Clngg clangg clingg—the sound of two metals clashing rang out through the halls of the fortress. Both Gauge and Vendrick pounced upon each other, relentless. Clang! With a decisive clash they ended up in a stalemate. Feryx held her own against the Executor—white flames leaked from her while blood dripped from her opponent.
Vendrick commented,"Remarkable! You and your weapon are no different. Frail, and yet powerful!"
Gauge deflected Vendrick's sword, gaining distance. Vendrick raised his weapon overhead and chanted,"Executor's Will: Blood Ritual."
The throne room grew ominously red in shade.
Top of fortress
Var lashed out with sharp blood strings at Markoth. Markoth cut through the air and maneuvered past them. He then feinted midair and launched a powerful blow to Var's chin, knocking him to the ground. Markoth regained his stance in the air quickly.
"You cannot defeat me. None of you can defeat any of us. I can sense your friend struggling against our king as we speak. Just surrender, and our lord shall show mercy."
Var strained, pushed himself up to his feet, and answered,"If you think Gauge is struggling down there, your senses are seriously broken. And who said you were winning?"
Markoth noticed strands of blood in his fists, but it was too late. Var quickly sewed both his hands together, then sent a thick strand of blood and pulled Markoth in. As the separated strands met—Thudd!—Var slammed him into the ground, splitting the floor open.
Markoth climbed out of the rubble, grumbled, and dashed at Var again.
Castle Armory
Aero delivered a slurry of kicks to Karla's torso. Karla did not budge even a bit. Ceraphilla sent powerful waves of forcefield, pushing her back, but neither of their attacks harmed Karla.
She then yelled,"Alright, my turn!"
She opened her mouth—a cannon emerged. Fizyuu fizyuu! Karla started firing powerful gate energy-filled bullets. Ceraphilla created a forcefield while Aero dodged through the barrage and returned to her side.
"Pheww, that was close. What do we do now? Nothing seems to work...." Aero exclaimed.
Ceraphilla struggled to hold off the bullets, her hands shaking. She suggested,"My shield can tear through anything while expanding. But..."
Aero turned toward her."But? What's the problem?"
"If it's a spherical forcefield, I need to be at the center of it," she admitted.
Aero looked at her curiously, then his eyes widened."I don't get how… Oh… OHHH!"
The firing stopped. Karla started charging the cannon. Ceraphilla grew concerned."That cannot be good..."
City Centre
A fierce battle broke out between Raikin and the Champion. Raikin moved so fast it was nearly impossible to catch him. The Champion's golden armor didn't budge an inch from Raikin's attacks. Neither side suffered damage, yet neither gained ground.
Raikin halted for a moment."What are you? None of my attacks work on you... Doesn't matter, you can't catch me anyway. That tough body will give out eventually."
At a broken water fountain, Gabriel searched for the failsafe protocol, murmuring to himself,
"#1547 - humanoid robot...
#1548 - Project Veyr...
#1549 - Anti Prism Protocol 1... Hmm, this seems interesting. Let me save this. Okay now...
#1550 - Anti Prism complete...."
The entire city was chaos. Bullets rained, destroying homes. Low-level demons and Lucians slaughtered each other. The situation grew unfavorable for the Lucians. Raikin observed this and remarked,"See? It doesn't matter if you are Mr. Unkillable. This city is doomed anyway. Once we're done with you, we'll force what's left of the Lucians to breed more offspring."
He sat down, relaxing. Meanwhile, Gabriel still scrolled through his watch
."#1765 - Vehicles running on air..
.#1766 - 3G protocol..
.#1767... AHHAA! 3G Failsafe Protocol... and boop."
All the guns powered down, including the pistols. The city went silent for a moment. Suddenly, a powerful voice burst out from nowhere—it was the same rebel from before.
"Their weapons have lost value! The Gods have given us a shot at freedom with the resistance. We are more skilled with traditional weapons than they are!"
Slowly, the tide shifted. What had been a massacre became an even fight.
"What is happening? Why are all the guns suddenly down?!" Raikin yelled in frustration. Then he remembered—he'd left Gabriel unattended. He panicked and began searching. When he spotted Gabriel by the fountain, he leapt forward to kill him once again. The Champion couldn't reach Gabriel in time.
Both scythes aimed toward Gabriel's head—but Raikin was pummeled into the ground by raining fire.
Gabriel grinned."You see, the only way I could deactivate these guns was by taking control of them. Lucky for me, you brought so many right here. That's what happens when you steal another man's hard work."
Raikin tried to get up, only to be grabbed by the Champion. The Champion attempted to rip his body in half—fwoosh! Raikin vanished from his arms. He launched into the air, his eyes turning black as shadow. Soon his entire figure grew dark and blurred.
He declared,"Don't think you've won. Once I kill you both, I'll personally slaughter everyone in this city. Give up your struggles—Raikin the Shadow shall bring you peace."
Battle at the City Centre (Evolved) — Raikin Shadow Form vs The Champion.
Back at the Castle Armory
Aero darted at high speed to avoid Karla's projectiles. He shouted,"Hey Cera! I'll create an opening—do what you must!"
He jumped into Karla's blind spot, climbed behind her head, and forced her jaws open. Ceraphilla wasted no time—she shaped her forcefields into steps and leapt into Karla's mouth.
Karla grabbed Aero and threw him against the wall. She mocked them,"Whatever your plan is, it won't wor—"
Her eyes bulged. She began inflating. Boom! She exploded, flesh and blood splattering across the armory of weapons.
Inside, Ceraphilla stood bloodied. Aero rushed toward her."Are you okay?"
Ceraphilla held her head."Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get the weapons and—"
Immediately, the flesh and blood on the ground began to converge at one point. First the head formed, then the mouth.
"That was a good plan," Karla's voice hissed. "But you should have known—demons have two phases before you can kill us. A kind of failsafe. Now..."
She raised her hand, palm upward. All the weapons around them began to levitate. Ceraphilla was weak. Aero braced himself, deciding to buy time until she could recover.
Battle at the Armory (Evolved) — Karla the Weapon Mistress vs Aero Piercer and Ceraphilla.
Next Chapter — Throne of the Sky.