Beginning of the End (3)

"Cain, I think you're forgetting one enemy we have to come together to defeat! Stop fighting and help us kill him once and for all!" Alex had a look as if she had grabbed his weakness.

"Hahaha! Do you think of me as a fool? You just want to delay me killing you and use my help to wear me down. Relax, I know he will soon appear, and I don't need your help either. I am beyond what you can even fathom!"

Alex narrowed her eyes at Cain with a resolve that could melt steel. "But I think I can fathom you, I know of your abilities and their weaknesses. You are an open book!"

"Whatever you think, it will not change your death!"

Cain twirled his weapon around as he neared her. With each step Cain took, the ground beneath him crunched with the bones of fallen soldiers, a grim reminder of the carnage he had left in his wake.

Alex stayed calm and continued to look Cain in the eyes.

"I will ask you one final time, why? Why do this? You know she would disapprove! She would hate to see you like this! She would despise you!"

"If you think that, then you never found out the truth about her. She was far more flawed than either of us knew. Yet, even so, I still wish she didn't die. Flaws are what make something exciting; it's what makes something real, human...in a sense. Luna was far more human than either of us, but it doesn't change the fact that she's dead."

Cain took a step forward, a frown twisting his face into solemnity. His threat to Alex's life rose with every step, Anders put himself between the two, but Cain didn't plan to play like before.

"How could you be so weak to become so twisted! You threw away your morals and principles just because you lost someone! You act like you're strong, but you're just a weak child! You gave up on life as soon as it didn't go your way! Stop deluding yourself!"

Alex kept throwing insults at Cain in an attempt to weaken his mind. Though it didn't work, it did help in aggravating him. His stone-cold gaze turned fiery with anger as his cold gaze turned to one of flame.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Cain threw his maul at Anders as he slid his hands behind his back.

Anders dodged in alarm as the maul flew past him. He followed it with his eyes as it passed him and embedded itself in some poor soul in the distance. He felt his hairs stand on end and immediately turned as his sword barely blocked Cain's daggers.

Cain towered over him as sweat ran down his face. Cain bared his teeth as rage shot out from his eyes, his hot breath causing Anders to feel uncomfortable. Like a beast, he forced his Yurombi farther and pushed them through Anders's defense. Retreating, Anders endured Cain's vicious attacks as he felt his body freeze up with every strike.

His receding steps slowed as the damage piled up and blood flowed from cuts all around his body. In response, his body produced sparks as he gritted his teeth and threw himself at Cain.

Lightning stretched out as it connected to Cain's skin. Layers burned as they turned to dust in the air, and Cain's skin was ravaged by bolts of lightning. His body collapsed under the thick blood covering the ground, and his body submerged along with the dead.

Anders quickly took out a vial and drank; this monster wouldn't die so easily.

The blood bubbled as the swamp rippled. A corpse rose from the ground as one side of its face was burned down to the skeleton.

"Ha! Do you think this is enough? None of what you do is enough! I have obtained something you can only dream of! I am unkillable! I am undying! I am immortal, an unliving GOD!"

Anders stared at the living corpse as its body regenerated. He sighed, an emotion swelled within him he felt would never surface, an emotion he thought this monster could never make him feel.

Pity.

"I do not dream to be you. You may be undying, but you say you are also unliving. You are not truly living, only dying, over and over in your lost mind. That is not immortality, it is a curse, one I will set you free from!"

Anders brandished his blade as he prepared for Cain to attack. His words entered Cain's ears from one end and out the other; however, he felt some remaining piece of his master must have heard his words.

This was the last sentence he would waste, and from now on, he would truly fight with all he had. He had to prove himself, he had to avenge everyone, he had to kill Cain.

The two prepared to fight; Cain spun his daggers in his hands as the blood around became a lingering mist. However, their battle was interrupted; roots came from the ground as they tried to pierce Cain's body.

Cain's eyes immediately focused on the threat, and he took out the roots that were most threatening as the other weaker roots clashed against his flesh and broke as if they hit a steel wall.

"Ah, most of the roots are no longer good. If only the forest here wasn't destroyed, pity."

Cain stared over at the cause of the interruption. Alex surrounded herself with the roots, reminders of the once giant forest in this place. He looked at her and concentrated on her stomach.

'That's right, I forgot what all of this was for. If I get that, then I can finish all of this in a snap! Who knew the bitch would remind me!'

Cain put his Yurombi away as he fixated on Alex. Mist rose around him as he began his charge; he rushed to Alex as Anders chased after him. As he closed the distance, he recovered his Maul from before and prepared to smash Alex's head as he raised his arm.

He was less than 20 feet away when the ground shook, it didn't just shake but split apart. Cain stopped as he strengthened his footing, as the battlefield broke apart.

The blood drained into the cracks as the earth shifted and moved farther apart. A giant hole that seemed to lead to the abyss took precedence on the field, as many looked over, no one exempt Alex and Cain knew what had happened.

'He's here.'

A low rumble filled the air, and the ground trembled beneath their feet. The soldiers and mercenaries glanced around in confusion, unable to discern the source of the disturbance.

Suddenly, massive roots burst forth from the earth, tearing through the ground with an unstoppable force. Panic spread among the ranks as the roots snaked their way through the battlefield, crushing everything in their path.

From the depths of the earth, a towering tree emerged, its branches reaching out like malevolent arms.

A shiver of fear passed through the combatants as they laid eyes on the colossal figure that now loomed over them. The once chaotic battlefield fell into an eerie silence as everyone gazed upon the mysterious entity that had disrupted the fight.

A distorted voice that caused someone's head to feel like it was exploding entered the mind of everyone present.

"CAIN! You dare try to covet that for yourself! I'll kill you! YOU DARE TAKE WHAT'S MINE!"

Giant roots, the size of buildings, sprung up from the ground, breaking through the abyss. Those who were in their path were killed instantly and flung across the battlefield just by their sheer force.

The roots then dived back into the ground as the earth shook once more. Slowly, the giant tree fully emerged from the ground, its voice once again entered the skulls of all present.

"You truly had me think you were dead, but do you think I wouldn't notice its presence! Your plan has failed, and now you will die, and I will recover my strength once again! Hahahahaha!"

The laughter ruptured the heads of the weak-minded as blood crept out of their orifices, they lost strength and fell to the ground.

Cain had been waiting for Numineer's presence; now he can end everything with a single stone!