Chapter 79

Alexus bolted. The ground trembled.

"Head to the exit!"

"Where?"

"There!" Marcus pointed.

The ground trembled harder than before, causing Alexus to stumble.

The world started to break apart. Pieces of debris, rocks, and even rain started to fall. Alexus ran his hand over his head.

"Head to the portal!"

A dark portal appeared before them. Alexus jumped through the portal.

Marcus slammed in front of the portal, unable to go through. "Ugh!" He fell back from the painful, invisible wall.

"Marcus?" Alexus turned around, noticing that something was definitely wrong. "Are you okay?"

"I can't get through."

"What are we going to do?"

"Go. You need to stop Pride."

"What must I do?"

Marcus rummaged through his pocket, pulling out something small, the size of a dime.

"What is it?"

"Take it. The last piece that you will need for yourself, Alexus. You are the key to fully controlling the Animus Progression. Activate it and lock out all the demons from entering this world. I'll hold Pride off

here."

"What? You have to come with me."

"No, this is my body. Whatever Pride does with it, I need to figure out a way to stop it here from the inside."

"But you can die!"

"A chance that we all need to take," Marcus replied.

"Fine, you better be back."

"You know me. No promises." Marcus smirked. "But I'll do my job."

"I'm counting on it. I'll see you again on the outside." Alexus reached over, and grabbed the piece from

Marcus' hand. He bolted out.

The whole world started to change, shift.

Alexus' body shook. His gaze shifted.

Suddenly, a cold hand grabbed his wrist.

Looking over his shoulder, he looked down.

An ugly monster with dark red eyes stared at him with a sinister smile. "Where are you going?" White hair, pointy ears, and sharp teeth snarled at Alexus.

"Pride," Alexus growled, shaking him off.

"Do you think I'll let you go free?"

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"Yes." Alexus whirled around, and backhanded him in the face.

Pride grunted in pain, his hand on his broken nose. "You think you can save this world just because you have the last piece?"

"I'll try." Alexus bolted, leaving Pride behind.

"You Ouroboros are all fools. All of you!" Pride cackled. "If you only knew that your existence is to help the demons, then to protect the monument!" His voice rang out loudly, cackling with terror.

Alexus felt his chest tighten. He had hoped what Pride had said was wrong.

The world around him became fuzzy with black and white until color dyed his world. Blinking, trying to clear out his eyes. He was back.

In front of him, Timothy, JOnes, Crystal, Simon, and Gerald were fighting hard against Pride.

Pride wasn't the same human figure that Alexus remembered him by. Instead, he changed.

Six black wings made out of metal sprouted out of his back. Numerous eyes that were like peacock feathers were present on his wings, and bright beautiful green and blue were present. Horns grew out of Pride's normal eyes, jutting out and up. Long white hair flowed out of his head and a handsome pale face close to snow white. Black clothing decorated his body, giving him an elegant feel.

Long gangling fingers pointed out.

Electricity spat out of Pride's finger, dousing the whole area with an electric storm.

"What is this feeble attempt?" Pride said with a snarky voice. "For you all to come here and only be able to do this much." He said in disappointment.

Alexus got up. He felt the thing that Marcus gave, quickly absorbing into his hand.

A jolt of energy shot through his body, giving him an exhilarating feeling.

It wasn't like how he normally remembered.

The energy from his body was loud and powerful, filling him up to his core.

Pride stopped for a moment, looking over. "You." His voice sounded like disgust.

"Yea, it's me," Alexus mumbled sarcastically, knowing full well that he now had Pride's attention.

Pride conjured up a white and black sword entwined with his energy. A blast of energy shot out of his body, blowing everyone back. Then, with a pump of his wings, he flew straight toward Alexus.

Alexus pulled out his sword. Gold energy swirled around it.

With a high pitch screech, the energy from Pride's sword radiated with evil. Then, it headed straight down with a heavy blow.

Alexus and Pride both collided.

A blast of black and gold pulsated in the air.

Alexus gritted his teeth as he was pushed back. His feet sank into the ground.

"What are you going to do?" Pride asked, his sword pushing down on him. "Save the world?"

"Yes." Alexus gritted.

A burst of golden energy erupted out of his body as he swung his sword back.

Pride was thrown back and tumbled in the middle of the air. He fumbled, trying to get his bearings straight. He flapped his wings, trying to control his descent.

Alexus didn't give him a chance to recorrect himself. Instead, he jumped, lunging forward with a glowing, golden sword.

A burst of power swelled in his body.

With every swing of his blade, he matched blade to blade with Pride.

Each swing causes Pride to lose control of his body.

Alexus relentlessly continued to attack.

Sparks of gold continued to sparkle static.

Focused, Alexus moved on to the next.

Each attack was soul-shaking.

Alexus' whole arm stung and shook. He gripped his hand hard, trying to keep it from slipping out. It wasn't easy. The energy between the two was vibrating hard.

Simon jumped in from the side, swishing his sword. He swung.

Pride opened his wings, blocking Simon's attack.

"We need to cut off his wings!" Simon shouted.

"On it!" Crystal replied. A powerful burst of energy appeared from behind Simon's back. It smashed into Pride's wings, blowing one of them off.

"Nice!" Simon flicked his sword, able to swipe and stab, cutting another wing off Pride's back.

An ear-piercing screech resounded out, causing everyone to bulk.

Alexus cringed, but he didn't stop. Instead, with a vicious kick, he pushed Pride back away from them.

"Incoming!" Jones shouted. Energy bullets flew through the air, creating hundreds more holes in Pride's wings.

"How dare you?!" Pride roared in fury as black blood spewed out of his body, making it difficult to flap his broken wings.

"Eat this, you piece of crap." Crystal spoke, and another burst of energy shot out from her gun, hitting straight towards the opposite side of the wing.

With a blast, a hole was torn, finally causing Pride to crumple onto the ground.

Timothy and Gerald rushed in, energy spiraling in their fist. They smashed straight into Pride's chest.

A blast of dark energy splattered outward, pushing Pride to the ground.

"We got him," Timothy replied.

The dust settled, clearing the way.

On the ground was Pride, bleeding black.

Gerald stepped back, and even Timothy, but before they could get comfortable. A blast of energy spiraled out of control from Pride, throwing them back.

A whirlwind of energy continued to blow outwards, becoming a hurricane.

"We need to stop him now!" Alexus shouted. His golden energy around his blade was flickering.

Pride stood up, bleeding heavily. He shook himself with his broken wings, looking down at them with elegance and grace.

"To have harmed me this far…." Pride spoke. "It seems you all want to kill Marcus after all.

"No, we don't." Instead, spat Timothy, "we just want you out of his body."

"That will never happen," Pride grinned. "You have to finish me off, or your world will end up gone."

"You bastard," Timothy growled.

Whispers in the air became heavy, and the world was becoming dark. The clouds thundered and flashed, and the aura around him became heavy.

Shadows creeped out of Pride's shadows, dancing around him in excitement.