33 Sower of Discord (Part 2)

Meanwhile…

"Lunox?"

Alucard grows worried as Lunox covers the sides of her head with her arms, the interstellar space slowly shaking. The hunter tries to approach her, but he couldn't, as if an invisible force was slowly repelling him.

"Lunox?"

The Twilight Goddess' breathing labored. The yellow orb on her left wing was ebbing out while the purple sphere glowed with intensity. "A… Argus…"

"Lunox? What about Argus? Is he alright?"

She looked up to Alucard and slowly shook her head lightly, her face holding a frown. "He killed Alice, Zhask, and the others… but he's perished."

"W-WHAT?! No… Lunox, you can't be-"

"I felt his soul… it was lifted. He is with the lovers now, content as he has fulfilled his duty."

"But he's dead, Lunox!" Alucard presses. "The Dark Lord, Andras… whoever he is, he's growing closer! Shouldn't be that the thing we should prevent?"

"Prevent?" she questions. "Then it means Estes hasn't completely told you, or didn't know sooner…"

"Wait, wait, what?"

"Your friends aren't meant to prevent Andras from coming closer, Alucard. Both harbingers of Light and Dark have fallen… and what we need is an epitome. They do not know…"

"So that is the plan?" the hunter asks. "Let that bastard come through?!"

"The Gem hasn't completely instilled its power within your body. If Andras tries to corrupt the artifact prematurely, the Dark swallows the Light, and we will cease to exist. Balance is what keeps us here, Alucard."

"BUT MY FRIENDS WILL DIE-"

"And you were more than willing to keep them alive yourselves," Lunox backfires. "They're doing this for you, but it's also for the other worlds out there. You know where the cyborgs have truly come from. You know where Harley and her sister truly resides. This is for the other worlds too!"

"But there has to be another way! I can't let them die out there!"

"Alucard… this is the only way."

The hunter shakes, clenching his fists. He throws a punch into the air, causing him to slowly get carried by the momentum. "DAMN IT! GODDAMN IT!"

"Are you done throwing tantrums?" Lunox asks, appearing right in front of Alucard. "The Dark Lord is nearing the main walls, and in a few minutes, Zhao and his companions will face terrible deaths."

"So… you mean to say, that all of this… And we're going to let them get killed out there?!"

"True."

Alucard turns his face to her. "There are people out there that have died. There are children out there! Families, people we love and care about! Letting them die is your magnificent plan?!"

"If I told you about the truth, and how the situation actually progresses, then it will never happen, Alucard! I once spoke to Leomord and Argus like this. They hardly ever believed me! And if you think you're different, then you are mistaken! All of this is beyond the capacity of your comprehension, and you may as well have been scratching at the surface. This is the miracle of my power… I foresee what will become. This is the curse of my knowledge… no one will trust my indoctrinations."

Lunox sighs, her ethereal form slowly blinking and fading out, lacking color, before reforming fully and lively again. "Light and Dark merged… and balance was attained… the only truth. And I have always defended it, no matter the cost. The fallen know what is at stake, for they are already dead, twinkling amongst the stars. Lancelot and Odette were afraid, but they accepted their destiny. Argus fought Andras and the others all by his lonesome in order to let me converse with you longer… Because the harbinger of Light can only give way and stand at the gate."

"Why do you need me?" Alucard asked, doubtful. "You could've picked Zhao, you could've picked Miya, or Freya, or even Estes. Why does it have to be me?"

"Because you're a paradox," the Twilight Goddess explains. "You admitted it yourself. The ultimate paradox. A corrupted body with a pure soul. Who could truly best the Dark Lord other than a clear manifestation of ethereal convergence? You are like me, Alucard. You faced hell, and you were destined ever since. The archer, the pirates, the orcs, the spearman… They've shone brightly. All has come to this. Only the harbinger of Truth can defeat Andras."

"But he's too strong!"

"For he breeds chaos, and only chaos! I serve here to keep both the peace and war intact and relenting."

"You can't give up on Gaius, Lunox. There… I don't know how to let go!"

"I've let go, and so will they. To lose their humanity to resist destruction, ironically one of the most human things they can ever do. Ruby, Saber… they are doomed to die this way. Only you can bring them back-"

"That's easy for you to say!" Alucard exclaims, groaning. "Why do you act as if-"

"It's a terrible thing to say… But it's the right thing to ask, Child of the Fall. The conditions will be met, all but your acceptance. The clock is ticking as your friends succumb one way or another, so let me ask you this… just this once."

She veered closer to Alucard, her eyes glinting. Her right eye held a yellow iris, while the left bore a purple hue. Lunox cupped his face with her hands.

"Now that you know what must be done… Are you still willing to sacrifice everything… your friends, your family, your identity, and yourself entirely, for the world we love?"

Meanwhile…

"Nana?! NANA! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Miya climbs up the rubble, her face covered in dust. Her outfit was slightly torn, and a trickle of blood dripped down from her head. She summons her bow, fully intact.

A large chunk of the front wall was absolutely destroyed as Andras conjured a humongous battering ram, catching the heroes unawares.

"Miya! I found Nana!" a familiar voice cries out.

"Aurora!" Miya approaches the mage atop the debris. Nana was unconscious, but still breathing faintly. One of her shoulders was dislocated, and her hands were broken. Nana's boomerang lay fractured.

"Bring her out, now! Eudora and I will try and handle this!"

"But Aurora, your arm!" Miya exclaims, pointing at the amputation. The Queen of Ice slowly winces from the pain, blood flowing off. She puts her artificial arm on the stump, covering the freak wound with a patch of ice.

"I can grow a new one… you need to go! Zhao and Freya and the others are waiting for you!"

The archer nods and sprints off to the inward roads, cradling Nana. Miya struggles to run as the nasty gash on her thigh began to hurt, her shock dissipating.

"M-Miya…?"

"Nana, hold on, we need to get out of the walls," Miya whispered. "Just stay awake, okay? You'll be alright."

"H-Harley… w-where a-are they?"

"Don't worry, they're with Lesley and Gossen. We just need to find Zhao, okay?"

"Miya? Oh, thank the heavens, you're alright!" Zhao runs to her, accompanied by Freya and Hylos. "Wait… where's Aurora and-"

"They're staying," Miya exhales, nearly stumbling to the ground. "I know Gord's still there-"

"Gord?" Hylos asks. "They can clear off the demons in the field, but the Dark Lord-"

"We just need to prevent the demons from overwhelming us. We need to know the status of the others," Freya suggests. "Hylos, try and inspect the other sides. Check if Irithel, Karrie, Balmond, Hilda, and the others are done building up detours and blockades. We need to nozzle them up here in the middle road. That way, they will be easier to handle."

"Noted!" Hylos casts a pathway and immediately charges to the left, where Hilda and the orcs were situated.

As the heroes begin scrambling, the three mages stepped in front of the broken wall, seeing hundreds of demons run from multitudes of directions. Andras slowly summons two of his clones, and they split to left and right respectively. The horde of demons split as well, following the projections that successfully guided them.

"Any plan?" Eudora asks, charging her electricity.

"Take down as many of them as possible. I'll deal with him," Aurora volunteers. "Gord, you need to push off the ones on the right. Archimedians are hanging by the thread."

"Agreed- WATCH OUT!"

A large battle axe appears from the void and slashes sideways, attempting to cut the three mages. Aurora responds by completely freezing the weapon in mid-air, slowing its speed and giving the opportunity for them to duck. Gord rides off to the hard right with his board, going airborne and launching volatile balls of mystic energy at the Ravagers that neared. He then fires a destructive blue laser, driving the monsters away. Some of them get caught in the ray and easily burns to dust. One of Andras' clones leaps up and throws swords at Gord, but he deflects them off easily as he concentrates his energy to his hands.

As Gord fought the clone, Eudora summoned more of her lightning, creating massive chain reactions that fork and arc through the demons. A Ravager jumps to her, and she sidesteps, electrocuting it in retaliation. Eudora sees the Dark Lord's clone and attempts to throw balls of lightning at it, but the swords around the clone easily deflected the lethal projectiles, spinning around like defensive sentries.

"They call you a powerful magician," the clone voiced out. "And yet…"

One of the swords zip away from the projection, aimed directly at Gord. However, a blazing streak blinks directly in front of the mage, blocking the sword.

"Zhao! Why are you here?"

"Help Aurora! We got this!" the spearman sprints to the clone and unleashes a flurry of strikes, attempting to dematerialize the projection. Zhao then steps and spins around, swinging the spear in his area and slashing at the clone easily, and it disappears. "The demons are the issue. Freya is probably with Eudora now. Just stay back and clear them off."

"Are you sure about your plan?"

"Nope. Seriously, no one's sure anymore." Zhao gives a colloquial salute before sprinting to the center of the field to aid Aurora.

Meanwhile…

"It's insane out there…" Alucard mutters, watching the scene through the holographic panorama. "Oh, crap, they're flooding in. They're tearing through the orcs and the pirates, and the ships… they're starting to fall."

"We can do nothing but wait," Lunox dejectedly says. "Half of the heroes are injured. Lolita hasn't fully recovered from the physical trauma. Hylos is going to be enveloped by groups of Morphlings and Hellhounds soon. I have reason to believe his fellow centaurs have died in combat… all of them."

"Miya and Freya are taking beatings… Andras is simply nicking them down with those black swords. It's almost unfair."

"But we only need a few minutes before the Gem fully incorporates its energy within you. That is what matters."

Alucard nods, looking somewhat awful and nerve-wracked. To ease his nervousness, he asked a random question out of the blue.

"Um… I have to ask. If you weren't… like, you know, a hyperversal being of some sort, what would you have done? I mean, if you were just normal, what would you do?"

"Then I would follow my dreams, as I always have," Lunox answers. "I would learn, I would make my own home… admire the nature, raise a family, spread a concrete, yet simple concept of love. The little things, I would have admired. Why is it you ask that?"

"I… never had a normal life, really," Alucard shyly responds, scratching the back of his head. "I don't know if I would die the next day as a demon hunter. I did think of something similar to what you just said, but… it feels so impossible."

"To follow our desires is often the death of duty. We cannot linger on one side."

"A burden, it seems."

Lunox chuckles. "Our destinies do not become burdens simply because they worsen our state of mind or our well-being. It's our perspective… it's why we are still here, waiting for the inevitable."

"But we can still bring them back, can't we?"

"It's what I'd want for all of you… to come back alive and safe and sound… but we must make the necessary sacrifice. You should not falter in spirit. You're prepared."

Alucard was about to reply, but he notices his arm slowly glowing, a blue aura clearly enveloping it as the demonic arm was infused with bright light.

"L-Lunox?"

"It's begun… your transfiguration. The stars in this dream world will act accordingly."

The Twilight Goddess outstretches her hands, and the bright dots of light that seemed so faraway easily traveled to Lunox' hands like objects on a wall. The stardust slowly began to swirl around in front of her, coalescing and slowly forming parallelograms.

"And they will forge the blade that will slay the bane of balance."

Meanwhile…

The demons approaching from the Eudora's side of the wall have barely paid attention to her, most of them already racing and scaling the boundaries. Multitudes of Wretches and Reapers broke through the stone and wreaked havoc against the dwindling numbers of the Land of Dawn's army. Two Striders get flown into the air by a Wretch that rammed through the lines, only for them to get snatched and clawed at by the flying Spitfires.

"Go forth, and let no one survive in our wake," Andras commands, but the Dark Lord that has breached was still a mere clone. His presence still posed a threat, as the true spirit can manifest within the clones.

The demons begin crashing down the orcs, often devouring some as they charged. A Bastion tries to push a Reaper back, but a stray Hellhound pounces on its back and chomps the neck, easily killing the soldier.

"No!" Hylos shouts, trying to gallop faster. A Reaper suddenly bursts out of a wall of an establishment, ripping a young girl's body into shreds. The civilians try to keep fighting, defending their homes, but the demons pour in through the windows and break through the roofs, easily getting more and more kills.

Hylos slams and tramples down the Reaper. A Wretch uses the opportunity and knock Hylos down on the ground and scratches his flank. The centaur yells in pain and tries to kick the demon, but the Reaper rises and digs its claws deep into Hylos. He uses his staff to butt it down, killing it with blunt force, but more Hellhounds and Morphlings began leaping from the roofs and windows, affixed to Hylos. The civilians used this opening to flee, but the Ravagers arrive from the alleyways, stampeding over them and shredding them down into gore.

"B-Balmond… I c-can't…"

The centaur helplessly swings his weapon around, but it was no use. Even if he would clear what's above him, it would immediately be replaced by bigger demons. Hylos slowly begins to succumb from his injuries, a Morphling chewing off the skin on his loin, reaching through the bone. A Wretch arrives and crushes Hylos down, even stepping on some of its fellow demons.

"F-For t-the L-L-Light…"

Around the commotion, Andras uses humongous blades of darkness to cleave through the houses and the army, eliminating tens of hundreds of soldiers with ease. A Strider manages to approach him and throws his spear, but the weapon shatters upon impact, nullified by Andras' aura. The Dark Lord telekinetically grabs the Strider and slowly clenches his hand, causing the soldier's armor to collapse inward and crush the Strider like a ball of paper.

A roar was heard, and Leo leaps from the roof, Irithel riding on the smilodon. Hilda charges up front to distract Andras, and the Dark Lord easily swats the huntswoman away with a back-handed slap, sending her flying to a concrete wall. Karrie trails behind Andras and swings her arms to the legs, trying to cut through the black armor. Andras gets fazed from the impacts as Karrie recovers her posture, punching Andras relentlessly on the torso. Irithel spun around with Leo, trying to mow down the demons that poured behind. A Wretch begins to charge, but Minotaur appears from the corner, tackling the beast down. A few Hellhounds and Spitfires closed on Minotaur, trying to subdue him.

"Mino, get out!" Irithel cries. "You will get flooded!"

"Mind the Dark Lord! Go!" he responds. Irithel changes her focus to Andras. Leo stops in his tracks and gears for a leap. The predator sprints on all fours to pounce on the Dark Lord.

"Iri, no!"

But Karrie warned too late, and also too early. The Dark Lord easily stabs Karrie with one of his gauntlet blades before kicking her off to the ground to bleed. Andras then turns to Irithel, punching her straight off of Leo's back. The smilodon circles around to attempt another leap, but Andras catches Leo by the tail, pulling him whole. He grips on the body and raises it like a barbell, Leo snarling and flailing around.

"Pest."

Andras pulls Leo's body apart, the skin and muscle easily tearing off like paper. The predator whimpers as his organs fall out, liters of blood spilling out and forming a small pool. Andras throws the two halves together and stomps Leo's skull repeatedly.

"LEO, NOOOOOOO!" Irithel cries out in frustration and tries to stop the Dark Lord, but Andras summons a javelin and thrusts it forward, piercing the elf. She stumbles backward, gripping the spear and trying to pull it off. Andras conjures two black daggers and they zip to Irithel's throat, her mouth foaming with blood.

"GET OFF HER!" Hilda swings her axe to Andras, landing a clear precise hit to the chest… before the axe easily breaks and crumbles to the ground. The huntswoman then uses her own fists, trying to faze the Dark Lord as Karrie forces herself to get up, ignoring the puncture on her stomach. She speeds up and slams her lightwheels repeatedly to the armor, trying to carve dents or gashes at the metal. She begins to see purple shards fly off and ricochet from her lightwheels, and it didn't take long before the spinning discs were already dull, the sharp curves chipped away. Andras grabs Hilda by the neck and kicks hard on her leg, fracturing the bone as it punctures her skin. He throws her down before turning back to Karrie. As she tries to land a blow, the Dark Lord grabs her arm and forcefully pulls it with such force that it rips off clean from the shoulder. Karrie exclaims, her mind numbed by the pain as Andras plunges his metal arm straight into the hole, reaching for her heart. He grabs it and crushes it with his clenched fist, causing Karrie to drop lifeless on the ground as he pulls his arm off.

Andras turns around and sees Minotaur being swarmed by the demons. The half-breed shakes them off and sends some of them flying with one swing of his stone hammer, but a Hellbat reaches for his face and claws at his eyes, scratching one of them off the socket. Minotaur bellows and tries to strike the ground forcefully, sending most of the demons, save for the Wretches, soaring high. Andras intervenes quickly by summoning three black axes, enveloped in black smoke. One of them flies off and lodges itself on Minotaur's pec, roughly slicing down to the flesh. It keeps rending him as the other two axes begin to do the same, swiftly cutting Minotaur as he gets overwhelmed by the tremendous force.

"Leave my comrades be… Fight me!"

The Dark Lord turns around and sees Balmond charging with his axe raised, yelling to raise his courage. Andras floats down and closes in with the orc. Balmond swings his axe diagonally, but Andras phases through the strike completely before stabbing him with a gauntlet blade. He grunts in annoyance as he repeatedly stabs Balmond's body before kicking him down.

"You cannot bear a sliver of my power," Andras boasts. "Your brethren falls easily against me. You are no match." He turns his back and resumes hacking Minotaur, surprised that he hasn't died yet.

"No honor…"

The Dark Lord turns back again to Balmond. "Hm?"

"You… have no honor!" the orc spat, blood flying out of his mouth. "Your brothers would spit on your deathbed… for you are no man… y-you… are a defiler!"

Balmond limps, trying to run. He drags his axe as it sparks the ground. Andras sighs as he conjures a large, black spear that gets hurled to Balmond, piercing through his back. The orc doesn't stop moving. Andras throws more spears one by one as Balmond slowly hinders his pace before falling to his knees, leaving a trail of scarlet behind him. The Dark Lord telepathically recalls Balmond's own axe to him and clutches it. He brings the axe down, decapitating the orc.

"Where's she? One still lives free…" Andras looks around and sees Hilda on the ground, crawling to get her battle axe. He chuckles maniacally before impaling Hilda with a spear. Unsatisfied, Andras summons two more and forces them down to her skull, ending her misery.

"Now… where were we? Ah… Minotaur."

As Andras left Minotaur alone, he was successfully able to kill the demons that latched on him. However, dozens of deep gashes and wounds were on his body. One of his horns were broken and he limped on his leg, supporting himself with his hammer.

"No doubt why you survived the endless maze… and lived to stay in it for some time."

"Y-Y-You… She won't let you w-win-"

"Oh, I know, but try as she might, she may have relied on the wrong personnel." Andras summons black chains that wrap themselves around Minotaur, restraining his body to the ground. The chains began to grow large spikes that begin puncturing through Minotaur like needles.

"With every soul I take, with every single one of her mighty 'heroes' that I bring down with my own hands, I am one step closer to destroying that artifact. I am many… I am everywhere… and it is too late for any of you to do a thing."

"C-Curse y-you!"

"Then so shall it be." Andras clenches his fist as the chains tighten even harder. A few seconds pass before the metal links slice through Minotaur's body, slicing him into multiple pieces. His corpse was now a large mass of hairy viscera.

"Six dominoes fall… and the rest knock themselves over."

Meanwhile…

"Okay now, big guy," Yi Sun Shin began. "We're gonna lift you up-"

"No!" Franco bolts. "I'mma get up myself. I can get up."

"Hey, tubbo," Sun replied. "Old black dude just broke around half of your bones within a few seconds. Do you think you can fight against him?"

"Quit the chats. The mages are buying us some time. Let the spare soldiers stand their ground here as we wait for Gatot-"

Suddenly, Gatot himself crashes into a concrete wall next to the group, severe cracks on his gold gauntlets. He quickly rose, dislodging himself from the wall before a black axe hits his head.

"He's here!" the warrior warns. Somewhere in the northeast of the group where Gatot flew, splinters and boulders coming from the houses were being flown off. "A Wretch is coming!"

"GO NOW, the two of you!" Sun beckons Yi, Bane and Franco. "We'll hold them off here!"

"You heard the monkey. C'mon, get up!" the Korean general says as the pirate supports Franco, grabbing his healed arm. The Viking grunts in pain as he is supported by Bane, helping themselves out by leaving the scene.

"Too early for him," Lapu-Lapu notes. "What about Balmond and-"

"They're gone. Hylos tried to respond in time, but he was overwhelmed as well, obviously cornered," Gatotkaca replies. "Some of the Nazar are clearing the field but the airborne are bringing them down. The Dark Lord has around three of himself spread around the whole area."

"Then we push the bastard off!"

Sun turns his head to the Wretch that tore through the house units, the beast roaring at them. He leaps on to it and summons a clone, whacking his cudgel to the Wretch's head. Lapu merges his twin swords and swings upward, cutting off the lower jaw of the Wretch before stabbing upward, the tip of the sword jutting out from the head.

"Where's he?"

"I got distracted by those things. So many are swarming around," Gatot answers. "We need to-"

"WATCH OUT!"

A humongous hammer swings down from the air upon the three, catching Gatot and sending him skidding off into the asphalt, pieces of his armor breaking off. Andras appears behind the hammer and the weapon disintegrates into smoke.

"Sun!"

"Got it!" He throws his cudgel into Andras, which lands successfully. Sun's clone appears behind the Dark Lord, trying to slam its own cudgel into the armor, but the stick snaps into two before Andras stabs the clone, disappearing spontaneously. The real Sun charges forward as Andras wasn't looking and splits into two, trying his best to overwhelm the black knight.

"You use tricks," Andras mentions, barely even fazed. He concentrates his dark energy and throws the fighter off, but the clone was intact. "You multiply."

"If it's needed to beat you, then I can make more!" Three more of Sun's clones appears and charges at Andras, slamming their staffs simultaneously. "Try and hit me!"

"Hit me!"

"Don't listen to the bum, hit me instead!"

"No, I'm the real Sun, hit me?"

"Typical insults," Andras mutters, somewhat bored. Sun and his spare clone charge along the fray as the Dark Lord covers himself with his aura. Before he could finish, Lapu strikes sideways and utilizes the free space, pushing Andras down. The slashing doesn't even make a dent on the armor, but the impacts were stunning Andras.

"But there is one flaw that trickster's behold, ape." The knight finds a small crevice that was about to be covered by Lapu's greatsword. Andras summons a black dagger and it trails through the opening, stabbing Lapu by the shoulder and making him stumble to the ground. He summons more and more blades and slashes around him, trying to hit something solid. Andras felt as if he was slicing at the air, trying to hit an invisible force, but then one of the daggers grazed Sun's leg.

Knowing the real Sun, Andras blinks out of the zone and reappears a few meters away. The clones didn't think twice and sprinted towards the knight, their cudgels raised. Andras sees a line of blood on one of the clone's legs, and in a flash, dissipates into black smoke. The smoke sifts through the doppelgangers and ensnare the real Sun out of the group, the dark air filling Sun's lungs. Andras materializes from what's left of the black smoke and uppercuts Sun's chest, his whole arm piercing through the flesh and into his insides.

Sun gurgles up blood as he drops his cudgel, trying to remove Andras' arm.

"You are predictable," the Dark Lord notes. "You would've fared better… but, I'm disappointed." He pulls his arm off downward, letting Sun's body drop on the asphalt.

Andras turns around and holds out his hand, stopping Gatotkaca's punch easily. The warrior pulls off his gauntlet from Andras' grip and swings the other one outward, but Andras simply dodges the punch. The Dark Lord flails his left arm forward, a long chain sickle materializing from above his forearm, the blade lodging onto Gatot's right gauntlet. He pulls the glove off his hand and lets it fly off to Andras. The spirit grabs the gauntlet and crushes it with his clenched fist, arcs of lightning shooting forth from it and sending Andras skidding his feet into the ground. The smoke clears and Gatot rushes in to land his punch, but Andras ducks in and stabs Gatot lightly with a black dagger. Gatotkaca reels before attacking again, and Andras punishes the warrior with two more light stabs on his back, appearing behind him. In desperation, Gatot throws his punch, but Andras catches the fist in the air, holding it back. He then catches the other punch, and Gatotkaca struggles to overpower Andras. The warrior becomes surprised as the black spirit forces the hands to unclench without difficulty.

"Another waste." Andras pulls harder, forcing the hands to open farther than it should, and Gatot's hands break, the fingers dislocating. Some were torn roughly off of his hands and they fall to the ground, Gatot's face contorted as he tries to hold back the pain.

"Hey, bastard!" Lapu entices, charging with his greatsword. Andras scoffs before dashing quickly to the chieftain like a passing cloud of black. He materializes a few meters away from Lapu-Lapu, and the fighter begins to suffer multiple lacerations on his chest and legs.

Lapu doesn't say a word, as his throat was cut as well. He simply drops to his knees, supporting himself with the greatsword. "Hehe… that w-was… unexpected…"

"You're still breathing," Andras remarks. "Let me fix that for the two of you." As Lapu stands to face the Dark Lord, a black javelin flies straight to his chest, piercing through Lapu-Lapu's chest and through Gatot. He catches the spear in mid-air, trying to push it back, but an invisible force pushes the javelin forward. Gatot sees a black cloud of smoke near him, but it was too late.

Andras reforms his arms and slams his palm into the end of the spear with such force that it slips through Gatotkaca's hands and punctures his throat. The warrior makes a slight wheezing sound before falling to the ground, the spear supporting Gatot's body.

"It's always these brutes that give me trouble…" Andras mumbles to himself as he slowly walks behind Gatot. Suddenly, he kicks the body downward, forcing the corpse to the ground as it passes through the black spear for Andras to recover. "Now… the pirate and his accomplices cannot survive my demons. I will have to deal with the others. No one can survive."

Meanwhile…

"Goddamnit, resilient scumbag…"

Zhao quickly tries to get up, pushing off the debris. He got flown through five houses, blasting through the concrete walls. Bits of his armor was dented and stained with blood.

"Gord's gone… screw this freaking edgelord… he might've killed Eudora too. He's going to end Aurora… Where's Freya?"

In the corner of his eyes, a bright glint catches Zhao's attention. The shining object was being followed by a streak of dark energy.

"That's Freya."

Yun Zhao accelerates through the streets, passing through some of the demons and spare soldiers that were fighting each other. He sees one of the Nazar get caught in the jaws of a Wretch, the beast shaking his head around. The soldier gets torn into two, the upper half thrown into a rising fire originating from one of the commercial housing units.

"We're going to be done for… Dammit, Alucard, you need to hurry!"

He manages to reach a wide avenue littered with buildings. Some of them were completely demolished while the others were standing with a few cracks and holes on their walls. There were holographic projections that flickered around on the buildings, as the structures were occupied by technologically advanced Eruditio residents. Zhao sees Freya battling a clone of the Dark Lord.

"Hey! Let me have some!"

Freya hears Yun's calls and retreats, dodging three of the clone's black sword. She blocks them with her gilded shield before rushing through again, managing to stab through the apparition, forcing it to dematerialize. The Valkyrie's breathing grew ragged as she took a knee to the ground, trying to maintain her composure.

"You alright?" Zhao asked, reaching his hand out to her. Freya calmly swats it off.

"Got me on my side… Miya can't fend off against the Dark Lord… It's as if her arrows don't even do a thing!"

"We need to regroup with her, who knows what she and Aurora is doing," the spearman suggests. "We need to go now."

The two resumes their travel, but Miya appears in front of them, skidding on the long avenue before rolling back easily, planting her feet to the ground as she fires an arrow forward. The streak of light pierces through the air, leaving a tail of blue light. It suddenly dissipates as Andras appears from the black smoke, his obsidian armor filled with little punctures ad dents. He brushes off icicles from his left arm that held something.

"Some of the strongest warriors of the Land of Dawn… but she didn't choose you."

"She chose the right person, she knows who deserves it," Miya answers, standing upright. "Your downfall awaits inside the Genesys Gem."

"You deceive yourself, archer. The Lords of Order have dwindled, and their power plummets."

"What makes you so sure?" Zhao asks, drawing his spear.

"For the Light will be extinguished… so do send your farewells to your friends." Andras throws the object he was previously holding on his hand, rolling to the feet of the trio. They squint their eyes to see it clearly and were in disbelief.

It was the decapitated head of Aurora, her eyes still wide open. A black dagger was on her head, jutting through her cranium.

"For you will not leave alive to tell them again."

Zhao yells as he charges, his flaming aura intensifying. Andras dissipates and sneaks forward, summoning his spear to retaliate. Freya jumps and lands on the black specter, and it dissipates, the smoke splitting into two, forming two copies. Miya leaps from behind Freya and shoots two of her arrows to the spirits. They block the projectiles, but Zhao and Freya charge together and kicks the projections simultaneously. They get flown off and dematerializes again, forming Andras back into one. Miya rushes in and nocks three arrows on her bow, letting them fly. Andras summons his swords and they deflect the arrows. Zhao slides downward and slashes at the shin armor, causing Andras to stumble. Freya merges her sword and shield into an elegant battle axe and strikes down to the Dark Lord, giving way for Miya to shoot from the sides. Andras manages to dodge the attack and reform back, but Miya's pre-fired arrows fly through the slits of the horned helmet. The Dark Lord grunts from the pain, covering his face as he recovers.

"You'll learn to acknowledge the inevitable… just you wait!" Andras summons two broadswords from the void and wields it, sprinting towards the three heroes. Zhao steps in front and spins around as Miya shoots behind the screen that the spearman set up. Freya rushes in, splits her battle axe and bashes Andras with her shield, pushing the knight back. Andras spins his swords forward and slashes sideward, striking the edge of Freya's shield. Miya's arrow riskily weaves through the narrow spaces and piercing Andras' shoulder completely. Zhao follows by slamming the butt of his spear at the Dark Lord's helmet and slices sideways, leaving Andras open for an attack. Andras feigns and spins sideways with his broadswords, slashing at Freya's leg and Zhao's side before kicking them off with his legs. He charges straight to Miya, who was located on a rooftop. Andras strikes the archer with a flurry of blows, but Miya rotates her bow, blocking the slashes with breakneck speed. She finds an opening and slams the limb of her bow on Andras' knee before kicking him off the ground with her right foot.

"You're not going anywhere."

Miya nocks two arrows on her bow and jumps off the roof, shooting Andras on the lower torso and neck as they fell. The Dark Lord rolls back and regains his footing, attempting to phase out of the scene, but Zhao punctures the armor with his flaming spear, hurting the spirit as warped shouts of pain was heard from within the armor. He pushes the end of his spear and forces the Dark Lord up as Freya slashes at the chestplate before locking her sword and shield to Andras' neck. Miya lands gracefully and strangles Andras with her bow.

"Pull! We might get to remove the armor!"

"Rrrrghhh… It's stuck!" Freya replies, pulling harder.

"You accursed runts… STAY OFF!" Andras breaks out of the lock by expending his dark aura before releasing a clone wielding a large, black scythe. Miya rolls away from the sweeping strike of the clone and slides under it as she shoots an arrow straight through the groin and to the head, killing the clone. Freya slams the butt of her sword behind Andras, aimed for the helmet. Andras barely gets knocked and attempts to grab the sword, but the Valkyrie spins in the air and strikes the Dark Lord again with her sword and shield multiple times like a cyclone. She merges her weapons into a battle axe mid-strike, forcing Andras to raise his arms to block it. Freya grunts in frustration as she speeds up, Andras trying to channel more dark energy to break the chain of strikes. The Dark Lord releases a focused concentration of dark energy to Freya's chest, blowing her off the avenue. Before he could follow up, Miya restrains Andras by climbing on top, restraining his head with the frame and string of her bow. They fall backwards and rolls, the archer forcing Andras into a headlock. The Dark Lord tries to roll around to shake Miya off, summoning swords from the ground. He grabs one and tries to stab her, but Zhao kicks the metal arm off and spins his spear with his arm, striking downward to let it continuously attack Andras before trying to stab the Dark Lord. Andras manages to phase out, but Miya follows, morphing into a brilliant swarm of indigo butterflies. Zhao throws his spear to the black smoke and his it dead on the center, forcing the Dark Lord to materialize, blanketed by orange flames. Freya flies towards Andras and kicks him downward with the heel of her metal shoes, creating a sizable dent on the helmet. Miya materializes from the butterfly swarm and shoots Andras as he completely reforms, dodging the light arrows.

"Who are you?" Miya questions, landing on the ground and uses a spinning kick against the Dark Lord, leaving Freya to take advantage of the opening as she slashes diagonally, rolling to the ground. "Estes knows… Yet… He won't disclose…"

"Names have power… and I am a foe yet to be outmatched!" Andras phases forward and grabs Zhao with his hands, slamming him into a concrete wall. As Freya begins charging, he repeatedly forces Zhao's face into the concrete to render him unconscious. Freya tries to slash the Dark Lord off, but Andras transforms into a cloud of black smoke, travelling upward. Freya leaps up, and Andras reforms, releasing a volatile bolt of black energy. The Valkyrie raises her shield but the impact sends her back down, crashing onto Zhao that was trying to get off the concrete wall. They break through the buildings like offroad cars. Miya nocks an arrow as Andras redirects his lightning bolts to the archer. Miya rapidly spins her bow in front of her, acting like a shield. Andras gets closer, but Miya ducks under, shooting her nocked arrow. The Dark Lord dodges and ensnare Miya with dark energy, seeking to restrain her. Miya materializes into butterflies, but the smoke corners them around, preventing her to escape. Andras clenches his fist, but Freya's sword flies to his arm, impaling through the armor. The Valkyrie bursts out of a window and slams to the Dark Lord with her shield, putting him to the ground. Zhao runs like a streak, burning the asphalt and slashes widely with his spear, unleashing a flaming projection of a slender dragon, charging towards Andras. The spearman guides the ancient with his spear like a cat to a red laser, spinning his spear lightly before slamming it downward for the dragon to dive deep into the earth, the flames coating around Andras. The obsidian armor scorches, but Andras manages to phase forward and grabs Miya.

"No more." Andras throws her forcefully to a barbed barricade, the wire cutting her skin to multiple places. Zhao attempts to punish the move, but the Dark Lord grabs the spear, disarming Zhao. He tries to snap it in two by bringing it down to his knee, but it doesn't work. Distracted, Andras doesn't notice Freya bashing him again with his shield, Zhao following behind with a blade kick. Freya throws her sword and punches Andras, a chunk of his helmet breaking, the pieces falling to the ground. Zhao catches the falling sword and slashes at the helmet again, sending yellow sparks blazing. He charges for a lunge, but the sword simply slips off the back armor. Zhao returns the sword to Freya and she merges it back into a battle axe. She strikes sideways and the weapon lodges itself onto the armor. The Valkyrie tries to pull it off, but Andras recovers, stabbing her shoulder and stomach with his gauntlet blades before kicking her off. Yun spins around and strikes his spear, but Andras raises his left arm and blocks the attack. He hits Zhao's arm, causing it to extend outward and drop the spear. Andras uses his right arm to summon his chain sickle and slashes upward, amputating Zhao's hand.

"Argh!" The spearman clutches the bloody stump and falls to his knees, bearing the shock. Andras summons a javelin to impale him, but a light arrow hits his arm before exploding in a brilliant flash of light. Miya, astoundingly alive despite multiple, bleeding cuts from her body weakening her, shoots a charged arrow and sends Andras knocking to a wall. The archer uses this chance to fire even more projectiles, making more and more dents and punctures on the obsidian armor. Andras phases between a shot and leaps onto Miya, toppling over her. He repeatedly stabs the archer's chest, forcing her to die. Before he could land the finishing blow, he was interrupted by a simultaneous strike of two glaives, carving through the back armor.

"You've killed enough of my friends," Karina threatens. "So leave them be!"

"As long as one stands… this world will not push forth with its fate," Andras says. "And I will not spare a child to risk my chances!"

Karina throws her glaives, letting Andras catch them. She sprints and dive-kicks the Dark Lord down, recalling her blades and bringing them down to the black armor. Andras phases out but Karina follows it up with a sweep kick and two swift slashes of her blades. Freya returns to the scene and brings her sword down to Andras, but the Dark Lord catches the sword during the strike, disarming Freya, and slices Karina's throat with it. The dark elf clutches her bleeding neck, trying to stand, but her lungs get filled with her own blood.

"NO!" Freya exclaims, trying to get her sword back, but Andras coats it with black energy and strikes down while Freya blocks it with her shield. Andras continuously assaults Freya as she blocks the attacks, but the black sword begins cutting through her shield, forcing it to break. The Dark Lord summons more swords, stabbing and piercing through Freya and forcing her to weaken. Zhao slams his shoulder into Andras to distract him, but the malevolent spirit simply stomps on his knee, shattering it before piercing his chest with a gauntlet blade.

"So much for chosen protectors…"

"F-For the L-Light…" Zhao wheezes, trying to grab onto Andras' arm. The Dark Lord slashes upward, cutting through Zhao's upper body, his two halves slowly peeling away from each other. Andras then turns around to see Freya standing up, covering her abdomen.

"I… a-am a Valkyrie… and my k-kind die standing…"

"I'm sorry, dear… I should've known. Argus gave you short-lived hope, long enough for you to last like this," he chuckles. Suddenly, a black sword materializes from the void, piercing Freya's chest and lodging into it, causing her to fall with her eyes open. Andras grunts dismissively and summons more swords, bringing them down to stab the body one by one.

"Argus… may we see each other again… with the fallen I've guided to Valhalla…"

Andras then pulls all of the swords out, letting Freya bleed out and succumb to the blood loss. "That was dramatic… But there are more that will be subject to my brutal gladness. This is just the start."

And in the far corner…

"By the gods, Freya, where are you?!" Franco complains, hooking a Spitfire from the air and pulling it down, Yi Sun Shin slicing it with his glaive. The three leaders were cornered on an intersection, small waves of monsters breaching towards them.

"I doubt Freya is still alive," Yi replies, shooting down a Hellbat. "We need to mobilize as fast as we can."

"Oh, yeah? Then what about that thing?" Bane asks, pointing on one of the roads. A Wretch was stampeding towards them with its jaws open, accompanied by a swarm of Morphlings.

"I'll be bait, you get up and kill it!" Franco volunteers. "Can't do anything to that thing!"

"You sure, fatso?!"

"I'M SURE, NOW GET OUTTA HERE!" the Viking urges before waving at the Wretch. "Oi, stink pile! I'm free meat, right here! Oh, come and get some, big smelly scallywag!"

The Wretch growls before speeding, racing to Franco. The Viking manages to duck under and snags his hook to the Wretch's hind leg, causing it to stumble and stop in his tracks. The hook pulls and tears through the flesh, causing the Wretch to vocalize in a distressed manner. Franco runs and ties his chain to a nearby lamppost to prevent it from escaping. He sees one of his airborne ships beginning to collapse in the air, swarmed by the flying demons.

"We better hurry!"

"On it!" Bane slashes on the legs of the Wretch, but the Morphlings crawl over his body, biting and clawing at him. The Pirate Lord keeps on attacking but the small demons begin pulling him down for them to kill. Yi was able to climb on top of the Wretch, stabbing with his glaive. The Wretch, however, was barely affected, and proceeded to buck and shake like a crazed bull, trying to throw the general off. Franco notices that the lamppost was about to break.

"Yi, kill it now! The ships are falling!"

"I'm trying! It won't… STAY STILL!" Yi keeps pulling his glaive in and out of the Wretch's skull, but the demon rolls, throwing Yi to a building's second story wall. He falls on his back, apparently dizzy. Yi Sun Shin supports himself with his sword, and the Wretch has its sights on him. "Ah… crap."

The beast begins to charge at him… until it suddenly trips, roaring in pain. Apparently, Bane was able to hit the Wretch's leg with his claw cannon, momentarily crippling it. Yi looks up in the sky and sees flaming debris fall from the air. In desperation, he gets up, not minding his injuries and jumps on the head of the Wretch before stabbing the side of its head. The demon wails from the pain, slamming its head to the nearby structure. The lamppost breaks, but Franco was able to grab it in time.

"Come on! KILL IT NOW!" Franco yelled, the Morphlings beginning to charge at him. Yi pulls his glaive out of the Wretch's socket and pushes it deep into its cranium. The general then pulls his blade forward, cutting through the spine of the Wretch and landing easily on the ground before sheathing the glaive. A burning meteor roughly crashes down onto the Wretch, burying it in a pile of debris and flames. Most of the Morphlings were wiped out in the process, and Bane miraculously survives, as he was buried under their bodies.

"Cough… Bane… where are you?" Yi calls out, holding his head. He receives a mild concussion as a piece of debris hit his helmet. A small, wooden stake pierced his shoulder and was jutting out of his shoulder. "B-Bane?"

The general sees a crab claw poking out of the corpses of the Morphlings.

"Franco! F-Franco?"

"Here… here…" the Viking responds, pulling Bane out of the mess. The Pirate Lord was rather mangled, skin and flesh flayed out of his limbs. He tries to stand, but easily collapses, a pool of blood beginning to form. "You… a-alright?"

"I'm going to… there's no t-time…" Bane wheezes. "F-Franco…"

"C'mon, we can't stay here-"

"S-Sorry, friend… I threatened y-your lands with my ships… I shouldn't-"

"It's alright… we're now brothers, right?" Franco asks optimistically. "We're brothers now… at least we did something…"

"Y-Yes… g-glory to and for… the heptaseas…"

"Bane? Bane. N-No, don't go…" Franco sniffles. "For the love of the Æsir… no…"

"Franco… we… we tried…" Yi Sun Shin collapses, clutching the stake on his chest.

"N-No… not you too…"

"The a-alliance… will live o-on… we will never forget…"

Franco wipes a tear from his eyes. "You're… one of the best to be here…"

"Glory t-to… the seven seas, Franco… our mistakes… f-finally… set right…"

Yi Sun Shin suddenly slumps, his hand lifeless. Franco closes his eyes and lays his body to the ground. Two Wretches and a couple of Ravagers were closing in on him, the roads of the intersection blocked off. The Viking heftily raises his hook and hammer, ready to face the demons. IN the corner of his eye, a large airborne galleon begins falling from the sky, burning up in the atmosphere. Franco stops paying attention, never minding the demons already running to his location. He stretches out his arms with glee, dropping his weapons as the ship falls down to the intersection.

"My daughter… I'm coming home."

The burning ship impacts the infrastructures and onto Franco, setting the whole area ablaze in an anarchic upbringing of flame and destruction. The demons try to scramble and escape the flames, but more and more debris begin to fall from the sky, crushing or killing them. Many of them suffered high-degree burns, simply dropping dead with their bodies molten or charred.

Nineteen dead. About half remain.