I looked down at Alison. Even though she was smiling, she was visibly losing her life. “I… I’m sorry you didn’t realize it.”

She looked insulted and then anger exploded on her features. “What do you- urgh! What do you mean, ‘I didn’t realize it!?’”

I shook my head. “You became what you hated the most, and that’s what led to your downfall.”

“How?” Alison sneered, clutching at what was left of her stomach. “I became powerful enough to win against anyone! How does gathering strength mean that I lost to you!? What did I become!?”

I smiled sadly, kneeling down to gingerly stroke her hair. Hazeel and Vanessa had come out of weapon form, and were standing over the two of us.

“You became who I used to be, Alison.”

“That’s fucking ridiculous. I’m much better than you ever were.”

“That’s not my point.” I shook my head. “I used to believe that I could get through anything under my own power, and willingly sacrificed my relationships to do it. Do you remember how individually, you, Maria, and Rob were weaker than me, but together you could bind me in place? The same thing happened here today, only, you were on the receiving end.”

Realization dawned on Alison’s features, and her eyes began to swim back and forth. “No, no! That’s impossible, I was sure I wouldn’t, I was sure…”

She began mumbling to herself, and I sat down, taking a deep breath in the process. Vanessa sat in my lap and gave me a kiss on the cheek, while Hazeel pressed her back to mine.

“Don’t get lost in your own world! Help me!” Zare shouted in annoyance, and we rushed over to help up the princess. Luckily for her, the bullet was a normal round, and had a clean exit wound.

I applied a bandage that was stored in my tactical suit, and walked her over to sit down besides Rexir and Leresa, the former of whom had returned to human form.

Zare landed on her brother with a thud, causing an expression of pain to flash across the Minami Prince’s face. I sat down beside them, and looked up at the night sky.

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It’s finally over. All the conflict, all the betrayal. All of it. The last thing we need to do is just take care of the dimension eater that consumed the earth-

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed a figure helping Alison to her feet. When they turned, I was stunned looking at the face of Maria, who had only left us a little while ago.

“Maria, get away from her.” Vanessa said, lifting a pistol she had stolen from Alison. “I don’t know what she said to you, but you need to ignore it.”

Instead of Maria replying, Alison just chuckled. “Say, Vanessa, did your family ever tell you about the other binding ritual?”

Vanessa’s expression instantly darkened, and she shot a bullet at Alison, but Maria covered her and took it.

“Damn it. You weren’t bluffing.” Alison grinned, a manic smile that sent a shiver down my spine.

“Of course not. Do you know how many I had to slaughter to get that information?” I tried to open a portal to close the distance, but it was being stifled by Maria.

“What is she talking about?” I asked Vanessa, who bit her lip.

“The Oaths necessary in order for us to shape our form… there’s another use for them.”

“To assert dominance of will over a lesser party.” Alison concluded. “Maria’s as good as my puppet. She has been for about five years now.” She held up a hand to the sky, and a beam of photons was launched into the air.

I could feel Maria’s photons being sucked into Alison as well, until both women collapsed onto a heap on the floor.

“What did you just do?” I asked, no hint of emotion in my voice. Alison just smiled, this time a genuine smile, and closed her eyes.

“You wanted to fight the Terminus Eater, didn’t you? I just figured that you’d want to do it sooner, rather than later.”

Vanessa walked up to the two with a snarl, and shot both of them in their heads.

My heart sank as I realized the truly horrible place Alison had put us in. Instead of recuperating ourselves and challenging the beast at our own pace, it was now down to Hazeel, Vanessa, and I to protect us all.

I looked on in horror as pure white clouds illuminated the night, and just as soon as they had arrived, they dispersed.

In their place, a thick fog had begun to roll in, making everything in front of me invisible, not just to the naked eye, but my photon senses as well.

A horrible wail rang out, and the fog parted to reveal a two legged being, with six massive arms and a long neck, which connected to a zombified human skull.

Oh, there was just one more thing: The monster was about the height of a skyscraper. Seeing this, I could only let out a single phrase: "God damn it.”