Anzu and Amuria stood above a large ritual circle that was etched deep into the ground. The symbols and patterns within it seemed to pulse with ancient power, weaving complex runes together, creating a place of immense arcane prowess. Soon, the two demon princes would transport themselves to the mortal realm and begin their mission.

"Do you remember the plan, Anzu?" Amuria asked.

Anzu nodded affirmatively. "Kill some mortals, find Alza and fight her."

"Good, and while you do that, I think I’m going to tie up some loose ends."

"Loose ends?"

"There’s an elf oracle in the city that could prove to be troublesome. If you see her, just run and leave her to me."

Anzu snickered. "You’re actually going to dirty your hands this time around? Interesting."

"It’s not like I have much of a choice, I have to make sure nobody interferes with the mission." Amuria shrugged.

"Fair enough, I’ll be sure to do things properly on my end as well."

Amuria looked at Anzu and let out a smug grin. "Good that you remember."

"Anyway, do you want to do the honors, or should I?" Anzu asked.

"I’ll do it this time, just in case."

Amuria carefully retrieved a soulstone from a small pouch secured to her waist. As she stepped into the center of the ritual circle, her eyes closed in deep concentration. She then gestured for Anzu to stand by her side. As Anzu stepped forward to join his sister, the symbols etched into the circle's surface began to shimmer. A soft, eerie hum filled the air, and an otherworldly glow enveloped the siblings.

***

Meanwhile, Alza and Elysia sat in silence within the guildmaster’s office. The atmosphere was tense, both knew what was coming.

"Is there really nothing we can do to mitigate the damage?" Alza asked.

Elysia shook her head. "We would already be doing the best we can by confronting Anzu and Amuria."

Alza bit her lip in frustration. "Remind me why I couldn’t just leave the city again?"

"Because your siblings would have arrived in Menon no matter what, if you ran away, they’d just trash the city first before going to find you."

"We truly are left with no good options, aren’t we?" Alza asked, a bittersweet smile tugging at her lips.

"We aren’t, based on the visions I saw, both of us staying in the city would lead to the best possible outcome."

Alza raised an eyebrow. "And this best possible outcome is what exactly?"

"I’m afraid I can’t tell you, Alza, not this time."

Alza sighed. "Of course."

"No really, there will be plenty of…unexpected things that will occur, but believe me: they need to happen."

"Elysia, it’s fine, I know better than to ask you too many questions at this point."

Elysia chuckled. "That’s the spirit, and don’t worry, I’ve already informed Menon’s mayor about the potential incursion well over a month ago."

Alza smiled. "That would explain why I’ve seen carriages leaving the city for quite some time now."

"Like I said, we don’t have good choices, but we can make the best out of the worst."

***

Alza was now in the guild hall, sitting alone on a table with a mug of ale in her hands. It was only the afternoon, but she needed to take the edge off of her mind slightly. As she was staring blankly ahead, she was soon interrupted by some familiar voices.

"Hey Alza, are you alright?" Nia asked.

"We have some pretzels if you want." Shion said.

Looking up, Alza was pleased to see both Nia and Shion were still doing fine. She would need all the help she could get.

"Take a seat you two." Alza urged.

Shion and Nia both took a seat across Alza. The wildborn mage was the first to speak. "So…we both heard about what’s going on."

Alza’s eyes widened in shock. "Really? How much do you know?"

"That there’s going to be a demonic incursion soon." Shion said while taking a bite out of his pretzel.

"And…that’s all?" Alza asked.

Nia tilted her head. "What else could there be?"

"Never mind." Alza dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Did Elysia tell all of the adventurers here about the incursion?"

"Only B-ranks and above, the Guildmaster said she didn’t want to cause too much panic." Nia replied.

Shion nodded. "She tried to send out as many of the lower ranks out on quests today as she could too."

"That’s good to hear." Alza muttered with a wistful sigh.

"Alza…you seem like you know something, are these demons that powerful?" Nia asked.

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"I’m afraid so, it’s good that the city and the adventurer’s guild have made preparations, but there will still be a lot of damage."

Shion leaned back against his chair, his arms outstretched. "Makes sense. It’s not like everyone could leave the city, and some folks I know thought that the mayor’s announcement a while back was part of some conspiracy to increase taxes."

"How…does that even work?" Alza asked.

"Beats me." Shion shrugged.

"Regardless, I think we just have to try our best and see to it that we make it out alive." Nia said.

"Well said, and I should warn you both, If either of you see a wolf-like demon that shoots out lightning or a demoness accompanied by ravens: run away."

"Got it." Shion and Nia responded at once.

***

For a brief moment, Alza hoped that Elysia’s prediction could be wrong. She had been awaiting the arrival of her siblings in the town square. The place was fortunately already empty as people were warned to stay home or leave long ago. Yet, the silence did nothing to soothe Alza's unease..

When the sound of explosions echoed from the distance, Alza knew that it was time. From the horizon, she could see several thousand ravens fly over the city. Accompanying them were larger, winged figures, which Alza recognized to be Amuria’s Night Wardens. They were anthropomorphic bird-like demons twice the size of the average man, frequently deployed by Amuria as foot soldiers during incursions.

Immediately, Alza stomped her foot against the ground, creating a large stone pillar that elevated her to a nearby rooftop. She then began to run and jump from roof to roof to confront her siblings. After some time she began to see shadowy beasts roam the street, similar to the ones she encountered when she was first resurrected. They likely belonged to Anzu, serving as his vanguard during the assault.

Alza tried her best to dispatch any and all demons she saw. She impaled several shadow beasts upon stony spikes, and even managed to shoot a few Night Warden’s out of the air with chunks of earth. However, she knew that these creatures were not the main threat.

When a bolt of lightning ripped from the sky and struck a crowded plaza in the distance, Alza knew where she needed to be. She raised her hands and channeled her earth magic, sculpting a series of stone platforms that erupted from the ground. Then, she launched herself onto the first platform, then the second, then the third, jumping from rooftop to rooftop with the aid of her stone platforms.

Alza soon landed in the center of the plaza, she saw Anzu, who was busy feasting on a freshly killed civilian. Without hesitation, Alza stomped her left foot on the ground. The earth erupted beneath her feet, sending a jagged rock soaring towards Anzu. It struck him with a thunderous crash, knocking him back several yards.

She rushed towards her brother, who looked no worse for wear. In fact, Anzu was smiling.

"It’s a pleasure to see you again, Sister Alza."

"I wish I could say the same for you."

Anzu slowly approached Alza, causing her to take several cautious steps back. "You are weak, sister, you cannot defeat me as you are now."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Alza retorted resolutely. With those words, she brought her hands together. Two colossal stone hands materialized and clamped around Anzu, squeezing him with titanic force. The tremendous force created a shockwave of air that sent Alza reeling back.

However, her hopes were short-lived as Anzu managed to break free. With a discharge of powerful lightning, he obliterated her stone hands, emerging unscathed.

"I will give you one last chance, sister. Follow me, or I will drag you with me."

"My answer is the same, Anzu, I refuse."

"Then you must forgive me for what I’m going to do to you."

In the blink of an eye, Anzu vanished. Alza’s eyes widened as she frantically looked around. She couldn’t see Anzu at all, and she was unable to sense him either, at least for now.

Suddenly, a searing pain erupted in Alza’s stomach. She gasped and doubled over, clutching the wound. Anzu had appeared beside her, his claws embedded in her flesh.

Alza coughed up blood and staggered backwards. Without much effort, Anzu lifted her into the air and slammed her against the ground.

"Look at yourself, sister, and tell me this is a fitting state for a demon prince to be in." Anzu spat.

In spite of all this, Alza managed a confident smile. "Look…up."

Suddenly, Anzu released Alza as he leapt far back, dodging a series of stone rods that were about to crash on top of him. Alza fell onto her knees, clutching at her stomach tight. Pain surged through entire body as her vision began to blur. Despite this, she managed to clasp her hands together and prepared to cast a spell.

Anzu, seeing this, charged towards Alza with his lightning-clad talons. The moment he was about to touch her, however, Alza clenched her right hand into a fist and thrusted it forward. Out of thin air, a fist of stone manifested and knocked Anzu far away, sending him hurtling into several market stands.

Given a brief reprieve, Alza placed a hand over the wound at her stomach in the hopes of healing herself. Yet, as she tried to heal herself, nothing happened; she had just remembered that Elysia had re-sealed her powers. In desperation, Alza smothered her left hand with the blood from her stomach. She recalled when the elf oracle told her that she used a blood seal to contain her powers again.

Though she was no expert in sanguine magic, Alza was familiar enough with the basics, or so she hoped. She tried to hold out her left hand again and channel her necromancy through it. This time, serpentine blood chains snaked from her palm, winding around her body until they reached her shoulders. With a guttural cry, Alza yanked the chains at her palm away until they shattered. In their wake, a faint, ethereal golden light radiated from her left hand, mending the wounds on her stomach.

She then made a mad dash towards Anzu, who fortunately was only just recovering from her previous attack. As her brother struggled onto his feet, Alza balled her left hand into a tight fist, hoisting it high into the air. The ground cracked as a stony fist erupted from it, knocking Anzu high into the sky.

However, instead of just being blown away by the force of the punch. Anzu roared in mid-air, causing lightning to discharge all over his body. A pillar of lightning struck him as he vanished into thin air.

Alza once again scanned her surroundings, preparing herself for another one of Anzu’s attacks. Instead of her brother, she was soon surrounded by a pack of shadow beasts which manifested from the shadows around her. The shadowy creatures leapt towards Alza all at once, their fangs bared.

With a resounding clap, Alza conjured a series of stone spikes all around her, impaling her would-be attackers instantaneously. But soon after she did so, however, Alza felt a sudden sense of fear gnawing at her mind.

Anzu appeared once again alongside a flash of lightning, instead of attacking Alza this time, however: he grabbed her and dragged her alongside him. Anzu made powerful leaps, crossing over several buildings with each one. In a series of rapid jumps, he had already crossed half of Menon’s length. Then, while he was still high in the air, he let out a howl as he tossed Alza all the way down.

While Alza was sent hurtling downward, she tried to clasp her hands together to focus her magic. However, Anzu was on her before she could do that. Her brother unleashed a lightning-empowered kick, knocking Alza further down until she hit the ground in a deafening explosion, the ground cracking as a result of the impact.

When the dust cleared, Alza got onto her knees and coughed up blood again. Her vision was hazy, and pain was coursing through every single part of her body. She soon heard Anzu drop near her with a resounding boom.

"Heal yourself, Alza, this will be too easy otherwise."

Alza wanted to say something back, but the pain that ravaged her body was too much. She desperately reached deep into her wellspring of magic, focusing her thoughts on channeling her necromancy to heal herself. Once again, crimson blood chains materialized around her body and ensnared her, preventing Alza from healing herself. With sheer determination, Alza forced herself to yank the chains apart until they broke loose. Only then could she release the radiant, healing embrace of golden light from her trembling hands to mend her wounds.

Once she was fully healed, Alza slowly stood up and examined her surroundings. She was in Menon’s colosseum. Its sheer size was astounding, dwarfing everything within it. Yet, what struck her most was just how empty it was today. Rows upon rows of stone seats stood silent, a stark contrast to the grandeur of the venue. It was an eerily quiet place, save for the soft whisper of the wind echoing through the stands.