Chapter 20: No Restraint, No Mercy

"What's wrong, Setsuna? He's gone, and it's all your fault," Xegros taunted with a twisted smile as Setsuna leaned over her husband's lifeless body. Everyone gazed on in shock unable to believe that Xegros had managed to kill Xylek in a single, overpowering blow that had been aimed at Setsuna. Xegros' laughter at the situation had seemed hollow. Perhaps there was something of his old self still buried below. He had been good friends with both Xylek and Setsuna in the past, before he had gone mad with his insatiable lust for power.

Setsuna placed her forehead on Xylek's, whispered something, and stood. She grabbed her helm from the ground in one hand, and held her sword in the other. Her hair obscured her face, but tears were no longer dripping from her chin. Not a muscle twitched on her stony expression.

"Oh, are we mad now? What are you going to do, eh? You and your little rabble of heroes are no match for me with Xylek gone. What a useless sacrifice." His mocking was grating on everyone's nerves, but Setsuna didn't react. She just stood there, face downturned. The air had become noticeably cold, and the sky had begun to darken again with clouds.

"Oh, looks like Xylek's not done yet, eh? What's this weather supposed to do, give me a cold?" Xegros said, eyeing the unusual clouds.

"… up" Setsuna said, barely above a whisper.

"I didn't quite catch that. Speak up. I want to hear your last words."

Her breathing hastened, her emotions colliding throughout her, demanding that action be taken. The temperature continued dropping and a light snow fell upon the battlefield.

"I… said… SHUT THE HELL UP!" she yelled, her armor crackling with light pulsing across it. Her helm began coursing with light, and she hurled it at Xegros' face. The intensity of the light was so much that Xegros couldn't even look at it, and with Setsuna's perfect aim, it collided and then exploded in his face.

The blast dazed him, and he couldn't see through the bright flash, giving Setsuna the chance to leap above him. She descended with a perfectly aimed kick, hitting him squarely on his head. He tried to reach up to grab her, but she wasn't there.

"What the…" was all he said, as she had seemingly disappeared. He gazed around for a brief second. He knew where she was when the sword stabbed him in the shoulder, near his neck. He roared as swiped at her, but yet again she wasn't there.

"What's going on?" Genis asked, as Xegros seemed to be swinging his arms around like a mad man, trying to kill thin air.

"Setsuna's moving… fast," Kratos said, straining his angelic sight to see her as she assaulted Xegros. Nobody could see her for more than a split second before she vanished from view again.

"How is she so fast?" Lloyd asked, shocked that something could move like that.

"Her element is the element of light, the fastest thing in existence," Raine said. "Nothing travels faster than light."

"Why didn't she do that before?" Sheena asked. "She could have easily avoided the attack that Xylek had blocked."

"Doing this for a long time will damage her body. People weren't made to move this fast, and her body won't be able to handle the concentration of light energy for long without serious consequences" Kratos said. "Xylek most likely forbid her from doing this for her own safety. She's gone berserk, so now there's nobody here that can stop her."

They all had felt the massive killing intent she had expressed just before vanishing. There wasn't an adjective appropriate enough to express her anger. Everyone ducked as a massive explosion of flame went over their heads.

"Damn pest, hold still!" Xegros' fire hadn't hit her, even though he had spread it over as much area as he could. He could regenerate injuries, but it still tired him out. She had stabbed him several times a second for over a minute now, and the pain was no longer able to be ignored. He finally saw her, but she was directly in front of his face. He didn't even have time to blink as the sword plunged into his eye. His head snapped back reflexively, saving his life, but Setsuna was still there in front of him. He started to swing his sword at her, but his hand fell off at the wrist. He blinked his remaining eye, as he hadn't noticed that she had severed it.

He looked back up at her, and she seemed to be floating in the air. He saw her face. He looked into her eyes. And then he immediately regretted it. Upon looking into her eyes, he felt a twinge in his gut. He had felt fear. Her icy blue eyes seethed with hatred; pure, unrestrained hatred. She held up one hand, and a ball of light formed. It continued to grow into a massive sphere, which she held over her head. Everyone else ducked as she threw it at Xegros.

The massive explosion of light sent him flying. He landed on his back, and as he tried to stand, he noticed he was now lacking a leg, severed below the knee. It still stood where he had been before he was sent flying. This disturbed him, as his sword and one of his hands were also over there, near his opponent. He hadn't known that Setsuna was this powerful. He had thought Xylek to be the stronger of the two. Perhaps being enraged had amplified her powers to this extent? He didn't know, and he didn't care, as Setsuna pointed her hand at his severed leg and hand, and a giant column of light pierced the clouds and vaporized them, leaving only his sword.

Xegros' eye opened wide; he could re-attach limbs, but not grow them back entirely. He knew he was in very big trouble now. Setsuna vanished, but didn't at the same time. As Xegros looked around, he was surrounded by not one or two, but seven Setsunas. They all seemed to flicker, as if they weren't really there. He fired a fireball at one, and it passed through harmlessly.

"Illusions won't help you," he said.

She was silent, and each of the "illusions" pointed their swords at him. Massive beams of light fired from the tip of each sword, and slammed into Xegros. Each one was completely real. An eighth Setsuna, the real one, was directly over him, her sword pointed down, and a giant beam of light fired from it, blasting him into the ground, and scorching him with energy. He cried out in pain as the light seared his exposed skin, and it began to make his armor crumble. He was losing. It wasn't even a fight anymore; it was an execution.

Xegros lifted himself from the ground, and began trying to crawl away from his tormenter, who slowly walked behind him. The slow, calmness of her steps made him fear her even more. He looked over his shoulder as he grasped at the ground with his remaining hand, pulling himself along. He winced as he felt a sharp stab in his hand, and he looked up. A shard of black metal was protruding from his palm. He looked, and saw it was a shard of Xylek's sword. Furiously, he tried to shake it out, but he couldn't get it to dislodge. He looked at the sky, and saw the blackness in the clouds. He felt the cold of the air sting his scorched skin, and the coldness only seemed to sharpen his pain, as compared to numbing it. He stopped crawling. He knew he was finished.

Setsuna slowly walked around to Xegros' head and flipped him onto his back. He was breathing heavily from the pain. Everyone else simply watched, too shocked at how easily she had overwhelmed him, crushed him, and reduced him to nothing but a shivering, frightened, and helpless mass. They were no longer sure which of the two was demon-possessed. She glared at him, and drove her sword into his arm, pinning it to the ground. She stood over his head, and removed his helm.

"Gloating? Isn't that something the villain does?" he said weakly. She said nothing. "Still not going to say-" his question was cut off short as she kicked him in the chin with enough force to dislocate his jaw, and crack most of his teeth. She raised her foot and kicked him in the face repeatedly. She said nothing, but her eyes were wide with rage. This continued for at least a minute. She then pulled her sword from his arm, and pointed it at his throat. It shook in her hand, which was quivering with rage.

Xegros smiled at her through broken teeth. His dark, glowing red eyes showed that he had one last plan left. "Fire is always good at exploding, and I no longer need to save myself. I'm going to remove this island from the map. On the bright side, for you at least, you'll be with your beloved in the afterlife."

She had raised her sword, to finish him, but his last statement had stopped her. Perhaps it would be okay to just die now, her revenge complete. He began to glow bright red, building all of the power of fire he had into one explosion. There was a flash of blue from his hand, and he looked over and saw what was happening. The shard of Xylek's sword was siphoning the power of fire from him at a rapid pace. Setsuna looked, and was hit with realization. It really would have been a senseless sacrifice if she allowed herself to be killed. She plunged the sword into Xegros' throat. His eye opened wide, and as it returned to its natural color, the shard finished taking the power back. He exhaled one last time, and was dead.

"You deserved to die like this; cold, alone, and in pain. You betrayed your friends, yourself, and the rest of existence," she said as she pulled her blade from the dead warrior's neck.

Lloyd walked over to Setsuna, along with everyone else. She looked exhausted.

"Setsuna, I'm… I'm sorry he's gone," Lloyd said, but as he began to try to put his hand on her shoulder, she turned and slashed at him, forcing him to jump back.

"Hey, what are you doing? He's dead! It's us, your friends!" Stacie said, surprised.

"I know it's hard for you to accept, but Xylek's not-" Lloyd started again, but Setsuna interrupted him.

"I've been replaying that moment in my head. Over and over, I think of what could have been done differently. I realized something, then. If you hadn't attacked like a fool, then I wouldn't have had to save you. If I hadn't saved you, then Xylek wouldn't have had to save me. If he hadn't…"

"Lloyd, get back!" Kratos yelled, jumping in front of him, sword drawn. Setsuna slashed, and Kratos parried the attack.

"MOVE!" she yelled, and Kratos was sent flying by a blast of light. "Lloyd Irving! It is YOUR fault that he's dead, not mine!" She was walking towards them, eyes fixated on Lloyd entirely.

"I know I was stupid, but I'm sorry! Truly, deeply sor-"

"Save your apologies! Don't worry, I won't make you suffer like Xegros; it will be quick, but I don't guarantee painless. You must pay for your crime. Now, Lloyd, die!"

Setsuna rushed at the group.

Xylek: I'm scared. And dead, it seems. I would like a word with the author about this…

Tiger: And this is a good example of why making women angry is a bad idea.