I jumped for the demon's throat, aiming my tail for the spear. When time resumed, he slapped my arm aside with enough force to crack the crystal covering it. My tail wrapped around the shaft and prevented him from yanking it out, earning enough time for Arturous to raise his claws.

Mana pulsed, and Arturous met the convulsing arms of Lezka. I twisted around, barely managing to bring my own up in time to block a bolt of crimson from piercing the side of my neck.

I tumbled forward from the impact/

Teddy stepped in front of me, blocking what looked like javelin of blood from spearing my shoulder. His shield resonated, and he forced it aside with a grunt. In retaliation, Arturous launched a hail of stones and dirt, but once again it was blocked by a switch. Lezka's battered form took the brunt of the damage.

"Valiant effort. You certainly have more courage to you than the last time, fledgling. Admirable, even if you are being supported by your friends." Arz'odral paused, tapping his chin. "Tell me, do you plan on sacrificing them as well? To save you in the final moment? If so, I applaud the manipulation. More fitting for a demon."

I punched the ground and stood up. He was taunting me, goading me into doing something stupid. My anger, even dulled without the presence of the gremlin, burned. Sam's face flashed to mind before I buried it, taking in the smug face of the possessed beastkin.

I wanted nothing more than to turn it into mush.

Lezka's arms trembled, and he released a groan as Arturous batted him aside. He came to a stop underneath the demon's feet, earning a look of disgust. Arz'odral flicked the kid's cheek, forcing him off his boots.

Seeing him treat his allies like dirty toys added to the flames.

"So what? You made a deal like a demon's supposed to. Then backstabbed Aurellion together? You think you can survive his revenge? His pantheon? I thought I was cocky," I asked, flexing the stored kinetic energy from the hit.

Arz'odral laughed, and a fat red tear dripped onto his waiting claw.

"The Chained Ones? As if. No true demon fears those beings. Older than this world and many others, we are the ones they fear. A true demon usurps them, not fear them! We create cults in our name to overturn a kingdom. Unleash abominations under our banner to erase nations. Their precious wings and thrones are treasures to be looted as we devour their souls! How naïve! Hah!"

I didn't miss it. Even if the bastard loved to monologue, he was smart enough to attack before we could. From the barrier behind him, large tendrils of pseudo-flesh blossomed like a ball of snakes. They shot forward, strong enough to match Arturous and force Teddy back several feet. I sacrificed my arm to knock one off course before it smashed into Teddy's side. Crystals cracked, and I absorbed the force behind the hit while Áine rushed to heal my bones.

Teddy's mace appeared, forcing Arz'odral to move, dispelling most of the tendrils. Following up on the opportunity, I aimed the claw slashes not at where the demon was, but at where I suspected he'd appear.

The slashes of nearly-invisible energy hammered into the ground, but I caught a glimpse of a spiky wall of crimson before the dirt and stone created a curtain. A loud, pain-filled wail followed—Lezka was once again used as a meat shield.

"Teddy, we—"

Teddy wasn't beside me. I turned just in time to see him charging forth with the spectral form of a golden bear surrounding him. Through the cloud, his glowing mace hit something hard enough to blast the particles of dirt away in a wave from the impact.

Arz'odral emerged like a shrieking rocket, zipping away in a swirl of red light before he reformed next to the king. Blackened blood dripped down; his right arm was a mangled mess that he clutched as it hung limply.

My spear was still embedded in his chest, venom sizzling as it slipped out between the black droplets. For the first time, Arz'odral stared with what I could only recognize as weariness. Oh, anger still burned behind his eyes, just as mine did in my chest, but he watched Teddy flick blood away from his mace.

The human man rolled his shoulders and banged against his shield. Cold eyes returned the stare, and his companion padded closer, fur bristling. He was defiance, even with a creature more powerful than him glaring his way.

"I underestimated you mortals again. Once was bad enough. I lost my promising slave," Arz'odral chuckled. His long tongue snaked out and licked at his wound, coming away with a faint sheen of gold. "Mmmm, oh how fitting. Always some hero with the light behind his back to defeat the evil in the dark. Very well. I shall not underestimate you again."

"You will not win," Teddy stated.

His words thrummed with power, and his mace became a beacon as he raised it high.

The demon released a sigh and then raised his arm.

Teddy looked up, as did I. Hovering above us, like floating meteors, were massive, jagged bolts of blood. There were more than a dozen, each shining with an inner light. They were barely smaller than Arturous, but the sheer number of the salvo blotted out the sky.

Arz'odral slammed his claws into the ground, and the meteors fell.

Wielding what kinetic energy I had left, I split one of the meteors, but two more quickly overshadowed it. Teddy released his skill, and the spectral mace battered aside half a dozen. Where they collided, they were absorbed into the remaining meteors, forming larger projectiles.

Teddy was too far. So was Arturous. I didn't have many options, but I could take a hit, absorb the skill, even. A broken bone didn't matter. That could be healed.

Teddy raised his shield and channeled mana into his mace.

Arz'odral extended his arm, and a smaller crimson bolt appeared above his palm. My eyes widened. I opened my mouth to shout a warning before a massive fist made of water smashed aside half of the crimson death-balls.

"Get away from my son!"

Anastasia appeared, golden wings spread behind her back. Her sword released a blast that burned a line through the remaining meteors and then continued toward the demon. A barrier appeared, spilling from his hand, this time black. Made from his blood, it poured down his arm in a squirming curtain that withstood Anastasia's attack.

She landed next to me with a wink. Nathan followed, dropping down beside Teddy and Arturous. The two were bloodstained and beaten. Several fresh scars littered their bodies, evidence of rapid healing. Half of Nathan's beard was missing, while Anastasia's left leg sported a growing bruise.

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Both of their masks were off, and their mana radiated from them, strong enough to warp the ground. They looked powerful, felt powerful even, but they were far from their typical selves.

Between the two of them, Nathan looked worse off. He hid it well, but his arms were shaking. The curse that bound the higher tiers was still present, held at bay much like the king's, with mana surrounding his arm in an attempt to fend against it.

"You dare hurt our boy and think you'll get away with it? I hope you're prepared to die, monster," Anastasia said.

"You okay, son?" Nathan asked.

Teddy nodded. "Thank you for the save."

"Anytime, my boy."

Blood rained down on us like a shower. Nathan covered Teddy and Arturous with a modified umbrella of water, while Anastasia radiated an aura of intense heat. When the droplets came in contact, they burned away and turned into smoke before ever reaching the fabric of her dress.

I didn't have such means, but it wasn't harmful. The blood lacked mana for me to absorb, seemingly spent during the clash with Teddy's parents' attacks.

Arz'odral stood in the downpour, over Lezka's body. In one swift motion, he stomped through his ribcage, splattering meat into the air.

Damnit!

I wasn't Sereza, my feelings on the misguided teen were far less coddling. But even if the idiot was being used, I didn't want to see him killed so easily.

"So the anomalies finally show themselves. However, it is too late," Arz'odral said.

"We'll decide that," Anastasia retorted.

Arz'odral smiled and his mana pulsed. Blood rose from Lezka's chest, forcing the felkin to scream in misery. Anastasia launched another laser from her sword, but a flowing barrier formed and swallowed it.

She kept up the attack, and Nathan released water bullets as wide as Teddy's head. They too were swallowed within the growing wave of blood.

Arz'odral's voice filtered through the barrage of skills, like a cold snake slipping into my ear.

"Pay attention, fledgling. For this is how a demon fights!"

Wrong!

I could feel the cold shiver down my neck, and it stayed. He was doing something, and I needed to know what before it was too late.

I had no attack, but there was something I could do. The others couldn't see, but I could feel with my mana more than they could. If I could just pinpoint where, Teddy could attack from afar, even Nathan.

Extending my senses, I filtered through the familiar mana signatures and looked for the crimson that smelled old and ancient. Except, it wasn't my mana sense that caught onto the demon. It was the curse. From one tether inside my soul, it shot like an arrow behind the barrier, a few feet to the right.

Come on, where are you bastard? Where are–found you!

"Teddy, he's by the king's body!" I shouted.

Teddy's eyes flashed and he raised his mace as Nathan pushed them forward on a wave of water.

"Too late."

A titan's fist appeared before Teddy. His mace came down, but the fist absorbed the blow, only slightly deforming under the weight. Nathan ejected Teddy and Arturous in a jet that sent them to the side, while he barely managed to conjure equal-sized fists at the last second. He slammed through the hedge's walls.

Anastasia used her sword to release multiple slashes that cut into the projectile rushing toward Teddy. They digging deeper than Teddy's attack. But it pressed on, moving toward her son. She zipped forward, blinking into existence before the fist, and slammed her blade into one knuckle. The hand bubbled and ruptured as blazing light pierced deep.

However, like her husband, the titanic fist punched her away. This time it followed, revealing the amorphous mass of a creature nearly twice the size of the original monster they fought.

Teddy jumped to his feet and slammed a spectral mace into the demon's barrier. It was torn apart beneath the golden spikes, revealing Arz'odral's new form.

His form was tangled in a mass of crimson ribbons. The thorned vines emerged from several points across his body and stitched him to the ruined corpse of the king. I didn't need my mana sense to feel the ether forming inside his core. He radiated an aura of black and red, stretching into the sky.

Two gristly wings flapped behind him. Two flattened scythes.

With one claw on the barrier, he raised his other arm and snapped.

Panels appeared—the ones from before—showing our friends fighting, as well as the bulging masses in the city. Each one was now another titan attempting to rampage through the city streets. One had mantis blades, another reminded me of a bear with three heads. Near the crafters' district, a lion with a blade-like horn padded through the streets with a crackle of lightning.

"Teddy…" I whispered.

"You can protect them if you want, but it'll be futile. This city is mine to use, and it'll all be fuel for my glorious ascension," Arz'odral whispered.

Teddy's aura flickered as another panel appeared, one showcasing his parents. Nathan had a broken arm and was forced into protecting the two of them while Anastasia fought the monster off.

Thump! Thump! Thump! My heart raged, rattling my ribs.

We had to do something.

Anything.

In one panel, Zagreus appeared, helping Khrem stymie one section of the city as tiny, smaller monsters started to form from the shed droplets of one of the titans. They fought with the guards and other adventurers, but in moments they'd be overrun.

Something. Anything.

I clenched my fists and heard the tinkling of crystal shattering. Memories. Those damn things popped in uninvited—reminding me of the hordes of spiders and other beasts. A village overrun, as three groups of adventurers desperately fought them off.

This was fighting a god all over again, but this time I didn't have my cheat with the dungeon core. Just us, and what we'd already tried to do.

I took a step forward, and the ground lost some of its color.

I have to–

"Cyrus, promise me something," Teddy interrupted.

I looked down and found his hand on my chest, holding me back. He was different. His aura, usually so bright and calming was absent. It was still there, underneath the surface along with his mana, but the red-carpet ready hero was different. A glance to Arturous spelled the same. His bristling fur calmed, and his breathing steady.

As I pushed deeper, Teddy's mana started to retreat, flowing away from his limbs and down to two areas. One in the center of his body, the other on the insides of his wrist. That same shiver that appeared when I sensed what Arz'odral was about to do, appeared again.

"Cyrus?"

"Yeah? What?" I asked.

Arz'odral waited in the air, hovering on a growing slab of crystal. His eyes were narrowed and he too watched Teddy with rapt attention. Weariness and curiosity in equal measure.

"Promise me you'll never do what I'm about to do. No matter how dire things seem. You choose to live instead, and fight. To grow and survive. Alright?"

What?

What the fuck was he going on about? If this was his attempt to persuade me to run away, and abandon him then he was a bigger idiot then Isaac. I immediately shook my head, but Teddy clapped my shoulder.

"I'm sorry I hid this from you. Don't blame the others either. Only Celenae knows, and we both agreed that this would never be an option. There was always supposed to be a way to win." Teddy shook his head and his hand squeezed down as he fixed his eyes on mine. He gave a weak smile. "I won't ask you to run, but I'm counting on you. Make a difference if you can, but survive more than anything else. The last thing this kingdom needs is the ire of another god."

I grabbed his hand and squeezed. It felt like if I let go, he'd slip away somehow. "What are you going on about? You're not edgy enough for dramatic speeches."

His hand ruffled my hair and he turned to face Arz'odral. Arturous gave me a lick and did the same. In that moment, the two seemed larger than life and so impossibly far away.

No.

Teddy breathed in and then out. His words came the same way the demon, and the avatars spoke. His voice filled the air and pushed beyond it. More than a vibration it was like a law declared unto the world.

"Remember what I said, Cyrus. We all have choices. Your name will carry expectations. Who you are, what you will be. They matter. But know that no matter what you do, what you choose, I believe in you."

No.

Teddy stopped as Arz'odral summoned a crystal javelin and cocked his arm back.

"To the Weave, I consent. Unbind, unthread. Let this soul burn free!"

As Teddy finished his sentence, Arz'odral released the javelin. It moved as fast as one of Sturmrmorex's bolts, but as it neared Teddy, it lost form. The crystal shattered and golden thread sprouted from Teddy's wrist.

No!

His Legacy, the mark of the triquetra given to those branded by the weave. The threads traced back to the wrist and the mark floated in the air, only barely attached. Time was slow once more, to a crawl that shouldn't have been.

Teddy flashed me a smile and closed his eyes.

The thread connecting the Legacy mark to his wrist snapped. Fast as lightning but as slow as a snail, it shot into his chest and slipped behind the metal plate. Arz'odral moved to attack again, but Teddy's mana pulsed once and then outward like a nuclear explosion.

His aura covered me in light so bright I was forced to close my eyes.

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