Astor leaped back as Vex lashed out with his scorpion tail, just barely dodging the venomous barb. Beside him, Ava deflected the strikes with blazing claws wreathed in golden light.
"Give up, demon!" Ava shouted. "Your evil ends here!"
Vex merely cackled, shifting fluidly into a hulking minotaur form. "Foolish child, you cannot stop my ascension!"
He charged Astor with thundering steps. Focusing inward, Astor activated his Battle Meditation ability, steadying his nerves. Serene energy radiated outward, bolstering Ava as she intercepted Vex's bull rush.
"Full Counter!" she cried, catching his mighty horns. Vex's own momentum was turned against him, flinging him backward.
Before the demon could rise, Astor pointed his enchanted stone. "Come forth, allies!"
In flashes of light, the giant white tiger, soaring turtle, and fiery salamander appeared, awaiting his command. "Attack, but do not kill!" Astor ordered. He hoped to capture Vex alive for interrogation about the portals.
As his charmed beasts set upon Vex, Astor risked a glance toward the larger battle raging nearby. Kren led the other Frontier guild members in battling a colossal black dragon spewing dark flames. They looked hard-pressed.
Astor yearned to aid them, but with Vex still resisting capture, he dared not divide his focus. Ava's golden claws repeatedly countered and repelled Vex's attacks, while Astor's summoned allies kept the demon contained, wearing him down.
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Still, Vex had millennia of malice granting him vast infernal power. Astor poured all his energy into maintaining Battle Meditation's uplifting aura around the group. They would hold, somehow.
"You cannot defeat oblivion!" Vex shouted, dissolving into shadows temporarily before reforming and slamming Ava with his tail again. She cried out as she went flying.
Gritting his teeth, Astor summoned the last of his mental reserves. He had to prevent Vex's escape long enough for Ava to recover. This grueling stalemate persisted with neither good nor evil able to gain advantage. But Astor refused to give in to despair. The light still shone as long as he stood defiant. Its moment would come.
Kren panted in exhaustion, sinking to his knees amidst the smoldering ruins. The Void Wyrm Vealec lay dead nearby, vanquished at last by the Frontier Guild's relentless assault. But victory came with a grave price.
Two of their own - Dove and Weston - perished fighting the vile beast. They had sacrificed themselves absorbing its deadly breath so the others could strike the finishing blows. Such selfless valor-deserved songs, yet none had breath left now to sing mournful dirges.
Around Kren, the remaining guild members sprawled unceremoniously on the shattered stone. Their resources were utterly spent stopping Vealec's rampage. But this battle was far from over.
In the distance, Astor and Ava still clashed fiercely with the demon Vex. And where one horror fell, more would inevitably surge forth to replace it. Such was the way of darkness.
Wearily, Kren raised his head to assess their state. Amy slumped nearby, face scorched and raw from her fiery barrage that finally felled Vealec.
Their medics rushed to aid the wounded, but supplies ran low. If the abyss unleashed further nightmares, the guild would be annihilated. They had given all to win this ground. Holding it seemed impossible.
A rasping chuckle came from behind. Kren turned to see Caleb propped on one knee, Aura flickering around his hands.
"We're not done yet," Caleb said through gritted teeth. "Evil wants us exhausted and divided. Time to regroup and remind them what we're fighting for."
Kren managed a weary smile. Ever the stalwart hero that Caleb. He offered a hand, and together they rose unsteadily. The guild rallied around them, singing the honored dead to their rest. No matter the horrors still encroaching, hope lingered as long as one defiant spark remained. And Kren would fan that flame with his final breath if required.
"For light!" he shouted, raising his blade aloft. Their weary voices echoed back in a solemn oath.