Breath Of Fire II: War Of The Demons

by Magus523

Ages have passed since the Second Dragon War, and as the world moves towards its next great conflict, a young man named Ryu travels the roads seeking his fortune...

36. Chapter 33: The Undying

Chapter 33: The Undying

Maclean's private fishing spot was located in the far northeast, where the land of Tantar trailed off into a curving peninsula that had gained the nickname 'the end of the earth' on account of how its cliffs loomed for miles above the ocean, growing higher the further you went. For those who knew, however, there were pathways down through cleaves and canyons to small, isolated ledges near the surface of the waves below.

It was on one of these natural shelves that Ryu sat, staring out over the ocean with his fishing pole in his hands, his catches swimming in a barrel next to him. He had no idea how long he'd been there, and didn't care; he slept when he felt tired, and ate a fish when he felt hungry, though he didn't bother to cook it first. The rest of the time, he just kept fishing. It had been a hobby of his for his entire life, one that had been useful as well, but now it was a means to keep his mind blank and his thoughts absent.

No matter how out of it he was, however, it was still more than a little surprising when a stout young woman with jet-black hair climbed out of the ocean onto the ledge and shook herself off before walking towards him. She was human, but judging by her entrance and her appearance, she had blood from the piscine Maniro Clan; her features were broad and fishlike, and over her dress she wore the white apron that was practically said Clan's uniform.

"Are you Mr. Ryu Bateson, leader of the Dragonkin?" She asked him, opening the pouch of her apron-it seemed to have been sealed to make it watertight-and pulling out a pad of paper, a quill and a jar of ink, which she unstoppered.

"Yep," Ryu responded after a moment. "Who are you?"

"My name is Surfy Sarono, and I represent the First Bank of Prima," she explained. "Your new town in southern Auria has reached the appropriate size for us to open up a branch. I'll be running it. Is there a building that the First Bank will be able to purchase?"

"Should be several," Ryu told her. "You can choose whichever one you want. Talk to a man named Niro Mani; he'll handle the details, and he doesn't leave town often."

"Sign here, then, and I'll handle the rest with Mr. Mani," she replied, holding out the pen and paper. Dipping the quill into the ink, Ryu signed at the bottom without even bothering to read it; there was a good chance that would come back to bite him eventually, but at the moment he honestly didn't care. "The First Bank of Prima appreciates your cooperation." Putting everything away again, she started to walk up the ravine behind him, then paused. "Oh, while I'm here. What exactly is the name of your town? We've been unable to find out."

"It doesn't really have a name," Ryu said, slightly surprised; he'd never actually thought about that before. "I guess we should probably come up with one."

"It would be highly advisable," Surfy agreed. "You might also want to straighten out the issue of actually owning that land with Auria; for some reason, it keeps getting tied up in red tape, but eventually the government will come knocking on your door on that matter. Have a good day, Mr. Bateson."

"Duke Kilgore," Ryu muttered, thinking back on the elderly nobleman from his hometown who'd accidentally gotten Bow framed for robbery, and spent the next several months doing whatever he could to help the group in order to make up for it. Only afterwards had Deis told them that he'd been an agent of Ladon the entire time; he hadn't actually seen Kilgore since then, for several reasons, and he certainly wasn't in any mood to think about that now. Shaking his head, he went back to his fishing, only to see somebody else approaching beneath the waves.

"Hey there, kid," Gobi, a full-blooded Maniro Clansman Ryu had met many times before, said cheerfully as he pulled himself onto the ledge. Stout and elderly, his orange scales touched by silver and the white fins on his head long and floppy, he was still energetic and unflappable, traveling the world to sell his goods. "Been a while."

"That it has," Ryu agreed, staring out at the waves once more; he knew Gobi wouldn't be offended. More importantly, he had strong suspicions about the man who coincidentally kept running into him and his group in highly improbable places. A man who bore the same name, appearance, and personality as one of the heroes of the Second Dragon War, a companion and friend of his ancestor a thousand years ago, who was also somehow still alive. "Where have you been?"

"Ths Isle of Giants," Gobi replied. "Of course, we called it Pagoda, back in my day. Didn't want anybody forgetting that that right there was the actual place where the Goddess Myria was imprisoned. Guess that's not such a priority now that she's dead, though, and I suppose the new name is pretty accurate."

"Decided to drop the act, huh?" Ryu asked after a moment. "Hope you weren't expecting me to be surprised."

"Probably been a bit more obvious than I should have," Gobi admitted, sitting down next to him. "Never was all that good at subtlety." He was quiet for a few moments before speaking again. "Had a bad couple days, haven't you?"

"I failed her," Ryu told him quietly. "The only time I ever had to do something for her, without her holding up her own end right by my side, and I botched it. She's gone, and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Yeah, that's always rough," Gobi said sympathetically. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Keep moving forward, I guess," Ryu replied. "The plan's the same. The big picture hasn't changed. We still know what to do, and we're going to do it. I just... can't deal with that. Not right now. I need some time. You know?" He glanced at him.

"Your ancestor was the same way." Gobi nodded sagely. "We just stepped back and let him come to terms with it. Knew he'd return eventually, and that when he was, it would be back to work. Until then..." He shrugged.

"Yeah?" Ryu turned his gaze back to the waves. "He used to get like this, too?"

"Every now and then," Gobi said, his voice taking on a strange tone. "He was... is... different from you, kid. You've seen a lot worse than he has, but you take it better. You're better at handling it. Our Ryu, now... he was more volatile. Every so often, he'd go off by himself and brood. Only got this bad a couple times, though. The first one was when our Nina fell into a timewarp. That was bad, but it got better. We found her. Got her back."

"And the second?" Ryu asked, knowing already what the answer would be.

"The second time..." Gobi sighed. "Was after we figured out that the new guy in the Dark Dragons' Tiamat Unit was his sister Sara. That one... didn't get better."

"I imagine not." Ryu was silent for a while then, as was Gobi. Eventually, he spoke again. "Tell me honestly. Do we have a chance of making it out of this?"

"As long as you don't forget what's really important?" Gobi replied. "I'd give you two-to-one odds. Even against Infinity. Admittedly, you might be asking the wrong guy here; my sense of 'possible' and 'impossible' is a little skewed by now. But I'd still put my money on you, kid, and believe me, I like money."

"I'll just have to hope you know how to pick your bets, then." Ryu chuckled without humor, before frowning; something heavy had just pulled on his fishing line, but it didn't feel like a fish. It was too inert; there was no struggle, no sense of movement. "The hell?" Curious now, he slowly reeled it in, eyes widening as it emerged from the waves, caught on his hook.

It was a claymore, like the one Tiga had destroyed during their duel, but one glance told him that it was a blade like no mercenary had ever owned. Slightly wider near the tip than at the hilt, it gleamed in the sunlight in a way that was both alluring and unnatural, drawing the eye and repelling it at the same time. The hilt was made of gold, and at the crosspiece was a strange sigil, a black dragon roaring. The pommel bore a round stone like a blazing coal, orange and red, almost seeming to glow.

"Holy shit," Gobi whispered, as Ryu carefully pulled the sword in and took it from the hook.

"The balance is strange," he said, testing it with one hand. "But once I get used to it..." Examining the blade, he whistled. "I'm no smith, but the quality of this steel... this is the best sword I've ever seen in my life." A moment later, he realized what he'd just said, and turned his gaze upon Gobi again, who had actually gone pale. "This isn't a coincidence, is it?"

"Not even close," Gobi murmured, eyes still locked on the sword. "I just wish I knew whether it was a good sign, or a bad one. Of all the swords in the world, why that one?"

"You recognize it." Ryu looked back at the sword again. "Do I want to know whose it was?"

"I wouldn't," the old man said fervently. "I was there when my boss threw that thing into the ocean. If it were any other sword, I'd be asking how the hell it hasn't rusted, but that one... I don't like it, but I'm not surprised, either. Damn!" He rubbed the back of his head, still looking troubled. "Hope you don't mind, but I'd better move my tail back to the Isle of Giants and tell the rest of the guys. They're gonna want to know about this."

"I think I can trust you guys not to spread it around," Ryu said dryly. For some reason, now that he'd found the sword, his previous black mood was being burned away; not vanishing, but being replaced by a more familiar kind of anger, the kind that made him want to work it off through action. Glancing up, he saw that the sun was high in the sky. "Just wish I knew how long I've been out here."

"Monsieur Ryu?" A familiar voice called from up the canyon, and they both turned to see Jean approach somewhat hesitantly. "I hope I am not disturbing you, but it is nearing the time when we will need to depart, if we wish to take the Great Bird and meet up with the Renegades for the attack on Bando. Monsieur Bow sent me to see if you were ready to return." He blinked as he saw who else was there. "Ah, Monsieur Gobi! It has been some time, yes? Am I interrupting something?"

"Not really." Gobi shrugged. "I was heading out anyways. Good luck out there, kids. And watch your asses on this one. If there's one thing that sword reminds me of, it's the unpleasant fact that the past doesn't always stay buried like it should." Without waiting for a response to that, he dived back into the ocean and was gone.

"A new sword?" Jean glanced at it. "I take it that you did not purchase it from Monsieur Gobi?"

"No, I fished it out of the ocean," Ryu explained. "Improbable as that is. I'll have to get a new scabbard made for it." Slinging his fishing rod across his back, onto the strap he'd made for it crossing under his old scabbard, he glanced at his friend again. "Let's head back, then."

"As you wish, mon ami," Jean agreed, bowing his head. For a moment, Ryu thought he was going to ask if he was feeling better, but instead, the Prince simply Warped them back to the town, and the two of them walked back inside to find the rest of the team sitting around the table, waiting.

"Everybody ready?" He said after a long moment, during which he considered several things to ask or tell them, all of which he discarded. Even as they all nodded, however, he realized that that alone wasn't going to cut it, and took a deep breath. "All right. I'm not going to pretend things are okay, because we all know they're not. But right now, we've got a job to do, and somebody very important to all of us is waiting for us to show."

"Let's go give her some backup, then," Rand said, crossing his arms. "And if that purring playboy's so much as put a finger on her, I'll stuff him into a bottle and send him out with the Highlandian tide."

"Don't I wish." Ryu shook his head. "But as tempting as that sounds, we're probably going to need him. Let's head out."

"If nothing else, it will be good to see her again," Nina murmured, and Ryu could tell with just a glance that some of the walls around her heart and mind that he'd spent so long breaking down had rebuilt themselves during the time he'd been gone. As much as that galled him, however, he knew that asking her about it immediately would only make matters worse, and so he drifted back next to Deis instead as they all walked back outside, leaving Niro to start tidying up.

"Oh, by the way, some girl from the First Bank of Auria should be coming by pretty soon," he called to the old man off-handedly. "Says she'll be setting up a branch here."

"I'll take care of it," Niro yelled back. "You just keep your mind on what's important, son."

"Knew I could count on you," Ryu joked half-heartedly, before glancing at Deis. "How's Nina doing?"

"Shitty," the Sorceress said bluntly. "She's been taking this almost as hard as you have. Harder even than Rand, and him I had to stop from jumping Tiga. You know that Katt's like a daughter to him, even more than the rest of you brats. He's just been angry, but Nina... she spent most of her time in her room, and even when she did come out, she didn't talk much."

"Damn," Ryu grunted; it was bad enough that he'd failed one of the two girls that were so important to him, but the thought of doing so with the other as well, though to a lesser degree, was almost enough to put him right back into the mindless funk he'd been in for the last few days. "Seems like I can't do anything right recently."

"Screwing up is easy," Deis told him as Nina called the Great Bird down. "Making up for it is harder."

"Good thing I like a challenge, then." Ryu forced himself to smile.

"That's what I like to hear." She slapped him on the back. "Good to see you're putting yourself back together. So, where'd you get the new..." She trailed off, as she looked at the sword in his hand, and her eyes widened.

"Fished it out of the ocean." Ryu shrugged; as he'd told Gobi, he wasn't really sure he wanted to know who the sword's original owner was. "An old friend of yours was there. He pretty much had the same reaction."

"I should certainly hope so," Deis murmured, shaking her head. "I didn't see this one coming. Seems like that's happening to me a lot recently. And if I know Ladon, he won't be talking about it no matter how much anybody bugs him."

"Hey, you two!" Bow yelled; everybody else had climbed aboard the Great Bird already. "You gonna stand around chatting all day, or are we gonna go do our jobs?"

"Yeah, yeah," Deis shouted back as they climbed aboard, and the Bird took off with a happy chirp, unconcerned with their troubles. Nobody spoke much during the flight, and when they did, it was only idle chatter without much substance. Several hours and a quick lunch of traveling rations later, they finally reached the other side of the world, as the ocean gave way to land once more.

The wasteland of Scande, in the far southwest, was currently the least populated nation in the world. It had no true capital, or any actual government, since the departure of the Dark Dragon Clan who had once inhabited the region; like the Light Dragons in the north, they had all simply vanished one night, disappearing from the world and leaving an empty nation behind. The only reason it was still regarded as an independent country was due to the fact that no other nation wanted the land.

What had once been one of the largest countries in the world had been hit particularly hard by the frequent earthquakes that so often rearranged the planet's geography over the last millennium, leaving nothing more than a winding strip of land that weaved back and forth like a snake. Even that much of Scande was still a barren wasteland, forever scarred by the pollution left behind from the days when the Dark Dragons had founded an empire, intending to conquer the entire world in service to Myria, Goddess of Lies.

"Dismal place," Bow grunted as the Bird soared over barren dirt colored an unhealthy-looking dark magenta; there were no plants to be seen, and the only animals were the occasional monsters, all of them freakishly deformed. "I knew about it, but I didn't think it was going to be this bad."

"Did a stint in here, once upon a time," Sten muttered. "Had to track down and take care of a group of insurgents who ran down here after their little coup blew up in their faces. Lost more men to the environment than we did in combat. Never came back here a second time, and never regretted that."

"The Dark Dragon Empire really did a number on their homeland," Deis said, scowling. "After the Second Dragon War, I think they tried making up for it, but it was too little, too late." She glanced at Spar, who was looking slightly nauseated. "You okay?"

"I will survive, but this is..." The Grass Man groped for words. "Unpleasant, I suppose, is one way to put it. What plants remain here are highly warped, and the Breath of Nature cannot simply be turned off. The communion is..." It shuddered. "At any rate, it is currently two minutes to noon."

"That must be the place," Bow pointed out as they approached the end of the land. There, perched an equal distance from all three coastlines, a cathedral the size of a small castle loomed, alone in the wilderness. Despite its placid appearance, however, the walls looked thick, and the stained glass windows narrow. A pair of paladins in full plate mail flanked the huge double doors. "Should we just circle until it's time?"

"Might as well." Ryu glanced at Nina. "Do you think if you ask her to dive, she'll understand?" Before the Princess could answer, the Great Bird did so herself, its chirp sounding more like a hunting cry than usual.

"I believe that's a yes," Nina murmured, smiling sadly. "Even now, she wants to do everything she can to help us."

"We appreciate it," Ryu said somberly, forcing himself to focus on the job ahead; if he thought about Mina now, he'd fall into depression once more. "Spar, can you tell us exactly when noon hits? Down to the second?"

"I can, and will." The Grass Man nodded, and they all fell quiet as the Bird began circling the cathedral. If the paladins below noticed that anything was amiss, they showed no sign of it; even so, Ryu grew tense as he waited for the signal, until Spar finally spoke again. "Now!" As soon as it did, the Great Bird screamed and plunged towards the front of the cathedral.

"Ohhhhhhhh noooooooo!" Jean wailed, hanging on tight.

"Ready?" Ryu called, out, as the paladins looked up, and everybody shouted agreement, even the Prince. "Steady? Go!" The Great Bird leveled out a few feet above ground level, swooping past the paladins, and Ryu led the jump off as the Renegades began popping out of the air around them, Tiga in the lead. A multitude of emotions ran through Ryu's mind as he saw the burly Woren Clansman, but he shoved them aside; there was no time for that, not when they had business to deal with.

As his feet hit dirt, he caught Tiga's eye, and they both nodded slightly before charging together, each to a startled paladin. The enemy lowered his spear, and Ryu's sword slashed out, chopping the head from it with the screech of twisted metal. Undaunted, the paladin lashed out with the pole as if it had been a staff in the first place, and Ryu blocked it with one armored arm before resuming his attack. Unfortunately, the paladin was wary now, and chose to deflect his blows rather than trying to block them. Though the armored knight was clearly on the defensive, Ryu was unable to wound him, let alone kill.

And then, with a familiar whoop, Katt flung herself over his head in a spin that ended with a downward swipe of her battlestaff through the plate mail helmet, crushing it and the head within like an egg. The paladin crumpled, and she landed on her feet, shooting Ryu a grin over one shoulder.

"All right, you mugs!" Tiga roared, and Ryu spared a quick glance to see that he'd finished off his own opponent as well. "Get in there and take control of the upper levels! Try not to hurt anybody who looks like a civilian, but don't give any churchmen any leeway, especially the paladins! Anybody sees that asshole Manson, yell your head off! Do not try to engage him solo!"

"What he said!" Ryu agreed, looking over his shoulder as his group charged the front doors, the Renegades with them. As tempting as it was to join in, he remained standing there for a moment and glanced at Katt. "Hey."

"Hey," she replied, smile fading. "How's everybody doing?"

"Lousy," he admitted. "But as much as I'd like to talk about that..." He sighed.

"Yeah." She nodded, as Tiga walked over to them; he'd remained behind as well. "Business comes first."

"Exactly." Ryu turned his gaze to Tiga and forced a smile he didn't feel. "Everybody on your side ready for this?"

"More than." Tiga smiled back, inclining his head skyward, where the Great Bird was circling again. "Was that what I think it was? Can't say I was expecting that one. I didn't think the Wing Clan could do that any more."

"Long story," Ryu said bluntly, as Katt looked away. "Let's just say the cost outweighed the benefit."

"Gotcha." Tiga dropped his smile as well, shifting awkwardly on his feet. "Listen, Bateson. About... well, you know... stuff..."

"I'm not going to say I'm happy with it, because I'm not," Ryu told him bluntly. "But like Katt said. Right now, we've got a job to do, which means talking about our feelings and emotions and shit is a distinctly secondary priority. I'm still kind of pissed off at you, but I've got your back, all the same, and so will my people."

"And me and mine have yours." Tiga nodded, smile returning. "All righty, then. What say we get in there before everybody else hogs all the action?"

"Now that's something I think we're all on board with," Katt agreed, twirling her staff, and the three of them charged in, as surprised shouts began reaching their ears from further inside the church.

It turned out to be easier than Ryu had thought it would be to take control of the building itself. As massive as it was, it was mostly empty; in particular, there seemed to be an almost total lack of civilians present. From the main hall, the Dragonkin went right, and the Renegades left, clearing the first floor before moving on to the second and third. There were churchmen here and there, along with the occasional paladin, but none of them posed an actual threat to the two bands of highly skilled mercenaries. In less than half an hour, it was all over, and everybody convened back near the entrance.

"We've got a couple prisoners we shoved into a storage closet," Don reported, as everybody milled around the front hall. "They surrendered after seeing what we were doing to their paladins and the ones who resisted."

"Any lesser demons?" Sten asked, idly flipping a knife in the air.

"A couple." Tiga nodded, leaning against the back wall with his arms crossed. "They transformed when they figured out we meant business. Both of them were some kind of furry... elephant... man... things." He struggled with that for a moment more before giving up and continuing. "Used earth magic, and hella strong, too."

"Not strong enough, though?" Deis guessed.

"How'd you know?" Big P chuckled nastily.

"We've seen that particular variant before," Spar murmured; the description was similar to M.C. Tusk, who the group had freed him from. "They focus entirely offense. In layman's terms, they can dish it out, but they have a great deal of trouble taking it. Tragic."

"Yeah, I'm drowning in my tears here," Jasmine grunted.

"No sign of Manson?" Ryu asked, and everybody shook their heads. "All right, then. Looks like we're gonna have to head into the basement and flush the rest of the rats out. He's not getting away from us this time."

"Damn straight." Katt cracked her knuckles, scowling. "Long past time for that bastard to pay his bills, and we're here to collect."

"Sounds like whatever he did to you in Windia wasn't just business." Tiga raised an eyebrow.

"No." Nina closed her eyes, and though her face was calm, everybody near her took a step back; even the Renegades could sense the ice-cold black wrath emanating. "It was personal."

"Oh." Tiga's eyes widened in sudden comprehension, and he glanced out the window for a moment before slowly nodding. "Sorry. All right, you guys get first crack at him."

"Appreciated." Bow reloaded his crossbow. "Shall we, then?"

"Uh, one problem." Goof raised his hand. "If he's in the basement, that's all well and good, but... how do we get in there?"

Everybody in the room considered this for a moment.

"Stop me if I'm getting this wrong," Rand said eventually. "But I always thought that was kind of a straightforward concept. We find some stairs here, leading downward, and... we go down them. Pretty hard to get that one wrong."

"If there were stairs," Max explained. "But we've combed the whole building, and nobody's found any."

"Any chance your source was full of it?" Sten asked, glancing around the hall.

"Not after what we did to him." Tiga shook his head. "Especially when it was Smith's turn. She got really into it. I just hope it was just because he was a demon, and not for... unrelated reasons."

"You know, that's something I could have cheerfully gone my whole life without thinking about," Ryu muttered, grimacing.

"Ditto." Katt made a face, turning to a massive statue of St. Eva behind the altar. "Bleah! This sucks!" Drawing back her foot, she kicked irritably at the stone base of the statue, and it smashed as if it had been made of paper, revealing a ladder leading downward into a dark hole.

Everybody stared at that for a moment with commenting.

"Ah, luck is on our side!" Jean exclaimed, breaking the silence. "What a fortunate turn of affairs, yes?"

"That's my girl!" Tiga agreed, pounding Katt on the back. "Way to go!"

"All right, let's get moving," Ryu said roughly, ignoring the urge to stab the Woren Clansman in the face repeatedly. "The three of us in front, if it's wide enough down there?"

"Exactly what I was thinking." Tiga grinned again. "Time for round two."

"No arguments here." Katt dashed over to the ladder and began hopping down, three rungs at a time. Tiga and Ryu followed, somewhat less agilely, and the others came after them, with some grumbling over the bottleneck. At the bottom, they emerged in a long, empty stone hallway, three men wide. Torches were installed to provide light, magically enchanted not to give out, and alcoves lined the walls between them, cast into shadow.

"We'd better check every one," Ryu muttered, as Katt and Tiga flanked him, both nodding. They advanced down the hallway, keeping their eyes out for a sneak attack, only to pause as another paladin walked out of an alcove ten feet away and stood in their path, hand on his sword.

"I cannot allow you to go any further," he said, drawing the blade. "Your lives and souls are forfeit for this blasphemy against St. Eva. Prepare to die, and suffer eternal damnation."

Everybody exchanged glances. There were a few snickers.

"Laugh all you want!" The paladin roared. "You shall not pa-"

Before he could finish, sword, fist, and battlestaff all slammed into him in the same moment as a torrent of black magic and long-range weaponry, with an overall effect similar to a snowman being set on fire.

"It is occasionally difficult to remain optimistic about the basic intelligence inherent to all men," Jean said wistfully.

"Gonna assume that means 'even I knew that was stupid,' pal," Big P grunted. "'Cause I did."

"Is there anybody else here who would like to get this over with?" Tiga bellowed. "Come on out, and we'll have you in the arms of your so-called God in ten seconds flat!"

In response, a pillar of gray fog rose around him, taking the shape of silent, screaming skulls as it raced upwards. As Tiga fell forward, completely unconscious, a priest in humble brown robes and a blue cloth headband bolted out of an alcove towards the barred door at the far end of the tunnel. His shaggy hair was a dark blue-black, and his face and body both so gaunt as to give him the appearance of a walking-or, in this case, running-corpse.

"Manson!" Nina screamed furiously, summoning ice magic so powerful it took physical shape, an elemental in the form of a wolf who leapt for the fleeing priest, jaws gaping and emanating frigid gas. Before it landed, however, Manson was able to slam the door behind him, and it smashed against the portal, dissolving into a sheet of ice two feet thick that covered the entire wall.

"Follow that asshole!" Ryu yelled, as Mick revived his leader while Deis swore under her breath and destroyed both ice and door with a quick fireball, revealing another staircase behind them. As they raced towards it, however, a swarm of bright green lights began appearing. In moments, they grew into sickly, hovering fireballs, each with two smaller ones orbiting it. As they flickered around, Ryu felt his head grow light, and his breath slowed.

"Evil spirits!" Don snarled. "They're draining our life, but this'll take care of 'em!" Muttering under his breath, he cast the same holy magic that Jean had used in Thieves' Tomb, but though the fireballs paled in the rainbow light, it faded and they did not. "What the hell?"

"Warded against holy magic!" Deis told him. "This guy's good! Power up the others instead!" She raised her staff, as did Jean his rapier and Spar its whip, and red light began glowing around Ryu, Katt and Sten. The Renegades did the same with Tiga, Goof and Gaston, as Ryu felt his strength return to him, and proceeded to hack the nearest spirit in half. Despite the improbability of bisecting a green fireball, it worked; the spirit dimmed, and then disappeared. He moved onto another, as did the others, and soon they had the room cleared.

"All right, let's..." He started to say, then stumbled, wooziness returning. "Huh?"

"Here." Bow healed him, as the others crumpled as well. "White magic all around, guys. That spell only boosted offensive strength, buddy. You felt better, but those things kept on leeching you."

"I hate shit like that," Gaston grumbled as Mick healed him.

"Who doesn't?" Sten quipped before growing serious again. "Come on, he's getting away!"

"Oh, no he's not." Ryu shook his head as he and the two Woren Clansmen raced down the stairs, their teams behind them. "Not this time."

They emerged into a place of horror. Barred cells lined both walls, some filled with prisoners, others with instruments of torture. Those that were recognizable were the least horrifying; as hideous as the rack, the press, the iron maiden and so on were, at least Ryu knew what they did. Other devices were far more complex, bizarre and hideous, their jagged edges and strange barbs drawing the eye despite one's best efforts. Dried blood was everywhere, and the stench of rotten meat; obviously, cleaning their tools had not been a priority of the paladins present here.

What caught Ryu's attention, however, were the guards. Though they wore plate mail, they were clearly no paladins; the armor was floating in the air, disconnected pieces bobbing in formation, and a single glowing red eye filled each helmet.

"Warded!" Deis snapped, as the Renegades' offensive mages started to cast. "This is really starting to piss me off!"

"Take 'em apart the hard way, then!" Tiga roared, catching a sword in his bare hands as it descended, only to be slammed into the floor. Before it could finish him off, however, Ryu and Katt both fell upon it, and proceeded to rip it limb from limb while Spar immobilized the other with his whip, allowing Goof and Gaston to smash it easily. Wincing, the Woren Clansman got back up, bleeding from both arms and his chest. "Thanks, guys. Yo, Mick!"

"On it, boss!" Mick called out, healing him. "Looks like they were the only ones here."

"Help us!" A woman in one of the cells called out; all of the prisoners looked emaciated, unhealthy and unwashed. "Please, let us out, whoever you are!"

"We'll get you in a second!" Jasmine promised. "Soon as we deal with the man in charge!"

"No, please!" An old man begged. "If you leave us, the dark paladins will come back!"

"Shit!" Tiga thought it over for a moment, then glanced at Ryu. "Well? I don't see any switches. We'd have to do a search."

"Let's do it," Ryu said, meeting Nina's eyes. "Manson isn't going anywhere. We've got time."

"You sure?" Don asked skeptically. "Could have a secret way out down here he's running for."

"No." Deis shook her head. "Not him. Not now. Whatever he's up to, it's not trying to escape."

"What they said," Tiga agreed. "Start looking, folks. There's gotta be a secret way to open them around here somewhere."

"Thank you!" A young man sobbed. "Father Manson said he was going to take us to Evrai, but then he brought us down here instead!"

"The Father is insane," a nun agreed; despite her holy garb, she and another one looked in just as bad shape as the rest of the prisoners. "He's always been strange, but this is madness!"

"Found it," Sten grunted, pulling on a torch. It swung down like a lever, lowering the bars of the cell nearest to it, which was dark and empty... for a moment, until a horde of screeching giant spiders poured out, their flesh gray and rotting. Yelping, the Highlander scampered away, and the spiders swarmed towards everybody.

"Oh, come on!" Little P yelled. "Even the spiders are undead?"

"This, we can deal with!" Nina shouted, and the black mages all moved forward. Combining their wills, they summoned up flames from five spots each to form pyramids of roaring fire, interlocked with each other into a single titanic inferno that turned every last one of the monster to ash.

"Ah, I see!" Jean burst out, pulling on another torch and opening another cell. "They are all like this, yes?" Soon, all of the cells were open; the first one had been the only trap.

"You've saved us!" One woman cried, clutching another her age. "Who are you?"

"Exterminators," Katt quipped. "And this is a bad case."

"Then allow us to thank you properly," the other nun said sweetly, as her habit shimmered, and a spear suddenly appeared in her hands, plunging into Ryu's shoulder. "By giving your souls to God!"

"He will feel your hatred, and your despair!" The old man shouted, his own spear catching Tiga in the side, as the illusions covering them both vanished, revealing them as more paladins.

"Shit!" Ryu stumbled, as did Tiga. Before they could get back up, however, the rest of the group fell upon them, howling angrily, and things proceeded predictably from there.

"You all right?" Katt asked quickly once the paladins were dead.

"Heal me up, and I'll be fine," Tiga grunted, leaning against a wall; the brawler was sweating heavily all of a sudden, and what little skin was visible beneath his fur was starting to mottle. "Weird, though. Got a headache, all of a sudden."

"You too?" Ryu groaned, feeling himself start to sweat as well as his head began to pound. For some reason, he suddenly felt ravenously hungry. "Could go for a bite, too..."

"Aw, crap!" Rand yelled. "Zombification again! Must have been something on those spears!"

"No worries." Bow held up his hand, and as purifying light covered him, Ryu felt the effects fade away. "After that mess on Mt. Maori, I studied up. Made sure to learn a spell that could cure that, in case it happened again." Turning to Tiga, he repeated the treatment, then stumbled. "Burning through a lot of magic, though. Gonna have to take some Wise Fruit."

"On me, man." Max tossed him a couple of dried berries. "Me and Mick don't know that one."

"Owe ya one, Dogi," Tiga agreed, before glaring at the other nun, who shrank back. "Anybody else want to try anything?"

"Please, don't..." She whimpered. "I just wanted to worship St. Eva... I didn't... I never knew..." She sank down to her knees.

"Let it go," Ryu told Tiga shortly, and the other man nodded, stepping back. "All right, people, head on up! Nobody up top's going to hurt you now. Wait there, and we'll see what we can do to get you back to civilization once we're done here. Now get going!" Even as he said it, his eyes fell upon one of the prisoners, and he raised his hand, pointing at her. "All except you. You, hold on a second."

"Do I know you?" She asked, frowning, as the other prisoners rushed towards the stairs. She was the only one of them who didn't look abused; apparently she'd been hiding in the back of a cell at first. A pale young woman scantily clad in white, she wore scraps of light plate armor that seemed to serve mainly as decoration, and for the few scraps of cloth keeping her decent to attach to. Her hair was short and brown, the same color as her eyes, wide and innocent.

"No, but we might know you," Bow said, also picking up on what Ryu had noticed. "I don't suppose there's any chance the words 'Fusion Clan' mean anything?"

"Oh, it's you," she said flatly, crossing her arms over her chest, which prompted disappointed muttering from most of the Renegades. "You're the ones my cousins are living next door to, I take it?"

"That would be us, yes," Spar agreed, looking curious. "I must inquire. How exactly did one such as yourself get into this predicament?"

"I thought this would be a holy place," she snapped. "Duh. But of course, it turns out my granny was right about St. Eva. Just like she is about everything. I guess I'd better get back to her, but don't go getting any ideas. I'm not going to fuse with just anybody, and if they think they're getting anything more than that, they can forget it!"

"Uh." Tiga blinked; he'd been maintaining eye contact, but it had looked difficult. "Fuse?"

"Long story," Katt muttered. "I'll explain later."

"Wait, wait, wait." Bow held up a hand. "Let me get this straight. You don't like doing that?"

"Ugh, no." She made a face. "What part of 'holy' don't you understand? I'm not interested in men or women, no matter how good they smell." She gave him a significant glance. "I'll fuse, if Granny tells me to, but it's not going to get personal."

"Holy shit," Katt whispered to Nina. "I think one of them is actually sane."

"That seems to be the case," Nina murmured back.

"Lady, you have no idea how much we are in agreement with you," Bow said fervently. "You keep it on that basis, and we are going to get along just fine."

"Speak for yourself," Sten muttered, and received a boot from Katt for his input. "Oof!"

"Glad to see some things never change," Rand commented, prompting a glare from Sten.

"Oh." The girl seemed nonplussed, but recovered quickly. "Well, good. My name's Seny, by the way. I'll see you back in town, I guess." She flickered, and then vanished as if she'd been a mirage.

"That must be some story," Tiga said after a moment. "We done here?"

"Yeah." Ryu nodded. "Come on. Let's finish this." Proceeding down the hall, they opened the door there, only to be blown back by a burst of power as a pair of flaming horrors exploded out from it. Masses of living fire surrounding horned humanoid skulls, ribcages and spinal columns, they screamed from fanged mouths dripping ash and advanced. As the brawlers charged, each drew a floating hand back before lashing out at the air with a single finger extended, producing another wave of force that slammed everybody all the way back down the hall and into the wall.

"Let me guess," Don grunted. "Warded?"

"You're learning," Deis told him as crossbow bolts, daggers, darts and arrows flew through the air, nailing both monsters to the far wall by their bones; once the skeletal remnants had been removed from the flames, they went out instantly. Shaking themselves off, they all walked back over and proceeded down the stairs.

A vast cavern awaited them at the bottom; it looked to be at least a mile across, in any direction, even vertical. Both the top and the bottom were lost in total darkness. Ahead of them, a long stone bridge extended hundred of feet before splitting to the left and right, which both then turned again to go forward and form a square. At the center of the far side, the path led back to the center, where an island in the darkness rose from the depths. Dozens of massive stone statues, each twenty feet tall and carved to resemble a grim, robed figure in mourning, loomed on the island.

"Nowhere to run from here," Ryu noted before raising his voice. "All right, Manson! Get out here and face the music! Or would you prefer Necromanson?"

"Guessing that's his real name?" Tiga asked.

"That seems to be the case," Spar murmured.

"Who are you?" The old man's voice echoed around the chamber, though he remained unseen. "Why have you desecrated this holy place? You don't seem to be burglars... are you heretics, then, with an illogical hatred of our God?"

"He's gotta be hiding among those statues," Tiga said as they ran forward. "Just ignore him. We'll see how chatty he's feeling after we flush him out!"

"Am I making you angry?" Manson taunted them, his voice still calm. "I apologize, but you must know that your actions are unjustified. Why do you persist in your blasphemy against God?"

"Play innocent all you want, asshole," Katt shouted back. "You think we don't already know what you are? After what you did in..." She broke off suddenly, shooting a guilty glance towards Nina, before continuing. "After what we saw on the way down here?"

"You sound angry, young lady," Manson replied, and his voice began to take on a more obviously mocking tone. "Have we offended you with God's work here in Bando? I apologize. But you see, it is my sworn duty to supervise those who wish to travel to Evrai, and live within the holy city. That is the reason I have been placed here."

"We'd better keep him talking," Ryu said quietly, against his own better judgment. "Sounds like he might spill something about Evrai if we let him." He raised his voice then as they reached the juncture, and split up, the Dragonkin going left and the Renegades right. "Don't give us that crap! You expect us to believe that those poor saps in those cells were going anywhere?"

"Of course they will," Manson said, a hideous amusement entering his voice. "After all, they made the pilgrimage here, through the wasteland of Scande, did they not? Such diligence must be rewarded, and after all, God is nothing if not just. However, before their journey, they must become... prepared for what lies ahead of them."

"Oh yeah, everybody knows how educational a few hours in an iron maiden can be," Bow shot back. "Why, I'll bet we'll start seeing them in all the schools soon enough!"

"Oh, I'm not referring to their bodies," Manson explained. "Their souls are what must be conditioned. You see, the soul of the ordinary person is unable to endure life in Evrai. The strain is simply too much for them to bear, and so they perish, and while their soul naturally becomes God's power... logically, there must be a better way, don't you think? It was this problem that Father Habaruku set me to solving, here in Bando, and I'm happy to report that I succeeded in my quest."

"You mean the magic field around Evrai?" Tiga asked, doing an excellent job of sounding confused. "Isn't that just to keep people from leaving, once you go in?"

"I assure you, that is only the most basic of its functions," Manson gloated. "When I saw it for the first time, it banished all doubt from my mind that Father Habaruku was the greatest magician who ever lived. All of Evrai, enclosed within the magic generated by its own very existence, is a beacon for our God. It is a light in the darkness, beckoning him forth from the void beyond life, powered by the endless worship of those who live there. The more worship that can be generated by Evrai, the more powerful our God becomes, and the sooner he will appear in this world."

"Shit," Sten snarled. "That's why he's breaking them, before he sends them to Evrai."

"Did you know that everybody has a limit?" Manson continued, as the group kept going along the bridges. "A point at which they simply cannot take any more, at which pain and suffering simply causes the sentient mind to shatter like glass? And did you know that in the highly religious, that phenomenon will often result in frenzied, repetitive, mindless prayer? With no sense of self, no comprehension of logical thought remaining, such dedicated worshipers are the ideal citizens of the holy city. Some of them have even lasted almost a year before giving up their souls as a final sacrifice!"

"Almost there," Ryu told his team as they rounded the second corner on the left side; several of them were actually trembling with anger at every word the priest spoke. "We'll make him regret-"

"Hold it!" Tiga yelled, and the Renegades skidded to a halt, as did the Dragonkin a moment later. "Something's coming out of there!" He was right; a low, hideous moaning was emerging from the darkness below the bridges, slowly growing louder.

"Of course, not everybody is a success," Manson explained, as everybody stared down into the pit. "Some of my students fail the test, so to speak, and simply become completely mindless husks. At that point, all I can do is cut my losses, and extract the souls... leaving the bodies behind for me to use for my own purposes. Come on up, children, and say hello to our guests! Necromanson, Necromanson, Necromanson!"

The creatures rising from the pit were dead; that much was obvious. They'd been dead for a long time. And yet, still they continued to climbed up the solid stone, half-skeletal fingers clawing at the brickwork and pulling themselves upward despite visible, rotting muscles. Empty eye sockets staring upward, hanging jaws rattling in hideous parodies of laughter, the corpses rose from both sides of both bridges, all along the length.

"Undead," Ryu muttered under his breath. "I hate the undead."

"Looks like we're going to have to cut our way through!" Tiga yelled, as the crawling corpses began to reach for them. Drawing their weapons, the more physically-oriented members of both groups began hacking, slashing, jabbing and stabbing, while the offensive mages cast fire and holy magic.

Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that these were far more dangerous than normal undead. No matter what was done to them, every part of them continued to attack; severed hands crawled like spiders, heads pulled themselves along by their teeth and tongues, legs flailed around like animated clubs. Even headless, limbless torsos, if they'd managed to get up onto the bridge, kept heaving themselves forward, somehow sensing the living and attacking. Projectiles were useless; the corpses simply ignored anything that did not destroy their bodies outright.

"Shit, these guys just don't quit!" Katt snarled, impaling one through the gut on her battlestaff. Raising it into the air, she flung it off back into the abyss, but in that time two more had drawn closer, even as a severed hand began to clutch at her feet. "What's wrong with these things?"

"Screw!" Deis snarled, raising her staff. Three massive, flaming hands erupted from the ground, arcing like a wave before breaking over a good half-dozen of the undead. Even as they burned, however, they continued to lurch forward, and everybody was forced to back away to avoid being set on fire themselves.

"This ain't working!" Rand yelled. "For every one of 'em we take down, two more crawl out of there from both sides!"

"They'll overrun us, at this rate!" Mick agreed. "They just keep coming!"

"If we get to the island, can you guys hold them off?" Ryu yelled at Tiga.

"Yeah, but how are we gonna..." Tiga started to snap, glancing over his shoulder as he tore a corpse in half with his bare hands, before his eyes widened as the light dawned. "Oh, yeah! Yeah, that'll do it! Sure you don't wanna save that for Manson, though?"

"I'll just have to scarf some Wise Fruit," Ryu replied, as the power rose within him, and he transformed into the drake of flame.

"Everybody, hit the deck!" Bow yelled, and both Renegades and Dragonkin dove to the bridge as Ryu flew out over the island, turned, and let loose with all his firepower directly between the two groups where the greatest mass of the undead had gathered. The blast cleared the path, save for a few stray parts, and they quickly cleared those off as they ran down towards the junction, pursued by the undead behind them.

"Go on ahead!" Tiga yelled as Ryu landed, returning to his human form. The Dragonkin kept running, joining him, while the Renegades held their ground at the point where bridge met island. "We'll keep 'em off of you!"

"Thanks!" Ryu nodded at him, irritation at having to rely on him mixed with gratitude for the help, before turning to the statues. "All right, Necromanson! Get out here and get it over with!"

"I suppose I do owe that much, as thanks for taking out some of my trash," Manson replied, stepping out from around a pillar; though his face was calm, his features were so sunken he almost seemed to be grinning skeletally through his cheeks. "I've been so busy with my duties as a clergyman, I'm out of practice with my old specialties. It's taking me a while to get the knack back, so to speak, and those ones were quite useless."

"That is quite enough," Nina said coldly. "I advise you to transform while you can." Raising her hand, she brought down spears of lightning, all of which slammed into him from different angles above. "Not that it will do you much good in the end."

"So testy," Manson hissed as he writhed, smoking; despite his throes of agony, his voice was still calm. "I wonder, could I have possibly done something to offend you personally? Ah, yes, now I remember." He stood back up straight again, sunken eyes beginning to glow red. "I made a trip to Windia recently, during which I paid off an old debt. You see, in my youth when I was young and reckless, I did the royal family a great disservice. That injustice has troubled me ever since, and it did my heart good to finally absolve it. I must admit, I'm surprised you didn't recognize me, Mister Bateson, Miss Windia. I'm aware that a millennium is a long time, but I thought you would remember."

"A millennium ago?" Ryu repeated, thoughts racing despite his instinctual desire to ignore the banter; he'd read a couple of history books recently, about the adventures of his ancestors "That would be around the time of the Second Dragon War. Deis?"

"No idea," she told him, shaking her head. "It must have been from before I woke up."

"Before you woke up," Spar repeated, voice unusually cold. "An enemy of the house of Windia. I heard stories of such a one, when I was young, whose infamy spread even among my people. Manson, the mad magician, of the twin towers of Karma."

"Of course," Ryu snarled, bouncing his palm off of his forehead before glaring at the priest. "Hate to break it to you, but it doesn't work that way. We're not the ones who killed you a thousand years ago, and if you wanted revenge against them, you missed your chance while you were focusing on us. And now, we're going to kill you before you get another shot. You've lost your touch, magician."

"The wizard of Karma, if you please," Manson replied, his tone still gloating. "And when did I say anything about revenge? I was being honest when I spoke of my crimes against the royal family. When Father Habaruku came to me, as my pitiful remnants slowly regenerated from my duel with your ancestors, and spoke to me of God, I felt a great change come over my heart. I had never really believed in Ladon, but St. Eva's teachings touched my soul. Truly did I repent the evils of my past, and seek to redress the wrongs I did to the royal family."

"The wizard of Karma," Bow muttered. "I read about him once. Wasn't he some lunatic scientist who was trying to create the 'ultimate undead' with funding from the Dark Dragon Empire? Went so far as to use himself as a test subject?"

"That would be correct," Nina told him, voice growing even darker and colder than before. "A great deal of things begin to make sense now. My father's illness... Xeon poison, just like the king during the Second Dragon War."

"When I heard of the misfortunes that had befallen the royal family in this time, I knew that my chance to repent for my sins had come," Manson kept going. "Such a sad tale, of a young girl forced into exile because of a pathetic superstition. I knew in my heart that St. Eva had chosen me for this task. It was complicated, and took a great deal of effort, but in the end, my work paid off. You will be able to ascend the throne, in time, as your parents' heir, and prove the superstition that ruined your life to be false." His lips parted, and now he grinned openly. "Aren't you going to thank me?"

Screaming wordlessly, Nina struck with electricity once more. A few small bolts struck, before a gigantic pillar of lightning fully ten feet thick surged out of the darkness above and bore down on Manson like a charging bull. When it passed him, nothing remained but a charred black skeleton.

"Hey!" Tiga yelled, looking over from where he and the Renegades were still holding off the undead. "I get that he pissed you off, but how are we supposed to interrogate him if he's wasted?"

"If only that were the case, mon ami," Jean said calmly, as Nina began breathing heavily. "Unfortunately, I doubt it. This form he takes is but an illusion; its destruction will not last."

"Hahahahaha..." Manson's skeleton laughed as it stood back up, muscle and organs and blood and flesh growing around it again in seconds. "I'm not quite sure which of you is stupider, actually. Against another Demon Lord, that might have sufficed. But I am different, for I was dead before I sold my soul, and dead I remain. I am Necromanson, Demon Lord of Pestilence, and I am the ultimate anti-lifeform. I have no need for you, or your destiny; in time, I shall surpass even Habaruku and Barubary, and present our God with a world of the dead to worship him unto eternity!"

With a grotesque series of ripping and tearing noises, he began his transformation, but it was not his newly regenerated flesh that changed shape. Only his bones flexed and formed, shifting and expanding, bursting through his body like a rotten fruit and splattering blood and flesh. Only his veins and internal organs remained inside the bones, growing and expanding along with them as his skeleton continued to change, growing larger, until he was the size of a cart.

Moments later, he loomed over them, a skeletal dragon with a face halfway between the skulls of a human and a reptile, somehow bearing the most hideous traits of both. He hunched on his legs, both them and his arms now ending in claws, the latter of which grasped repeatedly, automatically, at the air. He'd sprouted the framework of wings, with ragged tatters of bleeding meat draped between them; more gore dripped from other bones as well. His back was covered with a leprous-looking purple growth, from which two spurs of bone emerged, and his organs pulsed within his ribcage.

"I see what you meant when you said Demon Lords were a step up," Tiga called to them weakly. "Glad I'm letting you guys do it."

"Yeah, this is pretty much going to suck," Katt called back to him, offhand, before turning back to Necromanson and twirling her staff. "For some people more than others."

"I must disagree!" Necromanson hissed, bleeding, empty eye sockets glowing with flashing red light that emanated from his ribcage as well. His jaws gaped open, and noxious brown gas poured out, clouds spreading over the group gathered around him.

"Not this shit again!" Ryu groaned. "What is it this time? Knockout gas? Poison?" Before anybody could answer him, a familiar sickly feeling came over him, and he glanced around in terror as everybody started to turn purple. "Aw, no."

"Are you kidding me?" Bow demanded, coughing as he started to cast a cure. "Come on, Rand! We gotta get this cured before..." He fumbled in his pocket, then cursed. "Shit! My Wise Fruit!"

"Oh, come on," Nina snapped, doing the same.

"Huh?" Ryu blinked for a moment before realizing what they meant. Checking the pocket where he'd kept his own supply, he swore as well; it was missing. "Damn!"

"Fools!" Necromanson laughed. "You were so busy fighting off my children's attacks, you never noticed those who were more subtle when they grew close!" Leaning forward, he began slashing at them with his claws, which Ryu and Katt both blocked, knocking them flying back. "And your pitiful white mages will never cure all of you in time!"

"He's right," Deis groaned, leaning on her cane. "It's already setting in. We'll be mindless horrors in about half a minute."

"And even if we did cure everybody, it'd wipe out all our magic," Rand added, healing Katt. "All he'd have to do is do that again, and we'd be screwed."

"Seems to me like the decision's obvious, then, isn't it?" Sten said coldly, glancing at Spar; even the Grass Man had began transforming. "No time for being sentimental, or for arguing. We gotta keep who's the most important."

"The most useful," Spar agreed, snapping its whip. "As for us, should we lose consciousness, we will be no threat until we are healed. Coming, Jean?"

"I do not know quite what you are saying, but I will gladly sacrifice myself for my friends, and hope that it is only temporary!" The Prince stood next to them, and all three of them rushed Manson.

"Wait, hold on!" Ryu yelled, as Bow cured him.

"Sorry, boss!" Sten held the hilt of one of his knives between his teeth as he drew a third, and cast a triangular wave of fire over the Demon Lord. "Put me down for one count of insubordination!"

"Amusing!" Necromanson gloated, as the fire rushed over him. "Aaaaah, the pain! It's been so, so long since I felt that sensation!" His bones flaming, he leaned forward and met their desperate charge, clawing and biting as Sten and Jean assailed him with blades, and Spar with magic; the Grass Man's whip would be ineffective as well as flammable, but it was able to call up a head of ice that put out the fire and chilled the Demon Lord's bones with its breath.

"Shit!" Katt snarled, as Necromanson's jaws closed on Jean and thrashed him about before flinging him away to slam into a statue, headfirst. "There's got to be something we can do!"

"We can make him pay for this shit," Ryu growled, watching as Spar went down under the Demon Lord's claws, falling forward; fortunately, the injuries didn't look mortal, especially considering he wasn't even sure if the Grass Man had internal organs. "Just a damn shame I can't give him a second dose of the Breath of Fire... aw, no! Look out!"

"Heh..." Sten chuckled, his voice dry and ghastly, as he suddenly stopped hacking at Necromanson with his knives and turned his head around, a skeletal leer now frozen on his features. His skin had darkened to a deeper purple, and his eyes gleamed, white and shiny. "Heh heh heh heh heh!" Twisting around, limbs bending unnaturally, he ran towards them, dropping his knives and flailing his arms around.

"I got 'im," Deis said, voice blank, as she raised her cane. Fog rose around Sten in a pillar, shaped like skulls, and he pitched forward, unconscious; despite its name, the Death spell only knocked its target out.

"And I've got him!" Nina shouted, triple hands of fire as broad as Rand's shoulders rising from the abyss behind her and arcing over them all to smite the Demon Lord.

"Talented, aren't you?" Necromanson chuckled, eyes flashing again, as he burned once more, the flames racing over his skeleton giving him an even more horrifying appearance. "Why don't you taste that one yourself, then, Sorceress!" A second, identical spell coalesced about Deis, but this time, when it faded away, she remain upright.

"Nice try!" She snarled scornfully as Ryu and Katt ran forward again. "Did you really think that would work on me?"

"I suppose I should have known better," Necromanson admitted, stalking forward to meet them with his claws; the skeletal limbs lashed out with unnatural speed and strength, forcing them both backwards. "I'll try somebody else, then!" The light in his eyes flickered a third time, and another Death spell coalesced, this time on Rand. Without a word, the big man pitched forward, out like a light.

"I'll get him back up!" Bow said, firing his crossbow between the Demon Lord's ribs. "Keep him off of me!"

"Right!" Katt snarled, getting back up and charging again, slamming the butt of her battlestaff down on one claw, and pinning it to the floor. "Ryu!"

"Gotcha!" Turning away from the left claw, Ryu brought his sword down on the right wrist in an overhead swing, lopping it off, then reeled as the hand he'd ignored clawed him across the back, cutting through his armor. He pitched forward, into Katt's arms, and she caught him easily.

"You okay?" She asked as she shoved him back onto his feet, then scowled. "Not again!"

"Huh?" Ryu blinked, than groaned as he realized what was happening to him. "This is happening way too often to me today!"

"Allow me to share the pain, then!" Necromanson gloated, apparently unconcerned by the loss of his claw. A second time, he exhaled the brown gas, and everybody coughed and choked as they retreated, running backward towards the side of the island.

"Ryu first!" Deis shouted. "He got hit before the rest of us!"

"I got him!" Bow yelled back, magic covering Ryu and purged the infection. "I'm almost out of power, though!"

"Save it, then!" Rand told him, turning and glaring as a pair of bright red lights shone through the brown smoke. Necromanson, advancing inexorably, with nowhere left for them to retreat from him. "Katt..."

"Yeah, I know." She coughed before shooting Ryu a sickly grin. "Counting on you to finish the job. Don't let me down, huh?"

"Wait!" He yelled. "Don't do it!"

"There's still time!" Nina agreed. "There's another way!"

"No, there ain't." Rand shook his head as he ran forward, slowly but surely, Katt behind him. "He just keeps coming. If we wanna stop him, we gotta go all-out!" As the Demon Lord emerged from the gas, the big Farm Clansman raised both his massive hands and caught Necromanson's forearms in them, even as his remaining claw tore at his chest, leaving hideous wounds. As the bones started to snap, the Demon Lord's jaws closed around his shoulder, and he roared in pain. "Now! Get him!"

"On it!" Katt yelled, leaping over Rand and plunging her staff through the hideous purple growth over his back, between the ribs and into the organs. Necromanson arched his back, howling, even as Rand fell backwards and was still. Maintaining her balance, Katt continued to jab, deeper and deeper, until the Demon Lord's claw reached around and plucked her off before dashing her against a statue. She hit it hard, and slid down in a sad heap.

"No!" Ryu roared, fury overriding the logical part of his mind that told him he'd seen her take worse and survive. Charging forward, he met Necromanson's descending arm with his blade and sliced through it, only to realize that it had been a feint. The Demon Lord had used his already-maimed limb to distract him, and now his good claw ripped into him, flinging him backwards with rents across his chest and the zombie toxin in him once more.

"Damn it, Ryu!" Deis yelled. "We can't afford that..." Clutching her head, she seemed to stumble, despite not having any actual feet. "Shit. Almost out too." Staring at Rand's fallen form, she straightened her back. "Guess it's my turn, then."

"Don't..." Bow started to say, then bit his lip.

"It's okay," she said, winking. "Remember? We're professionals. Sometimes this is just how it goes." Standing between Necromanson and the other three as he approached, she raised her cane, and three hands of flame crushed him flat to the floor one more time. Even as he fell, however, his claw stretched out, and tore her down as well. When he rose again, she did not.

"Think we can take him out before he brings us down, too?" Ryu muttered to Nina as Bow healed him one more time.

"Maybe," she replied quietly. "I can cast my strongest spells perhaps twice more. That's it."

"It's more than I've got," Bow said disgustedly, watching the Demon Lord stalk closer. "I've got enough left to keep me on my feet, but one more zombie cure'll do it."

"Then we'll have to finish him off here and now," Ryu said quietly, tightening his grip on his sword; despite his still-present fury, responsibility kept his thoughts calm and cold. His team were systematically sacrificing himself for him, and no matter how angry he got, he wasn't going to waste that. "Bow. Distract him. Nina. Light him up. I'll go for him when you do. Do it again as soon as I move in so he doesn't have time to take me out."

"What?" Nina gasped. "But then you'll..."

"I'm a little better with fire than normal people," he told her. "It'll still hurt, but it won't kill me. We gotta do everything we can. Do it, Bow!"

"Right!" Bow raised his crossbow, only to pause, eyes wide, as something came blasting through the air to slam into Necromanson. The Demon Lord twisted to the side, flying through the air to crash into a statue. Where he'd been, Tiga stood, breathing heavily and teeth bared, a gash on his chest bleeding.

"Katt?" He asked tersely, and when Ryu pointed at her, his eyes narrowed. "Alive?"

"Barely," Nina told him. "And not for long, if we don't finish him off here and now. Which is easier said than done."

"No kidding." Tiga stumbled then, as he began to turn purple. "Shit, not again..."

"I should have known," Bow muttered, healing him and stumbling, leaning on his crossbow like it was a cane. "All right, I'm done. Hope your white mages have enough juice left to get us back on our feet once we're done here. Assuming we live."

"They know what they're doing," Tiga assured him, glancing at Ryu as Necromanson got up and turned back towards them. "We got a plan?"

"How do you feel about being set on fire?" Ryu shot back.

"Heh." Tiga smiled without a trace of humor. "Can't be worse than what you hit me with."

"Go!" Bow fired his crossbow, and as a bolt went through each eye socket, Nina summoned up the flaming hands. Ryu and Tiga dashed forward together, underneath them, and as they slammed Necromanson back and burning, they attacked as well. Even as he stumbled, though, Necromanson lashed out at Ryu with his claw, and Tiga with his jaws.

"Not quite good-" The Demon Lord started to gloat, only to break off in a scream of agony as Tiga caught his lower jaw in his hands and ripped it off entirely.

"Do it, Nina!" Ryu shouted, meeting the claw with his sword. Ducking under it, he twisted, bringing his sword with him, and cut the limb off at the shoulder even as it slashed at his back. Stumbling, he continued forward on sheer willpower nevertheless, as Tiga did the same, pressing the now-cringing Demon Lord back further and further with sword and claws. When the fire broke over them, the pain was unimaginable, but still Ryu kept going, hacking through ribs like they were branches and leaving the chest open for Tiga to rip into, gouging out bloody chunks of organs. Burning, screaming, the two of them continued their mindless attack, dragon and tiger together in vengeance.

Only when Necromanson's broken, burning body suddenly erupted in another fire as dark as night, jet-black flames engulfing him as they did all demons upon their death, did Ryu and Tiga stop and stand back. Joined by Nina and Bow, they watched coldly despite their own hideous burns, as the demonic necromancer entered his death throes.

"Ha ha ha ha..." Necromanson laughed as the black fires consumed his bones. "Indeed I am out of practice. I should have learned after the first time, instead of underestimating your strength, and Ladon's, once more. Truly have I been paid for my foolishness... truly are you the heirs of the two who once defeated me! But even your strength is nothing, compared to that of God! I go now into the abyss at last, for the final time, but I will not be alone! My death only heralds that of all the world, even without me! God's time is at hand!" He laughed once more, before collapsing into ash.

"What a freak," Big P commented, walking over, the rest of the Renegades following him. "Just relax, guys. We'll take care of you, and get the others back on their feet."

"Wait," Ryu told him as he sank down to the floor, exhausted despite the healing Mick was giving him. "They're all zombified. If you get them back on their feet before we fix that, we'll just have to knock them back out again. We'll have to carry them..." He trailed off as Chip and Jasmine began pulling teardrop-shaped vials of water from their pockets, opening them and sprinkling them over the fallen. As soon as they were doused, the purple tint faded. "Water of life?"

"We might not be able to cure zombification magically, but that just means we know to carry alternatives," Max boasted, rousing Katt. "Hey, Chaun. Feeling better?"

"That depends," she groaned, holding her head as she got to her feet. "How's it looking?"

"We got him," Tiga told her. "Managed to wipe out all the undead, too. Eventually. Burnin' 'em did it. Looks like everybody's still alive, too; the only bad news is, we weren't able to grill him on Evrai."

"We didn't really have any choice in the matter," Ryu pointed out. "There was no way in hell we were going to take that guy alive."

"And trying to probably would have just gotten us killed." Tiga nodded. "I know a bad risk when I see one. Just means we'll have to figure out a plan b. We can do that."

"Works for me." Katt glanced at Nina, who'd been quiet ever since Necromanson's death, and now sat with her back to a pillar, her head drooping. "How are you feeling?"

"Numb," Nina told her, not looking up. "After all he did... I thought I'd feel better once I finally made him pay."

"If revenge feels good, it's not a good sign," Deis told her soberly, rising as well.

"What she said," Tiga agreed, eyes narrowed. "He's gone, at least. Won't be able to do that to anybody else, ever again. And from what I heard, it sounds like there was a lot he'd done."

"Heard some of that, huh?" Ryu asked, a sinking feeling hitting him.

"Just a little." Tiga met his eyes calmly. "Got me thinking. But we can talk about that later. Right now, we need to concentrate on coming up with a plan to get into Evrai."

"Actually, something hit me while I was out," Sten said, and everybody jumped; the Highlander had slipped behind Tiga, and was leaning against the statue there with his arms folded. "Had an ida. This might not have been a waste of time from a practical standpoint after all. See, we've got a lot of dead paladins here, and they've got a pretty wide variety of armor. And not just them; there's spare clothing for priests and nuns, too."

"I see," Spar murmured. "If we are able to convincingly masquerade as clergymen, gaining entry to the Grand Cathedral undetected will be possible."

"I like it." Tiga slowly grinned. "We don't really do the whole 'stealth' thing very often, but this one's special. What do you think, Bateson?"

"Works for me." Ryu nodded. "We'll have to study the teachings, though. Get our hands on some of their holy books. It'll be no good if we can't act the part convincingly."

"Knew there'd be a catch," Tiga muttered, shaking his head. "Looks like everybody's on their feet now. Let's head back up and start gathering up all the spare clothes we can find."

"Right." Ryu nodded, standing up despite his weariness. As the two groups started making their way back upstairs, he hung back, as did Katt. "Hey."

"Hey," she replied quietly. "Nina doesn't look good."

"I kind of screwed up there," Ryu admitted. "Haven't seen her much since..." He left it hanging for an awkward moment before continuing. "I'm gonna have to make that up to her."

"You'd better, or I'll kick you in the teeth," she half-joked. "Nina doesn't deserve that."

"I know." Ryu hung her head. "None of the guys do." Recalling something, he glanced at her again. "Bow said you said something to her. Something she didn't take well."

"Yeah, I..." Now it was her turn to trail off, biting her lip and looking away. "How about you, Ryu? Are you angry, about... about this?"

"More than I've ever been over anything else in my entire life, with the possible exception of Mina," Ryu told her bluntly. "And even that's a maybe."

"I was afraid of that." Katt sighed. "You don't hate Tiga, though, do you? He's being an idiot about all this, but... he's not a bad guy, you know? Not really."

"Yeah, I know," Ryu admitted, looking away. "I don't."

"Good." Katt put a hand on his shoulder, and he turned his head to see that she was smiling, a more gentle thing than her usual cheerful grin. "I kind of want to stay on good terms with them once all this is over. In the long term, you know? Once we're all past this. You know I'm not going to stay with them forever, right? I don't know how, just yet, but I'll find a way out of this. Just... give me a little time to figure something out. I'll come back to you. I promise."

"I know you will," Ryu murmured quietly. "I knew. But it's still nice to hear you say it. We'll wait for you. No matter how long it takes."
"Thanks," she said softly, before her voice returned to normal. "Come on, we're falling behind. We'd better catch up fast, or things might get ugly when we do."

"Wouldn't that be a shame," Ryu replied dryly, rolling his eyes, but he still sped up his pace along with her as they left the basement, and all the nightmares that no longer inhabited it, behind.

---

It was midnight, but despite his better instincts, Tiga Lee found himself unable to sleep. The things he'd overheard in the battle that day still weighed heavily on his mind, driving him to pace around the Renegades' meeting room, trying and failing to distract himself with the plans for the assault on Evrai coming all too soon. No matter how he tried to focus on business, however, he kept thinking back to the snippets of conversation between the Demon Lord and the Dragonkin he'd overheard, and what they implied.

"Shit!" He swore under his breath, sitting down in his chair and steepling his hands before leaning his forehead against them, tail lashing. "This is a real mess. Huh?" He looked up as the door opened, relaxing as soon as he saw who it was; as always, just looking at her made him feel a little better, no matter how troubled he was. "Hey, Katt."

"Hey, Tiga," she replied, leaning in without making any moves to actually enter the room. She was still wearing her armor from the conflict earlier that day; normally, Tiga would have found that disappointing, but he was actually putting an active effort into trying not to act like a pervert, so it was for the best. "Can't sleep?"

"Too much to think about," he replied honestly. "Today was a big day."

"Just a little," she agreed, meeting his eyes. Looking back, he saw that her mood was different from both her habitual cheerfulness and her recent depression; it was calm, curious, and guarded. "A lot happened, down there."

"You can say that again," Tiga agreed fervently, hesitating a moment more before giving in and deciding to speak openly. "Can I ask you something, Katt?"

"Sure," she replied coolly, still carefully watching him. "What is it?"

"Just what the hell have we gotten ourselves into here?" He asked her seriously; that seemed to be the best way to put it. "I thought you guys were just another bunch of professionals, like us. Even when I found out Ryu was a Light Dragon, I didn't put two and two together. I must have taken too many head shots over the years. Him, and Nina, and Deis... it's obvious. What is this? What's going on? And what's our part in it?"

"You want the official story, or the real one?" She asked, the firelight from outside glinting in her eyes as she stood in the door, a girl he loved, but was increasingly beginning to realize he didn't truly know. He'd never seen her like this before, and he wondered if she even knew she was doing it, and if the rest of the Dragonkin ever did it too.

"Gimme the official one first," he said, on a hunch.

"All right." She shrugged. "Ryu's the next hero, just like... three? I think it's three before him. He and Nina are both descended from separate children of the heroes of the Second Dragon War, and probably the First, too... and whatever it was that happened before that, I don't know. The world needs saving again, and we're the lucky shmucks that got chosen. It's been about a thousand years or so since the last time, so hey, not really surprising. World was due for another round."

"I'm not sure what gets to me more," Tiga replied after a moment. "The fact that you can say it all so casually, with a straight face... or the fact that I believe it. So if that's the official story, what's the real deal?"

"Honestly?" Katt glanced away now, looking back out the door. "If we could get away with telling it all to go to hell, we would. We never asked for this, and we don't want it. But it looks like the only way we're getting out of it is to get it over with, so that's what we're doing. The sooner it's done, the sooner we can get back to our lives. And hey, we really are getting paid for it, so there's that, at least. We weren't lying about that."

"Didn't think you were." Tiga chuckled. "Still. Nice to hear you say it."

"I guess." Katt looked uncomfortable all of a sudden, the unnatural glint in her eyes leaving her. "When you get down to it, the way we see it, we are just another bunch of pros. We've just got some clients most people don't, is all."

"I knew that already," Tiga teased her, trying to figure out what he'd said to make her deflate so quickly. "Ever since Smith told me just what went down in Highland."

"Fair enough." She looked back out the door. "Crap, speaking of Smith, here she comes. Looks like she's looking for you. I'm gonna take off before I have to talk to her or something. See you tomorrow."

"Sleep well," he said quietly as she walked off, leaving the door open behind her. A moment later, Patty replaced her, looking curious.

"What's up with Chaun?" The thief asked directly, walking in. "She took out of here like her tail was on fire. I don't piss her off that much. At least I'm pretty sure I don't."

"I said something wrong," Tiga explained with a wince. "And the worst part is, I don't even know what it was."

"Smooth." She smirked for a moment, before dropping it. "So. You've got the plan all worked out with her people, then?"

"For the most part." Tiga nodded, staring down at the map. "We've still got a few details to get straightened out, but it's pretty much set. We attack Evrai a week from now." He shot her a slight grin. "You sure you don't want in on that? You missed all the fun today."

"Pass," she replied coolly. "I'll trust you boys to take care of it. After all, that's what I'm paying you for. I'm not going within a hundred miles of that place."

"Suit yourself." Tiga shrugged. "You're the client."
"Glad you remember," she replied dryly, looking down at the map. "How's Claris doing? Any more word from her?"

"Not in the last few days," he told her, frowning slightly; for a moment, he worried about the implications of that, but then he shrugged it off, reminding himself just who they were talking about. "Probably just nothing to report. We can't send messages back, so she's got no idea that we're getting ready to make our move, is all."

"Are you sure that's all there is to it?" Patty asked skeptically. "What if she's in trouble?"

"She wouldn't be." Tiga shook his head confidently. "Not Claris. She's had my back ever since we were half your age, when we were growing up together, up in Namanda. I've never seen her screw up, not even once. I don't think she can."

"You're an optimist," Patty murmured, meeting his eyes; he'd never really noticed just how green hers were, since he'd been uninterested in her on a physical or a romantic basis since they'd first met. They were actually surprisingly pretty, or would be if she wore less makeup. "That's unusual, coming from a man in your line of work."

"What can I say?" Tiga shrugged. "I'm an exception to all sorts of rules. You should try it sometime. Optimism, I mean."

"No." Patty's eyes hardened, and she stared down at the map again. "I gave up on optimism when I was a quarter of my age. And life hasn't done anything to change my mind since." Standing up, she turned away. "I'm going to go get drunk. Coming?"

"Might as well," Tiga conceded, shaking his head; either he was losing his touch at talking to girls, or his luck was just plain rotten tonight. Hopefully, if it was the latter, one night was all there would be to it; this was hardly the time to come down with a streak of misfortune. Standing as well, he glanced at Patty for a moment, and almost asked her if she knew anything about the Dragonkin's secrets before deciding against it. He wasn't going to betray Katt's trust like that, no matter how much it bothered him. "Come on, let's go get a mug or ten."

"Best idea I've heard all day," she agreed, as they closed the door behind them.

I AM YOUR SUPERBEAST