"Raise your hands to the sky and scream to the lord 'Hallejuah!'...But he'll never answer."
"Thoughts and prayers do not reach those beyond our comprehension."
"Our hope does not lie in sacred pledges or blood oaths."
"The people must be responsible for their own hope."
"So rise up! Take a stand against the forces that oppress you."
"Darkness can only win if you fall down and let it roll over you…"
Chapter 0 (Redemption): Chorus of Souls
The citizens of Caimanabel had done everything they could to contribute. Now they were freed of the burden placed upon them by the four warriors.
Gabriel looked up and found himself in a cold sweat over the divine power on display here…being held back by this demon.
Zeno, happy knowing he had helped out plenty, stood by and cheered his mom on, "KICK HIS BUTT, MOM!"
Acai was now alone in the company of strangers, as Ividae was putting everything they had into rendering judgment on this demon.
And then Tina, standing at the south border of the city, looked up to see her mother's corpse being used to hold off Coralcea's attack.
And not knowing any better, she reached into herself and shouted to her, "Mom! You can fight his control, I know it!"
For a very brief moment, the body seemed to flicker with the colors of the living self…
Meanwhile, Auris locked her sights onto "D." and rushed up the pyramid to take him on.
At the demon's command, Lilith's corpse tried to impale her with spears of corrupted light while Atrax's webs wove between them.
Auris sliced them to ribbons and kept her shield at the ready to bounce away the spears.
Once at the top of the pyramid she swung her sword in an arc to divide the energy between her own array of spears then jumped off.
Atrax and Lilith worked in tandem to fill the air with a maze of dark aura projectiles, forcing Auris to leap between aura walls to navigate around for an opening.
Borealis' corpse rose high and began to call upon dark magic from his breaking gauntlets, which results in a flurry of explosive miniature stars in-between the dark aura.
Auris was shocked and raised her shield to bounce safely off one of the explosions to the ground.
She recognized the fear in the demon's actions and smirked, swishing the sword out before running across the city below the demon so fast it was hard for him to keep track.
So he resorted to random bombardments from all three corpses and stabbing everywhere that was missed with dark tendrils.
Auris held her breath towards the damage being inflicted on the city. Yes, houses were being destroyed, but the people were still safe and hidden away in the chapels.
A new world was going to emerge from this chaos, and some much needed change for the way Aurians lived would need to be implemented.
But that relied on banishing the evil darkness in its entirety.
After using her agility to outmaneuver the plethora of attacks she jumped on one of the tendrils and used it to leap straight at the demon, delivering a quick horizontal slash across it's hip.
It hissed and the scar took a while to heal up. She then flipped around and landed on an aura wall hunched forward, ready to lunge out again.
"D." used Lilith's corpse to create black chains that bound Auris up, much to her surprise.
Then, Atrax and Borealis were called upon to add their own webbing and chains to the mix.
Yet Auris held her sword against the chains and melted through them like they were made of metal.
And then propelled herself forward to impale the demon through the gut and drag it far away into another wall, where she used repeated leaps and walls to run him through in circles around the city.
Her efforts failed to break his hold on the other corpses and simply made him angrier.
Eventually the three corpses dove in and grabbed Auris to drag her back to the ground.
There, "D." raised his claws overhead to create a massive black sphere with a red core that he launched towards her.
The corpses departed and Auris was left to deal with this attack.
She got the bright idea to touch her shield with the sword, which transferred the light over and let her press back against the attack with greater ease.
Then she stood up through many grunts, shifting the light back to her sword and rapidly carving the darkness away until she hit the core, which turned the energy into light and repelled it back to the demon.
Lilith's corpse was paraded out to take the attack, and then Borealis was thrown out to block Auris' lunging attack.
However, Auris hit the blade down atop her father's gauntlets to vault over him and deliver a splitting slash on the demon's head.
"RRRRK….!" He let out a distorted growl of anguish.
Auris then landed and immediately somersaulted away from the onslaught of tendrils coming her way.
This was much easier to manage with these few bodies, but this advantage towards evasion was also a disadvantage in offense.
The demon was too strong to reliably ask the others to help fight it, but this meant she alone was wielding the only means of delivering lethal damage to it.
She turned her attention to the Titan's struggle against the other corpses and immediately went after one of the strands connecting the demon to them.
A clean slice delivered sadly didn't seem to weaken the corpses, they had received enough darkness to work on their own.
She clicked her tongue and then after landing she made a sharp turn and jumped for the corpse directly.
The demon managed to get off a powerful blast to catch her by surprise, then railed her with a series of piercing dark webs from Atrax's corpse to weaken her body's healing.
She tumbled around through a few houses and then stabbed her sword into the ground.
She moved with agility across the area and slashed through the next series of projectiles while trying to find some cover elsewhere.
She eventually resorted to stabbing her sword into the ground to fill it with light and make it burst open, throwing light and debris into the demon's path while she ran behind the pyramid.
After catching her breath she recognized the demon's actions for how guarded they truly were.
"He's worried about me targeting the corpses."
She smirked and clutched her sword tighter, "Good."
A shadow rose over her, with Atrax emerging hanging upside-down with rotting shadow appendages raised to grab her.
She rolled out of the way immediately as they clamped down and then tried to stab her sword into his body, only for him to retreat.
She then figured it was best to keep running and she was right, for Lilith rained down spears from up high.
She ran up the pyramid, dodging and weaving through the heavy bombardment of projectiles until arriving at the top yet again.
There she surveyed all the corpses in action and chose one to go after. From that point it would all be a matter of jumping around and disorienting the demon until she could get in close.
She went after Adderbolt's corpse first and cut it with her light. It didn't sever the connection to the demon, but now he was left with a faint glow around his body.
Auris then rebounded off his back and swerved around to the ground, slashing away the projectiles and tendrils in pursuit.
"Not enough?!" She put her sword in a backhanded grasp and switched to her shield for a while until she had enough aura up to slash a wave through her pursuers.
The demon held onto itself faster than expected and then dove straight into her, enduring the burn of light to start slashing its claws rapidly into her flesh.
And with the three corpses adding an aerial bombardment it added to the desperation of his onslaught.
Auris held on and stabbed her sword into her shield through the demon's head, creating a shockwave that ruptured his body apart.
She then rose through the burning pain to jump at Adderbolt and cut him again, increasing the intensity of his glow.
"Even still…?" All she needed was to break through once and the Titans could handle the rest.
But just because this was a matter of gods and demons did not mean that the voice of the people went unheard.
All the way in Pulsa Minoria, the likes of Ezekiel naturally had questions once the initial wave of awe had passed.
"Oi! What's going on out there?!" It took a little while for the electric Titan to answer, leading to an impatient remark of, "Can ya hear us?!"
"YES, CHILD OF STONE, YOU ARE HEARD. WE ARE TRYING TO FOCUS!"
Cecilia involved herself into the conversation, "Against a demon, right?"
"THE ONE THAT ATTACKED TWO DECADES AGO. IT HAS GAINED CONTROL OF OUR BROTHER XIARK, AND THREATENS TO BE REBORN."
"That ain't good…" Ezekiel said, breaking into a cold sweat.
"IT IS USING THE BODIES OF THE TEN SAGES TO WARD OFF OUR JUDGMENT, BUT THE ONE YOU CALL AURIS IS FIGHTING TO BREAK THROUGH FOR US."
Ezekiel flinched and had a right fit of worry upon hearing the names involved, "T-The Ten Sages? What the bloody heck's been going on…? And where's Sarajin?!"
Cecilia was a little unnerved by this news as well, but kept her cool while addressing the Titan, "Is there anything we can do to help?!"
"YOUR ENERGIES WOULD CONTRIBUTE VERY LITTLE TO THIS FIGHT. HOLD OUT, AND BELIEVE IN ALL OF US…!"
Rai suddenly ran out past the others and shouted to the Titan, "Maybe we can't do anything ourselves! But our friends need our help! Can you at least help me send words of encouragement to Adderbolt?"
"..." Voltneir was reclusive in his opinion on the matter, choosing to say more softly, "Very well, for what little good it may do…"
Through the pulse of the Wellspring, Rai's voice was projected to the shoddy corpse of a dear friend, "YOUR FRIEND HAS A MESSAGE…HE ASKS THAT YOU KEEP FIGHTING TO THE BITTER END, BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY SWEETS FOR YOU BOTH TO SPREAD JOY WITH."
"D." turned his focus away for a moment and muttered, "What foolishness…who would waste their words on the dead?"
He turned to find Auris sliding through the air between his corpses' attacks to kick him in the head and send him crashing to the ground.
Upon landing he thrust solid tendrils out like spikes throughout the air, which she jumped around on top of until she reached the center, where she took the daring plunge towards his body.
After being impaled through the head for the umpteenth time he shrieked, "When will that blighted light burn out?!"
Auris scraped him off the ground and launched him sky high, pursuing him with a two-handed slash.
Lilith's corpse caught the blade deep in her flesh, but Auris had no qualms cutting her through to get to the demon.
"GHHH…!" He retreated in full force and filled the air with explosive blasts to send her away.
She landed upon a wall and shouted, "You know nothing about us, or our strengths and weaknesses! You see us only in broad strokes, easily crushed by fear and rage!"
She jumped around to avoid more projectiles, then cut through the demon's right wing.
"D." chuckled through the pain, "I don't need to understand you. You humans all blend together after a point…! And in case you have forgotten…!"
He began to grunt and groan, his wings solidifying on his back, "I sustain off all negativity, even my own pain!"
As Auris felt the tiniest bit of worry, some activity began to show itself on Adderbolt's corpse.
The light Auris had given it began to push inward, making the body's true colors shine through in a more ghastly form.
"Heh heh…" Uttered Adderbolt's voice, "Sorry Rai…I don't think I'll be coming back anytime soon."
"But hey, thanks for trying. Really. I was so, SO happy to meet you and the others."
Adderbolt's spirit then looked up at the towering effigy and asked, "Mr. Titan, could you pass on a message back to my friends?"
"Rai, listen closely…the secret recipe for Zap Chew is…"
"D." served his head towards that spirit and uttered in a deep, raspy voice, "What is this…"
Adderbolt had wrapped up his message and then turned his body away from the beam, grabbing hold of the center and waving farewell to the Titan.
He then tugged straight toward the demon, causing the energy to be turned into an impaling chain.
"D." froze in place as the chain was rammed through his flesh, empowered by Adderbolt's spirit.
Adderbolt then turned around, his body dissolving into aura particles with a smile. He then turned to Auris and waved her goodbye.
Of all the things she had lived to witness, this was enough to make her shed her guard and cry. But the chance to mourn would come later.
Her eyes arched with focus towards the demon, who found the chain weighing down his movements like the heaviest of anchors.
He flailed his claws at it but they phased through. The corpses tried blasting it away but the same thing happened.
All the while, Auris figured out what was going on and immediately took advantage of the confusion to target the other corpses and cut them with the light.
The demon shrieked and thrust his hands out, multiplying them into a tangled mess, and then firing a wild bombardment of dark spheres to litter her path.
"After her…! She cannot be allowed to reach them…!"
"What's the matter, demon?" She happily taunted him along while cutting through the attacks in her way, "Is that fear I sense in your voice?!"
Meanwhile, Voltneir's effigy faded from the battlefield, with his body collapsing atop the side of Pulsa Minoria in exhaustion.
"M-My part is done…The Sage he…gave the last of his soul to chain the demon."
"W-What…?" Uttered Rai.
Ezekiel gulped and then remarked, "You're not saying…?"
"Focus…the Sages' souls are still teetering on the border of our world. The light of our sister Luminesca, carried within Auris' blade, when combined with the demon's darkness, is acting as the bridge between them. If we can foster communication…"
"Say no more," Cecilia remarked, "Ezekiel, we need to get in contact with our Titans as soon as possible."
"R-Right…" Ezekiel was frazzled, but what she said made sense of this whole mess for him.
They ran out of the city and used their powers to make travel to their Tribes faster. Time was of the essence.
And Voltneir, too weary to do much else, leaned towards the city and muttered, "I am too weak to deliver a message to my brethren, but you, Rai was it? I have something to pass on…"
Auris continued repeating the same loop of dodging, attacking, and jumping around the city as the demon showed no signs of slowing down its pursuit.
She had yet to figure out what allowed Adderbolt's spirit to fight back, only that attacking the corpses seemed to be part of the equation.
Attacking the demon wasn't really necessary at this point, but felt oh so satisfying to land.
"D." was frantically turning its head around to find some alternative option to make her suffer, and then, it finally remembered the green-skinned warrior.
"You…" He growled, "That residual feeling on you…pisses me off for some reason."
He made a huge grin before diving down straight for him.
Without missing a beat, Auris jumped him with the help of her Drive and stabbed him through the torso to drag him to the ground, "I'm your opponent! Don't think you can take your eyes off me!"
She then jumped off him as he lashed out, stabbing down on top of his head repeatedly until they came to a stop.
Then she bounced off and lashed out a few waves of light for good measure.
Then Atrax intervened, grabbing her in her webbings and throwing her all the way across the city.
She shook it off and landed in the middle of the streets, where her father was used to summon dark flame meteors to bombard the surrounding area.
Auris used a radial slash with residual aura to slice apart the meteors before they could cause too much damage, then vaulted over her father and pursued the demon through the air.
She had managed to stall out long enough that Ezekiel and Cecilia arrived at their homes. Ezekiel had to get to the center of the Tremorlord circle without any time to explain the situation to his mom and the others.
Once there he shouted out, "Oi! I know this sounds crazy, but ya need to deliver this message for me!"
And Cecilia approached Chillo atop the mountain with a similar decree, "The Sages' souls are still bound to this world. If we reach through, they'll help us stop the demon."
Magmankey perked his ear up from the other side of the mountain and chuckled, "Ah, sister's power at work. Gotcha! I'll keep my eyes open and wait for my chance. Oooh hoo hoo! This is getting exciting!"
Chillo leaned towards Cecilia and wondered, "Whaddya want to say?"
Back in Sancturia, the respective Titans' effigies began to stir, with Tremorterra's announcing to Stonestein's corpse, "THE ONE NAMED EZEKIEL DEMANDS TO KNOW WHY YOU HAVE ALLOWED THIS DEMON TO TURN YOUR SHIELD AGAINST YOUR PEOPLE."
"HE SEES YOU AS A BETTER MAN THAN THIS. HIS RESPECT FOR YOU IS LEGENDARY, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY…"
"I still ain't repaid him enough for saving my life all those years ago." Ezekiel said, his shoulder hung as the cruel reality of this moment really hit him hard.
Stonestein's corpse began to undergo the same effects as Adderbolt's, and when his true self regained control he hung his head with a heavy sigh and smiled.
"Ezekiel…you are a great man."
"It has been an honor to work with you. I may leave this world…but I do so with no regrets."
"Stay strong. Love and protect your family."
"May we see each other again…someday." Stonestein then grabbed hold of the Wellspring energies and forged another chain, glaring at the demon that dared to use him against his people's well-being.
"D." froze in place and turned around, but this time flew away from the spirit's pursuit.
"Get away from me…! GET AWAY…!" He tried to use the other corpses as shields but Stonestein passed right through them with the chain at his back, keeping pace with the demon no matter how fast those wings fluttered.
And at the same time, Chillo delivered his message to Carolina's corpse, "TO QUOTE, 'YOU SPENT ALL THIS TIME FINDING YOUR VOICE. ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO GO OUT WITHOUT ONE LAST SCREAM?!'"
Carolina's spirit returned and with her teeth grit she let out a resolved "NO!" and yanked the chain from the Wellspring.
And with her agility, she managed to catch up to the demon and stab it through one of his wings, with Stonestein impaling through the other.
This forced the demon closer to the ground, shrieking in indescribable pain.
Stonestein and Carolina's spirits looked at one another and the sturdy man gestured to her, "It has been an honor."
Carolina nodded back, "Thank you…Lord Stonestein."
"...I wish I could have heard you sooner…You have a beautiful voice."
The two then dissolved into the sky, and the Titan's effigies soon followed.
The demon was now sweating out a grimy pus, heaving heavily as it raised its head and saw Auris lording her presence over him.
She immediately sliced through its head vertically and then went back to trying to fill the other corpses with light.
"So that's what is going on…we need to reach out to their spirits!"
She continued running across the city on her way to the other corpses while shouting, "TITANS! If you can hear my call, then reach out to the other Tribes, there has to be those who can reach out to the Sages and awaken them to fight back!"
"NOOOO!" Shrieked the demon, who resorted to using his power alongside the corpses to attack the Titan's effigies, failing to realize how pathetic it made him look.
All those explosions, going off like fireworks with no effect.
And because he was distracted, Auris ran up and slashed him through the head again, forcing him to turn his attention back upon her.
"Enough…!" He spread his wings in spite of the weight placed upon them and flung his disfigured body across the city in deadly pursuit of her.
"Without you, they have no hope!"
"Wrong again!" Shouted Auris, "Hope is not a torch carried by one individual. It's a belief that empowers us to keep fighting against the worst of times!"
"Khhh…!" This defiance seemed to really dig into the demon's nerves more than any blade of steel, "Every other world I slaughtered never blabbed off this much…! It's so irritating, and futile…!"
"Everything dies! Hope won't save you from what's coming!"
Auris immediately recoiled from her retreat to stab the demon in the face and drag him through to the other side of the city into one of her walls, "Then I'll just have to hold this blade tighter, simple as that…!"
The message she asked to be delivered reached the other Tribes that had yet to speak out.
But the unfortunate fact of the matter was that very few people had personal connections to the Sages, and definitely not enough to speak out against the opinions of the rest of their people.
However, there was Darnia, who stood alone in his home, a grieving man who didn't want to even stand again…
Until he heard Auris' message, and remembered…there was still something worth living for.
He quietly walked out of his home and through familiar territory to reach where his old friend Twinbeak concentrated their power.
Taking a deep breath, Darnia lifted his weary brows and remarked for the wise owl to echo, "I can never forgive you for the endangerment you caused to my home…to us…to even my son."
"But…even I am a humble enough man to admit that it was you, yes you, who contributed the most to making my son the great man he is today."
"So do NOT give up this fight…! For he would not either!"
The results were immediate, with Nimus making his return in spirit form with a right smirk, "What, me? Go out that easily? That ain't cool, old man!"
He then put on his trusty goggles and grabbed hold of the Wellspring energy to create the chain, "Ha, figures that NOW I'd get to hold onto this…"
"Feels pretty weighty. I won't take it lightly." He then waved to the Titan's effigy and flew off to stab the chain into the demon.
"D." swerved his head at the last second and had the other side of his torso pierced through.
Nimus then enjoyed the last few moments of freedom to float about next to Auris, telling her with a nudge of his goggles up, "Hey princess, pass on a message to Sarajin for me."
"Tell him…sorry I couldn't make it. But when he's through with life, I'll be sure to meet up with him to share a sandwich."
Auris nodded, "I will be sure he hears it."
Nimus then smiled and passed on.
Seeing this all unfold from a safe distance, Tina looked up to her mother and cheered her on, "Come on mom, even if nobody else believes in you, I do! Fight! Fight!"
Yet despite the body flickering back into form briefly, it refused to maintain itself.
"Havin' trouble?" Uttered a familiar voice from within the Wellspring energies.
"...I don't want to acknowledge her call, not after I failed her like this." Spoke the echo of Torren's voice.
"Heh, ya think yer alone? I'm dead. C'mon…" A hand reached out through the Wellspring and grabbed hold of Torren's, causing her spirit to take full control and let out a gasp.
Brine's spirit emerged from the Wellspring with a smile, causing Tina to get goosebumps, "D-Dad…?"
Brine held both of Torren's hands and they shared a tender smile.
He then raised his brows to ask her, "Whaddya say to one last dance?"
Torren cried tears of starlight and nodded, "Take me to the moon, Brine."
The two of them then turned down to Tina, with Brine waving at her and saying, "Hey…sorry Tina. Guess we ain't gonna be setting out to sea anytime soon."
"I-It's ok, dad…" She kept her smile strong through the tears rolling down her cheeks, "I'm going to keep doing my best!"
"Atta girl. Don'tcha stop bringing joy to the world."
Torren clasped her hands over her chest and nodded, "Tina…I'm so, so proud to call you my daughter. I'm sorry for all the lies…"
"I'm not upset, mom…I'm glad I got to get to know you! You're a great dancer, and a great friend!"
This lifted the two's spirits, and without another word they grabbed onto the Wellspring chain together and dashed towards the demon.
With him still stunned by Nimus' actions, the two were free to dance around him, entangling him multiple times until the chain was tight around his midsection, after which they stabbed the pointed end through his gut.
Then they floated off, sharing one last kiss before their spirits parted in separate directions…
"D." collapsed to the ground and barely managed to get his claws on the ground while puking up yellow blood.
This vessel was actively sickening him to try and force him to break free, but he refused with every fiber of his being.
"No…! NO NO NO! THIS IS MY VICTORY…!"
He propelled himself sky high and went wild with the aid of the trio of corpses, bombarding whatever corner of Sancturia his wrath could reach.
Yet as the projectiles neared the ground, they were caught within a field of green aura that suspended them in place, and then threw them back into the demon all at once.
Auris was surprised then looked at the ground to wind the pyramid's guardian with his hand extended out.
"D-Damascus?" She uttered with a hint of unease in her voice.
"Sorry, but I figured this is what Lord Borealis would have wanted." He remarked.
Auris shook off her cold sweat and then glared up at the demon, charging him down and impaling him before he got any wise ideas.
With Vermilion's corpse, she received a direct message from the Titan himself, "HEY LITTLE GIRL, YOU SEEM A LITTLE UNDER THE WEATHER, OOOH HOO HOO…!"
"BUT SERIOUSLY, WEREN'T YOU ALWAYS SHRIEKING AND HOLLERING ABOUT DYING ON YOUR OWN TERMS?"
"ISN'T THIS A PRETTY CRAPPY WAY TO GO OUT?"
That brought her back to the world in a snap with a scowl on her face, "You're damn right…!"
She plunged her hand into the Wellspring and glared at the monster that dared to use her like a puppet.
"HEY ASSHOLE!" She roared before plunging through the air like a bolt of fire, delivering her greatest sting ever to his right leg and making SURE he was dragged to the dirt where he belonged.
She then hung over him as her spirit burnt out, sneering at him with eye wide open, "See you in Hell later…!"
The demon grit his teeth into a scowl and then exploded into a mass of lashing darkness on the spot.
There was only one chain left to bind the demon down, but this one seemed impossible to reach…
For who would ever mourn or reach out to a man whose whole life was poison to everything he touched?
Glade's corpse hovered there, continuing to fend off Ividae's efforts, to the point that it felt deliberately a part of his own will…
A soothing sigh came from within the Wellspring, speaking with his usual calm to the Sage, "There's no redemption for you, but just this once, can't you put aside your beliefs for the sake of this world?"
Glade took his own sigh and closed his eyes, his spirit clinging back onto the body a moment after to admit to the voice of Carmine, "This thing…is truly monstrous. On this, we find common ground."
"Thank you." Replied Carmine as Glade picked up the chain more naturally than the rest of the Sages and dashed after the demon.
Plunging deep into the darkness, he stabbed into the other leg and that caused the demon to return to its regular form, though with the darkness destabilizing at a rapid pace.
Glade looked up to see Lilith's corpse and looked a little sad, but would never understand why…
As he faded away, the city was left without the light cast by the Titans, and a demon now bound in chains.
Its shrieks manifested in many different tongues, each more incoherent than the last. It was flailing about, appearing as though it was being pulled out of this reality.
Somehow, through this event, he managed to cling on to his sense of self and scream raspily at the top of his lungs, "DEATH…DESTRUCTION…TO THIS WHOLE WORLD…!"
All the negativity, self-inflicted or otherwise, was causing him to form into his complete, original self, and all the terrifying power that included.
The opportunity the Titans had provided wasn't enough just yet. It still required one last lock to bind this demon for good.
And that key, Auris knew, rested in her hands.
As the demon rose yet again, filling the silhouette of the sun overheard with his darkest of energy balls, she stood straight below him and held the sword of light in both hands.
As though her heart was guiding her all on its own, she relaxed her body against the world-ending pressure exuding off this orb and flared her eyes open to face it head on.
A three-pronged crown was etched at her feet from the light, empowering her resolve.
She then nodded and repositioned herself with a hop, pointing the blade at the demon with one hand.
Light swirled inward as a circle to the tip of the blade, and with a glimmer came a thin crystalline beam aimed straight at the center of the demon's body.
Lilith's corpse was thrown in the way to intercept it, only for Atrax's body to make an unexpected tackle to throw her out of the way.
"D." had no time to curse this before the beam pierced his vessel and drilled his spirit essence out the body.
But he clung on with many spectral strands, with the beam continually piercing straight through him.
"I…WILL NOT…SUBMIT…!"
He gagged when two hands were plunged into the back of his spirit, belonging to none other than Borealis, his heart reawakened by Auris' efforts.
His heart became whole again, as he delivered the most passionate rage upon this demon through his gaze.
"You have done enough, demon!"
His efforts turned the tide and helped rip the spirit from the body.
As every strand snapped and crumbled to dust, the demon filled the air with a toxic wail that made all the people feel utter despair.
Save for Auris, who through one last thrust, purged the demon wholly from Xiark's body.
"D." scowled and tried lashing through Borealis' spirit, but found he was attacking empty air.
Borealis closed his eyes and smiled, tucking his hands behind his back.
Auris lowered the sword and let out a gasp, unable to utter a syllable.
He then murmured softly, "I know now…that this world shall be left in good hands. You have made me so proud…my daughter."
He faded away, and she wiped her sniveling face upon her sleeve…
The fight refused to end though. The demon repeatedly bashed against HIS body to try and take back control.
In fact, the chains were now merging with the body and the scant traces of light in the air, causing all the elements to mix and swirl into an incomprehensible sphere.
Burning brightly outward, it froze the demon in place.
It grew hotter and hotter with the flames of life, golden, crimson, and white mixed together.
Then it began to unfurl its wings, towering far over the demon's shade, with the distinct shape of a mythical bird.
It wielded Xiark's voice most prominently, but came with a legion of others, just as powerful as the rest, "I AM…THE PHOENIX…!"
It came to be that even this demon could be made silent, for he was truly, utterly pathetic in the face of this divine force…lost to the ages.
Before he knew it, the Winged Flame snatched him in its claws and skyrocketed away from the planet, smashing him against the pristine surface of the moon.
And then it floated off, pointing its face directly at the sniveling maw of the demon.
"YOU CHOSE YOUR FATE. NOW ETERNAL DAMNATION AWAITS YOU."
"TO BE IMPRISONED IN THIS ROCK FOREVER…THE DARKNESS YOU LOVE TO TASTE…ALWAYS JUST OUT OF REACH."
"ALONE…WITH NO SCREAMS TO ENJOY."
The demon gasped its last breath, "Curse…you…!"
"BY ALL MEANS. SPEND YOUR TIME HOWEVER YOU WISH."
The Winged Flame then released its binding chains to impale the spirit through the moon into its hollow core.
There, it would be deprived of even the ability to shriek, and be forgotten in its suffering.
It no doubt deserved a worse fate.
With his duty done, the flames dispersed, and Xiark's shriveled form fell upon the moon's surface gasping for air.
A long battle had been fought, but still he rose.
"No…I still have one more duty to perform."
He crawled along the moon's surface slowly, to what end? Who could say yet…
Next Time: The Darkness of Solomon