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The battle raged again as the two heroes stood defiantly against the dark dragon. It's leathery wings flapped rapidly as it continuously fired its magic attacks at the two, however they weren't going to let him have another shot.

Lyle turned to his partner with a serious look on his face. "Run." he said. Ark looked at him oddly, then noticed the hero smirking. Knowing what he had planned, the dark warrior ran for the nearest cover and began maneuvering alongside buildings to get to higher ground. Jack fired a large ball of flame at the white haired warrior, not leaving the safety of the air.

Lyle looked up at the flame and closed his eyes, concentrating his will as he had been trained years before. Suddenly, his form vanished as if it were an illusion. Jack's eye went wide when he saw the man disappear. He growled to himself furiously. "This again..." he said, remembering their previous battle where Lyle had shown exceptional speed. Looking around, he spotted him further down the street, smiling up at him with the same arrogant smile. "Damn you!" shouted the dragon as it swooped down and fired another attack.

The hero vanished again, letting the magic destroy what was left of a nearby building. "Ark! Now!" shouted the warrior, getting the dragons attention immediately. The dark warrior jumped out of cover on top of a building and Lyle used force magic to launch himself up to the roof. Ark held both hands aimed at the warrior, using his own force magic as Lyle descended. Lyle also used his, and the two countered each other, launching the hero into the air like a canonball.

Jack flew back horrified as the smiling hero flew towards him with incredible speed. Again, the hero vanished, then appeared on the other side of the demon. The beast roared loudly as it felt pain shoot like lightning down his spine. Suddenly, he started to descend to the earth at a rapid pace.

Lyle landed on a nearby building with his shining silver sword slung over his shoulder. The runes and lightning marks across the blade now glowed brightly in the darkness of the landscape. The dragon fell, as its severed wing flew off with the night wind. As it approached the ground, he saw the hero in black move swiftly and dive off the tower towards him.

Ark, though powerful wasn't nearly as fast as Lyle. Jack reached out with his teeth and attempted to snap at the hero as he fell. However, the dark warrior seemed to predict this and flipped off the demons own body, launching himself behind it and giving him an opening. With a massive swing of his large glave, the other wing detached itself from the monsters body and fell to the ground with him.

Jack of Blades rose to his clawed feet and roared loudly in rage. He shot an enormous cone of fire that swallowed the nearby landscape Ark shielded himself barely and Lyle managed to dodge by diving off the building he was on. The serpent was quick, lashing out with his tail and getting both of the heroes in one swing.

The attack plowed the two through a building, causing it to collapse. However, almost immediately the two rose and flew in seperate directions. Getting frustrated, Jack fired a shot at Ark, missing him entirely as the hero vanished behind one of the other buildings in the area. Lyle held his hand up and lightning shot forward and smashed into the dragons face, causing him the lash out with his spiked head.

Lyle took the full force of the attack and flew off the building, landing on the road nearby. As he was about to strike the finishing blow, Ark swung out of cover and shot lightning at the sword still jutting out of the dragons breast. Being almost completely metal, the blade immediately sent the electrical surge throughout the dragons massive body, stunning him.

Jack immediately threw himself away from the attack into an ally barely big enough to hold him. Getting to his clawed feet, he rushed out the other side before turning and firing a large blast of fire at the building. The magic tore the building apart and sent large chunks of stone towards the two on the other side. Ark and Lyle dashed in opposite directions, catching only the smallest of the debris from the demons surprise attack.

"Sneaky bastard..." shouted Ark as he ran up a pile of rubble and launched himself at the beast again. Jack looked up at him and prepared to torch him with his fire attack, when suddenly lightning contacted the blade buried in him again. With the demon temporarily stunned, Ark had no trouble thrusting his sword forward and scoring, as the blade sank deep into the dragons throat.

Jack was startled and tried to roar, however the blade kept him from doing so. Lyle and Ark stood in front of him, both with smug grins on their faces. He summoned his fire attack again, but once more the blade caused only fumes to come out. It was at that moment that Jack realized he was finished. He could no longer fly, he could no longer breath fire, he couldn't do anything. And without enough energy to summon his army again, he was doomed.

Enraged at finding himself cornered, he lashed out with his teeth. However, he immediately regretted it as both heroes dodged, and Lyle jumped up and slammed the blade of his sword through the top of the dragons mouth and out the bottom of his chin.

Ark raised his hands and fired another bolt of magic through the magical blade, causing the dragon to fall to the ground limp. Jack's vision was hazy as he watched the approaching warriors with magic surging through to their palms. Suddenly, something through his blurred vision caught the dragons attention. There weren't just two of them. There were others around.

He tried to crawl backwards as he saw the transparent form of a warrior walking next to Lyle with a long spear, her hair short and her skin dark. Looking next to Ark, he saw the mage who used to be his ally, holding his hands out next to him as they surged with magic. Behind the two was the man from the village he burned to the ground, Scarlett's husband wielding an axe. Then the rose woman he used to get the mask. Finally, in front of the others was a younger girl with dark hair and dark clothes, holding twin swords in front of her.

They all walked, surrounding the two heroes, with a death glare locked on the demon. "You don't look so good Jack. Maybe you should take a sick day." said Lyle as he walked with Ark, unaware of the spirits surrounding them both.

"What is this madness!" shouted Jack as he rose to his feet, then backed off faster. "I killed you! You all are dead!" he ranted as his gaze shifted from Whisper to Brom, then back to Maze.

Lyle and Ark looked at one another confused, but shrugged. They both switched positions and charged forward, their magic lighting up the moonlit night as the heroes attacked. Jack watched as the spirits charged with them, weapons held in attack positions. He turned to dodge, but they were too fast. He roared loudly in pain as they all hit him at once. Ark grabbed the weapon buried in the dragons chest, sending electricity through its body before ripping the blade free. Lyle took Jack's last chance by grabbing the blade in his throat and slashing across the demons eye.

The demon was swallowed by darkness and pain as it fell sideways to the ground. It raised its head and growled pitifully at the heroes it could no longer see. "Damn you...all..." he said.

"It's over Jack." said Ark as the hero army began to gather around the fallen beast. Scarlett, Theresa, Toran, Thunder, Raven, Van, Alex, Cara, Scythe, and everyone else helping to fight the battle gathered in a circle around the demon.

"Your time in this world has ended." said Lyle as the sword in his hand shined brighter with magical energy.

"Go to hell!" shouted the beast as it struggled to stand.

"You first." said the hero as his hands began to flourish with lightning again. He dropped the weapon and shot the bolt of magic, nailing the sword still buried in Jack's head. Immediately, the attack could be seen throughout the beasts body. Jack roared in pain as the magic began to slowly burn him. He prepared to move away from the attack, when he was astounded by the strength of the attack multipying massively.

The heroes all around the demon raised their arms in a similar fashion to Lyle, then fired the magic forward, adding to the power. The sword suddenly erupted into light as it feed off the energy and forced it into the blade, and straight to the demons insides. The beast clawed at the ground, trying to get away as fast as it could, roaring out its pain and panic. But no matter where it went, there were more heroes, adding to the attack with their own. The light swallowed him and tore his scales from his tattered and scarred body. Finally, it was too much. He fell over and the lightning engulfed him completely, ravaging his body until nothing remained but ash.

The hero lowered his arms, causing the attack to dissipate as others followed his example. All was silent for a few moments before the sound of chearing came from the heroes. Lyle smiled and fell to his knees, exhausted as the others began to celebrate.

Then, everything went silent again as a scream was heard. The hero got to his feet and ran forward, seeing a girl he knew very well fall to her knees, holding her head. "Alex!" he shouted and ran to her. But he was shoved back by a lightning bolt shot from her hand.

Ark moved forward as the woman stood. "What's the matter!" he shouted. The girl looked at him and he immediately took a step back.

"This battle ends when I say it ends!" she shouted.

Scarlett growled, her axe ready to strike. "Damn you Jack!" the woman shouted.

Lyle stepped forward again, looking at her indifferently. "So, that's your backup plan?" he asked, getting a glare from the young woman. "You thought you were going to possess the body of the woman I love so that I wouldn't attack you?" he asked.

Alex walked forward, the smile on her face fading at the sight of Lyle's smirk. "I know your weakness hero. You can't kill the one you love!" she shouted.

Lyle laughed, then rubbed his forehead. "And I know your weakness." he said digging at his side. Suddenly, he pulled out something that made Alex take a step back. "You told us everything back in the cavern, about how this thing absorbs souls of the dead and feeds them to the wearer." he said with a smirk on his face.

Alex took a step back, fear now etched into her face. But, as she stepped back again, she bumped into Thunder, who wrapped his arms around the woman and held her in place. Lyle ran forward and powered the magical item with will energy. Placing his hand on the womans shoulder, he held the mask in front of her face. She screamed loudly as black energy was pulled from her form and into the mask.

The dark knight held onto her so she didn't hit the ground as Lyle held the mask up. Tossing it into the pile of ashes, the hero raised his fist and slammed into directly onto the mask, making fire erupt around him. Slowly, the mask began to discentigrate.

"This...can't be...happening..." said the demon. "I am...invincible..."

The fire tore at the mask, the energy eating away at it until nothing remained of the wicked object. The hero stood again and grabbed the magic sword that was sticking out of the ground. When he was signaled by Thunder that Alex was okay, he turned to Ark. The two looked at each other for a moment, then smiled at each other and grasped hands.

The entire army began to cheer loudly, for the day had been won.