Arriving at Gnash, the group watched the citizens, hoping to see some sign of abnormality.

“Wow, maybe they’re not here yet?” The dragoon had hoped he wasn’t too hasty in assuming the town people were acting normal.

“Are you talking about lil ol us?” The group moved their attention to the voice, their gaze resting on a large teen in jeans, a plaid shirt, and a hat. “Uh, these oafs actually had the moxie, the nerve to bare their faces to our presence?” Beside him was the short girl, this time decked out in pink and white.

“They’ve come for their little rematch. Let’s be nice and comply, shall we?” Alex had appeared, dressed in formal as usual, this time with a tuxedo and a red bowtie. “It is a pleasure to meet all of your acquaintances! I look forward to seeing what you all can do.” Xander still had his same silver armor, this time he boasted an excited smile.

“I told you guys this would be a show to remember.” Westin had rolled in on his partner, jumping off and letting him stretch. “Let’s get this over with” Dustin yawned.

“Before we do, where’s the princess?”

Right on cue, Elizabeth had slipped passed the sins, reaching Matthew’s group.

“Elizabeth! Go stand over there.” The knight pointed to a nearby building. “You could get hurt standing too close.” Without a word, she did as instructed, the sins watching her intently.

Matthew’s group turned their attention back to the sins, who had finished transforming.

“You!” Xander pointed at Matthew. “You are the leader of your team? I suspect you’re quite powerful. Face me!”

“I want the cute brunette with the cloak.” Alex had moved toward the cleric, pulling back as the rogue lunged at her. “Like hell you will! If you want him, you’ll go through me first.” Adriana chased the succubus away from the rest.

“Guess I’ll take you on.” Dustin began rolling, chasing Eric as they broke off from the rest. “Looks like my assistant took off. No matter. Blondie, let’s take our display to the skies above!” The gargoyle rose far into the air, the dragoon giving chase.

Jessica narrowly dodged glass that flew by her head. Looking at the culprit giggling to herself, the mage ran for her, the seer keeping her distance. As Clyde took one look at Sarah, she knew what was about to happen. Running off, Matthew attempted to intervene, but was immediately drawn back to his fight with wrath, locking swords just to keep him from striking. “Your fight is with me, Baronia!”

“Alright. Would you give me a second? I’ll make it worth your time, trust me.” Backing off, Xander watched the boy drag liquid metal from the earth, forming a suit of armor around his body, legs, feet, and head. “Hmph, a suit of armor? Well, let’s put it to test, see which is better: my offense or your defense.”

The two rushed at each other, Matthew letting the man’s blade hit the armor while the knight struck at his exposed body. The blade that would have cut into Matt’s shoulder had instead bounced off, the devil staggered back from the blow and the push back. Continuing forward, Matt slashed over and over, the devil’s attempts to retaliate futile as he continued to take damage from the knight. Xander fell forward, keeping himself kneeling by plunging his sword in the ground; Matt rescinded the armor, breathing heavily as he braced himself for the oncoming wooziness.

The rogue cursed herself, having lost the succubus around some buildings. Her eyes scanning her surroundings, scrutinizing any trace of movement as possibly being her target, she felt herself sweat. “Come out you coward!” Adriana heard the succubus giggle, but she couldn’t identify the location. Suddenly, against her will, she dropped her weapons and her legs moved on their own. Passing two buildings before making a right, the succubus casually walked up to her from the dark alley. “You know, I didn’t actually want that boy. I prefer feisty girls like yourself, even if you are predictable.”

“Hmm, predictable, am I?” Alex could only watch in horror as the Rogue turned into lightning, instantly striking the succubus, pinning her to a wall. Taking advantage of the situation, Adriana grabbed her daggers from the ground and held them to the devil’s throat. “Nice try with the mind control, but unfortunately for you, I’ve got darkness on my side.” Just as she began to drink in her victory, the succubus jumped up and kissed on the lips, the rogue shocked enough to let the girl fly above the ally.

Sinking into the shadows, the rogue watched from darkness as the succubus floated above. Alex was not coming down, knowing the rogue would go for a back attack. Feeling comfortable in the air, she waited for her target to make the next move. Her patience was rewarded with more lightning, streaks flying from the shadows, bringing the succubus down, taking her original form as she landed. “The dark is my ally, you really should’ve flown away when you had the chance.”

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The cleric jumped to the left, and then he jumped to the right. Every time, the massive ball would turn around sharply and fly at him again. Eric’s eyes began to wander, noting holes on the ground and the sounds of cawing in the air. “Guess there’s no better time to try this out.” Whistling loud enough to catch the bird’s attention, a green glow emitted from the cleric’s hand. As fowlcrows began circling above, a rumbling had began causing quakes from below, causing Dustin to stop his roll. “What the heck is this man?”

As moxes began to pop out of the earth, Eric had pointed his glowing at the shell. The moxes raced toward him, the fowlcrow divebombed him; soon, the devil began reeling back. “Gett’em off, gett’em off!” The gasping voice of the teen had caused the cleric to relent, dismissing the animal as Dustin returned to normal. “I call it, nature’s fury. Not original, but it sounds cool, right?” Peeking his head up, the teen nodded.

The dragoon was relieved as the gargoyle stopped ascending. “You want to fight or are we just going to fly around like idiots?” Westin unleashed his weapon, a cane. “What are you gonna do with that? Poke me to death?” Brian quickly regretted his words, as soon his attempts to strike the approaching devil were halted as his hands were poked and prodded by the cane. The speed, force, and precisions of the strikes had made it impossible for Brian to stab back with his spear.

Backing off, the dragoon used his fireball to ascend higher. “I’ve seen that trick before. You’re not going anywhere if you can’t evolve.” Brian looked down at the gargoyle fresh on heels, readying his cane to strike. “You want to see a new trick? Well try this on!” Brian had pulled out another fireball, lobbing it at the devil. Attempting to use the heat to gain lift, Westin how found himself perplexed as the distance between the two began to widen. Looking at his wings, he could see ice beginning to form on the top. “You know the neat thing about controlling heat? You can give and take!” The dragoon smiled as he watched the devil fall to the ground.

The Archer had braved her foe who had once overwhelmed her with a brand-new strategy: run away! Running behind buildings, Sarah knew it was a matter of time before she would be forced to face the ceaseless consumer. Continuing to run through the narrow corridors that the various homes created, she lost track of her opponent, only to smack into his stomach without looking. “Looks like I got ya right where I want ya. Gonna season you good this time!” Pulling out a spatula, the rotund devil was ready for elf.

“Funny thing about that, I was about to say the same thing.” Jumping up, the archer kicked off Clyde hard enough to knocked him down flat. Before he could get up, vines had surrounded him, the earth under his back rose up, and then he launched into an open area of the town. To his shock and horror, the earth wall under his back flipped around, causing the devil to bounce hard on his stomach several times. Eventually coming to a stop, Clyde rolled over before reverting to his human self. “I hope you enjoyed your flight.”

“Giggle giggle giggle, that’s all you do!” Jessica dodged yet another shard, losing the seer among the buildings. Mirrors had popped out of the ground, surrounding the mage. All the girl could see was her own reflection and little openings that revealed even more mirrors outside of the ring. “Can you see beyond yourself?” Losing her patience, the mage froze the ring, shattering the nearby mirrors, able to see more mirrors, but no Hayley.

Looking down out of habit, her heart stopped as she saw the seer launch at her from a ceiling of mirrors. With a hammer in hand, the Seer brought her instrument of destruction down on the mage’s head. Looking up at the result, she noticed she had broken an ice statue that resembled the mage. “Is that an ice-“ before she finished her sentence, the seer was launched against a wall of mirrors in the back. As the girl turned back into a human, the mirrors had disappeared. “Yes, that was an ice clone.”

“Looks like you’ve lost Baronia. I figured my power was stronger than your armor, but I was wrong. However, it doesn’t matter, because my stamina is greater than yours.” Xander began approaching the knight, ready to deliver the final blow. “I’m not out of stamina, I just don’t need to waste anymore on you. Let me show you another cool trick.” Before the devil’s eyes, the boy began fading until he fully vanished. Striking the area Matt used to occupy, the only thing Xander hit was dirt.

“Urk” the devil felt a slash to his side, but his retaliation caused him to lash out at air. Again and again, he was struck and his attempted retribution failed. “When? Where? How?!”

“I learned a long time ago about Alzal. Recently I decided to put their technique to use. Never thought I’d use it for good, but here we are.” Matt had reappeared in front of Xander, who was again the man in silver armor.

Before he could try to fight the knight as is, his teammates began to converge. “Xander, it was horrible! The mean redheaded lady used an ice clone on me.” Before he knew it, the other five began complaining to the man. To make matters worse, his opponents team also regrouped, looking almost unblemished, unlike his team.

“Fine, Baronia, we shall admit defeat. You can have the princess, we shall return from whence we came.” The group watched the sins as they turned and walked away.

“Is it, is it over?”

The knight nodded, the group turning back toward the castle, the direction where the princess had hidden. Revealing herself, the princess hugged Matthew. “Elizabeth, you’re finally free, you can finally go home!”

“I’m so glad to be going home. You wouldn’t believe how terrible that place was.”

“Why don’t you tell us about it on the way back?”