With all their might, Kyros and Runa ran. They moved with the swiftness of the wind. The final battle grew closer with each step they took. Their target—Melanie Elisavet. The woman was responsible for the savage attacks across Soteria. They planned to end her reign of terror once and for all. 

The Acolyte destroyed hundreds of lives because of her assaults. Kyros remembered the explanation she gave a few days back. It only fueled his rage and desire to stop her at all costs.

When they reached the base of the mountain, they spotted armed guards standing before the entrance to it. Kyros came to a halt and held his arm out to stop Runa as well.

"What're you stopping for?" The Huntress exclaimed. It wasn't the time to stop. Their target was nearby, and it was their last chance to stop her.

"Something's wrong," Kyros noted the longer he stared at the guards. He couldn't sense a shred of life from them. Sure, they stood and guarded the entrance with their weapons in hand. But, he couldn't shake the ominous feeling about them.

Runa rested her spear on her shoulder and observed the guards herself. The same feeling Kyros had reached her as well. She immediately recognized what happened.

"They're dead," She pointed out. "Melanie got to 'em."

"She's using their bodies to slow us down." Kyros banged his gauntlets together and wasted no time in rushing the guards. The moment he entered their line of sight, the guards moved. They raised their weapons and attacked.

Kyros disarmed the guards and knocked them away. They immediately recovered and attacked again. Runa stepped in and dismembered them, knowing that was the only way to keep them down.

"Quit wasting time," Runa barked. She didn't give the man any time to respond. She quickly stepped through the entrance and mentally prepared herself for whatever awaited them in the mountain.

"Had I known Melanie would come here, I would've mentioned it to General Zofia," Kyros complained. His mind went back to the conversation he had with Aion a few days ago. He remembered how his mentor mentioned Melanie's deep love for her father.

"What's so special about this place?" Runa questioned as she held her spear out in front of her and used it to trace the ground. It was a smart tactic to use in case of traps or pitfalls. Her eye wandered to the lanterns and portraits of several people mounted on the hollow walls.

"The foot of this mountain is used as a graveyard for special individuals in Soteria," Kyros answered. "Kings, Queens, Nobles, people of high status alike are buried here."

Upon hearing the military man's answer, everything clicked in Runa's head. All the pieces came together.

"Son of a bitch! She's trying to revive her dead father isn't she?!" Runa exclaimed.

Kyros gritted his teeth and nodded in response. The thought of the Last King coming back to life terrified him beyond belief. That ruthless man boasted godly like powers. Only a select few in Soteria would have the ability to match him. Therefore, it was up to Runa and him to stop Melanie at all costs.

He knew all too well that no matter what went down inside of the mountain, they were in for a fight of their lives.

"Melanie!" Kyros shouted once he spotted the woman standing before an unmarked grave.

"End of the line!" Runa added and pointed her spear at the Acolyte.

"These graves...they're quite beautiful, yes?" Melanie suddenly asked. She didn't bother to turn around and face the enemies behind her. "One final memento for the greatest people in this country's history. And yet, there is not a single marked grave for my father. Soteria became what it was because of his valiant efforts. So, why? Why does he not rise when I use my powers?!"

Kyros' attention moved to Melanie's hand. It aimed directly at the unmarked grave beneath her feet. However, nothing rose from the ground.

"Give up, Melanie. Nothing's going to come out from under there," Kyros proclaimed. "Your father was a tyrant. A monster that this country wants to forget. Did you honestly believe we'd bury him?"

Melanie's Praus flared wildly around the area. She slowly turned and finally faced her enemies. The ferocious scowl on her face unnerved them.

"What did you bastards do to my father's body?!" She shouted.

"We burned it," Kyros replied without hesitation. "The council didn't want to leave any remnants of him behind. Your plan failed, Melanie. Surrender."

The fire in Melanie's eyes diminished. She lowered her head and stared at the ground. Everything she'd done to get there felt like a wasted effort. She lost so much and yet gained incredible power as compensation. With her ability to control the dead, she planned to destroy Soteria along with her father and comrades.

It was meant to be a fitting end to a worthless world and era. If the most influential country in Salome fell at their feet, then, of course, the planet as a whole would follow. No one would've been able to stop them.

That dream would stay like that, however, a dream. Without her father's body, she couldn't exact her revenge against the nation that took everything from her. But, that didn't mean all was lost. There was still something else she needed to do.

Surrender was not an option. Not to her.

Melanie's shoulders trembled. She raised her head and laughed maniacally, alarming Kyros and Runa. They felt as if the woman had finally snapped at all the pressure.

"I will admit, this hinders my plan." Melanie slapped her hand over her face. "However, bringing back my father was only a small part of the operation. There is still something I can do here."

"What's that?" Runa wondered.

"Kill you," Melanie dryly answered before she rushed towards the two. Runa met the Acolyte halfway and clashed blades with the woman. They shared a brief dance of blocks and parries until Kyros broke his way into the fight. 

His attempts to bludgeon Melanie with his gauntlets proved futile. Melanie was far too swift and agile; his fists couldn't hope to connect. Nonetheless, he kept the pressure on her. Melanie couldn't attack if she were forced continuously on the defensive.

The Acolyte blocked Kyros' last punch with her sword and skidded back. She parried another one that came from the man and nearly impaled him through the throat.

Thankfully, Runa stepped in and defended Kyros with her spear. Melanie pulled her arm back and thrust her sword at the Huntress in retaliation, letting out a growl of frustration. Runa blocked the sword again, which left Melanie wide open.

Kyros took advantage and went for another punch, which only collided with the pavement instead of its intended target. Melanie raised her knee and struck Kyros in the stomach. When he dropped to the ground, Runa jumped over him and engaged Melanie until he could regain his composure.

Their clash of blades ended once Melanie struck Runa upside the head with a backhand strike. Runa recoiled and used the momentum to retaliate with a roundhouse kick.

Melanie sidestepped the kick and responded with a kick of her own. The target—Runa’s unguarded kneecap. Upon impact, the Huntress dropped to the ground, using one hand to keep her steady. Just before Melanie's blade came down toward her neck, a column of flames rushed toward the Acolyte.

She jumped away and watched the flames diminish once it reached a certain range. Her eyes darted toward Kyros. The sight of his flaring gauntlets brought a smirk to her face.

"My, is this not entertaining? Blind followers of Shura, continue with your futile attempts to defeat me. Your sacrifice will be most pleasing to Mother." Melanie mocked her opponents.

Kyros lowered his fists and frowned. Melanie reverted to her old speech pattern back when they first met. She frantically raved about Jaya, the Goddess of Destruction and other nonsense. Kyros didn't buy into any of it. Although the woman boasted about her religion, he didn't feel any genuine feelings in her words.

They felt hollow. Sad even.

"That's enough, Melanie! I'm not buying into any of this!" Kyros waved his arm out. "Your Acolyte spiel won't work on me!"

"What are you talking about?" Melanie inquired.

"Face it. This isn't about Jaya. It never was. This was about you and your father. All this time you simply wanted to bring him back from the dead. That was your goal here."

"Fool. The likes of you could never hope to understand my complex methods," Melanie pointed her sword at Kyros. "I told you before that I seek to remove the illusion that has cast over your eyes. Salome is coming to an end. The world must know this. The only way to convey that message is by destroying the safe havens that humanity constructed to keep Mother contained."

"You sound brainwashed," Runa pointed out. "Earlier when you spoke about your father, that sounded real. Genuine. But now, you sound like a machine."

"Who programmed you to say these things? Your leader?" Kyros wondered.

"My words and actions are mine alone! If anyone here is brainwashed, it is you!"

"No point in talking you down," Runa concluded. Honestly, she felt it was a waste of time in the first place. Melanie had done far too much damage to get forgiven so easily from anyone. As she saw it, she'd rather kill the woman and end everything. "So, I'll just cut you down instead."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Again, you make these outlandish proclamations. And yet, you are still no closer to defeating me than you were the first time we clashed."

"This won’t go down like the last time we fought."

"Prove it."

It all happened within a blink of an eye. One second Runa stood beside Kyros. And then the next she stood where Melanie once did. The woman got knocked a few meters across the cavern. She regained her balance and stared at the Huntress in disbelief.

A bright light emanated from Runa's hand. There it was. She had done it.

She activated her powers.

When Melanie returned to her feet, she expressed the same amount of surprise that Kyros did. After all, it was the first successful hit that Runa had managed to land on her.

Several more came afterward.

Runa repeatedly sped around the stunned Acolyte, brutally wailing on her. Just as she went for the finishing blow, Melanie deflected Runa’s spear away from her. At that moment, Melanie thrust her sword at Runa's torso.

In the act of swiftness, Runa leaned back as far as she could into a back bridge. The only thing that managed to get sliced open was her leather armor. Runa swung her leg up and landed a kick across Melanie's chin, sending her staggering back.

Kyros jumped back into the fight and swung away at Melanie with his flaming gauntlets. Runa straightened her posture and joined him in the attack. 

Although they attacked in unison, Melanie displayed remarkable swordsmanship. She gracefully blocked and parried all their attacks. Whenever Melanie found holes in their offense, she took immediate advantage. She lashed at Kyros, which he defended. Her attention then moved to Runa, who she kicked further down the cavern.

Displaying an expression of pure arrogance and delight, Melanie casually dodged his strikes. When Kyros followed up with a kick, she blocked it with her forearm and retaliated with a swipe of her sword. Kyros dodge rolled out of the way into her blind spot, where he proceeded to knock her on the ground with a sharp blow to her back.

Melanie recovered quickly and tossed aside her burning cloak. They circled each other—gauging one another’s expressions and movements. She strutted around with bright confidence—one hand on her hip, the other still around her sword.

"Become a worthy sacrifice for Mother." She had said before she attacked with violent swings of her sword. Kyros shuffled back, occasionally launching fireballs at her from his gauntlets. She leaped over his third fireball and swung her blade at him.

Kyros rolled to the right. The blade pierced the pavement with ease. Melanie looked back at him and playfully winked as she pulled the sword from the ground. She closed the distance between them in seconds. She went for a sword thrust straight for his face.

Kyros grabbed the blade and kept it suspended long enough for him to land consecutive kicks across her stomach.

As she recovered, Runa joined back into the fight. She activated her powers and dashed for the Acolyte. Melanie leaped over her, grabbed her, and used the momentum to hurl the Huntress to the ground. She looked to impale the downed woman, but Runa dodged with a backflip. As she went for another stab attempt, Kyros intervened and attacked with a flurry of blows.

All of them evaded. 

Her last evasive maneuver involved a backflip, where her foot collided against Kyros' chin. In his moment of disorientation, Melanie’s blade grazed his side. The man's blood stained her blade, his clothes, and the pavement. Kyros winced in pain and dropped to one knee.

"More! More! This is nowhere near enough!" taunted Melanie. She continued her offensive onslaught. 

Since her attention had affixed on Kyros, Runa launched the blade of her spear at the Acolyte. The blade grazed Melanie's heel and knocked her off balance. The woman exclaimed in pain and stumbled around in a desperate attempt to regain her balance. But, Kyros did not give her a chance to. He closed in on her then delivered the final blow straight to her face.

Melanie crashed face first into the ground, bouncing at least once until she came to a stop. Kyros took a few deep breaths and kept his guard up, in case she was not down and out. She remained there—motionless.

Runa approached the downed woman then checked her condition. "She’s out cold. Nice shot, hero. You knocked out a woman."

Kyros didn't know how to respond to that statement. He felt that there was nothing that he could've said that would've justified his actions. Melanie was a criminal after all. Subduing the woman with lethal force was the only way to go about it.

"At least it's all over now." Kyros lowered his fists and heaved a heavy sigh. All the tension in his body suddenly disappeared at that moment, as if a huge weight lifted from his shoulders. He felt as light as a feather.

"We shouldn't let our guards down. There's still..." Runa got interrupted when the ground beneath them shook rigorously, nearly knocking the team off their feet. 

"What was that?! An explosion?!" Kyros and Runa moved their heads in the direction of the exit. A thunderous noise echoed throughout the cavern. The team wasted no time in rushing out of the mountain to check out the source of the sound.

Their feet carried them back towards their boat, where they spotted a giant man lying face down in the water. The giant suddenly shrank in size and sank to the bottom of the river. 

Following up immediately afterward, a sharp pain struck in their hands. The team clutched their hands and winced in pain. It burned intensely. They recognized the sensation.

Kyros set his gauntlets in stasis mode and checked the palm of his hand. The number fifty that once displayed there soon changed to forty-nine.

"That was an Exousia?" Kyros wondered.

"Had to be," Runa nodded her head.

"This is where he landed?" A joyous tone reached the ears of Kyros and Runa. They turned and found the owner of the voice, the Wolf Beastia, Dire. Behind him was his partner, Gigas. The Beastia walked over to the water and looked around. "Damn it. Lost his scent. Ah well, he's dead anyway."

"Was that your doing?" Runa questioned them. While not entirely on the defensive, the Huntress couldn't let her guard down around the two.

"You bet, Mono," Dire turned and faced Runa with a cruel smile. It unnerved her how the young man could be so proud about murdering someone. "Damn Bull wasn't much of a challenge, but, I feel refreshed knowing I took another Exousia down. Speaking of which..."

The Beastia lifted his head and sniffed the area. His tail wagged earnestly as he suddenly started walking in the direction of the mountain.

"Where are you going now, Dire?" Gigas called out.

"I smell another one of those Acolytes. I bet it's an Exousia as well. I want it dead." Dire answered.

Kyros quickly ran out in front of Dire and blocked him. "No! There's no need for that! She needs to be apprehended and interrogated by the military! Stand down!"

Dire's ears perked up. "You hear this guy, Gigas? He's giving me orders. Like hell, I'm gonna listen to someone like you."

"We should heed his words, Dire. You've already killed the other Exousia. No need to kill this one." Gigas said.

Dire growled and sharply turned to face his partner. "What do you mean by no need?! I won't be able to become a God if I keep leaving Exousia alive!"

All the anxiety that had left Kyros before suddenly returned at that moment—hitting him like a ton of bricks. Dire’s malicious desire to kill the Acolytes was brought on by the fact that he too was an Exousia.

"You’re an Exousia?" Runa exclaimed. That settled everything for her. Like she didn't already have any reasons to avoid being around the uncontrollable Dire.

"Not just any Exousia…" Dire showed the palm of his hand to Kyros and Runa, revealing the number two encrypted on it. Although Runa and Kyros were shocked to see another single digit, they tried their best to feign ignorance.

"What…are you trying show us?" Kyros asked. His entire body trembled in anxiety. He never encountered another single digit before in his life. From what he remembered from Runa, single digits possessed incredible power compared the other Exousia.

Kyros' comment caused Dire’s ears to droop. "You can’t see it? Hm, guess no point in explaining anything to you."

"You two defeated an Exousia by yourselves? Impressive," Gigas acknowledge their feats.

"Most humans couldn't do something like that. Guess you guys deserve some props. Anyway, I've got another Exousia to kill. Now, move." Dire ordered.

Just as Kyros opened his mouth to refuse, a firm hand grasped his shoulder. He looked to his left and spotted Runa, sternly glancing at him. She didn't need to say anything for him to understand the meaning behind her expression. She wanted to give up Melanie over to Dire.

As much as an easy decision it was to make; Kyros refused to do it. They worked hard to defeat Melanie, and he had questions that he needed to be answered. If Melanie died, then everything they did would be put to waste.

"No," Kyros refused to move.

"No?" Dire and Runa asked in unison.

"That's right. No." Kyros sternly shook his head. "That woman's going into military custody. I'm not going to stand aside and let you kill her."

He stood firm on his decision. From what little he heard about Dire, he understood that he was in for another fight of his life. But, that didn't matter to him. Standing up for the right thing was one of his core principals, even if it meant risking his life.

Before him was an enemy, he possibly stood no chance against. Dire was a Beastia, so his strength was nothing to scoff at. Adding to the fact that he also possessed supernatural powers, well, the cards weren't in Kyros' favor.

Dire closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Afterward, he vanished from Kyros' line of sight. Kyros looked behind him after he heard a call of warning from Runa. A boot connected against his face, knocking him to the ground.

The same boot nearly crushed his skull until Runa redirected it into the ground inches away from the downed man's face.

Kyros rolled to his feet and raised his fists. "Stop! We don't have to fight!"

"Looks like we do," Dire calmly responded with a shrug of his shoulders. "I want to kill that Exousia, and you're getting in my way. Only one of us can get what we want."

Dire bypassed Runa and rushed Kyros. He raised his leg for a kick. Kyros crossed his arms in front of him for a guard. His defense got immediately broken the moment Dire's foot contacted his gauntlets. 

They shattered.

His precious gauntlets. The ones Aion helped him forge all those years ago, scattered across the ground right before his very eyes. Not to mention the pain he felt from the Beastia's kick. If not for the fact his gauntlets reduced the damage he received, his arms would've detached from his body. They hung loosely at his sides. 

They were numb.

Beastia’s. Indeed a race that bred warriors. Kyros' strength couldn't compare to Dire's. Even though defeat loomed over Kyros; he stood firm.

"Enough! Just let them kill her!" Runa demanded. She knew that Kyros was suicidal with his heroic tendencies, but she didn't figure it was that bad. Challenging one Exousia after another was pure madness. She didn't want to have anything to do with the situation anymore.

"No! If we let them take her, all of our efforts would've been for nothing!" Kyros yelled. "So many people died! So many lives wasted! And for what?! I want answers! Melanie has them! I won't let them past me even if it costs me my life!"

"How're you gonna stop me?" Dire challenged. He pointed one of his claws at Kyros' hanging arms. "Bet you can't even lift those arms. You're still gonna fight?"

"I'm still standing, aren't I?" Kyros retorted and smirked. "If I can still stand, I can still fight."

Dire stared directly into the eyes of his wounded opponent. It was rare, but the Wolf Beastia found himself intrigued by the blazing flames that burned in Kyros' eyes. There wasn't a doubt in Dire's mind that he'd win the fight. However, Kyros' bravery and determination brought a smile to his face.

He figured he'd honor Kyros' ambition and end up with the next kick.

Dire sharply spun and swung his leg out. Kyros braced himself for the attack. However, it never came. A portal opened in front of Kyros and redirected Dire's boot in another direction.

"The fuck?! Gigas?!" Dire pulled his leg out from the portal and looked at his partner.

"Stand down, Dire. We've done enough for today." Gigas ordered.

"Says you! We can end this after they're dead!" Dire argued.

"No," Gigas opened another portal and shoved Dire through it. He quickly closed it and heaved a heavy sigh, knowing that his partner would cause a ruckus later.

"He's...he's gone?" Kyros slumped down to his knees. 

"I'm sorry about all the trouble we've caused. It wasn't my intention for things to spiral out of control like this," Gigas apologized. He slowly approached Kyros and helped him to his feet. "You're in the military, correct?"

"Yes, I am." Kyros nodded his head, confused as to where the direction of the conversation was going. Things were progressing too fast for his brain to process.

Gigas smiled and held his hands out in front of him. "Then, arrest me."

"What?!" Kyros and Runa exclaimed. Out of anything they expected to mercenary to say, having him arrested was one of the last things on their mental list.

"I've committed heinous crimes across the world; I deserve punishment. Plus, I have some information for your country's leaders. I will peacefully surrender as long as I'm granted passage into your maximum security prison, Tartarus."

Kyros and Runa stared at the large man in disbelief. It was a first for them. Someone that willingly wished to get incarcerated into Tartarus. They were in no condition to continue fighting regardless, and Gigas could've easily killed them if he wanted. While uncertain of his reasons, they apprehended him.

They went back to the mountain to get Melanie but found her body missing.