Everyone remained petrified, observing the creature in front of them, who had that appearance so similar to Luz and at the same time so horribly deviant. None of them could keep from crying: beyond the fear and panic that the mere presence of that being triggered in them, it was terrible to see that face that had always only given them a sweet smile deform in that terrifying way. And above all... laugh in that way. "It's wonderful!" Belos exclaimed as he moved all his limbs. "It's perfectly stable! Not even a crack! I was right, it was the right body!"

Camila and Eda trembled like two violin strings, and then they both tried to run towards the monster; to do what, they weren't sure either. But Darius and Raine appeared behind them and grabbed them, ignoring their protests. "Eda... don't do it!" Raine whispered to her.

"You… let me go if you value your life!" Eda threatened him, and the tone that came out of her mouth was colder and more dangerous than ever. Raine bit their lip and held her tighter; Eda's face was contorted into a grimace that seemed like a mask of pain, and all positivity in her eyes had seemed shattered. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, each one bringing unimaginable suffering. "I have to go to her... let me go to her...!"

"Urgh... it's too late!" Raine told her. "He will only kill you!"

"Yeah, you can't attack that monster!" Darius shouted back. He was holding Camila back with all his strength, yet despite his djinn powers the woman was still managing to advance.

Camila, unlike Eda, wasn't saying anything; she wasn't crying, she wasn't screaming. Her face had become completely blank, as if she had been literally emptied of all emotion, positive or negative. She could do nothing but advance and try to reach her daughter, the same daughter that her heart refused to accept had just let herself be possessed by a hideous and cruel monster. She had to still be there... she just had to peel that monstrous skin off her, and she would come out...

She couldn't have left. She really couldn't have caused them all such pain. Luz wasn't a bad person. Shd was good... she would never let herself go knowing how much she, Vee, Eda, Amity and everyone else would cry...

She had to still be there... she had to be.

"So this is what it means to be able to walk freely again, without being anchored to that damned prison of water anymore! I had forgotten what it meant to be able to move my limbs without the damned friction of that cold liquid!" Belos said triumphantly as he waved his tentacles in the air. "Ah... the taste of freedom is so good. I can't wait to feast on all those creatures that have so far been closed to me, until I'll devour this entire world and then all the other worlds...!"

Gus normally would have been happy to be human again, but at that moment his mind was completely elsewhere. Every inch of his body had petrified, becoming harder than marble. His eyes were wider than ever and his mouth was half open, and he had become unable to say or even think a single word. Next to him, Matt was in more or less the same state, but he still maintained enough clarity to step in front of his friend in an attempt to protect him.

Willow had slipped to the ground after Belos' tentacle had let go of her, and she had never moved from her position again. She wasn't sure her limbs could support her, in fact they probably wouldn't at all. Weakly she crawled towards Hunter's still motionless and unconscious body and leaned against him, holding him tightly as if she was trying to receive some kind of comfort from him.

King had fallen to his knees and wasn't moving. The thick liquid emerged from his eyes and fell to the ground in a large puddle as he looked at his older sister reduced to that state. He couldn't believe that that wonderful puppet who had always hugged him and treated him with love had turned into that thing... he couldn't believe it.

Vee wasn't in a much different state. Masha had caught her before she fell to the ground, but her body had become heavier than marble. She seemed to have become a doll and her girlfriend, who was also crying, had to rely on all their strength to hold her up.

Viney, Jerbo and Barcus huddled together; they felt the same sensation of terror they had felt when Belos was about to devour them, with the difference that now this terror was accompanied by a heavy weight on their hearts; Captain Salty had stood in front of them, but he too felt a strong pain in his chest. Boscha, Skara, Cat, and Amelia did the same, trying to brace themselves as they watched their friend talk and act like a monster. On what remained of the airship, Katya, Derwin and Amber were in the same situation, and Alador and Odalia watched the whole scene with a lot of fear in their eyes. Hooty craned his neck so he could see, and even though his brain was desperately trying to convince itself that that wasn't Luz, he knew in his heart what the truth was.

Edric and Emira had held hands, trying in vain to give each other courage and reunite the fragments of their broken hearts. Lilith was not far from them and was petrified too. It took all three of them a moment to notice a detail: "Where's Amity...?"

"This officially marks the last day of the old era and the birth of a new one, where there will be a single predator at the head of everything in this entire universe: the age of Belos!" the monster roared loudly, and his long, prehensile tongue emerged from his lips and licked them as if he were anticipating a delicious meal. "Now the world can know its new god! Everything you see before you, from the tiniest drop of water to the merest speck of dust, from the high mountains to the endless plains, from the oceans to the sky, is now mine alone! And you, creatures of this world, regardless of whether you breathe, swim, fly or even exist, tremble because you will soon be my food! I'll rewrite the reality, I will dominate..."

"Luz...?"

Belos stopped his speech and looked down, and he noticed that Amity had reached his feet and was touching his knee, which due to the difference in size was about at the height of her head. Her skin had become so pale it looked like snow, and her eyes were wide open and not even moving their lids. "Luz, what are you doing...?" she whispered in a small voice. "Why are you talking like that? We have to go home. Come on... come... stop joking... it's not funny... please..."

Belos burst out laughing and grabbed her waist with one hand, pulling her up to his face. "I'm sorry, but your beloved Luz is no longer here now. Deal with it, little witch"

Amity's body trembled and seemed to lose all energy. "Give her back to me..." she whispered. "Please... take me in her place...!"

"Oh, sweet heartbroken little witch... I know how much it hurts" Belos replied with a widening grin. "But I fear that I am an entity incapable of experiencing that weak and pathetic feeling known as compassion. And now that I have finally obtained my contract and the body I have always wanted, I certainly don't intend to abandon it just because you are making these beaten puppy eyes"

Amity let out a sob, and a few large tears fell from her eyes. "You... you're a monster...!"

"Oh, that's for sure" Belos replied with a big laugh. "But I'm the god of all monsters now!"

Amity's blank expression turned into a beast-like growl, and her magic exploded through her with relentless fury; she let out a roar and his eyes and hair glowed, and she broke free from Belos' grasp as masses of dark magic formed in her hands. "GIVE HER BACK TO ME!"

"Otherwise, little witch? Will you kill me?" Belos answered her without losing his disturbing smile in the slightest. "We both know I could erase you from existence with the tip of my finger"

"AAAAAARGH!" Amity screamed, and her magic surged out of her body with such force that the tears that had been falling from her eyes reversed direction. She transformed completely into her witch form and flew towards the monster's face, intending to forcibly tear him away from the body of her beloved, but Belos did nothing but laugh out loud; with a single movement of his tentacles he grabbed her again and squeezed her tightly, and then he threw her away causing her to fall to the ground.

"AMITY!" Lilith exclaimed running to her, and saw with relief that she hadn't even gotten a scratch; Belos had protected her with his magic to prevent her from getting hurt. "Amity... please stop...!"

"Don't tell me to stop!" Amity screamed as she pulled away from her grasp. "I have to go... I have to save her...!"

"Ah ah ah! You'll make me die laughing!" Belos scoffed. "I'm almost tempted to do the old trick of speaking in her voice and making puppy eyes at you to create a meager hope, only to shatter it an instant later!"

Everyone, hearing him speak, felt a great anger in their hearts, an anger which however was nothing more than a further manifestation of pain. Belos was truly a monster: not only had he robbed Luz of her life, but he was even making fun of it. His wickedness and cruelty were on a level incomprehensible to any normal person.

Willow gripped Hunter's hands tighter as she watched, and as she did so she realized that the boy's pulse was becoming weaker. Frightened she put her ear to his chest, and realized with horror that his heartbeat and breathing were slowing. Belos possessing Hunter must have torn him apart from the inside, even more than he had done with Raine. She started hitting his chest to get him to recover, but she was seriously afraid of further damaging his internal organs. She didn't know what to do... but suddenly she noticed that Flapjack was trudging towards them.

Amity growled and threw some spells at Belos, which however shattered on his body without even giving him a scar, only resulting in making the monster laugh even more. "You poor fool... the only reason you and your pathetic friends are still alive and with all your body parts intact is that your lovely girlfriend traded herself for your safety. However, nothing in our agreement stops me from throwing you away like a twig every time you try to attack me. As long as I don't break some part of your body, it's okay. So please, continue; let's see how long you can go before you totally succumb to your despair!"

Amity roared louder than ever and lunged at him, flying using only her own magic, and hit him several times in the face without having any effect. "Yes! That's what I was talking about!" Belos urged her on. "Let yourself be carried away by anger! So full of strength, of energy!"

The monster reached out and grabbed her again, and then slammed her to the ground again, protecting her as before with his magic to prevent her from getting hurt. Not that he would have minded, but it was part of the deal. "But anger quickly turns to horror when you realize you've lost"

Amity tried to get up, but then her legs became the consistency of mozzarella and gave out completely. She put her hands in front of her face and burst into tears. "You are without pity" she whispered.

"Pity? Do you really think I've ever heard of that?" Belos teased her even more. "I'm not even sure what such word means"

Amity cried even more. She felt like she was going to die... no, it was even worse. "Go… to hell... you monster" she murmured between sobs.

"Where do you think I'm from?" Belos asked her rhetorically, leaning down to bring his face closer to hers and look her in the eyes. "Get over it, little witch. All of you pathetic ants, get over it. You lost. You never had a chance. We had a good run together, but now it's over. This is how it was supposed to end. Your lovely puppet understood it, and now she is gone. She gave herself up to me, we have a deal, and nothing you can ever say or do will save her! I have...!"

But just at that moment a crack appeared on his face; it was something so sudden that everyone gasped when they saw it. It was a shallow crack, running from the right eye to the cheek, and from which a white light emerged.

The smile disappeared from Belos' face, replaced by a stunned expression."What?"

Some of the lines that Belos says during his villain monologue come from the movie Quest for Camelot and are spoken by the movie's villain Ruber. By the way, who remembers that movie?