“You waste your effort, demons.” Helen’s voice soothed the hearts of the demons, and they were stunned, finding themselves losing the fighting resolve they’d gathered. Alissa and Aysla frowned as a cool sensation invited itself into their hearts watching Helen’s warm smile, “It’s pathetic.”
“What is this power?” Alissa stared at her legs confused — they refused to move — then turned to Aysla, a cold gleam in her eyes as she questioned, “Do you have any idea how to deal with it? The infection is spreading to my brain, and I can’t move.”
“It’s a pacifist skill, and she’s amplifying it with the power of their god. It should never have this much of an effect… usually…” Alissa frowned, glancing at the other heroes, “Everyone except the guy she brought with her is affected by the skill. She can’t focus it on a target, I presume.”
“I’ll have to sit this one out, then. I’m sorry, Aysla.” Alissa clenched her fists, sighing deeply as she closed her eyes and tried to battle the effects of the skill. In as much as she wanted to push the battle aggressively Alissa needed to keep her sanity, “Would you be able to handle them alone?”
“Mid difficulty.” Aysla flickered, appearing a metre away with her fist held out and the body of the woman sent flying back, crashing into a small building’s wall metres away. The man swung his arm in a swift arc, and Aysla was sent stumbling to the side, her hammer gripped tight.
“Frank and Herod, standby while I deal with this woman. Once she is gone, we’ll initiate Plan Ace and prepare for their leader, the self proclaimed destroyer of the church.” Mark cracked his neck and spun his spear then placed its head on his shoulder, “By the grace of our Lord, we end this battle.”
He dashed forward at a fast speed, swinging his spear and stabbing, transforming it into a flurry of attacks, piercing countless holes through Aysla’s dress and into her body, spilling her blood. As he attacked, she swung her hammer and smashed it into his sides.
The strike sent Mark staggering two steps to the side, then he swung his spear and slammed its head into Aysla’s face as a counter. She spun her hammer and slammed on his his head, then leaped forth and aimed to knee him in the groin, but he reacted quickly and grabbed her leg.
He spun her in an arc, then flung Aysla into the sky. As she flew, Aysla frowned, her gaze turning as cold as the heart of an avalanche. She flapped her wing hard, then halted her ascension. After she had halted her flight, Aysla swooped down at a fast speed, “Is that your strongest attack?”
“Fool.” Mark swung his hand, and the earth around him cracked into a million pieces, and a gold avatar formed behind Mark. As the hero leapt into the air, the avatar followed, a spear of light born in its hands as it rushed after Mark whose voice had grown cold, “Accept your judgement.”
“What judgement?” The second Aysla and Mark neared their clash, Aysla vanished from his sight and appeared in seven location around them, each appearance lasting for only a second before they vanished, leaving her voice to trail behind them as Mark and his avatar paused.
Aysla appeared on the ruined earth, straightening her back and lifting her hand to the sky, a cold gleam shining in her eyes as she smiled. Mark glared down upon her and prepared to attack, but in a blink Aysla vanished from her position, appearing before him as he swung his spear.
His spear connected with her face, but her form only dispersed, and no blood was drawn. Mark felt his heart clench, and his searched for her with his gaze, but she was gone. Before he could make a move, he noticed a light coming for his face, and his heart skipped a beat.
In an explosive hit, Mark was sent staggering back, but before he could regain himself, another light flashed and — Bang! — Mark was sent rolling in the air, unable to sustain his footing. As Mark stood, a hammer struck him and as he flew, four more hammers followed, bashing him around.
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He clenched his fists and rotated his spear, drawing a sharp cry and spraying blood as Aysla’s left arm was cleaved from her shoulder. Her illusion shattered, and Mark spun around and struck Aysla’s chest with the spear, dragging it out then swinging it in an arc, aiming to sever her head.
“Is that how you expect to judge me?” Aysla spat out a mouthful of blood, then headbutted Mark in the face, swinging her hammer and catching him by surprise in a 360 degree spin. His avatar took its time to prepare an attack, then lunged to pierce its spear through Aysla’s mouth.
The blade pierced her from the base of her mouth, through her brain and skull, and out the back of her head. Aysla went limp after that, and the avatar swung its spear, flinging her from the sky and down to the ground, watching as she hurtled until her crash.
“Yes.” Mark frowned, blood dribbling down the side of his lips. He floated down to the ground, a cruel gleam in his eyes as he stared down upon Aysla’s motionless body, “To err is demon, and our correction is divine. You worthless lot must be clenched from this world.”
——
Mylos flapped his wing hard, levitating to the ground and stopping before the grand trap. As he watched Madeleine, Mylos felt his heart grow cold, “This was my fault. There’s no escaping what I’d brought to their lives, but everything — it all ends here!”
He snapped his fingers, and the arrays stopped moving. They burst apart, and Mylos stepped in, approaching Madeleine whose skin had shrivelled as she clenched her fists around her blade, “If I’d not noticed the light still burning in your gaze, I would have thought you dead.”
“You did your best…” A woman cried, and as Mylos turned to her with a cold gleam in his eyes she retreated into the crowd. He shook his head and reached out a hand, grabbing Madeleine’s face and closely his eyes. The crowd of demons watched him as he stood calm.
The Heavenly Retribution enhanced by the ritual of blood, was eaten away by the chaos energy Mylos manipulated, and as he touched Madeleine, she responded. Although it was slight, he noticed her fingers twitch, so Mylos waited, and fed her body more chaos energies.
“This amount should be near the limit of what I consider enough to rip someone to shreds. With it, all the traces of their poison inside you would be eliminated, but it would take a few minutes until you’re able to move your body again.” Mylos withdrew his hand, then sighed, “Such morons.”
Mylos stepped past Madeleine, walking through the gates of the church. The amount of chaos in the church filled the hole in his heart, and as he stared at them, gathered around Aysla who lay weak on the ground, Mylos smirked, “Is this really all they could amount to?”
The demons around him felt their bodies explode with strength, and they charged forward like animals, rushing the heroes. Mark frowned, lifting his gaze from Aysla and watching them charge in his direction, “Look at how hungry these fools look. Even at that, [Chains of God], halt them!”
Golden chains shot out of the ground, wrapping around the demons, and holding them. Before it brought a smile to Mark’s face, he noticed one out of the few shattering the chains and charging, “So one was able to counter it, even so. I’ll just use another—”
“Mark, watch out!” A hero shouted, snapping his fingers as lightning rained across the battlefield but Mylos weaved through them effortlessly, revealing his location to them. He swung his arm, and a burst of chaotic energies rippled through the ground, sending all the heroes flying.
Aysla chased, leaping into the air and swinging Mark’s blade, slashing Mark’s head from his body and sending it rolling over on the ground. She straightened her back, grinning coldly then staggering forward, transforming into a blur as she attacked the others, swinging the blade quickly.
Even though her movements were drab, the heroes were unable to counter in midair, and it was not until they crashed into the ground metres away that a hero sent Aysla flying back in blast from a fireball, giving the others the opportunity to dash away, dodging Mark’s attack.
He slammed his hand into the ground, then carved it out in a vicious curve, sending three purple crescents flying at the hero who hurled the fireball. Even as the others dodged, Mylos made sure the hero was reduced to minced meat, “I am not done with you yet.”
Mylos snapped his finger, and the ground beneath the heroes caved in. As they lost their balance, Mylos transformed into a purple flicker, appearing beside each heroes and burying his hand in their chests. As they fell to the ground dead, Mark appeared in his former position.
“Even though I can exhaust the amount of chaos energy my body stores, I continue to replenish it by simply existing around you wasted lot.” Mylos blinked and he recalled something a child said to him a long time ago, “I guess I was cursed after all, but I’m putting an end to everything today.”
As he raised his hand to bring down the church building in one final attack, Mylos noticed a fast bullet rippling through the air. He frowned, and turned to it, but by the second he turned to face the bullet, it blew up in his face in a loud — Bang!