for it won't be long before he overpowers Argus and advances to the Land of Dawn. I am afraid that your friends might only barely survive a minute against him."
Meanwhile…
"Guys… the Gem."
Chou slowly approached the large artifact, noticing it glow brighter than usual. He couldn't distinguish the outline of Alucard's body on the Gem, as if his body was simply swallowed by the crystal.
"What about the Gem?" Bruno asks. "Something wrong?"
"No, no, it's just growing brighter than usual, Bruno. Just watch Lolita, she needs it."
"Okay, as you say so. Remind me that it's your fault if the crystal blows up on our faces or something like-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Chou grumbles. He turns around and slowly walks towards the Protector, watching over Lolita who was leaning against one of the citadel's pillars. "Good gracious… status?"
"Skull fracture, five broken ribs, shattered femur, dislocated hand… Damn," Yinsen answers, approaching them. "Estes tried to heal her up as much as he could, but the bone damage is still apparent. She cannot move until the mending is complete. It will take around an hour, but she will have difficulty standing up if she recovers."
"The hammer is still good, right?"
"Of course! That thing is rather indestructible, really. A few scratches and dents, but still works," Bruno assures. "Layla is holding up even with a missing ear… But she's rather woozy."
"I'm fine, Bruno, thank you," Layla sarcastically responds, leaning to one of the pillars as she stood, her cannon on the floor. "I'm alright… sort of."
"L-Layla…"
"Lolita?" the gunner asked, bewildered. She rushes towards the elf. "Hey! You're alive!"
Chou slaps Layla's shoulder lightly. "Wrong choice of words, airhead."
"Layla… ow… my head is ringing…"
"Stay still, Lolita. Estes put your jigsaw bones back together, but they're still kind of detached," Chou explains. "Seriously, you took one hell of a beating! I doubt I'd even survive getting slammed like that."
"Not… fun…" the elf groans, adjusting her position. "Not fun… at all. Don't… go head on…"
"Well, at least you tried. Bought us some time," Layla replies. "All of us were basically pinned back there. Don't worry, we're holed up here for the meantime. The last line of defense."
"Where… is he?"
Bruno scratches his head. "Who? The edgelord? Oh, he and his side women, the angry cat, and the praying mantis are fighting Argus, a legit 1v5. Argus is owning them."
"R-Really…? Y-Yay…"
"Yes, I know. If only we were able to watch him," Yinsen adds. "We're stuck here. Estes and his Royal Guard are just outside waiting. Aurora and a few more heroes are outside, just waiting in line to die- I mean, to hold the Dark Lord off. I hope Argus gets to kill one or two of these idiots. Would save us all of the trouble."
"Do you really think he can do that?" Chou asked. "Don't get me wrong, but… he's fighting against five of the strongest enemies we've faced, not to mention the demons trying to get through his wall of fire. If he dies, so does the hot barrier."
"I thought the Gem would hold the demons back," Layla conversed. "Isn't the force field up?"
"The energies on that thing are fluctuating like hell," Bruno answers. "Jumping up and down like a kid on a sugar rush. Probably some unusual activity happening inside the thing… I hope Alucard is alright. I don't understand why you have to put him inside that thing. Heh, who knows? Maybe he'll just burst out of there and BOOM! Mission accomplished!"
Meanwhile…
"Did he really just say that?" Alucard complains, watching the conversation between his four friends. The visual scene disappears from the landscape, slowly returning back to the interstellar infinity like rippling water. "Bruno can be the worst."
Lunox giggles and puts down her hand, floating closer to Alucard. "Well, yes, he is rather humorous, but he is determined, Alucard. He belongs alongside the others, more ways than one."
"Yeah… It's just awful that he got caught up with all of this mess," the hunter says, shaking his head. "He acts rebellious, but I know he must be afraid inside."
"All of us have a part in this war, they're simply fulfilling it. Hylos, Franco, Irithel, Zhao, Akai, Hayabusa, everyone. They wouldn't be here without a proper reason, and I can say the same to you, now that you're here with me."
Alucard slowly looked down, trying to think. "So… um… the Dark Lord."
"Yes?" Lunox asks, looking rather confident. "Oh, I see what you mean. He's our greatest threat. You've seen what he can do, and he was just fighting all of you again for the first time in thousands of years. You've heard him speak as if his cause is right."
"I know, it's rather painstaking to hear. But… I think he is trying to prove us a point, Lunox," Alucard remarks. "Not going to lie, he is desperate to stand up for it."
"Our beliefs are as strong as our physical capabilities, and he holds a concept so concrete, yet so immense. Ideas are what fuel our drive, and made us into what we are."
"Okay, I might need to stop you right there. If that's what you say, then… how come you're like… that?" Alucard asks, pointing and twisting his finger around Lunox. "They told me that-"
"Light and Dark merged as one? To put it simply, yes. But in something conceivable? It's more than that, Alucard. Estes, Kaja, Uranus, Hylos… they are old, and yet, such topics, such thoughts are hard to translate, even for them."
"So, what you're trying to tell me is that real power comes from our faith?"
"As strange as it sounds, Alucard, but it's true. You've fought against Alice and her acquaintances, I assume? You outmatched them, remember? They are really as strong as they say, in a physical sense. But their mindsets are torn. They lack focus, coordination, unlike the Dark Lord, who has truly set his sights on the Genesys Gem. That's why you beat them, until you lost control as well and let the Shadowbringer get to you."
"Alright, point taken… So, the same thing is happening to Argus?"
"As for Argus, he is more than just a leader," the Twilight Goddess adds, a serene expression on her face. "He is my harbinger of the Light."
"And I guess you have one for the Dark as well?"
"Leomord." Lunox turned her back to Alucard and stretched out her right arm forward. She slowly opens her palm and turns her arm to the right, creating a projection that covers the interstellar space. Alucard squints in order to view the panoramic scene better.
"Leomord?"
"Vexana's strongest knight, Leomord was risen from the dead and pledged total allegiance to her queen. His soul is righteous, and I deemed him the perfect representative, knowing that his mind is clear and absolute, unhindered and undistracted. It was a struggle to choose wisely, Alucard. I could've chosen someone else. I was glad that I made the right choice…"
The panorama shows Leomord, riding a brown stallion with glowing blue eyes that wore sharp, silver armor, charging through different warriors that allied with the Land of Dawn. He wielded a lance and used it to pierce through the lines, seemingly unstoppable.
"With Oath Keeper, his sword, and Barbiel, his beloved steed, they gave way for the Dark Lord's demons and helped him gain an edge. But I didn't know him by that time, for I was lost in thought due to the loss of my parents. We found each other in the middle of the woods near the Wastelands, and the initial encounter wasn't comforting."
"What happened?"
"I subdued him, but I noticed his true intentions. He didn't fight for the Dark Lord. He fought for his queen. No matter how cruel his actions, his mindset didn't change. I was thankful that we were alone as we met, for if demons accompanied him, there would've been unnecessary slaughter."
Alucard nodded, somewhat interested. "He didn't fight back once he recovered?"
"He was courteous, friendly, kind. Barbiel may seem like a brute, but the steed was rather playful as well. We cherished our time in the forests for months on end, never minding the problems outside. I guess it's safe to admit that we fell for each other…"
"Was he good?"
Lunox turned to Alucard, looking confused. "In what aspect?"
"You know, in…" Alucard tries to make a gesture, but stops. "Okay, forget I asked that. Sounded wrong. Anyway, what happened next? I don't think you'd escape the trouble that long."
"We were foolish, in a way. Thinking we can flee and avoid responsibility. I saw the light in Leomord's eyes. I can still give him the opportunity to prove himself, to prove that he is beyond an enemy to the eyes of the Lords of Order. I appointed him harbinger of Dark during our time together… but it wasn't long before… before he came."
Alucard pushes his arms back, floating closer to Lunox. "He?"
"One of seventy-two demons, Alucard. One of seventy-two demons that make up the Dark Lord. Their collective memory and consciousness and power against Estes and his fighters. He… he took Leomord away in secret and punished him for his absence, brutally. Leomord… he was never the same again. His body may not be fragile, but his will was, because of what… of what they did to him."
"Wait, wait, who is this 'he'?"
"The evil brothers were strong, but one rose above them all." Lunox stares at the panorama, and the scene changes, slowly reforming Leomord's figure into a dark silhouette, a grim aura enveloping it. Alucard recognizes the obsidian armor that encased the malevolent spirit. The design was slightly altered, but apparent and cannot be mistaken.
"His name is Andras, the Sower of Discord. He is the epitome of chaos. Some of his brothers, like Phenex, Vual, and Beleth, favored peace and unity over tyranny. Not all of the brothers sought destruction, but Andras cast them out himself."
(At this point, the panorama shows an intense scene of the Old War, warriors upon warriors clashing against hordes upon hordes of demons, Andras and a few of his brothers at the back. Alice, Vexana, Leomord, and two unknown individuals: a red-haired juggernaut with thick-layered armor and wielding a large hammer and a fire demon with large horns, sporting two huge scythes that scorched the ground.)
"Andras thought he had won the war. But I knew about his actions, I knew about what he did… what he and his brethren did, which disrupted the balance. So I intervened, not because I was furious, but it was the appropriate course of action."
Alucard witnesses a figure resembling Lunox appear in a flash of energy between the clashing sides, unleashing orbs and projectiles of Light and Dark, easily obliterating the hordes of demons. The Dark Lord and his servants retreated, but Lunox advanced, unrelenting with her assault. Andras and his brothers tries to flee, but Estes and a few Archimedians begin restraining them. The large fire demon attempts to fight back, but Argus stabs his sword straight to its chest.
"Thamuz and Terizla were easily vanquished. Alice and Vexana were imprisoned after the ordeal, and Andras and his brothers are trapped within the Dreadmare Chest and left to fade in Keva Infernus. I had to kill Leomord myself in the process. But history repeats itself, whether in miniscule or terrifying magnitude. Helcurt, Faramis, Selena, and many more have tried disrupting the balance all for the sake of power and revenge, and heroes step up to join noble causes, spanning across capitals, dimensions, universes alike… And the enemy falls down along with them."
Lunox turns to face Alucard, the orbs of energy encased by her wings now in moderate size. "You know what this means, Alucard. The New War has escalated in such anarchy that rivals the Old War. The only way to end this… is through sacrifice. To save everyone else, no matter where they are…"
"You don't mean-"
"Yes, hunter. I hypothesized everything. This is the only chance we have, and that is to bring Andras down with you. Gaius will fall… but it's a small price to pay to let the other worlds live to see tomorrow."
Meanwhile…
Argus begins dashing close to the wall of fire, cutting his sword through the flames and slicing down the demons that began crawling. Beyond his field of view, meteors of ice and storms of lightning clear out the demon-infested space.
"Well done, Eudora!" Freya compliments. "At least Argus won't have much of a hassle."
"Looks easy, but it isn't," the mage replies, sending another blast of lightning as she is boosted by two Archimedians. "We have to constantly bombard the demons, or Argus might have to fight Wretches."
"Or Shadowbringers," Hayabusa adds. "Can't they blink through the wall? I haven't seen one."
"Dude, only Helcurt can do that," Zhao answers. "But still. I think Argus already has those five scumbags on the ropes!"
"But he's growing tired. I'm noticing his aura dwindling. He might get overwhelmed soon…"
"I hope he kills someone when that happens, Freya."
She doesn't respond. Freya simply sits down, looking fatigued. But she wasn't tired of fighting. She may be injured, but she wasn't tired of trading blows.
"Freya? Hey, you alright?" Miya asks, worried. "You look haggard. You're not like that."
"Yeah… I know…"
"Is something wrong?"
"I should've confessed earlier…"
"Confess?" the archer questions, confused. "Freya, what's there to confess? We checked your movements, you did nothing wrong."
"No… not that kind of confession!" Freya half-yelled, raising her voice. "S-Sorry… I'm just-"
"Okay, girl, calm down. Tell me slowly, Freya. What is it."
"I… I should've told him earlier, before he fought them. How could I be so dumb?"
"What? What are you trying to say? What should you have told Argus?"
"He's oblivious, there were just so many hints…" Freya stammers, her hands shaking. "I've known him ever since I was young… a corrupted angel with a forgotten past. I fought him, and I brought back his old self again! I cared, but… but it was more than that…"
"Freya…"
"Argus… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."
"Freya, don't cry, it's alright-"
"No, it's not that simple! I… I should've told him, before he went there, then he shouldn't have fought them at all. I could've been with him, but now, I don't have a choice… I'm sorry, Argus, for being afraid… For not being completely honest with you."
Meanwhile…
"Yield, Andras!"
"This has just started, Argus!" Andras releases a clone and charges at Argus, dark blades rising from the ground. Argus uses the flat of his sword to block the ram. The clone impacts hard on the angel, forcing Argus to slide backwards with his feet on the ground. The projection charges at Argus again, using powerful melee strikes and kicks to make him drop his sword. Argus gets punched at his helmet, its silver alloy slowly being scratched off bit by bit. He intensifies his fiery aura, causing the clone to back off with blitzkrieg speed.
"You dare use clones?!" Argus makes his move and dashes to the Dark Lord (not the clone), simply passing through the copy without slashing at it with his blade. Argus fakes a light strike, making Andras raise his arms and cover his upper body. He doesn't see the angel's foot, going downward, and Argus lands a hit on Andras' kneecap, forcing him to kneel. The Dark Lord lowers his arms, but Argus lands a swift uppercut, making Andras rise and leave him open to Argus' blade kick, the black armor receiving a huge dent. The spirit rolls to the ground, apparently hurt. Small scorch marks lined the dents.
"Ugh… insolent… wretch! Helcurt!"
"Coming, master!" The Shadowbringer jumps behind Argus, and the angel ducks instinctively. Helcurt rolls and recovers immediately, clawing at Argus' legs. The angel simply corkscrews in mid-air and whacks Helcurt away with the dull edge of the gold sword. As soon as Argus stands up, he was hit by a numbing bolt of lightning from Zhask, who was hiding behind a rock. More and more arcs of lightning gets released from his purple staff, forcing Argus to stumble, but all it could do is just faze him.
"Vexana! Your Ghouls!"
The Necromancer summons specters that force their hands out of the grass, clinging to Argus' feet. The angel struggles to get them off, striking his sword to the ground. He hovers upward, away from their grip. Argus prepares to strike his sword to the ground, but Alice leaps from the side, pushing Argus down and slowly dragging him towards the grass, thinking it would hurt him as well.
It didn't. Instead of trying harder, the succubus simply slams Argus multiple times to the ground, preventing him from making any sort of action. The arms of the specters successfully restrain Argus' left arm, but not his right. The angel recalls his greatsword, the cap of the sword hitting Alice square on her occipital, making her woozy. Argus pushes her off and extends his wings, the feathers digging to the ground. The plumes were set aflame, burning the specters down as Argus rises, mowing down a group of Ghouls in a circle, causing them to disintegrate to ash. He tries to dash towards Vexana, but his vision suddenly blackens.
"Ready for your atonement, traitor? Your m-m-murders will not go unpunished!"
Argus tries to see clearly, the glow of his burning aura his only light. He could feel a continuous, pushing force hurting him from behind, and powerful punches and claws striking him. His armor and his sword will hold the impacts, but Argus needs to get out.
"Where are you, Helcurt? You've been bothering me and everyone else for too long!"
He slashes blindly in the air, knowing that the sword can still throw waves of flame. He turns quickly and gains the momentum to spin like a blind razor, rings of fire bursting forth from his sword. Beyond his sight, the Ghouls and specters easily burns to dust, but Zhask and Vexana dodged. The alien shoots more lightning bolts at Argus, and the angel loses his footing and falls to his knees. Vexana throws orbs of green energy, exploding upon contact with Argus. He struggles to turn around, the armor on his wings slowly decaying and deteriorating from the continuous blasts. Argus successfully faces the blasts and uses his blade to block them. The projectiles ricocheted off of the edge of the blade, nearly backfiring directly to the two. Thinking that the assault was over, Argus turns back and tries to find Helcurt.
Alice was still there. She pounces on Argus and enters her Drinking State, slowly sapping his energy away as she begins to claw at his torso. Argus covers himself with his right arm and tries to recall the sword with his left, but a blade impales his wrist to the ground, locking him down.
"Argh… your blood is poison!" Alice shrieks, digging her claws into Argus' face, trying to wedge through the slits. "For years, I cannot live with the thought of not being able to beat you, but now, my wish has been fulfilled!"
Argus grunts in frustration, trying to find a way out, then he remembers something.
"All of this to win against me?"
"I've waited for years, Argus! I'm not waiting anymore!"
"Then wait longer." He launches the claw of his left arm, grabbing the handle of the sword, which was a few meters away from him. The claw retracts and throws the sword into the air, straight into Argus' right hand. As he grips the handle, he slashes in front of him, driving Alice backward via a wave of fire, burning her skin. She groans from the pain, trying to stand up as Argus removes the black sword nailed to his arm. He hears slight whooshing behind his ears, meaning that he dodged the Dark Lord's swords just in time. The bad part is, he's still blind.
"Wings are tired… Armor weakening… I need to find him."
"You've fought well, seraphim," Andras said, his voice resonating in Argus' head. "But your fight ends now!"
Argus could hear a faint, eerie laughter within the Dark Lord's words. He is cloaking Helcurt's sound as he races to Argus with his tail raised and ready to inject. The angel looks around in a panic, trying to find Helcurt. He couldn't see anything in the darkness… until a grey outline appeared, closing in on him.
"Got you."
He turns his head, pretending that he didn't see the Shadowbringer, and in a split second, grabs Helcurt by the neck as soon as he attempts to pounce on the angel. Argus' vision returns, and Helcurt was suffocating from his grip, desperately trying to scratch and injure his hand.
"Y-Y-You… how d-did you… urgh!"
"There was a chance for your race to flourish… If only you've been understanding!" Argus tightens his grip, nearly breaking Helcurt's neck. His aura makes the Shadowbringer's cloak catch on fire, slowly turning to cinders.
Helcurt's face was fully exposed. He had a bald head and the skin on it was completely wrinkled. Helcurt bore no ears, but had holes on either side of his head. His razor-sharp teeth were fully exposed, but most of them were yellowish or broken. Helcurt screamed in despair as the sunlight hurts his vision.
"M-MY EYES! I.. I C-CAN'T S-S-S-SEE! MAAAAASSSTEEERRRRR!"
"Let Helcurt go!" Vexana warns. "Or else…"
"Too late," Argus hissed. "The real traitor will atone for his sins."
"MASSSTEERRRRR-"
Argus crushes Helcurt's neck and snaps it, his head silent and lifeless. He chucks his body into the air and slashes upward with his flaming sword as the corpse fell, cutting the body in half. The halves slowly burned in yellow flame, as if it was cremated… And Helcurt was gone. All that was left was his broken tooth, dislodged and left on the ground.
"RASCAL!" Andras yells in anger. "YOU WILL SUFFER A PAINFUL DEATH!"
The angel opens the palm of his left hand, Helcurt's blood soaking the armor. He clenches his fist and sets his arm on his left, drawing his sword.
"One down… Four to go!"
Argus runs straight to Andras. The Dark Lord throws swords and axes from the void, but Argus dodges them easily. One of them hits his shoulder, but he keeps on sprinting, barely even hurt. The angel pushes his blade to the Dark Lord's chest, but Andras catches the sword, his hands pressing on the flats of the blade. Andras twists his arms and with a swift upward motion, sends the sword skyrocketing. The black knight charges his energy and pushes Argus back to gain some space. Andras himself charges to the seraphim, his fists clenched. He lands a clear punch to Argus's helmet, slightly denting it. With a flurry of blows to the angel, Andras manages to prevent Argus from retaliating, letting Zhask and Vexana open for more shooting opportunities while Alice prepares for the supporting ambush.
"Argus is barely hurt!" Vexana notes, growing tired from her assault. "It must be his wings!"
The wings were just part of the problem. Argus' aura was also taking part, as well as his new power. Even Andras was having difficulty making the angel's knees buckle a bit. He stops the rampage and backs, generating two clones. The clones lifted their hands and raised the ground, forcing a large wall of dirt to be conjured. Argus breathes heavily and recalls his greatsword from the air, returning back to his normal strength. He dashes and cleaves through the wall of dirt, as well as the clones. Argus was about to reach the Dark Lord, but Alice intervenes successfully, catching Argus and tackling him to the ground. The angel rolls and recuperates, trying to bring the sword back, but Zhask spawns two Dominators between Argus and attacks him, cutting off the link immediately. Vexana nears the wall of fire, figuring out an idea to let the demons get through.
"Alice, hold Argus still!"
She begins to raise dozens of Ghouls and specters and commands them to go to the wall with a point of her index finger. They briskly dived to the wall, covering the scorching ground with their bodies and ethereal spirits. They slowly begin to snuff out the heat faster than the flame could recover. A Hellhound attempts to breach, but immediately burns to ash. Vexana needs bigger monsters to fight against Argus. The corners of the wall are easily being breached, but it's not enough for them to infiltrate the Land of Dawn. The wall was spanning for kilometers. They had to eliminate the angel in order to gain the upper hand.
"Faster, you swines!" Vexana grumbles. "Kill the angel!"
More and more Ghouls topple over their own kin, extinguishing a small section of the wall. A few Ravagers get in, rather confused and surprised. As soon as they saw Argus, they sprinted in haste. Alice continues to claw at him, being able to target his midsection other than his head. Argus kicks her groin and rolls on his front, trying to stand, but the Ravagers catch up to him climbing onto his back. Before they could sink their jaws into him, Argus extends his wings, recovering a segment of his aura. The Dark Lord conjures swords in haste and throws them down to Argus, but the angel rolls out of the way, covering himself with his six wings. It doesn't take long before Andras decides to defend as a volley of silver knives suddenly get launched at him, forcing him to descend. Argus stops spinning and notices the change in his wings. Most of the feathers have already begun merging with the gold and silver armor, slowly turning them into sharp blades of gilded steel. As Argus recalls his greatsword with his hand, he spins around, using his wings as a shield against Zhask and his spawns. A few Kastiyans began firing through the wall of flame, trying to hit the angel, but a stray shot hits the alien commander square on the shoulder, making him drop his staff. Argus stops attempting to recall his greatsword and hastily grabs Zhask's staff, dodging Andras' black swords.
"Give it back!" Zhask screeches. He runs, but Argus charges and butts the alien's chest with the staff, nearly breaking Zhask's skin. Purple blood began oozing from the injury, and Zhask coughed up some of it as well.
"My sword can't kill you… but your staff can!" Argus unleashes a bolt of lightning from the stick, electrocuting his foe. The spawns also lose their focus, swinging their nozzle-like heads and spitting their lasers in random intervals. The angel rolls out of a projectile and aims the staff at Zhask once more, noticing that his limbs are already being scorched inside out.
"N-n-nooo! I won't… let you… kill me!"
Argus yells and pokes the staff harder against Zhask, a moderately severe dent on the alien's upper chest. He pokes it even harder, not letting Zhask recuperate. After a series of shocking blows, Argus backs and dashes, breaking the sound barrier and completely punctures Zhask with the staff before swinging it around like a sling. Argus releases more lightning as Zhask could no longer speak. He was only gurgling from the blood flooding his throat. Caelesti Igni flies overhead, knocking Andras before he could stop Argus' assault. It sidetracks and slashes at Vexana on her side, interrupting the flow of demons that were entering through the wall of flame. The sword begins zooming towards Argus. The seraphim stops and runs straight to it, preparing to swing the staff like a batter reaching for the home run. Instead, Argus throws the staff as Sun would throw his cudgel, spinning wildly with Zhask's body in tow. Both the staff and the sword collide in a frenzy of fire and lightning, but the sword survives, recalling back to Argus' hand. The spawns around suddenly begin shaking uncontrollably, forks of electricity extending outwards from them.
Vexana shouts, "Retreat! They will explode!"
Sure enough, they did. The Dominators (along with Zhask's body) bursts into a mess of viscera and lightning, corrosively burning the grassy ground. Some of the debris skyrocketed upward, nearly reaching the top of the wall of flame. Argus zips around, using his wings for cover and to avoid retaliation by Andras.
But not Vexana's.
She sees Argus and ensnares him with her green energy, tendrils of smoke restraining him. Argus manages to break free, homing closer towards the Necromancer. A large Wretch manages to break free from the pillars of fire, rushing towards the angel. In response, Argus sidesteps and changes direction, slashing diagonally and cutting the Wretch in half, making it lopsided. The demon crawls in agony, trying to run, but Argus digs his sword deep into hits belly and slices it open, spilling the Wretch's intestines. It makes a loud, gurgling sound, blood bubbling from its jaws.
"I can't do this…" Argus internally spoke, panting. "I need… to kill Vexana… and Alice…"
He doesn't notice a herd of Hellhounds sprinting to his direction. Argus grunts, trying to swing his greatsword with his tired arms, releasing a wave of flame towards the demons and incinerating them. Far behind them, a few Wretches burst through the wall, apparently only minimally injured. Alice was behind them, now throwing projectiles of blood at Argus. The angel blocks one with his hands, but the armor slowly began to melt and deteriorate.
"She's not going closer… she'll wait before I'm vulnerable enough…"
Argus spins his sword and angles them straight forward, his left arm supporting its weight. He then dashes with incredible speed, cutting through the Wretches easily. Argus ducks under a Wretch's jaws and stabs it. Using the momentum, he guts it from below and spills its insides before using his wings to gain flight. Andras appears, rising above the carcasses of the Wretches and throws his swords at Argus, all the while unleashing dark bolts of energy. One of the bolts strikes Argus' left lower wing, and the feathers grow rusty and matted with soot.
"Argh… I need more space… I need more space! The others can't help me, best thing they can do is stop the demons from pouring in!"
"You cannot run, Argus! This is your legacy… All angels fall!" Andras yells, generating clones one by one, trailing Argus and attempting to shish-kebab him. "And all of your friends behind the walls will learn what it's like to lose."
"Quit talking and try to kill me!" Argus taunts. He flies sideward, isolating each clone in order to finish them off easily. Argus knows the Dark Lord's exact location. "The time will come, and so will he!"
"Who, the boy? The prophecy should have chosen you, out of all the rest! But no! They chose someone… an ant among this world!"
Argus barrel-rolls around the airspace, coming in contact with Andras and dematerializing the demons. The Dark Lord struggles to break the grip, stabbing Argus multiple times with his swords. The two crash to the ground, but Argus doesn't let go and holds on to the Dark Lord. He regains footing after several rolls and throws him off far away while Argus stops, using his sword as an anchor to keep him still. Four punctures were on his leg, shoulder and chest. A horn from his helmet was broken, while the other was chipped. Gold ichor slowly poured out of Argus' wounds.
"Don't die yet… come on…"
Argus tries to run, but a wave of blood hits his back, coating his wings with corrosive red fluid. He slashes behind him, not minding the pain. Alice uses the glare of the sun to hide and pounces on Argus from above. The angel rolls out of the way and folds his wings to prevent them from getting damaged, but Argus knows that two of his wings had lost a large portion of his feathers while one of them was completely dead. Droplets of blood dripped on his armor, and they slowly began to corrode on his armor, the plates beginning to feel unbalanced and partially torn.
Alice throws out her arms, causing much more quantities of blood to encircle her. Argus grips his greatsword and carves through the blood, setting it aflame and causing it to evaporate. Alice absorbs some of the blood and turns them into scarlet blades. She grips them and combats Argus, spinning around and trying to hit his lower body. This proved to be difficult as Argus' aura was protecting his body. As soon as Alice comes in contact, the aura was deflecting the impacts, causing only minimal damage. Argus finds an opening and stabs forward, missing Alice's neck. The succubus smiles and attempts to slash downward, but Argus lowers the blade, cutting Alice by the shoulder. The angel pulls the blade off and backs. Alice screams in pain as her shoulder felt as if it was burning, a cauterized gash nearly amputating her whole arm by the socket.
Argus' breathing labored as he tries to live out. A Wretch appears from behind, trying to butt Argus into the wall of flame. Argus immediately jumps forward and stabs the Wretch on the skull, making it stop in its tracks. The angel leaps off and slowly retreats, seeking a way to gain leverage.
"They're not yet done preparing… Five minutes… five more!"
Argus could hear the internal thoughts of the other heroes on the wall, apparently worried about his state. He didn't care. He knew that what mattered is buying them time.
"She's talking to Alucard now… and they're most likely watching us. All of us can still live… all of the fallen. She's not telling him the possibility, because if she did, it will never happen."
"Growing tired, Argus?" Alice asks mischievously. She summons a whip of blood and lashes at Argus, but the angel easily tanks the shot, the whip curling around his right arm.
"Just hurt." He ignites the sword, causing the blood whip to burn like gasoline. Alice tries to dematerialize the weapon, but Argus yanks it and literally grips the cord, his hands slowly burning from the corrosive liquid. To speed up the pull, Argus tugs hard, bringing the surprised Alice to the ground. The angel lets go of the whip and stomps her repeatedly, the sharp grass digging into her skin and eyes. Her muffled screams could be heard as Argus recalls the sword to pin her, but a black hammer emerges from the void and slams Argus off.
"You will not touch them again, Andras calmly spoke. "And the Spitfires and Hellbats have begun breaching your barrier."
Argus tries to recover, his helmet cracked, but he soon gets toppled by a group of Ravagers, carrying him across the field like a tidal wave upon fish. He pushes off successfully, but two Wretches smash their feet to him forcefully on the ground. Andras was above the growing horde, throwing more and more dark bolts at the center of the mass. Argus tries to break free, but more and more begin to surge through the walls.
"Aurora!"
"Hylos, there's too many!" the queen yells over the commotion. "I can destroy them, but Argus-"
"DO IT NOW! EUDORA, DO THE SAME!"
The sorceress doesn't respond. She was laying on the floor, apparently exhausted, her silver hair slightly frizzy. "Too much expended… Need to… recharge."
"You call my acts pointless," Andras says. "But this is the future, Argus… the pinnacle of perfection!"
Argus doesn't shout back. He was pinned. He could feel claws and sharp teeth dig into his skin and armor. He could tell that one of his wings was completely torn from his back. Waves upon waves of pain flooded his mind, to the point wherein Argus couldn't recall the blade anymore. His mind was an absolute haze. It was as if he was being torn apart.
"Argus!"
"F-Freya?"
"Argus… I'm sorry…"
The angel was suddenly alerted. He tries to get up, but Vexana spawns more and more specters and Ghouls, pulling Argus into the ground.
"Freya, can you hear me?"
"Argus! I'm… I'm so sorry…"
"I can hear her, but she can't hear me! Freya! FREYA!"
"It's too late… I'm so sorry…"
"Freya, don't say that!"
"I wish I would've had the stomach to tell you… I adore you!"
"All of this to kill one seraphim," the Dark Lord muttered. "Incredible…"
"F-Freya?"
"Ever since I stepped up for you… defended your actions… Argus, come on! Please! GET UP!"
"Freya…"
Argus didn't know it, but tears began to roll from his eyes.
"Argus… get up! Don't die for me!"
"Freya!" Argus tries to reach his hand upward. He could only see swirling darkness. The Ravagers began biting and chewing at his extended arm, but this was his only opening. He has to escape.
"Argus… I…"
"FREYA!"
"I'm sorry."
"FREYA, NO! DON'T GIVE UP!" His aura began to swell tremendously, the light glowing through the bodies.
The Dark Lord was stunned by the phenomena. Some of the demons began retreating.
"How…"
"Argus? ARGUS!"
"FREYA! COME ON! COME ON, ARGUS!COME ON! FIGHT! JUST THIS ONCE!"
"ARGUS!"
A loud cry was heard from within the mass, and suddenly, a large explosion of light burst forth from within, sending most of the demons flying. Most were eviscerated by the blast, while some were completely cremated. Andras becomes temporarily blind by the flash of light.
"MY EYES! ARGH, I CANNOT SEE!"
A streak of flame suddenly zooms through, aimed straight for Vexana. The Necromancer couldn't even react in time as Argus stabs her with his sword straight to her head. He drags her body along to the ground with the speed, shredding her to viscera completely, some of the chunks burning. Alice was stunned by the sudden kill and took too long to react.
"V-VEXANAAAAAA! NO! HOW COULD YOU?!" She leaps towards the speeding ball of flame, charging up her blood energy. Alice catches, but suddenly gets pulled along it, the flames reaching up to her body. "YOU KILLED HER!"
"AND MANY OTHERS BEFORE THIS! AND NOW, YOU REPAY YOUR SINS IN KIND!" Argus speeds up around the battlefield in Mach speeds as Alice loses her focus from the sustained injury and tremendous amount of Gs. The angel notices a large boulder on the path and heads straight towards it. He angles Alice's body to it and uses her as a shield, making her absorb the full impact. Her wing breaks as she shrieks from pain and panic, trying to claw at Argus, but it was too late.
At long last, the Queen of the Apocalypse was doomed to die.
Argus throws her up into the air follows up with a flurry of punches and kicks, causing her skin to sear. Alice lifts up her arms but her bones were already broken. She was no longer regenerating properly. She tries to charge up more blood and enter her Drinking State, but Argus' aura overwhelms her, preventing her from fighting back.
"YOU TRIED SO HARD TO BEAT ME… YOU COULDN'T ACCEPT THE REALITY! ALL OF THIS TO BEST EVERYONE… AND IN THE END… YOUR OWN BLOOD WILL BE SPILT!"
The angel recalls Caelesti Igni and with a scream of rage, slices Alice downward into the ground, the two of them falling like comets. They hit the ground with a large explosion, leaving a brown crater. A sharp, puncture sound echoed throughout the landscape as the dust and smoke clears, revealing the aftermath.
Alice's skin was completely burnt. 90% of the hair in her head was missing, the ends scorched off. Her bones now looked frail and her arms and legs were nearly amputated by the assault. Gallons of blood poured out from all of her sides. She was barely recognizable. Argus' sword was upright, impaling her to the soil. Alice coughs up and tries to look at the angel. She was astounded.
"H-How… d-did you… survive…?"
Argus was in a much more delicate state. In fact, he should've been dead. His right arm was almost torn off, a bloody stump oozing large amounts of ichor as a few blood vessels hang from it. The angel's lower left leg was chewed off by the previous demons, rendering Argus as a cripple. It was severely dislocated and hanged via the veins and arteries for dear life at a near 180-degree angle. His right eye was completely torn off the socket, multiple cuts on his face, arms and torso. Most of his armor was stripped off via blunt force or corrosion. His helmet was gone, most likely shattered, revealing his face.
He was handsome. No, more than handsome, rivaling even Lancelot or Gossen. He had a distinct jawline and somewhat perfect teeth. One of his ears was cut, the bite marks of a Hellhound seen on the freak injury. Argus was completely clean, if we are to ignore his current situation, and his hair was medium in length and gold in color. But now, he looked like a corpse on his last breath.
But he was still alive, still fighting. He doesn't know why. Three of his wings, one on each pair, was torn off. The other surviving wings were bloody with ichor and apparently nearly going to fall off.
"All I w-wanted… w-w-was t-to… become the b-b-best…" Alice choked, tears flowing from her face. "I t-tried…"
"You betrayed us…" Argus spoke, his voice hoarse. "And worst o-of all… you betrayed yourself."
Alice shook her head in despair, trying to deny it. "N-No… Argus… p-please…"
"Go… home."
The angel pulls out his sword clean out from Alice, her body slightly being pulled. The blade bore stress marks, and was about to break, its aura ebbing. Argus immediately uses the sword as support as soon as he pulled it out from Alice, watching her corpse slowly burn into cinders, the char blown by the gentle breeze.
Andras was in front of Argus, accompanied by a few Wretches. Argus awkwardly hovers miraculously by a few feet, clutching his sword weakly on his left arm.
"Come on, Andras. COME ON!"
He charges recklessly, raising his blade. Andras simply conjures a humongous sword, ready to swat Argus. Surprisingly, Argus breaks the void weapon, forcing it to dissipate into a mass of dark smoke. The problem is, Caelesti Igni shatters as well, the pieces scattering off. He doesn't see Andras throw a black javelin into his chest, and Argus was sent flying back, the spear poking him down on the ground.
The Dark Lord lands and slowly walks up to Argus, and the angel was barely even struggling. Argus grabs on the javelin and tries to pull it out, but his left arm was already weak.
"You impressed me," Andras admits. "I have to say… You put up one hell of a fight against me. It's a shame the fun has ended, now that your other friends will be easier to take care of."
Argus grunts incoherently, trying to escape, but Andras simply chuckles.
"Farewell, fallen angel." He walks away, the demons slowly following Andras and doesn't speed up, except for the airborne monsters.
But Argus wasn't finished.
"You think y-you… have won?"
Andras stops in his tracks and slowly turns to Argus, who still spoke. "You're still kicking?"
"Alucard… he will stop you!"
"I'd like to see him try, Argus."
"He and Lunox-"
"DO NOT DARE SPEAK OF HER NAME!" Andras shouts, summoning another sword and stabs Argus' other eye. The angel simply winces from the pain. "SHE IS NO LONGER HERE, AND YOUR FAMILY WILL PERISH!"
"She knows what to d-do… And s-she will use the boy to bring you down along with her… You w-will never succeed, Andras. Try a-as you might… but your brothers knew better than you. And her dream will be s-sought."
The Dark Lord clenches his fist, hyperventilating in anger, and raises his foot, sharp spikes suddenly forming beneath on the sole.
Argus sighs in relief, smiles, and turns his head to the sky. "Volo pro veritas."
Andras stomps Argus' face repeatedly, not seeking to cease. Ichor splatters throughout and the head nearly gets torn from the neck. The spirit stops, lightly trembling.
"Take away my world, I'll take away yours," Andras monologues, brushing imaginary dust off the shoulder armor. "And your world will be taken away, Argus. The boy will not win… And his companions can go sod off in hell for all I care."
The Light has fallen, and Darkness floods the gates.
Meanwhile…
"Lunox?"
Alucard grows worried as Lunox covers the sides of her head with her arms, the interstellar space slowly shaking. The hunter tries to approach her, but he couldn't, as if an invisible force was slowly repelling him.
"Lunox?"
The Twilight Goddess' breathing labored. The yellow orb on her left wing was ebbing out while the purple sphere glowed with intensity. "A… Argus…"
"Lunox? What about Argus? Is he alright?"
She looked up to Alucard and slowly shook her head lightly, her face holding a frown. "He killed Alice, Zhask, and the others… but he's perished."
"W-WHAT?! No… Lunox, you can't be-"
"I felt his soul… it was lifted. He is with the lovers now, content as he has fulfilled his duty."
"But he's dead, Lunox!" Alucard presses. "The Dark Lord, Andras… whoever he is, he's growing closer! Shouldn't be that the thing we should prevent?"
"Prevent?" she questions. "Then it means Estes hasn't completely told you, or didn't know sooner…"
"Wait, wait, what?"
"Your friends aren't meant to prevent Andras from coming closer, Alucard. Both harbingers of Light and Dark have fallen… and what we need is an epitome. They do not know…"
"So that is the plan?" the hunter asks. "Let that bastard come through?!"
"The Gem hasn't completely instilled its power within your body. If Andras tries to corrupt the artifact prematurely, the Dark swallows the Light, and we will cease to exist. Balance is what keeps us here, Alucard."
"BUT MY FRIENDS WILL DIE-"
"And you were more than willing to keep them alive yourselves," Lunox backfires. "They're doing this for you, but it's also for the other worlds out there. You know where the cyborgs have truly come from. You know where Harley and her sister truly resides. This is for the other worlds too!"
"But there has to be another way! I can't let them die out there!"
"Alucard… this is the only way."
The hunter shakes, clenching his fists. He throws a punch into the air, causing him to slowly get carried by the momentum. "DAMN IT! GODDAMN IT!"
"Are you done throwing tantrums?" Lunox asks, appearing right in front of Alucard. "The Dark Lord is nearing the main walls, and in a few minutes, Zhao and his companions will face terrible deaths."
"So… you mean to say, that all of this… And we're going to let them get killed out there?!"
"True."
Alucard turns his face to her. "There are people out there that have died. There are children out there! Families, people we love and care about! Letting them die is your magnificent plan?!"
"If I told you about the truth, and how the situation actually progresses, then it will never happen, Alucard! I once spoke to Leomord and Argus like this. They hardly ever believed me! And if you think you're different, then you are mistaken! All of this is beyond the capacity of your comprehension, and you may as well have been scratching at the surface. This is the miracle of my power… I foresee what will become. This is the curse of my knowledge… no one will trust my indoctrinations."
Lunox sighs, her ethereal form slowly blinking and fading out, lacking color, before reforming fully and lively again. "Light and Dark merged… and balance was attained… the only truth. And I have always defended it, no matter the cost. The fallen know what is at stake, for they are already dead, twinkling amongst the stars. Lancelot and Odette were afraid, but they accepted their destiny. Argus fought Andras and the others all by his lonesome in order to let me converse with you longer… Because the harbinger of Light can only give way and stand at the gate."
"Why do you need me?" Alucard asked, doubtful. "You could've picked Zhao, you could've picked Miya, or Freya, or even Estes. Why does it have to be me?"
"Because you're a paradox," the Twilight Goddess explains. "You admitted it yourself. The ultimate paradox. A corrupted body with a pure soul. Who could truly best the Dark Lord other than a clear manifestation of ethereal convergence? You are like me, Alucard. You faced hell, and you were destined ever since. The archer, the pirates, the orcs, the spearman… They've shone brightly. All has come to this. Only the harbinger of Truth can defeat Andras."
"But he's too strong!"
"For he breeds chaos, and only chaos! I serve here to keep both the peace and war intact and relenting."
"You can't give up on Gaius, Lunox. There… I don't know how to let go!"
"I've let go, and so will they. To lose their humanity to resist destruction, ironically one of the most human things they can ever do. Ruby, Saber… they are doomed to die this way. Only you can bring them back-"
"That's easy for you to say!" Alucard exclaims, groaning. "Why do you act as if-"
"It's a terrible thing to say… But it's the right thing to ask, Child of the Fall. The conditions will be met, all but your acceptance. The clock is ticking as your friends succumb one way or another, so let me ask you this… just this once."
She veered closer to Alucard, her eyes glinting. Her right eye held a yellow iris, while the left bore a purple hue. Lunox cupped his face with her hands.
"Now that you know what must be done… Are you still willing to sacrifice everything… your friends, your family, your identity, and yourself entirely, for the world we love?"
Meanwhile…
"Nana?! NANA! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Miya climbs up the rubble, her face covered in dust. Her outfit was slightly torn, and a trickle of blood dripped down from her head. She summons her bow, fully intact.
A large chunk of the front wall was absolutely destroyed as Andras conjured a humongous battering ram, catching the heroes unawares.
"Miya! I found Nana!" a familiar voice cries out.
"Aurora!" Miya approaches the mage atop the debris. Nana was unconscious, but still breathing faintly. One of her shoulders was dislocated, and her hands were broken. Nana's boomerang lay fractured.
"Bring her out, now! Eudora and I will try and handle this!"
"But Aurora, your arm!" Miya exclaims, pointing at the amputation. The Queen of Ice slowly winces from the pain, blood flowing off. She puts her artificial arm on the stump, covering the freak wound with a patch of ice.
"I can grow a new one… you need to go! Zhao and Freya and the others are waiting for you!"
The archer nods and sprints off to the inward roads, cradling Nana. Miya struggles to run as the nasty gash on her thigh began to hurt, her shock dissipating.
"M-Miya…?"
"Nana, hold on, we need to get out of the walls," Miya whispered. "Just stay awake, okay? You'll be alright."
"H-Harley… w-where a-are they?"
"Don't worry, they're with Lesley and Gossen. We just need to find Zhao, okay?"
"Miya? Oh, thank the heavens, you're alright!" Zhao runs to her, accompanied by Freya and Hylos. "Wait… where's Aurora and-"
"They're staying," Miya exhales, nearly stumbling to the ground. "I know Gord's still there-"
"Gord?" Hylos asks. "They can clear off the demons in the field, but the Dark Lord-"
"We just need to prevent the demons from overwhelming us. We need to know the status of the others," Freya suggests. "Hylos, try and inspect the other sides. Check if Irithel, Karrie, Balmond, Hilda, and the others are done building up detours and blockades. We need to nozzle them up here in the middle road. That way, they will be easier to handle."
"Noted!" Hylos casts a pathway and immediately charges to the left, where Hilda and the orcs were situated.
As the heroes begin scrambling, the three mages stepped in front of the broken wall, seeing hundreds of demons run from multitudes of directions. Andras slowly summons two of his clones, and they split to left and right respectively. The horde of demons split as well, following the projections that successfully guided them.
"Any plan?" Eudora asks, charging her electricity.
"Take down as many of them as possible. I'll deal with him," Aurora volunteers. "Gord, you need to push off the ones on the right. Archimedians are hanging by the thread."
"Agreed- WATCH OUT!"
A large battle axe appears from the void and slashes sideways, attempting to cut the three mages. Aurora responds by completely freezing the weapon in mid-air, slowing its speed and giving the opportunity for them to duck. Gord rides off to the hard right with his board, going airborne and launching volatile balls of mystic energy at the Ravagers that neared. He then fires a destructive blue laser, driving the monsters away. Some of them get caught in the ray and easily burns to dust. One of Andras' clones leaps up and throws swords at Gord, but he deflects them off easily as he concentrates his energy to his hands.
As Gord fought the clone, Eudora summoned more of her lightning, creating massive chain reactions that fork and arc through the demons. A Ravager jumps to her, and she sidesteps, electrocuting it in retaliation. Eudora sees the Dark Lord's clone and attempts to throw balls of lightning at it, but the swords around the clone easily deflected the lethal projectiles, spinning around like defensive sentries.
"They call you a powerful magician," the clone voiced out. "And yet…"
One of the swords zip away from the projection, aimed directly at Gord. However, a blazing streak blinks directly in front of the mage, blocking the sword.
"Zhao! Why are you here?"
"Help Aurora! We got this!" the spearman sprints to the clone and unleashes a flurry of strikes, attempting to dematerialize the projection. Zhao then steps and spins around, swinging the spear in his area and slashing at the clone easily, and it disappears. "The demons are the issue. Freya is probably with Eudora now. Just stay back and clear them off."
"Are you sure about your plan?"
"Nope. Seriously, no one's sure anymore." Zhao gives a colloquial salute before sprinting to the center of the field to aid Aurora.
Meanwhile…
"It's insane out there…" Alucard mutters, watching the scene through the holographic panorama. "Oh, crap, they're flooding in. They're tearing through the orcs and the pirates, and the ships… they're starting to fall."
"We can do nothing but wait," Lunox dejectedly says. "Half of the heroes are injured. Lolita hasn't fully recovered from the physical trauma. Hylos is going to be enveloped by groups of Morphlings and Hellhounds soon. I have reason to believe his fellow centaurs have died in combat… all of them."
"Miya and Freya are taking beatings… Andras is simply nicking them down with those black swords. It's almost unfair."
"But we only need a few minutes before the Gem fully incorporates its energy within you. That is what matters."
Alucard nods, looking somewhat awful and nerve-wracked. To ease his nervousness, he asked a random question out of the blue.
"Um… I have to ask. If you weren't… like, you know, a hyperversal being of some sort, what would you have done? I mean, if you were just normal, what would you do?"
"Then I would follow my dreams, as I always have," Lunox answers. "I would learn, I would make my own home… admire the nature, raise a family, spread a concrete, yet simple concept of love. The little things, I would have admired. Why is it you ask that?"
"I… never had a normal life, really," Alucard shyly responds, scratching the back of his head. "I don't know if I would die the next day as a demon hunter. I did think of something similar to what you just said, but… it feels so impossible."
"To follow our desires is often the death of duty. We cannot linger on one side."
"A burden, it seems."
Lunox chuckles. "Our destinies do not become burdens simply because they worsen our state of mind or our well-being. It's our perspective… it's why we are still here, waiting for the inevitable."
"But we can still bring them back, can't we?"
"It's what I'd want for all of you… to come back alive and safe and sound… but we must make the necessary sacrifice. You should not falter in spirit. You're prepared."
Alucard was about to reply, but he notices his arm slowly glowing, a blue aura clearly enveloping it as the demonic arm was infused with bright light.
"L-Lunox?"
"It's begun… your transfiguration. The stars in this dream world will act accordingly."
The Twilight Goddess outstretches her hands, and the bright dots of light that seemed so faraway easily traveled to Lunox' hands like objects on a wall. The stardust slowly began to swirl around in front of her, coalescing and slowly forming parallelograms.
"And they will forge the blade that will slay the bane of balance."
Meanwhile…
The demons approaching from the Eudora's side of the wall have barely paid attention to her, most of them already racing and scaling the boundaries. Multitudes of Wretches and Reapers broke through the stone and wreaked havoc against the dwindling numbers of the Land of Dawn's army. Two Striders get flown into the air by a Wretch that rammed through the lines, only for them to get snatched and clawed at by the flying Spitfires.
"Go forth, and let no one survive in our wake," Andras commands, but the Dark Lord that has breached was still a mere clone. His presence still posed a threat, as the true spirit can manifest within the clones.
The demons begin crashing down the orcs, often devouring some as they charged. A Bastion tries to push a Reaper back, but a stray Hellhound pounces on its back and chomps the neck, easily killing the soldier.
"No!" Hylos shouts, trying to gallop faster. A Reaper suddenly bursts out of a wall of an establishment, ripping a young girl's body into shreds. The civilians try to keep fighting, defending their homes, but the demons pour in through the windows and break through the roofs, easily getting more and more kills.
Hylos slams and tramples down the Reaper. A Wretch uses the opportunity and knock Hylos down on the ground and scratches his flank. The centaur yells in pain and tries to kick the demon, but the Reaper rises and digs its claws deep into Hylos. He uses his staff to butt it down, killing it with blunt force, but more Hellhounds and Morphlings began leaping from the roofs and windows, affixed to Hylos. The civilians used this opening to flee, but the Ravagers arrive from the alleyways, stampeding over them and shredding them down into gore.
"B-Balmond… I c-can't…"
The centaur helplessly swings his weapon around, but it was no use. Even if he would clear what's above him, it would immediately be replaced by bigger demons. Hylos slowly begins to succumb from his injuries, a Morphling chewing off the skin on his loin, reaching through the bone. A Wretch arrives and crushes Hylos down, even stepping on some of its fellow demons.
"F-For t-the L-L-Light…"
Around the commotion, Andras uses humongous blades of darkness to cleave through the houses and the army, eliminating tens of hundreds of soldiers with ease. A Strider manages to approach him and throws his spear, but the weapon shatters upon impact, nullified by Andras' aura. The Dark Lord telekinetically grabs the Strider and slowly clenches his hand, causing the soldier's armor to collapse inward and crush the Strider like a ball of paper.
A roar was heard, and Leo leaps from the roof, Irithel riding on the smilodon. Hilda charges up front to distract Andras, and the Dark Lord easily swats the huntswoman away with a back-handed slap, sending her flying to a concrete wall. Karrie trails behind Andras and swings her arms to the legs, trying to cut through the black armor. Andras gets fazed from the impacts as Karrie recovers her posture, punching Andras relentlessly on the torso. Irithel spun around with Leo, trying to mow down the demons that poured behind. A Wretch begins to charge, but Minotaur appears from the corner, tackling the beast down. A few Hellhounds and Spitfires closed on Minotaur, trying to subdue him.
"Mino, get out!" Irithel cries. "You will get flooded!"
"Mind the Dark Lord! Go!" he responds. Irithel changes her focus to Andras. Leo stops in his tracks and gears for a leap. The predator sprints on all fours to pounce on the Dark Lord.
"Iri, no!"
But Karrie warned too late, and also too early. The Dark Lord easily stabs Karrie with one of his gauntlet blades before kicking her off to the ground to bleed. Andras then turns to Irithel, punching her straight off of Leo's back. The smilodon circles around to attempt another leap, but Andras catches Leo by the tail, pulling him whole. He grips on the body and raises it like a barbell, Leo snarling and flailing around.
"Pest."
Andras pulls Leo's body apart, the skin and muscle easily tearing off like paper. The predator whimpers as his organs fall out, liters of blood spilling out and forming a small pool. Andras throws the two halves together and stomps Leo's skull repeatedly.
"LEO, NOOOOOOO!" Irithel cries out in frustration and tries to stop the Dark Lord, but Andras summons a javelin and thrusts it forward, piercing the elf. She stumbles backward, gripping the spear and trying to pull it off. Andras conjures two black daggers and they zip to Irithel's throat, her mouth foaming with blood.
"GET OFF HER!" Hilda swings her axe to Andras, landing a clear precise hit to the chest… before the axe easily breaks and crumbles to the ground. The huntswoman then uses her own fists, trying to faze the Dark Lord as Karrie forces herself to get up, ignoring the puncture on her stomach. She speeds up and slams her lightwheels repeatedly to the armor, trying to carve dents or gashes at the metal. She begins to see purple shards fly off and ricochet from her lightwheels, and it didn't take long before the spinning discs were already dull, the sharp curves chipped away. Andras grabs Hilda by the neck and kicks hard on her leg, fracturing the bone as it punctures her skin. He throws her down before turning back to Karrie. As she tries to land a blow, the Dark Lord grabs her arm and forcefully pulls it with such force that it rips off clean from the shoulder. Karrie exclaims, her mind numbed by the pain as Andras plunges his metal arm straight into the hole, reaching for her heart. He grabs it and crushes it with his clenched fist, causing Karrie to drop lifeless on the ground as he pulls his arm off.
Andras turns around and sees Minotaur being swarmed by the demons. The half-breed shakes them off and sends some of them flying with one swing of his stone hammer, but a Hellbat reaches for his face and claws at his eyes, scratching one of them off the socket. Minotaur bellows and tries to strike the ground forcefully, sending most of the demons, save for the Wretches, soaring high. Andras intervenes quickly by summoning three black axes, enveloped in black smoke. One of them flies off and lodges itself on Minotaur's pec, roughly slicing down to the flesh. It keeps rending him as the other two axes begin to do the same, swiftly cutting Minotaur as he gets overwhelmed by the tremendous force.
"Leave my comrades be… Fight me!"
The Dark Lord turns around and sees Balmond charging with his axe raised, yelling to raise his courage. Andras floats down and closes in with the orc. Balmond swings his axe diagonally, but Andras phases through the strike completely before stabbing him with a gauntlet blade. He grunts in annoyance as he repeatedly stabs Balmond's body before kicking him down.
"You cannot bear a sliver of my power," Andras boasts. "Your brethren falls easily against me. You are no match." He turns his back and resumes hacking Minotaur, surprised that he hasn't died yet.
"No honor…"
The Dark Lord turns back again to Balmond. "Hm?"
"You… have no honor!" the orc spat, blood flying out of his mouth. "Your brothers would spit on your deathbed… for you are no man… y-you… are a defiler!"
Balmond limps, trying to run. He drags his axe as it sparks the ground. Andras sighs as he conjures a large, black spear that gets hurled to Balmond, piercing through his back. The orc doesn't stop moving. Andras throws more spears one by one as Balmond slowly hinders his pace before falling to his knees, leaving a trail of scarlet behind him. The Dark Lord telepathically recalls Balmond's own axe to him and clutches it. He brings the axe down, decapitating the orc.
"Where's she? One still lives free…" Andras looks around and sees Hilda on the ground, crawling to get her battle axe. He chuckles maniacally before impaling Hilda with a spear. Unsatisfied, Andras summons two more and forces them down to her skull, ending her misery.
"Now… where were we? Ah… Minotaur."
As Andras left Minotaur alone, he was successfully able to kill the demons that latched on him. However, dozens of deep gashes and wounds were on his body. One of his horns were broken and he limped on his leg, supporting himself with his hammer.
"No doubt why you survived the endless maze… and lived to stay in it for some time."
"Y-Y-You… She won't let you w-win-"
"Oh, I know, but try as she might, she may have relied on the wrong personnel." Andras summons black chains that wrap themselves around Minotaur, restraining his body to the ground. The chains began to grow large spikes that begin puncturing through Minotaur like needles.
"With every soul I take, with every single one of her mighty 'heroes' that I bring down with my own hands, I am one step closer to destroying that artifact. I am many… I am everywhere… and it is too late for any of you to do a thing."
"C-Curse y-you!"
"Then so shall it be." Andras clenches his fist as the chains tighten even harder. A few seconds pass before the metal links slice through Minotaur's body, slicing him into multiple pieces. His corpse was now a large mass of hairy viscera.
"Six dominoes fall… and the rest knock themselves over."
Meanwhile…
"Okay now, big guy," Yi Sun Shin began. "We're gonna lift you up-"
"No!" Franco bolts. "I'mma get up myself. I can get up."
"Hey, tubbo," Sun replied. "Old black dude just broke around half of your bones within a few seconds. Do you think you can fight against him?"
"Quit the chats. The mages are buying us some time. Let the spare soldiers stand their ground here as we wait for Gatot-"
Suddenly, Gatot himself crashes into a concrete wall next to the group, severe cracks on his gold gauntlets. He quickly rose, dislodging himself from the wall before a black axe hits his head.
"He's here!" the warrior warns. Somewhere in the northeast of the group where Gatot flew, splinters and boulders coming from the houses were being flown off. "A Wretch is coming!"
"GO NOW, the two of you!" Sun beckons Yi, Bane and Franco. "We'll hold them off here!"
"You heard the monkey. C'mon, get up!" the Korean general says as the pirate supports Franco, grabbing his healed arm. The Viking grunts in pain as he is supported by Bane, helping themselves out by leaving the scene.
"Too early for him," Lapu-Lapu notes. "What about Balmond and-"
"They're gone. Hylos tried to respond in time, but he was overwhelmed as well, obviously cornered," Gatotkaca replies. "Some of the Nazar are clearing the field but the airborne are bringing them down. The Dark Lord has around three of himself spread around the whole area."
"Then we push the bastard off!"
Sun turns his head to the Wretch that tore through the house units, the beast roaring at them. He leaps on to it and summons a clone, whacking his cudgel to the Wretch's head. Lapu merges his twin swords and swings upward, cutting off the lower jaw of the Wretch before stabbing upward, the tip of the sword jutting out from the head.
"Where's he?"
"I got distracted by those things. So many are swarming around," Gatot answers. "We need to-"
"WATCH OUT!"
A humongous hammer swings down from the air upon the three, catching Gatot and sending him skidding off into the asphalt, pieces of his armor breaking off. Andras appears behind the hammer and the weapon disintegrates into smoke.
"Sun!"
"Got it!" He throws his cudgel into Andras, which lands successfully. Sun's clone appears behind the Dark Lord, trying to slam its own cudgel into the armor, but the stick snaps into two before Andras stabs the clone, disappearing spontaneously. The real Sun charges forward as Andras wasn't looking and splits into two, trying his best to overwhelm the black knight.
"You use tricks," Andras mentions, barely even fazed. He concentrates his dark energy and throws the fighter off, but the clone was intact. "You multiply."
"If it's needed to beat you, then I can make more!" Three more of Sun's clones appears and charges at Andras, slamming their staffs simultaneously. "Try and hit me!"
"Hit me!"
"Don't listen to the bum, hit me instead!"
"No, I'm the real Sun, hit me?"
"Typical insults," Andras mutters, somewhat bored. Sun and his spare clone charge along the fray as the Dark Lord covers himself with his aura. Before he could finish, Lapu strikes sideways and utilizes the free space, pushing Andras down. The slashing doesn't even make a dent on the armor, but the impacts were stunning Andras.
"But there is one flaw that trickster's behold, ape." The knight finds a small crevice that was about to be covered by Lapu's greatsword. Andras summons a black dagger and it trails through the opening, stabbing Lapu by the shoulder and making him stumble to the ground. He summons more and more blades and slashes around him, trying to hit something solid. Andras felt as if he was slicing at the air, trying to hit an invisible force, but then one of the daggers grazed Sun's leg.
Knowing the real Sun, Andras blinks out of the zone and reappears a few meters away. The clones didn't think twice and sprinted towards the knight, their cudgels raised. Andras sees a line of blood on one of the clone's legs, and in a flash, dissipates into black smoke. The smoke sifts through the doppelgangers and ensnare the real Sun out of the group, the dark air filling Sun's lungs. Andras materializes from what's left of the black smoke and uppercuts Sun's chest, his whole arm piercing through the flesh and into his insides.
Sun gurgles up blood as he drops his cudgel, trying to remove Andras' arm.
"You are predictable," the Dark Lord notes. "You would've fared better… but, I'm disappointed." He pulls his arm off downward, letting Sun's body drop on the asphalt.
Andras turns around and holds out his hand, stopping Gatotkaca's punch easily. The warrior pulls off his gauntlet from Andras' grip and swings the other one outward, but Andras simply dodges the punch. The Dark Lord flails his left arm forward, a long chain sickle materializing from above his forearm, the blade lodging onto Gatot's right gauntlet. He pulls the glove off his hand and lets it fly off to Andras. The spirit grabs the gauntlet and crushes it with his clenched fist, arcs of lightning shooting forth from it and sending Andras skidding his feet into the ground. The smoke clears and Gatot rushes in to land his punch, but Andras ducks in and stabs Gatot lightly with a black dagger. Gatotkaca reels before attacking again, and Andras punishes the warrior with two more light stabs on his back, appearing behind him. In desperation, Gatot throws his punch, but Andras catches the fist in the air, holding it back. He then catches the other punch, and Gatotkaca struggles to overpower Andras. The warrior becomes surprised as the black spirit forces the hands to unclench without difficulty.
"Another waste." Andras pulls harder, forcing the hands to open farther than it should, and Gatot's hands break, the fingers dislocating. Some were torn roughly off of his hands and they fall to the ground, Gatot's face contorted as he tries to hold back the pain.
"Hey, bastard!" Lapu entices, charging with his greatsword. Andras scoffs before dashing quickly to the chieftain like a passing cloud of black. He materializes a few meters away from Lapu-Lapu, and the fighter begins to suffer multiple lacerations on his chest and legs.
Lapu doesn't say a word, as his throat was cut as well. He simply drops to his knees, supporting himself with the greatsword. "Hehe… that w-was… unexpected…"
"You're still breathing," Andras remarks. "Let me fix that for the two of you." As Lapu stands to face the Dark Lord, a black javelin flies straight to his chest, piercing through Lapu-Lapu's chest and through Gatot. He catches the spear in mid-air, trying to push it back, but an invisible force pushes the javelin forward. Gatot sees a black cloud of smoke near him, but it was too late.
Andras reforms his arms and slams his palm into the end of the spear with such force that it slips through Gatotkaca's hands and punctures his throat. The warrior makes a slight wheezing sound before falling to the ground, the spear supporting Gatot's body.
"It's always these brutes that give me trouble…" Andras mumbles to himself as he slowly walks behind Gatot. Suddenly, he kicks the body downward, forcing the corpse to the ground as it passes through the black spear for Andras to recover. "Now… the pirate and his accomplices cannot survive my demons. I will have to deal with the others. No one can survive."
Meanwhile…
"Goddamnit, resilient scumbag…"
Zhao quickly tries to get up, pushing off the debris. He got flown through five houses, blasting through the concrete walls. Bits of his armor was dented and stained with blood.
"Gord's gone… screw this freaking edgelord… he might've killed Eudora too. He's going to end Aurora… Where's Freya?"
In the corner of his eyes, a bright glint catches Zhao's attention. The shining object was being followed by a streak of dark energy.
"That's Freya."
Yun Zhao accelerates through the streets, passing through some of the demons and spare soldiers that were fighting each other. He sees one of the Nazar get caught in the jaws of a Wretch, the beast shaking his head around. The soldier gets torn into two, the upper half thrown into a rising fire originating from one of the commercial housing units.
"We're going to be done for… Dammit, Alucard, you need to hurry!"
He manages to reach a wide avenue littered with buildings. Some of them were completely demolished while the others were standing with a few cracks and holes on their walls. There were holographic projections that flickered around on the buildings, as the structures were occupied by technologically advanced Eruditio residents. Zhao sees Freya battling a clone of the Dark Lord.
"Hey! Let me have some!"
Freya hears Yun's calls and retreats, dodging three of the clone's black sword. She blocks them with her gilded shield before rushing through again, managing to stab through the apparition, forcing it to dematerialize. The Valkyrie's breathing grew ragged as she took a knee to the ground, trying to maintain her composure.
"You alright?" Zhao asked, reaching his hand out to her. Freya calmly swats it off.
"Got me on my side… Miya can't fend off against the Dark Lord… It's as if her arrows don't even do a thing!"
"We need to regroup with her, who knows what she and Aurora is doing," the spearman suggests. "We need to go now."
The two resumes their travel, but Miya appears in front of them, skidding on the long avenue before rolling back easily, planting her feet to the ground as she fires an arrow forward. The streak of light pierces through the air, leaving a tail of blue light. It suddenly dissipates as Andras appears from the black smoke, his obsidian armor filled with little punctures ad dents. He brushes off icicles from his left arm that held something.
"Some of the strongest warriors of the Land of Dawn… but she didn't choose you."
"She chose the right person, she knows who deserves it," Miya answers, standing upright. "Your downfall awaits inside the Genesys Gem."
"You deceive yourself, archer. The Lords of Order have dwindled, and their power plummets."
"What makes you so sure?" Zhao asks, drawing his spear.
"For the Light will be extinguished… so do send your farewells to your friends." Andras throws the object he was previously holding on his hand, rolling to the feet of the trio. They squint their eyes to see it clearly and were in disbelief.
It was the decapitated head of Aurora, her eyes still wide open. A black dagger was on her head, jutting through her cranium.
"For you will not leave alive to tell them again."
Zhao yells as he charges, his flaming aura intensifying. Andras dissipates and sneaks forward, summoning his spear to retaliate. Freya jumps and lands on the black specter, and it dissipates, the smoke splitting into two, forming two copies. Miya leaps from behind Freya and shoots two of her arrows to the spirits. They block the projectiles, but Zhao and Freya charge together and kicks the projections simultaneously. They get flown off and dematerializes again, forming Andras back into one. Miya rushes in and nocks three arrows on her bow, letting them fly. Andras summons his swords and they deflect the arrows. Zhao slides downward and slashes at the shin armor, causing Andras to stumble. Freya merges her sword and shield into an elegant battle axe and strikes down to the Dark Lord, giving way for Miya to shoot from the sides. Andras manages to dodge the attack and reform back, but Miya's pre-fired arrows fly through the slits of the horned helmet. The Dark Lord grunts from the pain, covering his face as he recovers.
"You'll learn to acknowledge the inevitable… just you wait!" Andras summons two broadswords from the void and wields it, sprinting towards the three heroes. Zhao steps in front and spins around as Miya shoots behind the screen that the spearman set up. Freya rushes in, splits her battle axe and bashes Andras with her shield, pushing the knight back. Andras spins his swords forward and slashes sideward, striking the edge of Freya's shield. Miya's arrow riskily weaves through the narrow spaces and piercing Andras' shoulder completely. Zhao follows by slamming the butt of his spear at the Dark Lord's helmet and slices sideways, leaving Andras open for an attack. Andras feigns and spins sideways with his broadswords, slashing at Freya's leg and Zhao's side before kicking them off with his legs. He charges straight to Miya, who was located on a rooftop. Andras strikes the archer with a flurry of blows, but Miya rotates her bow, blocking the slashes with breakneck speed. She finds an opening and slams the limb of her bow on Andras' knee before kicking him off the ground with her right foot.
"You're not going anywhere."
Miya nocks two arrows on her bow and jumps off the roof, shooting Andras on the lower torso and neck as they fell. The Dark Lord rolls back and regains his footing, attempting to phase out of the scene, but Zhao punctures the armor with his flaming spear, hurting the spirit as warped shouts of pain was heard from within the armor. He pushes the end of his spear and forces the Dark Lord up as Freya slashes at the chestplate before locking her sword and shield to Andras' neck. Miya lands gracefully and strangles Andras with her bow.
"Pull! We might get to remove the armor!"
"Rrrrghhh… It's stuck!" Freya replies, pulling harder.
"You accursed runts… STAY OFF!" Andras breaks out of the lock by expending his dark aura before releasing a clone wielding a large, black scythe. Miya rolls away from the sweeping strike of the clone and slides under it as she shoots an arrow straight through the groin and to the head, killing the clone. Freya slams the butt of her sword behind Andras, aimed for the helmet. Andras barely gets knocked and attempts to grab the sword, but the Valkyrie spins in the air and strikes the Dark Lord again with her sword and shield multiple times like a cyclone. She merges her weapons into a battle axe mid-strike, forcing Andras to raise his arms to block it. Freya grunts in frustration as she speeds up, Andras trying to channel more dark energy to break the chain of strikes. The Dark Lord releases a focused concentration of dark energy to Freya's chest, blowing her off the avenue. Before he could follow up, Miya restrains Andras by climbing on top, restraining his head with the frame and string of her bow. They fall backwards and rolls, the archer forcing Andras into a headlock. The Dark Lord tries to roll around to shake Miya off, summoning swords from the ground. He grabs one and tries to stab her, but Zhao kicks the metal arm off and spins his spear with his arm, striking downward to let it continuously attack Andras before trying to stab the Dark Lord. Andras manages to phase out, but Miya follows, morphing into a brilliant swarm of indigo butterflies. Zhao throws his spear to the black smoke and his it dead on the center, forcing the Dark Lord to materialize, blanketed by orange flames. Freya flies towards Andras and kicks him downward with the heel of her metal shoes, creating a sizable dent on the helmet. Miya materializes from the butterfly swarm and shoots Andras as he completely reforms, dodging the light arrows.
"Who are you?" Miya questions, landing on the ground and uses a spinning kick against the Dark Lord, leaving Freya to take advantage of the opening as she slashes diagonally, rolling to the ground. "Estes knows… Yet… He won't disclose…"
"Names have power… and I am a foe yet to be outmatched!" Andras phases forward and grabs Zhao with his hands, slamming him into a concrete wall. As Freya begins charging, he repeatedly forces Zhao's face into the concrete to render him unconscious. Freya tries to slash the Dark Lord off, but Andras transforms into a cloud of black smoke, travelling upward. Freya leaps up, and Andras reforms, releasing a volatile bolt of black energy. The Valkyrie raises her shield but the impact sends her back down, crashing onto Zhao that was trying to get off the concrete wall. They break through the buildings like offroad cars. Miya nocks an arrow as Andras redirects his lightning bolts to the archer. Miya rapidly spins her bow in front of her, acting like a shield. Andras gets closer, but Miya ducks under, shooting her nocked arrow. The Dark Lord dodges and ensnare Miya with dark energy, seeking to restrain her. Miya materializes into butterflies, but the smoke corners them around, preventing her to escape. Andras clenches his fist, but Freya's sword flies to his arm, impaling through the armor. The Valkyrie bursts out of a window and slams to the Dark Lord with her shield, putting him to the ground. Zhao runs like a streak, burning the asphalt and slashes widely with his spear, unleashing a flaming projection of a slender dragon, charging towards Andras. The spearman guides the ancient with his spear like a cat to a red laser, spinning his spear lightly before slamming it downward for the dragon to dive deep into the earth, the flames coating around Andras. The obsidian armor scorches, but Andras manages to phase forward and grabs Miya.
"No more." Andras throws her forcefully to a barbed barricade, the wire cutting her skin to multiple places. Zhao attempts to punish the move, but the Dark Lord grabs the spear, disarming Zhao. He tries to snap it in two by bringing it down to his knee, but it doesn't work. Distracted, Andras doesn't notice Freya bashing him again with his shield, Zhao following behind with a blade kick. Freya throws her sword and punches Andras, a chunk of his helmet breaking, the pieces falling to the ground. Zhao catches the falling sword and slashes at the helmet again, sending yellow sparks blazing. He charges for a lunge, but the sword simply slips off the back armor. Zhao returns the sword to Freya and she merges it back into a battle axe. She strikes sideways and the weapon lodges itself onto the armor. The Valkyrie tries to pull it off, but Andras recovers, stabbing her shoulder and stomach with his gauntlet blades before kicking her off. Yun spins around and strikes his spear, but Andras raises his left arm and blocks the attack. He hits Zhao's arm, causing it to extend outward and drop the spear. Andras uses his right arm to summon his chain sickle and slashes upward, amputating Zhao's hand.
"Argh!" The spearman clutches the bloody stump and falls to his knees, bearing the shock. Andras summons a javelin to impale him, but a light arrow hits his arm before exploding in a brilliant flash of light. Miya, astoundingly alive despite multiple, bleeding cuts from her body weakening her, shoots a charged arrow and sends Andras knocking to a wall. The archer uses this chance to fire even more projectiles, making more and more dents and punctures on the obsidian armor. Andras phases between a shot and leaps onto Miya, toppling over her. He repeatedly stabs the archer's chest, forcing her to die. Before he could land the finishing blow, he was interrupted by a simultaneous strike of two glaives, carving through the back armor.
"You've killed enough of my friends," Karina threatens. "So leave them be!"
"As long as one stands… this world will not push forth with its fate," Andras says. "And I will not spare a child to risk my chances!"
Karina throws her glaives, letting Andras catch them. She sprints and dive-kicks the Dark Lord down, recalling her blades and bringing them down to the black armor. Andras phases out but Karina follows it up with a sweep kick and two swift slashes of her blades. Freya returns to the scene and brings her sword down to Andras, but the Dark Lord catches the sword during the strike, disarming Freya, and slices Karina's throat with it. The dark elf clutches her bleeding neck, trying to stand, but her lungs get filled with her own blood.
"NO!" Freya exclaims, trying to get her sword back, but Andras coats it with black energy and strikes down while Freya blocks it with her shield. Andras continuously assaults Freya as she blocks the attacks, but the black sword begins cutting through her shield, forcing it to break. The Dark Lord summons more swords, stabbing and piercing through Freya and forcing her to weaken. Zhao slams his shoulder into Andras to distract him, but the malevolent spirit simply stomps on his knee, shattering it before piercing his chest with a gauntlet blade.
"So much for chosen protectors…"
"F-For the L-Light…" Zhao wheezes, trying to grab onto Andras' arm. The Dark Lord slashes upward, cutting through Zhao's upper body, his two halves slowly peeling away from each other. Andras then turns around to see Freya standing up, covering her abdomen.
"I… a-am a Valkyrie… and my k-kind die standing…"
"I'm sorry, dear… I should've known. Argus gave you short-lived hope, long enough for you to last like this," he chuckles. Suddenly, a black sword materializes from the void, piercing Freya's chest and lodging into it, causing her to fall with her eyes open. Andras grunts dismissively and summons more swords, bringing them down to stab the body one by one.
"Argus… may we see each other again… with the fallen I've guided to Valhalla…"
Andras then pulls all of the swords out, letting Freya bleed out and succumb to the blood loss. "That was dramatic… But there are more that will be subject to my brutal gladness. This is just the start."
And in the far corner…
"By the gods, Freya, where are you?!" Franco complains, hooking a Spitfire from the air and pulling it down, Yi Sun Shin slicing it with his glaive. The three leaders were cornered on an intersection, small waves of monsters breaching towards them.
"I doubt Freya is still alive," Yi replies, shooting down a Hellbat. "We need to mobilize as fast as we can."
"Oh, yeah? Then what about that thing?" Bane asks, pointing on one of the roads. A Wretch was stampeding towards them with its jaws open, accompanied by a swarm of Morphlings.
"I'll be bait, you get up and kill it!" Franco volunteers. "Can't do anything to that thing!"
"You sure, fatso?!"
"I'M SURE, NOW GET OUTTA HERE!" the Viking urges before waving at the Wretch. "Oi, stink pile! I'm free meat, right here! Oh, come and get some, big smelly scallywag!"
The Wretch growls before speeding, racing to Franco. The Viking manages to duck under and snags his hook to the Wretch's hind leg, causing it to stumble and stop in his tracks. The hook pulls and tears through the flesh, causing the Wretch to vocalize in a distressed manner. Franco runs and ties his chain to a nearby lamppost to prevent it from escaping. He sees one of his airborne ships beginning to collapse in the air, swarmed by the flying demons.
"We better hurry!"
"On it!" Bane slashes on the legs of the Wretch, but the Morphlings crawl over his body, biting and clawing at him. The Pirate Lord keeps on attacking but the small demons begin pulling him down for them to kill. Yi was able to climb on top of the Wretch, stabbing with his glaive. The Wretch, however, was barely affected, and proceeded to buck and shake like a crazed bull, trying to throw the general off. Franco notices that the lamppost was about to break.
"Yi, kill it now! The ships are falling!"
"I'm trying! It won't… STAY STILL!" Yi keeps pulling his glaive in and out of the Wretch's skull, but the demon rolls, throwing Yi to a building's second story wall. He falls on his back, apparently dizzy. Yi Sun Shin supports himself with his sword, and the Wretch has its sights on him. "Ah… crap."
The beast begins to charge at him… until it suddenly trips, roaring in pain. Apparently, Bane was able to hit the Wretch's leg with his claw cannon, momentarily crippling it. Yi looks up in the sky and sees flaming debris fall from the air. In desperation, he gets up, not minding his injuries and jumps on the head of the Wretch before stabbing the side of its head. The demon wails from the pain, slamming its head to the nearby structure. The lamppost breaks, but Franco was able to grab it in time.
"Come on! KILL IT NOW!" Franco yelled, the Morphlings beginning to charge at him. Yi pulls his glaive out of the Wretch's socket and pushes it deep into its cranium. The general then pulls his blade forward, cutting through the spine of the Wretch and landing easily on the ground before sheathing the glaive. A burning meteor roughly crashes down onto the Wretch, burying it in a pile of debris and flames. Most of the Morphlings were wiped out in the process, and Bane miraculously survives, as he was buried under their bodies.
"Cough… Bane… where are you?" Yi calls out, holding his head. He receives a mild concussion as a piece of debris hit his helmet. A small, wooden stake pierced his shoulder and was jutting out of his shoulder. "B-Bane?"
The general sees a crab claw poking out of the corpses of the Morphlings.
"Franco! F-Franco?"
"Here… here…" the Viking responds, pulling Bane out of the mess. The Pirate Lord was rather mangled, skin and flesh flayed out of his limbs. He tries to stand, but easily collapses, a pool of blood beginning to form. "You… a-alright?"
"I'm going to… there's no t-time…" Bane wheezes. "F-Franco…"
"C'mon, we can't stay here-"
"S-Sorry, friend… I threatened y-your lands with my ships… I shouldn't-"
"It's alright… we're now brothers, right?" Franco asks optimistically. "We're brothers now… at least we did something…"
"Y-Yes… g-glory to and for… the heptaseas…"
"Bane? Bane. N-No, don't go…" Franco sniffles. "For the love of the Æsir… no…"
"Franco… we… we tried…" Yi Sun Shin collapses, clutching the stake on his chest.
"N-No… not you too…"
"The a-alliance… will live o-on… we will never forget…"
Franco wipes a tear from his eyes. "You're… one of the best to be here…"
"Glory t-to… the seven seas, Franco… our mistakes… f-finally… set right…"
Yi Sun Shin suddenly slumps, his hand lifeless. Franco closes his eyes and lays his body to the ground. Two Wretches and a couple of Ravagers were closing in on him, the roads of the intersection blocked off. The Viking heftily raises his hook and hammer, ready to face the demons. IN the corner of his eye, a large airborne galleon begins falling from the sky, burning up in the atmosphere. Franco stops paying attention, never minding the demons already running to his location. He stretches out his arms with glee, dropping his weapons as the ship falls down to the intersection.
"My daughter… I'm coming home."
The burning ship impacts the infrastructures and onto Franco, setting the whole area ablaze in an anarchic upbringing of flame and destruction. The demons try to scramble and escape the flames, but more and more debris begin to fall from the sky, crushing or killing them. Many of them suffered high-degree burns, simply dropping dead with their bodies molten or charred.
Nineteen dead. About half remain.
Meanwhile…
"Wait, you hear that?" Akai asks, running alongside Hayabusa and Kagura. "Is that…"
"It's Cyclops!" Hayabusa acknowledges. "Kagura, where's it coming from?!"
"The whole place is demolished… he might be under the rubble!"
Cyclops' faint cry for help echoed around, confusing the trio. Hayabusa teleports around the destroyed infrastructure, trying to find anything, either it be a face or a limb that resembled the little giant. He returns without results.
"Can't find him anywhere… the demons are closing in, we need to-"
"H-Help! Help me!"
The three turn around and see Cyclops walking out of the rubble, missing his hat. His clothes were slightly tattered and charred on the edge. His tiny arm was simply hanging lifeless (indicating it is broken) while he clutched to two objects on his right arm.
"Cyclops!" Kagura ran, embracing the mage. "H-Hey, what happened?"
"Ships… Cyclops saw ships falling… we couldn't get out, so many flying things-"
"W-Wait… Cyclops," Akai interrupts, growing nervous. "U-Um… where's Nana and Harley?"
Cyclops lifts his right arm and shows what he was holding: A tattered, black hat and a pink fleece jacket. Kagura gasped in shock.
"No…"
The mage easily burst into tears again, smothering his single eye to the objects.
"I d-didn't see it coming… I didn't save them!"
"N-No, no, no one saw it coming, Cyc," Hayabusa comforted. "It's okay… it's okay-"
"T-They're dead… Lance and Odette is dead, too! I couldn't-"
"Hey, listen to me!" Hayabusa says, putting his hand on Cyclops' shoulder. "Listen to me… It's okay, we suffered losses ourselves… Kagura and I, we lost our clans. We lost Hanabi and Furukuzi, and we moved on. If we did, then you can, too. I know, it's a stubborn burden, but this is part of the job description, okay?"
A loud roar was heard from the field, and Akai squints his eyes to try and see clearly the moving target from a hundred meters away. "Dudes, it's one of those big things! We need to go!"
"Akai, take Cyclops with you and go to Lesley!" Kagura commands, carrying the mage. "Inform her of her brother!"
"Wait, what?"
"We'll cover you! You need to bring Cyclops to her, now!" she pressed. "The demons out there are too many, you won't be able to take them out!"
"But-"
"Come on, Akai! This is your only chance!" Hayabusa eggs.
The panda nods. "So, whatcha say, Frogger? This may be our last delivery!"
The frog on his hat croaked with determination. Akai grins as he carries Cyclops onto his arms, the hourglass digging onto his armor. "I won't let the two of you down!"
"Then we'll consider it handled. Go, we got this!"
Akai gears up and jumps off the ground, reaching a tremendous height. He lands on one of the intact structures before leaping again.
Hayabusa then turns his attention to the approaching demon horde. "Well… what next?"
"Give them the time we need."
"I doubt we'll last five minutes," the ninja jokes nervously. The Wretch would take 20 seconds to reach the two of them. "Any last kiss before all this?"
"No, let's just do it in the afterlife."
"Okay, situation handled." Hayabusa pulls out his katana and does a basic stance, preparing to strike. "Let's do this…"
"For Hanabi and Furukuzi!"
"For the Land of Dawn!"
The two charge straight to the Wretch as it tries to butt them with its head. Kagura launches her umbrella to the side and teleports before throwing it again at the Wretch, surprisingly stunning it and throwing it off to the side, crashing onto a building. Metal rods hit the head of the Wretch, and as the rods fall, Hayabusa teleports and kicks one of the rods straight into the Wretch, forcing it to pierce its skull. The demon groans in pain as Kagura slams it further into the building, concrete boulders crashing onto its body. Hayabusa dissipates into the shadows and eviscerates the head of the Wretch, finally killing it. He lands down and cleans his blade with a swipe.
"That's it?"
"Ravagers behind us, stay sharp," Kagura dictates. She points to the horde of demons sprinting to their location. "Let me handle this."
"Reapers up my front."
"Morphlings and Hellhounds to the side!"
"Great, they covered us. But this is what we want. C'mon, Kagura, let's give 'em hell!"
As the two fought against the hordes, Rafaela was growing anxious. She was with Uranus, Kaja and Estes, along with the Royal Guard and a few Nazar.
"Rafaela… is something wrong?" Estes asks.
"The lovers… their curse urges its escape."
"You mean Hayabusa and Kagura? They're engaged in combat?"
"My senses tell me they stayed put to give way for the panda and Cyclops… but the latter pair will not make it to Gossen and-"
"That's not important. What about the curse?"
"I believe… we might have to bring it back," the angel suggests, looking onto the whole landscape. Fires were raging around, and the shouts and roars of the soldiers and monsters faintly echoed. "It can wipe out a wide area, and it's too risky. Gossen and his group are too close, and the other groups can get caught by the force winds-"
"It's your call," Estes finalizes. "What matters is that we've given Alucard enough time with the gem. It's your decision to make… And I know you will make the right choice."
Meanwhile…
"Akai… w-where are we going?"
"To Lesley and Gossen, we'll try and stay there," the panda said.
"But, Hayabusa and-"
"They're staying put. We're leaving them there-"
"But-"
"I know, I know… if only it doesn't end this way… everyone dying."
"Then, we need to-"
Akai suddenly gets knocked to the ground by an unseen force, easily crashing down. He was able to grip Cyclops closely on time, the both of them surviving the fall. The panda looks around, shaking his head.
"AKAI!"
"I'm a-alright, it's alright…"
Cyclops shakes the dizziness from his head and pushes off Akai's arm, trying to take a look around. He sees a black figure floating above in front of them, shrouded by thick smoke.
"It's him!"
"Who, the Dark Lord?" Akai asks, forcing himself to stay alert. "Cyc, go! I'll take care of this!"
"We can't!"
"What?! Why not?"
Cyclops points to the other end of the road. A swarm of Ravagers were now sprinting to their location, accelerating faster.
"Screw it." Akai quickly grabs Cyclops and leaps high into the air, seeking to escape, but a large, black hammer slams them back into where they leapt of, breaking Akai's staff. Cyclops' hourglass only received a few cracks, however.
"You can't find a way out of this one, panda," Andras called out. "You will suffer a fate akin to his friends'." He slowly raises his finger and points to Cyclops. The mage quickly summons orbs of cosmic energy, his blue eye angry.
"I'm tired of running… Akai, let's do this!"
"What?"
"Hahahahah! How brave!" Andras summons a sword and brings it down upon the duo. Akai steps forward and kicks it off, spinning off into the air until suddenly regaining control and flying back. The panda raises his arms and deflects the blade with his forearm armor. The Dark Lord dismissively sighs, throwing more and more swords, but Akai keeps deflecting them one by one, preventing them from reaching Cyclops. The young mage fires his cosmic balls to the swords, causing them to spontaneously dissipate before they could reach him.
"O-Okay! Now we're talking!" Akai leaps up and balls into the air like a wrecking ball, slamming butt-first onto Andras. The Dark Lord falls from the air along with Akaia, crashing onto the ground. He rolls and regains his footing, angling his arms back before throwing them forward, unleashing a volley of swords and arrows onto Akai. The panda proceeds to block most of them, but an arrow slightly punctures his chest armor, nearly reaching his skin.
"Akai, be careful! I'll provide fire!" Cyclops throws a wave of stardust onto Andras, the cosmic energy diminishing the Dark Lord's aura. Andras tries to shake them off, but the stardust clings to his armor, preventing the aura from coming. Akai jumps and lands a punch onto the armor, creating a small dent on it.
"I won't let you breathe!" Akai began landing a flurry of punches and kicks, nearly subduing the Dark Lord. He kicks Andras on the groin, but instead of hurting Andras, Akai's foot sprained due to the toughness of the armor.
"Then I won't let you live!" Andras manages to shed off the energy and unleashes a volley of swords around the vicinity, spreading off into vector-based directions. Akai gets thrown back, two blades piercing through his big belly. Cyclops covers himself with his arms as he was too late to escape from Akai's trajectory. The two of them skid along the dirty asphalt, the panda struggling to get up.
"I can go through the palace all I want, but I desire that all of you be dead before me," Andras said, conjuring axes and blades. They fly off and slash at Akai, the panda covering himself. An axe breaks through the armor and pushes him back a few meters. "The ninja and his muse will soon die from my pets… Do you think I know not the curse?!"
"Cheeky thing, just keep monologuing," Cyclops mutters, bringing out his hourglass and configuring it. "Just do it… Stupid."
Akai stood up and raises his fists, charging towards Andras again. The Dark Lord conjured swords bit by bit, stabbing Akai's torso over and over as he approached. The panda slowed subsequently, falling to his knees as he was a meter close to the Dark Lord. He simply falls on his belly, the swords still keeping him hoisted. Andras wills the weapons to dissipate and Akai drops instantly, bleeding on the ground.
The Dark Lord approaches Cyclops as the mage configures his hourglass, the artifact glowing with blue and white specks of energy.
Akai tries to stand, holding back the pain and the bleeding. "Hey… I'm not d-done yet, you freaking-"
He stops talking. An axe lodges itself onto Akai's head, slicing his skull and killing him. The frog on his hat jumps off and leaps onto Andras, but the Dark Lord catches it in mid-air and crushes it with his fist. He throws the mess forcefully onto the ground and stomps it with his foot, grinding the asphalt with the metal boot.
"Now… the lonely… 'giant'."
Cyclops finishes changing the settings of the hourglass as it grew brighter and hotter, frantically looking around him. The demons have already cornered his only exit. Cyclops tries to run to the sidewalk, but Andras catches Cyclops by the neck and proceeds to tighten his grip, on the mage, suffocating him.
"I've been rather unkindly with the others… Don't worry, little one. This will not hurt as much."
Cyclops held on to the hourglass. A low, humming noise could be heard from within it. He pulls the handle of the hourglass, somewhat 'unlocking' it.
"Cyclops will avenge… Nana and Harley!"
He 'locks' it back by pushing it down, causing the whole block to explode outward in a huge wave of cosmic energy, the demons either disintegrating or turned to ice. Some demons were able to sustain injuries, but they suffered severe lacerations, burns, or frostbite from the ordeal. Andras was on his knees as the cosmic power began acting against the armor, causing it to collapse inward and crush the spirit.
"Rrrrrrggghhhh! Gah, that youngling… I should've known better about the little mage…" Andras muttered to himself and recovers his black aura, the energy slowly fading and dissipating away from him. His armor slowly mended, but some of the damage was irreparable due to the severity of the sustained attacks. His cape slowly flowed in the breeze, tattered due to the combat wearing off its quality. He looks around for the mage, peering onto the epicenter of the blast. There was a large, circular scorch mark around, peppered by flecks of white dust and cerulean streaks. Both Cyclops nor the hourglass couldn't be found.
"I don't need any more clones… I will put them back to me. There are more to end… And it will be done. The world will meet its fate."
Meanwhile…
"Kagura, on your right!"
Kagura slams her umbrella to another Wretch, purple energy streaking off of the weapon. The demon recoils before charging again. Hayabusa teleports within its open jaws and stabs its upper jaw, hitting the brain. The Wretch stops in its tracks and slumps down as the ninja teleports back to Kagura, throwing a volley of shuriken and kunai at the Hellhounds.
"In a minute, we're done for-"
"Don't say that, we still have one more trump card!" Kagura exclaims. She throws her umbrella within a group of Ravagers and teleports within it. Kagura unleashes the energy within the umbrella, bursting the area around her with purple light. Suddenly, a Reaper knocks her off, disarming the mage. Kagura recovers her footing and shoots beams of pink energy towards the demon, but it was barely fazed or hurt. It proceeded to grab the umbrella and tried to tear it down.
Hayabusa notices it and curses to himself. "Oh, I won't do that if I were-"
The Reaper breaks the frame of the umbrella along with the canopy, and instantaneously, the weapon explodes, releasing the hundreds of spirits of the monsters that were encased within it. A dark, scarlet cloud flowed around in the air, dozens of contorted and warped faces of demons seemingly forming around the cloud.
"Crap, this is not good!" Kagura yells. "Hayabusa, we need to take cover!"
"How long before they dissipate?!"
"About a couple more seconds!"
"Wait… I don't think we need to take cover…"
"What?"
Hayabusa points to the cloud that was beginning to diverge into smaller clouds, sparks of lightning emanating from within them. They began coursing through the infrastructure and around the streets, phasing through the demons that were approaching the duo. The enemies suddenly become scorched from the lightning, still shaking from the shock. A few received immense lacerations around their body, and they died, presumably from the blood loss. On rare occasion, the whole demon's body would disintegrate into nothingness as they came into contact with the clouds.
"Is the area clear?" Kagura asked, trying to get out of the building they were in, which was a tidy café.
"Let me check… Just a Wretch. I'll deal with it." Hayabusa teleports into the street and faces the demon. "Hey! Big mouth! Right here!"
The Wretch turns its head to Hayabusa, looking down on him and snarling.
"Yeah… that's right… c'mon…" The ninja was waiting for the spirit cloud to grow nearer. "Steady…"
The Wretch roared and charged at Haya, its jaws wide open. He teleports above the Wretch and stabs its spinal cord, causing it to yelp in pain and stop abruptly. The dark cloud coats over the Wretch and the demon mistakenly inhales the gas. Hayabusa could feel the dark energy combusting within the demon.
"Haya, get off!"
The ninja takes Kagura's advice and gets up, nearly getting caught by the explosion of viscera and purple energy. He lands on the ground, safe and sound, the blood of the Wretch splattering on his armor.
"Disgusting…"
"Your sword…"
"What about my- Damn it." Hayabusa's sword was broken in two. It has no use for him anymore. He drops the blade in disgust. "No more weapons… except for one."
"Yeah… does Rafaela know?"
"She knows…"
The two of them stand on the center of the avenue, their backs on each other. The two of them were panting, somewhat exhausted.
"How about Akai?"
"He… I hope he made it."
Hayabusa nods in agreement. He eyes a wave of demons approaching his side of the street. "Kagura… We're gonna need it any second now."
"I agree!" she answers back, looking at the group of Wretches that were sprinting at them. "C'mon…"
In the front of the citadel, Rafaela and Estes were now reversing the lockdown of the curse. The black essence of the curse was trying to break free of the transparent prison it was in.
"Faster, Estes!"
"Calm yourself… It will be no more than a few seconds… Done!"
The orb shatters instantly, the shards falling to the ground. The accursed essence suddenly zooms into the sky, straight toward Hayabusa and Kagura's location.
"We did the right thing," Estes told the angel. "No sin committed. This is the plan."
"I hope… the Dark Lord has approached Gossen and Lesley. It won't be long before it reaches Tigreal."
"Alucard is almost done with the Gem. I can feel its energy radiating from here. All we need to do is wait."
Meanwhile…
"Haya…"
Kagura points to a black meteor in the sky, falling towards them. "It's here."
"Ready, Kagura, on the count of three…"
"Two…"
"One!" The duo counted simultaneously as the essence enveloped around them, scarlet prominences of energy arcing around their bodies. Hayabusa and Kagura grunted in pain and shock as explosive energy begins coursing through their bodies, already creating the destructive reaction.
"BREAK!" Hayabusa suddenly zooms through the asphalt and breaking it down, leaving a trail of volatile soul energy that obliterated the demons. Kagura burst through to her side in a flash, clearing half of the street in mere seconds.
"This feels… immense…" Hayabusa muttered. "But… it's killing us… we need to… wipe as much as we can…"
"Before they reach the citadel!" Kagura zips around and kicks a Wretch to a weak structure, causing the building to collapse and crush it to death. The mage punches through the bodies of Ravagers and Hellhounds, fist-sized holes and craters appearing on their bodies as they fell instantly. Kagura noticed her arms and hands, small specks of purple and white energy covering them.
"Haya… one more minute!"
"Don't take my kills!" the ninja joked, but he was growing nervous, as the energy was beginning to corrupt his body as well. "C'mon, don't combust!"
"More Spitfires and Hellbats going down!" the mage warns before skyrocketing to the atmosphere, taking down the flying demons one by one. Hayabusa obliterates a Reaper before following her, taking down a few Hellbats as well.
"Look, he's fighting Lesley and Gossen!" Hayabusa points. Andras was clashing against the assassin, and most of the swords that Gossen threw were being deflected. He begins to dive down, but Kagura clutches his arm and embraces him. "W-Wait, we have to help-"
"WE CAN'T, OR WE'LL BE KILLING THEM INSTEAD!"
"But-"
Kagura kisses him lightly. "IT'S OKAY! We know we won… We don't need to worry anymore… We'll see them again, okay?"
Hayabusa, dumbfounded, simply wraps his arms around Kagura's waist and lays his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes.
"It's alright… We've done our part."
"Okay… I believe you."
"Don't let me go… let us fall again…"
The two of them began to spontaneously combust, their souls growing even more volatile by the second. The purple energy arced around them, like dust from a comet as they fell burning, their bodies glowing with immense energy.
"Furukuzi…" Kagura closes her eyes, smiling.
"Hanabi…" Hayabusa closes his, determined and content.
"We'll see you again!"
The two crash to the ground and explode in a burst of energy and destructive flame, immediately collapsing the structures around the epicenter of the blast. The demons try to outrun the energy, but they disintegrate as they get caught within the radius, the explosion spanning about a few kilometers, the winds travelling further than the energy with unmatched speed…
Meanwhile…
Gossen crawls on the ground, his lower left leg roughly severed. Andras summons a sword and impales Gossen on the back, preventing him from moving. The assassin screams in pain, slamming his clenched fist on the ground.
"You can say goodbye to her before you meet her again," Andras mocked. Gossen looks up and sees Lesley's dead body, her braid undone. Her rifle lay next to her, broken. He cursed himself. It was a work of art, that weapon of hers… Only to be destroyed by the Dark Lord himself…
"Screw you," Gossen spat. "I know of your infamy… No one will forget!"
"Oh, they will, one by one." Andras conjures an axe and strikes it onto Gossen's head, killing the assassin. He forcibly pulls the axe back to him, the weapon also pulling Gossen's body until his upper half tears off of his legs.
"This… is fun," Andras remarked, holding the axe with Gossen's body still hanging on the blade. He dematerializes the weapon, and the upper half of the body falls into the ground, the intestines trailing on the ground. The Dark Lord begins to advance, but a whole gale blows from his left, slightly disorienting his balance. Andras covers his arm as pieces of ash and debris began blowing to his direction, as well as a few bodies of soldiers, civilians and demons. Specks of blood, cinders and clouds of dust were carried by the strong winds for a few seconds before slowly dissipating. Andras stood upright and brushed off the dust on his arm.
"At least there will be much less of a hassle… Now, Tigreal, where are you?"
The Dark Lord looks in front of him. The citadel of the Land of Dawn was nearing, but he'd have to act even faster.
"They are occupied… Hah." Andras slowly transforms into a cloud of smoke before preparing his trajectory. "I got you now."
He suddenly dashes at supersonic speed, some of the lampposts and windows breaking from the force. Andras suddenly materializes back into his armor and conjures gauntlet blades on each of his wrists. He digs his armored shoes to the ground, breaking the asphalt off as he slices through Natalia, the assassin unawares. Andras slides around and begins to clash against Tigreal who was just finished killing a Ravager.
"N-NATALIA!"
"Ah, look at you… Surprised, aren't you?" Andras chuckles, his gauntlet blades turning into dual broadswords. "Give me a challenge and stop making me bored."
Tigreal yells and charges forward, blocking Andras' strikes and stabs, but the Dark Lord sidesteps before slashing at the gilded knight's legs. Tigreal grunts in pain as Andras tries to cut through the armor, but it was only receiving scratches.
"Tigreal!" Roger calls out, trying to help, but Andras throws a black dagger to the hunter's chest. Roger drops to the ground, clutching the dagger and trying to pull it off. "Agh… hold on!"
"Papa?" Ruby calls out, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. She sees Natalia's body lying dead on the ground, a pool of blood emerging from the gash on her stomach. Ruby covers her face in shock, a murderous urge suddenly burning in her chest.
"NO! Hold it back… no!"
"Roger, get out of here!" Tigreal warns. "You need to flee!"
"You heard the knight, let's go!" Roger beckons, trying to stand up. "Ruby, follow me!" He grabs her hand and retreats as fast as they can. Roger turns into a werewolf mid-leap and Ruby rides on his back, wielding her bloody scythe.
"I smell… Ah, someone familiar resides within the girl, I see!" Andras cackles. "A brother of mine, a scoundrel, resting within her!"
"W-What?" Tigreal asks, panting.
"You don't know? Hahahahahah! A bastard fuels her drive, knight, and you won't live long enough to find out!"
"We'll see!" Tigreal bashes Andras with his shield, but the Dark Lord conjures swords during the bash, making punctures on the shield. One of the blades pierce through the shield and Tigreal's arm, causing the knight to drop his arm. Andras summons his gauntlet blades and stabs through Tigreal's armor before spinning away in a flash. The gilded knight drops on one knee, supporting himself with his sword.
"Do you see how I killed her with one fell strike?" Andras asked, pointing at Natalia's corpse. "Consider yourself extremely lucky!" He uppercuts Tigreal, but the knight manages to recover from this attack and stabs his sword straight onto the spirit's chestplate. As the sword was blessed, Andras screamed in pain, the blade burning the spirit.
Tigreal grunts as he tries to stand again and tackles Andras down. He grabs his shield and uses the sharp, bottom corner and slams it on Andras' neck, creating a worsening sear mark on the obsidian armor.
"You… will… stay… down!" he growls, striking his shield down with every word. Tigreal then pulls out his blade, but the Dark Lord raises his arms, preventing the blade from plunging onto his face. The sword began to burn through Andras' armor, and he wills blades from the ground and stabs Tigreal's sides with them repeatedly. The knight loses his grip and Andras recovers, phasing upright.
"Sorry… But I will not miss a reunion of a lifetime." Andras then launches his chain sickle, piercing through Tigreal's body. The hook latches itself onto his back as Andras leaped around, causing the chain of the weapon to wrap around the knight's body. Tigreal screams in pain as the chain began to restrict itself tighter onto his body, crushing his bones and skin. Andras then phases through the ground, looping the chain around before appearing back to his original position. He pulls the chain with sudden force, and the knight bursts into two halves, the viscera splattering on the nearby cobblestone.
Andras sheathes back the chain sickle and dematerializes it.
"Glasya-Labolas… flee from that young maiden and face me!"
Meanwhile…
"Papa… they are too many!"
Ruby pulls a Hellhound's body to her and slashes it sideways, cutting it in two. She leaps up and digs the blade of her scythe onto the socket of a Wretch, furiously tearing it up and pulling her blade out from the skull, killing the demon. She collapses to her knees from exhaustion, her knuckles bleeding.
"Papa?" Ruby turns around to see the werewolf, his furry skin mangled with severe wounds and bite marks. "P-Papa?!"
She races to Roger and cradles him. The injuries were insane and tremendously difficult to mend, he would die from the bleeding within the minute.
"P-Papa… talk to me…" Ruby shakes Roger up to try and get his attention. The wolf's head slowly rotated to face her, making quiet, whimpering sounds. Roger lifted his claw up to Ruby's hand and gripped it, basically clinging to her. Ruby's tears silently fell down, and she saw the light on Roger's eyes begin to die out.
"N-NO! No, no no no no, NO! Don't go… Not yet… I can't take it, I don't wanna… Papa!"
The werewolf slowly closed his eyes as his breathing slowed, more and more blood pouring out of from his wounds. Ruby began clenching her fists, but tried to hold back the feeling. She lowered her body and clutched Roger's body.
"No, please, not yet… Not you too! Damn it, please…"
Roger's head slumped sideward as his breathing abruptly stopped. Ruby was in a state of panic. She tries to hear his heartbeat, but it wasn't there.
"NO! PAPA! PAPAAAA! DON'T LET ME GO! NO!"
She began to cry, balling her hands and slamming it to the ground. Ruby didn't notice that she was basically breaking the asphalt with her strikes. She covered her eyes and tried to calm down, but a familiar voice began to whisper in her head.
"Look at him… All because you wanted to hold back."
"Grrrr… shut up…" Ruby mentally said. "Not.. now…"
"But I know you… You know what lover boy said to you! Let. Go. You promised, yes?"
"I SAID SHUT UP!" she shouted, her voice beginning to warp. "SHUT UP! STOP… making me hear… THOSE SCREAMS!"
"The screams? Of those you murdered, of those they murdered? Tsk tsk tsk… I know what you want, little one. All that you know is gone, and guess what? You will die, anyway… so why not give it up for one… last… dance?"
"SHUT… UUUUUPPPPP!" Ruby vocalized, scratching and tearing at her hair. She dug her head into the ground, trying to cover her ears. As Andras grew near, her urges began to intensify, and she slammed her forehead into the asphalt, trying to stop it.
"You wish to kill, Ruby… I've been with you ever since little old grammie got cut open like a pig fresh from the sty."
"S-S-SCREW YOU!"
"Oh, do not deny it… They haunt you every night, yes? That's why he is always there, the insolent brat… He knows not what he's meddling with."
"Glasya-Labolas!" Andras called out, summoning black swords from the void.
Ruby slowly stood up from her position, her legs set in an awkward manner.
"S-Shut up…"
"Your sanity and innocence slowly draining away, breaking, bending by my hand, by my voice… And the truth is present, naked… You seeing red, mind filled with hatred, your heart longing for their blood as debt for their screams!"
"Freaking scum…" Ruby growls, outstretching her arm, recalling her scythe. "Little shits… killing my friends… getting away from it?"
"Yes… yes… that's it, slow and steady, falling onto your own temptations… What you truly love… is revenge, and nothing else, forevermore!"
"Brother… why are you there? You make the girl suffer from your own actions? She has, long enough. Let her go and-"
"Let what go?" Ruby asked, her normal voice returning. "I… I'm not letting go… of what I have… I have an urge… An urge to dance… Heheheheheh… HAHAHAHAHAHAH!" She laughed maniacally, covering her face with her hand. Ruby uncovered it, and her expression grew even more twisted, her eye slowly turning bloodshot with a red iris forming. Her lips curved into a wicked smile, exposing her teeth. "You're killing my friends… you're going to do it again… Heh, you really think… their spilt blood won't be paid?"
"Let go of the girl," Andras threatens, conjuring more and more swords. "You are making her less human!"
"Oh, but no, brother!" A warped voice spoke from Ruby. "I love her… very much, she showed spirit, and I granted her gifts, in a manner as generous as I can be! I will not let each other apart… we will be together…"
"Hahahahah… do you want to dance?" Ruby asked, her normal voice returning. "You know what I did to those wolves? The ones that killed my grammie? You killed my lovely papa… Come here, little shit… I WILL SHOW YOU!"
She charges with sudden speed, catching Andras off-guard. Ruby slashes, spinning downward and creating severe gashes on Andras' armor. The Dark Lord levitates to gain higher leverage, but Ruby leaps up and snags his legs with her hook, bringing him down again.
"COME HERE! LET ME CARVE THE HELMET OFF YOUR FACE!"
"You've always been the bastard between the family, Labolas," Andras says before phasing below the ground and reappearing above Ruby, stabbing her with two broadswords on her back. The little red hood simply shakes Andras off, removing his grip off of the blades. Ruby stood as if she wasn't hurt at all, gripping her scythe with only one hand.
"Are you afraid of what has become?" Glasya-Labolas taunted, before reverting back to Ruby's voice. "You… I'm not letting you near him at all costs!" She slams the butt of her scythe on Andras, slowly pushing him off before spinning with a flurry of slashes, easily cutting down Andras' armor.
"An abomination you are!" the Dark Lord yells, summoning more swords. He throws them towards Ruby, the blades piercing trough and jutting out of her body, yet she walked without any hassle, dragging her scythe with her. "How long will this last?"
"As long as we want… as long as she wants!" the demon inside Ruby cackled. "Shall we, dear miss?"
"Yesss… blood for my friends… and I…WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO DANCE!" Ruby charged and brought her scythe downward, the weapon suddenly growing larger. Andras got caught by the blade and was pushed down to the ground. Ruby lets go of the weapon and leapt on Andras, biting at the weak section of armor on the neck. She jumps off and spits off the obsidian from her mouth, some of her teeth falling out.
"You need to stop!" Andras threatened. "Don't make me, brother!"
"Then we will make you! I've had enough of being the belittled!" Ruby prepares to jump again, but a Wretch breaks through the infrastructure from her right, slamming her to a nearby wall. The demon tries to catch Ruby with its jaws, but the girl simply jumps within its mouth and cleaves through the Wretch, reaching its insides. Ruby was able to claw out of the Wretch's stomach as she recalls her scythe back from Andras and its travels through the Wretch. Ruby slices from inside and crawls out, blood covering her whole body and dripping from her clothes. She lifted her hand and licked some from her hand, giggling.
"More… more blood… for all you've killed!" Ruby suddenly get pulled forward as Andras conjures a sword and pierces it through Ruby's only eye, rendering her blind, but she simply laughed it off, pulling the blade out with ease and slamming it onto Andras' neck. The Dark Lord recoils from the pain as Ruby recalls her scythe to slash Andras down. The malevolent spirit was able to recover his dark aura, preventing the scythe from going further.
"The rampage will cease! You may be immune to pain, but to kill you is all I need…"
"Not without one more… One more shimmer of indifference!" Ruby pulls the scythe off and blindly strikes Andras, the scythe lodging onto his helmet. The Dark Lord grabs the scythe and snaps the handle in two, but Ruby kicks Andras and grabs the blade in mid-air, stabbing it again to the spirit's side. Andras grunts from the pain and summons his gauntlet blades, stabbing through Ruby's torso multiple times, but it was barely effective. She simply backed away, growing tired. She was not giving up.
"Feisty lassie... enough of this." Andras conjures several swords from the ground and two of them cut off Ruby's heels, preventing her from walking. She grunts from the pain but continues treading. Andras, frustrated, grabs one of the swords and stabs Ruby square in the forehead, but she still smiled creepily, her eyes staring at him. But she fell, growing weak.
"No, brother… don't kill the girl!"
"I am… I'm relieving her from your torment!" Andras stabs Ruby's heart, linking the blade with him. Slowly, dark essence began to coil around the weapon, absorbing the spirit, known as Glasya-Labolas: Author of Bloodshed.
Andras stood up, thinking that the ordeal was over, but Ruby was still breathing, smiling innocently. The Dark Lord summoned five swords above Ruby, aimed downward to her.
"And your host will perish… along with your frail hope."
The swords stabbed Ruby one by one as she began to dream.
"Alucard…"
SHICK!
"You're so… understanding…"
SLOSH!
"I am going now."
SHRICK!
"Don't be mad at me… I tried."
SHOKK!
"I know… you're proud of me…"
SHLICK!
Andras sighed, dematerializing the blades. "For the first time… I've felt sorry for a corrupted host. She doesn't deserve to endure that. Now… no guilt for now. Victory draws near, and I will finish what Alice and her little goons couldn't."
A large explosion was heard far beyond Andras' sight. He could feel the death of many of his demons.
"The metal men."
Meanwhile…
"Alpha?"
Saber was genuflecting, as he attempted to shield himself from the blast. All he could remember was that Johnson had to self-destruct in order to shake off the hordes of Morphlings and Ravagers restraining him. But the winds and the ashen dust was messing with his sensors, corrupting his broken interface.
"S-Saber?" Alpha's voice squeaked from the comms.
"Alpha, where are you? My sensors cannot find you!"
"On… your… right…"
The cyborg turns right, but he couldn't see anything, only a pile of debris and boulders from the fallen infrastructure. Small fires emitted black char and burning paper and trash littered the avenue they were in. The barricade they set up was demolished easily when the demons began to crowd within them.
"Alpha? I cannot pick up Beta's ping. Do you have her with you?"
"Saber…"
"Hold on, I'm seeing you in the radar-"
He stops and looks below him. Alpha was there, yes, but shards and pieces of his metal armor was littered around him, his visor broken, exposing his green eyes. One of his arms were gone, and fuel and blood was leaking out of it. Alpha's face was broken and deteriorated, the machinery within him exposed. He opened his arms, and Fanny laid next to him, coughing up blood and dust.
"Saber-"
"Don't worry, Alpha. I can still fix-"
"He's c-coming… Andras…"
"Alpha- wait, wait… Andras?"
"We know who he is, Saber… it's Andras… you know him, he won't let anyone go…" Alpha began to cough up fuel and smoke from his systems, small sparks bursting from his limbs. "You need to save-"
"S-Saber?"
"Fanny, calm down… you're going to be fine," Saber comforted, grabbing her body. The machinery on her hips were busted up, and only one pair of swords were completely intact. Her flight systems are beyond repair. "Listen to me, you need to go to Estes, okay? You need to be with Chou and your other friends-"
"N-No! I want to-"
"Listen to me, Fanny. Go out too early and that may be one minute less for Alucard! You don't need to worry about me, or Alpha. We'll be alright, now go."
He beckons Fanny to go and retreat to the back. She limps as she walks, clutching her bleeding side.
"Take your time! We'll protect you!"
"S-Saber," Alpha began to whisper. "B-Beta… didn't survive the blast. She couldn't move-"
"Okay, we need to get you out here-"
The fellow cyborg clutched Saber's arm. "No… I want this… I want this…"
"Alpha. Alpha." Saber called out. "You don't need to do this-"
"I w-want to… I can't… fight anymore… Spear is broken… integrity at 9%-"
"Screw the statistics! I am getting you out of here, dead or alive!"
"Saber…" Alpha resumes, trying to lift himself up. His upper and lower halves began to tear off. "D-Don't waste… this chance… your life… is a p-precious thing, and t-thank you… I will count and name stars with Beta n-now-"
"No, Alpha. Alpha!"
"It's a wondrous thing… an event as pleasurable, as similar to death… A luxury, w-we never really… b-beheld…"
"Alpha!"
Saber's sensors couldn't pick up Alpha's ping, for it has already died out. He outstretches Alpha's arms, as he was in a fetal position. Two halves of the drone that was primarily Beta was there under Alpha's body. He was protecting her.
The cyborg drops down the debris and sees Johnson's shield from the other side of the road, but not the fellow cyborg's body. Charred carcasses of Ravagers and Reapers were littered around, a downed Wretch buried under a pile of debris with its long claws sticking out.
"Status."
"Frame integrity: 79%. Number of Swords: 8/12. Power Capacity: 27.4%. Overdrive Mode: Active. Surviva-"
"Hold it. Overdrive is still active?" he asked, seeking confirmation.
"Overdrive Mode: Active. When Active: F.I. increased to 85%, P.C. increased to 95.1% and increasing drastically. Survivability Rate: 0.0000000329%."
"Worth a try… As long as he is delayed," Saber mutters. He receives a sudden alert in his radar. A blip was approaching fast. The cyborg raises his arms and makes an electric field around himself, deflecting Andras' black sword. The Dark Lord swiftly charges through, tackling Saber back with one push with his shoulder. Saber rolls and skids on the ground, bits of his armor flying off. The metal on his body had multiple scratches and streaks of gray, the paint tearing off. He gets up groggily, one of his antennae hanging off.
Andras looks at Alpha's lifeless body then to Johnson's damaged shield. "Ah… Too late again, was I? Hmm… Saber, was it?"
"Activate Overdrive Mode… now."
"Calculating Risk-"
"Skip them, we're on the clock," Saber mutters, removing a shard of debris on his arm. "Why do this… Andras?"
"You know me? Impressive… I thought I was about to slaughter someone who doesn't acknowledge who I am!" Andras joked. "Hah… you may have encountered me…"
The Noumenon and Malefic Energy began to overheat, escalating the energy levels within Saber. "You were one of the reasonable demons out there… There was a world when you were at peace with us-"
"I am not the same Andras you once met years ago," the Dark Lord interrupted.
"You… told me, told us… that to become powerful, you must be human… And that the strongest shed away their humanity to save humanity… a paradox."
Small arcs and bolts of red energy began to emanate from Saber's body. The interface was beginning to glow with a red color, multiple warnings blipping on it. Saber slowly stood up, his wings releasing his eight remaining swords.
"If we put that in a sense… bastard… you're just dung from the creek!" Saber suddenly charged with immense speed, gripping two of the swords and slashing Andras sidewards. The Dark Lord attempts to retreat by materializing forward, but Saber steps on the ground and dashes back with the same stunning speed, his swords striking the black armor of the spirit. He lands back to his feet, gripping and tearing the asphalt.
"This… this power… feels awesome," Saber muttered. "Who am I even fighting for, again?"
"You're only prolonging your torture!" Andras said, summoning his weapons from the void. "Don't imitate her!"
"Who? Ah… the girl… what she did was of pure intent… we become our own demons someday, just so we can save the ones we love…" the cyborg replied, losing his sense. "What is love, anymore? More and more demons are coming for me, eh? Heheh… I've never felt more alive… Andras…"
The Dark Lord throws one of the javelins and it pierces through Saber's shoulder. The cyborg, however, simply pulls it out, barely feeling hurt. The slits on his helmet slowly turned red as the energy within him spiked tremendously. His head hung low as bit by bit, his memories began to disappear as he slowly grew insane.
"Adrenaline rushing… More and more to eviscerate? I am born a weapon, I've always been… And the sky grows dark…"
Saber's swords angled around him, pointed at the demons and Andras. He grabs one and points it at the Dark Lord.
"You want to get to the Gem?"
"Even if it means killing everyone here," Andras replied. "Are you listening to yourself? You're the one losing sense, not me!"
"Aren't you glad… that I made things even more simple for you? You'll just have to go through me, no more philosophy… no remorse… no hint of fear!"
The demons from the sides began to dive at Saber from the windows and rooftops, and his swords suddenly ejected from the frames of his wings, flying around and circling the perimeter. They began to eviscerate multitudes of the demons, hacking them down with ease.
"This mechanical body, it has given me limitless power… And it's calling me… Rrrrggghhh… Aaahhh…"
Andras throws his swords simultaneously, and Saber raises his arms. Shields of red energy sprouted from his wrists, and he blocks and deflects each of the swords, causing them to dematerialize. Saber channels the kinetic energy received and slammed his shields together, releasing an immense force wave against Andras, pushing the Dark Lord off and damaging his armor.
Andras wills his aura back, slowly repairing the obsidian plating protecting the spirit. "You've lost your mind…"
Saber's breathing labored, his head slowly looking up towards the Dark Lord, the enemy that killed many of his friends… his family…
The swords stopped attacking the demons as they travelled back to Saber.
"And I think… I think I need to go… ON A KILLING SPREE!"
Saber dashes forward and recalls his swords with him. Andras tries to block the slashes, but the red energy breaks through the aura, the blades easily lodging onto the armor and piercing through it.
"Ragh! Time to clip your wings!"
"I'd like to see you try… as I kill without trace… and you will atone for your mistakes as you brave the rising storm!"
Andras summons his swords and they revolve around him. Saber reaches close and strikes down Andras with a flurry of his blades, easily cutting through the black swords and breaking them. The spirit lands a palm of void energy towards Saber, breaking the robot's armor and exposing the exoskeleton. The cyborg doesn't pay attention to the structural damage of his suit and charges again, digging his gold swords onto Andras' chest and stabbing repeatedly, carving through the armor.
"No mercy for a sinner, proud of his own malice!"
"Get… OFF!" Andras manages to summon his gauntlet blades and stabs Saber through the side and on the faceplate, but the cyborg keeps on piercing and stabbing Andras. The volatile energy of the cyborg travels to Andras' armor, and the plates began to slowly break from the intense heat and radiation. Saber hops off of his current position and thrusts his jets downward, slamming his foot onto Andras repeatedly before impaling the suit of armor with his swords. The Dark Lord quickly breaks the sword as Saber attempts to plunge his spare one deeper. Andras blocks and breaks it with his arms as Saber suddenly gets pulled by the jaws of a Wretch. The cyborg rotates his body and boosts upward, bursting through the demon's skull, killing it instantly. The Spitfires began to turn their attention to Saber as the cyborg wills his six remaining swords back, the blades travelling around the air and downing the demons. A large swarm of Hellbats began to approach, and Saber zooms towards them.
"Retribution is at hand!"
Saber releases the pent-up energy form within his suit, the red lightning arcing and forking through the Hellbats like a scarlet light show, electrocuting and burning them quickly. Andras rises to the air and conjures a gigantic hammer, swinging it to Saber. The cyborg dodges it and cuts off the handle with one of his swords, pushing Andras back to the ground like a meteor. The Dark Lord was stunned by the move as Saber began tearing the armor off with his bare hands, crushing them with his hands bit by bit. A Ravager tackles Saber off, but the cyborg simply stabs it with his sword, immediately killing it. Saber recuperates as Andras dashes towards him, raising his sword. He manages to block the strike with an electric shield.
"Yield, Andras… the truth will persevere! With one swift strike of his blade, your regime ends. Poetic justice at its finest!"
Andras stomps Saber's foot, crushing it, and punches through the shield, shattering it completely before stabbing the cyborg with his sword. Saber clutches Andras' arm and pulls the sword off, dislodging himself from the lock. Saber recalls his swords back to him and through Andras, and the Dark Lord catches them one by one, easily breaking them bit by bit. As the swords travelled, Saber extends the frames of his wings and forcefully tears them off of his back, wielding them as stun batons. He charges forward as Andras breaks the last sword, catching him unawares. He strikes his batons repeatedly, stunning the Dark Lord with shocks of red electricity. Andras grabs Saber's arm and tears it off completely, but Saber remains unfazed. He kicks upwards and somersaults, making Andras stumble, and he charges with his foot. Unfortunately, the Dark Lord catches it and breaks the joint, causing it to dislocate. He then forcefully punches through Saber's body. Metal, oil and blood bursts through the other side of the punch. Saber suddenly slowed and stopped attacking, the red light on his slits slowly blinking and powering down.
"A few more left to end, Saber, and it will soon be over..."
"W-Who… is more delusional? The maniac… or the self-righteous destructor?" Saber asked. "It is d-done… all h-he is doing… is waiting for y-you… And we will h-have the last laugh…"
Andras wraps his hand on Saber's helmet and crushes it with his grip, the metal and oil bursting and leaking out and onto Andras' armor. He pulls his arm off of Saber's body as the cyborg's body drops lifeless to the ground, the red energy on his body fading into grey. Andras slowly puts his hand on Saber's body, the metal slowly absorbed into Andras' own armor, serving as substitutes and repairs, The gashes and dents slowly reformed back to one-hundred percent integrity.
"What is prophesized is to become a reality, Saber. And those who live through it will enjoy my blessing… they will enjoy it very much."
Meanwhile…
"Only us left! Saber has fallen!" Kaja says, lashing at a Reaper with his whip. The electric whip coils around the demon and incinerates it into cinders. The Nazar King flies to Estes, who was making more and more healing runes around. "Estes, Saber has fallen. Has Fanny recovered in the citadel?"
"She is, but half of the Royal Guard is gone, and your men have fallen in the field," Estes pants. "Where is he?"
"The Dark Lord? He will be here in a minute-"
"Everyone, fall back!"
The two notice Rafaela and Uranus retreating with ten of the Royal Guard, black swords falling from the sky. A black cloud slowly materializes, and Andras appears, his tattered cape flowing.
"Anarchy behind me, and salvation in front," Andras says. "Only you and me, Estes… my brothers were wrong to let you consult them."
"They were of your descent, but they knew what is fair!" Estes retorts. "She would be very disappointed with you!"
"She won't be when I bring her down myself, foolish elf. You cannot deny the end of Gaius! You try and prevent the inevitable, but I bring it to you!"
Uranus slowly mends the dents on his armor, recharging his energy. "You oppose the balance, just to bring all of this chaos?"
"The hardest decisions… they require the strongest wills!"
"If you believe so, then let's end this!" Rafaela challenges. Kaja cracks his whip, the lightning sparking the ground. The Royal Guard releases their light constructs and they form shields and blades of light, aimed at the Dark Lord. "Let's see if you can fight a collective will… equal to yours!"
"You dare test me, Andras… the Sower of Discord?!"
Estes slowly conjures two glowing blades of moonlight to his hands, radiating with clear energy. "You are in a losing fight, but you do not see it… Peril awaits you in the citadel, Andras!"
Meanwhile…
Alucard's body was slowly being enveloped in light, the coating reaching around his whole body, but it was still incomplete. The hunter begins to notice the interstellar landscape around the dream world slowly fading, the brilliant stars and specks of light fleeing from their positions and merging into his body.
"Lunox, the dream world-"
"Never worry about my sake," she comforted, floating closer to him. "It is all part of the plan… I am not sacrificing my vision for you. I am turning you into it… the truth."
"When this is over… no more of Andras?"
"I cannot say for sure… it's not up to me to decide. In the end, we never really know for sure. It is a fickle thing, our dreams and aspirations. They often remind us that they, themselves, are just mere concepts that we gave life to. But never underestimate belief, Alucard."
"I won't… but how about Andras? How can… how can I defeat someone who has so much hatred… so much indifference inside him? He has gone mad! How can-"
"How did Ruby soothe your temper? Through her affection," Lunox answered. "And to Andras, all of you must do the same."
"Oh… wait, all of 'you'?"
"Yes, Alucard. All of you."
"I don't-"
"Alu!"
He turns around to see a faded, cerulean projection of Yun Zhao near him. "Hey, it's me!"
"Z-Zhao?!"
"Not only him, apparently."
Alucard turned around and saw the fallen heroes suddenly emerge in his vision, bearing the same coloration in their astral projections. Nana and Harley waved at him, and Cyclops appeared next to them, raising his hat. Minotaur was floating behind them, lightly gripping his war hammer. Hylos galloped around the scape, wielding his scepter. Lancelot and Odette appeared in front of Lunox, their faces beaming with happiness.
Every fallen hero appeared in front of Alucard, seemingly glad. Karina, Tigreal, Sun, Hayabusa, Kagura, Hilda, Irithel, Balmond, Aurora, Gord, Argus…
"W-What… how… Lunox, h-how is this-"
"No one is ever truly alone," Lunox proudly states. "You can end one's misery, but never one's spirit, and you will need all that you can muster to face the Sower of Discord, the source of all indifference… deception itself."
"It's okay, Alucard!" Freya began. "We're here for you!"
"G-Guys, I… how are you all here? I saw Andras-"
"It was no illusion, yes," Lesley answers. "It hurts really bad, not going to lie."
"Wait, where are the others? Why is it only you guys around? How about the civilians, the other soldiers?"
"They've earned their rest, but it seems your friends are completely restless about being with you again," Lunox said. "Now, Child of the Fall, do you still doubt me?"
"Lunox… I don't know what to say…"
"Words cannot fathom, they never will."
A low rumble shook the whole area around them, and the white lines of cosmic dust matting the whole landscape like spilled milk slowly began to disappear. The blue-green hue of the space slowly turned to black. Alucard turns her eyes to Lunox. Her orbs of energy on her wings slowly balanced out, but she herself was slowly, physically losing color, fading.
"It's almost time, Alucard… and your other friends will meet you again, one way or another. The Dark Lord draws near, as anticipated…"
"We need to go, for now," a voice called. Ruby slowly floated towards Alucard. "Hey, don't feel bad for us… the pain's gone now, and you're going to finish him for us… for everyone." Her astral projection slowly began to fade out, as well as the other heroes'. Alucard tries to reach out to her, but she was gone without a trace. The whole dream world began to deteriorate into black, and the landscape was just that, total, utter darkness.
"The harbingers of Light and Dark are long gone, swept by the scales of the balance, and balance is the only truth of this world. Andras is no harbinger of Dark, and you are not of Light. The two of you are beyond comprehension."
"Lunox, you're fading," Alucard worriedly states, but she continues her speech, slowly extending her arms out. A bright, white object began to float above her, rectangular light constructs merging together within the singular weapon. Low sounds of machinery and magic indicated the fusion of the weapon, and Lunox hands the blade to Alucard, now fully covered by white energy. After a few seconds, she smiled, closing her eyes, before fading from existence.
But her voice still resounded around the empty void, ringing in Alucard's ears.
"I present to you a new weapon forged from hope that makes us strong. The last sword that will smite reality as we know it…"
"Testament… her name, the last of her kind, borne from thought, realized by divine steel, and she… I give unto you. I bring not peace, but a sword, and you, my harbinger, impose such intervention from the cosmos to the forsaken ground…"
"I trust that you will fulfill my wish… my Testament. Show them the truth… Show them that it is beyond Andras' feeble concept of pain and destruction, that it is something more than just despair..."
"If one lives to seek out a dream, the concept thrives, and thus I say back, 'If one lives to snuff out a dream, the concept can also wither!' You are the Child of the Fall, and I choose you to be the ultimatum… the harbinger of Truth."
"Now… I give you one final question."
Alucard closes his eyes.
"Are you ready, hero?"
"N-No, Lunox… I'm not ready…"
A chorus of voices began to respond alongside Alucard, echoing around the black space.
"But we are!"
Meanwhile…
Uranus jumps up and crashes onto Andras, pushing him further down the steps to the citadel. The Dark Lord phases off and charges straight towards Estes, already preparing his static bubble. Andras conjures his swords and tries to puncture through Estes' shield, the dome slowly breaking.
"For millennia, you left me to rot in that desolate chest!" Andras fumed, already kicking down the protective shield. Estes slowly recovered his injuries, his wounds closing up and fading. "And now, you resist me?"
The Elven King wills the shield to explode, and he unleashes a beam of white energy towards Andras, slowly tearing and pushing away the spirit's armor. He tries to escape the beam, but Kaja appears from the side, his armor heavily damaged. The Nazar King lashes out with his whip and keeps Andras stationary. Rafaela channels light from the heavens and strikes it down towards Andras. Uranus appears behind the spirit and begins punching Andras down to the ground as he gets locked down.
"Give up this unnecessary murder! The Royal Guard, the Nazar, the Orcs… what more do you wish?!" Rafaela asks. "Extinction? This is no miracle you impose!"
"Of course… a miracle… nothing is more terrifying than a miracle!" Andras' aura began to twist and coil itself around Estes' destructive beam of light, slowly reaching up to the king. He suddenly conjures spikes from his back and Uranus suffers dozens of punctures, his celestial energy slowly being leeched to Andras. The beam of light backfires, throwing Estes, Rafaela and Kaja off to their butts. Andras stands up, shaking his body off to recover his movement. Estes manages to recover and shoots a bolt of energy, but Andras phases through it and kicks Estes to the gate of the citadel. The king breaks his own skull and his senses dull. Kaja pulls himself towards Andras with his whip, but the Dark Lord grabs the Nazar and rips off one of his wings. Kaja grunts in pain and attempts to fly off, but Andras pulls him down and repeatedly stabs his body, causing the gold ichor to spill in multiple places. He lets go and leaves Kaja to bleed, turning back his attention to Estes.
"And now… my vengeance is sought."
Estes conjures a momentary shield, but Andras' kick breaks through the defense and onto Estes' face. He continuously assaults Estes as Uranus tries to recuperate. His energy was slowly being leeched out, tendrils of yellow energy turning into black, transferred to Andras. The bronze guardian reaches out to Andras with his arms, but the Dark Lord holds out his arm onto Uranus, telekinetically keeping him put. Andras clenches his fist, and Uranus' metal body begins to collapse inward. Straining noises could be heard as Uranus struggles to break free from the grip, but Andras brings his arm down and reduces Uranus' body to a rough ball of bronze, resembling a ball of crumpled paper.
Andras then resumes punching Estes to the gate, but Rafaela climbs on his back, preventing him from continuing further. Frustrated, Andras pulls her off and slams her forcefully onto the marble railings of the steps. He teeports and materializes above the angel and lands on her, breaking her spine into two. He grabs the falling body and proceeds to claw at Rafaela's back.
"Tired of her kind… always so stubborn," the Dark Lord muttered before pulling out her whole spine off the body with one pull, the corpse turning onto jelly. He throws Rafaela's body far off down and crushes the spine with black void energy.
"It is over…" Estes breathed out, blood dripping from his nose and mouth. "It's over!"
"We'll see about that, then we talk!" Andras transfers some of his dark energy to Estes and the elf king convulses, feeling extreme pain. His chest slowly started to bulge outward as Andras extracts Estes' heart out of his chest. The Elf King drops dead on the gate, and the whole sky slowly turned gloomy and dark, as if a wave of pollution and smog entered the atmosphere.
Andras looks at the gate in front of him. "I will have to break it down-"
BANG!
A bullet hits Andras' helmet, but it simply bounced off, barely making a scratch. He turns around to see Clint running towards him, emptying the last clip of his revolvers on the Dark Lord. Andras scoffs and slaps the shooter with the back of his hand, and he was now stuck on the wall adjacent to the gate. Andras summons his swords and they fly off, piercing through Clint and the wall. A swift, easy death.
"Why did he even try? Why do they all try?"
"Because they know you are the one at fault."
Andras turns to face Lunox, her astral projection slowly flickering out and fading. "You should've gone to the Gem earlier, Andras."
"Hahahahahah!" he laughs. "Where are you now? Fading… becoming forgotten. All that's left of this world will be darkness, as the universe foretold!"
"You are mistaken… you always have followed a blind dream… your aspirations killing you."
"And what did you do, huh? When a child was battered within the alleys of this place, when demons advanced from the Wastelands, what did you do? You left! You are afraid to make do with the gifts the world gave you!"
"I'm not afraid, Andras," she said. "Not anymore… and so is he!"
The Dark Lord yells and slashes at the projection, and it disappears. Lunox' voice still boomed overhead.
"Let it be known… you are a monster of your own making! You seek victory, but instead, fate brings you your downfall!"
"SILENCE!" Andras shouted at the sky. "SILENCE, I COMMAND YOU, ARROGANT WRETCH!"
He begins to kick down the gate, hordes of demons beginning to crowd behind him. Some of the Spitfires and Hellbats began to break the windows of the citadel, wedging themselves through.
Meanwhile…
"There, on the windows!"
Layla hears Lolita's warning and releases projectiles of Malefic energy onto the oncoming Spitfires, throwing them off the walls of the structure. The Genesys Gem was already white-hot and glowing with ferocity, but there doesn't seem to be anything else happening to it. It was simply floating a few feet above.
"Is the thing alright?"
"Yeah, Yinsen! We just need to hold on!" Fanny answers. Suddenly, a large bang was heard from the door. A medium-sized dent appeared near the handles. "Crap, he's here!"
"Okay, Lolita, you know what to do!" Yinsen reminds. Lolita steps on the center of the battlefield, wielding her Noumenon hammer. She hefted it and overcharges its energy, preparing to slam it to the floor. The gates were slowly beginning to budge, and the silhouette of the Dark Lord could be seen on the crack between the gates.
"Chou! Back away!"
"Got it! Layla, you ready?"
"She's all good!" Bruno replies, giving a thumbs up. "On the count of three…"
"ALL OF YOU IN THERE… YOU WILL NOT HOPE TO SURVIVE!" the Dark Lord shouted, now using his swords to break through the gates.
"ONE!" Layla begins to charge her cannon, the nozzle glowing with immense energy. Lolita closes her eyes and braces for the attack,
"TWO!"
"THREE!"
Andras breaks the gates and they fly off to the group, but Lolita manages to strike the ground with her hammer, the doors stopping in mid-air and breaking due to the kinetic force waves. They tear off, the metal shredding off themselves and flying back to Andras. He blocks the debris with his black aura, but Layla pulls the trigger and a huge beam of destructive energy bursts from the cannon, encompassing the Dark Lord. The laser splits and shoots outward, exiting the citadel and spraying itself around the demons in the vicinity. Andras held up his arms, the Malefic energy nearly burning through the armor.
"Layla, hold on to the beam!" Bruno reminds. He throws his ball to Andras, but the Dark Lord didn't even budge. The ball ricochets back to the demons slowly entering through the citadel, trying to wedge themselves in. All that Chou could do was stay back as Andras easily approached Layla, bearing the immense heat and damage of the cannon.
"He… he's not fazed!"
"What?!" Yinsen exclaims, pointing a pulse shotgun towards Andras. He pulls the trigger, and a spray of blue energy travels towards the spirit, but the shells bounce off of the armor, ricocheting back to the hunter. Yinsen manages to dodge it, and the projectiles bounce towards the Spitfires and Hellbats on the murals, downing them easily.
"Little girl… all of you… runts!" Andras approaches Layla and grabs her cannon by the barrel, crushing it. The gunner drops the weapon and tries to run, but Andras summons his chain sickle and it latches onto Layla's shoulder. Chou runs and tries to kick Andras down, but his leg bounces off of the armor as the Dark Lord pays no attention. Fanny zips from the upper level and tries to slash at Andras' armor, but her last pair of swords break. The Dark Lord unleashes his aura, throwing the last heroes off. He then pulls Layla towards him and stabs her multiple times with a gauntlet blade, dropping her to the ground.
"Urk… g-guys…"
"LAYLA!" Lolita charges behind Andras, but the Dark Lord throws his arm back to the elf, releasing a volley of swords. She raises her hammer, forming a Noumenon shield, and the swords lodge themselves onto the barrier. Andras turns towards her and walks, throwing more and more swords to her. Lolita absorbs the dark energy to her hammer and throws a volatile ball of Noumenon energy towards Andras. He blocks the attack as Lolita swings her hammer. Andras dodges and phases through, grabbing Lolita by the neck and pummeling her to the ground like before, her body slowly turning into a pulp. Chou grabs a nearby plank and strikes it toward Andras, but he keeps stomping on Layla, nearly turning her head into a pulp of viscera. Bruno yells and tries to kick Andras' helmet, but the spirit grabs both of his legs (with only one hand) and slaps him to the ground like a ragdoll. He throws Bruno to a nearby pillar and follows it up with a volley of swords, impaling the Protector to the column. Bruno spits out blood from his mouth, trying to pull the blades from his body, but Andras throws the last sword to his head as he keeps on slamming Lolita's already lifeless body to the ground. The sword pierces through Bruno's goggles, and he was dead like a dartboard.
Fanny yells and strikes with her broken swords, but Andras pushes her back with a punch, and she rolled to the ground, doubling over. The flyer tries to stand up, but a Ravager pounces on her and begins to sink its jaws onto her face. Fanny tries to activate her flight gear, only to be reminded that it was already destroyed during the fight alongside Saber and the other cyborgs.
"H-HELP! SOMEBODY!"
"Fanny, I'm coming!" Yinsen calls out, holstering his shotgun. Andras spots the hunter and conjures a large hammer, striking Yinsen out of the citadel and into the open air. His screams echoed around as he landed roughly to the ground, the Spitfires and Hellbats more than eager to devour them. The Dark Lord then turns his attention to the only hero left standing.
"Damn it, why does it always have to be me?" Chou mutters to himself. "A minute is all it takes, and this edgelord is going back to hell."
"You're afraid," Andras began.
Chou scrunched his eyebrows, pretending to be confused. "Of what?"
"Death. You're the last one."
Chou suddenly snickers at the thought, until it grew to spontaneous laughter, echoing around the walls of the citadel. He supported himself to the nearby pillar, trying to hold back his tears from his laughter.
"What's so funny?"
"Hahahaha… okay, sorry, sorry," Chou began. "Okay, let me just get this straight, alright? You… just basically like, killed everyone here and there and let everybody die then and around and then you accuse me of being afraid to die? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
The demons began turning their heads to each other, also appalled by Chou's reaction. Andras grunts dismissively. "If you don't stop-"
"Don't stop? We've never stopped, Andras. We're just letting you in!" Chou suddenly fires. "Listen here, tough nut, you've got nerve slaughtering people by the hundreds, and if anything, that proves one thing… you're the one who's afraid! So paranoid to the point that every living person in this place is on your hit list! But I won't back down, you know why?! Because I'm gonna-"
Andras punches Chou hard, sending the fighter flying to the Genesys Gem. Chou's back hits the Gem and he grunts from the pain, falling flat onto his face.
"W-Was that a fracture? Argh… Rrghh… come on…"
"Stay down, boy," Andras threatens. "Your final warning!"
Chou stands up groggily, shaking his left leg. He wiped the blood trickling from his mouth as he balled his fists, his knuckles bleeding.
"I won't… I made a promise, and I'm keeping it!" Chou dashes and launches a flurry of jabs and hooks to Andras' armor, slowly fazing the Dark Lord. His flaming fists slowly began to make dents to Andras' armor.
The spirit, however, was barely even hurt, and he stomps his foot to Chou's thigh, breaking the femur in two. The fighter recoils from the pain and clutches his leg, the bone slowly protruding through the skin. He attempts to shake off the injury, but Andras follows it up with a javelin, piercing through Chou's chest. The fighter pulls it off of him and charges Andras, raising the spear.
"Pitiful… as always."
Andras summons a dagger and stabs it through Chou's heart, and he stops, coughing up more blood.
"H-Hehe… N-Nice…"
"Hmph…"
Andras pulls out the blade and lets Chou drop to the ground. He lets go of the black javelin, his breathing growing labored as he clutched the wound on his chest.
"S-So long… so long…"
The light within Chou's eyes slowly fades, and Andras kicks off his body to the side, easily approaching the Genesys Gem. The spirit was astonished by the brilliance of the Gem as it slowly rotated around itself.
"An artifact of purity… the blood of Gaius," Andras spoke. "My demons… our victory is at hand, and the world shall be ours!"
The demons behind him 'cheered' in response, some of them roaring and howling. Their cries echoed around the demolished Land of Dawn as the fires continued raging. Andras touches the Gem with his hand, somewhat caressing it.
"Did I not tell of this day? Didn't the heavens prophesize this moment? All that is left for me to do… is to destroy it!"
Andras summons a large war hammer from the floor. He grabs it and raises it with his arm, wielding it with one hand. He prepares to aim his swing at the Gem.
"AND THIS BEAUTIFUL LIE THEY'VE CREATED… WILL SOON BE WIPED OFF THE EARTH!"
He swings the hammer…
Suddenly, a bright pillar of blue light knocks Andras backward, enveloping the Genesys Gem. Small boulders from the ceiling fell down to the ground as the vortex of energy bursts from the dark sky, driving off the Spitfires and Hellbats in the air. Andras covers himself with one of his arms, his cape flowing from the powerful winds that seemed to come from the pillar of light.
"W-What… What is this?!"
The demons slowly backed away, growing nervous. The Wretches snarled, but they were intimidated by the phenomena. Andras was confused. Everyone is dead! All that was needed was to break the Gem and prevent the shards from coalescing again. Corrupting it was not part of the plan, but he did touch the Gem before trying to shatter it…
"What is this? This isn't what's supposed to happen!"
The pillar began to collapse inward, the light slowly dying and fading away. The Dark Lord squinted his vision in order to see what was really happening. The rising storm in the sky began to dissipate and diminish thoroughly, and the atmosphere wasn't cloudy. One thing's for sure, however. It was no longer dark outside.
The winds die out and the debris and dust stop blowing towards Andras and the demons. He uncovers his arm in order to see the aftermath of the event. Andras was shocked.
The Genesys Gem was no longer there. Nada. Nothing. Not a trace of it was in sight.
But Andras knew something was up. He walked to where the artifact was and inspected the scene. The demons slowly crawled forward, trying to understand what their master was doing.
"No sign of it… Wait…"
There was a sigil drawn onto the floor where the Genesys Gem was hovering above, and it was seared onto the marble like a firebrand. Andras angled his position and was able to discern the image before him: A humanoid figure, somewhat standing upright with his head bowed, a pair of broad wings fully extended from the curve of his shoulders.
"No…!"
He looked up to the sky, and he could see the glint of a falling object. Andras quickly retreats before the foreign item descends faster and crushes him.
The object lands down with a resounding CLANG!, confirming that the object is metal. Andras looks behind him.
It was a greatsword… but no ordinary weapon. The design was completely new, unbeknownst even to the Dark Lord. It had an L-shaped cross-guard, one of its sides slightly covering one edge of the blade, so Andras considered it as one-sided, but the blade was also sharpened in the 'dull' side. A dark, titanium-based alloy was used to fashion both the pommel, grip and cross-guard. A deep, accent line (presumably the fuller of the weapon) was etched, even to one of the sides of the blade, along with a few holes on it. A portion of the cross-guard was made out of gold, with a sheet of bronze covering the space unoccupied by the intricate markings on it. An orb of blue-yellow energy calmly radiated its energy, the light reaching the far ends of the massive hall of the citadel.
Andras slowly approaches the weapon, calm and focused. Suddenly, the sword slowly levitated, hovering around a few feet above the floor it struck. Mechanical gears could be heard from within, and the blade split into five pieces, and surprisingly, each of them had a handle made of dark, varnished oak wood. They hovered around close to each other.
"This w-weapon… it is magnificent-"
Before Andras could finish his statement, the segments aimed straight towards him and knocked him off to his feet. As the Dark Lord was stunned form the sudden attack, the blades began to cut through the groups of demons, catching them unawares. They pierced through their bodies and amputated their limbs, and some of them scrambled in confusion and terror, trying to get out of the structure. Andras gets up and eyes the blades that broke through the ceiling and resumed their evisceration, scaring and terminating the Hellbats and Spitfires. Some of them tried to claw down the blade, but they could barely even touch it, finding themselves cut to ribbons and shreds.
"No… my pets! Don't you harm them!" Andras charges his dark aura and summons tendrils of void matter, seeking to restrain the blades and break them. However, as he caught one, it simply broke free, slicing through the tendrils of dark energy and ricocheted to Andras, the blades easily cutting through his obsidian armor. In desperation, the Dark Lord unleashes his aura, shaking the blades off. They then returned back to their original position, hovering above the humanoid symbol.
A blue streak of light suddenly descends from the hole in the ceiling, and the cyan outline of a figure picked up one of the pieces of the greatsword before dashing back to another. The figure caught the other blades and they merged as one before the mystery person lands to the ground, genuflecting on one knee with his blade held in his left arm, reared back.
Andras clears his vision and looks at the assailant in front of him. The cyan outline disappears as the figure reverts back to its original color…
It was a man, no… a young adult, with a handsome face and a moderate jawline. He bore long silver hair, fashioned with high fade and loose pompadour. He wore a shirt with a slightly plunging neckline, covered by a thick criss-cross pattern. The figure wore clean pants, and it was hard to distinguish whether it was made out of leather or denim. His combat boots were particularly shiny, somewhat immune to the dirt around.
In his right arm was a large gauntlet, bearing an artistic design that is similar to the greatsword. The same can be said for his shoulderguards. A black hand wrap covered his left forearm. The man wore a trench coat of intricate design, a silver badge on its left breast. In the back of the coat was a foreign pattern of silver streaks, and the ends of the clothing bore the same distinguishable pattern, the metal gleaming off despite the obvious lack of light sources within the hall.
Andras recklessly decides to charge at Alucard. The hunter throws his greatsword into the air and punches Andras back to his starting point. He catches the greatsword with his right arm and unleashes a destructive fission wave… a mixture of white light and void energy. Andras takes the full force of the wave, trying to block it, but portions of his armor forcibly shreds off, scattering to the floor. The large walls of the grand hall began to collapse outward, scattering down the hills and into the unlucky demons, the sounds of falling concrete, crashing marble and broken glass heard around the broken landscape. Andras clears the dust off the field and runs straight to him.
"Andras."
The Dark Lord stops as Alucard spoke, drawing his greatsword. "Andras… I now know."
"I assume she told you everything about me? Every lie?"
"Every truth. Don't twist the words."
"Hah!" Andras scoffs. "I am more reasonable than her, Alucard! What she says? It's all a wild delusion, an irrevocable idea!"
"Do you think you've thought any better? She has seen worse. She told me about your schemes in the Old War… the way you tricked Vexana, the tortures you set for Leomord… how you ended the lives of your own brothers, the ones who were understanding enough to stop you in your tracks."
"Then there would be no point in tricking you, then," the Dark Lord sighs. "The only way is to convince you, Alucard… And this is the proof!" He outstretches his arms, motioning around the once-beautiful kingdom.
"What do you wish to convey?" Alucard asked.
"Don't you see what's all around you? Destruction, spanning for miles, a home for guilt and endless despair… and chaos! It has barely been half the day, and this is what I have done… raze your proud structures off of the roots. My demons and I have slain all that have stood against me, all of them! And I let them do so in a brutal fashion, the language they speak. All of this… it's because of what? Some spark of 'hope', believing that you can stop the inevitable?"
"Then what is the inevitable? Why go beyond yourself to achieve something such as this?" the hunter questions. "Alice would rather drink the blood of the people instead of murdering them outright. Vexana would use her minions and gain more followers. Zhask would simply take the shards of the Gem and flee… but you seek to destroy… you sought to raze!"
Andras slowly walked around sideward, the clanging of the obsidian armor echoing. "Do you know of our end? When planets collide, when stars fade or turn into brilliant supernovas, and destroy everything in their wake? Do you know how many times Gaius has been threatened by the interstellar cosmic?! Your friends heard me right, Alucard. I do not cause suffering… I end it! If we keep enduring all of this nonsense, we destroy ourselves! We tear each other apart! Only when Gaius has fallen will we cease to exist… and so does all of the pain!"
"Andras-"
"Oh, don't deny it! All of the suffrage that this world has caused upon your fellow friends, upon their own family, it has warped their minds, and not for the better! And now, they all cling to false faith as they let themselves endure the cuts and bruises. Despite all vain efforts to unite, the Land of Dawn has fallen, and it's just you, me, and my pets."
"That's not true," Alucard replies. "You're lying!"
"I speak the truth! Then let us consider that the bastard goddess is right!" Andras continued. "This is how it ends… we fall to the void, and we become nothing! And who knows how we will perish?! Will the sun embrace the earth, turning this paradise of yours into a fiery inferno, or will the black holes emerge and break reality as we know it? The universe, despite being immortal, has a start, hunter, and soon, it will have an end, and end that I seek to bring to end our suffering early! Because from what I have learned, Alucard, after all of these millennia, toying with fate and the balance, after all of this madness that you accuse to me… is that NOTHING. LASTS! FOREVER!"
Alucard stopped in his tracks. He bent his head downward and looked down on the ground, the black sigil still prominent. At some standpoint, he knew Andras was correct. What if all of this bloodshed was pointless? What if this is what was meant to happen, all along? The end of all they know, drawing everything to a close? It seemed impossible to refute…
He sighed, closing his eyes. "Y-You're right…"
Andras perked up. "What?"
"You're right about what you said… nothing lasts forever. It's undeniable. One day, everything could be gone, nothing will survive…"
"Are you-"
"Not even love… not even hope, not even our own faith… Nor the pleasures, nor all of this grace. Not even mercy, not even happiness…"
"Ah… now we agree on something," Andras wholeheartedly says. "Now you see the bigger picture!"
"Not even peace… nor glory… not even hate."
"W-What?"
Alucard slowly raised his head and stared at Andras, the irises of his eyes glowing with blue energy. "Not even hate, nor disgrace, nor indifference, nor cowardice… nor the pain, nor the tears, not even sadness! Not even they thrive for eternity!"
"You-"
"You are right… no good thing lasts forever, Andras… But that doesn't mean we will be subject to just simply do the opposite of what is bearable… of what is pure! I now understand… whatever we do, in this world, or anywhere else, right here and right now, it will decide the fate of everything… and that's what matters! Maybe you are right. Maybe we've been too stubborn, changing our destiny, trying to find a way to escape and soothe ourselves. Maybe all of this is bound to happen at some point, but the two of us know that it's better knowing that we've done something instead of nothing!"
Andras couldn't speak. Alucard was backfiring everything that the spirit argued and expounded.
"All of this destruction… this pointless chaos… Maybe after all of this, it will be replaced by a rainbow, an era of peace and celebration. Maybe this is all just a nightmare… but it isn't! This is the truth, the reality of the world we tread on, Andras! You call us blind, you call us ambitious and hard-headed, trying to prevent you from causing all of this, but you are among us as well! We are so much more than what you say we are, because you only cling to one side of the story!"
"Light will cease along with Darkness, and that is truly so for eternity, until time itself withers away and left to rot in the void, but the end isn't what you should've laid your sights on! You should've acknowledged how far we would stride… how far we would sacrifice everything just to get to this point, and that is your grave mistake! Nothing lasts forever, Andras. But we… all of us… we can change the future! The world has brought us here to make us decide its own fate, to make one's dreams become reality… and if necessary… THEN I'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOU ALONG WITH ME IN ETERNAL NOTHINGNESS… YOU AND YOUR ACCURSED DREAM!"
Alucard raises his greatsword and strikes the ground, gripping the handle with both of his arms. On his back, two pairs of white, broad wings sprouted and fully extended, the feathers lined in perfect symmetry, bearing sharp patterns. The sphere of energy in the blade began to hum with power, blue and yellow streaks and clouds forming around it. The sigil on the floor began to blaze with blue fire, arcs and prominences of light illuminating the citadel ruins.
Andras was dumbfounded.
"You… I thought you would agree with me… BUT NO!" The Dark Lord suddenly grew in size, his armor expanding and increasing as well. He grew until he was four and a half meters tall, and he fashioned a humongous greatsword from the void and held it in his hands. "You're just like the rest of my brothers… their eyes tainted! And you, Alucard… I WILL FEED YOU TO THE WOLVES MYSELF!"
Andras charged, the ground slightly shaking, but Alucard doesn't budge from his stance, as if he was waiting for something to come. Suddenly, an unknown force pushes the Dark Lord down to his butt, causing the marble floor to creak.
The Child of the Fall smirked. "So, Chou, you feeling better?"
The kung fu boy landed on the ground, whooping loudly. "HELL YEAH, I'VE WANTED TO DO THAT FOR A LONG TIME!" He beheld the same appearance as the other heroes when Alucard was in the dream world, just an astral projection, but he felt as solid, as lifelike and as real as ever.
"Then wait in line for your next chance. More are coming."
"Sure- wait, did you say… 'more'?"
Alucard looked at Chou, making a sarcastic expression with his face. The Dark Lord tries to stand up, but a powerful lightning bolt puts him back down.
"We aren't late for the party, aren't we?"
Alucard looks at Eudora, Aurora and Gord. "Nope."
"Good… because the crashers are now right here!"
One by one, the projections of the heroes began to abruptly appear. Andras tries to phase through in a cloud of black smoke, but a streak of scarlet energy sends him backward.
"Well, here are some good news," Hayabusa began, Kagura beside him. "Not only are we still explosive… we have the weapons back." He pulls out his katana. "And also, the dirtbag's going down."
Zhao, Miya, Natalia, Tigreal, Freya, Sun, Karrie, Irithel, Lapu-Lapu, Bane, Yi Sun Shin, Alpha, Saber, Estes, Kaja, Bruno, Argus, Rafaela, Cyclops, Lolita… everyone was now standing beside each other, facing their greatest enemy. The skies were clear and the day has grown brighter. Herds of flying demons began grouping and coalescing to each other, snarling and roaring at the heroes that have returned. The Ravagers, Wretches, Reapers and Hellhounds have come back from their retreat, surging through the streets and avenues in order to climb back up to the ruins.
"This was the plan?!" Roger exclaimed. "Then I should've killed myself."
Franco guffawed, raising his hook. "Darn right, wolfy! But now… this is payback time!"
They all raised their weapons and prepared themselves as Andras conjured large weapons from the void, the demons now beginning to ascend.
"If you want it, then we can strike now," Uranus told Alucard. "We will never leave you."
"Thank you… all of you, guys… it's been an honor to be with you," Alucard greeted, pulling his greatsword out and pointing it towards Andras.
"Whenever you're ready!" Layla reminds, charging up her cannon.
"Time to go out, one last time!" Alpha yells, riding Beta and raising his spear. "FOR THE LIGHT!"
"FOR THE LIGHT!"
"AND FOR THE TRUTH THAT WILL SET US FREE!" Alucard voiced, an aura of blue flame enveloping him. "Now that you're all here with me… come on… Let's go end this son of a bitch!"
