Michael sent a relentless barrage of energy waves toward the group, the air crackling with divine power. Moxie and Insanity managed to dodge, narrowly escaping the destructive force. But Liza, positioned precariously on a cliffside, had no such luck. As she leapt to avoid the attack, Moxie lunged to catch her, cradling her in his arms as they both landed hard next to Insanity, who was surrounded by a circle of angelic knights.
The three of them fought together, moving in perfect sync as they slashed through Michael’s forces. But none of them noticed Michael preparing another onslaught. Without hesitation, he unleashed another wave of energy, so devastating it even cut down his own men in its path.
Caught off guard, the group turned just in time to block, but it was too late. One of the waves struck Liza square in the chest, cutting through her with deadly precision. Moxie’s heart sank as he watched, helpless, her body fall limp in his arms. Blood poured from the deep wound, her eyes already lifeless. Moxie cried out her name, the sound full of despair and disbelief.
“Moxie! Snap out of it!” Insanity called, his voice desperate as he fought to keep the knights at bay. But Moxie couldn’t hear him. His world had collapsed into grief, and the only thing he could focus on was the lifeless form of his cousin lying in his arms. The blood staining his hands felt like a mark of failure, a burden he couldn’t escape.
Insanity clashed with Michael again, the sound of metal against metal filling the battlefield, but his focus was torn. He could see Moxie crumbling under the weight of his sorrow, standing there unmoving. “Get up, Moxie! We need you!” he shouted. But Moxie remained frozen in place, drowning in despair.
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The Virtue inside Moxie urged him to fight, its voice piercing through the fog of his grief. *“You must keep going! This is not the end!”* But the words fell on deaf ears. Moxie’s heart was broken, his spirit shattered. He was the last of his kind now, truly alone in the world. His pain was palpable, so much so that the boost from the Heavenly Virtue began to fade, unable to sustain itself against the tide of his sorrow.
As Insanity and Michael continued their fierce clash, they both felt a sudden, overwhelming presence. A wave of negative energy, dark and suffocating, flooded the battlefield. Insanity had felt something similar before, but this... this was stronger, far more intense.
He turned to look at Moxie, and what he saw chilled him to the bone. A thick, black aura was spilling out of Moxie’s body, swirling around him like a storm of hatred and grief. His eyes were locked onto Liza’s lifeless form, the aura growing darker and more menacing with each passing second. It was as if all the pain, all the suffering, was being pulled from the depths of Moxie’s soul and manifesting into something far more dangerous.
Even Michael, still locked in combat with Insanity, hesitated for a moment as he felt the oppressive weight of Moxie’s aura. The pressure was unlike anything they had felt before, and it was growing stronger by the second.
“Moxie... what’s happening to you?” Insanity muttered under his breath, his grip tightening around his weapon. The battlefield had shifted. They were no longer just fighting Michael—they were now facing whatever darkness was festering inside Moxie.
The black aura continued to spread, distorting the air around Moxie as if reality itself couldn’t bear the weight of his despair. And with every pulse of that aura, Moxie’s presence grew darker, more dangerous.
Michael, sensing the shift, steeled himself. “So, this is the true power you’ve been hiding...” he muttered, raising his sword. But even he felt a tremor of unease in the face of Moxie’s growing darkness.
The battle was far from over. And now, it seemed, the real threat was about to emerge from within Moxie himself.