The wind whistled past Rachel’s pulled-back ears as she followed the battle Fiona was having with Armand’s minions.
Warpath seemed to be in effect, which meant her spells strength and cost were increased; she needed to kill the object of that hatred to return to normal. The issue was that it could be Armand, the Wolfgang holding Maria, or Asher that she needed to kill—it could be all three.
It was knowledge in Rachel’s brain—an objective that needed to be accomplished, yet the Hades Energy was twisting and enhancing various parts of her personality and skills, including Lunar Pride.
The Flush Moon put her into a state of serenity, the White Moon would enhance her competitive drives, and the Coral Moon made her more mischievous; this energy took on an entirely different form.
Typically, when facing a new, powerful enemy, her blood ran hot, and she couldn’t wait to engage them, but currently, that wasn’t the case. Her mind was calm, methodical, and cold; the pins and needles running down her spine weren’t there from the excitement in victory—the type of Pride within her was transforming.
Her black cloak of fire and crimson lightning left wisps behind her; the force generated a sort of frontal cone ahead of her that warped space. Even if she was technically slower than her other lunar empowerments, the cloak gave her a soundless approach and free reign without the air resistance.
Nia’s current battle form only showed a few of her tattoos across her chest, and Rachel could tell they were far from just decorative; she didn’t know exactly what they did yet since her access to them hadn’t been unlocked, but as she learned about this new force wrapping her in a welcoming embrace it would become available.
Rounding the corner of a partially collapsed building that blocked half of the road, Rachel got her first look at Armand; the scene moved at a snail’s pace with her hyper-accelerated mind, and without slowing, she used the side of a concrete building as a platform to run.
Armand’s head was raised, watching Fiona’s fruitless efforts of throwing massive chunks of ice down at him while using an electric field to keep the minions at bay.
Red fog leaked out of his mouth and illuminated eyes, thick black fur absorbing everything Fiona threw without effort; she hadn’t had a chance to test her nose or mouth theory because of the creature’s speed and the forces attacking her, but her icy spears didn’t even scratch his eyes.
A slight smirk lifted the left side of Rachel’s lips; Eostre seemed to have kept her promise about Lunar Dash, which was interesting, considering it was in the Chang’e Branch.
Maybe Eostre’s not acting alone; I’ll have to ask Izanami about it later.
Lunar Hades Dash II activated, creating a black disk between her and the building she was using for footing; the stone cracked from the recoil of the force, and Rachel shot right at Armand’s ear.
Flipping in midair, Rachel’s bare feet slammed into his ear. A choked gurgle released from Armand’s throat as he stumbled to the side to regain his balance.
Creating another disk as Armand absorbed the blow, Rachel launched into the air, using the remaining ten platforms to barrel into the remaining shadow wolves surrounding Fiona; it became a battle of resilience versus her fire cloak and momentum—the creatures didn’t stand a chance.
By the time Fiona and Armand figured out she’d entered the battlefield, all of his minions were falling chunks of shadowy meat and liquid.
Landing on the ground, Rachel turned her head to Armand, left hand on her hip; he was still looking at her in confusion after stabilizing, likely wondering why he didn’t hear her approach until her heel was digging into his ear.
“Rachel!” Fiona cried with joy, flying down to join her. “Woah … black hair and ears—when did you get tattoos, too—is this a new State? No, umm … he’s blocking…”
Rachel pointed at the mostly destroyed building to their left. “The second basement—there’s an entrance to get to the tunnel that leads to the bunker; I’ll stay here and deal with the puppy.”
Armand’s nose creased, and his growls shook the air, generating a sharp gust; the intimidating aura he released only increased her amusement.
One lucky thing about Warpath, Fiona didn’t hesitate at the order, darting toward the structure to make her own path using Earth Magic. “Thanks, Rachel! I’ll save … Woah!”
The wolf got up and shot forward, monstrous teeth lurching for Fiona; Rachel darted forward to meet him, swiftly pulling Armand’s attention as she made no sound again.
He was quick, but this was her field, and he only managed to partially turn his head before the back of her heel spun around to connect with his red, drooling mouth. His head snapped to the right, but only a few feet, which wasn’t much considering his size; the shock was enough to allow Fiona the time to dart around his jaw and enter the building.
Rachel wasn’t particularly eager to hasten the battle, so she darted back.
Armand worked around his lower jaw, rising to his full height; he towered over her at thirty meters. His glowing red eyes narrowed, clearly disarmed by the actions she was taking.
Casually dusting off a sizable broken chunk of a building, Rachel sat down and smiled at the massive predator; she crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap with a giggle. “Well, look at you; so big and intimidating!”
He genuinely looked confused, glowing eyes darting to the hole Fiona created; she was still working her way through the rubble with her powers.
Snapping her fingers, Rachel popped her tongue. “Hey! Hey! Mhm … I’m still here, Mr. Alpha! So, where do we go from here?”
Armand snarled at her lilting tone and struck out with a paw, devastating the area and sending the blocks smashing through more structures.
Rachel vanished in a cloud of red mist with the new devilish tricks blooming in her mind, reappearing from the crimson fog ten feet to her left to altogether avoid the attack.
“He-he-he. Really, was that your worst?” Rachel asked, feeling oddly comfortable with the instantaneous movement; it was as simple as projecting a linked invisible stream of Hades Energy to a location and swapping with it.
Armand spun into a frustrated whirlwind, paws, tail, and teeth lashing out to rip her apart; Rachel twisted around his swipes, teleported away, and casually jumped over his fast but bulky and predictable attacks.
The kicked-up dust hung in the air, blocking his vision, and she felt his pain, unable to track her through sound; it was delicious.
Swapping places with her projected Hades Energy again to sit on a crushed car hood, Rachel yawned, working out her neck. “Such power and devastation … If only you weren’t blind or that huge mass of meat; you're handicapping yourself at that size. Hmm … Is it to compensate for something?” she teased, using the twisted bench on top of the car as an elbow rest to lean her cheek against the back of her hand.
He was going through a noticeable change as his frustration grew, eyes becoming globes of red energy as a reverse cross shone between his eyes; the wolf was drawing upon a tiny bit of the Hades Energy he’d absorbed from the fiends he’d consumed.
The orbs of crimson force made her laugh as he prowled through the dust storm he’d made. “Oh … I’d be careful how you use that, Armand … We aren’t built the same—oh, when did you all get here?” she mused, spotting Hayan, Coral, and Rose gathered nearby, surrounding a fourth little blob.
Her Hades Bunny had formed at some point, but she wasn’t paying much attention to them since they were now somewhat disorderly by nature. Nia was their commander now, and they weren’t all that scared for Rachel’s safety. Gisele was doing her own thing a bit further away, taking out demonic insects; overall, it was chaos in the ranks without Nia at their helm, which was a product of the Hades Energy since they’d be at least a little more organized otherwise.
Armand only had eyes for her at this point, though, and he jumped forward, trying to predict where she’d go, but it was impossible, really.
Jumping into the air to bait him, he opened his jaws to swallow her; moments before they closed around her torso, she vanished into mist, and a new idea wove through Rachel’s mind that sent a shiver down her spine to her tail.
Doing a backflip to land on a nearby building, Rachel studied the frenzied wolf; everything around them was either swept away with such force it was sent to disintegrate against the barrier or turned to dust by the weight of his lunges.
From her first blow, Rachel knew she wasn’t strong enough to get beyond his coat without an exhaustive effort, and she wasn’t about that; it was much easier putting on a facade and letting her enemies do the work for her.
If he’s going to be a brute about it; why not kill two birds with one stone?
“Ooh, you’re so obsessive; no, means no, Armand, but you are the biggest mutt living.”
Nonchalantly walking away from the fight while evading his attacks with exaggerated movements and lilting taunts, Rachel conserved a great deal of energy; it didn’t cost more than a fraction of a percent of her reserves to teleport if it was within a ten-foot radius. Armand was also learning her efficient range—not that it mattered since it was simple to predict his bulky actions.
She danced away from the bunker, leading him toward the airfield and leaving a path of destruction in their wake; there were a few living humans still suffering from the various tortures and rituals in the area, but it was a passing thought in her mind—Armand was her focus and humiliating him gave her pleasure she couldn’t explain.
Two minutes into the fast-paced fight, they exited the town; unfortunately, it was here that Armand stopped, chest heaving and red spittle leaking out of his gaping mouth.
“Hmm?” Rachel spun in a short circle, offhandedly kicking straight through a demonic insect before coming to a stop to look up at the colossal wolf.
Asher must have noticed their changing locations because his minions were now heading her way and Armand’s head went from her to the field of twenty thousand floating ritual sacrifices.
It wasn’t that big of a deal. One plan’s failure is another’s success. The question is, will the pieces move to my strings?
Holding her hands behind her back, Rachel casually walked forward to stand before the growling beast; his nose was twitching with agitation upon lowering to her, and to her shock, he spoke.
Voice deep and monstrous, he snarled, snapping his jaws. “You’re nothing but a fly; I won’t be tricked by your games!”
Rachel’s head tilted to the left with her smirk. “Is that right … Are you looking for a compliment?”
“You—”
She vanished into smoke as his paw sank into the soil where she’d stood, infuriating Armand.
“Hare, actually,” Rachel ran up his leg and grabbed a fist full of his hair as he thrashed about, trying to get her off. “Did you want a treat, little puppy?”
“You … slippery whore!” he screamed, sliding his paw across his forehead as she used his fur as purchase and teleporting ability to dance around his nails.
Rachel giggled, maneuvering to whisper into his ear as her Rabbit Gang and Gisele took to the area to handle the fodder for fun. It seemed her new blackish-red streaked bun was getting along with her new family. “Beauty Queen, Goddess, Devil, any of those would be much better…”
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Her black eyebrows pulled together as he started to shrink, and she kicked off a lunar platform to land a dozen meters away to watch him take on a werewolf-like form.
“Interesting,” she hummed, “so, there is more to you than just an oversized wolf?”
She watched his gradual transformation, knowing there would be limitations to him taking on this form compared to his previous; this seemed like a more agile transformation, which meant he was sacrificing something in another area.
A grin lifted Rachel’s lips as sharp bones protruded out of his arms and knees, causing crimson blood to flow out from the penetrated skin; his paws turned to large, clawed hands, and his bulky back bristled with muscle and fur.
Veins bulged across his rippling forearms as Armand released a sound somewhere between a roar and growl, fingers ripping into the soil. “I will eat you, finger by finger—arm by arm!”
Rachel put a hand on her hip, shooting out a depressed sigh through her teeth. “Why do you feel the need to take claws to a fistfight?”
Armand launched forward, clawed feet ripping up the soil as he accelerated; it was fast, and Rachel had to actually try ducking around his talon-like nails—it was pointless attacking him when in his large wolf form, but this might be different.
Pulling her braid out of the way as they passed each other, Rachel spun to a stop and threw it back with a light laugh. “Not willing to take your leash off, Armand?”
He darted back, spit flying back from his gaping jaws as his blood began to glow; it collected around his claws, extending into a five-fingered slash that cut through the air.
“Humph!” She extended her Hades Energy forward and bypassed the strike, spinning in a circle to meet his charge. “If you like licking boots so much…”
Her heel connected against the side of his head, shifting his jaws as she carried him in the broad sweep to rag-doll across the ground, tearing it up.
Dodging his bones and claws while spinning to a stop, Rachel hummed. He’s not as tough as before … Still more than strong enough to rip me apart, though.
Armand jumped back up with a howl. “Grrahh! Stop jumping and running around! I’m … I’m—”
“Hmm? C’mon, find your words,” Rachel taunted, “It’s not hard to speak … Well, I suppose you aren’t the picture of civility … Really, you’re quite hideous.”
Rachel’s ears twitched as a new voice and presence entered their conversation.
“Fascinating … What has happened to you?”
Slowly turning around, Rachel hissed, lips drawing in; Xazzos stood next to Asher, but it was the demon that spoke. Yseress’s influence must have given her the ability to understand other infernal creatures.
Laughter rolled through her mind. Like moths to flame … It’s beautiful.
“Asher, Xazzos … I’d say it was a pleasure … It’s not,” Rachel grunted, dodging Armand’s projectile claws with a side aerial.
Asher held up a hand. “That’s enough, Armand…”
“No!” Armand yelled, ripping up the ground and causing the demonic creatures to look at the beast. “No! She’s mine, Asher! I’m done! I’m done with this!”
The edge of Rachel’s lips curved as she smoothly stepped back, clasping her hands behind her back. “Hmm? Well, by all means, if you boys have business, don’t let me get involved!”
Xazzos’s grinning face was back on her in an instant. “Is that … Yes, I see Yseress’s influence. He-he-he! Excellent!” He slammed his fist against his chest, brandishing his ax. “Now! Now you are a challenge!”
Asher rose into the air with narrowed eyes as five red streaks of crimson light tried to turn him into ribbons. “Armand!”
“I said she is mine!” he screamed.
Her buns were nudging a giant, dead demonic insect over to munch on while glancing between them, enjoying the show. Gisele swooped down with her own catch to add to the small pile they’d gathered.
The Rabbit Gang had cracks of red and black that ran through their bodies; it sparked from time to time, illustrating the underworld’s influence on them.
Gisele had grown little horns, and her feathers were now more metallic while swapping to a red and black theme; she was bobbing up and down, excitedly cheering her on with a few musical notes. Her buns soon joined the soft chorus, only breaking their shouts to eat the bugs like popcorn.
Asher’s large abs tightened with the aura surrounding him. “Do not defy me, Armand!”
Armand’s ears pulled back, and he shrank away a step at the pulse of colossal force the Mythickin was channeling, but their focus was pulled to Rachel as she snorted. “You’re nothing but his hounding dog after all—how’s it smell up that blue crack?”
A quiver ran through Armand’s muscles. “I’m not…”
“A mutt?” Rachel asked with a sad shake of her head. “The copium—didn’t I say it before … Heh, the biggest leashed mutt living; how does his cleats taste?”
“Armand … I said, that’s enough,” Asher repeated, but a curious smile lifted his lips.
Rachel snickered, giving the wolf a half-smile. “Do I smell a retreat … I’m speaking politely when I say you’ve become the hound of a clown.”
“Asher…” Armand growled.
The demonic man chuckled, holding out a hand to condense Hades Energy around her as he did before to trap all of them; Rachel simply shrugged it off with a yawn, flicking the back of her hand across her shoulder.
“Asher, does this mean he’s my little toy now since you’re having trouble with him? He can be my favorite monster!”
“What?” Asher’s brow creased. “Are you … manipulating the Hades Force?”
Rachel ignored him, knowing the curiosity would eat at the Mythickin and that he’d want to preserve her to understand what happened; Armand’s pumping chest showed how much effort it was taking to work himself up to defy the Myth of Abezethibou.
It soon became apparent that he couldn’t understand his bodyguard as Xazzos erupted into laughter. “Yseress’s influence is strong, creature. To absorb such a fiend … Fight me! Prove to me you deserve Hades’ power!”
Her trilling tone moved back to Armand; the dam was about to break. “Aww, how cute; look at you! C’mon over here, little pooch—lick my feet like a good puppy to get a treat … Say, ahh!” she snickered, lifting her foot and gently weaving it back and forth, “Or will you knuckle up?”
Hot air steaming through Armand’s nose, he roared, body quaking with rage; running on all fours, he launched toward Rachel as she left herself open to attack, a smirk in place.
“No!” Asher’s smug expression was gone; his yellow eyes were daggers on the wolf while waving his hand—Armand vanished in a pulse of blue light. “Gah, he’s so emotional.”
“Mmh? Don’t rush me, Xazzos,” Rachel said, ears tilted to the left as she turned to face the noise. “I don’t think that’s going to be enough, Asher.”
A horrifying howl shook the air as Armand reverted back to his massive wolf form and plowed through the landscape to return to their location.
“What are you?” Asher whispered, glowing yellow irises searching for answers while scanning her figure. “There’s … so much different … Are you the same person as … So convoluted…”
He trailed off as Armand jumped over three hundred meters into the air, aiming to land right on top of her; Rachel simply watched the strings she’d manipulated into place.
“I said, no! My patience is running thin, Armand!”
“Asher!”
Flexing his fingers, Asher’s face screwed up with effort; a massive pulse of light enclosed the colossal wolf before he vanished again.
Rachel’s ears rose a bit, head turning left and right. “Huh … I can’t hear … Oh?”
Her eyes widened, attention moving to the east as a sharp crack of electricity radiated across the whole area; Armand’s quivering head slowly pushed through the crimson barrier, releasing snarls as sparks flashed throughout the entire wall and the orbs powering it above turned a dark yellow.
“Really?” Asher muttered, watching the wolf gradually force his way back through.
Large, jagged gashes ripped through his flesh, scarred his face, and burned long streaks of fur away, but Armand was beyond reason; upon making it a quarter of the way through, a large opening momentarily parted for him to rush in, likely reaching a safety protocol in the ritual’s design to keep the barrier stable.
Xazzos snickered, giving her a knowing smile. “Well played, my lady; I’ll be with you shortly.”
“Do we have to?” Rachel asked, rubbing her eyes; it was actually reasonably exhausting even using this much Hades Energy. “I can think of countless other things I’d rather be doing.”
“You’re that determined from just … taunts?” Asher growled. “You’re worthless at this point. Fine, Xazzos, handle him.”
The blue-skinned muscular demon gave her a thoughtful glance, readying his ax. “Working your strings to play your charms on me now, are you? You have a lot to learn from Yseress.”
Rachel’s smile turned sinister. “Do your best, dear, and maybe we’ll talk—if you live.”
Expectedly, Asher’s crude Hades Energy closed around her to transport them to a new location; in the next instance, she found herself near the ceiling of the barrier’s center, hovering beside the primary ritual control seal for the spirit-infused shell.
Asher’s force enclosed her, keeping them afloat; she could tell with her personal devil’s influence, his manipulation of the Hades Force was all brute force—there was no elegance in its use.
Rachel calmly held her elbow behind her back, watching Asher with amusement; the madness she’d made, plucking at the events that spiderwebbed around them, was like the taste of sugar.
Her tongue glazed over the surface of her lips to lick the sweet flavor off; it was so surreal—an actual substance she could identify, pull in, and feed on—it was turning her into a fiend. It helped when she could follow the strings of misfortune to a tinkering design of wit that twisted and tempered her feral mind.
“I can see a devil in those eyes,” Asher whispered, looking directly into them. “What … You’re bound into a contract—you’re a devil—yet not … It’s beautiful. How were you made?”
A chordal shook Rachel's chest as she tilted her head to stare at the sphere of spirits next to her, lifting her hand to brush against it; her fingernails extended into pointed claws, leaving black lines down its length from her fire.
“You don’t want an answer—heh, you only want to look.”
Rachel wove her hand against the globe; Asher simply wanted to bring her somewhere Armand couldn’t reach, and that would shield them from his senses, but he didn’t know that any of these spheres was more than enough to pluck the following string on the web.
“Are you enjoying the show so far?” she asked, using her free hand to gesture to the ground where Xazzos and Armand danced; the demon was using the wounds caused by the crimson lightning to further dig into Armand’s fur.
Asher was too entranced by studying her to even notice the fight below, his forehead creased, fingers cupping his chin. “I can’t analyze your spirit like before … Such a mystifying force … What are you doing?”
His eyes widened, jerking his hand to the left to pull her away from the sphere as Rachel hummed. “Oh … You are more perceptive than I gave you credit for; when did you notice the manipulations I did to the ritual?”
“How … It was already in progress…” Asher muttered in a panic, turning to examine the shifting symbols above. “That’s … No. If the spirits are centered that closely, then…”
“Reflux!” Rachel snapped her fingers with a laugh. “I’m just terrible! I’d rather it do my work for me.”
“This … can’t be happening…”
He growled, flying to various points and trying to use his crude scribing skills to create a bypass point, but it was painfully evident that Wolfgang and Relica were the fine-tuners of the operations.
The dagger she’d gently inserted into Asher’s confidence and security was coated with poison as he desperately tried to correct her subversion; it wasn’t Rachel herself, but Yseress’s instinctual influence that guided her hand—once she ceased wringing the female devil like a rag and sucking out her essence, the knowledge and aptitude would fade.
Driving her most potent weapon deeper, Rachel followed his frantic movements. “A shame you don’t have the talent Wolfgang has, Asher; perhaps you could have fixed it. What does it really matter, though? This won’t affect your other ritual—only the barrier will fall, and you’ve already accomplished everything else. Isn’t that right? No? Is there another reason this field was created … Hmm … Focusing the Hades Energy into a single space, maybe?”
“Shut up…” he growled, losing another path as it became flooded with spirits.
“Oh, that might affect the overall outcome. Huh … A pity, for all that work to go to waste, and for what … to look at a pretty face? Although I am quite gorgeous, I must say. Oh, the mistake, Asher, the mistake—and to think this could have all been avoided by just taking me somewhere—anywhere else!”
“Shut up!” he screamed, flailing his hand to send her rocketing to the ground as she snickered.
Flipping around, she used her lunar platforms to ping-pong back to the city, looking up to see the crimson electricity fading and patches opening up.
I hope you’re outside with the cavalry, Tom.
The shell began to disintegrate, breaking apart as the spirits were released back to their natural journey, wherever that may have been, and the first thing that caught Rachel’s widening eyes was the colossal floating turtle hovering over the city.
Her smile grew as the sound of jets, tanks, and foot soldiers erupted around her, but Cahira’s voice was what snatched her attention.
“Ready the cannons, lads! Any demon ya see, fire at will!”
“Cap’an! There be that massive wolf we be seen before—it be fightin’ a demon, Cap’in. Orders?”
Tom answered. “That should be the Beast Mythickin; green light, men—watch your aim on those people! Shred anything that’s not human.”
“Ya heard the man, ya scalawags,” Cahira shouted. “We got ‘em with their pants down; fire on sight!”
Clay coordinated with the U.S. military as jets lowered to add to the mix.
Silence fell across the demons; helicopters were rising into the air with the sound of music on loudspeakers—Fortunate Son in some vehicles and Ride of the Valkyries screaming above.
“Let’s freakin’ go, boys!”
“Mission a go! I repeat; mission a go!”
“GO! GO! GO!”
“Yo, Panda Joe, in the house! Make it loud, boys; we’re huntin’ demons tonight!”
“Hope you said your prayers tonight, Tony!”
“Aww, man! Here we go again!”
Asher cursed, abandoning the spheres and teleporting to the main ritual to rush his progress; it was her next destination.
Her pets were transported to her side, randomly dumped below her at some site when Asher changed their locations; they seemed eager to stay close by.
Rachel laughed, feeling the Hades Energy leaking out into the world fizzle out and the cacophony of sound released from Cahira’s powerful cannons that peppered Xazzos and Armand as they tried to run.
Whimpers leaked from Armand’s throat with the wounds the demon inflicted, mixed with the damage from the barrier—now exposed, he was taking significant damage.
Her plan hadn’t been so grand, but the misfortune was almost palpable in every direction, making it difficult to track, and she reveled in it; she was dancing through a chaotic buffet that tickled every fiber of her being.