Wow I made it two weeks in a row! Weird. Has my mojo returned?!

Enjoy!

"There's a 72% chance you'll be thrown away if I twist and grab you like this." Damien gasped in surprise as the smaller, weaker woman tossed him easily over her shoulder, as if she was some kind of martial arts master. He slid into the dirt and bounced back up, irritated by his lack of progress. Athena had been a nuisance this entire time, and he couldn't find any sort of opening to take her down. She wasn't 'strong' in the typical sense. She wasn't really hurting him badly, but no matter what he tried or how he tried it, he couldn't get her out of the way. What was he supposed to do?

"Are you okay, Damien?" Bella's voice came from behind him. He was really gonna give Juno hell for this misstep, not sending Drake here when she should have. He knew deep down that she had been forced to her limit trying to do that in such a stressful environment, but it still bothered him.

"I'm fine," he replied as he wiped the dirt off of his face. "I'm just annoyed."

"Trust me I'm annoyed for you." Athena just smirked at this.

"If you want, I could just end this and go after my goal." She said as she wiped her hair out of her face, as if to mock Damien that she hadn't broken a sweat yet.

"If you're trying to bait me into being rash it won't work," Damien replied with a smirk. "After all, I'm smart enough to know you aren't strong enough to defeat me in the normal sense. You're trying to make me make a mistake."

"Clever boy, aren't you? After all you've also accounted for my battle planning taking into account your Demon Lord, yet you've neglected to use him. Am I not a big enough threat?"

As if that was the case. If he could, Damien would have turned into Xisplate already. But because of whatever the hell was happening with them, he couldn't. However, this at least told him that Athena, or maybe The Olympians at large, were unaware of the problems with the Demon Lords, How in the know where they, anyway?

This'd be a really nice time for you to show yourself, Xisplate!

This mental call out resulted in nothing. The snarky remark he had been hoping for was not there, leaving him with only his own thoughts. This truly was a sad state of affairs.

"Definitely not,' Damien replied, intent on keeping her unknowing. "I gauged that well enough already." Athena pretended to be upset by this response, puffing up her cheeks.

"Well, that was hurtful." She said flatly. "Perhaps I will have to and force you?"

"And how, pray tell, are you going to do that?" Athena just smirked at this.

"Oh, I don't know. I have a few tricks up my sleeve." She replied. Before Damien could offer her a response, the woman sprinted right for him. Preparing himself, Damien weighed what options he had. Trying anything and Athena would most likely know, and immediately counter what he was going to do. So what was he going to do? Nothing maybe?

He decided that was what he was going to do. He kept his positioning as if he was going to try and stop her. Athena jumped into the air, looking as thought she was going to punch him in the face from above.

"There is a eighty percent chance that you will not try and defy me in any way," Athena said as she fell, making Damien's eyes widen. "In the event that you do, I must use that opening to my advantage." In a blur, the woman dropped early and rolled by Damien, and the next thing he knew Bella gasped in surprise. Turning, he watched as Athena wrapped the woman's arm around her back, and drew a knife from under her dress and pressed it against Bella's neck.

"Bella!" Damien shouted, gritting his teeth as he watched the knife press into his friends skin.

"How about that," Athena said. "The fight is in my favour."

"Is this how you want to fight this?" Damien demanded angrily. "Cheaply?"

"I don't recall every saying I was an honourable fighter." Athena replied making a face as if she was thinking. "Besides, I don't care what you think of me. This is the best strategy for now."

"What is? Killing a girl who's not fighting you?"

"And why might that be?" Athena asked, turning to Bella. Damien could only watch as the woman pressed the blade tighter against Bella's throat, making the blonde go still in her grasp for fear of slicing her own throat open from squirming.

"Why what?" Damien asked, feigning innocence.

"Why might it be that two Demon Lords have come to me, and yet they aren't fighting at their full strength, and one not at all? Why is that I wonder? Is there perhaps something you haven't told me?" Damien swallowed hard, trying to come up with some sort of plan.

"Because Bella's takeover doesn't work on women!" Damien replied weakly.

"I don't recall the lore of Meridia saying such a thing," Athena replied as she played around with the knife. "Perhaps it has to do with the orientation of the wielder? Hm. I need to research this more."

"Y-You know about Meridia?" Bella asked weakly, eyes firmly on Damien. He didn't know why she was staring at him, but he stared back intently, maybe waiting for some sort of sign.

"Of course, idiot." Athena replied. "As I said, I have a plan for everything. So I need to know everything."

"I-Interesting," Bella replied weakly. "I know you said that you planned everything, but how true is that?" What the hell was she doing? Stalling for time?

"Very true," Athena said. "After all, I came for you because there is a good chance that you were going to be a back liner. It seems I was correct at that as you haven't tried fighting me, but you've also not done anything. Is it because you can't, or won't? Hm?"

"Well I mean..."

"Besides, I also went for you because there's a fairly high chance you mean a lot to your friend over here," Athena said with a smirk, confusing Damien. "In my research, I discovered that those who hold a Demon Lord are often ostracised by others for the danger they represent. So if they meet, they tend to bond with each other. So in that case, I can use your life as a bargaining chip." Bella raised an eyebrow, and Damien felt eve more confused. What was she after?

"What are you saying?" Damien demanded. Athena smiled.

"It's simple really. Bring me the girl and I won't kill her. If you don't, I'll slice her throat." Damien growled as his stomach started to turn, neither option something he wanted.

"I can't do that," He managed weakly. "I-I just can't."

"Well I suppose she dies then," Athena replied as the knife was pressed even harder against Bella's throat. "I'm not a fan of such violent acts, but if I need to I will."

"Damien, just do it." Bella replied weakly. "I-I'll be fine. It'll be fine."

"But..."

"Seems she's the one with the brain," Athena said. "Now, go and fetch her for me. My calculations say that when presented with such an offer, you are more than likely to accept. Although you might try and come up with a plan on the way, so do be mindful that I'll expect that. Now carry on."

This just put Damien in a bad place. Bella and Luna were both on the line, but how could he choose? Bella would die if he refused to go, but Luna could not, under any circumstances, be handed over. They'd decided that already. So what now? Athena had hit the nail on the head when she said he was likely to accept the proposal, and then try and scheme his way out of it. He was fucked.

"Go on already," Bella said. "I told you, I'll be oka-?!"

Bella was interrupted as the area around them changed. The forestry was consumed by a bright white sphere overtaking the sky, closing in on the entirety of the battlefield around them. Athena looked dumbfounded, which told Damien that this wasn't something she had a hand in.

"What the hell is this?" Athena demanded. In that moment, as the woman was distracted, Bella slammed her elbow into the woman's stomach, freeing herself. She ran over to Damien's side, exhaling loudly.

"That was close," she said. "What did you do?"

"I was gonna ask you that," Damien replied. "What is this?"

"I don't know," Bella replied as she looked up at the sphere. "But, I feel like I've seen it before..."

"Damien!" Damien turned as his voice was called, and his eyes widened.

"Gin?!" He demanded, the Demon Lord takeover wizard ran up to them. Gin brandished a smile that seemed almost foreign on his face, finally reaching them.

"It's good to see you guys," He said. "It's been a while."

"Uh, yeah..." Damien replied. "What are you doing here, exactly?"

"That's a long story," Gin said as he scratched his head. "But long story short I'm-"

"Gin!" Another voice rang out. Damien watched as another man, another one he failed to recognise, came up to them. He was in a white cloak, with black hair slicked backwards. He also wore a scowl on his face, which seemed to be a regular look for him.

"Ah, hey Tristan." Gin said as the man joined them. "What's up?"

"What's up?" Tristan demanded. "I was told to watch you, remember? And of course you feel some sort of energy and run off like a dumb ass. I guess we're lucky that I decided to activate Divine Territory huh?"

"I guess so," Gin replied. "We made it in time to help then, so-"

"Can one of you catch me up on what the fuck is happening?" Damien interrupted, feeling irritated.

"This one of them?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah," Gin agreed. "He's the one Quinn stabbed though, so you guys haven't met."

"Oh, the loser who lost to Quinn? Ha." Tristan said with a smirk. "Hey kid, I'm a member of The Cross. That ring a bell?"

The Cross?

"You guys were hunting Gin," Damien said slowly, Bella looking lost as well. "That's all I remember."

"I'll catch you up on how I messed up the red haired kid later," Tristan said as he turned to Athena, who still looked stunned. "For now, I believe we have an enemy to take care of?"

Damien was so confused. Why the hell was Gin here, with a member of The Cross? Why were they helping them, and moreover how had they known to come in the first place? This made no sense.

"Be careful," Bella said as Tristan squared off with Athena. "She's got some weird calculation magic. If you give her a chance she come up with a whole battle plan for you."

"That right?" Tristan asked. "Well, I suppose it's a good thing I got here instead of someone else huh?" Damien didn't have a clue what that meant, watching as the man brought his hands together as if to pray. "What's her name?"

"Athena," Bella answered. Tristan smirked.

"Athena's calculations have random outputs," He said. "Her battle plans make no sense." The sphere fluctuated around then, as if reacting to his words. "Alright, we should be good now. Kid, what's your name?"

"Me?" Damien asked. Tristan nodded. "Uh, Damien."

"Damien's magic is five times stronger," he said. "He's five times faster and five times more resilient. Alright, shall we deal with this now?" Damien still felt as lost as a newborn puppy, not really sure what he was supposed to do. Deciding to attack as he was instructed, he flexed his wings and aimed for Athena.

He gasped in surprise as his wings rocketed him forward, his magic already exploding out from his hands. What the hell was this?

"U-Uh..." Athena managed. "There's a seventy-two percent chance you'll walk your dog down main street...Huh?!" The woman was given no time to think as Damien rammed a fist into her stomach, sending her flying backwards into a tree. Damien stared at the tree in surprise, not sure what to do. Athena got up and coughed up some blood, looking frightened.

"What happened?!" She demanded angrily. "What did you do?!" Tristan just laughed.

"I control the laws of magic in this dome," he said from behind Damien. "So unfortunately, you'll have no luck with your mind in here. Honestly from what I saw of Magnolia, you deserve it."

So that was the case. This dome manipulated magic, which let Tristan control it however he wanted. He'd have to ask how the hell he did that, but for now it wasn't important He just needed to make sure Athena went down.

And now, he could.

Bella watched as Damien tossed Athena around with renewed vigour, throwing the woman around like a rag doll. It was incredible to watch, Tristan's magic had really done a number on Athena already.

"Seems like that's going well," Tristan said as he turned to Bella. "So, we kinda got the basics from one of your friends, so we known what's going on."

"O-Oh, is that so?" Bella asked weakly. "Well, that's good. So, how exactly are you guys here? Or why, for that matter?"

"That's...a confusing matter," Gin replied. "Maybe you can shed some light on it for us." Bella made a face, but she figured she could if she knew the answers. After all, the battle didn't seem to be going well for Athena.

"What happened?" She asked.

"We all had some sort of dream," Tristan replied, rubbing his head in annoyance. "Some guy in a misty graveyard wearing a suit. He told us that we needed to head to Magnolia, and that you guys were gonna need our backup. That ring any bells to you?"

"None," Bella said. "But that does sound weird. You all had that dream?"

"Yep," Gin replied as he crossed his arms. "We figured it must have been important because we all had it. Imagine our surprise when we get here and Magnolia isn't really here anymore." Bella frowned at this, thinking back to the smoking ruins that they had been greeted with.

"Yeah, well...Things haven't been going very well." She said. "I'm really glad you guys are here though."

"Don't worry," Tristan said. "We also saw some scruffy looking kid outside the city. He used some sorta green energy magic." Bella's memory ticked at this, making a face.

"Was he tan?" She asked. Tristan nodded.

"Yeah, he had brown hair too." He said. "Know him?" Bella made a face, thinking back to the Grand Magic Games.

"Well, unless I'm overthinking this, that could only be..."

"Michael for the love of all that is holy could you not?!" Juno yelled angrily right in Michael's ear, making him flinch.

"What?!" He demanded. "I told you I was going to go in!"

"Yeah, that was all you said!" She reprimanded. "Give us more of a battle plan next time!"

"It was all I had!" Michael butted heads with the girl angrily, gritting their teeth and everything. This was swiftly reprimanded by Rina, who slammed her fists into both of their heads.

"Would you two focus?!" She demanded. "Seriously, we're kinda in the middle of something here!"

"That hurt, you frigging lightening rod!" Michael shouted back.

"Enough!" Keita roared, looking livid. "Seriously guys, read the room!"

So far, the fight with Apollo had been a real mixed bag. The man seemed to be very practised with his magic, blinding anyone who got to close and blowing it up when anyone decided to try something tricky. Michael ate as much of it as he could, but it was starting to make him sick to his stomach. He thought he was more of a glutton than this, but apparently he was wrong.

Right now, Apollo just looked bored. He stood nearby the group and watched with vague interest, clearly waiting for them to make a move.

"Are you done?" He asked.

"Just about, thanks for asking." Michael replied as he turned to face him fully. "We just need to finish kicking your ass and then we can go and help someone else!" Apollo frowned at this, his eyes flickering towards the sky.

"This isn't good," he said. "The sun is setting." Michael made a face and looked over his shoulder, seeing that he was right. The sun was just about to disappear, providing very little light for the battlefield.

"So?" Michael demanded. Apollo sighed and stretched.

"It means I need to finish this as fast as possible." He replied.

What happened next happened in a complete blur.

One moment, Apollo had been standing where he was, watching them. The next he'd rushed Keita, placing a hand on his chest.

"Spear of the Sun," he said.

Keita's chest had a hole ripped into it as light exploded through him, making him scream. Michael felt like he was falling, doing nothing but watch as Keita collapsed into a heap on the ground, the hole in his chest searing.

"Keita!" Kyoko shouted, rushing to his side. "Memory Make: Icy Lightening Wall!" Combining Ice Make and Lightning God Slayer Magic, the blonde created a massive icy wall that crackled with electricity. With Apollo blocked off she ran to Keita and began to pull him backwards, the man groaning. Michael didn't recall running to his friend, but he was there by his side regardless.

"Is he okay?!" Rina shouted frantically.

"I-It looks like it missed any vitals..." Kyoko whispered as she checked the wound. "He should be fine, but this is a lot of damage..."

"I don't remember saying you could take a break." Another voice said. Michael had time to turn just to see a fist coated with light slam into his face, sending him flying backwards into the dirt. He groaned as he massaged his face, trying to sit up from the blow. When he did, he began to panic.

He couldn't see anything.

His eyes only revealed a large white expanse before him, but he knew from his ears that he hadn't been sent somewhere. He'd been blinded. He could tell it wasn't permanent, because he could just barely make out the outline of trees above his head. Still, he couldn't see a damn thing. One by one he heard the others suffer the same fate, crying out in pain as they were blown away. Michael growled as he tried to stand, looking back in the direction he came from and squinted. He could barely see Apollo, but Keita's darker form was much clearer. What he could tell though, was his friend was in trouble.

"I said the sun was setting," Apollo said. "Which means I need to make as much of an impact as possible before I make myself scarce." Michael got a little bit of his vision back, just enough to see a spear made of light on the mans hand.

"Don't you dare!" He shouted angrily, shooting off a blast of light. He missed widely. Apollo just sighed.

"You can't see," he said. "Which means you can't stop me. Don't worry, this'll be over before you-!"

An explosion sounded off, one Michael couldn't really see. However, from the feeling he had all over his face, it had been quite the powerful one. Wind and dirt hit his face from the blast, but he couldn't really see what had happened.

"Seriously, I leave you guys alone for a little bit..."

Wait.

Michael did his best to clear his vision despite the blindness, but he could still see a man standing before Keita. However, this man had his back to him. He had a sandy cloak on, and his hair was a dark brown. As his vision began to clear more, he could see bright green energy pulsing from the mans hands.

Plasma.

Blake Hunt turned to look over his shoulder and cast Michael a small smile.

"You guys really need to stay out of trouble."

When writing this, I didn't realise I hit 3k so quickly. Before anyone asks, yes that's the bar I aim for these days. I feel 3k words is a good length for such a story, what do you guys think? I hope you all enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!

Chapter 328: The Setting Sun