For the first time since he arrived, Gi felt settled in his own body. Smoke and fire filled the South Tower, the battlecries echoed in the air, and the King still glared murderously at him from behind the violet glow of the Old One's power.
But Gi felt right.
He dove back into the fight. In the style of (Five Hands Firefly), he darted in using his summons to support him. Whips of flame arced towards him, but each were met by one of his [Papal Legion], a waterfall erupting from their mouth.
In the next moment, [God's Passage] brought him to the other side of the King. His speed and Soul senses meant that the teleportation did little to slow down his follow up attack.
Little was not nothing though.
Another otter appeared in the air beside Gi and he kicked off of him, the two of them using the slight reprieve given by the teleportation to both dodge the attack.
One whip shifted course for his summon and the other for him, but his summon had already sent a beam of light hurtling towards the King. The whip shifted again, intercepting the beam and exploding like a mini-firework.
The King's eyes flinched closed, but Gi had been expecting it. This entire leg of the fight was playing to the music in his very Soul.
He dove in the air, drawing close in that smallest moment that the King's eyes were closed. Another [Divine Commandment] exploded out of his palm, piercing the King's calf.
The ancient light cut like a blade and blood followed its path into the muddy water that pooled in the South Tower. Gi had felt the pinch in the last attack as his Aether neared the bottom of his reserves, but he had no need to stop.
He could hear the music and he knew how it ended.
The King stumbled from the blow, his violet energy flickering for the second time that fight, but again, it refused to go out.
Two more of his legion appeared, one leaping to deliver an uppercut just as the other attacked the King's uninjured leg. The summon attempting an uppercut instantly disappeared in a puff of Aether as one of the King's whips recovered more quickly than he did.
The other was coming straight for Gi. Its speed was still faster than he could dodge, but he didn't need to dodge. The second summon tackled the back of the King's knee and he rocked back.
C Rank Strength caught him, but it killed the whip's momentum, leaving Gi right in front of the King.
Right where the music had led him.
He didn't have enough Aether for [Divine Commandment]. The B Ranked Skill cost too much and even the Skill he did use scraped away part of his life force as he forced the Aether into the Skill.
A deluge of water poured forth from Gi's lips, his breath weapon carrying the full force of his Rank C Wisdom. The music that was in Gi's Soul rang out into the tower and carried across the battlefield before it crashed into the King.
He fell backward into the water at their feet.
The whips hit the water first, hissing and steaming like snakes as they were deteriorated by the wild Aether in the water. It wasn't enough to extinguish them, but it did provide enough time for Gi to draw one claw down the side of the King's robe.
The enchantments weren't enough to stop Gi's direct assault and the King wasn't the only person with Rank C Strength. His claw ripped through his robe and tore a long divot across the Eldritch markings of the King's arm.
The violet energy flickered again and Gi worried for a moment that he'd miscalculated after all.
The King's arm exploded in a fountain of gore. All of the violet energy rushed out with all the force of a missile. The fire in the tower was instantly put out, smoke vanished into the open air, and even the water formed a small wave that dumped over the side.
Gi wasn't spared from the sudden explosion. His neck cracked backward as he was flung away from the King. His face smashed directly into the stone lip that rang around the tower and he blacked out.
He came back to only a couple moments later laid out across the bottom railing of the tower. Blood practically poured down his face and his head rang from the blow. Wincing, he pulled himself to his feet.
The King's agonized groans were barely audible over the sound of the battle below them, but the violet light had faded. Gi stumbled over to him, realizing that his back had been injured too.
The hatred that had marred the King's face during their fight was gone, leaving only confusion and fear - a face that reminded him of the little princeling that he'd fought in the Dungeon.
Blood pooled around the open wound that used to be his arm and Gi had to assume that shock was the only reason that the King wasn't more aware of the missing limb.
"It's okay," Gi said softly. "I'm going to take you down to the priests to get healed. Everything is going to be okay."
Startled, the King's wavering focus landed on Gi. "He- The Father- he- the voices..."
"I know." The King's words confirmed his assumption, but to think that his father would attempt to use the Old One's powers was surprising. Yes, the man had been a terror, but still, this seemed beyond him.
Gi looped an arm around the King and pulled him to his feet. It was a shame that he didn't have [Bubble Cure], but it was almost guaranteed that one of the priests below could help him.
The King grasped at his fur like a lifeline, but his senses were slowly coming back to him. "It's you."
[Twilight Eyes] met human blue ones. "It is."
"You killed him. You killed all of them."
"I did." The King's grip faltered on him, but Gi dipped down to readjust his weight and make sure he didn't fall. He wanted to have this conversation in full, but preferably when the King wasn't bleeding out.
"Why?"
"The gods pitted us against each other from our very births. Monster and human in an endless cycle of violence to produce new gods for the First One's war. It wasn't my choice nor do I suspect was it yours."
Gi had regained enough Aether to fly and he took a more secure grip on the man as the two of them drifted out into the open air. The King's face had grown more serious as his faculties returned, but his hand still gripped at his fur as he looked at the long fall.
"Let's talk more once you're healed, but I think the two of us can break the cycle together and actually help people for once. I know you have many reasons not trust me, but together, our people can be saved."
The King was quiet as Gi drifted them down from the tower. The two of them watched the ongoing fight between the priests and the soldiers still under the influence of the Old Ones. It looked like the priests would win eventually, but it would be a long fight.
"With the Surge and my father's death, I needed power to protect my people. The Father gave me that so I thought he had my people's best interests at heart... but look where I've led them."
The sounds of fighting and dying only grew louder the closer they got to the ground.
"It's difficult to call decisions made of necessity mistakes so let's not judge ourselves by them. Let's just move forward with the wisdom we've gained."
The two of them touched down on the ground and Gi could already see that one of the priests had been sent over by Ellen. Gi gently lowered the King onto the soft grass of the courtyard, but the King held his arm in a death grip.
"I will never forgive you, but... I will listen - for my people."
"That's all I ask."
The King released his grip and the stranglehold he'd had on his consciousness slipped. The Eldritch energies had been burning through his own life force almost their entire fight. The willpower he'd needed just to stay conscious was frightening indeed.
With all of his faculties and resources, Gi didn't want that man as an enemy.
The priest only stared a second as he walked past her before Gi could sense Aether being channeled behind him. The priests had formed a rough line of battle at the far end of the courtyard, near the gates to the castle proper.
A combination of Ellen's mud and the enemy soldiers' mindless attacks allowed it to form what almost appeared a stalemate. Even with her slowing the corrupted soldiers, most of the priests were still struggling to fight back.
There were only a few dozen that had the power to truly put down their opponents.
Ellen, herself, obviously stood out. She was controlling the entire battlefield while she fought. Otherwise, it looked to be the aged leaders of each group of priests that were the Elites of the humans.
A tall man that wielded Aether manifested steel blades that stuck out nearly two feet from his fists. Another older woman summoned semi-illusory hands from the ground that looked like the dead rising up. One of those behind her was someone that he recognized.
The cleric that had come into the Dungeon with the King. She'd backed off from the fight and seemed unwilling to let Gi leave her sight.
He sighed. His past actions were really seeming to haunt him since he returned. Like he'd told the prince though, he'd give himself some grace for those decisions.
It was all about what he could do now.
His Aether reserves were still low, but his awakened Soul meant that it regenerated quicker than ever. For the first time, he cast [Celestial Inspiration].
Like when he used [Endless Torrent], his realized aspect activated and the song in his Soul radiated out from him. Unlike when he used his newly evolved [Fighting Style], this had a gentler tone like the waves in a dock that kept a boat afloat.
That inspiring power spread out from him in a huge radius, much bigger than he'd been expecting and enveloped every one of the humans. The divinity that his Skills were blessed with infused power into them.
Each of them stood up a little straighter, their limbs moved a little faster, and their strikes landed a little harder. On its own, the buff was rather small - only a level in each stat, but spread across all those gathered there, it started a cascading advantage.
With their increased Vitality, less Aether needed to be spent on defense. With their increased Agility, less Aether needed to be used to hold back the corrupted soldiers. Their increased Strength meant that there were more strikes that would slow the enemy.
That advantage flowed all the way to the top until Ellen and the other Elites had been bought just enough agency for them to become the true terrors of their army.
Instead of simply holding them back, mud surged upward to drag the enemy into its depth, crushing them beneath its surface. The older man with the steel blades dashed through the enemy lines, daring them to give chase now that his clerics could more easily defend themselves.
Even the woman that had summoned simple hands before, now brought forth a small squad of summoned undead that charged into the soldiers just as mindlessly as they themselves fought.
The opening that Gi's small Skill had provided was enough for them to act more decisively. It wasn't long before violet explosions echoed like fireworks across the square, leaving Gi with just some regret that more of them couldn't be saved.
Weary, Gi returned to sit by the now healed but unconscious King.
Eventually, a cheer went up among the victorious priests and the bustle that always followed a successful battle began. Gi was unsure what the priests had been told, but other than staring, none of them harassed him as they went about their duties.
Finally, Ellen and the human leaders came to where the King rested and Gi rose to his feet.
"Greetings, honored leaders," Gi said, placing a fist to his stomach and performing a bow.
"It talks," the older man who'd been wielding the steel blades said. The woman who'd been summoning the Aether undead slapped his arm lightly.
"Elder Altman, if the monster speaks, it likely hears. Why don't we not insult our newfound ally?"
Altman grunted which seemed to be the best he could manage. Gi took a deep breath to calm himself from the battle.
"No offense was taken. It is only natural to have some animosity between our peoples, but if you're willing to speak with me, perhaps we can overcome our baser natures and achieve something that helps all of us."
The old man stepped forward. "Enough with the flowery words, monster. We wouldn't have come here if we weren't willing to work with you. Let's discuss what we're all really here for - the Demon Empire."