“Do not let the scum through!” the warriors shouted, and they chased after the remaining demons near the barriers. The legions gunned down, crushed, skewered and cleaved through everything in their path.

“Hmph. Pathetic.” The Candidates thought before they disappeared behind the tree line. Blood splattered, monstrous screams rang out and the yokai retreated deeper into the jungles.

Kagiso felt a chill run down his spine. He raised a crystal egg that contained a cluster of cells. The egg cracked and the two-horned man obliterated the cells immediately.

“Return to your ships. The real battle has just begun.” Kagiso instructed, and the pirates vanished. A rattling sound grew louder, and he turned towards the tree line. The two-horned man’s eyes glowed curiously, and he saw millions of doors on top of tiny islands of dirt. The islands clustered together, the doors opened slowly and a foul smell poured out.

“Retreat! Return to the ships!” Kagiso rumbled, and his voice washed over the battlefield. The Candidates and the legions felt the urgency in the order, before they felt the waves of malice, hunger, rage, fear, apathy and lust coming from the jungle.

Marshall gripped his weapon tightly and the colour drained from his face. His heart raced and his knees grew weaker. Kenpachi’s voice rumbled chants in his ears and the strength returned to his limbs. Marshall inhaled deeply and he entered a fuguelike state.

The dead bodies scattered around the legions were pieced back together by an invisible force. The severed limbs returned to their torsos, and the decapitated heads rolled back onto their necks. The monstrous bodies stood still and waited for the bullet holes to fill in.

The foul and malicious inter-dimensional energy spilled out of their bodies, and waves of negative emotions washed over the island. The stench permeated the air, dark grey clouds blotted out the sun and the waters grew choppier.

The Demons’ energy signatures skyrocketed, and the commanding officers closed their eyes. The millions of malformed silhouettes shone a cold light that hummed maddeningly. The eerie presence assaulted their senses. It stung, blinded and deafened the tiny silhouettes in the darkness.

The misshapen souls moulded themselves to resemble their monstrous vessels. The Candidates that were there with their siblings grouped up and the rest were isolated. They increased their energy output, and the jungle became heavily saturated with Mana. The foul air grew thicker, and the pressure exerted on the legions’ bodies intensified. Fear coursed through the mortal bodies outside of the barriers. They struggled to catch their breath and the strength was sapped out of their limbs.

A deep voice uttered incoherent invocations. Kagiso rose hundreds of metres into the air. He looked around and searched frantically for the source. The two-horned man looked down, but nobody else seemed to hear the voice.

Kagiso’s muscles seized, and he felt the vibrations in his bones. Thick black plates and golden olive vines materialised onto his Dragon-bone armour. A second voice whispered incoherently in his right ear, and he turned his head. The voices were coming from the tallest mountain to the north. The two-horned man magnified his vision and the voices faded away. Kagiso tilted his head to the side and his eyes glowed. The voices were as familiar as they were foreign to him.

“We are the fastest force on the island. Stay here and defend this position. We will return with our scouting report.” The two-horned man declared and Duke nodded. “Fall back to the barrier.” He ordered, and Dumas inhaled deeply. “Fall back!” he bellowed and his heavy iron plated warriors returned to their senses.

“Captain, return to the barriers.” Gloria ordered. “Retreat!” Avalon roared, and her knights charged towards the watery domes. The pirate ships disappeared and Raymond’s eyes glowed furiously.

“Hmph. Now he abandons his post after sharing-” “-enough! Silence! I have had enough of your gossiping. When were you enslaved? Are you not free to shape your own destiny? You have reached your destination. Get off my ship or pledge your services in return for my protection.” Jane rumbled threateningly, and the Candidates seethed.

The two-horned woman illuminated the dozens of horned men and women standing in the darkness. The island grew with each Candidate that gathered in the Astral space, the grey clouds drifted across the dreary sky and the black and white world trembled.

The Candidates directed their rage at the forty pillars that represented the strongest amongst them. Jane glared at them and they all averted their gaze. She scoffed, folded her arms and turned to face the only empty pillar in the Astral space.

“This War Party assembled under The Council’s name and it was formed before It. They would not have gone so far, if they wanted us to act on our own.” Laurence rumbled wisely.

“That is, in fact, exactly what they expect from us. Everything so far has been Raymond’s plan to get us here discretely. A plan we followed willingly. However, the mission itself is still open to interpretation.” Hugo rumbled confidently and Duke closed his eyes.

“Hmm, as we suspected. I cannot establish a connection to the comm-buoys I deployed. This energy field has cut off all communications with the outside world. It is no ordinary barrier.” Jabu reported, and Jane chuckled.

“Well well, it seems our instincts are sharper than theirs brother. The Council has no idea what is going on here, do they, Raymond?” Jane rumbled, with a mixture of fear and confidence. Her heart raced and her words shocked the Candidates.

“Preposterous. The Council sees all.” Regius rumbled indignantly and the imposing two-horned man sighed. “No, they are right. Do you think The Council would let this island fall this far without intervening sooner?” he rumbled. The Candidates fell silent, when they felt his disappointment and dismay.

“The mountain to the north is the source of the barrier. The Council’s orders would have been to flatten it, if their eyes could pierce the veil. And how can Raymond report back, if we cannot communicate with the outside world? Are you willing to rely on his judgement? Are you willing to rely on his calculations of the many probabilities?” the two-horned woman rumbled confidently and Raymond’s eyes glowed furiously. The Candidates murmured to one another, before they turned to the pillars before them.

“What would you know of my eyes?” the three-horned man asked threateningly. “Enough to know that you lack the data to see clearly, which is why your brother is trying to cover for you. Hmm.” Jabu rumbled and his confidence faded away. He turned towards the empty pillar and gave it some thought.

“How? Are you listening?” the two-horned man rumbled curiously. “If one sees into the future, can the other see into the past? We need to hurry or the clown will beat us to the punch.” Jabu whispered, while deep in thought, and Jane chuckled.

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“Careful brother. We should not underestimate him. Unlike this lot, he understands what it means to be a true Dragon.” The two-horned woman rumbled proudly and Clyde tilted his head to the side, with surprise. Many Candidates took great offence. “Him? A true Dragon?” one of them asked and the slender one-horned man glanced at him. He clenched his fist, and the ground trembled beneath his feet.

Clyde felt a hand on his shoulder and Kenpachi shook his head. The slender, one-horned man nodded and calmed down. He turned towards the pillars and listened carefully to the debate.

“More so than you worthless Wyrms and you belly crawling Drake. He has the charisma to inspire mortals to follow him and the wisdom to choose mortals that already inspired others. In a single encounter, he instilled awe and admiration for our people in them.” Jane testified.

“Now he has set them on a journey towards greatness. He not only understands the rules that govern how we interact with mortals, that Dragon lives by them. Even now, he has taken his destiny into his own hands, and he works in the shadows to uncover the truth on his own terms. What are you in comparison?” The two-horned woman added, and images of Kagiso’s achievements flashed before them.

The Candidates looked around and those that struggled to maintain the connection faded away slowly. They looked down at their own hands in disappointment and lowered their heads.

Duke opened his eyes, and Raymond’s stopped glowing. They remembered fond memories of the time they grew up together, while the Candidates left the Whale Ships, the shared Astral space and the War Party in droves. The horned men and women that were left behind looked up at their seniors. However, their calls for help fell on deaf ears.

“Are you satisfied? Are you that obsessed with war?” the three-horned man asked and the long list of Candidates under his name became shorter. He waved the holographic monitor away and stared blankly ahead.

“All it takes is a little doubt, some shame and the promise of something better to make them dance to any tune. They are no different to the mortals and you know it. It’s much too late for them to become Quest Givers now. They might as well serve as a distraction. This way, we can gauge the enemy’s true strength as well.” Jane replied, and her eyes glowed maliciously.

The legions of warriors made it to the barriers just as the Candidates erupted from the foliage, followed closely by the second wave of Demons. The horned men and women ducked, dodged and dove out of the way of their wild swings and lunges.

A werewolf leapt headfirst and opened its mouth, with an eerily wide smile. It bit down on a Candidate’s ankle and snapped its jaws shut, with a loud snap. The one-horned woman screamed and stabbed downwards. Her dagger shattered against the Demon’s head and the metallic bristles grew longer.

The werewolf bit down harder and his teeth sunk into the Dragon-bone armour. His eyes rolled back into his skull and his smile stretched wider. It dragged the Candidate back and she cut off her own leg to escape.

Priya vanished and walked through a tree. She giggled, when the pig-faced demon cracked its skull on the glittery bark. The blue-eyed woman scanned the jungle and sighed. She inspected her samples and ignored her fellow Candidates.

Priya tilted her head back. The Demons in the bushes and trees leapt at her and she vanished shortly afterwards. They crashed into each other, and she remoulded and contorted their bodies into a shapeless blob of flesh, with a touch.

“It seems I am the only one with a decent amount of Mana. Poor souls. Their suffering would be brief, if they were mortals. Perhaps I should tell them to take their own lives? Or should save them? But then what would I gain? What would you do in this scenario?” the blue-eyed woman wondered. She skipped through the jungle and made her way to the clearing. Kenpachi, Mdu and Clyde gathered on the beach.

“We fight as one or we do not fight at all. I will not be used as a political tool.” Mdu declared, before they had even said a word. “What about you, brother? How do you feel?” Kenpachi asked, and Clyde mulled it over.

“I am torn between fighting and running. Something about this place…I am not a coward. You both know that. However, this place frightens me and I do not know whether I should face that fear or trust my instincts.” The slender one-horned man replied honestly, and Mdu nodded.

“Run. If it were up to me and I were here alone. I would have run at the first sight of that mountain.” Kenpachi said honestly and Clyde looked his brothers in the eyes. “What about all that we could learn from this battlefield.” he asked and Mdu scoffed.

“There is nothing to be learnt from madness, except for how slippery of a slope it is. Listen, brother. You will meet all sorts on your travels. Be careful of those that would charge mindlessly into any battle. Jane and her siblings are more experienced than any on this island in the art of war. But they are also bloodthirsty glory hogs that live for violent skirmishes, grueling sieges and deadly battles. They love nothing more than war.” the short one-horned man said sternly.

Mdu had just finished his sentence, when the first bomb fell. Jane’s, Hugo’s and Jabu’s legions took to the skies and left an enormous gap to the north. Their drop ships and the rugged warriors battled the monstrous bodies in the sky and soared towards the three Whale Ships flying over the jungle.

Jabu and Hugo’s ships fired their atomic bombs at the jungle floor. They illuminated the Demonic bodies that had surrounded and trapped dozens of Candidates. The light hit their faces and the monstrous bodies smiled eerily. They turned their attention to the female Candidates and ignored their male counterparts. The atomic light faded, and the Demons charged.

The solo-Candidates fell one by one. The siblings covered each other and ran away from the tree line. They were bogged down, and their retreat was halted by the Demons that swarmed the gap to the north.

“It looks like we may not have a choice anymore.” Mdu said angrily and he reached over his right shoulder. The drop ships and legions entered the Whale Ships mouths and the atomic bombardment continued. Jane, Jabu and Hugo sailed north, and they left their allies behind.

With only two barriers left, the Candidates had no choice but to plug up the hole in the centre of their formation. They appeared in the irradiated clearing and the horned men and women inside of the horde spotted them. A few solo-Candidates burst out of the foliage and the canopy.

The horned men and women charged through the centre of the battlefield. They ignored the screams coming from the jungle and thanked the Universe for their luck. The Candidates slashed, burned and shot their way to their allies.

The legions heard the distant screams and shouts for help. They squinted, magnified their vision and looked past the blurry bodies. Now and then, they slowed down enough for them to catch a glimpse.

“Why are there so few women?” a warrior asked, and a terrifying thought crossed her mind. “Do not think! Just kill everything in your path! Trust in your comrades and kill!” Captain Wolfe replied, and she thrust her spear into a ravenous Demon’s neck. The monster pressed his hands and face against the barrier. It tried to force its way through and the skin on its face became thinner.

The Yokai pushed harder, and the barrier wobbled. Captain Wolfe’s spearhead grew hotter, and she twisted it for good measure. The warriors stabbed feverishly, and the gunners held their triggers down until the battery-magazines were spent.

A knight leaned in too close, and a Demon grabbed his leg. It tore his armour off and tossed him over its head callously. The naked warrior hit the irradiated ground and a bat-like woman swooped in. The harpy’s talons dug into his right thigh, and it took him into the sky above the battlefield.

The winged Demons swarmed the knight. They bit down on his limbs and pulled, before a large pair of wings enveloped his body. The knights’ eyes bulged, when their friend screamed for his life. The bloodied ball of rutting flesh plummeted to the canopy below and the awakened Yokai charged headfirst into the barrier, with zealous smiles.

“Kill, eat, breed.” Avalon deduced and a scruffy-looking knight, with a heavy shield and sword spat at the ground. “I can understand the reasoning behind such a horror…but why do they need do so with such glee?” Luther asked, with a pale and horrified expression.

“Therein lies your mistake. There is no reason here to begin with, only madness.” Greggor said, with a grunt, and he thrust his broadsword through the barrier. “Indeed, which is why we only need to hold until reinforcements arrive. Our Lady can clear this mess with the wave of her hand. By the end of the day, these foul beasts will know fear.” Avalon declared fearlessly, and the demons stopped smiling.

Duke and Gloria crashed down in front of their barriers, while Kenpachi, Clyde, Regius, Riekes, Mei and Mdu landed in the clearing in front of the tree line. Their presence instilled courage in their forces, and they let out deafeningly loud roars. Their doors to the Astral Realm rattled, and the Demons stepped back.