Chapter 28: Follow the Rouxls

"King? Yeah, here's your crown."

-Dante (Devil May Cry 2)

"Go forth!" Rouxls ordered. "Slayeth this foul usurper!"

His team of soldiers began an all-out assault on Helsing. Swordsmen charged at him with righteous fury. Crossbowmen rained a relentless volley of bolts at him. Mages weaved all manner of spells to further suppress him.

"You're pathetic, Rouxls," Helsing hissed, slashing wildly to fend off his attackers. "You turned my own men against me, and even now, you can't be bothered to fight me yourself. You miserable fucking coward!"

Rouxls gave a smug grin. "Oh, when did I evere giveth the impression that I wouldst not fight mineself?"

Helsing took to the shadows and slithered in Rouxls' direction. "You have that look of uselessness about you." He raised his scythe in preparation to strike.

"Appearances can be deceiving." Rouxls clapped his hands together with a blue flash. "No one may attacketh Rouxls Kaard!"

Helsing felt his arms lock up, and his scythe stopped mere inches from Rouxls' face. He attacked again, and found himself unable to land the blow. He tried once more, and again, his attack faltered.

"What the hell is this?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot you could do that," Frisk said, cracking a smile. "You may have just guaranteed that we'll win."

Helsing rolled out of the way of an incoming sword strike. "Rouxls, how are you doing this?"

Rouxls chuckled. "You may calleth my namesake, the rules card, useless, but I must remindeth you that it is the rules card that decideth how the game is played in the first place."

"You son of a… Fine. Make all the rules you want. You'll be powerless once I cut your little army down like the worthless garbage it is!"

"Good luck with that," Asriel sent a bolt of lightning his way.

Helsing countered with a barrage of dark projectiles. "I don't need luck."

Noelle, along with Rouxls' crossbowmen, opened fire upon Helsing. He faded into the shadows and maneuvered around them, only to run into Susie, who brought her halberd down upon him. He parried her attack, but was blindsided by a team of swordsmen.

Helsing slammed his afflicted hand into the floor and allowed his tendrils to take root. They spread out and erupted around him with a burst of dark energy, throwing his attackers back. He leapt at Susie and kicked off of her as if she were a stepping stone. He dropped onto Noelle, planting his boot on her chest.

"I don't think so!" Susie grabbed the tendrils on his back and pulled him off of her, throwing him to the floor. She slashed at him, but he deflected her attack and countered with a leg sweep. He stood up, spinning his scythe around himself to ward off Rouxls' men.

A swordsman snuck up behind Helsing and buried his sword in his back. Helsing spun around and knocked him to the floor, and swiped his scythe across his neck, swiftly beheading him. He pivoted and plunged his blade into another soldier's chest, ripping it open in a bloody display.

"Thou art quite skilled with that scythe, Hellman," Rouxls spoke.

"Helsing!" he bellowed.

Rouxls waved his hand dismissively. "Semantics. If thou art so deft with thine scythe, let us see if you can performe without it." He clapped his hands together. "Thou cannot useth any form of weaponry!"

Helsing felt an intense, burning pain in his hands. He quickly tossed his scythe aside. "Fine. I'll kill you without it. It's more personal this way."

Susie ran up behind him and dropkicked him, sending him face first to the floor. Asriel followed up with a relentless barrage of lightning. Helsing sunk into the shadows and slithered away. He emerged behind one of the crossbowmen, and wrapped his tendrils around his throat.

A swordsman rushed at him, but he repelled him with a kick to the chest. He hoisted the crossbowman overhead and slammed him into the swordsman, causing them to fall over each other.

Susie cleaved at Helsing with her halberd. Her blade found purchase in his shoulder, causing him to drop to one knee. She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down onto his back, and proceeded to stomp down on his face with a grisly crack.

"Not such hot shit now, are you?" she taunted.

Helsing released a blast of dark magic around himself to knock her back. While she was reeling, he got up and punched her in the jaw. He smacked her upside the head with his tendrils, and whirled around to clothesline an approaching swordsman.

"I'm very competent barehanded," he said.

"Well, how about I chop your hand off again?"

He assaulted her with a storm of dark projectiles. "No thanks."

A shot from Noelle struck him in the shoulder, followed by several others. A fiery barrage from Ralsei followed that, and a rain of blazing stars from Asriel came shortly after. Helsing moved to retaliate, but was shoved to the ground when Frisk discharged a barrier in his direction.

"Now, sliceth him to ribbons!" Rouxls ordered.

Susie and the swordsmen gathered around Helsing with their weapons raised. Before any of them could strike, he sunk into the shadows and darted away to safety.

"I'm getting real sick of that," Asriel said. He turned to Rouxls, "Any chance you can get him to stop that?"

"Certainly." With a flourish, Rouxls applied another stipulation to Helsing. "No maneuvering through the shadows!"

Helsing was forced to emerge, tumbling to the floor. He stood and jumped back toward the dark fountain. He paused for a moment to look over his opponents. Most of them were still standing, and despite the Fun Gang's fatigue and injuries, they were still fighting harder than ever.

He was finally beginning to feel the effect of his own injuries. His newfound regenerative capabilities were waning. His scythe was entirely unavailable to him. And with his forces devastated, he stood alone against his foes.

This would be the last stand of the Shadowborn.

"You're not hesitating, are you?" Ralsei spoke.

Helsing laughed. "Of course not. I've just decided that, even if I die here, I'll take your other human friend with me."

In the blink of an eye, he charged at Frisk, his hands glowing with dark power. She conjured a barrier to defend herself, but it was shattered with a single blow. She was thrown back into the wall, and fell breathlessly to her knees.

Helsing moved to strike her again, but was knocked aside when Ralsei unleashed a continuous torrent of raging flames. Ralsei continued his assault until he sunk to the floor, overwhelmed by the strain it put on him.

Noelle rushed to his side. "Ralsei, are you okay?"

Ralsei breathed heavily, "I'm fine… I just need a minute…"

"No worries, brother," Susie said. "We'll finish this."

"And we won't lose anyone else!" Frisk pulled herself up and discharged a barrier, throwing Helsing back onto the floor.

Rouxls clapped his hands together once more. "Helsing, thou shalt stand and fight until the battle hath concluded. No retreat, and no tending to thine wounds!"

"I'm offended that you think I would ever retreat," Helsing said. "If you want a fight, then you'll get a fight."

His tendrils billowed out around him. His eyes flashed an empty white color. His hands blazed with dark magic. He rushed at the line of crossbowmen and slammed his fists into the ground, generating a torrent of darkness that threw them back. His tendrils hardened and sharpened to a point, and shot out to fatally impale several of them.

Noelle hastily backpedaled and fired at Helsing, hitting him in the leg. When he turned to face her, Asriel stepped up behind him and drove his chaos sabers into his back. He flailed his tendrils in retaliation, to no avail.

"Now, strike!" Rouxls ordered.

His troops encircled Helsing and attacked. Helsing met each attacker with a powerful blow of his own. However, for every hit he landed, he received two from behind. His wounds were mounting, and his combat performance suffered for it.

"What's the matter, Helsing?" Susie gave a smug grin. "Can't handle everything we're throwing at you?"

"Shut up…!" Helsing stifled a scream as one of the defectors plunged a sword into his back. Helsing spun around and backhanded him, only to receive another stab in the back.

"Looks like we've got him on the ropes," Asriel observed. "It's about time we finished him off, don't you think?"

"Absolutely." Ralsei shakily rose to his feet, preparing a flame spell.

"Ralsei, I really think you should just sit down and rest," Frisk said. "We can handle this."

"No… I'll be alright, really."

She nodded. "Then let's end this."

Ralsei steadied himself and released a barrage of flames that engulfed Helsing, nearly knocking him over. Ralsei kept up the pressure, unleashing another cascade of fire that nearly burned Helsing down to the bone.

Noelle ran up to Helsing and struck him in the jaw with the butt of her crossbow. In his state of bewilderment, he could not hope to muster a counterattack. She shot him in the chest, quickly loaded another bolt, and fired again. She did not let up until her quiver was exhausted.

Helsing stumbled back in Frisk's direction. She slammed a barrier into his back and discharged it, throwing him into the wall. She raised another barrier to pin him to the wall, and discharged that one as well. He impacted the wall with enough force to crack it.

Susie sprinted into him and hit him in the back of the head with an elbow strike. She kicked him into the wall and held him in place while she ripped the tendrils off of his back with her bare hands. She grabbed him by the collar and threw him aside.

Asriel conjured his chaos sabers and ran Helsing through. He sent a surge of lightning through the blades to shock Helsing, intensifying until the blades exploded into pieces. He called upon a new weapon, called a chaos blaster, and unloaded it into Helsing's chest.

Helsing staggered back, barely able to stand. Sickly black blood poured from his wounds, and he could do nothing about it. He had no strength to fight back.

'Darkness, why have you forsaken me…?'

Rouxls casually sauntered up to him and spoke, "King Lancer sends his regards." He punched Helsing in the face, knocking him down for the last time.

Susie brought her halberd down and chopped Helsing's afflicted hand off. "Don't grow that back, this time."

"You…" Helsing coughed, blood dripping from his mouth. "I'll… I'm going to—"

"What? Bleed on the floor? Just give up, dude." She turned to her companions. "So, have we decided what we're doing with this guy?"

All eyes turned to Ralsei. He stood wordlessly, breathing heavily. He was unsure what to say. He had humored the idea of killing Helsing, but now that he was lying broken in front of him, with his life in the Fun Gang's hands, it was a much harder decision to make.

Susie spoke, "I'll let you decide, Ralsei, but I think we should just kill him. After everything he's done, I think that's the best way to even the score."

"I think she's right," Asriel added. "I've been waiting this whole time to pay him back for what he did to Kris."

Frisk sighed. "I hate to say it, but Helsing's beyond saving. He's dangerous in the state he's in, and not just to himself. And I feel like he can only get worse from here."

Noelle silently placed a hand on Ralsei's shoulder and gave him a nod, as if to pledge her support to his decision.

Ralsei took a deep breath. "You're all right. Helsing is too dangerous to be left alive. And, in a weird way, it's almost more merciful to kill him." He turned to Asriel, "Besides, you wouldn't be very satisfied if we let him live, would you?"

"I guess not," he said. "What about you, though? I don't want to be the reason you go against your morals."

"Actually, I've wanted revenge against him too. Obviously, I've always known he had to be stopped, but… after Kris died, I was more motivated than ever to take Helsing down. Would it be wrong for me to kill him for such a selfish reason?"

"Hell no," Susie said. "Kris isn't the only person he killed. After everything he's done, not killing him would basically be letting him off with a slap on the wrist."

"Right…" Ralsei went silent for a moment.

Eventually, he spoke again, "Okay. Asriel, let's put him out of his misery."

Asriel nodded, conjuring a chaos saber. He held it over Helsing's chest, mere inches from his heart. Ralsei produced a spark of fire in his hand and looked down at him.

"Any last words?" Susie nudged him with her halberd.

Helsing let out a painful cough. "No… I've lost everything. My forces are gone, my plans have failed…" He coughed again. "…and now even the dark has abandoned me. Please, grant me death…"

"If you insist," Asriel said.

He plunged his saber into Helsing's chest and sliced it open, revealing his twisted, blackened heart and soul. Ralsei released a blast of flames that burned them both to ashes. Helsing said nothing as his body decayed into dust.

Frisk stepped up to the dark fountain held out her hand. An image of her soul appeared before her, glowing with a bright red light. She focused her efforts, and the glow intensified until it engulfed the fountain. A blinding flash filled the room, and the fountain was sealed. Frisk sank to her knees in exhaustion. Asriel came to her side, and she melted into his embrace.

Susie's eyes scanned the room, taking in the multiple cracks, piles of dust, and bloodstains that marred it. "So that's it, huh? We've won?"

"We've won," Noelle confirmed. She took Susie's hand in hers, and leaned against her.

"'Twas a long and terrible ordeal," Rouxls said. "But goodness prevails as it shouldst."

Asriel chuckled humorlessly. "Funny, I thought winning was supposed to feel better than this."

"We hath all suffered greatly at the hands of that vile fiend, Helsing. We art all overdue for time to mourn."

Asriel nodded silently.

Victory, such as it was, almost felt hollow. Both the light and dark worlds would have to recover from the devastation Helsing had left in his wake. Everyone involved in this ordeal had lost someone important to them.

Still, with the Shadowborn thoroughly defeated, there was hope for a better future. And, now that both worlds had been made aware of one another, perhaps they could reunite once more.

Whatever would come, it would be worth seeing.