It was time.
The dusty wastes of Eran surrounded us as we surrounded Raven, the red runes of Trigon marking her skin.
But he wasn't afraid. Her face was set in a determined glare as she sat cross-legged in the centre of the circle, her white cloak fluttering in an unseen wind.
The loose, dry soil under our feet crumbled as we chanted, the golden glow of the biotic energy supplied by generators the size of buildings painting the normally red sands yellow.
Blood, donated willingly by a hundred thousand people for the express purposes of binding this demon, is poured onto the sand. The blood congeals almost instantly, rather than sinking into the earth, black clotted clumps painting a massive design around us.
The ground beneath ou feet buckled and began to melt, red rock giving way to lava that would have burned us to ashes if not for the protections that this ritual conferred to us as a natural part of this process.
Spires of lava exploded around of us as the world shook, dimensional barriers buckling under the power of the ritual.
And then we were sent flying!
A massive ruddy hand with claws larger than any of us ripped through the air as we picked ourself up from the sand, watching as dozens of demons poured out of the tear.
Grimacing, I grabbed my halberd and took off.
Hacking my way through the demonic hordes, I dodged between columns of lighting as the gods joined this battle, smiting foes from the air.
But their attacks were ineffective on Trigon himself.
The giant let the divine energy flow off of him as he ripped a hold in the barrier between worlds and stepped through, his oppressive aura shaking the world around ous.
My axe was stopped in the air by a dark mirror, a washed-out version of myself hovering up to confront me.
Our blades clashed, hard light blocked with hard light as I drew upon the lifeforce n the air to push him back. It tried to retaliate, but for once, I was faster, blasting him with a soul-rending bolt of energy, disintegrating into pure white ash as it was pushed back.
Grimacing, I began charging up more bolts, blasting away at the other doppelgangers.
Blasts of arcane energy streak through the air around me, mandalas of magic forming as the mortal warriors battle their mirrors.
Divine lighting comes down from the sky, smiting the clones if they are pushed far enough away from their opponents to avoid collateral damage, but they wise up quickly, remaining close to other combatants as they battle.
Still, we work together far better than they do, swapping partners to match strengths and weaknesses as we can, trying to put enough space in between us and the enemy to make sure that the gods have clear shots towards the attackers.
But they aren't the only things attacking us.
Despite the rain of divine lighting crashing down on the portal, demons have managed to slip through, and in between fending off the fiendish facsimiles of ourselves, we would launch attacks at the oncoming horde.
With the immediate area around me cleared, I turned to the horde.
My halberd glowed as I sacrificed lifeforce equal to thousands of lives, producing a massive beam of radiant death that swept across the army.
But it wasn't enough.
As I burned away dozens of enemies, More burst through the ashes of their fallen compatriots.
But as more and more of our mimics fell, more and more of us became free to turn our power onto the horde.
A horizontal rain of light, fire, wind, earth and screaming warrior launched themselves at the attacking hordes, smashing into the armies.
I stayed back, plinking away at foes with precise shots to heal my allies on the front lines and to pick off injured enemies.
And then the Darkstars joined in.
From the sky metal slugs and lasers rain down, sweeping the armies with precision provided only through technology so advanced that it might seem like magic.
Attacks barely slipped past warriors as they punched into demons behind them.
Black blood poured onto the sands in an unceasing tide as demon after demon was cut down by our forces.
And then, suddenly, the supply dried up.
Demons died, but none came to replace them, and the hordes began to thin.
And there, in the distance was Raven.
Hidden in a massive whit soul-form enrobed in blue fire, she dove at her progenitor, her talons slashing at his eyes as she ducked in between his swings. In her wake, spears of energy glowing an acrid red followed, spearing into his chest and eating away at his skin.
But the wounds healed quickly, leaving him the ability to try and bat at her.
Charging up another volley of bolts, I threw myself forward, clearing the way with soul-searing light as I flew to her aid.
Where I didn't find targets, my attacks lanced out to distract Trigon, the glowing light occasionally blasting into a weak spot and drawing his attention, giving Raven the opportunity to get another blow in.
Before long, my attacks were joined by others, the demonic hordes thinned down to the point that our melee fighters could clean them up even as we focused our efforts on their master.
But Trigon wouldn't buckle.
Attacks came faster, bombarding him from all sides, and before long, the gods were free to shift their focus to the towering terror at the centre of the battlefield. Even as my halberd shattered under the strain of channelling that much biotic energy, I simply shifted to managing my magic manually, slowing in pace, but keeping up the rain of projectiles.
In between Raven's slashes, they rained down divine lighting, keeping the demon's regeneration busy as we chipped away at him, attacks ripping of lumps of lurid red flesh.
He roared as he sent gouts of flame towards us, only to have it split by…
Was that Susanno?
Well, whoever it was, the swordsman dressed in Japanese attire swung his strange sword releasing a wave of glowing energy that split the flames before failing to scratch the demon's body.
Still, the onslaught of attacks seemed to do something, even if it was at little as stopping him from being able to hear or see as attacks assaulted his eyes and ears.
Raven took advantage of the support, pulling back and sending streams of energy to strick at her father rather than attack more physically. Her strikes were small and concentrated, jabbing away at Trigon and slipping between his attempts to grab the strikes.
Her strikes grew surer as she kept up attacks, the white spears pinning his limbs in lace for seconds at a time as we worked to exhaust him.
But it seemed to be fruitless. While the divine lighting seemed to be doing something, the rest of our attacks were distracting at best, largely useful only to blind and deafen him, as we failed to pierce his skin. Only Raven's attacks seemed to be doing a great deal of damage.
I mentally commit myself to speeding up my work on aquiring Chakra. Being so helpless was a terrifying experience.
And then I notice something.
Casting a minor cantrip to magnify my vision, watch one of the GLC troopers was blinding Trigon once more with blasts from his ring.
They penetrated.
My mind blurred and I reached for the communicator in my helmet, "To the Controllers, Guardians and Zamarons, Trigon seems to be partially vulnerable to the Emotional Spectrum. Please adjust your attacks accordingly.
I get no response from them, but the rain of fire from the spacecraft changes colour, with green, pink and orange fire raining down onto Trigon, forcing him to his knee.
We feel a sense of savage satisfaction fill the air as Raven spreads her wings and an immense orb of blue light formed above her and race down towards the demon.
Our hearts soar as his arm begins to dissolve, visibly breaking down as the light eats away at him and in response, the light grows brighter.
In a wave of hope that pushed us all to our knees, wiping injuries away in it's passing, it exploded.
As the light cleared we saw Trigon in death's door, his body blasted down to the bone.
But he still moved.
As his bones crumbled to dust his eyes shifted to Raven.
YOU HAVE SURPASSED MY EVERY EXPECTATION, TAKE WHAT IS YOURS BY RIGHT OF INHERITANCE AND CONQUEST.
And with that, he exploded, the light of his eyes racing out past us and out into space. The dust of his bones and the remains of the demonic horde rose up from the battlefield around us, flowing up to Raven and disappearing into her Soul Form, leaving only his bleached skull behind.
Raven swayed on her feet and I ran over to catch her.
She looked up at me, "I can feel them."