The time had come.

Helada was in the process of consuming the last of the golems. Her method left much to be desired, her inexperience causing her to take more time than was necessary to fully integrate the body of the construct. It didn't matter, though. Their ascension was nigh. The interlopers would be the first of many to be crushed beneath their heels as they set forth to subjugate the world once more.

Fundido was not idle, however. He had been preparing the Cube, for them to rend it asunder and integrate it into themselves. He would need to rip open his chest to be able to accommodate the size of the thing, but it was a small matter. Infinite reincarnation was a small price to pay for a negligible loss of material. Just as he finished his work on the cube, Helada finished the consumption of her last sibling and wandered over.

She had done well. After she formed the skeleton to prepare for her full size, he had pushed her once more through the cube, this time to affix the hollow silver limbs that had been crafted for her. The ice beads that represented her hair had multiplied and filled with mist as she absorbed more and more. The mist had come from the steam golems, the heat within them discarded for her safety. Now, she had grown into them beautifully. The beauty of an elven maiden, with all the best features of the mortal races he had enjoyed before his existence turned magmatic. Even still, he could only admire her beauty. Until they ascended, his touch would melt her, and hers would freeze him.

None of it would matter once it was done, however. The Creator Cube was ready, as were they. A pity that none of the old gods could oversee their wedding, dead or imprisoned as they may be. Actually, maybe Ramirion? No, that old goat was never a fan of anything civilized. Going from god to Archangel surely wouldn't have changed that. Even if any of the others were still around, they likely wouldn't officiate a wedding between something so far removed from its start and the creature it had made.

Flight of fancy over, he laid hands on the top half of the Cube. Had he a face, he would have been wearing a smug grin. "My dear Helada, would you make me the first demon to set foot on Aldmoria in, give or take, six hundred years?"

She knelt, taking the bottom half and lifting until she stood at eye level with him. "I would love to."

With the sound of screeching metal, they tore the Cube in half. He rammed his half into his chest, shearing off a large section, while she slowly forced it into her muddy midsection. As he forced it further and further into himself, he was struck with wave after wave of demonic essence, of which he drank greedily, ensuring that not a single drop was wasted. Despite the power flooding in, it would be worthless without mana. All he had went to fueling his ascension, complex weavings threaded throughout his being to ensure all went to plan.

As he did, it reforged him. His brass shell melded with the magma of his being, the metal darkening in addition to any joints or gaps being covered in obsidian, eradicating the leakage that had previously plagued him while still allowing the glow of the magma to escape ever so slightly. The grate that previously was his face melted away and reformed on his chest, exactly where he had integrated his half of the Cube. In turn, the helmet that served as his head reformed, flowing into sharp angles.

Evolution complete! Major Magma Demonspawn has successfully evolved into a Minor Molten Devil.

A nearby puddle from one of the myriad leaks in the dam served as a mirror with which he viewed his new visage. Skeletal, with only vague indication of his elven lineage. There were no lips, no ears, almost none of the features he had mourned for so long. Merely the chin and cheekbones of a dignified elven mage remained. It was little comfort, but he would not need to look at himself often enough for it to truly matter.

Helada's ascension, on the other hand, had been everything he was hoping for. The metal had been fully integrated into her being, as well. The frozen mud forming her midsection was no longer contained beneath a layer of ice, fully stable without any conscious effort at all. The biggest change had been to her aura. Her very existence lowered the temperature around her, producing an effect similar to a wedding veil and gown, almost fully cloaking her in frost.

The many long years were finally worth it, seeing his wife before him.

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Having found nothing of use in the sculpture room, the party continued through and into the main chamber of the Ruin. The moment the door closed, they began to hear the voices.

A deep, grating voice, like the grinding of a millstone. "My dear Helada, would you make me the first demon to set foot on Aldmoria in, give or take, three hundred years?"

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Countered by a voice that could only be described as ringing, similar to when someone plays music on glasses. "I would love to."

It didn't take long before they were able to see the two figures. The bronze one they had seen earlier, as well as one made from ice and mud, with silver limbs. Each had hold of the Cube. Cora let out a squeak at the sight before clamping her hands over her mouth. It wouldn't be enough.

They watched as the Cube was torn asunder and consumed. Cora screamed wordlessly, tears flowing freely down her face but the things didn't seem to notice. Instead, it looked as if their outer layers melted before solidifying. They both seemed more consistent in construction. Mister Bronze Furnace looked at himself in a nearby puddle before turning back to the one that Beck was mentally labeling Frost.

It was at that point that the three of them noticed Cora was no longer with them. Mainly due to the fact that they could see her full-on sprinting at the creatures, her weapon parallel to the ground. That didn't leave them much choice; they ran to follow. As the pair turned to face their group, Beck unshouldered his crossbow and slid to a stop, taking aim at Bronze. "Kenna, you and Mason take Frosty. I've got Hothead."

The two moved to follow his advice, while he braced against a nearby piece of machinery. The skull's jaw opened, presumably to either speak or unleash an attack, so Beck sent a bolt between its metal teeth. Its head rocked back slightly, but otherwise didn't seem to do anything. Its glowing orange eyes met his, smoke visibly leaking from the sockets, just before Cora reached it and drove the blunt head of her polearm into the side of its skull, knocking it off balance and leaving a fist-sized dent in the metal.

Meanwhile, Kenna and Mason had closed on Frost. The monster was almost a head taller than Kenna, so Mason was forced to lift and angle his shield upwards in order to protect himself as usual, while Kenna swung from behind him. The pick head only touched mist, vented from silver lips as the crystalline being simply floated away, and followed by icicles that smashed against Mason's shield.

Beck couldn’t spare any more attention to that side of the fight, though. Bronze grabbed Cora by the shoulders just as he was drawing his focus gun. Smoke billowed from its open maw and split before it could touch the gnomish woman, but the glow emanating from its throat signaled worse to come.

So he sent as many ice bullets into the thing as he could. Each hit left a small dent in the metal, and immediately after, the projectiles evaporated. It was enough to distract the metal monstrosity, but its grip never faltered. Where the gauntleted fingers touched, he could see smoke rising from Cora’s pauldrons.

It had given her time, though. After five impacts, the long spike atop her weapon punched through its midsection, followed closely by a web-like spell construct that burst through to the other side. From the exit ‘wound’, bands of golden energy grew to constrain the thing. A large gout of smoke burst from its open maw, but it still didn’t release her.

The spell was effective, but it was entirely too slow. Glancing at his mana, Beck found that he had already gone through nearly half of his pool. His only spell was only marginally effective, while his more mundane weapons were decidedly less so. In his deliberations, he noticed something that he had either missed or was subconsciously ignoring; under the sounds of the machinery next to him, there lay the dull thrum of water running through pipes. Or, in this case, one massive pipe. He took off running alongside it.

The sharp retort of his spell echoed twice through the room, followed by the sound of scores of gallons of water pushing through a hole the size a coin. The violent stream struck the young man in the sternum, blasting him back and off his feet. The successive impacts knocked the breath from his lungs, but he couldn't afford to waste the time to catch his breath. Molten stone dripped from the bronze beast's upturned maw, accompanied by a loud hocking sound.

Still wheezing, his will latched onto as much water as he could and pulled it close. His gills went to work for the first time in a long while as he stood, still grabbing for more of the water. He had lost his grip on his focus gun at some point, but that didn't matter; his legs were already in motion, bringing him closer and closer to his target. The water around his hands and forearms solidified, extending a few inches past his closed fist while a bar of ice provided structural support for his hand.

A malice-filled yellow eye swung in its socket to take him in as the monster's head descended, sending magma cascading from its open maw and directly onto Cora. Just as it was about to make contact, a wave surged forth from his body, enveloping the grappled pair and causing steam to explode into the area. Despite the impediment to his sight, Beck continued his mad dash, once more pulling water into a cloak around himself, this time from the steam as well as the high velocity stream to the side.

It wasn't long before he found what he was looking for; the bright orange glow gave him away, especially in a field of dull white. Beck threw himself into the metal giant, much of his gathered water evaporating on contact, but he had gathered enough to freeze across the parts of him that required the least amount of flexibility. Still, he might as well have run directly into a wall for all the good it did him.

Cora's polearm was still buried in its stomach, magma leaking around the head of the weapon, while the spell she had cast continued trying to bind it. The golden bands wrapped along its arms and legs now, though they only slightly hindered its movements. This was made very apparent when a bronze shin crashed into his side, throwing him away. In addition, the heat from that brief contact had caused the ice on the entire right side of his lower torso to sublimate.

Again, he stood, already starting to feel the developing bruise. The steam began to clear, revealing their battleground. Cora was on the thing's other side, but it was currently staring at Beck. He expected it to launch another attack, either on him or the gnome, but it surprised him.

"You're going to be annoying, aren't you? Damn insects always get in my way."