Chapter 49 - Monster Among Demons
The Overlord's Castle had too many stairs. This was one of the only things Shinjiro was able to think of as he climbed yet another seemingly endless staircase towards his objective. He didn't know why it needed this many, and he wouldn't be surprised if they were leading him as far away from his opponent as possible. That would fit in with his typical luck. Still, he climbed because there seemed to be no better options at the moment, and if he went back to take the other route, he'd render the efforts of his allies meaningless.
That was one of the only other thoughts he'd been able to have on this stupidly long staircase. Had it been the right call to leave them to fight while he went on? Would they be fine without him? Would he be ok without them? What motivated Agnus, Dai and Juro to come back now? He wasn't sure of the answers to any of these questions, and the more he tried to work them out, the more he scolded himself for not focussing on the task at hand, or not believing in his allies enough. They were fighting their battle so he could win an even more important victory. That's all he needed to think about right now.
And so he sprinted endlessly upwards, until finally a dark sky could be seen in-front of him, breaking from the repetitive white walls he was surrounded by. He doubled his efforts, finally emerging from the cold brightness to a comforting darkness, the dark clouds seeming refreshing after his long journey through the castle. He didn't have time to catch his breath though, as he soon caught a glimpse of Mao's group. "So, the other route was faster... Typical."
"You're all here? Then I guess the Super Hero is..." He trailed off as he reached closer to the group, and saw that they were standing opposite to something. The figure had the rough shape of a muscular human, Aurum to be specific, with a robe around his lower half, and nothing covering his torso. He had flowing brown hair and pitch black eyes, which were currently glaring at everyone he could see. Behind him was something he hesitated to describe, the best he could come up with being some sort of mishmash of white wings, horns and a golden circle behind the head. Finally, he held a curved sword made of purple energy, the same energy flowing over his body in an aura of malice. "...The hell is this shit?"
The man grit his teeth and growled at the comment. "You too? None of you have any appreciation for the beauty of power!"
"You've got real crappy taste." Shinjiro said bluntly, not feeling inclined to mince words around his target. Before Aurum could speak again, he turned to Almaz. "Sorry I'm late. We ready to kick his ass?"
The blue-haired swordsman looked at him, paused for a second, and then nodded. "Yeah. We're ready to end this."
"About time. I got more important places to be than here." He held his sword over his shoulder, ready to strike the moment the battle started. He could see the so called Super Hero visibly frustrated at how little respect he as being shown by the collected group, and couldn't resist feeling a little satisfied at the thought of riling his opponent after all the trouble he'd put them through. Around him, the others prepared their weapons, and he for the first time noticed that a few people outside of Mao's group had made it here. He wasn't surprised to see Master Big Star, considering how much damage Aurum had done to the people he called his comrades, though he was surprised to see Salvatore the Magnificent there, since the last time he'd seen her, she was still on their enemy's side. He supposed it didn't matter though, seeing as she was in the midst of former enemies, clearly ready to fire at their mutual foe, so for now he took his attention away from her, and back to the one he was determined to defeat.
Speaking of which, the man's anger seems to have reached a boiling point, as he roared in rage, his aura expanding enough to generate a strong current of wind in the area surrounding him. Everyone could feel their feet sliding back a little against the gale, but no-one dulled their stances for a moment, all remaining ready to fight the monstrosity before them. When it finally calmed down, he pointed his sword forward, as if daring the collected group to attack him, or warning them that his own assault was imminent.
"Wow! That thing's so hideous!" Came a voice from behind them. Most didn't look at who was there, but Shinjiro couldn't help but spin around to spot Mei standing barely five feet away from him, with a look of complete wonder on her face, as she stared at Aurum's monstrous form. "I bet if I cut him open, I'd learn all sorts of cool stuff!"
"Hey! Don't get any ideas! I'm the evil genius around here, so if anyone's gets his corpse, it's gonna be me!" Mao yelled back at her, turning away from the subject in question to do so. Now everyone turned to look at the two as they began arguing about who had the right to insert sharp objects into their opponent.
"You've already got more test subject than me!"
"This guy's MY enemy, so his body is MY property!"
"He's everyone's enemy, so why should you get dibs?"
"Because he was my enemy first!"
"ENOUGH!" Aurum roared, interrupting the argument, before leaping forward and swinging his sword down at Mao. Reacting the fastest of the collected group, Almaz got in-between the hero and the honour student, blocking the force of the attack with his own knightly blade. The strength of the blow forced him to his knees, but no more, and his attacker didn't get a second chance to attack before having to dodge an axe that Sapphire was using to channel what could only be described as fury directly towards his face.
Drifting back to his original position, Aurum was once again the focus of everyone's attention, with the bickering ceasing as he addressed them all. "You interfere in my plan, which I have devoted entire lifetimes to perfecting, you insult my beautiful godly form, and then you simply ignore me!? ME!? I didn't live this long and work so hard TO BE IGNORED!"
Stabbing the air with his weapon, four fragments of his dark aura split off from the rest of the sinister energy and drifted to the sides of him, forming perfect spheres once they did. After one second, a small being materialised appeared in each orb, clinging to itself as it curled into a ball. Another second, and it grew to the size of a child, gold, spiky hair sprouting from its head. A third second lead to it growing to the size of a full adult, hair now looking more comparable to a lion's mane than anything else. Fully grown, clothes materialised on these beings, accentuating their muscular, masculine frames. When the aura containing them dispersed, each landed on their feet, their heads turned downwards.
"Demons I have conquered... I breath into you new life, as my servants! Arise as the strongest of demons! Arise, Majin!"
Gin took a step back as he heard the name spoken. "Majin...!? This could be tougher than we thought..."
"Doesn't matter. I'll keep their attention alone if I have to." Crosses said in a deadpan tone, moving to cover Mao, should any of the Majin move to attack him. Champloo moved to the other side of the Overlord's son, similarly prepared for an imminent attack.
"Leave these side dishes to us! Mao, the main course is all yours! Boom!"
"Don't tell me what I already know! Just do your jobs!" He said to them, in an almost playful way, though still in a tone that implied he still expected them to follow his orders to the letter. In-front of them, the Majin each crossed their arms and raised their heads to glare across at their foes, golden auras igniting around them, and weapons appearing across their backs. They stood, waiting for their enemies to make the first move, and everyone knew they were being goaded to attack, yet had no option but to charge.
Sapphire was to first to do so, rushing the nearest Majin with her axe overhead. The creature matched her movement by thrusting its hand towards the weapon as it lowered, grabbing the handle and halting its swing before it could connect. Capitalising on her momentary surprise at the failed attack, the Majin used his foot to catch her ankle, forcing her off balance, and then punching her in the face before she could recover, knocking her to the ground.
Not eager to see the woman he loved attacked by a monster, Almaz moved with impressive speed to attack the Majin before he could continue his assault. Pulling out three swords, he dashed forward, feeling all three strike against metal as he passed, but that was not enough to deter him from leaping back to continue his assault. His opponent blocked all of the attacks with his spear, spinning the polearm in a circle at high enough speed to create a shield.
Fortunately, this left him open to a sneak attack from Shinjiro, who swung his sword with all the strength he could muster, and it was still only just enough to make the creature stop defending from Almaz's attack,, resulting in the blue-haired swordsman leaving numerous curs along his head and midsection. With his attack finished, he landed on one side of the Majin, while Shinjiro stood on the opposite side, cornering it between them. "We can handle this one! Everyone, keep the others distracted till Mao can finish this!"
Despite not being their leader, the collected group seemed to trust Almaz enough to listen, and started forming groups to fight the Majin. When she got back up, Sapphire stood with Almaz against the spearman of the Majin. The one armed with a sword soon found himself locking blades with Master Big Star, while Kyoko and Asuka made quick strikes whenever he was distracted. The archer of the Majin's remained still as Cross and Salvatore ran in circles around him, exchanging shots at rapid speed. That left the last Majin, one wielding an axe, to hold off Champloo's rapid punches and alternating spells from Raspberyl and Gin.
While most found their place in the battle quickly, the late arrival of the group seemed to be faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, Mei couldn't resist the chance to see how something as disgustingly powerful as Aurum was up close, but on the other hand, she felt a strange, impossible to describe desire to help Shinjiro in his fight, even though she assumed he had the situation under control.
"It's because he's my test subject. Right...?" She asked herself, eyes wandering back-and forth between the former Super Hero and the Majin the subject of her thoughts was currently attacking. She saw Mao block a downward swing from Aurum's blade and quickly spin into a horizontal swing of his own at the monstrosity's midsection, and then witnessed Shinjiro grab the spear of his enemy as it lunged at him, holding his foe in place long enough to headbutt him into a brutal attack from the bloodthirsty princess.
On the surface, the choice was obvious. Mao was alone, Shinjiro was not. Mao was fighting the most powerful opponent, Shinjiro was not. Mao's victory would mean the end of this war, Shinjiro's would not.
She was attacking the Majin before she could stop herself. Holding her spear overhead, she threw it at her target's head as she ran towards him. The Majin, momentarily free from assault from the other three, used his own weapon to knock the projectile away, only for Mei to catch it before it could land and begin a series of lunging strikes. All were blocked, but she had left it open for the Persona user and the new hero to slash the monster's back at the same time, before Sapphire sunk her axe into the back of its skull. The Majin dropped to the ground as anything would after such an assault, leaving the four warriors to regroup.
"You two want to help Mao? The two of us can handle the rest of these bastards." The metal armed warrior said to his allies, as Sapphire forcefully yanked her weapon free, revealing how deeply into her victim it had gone.
"Thank you, Sir Shinjiro. We will carve our enemy in two before you know it!" The blood soaked princess said with an almost certainly unhealthy enthusiasm. She then turned to see if Almaz was ready to help their leader, only to find he had already run off, aiding Mao in a full force assault to push Aurum back. Not wanting to be left out of the fun, she hoisted her blade over her shoulder, and charged forward.
With Shinjiro and his one ally now standing alone, the two looked at each other. "Ready to beat the crap out of some assholes?"
"Do I get to dissect them after?"
"...Sure." Was all he could think to say at the time. Her devotion to experimentation was impressive in a way, though he was convinced that him believing that was a bad sign for his mental state. Pushing that aside for now, he scanned the battlefield for the best target, deciding that the archer was the one that most needed a punch to the face. Feeling that words were unnecessary, he simply charged forward, trusting that Mei would follow him of her own accord. He was correct, and she actually outran him, using her spear to deflect any incoming arrows from hitting him, leaving the archer to rapidly back away, trying his best to ignore the ongoing assault of the two gunners still firing on him.
The combined efforts were too much to all fend off, and after a quick spear swing severed the string of his bow, the Majin found a metallic hand wrapped around his throat, before he was abruptly lifted and slammed into the ground. The two melee fighters quickly leapt backwards, moments before a giant bullet ridden by Salvatore the Magnificent descended from the sky directly onto the downed demon, detonating a split second later when Cross fired a glowing red bullet straight into it. With that Majin currently fused into the ground, the gunners turned their attention towards Aurum, who was currently fending off attacks from three different blades at once, and now had to swing the massive structure floating behind him in a way to try and block the incoming shots.
"Is it just me, or do these guys not match the hype?" Shinjiro couldn't help but ask. It had felt like both the Majin he'd attacked had fallen very easily, and yet Gin had sounded so nervous when they appeared.
"Maybe we're stronger than we thought?" Mei said in response, though she sounded unconvinced. She was socially challenged, but not a fool, and she too could see this was suspicious. But even though they both knew it to be the case, they couldn't tell what kind of trap was being set, and could only hope they could deal with it when it came along.
"...Come on. Let's get this done quick!" He said, trying to sound less cautious than he actually was, before getting in close to the axe wielding Majin, blocking the heavy weapon with his own, so that Champloo could launch a series of rapid kicks while the beast couldn't defend himself. When it was finally able to free itself from the assault and get its weapon away from Shinjiro, he very quickly found a spear stabbing him in the back, followed by two large fireballs searing him from both directions. When they subsided, he collapsed instantly, allowing Mei to pull her polearm free.
Three down, and each ally they were occupying was now free to help their leader and, regardless of how much he denied it, friend. Only one Majin remained conscious; the swordsman of the four, and he seemed to be the strongest of the four, as he had successfully countered Kyoko and Asuka, disabling them temporarily, so he could launch a savage assault on the Sophomore leader uninterrupted. The fancily dressed man was good, blocking the attacks with speed and grace, but he was clearly slipping under the constant attacks. The arrival of two allies soon remedied that.
With Shinjiro taking the pressure off of Master Big Star, Mei snuck behind him and charged energy into herself, before forming it into three monochrome orbs. The human and the demon smirked to themselves before jumping back, giving the Majin just enough time to realise what was going to happen, but not enough to do anything to prevent it. The orbs stuck to him as intended, then detonated as intended, and then sent him flying through the air as intended. Overall, it had been a completely successful attack, and now all of Mao's group were converging their assault on an increasingly overwhelmed Aurum.
Or so it seemed. Once everyone was around him, Aurum swung his arms outwards, releasing a burst of energy that knocked them all back a clear five feet, before levitating out of reach. "Prepare to fire!"
He drifted back, revealing a sight that left all that gathered there shocked. Somehow, the four seemingly defeated Majin had risen without being noticed and gathered in the sky, each extending a hand towards a rapidly growing orb of pure destructive energy. It seemed impossible to comprehend how they had made it that far unnoticed, but now was hardly the time to wonder. Anyone with a way of attacking from a distance did so, with Cross and Salvatore firing upwards, and Mao, Beryl, Gin and Mei using what magic they could to try to blast the demon lords out of the sky. Each attack veered away before it could connect, an invisible force protecting the four from all harm.
Running out of options, Shinjiro called forth is other self, channelling all the willpower he could into forcing the Persona skywards. "Castor!"
With his name invoked, the Gemini twin and his steed appeared and rushed into the air, fist pulled back and ready to strike. Despite the distance between attacker and target, the giant closed the distance with amazing speed. With speed that could put the fastest of vehicles to shame, the horn of the demonic steed struck the barrier surrounding the Majin, energy bursting from the point of collision. At the same time, the rider began pummelling his fists against the forcefield, each with enough strength to shatter men and demons alike. Yet throughout it all, the shield remained steadfast, Castor's efforts not being able to pierce it, or even momentarily distract the Majin from their task.
Still it attacked until the moment Aurum spoke again. "Fire!"
The very moment that single word was uttered, a pillar of pure energy shot towards the ground and all that had gathered on the roof of the Overlord's castle. Castor, not being agile enough to dodge, was hit by the blast and forced away, inflicting a considerable amount of pain on his user. This pain was matched by what came next, as the attack impacted with the ground, releasing a shockwave that sent everyone flying backwards in agony. The force of the attack could only be described as hellish, and no-one was quick to rise after it finally subsided.
"Fools! Now do you see how outmatched you are!? If you had let Mao unleash his full demonic powers, you might have stood a chance! But as you are, you're not even fit to fight my henchmen!" Aurum mocked them, though an anger could be heard in his voice as well, as if their inability to fight him was an insult to him. "You're no good to me anymore, so you might as well die!"
At that command, the Majin began charging to fire again, but no-one was ready to counter. The force of that last impact had banished Castor, and everyone who could have attacked was still recovering and wouldn't have time to launch a counterattack. Shinjiro grit his teeth as he glared at the growing orb, mind desperately searching for any solution to this problem, yet seeing none. None until a second voice joined his thoughts.
"I can't stop it. You can't stop it. But maybe, WE can."
He knew what his other self suggested, and he wondered what other choice he had. He wished there was another way, since it was a gamble if that power would last long enough to be useful, and if it didn't he'd be left defenceless. After a few seconds of ideas failing to come to him, he knew what he had to do. "Mei... Get back...!"
With his last act before beginning the process, he pushed Mei away from him, clearing the space around him. Then his mind recited a verse he'd heard only once, and yet still remembered perfectly, before bringing his hand to his face. A mask of pure light appeared on him, before vanishing into his skin. His muscles grew, as did his hair as it turned gold, the same shade as his eyes became. He stared at his prosthetic arm and clenched it, unleashing the same power flowing through him into the false limb, encasing it in a black, strong substance, which formed a fierce, monstrous claw.
Castor smirked as he examined his new arm. "This oughta be fun! Let's test it out!"
Everyone else stared as the hybrid being calmly walked underneath where the Majin's attack had last struck, and where it was bound to strike again. The fusion of two beings had clearly healed him of pain, or made him so strong that he could simply ignore it, while they were still only just finding their feet again. Only one person had not seen this form before, as she had been unconscious at the time, and now she stared at it with a mix of fascination and horror. Mei didn't even realise she was shaking, or know why this creature scared her more than anything else she'd witnessed so far, but a primal terror washed over her. "S-Shinjiro...?"
The being inhabiting his body turned to look at her, smirk vanishing into an emotionless glare. "No. Stay out of my way."
His cold tone made it clear he wasn't making a suggestion, but ordering her not to even come near him. Not only did Mei listen, but she started backing away, to get away from his gaze. Only when her back was to the wall did he turn away and back to the Majin floating overhead. He chuckled to himself as he flexed his claws, more akin to the blades of a scythe than fingers, and lowered himself, ready to leap. "I'll take these four, if you think you can handle the bug one, shortie."
It took a moment for Mao to accept that he was the one being spoken to, despite the fact Castor looked at him as he spoke, and when he did realise, he started to fume. "Shortie!? Did you forget who you're talking to!?"
"Nope, I just don't give a shit! See ya!" Not waiting for another outburst from Mao, he leaped into the air, the single push of his legs carrying him impossibly high at speeds even greater than the Persona could achieve on its own. For the first time, the Majin seemed surprised by what was occurring, and readied themselves to fire their attack. By the time they fired, Castor was barely a foot below them, and all the magic energy discharged directly at him, with enough force to kill any human or demon it struck.
Fortunately, Castor was neither. Holding his claw in-between himself and the blast, the attack struck his open palm and dispersed in all directions except the one it was being aimed at. To make matters worse for the summoned demons, the attack failed to slow down their attacker in any noticeable way, and he soon charged straight through the source of the beam and passed them. Three of them turned to face him, readying their weapons. The fourth was sent flying, giant red gashes appearing upon his chest as he hurtled backwards, before falling at terminal velocity. When he struck the roof of the castle, the whole structure shook and buckled, for a moment making those around fear the whole place would collapse, and those absent from the battle to wonder what could cause such a shockwave.
Castor wasn't done though, as he swept with his leg as his momentum finally stopped, catching one of the Majin by the chin, then twisting his body to fling him down as well. If anything, this one travelled even faster to the ground, but his lack of other injuries allowed him to divert his path away from the castle, before using his power to send himself back into the air, spear ready to stab his attacker. While that one tried to bridge the gap between himself and his foe, the Persona possessed man grabbed another Majin by the shoulder with his normal hand, preventing himself from falling by latching onto the floating being. Said being did not appreciate this, and tried to swing his axe into the monstrous force before him, though the hand on his shoulder made it hard to swing with any real momentum, leaving all attempts lacking enough strength to pierce the golden eyed man's skin.
"Relax. This is my stop anyway." With another casual smirk, Castor let go of the man, allowing himself to fall back to the ground. The Majin had half a second to realise why, before his own charging ally accidentally stabbed him with his sword, which would not have happened had their enemy remained still. He howled in pain, a sound the Persona enjoyed in a moment of schadenfreude, before forcing his ally off of him and clutching his stab wound, lest it start raining blood onto the battlefield. Castor soared downwards, only stopping when he grabbed a spire and used it to slow himself, practically shattering it as he did. "For such strong demons, you're really disappointing to fight! Come on! I'll give you a free shot!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he had to jump to dodge an attack from behind by the spear wielding Majin, who struck with enough power to finish destroying the spire as he collided with it. The Persona thanked his heightened senses as he saw the glistening silver tip of the weapon sink into the stone, before he instinctively kicked the demon in the face again, knocking him back. But with no connection to solid ground and large chunks of rock falling around him, Castor soon found himself falling again, rapidly losing sight of the rest of the battleground. "What the hell was that!?"
"Did I forget to mention I have problems with spears?" He almost nervously said in response to his other self's question. "It's not my fault one killed me in my legend!"
"...Whatever. Just don't let my body keep falling." A carefree grin returned at the instruction, a plan already forming in Castor's mind. Some of the debris had already fallen past him, so if he could time it right, he could manoeuvre his way back up one stone at a time. Adjusting himself to land on the nearest stone that would support him, he planted his feet on it and used it to leap to the highest point he could reach. The unstable ground meant it was hard to reach the top, but he found another stone to jump off of. Before he could soar higher, he heard something from above and sidestepped not a moment too soon, as the rock he was on was soon obliterated by the impact of an axe. Landing on another boulder somewhere beneath him was the Majin he had earlier held onto, still bleeding from the midsection, but not letting the injury slow him down. "...Don't."
"Too late!" Shinjiro knew what Castor was going to do, but was powerless to stop his other self from twisting himself around and launching himself back down, slamming his claw into the spot where his target had been standing a moment ago, splitting it into several smaller, yet still large, stones that each of the combatants landed on. "What? You looking to have another hole in you? I'll punch one straight through you!"
The axe wielder said nothing, simply gesturing for him to attack, a request he was happy to grant. This time, he swept with his claw, hoping to catch his prey from the side and end this quickly. Already knowing the dangers of the monstrous appendage, the Majin jumped over it, planting his axe into another rock to hold himself above the beast. When Castor's feet touched down on the rock, he instantly had to move again, when the swordsman came out of seemingly nowhere to swing at him, catching the edge of the claw before his opponent could escape. Without the proper time to check where he was landing, Castor was caught drifting through the air without a plan, and catching a glimpse of silver approaching him from above made him start to panic, as that could only mean one thing, and not something he'd like.
Sure enough, the spear he dreaded so much was hurtling towards him, owner perched on it to keep it pointed directly at his chest. Panicking and thinking desperately, all Castor could think to do was throw rocks randomly, none of which succeeded in hitting the target. "Castor? Castor!?"
"A little busy right now!"
"I have a plan, but you're going to need to do as I say."
"If it gets me away from that thing, you got it!" Castor could feel his user give the same smirk that he had given the Majin when he first gained control, and listened as the plan went through his mind at rapid speed. "...Heh. Hahahaha! You got it, you crazy bastard!"
The spearman continued his descent. The swordsman got into a position to leap and cut at the same time. The axe wielder got ready to strike from overhead. Unless the unspoken plan worked, this assault would be more than enough to kill Persona and user. With no other options, they executed it, becoming enveloped in a bright blue light. Blinded, the Majin didn't know what was going on, and just prepared to attack as planned.
They were not expecting to see a hellish horse and rider charge out of the light towards the descending spear. The sudden development caused the swordsman and the axe wielder to miss their mark and have to reposition themselves. The spearman was confused at the charge and change in tactics, but held his course, figuring that he could kill whatever this thing was all the same.
Then Castor stopped moving, and another figure shot skyward, carried by the momentum of the larger being.
Angling himself, Shinjiro dodged the tip of the spear and uppercut the demon right in the nose with his metal fist, shattering it. Stopped by the impact, he then grabbed the spear, which his foe was too surprised and in pain to prevent him from doing, and let himself fall back into Castor's arms. Safely in the care of his Persona again, he raised the polearm, just in time for the Majin to land stomach first on his own weapon. Ignoring the blood that poured onto him from such an act, he threw both the weapon and its owner aside, before leaning into his Persona and feeling the two meld into a single being again.
Seconds later, Shinjiro and Castor were once again a single, powerful being, and landed on yet another piece of debris. "Not bad, my other self! Now you just sit back and let me take care of the rest!"
"Got it. Just try to finish this before we land. I don't want to have to climb all those goddamn stairs again." The united being laughed heartily at the comment, seemingly ignoring the fact the other two opponents had repositioned themselves and were about to attack from opposite sides of him. Of course, when they actually did attack, he proved how much attention he had been giving to the situation by blocking the sword with his claw and side stepping the axe, knocking that threat away with a headbutt afterwards. With one dazed, the titan knocked the other's weapon away in a way that also spun him around, before grabbing him with both hands around the waist, holding on too tightly for the former swordsman to shake free. With his grip established, he leaned backwards, suplexing the Majin into the stone so hard that his head became stuck in it.
Getting back up, Castor looked at the sight with disappointment. "Damn. I was hoping he'd land on the other one. Speaking of which..."
He looked around, trying to spot where the last of his enemies was, as he seemed to have slipped away while he was distracted. Figuring that he could at least use this chance to get up to higher ground, he began jumping off of each of the remaining stones until he escaped the debris field. Free of obstruction, he could now see how far from the roof he was now, and yet there was still what felt like miles between him and the ground. Turning his eyes downwards, he scanned for the last enemy, figuring he must still be lurking in the cloud of stone somewhere. Sure enough, he caught a sight of the axe's blade as it and its wielder moved towards him one stone at a time. Feeling his own momentum running out, Castor got ready to fall towards the last of his prey and finish this.
He began to fall as his adversary made his final leap towards him, weapon at the ready. Axe and claw met in mid-air, knocking each other aside, before their owners each grabbed onto each other and began punching each other in the face as they sank through the air. For someone with a stab wound straight through his body and being struck by a being of almost absurd power, the Majin showed impressive stamina and strength, hitting back just as many times as he was hit, and even doing so with enough power to make the fused being reel back a few times, his golden aura flaring against a faint blue one slowly manifesting around the other being. But in the end, there could only be one winner, and Castor was determined for it to be him, so in a decisive move, he grabbed his foe by the back of the neck and used all his strength to spin him around and slam his face into the nearest rock. And then the next rock down, and then the one below that, and every other one he could reach as he began his freefall. Even then, the bruised and bloodied fighter tried as best he could to break free and do more damage to the titan until he could stand no more, which was the same point the two finally reached the ground, with his face being the first thing to connect.
Castor landed atop his thoroughly defeated foe, followed by dozens of large rocks landing around them, including one which still had another Majin stuck in it, with the unfortunate demon having the entire boulder land on-top of him as he landed, followed by at least two more. If he hadn't been unconscious like the others before, he was now. The Persona panted as he landed, adrenaline wearing off and the limits of his host body finally reached. "Come on! We've gotta get back in there! The others are still fighting!"
"Yeah... Because we're in...just the...right shape to...keep fighting..." He said to his other self as he sank to one knee. No matter how much he wanted to keep fighting, it was impossible, and soon his other self would realise that. "But if you...want to try...go ahead..."
With those last words, he relinquished control, and went into a deep sleep inside Shinjiro's mind. As soon as he regained control, the human felt exactly the same way his Persona did, with all exhaustion and fatigue hitting him like one of the many parts of the spire they had destroyed. Panting too much to even speak, he desperately crawled towards what he hoped was an entrance, before finally it was too much, and his eyes drifted closed, a dull thud sounding in his ears as he collapsed, before all the rest of the world drifted away from him.
"And I'll just move this piece...here." A man in a black outfit and hat said as he moved a similarly coloured chess piece into one of the pieces of his opponent, a pawn to be exact. "Your move."
"So, Aurum failed in his ambitions?" The white suited man said as he looked over the board.
"It would seem so. And let me tell you, boss, I bet he wishes he'd never come to the Netherworld now." The man in the hat said with a disturbing amount of glee.
"True. The Overlord's son is not one to hold back, is he?" Came the blonde's stoic reply, observing the pawn that had been used to destroy his own. "I feel we'll have to postpone the game."
"Awww, we'll never get to finish if you keep stalling! I bet you just use this time to look up strategy's behind my back!" Their was a playfulness in his tone, enough for it to be clear he wasn't taking this seriously.
"With your tactics, I never need to. But the game will be out of our hands for the foreseeable future. We'd best prepare ourselves for what Achlys decides to do with their turn."
"True, true." The man in black stood and tipped his hat over his white hair. "You want a front row seat for this? Maybe some nice wine to go with it?"
"That sound lovely. After all..." The man in white turned to a screen showing what was happening in Evil Academy, as well as one showing a school in Japan being approached by a blue haired boy and a red haired girl. "This promises to be quite the show."
And we're done with Aurum, at last. Since no-one voted on the question I asked last chapter, for now we will not be covering the other fight, and will instead continue with the overall story. If there is enough demand, I will go back to it at a later point, but only if people want it.
At this point I would give you a rough time that the next chapter will come out, but there's some details I need to re-evaluate before that, so for now there is no date on when the next chapter will be done by. I promise you though that it will be written, and this story will reach a conclusion. For now, everyone take care and I'll see you when I see you.
