CHAPTER XLIV
It's Now or Never
"Teufelsatem!" Xanthus cried as he projected a number of fireballs at Moloch.
"Frostatem!" Ingrid yelled as she joined her companion's attack with frost of her own.
"Take this!" Echo yelled, sending a bolt of lightning in the same direction.
Moloch swatted away the combined attack with ease before shaking his head in disappointment.
"Stahlknöchel, Gehärtete Verteidigung," Yuan mumbled, granting his team increased defensive and offensive capability.
"Are those basic spells all you know?" Moloch said as he projected four elemental runes in the air around him before sending them at their respective targets.
Meanwhile, Penny and Athena had positioned themselves to attack him from an angle and they both moved in at once, but he was fast enough to fend off both of them at the same time. Leon teleported in with his Semblance to try and catch him off-guard, but he saw right through the attack long before and had made preparations, parrying the scythe with a projected sword.
"That may have worked on some of my brethren, but not on me, young man," Moloch said with a grin before pointing a finger at him and sending him flying into a stone column, completely shattering his aura.
"Leon!" Athena said as she ran to his brother while her Wraith-Knight companions resumed their assault on the Greater Daemon.
"God damn it," Leon said, pushing a slab of clay off his leg. "Is this really all we can do against this guy?"
"Are you all right?" Penny said, joining the twins as Athena shouldered her brother off the ground.
"I'll live, if that's what you're asking," Leon said. "Kind of irritated, though."
Penny looked to both siblings. Leon may have been irritated, but Athena's frustration was sky-high, tangible enough that Penny didn't even need her empathy Semblance to know what was going through her head. At the moment, Penny couldn't tell if the emotion was her own or her pupil's. She was certain that Athena knew, though the latter said nothing, opting to bottle it up instead.
"You need to stop doing that," Penny said.
Athena looked to her. "Huh?"
"S-Sorry. I was just—"
"Oh, right. You can feel our emotions. Look, Penny, I appreciate your concern, but I know what I'm doing."
No, you don't. You can't even think straight right now. "Okay. If you say so."
"I do say so," she said before moving in for an offensive, taking Ingrid's place as the latter disappeared from the battlefield to recuperate with Echo.
"They don't call you the Golden Girl of Vale for nothing," Moloch said, exchanging blows with Athena using his own spear and shield. "That said, unfortunately, you are a mere mortal baring her fangs at a god."
"A god, huh?" she said before spotting a weakness in his form and exploiting it, landing a hit on his face with the tip of her spear.
Moloch recoiled before facing her again. He put a finger to his cheek and looked at his own blood.
"Perhaps I should stop toying with my food," he mumbled before holding out a hand at her and projecting an invisible force that sent her flying back.
Leon's response time was fast. He had used his Semblance to teleport and catch her, but she was flying with enough force that both siblings were sent crashing into a wall.
"Athena!" Echo yelled. "Leon!"
"Are you two okay?" Ingrid said.
"Just..." Athena managed, "...focus on the fucking fight."
Penny tended to her pupils, keeping an eye on the battle between the four Wraith-Knights and the Greater Daemon. Her four magic-powered pupils were giving it everything they had, even utilizing their amplified Semblances against him, but it all appeared to be insufficient. Perhaps Ariadne was right. They should just take the escape route she had planned out for them.
No. There's no escape now. Moloch isn't here just to bar our path to the Rune of Atonement. If he can kill us here and end the threat to their plans outright, he will. So, then, why is he holding back?
—
Ariadne put a hand to her forehead as her vision doubled.
"Ariadne," Hillphire said, rushing to her side.
"Dr. Hillphire," she said, still holding her head, "please, return to your console. We must continue monitoring the Labyrinth's status if we are to get them out of there alive."
"But you're—"
"I'll be okay."
The door to the control room opened and Hillphire's team walked through.
"Oh, what the heck?" Ariel said. "Are you okay, kiddo?"
"Here," Sara said as she handed her a bottle of water. "Hydrate. That should help with the headache."
"How long have you been at this navigation thingy?"
"I'll be fine," Ariadne said, accepting the water. "Thank you for the drink."
"Sure thing," Sara said. "Here you go, Will. We got you something to drink, too."
"Thank you," he said.
"What are they up to in there?" Jerry said, looking at the monitors. "Wait a minute. Is that...?"
"That is a Greater Daemon," Ariadne said, removing her glasses to rub her temples. "Do you see the enormous EP values from him?"
"I was just about to mention that," Sara said. "And those four are the kids with magic, right?"
Ariadne nodded.
"The hell?" Jerry yelled. "How are they supposed to fight that thing?"
"Ariel," Hillphire began, "can you take a seat at the controls? We need someone to send all this data to both Vacuo and Vale LTFs."
"Sure, I can do that," Ariel said, sitting down between Hillphire and Ariadne, who was still rubbing her temples.
"Okay," the youngest in the group said before putting her glasses back on. "I think the hydration was all I needed."
"What about a break?" Sara said.
"I don't get a break until they get a break."
—
Moloch managed to get Xanthus into a headlock. The latter resisted valiantly, but the Greater Daemon was much too strong for him. Fortunately, being on a team had its advantages and Yuan was able to break the monster's stranglehold on his companion.
"You okay?" Yuan said to Xanthus, who coughed and heaved as the two girls engaged with Moloch.
"I'll live," Xanthus coughed. "Thanks to you."
Echo launched one lightning arrow after another, but Moloch dodged each and every one, even as he fought against Ingrid and her three clones all at once.
"How the hell is he able to fight like that?" Xanthus said as he prepared to rejoin the fray.
"He knows all of our strengths and weaknesses," Yuan said. "Ingrid's fighting ability gets split up between her clones. Echo is terrible at close-range fighting. You have immense firepower at the expense of your aura. And my offensive power with my Semblance is much lower than my defensive power."
"That's why he keeps going after me and Echo and not you and Ingrid."
"He probably sees both of you as greater immediate threats since you're both essentially glass cannons. Or a glass nuke in Echo's case."
"Well, we're not gonna give him a chance to do what he wants."
The boys joined the other two in the fight, but the moment all four were locked in battle with him, Moloch shifted back into a more defensive, counter-based tactic. None of their hits would land and the moment he would sense an opening, he would target it to devastating effect. Once more, it became a two-on-one match as Ingrid and Echo retreated to recuperate their strength.
"Shit," Ingrid coughed out blood as she waited for her aura to recover. "This is like fighting Penny on overdrive."
"That's what it reminded me of," Echo said, also trying to catch her breath. "He's not just brute force like Malphas was. He's an expert at combat. Are all the other Greater Daemons like this?"
"I dunno how we're gonna survive if that's the case."
—
"You're a Wraith-Knight, aren't you?" Perseus said to the man who bore his likeness.
"I must be the fifth you've come to know," the man said. "My name is Mordred. I was once a Knight of Kameloth, servant to Arthur the Pendragon of Albion."
Perseus looked up at the Rune of Atonement and then back to Mordred, whose face had changed into what he presumed to be his true one.
"Young man," Mordred began, "I truly am sorry that it had to be you."
"What are you talking about?" Perseus said.
"The Primal Runes tend to have wills of their own, as you are probably already familiar with. I, too, was chosen to be its bearer many ages ago."
"Why were we chosen?"
"Who knows how a primordial concept thinks? In my case, I served as its vicegerent, passing its judgment on my king. Its will was to examine his soul and its verdict was dependent on my own."
"You carried out its will?"
"It's...more complicated than that."
"So, then, why me? Am I supposed to be its lieutenant or something, too?"
Mordred looked up to the Rune of Atonement, whose gaze was fixed on them both. "Truth be told, even though I have born it for centuries, I don't know." He turned back to Perseus. "One thing I am certain of, though, is that it is very interested in you. Everything you've been reliving up until now has been quite the journey. I have examined your heart just as the Rune of Atonement has."
"You're here to be its voice, then, to hand me my judgment."
Mordred smiled. "No. The judge in this case was to be none other than yourself."
Perseus watched the Wraith-Knight for a while before looking up to the Rune of Atonement.
"From what I can tell, the decision has already been made. Am I right?"
Perseus turned back to him.
"The conviction of your heart is tangible to me. All that's left is for you to say it aloud."
—
Athena balled her fists. She was completely useless to her team against an enemy like this. During their past Labyrinth runs, she was still able to lead the team, her skills more than enough to take down one Corrupted after another, even proving herself useful against some of the more alien Creatures of Shadow. But against a being like Moloch, she was completely at his mercy.
By now, the worst thing in the world wasn't that she was no longer the one saving her team. It was the fact that she no longer possessed the power to do so.
"Hey," Leon said, standing next to his sister.
She looked over to him.
"Should we hop into the fight?"
She turned back to the skirmish, giving him no answer.
"Cuz I think we should sit the rest of this out. We might only be getting in their way."
"I hate to agree with him," Penny said. "Even I'm no match for Moloch as he is now."
This was yet another major battle Athena would sit out. The first time was against Malphas when that Greater Daemon's form swelled to the size of a small mountain. Their four Wraith-Knight friends were only barely able to defeat her because of a fatal error she had made, an error that Moloch wasn't about to make this time around. All of his power and essence continued to be concentrated inside a body the size of any normal human, meaning that his weaknesses were just as compacted and easy to cover.
Athena's eyes widened and she broke into a sprint as Moloch overpowered the entire team, scattering the boys and Ingrid and grasping Echo by the throat. Echo broke free momentarily before he grabbed her again, but this time Athena was at her side, engaging the Greater Daemon in close combat before they broke into another face-off.
"Thanks," Echo groaned, rubbing her neck.
Athena gave her girlfriend a quick glance to make sure she was okay before transforming Pallas into rifle form and taking potshots at Moloch, who swatted the Dust bullets like they were annoying flies. It was enough of a distraction, however, for Xanthus to dump the totality of his aura into both of his swords and blast the Greater Daemon with the full strength of his Semblance.
The fire and ice engulfed Moloch, but when the flames and frost subsided, the entire group was stunned by the paltry effect it had on him. It was when he burped that they realized he had actually opened his mouth to devour the attack.
"No fucking way," Ingrid said. "He ate your fire and ice?"
"I didn't think it was actually possible," Moloch chuckled. "I suppose this Dominion has its uses, uncontrollable as it is."
As Yuan extended his aura to help Xanthus recover, Ingrid began her attack, splitting herself into two and attacking from both sides while Penny also joined in the fray.
"Are you okay, Echo?" Leon said, handing the group's archer a small water pouch.
"Yeah," she said, ripping open the bag and downing the whole thing. "Thanks for the re-supply."
"I might not have the strength the rest of you guys have, but I refuse to be completely useless in this fight. If it means I have to be the water boy, then fuck it, I'm your water boy."
She chuckled.
He glanced over at his sister, whose knuckles were white with how hard she gripped her spear and shield. For certain she was comparing herself to that same old warrior from so many years ago, the same woman she had modeled herself after, down to the equipment and fighting style. But that wasn't the only thing on her mind. She had heard every word that had left his mouth only moments ago.
Even the one who stood in her shadow for all their lives wasn't about to just sulk in the corner.
"Okay, I'm going back in," Echo said.
"I've got your back," Athena said.
"Keep your distance. He's a lot stronger than he looks."
Athena? Keep her distance? It couldn't possibly have come to this, could it?
"Senpai!" Yuan and Xanthus cried at the same time as Moloch landed powerful hits on Penny, sending her flying up into the ceiling and then into the wall with secondary attacks. As the two boys moved in to strike back along with Ingrid and Echo, Leon and Athena ran to their mentor, shouldering her up as she coughed out white blood and vomited.
"How are your systems holding up?" Leon said.
"I'll manage," Penny grunted. "Damn it, I think my reactor core is damaged."
"Your aura repairs your chassis, too, right? Or is that mostly the microbots?"
"Both do the same thing, but it's gonna take a bit."
"I'll be right here."
"Really can't leave a damsel-in-distress all on her own, huh?"
He scratched his head as he reddened. "You know me all too well, senpai."
"That's so weird coming from you, Leon-chan."
Athena couldn't partake in their levity. She was Athena Rose, the Golden Girl of Vale, undefeated throughout her entire career at Signal Primary Combat School and then Beacon Academy until her match with Ivory, and undefeated since then. But she understood that joining the fight now might end up with her death.
"Still," she muttered. "It's better than doing nothing!"
"Huh?" Leon said before his sister dashed into the fray. "Hey! Wait! Stop!"
In the middle of the scuffle between the four Wraith-Knights and Moloch, Athena slipped past the Greater Daemon's defenses and nailed him in the face with a punch stout enough to send him reeling. Echo took advantage of his imbalance and blasted him with a powerful lightning arrow, but before Ingrid, Yuan, and Xanthus could continue the assault, Moloch turned the tables, grabbing Xanthus by the arm and dislocating his shoulder before immediately following up with a kick to Yuan's head, knocking him out cold. Ingrid only managed to escape grave injury by making her clone take the hit for her. She ran straight to Yuan, dragging him over to Xanthus, who was holding his shoulder as he fought against the intense pain.
Echo looked over to the rest of her group. Ingrid had just realigned Xanthus's shoulder and was now cradling Yuan in her lap. Leon appeared at the group in a burst of red rose petals to take Ingrid's place tending to the two injured. Echo glanced over at Athena, whose face was painted with a combination of frustration and absolute fury.
Calm down, Athena, she thought to herself. Isn't that what you'd be telling me at a time like this?
Penny joined the two girls, wiping white blood off her chin.
"I'm not sure what the hell we can do right now," the eldest said, "but I'd rather not go down without a fight."
"Penny?" Echo muttered.
"Same," Athena said. "We already know for sure he's not gonna let us leave here alive."
"Don't get me wrong, ladies," Moloch began as he began marching toward them. "I'm not trying to toy with you or anything of the sort. I simply know better than to underestimate you."
"You've been testing us out," Penny said.
"Of course. I remember our very first battle and I haven't forgotten how quickly you were able to dispatch the Omega Grimm I had been feeding on. And just like those children, you've gotten stronger as well. Upgrades, I'm assuming. Although perhaps even that is not the whole story since that non-biological brain of yours does learn, just like those humans' brains."
"You're rambling," Athena said.
"Terrible habit." He glanced to the rear. Yuan and Xanthus had recovered and were preparing to attack with Ingrid and Leon. "I suppose this is it, then. All seven of you at once to determine which of us walks away from this battle and who becomes relegated to mere memory."
Athena and Penny led the attack with Echo firing away. Moloch's sheer physical strength was more than enough to send Athena flying back despite a direct punch to her shield. A short melee exchange was all Penny could manage before he grabbed her by the wrist and hurled her at Leon who caught her mid-flight. Yuan and Xanthus attacked together while Ingrid deployed one explosive clone after another. It was those explosive clones latching onto Moloch before detonating that did the most damage to him, but it was still not enough. After all, Echo possessed the greatest pure firepower out of the group and she was landing very few of her hits.
"He knows exactly which of us to dodge and which ones he can tank," Xanthus mumbled.
"You are correct," Moloch said before commencing his own counteroffensive just as the group shifted into a recovery stance. Of the seven, only Penny managed to resist his blitz for some time before she, too, was on the ground.
"Damn this," Leon mumbled, spitting out blood. He looked to each of his teammates. Echo was unconscious and he rushed to her side, stumbling beside her before tending to her. Ingrid was nearby and he called out to her.
"I'm okay," she coughed.
"But not for long," Moloch said as he walked up to Penny, who was on all fours. He kicked her in the side, sending her rolling several times before she slammed into Xanthus.
"Senpai," he muttered, attempting to shoulder her up, "are you okay?"
"Not really," she said. "Sorry for crashing into you like that."
He smiled. "I don't mind being your airbag."
She managed a chuckle.
"I warned all of you before we even began," Moloch said. "There's no way any of you can stand up to me. Like you, Penny, I have also received upgrades. Those Übersoldaten you have been facing these last months, they are the final byproduct of our true goal."
"Byproduct?" Ingrid said. "You mean they weren't the original aim?"
"That's correct. They started off as prototypes, ultimately culminating in the things you regularly encounter now."
"He's talking about the Gargoyle Grimm," Yuan said, "the ones we faced a while back."
"Is that what you ended up calling them? I suppose it doesn't matter. The ultimate goal of that project was to create a suitable vessel for our kind. Well, specifically for myself and this Dominion I control. The Ravenous Beast isn't like the other Dominions. It requires an equally monstrous vessel to contain it along with my own essence."
"That's why he's not falling apart anymore," Xanthus said. "To begin with, we're in the Labyrinth, where he can use his full power, but in addition, he's in the proper vessel, which allows him to marshal his full might against us without swelling to the size of a mountain like Malphas did."
"Which made her vulnerable in spite of her literal mountainous strength," Penny said.
"You certainly are clever," Moloch said with a grin as he marched toward them, stopping as he towered above. "It is unfortunate that we had to end up as enemies. We are from the same world, but it seems your Wraith-Knights have switched allegiances, which makes us foes."
"What did you expect?" Ingrid said. "You're literally an invading force. Did you think we'd just sit back and do nothing?"
"Of course not. What I didn't expect was for Wraith-Knights from Ecumene to latch onto children from another world." He paused in thought. "Or perhaps that should have been the assumption from the beginning since that's what started all of this so many years ago."
Penny gasped. He had to have been talking about Bedivere. There was no one else that fit that description.
"Oh, right, you were quite familiar with him, weren't you, girl?" Moloch said to Penny as he lifted her by the throat. "Yes, I can see it in your...soul?" He looked deeper into her eyes before bursting into laughter. "How am I supposed to kill you now? I have no choice but to bring you to Ashtaroth myself."
"I won't let you experiment on her!" Xanthus said, standing up to confront him before a powerful pulse of power sent him back down to the ground.
"Xanthus!" Penny yelled.
"I take back everything I said about you before," Moloch said as he brought Penny closer. "You truly are a marvel. Perhaps we could replicate you. Strengthen your constitution, even. Yes, you may yet make the perfect vessel."
His speech was cut short by the sound of labored footsteps. He turned to the battered Athena, the only one left standing, even as her armor and weapons barely held together. He began chuckling as Athena faced off with him.
"I think it's clear why you're the leader of this team," he said, "even though you lack the power to stand on equal ground with more than half your friends anymore."
"I lack the power, do I?" she panted.
"Athena," Echo mumbled as she worked her way up to her knees.
Moloch's curiosity had been roused and he set Penny back down on the ground before facing his challenger. "Your weapons are broken and your body can barely hold up," he said. "I suppose this is why Azazel is so fascinated with your kind. And also why Ashtaroth realized that you make the perfect core for the Übersoldaten. You can be in the midst of the apocalypse and you'd be ever-defiant."
Athena glared at him as a windstorm began to tear through the area. Just then, a shadowy figure materialized beside her and she turned to it.
"Athena!" Yuan cried out.
"You guys can see this, too?" she said.
"Get away from there!" Ingrid yelled.
"Wait," Xanthus said, holding a hand out to his team as he scanned the figure with his Wraith-Knight's ability. He turned to Echo. "Can you sense it, too?"
She nodded. "My Semblance is pointing right to it," she said, "just like it does to all of us whenever we use these powers."
"Then, that means..."
"Athena Rose," the shadowy figure began.
Athena began to laugh. "Don't tell me. You're a Wraith-Knight, too, aren't you?"
"Correct."
"Which one are you, then?"
"I am Lancelot, once known as the best of the Knights of the Round Table."
"Best? I guess that's why you picked me to be your host, huh?"
"Right you are, Athena Rose."
"All right, then, let's do this."
"You wish to make a pact with me?"
"That's why you showed up here, isn't it?"
"Well. I suppose so."
"Why so hesitant? You think I might be too much for you to handle?"
The other Wraith-Knight hosts couldn't believe their ears. In stark contrast to their own unions with their respective Wraith-Knights, Athena was in a veritable power struggle with Lancelot.
"I knew I was right to choose you as my vessel," Lancelot said. "No, not vessel. We are synchronized enough that we will fully assimilate. The best that Kameloth had to offer in perfect union with the best Remnant has to offer. I like the sound of this."
"All right, Sir Lancelot," Athena said with a grin. "I think I know the gist of things. This is gonna fucking hurt, right?"
"Ostensibly, yes, but I have a feeling it won't be much of a bother to you."
"C'mon, then. Let's get on with it."
"As you will. I am Sir Lancelot, Knight of the Round Table, servant to King Arthur of Kameloth, the Pendragon of Albion. Dost thou, Athena Rose, swear to uphold the knight's code of justice, honor, valor, and mercy?"
"You're damn right I swear it."
"Then, I, Lancelot of the Lake, shall tread the path of strength and courage with you. My sword is yours to wield, my power yours to command, now and until we both draw our final breath together."
Athena put a hand to her head as a sharp pain drilled through her mind, but the pain lasted for a mere moment. Power coursed through her veins like nothing she had ever felt in her life. She turned to face Moloch, who watched with curiosity as the rest of her group stared in complete awe. The others had been brought to their knees with the weight of this power, but not Athena. There was a reason she was captain of Team APEX and why Team LILY followed her in their own leader's absence.
There was a reason even Lilly Schnee herself looked up to Athena Rose, and the latter was proving it right this moment.
Unlike her companions, Athena's body wasn't torn to shreds by this awesome force. She remained on her feet, panting with unbridled fury as Lancelot took shape behind her in the form of a humanoid blackened flame, which descended upon her and engulfed her body, resulting in a magnificent explosion of power.
"Moloch, you idiot," Ashtaroth said as he materialized beside his fellow Greater Daemon. "Why did you let the awakening take place?"
"Look at her, Ashtaroth," Moloch said. "Do you think either of us could have intervened?"
He took a closer look before grunting in frustration. "How is it that such incomplete beings can bring out so much magical energy?"
"You're the scientist. You tell me."
"Hmph. I have what I need from this world. Are you staying?"
"Of course. I do have a score to settle with these children."
"Do what you will," he said before vanishing.
The windstorm brought about by Athena's awakening to her Wraith-Knight intensified as her cries of fury transformed into laughter. The fiery mantle around her began to subside, revealing her not in merely altered clothing, but a full suit of knightly armor which bore her signature colors. The large plates covering her body were pure white in color while the trim was bright red, including a gold and red rose in the center of her chest plate.
"What the hell is that?" Ingrid yelled.
"She's armored?" Yuan said.
"I wish I could speak with our Wraith-Knights," Xanthus said. "It would help to explain a lot of things."
They looked over at Echo, who stared silently with her mouth wide open.
"Oh, goodness," Ingrid said. "Are you seriously nerding out right now?"
Echo turned to her briefly before her eyes went back to Athena. "Awesome," she mumbled.
"Ugh," Ingrid sighed as she shook her head. She looked around her team. Penny was with Xanthus, who had dragged her to the rest of the group, but Leon was nowhere to be found.
"Leon?" she said before calling out to him louder. "Leon!"
Yuan glanced at her briefly before turning back to Athena and Moloch, who were about to engage in battle.
"This will be interesting," Moloch said with a grin before manifesting his own weapons and armor. "You're much more powerful than all of your friends. But I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise. You are the Golden Girl of Vale!"
He vanished, moving faster than the rest of the group could see, but Athena followed all of his movements and countered accordingly. His first move was a thrust to the neck, but she parried with her shield with very little movement, following through with her own spear thrust, but Moloch managed to parry with his own spear, attempting a polearm grapple, which failed. Athena moved in to smash her own shield into his and they were once again in a face-off, both with their spears and shields raised.
"My brothers and sisters would certainly berate me right now for allowing you to fully awaken to that power," Moloch said. "But I don't regret it one bit. After all, this Dominion inside me hungers for battle just as much as it hungers for your flesh and your soul."
Athena grinned.
"You've gotten smug, haven't you? Don't think this puts you at my level, child!"
He increased his magical energy output, the burst of power revealing itself as a cloud of black smoke rising from his feet. He dashed at her, but failed to see the attack from the side. He managed to deflect the strike enough not to be sliced in half, but he was severely wounded by the black and red scythe that had bypassed his defenses and cut right through his armor.
"God damn this!" Moloch yelled, putting a hand to his wound as he landed several paces away. "You! Boy!"
"Hey, little brother," Athena said as Leon landed beside her.
He, too, was clad from head to toe in knightly armor. Contrasting her white and bright red was his black and dark red. Like her, he also bore a red rose in the center of his chest plate, though the gold was solely in his eyes rather than the rose.
"W'sup, big sis?" he said without taking his eyes off their target.
"We gonna do this?"
He grinned. "I'll start."
Leon vanished in a cloud of red rose petals, teleporting so many times that he left clouds of petals all over the place before appearing behind Moloch, engaging him in a blur of weapon clashes while Athena transformed Pallas into rifle form, though perhaps the word "rifle" didn't quite fit anymore since it was five times the size it once was. It also sat on a bipod and was equipped with an appropriately sized scope.
She pulled the trigger, filling the whole area with a deafening muzzle blast, which accompanied massive bullets that tore away at Moloch's armor, shattering his shield into a dozen pieces. He roared at the twins, mouth open to ghastly proportions.
"You are mere mortals!" he bellowed.
"Yeah, yeah," Leon said, twirling Vermillion Crescent before resting it on his shoulder as he joined Athena, who transformed Pallas back into spear form.
"Your buddy said the same thing before Echo blasted her away," Athena said.
"No!" Moloch screamed. "I will not make the same mistake Malphas did! All of you! Into my Dominion you go!"
He opened his mouth to swallow the entire world around him, but before he could fully activate the Devourer, the world was saturated with a bright light. When the whiteness subsided, the entire group turned to a massive image that filled the sky.
"It's..." Ingrid managed.
"The Rune of Atonement," Xanthus said as he and Penny scanned the massive Primal Rune. Its scales kept tilting in either direction, the eye above gazing wildly at everything before finally settling upon Moloch, Athena, and Leon.
"Why is it looking at them?" Penny said, turning to the trio.
"Perseus!" Echo yelled, running to him before stopping. "What...the...?"
"He's awakened to his own Wraith-Knight," Yuan said. "But...what's going on?"
"Yo!" Leon called out to their companion. "We were actually headin' over to you to get your ass outta your Labyrinth!"
"Yeah," Perseus said with a smile. "I know. I've been watching."
"Watching?" Xanthus said. "Perseus, what happened to you?"
The look on their friend's face was serene, the complete opposite of what he had been going through just before the Rune of Atonement sucked him in months ago. None of them were sure whether to be concerned or relieved.
"Don't interfere, child!" Moloch shrieked.
"I have no plans to," Perseus said. "This Authority you're all feeling, it's not mine." He looked up to the Primal Rune.
"Are you saying that thing stopped Moloch from devouring this entire world?" Xanthus said.
He nodded. "Although, I'm not sure if it was an act of benevolence or self-preservation. It did create this space and, well, it currently resides here."
"C'mon, then!" Ingrid said. "Can't that thing blast this guy to hell?"
"It probably could, but I can't command it to. After all, I don't bear the Rune of Atonement. It bears me. I am its servant, just as Sir Mordred of Kameloth was once its servant."
"Sir Mordred?" Penny said. "Wait, so you've really..."
"Yup. I've awakened to my own Wraith-Knight. We'll talk about it later, though. Athena, Leon, it looks like the Rune of Atonement wants to observe your battle."
Athena grinned before she and her brother turned to Moloch, who growled before transforming himself into a monstrous beast intent on eating them both whole.
"I'll tear you apart and lick the flesh from your bones!" he snarled.
"That sounds dirty," Leon said, making Athena chuckle before they both transformed their weapons into oversized rifles.
Their fusillade of gunfire tore away bits of Moloch's flesh as he stomped at them, but it wasn't enough to outright destroy his growing body.
"I thought you weren't gonna make the same mistake as Malphas," Athena said as she and Leon continued to fire away.
"Yeah, man," Leon said. "You're getting all fat and ugly, too."
"Hah, fugly bitch."
Moloch roared as he neared them, extending a random fleshy body part from his mass to try and grab the duo, but Leon was quick with his Semblance, grabbing his sister and teleporting her up to a high rooftop before teleporting himself to another rooftop, joining her in resuming their barrage of gunfire.
"They're not gonna be able to take him down on their own," Yuan said, powering up. "Let's go join them."
"Yeah," Ingrid said, also increasing her own EP output. "I'm with...you..." She looked at herself and him. "Huh?"
"Guys," Echo said. "What's happening?"
All four Wraith-Knights looked at themselves and each other as twinkles of light that matched their aura colors began to blanket them, eventually coalescing into full suits of knightly armor, each one colored with black steel and the trim matching the individual's signature colors, cyan for Yuan, indigo for Ingrid, yellow for Xanthus, and deep purple for Echo.
"Why are we armored?" Ingrid said.
"I don't know," Xanthus said before turning to Penny.
"Don't look at me," she said with a shrug.
—
"What in the world is going on in there?" Sara said as the entire group looked at the monitors in complete confusion.
"I have no idea," Hillphire said.
"It looks like..." Ariadne began, fixing her glasses as she sifted through all of the data. "Hmm. I see. Athena's awakening to her Wraith-Knight must have triggered a change in all of the others. As far as I can tell, even with the successive awakenings, each one grew in EP output a little bit, but now it's all cascading. There must be something about these Wraith-Knight beings that enables a synergy between each one. Even Leon's Wraith-Knight awakening seems to have been directly connected to hers. As far as I can tell from this data, their awakenings happened simultaneously."
"Must be a twin thing," Ariel chirped. "Will and I have those moments, too."
"We're cousins," Hillphire said dryly. "Not twins."
"Same difference!"
—
"Children!" Moloch yelled, splitting himself up into numerous forms. "You're all mere children!"
"Oh, dude, he's doing the Ingrid thing," Leon said as the group split into pairs.
"Oh, hell no!" Ingrid screamed at him. "Do not compare me with that thing!"
"I think he's talking about your Sembl—" Yuan began before she shoved a finger in his face to silence him.
Echo couldn't stop giggling.
"I'll partner up with Echo again just in case," Xanthus said.
"Like last time, huh?" she said. "You're my spotter again?"
"Heh, yeah. And besides, your girlfriend and her brother seem to be enjoying themselves too much."
"Prolly cuz it's been since Signal that they were actually literally on the same team."
—
Meanwhile, Penny had migrated from the battlefield to Perseus's side. An all-out brawl had started with Teams LILY and APEX against Moloch and his multiple incarnations. It was Athena fighting with what appeared to be the central being, but his clones were just as capable as the original.
"Hey," Penny said to her pupil.
"Hi, Penny," Perseus said to her. "How was it being the P in APEX for a bit?"
She chuckled. "I never actually took that spot. Couldn't get myself to. And besides, your instructor isn't supposed to be on your team."
He chuckled as well. "I sense a lot of unease from you, despite the levity in your words."
She turned to him. "You don't sound like yourself anymore."
"There's a lot to talk about." He looked up at the Rune of Atonement, whose eye continued to watch the fight between Moloch and the kids. "And you're right. I'm...not really quite myself anymore. Don't worry, though. Nothing bad happened. Although, I suppose that depends on your perspective."
She watched him for a bit before turning back to the fight.
—
Now that she had awakened to her own Wraith-Knight, Athena was once again right where she belonged, at the top of her whole pack. But the feeling running through her right now wasn't so much relief as it was a sense of peace. It was just like the moment she had lost her match to Ivory during the tournament. Right now, winning didn't matter. Of course, that wouldn't stop her from seizing victory today.
Moloch faced off with Team APEX's leader, panting as he gripped the wound she had inflicted on his lower torso.
"Do you regret your decision yet?" she said grimly.
He snickered. "Not one bit. If I get to bear witness to the Golden Girl of Vale shine so brightly before I die, I don't mind whatsoever." He began marshaling his full might. "But don't think even for a moment that I'm going to make this easy for you!"
—
"What the?" Ingrid said as her opponent vanished.
"Where did he go?" Echo yelled.
"Over there!" Xanthus said, scanning Moloch's main body, which had increased in EP output massively. "Athena! Watch out!"
That went without saying. It's not as though Athena Rose became the Golden Girl of Vale for no reason.
"Moloch," Athena began as a whirlwind surrounded her and her opponent, "I hope you understand that you brought this upon yourself."
"Like I said!" he roared as he doubled in size. "No regrets! Even if it means I have to draw out the full power of my Dominion!"
His body transformed into something grotesque and misshapen, reflecting the true nature of the essence he bore within his body.
"I unleash upon all of you the Ravening Beast!" he snarled.
His entire body had jaws that appeared in completely random places, chomping at the air as the wild nature of the Beast was fully unchained.
—
"Athena!" Echo yelled to her partner. She and the rest of the group were barred from their leader by a massive swirling storm of magical force.
"Don't worry," Yuan said as he put a hand on her shoulder. "This will be over soon."
"He's right," Xanthus said. "Unlike the large display of firepower we presented in our battle against Malphas, Athena will deliver the final killing blow in the way she has always done."
"Yup," Ingrid said. "No flash. Just pure, perfect killing efficiency."
—
"I will consume you whole!" Moloch roared. "Soul and all!"
Athena grinned as she extended her spear to its full length. The spearhead transformed into a massive, multi-pronged blade, one intended to do maximum damage to her enemy. She turned to her right, where her twin brother stood, his scythe also fully deployed, its jagged blade glowing dark red with his aura.
"Ready?" he said to her.
She nodded with a grin.
"Into the depths of Hell you go!" Moloch yelled as he opened his mouth to the size of a building. "Star Devourer!"
"Every Rose," Athena began.
"Has Its Thorns," Leon finished.
—
The rest of the group watched in stunned silence as a cloud of red, black, and white rose petals descended upon Moloch, who shrieked and roared in pain as a blur of colors circled him. When the whirlwind died down, Leon and Athena were standing side-by-side between Moloch and the group, their weapons and armor painted with the Greater Daemon's blood.
"What the hell just happened?" Ingrid said, her mouth agape.
"I dunno," Echo said. "I saw colors, but that was it."
"I mean," Yuan began, "something happened."
The mass of flesh that was once Moloch writhed and twisted before spitting out the original, humanoid form, which was tattered and bleeding, flesh hanging from his bones. He coughed out blood and bile.
"Well-played," he retched before falling face-flat on the ground.
The group kept their guard up, but the battle was over. Moloch's flesh sizzled as every part of him disintegrated until nothing remained.
"Whew," Leon sighed. "That was tiring."
Athena turned to him. "You really awakened to your own Wraith-Knight at the same time I did, huh?"
"I guess so," he said with a shrug.
"Dudes!" Echo yelled before jumping on Athena's back. "That was so cool! You even had an attack name and everything!"
"Look who's talking," Athena chuckled. "Miss Ashes to Ashes."
Echo frowned. "It was all I could come up with at the time!"
"I thought it was pretty awesome," Leon said, resting his hands atop his head.
"Hell yeah it was," Athena said as Echo slid back down to the ground.
"Simultaneous Wraith-Knight awakenings, huh?" Xanthus said, turning to their three newest magic users.
"I actually awakened to Mordred before the twins," Perseus said. "So yeah, they were the last to do it."
"Why at the same time, though?" Ingrid said.
Athena shrugged. "Prolly a twin thing," she said.
Yuan chuckled. "Most of your attacks against him were in tandem as well," he said.
"He couldn't stay away from his big sister," Penny said with a smile.
Leon turned to Athena. "Onee-chan!" he said with as endearing a voice and face as possible.
There was a long silence as the rest of the group recoiled and fidgeted in discomfort.
"Don't ever do that again," Athena said.
"Yeah, I'm never doing that again," Leon said.
