30 Redemption (Part 1)

Guys…

I might not be able to talk with you for a little while.

I think… I need to rest.

This… is so tiring… Need to… take more of these… painkillers…

They're coming for me… They could be coming for you… Need to… do this… fast enough.

Have faith in me… I can do this… Show it to you.

The files will just show you… the…

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Inconsistencies eliminated.

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RESUMING SESSION IN 1…

"The end is near."

The Dark Lord stood on the edge in front of the descent. The demons kept on pushing even after midnight. Fires have emerged from the Land of Dawn, the black smoke filling the supposedly sunny sky.

"They didn't s-s-s-stop. They… are without a doubt… h-h-hard-headed fools," Helcurt snarled. He looked at his master. A rugged set of obsidian armor enveloped the dark matter within. The helmet was almost accomplished in its forging, and sooner or later, the Dark Lord himself will join the fight.

"It won't be long, Shadowbringer," he continued. "When this is all over, you will make your race flourish once again… the lifeless corpses of these self-proclaimed heroes as part of your sustenance. After all, the scraps are of no use to me."

"What about the Kastiyan? H-He has contributed w-w-well in our assaults."

"All I seek is the prevention of Estes' victory, and Zhask may have the shards for himself, assuming he hasn't plotted against me."

"G-G-Good." Helcurt turned his gaze to the battlefield, the Leviathan's carcass long gone. "H-H-How about… her?"

"Her? Only a mere phantom, a simple hindrance."

"But the Hunter… you've seen what he has done! H-H-He is your greatest threat!"

"The fallen angel poses much more of a problem when compared to the boy, Helcurt," the Dark Lord elaborates. "Without either the Gem or Alucard… they have lost. And the brat is fighting on his knees, and the same can be said for his friends. He is reckless… and it will be his fatal flaw that will sunder his flame."

Alice walks toward the Dark Lord's side, licking blood from her lips. "Why not attack now? You see them dying!"

"Patience, Alice. Patience is all you need for you to win. I've let all of the pawns go first. The reason why you fail in thwarting is because you attack without actual, purebred focus. We shall not make the same mistake again."

The small black shards slowly conjoined with each other and formed a vertically horned helmet above the Dark Lord. It floated as he reached it with his obsidian arms and slowly put it on top of him. Two dark purple wisps glowed from within the headgear as a long, tattered cape flew with the rough wind.

"Cease the charge."

The demons around them stopped moving while the other demons downhill continued running, seemingly mindless about the Dark Lord's command. Nevertheless, they charged at the heroes.

Meanwhile…

Twelve hours. Twelve tiring hours.

"Gossen! Bogey at 7!"

The assassin heeded Chou's assist and threw his daggers at a Ravager. He launched one of them towards a Stalker and dashed forward, recalling his swords back to him. As he killed it, he jumped on Tigreal who was raising his shield upward after defending against a Hellbat. Gossen then kills a Reaper that was trailing Natalia. Natalia parried a Hellhound's attack and jumped on a Stalker, digging her claw into its neck. She managed to land safely as the demon frantically shook its body to shake her off. She ducks as Miya shoots an arrow in risky proximity, curving to hit a Spitfire that was about to snatch Bane.

Both the Pirate Lord, Franco and Yi Sun Shin stayed on the ground as the remaining crewmen handled the ships. Yi kept firing his arrows as his firing hand profusely bled from constantly pulling the string on his bow. He gets knocked down by a Ravager and he recovers as Franco swung his hook to it and pulls it to him, pummeling its head with his bloody hammer.

"Grinder's going blunt, eh?!" Franco exclaims. "Keep still!"

Bane stabs the Ravager with his crab claw and digs upward, cutting it in half and killing it. The pirate doesn't see the oncoming Wretch.

"Watch out!" Lapu yelled as he jumped on the Wretch and constantly stabbed it with his swords, hoping that it would not reach the trio in time. The Wretch slowly lost speed as it succumbed to every puncture, and it slumped dead. Lapu was so exhausted that he fell along with the Wretch and rolling to the ground.

"You alright?" Bane asks. "You don't look good."

"Headache… hurts harder than usual," the chieftain mutters. "Need to clear it off of me."

Gatotkaca suddenly crashes next to them, his gauntlets bloody and filled with dents. His helmet was slightly crooked and bruises were on his face. "Augh… stupid Wretch. So hard to kill!"

The aforementioned Wretch snarls at them before running at a high speed. However, a beam of white hits the Wretch square on the forehead, slowly freezing it completely Before shattering into a mass of icicles and viscera.

"Aurora?" Yi Sun Shin asked. "Thanks for the help."

The Queen of Ice didn't respond. She was pale, even paler than she used to be. Her skin slowly deformed and her eyes were sunken. It's as if her hands grew as weary and brittle as the ice itself. She tries to walk at the group but almost loses her footing, being saved by Estes.

"Don't push yourself." Estes places his hand on Aurora's and establishes a healing link, slowly removing her weariness and aging. Aurora took a bit of time before standing up, vigorous unlike before, but not as much. "We need to regroup."

"The Dark Lord…"

"What?"

"He's there," she said, pointing at the gloomy horizon. Estes squinted his eyes. Aurora was right, the Dark Lord was standing in front of a massive horde of beasts, his purple eyes twinkling. "He's… there. We must join forces…"

"Just a bit more, Aurora!" Kaja calls out. He yanks a Hellhound's body and slams it to the ground with his whip. Kaja claws at it with his feet and whips it with powerful lightning, neutralizing the enemy. Uranus punches down a Wretch with his bare hands, seemingly gaining the upper hand. He jumps forward and tackles it, bringing it to the ground. Uranus rushes towards its mouth as it struggles to get up. He manages to get ahold of its tongue and proceeds to pull at it.

"Accursed monsters… Try and fight!"

At the back, Minotaur has already put its foot down the Wretch, preventing it from getting up. Saber arrives and constantly stabs the hide with his swords, immobilizing the Wretch as Uranus pulls harder, eventually pulling the tongue out, followed by the esophagus to the stomach until the whole digestive system was ripped out. The guardian grunts in disgust as he balls the organs into a ball and crushes it with his hands.

"Estes! We're losing control. Regroup," Saber reminds. "The demons have begun retreating. This is the time!"

The king nods and in a loud voice commands, "HALT!"

Each and every one of the heroes stopped one by one, breathing heavily. Zhao pulls his spear out from a Reaper and slashes at the air, throwing the blood off of it. Freya's wings were also matted with blood, but it wasn't hers. She folds them and they disappear. The Valkyrie walks among many different bodies: Bodies of demons, bodies of soldiers, bodies of innocents, bodies of the wicked. All of the others struggle to breath as the stench slowly reeked.

"Is it… over?" Karrie asks, rotating her arms. "I think… I dislocated from throwing…"

"They can't last much longer," Hylos began. "Barely a fraction of the army is present, and I've lost more than half of my brethren."

"Woah, Hylos, are you okay?" Freya asked. "Your leg…" She points to one of the centaur's hind legs, which was severely mauled.

"I will be fine, Valkyrie, but your friends-"

"Not okay, not okay, not okay," Layla repeated like a mantra. "Ears… Ears…"

Hayabusa appears from the shadows, his armor scratched. "Layla… your head!"

"Her ear got shot, and it looks really bad," Bruno worriedly says. "I don't think we can completely bring that back! Goddamnit… how do we patch it up?!"

Rafaela approaches Layla and puts her hand on the markswoman's injury. Layla winces from the pain, closing her eyes. The angel heals the wound and stops the bleeding, but the ear remains missing, the remnants of it slightly patching up a hole.

"It's a Kastiyan-inflicted wound. Beyond my power to fully repair the wound, beyond Estes as well," Rafaela says. "Our powers are slowly weakening."

"Barely any defense on the walls, probably none at all," Roger says, pulling out a Ravager's claw on his chest. As he removes it, a trickle of blood began to spill. "Agh… running out of slugs to use. Clint? Any more ammo with your men?"

"On fumes, old man, on fumes!" Clint exclaims. "Around two dozen more clips for my pistols, and seven rifle ammo, and a fractured finger." The cowboy holds up his left ring finger, that was bent in an odd shape. He sighs. "Don't know, we're… we're toast. We're gonna bite the dust anytime soon."

"We're not, boy," Balmond answers. "I have a couple more men lined around the citadel, and we have more defensive support inside."

"The protodrake?" Lolita asks, putting down her hammer and sitting on it. "Where's that thing?"

"Didn't you know? It went under the Leviathan as it went down," Chou explained. "You know, crushed under it, got in contact with the laser, the Leviathan was literally clutching at it as it fell."

"No trace?!" Johnson exclaimed. "Darn. Darn it… Shield's busted up, too."

"I can still repair them simultaneously," Estes volunteers. "We should focus on avoiding further injury. Where is Alucard?"

"There," Karina points. The group turns to see Alucard constantly stabbing a lifeless Wretch, not stopping. "Hey! Alucard!"

The hunter wasn't listening. Concerned, the group runs to him. Blood covered his tattered clothes, but thankfully, he wasn't hurt, and the growth on his body remained the same since. However, his eyes were red, signaling his loss of self-control.

"Alucard, stop it!" Ruby says. She approaches him and grabs his hands. "Hey, hey! Calm down!"

The hunter abruptly drops the knife from his shaky hands and slowly backs away, hyperventilating. He looks at Ruby and the glow from his eyes disappeared. "R-Ruby…"

"It's okay… Calm down, Alu."

"T-That thing… k-killed Horst…"

"I know, I know, just breathe, just breathe," Ruby comforts, hugging him. "Just breathe. Not your fault, okay? Never your fault."

Alucard embraces her as well before getting up, a severe cramp affecting his leg. He recalls his greatsword and puts it on his back, putting his left hand on his side. "Two ribs broken, I think… Can't really move well."

Irithel appears as well, supported by Leo. One of the smilodon's canines were broken. "Leo… He wants to sit down, but the adrenaline's the only thing keeping him alive…"

"We can hold out… a little more," Harley weakly says, dropping a few of his cards. "There's a bit more fire in my cards left. It will work."

"Beta says there is a 2.71% probability that we can pull this off," Alpha says, his visor dented. Estes began making more healing links, and damages to armor or equipment suddenly disappeared. Minor wounds begun to disappear while the major ones healed, but still needed proper treatment. "Now it's 10.49%. Survival rate is on double digits, but dwindling."

"Come on, no time to waste. The Dark Lord and the others by his side have arrived. We cannot fail now!" Hilda says. "No time to mourn today, we do that only if we win or in the afterlife!"

"Hilda's right, no point being weak now, this is the moment," Lesley supports. "We're doing this for the ones that came before us. We'll clean up someone else's problems because we're the only ones that can. What else are we here for? To watch our friends die?"

"Don't wanna see them die," Cyclops randomly says. "Cyclops is tired of being dumbed down."

"Right!" Sun continues. "If y'all cry now, my boys will toughen you up! Took me ages to get out of the stone, and all y'all survived all of the bad to get here! We're here to do what must be done!"

"No one can do this alone… Not a single one," Miya says, standing up. "I once saved my race from extinction, but now, the Land of Dawn needs all of us. Look! The Dark Lord himself cannot face us alone! He brags about his strength and deception… but we have put him on the ropes yet again! If we need to die to put him back into place, then so be it!"

The heroes slowly cheered and gained morale, some having smiles on their faces. Kagura turns to the field and notices the horde staring right at them.

"All eyes on us."

"They're eager," Akai notes. "Frogger here says these uglies are insistin' on a fistin'! Whatcha say, Frogger?" The frog on his hat croaked with glee, raising his hand. "Well, he agrees. Who agrees too?"

Everyone raises their hands. The demons began to roar and snort uncontrollably at a distance. The Dark Lord chuckles, but he wasn't nervous.

"There's always a speech… but barely anyone cares," he says. "Prepare, all of you. Feast on these insolent beings as I release you."

The heroes slowly drifted to the center of the field, in front of the remaining army. The spearhead formation was already neglected as the Striders and Bastions assembled in squares.

On the walls, civilians and other Sharpshooters looked at the defense in awe. Someone on the crowd, a woman, whooped and yelled. "GO, HEROES! FOR THE LIGHT!"

"FOR THE LIGHT!"

"FOR THE LAND OF DAWN!"

The voices rose and overlapped the crackling sound of the raging fires. Some stomped their feet while some whistled. The army banged their weapons with their shields and chanted loudly, their spirits lifted.

"We have gone this far… we will go even further," Estes began, slowly floating in front of the heroes. "The enemy you see behind me, they expect us to falter that easily, but no! We do not rely on blind faith, for it doesn't make us true warriors! We have hope, with or without the Lords! What matters is that we are here, side by side, setting aside millennia of indifference, and rivalries turned into alliances! The Dark Lord will rue this day, and we will show them what we are capable of! So I ask you for the last time… ARE YOU WITH ME?!"

"YEEEESSSSSSS!"

The cheering grew louder at the back. The heroes slowly lined up shoulder to shoulder, slowly bowing their heads and holding their weapons upright from the ground. They silently prayed to themselves as the silence grew. The sun slowly appears from the mountains, gracing them with warmth.

The Dark Lord slowly fashions a large sword out of obsidian fragments, and points it towards the heroes. "Demons… I set you free!"

By the hundreds, many kinds of demons went forth. Ravagers, Goblins, Spitfires, Wretches, Reapers, you name it. They charged with murderous intent, some even running on each other with their thirst for blood unsatisfied.

Alucard looked up and saw the black, grey, purple and green dots marking the whole land in front of them. He pulls out his sword, a loud SHWING! resonating around the whole field. He throws it upward and yelled.

"HEROES… UNITE!"

He catches his greatsword and activates its power, red smoke flowing out of it. Alucard locks his position and aims forward. The other heroes simultaneously raised their weapons and aimed at the demons, their eyes trained and their stances unmoving. Yi Sun Shin nocks an arrow from her bow, Chou sets his hands aflame, Karrie sets her lightwheels into high gear, Lesley loads a bullet into her rifle, and Hayabusa puts his golden blade over his left arm which was under his right, and halts. Gossen reels back, preparing to throw his daggers. Saber hovers and releases his twelve swords, already supercharged and pointed towards the horde. Eudora concentrates her energy as storms of lightning shook the sky while Gord focuses his mystic energy within his hands. All of the other heroes did the similar thing, a familiar burning feeling inside their hearts.

Freya slowly began to transform as she underwent the change. Suddenly, bits and pieces of gold and bronze adorned her shield, overlapping the silver metal and fashioning it with feather-like patterns. The same happened to her armor, wings and headgear as her hair slowly grew shorter. Her helmet grew in size like a gladiator's helmet, but with a gold, sharp crest, and it wrapped around her head. Freya's wings unfurled, and gold bits covered them like some sort of augmentation, making her shine brilliantly.

"And may the Gods witness everything that happens here and now!"

Zhao began to burst into flames once more, his grand armor forming around his body, surprisingly unscathed. He spins his spear on his side before drawing it. "Now… or never!"

Miya began to glow blue, and she slowly stepped forward, a mystifying aura growing around her. The blood on her skin and clothes suddenly disappeared. Her eyes gained a complete sky blue color, and her basic armor slowly turned into a tight dark-colored suit that hugged her figure. Black, combat sleeves covered her arms and a two-winged shoulderguard fitted her right arm, conjoined to what seemed to be a sharp, matte collar around her neck, which had tall ends at the back that almost reached the top of her head. Her bow slowly transformed, holographic images of butterflies floating around it as silky feathers adorned the structure. A set of long, purple and blue plumes stretched from the back of her shoulderguard. Miya wore the same style of headband on her ponytail, and she nocks an arrow to her bow, powered by serene light.

"It's great to be with you, my friends. It's been an absolute pleasure."

Everyone looked at her, surprised at her metamorphosis.

Saber replied, "Same to you… comrade." The slits on his helmet glowed. "And today… WE FIGHT!"

The heroes all charged as one. Blind hope? Probably. Dwindling into single digits, absolutely. But no one has ever seen something such as this…

Ten seconds before contact would be made, so Alucard immediately shot forth a red wave of destruction from his weapon, the wide projectile zooming to the demons. Some attempted to dodge it, but were caught by the force. Those that took it head on were cut into halves, chunks of their bodies flying off in different directions. Saber lets his swords loose, weaving through and shredding a wave into ribbons. As the groups neared, Johnson burst out from the middle, crashing onto the demons in a straight line before spinning around in donuts, unleashing a barrage of missiles.

Miya jumped high into the air and shoots three arrows from her bow in high speed, most of them serving as headshots. Eudora stretched her hands out and arcs of lightning travelled from her hands, chaining around the other demons in the vicinity. Aurora soon followed up with a large hailstorm concentrated in the center of the mass, the ice slowly building up as a wall to halt the charge of the other demons.

Chou punches a Reaper in the gut and sends it flying, knocking down the demons behind it like dominoes. He kicks a Wretch's face as Minotaur strikes it with his hammer from the other side, the blunt edge impaling on its skull. The hybrid pulls it out and hammers the ground tremendously, sending hundreds of demons airborne. Fanny hooks to some Spitfires and zips through the airborne Ravagers and Hellhounds, killing them as fast as possible. She stabs a Wretch to the head with both of her swords as she landed. Fanny uses its head as her take-off point and swings below it, cutting off its legs before Gatot punches it to the ground, the skull cracking in multiple spots.

"Bogies converging from both sides!" Alpha announced, his drone spitting bullets on a straight line. "Need to… clear!" The cyborg strikes the ground with his spear, unleashing a shockwave of kinetic energy around him. He rides on Beta and stabs a Stalker before flying off into the air.

Hylos casts pathways on different sides, noticing that the demons have begun crowding them. "Back away! Go forward and we will be surrounded within the passing minute!"

"How much time left before the Gem is complete?" Estes asks, lifting dozens of demons into the air as they were encased by a glass sphere. The king balls his fist and crushes them by the singularities. "Alucard needs to meet with it in time!"

"Around half an hour!" Kagura shouts, driving away a crowd converging towards her with her umbrella. She gestures with her hands, making the umbrella rotate around her to push the enemies back as she ran back to the group. The mage was about to be cornered by a Wretch, but Hayabusa bursts from its mouth, apparently seeking to kill it. He launches a group of shadows and teleports into each one, throwing shurikens and kunai everywhere. He grabs Kagura by the hand and teleports to the last shadow, accompanying the group again. Akai appears from the back, spinning wildly with his staff before jumping out of a Reaper's clutches.

"Rafaela, remember!" Hayabusa calls out. "Whenever needed!"

"Not now!" the angel responds. "The wrong moment!" She channels light from her staff as the sky began to rain bright arrows, impaling some of the demons that were beginning to chase them. A few ballistae and cannons on the walls were still being manned, and they fired towards the hulking mass of demons, diminishing their numbers through their artillery and fire. A Wretch gets impaled by a large arrow from the ballistae, but it kept running, somewhat unhindered. Another humongous arrow was shot towards it, hitting its head, but it merely slowed down. It gained control and more speed, beginning to gain in on the heroes as it started to trample on the smaller demons just to get to it. The Wretch leaps, but Uranus was also airborne as well, raising his arms and slammed them onto one end of the arrows, making it push deeper into the Wretch. It completely penetrates through its head, finally killing it. The corpse was immediately swallowed by a horde of Morphlings that started to jump on the guardian.

"Putrid rats!" Uranus bellowed, clenching his fist and concentrating the energy within him. "These pests… all of your efforts… ARE IN VAIN!" The celestial energy within him erupted, scattering the demons away from him. Uranus remained unscathed throughout this event, and he proceeded to conjure more ionic discs around him. "Maintain the lines!"

"Hey, Lolita!" Layla asks, charging her cannon. "You ready?"

Lolita didn't say a word as she raised her large hammer, a wide, conical area starting to light up. Uranus moves away and lures the demons into the field. He gives way to Lolita as the elf strikes the ground, sending hundreds of Hellhounds and Morphlings airborne. The other demons near the blast were stunned or incapacitated. Layla shoots a large laser of death from her cannon, concentrating her fire onto a straight line. Bruno clings to her shoulders so that she doesn't trip from the force that was acting against her, and Layla began moving the laser like a hose, mowing down the remaining monsters as if she was spreading cheese on a slice of bread. The cannon dies down and Layla drops to the ground, her arms weak.

"Could barely… barely lifting it," she mumbles, wiping soot from her face. "C'mon… Tens, hundred thousands more to go!"

"That's them," Harley points. "Alice, Helcurt, Vexana, Zhask-"

"Dark Lord ain't here yet!" Tigreal interrupts. "Whatever happens, stand your ground. Worst is yet to come."

Suddenly, Minotaur bellows in rage, leaping into the air and stomping the ground with his feet. He began following up the shockwaves with strikes from his hammer, the kinetic force shaking the bones of the incoming demons. Some easily ruptured from the energy of the waves, bits of viscera still vibrating from the shock.

"Well, that was easy," Chou blurted out. "There's still a few more to wipe out, though!"

Johnson opens one of the car doors as Lesley and Gossen enter it. "If anyone wants to enter, speak now!"

"No, Johnson! Protect Lesley, we got this," Karina says. "Give them an ambush opportunity." She brandishes her blades and charges with the other heroes. The elf launches herself forward and scissors through a Stalker before she lands on her feet. Karina has set her eyes on Alice.

"Oh, look at all of you!" Alice taunts. "So desperate for winning this… but this isn't like last time!" She launches an orb to get to Balmond. The orc notices this and strikes the projectile. Alice teleports to it and receives the blow, but was barely fazed. She attempts to yank the weapon from Balmond, but Karina cuts off her arms, making the succubus lose her grip.

"Not my friends, side chick," Karina mumbles. "And never my family."

"Killed them all in the blink of an eye!" Alice cackles.

Karina throws one of her blades to Alice like a Frisbee. She dodges it, but as it travels back to Karina, the elf kicks Alice to it, slicing on her back like a circular saw. Karina slashes at Alice several times before grabbing her weapon back to her just in time to block her attack.

"And your fellow brethren too! Did you like that?!" Karina retorts. She sprints towards Alice and raises her blades. Alice covers herself with her wings, but Karina stabs her by the feet instead. She somersaults upwards and pulls the blades back up, swinging them to slice Alice's shoulders instead. Karina kicks Alice back and lands on her feet gracefully.

"Family taught me many things," Karina says, brushing dust from her armor. A trickle of blood flowed from her head. "But you only taught me one thing, Alice. It's to never betray them, so that we will be unlike you!"

Alice leaps to Karina in a frenzy, but Eudora arrives, electrocuting her before she could make contact.

"Need help?" the mage asks.

"Perfect timing," Karina huffs.

"The two of you can't stop me! My master approaches!" Alice threatens. "And if he does, he will flay all of you to the bone!"

"Sounds promising, but nope," a voice answers. Miya stood with Karina and Eudora in a circle, surrounding Alice. She nocks a light arrow on her brilliant bow. "And besides… you should feel honored, knowing you tried."

Meanwhile…

"Zhask is one of the main threats," Gossen says to Johnson. "We need to isolate him so that his spawn will not endanger us in the long run."

"But he's on the far back! Sure, the artillery can clear it, but only for a little while," Lesley reminds. "Wait, can anyone of the big guys clear paths?"

Next to them, a Wretch loomed, apparently controlled by Bane, who was on top. His sword was jutting out of the Wretch, and the Pirate Lord is yanking it around.

"Hoya! Let me clear these barnacles out!" Bane pushes the sword forward and the Wretch crashes onto a group of Hellhounds. Aurora generates another hailstorm in front of Bane, clearing the demons in the vicinity so that he can retreat. Johnson revs faster into Zhask, but the alien casts a lightning bolt, forcing Johnson to shield up and transform. Gossen jumps upward and prepares to throw his daggers, but Zhask's spawn catches him and attempts to shoot him point blank in the chest. Gossen blocks with his dagger and zooms back behind Johnson. Lesley peeks but cannot get a clear shot.

"Try if you can!" Zhask yells. "You will never break through!"

"Gossen, our backs!" Lesley warns. "Demons nearing!"

The assassin sighs and throws his set of swords to the Ravagers as Lesley shot down the survivors. Gossen recalls them back to him, but instead of completely disappearing, they revolve around him as Gossen gets up close with a few Kastiyans, stabbing them with his daggers in quick succession. He grabs one of his floating dagger and rolls in the air, landing on a Kastiyan before stabbing it by the neck. He dashes and throws one of his daggers to a Reaper. It runs away to avoid Gossen, but he recalls the dagger back instead of dashing towards it, so that the launched dagger cuts through the Reaper twice. Gossen goes back to Lesley and Johnson.

"Can't hold the shield much longer… The heat is intense!"

Johnson warns. "I'm breaking out on three… two… one… Split!"

The trio breaks off, but Lesley turns to the left and doesn't join Johnson and Gossen. Zhask aims to Lesley, but the sniper quickly aims down with her scope and pulls the trigger, hitting Zhask on one of his eyes. The alien reels back and shakes off the injury, the wound healing.

"Agh! Where are you, little girl?!" Zhask looks around, preparing his spawn. "Where are-"

Lesley was hiding, crouched behind a rock near Zhask. She shoots Zhask on the abdomen and rushes, the spawn laying its sights on her. Johnson releases another missile to distract the spawn, and the Dominator shoots it down before it hits. However, Gossen was trailing with the missile, and he lands on top of the spawn. The assassin casts his daggers onto the spawn, quickly killing it, and he throws a dagger to Zhask and dashes, recalling his swords back to him. The blades cut through the alien as Gossen jumps to stab Zhask on the neck. Zhask recuperates and blocks Gossen's arm, but he uses his free arm to stab Zhask on the stomach with another dagger. Gossen reels back and pulls his daggers off just in time before he could get hit by Zhask's bolts.

"Your moves are excellent, yet futile. You're wasting your time," Zhask says, simply shrugging off his wounds. "How would you like to have your brains displayed?"

"I was going to ask the same thing," the assassin chuckles. "But if I were to have yours out, best bet is I'll make a middle finger out of it." Gossen throws five daggers at Zhask, but all of them were blocked. Lesley uses this opening to fire at the alien commander. The sniper shoots Zhask's shoulder and makes him stumble backward. Lesley advances with Gossen as he kept throwing more and more daggers to keep the firing window open.

"Stop throwing, I think we kept him occupied long enough," Lesley suggests. Gossen recalls back his daggers, numbered to be 70. Zhask suddenly generates a spawn despite being blind. It attempts to shoot Lesley, but two of Gossen's daggers trailed to her, intercepting the shot.

"Go! I'll catch up!" Gossen commands. Lesley runs down and back to Johnson as Gossen cast forth more daggers on the incoming Kastiyans before jumping up, launching a sword at a Hellbat. "Agh, here we go again."

He dashes to the air and slashes the Hellbat with one of his daggers knowing that the demon was seemingly aware. A herd of Spitfires began to follow him into the air, but Gossen simply lets gravity take over as he falls down the ground.

"Saber!"

The cyborg appears behind Gossen, flying upward and ripping the demons into shreds as Gossen recalls his own daggers to finish the job. "Nice call. How is Zhask?"

"Busy. Where's Vex and Helcurt?"

"Coming in, but we need to clear more. Ruby has Helcurt on the ropes. Let's keep them at it!"

Meanwhile…

"Defense up!"

Aurora raises her hands and creates a wall of ice. She slowly covered herself with the cold barrier, preventing the demons from reaching her. Many climbed on it and began clawing at the ice, some frantically pounding their fists. Aurora balls her fist and punches the ground, breaking the barrier and sending the pieces flying, most of the rocks and shards crushing or eviscerating the enemies. Vexana slowly approaches Aurora and lets out a beam of green, dark energy from her hands. Aurora raises her hands and blocks the attack, her whole body covered in growths of ice shards.

"You're a hassle, Aurora!" Vexana began, summoning more of the undead, crowding her.

"You killed Lancelot and Odette… It shall not go unpunished." Aurora throws her arms up in the air and dozens of ice swords shot forth from her crystalline skin, piercing through the Ghouls and pinning them to the ground. Vexana pulls out an ice sword from her shoulder, wincing.

"To take down the Reservoir, one of many! I admire the perseverance, but I pity the true outcome! Your fellow friends will learn to bend the knee to the true Lord!"

"You're blinded by your own rage. It has consumed you, and it will consume me no longer."

Vexana shrieks and shoots forth another beam of energy, but Tigreal steps in front of Aurora, covering himself with his shield. The knight steps forward, apparently struggling.

"Aurora, go! Franco and the others!"

She nods and leaves Tigreal. He looks up towards Vexana. "I will not stand idly by!"

Tigreal suddenly runs through, overcoming the force of the laser as he cuts upward with his blade. Vexana's torso receives a tremendous cut, blood pouring out of her. She quickly floats away but Tigreal throws his sword and it lodges on Vexana's back. The Necromancer lets out a high-pitch yelp, stumbling to the ground.

"Their weapons… they must be blessed!"

"Lancelot and Odette… I will avenge the two of you!" Tigreal grabs the handle of the blade, but his vision suddenly turns black. He feels something pounce on him, so Tigreal instinctively drops forward to the ground and attempts to slam his upper half to the cap of his sword. Helcurt growls in pain as his spine cracks from the blow. Vexana howls louder as the blade digs deeper into her.

"S-S-Smart… not yet enough!"

Helcurt regains his footing and charges to the blind knight, but a greatsword knocks him to the side.

"Tigreal!"

He regains his sight and sees Alucard and Clint running towards him. "Thanks."

"No problem. Natalia needs some cover up front. We'll take on Helcurt and Vex."

Tigreal pulls his sword out and kicks Vexana forward before leaving the scene.

"Hey, get Helcurt," Clint suggests. "Can't do anything with him around. I'll stop Vex."

"Bring Roger to help you. I'll deal with the Shadowbringer," Alucard adds. The cowboy runs off and closes in to Vexana, who was retreating. The demon hunter sees Helcurt wagging his tail, his cloak slightly tattered. "You're a whackjob… Absolute."

"Too l-l-late for petty insults, Hunter!"

Helcurt leaps and strikes with his tail. Alucard dodges the attack and spins to the left, cutting Helcurt's shoulder. The Shadowbringer screeches before leaping, landing on top of Alucard. He attempts to claw the hunter's face as Alucard drops to the ground and rolls, trying to force Helcurt off of him. In his peripheral vision, a few Shadowbringers begin to close in on him.

"Hahahahah! Blood will be spilt in the name of the Abyss!"

"Yeah… yours!" Alucard grabs Helcurt by the neck and throws him to his fellow Shadowbringers, sending them skidding to the ground. Helcurt immediately regains control and pounces again, opening his jaws. Alucard's reflexes makes him close his eyes and cover himself with his right arm. Helcurt bites on it but immediately reels back, making awkward sounds. The hunter stops covering himself and notices that three of Helcurt's teeth were broken, and was stuck on his arm. The Shadowbringer screeches before fleeing, nearly missing Ruby's hook.

"Is he trying to rip my arm off?!"

"Alu!" Ruby greeted, panting. "The Dark Lord-"

"Ruby, they're trying to rip my arm off. Helcurt… he was aiming for it."

"Not now. The Dark Lord… he's here."

"W-What?!"

Johnson and Lesley retreat back to the formation, somewhat panicked. The cyborg transforms back into a car, wide and deep gashes on his shield.

"Crap… almost killed me," Johnson said nervously. "Lesley, you alright?"

The sniper clutched her bleeding shoulder, an injury she took seemingly from a sword or knife. "I can still shoot… but…"

"Everyone, regroup! He's approaching!" Zhao yelled. Cyclops, Nana and Miya outran him, and Nana's arm was bleeding, the blood slowly trickling down her boomerang. Estes hovers upwards with Saber and generates a wide, prismatic barrier forward, pushing the demons back before they could snatch Hilda and Irithel with their claws.

"Too many," Layla sighs, supporting herself with her own cannon. "Gun's hot, too many, I can't breathe there."

"Odin, help us…" Franco prayed, looking pale. "By the gods…"

"He's too quick, too quick," Sun complained, leaning to Hylos. "Almost got killed…"

Uranus and Kaja were the last to retreat. Bruno notices the guardian's body, heavy dents and gashes on the bronze. The damage was slowly being repaired, but it was tremendous. Kaja stopped flying, one of his wings matted with his own ichor.

"I have a few more of my men," Kaja reminds Rafaela. "I've ordered them to guard the Gem. The smaller demons are gone, but-"

"I have arrived."

The heroes raised their heads and noticed the black figure slowly approaching them, dozens of meters away. The Dark Lord walked the earth and his steps left a trail of decay. He held the helmet of a Strider, coated in blood.

"This body… I have longed for a surrogate for eons… This feels… strange," he said to himself. He held the helmet within his hand and slowly crushed it effortlessly, dropping it to the ground. "Yet… I doubt any one of you can outmatch me…"

"Silence!" Estes commands, conjuring more of his runes and spells. "We need not resort to this."

"Oh… never my own fault. You chose to fight against me, against legacy! How inconsiderate… thinking you stood any chance, no matter how small! My children were merciful, so am I… But now, I've had enough. The boy… he's become a threat." He points to Alucard, specifically, his greatsword. "And threats are always liabilities to my plan… All of you will not live to tell the new world what has become."

Miya immediately loads an arrow into her bow and fires. The projectile swished through the air, aiming for the slits on the Dark Lord's helmet. However, he flicks through the air in a split second, and suddenly, he was holding the arrow with his hand.

"I am no longer bound, and I am glad you are persistent to live long enough!" he said, blades of darkness slowly materializing around him, pointed at the heroes. "It will make it even more satisfying as I render all of your hardships for naught!"

WARNING! INCOMING TRANSMISSION!

[DATA CORRUPTED]

"-UN! AR[STATIC] RUN! GO TO THE P[STATIC]-VER COME BACK! NEVER COME BACK!"

[STATIC]

(Sounds of gunshots are heard. Loud thuds within the audio confirms the presence of killed people.)

[STATIC]

"-OM! DAD! HELP! SOMEBODY!"

"KEEP RUNNING!"

"MY PARENTS-"

"JUST RUN- OH SH[STATIC]

[STATIC]

[DATA CORRUPTED]

END OF TRANSMISSION.

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