Gi was lucky to be alive. If the Emperor fought with weapons, he'd already be dead. If he had one less Skill, Trait, or other Vitality boosting measure, he'd be dead. If Gi hadn't evolved his [Fighting Style], he'd be dead.
But he was not dead.
Every inch of his body felt like he'd been beaten with a sack of bricks. Blood dribbled out of small cuts all over his body and everything ached. The Emperor had blessedly stopped for a moment, but Gi swayed on his feet, hands up and ready to continue fighting.
He blinked. The Emperor was looking past him. Gi risked a glance back.
Veritas and Rowan rode a small platform like a comet careening through the sky. Anger blazed in the Verdian Emperor's eyes as he stared at his opposite in the Demons. Aether bubbled around Veritas and spears of Earth appeared in the air around them before shooting forward to become the vanguard for their arrival.
The Emperor stood ready to receive them, unafraid. Dirt roiled up from the ground like a snake, coiling around him.
As he watched in his pitiful state, Gi realized that the Demon Emperor was exactly what the First One had wanted. He was the embodiment of war, and compared to Gi, he had the essence of a mortal on the cusp of godhood. More unsurmountable idea than monster.
It was such a sobering thought that doubt creeped into his mind. Could he actually win?
An Otter appeared suddenly at his side. Brought back to his surroundings, Gi fired off a few [Divine Commandments] to keep the mob of demons at bay that he hadn't noticed were slowly closing in on him. The Otter laid her hands on him and he felt the cool relief of [Bubble Cure] spread through him.
"Tell me when you feel strain," the Otter said. "I'm Lamb. Samba and Tala sent me. They are hoping for a clone to help the front line."
Before he could respond, Veritas crashed into the Demon Emperor. Rock and dirt exploded with the impact. The sound of Xarin's sniper shots whistled through the air as she sought to shoot either Veritas or Rowan. In that haze of rock and Earth, he could see Rowan flitting about with his rapier at an insane speed.
"Rowan! Help our people!" The order from Veritas was surprisingly clear given his current mental state. Rowan had served under Veritas as a General for a long time and he snapped to his orders instantly. A blur sped through the demon horde, dodging bullets and blades as he forced his way through their army and back towards the front line.
They could have used his rapier against the Emperor.
Veritas and the Demon Emperor slogged through their fight like two heavyweights who refused to dodge. Each of them swinging with powerful blows empowered by some variation of Earth Aether. Veritas was doing better than he had been, but only just. He'd need Gi's help.
His mind had turned quiet as he stood in the middle of a war slowly being healed. [Bubble Cure] made him think of Doyle, the crab with a top hat that had taught the clan so much including the Skill being used on him now. He hadn't seem him since before the Battle of Igna.
Had he gone back to his puddle? Had he died during the Surge?
He felt a twinge inside him and he grabbed Lamb's wrist. "No more or it will impact my fight."
She nodded. "Progenitor, the clone?"
He'd been so internally focused that he forgot. He summoned one of his [Papal Legion] and sent it off towards the front line.
"Stay safe as you return," he said to Lamb and then narrowed his entire focus onto the Demon Emperor. A half dozen otters stepped out of him. He set two of them to fire on Xarin while he and the rest of them charged in to help Veritas.
While Veritas was doing better than him in the melee, his style of fighting didn't allow an easy angle for Gi to join so he darted around the outside, shooting [Divine Commandments] as he and his summons looked for an opening.
The Demon Emperor wasn't perturbed. He had seemed to have his hands full with Veritas, but Gi's attacks were handled like a juggler being thrown an extra ball - impossible seeming and yet easy. Every time an ancient bolt of light came for him, a fist moved to block it, one of his Skills neutralizing the damage with an active block.
Maybe if Xarin hadn't been there they could find a way to chip through, but the Emperor had barely used his Domain yet. His Aether had to be fairly high even after the two attacks against Harlond's walls.
If they wanted to win, something had to change.
***
A demon jumped off a piece of broken rubble from the wall. Samba didn't hesitate and push kicked her with enough force for her to sail over her own troops. The Veridian humans around him were haggard. They less fought and more used their weapons to simply keep the demons back.
It was a losing strategy, but they were running out of both energy and motivation.
Tiria and Georgia still fought the first heir on one flank and from his peripheral, he thought it was going well. They would probably win eventually. The city might be overrun by then, but it was good news at least.
The other flank was practically lost. The human Commander there looked like a zombie from all his combined wounds and all he'd managed to do is keep the second heir engaged. He hadn't caused even a scratch of damage.
Even that was only possible because Krayli the orc was helping him from the top of the wall. As it was, he would fall before their line would and if the second heir could ravage what was left of their army, then they had truly lost. Something had to change.
That thought seemed to herald a miracle.
A speeding blur cut through the front line. It tore through the most concentrated pockets of demons, suddenly relieving pressure across the entire front line. The humans obviously recognized the man with the rapier as they all cheered at his entrance.
"HOLD THE LINE! TODAY WE DON'T JUST FIGHT FOR OUR COUNTRY. WE FIGHT FOR OUR HOMES, OUR FAMILIES, AND OUR VERY LIVES! HOLD. THE. LINE."
With his words, the lines tightened. Shields were held a little higher and the lesser commanders that had lost hope started to dictate orders to their men. It might not change the numbers arrayed against them, but it did provide them hope.
General Rowan, because that was the only human that Samba could imagine to have such an impact, raced once more through the front line relieving pressure before making the cold decision to assist Tiria and Georgia with the first heir. He was sacrificing his own commander for a better chance at victory.
With the pressure relieved on the front line, Samba took a deep breath and looked over the wave of demons still pouring in. With his height, he could see quite clearly the battle happening between Gi, Veritas, and the Demon Emperor.
That lump of hatred that had settled into his gut stirred. His feelings were complicated, but his morals told him an absolute truth. Mark had deserved better. So why did he continue to feel so...?
"You won't get a better time to go." Samba turned to see Tala catching her breath beside him.
"I have to stay here and protect our people." The words came out of Samba automatically and without thought.
Tala just sighed. "Samba, I love you so much. I can't imagine anyone else that I'd rather raise our children with, but sometimes you can be so stubborn and stupid and we don't have time for you to figure out what needs to be done."
That... hurt. "Tala, I have tho-"
"Stop," Tala said. "I know I'm being hurtful. I'm sorry. Let me lay it out plainly. Despite all that happened, you still look up to Gi. You still see him as the Progenitor that was presented to you in the Dungeon - a leader of vision and hope. If you didn't, you wouldn't be so angry at him."
"But Mark-"
She placed a gentle hand on his arm, checking to make sure that no enemies were approaching them on the battlefield, but Alice had already stepped in front of them. Her axe at the ready to defend them... as though she already knew what this conversation was about. Was he truly that dense? Did everyone know his own feelings better than he did?
"We all mourn Mark. He was a better person than any of us and Tiria taking him from us to save Gi was cruel. I also want to be separate from a clan like that, but at the same time, we're here now. If Gi can't finish the Emperor, we're all doomed. I know you know that.
"You're hesitating because you want to save him. You don't want him to die like before when you could have protected him, but that makes you feel like you're betraying Mark. But Mark wasn't that kind of man. I know that, Alice knows that, and you, deep down, know that too."
Against his will, his face screwed up and a knot formed in his throat. "I can't just... Can I?"
"It's okay. Helping others is never the wrong choice."
He squeezed his head in his palms, trying to force back the tears that were trying to form. "I'm- I'm going to go save him."
"You don't need my permission, but if you did, you already have it."
Maybe it was because he'd grown weary over the battle or maybe her words finally allowed him to see himself as he was, but it did finally hit him. Alice's words from earlier, the pain of watching Gi fall, even the nature of Mark himself.
If Mark could have saved his family and Wavecrest at the cost of his life, he'd have made that trade in a heartbeat. Even if the means by which he'd been resurrected were terrible, Gi himself had come back changed. He was even better than the Progenitor that he'd followed in the beginning.
Samba had just been too hurt to see it.
"This time, I'll save him. I promise."
Tala sighed again. "Go on, you big lug, or you'll miss the opportunity."
The tears spilled out and the hate he'd nurtured for so long spilled out with them. "I'M COMING, BOSS!" His cry resounded over the battlefield as he activated [Darting Fortress] and bulled through the army standing in his way.
***
King Rellington and Elder Altman sprinted at the head of their remaining soldiers. The heirs they'd fought had devastated their forces and Gi's monsters in reserve had been almost entirely lost. With all of their dead, it had taken longer than the King would have hoped to establish command of their forces, but they'd done it.
Those remaining had all resolved themselves to their grim work. Live or die didn't matter. The fate of the world was at stake.
They'd just had time to recover when Gi's dragonfly, Poe, had returned urging them to go help. More of the walls had fallen and the southern flank was getting demolished by the second demon heir, Aelg.
The King was trying to conserve his own Aether, but the mob of demons had poured into the new opening of the wall and he had an army between himself and Veridia's soldiers on the southern flank. Every time they killed one two more popped up behind them.
Their soldiers were committed, but the endless horde was grinding them down and preventing them from helping. If they could just break their line, they could-
Something changed.
Emperor Veritas and General Rowan had returned to the battlefield and the two of them hurtled straight towards the Demon Emperor. Moments later, Rowan returned to the front line, easing the pressure on his remaining defenders and moving to the front flank.
Unfortunately, that relieved pressure from the front line forced even more demons in their direction, looking to destroy their smaller party.
"We'll have to fight!" The King yelled to Elder Altman and the man nodded gravely. He might be far too focused on politics, but when push came to shove, he excelled in war.
Silver Aether blades erupted from his hands and flame danced along the King's own fingers as the two were forced to join the fight and keep their soldiers safe. With every blazing firebolt or slash of the Elder's blades they pressed forward.
One step at a time, their small force pushed against the uncountable forces arrayed against them. It felt more like fighting a raging river than either man or monster, and as they approached the gap in the wall to join up with the other flank, the demons spilled around them, forcing them to fight on all sides.
Their progress halted. He and the Elder raced backward and forward across their lines, trying to beat back the demons from overwhelming them, but they just couldn't make any leverage. His Aether was slowly draining down, and pretty soon, it wouldn't be enough even if they did arrive.
Should I use my Ultimate Skill? That thought pulled at him. He could clear out this blockage in an instant, but then he'd be no help on the other side. Was it worth it for him to connect his soldiers to the Veridian forces?
It was foolish, but so was dying with it still available. He'd just started gathering his Aether for it when a strange light appeared in the sky.
His heart fell into his stomach. Which demon is this?
He quickly flittered through each of the heirs in his mind, but none of them had an ability like this. One light joined the next until the entire sky seemed to be taken up by the twinkling lights. Then it finally clicked.
Starlight! It's the elves!
Like shooting stars, the lights raced towards the ground. Some of them landed on roofs or just behind the front line, but where each of the stars landed, the glowing form of a Midnight Elf appeared.
At the forefront, atop an enormous white tiger, was Queen Lenia herself. She raised an arm to the sky and more lights began to appear, but just from the feel of the air, he could tell these were different.
The new stars fell among the demon army, pummeling them with vast amounts of Aether that could only be present in an Ultimate Skill or by someone at a higher level of cultivation than himself.
Most of the stars struck into the water shields of the demons which were still present over the majority of their army, but it weakened them and where it did hit flesh, the demons exploded in a sudden wave of heat and light.
Between her teleportation Skill and her Ultimate, Queen Lenia was burning all of her Aether to give them an opportunity. When her archers joined the fray, some of the water shields started to crumble under the onslaught and for the first time since Ellen's opening attack, the demon's lost their cohesion.
"PUSH NOW!" The King yelled to his allies and Elder Altman understood his role, racing forward like the tip of a spear.
It was finally time for them to fight back.