Not for the first time Ignis was grateful for the minor elemental protections with which the crownsguard uniforms were imbued. Their battle against Ifrit had been mostly one-sided attempts to keep him from destroying the citadel or killing the hunters and soldiers who had not signed up to fight a god. Cor and Gladio had done their best to draw his attention and deflect or defend against his devastating blows while Prompto harried him from a distance and Ignis flitted around, providing elemental augmentation or rescues when needed. Those Kingsglaive who could shield or heal did what they could while the rest tried to provide ranged support. Even so, their best efforts merely seemed to be an irritation to the astral.
Their tides had changed as soon as the rest of the Hexatheon joined the battle. The humans had prudently retreated when Ramuh's staff plummeted from the heavens to land with a crash in front of Ifrit, striking him with a Judgement Bolt of lightning that charred the ground and buildings for a substantial radius while sparing the allies of the King of Light. The fire god staggered but kept his feet, flinging fire heavenward as the ground shook and Titan the giant sprang through the air to land in the courtyard, defending the humans and the citadel.
Ifrit could have taken one astral on, perhaps even two. But as the other three joined the fight, he was overwhelmed. Titan pushed him back into the city, away from the citadel as Leviathan erupted into the sky, screaming in fury. Her water spouts extinguished the fires that the Infernian was creating with each molton step. He fought with Titan, the enormous flaming sword sending large chips of the Archaean's stone arms catapulting through the air, which only due to the Tidemother's quick intervention missed striking the humans lingering at the edge of the divine conflict.
The air grew cold and frost covered the ground as the Glacian flew directly into battle, surrounded by copies of herself. They fanned out, dodging and weaving around Ifrit's increasingly desperate attacks. Titan took advantage of that moment to wrap his large arms around the fire god, roaring in fury as his rock skin became red and cracked, threatening to crumble. But it was enough. One of Shiva's many incarnations got close enough to plant a tender kiss on her corrupted lover's lips, and he froze, ice creeping over his skin and putting out his fires briefly. Before he could reignite his body and continue the battle, Bahamut swooped in, the feathers of his great wings separating into individual sword blades that spun intricately around his body before crashing down to shatter the frozen Infernian into a million pieces. A cloud of scourge dissolved into the heavens, and Ifrit was finally free of the corruption that Ardyn had forced upon him.
The Astrals stood and hovered over the battlefield for a moment in silent communication, then with a shriek, Leviathan turned and plunged towards the earth, no doubt vanishing into a nearby pool or body of water. Bahamut's blades vanished and rematerialized around him, and with one great flap of his metal wings, he spiraled into the sky until he was out of sight. Titan turned and walked away, absently stomping a distant Iron Giant as he made his way, step by earth-shaking step, towards Duscae. Ramuh summoned his great staff to his hand, nodded at the humans, many of whom were on their knees in respect or fear, and dissolved into the black sky. Shiva, the goddess most known for her kindness towards humanity, flitted over the crowd of soldiers and hunters, allowing a dusting of snow to fall upon them in a sign of favor, before she, too, vanished. Ignis felt the bite of the snowflakes on his cheeks and hair, and as they melted, a bone-deep chill shuddered through him, no doubt a blessing against fire attacks and protection against the cold.
"Iggy!" called Gladio. Ignis turned from his thoughts, noting how Cor had begun to assess their casualties, and realized at once what the shield wanted. The Citadel's courtyard was completely blocked off by a barrier of blue light. Looming far overhead, lining the walls, ethereal forms of the ancient Luciian kings watched the conflict no doubt taking place inside. For an instant, he remembered standing before the kings himself, in Altissia, bartering for the power to save his king's life. He shook himself and ran over.
"I can't get through!" yelled Prompto, flinging himself against the wall. Its opacity meant that they couldn't see what was happening within.
"We shall simply have to wait," said Ignis, grabbing Gladio as he made to follow Prompto's example. "We can't get through until they let us."
"Look alive!" Cor shouted behind them. "Company!"
A multitude of demons was advancing slowly upon them, their moans and screams growing ever louder as they approached the citadel and the humans that stood to defend it. Nagas, flans, arachne, reapers, red giants, bombs, and even necromancers formed an undulating mob that inched ever closer. A glance down the side streets showed similar threats. Illuminating the main horde, standing taller than the tallest giant, a fiery three-headed cerberus urged them forward. With the sealed-off Citadel at their backs, there was nowhere they could escape.
"Fall back to the gates!" bellowed Ignis.
"Prompto, you pick off the stragglers," ordered Gladio. "Iggy, as much support as you can. We've got to keep them from surrounding us. As long as we can keep the walls at our backs, we've got a chance."
"I'm on the cerberus," declared Cor.
"Gonna test that nickname, eh, Immortal?" teased Gladio, hefting his broadsword. "Admit it. You've been itching to take one of these on ever since that one Kingsglaive killed one all by himself."
"I can still grind you into the dirt when this is over," warned Cor, straightfaced even when joking.
"I'm the one who beat the Blademaster, old man," laughed Gladio.
"Well then let this old soldier show you how it's done," said Cor, holding his katana high. "For the King!"
"For the King!" bellowed the glaives and crownsguards. Hunters reloaded as Lucians drew preferred weapons and prepared elemental attacks.
The ranged attacks were helpful; Ignis and Gladio and Prompto had all armed themselves with magic flasks, unable to wield the elements like some of the Kingsglaive, and while they had hoped to use them sparingly, the sheer number of enemies advancing on them had Noctis' Retinue throwing everything they had, fira and blizzara and thundara, putting great holes in the mass of demons.
The front line smashed into the soldiers and broke on it; Ignis saw a young hunter, barely his age, get sucked deep inside a flan, and he leapt forward with his daggers, channeling fire into the demon's head and poisoning him. The beast wretched, vomiting the woman out into a shuddering heap as she gasped for air. To her credit, she did her best to stand and flank the creature as Igis drew its focus. She managed to finish it with a deep thrust to the back, narrowly avoiding getting impaled by a Reaper.
"Get back here!" bellowed Ignis. She rushed to obey as he knocked the Reaper to his knees with a powerful overhand javelin strike. Her fellows formed up around them to take on the demon; now that they were working as a team, he moved on past a crownsguard's corpse to smash an antidote to confusion on a glaive stumbling around, swinging his sword wildly. A hunter was in danger, staggering back from a swarm of imps. While the man's companions took on the enemies, Ignis rescued him with a first aid kit, moving on to the next injury without pause.
Cor was doing his best to hold back the cerberus, bolstered by the support of a few of the magic-wielding glaives who realized that if the three-headed hellbeast managed to leap into the center of the human ranks, they'd be decimated. Gladio was working his way through the giants, iron and red alike, meeting their powerful sword strikes with his own, while hunters and crownsguards focused on the smaller arachne and bombs clustered around each larger demon. Prompto hung back, picking off enemies that were trying to sneak around them and lobbing starshell flares over the horde, providing light for the humans while simultaneously weakening the demons.
"There's way too many of them!" Prompto bellowed as he and Ignis ran to prevent Gladio from being overwhelmed as three giants tried to take him on at once.
"And no way outta this, either," Gladio grunted, catching a sword on his shield as Ignis leaped to plunge his javelin through the demon's arm.
"Still, we can't just give up now!" Ignis protested.
So they fought on. Eventually, Cor managed to strike the Cerberus behind the first head as it flared its scales to shoot forth yet another deadly blast of flame. He took the brunt of the heat but wasn't too injured thanks to the Glacian's blessing, which after a quick elixir left him fit to continue on, facing an enemy now hindered by a third of dead weight. The beast fell quickly after that to the ragged cheers of the men still standing.
"They just keep coming!" moaned Prompto as Ignis smashed a nearby soldier with the cure for toad, dodging the naga responsible as it roiled in its death throes. Casualties had reduced their forces by almost half; Ignis had run out of phoenix downs, save three that he was saving in case Cor, Gladio or Prompto fell near death. He was mostly relying on potions and elixirs now.
"We have to keep the faith!" Ignis shouted back. "We just need to buy Noct a little more time!"
"Iggy!" bellowed Gladio. Ignis turned to see Cor falling to the ground, a ronin withdrawing his blade from the man's heart. As the shield took on the tall demon, Ignis crushed a phoenix down on the marshal's wound, hoping beyond hope that it wasn't too much for the curative to heal. The fire burned against his chest for a moment...and then went out. Cor Leonis was dead. But there was no time to mourn.
"Uh, Guys!?" yelled Prompto. They glanced up to see him pointing through the fighting towards the end of the dark street. Ignis' heart sank. Cantering towards them, knocking iron giants and naga aside, came not one, but two cerberi, heads dripping with fire and the scourge as they moved to attack the paltry force that stood between them and the Citadel. The kings of old had long since vanished, but their barrier remained, preventing the humans from escaping through the citadel.
"Together," said Ignis, as Gladio's opponent dissolved into the scourge. "We face them together." The other demons were pulling back to give their champions more room, driven by the fires and heat that emanated from the hellhounds.
Please, Ignis prayed, please, help us do this. Help us survive long enough for Noctis to defeat Ardyn and bring back the light. Prompto was murmuring prayers of his own, he could hear, as he prepared his machinery for one last fight. Even Gladio's lips were moving silently as he set himself as the point to their little formation, preparing to break the demons' charge. Ignis enhanced their weapons one last time. Glaive magic formed around them, shielding them, protecting against fire and darkness as they stood alone to face the beasts.
With a roar, the cerberi were batted aside by a creature so large and shining, Ignis had to shield his eyes. The humans shrank back as the demons staggered to their feet again, but their attacker swept one enormous paw forward, severing several limbs and heads with a single blow. It was Aslan.