Fight scenes are really hard to write. This was my first time writing a four-on-one, too. It was fun but pretty challenging. Just like Inn content, really. Creative liberties were taken with regard to skills though I did try to make everything line up. All that said, enjoy!


—They were no longer in the inn.

They were in an endless expanse of black, star-strewn skies, the ground beneath them a matrix of white which, while solid, revealed that the void stretched out endlessly even beneath his feet. In that monochrome void, the only source of color to be seen were what looked like multicolored orbs of spectral light, some of which were draped with dangling, glowing threads. For whatever reason, the sight of these made Aegis gasp, though the Hero only looked impassive, her scythe readied as her dragon poised himself for battle by her feet.

In the middle of everything, a monster stood.

It was a great, looming creature maybe seven feet tall, resplendent with white-gold feathers and yet unmistakably insectoid, looking down impassively over them with dark compound eyes beneath a crest of what looked like pure golden feathers. Its long, dark antennae contrasted sharply with its furled, white-gold wings.

Wings identical to the ones that hung from the Hero's back, he suddenly notices, though every feather on hers stood up on end as they coiled protectively around her.

Big. White. Moth. Ah. So this was the thing.

"Get ready," she murmurs. There was a pulse of lilac light and there were suddenly two exact copies of her by her side though, thankfully, he knew these ones were just tricks of her illusionary veil. "This is going to be a tough one."

Without hesitation, her dragon flew to her side, red eyes flashing white as he furthered her defenses with his own protective powers.

"On my signal."

He readied his sword. Light magic thrummed under his skin as he prepared to enter combat, heart beating wildly in his chest though he refused to show it. Even if he didn't really get to listen to her strategy meeting, he was here all the same. He would fight. At his side, Aegis raised his shield, brandishing it as he would a weapon. Before them all, Riese stood, flanked by illusory clones, their expressions impassive as their scythes hovered before them.

Her voice whispers in her mind just as she and her clones vanish in a flurry of shattering lilac shards:

Go.

He charges forward as Aegis began his onslaught, hurling waves of ice and snow that quickly coated the Unraveler with layers of thick rime, slowing it enough for Ash to slash at it with his sword—once, twice, thrice!—though each time, his sword only bounced off with a ringing clang, as if he'd been striking at steel rather than feathers.

Though nothing of its face changed, it seems to glare at him as it swiftly unfurls its undamaged wings. Beneath them, its body was dark with spindly limbs, its many joints covered in strikingly bright down. It draws back and Ash thinks it is about to strike and hastily backs away, only for it to suddenly begin to let out a shrieking blast that seems to dig into his head and pierce—

If it weren't for Riese's sudden reappearance distracting the monster, he likely wouldn't have made it back to safety in time to fully avoid the brunt of its strike. As it was, even that glancing blow had his ears ringing. Riese telekinetically brings up her scythe to bear, her hands held over her ears, as the Unraveler then aims the scream in her direction. Before his eyes, she and her scythe both are sent flying as if struck by a physical blow, before breaking into pieces—

But the Riese the attack shatters was merely an illusion, with the real Riese appearing from behind the Unraveler, whirling her scythe at its neck—

It doesn't go through but the force of the impact sends a shockwave of cold all throughout the battlefield. The monster screams and the sound threatens to pierce his ears all over again, but Riese had moved back before its counterattack could do more than graze her, hands over her ears and her scythe afloat, gray eyes as undaunted as ever.

Ash, her voice echoes in his head, somehow not at all affected by the ringing in his ears. Stick to the plan. Defense, remember? Attack on my signal.

Yeah, he thinks back, just a little relieved. If that was the gist of the plan, he's more than ready. I've got your back.

Now that he's got an inkling of what he has to do, it's a lot easier to keep calm. He can see that Riese has its attention, her scythe dancing through the air separate from her and attacking the Unraveler's back while she harried it from its front, a second scythe gleaming in her hands. The Unraveler drew itself to attack, its long proboscis unfurling, but at the very last second, a double of himself, Ash Dragonblade, appeared in a flurry of lilac shards, his expression determined as he thrust his sword into the ground, making a glowing bubble of Light magic manifest around him and her both—all so realistic he briefly wondered if he was somehow the fake and not the illusion.

"Don't worry," he hears Riese's voice right behind him, making him start. She was looking at him, one corner of her mouth twitching, as she tilted her head towards the battle. Her real scythe was hovering at her side, exuding a fierce cold. "You're the real thing. I'm pretty good at illusions though, aren't I?"

Before he could respond, without even bothering to turn around and face it, she telekinetically flings her scythe at the Unraveler while the monster was still distracted by their illusory copies. It slams against the monster with a burst of icy cold, making it shriek, the sound almost indignant. It makes as if to try and grab her weapon but it's back at her side as quickly as it had gone. He's not so naive to think she's invincible, he's seen her stumble, but Avatars, watching her fight is always a spectacle. Sometimes, fighting by her side, he still feels like a puny pipsqueak next to her.

"We're both invisible right now, by the way," she says, briefly twirling her scythe over her wrist, flicking off clinging white-gold feathers, before releasing it to hover by her side. "But it won't last forever. Once it drops, I'm going to have you look like me for a little while. Prepare to defend yourself, okay? I'll give you the signal for when it does."

"Right." That he could do. It was a little odd, thinking that he was currently invisible and would soon look like his friend but he tried to take it in stride. "I'll be ready."

She flashes him a smile before gliding back into the fray, scythe in hand. While he'd been distracted, Aegis had been engaging the Unraveler, his shield gleaming as he defended against a barrage of energy spears from the moth-like monster. He follows suit, sword at the ready, as Riese then aims a slice at the Unraveler's neck, buying time for Aegis to fall back and for her dragon to spray a burst of ice at the Unraveler's wing. The Unraveler, clearly frustrated, unleashes a second barrage of energy spears, this time aimed at Riese—only for the illusory Riese to shatter into lilac light, revealing Aegis and his readied shield, the Soul-Ally holding strong. His sudden appearance distracts the monster for long enough for the real Riese to strike from its blind spot in a series of rapid attacks, her scythe leaving trails of frost wherever it struck.

Attack, Ash.

He's so used to following her lead, his body moves almost without conscious thought, his sword singing in his grip and Light enveloping his every strike. It doesn't seem to do much but the Unraveler screeches, making his ears ring, before it hurls itself upward into the skies and out of his range, compound eyes narrowing as it studied the battlefield—only for Aegis to then make his move, gigantic spikes of ice suddenly erupting from the ground, all aimed at the Unraveler. While the ice mostly shatters on impact with its oddly sturdy body, it still sends the monster reeling. It lands gracelessly onto the ground, whereupon Adriel blasts it in the eye with icy flames, making it howl.

Before he can feel too comfortable, however, Riese's voice suddenly rings in his head:

It thinks you're me! Prepare yourself!

He focuses his breathing, centers his heart, and calls. A facsimile of his Princess appears before him and the sword she had bestowed. Though her back is toward him, he can feel the light of her smile as a dome of Light manifests around him and his sword both. He stands before the Unraveler as it unfurls its proboscis and feels unafraid as he began to prepare one of his more powerful attacks. It makes him feel braver, the sight of her Light. How could he not? Her protection has never failed him, not even once.

Which is why he hopes he can be forgiven for the completely undignified shriek that exits his mouth when the Unraveler's proboscis instantly shatters through the shield and latches onto his throat, draining him in an attack that leaves his bones feeling brittle and his muscles weak. Aegis slams his shield into the Unraveler before it could take much more but the damage was done and, for the Unraveler, the damage was undone. His knees shake just a bit as he readjusts his grip on his sword and thinks, disbelieving:

Is this because I forgot your birthday?! I said I was sorry! Princess, please!

"Ash!" It was Riese, concern clear on her face as she pressed a health potion into his hands. "Are you okay? What happened?"

His throat aches when he tries to speak so instead tries to think in her direction: I don't think my shield can block its attacks!

She frowns for a second but quickly nods. "I understand. It's fine. Between me, Adri, and Aegis, we can handle the defense." Behind her, Aegis and her dragon were double-teaming the Unraveler, keeping it distracted with icy magic. "I'll still need you to help keep it off balance. Can you do it?"

He chugs the potion (one of his own, he suddenly notices; his pouch felt a bit lighter) then nods, reassured by her calm. "Of course."

Good.

The Riese in front of him shatters in a flurry of shards as the Unraveler suddenly unleashed a barrage of energy beams in their direction, Adriel tackling him out of harm's way just in the nick of time. He manages to gasp out his thanks before his gaze is suddenly drawn up into the air behind the Unraveler. The real Riese was up in the skies above the monster, propelling herself lightly from shattering platforms of lilac light, the scythe in her hands gleaming as she aimed for its throat—

The scythe in her hands shatters on impact just as the actual scythe struck the monster from the front of all places, the curved blade actually piercing through in the critical area right at the nape of its neck, making it scream—not an attack, this time, but simply from abject agony.

"Was the illusion scythe really necessary?" he has to ask as she fell back beside him, his eyes still fixed on the monster as he finally got back onto his feet, the potion having done its magic. "It looked like you had it even without."

She shrugs. "Call it paranoia," she says as the scythe came whirling back to her hand. "But it does help me hit where it hurts." Lilac light began to halo her head as she tilted her head in the Unraveler's direction, where her dragon was keeping it busy. "Can you aim a barrage at it from its three o'clock?"

"Of course."

Her proud smile is immediate and helps take away the sting of his failure to defend against the earlier attack. Her gray eyes began to glow violet as her halo began to pulse. "On my signal then."

His own eyes glow with Light magic as an array of swords manifest behind him, their gleaming points aimed at the Unraveler as Riese closed her eyes, her voice echoing in the back of his mind.

Three... two... one... now!

The Unraveler can do nothing but scream as it is bombarded from all sides by a combination of Aegis' swords of ice and his blades of Light, the unpracticed combination attack keeping it pinned to the spot, allowing her dragon to blast it over and over again with spurts of icy flames without fear of retaliation. He can't help but feel light even as the barrage drains at his mana. He can still be helpful, even without his shield. Beside him, though her eyes had been closed the whole time, Riese still shoots him a thumbs up as her voice whispers in his mind.

Good job! Knew you could do it. Get ready to stop; I'm going to attack.

"Right!"

Three... two... one...

Riese's eyes shot open as she pinched the skin between her brows and exhaled: Now. He and Aegis both stop as what looked like a translucent, purple brain manifested in the air before her. Before he could ask, her scythe curved down at the illusory brain—and the Unraveler screams like it never had before, the sound primal and only rising in pitch as she sliced deeper and deeper into the glowing brain, the scream not an attack but an expression of purest agony. While this was happening, her expression remained so calm that it was more than a little unnerving. Then she shoots him her more trademark friendly smile and he feels just a bit less on edge as she and the brain both vanish from his sight.

I've blinded it for a bit. Her voice whispers in the back of his mind. But still be careful, okay? It's not perfect. Mental torture can only do so much.

Alri—mental what now!?

Before he can pry, the Unraveler shrieks and unleashes yet another barrage of beams, and it could be just his imagination but it seemed to him like this attack, in particular, was more powerful than any of its previous—but to no avail as those deadly bolts struck at nothing but empty air, not even illusions. The Unraveler really had been well and truly blinded thanks to the Hero's mental—

This was not the time to think about it, he decides as he ducks a wild, unfocused bolt of energy from the Unraveler, his sword gleaming as he revealed his own counterattack. Blades of Light shot out from the ground at its feet, making it howl as Light struck from four different directions. Before it could regain its bearings, Aegis slams his shield into its face, muffling its scream just as Riese came at it from above, scythe whirling in rapid arcs. The force of her scythe's impact was so powerful, it sent a wave of freezing wind all throughout the battlefield and left the Unraveler coated with frost.

The Unraveler screams and, this time, it feels different. He's far from it, at a distance that should be safe, but it still makes his ears ring, makes his heart weigh heavy in his chest. And just when he thinks it's over, the Unraveler screams again and he's left scrambling away, covering his ears.

Almost halfway there!

Just as her words register in his mind, he suddenly became aware that Riese was right there with the Unraveler, the moth trying to attack with its proboscis but mostly hitting nothing but air while she glided about, a scythe in each hand, her dragon following in her shadow. Instinct has him drawing his sword, Light magic thrumming through his veins, as the Unraveler drew itself back, eyes enraged. He can see Riese raising both scythes, her eyes fixed on its proboscis when—

The Unraveler's next attack was not one they'd seen before. Pillars of paradoxically burning cold energy slam down one after the other. Both Riese and her dragon are engulfed in the paradoxically radiant darkness before the Unraveler's furious glare. Ash suddenly hears a scream, not from where the Unraveler stood but from the back of his head, until Aegis smacks the Unraveler with his shield from behind, allowing Ash to slice at the Unraveler from afar, firing two brilliant blasts that slam into the monster one after the other, his magic both meant to harm as well as—

Thanks for the heal, Ash.

It was Riese, finally emerging from the smoke left behind by the Unraveler's attack, one hand cradling Adriel to her chest, the other raised skyward and projecting a translucent lilac barrier over both their heads. Even from afar, he could see how the barrier was cracked, the hand projecting it bleeding from the backlash. While her dragon was unscathed (and furious, eyes glowing white as he surveyed her injuries), she was very clearly not. Her armor was burnt and singed, and what skin he could see was even worse, even after both his healing and Adriel's. And that was with her barrier blocking the brunt of the blasts. If she hadn't gotten that barrier ready in time—

"Hey," she says out loud, her hoarse voice somehow carrying over even to him. She meets his eye and smiles, the expression more embarrassed than hurt. "I'm alright. C'mon. Aegis is still fighting."

As they were speaking, Aegis had been keeping the Unraveler busy, his shield held readied as he blocked off the Unraveler's proboscis, so focused on defending he was unable to attack. Just as Ash began to run to his aid, three scythes came flying at the monster from all sides, trailing icy magic as they whirled toward it in deadly arcs. The Unraveler screamed in defiance at the sight of them before furling its wings over its head to defend itself—

But while those scythes were mere illusions, the scythe wielded by Riese as she appeared before the Unraveler was real, the illusory scythes having been nothing more than a means to guide the monster directly into her aimed strike. The tip of her scythe slams up and through its jaw and didn't stop there, the scythe continuing its arc with such force that for a moment, the Unraveler had been lifted bodily upward—and in perfect position for Aegis' shield bash to connect from above, Aegis slamming his shield with enough force to wind it, even briefly. As the monster is reeling Riese and Aegis both disengage, letting Ash and Adriel take their turns with the monster, the combination of sacred blade and frozen breath making it cry out—though to his ear, more from annoyance than actual pain.

Ash, fall back!

He only barely registers her words when the Unraveler's face suddenly fills his view, the monster itself looming over him as if it wanted to devour him, as the air around them begins to crackle—

Ash bites back a yelp as he is suddenly shoved away from the monster, not by hands or even Adriel's tackle but by nothing at all. Telekinesis, he thinks, spotting Riese a good distance away from he and the monster both, Aegis standing protectively in front of her, just as pillars of paradoxically burning cold energy began to slam into the space where he'd been just scant moments earlier with a sound like roaring thunder. He scrambles to get back onto his feet as more pillars of energy continued to fall, the ground quaking from their force. The sight of his allies gives him a goal and he runs for them when, suddenly, the image of Riese behind Aegis' shield shatters and, behind him, he hears the Unraveler shriek, not in pain or in indignation but something that sounds like triumph.

Faintly, he remembers something she told him back when she'd just become a Cryptic. Something about telekinesis needing her to be close when it came to moving heavier objects.

He turns around just as the attack ends. Riese was... He has to bite back the urge to be sick as he runs to her, his other potion in his hand as she slowly and shakily pulled herself to her feet, the damaged fabric tails of her armor falling away before disintegrating into black and white flames. She meets his eye as he reaches her side, and shakes her head, both at him and her dragon, who was flying from behind him, eyes already bright with protection magic.

"D-don't worry about me," she grunts. For a moment, her eyes were all he could see amid the burnt, bloody wreckage of her face. "I'll be fine." There was something in her hand, green and slimy and clearly not a potion. Was that... seaweed? "Focus on the Unraveler. I've, ugh, got this."

Before he could protest, he hears the Unraveler scream and instinctively turns around, sword held ready. Aegis was in front of him, bombarding the Unraveler with a storm of ice blades. Adriel quickly followed suit his ice breath, keeping it too off-balance to attack—and that was before Ash joined the fray, blades of Light shooting out from the ground to impale the Unraveler's feet. The Unraveler howls, enraged, but Ash can't bring himself to care, not when the sight of the Hero's burns were still all too fresh in his mind. It was nothing a moglin couldn't handle, he knew, but she shouldn't have been hit in the first place, not when—

"Shield up, Aegis!"

Aegis is just barely able to block the Unraveler's attack, his shield blocking its lunging proboscis, even if the impact still sends him a good foot back. Before the Unraveler could react, a scythe slams into its head, its point digging into the space between its eyes, making it scream as it reels back.

It was Riese, Adriel flying before her, the air around them shimmering with draconic shielding magic. Miraculously, all of her injuries were healed, and her armor was fully repaired. He's thinking it's an illusion when she meets his eye and grins, a speck of green on her lip.

Not an illusion, Ash. I told you I'd be fine.

Was... was this why she was so obsessed with nori these days?

He doesn't even have the time to ask before he's forced to move once more as the Unraveler began to bombard the battlefield anew, pillars thundering all around them. Aegis is by her side, icy-blue hexagons extending from his raised shield and mingling with the shimmer of her dragon's shielding magic as well as the translucent lilac of her own barriers. The Unraveler seems to take it as a challenge, focusing its efforts on the combined shield and ignoring him entirely as he calls forth a salvo of Light weapons to assault the Unraveler from behind, the swords slamming against it one after the other without seeming to do much in the way of damage.

Avatars, it was bad enough that he couldn't block its attacks but were his own attacks really too weak to make a difference?

The bombardment ends and Riese, Aegis, and Adriel emerge from their defensive dome, with Riese sporting some minor burns and a smug grin as she held a translucent purple brain in her hands and began to squeeze, her hands crackling with purple electricity, the Unraveler convulsing violently with each shock. Adriel and Aegis quickly take advantage, Adriel firing a spray of icy flames directly at its eyes while Aegis slams his shield hard at where kneecaps would be on a human, before falling back as the enraged Unraveler lashes out with its draining attack. Riese takes the brunt of it throwing herself in front of Adriel but by the curve of her smile, it didn't do enough to make her worry. With a wink at him then another at the Unraveler, she and her dragon both disappear just as three separate Riese appear around the monster, all sporting sharp grins and equally sharp scythes. Even knowing they were just illusions, he can't help but feel inadequate.

Maybe once upon a time, he would've let it go at just that. Once upon a time, he would've accepted that there wasn't much he could do yet. That he was just a puny pipsqueak.

But that was before.

Now, he is an ArchKnight. Now, he can help. She is the Hero and he refuses to be a burden to her!

Riese, he thinks in her direction. Can you distract it for a little bit?

He can sense her approval even before her words whisper into his mind. Of course. Show me what you're made of, ArchKnight.

Ash kneels, his heartbeat pounding in time with the pulsing of the blade in his hands as Light began to thrum in his veins, in his skin, in his eyes, before he looks up, his entire body awash with Light, eyes fixed on the Unraveler and the Unraveler alone. Without meaning to, he remembers how Riese had appeared earlier, hurt so horribly in an attack he knew for a fact she could've avoided if she hadn't been preoccupied with getting him to safety, and rage swells in his heart. That wasn't going to happen. He wouldn't let it happen again! He was going to end it, right now!

His rage, his anger, he channels it all through the sword in his hands, power leaving him in a rush that's almost too powerful to bear. Distantly, he hears his allies gasp as his magic is made manifest in a blade of Light so large, it dwarfed even the Unraveler. For a single, long moment of perfect clarity, it hung in the air above the monster, too bright to behold with the naked eye, truly beautiful in its purity. Compared to its radiance, the Unraveler truly did appear to be nothing more than an insect.

Then, he plunges his sword into the ground and screams:

"Sword of Justice!"

The sword falls without a sound, blazing brilliantly in the endless black void that was their arena, before slamming into the Unraveler with all the force of a falling star and detonating in an explosion of pure, elemental Light, the radiance of it so bright, it sears his eyes even through closed eyelids. He hears footsteps and wingbeats approaching him. He hears Riese murmur a soft, impressed "Wow." He hears the Unraveler let out one last cry before falling. Then it's over, all over. He opens his eyes, blinking away the brightness, to see the Unraveler splayed out on the ground right in front of him. The sight of it makes him smile.

Of course, that is when the Unraveler gets back up, feathers ruffled, plumage burnt, but still very much alive.

Its rage is clear as it glares down at him, still on his knees, still with his sword stuck in the ground, still so weak even now, after all this time. The air around them crackles and, dimly, he recognizes it as a sign that it was about to unleash those pillars again and tries to stand—but to no avail, as the exhaustion from having just unleashed the technique earlier having turned his limbs into lead.

"Ash!" He hears through the numb. All of the Riese were rushing for him, hands reaching out for him, terror in their eyes. "No!"

He feels before he sees her power manifest, his hairs standing up on end as all the illusory Riese vanish, leaving only the one at the Unraveler's left as the air around it crackled with lilac before it is unceremoniously dragged upwards high into the air just before it could unleash its attack—and then is bound by translucent lilac chains.

For a moment, it is all he can see. Her on the ground, haloed by her Cryptic power as she strung up the Unraveler where it could not reach him, projecting chains in a psychic cage that rendered it immobile and unable to harm.

"You're safe," she pants. Despite the obvious strain it took to bind the Unraveler, she flashes him a smile. "I gotcha."

His breath catches in his throat and his heart is loud in his ears. "I'm..." he tries. "Thank—"

The Unraveler screams. Strains.

And the chains shatter

As if in slow motion, the Unraveler Ex turns its gaze towards Riese. Its eyes narrowed, focused.

Aegis was already on his way, his shield readied to defend her.

Her dragon was way ahead of him, body aglow with protective magic as it dived to reach her

She already had a barrier of translucent lilac half manifested the moment the chains broke, expression calm despite it all

But it was all too slow.

As for himself, he is unable to do anything but stare in absolute horror as his friend, his hero, the Hero, was ripped apart in the thundering deluge of power that was the Unraveler's attack

He barely has the time to scream when the void they're in collapses and he finds himself standing before the bulletin boards of the Inn once more.


I'd say someone should've read the endgame wiki before diving into a challenge but I'm pretty sure it didn't exist when I first started writing this. Man, this got out of hand. Really fun to write, though.